News Briefs

• Upcoming releases in the next 60 days on Retroactive include Daniel Band - Rise Up, Daniel Band - Running Out of Time, Stronghold - Fortress Rock and Saint - The Revelation. Also, look for two classic Mass albums, Voices in the Night and Take You Home, to be re-issued as well.

• Original Barren Cross members Mike Lee (lead vocals), Ray Parris (guitars), Jim LaVerde (bass) and Steve Whitaker (drums) will be reuniting to headline the Elements of Rock Festival in Stadthofsaal, Uster, Switzerland held between March 16 - 18, 2012. 

• The new Driver album, Driver 2, is curently being mixed. Mastering is scheduled next with Maor Appelbaum in Los Angeles.

• The digital version of the self-titled Millenial Reign album III, can be heard at the Roxx Productions Facebook page: HERE.

 Everyone that signs up on the email list at the Roxx Productions website will receive a link to download "Falling" for free: www.roxxproductions.com.  Work has been completed on III and it is set for January 3, 2012 release.

• Eternal Power, the third The Seventh Power album from guitarist Bill Menchen, is scheduled to come out next month. It is being released in follow up to the group's self-titled debut (2006) and sophomore effort Dominion & Power (2008).

• Tempest has made available the song "God's Will Be Done" for streaming at: www.tempestonline.com. Guitarist Mick Rowe recently announced he is working on a re-mixed version of the groups 1987 debut A Coming Storm. Further details as they become available.

Track listing revealed for new The Sacrificed album III

Roxx Production are exited to announce that III, the new album from The Sacrificed, will be released on January 31, 2012. For the first time here is the entire track listing for III

News Briefs

• Firestream Music Vault to return on Jabuary 16, 2012 (as announced by XNilo Records): The wait is over, January 16, 2012 the Music Vault returns to the public! Please remember, there's still a lot of work to be done. Tons of album/artist-pictures will need added again and some of the missing data will also need updated. Nevertheless, the site is functional and still rich with contentm naking it a great resource that can be used while work is being done. Therefore, we do not want to keep the site from the public any longer because we feel that they have waited long enough for its return.

On our behalf and on behalf of all those who wanted the return of the vault, we cannot thank you the original Vault creator (aka Solid) enough for his help and hard work! Now, it's time for the team of Vault Managers to roll up our sleeves and bring the Vault the rest of the way home. Official: www.firestreamvault.com.

• Guitarist Mick Rowe is at work on a re-mixed version of A Coming Storm, the 1987 debut album from Tempest. No news on a release date but three new tracks will be included. Further reading and samples: www.facebook.com/mickrowe & www.facebook.com/tempestrocks.

Ken Pike opens Kickstarter account to fund debut Absolon album, Darkness Rising: The Tales of Derek Blackheart

The latest in regards to the project from the former Malachia vocalist:

"Well all the songs and musical pieces are written and pre-production is complete. It has really come together and, I think, has the potential to make a noise in the White Metal market. It's by far the most ambitious project I have ever been involved in!

XNilo Records acquires Firestream Music Vault and Untombed Network/Webzine

Press Release: Today, we at XNilo Records are excited to announce its acquisition of both the Firestream Music Vault, the largest database of Christian Rock and Metal albums on the Internet, and the Untombed Network/Webzine, an online resource for Christian Hard Rock and Metal news, interviews, reviews and online radio.

Debut album released from Atkins / May Project, Seprents Kiss

Original Judas Priest vocalist Al Atkins and Christian guitarist Paul May join forces for new metal/hard rock project

Theocracy on the Billboard Heatseeker chart

As announced by the Athens, Georgia based group in its Facebook page (December 1,  2011):

We're very excited and proud to announce that we've just received word from our record label, Ulterium Records, that As The World Bleeds has charted at #40 on the Billboard Heatseeker Chart in its first week of US release.

News Briefs

• Salem, Oregon based Saint is scheduled to soon start work on its next album, Desperate Night. The group plans to begin laying rhythm and bass guitar tracks the second week of January and then move on to vocals the third week. This will be followed by guitar leads from Jerry Johnson. Jerd Knowland is handling production duties and Dakin Costello cover artwork.

• Bill Menchen will be releasing a reworked version of the 2006 self-titled debut of his band The Seventh Power. From the artists Facebook page (December 31, 2011):"The bass and the vocals (will remain) unchanged. The existing drums have been worked over to give them a more raw organic sound than the 80's reverb type of sound they had on the original release. There were some drum edits on the original version that I did not use on this version. It's all original, all raw. The guitar had a lot of mid scooped out on my amp when I did that recording that I wasn't able to get back with EQ adjustments to my satisfaction so all of the rhythm guitar has been re-recorded from the ground up. I made a few adjustments on some of the parts while I was at it."
  
  The revised version will feature the new title The Power and be released on Wrenchen Menchen Wrecords.