» News
Norwegian legends ARCTURUS will perform on September 1st in Budapest, Hungary at A38 Ship (an old ship in the River Danube). The date will be only the band’s fourth gig since 1990. The show will be presented by Saturnus Productions and PlanetNoir Industries, and will also feature performances from SIN OF KAIN, VORTEX and BORNHOLM.
Albeit a bit vague, Roadrunner Records.com has posted that CRADLE OF FILTH will shoot a video "in either Los Angeles or the UK, at some point in early August for a song to be determined"… CRADLE OF FILTH have nearly completed the mixing process of their forthcoming album, "Nymphetamine", which is currently scheduled for a late September release through Roadrunner.
Canuck Black Metallers OBSCENE EULOGY have announced that Wilska (FINNTROLL) is their new frontman. Wilska replaces Mika Luttinen (IMPALED NAZARENE) who left the band in April. The band is currently working on the follow-up to this year’s "Defining Hate: The Truth Undead" – new material that should see the light of day in early 2005.
According to an update at Earache Records’ website, "Florida’s kings of extreme Death Metal, HATE ETERNAL, have confirmed plans for the recording of their third album, the follow-up to 2002’s "King Of All Kings". As yet untitled, the album will be recorded and mixed at HATE ETERNAL frontman Erik Rutan’s own studio, Mana Recording Studios, in Tampa, FA. Recording is set to begin August 1 and the release is planned for early 2005. Expect the next landmark album in Death Metal"
According to a statement from Season Of Mist, rumors of unrest in the MAYHEM camp are untrue. SOM states: "The fast-traveling rumor that informs the reader and listener on Maniac (vocals – real name Sven Erik Kristiansen) parting ways with Mayhem, and (former singer) Attila Csihar (ABORYM) joining the band is not true. There are currently no plans whatsoever for MAYHEM to change its lineup. Above is confirmed by both the band and Attila".
ILLDISPOSED have confirmed that their new album, "1-800-Vindication", will be released in Europe through Roadrunner on October 4th. Release dates for the rest of the world will be announced soon.
Drowned Scream Records / Goi Music will issue a new AT THE GATES tribute album in September. Entitled "Slaughteous Souls – A Tribute To At The Gates", the album features the following tracklisting: TAETRE – ‘At The Gates’, GODHATE – ‘Kingdom Gone’, MÖRK GRYNING – ‘Neverwhere’, MOONSKIN – ‘Raped By The Light Of Christ’, DARKNESS BY OATH – ‘The Swarm’, SOUL DEMISE – ‘Forever Blind’, ETERNAL OATH – ‘The Fevered Circle’, ETERNAL GRAY – ‘Blinded By Fear’, ILLDISPOSED – ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’, ENTER CHAOS – ‘Cold’, DETONATION – ‘Under A Serpent Sun’, MISANTHROPE – ‘Suicide Nation’, PAGANIZER – ‘Nausea’ and VILE – ‘Cold’ (live cover). Bonus Tracks: IN AETERNUM – ‘Blood Runs From The Altar’ (GROTESQUE cover).
CELTIC FROST guitarist Ron Marks has inked a deal with Sonic Wave International (www.sonicwaveintl.com) for his band SUBSONIC. The band are expected to release a new album through the label this fall. A posting at Sonic Wave International’s site reads: "The legacy of Celtic Frost continues with Ron Mark’s hard hitting project: SUBSONIC. CELTIC FROST has been called a big influence by Kurt Cobain and has helped spawn the styles of NIRVANA, METALLICA and MARILYN MANSON. Subsonic brings Ron Mark’s sound into the new era. Keep a look out for the new CD in stores this year, and in the meantime check out the SUBSONIC site at www.celticfrost.com/subsonic.html"
Here’s an official statement from the organizer’s of the BANG YOUR HEAD FESTIVAL 2004, concerning the TESTAMENT show: "Many visitors were annoyed as the show of Bay Area-Thrashers TESTAMENT found a sudden end on the Saturday of this year’s BANG YOUR HEAD and the amps were turned off while the band was still playing. Unfortunately, certain unpleasant circumstances left no other choice left for us. The background information: The band had overrun their stage schedule by far. Before TESTAMENT started their changeover and their soundcheck, there had been a delay on stage of abour 10 minutes, that had been caused by other bands. We asked the responsible tour manager and the band’s sound technician to do the soundcheck as quickly as possible in order to try to make up at least some of the lost time. Unfortunately, our call was unheard and the soundcheck took an awfully lot of time. That wasn’t all, though: After everything was finally checked and prepared, the sound technician hit the road to the PA tower. On arrvial, he noticed he had forgotten something and went all the way back to the stage – through the audience! When he arrived at the tower a second time, TESTAMENT had used twice as much time for the changeover than scheduled (40 instead of 20 minutes). Therefore, the overall delay had summarized to more than 30 minutes. Unfortunately, we do have strict curfew set up by the city of Balingen saying that the headliner’s show has to end at 11 PM. ICED EARTH agreed to shorten their set by two songs and we told TESTAMENT’S tour manager that his band has to shorten its set as well. He was supposed to inform the band about that – but he actually just wouldn’t do. Though he shared the stage with the guys and we asked him several times to deliver the important information to the band, he kept on ignoring our request didn’t pass anything forward to Chuck Billy and the guys, resulting the band to play on and on. Finally, we had no other choice left than to put the most unpleasant and unpopular end to the show and pull the plug. We feel very sorry for the fans of TESTAMENT and the band itself. Everything could have gone less unpleasant if there had been just a bit more professional and cooperative attitude on the part of the band’s tour manager and sound technician."
BANG YOUR HEAD FESTIVAL 2004 is over. Last weekend ten thousands of headbangers (among them VOICES readers to be spotted as well) conquered the city of Balingen, Germany, to watch bands such as CHILDREN OF BODOM, DEATH ANGEL, TESTAMENT, QUEENSRYCHE (performing their "Operation Mindcrime" album which almost caused one VOICES writer to break into tears), OMEN, SHOK PARIS, RUFFIANS, ICED EARTH or ALICE COOPER. Next year’s 10th BYH Festival on the 24th and 25th of June 2005 will feature TWISTED SISTER, MOTÖRHEAD, DORO, GAMMA RAY, NEVERMORE, AXEL RUDI PELL, KROKUS, JAG PANZER, DESTRUCTION, AMON AMARTH, TANKARD, DEMON plus ten more big acts as well as a "very special guest". Once again, the most relaxed big Metal Festival is gonna take place in Balingen, Germany. www.bang-your-head.de
Danish Death Metallers EXMORTEM have severed ties with Osmose Records after only one release – 2002’s "Pestilence Empire". The band are currently negotiating a new deal which will be revealed soon. Meanwhile, the band have revealed the tracklisting for their as-yet-untitled new album via their official website (www.exmortem.com). Tracks to appear on the forthcoming release include: ‘Parasite Paradise’, ‘Flesh Havoc’, ‘Black Walls Of Misery’, ‘The Human Rape Symphony’, ‘Division Of Genocide Pleasure’, ‘Bitter Disciplin’, ‘Fix Of Negativity’, ‘Graveside Mourning Ritual’ and ‘Symbols Of Inhumanity’.
GOD DETHRONED will enter Berno Studios in Malmö, Sweden on July 14th to begin recording the follow-up to 2003’s "Into The Lungs Of Hell". Nine new songs are ready to be laid down for the as-yet-untitled effort, which is tentatively due in late 2004 / early 2005. In other news, God Dethroned, who recently replaced bassist Beef with a musician named Henk, have been confirmed for the Occult Fest 2004, a two-day event set to take place September 3rd – 4th in Hoogeveen, The Netherlands. Other bands scheduled to appear at the festival include PLEURISY, MORTUARY IOD, KATAFALK, MAKILADORAS, AS IT BURNS and MORNING. More info: www.occultfest.nl.
According to the official INVOCATOR website (www.invocator.com) drummer Jakob Gundel is a part of a new as-yet-untitled project. The band, so far consisting of Gundel, as well as Anders Høeg and Mikkel Sandager from MERCENARY, has recorded a 5-song promo. The style is described as "some sort of melodic Thrash." Stay tuned for more information. In related news, the site also reports that Invocator guitarist Flemming’s project SCAVENGER recorded a 3-song promo at Jacob Hansen’s studio, Hansen Studio, in the beginning of June. The group have found a singer in Sweden’s Lawrence Mackrory, who sang on DARKANE’s debut album, "Rusted Angel". The vocals haven’t been recorded yet but will be done as soon as possible.
Century Media has set September 7th as the release date for new albums from Sweden’s Death Metal godfathers GRAVE and UNLEASHED. GRAVE’s new album, "Fiendish Regression", was recorded at Abyss Studios with producers Tommy and Peter Tägtgren. UNLEASHED’s seventh release, "Sworn Allegiance", was mixed by Fredrik Folkare at Chrome Studios and mastered by Peter In de Betou from Tailor Maid Productions (DIMMU BORGIR, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA, etc). "Sworn Allegiance" features the following tracklisting: ‘Winterland’, ‘Destruction (Of The Race Of Men)’, ‘Only The Dead’, ‘The Longships Are Coming’, ‘Helljoy’, ‘Insane For Blood’, ‘I Bring You Death’, ‘Attack!’, ‘CEO’, ‘One Night In Nazareth’, ‘Praised Be The Lord’, ‘Metalheads’, ‘To Miklagård’ and ‘Long Live The Beast’.
Canuck Thrash legends RAZOR have hired a production company and will be filming their upcoming appearance at this year’s Gates Of Hell Festival scheduled to take place at FunHause in Toronto, ON on July 24th. As previously reported, the line-up also features Canuck icons EXCITER and ANVIL alongside WARMACHINE, ROTTING, NITEMARE, VISIONS OF THE NIGHT, WILL OF THE ANCIENTS and SOUL LESS DIVINE.
According to a posting at their website, MARDUK will be entering the studio in the middle of July to begin the recording seessions of their upcoming ninth full-length album. The band’s webmaster added: "We haven’t recieved any working title for the album yet and the only song title we can confirm so far is ‘Throne Of Rats’, a song that the band debuted when they headlined the Motala Metal Festival. The new album will be recorded at the local Endarker Studio (in Norrköping, Sweden). More information will be posted soon." As previously reported, the album is set to be released in November and will be followed by a massive world tour.
CRADLE OF FILTH are now half way through the mixing process of their forthcoming album, "Nymphetamine", which is currently scheduled for a late September release through Roadrunner. Mixing for this should be complete by the 1st week of July. The band’s A&R representative Mike Gitter had this to say: "I would have to say without a doubt, it’s CRADLE OF FILTH’s best record. Not merely a great CRADLE OF FILTH record, but a great Metal record. Both longtime fans and casual listeners will be pretty fuckin’ surprised."
SAMAEL have set "Reign Of Light" as the title of their new album. Recorded in Switzerland and mixed in Sweden, it will feature 11 new tracks including: ‘High Above’, ‘On Earth’, ‘Reign Of Light’, ‘As The Sun’, ‘Further’, ‘Oriental Dawn’, ‘Heliopolis’ and ‘Door Of Celestial Peace’ as well as three other songs. The album is set to be released this fall on Galactical Recordings with exclusive license to Musikvertreib for Switzerland and Regain Records for Europe / Asia. An American deal still has to be worked out.
ANOREXIA NERVOSA are currently finishing the recording of their upcoming album, "Redemption Process", at Drudenhaus Studios in France. The album will be mastered at the Cutting Room in Sweden. Tracks set to appear on the release include (in no particular order): ‘Antinferno’, ‘The Worship Manifesto’, ‘Sister September’, ‘Codex-Veritas’, ‘Mass Absolution’, ‘The Shining’ and ‘An Amen’. "Redemption Process" is scheduled for and early October release via Listenable Records.
Nick Barker (ex-DIMMU BORGIR, BRUJERIA, LOCK-UP) made a special signing appearance at yesterday’s DARK FUNERAL in-store signing at Dark Realm Records in Downey, California. Dark Funeral performed at the Gathering Of The Bestial Legion festival at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, CA.
The upcoming PENTACLE album will be released through the German label Iron Pegasus Records. Here’s the band’s official statement about it: "Some people already expected this, but now it is official. We’re happy to work with Costa again. As some of you know he already released our split 10" with Desaster some years ago. He also arranged the booklet for the "Ancient Death" MLP. Each time it was a pleasure to work with him. He is 100% dedicated to the scene and has released many outstanding albums of bands like Desaster, Zemial, Hadez, Mortuary Drape, Sadistic Intent, Beherit, Sabbat and many more. We are truly convinced we have found the right label for our Metal madness! The cooperation with Iron Pegasus Records will have the positive outcome of three formats of the new album: CD, limited LP and limited PD. Again, Harrow Productions in Losser (The Netherlands) has been chosen as recording studio. The recordings will take place in September and October. We hope to record 10 or 11 new songs. Former Order From Chaos – and current Ares Kingdom-guitarist Chuck Keller has contributed a track which will be featured on the new album. You can expect something a bit different from the normal Pentacle material, but be aware this song is not a filler! It will give the album an extra impulse of old school energy. Thanks in advance for the great song, Chuck! Manuel Tinnemans, who was also responsible for the covers of "… Rides the Moonstorm", "Ancient Death" and the upcoming "Archaic Undead Fury" split with Blood Storm, will again take care of the artwork. He has promised us a masterpiece! We didn’t expect anything else."
According to Roadrunner, OBITUARY currently have four songs written and ready to go, and are hard at work on more new material. Although studio time for the band’s return has not been set, the classic Obituary line up (John Tardy – vocals, Trevor Peres – guitars, Allen West – guitars, Frank Watkins – bass, Donald Tardy – drums) are set to deliver a new album in the near future.
According to Nuclear Blast, Baltimore’s MISERY INDEX are currently recording a three track EP entitled "Dissent". The EP will include the songs ‘The Imperial Ambition’, ‘Exception To The Ruled’ and ‘Multiply By Fire’, and will be released in late summer. The band is preparing a DVD called "Misery Index DVD Volume 1". It features footage of Misery Index concerts from all over the world, bonus material and more.
According to a posting on their website, after dealing with many American booking agents BEHEMOTH have decided to work with Firstrow Talent, who will now represent the band in North America and will book all the American tours in support to their upcoming album "Demigod". According to leader Nergal "It looks like for "Demigod" we’re gonna tour as much as possible on the US continent, and after doing some European touring with KRISIUN and INCANTATION later this year, USA is gonna be our main priority. See ya all there!"
Members of TRANSPORT LEAGUE, DIMENSION ZERO, TAETRE and NIGHTSHADE have reportedly gotten together to form a Black Metal side project under the name GAFFLA KNIFVUR. Currently seeking a record deal, the band’s music is described as "very much is the same vein as EMPEROR and similar bands, but with really humoristic lyrics in Swedish that deal primarily with evilistic and satanic chefs".
DEW-SCENTED are currently taking some time off to write new songs for the follow-up album to "Impact". According to the band, "the song-writing is turning out really good and the material is excitingly varied so far (of course really aggressive too), so that we are definitely already looking forward to completing some more songs." Their plan is to record the next album around December 2004 with Andy Classen again at his Stage One studio, release date is scheduled sometime for Spring 2005 through Nuclear Blast Records. The official new location for the band’s website will be www.dew-scented.net now as they were having server trouble with their .de and .com domains before.
Blabbermouth.net additionally reported today that legendary video director and founding BATHORY member Jonas Åkerlund has spoken to Sweden’s Expressen newspaper about the passing of BATHORY mastermind Thomas "Quorthon" Forsberg from what is believed to be heart failure. Forsberg, who was known to have been battling heart problems for years, was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm, Sweden on Monday (June 7). He was 39 years old. "It’s so sad. He had much more to offer," Åkerlund said. Jonas, who formed the band with Forsberg in the early ’80s, went on to have a successful video-directing career, having worked with the likes of METALLICA, PRODIGY, MADONNA and U2. "[BATHORY came onto the scene] extremely early," Åkerlund said. "People like Marilyn Manson, Billy Corgan and the members of METALLICA have all come up to me and have told me that they listened to BATHORY." According to Åkerlund, it was Thomas Forsberg’s creativity that made the band such an influence on so many younger metal acts. "[Quorthon] had a high cult status," Jonas said. "He wasn’t interested in attention, he just wanted to play his music."
The following news was posted by www.blabbermouth.net and is not confirmed yet, so don’t quote us on it. BATHORY mastermind Tomas "Quorthon" Forsberg was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm, Sweden on Monday, June 7, informed sources have confirmed to Blabbermouth.net. The 39-year-old son of Black Mark Records owner Börje Forsberg, long considered one of black metal’s founders, died of an apparent heart failure. More information as it becomes available.
Jeremy Turner (ex-ORIGIN) will be the replacement for Jack Owen in CANNIBAL CORPSE on the band’s upcoming tours. Jack quit earlier this month. It is not sure yet if Jeremy will be a permanent replacement, but according to the band "… so far he’s doing very well… learning 18 songs in less than 3 weeks is a tough job, and we want to thank Jeremy for working hard to get the job done."
CRIMINAL keyboardist Mark Royce has been fired from the band after failing to show up for the band’s recent tour of Chile. Royce joined the band in 2002 along with Robin Eaglestone (bass) and Zac O’Neil (drums). "He really didn’t leave us much of a choice", comments frontman Anton Reisenegger. "Two days before leaving for Chile, he just disappeared. He wasn’t answering our calls or text messages, nothing. Obviously, we went anyway, had a great fuckin’ tour, came back, and still no word from him. So basically I sent him an e-mail telling him he was out of the band. He responded to that, saying he understood. You go figure. That leaves Rod, Zac and me as CRIMINAL at the moment, but we hope to find a permanent bassist soon, and we shall carry on as a four piece, like it was meant to be. This doesn’t mean there won’t be any keyboards on the next album, but I’m really against getting a full-time keyboard player, because they’re always going to be like a ‘fringe member’, as Mark himself once put it. I’d rather use a session player." In other news, the whole sold-out Chilean tour was documented on video, with the footage currently being edited into a video clip for the song ‘Deconstruction’, which comes off the band’s latest album "No Gods No Masters". The clip, which is being directed by Roberto Fuentes, who had previously worked with the band on the video clip for ‘El Azote’ and CRIMINAL’s as-yet-unreleased home video entitled "Video Azote", should be finished in June.
On Monday, 10th of May VADER entered Radio Gdansk Studio to record their new full-length album entitled "The Beast". The band only took a one day break to play a show along with METALLICA and SLIPKNOT in Chorzów. Peter and Doc’s replacement Daray spent the first two weeks working together in the studio, being joined later by Mauser and Novy to complete the recordings. The album is being produced by Piotr Lukaszewski ("Reign Forever World", "Revelations", "Blood"). A limited edition of "The Beast" will feature a bonus DVD with specials, like a studio report, two brand new video clips, an interview with Peter, a fragment of the band’s show at the Polish Woodstock Festival and other bonus stuff. More details will follow soon.
"Crowned Unholy" is a remake of the THE CROWN‘s fifth album "Crowned In Terror", which will be released on August 9, 2004 via Metal Blade Europe. It features re-recorded vocal tracks by Johan, re-recorded bass tracks by Magnus, a new version of the intro (originally written by Marko, now programmed by Janne), drum sound digitally enhanced by Janne, and cool synthesizer-spiced parts here and there, all programmed by Janne. The whole remake and remix / mastering was made / performed at Bohus Sound Recording with Dragan Tanaskovic. Janne Saarenpää (drums) comments the release: "Finally ‘Crowned in Terror = Crowned Unholy’ sounds just the way it’s supposed to! After a long, LONG journey through different studios and mastering facilities we once again achieved the unique CROWN sound, this time at Bohus Sound Recording and nowhere else. When you hear Johan’s voice in the BRUTAL new mix, you will once again realize that you’ve been struck by the magic of THE CROWN! A perfect ending for quite a ride that lasted for 14 years!" "Crowned Unholy" will be released with a free bonus DVD, the content is not confirmed yet, while the front cover is nearly done and will be released soon.
Metal War Productions will be releasing the new RELLIK material (see news from yesterday) as a MCD in the coming months. All further info at: www.metalwarprod.com