OPETH have been confirmed to play this years BLOODSTOCK festival, which kicks off on Friday 13th August at Catton Hall, Derby.

The band will co-headline the opening day with Meshuggah. Tickets are on sale now and you can pick them up from the Official Bloodstcok Website.

Opeth are currently working on their follow-up to current album WATERSHED which you can pick up in all good record stores now. Or, online HERE.

Sunday (June 27th) sees the first single from the forthcoming STONE SOUR album ‘Audio Secrecy’ released here in the UK.

The track- ‘Mission Statement’- will be released as a digital single on all the usual platforms, including iTunes. The album will be available from September 6th.

Stone Sour front-man Corey Taylor will make an appearance at this years SONISPHERE, playing an acoustic set. He will also present this years Kerrang! Awards with Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian at a secret location in London.

Roadrunner / Loud & Proud Records are pleased to announce the signing of four-time Grammy nominated, American blues/rock guitarist KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD to a worldwide, multi-album deal. He is currently working on his Roadrunner/Loud & Proud debut projects, which include his first live album and a new studio album.

“Kenny Wayne is a special artist” stated Loud & Proud President Tom Lipsky. “He is passionate about his songwriting, his musicianship and he values the relationship that he has with his fans.” Shepherd himself said, “I am both excited and proud to be a part of the Roadrunner/Loud & Proud family. We have some very exciting music coming for our fans, and I couldn’t think of a better home for my music. I’ve been playing it ‘loud and proud’ for years.”

Widely regarded as a guitar hero before that term exploded into pop culture with the video game, the self-taught Shepherd learned to play at the tender age of seven-years-old, learning Muddy Waters licks while listening to his father’s record collection. At 13, he was invited onstage and performed with New Orleans bluesman Bryan Lee. Signed to Giant Records at 16, Shepherd recorded his first album while a senior in high school.

In 1997, Kenny was ranked third in Guitar World’s list of favorite blues artists behind legends B.B. King and Eric Clapton. Now by the age of just 33, he has enjoyed two platinum and one gold albums, six Top 10 singles and his album Trouble Is holds the distinction of being the longest running album on the Billboard Blues Charts. It held strong at #1 for 20 weeks including 15 weeks consecutively. The hit single “Blue on Black” was also a record-breaker, #1 for 17 consecutive weeks at US rock radio.

Shepherd’s decorated career includes four Grammy nominations, two Billboard Music Awards, two Orville Gibson Awards, the Blues Foundation’s “Keeping the Blues Alive” Award and a Blues Music Award. In September 2008 Fender released the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signature Series Stratocaster, designed exclusively by Shepherd. The inimitable James Brown referred to him as “one of the wonders of the world.”

His most recent release, 2007’s #1 selling Blues Album 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads, documents Shepherd as he travels the country to jam with and interview the last of the authentic blues musicians. This full length CD/DVD documentary was nominated for two Grammys, aired on PBS television nationwide in the US and has been certified RIAA Gold as a Long Form Video.

We have some badass guitarists here at Roadrunner and so should come as no surprise that they

Zakk Wylde’s BLACK LABEL SOCIETY will release single Parade Of The Dead on July 11th. It will be available as a digital single from all the usual platforms, including iTunes.

The track is the first to be released from the band’s forthcoming album ORDER OF THE BLACK which will be released digitally on August 9th and on CD in the UK on August 23rd.

Sunday see’s the release of the new single from the forthcoming 36 CRAZYFISTS album Collisions And Castaways, which hit’s stores on July 26th.

The single- Reviver will be made available as a digital single on all the usual platforms from June 27th.

In other news, the album is now available for pre-order and if you pre-order from Play.com you will receive a FREE 36 Crazyfists coaster! Stock of the coasters is limited though and they are issues on a first come, forst served basis so get that order in FAST!

CLICK HERE to pre-order NOW!

The tracklisting for the album is now confirmed as follows:

1.In The Midnights
2.Whitewater
3.Mercy and Grace
4.Death Renames The Light
5.Anchors
6.Long Roads To Late Nights
7.Trenches
8.Reviver
9.Caving In Spirals
10.The Deserter
11.Waterhaul II

MURDERDOLLS have revealed another piece of the puzzle that is the album artwork for their forthcoming album ‘Women And Children Last’ which is released on August 30th. Head on over to the bands OFFICIAL WEBSITE to see part 2 of the art.

In other news, we can confirm that the tracklisting for the album will be as follows:

1. The World According To Revenge
2. Chapel Of Blood
3. Bored ‘Til Death
4. Drug Me To Hell
5. Nowhere
6. Summertime Suicide
7. Death Valley Superstars
8. My Dark Place Alone
9. Blood Stained Valentine
10. Pieces Of You
11. Homicide Drive
12. Rock N Roll Is All I Got
13. Nothing’s Gonna Be Alright
14. Whatever You Got, I’m Against It
15. Hello, Goodbye, Die

It’s time for part 2 of our 2010 Download Festival series and today we go behind the scenes with none other than KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and have a good ole chat with guitarist Adam D, who fills us in on opening beers with his flip-flops, festival haircare, the bands sudden addition to the festival line-up and his sweat being a little like battery acid…

We spent the whole weekend backstage with our camera, capturing interviews and footage from back stage, so keep an eye on Roadrunner UK for the next couple of weeks for more from the festival!

It’s always amazing when you meet your idols. Even more so when they bend over backwards to make your day memorable, as KO퐌¿N did when young Kevin Sparkowich met them recently. Check out the clip below to see one happy chap!

Ko퐌¿n’s new album Ko퐌¿n III- Remember Who You Are will hit a store near you on July 12th, and will be available as a Standard Edition CD and a Special Edition CD/DVD. Pre-order online now at THIS LOCATION.

Earlier this year COHEED AND CAMBRIA released their stunning new album Year Of The Black Rainbow and since then they have been touring around the globe in support of the record.

Following a stellar Ronnie James Dio stage performance at this years Download Festival