Sweden's OPETH, easily one of the most revered and respected bands in the metal scene and beyond for the past two decades, will commemorate its twentieth anniversary in spring 2010 with six exclusive shows that will take place across the globe in Stockholm, Sweden; Essen, Germany; Paris, France; London, U.K.; New York City and Los Angeles.

Commented frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt: "I can't believe it, but...fuck...we're celebrating 20 years!! 20 years I've been in this band, ever since I was 16! It's insane! As far as I remember, we've never had a release party, never celebrated anything officially. Well, now is the time, you hear?

"We've set up a string of shows, six of them actually, around the world. To say that they will be super-exclusive is beyond an understatement!

"We've discussed the setlist already and it seems like we'll pull out a few songs we've never played before, some of which fans all over the world have been demanding to hear for years and years. Our main agenda for these shows is to have 'fun' whilst trying to blow your fucking minds. You could say business as usual, but really…it'll be special, trust me!

"I can't stress enough how exclusive this will be! We will not add any more shows on top of the six that we've confirmed already, so please make up your mind early on whether you wanna go or not (of course you fucking do!) as I would assume there's quite a few of our fans that might be interested in seeing a thing like this.

"We'll spend the better part of January-March rehearsing for this. All to make YOU fucking happy! OK, we'll be tight, very tight indeed… come see us! It's a celebration!"

At each show, OPETH will perform two sets. The first set will feature the band playing its breakthrough epic "Blackwater Park" in its entirety. The second set will consist of mixed material from the band's extensive catalog. The band will be playing for over two hours at carefully selected venues in order to achieve an element of intimacy and exclusivity, and an overall "You had to be there" vibe!

The venues include the famed and prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, as well as the luxurious Lichtburg in Essen, the oldest fully seated cinema in Germany.

The band will offer exclusive VIP ticket packages to all shows which include a laminated VIP pass exclusive to each show, access to sound check, a meet-and-greet with OPETH, a t-shirt exclusive to that particular show, a signed tour program and a special edition CD/DVD of "Blackwater Park", with a 5.1 mix and a 30-minute, never-before-seen documentary all nicely packaged in a hard cover digipack designed by artist Travis Smith. The special edition will be released in March 2010 through Sony Music. All the OPETH loot will be included in an OPETH rucksack. The VIP laminate will also allow early access to venues without seat allocation so that VIP's can get the best seats in the house.

Below are the dates and venues.

Mar. 30 - Cirkus - Stockholm, Sweden
Apr. 01 - Lichtburg - Essen, Germany
Apr. 03 - Bataclan - Paris, France
Apr. 05 - Royal Albert Hall - London, UK
Apr. 07 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY
Apr. 09 - The Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA

METALLICA, JUDAS PRIEST, LAMB OF GOD, MEGADETH, AC/DC and SLAYER are among the nominees for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The nominees in the "Hard Rock" and "Metal" categories are as follows:

Best Hard Rock Performance:

* AC/DC - "War Machine" (from "Black Ice")
* ALICE IN CHAINS - "Check My Brain" (from "Black Gives Way to Blue")
* LINKIN PARK - "What I've Done" (from "Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keyes")
* METALLICA - "The Unforgiven III" (from "Death Magnetic")
* NICKELBACK - "Burn it to the Ground" (from "Dark Horse")

Best Metal Performance:

* JUDAS PRIEST - "Dissident Aggressor" (from "A Touch of Evil Live"
* LAMB OF GOD - "Set to Fail" (from "Wrath")
* MEGADETH - "Head Crusher" (from "Endgame")
* MINISTRY - "Señor Peligro" (from "Adios...")
* SLAYER - "Hate Worldwide" (from "World Painted Blood")

Other categories of interest:

Best Rock Instrumental Performance:

* JEFF BECK - "A Day In The Life"
* BOOKER T. JONES - "Warped Sister"
* BRAD PAISLEY - "Playing With Fire"
* BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA - "Mr. Surfer Goes Jazzin'"
* STEVE VAI - "Now We Run"

Best Rock Album:

* AC/DC - "Black Ice"
* ERIC CLAPTON & STEVE WINWOOD - "Live From Madison Square Garden"
* GREEN DAY - "21st Century Breakdown"
* DAVE MATTHEWS BAND - "Big Whiskey And the Groogrux King"
* U2 - "No Line On The Horizon"

REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE members Timo Tolkki (guitar; ex-STRATOVARIUS), Gus Monsanto (vocals) and Bruno Agra (drums) were joined by guest musicians Andria Busic (bass) and Fabrizio Di Sarno (keyboards) for a special one-off concert at the Blackmore Rock Bar in São Paulo, Brazil on November 22, 2009 to celebrate the release of REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE's "Age of Aquarius" album.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Heroes (REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE)
02. I Did It My Way (REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE)
03. Galaxies (STRATOVARIUS)
04. Last Night On Earth (REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE)
05. Out Of The Shadows (STRATOVARIUS)
06. Revolution Renaissance (REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE)
07. Age of Aquarius (REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE)
08. Season of Faith Perfection (STRATOVARIUS)
09. Key To The Universe (TIMO TOLKKI)
10. Anthem to The World (STRATOVARIUS)
11. Into The Future (REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE)

Commented Tolkki: "It was a lot of fun play[ing] my old and new songs. They seem to work very well in a live situation.

"Nobody was asking for 'Black Diamond', but I wrote over 200 songs in [STRATOVARIUS], so we will play in the future for sure a nice collection of fresh STRATO songs that people are not bored to hear. There is a lot to pick from.

"I think playing the same set list for seven years is a bit boring."

Danish metallers IRON FIRE have parted ways with guitarist Marc Masters (FORCENTURY). The band states, "In the end, Marc did not have the dedication to the band that we need, but there are no bad feelings involved in his departure and we wish him the best of luck in the future.

"It's now been almost a year since we started song writing for our next album, and it has not been easy to keep the spirit high at times, but the hard work has paid off and we really feel that we have come up with something great this time.

"Kirk [Backarach, IRON FIRE's other guitarist] will do all the guitar work on the upcoming album which we plan to start recording around spring time."

IRON FIRE's latest album, "To The Grave", was released in January 27 via Napalm Records.

IRON FIRE is:

Martin Steene: Vocals
Kirk Backarach: Guitars
Martin Lund: Bass
Fritz Wagner: Drums

Veteran German metallers RAGE will release their new album, "Strings To A Web", on February 5, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Twilight Hall Studio and was produced by Charlie Bauerfeind (BLIND GUARDIAN, HAMMERFALL). The cover artwork was created by Thomas Ewerhard (AVANTASIA, THERION), and it shows the soundchaser as a spider, caught in a web.

"Strings To A Web" track listing:

01. The Edge Of Darkness
02. Hunter And Prey
03. Into The Light
04. The Beggar's Last Dime
05. Empty Hollow
06. Strings To A Web
07. Fatal Grace
08. Connected
09. Empty Hollow (Reprise)
10. Saviour Of The Dead
11. Hellgirl
12. Purified
13. Through Ages
14. Tomorrow Never Comes

The song "Into The Light" is now available for streaming at the band's MySpace page.

Norwegian black metal band KEEP OF KALESSIN is one of the artists who are competing to represent Norway in next year's Eurovision Song Contest.

On Tuesday (December 1), KEEP OF KALESSIN guitarist and songwriter Obsidian C (real name: Arnt Grønbech) told the Norwegian TV show "Lydverket" that he's looking forward to performing the song "The Dragon Tower" alongside Norwegian pop artists and mainstream songwriters.

"I read an interview with Per Sundnes (host of the Norwegian Eurovision finals) where he said they wanted darker and harder songs for the Norwegian Eurovision finals," he said. "At the same time, we had made a song with a catchy chorus, so I just sent it to them."

On being called sellout:

Obsidian: "I think we are gonna get some reactions from the black metal scene, and lose some credibility. Some people, at least, will call us sellouts, but people saying those things are usually people who have an underground band themselves but make a living from selling hot dogs at a gas station. I think it's less of a sellout to play in the Eurovision than to sell hot dogs."

Finnish rock band LORDI won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah". Obsidian C doesn't believe KEEP OF KALESSIN will achieve the same type of sucess in the competition, but he's looking forward to getting more mainstream attention for the band.

"The song might be a little too extreme for us to win, but hard rock has performed well in the Eurovision earlier, so we'll just have to wait and see," he said. "The song will at least give us a little more attention with a broad audience back here in Norway."

Leif Åge Reme, executive producer of the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest finals, says that the TV show did not ask KEEP OF KALESSIN to take part in the competiton for publicity. "Eurovision is a songwriting contest that reflects the type of songs that are being written around the country, even if that means it is not pop. We are seeking a broad selection of songwriters, and not the publicity."

Sumerian thrashing black metal act MELECHESH has announced the addition of bassist Rahm to the group's ranks.

Commented Rahm: "I am honored and proud to be the new bass player of the Mesopotamian metal band MELECHESH. The last year I played nine shows [with MELECHESH as a session bassist] and I am ready for what is coming in the future. I think this is a big chance for me to do new things with excellent music and musicians!"

Added MELECHESH mainman Ashmedi: ”After several shows with Rahm, he proved to be a very good musician, and he has shown outstanding energy and positive attitude both on stage and off stage. And believe me, offstage matters a lot when you are travelling and spending a lot of time together on the road. I am very glad he is a part of the MELECHESH order."

MVD Visual and Sexy Intellectual have set a February 23, 2010 release date for the "Revolution In The Head - Rage Against The Machine and the Art Of Protest" DVD.

Arguably the most provocative band of the last 20 years, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE has, since its explosive debut, been the group most associated with the American protest movement. Picking up the flame from a linear musical tradition going back to the War Of Independence, with the best known protagonists coming up during the 1950s and 60s civil rights movement via artists such as Pete Seger and the young Bob Dylan, the anger remained as brutal as ever during the final decade of the 20th century in RAGE and contemporaries like PUBLIC ENEMY.

This film dissects the work and career of RATM and looks at their place in this always fascinating lineage of artists and performers who have spoken out on behalf of, and drawn attention to, the world's marginalized, downtrodden and oppressed.

"Revolution In The Head - Rage Against The Machine and the Art Of Protest" features brand new interviews with:

* Renowned producer and engineer Garth Richardson
* RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE biographer Colin Devenish
* The band's live sound engineer Dave "Rat" Levine
* The man who signed RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, Michael Goldstone

JON OLIVA'S PAIN, the band led by SAVATAGE mastermind Jon Oliva, will release its fourth album, "Festival", on February 19, 2010 via AFM Records. A March/April European tour will be confirmed soon, culminating with the filming of a live DVD consisting of music from the four JON OLIVA'S PAIN CDs and a healthy dose of SAVATAGE classics.

The DVD shoot will take place on Friday, March 19, 2010 at the 013 in Tilburg, Holland. Tickets are now on sale through the 013 web site and box office. The rest of the spring dates will be confirmed soon.

Commented Oliva: "This DVD is going to kick ass, and [it's] something that I have been looking forward to for many, many years. With the release of our new album in February and the vast back catalog of SAVATAGE material, we will have plenty of material to fill a 2-plus-hour show... The band is great form and my voice is so ready for this. We're going to capture a great show with all the pyro, bells and whistles we can put on stage... and, of course, we will need all of you there to make it an over the top success.

"AFM will release the DVD during our summer festival tour, beginning with our return to the infamous Graspop [Metal Meeting] in Belgium.

"Crank up the new CD and we will see you on tour!"

Finnish metallers PAIN CONFESSOR have completed work on a new three-song demo. The sessions were engineered and helmed by the bandmembers themselves, with the mixing and mastering was overseen by Janne Saksa of Studio Sound Supreme.

Commented the band: "[The demo] was supposed to be four songs but then we woke up and said to ourselves, 'A standard demo has featured four songs since like '70s so why not leave out one song and just do away with three instead?' Sure, we could have just skipped the whole damn demo but that would be so METALLICA, it isn't even funny."

The demo features the following songs:

01. Red on White
02. Tarnished Halo
03. Hope

Italian metallers SLOWMOTION APOCALYPSE are streaming their entire third album, "Mothra", on their MySpace page (stream available until December 5). Out now via Scarlet Records, the CD was recorded at Planet Red Studios in Richmond, Virginia with producer Andreas Magnusson (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, THE AGONY SCENE, SCARLET, DUFRESNE, BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE, SPITFIRE, TWELVE TRIBES) and features a guest appearances by Myke Terry from BURY YOUR DEAD and Matthew Rudzinski from KILLWHITNEYDEAD. It was mastered by Alan Douches (CONVERGE, MISFITS, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, HATEBREED, MASTODON) at West West Side Music in New Windsor, New York.

"Mothra" track listing:

01. Caterpillar
02. Forever, Works Just In Songs
03. In Full View of Heaven
04. Me, Kate and Other Bastard Sons of My Generation
05. Stash
06. What a Rockin' Heavy Metal Get-Up, Dude!
07. Dim Shape in a Black Hole Life
08. Gamera Part. 1: Death Worship Era
09. Gamera Part. 2: The So Called Northern Half
10. Haiku

U.K. death metallers ANNOTATIONS OF AN AUTOPSY have posted a brand new song, "In Snakes I Bathe", on their MySpace page. The track comes off the band's new album, "The Reign Of Darkness", which will be released on January 22 via Nuclear Blast (excluding the U.K. where it will be made available through Siege Of Amida Records). Another new song will be posted around Christmas and the first video will be launched in early January.

"The Reign Of Darkness" track listing:

01. And So It Begins...
02. In Snakes I Bathe
03. Born Dead
04. Bone Crown (feat. Erik Rutan)
05. Emptiness
06. Catastrophic Hybridization
07. VII: The Horror, The Destruction...
08. Impale The Sun
09. Portrait Of Souls
10. Cryogenica
11. Into The Black Slumber

The cover artwork by Pär Olofsson (THE FACELESS, PSYCROPTIC, SPAWN OF POSSESSION) can be viewed below.

Netherlands-based folk metallers HEIDEVOLK have finished recordings for their new Heidevolk album. Dick Kemper is currently mixing and mastering the songs.

Says Heidevolk: "We are very enthusiastic about the sound and songs and we can't wait to present them live to you".

Awik Balaian is finishing the album artwork.

The CD is titled Uit Oude Grond" ("From Old Soil"), and features eleven songs telling different stories of myth and legend from Gelderland and beyond. These stories from old soil are captured in raging metal songs as well as folky tunes. This will be the tracklist:

'Nehalennia'
'Ostara'
'Vlammenzee' ('Sea Of Flames')
'Een Geldersch Lied' ('A Gueldrian Song')
'Dondergod' ('God Of Thunder')
'Reuzenmacht' ('Giants' Might')
'Alvermans Wraak' ('Revenge Of The Alverman')
'Karel Van Egmond, Hertog Van Gelre' ('Karel Of Egmond, Duke Of Guelders')
'Levenslot' ('Fate Of Life')
'Deemstering' ('Dusk')
'Beest Bij Nacht' ('Beast By Night')

Finland's BATTLELORE have issued the following update:

"Unfortunately, Battlelore can not play two upcoming gigs in Russia - Moscow December 11th and St.Petersburg December 12th, 2009. Reason for the cancellation is that some of our band members are not available on those dates.

The local promoter has nothing to do with the cancellation and we surely hope that we could do substitutive shows in Russia as soon as possible.

We apologize all our Russian fans for this cancellation."

Professionally filmed video footage of METALLICA's October 30, 2009 performance at Madison Square Garden as part of the 25th-anniversary celebration of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame can be viewed below. Joining the San Francisco heavy metal giants for the event were Ozzy Osbourne (BLACK SABBATH), Ray Davies (THE KINKS) and Lou Reed joined METALLICA.

METALLICA's setlist was as follows:

01. For Whom The Bell Tolls
02. One
03. Turn The Page
04. Sweet Jane (w/ Lou Reed)
05. White Light White Heat (w/ Lou Reed)
06. Iron Man (w/ Ozzy Osbourne)
07. Paranoid (w/ Ozzy Osbourne)
08. You Really Got Me (w/ Ray Davies)
09. All Day And All Of The Night (w/ Ray Davies)
10. Stone Cold Crazy
11. Enter Sandman

Finnish dark metal band 0 X í S T will release its debut EP, "Unveiling the Shadow World", in early 2010 through France's Ostra Records. The EP's opening track, "Gazing into the Void", is available for streaming at the group's MySpace page.

"Unveiling the Shadow World" track listing:

01. Gazing Into The Void
02. Kingdom Of Slumber
03. One Over Infinity
04. Unveil The Shadow World

0 X í S T, whichstands for "zero exist," performs heavy, slow and menacing dark metal.

0 X í S T is:

Jani Koskela - Vocals, Guitar
Henrik Hajanti - Guitar
Ossi Leino - Bass
Andy Koski-Semmens - Drums

Rockradio.co.uk is reporting:

The BLAZE BAYLEY band were attacked on a street in Greece during their current tour, frontman Bayley has reported.

Two men, whom Bayley says were clearly on drugs, nearly ran down one of the band's entourage after their show in Agrinio, then followed the tour van and threw a brick through one of its windows, narrowly missing someone inside.

In his tour blog Bayley reports: "Agrinio was crazy - a really intimate packed-out gig with plenty of crazy fans and the odd crowd-surfer.

"After the fantastic gig we stopped on the way back to the hotel at a late-night pie shop. I was talking to support act Fury UK's manager when two drugged-up youths on a scooter drove towards him.

"I grabbed him out of the way so he wasn't hurt, just dazed. The scooter boys seemed to think it was our fault - but we'd been standing at the side of the road and they were coming at us at 30 miles an hour.

It didn't stop there - they followed our van, and at traffic lights the weedy-looking one on the back managed to throw a large brick, shattering the side window and narrowly missing our manager. Lucky for us, no one was seriously hurt. The cowards ran away before we could clobber them. It was a horrible end to a great night.

Now all the money from the gig goes towards replacing the van window. It hasn't put me off Greece - but I never thought pies would be so dangerous".

Finnish rockers H.I.M. have released a sample of their new track 'Heartkiller', which is available in the widget below.

The band recently announced that their new album, entitled Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice, will be released February 9th, 2010 in North America.

Check out the album artwork on the left (click image to enlarge). Dates for the rest of the world will be revealed soon.

Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice tracklisting:

'In Venere Veritas'
'Scared To Death'
'Heartkiller'
'Dying Song'
'Disarm Me (With Your Loneliness)'
'Love, The Hardest Way'
'Katherine Wheel'
'In The Arms Of Rain'
'Ode To Solitude'
'Shatter Me With Hope'
'Acoustic Funeral (For Love In Limbo)'
'Like St. Valentine'
'The Foreboding Sense Of Impending Happiness'

The complete track listing has been revealed for the forthcoming "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN) tribute album, which will be released on the cover of the 200th issue of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine. The CD and the magazine, which will coincide with the five-year anniversary of Dimebag's passing, will be made available on December 16.

The "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott tribute album will include the following artists/cuts:

01. ZAKK WYLDE - "Suicide Note Pt. 1"
02. MACHINE HEAD - "Fucking Hostile"
03. MALEFICE - "I'm Broken"
04. AVENGED SEVENFOLD - "Walk"
05. EVILE - "Cemetery Gates"
06. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH - "A New Level"
07. BIOHAZARD - "Mouth For War"
08. SYLOSIS - "Strength Beyond Strength"
09. CHIMAIRA - "Slaughtered"
10. UNEARTH - "Sandblasted Skin"
11. THROWDOWN - "Becoming"
12. KIUAS - "This Love"
13. THIS IS HELL - "Rise"

Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based metallers DIVINITY are streaming their second full-length album, "The Singularity", in its entirety on the band's MySpace page. The CD was just made available through most major online music stores such as iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, TuneCore, CD Baby, etc.

"The Singularity" track listing:

01. Abiogenesis
02. Beg To Consume
03. Lay In The Bed You've Made
04. Emergent
05. Transformation
06. Monsters Are Real
07. Embrace the Uncertain
08. Formless Dimension
09. Approaching The Singularity

The limited-edition two-disc "The Singularity" digipack includes an enhanced CD containing bonus tracks, guitar tab files and instructional videos. The DVD contains high-quality versions of the BrokeBands.com "Making The Singularity" videos plus some exclusive videos on mixing and mastering.

Danish modern metallers MNEMIC will release an iTunes-exclusive single, "Diesel Uterus", on January 8, 2010.

The following versions will be available:

Europe:

01. Diesel Uterus
02. Sons Of The System (LEÆTHER STRIP remix)

USA:

01. Diesel Uterus
02. Orbiting (LEÆTHER STRIP remix)

Canadian extreme metallers KATAKLYSM are writing material for the follow-up to 2008's "Prevail" album, tentatively due in late summer/early fall 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Comments guitarist Jean-Francois Dagenais: "This album will be different than 'Prevail', but will still have the classic KATAKLYSM trademarks and hooks. You will see a much more intricate record than we've done in the past. It will contian some really fast and dynamic parts, but we will also aim on a very melodic-driven record and it will contain lots of technical parts as well that we haven't explored much lately. And no worries, the bone-crushing grooves are always a must with KATAKLYSM and will be present. I've also seen Maurizio's [Iacono, vocals] lyrics for this album so far and let me tell you that they hit really hard. I know it's a very personal album to him as he is going through some tough times in his personal life. So I'm not worried on what he will bring to this record. So expect a very real, aggressive and determined KATAKLYSM album!

"We know we have set the bar high for ourselves, but we are confident to deliver the goods once again.

"On the production end, I will handle the recording as usual, but
for the mix we have decided to enlist Tue Madsen from Denmark. We feel he captured best the band's sound on 'In The Arms Of Devastation'. We feel it's a winning team and we're gonna make sure you have the best-sounding record to date."

KATAKLYSM vocalist Maurizio Iacono will reveal the new album title on Christmas Day.

Concert Live has released an exclusive three-disc live CD of PAUL RODGERS' (BAD COMPANY, FREE, ex-QUEEN) Hammersmith Apollo show from November 6th, 2009 in London.

This CD is only available from Concert Live and features many of Paul's classic hits from Bad Company, Free, THE FIRM back catalogues and his Grammy nominated solo career. It also includes a song that he wrote and recorded with Queen on their recent CD release The Cosmos Rocks.

Guests who joined Paul on stage that evening were singer DEBORAH BONHAM, sister of LED ZEPPELIN's late drummer John Bonham and Bad Company guitarist Mick Ralphs.

The live CD is strictly limited edition and features the full live show and an exclusive 3rd bonus disc that includes photo’s from the night and behind the scenes footage. This backstage video content is exclusive to this live CD, you will not see this anywhere else.

American/Norwegian melodic metallers KAMELOT have issued the following update:

"As KAMELOT's concert schedule grows and commitments increase the demand on its members has also increased." KAMELOT's guitarist Thomas Youngblood states, "Glenn [Barry, bass] called me a few weeks ago and told me he just couldn't do it anymore, and has to step aside. He is like a brother to us and we've been through a lot of great times, so we wanted him to make this decision."

Youngblood adds, "Bassist Sean Tibbetts has been on tour with KAMELOT now for more than 2.5 years, stepping in for Glenn Barry while he took time off for family.

"We are very pleased to announce Sean Tibbetts as the new KAMELOT bassist!!!"

KAMELOT will tour Europe with ADAGIO in March and April 2010.

Finnish melodic metallers LEVERAGE has announced the addition of bassist Sami Norrbacka to the group's ranks. The band's original bass player, Pekka Lampinen, stepped aside "for private reasons."

Norrbacka has been LEVERAGE's live bass player for all of 2009, and is now an official member of the band.

Commented LEVERAGE: "Pekka Lampinen is an awesome musician, and we've been lucky to have him in this band. A big thank you for that, bro. We wish you all the best and good health.

"Sami has practically been in the band band for some time already filling in for Pekka live. He's proven he's a rock solid player and a great guy to work with. So when this situation emerged, it was a given that we'd ask him to become a permanent member of LEVERAGE."

Added Lampinen: 'Many friendly fans have asked on several forums about the whereabouts of Pekka Lampinen. I announce now, that I am no longer a member of LEVERAGE. The reasons are a personal matter. I've been with the band all the way from the beginning, but now it is time to take some distance. This doesn't mean that I will abandon making music all together, but that now there is time to heal and gather strength for the future. I want to thank the whole band for the times together, and especially the loyal fans that have year in year out come to the gigs and supported this great band. It is good to continue on from here."

Stated Norrbacka: "It is a great honor to be the new bass player for Leverage. For me it is like coming home, because I have known some of these talented guys for so long and because I have been a fan of LEVERAGE from the beginning. I will pursue to continue the good work that bass maestro Lampinen did with the band and I wish him the very best."

"Circus Colossus", the third full-length album from LEVERAGE, entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 27.