Drummer Dirk Verbeuren of the French metal band SCARVE has issued a statement reassuring fans that the group will not split up following the recent departure of vocalist Pierrick Valence.

As previously reported, Valence left SCARVE to focus on his other band PHAZM.

In an interview with Hard Rock magazine published this past winter, Pierrick indicated that PHAZM became his priority when SCARVE faced various obstacles over the course of the past couple of years, including other vocalist Guillaume Bideau's departure for MNEMIC and drummer Dirk Verbeuren's commitment to SOILWORK.

Commented Verbeuren: "In regards to the recent news about Pierrick's departure, I'd like to reassure our fans: SCARVE is still alive and a stronger creative force than ever! We will actively pursue promoting 'The Undercurrent', and our upcoming shows at France's Hellfest and Belgium's Graspop festivals are maintained. A new vocalist will be announced soon. This is a rebirth for SCARVE!!!"

SCARVE will reportedly recruit only one singer to replace both Valence and Bideau (as former DARKANE singer Lawrence Mackrory did on the song "Rebirth", on SCARVE's latest CD, "The Undercurrent").

Released in April through Listenable Records, "The Undercurrent" was recorded in part at the Dug-Out facility in Uppsala, Sweden with renowned Swedish producer Daniel Bergstrand, whose previous credits include MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD and STUCK MOJO.

NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) legends BLITZKRIEG have finalized the track listing for their new album, entitled "Theatre of the Damned" (cover), due on August 10 via Germany's Armageddon Music. The CD was recorded at Absurd Studio in Hamburg with producer Schrödey and co-producer Biff Byford (SAXON). According to a posting on the Armageddon web site, "Theatre of the Damned" "offers the same authentic heavy metal of the '80s along with a super freshness and total attitude."

"Theatre of the Damned" track listing:

01. Theatre of the Damned (4:22)
02. The Phantom (4:43)
03. Devil's Spawn (4:14)
04. My Life is my Own (5:06)
05. Spirit of the Legend (5:35)
06. The Passing (0:54)
07. Into the Light (6:18)
08. Tortured Souls (4:23)
09. Together We are Strong (4:33)
10. Night Stalker (4:50)
11. Bonus Audio: Armageddon (6:25)
12. Bonus Audio: Blitzkrieg (3:43)
13. Bonus Video: Escape from the Village.mpg
14. Bonus Video: I'm Not Insane.mpg
15. Bonus Video: iPod - Escape from the Village.mp4
16. Bonus Video: iPod – I'm Not Insane.mp4

BLITZKRIEG's most recent album, "Sins and Greed", was released in July 2005 via Metal Nation Records.

Reactivated Dutch metallers GOREFEST have posted the cover artwork for their new album, "Rise to Ruin", at this location. The artwork was designed by British artist Rob "Mid" Middleton. Due in the U.S. on August 28 via Nuclear Blast Records (August 3 in Europe), the CD was mixed by Danish producer Tue Madsen at his Antfarm studios in Århus, Denmark. "He managed to make everything sound even heavier than we'd imagined," guitarist Frank Harthoorn previously said.

"Rise to Ruin" track listing:

01. Revolt
02. Rise To Ruin
03. The War On Stupidity
04. A Question Of Terror
05. Babylon's Whores
06. Speak When Spoken To
07. A Grim Charade
08. Murder Brigade
09. The End Of It All

GOREFEST's last CD, "La Muerte", was released in October 2005 via Nuclear Blast Records.

A tribute album dedicated to the Finnish "funeral doom" band SKEPTICISM, entitled "Entering the Levitation: a Tribute to Skepticism", has just been released via Red Stream and Oak Knoll. The track listing for the set is as follows:

CD1:

01. NEST - The Gallant Crow (13:49)
02. SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT - Forge (7:36)
03. SHAPE OF DESPAIR - Aether (8:46)
04. WHY ANGELS FALL - Shroud of Light, Pinch of Endless (9:14)
05. CORPUS OMNI DOMINI - The Rising of the Flames (9:53)
06. OKTOR - The Organium (7:30)

CD2:

01. AARNI - Untitled (7:38)
02. MONOLITHE - Edges (6:44)
03. CALMSITE - Towards My End (5:01)
04. RIGOR SARDONICOUS - Chorale (7:08)
05. DARKFLIGHT - The Raven and the Backward Funeral (6:54)
06. IT WILL COME - The Falls (10.36)

Total running time: 100:49 minutes

A brand new H.I.M. track, entitled "Passion's Killing Floor", will be included on the soundtrack album to Michael Bay's "Transformers", due on July 3 via Warner Bros. The disc will feature a total of 12 tracks, nine of which are brand new and exclusive to the soundtrack.

"Transformers - Music from the Motion Picture" track listing:

01. LINKIN PARK - "What I've Done"
02. SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Doomsday Clock"
03. DISTURBED - "This Moment"
04. GOO GOO DOLLS - "Before It's Too Late (Sam and Mikaela's Theme)"
05. THE USED - "Pretty Handsome Awkward"
06. H.I.M. - "Passion's Killing Floor"
07. TAKING BACK SUNDAY - "What It Feels Like To Be A Ghost?"
08. STYLES OF BEYOND - "Second To None"
09. ARMOR FOR SLEEP - "End Of The World"
10. IDIOT PILOT - "Retina and the Sky"
11. JULIEN-K - "Technical Difficulties"
12. MUTEMATH - "Transformers Theme"

Legendary ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann makes a guest appearance in the track "Who The Hell Are You" on the new album from German female-fronted rockers SKEW SISKIN, entitled "Peace Breaker". The CD is scheduled for release via the Internet on May 22.

Commented SKEW SISKIN singer Nina C. Alice: "We've recorded a great song from Ivan Kral, with lyrics written by his wife Cindy Hudson (who's a great light designer, too), adding a 'THE STOOGES' feel! Ivan was a band member of singer Patti Smith, guitarist for the one and only Iggy Pop, and he's also a truly blessed songwriter!

"The name 'Peace Breaker' fits just too well with what's going on our planet these days. Though it's not a pure political CD, of course, it boldly tells everyone who wants to know and those who don't wanna know (but still oughta know!), what's on my mind about the mistreatment of people and all those psychopaths shooting around in real life as if in a video game. Besides all those infuriating stories about the tough reality on earth, I have again written lyrics about bold rocker feelings, like always, in my very own Ninalicious style with the help of Lemmy as my wonderful work-checker + sentence-contributor + one of the best lyric writer of all times (in my eyes) and my personal lyrics co-writer + one of my rare friends (sending kisses his way!)! 'We're so bad baby, we don't care!'

"Of course, the title 'Peace Breaker' also depicts the vibes given off by SKEW SISKIN — uneasy for certain individuals because we're not those perfect, happy-smiling people serving the trendies with their visions, nor are we ass-kissers to people who think they're better. We're evil kids who'll keep making a lot of noise for other loud, mean kids (until we diiieeee!), and those who know us will always understand, we're having a lot of fun being the way we are. Keep it REAL and I am sorry to announce: reality bites and it's ugly...muhhaha, but rock 'n' roll is gonna save yer ass, baby."

"Peace Breaker" track listing:

01. Metal In Your Face
02. We're An Institution
03. Ridin' With The Devil
04. Trouble Shooter
05. Hit You Harder
06. Who The Hell Are You (feat. Wolf Hoffmann)
07. War, Fire, Guns & Blood
08. I Wanna Be Me
09. Eva Braun Is Back In Town
10. I Don't Care (feat. Ivan Kral)
11. Loser
12. Can't Hear You
13. Shoot The Rats

Check out the song "Metal In Your Face" at the band's MySpace

SKEW SISKIN's last CD, "Album of the Year", was released in November 2003 through ulfTone Music.

Finnish "progressive death" metallers ELENIUM, whose lined up includes current OMNIUM GATHERUM vocalist Jukka Pelkonen (a.k.a. "J"), have parted ways with guitarists Kasperi Heikkinen and Tommi Leinonen. "Kasperi has decided to concentrate on his own band MERGING FLARE and his other projects," the band writes on its web site. "His true passion is to play heavy metal with the strong '80s vibe. We appreciate his ambitions and honesty. A band needs to have everyones 100% dedication to work. Tommi will concentrate on other things in life after some eight years of ELE-life. He just lost the motivation in touring and rehearsing since it's not all that glamorous as they tell in the TV. Tommi already took some time off from playing live last spring/summer. His duties were well handled by a guy called Ville Leppänen from DISORDEAD. There are no hard feelings involved and we're all still good friends. Of course we're sad to lose two great musicians and friends from our crew but we are also looking forward anxiously for yet another new beginning. It's not the first time we're going through some lineup changes and each time we've come back stronger. We have already alot of ideas for our next release and we're also booking shows for autumn/winter 2007. It's already been confirmed we'll do a mini-tour in Finland with KALMAH in December."

ELENIUM's second album, "Caught in a Wheel", was released earlier in the year via the new Finnish label Kampas Records. Two songs from the CD — "Human" and the title track — are available for listening on the group's Myspace page.

ELENIUM's full-length debut, "For Giving - For Getting", was released in 2003 through England's Rage Of Achilles Records.

Songwriter, guitarist and producer Jeff Waters (ANNIHILATOR) has signed a worldwide (excluding Canada) publishing contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The deal covers ANNIHILATOR's new CD "Metal", the band's previous eight studio CDs (including "King of the Kill", "Carnival Diablos" and "Schizo Deluxe") and future ANNIHILATOR recordings.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing is one of the world's largest music publishing companies. The company was formed through the 1995 merger of the Sony Corporation of America's music publishing business with ATV Music, which Michael Jackson had purchased in 1985 for $47 million. Among Sony/ATV's most valuable holdings is the Northern Songs catalogue, consisting of 180 songs written by THE BEATLES (mostly by Lennon-McCartney).

British black metal pioneers VENOM are preparing for their Scandinavian tour, which is scheduled to kick off May 23 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Opening acts on the trek will definitely be Scandinavian bands, according to frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant.

"I asked our agents in Scandinavia to select some local talent to open the shows," he explained. "There's certainly no shortage of metal bands over there, so I've chosen a few that I thought would be ideal, but I've left the final decision to the agency".

Although there has been no official announcement on the matter, several web sites and ticketing agencies are reporting that Swedish cult act NIFELHEIM will provide support on several of the dates.

VENOM and its management are currently discussing other live plans with their agents for later this year. An American tour and some dates in Australia are on the cards, and there is talk of some shows in Japan and across Europe.

The recording schedule for the new VENOM album is well underway. The band has already laid the majority of the backing tracks and "everyone is very excited by the results," according to a posting on the band's web site. "It's a very dark-sounding album following on in the footsteps of last year's release, 'Metal Black'."

Mnemosyne Productions has announced a brand new musical collaboration between EMPEROR frontman Ihsahn, Starofash (a.k.a. Ihsahn's wife Heidi S. Tveitan, a.k.a. Ihriel) and one of Norway's most well known folk musicians, Knut Buen. The project is called HARDINGROCK and the album is titled "Grimen".

According to a press release, "Grimen" presents folk tunes on the Norwegian national instrument, harding fiddle, text and melodies based on Norwegian mythical tradition, arranged and recomposed in modern form with influences from heavy metal and classical inspired electronica. It is said to be an experimental project where folk tunes are thematically broken down and expressed in a new rhythmic and harmonic form with guitars, piano, keyboards, percussion, recitation and song.

"It has been a great experience to work with such a fine musician as Knut Buen," says Tveitan. "The process has been challenging in terms of us having to work within the tonality of Norwegian folk music, and to make non-rhythmic music into 'rock 'n' roll rhythms.'"

"Even though the elements the three of us brought to the table were very contrasting, I think we're all very pleased with how it came together," says Ihsahn. "The material provided to us by Knut is a huge part of Norway's cultural treasure, and I think the album definitely is a worthy development that rocks!"

This album is set for release on June 11 via Nyrenning Forlag, and is distributed by Musikkoperatørene AS.

For more information, including audio samples, go to this location

British author Joel McIver has revealed to BLABBERMOUTH.NET that he is currently writing the world's first biography of American thrash titans SLAYER.

McIver, the author of the best-selling 2004 biography "Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica" and the recent BLACK SABBATH book "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (hailed by the Telegraph as "excellent" and the Sun as "brilliant") said, "An all-encompassing biography of SLAYER is long overdue. With their profile at an all-time high thanks to their recent Grammy win and a run of critically acclaimed DVDs and albums, there's never been a better time to tell their shocking story in full detail."

The author, who has interviewed members of SLAYER on several occasions in recent years, as well as dozens of musicians and industry personnel crucial to the band’s career, added, "Whether you're a fan of the classic early SLAYER albums or their later, equally vicious material, this book is for you. I've unearthed a ton of previously unheard stories from people close to the band and examined phenomena such as the enduring legend of 'Reign in Blood' in enormous detail. You won't be disappointed."

The book, tentatively titled "Slayer: The Bloody Reign of the Planet's Heaviest Band", will be published in hardback and softback with an extensive picture section and will be available for pre-order on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. The publisher is Omnibus Press, the largest specialist in rock biographies in the world, which will be distributing the book in all territories.

SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor has confirmed that he has been working with ANTHRAX on material for their upcoming studio album. Speaking to Germany's Rock Hard magazine, Taylor said of the possibility that he will become the new ANTHRAX singer, "It's been banded about. I'm not saying anything right now because all it's been is just talked about. Obviously, I'm really good friends with those guys. It kind of started as a joke. And then the more we talked about it, the more serious it got. I'm gonna at least help them out. It's kind of a dream come true — ANTHRAX is one of my favorite bands. We're just kind of taking baby steps right now. I know that we worked on about eight or nine songs together that I've written lyrics for, and there was a song that I had actually written for them that I was just gonna give them the music for, and once this kind of happened, I had to turn around and write lyrics for it myself. But there's nothing definite right now. It's one of those things where it's like we're just gonna kind of play it by ear and just see what happens. So there's nothing definite. It's something that we're talking about — it's something that we kind of wanna do. But I'm in two huge bands right now. So it's like I barely get enough time to sleep, let alone do another band. . . I'm gonna be busy, period. I'm just kind of honored that they would even consider me. These are people that I grew up listening to, these are guys that I had the privilege of getting to know on a real basis. To have them look at me and go, 'You know what? We would love to work with you,' it's such a huge compliment. It kind of makes me feel like I've come a long way in my life."

OBITUARY frontman John Tardy has posted the following message on the group's official web site:

"There is so much going on! The most important thing is the recording/mixing of the new CD and that is going amazing! These new songs are so heavy and we are happy and lucky to announce that Ralph Santolla [ex-ICED EARTH, DEICIDE, DEATH] is helping us with some of the guitar work. To have someone like Ralph working with us is totally new to OBITUARY and I can't tell you how excited we are. This new album, 'Xecutioner's Return', is just coming to life!

"I know there has been a lot of speculation about what we were going to do for another guitarist now that Allen West is unavailable. It is kind of strange how things work out. We have known Ralph for a long time and it is no suprise how good of a guitar player he is, but what was really nice is how good we work with each other and how good we get along. Not only is Ralph recording with us, but he will also be going with us to Europe in July and on our U.S. tour in September.

"We leave for South America tomorrow for the next set of shows and they should be some good ones. We have been to Argentina (a long time ago), but we have never been to Chile or Brazil, so we are looking forward to these shows. When we get home we will finish up the mixing of the new CD and we are on schedule for a late August release!"

Former SKID ROW frontman Sebastian Bach has issued the following update:

"Greetings from Perth, Austrailia! I am pleased to announce the brand new drummer we have on tour with us at this time is none other than Jason West and he is kicking ASS all over the kit! Jason is the drumeer for the bands NEUROTICA and PITBULL DAYCARE. He was turned onto me through the illustrious Johnny Chromatic [guitar]. He is doing a great job filling some big shoes.

"As you know, Bobby Jarzombek, my drummer for last three years and also the drummer on the new CD, 'Angel Down', recently broke his wrist and we did not know if we could find a drummer of equal caliber for the summer tour. I am happy to report that Jason West is a FANTASTIC drummer and the last show in Tokyo, was especially ferocious!! It was at Koseinenkin Kaikan, where JUDAS PRIEST recorded the ultimate live album 'Unleashed in the East', and we all felt the presence of that record during the show, and played a show that will go down as one of the best of our lives!"

Check out a photo of the new lineup here.

Due later in the year via an as-yet-undisclosed label, Sebastian Bach's new album, "Angel Down", will be his first solo CD since 1999's "Bring 'Em Bach Alive", and first release since 2004's "Forever Wild" DVD. Bach's current touring band is completed by guitarist "Metal" Mike Chlasciak (PAINMUSEUM, HALFORD), and bassist Rob DeLuca (SPREAD EAGLE).

DARKANE drummer Peter Wildoer has issued the following update:

"Currently Klas [Ideberg, DARKANE guitarist] and I are working day and night mixing the new SOILWORK CD. They have recorded everything (except vocals) in DARKANE's studio Not Quite Studio. It will be a killer CD with lots of great songs.

"At the moment I don't have a lot of time to play the drums but as soon as the SOILWORK CD is done I will have a holiday and get time to practice. Got a few cool projects coming up after the summer.

"We're almost done with the DARKANE DVD that we've been working on for a long time. We still need to mix the sound for the main live show which will be done after the SOILWORK mix. Well, I guess that holiday will be postponed until after the mixing of the DVD. The DARKANE DVD will include four hours of footage. One hour main concert shot in Helsingborg with eight cameras and lots of other stuff from the studio recordings and tours.

"Stefan Rosqvist's debut CD will also be finished this summer. Hmmm, that mix will be done after DARKANE DVD mix. I guess there will be no holiday! I play drums on Stefan's CD and it features more of a fusion/light playing style of drumming. Actually the songs range from soft trio to more hard rock songs. [here] you can see a short clip from one of the songs 'Decisions'."

DARKANE's upcoming DVD was shot in May 2006 in the band's hometown of Helsingborg, Sweden. The band last year completed a European tour in support of their fourth album, "Layers of Lies", available now on Nuclear Blast Records. It is the follow-up to the band's third studio CD, "Expanding Senses", which was released in 2002.

Danish exteme metallers ILLDISPOSED are currently working on material for their new album, tentatively due late 2007/early 2008.

Commented guitarist/songwriter Jakob Batten: "Sometime after the summer holidays we'll enter our producer Ziggy's new studio to get the songs on disc. And last week I booked Studio Fredman in Sweden with Fredrik Nordström to mix the album."

Regarding the new material, Batten said, "Heavy stuff, heavy sound, membrane-shredding tunes is what you can expect. It will be killer! . . . This time we're going in a more old-school direction, more heavy bass-drum parts and way less electronics."

ILLDISPOSED's latest CD, "Burn Me Wicked", entered the Danish album chart at position No. 58 last June. The follow-up to 2004's "1-800 Vindication" was recorded at ZigZound Studio during November/December 2005 with producer Ziggy and was mastered by Tue Madsen at Antfarm studio.

Norwegian death metallers BLOOD RED THRONE have set "Come Death" as the title of their new album, due later in the year via Earache Records. The CD was recorded at Dub Studios in Norway and was mixed by Valle Adzic. Mastering duties were handled by Dragan T. According to a press release, the album contains nine songs of BLOOD RED THRONE's unique blend of groovy, aggressive and technical death metal. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Come Death", "Taste of God", "Rebirth in Blood", "Slaying the Lamb" and "Deranged Assassin".

BLOOD RED THRONE's fourth studio album will be the group's first to feature new members Anders Haave (drums) and Vald (vocals).

"This time, we aim for a more classic death metal sound, ala GORGUTS 'Considered Dead' / SUFFOCATION 'Despise the Sun' kind of sound," the band previously said. "We have grown tired with the over-produced and fully triggered drum kits that so many bands use today, besides we have taken a slightly new direction with our music and the analog and dynamic sound fits the music better. We have also chosen a different approach to the recording process of the instruments."

BLOOD RED THRONE is in the process of booking gigs in support of the upcoming album, with three festival appearances already confirmed. More information will be made available soon.

Legendary death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE have issued the following update:

"We have just returned from a short but excellent tour of Mexico and Guatemala. We want to say thank you to all of the great fans who came to see us, you made the tour a huge success. The death metal scene in Mexico and Central America is clearly as strong as ever, and we look forward to returning in the future to see all of our friends and fans there. We also want to say thank you to Carlo and crew for doing a great job with the organization of the tour, and to our own crew as well. The schedule was sometimes hectic during the tour, but you guys did a great job keeping it all together. We also want to thank the local promoters and crews for their hard work and hospitality.

"We are also very pleased to announce that we are in the process of finalizing more tour dates for Central and South America. These dates will be in countries we didn't play on this recent tour, and will likely be scheduled for mid-to-late August. We will have an update on this very soon.

"OK, that's all for now. Thanks again to all of the fans that attended the shows in Mexico and Guatemala; you guys rule!"

Atlanta-based extreme metal band DAATH will release an exclusive remix of "Dead on the Dance Floor", a track from their debut Roadrunner release, "The Hinderers", via digital EP this summer. Due in July, the track was remixed by Danny Lohner, former of NINE INCH NAILS and A PERFECT CIRCLE. DAATH guitarist and co-founder Eyal Levi states, "At some point in our lives each member of DAATH has done their time with NINE INCH NAILS' music. They are a huge part of our musical upbringing and collaborating with one of their main minds is an honor that we are very excited about." Describing its sound as "versatile," DAATH strays away from a traditional approach to death metal — weaving deep pockets of groove with electronic nuances, making a remix by Danny Lohner a natural progression for the band.

Having just completed a sold-out U.K. tour alongside metal juggernauts UNEARTH, JOB FOR A COWBOY, and DESPISED ICON, DAATH will hit the road on June 2 and will tour through August 30, showcasing its bombastic live show throughout North America. The band's touring journey will begin as part of the Summer Slaughter Tour, featuring a bounty of respected extreme metal acts such as NECROPHAGIST, DECAPITATED, CEPHALIC CARNAGE and CATTLE DECAPITATION. Following Summer Slaughter they will play a string of select dates with DYING FETUS, PSYOPUS, and COVENANCE, until launching into this year's Ozzfest. DAATH will dominate the second stage with fellow underground acts such as HATEBREED, NILE, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD and CHTHONIC and will be playing select "off" Ozzfest dates with NILE. "This is a breakthrough time for extreme music," Levi says. "Ozzfest has begun to pick up on the value of underground, truly extreme music. For us it's not only a great honor, but also a huge opportunity to see how much we can help push the genre."

Finnish atmospheric doom metallers SILENTIUM have been forced to push back the release date of the second single from their "Seducia" album, "Dead Silent", to July from the previously announced end of April. "We're very sorry for this delay," the band writes on its web site. "The exact date shall be told as soon as it's fixed."

SILENTIUM released its latest album, "Seducia", in January 2006 via Dynamic Arts Records. The CD was the sequel to the "Frostnight" single, which came out in October 2005. According to a Dynamic Arts press release, the album "delivers bombastical, cold atmospheres" with a total running time of 48 minutes.

"Seducia" is the group's first full-length release to feature vocalist Riina Rinkinen, who joined the group in July 2004.

Britian's BRING ME THE HORIZON has posted its first-ever promotional video, for the track "Pray for Plagues", at Youtube. The song comes off the group's debut album, "Count Your Blessings", which is scheduled for release in North America on August 14 via Earache Records.

In the seemingly short span of three years since their formation, BRING ME THE HORIZON has "accomplished more in that time than most bands do in 10," according to a press release. "In 2006, BRING ME THE HORIZON was the recipient of a Kerrang! award for 'Best British Newcomer' and held steady on MySpace's top 100 list of most played bands, currently boasting a playcount of 4.2 million plays. BRING ME THE HORIZON was only one of two U.K. acts to chart in the MySpace top 100 (the other being COLDPLAY). In addition, they've toured with bands such as BLEEDING THROUGH and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and performed a show-stealing set at the U.K.'s Download Festival."

BRING ME THE HORIZON is being licensed to Earache through the band's U.K. label Visible Noise. Julie Weir, the A&R director of Visible Noise says, "BRING ME THE HORIZON are an extreme and incendiary band, and where better for them to be released in the US than through the home of extreme music!!" Earache Records U.S. label head Al Dawson believes that the band's future now burns even brighter: "We are overjoyed to be given the opportunity to work with BRING ME THE HORIZON — they are one of the most talented extreme bands to come out of England in the last few years."

Norwegian black metallers DARKTHRONE have set "F.O.A.D." as the title of their new CD, tentatively due in September. "This album will [be the subject of] lots of debate...I'm pretty sure of it," said DARKTHRONE's Nocturno Culto. "There will be a small taster in the form of an exclusive EP in July, that will contain exclusive song called 'Hedninger Fra Helvete' (in English that means 'Heathens from Hell'), and there will be a different recording of the song 'Wisdom of the Dead' and different vocal version of 'Canadian Metal', plus the TESTORS cover song 'Bad Attitude'. It will contain nine songs."

In a recent interview with MP3.com, Nocturno Culto said about the upcoming CD, "Some people might say, OK...oh...this is going to be even more punk than the last album, but it's not true, actually. It will probably be even more metal in some kind of way. I mean, we are just picking up where we left [off with] 'The Cult is Alive', and we probably have dragged the metal and the rock element a bit further. It's a very diverse album; it's a lot of different songs there, and I think also the sound on the album will be very different because we record two songs each time we meet up, and it results in different sounds on the album. But I think it's better to try to concentrate on each song and give that particular song its own...like...identity."

The title track from Swedish metallers ENTOMBED's upcoming album, "Serpent Saints - The Ten Amendments", has been posted on the Candlelight Records USA MySpace Page. Due in the U.S. on July 31 via a special arrangement with Threeman Recordings, the 10-song effort marks the group's first release with drummer Olle Dahlstedt (ALPHA SAFARI, ex-MISERY LOVES CO.), who replaced Peter Stjärnvind in 2006. Mastering duties were handled by Soren Elofsson at Cosmos Mastering in Stockholm, Sweden.

"Serpent Saints - The Ten Amendments" (обложка) track listing:

01. Serpent Saints
02. Masters of Death
03. Amok
04. Thy Kingdom Koma
05. When in Sodom
06. In The Blood
07. Ministry
08. The Dead, The Dying and The Dying To Be Dead
09. Warfare, Plague, Famine, Death
10. Love Song For Lucifer

With regards to the musical direction of the new album, the band previously said, "'Serpents Saints' goes wider and deeper than the 'When In Sodom' EP but it's a pretty good indicator. It's no concept album but an ambitious attempt at creating a solid album with some recurring themes. Almost like the soundtrack to the film with the same name."

ENTOMBED's "When In Sodom" EP was released last year.

ENTOMBED recently cancelled its European tour dates due to a death in the family of guitarist Alex Hellid.

NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) legends BLITZKRIEG will release their new album, entitled "Theatre of the Damned" (обложка), on August 10 via Germany's Armageddon Music. The CD was recorded at Absurd Studio in Hamburg with producer Schroedey and co-producer Biff Byford (SAXON). According to a posting on the Armageddon web site, "Theatre of the Damned" "offers the same authentic heavy metal of the '80s along with a super freshness and total attitude."

BLITZKRIEG's most recent album, "Sins and Greed", was released in July 2005 via Metal Nation Records.

BLITZKRIEG will perform at this year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany on Thursday, August 2 for the "A Night To Remember" show alongside headliners SAXON.

Doom metal heroes REVEREND BIZARRE have topped the the Finnish single chart with what may be the most improbable single chart entry ever, their 16-minute edit of the song "Teutonic Witch". View the chart at this location.

REVEREND BIZARRE's new double album, "So Long Suckers", which will reportedly be the group's final release, will be issued on August 8 via Spinefarm Records. The track listing for the effort is as follows:

CD1:

01. They Used Dark Forces/Teutonic Witch
02. Sorrow
03. Funeral Summer

CD2:

04. One Last Time
05. Kundalini Arisen
06. Caesar Forever
07. Anywhere Out Of This World