November News Bytes

• According to the Los Angeles Times, RUSH drummer Neil Peart has bought a home in Santa Monica, California for $4.95 million.The6,200-square-foot, two-story house was built in 2001. The step-down living room adjoins a music room. French doors off the dining room lead to an outside courtyard. A double-sided fireplace in the master suite opens to both the bedroom and bathroom. The basement includes a media room, a wine cellar and a wet bar. There are a total of five bedrooms and 61/2 bathrooms.



• SYMPHONY X and ICED EARTH will join forces for a North American co-headlining tour in early 2012. The 30-plus-date trek will kick off on January 31 in Hartford, Connecticut and conclude on March 11 in Clifton Park, New York. Support on the trek will come from WARBRINGER."I'm excited to tour with SYMPHONY X," ICED EARTH founder Jon Schaffer said. "They're phenomenal musicians and very cool guys. This co-headliner tour will be a great experience for the fans. It is also way overdue for us to play a proper tour of North America. Get ready!"SYMPHONY X guitarist Michael Romeo added, "We are very excited about the upcoming North American tour with ICED EARTH. We first met Jon and the guys a few years back and they were really cool. When the idea of a co-headline tour surfaced, we thought it would be awesome. The fans can expect a night of great music from both bands. We look forward to seeing you all real soon!"

DREAM THEATER Drummer Schedules Nashville Clinic

DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Mangini will take part in a drum clinic on November 15 at Fork's Drum Closet in Nashville, Tennessee.

For more information, go to this location.

In a recent interview with Zoiks! Online, Mangini stated about the fan reaction to his addition to DREAM THEATER, "It depends on what you mean by fan reaction, because there are people
who have seen the show and then there are people who have not seen the
show, so you have to divide them into two distinctly different groups. A lot of times the people who haven't seen it have more to say, but they
haven't seen it, so I don't know what that is all about sometimes. The
people that have seen it, by the third song they are making me feel so
welcome that it has transformed everything for me to another level. It
makes it that much easier because they have been overwhelmingly
positive. It's great."

When asked about the fact that DREAM THEATER's current tour setlist is remaining consistent for the entire duration of the trek as opposed to when Mike Portnoy was a member of the band and it would change from night to the next, Mangini said, "The consistent setlist is the way to go. It allows the crew to
be consistent each night. It allows the transitions to be consistent. It allows us to get comfortable with the flow. For me I wouldn't want to
mix up the set at all, because I haven't been in the band for too long.
My past would dictate that just throwing songs in would be risky for the flow… It might be fun, though. I don't know; I've never done it."

CYNIC Announces Release Party And Special Acoustic Performance

Coinciding with the release of "Carbon-Based Anatomy", progressive rock/metal band CYNIC has confirmed a special release party for this Wednesday, November 2 at Idle Hands Bar in New York City. The band will be on hand to sign
copies of the new EP and will take part in a special intimate acoustic
performance.

Idle Hands is located in the East Village on 25
Avenue B, between 2nd and 3rd streets. There will be plenty of drink
specials, including the $10 Tasting Night with Sierra Nevada.

On "Carbon-Based Anatomy", CYNIC has once again taken its natural interfusion of musical styles and
turned it into something truly singular. The EP is equal parts KING CRIMSON, TOOL, MUSE and ALLAN HOLDSWORTH. It's a 23-minute transcendent musical journey through the fertile musical minds of guitarist Paul Masvidal and progressive drumming icon Sean Reinert.

Beginning with its much-venerated 1993 debut release "Focus", CYNIC has long been famous for pushing musical boundaries. Now in 2011, CYNIC has redefined itself once again with a six-song EP that combines
diverse influences from '70s prog rock to cutting-edge metal, tribal
folk and futuristic alien shapes and sounds. All of these diverse
elements have been harnessed and carefully shaped by mixer John Hiler into what is unquestionably the most open and expansive-sounding release of CYNIC's career. "Carbon-Based Anatomy" is retro, yet at the same time is unapologetically modern. It is
respectful of the groundbreaking artists that have made musical
evolution possible yet refuses to be stifled by that reverence. It is
wholly appreciative of past musical landmarks but is unashamedly
forward- thinking.

"Carbon-Based Anatomy" track listing:

01. Amidst The Coals
02. Carbon-Based Anatomy
03. Bija!
04. Box Up My Bones
05. Elves Beam Out
06. Hieroglyph