Indie-folk singer-songwriter M. Ward will release his eighth solo album in April.

The album, entitled ‘A Wasteland Companion’ will feature guest spots from Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes fame and Ward’s She & Him musical partner, actress Zooey Deschanel.

The album is not the first time Zooey has worked with Ward outside of their own She & Him project, since she also lent her voice to his 2006 album, ‘Post War’ and 2009’s ‘Hold Time’.

The confirmed tracklist for ‘A Wasteland Companion’ is as follows:
1. Clean Slate (for Alex & El Goodo) 
2. Primitive Girl 
3. Me And My Shadow 
4. Sweetheart 
5. I Get Ideas 
6. The First Time I Ran Away 
7. A Wasteland Companion 
8. Watch The Show 
9. There’s A Key 
10. Crawl After You 
11. Wild Goose
12. Pure Joy  

‘A Wasteland Companion’ is released On April 10th.

For the upcoming Anthrax/Testament double-headling US tour, it has been announced that ex-Strapping Young Lad skinsman Gene Hoglan will be filling the Testament drum stool.

With the first night of the tour already completed, fans can witness Gene’s stint with Testament on the following remaining dates:

Jan. 23 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
Jan. 24 – Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
Jan. 26 – Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theater
Jan. 27 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room
Jan. 28 – Ft. Wayne, IN @ Piere’s
Jan. 29 – Louisville, KY @ Expo 5
Jan. 30 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
Feb. 02 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
Feb. 03 – Columbus, OH @ The LC Pavilion
Feb. 04 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s
Feb. 06 – Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock
Feb. 07 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live!
Feb. 08 – New York, NY @ Best Buy Theater
Feb. 10 – Libertyville, IL @ Austin’s Fuel Room
Feb. 11 – Traverse City, MI @ Ground Zero
Feb. 13 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
Feb. 15 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot (SLC)
Feb. 17 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
Feb. 18 – Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory
Feb. 19 – San Jose, CA @ The Avalon

Support at all shows will be provided by Death Angel.

Dutch band The Gathering are currently working on a new album for release later in 2012.

The as yet to be titled release is expected to have a September release. Meanwhile a new track, ‘Heroes For Ghosts’ can be downloaded for free from The Gatherings Bandcamp page and the video for the track can be seen below.

This marks the band’s first new material since 2009’s ‘The West Pole’, which was the first full-length release following the departure of much-loved vocalist Anneke Van Gisburgen, who also released new material this week.

Taken from their 2011 release ‘The Spade’, Butch Walker & The Black Widows have released a new video for the song ‘Synthesisers’.

Butch Walker says: “The song lyrics really relate to just about anyone who has a hard time moving on with the changes that life throws at you.”

The video features a guest appearance by actor Matthew McConaughey, reprising the role of his ‘Dazed & Confused’ character Wooderson.

Watch the video below and then read a review of ‘The Spade’ here. See the video for ‘Summer of 89’ here.

Former vocalist for The Gathering, Anneke Van Gisburgen, has released a new video for ‘Take Me Home’, which can be viewed below.

The track comes from Anneke’s 2012 album, ‘Everything Is Changing’, which was released on 20th January via PIAS Holland.

Tracklisting for ‘Everything Is Changing’:
01. Feel Alive (3:37)
02. You Want To Be Free (3:23)
03. Everything Is Changing (3:18)
04. Take Me Home (3:23)
05. I Wake Up (3:30)
06. Circles (4:00)
07. My Boy (4:15)
08. Stay (4:08)
09. Hope, Pray, Dance, Play (3:19)
10. Slow Me Down (2:57)
11. Too Late (4:11)
12. 1000 Miles Away From You (4:59)