STAIND guitarist Mike Mushok has joined NEWSTED, the new band led by former METALLICA, VOIVOD and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM bassist Jason Newsted.

NEWSTED is:

Jason Newsted - Bass, Lead Vocals
Jesus Mendez Jr. (THE NAPOLEON BLOWNAPARTS) - Drums
Jessie Farnsworth - Guitar, Backing Voice
Mike Mushok (STAIND) – Guitar

A photo of the current NEWSTED lineup can be seen below.

NEWSTED will make a number of European festival appearances in June:

Jun. 05 - Impact (Second Day) - Warsaw, Poland
Jun. 07 - Sweden Rock Festival - Sölvesborg, Sweden
Jun. 16 - Download (3rd Day/Pepsi Max Stage) - Castle Donington, UK
Jun. 21 - Seerock - Graz, Austria
Jun. 26 - Hegyalja Fesztival - Tokaj, Hungary
Jun. 29 - Rock The Beach - Helsinki, Finland
Jun. 30 - Graspop Metal Meeting - Dessel, Belgium

"Metal", the debut EP from NEWSTED, sold around 6,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 62 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"Metal" was released on January 8 exclusively via iTunes. The EP was made available as a physical CD on January 15.

"Metal" contains the following tracks:

* Soldierhead
* Godsnake
* King Of The Underdogs
* Skyscraper

By purchasing all four songs, you will receive a copy of Jason's handwritten lyrics.

In a recent interview on Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show, Newsted stated about his new group's plans to release more material: "We recorded 11 songs total. We're going to release them in batches and if people dig them, then try to get a full LP out with the last EP with nice vinyl and stuff — that's my plan. If I can get that through and share that with people, then that's going to be really cool. I want to have it on CD. I ultimately want to have it on vinyl — the separate EP and the final one. We have to do it from the ground up like this because you have to take it to the people and selling the CDs at the show and all those kinds of things are the only way we were going to get back any money from the music. I think if you're going to put it online and share it with people that way, you get the downloads you can and then once it does whatever it does, you shouldn't try to really fight it — just present the best source material that you can, try to have it be representative and let it do its thing."

"Soldierhead", the first video from NEWSTED, can be seen below. Directed by Leon Melas, the clip was filmed on December 15, 2012 in an abandoned factory in California.

In a recent interview with Sonic Excess, Newsted stated about the video shoot: "It's just a simple thing, and I just wanted to capture the band. There is no heavy concept, no literal thing about bullets chasing your head or any of those things. It's old-school metal and most likely will be black and white. It was shot in an old factory. It was a gnarly, dusty, old factory and it had energy. That is what I will describe it as. I haven't got to play to the camera like that for a long time, and I was really going for it. The soldier version is something everyone will have. An HD version will be available on iTunes, but I want everyone to have it for free across the world. I want it to be the tip of the spear for everybody to see and hear what exactly it's all about."

"Soldierhead" was premiered on the December 17, 2012 edition of the "Eddie Trunk Live" show on SiriusXM satellite radio.

"Soldierhead" video: