MASTODON: More New Songtitles Revealed

Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON have revealed more songtitles that will appear on their new album, "The Hunter", tentatively due in October. The CD is expected to include the following tracks, among others:

* Blasteroids
* The Octopus Has No Friends
* Stargasm
* Curl Of The Burl
* All The Heavy Lifting
* The Sparrow
* The Ruiner

When asked about the sound of MASTODON's forthcoming album, drummer Brann Dailor told the German edition of Metal Hammer magazine, "When you listen to the songs, they don't sound as 'fun' as we perceive them to be, I guess; it's still pretty extremely heavy material." He added, "We had a few songs that were kind of, not left over from 'Crack The Skye', but just stuff that we wanted to be on that album, but that album kind of took on a whole different thing of its own and there were a few stragglers that were super-heavy and crazy that didn't make it, and we finally got to put them on this record. And then we wrote a whole bunch of brand new stuff. There's, like, 14 songs that we recorded. And it's sort all over the place — a lot of different sounds. Some straight-up classic-rock-sounding songs, straight-up death metal-sounding songs and some completely bizarre, weirdo rock songs that we're not really sure what they are, but we love them."

"The Hunter" was recorded at Doppler Studios in Atlanta with producer Mike Elizondo. Drum tracks were previously completed in Los Angeles at the legendary Sound City Studios where NIRVANA's masterwork "Nevermind" was recorded. Songtitles set to appear on the album include "Blasteroids" and "All The Heavy Lifting".

MASTODON is currently in Europe for a summer-long tour that includes all dates on this year's Sonisphere festival as well as the Rock Im Park, Rock Am Ring, Roskilde festivals and more. The band will also play a one-off show at The Gorge in Seattle on July 30 with SOUNDGARDEN, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, and MEAT PUPPETS.

PERIPHERY To Tour North America With THE HUMAN ABSTRACT, TEXTURES, THE CONTORTIONIST

Maryland-based experimental, progressive metal six-piece PERIPHERY will embark on the "Frak The Gods" headlining tour in September with support from THE HUMAN ABSTRACT, TEXTURES and THE CONTORTIONIST. The trek will kick off on September 2 and will run through October 8. Exact cities and dates will be announced soon.

Commented PERIPHERY guitarist Misha Mansoor: "We feel so lucky to be able to have our buddies in THE HUMAN ABSTRACT as direct support to us. They will be followed by TEXTURES, whom we all love dearly, and who will be coming to the U.S. for the first time ever! Last, but definitely not least, we have the wonderful dudes from THE CONTORTIONIST rounding off this fun little package.

"The dates are still being worked out, but the tour will be from early September to early October and it will also hit a few Canadian locations as well, because we love you guys, too.

"Needless to say, this is definitely a tour by musicians for musicians. With that said, all fans of progressive music, musician or not, will enjoy this tour greatly."

PERIPHERY released a new EP, "Icarus Lives", on April 19 via Sumerian Records. This CD features a brand new unreleased track, a series of remixes and video clips.

PERIPHERY's self-titled debut album sold around 4,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 128 on the Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at No. 2 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

PERIPHERY is:

Spencer Sotelo - Vocals
Misha Mansoor - Guitar
Alex Bois - Guitar
Jake Bowen - Guitar
Tom Murphy - Bass
Matt Halpern - Drums

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/periphery

MIKE PORTNOY, RUSSELL ALLEN, RICH WARD, MIKE ORLANDO Join Forces In ADRENALINE MOB

ADRENALINE MOB, the new band featuring former DREAM THEATER/AVENGED SEVENFOLD drummer Mike Portnoy, SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP), bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward, will make its live debut on Friday, June 24 at The Hiro Ballroom (16th Street and 9th Avenue) in New York City. The group will play songs from its upcoming debut album as well as a few classic covers. Very limited tickets are available now at Ticketweb.com.

In a March 2011 interview, Russell described ADRENALINE MOB as "a straight-up rock band with just rock songs — kind of like an edgy, modern kind of sound. It's not progressive or trying to be too metal or anything — it's just good, old crunchy rock stuff." He added, "I think it will be really well received by people who like to hear that kind of stuff. This is a new thing for Portnoy and myself, too. I've always done kind of done stuff with AYREON, but that's more of a vintage-y vibe, but nothing like this, which is kind of modern-sounding, almost like ROB ZOMBIE meets BLACK LABEL SOCIETY meets DISTURBED, [but] with [Ronnie James] Dio singing. It's all this kind of craziness. So it's definitely different and it's cool."

Speaking to MetalSymphony.com, Orlando stated about ADRENALINE MOB, "This band is not in the vein of SYMPHONY X or DREAM THEATER. It's more along the lines of, say, ROB ZOMBIE, GODSMACK, DISTURBED, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, SHINEDOWN… with Russell's absolute pipes from hell and Mike just outright killing it on the kit. The guitar is really rocking and has some pretty insane moments, but it's a song-oriented band and that's the most important aspect before anything." He continued, "Russell and I have an amazing writing chemistry together and he is one of my closest and dearest friends. It's an absolute pleasure to work with such a great talent as Russell on every level.' He added, "Mike is just unbelievable. His playing is beyond words at times. He's the utmost professional musician but also one of the nicest and coolest guys I have ever met and played with. It's an honor to call him my bandmate, to say the least, and I look forward to ripping it up every
night out there with Mike and Russ and the guys!"

OPETH's New Album To Feature Guest Appearance By Former WEATHER REPORT Drummer

According to Nero of Arte Sonora, a Portuguese music and pro audio magazine, Peruvian drummer and percussionist Alex Acuña who played with the fusion/prog jazz band WEATHER REPORT and performed/recorded with Elvis Presley, Peter Gabriel, THE CULT, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea — makes a guest appearance on "Heritage", the new album from Swedish progressive metallers OPETH.

"Heritage" will be released on September 20 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was produced by OPETH vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt and was recorded earlier this year at Atlantis studios (formerly Metronome studios) in Stockholm. Mixing duties were handled by Steven Wilson (PORCUPINE TREE) and Åkerfeldt. Longtime collaborator Travis Smith also worked with Åkerfeldt to create, design and execute the album's artwork, which can be seen below.

"Heritage" will be released in several configurations that will certainly incite the interest of OPETH's legion of fans, known for their passion for collecting and collectibles. The album will be released as a standard version; as a special edition loaded with extras; as a box set exclusive to the Roadrunner and the band's own official Omerch webstore; and as a double LP. There is something for every OPETH fan, thanks to this variety of options.

"Heritage" track listing:

01. Heritage
02. The Devil's Orchard
03. I Feel The Dark
04. Slither
05. Nepenthe
06. Haxprocess
07. Famine
08. The Lines In My Hand
09. Folklore
10. Marrow Of The Earth

The first single and video from "Heritage" will be the song "The Devil's Orchard".

OPETH made its live debut with keyboardist Joakim Svalberg (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, GLENN HUGHES) at the 10th annual Bonnaroo Music And Arts Festival on June 10, 2011 on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville.

OPETH will embark on a North American headlining tour in September with support from fellow Swedes KATATONIA.

Keyboardist Per Wiberg, who joined OPETH in 2005, was relieved of his duties in April as part of a mutual decision with the remaining members of the band.

DEEP PURPLE's 'Phoenix Rising' DVD, Blu-Ray Due This Month

On June 28, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release DEEP PURPLE's "Phoenix Rising" – a two-hour-plus revelatory documentary including 30 minutes of never-before-seen (not even on bootleg) onstage footage from Japan. "Phoenix Rising" will be released on DVD, Blu-ray, and in a special two-disc DVD/CD package.

The release is cause for celebration amongst PURPLE fans due to the rarity of material. Extensive interviews with keyboardist Jon Lord and bassist Glenn Hughes tell the tale of a band caught by circumstance into one of its most controversial, extreme and exciting eras of its long career. Ian Gillan and Roger Glover were gone. A young unknown singer by the name of David Coverdale was recruited as was bassist Hughes. The results were the albums "Burn" and "Stormbringer" (both released in 1974). But then Ritchie Blackmore left the band. Against all odds, they rocked on, recruiting Tommy Bolin (from ZEPHYR and THE JAMES GANG). The album "Come Taste The Band" (1975) documents the short-lived Bolin era, an era that all came crashing down when the band announced in July of 1976 that it was breaking up. By December, Bolin would be dead due to a heroin overdose. Nine years of silence would ensue.

The never-before-seen 30 minutes, "Rises Over Japan", has the Coverdale/Lord/Bolin/Hughes/Paice lineup delivering the goods in 1976 on eight songs: "Burn", "Getting Tighter", "Love Child", "Smoke On The Water", "Lazy", "Homeward Strut", "You Keep On Moving" and "Stormbringer". (The double-disc package contains these eight songs on CD.) This segment is some of the only video footage that showcases Tommy Bolin performing in DEEP PURPLE.

The 90-minute documentary portion, "Getting Tighter", recounts the trials and tribulations of a band in turmoil, riding the rock 'n' roll roller coaster to total excess. With its live images, backstage footage, never-before-told stories and original video material carefully culled from years of research, it's a veritable bonanza for PURPLE fans and fans of rock history. No stone is left unturned…and sometimes it's not pretty. Gritty, truthful, wild, this is the story of an era in the 1970s that is simply unforgettable.

June News Bytes

• The new acoustic solo guitar album from Pat Metheny called "What's It All About" features classic tunes from songwriters like Paul Simon, Lennon & McCartney, Burt Bacharach, and Henry Mancini. Pat describes it like this: "I wanted to record some of the music that was on my radar before I ever wrote a note of my own, or in a few cases, even before I played an instrument. Every one of these tunes has something going on that is just hip on a musical level, no matter how you cut it. They have all stuck with me over the years."

Pallas To Play Hard Rock Hell Festival

With their eagerly awaited performance at The High Voltage Festival only a matter of weeks away, Pallas are pleased to announce that they have been added to this year’s Hard Rock Hell Festival at Prestatyn in North Wales on Friday December 2nd.

Like High Voltage, the HRH show will see the band performing the harder hitting material from their critically acclaimed new album XXV. Pallas will also be playing a hometown Xmas Show at The Tunnels in Aberdeen on Saturday December 10th. Tickets for all shows are available through the venue/event websites. At this moment in time a number of other shows are being planned for the UK and Europe for late 2011/early 2012 though no confirmed details are available at present.
To coincide with High Voltage the band are currently finishing a promo video for Monster which will be available for free download from the band’s website http://www.pallasxxv.com at the end of June along with a free downloadable reissue of Monster which has seen the band pick up substantial UK, European and North American radio play.

As well as working on the video for Monster, guitarist Niall Mathewson has begun work on a 5.1 version of XXV as well as video treatments of the XXV storyline. It is hoped that this will be available as a Deluxe DVD package by the time of HRH.

The High Voltage gig will also be recorded by Concert Live, who will have Live CDs of the show available on site immediately after the HV performance. The 2 CD package will also include otherwise unavailable Pallas material.

OPETH Performs With New Keyboardist At BONNAROO MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL

Swedish progressive metallers OPETH made their live debut with keyboardist Joakim Svalberg (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, GLENN HUGHES) at the 10th annual Bonnaroo Music And Arts Festival on June 10, 2011 on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville.

When asked by the Artisan News Service how playing Bonnaroo was different to performing at European festivals, OPETH vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt said, "It's very similar to European festivals. It's strange that there's not more festivals in the United States like this, as far as I'm concerned. But yeah, it was lovely. Good hospitality."

OPETH's setlist was as follows:

01. The Grand Conjuration
02. Face Of Melinda
03. The Lotus Eater
04. In My Time Of Need
05. Master's Apprentices
06. The Drapery Falls
07. Hex Omega

OPETH will embark on a North American headlining tour in September with support from fellow Swedes KATATONIA.

Keyboardist Per Wiberg, who joined OPETH in 2005, was relieved of his duties in April as part of a mutual decision with the remaining members of the band.

OPETH will release its tenth album, "Heritage", on September 20 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt and was recorded earlier this year at Atlantis studios (formerly Metronome studios) in Stockholm. Mixing duties were handled by Steven Wilson (PORCUPINE TREE) and Åkerfeldt. Longtime collaborator Travis Smith also worked with Åkerfeldt to create, design and execute the album's artwork, which can be seen below.

"Heritage" will be released in several configurations that will certainly incite the interest of OPETH's legion of fans, known for their passion for collecting and collectibles. The album will be released as a standard version; as a special edition loaded with extras; as a box set exclusive to the Roadrunner and the band's own official Omerch webstore; and as a double LP. There is something for every OPETH fan, thanks to this variety of options.