Karl Sanders, the driving force behind South Carolina's Egyptian-themed death metal titans NILE, has inked a solo deal with The End Records. Sanders' second full-length solo album, entitled "Saurian Exorcisms", will be released on April 14. The CD — which was recorded at Serpent Headed Studios, mixed by Bob Moore at the Soundlab in Columbia, South Carolina, and mastered by Juan Punchy Gonzalez at D.O.W. Studios in Tampa, Florida — contains nine carefully constructed dark cinematic songs that work in harmony to create a uniquely moving emotional experience.

"Saurian Exorcisms" (cover) track listing:

01. Preliminary Purification Before the Calling of Inanna
02. Rapture of the Empty Spaces
03. Contemplate this On the Tree of Woe
04. A Most Effective Excorcism against Azagthoth and his Emissaries
05. Slavery to Nitokris
06. Shira Gula Pazu
07. Kali Ma
08. Curse the Sun
09. Dying Embers of the Aga Mass SSSratu

Personnel:

* Karl Sanders - Baglama Saz, Glissentar, Acoustic Guitars, Guitar Synth, Keyboards, Drums, Percussion, Vocals
* Mike Breazeale - Vocals and Chants

Sanders, who has been playing guitar for the better part of four decades, certainly knows his way around the instrument. But for his solo work, Sanders opts for more diverse instrumentation. "I love the baglama saz, for example," he admits. "It's a really cool instrument because there are half step frets. If you put the quarter tone in the right place you can add a lot of dark mystery to a melody," he explains.

"While I do have a natural ease of technique with just about any stringed instrument, which could easily lend itself to miles and miles of would-be saz spaghetti shredfest, I use the instrument in a more compositional and thematic way — playing evocative melodies and song-oriented riffs.

"I have immense respect for the Eastern musicians who are accomplished in playing the instrument in its traditional style. Most of my musical training, however, is Western-oriented, so no matter what I do I'm not going to sound completely authentic with the saz. So rather than get caught up in merely attempting to emulate the great Turkish players like Orhan Gencebay, which would never be realistically achievable anyway, I get more enjoyment out of approaching the saz in a non-traditional, uniquely musical, and personal way."

The baglama saz, a traditional Turkish lute, is just one of many instruments Sanders employs to create lush imagery and stirring emotion in his solo work. Glissentar (a sort of east/west hybrid instrument), acoustic guitars, guitar synth, keyboards, and various drums and percussion instruments are employed as well on Sanders' forthcoming follow-up to 2004's "Saurian Meditation" (Relapse Records). "Saurian Exorcisms" is Sanders' magnum opus and every instrument present, including percussion, was performed by Sanders himself.

"I'm a big fan of Arabic rhythms and middle eastern percussion instruments," Sanders explains. "But since I'm not a drummer by trade, it takes a bit longer to do all the drums myself. The upside is that I don't have to wait on anybody else, and I don't have to spend my energy needlessly debating drum arrangements or endlessly trying to explain unusual song concepts."

"Since percussion is not my forte," he continues, "the drum parts end up being a little less cluttered and more custom tailored to the song. The drums aren't necessarily the prime thrust of the record, but they're thematically appropriate and they're interesting as they function to help set the right mood and keep a nice compositional focus."

Besides Sanders, the only other musician appearing on "Saurian Exorcisms" is Mike Breazeale, who contributes chants and some vocals. "Between the two of us we did everything on the album, even the stuff that sounds like female vocals," Sanders chuckles. Sanders' influences are more varied and far-reaching than NILE fans may suspect. "What I've been trying to do is move away from strict Egyptian kind of influences and incorporate a broader range of inspiration. The music I'm making is not strictly traditional Egyptian music. I borrow and steal from the traditional music of many different cultures. There's some Tibetan stuff, some Indian stuff, some Arabic stuff, and so forth."

He concludes by saying, "I hope that people find 'Saurian Exorcisms' relaxing and imaginative. A lot of times when I'm listening to this music it makes my mind wander adrift and my imagination go places. And I like music like that. Like cinematic music, you listen to it and see little movies in your head. It takes you to a different place."

Christina Fuoco-Karasinski of LiveDaily recently conducted an interview with METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

LiveDaily: How have you seen the band grow since you joined METALLICA almost six years ago?

Trujillo: In a lot of ways: For starters, me, personally and Kirk [Hammett, guitar], we've now got children. When I first joined METALLICA back in 2003, I wasn't married, I didn't have kids. Now I'm sitting here with a 2-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son, happily married. That's a major transition in one's life. When I first joined the band, I was kind of like the boy in the bubble. I really had to focus on being a part of this band and learning over 23 years of catalog at the time, then learning all the "St. Anger" material, which was really crazy. So I had to create this bubble environment, so I could only focus on that. That would have been difficult with the full-on family back then. And then also Kirk, as I mentioned, has a couple kids as well. Lars [Ulrich, drums] had a child just over a year ago. There's a lot of new magic in the band, somewhere we can all connect, where we share the same interests. Outside of a lot of things like family, we don't have a lot of the same interests. We're all different. Our families sort of bring us together. The music brings us together, definitely. It's nice to have the family aspect in there too, something we obviously love and cherish. We can all share that.

LiveDaily: What do you see for the future of METALLICA? You have one more album left on your deal with Warner Bros., correct?

Trujillo: Basically, I don't know the technical details. I can only tell you this: outside of the business side of things — which is probably what you're asking me — on a creative level, the sky's the limit. To me, "Death Magnetic" is only a launch pad. We're already jamming on new ideas and new riffs. There's a rhythm-section thing that I'm feeling with Lars that I'd like to dive into even more so with the future. It's great to be playing thrashy, heavy riffs again, too. That's one of the things with this band — there's no shortage of musical ideas. When you check out some of the other bands that have been around for so many years, sometimes the hardest thing is to stay motivated. Sometimes bands will end up playing almost like — how do you say it? — a tribute scenario where they're playing all the hits all the time. That's cool. But the future of [that type of] band doesn't seem as interesting. I think we still got it in us to create interesting music and to get even better with it. That's kind of fun.

On the 15th of February we will enter the studio to record our sixth album. The upcoming album Karkelo (it means something like having fun, or partying) will contain 14 songs... sorry, we cannot do any less :)

The recordings will start in Hollola, Petrax studio, where Matson will do his drum work. After that we will switch to the Grooveland Recording Studio in Lahti, where the rest of the recordings will be made under the demanding eyes of the producer Aksu Hanttu.

The cover art will be done by our friend Jan 'Örkki' Yrlund again.


Karkelo is scheduled for release by Nuclear Blast in June 2009.

German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR have completed work on their new album, "16.6: (Before The Devil Knows You're Dead)", at House Of Music studios in Winterbach, Germany with Dennis Ward and Achim Köhler. The CD, which is due in May via Frontiers Records, will mark the group's first release with guitarist Magnus Karlsson (ALLEN/LANDE, STARBREAKER), who replaced Stefan Leibing last year. Returning guitarist Henny Wolter and Karlsson participated in the songwriting and pre-production, which took place at Karlsson's Stuntguitar Studio in Sweden. The band spent four weeks at House Of Music recording the effort, which was mastered by Ted Jensen at the Sterling Sound in New York City.

Commented bassist Mat Sinner: "I'm really proud of our work. The guys of the band and the entire team did a killer job! I love the crystal-clear sound of the album and total dedication of the players. The fans of our first albums will really love the new tracks, plus there are a lot of sophisticated more stuff on '16.6' following the path of 'Seven Seals' or 'New Religion'."

Guitarist Henny Wolter commented on several of the tracks that appear on "16.6: (Before The Devil Knows You're Dead)":

* "Riding The Eagle": "[This track] is bringing back that 'Nuclear Fire' vibe with a full speed double-bass groove and those typical heavy guitar riffs and high-speed twin leads that PRIMAL FEAR stands for. Above all, it's that mix between full-throttle metal and melody with Ralf Scheepers powerful vocals on which PRIMAL FEAR built their reputation."

* "Six Times Dead (16.6)" : "The title track and a super-heavy guitar riff, stomping groove with a new approach and a message to the fans; 100% PRIMAL FEAR!"

* "Black Rain": "A nearly seven-minute epic with big instrumentation, and a heavy Arabian atmosphere. Lots of variations and sophisticated playing and singing. This song strongly carries the handwriting of the new bandmember Magnus Karlsson, who is known for these skilful and tasty arrangements."

* "Under The Radar": "Another traditional PRIMAL FEAR speed rocker, a hymn with the classic Scheepers vibe."

* "Torn": "Seven minutes of pure music and the most ambitioned song and riff we've ever recorded. Killer stuff, very groovy and a great melodic vocal line."

* "Soar": "Pure energy combined with a driving groove, a majestic halftime chorus and a great experimental breakdown part — one of my favorite tracks on the new album."

* "Hands Of Time": "This will be a real surprise for everybody. There is always at least one track on a new PRIMAL FEAR album that is different — this time it's 'Hands Of Time' with four guys sharing lead vocals. A very cool song!"

PRIMAL FEAR's last album, "New Religion", in 2007 landed on the Swedish chart at No. 67. It also entered the German chart at No. 60. The CD was released in the U.S. on January 29, 2008 via Locomotive/Ryko. Guest musicians on the album include Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY, ex-HELLOWEEN) and Simone Simons (EPICA).

Finnish melodic metal band LEVERAGE has inked a deal with Spinefarm Records.

Commented LEVERAGE guitarist and main songwriter Tuomas Heikkinen: "Actually, this is LEVERAGE's first real artist deal with a record company. Before, we've had distribution and licensing agreements. Personally, I have no complaints about anything in LEVERAGE's last couple of years, but I'm very pleased that we're now with a very well recognized heavy music label, and that we now get to make our next album concentrating solely on just that. We're in full steam writing new songs, and the overall feeling is great! In addition, our bass player Pekka is now rapidly recovering from a serious disease, which really is the best news of the moment for this band."

Spinefarm A&R representative Hannu Lehtonen added: "I am happy to star working with LEVERAGE and I look forward to hearing their new material. With a strong new album, like both their previous ones have been, I am certain that we can take LEVERAGE into the right direction, step by step. There's tons of work to do for LEVERAGE to conquer the world, but '09 will hopefully be a good kick off for that!"

LEVERAGE will spend the next few months writing material for its third album, to be released in the fall.

LEVERAGE's second album, entitled "Blind Fire", was released in the U.S. on October 21, 2008 via Blistering Records USA, Inc. with Ryko distribution.

LEVERAGE came out of nowhere in 2006, causing a stir with the release of its debut album, "Tides". The group's blend of modern metal sound and old-school, melody-based songwriting earned rave reviews from the media and created a fanbase both in Finland and throughout the rock community in many countries.

"The warm welcome for 'Tides' was a pleasant surprise for us," the band's guitar player and main composer Tuomas Heikkinen previously said. "We got good radio airplay in Finland, even climbed to the charts, all before our very first gig with our own material! Since then, we’ve played throughout Finland at clubs and festivals. Our music has been described as melodic metal or melodic heavy rock, which is fine by us."

He continued, "We wanted to plan the second album and the second step of our career carefully. The songs were all written between the release of 'Tides' and entering the studio in July 2007. Right from the first demos we knew that the second album will be a great step forward for LEVERAGE. Here's why: we're tighter as a band, we know what our own style is and what we might be capable of, and we're busting our butts to make as solid music as we ever can. We recorded and mixed (Torsti Spoof and Jari Mikkola) the album at Studio Audio, Jyväskylä, Finland between the beginning of July and halfway of September. It was mastered at Chartmakers, Helsinki."

LEVERAGE is:

Pekka Heino - vocals
Tuomas Heikkinen - guitar
Torsti Spoof - guitar
Pekka Lampinen - bass
Marko Niskala - keyboards
Valtteri Revonkorpi - drums

On February 3, vocalist Oni Logan of reactivated rockers LYNCH MOB will fly from his adopted home of Switzerland (where he resides with his wife and daughter) to join his bandmates George Lynch (guitar), Marco Mendoza (bass; ex-WHITESNAKE, THIN LIZZY) and Scot Coogan (drums; ACE FREHLEY, ex-BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION) to continue writing and recording material for the group's new album, tentatively titled "Smoke And Mirrors", for a summer release. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "The Phasist", "Mansions In The Sky" and "Hollywood Heroes". Lynch previously stated about the new tracks, "It's got a nice old-school, four-on-the-floor vibe to it… very honest, bare and raw!" Oni added, "So far the songs that have been written are all different from each other. In some ways, it's been a bit of an adventure. It's really too early to tell what will end up on the recording."

Acclaimed extreme-metal drummer Alex Marquez (MALEVOLENT CREATION, SOLSTICE, DEMOLITION HAMMER) will enter PTY studios in Panama on February 4 to begin laying down drums for a three-song EP from Panamanian death/thrashers SARGON. He will also perform with SARGON on January 30 as part of the second annual Hellfest, an extreme-metal festival featuring Panama's best metal bands. This will mark Alex's fist live appearance in at least five years.

SARGON is:

Frank Van Kwartel: Vocals, Guitar
Ed Candanedo: Bass
Wako Sandoval: Keyboards
Alex Marquez: Drums, Vocals

Marquez recently finished recording an album with the Panama City, Panama-based hardcore death/thrash band LA VENGANZA. The CD is currently being mixed and is expected to be completed by March.

In a September 2008 statement released to BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Marquez stated about his lengthy absence from the metal scene, "These last years have been really crazy for me — I've been in and out of jail, battled substance and alcohol abuse that kept me from ever completing anything I ever started. Life sometimes has a way of kicking you in the ass, and for me that kick came when I reunited with my wonderful wife Janett Marquez and my four beautiful children — Alex Marquez Jr., Hellen Marquez, Katherine Marquez and Jason Marquez — and I gotta say I'm very happy and overwhelmed, to say the least!

"LA VENGANZA is very much a band and the name pretty much says what I'm feeling right now — vengeful. Hailing from Panama City, Panama; LA VENGANZA is a return home for me musically as I'm back behind the skins. It took me the better part of last year to clean up and most of this year to get back into playing shape. As a result, I lost about 90 pounds — from 330 to 240 pounds — and playing as good as, if not better than, ever. The style of music is hardcore death/thrash, so those of you who were into SOLSTICE or ANGER will find elements of both in this band. I can never forget my metal roots but can't deny the influence hardcore has had on me."

LA VENGANZA album track listing:

01. Holdin A Grudge
02. Same Shit Different Day
03. La Traicion
04. La Venganza
05. Miami 4 Ever
06. Stuck
07. This Is Not About God
08. 395
09. Maricon
10. Metal Forever Hardcore For Life
11. Cobarde
12. Hang Em High And Let Em Die
13. 16 Years Of Retribution
14. Double Barrel Justice
15. Make Myself Scarce

During his recent "Dear Superstar" interview with Blender magazine, POISON frontman and "Rock of Love Bus" star Bret Michaels revealed some of the reasons his "very fun, very sexual" early-'90s relationship with Pamela Anderson came to an end. One very big reason, he suspects: Pam's mom.

Michaels says he went out of his way to win over Mrs. Anderson, all to no avail. "One of her mom's favorite bands was the BEACH BOYS, so I called up John Stamos, who played drums occasionally for the band," he reveals. "I said, 'John, can you put the mom on the side of the stage?' So he does — they even let her go out and sing with the BEACH BOYS. The next day, Pamela goes, 'My mom really doesn’t like you very much.' I'm thinking, 'What the fuck?' The mom really didn't like the rocker thing or the way I looked — Pamela had never dated a rocker before. I think that played a big part in the relationship."

Swiss folk metal pioneers ELUVEITIE just revealed the track listing as well as the guest musicians who appear on their upcoming acoustic/folk album, "Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion", due on April 11 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD will contain 15 folk songs, most of them written in ancient gaulish language.

Commented mainman Chrigel Glanzmann: "The tracks on 'Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion' take you on a journey through ancient gaulish mythology, a journey deep into the celtic soul. You'll pass diverse instrumental tracks, setting mythological topics into music, as well as songs, which are exclusively sung in ancient Gaulish language. Most lyrics are 1,600-2,100 years old. We're proud and happy we have some illustrious and excellent guest musicians on this album: Fredy Schnyder from NUCLEUS TORN playing the hammered dulcimer on two tracks, Oli S. Tyr from the German medieval folkers FAUN contributing the magical sounds of the long-necked lute on the title track. Furthermore, Alan Nemtheanga from the Irish pagan metallers PRIMORDIAL presenting his vocal art in two tracks, Mina The Fiddler from the experimental folk band BRANÂ KETERNÂ enchanting two tracks with the sounds of the five-stringed viola and at last Sarah Wauquiez, our former bandmember, playing Zugerörgeli (helvetic accordion) on one track."

"Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion" track listing

01. Sacrapos - At First Glance (feat. A.A. Nemtheanga on voice)
02. Brictom
03. A Girls Oath
04. The Arcane Dominion (feat. Oli S. Tyr on long-necked lute)
05. Within The Grove (feat. Fredy Schnyder on hammered dulcimer, Mina The Fiddler on five-stringed viola)
06. The Cauldron Of Renascence
07. Nata (feat. A.A. Nemtheanga on additional vocals)
08. Omnos
09. Carnutian Forest
10. Dessumiis Luge
11. Gobanno (feat. Sarah Wauquiez, Fredy Schnyder on hammered dulcimer, Mina The Fiddler on five-stringed viola)
12. Voveso In Mori
13. Memento
14. Ne Regv Na
15. Sacrapos - The Disparaging Last Gaze

Chicago/Peoria, Illinois quartet MINSK has entered Volume Studios with the band's Sanford Parker producing to begin recording its third full-length album, "With Echoes In The Movement Of Stone", for a summer release via Relapse Records.

In other news, MINSK has announced a number of regional shows for late February, touring alongside SWEET COBRA. The band will also perform at the Roadburn festival in the Netherlands in April.

MINSK's second album, "The Ritual Fires of Abandonment", was released in February 2007. The CD's cover was designed by Orion Landau (ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY, HIGH ON FIRE).

Brazilian metallers SHADOWSIDE have unveiled the artwork for their new album, "Dare to Dream", which is scheduled for release later in the year. The cover was designed by Brazilian artist Jobert Mellow, who previously worked with the band on the American edition of SHADOWSIDE's debut album, "Theatre of Shadows" (2007).

"Dare to Dream" was produced and mixed by Dave Schiffman (SYSTEM OF A DOWN, AUDIOSLAVE, AVENGED SEVENFOLD) at LCM Studio in Sao Paulo, Brazil and was mastered by Howie Weinberg (AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN, METALLICA, PANTERA) at Masterdisk in New York.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Nation Hollow Mind
02. In The Night
03. Last Thoughts
04. Hideaway
05. Baby in the Dark
06. Ready or Not
07. Memories
08. Wings of Freedom
09. Time to Say Goodbye
10. Life Denied
11. Dare to Dream

Commentd SHADOWSIDE frontwoman Dani Nolden: "We wanted to achieve something that would represent the whole idea behind the 'Dare to Dream' title and Jobert knew exactly how to capture that, not only on the cover but in the entire album artwork. The title works really well in our area once every single great band was born from a child's or teenager's dream however it applies to everyone, anywhere. It's for a child that doesn't understand why there are wars out there, for those tired of the office work, dreams of going away on a trip or switching jobs, for those who think of a distant future or simply of what is going to happen tomorrow. Daring is essential in everybody's life and it isn't any different in our case.

"In this new material we kept everything we have been about since the beginning but we dared going one step further. The energy is there as well as the heaviness but we went a little more melodic in some parts and angrier in others.

"I believe 'Dare to Dream' will come as a shock in a positive way. I see ourselves with a lot more identity nowadays, lyrics are extremely personal and I can say this album is 100% SHADOWSIDE."

Nocturno Culto (a.k.a. Ted Arvid Skjellum) from the Norwegian black metal band DARKTHRONE has issued the following update:

"I'm done mixing two new DARKTHRONE songs, and in late February we giving birth to a couple of new songs again. Sorry, but we wimped out and isolated the guitar amp during recording, but it's still live drums and one guitar. Sound is now 'cleaner,' but I guess alot of people would argue that. It still sounds necro as it should, but the drum sound is way better in my opinion. Ahh, what the fuck, who cares anyway??? I find myself very much in the black heavy metal region these days, and the new material gets affected by that."

In other news, Thomas Berglie (KHOLD, OLD MAN'S CHILD, TULUS) contacted Nocturno Culto last spring to ask him to lay down vocals for Thomas' new band SARKE. Nocturno Culto says, "I ended up in a studio in Oslo in October and it feels great to be doing something different. We are even going to do some live shows in Norway this year."

DARKTHRONE's latest album, "Dark Thrones and Black Flags", was released on October 20 through Peaceville. The follow-up to 2007's acclaimed "F.O.A.D." LP was made available in three formats: a regular edition in super jewel case; a vinyl edition; and a special edition in a slipcased super jewel case package with exclusive new video footage featuring DARKTHRONE in the studio — "Fucking Around Version 1" and "Fucking Around Version 2."

A new track from French experimental black metal masters BLUT AUS NORD entitled "The Formless Sphere (Beyond The Reason)" is available for streaming on the Candlelight Records MySpace page. The song comes off the band's new album, "Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue With The Stars", which is scheduled for release on February 23.

Commented the band's singer/guitarist Vindsval: "This album is extremely important for us, we have already composed two amazing songs in the majestuous vein of 'Fathers Of The Icy Ages'. This time you won't find any industrial sounds or disharmonies on the album.

According to Candlelight, "twelve years later, you can hope an ambitious and massive piece of epic, technical and progressive black metal."

The conceptual sequel to 1996's "Memoria Vetusta", "Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue With The Stars" will feature the following track listing:

01. Disciple's Libration (Lost In The Nine Worlds)
02. Antithesis Of The Flesh (...And Then Arises A New Essence)
03. The Alcove Of Angels (Vipassana)
04. ...The Meditant (Dialogue With The Stars)
05. Acceptance (Aske)
06. Translucent Body Of Air (Sutta Anapanasati)
07. The Formless Sphere (Beyond The Reason)
08. The Cosmic Echoes Of Non-Matter (Immaterial Voices Of The Fathers)
09. Elevation (The Dawn Of The Gods)

BLUT AUS NORD's latest album, "Odinist", was released in October 2007 through Candlelight Records.

Legendary vocalist Joe Lynn Turner (RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) has completed and sent to producer Dennis Ward (PINK CREAM 69) all the vocal tracks for the second SUNSTORM album, to be titled "House of Dreams". The mix is already in the works and the album production is going to be completed in February. "I love this project," stated Joe. "The list of the songwriters is impressive and these songs have come to life greatly."

"House of Dreams" is scheduled for release in April via Frontiers Records.

The first SUNSTORM album came out in September 2006. The LP was described at the time as "a monster piece of classic AOR the way it should be and sound in 2006, but with the class and the fascination of the '80s!"

"Darkness Prevails", the new video from Montreal technical death veterans NEURAXIS, can be viewed below. The clip was shot last fall with director Chris Alsop.

Commented NEURAXIS frontman Alex Leblanc: "Working with Chris for the video has been an amazing experience. He is very passionate about what he does and made us feel comfortable during the whole shoot. It was our first video so we decided to go for something simple, but added a little twist to it. We worked on the lighting to give it a special vibe, and the whole goal was basically to put a face to our music..."

Added director Chris Alsop: "The great thing about working with NEURAXIS was that these guys showed up, ready to go and were totally focused on making a wicked video. And that really comes through in the performance. It was a blast to work with them. As a director, it helps when the band understands the process of a production. I worked really closely with the band in coming up with a concept. The idea was to work off the title of the song, to really play up the blacks with slashes of red, very low key lighting, and then contrast that with a Sin City-inspired look which still retains that dark edge."

"Darkness Prevails" comes off NEURAXIS' latest album, "The Thin Line Between", which was released last July via Prosthetic Records. The CD was recorded by Jeff Fortin (ANONYMUS) and the band in February and March of 2008 and features guest vocals from Luc Lemay (GORGUTS). The album artwork was created by Dennis Sibejin (CHIMAIRA, JOB FOR A COWBOY).

Belgian black metal band ENTHRONED has set "Pentagrammaton" as the title of its new album, due later in the year via Regain Records. Frontman Nornagest previously stated about the group's new material, "What we got until now promises that the next album will be crushing and will definitely continue where [2007's] 'Tetra Karcist' stopped."

"Tetra Karcist" was released in September 2007 via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded under the guidance of Harris Johns (SODOM, KREATOR, VOIVOD). Guest musicians on the CD include Ashmedi (MELECHESH), MkM (ANTAEUS), Verderf (ex-VERLOREN, OUROBOUROS), Harris Johns and Dungeon (ICONOCLASM).

Norwegian death metallers THE SICKENING have set "Death, Devastation, Decay!" as the tentative title of their debut album, due this summer via Xtreem Music. The CD, which is currently being mastered in Sweden by acclaimed producer and multi-instrumentalist Dan Swäno, will contain "11 songs of relentless and brutal-as-fuck death metal, including a cover of CANNIBAL CORPSE's 'Hammer Smashed Face' in a way more brutal and bizarre style," according to a press release.

THE SICKENING came to life in 2003 as a side-project of Markspist (SLAGMARK) and Beist (SLAGMARK, ex-BLOOD RED THRONE). In the spring of 2007, Stjernestøv joined the band on vocals, and during the summer of last year, Neeraj (ex-SLAGMARK) was added as the band's bassist. In September 2007, THE SICKENING recorded its first demo, "Soiled Rotten".

Due to his studies, Neeraj left THE SICKENING and the band is currently working with a session bass player, Olve (ex-SLAGMARK, SODOMY CLUB).

German metallers WOLFCHANT will release their third studio album, "Determined Damnation", on April 24 via Massacre Records. The CD, which was engineered by Uwe Lulies (REBELLION), will feature guest appearances by Chrigel Glanzmann (ELUVEITIE) and Michael Seifert (REBELLION). A special limited digipak edition of the album will be available for purchase at the Ragnarök Festival, set to take place April 17-18, 2009 in Lichtenfels, Germany.

Commented the band: "Drums and keys [for the new album] are recorded and currently Skaahl, Derrmorh and Bahznar are in studio to record the guitars and bass.

NACHTGESCHREI, one of the more recent addition to the "medieval folk metal" genre, which is predominantly successful in Germany with flag-carriers such as IN EXTREMO, SUBWAY TO SALLY, TANZWUT, and SCHANDMAUL, will release its second album, "Am Rande der Welt", on March 20 via Massacre Records.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Fiur
02. Muspilli
03. Herz aus Stein
04. Fernweh
05. Niob
06. Lauf!
07. Windfahrt
08. Nur ein kleines Stück vom Himmel
09. Wahrheit
10. Der Totmacher
11. Glut in euren Augen

Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen has set "What Lies Beneath" as the working title of her new solo album, tentatively due before the end of the year. She says, "With [2007's] 'My Winter Storm', I chose the name of the album in the early stages and that helped me to create the concept for the album. With the new album, I decided to do it the same way, so I searched for an inspiring title and all the songs are one way or another related to it."

Regarding the songwriting process for the new CD, Turunen says, "In the last months I've been writing a lot of music for my new album. Songwriting is always an amazing learning experience, and it has been a pleasure to discuss music with different people.

"The album process is still going on and I have more songs that are in the working. It is sounding very promising. The songs are absolutely more mature, wild, and emotional and they sound more me, if I can say so.

"The biggest difference in preparing this new album is that I will be taking the time that I need until the songs are in a shape that I am happy with. No matter how long it takes. I want it to be perfect for me. No hurry; no pressure."

Tarja's album "My Winter Storm" was re-released on January 2. This double CD "extended special edition" is packed with 32 tracks, including the CD "My Winter Storm" with the addition of the song "The Seer" in its original version. The bonus disc presents several new tracks, remixes and live recordings. Among them, the brand new song "Enough" and "The Seer", this time featuring a duet with German rock star Doro Pesch. Both tracks were mixed at Resonate Recording Studios by Toby Wright (SLAYER, KORN, KISS, ALICE IN CHAINS). Also included is the previously unreleased track "Wisdom Of Wind", composed by Jeff Rona and Lisa Gerrard and featuring the Beijing Philharmonic with Qingdao Symphony Orchestra recorded in China. The two-CD set is available as a digipack deluxe edition including an exclusive poster, new album cover and enhanced booklet containing new photos.

As an appetizer of "My Winter Storm Special Extended Edition", a limited-edition collector's item 11-track EP "The Seer" was released on December 1 in the U.K. only.

Former HAMMERFALL bassist Magnus Rosén will take part in a concert with the Göteborg Wind Orchestra on April 23 at the oldest house in Gothenburg, Sweden called Kronhuset (dating back to around 1600). According to Magnus, this will mark the first time a heavy metal bass player has perfomed with a wind orchestra.

In other news, Rosén will embark on tour of China between February 27 and March 10. He will also also open a new music house in Gothenburg in February. It will include rehearsal facilities, workshops, a live stage, and it will be a place where people can meet profesional musicians to exchange ideas, experiences and get information on how the music business works.

X-WORLD/5, the new band featuring Rosén alongside KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque and PAGAN'S MIND vocalist Nils K.Rue, is putting the finishing touches on its sophomore album at La Rocque's Sonic Train studios in Varberg, Sweden (which is located 40 minutes south of Gothenburg) for a tentative late spring/early summer release. According to Rosén, the CD will contain "strange heavy metal with influences from the past to the future." More information will be made available soon.

X-WORLD/5 issued its debut album, "New Universal Order" in North America in November via Locomotive Records.

For more information, visit www.magnusrosen.org.

Norwegian powerhouse vocalist Jorn Lande — who performs under the name JORN — entered the studio in November to begin recording his new solo album, "Spirit Black", tentatively due in June via Frontiers Records. The follow-up to last year's "Lonely Are The Brave" CD — which entered the national chart in Norway at No. 28 and Sweden at No. 42 — will be mixed in February. Songtitles set to appear on the LP include "Road Of the Cross", "Black Heart" and "Rock'n Roll Angel". Jorn states, "People can expect a solid and defined album that will shake the classic metal world and hammer the future Jorn legacy in stone!"

Frontiers Records released the long-awaited JORN DVD, "Live In America", in Europe on January 23, 2009.

Swedish progressive metallers OPETH played in India for the first time ever Sunday night (January 25) at the Indian Institute of Technology's Saarang festival in the city of Chennai to a metal-starved Indian audience who loved every minute of it. They also took part in a signing session after the show where many of the fans got a chance to meet them, get their pictures taken and get the bandmembers' autographs.

OPETH's setlist was as follows:

01. Heir Apparent
02. The Grand Conjuration
03. Godhead's Lament
04. The Night And The Silent Water
05. Wreath
06. The Lotus Eater
07. Deliverance
08. Bleak
09. The Baying Of The Hounds
10. Demon Of The Fall
11. The Drapery Falls

Commented OPETH guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt: "India was great and pretty ubvelievable at the same time. I mean, it's so poor I couldn't believe it. Where we went is the 'real' India, not Goa which is a tourist paradise more or less. We had a 'hotel' in a student type area as the Saraang festival was just around the corner from there. It was basically located in the middle of the woods and was a pretty simple affair. No hot water, no toilet paper, no soap, obviously no room service. But with that said, our chaperone took great care of us and fixed us whatever we needed. There were several monkeys hanging out with us at the hotel. They lived in the woods surrounding it and greeted us outside our doors every morning. There were also plenty of deer hanging around, which almost seemed completely tame and unafraid of humans

"We went for a trip to see some ancient temples which was well worth it and obviously interesting to see. There were shitloads of salesmen and beggars all around which was a bit uncomfortable, but I guess they do what they need to do to make a living.

"We had been asked to judge a competition between five bands as well. They we're playing in a big amphitheater, the same where we'd be playing later on. We were asked to name our favourite band as well as our favourite singer, guitarist, bass player and drummer. Afterwards we announced the winner from stage and they were so happy... they got some free gear (including a PRS guitar) for winning too. We also did a press conference which was just amazing, I mean the people there were so loud, roaring as we came through the door. Same with the signing session. The organizer had set us up with a 50-something-man-strong security team that formed a human chain around as and walked us back and forth from the cars and into the buildings. Insane! People seemed so happy to see us and we almost got chills from the attention... and the fucking roars man...!!! Loud as fuck!

"The show went OK! There were some odd 10,000 people there and the response was great. We had some technical difficulties with the drums and bass, and monitors but overall I think we did pretty well.

"The only negative thing about the show were the sponsors, Nokia cellphones. Some fucking how they'd talked me into doing some retarded fucking thing with a new cellphone from the stage. I was gonna be given a phone and show it to the crowd, press a button and then an OPETH song would come on. Obviously, it didn't work and I was just insanely embarrased by it all. It's so NOT me! On top of that, Nokia fucked us over royally! Playing fucking shit techno in the middle of our set, had some idiot jumping on stage prancing around yelling about Nokia and whetever... plus big-ass Nokia banners in the MIDDLE of our songs as we're playing! Utterly tasteless and overall retarded! I was fuming with anger as I came offstage. They gave me the phone but I immediately gave it away to a random driver we had. It was probably worth a month's wage to him, so he was happy at least.

"So here we go: FUCK YOU NOKIA INDIA!

"But, as I said, overall it was fine, and the crowd was just fantastic! So loud and respectful... it was simply overwhelming! Thank you so much for your hospitality!"

Actor Mickey Rourke, who plays a professional wrestler in acclaimed film "The Wrestler", has reportedly said he is ready to rumble for real with Chris Jericho, a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar and lead singer of the heavy metal band FOZZY, at wrestling event Wrestlemania 25 on April 5.

Rourke made the announcement Sunday night on the red carpet before the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. He then claimed he was going to toss Jericho "around the ring like tossed salad."

Meanwhile, Jericho, who made an apppearance with Rourke on CNN's "Larry King Live", said the actor was out of line and that he was offended by Rourke's comments. He said Rourke made "a mistake.

Norwegian doom metallers SYRACH entered the studio on the January 16 with producer Bjørnar Nilsen to begin recording their sophomore album, due later in the year via Napalm Records. The band has issued the following update on the new CD's status:

"We have now finished recording our new album, and have only a few last-minute mixing adjustments left before sending it off to mastering. There is no release date yet, but a semi-educated guess would be sometime in May. So, we are very satiesfied with Bjørnar Nilsen's work so far, and working with him has been a pleasure. We recommend him to all bands out there. The album cover will be done by the mighty Martin Kvamme, who has worked with FANTOMAS, Mike Patton, DARKTHRONE and lots of other great artists. He is a masterful designer, and we'll post the artwork and song titles in due time. There will soon, very soon, be a new song posted as a teaser for you out there, so stay tuned."

Check out photos from the studio at this location (free MySpace registration may be required to view pictures).

SYRACH's debut album, "Days of Wrath", was produced by Herbrand Larsen from ENSLAVED and was released on November 2, 2007 in Europe and November 6, 2007 in North America via Napalm Records. The CD cover artwork is the painting "Christs" from MY DYING BRIDE vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe.

Check out audio samples on the band's MySpace page.

Italian female-fronted quartet EXILIA has posted another new song, "The Hunter", on the band's MySpace page. The track comes off the group's new album, "My Own Army", which will be released on February 20 via AFM Records. The CD was recorded at Principal Studios in Ottmarsbocholt (near Münster), Germany. ILL NINO drummer Dave Chavarri joined the band in the studio to produce a selection of songs and ILL NINO singer Cristian Machado contributes guest vocals.

Commented frontwoman Masha Mismane: "We can tell you in advance: it rocks! We are all very excited and I can tell you, that this album will be the heaviest record so far since the birth of EXILIA. We managed to 'unleash' even more hidden talents of our great guitarist Alien and with the return of our great drummer Ale, there is no lack of power! After a lot of hard work on melodies and lyrics over the past year, I'm also very pleased with the outcome of my vocals! There are definitely unique elements within every song. I wanted to give them an edge whilst maintaining the original and true characteristics of EXILIA. I can honestly say I can't wait to perform these songs live for you guys to enjoy!"

Check out the "My Own Army" artwork below.

EXILIA will team up with ILL NINO and GOD FORBID for a European tour in February/March.

The two-day trial over the rights to the GORGOROTH band name involving vocalist Gaahl, bassist King ov Hell and the group's estranged guitarist Infernus began earlier today (Wednesday, January 28) in Oslo, Norway.

Infernus (real name: Roger Tiegs) filed a lawsuit against King ov Hell (real name: Tom Cato Visnes) in September 2008 claiming that King (the sixth bass player in GORGOROTH's history) went behind his back in September 2007 and secretly applied for trademark protection of the GORGOROTH bandname and logo, which Infernus had been using since 1992.

The verdict is expected sometime in February.

AHAB, the German funeral doom metal band featuring MIDNATTSOL guitarist Daniel Droste on guitar/vocals and ex-MIDNATTSOL guitarist Christian Hector, has entered the studio to begin recoring its sophomore album for a late spring/early summer release via Napalm Records. The follow-up to 2006's "The Call of the Wretched Sea" will contain seven songs and will be based on the wreckage of the Essex.

AHAB is named after Captain Ahab, a character in the novel "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. Along with its name, the band also draws thematic and lyrical inspiration from "Moby Dick" — some songs even feature direct quotations from the book.

AHAB is:

Daniel Droste: Guitar, Voices, Synths
Christian Hector: Guitar
Stephan Wandernoth: Bass
Cornelius Althammer: Drums

Bassist/vocalist Thomas "Angelripper" Such of veteran German thrashers SODOM has joined forces with longtime friend Detlef "Magic" Lauster in a brand new project called DIE KNAPPEN (old German word for "miner"). The group, which is currently unsigned, has already recorded a single, "Glück Auf", and is currently making it available via the band's official web site or by writing to bestellung@dieknappen.info (single price: 4.99 euros; shirt: 15.99 euros).

DIE KNAPPEN is:

Onkel Tom Angelripper - Vocals
Detlef "Magic" Lauster - Guitar, VOcals
Schiri - Bass
Stefan "Sys" Schlüter - Drums