Finland's LULLACRY has uploaded a video clip of the band performing an acoustic version of the song "Every Single Day" last year at the Semifinal Club in Helsinki, Finland. Check it out at this location.

LULLACRY is currently writing material for the follow-up to its fourth studio album, "Vol. 4", which was released in the U.S. in February via Century Media Records. The CD was recorded at Astia Studios with Anssi Kippo (CHILDREN OF BODOM, ENTWINE) and at Finnvox Studio with Mikko Karmila (NIGHTWISH, STRATOVARIUS).

LULLACRY's first single off the new album, "Stranger in You", entered the Finnish single chart at position No. 16 upon its release in July 2005. The title cut was backed by a cover of KISS' "I Stole Your Love".

LULLACRY issued a five-song EP, "Fire Within", in August 2004, featuring two new songs ("Fire Within" and "The #1 Rebel"), two remakes of classic LULLACRY tracks, as well as a cover version of W.A.S.P.'s "L.O.V.E. Machine".

VIOLENT STORM, whose new album "Storm Warning" was released on October 23, has announced that Martin Mickels will be joining the band when they tour in 2007. Martin, currently the lead guitarist with Gary Barden's band STATETROOPER, will be playing the parts performed on the album by rock luminaries Yngwie Malmsteen and K.K. Downing (JUDAS PRIEST). Mickels is no stranger to stepping into the shoes of guitar gods — in STATETROOPER he replaced Brian Robertson (ex-THIN LIZZY, MOTÖRHEAD), and regularly plays the guitar parts co-written and performed by Michael Schenker for the MSG tracks performed by STATETROOPER.

VIOLENT STORM is the new band formed by ex-YNGWIE MALMSTEEN/BLACKMORE'S NIGHT bassist Mick Cervino. "Storm Warning" was produced by K.K. Downing (his first production credit outside of JUDAS PRIEST), and features guest appearances by Downing, Malmsteen and Roy Z (HALFORD, BRUCE DICKINSON).

TYPE O NEGATIVE has set "Dead Again" as the title of its new album, tentatively due in early 2007 via SPV Records. The follow-up to 2003's "Life Is Killing Me", which will include an appearance by LYCIA vocalist Tara VanFlower (MySpace Page), is currently being mixed.

As previously reported, TYPE O NEGATIVE will play on January 21, 2007 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA. They will also perform at a private show on January 20, 2007 as part of NAMM. There are no other confirmed public dates at this time.

The DVD version of TYPE O NEGATIVE's first home video release, "After Dark" — which features six of the band's promotional videos, intercut with interviews and funny behind-the-scenes goings-on — was recently certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.

TYPE O NEGATIVE, whose first LP, "Slow, Deep and Hard", was issued in 1991, fulfilled their contractual obligations to longtime label Roadrunner with the release of 2003's "Life Is Killing Me". That album debuted on The Billboard 200 chart at No. 39 in June 2003 after registering a first-week sales tally of 27,000 copies. TYPE O NEGATIVE's best-selling album to date is 1994's "Bloody Kisses", which has shifted around a million copies in the U.S.

Finnish power metallers TWILIGHTNING entered Astia Studio in Lappeenranta, Finland last week to begin recording their third album for an early 2007 release via Spinefarm Records. "We finished the drums [for] ten songs . . . and the recordings will continue on the 20th of this month in Music-Bros. studio in Imatra with Miitri Aaltonen," the group writes on its web site.

TWILIGHTNING's last release was the "Bedlam" EP< which was recorded at Astia and was mixed at the Finnvox facility in Helsinki.

TWILIGHTNING's sophomore full-length album, "Plague-House Puppet Show", was issued in 2004.

Lyndhurst, New Jersey-based doom/death metal act EVOKEN has inked a deal with Sweden's I Hate Records. The group's new album is tentatively scheduled for release next May-June. According to a press release, "EVOKEN are, together with THEROTHON, WINTER and DISEMBOWELMENT, the originators of the doom/deaths cene, a scene we have hithertho never ventured into. The reason is simple, we haven't found bands genuine enough to work with. With EVOKEN it's different, they are able to conjure truly nightmarish visions of abysmal depths in Lovecraftian fashion like no other band, without ever falling prey to contrived 'gothmospheric' sobbing or teen-angst-ridden nonsense."

Commenteed the band: "Both sides are very excited about working together; and the new material is being completed now. Expect no less then the greatest EVOKEN work yet!! We feel very strongly about this material and are looking forward to making it available to our fans a lot faster then the last four-year wait."

The Sanctuary Group PLC has announced that IRON MAIDEN has not renewed its management agreement with the company. Rod Smallwood, who co-founded Sanctuary in the late '70s, discovered IRON MAIDEN in 1979 and managed them ever since, will also leave Sanctuary simultaneously and will continue to manage the band at his new company Phantom Music Management. Smallwood will also be retained as a consultant to Sanctuary for an initial six-month period. In the meantime, Sanctuary has signed MAIDEN to a new long-term contract for tour, retail and licensing of merchandising rights worldwide with Sanctuary-owned Bravado and has signed the band to a new recording agreement for the USA for their new album "A Matter of Life and Death". Sanctuary Records already has USA rights to the majority of MAIDEN's extensive and valuable catalog and will continue to coordinate with the band the release of new product based on that catalog.

Comments Sanctuary Group CEO Frank Presland: "Although we are obviously sad to see the band and Rod depart from a management and company standpoint we are delighted to be able to continue with the band long term as their worldwide merchandiser and U.S. label. MAIDEN are renowned as one of the biggest-grossing bands in the world in all aspects of merchandising with their distinctive Eddie T-shirts worn by multitudes of fans everywhere and for record-breaking merchandising grosses at major venues all over the world. Our label is also delighted to show what it can do by putting the band's new album in the Billboard Top 10 for the first time, at a time when the band are rapidly increasing their U.S. record-selling and touring base. The MAIDEN catalog has always been our biggest seller in America and we look forward to a fruitful ongoing relationship on this and new product based on the catalog.

"The parting with Rod and MAIDEN is entirely amicable and we are delighted that Rod has made himself available to Sanctuary as a consultant and look forward to a long and valuable relationship with him and the band. All at Sanctuary wish them both the very best for the future."

Adds Rod Smallwood: "It's obviously a bit of a wrench leaving Sanctuary after all these years but at this time in my career and with the band's ever-increasing international stature it makes total sense for me to concentrate on developing the band's huge potential in the many areas of what is now a very complex and time-consuming business. The band and l leave many friends at Sanctuary and we wish them and the company every success in the future and look forward the continuing successful relationships in merchandising and U.S. records."

According to Reuters, Sanctuary has struggled since mid-2005 due to delays at loss-making Urban Records, which it bought in 2003 from Mathew Knowles, father of R&B diva Beyonce.

More details have been unveiled about former HELLOWEEN frontman Michael Kiske's guest appearance on the new INDIGO DYING album, due in early 2007 via Frontiers Records. The CD was produced, recorded, and mixed by Fabrizio Grossi at Noize Factor in Canyon Country, California with additional recording at The Studio in Huntington, New York by Don Chaffin. The band was formed by Gisa Vatcky (vocals) of BANDAGE, Mordechai "Mordy" Hauser (guitar), Fabrizio Grossi (bass, orchestrations, programming, acoustic guitar) of GLENN HUGHES/STEVE VAI, John Macaluso (drums) of YNGWIE MALMSTEEN/RIOT, Jamie Teramo (keyboards, piano), and Tommy Denander (additional guitars) of RADIOACTIVE. Kiske will sing a duet with the female vocalist in the song "Breathe in Water".

As previously reported, Kiske has announced that will rearrange and re-record all of the songs that he wrote with HELLOWEEN for an upcoming CD, to be released next year through Frontiers Records.

Commented Kiske: "Since I always need a bit of time to get another (good) record written. I talk with Frontiers Records right now about a full acoustic CD with all my old HELLOWEEN songs re-arranged. Serafino (owner of Frontiers Records) had this idea and I like it very much. But we are still sorting the deal out. I think this is a very good thing to do, because it shows people how those songs can also sound. And I still like most of them. But it will be very different!"

Michael Kiske's latest solo album, simply entitled "Kiske", was released in May via Frontiers Records.

STRATOVARIUS mainman Timo Tolkki (guitar) has issued the following update:

"Just got back from Germany and we recorded the drums for 11 songs in a demo studio close to Jörg's [Michael, drums] rehearsal room.I think it was called Sounds of Steel, although I don't know how the steel sounds actually.

"There was a 'small' problem, because it's next to a big unused powerstation and they had scheduled a massive explosion to break one of the 200 meter tall cooling towers. It brought it down, but it didn't bring us down. It was a similar vibe to 'Visions' album in '97, when I also flew to Germany to record the demo drums.

"We laid down the basics for the songs and it sounds very good already now. It will be a very melodic album. The vibe was cool and relaxed, some Italian restaurant, talking, playing. Yes and McDonald's, the enemy of man. Now we continue with bass, guitars etc. and the demo should be finished by the end of this year.

"We will keep you updated about the progress and when we enter the studio sometime in February next year. We try to set up a webcam, so you can all see what's happening."

STRATOVARIUS' latest, self-titled effort was released in the U.S. in September 2005 via Sanctuary. A video for the album's first single, "Maniac Dance", was shot in April 2005 in Helsinki by director and Tolkki's old schoolmate Antti Jokinen (BEYONCÉ, WYCLEF JEAN, KORN, MISSY ELLIOT, NIGHTWISH, SHANIA TWAIN, CELINE DION).

As previously reported, Tolkki will produce the debut album from the Madrid, Spain-based metal band INFERNOISE between November and January 2007. The CD will be recorded in Madrid and mixed at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki, Finland.

TAROT, the Finnish group led by NIGHTWISH/ex-SINERGY bassist Marco Hietala, has posted its video for the song "Ashes to the Stars", to the band's official web site. The track comes off the group's latest album, "Crows Fly Black", which was released in Finland in late October.

As previously reported, TAROT's first single from the new album, "You", entered the national chart in Finland at position No. 1. The single contains two tracks: A straight-forward classic heavy metal song "You", taken from the upcoming full-length TAROT album, and a BLUE ÖYSTER CULT cover, "Veteran of the Psychic Wars".

TAROT recently released remastered versions of their first five studio albums along with the "To Live Again" live album previously released in Japan. Each CD includes special bonus track(s).

German power metallers GAMMA RAY have posted the following message on their official web site:

"After leaving you alone several weeks without any news about our DVD project [entitled 'Hell Yeah! The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal'], we can now proudly say that the production is completely finished so that now it would be the record company's turn to bring it in the stores [as soon as possible]. But (unfortunately, there's always a but) we were informed last week that the Sanctuary office in Berlin will be closed by the end of this year which makes it impossible to release the DVD shortly . As next we have to find a solution with the Sanctuary office in the U.K., which is now responsible for the release timing and if we consider all the promotional machinery which starts working in front of a release we expect that the release has to be postponed to spring 2007.

"Nevertheless we continue in parallel with the songwriting and the recording of the first demos for the next album 'Land of the Free II' so that we are hopefully be able to bring two new releases in stores during next year.

"I know these are sad news for all of you who have waited since month for the release and expected to watch the DVD at the latest under the X-Mas tree. But you can be sure that we're also very disappointed with the actual situation and work hard on a solution for the release. As soon as the situation is clarified we will be back with more news."

"Hell Yeah! The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal" will feature a multi-camera recording of the band's May 6, 2006 show at Medley in Montreal, Quebec as well as "tons of great behind-the-scenes footage, courtesy of camera man Markus Kreuz, who accompanied the band at all times. The band allowed the camera to run 24/7, resulting in a plethora of impressions, profound comments by the nightliner/bus driver. This is truly a great road movie with and unusually intimate insight into the life of a band on the road, the tour bus, and pretty much everything else. The highs and lows, the goofy and the profound, shopping, immigration troubles, missed flights, the works — uncut and raw, and GAMMA RAY are proud of it — and rightly so! There is ample additional material on the bonus DVD, with a big historical part, with live footage of gigs of yesteryear and backstage material from Japan and the Wacken Open Air. Last but definitely not least, there is the entire collection of the band’s video clips to be found on there. Great stuff!"

Check out the cover artwork for "Hell Yeah! The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal" at this location.

GAMMA RAY's next album, "Land of the Free Part II", will be a conceptual continuation of the group's 1995 classic "Land of the Free".

GAMMA RAY released its latest effort, "Majestic", on October 11, 2005. The lineup for "Majestic" included Hansen (guitar, bass), Dirk Schlächter (bass), Henjo Richter (guitar, keyboards) and Daniel Zimmerman (drums), who have been together for the last several releases after a number of lineup changes in the early stages of the band's career. "Majestic" is the band's first release since 2003's "Skeletons in the Closet".

added by rem (07/11/06):

German power metallers GAMMA RAY have issued another statement via their official web site explaining the reasons behind the delay of their long-awaited new DVD, "Hell Yeah! The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal". it reads as follows:

"In our latest statement regarding our DVD release, we have probably evoked the impression that it's Sanctuary's [the band's record label] sole fault that the DVD has not been released yet. This is not correct. The original plan was to release it in September, which Sanctuary could not hold, because the whole post-production process took the band and the video company longer than we expected. This was due to the band's live activities and other factors that you could sum up as: we were too slow on everything.... Now that we are ready to finalise the master, we have to face the fact that the Berlin office of Sanctuary, which has always done a good job for us, will be closed. So, as mentioned in our previous statement, we now have to check out how the DVD will be released and promoted and make a new plan. We are sorry for having caused confusion with our latest statement and if anyone wants to put the blame on someone for not having 'Hell Yeah...' in their DVD player by now, put it on us... Anyhow, it's gonna come and we'll surely keep you updated."

Colorado metallers SILENCER have entered the studio to begin recording the follow-up to "Death of Awe", tentatively due in 2007. The group has issued the following update on the progress of the recording sessions for the new album:

"Drum tracking just finished and we're doing a bit of project cleanup and prep to begin guitars here shortly. Everything went really smoothly at Firestorm Studios, the first time we've tracked there. The drum sound came out really, really well and we were particularly happy with the kick drum tone we captured. Brian [Kotal, drums] has some new wheels too; look for him at your local roadhouse! We're grabbing video as we go too, so eventually this will end up on some sort of DVD or enhanced portion of a future album."

SILENCER's "Death of Awe" CD is available in the U.S. through The End Records distribution and mail-order. The album was released in Europe through Mausoleum Records.

SIRENIA, the Norwegian gothic metal band featuring former TRISTANIA guitarist/vocalist Morten Veland, has finalized the track listing for its new album, "Nine Destinies and a Downfall", due in early 2007 via Nuclear Blast Records. It is as follows:

01. The Last Call
02. My Mind's Eye
03. One By One
04. Sundown
05. Absent Without Leave
06. The Other Side
07. Seven Keys And Nine Doors
08. Downfall
09. Glades Of Summer

SIRENIA travelled to Serbia and Montenegro last month to film music videos for the tracks "My Mind's Eye" and "The Other Side".

"Nine Destinies and a Downfall" was recorded at Jailhouse studios in Norway with engineer Hans Eidsgard and Soundsuite studios in France with Terje Refsnes. The CD was mixed and mastered at Antfarm studios in Aarhus, Denmark with Tue Madsen. The cover artwork will be designed by Anthony Clarkson.

SIRENIA earlier in the year announced the addition of 27-year-old Danish female singer Monika Pedersen (photo) to the group's ranks. "Monika has been dedicated to music all her life, and has loads of experience from from other bands, projects, choirs etc." the group wrote on their web site. "In addition, she has been working with several professional singing teachers in Luxemburg and Denmark."

Pedersen joined SIRENIA as the replacement for Henriette Bordvik, who quit the band last September.

SIRENIA last year signed a new record deal with Nuclear Blast. The band have released two successful albums to date (2002's "At Sixes and Sevens" and 2004's "An Elixir for Existence") and in 2004 toured Europe with TIAMAT, PAIN and THEATRE OF TRAGEDY.

NOCTURNAL RITES bassist Nils Eriksson has posted the following message on the band's official web site:

"Just dropping by to let you know that we are still alive (not the song) and well. Songwriting is going very well indeed and the album is shaping up to be a mother of metal. We have some rough plans as to when/where we'll record, but still everything is in the planning phase. We'll be back very soon with some pictures from our pre-production recordings and maybe a few songtitles and hints in general."

NOCTURNAL RITES' latest album, "Grand Illusion", was released in September 2005 via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2004's "New World Messiah" was recorded and mixed at Toontrack Studio in Umeå, Sweden and features guest appearances by Stefan Elmgren (HAMMERFALL), Jens Johansson (STRATOVARIUS), Henrik Danhage (EVERGREY), Kristoffer W. Olivius (NAGLFAR) and the Swedish cross-country skiing world champion, Per Elofsson.

Spanish metal band DARK MOOR has signed a deal with Italy's Scarlet Records. With its previous five albums, the group established itself as one of today's leading classic/power metal acts, combining the European metal sound with a high-class symphonic approach, made possible by each member's astonishing technical skills.

DARK MOOR's new album, "Tarot", is said to be "an intriguing" conceptual effort about the major arcanes of the tarot, covering in depth the meaning of each arcane and the esoteric halo that surrounds it. The band put a major attention in the symbolism of each card (and the tarot that represents), trying to find a link with real life which, as the band likes to say, is often a reflection of life itself. Production duties were once again handled by renowed producer Luigi Stefanini (RHAPSODY, LABIRYNTH, VISION DIVINE). The impressive artwork was created by Derek Gores (EDGUY, KAMELOT).

"Tarot" track listing:

01. The Magician
02. The Chariot
03. The Star
04. Wheel Of Fortune
05. The Emperor
06. Devil In The Tower
07. Death
08. Lovers
09. The Hanged Man
10. The Moon

"Tarot" is scheduled for release in late February/early March.

Swedish doom metal masters WORLD BELOW — featuring CARNAL FORGE/CENTINEX guitarist Jonas Kjellgren, CENTINEX drummer Ronnie Bergerståhl and ex-SIDEBURNERS bassist/vocalist Mikael Danielsson, will release their third full-length album, "Repulsion", this month via Psychedoomelic Records. The follow-up to last year's "Maelstrom" was recorded in September at at Black Lounge Studios and features artwork by Twilight 13 Media.

"Repulsion" track listing:

01. Monsters In The Closet
02. 731
03. Gilgamesh
04. The Old Ones
05. Monument

WORLD BELOW is:

Mike Danielsson - Vocals/Bass
Ronnie Bergerståhl (a.k.a. Ronny Steelmountain) - Drums
Jonas "JP" Kjellgren - Guitar/Vocals

Guitarist Aydan of the Italian folk/power metal band ELVENKING has posted the following message on the group's official web site:

"We're ready to enter the studios [to record the fourth ELVENKING album]. On Friday next week we will fly to Germany to Gernhart studios and record the drums with Mr. Superhero himself Martin Buchwalter. Yesterday we have checked once more all drums parts to be sure that everything's working. Zender is hitting as hell and the groove is already there! We will stay in Germany the time necessay to do the drums, then back to Italy we'll have another couple of weeks to work on the last arrangements and lyrics before producer Nino Laurenne of Sonic Pump studios will land from icy Finland to set the basic sounds and the start the other recording session. (other drinking session??)

"What can I tell about the songs? One word: heavy!!! Be ready for the most crushing EK album to date, but with all the melody still there."

ELVENKING released its third album, "The Winter Wake", in Europe in January via AFM Records. The CD was issued in the U.S. in March. The follow-up to 2004's "Wyrd" was recorded at Sherpa Studios (Italy), mixed at Sonic Pump Studios by Nino Laurenne and was mastered at Finnvox Studios by Mika Jussilla.

Frontiers Records is pleased to announce all details surrounding the release of the highly anticipated new album from Hartmann - Home on January 26, 2007.

Oliver Hartmann is one of the blossoming talents of the New Wave of Reborn Melodic Rock coming from Europe. Former singer of the Metal band At Vance, his stunning debut album Out In The Cold made a strong impact on the fans during 2005 and he was awarded as #4 Best Album and #1 Song of The Year on the popular website www.melodicrock.com. His new album entitled Home, offers again an irresistible mix of melodies, emotion and powerful rock, with exquisite arrangements and a voice that will stand in the years to come.

Produced once again by Sascha Paeth (Kamelot, Angra etc.) and Oliver Hartmann, Home was recorded from January through to August 2006. "I'm very satisfied with the new album Home cause for me it's one step forward concerning the songwriting and production", says Oliver. "Due to the fact that the main part of the album was recorded with the same line up touring this summer with Toto, everything has developed more and more into a band's sound, which is a little rougher than Out in the Cold."

The band's line up featured on the album is as follows Oliver Hartmann (vocals& guitar),
Mario Reck (guitar),
Armin Donderer (bass),
Juergen Wuest (keys),
Dario Ciccioni (drums).

Final tracklisting of Home is:
1. Coming Home To You
2. The Sun's Still Rising
3. My Everything is You
4. Somewhere Someday
5. Just For You
6. I Don't Want To Know
7. Higher Than Me
8. Why Do I
9. Millionaire
10. Crying
11. Lay All Your Love On Me

Release in Japan is scheduled on King Records.

Swedish black metallers MARDUK have now confirmed that their upcoming studio album will be the band's final effort to feature drummer Emil Dragutinovic. A source close to Emil told BLABBERMOUTH.NET that the drummer officially quit the group on November 1 but has agreed to perform on the new CD as a session musician (but only "if he gets paid upfront").

MARDUK will enter Endarker studio in December 2006/January 2007 to begin recording the new CD for an April 2007 release. A "massive" tour will follow.

Dragutinovic is currently working with former MARDUK vocalist Legion (a.k.a. Erik Hagsted) and ex-MARDUK bassist B.War (a.k.a. Roger "Bogge" Svensson) on their ELIZIUM project (formerly REBELANGELS).

ELIZIUM is:

Legion (a.k.a. Erik Hagsted) - Vocals
B.War (a.k.a. Roger "Bogge" Svensson) - Bass
Marcus Lundberg - Rhythm Gutar
Jonas Mattson – Lead Guitar
Emil Dragutinovic (MARDUK, THE LEGION) – Drums

MARDUK recently uploaded a trailer for its new DVD, entitled "Blood Puke Salvation", at this location (8 MB). Released on September 25, the DVD contains over 90 minutes of live material filmed in Tilburg, Holland and Antwerpen, Belgium during December 2004. Also included are promotional videos for "Throne Of Rats", "Steel Inferno" and "The Hangman Of Prague", plus a photo gallery, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and a section entitled "Deathmarch" with exclusive hand-filmed live material from over 20 cities from the "Deathmarch" tour.

Locomotive Records has set a January 30, 2007 U.S. release date for GRAVE DIGGER's new album, "Liberty or Death". An e-card for the band's new maxi-single, "Yesterday", which was released on October 10, is available at this location.

For the "Yesterday" single, vocalist Chris Boltendahl, guitarist Mani Schmidt, bassist Jens Becker, drummer Stefan Arnold and keyboardist HP Katzenburg took the song from the cult favorite "Heavy Metal Breakdown" album, and have combined it with a new song, "The Reaper's Dance", as well as their cover of "No Quarter", which previously appeared on a LED ZEPPELIN tribute album. An orchestral version of "Yesterday" rounds out the CD portion of this double-disc. Packaged within this ambitious project is a special DVD, taken from the band's performance at Spain's Rock Machina Festival in 2001.

GRAVE DIGGER will embark on a European co-headlining tour with THERION in January/February.

Swedish "gothic metallers" BESEECH, who recently announced their decision to split up after over 15 years in the business, will play their final gig on December 15 at Trägårn in their hometown of Borås, Sweden. The band has also revealed plans to release a DVD in early 2007 containing a remixed live show (with 5.1 Surround Sound) and "tons of material" from various concerts, studio sessions, backstage footage and "other crazy things that happen on tour."

BESEECH's final release was their fifth album, "Sunless Days", which came out in September 2005 through Napalm Records.

The follow-up to 2004's "Drama", "Sunless Days" was recorded at StudioMega in Varberg, Sweden and included a a cover of the DANZIG track "Devil's Plaything" as well as a re-recording of the song "Manmade Dreams" (on the digipack version only) from BESEECH's second album, "Black Emotions".

Swedish black metallers WATAIN have inked a deal with Season of Mist to issue their third full-length album in Europe. The tentative release date is set for March 2007. A European tour will follow.

After the release of the highly acclaimed "Casus Luciferi" album in 2003 and the tour with DISSECTION in 2004, WATAIN has been forging and wielding material that clearly reveals their true potential as craftsmen of lethal black metal magic. The recording of the album will take place at the infamous Necromorbus Studio (FUNERAL MIST, MALIGN, OFERMOD, etc).

According to a press release, "Those who experienced WATAIN on stage can witness of a blood-soaked, rusty metallic machinery embodying every aspect of the traditional Satanic black metal cult, re-living and taking further the sinister legacy of VENOM, HELLHAMMER and MAYHEM. But believe us when we say 'you have seen nothing yet!'"

On November 13, Metal Mind Productions will re-release the "Victims Of Deception" album from HEATHEN, one of the most unique bands to rise from the second wave of the Bay Area thrash explosion. This reissue will come in a new digipack edition, having been digitally remastered using 24-bit technology, and will be limited to 2,000 copies. It will also includes one bonus track, which was previously available only on the Japanese edition of the album.

"Victims of Deception" reissue track listing:

01. Hypnotized
02. Opiate Of The Masses
03. Heathen's Song
04. Kill The King
05. Fear Of The Unknown
06. Prisoners Of Fate
07. Morbid Curiosity
08. Guitarmony (Instrumental)
09. Mercy Is No Virtue
10. Timeless Cell Of Prophecy
Bonus track:
11. Hellbound

STRATOVARIUS frontman Timo Kotipelto entered Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki, Finland in August to begin recording his third solo album, tentatively due in early 2007 via his own label, High and Loud Records. He has since issued the following update on the album's recording sessions:

"All the guitars, bass and drums are recorded. Some vocals and keyboards are still missing. I am very pleased [with] what Lauri [Porra, bass], Tuomas [Wainölä, guitar] and Mirka [Rantanen, drums] have done so far. Also I have heard some of the stuff that Janne [Wirman, keyboards] has played and I have only one word: awesome! Mikko Karmila has already mixed a song for one Finnish movie. The same song will be on the actual CD as well. I will also do a music video for that song."

After Markus B. parted ways with all his co-musicians at the end of last year in order to continue Autumnblaze as a studio project with Schwadorf, the working model they used for their albums "Bleak" and "Mute Boy Sad Girl", he now officially announces the end of Autumnblaze.

"In the months following the 'dismissal' of my co-musicians, I had enough time to contemplate the future of Autumnblaze," Markus discloses. "In the end, I have come to the conclusion that the name Autumnblaze doesn't mean anything to me anymore, and that in the last years it seemed to me more as a stranglehold threatening to suffocate me. Add to this some personal dramas, which I don't wish to elaborate on in public. A second reason for my decision is the songs I have written this year. Music-wise, they wouldn't fit into the Autumnblaze scheme at all."

Still, Markus is going to continue with music; he has recently founded a project called Sidewaytown that is going to represent "an interesting mixture of influences from Post Rock, Electronica, Progressive, and Shoegazer." Among others, Mathias Lodmalm (Cemetary, Sundown) will be assisting him in this endeavour.

"I'm very sorry for all those who are fond of Autumnblaze. There is no reason to grieve, however - my music is going to live on in Sidewaytown," Markus says.

FINNTROLL is currently putting the finishing touches to its fifth, as-yet-untitled album, at Sonic Pump studios in Helsinki for a tentative March 2007 release via Spinefarm. This will be the group's first release with new vocalist Mathias Lillmåns (a.k.a. Vreth; TWILIGHT MOON) following the departure of Tapio Wilska (SETHIAN, ex-WIZZARD, former session vocalist for NIGHTWISH) this past spring. Lillmåns is reportedly 24 years old, and like FINNTROLL's original vocalist, Katla Mathias, is Fenno-Swedish, with Swedish as his mother tongue.

FINNTROLL parted ways with Wilska in January after "reach[ing] a situation in which we [found] it impossible to continue FINNTROLL" with their previous vocalist, according to a statement issued by the group a short time after the split.

FINNTROLL in January completed a short North American tour with SODOM. The band will support SODOM again in December on half a dozen dates in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium.

Metal Mind Productions will re-release two CRIMSON GLORY albums taken from Roadrunner Records' archives: "Astronomica" and "Strange and Beautiful".

CRIMSON GLORY is one of the best and most influential prog-metal bands from the '80s and will appeal to fans of bands like QUEENSRŸCHE or FATES WARNING. The new "Astronomica" digipack edition includes a bonus CD featuring over 50 minutes of live and demo recordings. The "Strange and Beautiful" remastered edition of the most "controversial" CRIMSON GLORY album is a must-have for all progressive metal lovers! Both titles will be available on golden discs, digitally remastered using 24-bit technology and limited to 2,000 copies.

"Astronomica" reissue track listing (release date: November 6):

01. March To Glory
02. War Of The Worlds
03. New World Machine
04. Astronomica
05. Edge Of Forever
06. Touch The Sun
07. Luciffer's Hammer
08. The Other Side of Midnight
09. Cyber-Christ
10. Cydonia

Bonus CD:

01. War Of The Worlds - remake
02. Astronomica (demo)
03. Touch Of The Sun (demo)
04. Dragon Lady (live)
05. Eternal World (live)
06. Painted Skies (live)
07. Queen Of The Masquerade (live)
08. Lost Reflection (live)

"Strange and Beautiful" reissue track listing (release date: November 13):

01. Strange And Beautiful
02. Promise Land
03. Love And Dreams
04. The Chant
05. Dance On Fire
06. Song For Angels
07. In The Mood
08. Starchamber
09. Deep Inside Your Heart
10. Make You Love Me
11. Far Away

Japanese melodic death metallers BLOOD STAIN CHILD have inked a deal with Dockyard 1. The group's third album, "Idolator", is scheduled for release on November 27. According to a press release, BLOOD STAIN CHILD's sound features "guitars flying like arrows, old-school solo parts and bone-crushing death metal vocals combined with sophisticated melodies. . . On 'Idolator' they celebrate melodic death metal the Scandinavian way, this fusion of classic metal with aggressive vocals and brilliant songwriting is leading to hooklines which won't leave your ears again."

BLOOD STAIN CHILD has already achieved cult status in Japan, where one of the leading professional wrestlers, Kensuke Sasaki, is using a track by BSC as his anthem. Watch the video for the song "Truth" on the Dockyard 1 YouTube channel.

Norwegian black metallers SATYRICON have posted the following message on their official web site:

"The opening show is in Lillestrøn, Norway today. The set list will change quite a lot from show to show as we have covered most of Norway already on this record. We're also playing old and new songs that we did not play during the festival season. People keep asking, and yes; we are carrying a new line of merchandise on this tour. There will be local support on several of the shows on this tour. We are also confirmed as one of the headliners at Sweden's House Of Metal festival in February.

"Russia was a fucking blast! St. Petersburg was almost sold out and it was truly a monumental city which gave you a feeling of what Russia must have been like during the Soviet Union. Moscow was the most sold out show we have experiensed in a while and the show was delayed almost two hours, just to get everyone inside. Great crowd and a special vibe! We'll be back."

FACE DOWN, the reunited Swedish outfit featuring former THE HAUNTED singer Marco Aro, has posted the following update on its official web site:

"We're still writing material for the next album like crazy, and it's going very well. We have booked studio time (at Offbeat Studio, where we did the 2004 demo) for a demo recording, starting on November 24th. We'll record 3-4 new songs of blazing thrashing mayhem in the usual FACE DOWN style. First time for Chris [drummer Christofer Barkensjö; KAAMOS, BLACKSHINE] in the studio with the band, so we're really looking forward to that. If all goes well (which we don't doubt it will) you will see some new music up here in about a month or so. We've also booked a new show the same weekend, just to make ourselves as busy as possible. We'll play at Club Undertaker in Södertälje with RAISE HELL on Saturday 25th of November. Still no idea of when we're able to record the new album, but we're hoping for some time next spring."

Barkensjö joined FACE DOWN in February 2006 as the replacement for Erik Thyselius, who will continue to be involved with CONSTRUCDEAD and TERROR 2000.

As previously reported, FACE DOWN entered the Swedish hard rock album chart at position No. 19 with their latest effort, "The Will to Power", back in November 2005. The CD was recorded at Fear and Loathing Studio with engineer/producer Jocke Skog and was mastered at the Cutting Room.

Finnish hard/glam rock band NEGATIVE will release its new single, "Sinners Night/Misty Morning", in Finland on November 29. The title cut comes off the band's third album, "Anorectic", which entered the Finnish chart at position No. 1. The group previously topped the Finnish chart with its last single, "Planet of the Sun", which came out in early September.

"Planet of the Sun" and "Sinners Night/Misty Morning" can be streamed at the group's MySpace page.

NEGATIVE's sophomore album, "Sweet & Deceitful", featured a guest appearance by SENTENCED/POISONBLACK frontman Ville Laihiala.