MORS PRINCIPIUM EST singer Ville Viljanen has joined forces with guitarist Mike Greenfield (HEMLOCK, SMOTHER THERESA) in a new project called JÖTUN. An as-yet-untitled demo track is available for streaming on the group's MySpace page.

JÖTUN's lineup, according to the band's Myspace page:

Mike Greenfield (HEMLOCK, SMOTHER THERESA) - Guitars
Tattoo Mike (SIN FOREVER) - Guitars
Seen Weiss (SLAM THEORY) - Bass
Brett 290 Batdorf (GRIMEFIELD) - Drums
Ville Viljanen (MORS PRINCIPIUM EST) - Vocals

According to the group's official bio, a "jötun, in Norse mythology, is a giant, one of a mythological race with superhuman strength, described as standing in opposition to the gods. They prefer caves and dark places to live. The giants represent the forces of the primeval chaos and of the untamed, destructive nature. Their defeats by the hands of the gods represent the triumph of culture over nature, albeit at the cost of eternal vigilance.

"As a collective, giants are often attributed a hideous appearance – claws, fangs, and deformed features, apart from a generally hideous size. Some of them may even have many heads, or an overall non-humanoid shape

"Yet when giants are named and more closely described, they are often given the opposite characteristics. Unbelievably old, they carry wisdom from bygone times. They are considered gods in their time."

Former AT THE GATES/THE CROWN vocalist Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg will perform with the Israeli "melodeath" act NAIL WITHIN at the band's special 2007 reunion show on November 23 at Barbie Club in Tel Aviv, Israel.

NAIL WITHIN released its debut album in 2003 via France's Listenable Records. The CD was produced by Harris Johns in Germany and featured Lindberg and Mille Petrozza (KREATOR) as special guests.

A highly "extreme and violent" clip for the track "Dirty Colored Knife" was released — featuring guest appearances by Lindberg and Petrozza — and was censored by various TV stations.

The band split up shortly after the release of its debut album. Now, five years later, NAIL WIHIN has returned to unleash its rage.

Watch NAIL WITHIN's "Dirty Colored Knife" video (featuring Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg and Mille Petrozza) here

Belgian death metallers ABORTED are currently on the road in Europe with KATAKLYSM and BEHEMOTH. Vocalist Sven De Caluwé has checked in with the following update:

"It's been a fucking pleasure and an honor to share the stage each day with our friends from KATAKLYSM and BEHEMOTH, both monstrous acts on stage and very down-to-earth people off stage. The tour has been doing phenomenal so far and we'd like to thank all our friends out there who came and supported us and the other bands, keep on showing up, you guys are the reason this is all possible for any of us.

"We'd also like to announce that we have started the songwriting for the follow up record to 'Slaughter & Apparatus'. The album title will be revealed in due time & should be recorded early 2008 and set for a summer release which will coincide with lots of touring activity in the U.S. Which couldn't make us happier 'cause we are dying to get out there and play for all of you out there statewise who have had to wait since our last tour with SUFFOCATION to come over. We also promise we will be extensively touring the US for the next record so you will get plenty of chances to catch us live then!"

Irish dark metal masters PRIMORDIAL will release their sixth album, "To The Nameless Dead", in Europe on November 19 via Metal Blade Records. According to a press release, the group's second CD for Metal Blade "is a timeless statement and an ode to their forefathers which lives and breathes the ancient spirit mixed with anger, pain and despair. . . 'To The Nameless Dead' is defiantly at odds with a modern metal scene that often seems to place banality, mediocrity and safety above passion, honesty and truth."

Harsher and faster than its predecessor, "To The Nameless Dead" wasn't recorded digitally — just analog to keep the sound old school and powerful.

The album will be available as a limited first edition in a digibook (cover artwork), featuring another design, 40 pages and a bonus DVD of PRIMORDIAL's performance at the Rock Hard Festival.

"To The Nameless Dead" (jewelcase cover artwork) track listing:

01. Empire Falls
02. Gallows Hymn
03. As Rome Burns
04. Failures Burden
05. Heathen Tribes
06. The Rising Tide
07. Traitors Gate
08. No Nation On This Earth

Swedish metallers KATATONIA have issued the following update:

"Our first-ever North American headline tour has been successfully completed and we’re just back home fighting the jetlag as always. Again, a long but also eventful, surprisingly smooth and easy ride on the road all thanks to our partners in the support bands and the crew. A big up goes out to all our old and new fans who came to see the shows and hang out with the 'KATZ' — thanks for all your support! A special cheerz goes out to the fans in Mexico who gave us a welcome we won't forget soon. See you next time!

"As this tour wraps up the touring the cycle for 'The Great Cold Distance', the band will now enter writing/pre-production mode and keep busy doing the work for the next album, so the live activity will be kept to a minimum with only a few occasional one-off gigs scheduled until the end of the year."

CHILDREN OF BODOM bassist Henkka T. Blacksmith has issued the following update:

"We have now all the stuff ready [for the new CHILDREN OF BODOM album]. We've been sitting at the rehearsal place a lot, and we are very happy about all the songs. In a week we will pack our stuff and move to the studio outside of Helsinki. Then it should be six weeks and all the stuff should be recorded. Mikko Karmila will be the guy again who says when we play bad or if something sounds not good. And he will also press the record button. Later on we will have a special guest from Sweden, when Peter Tägtgren [HYPOCRISY, PAIN] will show up for a while. When we did 'Follow the Reaper', Peter's effort on the vocals and keyboards was so good that we wanted to have him with us once again. Let's see how it works out this time, I'm sure it's great!

"What else... When everything is recorded we will mix the thing and master it the same way we have always done. In the studio we should figure out some cover songs, but it shouldn't be a problem. We have a couple things already decided..."

As previously reported, CHILDREN OF BODOM will play a one-off show in London, England at the Astoria on March 8, 2008.

CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho made a guest appearance the new album from the Finnish band GODSPLAGUE. He played a solo in the song "Don't Come Back" and he sings backing vocals on the CD, entitled "H8", which came out on September 5.

Two songs from CHILDREN OF BODOM — "Angels Don't Kill" and "In Your Face" — are featured on the "Unholy Alliance Tour" DVD, due on October 30 via American Recordings. The set will feature the the "Unholy Alliance Tour: Preaching to the Perverted" lineup — SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD, MASTODON, CHILDREN OF BODOM and THINE EYES BLEED. The DVD will have an approximate running time of 90 minutes.

The "Unholy Alliance Tour" DVD was shot at Vancouver's General Motors Place on July 13, 2006, was directed by Adam Rothlein (Speedway Films), and boasts performance footage plus bonus material to include backstage, behind-the-scenes and one-on-one interviews, many of which were conducted by the Unholy Alliance artists themselves.

Since STRATOVARIUS mastermind Timo Tolkki had the idea for a "Rock Opera 2" years ago, a lot has happened. After signing the record deal with Frontiers Records, he has been working hard on this project, entitled "Saana - Warrior of Light Part 1: Journey to Crystal Island". It has been a monumental task that has just been getting bigger and bigger.
"Composing, writing the story, casting from hundreds of people, and putting this all together has been very refreshing and interesting for me," says Tolkki. "I think it is the next logical step for me and I am really interested in combining music, graphics and film," he continues. "This album has just basically one long song, but there are 18 themes that are bound together by a story in which I have used my longtime interest in philosophy, psychology and spirituality. At the end of the day it really has just two main themes: Love and the fight between good and evil. Like the name indicates, there will be another part to this saga. It really is a very interesting story about an old theme, but I think I have managed to take it somewhere that no one has been before. I am also very happy that I have the chance to direct this film for the music as well because I think it really needs it. It's like a combination of a musical, music video and regular film."

Featuring the talents of Jennifer Sowle, Aino Laos, Heikki Poyhiä and Janette Sainio, this album is a breathtaking experience of emotions. They were all carefully chosen for their respective roles and they enhance the musical journey in a way that hasn´t really been heard before. Timo Tolkki calls it "a classical rock opera."

"Saana - Warrior of Light Part 1: Journey to Crystal Island" is a multimedia adventure containing almost one hour of music and comes with a full all region bonus DVD that contains the whole story in film format as well. It also has lots of other extras and a brand new interview of Timo Tolkki about his past, present and future. The scheduled release date is early 2008.

RollingStone.com reports: LED ZEPPELIN will reform for a one-off show at the O2 Arena, London on November 26. "They're going to play all the great songs that everybody wants to hear," said promoter Harvey Goldsmith, who brokered what must surely be the Holy Grail of rock reunions. "They are the last great rock gods that remain to be seen," Goldsmith added. "I have a feeling that this is going to be the largest demand for one show in history."

Speculation that other ZEPPELIN shows and possibly even a full reunion tour will follow is running high. "You have to take it one step at a time," Harvey said. "Obviously there is a sense of frustration for all the fans around the world who can't get tickets. I hope they do something else. But I hope they do it because they're really enjoying it and because this show is fantastic."

South Carolina's THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD has announced the departure of guitarist Chris Anderson. The band has recruited temporary axeman, and original member of the band, Richard Turbeville, for the band's upcoming run this fall as support to AS I LAY DYING, ALL THAT REMAINS, as well as HASTE THE DAY.

Continuing to support the band's recent release "Malice", THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD recently completed a headlining run across the U.S. with AS BLOOD RUNS BLACK, BENEATH THE MASSACRE and ION DISSONANCE. The debut video from "Malice", for "Failure In The Flesh", is available for viewing below.

PATHS OF POSSESSION, the Florida-based band fronted by CANNIBAL CORPSE vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, will release its third album, "The End of the Hour", on October 16 via Metal Blade Records. The CD was recorded at Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida and "is the logical progression" from 2005's "Promises in Blood", according to a press release. "It features the some of the same melodic content but with a few surprises sure to leave its audience convulsing for more." "The End of the Hour" is "a concept album about the surreal horrors that one man experiences during war, death and the beyond that warps his very existence into a demigod-like awareness that may have the ability to consume life as we know it."

"The End of the Hour" (cover artwork by Kris Verwimp) track listing:

01. Memory Burn
02. The Ancient Law
03. I Am Forever
04. In Offering of Spite
05. Pushing through the Pass
06. Poisoned Promise Land
07. Ash is Falling Rain
08. The End of the Hour
09. As Sanities Split
10. Engulfing the Pure

Long-running German metallers PARADOX will release their fourth album, "Electrify", on January 10, 2008. The CD was produced by guitarist/vocalist Charly Steinhauer and is currently being mixed and mastered at the Hansen Studios in Denmark by Jacob Hansen (RAUNCHY, DESTRUCTION, HATESPHERE). Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Second Over Third By Force", "Monument", "Portrait in Grey", "Hyperspeed Hallucinations", "Bridge to Silence", "Infected", "Disconnected", "Cyberspace Romance", "Electrify", as well as a cover of BLACKFOOT's "Good Morning". Joining Steinhauer and guitarist Kai Pasemann in the group's current touring lineup are drummer Roland Jahoda (formerly of SOUL DEMISE) and bassist Roland Keller.

On January 12, PARADOX will headline the Deutsche Assault Festival in Athens, Greece alongside ZED YAGO and WIZARD.

PLANET STORM, the new project formed by the guitar duo of Ronny Blylod (DESTYNATION) and Johannes Forsberg (AMETHYST), has posted audio clips from its upcoming EP, "Alone", on the group's MySpace page.

Commented the band: "It's not the final product, it's just a preview of what is coming. There's still a lot of work, though most of it is already done.

"We really wanted people to get a taste of it, since there's been a lot of rumors regarding PLANET STORM and what we sound like, so we made a kind of a short presentation of all the songs to be included on the EP (except for the bonus track)."

"Alone" EP track listing:

01. Beyond The Horizon
02. Alone
03. Universe
04. Alone (acoustic) (bonus track)

Swiss melodic death metallers DARKMOON will release their second full-length album, "Apocalyptic Syndrome", on November 9 via CCP Records. The CD was recorded at Little Creek studios in Gelterkinden (Baselland), Switzerland and will contain "10 songs between the borders of death/thrash and black metal," according to the band.

"Apocalyptic Syndrome" (cover artwork) track listing:

01. Apocalyptic Syndrome
02. My Misery
03. The Hate Still Burns
04. Caravan of the Dead
05. Black Domain
06. I Am the End
07. Falling Down
08. Human Plague
09. I Will be the Last
10. Before the Storm

Washington D.C. death/thrash band HAUNTED SHORES has just released a brand new track, "Flourishing", from their upcoming EP release "Maelstrom". It can be streamed at the group's MySpace page.

"Maelstrom" track listing:

01. Via
02. Wraith
03. Turning of Tides
04. The Hollows
05. Crown of Ages
06. Flourishing
07. The Shading of Sin

An album-release show for "Maelstrom" is scheduled for October 5 at Strangeland Records in Annandale, Virginia, with support from ADONIS DECAY (Danceface Records), PERIPHERY, and ADVERSARY.

HAUNTED SHORES is:

Nicholas Dodd - Lead Vocals, Guitar
Mark Holcomb - Guitar
Jeff Holcomb - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Chris Hiebert - Drums

In addition to continuing the recording process for the new TIAMAT album "Amanethes", the group's frontman Johan Edlund is working on a solo album in Swedish. Check out his acoustic, blood-handed ramblings at this location.

TIAMAT has finished laying down the drums and bass for its new album "Amanethes", tentatively due in early 2008 via Nuclear Blast Records. Check out photos from the studio at this location.

TIAMAT's last studio album, "Prey", was released in 2003 through Century Media.

The band's "The Church of Tiamat" DVD entered the Swedish Music DVD chart at position No. 5 in May 2006. An e-card for the DVD is available at this location. The e-card contains several features, such as a streamable sample video of the DVD, photos as well as detailed information on TIAMAT itself and the band's first official DVD release. The video teaser gives you the opportunity to check out the following songs: "Vote For Love", "Children Of The Underworld" and "Gaia".

AGUA DE ANNIQUE, the new band fronted by ex-THE GATHERING singer Anneke van Giersbergen, performed a "secret" show last night at The Little Devil Bar in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Van Giersbergen and her band played tracks from their upcoming debut album, "Air", due on October 30 via The End Records.

Watch fan-filmed video footage from last night's concert:

"Witnesses": Video
"Trail of Grief": Video

"Air" track listing:

01. Beautiful One
02. Witnesses
03. Yalin
04. Day After Yesterday
05. My Girl
06. Take Care of Me
07. Ice Water
08. You Are Nice
09. Trail of Grief
10. Come Wander
11. Sunken Soldiers
12. Lost and Found
13. Asleep

New York metalcore crew BLOODSIMPLE will release its sophomore album, "Red Harvest", on October 30 via Warner Bros. Three songs from the upcoming effort are currently streaming on the band's MySpace page.

"Red Harvest" track listing:

01. Ride With Me
02. Red Harvest
03. Dark Helmet
04. Dead Man Walking
05. Out To Get You
06. Suck It Up
07. Death From Above
08. Whiskey Bent And Hellbound (Hellmyr)
09. Killing Time
10. Truth (Thicker Than Water)
11. Numina Infuscata

Vitamin Records has set an October 23 release date for "…And Christmas For All! The Holiday Tribute to Metallica" (cover).

Says the label: We've taken rock's biggest and baddest songs and shaped them into Christmas instrumentals that would make Irving Berlin blush. This Christmas, ask for something that's really gonna rock your bells.

"Better pray that the Sandman comes early this Christmas Eve. If Santa catches you awake, you ain't gettin' jack. But if he's a METALLICA fan, your two front teeth might be handed to instead! METALLICA's fury can be felt all the way to the North Pole. What better way to ring in the holidays than with these merry versions of their legendary metal anthems?"

"…And Christmas For All! The Holiday Tribute to Metallica" track listing:

01. Nothing Else Matters
02. For Whom the Bell Tolls
03. One
04. The Unforgiven
05. Fade to Black
06. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
07. Wherever I May Roam
08. Master of Puppets
09. Battery
10. The Call of Ktulu

Check out audio samples at this location.

Finnish folk metal bashers KORPIKLAANI have issued the following update:

"Dear friends,

We have been in the studio again every now and then since last spring, and we have more material ready than is needed for an entire album. It is already mixed and ready. The album became quite long, but we just could not drop any of the 14 songs. It was already hard to decide which songs would become bonus tracks.

So, we offer to you 14 new songs plus 2 bonus tracks on our upcoming album Korven Kuningas, which means King Of The Woods'

This time the album cover will be painted, not photoshopped. The old man Vaari will be figuring on the cover again, so it will look familiar and faithful to everyone, even though a different technique is used."

Korpiklaani

As previously reported, Korpiklaani recently signed with Nuclear Blast. A release date for the album is expected to be revealed soon.

Norton Records plans to release of a compilation of DICTATORS demos and unreleased tracks called "Every Day Is Saturday" in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, former DICTATORS/MANOWAR guitarist Ross The Boss and the ROSS THE BOSS BAND are focusing solely on writing new music for their highly anticipated first album.

When asked why he's not giving away much info about the new stuff, Ross replied, "Just because a lion is still does not mean it is not ready to attack."

Ross The Boss recently inked a deal with Germany's AFM Records.

Ross founded MANOWAR along with Joey DeMaio in the early '80s and recorded such metal milestones as "Battle Hymns" (1982), "Into Glory Ride" (1983), "Hail to England" (1984), "Sign of the Hammer" (1984), "Fighting The World" (1987) and "Kings of Metal" (1988). He left the band after the recordings of "Kings of Metal" and made a brief appearance with them at the legendary Earthshaker Fest in 2005.

In 2006 Ross played along with the MANOWAR cover band MEN OF WAR, featuring members of the German metal act IVORY NIGHT, at the Keep It True festival, playing songs from the early MANOWAR albums. More shows followed and finally Ross decided to make a new record with the same musicians under the name ROSS THE BOSS.

ROSS THE BOSS' debut album will be released in 2008. Samples of two songs, entitled "I Got the Right" and "We Will Kill", are available for download at this location.

Metal Mind Productions will re-release ATROCITY's "Todessehnsucht" album on October 15 in Europe and November 5 in the U.S. (via MVD). The digipak edition will be limited to 2,000 numbered copies and will include one bonus track plus liner notes written by the band. The CD was digitally remastered by ATROCITY frontman Alex Krull himself.

"When in 1992 death metal flourished into technicality, 'Todessehnsucht' emerged as ATROCITY's attempt to create an epic album, conjoining both progressive and extreme sounds," reads a press release. "The attempt fully succeeded — the album became one of the most intense and respected productions in the band's entire discography. For many fans this is also one of the best albums in the history of the German death metal scene — a true monument of sophisticated arrangements and blasphemous melodies. It's a conglomerate of aggressive and brutal sounds, supported by truly artistic elements, such as classical music motives and vocals performed by opera singers."

"Todessehnsucht" re-release track listing:

01. Todessehnsucht
02. Godless Years
03. Unspoken Names
04. Defiance
05. Triumph At Dawn
06. Introduction
07. Sky Turned Red
08. Necropolis
09. A Prison Called Earth
10. Todessehnsucht (Reprise)
11. Archangel (bonus track)

According to the official French web site of WITHIN TEMPTATION, the group's new single, "All I Need" (cover artwork), will be released in Europe on November 5. The track listing for the different formats is as follows:

Five-track digipack:

01. All I Need (single version)
02. All I Need (album version)
03. The Last Time (demo version) (new song)
04. Frozen (demo version)
05. Our Solemn Hour (demo version)

Two-track single:

01. All I Need (single version)
02. All I Need (album version)

CIVILIZATION ONE has announced the addition of Christian Münzner (MAJESTY; ex-NECROPHAGIST) as the group's lead guitarist. Chris is a neoclassical shred monster who will add another dimension to the CIVILIZATION ONE musical attack.

The band's new songwriting necessitated adding another guitarist to the fold, as it would have been impossible for a single guitarist to perform all of the parts live. Now the group will have the classic two-guitar lineup which they envisioned since their formation — with an emphasis on dueling leads — as exemplified by such heavy metal greats JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, NEVERMORE, and ARCH ENEMY. CIVILIZATION ONE will no longer have a keyboard player in the band.

CIVILIZATION ONE features in its ranks vocalist Chity Somapala (ex-FIREWIND, AVALON), guitarist Aldo Lanobile (SECRET SPHERE), drummer Luca Cartasegna (ex-SECRET SPHERE), and bassist Pierre-Emmanuel Pélisson (MALADAPTIVE; ex-HEAVENLY).

CIVILIZATION ONE will have its debut album, "Revolution Rising", released in Japan on September 26 via Spiritual Beast Records. This Japanese release will include the bonus track "Out in the Rain". "Revolution Rising" has recently been released in Europe, where it has received great praise from both fans and press alike.