Ozzy Osbourne Speaks About Iron Maiden Sabotage

In reference to the incident occurred on August 20 in San Bernardino, California, Launch Radio Networks reports that Ozzy wasn't exactly sure what happened that night, and wanted nothing to do with it either way. "I had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with what went down, because I do not condone any of that kind of crap," he said. "Even though the singer was saying bad things, so I heard, I never heard it 'cause I'd never went and seen them. But that very night, the bass player (Steve Harris) comes into my dressing room and said to me, 'I'd like to apologize for our singer.' I was absolutely confused what this guy was on about."

Sharon Osbourne messed with MAIDEN's sound and had the band pelted with eggs onstage after claiming that lead singer Bruce Dickinson had made disparaging remarks about her husband throughout the tour. Sharon is apparently unrepentant about her attempt to sabotage IRON MAIDEN's last appearance on this past summer's edition of the festival.

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Nile To Tour Austrlaia

Relapse Records recording artists Nile have announced the dates for the Australian portion of their headlining "Annihilation of The Wicked World Tour." This Aussie tour, Nile' s first ever appearance down-under, will kick off on November 25th in Sydney and come to a conclusion on December 3rd in Brisbane. A complete listing of Nile Australian tour dates follows this message.

Nile's Karl Sanders shared his thoughts on the band's first visit to Australia; " We have been looking forward for a very long time for the opportunity to visit Australia and play our music for the many kick-ass Australian Metal fans. Sincere thanks to the fans whose support has made it possible for Nile to Visit the Land Down Under."

Nile recently completed the European and Japanese legs of this world tour with the North American portion launching in January 2006.

Nile Australian tour dates:

11/25 Gaelic Club, Sydney Au
11/26 The Corner Hotel, Melbourne Au
11/27 Capitol, Perth , Melbourne Au
11/29 Uni Bar, Adelaide Au
12/1 Uni Bar, Adelaide Au
12/3 The Arena, Brisbane Au

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Light This City Line Up West Coast Tour Dates

Light This City have lined up a series of West Coast dates for the end of the year (many venues are still being hashed out). In the meantime, you can check out four of their tracks on their MySpace page. Here are the tour dates:

12/26 Corona, CA - The Showcase Theatre
12/27 Las Vegas, NV - Rock N' Java
12/28 Tucson, AZ - Skrappy's
12/29 Phoenix, AZ - TBA
12/30 San Diego, CA - TBA
12/31 Anaheim, CA - TBA
1/01 Fresno, CA - The Belmont

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Invocation of Nehek Replace Drummer

Invocation of Nehek have issued an update from through their MySpace page:

“Hey everyone, We have a bit of news to announce. As some of you may know, we have parted ways with our drummer Tom. This was a very hard decision to make. We are still great friends with Tom, and love him dearly, as for right now, our paths were going in sepperate directions, Tom respectfully aggreed that for the good of the band, he should focus on his college education and let the band get out there and go as far as it can go. But before i go any further i just want to say that Tom will remain one of our best friends, and we wish him the best of luck with school, and any other music projects he chooses to do. Without him we would not have been able to make it to this point and he invested alot of time, heart, energy and soul into this band. and for this we are forever in debt. we love you man.

"Now looking to future we'd like to announce our new drummer Eliot Geller, from Mahopac NY. Eliot has been a great friend of ours for a couple of years now and has always been a constant source of support. We are really happy to say that he is part of the camp now, as some of you also know Eliot filled in for the last tour we did, and really proved that he has what it takes to do this crazy band stuff. We have already started writing with him and we are really excited to see how future material comes out. he is a solid drummer and and all around great guy. Go give the kid some love, he has worked really hard to get the position and deserves it!

"As for an update, we are currently writing our next record, it will be out next year on Prosthetic again. We have a bunch of northeast dates lined up and a tour in jan in the works, so keep your eyes peeled for that."

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Himsa Complete Video Shoot For "Sleezevil"

HIMSA completed the shooting for “Sleezevil,” the second track from HAIL HORROR (due out Feb. 7, 2006) last weekend with Derek Dale (As I Lay Dying). Dale, also responsible for the “Rain To The Sounds of Panic” video from Courting Tragedy and Disaster, met up with the band and some friends over the Halloween weekend to shoot footage for the track in Los Angeles, the day after the “Blackest of the Black” tour ended. The “Sleazevil” video promises to show fans another side of the band and will surely reflect the members' dark sense of humor.

Himsa will be departing for a European tour with 3 Inches of Blood in December. Here are the tour dates: More...

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Slipknot Fan's Costume Causes Jail Lockdown

A Slipknot fan's Halloween costume inadvertently forced officials at California's Placer County Jail to place the facility on lockdown. According to a report in the Auburn Journal, police dispatchers at Placer County's Sheriff's Department fielded a call on Sunday regarding a man wearing an orange inmate's jumpsuit and shackles who was getting into a car at a local Taco Bell. Fearing one of its inmates might've escaped, "they locked down the entire jail," Lt. George Malim, a spokesperson for the Placer County Sheriff's Department, told the paper. "When you hear something like that, you err on the side of caution." Officials conducted a head count, and all the inmates were present. Patrol officers caught up with the car and confirmed the fan was not criminal. When that fan, Eddie Hail, learned of his costume's unintended effect, he replied, "Oops." His girlfriend had purchased the orange jumpsuit for him so that he could dress up as a member of Slipknot. He later opted to ditch the mask and be a convict for Halloween instead.

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The Black Dahlia Murder Lose Two Members

As has been rumored as of late, The Black Dahlia Murder drummer Zach Gibson and bassist David Lock are no longer with the group. Black Dahlia Murder had the following to say about the move:

"Both are gone cause they couldn't actually play our material. It was sad to have to make such a decision with Dave since he's been with us for quite some time, we wish him nothing but the best in all his future endeavors."

For his part, Gibson has issued the following statement:

"Yes, the rumors are true, I am no longer the drummer for The Black Dahlia Murder. I was asked to leave the band after our last show on the BTBAM/Cephalic Carnage/Into The Moat tour 10/28/05 in Detroit, Michigan, our home...I was quitting anyways and they knew it, they just wanted to save face and beat me to the punch."

Meanwhile, Gibson has apparently rejoined his former group, Gutrot.

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Orange Sky To Support Yngwie Malmsteen On US Tour

Trinidad-based rock band ORANGE SKY has just been named the opening act for the upcoming fall 2005 U.S. tour by guitar wizard YNGWIE MALMSTEEN. ORANGE SKY will be promoting its Granite Records debut CD, "Upstairs", and DVD, "Live In Trinidad", on the 17-date run of shows from October 31 to December 7. Band members include lead vocalist/lead guitarist/songwriter Nigel Rojas, bass guitarist/vocalist Nicholas Rojas, rhythm guitarist Adam Murray, keyboardist/vocalist Richard Hall and drummer/vocalist Obasi Springer. Nigel and Nicholas are brothers.

"We feel really honored to be touring with Yngwie Malmsteen," Nigel Rojas says. "When we were growing up, his posters were on our walls. As young guitar players, Nicholas and I especially loved him. He's a guitar god." More...

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Former Damageplan Members To Perform In Gasoline

Former PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott and ex-DAMAGEPLAN bassist Robert "Bob Zilla" Kakaha will perform at Hot Rods and Hoggs in Arlington, Texas this coming New Year's Eve (Dec. 31). Abbott and Kakaha will reportedly make up half of the reactivated southern rock project GASOLINE, which had previously also included late PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and PUMPJACK vocalist Thurber T. Mingus. GASOLINE are expected to play a set of covers by such artists as TED NUGENT, THIN LIZZY and PAT TRAVERS. Also appearing on the bill will be local cover band STRANGE BREW. No further information is available at this time.

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Animosity Confirming More Tour Dates

Animosity are hard at work confirming more shows for 2005 and 2006. They will be heading out with Reflux and Ed Gein for a week’s worth of dates in December.

ANIMOSITY
11/03 Anaheim, CA Chain Reaction w/ Internal Affairs, Cold World and more
11/13 Berkley, CA Gilman w/ Time for Living, Backstabbers Inc., and The Taste of Blood
11/25 San Jose, CA The Cave Rebecca Memorial Benefit Show

Tour w/ Reflux and ED GEIN
12/08 Ventura, CA Alpine
12/09 Corona, CA Showcase Theatre
12/10 Lancaster, CA Cedar Centre
12/12 Roseville, CA The Underground
12/14 San Francisco, CA The Pound

12/15 Orangevale, CA Boardwalk w/ Madball and Killing the Dream

Animosity has also just recently re-launched their website.

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The Arcane Order Posts Demo Track Online

The demo track, titled "The Sanity Insane", by Denmark's The Arcane Order, featuring vocalist Kasper Thomsen (Raunchy) and guitarist Flemming C. Lund (Invocator, ex-Autumn Leaves), has been posted online at myspace.com/thearcaneorder.

The Arcane Order recently signed a deal with Metal Blade Records. The band is scheduled to record their debut album in the spring of 2006 with producer Jacob Hansen at Hansen studios in Ribe, Denmark. The CD will feature 8-9 tracks of blistering, intense and melodic thrash metal.

A demo version of the track "Breathe the Poison" can also be downloaded at this location.

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St. Madness Singer Treated For Testicular Cancer

Patrick Flannery, frontman for the metal band St. Madness out of Pheonix, Arizona has been diagnosed with testicular cancer. "I've got to tell you something. I've always said I would give my left nut for heavy metal, and now I really am," he was quoted as saying barely above a whisper. Today, the 43-year-old singer, who's been a veteran of the Valley's metal scene since 1983, sits poolside at his home in McCormick Ranch, surrounded by his family, friends, bandmates and fans, all of whom have come to watch Flannery get his head shaved in his backyard.

For the past 12 years, he's been "Prophet," the intimidating singer of local "carnimetal" band St. Madness, covered in demonic makeup and stage blood, screaming about vampires, zombies and murder. He hasn't cut his long black locks since 1985. He's never appeared in a press photo without makeup on before. He never imagined he'd be doing both in the same day, but he probably didn't imagine he'd get cancer, either.

Flannery was diagnosed with testicular cancer the second week of October, shortly after St. Madness headlined a show at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe. A few days after the show, Flannery felt a shooting pain in his side and went to the hospital, where doctors told him he had cancer in one of his testicles, as well as in the lymph nodes in his back and a spot on his spine. By the time this goes to press, Flannery will have undergone surgery to remove his left testicle and commenced chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Flannery's cancer is treatable, but he says doctors are concerned because he was born with Bruton's agammaglobulinemia, a rare, genetic blood disorder that prevents his body from producing sufficient levels of immunoglobulins, leaving him vulnerable to repeated infections. No one's sure how the chemotherapy will affect his already weakened immune system, but Flannery says he's trying to stay positive.

And he says there's no way he's giving up metal. "For me, for this guy right here, heavy metal has saved my life, given me a life, and sustained my life. Being onstage is sacred to me."

In fact, Flannery's got a gig later this month with St. Madness. "We're gonna play a show at the Salt River Indian reservation [with Rez-O-War] on Saturday, November 26," Flannery says. "I refuse to cancel it. If they have to wheel me out on a gurney, I'm going, and I'm singing that show. I've got to have something to work for. And we're releasing Vampires in the Church in January. I want to make more records. I want to keep St. Madness going like a circus."

"I'm going to totally reinvent a brand-new Prophet now that I'm bald," he says enthusiastically. "I'm going to totally revamp. And I'm excited about that. I can paint my whole head now. Who knows what I could do with spirit gum now?" And while Flannery admits he's "scared to death" as he starts to undergo treatment, he's got plans for the future. "I want to keep rocking as long as I can, and never say die."

Read the full article at Phoenix New Times.

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Dio's Sweden Rock 2005 Live Performance Online

A one-hour live recording of DIO's performance at this year's Sweden Rock festival (which took place on June 11) was broadcast on Swedish radio P4 this past weekend. A replay of the program is available for streaming at this location (in Real Media).

The current DIO touring lineup includes guitarist Doug Aldrich (WHITESNAKE), who has been filling in for an injured Craig Goldy for the past four weeks. Craig was previously said to have hurt his arm while touring Russia and was trying to continue to play the shows on painkillers, but was forced to leave the trek in early October.

In other news, DIO's December 1 date in Aarhus, Denmark has been cancelled. No reason was given for the cancellation. The first date of DIO's Scandinavian run will now be December 3 in Copenhagen. Also appearing on the bill will be URIAH HEEP and ASIA. The schedule is now as follows:

Dec. 03 - Copenhagen, DEN @ K.B. Hallen
Dec. 04 - Oslo, NOR @ Sentrum
Dec. 05 - Gothenburg, SWE @ Liseberghallen
Dec. 06 - Stockholm, SWE @ Arenaen
Dec. 08 - Helsinki, FIN @ Icehall
Dec. 09 - Jyvaskyla, FIN @ Icehall
Dec. 10 - Oulu, FIN @ Teatria

Aldrich's sole studio recording with DIO came in the shape of 2002's "Killing the Dragon", after which he toured with the group before leaving to join the touring lineup of WHITESNAKE.

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New Metal Releases Soundscan Report

The following are notable heavy metal/hard rock U.S. sales debuts for the week ending November 1, 2005, as reported by Nielsen SoundScan (All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, except numbers under 2,000, which are rounded to the nearest hundred; The Billboard 200 chart position included, where applicable):

DEMON HUNTER – "The Triptych": 6,000 (#136)
CHILDREN OF BODOM – "Are You Dead Yet?": 5,000 (#195)
ALLELE - "Point of Origin": 500
DRAGONLORD - "Black Wings of Destiny": 300

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