STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis has chatted to LIVE DAILY about the bands upcoming release THE ILLUSION OF PROGRESS which is due for a release in the UK on SEPTEMBER 8TH.

“We took a lot of time trying to come up with the perfect tone, taking all the different guitars I have and comparing every guitar to every amp,” Lewis said. “Sometimes we’d spend eight to 10 hours in a day trying to find the right sound. I think that’s probably what was different than other things on the last album,” “Chapter Five.”

You can check out the full interview HERE

The band, who are currently on tour in the US will hit the UK in September is support of labelmates NICKELBACK. Full dates are as follows:

Fri 12th Sep – Belfast Odyssey
Sat 13th Sep – Dublin RDS Simmonscourt
Mon 15th Sep – Manchester MEN
Tue 16th Sep – Sheffield Arena
Thu 18th Sep – Birmingham NEC
Fri 19th Sep – London O2 Arena
Sun 21st Sep – Wembley Arena

You can pre-order your copy of THE ILLUSION OF PROGRESS HERE.

Roadrunner’s Orange County bruisers, ATREYU, are set to headline this year’s Taste Of Chaos tour in the UK.

ROCKSTAR energy drink will continue to be the title sponsor and will be giving away drinks, as well as coming up with some great surprises. Ernie Ball will be a sponsor on the tour as well. They will provide musical instruments for fans to test out and will pick the opening act through their massively successful Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands.

Vocalist Alex Varkatzas from Atreyu states,

“We had the best tour of our lives on Rockstar Taste of Chaos USA so it’s a huge honour to be invited to play Rockstar Taste of Chaos International. We also have the pleasure to share the stage with Story of the Year, As I Lay Dying, MUCC, and Horse the Band on this tour. We’ve toured the US with all of them in the past. It was a blast then and it will be a blast to tour with them again in Europe.“

Tickets are on sale now at GIGSANDTOURS.COM. Full dates line up as follows:

Wed 15th Oct – London Astoria
Thu 16th Oct – Lincoln Engine Shed
Fri 17th Oct – Norwich UEA
Sun 19th Oct – Cardiff University
Mon 20th Oct – Nottingham Rock City
Tue 21st Oct – Birmingham Academy
Wed 22nd Oct – Leeds Metropolitan University
Fri 24th Oct – Hull University
Sat 25th Oct – Edinburgh Picturehouse
Sun 26th Oct – Dundee Fat Sam’s
Mon 27th Oct – Glasgow ABC
Wed 29th Oct – Preston 53 Degrees
Thu 30th Oct – Manchester Academy
Fri 31st Oct – Oxford Academy

LEAD SAILS PAPER ANCHOR is in stores NOW. You can pick up a copy online at THIS LOCATION.

SOULFLY have confirmed 4 additional UK shows following on from their Bloodstock and Kerrang! Week of Rock appearances. The full list of dates are now as follows:

AUGUST
15th Bloodstock, Derby
16th ULU, London
17th JB’s, Dudley
18th Leadmill, Sheffield
19th Junction, Cambridge
20th Concorde 2, Brighton

Tickets are on sale now from the usual outlets.

The new issue of METAL HAMMER magazine not only has a splendid feature on our fave Brazilian Max Cavalera and his new record CONQUER with SOULFLY but there is also an 8/10 album review. Check out what the ‘Hammer folks made of their new offering…

“There was a time when Max Cavalera could have gotten away with pretty much anything. As he approaches the end of his time with Sepultura, the Brazilian was as widely loved and lauded as anyone in metal, and even when he took the band into the Amazonian jungle for the might Roots, even the most tedious purists were happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. All that changed when Max fled the nest and formed Soulfly. As the 90’s trundled on and nu metal tightened its grip on heavy music, Max’s eagerness to lock horns with as many seemingly inappropriate collaborators as possible may have endeared him to younger fans, but for those weaned on Troops Of Doom and Inner Self, the sound of this trash legend making merry with Fred Durst, Sean Lennon and that berk with the dreadlocks from Ill Nino was something of a disheartening nadir. As a result, even when Soulfly started making great albums – both 2004’s Prophecy and 2006’s Dark Ages ere fantastic – there was so much cynicism and calumny to wade through that the big guy seemed to be in a lose-lose situation, regardless of what he did musically.

It’s amazing what difference a year can make. After reuniting with his brother lggor and making the excellent and well-received Cavalera Conspiracy album, Max is suddenly back in favour and, if Conquer is any indication, in devastating form. It starts insanely well with Blood Fire War Hate, a brutal and epic scene – setter co-written by Morbid Angel’s Dave Vincent, with all the death metal menace and bug-eyed urgency that such a collaboration deserves. It’s followed by Unleash, which fans may have already heard on MySpace – another furious slice of breakneck violence that pauses briefly for a cleverly mellow interlude before erupting anew, all hammering aggression topped with Max’s insistent bark. Both Paranoia and Warmageddon reaffirm their creator’s thrash credentials, the former with high-velocity riffing and frantic, 80s-tinged solos, the latter strongly reminiscent of Sepultura’s Arise, again with some scorching lead work. In fact, it’s the surfeit of blazing solos that makes Conquer such an invigorating return to top form. It’s almost as if Max has suddenly rediscovered his true roots and found them to be just as exciting as the esoteric experiments of the last decade. Significantly, Fall Of The Sycophants sounds like a cross between Dead Embryonic Cells and Eye For An Eye (the opening track on the first Soulfly album) before exploding into the kind of multi-tempo savagery that Machine Head harnessed on The Blackening. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Soulfly album without a few bits of genre-flipping chaos, but the butt-shaking samba vibes of For Those About To Rot are surrounded by so much that reeks of thrash, death and good old heavy fucking metal that any reservations old school Max Cavalera fans might have about embracing his current endeavours deserves to be swept swiftly under the nearest rug.

Conquer is a great heavy metal record, pure and simple.”

CONQUER is out NOW digitally on all the usual platforms and will be released 28/07

KERRANG! and METAL HAMMER magazines hit the shelves this week with a plethora of goodies for all you maggots out there.

This weeks issue of KERRANG! has no less that 10 covers available-

Us lot in the RR UK office enjoyed this YouTube clip of a 13 year old Guitar Hero addict on the DragonForce level and so we thought you folks might too. GENIUS! Or maybe he just has too much time on his hands…?

The featured track can be found on the album INHUMAN RAMPAGE which is in stores NOW. New album ULTRA BEATDOWN hits stores on AUGUST 25th. Check out the video for single HEROES OF OUR TIME below…

Pre-order the album AT THIS LOCATION

Roadrunner Records is pleased to announce the signing of three eclectic new bands to an already diverse roster that includes heavyweights such as Slipknot, Dragonforce, Killswitch Engage, Nickelback and Machine Head. The label welcomes DOMMIN, MUTINY and PORT AMORAL to the fold.

Los Angeles-based goth rock quartet Dommin was discovered by Dirty Icon Productions, a company founded by producer Logan Mader, the former guitarist of longtime Roadrunner band, Machine Head. Led by the enigmatic frontman, guitarist and songwriter Kristofer Dommin, Dommin puts a refreshing spin on the romantic, dark goth sound, bringing a unified voice to the brokenhearted swarm of purposefully melancholic music fans who prefer not only to look at the glass as half-full but as cracked, too. Veteran A&R rep Monte Conner signed the band to the label and was quick to express his excitement, saying, “Dommin comes across as very fresh and unique in today’s landscape. Kristofer Dommin is their secret weapon. His vocals are absolutely compelling, and this is especially evident live where you can feel the power, passion and emotion of every word he sings.” Dommin’s line up is rounded out by keyboardist Konstantine, bassist Billy James and drummer Cameron. Check out the swell of black-hued, stormy and mysterious rock on the band’s heavily trafficked MySpace page, viewable at MySpace/dommin.

New Jersey-based Mutiny, a band of youngsters who play like a troupe of seasoned shred veterans, have also been added to the roster. The thoroughly metallic outfit was unearthed by A&R man Mike Gitter, who was blown away by the band’s live firepower. Gitter says, “The band was playing at a level so early in its career that most bands never touch. With the addition of [vocalist] Chris Clancy, they verge on unbeatable. Mutiny are truly the graduating valedictorians of Generation Guitar Hero.” With members ranging in age from 18 to 23, Mutiny’s line up is rounded out by bassist Andrew “AJ” Jacobs, guitarists Brandon Jacobs and Lu Obregon, keyboardist Drew Stavola, and drummer Bill Fiore. The Mutiny crew will spend the next few months toiling diligently in the Jacobs family’s basement and they won’t come out until they have an absolute metal classic on their hands. Turn your ears to the songs posted at MySpace.com/mutinynj.

Winnipeg, Canada’s melodic metal band Port Amoral also joins the Roadrunner family. The group formed in 2004 and is comprised of a tandem of brothers, vocalist/bassist Jared Weiss and guitarist Eric Weiss. The line up is rounded out by guitarist Andrew Campbell and drummer Matthew Hallick. Port Amoral were also signed by Conner, whose interest was initially sparked after hearing demos produced by Canada’s John Paul Peters (Comeback Kid, Waking Eyes) and taking in the energetic live show. “Port Amoral know how to craft songs with hooks and smart arrangements and their developed level of writing made me take notice,” explains Conner. For a taste of the guitar mastery that turned Conner onto the band, check out a demo of the complex mini-epic “Villains” at MySpace/portamoral. The band will record its Roadrunner debut with Colin Richardson (Bullet for My Valentine, Trivium) for a winter 2009 release.

The nominations for this years KERRANG!

METALHEAD TV have posted footage of the wonder that is OPETH performing at Hellfest. Check it out AT THIS LOCATION.

Opeth will be hitting the UK in support of their current album WATERSHED in NOVEMBER.

CRADLE OF FILTH have announced the title of their new album on their Official MySpace.

Titled GODSPEED ON THE DEVIL’S THUNDER, the album is tentitively sceduled for a release in October.

The album is a ‘concept album’ about:

“a legendary serial killer from the 15th Century, Gilles De Rais, a French nobleman who fought alongside Joan of Arc and accumulated great wealth before becoming a satanist, sexual deviant and a murderer.”

For full deets including the tracklisting, head to the bands MYSPACE BLOG.