We have been informed that Belphegor have been forced to stop all activities until May 2012. Frontman/guitarist/founding member, Helmuth Lehner went through a serious and difficult operation 16 days ago after the South American tour, and as result of this Belphegor have indeed had to cancel all shows until May next year.

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Band profile:

Belphegor

Unisonic - the new metal super group featuring Michael Kiske (vocals, ex-Helloween), Kai Hansen (guitars, Gamma Ray, ex Helloween), Mandy Meyer (guitars, ex-Gotthard, ex-Krokus), Dennis Ward (bass, Pink Cream 69) and Kosta Zafiriou (drums, Pink Cream 69) has signed a record contract with earMUSIC / Edel.
Drummer Kosta Zafiriou: "We had several promising labels being interested in Unisonic, but the enthusiasm of Max Vaccaro and his team convinced us that earMUSIC is the right company for us."

A first EP will be released in January 2012, followed by the band's debut album, which is planned for early spring. After the addition of Gamma Ray's Kai Hansen to the group's line-up early 2011, the band continued and implemented the songwriting process, assembling Kai's talent to write great anthemic rock songs in existing and new material.

The recordings for the album started at end of September at ICP studios in Brussels/Belgium. Unisonic's music is very versatile and shows a broad approach to heavy rock, but never misses the power and strong, sticking melodies that made all the members famous in the metal scene in the first place.

Says singer Michael Kiske: "It feels great to finally bring the band to the studio and record the songs we´ve been working on. We took our time to grow as a band, but it was definitely worth it and we are very proud of the result."

Bassist/producer Dennis Ward: "We have a bunch of very strong songs and can't wait until people can hear them. Everyone in the band is now looking even more positive into the future."

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Thank you all for your entries to the Onslaught competition. The correct answer to the question was of course the Damnation Festival. Here are the lucky winners:

Paul Bourke (PAUL BOURKE) - Guest list + CD pack
Michael Smyth (mick-metal) - Guest list + CD pack
Krissie Williams (Lemonfresh) - Guest list + CD pack
Sam Marshall (Hopscotch) - Guest list
Ambrish Saxena (Cynic Metalhead) - Guest list

The winners now need to get in touch with their prefered date of the tour, as soon as possible.

Thank you all again!

Onslaught & Gama Bomb: UK & Ireland Tour

21.09.2011 - GBR, Cardiff
22.09.2011 - GBR, Maidstone
23.09.2011 - GBR, London
24.09.2011 - GBR, Nottingham
25.09.2011 - GBR, Swansea
26.09.2011 - GBR, Liverpool
27.09.2011 - GBR, Newcastle
28.09.2011 - GBR, Edinburgh
29.09.2011 - GBR, Belfast
30.09.2011 - IRL, Cork
01.10.2011 - IRL, Dublin

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Event:

Onslaught & Gama Bomb: UK & Ireland Tour

Posted today on the Rhapsody website:

After 15 years of friendship, hard work and big passion, fully invested in the creation of symphonic music and an epic saga that will remain in the history of heavy metal, Alex Staropoli and Luca Turilli decided to proceed to a friendly split. "10 albums released and the end of the saga represent, musically and lyrically, an important artistic goal finally reached, underlined by the success of our last release From Chaos To Eternity, for which we want to thank our wonderful fans once again. Now it came the time when new artistic stimulations need to be found, in respect of both parts' visions and perspectives and of our longtime friendship" say Luca and Alex. Due to the latest legal agreements actually in force, Alex Staropoli will go on with Rhapsody Of Fire having, between the others, Fabio Lione as singer, Tom Hess as guitar player and Alex Holzwarth as drummer. For the same agreements and the original name's common ownership, Luca Turilli will release his future works with a new Rhapsody band, including the faithful band members Dominique Leurquin, Patrice Guers and Alex Holzwarth.

Alex says: "While wishing the best to Luca and his new band, I want to tell you that Fabio and myself feel motivated and stronger than ever and that Rhapsody Of Fire are already planning a great worldwide tour. More information regarding the new bass player and the new second guitar player will follow. Stay tuned!"

The website http://www.rhapsodyoffire.com will remain the glorious Rhapsody Of Fire website at all effects and http://www.algalordchronicles.com the official fan club of Rhapsody Of Fire only. In the future, if you want to know more about the new band of Luca Turilli, please check his personal website at http://www.lucaturilli.com

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Source:	rhapsodyoffire.com
Band profile:	Rhapsody

The Wacken Open Air website states that Cradle Of Filth will no longer be playing at the festival due to injuries Dani Filth has sustained in France at the Léz' Arts Scéniques festival. Triptykon will replace them.

According to the Léz' Arts Scéniques festival website, security had to be called for Dani Filth as he had become "aggressive and unmanageable" and "dangerous to himself and others".

An image has been posted online which appears to show Dani Filth being restrained on the floor by a security guard. That picture can be found here.

To make up for this, Wacken Open Air have confirmed that Cradle Of Filth are the first band announced to play at the Wacken Open Air in 2012.

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Source:	wacken.com
Band profile:	Cradle Of Filth
Event:	Wacken Open Air 2011

In a video message posted today, Joey DeMaio has announced that after 16 years, Manowar will return to the UK later in the year for a full tour up and down the country. The whole of the Battle Hymns album will once again be played at each date on this tour.

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Source:	metalhammer.co.uk
Band profile:	Manowar
Event:	Manowar: UK & Ireland Tour

A brand new track "Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't" has been made available to stream online at this location:

http://soundcloud.com/nuclearblastrecords/anthrax-fightem-til-you-cant

If you would like to download the mp3 of the song, then visit this location and enter your email address.

"To all of our friends around the world:

Anthrax fans are the most loyal fans ever. You've been waiting a long, long time for us to release new music. With Joey back in the band, we know that the anticipation is really high, and we love you for that.
So, as a way for us to say THANK YOU, we decided to make our brand-new track, "Fight 'em 'til You Can't," available as a free download, giving all of you a taste of what's to come on our first new studio album in eight years - "Worship Music" that will be out September 13.
Thank you for sticking with us my friends and now join us on this zombie killing thrill ride we call "Fight 'em 'til You Can't."

BANG YOUR HEADS!!!" - Scott, Charlie, Frankie, Joey & Rob


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Band profile:

Anthrax

Singapore grindcore trio Wormrot have confirmed the first dates for a European headlining tour, which is due to kick off on September the 1st in the UK.

Vocalist Arif Rot commented: "It seems like forever since we grind UK and Europe, although it's only last year. We will be back twice as pissed off. Less talk, more grind! See you grinders real soon - nabey cheebai!!!"

WORMROT
Jun. 11 - Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia - Club Cinta Sayang
Jun. 12 - Temerloh, Pahang, Malaysia - Arjuna Studio
Jul. 02 - Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia - Kepura Cave
Jul. 09 - Singapore - Singapore Deathfest (venue TBA)

WORMROT w/ EVISORAX
Sep. 01 - Cardiff, UK - Undertone
Sep. 02 - Nottingham, UK - Old Angel
Sep. 03 - Belfast, UK - Auntie Annie's
Sep. 04 - Dublin, Ireland - Pint Bar
Sep. 05 - Sunderland, UK - The Borough
Sep. 06 - Glasgow, UK - 13th Note
Sep. 07 - Liverpool, UK - The Masque
Sep. 08 - Derby, UK - The Old Bell Hotel
Sep. 09 - Bath, UK - Green Park Tavern
Sep. 10 - London, UK - The Grosvenor

WORMROT w/ MARUTA
Sep. 12 - Lille, France
Sep. 13 - Antwerpen, Belgium
Sep. 16 - Wermelskirchen, Germany - NRW Deathfest
Sep. 17 - Tilburg, Netherlands - Incubate Festival
Sep. 18 - Trier, Germany - Exhaus
Sep. 19 - Wroclaw, Poland - Wagon Club
Sep. 20 - Prague, Czech Republic - Modra Vopice
Sep. 21 - Ziar Nad Hronom, Slovakia
Sep. 22 - Budapest, Hungary - Szabad az A
Sep. 23 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Menza Pri Koritu
Sep. 24 - Milano, Italy
Sep. 25 - Torino, Italy
Sep. 27 - Lausanne, Switzerland
Sep. 28 - Nevers, France
Oct. 01 - Tarragona, Spain
Oct. 02 - Almeria, Spain
Oct. 03 - Madrid, Spain
Oct. 04 - Lisbon, Portugal - Side B
Oct. 05 - Porto, Portugal - Hard Club
Oct. 08 - Bordeaux, France - Heretic Club
Oct. 09 - Paris, France
Oct. 14 - Kassel, Germany - Hotspot
Oct. 15 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Bloodshed Festival
Oct. 16 - Rottendam, The Netherlands
Oct. 17 - Leiden, The Netherlands

105265!]

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Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Wormrot

Oblivion will be the Australian death metal band's third full-length release, expected out later this month. You can listen to the whole album at this location:

http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/3311991

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Canadian veterans Anvil have made their upcoming album Juggernaut Of Justice available to listen to in its entirety on their Myspace page. The album is due to be released next Tuesday (10th of May).

http://www.myspace.com/anvilmetal

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Source:	anvilmetal.tk
Band profile:	Anvil

In reality TV style, Dream Theater have put together a trio of videos documenting their search for their new drummer. The last video of the series shows the last applicants of the seven-man short-list auditioning and jamming with the band in their hope to be selected as the new American Idol. After narrowing the short-list down to two drummers and a long and hard deliberation, the band have chosen Mike Mangini as their new drummer.

The whole series can be found at these locations:

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L609JsPFmmI
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vaDfcKzLbY
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QHMQjH17aw

Mike Mangini's history includes drumming with Annihilator, Steve Vai and James LaBrie.

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Source:	youtube.com
Band profile:	Dream Theater

Judas Priest have released a letter stating that original guitarist K.K. Downing has formally retired from the band, and will not join the band on the upcoming Epitaph World Tour. The band respect his decision and wish him well.

Replacing K.K. on the tour will be 31 year old British guitar player Richie Faulkner (Lauren Harris, Dirty Deeds), who has apparently blended into the band perfectly and will set the stage on fire.

The upcoming "Epitaph" tour will include songs from every Judas Priest studio album, including some the band have never performed before. It will be "heavy metal at its best complete with lasers, lights, bikes and hellfire!!"

The band also have another album due out next year.

3675 for sending this in!]

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Source:	judaspriest.com
Band profile:	Judas Priest

The English death metal three-piece have uploaded two brand new mixed and mastered tracks from their forthcoming album to their myspace page. They can be heard here.

The band are currently forming a live lineup, and searching for a label to release their new album.

http://www.myspace.com/detrimentum

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Band profile:

Detrimentum

Put down your keyboards, the competition is over! The correct answer to the question is of course Andy Sneap, who mastered and produced the album Blood Of The Nations.

The lucky winners are:

Andy Hill

and

Michael Kissane

These two will receive an email with instructions for the day.

Thank you to all who entered, and better luck next time!

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Band profile:

Accept

Original story:

Paul Di'Anno, best known for singing on the first two Iron Maiden albums and milking them dry for the last thirty years, has reportedly admitted in court to have falsely claimed a total of £45,000 (53,000?, $72,000) from the British tax-payers money.

He was arrested last year and charged with fraud. In court on the 10th of February 2011, he was told to prepare for a jail sentence after admitting eight counts of benefit fraud. The hearing has been adjourned until March the 11th 2011 for a pre-sentence report, and has bail in the meantime.

For the period between 2002 and 2008, he claimed he had nerve damage in his back, which disabled him from being able to work. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had an anonymous tip-off, and caught Paul out with a YouTube video of him apparently jumping around stage in 2006.

...I'm running free yeah, I'm running free...

UPDATE

Paul has been sent to jail and will serve at least four and a half months before being released on conditional bail.

While sentencing, Jane Miller QC said "Your public persona is not relevant. Your greed has cost this country a lot of money. The claims were for a long time and for a large cost. It must be a custodial sentence."

A confiscation hearing to settle payments the rocker owes to the Department of Work and Pensions will be heard at the court on June 4th 2011.

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Source:

dailymail.co.uk