Token from the official Mastodon Newsletter:

"In their infinite wisdom, gametap.com has chosen to see fit to make Mastodon their "Artist Of The Month". What does this mean? That means that throughout the month, you'll see some exclusive content there, including a live show show just gametap.com. Click here to see the page and keep coming back throughout the month to see the latest additions."

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Source:	mastodonrocks.com
Band profile:	Mastodon

Sodom, the headliner and most important band from the Full Metal Fest Vol. 1 cancelled their appearance due to unknown circumstances. The future of the event remains unknown.

The following information can be found at Blabbermouth:

"Commented the group's frontman Thomas Such (a.k.a. Tom Angelripper): "There is a problem. We can't fly. We are really pissed off, 'cause fans are waiting. the last five days we any reply from the promoter. He also cancelled three fights of our crew. So what happened? We don't want the fans to get disappointed! We also heard that the band AGENT STEEL got the same shit. We didn't get any infos about hotel address, backline etc. so we can't do a professional show the fans deserve!!!!! We are really sorry. We are disappointed, but we'll find another serious promoter help us over. The time is right after so many (17!!!) years.""

The organizer of the event hasn't talked to the press or the audience.

More info coming soon...

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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Sodom
Event:	Full Metal Fest I

Finnish Heavy Metallers Amorphis have posted the following update by guitarist Esa Holopainen on their website on 28 February:

"It's national celebration day. Amorphis has finished new album recordings and also today is the day of Kalevala. With the help of old and wise Väinämöinen, skilled smith Ilmarinen, adventurer-warrior Lemminkäinen, Louhi; the female ruler of Pohjola and the tragic hero Kullervo Amorphis aheads to new dimensions with upcoming album.

We have put a lot of energy and emotion into this album and hopefully it will reflect to all you next August.

Stay tuned and happy Kalevala day!"

Source:	kingfooentertainment.fi
Band profile:	Amorphis

Season Of Mist has set an April 23 release date for the new Mayhem album, "Ordo Ab Chao". A track from the CD, entitled "Anti", is available for download at this location.

"Ordo Ab Chao" (view cover artwork here) tracklisting:

01. A Wise Birthgiver
02. Wall Of Water
03. Great Work Of Ages
04. Deconsecrate
05. Illuminate Eliminate
06. Psychic Horns
07. Key To The Storms
08. Anti

Commented guitarist Blasphemer (a.k.a. Rune Erickson): "The sound is raw and powerful, and listening to it, it reminds me of the 'Wolf's Lair Abyss' era, only more varied and more philosophical. The album also contains the most aggressive songs in the Mayhem history as well as the most wicked and darkest."

The upcoming CD will mark Mayhem's first release since 1993 with vocalist Attila Csihar back behind the microphone.

Csihar rejoined Mayhem in November 2004 as the replacement for departed singer Maniac (real name Sven Erik Kristiansen).

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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Mayhem

Cephalic Carnage are currently wrapping up the recording process on their new full-length album. The band has spent most of the winter locked in their new recording studio with long time producer/engineer Dave Otero working on their fifth full-length. Advance song titles include: "Endless Cycle Of Violence," "Touched By An Angel," "Vaporized," "G.lobal O.verhaul D.vice," and "Ov Vicissitude." The still-as-yet-untitled record is expected to see a May 2007 release.

Additionally, Cephalic Carnage will kick-off a week's worth of Texas and New Mexico tour dates with Brujeria starting tomorrow, March 2nd, in El Paso, TX. A complete listing of tour dates can be found online here with more to be announced soon.

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Source:	smnnews.com
Band profile:	Cephalic Carnage

There will be another work released in 2007.
Almost 100% of the music is written and now it is time to start writing the lyrics.
This time it won't be a conceptual album. Music is more fresh and up-to-date, less epic but more solid and powerfull. I've been in contact with a couple of musicians for the vocals and drums and I hope to start recording in spring so the album may be ready at the end of spring or summer.
There won't be so many singers as in the first album because I'd like to have fix members so Soulitude can became also a live band and not only studio project.
Cover artwork is going to be done again by Xabier Amezaga, that is also the webmaster of this site.

Source:

soulitude-web.com

Veteran German thrashers Sodom are rumored to have scheduled a headlining tour of Australia in May. Unofficial (not confirmed by Sodom website, yet) dates on pyromusic.net are as follows:

May 19 - The Gaelic Club - Sydney, AUS
May 22 - Club Phoenix - Brisbane, AUS
May 23 - Fowlers Live - Adelaide, AUS
May 25 - The HiFi Bar - Melbourne, AUS

According to Australian Metal Stormer Judas, this is almost 100% certain now, since also most of the venues have started handing out flyers advertising the gigs.

UPDATED on 28 Febr.:

According to bravewords.com and blabbermouth.com, Sodom have scheduled some Australian dates in June, and so not in May as reported above:

June
8 - HiFi Bar - Melbourne, Australia
10 - Venue TBA - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia
11 - Fowlers Live - Adelaide, Australia
13 - Club Phoenix - Brisbane, Australia
15 - The Gailic Club - Sydney, Australia

So far, no dates have been confirmed as of yet on Sodom's website.

(Thanks beer for the update)

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Source:	pyromusic.net
Band profile:	Sodom
Event:	Sodom: Australian Tour

Children Of Bodom was honored with the "Band Of The Year" award at the Finnish Metal Awards, which were held Friday night (February 16) during the Finnish Metal Expo at the Cable Factory in Helsinki, Finland. Members of the Finnish metal media pre-selected the candidates and the people cast their votes to select the winners, which were as follows:

Album Of The Year: Mokoma - Kuoleman Laulukunnaat
Band Of The Year: Children Of Bodom
Rookie Of The Year: Profane Omen
Cover Art Of The Year: Mokoma - Kuoleman Laulukunnaat here]
Musician Of The Year: Kai Hahto of Wintersun
Vocalist Of The Year: Marco Hietala of Tarot / Nightwish

Saturday (Feb. 17) tickets for the two-day Finnish Metal Expo MS Event Page] were sold out in advance and the 2,500-capacity venue was filled to the brim. An almost equal number of people visited the world's premiere Metal Expo on Friday. Live performances were held by the likes of DragonForce, Amon Amarth, Moonsorrow, etc.
In addition to the live shows, more than 50 exhibitors ? including record labels, instrument brands, merchandisers, media etc. ? displayed their latest offerings in the expo area.
The International Metal Meeting ? an industry event within the FME ? gathered more than 80 international and local Finnish delegates from the metal music industry. This year's IMM featured presentations from Roadrunner Records' Mike Gitter and Natalie Dybaylo from Russia's Rosenfield Records.

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Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Children Of Bodom

Finnish Folk metal band Korpiklaani posted in their official website:

The cover artwork of the upcoming album "Tervaskanto" has been released. The release date has been set to May 2007.
Here's the link to see the picture: http://www.korpiklaani.com/news/pics/tervaskanto.jpg.

"Tervaskanto" is already Korpiklaani's fourth studio album.

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Source:	korpiklaani.com
Band profile:	Korpiklaani

German power metallers Freedom Call have issued the following update already a few days ago:

"Yesterday (February 10th) we finished work at (producer) Tommy Newton's Area 51 Studios at Celle, Germany and arrived our hometown Nuremberg with the master tape in the bag. The new album "Dimensions" is ready. After more than seven months hard work we are totally happy with the awesome result and can't wait to introduce the new 12 songs. The official release will probably be April 20th/23rd of 2007."

"Dimensions" tracklisting:

01. Mr. Evil
02. Far Away
03. Mission Divine
04. Firestorm
05. Dimensions
06. Blackened Sun
07. Power
08. Starborn
09. Ride The Universe
10. Heaven Is Hell
11. Castaway

Source:	freedomcall.de
Band profile:	Freedom Call

Saxon's upcoming release "The Inner Sanctum" will be available in Europe on March 5th (Germany on March 2nd) and in North America on April 3rd via SPV Records. The title will be released in a digipack edition with a bonus DVD and in a standard jewel case edition with a bonus track.

The tracklist for The Inner Sanctum (cover art):
01. State Of Grace
02. Need For Speed
03. Let Me Feel Your Power
04. Red Star Falling
05. I've Got To Rock (To Stay Alive)
06. If I Was You
07. Going Nowhere Fast
08. Ashes To Ashes
09. Empire Rising
10. Atila The Hun

Bonus DVD:
01. To Hell And Black Again
02. A Night Out With The Boys - The Idea
03. A Night Out With The Boys - Not Really
04. See The Light Shining
05. A Night Out The Boys - Now It Started
06. Redline
07. Suzie Hold On
08. Stand Up And Be Counted
09. Frozen Rainbow
10. Never Surrender

Audio samples of all the tracks on the CD can be found at this location.

An extensive comment about the new album can be found at the band's official website here.

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Source:	bravewords.com
Band profile:	Saxon

American Thrash outfit Shadows Fall are set to release their new album "Threads Of Life" on April 3. The band have released a new video of themselves in the studio during the making of the album. Check it out at either of these links.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NH2V4g6zNLY

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid474445597

A message from frontman Brian Fair is as follows:

"What's happening everyone!! I know it has been a while since my last update but expect to be hearing from me a lot over the next few weeks!!"

"Lots of stuff going on in the world of Shadows Fall these days. We are eagerly awaiting the release of THREADS OF LIFE on April 3rd and are currently gearing up for the Jager Music Tour with our friends in Stone Sour and Lacuna Coil. We have been at home for a LONG time so there is a lot of pent up energy set to explode when we hit the stage in March!! We plan on debuting a few new songs from THREADS OF LIFE as well as working some older tunes back into the rotation."

"This week we are launching the official Shadows Fall Youtube.com channel. To celebrate its birth, we will also begin releasing a bunch of video webisodes documenting the writing and recording process of THREADS OF LIFE. We shot a bunch of footage at our practice space, Studio 606 and a few local bars and are excited to bring you what we've cut together so you can get a glimpse into the making of the album. Keep an eye out for a few surprise guest appearances!!!"

"That it is for now but keep an eye out for more updates soon!! We'll see everyone out on the Jagermeister Music tour. Check shadowsfall.com for dates in your area. Till then crack a brew and rock some tunes!!"

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Source:	smnnews.com
Band profile:	Shadows Fall

Century Media is about to release a Samael best-of compilation. The collection of 19 songs are taken from every Samael release to date. The CD comes in a black slip-case with a 24 page booklet, containing pictures and lyrics. Samael supervised the whole project and vocallist/guitarist Vorph wrote liner notes for each song as the release coincides with the band's 20th anniversary.

The compilation will be entitled "Aeonics - An Anthology" and will have the following tracklist:

01. Exodus
02. Black Trip
03. Rebellion
04. Baphomet's Throne
05. Telepath
06. Together
07. Supra Karma
08. Jupiterian Vibe
09. Rain
10. The Cross
11. After The Sepulture
12. On Earth
13. Moonskin
14. Worship Him
15. Ceremony Of Opposites
16. Blood Ritual
17. Into The Pentagram
18. Koh-I-Noor
19. Reading Mind

Source:	samael.info
Band profile:	Samael

As posted on the bands official website:

"One week ago Alexi had the worst luck. He tripped at a bowling alley and his shoulder was hurt. Something is broken but it's not serious like the accident two years ago. He has to be careful because the shoulder will be sensitive for a while. 6 weeks of no guitar playing - doctor's orders. This means all the activities planned to happen within the next 5 weeks have to be cancelled. We can have a break from rehearsals but what breaks our hearts is that we are not able to perform in Desert Rock (Dubai, U.A.E.) in March 2007. That festival was something we were looking forward to but it just can't happen.

There's nothing we can do about this!"

6.2.2007 Helsinki
Children Of Bodom

Source:	cobhc.com
Band profile:	Children Of Bodom
Event:	Desert Rock Festival

Finnish death metallers Omnium Gatherum have posted an eight-minute video clip documenting the recording sessions for the group's new album, "Stuck Here on Snake's Way". Due on April 2 via Candlelight Records, the CD was recorded during November-December 2006 at Southeast Studios in Karhula, Finland with producer Teemu Aalto. Watch the clip at this location.

"Stuck Here on Snake's Way" track listing:

01. The Snake and The Way
02. Into Sea
03. Dysnomia
04. A-Part of God
05. Undertaker
06. Bastard-O
07. The Third Flame
08. Just Signs
09. Truth
10. Drudgery
11. In Sane World
12. Spiritual

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Source:	omniumgatherum.org
Band profile:	Omnium Gatherum