Friday May 27th 2005

The release of the new album from The Awakening is re-scheduled in June 2006. Singer Ashton Nyte is currently working on a new solo project wich will be launched soon. On the website of the band you can soon download another previously unreleased track. It will be available as of June 1st. It'll only be available for a limited period.

Friday May 20th 2005

The German band Brain:FAQ will be entering the studio in July. They will be recording their next album in the Tin Roof Studio where also Opposition Of One and Semtex did their recordings. Expect a release announcement in September.

Friday May 13th 2005

Next week P.O.D. will be entering the studio to record their sixth studio album. This time they will be working with Glen Ballard. There's no release date yet for the album but it will be out through Atlantic Records.

Blindside re-released their first two albums. The self-titled album was originally released in 1997. As a bonus to this disc you can find the four never-before-released songs from the original demo. These songs were recorded in 1996 to try to get a record deal. It didn't work however. The second re-release is A Thought Crushed My Mind. This special release also contains From Stone To Backbone and All You Need Is... , originally from a 7 inch vinyl release. And there are two previously unreleased tracks as well: Knocking On Another Door and Sunrise.

Metalcore act Aletheian is about to finish their new album Dying Vine. The record will be released by Hope Prevails Productions in mid June. Also a DVD will be released. You can already listen to the song As The Fall Breaks and see the corresponding music video.

A band you may want to check out is death metal band Benevolence. They now have a website at myspace.com.

Soundmass has released a new pressing of Lightfore "1986-1989" CD. This album contains the Lightforce recordings Mystical Thieves and Battlezone, plus two songs from the 1986 Lightforce demo. 

Friday May 6th 2005

The title for the new Stryper record is Reborn. A sample of the title track was posted on the Stryper website a month ago. The album will be released on August 16th by Big3 Records. Reborn will include ten new songs and a new version of the song In God We Trust. The title track of the album will be released as a single on June 7th. Big3 Records is also planning DVD release featuring footage of the band performing in late 2004 in Puerto Rico. The release of this DVD is expected by the end of the year.

Spoken will release their new CD in August as well. The record is called Last Chance To Breathe and it was produced by Travis Wyrick. The fifth album from Spoken will be in stores on August 30th.

Also Stretch Arm Strong will be releasing a new album. This disc is entitled Free At Last and it will be out on September 13th. Stretch Arm Strong also has a new label home. They moved to We Put Our Records/East West. Free At Last is produced by James Wisener.

On Ozzfest.com you can download new material from As I Lay Dying. The band's new album Shadows Are Security will be out in Europe on June 20th. The song you can download is Meaning In Tragedy.

Fort Knox Amsterdam is still working on their first full length CD. It will have thirteen songs and they're mixing it right now. Last winter Fort Knox Amsterdam made it to the finals of the Winston Pop Prize. If you go to the Winston website, you can see a Quicktime video of Fort Knox Amsterdam.

Saint are looking at filming a DVD this September before starting to work on a new CD. Expect Saint style apocalyptic metal.

Friday April 29th 2005

As I Lay Dying have finished recordings for their new album Shadows Are Security. However, the release date in Europe has been pushed back to June 20th. Shadows Are Security was produced by vocalist Tim Lambesis and Steve Russell. The album is the follow-up to Frail Words Collapse which has sold over 118,000 copies in the United States so far.

Some of the songs on Shadows Are Security are: Meaning in Tragedy, The Darkest Nights, Repeating Yesterday and The Truth Of My Perception. There will be a limited first edition of the CD including a free bonus DVD (approximate running time: 25 minutes). The DVD documents an intense live show filmed at the Substage Club in Karlsruhe, Germany on the 28th of November, 2004. As I Lay Dying will be appearing live in Europe this summer and are also planning to come back in the fall.

The Brazilian band Seven Angels is trying to be added to the roster of BMU, one of the most important metal festivals in South America. You can vote for them here. The new album from Seven Angels is Faceless Man and it will be out on June 25th.

Neshamah will have their video for You Got A Deathwish Baby out in two weeks. They hope to get it on European and American TV stations in the next few months.

The Dutch metal band Melisend will present their first CD on Saturday June 18th. This will take place in the Popcentrale in Dordrecht, The Netherlands. The melodic death metal band Error will be opening for them. See the concerts page for more details.

An update on Holy Soldier. Now it's official that the five members of the band that recorded the debut album will be reuniting to play a benefit show. This show will be part of the Beyond The Mountain festival in August 2005. The benefit will raise money to help the Alcance Subterraneo church in Mexico City.

Friday April 22nd 2005

MxPx will release their new album on July 12th. The disc is called Panic and the first single is Heard That Sound.

Century Sleeper, the project of Ian Arkley of Ashen Mortality (formerly of Seventh Angel) and James Allin of Visionaire, is getting ready to release their debut album. Most of the recording was done in early March at James' home in Monroe near Seattle. The album will be called Awaken and it will contain twelve songs, filling over seventy minutes. Some of the song titles are: In A Fainted Worlds, Autumn, Arnos Vale and My Face In Eternity. Expect the album to be out in mid or late summer on Cold Fusion. Century Sleeper will also appear on an alternative Christmas compilation CD that Cold Fusion/Psychoacoustix will release. Century Sleeper recorded the medieval song Gaudete.

Monty Colvin is working on the next Crunchy CD. This album will have a harder edge than previous recordings. According to Colvin this album will be going back to some of his Galactic Cowboy's  roots.

Mortification are back in the rehearsal room to work on material for their 13th studio release. Musically you can expect late 80's and early 90's death/thrash metal.

Stairway is spending more time on their next effort than previously perceived. The songs of the UK hard rock band are coming along well. You can see them live on Saturday May 14th at The Talbot Bar in Wrexham, North Wales, UK.

As I Lay Dying will have their new album Shadows Are Security out on June 13th. Around the same time they will be coming to Europe for selected festival shows and club gigs.

Metal band Antithesis is working hard on Dreaming Reality, their next album. All the drums are recorded now. This month the guitars and bass should be completed. Antithesis is also looking for a new label home. Fortunately, you can now download the song Breaking My Will that was previously released on the Heavy Oder Was Metal Crusade Sampler.

Another possible download is the song Resistance To Resistance, one of the tracks on the next Seventh Star album. This disc is called Brood Of Vipers.

Facedown Records signed xLooking Forwardx. This band already have albums out on DFF Records and Blood And Ink Records. xLooking Forwardx will be recording at the Trax East Studios in August.

Grrr Records will release a new project from goth-industrial band Leper called Kreischen. Expect it out in mid-June.

Another Grrr Records band is coming up with something new. Headnoise are recording a six song EP this month.

Balance Of Power parted ways with singer John K. This has been an amicable decision. John decided he couldn't divide his commitment between the two bands he was part of. He will be continuing for the band Biomechanical. Balance Of Power will announce a new singer soon.

Friday April 15th 2005

The Agony Scene is getting ready for their next album called The Darkest Red. They are also working on a video for the song Prey. And a rough mix of the song Scapegoat can be downloaded from the Roadrunner Records website.

Hard rock band Guardian is working on their return. There will be some new songs and they are working on plans for a DVD release with all their professionally shot videos. The new songs will be recorded by Jamie Rowe, Tony Palacios, David Bach and Karl Ney, and produced by the Elefante brothers (John & Dino).

The rock band Liberty n' Justice have announced four new singer for their next all-star CD Soundtrack Of A Soul. The singers are Ez Gomer (Jet Circus), Oni Logan (Lynch Mob), Phil Naro (Talas & Peter Criss Band) and Josh Kramer (Saint). So far ten of the sixteen singers have been announced. The track with singer Ez Gomer will also feature Mikkey Dee (Motörhead) on drums and Tommy Denander on guitar.

The Swedish rock band Kite is working on their second album. Since the release of Soil, the band has played shows in Sweden, Germany, Norway, Finland and Estonia.

On August 27th & 28th 2005 the Beyond The Mountain Festival will be held in the Franklin D. Roosevelt Bowl in San Bernardino, California, USA. The bands that are booked so far, are: Holy Soldier, Barren Cross, Guardian, Once Dead, Saint, Sacred Warrior, Recon, Neon Cross, Ultimatum, Tower of Hundred and 39 Lashes.

Friday April 8th 2005

On May 25th Pillar will be releasing the Where Do We Go From Here Limited Edition. This will also feature a new full length DVD and two bonus music tracks called Sunday Bloody Sunday and the underground mix of Bring Me Down. The DVD features over 60 minutes of live footage including concert, recording, and backstage footage, a photo gallery, documentaries for making the videos for Where Do We Go From Here and Bring Me Down plus more. This edition is limited to 50,000 copies...

Demon Hunter has started writing songs for their third album. They enter the studio in July with producer Aaron Sprinkle. A release date is set for October. Expect this next record to be heavier and faster.

Project 86 are also writing new material. They will start recording in less than three weeks with producer Garth Richardson.

Last year Tower shot a DVD to promote their Tribute To Classic Rock show. The hard rock band is also working on a new album.

Fort Knox Amsterdam will release their new CD in June. They will be mixing next week and are happy with the overall sound so far. The album will contain thirteen songs, including some of the older ones. Fort Knox Amsterdam will be playing the Freakstock Festival this summer.

Filacteria from Puerto Rico have a new album ready called Paz Interior.

The Brazilian band Shaphal is working on songs for their next CD. They hope to have it out in July.

Fans of the American rock band Petra may be interested in an Australian fan site. This website also includes five videos of songs when Greg X. Volz was still singing in the band (back in the eighties...).

Friday April 1st 2005

Blindside have finished up writing about 20 new songs and will be heading into the studio next week to begin work on their fifth record. The band will be working with Lasse Marten who recorded their debut album. To keep the fans busy while the band is in the studio, Blindside will re-release their first two album Blindside and A Thought Crushed My Mind. They will be adding four bonus tracks to each album. With the debut album you will get their original four song demo. With A Thought Crushed My Mind you will find the two tracks from a vinyl only release that we did in Sweden before the Silence album and two unreleased tracks that they recorded before the Silence sessions.

A DVD retrospective of the last 10 years called Ten Years Running Blind will follow later this summer. The band worked very hard to find the best footage and photos from the last 10 years and have created a documentary telling their story. As well as this amazing piece we have two live shows.

Stryper has now officially announced the replacement for Timothy Gaines. The new bassist for the band is Tracy Ferrie. He plays on the new album that Big3 Records will release. Stryper signed a multi-album deal with Big3. Fans can also expect a major tour announcement in the near future and information on the band's first DVD. In the week of April 4th a song sample of the forthcoming album will be released.

Virgin Black are still working hard on their next album. It will involve more musicians than any previous recording of the band. Guitarist Samantha Escarbe: "Admittedly it is taking longer than originally anticipated, but we're doing our best to keep as close to the schedule as possible."

Solid State Records released a Living Sacrifice greatest hits album this week. The record is called In Memoriam and it contains three new tracks recorded by Lance, Bruce and Rocky. You can listen to a song on PureVolume.

Solid State Records signed a new band called As Cities Burn.

Brain:FAQ is about to return to the studio to record their new album.

Neshamah plans to record a video for the song You Got A Deathwish Baby. The South African hardcore band is also coming to Europe for a tour from July 26th through August 28th.