Former MEGADETH/KING DIAMOND guitarist Glen Drover recently completed work on his debut solo album, “Metalusion”, for an early 2011 release via Magna Carta Records. In addition, he has put together a solo band consisting of the following musicians:

Glen Drover – Guitar
Jim Gilmour – Keyboards
Chris Sutherland – Drums
Paul Yee – Bass

“Metalusion” track listing:

01. Ground Zero
02. Frozen Dream
03. Egyptian Danza
04. Colors Of Infinity
05. Illusions Of Starlight
06. Don’t Let The World
07. Mirage
08. Ascension
09. The Purple Lagoon
10. Filthy Habits

Check out audio samples at this location.

Writing on his newly launched official Facebook page, Drover states, “In December of 2007, I made one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in my life, which was to leave the band MEGADETH — a band that I had worked very hard with and helped bring back from the dead. Although I am very happy about what we accomplished in the four-year period I was in the band, things had changed quite a bit towards the end of my time with MEGADETH, and not necessarily for the better for me, so I handed in my resignation, so to speak.

“Shortly after a nice long break, I decided to start recording again, but wanted to try something different, which was to form a band and play all instrumental music — a task that would not be easy and would become something very challenging and fun, of course! A combination of metal, harder edge jazz fusion and prog. I contacted Chris Sutherland and shared this idea with him and he was very excited about this possibility. At that point, he recommended a friend of his to play bass, Paul Yee, and also recommended Jim Gilmour from the prog rock band SAGA, which Chris had played with for a short while.

“Not knowing how this set of musicians would sound like together, I though it would be a good idea to record three tracks — one Al Dimeola track, as well as two tracks from the awesome Jean Luc Ponty.

“I’m not sure if any of us really knew how well any of these tracks would turn out, Not knowing if we would jell properly, etc..Well, we could not be happier! That is what set the pace and the start of what I consider to be a great band of guys who are on the same page and very excited and driven to write and play the best we can.. and have fun doing things ‘our way’ and not following any trends!!

“This new album, coming out in the early 2011 is going to be called ‘Metalusion’ and was recorded sporadically over a 2-plus-year period.

“As an engineer, I worked very hard to make this album the very best production I can deliver to date! I am also very happy and honored to be playing with musicians of a very high level, as well as good people. It’s something I always wanted to do and it’s not something you find at the corner store. Believe me, I know.

“I hope you enjoy this album as much as we do.”

On January 11, Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal of Metal Assault conducted an interview with Glen Drover. You can listen to the chat below.

Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE will deliver a deluxe CD/DVD edition of their third full-length album, “Fever”, titled “Fever Tour Edition”, on February 15. The album will accompany an upcoming U.S. tour — dates to be announced shortly. The set will feature three new songs recorded live at Xfm radio in the U.K. (“Fever”, “The Last Fight” and “Bittersweet Memories”) and a DVD of “Your Betrayal”, “Fever” and “Waking the Demon”, recorded live from Graspop Metal Meeting 2010 in Dessel, Belgium. The DVD also includes videos for “Your Betrayal”, “The Last Fight” and “The Making of The Last Fight” as well as a BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE track-by-track commentary of “Fever”.

“Fever” sold 71,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart. “Fever” also landed in the Top Five in Australia, the U.K., Japan, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In the U.K. it reached No. 5 on sales of 21,965.

“Fever” pairs BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE with producer Don Gilmore, best known for his work with LINKIN PARK and GOOD CHARLOTTE.

“Bittersweet Memories”, the new video from BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, can be viewed below. The clip was directed by award-winning filmmaker Nigel Dick (GUNS N’ ROSES, BLACK SABBATH, DEF LEPPARD, NICKELBACK).

Last week, reformed heavy metal legends ACCEPT kicked off their massive “Blood Of The Nations 2011 Tour” of Europe. The shows in Osnabrück, Bad Arolsen and Antwerp were packed with passionate metal-loving fans. Advance ticket sales for Paris indicate a sold-out house. Russia has been bellowing for tickets to the five coveted March dates.

The two-hour-plus performance pummels the fans with classics like “Balls To The Wall”, “Metal Heart” and the immortal “Princess Of the Dawn”, completed with the pedal-to-the-metal bombast of ACCEPT‘s new hits “Teutonic Terror” and “The Abyss”.

The entire “Blood Of the Nations 2011 Tour” will involve over 80 mind-blowing concerts around the globe. Today, ACCEPT announced another batch of shows. The just-confirmed dates for South America and Mexico are as follows:

May 08 – Mexico City, Mexico – Circo Volador
May 10 – La Paz, Bolivia – TBD
May 11 – Lima, Peru – Barranco Bar
May 13 – Santiago, Chile – Teatro Novedades
May 14 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – El Teatro Flores
May 15 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Carioca Club

A complete list of ACCEPT tour dates can be found at this location.

“Blood Of The Nations”, the new album from ACCEPT, sold around 2,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 187 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Released in North America on September 14 via Nuclear Blast Records, “Blood Of The Nations” was recorded at Backstage Studio in Derbyshire, England with acclaimed British producer and SABBAT guitarist Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, ARCH ENEMY, MASTERPLAN). The CD marks the recording debut of the band’s latest addition, vocalist Mark Tornillo (ex-TT QUICK).

After debuting their new lineup to a sold-out audience in New York last May and then traveling to Europe to devastate the masses with shows in 16 different countries in 80 days (including two shows opening for AC/DC), ACCEPT returned to tour the U.S. for the first time in 14 years on a co-headlining tour with KING’S X. ACCEPT‘s first show kicked off the eleventh annual ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta.

ACCEPT 2011 is:

Wolf Hoffmann: Guitar
Peter Baltes: Bass
Herman Frank: Guitar
Mark Tornillo: Vocals
Stefan Schwarzmann: Drums

Published by rbtaleman

Heavy metal (fiend/friend?) Writer, frustrat(or), frustrat(ee), decorated U.S. Navy veteran, Husband(twice), father(three times), grandfather(of seven), FM radio veteran, Concertgoer, music collector, muscle car aficianado. Grown up since five. Child since 45. View all posts by rbtaleman