On Wednesday, June 6, DC Comics will publish the first of the highly anticipated BEFORE WATCHMEN comic book prequels. BEFORE WATCHMEN: MINUTEMEN, written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke, will be the first issue released the first Wednesday in June, followed in subsequent weeks by BEFORE WATCHMEN: SILK SPECTRE by Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner (June 13), BEFORE WATCHMEN: COMEDIAN by Brian Azzarello and J.G. Jones (June 20), and BEFORE WATCHMEN: NITE OWL by J. Michael Straczynski, Andy Kubert and Joe Kubert (June 27). The first issue of BEFORE WATCHMEN: RORSCHACH and BEFORE WATCHMEN: DR. MANHATTAN will be released later in the summer.  

After over a year burnt up due to injuries and member changes, Santa Cruz bastards DUSTED ANGEL are ready to re-emerge this Spring with their rehabilitated new lineup!  

Death metal ministers SIX FEET UNDER return with their brand new studio long player Undead in May of 2012! In conjunction with the album release, the band will return to Europe in August to play some exclusive festival gigs as well as selected club shows. Support will come from label mates Dew-Scented.  

Marvel Entertainment and ABC Studios are proud to announce Castle: Richard Castle’s Storm Season, an all-new hardcover graphic novel inspired by the popular “Castle” television series. This 112 page hardcover, based the titular novel from noted author Richard Castle, hits comic shops, the Marvel Comics app, iBookstore, Nook Bookstore and everywhere books are sold on October 17th, 2012.  

New honorees, presenters, performers and special guests have been announced for the fourth annual REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS, presented by Epiphone®, America’s only hard-rock and heavy-metal award show. The event will take place Wednesday, April 11, at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles and is almost sold out. Fans without tickets can still watch the show though, as it will be broadcast live in its entirety on XBOX LIVE, as well as on the XBOX and Revolver Facebook pages. The award show live broadcast is the first ever of its kind and kicks off globally at 6 PM PDT/9 PM EDT.  

Videogame Soundtrack Reviews: Saints Row III, Red Orchestra 2, Kingdoms of Amalur- Reckoning, and Deus Ex Part 1: Saints Row III I’ve always been a fan of movie soundtracks and I own quite a few. A good soundtrack can set the tone for a film and make one that may otherwise have been merely interesting into something extraordinary.  

This is the very long awaited follow up to their 2005 album In the Arms of God that I know will please their day one fans as well as new listeners. What a great way to get a kid into punk, thrash & southern metal.  

The planet’s most dynamically wicked duo, BLACK COBRA, have been confirmed as one of the support acts for crossover kings Corrosion Of Conformity’s June tour, the diverse lineup also including Torche and Gaza. The rampage will begin June 1st and surge clockwise through North America with 18 dates confirmed through June 23rd as of now.  

P.O.D. have announced their first U.S. tour of 2012.  The band will head out this Spring and Summer for a series of high profile radio shows and festivals and will co-headline a tour with RED with support by Love and Death featuring Brian Head Welch and Icon For Hire.  The tour will make stops throughout the Midwest and East Coast (full tour dates below).   

Philadelphia’s resident rage-makers, Single Bullet Theory have announced a string of one-off dates that will see the band tearing up the Northeastern corner of the US throughout the spring, as well as a Summer tour with melodic progressive metallers Into Eternity that will see the band blaze a trail of destruction across the Midwest and into Canadian territory.  

Southern California’s KYNG is excited to announce that they will join the lineup for Metallica’s Orionfest. The two day festival, created and curated by Metallica themselves, takes place on June 23-24 in Atlantic City. Metallica created this festival to give each band member a chance to showcase their diverse musical interests and lifestyle under one stage. Metallica frontman James Hetfield recently sung the band’s praises after discovering them through Sirius XM program director Jose Mangin, who has championed KYNG since hearing early demos a few years ago.  

Guitarist/songwriter Tobias Carlsson  has issued an update about KATANA’s new album Storms of War to be released in May on Listenable records. “It was once again recorded, mixed and mastered at Sonic Train Studios by King Diamond guitarist Andy La Rocque. We were very focused and determined right from the beginning to create a sound that no one had heard on an album since the 80s. To accomplish this, we and Andy listened a lot to albums produced by Martin Birch when mixing and setting the sound.