Marred Productions is once again proud to present Connecticut's only progressive rock and art music festival MARPROG 010 on Saturday, October 2, 2010. Doors open at 12:00 and music starts 12:30.

This year's event has been shifted to the newly renovated and much more pleasurable venue Nomads Adventure Quest located at 100 Bidwell Rd., South Windsor, Connecticut. Nomads is a full service family entertainment facility that features 16,000 square feet of fun as well as a full service cafe and bar. It is very easily accessed from I-91 and parking is not an issue at all. Our audience will have plenty to keep themselves occupied between sets as the day goes by. It is a beautiful facility and the staff immediately embraced the idea of presenting the show. Hampton Inns has agreed to give us group rates so decent accomodations are available at a reasonable price. Simply mention Marprog when making reservations.

Fughu Is A Progressive "Not Nostalgic" Band With A Rock Attitude, Willing To Explore New Horizons, Mixing Their Argentinian Roots And Personal Influences In A Free And Unique Way.

The band was conceived on 31 January at 23:35 pm. in the bizarre minds of Ariel Bellizio (guitar) and Alejandro L6pez (drums) in the neighbourhood of Saavedra, Buenos Aires Argentina in 1998 or earlier; horrifying the children of a school that no longer exists playing songs like "Holy Wars" by Megadeth.

Of course, after the show they were banned for life. Some of the students from that school can been seen today headbanging in Fuqhu's shows. Time passed by and with the addition of Marcelo Malmierca on keyboards, Juan Manuel Lopez on bass and Santiago Borgi on vocals, the quintet released their album Absence which led them to be elected by Dream Theater to open their show in Argentina.

As summer comes to an end, VH1 Classic turns up the heat giving viewers 24 hours of Rush for "Rush Hashanah."

When sundown hits, Rush comes out to play this Rosh Hashanah. VH1 Classic celebrates the Jewish New Year with "Rush Hashanah" starting at sundown on Wednesday, September 8 at 7 p.m. for 24 hours straight. Tune in to the award-winning VH1 rock doc Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage for an up-close-and-personal look at the Canadian musicians and jam to their Rush In Rio concert. Take an in-depth look at classic albums 2112 and Moving Pictures premiering at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT and get even more Rush when "That Metal Show" hosts Eddie, Don and Jim sit down with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson.

"Behemoth leader Nergal has just found out he needs a marrow transplant to fight the sickness he has recently been diagnosed with (leukemia). In light of this he wants to remind everyone about the need to be on the marrow registry. The more people get tested and donate, the more of a chance for life there is for him and people in the same situation.

"Behemoth and Metal Blade would like to thank everyone for their support and well wishes during this difficult time. The best thing we can all do right now is learn about the marrow donation process, not only help save one of metal's leaders, but to also help save countless others out there struggling with the same disease.

"To learn more about how you can register to donate marrow check out: www.marrow.org

Guitarist Alex Lifeson of Canadian rock legends Rush has told Alan Sculley of The Morning Call that the band has six new songs for the next studio album pretty much ready to go and three others almost done. The group plans to write at least a couple of additional songs after the tour. At this point, Rush's new CD is shaping up to be a musically varied work.

EMI Records is proud of its 30-year, career-long involvement with Iron Maiden and the astonishing first-week global chart success of the band's fifteenth studio album, The Final Frontier, which was released on EMI Records worldwide on August 16 (excluding USA, released by UMe on August 17).

Iron Maiden have more than earned their status as one of the foremost contemporary and influential rock bands in the world as they debut at No. 1 in the U.K. (their fourth No. 1 album there, the first being 1982's seminal The Number Of The Beast album) and 20 other countries to date with The Final Frontier.

Queensrÿche has inked a new deal with Loud & Proud Records, a Roadrunner Records imprint focusing on established artists. The group is currently working on a new CD for a tentative spring release.

In a recent interview with Attention Deficit Delirium, Queensrÿche drummer Scott Rockenfield revealed that the band's upcoming album is taking the Seattle-based metal quintet in some new directions.

[Although KISS aren't a prog metal band, I thought that irrelevant in this case -ed.]

Original KISS drummer Peter Criss has issued the following update: "On October 17th, I will be walking for the American Cancer Society, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. I would love for you to join me in this walk to help save lives and bring awareness to men and women about this disease.

"I am going to join Nurse Betty's Team BosomBuddies/TwinPeaks. She is an awesome woman who dedicates her life to helping men and women with this disease.

"I Need You," a brand new solo song from Dream Theater singer James LaBrie, can be streamed using the audio player below (courtesy of Revolver magazine). The track comes off LaBrie's new solo album, Static Impulse, which will be released on September 28 (one day earlier internationally) via InsideOut Music. The CD marks LaBrie's first solo effort in over five years and is sure to please his legion of diehard fans, as well as win over many new devotees in the process.

On September 28, 2010, Metal Blade Records will be releasing the re-issue of super group OSI's self-titled 2003 release Office Of Strategic Influence. The album was album, which was recorded in June 2002 and mixed in August 2002 at the Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut, will contain the following tracks and a Multimedia section:

The New Math (What He Said) / OSI / When You're Ready / Horseshoes And B-52's / Head / Hello, Helicopter! / ShutDOWN / Dirt From A Holy Place / Memory Daydreams Lapses / Standby (Looks Like Rain)

Limited Edition (CD above + extra CD with 3 more tracks and 3 videos): Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (08:49) / New Mama (02:22) / The Thing That Never Was (17:21)

I'm sharing this item originally posted at Blabbermouth not because the band necessarily fits in the (admittedly broad) spectrum of what we cover, but because I was struck by the album cover. I'll share by thoughts below. Meanwhile, the item reads:

"Tres Brujas," the new video from Austin, Texas metal luminaries The Sword, can be viewed below. The track comes off the band's third full-length album, Warp Riders, which was released today (Tuesday, August 24) via Kemado Records. The first of a trio of conceptually linked videos ("Tres Brujas," "Lawless Lands" and "Night City") that tie in themes of Warp Riders was filmed in the hot California desert with Artificial Army. It's described in a press release as "Seven Samurai crossed with The Magnificent Seven meets Mad Max filtered through the imagination of The Sword."

Seven The Hardway, the new Southern California-based progressive rock/metal band featuring guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine (Steve Vai, Planet X, CAB), legendary drummer Virgil Donati (Planet X, Steve Vai, Soul Sirkus), renowned vocalist Mark Boals (Uli Jon Roth, Royal Hunt, Yngwie Malmsteen), bass player Doug Shreeve and 21-year-old Argentinian newcomer Stefania Daniel on guitar, released its 10-track self-titled debut on August 23 in Europe via Mascot Records. Due in the USA on September 14, the CD was mixed by Roy Z. (Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Judas Priest, Helloween) and was mastered by Maor Appelbaum.

Italian progressive metallers DGM will celebrate their 15-year aniversary with the release of a "stunning" live DVD, Synthesis, due next month via Scarlet Records. Recorded in April 2010 in Rome, Italy, the DVD will be made available in a special package containing extra material plus a bonus CD featuring the band's greatest hits, re-recorded specifically for this release, as well as two previously unreleased tracks, "Just Like Before" and "The Only One."

According to a press release, Synthesis is a "must for all the band's fanatics but also for those who have never experienced one of the greatest power-progressive acts in today's metal scene."

"We're pleased to announce that after a long wait, District 97's debut Hybrid Child is officially up for sale. The official worldwide release date is not until 9/14, but you can get it early exclusively from our record label Laser's Edge at www.lasercd.com/Products/District-97---Hybrid-Child__LE-spc-1057.aspx. The response to the album has been phenomenal thus far; here's a taste blog.billkopp.com/?p=306.

Escape Music is proud to announce the release of the much anticipated new album from Tom Galley, the creator of Phenomena, entitled Blind Faith on September 24th 2010!

The album features countless renowned musicians like Mike DeMeo (Riot & Masterplan), Rob Moratti & Ian Crichton (Saga), Tony Martin (Black Sabbath) Ralf Scheepers & Mat Sinner (Primal Fear), Mikael Erlandsson (Salute & Last Autumn's Dreams), Chris Ousey (Heartland), Steve Overland (Overland, FM), Terry Brock (Giant & Strangeways) and many more!

Australian progressive metallers Ironwood have tapped Swedish producer and multi-instrumentalist Dan Swanö to mix and master their sophomore CD, Storm Over Sea, for a late 2010 release.

"This album is a huge evolution from our first effort," said Ironwood vocalist/bassist Henry Lauer. "We've fully assimilated our progressive, acoustic, and metal influences into a concise, yet epic and evocative, whole."

The Band’s Always-Anticipated Halloween Monster Mash-Up Confirmed For October 30 And 31st At The Pageant In St. Louis

Umphrey’s Mcgee Continues To Raise The Bar In Fan-Centric Music Experiences With Their “Partyin’ Peeps Enhanced Experience” Fan Packages

Their Interactive Stew Art Series Is Planned For At Least A Few Markets Along Fall Tour

After a summer of much-praised high-profile festival performances, pop prog rockers Umphrey’s McGee heads indoors this fall to play in many of the country’s most beloved theatres. As always, along the way Umphrey’s continues to raise the bar for fan experiences, with their innovative and interactive Stew Art events planned in at least a few markets, and an incredibly creative first-time offer of “Enhanced Experience” fan packages for their always-epic Halloween Monster Mash-Up in St. Louis on October 30 and 31.

Greek Metal Gods Nightfall have launched the first video clip for their upcoming new album Astron Black And The Thirty Tyrants on their landing page. Click HERE to check out the video for the song "Ambassador Of Mass"!

Nightfall singer Efthimis Karadimas comments the clip: "The story depicted is inspired by the Greco-Persian wars in the 5th century BC. The video is purely based on the ancient technique of Shadow Puppet Theatre evolved and widely used in different areas of the world eons ago. Every character, ship, map, etc you see in it has been built from scratch especially for that motion clip. The video has been directed by Achilleas Gatsopoulos, a prominent master of visual arts, based in the city of Berlin. I am sure you haven't seen anything similar around!"

Joe Satriani, one of rock music's most renowned electric guitarists, has announced that his highly anticipated 14th studio album Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards is to be released in the UK on Monday October 4th by Epic Records. The album release dovetails Satch's autumn UK tour, which kicks off on October 17th at the Manchester Apollo.

Joe Satriani has been a worldwide guitar hero since his 1987 breakthrough album, Surfing With The Alien. Over 10-million albums sales, 15 Grammy nominations and numerous accolades later, Joe continues to push the envelope of modern rock guitar playing.

Sandalinas is fnishing the recording of Circles, his forthcoming album featuring music written by Jordi Sandalinas, Andy LaRocque (King Diamond) and guitarist Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra). Andy LaRocque also wrote music specially for this album and will lay down some guest solos. The band is currently at Andy La Rocque's Sonic Train Studios in Varberg.

Sandalinas is the Swedish/Spanish band featuring Mats Rendlert (bass; Dreamland), Alvaro Svanerö (drums; Loch Vostok), Jordi Sandalinas (guitar) and Rick Altzi (vocals; At Vance).

"Never Seen Before," the most recent video from Sandalinas can be viewed below. The clip was shot at the Fortress of Varberg in Varberg, Sweden and features both indoor and outdoor footage. Check it out here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkzTUQ7okKQ