A Day to Remember
TITLE: Common Courtesy
RELEASE DATE: Spring
When A Day to Remember released their new song, “Violence (Enough Is Enough)” late last year, frontman Jeremy McKinnon granted Revolver the exclusive interview on the track and the band’s forthcoming album. While the song is one of the group’s heaviest ever and, according to McKinnon, the new record will have “more heavier songs than on the past two records together”–which is fine by us, of course–he also adds that the album represents ADTR’s ongoing mission to be “your favorite band. Period. We’re trying to play all of your favorite styles of music and not have to switch CDs because I want to hear a pop-punk song or a hardcore song or an acoustic rock ballad.” Which also sounds find by us.

Alice in Chains
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: Spring
With 2009′s Black Gives Way to Blue, Alice in Chains pretty much pulled off the impossible: Create a new album 14 years after their last release and seven years after the death of iconic lead singer Layne Staley. As such, Black Gives Way to Blue was named Album of the Year by the Revolver staff and was voted on by the fans to win the same honors at the 2010 Revolver Golden Gods. Singer-guitarist Jerry Cantrell says of the new album, “It’s got all the elements of any record we’ve put out, but it’s unlike any record we’ve put out.” He added, “Basically, it’s the next chapter in the Alice in Chains book.” That chapter was introduced late last year with the release of a new song, “Hollow”–listen to it right here.

Philip Anselmo and the Illegals
TITLE: Walk Through Exits Only
RELEASE DATE: Spring/summer
Preceded by two sampler tracks featured on a split 10″ with Warbeast, titled War of the Gargantuas, which is due out on January 8, Phil Anselmo’s highly anticipated solo album will finally see the light of day this year. Backing him on the record is Houston-based guitarist Mazi Montazeri, of whom Anselmo says, “If Ozzy Osbourne had his Tony Iommi and then found his Randy Rhoads when he went to do his solo stuff, I have found my Randy Rhoads.” The singer promises a “fucking very aggressive record”; we’ve heard the unmastered tracks and they easily outdo the two songs on War of the Gargantuas, delivering a dense, intense mix of extreme music styles–think Deathspell Omega with a hardcore edge and some Pantera groove.

Asking Alexandria
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: Spring
It has been a few monster-sized years for Asking Alexandria: The band rocked the Revolver Golden Gods in 2011, relocated to LA, opened for Guns N’ Roses, headlined the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour 2012, and pretty much claimed their spot as one of the top young metal outfits on the planet. And it will continue in 2013 as the band will release its third studio album this spring after gracing the cover of Revolver‘s January issue. According to frontman Danny Worsnop, their next album will be “a musical baby of Mötley Crüe and Slipknot.”

Avenged Sevenfold
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: Spring/summer
Even though they didn’t put out a new record last year, Avenged Sevenfold had a very busy 2012. They won the “Best Live Band” and “Most Dedicated Fans” awards at the Revolver Golden Gods, they played at Metallica’s Orion Music + More festival, and released the song “Carry On” on Call of Duty: Black Ops II and appeared as characters in the game–you check out their appearance and the song right here. In an exclusive interview in late 2012, vocalist M. Shadows told Revolver that the band has about six solid new songs written and they have a Black Sabbath-esque, classic metal feel to them. Consider us fucking stoked.

Bad Religion
TITLE: True North
RELEASE DATE: January 22
Having influenced everyone from AFI, The Offspring, and Parkway Drive, melodic punk-rock pioneers Bad Religion are set to release their, count ‘em, 16th album in late January. We’ve heard it and it’s their fastest, most aggressive record since the ’90s. If you miss the days of Recipe for Hate, True North is for you.

Behemoth
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: Fall
Polish extremists Behemoth are hard at work on their 10th full-length, which will be their first since 2009′s Evangelion and the first since frontman Nergal successfully battled leukemia. As of December, Nergal said that his band already had 30-40 minutes worth of new material and was, at the time, demoing it in a rehearsal studio. “I’m really thinking about my record,” he told SkullsNBones.com. “I’m dreaming my record, I’m eating my record, I’m shitting my record… I mean, everything just comes to the same thing: this artistic release that’s gonna take place in the fall next year.”

Black Sabbath
TITLE: 13
RELEASE DATE: June
Over three decades since they released their last album, the original lineup of Black Sabbath—vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward—revealed in 2011 that they are working on an LP of new songs with producer Rick Rubin (Metallica, Slayer, Slipknot). Since then, Ward acrimoniously split with the band (his recording replacement? Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine), and it was revealed that Iommi is battling lymphoma but is forging ahead with the writing process nonetheless. Iron Men, indeed.

Bullet for My Valentine
TITLE: Temper Temper
RELEASE DATE: February 12
Vocalist Matt Tuck spent a portion of 2012 making a record and touring with his side project AxeWound (which also features Liam Cormier of the Cancer Bats). However, in the fall, things seemed to shift in the Bullet for My Valentine direction when the band released a new single, “Temper Temper”–listen to it right here. The group announced that would also be the name of its fourth record, due out early next year.

Carcass
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
After months of rumors, it’s officially official: English grind masters Carcass are recording their first new album in 17 years. Original members Jeff Walker (vocals, bass) and Bill Steer (guitar, vocals) are being joined in the studio by Trigger The Bloodshed drummer Dan Wilding and metal super-producer Colin Richardson, who helmed Carcass’ last four albums. The band is financing the recording themselves and then shopping it to labels. “Fans can expect to be shocked,” Walker tells Revolver. “If it wasn’t good, me and Bill wouldn’t have bothered and we certainly wouldn’t be wasting our time or all the money we’ve put into this. I think we have enough good ideas to justify releasing a new album—we’re certainly not doing it because some label has offered us a huge wad of cash!”

Children of Bodom
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
Children of Bodom are a band that’s not afraid to have fun–like when they did an entire album of covers by pretty much every artist you could  imagine, metal, punk, pop, and otherwise; more impressively, they did it well. Having renewed a partnership with label Nuclear Blast Records, who worked with the band early on, the next thing on the Finnish group’s to-do list is a follow-up to 2011′s Relentless Reckless Forever.

Device
TITLE: Device
RELEASE DATE: April
This new industrial-rock project is led by Disturbed vocalist David Draiman, who, while on hiatus from his main band, has joined forces with former Filter guitarist Geno Lenardo. The group, which is, according to Draiman, in the vein of Ministry or KMFDM, plans to release a single, “Villify,” in February, followed by a full-length in April. Oh yeah, and did we mention that Geezer Butler, Serj Tankian, Tom Morello, M. Shadows, Glenn Hughs, and Lzzy Hale will all be making guest appearances? This one is gonna be huge.

Dillinger Escape Plan
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: Spring
These spazz-metal maniacs’ last album, 2010′s Option Paralysis, was their first on their own label, Party Smasher Inc., and it earned them the “Best Underground Band” award at the 2010 Revolver Golden Gods. Since then, they’ve toured with Deftones and Mastodon and, later in 2012, the band started seriously working on studio album No. 5. Vocalist Greg Puciato says that the new record represents the band’s “biggest jump since Calculating Infinity to Miss Machine in terms of really getting far, far out into Crazyville.”

Dream Theater
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci said that writing for the prog-metal leaders’ 12th studio album would start following the end of the A Dramatic Turn of Events tour. The band reportedly tested out some new song ideas during soundchecks on that trek, and they plan to reconvene for more serious songwriting work early this year.

Eyes Set to Kill
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: Spring
Eyes Set to Kill toured in 2012 behind their record from the year prior, White Lotus, which they self-released. The band from Tempe, Arizona, is led by sisters Alexia and Anissa Rodriguez, featured in Revolver‘s Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue. The band’s untitled fifth full-length is expected to be released around spring and will be its first on new label Century Media.

Five Finger Death Punch
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
As of last fall, Five Finger Death Punch had six to eight new songs in various stages of preparation, according to guitarist Jason Hook. The band was working on material using a new portable studio setup that the group put together in 2011. “The idea behind that is just to keep the creative muscle worked out,” Hook says. “It’s kind of like going to the gym–if you stop for a year, you lose all your strength, and we just want to keep that muscle tight. We’re in the business of making music. Touring is great, but we should always be prepared and always be exercising the creative muscle.”

Ghost
TITLE: Infestissumam
RELEASE DATE: April 9
James Hetfield, Phil Anselmo, and Duff McKagan are all fans of these Swedish cult metal favorites, so get with the program. Ghost recently debuted a new song, “Secular Haze” off their highly anticipated sophomore album–listen to it right here–which adds a new carnivalesque, Danny Elfmanish flair to their already patented Mercyful Fate-meets-Blue Öyster Cult sound. We can’t wait to hear the other nine tracks.

Godflesh
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
When British industrial-metal groundbreakers Godflesh reunited to play shows in 2010, it was great news—more than a few extreme-music fans, including a couple editors at Revolver, were crushed when the band canceled its 2001 U.S. tour and then broke up the following year. (Godflesh played their first American gig in forever at Maryland Death Fest 2012.) But news that main man Justin Broadrick & Co. are working on a new album, 10 years after the release of their swansong, Hymns, well, that’s a whole other level of mind-blowing.

Hatebreed
TITLE: The Divinity of Purpose
RELEASE DATE: January 29
Despite CNN mistakenly labeling them a racist band in the aftermath a white supremacist musician shooting up a Wisconsin Sikh temple, it was otherwise a good year for Hatebreed. The hardcore band spent the year finishing its sixth record, which is titled The Divinity of Purpose. In late fall, the group debuted a new single called “Put It to the Torch.”–listen to it right here.

HIM
TITLE: Tears on Tape
RELEASE DATE: Spring
Last year Finnish band HIM released a compilation, XX: Two Decades of Love Metal, while drummer Gas Lipstick recovered from a repetitive-strain injury. Vocalist Ville Valo told Revolver the band is ready to get back on the road with new material and said, “It’s exciting in a good way, like, the butterflies in my stomach are the size of fucking giant bats! So that’s a good sign. It means we really care about what we’re doing.”

Judas Priest
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
The Metal Gods may have announced their departure from the stage, which they commemorated with 2011′s triumphant Epitaph Tour, but the members of Judas Priest swear we haven’t heard the last of them. With the addition of new guitarist Richie Faulkner, who replaced K.K. Downing when he retired and made his debut with the band supporting James Durbin on American Idol, the band is currently working on a reported 12 to 14 new songs that they hope to release in 2013.

Killswitch Engage
TITLE: Disarm the Descent
RELEASE DATE: April 9
Early last year, the metalcore pioneers announced that vocalist Howard Jones had left the band citing personal reasons as the cause. Original lead singer Jesse Leach was shortly thereafter re-enlisted as his replacement. KSE then hit the road on their Alive or Just Breathing 10th Anniversary Tour and start playing a new song, titled “No End in Sight,” live last summer.

Korn
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
It may have seemed like the band members’ side projects were ringing in the end of Korn, with vocalist Jonathan Davis spending a lot of time on his electronic work and guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer focusing on Fear and the Nervous System. However, when Revolver spoke with Munky last year, he said Korn had 15 new songs already and was looking for a producer, adding, “We have a big 2013 planned for our fans, for ourselves, and our families.”

Mastodon
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
In December, singer-guitarist Brent Hinds revealed that he was writing new Mastodon music. He said, “I’m playing a lot of slide guitar and just getting really Jimmy Page-y on the place and getting really eerie and Radioheadish and very spooky sounding.” The band hopes to record its sixth studio full-length early this year–it will be follow-up to 2011′s Hunter.

Megadeth
TITLE: Super Collider
RELEASE DATE: June
Regardless of what you think of frontman Dave Mustaine’s politics, there is no question that, musically, he and his bandmates in thrash titans Megadeth have been on a roll lately. The group are neck-deep into album No. 14 and the follow-up to 2011′s acclaimed TH1RT3EN. Dubbed Super Collider, it will be the first Megadeth record to be released through Dave Mustaine’s own label, Tradecraft, which is distributed by Universal.

Motörhead
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: Summer
The loudest band in the world plans on continuing to be just that. The group spent last year touring heavily–including on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival–and releasing two volumes of The Wörld Is Ours—Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else that included live tracks and live footage. Vocalist-bassist Lemmy Kilmister said the band would enter the studio shortly and plans on a release in the summer.

Nine Inch Nails
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
Industrial kingpins Nine Inch Nails may have played their “farewell” tour in 2009, but there appears to be new life in Camp NIN. This past year frontman Trent Reznor has stayed busy by scoring movies (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network), writing music for video games (Call off Duty: Black Ops II), and recording with How to Destroy Angels, but when Rolling Stone asked Reznor if new Nine Inch Nails material was a possibility, he said, “All signs point to yes. There are some things in the works.”

Opeth
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
Last August, vocalist-guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt announced that he had begun writing new material for the forthcoming 11th Opeth album. It will be the follow-up to 2011′s Heritage, which debuted at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 chart. Over the past year, the band hit the road with Mastodon and Ghost, and Åkerfeldt said, “I’m gonna start writing more for real once we finish the tour.”

Palms
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: June 25
The recently formed LA supergroup features three former member of late, great post-metal outfit Isis–Aaron Harris, Clifford Meyer and Jeff Caxide–along with Deftones’ Chino Moreno on vocals. Harris told Guitar World, “Chino joined shortly after [futureusgallerythe three of us started the band] and our sound took shape from there. We’ve worked really hard on this first release and are excited for people to hear it. It’s nice to be back behind the drum kit, and with this lineup.”

Queens of the Stone Age
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: Spring
The latest offering from Queens of the Stone Age is going to be an all-star affair. For it, the band welcomes back Dave Grohl on drums–Grohl previously played on the group’s Songs for the Deaf–as well as former bassist, and frontman Josh Homme’s bandmate in Kyuss, Nick Oliveri. Oh yeah, and then there’s a guy named Trent Reznor, who will be making an appearance on the album. “The record sound like running in a dream inside a codeine cabaret,” the group recently told MOJO. “I hope you understand what that means, cause we don’t. Sounds like a load of pretentious shit! What? Gotta go, the therapist says our time is up…”

Scars on Broadway
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: Spring
Vocalist Daron Malakian (also of System of a Down fame) went from a full band to just his lonesome with this side project and recorded this forthcoming new album singing and playing all the instruments himself. Malakian told Revolver, “I was ready to do another Scars on Broadway record. I’ve just been going with the flow, and the flow’s taken me here.” Expect a more System of a Down-esque sound than on Scars’ debut, courtesy of songs like “Fuck N Kill.”

Shai Hulud
TITLE: Reach Beyond the Sun
RELEASE DATE: February 19
The metalcore stalwarts have changed their vocalists many times over the years, but Shai Hulud have decided to stick with vocalist Chad Gilbert (also from New Found Glory fame) this time out. Recently, the band has been participating in large festivals but also plans to play smaller venues as well. Amid all that, the fourth studio album, Reach Beyond the Sun, will release in February.

Soilwork
TITLE: The Living Infinite
RELEASE DATE: March 5
“The inspiration is flowing!” vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid said while working on this latest album. And indeed it has been, considering that the Swedish melodic death-metal vets have emerged with not one but two discs of new music. Soilwork began recording last August with producer Jens Bogren (Opeth, Amon Amarth), After guitarist Peter Wichers left the band for the second time. Strid added, “People can expect a continuation of the intensity and presence of The Panic Broadcast, only taken to a higher level.”

Slayer
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
Thrash metal’s Angels of Death had a triumphant 2011 in spite of a few setbacks. After guitarist Jeff Hanneman was sidelined due to contracting a flesh-eating bacteria from a spider bite, the group toured throughout most of the year with Exodus axman Gary Holt and Cannibal Corpse fret-burner Pat O’Brien filling in for shows with their peers in the Big Four—Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Kerry King revealed two song titles for the upcoming album, “Chasing Death” and “Implode,” with a full-length due out this year.

Stone Sour
TITLE: House of Gold & Bones Part 2
RELEASE DATE: April
Vocalist Corey Taylor set his goals high with House of Gold & Bones, devising it as a double concept album about the journey of life and the choices you make. Part 1 was released in the fall to critical acclaim, which only sets the bar even higher for part 2. Aside from the albums, the project is also being turned into a comic book.

Suffocation
TITLE: The Pinnacle of Bedlam
RELEASE DATE: February 15
These Long Island, New York, death-metal fixtures are set to release their seventh studio album. While vocalist Frank Mullen said he will sit out a few future tour dates–for which the band will be joined by a replacement vocalist–he hasn’t left the group, and Suffocation will drop the follow-up to 2009′s Blood Oath, which will also feature a bonus DVD.

Tomahawk
TITLE: Oddfellows
RELEASE DATE: January 29
When Anonymous was released in 2007, the makers of the album were a little less than anonymous. After all, those who follow heralded Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton know all of his projects and follow them closely. The 2013 release on Patton’s Ipecac Records will feature new members bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer John Stanier joining the singer and Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison. Until Oddfellows hits on January 29, Tomahawk have lead single “Stone Letter” to tide you over–listen to it right here.

Tool
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
The rumor mill had Tool’s fifth album coming out last year. Clearly that did not come to pass. And while frontman Maynard James Keenan has been seemingly preoccupied putting out Puscifer records, reuniting with A Perfect Circle, and squashing grapes, recent posts by Tool’s webmaster suggest that significant songwriting progress is being made. So we’re holding out hope that they will finally put out a new album this year—and until they do, we’re prepared to be teased, tortured, and titillated by more rumors and misinformation, much of it doubtlessly spread by Tool themselves.

Toxic Holocaust
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: TBA
In 2012, Portland thrashers Toxic Holocaust managed to release a split with Municipal Waste and get a song featured in the television show Sons of Anarchy. Their last album, Conjure and Command, was the first record to feature a full band rather than mastermind Joel Grind doing everything.

Volbeat
TITLE: Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies
RELEASE DATE: April 9
It’s been a monster few years for Danish “Elvis metal” outfit Volbeat: They went from virtual unknowns in the U.S. to opening for Metallica, playing the Revolver Golden Gods (in 2011), and scoring No. 1 rock radio hits in the states. The group is promising to top it all off with a new album this year, the follow-up to 2010′s Beyond Hell/Above Heaven, which is being produced by former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano, alongside longtime Volbeat collaborator Jacob Hansen.

Watain
TITLE: TBA
RELEASE DATE: August
These Swedish black metallers are pretty fucking extreme, just see their live shows–all flaming tridents and dead animal parts–as evidence. Now Watain are set on taking their lawless darkness to the next level, have recently signed a deal with Century Media Records for their fifth album.

Rob Zombie
TITLE: Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor
RELEASE DATE: April 23
Rob Zombie is a man with many endeavors. In 2012 he finished his new horror film, Lords of Salem,  which is due in theaters this Spring, and released a remix album, Mondo Sex Head. Last fall he toured with Marilyn Manson on the Twins of Evil tour, graced the cover of Revolver‘s special issue Rock! Shock! and Horror!, and he started recording his fifth solo album earlier in June. Zombie says the album will be “dark, heavy, and weird.” We would expect nothing less.

The Punky Pets are a virtual band of Misfit Reject Punks, and their game is an arcade-style adventure with a bonus music feature. High scores in the Punky Pets game unlock music samples from bands, including Vans Warped Tour bands past and present.

The featured bands in the game are Eyes Set to Kill, James Morris, Justina, Stitched Up Heart, To Paint the Sky, Alabaster and Roses Unread.  Download the game today for iPhone and Droid.

The Punky Pets and Eyes Set To Kill teamed up recently for a show at LA’s famous Viper Room to raise money for the charity Music Saves Lives. The night opened with 17-year-old James Morris performing his theme song for the Punky Pets app game, “The World Will Be Ours.” The Hallowed delivered a blistering set of post-grunge scream that got the crowd warmed up for the main event. Eyes Set to Kill went on at 11 p.m. to a nearly sold-out crowd.

“Where I Want to Be” is also featured on the Punky pets app game, recently launched on Android. You can download the game on Google Play here.

Justina wrapped up the evening with a spontaneous set in her own unique “Jersey Girl Soul Rock Rap” style and featured her Punky Pets song “Eyez on Me.” All the bands had a great time raising money for Music Saves Lives. Learn more about Music Saves Lives here.

The 2013 edition of Revolver‘s annual Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar — featuring Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless on its cover and exclusive pinups of 12 of the loveliest ladies in music — is available online. The calendar also packs plenty of hard-rock and heavy-metal trivia, including landmark album release dates, historic concerts, musician birthdays, and much more! Get yours now.

The party takes place on Saturday, October 15, beginning at 11 P.M., at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. For more details, click the flyer.

For ticketing info, click here.

The issue also features stories on:
• Disturbed
• The Devil Wears Prada
• Staind
• Anthrax
• Black Veil Brides
• Mastodon
• Alice Cooper
• Machine Head
• Sebastian Bach
• Falling in Reverse
• and much, much more!!!

Also available online for pre-order is the 2012 edition of Revolver‘s Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar, featuring Lzzy Hale on its cover and exclusive pinups of 12 of the loveliest ladies in music, including an alternate shot of Hale. Preview the calendar right here. It also packs plenty of hard-rock and metal trivia, including landmark album release dates, historic concerts, musician birthdays, and much more! Get yours now.

Eyes Set to Kill tour dates:

10/05 Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Smalls
10/07 Grand Rapids, MI, The Intersection
10/08 Des Moines, IA, Vaudeville Mews
10/10 Kansas City, MO, Beaumont Club
10/11 Colorado Springs, CO, The Black Sheep
10/16 Las Vegas, NV, 48 Hours Festival

Also available online for pre-order is the 2012 edition of Revolver‘s Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar, featuring Lzzy Hale on its cover and exclusive pinups of 12 of the loveliest ladies in music, including an alternate shot of Hale. The calendar also packs plenty of hard-rock and metal trivia, including landmark album release dates, historic concerts, musician birthdays, and much more! Get yours now.

REVOLVER MAGAZINE’S TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS

BRAND NEW ISSUE FEATURES SUCH BANDS AS
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, DISTURBED, AND GODSMACK SALUTING THE ARMED FORCES

NEW INTERVIEWS WITH AMERICAN IDOL’S JAMES DURBIN AND LEGENDARY VOCALIST SEBASTIAN BACH

PACKAGED EXCLUSIVELY WITH 18 FREE “BIG 4” COLLECTIBLE TRADING CARDS

Hard-rock and heavy-metal musicians “Salute the Troops” in the new issue of Revolver magazine, available everywhere on August 16 in anticipation of the 10-year anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy. Inside, cover stars Five Finger Death Punch talk about how their 2010 trip to the Middle East to play for U.S. troops helped closer together. 5FDP’s third album is set for release this October 11. Also, artists including Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, Godsmack, Staind, and Shinedown recount their experiences on U.S.O. tours abroad, and members of Tool, All That Remains, and others share stories of their times serving in the military.

The issue also includes a feature on American Idol contestant James Durbin, who urged the United States to “give metal a chance.” He discusses how he discovered metal by hearing singer Ronnie James Dio on the radio, what performing on Idol alongside artists like Zakk Wylde and Judas Priest was like, and what the future holds for him.

The jam-packed issue also features articles on Megadeth and former Skid Row singer and reality TV star Sebastian Bach, as well as Metallica, the movie Fright Night, Theory of a Deadman, Kittie, Chimaira, Eyes Set to Kill, and others.

As a special exclusive bonus, the newsstand edition of the new issue of Revolver contains limited-edition baseball cards of the “Big 4” bands of thrash metal—Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax—who are set to play the historic first metal show ever at Yankee Stadium on September 14. The cards are modeled after the classic Topps baseball cards from 1986, the same year these four bands released their metal masterpieces. View the cards here.

For all this and more, check out the September/October issue of Revolver magazine, which is available on newsstands everywhere from August 16 to October 10, and online right here.

REVOLVER What did you want to do differently on this album compared to past Eyes Set to Kill releases?
ALEXIA RODRIGUEZ In the past, we have had other guitarists write along with me. This is the first time I got to write both guitars and follow through with my own vision without having anyone else go against it.

What did Cisko Miranda bring to the group, creatively?
With our past members, I was the dominant one creatively. Cisko has been the only one I could write with without fighting or having intense creative differences.

How did doing your solo album inform how you, as a band, created this album?
I have always been the main writer of Eyes Set to Kill, and I knew that some of the songs I was writing wouldn’t fit under our name. So I put these songs such as “Come Home,” “Memories,” and “Still Here” under my solo name. But as I recorded those songs on my own, I learned that Eyes Set to Kill fans could appreciate my acoustic songs, so that’s why I covered some songs acoustically on White Lotus and did an acoustic version of our new song, “Harsh.”

Why did you want to cover of Hole’s “Doll Parts” and Nirvana’s “Polly”?
I really wanted our fans to get to know who we are as musicians. We grew up on ’90s alternative rock, and Hole and Nirvana were both my favorite bands. They both influence me tremendously. I love Courtney Love’s voice and attitude and I love Kurt Cobain’s intellect in his lyrics and the originality of his guitar playing. A lot of people don’t respect him as a guitarist. I really believe he’s one of the best songwriters of my time, especially since his influences were the Beatles and the Byrds.

What about the acoustic version of “Harsh”?
We play a lot of random acoustic gigs, so I thought it would be rad for the fans to hear that song the way I wrote it, and the way I will perform it on my own. We always try to include the fans as much as possible into our music. That’s why we took two of our old EP songs and rewrote them for this release. Those songs used to be called “Pure White Lace” and “This Love You Breathe.” But they are now called “Erasing Everything” and “The Secrets Between.”

What are you proudest of about the album?
I’m most proud of Cisko’s vocals. These are the first recordings we have had so White Lotus should be a treat for our fans since they have only heard him live and through YouTube.

Photo by Nathaniel Taylor