NEWS METALLICA and SLAYER confirmed for Sonisphere in Spain METALLICA, SOUNDGARDEN, SLAYER, WITHIN TEMPTATION and MASTODON are among the confirmed bands for this year's installment of the Spanish edition of the Sonisphere festival, set to take place May 26 at Getafe Open Air in Madrid. The other bands are CLUTCH, GOJIRA, VITA IMANA, GHOST, KYUSS LIVES, SKINDRED, CHILDREN OF BODOM, ORANGE GOBLIN and SISTER. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, January 31 at 10:00 a.m. www.sonispherfestivals.com   2012-01-27 23:25:20 GUNS N' ROSES announce shows in Ireland & Italy GUNS N' ROSES has is beginning to roll out dates for its upcoming late spring/early summer European tour. So far the following two shows have been confirmed: May 17 - O2 Arena - Dublin, Ireland Jun. 22 - Gods Of Metal - Milan, Italy Tickets for the Dublin concert go on sale next Friday, February 3. www.gunsnroses.com   2012-01-27 23:02:43 MPIRE OF EVIL to release debut album MPIRE OF EVIL (formerly PRIMEVIL) — with ex-VENOM members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Tony "The Demolition Man" Dolan (bass, vocals) — will release its full-length debut, "Hell To The Holy", on March 26 via Scarlet Records. A North American tour with British thrash legends ONSLAUGHT has already been confirmed, but many more dates will follow soon.   2012-01-27 22:43:15 EUROPE announce title of new album Swedish hard rockers EUROPE have set "Bag Of Bones" as the title of their ninth studio album, tentatively due in April. The CD is being produced by Kevin Shirley, who has previously worked with IRON MAIDEN, Joe Bonamassa, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, BLACK STONE CHERRY and JOURNEY, among others.. www.europetheband.com   2012-01-27 22:17:15 METALLICA to headline Sonisphere in Finland METALLICA will headline this year's installment of the Finnish edition of the Sonisphere festival, set to take place June 4 at Kalasatama in Helsinki. Also scheduled to appear are MACHINE HEAD, AMORPHIS, GOJIRA and GHOST. Tickets go on sale on Monday, February 6 at 9:00 a.m. at Lippupalvelu.fi and Tiketti.fi www.sonispherefestivals.com   2012-01-27 22:11:37 MARDUK confirmed for Sweden Rock-kryssningen MARDUK have been confirmed for Sweden Rock-kryssningen, a hard rock and metal cruise on The Baltic Sea (Stockholm, Sweden to Åbo, Finland and back) on March 29-30. Already confirmed are BLIND GUARDIAN, SODOM, KRUX and NOCTURNAL RITES. 1 more band will be announced soon.. www.swedenrockkryssningen.com   2012-01-27 20:22:43 VÅNNA INGET to release new EP Swedish new wave/punk rockers VÅNNA INGET has recorded 4 new songs for a upcoming EP, to be released this spring.   2012-01-26 22:06:52 IMPERIAL STATE ELECTRIC to release new album IMPERIAL STATE ELECTRIC, the Swedish rock band led by THE HELLACOPTERS architect and former ENTOMBED drummer Nicke Andersson, will release its new album, "Pop War", on March 9 via Psychout.   2012-01-26 21:51:34 SLIPKNOT, SLAYER and ANTHRAX confirmed for Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival (a North American metal festival tour) is proud to announce this summer's artists: SLIPKNOT, SLAYER, ANTHRAX, AS I LAY DYING, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, ASKING ALEXANDRIA, WHITECHAPEL and HIGH ON FIRE. The dates are: Jun. 30 - San Bernardino, CA - San Manuel Amphitheater Jul. 01 - San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Amphitheater Jul. 03 - Seattle, WA - White River Amphitheater Jul. 04 - Boise, ID - Idaho Center Amphitheater Jul. 06 - Phoenix, AZ - Ashley Furniture Home Store Pavilion Jul. 07 - Albuquerque, NM - Hard Rock Casino Albuquerque Presents The Pavilion Jul. 08 - Denver, CO - Comfort Dental Amphitheatre Jul. 10 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion Jul. 11 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Jul. 13 - Tampa, FL - 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre Jul. 14 - Atlanta, GA - Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood Jul. 15 - Indianapolis, IN - Klipsch Music Center Jul. 18 - Oklahoma City, OK - Zoo Amphitheatre Jul. 20 - St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Jul. 21 - Chicago, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Jul. 22 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre Jul. 24 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center Jul. 25 - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center Jul. 27 - Philadelphia, PA - Susquehanna Bank Center Jul. 28 - Pittsburgh, PA - First Niagara Pavilion Jul. 29 - Washington, DC - Jiffy Lube Live Jul. 31 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center Aug. 01 - Buffalo, NY - Darien Lake PAC Aug. 03 - Boston, MA - Comcast Center Aug. 04 - Scranton, PA - Toyota Pavilion Aug. 05 - Hartford, CT - The Comcast Theatre More artists will be announced on March 5.. www.rockstarmayhemfest.com   2012-01-26 21:36:58 DESTRUCTION to celebate 30 with North American tour German thrash metal veterans DESTRUCTION will embark on the North American "30th Year Anniversary Tour" in May with support from WARBRINGER, VITAL REMAINS and PATHOLOGY. The exact cities and dates for the "30th Year Anniversary Tour" will be announced soon.. A 30th-anniversary album will be released later this year. facebook.com/destruction   2012-01-26 21:26:40 RIOT guitarist dead Mark Reale, the founding guitarist of the legendary heavy metal band RIOT, passed away earlier today (Wednesday, January 25) in a San Antonio hospital due to complications of Crohn's disease — an ailment he has battled for most of his life. He was 56 years old. Reale had reportedly been in a coma for the past 2 weeks after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage on January 11.   2012-01-26 21:23:55 More info on Johnny Ramone's autobiography The Associated Press is reporting that 8 years after Johnny Ramone (RAMONES) lost the battle with prostate cancer, he'll be publishing the story of his life in his upcoming autobiography set to be released on April 2, 2012 on Abrams Books. The book includes a foreword by bandmate Tommy Ramone (aka Thomas Erdelyi) and an epilogue written by Lisa Marie Presley. According to his wife Linda, he had begun compiling his memoirs soon after his diagnosis with cancer.   2012-01-26 21:10:44 UNLEASHED announce title & release date for new album Swedish death metal veterans UNLEASHED have set "Odalheim" as the title of their 11th full-length album, due on April 20 via Nuclear Blast Records. www.unleashed.se   2012-01-24 22:37:58 BEHEMOTH, WATAIN and THE DEVIL'S BLOOD announce North American tour dates BEHEMOTH, WATAIN, THE DEVIL'S BLOOD and IN SOLITUDE are going to team up for a North American tour in April/May. The dates are: Apr. 11 - Columbus, OH - The Bluestone Apr. 12 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls Apr. 13 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge Apr. 14 - St. Paul, MN - Station Four Apr. 16 - Lawrence, KS - Granada Theater Apr. 17 - Denver, CO - Summit Theatre Apr. 18 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex Apr. 20 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven Apr. 21 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Apr. 22 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater Apr. 23 - San Francisco, CA - Slims Apr. 25 - Los Angeles, CA - House Of Blues Apr. 26 - Phoenix, AZ - Nile Theater Apr. 27 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater Apr. 29 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit May 01 - Tampa, FL - Orpheum May 02 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade May 04 - Charlotte, NC - Amos Southend May 05 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head May 06 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero Theatre May 08 - Toronto, ON - Opera House May 09 - Montreal, QC - Club Soda May 10 - Quebec City, QC - Imperial May 11 - Worcester, MA - Palladium May 12 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza   2012-01-24 22:20:25 AMON AMARTH to celebrate 20 with special shows Swedish viking death metallers AMON AMARTH will celebrate their 20th anniversary with 5 special shows which will take place this August in Germany, Poland and Holland on the following dates: Aug. 05 - Chemnitz, Germany - Südbahnhof Aug. 07 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja Club Aug. 14 - Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage Aug. 16 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli Aug. 17 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle www.amonamarth.com   2012-01-24 21:20:09 DEEP PURPLE to release new album next year It looks like DEEP PURPLE will spend the summer writing and recording for a new album, to be released during 2013. www.deeppurple.com   2012-01-24 20:50:02 King Diamond confirmed for Sweden Rock Festival King Diamond is back and have been confirmed for this summer's Sweden Rock Festival, which happens in Sölvesborg, Sweden on June 6-9. This will be his only gig in Scandinavia this year. Confirmed since earlier are MÖTLEY CRÜE, SOUNDGARDEN, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, MOTÖRHEAD, Sebastian Bach, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, DIMMU BORGIR, EDGUY, GAMMA RAY, DANKO JONES, EXODUS, ELECTRIC BOYS, SLADE, TYGERS OF PAN TANG, GILSCHOOL, PENTAGRAM, NATIONALTEATERN, SAINT VITUS, AXE, BONAFIDE, HELL, GRAVEYARD, THE GLORIA STORY etc. etc. www.swedenrock.com   2012-01-24 20:31:16 TESTAMENT recruits Gene Hoglan for tour with ANTHRAX San Francisco Bay Area trash metallers TESTAMENT have tapped Gene "The Atomic Clock" Hoglan (DARK ANGEL, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, FEAR FACTORY, DETHKLOK) to sit behind the kit for their upcoming North American tour with ANTHRAX and DEATH ANGEL. The dates are as follows: Jan. 22 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues Jan. 23 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues Jan. 24 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre Jan. 26 - Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theater Jan. 27 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room Jan. 28 - Ft. Wayne, IN @ Piere's Jan. 29 - Louisville, KY @ Expo 5 Jan. 30 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel Feb. 02 - Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle Feb. 03 - Columbus, OH @ The LC Pavilion Feb. 04 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's Feb. 06 - Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock Feb. 07 - Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live! Feb. 08 - New York, NY @ Best Buy Theater Feb. 10 - Libertyville, IL @ Austin's Fuel Room Feb. 11 - Traverse City, MI @ Ground Zero Feb. 13 - Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room Feb. 15 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot (SLC) Feb. 17 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades Feb. 18 - Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory Feb. 19 - San Jose, CA @ The Avalon TESTAMENT's new album, "The Dark Roots Of Earth", is tentatively due in late April/early May 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records. www.testamentlegions.com   2012-01-22 18:03:31 Autobiography about Johnny Ramone Johnny Ramone's autobiography will be released during 2012.   2012-01-22 12:38:34 MUSTASCH announce new drummer Swedish heavy hard rockers MUSTASCH have recruited Jejo Perkovic (ex-THE BEAR QUARTET) as their new drummer. ..temporary at least. www.mustasch.net   2012-01-22 12:33:54  12 3 4 5  NEWS | REVIEWS | LINKS This site has been online since 2001. All reviews and photos/images by Jimmy Blom.

BEST OF 2011! ....and the winner is: Click here for the whole list! SEND MATERIAL FOR REVIEW TO: Jimmy Blom Vintergatan 21 A SE-504 60 Borås Sweden SEND NEWS AND QUESTIONS TO: blom@hardrockinfo.com HARD ROCK INFO ON FACEBOOK