Soilwork Frontman Joins Blues Band

Soilwork frontman, Bjorn "Speed" Strid, has checked in with the following new years update:

"What's up folks!?

"I hope you had a blasting beginning of the new year!
I had a pretty relaxed new years eve, had to take a break from the booze..
Sweden is drowned in snow and not much to do except sitting inside watching movies.. I made a nice purchase when i found the Deep Purple dvd "California Jam 74", it fucken rocks..holy shit!

"I've also joined a bluesband that i'm jamming with 1 or 2 times a week. I've always wanted to try out something like that, no side project just a jam you can do when you have the time.. It was a kick and a challenge to sing something different and i'm sure i can develop my voice playing around with it, singing the blues.. We're playing songs by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Johnny Lang, Clapton etc. Before someone says it, no i will not turn myself and Soilwork into a bluesband...
Just having fun...

"Other than that, working on a replacement for Peter... I'm sure we'll make a decision soon. As you can see we've updated the tourdates with some festivals around Europe. There's a lot more to come, both festivals and tours, so stay tune!

"Cheers, Speed"

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Evildoer To Play Gig In Malmo, Sweden

Evildoer will play at "Hårdrock Skåne" in Malmö, Sweden on January 20th. Support will be Slumber and Blind. The occasion is members only but to become a member just apply at www.hardrockskane.com (you can also become a member in the entrance to the gig).

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Into Eternity Open For Gamma Ray In North America

It appears as if INTO ETERNITY have been added to GAMMA RAY's upcoming short North American tour. Dates for the tour are as follows:

April 30 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (NE Metal & Harcore Fest)
May 1 - New York, NY @ B.B. King Blues Club
May 2 - Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
May 4 - Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
May 5 - Quebec City, QC @ Le Capitole
May 6 - Montreal, QC @ Le Medley

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Subzero Release New Track Online

Subzero have posted a new song entitled "Swingin From The Noose" off of their latest effort "The Suffering of Man" on their MySpace page. Subzero also recently signed a deal with Scarlet Records out of Italy to release "The Suffering of Man" in all of Europe.

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Life of Agony Drummer Available For Hire

LIFE OF AGONY drummer Sal Abruscato will be available for hire for touring and recording purposes throughout 2006. Interested artists can see his discography and hear samples at salabruscato.com.

LIFE OF AGONY recently parted ways with Epic Records after issuing only one album through the label.

Released in June 2005, "Broken Valley" is LIFE OF AGONY's first collection of new material since "Soul Searching Sun", which was issued in 1997. The group's previous release was a live album and DVD, entitled "River Runs Again: Live 2003". The two-disc set was recorded during the group's sold-out reunion shows at Irving Plaza in New York City on January 3-4, 2003 and was issued through SPV Records worldwide.

"Broken Valley" has sold around 30,000 copies in the United States so far, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

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Japanese Girl Band Gallhammer Sign w/ Peaceville

Peaceville Records has announced the signing of GALLHAMMER. Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, this three-girl combo is anything but what you’ve come to expect from the polite and serene land of the rising sun (or daughter in this case).

Peaceville are currently compiling GALLHAMMER's first major European release which will be a retrospective look over their material from previous underground releases, coupled with a DVD of an awesome performance in Tokyo "which has to be seen to be believed," according to a press release. "We apologize in advance for any fright caused when watching this crustcore combo in action. It would be lost in translation to try to explain, but they achieve some kind of trance-like state fed on horrendously loud feedback which Jonas Renkse of KATATONIA described as 'scary'."

GALLHAMMER will enter an as yet undetermined Tokyo studio in the spring to record the first full album for Peaceville and a host of producers are being vetted for the mix.

Musically inspired by long forgotten U.K. crust bands AXEGRINDER and AMEBIX, but with a heavy dose of modern slime a la AUTOPSY and DARKTHRONE and a nod to CELTIC FROST/HELLHAMMER, this outfit are a breath of stale air in a fresh market.

GALLHAMMER is:

Mika Penetrator - Vocals/Guitar
Risa Reaper - Drums/Vocals
Vivian Slaughter - Vocals/Bass

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Iceland's Changer Recording New EP

Icelandic extreme metallers CHANGER are currently recording a new EP, tentatively due early this year. The follow-up to 2004's "Scenes" will contain four songs and is being produced by CHANGER themselves. The as-yet-unnamed effort will feature new singer Egill (formerly of MUNNRIDUR) and new bass player Gisli (formerly of DREP, SORORICIDE).

CHANGER's current lineup:

Egill - Vocals
Johann - Guitar
Gisli - Bass and Backing Vocals
Kristjan - Drums

CHANGER are shopping around for a new record label.

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Pyramaze, Wastefall On Progpower USA VII Festival

Danish/American metallers PYRAMAZE (featuring ex-BALANCE OF POWER singer Lance King) and Greece's WASTEFALL are the first two bands confirmed for the ProgPower USA VII festival, set to take place in September at Earthlink Live In Atlanta, Georgia. PYRAMAZE will open the two-day festival on a Friday, while WASTEFALL will kick things off the next day. Tickets go on sale April 1 at 10:00 a.m. EST via all Ticketmaster outlets. Only 900 regular tickets will be made available to the public (advanced gold badge tickets are sold out). Cost is $104 for a two-day pass. No individual-day tickets will be sold. When deciding on your date of purchase, please keep in mind that tickets for the past three shows sold out over four months in advance of the show date.

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The Concubine Part With Vocalist

The Concubine have parted ways with vocalist Mat Olivo as a result of "his lack of time and funds for the band." As such, the band is looking for a replacement. Interested candidates should contact Dan Pilla (AIM: sandboxmagician or MySpace). Regardless of the loss, the group will enter Clay Creek Studios in Newark, DE tomorrow with Nick Rotundo to record a new album for Corrosive Recordings, which will be available this spring.

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Pyromusic.net Seeks Aussie Metal Band Logos

Pyromusic.net is seeking Australian band logos for their upcoming directory of Aussie metal band logos in both Raster (TIF, PSD) and Vector (EPS, AI) formats for designers, promoters and media. For more information, read the full post here.

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More Bands Confirmed For Bloodstock 2006

Bloodstock 2006 has announced that the UK's reformed thrashers ONSLAUGHT have been confirmed to join PRIMAL FEAR, MACHINE MEN, OMNIUM GATHERUM, DIED SMILING, ENEMY UNKNOWN, BEYOND AFTERLIFE and STEEL TORMENTOR to be the first 8 bands for the 6th annual BLOODSTOCK FESTIVAL to be held at the Assembly Rooms in Derby on 29th - 30th September 2006. Details with links to the bands respective websites are now online at bloodstockfestival.com.

There will be 25-26 bands in total, so another 17-18 will be announced in the forthcoming months.

Tickets for the 2-day show are £51 including a £1 booking fee. Or combine tickets and merchandise with the Bloodstock Open Air for the Supporters Club pass for £120. Tickets and Passes are available to buy online now at bloodstockfestival.com. The artwork for Bloodstock 2006 will be online shortly, with details of some new 2006 merchandise.

In related new, the first bands for the second BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR festival on July 14th - 15th, 2006 will be announced shortly. Separate tickets for this show will be available when the first bands are announced.

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With Passion Announce New Members and Tour Dates

With Passion post an update on their Myspace page:

"The long wait is over, and we are back out of hiatus! With Passion and Conducting From The Grave have joined together as one band! Please welcome Greg, Jeff and John! We have spent the last couple months practicing for this tour and writing new material. We will be performing two new songs at every upcoming show that are now posted. We are on the road next week with Nile, Hypocrisy, Soilent Green,
Decapitated, and Raging Speedhorn. We have some local shows before the Nile tour with some friends of ours! All tour dates and show info as far as we have has been posted.

Upcoming With Passion Tour dates:
Jan 7 San Francisco, CA
with: Light This City

Jan 8 The Workshop, Ceres, CA
with: This Side Of A Nightmare, Before I Wake, Arturro Gatti

"Annihilation Of The Wicked" US Tour with: Nile, Hypocrisy, Soilent
Green, Decapitated, and Raging Speedhorn
Jan 13 Engine Room - Houston, TX
Jan 14 Ridglea Theatre - Ft. Worth, TX
Jan 15 Sanctuary - San Antonio, TX
Jan 17 Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ
Jan 18 Galaxy Theatre - Santa Ana, CA
Jan 19 The Key Club - Hollywood, CA
Jan 20 The Pound - San Francisco, CA
Jan 21 The Boardwalk - Orangevale, CA
Jan 22 Berbati's Pan - Portland, OR
Jan 23 El Corazon - Seattle, WA
Jan 25 Bluebird Theatre - Denver, CO
Jan 26 Sokol Underground - Omaha, NE
Jan 27 Granada Theatre - Lawrence, KS
Jan 28 Pop's - Sauget, IL
Jan 29 Star Central - Columbia Heights, MN
Jan 30 House of Blues - Chicago, IL
Jan 31 Bogart's - Cincinnati, OH
Feb 1 Peabody's Down Under - Cleveland, OH
Feb 2 Penny Arcade - Rochester, NY
Feb 3 The Chance - Poughkeepsie, NY
Feb 4 The Palladium - Worcester, MA
Feb 6 B.B. Kings Blues Club - New York City, NY
Feb 8 Jaxx - Springfield, VA
Feb 9 The Norva - Norfolk, VA
Feb 10 The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
Feb 11 The Masquerade - Tampa, FL
Feb 12 Culture Room - Ft. Lauderdale, FL More...

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Single Bullet Theory Announce New Drummer

Philadelphia-based metallers SINGLE BULLET THEORY have announced the addition of drummer Darrin Patrick to the group's ranks. "Darrin is best known for his work with progressive band ETERNITY X as well as North Jersey's SMOTHER THERESA," the band write in a statement. "Darrin can be heard on SINGLE BULLET THEORY's forthcoming disc, 'The Killing Floor', due out mid-2006. 'The Killing Floor' was produced by SINGLE BULLET THEORY at Angry Chair studios and features 10 blistering tracks. Engineering duties were handled by longtime SINGLE BULLET THEORY studio drummer Jason Dunkerley, with additional engineering by Carlos Alverez (SHADOWDANCE). The record can be best described as a return to the 'Route 666'-era SINGLE BULLET THEORY and is far less experimental then 2004's 'Behind Eyes of Hatred'. It is unclear what label will be releasing the disc. However, the band has been in talks with two notable companies and plan on having a deal secured within the next month or so!"

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Prejudice Sign With Sleaszy Rider Records

Belgian death metallers PREJUDICE have inked a deal with Greece's Sleaszy Rider Records. The group will enter Excess studio in Rotterdam, Holland in September to begin recording their fourth album, tentatively due on January 15, 2007. Mixing duties will be handled by Tue Madsen at Antfarm in Aarhus, Denmark. "Who will master the new album we don't know it 100% yet at this given point but we have Cutting Room in Sweden in mind!" the band write on their web site. "Who will do the layout, we [will] reveal that later on."

Regarding what the fans can look forward to on the upcoming CD, the group write, "Expect nothing less then 'Dominion of Chaos' [the group's third album, which was released in 2003 on Painkiller Records]; we'll raise the benchmark of 'Dominion of Chaos' to a higher brutal extreme level.

In other news, Sleaszy Rider Records will be reissuing all of PREJUDICE's previous albums: 1996's "Broken Promises" (featuring the band's demo as bonus), 2001's "Reality" (which will be remixed) and 2003's "Dominion of Chaos" (re-mastered). The first of the reissues will arrive in March just before the band's European tour with SUHRIM.

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