Christmas "video greeting" from NIGHTWISH (in Finnish, with English subtitles) can be viewed here.

As previously reported, NIGHTWISH's new album, "Dark Passion Play", has sold more than 100,000 copies in Finland since its late September release. In addition, the CD was recently certified platinum in Switzerland for sales in excess of 30,000 copies.

NIGHTWISH's new Finland-only single, "Erämaan Viimeinen" (Last of the Wilds), entered the Finnish chart at position No. 1. "Erämaan Viimeinen" is the instrumental "Last of the Wilds" off "Dark Passion Play", but with Finnish lyrics, courtesy of Jonsu from the all-girl pop/rock band INDICA, who supported NIGHTWISH in Scandinavia.

NIGHTWISH is planning to undetake a third U.S. tour in support of its new album, "Dark Passion Play", beginning at the end of August 2008 and running through the end of September.

"Dark Passion Play" has shifted more than 35,000 units in the United States since its October 2, 2007 release.

Finnish metallers KALMAH entered the studio on October 13 to begin recording their fifth full-length album. An early 2008 release is expected.

Commented guitarist Antti Kokko: "Everything is now recorded and we will start mixing at the beginning of 2008. I guess it will take one-two weeks to get all done. This album will be guitar-driven, raw-sounding, more riff-oriented but melodic, as KALMAH album always is. The band is very pleased with the result and I guess we are doing the best album so far. I know it is a cliché to say so, but I believe we are damn right about it!"

Check out new photos from the recording sessions at this location.

KALMAH's latest CD, "The Black Waltz", entered the Finnish national album chart in March 2006 at position No. 38. The follow-up to 2003's "Swampsong" marked the group's recording debut with keyboardist Marco Sneck (POISONBLACK).

Watch KALMAH's video for the song "The Groan of Wind" (taken from "The Black Waltz") here.

German melodic metallers BRAINSTORM will release their new album, "Downburst", on January 22 in North America, January 25 in Germany/ Austria/ Switzerland/ Italy and January 28 in the rest of Europe. A special MySpace page featuring two songs off the upcoming album can be found at this location. Fans can also check out some new pictures, pre-order "Downburst" in various limited edtions and participate in competitions.

"Downburst" track listing:

01. Falling Spiral Down
02. Fire Walk With Me
03. Stained With Sin
04. Redemption In Your Eyes
05. End In Sorrow
06. How Do You Feel
07. Protect Me From Myself
08. Surrounding Walls
09. Frozen
10. All Alone
------------------
Bonus tracks (limited version):
11. Crawling In Chains
12. Hold Tight

Singer Andy B. Franck previously stated about the new CD, "Together with our producers Sascha Paeth and Miro we created the most intense and diverse album in our history. 'Downburst' shows a very different side of us and on the other hand listening to the album is like meeting with an old friend. All the songs have so much power and such a deep atmosphere I really never expected it could get that far. The songs are bigger and better than anything we have done before and we stretched our musical borders even more than we ever thought. 'Downburst' is by far our heaviest but most beautiful album as well as it is the album where we discovered ourselves in a new way!"

Swedish multi-instrumentalist Snowy Shaw (THERION, DREAM EVIL, KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE, MEMENTO MORI, NOTRE DAME) will play drums for the industrial goth metal band DEATHSTARS on their upcoming European tour as the support act for KORN.

DEATHSTARS' regular drummer, Bone W Machine, is sitting out the tour due to "personal reasons." "I hope you all understand this and don't throw an EMO fit [over the fact that I am not doing the tour]," Bone writes in a statement. "The drums will not suffer though since the extremely competent Snowy Shaw will be whipping skins and breaking sticks in my absence. And no, I am not leaving the band."

Connecticut-based hardcore/metal band HATEBREED will film its February 9, 2008 concert at Harpo's in Detroit, Michigan for an upcoming DVD release. Tickets for this special DVD shoot show are only five dollars.

HATEBREED will take part in Stillborn Fest 2007. The 10-day tour will kick off on December 20 at Jaxx in Springfield, VA and will include support from AGNOSTIC FRONT, GOD FORBID, NECRO, AT ALL COST and Stillborn's newest signing, THY WILL BE DONE. These bands will play the main stage on all tour dates. Additional bands will play the main stage on select dates and will be announced shortly. Some Stillborn Fest shows will also feature a second stage.

Returning ICED EARTH singer Matt Barlow has issued the following statement:

"Brothers and sisters,

"I'm sure that you are all well aware of things that are happening within ICED EARTH, and a statement from me is well overdue. To that, I can only say that I am sorry for the delay, but there is good reason. Last week, following Jon's [Schaffer, guitar] announcement [Statement#1, Statement#2], my wife gave birth to our second son. Everything is well, but of course, those of you who are parents know how taxing the first week can be. During that time, after all things had begun to settle, I realized that there are a lot of things on my plate. At this point, I needed to address them. As you know, family always comes first. Of course, Jon knows that and understands my decision to leave ICED EARTH four years ago. My wife and I wanting a family was a huge factor. Family is also the reason for my return. There is a kinship that goes beyond the obvious. I will speak of that later.

"First, I feel that I need to acknowledge my friend Michael of PYRAMAZE. If not for his inquiry and persistence in asking me to be a member of that band, I may not have realized how much I have missed and been missed within the metal community. In recent days, however, I have come to realize that my participation in PYRAMAZE cannot go beyond the recording of the band's current work. This is due in part, to the fact that I can't be all places at all times. Michael and I have discussed this, and have come to an understanding. I know that the future success of PYRAMAZE will not be based solely on individual performances of band members, but in the songwriting and total performance of the band, which is excellent. I know that I will give everything I have to the record and will support PYRAMAZE on a lot of other levels.

"Let me proceed on the topic of kinship. For a great portion of our lives, Jon and I dedicated our selves to creating music that pleased, angered, saddened, and inspired. Though it can be argued that my contribution was limited, I always felt very proud of what we accomplished with every song. Whether a song was about a true love, a best friend, a ghost, a devil, or a savior; the songs that wrote gave me the desire to engage each one on a very personal level. When Jon and I began to discuss the future of ICED EARTH and his feeling on its success or failure, he conveyed to me the desire to rediscover the passion of the songs that made ICED EARTH so very special to so many people. In my journey of the last several years, I've had time to acknowledge that there are great stories yet to be told. Moreover, I have recognized my desire to be a part of those stories. As mentioned above, there are obvious time constraints where it relates to family, career, and music. One of those issues has already been addressed.

"As for my career in law enforcement, it will continue as normal. Without going into specific detail, Jon and I will work on recording on my time between shifts. As Jon stated before, live performances will be more limited but grander in fashion. We will do our very best to get to the metal masses as often as possible. Jon understands that this schedule will be tougher to work with, but feels that it will be the best for the fans in the long run. There will be critics, no doubt. It has recently come to my attention that some people don't like the police ;-) Let's see if opinion can change on that issue!

"As for the music, I will bring to ICED EARTH the best performance possible. That has always been my desire, and I'm really excited to work with Jon and the guys again, to give you the best metal possible. If you think you're ready... let's do this!"

METALLICA has made its August 17, 1985 performance from Donington Park, Donington, UK available for free download via its official download site.

The setlist for the 45-minute concert was as follows:

01. Creeping Death
02. Ride The Lightning
03. The Four Horsemen
04. Fade To Black
05. Seek And Destroy
06. Whiplash
07. Motorbreath

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Examiner.com in an October 2007 interview that the band's upcoming album will be "heavier" yet more "melodic" than 2003's controversial "St. Anger". Ulrich explained, "Whereas 'St. Anger' was an exercise in over-pummeling the listener, these new songs echo some of our stuff from the '80s — long, epic journeys through different musical landscapes, heavier, but a lot more melodic." When asked whether the new songs will be shorter, in the four-to-five minute range, Ulrich said, "Well, the most of the intros are four to five minutes. I don't know — METALLICA and short songs just don't go that well together."

Although none of the songs have official titles yet, Ulrich revealed that some of the "silly" working titles included "19", "10", "German Soup", "Glass Cow" and "Black Squirrel". Ulrich said the names "relate to where the idea came from, like Glasgow, Scotland became 'Glass Cow'. And when we don't have anything clever to call it, we just call it a number."

The new METALLICA album is tentatively due in the spring.

AMASEFFER, the "holy project" featuring guest appearances by Mats Levén (KRUX, ex-THERION, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN), Angela Gossow (ARCH ENEMY) and Kobi Farhi (ORPHANED LAND), has posted its new single, "Slaves for Life", on the band's official web site. According to the group, "this is the opening track from our first part of a Trilogy recounting the Bible story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt. On the first album of the trilogy we pick up the story right from the slavery period in Egypt when the new Pharaoh enslaves and oppresses the Israelites with forced labour. This is what we tried to emphasize on this song, the cruelty and ruthless power of the cold hearted Pharaoh and on the other hand the Israeli slaves desperate cry for deliverance!"

"Slaves for Life" features Levén on lead vocals, Farhi on lead oriental singing and Erez Yohanan as the narrator. The artwork was hand-drawn by Mattias Norén. Each and every track on the album will be presented with Mattias' own unique hand-drawn illustration in an effort to capture the moment and vision for the songs.

AMASEFFER is currently seeking a record deal.

AFTER FOREVER's video for the song "Equally Destructive" can be here. The track comes off the Dutch symphonic metallers' latest, self-titled album, which was released in Germany on April 20 via Nuclear Blast Records.

A nine-minute audio interview with AFTER FOREVER vocalist Floor Jansen conducted by Norway's Metal Express Radio (web site) in early October at the ProgPower USA VIII festival in Atlanta, GA has been posted online at this location.

Finnish "fantasy metal" band BATTLELORE has issued the following update:

"Recordings of our next album shall begin on March 31st, 2008 at Sound Supreme studios, Finland. Janne Saksa will record and produce the new album and the mixing will be done by Swedish metal legend Dan Swanö. Estimated release time for the album is around August/September 2008."

Regarding the direction of the new material, vocalist Tomi Mykkänen previously stated, "At the moment it seems that there will be bigger, more epic parts in the vein of 'Sword's Song' but also more harder, heavier parts in the vein of 'Evernight'. I'm quite sure that you fans won't be disappointed with this one."

BATTLELORE released its fourth album, "Evernight", in North America on March 13, 2007 via Napalm Records. The CD was issued in Europe in February.

The follow-up to 2005's "Third Age of the Sun", "Evernight" was recorded at MusicBros Studio and was produced by Miitri Aaltonen, who previously worked with the Finnish "fantasy metal" band on their first two CDs, "...Where The Shadows Lie" (2002) and "Sword's Song" (2003). The mastering duties were handled at Finnvox Studios.

BATTLELORE's "House of Heroes" video (taken from "Evernight") here.

According to Aftermath Music, Anneke Van Giersbergen (AGUA DE ANNIQUE, ex-THE GATHERING) and Danny Cavanagh (ANATHEMA) will team up for a special one-off show where each musician will take part in a solo performance followed by a special set featuring both artists. Anneke and Danny will each perform classic songs from their long careers in THE GATHERING and ANATHEMA, respectively, as well as some of their more recent material. The performance will take place at Little Devil in Tilburg, The Netherlands on January 2, 2008.

Anneke van Giersbergen recently posted the video for the song "Day After Yesterday" from the AGUA DE ANNIQUE debut album "Air". Watch it at this location.

"Air" was released on October 30 via The End Records.

Watch fan-filmed video footage of Anneke Van Giersbergen performing in Athens, Greece on December 8, 2007 here.

Danish masters of melodic and progressive metal MERCENARY have wrapped up the recordings for their highly anticipated follow-up to 2006's "The Hours That Remain" (which was subsequently awarded the Danish Metal Award in the category "Album Of The Year").

Commented guitarist Jakob Molberg: "So, the new MERCENARY album has finally been completed, mixed and mastered! It was a really laborious birth after several intense months of constant writing and rehearsing while playing sweaty gigs nearly every weekend in between (Note to self: Let's never do that again.). As we went straight into the studio with our masterly producer Jacob Hansen right after the last gig, we couldn't help but to bring along a lot of the immediacy and groove that we love when playing live. The result is in many ways our most spontaneous album ever, but I also believe it's our strongest yet — it's very melodic, catchy, dark and complex (just like any decent metalhead would — or should — want his metal to be.). With bassplayer / shouter Rene Pedersen recording his first album with us, this album marks the return of some really aggressive vocals — mixed, of course, with Mikkel's soaring clean singing. It's an album that's straight to the point I think, and I can't help but feel we're at the top of our game here. I never had a stronger belief in the potential of this band before."

MERCENARY's new album, entitled "Architect Of Lies", will be released late March via Century Media Records.

MERCENARY's "My World Is Ending" clip can be viewed here. The track comes off "The Hours That Remain", which came out last year via Century Media.

Swedish doom metal band DRACONIAN will release its fourth album, "Turning Season Within", on February 29 (March 4 in the U.S.) via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded at Fascination Street studio (OPETH, KATATONIA) in Örebro, Sweden during September 2007 and features a guest appearance by NOVEMBERS DOOM vocalist Paul Kuhr.

According to a press release, "Turning Season Within" features "raw doom elements combined with the soft vocals of female vocalist Lisa (Johansson) and the ethereal melody lines well-known to fans of the band."

"Turning Season Within" (cover artwork) track listing:

01. Seasons Apart
02. When I Wake
03. Earthbound
04. Not Breathing
05. The Failure Epiphany
06. Morphine Cloud
07. Bloodflower
08. The Empty Stare
09. September Ashes

Check out the song "Seasons Apart" on the group's MySpace page.

DRACONIAN released its special "bonus" album, titled "The Burning Halo", in September 2006 through Napalm Records (October in the U.S.). The CD features three new songs, new versions of several demo songs and three covers.

Watch fan-filmed video footage of DRACONIAN performing a new song at the Metal Female Voices Fest V on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at Oktoberhallen in Wieze, Belgium
here.

The special CD + DVD edition of BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's forthcoming sophomore album, "Scream Aim Fire", will contain the following track listing:

CD (Audio):

01. Scream Aim Fire
02. Eye Of The Storm
03. Hearts Burst Into Fire
04. Waking The Demon
05. Disappear
06. Deliver Us From Evil
07. Take It Out On Me
08. Say Goodbye
09. End Of Days
10. Last To Know
11. Forever And Always

DVD (Video):

* "Scream Aim Fire" music video
* The Making of "Scream Aim Fire"
* Bullet TV
- Welcome to the studio
- Sonic Ranch Cribs
- Night at the ranch (Part 1)
- Night at the ranch (Part 2)
- Quad Pinching
* Photo Gallery

"Scream Aim Fire" is due in the U.S. on January 29, 2008 (Jive/SonyBMG).

Former CANDLEMASS singer Messiah Marcolin joined THERION on stage in London, England on Sunday, December 16. Messiah sang on THERION's "Kali Youga" trilogy and performed a duet with Snowy Shaw at the end of the show on MERCYFUL FATE's "Black Funeral".

The full setlist was as follows:

01. Rise Of Sodom & Gomorrah
02. Son Of The Sun
03. Midgard
04. Asgard
05. Wine Of Aluqah
06. Wisdom & The Cage
07. Kali Yuga I
08. Kali Yuga II
09. Kali Yuga III
10. Lemuria
11. Via Nocturna
12. An Arrow From The Sun
13. Typhon
14. Ginnungagap
15. Preludium (Intro)
16. To Mega Therion
17. Cults Of The Shadow
18. In The Desert Of Set
19. Interludium
20. Nightside Of Eden
21. Opus Eclipse
22. Invocation Of Naamah
23. The Siren Of The Woods
24. Grand Finale / Postludium
25. Adulruna Rediviva
26. Black Funeral
27. Summernight City

Tonight's (December 14) NIGHTWISH's concert at the Paviljonik Arena in Jyväskylä, Finland was interrupted by a fire. According to Finnish media reports, 6,000 people were evacuated when the concert hall started to fill up with smoke. The situation was quickly brought under control and no injuries were reported. The concert eventually continued, but since some of the fans waiting outside the venue were asked to leave by the staff when the ambulances started to arrive, they ended up missing the rest of the gig. Although the cause of the blaze is under investigation, Finnish media reports suggest that construction work on the roof might have been a factor.

NIGHTWISH's official YouTube channel has been updated with three video clips from the band's December 12, 2007 concert in Joensuu, Finland. Watch the footage below.

"Bye Bye Beautiful"
"Sahara"
"Dark Chest of Wonders"

A new NIGHTWISH video blog featuring footage from the final show of the band's recently completed North American tour can be here

DEATH's classic 1995 album "Symbolic" will be reissued in March 2008 via Roadrunner Records. The remastered LP will include the original album tracks plus a cover of KISS' "God of Thunder" (previously available as a Japanese bonus track and on the "At Death's Door II" compilation) and several previously unreleased, ultra-rare, mostly instrumental demo recordings that were completed in early 1994 with the lineup of Chuck Schuldiner (guitar), Gene Hoglan (drums) and Steve DiGiorgio (bass). The package will also come with brand new liner notes written by longtime metal journalist Don Kaye.

"Symbolic" has sold just under 50,000 copies in the United States in the 12 years since its release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

CIRCUS DIABLO — the new project featuring THE CULT guitarist Billy Duffy, THE ALMIGHTY frontman Ricky Warwick (guitar), and ex-THE CULT touring bassist/current CAMP FREDDY guitarist Billy Morrison (vocals) — has parted ways with its bassist Brett Scallions (who is also the former frontman for FUEL and current singer for RIDERS ON THE STORM). According to Morrison, "Brett is deeply involved in being a new dad to Jagger, and has plans with RIDERS ON THE STORM, so with much love and respect, we will be moving forward with Patrick [Cornell] playing bass guitar. We had TONS of fun in '07 with Brett — he and Abby [Brett's wife] are beautiful friends — and we wish them much love and success next year."

M.A.N, the group formed out of the ashes of Sweden's TRANSPORT LEAGUE (featuring former MNEMIC frontman Tony Jelencovich), has finished mixing its new album, "Peacenemy", for a tentative early 2008 release. The CD was recorded at Grand Recordings in Gothenburg, Sweden with producer/engineer Svein Jensen and will be mastered by Göran Finnberg at Mastering Room.

"Peacenemy" will feature a guest appearance on vocals by Burton C. Bell from FEAR FACTORY/ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS on the track "My Own Sickness". M.A.N members comment in a statement, "We are really excited to have Burton's vocals on our album. FEAR FACTORY has always been a great band and also an influence for us in the band, so this is awesome!"

"Peacenemy" track listing (not in final order):

01. Peacenemy
02. Worn Wings
03. Blood Vanish
04. My Own Sickness
05. Outnumbered
06. Body Sewer
07. Harness The Mind
08. 44 Teeth
09. Hacker Saipens
10. Dead Universe
11. Kill It
12. Lay Down, You're Dead
13. Eyes Bled, Tears Shed

DEATH ANGEL guitarist Rob Cavestany has issued the following update:

"Our new recording is done! 'Killing Season' was mixed at Studio 606 by Nick Raskulinecz and mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering by none other than Brian 'Big Bass' Gardner. It is slated for release on February 26 in the U.S. and February 29 in the rest of the world. Leap year 2008!

"Here is the track listing:

01. Lord of Hate
02. Sonic Beatdown
03. Dethroned
04. Carnival Justice
05. Buried Alive
06. Soulless
07. The Noose
08. When Worlds Collide
09. God vs God
10. Steal the Crown
11. Resurrection Machine

"Nick began mixing on November 7, I joined him at 606 on the 19th and we finished the mixes two days later… just in time for Tanksgibin! The masters were sent over to BGM in Hollywood on December 4th and I arrived the next day for the session with Brian. By 6pm that evening I was on my way to the Roxy with a reference CD in hand… just in time for the listening party!

"The party itself was a BLAST! On the Rox was loaded full of our friends, family and industry associates who enjoyed an open bar hosted by the U.S. division of our label, Nuclear Blast America. Everyone chopped it up as drinks were consumed in mass quantities, all the while ROCKING to our new album for the first time…

"Needless to say it was hella FUN! Totally elating to witness a bar room full of music fans partying to our latest offering of jams! Best of all, the entire band was there, working the crowd like we do and loving it! The night concluded in the usual scenario of laughter, hugs, puke and blackouts! Can't wait for the next one! Thanks to NB and all who attended!

"Next day was a hung-over blur of meetings and business dealing that eventually found me back at the mastering lab meeting up with BG to make a few adjustments and print the final master. Then I raced to airport, barely making my flight home with a copy of the finished disc in hand… just in time to get back home with the latest slab of Bay Area thrash metal completed on December 6th which happens to be the birthday of my original inspiration to play guitar… the late great Randy Rhoads. How's that for a good sign?

"Artwork should be done any day now (c'mon Hiro!) and of course Den will do the layout and turn it over to NB… then it's a wrap! Interviews have already started and we've heard some GREAT feedback from the press already so now 'Killing Season' has truly begun… stay tuned for more news soon, my friends! It is ON!!!"

Former SOILWORK guitarist Peter Wichers has completed mixing the debut solo CD from NEVERMORE frontman Warrel Dane at a studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "The album sounds amazing and I am really proud of the songs on this one," says Wichers, who co-wrote most of the material on the LP with Dane.

Songtitles set to appear on the CD include:

01. When We Pray
02. Messenger (featuring Jeff Loomis)
03. Obey
04. Let You Down (featuring Chris Broderick)
05. August
06. Feel Failure (Hail Yesterday)
07. Brother
08. Patterns (PAUL SIMON cover)
09. Praises To The War Machine (featuring James Murphy)
10. This Old Man
11. Lucretia (THE SISTERS OF MERCY cover)

Swedish progressive metallers CLOUDSCAPE have issued the following update:

"The forthcoming third CLOUDSCAPE album will be entitled 'Global Drama'. 12 songs were recorded for 'Global Drama' and it will, according to CLOUDSCAPE's management, be the most varied and interesting album by CLOUDSCAPE so far. It contains a few really hard and raw metal songs and there will also be a few more atmospheric and dynamic songs progressively spiced. More details such as release dates and further information will be announced as soon as possible (expect sometime during January)."

The artwork for CLOUDSCAPE's third album will once again be handled by Mattias Norén. The CD was produced by Pontus Lindmark and recorded at RoastingHouse Studios in Malmö, Sweden.