Sum 41 Accident- Metallica Born Again Straight Edge- Stone Temple Pilots Rule Again?- U2's Replacement- Free Taproot- Hail! To Tour Despite Paul Gray's Death- more

Metallica frontman James Hetfield was asked in an interview about his new "Straight Edge" tattoo and he explained, "And I don't need drink or drugs. That's straight edge life. Obviously I'm not straight edge - a true, hardcore straight edge has never had any of it in her or her whole life. But I'm a reborn straight edge." The interview then said, I always associated Minor Threat and Ian MacKaye and those guys with straight edge punk. That's what they were all about. James responded, "Absolutely. There's some hardcore people that are straight edge from birth. So this was my take on the straight edge X, you know? Straight razors. A straight edge, is what that was all about." Read more here

The good news for Stone Temple Pilots is that the band's first studio album in nine years will be the highest debut on the U.S. pop chart next week, reports Billboard. The bad news is that it will likely sell only 60,000-70,000 copies, industry prognosticators say. more

Bad news Zeppelin fans, U2's replacement for Glastonbury has been found and they are definitely not Led Zeppelin. Damon Albarn has sent his best wishes to injured rocker Bono after his band Gorillaz was drafted in to replace U2 at this year's Glastonbury festival. more

But Lep fans do have this: The John Bonham Story, narrated by Dave Grohl (The Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures ), will air 3 PM (BST) Monday, May 31, on BBC6 Music. Led Zeppelin guitar legend Jimmy Page dropped by BBC6 Music to talk about the documentary regarding his former comrade in arms, John Bonham. more

Slipknot's Paul Gray's supergroup side project Hail! are to continue with plans to tour Europe in June following the bass player's death on Monday, May 24. Bandmates Tim 'Ripper' Owens, David Ellefson and Andreas Kisser insist the show must go on, and they've drafted in session musician James Lomenzo, who has played with White Lion and Megadeth more

Taproot's new single, "Fractured (Everything I Said Was True)", is today's FREE Song of the Day on Amazon. Grab it here

Ash have released a DIY slasher movie, which features Coldplay's Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland, plus Charlotte Hatherley. Originally filmed by the band on camcorder, whilst on tour in 2002, Slashed is being used as an alternative video for current single 'Binary', Watch it here

Benjamin Burnley has two more solo acoustic dates coming up in Hamilton Beach, NH and Atlantic City, NJ. Normally, the Hamilton Beach Casino Ballroom is a general admission venue, but for this intimate performance, there will be more actual seating. more

Digital sales of Dio's "Holy Diver" shot up 327% last week after selling 9,000 downloads following the legendary singers death, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan.

Nielsen SoundScan also provided the breakdown for The Rolling Stones "Exile on Main Street" reissue which landed at No. 2 on the Billboard chart. The album sold 60,000 CDs, 15,000 downloads and 2,000 vinyl copies last week. Plus they moved 116,000 digitally downloaded songs from the album.

Kings Of Leon drummer Nathan Followill says the band is almost done recording new songs in Nashville for their next record. more

Muse will be returning to tour Australia this December. The dates are here

Buried Inside is apparently going on an indefinite hiatus following thirteen years and several releases (including two with Relapse Records) together. more

It looks like Enuff Z'nuff latest studio album, Dissonance, which features Jake E. Lee on lead guitar, will be one of the first releases on a new UK label called Grind That Axe. Classic Rock reports that the album will hit UK stores on July 19th. The current line-up of band is heading to the UK next month for two appearances at the Download festival and dates in Liverpool and London. more.

In related news, Enuff Z'nuff guitarist Tory Stoffregen and drummer Randi Scott have also lined up some UK dates for their band The Black Mollys in what they are billing as the Donington Hangover Shows. Details here.

God Street Wine will reunite for four shows in their old hometown of New York in July. The initial two shows at the Gramercy Theater on July 9 and 10 sold out in under ten minutes, prompting the addition of two more shows at The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza on July 16 and 17, which are on sale now. more

Despised Icon will embark upon their final European tour in August. The trek will also feature The Black Dahlia Murder. more

Due to "contractual differences," Venom have cancelled their appearance at High Voltage, the U.K.'s new rock festival more

Ender will team up with Above All Fallen and Timelines for an East Coast tour in July. more

For Today recently began recording their next album at New Jersey studio The Machine Shop with Will Putney (Bloodsimple, Haste The Day) handling production duties. The follow-up to 2009's "Portraits" will be titled "Breaker" and will be released later this year more

Little Willie G. is confirmed to perform at the Rhino Pop-Up store along with an eleven piece backing band tonight at 8:00 PM. On Friday, Co-authors Gary Calamar and Phil Gallo will be signing Record Store Days, their book that includes lots of Rhino-specific anecdotes at on Friday, May 28, starting at 6 PM, The book traces the growth of an industry that became inextricably entwined in the fabric of American life in the twentieth century. The pop-up store is located at 1740 Westwood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90024.

In celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the release of their debut album The Madding Crowd, Nine Days will play a show in New York on July 30th, playing every song from the album. more

Sony Denmark platinum selling artist Kashmir will be making their U.S. return June 12th, to headline The Roxy on Sunset located in Hollywood, CA. Shirock is also scheduled to perform.

The line-up for the Thrash and Burn Tour 2010 in North America has been solidified. Check it out at Lambgoat

The split 12" from Isis and Melvins has now been slated for a July 13th release via Hydra Head Records. more

Tim Armstrong (Operation Ivy, Rancid, The Transplants) will be releasing a series of prints through Poster Child Prints; his first release is a limited edition sketch of Gwen Stefani screened on newsprint. more -

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