Joey Jordinson Says 'SLIPKNOT Will Return'

SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison tells Kyle Munson of DesMoinesRegister.com that he still mourns the passing of SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray, who was found dead May 24 in an Urbandale, Iowa hotel room. "He was my best friend and still is," Jordison said. "And he was my musical soul mate."

Jordison also reveals that there were times when he could have been the casualty of rock-star excess and substance abuse in place of his late bandmate.

"I've been done with that stuff for three years," he says. "I thought it was all fun and games, but it's not. ... After I got done with my (2007) tour with KORN, I really went for it after that. ... It caught up with me, and that's it — I just stopped."

"Life is definitely a lot more precious now," he adds. "Music right now, really, when I play it, it's like I'm playing it for all the people that I've lost. I think about them all the time."

On the topic of whether SLIPKNOT will continue, Jordison says, "There will be another SLIPKNOT record, of course.

"But, you know — there aren't any replacements. Everyone in the band plays bass and can play guitar. We'll get to that point when we get there. But I want everyone to know — and all my SLIPKNOT fans and all my Iowa fans to know — that no matter what I'm doing right now with [ROB] ZOMBIE and MURDERDOLLS, that SLIPKNOT will return.

"But we're still dealing with the passing of Paul, God rest his soul. ... Paul would never want us to not make another SLIPKNOT record."

Sabaton: Back Catalog To Be Reissued With New Artwork, Bonus Tracks

Most of the back catalog from the Swedish metal band SABATON will be re-released on September 24 in new "Re-Armed Editions" featuring a number of bonus tracks — including old demos, cover songs, live recordings, previously unheard material and completely new songs recorded at Studio Abyss in Sweden.

The albums being re-released are as follows:

* "Primo Victoria" (2005)
* "Attero Dominatus" (2006)
* "Metalizer" (2007)
* "The Art of War" (2008)

Commented the band: "Do you wonder what SABATON did in the studio about one month ago?

"Do you wonder why (the albums) 'Primo Victoria', 'Attero Dominatus', 'Metalizer' and 'Art Of War' are so hard to get these days?

"This is why... To be able to continue to do what we all love, meaning to continue to play music and to tour the world, we have now purchased the rights to the SABATON music. And to celebrate this we want to make them available again to all of you in a unique cooperation between SABATON, Nuclear Blast and Black Lodge.

"Now what does this mean?? Well, first it means that when you buy a SABATON album, more of the money spent on the albums will actually go to SABATON and second it means that we want to celebrate this by making the first four albums available again, but in really cool new versions!

"We give you... The SABATON Re-Armed Editions and here is a sample of one bonus track (below).

"The four first original albums of SABATON, complete with new artwork, new booklets, posters and of course: New music! We have dug deep into the treasury of SABATON to find unique, strange, funny and unexpected songs.

"Every album on the Re-Armed editions will feature new tracks and they will include some old demos, some cover songs, some live versions of songs, some really old and unheard songs and some completely new songs recorded in Studio Abyss.

"They will all be re-released on September 24th and can from today be pre-ordered right here!"

Voivod Announces Free Montreal Show

Canadian metal innovators VOIVOD have scheduled a special free performance on Saturday, September 4 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band will headline the M On The Quays festival on Quays of the Old Port Of Montreal. Other acts slated to appear include Montreal hard rockers PRIESTESS, Toronto's DD/MM/YYYY, WINTER GLOVES and new Secretly Canadian signings SUUNS, who will release their debut album via Sonic Unyon Distribution on October 12. The event is being put on by M For Montreal and presented by Sirius Satellite Radio.

This will be VOIVOD's only Canadian show during the month of September and it will serve as a warm-up gig for a series of South American concerts happening later that month.

VOIVOD's new DVD, "Tatsumaki: Voivod in Japan 2008", was released on November 17, 2009 via MVD Entertainment Group. The disc contains professionally filmed footage (three-camera shoot) of VOIVOD's September 20, 2008 concert at Club Citta in Kawasaki, Japan. The band was in Japan taking part in the two-night Thrash Domination 2008 event alongside TESTAMENT and FORBIDDEN.

"Infini", the latest album from VOIVOD, landed at position No. 67 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.

VOIVOD's final album featuring the group's late guitarist, Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, "Infini" was released in the U.S. on June 23, 2009 via Relapse Records. The CD, which was issued in Europe via Nuclear Blast, contains the last thirteen songs written by Piggy and again features bassist Jason "Jasonic" Newsted (ex-METALLICA). Jason played bass on all the songs and mixed the album, which was released as a deluxe, digipack CD and was also issued on vinyl as a double LP.

"Infini" was built from the final songs created by the band with D'Amour. All his original demo guitar tracks appear as they were recorded — with no re-amping and no overdubs; just Piggy as he played the tracks he envisioned in his small bachelor apartment, the amp in the bathroom, capturing his performance with the laptop given to him by Jason.

Children Of Bodom On New Album: 'Expect Nothing Less Than The Perfect Storm'

Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM have entered Finland's Petrax Studios to begin work on their as-yet-untitled seventh studio album. The band has enlisted famed rock producer Matt Hyde (SLAYER, MONSTER MAGNET) to oversee the new recording and will remain in the studio through late September. The new record will see release in early 2011.

"We're very excited to let everyone hear what we're creating with this new record," said the band in a statement. "Everything you love about CHILDREN OF BODOM has been magnified tenfold and we're pushing ourselves harder than ever before. Expect nothing less than 'the perfect storm!'"

Immediately upon the completion of the new album, CHILDREN OF BODOM will join Zakk Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY for a two-month North American tour. Dubbed the "Black Label Berzerkus" and described as "rock n' roll nights of excess and unique madness," the massive trek will kick off on September 21 at Roseland in Portland, Oregon and make stops across the U.S. and Canada.

In other news, BODOM guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho and Zakk will appear side-by-side on the cover of Guitar World's November 2010 issue — on newsstands September 21 (see cover sneak peek below).

Also on the CHILDREN OF BODOM-related front, the band has contributed the song "If You Want Peace...Prepare for War" to the upcoming music video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. To "maximize players' shredability," Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock "delivers the next evolution in finger-fretting with an all-new, show-stopping guitar controller that was inspired and born from the game's unique art style and specifically made for shredding." CHILDREN OF BODOM will appear on the game alongside fellow heavyweights KISS, METALLICA, OZZY OSBOURNE, DEF LEPPARD, FOO FIGHTERS and more.

Symphorce: New Album Title, Artwork Unveiled

German melodic metallers SYMPHORCE, who feature in their ranks guitarist Cédric "Cede" Dupont and singer Andy B. Franck (BRAINSTORM), will release their new album, "Unrestricted", on Septemebr 24 via AFM Records.

Check out the cover artwork below.

Commented the band: "The [new SYMPHORCE] album recordings have been finished, the whole thing is mixed and mastered and what can we say? It sounds FUCKING AWESOME!

"There's no doubt that the small break we had turned out to be good for us, and we'll be back with the best SYMPHORCE record for sure. It's what we believe at least.

"We're absolutely excited, and so will you be when the album's out, we're pretty damn sure about that!"

SYMPHORCE's last CD, "Become Death", came out in February 2007 via Metal Blade Records. The CD was recorded at the House Of Music Studios in Winterbach (near Stuttgart), Germany with producer Dennis Ward (PINK CREAM 69). Mastering duties were handled by Achim Köhler (BRAINSTORM).

Blind Illusion Interviewed At San Francisco's Tidal Wave Festival

Bassy Stacy of BayAreaRocks.com conducted an interview with BLIND ILLUSION when the group played the 2010 edition of the Tidal Wave free outdoor metal festival at John McLaren Park's Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in San Francisco California on July 25. You can now watch the chat below.

BLIND ILLUSION is an American band that was part of the Bay Area thrash metal scene. Formed in 1979 by lead guitarist and chief songwriter Marc Biedermann, the group had an extremely unstable lineup (Biedermann being the only constant member) and went through a few stylistic changes in its early years.

BLIND ILLUSION's debut studio album, "The Sane Asylum", was released in 1988.

After leaving BLIND ILLUSION, bassist Les Claypool and guitarist Larry LaLonde went on to form the alternative psychedelic funk metal band PRIMUS.

Biedermann reformed BLIND ILLUSION in 2009 and on July 7, 2010 the band released its sophomore album, "Demon Master".

BLIND ILLUSION 2010 is:

Marc Biedermann - Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals
Danny Harcourt - Bass
Robert Nystrom - Drums

Agathodaimon Parts Ways With Guitarist, Announces Replacement

German black/death/gothic metallers AGATHODAIMON have parted ways with guitarist Jan Jansohn "due to musical and personal differences" and have replaced him with Thilo Feucht. The band states, "[Thilo's] no unknown musician to our fans; you will know him from various contributions and guest appearances he had on 'Chapter III' [2001] and 'Serpent's Embrace' [2004], back then under the nick name of Azrael. He has also joined us on stage several times in the past since 'Chapter III', and already for our recent gigs we had in Austria and Germany.

"We're proud that he joined our ranks as full member now, and look forward to working on our sixth album together.

"Speaking of album No. six, for which we can announce the working title 'In Darkness...' It will be a step back to our roots, girls and boys!

"A studio date is scheduled for early 2011. More news to come soon."

AGATHODAIMON's latest album, "Phoenix", was released in March 2009 via Massacre Records. The follow-up to "Serpent's Embrace" marked the debut of the band's new vocalist, Chris "Ashtrael" Bonner, who joined the group in 2008.

Professionally filmed video footage of AGATHODAIMON performing the song "Tongue Of Thorns" at the Winternachtstraum Festival on February 28, 2009 in Arnsberg-Oeventrop, Germany can be viewed below.