ex-King Diamond Drummer Named Therion Singer

Swedish multi-instrumentalist Snowy Shaw (MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND, DREAM EVIL) has been named the new singer in THERION. The group's new album, "Gothic Kabbalah", was recorded and mixed in Stockholm by Stefan Glaumann (RAMMSTEIN, EVERGREY, EUROPE) will be released in January 2007 via Nuclear Blast Records. Snowy shares the vocal duties with Mats Lev?n (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, KRUX, AT VANCE) and two female singers. A full-blown European tour with GRAVE DIGGER and SABATON kicks off mid-January.

In other news, Snowy recently did session vocals on the debut album from Swedish doomsters ADONIZE VITA. Snowy has also joined forces with friends Kriss G?bel (FALCONER, DESTINY) and Michael ?berg (NOSTRADAMEUS) in cover band METAL F?R ALLE, performing gigs locally in the Gothenburg area covering the four decades of metal.

Shaw recently recorded produced three new songs for Swedish glam/sleaze act LOUD'N'NASTY, and he also played session drums on the recording. The band will play some Swedish dates (Gothenburg, Kalmar and a planned Glam XXX-mas in Stockholm) in December - their first with Snowy behind the kit.

Also on the Shaw front, Snowy worked with Patric Ullaeus (LACUNA COIL, WITHIN TEMPTATION, IN FLAMES, DIMMU BORGIR) and Revolver Film Company on the video for "I Was Made For Loving You" from MINI ROCKERZ (a.k.a. MINIKISS), a tribute band featuring little people (from 3-foot-11 to 4-foot-4 in height) covering KISS songs in full make-up while playing fake wooden guitars.

Snowy and Mats Levon will be the guest DJs at the Halloween Ball, arranged by Nocturnal Models, in Stockholm November 4.

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King Diamond Talks To Revolver About New Album

King Diamond: 'As Long as I Don't F*ck Up the Vocals, This Should be Our Best Record'

Revolver magazine's website reports that most album art is inspired by the music on the disc, but KING DIAMOND inverted the process for his yet-untitled 12th studio record, which is scheduled for a spring release. When his band's distributor in Denmark stumbled across a painting called "My Mother's Eyes" while surfing the Net, he e-mail it to the MERCYFUL FATE frontman and prolific solo artist, who immediately bought it for his next CD cover. The more Diamond looked at the image of a battered blond girl with blood covering her white dress, holding out palms affixed with protruding eyeballs, the more it captivated and inspired him. "I can feel the energy of the front cover in all the songs we wrote, and it will definitely affect my lyrics," he promises.

Diamond wrote the song from December 2005 through this past February, then recorded the basic tracks in his basement. Now all that's left to add are the vocals, which he will complete in the upcoming weeks.

"It classes over anything I've ever done," Diamond beams. "The arrangements are more intricate, the production is better, and for the parts where there are violins, it sounds like we hired the Royal Philharmonic. As long as I don't fuck up the vocals, this should be our best record."

KING DIAMOND's follow-up to 2003's "The Puppet Master" will contain 13 tracks (including an intro), five of which were written by the band's guitarist, Andy La Rocque.

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Comeback Kid Recording, Set Release Date

Comeback Kid have announced that since July they've been writing new songs and are now in Colorado recording the songs for the follow-up to last year's Wake The Dead. The band's working with Jason Livermore and Bill Stevenson (Black Flag, Descendents) again for the album, which is slated to be released February 20th.

The band will be supporting Sick of it All on a European tour later this month.

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Set Your Goals Cancel Dates Due To Deer Collision

Set Your Goals have been forced to cancel some dates due to an accident involving a deer and their van. While no one was hurt, the van was destroyed. The band was on tour with Terror and explained:

"Naturally joe was the one driving when the impact occurred. I was in the back but supposedly he was just chilling on the other side of the freeway and at the very last moment he bounded across and we caught its rear end on the right side of our grill. Our radiator exploded and there was a long thick trail of fluid leading up to the van by the time we pulled over. The right side of the front end was completely crushed and there were bits of deer stuck in it along with some blood and fur on the driver side door."

The band released Mutiny! earlier this year.

Read the full article at MySpace.com.

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xBishopx, Barriers Now Bridges Booking Tour

xBishopx will be embarking on a full U.S. tour with support from Barriers Now Bridges in early 2007. Most of the dates are still open and you can contact them at their MySpace with any booking offers. The band will be touring in support of their upcoming Demo 7" and a split CD with The Red Baron, both of which will be available from Dead Truth Recordings. Here are the tour dates:

1/5 Orlando, FL
1/6 Jax, FL w/ Make Or Break
1/7 Atlanta, GA w/ Bitter End
1/8 Nashville, TN w/ Bitter End
1/9 Louisville, KY w/ Bitter End
1/10 Dayton, OH w/ Bitter End
1/11 Indianapolis, IN w/ Bitter End
1/12 Chicago, IL w/ Bitter End
1/13 Detroit, MI w/ Bitter End
1/14 Cleveland, OH w/ Bitter End
1/15 Pittsburgh, PA
1/16 Erie, PA
1/17 Syracuse, NY
1/18 Binghamton, NY
1/19 Albany, NY
1/20 Western MA
1/21 Boston, MA w/ Make Or Break
1/22 Hartford, CT / Providence, RI w/ Make Or Break
1/23 Long Island, NY w/ Make Or Break
1/24 New York, NY w/ Make Or Break
1/25 NJ w/ Make Or Break
1/26 Philadelphia, PA w/ Make Or Break
1/27 Baltimore, MD @ Earth Crisis Reunion
1/28 Richmond, VA
1/29 Greensboro, NC
1/30 Murder Beach, SC
1/31 Augusta, GA / Columbia, SC
2/1 Tupelo, MS
2/2 St Louis, MO
2/3 Kansas City, MO
2/4 Denver, CO
2/5 Salt Lake, UT
2/6 Reno, NV
2/7 Sacto, CA
2/8 San Jose / San Francisco / Oakland, CA
2/9 Fresno, CA
2/10 San Louis Obispo, CA
2/11 Anaheim, CA
2/12 Corona, CA
2/13 Los Angeles, CA
2/14 San Diego, CA
2/15 Las Vegas, NV w/ Wintch Mob
2/16 Phoenix, AZ w/ Wintch Mob
2/17 El Paso, TX w/ Bitter End, Wintch Mob
2/18 Dallas, TX w/ Bitter End, Wintch Mob
2/19 Austin TX w/ Bitter End, Wintch Mob
2/20 San Antonio, TX w/ Bitter End, Wintch Mob
2/21 Houston, TX w/ Bitter End, Wintch Mob
2/22 Baton Rouge/ New Orleans, LA w/ Wintch Mob
2/23 Tally/Pens, FL w/ Make Or Break, Wintch Mob
2/24 Tampa, FL w/ Make Or Break, Wintch Mob
2/25 Ft Lauderdale, FL w/ Make Or Break, Wintch Mob

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Immortal Frontman Discusses I Project

Elina of Greece's Metal Temple webzine recently conducted an interview with IMMORTAL / I frontman Abbath. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow:

Metal Temple: How come you chose this humble name for the new project?

Abbath: I didn't want to call it ABBATH so...

Metal Temple: [Laughs] Ok, I get your point!

Abbath: I thought it was a brilliant idea. It was Demonaz's idea and while I was struggling to find a name, I didn't want to call it ABBATH even though it's kind of a solo project and of course not IMMORTAL because it's not IMMORTAL but a solo project. Demonaz suggested the name I and I thought it was just great! He also came with the name IMMORTAL back then! So, yes, it's cool and I think that this name. I really symbolizes things; it's like a column!

Metal Temple: What were the impressions from the Hole In The Sky Festival in August which was also the first appearance of I?

Abbath: People liked it. I was struggling a bit on stage because I was suffering from an infection and after a couple of songs I was in a lot of pain and it was difficult to do a lot of stuff on stage, but I had to be focused until the show was over. We also didn't have a very good sound on stage because we didn't have a sound check so it was?well, it has been better! But, we did the best we could under that situation and the audience seemed to like it.

Metal Temple: What about the song "Far Beyond the Quiet" and its dedication to Quorthon of BATHORY? How did this occur?

Abbath: Actually, when I composed that song, there wasn't any intention to make it sound like BATHORY but it ended up like that. So, Demonaz, when he listened to it, he told me that this could be a pretty cool dedication to Quorthon if he could also write the lyrics in his spirit, as he too is a big fan of Quorthon's writing. So he did a fantastic job with that as well.

Metal Temple: In what ways do you believe your music has progressed through this album?

Abbath: It's like we are on a balance point with this one. We have searched the golden past, but we have also opened new doors and made something fresh for this new era. That's generally my opinion and I think that many people agree with it. A lot of people are actually waiting for this album

Metal Temple: Are there any touring plans arranged?

Abbath: We haven't planned any tour or anything with I, but I would love to come to the Rockwave Festival with IMMORTAL, although there aren't any offers from its organizers, but anyway, I would like to come as soon as possible to Greece 'cause I really like it there and I also have some friends there.

Read the full article at Metal Temple.

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Vomitory Plan First US Show Ever

Swedish death metallers VOMITORY check in with the following update:

"Vomitory is confirmed for Maryland Deathfest, May 26th - 27th in Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.

This means that this will be the first show ever for Vomitory on American soil! We're working on getting some more shows confirmed around the festival dates. More info on this later."

As previously reported, the band will be entering Leon Music Studios outside Karlstad, Sweden on December 3rd to start recording the follow-up to 2004's Primal Massacre.

The album is planned to be released by the end of April next year through Metal Blade Records, and the title will be revealed soon.

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Human Mincer Part With Vocalist

Spanish death metalllers HUMAN MINCER have parted ways with vocalist Carlos and bassist Antonio "due to personal and professional reasons" the band says. "The two new members are Phlegeton in vocals (also vocalist in WORMED and drummer in UNSANE CRISIS/Godüs) and Guillemoth in bass (also bass player in WORMED). "We are working hard and writing new songs for our third album that will see the light in the next year through American label Unmatched Brutality."

You can check them out at the band's Myspace page.

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Moonspell Named Best Portuguese Act

Moonspell won MTV Europe's award for Best Portuguese Act, competing with multi-platinum Hip - Hop and Pop bands. This is the first time in history that a Metal band has won this award. The band has issued the following statement online:

"We won MTV Euro awards for best Portuguese act and wish to dedicate it to all people around the world who voted for us and helped Moonspell to become a stronger band and Portuguese Metal more known to the abroad scene! Thank you a million moons!!! ~Fernando and Moonspell"

Moonspell continue to tour in support of their new album "Memorial" which was released earlier this year through SPV / Steamhammer. The appropriately dubbed "Nocturnal Mourning" tour with special guests Katatonia and Daylight Dies is hitting the world famous Whiskey A Go Go in L.A. this Sunday Nov. 5th. The tour will then roll through Anaheim and start heading east until the final show Nov. 19th at the Webster Theater in Hartford, CT.

NOCTURNAL MOURNING TOUR
w/ MOONSPELL, Katatonia, Daylight Dies More...

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Cave In Still Inactive; Update On Band Members

Cave In currently has no plans to reconvene anytime soon. Regarding the band's status, guitarist Adam McGrath states the following:

"Cave In's members are all presently living in different places and focused on different things. When your together for over ten years you tend to want to stretch with out each other. We are still brothers and continue to support eachother in all our musical endeavors. I don't know when or how but we WILL cross paths again."

Meanwhile, McGrath has also offered updates regarding his bandmates:

"- Stove has a new record coming out in November on Hydra Head. Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum is the perfect album to drift off into the 16 bit landscape of warp zone's, minus worlds and triforces.

- Caleb has recorded a new record with Santos Montano of OMG fame. Zozobra's "Harmonic Tremors" will see the light of day in the near future on Hydra Head as well. It is a new FRONTIER of heavy music that will blow all minds.

- JR has been bashing away his drums with Doomriders. RIDE OR DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He also has gone back to school to refine his computer hacking skills.

- Ben is currently on tour with the mighty Converge. The new record "No Heroes" is their most savage and ferocious work in years. Everyone reading this should go check out why Converge is presently the undisputed greatest American hardcore band.

-Myself (Adam)...I have recorded an album with my new band Clouds. The "Legendary Demo" was recorded last summer by Stove and will be out on Hydra Head in Feb 07."

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Watch Bane's Performance of "Every Effort Made"

There is another new live video of Bane performing their track “Every Effort Made” available for viewing at the Underground Video Television website. This joins several other live videos of Bane which were produced by UVTV all of which are now online. The footage was taken at The Auburn Public Theatre earlier this year in Auburn NY.

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Interview

Interview With Erik Ulrich Of I.R.A.T.E.

Los Angeles, California's hardcore metal act I.R.A.T.E. has seen more than its fair share of adversity this year, including a name ownership battle with NYC counterparts who seemed to want to see this band crash and burn under outrageous 'character assassination' attempts and even literal 'death threats', yet still managing to even hold its own against the other enemy that needs to be worried about: a stiff wall of competition coming from countless hordes of other upcoming rock acts making their rounds on the most famous music scene of them all, Hollywood's Sunset Strip. Sure, this band has been touring the lights out across this great nation of ours with The Project Independent Tour and doing a great job at making friends and fans with their music from one city to the next, but I think what is most compelling about I.R.A.T.E. is their abiity to take all the good and bad in stride and never forget what they intended to be in the first place, a powerful and important rock n roll band. I got a chance inbetween the band's recent touring break to conduct a fresh round of Q&A with their always entertaining frontman, Erik Ulrich. More...

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Edenbridge Sign With Napalm Records

Austrian symphonic metal band EDENBRIDGE has signed a worldwide deal with Napalm Records.

Commented the group: "Napalm Records have been doing a brilliant job for their bands. Since last year they have been making a great effort to sign us and therefore we are extremely happy to work together with them for the next years to bring EDENBRIDGE to the next level together. It's nice to see again that a label has one hundred percent trust and therefore invests into a band. Thank you also to all the other labels who were making offers to the band and showed their big interest, and to Massacre Records for the cooperation in the past years."

Check out pictures of EDENBRIDGE signing its new contract with Napalm at this location.

EDENBRIDGE's first effort for Napalm will be released in the spring of 2008. Production on the CD is tentatively scheduled to begin next fall. Four songs have already been written and EDENBRIDGE will work with a renowned Czech orchestra for the first time in its career.

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Stemage Post New Music Online

Stemage have posted the following update on their myspace blog:

"We're back to Prime again with the Space Pirate Battle theme. FIGHT FIGHT! You can also download the track on www.metroidmetal.com.

Also, a preview track from the new Stemage album "Strati" is available on www.myspace.com/stemage, and preorders are now being take for the new album - hitting Nov 28th."

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The Hidden Hand New Album Details

THE HIDDEN HAND, the band featuring hard rock/ doom guitar legend Scott "Wino" Weinrich (St. Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan), has issued the following update:

"Our new record, 'The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote', is completed. It will be in stores on February 20. But we are doing a late-January-through-mid-February tour and we will have copies for sale at the shows, so stay tuned. We will be posting the tour route soon. It looks like we are starting in the south and heading west, coming back across the top and down. More...

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Faulter and DeSole Tour Dates

Abacus Records artists Faulter and DeSole will be heading out on the road together for a brief west coast tour. Here are the tour dates:

11/17 Bakersfield, CA @ The Dome
11/18 San Diego, CA @ Soma
11/19 Victorville, CA @ Trilogy Theatre
11/21 Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
11/26 Portland, OR @ Rock n Roll Pizza
11/27 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
11/28 Ogden, UT @ Club Boomva
11/30 Jackson, WY @ Colloseum Skate Park

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Enthroned Working On New Album

Shortly after the band parted ways with longtime growler Sabathan, ENTHRONED has started working on their next album leaving the live performences aside during the process. The band hinted that this release will take them in an even more extreme direction, increasing the dark and oppressive side of their music. The album's current working title is Tetra Karcist and ENTHRONED promises to focus as much energy into its graphic conception as it will on its music.

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Instil Announces New Drummer

Instil's drummer Jaap Vissering left the group in October. One month later with try-outs and searching the band reports that Instil found a new drummer.

The band has finally made the selection of their new drummer official. The new guy's name is Marc Guchelaar. Marc has done time in several bands but his mainband was thrash/death metal band Unauthorized from Hoogeveen.

Here is the band's statement:

"We're exited with the addition of Marc as the last spot to be filled. He is experienced and he contributed with songwriting from the first day we shook hands. We never thought we could find good replacements that fast. Now we can continue touring and writing. The last thing we want to do right now is to stay home and not be out on the road! We're glad to have Marc and
new guitarist Wouter as a refreshing change and who are both professional in their approach to touring as the rest of the guys in the band.. that's awesome. Instil is complete again"

You can check out some material from Instil on their MySpace page.

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