The Kovenant are now working on their follow up to the masterpiece S.E.T.I. You can expect some real extravaganza. This time the band will break new grounds again and set the standards for the future metal scene. It will be recorded next year and hopefully released in 2004 as well.

Band profile:

The Kovenant

The Rammstein DVD LICHTSPIELHAUS will be released on PAL format December 2003 and on NTSC format January 2004! For the first time LICHTSPIELHAUS will feature an entire collection of all Rammstein videos, exclusive live material of the band and making of material of selected videos.

Band profile:

Rammstein

The following message was posted in the official To/Die/For forum:

Hello everyone

We've come to the point where we didn't expect to come.

Jape decided to end his career in To/Die/For. He told us that he had no more motivation to go on with the band.

We wish him good luck in whatever he is going to do. Thanks for great times with the band.

We are definitely going to continue the band as To/Die/For. Now it's time for us to look for a new singer who can fill the huge hole which Jape left.

Sorry for the next few lines are in finnish but we are looking for a finnish singer.

"Jos et sä soita" vaan olet pätevä rock henkinen laulaja, omaat riittävän karisman ja pystyt panostamaan bänditoimintaan 100% :sti, lähetä sähköpostia kuvan kera osoitteeseen: to_die_for1@hotmail.com

TO/DIE/FOR

Band profile:

To/Die/For

Angel Dust will start the songwriting, as planed, for the new Album in January 2004, however after bass player Frank Banx left the band, with a new Line-Up. Further information for this purpose and to the new Line-Up shortly !

Band profile:

Angel Dust

The Black Box set which I've talked about a few times over the last few months now has a new release date according to info I just received from Warner Bros. The new date is March 2, 2004.

The contents of the recordings remain the same - there are no changes there. I've heard the albums from the set already, they're by far the best sounding versions of the old Ozzy era Sabbath albums that I've heard to date.

Regarding their homepage.

Band profile:

Black Sabbath

MANOWAR guitarist Karl Logan received First Place in the category 250B (Amateur) at this year's Western NY Off-Road Association motocross racing event.

Karl's title is a "great victory" after the accident he had a couple of years ago ? the details of which can be seen in the "Hell On Earth Part 3" double DVD coming on December 8. "His recovery was exceptional and the championship shows his true warrior spirit!" the band write on their web site.

As previously reported, "Hell On Earth III" features more than 90 minutes of ear-numbing performances private behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and pre- and post-show rituals. This package also contains the program "Live In Germany The Ringfest" ? the legendary one-hour show that dominated the city of Cologne during the PopKomm 2002 convention, filmed and recorded in front of 27,000 people. This performance has been completely re-edited from at least a dozen cameras and remixed in 5.1 digital surround sound.

In addition, for the first time ever, the band's entire video collection is included ? beginning with "Gloves Of Metal" to the latest "I Believe", plus several never-before-seen documentaries about the making of these videos.

Taken from Blabbermouth.net

Band profile:

Manowar

Sweden's LAKE OF TEARS have set "Black Brick Road" as the title for their sixth album, tentatively due next summer through Noise Records.

The recordings for the follow-up to 2002's "The Neonai" will "probably start in February or March next year," according to a post on the band's web site, and will be followed by several festival appearances during the summer, including an appearance at Sweden Rock Festival in early June.

LAKE OF TEARS' last CD, "The Neonai" (Black Mark), was recorded with producer Ulf Wahlberg at Stockholm's XTC studios, and featured return guest appearances by former TIAMAT/DISMEMBER guitarist Magnus Sahlgren (who also appeared on 1999's "Forever Autumn") and vocalist Jennie Tebler (who also guested on "Lady Rosenred" off 1997's "A Crimson Cosmos").

Taken From Blabbermouth.net

Band profile:

Lake Of Tears

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson will be hosting a new seven-part series featuring the best in hard rock and heavy metal.

The series, dubbed "Masters Of Rock", will be airing on November 27 on BBC Radio 2.

Last time round "Masters of Rock" looked at six key years in the music's history. This time each part looks at different aspects of the world of heavy rock, starting with a program devoted to LED ZEPPELIN.

Band profile:

Iron Maiden

STRATOVARIUS guitarist Timo Tolkki has posted the following message on the group's web site:

"Unfortunately my trip was delayed for one day because I had to travel to Orimattila and Lahti.

"I am writing this in my beautiful suite in New York after trying to talk some sense to Johansson. Next I will be going to talk to Michael.

"Many thanks for all those who supported me in these heavy times. Through tough times you find out who your real friends are.

"For those who have been attacking me I only want to say one thing: FUCK OFF!

"And I repeat it one more time that it becomes clear: FUCK OFF!!! Thanks for showing me the way idiots!!"

Read more ››

Band profile:

Stratovarius

The material for the new record is coming along nicely, and if all goes as planned, the band should be ready to start recording sometime in January 2004. Also, Ronnie wishes everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Band profile:

Dio

VINTERSORG, the band led by BORKNAGAR frontman Andreas Hedlund (a.k.a. Vintersorg), have set a February 16, 2004 release date through Napalm Records for their forthcoming album, "The Focusing Blur". A four-minute 35-second MP3 file containing soundclips of five tracks that will appear on the album can be downloaded here: http://home.pi.be/~vercaua1/Preview.mp3

As previously reported, the follow-up to last year's "Visions From The Spiral Generator" is being described by Hedlund as "both intricate and flowing? It holds a nice balance between the usual VINTERSORG elements, like harmony and cacophony, warmth and coldness, melodism and monotonism, speed and calmness, ambience and focus."

Band profile:

Vintersorg

OPETH have been forced to cancel their previously announced gig in Jordan due to sickness.

The following is OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt's official statement on the matter:

"It's seem to be a dark spell upon OPETH at this moment. First Chile and now Jordan. I'm in a terrible state myself right now but will try to explain to you our reasons for cancelling.

" Martin Lopez called me 10 minutes before I was supposed to get in the cab for the airport saying he couldn't go. He's suffered a stress-related breakdown and said he simply couldn't do this. We've never cancelled a gig ever before due to the state of the band, so I knew he was serious when he said this. He has a doctors appointment and my guess is that he's suffering from panic or anxiety attacks. This is the reason why we decided to cancel this gig in Amman, Jordan.

"Yesterday our entire (all but one) crew dropped off due to the recent terrorist attacks. See, our crew is from the UK and were worried they'd be going into trouble. So at one point we had no crew, and the gig was in danger of being cancelled. After close talk with Mute Records we decided that we'll go anyways regardless if we had enough crew guys or not, and now this!!

"I want to stress out to all the fans that has travelled high and low to get to the venue in Amman that we are beyond sorry! I can't tell you how bad we feel about this. We sincerely hope that we'll get another chance to do a gig in Jordan soon, in fact we are trying to talk to Mute Records about that possibility. All of us really looked forward to going to Amman, not only because of the gig but also because there was a day set out for us to do some serious sightseeing of your country.

"These are dark times for OPETH and it seems like the circumstances got the best of us this time. We've done over 150 gigs this year I believe so in a way I'm not surprised.

"As I'm writing this I've just got informed about a death in the Akerfeldt family so my mind is not what it should be. I'm trying to keep it together here and explain to you, and apologize for all the problems we've caused.

"Anyways, we love you all and again, we're so sorry!! I'm gonna post something about Martin Lopez state as soon as I know myself."

Read more ››

Band profile:

Opeth

Norwegian black metallers MAYHEM have set a March 29, 2004 release date through Season Of Mist Records for their new full-length CD, "Chimera".

The album, which is currently being recorded at a mobile studio in the mountains of Norway, will feature a musical direction that is being described by the band as "much more back to basics and much more brutal" than 2000's "Grand Declaration of War".

Among the tracks set to appear on "Chimera" are the following:

01. Rape Humanity With Pride
02. Chimera
03. Dark Night Of The Soul
04. Deathwhore

As previously reported, MAYHEM and DECAPITATED (as well as KRISIUN and ANAAL NATHRAKH) will be teaming up for a European tour beginning on April 8 and running through May 16. More details will be made available soon.

Band profile:

Mayhem

Ex-PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul recently spoke to Revolver magazine about the circumstances that led to the group's demise two years after the release of their critically acclaimed "Reinventing The Steel" CD.

"With the last couple of PANTERA records, we kept getting more and more narrow-minded because of Phil," Vinnie said. "He didn't want to experiment or take any chances, and it was like being in a tube that was getting to be so small you couldn't even breathe. Personally, I think the dude was afraid of success. He wanted to be such an underground icon that the bigger PANTERA got, the more he didn't want to be involved.

"I did everything I could to get the guy squared away so he could have a good time. We had already agreed to take six months to a year off anyway, because we had been doing this for 12 goddamn years and we needed a break. But next thing I know, he's off doing DOWN with Rex and talking shit about us.

"Phil has no respect for anything and just perceives other people to be less than he is. After hearing him talking so much shit, I looked at and went, 'You know what? I think this might be the end of this. We better start doing something, because the only thing we know how to do is play music."

According to Vinnie, Anselmo hid many things from his bandmates, including his appetite for heroin. It wasn't until 1996, when he overdosed after a hometown show in Dallas that the rest of PANTERA learned of affinity for the needle.

"It was about 118 degrees outside that day, so I thought the dude had passed out from heat exhaustion," Vinnie said. "He was blue and medics were hitting him in the chest. Then they're saying it's a heroin overdose, and I'm like, 'Dude, you gotta be kidding!' Because he used to preach antidrugs back in the day."

" he was very private about . I don't know if he was using the whole time or what, but it got to the point where I didn't know which Phil was gonna show up to the gig. One night he would walk in and be a fucking animal. The next night, I'd walk backstage and he'd be lying in the corner and he'd say he was tired. I will never take anything away from that dude from when he was at the top of his game, but where he's at right now, I think he's much less than subpar at what he does. I have a hard time watching him when I see him on MTV talking about SUPERDOPE RITUAL, or whatever they're called, and he can't keep his fucking eyes open."

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Band profile:

Pantera

German melodic gothic metal band CREMATORY, who split up in 2001 after a successful, decade-long career, have been forced to postpone the release date of their much-anticipated comeback album, "Revolution", after keyboardist Katrin Goger gave birth to her daughter two weeks prior to the expected due date. As a result, the band have halted the recording sessions for the new album and the CD's previously announced release date (March 1, 2004) will not be kept, according to an official press release.

However, since more than half of the album is already finished, CREMATORY have decided to release a single in advance on the originally scheduled album ? a little consolation for the fans. The CD will contain the single- and album-version of "Greed", a cover version of METALLICA's "One" and a ballad named "Farewell Letter" as well as the video clip for "Greed", which was wrapped only a few days before Katrin's daughter Janina was born.

"Greed" will be released on March 1 worldwide through Nuclear Blast Records. The full-length album, "Revolution", will follow later in 2004.

Band profile:

Crematory