Darkane will be featured on the swedish TV channel SVT1 on wednesday Dec 10th. The show Musikbyrån will send a report from this years Sweden Rock Festival where Darkane was filmed during their live set and interviewed. Other bands featured on the show will be Motörhead and Anthrax. For more information go to Musikbyråns homepage. The show starts 10:30 pm.

Band profile:

Darkane

We are currently working on new songs for our upcoming 3rd album to be recorded around June of next year. The songs so far have a much darker and a more technical aspect than previous stuff. The best way to get and idea of our current direction would be on our latest 7" Pic Disc release with Lunar Gate. Understandably this release was very trying on the band as we were limited to the length of the song we could fit on the vinyl but it opened up new avenues for us and brought out some new talents. We will be playing a couple of the new songs next year on tour.

Band profile:

Mourning Beloveth

Polish black/death metallers BEHEMOTH have extended their contract with Olympic Recordings. The group have already commenced the songwriting process for their highly anticipated new album and will enter the studio in early spring with hopes for a late 2004 release.

This has been a breakthrough year for BEHEMOTH, who made their U.S. live debut at the New Jersey March Metal Meltdown festival, which served as the kickoff date for an extensive nationwide tour alongside DEICIDE and AMON AMARTH. From there, they appeared on the first three dates of the now-infamous "Metal Gods" tour headlined by HALFORD and TESTAMENT, as well as the inaugural "Blackest of the Black" festivals (also featuring DANZIG, SUPERJOINT RITUAL, OPETH, NILE and LACUNA COIL). BEHEMOTH capped off the year supporting SIX FEET UNDER on the "Un-Natural Born Killers" tour, and with the release of the limited-edition "Conjuration" EP, featuring one new song, two covers and several live tracks.

Nergal (vocals/guitars) recently checked in with the following update: "At the moment we are taking a short break before we strike again in a few days. After doing 31 dates with SIX FEET UNDER, SKINLESS and AS I LAY DYING we decided to stay a few weeks in LA. to take care of some important stuff. We are proud to announce that we finally signed a new two-album deal with Olympic Recordings for North and South America. It gives us a lot of opportunities for the future and from what we've experienced so far, the label does its best to push the band really hard. Now we are focusing on rehearsing the new set for the three last shows this year with EXHUMED and RISE and this time we're gonna play a longer set. There will be two shows in California and one in Mexico, and I'm sure it will be killer! See ya all there!!!"

Band profile:

Behemoth

Finland's STRATOVARIUS have officially parted ways with vocalist Timo Kotipelto and drummer Jörg Michael.

"Due to irrevocable and massive difficulties between the band leader Timo Tolkki and me, it has been agreed that this is the best thing to do to preserve at least some of the integrity the band used to have," Kotipelto said, according to the band's web site. "I will now fully concentrate on my solo album and I am convinced that this is the best way for me."

Jörg Michael says that his priorities lie elsewhere at the moment, but that the suddenly escalating trouble in the band is one of the main reasons he doesn't want to play in STRATOVARIUS anymore.

"I think this is the beginning of new era for STRATOVARIUS and that the future looks bright and promising," guitarist/leader Timo Tolkki commented. "I have composed some of my best songs during the last month. If anything good comes out of this, then I guess it will be the emotions I have managed to channel into new songs about this situation, which has been very heavy for all of us. I have been having quite bad mental problems lately, but I feel better now due to anti-depressive medication my therapist has prescribed me."

According to the group's booking agent, Continental Concerts, the current line-up is "100% certain" to fulfill all its obligations regarding festival dates next year even though there is a lot of simmering hate waiting to boil over.

Tolkki is currently talking to a German singer and a Finnish drummer about replacing Kotipelto and Michael, but he stresses that absolutely nothing is confirmed at this point. He adds that he is actively looking for replacements.

Band profile:

Stratovarius

Dutch gothic/atmospheric doom metal group AFTER FOREVER have set "Invisible Circles" as the title for their new full-length album, due in late March through Transmission Records. The group's recently released EP, "Exordium", entered the Dutch Album chart at position No. 56 and has since dropped down to No. 74 (view the whole chart here). AFTER FOREVER's last full-length effort, "Decipher", was released in 2001.

AFTER FOREVER will be teaming up with AMARAN, DARK MOOR and NIGHTMARE for a European tour beginning in mid-January.

Band profile:

After Forever

METALLICA's groundbreaking 1986 release "Master of Puppets" has been named one of the Top 40 albums of all time by USA Today music critic Edna Gundersen in the daily newspaper's Dec. 5 edition. Criteria for inclusion was albums that "stand as cohesive bodies of work ? not just fine collections of songs." The list was arranged chronologically and contained no rankings. Others albums that made the Top 40 include GUNS N' ROSES' "Appetite For Destruction" (1987), NINE INCH NAILS' "The Downward Spiral" (1994), NIRVANA's "Nevermind" (1991), and THE RAMONES' "The Ramones" (1976).

Band profile:

Metallica

Canadian technical death metallers CRYPTOPSY have been officially rejoined by original vocalist Lord Worm.

Lord Worm, who sang on the band's first two albums ? 1994's "Blasphemy Made Flesh" (Displeased) and 1995's "None So Vile" (Wrong Again) ? has announced his return to CRYPTOPSY via the following posting on the group's web site:

" 'Un mal pour un bien', I've heard it said, and those seven long years ago, unhappy though I was at leaving (for a private question of honour, not beer), it was nonetheless for the best. Now, we've come full circle, and again a private question of honour finds me back in the fold. 'It is so. It cannot be otherwise.' See you soon..."

CRYPTOPSY's most recent vocalist, Martin Lacroix (ex-SPASME) ? who appeared on the band's 2003 live release, "None So Live" ? left the group in October for undisclosed reasons. CRYPTOPSY are currently writing material for their fifth studio album, tentatively due in early 2004 through Century Media Records.

Band profile:

Cryptopsy

STRATOVARIUS leader Timo Tolkki has posted the following message on the band's official web site:

"I thought I cheer you guys up by giving you a small report from the place where I have been writing songs for about a month already. I have already 10 songs written and I can give you some titles as well: 'And You Hate the World', 'I See Black', 'PopKiller' and 'Back to Madness' are amongst the songs that I have completed by now. The working title of the album is called 'PopKiller'.

"Because the situation of the band is unclear, except that Jens will stay in the band, I have no idea when this album will be recorded. We have also several festival appearances booked for the next summer and one Spanish festival at the end of February. I don't know how we are going to handle those because we are committed legally to do them. I am not thinking about that at the moment, I am just writing songs, which always has been a good therapy for me.

"This place is absolutely fantastic and I am completely surrounded by nature and there is a sea view as well. I will travel to Berlin this weekend and talk with the whole Sanctuary team. I hope next week brings the final solution to our problems. Thanks for you patience and understanding."

Read more ››

Band profile:

Stratovarius

'As we haven't much new stuff to upload or tell you, we can just inform that we have now finished 4 songs for the next album. 2 songs are almost finished and we have 2 in working progress. This leaves only 2 songs to be "invented" as we will have exactly 10 songs on the new album (which according to the concept/theme cannot hold more than that amount of songs).'

Band profile:

Manticora

YOUR GODS, MY ENEMIES is the title for the upcoming Eternal Gray CD.
It reflects the best of what the album concept is all about.
The album will be recorded at Abyss studio Sweden, release date is yet unknown as we are working on getting a record deal.
The album songs are much heavier and fast, yet keeps all of the strong elements from Kindless.
We hope that you are all expecting it, as we are working really hard to provide you a strong, powerful and rich Death Metal, which we all hope will place Eternal Gray among the Elite of the Death Metal bands in the world.

Till then, take care and stay GRAY!

Band profile:

Eternal Gray

1-12-2003: Tracklisting Sleepy Buildings & more news.
Hello all,

As you probably know, Sleepy Buildings will be released the 26th of january 2004. This is the official tracklist:

1. Locked away 2. Saturnine 3. Amity 4. The mirror waters 5. Red is a slow colour 6. Sleepy buildings 7. Travel 8. Shrink 9. In motion Part II 10. Stonegarden 11. My electricity 12. Eleanor 13. Marooned 14. Like fountains

The May Song and Nighttime Birds fell through, and we didn't mix them. NB is already in more or less the same version available on our Superheat live album, TMS sounded simply not that well.
We are still busy finding dates for our Sleepy Buildings tour 2004. We will play Germany for sure, possibly some churches! We will keep you informed.

Cheers! - Hans

Band profile:

The Gathering

The Kovenant are now working on their follow up to the masterpiece S.E.T.I. You can expect some real extravaganza. This time the band will break new grounds again and set the standards for the future metal scene. It will be recorded next year and hopefully released in 2004 as well.

Band profile:

The Kovenant

Here is the track listing of Suicide Is Sexy, the forthcoming collector from Anorexia Nervosa, which will be out around mid-December on Apokalypse Records !
It will be a strictly limited edition of 777 copies, presented in a box, each individually signed by the band ! A piece of collection you sure don't want to miss !

Nihil Negativum - demo 95

Scene I :
1. Le Patient est isolé
2. In a brown gnostic study

Scene II:
3. Quelque chose comme l'idée qu'il n'aurait mieux pas fallu naître
4. Anamorphic effect ; the revival

Scene III:
5. Retrouver son état initial, éviter? avant qu'il ne soit trop tard
6. In the mental confinement (mosaic of infinite visions)

Final:
7. Avec le triomphe de l'esprit et la faillite de la déité

Garden of Delight - demo 93 (Necromancia)

8. The Shadows Howling
9. Garden of Delight
10. Dismal Paradise

Extra shit

11. Autoerotic Death - live 1995 - never released before
12. Lepros Darma - live 1995 - never released before

Bonus video track

Nihil Negativum - Scene III & Final
(Live 16/12/1995 - wherever)

Band profile:

Anorexia Nervosa

The Rammstein DVD LICHTSPIELHAUS will be released on PAL format December 2003 and on NTSC format January 2004! For the first time LICHTSPIELHAUS will feature an entire collection of all Rammstein videos, exclusive live material of the band and making of material of selected videos.

Band profile:

Rammstein

Golem are very proud to announce that we've reached an agreement with the French label Diamond Productions for an official distribution of the demo CD "Death Never Dies", which will be out in first of May with a re-mastered version done by Dario Mollo and distributed in almost all the European countries and also over Europe. We sincerely hope this operation will be successful and take the chance to thanks Jérôme from Diamond Prod. for his big interest and help in our work and also for the chance he's giving us to expand our music all over the world. We hope this relationship will last for a long time. Also a big thanks to Nicola Lonigro (sound engineer), Claudio Grilli (graphics) and to all our fans (this result comes also from you), by hoping that, from now on, you will increase. Thanks to all!!!

Band profile:

Golem (ITA)