Ryan Adams, who writes under the black metal pseudonym Werewolph,recently released a sci-fi heavy metal concept album titled ORION this year (a video of “Fire and Ice” can be found below…note: not Bathory)…and now the big man is writing new music inspired by Ronnie James Dio’s funeral.

Ryan Adams quotes:

11 new solo tunes came out of nowhere. Day after Dio’s funeral they just fell out. Soft mellow acoustic jams- lots of New Orleans scenery and vibe from the trip… I am official very excited again.

He really is a fan though, see:

What a light and a treasure this man was. Bless ya RJD.

Go to SMNnews

DESPISED ICON are calling it quits. Is this the end of deathcore as we know it?

“The time has come for us to move on.  Some of us have recently reached a new chapter in their lives, starting families, buying houses and pursuing other careers to make it all happen.  Writing music, touring and leaving home for months at a time is slowly becoming impossible because of that.  We all decided that it’d be best to pull the plug now and end things right.

It’s hard to believe we started this band almost 10 years ago already.  At first, Despised Icon was mostly just an excuse to hang out, write brutal slam riffs and play local shows once in a while.  With your support, we got the opportunity to actually play music for a living, make friends around the world, be MVPs and travel to places we never even dreamed of visiting in our lifetime.  Thank you all for some of the best times of our lives.

We’re currently working on setting up our final tours in Canada, USA and Europe.  Expect to see us in a town near you sometime before the end of the year.  If all goes as planned, we’ll also be touring Australia and Asia for the first time in the fall.  We’ll keep you posted on everything.  These last shows will be fucking epic!  See you guys then!”

Go to SMNnews

ENSLAVED founding member/songwriter/rhythm guitarist Ivar Bjørnson has sent in the following studio update:

“This is a short blog from the studio where we – ENSLAVED – have started to record our new album. We are doing the drums in Duper Studios here in Bergen – this time around we are recording everything in our hometown, something we last did with [2004’s] Isa. Iver Sandøy (Trinacria, Manngard, Emmerhoff & T.M.B.) is engineering the drum recording; and we feel we are in very good hands. The remaining instruments will be recorded in Herbrand [Larsen, keyboards] and [lead guitarist] Ice Dale’s Earshot Studio, with a few small exceptions done in Peersonal Sound (my own studio). We’re starting off as we always do: with me and [drummer] Cato [Bekkevold] going in first. The session started out beautifully with the perfect starting point for the drum sound and the first song being laid down by Cato. This song is a musical and lyrical contemplation on a rune – one associated with travel… We’ll get back to more on the songs later!

After Vertebrae, it has been a hectic period, with shows, tours and everything that is going on around the band. Yet it has been a remarkably self-energizing process making this new album. For starters, the dynamics have never been better, both literally in the music – and metaphorically, meaning the working climate within the band. Writing music is rewarding when you know the other members will take your ideas seriously and give everything they’ve got to make the best out of every single idea. The amazing feedback we’ve gotten after Vertebrae hasn’t exactly made us more modest: We picked up some very valuable confidence from that. A third pillar of inspiration is the continuing ideological struggle against the dogmas: political, monotheistic, moral dogmas that keep getting a stronger and stronger chokehold on man. Some dangers are growing while others are on the rebound (for now). ENSLAVED is an ongoing project to channel alternative currents; resistance to those trying to force-fit the mind into the tiny squares of one-doms and tyrannies.

After all that hot air, I’ve asked Cato to provide some thoughts on the new material and the recording process:
“Hi there! We started yesterday to set the sound, and from there on the drums for two songs were nailed. Today, on the second day, we started at noon and worked our way through three more songs. Ivar is very easy (to work with) and we are really getting payback for the work put in advance of the recording. I am, in other words, getting close to finishing my part of the album, and that’s fine by me – I would climb the walls if the whole session would take anything more than a week. The songs are, like always, pretty varied both in mood, speed and style. The cool thing is that none of us actually know how it’s gonna turn out in the very end. What ideas Ice Dale has for guitar solos, only he knows. -Cato”

There’s a long journey ahead before the release, we’ll try and keep you posted on how it is coming along; including information about album title, track names, artwork, dates etc.”

Stay posted on ENSLAVED’s time in the studio at www.myspace.com/ENSLAVED and at www.ENSLAVED.no.

AS I LAY DYING is currently holed up with Adam D. and Daniel Castleman at Lambesis Studios in San Diego, CA. They’re hard at work recording and writing their follow up to 2007’s An Ocean Between Us. The band will be recording and writing throughout the rest of 2009 and vocalist Tim Lambesis has issued the following update:

“We’ve released little bits of information here or there in previous news posts and blogs, but there are still questions coming in concerning what we’ve been up to. Below is an unquestionably obvious outline concerning our future plans… 1) We started working on new album. 2) We started recording the new album a few weeks ago with Adam D & Daniel Castleman at the reigns (and JMR for a couple weeks). 3) There are only drums for 8 songs tracked so far. One of them we’re undecided about, but maybe it’ll feel different when the vocals are done. Either way, we need write more than 8 songs (since they aren’t as long as the 8 songs on Master of Puppets). Therefore we’re working on writing MORE new songs as soon as we finish recording what’s been started. 4) The only break in working on the new album will be our short trip to Mexico and Sri Lanka to play two of the best shows of our career. 5) All of us can’t stress enough how grateful we are to be writing music that we love while still receiving a paycheck. This can only be credited to OUR LOYAL FANS! Sometimes bands need to rush out a crappy record so they can start touring again to pay their bills. In our case, we plan to make a record worth listening to (hopefully), and start touring again when we’re done. Thanks for your patience and understanding. We care and we’re working. In fact, I haven’t had a full nights rest since March when the coolest kid ever made me a DAD!”

As Tim mentioned, the band will be playing in Mexico City, Mexico and one very special show all the way over in Sri Lanka.

AS I LAY DYING foreign dates:
December 13 – Mexico City, MX @ Jose Cuervo Salon
December 19 – Colombo, Sri Lanka @ Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium