Stratovarius have announced on their website that 24-year-old Rolf Pilve will replace Jörg Michael as their drummer. Pilve will play his first gig with the band in Tavastia, Helsinki, on July 11th. Stratovarius had received more than 100 applications for the position from Finland as well as from abroad.

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Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Under Flaming Winter Skies - Live In Tampere, the new DVD from Finnish power metallers Stratovarius is coming and the band has now released a clip with the performance of the song "Black Diamond". The DVD will include over two hours of live performance of all the hits and a brand new 30 minute documentary "Rewinding From The Past To 2012", interviews with each member as well as a special comment from Jörg Michael, and will be released on June 29th via earMUSIC on DVD/Blu-ray/2CD. The new Stratovarius studio album is coming in 2013.

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Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Finnish power metallers Stratovarius are officially searching for a new drummer, following the departure of Jörg Michael. The band posted this message on their Facebook page: "Drummer wanted! We have now played the final Latin America gigs with Jörg Michael, who is leaving the band after 16 years. 2011 started with the release of the Elysium album and was a long year with a long world tour together with Helloween. After some time off, we are now looking to the future, composing material for the next album, and we are also looking for the next drummer."

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Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Finnish power metallers Stratovarius performed in Pakkahuone in Tampere, Finland, on November 19th, where a DVD was filmed for a future release. The show was part of the band's Jörg Farewell Tour, the last one to feature Stratovarius longtime drummer Jörg Michael, who is leaving the group for personal reasons. Jörg, who has been in the band for sixteen years, will play all the remaining tour dates until the end of January.

Stratovarius is inviting its fans to come up with a title for the forthcoming DVD by posting their suggestions on the band's official Facebook page. The winner will receive two copies of the DVD and a credit in the liner notes.

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Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Check out the new video clip for the song "Under Flaming Skies", from Finnish metallers Stratovarius below. The song "Under Flaming Skies" is off the band's latest output Elysium, released back in January via earMUSIC/Edel.

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Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Official statement from the band

Stratovarius, one of the most successful Finnish acts with over 2.5 million albums sold, says farewell to longtime drummer Mr. Jörg Michael who will leave the band after 15 years for personal reasons. Jörg will play all the remaining tour dates until the end of January, and will celebrate with a special Finnish Farewell Jörg tour in Finland November 18th - 26th.

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Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

January 11th, Stratovarius didn't perform in Paris as expected. They went on stage with promoter Oliver Garnier to announce that although this particular date was supposed to be a real party due to Jörg Michael being back in the band after his first therapy against cancer, Timo Kotipelto had been suffering from food poisoning since some time before Christmas. Although they tried everything that was possible, he was still unable to sing a single note, he said.

After the announcement, roadies cleared the stage that they had so carefully set for Stratovarius, allowing rumors that they had indeed hoped to perform until the very last minute.

Stratovarius is currently embarked in a European with German power metallers Helloween. It hasn't been stated when Stratovarius would be performing again, so it is to believe that they won't take the stage on Thursday January 12th in Lyon, France, as well.

Check the band's website for a more official statement at http://www.stratovarius.com.

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Source:	wrathchild, attending the concert
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Back in November, the news came out that drummer Jörg Michael (ex-Rage, ex-Running Wild, ex-Saxon, ex-Mekong Delta) was diagnosed with cancer. The current Stratovarius drummer now checked in with the following message:

"Dear All, this is Jörg speaking, finally.

I hope this message finds everybody well and everybody is in an easy-peasy Christmas mood already. The first leg of the European tour with Helloween is over - time to have a few words with you.

First of all, let's not forget the brilliant emergency rescue action and playing of Alex Landenburg (Axxis, Mekong Delta, At Vance), thanx again for all what you did for the fans, the band and also for me.

Surely I hate the idea of somebdy is sitting on "my chair" but this special action needed some special treatment and I am proud and happy that it was you, Alex. Thanx again, we'll get together for a real drink, not like these other Scandinavian pussies in the band

I was overwhelmed by all the wishes, tons of emails and text messages I received from all over the world wishing me a speedy recovery. Thank you so much for supporting me, and it made me feel very strong when fighting these bastards inside of me.

I have some good news to tell you and believe me - I really enjoy to tell the world:

The surgery was done about 6 weeks ago and the first therapy is done as well. All looks good so far and as Jens told me before: "Do not worry Jörg, nothing survives in your body after all what you did to it!"

Finally he was right, there are only small bits and bobs left - I will fight those with another therapy in about 4 months time.

I think I have been very lucky that it was discovered by one of my friends in a very early state. Very good that my friend decided to become a doctor, he was very lousy when he tried playing the guitar.

Besides preparing myself for Christmas, I am currently practicing the drums to be ready and kickin' again when the tour continues in the new year. I will be back, thanx again for everything and let's get alive and kicking once again, see you in Paris and everywhere else..."

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Source:	forum.stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Stratovarius are putting the finishing touches on their thirteenth full-length studio album Elysium in 5-by-5 studios, Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, Finland. The album will be released on January 12th, 2011 by JVC in Asia and worldwide on January 14th, 2011 by Edel/EarMusic.

Elysium cover art] tracklist:

01. Heavenly Divine
02. Infernal Maze
03. Elysium, Part I, II And III
04. Civilization
05. Darkest Hours
06. Under Flaming Skies
07. No Return
08. New Horizon
09. Move The Mountain
10 Castaway (Japan Bonus Track)

A single with two new songs of Elysium will be released on 26 November this year, coinciding with the start date of the 7 Sinners World Tour on which Stratovarius will join Helloween as very special guests - kicking off the same day in the Szene, Vienna (all tour dates here). The single also contains a demo track, and two unreleased live tracks recorded earlier this year on Stratovarius' wildly successful 2009/2010 Polaris world tour.

The cover artwork of both releases was done by Gyula Havancsák.

Darkest Hours - Single cover art] tracklist:

01. Darkest Hours (From the upcoming album Elysium)
02. Infernal Maze (From the upcoming album Elysium)
03. Darkest Hours (Demo version)
04. Against The Wind (Live recording, Sofia, Bulgaria)
05. Black Diamond (Live recording, Göteborg, Sweden)

19670]

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Source:	forum.stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Power metal geeks fans rejoice! After their extremely successful Hellish Rock World Tour 2007/08, leading Helloween through 40 countries on 4 continents, the German heavy metal legends soon will be touring the world again! Three weeks after the release of the new, yet untitled and highly anticipated studio album around Halloween (end of October) 2010, the band will hit the road again and start the tour in Europe.

While rumors promise the album to be the band´s heaviest and fastest effort in years, Helloween can announce nobody less than the Finland-based heavy metal supergroup Stratovarius for the slot of the very special guest.

Comments singer Andi Deris: "We had a great package with Gamma Ray last time, and we are very proud to have Stratovarius with us this time. We look forward to have another power metal party with our fans all over the planet - see you soon!"

The 7 Sinners World Tour 2010/11 - Europe Part I - feat. Helloween and special guest Stratovarius:

Nov. 26 - Wien, Austria - Szene
Nov. 27 - Zlin, Czech Republic - Winter Masters of Rock
Nov. 28 - Budapest, Hungary - Petöfi Hall
Dec. 01 - Langen, Germany - Neue Stadthalle
Dec. 02 - Antwerp, Belgium - Hof Ter Lo
Dec. 04 - Prestatyn, UK - Hard Rock Hell Festival
Dec. 05 - London, UK - The HMV Forum
Dec. 06 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar
Dec. 08 - Lund, Sweden - Mejeriet
Dec. 09 - Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller
Dec. 10 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Lisebergshallen
Dec. 11 - Stockholm, Sweden - Arenan
Dec. 13 - Tallinn, Estonia - Rock Cafe
Dec. 14 - Tampere, Finland - Pakkahuone
Dec. 15 - Helsinki, Finland - House Of Culture
Dec. 17 - Warsaw, Poland - Stodola
Dec. 18 - Cracow, Poland - Studio
Dec. 19 - Prague, Czech Republic - Mala Sportovni Hala

More dates to be announced!

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Source:	helloween.org
Band profile:	Helloween
Event:	Helloween: The 7 Sinners World Tour

Stratovarius keyboard player Jens Johansson has posted the following update on the official Stratovarius forum:

"Four Chinese shows in the end of May 2010 have been confirmed, please check here for live gig details as usual.

Also we have a bit tentatively started work on a new studio album. We all recently got together in Sotkamo for a while to throw around some new ideas. Lauri made a little video and you can watch it here."

Bassist Lauri Porra adds: "The little piece of music in the end is from a demo of one of the songs we are working on at the moment, made by guitarist Matias Kupiainen. We have a lot of great material and I think the next album will kick all kinds of asses. I love Polaris, but now we are taking it to the next level."

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Source:	forum.stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Stratovarius have issued the following update from the road, revealing details on future tour and album endeavours:

"We're still in the middle of the Polaris world tour, but we do have a bit of news.

The European summer festivals earlier this year were nice and relaxing as always, and then we embarked on a long three-month leg which covered the Far East, North and South America, and Finland. One highlight was Beijing, a place none of us in the band had played or visited before. Some of bassist Lauri Porra's video blogs from the past year can be found at this location.

After a break for the holidays, the caravan will roll on in 2010, and we will do a long tour of Europe in January and February. You can always check an up-to-date list of any upcoming dates at this address.

We have some more good news: we just confirmed to play Wacken Open Air in August 2010, which is always great fun. It's the biggest metal festival in the world, and has a great crowd, but also since there are so many bands there, you can always reconnect with many old friends backstage and in the VIP bar. This gig will mark the end of the Polaris would tour which spanned four continents with close to a hundred gigs.

We have also confirmed an appearance on the 70,000 tons of metal Caribbean cruise in late January, 2011. You can find details about this very nice cruise here.

We saved the best piece of good news for last: next year we will start work on a new full-length record, a follow-up to 2009's Polaris."

(Also thanks to -Mayhem-)

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Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Original news, posted on 13.04.2009

Guitarist Jani Liimatainen has revealed more info regarding his new project on his MySpace:

"I promised you I'd give you some info about what I've been working on lately (for a year now actually...). The info about the new lineup was released on this months Burrn!-magazine, so I think it's time to make it official here as well. My new band is called Cain's Offering, the official website will be up and running hopefully already next week and you can find the Myspace-site here."

"Cain's Offering are currently working on our debut album, "Gather The Faithful", which will hopefully come out by the end of the summer. The drums were recorded at Drumforest Studios last November/December, the bass at Astia Studios during February, the basic guitar tracks were laid down in the beginning of March at Studio 57, and last couple of weeks we've been camping out in the woods with Timo recording the lead vocals. We still have 2 more songs to record, but all in all things are going smoothly.

Unfortunately we cannot provide any songs or samples yet, but when we get there some will be uploaded here for your listening pleasure. In the meanwhile, those of you who like to listen a big man bang on his drums can check out this clip. It's our beloved Hurtsi rehearsing before we went to the studio to lay down the drum tracks. I think he begins with "Disciple" by Slayer, before launcing into "13th Disciple" (yes, he has some sense of humour), song that be included on "Gather The Faithful". A few other songtitles include "Stolen Waters", "More Than Friends" and "Morpheus In a Masquerade". That's about all the info I can give you at the moment, but be patient."

Cain's Offering are:

Vocals: Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius)
Guitar: Jani Liimatainen (ex-Sonata Arctica, ex-Altaria)
Keyboards: Mikko Harkin (ex-Sonata Arctica)
Bass: Jukka Koskinen (Wintersun, Norther)
Drums: Jani "Hurtsi" Hurula

UPDATE (thanks to 22261)

Cain's Offering have posted four new tracks off their forthcoming album "Gather The Faithful". Check them out here.

In the meantime, Cain's Offering signed with Frontiers Records for the release of "Gather the Faithful" in all territories outside of Asia and Japan. The release dates are August 27th in Europe and September 11th in the USA. The "Frontiers-version" will feature a red cover artwork, while the "Marquee/Avalon-version" will sport a blue one.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Cain's Offering

Stratovarius have confirmed the dates for the European section of the Polaris world tour. It will take place in January/February of 2010 and so far the confirmed gigs cover Germany, Benelux, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, and Scandinavia.

Tour dates are as follows:

January 07, 2010: Zeche, Bochum, Germany
January 08, 2010: Hof ter Lo, Antwerp, Belgium
January 09, 2010: Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
January 10, 2010: Garage, London, UK
January 12, 2010: Elysee, Paris, France
January 13, 2010: Le Bikini, Toulouse, France
January 15, 2010: La Riviera, Madrid, Spain
January 16, 2010: Rockstar Live, Bilbao, Spain
January 17, 2010: Razzmatazz 1, Barcelona, Spain
January 19, 2010: Transbordeur, Lyon, France
January 20, 2010: Z 7, Pratteln, Switzerland
January 21, 2010: Alcatraz, Milan, Italy
January 23, 2010: SKC, Belgrad, Serbia
January 24, 2010: Hristo Botev Hall, Sofia, Bulgaria
January 26, 2010: Petöfi Hall, Budapest, Hungary
January 27, 2010: Szene, Vienna, Austria
January 28, 2010: PKO, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
January 30, 2010: Backstage, München, Germany
February 01, 2010: Longhorn, Stuttgart, Germany
February 02, 2010: Garage, Saarbrücken, Germany
February 03, 2010: Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany
February 04, 2010: The Rock, Copenhagen, Denmark
February 06, 2010: Mejeriet, Lund, Sweden
February 07, 2010: Trädgårn, Göteborg, Sweden
February 08, 2010: Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway
February 09, 2010: Tyrol, Stockholm, Sweden

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Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius
Event:	Stratovarius: European Tour

"Polaris", the new album from Finnish melodic metallers Stratovarius, is available for streaming in its entirety on http://ilike.com/artist/Stratovarius. The CD will be released in the U.S. on May 26 via Armoury Records.

Here are the "Polaris" cover artwork and tracklisting again:

01. Deep Unknown
02. Falling Star
03. King Of Nothing
04. Blind
05. Winter Skies
06. Forever Is Today
07. Higher We Go
08. Somehow Precious
09. Emancipation Suite: I Dusk
10. Emancipation Suite: II Dawn
11. When Mountains Fall

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Source:	ilike.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius