Danish power metallers MANTICORA have revealed the artwork and track listing for their sixth full-length album, "The Black Circus Part 2 - Disclosure". The companion CD to last year's "The Black Circus, Part 1 – Letters" was mixed at the Jailhouse studios in Horsens, Denmark between January 25, 2007 and February 1 with producer Tommy Hansen (HELLOWEEN, TNT, PRETTY MAIDS, FATE). A May/June release via Locomotive Music is expected.

"The Black Circus Part 2 - Disclosure" (view artwork at this location) track listing:

01. Entrance
02. Beauty Will Fade
03. Gypsies' Dance Part 2
04. Intuneric V
05. Haita Di Lupi
06. When The Soulreapers Cry
07. Intuneric VI
08. All That Remain
09. Intuneric VII
10. Of Madness In Its Purity
11. Shadows With Tales To Tell - Live In The Black Circus (bonus track Asia)
14. Tour Diary 2005 (bonus video CD Asia)

Check out audio samples at this location.

According to a posting on MANTICORA's web site, the following guest musicians appear on the CD:

* Jacob Hansen (INVOCATOR, ANUBIS GATE) on vocals
* Teddy Möller (LOCH VOSTOK, WUTHERING HEIGHTS) on growls
* Finn Zierler (BEYOND TWILIGHT) doing a keyboard solo
* Andreas Lindahl (WUTHERING HEIGHTS, ex-PLATITUDE) doing some keyboard leads and solos

As previously reported, MANTICORA recently recorded a cover of TANKARD's "Total Addiction" ("a real thrash metal classic!!!" according to the band) for a TANKARD tribute album, to be released later in the year by AFM Records.

Swedish gore death masters DERANGED have inked a deal with Regain Records. The band, which parted ways with Listenable Records in February, will enter the studio in August to begin recording its new album, "The Red Light Murder Case", for a November 2007 release. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Death Walks on High Heels", "Strip Nude for your Killer", "Watch Me When I Kill", "Too Young Too Die", "The Killer Wore Black Gloves", "So Sweet So Dead" and "The Red Light Murderess".

Drummer drummer Rikard Wermen stated about the upcoming album, "It is the best musical work we have so far accomplished under the name DERANGED. It's brutal and insane, and will hopefully leave you dead with a broken neck in the pit."

A brand new MARILYN MANSON song, entitled "If I Was Your Vampire", has been made available for streaming on the band's official MySpace Page.

"If I Was Your Vampire" comes off MANSON's new album, "Eat Me, Drink Me", due on June 5. The first single from the CD, "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides The Hand)", is expected to arrive at radio stations this week and will be accompanied by a video shot in 3D. The clip is said to be an excerpt from a larger project that Manson is filming with "Titanic" director James Cameron, although that collaboration has yet to be officially confirmed.

The album will reportedly be available in both a standard and collector's edition.

"Eat Me, Drink Me" track listing:

01. If I Was Your Vampire
02. Putting Holes in Happiness
03. The Red Carpet Grave
04. They Said Hell Is Not Hot
05. Just a Car Crash Away
06. Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)
07. Evidence
08. Are You the Rabbit?
09. Mutilation is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery
10. You and Me and The Devil Makes 3
11. EAT ME, DRINK ME

Note: The title track will appear in all capital letters.

MANSON is scheduled to support the album with a summer tour co-headlined by SLAYER.

The much-anticipated new album from Norway's avant-garde/black metal band DØDHEIMSGARD, entitled "Supervillain Outcast", is available for streaming in its entirety here.

Due in North America on April 17 via Moonfog/The End Records, "Supervillain Outcast" is DØDHEIMSGARD's (now known as DHG) follow-up to the critically-acclaimed 1999 release "666 International", a sonically-charged rollercoaster ride of avant-garde chaos and intense black metal drive and atmosphere. The album, which ended up on many critics' Top 10 lists, helped inject the black metal music scene with something unique and groundbreaking the year of its release.

"Supervillain Outcast" track listing:

01. Dushman
02. Vendetta Assassin
03. The Snuff Dreams Are Made Of
04. Hororizon
05. Foe X Foe
06. Secret Identity
07. The Vile Delinquents
08. Unaltered Beast
09. Apocalypticism
10. Chrome Balaclava
11. Ghostforce Soul Constrictor
12. All Is Not Self
13. Supervillain Serum
14. Cellar Door
15. 21st Century Devil

DØDHEIMSGARD is:

Vicotnik - guitars
Thrawn - guitars
Kvohst - vocals
Clandestine - bass
D'Arn - drums
Jormundgand - FX/synth

PAIN's video for the track "Zombie Slam" has been posted online at this location. The clip was shot late February in Los Angeles by Ralf Strathmann. Ralf previously worked as a director for artists like CHILDREN OF BODOM, APOCALYPTICA and SOILWORK. He is also a photographer for such bands as H.I.M., AEROSMITH and BLINK 182, to name but a few.

"Zombie Slam" comes off the Swedish band's fifth full-length album, "Psalms of Extinction", due in the Nordic countries on April 18 via Roadrunner Records (May 7 in the rest of Europe). Guest musicians on the album include Mikkey Dee (MOTÖRHEAD, ex-DON DOKKEN, KING DIAMOND) on "Zombie Slam" (audio), CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman Alexi Laiho on the epic song "Just Think Again" (playing lead guitar), and Peter Iwers (IN FLAMES) on two songs (playing bass). According to a press release, the upcoming CD will feature sharper production, "heavier guitars, massive string movements and even more in-your-face vocals."

German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR have set "New Religion" as the title of their new album, due on August 31 via Frontiers Records. The complete track listing for the CD is as as follows (in no particular order):

01. New Religion
02. Drenched In Blood
03. The Curse Of Sharon
04. The Darkness
a. Fighting The Darkness
b. Darkness II
c. Reprise
05. Face The Emptiness
06. Too Much Time
07. Everytime It Rains
08. Burning Bridges
09. Psycho
10. World On Fire
11. The Man (I Don't Know)

Guest musicians on the album include Magnus Karlsson (STARBREAKER, ALLEN/LANDE), Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY, ex-HELLOWEEN) and Simone Simons (EPICA)

PRIMAL FEAR recently extended its ten-year partnership with Warner/Chappell Publishing for a minimum of three more albums and five years.

PRIMAL FEAR released a "best of" collection, entitled "Metal is Forever - The Very Best of Primal Fear", in Europe on September 29 via the band's previous label, Nuclear Blast Records (with whom they parted ways earlier in the year). The album's artwork was created by Stephan Lohrmann, who was also responsible for the cover of PRIMAL FEAR's "Black Sun" album. The 16-track compilation also includes a special bonus CD of "classic metal tracks." The CD was issued in North America on April 2.

ENSIFERUM's video for the song "Ahti" has been posted at YouTube. The track comes off the Finnish group's third album, "Victory Songs", which recently entered the Finnish national chart at position No. 6.

"Victory Songs" was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki with producer Janne Joutsenniemi. A limited-edition version of the album includes an extra track, "Lady in Black", and a bonus DVD. An e-card for the CD can be found here.

ENSIFERUM last year entered the Music DVD chart in their home country at position No. 2 with their "10th Anniversary Live" (Spinefarm) effort. The disc was recorded at the band's 10th-anniversary celebration concert, which took place December 31, 2005 at Nosturi in Helsinki, Finland.

Danish hard rockers ROYAL HUNT have completed the songwriting process for the band's new album, which will become a sequel to their critically acclaimed concept opus "Paradox" (1997). According to a posting on the group's web site, the "lyrical/musical continuation of the story will be spread over 10 tracks and the actual recording of it will start in May 2007 at NorthPoint Productions while the mixing has been scheduled for September at the EMI/Medley Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark." Also in the works is a reissue of the band's live releases "1996" and "Closing the Chapter" (originally released in 1998). More details will be made available soon.

ROYAL HUNT recently launched a vocalist search following the departure of John West.

West joined ROYAL HUNT in 1999 during the recording of the "Fear" album and he worked with the band up until its latest release — the "Royal Hunt 2006" live CD/DVD.

Swiss hard rockers GOTTHARD shot the video for their new single, "The Call", last week in Nürnberg, Germany. Directed by Martin Mueller from RCN-TV, the clip was filmed at the famous Grand Hotel, inside the beautiful Richard Wagner saloon as well as the Honeymoon Suite.

"As the song itself is a very traditional ballad we wanted the clip to be anything but traditional," GOTTHARD bass player Marc Lynn explained to the newspaper Nürnberger Zeitung. "For example, we will have one scene in which Steve Lee, our singer, sits in a restaurant with a girl and the waitress serves him a cut out heart."

"The Call" comes off the group's new album, "Domino Effect", which is scheduled for release on April 27. Check out the cover artwork at this location. According to singer Leo Leoni, "it is the best GOTTHARD album ever to be released".

"Domino Effect" track listing:

01. Master of Illusion
02. Gone Too Far
03. Domino Effect
04. Falling
05. The Call
06. The Oscar Goes to You
07. The Cruiser (Judgement Day)
08. Heal Me
09. Letter to a Friend
10. Tomorrow's Just Begun
11. Come Alive
12. Bad to the Bone
13. Now
14. Where Is Love When It's Gone

GOTTHARD last year scored its 10th consecutive No. 1 album in the band's home country of Switzerland. "Made in Switzerland" — which beat the latest releases from TOOL and PEARL JAM — is a CD/DVD set that contains 17 songs that were recorded during a concert at the Hallenstadion in Zürich in December 2005. In addition to the complete concert, the DVD includes "making-of" footage and many new photos.

GOTTHARD's latest studio effort, "Lipservice", was certified platinum in Switzerland in January 2006 for sales in excess of 40,000 copies.

The cover artwork of Swiss metal experimentalists SAMAEL's eighth album, "Solar Soul", has been posted online at the тут web site.

Due on June 1 via Nuclear Blast Records, "Solar Soul" will feature the following track listing:

01. Solar Soul
02. Promised Land
03. Slavocracy
04. Western Ground
05. On the Rise
06. Alliance
07. Suspended Time
08. Valkyries' New Ride
09. Ave!
10. Quasar Waves
11. Architect (bonus track)
12. Olympus

To check out the new SAMAEL song "Slavocracy", taken from the upcoming CD, go to this location.

Australian melodic power metal band BLACK MAJESTY will issue its third album, entitled "Tomorrowland", on June 1 in Europe through Limb Music Products. The track listing is as follows:

01. Forever Damned
02. Into the Black
03. Evil in Your Eyes
04. Tomorrowland
05. Soldier of Fortune (DEEP PURPLE cover)
06. Bleeding World
07. Faces of War
08. Wings to Fly
09. Another Dawn
10. Scars
11. Memories (digipack bonus track)
12. Kingdoms (digipack bonus track)

Finnish death/thrash metallers DEATHCHAIN will release their third album, "Cult of Death", on May 28 via Dynamic Arts Records. The track listing is as follows:

01. Deathammer
02. Hour of the Exorcist
03. Pit of the Possessed
04. Serpent of the Deep
05. In the Crypt of Vengeance
06. Witchstorm
07. Necrophiliac Lust
08. Cult of Death

DEATHCHAIN recently parted ways with singer Rotten and replaced him with K.J. Khaos.

Sweden's OPETH have issued the following update:

"The films [shot on November 9, 2006 at the Roundhouse in London, England for the band's upcoming DVD] have now been edited by Dash Productions in co-operation with the band and the audio has been mixed at location in Fascination Street by Jens Bogren and Mikael Åkerfeldt. The DVD will contain the show (filmed in HD) and with 5.1 Surround mix. Band interviews, fan interviews (some hilarious moments here!) as well as photo galleries. A release date hasn't been set but it's hopefully set for a possible autumn 2007 release. More details/title to follow."

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.

Electro duo Edge Of Dawn first rose to prominence in the electro scene with their stunning debut Maxi "The Flight ( Lux )". Combining elements of classic era Covenant with the solid, futuristic electronic soundscapes of Seabound they deliver debut album "Enjoy The Fall" - what Mario Schumacher and Frank Spinath ( the vocalist from Seabound ) have created here is an urgent reinvention of the electro genre built upon layers of self-propelling rhythms, sequencer driven basslines, intelligent arrangements and shimmering melody - all cloaked within a melancholy swathe of dancefloor sensibility and dynamic song writing ability. Sure to propel them to the forefront of the electro scene "Enjoy The Fall" presents 12 polished tracks of outstanding electro and is a must for every fan of the genre... The Polaroid images on the cover show a blonde beauty, the facade of a skyscraper, and a body with a shattered skull lying prone on the pavement. Two things are immediately clear: that this is an album that tells a story, and that "Enjoy the Fall" is not intended as a suggestion to savor the season of autumn but more in the vein of "have a nice flight!", where the flight in question is a seven-story plunge that brings a bloody end to a manic and debauched sexual relationship between a man and a woman. The hows and whys, and indeed the entire story, is told in the course of the album and the accompanying booklet, which features additional photos and lyrics. For those who can't wait until the album's release on 27 April, check out this preview trailer.
Tracklisting:
01. All Coordinates Are Wrong
02. Black Heart
03. Damage
04. The Flight [Lux] ( Version ) (click to listen)
05. Descent ( Version )
06. Beauty Lies Within
07. Pray For Love (click to listen)
08. Chamber Six
09. Elegance ( Version )
10. The Nightmare I Am (click to listen)
11. Isolation
12. What If

KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque is back home in Sweden after "a very heavy and intense mixing session" in Dallas, Texas with the band's singer/namesake King Diamond on the group's long-awaited new album, "Gimme Your Soul ... Please". "It's definitely the best songs and production we've had in years!" Andy told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "A rollercoaster of atmospheres and horror is a good way of describing" the new CD.

"Gimme Your Soul ... Please", will be released in North America on June 26 via Metal Blade Records. Massacre Records will issue the album in Germany on June 29.

"Gimme Your Soul … Please" track listing (songwriting credits included):

01. The Dead (King)
02. Never Ending Hill (Andy)
03. Is Anybody Here? (King)
04. Black of Night (Andy)
05. Mirror, Mirror (King)
06. The Cellar (Andy)
07. Pictures in Red (Andy)
08. Gimme Your Soul (King)
09. The Floating Head (Andy)
10. Cold as Ice (King)
11. Shapes of Black (King)
12. The Girl in The Bloody Dress (King)
13. Moving On (King)

Finnish folk metallers KORPIKLAANI have pushed back the projected release date of their fourth album, "Tervaskanto", to June 26 (U.S.) / June 29 (Europe) via Napalm Records.

"Tervaskanto" (view cover artwork at this location) was recorded at Fantom Studios in Tampere, Finland with producer Samu Oittinen. 11 songs were reportedly recorded for the follow-up to "Tales along this Road". The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. Let's Drink
02. Tervaskanto
03. Viima
04. Veriset Äpärät
05. Running With Wolves
06. Liekkiön Isku
07. Palovana
08. Karhunkaatolaulu
09. Misty Fields
10. Vesilahden Veräjillä
11. Nordic Feast

Former ICED EARTH frontman Matt Barlow has reportedly joined Danish metallers PYRAMAZE as the replacement for Lance King. The news was revealed in the brand new issue of the German magazine Rock Hard, which features an in-depth interview with Barlow and a short question-and-answer session with PYRAMAZE guitarist/songwriter Michael Kammeyer. A rough English-language translation of the Rock Hard articles can be found at this location.

PYRAMAZE split with Lance King last November due to "personal and professional reasons." The group is currently working on material for its third album, tentatively due next spring.

PYRAMAZE's latest album, "Legend of the Bone Carver", was released last year via Massacre Records (Europe) and Nightmare Records (USA and Canada).

Statement from Michael Kammeyer:

"I'm very happy to finally announce our new singer.
Matthew Barlow (former vocalist of the American metal band Iced Earth) will be taking over the job as Pyramaze vocalist. I've been in dialogue with Matt about his comeback for a few months now, and after we've been getting to know each other better and doing a few test demos where Matt has re-recorded a couple of our old songs, we've come to the conclusion that we are a perfect match. I've always regarded Matt as one of the very best voices in metal, and i was (as any other fan of his incredible voice) saddened by his departure from the metal scene a few years ago. Therefore I'm proud to say that Matt is back, stronger than ever, and from now on officially a part of the Pyramaze Fellowship. We are currently in a song-writing mode, and we expect to enter the studio early 2008 with Matt behind the mic. I hope and believe that old as well as new fans will welcome Matt into the Pyramaze line-up. I now leave you with these great news, and with Matt's statement below. "

Statement from Matthew Barlow:

Brothers and sisters... The last time I made a statement to the metal community it was one of sorrow but certainly not one of regret. There are people, things and experiences - once not thought possible - that I have attained in the last several years. It's an extension of friends and family that has truly made my life whole, and one that I would not jeopardize for fame and glory.

That thought in mind, I was posed an interesting proposition by a true talent in heavy metal. Honestly, I had not heard a lot about Pyramaze, when I received an e-mail from Michael. After our initial correspondence I began to realize that this was a guy that really had his head in the right place - a musician who was in music for the music. Michael spoke to me of his band - a bunch of guys who want to put out solid music but would not sacrifice their souls to attain greatness. This is by no means a slam on I.E. or any of the great musicians I have worked with in the past. It simply means that the music industry can suck you in, chew you up, and spit you out if you don't keep firmly planted on the ground. Pyramaze are working class metal heads with something to prove! Metal is what they live for but it is not their livelihood.

Needless to say, I was instantly intrigued by Michael's delivery. Especially considering the nature of my career choice of late. I wondered if Michael had really thought the courting process through. I'm sure that there are some people that never really understood my reasons for leaving the industry and certainly don't like who or what i represent in my current vocation. There is also the fact that Pyramaze has been rather stereotyped as a prog-metal act and I as Satan / Paul Stanley. What kind of crazy mixed up world is this????

Well... The way I see it... I'm in a point in my life, where I love what I do for a living and for the first time, I can support myself and my family doing it. Now for the other great thing... That's how this band thinks. There is no expectation of co-signing (under the name Mephistopheles) in order to have your record sell. The record will sell if the music is great. The music will be great, because the guys doing it, want to do it... For all the right reasons. Pyramaze has proven that!

I sense hesitation... And rightly so... After all, there are a lot of I.E. fans out there that still just don't get it. I would imagine that there are also Pyramaze fans that love what Mr. King did for this band. Hell, I love what he did for this band! I think that the guy is a true talent and feel the same about Tim Owens (that's Ripper to you!). I also feel, that in the same way I.E. fans have taken Tim into the fold, I too can find a place within the Pyramaze family. I would venture to say that Pyramaze, already unique and uncompromising, will not be placed inside of a prog-metal box once the sparks start flying.

I am really looking forward to working with Michael and the guys!!! I also look forward to hearing feedback from the brethren and sisterhood of metal.

Up from the ashes, back from the depths, when the voices have risen, fire becomes flesh!"

DREAM THEATER's new album, "Systematic Chaos", will be released on Tuesday, June 5 (date may vary in different countries) through Roadrunner and will be available in two formats: regular-edition CD (cover) and a special-edition CD and DVD (cover).

The special-edition DVD will include:

• The entire album mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound
  
• Chaos in Progress - The Making of Systematic Chaos" (a 90-minute documentary directed by Mike Portnoy)
  

The CD track listing for both editions is:

01. In The Presence of Enemies Pt. 1 (9:00)
02. Forsaken (5:36)
03. Constant Motion (6:55)
04. The Dark Eternal Night (8:51)
05. Repentance (10:43)
06. Prophets Of War (6:01)
07. The Ministry of Lost Souls (14:57)
08. In The Presence of Enemies Pt. 2 (16:38)

The band will shoot a video next week for the first single off the album, "Constant Motion".

DREAM THEATER had spent its entire career on Elektra and Atlantic, an arrangement that ended with the 2005 studio album "Octavarium". According to Billboard.com, The group has sold 2.1 million CDs in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.

IRON STEEL, the new project featuring Frederic Leclercq from DRAGONFORCE and vocalist Fran Strine, has posted a song called "Attack" on its MySpace page. The track was recorded in one take April 7, 2007 at the House of Blues in Chicago, Illinois and features guest appearances by members of CHIMAIRA, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and DRAGONFORCE.

Commented recent KILLSWITCH touring guitarist Patrick Lachman (ex-DAMAGEPLAN, HALFORD), who guests on the song, "I have jammed with one of greatest vocalist of all time when I was in HALFORD, but when I heard the vocal power of Fran Strine I almost fainted, and the musical wizardness of Frederic Leclercq is spell-binding."

LEAVES' EYES — the German/Norwegian band formed by ex-THEATRE OF TRAGEDY singer Liv Kristine Espenaes Krull and members of ATROCITY (who are fronted by Liv's husband Alexander Krull) — has issued the following update:

"The rumors are going around already. Since last year LEAVES' EYES and their stage-team are working on the concept for the special DVD show, which will take place in Belgium at the Metal Female Voices Fest [on October 20, 2007 at Oktoberhallen in Wieze, Belgium]. LEAVES' EYES now let you take part on the developing process of the show and give you the first details.

"One part of the stage element will be a viking ship which was designed by LEAVES' EYES tech Leebee a couple months ago. You can find the first two wooden models of the viking ship in the gallery [section of the band's official web site].

LEAVES' EYES and their label like them very much. On the picture you see Alex and the 1:10-archetype. Be aware of some more surprises."

Acclaimed heavy metal drummer Richard Christy (ex-ICED EARTH, DEATH, LEASH LAW, CONTROL DENIED), who currently works for "The Howard Stern Show", was recently cast in the upcoming comedy "Harold & Kumar 2" (IMDb). "I filmed my parts in February and had a blast!" says Richard. "The movie is going to be hilarious so please check it out when it comes to a theater near you!"

According to the film's official plot outline, "Harold & Kumar 2" "follows the cross-country adventures of the pot-smoking duo as they try to outrun authorities who suspect them of being terrorists when they try to sneak a bong on board their flight to Amsterdam."

Christy has played in many bands, including ICED EARTH, BURNING INSIDE, DEATH and CONTROL DENIED. Christy joined DEATH after meeting their leader Chuck Schuldiner in a bookstore while the band was looking for a new drummer after the departure of Gene Hoglan. Christy recorded three albums with DEATH (the critically-acclaimed "The Sound of Perseverance", released in 1998; "Live in L.A. (Death & Raw)", 2001; and "Live in Eindhoven", also 2001) and one album with CONTROL DENIED, "The Fragile Art of Existence", which came out in 1999.

"Leaving Eden" has been voted album of the month in German Zillo and Italian Metal Shock magazine. A pre-listening of the album, which will be released on April 16th 2007 as limited digipack CD is possible here:
http://www.prophecyproductions.de/streams/Antimatter-Leaving_Eden.m3u

Unconstrained and with tremendous force - that's a good way to characterize Mick Moss' performance on ANTIMATTER's fourth album, "Leaving Eden". The Englishman has undoubtedly found a way to gather his own power after his composing partner of many years, Duncan Patterson, has left the band - and this power has flown into a kind of music that, lo and behold, has quite a rocking edge at times.

"I wanted to create power and wide spaces in the studio," Mick says. He was envisioning a "dark and laid-back rock album", combining the hardest with the most light-hearted songs from ANTIMATTER's history. It seems fitting, then, that Mick invited a more than competent session musician, Anathema's guitarist Danny Cavanagh, into the studio for the dynamic recordings. The sensitive riffs and melodies do open vast spaces for Mick's vocals - sounding self-confident and melancholic at the same time - and his personal lyrics with their introspective focus. "The album stands on its own two feet," Mick acknowledges the changes in sound, which he however doesn't think are that huge: "There are so many familiar elements; there's one song with a violin lead like on 'Planetary Confinement', there are atmospheric parts, but now there are also the rockier tracks." To the listeners, all of the above means that once again they are invited to sit back and join ANTIMATTER on their journey - a lively one at first, then growing ever more pensive to finally end in contemplation.
Like in that line in the album's last song, "Fighting For A Lost Cause": "Some things never change" - this is also true of ANTIMATTER's haunting atmospheres...

Nuclear Blast Records' web site has been updated with the following announcement:

"We present the ultimate DIMMU BORGIR collector's item to you: released on April 27th, you will be able to purchase your copy of our very, very noble minted 'In Sorte Diaboli' book [image]! Strictly limited to 2,000 copies worldwide, it features 32 pages in 7" size, two audio bonus tracks, a bonus DVD, seven big photo cards, a mirror and a numbered authenticity certificate. Medieval darkness is back — and it has never looked more classy! Pre-order your copy at this location now before they are all gone!"

"The Serpentine Offering", the lead-off track from DIMMU BORGIR's upcoming album "In Sorte Diaboli", will be available for digital download at iTunes.com beginning March 30.

The three-track North American version of the iTunes single will include an additional two songs NOT included on the album:

"The Serpentine Offering" - Video Edit "The Heretic Hammer" - Instrumental Version, North American Exclusive

The European version of the three-track iTunes single will feature an exclusive instrumental version of "The Serpentine Offering" in place of the instrumental version of "The Heretic Hammer".

DIMMU BORGIR's new full-length album, "In Sorte Diaboli", will be released on April 24 in North America. The first concept album in the band's history, "In Sorte Diaboli" is set in medieval Europe. A short synopsis of the story and its characters will accompany the lyrics in the CD booklet.

"In Sorte Diaboli" was mixed at Studio Fredman by producers Fredrik Nordström and Patrik J. Sten.

The latest release from Norwegian prog metal masters GREEN CARNATION, the "A Night Under the Dam" DVD is now available in Europe, Russia and the USA. The DVD is available in the USA through The End Records mailorder, on license in Russia and through regular distribution channels (a.k.a. shops, mailorder, etc.) in the following countries: Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Benelux, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Slovakia, U.K., Ireland and North Ireland, Greece and France.

In other news, vocalist Kjetil Nordhus has ended his collaboration with TRAIL OF TEARS and CHAIN COLLECTOR and so that GREEN CARNATION will get his full attention for a while.

Commens Nordhus: "I don't think GREEN CARNATION has been suffering from me being in two other bands, but different circumstances has lead to me pulling out of both TRAIL OF TEARS and CHAIN COLLECTOR, and right now that feels very much as a good decision for me."

He does admit that being in three bands has been hard to handle sometimes.

"There have been times when it's been very demanding to be involved with so many people in creative processes, and I'm particularly looking forward to be able to focus only on GREEN CARNATION's new material," he says.

GREEN CARNATION will be using the first half of 2007 to write new material for what bass player Stein Roger Sordal is confident will be the best album from the Norwegian outfit ever. The band, in which all of the members are songwriters, will be using a different strategy then previously when it comes to the writing proccess.

"The way we have worked in the past have worked out well for us, with the different members and songwriters doing their work at home before presenting finished songs for the rest of the guys," says Sordal. "This time around we want to take the time to work on things together at the rehearsal room. We feel that this could be a way to get the maximum out of each and every member of the band, and I'm confident it's going to be an exiting time ahead."

As a result of the writing process, GREEN CARNATION will not be playing live gigs until the end of June at the earliest.

Also on the GREEN CARNATION-related front, the band's bass maestro Stein Roger Sordal has finished recording his very first solo album, "In Fort Knox With a Penny". He is delighted with the outcome: "My plan is to release a solo album sometime in 2007," he writes on his MySpace page. "I'm currently recording the album and have a lot of great friends and musicians with me on this one. I've been recording albums the last ten years with different bands and projects, so I guess it was about time to do a solo album."

POWERWORLD, the new German band formed by ex-FREEDOM CALL bassist Ilker Ersin, entered the studio last October to begin recording its debut album for a late 2007 release. According to a posting on the group's web site, "the recordings will be finished in the middle of April. In the biginning of May, we will start with the mix in Munich [with] Chris Lausmann, formerly known from the band BONFIRE."

Two demo songs from POWERWORLD — "Your World Is Not Mine" and "Reach the Light" — are currently available for streaming on the group's MySpace page. The band's lineup is as follows:

Steffen Brunner - Vocals
Barish Kepic (ex-JADED HEART) - Guitar
Ilker Ersin (ex-FREEDOM CALL) - Bass
Nils Neumann (FREEDOM CALL) - Keyboards
Jürgen Lucki Lucas (ex-AT VANCE) - Drums

Steffen Brunner joined POWERWORLD as the replacement for Chity Somapala (ex-FIREWIND, AVALON, MOONLIGHT AGONY, FARO), who left the group in January 2006 due to "musical differences."