Finnish melodic death metallers AMORAL have uploaded two sound samples from their upcoming sophomore album, "Decrowning" as the title of their sophomore album, due on November 21 via Spikefarm Records (a division of Spinefarm). The CD was mastered on August 4 at Finnvox studios by Mika Jussila.

"Decrowning" (http://www.amoralweb.com/decrowningcoversmall.jpg) track listing:

01. Showdown (mp3 clip)(http://www.amoralweb.com/Amoral_Showdown_clip.mp3)
02. Lacrimal Gland
03. Decrowning (mp3 clip)(http://www.amoralweb.com/Amoral_Decrowning_clip.mp3)
04. Tiebreaker
05. Drug of Choice
06. Denial 101
07. Control Cancer
08. Raptus
09. Warp
10. Bleeder

The band also recorded a cover of MÖTLEY CRÜE's "Wild Side" for future use.

AMORAL signed a deal with Spikefarm in July 2004 following their split with the U.K.'s Rage of Achilles. The group's debut album, "Wound Creations", was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios and was mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox studios in Helsinki. An MP3 sample of the track "Solvent" can be downloaded at this location(http://www.rageofachilles.clara.net/MP3/AMORAL.mp3).

Drummer Diego "Grom" Meraviglia (HORTUS ANIMAE, ex-DOOMSWORD) has officially quit ANCIENT. As of today, Meraviglia is no longer part of the cult extreme metal band's lineup. "I decided to end my official envolvement with ANCIENT for a number of reasons," Diego said in a statement. "It has been a nice and rewarding five years, full of great experiences and I wish to thank all the other guys in the band and all the great fans, but I have reached a point in my career where I simply feel I need to move on. There were profound professional differences as well between me and the rest of the band and that convinced me it was time to quit."

Grom's collaboration with ANCIENT may continue, both live and in studio, but only on a "session" basis. Meraviglia will be concentrating on his "session drummer" career as well as his numerous other projects, including extreme-metal-gothic-prog band HORTUS ANIMAE. Grom is also evaluating several offers for an eventual new "main band."

Belgian gory death metallers ABORTED have uploaded their video for the track "Dead Wreckoning" at this location. Produced by Darren Doane (SHADOWS FALL, NILE) and filmed in downtown L.A. the clip was shot "in the basement of an old meat factory," the band's vocalist, Sven De Caluwe, said. "Scary fact is that there was blood everywhere — fresh blood, which neither Darren nor the band put there. Weird part is the factory has been out of business for quite some time…"

ABORTED's most recent album, "The Archaic Abattoir", was released in March via Listenable Records. The CD was mixed at Antfarm Studios in Denmark with producer Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, PANZERCHRIST, MNEMIC, EKTOMORF, DESTINY). Guest vocal appearances on the album include Bo Summer (ILLDISPOSED), Michael Bogballe (MNEMIC) and Jacob Bredahl (HATESPHERE).

ABORTED will be embarking on a North American tour with CRYPTOPSY, SUFFOCATION and DESPISED ICON beginning in early October. A complete list of currently confirmed tour dates can be found at this location .

MASTERPLAN frontman Jorn Lande (ex-ARK, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) has completed work on a new solo album, due in 2006. Tentatively titled "The Duke", Lande's fourth solo album is being described by the singer as a more "classic rock"-sounding record, with production from Tommy Hansen, who helmed Lande's sophomore CD, "Worldchanger". The band featured on the new album will include bassist Morty Black (TNT), guitarists Tore Moren (CARNIVORA) and Jorn Viggo Lofstad (PAGAN'S MIND), along with drummer Willy Bendikson (COMPANY OF SNAKES).

Lande's third solo album, "Out to Every Nation" (AFM Records), reached position No. 64 on the Norwegian charts and debuted on the Swedish charts at position No. 84 following its April 2004 release.

COLDSEED, the new project featuring SOILWORK vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid and former BLIND GUARDIAN/current SAVAGE CIRCUS drummer Thomen Stauch, have uploaded rough-mix audio samples of two tracks from their upcoming debut album. Check out the songs "Democracy Lesson" (mp3) and "On My Way" (mp3).

Commented Stauch, "Keep in mind that the songs are still not the final mix, but they sound already pretty nice and still good in 96 kbps! In the next weeks, we will work still on the design for the [band's official web] page, like COLDSEED logo etc...and there will be 1-2 more songs uploaded for your headbanger ears!!!"

Strid had previously described COLDSEED's music as "a mixture between RAMMSTEIN and ALICE IN CHAINS." The group are scheduled to mix their debut CD in late September for a tentative early 2006 release.

KISS Kollector Online has isued the following update on KISS' upcoming "Rock the Nation Live!" DVD:

"There's been a lot of talk about the forthcoming KISS DVD 'Rock the Nation Live!' amongst fans over the last few months. Whereas a release date still hasn't been announced, according to Sanctuary Records' website the initial idea of releasing a 2-DVD set recently changed into a 4-DVD set. Unfortunately, details about the extra two discs are unknown as of yet (but a little while ago word went around that these two additional discs are to feature a 1972 concert as well as a supposed Winterland '73 show — however, KISS wasn't named KISS yet back in '72 although Ace Frehley joined the band in December of that year — and as far as we know WICKED LESTER performed their last live concert in '71 so it's quite impossible to include a live show from '72, and KISS didn't play live in Winterland in '73…) but in the fourth issue of official KISS magazine — which came out recently and mentioned a summer release for the DVD — the track listing for the 2 DVDs containing the actual Rock the Nation Tour footage was revealed. As well as several other details about the discs' contents.

"And if all that hasn't changed by now, then things look very promising for the upcoming DVD. It might turn out to be the coolest KISS DVD released up till now. Not only will it contain no less than 20 live tracks, but also incredible behind-the-scenes footage. Intermingled with the songs will be exciting backstage footage — including stuff shot in the dressing room, at soundcheck, on the road, etc. Tommy Thayer (who previously was responsible for the KISS DVDs 'The Second Coming' and 'Symphony' as well as Ted Nugent's 'Full Bluntal Nugity') was in charge of the DVD project and likes to refer to all the behind-the-scenes footage — which was filmed by Spiro Papadatos — as little 'documentaries.' Kevin McCullough (who did the editing for the 'Symphony' DVD and worked with Gene Simmons on his 'Speaking In Tongues' DVD) edited the concert footage whereas Tommy edited the behind-the-scenes/documentary footage. The documentary sections have been divided into 7 different chapters, and include voice overs by the band members.

The full track listing for the two 'Rock the Nation Live!' discs is as follows:

Disc 1:

01. Intro
02. Love Gun
03. Deuce
04. Makin’ Love
05. The Dressing Room (documentary)
06. Lick It Up
07. Christine Sixteen
08. Photo Shoot (documentary)
09. She
10. Tears Are Falling
11. Got To Choose
12. The Meet & Greets (documentary)
13. I Love It Loud
14. Love Her All I Can
15. I Want You
16. Soundchecks (documentary)
17. Parasite

Disc 2:

01. War Machine
02. 100,000 Years
03. The Theatre Shows (documentary)
04. Unholy
05. Shout It Out Loud
06. On The Road (documentary)
07. I Was Made For Lovin’ You
08. Detroit Rock City
09. God Gave Rock And Roll To You II
10. Rock And Roll All Nite
11. Fan Testimonials/Credits (documentary)

Swedish doomsters CANDLEMASS will be teaming up with long-running German thrashers DESTRUCTION for a European tour in November/December. Exact cities and dates will be announced soon.

In other news, Escapi will be issuing a new CANDLEMASS DVD, entitled "Curse of Candlemass", on September 26. Filmed at Stockholm's Klubben in November 2003, it contains the entire CANDLEMASS show from the legendary evening with FORCE OF EVIL and TROUBLE, sharing the same stage with the kings of doom. The sound and editing is awesome and CANDLEMASS churn out such classics as "Well of Souls" and "At the Gallow's End", in front of an enthusiastic crowd, along with more rare gems like "A Cry from the Crypt" and "Black Stone Wielder".

"Curse of Candlemass" DVD track listing:

01. Demons Gate
02. Dark Reflections
03. Well of Souls
04. Into the Unfathomed Tower
05. Ancient Dreams
06. The Bells of Acheron
07. Witches
08. Mirror Mirror
09. A Cry from the Crypt
10. Mourners Lament
11. Black Stone Wielder
12. Solitude
13. At the Gallow's End

Bonus material: A one-hour interview with the band, and nearly an hour's worth of rare live cuts 1987 – 1993.

German guitar hero AXEL RUDI PELL and his band have just completed their final performances for this year. The shows in Osnabrück, Wacken and Kavarna (Bulgaria) all went "really well," according to a posting on Pell's web site. Commented Axel: "Especially the show in Kavarna, where we played together with MASTERPLAN at the local stadium, was awesome! We really enjoyed ourselves and the people went crazy. We were treated really well and the Bulgarian audience was really enthusiastic!"

Regarding the group's upcoming recording plans, Axel said, "We can't record until late January next year, because I definately want to work with co-producer and engineer Charlie Bauerfeind again, but he isn't available 'till January, because he has shitloads of work to do with BLIND GUARDIAN's next record. So our new album will be released around late May/early June 2006 on SPV. I can promise that it will be a real masterpiece and it definately will be worth the wait, trust me!!! We will play some more summer festivals in 2006 and it is scheduled to have our own tour rolling around September/October next year."

Check out pictures of AXEL RUDI PELL performing at this year's Wacken Open Air festival at this location.

Polish black metallers BEHEMOTH have uploaded their video for the track "Slaves Shall Serve", from their latest album, "Demigod", at this location. The clip was directed by Joanna Rechnio, one of the leading video producers in Poland, who also worked with BEHEMOTH on their "Conquer All" video. Due to controversial scenes in the clip, MTV has reportedly requested a "soft" version for possible airplay.

As previously reported, BEHEMOTH recently revealed the details of their upcoming tour EP, "Slaves Shall Serve". This strictly limited-edition (3,000 copies) six-song release will be available exclusively during the group's Harvest Festivals European tour with NILE, UNLEASHED, PUNGENT STENCH, INCANTATION, and BELPHEGOR. The track listing is as follows:

01. Slaves Shall Serve (album version)
02. Entering the Pylon ov Light (non album song)
03. Penetration (THE NEFILIM cover)
04. Until You Call on the Dark (DANZIG cover)
05. Demigod (live at Sweden Rock festival)
06. Slaves Shall Serve (live at Sweden Rock festival)
07. Slaves Shall Serve (enhanced video clip)

Long-running Swedish death metallers DISMEMBER have parted ways with bassist Johan Bergebäck. Johan "left band due to lack of the time DISMEMBER requires nowadays," the group write on their web site. "The band is looking for a new bassist, situated in the Stockholm area and those who are interested can send an e-mail to dismemberbooking@hotmail.com with some info about themselves."

As previously reported, DISMEMBER entered Sami Studio in Stockholm last month to begin recording their seventh album. The recording sessions will end later this month, with a planned mid-January 2006 release date through Regain Records. Drummer Fred Estby is once again producing the follow-up to 2004's "Where Ironcrosses Grow". New songtitles include "The God That Never Was", "Feel the Darkness" and "Through the Unbroken Black".

OPETH's video for the track "The Grand Conjuration", featuring a special guest appearance by STRAPPING YOUNG LAD drummer Gene Hoglan, has been posted online at Roadrun.com. The song comes off the group's new album, "Ghost Reveries", available now on Roadrunner Records. The CD was mastered on June 16 at the Cutting Room facilities in Stockholm and features a running time of 66 minutes.

OPETH utilized the services of Hoglan during the bulk of the recently completed Sounds of the Underground tour after the group's regular skinsman, Martin Lopez, went back to Sweden for treatment of a rare blood disorder he's had for most of his life. The band have since enlisted Martin Axenrot (BLOODBATH, WITCHERY, NIFELHEIM) to take over Lopez' duties until he's fully recovered.

Finnish folk-influenced melodic death metal band ENSIFERUM, now featuring in its ranks NORTHER frontman Petri Lindroos, will enter Sonic Pump studios in Helsinki in November to record a mini-CD containing one new track, new studio recordings of several old demo songs, and a couple of traditional Finnish folk covers. The as-yet-untitled effort will be released in early 2006. The group's next full-length release is scheduled to be recorded in the summer of 2006.

ENSIFERUM's sophomore album, "Iron", was released in April 2004 through Spinefarm Records. The follow-up to 2001's "Ensiferum" was recorded in the summer of 2003 at Sweet Silence studios in Copenhagen, Denmark with producer Flemming Rasmussen (METALLICA, ARTILLERY).

Dutch melodic death metallers CALLENISH CIRCLE have completed work on their fifth album, "[Pitch.Black.Effects]", for a November 14 European release via Metal Blade Records. The follow-up to 2003's "My Passion // Your Pain" was recorded at aRe U Recordings in Holland under the supervision of producer Gail Liebling (mastermind behind GAIL OF GOD). The final mix was done at Antfarm Studio in Denmark with Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, ILLDISPOSED, MNEMIC). Mastering duties were handled once again by Peter Neuber at Mega Wimp Sound in Germany. Last but not least, the complete artwork was created by Danish artist Mircea Gabriel Eftemie of Cadaverman Media.

Commented CALLENISH CIRCLE guitarist Ronny Tyssen: "This time we decided to record, mix and master the album on different locations. We recorded the album over here in Holland with our longtime (live) sound engineer Gail Liebling and the final mix was done in Denmark with Tue Madsen at his Antfarm Studio. Last but not least, the mastering was done by Peter Neuber at Mega Wimp Sound and this turned out to be a perfect combination. The sound is absolutely killer! Gail, who is also responsible for all digital/wacky sounds on 'My Passion // Your Pain', was also involved in the writing process now. Result is that the amount of digital sounds increased, also being more integrated in the music, which turned out great. I think we made a big step forward regarding production and song writing and we're very anxious to hear what the fans and press think of it."

"[Pitch.Black.Effects]" (view cover here) track listing:

01. This Day You Regret
02. Ignorant
03. Behind Lines
04. Schwarzes Licht
05. Sweet Cyanide
06. Blind
07. Guess Again
08. Self-Inflicted
09. As You Speak
10. Pitch Black

The album will also be available in a luxury limited-edition digipack CD/DVD set with different artwork. The DVD portion will include the following:

professionally recorded live show (8 songs, 40 minutes) at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands

studio report featuring the recordings in Holland, the mix in Denmark and an exclusive interview with producer Gail Liebling

festival report of the band’s trip to the Brutal Assault Festival in Czech Republic (2005)

festival report of the band’s trip to the Piorno Rock Festival in Spain (2004)

motion photo gallery

DARK TRANQUILLITY guitarist Niklas Sundin has teamed up with Jonatan Nordenstam (vocals, bass), Joakim Rosén (guitar, THE PROVENANCE) and Joel Lindell (drums, THE PROVENANCE) in a brand-new project called LAETHORA. The band's debut album, "March of the Parasite", has already been recorded, with the mixing sessions scheduled for the fall. A five-track rough-mix promotional CD is currently being circulated among "quality" record labels, and a preview MP3 clip featuring the material can be downloaded at this location. "Please note that while this teaser gives a good indication of the musical direction, it's not mixed and mastered, so the final product will be more solid in the sound department," reads a posting on the group's web site.

Velvet Acid Christ frontman Bryan Erickson has announced on his official site at www.velvetacidchrist.com that the new VAC album will be postponed to next year: "I missed the deadline to get anything out this year, so we are looking at early next year for new VAC." There will be no single announcing the album, instead Bryan will remix two songs of the upcomming full length and include them on the lp. In total you may expect 8 new songs with 4 additional mixes, 2 for each A-Side. As far as the end of the VAC singles is concerned, Erickson adds: "The remixes will now come on my future CDs and you won't have to spend extra to get the singles, I think that works out better for the fans in the end even though I make less money for my work." VAC also recorded several cover versions but these will be made available as free downloads, "cause Metropolis won't release them". A PayPal account will be up for people to donate. As for the why of not releasing the tracks, Bryan says: "Don't hate Metropolis for anything, it's the market, the way the music industry is. Its not their fault at all. Metropolis is the best label I have ever worked with. (..) Don't talk trash about metropolis, there would not even be a scene for our music if it was not for them."

A 14-song Italian tribute to late PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, entitled "This Love - A Tribute to Dimebag", has been made available for free download at www.moshpitculture.it . The complete track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. BY THE GRIEF - "Strength Beyond Strength"
02. ATOMIC ANTS - "Mouth For War"
03. SHELTER OF LEECH - "5 Minute Alone"
04. ELEKTRIK[H]ATE - "Cowboys From Hell"
05. HAPAX - "Walk"
06. DAY1DAY - "Cemetary Gates"
07. SOWN - "Suicide Note (Southern Version)"
08. ADDICTION CREW - "This Love"
09. SHATTERED - "War Nerve"
10. REMORSE - "Domination"
11. IMODIUM - "Rise"
12. SUFFERHEAD - "Fucking Hostile"
13. ORIENT EXPRESS - "Planet Caravan"
14. EVILGROOVE - "Suicide Note"

Finland's LULLACRY have uploaded 30-second audio samples of all 10 tracks from their upcoming "Vol. 4" CD at Lullacry.com. Also available at the same location is guitarist Sami Vauhkonen's track-by-track breakdown of the songs on the album.

As previously reported, Century Media Records has set a September 19 European release date for "Vol. 4". The CD will be issued in Finland on September 7 via Spinefarm.

As previously reported, LULLACRY's new single, "Stranger in You", entered the Finnish single chart at position No. 16 upon its release in July. The title cut, which comes off "Vol. 4", is backed by a cover of KISS' "I Stole Your Love".

"Vol. 4" track listing:

01. Perfect Tonight
02. Love, Lust, Desire
03. Fire Within
04. Stranger in You
05. Heart Shaped Scars
06. Soul in Half
07. Killing Time
08. I Want You
09. King of Pain
10. Zero

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".

ATARAXIA - "ARCANA ECO"
Book+CD, 2005 ARK Records
Obscura 1
Italian and English versions.
BOOK
"Pilgrimages"
Preface
Chapt. I Stone
Chapt. II Water
Chapt. III Passages
Chapt. IV Dream
Chapt. V Contemplation
Chapt. VI Light
Interview
"La Ruche"
Full discography
Arcana Eco lyrics

CD
Cobalt
(exclusive new song)
Astimelusa
(new key-chimes version)
Mirsilo
(exclusive new song)
Fire in the Wood
(exclusive new song)
Nossa Senhora dos Anjos
(new studio version)
De Pourpre et d'Argent
('A baroque divertissement' version)
The Island of Docteur Moreau
(exclusive new song)

"I made many pilgrimages, the flowing water and the ancient stone were my masters, History and Time were my mother and father..."

Everything has its origins in the stone and the stone is at the origin of everything. The stone is a natural element that can be embroidered to create daring architectures or remain massive and impenetrable to the light. ATARAXIA have built the foundations of their manor with that rough material to make them stronger and unaffectable by time.

The water, symbol of death, re-birth, eternal rest and regeneration, has become their spiritual guide and has given them the chance to progress, to shape and to transform their art throughout the years. Then, the doors of the realm of dreams have opened to allow them to cross deeper dimensions belonging to an ancestral past and attain contemplation. At the end, walking through a labyrinth leading to a painful and surprising knowledge of themselves, they achieved a new state of enlightenment. What distinguishes a raw stone from a precious one lies in its capacity to be crossed by light and filter it.

"Arcana Eco" is a journey from the rocky underworld up to an eden of light.

"Arcana Eco" is a book describing the story of ATARAXIA's albums through the images of voyage that inspired them.

"Arcana Eco" is also the travel diary of Ferruccio Filippi, a music journalist who reached ATARAXIA's place to talk with them about their art.

"Arcana Eco" is a voyage within a voyage.

BOOK (164 pages full colours, 188x137 mm): six chapters developping through Livio Bedeschi's photos, Ferruccio Filippi's reflections and Francesca Nicoli's writings; an exhaustive interview; a full discography and the "Arcana Eco" Cd lyrics.

CD : 7 exclusive tracks recorded and mixed between April and July 2004 (total length 36 mn), four of them are new, the other three are older songs revisited with a today sensibility.

"Arcana Eco" is the first number of "Obscura", a collection of monograph dedicated to the main names of the obscure music.

Packaging:The CD is into a DVDpack.The book and the Dvdpack are into a slipcase.

"Blood Sample" - WALTARI album no. 10 - will be released Sept/21 in Finland! It offers 79 minutes of music in 17 (!) tracks - from beautiful ballads to darkest grindcore.

"Liberate your mind from musical preconditions!" (Kдrtsy)

Tracklist:

PART 1
01 Helsinki
02 Not Enough
03 Too Much Emptiness
04 Never
05 New York
06 I'm In Pain
07 All Roads Will Lead To Rome
08 Digging Inside

PART 2
09 Fly Into The Light
10 Shades To Grace
11 Aching Eyes
12 Back To The Audio
13 Pigeons
14 Exterminator Warheads
15 Darling Boy
16 Wide Awake
17 Julia

Guitarist Allen West has announced his departure from OBITUARY. West's exit from the group comes on the eve of OBITUARY's U.S. tour with NAPALM DEATH and Allen feels that the fans deserve no surprises when they don't see the band that they were expecting. Allen will concentrate fully on LOWBROW, whose revamped lineup consists of founding members West, Curtis Beeson (NASTY SAVAGE) and Richard Hornberger, along with new bassist Jon Fronza. LOWBROW will continue without former members Ben Meyer (NASTY SAVAGE, ACHERON) and Richard Bateman (AGENT STEEL, NASTY SAVAGE).

LOWBROW are currently preparing material for a new recording to follow 2001's "Sex. Violence.Death". More information will be made available soon.

Although OBITUARY have yet to comment on West's departure, singer John Tardy posted the following message on the band's official message board in response to a fan who complained about West being too "wasted" during the group's appearance at the Hole In The Sky festival in Norway this past weekend (Aug. 28):

"First, I would like to apologize for Allen and that is all I can do. We (OBITUARY) did what we could and just could not control Allen that day...he was a mess! You were at the show and could see that we tried our best and Allen was just too drunk to play a good show. You hear stories like this all the time (with all bands) and just like me you have to wonder why someone just can't be professional with what they are doing! We have all the time in the world to party as much as we want after the show and you would think you could show up ready to play and give your fans 100%! In this case Allen failed us! We are not happy and have talked with him about this and I am not sure what we are going to do! He has to make up his mind as to what he wants to do! Once again I can only apologize and and tell you that where the rest of the band gives it 100% everyshow no matter what and one weak link (Allen) can bring all that down! I also realize that his perfomance is a reflection on the whole band and that is what hurts the most when I look at how hard the rest of the band works to be the very best that we can! We can only hope that Allen gets his priorities straight!"

OBITUARY's latest CD, "Frozen In Time", was released in July via Roadrunner Records.

Switzerland's SAMAEL will spend the next few months writing material for the follow-up to last year's "Reign of Light" album. The group's as-yet-untitled new CD is not expected to surface until late 2006 at the earliest.

In other news, SAMAEL's Vorph and Makro have secured an endorsement deal with ESP Guitars.

SAMAEL's last release was the "On Earth" single, featuring the album version of the title cut, plus various remixes, along with a cover of DEPECHE MODE's "I Feel You", a video for "Telepath" and a live recording of the track "On Earth", recorded in Paris, France.

SAMAEL's video for the song "Telepath" was shot before the start of the group's 2004 European tour in Gothenburg, Sweden with directors Roger Johansson and Alex Hansson. The clip, which reportedly "shows two sides of a personality trying to get in touch with each other," has received airplay via various video outlets in Europe.

"Reign of Light" was released in North American in February via Nuclear Blast Records.

Italian epic metal band RHAPSODY will be releasing their first live album ever in November. The recordings will be based on performances made during leg one of MANOWAR's "Demons, Dragons and Warriors World Tour" where RHAPSODY appeared as the special guests in spring 2005.

This recently completed first leg of the tour was highly acclaimed for its stripped down and performance-oriented arrangements, which allowed the band to prove that the music is the message. No track list has yet been released, but RHAPSODY's record label, Magic Circle Music, announced the songs played during the shows included old favorites and tracks from their latest release, "Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II - The Dark Secret".

RHAPSODY released "Symphony of Enchanted Lands II - The Dark Secret", in September 2004 via Magic Circle Music/SPV. The CD features a very special appearance by acclaimed actor Christopher Lee ("Star Wars - Episode 2: Attack of the Clones", "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", "Gremlins II", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow").

MWIS have received this urgent communication from the band's record company, SPV which we need to share with you:

"Last Friday, the DVD sets arrived here in the SPV warehouse. They were immediately checked and although DVD 2 is perfectly fine, DVD 1 (live concert) was unacceptable (the picture and audio are not in line with gaps as big as half a second at some points).

SPV have been urgently working to rectify the situation, but the bottom line is that we had to stop the shipping (we even have to recollect about 5000 sets which already went out to our export partners). This included sending everything back to the DVD production company in order to open the already shrinkwrapped DVD sets and exchange DVD 1 with the correct disc. This is also the reason why we had to shift back the release date by one week on VERY short notice (now Sept. 5th).

Please communicate to the fans our sincerest apologies for the delay - we want to share with you this fantastic DVD release as soon as possible but demand perfection before it can be released.

Regards

Gero Herde, SPV"

DEMONS & WIZARDS' video for the song "Terror Train" has been posted online at this location. The clip was shot on location in Gothenburg, Sweden with director Roger Johansson (THE HAUNTED, DARK TRANQUILLITY, IN FLAMES, NAPALM DEATH).

"Terror Train" comes off the group's sophomore album, "Touched by the Crimson King", available now on SPV Records.

The follow-up to the group's 2001 self-titled CD, "Touched by the Crimson King" features an appearance by ICED EARTH/HALFORD drummer Bobby Jarzombek.

DEMONS & WIZARDS is the collaboration between Jon Schaffer of ICED EARTH and Hansi Kürsch of BLIND GUARDIAN.