Die Aufnahmen zum neuen Album "Chuckles And Mr. Squeezy" mit Dan The Automator sind abgeschlossen und in den Handel kommt das neue Album am 29. April 2011 via SUPERBALL MUSIC! Jetzt wurde auch das "Chuckles And Mr. Squeezy" Cover artwork enthüllt. Insgesamt wird "Chuckles And Mr. Squeezy" elf neue Songs enthalten und etwa 40 Minuten lang sein, die Frontmann Gavin Hayes wie folgt beschreibt: "Es fühlt sich anders an und teilweise auch als wären wir eine ganz neue Band. Mein Ziel war es aber auch mit der Band und Dan etwas zu erschaffen, was wir vorher noch nie getan haben."

Die erste Single "The Thought Of Losing You" kommt bereits am 15. April 2011 in den Handel. Jetzt wurde der neue Song "The Thought Of Losing You" hier zum probehören online gestellt.

"Circle Regenerated", NORTHERS sechstes Studioalbum, wird am 15. April 2011 via Century Media Records veröffentlicht. Die neuen Bandmitglieder Aleksi und Daniel haben einen großen Teil zum neuen Album beigesteuert. Die Band beschreibt das neue Album als Bestes ihrer bisherigen Karriere, als großen Schritt vorwärts! Das "Circle Regenerated" Artwork wurde vom Cover Artwork Competition Gewinner Fabio Bonetti aus Italien erstellt.

Release Dates:

13.4.2011 : FINLAND
15.4.2011 : GERMANY / AUSTRIA / SWITZERLAND / NORWAY
18.4.2011 : UK / BENELUX / FRANCE / GREECE / DENMARK / PORTUGAL / REST OF EUROPE
19.4.2011 : SPAIN / ITALY
20.4.2011 : SWEDEN / HUNGARY
22.4.2011 : AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND
19.4.2011 : USA

According to The Pulse Of Radio, NINE INCH NAILS mainman Trent Reznor is no longer involved as either an actor or composer with the upcoming film "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter", despite announcing earlier this month that he would both write the score and play a small role in the movie. Reznor posted a new update on the official NIN message board, writing, "As it turns out, I WON'T be working on (acting or scoring) 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' after all. There's no juicy story here, it's just that when the news mysteriously leaked out about my involvement I hadn't made up my mind completely, because various aspects of the project were changing. I felt the need to say something earlier this week because my inbox was filling up with speculation, and at that moment I thought I would be doing it. Confused yet? Apparently I am."

Reznor added, "Bottom line, I wish them the best with the film and I'm sure it will still be great."

He also mentioned the long-in-development HBO mini-series based on the 2007 NIN album "Year Zero", saying, "I forgot to mention we're still fully engaged with the 'Year Zero' mini-series, writing away."

Reznor and collaborator Atticus Ross won an Oscar last month for the score to the 2010 film "The Social Network". They're currently working on the music for "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", due out in December.

Livia Zita, the 26-year-old wife of 54-year-old Danish heavy metal singer King Diamond (real name: Kim Bendix Petersen; MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND) — who underwent open-heart triple-bypass surgery last November — has issued the following update:

"Some of you have been asking for an update on King's health, so I thought I'll write what's been going on.

"King has just finished his cardiac rehabilitation program this past Friday, and graduated with flying colors. Thanks to the wonderful people at the rehab center, his exercise regimen helped him gain a lot of muscle, and start on the road of building up good endurance.

"We will start regular exercises now to get the endurance up to nice levels.

"The examinations by his heart surgeon and cardiologist revealed that his health is steadily improving, and they all expect him to feel better than ever, 15 years younger than he really is.

"I am immensely proud of what he has achieved in these short three months, stopped smoking entirely, changed diet and doing regular exercise among other things.

"I cannot say anything certain about when he will be back working on King Diamond-related things, but he is looking forward to finishing the DVDs eventually, and he is most certainly not stopping music.

"I hope this information was helpful. I can honestly say that his progress has been nothing short of amazing. He is the strongest person I know. He would also like to extend his huge gratitude to all of you, for your absolutely amazing support. It has really meant a lot to him.

"Enjoy his cardiac rehabilitation 'graduation' picture below."

Floridian death metal veterans MORBID ANGEL made their live debut with the band's new drummer Tim Yeung (DIVINE HERESY, ALL THAT REMAINS, NILE, HATE ETERNAL, VITAL REMAINS) on March 5 at the Scion Rock Fest in Pomona, California.

Fan-filmed video footage of the entire set can be found at Tyronehood.tv. One of the clips is available below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Rapture
02. Pain Divine
03. Maze of Torment
04. Sworn to the Black
05. Nevermore
06. Lord of All Fevers & Plague
07. Immortal Rites
08. Fall From Grace
09. Blasphemy
10. Chapel of Ghouls
11. Dawn of the Angry
12. Where the Slime Live
13. Bil Ur-Sag
14. Blood on My Hands
15. God of Emptiness
16. World Of Shit (The Promised Land)

MEGADETH and SLAYER played the first show of the "European Carnage" tour last night (Sunday, March 13) at MVC Hall in Kiev, Ukraine.

MEGADETH's setlist was as follows:

01. Wake Up Dead
02. In My Darkest Hour
03. She-Wolf
04. Skin o' My Teeth
05. Hangar 18
06. Hook In Mouth
07. How the Story Ends
08. Tornado of Souls
09. Trust
10. Head Crusher
11. Sweating Bullets
12. Symphony of Destruction

Encore:

13. Peace Sells
14. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due

SLAYER's setlist was as follows:

01. World Painted Blood
02. Hate Worldwide
03. War Ensemble
04. Postmortem
05. Hallowed Point
06. Dead Skin Mask
07. Silent Scream
08. The Antichrist
09. Americon
10. Payback
11. Mandatory Suicide
12. Temptation
13. South of Heaven
14. Raining Blood
15. Black Magic
16. Angel of Death

Canadian heavy metal legends ANVIL will release their new album, "Juggernaut Of Justice", on May 10 via The End Records. The CD was recorded at Dave Grohl's (NIRVANA, FOO FIGHTERS) Studio 606 in Northridge, California with famed producer Bob Marlette (BLACK SABBATH, AIRBOURNE, FILTER, ATREYU, ALICE COOPER). Prior to the arrival of the new album, The End will release the definitive ANVIL anthology. The collection will be comprised of classics old and new, with some surprises, and will showcase the band's entire career spanning back to 1978.

"Juggernaut Of Justice" track listing:

01. Juggernaut Of Justice
02. When Hell Breaks Loose
03. New Orleans Voodoo
04. On Fire
05. Fuckin' Eh
06. Turn It Up
07. The Ride
08. Not Afraid
09. Conspiracy
10. Running
11. Paranormal
12. Swing Thing

Swedish melodic metallers BLOODBOUND will release their fourth album, "Unholy Cross", on March 18 via Germany's AFM Records. The cover artwork for the CD can be seen below.

Commented the band: "The album cover made by Mark Wilkinson (IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST) is very symbolic for the band as it symbolizes the resurrection of BLOODBOUND. It shows our monster mascot, 'Nossen', rising from the dead. We as a band feel we're resurrected as well, as we now have a stable lineup and we all like working together as a band unit.

"'Unholy Cross' was a fun album to write and record and musically we wanted to go back and create the magic from the 'Nosferatu' album but with an updated 2011 production."

"Unholy Cross" track listing:

01. Moria
02. Drop The Bomb
03. The Ones We Left Behind
04. Reflections Of Evil
05. In For The Kill
06. Together We Fight
07. The Dark Side Of Life
08. Brothers Of War
09. Message From Hell
10. In The Dead Of Night
11. Unholy Cross

“From Chaos To Eternity” is the title of the new RHAPSODY OF FIRE’s full length album, that will be released in Spring 2011 through Nuclear Blast at a worldwide level. The 10th studio album of the Italian power metal act will be a new musical masterpiece. Described by the band as the natural evolution of the monumental chartbreaker of 2010 “The Frozen Tears Of Angels”, the new album will represent an important goal in the history of RHAPSODY OF FIRE, as it will be the last one based on the fantasy saga started in 1997 with the debut album “Legendary Tales”.

HELIX mainman Brian Vollmer has issued the following update:

"In the next month we’ll be going into A Studios to record three new tracks: Champagne Communist, When the Bad News Blues Come Calling, and Angelina. We’re also toying with the idea of possibly recording our acoustic show at the Aeolian Hall here in London on Wednesday, May 11th. Tickets are now on sale for this show and we’re hoping for a sell-out. You can contact me at bvollm0656@rogers.com for tickets. The three new songs will be used as 'bonus' tracks on a compilation CD set for a fall release entitled Running Wild In The 21st Century - The Best Of 2000-2010."

Helix recently unveiled the new video for the song 'When The Bitter's Got The Better Of You'. The song is from the band's 2009 album, Vagabond Bones.

Says the band: "Once again Brent ("The Doctor" Doerner; guitar) has done a great job to put together the freakiest, most visually stunning Helix video to date. Over 100 hours of work went into this latest piece of film by The Doctor, and the results speak for themselves. We're asking all Helix fans to cut and paste the link and send it to all their friends. Let's get this new clip as many hits as possible!"

After a year of preparation, where no detail was left to chance, Argentina-based metallers LUMINE CRIPTICA released their first album, Fading Into Darkness. In this debut, the band shows the wide range in which it can move, feeling comfortable both in brutal riffs full of blast beats, or acoustic sections where Sabrina Filipcic’s voice stands out above the rest of the instruments.

And it is these contrasts that make listening to Fading Into Darkness an experience from which all can be expected. The amount and combination of elements is what best defines Lumine Criptica's style: Sabrina’s melodic voice, with some lyrical nuances, supported by Cristian Trefny’s growls create vocal lines and choruses quickly recognizables. The aggressive guitars along with the power and precision of the bass and drums do not limit the compositions, in which the melodies are always the main thread. Also the keyboards gain prominence in certain passages, guiding the fury of the rhythmic base.

CRADLE OF FILTH, DARK TRANQUILLITY, NIGHTWISH and even LAMB OF GOD fans will find in Fading Into Darkness a subtle combination of the most representative ingredients of each band. And best of all, the Digital Edition it’s available for free download, with exclusive artwork and photo galleries from their official website or MySpace.

Fading Into Darkness tracklisting:

'You Will Never Rest'
'The Trace of my Beloved'
'The Cold Outside'
'Insomnia'
'Me'

Gary Graff from Billboard.com is reporting:

Never let it be said that a catastrophic earthquake kept American headbangers ALL THAT REMAINS from taking the stage.

Following a run on the Soundwave festival tour in Australia, the Springfield, Mass.-based quintet hit Japan last week to play shows in Osaka and Tokyo. The group was sound-checking for the latter on Friday when the earthquake hit - a surreal experience to be sure, according to frontman Phil Labonte.

"The band was on stage and I was in the back with our tour manager when everything started shaking," Labonte told Billboard.com from the Narita International Airport on Saturday night as the group was waiting to board a flight back to the US "We're from the Northeast; we don't have a lot of experience with earthquakes...The local crew was like, 'Yeah, it's an earthquake.' The light fixtures were shaking, all the doors were shaking back and forth pretty hard."

The group, which had played in Osaka the day before, was ushered out of the building and onto the street outside. "Everyone had filed out of their buildings, and you could tell people were concerned," said Labonte, who tweeted regular updates to his twitter.com/philthatremains page. "I started thinking, 'OK, maybe it's a little bit bigger of a deal than I realized.' There was an aftershock and you could actually see this skyscraper nearby swaying back and forth. It was unnerving to see something that big moving as much as they were."

Nevertheless, the Tokyo show went on as planned.

Members of JUDAS PRIEST, KISS, AEROSMITH and URIAH HEEP have issued statements expressing their thoughts and condolences to the Japanese people following the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that shook Japan early Friday morning and left more than a thousand killed and many more missing.

JUDAS PRIEST: "We were all deeply shocked to hear about the awful tragedy in Japan with the earthquake and tsunami. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all our fans and everyone there."

KISS: "To all our loyal fans, friends and their families devastated by the effects of the earthquake in Japan: We stand side by side with you in support and you will remain in our prayers through this time of tragedy."

AEROSMITH: "We want you all to know that we're thinking of you through this tough and difficult time. Our thoughts and hearts go out to you."

URIAH HEEP: "Our thoughts and hopes are with the Japanese people today. We have made many friends over the years in your wonderful country. Once again we were overwhelmed by your friendship and hospitality only a few months ago during the band's last visit to Japan. We want you all to know that everyone in the URIAH HEEP family is with you, as you deal with the challenges ahead."

The quake was originally reported at a magnitude of 7.9 but was later upgraded to 8.9. That makes it the fifth largest recorded world-wide since 1900, according to the U.S. Geological Service, larger than the 7.9-magnitude Great Kanto Earthquake that devastated Tokyo in 1923 or the 6.8 magnitude quake that hit Kobe in 1995.

The reactivated MURDERDOLLS — the band consisting of Joey Jordison (SLIPKNOT, ROB ZOMBIE) and Wednesday 13 — has issued the following update:

"We are disappointed to say that we were forced to cancel our remaining Japanese shows.

"We stayed in Tokyo while other bands fled, planning to put on a great show and give you guys the good time you need right now. In the end, the promoters decided that all shows for the next few days would need to be canceled, including ours.

"We love playing in Japan and hope we get the chance to make it up to the people who missed out.

"Our hearts go out to the good people of Japan and their families that have been affected by this terrible tragedy. You can help by donating $10 to the Red Cross efforts in Japan by texting REDCROSS to 90999."

MURDERDOLLS' sophomore album, "Women And Children Last", sold 8,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 43 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released on August 31, 2010 via Roadrunner Records, the CD was recorded at a studio in Hollywood Hills, California with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (HATEBREED, SHADOWS FALL, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD).

During his Canadian Music Week so-called "celebrity chat" at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada this afternoon (Saturday, March 12), legendary rocker Sammy Hagar (VAN HALEN, MONTROSE) revealed the title of the second CHICKENFOOT album, which he is currently recording with bassist Michael Anthony (VAN HALEN), guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS).

"I'm going to get in trouble with my brothers in the FOOT for saying this but I'm giving this out," said Hagar.

"We're calling our second record, we're calling it 'Chickenfoot IV' (Four).

"That's how silly we are. It's the working title but I guarantee it'll stick.

"We were all like, 'What are we going to call second record? Well, 'Chickenfoot II' (Two). And we're going, 'We can't call it 'Chickenfoot II', that's too obvious.' And pretty soon Chad Smith, I'm sure was the guy, he's going, 'Let's call it 'Chickenfoot IV'.' And we all cracked up and said, 'Right on, that's it.' And we haven't talked about it since."

CHICKENFOOT has been recording the new CD with Mike Fraser, a Canadian producer, engineer and mixer who has previously worked with AC/DC, METALLICA and AEROSMITH. Songtitles set to appear on the album include "No Change", "Who's Next", "Astral Years" and "I Ain't Got You, I Got The Two By Blues".

"It's going great," Hagar told AOL's Noisecreep. "We have 12 wonderful new songs and I'm doing vocals and Joe's doing overdubs. We've got all the basic tracks."

He added, "CHICKENFOOT is the most musical band. If Joe says, 'I got this idea,' and he starts playing guitar, Chad starts playing drums, Mike starts on bass, and I start singing. Within two hours, we have a song. It's not like we slave; it's not like we argue. It's so simple. There is no torture involved."

CHICKENFOOT drummer Chad Smith recently confirmed that he won't tour with CHICKENFOOT this year in support of the band's second album due to scheduling conflicts with his main group, the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS.

Reactivated Swedish death metallers MALFEITOR have issued the following update:

"17 years of waiting is finally over!

"MALFEITOR are finally working on new material for release during 2011!

"Check out the new track 'Scenes From A Slaughterhouse' [using the audio player below]!




"After MALFEITOR split in 1994, [Benny] Moberg and [Mattias] Parkkila recently started BLOOD MORTIZED as an old-school Swedish death metal band, to recapture a small shade of Tomas Skogsberg's famous Sunlight sound.

"In 2010, Moberg decided to leave the band and focus on the resuscitation of MALFEITOR! What we now will hear is a more intense, faster and brutal MALFEITOR, which influences mainly come from big acts as IMMOLATION and DEICIDE, but the music retains the Swedish influences, it is possible to discern a lot OSSDM in the material.

"MALFEITOR currently looking for labels who are interested in releasing the new material, otherwise the material will be released without a label!"

KISS bass/vocalist Gene Simmons spoke with DJ JC Green of Alfa Rock 105.7 FM and Metal Messiah Radio's "Heavy Metal Thunder" program last night (Thursday, March 10) ahead of the band's March 12 concert at Coliseo de Puerto Rico in Hato Rey. Excerpts from the chat follow below.

On "Sonic Boom" and its planned follow-up:

"The best thing about 'Sonic Boom' is that we did it honestly without worrying about it — not worrying what kind of music is popular now; we just did what we did, which was to be in KISS.

"The new record, which we already started working on — we start recording in three weeks — is gonna be the next step to 'Sonic Boom'. Very similar — straight rock songs, no ballads, no keyboards, no nothing, just rock.

"We have brand new songs that we've been writing. We've been writing a lot. There's a lot of very good material and that's what we're gonna record. A lot of the songs [have been] written by the whole band together, so no outside writers, just the band doing what it did on the first three records — writing the songs ourselves.

"Once you know who you are and how you breathe — because every song is like an animal; you try to bring life to the song so it becomes real — but once you know who you are, it's easy to do, you just have to do what [comes naturally], without thinking too much about it, without thinking what's popular, without thinking what a producer would do; you just do it the way you naturally do it."

"We have almost all the songs written. In fact, we have too many songs; we have about 20 to 25 things that look and sound good. And we're gonna get into the studio in about three weeks, and then we start recording. At the same time, I have to do the TV show ['Gene Simmons Family Jewels']… I mean, it's a very busy time, but the album is gonna take precedence, that's the most important thing."

On drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer donning the "Catman" and "Spaceman" make-up, which many fans consider sacrilegious:

"Because it's classic, and because the world doesn't care who's in the band. If you were a KISS a long time ago, then you know who Ace [Frehley] and Peter [Criss] are. But we play stadiums around the world who have never heard of Ace and Peter. When you go see THE [ROLLING] STONES, you see THE STONES. Nobody's even heard of Brian Jones [except for] very old fans. And if you go see AC/DC or any kinds of bands that get up there, the original members is not even the point; it's who you are right now. And you're only gonna be as good as the team that [makes up the current] band. If you go see KISS in a stadium some place, most of the people have never heard of Ace or Peter; they don't know who that is."

On the possibility of a reunion with Peter Criss and Ace Frehley:

"There will be one more time when we play together. Sometime in the future there's going to be a last show. Sometime in the future we'll be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. There will be one more time when we do it together to honor the beginning. But, you know, when you run a long-distance race, not everybody can run a long race. Some people are only good for the beginning of the race and they don't have the passion and the will, and the endurance. Not everybody can run a long-distance race."

Former DEICIDE members Eric Hoffmann (guitar) and Brian Hoffman (guitar) recently resurrected their pre-DEICIDE band AMON with Jesse "Jecheal" Jolly (PROMETHEAN HORDE, DIABOLIC, SUCCESS WILL WRITE APOCALYPSE ACROSS THE SKY, AFTER DEATH) on vocals/bass and and Mike Petrak (LEPROSY, SUCCESS WILL WRITE APOCALYPSE ACROSS THE SKY) on drums. The Florida-based quartet entered RedRoom Recorders in Tampa on December 10, 2010 with producer Mark Prator to begin recording its new album, entitled "Liar In Wait". The CD will consist of nine songs and will be made available later in the year via AMON's own record label.

"We were actually going to use the [DEICIDE] name [for the new band], but [DEICIDE members Glen Benton and Steve Asheim] got on the bandwagon faster than us," Eric tells Terrorizer magazine. "They basically took the name, and Glen writes all the lyrics, so the kids are familiar with that, but in the beginning we hired Glen, and we wrote most of the music. So we had to go out and find a singer, which was pretty difficult at the time."

When asked about the musical direction of AMON, Eric said, "[The music's] a little bit more technical than the DEICIDE stuff. It's not too intricate, so it's still catchy at the same time. You'll still have a couple of classic DEICIDE beginnings, and then it'll go into some killer technical, in-your-face shit."

While confirming that AMON will play several DEICIDE classics during the band's upcoming live shows — "We've gotta give it to the fans," says Eric — the guitarist remains adamant that any chances of a reunion with Glen and Steve remain slim.

"This is our band," Eric says. "I haven't seen [Glen] in six years. He says if he sees me, he's gonna shoot me and ask questions later. He hates me more than Jesus."

AMON recorded two demos — 1987's "Feasting The Beast" and 1989's "Sacrifical" — before signing with Roadrunner Records and changing its name to DEICIDE. After producing two extremely successful albums as DEICIDE, the band chose to make the AMON demos available on CD in 1993 under the title "Amon: Feasting The Beast".

The Hoffman brothers parted ways with DEICIDE in 2004 after becoming embroiled in a bitter dispute with DEICIDE bassist/vocalist Glen Benton over royalties and publishing issues.

Guitarists Tomy Laisto and Kalle Aaltonen have left Finnish melodic death metallers MORS PRINCIPIUM EST.

Commented the band: "If we still want to continue with MORS PRINCIPIUM EST, we need new guitar players.

"This is our LAST try to make things happen.

"If it does not work this time, or we don't find the right person/persons, then it's game over for MORS PRINCIPIUM EST.

"So, if you are, or know somebody, who is at least 21 years old, willing and able to write and play death metal with melodies and also would like to be a part of the new MORS PRINCIPIUM EST, then send us an email.

"YOU CAN BE FROM ANYWHERE. As long as you are eager and get something done, then you may be the one we are looking for. AND we are looking for one or two players.

"Soo, if you have what it takes, send us an email and we will talk more.
band@morsprincipiumest.com."

"And just to make things 100% clear: You can live, for example, in USA, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Finland or wherever."

Reunited '80s melodic heavy rock band DRIVER — featuring powerhouse vocalist Rob Rock (IMPELLITTERI, JOSHUA, WARRIOR, AVANTASIA, AXEL RUDI PELL) and acclaimed guitarist/producer Roy Z (BRUCE DICKINSON, HALFORD, JUDAS PRIEST, SEBASTIAN BACH, ROB ROCK, TRIBE OF GYPSIES, HELLOWEEN) — has begun writing material for its new album. According to a posting on Rob's web site, "Rock and Roy Z will start production in April on a new DRIVER CD, slated for a fall 2011 release! The new CD will carry on in the tradition of the latest DRIVER CD, 'Sons Of Thunder', and feature brand new songs as well as a few reworkings of some classic demos. The CD will be released worldwide on King Records [in] Japan, Metal Heaven [in] Europe, and RockZilla [in the] USA."

"Sons Of Thunder" was released in September 2008 via Metal Heaven.

DRIVER issued a widely circulated five-song cassette EP demo in 1990 that garnered the band a dedicated worldwide following as well as attained cult status as one of the most underrated hard rock acts of its time. Since then, Rock and Roy Z have forged ahead to garner long successful careers in the music business. 2008 saw the reunion of the band which resulted in the recordings of the aforementioned CD.

DRIVER is:

Rob Rock - Vocals
Roy Z - Guitars
Reynold "Butch" Carlson - Drums
Ed Roth - Keyboards
Aaron Samson - Bass

Stockholm, Sweden-based thrash/death combo STERBHAUS recently parted ways with singer Danne Lundgren and is currently seeking a replacement. Interested parties are advised to send picture, audio files and referenses to: sterbmail@sterbhaus.com.

The band explains that it is not necessarily looking for someone exactly like Danne in voice or approach. "We are looking for someone who basically is a guy we can get along with very well and also someone who feels like STERBHAUS is the shit for them and want to do nothing more than just play, write, tour and have a great bloody time!" the group said.

STERBHAUS will head to the Abyss studio for three weeks in May as planned and has decided that the situation regarding the vocalist will not affect these recording dates/sessions. The album will be recorded together with Tommy Tägtgren (SHINING, DARK FUNERAL) and mixed by Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY, SONIC SYNDICATE) and will see the band reinvented as a more energetic and thrash-oriented piece. The band is looking to not release this CD through Killhead P&M as it did with "Hits For Dead Kids" and will begin to look for new partners/record companies prior to entering Abyss.

STERBHAUS contains current and former members from ELVIRA MADIGAN, SKITARG and DECADENCE and has, due to its sense of humor mixed with quality music, made itself one of the hottest acts in the Stockholm area. Having played Metaltown 2009 (with MARILYN MANSON, DISTURBED, THE HAUNTED, SLIPKNOT), Sthlm Thrashfest 2009 and 2010 (with BIBLEBLACK, FKÜ, CONSTRUCDEAD) and headlining weekend slots at The Cave, as well as numerous other gigs, the band has proved to be a welcome addition to the metal scene.

STERBHAUS' video for the song "House Of The Dead Dwarf" featuring sockpuppets and a morbid funny tale got the band featured in Sweden's largest tabloid Aftonbladet through the blog of journalist Mathias Kling, and is a perfect example of what STERBHAUS represents.

Many years have passed since the last SEVEN WITCHES album saw the light of day and guitarist/mainman Jack Frost decided it was time to give the fans what they wanted... and brought back James Rivera (HELSTAR) to front the group once again.

With the monstrous bass and songwriting of Mike LePond (SYMPHONY X) and drums from Taz Marazz, Jack Frost and the guys recently completed work on a new album with Joey Vera (ARMORED SAINT, FATES WARNING) handling the mixing. Entitled "Call Upon The Wicked", the CD features material that ranges in sound from classic JUDAS PRIEST to a touch of RAINBOW. There's even an epic song featuring female vocals, a new step in the band's chapter. The record is a bit of a concept, talking about how women have been the decline of men since the beginning of time.

Rivera sang on SEVEN WITCHES' "Passage To The Other Side" (2003) and "Year Of The Witch" (2004) albums.

SEVEN WITCHES' latest CD, "Deadly Sins", came out in November 2007 via Screaming Ferret Wreckords. In addition to guitarist Jack Frost's impressive six-string skills, the album featured two other metal giants in their respective fields — ex-HADES/WATCHTOWER vocalist Alan Tecchio (who also appeared on SEVEN WITCHES' "Amped" release) and ARMORED SAINT/FATES WARNING/ANTHRAX bassist Joey Vera.

Fan-filmed video footage of SEVEN WITCHES' February 28, 2009 performance at Jaxx in Springfield, Virginia can be viewed below (clips uploaded by "maidencolorado").

The current lineup for SEVEN WITCHES is:

James Rivera (HELSTAR) - Vocals
Mike LePond (SYMPHONY X) - Bass
Jack Frost - Guitar
Taz Marazz - Drums

According to Mirror.co.uk, the largest earthquake in Japan's recorded history has caused IRON MAIDEN's flight to be diverted as they headed to the country to play a pair of shows in Tokyo.

The British heavy metal legends had flown in from Seoul in South Korea, where they played a concert the previous night.

At least one of their planned gigs at Saitama Super Arena has now been cancelled as the venue undergoes safety checks.

A message posted on the band's web site posted earlier today reads, "Ed Force One, heading to Tokyo for shows this weekend, was diverted to Nagoya and the band and crew are safe.

"Our thoughts are with everyone affected."

Due to damages caused by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that shook Japan early Friday morning left more than a thousand killed and many more missing, British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN were forced to cancel all of their previously announced shows in Japan.

IRON MAIDEN's Japanese promoter Creativeman has issued the following statement regarding the band's Tokyo shows this weekend:

"Following the cancelation of Saturday, March 12 show, IRON MAIDEN's show scheduled at Saitama Super Arena on Sunday, March 13 is now canceled as well, due to obvious safety concerns towards the audience, the artist, and the venue, caused by the earthquake of Friday, March 11. Your ticket for Sunday, March 13 will be refunded. Please contact Creativeman after Monday, March 14 on the refund process. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. TEL: 03-3462-6969 (12pm-6pm weekdays)."

The members of IRON MAIDEN and their crew were flying into Tokyo from Seoul, South Korea following their show there. On approaching Narita airport in Tokyo, IRON MAIDEN's specially chartered plane Ed Force One was advised to re-route to Nagoya as the earthquake/tsunami had just become apparent. The bandmembers stayed the night in Nagoya and following the announcement of the cancelation are preparing to fly out of the country.

IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris has released the following message on behalf of the band to the band's fans in Japan and all who have been affected by this terrible disaster:

"We are extremely saddened by the calamitous events of the last day or so which led to the cancelation or our two shows in Tokyo.

"Our deepest sympathies go out to everyone affected by this disaster — our fans in Japan, the people of Japan and those in many other places suffering from the tsunami. We are also aware that a number of fans flew into Tokyo from various parts of the world to see a MAIDEN show there and we hope you guys are safe and sound.

"We have had a long relationship with this wonderful country and have always been made to feel most welcome — this would have been something like our 16th tour.

"Our sincerest condolences to all those who have suffered and to the families and friends of those who tragically lost their lives."