PEACEVILLE RECORDS ANNOUNCE TWO NEW BANDS FOR THE LABEL:

We are delighted to welcome two new bands to the fold.

Please give it up for our first new signings; Italy's awesome
Novembre.

Novembre, "Our journey through nothingness and slumber has come to an end. NOVEMBRE finally get signed to the legendary Peaceville Records. A label that, with the bands they produced and the albums released, has traced a deep and indissoluble mark in our songwriting spine. Definitely the label we should have always been signed to.

MATERIA is our fifth and best album. No discussions about that. Furthermore, we never had the chance to get such a huge and professional sound before. We've been trapped in the pleasant Antarctic town of Helsinki, at Finnvox Studios, freezing our bones to death in order to release this magnum opus. We're sure some of that abysmal cold remained imprinted somewhere in the tracks."

Materia will be released on Peaceville in November.

Next up we welcome Norway's Madder Mortem.

Madder Mortem, "It feels great to finally have settled in our new home in the fabulous town of Peaceville. We have all been great admirers of some of the long-time residents of this eerie homestead, such as My Dying Bride and Katatonia.
Some of the bands have had quite an influence on us, like early
My Dying Bride, Darkthrone, Paradise Lost and Anathema.

It's an honour for us to include the Peaceville label on our art and we're thrilled to work with this legendary company. This marks a new era in the Madder Mortem history, and we're 150% determined to make it the most glorious one!"

Madder Mortem have already recorded their first album for Peaceville; entitled Desiderata the album was recorded in Norway's Space Valley Studio last year. Hopefully Desiderata will be released later this year.

Source:

Peaceville Records

Power metal band Royal Hunt posted the following message on their official website:

"ROYAL HUNT family's just got bigger! After weeks and weeks of searching high´n´low we'd like to present our new bass player - Per Schelander (House Of Shakira, Spike). A great bass player, capable singer/actor and, all in all, quite a colorful personality - welcome aboard, Per... And while he's killing himself learning tons of RH tunes we HAVE to tell you - he's such a great addition to the band! Just wait and see."

Source:	royalhunt.com
Band profile:	Royal Hunt

Another very special guest has been added to the Nightwish's October-show
at the Hartwall-Arena in Helsinki. John Two-Hawks, a Native American
hailing from Arkansas USA, will appear on the stage to perform the song
Creek Mary's Blood with Nightwish.

John Two-Hawks is a multi-instrumentalist who is devoted to spreading the
culture and mentality of Native Americans. He has published six solo-
albums and although he is constantly touring the US, Two-Hawks is very
rarely seen on European soil.

Creek Mary's Blood was composed by Tuomas Holopainen and the song was
featured on Nightwish's platinum-selling Once-album. On Creek Mary's
Blood John Two-Hawks plays the flute and reads a poem translated to his
native-language. The song has never before been performed by its original
recording line-up.

Tickets for the show go on sale on Monday 25th of July at 9:00 through
Lippupalvelu and Menolippu.

The concert is presented in cooperation with Radio City, whose metal
program Rautakanki will offer special features and contests regarding
this event, as well as SUE-Magazine, the biggest music magazine in Finland.

---------------

Nightwish and Sonata Arctica, Hartwall Arena, Helsinki 21.10.2005. Doors
Open 18:30, Show Starts 20:00. No age Restrictions.
Tickets on sale on 25.7.2005 through Lippupalvelu and Menolippu.
www.lippupalvelu.fi, www.menolippu.fi.
Ticket Price: 42/35 Euro.

Source:	Stuba Nikula
Band profile:	Nightwish

Arjen Anthony Lucassen's new band Stream Of Passion is going to release the debut album 'Embrace The Storm' on September 26th, 2005 through InsideOut.

Tracklist:
1. Spellbound
2. Passion
3. Deceiver
4. I'll Keep on Dreaming
5. Haunted
6. Wherever You Are
7. Open Your Eyes
8. Embrace the Storm
9. Breathing Again
10. Out in the Real World
11. Nostalgia
12. Calliopeia

The artwork is done by none other than Mattias Noren ( http://www.progart.com ) and can be seen on the band's homepage.

Source:	streamofpassion.com
Band profile:	Stream Of Passion

Dragonforce, scheduled to play on Saturday 10th of September at Raismes Festival, has cancelled their performance.

A new band will be announced as soon as possible to replace them.

RaismesFest will take place in Raismes, North of France, near Belgium, on September 10th and 11th.

For more information:
http://www.metalstorm.ee/festivals/festival.php?festival=raismes
http://www.raismesfest.com

Source:	RaismesFest Newsletter
Band profile:	DragonForce

Finnish power metal band Dreamtale just recently announced the sad news about their drummer Petteri Rosenbom decision to leave the band. Now they have chosen Rolf "Rolle" Pilve as their new drummer.
"Rolle really amazed us with his skills and there really wasn't any doubt that he wouldn't be the right guy for us. You can check out Rolle's playing from the website of his other band Sightless" band stated in their official website.

Also they're looking for a new manager for the band:
If you KNOW you're the right person for the job and you're willing to work hard for the band. Contact: rami@dreamtale.net ASAP.

Source:	dreamtale.net
Band profile:	Dreamtale

Bandcontest 2005

Nuclear Blast offers your band the chance to sign a record deal! In an unique contest you can win a contract with the leading Independent label for heavy music. The campaign is the first one of it´s kind in the history of NB.

If you are an fresh sounding Rock or Metal band, you already fulfill all requirements to participate. The duration of the contest is from the 01.08.05 to the 31.12.05. As consolation prizes you can win a download cooperation and a support slot for a Nuclear Blast band.
The contest is presented in collaboration with the following magazines:

Metal Hammer Germany
Metal Hammer Spain
Metal Hammer Italy
Rock Hard France
Inferno (Finland)
Scream (Norway)
Close Up (Sweden)

All you have to do is to send your Demo (with biography and band picture) to this address:

Nuclear Blast
Band Contest 2005
Oeschstraße 40
73072 Donzdorf
Germany

Or send your mp3s (max. 3 songs - also with biography and foto) to this address: bandcontest(at)nuclearblast.de

As posted on the official website:

On September 5th a new EP and a DVD-Special will be released simultaneously, and even though they have the same title ("Superheroes" and "Superheroes - Heroic DVD edition!) they're gonna differ from each other totally.

The CD "Superheroes" will contain 5 brand new songs plus a bonus track. Tobias Sammet says, "One of the tracks is a bombastic uptempo epic that's reminiscent of a mixture of heavy Queen, Richard Wagner & Avantasia. So it was a MUST to ask Michael Kiske to do some guest vocals. To me music is about goose bumps, and I had a lot when listening to Michi! To make it fair we have decided that the CD shall be out in stores for the price of a CD single only! So make sure you persuade your friends that they buy it and don't copy it, maybe quality and value for money could be a promising kind of 'copy-protection'!

The DVD will contain the brand new video-clip "Superheroes", a couple of songs filmed live in Brazil, plenty of "behind the scenes" footage, a slide show, an extensive studio report with interviews and besides the chance to follow Edguy backstage - according to the band "a lot of bullshit and stupid jokes. Our fans will love the fun part of it and I'm sure to them it's a classic. And I am sure Edguy haters will hate us even more and will think we are a bunch of wanna-be-funny-gay-idiots." The DVD will have a running time of approximately 80 minutes and is gonna be available for the price of a DVD single as well! More information coming soon!

Source:	edguy.nu
Band profile:	Edguy

A sample of the song 'Descending Winters' from the new album 'Ghosts Of Loss' is downloadable at their website.

'Ghosts of Loss' will be released 24.8.2005 in Finland, and in September in other countries. At least the first pressing of the album will be a special CD+DVD -version, and the DVD will include a video of the song Descending Winters, two songs (Swallow and Deadly Nightshade) from the gig at Lahti 23.4.2005 and two songs (Through Her Silvery Body and Psychopath's Lair) from Lutakko 17.12.2004.

Source:	swallowthesun.net
Band profile:	Swallow The Sun

The band posted their new video "Maniac Dance" online, as well as pictures from the video shoot.
The video was directed by Antti J. Jokinen in April.

The album "Stratovarius" is still to be released on September 5th, 2005.

Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Melodic metallers Nocturnal Rites have completed work on the follow up to their last album, New World Messiah (2004). Entitled "Grand Illusion", the band's seventh album was recorded and mixed at Toontrack Studio in Umea, Sweden.

The ten track album features guest appearances from Stefan Elmgren (Hammerfall), Jens Johansson (Stratovarius), Henrik Danhage (Evergrey), Kristoffer W. Olivius (Naglfar) and Swedish world champion of cross-country skiing (three times world cup gold), Per Elofsson.

Century Media will release the album on September 19th. The release will include a bonus DVD featuring three videos from New World Messiah, the brand-new 'Fools Never Die' video, a "Making Of Grand Illusion" segment and extra footage from the Demons Of The Opera show.

Grand Illusion will include the following tracklisting: 'Fools Never Die', 'Never Trust', 'Still Alive', 'Something Undefined', 'Our Wasted Days', 'Cuts Like A Knife', 'End Of Our Rope', 'Never Ending', 'One By One', 'Deliverance'.

Source:	bravewords.com
Band profile:	Nocturnal Rites

In a studio owned by Joakim Wassberg, one of the guitarists ov the Gods, the band is currently working on the recording of 10 songs. The drums and guitars have already been recorded. And as soon as the bass, played by Zeb Nilsson (Aeon, And Angels Wept) is recorded, the only thing that is left is the vocals and some additional instruments.
The songs wil, most likely, be available to the public, in some way or another, at the end of the summer.

The Equinox ov the Gods are currently looking for gigs and a decent record label.

Source:	equotg.com
Band profile:	The Equinox Ov The Gods

German power metal band Freedom Call has posted following message in their website about line-up change:

Hi everybody out there,

bad news for us all !! Cede will leave Freedom Call. He will do the up coming shows in Trier, Pitea and Chiaramonte.
We, the rest of Freedom Call respect his decision and we wish him all the best for the future.
The band will take their time to find a suitable guitar player.

Daniel

Cede's Statement:

After hundreds of beers, thousands of driven miles for rehearsals and gigs, endless moments of pure fun and great friendship within the band, plus months, days and never ending hours of thinking about my future, I took the decision to leave the Freedom Call camp.

Believe it: for me it was quite a tough thing to come up to Chris, Daniel, Ilker and Nils to tell them that I don't feel like continuing shredding the guitar in Freedom Call anymore. On one hand it was a hard decision cause this line-up was pure Rock n' Roll in my opinion, but on the other hand it was an easy decision cause I know that I couldn't go on like this for me and my future.

So, why do I leave the band? As a lot of you know, I'm living in Switzerland and it takes me an unbelievable amount of time to play in Freedom Call, it just got too much for me, as I think I wanna give at least 100% and not only 90% to play in this band. Of course I still believe that without sweat, tears and engagement you won't get to any point in this business but I just figured out that I don't want to be that much involved in music business anymore. I just wanna concentrate on one professional band and that's by far enough if you're working eight-to-five besides the music-thing. Living in another country, playing in two bands, that is just too much to take for me.

Most important thing was to me, that Freedom Call respects and understands my decision. And I'm glad that they totally do. We still have a great partnership and friendship, we still got a lot of fun together. And that's what I really appreciate! ! !

So, that's all I can say about it at the moment. I want you, the fans, to fucking party on with Freedom Call, and I wish all the best to the guys in finding a new guitar player that will have as much fun in the band as I had with them.

You guys rock, and thank you so much for everything! You made my last 4 years a pure adventure ride :-)

Cheers and see you around!

Cede

20th July 2005

Band profile:

Freedom Call

Epica have been working on a soundtrack inspired by a Dutch movie entitled "Joyride." The soundtrack will be released by Transmission Records on September 8th, under the title, The Score: An Epic Journey.

According to guitarist Mark Jansen, The Score is "Typically Epica, Only without the singing, without the guitars, no bass and no drums..." Mark Jansen, together with Yves Huts and Coen Jansen are responsible for the greater part of the music. The Score is much more than simply Epica without the Gothic rock. The remaining orchestrations have been worked out into the most minute details with strong arrangements. As a result, The Score has become an extremely attractive album which will appeal to a far larger audience than just the rock aficionados. An album that might be regarded as detached from all the earlier Epica work, but also as the next logical step.

"Of course The Score sounds different from the earlier albums, on the other hand it is at the same time unequivocally Epica. For this reason we're obviously releasing it under our own name. We are enormously proud of this album and we do not feel we have to confine ourselves to a certain genre."

"Collaboration is something Epica feels very strongly about. It is just like a colouring picture that you keep on making more beautiful with the whole group. Yves also contributes a lot of music, Coen takes care of the arrangements, subsequently I have some ideas and in this way, a project continues to grow. Into everything we do, we put our hearts and souls. The guitars, singing, bass and drums may be lacking, but with regards to work, this album took nearly as much time as a regular Epica CD."

The influence of composers Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer is very clearly present. The music of this duo ranks as the crème de la crème of what is being composed in the field of incidental music in Hollywood at this moment. Mark Jansen looks upon the duo as a shining example:

"To me, personally, it is an aspiration to reach that same level at some point in the future. They are the absolute top in their discipline and each and every member of Epica thinks of them as shining examples. Our dream therefore is composing the music for a Hollywood film at some point in time. Films such as Gladiator, Braveheart or The Last Samurai are projects to which I would have gladly contributed. Films such as these pre-eminently suitable for our music."

"I would like to write more scores, preferably intertwined with what we are doing with Epica. With The Score, we want to make a name for ourselves. This is who we are and this is what we have to offer. Nothing is impossible and that is why we pattern ourselves on the best composers and strive for the best. In the arrangements on our album Consign to Oblivion you can easily detect to what an extent Epica has been influenced by cinematic orchestrations and soundtrack elements. On The Score we explore these influences."

Source:	Dutch Progressive Rock Page
Band profile:	Epica

Finnish powermetal band Dreamtale are losing their drummer. Petteri has posted following message to all their fans in band's website:

Thank you fans and friends!

After long consideration I have decided to step aside from Dreamtale. It has been great being in the band from the beginning, to get to experience lots of wonderful moments and to play with many good guys. The reason why I have come to this decision, is simply the lack of time and motivation. It isn't fair to the other guys of the band, that I'm not able to give my 100%. The decision was very hard, but in a way I feel relieved. I wish good luck for Dreamtale in the future. I have only good memories for the rest of my life and nothing bad to say about those 6 years.

Huge thanks to Rami, Turkka, Pasi, Mikko, Esa, Jarkko and everybody else who I've played with in Dreamtale. And of course all the fans around the world. Also thanks you to the "make your dreams come true dude" (still makes me laugh).

-Petteri Rosenbom-"

Band profile:

Dreamtale