Progressive metallers Dream Theater have posted the following on their website:

After recently celebrating the band's 20-year anniversary, Dream Theater returns with its first-ever best-of collection. Spanning 1991-2005, the two-disc set contains rare single edits, B-sides and a trio of new remixes that spotlight that band's nonpareil musicianship, complex arrangements and amazing songwriting. Dream Theater's Greatest Hit (...& 21 other pretty cool songs) will be available from Rhino on April 1 at all physical retail outlets for a suggested retail price of $19.98 and at all digital retail outlets for a suggested retail price of $12.99.

Referring to Dream Theater's first and only major radio hit, "Pull Me Under," the compilation's tongue-in-cheek title is a testament not only to the band's sense of humor but also highlights the acclaimed New York-based quintet's ability to make music and cultivate a legion of fans on its own terms, without help from radio or MTV. The collection features more than two hours of progressive hard rock from James LaBrie (vocals), John Myung (bass), John Petrucci (guitar/vocals), Mike Portnoy (drums/vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards).

The collection contains three newly remixed versions of tracks from Dream Theater's breakout 1992 album, Images And Words: the aforementioned "Pull Me Under" as well as "Take The Time" and "Another Day." Portnoy says this album presented the perfect opportunity to give the songs a bit of a facelift. "The original mixes always sounded a bit '80s' to me, so we had our good friend and longtime mixer Kevin Shirley give the tracks a bit of an update to sound more like the rest of the Dream Theater catalog. The songs remain the same (no pun intended-Kevin just mixed that album as well), but there are little nuances in the tracks that I forgot were originally there, and it's very cool to hear them again."

The collection's 22 songs are split evenly between two discs, which are divided into "The Dark Side" (the metallic) and "The Light Side" (the melodic). Filled with some of the band's most sinister sounds, the first disc lives up to the billing of "The Dark Side." Longtime fans will appreciate the abundance of alternative versions of classic tracks, including single edits of "Lie," "Home," and "Misunderstood." Disc One concludes with two tracks from the band's 2005 album Octavarium: "The Root Of All Evil" and "Sacrificed Sons."

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Source:	dreamtheater.net
Band profile:	Dream Theater

Children Of Bodom has posted the tracklisting for their upcoming album Blooddrunk:

01. Hellhounds On My Trail
02. Blooddrunk
03. LoBodomy
04. One Day You Will Cry
05. Smile Pretty For The Devil
06. Tie My Rope
07. Done With Everything, Die For Nothing
08. Banned From Heaven
09. Roadkill Morning

Blooddrunk was recorded and produced by Mikko Karmila, in Petrax and Finnvox Studios, Finland, during October, November and December 2007, except vocals recorded by Peter Tägtren and keyboards recorded by Janne Wirman in Petrax Studios, Finland, during October, November and December 2007. Mixed at Finnvox by Mikko Karmila in November 2007, Mastered at Finnvox by Mika Jussila in December 2007. The album will be released in April 2008.

Source:	cobhc.com
Band profile:	Children Of Bodom

Finnish metallers Norther have posted a new song, entitled 'We Rock' on their MySpace page at this location.
The track comes off the group's new album, "N", which will be released through Century Media Records on the following dates:

Feb. 13 - Finland.
Feb. 22 - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, BeNeLux.
Feb. 25 - UK, France, Denmark, Greece, Norway.
Feb. 26 - Spain, Portugal.
Feb. 29 - Sweden, Hungary.

Also the band adds:
"We're also pleased to announce that we're gonna do a full European tour in March/April 2008 with our label mates Turisas. The first two weeks cover the UK and central Europe will follow afterwards. It's great to get back on the road and with Turisas we'll form an excellent & diverse team for the tour! Be there or be lame!"
Dates are as follows:

01.03.2008 - Soundhaus - Northampton (UK)
02.03.2008 - Corporation -Sheffield (UK)
03.03.2008 - Moshulu - Aberdeen (UK)
04.03.2008 - Studio 24 - Edinburgh (UK)
05.03.2008 - Academy 2 - Liverpool (UK)
06.03.2008 - Waterfront - Norwich (UK)
07.03.2008 - Park - Peterborough (UK)
08.03.2008 - Cocpit - Leeds (UK)
10.03.2008 - Cavern - Exeter (UK)
11.03.2008 - Clwb Ifor Bach - Cardiff (UK)
12.03.2008 - The Brook - Southampton (UK)
13.03.2008 - Electric Ballroom - London (UK)
14.03.2008 - Concorde 2 - Brighton (UK)
15.03.2008 - Patronaat -Haarlem (NL)
16.03.2008 - Doornroosje - Nijmegen (NL)
18.03.2008 - Marx - Hamburg (D)
19.03.2008 - Substage - Karlsruhe (D)
20.03.2008 - Metropolis - Munich (D)
21.03.2008 - Salzhaus - Winterthur (CH)
22.03.2008 - Matrix - Bochum (D)
23.03.2008 - Kato - Berlin (D)
25.03.2008 - Planet Music - Vienna (A)
26.03.2008 - Randal - Bratislava (SVK)
27.03.2008 - Rock Café - Prague (CZ)
28.03.2008 - Ragnarök Festival - Lichtenfels (D)
29.03.2008 - Tomahawk Festival - Osnabrueck (D)
30.03.2008 - KB - Malmö (SE)
01.04.2008 - Musikens Hus - Gothenburg (SE)
02.04.2008 - The Rock - Copenhagen (DK)
03.04.2008 - John Dee - Oslo (N)
04.04.2008 - Klubben - Stockholm (SE)

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Source:	norther.net
Band profile:	Norther
Event:	Turisas + Norther: European Tour

An announcement on the official Benemoth website that:

"Behemoth has inked a North American deal with Metal Blade Records and with Nuclear Blast for European territory."

"The band recently finished up an extremely successful year which saw the band as direct support to headliners Hatebreed on the infamous second stage at Ozzfest and a co-headlining spot on the Radio Rebellion with Job for a Cowboy. Behemoth played over 160 shows in 2007 and has no plans on slowing down for 2008. Expect to see a new release in the form of an EP out in the summer/fall of 2008 along with more touring on both continents."

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Source:	behemoth.pl
Band profile:	Behemoth

A four minute preview of the upcoming Ayreon album called 01011001 has been posted on Arjen A. Lucassen's MySpace and features a glimpse into the studio and previews of the songs.

The preview, created by D'iMages, also features all singers (like Jonas Renkse - Katatonia, Hansi Kursch - Blind Guardian, Floor Jansen - After Forever, Jorn Lande, Anneke van Giersbergen, Tom Englund - Evergrey, Daniel Gildenlow - Pain Of Salvation) and instrumentalists and album art.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Ayreon

The following news was posted on Withered's homepage:

Prosthetic Records is proud to announce Atlanta's Withered as the latest addition to the label's ranks. The band's upcoming effort, 'Folie Circulaire,' is scheduled for a late-spring release and will be produced by Phillip Cope (Kylesa, Baroness, Black Tusk) through Prosthetic. "We're very excited to start this new chapter for Withered by joining the Prosthetic Records family," guitarist/vocalist Mike Thompson says. "We've put a lot of time and consideration into deciding which label we wanted to work with for our next album and Prosthetic have really proven their commitment to Withered's music and metal in general. It can be difficult to find a label that understands your band AND has the resources to help cultivate your music without compromising it. This is a natural step for Withered and we are quite eager to contaminate and disgrace everything Prosthetic Records has to offer."

Source:	withered.net
Band profile:	Withered

Swedish metallers In Flames have announced that the first single taken from the new album will be entitled "The Mirror's Truth." The single will be released on 7th March 2008 via Nuclear Blast Records. This is a European single and will not be available elsewhere.

The single will include the following tracks:

01. The Mirror's Truth
02. Eraser
03. Tilt
04. Abnegation

The cover artwork for the single was created by Alex Pardee, and he has also done all the artwork for the album.

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Source:	inflames.com
Band profile:	In Flames

Dear Epica fans,

Since a couple of months I have been struggling with infections and had surgery many times. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. After a lot of tests at the hospital they found out that I am infected with MRSA, also known as the hospital bacteria. The treatment of this bacteria comes with a strict hygienic schedule that I have to work through every day. Because of this I will not be able to go on long trips let alone live in a tour bus. Therefore we are forced to cancel most of our shows in February. The shows on the 22nd and 23rd in Lille and Vosselaar we will still do since they are independent shows and very close by. We cannot plan too far ahead since I first have to get rid of the infection and that will take some time. How long it will take we cannot tell at the moment.

We are very sorry that we cannot do these shows. We were all looking forward to this tour and to meet you guys. What I have to focus on now is getting well, so that we will be on the road again as soon as possible. Please check out our site every once in a while for more information on this matter.

Simone and Epica

Source:	epica.nl
Band profile:	Epica

Guitarist Robert Westerholt has posted on the band's website that he will not be joining the rest of the band on the tour that will start on 10 January. Robert explains that reason for this is that he has severely bruised his right thumb, which makes it impossible for him to play guitar.

Within Temptation will be playing with 5 members only, and no new tour member will be filling in Robert's place.

Source:	within-temptation.com
Band profile:	Within Temptation

Danish metallers Manticora have posted the following announcement on their website:

"After 4 years of searching for a keyboarder that could join the band on the same terms as the rest of the band (not just a session keyboarder), we have finally found the man!! His name is Ronni Clasen, and he is living here in Copenhagen. Ronni is in his late 20'ies, listens to prog and power metal and is extremely talented = he fits Manticora very well, hahaha. Besides, he is a very cool guy to hang around with, so the social aspect is there as well. He has already performed with us at several occasions (Copenhagen, Romania, Germany), and passed the Manticora ritual at our annual X-mas lunch, so we know we have found the right guy for the job. You are welcome to send a big hello to Ronni on our forum. We think he'd appreciate it. Picture and profile will be updated later on, but there should already be some live pictures somewhere on this page.

The Mantidudes"

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Source:	manticora.dk
Band profile:	Manticora

Greek death metallers have made the following announcement on their official page, ending a long period of inactiveness:

"Ethereal Blue have linked with the Italian Agency Alkemist-Fanatix which officially handles the band's management from now on. We would like to thank all the agencies who were interested in the band's new material. The band is very happy with this new collaborator. We hope that Alkemist will help us accomplice some of the goals we have for our music."

In other news, the band's line-up has changed. Fok S.(Guitar) and Akis P.(Keyboards) are not members of Ethereal Blue anymore. Panos P. is the new guitar player while Ethereal Blue does not intend to find a new keyboardist.

Source:	etherealblue.org
Band profile:	Ethereal Blue

Finnish metallers Entine have published the following update on their MySpace blog:

"During the end of year 2007 and at the beginning of '08 Entwine has been spending some time in rehearsal room gathering new ideas for the new album. Already there are about eight new songs or at least the basic structures of them. The plan is to hit the studio some time in the spring. The studios and the producer are yet unknown, but the album should be out later this year! Check back for further details?

Due to the writing and recording of the new album, unfortunately, there will be no time for live shows. There might be some exceptions though, in case we need some time off from writing."

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Entwine

"Galactic Records are proud to welcome the UK's Scythian to their fold.

Fear the coming of their armies, for the omens have foretold the arrival like a plague upon the wind. Ashes shall fall as rain from the skies as they pass and the hallowed temples of this world shall be as blackened husks, charred beyond recognition. Thousands strong ride from distant horizons, a prayer to slaughter on their lips.

As soon as Scythian's "Suffering To The Conquered" demo fell from the heavens into his hands, label head Leon Macey knew the decision to release the band's forthcoming album had been made for him - as if an unknown force was guiding its destiny. Talks immediately commenced with the then three Scythian members. Shrouded in armour, they raised their drinking vessels in union and a deal was subsequently set in stone...

"Conquest is our everlasting purpose. For what could be more glorious than the joy of destroying our enemies and standing side by side with those we call our brothers? Victory or glorious death! That is the ethic of Scythian. Either we succeed in our endeavours? or pay for failure with our lives. For years we have honed our craft in secret, forging musical weapons to carry us through the battle to come." A. Satyrus.

Whelped on the teachings of Bathory and Sodom, Scythian formed in 2004, following the fated meeting of A. Satyrus (guitar) and J. Volgaard (drums). In brotherhood, the visionary and the master-craftsman were unified, working tirelessly towards an individual musical identity, which was not only true to them but to the heroes who had first inspired them to take up arms and march on the world. Cursed in the beginning by defeat and dishonour, the pair would find strength, symbolic purpose and a staunch ally in S.Vrath (vocals/bass), a warlord of some small renown who would lead the three across bloodied fields to undiscovered lands and the recording of their first demo, "Suffering To The Conquered".

Scythian's barbaric style, headstrong attitude and integrity makes for a formidable force that is rarely seen by today's standards. Woe-betide anyone who dares stand in their way, for Scythian's blades are sharpened and they're ready to charge headlong into the heart of extreme music's elite.

The band are due to enter the studio in mid February to record their first full-length album and debut for Galactic Records. A release date will be announced soon, along with full album details."

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Finnish metallers Shade Empire will release their third album, entitled "Zero Nexus", on March 12 via Dynamic Arts Records. Most of the recording sessions took place at Studio 33 in Kuopio, Finland. The vocal recordings at Perkele Studios were overseen by producer and Ajattara mastermind Pasi "Ruoja" Koskinen. "Zero Nexus" was mixed by Sami Niittykoski.

"Zero Nexus" tracklisting:

01. 9 In 1
02. Adam & Eve
03. Blood Colours The White
04. Flesh Relinquished
05. Harvesters Of Death
06. Serpent-Angel
07. Whisper From The Depths
08. Ecstasy Of Black Light
09. Victory

Lots of information coming up later. But you can find videos from recording sessions and from video shootings at this location.

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Source:	zero-nexus.com
Band profile:	Shade Empire

French metallers Misanthrope will release their first concept album, entitled "IrremeDIABLE", on January 21st, 2008 via Holy Records.
"IrremeDIABLE" was recorded and mixed at "Studios Davout" and "Manoir Des Déportés" (Paris, France).
A collector version of the album will contain a DVD, a video clip and bonus.

"IrremeDIABLE" tracklisting cover]:

01 Les Retourneurs De Pierres
02 Phénakistiscope
03 Les Limbes
04 Le Passager Du Hasard
05 L'Infinie Violence Des Abîmes
06 Prodigalité
07 Le Dandy De Bohème
08 Fantasia Artificielle
09 Le Maudit Et Son Spleen
10 Plaisirs Saphiques
11 Névrose listen]
12 1857
13 Ixion
14 L'Oracle De La Déchéance
15 LXXXIV L'IrréméDIABLE

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Source:	holyrecords.com
Band profile:	Misanthrope