Having started the band back in 1993, Taake mainman Hoest will celebrate 20 years of music by releasing a 20-song, 2 CD collection of Taake rarities. The anniversary album will be released on Dark Essence Records on March 1st in Norway and March 4th worldwide to coincide with a planned European tour celebrating Taake's contribution to Norwegian black metal.
Swedish heavy/power metallers Sabaton have confirmed line-up changes. Four members have departed with only Pär Sundström and Joakim Brodén remaining from the previous line-up and the band is currently searching for a keyboardist. The band also released a video presenting the new members.
Rhapsody Of Fire are proud to announce to the world that the mix of From Chaos To Eternity is now at the end and that the new album will be released by Nuclear Blast on June 17th, 2011.
The band issued the following statement: "It is the end of an era. This historical release will end the Rhapsody's sagas once for all after 15 years of fantasy oriented lyrics and for the last time we'll hear Sir Christopher Lee narrating in one of our albums the last dramatic events of a legendary tale started in 1997 and told through 2 different sagas and 10 full length albums. We are surely very sad but we also know that for this same reason the upcoming release will remain in the history of the band for its artistic importance and unique epic!"
Circle Regenerated, the new album of Finnish extreme power metal band Norther, will be released on April 18th in Europe and March 30th in Japan (with a North American release date still to be announced) through Century Media Records.
The band's sixth studio album was recorded at Astia Studios with producer Anssi Kippo (Children Of Bodom). The artwork was done by Fabio Bonetti, winner of the "Norther album artwork competition".
Circle Regenerated cover art] tracklist:
01. Through It All
02. The Hate I Bear
03. Truth
04. Some Day
05. Break Myself Away
06. Believe
07. Falling
08. We Do Not Care
09. The Last Time
10. Closing In
Fallen will be the title of the 9th studio album from Burzum, the follow-up to the 2010 release Belus - which put Burzum straight back at the at the top of the chain as of one of the most innovative and creative metal artists of our time... apparently. Fallen will be released on March 7th via Plastic Head (distributor of Byelobog Productions).
The rest of the press release reads as follows: Fallen follows Belus in sound and structure, and can also be compared to the music on the groundbreaking Det Som Engan Var. Fallen is more dynamic and hard hitting then Belus and has an even bigger sound, but still carries the same trademark melodic melody lines throughout that makes Burzum sound so iconic and unique.
Hungarian extreme folk metal band Dalriada have recently finished recording their new studio album Igéret; which is pegged for a release date of February 11th, 2011 through AFM Records.
Fronted by vocalist Laura Binder, Dalriada are known for their use of poetry and European folktales in their lyrics; along with their incorpation of traditional Hungarian melodies and instruments into their sound.
Igéret, which is the seventh full-length in their discography; is said to feature not only feature instruments like the kobza and doublebass but also include appearances from fellow countrymen Fajkusz Band and Korpiklanni's Jonne Järvelä. In an official press statement on their website, the band have added that his guest performance shall be to sing sections of the epic "Kalevala" in Finnish; which compliments Dalriada's own choice to sing in Hungarian.
Finnish metallers Nightwish have officially started recording the follow-up to 2007's Dark Passion Play. Drummer Jukka Nevalainen has issued the following update on the band's official website:
"After spending an intensive summer camp on Finnish countryside and putting a final touch to the demo, we started recording the drums for our next album. We gathered together yesterday and set up the drums and all the recording devices. Today was mostly spent just perfecting the sounds. Just like with our last album we got some back-up from Mr. Kai Hahto (Swallow The Sun & Wintersun), who is known to be able to conjure godly sounds by tuning the drums. The legendary duet of Mikko Karmila and TeeCee Kinnunen are taking care of the engineering again. Tonight ended with a complete take of the first song, so the recording session has now officially started!"
Epica have announced the following news on their homepage:
"In a few days the guys and girl from Epica will travel to Brasil to start their South American Tour 2010. This part of the Design Your Universe world tour will take Epica to Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Uruguay.
The show in Lima, Peru has already been sold out. The show in Buenos Aires, Argentina is almost sold out, only 100 tickets left. The other shows are also going pretty fast, so if you don't have your tickets yet... be sure to get them in time.
Simone, Isaac and Coen will be in São Paulo a day early to perform in 2 TV-shows and on Radio Kiss FM. They will play some special acoustic songs, so keep your eyes and ears open. The show in São Paulo will be extra special one since we will shoot DVD-footage for an upcoming DVD. So if you haven't got a ticket yet, get it now and be extra loud on the 10th of April."
Ensiferum, Equilibrium, Swashbuckle and Heidevolk - with Eisregen on select dates - will embark on the European Heidenfest tour this autumn. One very special guest will be announced soon. Here's the obligatory tour announcement:
"The gods of the North reawake to new life this Autumn and send their bravest heathen warriors back to the fronts to prepare another, bombastic foray through Europe. In this moment a tribe of irreligious barbarians, honorable swordfighters and fearless druids arm for a very special battle in mind to continue the fascinating Northern mythology of the past days also in 2010. A storm is brewing, because from every dark corner the horns call for war, heralding the might of this upcoming Ragnarök. In this year, Heidenfest complies all the wishes of pagan-metal-lovers once again and invites to a monstrous spectacular. The wide range of heathen sound-art will be united in this festival-tour: If black-metal-epic, melancholic melodies, rampant wrath or folkloristic catchy-tunes, Heidenfest feeds you with the most essential substances of pagan culture."
According to a posting on the Epica website, in the early of February 12th Epica's tourbus crashed on Canadian Highway way 1 while driving in the Rocky Mountains when a car lost control and went spinning for the bus. The busdriver Dave Mabry managed to avoid a head-on collision by running the bus against the rail-guard. Although the car was totaled and the bus suffered severe damage and some band & crew members got thrown out of their bunks no one got hurt. After a few hours delay and some on the the spot repairs the bus was able to continue the journey to Victoria Canada.
"We're happy to announce a handful of tour dates for 2010. We will tour intensively throughout the year and here's the first bash of dates - we're really looking forward to meet up with all your metalheads in eastern Europe!"
February 26 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja
February 27 - Krakow, Poland - Studio
February 28 - Prague, Czech Rep. - Exit Chmelnice
March 01 - Bratislava, Slovak Rep. - Randal
March 03 - Salzburg, Austria - Republic
March 04 - Vienna, Austria - Arena
March 05 - Budapest, Hungary - Diesel
March 06 - Innsbruck, Austria - Max
Volbeat will also perform at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park on June 4-6th 2010. These will be the only German festival shows for the band in 2010.
Månegarm have revealed the cover artwork and song titles for their upcoming album "Nattväsen". The album will be released on the 22nd October via Regain Records.
"Nattväsen" cover artwork] tracklist:
01. Mina Fäders Hall (Hall Of My Father's)
02. Nattsjäl, Drömsjäl (Nightsoul, Dreamsoul)
03. Bergagasten (The Mountain Ghost)
04. I Den Svataste Jord (In The Blackest Soil)
05. Hraesvelg
06. Vetrarmegin (Winter Force)
07. Draugen
08. Nattväsen (Night Creatures)
09. Delling (Dawn)
Short song-by-song descriptions of the songs can be found at this location.
Ensiferum have announced a headlining North American tour in support of the band's new album, "From Afar". The support bands are Hypocrisy, Ex Deo and Blackguard.
The dates are as follows:
Nov. 06 - Springfield, VA - Jaxx
Nov. 07 - Allentown, PA - Crocodile Rock
Nov. 08 - Raleigh, NC - Volume 11
Nov. 09 - Atlanta, GA - THE Masquerade
Nov. 10 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
Nov. 11 - Orlando, FL - Aka Lounge
Nov. 13 - Houston, TX - Meridian
Nov. 14 - Austin, TX - Emo's
Nov. 15 - Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX - Ridglea Theatre
Nov. 17 - Santa Ana, CA - Galaxy Theatre
Nov. 18 - Los Angeles, CA - Key Club
Nov. 19 - San Francisco, CA - Dna Lounge
Nov. 20 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
