February 11, 2001
Sweden’s DIABOLICAL MASQUERADE have completed their fourth album, Death’s Design. Diabolical Masquerade is the sole project of KATATONIA guitarist Anders Nystrom, who, for his alter-ego, goes under the name Blackheim. The album was recorded with producer Dan Swano at Sanctuary Studio. "… into a soundpicture bigger, more complex and orchestral than ever," said Blackheim of his newest venture. "Mixed in between there are the classic Masquerade epic riffs with atmospheric leads on top, some tranquil acoustic passages, some clean vocals and a lot of FX. Everything is of highest quality and does not feature one single weak moment. Instead of the standard 8-9 song index, the album’s track index will be divided into fragments and small parts, so be prepared to jump out of the chair when the CD player displays 50-60 tracks!" Expect the album to be released sometime in 2001 on Italy’s Avantgarde Records.
INFERNO FESTIVAL is a two day Metal festival happening in Oslo, Norway on April 13th and 14th. Bands scheduled to appear at the event include: AUDIOPAIN, BLOODTHORN, BORKNAGAR, BURNING RUBBER, CADAVER INC., CREST OF DARKNESS, CYBELE, ENSLAVED, FAROUT FISHING, HADES ALMIGHTY, HYPOCRISY, M-ETERNAL, PECCATUM, RAM-ZET, RED HARVEST, SUSPERIA, TIDFALL, TRAIL OF TEARS, WITCHERY and ZEENON.
At the recent Alarm Awards SATYRICON won for Best Live Band Of 2000 while Moonfog took the award for Best Website Of 2000. Congratulations to both band and label.
ALAS have finished recording their Hammerheart debut, Vol. 1 Absolute Purity. The band features Erik Rutan (MORBID ANGEL, HATE ETERNAL) on guitars and Martina Astner (ex-THERION) on vocals. Songs on the album include: ‘The Enchanted’, ‘Silencing The Sorrow’, ‘Quest Of Serenity’, ‘Loss Of A Life’ and ‘Absolute Purity’. The album will be released on May 7th.
According to www.digitalmetal.com, AVERNUS are preparing to record an album’s worth of material for a self-financed full-length. The band say the new material will be the, "darkest, heaviest stuff we’ve to offer since Sadness." The band is experiencing a rebirth of sorts, forgetting their debut album, Of The Fallen and reclaiming the old spirit of doom death. The quintet is aiming to include a mimimal amount of ‘clean’ vocals on the upcoming full-length to provide depth. Some new song titles include: ‘The Isolationist’, ‘A First In The Aura’, ‘Dead Man’s Eyes’ and ‘Nobody Lives Forever’.
THESYRE will soon complete the mastering of its debut album to be released soon via Radicart Entertainment. The band has been described as a hybrid of MINISTRY and BURZUM.
DECAYED REMAINS will complete a few more shows and will then immediately begin work on a new album, tentatively titled Romansick. The band recently teamed with Pierre Langlois in order to fill the drum position. Francis Perron moved to the bass position in the meantime. Expect a new album around the end of 2001.
AUTOPSY‘s Torn From The Grave rarities album is out on February 19th. The set features unreleased live tracks, demos and a collection of their best tracks. The tracklisting: ‘Charred Remains’, ‘Disembowel’, ‘Gasping For Air’, ‘Severed Survival’, ‘Riddeen With Disease’ (demo), ‘Service For A Vacant Coffin’ (live), ‘Retribution For The Dead’ (live), ‘Fiend For Blood’, ‘Squeel Like A Pig’, ‘Funereality’, ‘An Act Of The Unspeakable’, ‘Frozen With Fear’, ‘Spinal Extractions’, ‘Death Twitch’, ‘Walls Of The Coffin’, ‘Shit Eater’ (live), ‘Humiliate Your Corpse’, ‘Brain Damage’, ‘Blood Orgy’, ‘Bowel Ripper’, ‘Robbing The Grave’, ‘Twisted Mass Of Burnt Decay’, ‘Fleshcrawl’, ‘Torn From The Womb’, ‘Slaugterday’, ‘Dark Crusade’ and ‘Mental Funeral’.
LUCYFIRE is a new side project from TIAMAT frontman Johan Edlund. The oddly titled debut, This Dollar Saved My Life At Whitehorse, is said to be more rock-oriented. "Music is supposed to reflect the soul, and I feel extremely well at the moment, after all I’m in a very fortunate position," he offers. "The last Tiamat albums sold amazingly well, our festival appearances were highly successful, and I am very grateful to find myself in the situation that I’m in. That’s why I felt like recording an album that’s more representative of the fun side of rock music. No deep messages, no special meaning, no sharp-witted analyses, only straightforward rock songs that entertain and serve all the usual rock clichés." The album was recorded by the following studio musicians: drummer Bertram Engel, bassist John Kazder, guitarist Dirk Draeger, who also produced the record, as well as keyboarder Mark Engelmann. Edlund was supported by vocalist Silly Lemke. The material was cut in Germany at the Woodhouse Studios in Hagen and at the Hafenklang in Hamburg, as well as at the P.U.K. studios in Denmark, where the record was mixed. Tracks include ‘Baby Come On’, ‘Thousand Millions Dollar In The Fire’, ‘Mistress Of The Night’, ‘And Over And Out’, ‘As Pure As A Sin’, ‘Automatic’, ‘The Perfect Crime’, ‘You Can Have All My Love Tonight’, ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ (ZZ TOP cover), ‘Annabel Lee’ and ‘The Pain Song’
KATATONIA will precede their Last Fair Deal Gone Down album, due March 19th, with a CDS for the track ‘Teargas’, to be released on March 5th. The single will also feature two exclusive tracks: ‘Sulfer’ and ‘March 4th’. Last Fair Deal has the following tracklisting: ‘Dispossession’, ‘Chrome’, ‘We Must Bury You’, ‘Teargas’, ‘I Transpire’, ‘Tonight’s Music’, ‘Clean Today’, ‘The Future Of Speech’, ‘Passing Bird’, ‘Sweet Nurse’ and ‘Don’t Tell A Soul’.
MY DYING BRIDE‘s lead singer, Aaron Stainthorpe has opened a website featuring an exhibition of his artwork. The site, dubbed Edenbeast, can be found at www.edenbeast.com. It contains a short biography, a large art gallery and the option of commenting on the artwork.
HIRAX has hired lead guitarist Justin Lent from the Colorado based punk thrash band CLUSTERFUX.