Blackmetal.com Records has just released a split CD featuring Norwegian black metal cult band SYKDOM and Icelandic black metal act CURSE.

According to a press release, the members of SYKDOM possess a "true black metal" attitude, refusing to do interviews and maintain friendly relations with their fans. "No interviews, no autographs, no websites but just evil music and misanthropic lifestyle. Finally a TRUE blackmetal band not interested in fame but only in music."

CURSE is the side project of POTENTIAM mainman Eldur. The band plays "high-quality black metal" that follows a more "sophisticated" direction — far removed from the "true grim cold fast black metal."

The track listing is as follows:

SYKDOM - "Verden Og Fanden (the World and the Devil)":

01. Verden (intro)
02. Doedsens Stillhet / The Mortal Quiet
03. Hvit Loegn / The Big Lie
04. Verden og Fanden / The World and the Devil
05. Stjernene / The Stars
06. Fanden (outro)

CURSE - "In Life and in Death, Parts II – V":

07. Part II
08. Part III
09. Part IV
10. Part V

AYREON, the brainchild of Dutch guitarist/composer Arjen Lucassen, has revealed the identity of the second singer who will guest on the band's upcoming album, tentatively due late 2007/early 2008: Simone Simons of EPICA.

Simone's recording session for the new AYREON CD took place on July 5 at the Electric Castle studio. An acapella sample of Simone's vocal (without instruments added) can be heard here.

AYREON previously announced that Magali Luyten (VIRUS IV, BEAUTIFUL SIN) would also appear on the new album.

Twelve vocalists have been confirmed so far, with a number of singers still to be added over the next few weeks.

AYREON's last CD, "Ayreon: The Human Equation", was released in 2004. It contained guest appearances by a number of acclaimed vocalists, including James LaBrie (DREAM THEATER), Mike Baker (SHADOW GALLERY), Mikael Åkerfeldt (OPETH), Eric Clayton (SAVIOUR MACHINE), Devon Graves (DEADSOUL TRIBE, ex-PSYCHOTIC WALTZ) and Devin Townsend (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD).

Metal Mind Productions has set an August 6 European release date (September 3 in the U.S.) for former IRON MAIDEN/WOLFSBANE singer Blaze Bayley's DVD. Entitled "Alive in Poland" (view cover artwork at this location), the disc was recorded at the 21st edition of the Metalmania Festival, which took place on March 24 in Katowice, Poland. Blaze Bayley and his band put on a 90-minute show consisting of the best tracks from BLAZE's discography as well as select cuts from IRON MAIDEN ("Man on the Edge", "Futureal"). The DVD will also include many great bonus features, such as an interview with Blaze Bayley, an interview with all members of Blaze's band (featuring footage filmed during their visit to Poland) and more. A limited-edition "Alive in Poland" release will include a two-CD set with songs recorded at the concert.

Long-running Frankfurt, Germany-based thrash metallers TANKARD entered Stage One studios in Borgentreich, Germany earlier in the year with producer Andy Classen (DEW-SCENTED, CALLENISH CIRCLE, TANKARD, OCCULT) to record new versions of their biggest "hits" — from "(Empty) Tankard" and "Chemical Invasion" to "The Morning After" and "Space Beer". The resulting collection, "Best Case Scenario: 25 Years In Beers", is scheduled for release on August 31 through AFM Records, with a special limited first edition set to include the bonus CD "A Tribute to Tankard", featuring cover versions of 18 TANKARD songs performed by such artists as SACRED STEEL, MANTICORA, ABANDONED, PARADOX, COURAGEOUS and SCORNAGE.

"Best Case Scenario: 25 Years In Beers" (view cover artwork at this location) track listing:

01. Zombie Attack
02. Maniac Forces
03. (Empty) Tankard
04. Don't Panic
05. Chemical Invasion
06. The Morning After
07. Alien
08. 666 Packs
09. Beermuda
10. Space Beer
11. Medley (Alcohol, Puke, Mon Cheri, Wonderful Life)
12. Freibier
13. Nation Over Nation
14. Two-Faced
15. Minds On The Moon

"A Tribute to Tankard" bonus CD track listing:

01. ABANDONED - Face Of The Enemy
02. COURAGEOUS - The Morning After
03. DOPPELBOCK - Freibier für alle
04. FATAL EMBRACE - Acid Death
05. FKÜ - Space Beer
06. FREZEEBEE - Poison
07. HATEWORK - Live To Dive
08. HYADES - Alien
09. IRREVERENCE - Beermuda
10. MANTICORA - Total Addiction
11. ODIUM - Sunscars
12. PARADOX - Zombie Attack
13. PARAGON - Two-Faced
14. SACRED STEEL - Empty Tankard
15. SCORNAGE - Away
16. SOLICITUDE - Planetwide Suicide
17. TASTE OF DOOM - Rectifier
18. TORMENT - Chemical Invasion

In other news, AFM will reissue the TANKARD cover CD, "Himbeergeist zum Frühstück" (released under the TANKWART moniker) on July 13. The album features metal/punk versions of old German folk classics like "Sieben Fässer Wein" and "Blau Blüht Der Enzian", and will feature a live version of the TANKARD classic "Freibier" as a bonus track.

One-minute audio samples of three songs ("Infection", "The Divided Heart" and "The Scythe") from the forthcoming album from Italian folk/power metal band ELVENKING have been posted on the band's MySpace page.

ELVENKING will release its new CD, "The Scythe", in Europe on September 14 via AFM Records. The album was mixed at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki, Finland. The mastering took place on April 10 at Finnvox Studios with Mika Jussila and Nino Laurenne.

"The Scythe" track listing:

01. The Scythe
02. Lost Hill of Memories
03. Infection
04. Poison Tears
05. A Riddle of Stars
06. Romance & Wrath
07. The Divided Heart
08. Horns Ablaze (digipack bonus track)
09. Totentanz
10. Death and the Suffering
11. Dominhate

"The Scythe" features a guest appearance on two tracks by Swedish guitarist Mike Wead (KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE, MEMENTO MORI, FIREGOD, ABSTRAKT ALGEBRA, CANDLEMASS).

Legendary guitarist Paul Gilbert (ex-MR. BIG, RACER X) has issued the following update:

"I have a new guitar instructional DVD aptly titled the 'Get out of My Yard Guitar Instructional DVD'. I explain the most interesting guitar parts from the 'Get out of My Yard' CD song by song. There are also bonus live performances, a live guitar solo from the RACER X 'Superheroes' tour in Japan, some new sections where I explain my techniques in greater detail and with clearer explanations than ever before. Check it out here
. My original instructional videos — 'Intense Rock', 'Intense Rock II' and 'The Terrifying Guitar Trip' — are now available on DVD as well.

Greek melodic metal sensation FIREWIND has released the video for its new single "Breaking the Silence" in the following formats: Windows Media, RealMedia. The clip, which features a guest appearance by female singer Tara Teresa, was directed by Patric Ullaeus from Sweden's Revolver Film Company (DIMMU BORGIR, WITHIN TEMPTATION, IN FLAMES).

Commented FIREWIND guitarist Gus G: "So here it is! I hope you all dig our brand new video…I can tell you we had a blast doing it! The song itself is a highlight of our latest record, as the duet between Apollo and Tara came out fantastic. Patric Ullaeus' videos are always a guarantee and it's an honor for us to work with the best of the best! Patric definitely made sure we had enough fire on this one and really brought things to a new level!"

More information has been revealed about the upcoming re-release of SLAYER's "Christ Illusion" (обложка) album, due on July 24. According to MTV.com, the limited-edition set will contain the previously unreleased cut "The Final Six", as well as an alternate version of "Black Serenade". The reissue marks the band's first collaboration with new label home Columbia Records; SLAYER left Warner Bros. when longtime producer Rick Rubin jumped ship to head Columbia back in May.

"This version of 'Black Serenade' is the version [guitarist] Jeff [Hanneman] originally wrote, and during the miscommunications of recording, it came out the way it did," guitarist Kerry King told MTV.com. "I like the original version better. And 'The Final Six' was a song that just wasn't finished in time for the record, because [frontman] Tom [Araya] had to head home for [gall-bladder] surgery."

"The Final Six", said King, "isn't going to sound out of place, because it was written for "Christ Illusion". So, it's just another song off of that album, and it's not separate at all. The track was recorded by the time "Christ Illusion" came out — we just had to have Tom sing on it."

The reissue will also boast a bonus DVD called "Slayer on Tour '07". It will include the "Eyes of the Insane" video; a live rendition of the band's 1988 LP track "South of Heaven" that was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, on last year's "Unholy Alliance" run; and a behind-the-scenes, five-minute documentary-style montage of footage shot earlier this year when the band performed in Florida and Australia.

Toy's Factory in Japan will release NILE's new album, "Ithyphallic", on August 22 with two exclusive bonus tracks: instrumental versions of "As He Creates So He Destroys" and "Papyrus Containing The Spell To Preserve It's Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is In The Water".

In Nuclear Blast's first-ever contest of its kind, die-hard NILE fans will be granted the opportunity to secretly stream the group's entire new album, "Ithyphallic", on July 9 (eight days before street date) by correctly decoding a message written in Egyptian hieroglyphics.

To enter, visit here

METALLICA played a headlining show earlier tonight (Sunday, July 8) at the Wembley Stadium in London, England. Support at the gig came from H.I.M., MACHINE HEAD and MASTODON.

METALLICA's setlist was as follows:

01. Creeping Death
02. For Whom The Bell Tolls
03. Sad But True
04. Disposable Heroes
05. The Unforgiven
06. ...And Justice For All
07. The Memory Remains
08. The Four Horsemen
09. Orion
10. Fade To Black
11. Master of Puppets
12. Battery
- - - -
13. No Leaf Clover
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. One
16. Enter Sandman
- - - -
17. Whiplash
18. Seek and Destroy

Finnish cello-rockers APOCALYPTICA have set "Worlds Collide" as the title of their new album, due in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on September 14 via G.U.N. Records. The first single, "I'm Not Jesus", featuring a guest appearance by Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR), will precede the album on August 31. Other confirmed guest musicians on the CD include Dave Lombardo (SLAYER), Tomoyasu Hotei (superstar Japanese composer, whose credits include the "Kill Bill" soundtrack), Joseph Duplantier (GOJIRA) and Cristina Scabbia (LACUNA COIL). Backing vocals for the effort were laid down by Swedish singer Mats Levén (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, THERION, KRUX, TREAT, AT VANCE).

"Worlds Collide" was produced by Jacob Hellner (RAMMSTEIN). A video for the song for the song "I'm Not Jesus" was recently filmed in in Los Angeles with director Tony Petrossian (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, RISE AGAINST, SLIPKNOT).

Italian melodic death metal band SUBLIMINAL FEAR has completed work on its debut album, entitled "Uncoloured World Dying". The CD was recorded at 16th Cellar Studio in Rome with producer Stefano Saul Morabito and is scheduled for release in the fall through Burning Star Records.

"Uncoloured World Dying" track listing:

01. Insane Archetype
02. Destroy My Ruins
03. Crawls Into The Depths
04. The Silence That Remains
05. I've Lost My Control
06. Stare
07. Leave Your Eyes In This Burning Sky
08. My Pain Unfold
09. Uncoloured World Dying

The artwork for the album was created by Nerve Design (NILE, THRESHOLD, SADIST, BLINDED COLONY, VISION DIVINE, ELDRICH, ENEMYNSIDE).

M.A.N, the new band formed out of the ashes of Sweden's TRANSPORT LEAGUE (featuring former MNEMIC frontman Tony Jelencovich), has uploaded several video clips taken at the group's June 30, 2007 concert at Virgin Oil Co in Helsinki, Finland. Watch them at YouTube.

M.A.N is busy writing material for its as-yet-untitled second album. The recordings will once again take place at Grand Recordings in Gothenburg, Sweden with producer/engineer Svein Jensen. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Outnumbered", "Lay Down", "You're Dead", "Blood Vanish", "My Own Sickness", "Worn Wings" and "Dead Universe".

Guitarist and founding member Daniel "Minni" Benner of the German death metallers LAY DOWN ROTTEN has announced his departure from the group. "The reason for my departure is exclusively musical differences when writing the new songs — no personal issues," Minni says. "I just found that musically it wasn't what I wanted. Thanks to all who have supported me and I wish my successor Nils and the whole band all the best."

Prior to his exit, Minni laid down the bass on four songs that will be included on the band's new album. All other tracks will be recorded by the group's new lead guitarist Nils Förster (WHEN SORROW ENDS). Nils is said to be a longtime friend who has handled various duties related to engineering and keyboards (on "Breeding Insanity") for the band. The collaboration is working out flawlessly and the group will play all previously announced festivals (Queens of Metal, Zabbaduschder, Ragnarock and Party.San, among others) right after they finish their current studio work.

LAY DOWN ROTTEN's new CD, "Reconquering the Pit", is scheduled for release later in the year via Metal Blade Records. Once again, Björn Goosse from Killustrations will create the album artwork.

San Diego metal outfit AS I LAY DYING has finalized the track listing for its new album, "An Ocean Between Us", due on August 21 through Metal Blade Records. Produced by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz (EVERY TIME I DIE, ALL THAT REMAINS), the CD will contain a dozen tracks, including "Separation", "Within Destruction" and the likely first single, "Nothing Left".

In a recent interview with HardcoreSounds.net, AS I LAY DYING frontman Tim Lambesis stated about the new material, "Compared to 'Shadows Are Security' it's more diverse. Some of the songs are darker and technical but there's also some melodic guitars like there were in 'Shadows Are Security'. Musically 'An Ocean Between Us' is more faster and heavier but lyrically the album is really memorable. If you put the two together it has a cool energy because everything is more balanced. I also had more time to focus on lyrics this time."

"An Ocean Between Us" (view artwork at this location) track listing:

01. Separation
02. Nothing Left
03. An Ocean Between Us
04. Within Destruction
05. Forsaken
06. Comfort Betrays
07. I Never Wanted
08. Bury Us All
09. The Sound of Truth
10. Departed
11. Wrath Upon Ourselves
12. This is Who We Are

Industrial death/black metal mongers HATE will soon enter Hertz Studio in Bialystok, Poland to record their new album, tentatively entitled "Katharsis". HATE has been working on the new material for a few months now and is in the process of doing pre-production — creating samples and backgrounds for what is now eight finished songs! The album, which is going to be the follow-up to the highly acclaimed "Anaclasis - A Haunting Gospel of Malice & Hatred", is said to be the most mature and ambitious material from the band thus far, demonstraiting a great step forward in terms of composition and arrangements. Songtitles set to appear on the new record include "Omega", "Katharsis", "Apotheosis", "Threnody", "Slaves To Their Graves" and "Resurrection Machine". A January 2008 release via Listenable Records is expected.

Hamburg, Germany-based brutal melodic death metallers DARK AGE have revealed the cover artwork for their new album, entitled "Minus Exitus". Check it out at here. The artwork was created by Niklas Sundin from DARK TRANQUILLITY.

"Minus Exitus" is tentatively scheduled for release in September. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Cold", "Black September" and "Minus Exitus". A trailer for the album can be viewed at this location. According to an online post by the band's keyboardist Martin Reichert, the CD's first pressing will likely include a limited-edition DVD.

DARK AGE's first DVD, "Live, So Far...", was released last year via Remedy Records.

DARK AGE's most recent studio CD, "Dark Age" (2003), featured a guest appearance by TIAMAT frontman Johan Edlund on two songs.

According to a posting on the official CHILDREN OF BODOM fan site Scythes Of Bodom, the band will put on a 10th anniversary bash in Helsinki, Finland in November. The group's debut album, "Something Wild", was released in Finland in November 1997.

Commented guitarist Alexi Laiho: "We're planning to arrange a two-night event where we will perform on the first night. Tickets will be sold even though there will be many invited guests. On the second night we'll concentrate on partying more privately, but we might indeed end up on stage, at least for small moments. Anyhow, other bands will perform on the second night. The exact date for the (Helsinki) party has not been decided yet, but we're aiming for November."

In other news, Scythes Of Bodom has revealed three songtitles that are set to appear on the band's forthcoming album: "Tie My Rope" (which was recorded in May for Bam Margera's "Bam Margera Presents…Viva La Bands, Vol. 2" compilation), "Roundtrip 2 Hell And Back" and "Pretty For The Devil". A total of five tracks have been completed thus far and the band plans to enter the studio in October to begin recording the effort for a tentative March 2008 release.

NEGATIVE frontman Jonne Aaron recently teamed up with Jann Wilde (JANN WILDE & ROSE AVENUE) and Christian Fjäder (DEAD BY GUN) to record a cover of QUEEN's "Too Much Love Will Kill You" for a compilation album, titled "Rock 'n' Roll High School". The CD, which is was released on May 30, also features contributions from DEAD BY GUN, BLOODPIT, CARMEN GRAY, NEGATIVE, SO CALLED PLAN, JANN WILDE & ROSE AVENUE and PRIVATE LINE.

Aaron, Wilde and Fjäder, along with backing vocalists Jussi Uniklubi (UNIKLUBI) and Ville Liimatainen (FLINCH), shot the video for "Too Much Love Will Kill You" at the end of April in Tampere, Finland. Watch the clip online at YouTube

Scarlet Records will release STORMLORD's first official DVD, "The Battle of Quebec City: Live in Canada", on July 16 in Europe, late July in Germany and late summer in Canada and U.S. A trailer for the DVD can be found at this location. The cover artwork is available here.

"The Battle of Quebec City: Live in Canada" will contain a complete live show recorded in Quebec City in June 2006 (including a new song, "Dimension: Hate", and a stunning cover of SLAYER's "Raining Blood"), during the band's successful Canadian tour, four bootleg-quality extra songs recorded in Montreal and Toronto and video clips for the songs "I Am Legend" and "Under The Boards (195, M.A.)". The track listing is as follows:

Live in Quebec City @ Les Dagobert, 14 June 2006:

01. The Torchbearer
02. Dance Of Hecate
03. Wurdulak
04. I Am Legend
05. The Oath Of The Legion
06. Under The Boards (195, M.A.)
07. The Gorgon Cult
08. Dimension: Hate
09. Xanadu (A Vision In A Dream)
10. Where My Spirit Forever Shall Be
11. The Curse Of Medusa
12. Raining Blood

Extras:

Live in Montreal @ Foufounes Electriques, 16 June 2006 - Bootleg

* Dance Of Hecate
* Wurdulak

Live in Toronto @ Reilly's, 17 June 2006 - Bootleg

* Wurdulak
* I Am Legend
* I Am Legend (Promotional Clip 2002)
* Under The Boards (Promotional Clip 2004)

Greek old-school thrashers SUICIDAL ANGELS have revealed the final track listing for their debut album, "Eternal Domination", due on July 16 via OSM Records. The CD's artwork can be viewed at this location. An audio sample is available for download here.

"Eternal Domination" track listing:

01. Quench Your Thirst With Christian Souls
02. Evil Attack
03. The Prophecy
04. Crematory
05. Slaughtering Christianity
06. Sacred Prayers To Expiation
07. Demon's Bloodwrath
08. Armies Of Hell
09. Screams Of Homicide
10. Vomit On The Cross
11. Eternal Darkness

SUICIDAL ANGELS' last release was a four-song mini-CD, "Armies of Hell", which came out in 2006.

There’s news from the DoD camp: Adrian and Gaun:a have joined Rainer Assman at the White Room III studio for the finishing touches of the mix. The complete master is supposed to be completed in two weeks. After that, the foto shootings will take place, planned as usual in the most minute detail; and work on the graphic design of
the limited edition CD is also about to start. Since the band is surprisingly on schedule with the whole production, we were informed that the album will be released already at the end of October 2007. Adrian described the newest
DoD output as a combination of the typical Diary qualities and a strong emphasis on extremes. “I really believe in the uncompromising power of the new tracks”, he said.


Single:

In the next few weeks, Accession Records will already start to promote the new Diary of Dreams single, and the title, yet undisclosed, will be revealed very soon. With the release of the single, we will turn over a new leaf of the Diary of Dreams – and it’s about time, too, since the last studio album of the band hit the shops three years
ago …


Tour:

The first European gigs will probably take place early 2008. One thing we already know for sure: At a lot of these concerts, DoD will be joined by special guests Noyce TM. We are really proud to present the Trademark guys at these occasions – check out their music, it’s worth it!