BLASPHEMY will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its 1989 "Blood Upon the Altar" demo by preparing a few select concerts; the group's first anywhere in eight years.

The band — consisting of "3 Black Hearts of Damnation and Impurity" (drums), "Nocturnal Grave Desecrater and Black Winds" (vocals), "Caller of the Storms" (guitar), "Deathlord of Abomination and War Apocalypse" (guitar), and a session bass player to be announced soon — has confirmed two "live rituals" so far:

Oct. 03 - The Katacombes – Montréal, Canada
Oct. 24 - Dante's Highlight – Helsinki, Finland

The Montreal date will be an especially rare appearance in North America outside British Columbia.

BLASPHEMY played a handful of West Coast U.S. shows prior to 2001, but claims to have since been denied entry due to the band's "extreme nature."

Formed in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada in 1984, BLASPHEMY released a demo, titled "Blood Upon the Altar", in 1989 and a debut album, "Fallen Angel of Doom", in 1990. The band's second — and so far final — full-length studio album, "Gods of War", came out in 1993 through Osmose Productions.

In 1993, BLASPHEMY took part in the "Fuck Christ Tour" and played throughout Europe with IMMORTAL and ROTTING CHRIST. The band's July 2001 concert in Vancouver was released as a live album, titled "Live Ritual: Friday the 13th", in 2002.

BLASPHEMY is now working on new songs.

For more information, go to www.blasphemymontreal.tk.

Eric Martin will be performing a rare solo band show on Sunday, August 2nd @ Township Park, King of Prussia, PA. Ted Poley (with Vic Rivera and more) will be support act. Details at: www.uppermerionparkandrec.org/concerts-schudule-2009.asp and www.ericmartin.com.
Eric's backing band will feature members of The Reagan Years and Never Never. More info on each band is available at www.thereaganyears.com and www.nevernever.com/index.html.



Also - Mr. Big will be headlining the Rockin' Java Festival in Jakarta Indonesia on Saturday, August 8.

Mr. Big dates:

9/4 Rock Caf Tallinn, Estonia
9/6 Nosturi Helsinki, Finland
9/7 Berns Stockholm, Sweden
9/9 Train Aarhus, Denmark
9/10 Essigfabrik Kln, Germany
9/12 Shepherds Bush Empire London, UK
9/13 Hof Ter Lo Antwerp, Belgium
9/15 013 Tilburg, The Netherlands
9/16 Bataclan Paris, France
9/18 La Riviera Madrid, Spain
9/19 Rockstar Live Bilbao, Spain
9/21 Bikini Barcelona, Spain
9/22 Alcatraz Milan, Italy
9/24 Z-7 Pratteln, Switzerland
9/25 Tonhalle Munich, Germany
9/27 Diesel Club/Petfi Hall Budapest, Hungary
9/28 Planet Music/Gasometer Vienna, Austria
9/30 Roxy Prague, Czech Republic
10/1 Tobakken Esbjerg, Denmark

For the first time in nearly 20 years, legendary guitarist Ace Frehley has emerged to add a new exclamation point to his celebrated solo career. Scheduled for liftoff on September 15th, the original Kiss guitarist's fifth solo album, Anomaly, will be released on his own Bronx Born Records, with Rocket Science providing a full label service platform. Frehley, a long time Gibson artist, will launch his second Gibson Ace Frehley Signature Les Paul guitar with the musical instrument giant later this year. His first signature Gibson guitar (in 1997) was one of the best selling signature models of all time.
One of the most beloved personalities in rock 'n' roll, Frehley's the man behind not only KISS' iconic logo, but the all-time stadium anthem “New York Groove.” From the thunderous guitar riffs of the first single “Outer Space” to his supercharged cover of Sweet's 1975 classic “Fox on the Run,” Anomaly includes several nods to his distinguished career. The pickup acrobatics of “Fractured Quantum” and wah-wah scourge of “Genghis Khan” (featuring backup vocals from Meat Loaf's daughter Pearl Aday) are signature Ace. It should go without saying, but “this album has some heavy, heavy songs,” Frehley promises.
Check out the new commercial for Anomaly:



www.acefrehley.com.

Classic Rock magazine talked to OZZY OSBOURNE last week , where the rumors told John 5 (former-MARILYN MANSON, currently in ROB ZOMBIE) was the possible replacement for Zakk Wylde.

“Well, I’m getting a new guitar player as we speak,” said Ozzy, “and everyone has been saying to me for a long time, ‘Get Johnny 5!’ And I tried him at one time and I didn’t really give him a chance. We’ll see, I don’t know. I haven’t fallen out with Zakk, but Zakk’s got his own band, and I felt like my stuff was beginning to sound like BLACK LABEL SOCIETY. I just felt like I wanted a change, y’know?

“I’ve got a guy from Greece coming in – not the musical, the country of Greece – but I’m not going to say too much about it, cos I don’t know myself at this point. I’ve got a new album, I’m working on it as we speak. I’ve got a studio at my house and I’ve got a guy called Kevin Churko, the guy that did the last album – he’s great to work with.

“And it’s great to have your own studio. On one hand it’s great and on the other it’s not, cos when you’re at the studio you can go, ‘Sorry darling, I can’t get home for dinner, I’m stuck at the studio…’ But she can fucking come down stairs now! But I’m just enjoying my life now…”

So you’re taking it easy recording this album?

“Oh yeah. Zakk came down and did a bunch of stuff and I don’t know if I want to use it but I’ve got it there if I do. And this Kevin Churko is a bit of an all-rounder so I’m getting back to basics in some respects. One thing about a guy who can’t do all the finger-tapping stuff is that he plays better on the riffs cos it’s not all [hums riff for 'Iron Man' followed by over-the-top widdling].”

In a Twitter update, Wylde posted: "I'm doing Blizzcon with him in August and supposed to finish up the CD in September. This is news to me. I haven't heard anything about this. Until I talk to the boss I don't know. I love Ozzy."

Reformed Black metal legends IMMORTAL will launch their new CD, "All Shall Fall", in North America on October 6 via Nuclear Blast Records. The Album, to be released in Europe on September 25, was recorded at Grieghallen and Abyss studios in Norway and Sweden.

James Minton of U.K.'s Terrorizer magazine recently posted an exclusive track-by-track breakdown of "All Shall Fall".

"All Shall Fall" track listing:

01. All Shall Fall
02. The Rise Of Darkness
03. Hordes To War
04. Norden On Fire
05. Arctic Swarm
06. Mount North
07. Unearthly Kingdom

Seattle, Washington-based metallers METAL CHURCH have issued the following:

"To all of our fans and friends...

We regretfully announce that Metal Church is calling it quits.

The performance at Rocklahoma will be our last show. We have had to cancel the shows scheduled for August and that, among other things, has led us to have to make this decision.

There has been far too much frustration and disappointment in trying to keep moving forward. The collapse of our record company, SPV, has made it next to impossible for us to continue in any kind of professional manner due to lack of tour support. This decision was not made lightly.

We do have unfinished business in the studio, and with any luck we will have something that will be of interest to Metal Church fans in the near future.

We would like to thank all the fans that have stuck with Metal Church through all these years, the lineup changes and the ups and downs.

We can't tell you how much your support has meant to us, we appreciate each and every one of you.

It's been a great ride.

Metal Church."

Finnish melodic metallers SONATA ARCTICA have unveiled the new artwork, track listing as well as the album title of their forthcoming album. The Days Of Grays will see a worldwide release (excluding Asia) through Nuclear Blast Records on September 18th, September 22nd in North America.

Formats/tracklistings:

Limited two-CD digipak:
'Everything Fades To Gray' (Instrumental)
'Deathaura'
'The Last Amazing Grays'
'Flag In The Ground'
'Breathing'
'Zeroes'
'The Dead Skin'
'Juliet'
'No Dream Can Heal A Broken Heart'
'As If The World Wasn’t Ending'
'The Truth Is Out There'
'Everything Fades To Gray' (full version)

Bonus Track:
'In The Dark'

Bonus CD: track listing to be announced

CD Jewelcase:
'Everything Fades To Gray' (Instrumental)
'Deathaura'
'The Last Amazing Grays'
'Flag In The Ground'
'Breathing'
'Zeroes'
'The Dead Skin'
'Juliet'
'No Dream Can Heal A Broken Heart'
'As If The World Wasn’t Ending'
'The Truth Is Out There'
'Everything Fades To Gray' (full version)