Danzig's Long Awaited Black Aria II, the follow up to the original Black Aria, will be available in stores on Sepember 19, 2006. Check out the cover artwork at this location.

Read more ››

Source:	danzig-verotik.com
Band profile:	Danzig

The release of the new Tristania album 'Illumination', originally scheduled for September, has been postponed slightly due to technical reasons. The new release date will be announced soon. Also, samples from 'Illumination' will be published online in the near future.

The September tour has been cancelled due to outside issues. Vibeke (vocals) will be finishing her education as a teacher, in addition to which she will be working as a teacher while studying. Thus, this makes it difficult for her to do long tours at the moment. Finishing off her education is something she has postponed for a long time due to her duties with Tristania - and she feels it is finally time to do it.

'Illumination' was recorded at Woodhouse Studios in Hagen, Germany with producer Waldemar Sorychta (Lacuna Coil, Tiamat). Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Sanguine Sky", "Open Ground", "Lotus", "Down" and "Mercyside".

The band had previously stated about the upcoming CD, "True to tradition, we have made an album with a definite and unmistakably Tristanian sound, but which also brings a lot of new and fresh material. The album is another evolutionary step and lets us explore new areas while staying true to our roots. On every track, the moods and elements are plentiful; ranging from doom to industrial, from soothing synthesizer passages to technical metal riffs, from dark ballads to classic goth rock - it's all there. We've used a string quartet on several tracks, which attributed yet another dimension to those songs."

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Tristania

German melodic metallers EDGUY have been confirmed for the 2006 Busan International Rock Festival, set to take place August 5-8 in Busan, Korea. Also scheduled to appear are UFO, ANDREW W.K. and TESTAMENT.

EDGUY are continuing to tour in support of their latest album, "Rocket Ride", which entered the German national album chart at position No. 8 upon its release in late January. The CD also came in at No. 8 in Sweden, No. 25 in Finland, No. 32 in Hungary, No. 48 in Japan, No. 50 in Switzerland, No. 50 in Austria, No. 79 in Norway and No. 81 in Italy.

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Edguy

Previously unseen footage of SLAYER in the studio recording their upcoming album, "Christ Illusion", has been made available at the Warner Bros. web site:

Quicktime:
200k (http://streamos.wbr.com/qtime/wbr/slayer/071006/slayer_vocals_220.mov)
450k (http://streamos.wbr.com/qtime/wbr/slayer/071006/slayer_vocals_450.mov)
700k (http://streamos.wbr.com/qtime/wbr/slayer/071006/slayer_vocals_700.mov)

Windows Media:
220k (http://streamos.wbr.com/wmedia/wbr/slayer/071006/slayer_vocals_220.wvx)
300k (http://streamos.wbr.com/wmedia/wbr/slayer/071006/slayer_vocals_300.wvx)
450k (http://streamos.wbr.com/wmedia/wbr/slayer/071006/slayer_vocals_450.wvx)
700k (http://streamos.wbr.com/wmedia/wbr/slayer/071006/slayer_vocals_700.wvx)

"Christ Illusion" is SLAYER's first new studio album since 2001, and the first recorded by the band's original line-up - Kerry King (guitar); Tom Araya (bass, vocals); Jeff Hanneman (guitars); Dave Lombardo (drums) - since 1990's "Seasons In The Abyss". "Christ Illusion" was produced by Josh Abraham and executive-produced by Rick Rubin. The album is scheduled for release on August 8, 2006 via American Recordings/Warner Bros. Records.

Read more ››

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Slayer

The Norwegian National broadcasting (NRK) filmed Enslaved at the Quartfestival last Saturday. It is supposed to be aired this Thursday (the 13th of July) at 22.00 at the program "Lydverket". It is also possible to see it at web-tv (requiers username and password, but is free) at this location: http://www.nrk.no/programmer/tv/lydverket/. Choose "NRK nett-tv", then "ny bruker" in the top menu and get registered.

Read more ››

Source:	enslaved.no
Band profile:	Enslaved

Anthrax, Children Of Bodom and Angra have been confirmed for the Loud Park 06 festival, set to take place October 14-15, 2006 at the Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Halls 9-11 in Tokyo, Japan. The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

Saturday, October 14:

Megadeth
Ministry
Angra
Anthrax
Backyard Babies
Arch Enemy
Dragonforce
Napalm Death
Opeth
Flyleaf

Sunday, October 15:

Slayer
In Flames
Killswitch Engage
Children Of Bodom
Bullet For My Valentine
Mastodon
Hatebreed
Lamb Of God
The Black Dahlia Murder
Within Temptation

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Anthrax

Iced Earth has officially launched the search for a new bassist. All interested parties are encouraged to send their bio packs to Iced Earth mainman Jon Schaffer's store at the following address:

Jon Schaffer
Spirit of 76 Collectibles, Inc.
1728 17th St
Columbus, IN 47448

Iced Earth recently announced the addition of Elkton, MD guitarist Ernie Carletti to the group's ranks.

Mastering his craft beyond 19 years and teaching guitar lessons to 100 students weekly in excess of 16 years, Carletti is equally versed in styles such as classical and jazz but his first love is heavy metal "shredding."

The central figure of Iced Earth is guitarist and songwriter Jon Schaffer, who originally formed the band as Purgatory in 1984. Though the band has undergone numerous lineup changes since its inception, Schaffer has remained steadfast in his passion to thrash. Schaffer officially announced the addition of Carletti on the band's message board on Friday, June 30.

Schaffer is currently working on a concept album based on the "Something Wicked This Way Comes" story that first appeared on Iced Earth's 1998 album of the same name. A 2007 release is expected.

Iced Earth's last release was the "Gettysburg (1863)" DVD, which came out in June 2005. The main program, a CGI-rendered video presentation of the epic "Gettysburg" trilogy from 2004's acclaimed album "The Glorious Burden", drew praise from fans and media alike. The DVD was also reportedly being used as a teaching tool in several high schools across the country.

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Iced Earth

Swedish black metallers MARDUK have been confirmed for the Black Metal Festival, set to take place August 13 at Stodola in Warsaw, Poland. Also scheduled to appear on the bill are ENSLAVED and MAYHEM.

As previously reported, MARDUK have set a September 4 release date for their new DVD, entitled "Blood Puke Salvation". The DVD will contain over 90 minutes of live material filmed in Tilburg, Holland and Antwerpen, Belgium during December 2004. Also included will be promotional videos for "Throne Of Rats", "Steel Inferno" and "The Hangman Of Prague", plus a photo gallery, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and a section entitled "Deathmarch" with exclusive hand-filmed live material from over 20 cities from the "Deathmarch" tour. Check out the DVD cover artwork (http://marduk.nu/marduk/news/blood.jpg). Limited-edition CD/DVD boxsets of MARDUK's classic "La Grande Danse Macabre" and "World Funeral" albums were released by Regain Records last month.

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Marduk

Anathema have announced their first-ever appearance in Jordan. The concert will take place on August 25 at the Al-Ahlyyiah Amman University Arena in Amman.

In other news, Anathema have added a third date to their upcoming Russian tour, which is scheduled to take place in September. The details are as follows:

Sep. 22 - Tochka Club - Moscow, RUS
Sep. 23 - Port Club - St. Petersburg, RUS
Sep. 24 - Youth Hall - Ekaterinburg, RUS

As previously reported, Anathema will be embarking on a full South American/Mexican tour in October. The trek will include stops in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico. A UK tour will take place in early September.

Metal Mind Productions released a new Anathema DVD, entitled "A Moment in Time", on June 19. The main part of DVD was recorded in Poland at the famous Metal Mania Festival 2006 (the biggest hard rock/metal festival in Eastern Europe). The set list included their best songs plus a cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb". The guest performance was done by a string quartet. Bonus material includes live video footage, video clips, and a documentary. The DVD will be available also in a limited edition with bonus audio CD.

Anathema are currently unsigned as a result of having been dropped by BMG/Zomba after their previous label, Music For Nations, was folded into parent company Zomba Records Group (the world's largest independent music group).

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Anathema

Guitarist Frank Harthoorn of the reunited Dutch metallers GOREFEST has posted the following message on the band's official web site:

"We'd been asked to fill in for DEICIDE on the Nummirock festival in Finland two weeks ago, an invite we gladly accepted since we'd never been there before. Nummirock is held at a site somewhere in the Finnish woods, a hot and cramped four-and-a-half-hour drive from Helsinki Airport.

"We got there just in time to see MARDUK coming off stage, which really annoyed me since I've never seen them perform. I know, I really should get out more...

"Anyway, the gig was cool, the food was crap, the people were drunk, the sun set for about half a minute, and then came right back up again. All was well in Finland, and we hope to get back in the near future to do some club shows. You just gotta love a country where moose walk in the mist, where everyone seems to have their own private lake, and where people wander about the highways naked and drunk at four in the morning

"Last weekend saw us hammering in the Waldrock weekend at the pre-party in some disco in Friesland. We had THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT opening for us, and they really brought the place to a boiling point. Which is great, as everyone seemed to be in the right mood for some seriously heavy shit. One of the hottest shows we did since Graspop last year, and I'm not just talking temperatures here. Next day we got to hang out at Waldrock, and watch bands as diverse as AFTER FOREVER, NILE, BORN FROM PAIN, Y&T and MOTÖRHEAD. I thoroughly enjoyed BFP (thanks for the shirts guys!) and MOTÖRHEAD, but totally got off on Y&T. What songs, and Dave Meniketti has got to be one of the coolest guitarists ever.

"Come Sunday, we arrived in Leipzig for the With Full Force festival. Like yesterday, and the day before that, people really seemed to dig our bus. I wonder why?

"Yes, Waltzin' Andre Rieu had been so kind as to let us abuse one of his coaches, and many a Strauss-loving couple had a nasty surprise when we stepped out of the bus at selected gasstations. Remember, if you come across pics of supposedly Rieu behind a coachwindow, flipping the bird, throwing the horns or showing his butt: it ain't us, right?!

"WFF was really cool, if a bit windy on stage. If anyone was waiting for us to play Erase: sorry, we had to skip it because of time regulations! It's too bad SOILWORK had to cancel their show, but we did get to see the quite wonderful ARCH ENEMY from up close — a true feast for the metal senses! Like Waldrock, MOTÖRHEAD was headlining today, and I swear I could hear Lemmy chuckling at our bus when we drove off. You'd think Lemmy would like a German waltz or two…"

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Gorefest

Italian experimentalists EPHEL DUATH are currently collaborating with Eraldo Bernocchi to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his groundbreaking group SIGILLUM ES. The album will also feature contributions from longtime Bernocchi co-conspirators Bill Laswell, Toshinori Kondo, Raiz, Zu, Xabier Iriondo, Thomas Fehlmann (THE ORB), Crisis and many others.

In other news, EPHEL DUATH has announced that Bernocchi will produce its next album. Guitar player, producer and electronic musician with more than 20 years of musical experience and 75 full-length albums under his belt, spanning many different audio and visual projects, Bernocchi has also scored various soundtracks, including "Nirvana" and "Denti" by the Oscar winner Gabriele Salvatores. The pre-production of the new EPHEL DUATH CD will begin later in the summer.

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Ephel Duath

Austrian black/death metallers BELPHEGOR are currently looking for a new professional management company to represent them for the release of their new yet-untitled album. Interested parties should contact the band at belphegor@aon.at.

Source:	belphegor.at
Band profile:	Belphegor

Finland's HardcoreSounds.net recently conducted an interview with Arch Enemy drummer Daniel Erlandsson. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

HardcoreSounds.net: You have had the chance to tour almost everywhere. Which show has been the most memorable to you so far?

Daniel: "We have done so many shows so it's quite hard but quite recently we visited Mexico and we did two shows for the first time there. Mexico City was the second show and that was one of the best shows I have ever done."

HS: Why was it so special? Where there a lot of audience?

Daniel: "We played to a full house. We played for like something in between 2,500-3,000 people and we had an amazing crowd response. The whole place was jumping all the time. I was blown away."

HS: And maybe next year we will hear new material from you guys?

Daniel: "Definitely. That's the plan too. We will start recording the new album in February and hopefully we will get it released sometime in the summer or fall of next year. We have already started writing music and we have tons of ideas."

HS: Do you have any finished songs yet?

Daniel: "We have a lot of ideas which loosely fit together so we are gonna start making songs really soon instead of just jamming with riffs. Making an album is like a big puzzle where you try to add all the pieces into the puzzle while songs."

HS: Where do you see the band in five years?

Daniel: "That's really a difficult question. If you judge Arch Enemy from the last five years from 2001 to this day the band has progressed with every album they have made, became bigger and bigger. If that continues we are going to be pretty big in 2011 and that's what I really wish."

Read the entire interview at HardcoreSounds.net.

Read more ››

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Arch Enemy

Hammerfall recently entered the studio to begin recording the follow-up to 2005's "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken". The album will be released on October 20 through Nuclear Blast Records, with a single release of the track "Natural High" available on September 22. Other songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Carved In Stone", "Titan", "Dark Wings, Dark Words", "Shadow Empire", "Rebel Inside", "Threshold", "Howlin' With The Pac" and "The Fire Burns Forever".

Guitar player and main songwriter Oscar Dronjak comments: "Our goal was to get as heavy and energetic a production as we had on the previous albums, but to improve it and the performance even more. Musically, we built on the foundation of our previous work and developed the sound, and perhaps brought back some of the speed. Without losing the heaviness and the groove, of course. Hammerfall is, and always will be, a heavy metal band."

Everyone who will visit this year's Earthshaker Fest, set to take place July 21-22 in Kreuth, Germany, will get the chance to listen to one of those new tracks live. Says Oscar: "We will do 'The Fire Burns Forever', the song we recorded a video together with the Swedish athletics a couple of weeks back. As far as I know, it will be available for download during August only, so it will be in promotion for that. We're also going to bust out a few songs we haven't done in a while, just for fun."

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	HammerFall

Swedish Viking death metal heroes Amon Amarth have set "With Oden On Our Side" as the title of their sixth full-length album, to be released on 25 September via Metal Blade Records. The CD was recorded at Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren.

"With Oden On Our Side" track listing:

01. Valhall Awaits Me
02. Runes to My Memory
03. Asator
04. Hermod's Ride to Hel – Lokes Treachery Part 1
05. Gods of War Arise
06. With Oden On Our Side
07. Cry of the Black Birds
08. Under the Northern Star
09. Prediction of Warfare

Metal Blade Records recently issued an Amon Amarth DVD, entitled "Wrath of the Norsemen". The three-disc set was released in a deluxe 10-page digipack with special gold-laminated slipcase. The main body of the DVD is the Cologne show from last year — filmed with 11 cameras, this was the longest show AMON AMARTH have ever played (23 songs!). Bonus footage includes interviews, behind-the-scenes of the DVD recording and other stuff filmed around the Cologne show. Discs 2 and 3 feature professionally filmed shows from Summer Breeze 2005, the Metal Blade Rrroooaaarrr 2005 (a show with a really unusual setlist!), Wacken Open Air 2004 and the release show for "Fate of Norns" in Ludwigsburg (Germany) in 2004.

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Amon Amarth