VAN HALEN News Desk reports:

As we reported earlier, ALTER BRIDGE/CREED guitarist Mark Tremonti is good friends with Wolfgang Van Halen and was recently invited to 5150 studios, where Eddie, Alex, and Wolfgang Van Halen performed their not-yet-released new record live in the studio, from front to back. He called the experience “Incredible.”

Yesterday, more details emerged as Tremonti called in to Ross Ford’s morning radio show on 94.3 KILO in Colorado and spoke more about his recent trip to 5150.

Describing more about the experience, Mark says, "Wolfie asked if me and my buddy Eric wanted to go checkout rehearsals the next day over at his dad’s house. And I said (laughs) 'Of course!' (laughs). So he picked me up the next day and we drove to this big, gated home and we get to 5150 studios. It was just me, my buddy Eric, Wolfie and Eddie in one room, and then Alex was in the other room behind some plexiglass, and then they played down the entire new album. What makes it so great is that they took what they could from all their old demos back in the ’80s and pretty much did what they could to create songs out of old ideas, so it sounds like vintage Van Halen. Musically it sounds in the [early '80s] era. I didn’t hear any vocals – David was not there. It was just the three of them and the music sounded like very authentic, old school Van Halen. It was a just a crazy experience to sit there and watch. Eddie was four feet from me, and Wolfie was on the other side. The guys were very excited to be doing what they’re doing."

Read more at this location.

On May 11th, Soundwave Revolution, the annual music festival held in major cities around Australia, announced Van Halen as the surprise headliner for all five of their huge festivals in September and October.

Now, Van Halen officially acknowledged the shows by simply posting the dates on their official Facebook page. This makes the first time that the band has posted any major news via Facebook… or any major news in a long while.

The Soundwave Revolution dates are:

September

24 - Brisbane, Australia
25 - Sydney, Australia
30 - Melbourne, Australia

October

1 - Adelaide, Australia
3 - Perth, Australia

Full Soundwave Revolution details can be found at this location.

Back on May 17th, Tom Russell of UK’s Rock Radio conducted an interview with legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES). Here’s what Slash had to say about what Van Halen is up to:

Slash: “I’m a huge Van Halen fan. They’re finishing (up their new album right now), actually. I don’t wanna speak on their behalf, but one of the guys that works for us works for Van Halen in the studio and he told me that they’re in the mixing stages.”

Van Halen have been in the studio with Grammy Award winning producer John Shanks, recording their first album with David Lee Roth in more than 25 years, and their first new music as a band in seven years. Shanks has worked with likes of BON JOVI, FLEETWOOD MAC and STEVIE NICKS, as well as massive pop acts including MILEY CYRUS, BACKSTREET BOYS, ALANIS MORISSETTE and CÉLINE DION. A release is expected in the fall which coincides with the announcement that for the first time Van Halen will take their reunion outside of the US and Canada, headlining Australia's Soundwave Revolution.