COVENANCE is the name of a brand-new band formed by ex-DYING FETUS singer Vince Matthews and former MISERY INDEX members Matt Byers (drums) and Bruce Greig (also ex-DYING FETUS). The group, whose sound is being described as "melodic, brutal death metal" and unlike that of either DYING FETUS or MISERY INDEX, have just completed work on their first demo. An official web site, www.covenance.com, will contain additional information regarding the band's touring plans.

blabbermouth.net

Band profile:

Dying Fetus

TAKEN BY WOLVES, the new British black metal formed late last year by founding PITCHSHIFTER member Stuart Toolin and ex-IRON MONKEY guitarist Steve Watson, will be making their live debut as the support band for INSISION on Saturday, June 25 at Nottingham's Rock City (in the basement). Completing the group's current lineup is CREATED WITH KNIVES instigator Stumpy. Demo and video material has already been completed and the band are currently seeking a record deal.

For more information, contact tbw@stumpyonline.co.uk.

blabbermouth.net

CRADLE OF FILTH drummer Adrian Erlandsson (ex-AT THE GATES, THE HAUNTED) has uploaded a rare 1994 demo recording from TERROR, a short-lived studio project featuring Erlandsson, Anders Björler (guitar; THE HAUNTED, ex-AT THE GATES), Jonas Björler (bass; THE HAUNTED, ex-AT THE GATES) and Jon Nödtveit (vocals; DISSECTION). The three-song demo was recorded at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden. Commented Erlandsson, "We had a excellent time writing and recording these tracks in two days." Download the songs "Radiation", "Destruction" and "Terror" at this location .

blabbermouth.net

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Band profile:

Cradle Of Filth

The band posted the following messages on their new official site:

"Eternal Gray is currently looking to hook up with a record label!

All labels who have interest in that matter, please refer to:
info@eternalgray.com "

"At the moment, Dror and Auria have joined the army and will serve the country for the next 3 years. We all whish them all the best!

Of course that doesn't mean that they will not play anymore, as they get home once in a week and then we are rehearsing."

"We are happy to announce about our next release: a unique EP titled DEEDS OF HATE!

This will be a unique piece of Eternal Gray which will be released in 1000 HAND NUMBERED copies only!

DEEDS OF HATE includes 5 NEW tracks, in which only one of them will appear in YOUR GODS, MY ENEMIES - the full length album scheduled to early 2005. DEEDS OF HATE is the only way you can find those songs!

Recordings went awesome and this time we upgraded to 7 strings guitars, so it sounds much heavier.
The songs are definitely faster and heavier then KINDLESS and the sound is much more sharp and dark.

The exact release date will be published pretty soon, but it is scheduled to somewhere around early of July.

Line up for DEEDS OF HATE:
Roy Hen: Drums
Gil Ben-Yaakov: Bass Guitar
Dory Bar-Or: Guitars and keyboard

Recorded at "GROOVE" studios Israel
Produced by Dory Bar-Or at Dark D.Vision
Sound engineering: Dory Bar-Or and GROOVE

Pictures from the studio and a promo view of the front cover will be published here soon, so stay tuned!"

Source:	eternalgray.com
Band profile:	Eternal Gray

According to a message posted on the band's official website Mägo de Oz had signed a deal for five albums with Warner Music/Dro this 20 April 2005, after 9 months of negotiations. The albums will be edited by Dro in Spain and by Warner in the rest of the world.

In other news, the DVD "Madrid D.F." (filmed at Las Ventas and El Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico D.F.) had been delayed, and will be probably released in June.

Source:	magodeoz.com
Band profile:	Mägo De Oz

The sessions/concerts that The Gathering will hold in Paradiso the 23rd of May will be recorded for a DVD, scheduled for realease at the end of the summer 2005. The title will be 'A Sound Relief' and will focus on the more easier songs of 15 years The Gathering. In 2006 they will work on a more rock orientated concert DVD, which will be called 'A Noise Severe'. In between both releases the band will work on a new album, no title yet. But first of all 'A Sound Relief'!

Source:	sandandmercury.com
Band profile:	The Gathering

According to a short message on the Aeternus official site, their new guitarist Stian decided to leave the band, the reason is still unknow.

Source:	members.home.nl
Band profile:	Aeternus

The New band of former The Crown guitarist ink a deal with Metal Blade, here is the statement by Metal Blade Records:

"METAL BLADE RECORDS is proud to announce the signing of ANGEL BLAKE from Sweden.

The main man behind ANGEL BLAKE is no stranger to Metal fans Worldwide. None less than Marko Tervonen - former guitar player and main songwriter of the unforgotten THE CROWN - is the main force in ANGEL BLAKE.

"When The Crown split up I took a heavy trip into soulsearch land to figure out what I wanted to do with my musical life. To stop writing music was never an option. Simply ´cause I can't and don't want to. I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to form or join a new band and start getting to know new people just to be "active" as a musician. It's definitely a challenge, and most important, it's something NEW and a FRESH breeze in my life. Whatever happens with ANGEL BLAKE is up to me. So it's both a scary and a satisfying feeling", Marko comments the reasons behind founding ANGEL BLAKE.

For the vocals Marko acquired the great talents of another well-known musician. "One late night it hit me, I want Tony Jelencovich (Transport League) to do the vocals. I've known the man since years back. We've met during gigs and stuff. So, I contacted him, and he was into it!! Tony has a very cool rock voice with a lot of feel in it, and that just fits the music beautifully!! He also has a wide vocal range that I really feel will be useful. "

So what is ANGEL BLAKE all about? "Well, I do have a certain style in me that I can't get away from. If The Crown was more about speed and aggression, then ANGEL BLAKE is more about heavy melancholic songs. There's no blastbeats here. Over the years I have always enjoyed writing these songs that were kind of "different" from The Crown. Songs that were not within the typical death/thrash borders."

"For a Crown fan I would describe the sound as somewhere along the lines of: Dead Man's Song, Bow To None, In Memoriam, World Below, Death By My Side, Vengeance? The heavier side of The Crown's sound. And for someone who has never heard The Crown, I would describe it as influenced and inspired by bands such as Metallica, Paradise Lost, Him, Danzig (I admit it, I nicked the name ANGEL BLAKE from Danzig!), and Sentenced, spiced up with some heavy Morbid Angel twists. And as mentioned before, with "NORMAL" rock/metal vocals! It's definitely a unique sound! Love it or hate it, that's where my heart is right now."

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Source:	metalblade.com
Band profile:	The Crown

All the fans of Within Temptation are welcome to play to win a "journey/meeting" with the band during the shooting of their new video clip "Angel".

Answer to this easy question here =]

http://www.wt-music.de/gewinnspiel/index_en.php

Source:	BMG
Band profile:	Within Temptation

The band posted the following message concerning their upcoming album:

"If you haven't already heard, we are pleased to the brim in announcing that Hydra Head Records is going to release a new Cave In album this summer. Tentatively scheduled for an August 2005 release, "Perfect Pitch Black" will be an 8 song disc that features tunes recorded between 2003 and 2004, with some recent embellishments from our sonic spice rack recorded in March 2005. So whatever recorded versions of these tunes you may already be familiar with via the internet, the actual disc that sees the light this summer will be news to your ears. Andrew Schneider is at the helm of both the engineering and the mixing, and further recording and mixing production for the project is set to wrap up by the end of April (at Schneider's fancy new studio in Williamsburg, NY). We'll keep you posted on further developments!"

Source:

cavein.net

Dark Symphonies has announced the signing of Australian doom artist, ELEGEION. The tentative, world wide release date for their Dark Symphonies debut, The Last Moment, will be the summer of 2005.

According to a press release, "their new release, The Last Moment, takes the listener deeper into the bands unrelenting descent into the boundless pit of despair. And, although like the Loch ness Monster, this band rarely raise their heads above the black murky depths to bring an offering to the surface, you will see that this new chapter in the Elegeion journey is well worth the wait. It features supreme artwork by Travis Smith (KATATONIA, and OPETH), Justin Hartwig from CHALICE on lead guitar, members of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and the angelic voice of Dieudonnee."

Commenting on their signing to Dark Symphonies, Elegeion's founder and main composer Anthony Kawn shares: "I am extremely happy to be releasing this album through Dark Symphonies. I look forward to getting the band wider exposure both in America and the rest of the world, and working with blokes who are passionate about music and committed to promoting quality doom metal. With The Last Moment, I hope to bring together all the best elements of previous releases, with the addition of some new influences from Dee and James, to create a true solid fusion of melancholic metal with strings, piano and female vocals. We spent a lot of time writing, refining and recording the songs and, by comparison, I feel this release is Elegeion's best to date, and I really hope the fans will agree!"

The tracklisting for The Last Moment is as follows: 'The Last Moment', 'Scars', 'Solitude', 'Taste', 'Heaven's Torment', 'Wallow' (Instrumental), 'Confusion'.

The Last Moment was recorded at Tony Nesci Studios, Adelaide in March 2004.

http://www.bravewords.com

Band profile:

Elegeion

Nuclear Blast announced the return of the finnish band to the label:

Nuclear Blast is very proud to announce that Finnish rockers AMORPHIS are now officially signed to the label!

This is what guitar player Esa Holopainen states about the "home-coming":

" Last year was quite difficult for Amorphis, we went through another line-up change as we decided that it's better if Mr. Koskinen leaves the band. We had problems with trying to promote our "Far From The Sun" album as we were working with partners who rather enjoyed nice cappucinos than would actually work.

Anyway, finding a new vocalist was tough, it was more difficult than we actually would have imagined. We actually thought about doing instrumental album when one of Mr. Koivusaari's friend told about their singer Tomi who is really talented and would fit us. The day he came over we were all proved that Tomi Joutsen is next AMOPRHIS singer. We went through 'Against Widows', 'Alone' and few other songs including 'Sign From The North Side', which is from our debut album. This is the song we also do live again!

Beside changing vocalist we changed management and sat down think about how to continue from here. We allready composed songs for forthcoming album and started to work with vocals. We thought about different options and all agreed that it's better if we stuck with basics and go back to were we once started. We have been really good friends with NUCLEAR BLAST dudes for over ten years and I remember talking with Markus at Summer Breeze festival over a year ago and he told that we should come back.

During the past years we have became really cynic with labels most of because 95% of all talk is bullshit and they give you promises that they can't keep. We knew that we could always call up the NB guys with whatever matter and we knew how they work. Plus which is the most important thing that these guys are true fans of the music what they put out. I guess the honesty for the music what you release pays you back which has been the case for the NUCLEAR BLASTs success.

So, we are now ofiicially signed back to NUCLEAR BLAST and I have to say that it feels really good and is a great relief.
And for the people who wonder how AMORPHIS sounds today: It's EPIC, HEAVY and MELODIC with a mixture of GROWLING VOCALS!!!

Shine on,
Esa & Amorphis"

Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Amorphis

Former PENANCE vocalist Brian "Butch" Balich is currently seeking musicians to form a new band. "Doom is what I love and that is what I am looking to continue to do," the singer writes in a press release. " would like to find folks that would like to create music that combines heavy doom riffs with twin guitars (a la MAIDEN, THIN LIZZY, TROUBLE) as well as think progressively about song structures, moods etc..... I'm in Pittsburgh. Anyone interested can contact me via e-mail at eyetalian@hotmail.com or through my Myspace page ."

http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net

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Audio samples of five tracks from BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler's upcoming solo album, "Ohmwork", have been posted at his official web site .

"Ohmwork" is scheduled for release on May 10 via Sanctuary Records.

Butler's first album in eight years, "Ohmwork" is the bassist's third solo band release. His first project under the GZR banner was 1995's "Plastic Planet" while 1997's "Black Science" was credited to GEEZER. Guitarist Pedro Howse has worked on all three albums, while vocalist Clark Brown performed on "Black Science". The group's latest addition is drummer Chad Smith (not the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS man).

GZR touring plans are being put together for fall 2005.

http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net

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Band profile:

Geezer

Sweden's OPETH are on the verge of inking a new record deal with Roadrunner Records, informed sources have told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. The band, who were previously signed to the now-defunct British label Music For Nations Records, recently entered Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden to begin recording their eight album, tentatively due later in the year.

OPETH will take part in the inaugural Sounds of the Underground tour, which is slated to kick off June 25 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Other bands scheduled to take part in the trek include CLUTCH, LAMB OF GOD, GWAR, POISON THE WELL, FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES, UNEARTH, EVERY TIME I DIE, CHIMAIRA, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, MADBALL and DEVILDRIVER.

Source:	Blabbermouth
Band profile:	Opeth