Belgian black metallers ENTHRONED have commenced the recordings for their new album, "Tetra Karcist", under the guidance of Harris Johns (SODOM, KREATOR, VOIVOD). Guest musicians on the CD include Ashmedi (MELECHESH), MkM (ANTAEUS), Verderf (ex-VERLOREN, OUROBOUROS), Harris Johns and Dungeon (ICONOCLASM).

ENTHRONED recently announced the return of drummer Alsvid for the recording sessions for "Tetra Karcist". The band also added bassist Phorgath, who "used to be [the] session guitar player [for ENTHRONED] after Nerath Daemon's departure and is the frontman of Belgian death/black metal band EMPTINESS," the group wrote in a statement. ENTHRONED also announced that guitarist Nornagest will take over the lead vocals in the group following the departure of frontman Sabathan last October.

ENTHRONED's last release was the "Black Goat Ritual" live album, which came out in 2005 via Napalm. The CD was recorded live in Porto Allegre, Brazil in 2004 and was produced and engineered by Treck and Dr. Feelgood.

According to Finland's MTV3, the new NIGHTWISH single "Eva" is currently under investigation by Teosto, the Finnish RIAA equivalent whose task it is to promote the rights of composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers, and to strengthen the diversity of Finnish composition. The chorus of the song is allegedly very similar to a track called "Whirlpool" by Jukka Reinivuo, a relatively unknown Finnish artist. In fact, the similarities are so great that allegations of plagiarism have already been thrown around.

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and composer Tuomas Holopainen has denied the accusation, saying that he just heard about this today (May 30) and that he has never heard the song or the artist in question. Holopainen went on to add that he was interested in hearing the track first before commenting further.

Listen to both songs on YouTube:

NIGHTWISH – "Eva": Audio
JUKKA "RAYSKA" REINIVUO – "Whirlpool": Audio

A video interview with new NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon (a.k.a. Anette Blyckert), conducted a couple of days ago by Finland's MTV3, has been posted at this location. The 35-year-old Swedish vocalist talks about the pressure of replacing Tarja Turunen, the change in her appearance since she joined NIGHTWISH and the possibility of the band recording a song in Swedish.

NIGHTWISH last week released three more samples from its forthcoming album, due in September. In addition to first single, "Eva", you can now check out short clips of the songs "7 Days to the Wolves", "Master Passion Greed" and "Amaranth":

OZZY OSBOURNE's new studio album, "Black Rain", has achieved the following chart positions around the world:

Norway: #2
Finland: #2
Sweden: #2
USA: #3 (#6 on digital albums chart)
Canada: #5
Czech Republic: #5
Japan: #6
Denmark: #6
Austria: #7
U.K.: #8
Germany: #9
New Zealand: #10

"Black Rain" sold 152,000 copies in the United States during its first week of release. This number is in line with the 153,000 first-week tally registered by 2001's "Down to Earth", which entered the Billboard chart at No. 4.

According to Sweden's Close-Up magazine, long-running Swedish death metallers DISMEMBER have tapped drummer Thomas Daun (ex-REPUGNANT, INSISION, SUBVISION) for their upcoming European tour.

DISMEMBER last month announced that it has parted ways with longtime drummer Fred Estby. "My decision to put my family in first hand makes it impossible to keep on touring and commit to the band full-time," Estby said in a statement. "I want to thank all the fans, friends, bands and all the other cool people I've met through the years and I wish DISMEMBER all the best in the future."

DISMEMBER is currently in the process of writing new material and "this sad loss will not interrupt any future plans in any way," the band wrote on its web site. "The commitment to keep on playing is stronger than ever!"

DISMEMBER's latest album, "The God That Never Was", was released in February 2006 via Regain Records. The follow-up to 2004's "Where Ironcrosses Grow" was once again produced by Estby at Sami Studio in Stockholm. The group's current lineup includes Matti Kärki (vocals), David Blomqvist (guitar), Martin Persson (guitar) and newcomer Tobias Christiansson on bass.

Veteran San Francisco Bay Area thrashers HEATHEN are tentatively scheduled to ener the studio in October/November 2007 to begin recording their new album. The as-yet-untitled effort is expected to be released in March 2008 via Holland's Mascot Records.

As many fans will recall, HEATHEN were one of the most unique bands to rise from the Bay Area thrash explosion of the '80s/'90s, having released a groundbreaking debut album, "Breaking the Silence", in 1987 went on to sell close to 100,000 copies worldwide.

Reborn six years ago, the band are now looking to rise up once more and reclaim the throne of thrash metal.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has posted the following message on his web site:

"We all just got back from camping — three days of hell. Not fond of nature.

"Ants live in ant hills. Bears live in caves. People live in HOUSES....not in the woods. People aren't covered with fur and our bodies don't do well with cold, wet or windy climates. Our feet hurt if we even step on a little, sharp pebble. Mosquitos suck our blood, crickets won't shut up at night, so we can't sleep. And when they finally DO shut up, the birds start chirping at the crack of dawn.

'We had a large visitor — an 8 ft bear....there was also a snake...and we drove up there in a truck. More on that later, when you finally see the episode on our 'Gene Simmons Family Jewels' later in the season.

"AND the cell phones don't work well in the woods. Couldn't make a G-damn dime. Now, THAT's torture."

As it has been told to me that some of the stuff I have written has been missunderstood in Russia, I hereby make a short clearification.

There is absolutely no need for russian fans to argue with each other and take sides Therion vs Blind Guardian. We have different attitudes in our bands and I've clearly lost my respect for them, but there's no "war" going on and for what I am concerend there's no value in "crying over spilled milk" as we say in Sweden. What happened has happened and I've told the story as I experienced it. If this mean others also loose repect for Blind Guardian too is nothing I care about, repect is something you earn and in my eyes that don't. But their music is not bad (though I see them as a good power metal band with a sound of their own and not the kind of higher for of art music they gave me the impression they think they play) and I see no reason why fans should be arguing, we can't change now what already happened then anyway. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but if you are angry at Blind Guardian, rather send them a mail about about it than arguing with other fans. Or simply just forget about the whole thing and look forward to the future instead.

be assured we love the russian fans and are very sorry that we couldn't give you the Therion concert we planned and that you all deserved. That is why I was even prepared to cancel and pay for many costs from my own pocket, because it was such an unforgettable experience the last two times and we wanted to aim even higher this time.

In 2009 we will make a new record and 2010 we will be making a new World Tour and then we'll come back to Russia again and show you not only what it SHOULD have been like this time, we will do even BETTER! That is a promise.

I also like to mention that the russian promoter has mailed me and apologuised for the event. It's an honest apology and it seems this sort of event with many bands is simply over their heads and too complicated for them to organize. As I wrote in the last post, they did a good job the two times before, so therefore we expected it to be at least on the same level this time, and our dissapointment was therefore extra big when things turned out to be such a total disaster. Not everything was their fault (like the previous people who rented the hall and didn't remove the cars from the day before), but nevertheless they are the promoter and they are the ones responsible for enabling a hall for the concert. They meant well, but this event was simply totally over their heads to organize and hopefully they stick to events they can handle better in the future (for the sake of them selves, the bands and the fans).

Swedish multi-instrumentalist Snowy Shaw (THERION, DREAM EVIL, KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE, MEMENTO MORI, NOTRE DAME) is currently recording session drums for the debut album of an as-yet-unnamed Gothenburg-based project. According to a posting on Snowy's web site, "style-wise is very much in the vein of CANDLEMASS, MEMENTO MORI, KING DIAMOND and NOTRE DAME. Last autumn Snowy did lead and backing vocals for several tracks on the album. The CD, titled "Opera Diabolicus", will be mixed in June by KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque at Andy's Los Angered Recordings.

As previously reported, Snowy Shaw has been hired to handle the artwork, illustrations and photography for the upcoming releases by Swedish sleaze rockers HARDCORE SUPERSTAR.

Florida death metal legends OBITUARY have set "Xecutioner's Return" (Candlelight Records) as the title of their forthcoming album. The CD's release date has been pushed forward to August 28 from the previously announced September 11. The band is finalizing U.S. touring plans now that will kick off in early September. Full tour details will be announced shortly.

OBITUARY is working with artist Andreas Marshall for the cover art for "Xecutioner's Return". Marshall has worked with the band for "The End Complete" and their most recent record "Frozen in Time". Tracking of the record has now been completed with mixing and mastering now on schedule in the coming weeks.

KYLÄHULLUT, the Finnish band featuring CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman Alexi Laiho alongside Vesku Jokinen (vocals) and Tonmi Lillman (drums), is scheduled to enter the studio today (Sunday, May 27) to begin recording a new full-length album. The group will be in the studio until May 31, according to a posting on the KYLÄHULLUT web site.

KYLÄHULLUT's last release was the "Lisää Persettä Rättipäille" EP, which came out in March via Kråklund Records. The CD featured guest appearances by NIGHTWISH mainman Tuomas Holopainen and ex-FINNTROLL vocalist Tapio Wilska.

Peter Lindgren has stepped down from his guitar-wielding duties in OPETH after 16 years. His official statement on the matter reads as follows:

"It is with sadness I announce that OPETH and I are going separate ways after almost 16 years. The decision has been the toughest I've ever made but it is the right one to make at this point in my life.

"The reason behind this is that I feel that I simply have lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in a band that has grown from a few guys playing the music we love to a worldwide industry. The love of music has always been, and still is, our motive, but I personally have lost something along the way. The massive amount of touring has taken its toll.

"OPETH has worked extremely hard to get where we are right now and in order to persist and maintain the quality of the music, it is necessary that we continue to work hard and always stay focused. But in doing so, it means that we nowadays spend 18 or 19 months on the road and I don't feel the same enthusiasm for the upcoming world tour that I have felt earlier. I have come to a point where I realize I won't be able to give the band 100%, and from both sides this will not be good enough for what OPETH stands for. I will always love playing, listening to, and living music, but I will do it differently from now on.

"These years has easily been the best of my life and I will always cherish the memory of what we have experienced together.

"I would like to thank the band, our management, record label people, all the bands I've made friends with for everything. Most of all, I would like to thank the fans from the depth of my heart for the support throughout the years.

'I wish Mikael, Martin, Per and Axe all the best and I am confident they will continue doing the greatest music in the world!!"

Fredrik Åkesson (ex-ARCH ENEMY, KRUX, TALISMAN) has been confirmed as the new guitarist in OPETH.

Says OPETH leader Mikael Åkerfeldt: "Well, I think it's too soon right now to fully be able to explain what I feel.

"Peter and I had been working in this band together for almost half of our lives and we shared some unforgettable experiences together all over the world. We will obviously remain friends and this 'break-up' has been on very good terms from both sides. We all wish him the best of luck with his future ventures!

"Fredrik was the only name that popped up thinking about a replacement for Peter. In my opinion he's one of the top three guitar players out of Sweden. We all get along great as we've known each other for maybe four years and he already has the experience to take on the circus-like lifestyle we lead as members of OPETH.

"I can't wait to see what he can bring to the table musically and also to get out on the roads touring together. His first gig will be at the Ilosaarirock festival [July 13-15 in Joensuu] in Finland. I'm sure he'll shit his pants before that one, but then again...so will I!"

OPETH recorded its November 9, 2006 concert at the Roundhouse in London, England for an upcoming DVD. The disc will contain the show (filmed in HD), band interviews, fan interviews as well as photo galleries. A fall release is expected.

The special-edition deluxe version of OPETH's "Ghost Reveries" CD was released on October 31 via Roadrunner Records. Bonus material on the set includes the band's cover of DEEP PURPLE's "Soldier of Fortune", a 40-minute documentary about the making of the record complete with the band's own private tour footage, the video for "The Grand Conjuration", liner notes, photos, an enhanced 24-page booklet, deluxe sleeve, and 5.1 surround exclusive mix of the record made by original mixed/engineer Jens Bogren.

The artwork for CLAWFINGER's upcoming album, "Life Will Kill You", has been posted at this location. Due on July 27 via Nuclear Blast Records, the Swedish rap/metal combo's new CD will contain the following track listing:

01. The Price You Pay
02. Life Will Kill You
03. Prisoners
04. Final Stand
05. None The Wiser
06. Little Baby
07. The Cure & The Poison
08. Where Can We Go From Here
09. It's Your Life
10. Falling
11. Carnivore

(“Who cares what they demand? They won’t quit after coming this far to the country, and the public will swallow it anyway”).

I have never seen anyone sum up the attitude of many
The sad thing is that the two previous times in Moscow it was not that bad at all. This is why it was so frustrating this time, it was 10 steps backwards. If we would go to Zimbawe and play we wouldn't expect much and could have done it just for the sake of visiting the country. Russia we regard as close to "normal" and therfore it is increadibly embarresing when things are handles this bad.

The whole story was already sad. Now the conflict between Chris and Hansi is confirmed, and, judging by the tone of the letter, Chris is not willing to bury the hatchet. And the next concert isn’t until 2010… There’s only so much a man can take…

I think you missunderstood this part. First of all, I have left this topic at the same time as I posted the Email from Kliffoth. I don't care about Blind Guardian. It's unlikely I will see them again and if I do I'll simply have nothing to say to them and just ignore them. They can live in their bubbles thinking they are Pink Floyd, it doesn't bother me, I'm not gonna share stage with them again anyway, so there's no reason to go and feel angry. Done is done. And alsoit is only Hansi and Andre who takes decisions. Markus is a cool guy. And I would also (based on what I've heard about the members from others) guess that it was not Hansi who decided to change his mind, but probably Andre who had a problem with it and Hansi had to break the agreement. And that's w
Anyway, I don't care, we have other things to think about now.

Metal Mind Productions has set a June 25 release date 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.

"Alive in Poland" track listing:

01. Intro
02. Speed of Light
03. The Brave
04. Futureal
05. Alive
06. Tough as Steel
07. Man on the Edge
08. Virus
09. Ten Seconds
10. Two Worlds Collide
11. Look for the Truth
12. Kill and Destroy
13. Silicon Messiah
14. Tenth Dimension
15. Sign of the Cross
16. Born as as Stranger
Bonus video:
"Hollowhead" video clip

Other features:

* Photo gallery
* Biography
* Discography
* Desktop images
* Weblinks
* Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

As previously reported, Blaze Bayley will reunite with his first band WOLFSBANE for three songs after his solo set at the Rock of Ages Festival in Tamworth, England on September 9.

Blaze Bayley will release his new solo album in late October. The record will contain 14 new songs and will be supported by "a massive tour 2008/2009, covering over 150 concerts all over the world," according to Blaze's management.

Bayley's new band, now called simply BLAZE BAYLEY, is as follows:

Rico Banderra - Drums
Nick Bermudez (UNDER THREAT) - Guitar
David Bermudez (UNDER THREAT) - Bass
Rich Newport - Guitar
Blaze Bayley - Vocals

RIDE THE SKY, the new band featuring ex-HELLOWEEN drummer and MASTERPLAN founder Uli Kusch alongside ex-TEARS OF ANGER/BEYOND TWILIGHT singer Bjørn Jansson, guitarist Benny Jansson, bassist Mathias Granås (XSAVIOR) and keyboardist Kaspar Dahlqvist (DIONYSUS, STORMWIND), will release its debut album, "New Protection", in Europe on August 17 via Nuclear Blast. The CD will arrive in Japan on July 21.

"New Protection" (cover) was recorded and mixed by Benny Jansson at Zinkens Studio in Stockholm, Sweden and was mastered by Christofer Stannow at Cosmos Mastering. The track listing is as follows:

01. New Protection
02. A Smile From Heaven's Eye
03. Silent War
04. The Prince Of Darkness
05. Break The Chain
06. Corroded Dreams
07. The End Of Days
08. Far Beyond The Stars
09. Black Cloud
10. Endless
11. Heaven Only Knows
12. A Crack In The Wall
13. Make The Spirit Burn (limited edition bonus track)
14. Trail Of Flame (bonus track for Japan)

Check out audio samples at here

A rough-mix version of the song "New Protection" is featured on the Nuclear Blast compilation "Into the Light", due on June 1. The track "A Smile from Heaven's Eye" will appear on the "20 Nuclear Years" four-CD box, due in August.

RIDE THE SKY will support SONATA ARCTICA and EPICA on a European tour in November.

German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR have issued the following update:

"Yes, after a long discussion about the future of PRIMAL FEAR, we've decided to bring Henny Wolter back to the band. After a four-year break, Henny takes over the guitar duties together with Stefan Leibing, who played most of the guitars on the new album 'New Religion'. We decided against a brand new face, because Henny is back ready and smoking.

"Henny's departure four years ago was in a very friendly way and the guys stayed in contact during his abscence. Henny did a fantastic job on the new PRIMAL FEAR recordings and the SINNER tour. We are proud to have the riff master from Hannover back in our ranks! Henny will make his comeback with the band on the next show on June 30th in Germany. Welcome Back, Henny!"

Finnish/Swedish symphonic metal band NIGHTWISH has released three more samples from its forthcoming album, due in September. In addition to first single, "Eva", you can now check out short clips of the songs "7 Days to the Wolves", "Master Passion Greed" and "Amaranth":

• 7 Days to the Wolves
  
• Master Passion Greed
  
• Amaranth
  
• Eva
  

As there has been a lot of talks and also statements from the promoter about this, I feel the duty to explain what really happened.
I wish there would be a short way of saying this, but to fully get people grasp the picture, I'm posting this detailed story of what really happened in Russia and the background of it.

When you make a total fuck up show, loose loads of money on it (2500 showed up in Moscow, they expected 4000) and have thousands of angry people looking your way, it is of course convenient with a scapegoat. Especially when you can write in russian and this person don't speak that language and you don't expect him to be able to defend him self. And everybody of course "knows" that musicians are demaning stars that are causing all sorts of problems and delays for the poor hard working promoters. Like Axl Rose, if he's in a bad mood the concert gets some hours delayed, or those alcoholic musicians that are too drunk to get their shit together and go on stage in time. Well, believe it or not, but quite a lot of us are in fact the opposite. We often put up with things that you would never believe a big band would accept and I've heard so many times from people I've met that they are surprised that we are just totally "normal people". We fly tourist class or even low budget airlines like Ryan Air to shows, eat normal food and dress normally (in case someone though we have a private jet, eat russian caviar for breakfast and use the same tailor as Elton John). I'm the only one in the band who owns a car and we all live in normal appartments in boring suburbs. Just thought it might be good to know in case you happen to stand outside a concert hall waiting for 4 hours and wonder if the delay is because of:

A- the band finnishing their champagne & caviar session at the pool and that might take some time - it's a damn good champagne! =)

or

B - if it maybe could be due to technical problems and that the bands crew are the heroes of the day making a show happen at all.

I remember the ONLY time when WE ever cancelled a show (shows being cancelled by the fact that our tour bus broke down or similar that made us unable to get to the show in time, or shows that were cancelled by the promoter by some reason is another thing). That was in Livorno in Italy, back in 1998 promoting the Vovin album. The stage was around 15 cm high and so small that when the drums was on it, there was no space for the band. The promoter had intended the band to stand on the floor (!) and play in front of the audience! The PA was of the same type as any average demo band would have in their rehearsal room and was good for nothing except maybe vocals - for ONE singer (Therion had 4 on that tour). The catering (for 28 people including crew and drivers) were 2 six packs of coca cola and one plate with golden toast sandwhiches. Not even one drink and a pice to put in the mough for each person in the traveling party.
The promoter had broken every term imaginable in the contract and it would be a terrible embarressment of a show if we attempted to play, so we (Therion and Moonspell who also was on that tour) decided to not do the show and leave. After we had left, the promoter was talking to fans who had traveled far to see the show and explained to them how big rock stars we were and that he had given us "everything imaginable", but nothing was good enough for us and we canceled. He said he had worked with Deep Purple and they were happy, but Therion and Moonspell had too special demands...
Today I had a deja-vu when reading a translation of what the russian promoter was writing about the show in Moscow last weekend. I was thinking about Livorno in Italy. Of course, things were not as bad as in Livorno and after all, we managed to do the show. And even though it (as usual) was more complicated to provide a normal vegetarian meal than to make a pig fly, I can not complain about the catering for the people who were not vegetarians, they were fed well. But the principle to blame the band (and management) for having "bad behaviour" in an attempt to cover up for them selves not having fulfilled much of the agreed terms and making a total mess of everything is the same.

So why was the show delayed then?

Delay reason no 1: When our road crew and sound engineer arrived to the venue in the morning, there were CARS (!) standing on the stage. They had an exhibition the day before and no one had moved them. Obviously they can't start setting up our stuff when the stage is filled with cars. Or maybe we should put the drum kit in one of the the back seats and the singer can stand on the roof of the cars?

Delay reason no 2: As the case is in many countries with poor economy, much of the equipment did not work at all, or had several malfunctions. Getting new stuff in or making special solutions to get things working takes time. That is not what our crew is paid to do (fix broken stuff), but that is still what they must do every time we end up in countries where the promoters do not live up to what they have formally agreed to when signing the contract and accepting the technical rider. The only way we can avoid that is to either become so big that the promotors that book U2, Ozzy, Metallica and those kind of bands get interested, or to simply avoid playing in those countries where we know these things happen. We want to play, so this is the reality we have to deal with also in the future.

The discussions regarding if Therion should cancel or not did not even cause a 5 min delay. We had discussions while the crew were working with their stuff and nothing was ever stopped because of that. Either the promoter is lying or he simply have no clue of what was going on at all (I suspect the latter).

Then what was this talk about cancelling about then?

I was originally asked if we wanted to play Moscow again and I accepted that offer of course, it always RULED to play there. More or less at the same time it was suggested that we could have both Blind Guardian and Therion playing on the same stage. We would get paid the same and do our show, but it would mean a bigger concert hall and more people. Why not, sounded like a good idea.
One month before the show, I get to hear that Pain is also playing. Not from our booking agent (but this was their fault though, not the promoters), but from Kristian who had met Peter from Pain. This was worrying me, as I know there's often technical issues in Russia. And I was later told by our agent we would have a playing time of 1,5 hours as "it was a festival". I could have made a problem out of that too, as what I agreed to was to make a full Therion show on stage before Blind Guardian, not to participate in a festival. But I accepted that as I thought it would be an amazing show in a huge venue where we could put on a show to blow everyone away (now it turned out we played a SMALLER venue with the same amount of people as when headlining last time).
We applied for the VISA to Russia and after a lot of trouble and mess (as the promoters partner of course sent us the wrong papers!) and time went and we got no more info from the promoter, our tour manager said one week before the show that "the only thing that is totally confirmed the the flights you booked your self and the name of the hotel were we're staying". Then the depost didn't arrive (the promoters must pay a far of the fee as a deposit to our bank in advance as a security to cover our flights in case he choose to cancel the show) and this in combination with not getting any info from the promoter about the technical things would have been enough for most booking agents to cancel the show. They still decided to go on and it was agreed to get the cash for the show paid in advance on the day of arrival (day before the show) to avoid cancellation. 3 days before the show we got the technical info with the stage dimensions and our sound engineers and tour manager made it clear to me that with all these bands and Blind Guardians idea of that their drum kit should be set up and then not moved, we would have to put our drums in front of theirs. Principally I disagreed with that, we pulled 2500 people on our last headline perfomance in Moscow, Blind Guardian pulled 2800. We're not their support act even if they're a bit bigger and we have a lot of stage scenery that would looks very strange if their drum kit would be in the back of ours. And when it became clear to me that the stage was of a size suitable fro a club concert and not a festival stage and that we would have between 1-1,5 meters (that's about 3-5 feets) left in front of the drums if we did our set up in front of them (and that would have to fit monitors as well!), I simply decied to cancel. We would then announce it some days ahead, so those who wanted could cancel travels and return tickets.
I was then persuaded by the booking agent to still do the show on the basis that the stage would be extended with 2 meters and that we would be able to solve most of the issues.

We were then flying and I spent 200 SEK (equals 22 euro or 30 USD) per kilo (1 kilo = 2,2 pounds) in excess luggage/overweight for each flight. Only the backdrop (the background hanging behind a band) weights over 25 kg. One guitar in a flight case weights 18 kg. A box containing cables, pedal boards and other small things needed for the show, weight 35-40 kg. Go figue what the value of the backdrop, stage fence and all other scenery costs to bring over. Remember this when reading the rest.

The promoter had promised to pay both bands on the vening of arrival, as he hadn't payed the despoits as agreed earlier, but this he didn't. Many bands would have cancelled after the promoter breaking two agreed schedules of payments. We still decided to go for it and trust in the promoter, as we had worked with him 2 times before without promblems.

When the crew got to the venue, it became clear that the PA was attached to the wall and could not be moved forward and there was no room to build the stage deeper in the back. If we would have extended it more to the front and the PA stays where it is, it would have been impossible to use the extra space for the singers, as you get only feedback ("beeeep") from the microphones if they are in front on the PA. So we were back to the 10 x 6 meter stage situation. I was then making it clear (this was in the morning) that I'm not gonna do the show during these circumstances. We wouldn't be able to use our stage scenery at all, the singers would have no podiums to stand on and would instead have to stand on the floor behind us (and barely be seen by the audience for the parts when they didn't sing solo stuff and went to the front).
Therion anno 2007 is not just a band performing music, we are making a complete show, it's more like an opera metal music performance. Compare how Therion looked like in Moscow with this photo from Holland

This photo shows how the show was SUPPOSED to look like also in Moscow when I originally agreed to do the show. From my point of view, it was better to cancel and then come back at some later point and do the show in a proper manner instead of doing a crap show (well, maybe some of you liked it anyway, but then imagine how incredibly much better it would have been with the real show).

I had a meeting with Hansi from Blind Guardian and the booking agent we both use. I suggested we could save the day by taking down Blind Guardians drums after sound check, put ours up there and then in the change over we'd put their back again. This is how we did it on the tour we did with Grave Digger and it worked fine. Hansi had some doubts being afraid it "may change the sound of the drums in their in ear monitors". I also use in ear monitors (like most other in Therion) and given the fact that Blind Guardian had their own drum microphones (like we also did on the tour with Grave Digger), I could testify that the risk of a notable change is increadibly small, basically non existing. As a matter of fact the sound anyway change a bit when you go on stage with a crowd on the hall, as they absorb much of the reflections coming back from the hall when soundchecking in an empty venue.
We called the crew and asked about it and Peter (the best damn tech on the planet) said it could be done, but admitted it could make some minor changes to the sound. Hansi agreed to do it when it was clear the option would be Therion cancelling. However making this happen would require a much longer change over, which would mean much more work for the crew (which we agreed should be paid double for that sake) and it would therefore be very unlikely that there would be time also for any of the other bands to perform, as the technical difficulties reported from the crew at the venue seemed to be enormous (there was for example several power losses where the entire PA went dead).

We waited at the hotel for some hours while Blind Guardian soundchecked. When we finally were brought to the venue Hansi told me that "there was no space" to put away their drums. There was space for it behind stage and when I mentioned that, he told me the sound would change, so it became clear to me that he just simply changed his mind and didn't care about what he promised earlier. Or there was some other guy in the band not happy with what Hansi promised and made him take it back.
I then went down on the stage, checked how it would look like and it became totally clear that we wouldn't be able to use any scenery and that absolutely everything was totally fucked, we were to appear on stage like some fucking support act and all the scenery I payed to fly over would be lying behind stage. I went back backstage and said that I wanted to cancel if this was the circumstances for us and Hansi made clear that it was more important that Blind Guardian don't risk* having a different* sound in the in ear monitor than Therion performing (which is quite notable, as if they din't see any point with us playing and pulling people, then why did they agree to the arrangement with both bands playing in the first place?).

* Notice "risk" and "different". it is in no way sure it would be different and also "different" doesn't automatically mean worse either.

I then told Hansi I would cancel and he made clear he valued the Blind Guardians drum sound in the monitor more than Therion performing.
I was about to go outside the venue and tell people we're cancelling and tell them why. But I thought I'd speak with the band first. I realized I was maybe too fucking angry to take good decisions, so I told Kristian that lay down my own vote and let the band decide. They decided we play.

Please note that if Therion would have cancelled, I would have had to pay the flight tickets, overweight, russian VISA costs and another number of expenses from my own pocket. It's not something I would do unless I had very good reasons obviously.

Everyone was in a bad mood (especially me who also couldn't get a proper meal, they "forgot" to order also a vegetarian pizza and the regular meal was consisting of 4 pieces of boiled peppers + some decoration with 2 broccoli, so I had to watch everybody else eat really nice meals + extra pizza if they needed more - only some minutes before I had to get on stage there was some delivery of boiled rice with some vegetables in a paper box) and we didn't play too well because of that. There was no motivation at all, just do it and get the hell out of there asap. We have a very detailed corriography which is tied to the show we do nowadays and it was just plain chaos, no one knew where or how to move in the mess on stage and on the top on everything the promoter had not given the back-up guitar to our crew, so for the odd tunings, I had to wait while the guitar tech re-tuned the guitar, very professional. As if that wasn't enough, just to have that extra spice of annoying, there was no strap for Mats guitar, it was a rope (!) there instead and to make the worst show on World Tour 2007 a totally unbeatable status at the bottom, my guitar tech did the worst mistake I ever had from a tech, he managed to tune the B sting in C# (this may not mean much to you who don't play instruments, but imagine that some of the keys on your computer keyboard would get rewired, so that for example every "E" became an "X" and every "O" became a "B", then typing "hello" would result in writing "hxllb", imagine that on a guitar and how it sounds). I had to do some improvising to cover that up it crowned the bitterness of seeing a show that normally should have been on the Top 5 best shows on the tour the worst.

From now on, when we play in these "problematic" type of countries, we will always play alone with no other band playing (before or after). You guys pay for your tickets which in relation to your incomes is as much or even more than what someone in western Europe pays. So you deserve to have the same good concert experience for your money, not some kind of low budget B- or C-version. I feel responsible to give you a high class performance and that is why I was prepared to take a huge economic hit to cancel and come back alone at some later time. Now we did this crap and the market for another show (with another promoter) is full for the rest of the year, then I plan to take one year off and the year after that we'll be recording a new album, so next chance to do a proper show in Russsia again will be 2010.

Anybody unhappy with the show and need to loose some frustration can send their complaints to the promoter who fucked it up.
If you on the other hand like to hail some great musicians, completely without ego problems and with a totally non-pretentious self image, also send some roses and greetings to Blind Guardian, congratulating them for their outstandingly remarkable generosity and comeradeship, not to mention the great honesty shown. They're bigger than Metallica, have more complex music than Dream Theather and Meshuggah and a more delicate sound than Pink Floyd - yet they did SO many great sacrifices to help our little band warming up the stage for them, the only band people wanted to see that night. Sometimes the word "thank you" is simply not enough...

Reunited Austrian black metallers ABIGOR have announced the following release dates for their new album, "Fractal Possesion":

Europe: May 2, 2007
USA: June 5, 2007

"Fractal Possession" track listing:

01. Warning
02. Project: Shadow
03. Cold Void Choir
04. Lairf Of Infinite Deparation
05. 3D Blasphemy
06. The Fire Syndrom
07. Injection Satan
08. Libery Rises A Diagonal Flame
09. Vapourzied Tears
10. Heaven Unveiled

EDENBRIDGE's upcoming rarities/"best of" compilation, entitled "The Chronicles of Eden", has had its release date pushed back to June 1 from the previously announced May 25. Audio samples of four songs from the CD — "Thin Red Line", "The Silent Wake", "Images In The Sand" and "The Whisper Of The Ages" (originally issued as the Japanese bonus track on the "Arcana" CD) — have been posted online at this location. The cover artwork for the album has been posted online at this location(artwork created by Katja Piolka).

"The Chronicles of Eden" will be released as a double-CD and limited double-digipack. Disc One will contain three new, previously unreleased songs, all Japanese and European bonus tracks and songs that were included on all out-of-print singles. Disc Two will include a "best of" selection out of the five released studio albums. The track listing is as follows:

CD 1 (New Songs, Bonus Tracks, Rarities):

01. Thin Red Line
02. The Silent Wake
03. Images In The Sand
04. For Your Eyes Only
05. Evermore
06. Empire Of The Sun
07. Shine (Single Version)
08. On Sacred Ground
09. Anthem
10. On The Verge Of Infinity
11. The Whispering Gallery
12. The Whisper Of The Ages
13. Velvet Eyes Of Dawn

CD 2 ("Best Of" as voted by the fans):

01. Sunrise In Eden
02. Cheyenne Spirit
03. Arcana
04. The Palace
05. The Undiscovered Land
06. Red Ball In Blue Sky
07. Wild Chase
08. The Canterville Prophecy
09. The Canterville Ghost
10. The Grand Design
11. Terra Nova

EDENBRIDGE last month parted ways with drummer Roland Navratil due to "personal, musical and financial differences." A replacement drummer has yet to be announced.

EDENBRIDGE recently signed a worldwide deal with Napalm Records. The band's first effort for Napalm will be released in the spring of 2008. Production on the CD is tentatively scheduled to begin next fall. Four songs have already been written and EDENBRIDGE will work with a renowned Czech orchestra for the first time in its career.

EDENBRIDGE's fifth album, "The Grand Design", was released in the U.S. on January 30 via Napalm Records. The follow-up to 2004's "Shine" was recorded at The Farpoint Station studio in Austria and the Thin Ice facility in England with THRESHOLD mastermind Karl Groom.