Into The Moat To Record Metal Blade Debut

Recent Metal Blade Records signees Into The Moat will be entering the studio in Tampa, Florida in early-October to record their Metal Blade debut. Recording will take place at Mana Recording Studios with Hate Eternal's Eric Rutan (Premonitions Of War) at the helm. Look for the effort, which is currently untitled, to hit stores in early-2005.

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Lostprophets' Watkins 'Scared' Of James Hetfield

Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins tells Launch Radio Networks he grew up worshipping Metallica and especially frontman James Hetfield while touring with the group in Europe last month, and he admitted he was a little nervous around his idol. "James would come out to the dressing room and hang out, and sit down and chat, but I was just scared all the time," he explained. "You know, I just couldn't get past the fact that he was James Hetfield. And I'm not like that with most people. Most people, it's like, 'whatever,' but this is James Hetfield. And he's very imposing anyway. I mean, he's like one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, but he's still James Hetfield, so he's still scary."

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Bristow, VA Ozzfest Photos Online

I've finally got my photos from the second stage of Ozzfest on Sunday July 18 in Bristow, VA posted. You can check them out in the photo gallery.

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Cannibal Corpse Live Review - July 19 In Vancouver

A live review and photos of the Cannibal Corpse / The Black Dahlia Murder show on Monday, July 19 at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, BC has been posted here. In addition to the concert, photos of the Cannibal Corpse in-store autograph signing, which took place at Scrape Records earlier that day, have also been posted.

Severed Savior, originally scheduled as one of the opening acts, could not make it to the show.

Cannibal Corpse's setlist:
Shredded Humans
Puncture Wound Massacre
Stripped, Raped And Strangled
Fucked With A Knife
Decency Defied
Vomit The Soul
Unleashing The Bloodthirsty
Pounded Into Dust
Cryptic Stench
They Deserve To Die
Dormant Bodies Bursting
Gallery Of Suicide
Pit of Zombies
The Wretched Spawn
Staring Through The Eyes Of The Dead
Devoured By Vermin
A Skull Full Of Maggots
Hammer-Smashed Face

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Ayreon To Re-Release Early CDs

On July 26th 2004, a re-issue of the Ayreon albums "The Universal Migrator Part 1 and 2" will become available in stores.

The Ayreon project moved to a new label InsideOut, and all albums, which have been sold out and very hard to find, are going to be released by InsideOut. The albums are re-issued in reverse order, starting with the Universal Migrator albums first released in 2000.

Initially, Arjen believed there were two distinct group of fans, the prog and the metal lovers, and so he decided to release two albums - one for each catagory without obligating fans of one genre to buy the other, resulting in the atmospheric Dream Sequencer, and the heavy Flight of the Migrator.

However, time proved Arjen wrong - the line between prog and metal is quite blurry. Nearly equal amounts of the albums were sold, and from the many emails Arjen received from his fans, he found out that each loved both albums.

And so, for this re-issue Arjen and the label decided to join the albums in a Special Edition - but for the price of a single album. The 2-in-1 version contains extra liner notes by Arjen, but do not contain bonus tracks as Arjen believes that would be unfair to fans for such a recent release.

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More Kataklysm Tour Dates Added

Kataklysm has added a show for this summer. The band will be headlining the Fit of Rage festival on August 27th in Prague, Czech Republic. The following day, Kataklysm will close the Up From the Ground festival in Germany on the 28th.

Some more dates have been also been added to their European tour with Graveworm, Mystic Circle, Into Eternity:

Oct. 2 Vosselaar, BL @ Biebob
Oct. 4 Bradford, UK @ Rio
Oct. 5 London, UK @ Underworld
Oct. 6 Essen, D @ Zeche Carl
Oct. 8 Clauchau, D @ Alte Spinerei
Oct. 9 Uherske Hradiste, CZ @ Mir Club
Oct. 10 Budapest, HUN @ Kultiplex
Oct. 15 Wien, A @ Planet Music
Oct. 17 Innsbruck, A @ Hafen
Oct. 25 Paris, FR @ La Locomotive

More dates coming soon!

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Ragnarok Announces European Tour Dates

Ragnarok have announced their European Tour 2004 with Krisiun, Behemoth and Incantation on their website.

Oct. 21 Tilburg, Netherlands @ 013
Oct. 22 Groningen, Netherlands @ Vera
Oct. 23 Vosselaar, Belgium @ Biebop
Oct. 27 Essen, Germany @ Zeche Carl
Oct. 28 Osnabruck, Germany @ N8
Oct. 29 Trier, Germany @ Exil
Nov. 3 Goteborg, Sweden @ Musik Hus
Nov. 4 Oslo, Norway @ John Dee
Nov. 5 Bergen, Norway @ Garage
Nov. 6 Sandnes, Norway @ Tribute

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Gene Simmons Announce DVD & CD Release Date

Simmons Audio Visual/New Millennium/Sanctuary Records Group is proud to announce the DVD & CD release of Gene Simmons’ "Speaking in Tongues" on August 24 and September 28, respectively.

"Speaking in Tongues" chronicles Gene Simmons' first ever, no holds barred “lecture tour” of Australia, shocking and tantalizing his audiences by speaking his mind on his favorite topics – Money, Success, Fame, KISS & of course - Women! Other highlights from "Speaking in Tongues" include a fascinating in-depth look at one of rock ‘n roll’s most legendary icon’s private life including his home, his family and his various business dealings. Additionally, the DVD & CD includes for the first time anywhere, over ten unheard and never-before-released Gene Simmons songs from the seventies through the nineties.

"Speaking in Tongues" is an intimate and revealing portrayal of Simmons' personal philosophies of life. Simmons (arguably the most opinionated man in music) states, “I decide things for myself, convention in society says I’m supposed to get married, I’m supposed to do this…I refuse. I’m a contradiction to all this stuff…I’m willing to bear all the criticism and I’m willing to take all the rewards. All the blame, but all the credit.” A brave statement from a man unafraid of pushing the envelope and dealing with the consequences.

Most recently, Simmons co-founding member of KISS, America's No.1 Gold Record Champions Of All Time (RIAA - Group Category), released his highly anticipated second solo effort, A**hole, revealing yet another side to the multi-talented artist. Like his 1978 self-titled solo album, A**hole is a diverse forward thinking, genre splitting effort and features a number of musical luminaries which include Bob Dylan, Dave Navarro and the Zappa Family.

KISS, who has rock and rolled all night and partied every day for over three decades and broken box office attendance records set by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, continue to conquer audiences with their current 2004 “Rock the Nation” worldwide tour.

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Black Sabbath Removes Backdrop Due To Complaints

According to Black Sabbath's official website, the video backdrop that the band are using on the current Ozzfest dates that compares President Bush to Adolf Hitler has been yanked due to "complaints."

Webmaster Joe Siegler also added: "From concert reports I've read, and an email I got from someone associated with the tour who wants to remain anonymous (I have no idea who it is, they're using a free mail account), it would appear that the Bush/Hitler image from the War Pigs video has been removed. The other day, Bill Ward came out on his website saying he wanted to distance himself from it, and there were a couple of reviews that mentioned said video. Today I noticed that there was a USA Today article that says '...was removed after complaints.' While I've not heard anything official from Sabbath's camp about this, I'll go with what was said here and say it was removed due to complaints."

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Infernal Majesty Canadian Tour Dates Announced

Galy Records (www.galyrecords.com) have posted Infernal Majesty's updated One Who Points To Canada tour schedule for 2004, which includes the band’s headlining date at the QC Metalfest, scheduled for July 31st at L’A.N.T.I. in Quebec City, Quebec. Other acts scheduled to perform include: Goat Horn, Rammer, Mesrine, Fuck the Facts, Dead Jesus and others.

Upcoming Infernal Majesty tour dates currently include:

July
21 in Edmundston, NB at TBA
24 in Toronto, ON at The Funhaus (with Anvil, Razor, Exciter +)
25 in Kingston, ON at TBA
26 in Perth, ON at TBA
27 in Peterborough, ON at TBA
28 in Oshawa, ON at TBA
31 in Quebec, QC at L'A.N.T.I. (QC MetalFest 3)

August
1 in Montreal, QC at TBA
2 in Ottawa, ON at TBA
4 in London, ON at Armadillo
5 in Windsor, ON at Million Club
6 in Sarnia, ON at TBA

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Judas Priest Announce Album Release Date

As posted on judaspriest.com:

"The Ozzfest shows have been absolutely fantastic - the reaction to Judas Priest has blown us all away! I've just got back from a few days in the U.S. with the guys - we had a great time - very, very busy what with specials on MTV, VH1, Eddie Trunk, etc and lots of press and radio interviews including the UK magazine Kerrang! Oh, of course - and some incredible shows! The band and I had meetings with our new label Epic (Sony) when we were in New York - their support and enthusiasm was great - we really look forward to working with them all. We have now confirmed a release date for the new album - it will be released on 28th December, 2004! A World Tour will be following starting early in 2005. More news as we finalise it!!"

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New Fear Factory Video Posted Online

Fear Factory's video for "Archetype," the title track of their recently released CD, has been posted online. Check it out:

• High-Speed


• Low-Speed

The "Archetype" clip was shot on May 29 at The Herald Examiner Bldg in Los Angeles, CA and was directed by Cesario "Block" Montano.

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After Forever Confirmed For Lorca Rock Festival

Dutch gothic/atmospheric doom metal group After Forever have has been confirmed for the Lorca Rock Festival, set to take place August 14 at Antiguo Cuartel de Infanteria in Lorca (Murcia), Spain. Other groups scheduled to perform at the festival include Europe, Magnum, TNT, Dream Evil, Axel Rudi Pell and the all-girl KISS cover band Kissexy. More acts will be announced soon.

For more information on the Lorca Rock Festival: www.lorcarockfestival.com

After Forever's latest album, "Invisible Circles," was released in March through Transmission Records. "Invisible Circles" is the follow-up to "Decipher," which was issued in 2001.

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Goatwhore Sign To Metal Blade Records

Metal Blade is proud to announce they have officially signed the New Orleans-based black metal band Goatwhore.

Goatwhore is known all over the underground scene for pushing the boundaries of black metal taking it to a more extreme level without all the theatrics the genre has become famous for. They focus on the raw brutality of the music itself creating a horrific soundscape that will bring you to your knees. Be prepared for plenty of touring and then a new album on Metal Blade Records in mid 2005.

Metal Blade CEO Brian Slagel expounds on the signing, "We are very excited to welcome Goatwhore to the Metal Blade Family. They are already a great band, with a great career and we plan on taking them to the next level."

Vocalist Ben Falgoust was also excited. "It is an honor to be signed to Metal Blade Records. They have been around quite sometime now and have always been pioneers at releasing new extreme metal/hardcore at a well-noted level. If you go back to the earlier years, they were the label that kick-started Slayer into what they are now, not too mention numerous other metal acts. Metal Blade Records have also ventured off into other terrains with earlier releases such as DRI, Cryptic Slaughter, Beyond Possession, and Corrosion of Conformity. These standards opened up a wide array of styles within metal and hardcore to be accepted by a wider audience in the extreme music scene. Creating a crossover effect among punk, metal, hardcore, and thrash metal. Now we see bands such as As I Lay Dying, Unearth, and The Red Chord sharing label standards with Vader, The Black Dahlia Murder, Cattle Decapitation, Cannibal Corpse, and now Goatwhore. This idea still in tact: still keeping the trend of having an extreme label covering a wide spectrum of choices within the extreme music scene. Not an easy task for a style of music that always has its ups and downs and mood shifts like a pregnant woman with ice cream. Metal Blade has brought us some of the best releases of Death Metal, Hardcore, Thrash Metal, and Metalcore. As time progresses the styles will change and grow and Metal Blade will make sure they are a part of the change and will continue to bring us lethal extreme music. This is why all of us in Goatwhore are very pleased to be doing our next release with Metal Blade Records. Look out for the new Goatwhore release in 2005. Until then, come out to a show or two and show some support."

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