Wintersun's drummer Kai Hahto has issued the following update:

"We have to inform you that the last three shows which were in Sweden and Norway are not going to happen in the upcoming European tour. Amon Amarthare heading straight from Europe to support Children Of Bodom in their American tour and this is the reason. We are very sorry for this but it wasn't in our hands and we hope to play some Scandinavian shows in the near future. Also the Ragnarok festival that was supposed to be in May 2007 is cancelled.

"The reason for cancelling this festival is because we have booked Sonic Pump studios to mix the new album with Nino Laurenne in May 2007. The schedule for releasing the second album, 'Time', hasn't been able to hold for many reasons and some of them has been really delaying and slowing down the recording process. And when the recording couldn't finish in the schedule also the mixing had to be cancelled and re-scheduled. Jari is still working very hard to finish the album and to make the best possible second release for Wintersun.

"The release date is now planned to be somewhere in August 2007 but I promise that the wait will be worth it! We are very sorry for this delay! Have patience."

Source:	wintermadness.net
Band profile:	Wintersun

Swedish viking metallers Amon Amarth has rescheduled the Swedish dates that they were forced to cancel in late November/early December in order to join the Children Of Bodom North American trek.

UPDATED (thanks Damnated)
The new dates are as follows:

Jan. 31 - Göteborg, SWE @ Musikens Hus
Feb. 01 - Malmö, SWE @ KB
Feb. 02 - Huskvarna, SWE @ Folkets Park
Feb. 03 - Oslo, NOR @ John Dee (Inferno Festival kick-off party)
Feb. 04 - Stockholm, SWE @ Klubben

Read more ››

Source:	bravewords.com
Band profile:	Amon Amarth
Event:	Amon Amarth: Scandinavian Tour

Belgian Brutal Death Metal outfit Aborted have posted the following update:

"Ok everyone, time for a big update on what has been going on with Aborted in the past months. To confirm rumours, drummer Gilles & bass player Olivia are no longer part of the band. Here is the official statement of the band:

Being in a band like Aborted at this point takes a lot of investment and commitment, right now we are not making money to support members of the band. Every tour is a financial hazard for the band which forces us to keep the small amounts of money we do make on shows to keep as backup if anything goes wrong on tour or any other situation, so that we don't have to pay the bills from our own pockets anymore. The result of this is quite simple: we can't afford to pay band members to play in this band. These conditions are simple facts & didn't work for Gilles & Olivia, which made it quite obvious they couldn't be in the band anymore.

We would like to welcome Peter Goemaere, who also plays in Emeth as a replacement for Olivia, Peter already performed with the band on a show in Tel Aviv (Israel) where he replaced Olivia who cancelled few days before leaving for Israel.

The band is currently recording the new album "Slaughter & Apparatus: A Methodical Overture" with producer Tue Madsen at the Antfarm in Denmark. Drums on the record have been taken care of by Dave Haley from the band Psycroptic and drums in the upcoming shows this & next year (until a fitting permanent replacement has been found) will be handled by Etienne Galo from the band Negativa. Etienne's first show with the band will be on oktober 31st in Opwijk, Belgium. The band is currently taking auditions for a new drummer, serious inquiries can be sent to aborted@telenet.be or avernusstudios@gmail.com

The new album is scheduled to be released worldwide mid February through Century Media Records & features several guest performances by Jeff Walker (Carcass), Jacob Bredahl (Hatesphere) & Henrik Jacobsen (Hatesphere), containing 11 new tracks:

01. The Chondrin Enigma
02. A Methodical Overture
03. Avenious
04. The Spaying Séance
05. And Carnage Basked In Its Ebullience
06. The Foul Nucleus Of Resurrection
07. Archetype
08. Ingenuity In Genocide
09. Odious Emanation
10. Prolific Murder Contrivance
11. Underneath Rorulent Soil

Besides the regular 11 new tracks, the band also recorded 2 covertracks for limited editions or Japanese release being "Slaughtered" from Pantera & "Surprise! You're Dead" from Faith No More."

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Source:	goremageddon.be
Band profile:	Aborted

Carpathian Forest, Rotting Christ, Malevolent Creation, Incantation, Neuraxi and an as-yet-undisclosed opening act will team up for the 2007 edition of "The Domination Tour", set to kick off February 14. Confirmed dates so far are as follows:

Feb. 14 - POL Warsaw @ Progresja
Feb. 15 - GER Leipzig @ Hellriser
Feb. 16 - A Wien @ Szene
Feb. 17 - A Salzburg @ Rockhaus
Feb. 18 - A Innsbruck @ Hafen
Feb. 19 - CH Plattern @ Z7
Feb. 20 - FR Strasbourg @ Laiterie
Feb. 21 - FR Paris @ Locomotive
Feb. 22 - HOL Eindhoven @ Effenaar
Feb. 23 - BEL Vosselaar @ Biebob
Feb. 24 - GER Adelsheim @ Live Factory
Feb. 25 - CZ Brno @ Fledo
Feb. 26 - SK Bratislava @ Randal
Feb. 27 - ITA Este (PD) @ Sottosopra Rock Club
Feb. 28 - GER Munchen @ Metropolis
Mar. 01 - GER Osnabruck @ N8
Mar. 02 - HOL Groningen @ Vera
Mar. 03 - GER Essen @ Turock
Mar. 04 - HOL Rotterdam @ Baroeg

Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Carpathian Forest
Event:	The Domination Tour 2007

14.August.2006
It appears that "Second Skin..." has been released in Japan. However, we haven't got our copies yet, and we advise people to hold off buying the album until it reaches the European market. Stay tuned for details..

16.September.2006
HELP US!!
If you have bought "Second Skin of Harlequin" we would very much like to hear how/where you bought it. This information is essential in our legal battle with World Chaos Production, so we really appreciate your feedback. Send a mail to email@illnath.dk or write a message in the guestbook. THANK YOU!

Source:	illnath.dk
Band profile:	Illnath

Angra's video for its new single, "The Course of Nature", has been posted online here.
The clip was filmed in early September in São Paulo under the guidance of director Carina Zaratin.

"The Course of Nature" comes off the band's forthcoming album, "Aurora Consurgens", due on October 24 (one day earlier internationally).

Read more ››

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Angra

Finnish metallers Swallow The Sun have confirmed that their third album will be called "Hope" and will be released February 7th via Spinefarm Records. The track list is as follows:

01. Hope
02. These Hours Of Despair
03. The Justice Ff Suffering
04. Don't Fall Asleep
05. Too Cold For Tears
06. The Empty Skies
07. No Light, No Hope
08. Doomed To Walk The Earth

The album will feature vocal appearance by Jonas Renkse of Katatonia on 'The Justice Of Suffering'.
A single called "Don't Fall Asleep" will be released prior to the album release, and it will include a cover of Timo Rautiainen And Trio Niskalaukaus song 'Alavilla Mailla', with Amorphis singer Tomi Joutsen on vocals. More information can be obtained from the address http://www.070207.com on November 1st.

Read more ››

Source:	swallowthesun.net
Band profile:	Swallow The Sun

Swedish death metal band Crypt of Kerberos reunited after more than ten years of inactivity. After releasing their demo compilation in 2005 (The Macrodex of War) under Australian record label Bleed Records, the band is planning on recording new material, which will be quite different from the early days but yet will still have the CoK touch according to the band members. Let's wait and see.

Current line up :
Peter Bjärgö - Guitar
Jonas Strandell - Guitar
Mattias Borgh - Drums
Christian Eriksson - Vocals
Stefan Källarsson - Bass

Crypt of Kerberos' debut album World of Myth is available through Adipocere records.

Source:

myspace.com

Swedish metallers, The Haunted have announced that they will be returning to the U.K. in February 2007 for a full tour in support of their new album, "The Dead Eye". The full touring package is still to be confirmed and will be announced shortly along with additional shows. The band has been confirmed to play the following venues so far:

Feb. 04 - Bristol - Academy 2
Feb. 05 - Birmingham - Academy 2
Feb. 06 - Dublin - Temple Bar
Feb. 07 - Liverpool - Academy 2
Feb. 08 - Nottingham - Rock City
Feb. 09 - Glasgow - Cathouse
Feb. 10 - Manchester - Hop & Grape
Feb. 11 - Leeds - Cockpit
Feb. 12 - Norwich - Waterfront

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	The Haunted
Event:

The Metal Female Voices Festival IV takes place in Wieze, Belgium today. Theatre Of Tragedy were due to perform but have been forced to pull out. They have issued the following statement:

"Unfortunately we have to announce that Theatre Of Tragedy have to cancel their show at the Metal female Voices Fest in Belgium this weekend due to sickness of two band members (one of those is the singer). The band has already announced to be willing to do the show at next year's event. Apologies for this inconvenience."

Source:	theatreoftragedy.com
Band profile:	Theatre Of Tragedy
Event:	Metal Female Voices Fest IV

The song 'Dis-Organ-Ized' from underground death metal legends Impetigo's classic 1990 album "Ultimo Mondo Cannibale" has been put online on this location.
The album will be re-issued on Halloween through Razorback Records. For more information on the release, click here.

Read more ››

Source:

razorbackrecords.com

Texas Black Metal act Averse Sefira have officially inked a deal with Candlelight Records.
The band was formed in 1996 and has released three albums so far. They already toured in support of bands such as Cradle Of Filth, Dark Funeral and Candlemass.
Averse Sefira is currently working on their Candlelight debut and they'll be headlining the Halloween Metal Ball on October 28th in Austin, Texas at the Redrum Club.

You can check out a video for 'Plagabraha' here, or listen to a few songs at the band's MySpace page here.

Averse Sefira website: http://www.aversesefira.com

Read more ››

Source:	candlelightrecords.co.uk
Band profile:	Averse Sefira

Power Metallers Dragonland have updated their MySpace page to include their new song, 'Contact'. Check it out at this location.

'Contact' is featured on Dragonland's upcoming Century Media release "Astronomy", the follow up to 2004's "Starfall" album, due out on November 13th.

More info about the album can be found here.

Read more ››

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Dragonland

Swedish brutal death metallers, Vomitory will enter Leon Music Studios outside Karlstad, Sweden on December 3 to begin recording their sixth album. The band's statement goes as follows:

"This time we'll work with producer Rikard Löfgren, who is the founder/owner of Leon Music," the band said in a statement. "Rikard Löfgren is still a pretty unfamiliar name within the death metal scene. He mostly works with more commercial music but he is a great producer and has his roots in metal. We know the guy since ages and we have great confidence in him."
It's going to feel strange to do a new Vomitory album not working with our sidekick Henrik Larsson, but we feel it's time to try something new. Since Vomitory isn't exactly an experimental band, we feel that working in a new studio with a new producer is a good way of renewing the band. We have two weeks for the recording and one week of mix and mastering."

The as-yet-untitled CD is scheduled for release at the end of April 2007 through Metal Blade Records.

Source:	vomitory.net
Band profile:	Vomitory

According to Therion's official website, (and directly quoting it) the band will play at the Palace Hall/Bucharest/Romania, on December 9th with nearly 70 musicians of the Academic Radio Choir, 100 instrumentists of the Romanian Radio Orchestra and guest classical singers from Vienna, awarded as best opera-voices world-wide.

The repertoire includes famous classical pieces in Therion's version, as well as Therion songs with symphonic orchestra, some of them never played live before.

Tickets are on sale starting October 25, on 3 price ranges

I - Eur 70 (rows A:11-33; B,C: 11-33; D, E)
II - Eur 55 (rows F&G: 1-27)
III - Eur 25 (rows J, K, L, M)

For further information check their website.

UPDATE:
Therion have issued the following update:

"And it is my great pleasure to present the title and the cover artwork of the new Therion album that is expected next year. The title is "Gothic Kabbalah" and this is the cover artwork."

The band's new album is now mixed. A January release is hinted, but an official release date is expected to be revealed soon.

UPDATE:
Therion has revealed more details about their forthcoming Classical Show (with a full symphonic orchestra, choir and international opera stars) which will take place on December 9, 2006 at the Palace Hall in Bucharest, Romania. According to their site, the show will consist of the following three parts:

1. Pure orchestral versions of Therion songs. For example an opera version of Clavicula Nox.
2. Therion + orchestra and choir perform various famous works by Wagner, Mozart, Saens-Saen, Dvorak and Verdi.
3. Therion play own songs together with orchestra and choir. Of course classics that everyone would expect will be played, but also songs that have never been played before, such as 'Via Nocturna', 'Eternal Return' etc. Also a version of 'Siren Of The Woods' scored for real orchestra and with opera singers.

The tickets are available in three price classes. The tickets for Class III are now sold out. There are however very attractive tickets left in class I and II. Tickets available internationally at The Therion Store.
Fans living in Romania can get it at ticket retailers or over at the Aquarius Foundation's web page.

Read more ››

Source:	megatherion.com
Band profile:	Therion
Event:	Therion Goes Classic