German metallers Brainstorm have issued the following update via their website:

"Please welcome to the Brainstorm family our new bassplayer Antonio Ieva (picture here). Attached you'll find some pictures of this groove monster at his live premiere for Brainstorm.

Picture 1 | Picture 2

He impressed us not only with his playing skills at the auditions, which led to his invitation to play the show in Hungary with us (and where he impressed us even more), the chemistry was amazing from the first moment we met. After some very intense rehearsals over the last weeks and months we feel that Toni is the right man for the job and we will babtize and seal this new alliance on our upcoming tour. Give him a warm welcome and pay us a visit on our upcoming tour to assure yourselves - this guy rocks!"

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Source:	truemetal.org
Band profile:	Brainstorm

Danish extreme metallers Illdisposed have issued he following update:

"On December 15th Martin Thim will play his last show with us. Martin doesn't have the time it takes to play with us anymore, his normal job and private life is his priority. He is the first Illdisposed member ever who wasn't sacked. But Martin will still come with us on the road now and then and you might find him sleeping at the merch booth pretending to be selling our stuff. We have known Martin's decision since July. Within the next day we will reveal Martin's replacement."

Source:	illdisposed.dk
Band profile:	Illdisposed

Dream Theater will be featured as the Xbox LIVE Artist of the Month for the month of December

LIVE members on Xbox 360 will have access to exclusive performance, interview, and behind the scenes footage from Dream Theater's recent tour, themes, gamer pics and more!

Dream Theater will be playing the game "Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge" over Xbox Live THIS WEDNESDAY 12/5 from 5 pm-7 pm EST. Get onto Xbox LIVE and prepare to get pwned by DT. Get all the details on how you can play with DT in "Crimson Skies" at this location.

Xbox Live Game With Fame with Dream Theater

Date: December 5, 2007
Time: 5-7PM (EST)
Game: Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Gamertags: DreamTheaterMP | DreamTheaterJP | DreamTheater JM (with a space between DreamTheater and JM) | DreamTheaterJL | DreamTheaterJR

Click here for all details.

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Source:	blog.myspace.com
Band profile:	Dream Theater

On December 28 Negative Existence Records will officially release Arsis' demos on a proper format. The album will be entitled "As Regret Becomes Guilt" and will contain two demos from 2001 and 2002 plus rare bonus tracks and a live video CD-ROM segment.

The music on the disc was recorded between 2001 and 2002 by guitarist/songwriter James Malone and drummer Michael Van Dyne. These demos gained them considerable attention in the underground music scene leading to several tours and landing them with recording contracts from two notable record labels.

The two additional tracks found on this release are alternative studio takes never before released. The CDrom video segment recorded April 12, 2003 at Pallette's Outer Banks (Norfolk, VA) includes 3 classic Arsis songs and a Mercyful Fate cover.

"As Regret Becomes Guilt" features impressive packaging with a 12 page booklet that was designed by Mark Riddick. The ghastly illustrations and lyrics contained within this unique packaging are printed in black and metallic gold.

According to the Negative Existence Records press release, Arsis are known for their unique blend of old school shredding heavy metal and modern gut wrenching death metal. A range of influences from Iron Maiden, Dio, and Alice Cooper to the modern sounds of Carcass, At The Gates and Death can be detected.

TRACKLISTING:

2001 Demonstration
1. Elegant and Perverse
2. Wholly Night
3. Worship Depraved
4. Seven Whispers Fell Silent
5. Veil of Mourning Black

2001 Demonstration
6. Fortune's Envy
7. Close
8. Painted Eyes

Unreleased 2002 Studio Recordings
9. Elegant and Perverse
10. Seven Whispers Fell Silent

CD-Rom Video Segment
Wholly Night
Veil of Mourning Black
Worship Depraved
Evil (Mercyful Fate cover)

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Source:	negative-existence.com
Band profile:	Arsis

On February 8 starts a European tournee promoting Swedish MeloDeath outfit Dismember's upcoming new full length album called "Dismember" (out on Regain Records in 2008). Danish thrasher Hatesphere and German Gothenburg-metallers Fall Of Serenity will appear on that tour as special guests (on some of the gigs there will be also an opening act, to be announced soon).

"Europa Burns Tour 2008" will cover mostly territory of Germany (10 gigs!). The tour schedule contains 23 dates (3 gigs haven't been confirmed yet), see below to check the revealed dates. More details will be announced soon. The tour is presented by famous "Metal Hammer" magazine and one of the biggest heavy metal portals in Germany - www.powermetal.de. Special trailer of the tour will be available soon!

Confirmed dates so far are as follows:

08.02.08 GER Nurnberg @ K4
09.02.08 GER Trier @ Exhaus
10.02.08 BEL Vosselaar @ Biebob
11.02.08 HOL Hengelo @ Metropool
12.02.08 FR/BEL tba
13.02.08 FR tba
14.02.08 HOL Breda @ Mezz
15.02.08 HOL Purmerend @ P3
16.02.08 GER Essen @ Turock
17.02.08 GER Stuttgart @ Ika-Longhorn
19.02.08 A Traun @ Spinnerei
20.02.08 GER Munich @ Metropolis
21.02.08 CH Zurich @ Dynamo Werk 21
22.02.08 ITA tba
23.02.08 ITA Ravenna @ Rock Planet
24.02.08 SLO Nova Gorica @ Mostovna
25.02.08 A Wien @ Arena
26.02.08 CZ Prague @ Rock Cafe
27.02.08 GER Darmstadt @ Goldene Krone
28.02.08 GER Hannover @ Musikzentrum
29.02.08 GER Oelsnitz @ Schützenhaus
01.03.08 GER Bischofswerda @ East Club
02.03.08 GER Berlin @ K17

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Source:	massive-music.pl
Band profile:	Dismember
Event:	Dismember: Europa Burns Tour

Therion mastermind Christofer Johnsson has posted the following short announcement on the band's homepage:

"Due to technical reasons the recording of a show on the tour has been moved to Budapest, Hungary." The show will take place on December 12th at Petofi Hall.

The following details have been announced concerning this anniversary tour with The Vision Bleak:

Piotr Wawrzeniuk will be joining us at Glachau and go with us til Krakow.
Messah Marcolin (ex. Candlemass, Momento Mori, Mercy) will be joining us at Budapest and will go with us til London. He will also fly down later and join us for the finale Paris.
Mats Levén Krux, ex-At Vance and ex-Yngwie Malmsteen] will be joining us for the finale in Paris.
We will be having the amazing belly dancer Arien as a special guest starting at Glauchau up til London and then also for the finale in Paris.
There will also be 2 more secret guests attending all shows for the tour.

All dates of this tour:

07.12.2007 - GER, Glauchau
08.12.2007 - GER, Memmingen
09.12.2007 - SLO, Ljubljana
10.12.2007 - CRO, Zagreb
11.12.2007 - SER, Belgrad
12.12.2007 - HUN, Budapest
13.12.2007 - POL, Krakow
14.12.2007 - CZE, Prague
15.12.2007 - BEL, Antwerpen
16.12.2007 - ENG, London
17.12.2007 - NED, Amsterdam
18.12.2007 - FRA, Strasbourg
19.12.2007 - FRA, Lyon
20.12.2007 - FRA, Toulouse
21.12.2007 - FRA, Rennes
22.12.2007 - FRA, Paris

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Source:	megatherion.com
Band profile:	Therion
Event:	Adulruna Rediviva Tour

Another new song from Brutal Death Metallers Decrepit Birth entitled "?And Time Begins" has been put online over at their official MySpace page. The song is a re-recording of the title track of Decrepit Birth's last album.

The track comes off the band's upcoming new album "Diminishing Between Worlds", which will be released on January 29th through Unique Leader Records.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Decrepit Birth

Legendary Dutch Death Metallers Sinister have posted the following update:

"After 15 years of making records for Nuclear Blast records, we have signed a new record deal with another label. Massacre Records will release our upcoming release, "The Silent Howling" in the fall of 2008. The album (which will include 7 tracks) will be recorded in may 2008 in the Soundlodge studio, Germany. Some of the songtitles are: "The Silent Howling", "If It Bleeds... The Kill To Come", and "Fortified Bravery". We are happy to be under the wings of Massacre Records and looking forward to work with them in the future.

Meanwhile we have departed with our drummer Paul who wants to do other things in life. Paul will finish the shows that are planned. The search for a new drummer continues..."

Source:	sinister-hailthebeast.com
Band profile:	Sinister

As posted on the official website:

"To coincide with our shows in the land of the rising sun, "Haven" and "Projector" will be released in new versions. Both albums will feature lengthy liner notes by sensei Stanne detailing the writing and recording process as well as the inner working of the band at the time of creating the songs.

"Projector" will feature the extra track "Exposure" - previously unreleased in Japan - and "Haven" will be graced with "Cornered" as bonus song."

Asian Dark Tranquillity tour dates:

Jan. 11: Beijing, China - MG Live Hall
Jan. 13: Taipei, Taiwan - Young lion

Japanese Tour 2008: (co-headline with The Haunted)

Jan. 16: Osaka - Big Cat
Jan. 17: Nagoya - Club Quattro
Jan. 18: Tokyo - O-East

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Source:	darktranquillity.com
Band profile:	Dark Tranquillity
Event:

Regain Records proudly welcome Swedish death metal kings Grave to the family. The band is currently in the studio working on their 8th album with a title yet to be announced.

Grave comments the following in their newsletter:

"We are proud to announce that we have signed a record deal with Regain records. After 15 years and 7 albums on Century Media and
free from any contract we felt the need to try something new. The recording of our 8:th album began this week and is scheduled for release before the summer."

"Next year it´s already 20 years since Grave was formed. In 1988 after replacing some members we changed our name from Corpse. That year we also recorded our classic first demo "Sick Disgust Eternal" and continued musically what we started with our previous bands Destroyer, Anguish, Corpse and Putrefaction. We will mark the anniversary with a new album and also massive touring and festival appearances where we will mainly play old stuff from the early days.."

Source:	regainrecords.com
Band profile:	Grave

Demonaz Occulta of Immortal has posted four songs from his new project, dubbed simply Demonaz, on his MySpace page. The songs "Demonized", "Over The Mountains", "Under The Dying Sun" and "Perfect Visions" were recently recorded at Soundsurf studios in Bergen, Norway. A full length album is to be released in 2008 (No schedule set yet).

Commented Demonaz: "The forthcoming album is what I'm working with these days on the side of Immortal. It's another cold dimension in my musical and lyrical world."

The musicians on the project consist of:
Demonaz (vocals, music & lyrics)
Abbath (Bass, backing vocals)
Ice Dale (guitars)
Armagedda (drums)

All info on http://www.myspace.com/perfectvisions.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Immortal

God Dethroned guitarist Isaac Delahaye has issued the following statement yesterday (30 Nov.) on the band's website:

"Has been some time since there has been an update on our website, cause we've been doing a lot of "behind the scene" things. So no panic, we're still here and we'll start writing new songs for our upcoming album soon.
Anyway, today we were asked to substitute one of the bands on the Arnhem Metal Meeting bill... which means we're playing TOMORROW already! A very last minute concert, but seen the great organisation and the good response we had on previous editions, we just couldn't refuse this offer. The festival is already sold out, so we hope all our fans in our home country already bought their ticket.
Hope to see all of you crazy fucks in front of the stage! We'll definitely rock out, as it has been some time since we've been playing Holland."

God Dethroned are stepping in at the very last minute as Satyricon were forced to cancell their appearance at the festival. More about that here.

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Source:	goddethroned.com
Band profile:	God Dethroned
Event:	Arnhem Metal Meeting

Bolt Thrower have posted the following message:

"Thanks a lot to the 17,484 people who voted in the poll, it was very much appreciated! Poll Results]

As you know, this time we decided not to decline the Wacken Open Air offer as usual, but to have a poll and hear your views on it firsthand, before making our decision. Obviously we realised that a lot of people who would be voting would not necessarily be into Bolt Thrower, but we were very interested in the comments you would send. In the end we received hundreds of comments, and the huge majority confirmed what we were already thinking, that WOA 2008 is not the right festival for Bolt Thrower.

We would like to thank the WOA organisers for their very unique offer and wish them every success, and for those of you going to WOA 2008, and who voted in favour of us playing there, we hope you have a great weekend.

We will soon be deciding and confirming which festival Bolt Thrower will be playing next summer. Thanks again to all of you who participated in the poll."

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Source:	boltthrower.com
Band profile:	Bolt Thrower
Event:	Wacken Open Air 2008

The Canadian Death tribute band Symbolic will play a tribute show for Death founder Chuck Schuldiner on December 12th at the Theatre Imperial in Quebec City, QC. Symbolic share the stage with Bobby Koelble (Symbolic album), Shannon Hamm, Scott Clendenin (The Sound Of Perseverance album) and Daniel Mongrain (Martyr).

All the profits will be divided between Schuldiner's foundation for cancer research and a local foundation.

Below the list of performing musicians:

Drums
1- Nicholas Barker (ex-Dimmu, ex-Cradle, etc)
2- Jonathan Lee (The Autumn Offering, ex-Acheron)
3- Antoine Baril (Symbolic)

Bass
1- Scott Clendenin (Death 1996-1999)
2- Alexis Robitaille (Symbolic)
3- Daniel Perron (ex-Symbolic)

Guitar
1- Shannon Hamm (Death 1996-2001)
2- Bobby Koelble (Death 1995)
3- Ralph Santolla (Death 1993, Obituary, ex-Deicide, Ex-Iced Earth)
4- Daniel Mongrain (Martyr)
5- Marc-André Gingras (Quo Vadis)
6- Matthew Sweeney (Symbolic)
7- Mike Sweeney (Symbolic)

Two more Tribute Shows are scheduled for December 6th + December 15th (in Italy and Massachusetts).

Source:	emptywords.org
Band profile:	Death

Gojira's management has added new live songs on the band MySpace player here and posted some videos online taken from the latest "Radio Rebellion" US tour with Behemoth, Job For A Cowboy and Beneath The Massacre.
You can check the "Radio Rebellion Tour" on Gojira's YouTube here.

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Source:	gojira-music.com
Band profile:	Gojira