Scott Stapp Denies Plotting To Assassinate The President

Less storied on this list is Mad Season, originally a side project of Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, who broke up in 1999 following the death of bassist John Baker Saunders , and later saw singer Layne Staley (of AiC) pass away.

System of a Down had previously announced the tour last month, noting that it was designed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in Turkey.

"We said we should celebrate the fact that we're here on stage, on the radio telling you about [the genocide]," bassist Shavo Odadjian explained to KROQ. "We got to that level. Let's not mourn 100 years what has already happened. By educating, you raise awareness. By raising awareness, you grow peoples' minds."

"The way we do it, we have our show, and the people that want to take information away from that, and the people who want to just come and enjoy the show also have that freedom," drummer John Dolmayan added.

The group features Tremonti drummer Garrett Whitlock, Evanescence guitarist Troy McLawhorn and Ether Seeds singer Dustin Lowery. Dustin's brother Corey is on bass while guitarist Pat Deeb completes the lineup.

Corey Lowery says: "This is the first time I've been able to do a CD with my youngest brother. Pat Deeb and I started writing this music and we needed a voice that would match it.

"I sent it to Dustin and I think he took it to a new level. Troy McLawhorn and Garrett Whitlock came in and took it to a newer level. There are special guests on it, such as our brother Clint Lowery, Morgan Rose and Matt O'Rourke."

Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy and Killer Be Killed frontman Cavalera reports: "I'm a big fan and I think The Epigenesis is one of the greatest extreme metal records ever done. Our worlds finally collide; long live Melechesh!"

He tells Metal Wani: "It's not reinventing the wheel but it's a couple of steps forward. There's two quite distinctive styles. You've got the traditional, fast, chaotic and almost off-the-rails Napalm approach.

Now the late, great Joe Strummer of The Clash has been selected to have a snail named after him. And this isn't just some random bit of fandom. The snail actually looks the part, with a spikey shape that resembles the look of many classic punks.

"Because they look like punk rockers in the '70s and '80s and they have purple blood and live in such an extreme environment, we decided to name one new species after a punk rock icon," said Shannon Johnson of the Monterey Bay Research Aquarium.

Skynyrd will team up with finalist Craig Wayne Boyd for a song; Fall Out Boy will join finalist Matt McAndrew; Jennifer Hudson will sing with finalist Damien; and, Jessie J will join finalist Chris Jamison for a performance.

"As some of you may know," says the band, "we have been long supporters of the Sharks going back to the mid-90's when the team moved permanently to San Jose... over the years we've made many treks down to the Shark Tank.

"So it's actually pretty fitting that we finally connect with the team for a night of metal and hockey and we want you to come along and partake of the festivities with us."

Guitarist Don Gates tells Maximum Metal: "We are starting off slowly to get a good feel of how things will work. In the past we took a beating from our old label so we were a bit gun shy going into this. Once we had a face-to-face meeting with the US rep for Mighty Music Rich Lee, we knew that this was the right place to be.

The tracks will be presented in alphabetical order on 7CD set The Complete Recordings, which is out on March 23 via Cooking Vinyl. Black says: "It feels like an approximation of randomness and its a way to randomise something, especially if its titles. We get away from the preciousness of LPs we put out and its more about the body of work, the good times that we had.

"This is a boxset including all of the Frank Black And The Catholics material that was recorded, there's bonus material and technical demos and it's all recorded live to 2-track, as was our rule in the band."

Axenrot has been acclaimed for his work on Opeth's eleventh album Pale Communion, launched this year. The band followed the released with an appearance at Download and a UK tour.

In his latest correspondence with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office, Abbath claims Horgh and Demonaz left him to pay the bills on a rehearsal space and that he has recorded a new album with other musicians.

Dagbladet reports Abbath's letter as saying: "This summer Olve received a message from Harald and Reidar indicating that they wanted to take a longer break after a conflict occurred between Olve and the other two band members.

Valo tells KWSS-FM Scottsdale, Arizona: "We're playing one show on New Year's Eve in Helsinki and then that's gonna be it for touring for a while, because then we'll have been on the road more or less, on and off, for about a year and a half. So that's a long time for us."

They've been inactive since 2008 but vocalist Ricky Warwick, who fronts Black Star Riders, says he and original drummer Stump Monroe were involved on the production of the reissues.

He fell ill on stage in February, soon after the veteran punks had confirmed signing to Nuclear Blast for what will be their first record in 12 years. It's set for release in the summer, following a run of European shows that includes appearances in Glasgow and Manchester.

They say: "It was very important for us that Wattie was cured completely. Now he's recovered we can go on working with new power. We're totally hooked to record new songs, and of course we're thrilled to play the upcoming live shows. Watch out; get ready - The Exploited are back, better than ever!"

An additional 14 acts have been named for the Metal Hammer sponsored festival, which takes place at Newark Showground, Nottinghamshire, on July 9-12.

Garrod says: "Tech-Fest 2015 is looking to be our biggest event yet - we're excited to be working with all the great sponsors from last year and going back to the Newark Showground for our fourth edition. Many more bands, workshops and after-parties will be announced in due course."

Frontman Josh McKeown says: "We're pumped to have finished our tour with Protest The Hero and now go full throttle into 2015, with more dates to announce soon. We can't wait to hit up some smaller towns again like on this tour as these are some of places and venues that Palm Reader first began to makes our name."

Also newly listed are Eagles Of Death Metal, Dragonforce, Hollywood Undead, Body Count, Every Time I Die, Parkway Drive, Backyard Babies, H.E.A.T., Motionless In White, Crown The Empire, Northlane, Madball and Mallory Knox.

Michael Clifford, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin released their self-titled debut earlier this year - and it's an achievement they're proud of as they wanted people to hear material they had been working on for years.

The clip, directed by Syndrome, seems to take the title pretty literally, juxtaposing a ballerina and a face-painted child stuck in a room. The look of the video has the damaged film quality, giving a sort of grittiness to images that wouldn't be troubling when presented in a different format, with different lighting.

As a group of men surround the dancer, no lighting or look is needed for things to get worrisome for the young girl. Then things take a turn for the Shyamalan as the young boy coughs up black liquid and the girl faces her aggressors.

Manson's new album is scheduled to be released on January 20th in North America and on January 19th in the UK. It will be available is a standard ten track version and a deluxe version with three bonus tracks. Listen to the new track here.

The November 22 date at the Tacoma Dome wrapped up a 6-week run in support of the band's latest album, "Redeemer Of Souls", as part of the group's 40th anniversary tour.

"A big screaming thank you to our metal maniacs for a killer first leg of the Redeemer of Souls world tour 2014/15 - You all kept the Faith!," says the band. "We are looking forward to seeing the rest of our #priestfamily in 2015."

Drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello, singer Joey Belladonna guitarist Scott Ian and latest recruit, guitarist Jon Donais, have been writing material over the past few months. They plan to complete work by the end of January.

In the clip, Ian says: "We're going to start recording the new Anthrax record for you motherf***ers - right now!" before Benante counts in a song that fades out straight away.

Due February 23, the follow-up to the group's 2013 debut, "All Hell Breaks Loose" was recorded in Nashville with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, The Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, Mastodon).

"The Killer Instinct" will be available in multiple formats: CD, Limited 2 CDs Digibook with a bonus disc that features 2 extra songs and acoustic versions of 4 tracks from the album, Limited Gatefold Black Vinyl and Limited Gatefold Clear Vinyl (available for mail orders only).

Due for release in North America on December 16, the collection features most of "Foreigner 4" as well as some of the band's best-known hits recorded live the Borgata Hotel's Music Box theatre in Atlantic City in October.

"Foreigner 4" spent more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts than any artist in the history of Atlantic Records, including AC/DC, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, and went on to sell more than 9 million albums worldwide.

Sure, noshing into some greasy kebab on the Friday night bus home is worth its wait in gold at the time, but as Headbanger's Kitchen shows you - decent food is f***ing metal.

Cooking up the ever-so evil Grandis Pilaf Diavolos (aka Chorizo Pulao) this week is the Rotting Christ frontman Sakis Tolis who sits down for an interview in which we learn the meaning behind their deliciously brutal name and the evolution of their sound away from black metal.

He reunited with Dark Angel in 2013 and the group are writing music for their first studio release since 1991's Time Does Not Heal. He recorded for Pitch Black Forest's, As the World Burns, and found time to help out his former colleagues in Death by filling in for Sean Reinert on the road.

Hoglan tells BeatIt: "I've been preaching this for years: the most important thing for a young player to do is find guys that you like to hang out with - more so than the best musicians in town. You're going to grow and evolve as a musician and also as a friend."

"Bands do become families. They become teams, and if you've got some really good teammates, really cool family members, everybody's always going to improve as a musician, especially if you're a young dude. Everybody gets better."

The Climb according to guitarist Maarten Houben is about "about getting over hard times, picking yourself back up again and making 'the climb' towards better things."

"The narrative of the video reflects this, showing the central character of the girl ascending to the top of a hill," he continues. "The song really embodies what Smoke And Mirrors is all about for us. It has a positive message and encourages people to be positive and strong, so we thought it's the perfect song to introduce people to the EP and to Essence."