During yesterday's concert on Gates of Metal festival in Hultsfred, Sweden, Mr. Tolkki and Mr. Kotipelto appear to have buried the battleaxe.

Timo and Timo were actually talking to each other, and no hard feelings between the two were shown.
And the fact that Tolkki even played (and preformed it for the first time with Koti) "Beauty has Come" from Kotipelto's first solo effort, for a totally unwitting Kotipelto, doesn't make the odds any worse.

So is this the beginning of a new era with Kotipelto behind the mic in Stratovarius, or is it just a "show" for all of us that have a chance to see them live for the last time?

However, it's at least seems a little brighter in the Strato camp.

Band profile:

Stratovarius

After 8 month of songwriting Masterplan is ready to record the second album.

"We are really happy and proud of the new material!"

The new CD will contain about 11 songs. This time all bandmembers appeared as songwriters. Songwriting took place in Hamburg, Aachen, Los Angeles, Slovakia and Norway.

Roy Z. was helping as a good friend and for a couple of songs he was an "inspirator / arranger". Once again Andy Sneap and Masterplan are producing the new Album together in the "Crazy Cat" Studio in Hamburg. The mixing will be done at "Finnvox Studios" in Helsinki by Mikko Karmila. Mastering by Mika Jussila.

The album is scheduled to be released in the end of January 2005 through AFM Records and Marquee (for Japan and South East Asia).

Band profile:

Masterplan

Taken from the official site:

"Hallo. First I would like to say thanks a lot to all, who visited me in hospital during my illness. Also all the inquiries of friends and fans, who were worried about my health, helped me, to get better quicker. My blind gut was bursted and infected other organs. After 2 operations (one during dangerous situation to life) and loss of 15 kg weight in 2 weeks, I often thought about the fate of Jason Becker, what a horror thought...

After 1 1/2 months in hospital it's a great feeling, being home again. Now I do sports every day to get fit again. Next week I already fly to Korea again to play a concert together with Black Hole at the International Busan Rock Festival, where also Steve Vai & Band is one of the participating bands.

Best regards"

Victor Smolski, Rage's guitarist.

New Production company:
From now on DRAGON Productions, a daughter company of A.S.S. Concert & Promotion GmbH, will look for the booking of RAGE concerts. They are already planning a 20th anniversary tour for November 2004, where RAGE will promote the upcoming 20th anniversary DVD (expected release date: 25.10.04).

More information: www.rage-on.de

Band profile:

Rage

The work on their new videoclip "The Healer" from their current album "Devil's Ground" is also done and has its premiere under: (http://www.nuclearblast.de/media/video/NB_1225.ram)

PRIMAL FEAR returned from their sensational US & South American tour, with incredible shows in Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires in front of several thousand people. At the weekend after their return PRIMAL FEAR played another tight performance at the "Bang Your Head"-Festival in southern Germany.

Band profile:

Primal Fear

THE SIXTH ALBUM: PROGRESS UPDATE
The writing of the long awaited sixth BAL-SAGOTH album is now at last nearing completion, and additionally some preliminary recording has commenced. The majority of the recording phase is scheduled to commence in full during the early autumn. A detailed press release concerning the sixth album will be unveiled exclusively at the Official Bal-Sagoth Website and nuclearblast.de to coincide with the official commencement of principal recording. Expect a release through Nuclear Blast during the first quarter of 2005.

ENTER THE DRUMMER
BAL-SAGOTH are pleased to announce the recruitment of new drummer Dan Mullins, who will forthwith be assuming all drumming duties with the band. Dan's first appearance with BAL-SAGOTH will be the Wacken Open Air festival in August.

WACKEN 2004
BAL-SAGOTH are appearing at this year's Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. Details of the BAL-SAGOTH appearance are as follows.DATE: 7th August. TIME: 12:00-12:30 PM. STAGE: Black Stage. For further information on the event, visit www.wacken.com

NEW BAL-SAGOTH MERCHANDISE:
New items of BAL-SAGOTH merchandise currently available from Rock Bottom include: Bal-Sagoth logo t-shirts and longsleeves (featuring both solid and hollow logo variations), two versions of the Bal-Sagoth logo "girlie" fit shirts, Bal-Sagoth logo hotpants (a truly essential garment for the discerning female Bal-Sagoth fan), string tangas & "spaghetti" tank tops, Bal-Sagoth logo hooded tops, and Bal-Sagoth logo embriodered baseball caps (a much requested item now finally being made vailable). dditionally, garments featuring exclusive new full colour designs by artist Martin Hanford will be released to coincide with the launch of the sixth album. Visit www.rock-bottom.de for details.

Band profile:

Bal-Sagoth

Wednesday, the 18th of August, SONATA ARCTICA will have an autograph session in the Nuclear Blast shop in Donzdorf, from 6-7 pm. Attendants will also get the chance to have a listen in advance to their upcoming single "Don't Say A Word".

Band profile:

Sonata Arctica

DARKANE's drummer Peter Wildoer seems to have recovered from his wrist injury which afflicted him several months and also delayed working on a new album. Now that he can play again properly DARKANE will soon start rehearsing new material and enter the studio as quickly as possible.

Band profile:

Darkane

The cover artwork for JAG PANZER's new album, "Casting the Stones", has been posted online at the web site of acclaimed artist Mattias Norén. Check it out: http://www.progart.com/images/2004_12b.jpg

"Casting the Stones" is scheduled for release on October 19 through Century Media Records. Said to be "a more aggressive version" of 2001's "Mechanized Warfare", the new album was recorded in part at Tampa's Morrisound Studios with producer Jim Morris. Download two complete tracks from the upcoming CD: "Battered & Bruised" (mp3) and "Legion Immortal" (mp3).

"Casting The Stones" track listing:

01. Feast Or Famine
02. The Mission (1943)
03. Vigilant
04. Achilles
05. Temptest
06. Legion Immortal
07. Battered & Bruised
08. Cold
09. Starlight's Fury
10. The Harkening
11. Precipice

Band profile:

Jag Panzer

The new LAMB OF GOD album "Ashes of the Wake" will be released on Tuesday, August 31, 2004.

The Epic Debut "Ashes of the Wake," is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2003 independent release on Prosthetic Records, "As The Palaces Burn" which Revolver Magazine calls "Album of the Year" and Rolling Stone praised "a meticulously crafted metal assault."

Produced by Machine, the new Album" Ashes Of The Wake" includes guest appearances by Megadeth's Chris Poland and Testament's Alex Skolnick.

As this goes to press all basic tracks have been laid down -Drummer Chris Adler tells us: "The tracking sessions have been very intense and the vibe in the studio is exciting to say the least. My drum tracks were done in Jersey in May and Randy is done as of today. It's been a giant sonic puzzle and as Willie, Mark, John and Randy have layered onto the basic drum mix - you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It's like feeling the ground as a train approaches, you can tell how massive it is - and its coming fast. It's surreal at times - I think everyone involved knows we have a monster on our hands."

Band profile:

Lamb Of God

Moonfog Records has set a September 6 release date for the new DARKTHRONE album, "Sardonic Wrath". The follow-up to last year's "Hate Them" features cover artwork by Lorenzo Mariani (MARDUK, ABORYM) and contains the following track listing:

01. Information Wants To Be Syndicated (4:20)
02. Sjakk Matt Jesu Krist (4:03)
03. Straightening Sharks (3:26)
04. Alle Gegen Alle (3:21)
05. Mann Tanker Sitt (3:04)
06. God Of Doubt (4:33)
07. Silent Majority (3:56)

Band profile:

Darkthrone

German "dark" metallers BETHLEHEM have completed work on their fifth full-length album, "Mein Weg", for a September release through Red Stream Records. Featuring ten songs with a running time of over sixty minutes, "Mein Weg" is said to have it all: "distinctive melancholic melodies, sturdy heavy metal riffs, rapid black metal blast beats, mega-slow doom dirges, dim piano lines and emotionally serene rock themes." The follow-up to 2001's "Schatten Aus Der Alexander Welt" will be issued in a special digipack containing an 18-page booklet

According to a posting on KAMELOT's web site, guitarist Thomas Youngblood and singer Roy Khan will soon be heading back to Germany to put the finishing touches on the follow-up to last year's "Epica", tentatively due before the end of the year through SPV Records. Vocal sessions and guitar sessions will be done as well as the recording of several guest appearances. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "March of Mephisto", "Nothing Ever Dies" and "Serenade". A Japanese tour will likely take place in December, to be followed by a European trek beginning in January 2005.

Band profile:

Kamelot

Swedish progressive power metal band PLATITUDE have parted ways with drummer Marcus Höher. "This was an entirely professional decision, we parted ways because of musical differences," the group write on their web site. "We want to thank Marcus for the time spent, and the impact on the band and our music. We wish him all the best of luck in the future!" Replacing Marcus in PLATITUDE is Andreas Brobjer, who is also collaborating with Swedish keyboard wizard Richard Andersson on his SPACE ODYSSEY project.

PLATITUDE's sophomore album, "Nine", was released in April through Italy's Scarlet Records. The follow-up to 2003's "Secrets Of Life" was recorded at Jailhouse Studios in Denmark with producer Tommy Hansen (HELLOWEEN, PRETTY MAIDS) and features cover artwork by Mattias Norén.

Band profile:

Platitude

Finnish melo-death metallers OMNIUM GATHERUM have completed work on their sophomore album, "Fall Grave Silence", tentatively due in October/Novemeber through Rage Of Achilles Records.

The follow-up to last year's highly acclaimed "Spirits and August Light" was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki, Finland with producer Nino Laurenne and engineer Teemu Aalto. The mastering sessions will take place at Finnvox studios in Helsinki.

"Fall Grave Silence" tentative track listing:

01. The Fall Went Right Through Here
02. Misanthropic (Let the Crown Fall)
03. Bereavement
04. No Moon & No Queen
05. Gravesilence
06. It's a Long Night
07. The Nolan's Fati
08. Black Seas Cry
09. More Withering
10. Auguries Gone

OMNIUM GATHERUM have previously described the new material as "more of that old-school (melo)death ? groovier and heavier ? not that trendy-pop-death-metal-crap that's extruding everywhere."

Band profile:

Omnium Gatherum

BRUJERIA singer Juan Brujo was arrested for possession of an illegal weapon (machete) and illegal drugs following the band's performance in Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday, July 17. BRUJERIA guitarist Dino Cazares (a.k.a. Asesino, ex-FEAR FACTORY) sent the following report to BLABBERMOUTH.NET regarding the incident:

"The venue hired police officers as security for the concert because of the reputation that BRUJERIA has. Just before we were about to hit the stage, the police stopped Brujo for his machete that he takes on stage, they pulled him aside and questioned him, asking him what it's for and why he was wearing the Mexican flag bandana on his face. They said he was desecrating the flag, which is a major offense in Mexico. They continued to search him and found a substantial amount of a controlled substance (marijuana). Asesino tried to democratically intervene with the police but all he got was 'Shut the fuck up and get the fuck out of here.' Asesino went and got the promoter to try and come and reason with the police. After a few minutes of negotiations between the promoter and the police, a financial compromise was agreed to only allow Brujo to perform the show but still to be arrested immediately after the band's performance and taken to jail, where he spent three days negotiating his release. Finally, yet another financial compromise of thousands of dollars was agreed and all charges were dropped and he was released from jail in time for rehearsals with BRUJERIA for their upcoming show at the Ventura Theater on Saturday, July 24."

BRUJERIA are:

Juan Brujo - Vocals
Asesino (a.k.a. Dino Cazares, ex-FEAR FACTORY) - Guitar
Hongo Jr. (a.k.a. Nicholas Barker, ex-CRADLE OF FILTH, DIMMU BORGIR) - Drums
Hongo (a.k.a. Shane Embury, NAPALM DEATH) - Bass
Fantasma - Additional Vocals
Pinche Peach - Additional Vocals

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