BBC News (news.bbc.co.uk) reports that former JUDAS PRIEST drummer David Holland sexually abused a 17-year-old youth with special needs who visited his home for lessons, a court was told.

David Holland, 55, who played with the heavy metal band in the 70s and 80s, faces one charge of attempted rape and five counts of indecently assaulting the teenager.

Spiros Laouitaris, 22, who also stayed at the musician's cottage, is charged with four counts of indecently assaulting the same teenager.

Mr. Holland, of The Green, Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire, and Mr. Laouitaris, of Bourne Crescent, Kings Heath, Northampton, deny all the charges.

Band profile:

Judas Priest

NEUROSIS have finished mixing their new album at Electrical Audio studio in Chicago with producer Steve Albini (NIRVANA, BUSH, SOIL).

The yet-untitled album will be released in early summer 2004 on Relapse Records Europe and on Neurot Recordings in other parts of the world. An advance track from the CD will appear on an upcoming Neurot Recordings compilation, to be released with a bonus DVD. More information will be made available soon.

Some links of very interesting "real" gothic music projects, check it !!!

http://www.laurieannhaus.com -Laurie Ann Haus Wesbite - personal home page of musical projects of Laurie.

http://www.ephemeralsun.com - Ephemeral Sun Website- a new female fronted experimental, etherial, progressive metal featuring ex-Rain Fell Within (Dark Symphonies) members.

http://www.darksymphonies.com/autumntears - Autumn Tears - (Dark Symphonies), neoclassical Dark wave music, new LP coming out soon.

http://www.todesbonden.com - Todesbonden Website - a new Classical/Renaissance influenced doom-metal, female fronted band started by Laurie.

From Blabbermouth.net

Former STRATOVARIUS singer Timo Kotipelto has completed work on his second solo album, tentatively due in the spring through Century Media Records.

The as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2002's "Waiting For The Dawn" (issued under the KOTIPELTO banner) reportedly features "more or less the same" recording lineup as that on the debut, which featured contributions from Mike Romeo (guitars, SYMPHONY X), Roland Grapow (guitars, MASTERPLAN/ex-HELLOWEEN), Arjen Lucassen (guitars, AYREON), Sami Virtanen (guitars, JOE DOAKES), Jari Kainulainen (bass, STRATOVARIUS), Mirka Rantanen (drums, TUNNEL VISION), Gas (drums, H.I.M.), Janne Warman (keyboards, CHILDREN OF BODOM) and Mikko Harkin (keyboards, SONATA ARCTICA).

Commenting recently on his departure from STRATOVARIUS, Kotipelto said, "I know a lot of fans are sad about this situation. And I really am SORRY about it. There are a lot of things in the world that I alone can't control... One thing is for sure, it's not about money. The problems are somewhere else." Regarding his final appearance with STRATOVARIUS at the upcoming Piorno Rock festival in Spain on February 28, Kotipelto said, "Unfortunately, yes, I have to . I have signed the contract . But I try to give my best to the fans. I don't care what happens at the backstage..."

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Band profile:

Stratovarius

The melodic thrash quintet CHILDREN OF BODOM have just been nominated for a Finnish "Grammy" in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal" category. The group will make their much-anticipated return to the U.S. this April on a major package tour (reportedly with ICED EARTH in the headlining slot) in support of their latest, critically acclaimed release, "Hate Crew Deathroll". Full details on the tour will be announced soon.

In other news, CHILDREN OF BODOM's Alexi Laiho and DREAM EVIL/FIREWIND's Gus G. are sharing the cover of the popular Japanese magazine Young Guitar this month.

Band profile:

Children Of Bodom

ARCH ENEMY, NASUM, KATATONIA, CULT OF LUNA and BURST are nominated for a Manifest award in the category "Best Hard Rock/Punk."

The event will take place at Debaser in Stockholm on January 29 at 8:00 p.m. CET.

The Manifest Awards are being held by SOM (Svenska Oberoende Musikproducenter) (Swedish Independent Musicproducers), an organization that consists of over 100 record labels.

"Best Hard Rock/Punk" Nominees:

ARCH ENEMY ¡V "Anthems of Rebellion"
BURST ¡V "Prey On Life"
CULT OF LUNA ¡V "The beyond"
KATATONIA ¡V "Viva Emptiness"
NASUM ¡V "Helvete"

Band profile:

Arch Enemy

Sweden's KATATONIA have set a February 23 release date through Avantgarde Records for their two-disc compilation of all of their previously out-of-print mini-CDs, plus sampler tracks from old full-length albums and one unreleased track.

Titled "Brave Yester Days" (view cover here), the double CD will feature artwork by Agni Kaster and will be released in a digipack format together with a 16-page booklet.

The artwork follows "an incredible old worn yesterdays vibe and there are many old band pictures incorporated into the layout, as well credits and lyrics to all songs," according to a post on the band's web site.

The complete track listing for "Brave Yester Days" is as follows:

Volume One (disc 1):

"Jhva Elohim Meth"
01. Midwinter Gates (Prologue)
02. Without God
03. Palace Of Frost
04. The Northern Silence
05. Crimson Tears (Epilogue)

"Dance Of December Souls"
06. Gateways Of Bereavement
07. Velvet Thorns (Of Drynwhyl)

"War Compilation Vol One"
08. Black Erotica
09. Love Of The Swan

"For Funerals To Come¡K"
10. Funeral Wedding
11. Shades Of Emerald Fields
12. For Funerals To Come
13. Epistel

Volume Two (Disc 2):

"Brave Murder Day"
01. Murder
02. Rainroom

"Sounds Of Decay"
03. Nowhere
04. At Last
05. Inside The Fall
06. Untrue (Previously Unreleased)

"Saw You Drown"
07. Nerve
08. Saw You Drown
09. Quiet World
10. Scarlet Heavens

Band profile:

Katatonia

SODOM, VANDEN PLAS, POWERGOD and DARK AGE are among the bands confirmed to appear at the 7th Annual Rock Station Festival, a three-day event set to take place March 19-21 in Ankara, Turkey.

The complete list of acts currently scheduled to perform at the festival is as follows:

SODOM (GER)
VANDEN PLAS (GER)
POWERGOD (GER)
DARK AGE (GER)
CADAVEROUS CONDITION (AUS)
CENOTAPH (TUR)
WYKKED WYTCH (USA)
KNIGHT ERRANT (TUR)
GUN BARREL (GER)
657 (TUR)
KARAKEDI (TUR)
NOTWITHSTANDING (TUR)
SELF TORTURE (TUR)
COURTYARD (TUR)
ABEA (TUR)
SOUL SHRED (TUR)
ZARDANADAM (TUR)
MELATONIN (TUR)

For more information, visit the festival's official web site at www.rock-station.org.

Band profile:

Sodom

DESTRUCTION frontman Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer recently gave the group's official web site more information about the German thrash metal band's upcoming live DVD, "Live Discharge - 20 Years Of Total Destruction".

According to Schmier, "this DVD features DESTRUCTION material from all eras including myself on vocals. The fans themselves did vote for those tunes, so we hope your favorite is not missing out. We did try to catch that energy of a thrash show rather than just recording the most perfect, clean and flawless concert. This is also one of the reasons why you will find three different events in our LIVE section . . . Together with the backstage and 'on the road' footage you will get a nice extra look behind the curtain of a DESTRUCTION show.

"This is ain't fake! We are living our music to the max and you will surely have your 'nice' entertaining moments.

"The bonus material includes our two first ever video clips: 'Desecrators' and 'The Ravenous Beast', an Australia tour special done by the OZ Metal Warriors, an intense interview - history, some leftovers from other shows (like older cuts with Sven on the drums) and of corpse some very old, glorious footage from the '80s!"

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Band profile:

Destruction

Swedish "dark death metal" act RUNEMAGICK have completed work on their new album, "On Funeral Wings", at their own Magick Sound Studio for a spring release through Aftermath Music.

As previously reported, RUNEMAGICK's new material is said to be "much in the vein of the latest album 'Darkness Death Doom', with some new ideas and dimensions."

The complete track listing for "On Funeral Wings" is as follows:

01. Monolithic Death
02. Rise of the 2nd Moon
03. On Funeral Wings
04. Dragon of Doom
05. Hyperion
06. Ocean Demon
07. Emperor of the Underworld
08. Trifid Nebula
09. The Doomsday Scythe
10. Riders of Endtime
11. In a Darkened Tomb
12. Black Star Abyss
13. Wizard with the Magick Runes

Total playing time: 73:52

The "On Funeral Wings" front cover can be viewed during the flash intro at www.runemagick.se.

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Band profile:

Runemagick

Swedish metallers VOMITORY have updated with their second studio diary from drummer Tobias Gustafsson:

"The last week of recording went really smooth. We're not really used to take things so easy during a recording session, so this was definitely a new experience to us - and a nice one indeed!

All guitars, bass and vocals are now done and so far we, including Henrik the producer, are all very content with the result. The first thing that strikes me when I listen to the recording is that Erik's voice has become even stronger and more brutal than on our previous albums! Fuck yeah! This is without any doubts his best vocal work to date and he could never have ended his vocal duties in Vomitory in a better way!

"Primal Massacre" will contain ten songs and as usual, there are some songs that still are untitled, but here are some of the definite titles "Autopsy Extravaganza", "Stray Bullet Kill", "Demons Divine" and the titletrack - "Primal Massacre".

On Friday the 19th, Lord K Philipsson from The Project Hate paid us a visit in the studio to chat, drink beer, listen to the album and take some pictures. click here to see the pictures - posted and commented by Lord K. And while you're there, don't foget to join the official Vomitory forum!

We left the studio on Saturday, December 20th - a bit hungover from yesterday but we were happy to get to rest our ears during the holidays. We'll begin mixing the album in Berno Studio, Malmö/Sweden, on January 5th together with Henrik Larsson.

More news when we're done with the mixing!"

Band profile:

Vomitory

Greetings to all of Arch Enemy's friends out there!
2003 has been a fantastic and eventful year - we started it off in January with working on our "Anthems Of Rebellion" album in the studio (in the U.K with Andy Sneap) and when we'd completed the album we played live all over the place in support of it. We have tons of cool memories from the road, too many to mention really?but some obvious highlights include the Slayer/Hatebreed US tour and our headline slot at the Korean "International Busan Rock Festival" and also our last show of 2003, a headline show @ the "Mean Fiddler" in London - a packed house that was ready for the metal!

Check out the live clip of "We Will Rise" from the 21st of December 2003 @ the "Mean Fiddler", London !!!!

http://www.archenemy.tv/pictures/reports/ArchEnemy_WeWillRise_London.mpg

We are convinced that 2004 will rock even harder, and things are looking good for the band?first thing coming up touring wise is a bunch of dates in Canada, USA & Japan, opening up for the NWOBHM Gods - Iron Maiden!
It doesn't really get any better than that, at least not in our world! :-)

See you on the road...

Happy New Year!

Michael & Arch Enemy

Band profile:

Arch Enemy

UK black/death metallers BAL-SAGOTH have written the following message on their official website:

"The writing of the long awaited sixth BAL-SAGOTH album is continuing, and the new material is sounding truly phenomenal. Fans of everything BAL-SAGOTH have crafted, from the debut album to the most recent opus, will truly find the forthcoming sixth album a wondrous and enthralling voyage into the darksome realms of sinister avant-garde black/death metal! Barbaric, baroque, bombastic... BAL-SAGOTH! Recording is expected to begin during the depths of winter, with a release through Nuclear Blast during the second quarter of 2004."

Band profile:

Bal-Sagoth

SODOM are the latest act confirmed for the Gods of Metal Festival, scheduled to take place June 5-6 at l'Arena Parco Nord in Bologna, Italy. ALICE COOPER will top the bill on Sunday, June 6, while JUDAS PRIEST will headline the event on Saturday, June 5 ? the same day that Finland's STRATOVARIUS are scheduled to appear in what is being billed as their only Italian appearance of 2004. Other bands confirmed for the festival include TWISTED SISTER, TESTAMENT, SYMPHONY X, NEVERMORE, W.A.S.P., and MOTÖRHEAD.

Band profile:

Sodom

KING DIAMOND recently spoke to Metal Reference about the his upcoming live album, tentatively due next fall through Metal Blade Records.

"The musicians are currently located in Andy 's studio in order to listen to their takes ," he explained. "The real task is to pick the best takes of them all from each and every concert... the guitars, the drums, and I don't need to participate in that. I think that Hal has joined them as well in order to scrutinize his bass work.

"We wanted to have released earlier than this, but it seemed quite inappropriate as there was no tour to support 'Abigail 2', and we obviously have to conduct more shows than that if we want to select some of the better parts for a live release. But we definitely thought at that time that we would be able to release a live album."

Asked if the recordings will also be released on DVD, King said, "Oh, no. It's going to be a double live album, this one, and it was recorded on our last US tour, and we almost recorded all the shows for this purpose. A live DVD will probably surface later, and both my record labels Metal Blade and Massacre are interested in joining forces to release it. This one will however feature live material from our European tour, and this is likely to happen right after summertime 2004".

Regarding the group's original plans to record material from both "Abigail" and "Abigail 2" towards the live album, the singer said, "Yes, that was indeed my intention. We wanted to record 75 - 80 percent of those two records, but these plans were as you suggested abandoned... due to the massive illegal downloading of 'Abigail 2'. Our record label said that we lost about 30 percent of the sales due to illegal downloading. That was a bit tough, and we thus had to renegotiate our contract with the record label. We were in fact ready to go on tour in the U.S. and had almost signed a contract with a local promoter when we learned from our record company that they wouldn't support the tour. This is the first time that we experienced such a thing. The only good thing that came out of this situation is the way that we were forced to record 'The Puppet Master'."

King also commented on his contribution to the upcoming PROBOT CD (in the form of the track "Sweet Dreams"), the project headed up by former NIRVANA drummer/current FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl.

"I contributed my vocals to the tracks just before I flew to Denmark," he explained. "When we were about to rehearse for the Sweden Rock Festival. The record label has kept much of it a big secret... which of the tracks that would be released, the cover and the release date. Dave told me to just do it my way, the way I sang, the lyrics and so on. 'Just do it like KING DIAMOND,' he said. I actually never met him, but we corresponded through a representative of his. Dave Grohl is actually depicted as King Diamond on the front page in the newest issue of Kerrang! ... I refused to believe it, but it's true. He's wearing my outfit and make up. This is totally awesome."

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Band profile:

King Diamond