July 29, 2002

East Frisian FUNERAL PROCESSION have finally finished the recording of their 2nd demo "Solar Eclipse". The demo was recorded with an analog 4-tracker, includes four songs and has a playing-time of more than 28 minutes. The line-Up for the recording was: Iwein – guitars, Ole – drums, Count Gothmog – bass & vocals and Satyrus Sancti – synths, guitars & add. vocals. The release is scheduled for September via the Polish label Devil Worship Rec. that already released the SAURON debut-CD at the end of 2001. Feel free to contact Devil Worship Rec. at ritual666@poczta.onet.pl Furtheron, FUNERAL PROCESSION are preparing the launch of their official homepage at www.funeralprocession.net. This may nevertheless still take some time.

The Rage Of Achilles label will launch Rage Of Achilles USA at the end of the summer, with a US based office, domestic US promotion, marketing and distribution. The US operation will be run on a daily basis by Killjoy (NECROPHAGIA, THE RAVENOUS, EIBON, Baphomet Records) in conjunction with Rage Of Achilles in the UK. The first three official US releases through this new set-up will be MISTRESS’ self titled album, UNDERLORD’s "Rise Of The Ancient Kings" and TEEN CTHULHU’s "Ride The Blade".

HATE ETERNAL‘s "King Of All Kings" album will be released on September 16th through Earache. The tracklisting: ‘Our Beckoning’, ‘King Of All Kings’, ‘The Obscure Terror’, ‘Servants Of The Gods’, ‘Beyond Redemption’, ‘Born By Fire’, ‘Chants In Declaration’, ‘Rising Legions Of Black’, ‘In Spirit (The Power Of Mana)’ and ‘Powers That Be’.

Peaceville have signed ABSCESS, who previously worked with the label under the name AUTOPSY. On signing to Peaceville Chris Reifert said, "At last the band finally feels at home on a record label. This record is clearly Abscess’ tightest, heaviest, weirdest and most thought out effort to date." Their new album, "Through The Cracks Of Death", is due out on September 23rd.

Spain’s ASGAROTH have signed a deal with Peaceville. The band came to the attention of the label on a visit to Barcelona last year when they heard their Spanish only album "Red Shift", released through Abstract Emotions. The band’s debut for Peaceville will be out on October 14th.

KATATONIA are in Sweden writing material for their next album, due out early next year through Peaceville.

NAUSEA L.A. will perform at The Iron Room in Downey, CA on July 28th. Other acts on the bill include CATTLE DECAPITATION, INFAMY, CREMATORIUM, EPICEDIUM and others. NAUSEA L.A.’s new album, "The Suffering Continues" is out now on Collapsed Unity Records.

DYING FETUS are currently writing material for their forthcoming full-length, "Stop At Nothing", due out in January. Some advance song titles include: ‘Schematics’, ‘One Shot, One Kill’, ‘Stop At Nothing’ and ‘Forced Elimination’.

The official EXHUMED discography, "Platters Of Splatter" is coming soon. This 2CD documentation of the past decade will also be available as a limited edition 3CD set (containing the most underground of all the band’s recordings) – available only through Relapse mailorder.

MORTICIAN are currently writing / recording material for their forthcoming album due out in 2003.

According to their website, the forthcoming NAPALM DEATH album (being recorded at Chapel Studios) "is going well – a few vocal tracks to do and some more guitars before we get in to the mixing stage but so far it’s sounding super heavy and fast. We have recorded a couple of songs by a band called SEPTIC DEATH (‘Terror Rain’ and ‘Thaw’) which have turned out cool so they should surface sometime soon…"

MY DYING BRIDE have been out on the road for the past few months. At the band’s website, www.mydyingbride.org, you will find a tour diary that gives you a glimpse on how the band themselves experience a live gig. There are new updates on gigs in Athens, Dublin and a festival in Milan.

DECAPITATED are gearing up for their first-ever US tour, with INCANTATION, IMPALED, VEHEMENCE and DEAD TO FALL. The Summer Blasphemy Tour kicks off July 25th in Columbus, OH, and includes stops at the Milwaukee Metalfest, The World Series Of Metal in Cleveland, and the Summer Blasphemy Festival in San Francisco. According to frontman Sauron, "We are psyched to finally bring our music to America and meet the American fans."

NUCLEAR ASSAULT frontman John Connelly recently spent time at Screaming Ferret Studios finishing up work on the band’s forthcoming live reunion album, due out later this year. While in the studio Connelly also recorded vocals for ‘Smoke Stack’, a track for the next CANDY STRIPER DEATH ORGY album, and recorded guitar for the track ‘Holicostic’, to appear on the same album. Nuclear Assault will perform on August 3rd at the Wacken Open Air festival.

SHINING‘s new album, "Shining III: Angst", is out through Avantgarde on September 5th.

Poland’s STROMMOUSSHELD will release their new album in December through Avantgarde.

CARPATHIAN FOREST‘s "We Are Going To Hell For This" is out through Avantgarde in September.

Avantgarde have licensed ULVER‘s "Madrigal Of Night" from Century Media for Europe. A September release is expected.

The upcoming BEHEMOTH / DESTROYER 666 / DIABOLIC tour kicks off on November 2nd at Baroeg in Rotterdam, NL. The dates wrap up on November 18th at Le Son in Coimbra, PR. Select dates will also include DEICIDE, MYSTIC CIRCLE, ANATAEUS and CENTINEX.

BLACK WITCHERY have signed a two-album deal with Osmose Records.

DARK FUNERAL will tour Asia for the first time in October. Japanese dates are currently booked and the band also plan to play Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

VENOM‘s "Welcome To Hell Live" is out through Burning Airlines Records on August 12th. It features previously unreleased live material recorded during the bands Prime Evil tour of Europe. The set comes in deluxe packaging.

Earache have released limited edition vinyl reissues of several titles including TERRORIZER‘s "World Downfall", NAPALM DEATH‘s "Scum", CARCASS‘ "Reek Of Putrification" and MORBID ANGEL‘s "Altars Of Madness". The albums are limited to 1000 copies, are pressed from the original vinyl plates and come on 220g vinyl in a hard card sleeve and quality inner bag.

Candlelight Records have bought the rights for CENTINEX‘s "Hellbrigade", "Bloodhunt", "Reborn Through Flames" and "Malleus Maleficarum" albums. The titles will be reissued with new artwork, layout and bonus tracks early next year. Also, a vinyl version of the "Diabolical Desolation" album will be released in August via Finland’s Northern Sound Records. The release will be limited to 1000 copies and features new artwork and layout.