Five Finger Death Punch’s New Album Breaks Top 10

The sophomore album from Five Finger Death Punch, titled “War Is The Answer”, sold 44,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 7 on The Billboard 200 chart. Five Finger Death Punch’s 2007 debut, “The Way Of The Fist”, sold more than 350,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

According to a press release regarding “War Is The Answer”, “the record evolves the band’s already mature sound, ranging from the undeniable melodies in ‘Hard to See’ to the brutally nihilistic ‘Burn It Down’; destined to please fans both new and old.”

Dead By Sunrise Announces Three Live Shows

Chester Bennington’s (Linkin Park) new side project, Dead By Sunrise, has announced three upcoming live shows to celebrate the release of its debut album, “Out of Ashes”. The debut album will be made available from Warner Bros. Records on October 13, 2009.

The band will perform at Wasted Space in the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas on October 1, at The Gramercy Theatre in New York City on October 14, and at the Roxy in Los Angeles on October 19.

Fans attending these very special shows will be treated to songs from “Out of Ashes”, which was produced by Howard Benson. The album’s first single, “Crawl Back In”, continues its assault on rock radio, after being the most-added track for four consecutive weeks in September.

Aaron Lewis Announces Sixth Annual Solo Acoustic Tour

The Pulse of Radio reports: Staind singer Aaron Lewis has unveiled the dates and venues for the first leg of his sixth annual solo acoustic tour, which will begin on January 1, 2010 in Henderson, Las Vegas and extend into February. The first gig of the second leg, on February 25 in Hammond, Indiana, has also been confirmed. The full itinerary for the rest of the trek will be available shortly.

Lewis told The Pulse of Radio last year that performing as a solo artist has been part of his life even before he joined Staind. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do always,” he said. “Before I ever started in this band, the acoustic thing is what I did. That’s what my dad did when I was a kid, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. If it can co-exist with Staind, then I’ll really kind of be having my cake and eating it too.”

Newly announced Aaron Lewis tour dates (subject to change):

Jan. 01 - Henderson, NV - Green Valley Ranch
Jan. 02 - Las Vegas, NV - Aliante Casino
Jan. 08 - Reno, NV - Silver Legacy
Jan. 09 - West Wendover, NV - Peppermill
Jan. 15 - Temecula, CA - Pechanga
Jan. 19 - St. Charles, MO - Ameristar St. Charles
Jan. 21 - Vicksburg, MS - Ameristar Vicksburg
Jan. 22 - Vicksburg, MS - Ameristar Vicksburg
Jan. 23 - Robinsville, MS - Bluesville at Tunica Horseshoe
Feb. 05 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Casino
Feb. 12 - Verona, NY - Turning Stone Casino
Feb. 13 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Casino
Feb. 14 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Casino
Feb. 25 - Hammond, IN - Horseshoe Casino

Filter Covers “Happy Together” By “The Turtles”

Filter has recorded a cover version of The Turtles classic “Happy Together”. The track is for the soundtrack to the film “The Stepfather”, which will hit screens on October 16. To check out the song, head over to Filters Myspace Page.

Due on October 13 through Lakeshore Records, “The Stepfather” soundtrack will include additional music from Puscifer, Seether, and Hoobastank. More bands are also in the works, but so far I’m definitely going to check it out.

Filter is currently working on a new studio album to follow-up last year’s “Anthems For The Damned”. According to frontman Richard Patrick: “It’s gonna kind of veer off the political path.” “I’m kind of focusing back on what I know best, which is kind of just the insanity of being a human being, dealing with mental issues — the stuff that we all know and the stuff that we all go through.”

Killswitch Engage Postpones South American Tour Due To Illness

Killswitch Engage have released the following:

“Killswitch Engage will, unfortunately, have to postpone their upcoming South America tour due to the illness of lead singer Howard Jones. Howard is currently bed-ridden with a gallstone issue and has been told by his doctor that he should not leave his bed until further notice. He is currently getting proper medical care and hopes to be on his feet and in less pain by the end of the week, at which time we will determine how soon we can reschedule these South America dates.

“Killswitch would like to apologize to their fans in South America for this setback and want to assure them that the band has every intention to make up these dates in the near future.”

Metallica’s Official Website Launches Single-Track Downloads

METALLICA’s official web site has been updated with the following message:

“When we launched www.livemetallica.com over five years ago, it seemed like the next logical step of service in the digital age as we’ve always encouraged you to record and trade our shows. The site gives us the chance to offer you a high-quality recording of the show you went to, or any other show for that matter, and you don’t even have to sneak your tape deck, um uh, we mean portable digital recording device, into the arena! So here we are 269 shows, 5,338 songs and 310,386 downloads later and we want to thank you for all your support, encouragement and comments. Lo and behold, five-plus years later and no two set lists have been the same! Wow!!!

“Speaking of those comments . . . the one overwhelming request we’ve had is to offer up single-track downloads. Since we always aim to please, YOU GOT IT! That simple. Check out the new and improved LiveMetallica.com and you’ll see that every song we’ve recorded live since the site launched from Phoenix on March 2, 2004 is now available for you to pick and choose from for $.99 each song on mp3. For the über-fan, of course the full show can still be downloaded for a dough-saving $9.95 mp3 . . . super-audiophiles can grab the high-quality FLAC version for $12.95 a full-show download.

“We have some other cool things in the works for the site too that we’ll be telling you about in the coming weeks, and, of course, as the tour rolls through North America, each and every show will be added, usually within a few hours after it ends. And don’t forget to visit the ‘Vault’ section of the site for FREE downloads of selected shows prior to 2004. Be sure to let us know what you think!”

Sevendust Releases Album Update

Sevendust stated the following:

“We’ve been writing and recording demos with Corey Lowery [brother of Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery] engineering, which have been amazingly productive and creative, over the past few months.

“We wanna thank Corey for making a very cool atmosphere for us and helping us achieve the material we needed. We look forward to continuing work with Corey in the future.

“We’ve have hired on Johnny K (Disturbed, Staind, Machine Head) to produce the next Sevendust record. We’ve enjoyed his work over the years and believe he is the guy for the job.

“This record is VERY important and we have some of the best songs going into this process than we ever have.

“We read [the fans'] comments [online] and we believe [they] will not be disappointed. We still have a ways to go but we hope to have it out by spring next year.

“We will be up in the Chicago area for the rest of the year working on it and are ready to peel faces off with this thing. It’s a very creative time for the band and being back to the original lineup will reinstall the elements that made us what we are.

“Thank you for your support and cannot wait to put this record out.

“We will be launching new official website, video blogs of progress and pictures as we record this, so stay tuned. We want to keep everyone of you in the loop as we go.”

Did You Miss The Breaking Benjamin “Dear Agony” Listening Party?

Hows it going Cage Rattlers! For those of you who didn’t get the chance to hang out with us last night, we have made the Interview/Listening Party available for your listening pleasure. We knew before the show even started that there would be fans who couldn’t stay up that late or just had other issues going on. So this is our thanks for still hanging around and waiting.

We’ve removed all of the songs from the listening party to shorten it, and to prevent any more piracy in this world. So check it out when you have a solid hour…Bens a talker:

Dear Agony Listening Party - 9/29/09

Hope you enjoy!

Fred Durst And His Hot Wife Split After A 3 Month Marriage

Three months after Fred Durst wed girlfriend Esther Nazarov in Las Vegas, the newlyweds have decided to split. Thats one more hot chick available on the market for all the dudes out there. Be careful though, 3 months is the new 30 year marriage.

Via Dursts Twitter: “For those of you inquiring I will confirm that Esther and I have decided to go our separate ways and we both thank you for your support”…”Thank you all SO much for your concern and extremely kind words. Sincerely. We remain very positive and wish only the best for each other.”

This isn’t the first time the rocker has announced relationship milestones on his Twitter page. Like he did with their split, the musician also announced their low-key July wedding and their April engagement on the social networking site.

Durst has two children — a teen girl, Adriana, from his first marriage, and a 7-year-old boy, Dallas, from a previous relationship.

Check Out The Entire Hatebreed Album

The forthcoming self-titled album from Connecticut hardcore/metal masters Hatebreed is available for streaming in its entirety at AOL Music.

“Hatebreed” is scheduled for release in on September 29 via E1 Music (formerly KOCH Records). The new album will be available on CD, digital download, vinyl and special edition with a bonus 65-minute DVD. The follow-up to 2006’s “Supremacy” will be issued on Roadrunner everywhere else.

“Hatebreed” track listing:

01. Become The Fuse
02. Not My Master
03. Between Hell And A Heartbeat
04. In Ashes They Shall Reap
05. Hands Of A Dying Man
06. Everyone Bleeds Now
07. No Halos For The Heartless
08. Through The Thorns
09. Every Lasting Scar
10. As Damaged As Me
11. Words Became Untruth
12. Undiminished
13. Merciless Tide
14. Pollution Of The Soul
15. Escape (New Diehard Edit)

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