Criminal have posted the following update:

Anglo-Chilean thrash masters Criminal have revealed the cover artwork for their new album "White Hell." The piece was created by Chilean designer / tattoo artist / drummer Fran Muñoz.

"The original idea we were pursuing didn't really work out," comments vocalist/guitarist Anton Reisenegger, "so we basically decided to start from scratch. Then Fran approached us with this idea and we all really liked it, so we just went for it."

The track listing for "White Hell" is:

01. 21st Century Paranoia
02. Crime And Punishment
03. Incubus
04. Black Light
05. The Deluge
06. Strange Ways
07. Mobrule
08. The Infidel
09. Invasion
10. Eyes Of Temptation
11. Bastardom
12. Sons Of Cain

In Europe the album will be released in a limited edition including a bonus DVD, the contents of which will be announced shortly, while the South American version of the album will contain the bonus track "Hermanos Dementes".

A brand new track off "White Hell" will be made available via the band's MySpace page
on January 1st, 2009. The page is currently hosting demo versions of two tracks, "The Infidel" and "Eyes of Temptation."

"White Hell" will be released on February 27th, 2009!

In other news, Criminal have announced a Chilean tour for the month of January. The confirmed dates are as follows:

Jan 11 - Santiago, Chile - Club Hípico, Cumbre del Rock Chileno
Jan 13 - Buin, Chile - Buinlebar
Jan 14 - Talca, Chile - Pub El Webeo
Jan 15 - Concepción, Chile - Taberna Rock
Jan 16 - Valparaíso, Chile - El Huevo
Jan 17 - Santiago, Chile - Bar 89

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Criminal

Cattle Decapitation are about to release their new upcoming album "The Harvest Floor" on January 20th through Metal Blade Records. An e-card for "The Harvest Floor" is available for viewing now and features the song "The Gardeners Of Eden". Check it out here. Both "The Gardeners Of Eden" and "A Body Farm" are also available for streaming online over at the band's MySpace.

Cattle Decapitation will also be touring in promotion of their fifth studio album. The release of "The Harvest Floor" will be followed up by a southern US headlining tour, entitled "Killing 'Til Oblivion Tour" tour poster], with labelmates Psyopus, Book Of Black Earth and Gigan.

01/21 Santa Barbara, CA - The Jensen Mainstage
01/22 Bakersfield, CA - The Dome (no Book Of Black Earth)
01/23 Berkeley, CA - 924 Gilman Street
01/24 San Francisco, CA - Thee Parkside
01/25 Hollywood, CA - Knitting Factory
01/26 Tempe, AZ - The Sets
01/27 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
01/28 El Paso, TX - Chic's Billiards
01/29 Austin, TX - Red 7
01/30 San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
01/31 Houston, TX - Java Jazz
02/01 Metairie, LA - The High Ground
02/02 Pensacola, FL - American Legion Post 33
02/03 Jacksonville, FL - Fuel Coffeehouse
02/04 Orlando, FL - Back Booth
02/05 Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
02/06 Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
02/07 Tallahassee, FL - The Engine Room
02/09 Little Rock, AR - The Village
02/10 Dallas, TX - The Lounge on Elm Street
02/11 Farmington, NM - Gator's
02/12 Tucson, AZ - The Rock
02/13 San Marcos, CA - The Jumping Turtle

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Cattle Decapitation
Event:	Killing 'Til Oblivion Tour

From the official homepage of Shores of Sheol:

"I have some good news to share: the material for the upcoming EP is about to be finished. The title will be "Eternal Sin - The Great Conquest" and deals with the supremacy of temptation, lust and other sins - the triumph over foolish and futile morals.

The EP will contain 5 songs, in the following order:

1. The Summoning
2. Worship the Beast
3. Liberation of the Chosen One
4. Reborn
5. Eternal Sin - The Great Conquest

The cover art for this release can be found here. The release is planned for early 2009. I'll keep you updated. I'm still in search for a label, so get in touch if you are interested!"

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Source:

gratis-webserver.de

Stryper is pleased to announce that on December 21, 2008 at 11PM (EST), song samples from the upcoming album "Murder By Pride" along with a major contest will be launched! The contest is a historic first for Stryper and will give one lucky fan the opportunity of a lifetime and become a part of Stryper history! Visit http://www.stryper.com or http://michaelsweet.com on December 21, 2008 at 11PM (EST) to access the contest details and song samples.

For contest details & song samples from "Murder By Pride", you need to enter your e-mail address at this location.

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Source:	stryper.com
Band profile:	Stryper

Drummer Hans Rutten of the Dutch metal/rock band The Gathering has issued the following update:

"The waiting is over. Well... almost!

We are very happy and proud to announce the release of our 9th studio album in April 2009! The album will be called "The West Pole". You probably are curious who is singing on our new record. We have found a new vocalist, and we will have two guest singers on "The West Pole".

We can imagine people are anxious to hear some of our new music. However, we will not make it to put new songs online this year. The reason is that some of our guest musicians still need to be recorded and we prefer to present only complete version of the songs. As soon as we have mixed and mastered the album we will put some tracks on the web and of course you will be informed with all possible details. We believe, after hearing the new songs, you will agree the waiting was worthwhile!

We are very, very proud and we feel we made something really special. The album is produced by René Rutten, it will contain 9 tracks and will be released on our own imprint Psychonaut Records. It will be a very extravert, rock orientated, alive album. Typically The Gathering, but with many new elements. This time it's absolutely guitar driven. For sure.

"The West Pole" will be available via our own webshop one month before the actual release date. Like our DVD "A Noise Severe" we will make special packages. More news will follow soon."

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Source:	gathering.nl
Band profile:	The Gathering

Audio samples of all the songs of the new upcoming Kreator albul "Hordes Of Chaos" are available for streaming onlile over at the JPC.de website.

The twelfth Kreator studio album will be released in Europe on January 19, 2009 via SPV Records (except in Germany, on January 16) and in U.S. on January 13.

JPC.de website is also streaming audio samples of all 13 tracks that appear on "Into The Labyrinth", the new album from British metallers Saxon.

"Into The Labyrinth" will be released in Europe on January 12, 2009 (Germany, on January 9; USA, on January 13) via SPV Records.

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Source:	jpc.de
Band profile:	Kreator

U.S. progressive metal band has posted some new details about their new upcoming DVD online. Redemption's live DVD will be titled Frozen in the Moment: Live in Atlanta. It will be released via Inside Out Records on following dates:

Germany, Austria and Switzerland: February 27, 2009
Rest of Europe: March 2, 2009
North America: March 3, 2009

The track listing consists of:

01. Threads
02. Bleed Me Dry
03. Nocturnal
04. Memory
05. The Suffocating Silence
06. Release
07. Fall On You
08. Sapphire
09. The Death of Faith & Reason

In addition, there will be a 12 minute video and photo tour diary set to our unreleased instrumental from the Dream Theater songwriting contest that the band wrote back in 2003. Lastly, there will be some funny outtakes which will be embarrassing to us and pretty damn funny to all of you.

More news to come regarding new music in 2009.

Again, happy holidays and thanks as always for your interest and support.

Source:	blog.myspace.com
Band profile:	Redemption

*Mountain Mirrors Releases All Three CDs at Jamendo for Free Download Under Creative Commons License*

Fairhaven, MA, (December 7, 2008) - Mountain Mirrors founder Jeff Sanders has just announced that all three of the Mountain Mirrors LP's (Dreadnought, Lunar Ecstasy and the self - titled Mountain Mirrors) are now available for free download at Jamendo.Com, an influential international platform for downloading free and legal music. Speaking about this new offering Sanders states "Jamendo is awesome. It's got a great vibe... for an independent artist with almost no radio airplay or
live shows, Creative Commons is crucial. And Jamendo makes it easy for people to download (and share) music with a clear conscience."

Mountain Mirrors started in 2003. Their self-proclaimed "Heavy Acoustic" genre blends the progressive psych-rock sounds of Porcupine Tree or Damnation-era Opeth with Dylen-esque folk lyrics and psychedelic vibes.

The Ripple Effect writes of Mountain Mirrors, "Imagine if you will, walking through a forest that's enshrouded in dense fog. Visibility is only a few hundred feet in any direction. Moisture glistening off of the surrounding foliage as your breath bellows from your mouth in a cloud of steam. The crunch of leaves and decay under every footstep being the only sound to accompany the animal-like howl of the wind. Kinda' creepy out here all alone, huh? That's the power of Mountain Mirrors self titled album."

Download links:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/32408 - Dreadnought (2008)

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/32399 - Self-Titled (2006 - recommended
for first-time listeners)

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/32539 - Lunar Ecstasy (2004)

Mountain Mirrors as described by founder Jeff Sanders is "Heavy acoustic music from the wood of Massachusetts". Musical influences range from Led Zeppelin to Opeth to Portishead as well as unexplained phenomena like Karma, ghosts and the afterlife.

Musicians: Jeff Sanders with various guests - including drummers Peter Yttergren, Peter Generous, Magnus Brandell and Elad Fish, multi-instrumentalist Per Ulfhielm, bassists Phil Rohr and Guy Bartor,
cellist Claire Fitch, keyboard master Oren Selas, and pianist Simon "Watto" Watson. They currently have three LP's.

Jamendo.com is the world's # 1 platform for free and legal music downloads. Available in six languages it offers the largest catalog of music underneath Creative Common Licenses. For artists it is an easy and efficient way to publish, share and promote their music, through revenue sharing and commercial partnerships. For more information visit www.Jamendo.com

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Source:

mountainmirrors.com

"Anvil! The Story of Anvil" is the mockumentary-like autobiography of Canadian heavy-metal practitioners Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner, two inspirational aging rockers who are now in their mid-fifties, and still heroically following their dream. After a desultory European tour with their band Anvil, Lips and Robb decide to record a 13th album in a final attempt to fulfill their boyhead dreams of stardom.

From the Sundance Film Festival program: "At 14, Toronto school friends Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, went on to become the "demigods of Canadian metal," releasing one of the heaviest albums in metal history, 1982's "Metal On Metal". The album influenced a musical generation, including Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, that went on to sell millions of records. But Anvil's career took a different path - straight to obscurity.

Director Sacha Gervasi has concocted a wonderful and often hilarious account of Anvil's last-ditch quest for elusive fame and fortune. His ingenious filmmaking may first lead you to think this a mockumentary, but it isn't. Gervasi joined the legendary heavy-metal band as a roadie for a tour of Canadian hockey arenas, so he has intimate insight into the members' eccentricities. It's fascinating to see the reality of their day-to-day lives as they struggle to make ends meet, take a misguided European tour, and engage in antics on the road - which is not always lined with fans. Gervasi even finds a softer center to this raucous film, introducing us to band members' ever-supportive, but long-suffering, families. At its core, Anvil! The True Story of Anvil is a timeless tale of survival and the unadulterated passion it takes to follow your dream, year after year. Anvil rocks - it has no other choice."

The film will be released in North America, Canada and the U.K. in spring 2009. The distribution deal has also been agreed for Japan, with Australia to follow shortly. More info at this location.

Read more ››

Source:	anvilthemovie.com
Band profile:	Anvil

Queensrÿche announced the following post on their official website:

"Soon, people all over Washington state will be hearing the new tour commerical for Snoqualmie casino. The show isn't until April, but what's interesting is what the commerial reveals. Two really cool bits of information. First, the show will consist of three suites:

Suite #1: selections from "Rage For Order"
Suite #2: selections from "American Soldier"
Suite #3: selections from "Empire"

But what's even better than that is the small snippet of music embedded in the commerical itself. The song, "If I Were King", is one of the new tracks off of the upcoming album "American Solider", due out in April.

To download the MP3 of the radio spot, click here!"

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Source:	queensryche.com
Band profile:	Queensrÿche

As announced on the Napalm Records website, the Scottish buccaneers have not been idle the past few weeks. Besides an occasional raid and plunder, Alestorm entered the studio to work on new material. The hard work has paid off. Pirate Christopher Bowes has already confirmed the delivery of hymns in the traditional Alestorm style: sing-along refrains, keyboard melodies, heavy guitar riffs, and a full mug of rum! All of that and much more will be found on the upcoming album "Black Sails At Midnight", which will be unleashed upon corsairs and landlubbers in the spring of 2009. Hoist the sails and polish the grapnels.

Source:	napalmrecords.com
Band profile:	Alestorm

Sacred Oath are releasing their new self-titled album in late-spring 2009 - with a tour to follow. The album was produced by lead singer/guitarist Rob Thorne and features the current lineup that appeared on the critically-acclaimed live album "Till Death Do Us Part" (2008 Angel Thorne Music).

The new self-titled album from Sacred Oath contains 14 songs, including:

01. Paradise Lost
02. Blood Storm
03. Buried Alive
04. Scourge Of Sin
05. Counting Zeros
06. Caught In The Arc
07. Mistress Of The Setting Sun
08. High And Mighty
09. Wings Of Salvation
10. Order Of The System Lords
11. Sacred Oath
12. What The Dark Will Undo
13. Voodoo Dolls
14. Hunt For The Fallen Angel

The Sacred Oath website has been redesigned by Ioannis and his company Vivid Images Creative to support the anticipated release of the new CD. Ioannis has also painted the cover art for the album, which fans can preview on the new site as well. Photography for the CD, site, and general publicity use was done by Mark Weiss. And in celebration of their redesigned website, Sacred Oath is making an unmastered mp3 of the song from their brand new album freely available at http://www.sacredoath.net.

Sacred Oath is recognized for pioneering the US Power metal genre with their cult-classic release "A Crystal Vision" (1987 Mercenary Records). The band broke apart for almost seventeen years, but reformed with the triumphant "Darkness Visible" CD (2007 Sentinel Steel) and followed that release with a live album recorded at the first date of their European tour (Keep It True Festival, Germany).

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Sacred Oath

Swedish grindcore trio Afgrund have officially signed with Willowtip Records. The label will release the band's second full-length "Vid Helvetets Grindar" (At The Gates Of Hell), in 2009.

Afgrund will tour Europe in July 2009 and have secured a slot on the Obscene Extreme Festival in the Czech Republic.

More info about the band at http://www.myspace.com/avgrund.

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Source:	willowtip.com
Band profile:	Afgrund

The 11th Hour's mastermind is no other than jack-of-all-trades Ed Warby, who already carved his name into the history of Metal with Gorefest and Hail Of Bullets. With his new band, Warby takes a turn towards old-school Doom Metal. Slow motion grooves, viscious riffs, and a bleak atmosphere are at the heart of the music. The songs resonate with darkness and despair and grab the listener from the get-go. A full length release is tentatively scheduled for fall 2009.

"The 11th Hour is upon us, and it is with great pleasure that we announce our freshly forged bond with Napalm Records. It's an honor to be added to such a great and diverse artist roster and we feel it's the perfect home for our massive brand of doom metal! Now let's open those floodgates of doooooom…"

The 11th Hour are:

Ed Warby: Drums, Guitars, Bass, Vocals, Programming
Rogga Johansson (Ablaze My Sorrow, Paganizer) : Vocals, Additional Guitars

More info about the band and a promo song at http://www.myspace.com/11thhourdoom.

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Source:	napalmrecords.com
Band profile:	The 11th Hour

Well-known Finnish pagan black metal band Wyrd signs to Naga Productions for their upcoming album "Kalivägi". Wyrd's frontman Tomi Kalliola (aka Narqath) also playing in black metal band Azaghal said that "Kalivägi" will be in vein of older Wyrd's albums.

On their MySpace, Wyrd issued the following comment regarding the album: "The earlier announced next Wyrd album "Death Of The Sun" will be delayed into later date because of problems arranging rehearsal and studio times.

But fear not loyal readers, for a new Wyrd album titled "Kalivägi" will be released in early 2009 (possibly February) and it's an return to the more folk influenced black metal sound of the early albums. More infos & samples will follow soon."

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Source:	naga-productions.com
Band profile:	Wyrd