Reign Supreme, Steel Nation Tour Dates

Reign Supreme and Steel Nation will tour the East Coast together in the coming weeks. Here are the dates:

10/25 Richmond, VA @ Ramakins w/ Bracewar
10/26 Kernersville, NC @ Creation Skatepark
10/27 Miami, FL @ The Dog Pound
10/28 Tampa, FL @ 688 Skatepark
10/29 Chamblee, GA @ The Shop w/ Cloak Dagger
10/30 Birmingham, AL @ Skates 280
10/31 Nashville, TN @ Meemaw House
11/2 Columbus, OH @ High Five
11/3 Wilkinsburg, PA @ Roboto Project
11/4 Kingston, PA @ Backstage Enterprises
11/5 Wallingford, CT @ American Legion
11/6 Cambridge, MA @ Elks Lodge
11/7 Ronkonkoma, NY @ Fifth Ave Arena

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For The Fallen Dreams Guitarist Quits Band

Michigan metalcore band For The Fallen Dreams (Rise Records) has announced the departure of guitarist Marcus Morgan. According to the group, "There are no hard feelings between any members of the band. Marcus was an amazing guitar player, and is an amazing person. He will be missed." Meanwhile, Morgan has issued the following:

"After a lot of thought, discussion, and prayer I have decided to part ways with FTFD and persue other endeavors that are important to me. I still love the guys, they're some of my best friends, and wish them nothing but the best. I just feel that I've met my goal and there are other aspects in my life I want to dedicate my time and love towards right now. I want to say thank you to all of them for letting me be apart of this, everyone at Rise for giving us our big break, and thank you to all the people I've met and become great friends with while being in this band. You have all made this one of the greatest accomplisments of my life, and I loved every minute of it."

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Finntroll Video Interview With Vreth Online

A nine-minute video interview with FINNTROLL frontman Mathias Lillmåns (a.k.a. Vreth) conducted by The Dude Von Doom can be viewed below.

FINNTROLL's fifth album, "Ur Jordens Djup", entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 91. The CD, which was recorded by Nino Laurenne at Sonic Pump studios in Helsinki, is the group's first release with Lillmåns following the departure of Tapio Wilska (SETHIAN, ex-WIZZARD, former session vocalist for NIGHTWISH) in January 2006. Like FINNTROLL's original singer, Katla Mathias, Lillmåns is reportedly Fenno-Swedish, with Swedish as his mother tongue. More...

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Warbringer Records Debut Album

The buzz surrounding LA thrashers Warbringer is simply astounding following a slew of high-profile shows alongside the legendary Exodus and overwhelmingly positive reactions to the group's self-released EP. Upon signing a worldwide deal with Century Media Records, the quintet entered the studio with acclaimed producer Bill Metoyer, who helped shape legendary albums from the likes of Slayer, D.R.I. and Sacred Reich, among a slew of others.

John Kevill (vocals) states: "So far the recording's gone very well. Everything is now tracked, and mixing is currently in full swing. Everyone's pretty happy with how it's shaping up, and we all feel it's a huge step up for us. Working with Bill has been awesome. It's been very laid back, and we've received a lot of good feedback and input from him. Counting bonus material and everything, we did a total of 14 tracks. The cover art is also looking pretty bad-ass. The whole thing will be done in a couple of weeks, and we can't wait to unleash it upon the masses."

While Warbringer has built a rabid local fan base playing with others in the LA thrash revival scene, they're set to join Exodus, Arsis and Goatwhore on a national tour in January. This tour will be preceded by a number of warm-up dates opening for Suffocation/Immolation and Prong throughout the CA area this month. Having already completed a West Coast tour with Daath, in addition to the several shows with Exodus, these young thrash warriors (4 out of the 5 aren't even of legal drinking age) are prepared to bring their definitive brand of violent combat thrash to audiences nationwide.

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Frostwork Prefers To Remain Anonymous

One of the UK’s veteran Black Metallers has started a solo Ambient Black Metal project that goes by the name of FROSTWORK. The band produces a hauntingly cold and eerie sound, very much in keeping with its name, but FROSTWORK’s creator is reluctant to reveal his identity.

He is, however, willing to explain why he feels the need for anonymity: “Some people would say it’s a ploy to create a mystique around the name in order to generate interest, but in this case it really isn’t. On the contrary, it would have been much easier for me to use an already established name and reputation, whether good or bad, to help launch the new project, so I’m probably not doing myself any favours by trying to remain anonymous. I thought about it carefully though, and came to the conclusion that my existing band has a very definite sound and image, and I did not want FROSTWORK to be burdened by comparisons. FROSTWORK is nothing like the material I have previously produced with a full line-up, nor is it intended to be. The concept is different and the sound is different, and it should be judged on its own merits”.

Work on the first demo is currently underway, and two tracks, “Shades of Grey” and “The Eyes of the Forest” have been uploaded to the band’s official MySpace page.

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Melbourne Switch Fest Announced

Switch Fest (poster) will feature some of the best of Australian metal/prog bands on two stages (basement and level 1), as well as drink specials and DJs. For one night only, November 5th (Cup Eve), you can catch Alarum, Sydonia, Sleep Parade, Earth, Fallacy and a bunch more for only 15 dollars. Tickets can be bought from:

Missing Link (Bourke St, City)
Rare Records (St Kilda)
Polyester Records (Brunswick)
Planet 13 (Greensborough)
Hot Head (Geelong)
Fist2Face (Ringwood)
Plato (Frankston)

Switch is at 60 King St in the city.

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Kalmah Begin Recording New Album

Finnish metallers KALMAH have posted the following message on their MySpace page:

"Two years has passed but as we promised there is more to come and now it is about time. Today [Saturday, October 13] we started the recordings of our fifth full-length album. We started to work on new material almost two years ago and since we do not want to hurry it took the time to put every piece of the puzzle together. We have had great time to work with the new material as always. We did a demo a month ago to prepare ourselves for this main session. The demo worked out well and we are very confident about the new material. There is nine new swamp metal songs to record. Janne [Kusmin] has started to work out the drums and today we managed to record drum tracks for three new songs. Tomorrow we continue on working on the drums and we have six KALMAH songs to record plus one cover. Later on we will reveal the title of the album, song names, videos and images, so stay tuned!"

KALMAH's latest CD, "The Black Waltz", entered the Finnish national album chart in March 2006 at position No. 38. The follow-up to 2003's "Swampsong" marked the group's recording debut with keyboardist Marco Sneck (POISONBLACK).

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Ambitions Post New Song Online

You can check out a new song from AMBITIONS entitled “Rapid Succession” online over at their official MySpace page. The track comes off the band’s forthcoming new album, Stranger, which is set to be released on November 6th through Bridge Nine Records.

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Hatebreed Confirmed For Wacken 2008

Connecticut-based hardcore/metal band HATEBREED has been confirmed for next year's installment of the Wacken Open Air festival, set to take place July 31 - August 2, 2008 in Wacken, Germany. The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

IRON MAIDEN (headliners)
CARCASS
HATEBREED
CHILDREN OF BODOM
AVANTASIA
KREATOR
SONATA ARCTICA
SALTATIO MORTIS

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Hirax Replace Evil At Keep It True Festival

Organizers for Germany's Keep It True IX Festival have announced that Danish metalheads EVIL have been forced to cancel the show due to drummer Freddie Wolf's recent wrist injury that will keep him side-lined for at least four weeks. Los Angeles-based thrashers HIRAX will step in as replacements.

The final running order is as follows::

ENFORCER
15:30 - 16:15
PORTRAIT
16:35 - 17:20
STEEL ASSASSIN
17:40 - 18:25
PAGAN ALTAR
18:45 - 20:00
SACRED OATH
20:20 - 21:35
HIRAX
21:55 - 23:10
LEATHERWOLF
23:30 - 01:00

The Keep It True IX Festival is scheduled for November 3rd in Dittigheim at Sporthalle. The festival has been sold out since April.

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Sepultura Reveal More Indian Tour Details

Brazilian metallers SEPULTURA have confirmed live dates in India that will begin at the end of this month. Venue details have been revealed. The dates are as follows:

October
28 - Delhi, India - Hamsadhwani Theatre, Pragati Maidan
31 - Shillong, India - Polo Stadium

November
3 - Bangalore, India - Palace Grounds

Tickets can be purchased here. Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser stated recently that the band will commence work on a new album next month and it will be released worldwide through SPV Records sometime in 2008.

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Black Tide To Be Featured On Halloween Bash

Interscope recording artists, Black Tide, recently announced "Light From Above" as the title for their upcoming debut album. The young Florida band (14-19 yrs old) worked with producer Johnny K (Machine Head, Disturbed) at Chicago’s Groovemaster studios. Before heading out on tour with Avenged Sevenfold later this month, the shredmasters will be the featured performers at the second annual Monster Energy Drinks/Coffin Case Halloween bash on October 27th at NRG Recording Studios in Hollywood, CA. The party will also include a runway show from the Coffin Girls and a burlesque performance from Masuimi Max.

"Light From Above" will be out in February 2008.

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Black Cobra Ready New Album, Tour w/ The Sword

Black Cobra are preparing their upcoming "Feather And Stone" release, which according to a press release "is their most volatile culmination of riotous riffs and bruising percussion yet." "The eight-track assault showcases the bands' exploration of gritty hardcore/sludge depravity since their previous outing Bestial." "Feather and Stone" will be unleashed upon humanity on October 30.

While they've been on tour for like a year straight already, their most recent jaunt attacking Japan, and that following multiple successful North American and European tours, the band have been picked up a US tour supporting The Sword.

Here are the latest Black Cobra tour dates:

10/17/2007 12 Galaxies - San Francisco CA w/U.S.S.A., Oxbow, Weedeater
11/24/2007 Hemlock Tavern - San Francisco CA
11/25/2007 Relax Bar - Los Angeles CA
11/26/2007 *TBA Arizona
11/27/2007 Burt's Tiki Lounge - Albuquerque NM
11/28/2007 Whiskey Dix - Lubbock TX
11/29/2007 Red 7 - Austin TX w/Slough Feg, The Flood

tour with The Sword and Valient Thorr begins
11/30/2007 The Jackrabbit Lounge - Shreveport LA w/ The Sword, The Roller
12/01/2007 One Eyed Jacks - New Orleans LA w/ The Sword, The Roller
12/02/2007 The Bottletree - Birmingam, AL w/ The Sword, The Roller
12/03/2007 The Earl - Atlanta, GA w/ The Sword, The Roller
12/05/2007 Black Cat Backstage - Washington DC w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/06/2007 Bowery Ballroom - New York NY w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/07/2007 First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia PA w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/08/2007 Middle East Downstairs - Cambridge, MA w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/11/2007 Mohawk Place - Buffalo, NY w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/12/2007 Grog Shop - Cleveland OH w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/13/2007 Reggies Live - Chicago IL w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/14/2007 The Rave Bar - Milwaukee WI w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/15/2007 Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis MN w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/16/2007 Picador - Iowa City IA w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/17/2007 Record Bar - Kansas City MO w/ The Sword, Valient Thorr
12/18/2007 *TBA Denver CO
12/19/2007 *TBA Salt Lake City UT
12/20/2007 *TBA Reno NV

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Faust Again Put New Promo Song Online

Polish death metallers Faust Again (ex-Circulation Records) decided to celebrate their participation in upcoming Maroon's (Century Media) new record release party. Faust Again's new promo song is called "The Fountain" and can be streamed online here.

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As Blood Runs Black, WOJ, The Warriors Tour

As Blood Runs Black will headline a November/December tour with support from Walls Of Jericho, The Warriors, Born Of Osiris, and Belay My Last. Here are the tour dates:

11/23 San Diego, CA @ Soma
11/24 Ventura, CA @ Alpine
11/25 Los Angeles, CA @ Whisky a GoGo
11/26 Lancaster, CA @ Cedar Center
11/28 Fresno, CA @ The Exit
11/29 San Jose, CA @ SJ Skate
11/30 Sacramento, CA @ The Boardwalk
12/3 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
12/4 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
12/5 Spokane, WA @ Service Station
12/6 Boise, ID @ The Venue
12/7 Logan, UT @ Club NVO
12/8 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
12/9 Farmington, NM @ Gator's
12/10 Phoenix, AZ @ Cell Block
12/11 Albuquerque, NM @ The Launchpad
12/12 Lubbock, TX @ Jake's
12/13 Oklahoma City, OK @ The Otherside
12/14 Houston, TX @ Java Jazz
12/15 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
12/16 Dallas, TX @ Fat Daddy's
12/17 El Paso, TX @ Chic's

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Agenda of Swine Signs To Relapse Records

Relapse Records has officially announced the signing of the Bay Area's Agenda of Swine. Agenda of Swine (Pete Ponitkoff - vocals, Jeff Lenormand – guitar, Jason Behan – guitar, Emad Jaghab – bass, John Gotelli – drums) formed after Ponitkoff disbanded previous project Benumb and Lenormand and Gotelli put Vulgar Pigeons on hiatus.

Agenda of Swine will finish recording their Relapse debut in December with engineer Zach Ohren at Castle Ultimate Studios (Animosity, All Shall Perish) in Oakland, CA and the as-yet-untitled release will see an early-2008 release date.

Demo tracks from the group can be heard here.

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Kittie Threatened With Lawsuit

The producers of "America's Hot Musician", the reality competition for instrumental artists which features ex-KITTIE bassist Talena Atfield as one of the judges, are threatening legal action against KITTIE for having possibly "tortiously interfered with [their] business."

According to a press release issued by American Youth Symphony (AYS), producers of the show, federal court documents in AYS's lawsuit against Oxygen Media LLC recently revealed that Oxygen claims to have received notice of a cease-and-desist letter on May 14, 2007 from a law firm on behalf of the Canadian all-girl metal band KITTIE threatening immediate legal action if the program aired on the network. This allegedly took place one week before AYS received a cease-and-desist letter from KITTIE on May 21, 2007, which was subsequently posted on the Internet by the show's producers.

AYS Artistic Director Gregory Charles Royal said in a statement, "If we find out that what is alleged of KITTIE is indeed true, that they tortiously interfered with our business, notwithstanding the fact that they had no claim whatsoever to any infringement of copyrighted material within our program, they will be singing for their supper for a long time."

Royal contends that KITTIE crossed the line when it extended the threat of unfounded legal action to third parties.

KITTIE served American Youth Symphony a cease-and-desist letter for their use of clips from the band's video "All I Always Wanted" in the show's opening theme.

AYS, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote instrumental music in the MTV/hip hop generation, says it was given permission to use the clips by Sheridan Square Entertainment, which owns licensing rights to the video.

Atfield, who has been estranged from KITTIE for several years, is one of the judges on the program which has been shot through the semi-finals but which is on hold pending further developments in the Oxygen lawsuit.

In an August 19, 2007 interview conducted by Bob Suehs of Rock N Roll Experience, KITTIE drummer Mercedes Lander stated about Atfield's involvement with "America's Hot Musician", "It's not really a reality show, it's an infomercial, and it's not being broadcast anywhere, so we really don't care... We don't care what she does. I mean at the end of the day, we are still doing what we love to do." Mercedes' sister Morgan, who plays guitar and sings for KITTIE added, "I mean, she obviously is allowed to move on with her life too, but at the same time, using our likeness is a big no-no and there was a bit of a dispute about that and there's not really much more we can say about it other than, we took it to the Oxygen network and they dropped the show because they were using our music without our permission and I mean, Mercedes and I wrote the song." Mercedes continued, "On top of that, we also own our own publishing, so in order for them to use that, they need our consent." Morgan then offered, "And they probably need to pay us too, but they are still allowed to use her likeness."

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Ted Nugent To Appear In The Simpsons

Ted Nugent will be a guest voice (playing himself) on "The Simpsons" this Sunday, October 14. The all-new episode, entitled "I Don't Wanna Know Why The Caged Bird Sings", airs at 8:00 p.m. EST/7:00 p.m. Central on Fox. A synopsis of the episode follows: "Marge fears for her safety after breaking a promise to a bank robber. While waiting in line at the bank, Marge strikes up a conversation with a strange man named Dwight (Steve Buscemi) who later attempts to rob the bank. When the police show up, Marge convinces a cornered Dwight to turn himself in by promising to visit him in prison. As Dwight eagerly awaits Marge's visit, Homer assures her that Dwight will not expect her to actually visit. But when Dwight receives a phone call and the caller (Ted Nugent) isn't Marge, he escapes to find her. Watching the news report about Dwight's jail break, she wishes she had kept her promise."

Ted Nugent's new album, "Love Grenade", was released on September 4 via Eagle Rock Entertainment. Nugent's first set of new material in five years was co-produced by NIGHT RANGER's Jack Blades, Nugent's partner in the long-dormant DAMN YANKEES.

Nugent told Billboard.com that "Love Grenade" "is an absolute representation of where I am on all levels. We come from the old school of sh*tkicker, R&B-driven, grinding guitar lovemaster. When you hear it, you're gonna just smile, close your eyes and go, 'Nugent!' It's such a classic piece of what we were brought up on."

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Nightwish To Announce More Tour Dates

Another date has been leaked for NIGHTWISH's upcoming spring 2008 North American tour: May 15 at The Drink in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The band is also expected to perform at The Boardwalk in Orangevale, California on May 22; and at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 24.

The Regina gig will be part of an extensive Canadian run in the middle of the tour, which will be officially announced on November 7.

Tickets for the Orangevale concert are now on sale though EnterTheVault.com.

In other news, all general admission tickets to NIGHTWISH's October 27, 2007 concert at the House of Blues in Chicago have now been sold. Only 31 VIP tickets remain for the show.

The VIP experience includes a customized autographed poster and early entry into the venue for the show.

You can get your tickets at the Chicago House of Blues box office or Ticketmaster.com or EnterTheVault.com.

NIGHTWISH's new album, "Dark Passion Play", has achieved the following first-week chart positions around the world:

#1 - Germany
#1 - Finland
#1 - Switzerland
#1 - Hungary
#1 - Croatia
#1 - Czech Republic
#4 - Sweden
#5 - Austria
#5 - Netherlands
#5 - Greece
#6 - France
#7 - Norway
#14 - Italy
#18 - Denmark
#24 - Canada
#25 - UK
#36 - Belgium
#50 - Poland
#62 - Ireland
#84 - US

"Dark Passion Play" has already been certified gold in the following countries:

Germany (more than 100,000 copies sold)
Switzerland (more than 15,000 copies sold)
Austria (more than 10,000 copies sold)
Poland (more than 5,000 copies sold)

In Finland, the record was certified platinum day of its release and double-platinum two days later. The total "Dark Passion Play" sales in Finland have surpassed 90,000.

As previously reported, John Two-Hawks, a Native American hailing from Arkansas, will appear on stage with NIGHTWISH at the following U.S. dates:

Nov. 10 - The White Rabbit - San Antonio, Texas
Nov. 11 - The Palladium Ballroom - Dallas, Texas

John Two-Hawks is a multi-instrumentalist who is devoted to spreading the culture and mentality of Native Americans. He has published six solo albums, and although he is constantly touring the U.S., Two-Hawks is very rarely seen on European soil.

John Two-Hawks is featured on the song "Creek Mary's Blood", which was composed by NIGHTWISH keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and was included on NIGHTWISH's platinum-selling (in Finland) "Once" album. On "Creek Mary's Blood" John Two-Hawks plays the flute and reads a poem translated to his native language.

NIGHTWISH made its "official" live debut with new singer Anette Olzon this past Saturday (October 6) in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The group's U.S. tour kicks off on October 15 in West Springfield, Virginia.

NIGHTWISH mainman Tuomas Holopainen told a Finnish TV station that the band has just finished shooting the third video from its latest CD, "Dark Passion Play". The clip for an as-yet-undisclosed song was shot in Rovaniemi, Finland with director Tuomas "Stobe" Harju. Ilkka Immonen of Lapland Studio Oy produced the video.

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The Arcane Order Finish New Album

THE ARCANE ORDER, the Danish band featuring vocalist Kasper Thomsen (RAUNCHY) and guitarist Flemming C. Lund (INVOCATOR, ex-AUTUMN LEAVES), entered Hansen studio in Ribe, Denmark in early September to begin recording its sophomore album, "In the Wake of Collisions", for an early 2008 release via Metal Blade Records. Lund has since issued the following update:

"'In the Wake of Collisions' is done! After having recorded the album at Hansen Studios with producer Jacob Hansen during September, Jacob Hansen spent a couple of weeks making fine adjustments and tuning up the album and now the album is finally done. We are stoked with the result, and hopefully you guys will be so to! The album came out really well and we are all proud and happy with the result!

"We should warn you guys though: This album is not the natural follow-up to 'The Machinery of Oblivion'. We always said we weren't interest in just making a new 'Machinery...' album, and we think the new album proves just that. We have evolved as a team, as a band, and you will be able to hear so on the new album. We think it's fair to say that we have found our own sound with the new album. You need to listen to the whole album, all the songs in a row, to understand what the new stuff is all about.

"So what does the new album sound like? Well, it's a bit hard to describe. The new stuff is less thrashy, but in some parts much more extreme, while some parts are really melodic and almost epic-sounding. There's tons of shredding, great drum and vocal work, so everyone should be pleased.

"We are still working on getting the artwork finished, which should be done soon. At the moment we are looking at a January/February release through Metal Blade."

"In the Wake of Collisions" will be a concept album and it will consist of the following songs (in no particular order):

01. Reverence
02. The Serpent Tower
03. Eruptions of Red
04. Reason and Hubris
05. As Oceans Become Deserts
06. Death is Imminent
07. The Aftermath
08. Sanctity of Allegiance
09. As Sleep is Buried in Gold
10. Sentiment of Horror

THE ARCANE ORDER lineup:

Kasper Thomsen (RAUNCHY) - Vocals
Flemming C. Lund (INVOCATOR, ex-AUTUMN LEAVES) - Rhythm and Lead Guitar
Boris Tandrup (SUBMISSION, SLUGS, ex-AUTUMN LEAVES) - Bass
Morten Løwe Sørensen (SUBMISSION, SLUGS) - Drums
Kasper Kirkegaard (SUBMISSION) - Rhythm Guitar

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10 Years' New Album To Arrive In March

Knoxville, Tennessee's 10 YEARS will release its new album in March 2008. A single will precede the full-length effort in January. 10 YEARS' new album was produced by Rick Parashar (PEARL JAM, NICKELBACK, ALICE IN CHAINS, ROB ZOMBIE).

The band's debut CD, "The Autumn Effect", came out in 2005.

10 YEARS' tour with SEVENDUST is set to kick of Friday, October 19 in Minneapolis, MN.

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Kittie Announce Halloween Bash

On Saturday October 27th, at the Bovine Sex Club, 542 Queen St. W. (at Bathurst), Toronto, ON, KITTIE and ARISE AND RUIN will be holding a Halloween Bash. There is a $10.00 cover charge at the door and no advance tickets. This is a 19+ event.

In other news, Kittie will also be traveling to South American and Mexico this November. The will be performing on these dates:

November
16 - Teatro Novedades - Santiago, Chile
17 - Espaco Lux End - Sao Paulo, Brazil
19 - Cultural Roots - Mexico City, Mexico

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