DIMMU BORGIR made Norwegian music history this week when it topped the country's album chart, VG-lista, with its latest release, "In Sorte Diaboli". The CD also sold extremely well in such countries as Sweden, Finland, Austria and Switzerland, and last week reached No. 43 on the American Billboard chart. Unfortunately, the Norwegian band can forget about achieving the same results in England, according to Dagbladet.no.

Last week "In Sorte Diaboli" was disqualified twice by The Official UK Charts Company, which was established by the music industry to regulate and control the chart compilation process and to ensure that the charts represent an accurate assessment of popularity.

"This is not funny," says Yorck Eysel, the label manager for DIMMU BORGIR's Germany-based record company, Nuclear Blast. "I hope that nobody blames us, but rather blames the almost unbelievably strict rules in England."

According to Eysel, The Official UK Charts Company disqualified the album twice last week. First they made the decision to exclude the CD based on a mirror which is featured on the cover of the digipack release.

"First they disqualified us because of this mirror, which is nothing but decoration inside the package," he says. "We went ahead and complained about this and then we got a note saying that we wouldn't be on the list anyway since the packaging for the CD includes a flyer where we announce a competition for record buyers to win an opportunity to meet the band."

Eysel feels that it is a pity the disqualification was made final, since DIMMU BORGIR's chances of landing on the U.K. chart were quite high.

"They obviously examined the CD packaging carefully, and I don't think they would've done that if we had been just another band that didn't have a pretty good chance of making the chart," he says.

Eysel says that the label shipped more than 10,000 copies of "In Sorte Diaboli" to English retail outlets.

"We have been going for 20 years now, and we have achieved high chart numbers with bands like NIGHTWISH, for example," he says. "Something like this (with DIMMU BORGIR) has never happened before."

Eysel characterizes the decision by The Official UK Charts Company to exclude DIMMU BORGIR's CD as "ridiculous," but the company's rules are clearly spelled out on its web site. According to paragraph 6.1, "a competition featured on or within the packaging of any album release will render the format ineligible for inclusion in the charts."

"We did not announce the competition on the cover," Eysel counters. "Therefore it is impossible for the record buyers to learn of the flyer's existence before they buy the CD. It is difficult to understand why the Englishmen think this has provided us with an unfair marketing advantage."

This is not the first time The Official UK Charts Company has sparked a public debate by excluding an artist.

Last fall they disqualified BECK's "The Information", because the record buyers got a blank cover and a sheet with a sticker instead of a traditional cover.

The idea was to enable the fans to make their own cover art. However, this made the album ineligible for the U.K. chart, said The Official UK Charts Company.

DELAIN — the Dutch gothic rock project founded by ex-WITHIN TEMPTATION keyboardist Martijn Westerholt (brother of WITHIN TEMPTATION's Robert Westerholt) — has selected "See Me in Shadow" as the second single from its debut album, "Lucidity", which came out last year. The video for "See Me in Shadow" was shot earlier today (Tuesday, May 8) "in a very special country cottage in Brabant, Holland," according to a posting on the group's web site.

DELAIN's video for its first single, "Frozen", has been posted at YouTube. The track comes off "Lucidity", which last year climbed from position No. 76 to No. 43 on the Dutch album chart. In addition to Martijn Westerholt and Charlotte Wessels (vocals), the CD features guest appearances by the following musicians:

Jan Yrlund (ex-LACRIMOSA) - Guitars
Ariën van Weesenbeek (GOD DETHRONED) - Drums
Ad Sluijter (EPICA)
George Oosterhoek (ex-ORPHANAGE)
Guus Eikens (ex-ORPHANAGE)
Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION)
Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH)
Liv Kristine (LEAVES' EYES)

"Lucidity" contains some interesting duets: Liv Kristine sings with Marco Hietala on "Day For Ghosts" and with Charlotte on "See Me In Shadow". Sharon den Adel's distinctive voice is a great counterpart to Marco's intense vocals on "No Compliance", whereas the heavy grunts of George Oosthoek combine very well with Charlotte's peaceful voice on a number of other tracks.

MARILYN MANSON's video for his new single, "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)", has been posted online at www.marilynmanson.com. (**NOTE: This video is not meant to be viewed by anyone under the age of 16.)

The single, which comes off Manson's upcoming album "Eat Me, Drink Me", will be released May 28 and can be pre-ordered at Amazon.co.uk.

According to MarilynManson.de, there will be two versions of the single released in Germany with the following track listings:

"Heart Shaped Glasses" (Single)

01. Heart Shaped Glasses
02. Putting Holes in Happiness (Acoustic Version)
03. Heart Shaped Glasses (Penetrate the Canvas Remix)
04. Heart Shaped Glasses (Remix)

"Heart Shaped Glasses" (2-Track Single)

01. Heart Shaped Glasses
02. Putting Holes in Happiness (Acoustic Version)

Italian melodic power metallers VISION DIVINE, the brainchild of ex-LABYRINTH mastermind Olaf Thörsen, have posted the cover artwork for their new album, "The 25th Hour", at this location. Due on June 4 via Scarlet Records, the CD's production was once again handled by Timo Tolkki (STRATOVARIUS) and Luigi Stefanini at the New Sin Studios.

Commented Thörsen: "The new concept is based on the diary of the same man who had a lead role in 'Stream of Consciousness', forty years after he was locked in a mental hospital in complete solitude and with any type of contact with the outside. Despite that, one day the man was found still on the floor of his prison cell, clearly as a consequence of something that has happened the previous night, with a diary next to him and, for the first time, a peaceful smile on his face. Strangely enough, even the pendulum clock in the room stopped working…"

"The 25th Hour" track listing:

01. My Angel Died
02. The 25th Hour
03. Out Of A Distant Night (Voices)
04. Alpha & Omega
05. Eyes Of A Child
06. The Daemon You Hide
07. Essence Of Time
08. Perfect Suicide
09. Heaven Calling

VISION DIVINE will embark on an Asian tour late spring/early summer, playing for the first time in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and China, and returning to Japan. A South American tour will follow.

VISION DIVINE's last album, "The Perfect Machine", was released in 2005 through Scarlet Records.

Veteran German metallers HELLOWEEN entered singer Andi Deris' Mi Sueno Studios in Tenerife, Spain today (Friday, May 11) to begin recoding the as-yet-untitled follow-up to the highly acclaimed and successful "Keeper of the Seven Keys – The Legacy" studio album, the double live CD "Live in Sao Paulo" and the double live DVD "Live on 3 Continents". According to HELLOWEEN's management, Bottom Row Promotion, the band has once again teamed up with longtime producer Charlie Bauerfeind (BLIND GUARDIAN, SAXON). The planned release date is Halloween, October 31. The group will kick off a world tour mid-November in Europe, to be followed by Southeast Asia, and North and South America in the first half of 2008.

German black/death/gothic metallers AGATHODAIMON have announced the addition of Jonas Iscariot (vocals) and Jan Jansohn (guitar) to the group's ranks. "After a bunch of rehearsals with the new guys, we feel that we now have the strongest lineup ever and can't wait to hit the stage again!" the band said in a statement.

AGATHODAIMON 2007 is:

Felix Ü. Walzer (keys)
Till Ottinger (bass)
Jonas Iscariot (vocals)
Matthias Rodig (drums)
Sathonys (guitars)
Jan Jansohn (guitars)

Check out a photo of the new lineup at this location.

AGATHODAIMON last year announced the addition of bassist Till Ottinger (ex-MISANTHROPIC) to the group's ranks.

Displeased Records has set a May 28 release date for the reissue of Belgian grindcore band AGATHOCLES' 1991 album, "Theatric Symbolisation of Life", featuring a full 1990 live show as a bonus. The package will feature remastered sound and renewed/improved layout. The track listing is as follows:

Studio 1991:

01. Burning Water (intro) / Lack of Personality
02. Four Walls
03. Theatric Symbolisation of Life
04. Like an Ivy (poem) / Suffocation
05. Kill Your Fucking Idols
06. The Truth Begins Where Man Stops to Think
07. Train (poem) / The Tree
08. What a Nerve
09. Alternative - Another Trend

Live 1990:

10. The Tree
11. Let It Be for What It Is
12. Lack of Personality
13. Theatric Symbolisation of Life
14. Consuming Endoderme Pus
15. Suffocation
16. Four Walls
17. What a Nerve
18. Threshold to Senility
19. Pulverised

Germany's AT VANCE will release its new album, "VII", on June 29 via AFM Records. The group's seventh effort marks the debut of new singer Rick Altzi and features the band's "very own interpretation on neo-classical power metal that crosses elegantly with the true spirit of '80s hard rock," according to a press release.

"VII" track listing:

01. Breaking The Night
02. Shiver
03. Cold As Ice
04. Victory
05. Friendly Fire
06. Golden Leaves
07. Answer Me
08. Shine
09. Truth
10. Lost In Your Love

RAGE guitarist Victor Smolski recently completed work on a compilation CD to celebrate Nuclear Blast Records' 20th anniversary, entitled "Into the Light". Smolski composed, recorded and produced 10 songs for various metal artists that are part of the Nuclear Blast history, including a track that is being recorded and performed by his own band.

"Into the Light" will be released as double-CD, featuring a bonus disc with classics, rare tracks and brand new songs. Also, watch out for "Into the Light"'s dark twin "Out of the Dark", coming in the second half of 2007.

"Into the Light" track listing:

CD:

01. Dirty Wings (feat. Tobias Sammet)
02. Terrified (feat. Peter Peavy Wagner)
03. Ruling The World (feat. Tony Kakko)
04. Death Is Alive (feat. Mats Leven)
05. Bloodsucker (feat. Marcel Schmier Schirmer)
06. Slaves To The Desert (feat. Hansi Kürsch)
07. A Perfect Day (feat. Andi Deris)
08. Eternally (feat. Oddleif Stensland)
09. Inner Sanctuary (feat. Marco Hietala)
10. In The Picture (feat. Tarja Turunen)

Bonus CD:

01. HAMMERFALL - Hearts on Fire
02. HELLOWEEN - The Madness Of The Crowds (Japan-Bonus 'Dark Ride' album) *
03. GOTTHARD - El Traidor (Anytime, Anywhere Spanish version) *
04. AFTER FOREVER - Sweet Enclosure *
05. RIDE THE SKY - New Protection (new band of Uli Kusch) *
06. THUNDERSTONE - Forevermore
07. THRESHOLD - Slipstream
08. AMORPHIS - The Smoke
09. CANDLEMASS - Devil Seed (brandnew song) *
10. SIRENIA - The Other Side

* new song or rare bonus track.

Lineup:

Victor Smolski - Songwriting, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards
Andre Hilgers, Volker Schultz - Drums
Jan-Michael Keller - Bass
Andreas Dirksmeier - Keyboards
Mario LeMole, Jen Majura - Backing Vocals

Vocals:

Tobias Sammet (EDGUY)
Peavy Wagner (RAGE)
Tony Kakko (SONATA ARCTICA)
Schmier (DESTRUCTION)
Hansi Kürsch (BLIND GUARDIAN)
Mats Leven (THERION, KRUX)
Andi Deris (HELLOWEEN)
Oddleif Stensland (COMMUNIC)

Sydney, Australia-based metallers DAYSEND will release their sophomore album, "The Warning", on May 28 through Faultline Records/Stomp Distribution. The follow-up to 2003's "Severance", was produced by dw Norton at Backbeach Recording Studios in Victoria, Australia and marks the band's first release with vocalist Mark McKernan. A song from the effort, entitled "No Regrets", is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.

Commented bassist Meredith Webster: "The songs are definitely in a heavier vein than 'Severance', but we have by no means lost the melodic touch. We've had a pretty full on few years, and it was bound to show in our music — the whole writing and recording process has been pretty cathartic for us all. We are going to bleed these tunes when we take to the stage again!"

French heavy metallers NIGHTMARE have posted a couple of new videos on YouTube. Check out a clip of the band performing "Heretic" at France's Hellfest in 2006 and video footage of the group playing "The Legend" during their comeback gig in Grenoble, France in 1999.

NIGHTMARE has entered Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström (DIMMU BORGIR, IN FLAMES, HAMMERFALL, DREAM EVIL) to begin recording its sixth studio album. After three albums that were helmed by Norwegian producer Terje Refsnes, the band has now opted for a new challenge. The follow-up to 2005's "The Dominion Gate" will be released in the fall by Sweden's Regain Records. A European tour will follow. The band has also joined forces with international booking agent MDM Concerts in Germany in cooperation with Blue Steel Agency.

A new ALICE COOPER new "best-of" collection, entitled "The Best of Alice Cooper", has just been released in the U.K. The track listing is as follows:

01. Poison
02. Bed Of Nails
03. House Of Fire
04. Love's A Loaded Gun
05. Feed My Frankenstein
06. Lost In America
07. It's Me
08. Billion Dollar Babies
09. No More Mr Nice Guy
10. Stolen Prayer
11. Snakebite
12. This Maniac's In Love With You
13. Trash
14. Sideshow
15. Under My Wheels

Video footage of Italian power metallers KALEDON working on a new song for their upcoming album has been posted at YouTube.

KALEDON's latest album, "Chapter 4: Twilight of the Gods", was released in Europe in December via Hellion Records. An MP3 of the track "Clash of the Titans" has been made available for download at this location.

KALEDON's first three full-length albums are now available in the United States through Mythic Silence Records.

According to MTV.com, Detroit-based extreme metallers THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER have set "Nocturnal" as the title of their follow-up to 2005's "Miasma", due later in the year via Metal Blade Records. "It's definitely in the same vein as our older stuff," vocalist Trevor Strnad told MTV.com in January. "Nothing drastically changed. It's just more tasteful, and some of this new stuff will be faster than the last record."

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER will record the new CD with Eric Rachel, who mixed "Miasma". "There's going to be a lot more soloing than we've done previously," Strnad explained to MTV.com. "This record's a bit more European-sounding, I think. More so than we already were, if you can imagine that. The solo stuff has a black metal-ish flavor to it. We messed around with that a little bit previously, but some of the songs have a major DISSECTION kind of feel to them."

Lyrically, Strnad said the record — due in the fall — will be "more horror-oriented" than "Miasma". "As far as gore and death and stuff like that goes, I mean, that's all been done — into the ground," he said. "I am just trying to do something like that, but with my own flavor to it. There are still ways to repulse people out there — I just need to figure it all out."

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER is also working on its first DVD release, which Strnad hopes will include footage documenting the making of the band's next record.

Swedish metallers SOILWORK are continuing work on their new album, due later in the year via Nuclear Blast Records. The band has issued the following update on the recording process:

"We rigged up two more control rooms and started to record the bass and keyboards, simultaneously with the guitars. So far, everything sounds great.

"Björn [vocalist Björn 'Speed' Strid] left to Canada three days ago and he will start to record the vocals with Devin [Townsend, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD mastermind] in the next couple of days. As soon we're done with the basic recordings of a song, we will wire it to Björn and Devin, then they will start to work with the vocals. Meanwhile, we will continue with the recordings of keys, bass, melodic guitars and solos.

"Still a long way to go."

Songtitles set to appear on the new SOILWORK album include "Your Beloved Scapegoat", "Light Discovering Darkness", "The Snare Broken" and "The Pittsburgh Syndrome".

According to KHTV Little Rock, Amy Lee, the 25-year-old lead singer of EVANESCENCE, got married to her therapist fiance, Josh Hartzler, 28, this past weekend.

Amy's father, John Lee, confirmed to Evanescencefan.net that his daughter and Hartzler were married on Sunday (May 6) in a very private ceremony. John said of the wedding, "The big deal at the wedding was the flowers. Many, many flowers. It was absolutely beautiful and everything went perfectly." He also added that the newlyweds are now on their honeymoon on a remote island.

Amy got engaged to Josh in January while the band was in Toronto to perform at the Air Canada Centre.

The longtime friends had been dating for more than a year. It is Lee's first marriage.

Guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray left EVANESCENCE last week for undisclosed reasons.

LeCompt claimed on his MySpace.com blog that he was fired during a cell phone conversation with Amy Lee, while drummer Rocky Gray said he was asked by band management not to discuss the situation.

However, Lee said in a statement that EVANESCENCE remains "alive and well" and will soon return to the road with new musicians.

"John and Rocky were in EVANESCENCE for four years and we shared some great times together playing live, but they were ready to move on and so we have parted ways," she said. "EVANESCENCE is something I have loved and nurtured since I was 14, and I will continue to protect and fight for it as I always have."

EVANESCENCE is due to return to the stage May 19 at the first Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio, and has European dates on tap through late June.

According to Roadrunner Records U.K. , Dutch female-fronted symphonic metal band WITHIN TEMPTATION will release "The Howling" as the second single from its latest album, "The Heart of Everything", on June 11.

WITHIN TEMPTATION released a limited-edition EP, "The Howling", in the U.S. on May 1, available exclusively at Hot Topic for the low price of $1.99. The group's new album, "The Heart of Everything", which came out in Europe in March, will be released in the U.S. on July 24 via Roadrunner Records. The band's video for the single "What Have You Done" is available for viewing at this location. The clip features a guest appearance by Keith Caputo of LIFE OF AGONY.

Italian gothic metallers MACBETH have shot a video for the song "Without You" with Italian director Mirco Andreis. The track comes off the group's forthcoming album. According to a press release, the CD — the group's fourth — will feature ten cuts and a "renewed sound."

MACBETH recently posted a video of the band touring in Mexico and South America at YouTube. The clip was shot during the "Malae Artes" tour.

MACBETH's last CD, "Malae Artes", was released in March 2005 via Dragonheart Records. The follow-up to 2000's "Vanitas" featured 10 tracks "in the vein of LACUNA COIL, NIGHTWISH and TRISTANIA," according to a press release.

Omaha, Nebraska power metallers CELLADOR are currently in their home studio doing the pre-production for their upcoming album, which should come out early 2008.

Guitarist Bill Hudson and newly acquired bassist Mika Horiuchi have recorded a short video where they talk about the next album, and play a small section of one of the songs. The clip can be seen here.

CELLADOR's "Enter Deception" album was released in June 2006 via Metal Blade. The CD was recorded at Mana Studios in Tampa, Florida with producer Erik Rutan (MORBID ANGEL, HATE ETERNAL).

Gary Graff of Billboard.com reports: Alice Cooper kicks off a world tour on May 28 in Santiago, Chile, and is due in North America later this summer. He's put off recording his next album, a conceptual pieces about a serial killer called "Along Came a Spider", until 2008 but says it could turn into a two-CD set.

"That would be great; I've never done one," Cooper says. "We wrote 20 songs thinking we were going to get this album recorded before this tour. We just ran out of time. But since we have five months on the road we'll probably write another 10 songs. I'd like to put out 30 brand new songs on one album."

Former MASTERPLAN/ARK frontman Jorn Lande has been confirmed as one of the guests on "The Scarecrow", the third installment of EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA solo project. The album is being produced by Sascha Paeth, who also played the rhythm guitar on the CD. The drums were laid down by KISS/ALICE COOPER drummer Eric Singer and the bass is being handled by Tobias himself.

In a recent interview, Sammet described the music on the new AVANTASIA CD as "diversified, pomp metal with some classic rock elements, Classic orchestrated moments and Celtic stuff, a big timeless production and so on and so forth. It's going to consist of many different elements. Bombastic kick-ass music with a lot of heart and depth."

Check out photos from the recording sessions at this location.

The new AVANTASIA album will be a concept album featuring different singers singing different characters in a story. But the concept itself won't be a sequel to the first two AVANTASIA albums.

AVANTASIA's last release was the two-part epic called "The Metal Opera" (issued in 2001 and 2002), which featured an impressive array of guest vocalists playing the various characters of the opera, including Michael Kiske (ex-HELLOWEEN), David DeFeis (VIRGIN STEELE), Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION), Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY), André Matos (ANGRA, SHAAMAN), Timo Tolkki (STRATOVARIUS), Rob Rock (WARRIOR), and others.

Danish metallers IRON FIRE, who are fronted by FORCE OF EVIL singer Martin Steene, will release fourth album, "Blade of Triumph", due on June 29 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and in the rest of Europe on July 2 via Napalm Records. A song from the new album, entitled "Bridges Will Burn", is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.

"Blade of Triumph" track listing:

01. Dragonheart
02. Bloodbath of Knights
03. Dawn of Victory
04. Lord of the Labyrinth
05. Bridges Will Burn
06. Follow the Sign
07. Steel Invaders
08. Jackal's Eye
09. Legend of the Magic Sword
10. Gladiators Path
11. Blade of Triumph

"Blade of Triumph" is the follow-up to "Revenge", which was released in March 2006 via Napalm.

IRON FIRE will support KAMELOT on May 17 at The Rock in Copenhagen, Denmark.

IRON FIRE issued two full-length albums through the Sanctuary/Noise label prior to signing with Napalm: 2000's "Thunderstorm" and 2001's "On the Edge".

DIMMU BORGIR has entered the Norwegian album chart at No. 1 with its latest effort, "In Sorte Diaboli" — the first time a black metal act has ever topped a national album chart anywhere in the world. SATYRICON's "Now, Diabolical" and DIMMU BORGIR's last release, "Death Cult Armageddon", previously reached the No. 2 position on the Norwegian album chart.

DIMMU BORGIR's chart-topper comes just a week after "In Sorte Diaboli" reached No. 43 on The Billboard 200, making them the first Norwegian band since the Eighties pop act A-HA to crack the U.S. Top 50, reports the Norwegian music industry weekly Faro Journalen.

Stein Østbø reviewed "In Sorte Diaboli" for Norway's biggest daily newspaper Verdens Gang (VG), and gave it the highest possible rating (6 out of 6). He says DIMMU BORGIR's No. 1 is nothing less than the most radical achievement in the history of the Norwegian charts.

"Because of the black metal genre's extreme expression, I would characterize this as the most astonishing thing that has ever happened on the Norwegian charts," he says.

Espen Solheim Røhne at Indie Distribution, which handles Nuclear Blast Records' releases in Norway, says the label expected to have a No. 1 album with DIMMU BORGIR's latest. He says the company decided to start advertising on TV earlier than originally planned, and if the album continues to sell well in its second week, they will buy more TV spots for "In Sorte Diaboli".

"We are in discussion with cable network TV 3 to buy more airtime from them, but we will continue advertising on TV through the end of May, no matter what happens," he says.

Solheim Røhne says the No. 1 is especially impressive when you consider the competition.

"When you watch TV in the evening, it seems like there are MIKA and ELTON JOHN spots in every commercial break," he explains. "This achievement with DIMMU BORGIR is exactly what everybody in this business is striving for: release good records that sell well, and when you reach No. 1 it's just perfect."

DIMMU BORGIR was originally formed in the early '90s in the small Norwegian city Jessheim. Vegard Jensen, who runs the Jessheim branch of the Norwegian record-store chain Free Record Shop, reports that local support for "In Sorte Diaboli" runs high. "It's just too bad I didn't stock more records, because I ran out today (Monday, May 7)," he says. "Since DIMMU is from around here it's natural that they sell a lot of records, but with the album they've produced they deserve to sell a lot of records."

DIMMU BORGIR's "Death Cult Armageddon" has sold 18,000 copies in Norway to date, according to Faro Journalen.

French goth metal act THE OLD DEAD TREE will enter Stage One studio in Germany on July 3 with producer Andy Classen to begin recording its third album. The band describes the new material as "a twisted and schizophrenic blend of evocative riffs and arrangements put together with an overload of sheer emotion. The new songs do widen the previous artistic borders without disavowing the typical musical identity of the band."

THE OLD DEAD TREE's as-yet-untitled new CD is tentatively due in the fall via Season of Mist.

THE OLD DEAD TREE's last album, "The Perpetual Motion", was released in 2005 via Season of Mist. The follow-up to 2003's "The Nameless Disease" was recorded at Stage One studio with Andy Classen.

The cover artwork for AMORPHIS's new single, "Silent Waters", has been posted online at this location. Due on June 27 via Nuclear Blast Records, the single is currently available for pre-order from the Nuclear Blast Online Shop.

"Silent Waters" single track listing:

01. Silent Waters (edit)
02. Sign
03. Silent Waters (album version)

"Silent Waters" is the title track of AMORPHIS' upcoming album, which is scheduled for release on August 29 (Finland)/August 31 (other countries). Like its predecessor "Eclipse", the new CD will be thematically based on an episode from Finland's national epic, the "Kalevala".

"Silent Waters" was recorded at Sonic Pump studios in Helsinki, Finland. Mixing duties were handled by Mikko Karmila (NIGHTWISH, STRATOVARIUS) at Finnvox studios.

"Silent Waters" track listing:

01. Weaving The Incantation
02. A Servant
03. Silent Waters
04. Towards And Against
05. I Of Crimson Blood
06. Her Alone
07. Enigma
08. Shaman
09. The White Swan
10. Black River
11. Sign (bonus track on digipak)

Throughout the summer months, AMORPHIS will be busy touring festivals home and abroad. In addition to a number of Finnish dates, several appearances in Germany and Belgium are already confirmed.

AMORPHIS' last album, "Eclipse", was issued in a limited vinyl edition in a deluxe gatefold sleeve by Black Lodge Records under worldwide license from Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to 2003's "Far from the Sun" was recorded at Sonic Pump studios with engineer Nino Laurenne (THUNDERSTONE). The production duties were handled by the band and Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH) for vocals. The mixing was taken care of by Karmila (who previously worked with the group on their "Am Universum" CD) at Finnvox in Helsinki.