SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor has accused The Recording Academy of disrespecting the heavy metal genre by not including it in the televised portion of the Grammy Awards.

HALESTORM was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 55th annual Grammy Awards, which were held last night (Sunday, February 10) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. HALESTORM was nominated for the track "Love Bites (So Do I)" , from the band's 2012 album "The Strange Case Of…"

Writing on his Twitter profile shortly after the "Hard Rock/Metal" winner was announced, Taylor said: "I'm happy for HALESTORM, but sad because the Grammys don't respect our genre AT ALL. We get one category and it's not even televised."

In an effort to continuously evolve its Grammy Awards process, The Recording Academy announced in April 2011 that it had restructured the Grammy categories across all genres and fields, bringing the total number of categories to be recognized at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012 to 78 from 109. As a result, instead of separate "Best Metal" and "Best Hard Rock" performance prizes, there is now a single "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" award.

PALMS, the musical collaboration between DEFTONES vocalist Chino Moreno and former members of ISIS (Aaron Harris, Clifford Meyer and Jeff Caxide), will release its debut album on June 25 via Mike Patton's (FAITH NO MORE) Ipecac label.

A song from the project can be streamed at this location beginning around the one-hour-two-minute mark.

In an interview conducted in April 2012, Harris stated about PALMS' musical direction, "Clifford, Jeff and I started PALMS a little over a year ago out of a desire to continue making music together after ISIS ended. Chino joined shortly after and our sound took shape from there. We've worked really hard on this first release and are excited for people to hear it. It's nice to be back behind the drum kit, and with this lineup."

Moreno stated about his involvement in the project, "Being a huge ISIS fan, I've always dug the moods these dudes convey with their sound. I am excited to combine my sense of creativity with theirs and to have fun doing so."

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

Stockholm, Sweden-based dark hardcore outfit NO OMEGA has signed to Throatruiner Records. The band entered the studio in late January to record "Shame", the follow-up to its 2012 effort "Metropolis". This new full-length is due out this spring on 12-inch vinyl, just before a European tour with THIS GIFT IS A CURSE.

According to a press release, "a lot has happened since 2010 and NO OMEGA has managed to form a pretty solid foundation to build upon. Both the music and the lyrics are more experienced. It's a lot more polished and finished in a fashion. The love for experimenting is still there. The love for expressing angst and fixating on the darker and more negative aspects of life and of our species is still there. The love for heavy and melodic post/modern hardcore is still there."

HALESTORM was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 55th annual Grammy Awards, which are being held tonight (Sunday, February 10) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. HALESTORM was nominated for the track "Love Bites (So Do I)" , from the band's 2012 album "The Strange Case Of…"

In his acceptance speech, HALESTORM drummer Arejay Hale said: "I've gotta thank my parents — our parents — for turning us on to great music. Most parents want their kids to be doctors and lawyers, and our parents encouraged us to join the circus. So thank you, guys."

Added HALESTORM singer Lzzy Hale: "Thank you to our fellow nominees. If it wasn't for your inspiration…. IRON MAIDEN, for heaven's sake… LAMB OF GOD… We would not have written this song and been in this category."

Lzzy Hale told The Pulse Of Radio that the band was in its natural state — playing live onstage — when they got the news of their Grammy nomination in early December. "It was just in time for the piano ballad, so I'm just kind of sitting by myself and Joe [Hottinger, guitar] runs across the stage, he's like, 'We got nominated for a Grammy!'" she said. "And I'm like, I mean, I must have had at least 30 seconds of just pure, like, shock on my face. [laughs] 'Really? Are you serious?' I still can't wipe this stupid grin off my face, I'll tell you that. But it was a very cool moment for all of us."

"Love Bites" hit No. 1, making HALESTORM the first female-fronted act in history to top the Active Rock chart.

The nominees in this year's "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category were as follows:

ANTHRAX - "I'm Alive"
Track from: "Worship Music"
(Megaforce)

HALESTORM - "Love Bites (So Do I)"
Track from: "The Strange Case Of..."
(Atlantic)

IRON MAIDEN - "Blood Brothers"
Track from: "En Vivo!"
(Ume)

LAMB OF GOD - "Ghost Walking"
Track from: "Resolution"
(Epic)

MARILYN MANSON – "No Reflection"
Track from: "Born Villain"
(Cooking Vinyl)

MEGADETH - "Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)"
Track from: "TH1RT3EN"
(Roadrunner)

Nominations for the 55th annual Grammy Awards were announced on December 5, 2012 by The Recording Academy and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by the voting members of The Academy. For the fifth year, nominations for the annual Grammy Awards were announced on primetime television as part of "The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night", a one-hour CBS entertainment special broadcast live for the first time ever at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

This year's Grammy Awards process registered more than 17,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period, October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. Grammy ballots for the final round of voting were mailed on December 19 to the voting members of The Recording Academy. They were due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by January 16, when they were tabulated and the results kept secret until the 55th Grammy broadcast.

The 55th annual Grammy Awards are produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer and Louis J. Horvitz is director.

Fan-filmed video footage of SEVENDUST performing a brand new song, "'Till Death", on February 5 at Chameleon Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania can be seen below. The track comes off the band's ninth album, "Black Out The Sun", which will be released on March 26 via the band's 7Bros. Records label (through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group). The CD was recorded at Architekt Music studios in Butler, New Jersey with engineer Mike Ferretti.

"Black Out The Sun" track listing:

01. Memory
02. Faithless
03. 'Till Death
04. Mountain
05. Cold As War
06. Black Out The Sun
07. Nobody Wants It
08. Dead Roses
09. Decay
10. Dark AM
11. Picture Perfect
12. Got A Feeling
13. Murder Bar

SEVENDUST filmed a video for the CD's first single, "Decay", last month, just before its current tour with LACUNA COIL kicked off on February 2 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose tells Billboard.com that the song actually came from a riff left over from the "Cold Ray Memory" sessions.

"We were starting to get burnt and we didn't want to push it," Rose recalls. "So we had this riff, and we said, 'Let's jam it and see if anything comes of it.' And before you know it, it became a song that ends up on the record, and everybody listens to it and they end up picking that as the single, which was pretty cool."

The song "Murder Bar" was reportedly inspired by a Butler, New Jersey bar across from the hotel where SEVENDUST was staying while recording the new CD. Rumor had it the place was popular with many of New Jersey's murderers.

"It's a basic SEVENDUST record," guitarist Clint Lowery recently told "Source Of The Sound With Wendy Campbell". "There's nothing, like, too completely different than anything we've done before. It's got a darker vibe to it. We've got a good amount of the programming element in there. It's a lot of what we do — it's heavy and it's got its melodic element in it. So if you're a SEVENDUST fan, it's more along the lines of the second and third records we did — it's kind of like that. It's got a couple of throwback vibes to it. 'Animosity' and 'Home' [1999], if I can put those two records together, it would [sound similar to the new CD]."

According to Thesmokinggun.com, a Connecticut man has pleaded guilty to participating in a coordinated online attack on Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, whose web sites were targeted in retaliation for comments the rock star made about Internet piracy.
The October 2010 denial of service attack against genesimmons.com and two other sites--which were knocked offline--was spearheaded by the online collective “Anonymous,” which dubbed its Simmons assault “Operation Payback.”

The musician, 63, upset “Anonymous” and its various sympathizers when he advised entertainment industry figures to “sue everybody, take their houses, their cars. The music industry was asleep at the wheel and didn't have the balls to sue every freckle-faced kid who downloaded tracks.”

The FBI opened a criminal probe after a Simmons lawyer, Barry Mallen, reported the denial of service attack to federal investigators.

During a hearing last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Kevin George Poe, 25, pleaded guilty to his role in the Simmons attack.

Read more at the Thesmokinggun.com.

Denver, Colorado-based blackened doom nihilists PRIMITIVE MAN - featuring within their ranks current and formers members of CLINGING TO THE TREES OF A FOREST FIRE, REPROACHER and DEATH OF SELF - have released a video for the track, 'Rags', featured on their debut full-length. Watch below:
Recorded by Dave Otero at Flatline Audio (CEPHALIC CARNAGE, CATHETER, COBALT, etc), the fittingly dubbed debut album, Scorn, finds Primitive Man commemorating a slow-roasted apocalypse through seven asphyxiating odes of hatred, disease and despair.
Scorn tracklisting:

'Scorn'
'Rags'
'I Can't Forget'
'Antietam'
'Black Smoke'
'Stretched Thin'
'Astral Sleep'

The album is streaming below:

Scorn by Primitive Man

According to Rolling Stone, Warner Music's $765 million purchase of the Parlophone record label, which includes the rights to catalogs by PINK FLOYD, COLDPLAY, RADIOHEAD and DAFT PUNK, gives the third-biggest record label a much-needed power boost with regard to rivals Universal and Sony. Warner is the smallest of the Big Three record labels, providing just 20 percent of overall album sales in 2012, according to Nielsen SoundScan, but Parlophone should significantly increase that number.
"This is a very important milestone for Warner Music, reflecting our commitment to artist development by strengthening our worldwide roster, global footprint and executive talent," Len Blavatnik, chairman and founder of Access Industries, Warner's parent company, said in a statement.

THE BEATLES' catalog, which belonged to Parlophone, was not part of the sale.

According to BroadwayWorld.com, AEROSMITH frontman Steven Tyler initiated — and is a proponent and vocal supporter of — Hawaii Senate Bill 465, also known as the Steven Tyler Act, which would create a civil cause of action for "constructive invasion of privacy" in the state of Hawaii.

The proposed bill (SB465) was modeled after the California Civil Code Section 1708.8, which was adopted by the California state legislature in 1998. SB465 would add a cause of action for constructive invasion of privacy in addition to the current cause of action for physical invasion of privacy in Hawaii. The bill, which would provide a legal remedy for celebrities photographed while they are engaged in "personal or familial activity" and have a reasonable expectation of privacy, would go beyond the more traditional invasion of privacy, which generally requires a physical trespass, by imposing liability on people who use zoom telephonic lenses or other high tech audio devices to capture images or audio of public figures as they are in their homes, or other private places, and then turn around and sell those images or audio files.

Tyler will appear with fellow Hawaii resident Mick Fleetwood on Friday, February 8 as the bill is presented in a Senate hearing at the State Capitol in Honolulu, Hawaii.

"The paradise of Hawaii is a magnet for celebrities who just want a peaceful vacation," Tyler says. "As a person in the public eye, I know the paparazzi are there and we have to accept that. But when they intrude into our private space, disregard our safety and the safety of others, that crosses a serious line that shouldn't be ignored."

The bill after it was drafted by Tyler's attorney and manager, Dina LaPolt, at his bequest and presented to Senator J. Kalani English (Hana, East & Upcountry Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe) for consideration.

During a recent interview with AOL's Noisecreep, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN frontman Greg Puciato spoke about the status of his much-anticipated project with Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, ex-SEPULTURA), Dave Elitch (ex-THE MARS VOLTA) and Troy Sanders (MASTODON).

"We have 11 songs written," he said. "It's me, Max, Troy from MASTODON and Dave Elitch, who played drums in MARS VOLTA for a little bit. Here's how it started. We were at a DEFTONES show in L.A. at the Palladium and we were talking backstage about old thrash metal, punk and hardcore and we found ourselves referencing many of the same things and we were like, 'Fuck, man, we should make a record together and do it as a one-off like NAILBOMB [Max's mid-1990s side project with FUDGE TUNNEL's Alex Newport].' A month later, I talked to Max again and he said we should actually do that.

"No one in metal makes collaborative records like people in jazz and hip-hop do. It doesn't have to be like a band that you're launching from the ground that you go on tour with. There is something to be said for collaboration and throwing yourself out there and learning something new from working with different people. Dave was a buddy of mine already and he's a phenomenal drummer. He was the first person I thought of to play drums.

"We [DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN] spent a lot of time touring with MASTODON and Troy seemed like a really obvious fit. We had a really easy time writing and we may actually be recording really soon, like in the next month or so. And then we'll have to sit on it. We can't release it right behind the DILLINGER record and we also have to figure out when the MASTODON record is coming out and the same for whatever Max is doing next. It's going to come out. It's just going to be a matter of logistics as to when."

Speaking to Singapore's radio show "Vicious Volume" last October, Max stated about the new project: "Troy from MASTODON just joined the band, too, so now we've got three singers for the project, which is also really killer. I'm really excited about that, too. I think it's gonna be a very original project. I don't know any other metal projects out there with three people singing like this. So it can be almost like a TRANSPLANTS of metal. TRANSPLANTS had three singers; this also has three singers, and it can be very, very great. I'm following, in a lot of ways, some of the same footsteps as NAILMBOMB in my approach to this project — a lot of do-it-yourself, punk-rock kind of feeling to the project. So the songs are written really quick — I don't think too much about it. I like it more like that, so they are very raw."

Late DEEP PURPLE keyboard legend JON LORD's Rock Meets Classic was recorded in June 1974 in Munich. Windows, which was recorded in Munich June 1974, is a live album by Jon Lord and the German conductor and composer Eberhard Schoener.
Ray Fenwick, Tony Ashton, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes and Lord himself perform as soloists along with the Munich Chamber Opera Orchestra conducted by Schoener. The album was originally released on LP by Purple Records (distributed by EMI) in late 1974.

The master tapes of the film recording have recently been discovered and plans are being made to release the show some time later in 2013. This is terrific news for all Jon Lord fans.

This piece is a small snippet from the rehearsals late May 1974.

Irish death metallers CHOSEN have announced that their debut album, Resolution, will be released on March 30th as a free download on their official website, along with it being available on CD in two special editions.
The Deluxe Special Edition is a double CD that features a 9-track bonus disc of unreleased songs, rough mixes, drum and bass tracks taken from their album sessions along with a detailed album booklet.

The Collector’s Edition is a spawn of the Deluxe Special Edition that includes a beautiful 60-page, full colour soft cover booklet, extensive liner notes, lyrical themes and illustrations for each song, rare photos, studio diaries and more, all exhibited within an exquisite tapestry of expanded album artwork courtesy of Fiaz Farrelly making it a must have item for those who want something a little more tangible to add to their music collection.

Chosen will also be holding a competition on the album release day, where they will be giving away three copies of the Deluxe Special Edition. To enter, contestants must email their full name to competition@chosen.ie for their chance to win, with the option of having a personal message of your choice inscribed inside the booklets if they choose.

The winners will be announced the day of the album release, on March 30th. The closing date for entry is March 28th.

Produced by Alwyn Walker, Resolution is a reflection of sheer perseverance and innovation, brimming with top-notch musicianship, well-crafted arrangements and inventive hooks. Merged with a rich audio production value, void of the sterile, homogeneous and plastic instrumentation factor, which currently dominates the commercial metal market, this debut album from one of Ireland’s noteworthy metal bands is a truly refreshing piece of work.

Drummer / Percussionist David McCann comments: "Our hope is to put our music out there, make it as accessible as possible, and simply let people discover it in their own time, free of charge. While we do respect the rights of other bands and artists who want to charge for their music upfront, we believe in this new method of exposure and it's something we are willing to explore for the foreseeable future in this digital age of abundance."

Chosen is now streaming and offering their rack 'Engines Of Belief' as a free download here. The track is streaming below:
Resolution tracklisting:

'Engines Of Belief'
'Defective Prospection'
'The Narcissism Epidemic'
'Mental Clarity'
'Diminishment'
'Instinct'
'Asch’s Paradigm'
'Metaphysical Contradiction'
'The Departure Lounge'
Check out a behind-the-scenes video with Chosen below:

Long-running Italy-based technical death metallers GORY BLISTER are offering up a free online download of an extract from their last live show, held this past January 19th at the Community Giovanile in Milan.

Dubbed Live Raw, seven live tracks are downloadable audio free. On Deli Radio, extracted from the last two albums, Graveyard of Angels and Earth-Sick, are supported by two live videos registered during the same show. Check them out below:
This is the tracklist:
'Earthsick'
'H.I.V.'
'Shining Hades'
'Decanted Embryos'
'Dominant Genhetics'
'The Hatch Opens'
'World Damnatomy'

Download the show here.

Guitarist Raff states: "The sound of these live tracks and as the title says 'raw', is raw, powerful and genuine, without editing and overdubs of any kind, to highlight the genuine attitude of Gory Blister live performance, a technique and modern band and but, always inspired by the old school death metal of the '90s."

The third reissue from Dutch death metal veterans THANATOS and their label Century Media Records is 2000's Angelic Encounters. The album has been completely re-mixed and remastered and will be released this spring, with more details to follow soon.
The original tracklisting for Angelic Encounters:
'Angelic Encounters'
'In Utter Darkness'
'Sincere Chainsaw Salvation'
'Infuriated'
'The Howling'
'Gods of War'
'The Devil's Concubine'
'Speed Kills'
'Thou Shalt Rot'
Check out a photo above of the line-up that recorded this album in 2000: from left to right are Paul Baayens (guitar), Stephan Gebédi (guitar/vocals), Theo Van Eekelen (bass) and Adrie Kloosterwaard (drums).

Legendary heavy metal band BLACK SABBATH will release its much-anticipated new album, "13", in June via Vertigo/Universal Republic in the U.S. and Vertigo in all other territories. The drum tracks on the group's first LP with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978 were laid down by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE sticksman Brad Wilk following original drummer Bill Ward's decision to bow out of the reunion.

Osbourne, Tony Iommi (guitar) and Geezer Butler (bass) recorded the album primarily in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "God Is Dead", "End Of The Beginning" and "Age Of Reason", the latter two of which stretch out to as long as eight minutes.

"I wanted to make an album that stood alongside their first four albums," Rubin tells RollingStone.com. "The first album wasn't a straightforward heavy metal record. You could hear the jazz influence, so that was the goal, and to capture that live interaction."

Ward in May 2012 announced again that he was declining to join his former bandmates for its scheduled 2012 dates, as well as the recording of the new album, due to a contractual dispute. After SABBATH shot down Rubin's suggestion to replace Ward with Ginger Baker (CREAM) ("I thought, 'Bloody hell?'" Iommi tells the magazine. "I just couldn't see that."), Rick suggested Wilk.

Iommi tells RollingStone.com that Ward's demands came out of the blue. "I didn't know Bill was having these issues when we got together — he never even mentioned it to us," he says. "It was quite confusing. We wanted him involved, but it was just getting too hard." Adds Osbourne: "You can't go, 'Well, I don't like it.' You get off your ass and get your shit together. The life of a bohemian rock star is fucking long over."

Iommi was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2011, and his treatments forced BLACK SABBATH to cancel all but three tour dates in 2012 after announcing their reunion in November 2011.

"Things are fairly good, dare I say, at the moment," Iommi tells RollingStone.com. "I'm still here and it's okay. We had to do this album now. Christ, if it happened in another 10 years, I don't know if we'd be around."

Osbourne, who describes the new SABBATH album as "Satanic blues," also spoke about one of the band's new tracks, the provocatively titled "God Is Dead". "It starts off, 'God is dead,'" Osbourne says, "but at the end it says, 'I don't believe that God is dead.'"

"Pandæmonium", a new song from long-running German metallers ATROCITY, can be streamed on the band's Facebook page. The track comes off the first part of the group's new album trilogy, "Okkult", which will be released on April 26.

Commentes ATROCITY singer and producer Alex Krull: "With 'Okkult', we want to start a very special album trilogy. Most recently with the 'Die Gottlosen Jahre (The Godless Years)' DVD, a splendid film documentary was released commemorating our longer-than-25-year career, which even now is to run at film festivals. Reason enough now to usher in a new era of ATROCITY! Musically, no prisoners will be taken, the 'Okkult' series is also brutal, bombastic and dark. These will not only be the heaviest and most brutal albums of ATROCITY since years, but also the darkest works of our band's history. Lovers of our harder material like 'Hallucinations', 'Todessehnsucht', 'Blut' or 'Atlantis' will surely be delighted with the 'Okkult' series at their expense, although the 'Okkult' songs have their own trademarks, of course."

The new ATROCITY opus, "Okkult". is described in a press release as "the kickstart to an album trilogy as it has not been seen before in the metal scene! Musically, ATROCITY show an enormous tension width, and deliver a very powerful, homogeneous and atmospheric album: On the one hand with much bombast and big choirs a la 'March Of The Undying'; on the other hand, ATROCITY deliver equally purist, brutal metal songs, which get under your skin just as intensely, closely and authentically. The overall sound is perfectly harmonized. The earthy, brilliant production sounds intoxicating and gives the musical pieces the necessary energy, atmosphere and roughness to dive immediately into the lyrical concept. This is anything but one-dimensional. The lyrics relate to occult magic, mysterious places, conspiracy theories and mysteries that are still unsolved. Thus, ATROCITY turn John Milton's vision of 'Pandemonium' into reality in an imposing way. With 'Death By Metal', a mystical tale from long ago, ATROCITY have composed a tribute to their own musical roots, as well as it is their own band anthem. The band takes us with 'Haunted By Demons' on a Scottish haunted castle, and brings in 'Necromancy Divine' the ancient necromancer Erictho back to life. Moreover, the 'Okkult' cover motif is dedicated to her. With overwhelming power the gates of hell are opened in 'Masaya (Boca del Inferno)'. The epic 'When Empires Fall To Dust' set the mystical prophecies of a mysterious, French Freemason from the First World War to music. Never before has the Ides of March been staged musically as gripping as in 'Murder Blood Assassination'. Also the myths surrounding the Antarctic have never before been turned into such a hymnic piece of music ('Beyond Perpetual Ice'). As a culmination the poisoner and witch 'La Voisine' does her mischief in the Paris of the 17th Century: What could fit better than a smashing, furious metal song of the brand ATROCITY?"

In keeping with the dark atmosphere of "Okkult", ATROCITY got the Canadian sound designer Katie Halliday on board. She worked for movies like "Saw V", "Saw VI", "Saw 3D (VII)", "The Devil's Carnival" and "Todd And The Book Of Pure Evil", and already could reap some awards for her work. The orchestral parts were recorded by the Lingua Mortis Orchestra under the direction of Victor Smolski (RAGE) in Minsk, Belarus. Besides all harshness and bombast, ATROCITY again show their excellent sense of very good, catchy songs — "Satan's Braut" is definitely a pure club hit.

Adds Krull: "For our fans, we've come up with something very special: There will be no conventional bonus tracks on the 'Okkult' albums! In return, all fans can actively engage in a kind of treasure hunt. For the respective 'Okkult' albums, we will hide one song on an 'occult site,' which is the 'missing track' to each album. For the first 'Okkult' record, that certain place will be in Europe. All original recording tracks and mixes of these songs will be destroyed by our own hands, that also means we as a band will also not be able to listen to these songs until they are found. They are in the truest sense of the word: Unique."

The first bonus track will be hidden in the "Okkult" booklet of the limited-edition digipak and in the iTunes version. By the means of a numerical code the ATROCITY fan can determine the code word for the access to the treasure hunt on the website of ATROCITY. The code word is the title of the hidden songs, and at the same time the first indication of the location of the secret hiding place.

ATROCITY 2013 is:

Alexander Krull - Vocals
Thorsten Bauer - Guitar, Bass
Sander Van Der Meer - Guitar
Joris Nijenhuis - Drums

"Neogenesis", the fifth studio album from Swedish death metallers DIABOLICAL, will be released on April 19. The CD was recorded at Necromorbus Studio (WATAIN, UNANIMATED, DESTRÖYER 666) in Alvik, Sweden with the band's vocalist/guitarist, Sverker Widgren, in the producer's chair.

Comments DIABOLICAL guitarist Tobias Jansson: "It is with great pleasure that we finally get to share this album with the world. We have put in a tremendous amount of effort into this recording and spent the most part of the last six months in studio Necromorbus. I think we have raised the bar for ourselves a lot with 'Neogenesis' both with the songwriting and the recording. It has been tough, but very interesting for us as well."

Adds DIABOLICAL guitarist Carl Stjärnlöv: "Originally I wanted someone else to do the artwork for us this time since I've done it for the last two releases and I also wanted to focus on the recording. However, in the end we didn't find what we were looking for with any artist, so I once again took on the task. I wanted to make something that reflected the philosophical and spiritual aspects of this album and I had a vision of what I wanted. I discussed it with Pär and he and I realised the idea by him making a painting which I mixed with photos of all of us in the band, so what you see on the cover artwork is actually a band photo with all of us combined into one face blended with Pär's painting. On top of that I added a lot of symbols that are significant to the concept of 'Neogenesis'."

DIABOLICAL has added a "second chapter" to the "Neogenesis" tour that will start off on the April 12, with dates throughout Europe until April 21.

DIABOLICAL's latest album, "Ars Vitae", came out in February 2011 via Abyss Records.

The band's third full-length CD, "The Gallery of Bleeding Art", was released in November 2008 through ViciSolum Productions.

Italian symphonic metal combo NORHOD have signed a worldwide deal with Wormholedeath/Aural Music Group who will release their debut album titled The Blazing Lily worldwide. The album was produced, recorded and mixed at Realsound Studio (Italy) with producer Wahoomi Corvi (CRYSALYS , THE WAY OF PURITY), and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios in Finland. Release date will be announced soon both for Europe and Japan.
The whole band together stated: "We are so proud to have the opportunity to work with WormHoleDeath. The label is represented by serious and competent people and we are sure that they can support us properly. We are grateful to WormHoleDeath for appreciating our work and we are extremely happy to release our first full length The Blazing Lily with them."

A&R "Worm" stated: "When the Realsound guys asked me to listen to this band I was immediately impressed by their music, so after a meeting with the guys I decided to sign them without any hesitation. After some months, we got the album pre productions and I was really excited of what that music could become with our support. Now, looking back, after the hard work we have done with the band, producers and graphic artists I am definitely proud of what we have been able to create all together. The songs turned out so emotional and epic. Orchestrations and Clara's vocals are outstanding, the final sound is absolutely massive and tuneful as all instruments and the violent vocals found the right place to support the apocalyptic mood of the record. Furthermore the whole project is now complete as we have been working so hard on the concept, band's image and communication. It may sound a little bit too much, just test our work and see."
The first song from The Blazing Lily is 'Mirrors Lady' which can be heard below:
For more details visit Facebook.

Canadian COAL CHAMBER bassist Chela Rhea Harper (SARASVATI) has checked in with the following update:

"Hey guys, just wanted to make you aware of the fan page that has been created for VII. This is something I have been working towards for a very long time and with the help of the very talented Joe Waller (ADORA VIVOS) and Arsafes (KARTIKEYA). This project will soon be on its way. It's best described as melodic doom with progressive and ethnic influences.... I hope you like it. stay tuned!"

Check out the VII page here.
In August 2012, Harper issued the following update on her solo work under the name Sarasvati:

"Ok, I finally uploaded the Sarasvati EP to Bandcamp. You can stream it for free or download it for $4 (or $1 per song). There is a bonus track included when you purchase the whole EP. People have been telling me to do this for so long, once all the free downloads were used up on Soundcloud I decided to give it a try. I released this four years ago, but this is the first time I've decided to sell it. Saving up for a new preamp :D. I'm working on a bunch of new stuff, so I'll keep you updated!"

Go to this location for Harper's official Bandcamp page.

Sarasvati - EP by Sarasvati

According to Mondo Metal, reactivated cult late '80s/early '90s Brazilian thrash metal band CHAKAL is putting the finishing touches on its sixth studio album, "Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!", for release later in the year. The CD will feature 10 tracks, including one instrumental piece; "Possessed Landscape (The Island Of The Dead)", which was released as a single and video in 2011; and "Anubis, The Lord of Necropolis", which the "Mondo Metal" radio show on Elo FM premiered last year.

"Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!" tentative track listing:

01. Exorcise Me
02. Killing Van Helsing
03. God Of Gore
04. Headshooting For Dummies
05. Equinox
06. Possessed Landscape (The Island Of The Dead)
07. Anubis, The Lord Of Necropolis
08. Disturbia
09. Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!
10. [as-yet-untitled instrumental]

In 2008, Cogumelo Records reissued two albums from CHAKAL — "The Man Is His Own Jackal" (1990) and "Death Is A Lonely Business" (1993) — as part of the Cogumelo Remasters series. Both albums came in a special edition slipcase CD featuring "exceptional" artwork. The disc also included a bonus instrumental track, an outtake from the "Death Is A Lonely Business" sessions.

Brazilian death metal veterans KRISIUN were featured on a recent episode of "Estúdio Showlivre", a Brazilian Internet TV show, with an in-studio performance and Portuguese-language interview. Check out the footage below.

KRISIUN's latest album, "The Great Execution", which was released on October 31, 2011 in Europe and November 1, 2011 in North America via Century Media Records. The band's eighth studio CD "musically expands KRISIUN trademark high-speed death metal violence with a heavily increased amount of diversity ranging from extreme tempo variations over distinct rhythm patterns to clean guitars and even Flamenco parts!" according to a press release.

KRISIUN only used analog gear and instruments this time to avoid the compressed sound that so many musicians produce today. This wise decision resulted in a more organic sound, with the songs on "The Great Execution" possessing both warmth and rawness, which are so often lost through digital production. The low end is deeper, with drums that pound instead of bounce and guitar tones that sear rather than hiss.

Going back to Stage One Studio in Germany and working with producer Andy Classen again was the right choice: the album came out with a very distinctive and natural sound, shattering the boundaries of the style once more.

The cover artwork was created by Japanese artist Toshihiro Egawa who has been doing tons of great designs for acts like SUICIDE SILENCE, HEAVEN SHALL BURN, DEVOURMENT and DYING FETUS, among others.

"The Great Execution" was made available as a limited-edition digipack including a re-recorded version of the classic KRISIUN song "Black Force Domain" as a bonus track, as a 180-gram gatefold vinyl and as a digital download.

Classen previously worked with KRISIUN on the "Conquerors Of Armageddon" (1999), "AssasiNation" (2005) and "Southern Storm" (2008) releases.