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 [23 Febr.] 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.

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
[Metal Blade Records]

Never Ending Hill - King Diamond
Track from: Give Me Your Soul...Please
[Metal Blade Records]

Aesthetics Of Hate - Machine Head
Track from: The Blackening
[Roadrunner Records]

Redemption - Shadows Fall
Track from: Threads Of Life
[Atlantic]

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.

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.

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 [url]www.icedearth.com[/url] 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.

Read more ››

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.

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."

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.

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 [Hanneman] 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."

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 [Swedish] Grammy and it feels extremely good," he said and joked: "Thanks a lot to the Swedish people, [distributor] 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".

Source:	inflames.com
Band profile:	In Flames

Nominations for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards were announced today by The Recording Academy.

Best Metal Performance:
(=For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

'Redneck' - Lamb Of God - Track from: Sacrament [Epic]

'Colony Of Birchmen' - Mastodon - Track from: Blood Mountain [Reprise/Relapse Records]

'Lies, Lies, Lies' - Ministry - Track from: Rio Grande Blood [13th Planet Records/Megaforce Records]

'Eyes Of The Insane' - Slayer - Track from: Christ Illusion [American]

'30/30-150' - Stone Sour - Track from: Come What(ever) May [Roadrunner Records]

Best Hard Rock Performance:
(=For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

'Crazy Bitch' - Buckcherry [Eleven Seven Music]

'Every Day Is Exactly The Same' - Nine Inch Nails [nothing/Interscope Records]

'Lonely Day' - System Of A Down [American/Columbia]

'Vicarious' - Tool [Volcano/Zomba Label Group]

'Woman' - Wolfmother [Modular/Interscope Records]

The awards will be handed out on Sunday February 11, 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. Stephen Colbert will be the host of the Award show.
A full list of nominees can be found here.

In other Grammy news, In Flames have been nominated for a Swedish Grammy award in the category Hard Rock / Metal for their "Come Clarity" album. Go to this location (site in Swedish) for more information.

Read more ››

Source:

grammy.com

Rammstein are gearing up for the release of a new live DVD, entitled "Völkerball". The release date has now been confirmed for November 17th. The following update on the release, which will be issued as a regular and limited edition, appears at the band's official website:

"Völkerball as a high quality photo book with 190 pages in format 27cm x 31 cm will additionally - to the standard and special edition - include an audio CD with further live recordings, which contains the entire concert. The pictures were taken by the French photographer Frederic Batier and address for a big part those areas, which one seldom gets to see. The band, highly concentrated during the last minutes before the concert, the band on stage but also during off-days. A big share of the book portraits the audience and presents wonderful images of the emotional world of the fans. Expectations, enthusiasm, delight, exhaustion. A booklet of this quality is a must for the Rammstein fan! Since it is only available as a limited edition in this form, you should keep your eyes open for that."

Völkerball will be issued in the following formats:
* Standard Edition: 2 Disc Set (1 DVD, 140 minutes live video + 1 CD, 75 minutes live audio).

* Special Edition: 3 Disc Set (1 DVD, 140 minutes live video + 1 DVD, 90 minute Documentary, includes Anaconda In The Net + Reise, Reise: The Making Of The Album + 1 CD, 75 minutes live audio).

* Limited Edition: 190 Page tour photobook, inluding all 3 Disc contents of the Special Edition + the entire live audio recordings of the concerts (140 minutes) on an additional 4th disc.

UPDATE: The complete track lists for all three formats can be found here.

Source:	rammstein.com
Band profile:	Rammstein

Lamb Of God's "Sacrament" sold around 63,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 8 on next week's The Billboard 200 chart. This is almost double the amount of records sold by its predecessor, "Ashes of the Wake", which registered a first-week tally of 35,000 back in September 2004. "Ashes of the Wake" has since gone on to sell 260,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The following are notable heavy metal/hard rock U.S. sales debuts for the week ending August 27, 2006, as reported by Nielsen SoundScan (all CD figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, except numbers under 3,000, which are rounded to the nearest hundred; The Billboard 200 chart position included, where applicable):

Lamb Of God - "Sacrament": 63,000 (#8)
Deicide - "The Stench of Redemption": 4,000
Walls Of Jericho - "With Devils Amongst Us All": 2,800
Misery Signals - "Mirrors": 2,500
Threat Signal - Under Reprisal": 700
Terrorizer - "Darker Days Ahead": 400
Mercenary - "The Hours That Remain": 300
Poisonblack - "Lust Stained Despair": 300
Urkraft - "Inhuman Abberation": less than 20

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Lamb Of God

Pyramaze will be recording a live DVD at this years prestigious ProgPower USA in Atlanta on the 15th 16th of September, this will include an equal mix of songs from both of their releases Legend Of The Bone Carver and Melancholy Beast.

Also, ProgPower USA's promoter Glenn Harveston, wanted to do something special this year and invited Pyramaze vocalist Lance King to join Jorn Lande among a few other select vocalists* some of bands appearing this year and some just there hanging out for a special song close at the end of the show on Saturday night.

*According to the official site ProgPowerUSA.com:
"Confirmed thus far to join Lande on stage are Zak Stevens (Circle II Circle, ex-Savatage), Lance King (Pyramaze), Michele Luppi (Vision Divine), Pasi Rantanen (Thunderstone), Mikkel Sandager (Mercenary), Michael Eriksen (Circus Maximus), and Mattias "IA" Eklundh (Freak Kitchen). Other participants will be announced at a later time."

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Pyramaze
Event:	ProgPower USA

Official press release (Relapse Records) :

Vincent McAllister, the guitarist and a founding member of seminal metal band Pentagram, has lost his battle with cancer at the age of 51.

McAllister played guitar in the classic 70's Pentagram line-up that also included vocalist Bobby Liebling, bassist Greg Mayne and drummer Geof O'Keefe. His recorded works can be heard throughout the various Pentagram collections.

McAllister was highly respected as a guitarist and person amongst his peers. McAllister had spent the past few years working on material in his home studio and planning to return to playing again with former Pentagram members O'Keefe and Mayne.

Go to http://www.bedemon.com for more news on Vincent McAllister.

Source:	relapse.com
Band profile:	Pentagram