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19 ноя 2009
DRAGONFORCE To Reissue First Two Albums With Bonus ContentBritish extreme epic power metallers DRAGONFORCE will have their first two studio albums — "Valley Of The Damned" and "Sonic Firestorm" — reissued on January 25, 2010 via Spinefarm Records U.K.
Both titles will now be available with updated packaging and bonus audio/DVD content, some of it exclusive to these releases.
Formed in 1999, DRAGONFORCE issued their "Valley Of The Damned" debut in 2003 — an impressive nine-track showcase for their accomplished power metal forays. Containing a host of songs that still rank amongst the most popular of their output, the likes of "Black Fire", "Evening Star" and the title track itself, "Valley Of The Damned", has now been remixed and remastered to allow every aspect of the recordings to make maximum impact.
"Fans who have heard the original mixes many times might find that the songs sound a bit different now," observes guitarist Herman Li, "but that's how we always wanted the original songs to sound. We just didn't have the time back then to make everything the way we wanted."
The studio track "Where Dragons Rule" has now been added to the audio side, and there is a bonus DVD featuring never-before-seen live footage ("Valley Of The Damned", filmed in Japan), behind-the-scenes material (also from Japan), video commentaries, plus in-studio interviews and clips (shot in Denmark and the U.K.), all of it lovingly assembled by Li himself.
2004 saw the release of follow-up album "Sonic Firestorm", which gave the band the chance to hone their skills and push their fast-lane tales of fantasy to a whole new level. They were happy with "Sonic…" at the time and remain so to this day, which is why the mixing and the mastering have been left just as they are; however, the packaging has been upgraded, an extra track added ("Cry Of The Brave" — a song the group felt uncomfortable taking off first time around), and — as with "Valley…" — a bonus DVD added, this one featuring live footage from Japan ("Fury Of The Storm"), video commentaries plus freshly recorded interviews with the band members themselves.
As a way of celebrating the recordings that effectively launched DRAGONFORCE's international career, both reissued albums will be included in a limited-edition box set along with exclusive band merchandise and various collectible items.
DRAGONFORCE will play a 19-date U.K. headline tour from November 19 to December 12, 2009, with support coming from SABATON, SYLOSIS and GLAMOUR OF THE KILL. 3
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19 ноя 2009
SYLOSIS Begins Recording New AlbumU.K. modern thrashers SYLOSIS entered the studio on November 13 to begin recording their second album for an early 2010 release via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD is being produced by Scott Atkins, who previously worked with the band on their 2008 debut, "Conclusion Of An Age".
Commented mainman Josh Middleton: "We're ridiculously excited about starting work on the next album.
"We're definitely progressing as a band, incorporating some new influences to make an album that's more mature, darker and generally a lot heavier.
"I've been writing riffs thinking things like, 'What if (TOOL guitarist) Adam Jones played guitar in DEATH.' Haha.
"The songs are a little longer this time around and a bit more complex and technical which is something that's just happened naturally.
"We're just about to start tracking the drums for ten days with producer Scott Atkins.
"We contemplated using other producers but we all really enjoyed working with Scott and we were really happy with the production on the last album. He really pushes for tightness and understands where we're coming from musically.
"In terms of the production, this time we're going to aim for a much more organic, raw sound. Rob's really progressed as a drummer in the last year so I can't wait to hear him lay this stuff down in the studio. Once the drums are complete, we head off on tour with DRAGONFORCE so we wont end up recording the guitars, bass and vocals etc. until January."
"Conclusion Of An Age" was released on October 24, 2008 via Nuclear Blast Records.
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19 ноя 2009
CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED: Debut CD Artwork, Track Listing RevealedCHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, the new project led by acclaimed metal drummer Richard Christy (ICED EARTH, DEATH, LEASH LAW, CONTROL DENIED, BURNING INSIDE), will release its self-titled debut album on February 2, 2010 via Metal Blade Records. The CD contains nine tracks, a bonus DVD ("The Making of Charred Walls of the Damned"), and comes in a digipack.
"Charred Walls Of The Damned" track listing:
01. Ghost Town
02. From The Abyss
03. Creating Our Machine
04. Blood on Wood
05. In a World So Cruel
06. Manifestations
07. Voices Within the Walls
08. The Darkest Eyes
09. Fear in the Sky
+ Bonus DVD - "The Making of Charred Walls of the Damned" 3
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19 ноя 2009
MISERY INDEX: Nine Songs Written For Forthcoming AlbumBaltimore, Maryland's MISERY INDEX has issued the following update:
"We are happy to say the hibernation has paid off, and we have roughly nine songs in preparation for the January recording of our fourth full-length, to be recorded at Wrightway Studios in Baltimore, Maryland beginning January 2, 2010. These are the guys that mixed and mastered 'Traitors', so we are excited to do the entire project there this time around. We will have more details on that in the coming weeks.
"In the meantime, we are pleased to announce, at long last, our discography collection of splits and EPs, entitled 'Pulling Out The Nails' (after the first song the band wrote). It will feature 30 tracks, and include all non-album material from 2001-2008, including the 'Overthrow' and 'Dissent' EPs, as well as the splits with STRUCTURE OF LIES, COMMIT SUICIDE, MUMAKIL, and BATHTUB SHITTER, the 'Hang 'Em High' 7", live tracks, bonus covers etc. The compilation was remastered by Scott Hull this year, and will be available in January on CD through our own Anarchos Records imprint, and on double vinyl through Power It Up (Germany) soon after. This CD will also include an extensive 24-page booklet of details, notes, pictures, and an all-time list of all the shows we have performed. We hope its the final representation of the various incarnations of the band in the past eight years." 9
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19 ноя 2009
MEDEIA: \'The Unseen\' Video Released "The Unseen", the new video from the Finnish "alternative death metal" act MEDEIA, can be viewed below. The song comes off the band's second full-length album, "Cult", which was released in September 2008 through Fullsteam Records. The CD, consisting of eleven "gloomy, hard-hitting yet still melodic attacks of alternative death metal," was made available in Finland, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg and Canada. Lyrically the band picks up from where the last record left off, depicting the aftermath of nuclear destruction and prying deep into the minds of the few wretched survivors. Manipulated by their sinister leader, these remnants of the human race form a suicidal cult, the sole intention of which is to make sure that no caricature of intelligence can destroy the planet again.
"Cult" entered the official chart in the band's country at position No. 28.
MEDEIA was founded in 2002 with a clear mission from the very beginning: to concentrate solely on creating a brutal sound uncompromising in nature and rich in content. Their self-financed, self-produced and now sold-out debut album "Quantum Holocaust: World Domination" was released in the summer of 2006 and has since received solely positive reviews. The band's current lineup got its form when Keijo Niinimaa (ROTTEN SOUND) joined the ranks of MEDEIA in 2007, adding his experience and talent to the bunch.
MEDEIA is:
Keijo Niinimaa: Lead Vocals
Samuli Peltola: Guitar and Vocals
Laura Dziadulewicz: Piano, Synth and Vocals
Samuli Kuusinen: Bass and Vocals
Janne Putkisaari: Drums and Vocals
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19 ноя 2009
PAUL RODGERS To Reunite With BAD COMPANY For UK TourBAD COMPANY, featuring original vocalist Paul Rodgers (ex-QUEEN, FREE), have announced eight exclusive UK dates in April. The itinerary is as follows:
Arpil
1 - Birmingham, UK - LG Arena
2 - Manchester, UK - Arena
4 - Sheffield, UK - City Hall
5 - Cardiff, UK - CIA
7 - Newcastle, UK - Arena
8 - Glasgow, UK - Clyde
10 - Brighton, UK - Center
11 - London, UK - Wembley Arena 1
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19 ноя 2009
MAYHEM Frontman Comments On Dutch Arrest Vocalist Attila Csihar of Norwegian black metallers MAYHEM has commented on the the incident this past weekend in Tilburg, Holland when members of the group and their crew were arrested for allegedly causing several thousand dollars in damage to a hotel room.
MAYHEM performed Sunday night (November 15) at Hall Of Fame in Tilburg and had booked rooms for the night at Hotel Central.
An employee of the hotel arrived Monday morning to find hotel a big mess. Plants were thrown in the street, mirrors, a sink and curtains in the bathroom were torn apart and demolished. The beds and television were destroyed and walls were covered in spots/stains.
The hotel estimated the damage at least 5,000 euros (approximately $7,480).
The men, aged 21 to 45 years, hail from Netherlands, Norway, Finland and France.
The suspects were kept in custody until the hotel was reimbursed for repair costs.
Commented Csihar: "Needless to say, I was not involved (and neither was [bassist] Necrobutcher) so luckily I was not arrested.
"What happened AGAIN is that the 18-year-old promoter disappeared with a 1000€ advance on his account a couple of days before the first show of the tour.
"That is the problem with Internet: anyone can act like a booking agent...
"He continually lied, saying it was all booked but we found out at the very end that we had no flights booked and nothing was managed except for promotion at the local clubs and sales of hundreds of tickets in advance. So we decided to book our own flights, local transportation and backline from our own efforts on the last day before the tour started, in order to play this small tour just to be loyal to the fans and to the local promoters (who were freaking out too, of course)... I think we were cool, but you can imagine the stress we were under. Then, of course, you can imagine that this tour was not the best of our lives, but we somehow managed to play good shows and make the best out of it and we survived somehow, swallowing a lot of crap.
"On the night after the last show, the guys got drunk and exploded in that really bad hotel, a hotel in which we didn't even have toilets in the room. I saw part of it, and when I woke up it was a big mess. To me it looked both funny and sad at the same time... Actually, it was not only MAYHEM involved, but some people from the local crew too, who worked for us on the tour as drivers.
"I agree it was stupid, of course, but what could I do? I hope they all learned from a good lesson now.
"Maybe it makes a bit more sense after reading these lines..." 16
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19 ноя 2009
BURZUM To Release \'The White God\' Album In The SpringVarg Vikernes (a.k.a. Count Grishnackh), the BURZUM mastermind who was convicted of murdering MAYHEM guitarist Oystein Aarseth (a.k.a. Euronymous) in August 1993 and setting fire to three churches, has issued the following update:
"As you might already know, my dear ladies and gentlemen, and others individuals too, I am no friend of the modern so-called black metal culture. It is a tasteless, low-brow parody of Norwegian so-called black metal anno 1991-1992, and if it was up to me, it would meet its dishonourable end as soon as possible. However, rather than abandon my own music, only because others have soiled its name by claiming to have something in common with it, I will stick to it. The 'black metallers' will probably continue to 'get loaded,' 'get high,' and in all other manners too behave like the stereotypical Negro; they will probably continue to get foreign tribal tattoos, dress, walk, talk, look and act like homosexuals, and so forth. Some of the 'black metallers,' their fans and accomplices will probably even continue to pretend — and actually believe — they have something in common with BURZUM, but let me assure you; they don't! I play what can be described as some sort of metal music, all right, and they do too, but the similarities ends there. Freud wrote books. Tolkien wrote books. The similarities ends there.
"Why more of BURZUM? Well, I am what I am; a musician. Musicians produce music, when they can, and now I can; I am no longer imprisoned by the criminal anti-Norwegian regime in Norway. Will my music be any good? My guess is that if you like BURZUM you like BURZUM. If you don't, you don't. I do try to change all the time, but most of the time I fail, and many appreciate that. Others don't.
"The coming album is called 'Den Hvite Guden' (The White God) and is a musical and lyrical description of the the White God (alias Apollon, Baldr, Belenus, Belus, Bragi, Byelobog, Jarilo, et cetera) and the annual events of his life. I describe the stories of the myths like they could have been before they were myths, by presenting to you bits and pieces of the sorcery and religion of ancient Europe (more elaborately described in my unpublished book 'Trolldom og Religion i Oldtidens Skandinavia' [Sorcery and Religion in Ancient Scandinavia]). It is not intended for play the 'low-brow metal' style, but instead I imagine a listener willing to sit down, ideally in solitude, and think for a minute, about the White God and our forebears, whether they were Picto-British, Finnish, Gallic, Greek, Roman, Scandinavian, Scytho-Slavic, Daco-Thrakian or whatever, and about their magnificent, intelligent, positive, beautiful, healthy and strong culture. I try to help you create an image of this with the help of your own mind, by offering a few clues and guidelines. The album is political only in the way that it offers an alternative to the depravity offered to us by the intrusive popular culture and the commercial entertainment industry — and by modern so-called black metal, for that sake.
"The début album was intentionally anti-commercial and anti-death metal, the 'Det Som Engang Var' album was experimental, the 'Hvis Lyset Tar Oss' album was intentionally monotonous and ritual, the 'Filosofem' album was intentionally different from the others, 'Dauði Baldrs' was what I could do from a prison cell, and 'Hliðskjálf' too, but they were all music that I liked. 'Den Hvite Guden' will be no different in that respect, but I am older now, in fact twice as old as I was when I recorded the début album, and I am therefore different. The new album might differ from the old albums more than some might appreciate, but I hope not. Even if some of you might appreciate the old BURZUM, I must be allowed to evolve, just like everybody else. Maybe you will like the new BURZUM too. I will not do my best to copy and reproduce my old music, just to please somebody. I never did and I never will. If it sounds similar it is because it is made by the same person. If it sounds different it is because it is not the same music and because I have evolved.
"I can add that just like on the other metal albums (with the exception of 'Hvis Lyset Tar Oss'), 'Den Hvite Guden' features some very old BURZUM tracks. 'Filosofem' featured the 'Burzum' track, from 1991, and 'Den Hvite Guden' will feature the 'Uruk-Hai' track, from 1988-1989, although the title and the lyrics have been changed to fit the new concept. It will also feature the original 'Dauði Baldrs' metal track, from 1993. In a sense this album too will not be 'new material,' but just a collection of previously unpublished tracks; some new, some old. If some think my composing skills have disappeared altogether, then at least there will be some gems for them too.
"You can expect to see 'The White God' around March-April (anno 2010), when he traditionally returns from the hidden world of shadows."
Although his parole application was denied four times — most recently in September 2008 — Vikernes received word in February that he would be released after serving almost 16 years in prison. He was finally allowed to leave this past spring.
Vikernes currently resides in Bø, a municipality in the county of Telemark, Norway. Varg purchased the farm sometime last year and lives on the property with his French wife (whom he met while he was incarcerated) and son. 125
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19 ноя 2009
THE OLD DEAD TREE Is Dead French goth metallers THE OLD DEAD TREE have officially split up.
Commented frontman Manuel: "I wish I never had to write those words, but nothing is forever. These last few months, some disagreements started to grow within the band, regarding commitment and musical direction in the making of our fourth album. Those differences of opinions soon turned out to be a dead-end problem and led me to make the decision of ending the band's activities.
"In twelve years of existence, THE OLD DEAD TREE had its share of lineup changes. Of course, each of them has been an improvement, but they were also painful losses. And I do not want to face that kind of loss again.
"Be that as it may, I am still extremely proud of the work we have achieved and I want to thank all the people without whom nothing would have been possible: past and present band members with whom I learnt so much and had amazing times, our wonderful crew, our label Season of Mist, our tour booker K Productions, and especially the fans who supported us and encouraged us to go forwards. I wish them all the best in their future endeavours.
"This is now farewell." 11
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19 ноя 2009
HEATHEN: \'The Evolution Of Chaos\' Release Dates AnnouncedReactivated San Francisco Bay Area thrashers HEATHEN will release their long-awaited new album, "The Evolution Of Chaos", on January 25, 2010 in Europe and March 31, 2010 in the U.S. via Holland's Mascot Records. The band says, "HEATHEN would like to apologize for such a long wait and delays in the release. with all the circumstances beyond our control we have finally overcome and can't wait to unleash it to fans.
"HEATHEN would like to thank everyone who have supported the band for so many years and have waited for this album for so long. We could not hand over the album to Mascot until it was up to our standards. We are pleased with the results and confident you will be too.
"HEATHEN will start their tour in support of 'Evolution Of Chaos' in March 2010 in Europe and have confirmed Hammerfest in the U.K. to kick it off."
"The Evolution Of Chaos" cover artwork can be viewed below. Photos from the recording sessions are available in the "Pics" section of the band's MySpace page (free registration required to view pictures).
The band's current lineup includes Lee Altus (guitar; EXODUS), Kragen Lum (guitar; PROTOTYPE), Dave White (vocals), Jon Torres (bass; ANGELWITCH) and returning drummer Darren Minter.
"The Evolution Of Chaos" track listing:
01. Dying Season
02. Control By Chaos
03. No Stone Unturned
04. Arrows Of Agony
05. Fade Away
06. A Heroe's Welcome
07. Undone
08. Bloodkult
09. Red Tears Of Disgrace
10. Silent Nothingness
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18 ноя 2009
MICHAEL SCHENKER: \'Doctor, Doctor - Live In Donington\' DVD DetailedAccording to a posting on the Michael Schenker News And Tour Information web site, MVD has set a January 26, 2010 North American release date for a DVD of Michael Schenker's 2001 performance at the Castle Donington Rock & Blues Festival. Entitled "Doctor, Doctor - Live In Donington", the disc will be issued in Europe on November 20, 2009.
Michael's band for the "Doctor, Doctor - Live In Donington" DVD:
Uli John Roth (SCORPIONS) - Guitar
Clive Bunker (JETHRO TULL) - Drums
Don Airey (RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE, OZZY OSBOURNE) - Keyboards
Barry Sparks (DOKKEN, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) - Bass
Guests include Jack Bruce (CREAM) and Pete Way (UFO).
The DVD contains the full show and backstage footage plus five live audio-only songs with Schenker and Gary Barden.
Track listing:
01. Doctor, Doctor
02. Let It Roll
03. Midnight Train
04. Rock Bottom
05. White Room
06. Nemo
07. Assault Attack
08. Attack Of The Mad Axeman
09. Lights Out
10. Natural Thing
11. History I
12. History II
13. Photogallery
14. Discography
Bonus materials:
* Bonus Audio: Five songs with Schenker and Gary Barden
* Biography / Discography
* Fully Animated Menu 1
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