May 14, 2001
MORTIIS‘ Secrets Of My Kingdom book will be released on July 10th through Earache. It includes The Stargate CD and is limited to 850 copies.
THYRFING will be entering Dug-Out Studios in Uppsala in the fall with producer Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, DARKANE, STUCK MOJO) to record the follow-up to last year’s Urkraft CD, tentatively entitled The Fourth Outrage.
AGATHODAIMON are currently occupied with the pre-production of their upcoming album. This time, they’re working with Kristian Kohlmannslehner in his Kohlekeller Studio. At the moment, it’s not sure yet which studio they’ll use to record the album. Also, the band is working with another band, NERVENBEISSER. It’s a one-time experiment, both bands will cover songs of each other. This won’t effect Agathodaimon’s new songs, which of course still are black metal.
GORGOROTH are currently working on material for their next album, which they’ll begin recording in September.
IMMORTAL plan to enter the studio in October or November to record a new album. The band have canceled their appearance at the With Full Force Festival on June 23rd and 24th. However, they will play the Metal Dayz Festival in Switzerland on August 3rd-5th.
MACTATUS will enter Abyss Studio 6 on January 2nd to record their fourth album, to be released in early April through Napalm. The album will be harder and more aggressive than The Complex Bewitchment was. The band will use a professional violinist for the classical / symphonic parts in the songs.
This summer Prophecy Productions will release Lords Of Chaos, the book by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Söderlind. Along with the book the label will release a double CD about the history of occult music with liner notes by Michael Moynihan.
BETHLEHEM will release their new album, Schatten Aus Der Alexanderwelt, in August.
Later this year IN THE WOODS will release a live album that was recorded in December 2000 in Kristiansand.
EMPYRIUM‘s forthcoming album, Weiland, will be released in a regular version and in a limited edition 3 CD box.
AUTUMNBLAZE will begin recording a new album in August.
DIMMU BORGIR‘s new album, Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia, entered the German sales charts at #16, the highest position ever reached by a black metal band. The band reached #23 in Austria, #16 in Norway, #84 in the Netherlands and #11 in Finland. Dimmu just completed the Spring Neck Break Tour supporting CANNIBAL CORPSE with THE HAUNTED and LAMB OF GOD. The band are now in Europe for a tour with label mates DESTRUCTION and SUSPERIA before taking a much-needed break in June. Tentative plans are under way for yet another American tour this September.
BLACK ABYSS will record their new album at the House Of Music studio in August. It will be produced by Achim Kohler (PRIMAL FEAR, BRAINSTORM).
France’s AD INFERNA have inked a deal with Last Episode. They will record their debut album for the label in Excess Studios in the Netherlands. The first part of the trilogy will be called Blind Depths Of The Muse.
AMORTIS will be in the studio in May to record their new album. They plan on recording between six and eight songs with the usual length far beyond six minutes. Track titles include: ‘The Human Puzzle’, ‘Messiah’, ’19th Century Love Poetry’ and ‘The Obscure Dance Of Distress’. The album should be released in September.
GARDENS OF GEHENNA officially opened their own Anthrazit-studio with the pre-production of their new album, The Mechanism Masochism. Mastermind Bruno Kramm will complete the material in the Danse Macabre studio in the summer.
ISENGARD have posted clips of their latest demo at their official web site: www.tietoraitti.fi/mtm/isengard/main.html.
SACRIVERSUM are planning on re-releasing their eight track 1994 demo The Shadow Of The Golden Fire. The material has been completely remastered and the re-release will also contain four songs from the band’s very first tapes, Dreams Of Destiny.
KATAKLYSM have just finished work on their new album, Epic (The Poetry Of War). The album was recorded at Victor Studio and was produced by guitarist J-F Dagenais. The tracklisting: ‘Il Diavolo in Me’, ‘Shivers of a New World’, ‘Era of the Mercyless (Roma Part 1)’, ‘As the Glorious Weep (Roma Part 2)’, ‘Damnation Is Here’, ‘Manipulator of Souls’, ‘Wounds’, ‘What We Endure’ and ‘When Time Stands Still’. Nuclear Blast will also be releasing a surprise limited edition with the new album, celebrating the band’s tenth anniversary.
SOILWORK will use DAT for live performances instead of replacing the departed Carlos del Olmo. They get to try out the new arrangement this June, as they will be heading over to Japan for a series of shows. The band will play a series of festival dates throughout the summer, including Wacken in Germany, and are looking in to possible U.S. festival appearances as well.
DESTRUCTION have just finished the recordings for the new album in Peter Tagtgren’s Abyss Studio. The album is set for release on August 27th, followed by a possible tour in September / October with KREATOR.
GODGORY are currently recording songs for their upcoming album, Way Beyond, set to be released on August 20th.
HYPOCRISY‘s forthcoming Best Of album, 10 Years Of Chaos And Confusion, is nearly finished. It will feature some new, unreleased songs as well as the demo which made Nuclear Blast sign the band many years ago. The ‘best of’ portion of the release was compiled by the fans themselves.
IN FLAMES will release their first live album on August 6th. Recorded during one of their Japanese tours, Live In Japan will become a very important document in the history of the band. Some tracks include ‘Pinball Map’, ‘Bullet Ride’, ‘Moonshield’, ‘Gyroscope’, ‘Ordinary Story’ and many more.
PUNGENT STENCH will soon record a new album.
SOILWORK are working on new songs. They’ll soon record their fourth album.
CARNAL FORGE bassist Petri Kuusisto has replaced Johan Magnusson on guitar and Lars Lindén has stepped into the bass slot. The band will go into the studio in June to record a new album.
DYING FETUS‘ new lineup has been finalized. Vocalist / guitarist John Gallagher has been joined by drummer Erik Sayenga, bassist Sean Beasely (GARDEN OF SHADOWS), guitarist Bruce Greig (NEXT STEP UP, TOGETHER WE FALL) and vocalist Vince Matthews (SADISTIC TORMENT, MUCOUS MEMBRANE).
There might be a DVD by THE HAUNTED before the next studio album which isn’t slated until next year. Jonas Bjorler: "At least I have some new material, I don’t know about the other guys. I have enough for like three songs. There are a lot of festivals this summer, but after that we’ll concentrate on the next album. The next album won’t be out until February or March. We recorded live songs in Tokyo so that might end up on a DVD. That was shot with a lot of cameras. That would probably come up before the next studio album. It would make sense probably in October or something."
DECAPITATED have confirmed that they will be hitting U.S. soil this summer for their first-ever North American Tour.