Seasons Of Mist press release:

On next November 17th (January 27th in the US), Season Of Mist will reissue two classic albums by cult doom band Pentagram: 1999's "Review Your Choices" and 2001's "Sub Basement". Doom is made out of 666 tons heavy riffing, vocals filled with pain, regret and spite as well as leaden song-structures stretched taut to the point of ripping, and Pentagram embody all those virtues like no other contender. Many have named the band the true heir of the British originators of heavy and doom metal, honourably dubbing them 'the American Black Sabbath'.

Pentagram's fourth studio album "Review Your Choices" marked the band's sixth comeback after several changes of line-up and label. These acclaimed protagonists of doom metal proved once more indestructible by drug addiction, break ups, bad deals, jail terms, chronic illness, satanic blood sacrifices and various acts of self destruction. Mainman and singer Bobby Liebling has kept his band alive for nearly 40 years now and might easily be awarded the title of "longest serving cult band" - highly acclaimed by fans, press and fellow musicians alike. "Review Your Choices" marked the return of multi-instrumentalist Joe Hasselvander to join Bobby Liebling in his eternal quest of creating the heaviest sound possible. The album features a mix of re-recorded lost Liebling tracks from the 70's and stellar numbers penned by Hasselvander, which gave "Review Your Choices" an extra heavy feeling.

"Sub-Basement" was the second output of this line-up and is regarded as the most rock n' roll effort of the doomsters ever. On top of Pentagram's perfect doom sound an irresistible groove and capturing catchiness was added, which made the album an all time favourite for many fans. "Sub-Basement" will kick your ass and twist your legs! Dive down deep into gloom and despair with these classic doom recordings, both to be reissued with bonus tracks, new artworks and liner notes.

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Source:	season-of-mist.com
Band profile:	Pentagram

Posted on the band's official website:

"Dear friends

After auditioning some really good singers during the last couple of months, we have finally found a new band-brother -none other than singer extraordinaire Urban breed (ex-Tad Morose) has joined our ranks, and we are all very excited. Urban is well known for his powerful voice, stage presence and great diversity. We welcome Urban into the band, and we hope that our fantastic fans will approve of this choice too. Trust us when we say there's no one better to fill out the big shoes left by his predecessors. To those of you who do not know Urban yet, I would like to encourage you to check out the MP3's at the end of this announcement - this is just a little taste of what Urban sounds like. Please note - the songs are NOT new Pyramaze songs, but material from Urban's past recordings. Thanks for your attention, and now on to a statement from Urban himself.

Michael Kammeyer.

Samples from the previous work of Urban breed:

> Tad Morose - Anubis
> Tad Morose - Servant Of The Bones
> Bloodbound - Crucified

Statement from Urban:

Hello everyone

I am very pleased to join ranks with the great guys and talented musicians of Pyramaze. I'm looking forward to the challenge of filling those big shoes and working with these guys live and in the studio. I think we have a lot to offer each other, and I hope Pyramaze fans are as excited as we are to hear us working together.

Urban breed"

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Source:	pyramaze.com
Band profile:	Pyramaze

Pyramaze has been announced as the support for Volbeat on the Danish leg of the band's European tour. The tour will be in support of Volbeat's new upcoming album "Guitar Gangsters And Cadillac Blood". The full extensive list of dates can be seen here.

Pyramaze will play the following dates:

05.11.08 - Store Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark
06.11.08 - Gimle, Roskilde, Denmark
07.11.08 - Train, Århus, Denmark
08.11.08 - Tobakken, Esbjerg, Denmark
09.11.08 - Tønder Kulturhus, Tønder, Denmark

Pyramaze's Michael Kammeyer comments: "We are very pleased that we have been invited on to the Volbeat tour. They are currently the biggest and best selling heavy metal band in Denmark, and we are proud that we have been invited personally by the band to be their special guest".

Volbeat's Michael Poulsen comments: "I was knocked over when i heard Pyramaze's new album, which contains one of my favourite metal singers, Matt Barlow (Iced Earth). In fact I dare to claim that this is Denmark's best metal release since Mercyful Fate. Great melodies and a singer, who can easily be placed on the heavy metal throne and wait for his crown. This band has absolutely earned respect and attention. It's cool to be able to bring some "old rats", who have been a part of the metal scene for a long time. Unfortunately Matt is no longer in Pyramaze, but the music stands strong enough on it's own and a new singer is currently being auditioned".

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Source:	pyramaze.com
Band profile:	Pyramaze

Danish metallers Pyramaze have issued the following update on their official website:

"Pyramaze is proud to announce the signing with Locomotive Records for the worldwide release of "Immortal". We had quite a few good offers, but Locomotive convinced us with their enthusiasm and their willingness to walk that extra mile for the band."

The new album, entitled "Immortal" will be out on May 30th in Europe (Release dates for the other regions will follow soon). Also you can find more info about this album as stated here.

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Source:	pyramaze.com
Band profile:	Pyramaze

Danish metallers Pyramaze have announced the completion of recording their upcoming album "Immortal" cover]. Guitarists Michael Kammeyer stated:
"We are extremely happy with the outcome, and we are now ready to share a few clips with all of you loyal fans who have waited patiently for a little taste of the new stuff. We therefore give you two clips of the new album, with a length that is good enough to give you a fair feel for the songs."

Album tracklist:

01. Arise
02. Year Of The Phoenix MP3]
03. Ghost Light
04. Touched By The Mara
05. A Beautiful Death
06. Legacy In A Rhyme
07. Caramon's Poem MP3]
08. The Highland
09. Shadow Of The Beast
10. March Through An Endless Rain

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Source:	pyramaze.com
Band profile:	Pyramaze

Hatesphere have posted the following short message on their MySpace page:

"We're very happy to announce that we won a grammy at the Danish Music Awards earlier today for our album "Serpent Smiles And Killer Eyes"! We were nominated in the category "Best hard rock act"... and yes, we won. We will post a celebration video soon... so keep your eyes and ears open for that..."

The 40th Danish Music Awards show was held earlier tonight (Saturday, February 23) at Tivoli in Copenhagen, Denmark and was broadcast live on MySpace. Other nominees in that category were Mnemic and The Psyke Project.

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Source:	blog.myspace.com
Band profile:	Hatesphere

Last night (Sunday, February 10) at Los Angeles' Staples Center, the 2008 Grammy Awards were held. Slayer won a Grammy for "Best Metal Performance" (For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only) for the song "Final Six". The other nominees were:

Nothing Left - As I Lay Dying
Track from: An Ocean Between Us

Never Ending Hill - King Diamond
Track from: Give Me Your Soul...Please

Aesthetics Of Hate - Machine Head
Track from: The Blackening

Redemption - Shadows Fall
Track from: Threads Of Life

Slayer also won a Grammy last year for the song "Eyes Of The Insane". This year, Foo Fighters won best Hard Rock Performance for the song "The Pretender", beating out Ozzy Osbourne, Evanescence, Tool and Queens Of The Stone Age. Meanwhile Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) and Alison Krauss won Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for the song "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)". Also Metallica were nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with " The Ecstasy Of Gold", but lost to Bruce Springsteen's "Once Upon A Time In The West".

All winners and nominations can be found at this location.

Watch a video report on Slayer's latest Grammy win on YouTube.

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Source:	grammy.com
Band profile:	Slayer

Porcupine Tree 's "Fear of a Blank Planet" album has received a nomination at this year's Grammy awards, for "Best Surround Sound Album". The full list of nominees is available on the official Grammy website

In other news, Snapper Music will gradually make Porcupine Tree catalogue available for digital download (including most of the band's music originally issued between 1992-2000) over the next few months. The albums will be made available in chronological order, starting with "On the Sunday of Life..." (1992) and the updated 2005 version of "Up the Downstair" (1993), which will be available from 11th December. The micro-site for the downloads can be found here.

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Source:	porcupinetree.com
Band profile:	Porcupine Tree

The following statement from Matt Barlow was posted on Pyramaze's website regarding his future status with the band:

Brothers and Sisters,

In light of recent events, it is rather apparent that I need to address what's going on in my life as it pertains to Pyramaze and Iced Earth. As I'm sure you're aware, last week, my wife gave birth to our second son. We are all doing well, but it has taken a little time to get my thoughts together following that and the announcement of my return to Iced Earth. After Michael's statement, it became very clear to me that I must come to terms with the fact that I can not be in all places at all times. Obviously, there are some of you who had the same concerns. It just took me a little longer to figure that out. Well, the point is, I contacted Michael and let him know that I very much wanted to perform on the record, but that I would not be able to continue on with the band in a full time position as planned. I pointed out to Michael that I was extremely grateful to him and the rest of the guys for bringing me on board and I felt obligated to be up front with him on this. I did not want to do the record and then back out, leaving things on bad terms. Understandably, Michael was disappointed but ultimately understanding of the situation. Pyramaze is an extremely talented group of musicians, who's work is well known in the progressive metal community and will be in high demand in a short time. I am happy to say that I will be working with them, if only in a limited term. The music that Michael has written is going to make for a kick ass heavy metal record (KAHMR) and I give you my word that I will give everything that I've got to insure that. Thanks for your time...you'll hear from us soon!

Matt Barlow

Guitarist Michael Kammeyer has also posted his, and the band's, statement on the website:

Hello friends,

As you can all read in Matt's statement, the term of our cooperation has changed due to the fact that he's back in Iced Earth. When Matt approached me with his thoughts and decisions, we had the choice of A. Letting Matt go and finding another singer right away, or B. record this album as planned and with the singer for whom the music was written. Matt let us know that he was still very hooked on recording this album with us, but that he would understand and respect our final decision, should we wish to terminate our cooperation right away. After discussing this with my band brothers we came to the conclusion that we've started the journey of recording our new album together with Matt, and we will finish this album together with him. After we have completed this new album Matt is going to be concentrating solely on Iced Earth again. So this will be a onetime cooperation between Pyramaze and Matt, and this album will be one for the books. We all understand and respect Matt's decision, and there's no bad blood here at all. Matt is a genuinely nice guy with a honest heart, and we are proud to be working with him. I will also encourage you to read Matt's other statement at www.icedearth.com to give you some more insight in the situation. I guess now is a good time to reveal the cover for our new album which is called Immortal. Let me also take this opportunity to wish you all a merry Christmas and a rocking new year. We thank you all for your support.

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Source:	pyramaze.com
Band profile:	Pyramaze

According to a blog posted on the band's MySpace page, Pyramaze will enter the studio October 1st in Haderslev, Denmark to commence the recording of the successor to "The Legend Of The Bone Carver." The band's on fire and ready to record another piece of epic Heavy Metal art. You can follow the progress via the studio diary at http://www.pyramaze.com our at the band's forum, here.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Pyramaze

The following statement has been cited on blabbermouth:

German industrial metallers Rammstein have parted company with singer Till Lindemann.

According to an official statement from the band, Lindemann's decision to leave the Grammy nominated outfit was because of "inharmoniousness within the band" and was "well deliberated."

"He will head now for other challenges which can be a solo career or maybe a new project," continues the statement.

The band have announced that former KMFDM man En Esch will take his place on vocal duties. Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe and drummer Christoph Schneider added:

"Nobody ever can replace Till Lindemann but since we have still so much fun doing Rammstein we looked for a new singer which is charismatic in his own way without copying Till.

"We all will miss Till Lindemann who gave us many years of joy by listening to his unique grinding voice. Please welcome the talented En Esch - Till's footsteps are big, but maybe he can dry our tears rapidly.

This news took the metal world by storm; however, it has not yet been confirmed by any official source. At the moment, allsigns in the sky point to all of this being an elaborate hoax.

Statement by the band (on Rammstein website) on July 19:

Since the rumour did alarm people that Till Lindemann would leave Rammstein after the release of the upcoming album, we are pleased to inform you that after consulting Rammstein manager Emanuel Fialik, the so-called news turns out being a fake.

"Neither Till Lindemann nor another band member plans to leave Rammstein. The band is currently working on the next album and is in an excellent mood. As the greed for news is the actual doping in cycling, this 'news' is only serving those who spread the same. Though the world knows now that EnEsch has moved to Berlin, even the poor EnEsch was shocked by the outlook to have to step into Till Lindemanns footsteps. I hope he and the fans of the band will recover soon from this false report."

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Source:	www2.kerrang.com
Band profile:	Rammstein

The webmaster of the official Rammstein website has posted the following small update:

"After more than a year break the band has returned in good spirits - the gentlemen have started writing new songs! Unfortunately, due to the current album production, Rammstein will not play any shows this year. We are excited to find out what news there are to tell in the near future!"

Source:	rammstein.com
Band profile:	Rammstein

Danish Power/Progressive Metal outfit Pyramaze has found a new vocalist: no less than Matt Barlow, ex-singer of Iced Earth who had decided to leave the heavy metal world four years ago! After Pyramaze had fired their former vocalist Lance King in November 2006 due to "personal and professional issues", guitarist Michael Kammeyer got in touch with Matt Barlow, by now a full-time police officer and lead vocalist of the Delaware First State Force Band, and as of March 2007 he has joined Pyramaze, as was announced today. The first Pyramaze album with Barlow on vocals is expected in next spring. Elaborate statements by both Michael Kammeyer and Matt Barlow can be found on Pyramaze's official website, as well as new band photos.

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Source:	pyramaze.com
Band profile:	Pyramaze

Slayer have won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance for the song 'Eyes Of The Insane,' beating out Lamb Of God (Redneck), Mastodon (Colony Of Birchmen), Ministry (Lies, Lies, Lies), and Stone Sour (30/30-150).

This was Slayer's second Grammy nomination, the first being in 2002 for the track 'Disciple' (from "God Hates Us All"), also in the Best Metal Performance category.

Slayer, currently headlining a North American tour, did not attend the Grammy's presentation, but vocalist/bassist Tom Araya had this to say about the win from his hotel room in Columbus, OH: "Jeff and I put a lot into 'Eyes Of The Insane' so we're thrilled that the Grammy voters took the time to listen to it, and then vote for it. We're out here on the road and we're all really, really happy."

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Source:	grammy.com
Band profile:	Slayer
Event:	Slayer: US Tour

In Flames was honoured with the Swedish "Grammis" award in the "Best Hard Rock" category during a ceremony that was held Tuesday night (January 30) at Hovet in Stockholm. A total of five bands were nominated for their most recent releases, all of which came out during 2006. The nominees were as follows:

Backyard Babie - "People Like People Like People Like Us" (RCA)
Europe - "Secret Society" (T&T/Sanctuary)
Hammerfall - "Threshold" (Nuclear Blast)
In Flames - "Come Clarity" (Nuclear Blast)
The Haunted - "The Dead Eye" (Century Media)

In accepting the award, In Flames frontman Anders Fridén asked the audience to get up on their feet.

"This is the third time In Flames have won a Grammy and it feels extremely good," he said and joked: "Thanks a lot to the Swedish people, Sound Pollution and all you people sitting down!"

A video clip of In Flames performing the song "Come Clarity" on the Swedish music awards show "Rockbjörnen" on January 11 in Stockholm, Sweden has been posted online at YouTube.com (here). The band's lineup for the performance included guitarists Björn Gelotte and Jesper Strömblad, who were both absent from the group's most recent U.S. tour.

In Flames was nominated in three categories at the "Rockbjörnen" awards: "Best Swedish Band", "Best Song" and "Best Album".

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Source:	inflames.com
Band profile:	In Flames