Decapitated Go Nuclear

Lambgoat reports: Polish death metal band Decapitated has officially signed with Nuclear Blast Records. Formed in 1996, the group had previously released four albums with Earache Records.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after the death of Decapitated drummer Witold Kieltyka. Nuclear Blast has issued the following:

"We're looking forward to the upcoming mix of technical superiority, brutal riffs and blastbeats on album number five. The joy over these awesome news are of course overshadowed by the tragic death of drummer Witold 'Vitek' Kieltyka. - more on this story

Key Strummer Tribute

Filter reports: On December 22nd at the Key Club, Christ Salewicz, the author of the Joe Strummer biography, Redemption Song, will host a night occupied with musicians paying their respect to Strummer with graffiti god DJ Shepard Fairey scratching records in between sets.

Filling out the roster alongside the seminal band Love and Rockets will be La Plebe, Zander Schloss & The Wilderness Years, Three Bad Jacks, David J (Bauhaus), Hellride (featuring Mike Watt, Steven Perkins & Peter Distefano) and The Devildolls Rock 'n' Roll Street Gang.

Sets will range from five to thirty minutes as bands perform songs spanning Strummers four decade influential career - more on this story

Zookeeper Add Dates

PR reports: Austin-based band Zookeeper, led by Chris Simpson – the former songwriter and front man for the groundbreaking original-era emo bands Mineral and The Gloria Record – has just announced additional tour dates to round out 2007.

This year has been a highly productive one for the group, bouncing in and out of the Top 10 for months as one of the most blogged about bands on the internet according to aggregator elbo.ws.

The praise comes on the heels of Zookeeper's self-titled EP and recently released debut album Becoming All Things. Alternative Press recently featured the band as well, and previous tours with Umbrellas and The Good Life have been enthusiastically received. - more on this story

Ozzy Goes To Vegas

PR reports: Ozzy Osbourne will bring his massive 40-concert North American tour to The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on Saturday, November 24th 2007. This will be his first solo concert in Las Vegas in more than four years and will feature special guest, Rob Zombie.

The tour follows BLACK RAIN-- Ozzy's first album of new studio material in six years and ZOMBIE's hit film Halloween, which premiered number one at the box office in its debut weekend and broke all Labor Day Weekend records, grossing an estimated 31 million dollars. - more on this story

When I Get Home, You're So Dead

PR reports: Mayday Parade's video for "When I Get Home You're So Dead," the first single off their debut disc A Lesson In Romantics premiers today on MySpace as a featured video on the homepage. The video was shot in LA and directed by Marco de la Torre (New Found Glory, Hellogoodbye)

"I can honestly say that shooting our first music video was one of the coolest, most unreal experiences of my life," explains Mayday Parade lead singer Derek Sanders. "I remember just thinking back to when we all first sat down together and talked about forming this band, and then here we were with lights, cameras, and crew all around us. It was a very exciting, overwhelming feeling. We were lucky to be working with Marco, who is such a great guy and amazing director. I really look forward to everyone's reaction to the video."

Fearless Records (The label responsible for Plain White T's) released Mayday Parade's debut full length A Lesson In Romantics this summer. - Check out the video

Talking Outtakes

PR reports: Four video clips of interviews with Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine and Motley Crue/Sixx A.M. bassist Nikki Sixx from "Talking Metal on fuse" have been posted online.

The clips contain some additional footage not seen on the show.

"Talking Metal on fuse", a one-hour pilot that brings the number-one heavy metal/hard rock podcast on iTunes to television. Hosted by Mark Strigl and John Ostronomy, the show provides a unique perspective and insider's view into the world of metal and hard rock music. Check out the Clips - here

The Last GoodChat

PR reports: The Last Goodnight is teaming up with meebo and UStream to chat with their fans this Tuesday, November 20th at 5 pm EST. By heading over to TheLastGoodnight.net, fans will have a chance to IM questions to the band during the event. Also, questions can be emailed to the band in advance at thelastgoodnightchat@gmail.com. The guys will appear live via webcam to respond to as many questions as possible.

The Last Goodnight have been touring extensively since the release of their major-label debut album, Poison Kiss, this past summer, playing certain dates with American Idol finalist Elliot Yamin. The band originally hails from Connecticut, and their music has been featured on the television program Brothers & Sisters.

Fans can also enter to win a private concert from The Last Goodnight via this widget. One grand prize winner will receive an intimate concert from The Last Goodnight for them and 20 of their friends as well as T-shirts, albums, and stickers from The Last Goodnight - more on this story

Umphrey's Mcgee 10 Anniversary Plans

PR reports: Chicago's own Umphrey's Mcgee will blow out the year's end with three nights at the beautiful Aragon Ballroom.

The arrival of 2008 marks Umphrey's ten year anniversary. Very special musical guests kick off the first two shows, with reggae legends The Wailers opening on December 29th and fusion rock outfits Tortoise on-board for December 30th.

On New Year's Eve, Umphrey's McGee officially celebrates its 10th anniversary by hosting a Black and White Ball, Umphrey's style. The band will roll out the red carpet and pop plenty of champagne corks; a special Ten Year Anniversary Video Tribute will open the show. - more on this story

Spin Doctor Tour

PR reports: Chris Barron, Lead singer of the multi-platinum recording artist, The Spin Doctors, returns to the scene with a new band, a new sound, and a new album, " Pancho and the Kid"

Best known as the lead singer for the Grammy nominated band and multi-platinum recording artist the Spin Doctors, Chris Barron has already had the kind of musical career most artists could only dream of. It was in the midst of this success that Chris Barron was confronted with an enormous roadblock. After waking up one morning having lost his voice, Chris Barron was diagnosed with a paralyzed vocal chord. Specialists gave Chris a fifty percent chance of ever speaking in a normal voice again. After a regimen of everything from acupuncture to prescription steroids and intensive vocal training, Chris Barron is fully recovered and singing better than ever, charming audiences all over again as a solo artist with his sincerity and vocal style that has made his voice recognizable to millions all over the world.

Currently, Chris Barron announces the release of his second solo-album, Pancho and the Kid. Although not a complete departure from his previous work, fans and new audiences will be more than surprised with the depth and diversity of his new album. - more including dates

Polkadot Cadaver Release Shows

PR reports: Baltimore based Polkadot Cadaver, featuring Todd Smith, Jasan Stepp and John Ensminger formerly of Dog Fashion Disco, have announced CD release performances in Cleveland, OH on November 30th and December 1st, 2007 in Baltimore, MD.

The members of Polkadot Cadaver cut their teeth recording and touring relentlessly in avant-garde alt-metal act Dog Fashion Disco. During the near decade the group spent in Dog Fashion Disco. Smith and his merry band of misfits would amass a loyal underground following of fans (dubbed the "mushroom cult") through countless tours with the likes of Slayer, Mindless Self Indulgence, Nothingface and Lacuna Coil.

Although Dog Fashion Disco never achieved commercial success, their musical legacy gained the respect of musical contemporaries like Serj Tankian of System of a Down (who made a guest appearance on Anarchists of Good Taste), Mushroomhead and American Head Charge, while the group's music lives on through the internet and continues to create new members of the "mushroom cult" long after the band's demise. - show info

Down Video Premiere

PR reports: It has been a busy year for Phil Anselmo, Pepper Keenan, Rex Brown, Kirk Windstein and Jimmy Bower of DOWN. The band released DOWN III – OVER THE UNDER to critical acclaim, did some revealing interviews, went on tour and made a video that is now coming to light on MTV2's HEADBANGERS BALL!

DOWN is set to release the first video from OVER THE UNDER. The clip, for "On March The Saints" makes its first showing on MTV2's HEADBANGERS BALL this weekend – Saturday, November 17th at 11pm (re-airing Monday at 4am). You can catch a sneak preview starting TODAY - right here

Spirit In The Site

PR reports: "I'm going up to the Spirit in the Sky - That's where I want to go when I die...", the words and music hum through the minds of anyone who has listened to top-40 radio in the past four decades. Music legend Norman Greenbaum penned and recorded the hit song "Spirit In The Sky" in late 1969, which rocketed to #1 in the U.S. and Great Britain. Named song of the year by Cashbox magazine in 1970, the single would go on to sell over two million copies.

Recently, much to the elation of his fans, Norman Greenbaum has relaunched his official website - www.spiritinthesky.com and has made available his much sought after CDs from the '60s and '70s, along with T-shirts, hats, mouse pads, signed photos and other memorabilia. Although Norman hasn't recorded in recent years, he is very active with his new website, posting messages to his fans and making available rare photos for viewing.

"There can be no greater joy in life than being what they call, 'a one hit wonder'. And when you've created an international chart smash that just about everyone remembers, then you can hold your head up with pride!" said writer Chris Welsh about Norman and "Spirit In The Sky". - more on this story

D.I.Y. OR DIE: How to Survive as an Independent Artist

PR reports: Microsoft's Zune Marketplace has just launched and Zune.net launches the week of November 19th. Both are showcasing the documentary film "D.I.Y. OR DIE: How to Survive as an Independent Artist" as top-four picks.

Director Michael W. Dean is giving away the entire film as eight episodic chapters over eight weeks' time, one per week as free video downloads, in the "podcasts" section of Zune Marketplace and Zune.net.

The film is encoded in high quality (30 fps, 900 kbps MP4 files, 640 x 480 size, with 128-bit stereo audio, and no digital rights management or copy protection). - more on this story

.... Review: Treaty of Paris - Sweet Dreams, Sucker

After the very first listen to the Treaty of Paris debut album I was ready to chalk them up as just another irrelevant bubble gum pop rock indie band that sounds like so many others out there right now. (2.5 stars) - Read the full Treaty of Paris - Sweet Dreams, Sucker review

.... Review: Knights of the Abyss - Juggernaut

Knights of the Abyss are painfully generic in many ways, and it really sucks they have to sound like every other namable deathcore band. Sadly, Juggernaut is something that's been done a thousand times before. - Read the full Knights of the Abyss - Juggernaut review

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