Swedish metallers IN FLAMES have inked a new deal with Nuclear Blast Records covering all territories outside North America. The group's new CD, which is currently being recorded at IF studios in Gothenburg, Sweden, is tentatively scheduled for release in April 2008.

Commented the band: "We are very happy that we have signed with Nuclear Blast again. They have been with us for a long time and helped us to get to where we are as a band right now. We have all the faith and belief in them to help us get even bigger as a band so we can continue to do this for years to come. We are really excited about our new album and can’t wait for it to be released so you, our fans, out there can enjoy it with us. See you in 2008."

DIMMU BORGIR's latest album, "In Sorte Diaboli", has been certified gold in the band's home country of Norway for sales in excess of 15,000 copes. DIMMU BORGIR is said to be the first metal band in Norway to shift than 15,000 units of a single release.

The staff of Indie Distribution presented DIMMU BORGIR with an award to commemorate this achievement. Pictured here are: Silenoz, Galder, Tony Laureano (stand-in drummer), Thomas (Indie Dist.), Shagrath, Vortex, Hellhammer, Miss Andersen (Indie Dist.), Erik (Indie Dist.), Mustis, and Espen (Indie Dist.).

Swedish metallers IN FLAMES are currently at their own IF Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden working on the follow-up to last year's "Come Clarity". All drums have been recorded and IN FLAMES is receiving assistance with the vocals from producer Daniel Bergstrand, who previously produced the vocals on "Reroute To Remain", "Soundtrack To Your Escape" and "Come Clarity".

The band's studio video diary is online now with Episode 10. Watch it below.

IN FLAMES has scheduled two dates in Russia in January 2008. The details are as follows:

Jan. 26 - St. Petersburg, RUS - PORT Club
Jan. 27 - Moscow, RUS - B1Maximum

Commented the band: "This is the first time for IN FLAMES in Russia and we are really looking forward to the shows. We have heard from friends in other bands who have recently played there, that is was great so we wanted to try it out and see for ourselves."

Metal Heaven has announced the signing of the Swiss metal band CROWN OF GLORY. According to a press release "the splendid melodic metal sound of the four-piece shows influences from various genres from AOR to metal and should suit any fan of bands such as ROYAL HUNT, EDGUY, STRATOVARIUS and EUROPE. Their mini-album 'Destiny' raised a lot of attention in the press and resulted in live shows with the likes of DORO, AXEL RUDI PELL, SHAKRA, CANDLEMASS, BRUCE KULICK and more."

CROWN OF GLORY's debut album, "A Deep Breath of Life", was mixed by Dennis Ward and features a guest appearance by Tom S. Englund, lead singer of the Swedish progressive metal band EVERGREY, on the track "The Raven's Flight". A February 2008 release is expected.

CROWN OF GLORY is:

Hene Muther (vocals)
Philipp Meier (keyboards)
Markus Muther (guitar)
Hungi Berglas (guitar)
Jonas Lüscher (bass)

German death metal band COMMANDER will enter Helion Studios (DARKSEED, EQUILIBRIUM, SYCRONOMICA) in Munich in December with producer Seref A. Badir to begin recording its new abum for a March 2008 release via Bad Land Records/Twilight Vertrieb. According to the band, the follow-up to 2006's "World's Destructive Domination" will probably be called "The Enemies We Create" and will be "even more melodic, heavier and more powerful than its predecessor." The artwork for the album can be viewed on the band's MySpace page.

German metallers AXXIS have posted the title track of their new album, "Doom of Destiny", on their MySpace page. Due in Europe on November 19 (November 16 in Germany) via AFM Records, the CD is the band's first record with new guitarist Marco Wreidt. The track listing for the album is as follows:

01. Voices of Destiny
02. Doom of Destiny
03. Better Fate
04. Blood Angel
05. I Hear You Cry
06. The Fire Still Burns
07. Father, Father
08. Revolutions
09. She Got Nine Lives
10. Devilish Belle
11. Astoria
12. Engel Aus Hass (bonus track)

BLOODBOUND, the Swedish/German metal band featuring Fredrik Bergh (STREET TALK; bass, keyboards and backing vocals) and Tomas Olsson (lead and rhythm guitars), has been rejoined by singer Urban Breed (ex-TAD MOROSE). "Urban [who originally left BLOODBOUND in August 2006] has been doing all the live shows with the band for the last six months," reads a posting on the group's web site. "He is now officially back and the band is stronger than ever. They have also started to work on their third album."

BLOODBOUND's new album, "Book of the Dead" (featuring singer Michael Bormann [JADED HEART, BONFIRE, J.R. BLACKMORE, RAIN]), entered the Swedish chart at position No. 66.

Metal Heaven has announced the signing of POWER WORLD, the brainchild of former FREEDOM CALL and MOON'DOC bassist Ilker Ersin.

After his departure from FREEDOM CALL in the middle of 2005, Ersin decided to follow a different musical path and started to work on an album that contained more grooves and less power metal influences.

POWER WORLD is:

Steffen Brunner - Vocals
Ilker Ersin (ex-FREEDOM CALL) - Bass
Nils Neumann (ex-FREEDOM CALL) - Keyboards
Barish Kepic (ex-JADED HEART) - Guitar
Jürgen Lucas (AT VANCE) - Drums

POWER WORLD's self-titled debut will be released in March 2008.

A preview of the forthcoming double disc DVD of "Live After Death", the legendary recording of IRON MAIDEN's four night stand at Long Beach Arena, California in 1984, is available below.

In the stores February 5, 2008 via New Door Records/UMe, the release will coincide with the start of the band's Somewhere Back In Time World Tour on which they will recreate many of the aspects of this original and spectacular show.

Disc one contains the recording of this full 90 minute concert. Originally filmed on 35mm, the footage comes alive on DVD resulting in a visually stunning film that far outstrips the usual live video of the '80s. The disc carries two sound options — the original concert audio specially mixed into 5.1 Surround Sound by Kevin Shirley, MAIDEN's producer since 1999, plus the original stereo sound track by Martin Birch, the band's producer from 1981 to 1993. Originally released on video in 1985, this has been largely unavailable for the past 20 years

Disc two has Part 2 of the "History Of Iron Maiden", continuing on the MAIDEN story from "The Early Days" DVD, along with rare and unseen bonus footage in the form of "Behind The Iron Curtain", "Rock In Rio '85", and "'Ello Texas", all in all giving a total running time of well over three hours. Plus of course the photo galleries, relevant promo videos, artwork galleries, tour dates, tour program and other features which all combine to make MAIDEN DVDs a very special and utterly comprehensive treat for their fans.

Manager Rod Smallwood explained: "The original video of 'Live After Death' has not been readily available for a long time so its good that we finally got around to this. lt was one of the first full concerts to be filmed after the advent of video and of course the live album, recorded on a different night to the video, has long been considered to be one of the seminal metal live albums and has sold millions since. Fans have been begging us to do this DVD for some time now but we wanted to wait until we were able to recreate that whole tour to go with it and also to make it part of a series of DVDs that we are putting together around the band's history. And of course we are making sure that now we have got to it we will be giving the fans everything we can find from that period!!”

Full list of contents:

Disc 1 — Live After Death

"Live After Death" concert with Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio (90 minutes)

Setlist:

01. Churchill Speech/Aces High
02. 2 Minutes to Midnight
03. The Trooper
04. Revelations
05. Flight of Icarus
06. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
07. Powerslave
08. Number of the Beast
09. Hallowed Be Thy Name
10. Iron Maiden
11. Run to The Hills
12. Running Free
13. Sanctuary

Disc 2 - Documentary / Bonus Concert Footage

1. The History of Iron Maiden — Part 2 (60 mins) — Documentary.
Band members, crew, friends and associates talk about the period in the band's career which saw the writing, recording and release of the "Powerslave" album, and later "Live After Death", and the subsequent massive touring. And not just the serious side!!

2. Behind the Iron Curtain (57 mins approx) Documentary and Live — shot during MAIDEN's historic tour of Poland and other parts to the Eastern Bloc in 1984 featuring interviews, live and offstage footage capturing the atmosphere of this remarkable journey behind the Wall at the height of the Cold War.

3. Live Footage - Rock in Rio '85 (50 mins approx)
The full MAIDEN set supporting Queen on the first day of the first Rock in Rio in front of 300,000 manic metal fans. A bloody and stirring performance!! Songs performed include "Aces High", "2 Minutes to Midnight", "The Trooper", "Revelations", "Powerslave", "Iron Maiden", "Run To The Hills", "Running Free"

4. Ello Texas — 15 minutes — Interview and live. Caught by a film crew in 1983 at the Alamo and sound checking their show in San Antonio.

5. Artwork Gallery, Tour Programme, Tour dates and photo gallery

6. Promotional clips for Aces High and 2 Minutes to Midnight

Subtitles for all documentary footage:

PAL version — English HOH / Dutch / French / German / Italian / Swedish / Portuguese / Spanish
NTSC Version — English HOH / Brazilian Portguese / Latin Spanish

Royal Hunt is putting some very last, finishing touches on their new album (which will become a sequel to their critically acclaimed 1997 release “Paradox”) at NorthPoint Studio (check out the frequently updated Studio Diary at www.royalhunt.com ). Among guest singers you’ll be able to hear contributions from Doogie White (Rainbow, Y.Malmsteen), Ian Parry (Elegy, Consortium Project), Kenny Lubcke (Narita) and Henrik Brockmann (ex-Royal Hunt, Evil Masquerade). Mixing will start in a few days at EMI/Medley Studios.

PRESTO BALLET, the project led by METAL CHURCH guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, will release its second album, "The Lost Art of Time Travel", on February 22, 2008 via Inside Out Music. The follow-up to 2005's "Peace among the Ruins" will include the following tracks: "The Mind Machine", "Thieves", "I'm Not Blind", "One Tragedy at a Time", "You Are Here", "Easy Tomorrow" and "That You're Alive".

PRESTO BALLET features Vanderhoof alongside Scott Albright (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Brian Cokeley (piano, Hammond organ, synths, electric pianos, lead and backing vocals), Jeff Wade (drums and percussion) and Brian Lake (bass).

PRESTO BALLET's music was previously described as "a mixture of first-class melodic and progressive rock with some heavy moments." All of the tracks on "Peace among the Ruins" were recorded using an analog tape machine, which was another nod to the sounds of the Seventies. Vanderhoof explained, "Digital recording techniques are annoying! For rock music it's absolutely fatal when you always rely on samples, sequencers and drum machines. It destroys the live feel of the music. WithPRESTO BALLET, it was our aim to return to a more 'natural' feel while keeping as melodic and musical as possible."

Finnish doomsters SWALLOW THE SUN have posted their video for the song "Doomed to Walk the Earth" onYouTube. The track comes off the band's third album, "Hope", which entered the Finnish national chart at position No. 3 back in February. The follow-up to 2005's "Ghosts of Loss" was recorded at Seawolf Studios in Helsinki and was mastered at Finnvox studios with Minerva Pappi. The LP features a vocal appearance by Jonas Renkse of KATATONIA on the song "The Justice of Suffering".

German gothic metallers CREMATORY will release their new album, "Pray", on February 1 via Massacre Records. The CD was produced by the band itself at the Kohlekeller Studios with additional assistance from longtime collaborator Christian "Kohle" Kohlmannslehner. The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. When Darkness Falls
02. Left the Ground
03. Alone
04. Pray
05. Sleeping Solution
06. Just Words
07. Burning Bridges
08. Have you Ever
09. Remember
10. Say Goddbye

The new Schelmish album Wir Werden Sehen typifies Schelmish’s folk-rock style which seems to be growing in popularity in Germany lately. If you like the sound of bagpipes and other more traditional instruments combined with your rockmusic, like fans of In Extremo or Saltatio Mortis do, you will almost definitely like Wir Werden Sehen. The medieval instruments lay out the melodies while the guitar riffs come in to stir things up a bit. It’s a combination that’s very pleasing to the ears.

Wir Werden Sehen will be released this Friday, October 19th, in Germany. Schelmish’s MySpace page currently has 4 full length songs from the new album that you can listen to.

tracklist :
01. Intro (The Holeyologists Prayer)
02. Gefangener Der Zeit
03. Ehrlich
04. Blitz
05. So Allein
06. Der Narr
07. Hunter
08. Stern
09. Kreuzzug Gegen Die Verlogenheit
10. Blessed Be
11. Das Moor
12. Andersland
13. Herr Niemand
14. Wir Werden Sehen
15. Rainbow
16. Outro

OTEP frontwoman Otep Shamaya has issued the following update:

"As I sit here sipping stale coffee and waiting for the bus to pick us up from the hotel, it dawned on me that I haven't written any updates or tour diaries (properly) yet. So here it is, enjoy.

"To begin with, the shows have been amazing. Each time we go out the level of your intensity increases beyond our wildest expectations. Thank you for your support, your belief, and your passion.

"Next, YES! 'The_Ascension' has been released and YES, some places have different versions. You get two extra tracks at Best Buy, Newbury Comics has autographed copies (yes we did them ALL by hand), and iTunes has an additional spoken-word piece (I wrote and recorded) PLUS it includes an exclusive digital booklet specifically designed for iTunes! I've been told the infuriating iTunes error has been remedied and all systems are GO! I just bought the album and downloaded it and it plays just fine.

"We get a lot of messages about where to buy the album, so hopefully this clears it up.

"OH! We are also about to release two new videos created with the visual genius, PR Brown. 'Confrontation' and 'Breed' should be released very soon and, as expected, we are extremely excited about them. 'Confrontation' will have a really unique feature that includes fan involvement but I can't reveal too much more about that or it would ruin the surprise."

OTEP's new album, "The_Ascension", sold 10,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 81 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Produced by Dave Fortman (MUDVAYNE, EVANESCENCE), "The_Ascension" sees the band challenging itself to avoid clichés and classifications and finding a new landscape of sound and vision. "We said 'genre limits and music fads be damned, let's write music that is important to us and that motivates us," explained Shamaya. "I wanted to write songs we believe in and let nothing stop us from building the album we want to make."

MANOWAR drummer Scott Columbus has told Brazil's NovoMetal.com that he is working on his first solo album.

"Over the past year, I've been working on a solo project, and it's instrumental — there is no vocals, it's all music," he said. "I've got about 80% of the songs [done] and hopefully, in the next year, 2008, it will get released. [Musically it's] a little different from MANOWAR, [but] it's really cool. It's fucking great driving music. You'll see yourself driving at high speeds if you listen to that."

MANOWAR has scheduled several German signing sessions at the end of November in connection with the release of the "Magic Circle Festival Volume I" DVD.

A release party for the "Magic Circle Festival Volume I" DVD will be held at The Fabrik (Barnerstrasse 36, 22765) in Hamburg, Germany on Thursday, November 22 at 20:00 and on Friday, November 23 at 20:00. According to a press release, "anyone who lives for true metal is invited. You'll be able to see a preview of the new 'Magic Circle Festival Volume I' DVD but that's not all... MANOWAR will be there playing live! Admission is FREE!"

On July 6 and July 7, 2007, 25,000 true metal fans gathered in Bad Arolsen, Germany to watch MANOWAR and a legion of other heavy metal warriors perform on the largest stage in the country. An incredible spectacle to behold at 40 meters wide, 16 meters deep, weighing 70 tons and requiring over 250,000 watts of power to run the PA systems and 442,000 watts of intense lighting.

Magic Circle Festival will be held annually from now on, with next year's festival scheduled for July 9-12, 2008. On the first day of next year's gathering, MANOWAR will sign as much stuff as they can and will give away "thousands" of free beers and copies of their new single as well as four custom-built chopper bikes, each belonging to one of the bandmembers. On top of that, MANOWAR will play their first six albums in their entirety, from "Battle Hymns" to "Kings of Metal".

So finally - FINALLY - we have some news on the DVD!

First - we have the title: VISIBLE! and second - we are happy to let you know that the DVD will be released as a double DVD (DVD2 will be limited though), and will cover 28 video clips (from classics such as A Day, Louise and Out Of The Rain up to new songs like Weak In My Knees and Hereos) plus an exclusive interview with Ronny Moorings, many live clips and some - very funny - backstage scenes.

Just - if you planned on a X-Mas present for your dearest one - sorry, we postponed the release to mid/late January 2008. We'd rather wanted to give our best instead of rushing to be in time for the x-mas sales. For environmental reasons we also decided to release this Double DVD in a double-CD case. Why waste all the extra plastic?

The promotional video for "Heroes" can still be viewed here. Here you can see another snippet from the DVD.

Clan of Xymox live:

Nov 16th -D - Leipzig - Moritzbastei
Dec 8th -RUS - Moscow - Tochka
Dec 21st -NL - Sittard - Fenix

An e-card for THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's new album, "Ire Works", can be accessed at this location. Due on November 13 through Relapse Records, the CD was recorded with long-time engineer Steve Evetts at his Omen Room Studios in Los Angeles, CA.

"Ire Works" track listing:

01. Fix Your Face
02. Lurch
03. Black Bubblegum
04. Sick On Sunday
05. When Acting As A Particle
06. Nong Eye Gong
07. When Acting As A Wave
08. 82588
09. Milk Lizard
10. Party Smasher
11. Dead As History
12. Horse Hunter
13. Mouth Of Ghosts

Video footage of the band rehearsing a new song called "Party Smasher" can be viewed below.

The cover artwork for the upcoming album from EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA project, entitled "The Scarecrow", can be found at this location. Due at the end of January via Nuclear Blast Records, the CD is expected to feature guest appearances by the following artists:

Alice Cooper (vocals)
Amanda Somerville (vocals)
Bob Catley (MAGNUM; vocals)
Jorn Lande (ex-MASTERPLAN; vocals)
Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY; guitar)
Michael Kiske (ex-HELLOWEEN; vocals)
Oliver Hartmann
Roy Khan (KAMELOT; vocals)
Rudolf Schenker (SCORPIONS; guitar)

"The Scarecrow" track listing:

01. Twisted Mind
02. The Scarecrow
03. Shelter From The Rain
04. Carry Me Over
05. What Kind Of Love
06. Another Angel Down
07. The Toy Master
08. Devil In The Belfry
09. Cry Just A Little
10. I Don't Believe In Your Love
11. Lost In Space

Napalm Records has announced the signing of the Dutch folk metal act HEIDEVOLK. According to a press release, "the band uses clean male vocals, traditional instruments like horns, violins, as well as the the Jew's harp, and combines these with powerful yet melodic metal. The lyrics, written in their native language, reflect the historic past of their home province Gelderland, but also Germanic mythology and nature is a source of inspiration. The artwork of the yet-untitled album will be created by Klaas Lageveen (BURZUM, HADES ALMIGHTY). S&K Studio with producer Dick Kemper are booked for a mid November start date, and Bardur Eklund (TÝR) will equip these pagans with fitting promotional photographs. A release is tentatively scheduled for April 2008."

Swedish metallers SATARIEL have set "White Ink" as the title of their new full-length album. The CD, which will will likely feature ten new songs, "will continue in the sound of [the band's mini-CD] 'Chifra', which was released earlier this year, but probably will have a little more aggressivity and 'evil' added to it this time, as the lyrics pretty much demand that this time around," the band writes in a press release. "Also — a new songwriter is now found in SATARIEL — namely [guitarist] Simon Johansson (of MEMORY GARDEN) who replaces Mikael Granqvist. This will surely add a new aspect to the sound, as he is a great composer!"

"Chifra" was mixed by Daniel Bergstrand (IN FLAMES, MESSHUGGAH, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD) and Magnus Alakangas at Dug-Out Studios in Uppsala, Sweden and features artwork and layout by Pär Johansson. Lyrically, the CD is said to be "a sort of ending of the concept which was the basis" for SATARIEL's third album, "Hydra", according to a statement from the band.

A three-minute trailer for the forthcoming "20 Years of Nuclear Blast" two-DVD set can be viewed below. Due on November 30 via Nuclear Blast, the collection — as the title implies — celebrates the 20th anniversary of the German metal label, featuring two DVDs with almost six hours' worth of footage, including 70 promotional clips and a four-part history of the label hosted by DESTRUCTION bassist/vocalist Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer.

The following clips can be found on the "20 Years of Nuclear Blast" two-DVD set:

01. DIMMU BORGIR - Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse
02. IMMORTAL - One By One
03. HYPOCRISY - Scrutinized
04. GOREFEST - The Glorious Dead
05. KATAKLYSM - Manipulator Of Souls
06. BENEDICTION - I Bow To None
07. PUNGENT STENCH - Shrunken And Mumified Bitch
08. BELPHEGOR - Sanctus Perversum
09. NILE - The Language Of The Shadows
10. DEATH - Scavenger Of Human Sorrow
11. MALEVOLENT CREATION - Assasin Squad
12. DESTRUCTION - The Butcher Strikes Back
13. DEW SCENTED - Cities Of The Dead
14. ANTHRAX - What Doesn’t Die
15. EXODUS - Riot Act
16. DEATH ANGEL - The Devil Incarnate
17. I - Warriors
18. SONIC SYNDICATE - Psychic Suicide
19. CLAWFINGER - The Price We Pay
20. CHIMAIRA - Worthless
21. IN FLAMES - Only For The Weak
22. MESHUGGAH - Future Breed Machine
23. SOILWORK - Exile
24. THE DESTINY PROGRAM - Project Hoax
25. SCAR SYMMETRY - The Illusionist
26. THREAT SIGNAL - Counterbalance
27. MNEMIC - Ghost
28. EKTOMORF - Destroy
29. AGNOSTIC FRONT - Warriors
30. ALL SHALL PERISH - Eradication
31. BLEED THE SKY - God In The Frame
32. DARKANE - Solitary Confinement
33. THE DUSKFALL - Trust Is Overrated
34. ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTET - So Grim, So True, So Real
35. WINTERSUN - Winter Madness
36. HAMMERFALL - Hammerfall
37. RIDE THE SKY - New Protection
38. EDGUY - King Of Fools
39. BLIND GUARDIAN - The New Order
40. SONATA ARCTICA - Caleb
41. GOTTHARD - Master Of Illusion
42. RAGE - Full Moon
43. GRAVE DIGGER - Valhalla
44. HELLOWEEN - Immortal
45. STRATOVARIUS - Why Are We Here
46. TAROT - Before The Skies Comes Down
47. THUNDERSTONE - Face In The Mirror
48. COMMUNIC - Conspiracy In Mind
49. THRESHOLD - Slipstream
50. CANDLEMASS - Of Stars And Smoke
51. CATHEDRAL - Corpsecycle
52. NIGHTWISH - Eva
53. AFTER FOREVER - Transitory
54. EPICA - Never Enough
55. ECHOES OF ETERNITY - Voices In A Dream
56. SIRENIA - The Other Side
57. DEATHSTARS - Greatest Fight On Earth
58. SAMAEL - Valkyrie’s New Ride
59. THE KOVENANT - In The Name Of The Future
60. AMORPHIS - The White Swan
61. THERION - Der Mitternachtslöwe
62. CREMATORY - Revolution
63. FARMER BOYS - For The World To Sing
64. PYOGENESIS - Addiction Pole
65. LIQUIDO - Ordinary Life
66. CHROME DIVISION - Serial Killer
67. DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER - Riders On The Storm
68. SUBWAY TO SALLY - Meine Seele Brennt
69. KNORKATOR - Wir werden alle sterben
70. SUCH A SURGE - Mission Erfüllt

After almost a year of delays, Florida-based metal band WYKKED WYTCH will release its fourth album, "Memories of a Dying Whore", through the group's own label Perish Music. The CD will be available for online purchase the first week of December and will expand to retail outlets worldwide in January.

According to a press release, "Memories of a Dying Whore" has been remixed by Eric Rachel (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, ATREYU, GOD FORBID) at Trax East Studios and is currently being mastered by Alan Douches (UNEARTH, MASTODON, SHADOWS FALL) at West West Side Music in NY. "We originally finished mixing and mastering back in January, but were never satisified with the final mix," says the band. "The new mix is very essential to this album."

Finally available on DVD for the first time, New Door Records/UMe are proud to announce the eagerly awaited release of the double disc DVD of "Live After Death", the legendary recording of IRON MAIDEN's four night stand at Long Beach Arena, California, in 1984.

In the stores February 5, 2008, the release will coincide with the start of the band's Somewhere Back In Time World Tour on which they will recreate many of the aspects of this original and spectacular show.

Disc one contains the recording of this full 90 minute concert. Originally filmed on 35mm, the footage comes alive on DVD resulting in a visually stunning film that far outstrips the usual live video of the '80s. The disc carries two sound options — the original concert audio specially mixed into 5.1 Surround Sound by Kevin Shirley, MAIDEN's producer since 1999, plus the original stereo sound track by Martin Birch, the band's producer from 1981 to 1993. Originally released on video in 1985, this has been largely unavailable for the past 20 years

Disc two has Part 2 of the "History Of Iron Maiden", continuing on the MAIDEN story from "The Early Days" DVD, along with rare and unseen bonus footage in the form of "Behind The Iron Curtain", "Rock In Rio '85", and "'Ello Texas", all in all giving a total running time of well over three hours. Plus of course the photo galleries, relevant promo videos, artwork galleries, tour dates, tour program and other features which all combine to make MAIDEN DVDs a very special and utterly comprehensive treat for their fans.

Manager Rod Smallwood explained: "The original video of 'Live After Death' has not been readily available for a long time so its good that we finally got around to this. lt was one of the first full concerts to be filmed after the advent of video and of course the live album, recorded on a different night to the video, has long been considered to be one of the seminal metal live albums and has sold millions since. Fans have been begging us to do this DVD for some time now but we wanted to wait until we were able to recreate that whole tour to go with it and also to make it part of a series of DVDs that we are putting together around the band's history. And of course we are making sure that now we have got to it we will be giving the fans everything we can find from that period!!”

Full list of contents:

Disc 1 — Live After Death

"Live After Death" concert with Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio (90 minutes)

Setlist:

01. Churchill Speech/Aces High
02. 2 Minutes to Midnight
03. The Trooper
04. Revelations
05. Flight of Icarus
06. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
07. Powerslave
08. Number of the Beast
09. Hallowed Be Thy Name
10. Iron Maiden
11. Run to The Hills
12. Running Free
13. Sanctuary

Disc 2 - Documentary / Bonus Concert Footage

1. The History of Iron Maiden — Part 2 (60 mins) — Documentary.
Band members, crew, friends and associates talk about the period in the band's career which saw the writing, recording and release of the "Powerslave" album, and later "Live After Death", and the subsequent massive touring. And not just the serious side!!

2. Behind the Iron Curtain (57 mins approx) Documentary and Live — shot during MAIDEN's historic tour of Poland and other parts to the Eastern Bloc in 1984 featuring interviews, live and offstage footage capturing the atmosphere of this remarkable journey behind the Wall at the height of the Cold War.

3. Live Footage - Rock in Rio '85 (50 mins approx)
The full MAIDEN set supporting Queen on the first day of the first Rock in Rio in front of 300,000 manic metal fans. A bloody and stirring performance!! Songs performed include "Aces High", "2 Minutes to Midnight", "The Trooper", "Revelations", "Powerslave", "Iron Maiden", "Run To The Hills", "Running Free"

4. Ello Texas — 15 minutes — Interview and live. Caught by a film crew in 1983 at the Alamo and sound checking their show in San Antonio.

5. Artwork Gallery, Tour Programme, Tour dates and photo gallery

6. Promotional clips for Aces High and 2 Minutes to Midnight

Subtitles for all documentary footage:

PAL version — English HOH / Dutch / French / German / Italian / Swedish / Portuguese / Spanish
NTSC Version — English HOH / Brazilian Portguese / Latin Spanish

Polish death metallers VADER have issued the following statement regarding the passing of DECAPITATED drummer Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka, who died at the age of 23 in a Russian hospital from injuries sustained in a recent road collision:

"Known from such bands as DECAPITATED, DIES IRAE, PANZER X... 23-year old, extremely talented drummer, our brother in metal and dear friend passed away... This is another huge loss for the metal scene and the saddest news we have heard this year... we are all in shock...

"VADER members would like to express their deepest condolences to his family and frends. Vitek — R.I.P."

DECAPITATED singer Covan (real name: Adrian Kowanek) was also hurt in the accident, which involved the band's tour bus and a truck carrying wood in Gomel, on the Russia/Belarus border. The frontman reportedly also sustained a head injury in the collision, which is believed to have been the fault of the band's driver (although this has not yet been officially confirmed). Covan has since been moved to a hospital in Kraków, Poland. Doctors describe his condition as stable and he is showing signs of improvement every day.