NYC’s SUN DESCENDS have severed ties with their drummer Chris Torre. The band is looking for a replacement at the moment and encourages anyone who is interested to contact them at: mem@sundescends.com. Mem V. Stein: "It’s unfortunate that the drummer position in this band seems to be a revolving door but the good news is that we have completed 9 songs for the new album and are ready to record them as soon as we have found the right man for the job."
New Zealand-based Death / Grind outfit DAWN OF AZAZEL, who recently completed 23 dates on the the Decades of Death 2006 U.S. tour alongside VITAL REMAINS, INCANTATION and SIN OF ANGELS, has issued the following update: "Our first shows in the U.S. were defintely amongst the best we have ever played. We were defintely humbled by the response from the crowds on this tour. Despite what we had been told to expect, the crowds in the U.S. have been killer and very apprecative! A special thanks goes out to everyone who came out and supported us and and to everyone who put us up at their place or let us sleep on their floor on this tour – much appreciated! Brutal hails to VITAL REMAINS, INCANTATION and SIN OF ANGELS for being such killer tour partners and John Mcentee and Taylor Touring for the opportunity! We can’t wait to get back as soon as we are able! We are currently taking a short break to work on some new material, but we are currently working out the details for our second Australian tour for "Sedition" later this year. The second pressing of "Sedition" will be released in September and will feature a bonus video for the track ‘The Road To Babalon’ and with recieve full distribution in the U.S. and Canada through RED."
Swedish Death Metal horde DEMONICAL have unleashed a 4 song promo entitled "Bloodspell Divine". It was recorded at Necromorbus Studios (Watain, Ondskapt, Mörk Gryning) and features the following tracks: ‘Revel In Misanthropia’, ‘Unholy Desecration’, ‘Feeding The Armageddon’ and ‘Leipzig 1945’. The line-up reads as follows: J. – guitars (and vocals on the promo), M. – bass, R. – drums. Demonical are currently sending out promos and looking for a permanent vocalist. If you think you have anything to offer then please get in touch with the band. You can download the track ‘Revel In Misanthropia’ from the band’s official website www.demonical.net.
Along with "Antithesis", there will be a reissue of the SECRETS OF THE MOON debut album "Stronghold Of The Inviolables" as a digipak on September 15, 2006. This CD will also contain the complete recording session for "Thelema Rising" with mostly unreleased tracks: ‘The Devils Tempest’ (unreleased), ‘My Life For Yours’ (unreleased version), ‘Leichengott’, ‘Condemnation (Of The Inferiority)’ and ‘Blood Is Thicker Than Water’ (unreleased).
Swedish Death Metal masters INSISION have parted ways with Earache / Wicked World. The band is currently looking for a new label. The material for their next album has already been written. Ten new songs are completed and Mick Usher, who also worked on Insision’s latest album "Revealed And Worshipped", has designed the cover. The recording is planned to be done in Black Lounge Studio (Scar Symmetry, Centinex etc) in October / November 2006.
The brand new DEICIDE video ‘Homage For Satan’ is online now at this location. Steve Asheim and Glen Benton have recorded their own hour and a half long Metal marathon for Totalrock.com. The show will air the week of August 21st 2006 and includes a guest appearance from Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The forthcoming HATE ETERNAL DVD will be named "The Perilous Fight". It features artwork from Paul Romano (Trivium, Mastodon), a live show filmed at the Garage in London, behind the scenes footage from the recording studio, all the music videos and more.
‘Day 69’, the new video from Poland’s DECAPITATED, is online now at this location.
The wait is finally over!!! On August 05, 2006 the 7th edition of Germany’s NECROMANIAC ZINE will finally be available! For the first time entirely written in english, the newest issue of this high quality zine a.o. features interviews with ANAL VOMIT, IMPIETY, SCENT OF DEATH, FUNERUS, JUANJO CASTELLANO (coverartist), a FROM BEYOND PRODUCTIONS label feature, MELEKTAUS, COFFINS, VULCANO, MACHETAZO, INFECTED MALIGNITY, INVERACITY, EXTREME VIOLENCE, SANCTIFIER etc. plus a poster of IMMOLATION / MORBOSIDAD. Pre-orders will already be shipped next week. For all further info contact Thomas at necromaniaczine@aol.com.
PENTACLE‘s guitarplayer Mike has decided to stop playing live gigs and rehearsing with the band. The healing process of his arm takes more time than expected. He’s still a PENTACLE member but takes care of band related matters behind the scene now. It’s not clear at the moment if / or when Mike will join PENTACLE again. In the meantime the band will perform as a three-piece as a replacement for Mike is still to be found.
The trailer for the upcoming DVD of Bay Area Thrash Legends LÄÄZ ROCKIT called "Live – Untold" has been posted online at this location. The DVD was produced by Ace Cook and will be released via Old School Metal Records on August 15th, 2006.
Contributors wanted! VOICES FROM THE DARKSIDE is once again looking for reliable people (preferable from Germany) who can help us out with reviews, as we constantly get so much stuff that it’s getting more and more difficult to keep track in this department. So, if you have the necessary time, dedication and knowledge, get in touch with us for all further details here. If you’re running a magazine / zine on your own (or already contribute to one) outside of Germany, you’re more than welcome as well.
DEICIDE‘s Ralph Santolla offers up his personal statement regarding the events of July 14 in Laredo, Texas: "We pulled up a at the hotel in Laredo around 4 o’ clock in the afternoon. One of the local promoters, Liz, tells us to be downstairs at 6:30 to go to the venue. After we sit outside waiting for 45 minutes in the heat, we decided to go on our own. The first thing I see when we get there is this Liz chick sitting on her ass in their venue. I said "Hey thanks for leaving us sitting around waiting for you to pick us up". Not a great start. Things were bad from the beginning – there was no stage and tons of gear everywhere. The promoter said,’We’ll set you guys up after all the other bands, right before you play.’ We were like, that’s not how it works, they can set up in front of us. That’s pretty normal. It took these people an hour to figure out how to move 1/2 a drum set out of our way. A bad start. We asked for 2 hours for our rider, but this Liz girl wasn’t capable of giving straight answers to anything and was a lot more concerned with her local band buddies concerns than putting on a show. We should never have been booked there in the first place. Right before we go on stage, they tell us they’re not paying us what they agreed top in the contract. A lot of promoters who aren’t experienced don’t seem to understand a guarantee means just that, a guarantee. If they risk their cash to put on a show, and then they don’t promote or whatever, no matter who’s fault it is, they take the hit – not the bands. They never complain when they make a lot of extra cash, but they squeal like a stuck pig when they don’t. This is our career and we were ripped off – you can’t go into Wal Mart and just take whatever you want without paying. We go on stage and the power starts cutting out instantly. They didn’t provide a venue, enough power, a stage, the money, or a working PA. We had to stop every 30 seconds and finally somebody says they’re making us stop, so we go off stage. I went upstairs on the balcony top find my cigarettes. I’m standing there talking to the guys from Ringworm, and I turned around and a police officer pepper sprays me and throws me on the ground. They didn’t say "Stop, get on the ground," nothing – just ran up to me and sprayed me. They threw me down, and I said "Why am I being arrested" and one of them says, "you threw a beer bottle at me." I replied, "Me??", and one of the other cops starts yelling " Shut the fuck up, Shut the fuck up, I saw you I saw you." Then one of them puts his knee into my neck and puts all of his weight on it and starts grinding my face into the ground. Now, the thing is, this whole time, I’m just laying there being still. I can’t see, I can’t breathe – nothing. So it’s not like I was struggling or resisting. If you’ve never been pepper sprayed, it fucking hurts. Now my hand is all fucked up and I’ve got a loose tooth. Jack Owen told me the next day that he saw somebody in the crowd throw a beer up in the air. It bounced off off something and hit the ground near the cop and then all the cops went running up the stairs. That’s it. I’ve done a lot of stupid things, but throwing bottles at cops isn’t one of them." DEICIDE are currently preparing for their fall headlining tour with JUNGLE ROT and HURTLOCKER and are set to release "The Stench Of Redemption" on August 22, which is being called some of their best work since "Legion". It will be available as a limited edition collectors box (containing the CD plus 4 collectable band member art cards and a double sided colour poster) and 12" picture disc, limited to 1500 copies.
AGAINST THE PLAGUES is the name of a new act, consisting of experienced musicians from renowned bands: Adrian Adamus (Forest of Impaled, Corphagy) – guitars, Varyen (Damnation, Forest of Impaled) – drums, Wojtek Lisicki (Lost Horizon / Luciferion) – lead guitar / vocals. The additional musicians: Logan Perez – lead vocals and Martin Widel – keyboards. The band wants to make clear that it is not any kind of side project, mutation, or anyone’s solo undertaking, but an independent full time unit. "We are very excited and full of energy, because after months of hard work on our debut material, it looks like you will be able to hear the final product in a not so distant future. The album will consist of eight crushing and essential songs, in a rich illustrative form. At the present moment, total focus is concentrated on perfecting the material for the debut album. By establishing the band’s name the shape is now fulfilled. The designation AGAINST THE PLAGUES greatly reflects the essence of the band’s message, powerizing and inspiring us by its content and expression." Full band-info and demo songs are available on the band’s official info site www.againsttheplagues.com.
Independent Music industry trade body Impala have awarded DEICIDE‘s last album "Scars Of The Crucifix" a silver disc in recognition of European sales. Glen Benton and Steve Asheim collected the disc on a recent visit to London and vowed to make sure new album "The Stench Of Redemption" receives gold.
AT THE GATES‘ "Slaughter Of The Soul" will be re-issued now as a special dual disc edition, updated with ‘The Making of "Slaughter Of The Soul", a 35 minute documentary which focuses on the method behind the madness that led to the construction of a truly important Metal record. Vocalist Tomas Lindberg and guitarist Martin Larsson, together with the now-legendary producer Frederik Nordstrom, take the recording process to pieces and attempt to explain how it became the monster it is now recognised as today. Filmed by acclaimed director Patric Ullaeus (Dimmu Borgir, Lacuna Coil) and interviewed by top Swedish journalist Patrik Wiren, the documentary reveals the story behind the legend, with discussions about the recording process, the theory behind the record and the creative tension that drove the band forward, bolstered by deleted scenes and the ‘Blinded By Fear’ promo video.
CHOP YOUR OWN HEAD OFF is the title of a 17-track compilation CD featuring exclusive Earache material from MUNICIPAL WASTE, DEICIDE, SEVERE TORTURE, DECAPITATED, CULT OF LUNA and many more. The CD also contains and exclusive peek into the Earache racing madness and includes a PC demo of the "Earache Extreme Metal Racing" game featuring AKERCOCKE and BIOMECHANICAL racing teams. "Chop Your Own Head Off" also includes a DVD disc packed with ultra-exclusive videos from Earache’s current and past catalog, including previously unreleased material from Death Metal legends MORBID ANGEL.
The cover artwork for the upcoming ANGER AS ART CD "Callous And Furor" has been posted online at this location. It was created by Eddie Mize of artofeddiemize.com. The CD is scheduled for release in September of 2006 via OSM Records.