White Noise: Slash Signs On for ‘Idol’ Rock Week, Atreyu Returning to Hardcore Roots

Good news, guys -- next week, when your girl switches on "American Idol" again, this time, you won't have to pretend like you're enjoying it. That's because "Idol" is about to get a little injection of Vitamin Slash. Plus, we bring you news on Atreyu, Torche, and more. Rise and shine...let's end the week with a bang.

+ According to former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash's Twitter account, the legendary rocker has accepted an invite from the producers of "American Idol" to serve as the mentor for the show's "Rock Week."

On Thursday, Slash wrote that "Next week should prove to be very interesting," after finally revealing that he would "attempt to make 'Rock Week' on 'American Idol' exactly that." Here's to hoping the "Idol" kids don't mind the smell of cigarette smoke.

In related GN'R news, Velvet Revolver kitman Matt Sorum, who was in the group from 1990 until its demise, has said in a recent radio interview that he thinks it's lame of Axl Rose to tour as Guns N' Roses. Blabbermouth quotes Sorum as saying, "I'm not saying I'm an original member, okay, but I understand the core of the band, which is Slash and Duff [McKagan] and probably Izzy [Stradlin]. It's a shame, and you know what, this goes back to a Paul McCartney thing. Does he call himself the Beatles? Not saying we were as big as the Beatles, but - does Sting call himself The Police? No. Does Jimmy Page and Robert Plant go out there calling themselves Led Zeppelin? Nope."

This, on the heels of months of rumors, suggesting Rose's newfangled Guns would be touring this summer with Van Halen. That'll be the day.

+ Arizona extremists Job For A Cowboy have wrapped the recording of their sophomore LP, which they've named 'Ruination.' The album is expected to land in stores this July. You can also catch the band this summer on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival with Slayer, Killswitch Engage, and Cannibal Corpse.

+ According to Blabbermouth, Atreyu are in Henson Studios in Los Angeles with producer Bob Marlette, where they have begun work on the follow-up to 2007s 'Lead Sails Paper Anchor.' "We started as a heavy hardcore band," explains frontman Alex Varkatzas, "and I think we've gotten away from that in recent years. With this record, we want to return to our roots while also continuing to move forward. It's about finding the right balance between the two."

+ What's better than new Aborted? Old Aborted, of course. And according to Bravewords, that's just what the band plans on doing... soon, we think. While Aborted will re-release 2003's 'Goremageddon: The Saw and the Carnage Done' and 2005s 'The Archaic Abattoir,' with new art and bonus tracks, they haven't given us any indication as to when these reissues will be ready for release.

+ Winds Of Plague are back in the studio, working on their next album, 'The Great Stone War.' No word yet on when that disc will be ready for mass consumption, but the band will likely debut the new stuff this summer, as part of the Summer Slaughter run with Suffocation, Necrophagist, Darkest Hour, and others.

+ Here's a tour worth catching. Torche and Harvey Milk will be teaming up for a spate of East Coast dates this July. The first is set for July 11 in Miami, and Lambgoat has a complete list of dates, which run through August 1 in Athens, Georgia.