Kik Axe Music and Entertainment

Updated: Just moments after posting this story, METALLICA announced that their recent digital EP entitled BEYOND MAGNETIC will see an ''old school'' CD release on January 31st. Thos that want it now can always hit iTunes.

METALLICA have kicked off the new year by releasing a nearly 45-minute recap video that documents the band and friends during night four of their 30th Anniversary Celebration. The fan club-only event at took place at the Fillmore in San Francisco last month, and featured appearances from former members of the band, longtime friends, and peers. The new video can be seen below, along with recaps of the first three shows as well. For photos and set lists, check out http://www.metallica.com.

The Grammys bore me. With 78 Categories, you'd think that there would be something to get excited about, yet year after year, the entire affair manages to conjour about as much excitement as staring at a wall while waiting for mealtime in a nursing home. Actually, that's probably too exciting an event to compare it with.

It's no secret that I love MEGADETH, and I'll forever be grateful to Dave Mustaine for giving a 16-year-old kid (me) a chance to interview him for a half-hour back in 1993. TH1RT3EN, however I like, but it's definitely not loved. In a lot of ways it reminds me of the feelings I had about YOUTHANASIA when it came out when compared to it's predecessor, COUNTDOWN TO EXTINCTION... good, but can't help wondering if maybe it could've been better.

Don't let the headline fool you: It's technically a Chimpanzee playing the lead role in the video for Public Enemy No. 1, the first official single from the new MEGADETH album TH1RT3EN (which I have yet to hear). The video was filmed back on September 17th, and looks to have been jam-packed with pre-sets from the Magic Bullet Looks suite when the edit took place. ''The output from these one-day video shoots just doesn't hold up like the old days, but that's what happens when folks don't buy music no more.'' I say within my head in an old-man ''grandpa'' voice.

MEGADETH will release TH1RT3EN on November 1st via Roadrunner Records, and today we've got a stream for you of Black Swan. The song debuted via Hot Topic this morning, and can be streamed in the player below. Some readers may recall that an early version of the song was released as a fanclub-only bonus track for those who purchased UNITED ABOMINATIONS a few years back. Remember, if you're picking up some music next Tuesday, leave that METALLICA and LOU REED piece of shit LULU on the shelf, and grab the new MEGADETH instead. Click here to Pre-Order TH1RT3EN from Hot Topic!

Official Press Release: MEGADETH, easily one of the most recognized and culturally significant names in hard rock music for the past three decades, are excited to re-launch for the first time since 2008 their critically acclaimed package festival GIGANTOUR. The multi-artist bill--with metal heavyweights MOTORHEAD, VOLBEAT and LACUNA COIL all personally picked by MUSTAINE--will kick off in early 2012 with dates tentatively set for late January through early March. GIGANTOUR was founded by MEGADETH frontman DAVE MUSTAINE in 2005 and was last in the U.S. in May 2008. Stay tuned for official tour dates and on-sale information.

Yesterday the cover art for the new MEGADETH album TH1RT3EN showed up, and I didn't post it because I was busy doing something else. Not a huge fan of the cover, but Vic Rattlehead is on there, so it's passable. Today, the first single from the record started making the rounds, and Public Enemy No. 1 is pretty damn good.

Has a kind of RUST IN PEACE/COUNTDOWN TO EXTINCTION-era vibe, and that says a lot. Hear the new track and share your thoughts on Dave Mustaine and Co.'s latest offering.

When The Big Four - Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, the four bands that defined the speed/thrash/metal music genre - play Yankee Stadium on September 14, the concert will be a celebratory and emotional experience for the five New York born-and-bred members of Anthrax, the only New York band on the bill. To begin with, Anthrax's hometown gig will be preceded by the 9/13 release of Worship Music, the band's first new album in eight years, and already called "the metal album of the year" by numerous music critics (look for the Kik Axe Music™ review shortly - our copy has arrived).

Major League Baseball has this Fan Cave Series going on, and we just got a press release alerting us to the fact that MEGADETH mainman DAVE MUSTAINE is appearing in one of the videos - as an attraction in the cave. Mustaine is their to 'indulge guests with his signature riffage,' while standing behind glass that has the traditional 'in case of emergency...' text. Sadly, the glass is never broken. Although the press release fails to mention it, it's a safe bet that this has something to do with the upcoming BIG 4 performance at Yankee Stadium in New York next month.

Watch the video below.

Here's the deal - print is dying a quick death. Sure, there's a few people that will try to tell you otherwise, but it's a fact - especially when it comes to entertainment magazines. And, before anyone decides to jump down my throat because I work for a website, remember this - I once worked for a publisher of print mags and watched one of their titles shut down first hand while another struggled to survive. As METALLICA said, it's Sad But True.

That brings us to REVOLVER.