German bashers U.D.O. - led by former ACCEPT frontman Udo Dirkschneider - have checked in with the following update:

"U.D.O. is very proud to announce participation of the 70th anniversary of the battle of Stalingrad (today: Volgograd) which is scheduled for August 23rd in Volgograd, Russia. None other than the Kremlin and biggest Russian touring agency NCA invited the band to be part of this historical event.

Of course, some people could ask why a German band becomes part of ceremonies where Russian nation celebrates the victory against German soldiers. But we see it different and we are sure that Russian (and hopefully all the other) people agree to how we think. We definitely don't celebrate the death of so many people at both sides and we don't celebrate any victory. We celebrate the peace and current friendship between both countries and we wanna tell everybody that something like that must not happen again. This is a performance for peace and friendship between both countries and to remember all the people who died in war.

Who else than U.D.O. would be the right German ambassador having musicians out of four countries (Russia, Germany, Italy and Finland) united doing one thing: Music!"

U.D.O.'s new album Steelhammer - produced by Udo Dirkschneider and Fitty Wienhold - was released on May 21st in North America and May 24th in Europe via AFM Records. The label has since checked in with the following update:

"Due to the huge request (clear and black 2-vinyl editions sold out very quickly), we now release U.D.O.'s new masterpiece Steelhammer as limited double vinyl (gatefold sleeve) in orange, 500 copies only! Available now!"

The Steelhammer editions and tracklistings of the album are as follows:

Standard CD:

'Steelhammer'

'A Cry Of A Nation'

'Metal Machine'

'Basta Ya'

'Heavy Rain'

'Devil's Bite'

'Death Ride'

'King Of Mean'

'Time Keeper'

'Never Cross My Way'

'Take My Medicine'

'Stay True'

'When Love Becomes A Lie'

'Book Of Faith'

Digi-Pack:

'Steelhammer'

'A Cry Of A Nation'

'Metal Machine'

'Basta Ya'

'Heavy Rain'

'Devil's Bite'

'Death Ride'

'King Of Mean'

'Time Keeper'

'Never Cross My Way'

'Take My Medicine'

'Shadows Come Alive' (bonus track)

'Stay True Stay You'

'When Love Becomes A Lie'

'Book Of Faith'

Japanese Version:

'Steelhammer'

'A Cry Of A Nation'

'Metal Machine'

'Basta Ya'

'Heavy Rain'

'Devil's Bite'

'Death Ride'

'King Of Mean'

'Time Keeper'

'Never Cross My Way'

'Take My Medicine'

'Stay True Stay You'

'When Love Becomes A Lie'

'Book Of Faith'

'Dust And Rust' (bonus track)

Audio preview:

'Basta Ya' (featuring Victor Garcia from WARCRY):

'Metal Machine':

BraveWords' review of Steelhammer can be found at this location. Our new U.D.O. feature is available here.