Cursed Finishes New EP, Cancels Tour

Cursed has finished recording their new EP, "Blackout at Sunrise." Recording took place with Donnie Cooper in Hamilton, Ontario and the effort will be a 7" picture disc and CD single, which will include a "surprise Canadiana cover song." Goodfellow Records will release the EP late this summer.

Meanwhile Cursed has cancelled their Europe/UK tour, which had been scheduled for August. According to the band, the cancellation is "due to some family/health issues on the home front that we can't avoid and have to put first."

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Bracewar Signs To 1917 Records

Richmond, VA band Bracewar has officially signed with 1917 Records. Featuring ex-members of Murder Weapon, the group has previously released material with Good News Records and Brain Grenade Records. This summer Bracewar will be writing material for a new album. In the interim, you can check out a few of their songs here.

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Ghost Brigade Signs To Season of Mist

Season of Mist has announced the brand new signing of Finnish band GHOST BRIGADE.

"We are extremely happy about the signing to Season Of Mist Records", the guys say. "We negotiated with various labels during the past months but there was only one that truly felt like home. These guys have come a long way in the music business and they're all excited about GHOST BRIGADE so we're looking forward to working with them for the next few records."

In case you're wondering what kind of music GHOST BRIGADE plays, here's what the band has to say: "There are so many bands and artists that have influenced us throughout the years that I couldn't just pick a few and say we're a mixture of those. That wouldn't do the listener nor us any justice. We are influenced by anything that sounds good, be it older death metal, melancholic pop music or anything in between. So I guess we just collect little pieces along the way, put it all into a blender and the result is GHOST BRIGADE. To anyone who hasn't heard us, I'd say it's heavy, dynamic and metallic music filled with beautiful melodies and a fine dose of anxiety."

You can listen to their 4 song demo on the band's MySpace page or download it here (.RAR).

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Carpathian Forest Charts In Norway

Norwegian black metallers CARPATHIAN FOREST have entered the national album charts in their home country at position No. 25 with their latest effort, "Fuck You All!!!!". The album also entered on position 60 in the official international Top 100 in Norway.

The band has announced that they will take a break for the remainder of 2006 (after their performance at the Kaltenbach Open Air in Austria, see below) and will prepare for a "touring marathon" in early 2007.

The only currently confirmed gig of Carpathian Forest is as follows:

14 Jul 06 Spital am Semmering (AT) Kaltenbach Open Air 2006 www.kaltenbach-openair.at

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Anaal Nathrakh Complete Third Album

British black metallers ANAAL NATHRAKH have completed their third full length album, entitled "Eschaton", the band's 3rd full length album. The journey through rabid violence, depravity and horrified clarity of vision was this time abetted by, amongst others, Shane Embury (NAPALM DEATH) and Attila Csihar (MAYHEM). Featuring the likes of the berserk rage of "Bellum Onium Contra Omnes" and the epic "When The Lion Devours Both Dragon And Child", the storm of "Eschaton" will thunder forth on October 16th via Season of Mist.

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Deicide Complete "Homage For Satan" Video Shoot

Deicide spent 12 hours locked up in baking Floridian conditions last weekend while they filmed the video for the skin-flaying new track 'Homage For Satan'. In temperatures reaching almost 100º Fahrenheit, the band ripped through the track again and again with a level of energy and enthusiasm that would destroy many less committed bands, drummer Steve Asheim in particular pulling of the almost inhuman feat of playing for 12 hours straight in broiling conditions without dropping a beat.

Never one to be outdone, Glen Benton then upped the stakes considerably by donning the now legendary God deflecting armour, last seen at the Roadrunner All Stars show, and performing the latter part of the video shoot effectively wearing a second skin. Add to that some blistering guitar work from Jack Owen and Ralph Santolla and the climactic scene of the video where Glen is seen spewing forth bile and you just know that this might just be one of the most intense videos of 2006. Directorial duties on 'Homage For Satan' are handled by Detroit based crew Scrambled Visual, who will be filming some additional Christ-baiting material back in Detroit this weekend.

Expect 'Homage For Satan' to be hitting your TV screens later this month, if you can't wait that long, head on over to iTunes where you can currently download an exclusive early mix of 'Homage For Satan' as part of 'The Stench Of Redemption 666 EP'. The album 'The Stench Of Redemption' will be in stores August 21st (UK/ Europe) August 22nd (USA).

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Headline News

Latest Album May Be Strapping Young Lad's Last

Niko Kaartinen of Finland's Imperiumi webzine recently conducted an interview with STRAPPING YOUNG LAD mastermind Devin Townsend. A few excerpts from the chat follow (translated from Finnish by Mike Portnoy forum member "tommidt"):

Imperiumi: "The New Black" is STRAPPING YOUNG LAD's fifth and final record for Century Media. Is this the last record of SYL's career?

Devin: "I hope so. I believe so. I signed a five-album deal with Century Media and this is now the fifth. There you have five records; they are very happy with that and I've done my job. Next! (laughs)"

Imperiumi: What did the Century Media people think when you told them that you were going to take rest of the year off be with your family? Wouldn't this be the best time to promote SYL [seeing as you have a new record coming out]?

Devin: "Well, this might get me in trouble, but I couldn't care less. Should I be on tour while I have a newborn baby at home? My wife is pregnant, so should I be far from home drinking booze and pretending that I care about heavy metal? In how many different ways I can say that I don't care? In how many ways I can say that I'm through with this thing? I said I'd make five records, [and] I did them. We are now doing a European tour, playing some big shows. Fine. We'll do Ozzfest; those are big shows too. We don't need anything else, in my opinion. . . You can keep 'The New Black', I don't care anymore. Keep the rights to the band, do what you want. I don't care anymore, and I think it is just stupid. The manager, the band and record company look at me now just like I am the enemy, because I feel this way. But what can you do? You can't just keep going like this anymore. I have done this for a several years now."

Imperiumi: But still, it is about your life. You want to be able to control it.

Devin: "Exactly, if you are not able to control it, you are wasted. You'll end up being a junkie or an alcoholic who ends up cheating your wife. Or you'll end up a fake rock star, thinking you actually are one."

Imperiumi: Is the the gap between SYL and your solo material becoming closer?

Devin: "It feels like I'm less and less angry all the time. Even THE DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND will put out softer stuff in the future, so the SYL material feels even harder now compared to my solo material. My next recordings will probably be something like this (points out the beautiful nature of Finland's Provinssirock festival), something [representing] beautiful scenery. Beautiful things. I don't have to be hard/tough (heavy) anymore. I'm 34 years old, I'm already old."

Imperiumi: How do you want SYL to be remembered?

Devin: "As a big middle finger! How else?"

Imperiumi: Does Gene (Hoglan, SYL drummer) know yet that this is the last record?

Devin: "Umm... I don't know. I don't think anyone knows that. I just HOPE this is the last one, because I don't have anything to say with this band anymore. Who knows what the future will bring? Now I just hope that I can do other things."

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Mucopus to Record New Album

Death metallers Mucopus, featuring Jason Keyser of Skinless, vocals, have posted the following update:

"We're going into Max Trax/M Studios with engineer Brett Portzer down in Albany tomorrow to begin recording some pre-production material for the upcoming full-length due out next year. Hopefully we'll have some samples up for you by the end of next week, as these will be the first recordings we'll have with Jason (vocals) and Vesgore (guitar).

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Ghoul to Play Rare NYC Show

Ghoul will be making a rare East Coast appearance on July 23rd when they play at Brooklyn Fireproof in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Also performing will be Kill the Client, Sulaco, Defeatist, and others. Ghoul will be replacing Benumb on the show, and are also expected to be replacing them at the Doom And Grind Fest on July 22nd at Bill's Bar in Boston, MA. Some of Ghoul's material can be heard at their MySpace page.

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Iron Maiden Reveal New Album Artwork, First Single

Iron Maiden have posted the following at their official site:

Following the announcement of the forthcoming early September release of their new studio album, "A Matter of Life and Death", Iron Maiden reveal their front cover artwork! The cover can be seen here.

Also announced is the news that "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" will be released as a very special single on 14th August.

Says Steve Harris, “This is a very intense album in many ways and we really wanted to go with a lead track that demonstrated that in the best way, rather than going for a shorter track on the album just to please the chart rules. Benjamin Breeg is a great example of the feel of the album in it’s really heavy riff and lyrically it’s a very dark, atmospheric and powerful song which really epitomizes what the album is all about for us. So it made a natural choice for us.”
More...

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Buckethead Announces Tour Dates

Buckethead has announced tour dates for his upcoming North American tour. Dates are as follows:

September 17 - Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
September 19 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Fun House
September 23 - New York, NY @ B.B. King Blues Club
October 29 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues

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Deicide Add More Tour Dates

Deicide have added announced more tour dates for their upcoming tour with Jungle Rot, Hurtlocker, and Desolation. Added dates are as follows:

October 1 - Cudahy, WI @ Vnuk's
October 3 - St. Paul, MN @ TBA
October 4 - Rapid City, SD @ TBA
October 5 - Denver, CO @ TBA
October 6 - Salt Lake City, UT @ TBA
October 7 - Boise, ID @ TBA
October 8 - Seattle, WA @ TBA

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Goatwhore to Tour w/ Emperor and Others

Goatwhore have announced the following tour dates with Strapping Young Lad, Suffocation, Emperor, and Asesino:

July 16 - West Hollywood, CA @ Key Club w/ Emperor
July 17 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues w/ Emperor
July 24 - London, ON @ The Embassy w/ Strapping Young Lad
July 25 - Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's w/ Strapping Young Lad
July 28 - Bedford, NH @ Mark's Showplace w/ Suffocation
July 29 - Sommerville, MA @ Goodtimes Emporium w/ Suffocation
July 30 - Springfield, VA @ Jaxx w/ Suffocation
July 31 - New York, NY @ B.B. King Blues Club w/ Asesino
August 2 - Portland, ME @ The Station w/ Strapping Young Lad
August 3 - Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus w/ Strapping Young Lad

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Cattle Decapitation Performance Online

Cattle Decapitation's last performance on the tv show Fox Rox has been posted online. The songs that have been posted for viewing are "Success Is...(Hanging By The Neck)" and "Total Gore". For those wishing to check out the performance, it can be viewed here (There's an add for charmin before, just in case anyone who clicks gets confused).

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Vader Release Album Details

Vader have posted the cover art, a song from their new album, the tracklisting for their new album, and a release date for it. Vader's new album will be entitled "Impressions In Blood" and released September 4th through Regain Records. The "Impressions In Blood" tracklisting is as follows:

1. Between Day and Night
2. ShadowsFear
3. As Heavens Collide...
4. Helleluyah!!! (God is Dead)
5. Field of Heads
6. Predator
7. Warlords
8. Red Code
9. Amongst The Ruins
10. They Live!!!
11. The Book

You can view the cover art here and download the track "Warlords" here.

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Former Megadeth Drummer Auctioning Memorabilia

According to a press release, former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza is placing his personal Megadeth memorabilia on eBay. Some of the key items include drumheads, hard-to-find nostalgic tour T-Shirts, two leather jackets and one jean jacket, hats, Vic Rattlehead pewter pins, glass mug, drumsticks, an 11 X 17 original promotional photograph, tour itineraries, crew-only issued golf shirts, shorts, shirts Menza wore in promotional photos, a couple drums, backstage passes and Menza’s famous titanium drum riser.

Every item is autographed and personalized by Menza and will be sent with a certificate of authenticity!

The winning bidder for each item will be entitled the option to receive a phone call from Menza and can ask him one question (on anything) pertaining to Megadeth.

Check out the auctions here.

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Final Three-Part Nightwish Video Blog Online

As previously reported, Nightwish have launched an official video blog page that gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at their rehearsals this summer. The final part of this video can be found here. The previous two videos can also be found at the same location.

Nightwish recently released their first live CD and DVD, entitled "End of an Era", which was recorded live at the Helsinki Arena in Finland on the 21st October 2005.

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