March 31, 2002
Cogumelo Records will finally release the first two albums by HEADHUNTER D.C. on CD in May or June. The CD will feature the band’s ’89 demo "Hell Is Here" as bonus!
Cogumelo Records will finally release the first two albums by HEADHUNTER D.C. on CD in May or June. The CD will feature the band’s ’89 demo "Hell Is Here" as bonus!
In an interview with Hidden Throne zine DEFLESHED‘s Gustaf revealed the following news: "In June we’ll record our new album in Berno Studios for three weeks. It will be titled ”Royal Straight Flesh” and the music will definitely sound like Defleshed only that we mix in a few heavier parts like for example on the ”Under The Blade” album. Yet there are a lot more songs to write, but I think ”Royal Straight Flesh” will disappoint no one that liked us before…" To read the complete interview, go to: www.hiddenthrone.tk
HATE FOREST have entered the studio on March 24 to record their third album. Musically it is supposed to be in the vein of "Blood And Fire", but more epic. Meanwhile, the band is working on the artwork for "The Gates", their second album. "The Most Ancient Ones", their debut full-lenth, has generated positive interest so that its first pressing is almost gone already. The cassette format of "The Most Ancient Ones" should be ready in about two weeks. You can find out more about this band and download an mp3 from the following URL: www.supernalmusic.com/labels/supernal/hate_forest.htm.
THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL / MAYHEM split 10" picture disc will be released on May 27. The tracks from THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL are new ones, while the MAYHEM tracks are the only studio tracks MAYHEM ever recorded in the studio with the classic line-up. The picture disc will be limited to 500 copies. You can download an MEADS OF ASPHODEL mp3 from the following URL: www.supernalmusic.com/labels/supernal/meads_asphodel.htm
Supernal Music have a number of re-issues planed for this year, including BEHEMOTH‘s "From The Pagan Vastlands", DEINONYCHUS "Ark Of Thought" and MAYHEM "Out From The Dark" picture disc.
DEW-SCENTED have added Hendrik Bache as a second guitar player to their touring line-up. The band’s new album "Inwards" has been out in Europe, America and Japan for some weeks now. Additionally it has been licensed to Irond Records for a domestic release in Russia. Make sure to visit the label’s homepage in case you were wondering on how to obtain the record over there: www.irond.ru DEW-SCENTED is extensively playing out live throughout the next couple of months, so make sure to check out our tourdates section in order not to miss a show in your area.
The long wait finally seems to be over – the vinyl version of PENTACLE‘s "Ancient Death" MLP is supposed to be out in a couple of weeks.
If everything works out fine, the overdue POSSESSED tribute album will see the light of day after all. Due to the fact that the label who original wanted to put it out all of a sudden had disappeared from the face of the earth, frontman / bassplayer Jeff Becerra most recently gave Dark Realm Records the permission to release this tribute.
On May 20th Peaceville Records will be releasing the following five albums on heavy black vinyl: OPETH – "Still Life" (double album / gatefold sleeve), ANATHEMA – "Alternative 4", DARKTHRONE – "A Blaze In The Northern Sky", "Under A Funeral Moon" and "Transylvanian Hunger".
The ANATHEMA DVD "Visions Of A Dying Embrace" (which contains all promo videos and a live in Poland performance), originally scheduled for a March release, has now been put back to April 22nd – the same day will see the release of MY DYING BRIDE’s DVD "For Darkest Eyes" (it also contains all their promo videos and a live in Poland performance plus extra live fan footage). Also out on April 22nd will be the band’s live album "Voice Of The Wretched" (which was filmed in 2001 at the "013" club in Holland).
AKERCOCKE are strongly rumoured to be included in the Wacken line up this year.
Unique Leader Records will release a VOMITORY / DIABOLIC split CD which consists of DIABOLIC’s "City Of The Dead" demo from ’97 (plus two unreleased bonus tracks) and VOMITORY’s "1989-1999" release (which previously only came out on picture LP). It contains two old VOMITORY tracks written back in ’91 and ’92 (re-recorded), one track from their "Revelation Nausea" album (recorded before the Metal Blade release), and covers by SODOM and NAPALM DEATH. This split CD will come with a very cool cover art-work, big booklet, lots of photos, lyrics and a short story from both bands.
ARCH ENEMY‘s "Wages Of Sin" is out in Germany on vinyl with a bonus track.
DIMENSION ZERO‘s new album, "Silent Night Fever" is available in Europe on vinyl.
According to DRAGONLORD‘s official discussion board, Steve DiGiorgio left the band and Derrik Ramirez is officially their new bassist.
MYRKSKOG are in the studio recording their second album. Drums have been completed, with guitar and vocals now in the works.
NIGHT IN GALES have parted ways with Massacre Records. The band’s new album, "Necrodynamic", will be released soon in North America through Skyscraper Music.
DYING FETUS guitarist Bruce Greig has left the band.
CRADLE OF FILTH have just confirmed that they will be playing a secret warm-up show just before their appearance at Ozzfest UK 2002. Full details will be announced on April 2nd. Meanwhile, the Cradle Of Fear film has been passed uncut by the UK censors, and will be released on DVD on April 8th. In other news, the band will release a new compilation through Music For Nations called "Lovecraft & Witchhearts" in mid-May.
FINNTROLL are currently on their way to Moscow for a gig with IMPALED NAZARENE. Vocalist Katla wasn’t able to make the trip due to complications involving a tumor on his vocal chords – he’s replaced by Tapio Vilska (SETHIAN, ex-DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED, ex-NATTVINDENS GRAT, ex-WIZZARD).
BEHEMOTH‘s Nergal has issued the following update on the bands forthcoming new album, "The new album title is "Zos Kia Cultus (Here And Beyond)". We plan to record it in June and July in the same studio and with the same engineer we worked with last time. We’ve already composed main themes for eight new songs. The new sound is really massive and heavy. Some new song titles: ‘Horns Of Baphomet’, ‘As Above So Below’, ‘Conjuration Of Sleep Daemons’ and ‘No Sympathy For Fools’." Behemoth are scheduled to perform live at Germany’s With Full Force Festival on July 5th – 7th.
ABADDON INCARNATE will support DESECRATION on their upcoming tour. Dates kick off on April 17th at Inferno in Prague, Czech Republic and wrap up on June 2nd at Giros in Belfast, Ireland.
MOURNING BELOVETH will enter the studio on April 22nd to record their new album, "My Sullen Sulcus". The band are aiming for a fall release.
SEAR BLISS have nearly finished recording their new album, due out later this year through Red Stream.
URGRUND‘s "The Graven Sign" will be out through Baphomet on March 22nd.
FOREST OF IMPALED‘s new album, "Forward The Spears", will be out soon on Red Stream. The band now includes only two original members, guitarists Adrian and Marek. The band line-up also features Duane Timlin (drums) and Markus Kolar (bass). They will soon announce their new vocalist.
WURDULAK and GORELORD are currently recording in a Norwegian studio for the "Creature Feature Series (Part 2)", to be released this spring through Red Stream.
ABAZAGORATH‘s first release since 1998 will be "The Spirit Of Hate For Mankind", to be released on Blood Fire Death Records / Red Stream. The two track EP will include a poster.
KHOLD‘s new album, "Phantom", is out through Moonfog on April 15th. A joint release party for Khold and RED HARVEST will take place on April 20th at John DEE in Oslo, Norway. In addition to the bands, DARKTHRONE’s Fenriz will DJ throughout the night. Doors open at 9pm.
Earache have reissued two USURPER albums, "Visions From The Gods" and "Necronemesis", both containing unreleased bonus material and new packaging.
In January 2002 the creative core of Chilean extreme metallers CRIMINAL, Anton Reisenegger (guitar, vocals) and Rodrigo Contreras (lead guitar), decided to relocate to England. Since the rest of the band were not willing to make this move, new members had to be recruited. It is now official that Zac O’Neil (drums), Rob Eaglestone (bass) and Mark Royce (keyboards / samples) have joined the CRIMINAL organization. Rob (a.k.a. Robin Graves) was the last remaining original member in CRADLE OF FILTH before leaving the band in April 2001. Zac could last be heard on the EXTREME NOISE TERROR album "Being And Nothing", to which he contributed most of the writing. He was also active in FAILED HUMANITY and as a touring drummer with CHRISTIAN DEATH. Mark had been recording and touring with ENTWINED and PRIMARY SLAVE. CRIMINAL have been at the forefront of South American Metal since the mid 90s. Their third and latest album "Cancer" (2001, Metal Blade) received excellent reviews from the European press, securing them a slot at the Wacken Open Air 2002, as well as appearances on several other major festivals this summer. "It’s really cool to have Zac, Mark and Rob in the band", comments Anton. "Their musicianship is just amazing, and adding digitally generated noise to the CRIMINAL sound will definetely take it to the next dimension. It is like a fresh start for us, and we feel ready to take on Europe now!" Rob had the following to say: "After ten years of being associated with CRADLE OF FILTH, I decided that I needed a change of band chemistry plus some time to regain my enthusiasm towards music generally. I’m really looking forward to promoting CRIMINAL’s fresh approach to what some people would call Old School, but what others might revere as something challenging amidst an ocean of new Metal wank." The new line-up is currently busy writing material for a new album, tentatively scheduled for autumn 2002.
Bassplayer Iscariah has left Norway’s IMMORTAL. Here’s his official press statement: "Well, so this day came to an end despite its long and joyful hours. The statement I doubted would be written for a long time is here, and if you asked me directly why, I would not be able to give you a direct answer… because there is no definite reason why. I have basically followed my instincts and my gut feeling and come to the conclusion that I am leaving Immortal. This band has basically been my life for 3 years, and it feels like some strange divorce is being processed. The band is getting bigger and with that follows complete dedication to the force. If not, you are bound to fall on your ass. To prevent this event, I quit. It is of my beliefs that if you have a single doubt, then leave. Do not try to shape the band to your benefit. I am not retiring. I just want to do what feels right for ME. At this point I am still involved in several other bands, which I am willing to push far. Also a new cult act, which I now have joined, should be announced shortly elsewhere. However, none of the acts has anything to do with my departure. A new bass player has been recruited for Immortal, and he will be attending to the upcoming European tour and beyond. We are very optimistic about his skills and dedication, so I am sure he will be permanent. The band itself will announce within the coming days who he is. I hail my brothers of this cult and I wish them the best of luck for the coming future events. Also not to forget, I want to raise my glass to all you maniacs out there who supports this cult! All hail Immortal! On behalf of myself, Iscariah"
With the release of their upcoming new 7" "Humade Me Flesh" on April 8, Germany’s PROFANITY will include a CD-R version of the same material. This CD-R will only be available along with the 7" (strictly limited to 200 hand numbered copies) for 5Euro (instead of 4Euro for the 7" alone). The band decided to do that because of the fact that many fans obviously don’t own a record player (anymore). For all further details contact: tom@profanity.de
If you’re following the extreme underground movement a little bit longer already, you will most certainly be aware of DOOM and ELECTRO HIPPIES, two bands from the UK, that started out around the same time as NAPALM DEATH, CARCASS, BOLT THROWER and the likes. With their Punk / Crust / (old) Hardcore attitude they not necessarily fit into our musical concept (apart from their extremity), but have been influential enough to still get a mention here. DOOM were in fact the first band to get signed by Peaceville Records, while ELECTRO HIPPIES’ original line-up still featured Jeff Walker on vocals, who went on to CARCASS after the band had recorded / released a demo and a 12" single. Most recently Peaceville Records have released digi-pack CD’s of both bands that feature a lot of their classic recordings. "Total Doom" by DOOM comes up with 37 tracks, taken from their "War Crimes – Inhuman Beings" album from 1988, the 1989 "Bury The Debt – Not The Dead" split-album with Swedish NO SECURITY and the "Police Bastard" EP. The ELECTRO HIPPIES disk is entitled "The Only Good Punk" and features 40 songs in total. In particular that is their 1987 debut "The Only Good Punk… Is A Dead One", the "Electro Hippies – Live" album from 1989 and their contributions to the Peaceville compilations "A Vile Peace" and "Hiatus". So, if you’re also into the early Crust / Hardcore / Punk kinda stuff you definitely should give these two releases your attention. Further info: www.peaceville.com
HORRID, Italy’s most Swedish sounding Death Metal act, will release an anthology CD entitled "Evil’s Birth 1989-2002" in May. It contains the band’s "Blasphemic Creatures" MCD, their second demo "You Are Mine", three unreleased live songs (‘Obscurity’, ‘Mephistophelian Chaos’ and ‘The Period Of Deep Thought’) and ‘Winds Of Procreation’ (Live) from their 7".
On March 28 AMON AMARTH will make an appearance on TV3 in Sweden. The TV-show is called "Baren" (The Bar) and is a so called "Docu-Soap". This show is broadcasted nationwide, and has been one of the more popular "Docu-soaps" in Sweden the last couple of years. Sins of Omission, who are joining Amon Amarth on their European tour, will play this show as well.
"Diabolical Desolation", the new album by Sweden’s CENTINEX is out now in Europe, except in Sweden due to distribution problems. But things have been cleared up in the meantime so the album should be available over there as well within the near future. The U.S release-date has been postponed to April 30th. In ralted news, the band has ended their collaboration with First Contact Agency, so if you’re interested in booking Centinex you should get in touch with them directly. www.centinex.org
After months of delays, SATYRICON will begin mixing their new album this week in Denmark with Jeff "Critter" Newell (MINISTRY, GUNS N¹ ROSES) and Satyr at the helm.
IMPIOUS have replaced drummer Ulf Johansson with Mikael Norén.
Displeased Records will release MENTAL HORROR‘s "Proclaiming Vengeance" album on March 25th.
The Art Of Sickness European tour featuring CRYPTOPSY, HAEMORRHAGE, PROFANITY and SPAWN kicks off on April 12th at Die Scheune in Lachheim / Markt Taschendorf, Germany. The dates wrap up on May 5th at K17 in Berlin, Germany
AMON AMARTH are in the middle of writing new material for their upcoming album, set to be recorded in August at Berno Studios in Malmoe, Sweden. The album is yet to be named but tracks to appear on the release include ‘Bloodshed’, ‘.. And Soon The World Will Cease To Be’ and ‘Vs. The World’. The band are currently planning a European tour…
CANNIBAL CORPSE came in at #11 on the Billboard Independent Music Chart, for the first week of release of "Gore Obsessed". The band will embark on their first US tour in support of the album headlining the Spring Neck Break 2K2, which kicks off on March 29th. Cannibal Corpse will also be doing an in-store signing in San Diego CA at Blue Meanie Records. The in-store will take place between 3 – 4pm on April 23rd. "Gore Obsessed" entered the German Top 100 at #71.
GOREAPHOBIA‘s original members from the first demo Alex Bouks, Henny Piotrowski and Craig Smilowski are together again for the first time since 1990. Their rather Black Metal-ish sounding frontman "No One" went on to other projects. Ever since they have been working on new material, which will be in the vein of the first demo – "… short, fast, to the point and catchy" . The band even decided to scrap all of the songs from their "Return To The Shadowlands" 2001 promo to restart with brandnew material. We’ll keep you posted.
Dark Realm Records has obtained North and South American rights to re-release "Violence And Blasphemy" from Polish Death / Black Metallers WITCHMASTER. The album is scheduled for an April 2002 release. During the same month Dark Realm Records will reissue PENTACLE’s "Ancient Death" CD with an added bonus track for this exclusive North American release. sadisticintent.net/realmreleases.html They also have copies of the "Reaching The Veil Of Death" MCD from America’s Death Metal artist THE CHASM available for trade now.
Here’s another update on the happenings in the SADISTIC INTENT camp: "For the past few months Bernie Versailles (studio / engineer) has been occupied recording not just one, but two full length records with his own groups (Agent Steel / Engine). Therefore, SADISTIC INTENT has not been in the studio since October, 2001. Regardless, it is imperative for the band that Dark Realm Records must continue and it certainly has been busy in that aspect… Nevertheless, the fact is Bernie also has other projects so unfortunately we expect more delays (hopefully not as long as this last one!), but he has agreed to get back on task with SADISTIC INTENT by late March and make it a priority. The session has already been through so many set backs that we anticipate things can only get better! Relatively speaking, there is not a lot of re-tracking left so if all goes as planned, the recording should be done by the summer. After that, it will be up to Necropolis Records to schedule a release date. On the subject of recordings, SADISTIC INTENT has decided to release the cover of ‘The Exorcist’ by the legendary Death Metal gods Possessed, featuring Jeff Becerra on vocals!!! It is a complete honor for SADISTIC INTENT to have collaborated with such an important and pioneering artist of the Death / Black Metal scene! To simply put it (for those who know Metal history!), the voice behind albums such as "Seven Churches" and "Beyond The Gates"!!! The song has been recorded for a couple years now and finally it shall be released by the cult German label, Iron Pegasus Records! It will be a limited edition picture disc 7" EP, also featuring the re-recorded classic (originally written in 1988!) SADISTIC INTENT song entitled ‘Morbid Faith’! This is an exclusive version and not the same one featured on the "Thrashing Holocaust" compilation by Necropolis Records. Further information on "The Exorcist / Morbid Faith" as it comes along… As far as the Web Lair updates, some new photo’s have been added to the Off Stage Photo Galleries. Some of them include members of Possessed, Slayer, Destruction, Morbid Angel, Immortal, Dissection, Enslaved, In Aeternum and several others! More photo’s will be added in the near future. In other news, SADISTIC INTENT just recently returned from a couple of shows in New Jersey and New York with Destroyer666, Nun Slaughter, Bloodstorm & others! We would like to thank all of those who helped make these events possible and last but not least, to the diehards who were present at The Destruction Festivals! The next appearance will be in Los Angeles at The Hell Fest 2002. This is the first L.A. show in well over a year for SADISTIC INTENT! It also marks the end of an era for the band with it’s current line-up. After being a member of the group for over a decade, Vince Cervera has decided to "move on". It was a mutual understanding and now we would like to take this moment to wish him luck. As far as the future of SADISTIC INTENT, we already have a promising guitar player in mind and will begin rehearsing shortly after The Hell Fest. Once again, another obstacle but it will not stop us! Embracing the unholy spirit, it shall only make us stronger…"
After they parted ways with Hammerheart Records, Danish extreme Death Metal lunatics EXMORTEM have just been signed by Osmose Productions. The band is looking forward to record their new album during the summer.
The PENTACLE gig that was planned on March the 23rd in Flensburg got canceled. Somehow the place was double booked and the gig cannot take place anymore. But there’s also some good, PENTACLE related news. The band’s releases "The Fifth Moon", "Rides The Moonstorm" and "Ancient Death" will all be released on tape by Witchhammer Prod. from Thailand. It will be on sale this summer. The vinyl version of "Ancient Death" will also be available very soon. The official PENTACLE homepage address has been changed : www.metalprovider.com/pentacle
THRONEAEON are very sad to announce that the shows in Gothenburg and Stockholm this weekend have been cancelled. Their drummer is unfortunately sick with pneumonia.
VADER have just finished the recordings to their newest album "Revelations". During the session the band got help from LUX OCCULTA’s Ureck, who contributed the intro and several keyboard backdrops. During the 200-hour session the band laid to tape 14 tracks and a cover of MORBID ANGEL’s ‘Immortal Rites’. The tracklisting reads like this: ‘Son Of Fire’, ‘As The Fallen Raise’, ‘Lukewarm Race’, ‘Nomad’, ‘The Code’, ‘Revelation Of Black Moses’, ‘Torch Of War’, ‘Grand Traveller’, ‘Epitaph’, ‘Wolftribe’, ‘Whisper’, ‘When Darkness Calls’, ‘Devotion’ and ‘Angel Of Death’. The album was recorded at Red Studio, where "Litany" and "Reign Forever World" were created as well. The entire graphic side of the project – the cover artwork for all formats, posters, ads – was handled, as usual, by Jacek Wisniewski. "Revelations" will have several release dates. The earliest has been reserved for Japan, where fans will b able to listen to the album released by Avalon / Marquee Inc. on May 22nd. Five days later, on May 27th, Metal Mind will release the album in Poland. June 2nd will mark the world-wide release for Europe and the USA. To make each of these editions unique, the band decided to supplement each edition with a bonus track. The basic Polish, European and American versions of "Revelations" will feature 9 tracks: ‘Epitaph’, ‘Torch Of War’, ‘Nomad’, ‘Grand Traveller’, ‘The Code’, ‘Wolftribe’, ‘Devotion’, ‘Whisper’ and ‘Revelation Of Black Moses’. The Japanese version will have two bonuses: ‘Angel Of Death’ and ‘As The Fallen Rise’. Metal Blade are also planning to release a digi-pack edition with the ‘Lukewarm Race’ bonus while Metal Mind will supplement theirs with ‘Son Of Fire’. Metal Mind are also set to release the limited box containing the CD, a T-shirt, a sticker or a badge, and a poster. It is also possible that the American edition will feature, as extra bonus material, the "Reign Forever World" material, which has not been released in the States yet.
You can already download PROFANITY‘s coverversion of TERRORIZER’s ‘Fear Of Napalm’ (Mp3 – 2,5 MB!) from the band’s website www.profanity.de The track will appear on their upcoming 7" "Humade Me Flesh", which is supposed to be out on April 8, 2002.
MARDUK‘s "Heaven Shall Burn… When We Are Gathered" album is out in Japan through Pony Canyon. This version includes five bonus tracks: ‘Glorification Of The Black God’ (remix), ‘Total Disaster’, ‘Sex With Satan’, ‘Sodomize The Dead’ and ‘The Return Of Darkness & Evil’.
The Japanese edition of IN FLAMES‘ "Colony" album is now available in Europe through Megarock. It includes two bonus tracks, ‘Clad In Shadows ’99’ and ‘Man Made God’.
DISSECTION are reissuing their "Storm Of The Lights Bane" album through Nuclear Blast. It will now include the "Where Dead Angels Lie" EP as a bonus.
NECRONOMICON have re-released their ’99 debut, "Pharoah Of Gods", worldwide through Unique Leader Records.
TESTAMENT‘s "First Strike Still Deadly" album is out now in Japan with an exclusive feature, Thrash Of The Titans – Documentary Footage, only available in Japan.
The following classic VENOM albums will be reissued with bonus tracks: "Black Metal", "Welcome To Hell" and "At War With Satan".
MARDUK have parted ways with longtime drummer Fredrik Andersson and have replaced him with Emil Dragutinovic. The band will soon start working on their 8th album.
DARK FUNERAL will soon announce a string of North American tour dates.
EWIGHEIM, the new band featuring Yantit (EISREGEN) and Allen B.Konstanz (THE VISION BLEAK), will release their debut album, "Mord Nicht Ohne Grunde", in this month. Download the MP3 song ‘Ein böser Scherz’ now at www.prophecy.cd.
HATE FOREST‘s "The Most Ancient Ones" album will be released on March 25th through Supernal Music. The album is a reworking of the demo / live rehearsal, "The Curse", previously released on cassette through Kolovrat / Nawia Productions. Rerecorded in 2001 with the new line-up, this explosive studio version is twice as fast as the original. The tracklisting: ‘To The Thickets And Swamps’, ‘The Most Ancient Ones’, ‘Inmost Winter’, ‘Black Forest’, ‘The Elders’, ‘Darkness’, ‘The Night Of Winter Solstice’ and ‘The Curse’.
Finland’s BLACK DAWN (consisting of members of AND OCEANS and ROTTEN SOUND) have been forced to alter their name due to a cease and desist order from a rap group of the same name. In the US, the band will now be known as THE TRUE BLACK DAWN.
MOTÖRHEAD, VOIVOD (with original singer Snake) and RAZOR will be performing at the Docks in Toronto on April 27th.
DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER have signed a multi-album deal with Nuclear Blast.
Plans are in the works to bring HYPOCRISY over for their first North American tour.
LOCK UP have added Barry Savage (ex-CANCER) as a second guitarist for live performances. According to bassist Shane Embury, "This is just for live purposes to make our sound heavier." Lock Up will play the Inferno festival in Oslo, Norway on the 30th of March and the Hutsfeld festival in Sweden in June followed shortly thereafter with a trip to Japan. The band will return to Europe to play Wacken and With Full Force.
BLOOD RED THRONE have put together a MCD, "Affiliated With The Suffering", due out in late April or early May. The release will feature three songs from the unreleased "Deathmix 2000" promo, one track from "Monument", one unreleased track from the "Nordic Metal II" compilation and a cover version of MASSACRE’s ‘Cryptic Realms’. The band are currently writing material for their second album and will begin recording in May. Also, BRT have a new drummer, Espen "Beist" Antonsen. For more info go to: www.get.to/bloodredthrone.
Displeased Records‘ homepage is up now at www.displeasedrecords.nl. Partial MP3’s of 16 songs are available for download now. Bands include: INTERNAL SUFFERING, PHOBIA and NINNGHIZHIDDA.
On March 12th, Season Of Mist release AGRESSOR‘s "The Spirit Of Evil" MCD. The disc is strictly limited to 1,000 copies.
CANNIBAL CORPSE‘s "Gore Obsessed" album is out now in Japan with the bonus track ‘Compelled To Lacerate’ (live).
The first annual GOTHENBURG DEATH FEST takes place on June 1st at Gamlestadens Medborgarhus in Gothenburg, Sweden. Acts on the bill include: CENTURIAN, INIQUITY, CONVENT, IMPURE, DEEPRED, HOUR OF PENANCE, INSISION, SPAWN OF POSSESSION, IMMERSED IN BLOOD, KAAMOS, VISCERAL BLEEDING and OBSCURA. For more info on the festival go to: www.come.to/brutalgbg. For ticket info go to: www.bengans.se.
BOLT THROWER have been confirmed for this year’s With Full Force festival, scheduled to take place between July 5th and July 7th near the town of Leipzig, Germany.
MALEVOLENT CREATION‘s tour begins on March 13th at Trillians in Newcastle, England. The dates wrap on April 8th at Hyde Park in Osnabrück, Germany. Support on the tour comes from KATAKLYSM and CATASTROPHIC.
The US pressing of AETURNUS‘ "Ascension Of Terror" album will be available in March. The band have opted not to renew with Hammerheart and are seeking a new label.
DEMIGOD drummer Seppo Taatila has left the band due to work and family commitments.
SINISTER have canceled plans for their US tour in April. Other dates in Greece, Poland, Portugal and The Netherlands are still a go.
CALLENISH CIRCLE‘s singer, Patrick, has issued the following, "Last Friday we had the CD release party for our new album, "Flesh-Power-Dominion", in the Fenix Club in Sittard, Holland. It was a very big success, between 300 and 350 people visited the show. At the moment we are planning a lot more warm-up shows before the European Tour (with Amon Amarth / Vomitory) that starts at the end of April." For more info and latest news check: www.callenish-circle.com
THRONEAEON will appear on the upcoming Morbid Angel tribute with the track ‘The Lion’s Den’ – out soon through Hellspawn Records. Some new mp3 tracks can be found at www.mp3.com/throneaeon
California’s INSANITY have finally finished the recordings for the follow-up to their legendary "Death After Death" release and are currently working on the mixes. The band is looking for a new drummer, so if you’re interested to join, don’t hesitate to get in touch with them at: insanity@blacklungproductions.com
On their way home from a New York show with DESTROYER 666, SADISTIC INTENT and NUN SLAUGHTER last Sunday night, BLOOD STORM‘s Deyaxulgaat, Axarcuth and 3 of the band’s road crew members got into a car wreck. Even though they had to stay at the hospital over night everyone is now back home and recovering fine. Our best wishes go out to all of them.
DEATH‘s "Scream Bloody Gore", "Leprosy", "Spiritual Healing", "Human" and "Individual Thought Patterns" have been reissued on vinyl in Germany by Century Media.
Supernal will reissue the following titles this year: BEHEMOTH‘s "From The Pagan Vastlands", DEINONYCHUS‘ "Ark Of Thought" and MAYHEM‘s "Out From The Dark" picture disc.
BEHEMOTH‘s Nergal has revealed that the band’s upcoming sixth album will be called "Zos Kia Cultus (Here And Beyond)". Recording is scheduled for June at Hendrix Studios in Lublin, Poland with a release planned for fall through Avantgarde. Tracks to appear on the release include: ‘Conjuration Of Sleep Daemons’, ‘No Sympathy For Fools’, ‘Agape’ and ‘The Essence Of Eye’.
LIMBONIC ART‘s new album will be called "The Ultimate Death Worship". Songs to appear include: ‘Funeral Of Death’ and ‘Towards The Oblivion Of Dreams’. The band will finish recording over the next few weeks before moving on to post-production.
On his upcoming tour, MORTIIS will play on April 12th at The Clink in England. The venue was the oldest prison in England which is now a museum, but is opening its doors to stage this very special event.
HATE FOREST‘s forthcoming album, "The Most Ancient Ones", will be released on March 25th through Supernal Music. The band will release another album, "The Gates", later this year through Miriquidi Records. Also, their "Scythia" album will be released by Red Stream in digi-pak format with bonus tracks in April or May. Hate Forest have also made available 7" versions of ‘Blood And Fire’ and ‘Ritual’ in extremely limited editions through Sombre Records and Miriquidi Productions respectively. More info on the band and downloadable MP3’s are available at: www.supernalmusic.com/labels/supernal/hate_forest.htm
THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL will release a split 10" picture disc with MAYHEM later this year. You can download an MP3 from the band at: www.supernalmusic.com/labels/supernal/meads_asphodel.htm
DAWNFALL‘s second album (recorded seven years ago), "Drei Raume", will be out soon through Supernal Music.
According to TotalRock, VENOM frontman Cronos has been badly injured in a climbing accident. He will be out of action for several months with injuries to his neck, muscles and tendons.
DIVINE RAPTURE will soon cover ‘World Of Shit (The Promised Land)’, to be featured on a MORBID ANGEL tribute album, "Tyrants From The Abyss", alongside tracks from ZYKLON, VADER, KRISIUN and other bands. The album will be released by Sweden’s Hellspawn Records this spring. Due to Morbid Angel’s plans and Erik Rutan’s extremely packed schedule, Divine Rapture will enter the studio end of May / early June instead of in March as originally reported.
TotalNews reports that MALEVOLENT CREATION have canceled their show at London’s Garage on March 10th due to unforeseen circumstances.
MYRKSKOG will hit the studio on March 15th to record the follow up to "Death Machine". Frontman Destructhor says the album will be "faster and more brutal".
A limited edition German version of CANNIBAL CORPE‘s "Gore Obsessed" album comes in a special DVD sized digipak. It’s available through Metal Blade’s webshop at http://shop.metalblade.de or by sending $15 US (world) / 16 Euro (Europe) in cash (this includes postage and packaging) to this address: Metal Blade Records, DVD-Size, P.O.Box 1332, 73054 Eislingen, Germany
DARKANE are set to begin recording their third album at Sweden’s Dug-Out Studio with producer Daniel Bergstrand. The drums will be recorded there and then the guitars and bass will be recorded in the Darkane studio in Helsingborg. The vocals and mixing will take place in early April at Dug-Out. The band hope to release the album in August.
EXODUS, featuring vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza, are confirmed for this year’s Wacken Open Air festival, scheduled to take place August 2nd – 3rd in Wacken, Germany.
The official DIABOLICAL website is back online, updated and with a new layout. It is still under heavy construction, but most of the stuff is already there. Go to: come.to/diabolical
SLAYER are confirmed for the Bang Your Head festival, which takes place in Balingen, Germany on June 28th and 29th.
According to TotalNews, NAPALM DEATH are to play a one-off show at London’s ULU on April 12th. The show is to be filmed for a DVD.
HATE ETERNAL have confirmed that they will enter Dimensional Sound Studio in Tampa, Florida on March 1st to record their new album, "King Of All Kings", as a three piece, led by founder member Erik Rutan, with Jared Anderson on bass and vocals and Derek Roddy on drums. Despite Rutan’s and Anderson’s commitments with MORBID ANGEL, Hate Eternal have promised full scale touring on both sides of the Atlantic once the album is released.
CATASTROPHIC will be in Europe from March 13th to April 8th with IMMORTAL, HYPOCRISY, VADER, DISBELIEF, DESTROYER 666, OBSCENITY and KATAKLYSM on the No Mercy Festival. Catastrophic will be playing songs from last years "The Cleansing" along with some new songs, which are "all fast" according to Trevor Peres. This is different from his previous material, where as he has never written music that require blast beats. Some new songs include ‘The Day The Earth Died’, ‘Infinities Children’, ‘Dismal’, ‘Apathy’s Warm Embrace’ and ‘Malice Belief’. A live version of ‘Infinities Children’, recorded at their show in Hollywood, is available at www.metalblade.com.
Earache artists CADAVER INC., RABIES CASTE and HATE ETERNAL are all scheduled to perform at this year’s New Jersey Metal Meltdown festival. For more info go to: www.metalfest.com