Linkin Park - "The Catalyst"

Linkin Park will exclusively preview the first single from their upcoming album, "A Thousand Suns" which is out Sept. 14, via a trailer for the upcoming videogame "Medal of Honor."

The preview will be offered one day before the single, "The Catalyst," is scheduled to hit radio and other outlets. Linkin Park's Joe Hahn also directed the video clip, which includes a mix of gameplay footage and live-action footage of actors playing as soldiers. The full trailer goes live Aug. 1 at medalofhonor.com/linkinpark. In the meantime, watch a sneak peek gameplay trailer below.

Opeth announces new live DVD.

As part of the ongoing celebration of their 20th anniversary, Sweden's OPETH is releasing live footage and audio from the band's recent performance at London's famed Royal Albert Hall. Live in convert at the Royal Albert Hall, due out 9/21/10, is a fierce testament to Opeth's continued success in the progressive metal community.

Twenty years and nine records into their legendary career, Opeth’s progressively creative spirit remains unwavering, propelling the band through the “Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology” tour, which brought the Swedish titans to six of the world’s most unique venues, and now, with the release of In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, into the homes of their fans.

The performance at the Royal Albert Hall (recorded on the 5th of April, 2010) includes two sets, the first consisting of the band performing 2000’s now-classic, breakthrough epic, Blackwater Park in its entirety, and the second, a chronologically arranged selection of material from the rest of Opeth's extensive catalogue, totaling almost three hours of madness. The front cover artwork concept pays tribute to Deep Purple's Concerto for Group and Orchestra, underlining the band's longstanding love for their prog-rock roots.

Tarja Turunun (Ex- Nightwish) - What Lies Beneath

Tarja Turunen’s sophomore effort, What Lies Beneath, will be out on August 31, 2010. The first single, “Falling Awake” (featuring Jason Hook from Five Finger Death Punch) will be released August 17 as a limited edition and available August 24 at all digital outlets . The track is backed with “The Good Die Young”, a song from The Scorpions most recent album that features Tarja's vocals. The video for “Falling Awake” was just released and can be viewed below.

Special guests on What Lies Beneath include Phil Labonte (All That Remains), Joe Satriani, Jason Hook (5 Finger Death Punch), Will Calhoun (Living Colour), Slovak National Symphony Orchestra and Choir and more.

Chimaira - Coming Alive

Coming Alive the new live DVD/CD of Chimaira is now streaming online. Check it out at the AOL listening party.

The package features a live DVD/CD featuring 17 tracks recorded at Chimaira's December 30th Christmas show (at the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio). Bonus features on the DVD include a 45 minute Resurrection: "Making of" documentary and a 40 minute home-video footage documentary of never before seen moments.

Coming Alive was released on July 13 in Europe, and July 20 in the rest of the world.

Cradle of Filth signs to Nuclear Blast

One of the most infamous and notorious names in metal, CRADLE OF FILTH, continue to shock, excite, disgust and inspire in equal measures. The band just signed on to Nuclear Blast records and on November 9, 2010 in North America, the latest chapter of the band’s dark history will be released through Nuclear Blast USA.

Frederick Jude, Managing Director of Peaceville Records, comments on this upcoming cooperative effort: "Football aside, we’re pleased to be teaming up with Nuclear Blast on this very important release. Given their resources, interest in the band, and track record in the U.S., we believe CRADLE OF FILTH will be best positioned to better the sales of their last album in North America."

Dimmu Borgir new album artwork.

The artwork created for the new DIMMU BORGIR album Abrahadabra by German artist / painter / graphic designer Joachim Luetke (Arch Enemy, Kreator, Sopor Aeternus) can be viewed below.The word "Abrahadabra" roughly translates into "I will create as I speak".

Abrahadabra will be released in Germany on September 24th, in the rest of Europe on September 27th, and in North America on October 12th.

Lamb Of God: Hourglass Super Deluxe Set \m/

Lamb Of God: Hourglass Super Deluxe Set - Packed with all sorts of goodies, this is a dream for any hardcore LOG fan. The $999 price tag seems outrageous but it comes with a Mark Morton signature Jackson Dominion D2 guitar. Still, it seems a bit expensive for the typical metal fan’s budget.Anyways here's the official promotion video for this super deluxe set by Chris Adler.

Chimaira- 'Pure Hatred' ft. Randy Blythe

Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe joined Chimaira on stage at the Nampa, Idaho stop of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival on July 14, 2010 to perform the song "Pure Hatred". Check out the fan-filmed video footage of his appearance below. The quality is a pretty fucked up, but what the hell!

Metal scene in India

Heavy, fast riffs, mind numbing distortion, blast beats, and the shear pace of the double bass...brings to mind the kind of tranquility that one could only imagine about. Being Indians, we mostly have to settle for overseas material when it comes to metal (Though 'settle' would be a huge understatement!). The kind of music people listen to actually varies as you move from one part of the country to the other and the biggest pit-stops for metal in our country would be Bangalore, Bombay, the North-east, and maybe some parts of Calcutta. Lack of proper facilities and reception are probably the two biggest reasons for the slow progress of metal in our country. However with bands such as Inner Sanctum, Pin Drop Violence, Bhayanak Maut and a whole bunch more the prospect of Indian metal can only go higher.

Concerts with metal acts headlining the gig have become commonplace and are receiving rave reviews. Some of the biggest gigs are namely the Great Indian Rock, Deccan Rock Fest, Great Indian metal fest,Rock ethos. Add to the fact that most of these bands are now concentrating more on releasing EPs which I feel is a great move that actually generates a much wider fan-base than possible through live shows and gigs!

Albums to Check Out:

• Inner Sanctum-Provenance
• Pin Drop Violence-Right to riot
• Millennium- One concept to live
• Pin Drop Violence-Compose, Oppose, Dispose

Watch this Space!!!

In Flames

When In Flames, hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, came into being in the year 1990 , mortals had no clue as to how big a revolution this band was going to bring about. 20 years down the line they are considered to be one of the biggest all time pioneers of melodic death metal. Co-incidentally one of my favorite metal bands! Formed by Jesper Stromblad and consisting of members Anders Friden(Vocals), Bjorn Gelotte(Guitars), Peter Iwers(Bass), Daniel Svensson(Drums) and Jesper Stromblad(Guitars). Since 1990 the band has released nine studio albums and the sound of the band has changed down the years. The musical style of In Flames may be segregated into two distinct styles.

The Band used a much heavier layout to the music as incorporated in the first five albums. Blast beats along with growling vocals and genuinely fast guitaring was the trademark of this period. The toning down of the music,however, came at around 2002 with the release of the album 'Reroute to Remain', when the band started using clean vocals along with a reduction in the double bass and distortion with much regularity. The stylistic changes also included more prominent rhythm sections with the use of keyboards and electronics. This led to a division among the fans due to contradicting tastes. Whatever be the case, one aspect which you just cant overlook when inflames is concerned is the underlying melody in each track which just makes it awe-worthy.The Band continues to herald unchartered territories in the world of metal till date and continues to be one of the biggest influencing forces behind Melodic Death Metal.

Albums:

1. The Lunar Strain
2. The Jester Race
3. Whoracle
4. Colony
5. Clayman
6. Reroute to remain
7. Soundtrack to your escaoe
8. Come Clarity
9. A sense of purpose

Must listen:

• My Sweet Shadow
• Only for the weak
• Come Clarity
• Cloud Connected
• Gyroscope

Editor's Rating: 5/5 (Just doesn't get any better!)

Footnote: The official In flames mascot is the Jester head that has appeared on each of the albums since its inception in the album 'The Jester Race'. The best aspect of their music which I like the most personally would be the flawless incorporation of keyboards with the metal sound which makes listening to this band play nothing less than a heavenly experience!

Gojira

Progressive death metal band formed in 1996 in France but gained popularity near about 2000-2001 with the release of their album 'Terra Incognita'. The band mostly deals with environmental issues and has a pretty heavy feel to its sound coupled with a characteristic slow heavy guitars and fast thumping double bass which just adds to the listening experience. Decent vocals considering the French background and consist of both death metal growls and clean vocals. Major Influences have been listed as Death, Metallica, Tool, Meshuggah. Since 'Terra Incognita', the band has released 3 more studio albums till date, 'The Link', 'From mars to Sirius' and 'The way of all flesh'.

Must listen:

• Love
• The heaviest matter of the universe
• To Sirius
• All the tears
• Ocean Planet

Editor Rating: 3.5/5

Footnote: Can get a little monotonous after a while. Good listen on the whole! Very nice to hear environmental issue based lyrics in metal though. A very commendable departure from conventional lyrics!