Swedish death metal veterans Unleashed have just announced the European leg of their Midvinterblot tour supported by Austrian death/black metallers Belphegor kicking off in Dublin, Ireland on May 12th. From May 15th to May 25th the two bands will be joined by Canadian death metal outfit Kataklysm while French black metallers Arkhon Infaustus will open the gigs for the remainder of the tour.

The tour dates read as follows:

Supported by Belphegor only:
May 12th 2007: Ireland, Dublin @ Voodoo Lounge
May 13th 2007: Ireland, Cork @ An Cruiscin Lan

Supported by Kataklysm and Belphegor:
May 15th 2007: England, London @ Underworld
May 16th 2007: France, Paris
May 17th 2007: Spain, Irun @ Tunk
May 18th 2007: Portugal, Coimbra @ Cine Teatro Avenida
May 19th 2007: Spain, Madrid @ Ritmo y Compas
May 20th 2007: Spain, Barcelona @ Mephisto
May 21st 2007: France, TBA
May 22nd 2007: Italy, Prato @ Siddharta Club
May 23rd 2007: Switzerland, Pratteln @ Z7
May 25th 2007: Holland, Deventer @ Burgerweeshuis

Supported by Belphegor and Arkhon Infaustus:
May 26th 2007: Germany, Adelsheim @ Live Factory
May 27th 2007: Germany, Leipzig @ Hellraiser Fest
May 28th 2007: Germany, Munich @ Backstage
May 29th 2007: Germany, Bochum @ Matrix
May 30th 2007: Germany, Karlsruhe @ Substage
May 31st 2007: Germany, Frankfurt @ Nachtleben
Jun 1st 2007: Belgium, Vosselaar @ Biebob
Jun 2nd 2007: Holland, Oss @ Groene Engel

EDIT:
After Kataklysm have dropped out, it looks like Arkhon Infaustus will be supporting Unleashed and Belphegor at all dates, even those on Irish soil.
There have also been added two dates:

May 21st 2007 - France, Marseille @ Korrigan
May 24th 2007 - Germany, Osnabrück @ Bastard Club

Read more ››

Source:	unleashed.se
Band profile:	Unleashed
Event:	Unleashed: Midvinterblot Tour II [CANCELLED]

Finnish Viking metalers Moonsorrow will team up with label colleagues Swallow The Sun for a European tour. The tour dates read as follows:

30.03.2007 - GER, Lübeck (Treibsand)
31.03.2007 - GER, Lichtenfels (Ragnarök Festival)
01.04.2007 - GER, Ludwigsburg (Rockfabrik)
03.04.2007 - HUN, Budapest (Kultiplex)
04.04.2007 - SLO, Maribor (Stuk)
05.04.2007 - ITA, Milan (TBA)
06.04.2007 - AUT, Salzburg (Rockhouse)
07.04.2007 - AUT, Vienna (Scene)
08.04.2007 - GER, Memmingen (Kaminwerk)
10.04.2007 - SUI, Pratteln (Z7)
12.04.2007 - BEL, Vosselaar (Biebob)
13.04.2007 - NED, Leeunwarden (Romein)
14.04.2007 - GER, Essen (Turock)
15.04.2007 - NED, Arnhem (Goudvishal)
17.04.2007 - GER, Hannover (Musikzentrum)
18.04.2007 - GER, Berlin (Kato)

Read more ››

Source:	metal1.info
Band profile:	Moonsorrow
Event:	Moonsorrow: Ravaged Hope European Tour

The End Records has set a release date of April 3rd, 2007 for the new album from Australia's gothic/classical/doom band Virgin Black, titled 'Requiem - Mezzo Forte.'

The album, part of the 'Requiem' trilogy, will be the first installment (the 2nd of the trilogy) released and will be followed later on this year by 'Requiem - Pianissimo' and 'Requiem - Fortissimo.'

About the 'Requiem' trilogy, singer/songwriter Rowan London comments, "Well, I feel like I've become a completely non-functioning part of society over the past two years. Requiem has been the most agonizingly difficult experience I have ever faced. On one side are the logistics of three albums, two and a half hours of music, and financing it all (orchestra included). The other side is the emotional toll; the far too many times I fell in a heap feeling that it would be impossible to succeed and coming oh so close to completely giving up the project. I take many a scar from this process and may never experience this kind of beautiful pain again".

"The albums haunt me with their poignancy and the lines I was literally recording when I received a call to say that my father had died in the most tragic of circumstances will forever shut out the world when played back. I find it surreal and befitting that I subsequently carried his body out of the funeral service held in the grand old church where we happened to record. As overdramatic as it sounds, I seriously sometimes felt like joining him. However, we persevered, and I listen to these vast creations and still can't believe what we've managed here. We will proudly present them. Scarred and almost defeated, it will be such a joy to have a directly human experience on our most in-depth touring schedule ever, covering most of Europe and much of the U.S. I feel privileged to be able to begin in Australia with shows as guests for some one-off appearances by Arcturus, and look forward to announcing all the cities/countries that we will visit."

Adds fellow songwriter Samantha Escarbe about the trilogy, "Each album has its own unique voice and expression, but essentially each needs the other to truly complete what is an intimidating undertaking both in respect to musical tradition and the inherent subject matter. I don't expect people to understand it. I just wrote what I wanted to hear, what I needed to hear."

The tracklisting for 'Requiem - Mezzo Forte' is:

Read more ››

Source:	theendrecords.com
Band profile:	Virgin Black
Event:	Arcturus: Shipwrecked In Australia

The following statement has been published via the band's official newsletter:

"The new year brings some changes:
After the short tour through Spain and Portugal in November (some pics from the tour can be seen in our gallery at http://www.agathodaimon.de), our vocalist/guitarist Frank "Akaias" Nordmann revealed that he received an excellent job offer he can't refuse- sadly this means he has to move to Norway, so he will leave the band. We collectively wish him all the best for his future plans and thank him for the great time we spent together in the rehearsal room, on stage and of course off stage as well!
So, we're looking for a new vocalist and guitarist already- if you think you can handle both duties, you're welcome, too.
A few very promising musicians already contacted us, so interested people should hurry and send their info over http://www.agathodaimon.de/apply

Besides, the new album which will be entitled PHOENIX, is still in the
works.
More info to come soon.

See you somewhere on the road
Sathonys/Agathodaimon"

Read more ››

Source:	agathodaimon.de
Band profile:	Agathodaimon

Following the previous announcement of Immortal's return to the stage in 2007, Photograve Management confirms Immortal's long-awaited return to France next year: June 22-24, another installment of the mighty Hellfest will be held, and Immortal will co-headline the mainstage during the weekend.

"France has always been an important country for Immortal, and we're looking forward to finally meeting our dedicated French fans again", Abbath and Horgh state.

This will be Immortal's only concert in France for 2007.

For more info on Hellfest and tickets, please see the festival's website: http://www.hellfest.fr

Read more ››

Source:	immortalofficial.com
Band profile:	Immortal
Event:	Hellfest Summer Open Air 2007

Sweden's Soilwork, who were announced as replacement for Six Feet Under on the European X-Mass Festival Tour just two days ago, aren't part of the fold after all. Such was reported by the organizers Metallysee (Benelux) and Sub-Kultur (Germany), and the corresponding news on the website of the band's label Nuclear Blast have also been withdrawn. Gorefest, Belphegor, Trail Of Tears and Darzamat, the remaining line-up of the tour, will now be joined by other artists at the individual dates. The updated schedule with the respective bands reads as follows:

08.12. - GER, Berlin: Gorefest, Belphegor, Melechesh, Darzamat, Trail Of Tears, SkyForger
10.12. - AUT, Vienna: Gorefest, Belphegor, Trail Of Tears, Madder Mortem, Darzamat, + special guest
12.12. - SUI, Pratteln: Trail Of Tears, Madder Mortem, Gorefest, Belphegor, Darzamat
14.12. - GER, Frankfurt: Trail Of Tears, Gorefest, Belphegor, Keep Of Kalessin, Madder Mortem, Darzamat
16.12. - BEL, Antwerpen: Cradle Of Filth, Gorefest, Trail Of Tears, Belphegor, Darzamat, Hevein
17.12. - NED, Tilburg: Moonspell, Gorefest, Trail Of Tears, Belphegor, Darzamat, Hevein, Heidevolk, The Monolith Deathcult, Devious

The updated line-ups of the dates in Leipzig, Munich, Ludwigsburg, Essen, Strasbourg and Paris haven't been published yet.

Read more ››

Source:	vampster.com
Band profile:	Soilwork
Event:	X-Mass Fest 2006

The ongoing rumours about After Forever signing with Nuclear Blast for their upcoming album appear to have been true - although neither party made an official announcement yet, an After Forever page has been added to Nuclear Blast's official website. It is still under construction, but it can already be viewed at this location.

UPDATED:
As rumored here earlier today, Nuclear Blast Germany have issued the following press release regarding the signing of Dutch metallers After Forever:

There have been a lot of rumours already, now it's finally official: Another superb band has found its way to the realms of Nuclear Blast - After Forever! The Dutch act around front amazon Floor Jansen (also known from various guest appearances for projects of Arjen Lucassen - Ayreon) is specialized in thrilling melodic/gothic metal and ranks among the "big ones" of the scene in their home country. The band already toured with Nightwish and had appearances at every important festival BeNeLux-wide (such as Lowlands, Pinkpop, Graspop, Dynamo Open Air, Fields Of Rock), not to forget a steadily growing fan base in South America, France, Spain and Germany!

Guitarist Sander Gommans about the signing: After Forever has grown a lot the past years, we've done more and more shows and festivals worldwide and also experienced a lot of improvement musically. I feel that After Forever is stronger than ever, as a group but also musically, this is the right time to choose for a label that can help us realising our dreams! Because the core of the After Forever songs is metal orientated, it's a very natural decision for us to choose for Nuclear Blast!"

After Forever have almost finished the recordings for their new, yet untitled album, which is going to be released in Spring 2007. Produced by Gordon Groothedde (Dutch studio luminary), the record not only contains great new songs but also an overwhelming session with the Prague Symphonic Orchestra! A tour afterwards is already planned as well.

Read more ››

Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	After Forever

Snowy Shaw, ex-drummer of King Diamond, Mercyful Fate and Dream Evil, has joined Therion as new vocalist. According to his official website he will share vocal duties with Mats Leven, which means he'll most likely take over harsh vocals, which were given up by band leader Christofer Johnsson earlier this year. More details to follow.

Read more ››

Source:	snowyshaw.com
Band profile:	Therion

According to Cincinnati.com, Jared Anderson, the former bassist/vocalist of Hate Eternal and Morbid Angel, passed away on Saturday, October 14 at the age of 30. The cause of his death has not yet been released. Visitation will take place Thursday, October 19 at the E. C. Nurre Funeral Home, St. Rt. 125 Amelia, Ohio from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. followed by Funeral Services Thursday, 11 a.m. at the Funeral Home. Interment Pierce Township Cemetery.

Jared Anderson was most recently working on a project which was known by its alias As One... Jared described the band's musical direction on his MySpace page as "a revision of my Internecine writings, or shall I say 'written in the vein of.' The Internecine record itself was all 'old' material from the early to mid-'90s that I was given the offer to record, so obviously I opted to do so. Highly technical, obscure death metal was purely the intent of Internecine. Although most of the material was written many years prior to recording it, there were a couple of songs that were more recent. The two songs were 'The Elder Gods' and 'The Calling Of The Hordes'. This is where As One... comes in, kind of continuing where I left off so to speak, with a much more matured sound."

Back in February 2006, former Morbid Angel bassist/vocalist Steve Tucker confirmed to Blabbermouth.net that he was putting together a new project with Jared Anderson. "It is definitely death metal," Tucker said at the time. "It is very early on, but we are both extremely excited about it. No name yet, a few songs written, varying in tempo etc."

Read more ››

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Morbid Angel

The following has been posted on the festival's official website:

"It is with deep regret that Metalism UK has to announce the cancellation of the Ragnarok Festival and associated preshow, scheduled for 3/11/06 & 4/11/06 in Perth/Dundee, Scotland. It has not been an easy decision to reach, and one we are extremely disappointed to have to make, however due to the low volume of ticket sales, combined with the higher than expected operating costs, we are unable to proceed with the show.

Our sincerest apologies to everybody who has supported us since the announcement of the festival, to the bands, and especially to the people who have already purchased tickets.

Refunds are currently being arranged and should all be completed within the next two weeks..

Thank you for your understanding,

Metalism UK "

Source:	ragnarokfestival.com
Event:	Ragnarok UK Metal Fest - CANCELLED

Irish folk metallers Cruachan have signed a deal with Germany's AFM Records. After having been released from their former label Black Lotus Records in May of this year, the band tried finding a new label to release their fifth album "The Morrigan's Call" (preview of the album cover artwork can be viewed here). A low quality preview MP3 can be downloaded here.

Read more ››

Source:	cruachan.cjb.net
Band profile:	Cruachan

Influential extreme metallers Brutal Truth have scheduled a reunion show on September 3 at the Double Door in Chicago, IL as part of the second annual Electric City Rockfest. Also appearing on the bill are Pig Destroyer. More information is available at www.doubledoor.com.

With regards to how the reunion came about, Brutal Truth bassist Danny Lilker (also of Nuclear Assault and Anthrax fame) recently wrote in his regular column in the U.K.'s Zero Tolerance magazine, "A couple of members of the classic New Orleans sludgecore band EyeHateGod lost everything they owned as well as their homes in the hurricane. The band has reached out to the scene and asked if there was any way that some bands could cover EHG songs for a benefit album to help these guys get back on their feet again. They also made a special request to see if there was any way in hell that Brutal Truth, who've been disbanded since 1998, could somehow reunite to contribute a song, since that would certainly provoke some extra interest in the album.

"So, for a damn good reason, Brutal Truth has recorded a version of the EHG song 'Sister Fucker'. The original song appears on the 'Take As Needed For Pain' album and is split into two parts, which we recorded as one long song. It was just a matter of Gurn and Rich coming up here to Rochester where our friends in Sulaco graciously consented to letting us borrow their jam room for the purpose of learning, rehearsing and recording the song. A friend of Rich's came up with him and recorded it, it was then sent to Kevin out in Chicago where he tracked his vocals and mixed it, and it will soon appear on the album that will be released on Emetic Records. And in case you're wondering, yes, it's faster than the original!

"Now, I suppose by now some of you might be saying, 'Well? Is that it? You guys planning any shows?' Well, since we all live in different cities now, and we went to the trouble to get together to learn a fairly easy song, we kinda shrugged and said 'Let's see if we can play any of our shit!' Weed was smoked. And it appears that we still have that chemistry that made us what we were, so although there are no confirmed shows at the moment , I will say that it is certainly in the realm of possibility that there will be at least one live show, and what happens then remains to be seen."

Read more ››

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Brutal Truth
Event:	Brutal Truth Reunion Show + Pig Destroyer

Drummer Igor Cavalera has officially announced his departure from Sepultura. In a statement released today (June 12) to the Brazilian media, Igor attributed the split to "artistic incompatibility" with his Sepultura bandmates ? guitarist Andreas Kisser, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and vocalist Derrick Green.

"I believe my time in Sepultura has come to an end," Igor said in the statement. "I have a lot of pride in everything we have done, but I feel that the group's current formation does not meet my expectations as a musician and a person. Since my last tour with Sepultura, which took place in Europe in December 2004, I have sensed that my ideas were not compatible with those of the rest of the band.

"I would really like to thank all of the fans that supported me and continue supporting our music. I would also like to thank everybody that worked to make Sepultura the band that it had become."

Igor announced earlier in the year that he was taking a break from the group's touring activities to spend time with his second wife and their new son (who was born in January). Filling in on drums during the band's European tour with In Flames was Mayorga, who played with Igor's brother Max in Soulfly for several years in the late '90s and again in 2001-2003.

Igor is the second Cavalera to leave Sepultura. In 1996, Max Cavalera exited the group after the rest of the band fired Max's wife Gloria as Sepultura's manager.

Sepultura are rumored to have selected Jean Dolabella (ex-Udora) as their new permanent drummer following Roy Mayorga's decision to join Stone Sour as a full-time member.

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Sepultura

According to a posting at Queensryche's official website, the band was arrested today (June 11) at the Amsterdam airport for "smuggling illegal firearms!" Details are a bit sketchy at the moment, but word apparently came in from frontman Geoff Tate himself. More information as it becomes available.

Read more ››

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Queensrÿche

Norwegian progressive/power metal band Communic replace Exodus on the billing of this year's Bang Your Head!!! festival, set to take place June 23-24, 2006 in Balingen, Germany. Exodus previously dropped out of the billing due to a disagreement over the running order.

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Communic
Event:	Bang Your Head!!!