Germany’s Black / Thrashers DESASTER will be releasing their brandnew album "Angelwhore" on August 20th, 2005 via Iron Pegasus Records. According to a label info, the album is musically supposed to go back to "Tyrants Of The Netherworld", with the typical DESASTER atmosphere known from "Hellfire’s Dominion" and a giant, really heavy production… More info you may find at www.iron-pegasus.com or www.total-desaster.de
Denmark’s Death squadron EXMORTEM have a new session bass player. His name is Rune Koldby, who also plays in Spectral Mortuary. So, the line-up is now: Martin ‘Sigtyr’ Thim (guitar), Andreas Schubert (guitar), Rune Koldby (bass), Simon Petersen (vocals) and Morten Siersbaek (drums). www.exmortem.com
CENTAURUS-A are currently looking for gigs. You can contact them through their new website. www.centaurus-a.de.
Germany’s pure Death Metal zine UNHOLY TERROR has a new website online. It can be found at the slightly changed URL www.unholyterror.de (the old address is no longer in service).
Nuclear Blast will release GOREFEST‘s new album, "La Muerte", on October 30th. Tracks to appear on the release include: ‘Man To Fall’, ‘You Could Make Me Kill’, ‘The New Gods’, ‘When The Dead Walk The Earth’, ‘Malicious Intent’, ‘Of Death And Chaos (A Grand Finale)’, ”Till Fingers Bleed’ and ‘The Fifth Crusade’. Check out www.gorefest.nl for regular updates.
Displeased Records have signed ABOMINATOR to a new deal. The band, who were previously on Osmose, plan to issue a new album via Displeased later this year.
CARPATHIAN FOREST have posted the following message at their website: "Carpathian Forest returns from South America. We had a blast and we tried whatever the continent had to offer to sleezy Norwegians. It’s only Rock n Roll! Thanks to Edu, Claudio, Nelson, Carlo(s), Douglas and other people who participated in the tour. See you in August / September next year!"
DESTRUCTION have updated their website (www.destruction.de) with the tracklisting for their new album, "Inventor Of Evil". As previously reported, AFM Records will release the album on August 22nd. "Inventor Of Evil" will be available in various formats: CD, limited edition digipak CD and LP, and will include the "headbanging anthem" ‘The Alliance Of Hellhoundz’, which features 10 different Metal singers from all Heavy Metal styles singing together for tolerance and unity of the scene. Vocalists include: Biff (SAXON), DORO PESCH, Shagrath (DIMMU BORGIR), Speed (SOILWORK), Paul DiAnno (ex – IRON MAIDEN / KILLERS), Messiah (CANDLEMASS), Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL), Peavy (RAGE), Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY / PAIN) and DESTRUCTION frontman Schmier. "Inventor Of Evil" tracklisting: ‘Soul Collector’, ‘The Defiance Will Remain’, ‘The Alliance Of Helloundz’, ‘No Mans Land’, ‘The Calm Before The Storm’, ‘The Chosen Ones’, ‘Dealer Of Hostility’, ‘Under Surveillance’, ‘Seeds Of Hate’, ‘Twist Of Fate’, ‘Killing Machine’ and ‘Memories If Nothingness’. Digipak bonus tracks: ‘We Are The Road Crew’ (MOTÖRHEAD cover), ‘The Alliance Of Hellhoundz’ (Schmier vocals only), videoclip, wallpapers. Japan bonus tracks: ‘Eternal Ban’ (re-recording), ‘The Alliance of Hellhoundz’ (Karaoke Version).
Swedish Black Metallers DISSECTION have posted the following message at their website (www.dissection.nu): "We have decided to make official to the fans the new Rough-Mix promo that we currently are showing to the record companies. Bear in mind that this is a rough mix and not the final sound quality. It is a taster of some of the material on the upcoming full-length album. We recommend you to burn it down to a CD and listen to it on a good stereo system for best sound quality! Dissection are now finally about to make the decision which label to work with!" As previously reported, Dissection began recording their long-awaited third album on February 2nd at Black Syndicate Studios in Stockholm, Sweden.
Battle Cry Records will be re-releasing the DARKNESS albums "Deathsquad", "Defenders Of Justice" and "Conclusion And Revival" on August 8th with a whole bunch of additional songs. The bonus material was taken from the old DARKNESS demo tapes "The Evil Curse" (1985) and "Titanic War" (1986), the "Spawn Of The Last One" live tape (covers by KISS and JUDAS PRIEST), a New Renaissance compilation album and 2005’s promo tape by their new band EURE ERBEN (who are now playing the old DARKNESS songs with German lyrics, but in the traditional style). The booklets contain all the lyrics as well as detailed liner notes for each album. www.battlecryrecords.de
New York City Thrashers SUN DESCENDS will enter Don Fury’s Cyclone Sound Studio this Friday, to record their first full-length album "Incinirating The Meek". The album will feature 11 tracks including a re-make of EXUMER’s ‘Fallen Saint’. It will also include guest appearances by Craig "The Reaper" Horval of NUNSLAUGHTER / CRUCIFIED MORTALS and "His Eminence the Wicked" of TERROR OF THE TREES / HEMLOCK. Mem comments: "I have not been this excited about recording an album since the 80s. The energy of the band and the material on this SUNDESCENDS CD will reflect what Thrash Metal stands for!" For further information check out www.sundescends.com or www.myspace.com/sundescends
Dutch Death Metallers ARSEBREED (featuring members from Disavowed, Pyaemia and Mangled) will start recording their debut album this August, at several different studios accross the Netherlands, including Studio Excess (Prostitute Disfigurement, Severe Torture, Sinister). The album, which is tentatively titled "Munching The Rotten", will feature the following tracks: ‘Bluntly Hammered’, ‘Vomit Heaps Of Flesh’, ‘Fistfit Stretched Third Eye’, ‘Munching The Rotten’, ‘Chopped In Excrements’, ‘Vaginal Butchery’, ‘Stabbed In The Arse’, ‘Ripping Chainsaw Orgazm’, ‘Anal Cum’, ‘Bloody Postraumatic Ejaculation’ and ‘Rectal Vomit’. Guitarist Daan had the following to say about the band and the upcoming recordings: "ARSEBREED hints to each and every US-style Death Metal with a bizarre twisted touch. The songs are catchy by times, yet they also consist of illogical technical twists, loops and leads. ARSEBREED is a band not for the lazy listeners or the faint hearted, as we will catch all listeners off guard several times per song. All this is accompanied by furious blastbeats and fast double bass work. The lyrical humour, will be spewed forth over each and every listener by both Robbe and Joel following up on each other rapidly with grunts, belches, screams, and so on. Our intentions, as perfectionists, are to make this album as tight as possible and have a splendid production allover. With the people we are working with and the experience we have we believe this will be no problem to accomplish." "Munching The Rotten" is scheduled for a late September release through Neurotic Records.
In Summer 2002 after a tumultuous and burdensome run with San Jose, California Thrash head-splitters DEKAPITATOR rhythm guitarist Blackwulf had had enough and decided it was time to pack up and make a strike on his own. For two and a half arduous years this dream was tested in the Hellpits of Northern California to no avail. Winter 2004 saw a solidifying mark finally made with a group of serious, skilled and dedicated Metal musicians, hence the band BLASPHEMER was formed and its infernal rites put to the anvil. Featuring within the ranks: ex – DEKAPITATOR rhythm guitar player (Blackwulf ) Wes Rhodes, ex – CACOPHONY bass player Jim O’Shea, ex – ORDER FROM CHAOS guitarist Chuck Keller, ex – ORDER FROM CHAOS drummer Mike Miller and ex – POSSESSED vocalist Jeff Becerra. Merging styles of old chaotic Euro / Thrash, with Canadian Speed, South American steel and known Stateside veterans. When Rhodes was asked about this new unit he simply stated "BLASPHEMER is a band of natural conviction, and a band bound in honor and tradition." Futhermore "BLASPHEMER is a band I can believe in." says Rhodes. Summer 2005 has BLASPHEMER currently writing for a soon to be released debut demo. BLASPHEMER will also be slated to appear on the next edition, Vol. II of the Heavy Speed compilation series on Rhodes’ own Midnight Records in 2006.
EXODUS will release their new album "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" through Nuclear Blast Records on October 4th. Tracks to be featured on the album include: ‘Raze’, ‘Deathamphetamine’, ‘I Am Abomination’, ‘Going, Going, Gone’ and ‘.44 Magnum Opus’. Meanwhile, EXODUS are gearing up for tours of the U.S. and Europe in November and December.
Unique Leader has signed Columbia Death Metallers INTERNAL SUFFERING. They will record a new full-length CD later this year at Mana Studios in Tampa, FA with Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, ex-MORBID ANGEL) in the engineering seat.
DRAGONLORD, led by TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson, will be issuing their sophomore effort in October via Escapi Music. The album was produced / mixed by Fredrik Nordstrom (IN FLAMES, SOILWORK, DIMMU BORGIR) at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Florida-based Death Metal band, PATHS OF POSSESSION, fronted by CANNIBAL CORPSE vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, have confirmed via their official website that the release of their debut "Promises In Blood", is October 4th via Metal Blade Records. Recorded at Mana Recording Studios in Tampa, FA, "Promises In Blood" features the following confirmed tracklisting: ‘Darklands’, ‘Butcher’s Bargain’, ‘Bleed The Meek’, ‘The Second Coming’, ‘Where The Empty Gods Lie’, ‘Heart For A Heart’, ‘In My Eyes’, ‘Erzsebet’, ‘Promises In Blood’, ‘Bring Me The Head Of Christ’, ‘Through The Fiery Halls’ and ‘The Icy Flow Of Death’. Rounding out the band line-up are: Randy Butman – bass, backup vocals, Jay Fossen – guitars, Jack Goodwin – guitars, Nick Goodyear – drums.
BLASTMASTERS (www.blastmasters1.com) are the new Florida based act featuring drummer Lee "Aantar" Coates (ex – UNHOLY GHOST, DIABOLIC). According to their website, the band is scheduled to begin recording their full-length album, "Twisted Metal", on July 25th. Produced by Juan Punchy Gonzales and the band at D.O.W. Studios, the album will feature the following tracklisting: ‘Altricial Meta-Genesis’, ‘Catastrophic System Failure’, ‘Shellfire And Tombstones’, ‘Twisted Metal’, ‘Putred Future’, ‘We The Treacherous’, ‘Implemented Digital Control’, ‘The Beheadings’, ‘La Fin Du Monde’ and ‘Shockwave Undertow’.
Poland’s DECAPITATED have posted the following update at their website (www.decapitated.pl): "On the 1st of August recording sessions start for DECAPITATED’s new full-length album entitled "Organic Hallucinosis". The band is entering Hertz Studio where under the Wieslawscy Bros. supervision they will stay until the end of August, recording and mixing the album. Its artwork and the whole layout will be designed by Seth (ROTTING CHRIST, PARADISE LOST and many others). "Organic Hallucinosis" is set for release on January / February 2006."
ARCH ENEMY kicked off their first US tour in support of "Doomsday Machine", their new album, last week on Ozzfest. A video for the track ‘Nemesis’, shot by renowned director George Bravo (who also shot the group’s ‘We Will Rise’ clip), is now complete; look for it to make its Headbangers Ball and Metal Asylum debut early next month.
DEEDS OF FLESH have posted the video for the title track from their new album, "Crown Of Souls" on their official website at this location. The video clip is 7.6MB and Quicktime 7 Player is needed to view it (for both Windows and Mac). In other news, drummer Mike Hamilton has struck a new deal with Factory Metal Percussion.
Following the "Blackest Of The Black" tour through North America with DANZIG, CHILMAIRA, HIMSA, MORTIIS and THE AGONY SCENE, BEHEMOTH will return to their native Poland to kick off the second leg of their "Demigod" tour. Shows in Balkan and Russian countries are in planning, and a one-off show in Istanbul, Turkey has been confirmed for December 17th.
Merciless Records have just released "Imperium – The Apocalyptic Vision", which is part one of an ORDER FROM CHAOS anthology, featuring the band’s 1988 four song demo, an eight track rehearsal (from December 25, 1988) and four live songs (from March 1994). The booklet contains lots of vintage pics as well as in-depth historical liner notes, while the vinyl version also contains an ORDER FROM CHAOS fanzine. For more info contact: chaosmongers@ares-kingdom.com
According to a post on the official BRUTALITY website, guitarist Mausolus Arguelles Von Kiszka has died. No cause of death was disclosed, only that he "has made the journey to the other side." BRUTALITY recently disbanded after Poland’s Still Dead Productions "completely backed out of their end of the deal" to release the band’s next album, according to a post on the group’s website.
Time Before Time Records just released a BLOODY SIGN / RADEMASSAKER split tape, limited to 200 copies. It will also be released as an EP at the end of the year through Deathstrike Records. BLOODY SIGN will be on tour in South America from July 21 to August 15. For more info check out www.bloodysign.fr.st