Mitch Mitchell, the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, has died.

The drummer in one of the world's most influential rock bands was found dead in a hotel room in Portland, Oregon in the early hours of Wednesday November 12. He was 61.

Alongside Hendrix and bass player Noel Redding, the trio formed in 1966 and released their debut album Are You Experienced? in 1967, going on to make Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland before dissolving in 1970, shortly before Hendrix's death. Redding died in 2003.
Credited with developing a "fusion" drumming style that melded his jazz background with rock'n'roll, Mitchell's work can be heard on famous tracks including Manic Depression, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and Crosstown Traffic
He also drummed in the supergroup Dirty Mac with John Lennon, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards.

Paying tribute to the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, who inducted the band in 1992, said they gave "theatrical, incendiary performances at the Monterey Pop and Woodstock festivals, including the ceremonial torching of (Hendrix's) guitar at Monterey, which have become part of rock'n'roll legend".

Mitchell appears to have died from natural causes, according to reports from Associated Press, although there has yet to be an autopsy. He had been performing in a Jimi Hendrix tribute band in Portland, Oregon.

 

Metallica Will play 'Magnetic' On Tour

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich promises that fans will hear "a lot of new songs" from "Death Magnetic" on the group's upcoming tour, which begins production rehearsals Monday in San Francisco and kicks off October 21 in Glendale, Ariz.
"These new songs are a lot of fun to play," Ulrich tells Billboard.com. "Traditionally I think we've been a little conservative when we've started off with two songs, three songs (from the new album). We're going to hit the ground running here. We're probably gonna learn all of them and play, I hope, at least five a night and probably rotate 'em so we get a lot of new songs in. That's one thing I'm definite about."



Metallica, which has dates booked into August of 2009, will again be playing in the round, though Ulrich says the production will be "a completely different thing than what we've done before." He says that there will be "a big-ass f*ckin' lighting rig above us, and there's some pretty cool stuff up there. There'll be some sh*t that turns on and off and some sh*t that blows up ... the usual stuff."

Ulrich says the group is also similarly enthused about the reception to "Death Magnetic", Metallica's first set of new material since 2003's "St. Anger." The album topped The Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks and has sold a million copies already in the U.S. and 2.5 million around the world.

"It's just an overwhelming, positive thing," Ulrich notes. "You couldn't have told me a month ago or six months ago that we would have a record that would be this well-received. It seems like it's so universal this time and it's all over the world and everybody's so into it on so many different levels - the fans, press, the peers ... everybody.

"I'm a little overwhelmed, humbled ... and certainly appreciative. When you put out a record twice a decade, which is kind of what we find ourselves doing these days, you bask in it a little bit."

Thanks for the info to

Billboard.com.

Legendary Swedish guitarist YNGWIE MALMSTEEN will release his latest studio album, "Perpetual Flame", on October 14, 2008.

The CD will be the first-ever Yngwie effort to be released via Rising Force Records (distributed via Koch) and it will mark the debut of Malmsteen's new singer, ex-JUDAS PRIEST/ICED EARTH frontman Tim "Ripper" Owens.

Featuring twelve tracks of "pure six-string metallic bliss" (which stretches to almost 70 minutes total), the album was produced and engineered by Yngwie himself, and mixed by Roy Z (who has previously worked with JUDAS PRIEST and BRUCE DICKINSON, among others).
Joining Yngwie and Ripper on the album are keyboardist Derek Sherinian and drummer Patrick Johansson (Yngwie contributed bass, additional keyboards, and vocals, as well), but on tour, Michael Troy will supply keyboards, and Bjorn Englen will be laying down the bass. A supporting tour of the U.S. and Canada is slated to run through all of October.

In addition to the arrival of "Perpetual Flame" in October, another career highlight is slated for that same month — Yngwie will be inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk on Monday, October 13 in Los Angeles.
A new Fender/Yngwie Malmsteen custom shop guitar will also be unveiled on November 28 (with a limited run of 100 instruments) and there will be a slew of CD reissues of Yngwie classics to soon be announced.

"Perpetual Flame" track listing:

01. Death Dealer
02. Damnation Game
03. Live to Fight (Another Day)
04. Red Devil
05. Four Horsemen (Of the Apocalypse)
06. Priest of the Unholy
07. Be Careful What You Wish For
08. Caprici Di Diablo
09. Lament
10. Magic City
11. Eleventh Hour
12. Heavy Heart

Thanks for the report to blabbermouth.net

System Of A Down, which has been advocating for Armenian Genocide recognition since its early garage band days is noted for the liberal political views expressed in their songs.