The cover artwork for "Nuclear Messiah", the forthcoming third album from Swedish death/black metallers APOSTASY, can be viewed below. The artwork was created by Raphael Gabrio, a talented artist from Brazil.

"Nuclear Messiah" will be released this spring/summer via Gothenburg, Sweden's Rambo Music, a division of Gain Music Entertainment (which is distributed and partly owned by Sony Music).

A medley of tracks that will appear on "Nuclear Messiah" can be heard by clicking on the graphic below.

Marcelo Cabuli, the husband of former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen, and his business partners are demanding 50,000 euros (approximately $72,500) in defamation damages from the parties behind the NIGHTWISH book "Once Upon a Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996-2006". Named in the lawsuit were the publishing house Like Kustannus Oy and the author of the book, Marko "Mape" Ollila.

According to the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, the Helsinki District Court began processing the defamation case last Thursday in a preparatory session.

Cabuli dropped some of his previous demands, such as that the author and publisher should receive harsher punishment because "Cabuli is a citizen of Argentina," according to Ilta-Sanomat.

Cabuli and his three Brazilian business partners are demanding 15,000 euros compensation each. They claim that the information published about them in the book is completely false.

Like Kustannus Oy CEO Päivi Isosaari and Ollila deny the charges and stand behind the 380-page book, which chronicles NIGHTWISH's rise to the status of one of the most successful symphonic metal acts in the world, including the circumstances that led to the departure of Turunen. Isosaari and Ollila insist that they had good reason to believe that the claims of the book were true and they intend to call Ollila's sources, including several influential music-business figures, as their witnesses.

"Well, I did read the text and I authorized it to be published and therefore I stand behind the book," Isosaari told Ilta-Sanomat in a 2009 interview.

Turunen was fired from NIGHTWISH a year before the book was published.

In his 2006 review of the book, Jarkko Jokelainen of Helsingin Sanomat wrote, "The book points the finger [for the split with Tarja] most firmly in the direction of Marcelo Cabuli, husband and personal manager of the band's former vocal soloist Tarja Turunen. With every turning page, the charges against the Argentine Cabuli get heavier and heavier.

"The portrait of Marcelo Cabuli depicts a money-grasping, less-than-honest, arbitrary, and manipulative manager who was engaged on setting up his wife's solo career and who drove a wedge between her and the other members of the power metal band.

"NIGHTWISH's contractual dealings and touring plans became a painful exercise, as there was 'a Hispanic in the works' at every turn.

"Against this background, it is somewhat awkward that the defendant himself does not get a hearing in the book, even though the other sources close to the band are given full rein to open their hearts and mouths. Not even Tarja Turunen gets to comment on her husband's doings.

"It is probable that the decision is the couple's own, but this does not disguise the fact that it is the book's greatest drawback. The author Marko 'Mape' Ollila has sought to be even-handed in his coverage, but in part for the reasons above, this band-history inevitably becomes a speech on behalf of the male members of the group and other figures in the background.

"NIGHTWISH would seem on the basis of this work to have been so divided into two distinct camps that both sides of the story cannot be fitted between the covers of one book."

Die schwedische Death Metal Band INEVITABLE END arbeitet zurzeit an Ihrem zweiten Album mit dem Titel "The Oculus" Das neue Album kommt am 24. Mai 2011 via Relapse Records in den Handel und jetzt wurde der neue Song "Of Sublime Dimensions" HIER zum probehören online gestellt.

"The Oculus" Track List:

01. Tell Us, Parasites
02. Escaping The Black Hole
03. Zen
04. Dogmaties Paralies
05. The Supreme Treachery
06. The Oculus
07. While Surpassing Ether
08. Vergelmer
09. Chamber Of Apathy
10. Memento
11. Me Tem Psy Cho Sis
12. Cadaver Inc.
13. Of Sublime Dimensions

SOLAR FRAGMENT werkeln an ihrem zweiten Album: Die Aufnahmen sind vorüber, der Mix ist fertig und die ganze verdammte Mannschaft ist schon wieder zuhause. Das zweite Solar Fragment Album, "In Our Hands" kommt am 19. April 2011 via Scarlet Records in den Handel. Als Gastsänger ist Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian) im Song "Inside The Circle" zu hören. Der Titel Song "In Our Hands" wurde jetzt HIER zum probehören online gestellt.

Ohren auf! Nächsten Monat wird das neue und vierte Studioalbum von KOTTAK über SAOL / H’Art / Zebralution erscheinen. Am 27. Mai 2011 ist es soweit, und "Attack" wird überall in den Läden stehen. Nachdem wir euch letzte Woche bereits das Cover enthüllen konnten, präsentieren wir euch heute in aller frische die Tracklist! Viel Vergnügen!

"Attack" Tracklist:

01. Teenage Kix
02. Scandalous
03. Hit The Heartbrakes
04. Let’s Do It Tonite
05. Sexy Motherfucker
06. Perfect Defects
07. Bang Bang Baby
08. World War Love
09. So Disconnected
10. Time To Say Goodbye

Die US Death Metaller AUTOPSY sind seit Anfang Februar in den Fantasy Studios im kalifornischen Berkeley uns arbeiten an ihrem neuen Album mit dem Titel "Macabre Eternal". Mit dem Song "Sadistic Gratification" haben die Jungs von AUTOPSY ihren ersten Song von über 10 Minuten Länge aufgenommen. "It's 11 minutes and 33 seconds of pure fucking sickness," sagte Gitarrist Eric Cutler! In den Handel soll die neue Scheibe am 31. Mai 2011 via Peaceville Records kommen. Jetzt wurde der neue Videoclip 'My Corpse Shall Rise' online gestellt.

Vocalist Tarek "MS" Maghary (METALFORCE, MAJESTY) has released the following statement:

"With this statement I want to tell all fans, friends and partners that we decided that it is time for MAJESTY to officially come back to the glorious heavy metal world.

"It might sound strange to some of you that after only three years when we said that the band is not existent anymore we return but I really want to try to explain to you all the thoughts, feelings and economic reasons which led to that decision.

"I know that many of you were shocked when we put MAJESTY to sleep in 2008 and I can never properly explain you the exact reasons why we did that step and honestly, I don't even know them myself. The only thing I know is that it was a decision which hurt the feelings of many dedicated and loyal fans standing together with us side by side through the years.

"I will never forget the sadness of a young fan coming to me after we stopped as MAJESTY. He had tears in his eyes and told me, that he does not know if he should be sad or angry but I knew that it was a mixture of both and I felt those exact same feelings in the last two years too many times.

"Don't misunderstand me, we also had a lot of fun as METALFORCE and played an incredible tour but we never could achieve the magic we had with MAJESTY and therefore we decided it is a wise step to recall that magic and return as the band which has always been our purpose in life.

"There is also one other side to it. Many promoters all around the world told us that they would love to book the band to come to their venues and festivals. But not as METALFORCE because we were told that the fans do not even know about that band. The people demand MAJESTY and now we will respond to their demands.

"We are all dedicated musicians and we are living to play live on stage not only a few limited shows a year like we had to do with METALFORCE but to hit the stages around the word as often as fucking possible. We need the direct contact with our brothers and sisters and therefore we will work as fucking hard as possible to come to your town.

"The first release as MAJESTY will already come out this summer. 'Own The Crown' which will among the greatest hits of the band feature two brand new songs, the rerecording of the demo song 'Snow Is On The Mountains' and the complete first demo tape of the band. Many more specials which will stir the blood of every fan can be found on the 2CD box set which will be sold for a 1CD unit price.

"I know that a bright future lies before us now and we will try to play as many shows as possible all over the planet and finally do again what we were born for: heavy metal — our strength and our religion."

Danish hard rockers PRETTY MAIDS have issued the following update:

"PRETTY MAIDS would like to announce Rene Shades as the new temporary bass player, replacing recently departed Hal Patino [KING DIAMOND]. Shades has been a longtime friend of the band, and did actually play a couple of gigs with us back in 2004 as a second guitarist. Through the years, Shades has played in various bands, Mike Tramp amongst others.

"To begin with, Shades has agreed to step in for the summer festival tour and will make his debut with the band in Tivoli (Copenhagen) on April 22.

"We're all happy to welcome Shades onboard and we hope that all our fans, friends and supporters will give him a warm welcome."

"I Am The King", the new video from Swedish death/thrashers IMPIOUS, can be viewed below. The song comes off the band's latest album, "Death Domination", which was released in North America in November 2009 via Metal Blade Records. The CD's cover artwork, which the band describes as "one of the most sinister and malignant-looking album covers ever," was created by Marcello Vasco.

Comments the band: "'I Am The King' is about the dangerous attributes of a so called 'one-man-show.' It criticizes religion and the restrictions of a free-thinking mind. The video was shot by Johan Gunnarsson after a wet night filled with uncountable pitchers of beer. So with a hangover from hell and a very strict budget, we managed to visually lift the song to a higher and more intense level, and that's what it's all about. Mission accomplished!"

"Yesterday Is Dead And Gone", the new video from Swedish/German extreme metallers ARCH ENEMY, can be viewed at www.khaoslegions.com. The clip was directed by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE and KAMELOT, among others. The song comes off the band's new album, "Khaos Legions", which will be released on May 30 in Europe and June 7 in the U.S. via Century Media Records. The CD marks the band's return to new, original material, after the release of the "Tyrants Of The Rising Sun - Live In Japan" live DVD/CD (2008) and the re-recordings album, "The Root Of All Evil" (2009). The effort was tracked at Sweet Spot Studio in the south of Sweden with engineer Rickard Bengtsson (who produced 2005's "Doomsday Machine").

The "Khaos Legions" artwork, which comes courtesy of renowned artist Brent Elliott White (MEGADETH, DEATH ANGEL), can be viewed below.

"Khaos Legions" track listing:

01. Khaos Overture (instrumental)
02. Yesterday Is Dead And Gone
03. Bloodstained Cross
04. Under Black Flags We March
05. No Gods, No Masters
06. City Of The Dead
07. Through The Eyes Of A Raven
08. Cruelty Without Beauty
09. We Are A Godless Entity (instrumental)
10. Cult Of Chaos
11. Thorns In My Flesh
12. Turn To Dust (instrumental)
13. Vengeance Is Mine
14. Secrets
15. The Zoo
16. Snow Bound (acoustic)

Commented ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott: "Here's the visual companion to our new song, 'Yesterday Is Dead And Gone'. As you will see, we had a riot making it!!!

"The new 'Khaos Legions' album is to my ears our most diverse and musical creation to date.

"I'm looking forward to unleashing the 'Khaos' worldwide a few weeks from now!"

ARCH ENEMY drummer Daniel Erlandsson previously stated about the new CD, "We had a very inspiring and creative time writing this album. I think this is definitely evident when listening to the new songs. There's tons of variation in the material, ranging all the way from very melodic to extremely heavy.

"As you can expect there's no shortage of killer riffs and intricate guitar work; the Amott brothers [Michael and Chris] have come up with some very cool yet demanding ideas!

"This album has some of the fastest songs I've ever recorded, along with a bunch of heavy pounding mid-tempo songs.

"As always, it's difficult to describe music in words, but rest assured — this album will be one heavy fucker!"

ARCH ENEMY has teamed up with the German edition of Metal Hammer magazine (out now) and Sweden's Close Up Magazine (out May 3) to offer you the perfect appetizer for the upcoming album, "Khaos Legions", which will be in stores later this spring all across Europe. Both magazines are featuring a special ARCH ENEMY CD compilation with the title "Dawn Of Khaos", which includes two exclusive new songs of their upcoming album, "Khaos Legions", a rare KISS cover song, two previously unreleased live tracks and seven classic songs taken from previous ARCH ENEMY albums.

The track listing is as follows:

01. Yesterday Is Dead And Gone (new song)
02. No Gods, No Masters (new song)
03. The Oath (KISS cover)
04. My Apocalypse ("Doomsday Machine", 2005)
05. Nemesis ("Doomsday Machine", 2005)
06. Dead Eyes See No Future ("Tyrants Of The Rising Sun – Live", 2008)
07. We Will Rise ("Anthems Of Rebellion", 2003)
08. Revolution Begins ("Rise Of The Tyrant", 2007)
09. Ravenous ("Wages Of Sin", 2001)
10. Beast Of Man ("The Root Of All Evil", 2009)
11. Dark Insanity (Live From Metal Female Voices Festival, 2010)
12. I Will Live Again (Live From Metal Female Voices Festival, 2010)

"We are proud that our Swedish brothers in metal return with another great album! And we are glad to present two new songs and 10 more tracks in our upcoming magazine," said Robban Becirovic, chief editor of Close-Up Magazine.

A five-minute trailer for "The Beginning Of Times", the new album from Finnish metallers AMORPHIS, can be viewed below. Due on May 27 via Nuclear Blast Records, the CD is described as "the most challenging AMORPHIS album so far in terms of both music and lyrics." Its central character is the iconic hero of Finnish mythology, Väinämöinen, whose tale has been masterfully retold by lyricist Pekka Kainulainen.

British melodic death metal act THE SOULLESS (formerly IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION) will release its new album, "Isolated", in Europe on May 16 and North America on June 7 via Earache Records.

"Isolated" track listing:

01. Unaltered
02. The Path
03. Earthbound
04. 13th Morning
05. New Perspective
06. Clones
07. Revelation
08. Our Return
09. Unite Us
10. You Are Nothing To Me
11. Without Heart

"The Taking", the new album from DUFF MCKAGAN'S LOADED — the band led by VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan — is available for streaming in its entirety at AOL Music. Due on April 19 via Eagle Rock Entertainment, the CD was recorded at a Seattle-area studio with veteran rock producer Terry Date (SOUNDGARDEN, PANTERA, DEFTONES). Two tracks from "The Taking", were previously made available digitally. Anthemic rocker "We Win" was played during the World Series and riled up football fans for McKagan's hometown Seattle Seahawks. "Fight On" draws inspiration from our military veterans, and proceeds from these downloads go exclusively to the Puget Sound Healthcare System.

"A Mi Manera", the new video from New York hardcore legends AGNOSTIC FRONT, can be viewed below. The clip was filmed and directed by Dale "Rage" Resteghini, who has helmed over 550 music videos since 2003, including clips for such metal bands as MUDVAYNE, HATEBREED, ANTHRAX and SHADOWS FALL. Rage has also helmed videos for some of the biggest names in the hip hop world, including Lil Wayne, Diddy, Snoop Dog and Ice Cube.