( New York , NY ) ― E1 Music announces the addition of guitar icon Zakk Wylde’s band, Black Label Society, to its rock and metal roster. The two album deal covers North America exclusively. Wylde formed Black Label Society (BLS) in 1994 as a vehicle for his own artistic vision: uncompromising, unfiltered, no bullshi* rock’n’roll.  

In what may be one of the craziest things to come out of the world of Metal, word has come that veteran actor Christopher Lee (Dracula, Count Dooku, Saruman) at the age of 87 has formed a metal project called Charlemagne: By The Sword And The Cross…  

Los Angeles, CA – Thursday, January 7, 2010 — “Tom gave various medical treatments more than a fair shot,” said Slayer’s manager Rick Sales, “but they just haven’t handled the problem, so he’s biting the bullet and is scheduled for back surgery at the end of this month.”  

Jersey legends OVERKILL will be shooting a video for their single “Bring Me the Night” off their upcoming album this weekend in Brooklyn, NY. The new record will be available on CD and Vinyl, entitled “IRONBOUND” is set for release on February 9, 2009. This celebrates the bands 25 year anniversary.  

The Chicago band—-David Scotney (vocals), Johnny Salazar (drums), Alan Quitman (bass), Mike Tyranski (guitar/programming)—will soon be able to show everyone that they live up to such a compliment. Once a current trek of headlining shows concludes, JANUS will perform a month’s worth of dates with Chevelle starting February 8 in Boston at the House of Blues. They’ve been touring non-stop to promote their debut album, RED RIGHT RETURN, since its release September 22, 2009 on REALID Records, through Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group.  

Detroit death metallers, AND HELL FOLLOWED WITH have announced new tour dates with Victory Records recording artists, WITHIN THE RUINS. Here’s what AND HELL FOLLOWED WITH guitarist, Kyle McIlmurray has to say about the upcoming shows:  

British thrashers EVILE recently announced their new bassist, JOEL GRAHAM, who joins the band following the tragic death of their late bassist, MIKE ALEXANDER. JOEL GRAHAM previously played in Yorkshire metal band RISE TO ADDICTION, who recorded for Mausoleum Records.  

Johnston IA – Iowa natives Dirty Little Rabbits are happy to announce that they will be taking their energetic live show overseas to Europe for the first time. Dirty Little Rabbits will be heading out on a week long run across the UK and France January 29th through February 8th. Lacuna Coil will be headlining all of the shows.The band is excited to get to Europe and share their music and exciting performances with the fans who have been patiently awaiting the band’s European debut.  

BEHEMOTH special/limited edition vinyl, ringtones, and mobile wallpaper are now available Los Angeles, CA – January 5th 2010 – Poland’s sons of black metal, BEHEMOTH, are returning to the states for a month long trek dubbed the Evangelia Amerika Tour. The tour kicks off in Philadelphia at the Theatre of the Living Arts on January 7th with support coming from Septicflesh of Greece and label mates Lightning Swords of Death of Los Angeles. Fans in select areas will have a chance to meet BEHEMOTH at one of 7 in-store signings scheduled to take place during the tour; dates, times, and locations are as follows:  

With 2009 now coming to a close, GRAVEHILL would like to announce that our partnership with ENUCLEATION RECORDS is officially concluded. We’d like to thank our friend and Brother Greg Drudy / ENUCLEATION RECORDS for all his support of GRAVEHILL. As the saying goes “When a door closes… a window opens!” thus moving into a new year and a new chapter of our career we’d like to announce our signing to IBEX MOON RECORDS!  

Death metal icons INCANTATION will return to the stage at Urbana, IL’s Canopy Club for the Central Illinois Metal Fest. “The sickest fest in the Midwest” will take place on July 23-24, 2010 and also feature Ibex Moon Records label mates ACHERON. Guitarist, vocalist, and Ibex Moon chief John McEntee had this to say about the special performance.  

The fast-rising heavy metal band, Age of Evil, will be supporting the first-ever U.S. shows for Hail – which is comprised of such renowned names as Tim “Ripper” Owens (singer, Judas Priest), Andreas Kisser (guitarist, Sepultura), Dave Ellefson (bass, F5), and Mike Portnoy (drums, Dream Theater).