Mike Tirelli has been an integral part of the music scene for over 20 years both as a singer and songwriter. His talent and perseverance brought him worldwide recognition performing with such bands as BURNING STARR, RIOT, MESSIAH'S KISS, HOLY MOTHER, LASTLIX and ZILLION, to name just a few.

In the fall of 2008, Mike was diagnosed with stomach cancer and has been undergoing treatment for this life-threatening illness. All the treatments thus far have been a huge success in eradicating this disease.

In March of this year, Tirelli will undergo one last treatment that includes a surgery of the stomach.

With these types of treatments in place, Tirelli has accrued substantial medical bills fighting this battle.

On Sunday, February 8, a benefit concert will be held at Mulcahy's in Centereach, New York. The following artists are scheduled to perform:

NINE DAYS
BIG SHOT (BILLY JOEL tribute)
2U (U2 tribute)
KID GLOVES
SNAKEBITE (WHITESNAKE tribute)
HALF CIRCLE DRIVE
SACRED HEART (DIO tribute)
VISION

Tickets are $20 and are available through Mulcahy's of Centereach, or by contacting one of the above-mentioned bands.

Mulcahy's is located at 1702 Middle Country Road, Centereach, NY 11720. (631) 696-1111

Please e-mail mtbenefit09@gmail.com with any questions or for more info.

Donations can be mailed to:

Mike Tirelli
C/O Franklin Wayne Music
1 Cedarfield Terrace
St. James, NY 11780

Please make all checks payable to Michael Tirelli.

Madison, Wisconsin-based, female-fronted quintet LUNA MORTIS (formerly known as THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE) will release its debut album, "The Absence", in North America on February 10 via Century Media Records. The CD was tracked at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Jason Suecof (ALL THAT REMAINS, TRIVIUM).

"The Absence" track listing:

01. Ash
02. Ruin
03. Reformation
04. This Departure
05. The Absence
06. Forever More
07. Never Give In
08. Phantoms
09. Last Defiance
10. Embrace The End

New York death metal legends SUFFOCATION will enter the studio on January 31 with Joe Cincotta (who worked on the band's last two releases) to begin recording their new album, "Blood Oath", for a tentative spring/summer release via Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to 2006's self-titled record will be mixed by Zack Ohren (ALL SHALL PERISH, DECREPIT BIRTH) and cover artwork will once again be brought to life by Jon Zig (DEEDS OF FLESH, DISGORGE, GORGASM). Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Dismal Dream", "Undeserving", "Confines of Disillusion", "Blood Oath", "Come Hell Or High Priest" and "Provoking the Disturbed".

Swedish "Viking metal" act MÅNEGARM has inked a deal with Regain Records. The band's new album is tentatively due later in the year.

MÅNEGARM's latest CD, "Vargstenen" ("The Wolfstone"), entered the Swedish chart at position No. 59 back in May 2007. The LP was recorded at Studio Underground with producer Pelle Saether and was released through Black Lodge Records after a ten-year collaboration with Displeased Records.

MÅNEGARM previously stated about the CD, "We are really, really satisfied with the album recording. The songs that we have recorded feel great and Pelle Saether has, as always, done a fantastic job with the sound and with the mix. We all think that the production is the best ever and we are totally convinced, and we hope that we can convince the rest of you, that this is going to be the best MÅNEGARM album we have released so far."

Stockholm, Sweden-based death/black metallers NECROPHOBIC have set "Death To All…" as the title of their sixth full-length studio album, due later in the year via via Regain Records. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "For Those Who Stayed Satanic", "Triumph Of The Horned", "Wings Of Death", "The Tower" and "Revelation 666".

NECROPHOBIC released a limited "metal box" called "Satanic Blasphemies" in September 2008 via Regain Records. The set includes a CD, a poster, a patch and a extensive booklet. The CD features material from the band's first two demos (1990's "Slow Asphyxiation" and 1991's "Unholy Prophecies") plus "The Call" 7" EP from 1992. The material comes fully remastered.

Frontiers Records has set a February 20 release date for "luxury-package" reissues of the 2002 albums "Prism" and "Lost In The Translation" from legendary hard rock vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (TALISMAN, JOURNEY, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN). "Prism" will include six bonus tracks, while "Lost In Translation" will include five bonus tracks.

"Prism" bonus tracks:

01. Good Love (original Japanese bonus track, previously unreleased in Europe)
02. 2012 (original Japanese bonus track of "Essential Ballads", previously unreleased in Europe)
03. Send Her My Love
04. Again 2 Be Found (live)
05. Stand Up (live)
06. 4 U (live)

"Lost In The Translation" bonus tracks:

01. Turned The Page (original Japanese bonus track, previously unreleased in Europe)
02. As I Do 2 U
03. This Ain't The Love
04. Lonely Shade Of Blue
05. Soul Divine (acoustic) (previously unreleased)

Legendary Florida-based death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE will shoot a video for the title track of their new album, "Evisceration Plague", on January 21 in Northern New Jersey. The clip will be helmed by veteran video director Dale "Rage" Resteghini, who has previously worked with MUDVAYNE, TRIVIUM and HATEBREED, among many others.

The "Evisceration Plague" title track is available for streaming at this location.

"Evisceration Plague" is scheduled for release on February 3, 2009 via Metal Blade Records. The follow-up to 2006's "Kill" was produced by Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, MORBID ANGEL) at his Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Stockholm, Sweden-based melodic death metallers DEGRADEAD will release their sophomore album, "Out Of Body Experience", in February via Dockyard 1 Records. The follow-up to 2008's "Till Death Do Us Apart" was recorded primarily at Peter Tägtgren's (HYPOCRISY, PAIN) Abyss studio in Sweden with producer Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY). Mixing and mastering will take place for Dugout Productions (IN FLAMES, MESHUGGAH, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD) in Uppsala, Sweden. Two songs from the CD — "Depth Of Darkness" and "Wake The Storm" — are available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.

Released in January 2008, "Till Death Do Us Apart" was recorded at IN FLAMES' IF Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden and was produced by a team calling itself H.O.R.D.E — with IN FLAMES' Björn Gelotte mixing and engineering the CD while Jesper Strömblad and Daniel Svensson co-engineered the effort.

DEGRADEAD is:

Mikael Sehlin - Vocals
Anders Nyström - Guitar
David Szücs - Guitar
Michel Bärzén - Bass Guitar
Kenneth Helgesson – Drums

"Beyond Tomorrow", the new video from ALMAH, the side project of ANGRA members Edu Falaschi (vocals) and Felipe Andreoli (bass), can be viewed below. The clip was shot in Brasília with well-known Brazilian director Rodrigo Giannetto, who works for MTV Brazil.

"Beyond Tomorrow" comes off ALMAH's sophomore album, "Fragile Equality", which was released last October via AFM Records.

ALMAH's recording lineup for "Fragile Equality" was as follows:

Edu Falaschi - Vocals
Felipe Andreoli - Bass
Marcelo Barbosa - Gutar
Paulo Schroeber - Guitar
Marcelo Moreira - Drums

Finnish female-fronted symphonic metallers AMBERIAN DAWN have posted a video for the song "My Only Star" featuring footage from the band's European tour with EPICA. Watch the clip below.

AMBERIAN DAWN guitarist Tuomas Seppälä, who has played the keyboards in the studio on the band's albums, recently became the group's full-time keyboardist. The new AMBERIAN DAWN axeman is Emil Pohjalainen, who is described as "a talented 24-year-old shredder from Finland."

French experimental black metal masters BLUT AUS NORD will release their new album, entitled "Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue With The Stars", on February 23 via Candlelight Records.

Commented the band's singer/guitarist Vindsval: "This album is extremely important for us, we have already composed two amazing songs in the majestuous vein of 'Fathers Of The Icy Ages'. This time you won't find any industrial sounds or disharmonies on the album.

According to Candlelight, "twelve years later, you can hope an ambitious and massive piece of epic, technical and progressive black metal."

The conceptual sequel to 1996's "Memoria Vetusta", "Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue With The Stars" will feature the following track listing:

01. Disciple's Libration (Lost In The Nine Worlds)
02. Antithesis Of The Flesh (...And Then Arises A New Essence)
03. The Alcove Of Angels (Vipassana)
04. ...The Meditant (Dialogue With The Stars)
05. Acceptance (Aske)
06. Translucent Body Of Air (Sutta Anapanasati)
07. The Formless Sphere (Beyond The Reason)
08. The Cosmic Echoes Of Non-Matter (Immaterial Voices Of The Fathers)
09. Elevation (The Dawn Of The Gods)

BLUT AUS NORD's latest album, "Odinist", was released in October 2007 through Candlelight Records.

German metallers DOMAIN have set a March 13 release date for their ninth album, entitled "The Chronicles of Love, Hate and Sorrow". A trailer containing artwork, soundfiles, storyline and interviews can be viewed below.

Completed at Meadow Studios in Darmstadt, Germany with producer and guitarist Axel Ritt at the helm, "The Chronicles of Love, Hate and Sorrow" is a metal opera based on the novel "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" by the famous German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Released for the first time in 1774, the story "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" became a key work in German literature regarding the "Storm And Stress" period and describes an impossible love against all moral concepts, which provokes extreme emotional reactions up to the point of a spate of suicides among young readers of the novel.

To best capture on tape the five-octave range of DOMAIN vocalist Nicolaj Ruhnow, the band recently added some special outdoor recordings for the very first time in DOMAIN history.

DOMAIN released its 20th anniversary album, "Stardawn", on October 13, 2006 in Europe and November 7, 2006 in the United States via Limb Music Products.

"The Eve Arose", the new video from Italian metallers EMPYRIOS, can be viewed below. The clip was directed by Salvatore "Xavy" Perrone, who has previously worked with PARKWAY DRIVE, BURY YOUR DEAD, BRING ME THE HORIZON and SUICIDE SILENCE.

"The Eve Arose" comes off EMPYRIOS' second album, "The Glorious Sickness", which was released last September via Scarlet Records.

EMPYRIOS is:

Silvio Mancini - Vocals
Simone Mularoni - Guitars
Simone Bertozzi - Bass
Dario Ciccioni - Drums

THE ANSWER, four lads hailing from Downpatrick in Northern Ireland who have been busy fulfilling their duties as the opening act for the North American leg of AC/DC's Black Ice world tour, have posted three tracks from their forthcoming second album, "Everyday Demons", on their MySpace page. Check out the songs "On and On", "Demon Eyes" and "Walkin' Mat", along with a live rendition of "Memphis Water", at this location.

"Everyday Demons" will be released in Europe on March 2, 2009 via the German record label Steamhammer/SPV. The CD was produced by John Travis (KID ROCK, STATIC-X, etc.) and mixed by Tim Palmer and Mike Fraser (who recently mixed AC/DC's "Black Ice").

"We've been on tour almost constantly for two years, have seen a lot of the world and made a lot of important experiences — a development that you can hear on 'Everyday Demons'," says guitarist Paul Mahon.

Former CELTIC FROST frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer has issued the following update on his current TRIPTYKON project:

"Just returned home from an initially somewhat hampered but ultimately very successful rehearsal session with TRIPTYKON. It was the first session in a while, not least due to a hand injury that had forced me to pause temporarily. And in a few hours, I will travel back to Norway for a few days yet again, to attend some of the mixing sessions for 1349's new album. Although, admittedly, my mind is very much with TRIPTYKON, and I am eager to return to Switzerland to continue work on songs, demos, and our first album."

TRIPTYKON's lineup also features Reed St. Mark (ex-CELTIC FROST), V. Santura (DARK FORTRESS) and Vanja Slay. The first audio sample, a track called "Crucifixus", can be heard on TRIPTYKON's official MySpace page.

Commented Fischer: "TRIPTYKON will sound as close to CELTIC FROST as is humanly possible, and the album I am working on will feature all the material I envisioned for the successor to [CELTIC FROST's] 'Monotheist'. I desire the album to be a darker, heavier, and slightly more experimental development of 'Monotheist'.

"'Crucifixus' is but one of many compositions to that end. TRIPTYKON is not defined by just this one song, however, just like CELTIC FROST was not defined by 'Totengott' alone."

Fischer announced his departure from CELTIC FROST in April 2008, citing "the irresolvable, severe erosion of the personal basis so urgently required to collaborate within a band so unique, volatile, and ambitious."

ccording to The Pulse of Radio, PAPA ROACH has set March 24 as the release date for the band's fifth major label album, "Metamorphosis". The disc was originally scheduled to come out last fall but got pushed back to the spring. The Pulse of Radio hears that this is the strongest PAPA ROACH outing yet, and singer Jacoby Shaddix explained why he thinks the group kicked themselves up another notch. "I think for us it's like we're treading on some new territory, and the confidence in our playing and the conviction in our playing and just the overall passion towards what we do is what makes that come across," he said. "Right now we're firing on all cylinders, I mean everybody in the band is really excited about what's going on."

"Metamorphosis" will follow up 2006's "The Paramour Sessions". The first single is called "Lifeline" (available for streaming below).

PAPA ROACH recently released a new single and video, "Hollywood Whore" (see clip below), at the group's official web site. Jacoby Shaddix told The Pulse of Radio that the song's subject matter just came to him one day after the band had finished working out the music. "I was writing and I wrote, 'Hollywood whore,' and I was all, 'Now that's a topic. I need to write about Hollywood whores, you know.' 'Cause everybody's tired of them. So I just laid it out how it is, you know, and it's a bad-ass song. It's fun, you know, and at the end I'm just spittin'off at the mouth, going crazy and it's a really fun song."

Austrian blackened death metal outfit BELPHEGOR are in the final stages of the writing process for their as-yet-untitled new album. The follow-up to 2008's "Bondage Goat Zombie" is tentatively scheduled for release in the fall via Nuclear Blast Records.

Commented vocalist/guitarist Helmuth: "Yes brothers and sisters, currently we're working on nine new sound collages. We started writing in April 2008 after the 'Bondage Goat Zombie' release to create the new compositions for the eighth werk! The songs are basically completely finished and words can't really describe how enthusiastic and motivated we are to get into the studio and record this monster! It feels great to be creative again. Nefastus will be responsible for the drums on the new album. He is an old friend to the BELPHEGOR family and has also blasted on our previous opus 'Pestapokalypse VI'. We rehearse day and night since December to make it as tight and monumental as possible. Stay tuned demons, hell awaits!!!"

Catch Austria's most dangerous band on the "Hordes of Chaos" tour in North America with KREATOR, EXODUS, WARBRINGER and EPICUREAN beginning in early April.

"Bondage Goat Zombie" entered the Austrian album chart at position No. 42 upon its release in early 2008. The CD also landed on the German chart at No. 81.

BELPHEGOR's video for the CD's title track can be viewed here. The clip was shot with acclaimed Austrian director Florian Werner.

"Bondage Goat Zombie" was recorded at Andy Classen's Stage One Studios in Kassel, Germany.

Swedish death metal "supergroup" BLOODBATH has issued the following update:

"Together with director Owe Lingwall and Village Road Film we just shot the first official promo video in the band's history for 'Hades Rising' taken off [BLOODBATH's latest album] 'The Fathomless Mastery'. The footage of the band's performance was shot on location in Vallentuna outside Stockholm and can be summoned up as some serious headbanging with lots of blood, real messy and death metal dandy! The rest of the plot/storyline is currently filmed in Umeå where the footage will also be edited within the next four weeks. Stay tuned for a synopsis of this very devilish manuscript. It's gonna crush the souls of thousands!"

"The Fathomless Mastery", the new studio album from BLOODBATH, sold around 1,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD debuted at No. 45 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"The Fathomless Mastery" was previously described by the band as representing "nothing but hateful brutality." Promising its "most crushing production yet," the group's lineup on "The Fathomless Mastery" is the same as that on BLOODBATH's "Unblessing the Purity" mini-CD, which came out in March 2008:

Mikael Åkerfeldt (OPETH) - Vocals
Martin "Axe" Axenrot (OPETH) - Drums
Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström (KATATONIA) - Guitar
Jonas Renkse (KATATONIA) - Bass
Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson (ex-21 LUCIFERS, GENOCRUSH FEROX) – Guitar

BLOODBATH released a live CD/DVD digipack entitled "The Wacken Carnage" on June 2, 2008 in Europe and June 24 in the U.S. via Peaceville. The package contains footage of the band's appearance at the 2005 edition of the Wacken Open Air festival.

Italian folk-metallers ELVENKING have announced the addition of second guitarist Rafahel to the group's ranks. Fans who had an opportunity to see the band perform over the course of the last year will recognize Rafahel, since he played a lot of gigs with the band around Italy and Europe.

Commented the group in a statement: "We are happy and excited to have Rafahel on board with us. We have been playing with him for more than a year now, and we decided to make his role official inside ELVENKING. We’re sure that Rafahel's amazing guitar technique and masterdom will be a great weapon to take advantage of in the songwriting of the next EK album."

A new instrumental and orchestral version of the song "Rouse Your Dream" from ELVENKING was recently recorded for the movie "Little Black Dress" (where the original version of the track also appears). According to the band, Australian director Fredric Noah needed more music to be featured in the film and asked for something based on the "Rouse Your Dream" melodies, so the new song version was tracked specially for this purpose.

The cover artwork for "Rewakening", the sophomore album from the hard-hitting Danish four-piece THE BURNING, can be viewed below. The image was created by Brazilian artist Mariano Villalba and is a combination of two pictures — "The Fury Of Rufus" and "Slave Angel".

Commented THE BURNING lead singer Johnny Haven: "We been a fan of Mariano's work for a long time, and this cover fits the new more epic songs and the lyrical theme of 'Rewakening' like a glove. And you can never go wrong with an old-school stone logo like that."

"Rewakening" will be released on February 27 through Massacre Records. The follow-up to 2007's "Storm the Walls" was recorded and mixed at KohleKeller Studios with German producer Kristian Kohle Bonifer (BENIGHTED, CREMATORY, ABANDONED, AGATHODAIMON). The vocals was recorded by Jacob Bredahl (ex-HATESPHERE) at Smart N' Hard.

Commented the band: "It's been two years since we wrote and recorded the last album, and obviously we have been honing our skills in that time, but eventhough there are a few surprises and a little more melody on 'Rewakening', we kept true to our roots; heavy aggressive groove metal."

"Rewakening" features a guest appearance by Bo Summer (ILLDISPOSED).

The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. It Came From The North
02. Cloven Hoof
03. Carnivora
04. Eight Legged Omen
05. Repentance (Burned On The Stake)
06. Father They Call Me The Heretic
07. He Who Whispers In The Back Of Us All
08. Evangelical Cannibal
09. Unspeakable
10. Live The Goat (feat. Bo Summer)
11. Rewakening
12. My Apostacy

Reunited '80s hard rockers RATT will enter the studio soon to begin recording their first studio album since 1999's self-titled effort. Singer Stephen Pearcy says, "The new music will surely kick you in the ass! We plan on pulling out all the stops on this one; a lot of motion in this ocean."

Fan-filmed video footage of RATT's December 26, 2008 concert at the House Of Blues in Hollywood can be viewed here.

RATT returned to celebrate the holidays with a very special "Invasion Of Your Holiday" run of dates last month. In honor of its Southern California roots, the band embarked on a four-show mini-tour. Two shows, the House Of Blues in Los Angeles and the House of Blues in Anaheim, featured RATT performing with THE DONNAS.

RATT recently announced the addition of famed guitar hero Carlos Cavazo, best known for his multiplatinum work in QUIET RIOT.

AC/DC is the only hard rock band to make the Los Angeles Times' 2008 "Ultimate Top 10," the newspaper's annual survey combining sales of concert tickets, albums and digital downloads to measure which acts were most popular with the broadest swath of music lovers. METALLICA came in at No. 14, an impressive feat considering that the band's latest album, "Death Magnetic", and corresponding U.S. tour didn't arrive until this past fall.

Regarding AC/DC's combined income of $82 million, the Los Angeles Times writes, "The new 'Black Ice' album took the veteran Australian hard rock band back to the top of the charts and also made its concert tour one of the year's hot tickets. The band's Ultimate Top 10 tally was almost evenly divided, with $37.5 million coming at the concert box office and $44.5 million from album sales. Like KID ROCK, AC/DC doesn't do digital tracks. Average ticket price: $99.73."

Los Angeles Times' 2008 "Ultimate Top 20":

01. MADONNA ($120.1 million)
02. CELINE DION ($106.8 million)
03. KENNY CHESNEY ($95.7 million)
04. EAGLES ($90.7 million)
05. AC/DC ($82 million)
06. COLDPLAY ($81.6 million)
07. BON JOVI ($81.4 million)
08. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND ($79 million)
09. JONAS BROTHERS ($77.9 million)
10. RASCAL FLATTS ($77.1 million)
11. NEIL DIAMOND ($70.5 million)
12. TAYLOR SWIFT ($62.2 million)
13. MICHAEL BUBLÉ ($59.5 million)
14. METALLICA ($56.4 million)
15. CARRIE UNDERWOOD ($54.9 million)
16. DAVE MATTHEWS BAND ($51.6 million)
17. THE POLICE ($51 million)
18. LIL WAYNE ($50.8 million)
19. TOM PETTY ($50.5 million)
20. KID ROCK ($50. 2 million)

According to Billboard.com, Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON have teamed up with ZZ TOP legend Billy Gibbons on the Texas trio's classic "Just Got Paid" and DISTURBED has covered the FAITH NO MORE hit "Midlife Crisis" for the new Warner Music Group release "Covered, A Revolution In Sound: Warner Bros. Records", due out February 24. On it, 11 current Warner Music Group acts cover a classic tune from the label's back catalog.

"Covered, A Revolution In Sound: Warner Bros. Records"track listing:

01. "Borderline" (MADONNA) - FLAMING LIPS with STARDEATH and WHITE DWARFS
02. "Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles" (CAPTAIN BEEFHEART) - THE BLACK KEYS
03. "A Case of You" (JONI MITCHELL) - MICHELLE BRANCH
04. "Here Comes a Regular" (THE REPLACEMENTS) - AGAINST ME!
05. "More Than This" (ROXY MUSIC) - MISSY HIGGINS
06. "Into the Mystic (VAN MORRISON) - JAMES OTTO
07. "Like a Hurricane" (NEIL YOUNG) - ADAM SANDLER
08. "You Wreck Me" (TOM PETTY) - TAKING BACK SUNDAY
09. "Just Got Paid" (ZZ Top) - MASTODON with BILLY GIBBONS
10. "Burning Down The House" (TALKING HEADS) - THE USED
11. "Midlife Crisis" (FAITH NO MORE) - DISTURBED

Cleveland, Ohio's CHIMAIRA has signed a new worldwide deal (except North America) with Nuclear Blast Records.

Commented guitarist Rob Arnold: "[Nuclear Blast] did a great job for us with [2007's] 'Resurrection', so we were eager to re-sign with them. We know they will do a kick-ass job with this new record as well."

CHIMAIRA has finished mastering the band's new album, "The Infection", at Sterling Sound in New York City with Ted Jensen and Chris "Zeuss" Harris (HATEBREED, SHADOWS FALL, AGNOSTIC FRONT, TERROR, THE ACACIA STRAIN). "Sonically, this album sounds amazing," vocalist Mark Hunter wrote on the group's web site. "Ben [Schigel, producer], Zeuss [who mixed the CD] and Ted did an amazing job making our vision come to reality. The album has exceeded everyone in this band's expectations."

Florida-based extreme metallers WYKKED WYTCH have completed recording three pre-production demo tracks which are set to appear on the band's fifth album, tentatively titled "Prayers Of The Decapitated". All drums and production duties were handled by Gus Rios (MALEVOLENT CREATION, RESURRECTION). The group says, "We will be shopping the new material to interested labels as we continue to finish the writing process with plans to release the album later in 2009."

The three songs that were recorded are as follows:

01. Serpents Among Us
02. In Dead Reflections
03. Prayer Of The Decapitated

Check out the track "Serpents Among Us" on the band's MySpace page.

WYKKED WYTCH's fourth album, "Memories of a Dying Whore", was released through the band's own label Perish Music. According to a press release, "Memories of a Dying Whore" was remixed by Eric Rachel (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, ATREYU, GOD FORBID) at Trax East Studios and was mastered by Alan Douches (UNEARTH, MASTODON, SHADOWS FALL) at West West Side Music in New York.

Dutch melodic death metal band GOD DETHRONED has issued the following update:

"You guys already knew that Roel [Sanders; drums] is back in the band after eight years of absence. Again we have a new bandmember in the ranks of GOD DETHRONED. Already somewhere in 2008 it became clear that Isaac [Delhaye; guitar] and the band would follow their own seperate paths again. Everything for our own private reasons, so we said goodbye as friends. Then we decided to record the new album as a three-piece and look for a new guitar player later.

"A few weeks ago we auditioned Susan Gerl [pictured below] (MURDER SYNDICATE) and she proved to be the right person for the band. Professional attitude and a 100% metalhead, exactly what we were looking for. You can see her live in action at our first show of the year in Den Bosch (Holland) on March 21.

"Last but not least, the new album, 'Passiondale', is finished! I would describe it as a fast, brutal and epic soundtrack to a war movie."

GOD DETHRONED entered Soundlodge studios in Germany in October with producer Jörg Uken to begin recording "Passiondale" for an April/May release via Metal Blade Records.

"Passiondale" will be a concept album about World War I. Songtitles set to appear on the CD are as follows:

01. Under A Darkening Sky
02. Behind Enemy Lines
03. Drowning in Mud
04. No-Man's Land
05. Passiondale
06. Poison Fog
07. Fallen Empires
08. Artifacts of the Great War
09. No Survivors

The title track of IMPELLITTERI's long-awaited new album, "Wicked Maiden", is available for streaming on the band's official MySpace page. Due in Japan on January 21, 2009 via Victor Entertainment, the CD, which reunites mainman Chris Impellitteri with longtime lead vocalist and writing collaborator Rob Rock, is "IMPELLITTERI's metal masterpiece," according to a press release. The band — featuring Impellitteri, Rock, bassist James Pulli and drummer Brandon Wild — "challenged the boundaries of conventional metal by utilizing music theory, technique, innovation, technology, and creative story telling. The result is an intense guitar driven metal album that will satisfy the appetite of any true metal fan. 'Wicked Maiden' features memorable guitar riffs, fast shredding guitar solos, amazing screaming vocals, exciting lyrical content, and a mean heavy rhythm section."