Head on over the the DRESDEN DOLLS ARTISTS PAGE and you will be able to check out a brand new track from the Boston duo. Titled NIGHT RECONNAISSANCE, it is taken from the upcoming release NO, VIRGINIA which will hit stores here in the UK on MAY 19TH.

THE DRESDEN DOLLS will also make available a book to accompany the release. Detailing the contents in a recent MySpace blog, Amanda Palmer comments:

The Virginia Companion is a 350-page BEAST is about as big as a f*cking phone book and includes zillions of never-seen photos that Brian and I lovingly chose from the archives of the past few years. I also write (as I did in the last book) about the process of recording the record, the stories behind the songs and the story behind the artwork including a TON of art submissions for the record that weren’t used in the final packaging. There is an entire gallery devoted to the beautiful album-inspired artwork of Barnaby Whitfield (the pastel-artist and painter who created the masterpiece for the cover of the Paradise DVD and our Good Day 7″), tons of alternate album covers we were toying with, Haikus, a little section written by Brian, live photos, scribblings and bibblings and other flotsam and jetsam to make sure you never go hungry for dresden dolls trivia again.
The book also includes sheet music for every song from Yes, Virginia and No, Virgina (a total of 23 songs) for piano and voice. Each song also includes guitar tabs for you rock and roll types.

Details of how to order the book are not available at this time, but you can pre order the album NO, VIRGINIA HERE.

OPETH have made the track THE LOTUS EATER, taken from their forthcoming album WATERSHED (in stores June 2nd) available as a free download! Head to the Roadrunner UK Homepage to download the track NOW.

Also available now, at all the usual digital outlets, is the first single taken from that release PORCELIAN HEART. You can check out the video for this at the OPETH ARTISTS PAGE.

You can pre-order your copy of WATERSHED from THIS location.

KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES have confirmed that they will appearing at this years Reading / Leeds and Download festivals in addition to their full UK tour, which kicks off later this month.

The guys will play the DOWNLOAD festival on SUNDAY 15th June on the 2nd Stage and kick it at the Reading / Leeds festival on the NME Stage, appearing at Reading on Saturday 23rd August and Leeds on Sunday 24th.

Current single GIVE ME WHAT I WANT is due for release on May 19th and is followed by album SMART CASUAL on the 26th. You can pre-order both at THIS location.

Full tour dates are as follows and tickets are on sale NOW:
Wed 21 Middlesbrough, Empire

SATYRICON are set to release a new 5-track EP entitled ‘My Skin Is Cold’ on 2nd June.

Offering the first taste of new Satyricon material in over two years, the new EP also includes two tracks – ‘Live Through Me’ and ‘Existential Fear-Questions’ – that were excluded from 2002’s ‘Volcano’ album because, according to Satyr,

“they did not fit with the flow of the album, even though they are maybe even better than some of the songs that did make it on there”.

Closing with two extraordinary live tracks – ‘Mother North’ and ‘Repined Bastard Nation’ – recorded at Gjallahorn during the band’s triumphant show with musicians from the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in November 2006, this is an essential collection of treasures from the Satyricon vault that should keep die-hard fans satisfied until the completion and release of the band’s forthcoming seventh full-length album which is due for release via Roadrunner on 3rd November.

“You could say that the new song is an indication of what the album will sound like, but it is not the whole story,” states Satyr. “The new songs are coming out really big, really grand. Some need time to crawl under your skin and others, they’ll strangle you from the first bar. It’s not operatic or theatrical, but it comes across as huge. It sounds like a journey. It’s emotional, it’s atmospheric, it’s grand and it’s epic. It’s overwhelming.”

The EP will be available as a CD / Vinyl package or as a digital bundle and the tracklisting is as follows:

CD:
1. MY SKIN IS COLD(exclusive)
2. LIVE THROUGH ME (Re-mastered, original version only released previously as bonus song on the LP edition of ”Volcano”)
3. EXISTENTIAL FEAR-QUESTIONS (Re-mastered, original version only released as bonus song on the LP edition of ”Volcano”)
4. REPINED BASTARD NATION (Live and turbocharged from the ”Gjallarhorn” show at Sentrum Scene, Oslo, November 2006)
5. MOTHER NORTH (Live from the ”Gjallarhorn” show at Sentrum Scene, Oslo, November 2006)

7″ Vinyl:
A. “My Skin Is Cold” (Newly recorded exclusive track)
B. “Mother North” (live from Gjallarhorn)

Meanwhile, Satyricon are currently rehearsing for the summer festival circuit in Europe, although it’ll be later in the year before we see them in the UK. Stay tuned for more album and tour news as we have it.

Check out a snippet of the title track at the official SATYRICON WEBSITE

Pre-order MY SKIN IS COLD or pick up their last offering NOW, DIABOLOICAL at the new ROADRUNNER STORE

We caught up with the DEVILDRIVER guys in Birmingham on the first day of the Defenders of the Faith tour, and what better to chat about when you have had a few beers than your fave shark movies?? And who better to ask about shark movies than bassist Miller, who’s pretty partial to a shark movie or five…

They’re a chatty pair o buggers the Mike’s!!! This week has seen parts 5 and 6 of this series of Exclusive RR interviews and my lord they are a cracking set. Check below to see what the DREAM THEATER stixman and OPETH frontman have to say…

PART 5
In this part discuss the upcoming Progressive Nation Tour, seated audiences as oppose to standing venues, and if Opeth will be playing new material on this tour and is it going to be more or less heavy?
CLICK to view

PART 6
In this segment, Mikael Akerfeldt talks about his extensive collection of 60’s and 70’s vinyl as well as his musical interests old and new and Mike Portnoy talks about some of the greatest innovators in the metal and even non metal scenes, hailing from Sweden.
CLICK to view

You can pick up DREAM THEATER’s current album SYSTEMATIC CHAOS and pre-order the brand new offering from OPETH- the soon to be critically aclaimed WATERSHED- from the new ROADRUNNER STORE

Thrash metal legends MEGADETH will be co-presenting MTV2’s HEADBANGERS BALL for FOUR WEEKS from Tuesday May 6th, so if you canny sit up until midnight when the show kicks off, then remember to set the ole Sky+!

If you have not heard the new offering from Megadeth- UNITED ABOMINATIONS- you can check out tracks HERE and then if you like what you here the ROADRUNNER STORE is just a click away!!

DEVILDRIVER have just released EP ‘HEAD ON TO HEARTACHE’ and are currently ripping up the UK on the Defenders of the faith tour with label mates 3 INCHES OF BLOOD and OPETH, so it makes sense that there should be a new video to show the uninitiated why DEVILDRIVER are one of the most exciting metal bands on the planet today!!!

Check it out below- its absolutely KILLER!!

You can pick up the EP and also current album THE LAST KIND WORDS at the RR store HERE

Defenders of heavy metal faith, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD are launching their very own fan club, dubbed THE GOATRIDERS HORDE.

The Goatriders Horde offers 3IOB fans the chance to directly connect with the band! When you become a Goatrider, you will receive an exclusive Goatriders Horde t-shirt, an official Goatriders laminate, a poster autographed by the band, as well as access to exclusive content including music, videos and photos, privileges to attend special Goatriders-only events plus access to the members-only community message board. Most importantly, as a Goatrider you will be the first to hear about tour dates, ticket presales and band news!!

Want in on the action?? Head to GOATRIDERSHORDE.COM for more info / to sign on up!!

In other news, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, who are set to follow their apearances on the Defenders of the Faith tour with a short headline run, have had to cancel their EDINBURGH show date but have added a show in NUNEATON. The full dates are now as follows:
Sun 27th Apr – Swindon Furnace
Mon 28th Apr – Brighton Freebutt
Tue 29th Apr – Nuneaton Queens Hall
Wed 30th Apr – Sheffield Corporation
Thu 1st May – Peterborough The Park
Fri 2nd May – Leeds Rio’s

Latest releases- EP ‘TRIAL OF CHAMPIONS’ and album ‘FIRE UP THE BLADES’ are both available a the OFFICIAL ROADRUNNER STORE

OPETH released digital single PORECELAIN HEART this week, and below you can check out the quite simply DELECTABLE video to accompany the release. Filmed in their native Sweden, it really is a treat for the ole peepers!

Porcelain Heart is taken from the bands upcoming release WATERSHED which will hit stores on JUNE 2nd, and will be available not only in a digital format but also as a CD, a CD/DVD Collectors Edition and on vinyl. You can pre-order these at the ROADRUNNER STORE