Prong Announce European Tour Dates

PRONG, who have just released their new album, Power Of The Damager, via 13th Planet Records, have scheduled a string of European tour dates in January, 2008.

Upcoming Prong dates currently include:

October
12 - Bakersfield, CA - Fish Lips
13 - San Marcos, CA - Jumping Turtle
14 - West Hollywood, CA - Whiskey-A-Go-Go
16 - Flagstaff, AR - Orpheum Theatre
17 - The Rock, AR - The Rock
18 - Albuquerque, NM - Launch Pad
19 - Ok City, OK - The Conservatory
20 - Austin, TX - Emo's Alternative Lounging
21 - Houston, TX - The Meridian
23 - Nashville, TN - The Muse
24 - Covington, KY - The Mad Hatter
25 - Springfield, VA - Jaxx
26 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Loft
27 - Bedford, NH - Mark's Showplace
28 - New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
29 - Allentown, PA - Crocodile Rock Cafe
30 - Toronto, ON - Funhaus
31 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's

November
1 - Detroit, MI - I-Rock
2 - Mokena, IL - The Pearl Room
3 - Cudahy, WI - Vnuk's Lounge
4 - Maplewood, MN - The Rock
5 - Cedar Falls, IA - Reverb
6 - Topeka, KS - Static Bar
7 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
9 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
10 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
11 - Bend, OR - Domino Room
12 - Modesto, CA - Fat Cat Music House and Lounge
17 - Coeur D'Alene, ID - The Grail

January
9 - London, England - Underworld
10 - Paris, France - Locomotive
11- Antwerp, Belgium - Hof Ter Loo
12 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
13 - Milan, Italy - Transsilvania
15 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
16 - Graz, Austria - Orpheum
17 - Stuttgart, Germany - Röhre
18 - Essen, Germany - Turock
19 - Hellendoorn, Germany - TBA
20 - Den Bosch, Germany - Willem 2
22 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
23 - Saarbrucken, Germany - Roxy
24 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof

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Sodom Update Live Schedule

German thrashers SODOM have updated their tour schedule with the following dates confirmed:

October
20 - Valencia, Spain - HMH Festival
27 - Koblenz, Germany - Rhein Metal Cruise II

November
2 - Mexico City, Mexico - Circo Volador
3 - Monterrey, Mexico - Café Iguana

December
1 - Arnhem, Netherlands - Arnhem Metal Meeting
2 - Essen, Germany - Metalbörse West Stadthalle
16 - Würzburg, Germany - Metalbörse Soundpark Ost

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The Cancer Conspiracy Set To Release Final Album

After spending over three years in legal limbo following the collapse of former label Big Wheel Recreation (Piebald, Jimmy Eat World, At The Drive In), the follow-up to The Cancer Conspiracy's 2002 instrumental post-prog masterpiece, "The Audio Medium," will finally see the light of day in January. The eight song full-length, simply titled "O," will be co-released this Winter by the Boston collective Radar Recordings (Junius, Constants, Carrigan) and Wisconsin's Gilead Media (The Appleseed Cast, mewithoutYou, Mouth of The Architect).

The Cancer Conspiracy has been equally recognized for its beautiful works of "complex polyrhythmic psychedelica" (Aaron Turner) as for the aura of mystery and intrigue which has surrounded its members since the band's inception in 2001. Radar and Gilead have been working for the past several years to restore the recording's legal rights to their proper owners: the band members themselves. With this accomplished, the album can now be made available to the public.

An online pre-sale begins on October 15th at gileadmedia.net and radarrecordings.com and will be available as a standard package (CD or vinyl only), or as a deluxe package including the CD/LP, a limited edition Cancer Conspiracy t-shirt, silk-screened patch, and buttons. Pre-orders will ship November 15th. "O" will be available in stores and online on January 29th, 2008.

The album was produced by Matt Squire (Thrice, Hot Water Music). The Cancer Conspiracy was Daryl Rabidoux (Drowningman), Greg Beadle (Non Compos Mentis, Township), Brent Frattini (Daughters), Johnny Northrup (The Burning Paris, The Rise Park, Octave Museum), Matt Squire, Zack Martin (Drowningman, Carrigan), and Ken Johnson (Carrigan).

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New Exodus Album To Have Ltd. Edition Bloodpack

Exclusively sold only through the Nuclear Blast European Mailorder website, a special version of EXODUS' The Atrocity Exhibition - Exhibit A will be strictly limited to 500 numbered copies and features: Special Blood Dripping Packaging (Packaging is the size of a DVD case), hidden bonus track and Numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

The Atrocity Exhibition - Exhibit A, will be available to stream in it's entirety from October 15th until October 19th on the band's MySpace page.

Produced at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, CA by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, MACHINE HEAD, NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY), it features the following tracks: 'A Call To Arms', 'Riot Act', 'Funeral Hymn', 'Children Of A Worthless God', 'As It Was, As It Soon Shall Be', 'The Atrocity Exhibition', 'Iconoclasm', 'The Garden Of Bleeding', 'Bedlam 123'.

Exodus 2007 live dates:

October
25 - Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico - Discotheque Organic *
26 - Leon Guanajuato, Mexico - Cocktel Bar *
27 - Mexico City, Mexico - Centro de Convenciones de Tlatelolco *
30 - Bogota, Columbia - Teatro Mogador
31 - Lima, Peru- Discoteca DNUBA

November
2 - Santiago, Chile - TeatroNovedades
3 - BSAS, Argentina - El Teatro
4 - Montevideo, Uruguay - Teatro Verano
6 - Porto Alegre, Brazil - Opiniao
9 - São Paulo, Brazil - Clash Club

* also featuring AGENT STEEL, TRANSMETAL and BONDED BY BLOOD

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Rage And Edenbridge Announce European Tour

German power metalers RAGE will team up with EDENBRIDGE (Austria) and ASPECT (Russia) for a European tour in March-May. Confirmed dates are as follows:

Mar. 27 - DK Copenhagen @ The Rock
Mar. 28 - SE Mariestat @ Klubb Kaliber, Folketspark
Mar. 29 - SE Västeras @ Sigurdsgatan 25
Mar. 31 - DE Hamburg @ Markthalle
Apr. 01 - DE Bochum @ Zeche
Apr. 02 - FR Paris @ Nouveau Casino
Apr. 04 - ES Madrid @ Caracol
Apr. 05 - ES Bergara @ Sala Jam
Apr. 06 - ES Barcelona @ Razzmatazz 2
Apr. 08 - FR Montpellier @ Rockstore
Apr. 09 - IT Piacenza @ Fillmore
Apr. 10 - IT Conegliano (Treviso) @ Zion Rock Club
Apr. 11 - AT Wien @ Szene
Apr. 12 - CZ Plzen @ KD Serikovka
Apr. 13 - HU Budapest @ Wigwam
Apr. 15 - DE Würzburg @ AKW
Apr. 16 - DE Nürnberg @ Hirsch
Apr. 17 - DE Hannover @ Musikzentrum
Apr. 18 - DE Bad Salzungen @ Kulturzentrum KW 70
Apr. 19 - DE Memmingen @ Kaminwerk
Apr. 20 - DE Ludwigsburg @ Rockfabrik
Apr. 22 - CH Pratteln @ Z7
Apr. 24 - FR Colmar @ Grillen
Apr. 25 - DE Speyer @ Halle 101
Apr. 26 - BE Brüssel @ Ten Weyngaerdt
Apr. 27 - UK London @ Underworld
Apr. 29 - DE Fulda @ Alte Piesel
Apr. 30 - DE Osnabrück @ Hyde Park
May 01 - DE Pirmasens @ Quasimodo
May 02 - DE Aschaffenburg @ Colos-Saal
May 03 - DE Andernach @ JUZ Live Club

RAGE is currently auctioning the band's original backdrop from the Black In Mind tour in 1995. The backdrop, which is 2 x 2.80 meters large, will go to the highest bidder at shop@rage-on.de. Deadline is November 11.

RAGE has set "Carved in Stone" as the title of its new album tentatively due in early 2008 via Nuclear Blast Records. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Carved in Stone", "Drop Dead", "Gentle Murders", "One Step Ahead" and "Without You".

RAGE's new DVD, entitled "Full Moon in St. Petersburg", was released on February 23 via Nuclear Blast. The double DVD set was filmed in St. Petersburg, Russia last year in front of 15,000 fans. "Full Moon in St. Petersburg" contains the complete concert in St. Petersburg, Russia, plus a lot of behind-the-scenes footage and material from personal archives.

RAGE's upcoming CD will be the band's first since the addition of drummer André Hilgers (AXXIS, SILENT FORCE) to the group's ranks. "During [the recording sessions for] the Nuclear Blast anniversary album, we were very surprised how perfectly André's style matched our new song, 'Terrified'," the group wrote on its web site. "So it was obvious that we jammed through the RAGE classics and the sparks flew immediately. André had a lot of new ideas that fitted perfectly our style and the understanding among us was harmonically. He brings a lot of fresh blood and power to the band and we have loads of fun again playing our music."

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Soilwork To Release DVD Next Year

SOILWORK frontman Björn "Speed" Strid recently spoke to MTV.com about the group's new album, "Sworn to a Great Divide", which he believes is the band's most diverse offering to date.

"We can't make the same album twice," he explained. "Our music, it comes out in a natural way. We want to top ourselves every time, and we learn from the previous recording and try to take it to the next level. I definitely think we have developed our own sound, which is kind of hard nowadays. We were one of the originators of this balance between melodies and intensity, and we've developed that through the years. In the beginning, it was mostly the guitars that took care of the melodies. Now, it's in a different shade — it's more like the vocals take care of some of that stuff."

SOILWORK shot a video back in July for the album's lead single, "Exile", which Strid said has an unusual plotline.

"This director [Daniel Larsson] contacted us, and he had a tricky concept for the video," the singer explained. "His idea was that the whole band would be locked inside these speakers and amps, and this girl's walking her dog and she finds the speakers and amps in the bushes. She gets addicted to the music that comes out, and she wants to present it to the world — but we're working against her, tumbling around in the speakers. It's actually quite cool."

SOILWORK's music will be featured in the upcoming video game "Overclocked", a thriller about an Army psychiatrist who's called to evaluate five young patients who've lost their memories. The band wrote an exclusive song, also called "Overclocked", for the game. Strid said they also hope to issue a DVD next year, as it will mark the 10th anniversary of "Steelbath Suicide"'s release.

"It will be a live DVD," he said. "We wanted to do something special for our fans, and we've got lots of material already. We want to film some more shows soon — maybe even tape one show from each continent we hit on our tour."

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Beautiful Gorgeous Signs To Hold True Recordings

Hold True Recordings has signed Massachusetts tech outfit Beautiful Gorgeous. Hold True has picked up the band's back catalog, including their new six-song EP, "Roses." You can listen to some of the band's material here.

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Hear Maroon's Entire New Album Online

German metalcore band MAROON are running an exclusive pre-listening of their new album "The Cold Heart Of The Sun" from today, October 12th to October 19th on their MySpace profile.

"The Cold Heart Of The Sun" will be released October 22nd and is available as standard jewel case and as a limited digipak CD with bonus DVD.

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Leicohtica Posted Video Online

Australian Black/Death metallers LEICOHTICA have officially released the early stage film clip of, 'A Prototype Soul', taken from their 2007 opus, 'The Balance of Fire'. You can view the video on YouTube or below.

The track was completely remixed and re-mastered for the purposes of the video release and features different words to that which is featured on the album. The film clip is a showcase of the bands hard work and dedication and was filmed in the subways below the Junee Roundhouse Museum (470km southwest of Sydney, NSW) earlier this year. More...

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Urgrund Plans Shows In Support of New Album

Melbourne Black Death Masters URGRUND have recently released their 3rd full length album, 'Disciples Of Supremacy' through Baphomet/Red Stream Records. In support of the release they will be performing some live assualts in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales throughout November.

Nov 3 2007 9:00P Central Club Hotel, Richmond Melbourne, Victoria
Nov 16 2007 9:00P The Lizard Lounge, Adelaide Adelaide, South Australia
Dec 29 2007 8:00P The Arthouse Melbourne, Victoria
Jan 12 2008 8:00P Info Coming Soon Brisbane, Queensland

Check out the band's MySpace page for more gigs as they come in.

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Children Of Bodom To Record More Covers

Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM recently entered Petrax Studio in Hollola, Finland to begin recording their new album, due in Europe on April 7, 2008 via Spinefarm Records. A new single will precede the full-length effort on March 3, 2008. The follow-up to 2005's "Are You Dead Yet?" is being produced by Mikko Karmila and will feature a guest appearance by Peter Tägtgren of HYPOCRISY and PAIN fame.

Commented bassist Henkka Blacksmith: "Yesterday was the second day Jaska [Raatikainen] was recording seriously, and again he managed to put three songs together. So it's quite a good pace I think. 'Eka', 'Toka', 'Hidas', 'Tiroli (Trioli)', 'Pekingin Kasvis' and 'Uusin' (working titles) are now done, so a couple of days of drumming ahead! We also tried to figure out some cover songs yesterday while rehearsing. We will definitely cover at least three songs."

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.

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New Video Interview With Testament Members Posted

A 10-minute video interview with Chuck Billy (vocals) and Alex Skolnick (guitar) of the veteran San Francisco Bay Area metallers TESTAMENT conducted by Metal Injection during this past summer's Sounds of the Underground tour can be viewed below.

TESTAMENT has recruited Paul Bostaph (SLAYER, EXODUS, FORBIDDEN, SYSTEMATIC) to play the drums on the band's forthcoming album, tentatively due next spring via Nuclear Blast Records. The group was previously rehearsing and writing new material with British drummer Nick Barker (CRADLE OF FILTH, DIMMU BORGIR), but Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and international work visa issues have prevented Barker from continuing to be involved in the project.

Bostaph, who was a member of TESTAMENT for a brief period starting around February 2004, had previously played several live dates with the group in 1992 and appeared on the band's 1993 live EP, "Return to the Apocalyptic City". He also toured with TESTAMENT in 2006.

TESTAMENT's current lineup is rounded out by Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar and Greg Christian on bass.

TESTAMENT parted ways with Spitfire Records earlier in the year (the Spitfire Records catalog was acquired last summer by Redux Records, the company formerly known as Sheridan Square Entertainment).

Spitfire released a TESTAMENT compilation, "The Spitfire Collection", in February. Consisting of tracks from such Spitfire titles as "The Gathering", "Demonic", "Live at the Fillmore", "First Strike Still Deadly" and "Live in London", the 14-track set chronicles an era that ultimately saw the original TESTAMENT reunite for a successful 2005 tour.
More...

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Just For Fun

Gene Simmons' Sky High Misfire

Richard Johnson of The New York Post's "Page Six" reports: "Gene Simmons is still a pick-up artist, but his moves aren't working as well as they did when KISS ruled the radio. A fellow first-class passenger aboard Wednesday's American Airlines flight 114 from LAX to Newark saw Simmons pass a note to a tall, blond stewardess before takeoff. 'Later, I overheard the flight attendants talk about what he wrote in the note — 'Would you like to get together???' with three question marks.' The move misfired. 'I guess he failed to notice the wedding band on her left hand,' said our witness. 'Other than that he seemed like a pleasant passenger.' Simmons lives in Beverly Hills with Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed."

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Believer Albums To Be Re-Issued

Metal Mind Productions has set a November 5 release date for the remastered versions of the three albums from the late '80s/early '90s technical-thrash metal band BELIEVER: "Extraction From Mortality" (1989), "Sanity Obscure" (1990) and "Dimensions" (1993). Each CD will be made available in a new digipak edition on golden disc, digitally remastered using 24-bit technology and limited to 2,000 numbered copies.

According to a press release, "In the entire history of the thrash metal genre, there was never a band as unique as BELIEVER. While their music showcased thrash influences from the rawest sort, delivering fast and violent sounds, the message they incorporated into their songs was the exact opposite of the typical thrash metal attitude. Through their music BELIEVER preached the word of God — each lyric is a testimony of faith and commitment to the Christian community. The band made sure that their message was properly introduced by supporting it with a heavy dose of brilliantly arranged melodies and thrashing riffs.

"Their debut album, 'Extraction From Mortality', easily shows the most brutal side of Christian metal, musically being comparable to thrash giants such as SLAYER and OBITUARY. Includes nine tracks filled with furious riffs and catchy melodies, sewn together with religiously inspiring lyrics. 'Sanity Obscure' is BELIEVER's second album on which the band takes on a more technical approach. Thrash metal origins progress into a more sophisticated and spiritualized form, conjoining both an aggressive sound and a meaningful message. It features catchy and expressive songs, with some impressive highlights as 'Stop the Madness', 'Non-Point' and the breathtaking symphonic/orchestral masterpiece — 'Dies Irae'. New edition includes liner notes written by the band. Their third and most impressive album, 'Dimensions', presents a band fully aware of its possibilities, able to create a one-time masterpiece, which this LP undoubtedly is. The 20-minute long track 'Trilogy of Knowledge' is one of the most extraordinary songs ever created by a metal band. New edition includes liner notes written by the band."

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Amon Amarth To Tour Australia

Swedish Viking metallers AMON AMARTH will embark on "The Wrath Of The Norsemen Tour 2008" of Australia/New Zealand in January 2008. The dates are as follows:

Jan. 04 - Adelaide - Fowler's Live (All Ages)
Jan. 05 - Perth - Amplifier Bar
Jan. 06 - Sydney - The Enmore Theatre (All Ages)
Jan. 08 - Melbourne - Billboard The Venue
Jan. 09 - Melbourne – Wednesday (Under 18s)
Jan. 11 - Auckland - The King's Arms
Jan. 12 - Brisbane - The Arena

Tickets will go on sale on Friday, October 19.

AMON AMARTH's "Wrath of the Norsemen" DVD was recently certified gold in the U.S. for sales of around 16,000 copies (due to the fact that the set consists of three discs; gold certification for a single-disc release is 50,000 copies).

Released in June 2006, "Wrath of the Norsemen" DVD entered the Swedish Music DVD chart at position No. 2. A three-disc set, it was released in a deluxe 10-page digipack with special gold-laminated slipcase. The main body of the DVD is the Cologne show from 2005 — filmed with 11 cameras, this was the longest show AMON AMARTH have ever played (23 songs!). Bonus footage includes interviews, behind-the-scenes of the DVD recording and other stuff filmed around the Cologne show. Discs 2 and 3 feature professionally filmed shows from Summer Breeze 2005, the Metal Blade Rrroooaaarrr 2005 (a show with a really unusual setlist!), Wacken Open Air 2004 and the release show for "Fate of Norns" in Ludwigsburg (Germany) in 2004.

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Machine Head Frontman Talks Censorship

With all the news surrounding the MACHINE HEAD/ARCH ENEMY House Of Blues show that Disneyland cancelled, Headbanger's Blog got Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn to write up a guest blog about his views on citizenship and censorship. Here's a taste of what he had to say:

"I have been on the road touring for over half of my life, 13 years of which have been with Machine Head. This is what we do. Frankly, it’s all we know how to do. And in the 13 years we’ve been touring, we have never experienced the kind of flat-out extortion that we were just privy to. Never did we think that what we just witnessed over the course of the last few weeks would ever be possible, let alone tolerated in this day and age. But as I sit here writing these words to you, we are still in an utter state of shock."

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Skid Row Update Tour Schedule

US heavy rockers SKID ROW have updated their forthcoming tour schedule as follows:

November
1 - Z-7 - Pratteln, Switzerland
2 - New Age - Treviso, Italy
3 - Transilvania - Milan, Italy
4 - Ninkasi - Lyon, France
6 - Apolo 2 - Barcelona, Spain
7 - Ritmo & Compas - Madrid, Spain
9 - Artsaia - Aizoain, Spain
10 - Barbey - Bordeaux, France
11 - Elysee Montmarte - Paris, France
13 - Mean Fiddler - London, UK
14 - Sin City - Swansea, UK
15 - Bierkeller - Bristol, UK
16 - Corner House - Middlesborough, UK
17 - Rios - Leeds, UK
18 - Garage - Glasgow, UK
20 - The Park - Peterborough, UK
21 - Woughton Centre - Milton Keynes, UK
22 - Carling Academy - Liverpool, UK
23 - Corporation - Sheffield, UK
24 - Rock City - Nottingham, UK
25 - JB's - Dudley, UK

December
7 - Riverside Convention Center - Victoria, TX

January
4 - House of Blues - Hollywood, CA
5 - Galaxy Theater - Santa Ana, CA
6 - Saddle Rack - Fremont,CA
24 - Vince Neil's Motley Cruise - Miami, FL

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Children Of Bodom Bassist Checks In

CHILDREN OF BODOM bassist Henkka T. Blacksmith has checked in with the following studio update:

"Good morning!

Yesterday was the second day Jaska was recording seriously, and again he managed to put three songs together. So it's quite a good pace I think. 'Eka', 'Toka', 'Hidas', 'Tiroli (Trioli)', 'Pekingin Kasvis' and 'Uusin' (working titles) are now done, so a couple of days of drumming ahead! We also tried to figure out some cover songs yesterday while rehearsing. We will definitely cover at least three songs."

Henkka

As previously reported, ChildrenOf Bodom will see their forthcoming new album available in Europe on April 7th via Spinefarm. Prior to the album's release, a new single will be available as of March 3rd.

Children Of Bodom are scheduled to play London, England's Astoria venue on March 8th. Fellow Finns MOONSORROW and KIUAS have been confirmed as the support acts.

Advance tickets are currently available here and via a 24 hour credit card line at 0870 400 0688.

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Saga Drummer Suffers Heart Attack

According to InsideOut Music, SAGA drummer Brian Doerner recently suffered a heart attack and will not be able to participate in the band's upcoming European tour. Chris Sutherland from Kim Mitchell's band will replace him.

Doerner has issued the following statement:

"To the Fans of Saga, I am lucky to be alive and recovering at home with my family today, October 8th, 2007 after suffering a heart attack on Friday, October 5, 2007 and I anticipate a full recovery and look forward to playing drums again in the future. Regrettably, I will not be drumming for the 10,000 Days tour under medical advice. I wish the band the best of luck with this great new CD and I would like to say that working with Saga has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career and I will miss them greatly as friends and as talented musicians."

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