Finnish hard-rockers Lordi have a new drummer. The band posted the following statement on their official website: "Lordi has got a new drummer. His character's name will not be revealed yet and he will be simply called 'the drummer' for now. The mask and the costume are kept to the minimum, but enough to fit him visually in to the band for the upcoming shows."

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Source:	lordi.fi
Band profile:	Lordi

US rockers Mötley Crüe have announced an extensive North American tour with KISS this summer. "The Tour", as it's called, takes place from July to September. Tickets for the tour will go on sale beginning Friday, March 23rd at http://www.ticketmaster.com and http://www.livenation.com. Both bands will have fan club pre-sales beginning today, March 21st at 10am. This is the first time Kiss and Mötley Crüe will share a stage since 1982.

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Source:	motley.com
Band profile:	Mötley Crüe
Event:	Kiss + Mötley Crüe: North America Tour 2012

Swedish glam rock/metal band Crashdïet's bassist Peter London has issued the following update on the band's website: "Well, as some of you already know, I've had some problems with back pains lately. Since December 2010 I've been struggling with spinal disc herniation, and unfortunately, right now the pain is just getting worse and worse. I'm simply not able to even stand up for longer than a few minutes at a time. No medicine is working, believe me I've tried them all by now. I will have surgery and I hope to be back on my feet within eight weeks or so..."

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Source:	crashdiet.org
Band profile:	Crashdïet

After announcing their 30th Anniversary world tour, US heavy metallers W.A.S.P. have now confirmed their tour schedule for Europe with tour dates in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Portugal. Previously, dates had been announced for Norway, Finland and Estonia with Badmouth.

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Source:	waspnation.com
Band profile:	W.A.S.P.
Event:	W.A.S.P.: 30 Years Of Thunder

Finnish symphonic metallers Nightwish have launched a video contest, where they await self-made and original music videos from the fans for "The Crow, The Owl And The Dove" single, which will be released on March 2nd. The contest ends on April 10th. The aim is to make a video and then upload it to YouTube. The winners will be chosen by the band, label and management, also considering the number of views and "likes".

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Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Nightwish

The first names of this year's Sonisphere festival in the UK have been announced. The headliners will be KISS (only European performance in 2012), Queen, who performs their set with Adam Lambert on vocals, and Faith No More.

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Source:	sonisphere.co.uk
Event:

It has now been confirmed that Metallica will also headline the 3rd edition of the Sonisphere festival in Switzerland on May 30th at Yverdon-les-Bains this year. Other bands confirmed are Slayer, Motörhead, Eluveitie, Mastodon and Gojira. As on all Sonisphere festivals this year, the band will play its self-titled Black Album, released in 1991.

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Source:	sz.sonisphere.eu
Band profile:	Metallica
Event:	Sonisphere Switzerland

New bands have been confirmed for this year's Jalometalli Festival in Oulu, Finland. Iced Earth, Crimson Glory, Heathen, Nekromantheon, Convulse, Merging Flare, Final Assault and Gorem are the latest additions to the festival. Crimson Glory and Heathen will perform in Finland for the first time ever.

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Source:	jalometalli.net
Event:	Jalometalli Metal Music Festival

According to Danish Universal Music, US hard-rockers KISS will release a 35th anniversary deluxe version of their Destroyer album on February 27th in Europe and one day later in North America. The double album should also have a normal version as well as a re-mixed version by the original producer Bob Ezrin. Fans will also be able to hear songs which were left out from the original version of the album which will be released with its original cover.

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Source:	voice.fi
Band profile:	KISS

Ronnie James Dio's widow Wendy Dio has revealed that she will be putting together a tribute album to honor one of the greatest metal legends that ever lived, her husband. So far, names such as Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead), Ian Gillan (Black Sabbath), Alice Cooper, Glenn Hughes (Black Sabbath), Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Chris Jericho (Fozzy) and Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) have promised to take part of the tribute, planned to be released until the end of the year.

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Source:	loudwire.com
Band profile:	Dio

US hard rock band Mötley Crüe, who will embark on a UK tour with Def Leppard and Steel Panther in December, will be headlining the Sweden Rock Festival 2012.

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Source:	swedenrock.com
Band profile:	Mötley Crüe
Event:	Sweden Rock Festival 2012

Finnish Metal Expo, which will take place between February 17th and 18th, 2012, has announced its first bands. German power metal band Edguy, who released their new album Age Of The Joker recently, will be headlining the first day of the festival. For the same day are confirmed ICS Vortex from Norway and Finnish death/doom metal band Swallow The Sun. Finnish heavy metal band Stam1na, who will release their new album and do this concert as a part of their record release tour, will perform on Saturday. More information about the new bands performing there will be released soon.

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Source:	finnishmetalevents.fi
Band profile:	Edguy
Event:	Finnish Metal Expo 2012