New DefTones album

Before hitting the road with PANTERA to support Reinventing the Steel in April, brothers VINNIE PAUL and DIMEBAG DARRELL are teaming up with country singer buddy DAVID ALLEN COE on a country-metal side project. So far, they've recorded eight songs for the disc, which they hope to release by the end of the year. After a European tour, Pantera will participate in OzzFest this summer. DEFTONES' new album White Pony will be released June 20. Produced by TERRY DATE, it includes guest appearances from CYPRESS HILL's B-REAL and TOOL's MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN. VOIVOD's live CD, Voivod Lives, will be released April 10, coinciding with a European tour on which the band will join THERION and FLOWING TEARS. While SILVERCHAIR takes a break from touring and recording, drummer BEN GILLIES is working in a record store in Newcastle, Australia. He's getting paid $7.28 an hour at Sound World, far less than he makes with the band. Absent from our shores for the best part of the Nineties, metal's first sweetheart is back! Ink dried on a new contract with Koch Records, DORO PESCH is anxious to reintroduce herself. Apart from an appearance on the recent Dio tribute, most haven't heard from the diminutive lady in quite some time, even fewer after Machine II Machine, her flirtation with industrial sounds. "We released Love Me In Black a year and a half ago," she recalls. "It was the best in many years, I think. The fan club guy in America loved the record so much, he burned some copies himself, made some photos and a bio, sent it around to some people he thought might be interested. Koch was immediately on the phone. It was a big surprise. I went to their office a few weeks ago, had a good vibe and we signed a deal. We're going to put out a new record, but there will be three songs, re-recorded, from the last record: 'Terrorvision', 'Dedication', which was just a limited edition and 'Pain'. It will come out in July. First we play all kinds of festivals in Europe, then, from August on, I'm over here. I don't care whether it's supporting someone or it's a club tour." Asked about the upcoming disc, Pesch offers, "The working title was once Hope In The Darkest Hour, but I think I might change it. We just did a photo session with a couple of snakes, so I might call it Kiss Me Like A Cobra. It's 90% done. We need to mix a couple of things, do some tweaking and touch-ups, but it's pretty much done. It has no influences of the Machine II Machine record. The new record is pretty live sounding. I did half of it in New York, with the guy who did Love Me In Black, and then in Germany, with the band Die Krupps, but it definitely has no industrial influences. We got along so good on the last record, we definitely wanted to work together. I did one cover version, 'White Wedding'. We did it heavy. I'm hoping that will be the first single. I don't want to say Machine II Machine was light, but this one is heavier. There are some great players on it. Some of the solos are played by Al Pitrelli, Slash and we're trying to make a duet with Lemmy! I might go to LA, to write something with him, but it's not done yet. I also wrote a couple of songs with the ex-guitar player from Sisters Of Mercy, Andreas Boon." DANGER DANGER will chat with fans at http://welcome.to/aorland this Friday, March 24 at 4 PM ET. Following the recent release of THE LIBERATORS album (with LA GUNS vocalist Phil Lewis & to be featured here next week) Brent Muscat (ex-Faster Pussycat) has a new project, BUBBLE, which features fellow ex-Pussycat Eric Stacy, ex-VIXEN bassist Share Pederson Ross and former Dogs d'Amour/Wildhearts drummer Bam. Also on Friday, ALEX SKOLNICK, formerly of Testament, will peform with his band SKOL PATROL in New York at the Izzy Bar. Showtime is midnight.