According to MonsterDiscoHell.com, Finnish monster rockers LORDI are currently at producer Jyrki Tuovinen's studio in Helsinki recording two brand new tracks, one of which will appear in "Dark Floors" — the feature film starring LORDI. A short interview with LORDI mainman Mr. Lordi regarding the recording sessions and the group's future plans follows:

MonsterDiscoHell.com: When were the songs you're now recording written and arranged?

Mr. Lordi: These two songs were composed mainly during the Ozzfest tour. As a matter of fact I remember composing the chorus and the main riff of "Beast Loose In Paradise" in Milwaukee and the chorus and verses of "Studs And Leather" in St. Augustine. The origin of the main riff of "Studs And Leather" goes way back. That one was taken from the unreleased LORDI album "Bend Over And Pray The Lord" (which was supposed to be released as LORDI's debut album in 1999)! Though the tunes were changed, but the rhythm is still the same. The verse of "Beast Loose In Paradise" is from another therapy band sessions from last Christmas. And the rest of both of the songs was basically made between the Ozzfest and TYPE O NEGATIVE tours... Except the c-part of "Studs" was made last week at our rehearsal place with the whole band participating. I think that's the first time some part of a song was made like this in the history of this band. The arrangements are done pretty much while the songs are demoed. The rest while rehearsing the songs and the final decisions in studio when recording.

MonsterDiscoHell.com: Are the songs written especially for the "Dark Floors" movie?

Mr. Lordi: Yeah, the both are written for the movie, although only one of them ends up in it.

MonsterDiscoHell.com: There was a slight misunderstanding in a recent issue of the Finnish music magazine, Soundi, about LORDI going more brutal and raw music- and sound-wise. What's the truth and how's the upcoming material going to be different compared to the "The Arockalypse"?

Mr. Lordi: Our music is not gonna get any brutal or heavier, but not any lighter that's for sure! I think it's gonna be pretty much the same. But it's so hard to think and say for myself. You'll be the judges then. I'd say these two songs are familiar LORDI. Although "Beast Loose In Paradise" is more "movie-esque" and "horror-ish" on purpose. And some might say it's even heavier, but at the very least the chorus will be familiar and melodic LORDI stuff. And "Studs And Leather" is basically "Heaven's On Fire" meet "Balls To The Wall". But as I said, it's really hard to describe them myself. And like I've said before, it's needless to start to get assumptions from what I've said to how's the next album's gonna be like — any way or another. These songs are made for the movie and do not necessarily represent the future material in any way.

MonsterDiscoHell.com: How ready is the concept of the next album music-wise and visually?

Mr. Lordi: Well, like I said, the music is not gonna change. The songs are gonna be the same as on the earlier three albums for sure. But I think we're not gonna go towards "The Monsterican Dream"'s more darker and tentative way. But like I've said so many times before, it's the sound in the mixing, the edit and the production that's gonna define the album's appearance. So the producer has a quite a big part in this. The visual side is still a hell of a chaos of millions of different ideas in my head. From there it's gonna get more clearer (or is it...). But visually the theme is gonna get more heavier and brutal, that I can say for sure.

MonsterDiscoHell.com: How about the much-discussed LORDI DVD? What's up with that?

Mr. Lordi: It's work in progress. I think I'm the one who wants it to get ready the most. At this point, it's not up to the band if and when it will be released. But it's not even ready yet. So there's no shitload of cardboard boxes full of DVDs lying around somewhere, waiting to be released. But every day it doesn't get released, new material gets filmed. Like this week we've gotten some pretty fun stuff from the studio. So the good side of the delay is that every day the DVD gets a couple of minutes longer.

MonsterDiscoHell.com: "The Arockalypse" touring and all the other stuff has been going on for almost two years. The next album will start it all over again. You're still up to it?

Mr. Lordi: Well, yeah of course. All the planning and waiting really makes my motor hum! Mentally I've been working on the next album at least a year now in my head. And all the other members have told me all year long their ideas how their characters or the stage show could and should be improved and so on. And I've got tens of new songs. The first ones I made right after the release of "The Arockalypse". But I'm not gonna lie to you. We're pretty tired right now. We've been on the road since the spring of 2006 so I think it's OK to feel a bit tired. No one could think that this "The Arockalypse" run would last this long. In the last year, we've seen the glamour and the shine of the rock'n'roll world of our dreams, but also some not-so-great things. And this run being almost over, we all feel tired but happy, and unbelieveably satisfied. Much has happened and we've got and received so much, but also have had to sacrifice a lot.

Legendary guitarist Michael Schenker is currently setting up a concert tour under the banner MICHAEL SCHENKER & FRIENDS. The trek will include stops in almost all of UK's rock clubs starting on January 10 and stretching as far as March.

In other news, Schenker is planning to release a new MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP (MSG) album in April, to be followed by a world tour. Entitled "In the Midst of Beauty", the CD will feature the following lineup:

Gary Barden - Vocals
Simon Philips (TOTO, THE WHO) - Drums
Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH) - Bass
Don Airey (DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW) - Keyboards

A tour featuring Barden on vocals will kick off following the album release.

Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen will perform at a special event to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Finland's independence. The concert will take place on December 6, 2007 at Tapiola LänsiAuto Areena with Tapiola Sinfonietta, conducted by Tuomas Hannikainen. Tarja will perform a program consisting of several different versions of the Finnish national song "Maamme" (Our Land). The show will be broadcast live on Finnish YLE TV2 at 15:45 local time.

Turunen's new solo album, "My Winter Storm", entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 3. The CD, which reportedly was certified gold in Finland for sales in excess of 15,000 copies on the day of the LP's release (November 14), landed on the Finnish chart at No. 1 and has since moved down to position No. 4.

British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH have issued the following update:

"The world tour for the 'Thornography' album, which last saw COF in Russia, Ukraine, UK, Romania, Slovakia and North America with GWAR is now complete. The band has now returned home to start writing for a new record over the dark months in the rehearsal room. The new album, which is not yet titled, will be released some time in 2008 via Roadrunner Records."

As previously reported, CRADLE OF FILTH frontman Dani Filth will guest on the "Hard Files" program on Sirius Satellite Radio's Hard Attack on Thursday (December 6) at 7:00 p.m. EST. Rebroadcasts: Fridays at noon ET, Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. ET and Sundays at 6:00 p.m. ET.

A press release states: "This week, join Hard Attack's Mario in the depths of hell. Paul Booth's tattoo gallery in New York City, for a sГ©ance with Dani Filth from CRADLE OF FILTH. Hear Dani spill the blood before he goes beneath Paul's tattoo needle and hear a killer soundtrack featuring music from CRADLE OF FILTH and friends."

CRADLE OF FILTH will release "Thornography Deluxe – Harder, Darker, Faster" on January 29 via Roadrunner Records. In addition to the album's original 12 tracks, the deluxe edition features new artwork, six new songs, live material and videos ("The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking", "Tonight In Flames" and "Temptation").

Most of the new songs featured on "Thornography Deluxe – Harder, Darker, Faster" were written during the "Thornography" sessions but were completed at a later date.

"Thornography Deluxe – Harder, Darker, Faster" track listing:

01. Under Pregnant Skies She Comes Alive Like Miss Leviathan
02. Dirge Inferno
03. Tonight In Flames
04. Libertina Grimm
05. The Byronic Man
06. I Am The Thorn
07. Cemetery And Sundown
08. Lovesick For Mina
09. The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking
10. Rise Of The Pentagram
11. Under Huntress Moon
12. Temptation
13. Murder In The Thirst
14. In The Snake-Eyed And Venomous
15. Halloween II (MISFITS cover) (remix)
16. Courting Baphomet
17. Stay (SHAKESPEARS SISTER cover)
18. Devil To The Metal

Dani Filth recently recorded vocals for the theme song to Dario Argento's latest horror/suspense opus "Mother of Tears: The Third Mother". The song, entitled "(She's) The Mother of Tears" was composed by Claudio Simonetti. Simonetti, a veritable legend among horror film scores, is also noted for penning music to such classics as "Dawn of the Dead", "Suspiria", "Phenomena" and several episodes of the popular series "Masters of Horror".

Tampa, Florida-based death metallers HATE ETERNAL are back with the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2005 release "I, Monarch". "Fury and Flames" will be the band's most diverse and emotionally fuelled record to date due mainly in part to the passing of bassist and good friend Jared Anderson.

HATE ETERNAL founder and vocalist/guitarist Erik Rutan recently did an interview with MTV.com where he stated, "Jared was one of my best friends, and his passing away really affected me and influenced this record a lot. It's a very dark and heavy record — not just heavy as in 'heavy metal,' but heavy-hearted as well."

"Fury and Flames" will feature cover art by Paul Romano (MASTODON, ANIMOSITY, THE RED CHORD) and features new members Shaune Kelley on second guitar and Jade Simonetto on drums. The addition of Shaune means that this will be the first time HATE ETERNAL will be able to perform as a four-piece live — something fans will be able to experience when the band heads out with labelmates THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. Alex Webster of CANNIBAL CORPSE fame stepped in on bass for the recording, but due to his hectic schedule with CANNIBAL will not be able to tour with the band.

Due on February 19, "Fury and Flames" will feature the following track listing:

01. Hell Envenom
02. Whom Gods May Destroy
03. Para Bellum
04. Bringer of Storms
05. The Funerary March
06. Thus Salvation
07. Proclamation of the Damned
08. Fury Within
09. Tombeau (Le Tombeau De La Fureur et Des Flames)
10. Coronach

The trailer for the HATE ETERNAL "The Perilous Fight" DVD (available now) can be viewed here.

DARK NEW DAY — the band featuring Clint Lowery (guitar; ex-KORN touring member, SEVENDUST) Troy McLawhorn (guitar; EVANESCENCE, ex-DOUBLE DRIVE), Clint's brother Corey Lowery (bass; ex-STEREOMUD, STUCK MOJO) Brett Hestla (vocals; ex-CREED, VIRGOS MERLOT) and Will Hunt (drums; EVANESCENCE, ex-SKRAPE, TOMMY LEE) — has completed work on its second full-length CD. "Mastering of the album took place last week," the group writes on its MySpace page. "Talks between management and the label are now taking place in Los Angeles where important topics regarding the album and band are being discussed. Everyone is very excited about the future release of the album and we thank you for all of your support."

Songtitles set to appear on the new DARK NEW DAY CD include "Simple", "Hail Mary", "Fiend", "Outside" and "Vicious Thinking".

DARK NEW DAY released its debut album, "Twelve Year Silence", in June of 2005. The disc featured the single "Brother".

Dutch metallers GOREFEST have issued the following update:

"Their elections may be dodgy, their weather suitable only to fools and penguins, and their billboards indecipherable, but when it comes to his or her enjoyment of metal, the Russian metalhead doesn't fuck around. No siree, Bob. Insane amounts of vodka are downed, faces turn red, the volume goes up to eleven, and within three seconds, the world's upside down and Metal Reigns Supreme.

"The Russians made us feel very welcome indeed, and we met the friendliest of people in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Both are massive, sprawling cities with very impressive architecture, a strong sense of culture and history, and home to some of the sexiest women I've ever seen.

"It was truly an honour for us to be invited over, and we'd like to thank Vladimir and Vitali for being such excellent hosts and taking great care of us. We had no idea what to expect of these dates, but I think I speak for all when I say we'll be back in a flash if someone invites us again.

"Spasibo, Prijatno poznakomitsa, Gde tualet?"

Following the release of the critically-acclaimed "Fear of a Blank Planet" album and the success of their 2007 North American tour comes PORCUPINE TREE's latest offering "Nil Recurring". The mini-album (29 minutes of music) was written during the "Fear Of A Blank Planet" sessions, completed over the Summer of 2007, and is now presented as a cohesive, self-contained PORCUPINE TREE work in its own right, set for general release on February 18th, 2008.
The title track features Robert Fripp on lead guitar, and the album moves through the full Porcupine Tree spectrum of atmospheric ambience, melodic hooks, and crushing riffs. Packaged in deluxe Super Jewel case in textured slipcase.
PORCUPINE TREE is regarded as one of the most impressive experimental/progressive/psychedelic rock bands to emerge from the UK since their inception in 1991, having enjoyed a successful recording career spanning over 15 years.
Frontman Steven Wilson is also known for his recent work with Aviv Geffen as BLACKFIELD and for hisproduction and musical contributions on the OPETH albums "BlackwaterPark", "Deliverance" and "Damnation".

Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM will release their new single, "Blooddrunk", in Finland on February 27, 2008 (March 3 in the rest of Europe). The song is the title cut of the band's sixth album, which will be released in Europe on April 7, 2008 via Spinefarm Records (two days later in Finland). Songtitles set to appear on the album include "Pray for the Devil", "Good Morning Roadkill" and "Tie My Rope" (a re-recording of the song that appeared on the recently released "Viva La Bands, Vol. 2" CD).

"Blooddrunk" is being produced by Mikko Karmila and will feature a guest appearance by Peter Tägtgren of HYPOCRISY and PAIN fame.

The band will travel to Germany mid-December to film two videos, to be produced by Katapult Filmproduktion.

According to an article in the November 2007 issue of the Finnish magazine Soundi, CHILDREN OF BODOM has laid down cover versions of the following songs during the recording sessions for "Blooddrunk":

"War Inside My Head" (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES)
"Lookin' Out My Back Door" (CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL)
"Just Dropped In" (KENNY ROGERS)
"Ghost Riders In The Sky" (STAN JONES)

CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman Alexi Laiho has told Revolver magazine that he plunged into an alcohol stupor that lasted several months following the completion of the band's two-year tour in support of 2005's "Are You Dead Yet?" "I was so tired of everything and everybody," he said. "I was just like, 'Fuck this, I'm going to get drunk."

"I was in a really aggressive mood, so I think the songs are thrashier and faster than the ones on 'Are You Dead Yet?'" Laiho added. "It's a faster album, but some of it is more progressive. You'll just have to hear it."

CHILDREN OF BODOM and IN FLAMES are in talks to play next year's Gigantour in North America, the tour's organizer, Dave Mustaine of MEGADETH, revealed during an appearance on the "Talking Metal on Fuse" show on Fuse TV. Another act that may be taking part in the trek is the Arizona-based extreme metal group JOB FOR A COWBOY.

As previously reported, Finnish acts MOONSORROW and KIUAS have been confirmed as the support bands for CHILDREN OF BODOM at their one-off show on March 8, 2008 at London, England's Astoria. Advance tickets are currently available at this location and via a 24-hour credit card line on 0870 400 0688.

Two songs from CHILDREN OF BODOM — "Angels Don't Kill" and "In Your Face" — are featured on the "Unholy Alliance Tour" DVD, which was released on October 30 via American Recordings. The set features the the "Unholy Alliance Tour: Preaching to the Perverted" lineup — SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD, MASTODON, CHILDREN OF BODOM and THINE EYES BLEED. The DVD has an approximate running time of 90 minutes.

The "Unholy Alliance Tour" DVD was shot at Vancouver's General Motors Place on July 13, 2006, was directed by Adam Rothlein (Speedway Films), and boasts performance footage plus bonus material to include backstage, behind-the-scenes and one-on-one interviews, many of which were conducted by the Unholy Alliance artists themselves

The second episode of CHILDREN OF BODOM's COBTV takes the viewers to Petrax Studios in Hollola, Finland for special coverage of the recording sessions for the band's sixth album, "Blooddrunk". Watch the six-minute clip here.

Former MASTERPLAN singer Jorn Lande is currently at Tommy Hansen's Jailhouse Studio in Denmark mixing his new solo album for a March 2008 release (to be made available under the JORN banner). "We are planning to come see many of you guys and gals around Europe next year — and hopefully other parts of the world as well," states Lande.

As previously reported, Jorn Lande has been confirmed as one of the guests on "The Scarecrow", the third installment of EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA solo project. The album was produced by Sascha Paeth, who also played the rhythm guitar on the CD. The drums were laid down by KISS/ALICE COOPER drummer Eric Singer and the bass was handled by Tobias himself.

Frontiers Records earlier in the year released two separate records by Lande (who performs under the band name JORN), entitled "Unlocking the Past" and "The Gathering". The concept behind this dual release was to satisfy the fans' request for more material and to make some of Jorn's earlier work more widely available.

Swedish symphonic metallers THERION will film their December 12 concert at Petofi Hall in Budapest, Hungary for an upcoming DVD.

THERION's Christofer Johnsson recently made the following announcement:

* Piotr Wawrzeniuk will be joining us at Glachau and go with us until Krakow.
* Messiah Marcolin (ex-CANDLEMASS, MOMENTO MORI) will be joining us at Budapest and will go with us until London. He will also fly down later and join us for the finale Paris.
* Mats Levén will be joining us for the finale in Paris.
* We will be having the amazing belly dancer Arien as a special guest starting at Glachau up until London and then also for the finale in Paris.
* There will also be two more secret guests attending all shows for the tour."

Brazil's "Stay Heavy" TV show conducted an interview with Christofer Johnsson in late September 2007, the day after the band's one-off appearance at São Paulo's Citibank Music Hall. Watch the 10-minute interview below.

THERION's latest studio album, the dual-disc "Gothic Kaballah", was released in North America on February 6 via Nuclear Blast Records.

THERION earlier in the year announced the departure of vocalist Mats Levén (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, KRUX, TREAT, AT VANCE), which took effect prior to the band's appearance at this year's Wacken Open Air festival in early August. His replacement in the group is Thomas Vikström, who is best known to metal fans as the voice behind CANDLEMASS' "Chapter VI" album (1992).

German dark/symphonic gothic metal band ATARGATIS has posted its new song called "Riven" on the group's MySpace page. The track, which comes off the band's latest CD, "Nova", features a guest appearance by Matthias Hechler (Matze) from the German gothic metal heroes CREMATORY.

Released on November 16 via Massacre Records, the CD was recorded and produced at the Helion Studios (DARKSEED, EQUILIBRIUM) in Munich, Germany. The complete layout and design was created by Katja Piolka (PRIMAL FEAR, RAGE, LEAVES' EYES, DESTRUCTION). In addition to the cover design, the band worked with Katja Piolka on their newest promo pictures.

"Nova" contains ten songs, including a cover of ARMY OF LOVERS' "Crucified". The CD is also available in digipack format (including two exclusive bonus tracks).

German melodic black/death metallers SUIDAKRA have issued the following update:

"We have a little suprise for you. Maybe some of you know the song 'Fall of Tara' from our 'Auld Lang Syne' album. To reduce some waiting time to our DVD/'best of' release, we've add an instrumental version of this song to our MySpace profile, which was arranged by [frontman] Arkadius."

Check out the song at this location.

SUIDAKRA DVD and "best-of" CD package will feature the band's Wacken Open Air 2007 performance and will be released in early 2008.

SUIDAKRA's video for the song "The IXth Legion" can be viewed here. The track comes off the group's latest CD, "Caledonia", which was released in Europe in November 2006 via Armageddon Music. The follow-up to 2005's "Command to Charge" was recorded by Martin Buchwalter at Gernhart Records studio in Siegburg, Germany and features artwork by Kris Verwimp. The album photography was handled by Axel Jusseit, who previously worked with the group on 2003's "Signs for the Fallen". The mastering was done by Michael Schwabe at Monoposto Mastering (SUBWAY TO SALLY, DIE TOTEN HOSEN) in Düsseldorf, Germany.

According to the band, "'Caledonia' adopts the lyrical concept of ancient Scottish history, which explains songtitles such as 'Highland Hills', 'Forth-Clyde' and 'The IXth Legion'."

Austrian symphonic metallers VISIONS OF ATLANTIS have officially launched a search for a new female singer. The band says, "If you feel like having the talent, commitment and dedication for joining VISIONS OF ATLANTIS, please send a demo of your vocal abilities and 2-3 pictures to this e-mail address: thomas@listenup-management.com. We look forward to receiving your submissions and really hope to find a new singer soon!"

VISIONS OF ATLANTIS recently parted ways with the group's Minnesota-based vocalist, Melissa Ferlaak, and her boyfriend, guitarist Wolfgang "Wops" Koch, due to "musical differences." As a result, the band's previously announced participation in the upcoming KAMELOT European tour has been cancelled. Koch has since been replaced by the returning guitarist Werner Fiedler, who was responsible for much of the songwriting on the group's first two records.

VISIONS OF ATLANTIS's latest album, "Trinity", was released in May via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded at Dreamscape Studios and was mastered at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland. The CD's cover artwork was created by Anthony Clarkson, who has previously worked with BLIND GUARDIAN, HYPOCRISY and EXODUS, among others.

Watch fan-filmed video footage of VISIONS OF ATLANTIS performing the song "Lost" on September 26, 2007 performance at The Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, California, here.

Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen performed her new single (here), "I Walk Alone", last night (Friday, November 30) at the farewell fight of the German female boxing champion (and Doro Pesch's close friend) Regina Halmich. The event took place at the DM Arena in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Turunen has since issued the following update:

"Yesterday, the last fight of Regina Halmich was a big success for her. It was for me the first time to follow female boxers so closely during the match. They really are so tough…

"Thank you, Regina, for this nice experience and all the best for your future. May the lucky stars shine upon you.

"It was also great to be in Karlsruhe again [where Tarja finished her studies in classical singing at the local Music University]. I got to see some of my friends, my old singing teacher and visit the Christmas market in the Centrum.

"It was very nice to enjoy Glûhwein and Bratwurst! Has been too long since. I was very happy in Karlsruhe when I was studying there, so now it was good to come back in the memories and time.

"The band seemed to enjoy it also. Everybody was telling me that they could really understand why I chose to study here and not in another city. The city is beautiful and quiet.

"Now we are in Moscow, Russia. Everybody is happy to be here. For Doug, Alex and Toni this is their first visit in Russia

"I have been telling them how great the audience has always been for me in Russia. Local people are welcoming us very enthusiastically here.

"Just returned from the VIP dinner. Of course, with several dozens of beautiful flowers. Russian people are always very keen on giving flowers as a present, what it is really very welcome.

"The show is tomorrow so I am going to have some rest now.

"I am sure the show will be awesome. It is cold, but the snow makes everything beautiful."

Turunen's new solo album, "My Winter Storm", entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 3. The CD, which reportedly was certified gold in Finland for sales in excess of 15,000 copies on the day of the LP's release (November 14), landed on the Finnish chart at No. 1 and has since moved down to position No. 4.

"I Walk Alone" entered the German single chart at position No. 16.

"My Winter Storm" will be released in North America on February 26, 2008. The CD was produced by Daniel Presley (FAITH NO MORE, JEWEL, THE BREEDERS), who has been joined in the studio by a truly stellar line-up of musicians: Doug Wimbish on bass (LIVING COLOUR, ANNIE LENNOX, JOE SATRIANI, JEFF BECK, MADONNA, ROLLING STONES), Alex Scholpp on electric guitars (FARMER BOYS) and Earl Harvin on drums (SEAL, PET SHOP BOYS, AIR), a player personally selected by Tarja after she saw him stealing the show at a SEAL concert. Keyboards and programming, meanwhile, are being provided by Torsten Stenzel, whose previous credits include NELLY FURTADO, MOBY, TINA TURNER, VANESSA MAE and more.

Portuguese metal/goth rock band HEAVENWOOD has inked a deal with Recital Records. The group will enter the studio in February/March 2008 to begin recording its third album for a late spring/early summer release.

After the departure in 2004 of main songwritter and guitarist Ricardo Dias, HEAVENWOOD went on a lengthy hiatus. Now Ricardo Dias has returned along with new drummer Luiz Ferreira (ex-SECRECY from Portugal).

HEAVENWOOD 2007 is:

Ernesto Guerra - Vocals
Ricardo Dias - Guitars and Vocals
Bruno Silva - Guitar
Luiz Ferreira - Drums

HEAVENWOOD previously relelased two albums — "Diva" and "Swallow" — and played shows with IN FLAMES, ATROCITY, THEATRE OF TRAGEDY and LAKE OF TEARS, among others.

Irish pagan metal outfit PRIMORDIAL is the second confirmed band for next year's installment of the Summer Breeze festial, set to take place August 14-16 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany. Also scheduled to appear is ENSIFERUM. More acts will be announced over the coming weeks.

Germany's Metal.de recently conducted an interview with vocalist Alan Averill "Nemtheanga" of PRIMORDIAL. Watch the 20-minute chat here.

PRIMORDIAL will have its "The Gathering Wilderness" released soon on picture disc vinyl. The double 12" picture disc will be released by Sentinel Records before the end of the year. The double vinyl is limited to 500 copies worldwide.

"The Gathering Wilderness" was originally issued in 2005 through Metal Blade Records.

Yahoo! Music conducted an interview with LED ZEPPELIN members John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page about the group's reunion show at the O2 in London on December 10. The guys talked about how the reunion about, the passion and the intensity that is still there for the band, Jimmy's fractured little finger, Jason Bonham filling in for his long-deceased father John, how they are getting along, and finally making the ZEPPELIN catalog available for digital download. Watch the interview here.

France's NRV-TV recently spoke to vocalist Fernando Ribiero of the Portuguese metal band MOONSPELL. Watch the interview at this location (click on the MOONSPELL "Memorial" image on the left to launch video).

MOONSPELL is currently in pre-production with Waldemar Sorychta (GRIP INC., LACUNA COIL, TIAMAT) for the follow-up to the acclaimed 2006 effort "Memorial". The band is scheduled to enter Antfarm studios in Denmark in January 2008 with producer Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, DARK TRANQUILLITY, HALFORD) to begin recording the CD for a tentative late spring/early summer release via SPV.

In a recent interview with MetalIsrael.com, Ribiero stated about the group's new material, "it is indeed sounding powerful and soulful and it'll be a great follow-up to 'Memorial'. Both natures of MOONSPELL the more melodic and progressive and the more brutal and dark are even better balanced this time."

MOONSPELL's last release was the "Under SatanÆ" CD, which consisted of re-recordings of the band's legendary EP "Under the Moonspell" (1994) as well as their first demo "Anno SatanÆ" and their sole track as MORBID GOD, "Serpent Angel". All songs were re-arranged and revamped in order to "underline their revered distinction as underground classics but now with a mature dark energy and class," according to a press release. The CD was recorded at Antfarm with Tue Madsen and charted in the band's home country, where the group played the album in its entirety at a one-off show at the Lisbon Coliseum in front of 3,500 fans.

In other news, MOONSPELL singer Fernando Ribeiro has just finished translating "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson into Portuguese. The major motion picture adaptation starring Will Smith is coming out on December 14 (two weeks later in Portugal) and the book will be released the same month.

Watch fan-filmed video footage of MOONSPELL performing live at this year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany here.

Vocalist Jarno "Jape" Perätalo of the Finnish gothic metal band TO/DIE/FOR has issued the following update:

"Here we are in Finland, I got [the] Cubase program [a series of MIDI, music sequencer and digital audio editing computer applications] and I am creating some new music with it.

"We do not know when we will start to rehearse again with TO/DIE/FOR. This 'break' makes me fucking bored. Seems like there is no life without shows and now when it's wintertime, it makes me very depressed so… I think it's time to create the darkest TO/DIE/FOR album..."

TO/DIE/FOR's fifth album, "Wounds Wide Open", was released in Finland in October 2006. The follow-up to 2005's "IV", "Wounds Wide Open" was recorded by Samu Oittinen at Fantom Studios and by Jari-Jukka Nippala at Sonic Image, and was mixed at Sweden's Abyss Studios by Peter Tägtgren (DIMMU BORGIR, CELTIC FROST).

Nuclear Blast earlier in the year reissued TO/DIE/FOR's "All Eternity" (2000) and "Epilogue" (2001) albums as a double-CD package. The cover art can be viewed at this location.

Watch footage of TO/DIE/FOR performing in Moscow, Russia on October 20, 2007 here.

Ex-DIMMU BORGIR/CRADLE OF FILTH drummer Nick Barker and the former drum tech for Richard Christy on DEATH's "Perseverance" tour, Jonathan Lee, have been confirmed to perform at a benefit concert to honor late DEATH/CONTROL DENIED mastermind Chuck Schuldiner on December 12, 2007 at the Theatre Imperial in Quebec City, QC, Canada. The concert — which will feature additional guest musicians Ralph Santolla (OBITUARY, ex-DEATH, ICED EARTH, DEICIDE), Bobby Koelble (guitarist on DEATH's "Symbolic" album), Shannon Hamm (guitarist on DEATH's "The Sound of Perseverance" album), Scott Clendenin (bass on DEATH's "The Sound of Perseverance" album) and Daniel Mongrain (MARTYR), among others — will be over two hours long with a few surprises throughout the night. Tickets are on sale now via Billetech. There are also limited VIP tickets available. This will allow people to enter the show 30 minutes before doors open and attend a private private party to be held right after the show, with all the musicians and organizers also in attendance. Every VIP will receive a poster of the show to be signed by the musicians of their choice. All profits will be divided between Chuck's foundation for cancer research and a local foundation.

List of musicians taking part in the concert is now as follows:

Drummers:

Nicholas Barker (ex-DIMMU, ex-CRADLE OF FILTH)
Jonathan Lee (THE AUTUMN OFFERING, ex-ACHERON)
Antoine Baril (SYMBOLIC)

Bassists:

Scott Clendenin (DEATH [1996-1999])
Alexis Robitaille (SYMBOLIC)
Daniel Perron (ex-SYMBOLIC)

Guitarists:

Shannon Hamm (DEATH [1996-2001])
Bobby Koelble (DEATH [1995])
Ralph Santolla (DEATH [1993], OBITUARY, ex-DEICIDE, ICED EARTH)
Daniel Mongrain (MARTYR)
Marc-André Gingras (QUO VADIS)
Matthew Sweeney (SYMBOLIC)
Mike Sweeney (SYMBOLIC)

Chuck Schuldiner passed away On December 13, 2001 at age 34 after a a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

Back in December 2006, the Greek edition of Rock Hard magazine published a tribute to late DEATH mastermind Chuck Schuldiner, including statements and stories from many of the people that played with Chuck — such as Kam Lee, Chris Reifert, Terry Butler, Steve DiGiorgio, Richard Christy and Paul Masvidal — plus music industry notables who dealt with Schuldiner, and other musicians, among them Michael Amott (ARCH ENEMY), Niklas Sundin (DARK TRANQUILLITY), Donald Tardy (OBITUARY), Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE), Trym (EMPEROR), Dan Lilker (NUCLEAR ASSAULT), Kelly Shaefer (ATHEIST), and Tony Choy (ATHEIST, CYNIC). The magazine has posted all the individual statements from the article (which came out in Greece on December 27, 2006) at this location (scroll down to May 14, 2007 blog entry).

To coincide with what would have been DEATH mastermind Chuck Schuldiner's 40th birthday (Chuck was born on May 13, 1967), the official DEATH web site Empty Words posted the Schuldiner tribute article (entitled "Lust for Life") which was published in Guitar World magazine's April 2007 issue.

Long-running German thrashers HOLY MOSES have set "Bloodbound" as the title of their new album, tentatively due in the spring. According to a press release, fans can expect another "blast of old-school thrash with modern elements and the classic HOLY MOSES style," featuring "the queen of growls, Sabina Classen!"

Sabina Classen recently secured a brand-new "fashion deal" with the Finnish clothing company Northern Tribe. According to a press release, "the fashion label for metal clothes and merchandise promises best quality with cool artwork at fair prices. Sabina closed the new deal by presenting one model shirt at the Northern Tribe stall [at] the [Jalometalli festival in Oulu, Finland]. In the future Sabina will present more Northern Tribe fashion on the upcoming HOLY MOSES gigs!"

For more information, click here.

HOLY MOSES will team up with legendary Florida death metallers OBITUARY for a European tour in January 2008. Also appearing on the bill are Swedish metallers AVATAR.

HOLY MOSES' latest CD, "Strength Power Will Passion", was released in the U.S. in September 2005 via Crash Music Inc. The group's tenth album was the follow-up to 2002's "Disorder of the Order", which came out through Century Media.

RAMMSTEIN guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe recently spoke to MTV.com about the self-titled debut album from his EMIGRATE project, which will receive a North American release on January 28. According to Kruspe, the songs on the disc are neither haunting nor ethereal. They're filled with feelings of loneliness, despair and rage that stemmed more from the isolation he felt in America.

"I moved here in 2001 because I needed a change in my life," he explained. "I had been living in Berlin for 18 years, and I was bored and wanted a new challenge. I felt I had to create something new, and one of the things you have to do as an artist is go the unsafe way, because this brings you into the suffering world, and if you're suffering, you can write good music. When I came to New York, I dealt with a lot of rejection and depression in the process of entering the new world and saying goodbye to the old one, and that was definitely inspirational."

Kruspe found the outlet in EMIGRATE, a project that allowed him to explore new artistic avenues on his own and take on the role of lead singer as well as guitarist.

"At the time I did these songs, I felt like something was missing in RAMMSTEIN," Kruspe said. "To work for that band is almost like working for a soundtrack. You have to work with no vocals because those are the last things that will appear on the song. For EMIGRATE, I started to work more as a traditional songwriter. Also, I was singing and writing lyrics in English, which allowed me to experiment with all these things I had never explored before. Basically, that allowed me to balance myself out again so I could go back to RAMMSTEIN and be the happy guitar player."

Watch EMIGRATE's "My World" video here

Demonaz Occulta of IMMORTAL has posted four songs from his new project, dubbed simply DEMONAZ, on his MySpace page. The songs "Demonized", "Over the Mountains", "Under the Dying Sun" and "Perfect Visions" were recently recorded at Soundsurf studios in Bergen, Norway.

DEMONAZ lineup:

Demonaz (Vocals, Music and Lyrics)
Abbath (Bass, Backing Vocals)
Ice Dale (Guitars)
Armagedda (drums)

Commented Demonaz: "The forthcoming album is what I'm working with these days on the side of IMMORTAL. It's another cold dimension in my musical and lyrical world."

A full-length album will be released in 2008.

Abbath and Demonaz formed IMMORTAL in 1990. In 1998 Demonaz stopped playing live with IMMORTAL due to a hand injury, "but writing and working fully with IMMORTAL has been important for us to continue," he says.

In 2006, Abbath's project I released the album "Between Two Worlds" — featuring lyrics by Demonaz — and became a worldwide success.

2007 saw the IMMORTAL reunion with 10 concerts. The new stage lineup with Abbath, Horgh and Apollyon perfomed the first gig of this journey headlining the Inferno Festival in Norway.

"Bleed Well", the new video from the Finnish "love metallers" HIM, can be viewed here.

The band filmed the live footage for the new clip at their Los Angeles shows on November 14 and November 15 at the Orpheum Theatre. The footage from the shows will also be used for HIM's upcoming live DVD, to be released in 2008.

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."

HIM's new album, "Venus Doom", has sold 79,000 copies in the United States since its September release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.