Trent Gardner has finished the writing process of a new Magellan Album.

Check the website in the next days for further details about the follow-up of "Impossible Figures", released on last november by Inside Out.

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ICED EARTH guitarist Ralph Santolla demanded to be let off a flight to England earlier today (March 17) after he spotted two fellow passengers behaving strangely while boarding the plane. The following is Ralph's detailed account of the whole experience, as provided exclusively to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

"OK. First of all, let me say unequivocally that I am not a racist. I have three Moroccan-Arab nieces, and more than a couple of Muslim family members (I'm Catholic).

"I was leaving today for the Manchester/Liverpool area of England to work on mixes for my modern rock/metal project, STARE. At the gate in Tampa, there were two Arab dudes getting on the plane. The three of us were at the end of the line boarding. One guy was dressed in a suit, the other like a college student. They were acting (?) like they didn't know each other. They seemed very nervous. About four elderly folks got in between the two guys. I noticed that the guy next to me, the one in the suit, had, at a minimum, his hands and wrists shaved. I thought that was weird, in a disturbing kind of way (shaving one's body hair is a religious obligation often observed by would-be suicide bombers so that they are 'clean' before entering heaven). They both noticed that I was watching them closely. The college-looking guy kept looking back and making eye contact with the other guy and then looking away. When we got on the plane, the guy in the suit turns out to be a pilot getting a free ride of the jumpseat in the cockpit. After the other guy looked around making eye contact with me several times, as if to see if I was still keeping an eye on them, I called the flight attendant. I told him there was something not right about these guys, and I wanted off. They had to bring the jetway back out to get me off the plane! The airline will let me use the same ticket on Friday, but I was pretty spooked!"

ICED EARTH will kick off a U.S. headlining tour with CHILDREN OF BODOM and EVERGREY on April 18 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Taken from Blabbermouth.net

Band profile:

Iced Earth

The Great Deceiver are poised to release their second full album for Peaceville - "TERRA INCOGNITO". Recorded at Dug Out Studios in Uppsala and produced by Daniel Bergstrand, this album packs a mean punch and is unleashed on APRIL 12TH. There is also a promo video for the track "Lake Of Sulphur" directed by PATRIC ULLAEUS which will be an enhanced feature on the album. A stunning follow up to "A Venom Well Designed" - their much talked about debut!!

Band profile:

The Great Deceiver

Israeli prog-metallers ORPHANED LAND recently hosted a hometown CD release party for their new album, "Mabool" (due in the U.S. on April 6 through Century Media Records). Vocalist Kobi Farhi checked in with the following update:

"Hello to all our ORPHANED brothers and sisters, we had the launch party release of 'Mabool' two days ago and it was a blast!! More than 1,200 people attended, and the event was completely sold out! 200 people unfortunately had to go home with no tickets...we played for an hour and a half and at the end of the show we wore costumes, because it was Purim's eve ? same as Halloween, and we played a few more songs and a funny cover version for the theme song from 80's TV series ? 'Transformers'!! We hope to see you all in the U.S. stages real soon."

ORPHANED LAND's next gig in Israel will be a semi-acoustic appearance on March 23 at The Third Ear CD Shop in Tel-Aviv.

Band profile:

Orphaned Land

Registered members of the MEGADETH forums at Megadeth.com can enter a contest to win a phone call from Dave Mustaine and an ESP guitar. The rules of the contest are to guess the correct lyrics for a yet to be released MEGADETH song "Blackmail The Universe". Daily winners receive a phone call from Dave himself, and the person who submits all the correct lyrics to the entire song will win a limited ESP DV-8r guitar. To enter the contest, submit your guesses to webmaster@megadeth.com and check the daily contest announcement in the MEGADETH topics forum. Check out the "Dave Speaks" forum for recent MEGADETH updates posted by Dave Mustaine!

Band profile:

Megadeth

Long-running Canadian thrashers ANNIHILATOR have set a May 24 European release date through Germany's AFM Records for their new album, "All For You". A five-song EP, entitled "The One", will surface on April 26, and will include two bonus video clips.

As previously reported, "All For You" (view cover here) marks the recording debut with the group of new singer Dave Padden, who replaced previous vocalist Joe Comeau last June. The album also features a return appearance by drummer Mike Mangini (EXTREME, STEVE VAI) following the departure of Randy Black (PRIMAL FEAR) in early October.

"All For You" track listing (not final sequence):

01. All For You
02. Weapon X
03. The Nightmare Factory
04. The One
05. Demon Dance
06. Rage Absolute
07. Both Of Me
08. Bled
09. Dr. Psycho
10. Holding On
11. The Sound Of Horror

Commented mainman Jeff Waters in a recent online posting: " is probably the most brutal ANNIHILATOR song EVER written. I honestly would compare it to 'Battery' by METALLICA ? and I would NEVER ever try to compare something I did with a classic tune like that unless I could back I up. Dave, Mike and I can!

"The song 'All For You' will 'probably' be the single as it is one of those darn tootin' tunes that you will hear once and NOT be able to forget the chorus!"

With regards to the songwriting process for the new album, Waters said, "I demoed 18 songs . Weeded out the weakest ones and then got Dave/Mike to do their stuff over the 11 I picked. It was 12, but one was noticeably weak ? could made it on any other CD, but not this one."

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Annihilator

ThatsSoMetal.com, a web site based in the New Jersey/New York area, has posted video footage from their PRIMAL FEAR "Devil's Ground" CD release party held on February 21. Pictures from the party, a review of the new CD, and an interview with PRIMAL FEAR bass player Mat Sinner can also be found on the site. Check it out here: http://www.thatssometal.com

Band profile:

Primal Fear

Finland's Sonera Plaza has posted several photos of STRATOVARIUS performing at Spain's Piorno Rock festival on Saturday, including pictures of keyboardist Jens Johansson pissing (literally!) on guitarist Timo Tolkki during the opening notes of the song "Forever" (no, we're not kidding). Check them out here: http://www3.soneraplaza.fi/musiikki/artikkeli/0,3634,6197_200049,00.html

STRATOVARIUS' set list for the Piorno Rock performance:

01. I Walk To My Own Song
02. Reign Of Terror
03. Lord Of The Wasteland
04. Hunting High And Low
05. Eternity
06. I'm Still Alive
07. Speed Of Light
08. Granada (Spanish) / Season Of Faith's Perfection
09. Forever Free
10. Forever
11. Phoenix
12. Kiss Of Judas
13. Father Time
14. Black Diamond

Band profile:

Stratovarius

The following message was posted on Devin Townsend's (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD) official web site:

"The two records that Devin had intended to release before Christmas were delayed by his schedule. They are finished, just the graphics are being finalised now and they should be submitted for printing within a couple of weeks, available to order 4-6 weeks from there. Also, the tablatures that Devin was starting requires some sort of guitar module to do what he planned. The module has been ordered but he will be busy with production for at least the next 4 weeks.

"You probably read on the web that Byron has recently joined FEAR FACTORY for their upcoming tour and maybe more . However It doesn't affect his membership is and Byron is still a fervent LAD.

"Lastly, In order to clear room in the warehouse we posted a bunch of inventory on Ebay at reduced prices to clear it out . Unfortunately because of our water main (located in the stocked full storage space) that broke, the headquarters is under 2 feet of waters. we are very sorry to say that the majority of the cool stuff we had for you has been destroyed ? along with a hell of a lot of uninsured HDR inventory.

"Anyone want some slightly soggy compact discs? How about really sopping wet ones? Souvenirs of the great HDR flood? We will soon put a temporary merchandise page on the HDR site called 'flood memorabilia'. Devin will sign the damaged CDs and we hope that people may be willing to contribute to helping out by buying an autographed ruined CD

"To finish, we will soon launch the The Hevydevy Records Official Forums. The board is now finished, the transfer to a new domain has been done and we hope that a lot of fans will join the community. We'll keep you informed about the launching..."

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Band profile:

Devin Townsend

ENSIFERUM hasn't yet found a replacement member/members for Jari. However a stand in has been found for the European tour. Vocals and guitars are played by NORTHER's Petri Lindroos. The release of the album "Iron" is sadly been postponed to a later date. Now the album will be released 19.4.2004. The reason for this is that the album hasn't been mastered yet! Deviating from earlier information the album is going to be mastered at Finnvox studios in Finland. On the compilation album "Spinetingler III" there's a new ENSIFERUM song "Tale of Revenge" which was completed before the other songs. Ther'll also be a single of the song "Tale of Revenge". The release date of the single is announced to be 22.3.2004.

Band profile:

Ensiferum

Former DIMMU BORGIR drummer Nick Barker has spoken exclusively to BLABBERMOUTH.NET about his surprising departure from the group.

Barker, a former member of CRADLE OF FILTH, joined DIMMU BORGIR in 1999 as a replacement for original drummer Tjodalv (a.k.a. Kenneth Åkesson). He has since appeared on two full-length studio albums with the band: "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" (2001, Nuclear Blast) and "Death Cult Armageddon" (2003, Nuclear Blast).

In an official statement announcing Barker's departure, DIMMU BORGIR indicated that "Nicholas has been removed" from the band's lineup and advised their fans to not "waste time speculating why," adding that "we have already moved on."

The following is a transcript of an exclusive question-and-answer session held between BLABBERMOUTH.NET and Nick Barker the evening of Monday, February 9:

Q: DIMMU BORGIR confirmed your departure from the group by saying that you were "removed" from the band's lineup. Most people would interpret that statement to mean that you were kicked out of the band, not that you left of your own accord.

Nick Barker: "That's right. I guess they let me go because they think it's the right decision for the band. And I totally respect their decision, and I have to go with it, obviously. And I just wish them all the best."

Q: Was this decision a long time coming? Were you surprised at all to learn of their decision to kick you out of the band?

Nick Barker: "It was a total surprise to me. But I guess they think it's the right thing to do, and all the best to them."

Q: But they must have given you a reason as to why they were kicking you out, didn't they?

Nick Barker: "I guess it's because of the distance thing ? me being English and those guys being Norwegians. And me commuting from England to Norway all the time. I guess they thought things just weren't working out. I think there might have been a few cultural differences, with me being English and those guys being Norwegians. I mean, we always seemed to get along, and we made some good music together.

Q: The way their statement was worded implied that there might have been some bad blood there ? like the split wasn't entirely amicable.

Nick Barker: "I don't know anything about that."

Q: So there were no band fights or internal disagreements that precipitated this decision to kick you out of the band?

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Band profile:

Dimmu Borgir

A brand new DISMEMBER track, titled "Where Ironcrosses Grow", has been posted online in the < MEDIA ] section of the new Karmageddon Media website :

www.karmageddonmedia.com

"Where Ironcrosses Grow" is the title track of DISMEMBER's long-awaited new album, to be released on the 8th of March through Karmageddon Media.

Distributed by Plastic Head (PHD).

The follow-up to 2000's "Hate Campaign" was recorded at Stockholm's Sami studio and features artwork by acclaimed artist Dan Seagrave (ENTOMBED, SUFFOCATION, MORBID ANGEL).

Complete tracklist:

1. WHERE IRONCROSSES GROW
2. FORGED WITH HATE
3. ME-GOD
4. TRAGEDY OF THE FAITHFUL
5. CHASING THE SERPENT
6. WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD
7. SWORD OF LIGHT
8. AS THE COINS UPON YOUR EYES
9. CHILDREN OF THE CROSS
10. AS I PULL THE TRIGGER

"The Swedish Death Metal Legend returns... long live Stockholm Dods Metall !!!"

RUNNING WILD bassist Peter Pichl gave a lengthy interview to the band's official web site in which he briefly discussed the group's upcoming studio album.

"I can't tell you anything yet besides that it's going to be out summer," Peter said. "Rolf is still writing songs. He wasn't able to start his work on the album as early as scheduled, because it took a bit longer to build up his own studio. But he keeps on writing songs and about 20 or so are ready for recording. I'm also really looking forward to them (as much as all of you!). Rolf is really open-minded concerning ideas of the other band-members. If I should have some good ideas (which is sometimes the case), I am going to share them with Rolf, maybe he likes them as well. But I will not be disappointed if he doesn't." Read the rest of the interview here.

RUNNING WILD's last release was the two-disc compilation of re-recorded classics, "20 Years In History", which came out in 2003 through Noise Records. The group's most recent collection of new original songs, "The Brotherhood", was released in 2002.

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Running Wild

It was recorded in studio Kuling with Henrik Larsson and mixed in Berno Studio. The album includes 10 songs of brutal, non compromising Death Metal. The artwork for the album was provided by Juan Jose Castellano and it's the most brutal artwork Vomitory used so far.

"It's a killer album! As always nothing for the weak hearted" says guitar player Ulf Dalegren.

Here's the tracklisting:

01. Primal Massacre
02. Gore Apocalypse
03. Stray Bullet Kill
04. Epidemic (Created To Kill)
05. Demons Divine
06. Autopsy Extravaganza
07. Retaliation
08. Condemned by pride
09. Cursed Revelations
10.. Chainsaw Surgery

"Primal Massacre" will be released the 19th of April, 2004 through Metal Blade Records.

Band profile:

Vomitory

MASTERPLAN, the new band featuring ex-HELLOWEEN guitarist Roland Grapow, ex-HELLOWEEN drummer Uli Kusch and former YNGWIE MALMSTEEN/ARK singer Jorn Lande, are currently in Los Angeles with producer Roy Z (BRUCE DICKINSON, HALFORD, HELLOWEEN) working on the material for the follow-up to their highly acclaimed self-titled debut, tentatively due this fall through AFM Records. A single will precede the album in late summer. The group are tentatively planning on embarking on their first European headlining tour shortly following the album's release.

As previously reported, MASTERPLAN were honored with a European Border Breakers Award at this year's MIDEM convention in Cannes, France.

The European Border Breakers Awards are a European Commission initiative which reward ten artists or groups (and their record companies, authors and publishers) for achieving the highest sales for a debut album across the European Union, outside their country of production in 2003.

The ten artists were revealed at the European Border Breakers Awards ceremony, which took place on January 25.
In other news, Lande will be releasing his third solo album, "Out To Every Nation", on April 26 through AFM Records.

Joining Lande during the recording sessions for the new CD were bassist Magnus Rosèn (HAMMERFALL), guitarist Jõrn Viggo Lofstad, and drummer Stian Kristoffersen.

The tentative track listing for "Out To Every Nation" is as follows:

01. Young Forever
02. Out To Every Nation
03. Something Real
04. Living With Wolves
05. Vision Eyes
06. One Day We Will Put Out The Sun
07. Behind The Clown
08. Rock Spirit
09. Through Day And Night
10. When Angel Wings Were White

A video clip for "Living With Wolves" is also in the works. Lande's last solo effort, "Worldchanger", was released in 2001.

Band profile:

Masterplan