Friday November 30th 2007

Believer is working on new material. In fact, they've started recording. This will be the first material since of the Dimensions album in 1993. Believer agrees they've been slow, but they want this new stuff to be killer!

The German hardcore band Today Forever will be back in the studio in December. On December 14th they will enter the Kohlekeller Studio.

Also the Norwegian punk rock band Silver is working on a new album. This record should be out in Spring 2008.

As you may have noticed on the mypace.com page, there's another file available containing the Art For The Ears radio show. This is the November 23rd show. Download it here. For more information, visit the myspace.com page!

Friday November 23rd 2007

Dead Poetic is still active. However, Brandon Rike has decided to do no tours anymore. Another Dead Poetic album will be recorded. This week a best-of album saw the light of day. The record is called The Finest and is a collection of eighteen songs from Dead Poetic's three albums, demo versions and a new acoustic version of the song In Coma.

Project 86 will release an EP called The Kane Mutiny on November 27th. It will be available through iTunes exclusively. The Kane Mutiny EP contains five songs. Two of them are new: The Kane Mutiny & RTE 66, a cover of Lucretia, My Reflection (originally by The Sisters Of Mercy) and two remixes. The EP also contains the Evil video.

Tooth & Nail Records released Dominate, Volume One, a DVD compilation. This DVD includes videos from Anberlin, The Almost, MxPx, Jonezetta, MewithoutYou, Hawk Nelson, Thousand Foot Krutch, Emery, Project 86, Dead Poetic, Far-Less, Showbread and The Classic Crime.

Also Solid State Records released a DVD compilation, called Buried Alive. This disc contains videos from following bands : Underoath, August Burns Red, Norma Jean, Demon Hunter, He Is Legend, Haste The Day, Destroy The Runner, Inhale/Exhale, The Chariot & Becoming The Archetype.

You can help the great guys from the UK hard rock band Stairway! Go here and fill in Stairway and submit. Thus you vote for the band in the Kerrang! Best Unsigned Band Poll. It's simple, and the band will be grateful!

The new POD album will be called When Angels & Serpents Dance. In the meantime singer Sonny has launched a record label called Dead World. He's looking for bands as long as they're serious and dedicated musicians. Bassist Traa is working on a solo album. He also wrote a book about the music business.

As I Lay Dying will play the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany next year. This festival takes place from July 31st to August 2nd 2008.

Once again, Art For The Ears can offer you a file with the radio show. Go here and download the file containing the November 16th show. Bands aired are: Heel, Immortal Souls, Spoken, Relient K, Virgin Black, Still Remains, Thousand Foot Krutch, Mehida, My Silent Wake & Grimmark.

Friday November 16th 2007

The End Records has set the release date for Virgin Black's next album. This record will be the second part from the Requiem trilogy and is called Requiem - Fortissimo and is the follow-up to Requiem - Mezzo Forte. Requiem - Fortissimo will be the band's heaviest release to date. It will contain seven tracks. The album will be out in the USA on February 19th 2008. A European release date is not revealed. You can listen to the song Silent on Virgin Black's myspace.com site.

Remember Cliffy Huntington from Ramones' influenced punk rock band The Huntingtons? He has a new band called Main Line Riders. Musically this group offers sleaze rock in the vein of early LA Guns and Guns 'n Roses. Their debut album Shot In The Dark came out through Retroactive Records. Listen to the band on myspace.com.

Anberlin will bring out their b-sides album Lost Songs next week, on November 20th. You can listen to the song The Haunting on myspace.

You can download another file contain the Art For The Ears radio show. Go here and download the November 9th show, including music from Remission, Rob Rock, Mortification, Spoken, As I Lay Dying, Bride, Morphia, Pantokrator, Virgin Black, Common Yet Forbidden, MxPx & Gypsy Carns.

Friday November 9th 2007

Bride is working again on their next CD. As guitarist Troy Thompson decided not to move to Italy, he and his brother Dale started working on the next album. They will be taking a different approach to it compared to Skin For Skin. Bride also recorded the song Author Of The Flame for the new Liberty 'n Justice CD.

Once Dead have re-written their Visions Of Hell album and have started recording. Once Dead is formed by former members of Vengeance Rising.

On July 19th 2008, the German rock band Crushead will record a live-DVD to celebrate the band's tenth anniversary. This will happen at the Rock In The Ruins festival in Forchtenberg, Germany.

The Dutch death metal band Docile will re-release Babylon Ablaze. They've also recorded two new songs and added them to the CD. The disc will be issued by First Paradox Metal Records. You can listen to the new song Embodiment Of Lies on Docile's myspace.com page.

If you want to read a new Deuteronomium interview, go here.

The first bands have been announced for the Elements Of Rock Festival. This festival will take place in Uster, Switzerland from April 25th-27th 2008. Booked sofar are: Seventh Avenue, Monoblock, Thy Bleeding Skies & Obed.

Also in April is the Legends Of Rock festival in Germany. Booked are: Whitecross, Bloodgood, Stavesacre, Narnia & October Light. More will follow. The Legends Of Rock festival takes place in Haus Ennepetal, Ennepetal (near Wuppertal), Germany.

Finally, after a one and a half month hiatus, did Radio 90FM air the usual reiteration of the Art For The Ears radio show. You can download it here. This mp3 files contains music from Silence The Foe, Still Remains, Frosthardr, Spoken, Opposition Of One, Deuteronomium, Mortification, The Awakening, Thousand Foot Krutch, Century Sleeper and Virgin Black.

Friday November 2nd 2007

Deuteronomium will finally release their DVD. This disc will contain two hours of material from 1993 until 2007. Part of this DVD is a full concert. The DVD should come out at the end of this month.

Underoath will shoot a full concert film this Sunday. The show will take place in Philadelphia. A concert DVD is expected to come out next spring.

Pillar streams the title track from their upcoming album For The Love Of The Game on myspace. Their record will come out in February 2008.

The classic Rez album Civil Rites will be re-released. The record originally came out in 1991. Civil Rites contains twelve tracks with blues influenced hard rock.

The Brazilian death metal band Krig released a new album called Feed Me. You can listen to Krig on myspace.

Friday October 26th 2007

Next year the 25th anniversary of the Cornerstone Festival will be celebrated with an exclusive reunion concert of the band that stood at the cradle of this festival: REZ (also known as The Resurrection Band). This legendary rock band will do a ten song set.

The Finnish metalcore/emo band Callisto is writing material for a new album. So far four or five songs are more or less ready. The band will enter the studio next year.

Also from Finland comes metal band Venia. They'll be mixing their upcoming album in December. The band is negotiating with interested labels for an early 2008 release.

Next year the new Soul Embraced album will come out on Solid State Records. The new disc was produced by Barry Poynter (Living Sacrifice, Zao). Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse) will mix it in November and December. These are the songs on the album: To End It All, Into Darkness, Everything Reminds Me Of You; A Curtain Of Deceit; The Devils Reflection; Judas I've Become; La Fin Absolue Du Monde; The Breaking Point, Kill This; In Memory; Dead Alive.

The Spirit That Guides Us released their long awaited live-DVD We Are Under Reconstruction Part 2. The DVD also contains backstage shots and a walkaround in Berlin

In November Nordic Mission will celebrate their tenth anniversary with the Nordic Fest. This takes place from November 9th through 11th in Oslo. Bands booked are: Barren Cross, Once Dead, Mortification, My Silent Wake, Darkwater, The Weakening, Strenght Of Purpose, In Vain, Strangeland and Implacable.

Sympathy is recording their new album. Ten songs were written for what will be their heaviest album to date. It's still uncertain what label will release the record. Sympathy officially left Fear Dark and is negotiating with another label to release the album in the spring of 2008.

Blissed is working on their new CD.

Also Believer is working on their comeback album. The innovative thrash band has done pre-production for five songs. Their goal is to give the hardcore fans the Believer that they know and love and also gain some new fans.

This weekend the Dead And Alive Fest will take place in Winterswijk, Holland. Last band booked is Pantokrator. Most bands will play on Saturday October 27th, including Pantokrator, Seventh Avenue, Zenith Of Abolition, Make Up Your Mind, Docile and a bunch more.

Friday October 19th 2007

Last week you could read in this column that the future of the Art For The Ears radio show is uncertain. However, the show goes on at least for the rest of 2007, same time as usual. Only the reiteration is cancelled now, hopefully not for long.

The Polish record company Metal Mind Productions will release remastered versions of the three Believer albums, Extraction From Mortality, Sanity Obscure and Dimensions. The records come out on November 5th. All three CD's are limited to 2,000 copies.

Far-Less will bring out their new album next week. This album is called A Toast To Bad Taste. You can stream all the tracks from the album on myspace.com. You can download the title track from AbsolutePunk.net! You can also download it directly from zshare.net.

Friday October 12th 2007

The future of the Art For The Ears radio show is uncertain. It's very possible that tonight's show will be the last. In that case, you can expect a full statement next week. Make sure you don't miss tonight's show, starting at 8.00 PM CET (see left column).

Last week it was mentioned that the Polish band Illuminandi will appear on the Dead And Alive Fest in Winterswijk, The Netherlands. It says so on the festival's website. However, the band denies that they were booked, although they state they would love to come to The Netherlands to play. As it appears, the festival organisation isn't willing to pay the traveling costs for the band. What this means for the other bands that are supposedly booked, is yet uncertain.

The new Demon Hunter album Storm The Gates Of Hell will be released in three different versions. Besides the regular edition, there will be a Limited Deluxe Edition and a Special Edition. These two versions will include a DVD, two extra songs (No Reason To Exist and Grand Finale) and some more extras. You can listen to two of the tracks (the title track and Fading Away) on the new CD on myspace.com.

The B-sides album Anberlin will release through Tooth & Nail Records will be called Lost Songs. The record comes out on November 20th. There will be eighteen songs on Lost Songs.

The names were announced of the bands that will play the annual Christmas Rock Night in Germany: Pillar, Disciple, Spoken, Project 86, Fireflight, Tourniquet, Flatfoot 56, My Spoon, Make Up Your Mind, Arson, Sarah Brendel , Illuminandi and a few more.

Friday October 5th 2007

Three weeks to go before the Dead And Alive Fest in The Netherlands. You can expect a lot of bands, including: Seventh Avenue, Skyrider, Jedidah, Docile, Make Up Your Mind, Blood Drift, Zenith Of Abolition and more. The festival takes place in Eucalypta, in Winterswijk and starts on Friday October 26th.

The Horde DVD is out! This DVD contains two different versions of the only Horde concert ever. There's a so-called True version, and a so-called Grim version. You can find a sample (though in poorer quality than on DVD!) on Youtube.com. With every purchase of the DVD the band is offering a free download of the music.

The new album from Thousand Foot Krutch is doing well. The Flame In All Of Us entered the Billboard chart at #58. You can see the video for the song Falls Apart here.

The German/Finnish death metal initiative Thy Bleeding Skies will enter the studio in December to record their debut. The title for this album is Chapters Of Downfall and will hopefully come out in early 2008.

Majestic Vanguard has a new singer to replace Peter Sigfridsson. The new vocalist is Tommy Johansson.

The German hardcore group Today Forever will enter the studio to record demos for next CD in November. They also published the video they shot for Better Values. You can view and even download it from their website. The clip was filmed in an old factory in their hometown Kassel, Germany. Expect a high quality video.