Ex-Chevelle Bassist Slams Former Bandmates

Ex-CHEVELLE bassist Joe Loeffler has slammed his former bandmates over their claim that he had decided to "take a break to be home with family" while they head out on the road with 30 SECONDS TO MARS and TAPROOT. In a posting on the band's official message board, Joe — who is the brother of CHEVELLE members Sam Loeffler (drums) and Pete Loeffler (vocals/guitar) — had the following to say regarding his departure from the group:

"First off, very typical. This is exactly what I expected from them. Try and make it look like I didn't want to be in the band. I was fired, plain and simple; in fact, there wasn't even a discussion about it — they just dropped it on me. I told them I would never quit and they would have to fire me. They were trying to get me to quit and told my managers that I did. I called Sam and said, 'Why are you doing this?' and he said, 'We don't want you to come back.' I said, 'I will not quit.' The next day Pete called for the first time and said, 'Did (our managers) call you and tell you you're out?' I said 'No, were they supposed to?' He eventually said in that short conversation, 'You're fired.'

"I am insulted by the message on the front page of the site (by the way, that's the first change to the site I've seen in at least a year!). It is completely false and out of line. I made no decision and am not taking a break. I will be working on getting a new job immediately. A break also means there's a chance to come back, and nothing could be farther from reality. I was fired and they have not said a word to me since. I would never ask to be back in (why would I want to after this?) and I never did in the past when I quit. 'We'll miss having him on the road with us.'... Right."

Assuming bass duties for CHEVELLE's summer shows will be former FILTER guitarist Geno Lenardo.

CHEVELLE will be touring in support of their latest album, "This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In)" (Epic). Released last year, the album opened at No. 8 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 584,533 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

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London Terrorist Attacks Force Queen Cancellations

According to Billboard.com, today's (July 7) terrorist bombings in London have forced the cancellation or postponement of a number of concerts in the city. They include tomorrow's planned gig in Hyde Park by QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS, which has been postponed until July 15, and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's scheduled shows tonight at London's Somerset House and Camden's Koko, which have both been postponed; a new date has yet to be announced. "The band's hearts go out to everyone affected by this horrible attack," reads a message on QOTSA's official web site.

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Drowningman Lose Drummer

Drowningman have finished their latest tour and have returned home. However, drummer Brian Curry has decided to leave the band. His departure is amicable and Curry will continue to play with the group until they find a replacement. If you live in the vicinity of Burlington, VT (or are willing to relocate) and would be interested in trying out, contact the band at Drowningmanhome@hotmail.com. Drowningman requests that you send an MP3 of something you've previously done. In other news, the band will soon begin work on their new EP for Thorp Records, which will feature former Drowningman drummer (and current Silent Drive drummer) Dave Joyal.

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Black Harvest Sign With Oak Knoll Productions

Brooklyn, New York-based "avant black doom metal" band Black Harvest have inked a deal with the New England label Oak Knoll Productions. The group's debut Oak Knoll CD, "White Light Came Down", will feature a combination of new material with new recordings of the stronger songs from their last independent effort, "Mute". A fall release is expected.

Black Harvest's sound has been described as "combining mellow acoustic and clean vocal passages with black metal attacks, doomy interludes, and death metal brutality, appealing to fans of Opeth, Agalloch, Aurora, Katatonia and Enslaved."

"White Light Came Down" track listing:

01. Die, Lavinia
02. Let Us Go
03. Tamora
04. Remnant
05. New Year's Day
06. Lamentation
07. White Light Came Down
08. Apocalypse

For more information, visit www.black-harvest.com.

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Nostromo Decide To Break Up

Switzerland's Nostromo have announced their break-up. Here's a statement from the band:

"After almost a year of thinking it all over, we have decided to call an end to the band. For the last few months, each one of us has had to come to terms with our own emotions, doubts and motivations about the direction we want to take, and what we want out of the future. Our decision is very hard to make, but it appears logical to us; each member of the band is to pursue new and existing projects to explore how their tastes have grown and changed over the time with the band. The Nostromo adventure (almost ten years) has been a really big part of our lives, we have no regrets or bitterness, just a lot of good memories about a path that we may never have thought to take. We'd particularly like to thank the people, friends, fans, colleagues, and all the media and bands we have worked with on the way (too many to be named here) that helped and followed us throughout the years. We hope to meet you again through our other projects, at concerts or anywhere else we might see you, we want to tell everybody that 'All this shit was really good!'"

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Anata Begin Recording New Album

Death metal band Anata have entered Studiomega in Sweden to begin recording a new album for Earache Records. Here's what Anata frontman Fredrik Schalin has to say about the effort:

"At the moment, the working title for this album is 'The Conductor's Departure.' It symbolises the losing of control of your own life. You have all these abilities and potential, but it's all going to waste because you can't make something out of it. Like an orchestra without the conductor, hence the title! In general this album will be a lot faster, but it also has a lot of slower, heavy and groovy sections. When it comes to brutality, impact and assault, I think most people should know what to expect from Anata. It will be brutal as hell, but it's also much more interesting when it comes to harmonies."

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10 Years And Ill Nino To Support Disturbed

Starting August 3rd, 10 Years will be switching over from their current outing with Static-X in order to support Disturbed on their North American tour. Ill Nino will also be playing. 10 Years will release their new album entitled "The Autumn Effect" on August 16th. The dates with Disturbed are as follows:

08/03 - Ventura, CA - Ventura Theatre
08/04 - Bakersfield, CA - Montgomery World Plaza
08/06 - West Hollywood, CA - The Roxy
08/07 - Fresno, CA - Rainbow Ballroom
08/08 - Sacramento, CA - Sacramento Convention Center
08/14 - Colorodo Springs, CO - City Auditorium
08/15 - Albuquerque, NM - Albuquerque Convention Center
08/17 - Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Street Amphitheatre
08/19 - Amarillo, TX - Aztex Music Hall
08/20 - Oklahoma City, OK - Farmers Market
08/21 - Tulsa, OK - Cains Ballroom
08/23 - Wichita, KS - The Cotillion
08/24 - Springfield, MO - Oasis Inn and Convention Center
08/26 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Hall
08/27 - Fargo, ND - Fargo Civic Memorial Auditorium
08/28 - Sioux Falls, SD - Ramkota Exhibit Hall
08/30 - Des Moines, IA - Val Air Ballroom
08/31 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
09/02 - Springfield, IL - The Warehouse
09/03 - Cedar Rapids, IA - Hawkeye Downs Speedway
09/05 - Toronto, ONT - Kool Haus
09/06 - London, ONT - John LaBatt Centre
09/12 - Scranton, PA - Scranton Cultural Center
09/13 - Niagara Falls, NY - Dome Theatre
09/16 - Poughkeepsie, NY - Mid-Hudson Civic Center
09/17 - Hampton Beach, NH - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom

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ex-F&J Guitarist Joins Beautiful Creatures

Former FLOTSAM AND JETSAM axeman Mark Simpson has joined BEAUTIFUL CREATURES as the group's second guitarist. The band's sophomore album, "Deuce", is scheduled for release on August 23 via Spitfire Records. However, this will be a different version of the album than what has already been released in Japan, according to MelodicRock.com. The guys have just completed re-recording all the guitar parts, recording over those originally provided by Alex Grossi. An MP3 of the album track "Superfly" can be downloaded at this location.

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Wicked Wisdom Post New Song Online

An audio clip of a brand-new WICKED WISDOM track, entitled "Something Inside of Me", has been posted online at WickedWisdom.net (in f***ing Real Audio format).

WICKED WISDOM, who have been confirmed as the final band on the second stage of this year's Ozzfest, were previously described by MTV.com as an EVANESCENSE-esque act that Pinkett Smith, the band's frontperson and the wife of actor/rapper Will Smith, has said is influenced by ANI DIFRANCO, PRINCE, TORI AMOS and SEVENDUST. The group also includes a guy named Pocket on guitar, another fellow named Rio on bass, keyboardist Cameron Graves and drummer Phillip Fisher (founding member of FISHBONE). This summer's Ozzfest stint will mark WICKED WISDOM's first North American tour: The group primarily perform club gigs in and around Los Angeles, although they have opened for PAPA ROACH and were the support act for BRITNEY SPEARS' 2004 European tour.

"Something Inside of Me" will be included on the Ozzfest 2005 summer sampler, which will be available at the Ozzfest Summer Sampler tent for free, and as a consolation prize in the Village of the Damned at any of the game booths.

WICKED WISDOM are said to be writing material for their debut album, which they are co-producing with Ulrich Wild (P.O.D., INCUBUS, STATIC-X). The group are managed by James Lassiter and Miguel Melendez at Overbrook Entertainment, the production/management company owned by Will Smith.

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Terror Touring Plans

Terror are currently in Europe on tour. The band will return to the U.S. next week, then join the Sounds Of The Underground tour for two weeks on July 15th. August plans include performing at Hellfest and filming a new video, the details of which have yet to be announced. In September Terror will tour Japan for ten days before hooking up with Converge for a two-week Canadian tour. Immediately following that trek, the band will tour briefly in mid-October with Donnybrook. Finally, Terror will then hit the road for a five week, full U.S. tour with Shadows Fall, Fear Factory, and Bleeding Through. Meanwhile, in December the group will finish writing their next album for Trustkill Records, which will be recorded this winter.

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Paint The Town Red Disband

Germany's Paint The Town Red have officially disbanded. According to the band, "After our last tour and several band member changes, the road we were on became harsh and the thorns cut our feet and hands. After we arrived and went our separate ways some of us decided to stick with it. Chris, Nanouk and Walzel will be taking things to the next level and wiping the blood on their faces with a new band."

Formed in 2001, the group released material with Join The Team Player Records prior to signing with Thorp Records late last year.

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Cave In Temporarily Replace Drummer

Cave In are to play some US shows in the next few weeks. But they'll be doing these without drummer JR Connors. His place is being temporarily taken by Ben Koller of Converge.

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Summer Mudvayne Tour Dates

Mudvayne have published a complete list of tour dates including their Ozzfest 2005 dates, which kick off in 2 weeks, and off dates (marked with an *):

15 Jul - Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center
16 Jul - Glenn Falls, NY @ Glenn Falls Civic Center [tickets] *
17 Jul - Hartford, CT @ Meadows
19 Jul - Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Waterfront
20 Jul - Toronto, Ont @ Docks - Mudvayne/SF/IF/Trivium *
21 Jul - Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lakes
23 Jul - Pittsburgh, PA @ Post Gazette
24 Jul - Washington, DC @ Nissan Pavilion
26 Jul - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Arts Center
27 Jul - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Arts Center
28 Jul - Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (WNOR Radio Show) [tickets]
30 Jul - Chicago, IL @ Tweeter Center
31 Jul - Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
02 Aug - Columbus, OH @ Germain Amphitheatre
03 Aug - Cleveland OH @ Tower City Amphitheatre [tickets] - Mudvayne/SF/IF/Trivium *
04 Aug - Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
06 Aug - East Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley
07 Aug - Somerset, WI @ Floatrite Park
10 Aug - Portland, OR @ Columbia Meadows (KUFO Radio Show)
11 Aug - Auburn, WA @ White River
13 Aug - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
14 Aug - Marysville, CA @ Sleep Train
16 Aug - West Valley City, UT @ USANA Pavilion
17 Aug - Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues - Mudvayne/SF/IF/Trivium *
18 Aug - Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket
20 Aug - San Bernardino, CA @ Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen
21 Aug - San Diego CA @ Soma [tickets] - Mudvayne/SF/IF/Trivium *
23 Aug - Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
24 Aug - Odessa, TX @ Ector County Coliseum
25 Aug - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff
27 Aug - Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia J. Woods Pavilion
28 Aug - Selma, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amp
30 Aug - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
31 Aug - Antioch, TN @ Starwood Amphitheatre
02 Sep - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon
04 Sep - West Palm Beach @ Sound Advice

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