Home
News
News Archive
Release Dates
Interviews
Reviews
Demos
The Crew
Updates
Links
More archived news...
Ironware - New album. IronWares Debut album is finally recorded. The recordings went smothly with just the ordinary technical problems that may show up. The record has 2 producers Andy La Rocque and Pelle S�ther. Andy is the mainproducer and Pelle has produced the vocals. The Recordings where placed at two studios Los Angered Recordings and Studio Underground. All together the band spent five weeks in the studio and the result is fantastic. The tracklist is as follows: Intro, Holy Man, Dark Sun, From Deep Inside, Time Machine, Sanctuary The Saviors, Return Of the King, What Is Going On Break Out (Title Track) and Man Of Hope Peaceville sign The Great Deceiver. This is a letter from the label boss from Peaceville Records. We are very proud to announce our first major new signings of 2002; Sweden�s The Great Deceiver. Label boss Hammy had this to say; It was always a great privilege working with Tomas when At The Gates were signed to Peaceville in the mid 90�s, in our opinion Tomas is one of the best vocalists/songwriters of his generation, we�ve kept up a firm friendship down the years and I�m absolutely fucking delighted to have him back on the label. Tomas Lindberg; Why did we choose Peaceville? Well, there are two reasons really...First of all I�ve known Hammy & Lisa for over 10 years, they know who I am and where I come from, they have always supported me 100 %, It�s down to mutual respect basically... Secondly, all the other labels that wanted to sign us hadn�t even heard the record, it felt like they were interested more about the ex-At The Gates sticker they could put on the cover...whereas Peaceville flipped when they heard the record, they saw what we wanted to do and they wanted to release it because of the strength of the record. The Great Deceiver is a very different band, what we looked for in a label was someone that shared our visions, both musically, lyrically & philosophically and Peaceville certainly fit that bill� world domination starts here. A Venom Well Designed (tracklist) Pierced The Living End Poisoned Chalice After The Flood Enter The Martyrs The Demons Lair Arsenic Dreams Strychnine The Blade Leave It All Behind Destroy - Adore Band: Tomas Lindberg - Vocals Kristian Wahlin � Guitars Johan Osterberg � Guitars Matti Lundell - Bass Hans Nilsson � Drums White Skull have signed to Frontiers Records. Italian power metallers White Skull have signed a five-album deal with Frontiers Records (Royal Hunt, Artension). The band's first release through the label will be in the form of a new full-length titled, The Dark Age. The album is said to be a concept album about the Inquisition and the Middle Ages and will feature new vocalist Gustavo Gabarr� to front the quintet. The final track listing for the album: Penitenziargite The Dark Age Grand Inquisitor Maid Of Orleans, New Crusade The Edict Voice From the Heavens Devil' s Woman Tortures To New Handbook Sentence Of Death Theme Of The Innocents White Skull's The Dark Age is scheduled for a summer 2002 release on Frontiers Records. Jag Panzer - New DVD. Colorado power metallers Jag Panzer are presently working on a self-produced DVD that will capture the unique, "cutting-edge" nature of the band. "I've been an avid DVD collector for years, and I've often wondered, 'Can the principles of the NWOBHM era be applied to a DVD? Can a band release its own DVD?' I felt strongly that we could," said Jag Panzer vocalist Mark Briody in a recent interview. "So strongly that I produced a DVD prototype in January 2002. A DVD was authored and 10 copies were sent to Century Media [Records] and some other metal folks whose opinion I trust. The response was very positive. Century Media was interested in a release, but not until 2003. This would not work for me. I've always felt that an omission in the marketing of the band is that few people are aware of that fact that we are a very technology-oriented band. Yet our music is strongly rooted in the traditions of metal. And with this style of music often comes an unfair stereotype." Briody obviously has big plans for Jag Panzer's as-yet-untitled DVD, but current market conditions only allow for so much. Here's what he had to say regarding Century Media Records involvement in the project. "It was a lot of work producing the DVD, but I had a great time doing it and it was a good learning experience. I certainly understand Century Media's position on releasing the DVD on a later date. The DVD market for heavy metal is still in its infancy. But to me it was very important to get the DVD out early, so we don't become 'just another band doing a DVD'. So we worked out a compromise. We will create and produce a limited run of the DVD ourselves. This release is for North America only. Century Media may release the DVD (or parts of the content) in Europe, but I don't know of any specific plans. The DVD may also appear as a release in North America on Century Media some time in the future. But again, I don't know of any specific plans." Fans of Jag Panzer can expect the band's DVD to be out sometime this summer. Interested parties should watch www.jagpanzer.com for more details. Joey Vera to join Seven Witches. Seven Witches have announced the addition of bassist Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning) to the group's ranks. Joey will join the band on their European tour with Annihilator and will also play on the next Seven Witches CD. Edguy celebrating their ten years with special show. Many of you won't believe it, but it's entirely true. This year Edguy are celebrating their ten years anniversary. For this reason the band wants to thank all their fans for the great support and loyalty during the years. Edguy will play a very special anniversary show in Offenbach, Germany at Stadthalle on the 31st of May. It's gonna be a real unique event since Germany's most successful Melodic Metal upstart from the 90s really wanna push the event to an absolute highlight, which shall present the band's partiality for visual effects, pyros and lights on a new level. Furthermore the band is looking forward to hopefully welcome a couple of guest musicians on stage and decided to include the fans into the choice of songs, which shall be played that night, via internet. So you might not only hear the standards but maybe also a couple of surprises that have just hardly or even never been played "live". Very Special Guest will be their friends Kreator. Skyclad - New album. Skyclad, featuring new vocalist Kevin Ridley, have released their new album, entitled No Daylights... Nor Heeltaps, via the group's official web site at www.skyclad.co.uk as a special double-CD package on March 11th and will make the single-CD version available for purchase through retail outlets on May 11th. A collection of reworked Skyclad favorites inspired by their successful stints of "unplugged" shows across Europe, No Daylights... Nor Heeltaps includes the following track listing: Penny Dreadful Inequality Street Spinning Jenny The Cry Of The Land Another Fine Mess Sins Of Emission The Widdershins Jig History Lessens Land of The Rising Slum Single Phial Bonus CD: No Deposit, No Return A Great Blow for a Day Job No Strings Attached Loco-Commotion Building a Ruin Four mp3 clips from the album are available for download here: http://www.folkmetal.com/download.html#mp3 Skyclad have organised a free party/show to celebrate the official release of the 'No Daylights' album. The show will be in their hometown, at The Cluny, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK), on Saturday 11th May 2002, and will feature all of the songs from the new album plus many others performed in the 'Irish Pub' style. Furthermore, the band will be shooting a video for an "as-yet-undisclosed" track on the same day at this venue. Check out the official Skyclad homepage for details. Immortal and Hypocrisy join Entombed for U.S. tour. For the first time in their decade-long careers, Immortal and Hypocrisy will embark on a full-scale tour of North America. Both bands will be supporting Swedish legends Entombed, who haven�t toured this side of the Atlantic in more than five years. Century Media upstarts Scar Culture are slated to open. The tour kicks off May 9th and concludes May 31st and will cover much of the U.S. and parts of Canada (dates coming soon). Over the last eleven years, Immortal have established themselves as a leading act in black metal. With the recent passing of the last emperor, the black metal world is like a snake with no head, a writhing mass of coiled muscle wasting away under the weight of its own grimness. With their first domestically released album ever, Immortal have thrown down the gauntlet and laid claim to the abdicated throne. Sons of Northern Darkness, the band�s seventh effort, has been called �the group�s most potent release to date� by Revolver magazine, and it�s easy to see why, as SOND continues in the great Immortal tradition of thick riffs, pounding drums, grim-throated vocals and an undeniable hook of melody that ties it all together. After encapsulating their first 10 years with 2001�s 10 Years of Chaos and Confusion, Hypocrisy returns with a disc that vocalist/guitarist Peter T�gtgren brazenly calls the first �real� Hypocrisy record � a bold statement after seven full-length albums, two EPs, a live album and a �best of� recollection. Catch 22 explores the entire range of Hypocrisy�s extensive repertoire. Modern sounds and influences meld with the traditional Hypocrisy aesthetic to make an entirely new beast � crushing, groovy, catchy and, at times, sorrowful. A lucky few caught Immortal on a week-long string of dates with Satyricon back in 2000, and Hypocrisy has only performed a handful of one-off dates around their festival appearances at Milwaukee Metalfest and Metal Meltdown. This May brings the first real chance to see these two pioneering acts in the only setting that truly does them justice: LIVE! Jerry Cantrell speaks out about Alice In Chains reunion. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell (ex-Alice In Chains?) refuses to acknowledge the demise of his former group and continues to leave the door open to a possible future reunion. �I never say die, man,� Cantrell tells MTV. �It's not even anywhere near that. I've been working on my own thing for quite some time and I plan on continuing for many years. At the same time, who knows what will happen? We're all still around, so it's possible we could all do something someday, and I fully hope someday we will. It's just not gonna happen soon.� Superfix to record a demo. L.A.-based band Superfix featuring vocalist Martina Axen (ex- Drain STH drummer) and bassist Anna Kjellberg, are collaborating with Skid Row guitarist Dave �Snake� Sabo on the group's latest demos, which are currently being tracked with Sabo at the production helm. Ewing Oil in the studio again. The swedish crazyrockers Ewing Oil will enter the studio in April to records episode five in their demo collection. The demo will have the title "Episode IV : Manhattan Baby" Nevermore - "Enemies Of Reality" enters demo stage. Seattle's Nevermore are hard at work demoing material for the group's upcoming studio album, tentatively entitled Enemies Of Reality, which will likely be recorded before the end of the summer with producer Andy Sneap for a late 2002/early 2003 release through Century Media Records. Described as �much more spontaneous� than the group's previous efforts, the forthcoming CD (the material on which �I have not been this excited about�since we started writing [1999's] Dreaming Neon Black�, according to frontman Warrel Dane) will likely mark the first release under Nevermore's freshly-negotiated recording agreement with Century Media, with whom the band were previously involved in a well-publicized dispute over the terms of their old contract. Among the working song titles that are set to appear on "Enemies Of Reality" are the following: The Story Of Our End Who Decides The Song Of The Solemn One Enemies Of Reality Psychotic Intellectual Narcotic Geoff Tate - New album. Geoff Tate's Old World Order album, featuring bassist Chris Fox, guitarist Scott Moughton, drummer Evan Schiller, keyboardist Howard Chillcott and guitarist Jeff Carrell, has the following tracklisting: 'Off The TV', 'Forever', 'In Other Words', 'Passenger', 'Over Me', 'Touch', 'Flood', 'Helpless', 'Every Move We Make', 'Grain Of Faith' and 'This Moment'. The album is due out through Sanctuary in the spring. TNT have signed to Z-Records TNT have inked a deal with Z Records. The band's reformed lineup features Tony Harnell, Ronni Le Tekro, Morty Black and Diesel Dahl. The group will begin working on new material in May. Says lead singer Harnell, "It's great to have finally worked out a plan for TNT. Ronni and I have been talking along with original members Morty Black and Diesel Dahl for the past couple of years to figure out when we could all do this. We're starting with an EP for Z because Universal in Norway is releasing a new Best Of album and we decided that we'd record a new song for that and at the same time record a couple more new ones for the rest of the world just to kick things off. The plan is to tour Europe and possibly Japan in the fall to support both releases. We're really happy that Mark Alger and Z are on board and we feel that it will be a successful journey for us together. We would like to see a new full length album out sometime in 2003." Says Le Tekro, "I'm proud to be a part of Z Records and I'm looking forward to recreating the melodic AOR guitar for the new millennium, with my favourite musicians on earth, Tony, Morty and Diesel of TNT." Z Records label boss Mark Alger comments, "Tony had mentioned a possible reunion to me as far back as late 1999, obviously we later signed Westworld and we thought the proposal had been shelved for good. Then a month or so ago Tony mentioned the reunion again and asked for my opinion. Well I still play my TNT albums on a regular basis so I of course wanted to know more, the result the signing of TNT. I have found working with Tony very enjoyable and look forward to an even longer working relationship with himself and the other members of TNT." Scorpions to make an up-to-date rock album. According to their website, the Scorpions reunited with producer Dieter Dierks to "sharpen the sting of the Scorpions and to make an up-to-date rock album." In mid-March, the success of Acousticia takes the band to Portugal and Spain. In April, they play St. Petersburg and Moscow (2 shows in the Kremlin Palace) in Russia. At the end of May the band will on the road in North America co-headlining with Deep Purple and DIO opening. In July they interrupt their tour for 10 days playing the following shows: July 3rd - Stuttgart, Germany in the Schleyerhalle with the Mercedes Benz Orchestra; July 6th with the Sinfonieorchester Luxembourg in Luxenbourg to play at the opening of the Tour de France; July 8th - with the Berlin Symphoniker in Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt. The Scorps begin work on their next studio album in August, scheduled for release in 2003. Due to the numerous tour activities, plans for the 2002 Anniversary album have been pushed back. In 2004 they will be doing a musical called Winds Of Change for Berlin's Metropolis Theater. The band will include some hits as well as 15 new songs for the show. The music and the text for this project are written and some of the new songs are already completed with details online at www.the-scorpions.com/english/press.htm Mot�rhead - Let�s get hammered. The new studio album from Mr. Rock �n� Roll himself - Lemmy Kilmister � is finished! But first things first. The new album rocks and has a bit of everything your heart desires. It�s hard, loud, fast, heavy and melodic. The big surprise this time is the spoken word performance by Lemmy called "Serial Killer". Goosebumps guaranteed!. Recorded in LA under the direction of Bob Kulick and Bob Marlette, the tracklisting for the album, aptly titled �Hammered�, is as follows: Walk A Crooked Mile Down The Line Brave New World Voices From The War Mine All Mine Shut Your Mouth Kill The World Dr. Love No Remorse Red Raw Serial Killer. �Hammered� will be in stores on 08. April Bal-Sagoth - New album. British battle metallers Bal-Sagoth have already started work on the follow-up to last year's Atlantis Ascendent effort. The band will hopefully enter an unspecified studio in England to record what is being called a "far darker and more intense than anything that has come before, harkening back in many ways to the barbaric early days of the band's work." Bal-Sagoth already have Games Workshop illustrator Martin Hanford planned to design the album art. In similar news, Bal-Sagoth are confirmed to appear at this year's Metal Therapy Festival in Amneville, France on June 22 as well as the Bloodstock '02 Festival in Derby, England on August 31. Exmortem have signed to Osmose Productions. Danish death metallers Exmortem have officially signed to Osmose Productions (Marduk, Immortal) after a one-album stint on Hammerheart Records. "Osmose is one of the labels that have done most for extreme music throughout the years and now Exmortem is part of the syndicate," said guitarist Sigtyr. "We really look forward to record our new album during this coming summer, 'cause the new material will be the best and absolutely most worked through songs we have ever done! Each song stands in its own right, with severe riffing, furious drums and extremely powerful vocals!" Exmortem's third as-yet-untitled album should hit stores sometime in winter 2002 on Osmose Productions. Rush - New album. Rush's eagerly awaited new album, Vapor Trails, will be out on May 14. The 13-track collection was produced by Rush with engineer Paul Northfield and is said to be very heavy in sound, immediate comparisons are to TOOL meets U2. The first single, One Little Victory', hits radio on March 29. The band is currently finalizing plans for a major North American tour. Tentatively set to kick off in late June, the trek will mark Rush's first live performances since July 1997. The tour's first leg will be announced shortly. A European tour is also a possibility. Vapor Trails features the following tracks: 'One Little Victory', 'Peaceable Kingdom', 'Ghost Rider', 'Ceiling Unlimited', 'The Stars Look Down', 'How It Is', 'Vapor Trail', 'Out Of The Cradle', 'Earthshine', 'Sweet Miracle', 'Nocturne' Freeze (Part IV of 'Fear')' and 'Secret Touch' Arch Enemy Burns! The annual Japanese Burrn magazine readers poll is dominated by Arch Enemy! The band will receive 5 awards on their current trip to Japan for winning the following categories: Best Band: Arch Enemy Best Album: Wages Of Sin Best Singer: Angela Gossow Best Drummer: Daniel Erlandsson Shining Star: Angela Gossow For some pictures and accounts of the band�s recent sold-out LA show and tour of Japan, check out http://www.archenemy.net/report6.shtml. Henry Rollins - New line album. Henry Rollins is in the studios, mixing a live album recorded at Chicago�s Metro on March 1st and 2nd. Rollins has also been hard at work on a lyric book for the last decade, which will include photos documenting his career, of which most pictures have been unpublished. The soft-covered edition of the lyric book, Unwelcomed Songs: Collected Lyrics 1980-1992 is tentatively set for a September release. Billy Morrison denies Cult split. The Cult touring bassist Billy Morrison denies split up rumors, and says they are officially �on a break.� In a statement posted at Morrison's official web site, the bassist states: �[Vocalist] Ian [Astbury] and [guitarist] Billy [Duff] are involved in other things for a few months, and [drummer] Matt [Sorum] also has his solo album coming out. The DVD will be out soon, and possibilities for other releases later on in the year are being discussed. There is not much more to the story than that.� (hed)p.e. - New album (hed)p.e. have finished tracking all the instruments on their upcoming album, and will head to the east coast to lay down vocals, and work on mixes with producer Machine (Pitchshifter, Vision Of Disorder). The album is expected out late summer/ early fall on Jive/ Zomba. Gluecifer - New album. They�ve been �sitting on the rock throne� since 1994, and in that time have recorded three albums, multiple singles and playing hundreds of shows. Gluecifer have toured with almost every band that, like themselves, have spearheaded the revolution of dirty rock�n�roll that�s taken over our stereos over the last few years. Some prime examples are The Hellacopters, Turbonegro, Backyard Babies, Nashville Pussy and the all-time kings themselves � Mot�rhead Their 4th studio album, �Basement Apes� will be out on 08 April. Tracklisting is as follows: Reversed Brutus Losing End Easy Living Little Man Not Enough For You Round and Round Black Book Boogie It Won�t Be Shotgun Seat Powertools and Piss I Saw The Stones Move Without Face - A new face in the Earache family. Elitist Records is proud to announce the signing of Hungary's Without Face to a long term deal. Without Face's debut album "Deep Inside" was released in June 2000 by the Hungarian label Hammer Music Productions and quickly gained the 6 piece band - led by striking frontwoman and vocalist, Juliette Kiss - a great reputation in the Hungarian metal scene.In addition, they played prominent support slots to such visiting acts as The Kovenant, The Gathering and Anathema. The band's original take on the metal sound has endeared them to all that have listened. The twin male / female vocals entwine to unique effect, adding an almost choiral dimension. The guitars and rhythm section take their cue from the progressive arena, with equal parts heaviness and complexity. The keyboards are the final ingredient, embellishing the overall picture, without being overpowering. The lyrics are stories based mainly on the works of such luminaries as E.A.Poe, H.P. Lovecraft and H.W. Longfellow. In 2001, "Deep Inside" caught the attention of Dark Symphonies records in America, who re-released the album with brand new packaging to a wave of superlative reviews across the world. Without Face are currentlly recording their Elitist debut with producer Hidasi Barna in HSB Studio in Hungary. Entitled "Astronomicon", it contains such tracks as Weird Places, The Violin of Eric Zann and The Pit and The Pendulum. Slated for a May 2002 release, "Astronomicon" promises to take the band's sound to an entirely new level. This is a superb band with a big future. http://www.withoutface.com Pro-Pain - New album. Intense, uncompromising. driven, spirited, relentless, honest, unique, bulletproof. Those are some of the words that have been used to describe hard music veterans Pro-Pain. Since their crushing 1992 Naird nominated debut album "Foul Taste Of Freedom", Pro-Pain has become a staple in the diets of heavy music listeners around the globe. Their latest offering "Shreds Of Dignity" is an all out assault on the ears via 12 tracks of sheer sonic brutality. "Its very important for us to maintain a certain energy level with our music, and to meet higher lyrical standards" reveals Pro-Pain founder, front man, and bassist Gary Meskil. "Shreds Of Dignity" is certainly no exception. Tracks such as "No Way Out", "Down For The Cause", and "The Shape Of Things To Come" are all unmistakable signatures of a band that has thrown down with the best of them for over a decade now. The album was recorded, self produced, and engineered in their own Sarasota Florida studio where they continue to make records that sonically rival big budget recordings. Pro-Pain has always been known for being one of the hardest working units in the "biz". "We come from the school of hard knocks, and have had to work real hard (sometimes under extreme conditions) to earn our keep" adds Meskil. Over 2000 gigs, 7 studio albums, and 10 years later, Pro-Pain has reached a level of accomplishment that far surpasses most in the genre. With album sales of over 600,000 world-wide, the lack of media and press coverage of Pro-Pain continues to astound and boggle the mind. Meskil states "We are in this for the fans first and foremost !!! ". "If we finally start to get some long overdue recognition, that's all the better". One thing is certain, Pro-Pain will continue to be one of the main components of extreme music for years to come and "Shreds Of Dignity" is destined to become one of their classic "must have" albums. Nevermore - "Enemies Of Reality" enters demo stage. Seattle's Nevermore are hard at work demoing material for the group's upcoming studio album, tentatively entitled Enemies Of Reality, which will likely be recorded before the end of the summer with producer Andy Sneap for a late 2002/early 2003 release through Century Media Records. Described as �much more spontaneous� than the group's previous efforts, the forthcoming CD (the material on which �I have not been this excited about�since we started writing [1999's] Dreaming Neon Black�, according to frontman Warrel Dane) will likely mark the first release under Nevermore's freshly-negotiated recording agreement with Century Media, with whom the band were previously involved in a well-publicized dispute over the terms of their old contract. Among the working song titles that are set to appear on "Enemies Of Reality" are the following: The Story Of Our End Who Decides The Song Of The Solemn One Enemies Of Reality Psychotic Intellectual Narcotic Fear Factory frontman bans bandmates from studio. As widely expected, Fear Factory recorded an as-yet-untitled song for the upcoming Terminator game during their final recording session as a group on Tuesday, March 12th at American Studios in Hollywood with producer Rick Will (i.e. Incubus, Skindred, No Doubt). At frontman Burton C. Bell's request, none of the other bandmembers were present in the studio when he laid down his vocals for the track, a stipulation that is believed to have been specifically intended to keep guitarist Dino Cazares away from the sessions in the wake of the deep-rooted resentment that Bell is presently harboring towards the axeman. Look for the results of this last-ever collaboration�described by those who have heard it as �half-assed Fear Factory��to surface sometime in August. Meanwhile, Cazares appears to have bounced back from Fear Factory's split more quickly than expected, and is presently in the process of auditioning prospective drummers and vocalists for his brand new project, which will follow a heavy and aggressive direction yet sound substantially different from Fear Factory. Although no names have yet been mentioned as Cazares' potential bandmates, it is believed that Dino is looking for relative unknowns to fill the drummer, bassist and vocalist slots in the as-yet-unnamed group, with a particular emphasis being placed on finding a singer that is both creative and stylistically versatile. In other related news, former Fear Factory sticksman Raymond Herrera has reportedly turned down an opportunity to audition for the drummer slot in Slayer recently left vacant by the departure of Paul Bostaph (who has since joined Systematic), thus putting an end to the rampant Internet speculation that he would link up with the Los Angeles kings of thrash following Fear Factory's untimely break-up. As previously reported, Herrera is expected to make several death metal-style recordings for Relapse Records (following the drummer's successful appearance on Phobia's Return To Desolation CD last year), some of which may or may not feature Cazares, who is said to have expressed interest in contributing to the projects in the songwriting/performing capacity. Nostradameus - New album. Sweden's Nostradameus will record a new album in June. The band haven�t decided about a name for the album yet but the name they�re working with so far is "The Third Prophecy". These are the names of the new songs: Far Too Strong, Randall Flagg, Those Things You Did, The Future Will Show, If We Believe (In Our Dreams), 1986, Revenge Is Mine, HMS Ulysses, In Harmony & Towards The Sleep (Stalingrad). Stratovarius - New album. After the release of the second Timo Tolkki solo album, Stratovarius will enter the studio to record a new album with the working title "Elements". It will probably be released in January 2003 Chris Cornell�s new project with ex-RATM members. The group featuring ex-Rage Against The Machine members and ex-Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell, were unable to fully secure the rights to the name Civilian, due to legal reasons. Therefore currently unnamed, they are finishing up some studio work on their forthcoming debut album expected out in the summer/fall through Epic and are slated to play the Main Stage of this year�s Ozzfest The Alex Skolnick Trio - Debut album. The Alex Skolnick Trio, led by former Testament/Savatage guitarist Alex Skolnick, just released their debut album, Goodbye To Romance: Standards For A New Generation, consisting of classic hard rock tunes from the '70s and '80s rearranged �with rich harmonies and pulsating grooves of swing, funk and Latin� in what is truly an unprecedented mix of metal and jazz. �War Pigs,� �Detroit Rock City� and �No One Like You� can be heard at AlexSkolnick.com. The Gathering carry on writing new material, plus US Tour. Despite threats of litigation from longtime label Century Media Records (who are apparently owed another CD from the band under their present agreement with the act), Holland's The Gathering are going ahead with their plans to issue the group's next studio album through their own Psychonaut Records. According to drummer Hans Rutten, �we will find a good and proper distribution in the USA to serve [all our American fans and�we are even working on the idea to do a short tour in the USA. Don't crucify me if it's impossible financially, but we do some research now.� The Gathering will collaborate with Ulver mastermind Trickster G (a.k.a. Christophorus G Rygg) on the upcoming CD, with at least one track set to feature a duet between The Gathering frontwoman Anneke van Giersbergen and Trickster. Robert Plant - New album and tour. Former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant is tentatively scheduled to release his new solo album in June, with plans to tour in Europe starting in May. Among the reported dates on the upcoming trek are a June 3rd appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival and a June 28th gig at Glastonbury Festival. Nightwish - New album. Finnish opera metallers Nightwish recent set Century Child as the title of their upcoming album for Spinefarm Records. Century Child was recorded at Finnvoc and Kitee Huvikeskus Studios recently, and so far looks to feature 11 new songs. So far, only "End Of All Hope," "Slaying The Dreamer," "Beauty Of The Beast" and "Oceansoul" are available, but we expect Nightwish to release full album details shortly. Nightwish's Century Child should be on store shelves on May 27 in Finland on Spinefarm Records and elsewhere in the world shortly thereafter on respective licensed labels. Otyg is no more. R.I.P. Otyg Is Now Officially Put To Sleep Please read the thorough explanation below: "Both me (Vintersorg) and Mattias feel that we can�t go on with Otyg as we have lost our burning inspiration and lust in that musical arena. And under those circumstances we�ve decided to, instead of do a recording that we�ll never would have the true feeling for and probably couldn�t fold our musical spirit into, just let it be. Recordings just for the sake of it never turns out great, and our policy is to put our deepest emotion and soul in what ever we do,so�..We need to challenge ourselves to the utter edge or our abilities and unfortunately we don�t have that situation. Maybe in the future we�ll do a recording if our minds and souls want that, but right now it would be to go back several years on our musical course which every artist strives to avoid. Progression is far more exciting than regression!!" Vintersorg & Mattias New album with Celtic Frost, or not? As reported by Digitalmetal.com, a recent post at www.celticfrost.com, by CELTIC FROST frontman Thomas Gabriel Fischer, says the band may or may not release their forthcoming reunion album. Says Fischer, �We, the original line-up of Celtic Frost, have written and are working on what we feel is the best music since 1987's ITP album, and we are working with partners in the music industry to make an appropriate release of this material possible. However, Celtic Frost is an expensive and very complex project, and we are living in very uncertain and restricted times in the entertainment industry, not least because of September 11, 2001. The material we are preparing is expensive and sometimes complicated to record, and even a "simple" rehearsal is not that easy and cost-efficient with Celtic Frost, because we live all over the planet (Reed St. Mark, for example, is based in New York). We are very confident that we will see the new album released, and we are very excited about what is coming together here. But nothing has yet been signed, and contract negotiations with a variety of parties in London are very intense and ongoing as I am writing this. So before posting pretentious big announcements here on this board and denouncing my previous statements, perhaps certain people should stick with the reality.� Einherjer - Singer Ragnar Vikse is out. Norway's Einherjer have parted ways with vocalist Ragnar Vikse and have enlisted guitarist and founding member Frode Glesnes to handle the vocal duties on the group's forthcoming CD, tentatively entitled Ethics Of The Spear, for release later in the year. The following is the band's official statement on the matter as posted on Einherjer's official web site at www.einherjer.com: �It is nearly a decade since we entered the studio for the first time to record our demo songs, compiled into a tape that we called Aurora Borealis. We were young, but we had visions and we had will. We were to create most epic & atmospheric Viking Metal. Charged with the power of our heroic ancestors vigor and courage. Enchanted by the mysticism of their strong, undivided belief. �Through the years, we have gone through many changes & we've had our ups and downs. We've done great albums and we've done great gigs, but we feel that we've reached a point were we have drifted a bit too far from, what we see as, our initial basis. This hasn't been an overnight decision, and it has certainly not been easy, but we felt the time was right to follow our hearts and take immediate action. �The fact that Ragnar is out of the band, doesn't change the pride we feel for the last 4-5 years of Einherjer's existence. It's just that we've tighten the grip in order to present what Einherjer is all about. We want more of what's right in our hearts. We want to rebuild the essence of our musical approach, the way it was meant to be. Dark, mysterious & enchanting music with equally dark, mysterious & enchanting vocals. The Art of Viking Metal in its original form. Please welcome our new singer � Frode. You won't be disappointed. Brian and Cliff from AC/DC joined Billy Joel on stage. AC/DC�s vocalist Brian Johnson and bassist Cliff Williams hopped up on stage with piano man Billy Joel during a recent Tampa, Florida gig (where Joel performed with Elton John) for a rendition of AC/DC�s classic "Highway To Hell." Superjoint Ritual - New album. Superjoint Ritual, featuring Pantera's Phil Anselmo (vocals), C.O.C./ Eyehategod's Jimmy Bower (guitar), Demonseeds� (and ex-Stressball) Joe Fazzio (drums), and Demonseeds� (and ex-Dead Horse) Hank Williams III (bass) have finalized the track listing for their upcoming debut album, now apparently self-titled, which is scheduled to be issued through Sanctuary Records on May 21st. The track list is as follows: Intro Everyone Hates Everyone It Takes Guts The Introvert The Alcoholic Fuck Your Enemies 4 Songs Messages All Of Your Lives Will Get Tired Anti Faith Ozewa Drug Your Love Haunted Hated Stupid Stupid Man Creepy Crawl Superjoint Ritual Freak Kitchen to start recording new album. The boys in Freak Kitchen will begin the recordings of their new album on March 18th and in good freak tradition there will be daily web diary with start March 25th. Expect a release late September / early October. Heavenly to receive award. Yeah, and not one of those selfmade ones, no sir. We�re talking about the highly desired price as 'best national act" awarded from the french Hard Rock Magazine! The ceremony is scheduled for the 21.3. and will take place at 'Locomotive' in Paris. Other award winners are Gamma Ray (best album of the year, best cover artwork), Edguy (best international band of the year), Rammstein, AC/DC, Sonata Arctica and Dream Theater. Producer and Iron Savior mainman Piet Sielck will be the one who will hand over the award to Heavenly. New bands on Sanctuary Records. Ministry, Pitchshifter and Gravity Kills now on Sanctuary! The legend, the chart busters and the shooting stars of the international industrialmetal-scene recently teamed up with Sanctuary. Their albums will be released on Mayan Records. Here are the album titles and release dates: Ministry - 'Sphinctour' - 18.3. Gravity Kills - 'Superstarved' - 15.4. Pitchshifter - 'P.S.I.' - 29.4. Earthmaker - Debut album. Earthmaker release their debut through Frontiers/Now & Then in late summer. The all-star album features guitarists Chris Caffery (Savatage) and Mike Chlasciak (Halford), bassists Ray Riendeau (Halford) and Steen Mogensen (Royal Hunt, Cornerstone), keyboardists Andre Andersen (Royal Hunt), Vitalij Kuprij (Artension), and Lonnie Park (Cozy Powell, John West) and drummers Bobby Jarzombek (Riot/Halford) and Jeff Plate (Savatage). Tracks on the release will include: 'Sleep Of The Dead', 'Earthmaker', 'Soul To Soul', 'Love Is Pain', 'Stand Sentinel', 'Soul Of The Beast', 'Warrior Spirit', 'White Man Red Man', 'Mystic Wings' and 'When Worlds Collide' (which will feature.a keyboard duel between Andersen and Kuprij). In Flames - New album. According to band sources, In Flames are back from their UK dates with Slipknot and currently finishing up work on their forthcoming studio album at Dug-Out Studios in Uppsala, Sweden with producer Daniel Bergstrand. The drum tracks for 15 songs are finished. Look for the new studio album in the fall. As well, the upcoming Iced Earth, In Flames, Jag Panzer tour kicks off on April 8th at the Emerson Theater in Indianapolis, IN and wraps up on April 24th at the Ogden Theater in Denver, CO. Finally, you can look forward to a remastered rerelease of The Jester Race and Black Ash Inheritance together on one Digipak on May 14th. Manowar -New single and album. Manowar release their new single, 'Warriors Of The World United' on April 12th. The special edition CD single features the title track, a classic Manowar hymn destined to unite all headbangers and metal hearts, and two exclusive live tracks with CD-ROM accessible video. 'March For Revenge (By The Soldiers Of Death)' and 'Carry On' were recorded and filmed during the band's performance at the 1999 Gods Of Metal festival in Milan, Italy. As an additional bonus, there is an exclusive website that can only be accessed through the interactive menu on the CD. The album, Warriors Of The World, will be released on May 27th. Tracks include: 'Call To Arms', 'Swords In The Wind', 'House Of Death', 'Fight Until We Die' and a number of surprises. The album was recorded at the band's new studio, Hell, and was mixed by Ronald Prent (Rammstein, The Scorpions) at Belgium's Galaxy Studios. Queensryche guitarist in side-project. According to melodicrock.com, the hot word out of LA is that Queensruche guitarist Michael Wilton is joining the side-project bandwagon, and looking to form one of his own. Rumor has it that Hair Of The Dog frontman Ryan Cook may be the vocalist of choice. When contacted by BW&BK, Ryan replied that something could be brewing, but at this stage is in it's infancy. Ryan said that he has spoken with Michael Wilton's management, but at this early stage, it hasn't gone any further than that. "Nothing concrete, not even a jam session!" Meanwhile, Queensryche's website, www.queensryche.com, has revealed that Geoff Tate and Chris DeGarmo recently came together to record a lengthy interview for the upcoming re-release of Empire, which EMI will issue on DVD-Audio. The disc will include a remastered version of Empire in Dolby 5.1, all the music videos, this new interview with Geoff and Chris and a whole lot more. No official release date has been set, but look for it around May/June. Bruce Dickinson comes to Sweden Rock Festival. The Sweden Rock Festival, which takes place on June 7th and 8th, has confirmed that Bruce Dickinson will perform this year. He'll be accompanied by Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith. For more festival info go to www.swedenrock.com. Dickinson is also confirmed for the Bang Your Head festival, which takes place in Balingen, Germany on June 28th and 29th, and at the Wacken Open Air festival, which is on August 2-3 in Wacken, Germany. Other confirmed bands: Ted Nugent, Freedom Call, Halford, Status Quo, Mot�rhead, Saxon, John Kay & Steppenwolf, Magnum, Manfred Manns Earth Band, Gamma Ray, Doro, Candlemass, Virgin Steele, Rage, Doc Holliday, Michael Katon, 220 Volt, Five Fifteen, Evergrey and Goda Grannar Annihilator to tour Europe. Annihilator's European headlining tour in support of Waking The Fury begins on April 30th in Wien, Austria at Planet Music and ends on May 25th in Offenbach, Germany at Hafenbahn. Jeff Waters and Co. are joined by Seven Witches and Debase as the support acts. Ozzy Osbourne - New single. Popbitch.com have recently unearthed a classic Ozzy Osbourne quote from when he was asked "How do you justify biting the head off a dove?" by the German music press. Ozzy replied: "Biting the head off a dove? You bastards killed half of f**king Europe!". Ozzy's new single, 'Dreamer', is out now
