New Wave Of British Heavy Metal Festival I

By Elric on 1:35 PM 28 February 2007

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Four legendary NWOBHM bands — Cloven Hoof, Blitzgrieg, Jaguar and Elixir — are confirmed for the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal Festival I, set to take place October 13 at AN Club in Athens, Greece. Tickets will cost 25 euros. Doors open at 18.15, show starts at 19.00.

As previously reported, Escape Records will reissue Cloven Hoof's classic power metal albums "Dominator" (1988) and "A Sultan's Ransom" (1989) as part of a boxed double album deluxe set. Two bonus tracks are included, along with a glossy booklet containing rare archive pictures.

Cloven Hoof has been confirmed for the British Steel Festival 2, set to take place April 28 at The Pitz, Milton Keynes, England. Also scheduled to appear are Jaguar, Attacker, Chariot and Elixir.

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Chinese Delay ?

By Elric on 9:09 AM

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The 6th of March is drawing near and rumors about another delay of the new Guns N' Roses album are all over the net.

Longtime Guns N' Roses associate Del James has revealed in a new online posting that "Chinese Democracy" is currently in the "mixing" stage.

"Chinese Democracy" is the first Guns N' Roses album since the 1993 covers collection "The Spaghetti Incident". In the ensuing decade, the group has lost every original member besides singer Axl Rose and burned through a reported $13 million in recording expenses.

There are roumors about the release of "Chinese Democracy" every year, although this year the roumors sound true considering that for the first time Axl made an official announcement. Besides that, some demo versions of few songs leaked to internet. All we can do is to wait...

Guns N' Roses will headline South Africa's My Coke Festival in Johannesburg on April 27 and Cape Town on May 1. The band will also perform in Japan, Thailand, South Africa, South America, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand.

Guns N' Roses did complete its first successful North American road trip in over a decade last year, along with a European trek.


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We Want Di'Anno

By Elric on 9:31 PM 27 February 2007

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Fans of Anthrax have launched an online petition to get members of Anthrax to consider former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno as their new frontman. The petition reads as follows:

"As longtime fans of Anthrax, we consider the future of the band of the utmost importance. The band's lack of a singer concerns us because we truly care about Anthrax. While many of us would like to see the return of one of their more popular singers (specifically, John Bush or Joey Belladonna), we understand that that may not be possible. Because of these circumstances, and because of our want for Anthrax quality material (both for the band's sake, and admittedly, for our own sake), we would like to make a suggestion for lead singer we feel is appropriate for the band to consider. This singer has fronted one of heavy metal's all-time greatest bands during arguably its best years. His name - Paul Di'Anno. Di'Anno is most famous for his work with Iron Maiden during 1978-1981, including during the releases of the classic albums 'Iron Maiden' and 'Killers'. We know Anthrax are great Iron Maiden fans and know they specifically enjoy some songs from these albums, as we've heard Anthrax cover them. Paul has a great metal tone while bringing a punk-ish feel and attitude, a great fit for the similarly-styled Anthrax. Di'Anno puts on a notoriously great show, essential for a band with the great live reputation that Anthrax has. We will specify right now that this petition does not directly ask for Di'Anno to become the singer, but only for the band to consider it as a possibility. If the band does not feel that the match makes sense for whatever reason, we will understand — all we ask is the band consider what we believe is a good idea, both exciting and realistically possible."

To sign the petition, go here.

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Rage To Do More Shows

By Elric on 12:34 PM

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"Rage Against The Machine will join the Wu-Tang Clan for three shows under the banner of Rock the Bells, the acclaimed hip-hop festival that kicks off in New York on July 28 and hits Southern California on Aug. 11.

The Southern California show will be at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino while the third show, on Aug. 18, will be in San Francisco. The sites of the New York and San Francisco shows as well as ticket sales information will be announced by organizers on Monday.

Rage is already the closing-night headliner of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 29 in Indio, a festival that sold out 80 days in advance due to the pent-up fan demand for the Los Angeles band. Rage played their last show in 2000.

That Coachella show was announced as a "one-and-done" affair but the quick sellout and the harsh-priced ticket scalping already underway are among the factors in the added shows, according to sources close to the band. There's also the historical punch of performing with Wu-Tang Clan, one of the most ambitious and influential hip-hop outfits ever.

Rage will do four shows and just four in 2007, said Chang Weisberg, the founder of Guerilla Union and organizer of Rock the Bells. "Coachella is first, that's the granddaddy. And now these three with the Wu-Tang Clan represent a very, very special thing."

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Vinny Appice At Metal Express Radio

By Elric on 10:25 AM 26 February 2007

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"The guest DJ for next Friday, March 2nd, at MetalExpress Radio will be none other than Vinny Appice, famed drummer from Dio, Black Sabbath (Touring this year as Heaven And Hell), and now 3 Legged Dogg, a new supergroup that released the album "Frozen Summer" at the end of 2006.

As always, we will give Vinny full control of our studio, and he will play 10 of his favorite tracks and will let you know why each of them are special to his ears!


And ... after the show, we'll be featuring tracks from Vinny's 3 Legged Dogg project!

You won't want to miss the March 2nd GUEST DJ SHOW!

Want to be GUEST DJ and let the world hear you introduce your Top 10 Favorite songs of all time on the Friday DJ Guest Hour?!

Contact Dan@MetalExpressRadio.com for more details!"

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Tribuzy Live Reunion

By Elric on 3:58 PM 25 February 2007

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Brazilian metal band Tribuzy, formed and headed by singer Renato Tribuzy, released its studio debut, "Execution", featuring a "heavy metal all-star team" consisting of Bruce Dickinson, Michael Kiske, Mat Sinner, Ralf Scheepers, Roland Grapow, Andreas Kisser, Kiko Loureiro and Roy Z. The musical influences used by Tribuzy during the writing process were the great classics such as "Powerslave" , "…And Justice For All" and other '80s heavy music.

Tribuzy has now returned with a live album, "Execution Live Reunion", recorded at the Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil in November 2005 and featuring special guest appearances by Bruce Dickinson, Mat Sinner, Ralf Scheepers, Roy Z, Roland Grapow and Kiko Loureiro. The CD was produced by Roy Z. and Renato Tribuzy, and was mixed by Roy Z. at Mountain View studio, in Los Angeles, California.

TRIBUZY lineup:

Renato Tribuzy – Vocals
Gustavo Silvera – Guitars
Frank Schieber – Guitars
Ivan Guilhon – Bass
Flavio Pascarillo – Drums

Guests:

Bruce Dickinson (vocals)
Michael Kiske (vocals)
Kiko Loureiro (guitar)
Mat Sinner (vocals)
Ralf Scheepers (vocals)
Roland Grapow (guitar)
Roy Z. (guitar)

"Execution Live Reunion" track listing:

01. Into
02. Agressive
03. Divine Disgrace
04. The Attempt
05. Forgotten Time (feat. Kiko Loureiro)
06. Nature Of Evil (feat. Kiko Loureiro, Mat Sinner)
07. Absolution (feat. Ralf Scheepers, Roland Grapow)
08. Web Of Life (feat. Roland Grapow)
09. Execution (feat. Kiko Loureiro)
10. Beast In The Light (feat. Bruce Dickinson, Roy Z)
11. The Means (bonus track)

"Execution Live Reunion" will be released in Europe on April 20 via MTM Music.

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Death Angel Strikes Back

By Elric on 5:31 PM 24 February 2007

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"We've been jamming out at our studio in Oakland, creating a new album which we plan to release later this year. Good vibes are flowing! Can't wait for you to feel it…

We're pretty much going to lay low on the live shows until we get the album completed. In fact, we did not plan to do any shows at all before summer but then we got invited to play in the Philippines! Pulp Summer Slam Seven takes place at Amoranto Stadium in Manila [on April 28] and we can't wait to hit that outdoor stage in the sizzling heat… it's gonna be insane!

OK, maybe one or two of the summer festivals in Europe; it's torture passing those up!

Other than that, it's all about getting that 'studio tan,' but you can bet your sweet ass that we'll be coming your way after we drop our new disc on ya… I also want to thank each and every one of you who continue to support and enjoy our music. You make us feel so warm and fuzzy.
"

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The Dio Years

By Elric on 12:27 PM

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According to Black-Sabbath.com, the new Black Sabbath track "The Devil Cried" will be released in digital form to the public via all digital retailers on Tuesday, March 13. The song was written and produced by guitarist Tony Iommi and singer Ronnie James Dio and was recorded with bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Vinny Appice in November 2006 in the U.K. The cut was engineered and mixed by Mike Exeter, who worked on Iommi's "Fused" and "The 1996 DEP Sessions".

"The Devil Cried" is the first single off the group's forthcoming "best-of" collection, "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years". The first comprehensive introduction to the band's legacy features a dozen classic studio recordings, plus one live track — "Children Of The Sea" from 1982's "Live Evil". The collection also contains the three brand-new tracks — the aforementioned "The Devil Cried", plus "Shadow Of The Wind", and "Ear In The Wall" — three samples of what Heaven and Hell are going to sound. The disc will be available April 3 at all physical retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested list price of $18.98. The album will also be available at all digital retail outlets for a suggested retail price of $11.99. Check out the cover artwork at this location.

Arranged chronologically, the compilation spotlights singer Ronnie James Dio's time with Black Sabbath and draws heavily from the lineup's 1980 debut and 1981 follow-up, "Heaven and Hell" and "Mob Rules" and some songs from the brief reunion with Sabbath for the "Dehumanizer" album and tour.

"Black Sabbath: The Dio Years" track listing:

01. Neon Knights
02. Lady Evil
03. Heaven And Hell
04. Die Young
05. Lonely Is The Word
06. The Mob Rules
07. Turn Up The Night
08. Voodoo
09. Falling Off The Edge Of The World
10. After All (The Dead)
11. TV Crimes
12. I
13. Children Of The Sea - Live
14. The Devil Cried*
15. Shadow Of The Wind*
16. Ear In The Wall*
Type the rest of your post here.

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Septic Flesh to Reunite For Metal Healing Festival Only

By Elric on 10:43 AM 23 February 2007

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"Greek death metal legends Septic Flesh will reunite for one-off performance at the Metal Healing Festival, set to take place July 20-22 in Xanthi, Greece."

Septic Flesh was a gothic-influenced death metal band from Athens, Greece with dark and macabre synth atmospherics.

Formed in 1990, the lineup stayed fairly stable over the years except on albums "The Ophidian Wheel" (one of my favorities death metal albums) and "A Fallen Temple" (1998), which featured a leading female vocalist, Natalie Rassoulis.

Their music combined hyper-fast technical death metal, melodic death metal, gothic metal, and industrial metal, a concoction that made them one of the most acclaimed yet still relatively unknown bands of the extreme metal category.

After nearly 14 years as a band, Septic Flesh split up in October 2003. THEDEVILWORX would be formed a year later by some former members. Chaostar was created in 1998, by the band's guitarist, Chris Antoniou, in which he continued to play after Septic Flesh disbanded.

The full line-up for the 3 days is:

Friday, July 20:

00:00 - 01:15 RAGE
02:50 - 23:40 ORPHANED LAND
21:50 - 22:35 ROTTING CHRIST
20:50 - 21:35 ABORTED
19:50 - 20:35 WASTEFALL
18:55 - 19:35 LEAVES EYES
18:00 - 18:40 COMMUNIC
17:00 - 17:40 EMERALD SUN
16:15 - 16:45 SILENT RAGE

Saturday, July 21:

00:00 - 01:15 SEPTIC FLESH
22:50 - 23:40 THE HAUNTED
21:50 - 22:35 NIGHTRAGE
20:50 - 21:35 PRIMORDIAL
19:50 - 20:35 MYSTIC PROPHECY
18:55 - 19:35 OVERGARVEN
18:00 - 18:40 LUNARSEA
17:00 - 17:40 L.O.S.T
16:15 - 16:45 D.O.P.

Sunday, July 22:

00:00 - 01:15 DESTRUCTION
22:50 - 23:40 FIREWIND
21:50 - 22:35 PENTAGRAM
20:50 - 21:35 EKTOMORF
19:50 - 20:35 NAER MATARON
18:55 - 19:35 TO/DIE/FOR
18:00 - 18:40 RIVERSIDE
17:00 - 17:40 DEVISER
16:15 - 16:45 DEMENZIA

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Therion - Christofer Johnsson Interview

By Elric on 7:56 PM 22 February 2007

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Metal Express contacted the following interview with Christofer Johnsson of Therion. Here it is:

How were the sales of your latest DVD package?

I don’t have any figures in my hands, but it was a little bit less than expected, actually. I think a lot of the young people thought it was too expensive. I mean everybody who bought it was very happy with it because got so much value for their money, but if you don’t have the money it doesn’t matter how much value you get (laughs). It’s not really bad, but it’s just a little bit less than we expected.



Was it a limited or a regular edition with the six discs?

It’s a regular release, and it’s never going to be limited. This is a milestone release for the band, one of those historic releases and like this it should always be available. I’m sure people will be interested in it in 5 or 10 years from now even if we continue putting out releases. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up doing a historical release part two or something like that in the future. But again, there are not that many big changes in the band like there was before when the whole band changed new guitar players all the time and we were playing exotic places for the first time. There still would be a few things like that, like maybe we’re going to Japan for the first time on this upcoming tour, but it cannot be compared to the first time playing in Mexico and stuff like that, because that was such a big thing for us, for a young band that wasn’t really that successful.



Your promo photos feature all the singers that participated on the album. Do you consider them as permanent members now?

No, no. That’s the unique thing with Therion. We don’t have a singer. We never had a permanent singer since I was the main vocalist and I stopped doing that in ’95. We continue the way we do now and it’s just that we form a co-operation. I think with this record the unique thing is that we did a complete concept. We said, “Okay, let’s do the record together and the tour.” Normally we’d just record the album and then find singers for the tour. This time we decided to do both the record and the tour together. That’s why we put the main singers on the photo sessions. This is the only difference from how we used to work in the past. And also, they were allowed to contribute to some of the songs. Snowy Show was doing a few small things on some songs, but Mats Leven was writing a song on his own and also made some additions to some other songs, which is something we normally wouldn’t allow, but it was an experiment and I think it was a successful one. We always like to try something new with each record and hope that people will like it. I think that’s the whole formula for Therion being such an artistically successful band after so many records. If you look at most bands that made 13 studio albums, like Saxon, Iron Maiden ... they all had their artistic peaks and they live out of their classics. You won’t find any bands that would say that their latest album is their best one. Nobody would say that, not even the bands themselves. So, I think one of the keys for Therion for being artistically successful is that we have the ability to change. We would, of course, have the same situation if we would stick to one style. But, there’s a limit of how many times you can write riffs in the same style with one vocalist being in the band before you get stuck with what you do. What makes it easier for Therion is that we developed this attitude that you should have something new. Of course, we lose fans when we do different stuff from what we did before, but on the other hand we gain new fans as well. There’s a little bit of rotation of fans and then you have a core of diehard fans that manage to follow the development. I don’t know how many other bands are like that. It actually makes it much easier to compose because if you get fed up with something you can do something totally different.



Is there any musical challenge that you wouldn’t embrace with Therion?

There’s nothing I can say I wouldn’t do, but the only rule is that I’ll have to like it. I would never ever record a song on a record that I don’t like even if the entire band would love the song. But, apart from that, I don’t see any limitations. For example, you can see that it’s the drummer writing half the lyrics on this record. I’ve always said that it doesn’t matter who’s writing the songs as long as I choose them and I like them. And, I never had any chauvinism towards other’s compositions. I just listen to the songs and I pick the best ones. Of course, it’s a very subjective matter, but since it’s very hard to define what Therion is, it has to be me. But, that doesn’t mean that I’m deciding everything. It happens many times that when it comes to arrangements they tell me that “we should do this or do that” and I’m fine with that if it’s the right way. But, when it comes to the overall strategy like which direction to go, what songs to use, then I have a veto there, but it’s very seldomly used.



It’s basically your band and you still let other people write, and also you didn’t mind admitting that your second guitarist is better than you and all that stuff ... quite admirable, actually!

I stopped practicing guitar in ’95 and it’s just fine by me to be playing small parts on the record just for the fun of it. I’m playing live and that’s fun, but on the record I just care about the result. And I have a lot of other things to do in the studio. I think we’re doing it the right way. In a way you can say that I’m a little bit egoistic, because I do what's best artistically. I mean I do what I like. For me, it’s not fun to play a lot of guitars in the studio anyway. It’s just boring (laughs). It’s fun to play guitar live but not in the studio. It’s just something that needs to be done, and I don’t have this stupid pride that some musicians have that always have to be like this or that just for the sake of being this or that. For instance, Mercyful Fate have this songwriting thing for every record. I mean King Diamond wrote four songs, Mike wrote two songs, and Shermann wrote four songs. It was decided beforehand how many songs each members should write. And when they had a new member coming into the band he couldn’t write. It’s like when Ripper Owens joined Judas Priest, it didn’t matter if he wrote a killer song, because he wasn’t allowed to add his ideas.



That’s how they ended up recording two shitty albums ...

Yeah, very shitty albums actually. And, I mean, I’m a big Priest fan, but that was a huge disappointment. They had a great singer that wasn’t allowed to write and sing using his real voice. I think it’s mainly based on economical reasons, surely it was in the case of Mercyful Fate, as a lot of money comes from songwriting, which I think is stupid. What if Mike would write three songs instead of two and these three songs would be the best fucking three songs Mercyful Fate has ever written? But, then you’d say, “No, that’s too much, because you already filled your quota with two songs” and maybe you’d have some fillers by Shermann or King Diamond. I think that’s so stupid. You should put the best songs on the record. I’ve done this for 20 years now and we never had a creative peak. Of course, fans can have a different favorite but no one can say that times were passed over us and that we’re not a relevant band anymore. I think this is very unique and this is nothing I’m going to lose because of ego problems. I’m always doing what is artistically best for Therion at the moment. When picking the songs I’m trying not to think of who wrote it. Of course, it’s easy to like your own songs, but the most important thing is to think about what songs would fit the album the best.



Did you already look for reviews and opinions about Gothic Kabbalah on the Internet?

I’ve seen a few reviews and they’ve been positive or very positive. I haven’t seen any bad reviews so far on the Internet. I think the worst was 3.5 out of 5. I don’t read much on forums and message boards because so many people don’t have a clue anyway and they write a lot of crap. I just checked once or twice to see a little bit of reaction, which really annoys me. I don’t want to know what people think about the new record one and a half months before it is released. That is something I hate about this downloading stuff. It’s not the matter of the morality or if they will buy the record or not. I think if they like the record they’ll buy it anyway. But, I don’t want people to know how the record sounds like one and a half months before it’s out. And this disturbs me. I think the record should be explored in its full. If people want to hear it before buying it they should go to a record store where they can look at the cover and listen to the music on headphones and if they don’t like it, fine, don’t buy it, and if you like it, buy it. But anyway, back to the reactions ... it’s like with every Therion record. Some people say it’s the absolute worst we ever did, and some people say it’s the absolute best we ever did. It’s the same thing with every fucking record we ever did. Even with Theli ... when we released Theli, we got so many complaints from old fans. Even with Vovin, whicy doubled the sales, we got a lot of “Oh, it’s too commercial. Oh, it’s too clean” sort of comments. But, most of the fans were praising it. Then with Deggial we lost some sales compared to Vovin and got a lot of complaints as well: “Ah, there’s no progress, it sounds exactly the same as before” No fan today would understand that because there’s such a big difference from what we did before. Then we had Secret of the Runes where we lost a bit of sales again. It got the biggest complaints saying that it was boring and had no strong songs and Therion lost their creativity, blahblahblah. And if you check some forums today, many people would say that Secret Of The Runes was our best one. Back then, we got a complaints because there were no Rock or Metal vocals on it, only Classical vocals. Then, what happened when we released Lemuria and Sirius B? We got complaints that the Rock vocals are back again (laughs). That it wasn't Classical enough. It’s easier to make peace in the Middle East than making a Therion album that every fan would like (laughs). So, we don’t really care. We know that there’ll always be fans, mostly younger ones complaining if we’re not going in the direction they expect us to go, like if we could be some sort of “write on demand” sort of thing (laughs). So, we just ignore that. We know that every time there will be 10-15% saying that it’s the worst fucking crap they could imagine. But, fact remains: we still have very good sales, so most people like it. And honestly, it isn’t important what people say about it as we make the record for our own sake. We write the songs and record the albums that we would like to buy in a record store, but no one else is making.



Did you do the recording a different way this time?

For the album we wanted something exceptionally good. We spent over a 100,000 euros on this record, which is more than the double of any of the last three albums. The last three albums were like 50,000 euros each. I asked Stefan Glaumann who was making the record, “Who is the best on the planet no matter what it costs? If you were responsible for an album you could choose where to master it and somebody else paid the bill, who would you choose?” He said, “Okay, Sterling Sound in New York,” which is the biggest mastering studio on the planet and he added “George Marino.” Well, we paid three times as much as for a regular mastering, but I have to say it was worth it. It really made a great difference. Here, everything sounds clear and you hear every detail much better, and it’s something in the stomach that I cannot really explain; I just have a good feeling about it.



How come you put this out on two discs?

Actually it’s one album that is distributed on two discs. The whole thing is 85 minutes long. If you see this as two CDs, they are not long enough to be independent releases. Everybody would complain if you’d release a 39 minute CD today. In the vinyl time it was okay, but nowadays if you don’t release at least 45 minutes of music people think it’s too short. We always have 11 songs on the record and this time since we had so many songs we thought about recording 15 and choosing the 11 best and then we would have somesongs as bonuses or maybe we would do a CD single. But then, when we finished it there was only one song that we could think of removing. And this song was not so long that still it wouldn’t have fit on one disc. So, we would have had to remove another song except this one, or two songs in order to fit the whole thing on one disc. We were talking about it and we decided to release them all. And it’s a concept album about the Gothic Kabbalah, which contains 15 runes. It was more suitable anyway to have 15 songs to have a song for each rune.



What is the song that you originally wanted to remove?

The Falling Stone.” We thought about that one, but it was not long enough. We should have a song removed that is at least six minutes long. If I would have removed two songs, maybe “Trul” was the one I would have chosen. But, on the other hand, the other guys wanted to keep that song (laughs). “The Falling Stone” was the only one that we could kind of agree on. But, we thought that the song was needed because it’s an uptempo song that fit the record where it is now. It’s not that we didn’t like it, but we just thought about which one we could remove in order to shorten the album.



The guys at Nuclear Blast were probably scratching their heads when you told them about your idea of two CDs ...

They already know that there will always funny things going on when Therion is releasing a new album, so they just asked, “Okay, what should we do?” We already warned them about that. Before we recorded anything, we said to them that the record was too long and we asked them for two discs if that would be possible. Everything is possible with Nuclear Blast if you have a good relationship. They are really good people. Therion and Nuclear Blast have a very special relationship. I don’t think there’s any other band where they interfere so little. They pay out a 100,000 euros and almost a year later it’s like “Here, we have a record for you.” They never ask about how it's going and they never get worried that they spent a lot of money on it. They know that we take our time and that we work as quick as we can while still keeping the quality up. They never demand to hear something in advance. They just give us total artistic freedom and they trust us. On the other hand, we know that they’re very good at selling records, so we don’t try to tell them how to advertise and promote the band. That’s their job. So, it’s been a very successful relationship. We had a lot of problems when success first came in ’97 because there were a lot of things that were strange in the contract, but ever since that it’s been a really perfect relationship.



Are you going to concentrate on the songs from the new album once you get out on tour?

No, I think we’ll play songs from almost every record. We don’t play any songs from the first four albums because I stopped doing vocals. But, otherwise we’ll go at it like usual: play a bunch of new songs and then we’re going to play the classics that everyone wants to hear. Also, we’ll try to vary the set and play some songs that we didn’t play for many years, and even songs that we never played. For instance, we’re gonna play “Arrow …” from the Lemuria album. We’re gonna play songs that we haven’t played for ten years. Normally we used to play 4 or 5 new songs, but this time we rehearsed 6 or 7 new ones. We’re not going to play them all each night, but we’re going to vary the set from one night to another. Also, we’ll adjust our set to the audience. This time we’re going to play with Grave Digger and they pull a different crowd. They pull the most fans in Germany and Austria, so there’ll be a lot of other kinds of Metalheads there, so maybe we’ll play a little bit heavier set there that catches the attention of some of them. That’s always a challenge, but Therion is so diverse musically that we can fit into any package. I mean if we would do a tour with The Gathering, we could do a lot of kind of Poppy songs. If we’d go with a Heavy Metal band like HammerFall or Grave Digger, we have a lot of songs that are Heavy Metalish.



Will you have the same four singers on tour that you had on the album?

Except for Hannah, because she couldn’t do it mainly because of management issues. I’m not going to get much into that, but we were really counting on her doing it. She is a very nice girl and she wanted to do it, but ... I don’t know. If you ask me, she has very bad management. We’re not the first people having problems with her management. So, then we needed to have a replacement for her and that’s gonna be Lori Lewis from the USA. Actually, we put an advertisement on our web page. It was a crazy thing. I mean I have a lot of contacts for singers, but most of them are not so happy to go out on tour with a Rock band. If you are a good Opera singer, then you have a good job already and you’re singing in an Opera house. You can’t just say that “Oh, I’ll take a vacation of one month and go on tour with a Rock band.” It doesn’t work like that. And, they think it’s very cool to sing on the record, but living for a month or two on a tourbus is not their type of life. That’s why they became Opera singers. Out of the girls who applied, Lori was the one that managed to do it better than anybody else. We got a lot of very good applications, but they all were good mainly in one thing, but she managed to be the best all-round one, and that’s a very important thing -- that you’re very flexible.



So, you won’t bring more singers to do the background vocals?

No, because they all have such strong voices. When you have choir singers, their voice is not nearly as strong as soloists. If you listen to, for instance, Secret Of The Runes, a lot of people don’t know why they like the choirs so much on that record, and that’s because it’s not a choir. It’s a soloist ensemble. They all have such strong voices that you don’t need as many. If you listen to Lemuria and Sirius B, we used a huge choir, and still it doesn’t sound more powerful because they are choir singers and that’s not as strong. So, I think four people will be very good. We have the drummer that is actually a very good singer, so actually we have five singers. He may fill in at places where necessary.



Are you going to make a stage set up for these four? What is your plan?

That is a good question. It’s going to be completely different from before. Of course, they cannot stand on the podium somewhere, because they are soloists, so they’re gonna behave like soloists. Normally, you have the speakers and monitors on stage, which means that you’re dependant on some certain spots where you can hear yourself. For instance, if I play a guitar solo, I have to stand at a certain point to hear myself. It doesn’t matter if you play some rhythm guitar and you walk around, because that’s so simple. With singing, it’s different because you have to hear yourself well, therefore there’s a few spots where you have to be on. But, if you have an in-ear system, you can be anywhere. So we built up very nice stage scenery, which we spent a lot of money on, and we’ll have an in-ear monitor system for everybody, so there’s gonna be more of a show on stage. We’ll have eight people on stage and everybody except for the drummer is very flexible to move around.



So, is it going to be a headlining tour for Therion or co-headlining for both bands?

Therion will always be the last band on stage. Therion could tour as headliner in any of these countries and Grave Digger could now too. In my point of view, we just do what we always do. We play the same set length each night. We don’t make any compromises anymore. Grave Digger will play their full set in Germany and they will play shorter sets in other places. In Germany, you can say it’s co-headline because we have both headline crowds. But when we go to elsewhere, I don’t know what Grave Digger would pull, but probably they’d play in a small club and we'd play in a hall, so you can’t say it’s a co-headlining tour in that sense.



Will you have an opening act as well?

Yeah. Sabaton. They’re a Swedish Heavy Metal band. Haven’t heard much of them, to be honest with you. I think I’ve heard one song, but that type of music is not my cup of tea anyway, so I wouldn’t be the right person to say if it’s good or not. I’m not into Grave Digger, as well. I respect them for being one of the old bands, but it’s not the kind of music that I listen to. If I listen to Heavy Metal it’s more like Accept and Iron Maiden and typical eighties bands. Most of the new Heavy Metal bands like HammerFall and whatever ... I’ve got nothing against them, but it’s just doesn’t light my fire.

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Nightwish New Singer, Single, Album and Tour

By Elric on 12:16 PM

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It seems that Nightwish are back on the track. They found a new singer and they are preparing a new single and an album. The haven't announced the name of the new singer yet.

"The auditions for the new vocalist have ended, with more than 2000 demos sent to us. (yesterday, 15.1. we received 120 demos!) A big thanks to everybody! So please don`t send anymore demos, since now we need to concentrate on finishing the album recordings.

The new vocalist will be announced at the end of May, together with the release of a new single."

"Released on May 30, 2007, “Eva” will be an internet-only single release, all profits of which shall be donated to a charity that will be announced later. In Finland, the single is available exclusively from NetAnttila.

Eva” features the new Nightwish vocalist, chosen from about 2,000 applicants. The singer’s identity will be revealed simultaneously in a press statement and on the band’s website, www.nightwish.com, on Wednesday, May 30, 2007. A radio promo of the internet single will ship on the same day.

The sixth Nightwish album will be released on September 26, 2007, preceded by a second, regular single release in August. "

A tour to promote the album will follow:

10/15/2007 Jaxx Springfield, VA USA
10/16/2007 Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA USA
10/18/2007 Nokia Theatre New York, NY USA
10/20/2007 Palladium Worcester, MA USA
10/21/2007 Metropolis Montreal, QC Canada
10/23/2007 The Docks Toronto, ON Canada
10/24/2007 Peabody's Cleveland, OH USA
10/26/2007 Harpos Concert Theatre Detroit, MI USA
10/27/2007 House Of Blues Chicago, IL USA
10/28/2007 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN USA
10/31/2007 Showbox Seattle, WA USA
11/01/2007 Roseland Theater Portland, OR USA
11/02/2007 Slims San Francisco, CA USA
11/04/2007 House Of Blues Los Angeles, CA USA
11/06/2007 House Of Blues Anaheim, CA USA
11/07/2007 Marquee Theater Phoenix, AZ USA
11/08/2007 Sunshine Theater Albuquerque, NM USA
11/10/2007 White Rabbit San Antonio, TX USA
11/11/2007 The Palladium Ballroom Dallas, TX USA
11/12/2007 Meridian Houston, TX USA
11/14/2007 Culture Room Ft Lauderdale, FL USA
11/15/2007 House Of Blues Orlando, FL USA
11/17/2007 Masquerade Atlanta, GA USA


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Nightrage - Scathing - VideoClip

By Elric on 10:31 PM 21 February 2007

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Swedish/Greek death metalers Nightrage has posted its video for the track "Scathing". The clip was shot last month in Athens, Greece. The track comes off the group's third album, "A New Disease Is Born", due in North America on April 17. The CD was recorded at Hansen studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen (Raunchy, Mercenary, Fear My Thoughts, Heaven Shall Burn).

Nightrage recently announced the addition of guitarist Constantine to the group's ranks. Constantine hails from Athens, Greece and is said to be "a really talented guitarist is willing to give everything for Nightrage."

Nightrage filmed a live DVD on February 12 at Stodola Club in Warsaw. Also appearing on the bill were Vader, Onslaught and Solitude Aeternus. The DVD will be released later this year via Metal Mind Productions.

Nightrage was originally formed in Greece back in the year 2000 by Iliopoulos (formerly of Exhumation, who released three high-quality death metal albums, all produced in Sweden) and his friend Gus G. (Dream Evil, Firewind, Mystic Prophecy). Nightrage released two albums on Century Media Records, "Sweet Vengeance" (2003) and "Descent Into Chaos" (2005), before they parted ways with vocalist Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates, Disfear, The Crown) and Strimell joined the band on vocal duties.

Nightrage - Scathing



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The 69 Eyes New Artwork and Videoclip

By Elric on 11:41 AM

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This is the artwork of the upcoming album by The 69 Eyes. The Gothic band from Finland will release "Angels" due to March, 5 via Virgin/EMI, the CD was produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa and Johnny Lee Michaels — the same team that was responsible for 2004's "Devils".

The video for the album's first single, "Perfect Skin", was directed by Ralf Strathmann and was filmed in Hollywood in mid-October 2006. You can watch the clip here.

The additional tracks on the single are live versions of "Devils", "Christina Death" and "I Just Want to Have Something to Do" (originally by The Ramones) recorded at Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood in March 2006.

The limited edition of "Angels" will include a bonus DVD containing the "Perfect Skin" video, a five-song live set from Hollywood’s Whisky a Go-Go in 2006 and "On The Route 69", a short film based on Ville Juurikkala's photos.

As previously reported, Cleopatra Records is releasing The 69 Eyes' entire back catalogue in the U.S. "Framed In Blood - The Very Blessed Of…" compilation CD, the "Helsinki Vampires" live album and videos DVD, and the albums "Paris Kills" and "Blessed Be" are already out. More will follow during the year.

"Angels" track listing:

01. Angels
02. Never Say Die
03. Rocker
04. Ghost
05. Perfect Skin
06. Wings & Hearts
07. Star Of Fate
08. Los Angeles
09. In My Name
10. Shadow Of Your Love
11. Frankenhooker

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Van Halen Tour Postponed

By Elric on 9:27 AM

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When we posted the news about the reunion of Van Halen and David Lee Roth and the upcoming tour on of the first comment that we got was that one:

"It was just a matter of time till Roth came back

just like it will only be a matter of time before he leaves again"

And now, 10 days later according to Pollstar.com, "the Van Halen tour that was never officially announced is now officially postponed indefinitely. The rumored tour took on an air of reality after a trade magazine announced that original singer David Lee Roth was about to sign on the dotted line, and that was soon followed by a press release via Eddie Van Halen's spokeswoman-slash-girlfriend. Unfortunately, the worldwide frenzy of a VH reunion was too good to be true, at least for the present day. However, there was a lot of paper getting inked and Pollstar states that a tour announcement might not have been far off.

Sources also tell Denver's Rocky Mountain News that Van Halen's performance at next month's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony may also be in jeopardy too.

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Zakk Wylde Accoustic Shows Cancelled

By Elric on 4:49 PM 19 February 2007

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According to HardRock.com, the following Hard Rock Cafe acoustic performances by Black Label Society mainman Zakk Wylde have been cancelled:

Feb. 19 - New York
Feb. 20 - Boston
Feb. 21 - Philadelphia
Feb. 22 - Baltimore
Feb. 23 - Washington D.C.
Feb. 26 - Nashville
Mar. 06 - Miami

Black Label Society will support Ozzy on his upcoming European tour, which is scheduled to kick off in Moscow on May 27.

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Metallica European Tourdates Update

By Elric on 10:40 AM

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A is for Athens, W is for Werchter.


Metallica has extended an invitation to the members of their fan club to pick the name for the band's summer 2007 European tour.

The confirmed festivals so far are the Rockwave in Athens and the Werchter festival but as reported before there are rumors for some more places.


FESTIVALS

Thursday June 28 Serbia Zredjanin
Saturday June 30 Spain Madrid
Sunday July 1 Belgium Werchter
Tuesday July 3 Greece Athens

METALLICA + support(s):

Thursday July 5 Austria Vienna
Sunday July 8 England Wembley
Tuesday July 10 Norway Oslo
Thursday July 12 Sweden Stockholm
Sunday July 15 Finland Helsinki
Wednesday July 18 Russia Moscow

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Chris Cornel leaves Audioslave and releases a solo album

By Elric on 6:45 PM 18 February 2007

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The following post comes directly from Crish Cornel's personal blog:

"Two-time Grammy winner, singer-songwriter and voice of a generation, Chris Cornell, announced today the release date of his 13th career album, "Carry On", in stores May 1 on Suretone/Interscope.


Steered by Grammy Award-winning British super-producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, Rolling Stones, Morrissey, Dave Matthews Band), "Carry On" is a mature and content departure from the artist who brought us Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog.

Additionally Cornell is permanently departing super-(LOL ?)-group Audioslave stating, "Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors."

The new album's fourteen tracks offer the bluesy and soulful "Safe and Sound", psychedelic "Scar On The Sky", country-flavored "Finally Forever", paeans to persistence in "Disappearing Act" and a slow-grind cover of Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" that gives the familiar song a completely new feeling. More personal selections include "Ghost", "Arms Around Your Love" and "She'll Never Be Your Man" and alt-rock experimentations "Killing Birds", the anthemic "Silence the Voices"). Fans of Soundgarden and Audioslave will appreciate the harder edge of "No Such Thing" and "Poison Eye" and the redemptive "Your Soul Today".

"Carry On" will also include the Top 10 European smash hit "You Know My Name", the main title song for the current James Bond theatrical release, "Casino Royale", appearing for the first time on a full-length release. Cornell wrote and recorded the track with long-time James Bond composer David Arnold for the film.

With this collection of songs, it is evident that Cornell was inspired by songwriters from Elvis Costello to Tom Waits. Cornell says that his own lyrical approach leans on stream-of-consciousness, "getting out of my own way," to allow themes to naturally arise, whether topical or biographical. "The most exciting thing is to let yourself expose your true, vulnerable feelings, which is what resonates with people most," he explains. As far as his vocal style, he points to such R&B singers as Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin for showing masterfully how emotion can best be conveyed, even in subtle phrasing, also praising Bob Marley's expressive range and Tom Waits' use of his voice as an instrument."

According to Cornell, he had been thinking about quitting since the band finished recording its last effort, "Revelations".

"It was clear to all of us we needed some time apart, and what that produces is anybody's guess. In my case, it produced a very prolific writing period, and getting back into writing songs on my own, liking what that means — which is sort of a freedom and time to just experiment with music to a degree I kind of like more — and making records that have everything I like about music in them. Audioslave was a very fresh collaboration because it was very much like a young band, where you all write together in a room. But my experience, in terms of songwriting and record-creating, is not like a 19-year-old guy in a rock band. For me to be satisfied, I think I need to be able to be on my own, in the long run."

"I haven't received any phone calls from anyone in Soundgarden out a reunion since we broke up, nor have I called anyone. We were happy with how it ended. There was no unfinished business. Soundgarden wasn't a band where we broke up and everyone was like, 'I'm never f---ing talking to you again.' It wasn't like that. We've all talked to each other many times since then. It's something we don't feel we need to do."

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AC/DC - Baby Don't Go - Videoclip

By Elric on 1:02 AM

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To mark the 27th anniversary of AC/DC singer Bon Scott's death, a very rare video of "Baby Please Don't Go", recorded live in Sydney in 1976, has been made available for download on www.acdc-live.com.

Bon Scott died on February 19, 1980 in London, England. He choked to death on his own vomit while sleeping in a friend's car. According to the AC/DC FAQ web site, he and the friend, a musician named Alisdair Kinnear, had been drinking the evening of the 19th and Bon apparently fell asleep during the ride home. Kinnear could not wake Bon, so he left him in the car to sleep. Kinnear awoke early in the evening on the 20th, checked on Bon, and found him unconscious in the car. Bon could not be revived, and was pronounced dead.

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Clouscape - Demon Tears Videoclip

By Elric on 2:05 PM 16 February 2007

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Cloudscape's video for the song "Demon Tears" has been posted online. The clip was directed, filmed and edited by Rainer Holmgren and will be included on the ProgPower UK DVD sampler, which will be available during the ProgPower UK festival on March 31, 2007. 11 actors are featured in the video, including Andy Pierce, who is the lead singer in the Swedish glam rock band Nasty Idols. Director Rainer Holmgren also appears in the clip in a boxing match scene.


"Demon Tears" comes off Cloudscape's sophomore album, "Crimson Skies", whcih was released in the U.S. in July 2006 via Nightmare Records. Artwork for the album was created by Mattias Noren.

Also, the swedish prog metallers posted on the same site the song "Breach In My Sanity" performed at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 9, 2006 in Solvesborg.

Cloudscape has been confirmed for Metal Heart, a brand new two-day metal festival set to take place August 17-18 at Tapperiet in Notodden, Norway.

Cloudscape will enter RoastingHouse studio in Malmo, Sweden on September 3 to begin recording its as-yet-untitled third album. "The plan is to have the album finished and released worldwide in early 2008," the group writes on its web site. "Cloudscape will once again work with Pontus Lindmark and Anders 'Theo' Theander at the production helm."


Demon Tears




Breach In My Sanity (Live at Sweden Rock Festival 2006)




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Impaled Nazarene Banned

By Elric on 11:24 AM

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Finnish extreme metallers Impaled Nazarene have issued the following update:

"Our album 'Nihil' has officially entered Germany's Index list A on 17th of January. This means that 'Nihil' is officially BANNED in Germany.


Looking back on 2006 and 2005, being unable to play concerts in Italy, Austria, France, Poland and Germany, one can only conclude that freedom of speech and freedom of religion, things that are supposed to be the foundation of the European Union, are not existing. Your lives are terrorized by deranged catholic sects and glue-sniffing communists. Braindead imbeciles tell you what you should/what you cannot listen to, read or watch. Happy fucking middle ages part 666 and fuck off.

We have finally been in Sonic Pump studio with Tapio Pennanen to take care of 'Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz' and 'Ugra-Karma' double 10" EP bonus tracks. All the shit you find on them has been taken from original soundboard tapes, been cleaned and mastered."

The details are as follows:

Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz" extra tracks

Side C:

01. Intro: Salve Satanas
02. Condemned To Hell
03. The Crucified
04. The Black Vomit (SARCOFAGO cover)
05. Morbid Fate

All tracks recorded at Oulu, Finland 1991.

Side D:

01. In The Name Of Satan
02. Crucifixation (DEICIDE cover)
03. Damnation (Raping The Angels)
04. In The Name Of Satan
05. I Al Purg Vonpo
06. My Blessing (The Beginning Of The End)
07. Conned Thru Life (E.N.T. cover)

Tracks 1-3 recorded at Oulu, Finland 1991.
Tracks 4-7 recorded at Hamburg, Germany 1994.

"Ugra-Karma" extra tracks

Side C:

01. The Crucified
02. Chaosgoat Law
03. Condemned To Hell
04. Ghost Riders (STANJONES cover)
05. Sadogoat
06. Mortification/Blood Red Razor Blade

Track 1 recorded at Riihimaki, Finland 1992.
Tracks 2 & 3 recorded at Maasmechelen, Belgium 1994.
Tracks 4-6 recorded at Madrid, Spain 1995.

Side D:

01. The Horny And The Horned
02. Blood Is Thicker Than Water
03. Quasb/The Burning
04. Let's Fucking Die
05. The Oath Of The Goat

Track 1 recorded at Madrid, Spain 1995.
Tracks 2-5 recorded at Essen, Germany 1995.

Both double-vinyl releases will be limited to 300 copies and will be issued via Osmose Productions. The exact release dates will be announced soon."


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Rush Tour Dates

By Elric on 10:52 AM 15 February 2007

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As I said in a previous post Rush will release a new studio album, "Snakes & Arrows", on May 1 via Atlantic. The first single of the album will be called "Far Cry". A really, really, really short audio sample can be found here. The single is set to go for radio adds on March 13.


"I have never enjoyed the recording process so much, nor been so satisfied with the results," drummer Neil Peart wrote last month on his web site.

Also there are some roumors about a tour. Here are some Rush tour dates, but none of these are officially yet.

Jun. 13 - Nashville, TN @ Starwood Amphitheater
Jun. 15 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheater
Jun. 16 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheater @ Florida State Fairgrounds
Jun. 18 - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheater
Jun. 19 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jun. 27 - Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center
Jul. 02 - Wantaugh, NY @ Jones Beach Amphitheater
Jul. 04 - Darien Lake, NY @ Six Flags
Jul. 07 - Homdel, NJ @ PNC Arts Center

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Grammy Awards (sic!)

By Elric on 9:29 AM 13 February 2007

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Can Grammys and Metal coexist? Can Grammys be awarded to a metal band or a rock band? Well, when money included everything can happen. Here are the winners of this year's Grammys.


Best Metal Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

* Redneck
Lamb Of God
Track from: Sacrament
[Epic]

* Colony Of Birchmen
Mastodon
Track from: Blood Mountain
[Reprise/Relapse Records]

* Lies, Lies, Lies
Ministry
Track from: Rio Grande Blood
[13th Planet Records/Megaforce Records]

* Eyes Of The Insane
Slayer
Track from: Christ Illusion
[American]

* 30/30-150
Stone Sour
[Roadrunner Records]

Best Hard Rock Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

* Crazy Bitch
Buckcherry
[Eleven Seven Music]

* Every Day Is Exactly The Same
Nine Inch Nails
Track from: With Teeth
[nothing/Interscope Records]

* Lonely Day
System Of A Down
Track from: Hypnotize
[American/Columbia]

* Vicarious
Tool
Track from: 10,000 Days
[Volcano/Zomba Label Group]

* Woman
Wolfmother
Track from: Wolfmother
[Modular/Interscope Records]

Best Recording Package

* The Best Worst-Case Scenario
Ryan Clark, art director (Fair)
[Tooth & Nail Records]

* Personal File
Randall Martin, art director (Johnny Cash)
[Columbia/Legacy Recordings]

* Reprieve
Ani DiFranco & Brian Grunert, art directors (Ani DiFranco)
[Righteous Babe Records]

* 10,000 Days
Adam Jones, art director (Tool)
[Tool Dissectional/Volcano/Zomba Label Group]

* Versions
Neal Ashby & Matthew Curry, art directors (Thievery Corporation)
[ESL Music]

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Metallica European Tour

By Elric on 12:49 PM 12 February 2007

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The following post comes directly from the Metallica web site.

"Greetings from not so sunny Northern California. We know that things have been pretty quiet here in web-land, so we thought we'd throw some shit your way... here goes...


We are finishing up the last couple weeks of pre-production on the album and... really... seriously...(drumroll)... we're going to start recording on March 12th. We're pretty fuckin' psyched about it and pretty fuckin' psyched to be sharing this experience with Rick.

But wait... there's more. We kinda sorta figured that by the time June rolled around, we would be ready for a break from recording (escape??) and since we had so much fun in Europe last summer, we thought "why not go back for some more fun and games?" We're planning to share the summer love with our friends in some different countries we didn't get to last year.. okay, fuck it, maybe one or two repeats. We haven't quite worked out all the details yet, but we thought that for once we really would be the first site to break a piece of Metallica news.

So keep your eyes open for more details in the next few.. the plan right now is to head out in late June and hang out for a couple/three weeks. We might even do a certain festival that we've played 19 times in July that starts with a "W," maybe hit a certain band member's home turf... blah, blah, blah.

It's a start . . . ."

Don't get overexited though. At 12 of March the recording will start and I wonder when they are going to finish. Besides no tour dates announced yet anywhere. (Don't spend time searching, I did that already). The fact that they will visit some different places is something good...but I still wonder...Anyway, any news will be posted here.

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Metal Day Festival

By Elric on 4:08 PM 10 February 2007

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Dutch female-fronted symphonic metallers Epica has been confirmed for the Metal Day Festival, set to take place April 4 at the Fencing Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece. Also scheduled to appear are Manowar, Rhapsody of Fire and Tiamat.

Epica will embark on a North American headlining tour in September. Support at the shows will come from the Austrian/American "epic metal" band Visions Of Atlantis.

Epica is currently recording its new album at Gate Studios in Wolfsburg, Germany. The CD, which is being produced by Sascha Paeth, will feature a session appearance by God Dethroned drummer Ariën van Weesenbeek. Epica has yet to name a full-time drummer following the departure of Jeroen Simons in 2006.

Epica's previously announced live DVD, which was filmed on May 4, 2006 at Paradiso in Amsterdam, Holland, has been delayed until later this year, according to a posting on the group's official web site. The band's latest album, "Consign to Oblivion", was recorded in early 2005 and features a guest contribution from Kamelot vocalist Roy Khan.

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Van Halen Is Back

By Elric on 12:40 AM

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In what is no doubt one of the most anticipated moments in rock and roll, Van Halen officially announces their 2007 North American tour.

The tour will mark the first time since 1984 that original Van Halen front man David Lee Roth will perform with Eddie and Alex Van Halen along with new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen for 40 shows this summer.

Van Halen fans can look forward to legendary high intensity performances, featuring a set list of the most iconic hits ever produced by America's premiere rock band.

Eddie Van Halen states, "I am very excited to get back to the core of what made Van Halen."

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Candlemass' 20th Anniversary

By Elric on 2:31 PM 09 February 2007

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"One of Sweden's heaviest and most popular metal bands of all time celebrate 20 years with a huge party at Stockholm's Kolingsborg. Candlemass perform with three (!) different vocalists, a bunch of famous metal guests + VIP DJ Lee Dorrian from Cathedral!! Opening act is Grand Magus!! You can also win tickets to Sweden Rock Festival and cool vinyl. Don’t throw away your tickets!!


For the very first time is the singer from 'Epicus Doomicus Metallicus' — Johan Langquist — fronting Candlemass!!! This fact will make doom fanatics around the globe book plane seats with sweaty palms!! Tomas Vikstrom, who sang on 'Chapter VI' is also on stage this evening. Count on some songs from that album too... Another highlight of the show is the presentation of Robert Lowe, Candlemass' new singer (well known from Solitude Aeturnus) who makes his debut with the doom legends, who were awarded a Swedish Grammy for best hard rock/metal 2005. Robert puts his voice on Candlemass' new album, 'King of the Grey Islands', in February. Preliminary release date June 22 (Nuclear Blast). It’s not totally impossible that a new song (or two) is performed live at Kolingsborg Saturday, March 31!!!

Candlemass are joined on stage by some really cool metal elite guests. No names mentioned but don't blame us if you miss this year's most wicked evening. VIP DJ Lee Dorrian (Cathedral) teams up with Magnus from Witchcraft and Candlemass' Mappe + Leif spin personal and inspirational favorites on the main floor!!!!!!!!!! Doom-Ola from I Hate Records reigns in the basement. It will be HEAVY!!!

Yes, there's MORE!! The great metal trio Grand Magus are on the bill too!!! Don't miss damn it!!!! A new album will be recorded soon...

Tickets are 120 kr (about €13/$15). Bring ID to the show!!! Doors 20.00 – 03.00. Tickets at Sound Pollution, Stora Nygatan 18 www.soundpollution.se and through Repulsive Records St Eriksgatan 84 www.repulsive.se. More info on www.theshrine.nu."


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