According to MTV.com, Dark Horse Comics' new "Metalocalypse/Dethklok" series will officially launch next month.

Three of the remaining DREAM THEATER members — singer James LaBrie, guitarist John Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess — have issued separate statements commenting further on the departure of drummer Mike Portnoy, the band's co-founder and leader for 25 years.

DIRGE WITHIN, the metal band featuring ex-SOIL guitarist Shaun Glass, vocalist Jeremy "Jerms" Genske, guitarist Matt Szlachta, bassist James Pezanoski (ex-FROM ALL WITHIN), and drummer Frankie Harchut (ex-THE DOOMSDAY CATALYST), will release a new digital EP on September 14 via iTunes featuring the rare track "Eulogy" as well as a re-recorded version of an old demo song, "Ties That Bind".

According to The Calgary Sun, AEROSMITH and its western Canadian tour promoter have settled their legal differences in advance of the band's Calgary concert Friday night.

Former Geffen Records executive John Kalodner, who oversaw AEROSMITH's late Eighties comeback and some of their biggest albums, such as "Permanent Vacation" and "Pump", told the New York Post that the band's guitarist, Joe Perry, was "completely wrong" when he stated in a recent interview that singer Steven Tyler would never have pursued a job like being the judge in the next season of "American I

SOUNDGARDEN officially reunited in early 2010 after 13 years apart, playing an April hometown show in Seattle and a tiny Chicago gig before headlining Lollapalooza last month.

According to The Pulse of Radio, a VAN HALEN fan named Doug Lyle posted a report at the Van Halen News Desk web site in which he said that in a chance encounter last weekend, frontman David Lee Roth told him that "You'll be hearing from (VAN HALEN) in the next seven to eight months." Lyle wrote that he met up with Roth on Sunday, September 5 at, of all things, the 145th annual Scottish Gathering &

According to FIMI (Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana), the Italian branch of the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), IRON MAIDEN's new album, "The Final Frontier", has topped the official Italian chart for the third consecutive week.

The following update has been posted on the official web site of the Dutch symphonic metal band EPICA: "Although EPICA has been touring around the world for months, [guitarist/songwriter] Mark [Jansen] found the time to put another band together, which he takes very seriously: MAYAN.

Former BLACK SABBATH singer Tony Martin has contributed guest vocals to "Victims Of The Modern Age", the new album from Dutch composer/multi-instrumentalist Arjen Lucassen's STAR ONE project.

The two-disc DVD release of the award-winning documentary about legendary Canadian trio RUSH, called "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage", has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies.

Former SKID ROW frontman Sebastian Bach has been added to the Spanish portion of GUNS N' ROSES upcoming tour.

James Zahn of Kik Axe Music recently conducted an interview with DOWN/ex-PANTERA bassist Rex Brown.

Gibson.com recently conducted an interview with GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna.

Groovey of Colorado Music Buzz & Entertainment conducted an interview with guitarist Zach Householder of Knoxville, Tennessee death metallers WHITECHAPEL on August 8, 2010 at the Denver, Colorado stop of the Vans Warped Tour.

To promote his new album "National Ransom," which will be released Nov. 2, Elvis Costello [ tickets ] has posted two interviews with one "Odile W. Husband" on his website.

In the meandering chats, filled with discussions of Catholicism, songwriting and Walter Mitty, Costello delivers a few revelations about the new album. Among them:

...continued
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Brand-new supergroup Fistful of Mercy [ tickets ] will take on a handful of major markets this fall in support of its debut album, "As I Call You Down."

Comprised of singer/songwriters Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur and Dhani Harrison, the recently formed outfit will kick of its inaugural run with a Nov. 9 performance in Seattle. Five more shows are also on the books, including a two-night stand in Los Angeles, before the trek wraps up Nov. 20 in Philadelphia. The full itinerary is at right. ...continued
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Dave Matthews Band [ tickets ] has extended its in-progress excursion across the nation with a round of East Coast shows running right up to the holiday season.

Just a few weeks after announcing that they would begin an 18-month touring hiatus later this month, the Virginia jam band has delayed the break by tacking another nine stops onto the itinerary. The trek continues tomorrow (9/10) near Houston and runs through a two-night stand Sept. 17-18 in Chicago. The new fall leg will begin Nov. 2 in Buffalo, NY, and visit arenas along the eastern seaboard through two consecutive hometown shows (11/19-20) in Charlottesville, VA. The full schedule, including one South American concert, is shown at right. ...continued
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Runner Runner [ tickets ] is the first act signed to David Letterman's nascent label, so it seems only natural that the the band would make its network television debut on his CBS "Late Show."

Nope. That honor actually fell to "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in July, when Runner Runner was on tour with Secondhand Serenade [ tickets ]. ...continued
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Ozzy Osboune, who's currently touring overseas, will be back in North America in November to tackle a round of arena shows.

The first leg of dates, which focus on Canada, kick off Nov. 12 in Victoria, British Columbia. U.S. dates are set in December for New York City; East Rutherford, NJ; Cleveland, OH; and Minneapolis. Details are at right. ...continued
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The follow-up to Deerhunter [ tickets ]'s acclaimed "Microcastle" album will be released Sept. 28, immediately after which the Atlanta-based indie-rock act will start a six-week tour.

"Halcyon Digest," the band's fourth album, is its first to be directly released by 4AD Records. The first single is "Helicopter." ...continued
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Phish [ tickets ] bassist Mike Gordon [ tickets ] will unleash his third solo album on Oct. 19 and follow it with a November tour.

Rounder Records will release "Moss," which features Gordon singing and playing bass while also handling guitar, piano and drum programming. His Phish friends Page McConnell and Jon Fishman appear on the album, as well as drummers Joe Russo and Doug Belote and organist Marco Benevento. ...continued
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KT Tunstall [ tickets ] will head out on a 20-concert tour beginning Oct. 31, a little more than three weeks after the release of her third full-length album, "Tiger Suit."

Before she hits the road, Tunstall will be doing a fair amount of promotion, beginning with a performance of the first single, "Fade Like A Shadow," on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Oct. 5. Her performance on NPR's World Cafe program will air Oct. 1, a Yahoo! Maximum Performance will run in early October, and a live session for CBS/Last.FM's Summer Concert Series will be posted on Sept. 9. ...continued
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For the sixth time, John Lennon [ tickets ]'s killer has been denied parole. Mark David Chapman, now 55 years old, gunned down Lennon on a New York City street on Dec. 8, 1980.

On Tuesday (9/8), a New York parole board reportedly interviewed Chapman via a video conference. He first became eligible for parole in 2000. ...continued
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The eligibility period for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards ends Sept. 30 and, as usual, September has a number of high profile releases strategically placed ahead of the deadline for awards consideration.

7. Miles Davis [ tickets ], "The Genius of Miles Davis" Sony Legacy has issued and repackaged every phase of the trumpeter's career; this is their chance to deliver it all in one trumpet case. Forty-three CDs in all, this has a packaging nod written all over it. ...continued
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LCD Soundsystem [ tickets ] has plotted an international course this fall in support of the dance-punk outfit's recently released third and reportedly final album, "This Is Happening."

The group, led by James Murphy, is currently in Europe and is slated to take the stage Friday (9/10) in Berlin before returning stateside for a US tour that kicks off Sept. 24 in Philadelphia. The 17-city outing, which includes an Oct. 9 appearance at the Austin City Limits Festival, wraps with a two-night stand Oct. 25-26 in Chicago. The band then heads back across the pond for a handful of fall European dates. ...continued
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Johnny Winter [ tickets ] will release next year his first album since 2004's "I'm a Bluesman," which will be just his second studio set of the last 20 years. No release date for the album is set yet.

Megaforce Records, known more for its hard rock offerings, will release the album, which is one of several recent Winter projects. His biography, "Raisin' Cain: The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter," was released in early summer, and he continues to issue older live recordings under the "Live Bootleg Series" banner. Vol. 6, in which he pays homage Ray Charles, Freddie King, Texas bluesman Frankie Lee Sims and B.B. King, was recently released. This month, MVD Entertainment will release the DVD "Johnny Winter: Live Through The 80s," which features 18 concert performances. ...continued
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Former Depeche Mode keyboardist Alan Wilder [ tickets ] is setting out on tour with his act Recoil, its first major U.S. jaunt since he formed the group as a side project in 1986.

"Recoil have never toured before," Wilder said via telephone from his England home. "I guess it took me a long while to get over being on the road for 15 years in Depeche Mode. I thought, 'I never want to do this again,' even though I did quite enjoy those big tours. ...continued
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With a European jaunt recently completed, pop-punk quartet All Time Low [ tickets ] will return to North America for the "My Small Package" tour with Massachusetts-based A Rocket To the Moon in the opening slot.

All Time Low will begin the trek with an Oct. 18 performance in Philadelphia, followed by club and theater shows in 23 cities from coast to coast. The U.S. leg concludes Nov. 17 in Orlando. ...continued
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This year's Kennedy Center Honors will pay tribute to a rock legend and a country legend: Paul McCartney [ tickets ] and Merle Haggard [ tickets ].

Now in their 33rd year, the Kennedy Center Honors are given annually in recognition for lifetime contributions to American culture. This year's other honorees include TV host/producer/actress Oprah Winfrey, composer/lyricist Jerry Herman ("Hello, Dolly!," "Mame") and choreographer Bill T. Jones. ...continued
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