Obituary Vocalist Posts Brief Update

OBITUARY vocalist John Tardy has posted this brief message on the band's official website:

"We made it to Miami for the first show! I love it down here and tonight's show should be sick! This is our only show in Florida so I hope to see you all tonight!"

Here are the band's upcoming tour dates (w/ ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY, FULL BLOWN CHAOS and HEMLOCK):

Sept. 8 - Miami, FL - Studio A
Sept. 10 - Raleigh, NC - Volume 11
Sept. 11 - Springfield, VA - Jaxx
Sept. 12 - New York, NY - B.B. Kings Blues Club & Grill
Sept. 13 - Toronto, ON - Funhaus
Sept. 15 - Southbridge, MA - ADC Performance Center
Sept. 16 - Williamsville, NY - Club Infinity (New York Fright Fest 4)
Sept. 19 - Mt. Clemens, MI - Emerald Theatre
Sept. 20 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's Down Under
Sept. 21 - Maplewood, MN - The Rock
Sept. 22 - Indianapolis, IN - KOC Grand Ballroom (Indianapolis Metalfest)
Sept. 24 - Denver, CO - Aztlan Theatre
Sept. 26 - Anaheim, CA - House Of Blues
Sept. 28 - Concord, CA - Bourbon Street
Sept. 30 - Los Angeles, CA - The Knitting Factory
Oct. 3 - Austin, TX - Emos
Oct. 4 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
Oct. 5 - Houston, TX - Meridian
Oct. 6 - New Orleans, LA - The Hangar

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Skinlab Enter Studio

Veteran San Francisco Bay Area metallers SKINLAB have issued the following update:

"[We're] off to Trident studios [in Pacheco, California] to begin recording for upcoming digital release, due out in the coming months via Crash. We'll be re-recording the songs 'Face of Aggression' and 'In for the Kill'. We got our boy Dave from Rokhedz coming down to shoot video. A few suprises for ya. Couple of changes in the works!! Also, the live CD is close to being done. We've been mixing with Juan Urteaga the last few weeks. This shit sounds fuckin sick. We're very happy with the outcome of it so far. It's definitely one of the best sounding 'live' recordings we've ever done."

As previously reported, SKINLAB's 1997 debut album, "Bound, Gagged and Blindfolded", will be reissued on October 2 via Century Media Records. The repackaged disc will feature never-before-seen video footage and pictures with liner notes from founding members Steev Esquivel and Mike Roberts along with new artwork layout. "We're looking foward to this reissue as we think the music stands tall to today's musical standards," the band said in a statement. "It was an exciting time for us, [and] we couldn't be more pleased to see this happen!!"

SKINLAB recently inked a two-album deal with Crash Music Inc. The group also announced the addition of guitarist Julian Peach, formerly of DECEMBER, as the replacement for Glen Telford.

As previously reported, SKINLAB has set "Now That You're One of Us" as the title of its upcoming DVD. The group also recorded a live album on June 3 at The Metro in Oakland, California. Both releases are expected sometime in 2008.

SKINLAB's current lineup:

Paul Hopkins - Drums
Julian Peach - Guitars
Steev Esquivel - Bass/Vocals
Snake - Guitars

SKINLAB's last studio album, "ReVolting Room", came out in 2002. A double-disc set, entitled "Nerve Damage", featuring alternate versions of studio tracks, several live tracks recorded on the band's "ReVolting Room" tour, plus two new songs, came out in 2004.

RE:IGNITION — the band featuring Esquivel on guitar, Snake on bass, Dave Moore (ex-MINDBENDER) on vocals, Tim Howell (ex-FUELED, SACRILEGE B.C.) on guitar and Mark Hernandez (ex-TECHNOCRACY, TORQUE) on drums — released its debut album, "Empty Heart Loaded Gun", via Corporate Punishment Records.

"Empty Heart Loaded Gun" features guest appearances by guitarist Phil Demmel (MACHINE HEAD, ex-VIO-LENCE) and vocalist Brock Lindow (36 CRAZYFISTS).

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Exodus Run Guitar Lesson Competition

By purchasing an autographed copy of "Gary Holt's A Lesson In Guitar Violence" instructional DVD, you will automatically be entered into a random drawing to win a free half-hour guitar lesson from EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt and four tickets to an upcoming EXODUS show. The free lesson will be given before an upcoming EXODUS show in the winner's area (includes international customers). The winner is responsible for getting himself/herself into the show.

The winner will be announced (and subsequently contacted by e-mail) on January 1, 2008.

"Gary Holt's A Lesson in Guitar Violence" can be ordered through Zaentz at The Exodus Store. The disc contains never-before-seen live footage from 1985 at the Dynamo Club in Holland.

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Celtic Frost Mainman Working On Hellhammer Book

CELTIC FROST vocalist/guitarist Tom Gabriel Fischer has released the following update:

"I spent hours yesterday in the presence of HELLHAMMER's two iconic former bass players, Steve Warrior and Martin Eric Ain. We interviewed Steve Warrior in detail for the forthcoming HELLHAMMER book, 'Only Death Is Real', to be published sometime in 2008. Although I had spoken to Steve several times in recent months in the course of the research for the book, yesterday marked the first time I had seen him in many, many years. It was emotional and, I believe, a truly special experience for all of us.

"The book will be a veritable treasure trove. Between the archives of Martin, Steve, and myself, we are in possession of literally hundreds of photos, a great many of them never before published. There also exists an abundance of rare or never before seen original artwork, logos, sketches, and so on. Moreover, we have received remarkable material from collectors hailing from Japan, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, England, and the USA. The book will be huge, both in content as well as in format. And it will be the first time Hellhammer's story will be recorded correctly, and in the words of the former members. The information available today on the internet is, without exception, riddled with inaccuracies and outright misinformation.

"I began this book project on a much smaller scale a number of years ago, and it has grown beyond all expectations. It will mark the conclusion of a frequently difficult path for me and, I believe, for Martin, as well. It is no secret that HELLHAMMER was often a truly ambiguous, even outright destructive topic in my life. Or, likely, in the lives of all of the band's former main members. It was, for a long time, difficult for most of us to come to terms with HELLHAMMER's often chaotic and radically varied legacy. HELLHAMMER was much maligned, both during its existence and for years afterwards. Moreover, it was frequently very challenging to come to terms with how others interpreted HELLHAMMER and how they referred to and expanded upon what we had once created.

"I am very proud today to have been part of HELLHAMMER, and to have been granted to play with those who constituted the band. It was hard for me to get here. There were times of utter personal denial, for which I was criticized, almost certainly rightfully so. And yet many of those who felt compelled and qualified to voice their denigration with their big fucking mouths were so far off from the reality of what took place, both within my emotions and around me. It was pathetic. They all professed to know me, know my innermost thoughts, even though they at best had pieced together a distorted, moronic version of the actual reasons for my protracted path.

"There was only one person to have been there from the very first day of HELLHAMMER to the very last. That person was me."

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Soilwork Contribute Song To Nuclear Blast Game

Swedish metallers SOILWORK have contributed a new song called "Overclocked" to the soundtrack of the European point-and-click adventure game of the same name, due in Europe on October 12 via Anaconda. The track will also be available for purchase via the Nuclear Blast Musicshop.

Overclocked is being developed by House of Tales, the Germany-based studio that worked on other point-and-clickers The Moment of Silence and Mystery of the Druids. The psychological thriller focuses on army psychiatrist David McNamara, who is called to Staten Island Forensic Hospital to evaluate the condition of five young patients who have lost their memories to try to get to the root of their psychological trauma. In the game, the player switches between the six different characters as they explore their memories.

SOILWORK recently announced plans to film a video for the song "Exile" in Gothenburg, Sweden. According to the group's vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid, the clip "has a pretty trippy script. I'm sure it's gonna turn out awesome!"

"Exile" comes off SOILWORK's new album, "Sworn to a Great Divide", due on October 19 via Nuclear Blast Records.

The vocals for the new CD were recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with the help of STRAPPING YOUNG LAD mastermind Devin Townsend. The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. Sworn To A Great Divide
02. Exile
03. Breeding Thorns
04. Your Beloved Scapegoat
05. The Pittsburgh Syndrome
06. I, Vermin
07. Light Discovering Darkness
08. As The Sleeper Awakes
09. Silent Bullet
10. Sick Heart River
11. 20 More Miles

SOILWORK recently announced the addition of guitarist Daniel Antonsson (DIMENSION ZERO, PATHOS) to the group's ranks.

SOILWORK's last CD, "Stabbing the Drama", is available on Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to 2003's "Figure Number Five" was recorded at Fascination Street studios in Örebro and Dug-Out Productions in Uppsala, Sweden with producer Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES, STUCK MOJO).

Guitarist Peter Wichers left SOILWORK in December 2005 to pursue a career in producing.

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Venue Changed For Scorpions Vancouver Show

Due to the closure of The Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, BC, the SCORPIONS concert scheduled for September 12 has been moved to the P.N.E. Forum. Tickets purchased for The Orpheum show will be honoured at the door. All $79.50 & $59.50 purchased tickets from The Orpheum show will receive a partial refund of their ticket purchase so the final ticket cost will equal $49.50 plus applicable service charges. For any applicable ticket purchased via credit card (over the telephone and Internet), the partial refund will be processed the week after the show (September 13) via the credit card company. Those that have purchased their Orpheum ticket via a Ticketmaster Outlet (cash or credit card) will need to go back to the Point of Purchase for their partial refund the day starting after the show (September 13). The deadline for this will be September 18 (end of day). For any consumers who do not wish to see the show at the new venue, full refunds are available at point of purchase until September 13.

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Alerion Post Demo Online For Download

Dutch female-fronted metal band Alerion has recently released their latest demo album online. The album is available for streaming and download from the band's site.

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Imperial Working On New Album

Florida metal band Imperial has issued a brief update announcing that they've started working on a new album:

"Imperial is in the writing/recording process and so far we are very happy with what we have, this next album will be alot darker in all aspects (lyrics, music, skin color, clothes, the chicken we eat) and we are very excited to show everyone, we are going to be using alot more orchestral sounds to help the album bring a new flavor into the rotting metal-core genre, and spend more time on writing and recording than ever before in hopes to create a masterpiece.

We will be giving a full blog update on our future plans for the winter season and the new year very soon. We miss everyone and hope to be on the road again soon, in the meantime we will be booking a few more shows in our home state so keep checking back, and if you want us to play a show please feel free to contact us."

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Doomriders, Danzig October Mini-Tour

Doomriders has been tapped to support Danzig for several October shows. Here are the tour dates:

10/23 Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head
10/24 Philadephia, PA @ Electric Factory
10/25 Worcester, MA @ Palladium
10/27 New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre

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Atrocity To Release New Album In February

Veteran German metallers ATROCITY will release their long-awaited new album, "Werk 80 II", on February 8, 2008. A single will precede the full-length CD in November. Like the first "Werk 80" release, which came out in 1997, "Werk 80 II" features ATROCITY's interpretations of hit songs from the '80s.

Commented frontman Alex Krull: "We took a lot of time for the production to get the best result. All fans of the first 'Werk 80' will like the second one too. This time we have worked together with an orchestra and a choir. So the whole album has gained a bit more of a classical touch, which I personally like a lot. Everything sounds very harmonic and organic. The work on this album has been intense and thrilling. On the first 'Werk 80' album we also used classical elements but we enforced this on the new one. Thus the electronic parts got moved a little bit into the background. We didn't want to do the same on this successive album but including new elements and developing our style. I promise you 'Werk 80 II' is gonna be a class of its own worth waiting for it."

Regarding the album cover artwork, Krull said, "This time we got a very special cover model — we couldn't have chosen any better. The whole artwork is state of the art and dark at the same time. We won't say more at this moment."

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Black Label Society Announce "Last Call" Tour

OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist ZAKK WYLDE and his band BLACK LABEL SOCIETY have confirmed three exclusive live dates on the
Last Call 2007 tour with openers DOPE. The itinerary is as follows:

October
2 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
3 - Anaheim, CA - Grove of Anaheim
4 - West Hollywood, CA - House of Blues

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Rob Zombie Live DVD Due In Spring

The DVD companion to ROB ZOMBIE's first-ever live album, "Zombie - Live", will be available in the spring of 2008 and will include bonus footage.

"Zombie - Live" will be released on October 23, 2007 in both clean and explicit versions. Recorded in 2006 during the tour supporting the "Educated Horses" album, which hit #5 on the Pop chart, the CD finds Zombie leading a supercharged band featuring guitarist John 5, bassist Piggy D, drummer Tommy Clufetos and was produced by long-time co-writer and producer Scott Humphrey.

"Zombie - Live" includes the concert's renditions of the Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy-nominated "Thunder Kiss '65" and "Black Sunshine" from WHITE ZOMBIE's 1992 major label debut "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1", which went Top 40 and double platinum. "Super Charger Heaven", "Creature Of The Wheel" and "More Human Than Human", also Grammy-nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance, were first heard on WHITE ZOMBIE's 1995 Top 10, double platinum "Astro-Creep: 2000 Songs Of Love, Destruction And Other Synthetic Delusions Of The Electric Head".

From ROB ZOMBIE's 1998 solo debut, the Top 5, triple-platinum "Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales Of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside The Spookshow International", are "Superbeast", "Living Dead Girl", "Demonoid Phenomenon" and "Dragula". Songs from 2001's Top 10 and platinum "The Sinister Urge" are "Demon Speeding", "Dead Girl Superstar" and "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)". The latest songs hail from "Educated Horses": "Sawdust In The Blood", "American Witch", "Let It All Bleed Out" and "Lords Of Salem". Heard too are the title songs from the first two feature films directed by Zombie, 2000's cult smash hit "House Of 1000 Corpses" and 2004's critically acclaimed "The Devil's Rejects".

"Zombie - Live" track listing:

01. Sawdust in the Blood
02. American Witch
03. Demon Speeding
04. Living Dead Girl
05. More Human than Human
06. Dead Girl Superstar
07. House of 1000 Corpses
08. Let It All Bleed Out
09. Creature of the Wheel
10. Demoniod Phenomenon
11. Supercharger Heaven
12. Never Gonna Stop
13. Black Sunshine
14. Superbeast
15. The Devil's Rejects
16. Lords of Salem
17. Thunder Kiss
18. Dragula

As previously reported, Zombie is putting together a WHITE ZOMBIE box set containing "everything we ever recorded," according to the singer. "I am currently transferring all the early shit from the original tapes," he previously said. "No remixing going on here — everything will be as it was originally recorded. Don't know when this box set will be available, but it is slowly moving forward. This will be the final word on WHITE ZOMBIE."

ROB ZOMBIE's first-ever career retrospective, "Past, Present & Future", has sold more than a million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. The two-disc set, which was released in September 2003 through Geffen Records, contains a CD of 19 digitally remastered selections and a DVD of 10 music videos, including three that were previously unreleased.

As a recording artist Rob Zombie has sold over 15 million albums worldwide and continues to be one of Geffen Records' top-selling artists.

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