The band posted the following message on their official website:

"Things are coming together now and the songs are already now sounding great.
Last week the finishing touch on the bass were laid down by Magnus Westgaard (Nell's brother), our "rent-a-brilliant bassplayer". He went through the songs like knife through butter. One of the best sounding bass rig we've ever heard.

We started by recording the synths last week as well. This time we actually recorded the songs live, instead of programming lots of stuff. It sounds and feels much better with all the songs. On some songs we even got the chance to record some real grand-piano. Last Friday the boys (Lorentz, Rico, Børge & Vegard) went into Fagerborg Studio in Oslo to record on a Steinway & sons C4 grand piano.
Not used to the heavyweight keys Lorentz hammered his way through hell and back to get it right. After the molestation of the grand piano we all went back to the studio happy as hell. It sounds Fantastic!!! We're going to put up some video clips of it. Just hang around this space for more info.

As most of the songs has strings as a major part of the sound, we brought in Sareeta from Ram-Zet (whom we befriended on the "Assembly" tour 2002) to play some violin for us. She just received a new electrical violin which she used for these recordings. A pure evil specimen, with the beautiful name Thea. You can see it in the picture section.

Right now Frank and Vegard are in the studio electrifying the songs with a wall of guitar sound!. Just to make sure the sound is going to be killer, we amped them up with Engl, Mesa Boogies and Marshalls to play their Gibson Gothic guitars through. IT SOUNDS HEAVY AS F**K!"

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Source:	theatreoftragedy.com
Band profile:	Theatre Of Tragedy

Norway's THEATRE OF TRAGEDY have inked a deal with Germany's AFM Records. Last Friday, the band and label met in Hamburg to discuss their future. The gothic metal act are currently working on their new album and have most of the material already completed. Musically, the band are promising a return to their early sound.

"If you want, you can consider this album as a kind of follow-up to 'Aegis'," drummer Hein Frode Hansen said of the new album's musical direction. "For us this was a very natural way right now."

THEATRE OF TRAGEDY's as-yet-untitled new album will be the group's first to feature singer Nell (THE CREST), who replaced Liv Kristine Espenaes Krull (currently in LEAVES' EYES) in early 2004. A March 24, 2006 release is expected.

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Band profile:

Theatre Of Tragedy

German metal veterans RAGE around Peavy Wagner (vocals, bass), Victor Smolski (guitar) and Mike Terrana (drums) have signed a long-term deal with NUCLEAR BLAST. In an official statement, Peavy says: "After our fantastic anniversary tour we were convinced that we want to work with a label that pushes us forward with creative ideas and full power support. With this in our backs we can jump right into the making of our next album. We imagine to do something without stylistic changes but with a wider range of sound. After the good experiences with Victor's latest solo album we want to get the Whiterussian Symphonic Orchestra involved, similar to what we did a couple of years ago on "Lingua Mortis". This time the result will be a lot harder. That's how the new songs sound we recently wrote in first rehearsals. They blend in perfectly with our latest releases."

RAGE on tour
26.03.2005 TR Ankara Rock Station Festival
02.04.2005 RUS Sankt-Petersburg Club Port
03.04.2005 RUS Moskau Club Tochka
09.04.2005 D Frankfurt Musikmesse - Arena 17.00 Uhr
12.04.2005 D Recklinghausen Vestlandhalle @ Ruhrpott Rocks
16.04.2005 MEX Mexico City Salon 21
04.06.2005 I Tradate Tradate Iron Fest
24.06.2005 D Dischingen Rock am Härtsfeldsee
02.07.2005 E Pravia Derrame Rock
09.07.2005 D Osterode - Dorste Rock Harz Open Air
16.07.2005 HR Zadar Metal Melting Festival
22.10.2005 D Gaildorf Sundown Festival

http://www.nuclearblast.de

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Band profile:

Rage

"Since a couple of days Peavy, Victor and Mike are on European tour again, celebrating their band anniversary together with their fans. Peavy writes a tour diary, which you will find at the "Live" section together with live photos from the shows. Every 3-4 days we will update the report".

Also, in the beginning of February 2005 Rage will play 2 concerts in Japan.
05.02.2005 J Osaka Club-Quattro
06.02.2005 J Tokyo Club-Quattro

For more info, check out their website:
http://www.rage-on.de/

Band profile:

Rage

On the website of the band, you could listen to a real-audio-stream clip of "Flesh And Blood", track included on the new RAGE CD/DVD "From The Cradle To The Stage", which will be available at the market soon.
http://www.rage-on.de/

Band profile:

Rage

Rob Rock's Rage of Creation" band is looking for a drummer for local gigs, and future possible Europe and Japan tours in 2005.

We are interested in finding a drummer now so we can continue gigging about once every month or two while we work on the new album.

Interested Central Florida drummers please email bio and contact information to Rob Rock.
email: rob@robrock.com

http://www.robrock.com/

Taken from the official site:

"Hallo. First I would like to say thanks a lot to all, who visited me in hospital during my illness. Also all the inquiries of friends and fans, who were worried about my health, helped me, to get better quicker. My blind gut was bursted and infected other organs. After 2 operations (one during dangerous situation to life) and loss of 15 kg weight in 2 weeks, I often thought about the fate of Jason Becker, what a horror thought...

After 1 1/2 months in hospital it's a great feeling, being home again. Now I do sports every day to get fit again. Next week I already fly to Korea again to play a concert together with Black Hole at the International Busan Rock Festival, where also Steve Vai & Band is one of the participating bands.

Best regards"

Victor Smolski, Rage's guitarist.

New Production company:
From now on DRAGON Productions, a daughter company of A.S.S. Concert & Promotion GmbH, will look for the booking of RAGE concerts. They are already planning a 20th anniversary tour for November 2004, where RAGE will promote the upcoming 20th anniversary DVD (expected release date: 25.10.04).

More information: www.rage-on.de

Band profile:

Rage

After the announcement of Theatre of Tragedy parting ways with lead singer Liv Kristine in late August 2003, Theatre of Tragedy decided to withdraw and keep a low profile.

All the while, the song-writing activity was kept steady, and at the same time started the search for a new singer. The search had not lasted very long until a strong candidate emerged, and very soon found a natural position within the band, even before an actual decision was made.The new singer, Nell (origin: Norway), quickly proved a refreshing addition to the group, being honest and outspoken, enthusiastic, and with a general working attitude that further strengthened the band's internal bonding.
With a strong and temperamental voice, she fit well into the current style of the band, aiming more for a darker atmospheric, brooding and simplified style, rather than the efficient rock/pop song with dense layers of electronics. And although largely lacking the 'Beauty and the Beast' contrast of the band's early recordings, there is still a complementary tension between Nell's and Raymond's vocals.

The band is continuously writing new material for its 6th studio album. Recording sessions are planned to commence this coming fall. You can find some sound excerpts of two new songs on the website of the band.

Source TOT Official website : http://www.theatreoftragedy.com/

Band profile:

Theatre Of Tragedy

RAGE guitarist Victor Smolski fell "seriously ill" following the group's performance at the Gods of Metal festival last weekend. Smolski is now "in the hospital" and "he will not take part at the 24h race at the Nürburgring, and he also can't play the Helfenstein concert in Geislingen ," reads a post on the group's web site. Replacing Victor at the Helfenstein festival will be former RAGE guitarist Manni Schmidt. However, the group point out that Manni's appearance with RAGE in Geislingen will be a one-time-only event and no additional joint live appearances are currently planned. Smolski is expected to fully recover in time for the band's performance at the Raismesfest in Raismem, France on September

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Band profile:

Rage

Norway's THEATRE OF TRAGEDY will play an exclusive show at the Checkpoint Charlie rock club in Stavanger, Norway on Saturday, June 19. This will be the group's first show in two years and will mark the live debut of THEATRE OF TRAGEDY's as-yet-undisclosed new singer. The band are expected to perform both old material as well as new, unreleased songs.

Band profile:

Theatre Of Tragedy

Norway's THEATRE OF TRAGEDY have posted several photos taken during a recent rehearsal session with an as-yet-unidentified female singer who may ? or may not ? end up becoming the official replacement for departed vocalist Liv Kristine.

Kristine issued a statement in late August slamming her former THEATRE OF TRAGEDY bandmates over her dismissal from the group, saying that she learned of their plans to carry on without her via an e-mail. Liv has since teamed up with members of the German band ATROCITY (fronted by Liv's husband Alexander Krull) in a brand new group called LEAVES' EYES. LEAVES' EYES recently spent time at Alex's Mastersound studios in Stuttgart/Fellbach, Germany recording material for their debut album, "Lovelorn", due on May 24, 2004 through Austria's Napalm Records.

Band profile:

Theatre Of Tragedy