OPETH's Mikael Åkerfeldt has issued the following update:

"Thought I'd gain some pure death metal credibility and mention that I'm back in BLOODBATH again. I was slightly 'talked into' coming back but I certainly don't regret it now. Obviously I am busy all the time, both with my family and OPETH, so don't hold your breath for any massively extensive tours, BUT, I do believe we'll do the occasional gigs when the time is right. I was asked to sing on a four-track release the other guys been working with entitled 'Unblessing the Purity' and I have to say it's the best fucking death metal I've heard since 'Domination', and I'm not even counting my own involvement. I just basically did what they wanted me to and it sounds really good! We might record another album as well sometime later...

"Further, we're in the process of completing the artwork for the new OPETH album. It's almost done and looking good. The album's mastered and sounds very nice. We had some journalists from all over fly to Sweden for a pre-release listening party and the reactions we're great! They seemed extremely excited all of them, but who gives a fuck about journalists???? Still, it was nice to hear I must admit.

"I'm taking on more work as well, I've guested on an album of a friend of mine, I'm waiting for the 'OK' to let you guys know who it is. On top of that I was asked about another guest appearance which I accepted more or less yesterday. There are more 'big' plans as well that I've been thinking about but mentioning it now would be a bit 'off' as I can't see these particular projects happening until maybe 2-3 years from now.

"All the guys are doing fine, we'll start rehearsing in a couple of weeks. Still deciding on the setlists but yeah....I will have to practise and refresh my memory somewhat I guess.

"Yeah, whatever... 'Rambe on, you retarded fucking fuck,' I hear you say....

"Time for me to go and learn how to play 'Pump Up the Jam'. Since we're moving in that disco-oriented direction, we thought we'd might as well cover a classic....

"If you thought, 'What the fuck?' just then, you need professional help..."

Mikael Åkerfeldt recently spoke to Revolver magazine about the group's forthcoming follow-up to 2005's "Ghost Reveries", tentatively due in the spring via Roadrunner Records.

"The music is much more complex," he said. "The metal parts are even faster and a lot more technical than the last one. It's really hard to play some of this stuff. I mean, I wrote it and even I have trouble playing parts of it. I think it's going to be hard for some people to get into. It's definitely not a commercial-sounding record. The arrangements are exhausting. And it's much darker. Even the major patterns are very dark, while I think 'Ghost Reveries' had some light."

When asked if the songs were influences by anything musical, Mikael replied, I was hugely inspired by Scott Walker, who's an avant-garde artist and crooner. Last year he put out a record called 'The Drift', which is quite extreme and frightening, and it made a huge impact on me. Immediately, I wanted to do something like that. It just felt right. Also, with the situation the band has gone through over the last couple of years with the lineup changes, I just wanted it to be this way. I didn't want it to be a happy-sounding record."

OPETH's "The Roundhouse Tapes" high-definition-filmed DVD has had its projected release date pushed back to September 2008 from the previously announced early 2008. This will also feature lots of fan interviews, band interviews, soundcheck footage and live photos, along with exclusive menu music written by mainman Mikael Åkerfeldt and keyboardist Per Wiberg.

OPETH's "The Roundhouse Tapes" double CD has sold 2,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set contains "a captivating OPETH performance from the Camden Roundhouse, London, UK, on November 9, 2006, and sees the band in scintillating form churning out a selection of classics from their illustrious career," according to a press release.

The band will take part in DREAM THEATER's "Progressive Nation" in the spring, a package tour that will also feature the talents of 3 and BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME.

"Ghost Reveries" has sold around 90,000 copies in the United States since its 2005 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

QUEEN guitarist Brian May spoke to the press after the premiere of "We Will Rock You" in Vienna on January 24, 2008. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: There are rumors that you will be going on tour late this year.

May: "We are planning to. We're planning to tour in the autumn."

Q: What are your plans for the future?

May: "Ah well, we're finishing an album at the moment with Paul Rodgers. We plan to tour later in the year and that's about as far as I can see at the moment. I keep busy. I do lots of other things too. I've become a Chancellor of a University. I don't know if you know that, and a Doctor, and I don't sleep. (laughs)"

Q: Any other musical plans?

May: "We are working — I guess the big news which I didn't tell anyone else, it that we're now working very hard on the sequel. Ben has now finished the first draft of his script called 'We Will Rock You 2' and so will be the continuing adventures of Scaramouche and Galileo and that's a great challenge, you know. To achieve this once is incredible and we feel lucky, but if we could do it twice, then, you know, and with some new surprises, good fun."

Former THE GATHERING and current AGUA DE ANNIQUE singer Anneke van Giersbergen has issued the following update:

"Last weekend, we played our very first festival with AGUA DE ANNIQUE! And not just any festival... we played the Noorderslag fest in Groningen, Holland. Here's where all 'hip and happening' Dutch bands play in front of an eager audience and many people from the biz. We were very pleased to be there!

"And so we are moving on in 2008... We played a very new song called 'My Town' in Groningen and we are prepping a few more to expand our live set.

"The year started of in a fantastic way when Joris and I were joined by my lovely friend Danny Cavanagh [ANATHEMA] and played the Little Devil Club in Tilburg, Holland [on January 2, 2008]. We had no time for a proper rehearsal, but there was some magic in the air that night I guess. Thank you to those of you who came to see us, Danny and Joris and also Paul and LD for having us.

"I have written a bunch of new tunes for the next album already and we will hop into the studio one of these months to make a nice and relaxed start. But first we'll play the clubs and festivals in Holland and abroad. The Dutch festival season is traditionally opened by the great Paaspop festival and we will be playing there on March 22nd."

Watch fan-filmed video footage of Anneke van Giersbergen and Danny Cavanagh (ANATHEMA) performing "The Blower's Daughter" from Damien Rice live at Little Devil in Tilburg, Netherlands on January 2, 2008:

Legendary death metal vocalist Chris Barnes (SIX FEET UNDER, ex-CANNIBAL CORPSE) has officially parted ways with the Finish death metal band TORTURE KILLER, who took their name from a SIX FEET UNDER song back when they were a SFU and OBITUARY cover band.

"I am no longer involved with, or a member of, the band TORTURE KILLER," says Barnes in a statement. "The split is mutual; it was just time for me to move forward. I wish the band well in all future plans and musical endeavors."

TORTURE KILLER has scheduled a string of Europen tour dates featuring Juri Sallinen on vocals. "Sallinen appeared on our 2005 split 7" (Woodcut Records) and has helped us doing random live shows in our home country since 2004 so for us things are like they've been for years now and together we've molded into a properly working live band which we now want to represent to audiences," the group said in a statement.

Nocturno Culto of the long-running Norwegian black metallers DARKTHRONE has issued the following update:

"We have recorded four songs for the next album, 'Dark Thrones And Black Flags'. We sort of tried to keep the title 'hidden,' but my mouth ran over talking to Metal Hammer (damn!!!), so anyways, that's the title, and NO, it's not punkish you bastards, it's METAL TO THE BONE!!! I tell ya, what we allow ourself to do these days.... riff-wise, I mean. IT'S A BLOODY FEAST!!!! The plan is to have the final recordings ready in July at latest. I know, I know, this album comes fast, but not to worry, we'll use just a tad more time on the album after that."

DARKTHRONE's latest album, "F.O.A.D.", was released in September 2007 via Peaceville. An EP, "NWOBHM" (New Wave Of Black Heavy Metal), preceded the full-length CD on July 23.

Legendary Norwegian black metallers MAYHEM were honored in the "Metal" category at the 36th annual Spellemann awards (the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammy Awards) for their latest release, "Ordo Ad Chao". The largest and oldest Norwegian music awards show was held earlier tonight (Saturday, February 2) at the Spektrum in

The nominees in the "Metal" category were as follows:

AUDREY HORNE - "Le Fol" (Indie Recordings)
DIMMU BORGIR - "In Sorte Diaboli" (Nuclear Blast)
MAYHEM - "Ordo Ad Chao" (Season Of Mist)
RED HARVEST - "A Greater Darkness" (Season Of Mist)

"We Die as We Dream (Alone)", the new video from the Italian doom metal band THUNDERSTORM, can be viewed below. The song comes off the group's latest album, "As We Die Alone", which was released in March 2007 via Dragonheart Records. The follow-up to 2004's "Faithless Soul" was recorded at New Sin Studio in Loria (Italy) and includes a cover version of the JIMI HENDRIX classic "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)". THUNDERSTORM's version of the song is described by the band as "ultra-heavy but respectful of the original feeling."

THUNDERSTORM previously stated about the new CD, "Most of this album sounds different from others our works: It's doom-metal-oriented, of course, but most songs have a different style from previous CDs. This album will be the best THUNDERSTORM work ever, that's for sure!"

Another new DISMEMBER track, entitled "Death Conquers All", has been posted on a special DISMEMBER MySpace page launched by Regain Records. The song comes off the Swedish death metallers' forthcoming self-titled album, due in Europe on February 18 via Regain (April 1 in the U.S.). The CD was recorded at B.A.S. studios with producer Nico Elgstrand (MURDER SQUAD, KRUX, MERCILESS, ENTOMBED).

"Dismember" (cover artwork) track listing:

01. Death Conquers All
02. Europa Burns
03. Under A Bloodred Sky
04. The Hills Have Eyes
05. Legion
06. Tide Of Blood
07. Combat Fatigue
08. No Honor In Death
09. To End It All
10. Dark Depths
11. Black Sun

DEF LEPPARD's official web site has been updated with the following message:

"Well, it's one of the constants in the history of DEF LEPPARD, and we regret to inform you that it has popped up again: the release of the band's new album, 'Songs from the Sparkle Lounge', has been pushed back (even though the date we mentioned two weeks ago was only a tentative date to start with). The album is now scheduled to come out on May 5 in the UK and May 6 in North America (international dates have not been confirmed yet, but it will probably be May 6 as well). I guess we don't need to tell you that these dates are also tentative and subject to change.

"We can also give you the working titles of all the tracks scheduled to appear on the album. From the way things look now, 11 songs from the Sparkle Lounge will be making their way to your CD player:

01. Nine Lives
02. C'mon C'mon
03. Go
04. Love
05. Cruise Control
06. Bad Actress
07. Hallucinate
08. Tomorrow
09. Come Undone
10. Only the Good Die Young
11. Give It Away

"Please note that some of these titles may still change (they're working titles, after all) and that they are not listed in any particular order."

"Angels", the new video from Swedish metallers STEEL ATTACK, can be viewed below. The track comes off the group's new album, "Carpe DiEnd" (cover artwork), which is scheduled for release on February 22, 2008 via Massacre Records. The CD was recorded at KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque's Sonic Train studio and it was mixed at Solnasound by Mike Wead (MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND).

"Carpe DiEnd" track listing:

01. Carpe DiEnd
02. The Evil in Me
03. I Keep Falling
04. Holy is Evil
05. Perpetual Solitude
06. For Whom I Bleed?
07. Angels
08. Entrance to Heaven Denied
09. Crawl
10. Never Again
11. Beyond the Light
12. Angels (video clip)

STEEL ATTACK last year parted ways with Anden Andersson (bass), Tony Elfving (drums) and Johan Jalonen Penn (guitar) and replaced them with Johan Löfgren (LACK OF FAITH), Peter Morén (TAD MOROSE) and Simon Johansson (MEMORY GARDEN, ABSTRAKT ALGEBRA), respectively.

Italian power metallers KALEDON have set "Chapter 5: A New Era Begins" as the title of their fifth album, tentatively due in Europe in May/June via Hellion Records. The CD artwork will be designed by Fabrizio Galliccia.

KALEDON last fall announced the addition of singer Marco Palazzi to the group's ranks.

The band parted ways with vocalist Claudio Conti in October due to "personal differences."

The band will enter the studio in March to begin recording its new album.

Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR were honored in the "Best Video" category at the 36th annual Spellemann awards (the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammy Awards) for their "The Serpentine Offering" clip. The largest and oldest Norwegian music awards show was held Saturday night (February 2) at the Spektrum in Oslo, Norway and was broadcast live on the Norwegian channel TV2.

The "The Serpentine Offering" video was shot by Swedish director Patric Ullaeus (LACUNA COIL, KAMELOT) of Revolver Film Company AB and was DIMMU BORGIR's first promotional clip for their most recent album, "In Sorte Diaboli".

Swedish metallers PERSUADER will enter the studio in May to begin recording their fourth album for a late 2008 release via Dockyard 1.

PERSUADER's third full-length effort, "When Eden Burns", was released in May 2006 via Dockyard 1. The follow-up to 2004's "Evolution Purgatory" (Sanctuary/Noise) was recorded at Powerhouse studio in Hamburg, Germany with producer (and SAVAGE CIRCUS bandmate) Piet Sielck (IRON SAVIOR).

PERSUADER members Jens Karlsson (vocals, guitar) and Emil Norberg (lead guitar) teamed up with Sielck and former BLIND GUARDIAN drummer Thomen Stauch in a new band called SAVAGE CIRCUS. The group's debut album, "Dreamland Manor", was released in August 2005 via Dockyard 1. Stauch has since been kicked out of the band.

Iron Maiden have become the first rock band to use a single aeroplane to take them, their crew and equipment on tour - with their lead singer as the pilot.

"Welcome on board. We'll all be living together on this bus for a while. And maybe we'll share the driving."

We are sitting on the tarmac at a VIP section of London's Stansted airport in a very special Boeing 757 - and standing in front of us is our captain is using the intercom to say hello.

His name is Bruce.

Dressed in a white pilot's shirt with yellow shoulder stripes, a black clip-on tie and a security pass around his neck, he looks like every pilot you have ever seen.

He also speaks in that way that pilots do, calm and measured, like they are talking to air traffic control.

Except he is standing on his own plane, addressing an aircraft full of familiar faces: his wife, bandmates and road crew.

They are all sitting in front of him, ready to be flown to Mumbai in India for the first show on a 45-date world tour.

You see, Captain Bruce Dickinson has another job.

By night, he is frontman of British heavy metallers Iron Maiden.

Now a fully-trained commercial pilot, with charter firm Astraeus, he has helped hatch a plan to take his band on the road in a single plane.

"I came up with a crazy idea: just imagine all the gear, all the crew and the band, everybody all on the same aeroplane," he explains.

This is your captain speaking...The aircraft (flight number: 666) is pretty easy to spot.

It has "Iron Maiden" painted on the side and their skeleton mascot Eddie on the tailfin.

Fans have dubbed the plane "Ed Force One".

However, that is where the rock'n'roll stops. There is a proper crew and no sign of bad behaviour or irresponsible high jinks - just a bit more laughter than you would get on a normal flight.

For one, the band's crew are much happier that this is not a commercial flight with no "punters or crying babies".

Shortly before we get into Mumbai airport, band manager Rod Smallwood explains why he likes the single plane idea.


A distinctive livery"It is pretty complex to do this. You've got 12 tons of equipment, you've got 60-70 crew and you've got the band and their families. But with this plane, we can move quickly," he says.

"On one leg of the tour we're doing four major stadium shows in four different countries in one week. You just couldn't do that the normal way."

And after a textbook landing in India, Bruce unclips his pilot's tie.

Now he's heading for the hotel to prepare to play to 30,000 people with his band.

From calm pilot to heavy metal frontman. "It's a bit like being Jeckyl and Hyde," he laughs.

German ambient/gothic rock band DESPAIRATION will release its fifth album, "A Requiem In Winter's Hue", on February 29 via My Kingdom Music. The CD will be distributed by SPV in Germany and Aural Music in all other territories.

"A Requiem In Winter's Hue" (cover artwork) was recorded in the band's own Winter Solitude Studio with help from MarQs Plietsch (Authentic Audio) during the drum recording and mastering stages.

The track listing for the album is as follows:

01. Kiss Of Ashes
02. A Lovelorn Requiem
03. The One Who Ceased To Breathe
04. Musique De La Decadence
05. Farewell In Blue
06. The Shallow Sea (re-recording)
07. Letters From A Coffin
08. Cathartic Revelation
09. Humanity As A Child
10. Lucid Lullaby
11. Inner Peace

Check out the songs "A Lovelorn Requiem" and "The One Who Ceased To Breathe" on the band's MySpace page.

Finnish "love metallers" HIM will release their new CD/DVD, "Digital Versatile Doom: Live at the Orpheum Theatre", on March 11 through Warner. The set was recorded/filmed at the band's November 14-15, 2007 concerts at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.

HIM's latest video, "Bleed Well", which features footage for from the Los Angeles shows, can be viewed below.

HIM frontman Ville Valo recently spoke to Straight.com about his songwriting process. "It's very hard to sing about sunshine and ice cream and birds in fast cars . . . I'm a miserable bastard when it comes to writing music," he said. "I love melancholy music, and I love the darker aspects when it comes to, like, popular music. I've always been a big fan of [BLACK] SABBATH and all that, so obviously they've been a big influence on me, and I wanted to write music that would have a similar kind of gloomy atmosphere to it."

In 2003, HIM released an album called "Love Metal", which featured a gold "heartagram" — a cross between a heart and a pentagram — on the cover. The group has trademarked that yin-yang symbol, which Valo created the day after his 20th birthday, and has taken the "love metal" concept to heart.

"When we started out, a lot of people had a hard time deciding which category we belonged to, because we had the sort of SABBATH-y thing, but at the end of the day we're singing love songs," Ville said. "It wasn't goth and it wasn't rock and it wasn't metal–it was something in between. One of the first songs we ever played was 'Wicked Game' by CHRIS ISAAK, where we put all the really fuzzy, heavy guitars on it, so I guess love metal just sounded good. And you actually have to be a proper man to be able to say that you like love metal."

Swedish death metal "supergroup" BLOODBATH announced earlier today that OPETH's Mikael Åkerfeldt has laid down the vocal tracks for the band's new mini-CD, which is expected to be issued later in the year. "It's been kept secret since the summer of 2007 when Mike was asked to record vocals for four new tracks destined to be released as the 'Unblessing of Purity' EP," reads a posting on the OPETH web site. "Also, the now legendary Wacken 2005 appearance DVD will come out in a near future through Peaceville Records. On top of this, there are plans to record another full-length record which will be the third since the band was formed in 1999. This will possibly be recorded during 2008."

BLOODBATH 2008 is:

Mikael Åkerfeldt - Vocals
Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström - Guitar
Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson - Guitar
Jonas Renkse - Bass
Martin "Axe" Axenrot – Drums

Check out a photo of the new lineup at this location.

BLOODBATH's latest album, "Nightmares Made Flesh", received a U.S. release in March 2005 via Century Media Records. Due to the long gap between the European and North American release dates, the American version was enhanced with two bonus songs taken from a previously unreleased demo recording of "Breeding Death" EP, as well as a different front cover, featuring artwork by Wes Benscoter.

Virginia's ARSIS will release its new album, "We Are The Nightmare", on April 15 via Nuclear Blast Records. Produced by Zeuss (AGNOSTIC FRONT, HATEBREED, MUNICIPAL WASTE) at Planet Z Studios in Massachussetts and mastered by Alan Douches (KATAKLYSM, UNEARTH, SHADOWS FALL), the CD will feature the following track listing:

01. We Are The Nightmare
02. Shattering The Spell
03. Sightless Wisdom
04. Servants To The Night
05. Failing Winds Of Hopeless Greed
06. Overthrown
07. Progressive Entrapment
08. A Feast For The Liar's Tongue
09. My Oath To Madness
10. Failure's Conquest

Commented ARSIS guitarist/vocalist Jim Malone: "I can honestly say that this was the best recording experience that I have had in my years with ARSIS. Not only was Zeuss great to work with, but Ryan [Knight, guitarist], Darren [Cesca, drummer], and Noah [Martin, bassist] all did an outstanding job. We all worked together to create what I feel is the most accomplished ARSIS album to date. It's been a few weeks since we finished recording and I can still listen to the songs; that's a good sign."

According to a posting on the CHILDREN OF BODOM fan site Scythes Of Bodom, the UK's What Records will release three limited-edition versions of CHILDREN OF BODOM's "Blooddrunk" single on March 3:

* Enhanced CD single:

01. Blooddrunk
02. Rebel Yell (BILLY IDOL cover)
03. Blooddrunk (video)

* Limited 7" vinyl single (1,000 copies worldwide)

01. Blooddrunk
02. Lookin' Out My Back Door (CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL cover)

* Limited 12" vinyl single picture disc (666 numbered copies, 1,000 copies worldwide):

01. Blooddrunk
02. No Commands (previously released STONE cover)
+ CHILDREN OF BODOM sticker

Swedish hard rock band ALL ENDS, which features in its ranks Emma Gelotte (sister of IN FLAMES guitarist Björn Gelotte) and Tinna Karlsdotter on vocals, Fredrik Johansson (DIMENSION ZERO, IN FLAMES' "The Jester Race" album) and Peter Mårdklint (EMBRACED, TENEBRE) on guitar, along with Josef Skanås on drums, will travel to Berlin, Germany this week to film three new videos. More information will be made available soon.

ALL ENDS' debut EP, "Wasting Life", came out on May 11, 2007 through G.U.N. Records. The CD was produced by Christian Wolff (WITHIN TEMPTATION, RAGE, LINGUA MORTIS) and the Resetti Brothers (IN EXTREMO, EXILIA).

BROTHER FIRETRIBE, the Finnish AOR/hard rock band featuring NIGHTWISH guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, will release its second studio album, "Heart Full Of Fire", on April 2, 2008 via Spinefarm Records. A single, "Runaways", backed by a cover version of "Chasing The Angels" (from the "Iron Eagle 2" soundtrack) will precede the full-length CD on February 27.

"Heart Full Of Fire" was produced by keyboard player Tomppa Nikulainen and Vuorinen, and sees the band pushing its AOR-influenced style to even greater heights. Among those tracks featured are "I Am Rock" (already a single in Finland), "Chasing The Angels" (plus the title track itself, complete with suitably "foxy" vocals from NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon. The CD was mixed by Torsti Spoof and Jari Mikkola at Studio Audio. Mastering duties were handled by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers Studios.

"Heart Full Of Fire" album, final tracklisting:

01. Wildest Dreams
02. Heart Full Of Fire
03. Runaways
04. Who Will You Run To Now
05. Play It From The Heart
06. Going Out With A Bang
07. Heard It On My Radio
08. Game They Call Love
09. Out Of My Head
10. Chasing The Angels
11. I Am Rock

The second single, "Heart Full Of Fire...And Then Some", is scheduled to come out in May. The track listing of the single is as follows:

01. Heart Full Of Fire (featuring Anette Olzon)
02. Heart Full Of Fire (JS16 Remix)
03. Two Hearts (a new non-album track)
04. Hungry For Heaven (DIO cover)

Founded by five Finnish musicians with a deep regard for all-conquering U.S. heavyweights such as JOURNEY and VAN HALEN, the band — also featuring LEVERAGE frontman Pekka Ansio Heino — released its debut album, "Break Out", back in 2006. A 10-track affair built around melody-conscious rockers such as "I'm On Fire", "Valerie" and first single/video "One Single Breath", the record instantly caused a stir with the quality of its songwriting and the energy of its excecution…

Norwegian extreme metallers IN VAIN have issued the following update:

"For the first half of this year, IN VAIN will focus on writing new material. Depending on how the songwriting is progressing, we hope to enter the studio this summer to record a new album. Quite a few songs are already finished."

IN VAIN release its full-length debut, "The Latter Rain", last year via Indie Recordings. The CD was recorded at DUB Studio (GREEN CARNATION, BLOOD RED THRONE, CHAIN COLLECTOR) in the summer/fall of 2006 and involved close to 20 guest musicians and several guest vocalists, such as Jan K. Transeth (IN THE WOODS...) and Kjetil Nordhus (GREEN CARNATION, TRAIL OF TEARS).

NIGHTWISH, MACHINE HEAD, DARK TRANQUILLITY and SONIC SYNDICATE were among the honorees at the "Swedish Metal Awards 2008", which was held Saturday night (January 26) at the Grand Hotel in Falkenberg, Sweden. Winners were selected from more than 58,000 fan votes which were submitted via an Internet-based poll on the "Swedish Metal Awards" web site.

"Swedish Metal Awards 2008" complete list of winners:

Hard Rock: HARDCORE SUPERSTAR - "Dreamin' In A Casket"
Death Metal: ARCH ENEMY - "Rise Of The Tyrant"
Heavy/Power Metal: SABATON - "Metalizer"
Glam/Sleaze: CRASHDIET - "Unattractive Revolution"
Punk/Hardcore: DIA PSALMA - "Djupa Skogen"
Metal: PAIN - "Psalms Of Extinction"
Alternative Metal: DARK TRANQUILLITY - "Fiction"
Newcomer: SONIC SYNDICATE
Live Act: EUROPE
Internantional Hard Rock: NIGHTWISH - "Dark Passion Play"
International Metal: MACHINE HEAD - "The Blackening"
International Live Act: W.A.S.P.

March 31 will see the release of DREAM THEATER's "Forsaken" digital EP. The title track, "Forsaken", which is taken from 2007's critically acclaimed "Systematic Chaos" CD, will be joined on the EP by three live tracks recorded last year in Spain. The full track listing is as follows:

01. Forsaken (edit)
02. Forsaken (live)
03. Constant Motion (live)
04. Dark Eternal Night (live)

DREAM THEATER's new anime-themed video for the song "Forsaken" received its small-screen premiere this past Saturday (January 26) on MTV2's "Headbanger's Ball". The clip was created by the Japanese animation studio Gonzo and director Yasufumi Soejima and can be viewed below. The video's executive producer, Joey Goubeaud of Amusement Park Media, coordinated the efforts between DREAM THEATER and Gonzo.

Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen will release a new single, "Die Alive", in Europe on March 7 via Universal Music. The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Die Alive (album version)
02. Die Alive (alternative version)
03. Lost Northern Star (ambience sublow mix)
04. Calling Grace (full version)
05. Die Alive (video)