March 20, 2001

MALEVOLENT CREATION‘s U.S. Tour has been postponed till late July through August. Upon returning from their European tour on March 1st, vocalist Brett Hoffmann was arrested at U.S. Customs at Miami’s airport for a warrant for his arrest dating back to 1995 for a violation of probation charge. This will see Hoffmann serving 60 days in a Florida jail. Without Hoffmann the band obviously cannot tour. The band will reschedule this tour for the summer, and promise it will be crushing!! For the first time they will play material from all of their 7 releases, and will be recording most of the shows for an up coming Live Album. Promoters and bands wanting to be involved with this upcoming U.S. Tour should contact John Finberg at FirstRowTalent@aol.com or (818) 694-3131.

KULT OV AZAZEL‘s debut release for Arctic Music, "Triumph Of Fire" is finally ready to be released on March 27th. The 11-song assault of cold, grim, fast and deadly Black Metal was recorded at Studio 13 with producer / engineer Jeremy Staska (Malevolent Creation, HatePlow, Divine Empire etc.), so you can expect a top-notch production.

After returning from their European Tour, HATEPLOW is currently writing music for their follow up to last year’s "The Only Law Is Survival" and the material is said to be even faster and leaning towards a more grindcore sound. Also, a new bassist has been brought into the band after the departure of bassist Doug Humlack (who apparently disappeared before the bands European Tour in February). Taking over bass duties will be Julian Hollowell (AKA – Xaphan-guitarist for black metal band Kult Ov Azazel). Julian did a great job filling in on bass for the European tour and will now become a permanent member.

ARCTIC MUSIC is in negotiations with France’s Listenable Records to release new music from the bands DERANGED, ABORTED and CENTURIAN. It also looks like the label will be releasing the debut CD from Greece’s HOMO IRATUS entitled "Human Consumes Human." As soon as more news come in, and everything is worked out, mp3’s will be available on their website www.arcticmusicgroup.com. ARCTIC MUSIC is still looking for new brutal talent, so all worthy bands should submit their promotional material to: Arctic Music Group, PO Box 23519, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33307, USA

SLAYER are currently working on their forthcoming album at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Matt Hyde. One of the working titles for the record is "Soundtracks Of The Apocalypse". 17 songs have been written and the band are currently working on 14 to be included on the record. The remainder will be used as bonus tracks or for use with a future EP. Tracks include: ‘Threshold’, ‘Disciple’, ‘Addict’, ‘Exile’, ‘Payback’, ‘Seven Faces’, ‘Godsend Death’, ‘New Faith’, ‘Deviance’, ‘Scarstruck’, ‘Here Comes The Pain’ (a reworked version of the WCW tune), ‘Gore Point’ and Warzone’. Frontman Tom Araya is presently laying down his vocal tracks. Guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman and drummer Paul Bostaph have finished their parts. Watch for the album to drop in the spring, most likely May. In June Slayer co-headline a North American tour with PANTERA and STATIC X opening. As for the Slayer box set – DON’T hold your breath. Both box sets are currently on hold and maybe released next year at the earliest.

According to IN FLAMES official website, www.inflames.com, the band are currently in the studio, mixing the upcoming live album that was recorded during their Japanese tour in 2000. The album has the working title "The Tokyo Showdown" and should be released at the beginning of this Summer. At the same time they are working hard on new material for the next album. More details about "The Tokyo Showdown" and the next full-length album will be posted at the website soon.

THE BERZERKER will join forces with DYING FETUS, GORGUTS and SKINLESS a North American tour that kicks off on March 16th at Obsessions in Randolph, NJ. The dates wrap up with an appearance at the New England Metal And Hardcore Festival in Worcester, MA on April 14th.

SYMBYOSIS have a new website. For info on the band’s touring schedule, exclusive tracks and much more, go to: www.symbyosis.net

CRYPTOPSY were recently awarded the Best Metal Act award by the Montreal International Music Initiative (MIMI). The band’s tour with CANDIRIA, POISON THE WELL and

ORIGIN will be taking them across the U.S., then back up through Canada.

KATAKLYSM have a new website address: www.kataklysm.net. The new site will include exclusive audio tracks, photos, news, tour dates, bios and more.

Sweden’s KATATONIA release their new album, "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", on May 8th through Peaceville. The album was produced by the band.

NILE will tour the East Coast beginning on April 5th in Atlanta, GA. The two-week tour wraps on April 15th in Arlington, VA.

KILLJOY has been busy as of late, and according to him, it is now official that, "Philip Anselmo has been given a release to use his real name for our upcoming bands including EIBON, VIKING CROWN, ENOCH, AMICUSS and, of course, NECROPHAGIA. This means there is no more Anton Crowley, not that is was much of a secret before anyway. Speaking of EIBON we recently recorded a few more songs and hope to finish recording our debut before year’s end." Regarding RAVENOUS, Killjoy has this to say, "RAVENOUS and Hammerheart have both agreed on not doing a second release together, we parted ways on an extremely good basis. A new deal for RAVENOUS will be announced very shortly and we plan to record our new release to be titled "Blood Delirium" in May through June. There is also the possibilty of doing some European shows early this summer opening for AMEN."

Anders Nystrom (aka Blackheim) is set to release the latest DIABOLICAL MASQUERADE album, "Death’s Design". Originally it was supposed to be a score for a film, but the film’s plans have fallen through. Here is a direct statement from Blackheim himself… "In coincidence with Diabolical Masquerade’s brand new album "Death’s Design", here’s a brief statement to clear some smoke. The whole happening is of pretty complex and confusing nature, so I’ll just cut things short and straight for now. Unfortunately I must bring you all some bad news as things did not turn out the way we hoped, or anyone else involved in this production for that matter. The new album was going to be nothing but a score to a horror movie and to be a real surprise to all fans of Diabolical Masquerade. For the worse, plans and ideas went down the gutter one after another and in the end the whole movie project eventually landed on ice. However, mine and Dan’s three monthly amount of hard work was finished before the decline of the project, but ended up without value and "lost" with its copyrights in the hands of the production company. After several months of negotiation, Avantgarde Music was granted to license the soundtrack as an independent release and a commercial follow-up to "Nightwork". We’re now proud to see our part of this project DID make it in the end, however, in a let’s say "daring" direction that it was initially planned to be. Just think about it, we’re probably the first in the world having released a soundtrack to a film that can’t be seen, so who can blame us for not taking "originality" to new heights?!? On mine and Dan’s behalf, it’s important to stress though, that no matter how much this album will be promoted as the follow-up to "Nightwork", it’s still released in the true, raw and un-edited motion picture soundtrack it was made to be. 61 tracks on the album pretty much speaks for itself and needless to say, this is aimed at a "mature" audience and advised as restricted to non-adults." Blackheim, March 2001. For full song samples on "Death’s Design" go to: www.mp3.com/diabolicalmasquerade.

BEHEMOTH will no longer join the MARDUK tour which is set to start on March 21st. Nevertheless, the band has been confirmed for the Wacken festival in Germany and will most likely take part in more summer festivals.

NECROPHAGIA have officially signed the contract with Moonfog to release their next album, Harvest Ritual.

DIMMU BORGIR‘s "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" is out in Japan on April 25th. This edition includes the bonus track ‘Burn In Hell’ and a 28 page color booklet. The first pressing will also include a sticker and a second enhanced CD.

EMPYRIUM have finished the recordings for their new album, "Weiland". The album combines a folklore theme with Classical music and elements of Prog-Rock. The album, likely to be a limited edition 3 CD set, will be released in mid to late 2001 through Ember Music.

TENHI will release a new MCD, airut:ciwi, in a special limited handmade cardboard package.

PARAGON OF BEAUTY recently recorded their new album, Comfort Me – Infinity, at Markus Stock’s Klangschmiede Studio E.

OF THE WAND AND THE MOON have licensed their new album, "Emptiness:Emptiness:Emptiness", for Germany, Austria and Switzerland through Voices Of Wonder.

BETHLEHEM just started the recordings for their new album, "Schatten aus der Alexander Welt".

KHOLD is the name of a new Moonfog signing. They are a new Norwegian band who play grim Black Metal – early nineties Norwegian sound, real heavy and catchy. The band is Oslo based and are all musicians with long experience from other projects. They have just recorded their debut for Moonfog, "MasterPiss of Pain".

Itlay’s MONUMENTUM are working on their new album, "Ad Nauseam".

The Philippines’ I.P.N Productions will unleash a compilation CD this coming April. 18 bands gathered for this release including: ANCIENT CEREMONY, BLOOD STAINED DUSK, COVEN CURSE, HORDES OF NEBLAH, KRUGER, LEGACY, MANIAC BUTCHER, MEINARDUS, MITHRAS, NOCTUM, NOCTURN , REX INFERNUS, SATHANAS, TIDES OF DARKNESS, UNEARTHLY, VINTERSEMESTRE and VORPHALACK. The disc runs for 77 minutes and includes a 20 page booklet with killer artwork done by Erick Neyra of GOAT SEMEN. This CD will be pressed on a limited hand numbered 666 copies. For more on this release check out http://ipnproduction.cjb.net

PHOBIA have inkes a deal with Necropolis / Deathvomit Recording. The band plan on recording an album for a late Summer / Fall release. "We’re all excited to be working with Necropolis / Death Vomit. It’s nice to see a label that hasn’t lost sight of what’s important." remarked bassist Bruce Reeves.

CIRCLE OF DEAD CHILDREN are preparing to release their new album, "The Genocide Machine".

ALASTIS release a new album, Unity, through Century Media on March 19th.

Maquiavel Music Entertainment has signed LUX OCCULTA. Their forthcoming album is called "The Mother And The Enemy" and the band is set to enter Studio 333 in Poland with producer Bartek Kuzniak in late March after two Lux Occulta members will be back from supporting to VADER’s Polish National Tour with their project DECAPITATED.

Tokyo’s DEFILED will perform at the New Jersey Metal Meltdown on the weekend of April 6th and 7th.

ROTTING CHRIST‘s second album, "Non Serviam", is being re-released with a different cover. You can order the album from Sleaszy Rider at sleaszyrider@yahoo.com or by calling +30944-904163.

VENOM‘s "Archive" album is out on March 26th. The CD includes a mix of live and studio material from the band’s career. The tracklisting: ‘Speedkilling’, ‘Flatline’, ‘Bloodlust’, ‘Into The Fire’, ‘Kissing The Beast’, ‘Shadow King’, ‘Insane’, ‘Cicilised’, ‘Parasite’, ‘Trinity MCMXLC 0530’, ‘The Ark’, ‘Crucified’, ‘Need To Kill’, ‘Tribes’, ‘Skool Daze’, ‘Countess Bathory’, ‘Harder Than Ever’ and ‘Wolverine’.