M3 Rock Festival To Be Broadcast Live on HDNet

If you can't make it out to the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland next month, there's good news! HDNet will broadcast the festival live! Check out the HDNet channel guide for your area.

This is something you don't want to miss because bands like Kix, Night Ranger, Warrant, RATT and more are all playing the festival... and you can see it for free!

This Is Maybe The Best Heavy Metal Mashup Ever

Picture it: Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" layered over Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." The mix is amazing. In fact, it's so cool I want to put the song(s) on my iPod! This isn't much of a post, but I just had to share! I'm not big on the mashup craze in general (okay, I like Metal mashups), but this is great!

Trixter, 'Tattoos & Misery' -- New Video

Can you believe it?! It's 2012 and Trixter has a new album and music video! Trixter will release New Audio Machine via Frontiers Records today! To celebrate that release, the band made a video for the album's first single, called "Tattoos & Misery."

The song sounds a lot like Sleeze Beez, "Stranger Than Paradise."

Cinderella Summer Tour Dates Announced

Cinderella has announced some tour dates and some of the shows will feature Sebastian Bach as the opening act. None of the shows are close to me, but I bet this tour will go over well. I'm not sure of ticket prices, but they can't be too high judging by the size of the venues. Will you check out one of these gigs?

June 21
House of Blues
Cleveland, OH

June 22
River Roar
Bay City, MI

June 23
Carnegie Music Hall
Pittsburg, PA

June 26
Bergen PAC
Englewood, NJ

June 27
Turning Stone
Verona, NY

June 28
Showcase Live
Foxborough, MA

June 29
Hampton Beach Casino
Hampton, NH

July 1
Penns Peak
Jim Thorpe, PA

July 12
HOB
Dallas, TX

July 13
HOB
Houston, TX

July 14
Hard Rock Live!
Biloxi, MS

July 21
Waukesha County Fair
Waukesha, WI

July 27
Congress Theater
Chicago, IL

August 2
Canyon Club
Agoura Hills, CA

August 3
Orange County Fair
Costa Mesa, CA

August 4
Wild Horse Pass Casino
Chandler, AZ

August 16
Kentucky State Fair
Louisville, KY

August 21
Rockin' The Rivers Grandstand
Three Forks, MT

Accept, 'Stalingrad' -- Album Review

I've always loved Accept. Regular readers will know I saw them in L.A. on their Blood of the Nations tour last year. In fact, between various special editions, I own that CD four times. And now, their new CD, Stalingrad, is out. Of course, I pre-ordered the special edition with a bonus DVD. I had hoped it would include footage of the show I was at (which was filmed and streamed to the web, so I've always had hope for a live DVD). This is their second CD with TT Quick singer Mark Tornillo, Udo having refused to take part in a reunion because he's still busy sounding like second rate Accept in his band, U.D.O. It's his loss, the new songs are better than anything Accept did post Objection Overruled and live, the band is really on fire.

The new songs are just what you'd expect, classic heavy metal from start to finish. The special edition CD has an extra bonus track, and I'm sure I'll end up buying a Japanese edition for an other track. There's also a bonus DVD, with five live track across two shows and two clips, "Teutonic Terror" and "Pandemic." I had actually bought a box set of Blood of the Nations expecting those two clips, so I was glad to finally get them. The live tracks include only one "old" Accept song, my favorite, "Princess of the Dawn." I think this is a brave move, especially as the only DVD they did "back in the day" is a horrible affair with no full live tracks and too much voice over, but I guess it shows how committed they are to this new line up. The live "Princess" has Peter played a big bass solo, which is nice to see again, it was a highlight of seeing them live. The other live songs are "Pandemic," "No Shelter," "Teutonic Terror" and "The Abyss."

Overall, this is another strong step in the come back of Accept, and I suspect they will continue to go from strength to strength. I am sure they're not going to play the O2 any time soon, but I think their ongoing career as a serious and dedicated metal band is beyond doubt, and I'm very glad about that.

Looks Like Juan Croucier Will Join RATT At M3

Did hell freeze over? According to Bravewords, bassist Juan Crocier will perform with RATT at the M3 music festival next month in Columbia, Maryland.

You might recall that bassist Robbie Crane quit RATT about a month ago.

So does this mean Juan is officially back in the band? Or will the M3 gig be a trial run? There seems to be a lot of hatchets to bury between the guys in RATT and Juan, but I wish them well. I think it would be great if Juan joins the band again. Thoughts?

DJ Ashba Joins Fight Against Bullying

SIXX: AM and Guns n' Roses guitarist DJ Ashba recently shared an emotional story of his past, revealing that he was physically and mentally abused by his father. Ashba left home at 16. Now he wants to turn his negative experience into a positive by becoming an anti-bullying advocate.

Ashba revealed his abuse history on the website bullyville.com. He'll serve as a spokesperson for the site.

“Instead of a hug and a kiss, my morning wakeup call consisted of my dad’s fist coming through my closet door, similar to Jack Nicholson in the Shining. The craziest part about all of this is I spent my youth years constantly trying to gain his respect,” Ashba writes.

He goes on to explain that the fear was so extreme, he would nearly wet his pants. He hid in his closet, trying to avoid his abusive dad. I think it's great that DJ is using his platform as a musician to help kids.