Friday January 30th 2004

Massacre Records will release the Narnia DVD - Live in Germany. This DVD was recorded in March 2003 in Owen, Germany.

The Spirit That Guides Us is finishing up their next full length album. The title for this CD will probably be North And South.

Rob Rock started recording a new album. This release may be out in spring 2004.

Eva-O is working on a new album.

Virgin Black is writing songs for the next release. They plan to return to the studio in spring 2004.

Seventh Avenue returned to the studio this month. They'll have their next album out sometime later this year.

And if that isn't enough, also Saviour Machine is working on something new: the final part of the Legend project. However, when this album will be out, who knows!!

Century Media released the In The Eyes Of Death, Volume 4. This compilation features a previously unreleased track from Extol. This bonus song was recorded during the Synergy sessions.

Disciple is back in the studio to record the follow up to Back Again. The release might be this summer.

The South African hardcore band Neshamah are going to record a new album. They hope to record ten to twelve songs.

There's a new Rex Carroll website, featuring information about two bands he was in: Whitecross and King James. Rex Carroll recently played with Stryper at the House of Blues in Chicago.

The Lionheart Brothers are in the studio to finalize their new EP: Colour Contrast Context.

Still coming up is the Liberty n' Justice album Welcome To The Revolution. For a limited time you can order limited edition featuring all eighteen tracks. Welcome To The Revolution has guest lead vocals by Lou Gramm, Michael Sweet, Jamie Rowe, Robert Fleischmann, Jeff Fenholt and many others.

Friday January 23rd 2004

On February 9th, Threshold will return to the Thin Ice Studios to record a new studio album. The band are busy finishing writing the songs at the moment. Three tracks are already completed: Mission Profile, Static and Ground Control. The remaining songs are almost finished. The album should be out in July.

Threshold's live DVD/CD will be released on February 2nd. The album will be available in three versions: double CD, standard edition DVD or a limited edition three disc set.  The initial DVD release will be PAL format (Region 0), and a NTSC version should follow within the month (standard edition only).

Billy Queen, former drummer of Jacobs Dream, has joined a new band. They're called Joshua's Whisper.

Strike First Records released They Attack At Dawn from Bloody Sunday. Expect ten tracks of music in the vein of Terror, Hatebreed and Comeback Kid. Interested, download one of the tracks.

You can also download an MP3 from In Due Time from the Facedown Records website. This is the title track from their upcoming debut Back To Basics. It will be out on Strike First Records (a division of Facedown) as well.

The BobFest released the final three bands they added to their bandlist: Antestor, Benea Reach (formerly known as Selfmindead) and Tekla Knös. Antestor will be releasing their new EP at the festival.

Friday January 16th 2004

There are always bands that release a record, and then you don't hear from them in years. One of these bands is Ashen Mortality. The last time there was news, it was mentioned that the band decided to take a break. But, that was years ago. What is the current status? Guitarist/singer Ian Arkley: 'We are rehearsing new songs, but are looking out for a new drummer at the moment. I have been working on some of my own music including a soundtrack to a short film called A Fatal Echo.'

Fear Dark will re-release some of the old EP's and demo songs from Immortal Souls. The album will be titled Once Upon A Time In The North. It will feature all songs from Divine Wintertime (1999) and The Cleansing (2000). Also old demos are remembered as four songs from Reflections of Doom (1997) and Immortal Souls (1995) will be included. Two new songs Painweighted and Down In My Grave will finish the pack of fourteen songs. In other news, drummer Jupe Hakola has left the group and a new drummer is joining. Jupe played on two new tracks that will be on re-release album.

Immortal Souls is the fifth and final band to be added to the line-up of the Fear Dark Festivals.

Stryper will release their first live record. This album was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia and Raleigh during the recent tour. The album is mixed right now. Furthermore, Stryper will release a DVD. Some of the footage will be shot at the upcoming concert in Puerto Rico.

Here's some old, overlooked news: Crimson Moonlight released a package of old songs and unreleased material last October. The album is called Songs From The Archives and it is a limited edition. Crimson Moonlight keyboardist Petter Edin has left the band. Edin:  'The main reason why I have chosen to leave the band is my family. I have many things around me and I have chosen to use more of my time and energy together with my family and also my friends.'

Dead Poetic will be shooting a video on Monday, January 19th, with director Derek Dale (Demon Hunter, Snapcase) for the song New Medicines, which is the title track and the first single off the new record.

Friday January 9th 2004

Drummer Karsten Flierman has left hardcore band My Evil Twin. He joined Fort Knox Amsterdam recently. Fort Knox Amsterdam is getting ready to record a new album. You can see the band live in Dwaze Zaken, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on February 13th 2004. My Evil Twin has replaced Flierman by David Vogel.

A new black metal band is Arch Of Thorns from the USA. They will release their first demo The Coming Storm through Sneeuwstorm Produkties in The Netherlands.

Krush has taken a break. The members are involved with other projects and family business.

Fear Dark booked a fourth band for the upcoming series of Fear Dark Festivals. It's the Swedish black metal band Crimson Moonlight. Other bands booked so far, are: Kekal, Morphia and Sacrificium.

The Swiss festival Elements Of Rock added two bands to their line-up: Antidemon (Brazil) and Heavenly Soldiers (Switzerland).

Friday January 2nd 2004

Michael Sweet finally released his new solo album. This records is called Hymn. Michael Sweet worked on this album for a long time. Musically he takes a very different direction.

Crushead is still working on their next album. The recordings of the second half of the CD are going.

Kekal has a new member. The Indonesian extreme metal band will be joined by an additional guitarist called Didi Priyadi. Joining the European tour will be former guitarist Leo as well, along with Safrina on programming.

Area 58 is the official new name for Excision. This side project of Jeff from Kekal is a hybrid of modern rock, goth, electronica, post-pop, and metal. A debut album under Area 58 is currently in the work.

Further Seems Forever is back in the studio working on their third album. They are recording with James Wisner at his studio in South Florida. Expect this album in July 2004.

In a few weeks The Spirit That Guides Us will finish up mixing their second album.

Friday December 26th 2003

Immortal Souls will be released in the USA/Canada by Facedown Records. The Finnish band previously released their latest album Ice Upon The Night through Fear Dark in Europe. Now this winter metal band will be gaining ground in the USA/Canada.

Bushbaby gives you a Christmas present in the form of a remix of the song Lipstick. This free download is available until January 5th 2004. So, you'd better be quick!! Bushbaby will shoot their first video in January, for the song Lipstick.

Stryper announced a show in Puerto Rico. The band will play in the Tito Puente Amphitheater in San Juan, on March 6th 2004. Tickets went on sale yesterday here.

Friday December 19th 2003

Threshold is busy writing new material. At the end of January they hope to re-enter the Thin Ice Studio to record a new studio album. The band also redesigned their website and included a complete MP3 of Sunseeker, the live version that will appear on the upcoming Critical Energy DVD/CD. Look for this particular release in stores in February 2004. It appears through Inside Out Music.

Calibretto 13 changed its name. They've cut away the '13'. So, they're now Calibretto.

Thumbraiser, a side project from two guys from Brain:FAQ, one from hardcore band Acid and another guy from Strange Ahead, is materializing on CD. Tonight they will present their first CD in Subway To Peter, in Chemnitz, Germany. The band will play around 21:30.

Blindside just spent a week in Bucharest, Romania, shooting the video for All Of Us, the first single from About A Burning Fire.

Bombworks Studios will be re-issuing the first Old Path CD ....The Coming Of
Eternal Dawn. This CD will contain four previously unreleased songs. A
tentative release date is towards the middle of January. Old Path is currently working on the EP The Battle Of Unnumbered Tears.

Bang Your Head festival, Germany, announced the first headlining act for next year: Alice Cooper.

The previously announced European tour with Rob Rock, Primal Fear and Brainstorm is cancelled!!

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Here's Brazilian news collected by Rosemari de Melo Souza and Flávio de Souza of Metal Mission Magazine:

Shining Star is no more! Guitarist Fábio Rocha announced this a few weeks ago. Due to various problems occurring during the recording of the second CD, the situation became instable between the people involved. Fábio Rocha told he has plans to join a new band in the near future, with a new musical direction. In the meantime, the drummer Juliano Collombo will have his solo album Fire released in the beginning of the next year, through Frontline/Avantage. The CD is instrumental, and there will be appearances from his former band mates of Shining Star.

Melodic power metal band Ocular has signed with Megahard, a Brazilian label. They will release the bands first CD Dry Tears in early 2004. The record was produced by Tchello Martins.

Zurisadai, the black metal band, has been working on new material for their next CD. Expect a release in the beginning of 2004. 

Corsario celebrated its tenth anniversary last month. However, next year they will release their first full length album.

Thrash band Devastation recorded a new demo CD called Demo Live In Studio. This CD contains four tracks. Interested people may try to lay their hands on it by mailing vocalist Ewerton: devastationpa@hotmail.com

The label Eterna, owned by former War Blade drummer Eduardo Vaz, is releasing two historical metal recordings. The first is Black Storm from Tribal Rites, the second The Death Of The Brittle Biscuit from The Joke?. These two releases were originally released as tapes in the early nineties. Interestingly, Tribal Rites (formerly known as Tribal) did some covers from bands like Vengeance Rising, Mortification, Trouble and Tourniquet that are included on this re-release. Both CD' s can be acquired through metal@metalmission.com

The website of Seven Angels now has two videos from their opening show when they played as support act for Helloween in Sao Paulo. One of the songs is Forever Free, a cover from Stratovarius, the other is a real Seven Angels song: Revelation.

Kerix is releasing a single. This disc contains two songs, When I Accepted and New Land. Their musical influences come from Nightwish and Pain Of Salvation. The line-up is: Priscila Silver (vocals), Alex Souza (keyboards), David Geisel (drums), Fernando Leme (guitar) and Sergio Zoer (bass).

Testimony will probably release their CD in January. There are plans to include four old songs from their 1999 demo and two live songs. Testimony plays Bay Area thrash metal.

Another thrash band is Reborn. They are re-entering the studio to record new material.

Punk rock/hardcore band Scritura has finished the recording of their new CD. They will release it in the beginning of the next year. The tentative title is Por Vocę (For you).

Judgement is the title for the next release from Templo De Fogo. This disc contains seven melodic power metal songs. All songs are sung in English.

Pentecost is a power metal band too. However, the majority of their songs are sung in Portuguese, including a cover version of The Bleeding, from Jacobs Dream. A demo CD with five songs is out now.

Apeiron is a progressive metal band that released the album Wrong Way, containing thirteen tracks. Influences are from bands as Dream Theater and Rush. Expect seventy minutes of music.

Funeral doom metal, that's how the band Through The Valley describes their own music. They released a demo CD with three songs.

Clemency has stopped activities due to problems with the line-up. Drummer Lopes moved to Bristol, in the UK, three months ago. He has been working there and has no plans to come back to Brazil soon.

Doom metal band Moriah has a new line-up. The band is preparing new songs to record a full length disc that will be out through Extreme Productions. Moriah will record a cover of Vaakevandring.

A new black metal band is Zacai.

Strategia is another new band.

Perpetuu Mobile is the title for the first full length album from Dynasty. This record will be released through Avantage Records. In one of the songs, Against All Evil, there will be a vocal duet with Ricardo Parronchi of Destra, who also produced the album. Perpetuu Mobile was recorded last summer in the Diesel Audio Solution Studio in Sao Paulo. The cover art comes from Marcus Ravelli.

Gospel Records released a DVD from Metal Nobre.

Destra and Shining Star are confirmed to appear on a Tribute To Journey album.

Bassist Lucio left Skymetal. The band is currently doing shows with a guest bassist. However, they are looking for permanent replacement. Lucio now plays in the band Unprofany.

Friday December 12th 2003

The name of the next album from Dead Poetic will be New Medicines. The album was recorded last October and was produced by Aaron Sprinkle. Look for the release on April 6th 2004!

Tourniquet is releasing Circadian Rhythms - The Drumming World of Ted Kirkpatrick DVD this month. Expect two hours and 24 minutes of footage.

Zao is bringing out a best-of record called Legendary. This is a collection of 17 songs. Three of the songs feature former vocalist Cory Darst, but they are newly recorded.

There are rumors saying The Agony Scene are breaking up. According to Michael Williams, vocalist of the band: "The Agony Scene will be taking a break for the rest of 2003 and regrets that they will not be able to participate in the Mushroomhead and Integrity tours. With the announcement of guitarist Chris Emmons leaving the group, the band will be announcing a new replacement in the near future and will be on the road in early 2004. This has been a great year for The Agony Scene and we appreciate everyone's interest and support. We respect Chris' decision to move on and wish him the best. The Agony Scene will be back - we're writing some great new material and look
forward to hitting the road again soon."

Payable On Death from POD has gone gold in the USA! This means half a million copies were sold.

Roxx Records is looking for ten unsigned bands for a Roxx Friends compilation CD. Each band will bring in two songs. The album will be serviced to radio stations.
Deadline for submission is January 15th 2004. For complete details email bill@roxxproductions.com

Tooth & Nail Records celebrates its tenth anniversary. Therefore, they are releasing the Tooth & Nail 10th Anniversary Box Set. The box set includes six CD's, over 125 songs and a 36-page full color booklet.

I Am, a rock band from the Faroer Islands, released their album Xthree.one.four this month.

Friday December 5th 2003

Mortification has been spending time in the studio to record a new album. According to the band it will be their heaviest album in ten years. Title for this record is Brain Cleaner. A new member to the band is Mike Forsberg, formerly of Cybergrind. He replaces Adam Zaffarese on drums. Zaffarese left Mortification in February for career reasons.

Endtime Productions released the Whitefrozen EP from Vardřger. This EP contains five songs. The first edition is limited to a 999 copies digipak version with extended artwork.

There is a possibility of Stryper playing abroad early next year. Hopefully there'll be more information next week. Stryper recorded several shows on the recent tour. Look for a live record to be released in spring 2004.

Evanescence received five Grammy nominations, for Album of the Year, Best new artist, Best rock album, Best hard rock performance for the song Bring Me To Life, and Best rock song, also for Bring Me To Life. The Grammy Award show airs on February 8th on CBS. On December 10th Evanescence will be on Fox, for a performance at the 2003 Billboard Music Awards. The band is nominated for New artist of the Year.

The Finnish melodic metal band Oratorio signed a contract with Rivel Records. The label will release The Reality Of Existence. This album was recorded last summer in studio Watercastle.

Blindside are filming the video for their next single All Of Us. Their website now has a video clip of Cute Boring Love, recorded at the Cornerstone Festival this year.

If you want to get an idea of the next Sympathy album, you may want to download the song Adept Arcana. The album Arcane Patch will be released early 2004.

The Belgian black metal band Natan plans to record a promo with two or three songs next spring. Their aim is to find a label with it, to be able to record an album.

A lot of festival news this week.

Fear Dark announced they will do three festivals in March next year:

March 12 2004: Sacrificium, Morphia & Kekal, in Alter Gasometer, Zwickau, Germany.

March 13th 2004: Sacrificium, Morphia & Kekal, in De Kei, Peppelensteeg, Ede, Holland.

March 14th 2004: Sacrificium, Morphia & Kekal, in Hedon, Zwolle, Holland.

Also the Bob Fest in Sweden announced the first names at their festival: Extol, Harmony, Oratorio, Kekal & Shadows Of Paragon. The Bobfest will be held in early March next year.

A whole new festival is Elements Of Rock, which will take place from March 19th through March 21st. The artists they've booked so far, are: Veni Domine, Immortal Souls, Slechtvalk, Crushead, Drottnar, Seventh Avenue, Sacrificium, Arson, Disobedience, Exaudi, Demoniciduth. This festival will take place in the Stadthofsaal, in Uster (near Zürich), Switzerland. Entrance: Pre-sale: 30 euro; at the gates: 37 euro. A single day, pre-sale: 20 euro; at the gates: 24 euro.