White Noise: News on Down, Killswitch Engage, Aerosmith, Immortal and More

The good news is, there's not a single Bret Michaels mention in today's installment of White Noise. The bad news is, the weather still stinks here in New York City. It has rained 12 of the last 14 days, if you can believe that. What is this, Seattle? The depressing weather's taking its toll on our mood, as is the fact that we were not able to spend the weekend in the United Kingdom at the Download Festival. Man, from the stories we've read about some of the performances that went down this weekend, it sounds like we all missed an amazing three days of rock and metal. Enough grumbling... let's get to the White Noise.

+ According to NME TV, former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo's band Down will be touring select U.S. markets with the Melvins in August and September, and after the trek, the boys will return to the studio to start recording its next album, which is tentatively due in early 2010.

+ So, it seems the management team for Heaven and Hell's Ronnie James Dio tells Blabbermouth the producers of the upcoming "Brütal Legend" video game have decided to cut Ronnie from the game, replacing him with actor Tim Curry, who is perhaps best known for his work in the film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Unfortunately, no reason for the Dio diss has been offered. But think about it: The game still features the voice and likeness of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne.

+ Want to hear the new self-titled Killswitch Engage before it hits stores June 30? Well, stop into any Hot Topic store this Friday (June 19) at 7PM, and you can. But you'll also have to deal with goth chicks in Hello Kitty gear, so, just be prepared.

+ If you thought Voivod's forthcoming album 'Infini' will be the last disc to feature the work of late guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, think again. Apparently, according to drummer Michel "Away" Langevin, there will be two posthumous solo albums written and recorded before Piggy passed almost four years ago. "We just want to make sure Piggy's music lives," Away said in a recent interview. "We're trying to make sure it's immortalized, at least on CD. Unfortunately, aside from two solo albums that he wrote and recorded in 2004 and 2005, there are no remaining tracks from Piggy. What he recorded as a solo artist is really, really good. We want to share it with people; Piggy played both the guitar and the bass tracks. They sound a lot like Voivod but, while listening to them, I can really tell which guitar players Piggy admired."

+ Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford tells Reuters that, in addition to playing 1975's 'Toys in the Attic' in its entirety this summer, that they'll also be pulling out 1976's 'Rocks' LP for some shows. He says in about two weeks, the band will start playing 'Rocks' from front to back, which rocks.

+ Municipal Waste's posted a new track called "Wrong Answer," lifted from the band's forthcoming album 'Massive Aggressive,' which hits stores August 25.

+ Norwegian black metal Immortal have reunited, and thankfully, recorded a new album called 'All Shall Fall.' To be released in September, the effort will boast seven epic tracks, including "The Rise Of Darkness," "Arctic Swarm," and "Unearthly Kingdom."