Despite receiving "a record number of complaints from viewers," Poland's national television station TVP has refused to fire BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski from the Polish version of the hit singing competition "The Voice", dubbed "The Voice Of Poland".

A draft resolution calling for the dismissal of Darski from "The Voice Of Poland" show was proposed by three of the TVP council's 15 member-board after protests by conservative bishops.

The bishops lashed out at TVP for its hiring of Darski, who was found innocent last month of offending religious feelings in connection with a September 2007 incident when he reportedly called the Catholic Church "the most murderous cult on the planet" during the band's performance in Gdynia and tore up a copy of the Bible, calling it "a book of lies."

Rochstar, the company that produces "The Voice Of Poland", has defended Darski's participation in the program, explaining that he has proven to be "a warm and friendly man with a great sense of humor" during his participation in the show.

Ryszard Nowak, head of the All-Polish Committee for Defense Against Sects, called Nergal "a Satanist and blasphemous criminal," adding that his presence on the talent show is a "scandal."

Even though TVP has chosen not to dismiss Darski from "The Voice", the Polish national daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported that the TV station considered replacing the BEHEMOTH frontman on the program, but opted against it, in part because several of the show's episodes have already been taped and are scheduled to be broadcast until late October.

It was previously reported in the Polish media that the producers of "The Voice Of Poland" were hoping that Nergal's presence on the program would attract a new audience as well as improve its chances of competing against rival television talent-show franchise "X Factor".

"The Voice Of Poland" reportedly gets around 2.2 million viewers an episode.

In a recent interview with Terrorizer magazine, Nergal stated about his new television gig, "It's going to be fun. The first black metal judge ever in history doing a mainstream thing, you know? People are going to freak out! Some are going to love it, some are going to fucking hate it. But that's what this music has always been about, right? To provoke, to cause different opinions. The more extreme opinions, the better, I think."

He added of the attention he has received in his home country, "This so-called celebrity life is not my environment at all, but I am a part of it if I want it or not. So it's been crazy. Then the whole case with my sickness and me getting out alive [Nergal was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2010 and underwent a bone marrow transplant procedure in December. — Ed.], it just brought some extra attention to it. And there's definitely some people that want to make some money on it because it's a cool story for them to write about and stuff, but I was like, 'Okay, if they're going to make money, I want to have my share, too.' I was away from music and away from being active live for a good year, so yeah, I need to get something in return!"

The American version of "The Voice" was a big hit for NBC and helped breathe new life into the careers of coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green.

TV Alterosa aired a two-minute video report on JUDAS PRIEST's September 13, 2011 concert at Chevrolet Hall in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. You can now watch it below. Also available is fan-filmed video footage of the show.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Rapid Fire
02. Metal Gods
03. Heading Out To The Highway
04. Judas Rising
05. Starbreaker
06. Victim Of Changes
07. Never Satisfied
08. Diamonds & Rust (JOAN BAEZ cover)
09. Dawn Of Creation
10. Prophecy
11. Night Crawler
12. Turbo Lover
13. Beyond The Realms Of Death
14. The Sentinel
15. Blood Red Skies
16. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown) (FLEETWOOD MAC cover)
17. Breaking The Law
18. Painkiller

Encore:

19. The Hellion
20. Electric Eye
21. Hell Bent For Leather
22. You've Got Another Thing Comin'

Encore 2:

23. Living After Midnight

Frontiers Records has announce the release of the self-titled debut album from THE MAGNIFICENT, on November 4th in Europe and November 1st in North America.

With Scandinavia becoming more and more the promised land for quality melodic rock bands, it was just natural that Frontiers would dig deep in the scene to find and expose the best new talents around. Then imagine if two of the most gifted guys from the prog metal scene in two different Scandinavian countries decided to join forces in a monumental new band project. The result should be nothing but stunning right? Then get this: CIRCUS MAXIMUS singer extraordinaire Michael Eriksen from Norway and Finnish producer/guitarist Torsti Spoof (of LEVERAGE fame) have decided to join forces together in a new melodic rock band, aptly called The Magnificent.

With the help of musicians including Rolf Pilve on drums, Sami Norbacka on bass and Jukka Karinen on keyboards, The Magnificent offer a monster melodic rock album, a record melting the contemporary sound of BROTHER FIRETRIBE and classic EUROPE, with obvious hints to the fathers of the genre: JOURNEY and FOREIGNER.

Songwriting contributions also come from Pekka Heino (Brother Firetribe, Leverage), Tomppa Nikulainen (Brother Firetribe), Tuomas Heikkinen (Leverage), Mats Haugen (Circus Maximus), Kimmo Blom (URBAN TAKE) and others.

Torsti Spoof said: “A lot of my musical influences come from the 80s and I always wanted to make an album in that spirit. Now the dream has came true! This one was truly a joyride. Great musicians, songwriters and an AMAZING Michael Eriksen! I think together we`ve made a perfect blend of the old school songwriting with a big up to date sound”

Michael Eriksen added: “I grew up in the 80s and with this album the 80s are BACK! Working together with Torsti has been a privilege and I believe together we have created a rock album that will apply to all fans of rock music out there. So turn up the volume and enjoy!”


The Magnificent tracklisting:


'Holding On To Your Love'
'Cheated By Love'
Memories'
'Angel'
'Satin & Lace'
'Love`s On The Line'
'Bullets'
'Smoke & Fire'
'Tired Of Dreaming'
'If It Takes All Night'
'Lost'
'Harvest Moon'

LUNOCODE’s first full length album entitled Celestial Harmonies, will be released January 10th, 2012 via Spider Rock Promotion, for worldwide digital distribution.

The track ‘Heart Of The World’ is a remixed and rearranged acoustic version of a song on the band’s EP Last Day Of The Earth; ‘Indifference’ features Olaf Thorsen (LABYRINTH, VISION DIVINE) as a special guitar solo.

1) Sin Cara
2) Heart of the World
3) Indifference (feat. Olaf Thorsen)
4) Misty Visions of an Ordinary Day
5) The Origin of Matter and Mind:
I) On Matter and Mind
II) High
III) The Cosmic Architect
IV) Tree of Life
V) Crossing the Line
VI) Albert II

German black / progressive metallers FARSOT will release their new album, Insects, on October 28th via Prophecy Productions.

The follow-up to IIII was produced under the aegis of Markus Stock in Studio E / Mellrichstadt. Insects picks up where the band's previous releases left off: the listener is enticed to discover, to confront the disturbing dynamics, to feel the deep, earthy mystique. This time, you are going to be faced with a topical framework that is more real than you can ever wish for.

Danish metallers RISING has posted another new song, 'Sea Of Basalt', which can be heard below, along with the previously posted track, 'Through The Eyes Of Catalysis':

The tracks comes off Rising's forthcoming debut album, To Solemn Ash, which is to be released through Exile On Mainstream on the following dates:

Germany: September 30th
Europe (besides Germany): October 24th
North America: End of January 2012

Rising’s debut effort is produced by new producer talent Jakob Reichert Nielsen, mastered by Alan Douches (CONVERGE, MASTODON, HIGH ON FIRE) and features artwork of renowned Danish artist Jakob Printzlau aka Plastic Kid.

The album features 10 songs and will be made available as CD digifile, LP gatefold 180 gram vinyl and download.

UK hard rockers VOODOO SIX - featuring former DIRTY DEEDS bass guitarist Tony Newton are set to release much-anticipated new EP entitled Falling Knives in digital format on November 28. The EP, which will be a special limited edition release, will be available to fans until the end of February. The band will precede the release by kicking off their 14-date UK tour in Leicester on November 17. The tour will finish with a set at this year’s sold-out Hard Rock Hell V Festival in Prestatyn.

The Falling Knives EP comes following the success of last year’s album Fluke? which was mixed by uber studio engineer Mike Fraser (AC/DC, AEROSMITH, METALLICA), and boasted the talent of brand new vocalist and front man Luke Purdie. After an extensive UK tour including supports with legendary British hard rock stalwarts UFO, Voodoo Six sprang into 2011 with another set of dates supporting flamboyant ex-HANOI ROCKS star Michael Monroe.

The new EP will feature three brand new tracks, the eponymous 'Falling Knives', 'Sharp Sand' and 'Stop', as well as three re-worked and re-recorded versions of tracks from the band’s debut album ‘First Hit For Free’, featuring the driving influence of Luke’s illustrious, raunchy vocals.

Founding member and bassist Tony Newton comments: “It’s been great being back in the studio working on new material for the EP and the new album for next year. We wanted to revisit some of our old songs so that fans can expect to hear them in the live set again and experience Luke’s twist on things. We’re really excited about getting back on the road and building up for what is looking to be an energetic 2012 for V6!”

The ‘Falling Knives’ Limited Edition digital EP will be available from November 28 from digital outlets.

Falling Knives Limited Edition EP tracklist:
'Falling Knives'
'Sharp Sand'
'Stop'
'No Friend of Mine'
'Feed My Soul'
'One More Day'

Danish black metallers BLODARV have contributed two tracks to the Shadows Of Tragedy compilation CD which was released this week on Self Mutilation Services. Along with Blodarv, other contributors to the release are NOCTURNAL DEPRESSION, BLACK HATE, ACEDI and GRIMLAIR. Shadows of Tragedy is released in a 500 copies only limited edition CD, which hit the streets on September 16th.

The two tracks contributed by Blodarv are both previously unreleased songs written at the same time as the band’s Civitas Diaboli album, which was itself released on Self Mutilation Services in 2009. The first track, 'Sharpstone Mountain', is effectively a prelude to the tale recounted in the 'Blood Red Rocks' track from Civitas Diaboli, while the second track, 'I Hulernes Rige' is a melancholy acoustic song, which gives Blodarv’s female backing vocalist Satinae Ma a chance to take the lead on vocals.

Blodarv founder and front man Hugin has only recently been allowed to return to performing, following an accident that resulted in extensive surgery to his jaw. It was also revealed this week that he would be collaborating with Norway’s Elenyx (NÅE, COMBATH) and Sweden’s It (ABRUPTUM, VONDUR, OPTHALAMIA) on a new album from NÅE, which is to be recorded partly in Blodarv’s own HammerArt and Studios on the Danish island of Bornholm, and partly in Elenyx’s own recording facilities in Oslo.

Sydney, Australia's DRAGONSCLAW have uploaded three tracks to their official Facebook and Reverbnation page, as a preview from their forthcoming debut release Prophecy.

Vocalist Giles Lavery gives a rundown of three streaming tracks below:

‘Darkness Within’: “This track opens our album , it is a heavy Balls to the wall fast powerful dose of metal, it already seems to be favourite amongst those who have heard it and is very much in that JUDAS PRIEST style ... who are of course one of our favourite groups, we think this will be a stormer live too.”

‘Angels In White’: “Probably our most melodic track on the CD, the guitar harmonies and the chorus really stay with you after listening ... this was a very late addition to the album , we were working on a track that wasn't quite coming together and then this one just came out from an idea guitarist Ben Thomas had, He's great, he is a never ending supply of riffs and song ideas, We laid this one down in two nights and it is a fine addition to the CD, needless to say the other track got left behind very quickly... it is very early 80's sounding and hopefully will find favour among the fans of that NWOBHM or early US STEEL scene.”

‘Unknown Horizon’: “Another fantastic riff from Ben , and we called upon Corey Wyer from Australian band THE CURSING STONE for lyrics here, I have Known Corey for years and he's always been a great lyricist ... he did a great job here and this track is a face melting power metal anthem about a deadly entity from another world desending upon earth ... would we survive, I think not?”

Original artwork for the album was designed by Maggotmaster.

The new album features guest vocals from Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN/WOLFSBANE) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (EDGE OF FOREVER, EDENS CURSE).

Alessandro Del Vechio commented on his involvement: "Even if I'm not the typical “metal" singer, as I am known for my melodic stuff, I grew up on the right stuff like DIO, Iron Maiden, BLACK SABBATH so I really enjoyed getting the call from Dragonsclaw. It's music I normally don't sing every day so my performance was genuine and fresh...and that's how a performance should be when you're a guest on a record. Really wish these guys the best!"

In the footage below, Blaze Bayley introduces himself and talks about the song, 'Prophecy Is A Lie', before recording his vocals for the track, which will be featured on the band's upcoming debut album, entitled Prophecy. In the second clip, Dragonsclaw frontman Giles Lavery lays down some vocals for the debut:

MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars revealed via Twitter yeterday (Wednesday, September 14) that he was in the studio working on "a killer track" with James Durbin, the 22-year-old rocker from Santa Cruz, California who was one of the finalists on the last season of "American Idol".

"That's right! That's Mick Fuckin Mars!!!!! Playing on MY record!!! This is so unbelievable!!!!" tweeted Durbin in reply to Mick's message. He also attached a photo of what appears to be the MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist laying down a track in the studio (see below).

Durbin last week inked a deal with Wind-Up Records (EVANESCENCE, CREED) for the release of his solo album.

The singer told USA Today in May that he was planning to record an album, with what he described as a "[DIO] 'Holy Diver', [BLACK SABBATH] 'Neon Knights'-type" feel. "I potentially heard my first single yesterday," he said, adding that it "still has a heavy edge and is radio friendly." He also wrote a song with James Michael (SIXX: A.M., SCORPIONS, MÖTLEY CRÜE) and frequent AEROSMITH collaborator Marti Frederiksen.

Durbin performed JUDAS PRIEST's classic songs "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking The Law" with the British heavy metal legends themselves during the "American Idol" May finale.

Durbin sang the JUDAS PRIEST classic "You Got Another Thing Coming" on the March 1 edition of "Idol" (see video below). His rendition marked the first time, according to AEROSMITH singer and "American Idol" judge Steven Tyler, where a JUDAS PRIEST single was performed on the "Idol" stage.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, a song on the new CHICKENFOOT album, called "Up Next", is dedicated to the band's manager, John Carter, who died of cancer halfway through the recording the new disc. In a new podcast, vocalist Sammy Hagar said, "Carter was the guy who signed me to my first record contract when I was thrown out of MONTROSE, and produced my first four albums. Carter, dear friend, became our co-manager, and he got cancer: last minute, got it diagnosed, got operated on immediately and died. It was horrible."

Hagar told us how Carter inspired the song: "He's going, 'You need to incorporate your lifestyle into CHICKENFOOT.' He goes, 'You know, why do you have to, why does it have to be separate?' So he was really hammering me on this, to write some lyrics about myself, you know, and my lifestyle. Then he gets sick and we realize that he's gonna die. So that's where the lyric came from — you just never know who's next, you know, who would have thought Carter? This is for Carter, this song, 'cause I threw my lifestyle into that song for him."

"Chickenfoot III" comes out on September 27 and follows up the band's 2009 self-titled debut.

HAIL! — the supergroup featuring vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, BEYOND FEAR) and guitarist Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA) alongside a rotating list of musicians, including drummers Paul Bostaph (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, EXODUS, FORBIDDEN) and Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD); and bassists James Lomenzo (MEGADETH) and David Ellefson (MEGADETH) — has issued the following update:

"Sorry this has been so long but all our guys have been busy touring and recording.

"We are happy to announce our triumphant return to Russia! Following our amazing sold-out tour there last June, we will be coming back in December for 10-11 more shows in eight new cities! We thank our wonderful Russian fans for all their love and support and we look forward to seeing you again soon. HAIL! will also play their first shows in China and Taiwan!

"Our goal is to continuously break new ground around the world and we are coming to Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei in December.

"The lineup for these dates will feature Tim 'Ripper' Owens, Paul Bostaph, James Lomenzo and the newest member of our tribe — guitarist Glen Drover. Glen, having had a long and wonderful career in metal having played with MEGADETH for five years as well as TESTAMENT and KING DIAMOND, will be filling in for Andreas Kisser as SEPULTURA are out touring in support of their newest release, 'Kairos'."

Said Glen, "It is an honor to play with HAIL! Everything that they have done and stand for is what being a true metal fan is all about. To be a part of something so special and playing in these new places is really exciting and I can't wait to tear it up with all you crazy fans!"

Details for the entire tour will be announced in a few days.

HAIL! lineup for December 2011 dates:

* Tim "Ripper" Owens (ex-JUDAS PRIEST) - Vocals
* Paul Bostaph (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, EXODUS, FORBIDDEN) - Drums
* James Lomenzo (MEGADETH, DAVID LEE ROTH, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, WHITE LION) - Bass
* Glen Drover (MEGADETH, KING DIAMOND) - Guitar

British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) was joined by Jase Edwards (WOLFSBANE, THE WILDHEARTS) in late August/early September for a series of "unplugged" shows in the U.K., playing acoustic versions of their favorite songs from WOLFSBANE, IRON MAIDEN and BLAZE BAYLEY.

A video interview with Bayley and Edwards conducted by PurpleChicken.TV on September 2 as well as fan-filmed video footage of their September 6 performance in Manchester can be seen below.

When asked about his "unplugged" tour and the possibility of recording an acoustic album, Blaze said in a recent interview, "I did an acoustic show a few years ago and I really enjoyed it. And I wanted to start again. I need to get myself into that vibe. It's an expressive thing. Right now I want to hear how my voice sounds with the guitar and seeing what it feels like. That is the first step before I think about recording [an acoustic CD] and putting it together. I think it is going to be like most of the albums I do. It is going to be an experience from start to finish."

WOLFSBANE recently finished recording its new album for a tentative early November release.

The reunited band — which features Bayley, guitarist Jase Edwards, bassist Jeff Hateley and drummer Steve Danger — released its first record in 17 years in April. Entitled "Did It For The Money", it contained the brand new title track along with re-recordings of four old WOLFSBANE numbers.

Dutch death metallers ASPHYX entered the studio in January with engineer Frank Klein Douwel to begin recording their new album, "Deathhammer". Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Reign Of The Brute", "Vespa Cabro", "We Doom You To Death", "Asphyx-Minefield" and "Deathhammer". Axel Hermann will create the cover artwork while Dan Swanö (BLOODBATH, EDGE OF SANITY) will take care of the mixing duties.

Commented the band: "By now, all the guitars, drums and bass tracks for the upcoming 'Deathhammer' album are recorded. Drums were recorded in the classic Harrow Studio, known from the ASPHYX classics as 'The Rack' and 'Last One On Earth'. The guitars and bass were recorded in The Mörser Studio. In a few weeks the vocals will be recorded in the Harrow Studio as well and then Dan Swanö will do the album's mixing and mastering, just as on 'Death…The Brutal Way' and 'Live Death Doom'.

"'Deathhammer' promises to be a darkened successor of 'Death…The Brutal Way'. Almost every band is praising their newest album to be heavier and more brutal than the previous one, but actually in this case it's the harsh truth. 'Deathhammer' is in every way heavier, doomier and darker. Maybe it's because of the fact that most of the songs were written in late autumn/winter?! We do not know…but it's easily our heaviest effort so far!"

"Deathhammer" is scheduled for release in early 2012 via Century Media Records.

For the rest of this year, ASPHYX will be playing a string of quality shows in Europe, including an appearance at this weekend's underground institution NRW Deathfest on Saturday, September 17, at AJZ Bahndamm in Wermelskirchen, Germany. Additionally, ASPHYX have chosen to perform two very special "full-album setlist" concerts on October 15 at Metropool in Hengelo, The Netherlands (where the band will be playing their complete "Last One On Earth" album) and at this year's Eindhoven Metal Meeting on December 16 at Effenaar in Eindhoven, The Netherlands (where the band will be playing their complete "The Rack" album for its 20th anniversary of release).

Fans lined up around the block yesterday (Thursday, September 15 ) as Slash appeared at the new GuitarGuitar store in Epsom, U.K. In between cutting the ribbon to officially open the impressive new building and sign autographs for hundreds of expectant fans, Music Radar managed to grab the former GUNS N' ROSES guitar hero to give them the skinny on his new Dunlop signature wah-wah pedal and the plans for the follow-up to his acclaimed debut solo album. You can now watch the chat at this location.

When asked about the status of the recording sessions for his new solo album, Slash said, "We actually haven't started recording, but we've been in pre-production. We're about nine songs in, as far as that goes. And when I get back from England tomorrow, we'll go in and do another 12 songs. And we start actually recording late October. This is a record with Myles [Kennedy of ALTER BRIDGE] singing in the entire thing. And also Brent Fitz's playing drums and Todd Kerns is playing bass."

He added, "I was really fortunate. When I'd done the record, I thought, 'I've gotta tour on this.' And I had to figure how I was gonna actually pull that off. And I set about auditioning musicians in L.A. and I just happened to meet Brent Fitz, who I'd never played before and who is not from Los Angeles; he was one of the guys I auditioned and he was great. And then he introduced me to Todd Kerns, who fit in perfectly. And it turned out to be a great band from the start — definitely worth going in and making a record with."

Slash's new album will once again be produced by Eric Valentine, who has previously worked with QUEENS OF STONE AGE and THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS. But "the big difference," according to Slash, will be that Eric is "also gonna be mastering this one" in addition to recording and mixing the CD. "So it's like one-stop shopping, which is pretty cool," the guitarist said.

Regarding the musicial direction of his new material and how it compares to last year's self-titled effort, Slash said, "This one's definitely a very focused… Very hard. Some of it's very heavy. It's got sort of a more unified sound to it, especially with one vocal all throughout."

"Slash" was released in North America in April 2010 via EMI Label Services. The album featured an all-star roster of guest musicians, including Ian Astbury, Chris Cornell, Rocco DeLuca, Fergie, Dave Grohl, Myles Kennedy, Kid Rock, Lemmy Kilmister, Adam Levine of MAROON 5, Duff McKagan, M. Shadows of AVENGED SEVENFOLD, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, and Andrew Stockdale of WOLFMOTHER.

"Slash" was completed with the rhythm section of bassist Chris Chaney (JANE'S ADDICTION) and drummer Josh Freese (NINE INCH NAILS). Slash handled the majority of arranging and songwriting duties and hand-picked each guest artist. The album's guests worked collaboratively with Slash to round out the song.

Prosthetic Records, whose current roster of artists includes ALL THAT REMAINS, ANIMALS AS LEADERS and SKELETONWITCH, is in the process of pulling its catalog from streaming music service Spotify.

"There [does] not appear to be an upside," Prosthetic co-owner E.J. Johantgen tells LA Weekly. He adds that the only income from the service comes in "fractions of pennies," even on the label's biggest titles.

The only revenue independent labels receive is pay-per-stream royalties. To Johantgen, this doesn't sound quite right. "I would like to see what their projected ad revenue would be. Then we could really determine if their rates are fair," he tells LA Weekly.

Prosthetic is the third Los Angeles-area metal label to remove its titles, joining Century Media and Metal Blade.

Fans noticed late last month that Metal Blade was beginning to pull its music off Spotify. However, the label — which was founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 — has not issued an official statement explaining its decision to make the move.

Century Media announced on August 9 that it was pulling its repertoire from Spotify in order "to protect the interests of their artists".

"The income streams to the artists are affected massively and therefore that accelerates the downward spiral, which eventually will lead to artists not being able to record music the way it should be recorded," Century Media said in a statement. "Ultimately, in some cases, it will completely kill a lot of smaller bands that are already struggling to make ends meet."

The U.S. version of Spotify, which gives its users access to all the songs in its cloud to organize into playlists and listen to as they please, reportedly attracted 1.4 million registered users of its ads-supported free service in the first month, as well as 175,000 paid subscribers for its promo-free version. In Europe, where Spotify has been available in seven countries since its launch in 2008, the company currently has around 1.6 million paying users, according to published reports.

According to the an infographic on the Information Is Beautiful web site, which visualizes the different monetization methods available to artists and how profitable they are, if you are a solo musician, at $0.00029 per play on Spotify, you will have to receive 4,053,110 plays per month to earn the U.S. minimum wage of $1,160.

Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH recently spent time not only putting finishing touches to their new album, "Imaginaerum", but also planning a movie of the same name. The CD will be released in December via Nuclear Blast Records in Europe and Roadrunner Records in North America.

"Imaginaerum" is one of the projects which recently received grants from the Finnish government institution called the Finnish Film Foundation. The movie, directed by Stobe Harju, about an old man on his deathbed who glimpses a childhood dream in which he refuses to grow old, and fights aging with his imagination, will get $575,000 toward its $3.7 million budget.

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main composer Tuomas Holopainen has issued the following update on the "Imaginaerum" film:

"Yesterday I had the chance to walk into the studio for the first time and see the set-up, props and dresses, and meet the actors. I was blown away by everything I saw, from the dedication of the people working there to the otherworldly atmosphere of the different stages. I had my make-up tests and dress fittings done, and truly enjoyed seeing myself as a gray and wrinkled 50-year-old. Ha!

"Four years in the making, and finally 'Imaginaerum' is coming alive in a most beautiful way. I can't help feeling completely awestruck and grateful for the chance of doing something that was nothing but an insane (but sincere) idea a few years ago."

"Imaginaerum" will be released in Finland on Wednesday, November 30 and the rest of Europe on Friday, December 2 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD will be made available in North America through Roadrunner Records.

NIGHTWISH's new single, "Storytime", will be released on Friday, November 11 via Nuclear Blast Records.

ADRENALINE MOB — the new band featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD), SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP), bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward — has entered the studio to record three new songs for inclusion on the group's forthcoming debut album, tentatively due in early 2012. Portnoy stated in an online posting, "All three [tracks] are AMAZING!!"