The following was posted on the US Prog band's official website a few weeks ago:

''Some more good news - we've finally found a new bass player to take up the low end duties vacated by the passing of our friend, Mr. John Lally.

Ben Bond is a 5 and 6 string bassist, formerly of the prog outfit Twilight Machine and currently holding down the duties on the low end for the local band "Into the Arena". Ben has been rehearsing with us most of this month and will be making his first live appearance with us on Saturday evening October 27, 2007 (see Shows page) We hope to see you there!

Speaking of which, some slightly bad news....We have had to cancel the scheduled Friday night October 26 show due to the various things that have happened with the band since May. We regret having to do this but there is only so much we can accomplish at one time - especially when working with a a new member of the band. Better luck next time, eh?

However, we hope you all can make it to the Saturday night show instead!!!

We will be spending part of the coming winter months writing and recording new material for the next CD. We have ideas and partial songs already sketched out! It's going to be fun, as always!''

Source:	persephonesdream.com
Band profile:	Persephone's Dream

Pig Destroyer's first video from their acclaimed "Phantom Limb" album, for the song "Loathsome", has debuted exclusively via Singingfool.com. The video was shot in Baltimore, MD at the Ottobar with director Dave Brodsky for MyGoodEye (The Red Chord, Kylesa, Goatwhore, God Forbid).

Pig Destroyer released "Phantom Limb" this past June. The band played a handful of shows around the album's release and live footage from their Brooklyn performance can be seen now at MetalKult.com along with a candid question-and-answer session with the band.

Check out the video here.

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Source:	blog.myspace.com
Band profile:	Pig Destroyer

According to the Ayreon's Official Website, you can find here the list of the new "guest singers" of the upcoming album? No doubt that it will be one of the most incredible line-up ever seen.

Arjen Lucassen, has recently posted new audio samples of the next three guest singers who will appear upcoming album:

Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain Of Salvation) Sample

Wudstik (from a Dutch hip hop band) Sample

Marjan Welman (Elister) Sample

The names of the other vocalist already confirmed are: Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Steve Lee (Gotthard), Bob Catley (Magnum), Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering), Jonas P. Renske (Katatonia), Jorn Lande (Jorn Lande), Tom S. Englund (Evergrey), Ty Tabor (King's X), Magali Luyten (Virus IV), Simone Simons (Epica), Liselotte Hegt (Dial), Phideaux Xavier and Floor Jansen (After Forever).

More new names should be posted soon!

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Source:	ayreon.com
Band profile:	Ayreon

According to a blog on the legendary Bay Area Thrashers' MySpace, Testament are officially working with acclaimed drummer Paul Bostaph (ex-Slayer/ex-Forbidden/ex-Exodus).

Paul Bostaph will join the ranks alongside originating classic thrash legends Chuck Billy on vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar and Greg Christian on bass.

Unfortunately Nick Barker will not be recording with Testament on this new album, due to Homeland Security and International Work Visa issues. Rather than delaying this long awaited return of Testament, the band has chosen to recruit Paul Bostaph, long time friend and member, to record on the much anticipated album, which is tentatively scheduled for a spring 2008 release via Nuclear Blast. Paul Bostaph will join the ranks alongside originating classic thrash legends Chuck Billy on vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar and Greg Christian on bass.

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Source:	blog.myspace.com
Band profile:	Testament

The following update was posted on Nuclear Blast Records website:

"Britannia´s symphonic War Metal heroes Bal-Sagoth and drummer Dan Mullins have officially parted ways. Mullins is replaced full time by Paul "Wak" Jackson, who also assumed kit duties for Bal-Sagoth during their two most recent live shows. Paul is also the drummer for the bands Extreme Maggot Infestation and Decimation of Truth. Bal-Sagoth released their current and highly acclaimed album "The Chthonic Chronicles" in March 2006."

Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Bal-Sagoth

On their MySpace blog, the Finnish Folk Metal band posted the following message:

"We have been in the studio again every now and then since last spring, and we have more material ready than is needed for an entire album. It is already mixed and ready.
The album became quite long, but we just could not drop any of the 14 songs. It was already hard to decide which songs would become bonus tracks.
So, we offer to you 14 new songs plus 2 bonus tracks on our upcoming album "Korven Kuningas", which means 'King of the Woods'
This time the album cover will be painted, not photoshopped. The old man "Vaari" will be figuring on the cover again, so it will look familiar and faithful to everyone, even though a different technique is used."

The album will be released by Nuclear Blast early in 2008.

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Korpiklaani

"Murder Music: A History of Black Metal", an in-depth documentary about the history of black metal, the most controversial and misunderstood arm of heavy metal's complex genealogy, will be free to view for the first time since its release on Rockworld.TV from Friday, October 5.
(To watch it, click here: http://www.rockworld.tv/MurderMusicPlayer)

"Murder Music: A History of Black Metal" is a 64-minute documentary eschews much of the tabloid sensationalism that shrouded the genre in the early to mid-'90s, focussing instead on the music itself ? an element thus far overlooked by the mainstream media.

Written by well-established rock journalist and radio DJ Malcom Dome and directed by David Kenny, "Murder Music" is presented and narrated by Rockworld.TV's own Rene Ackermann, boasting over 20 exclusive interviews with band members, journalists, authors and other scene affiliates and experts. The production team travelled all across the U.K. and to black metal's spiritual home of Norway to research their subject and to conduct interviews.

Among the bands featured in "Murder Music" are the legendary, trailblazing likes of Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth, Satyricon, Venom and Sabbat ? each of whom provide revelatory insights into the complex, creative and fascinating world behind the hearsay.

The documentary debuted online at www.rockworld.tv on April 13, 2007.

To watch the "Murder Music: A History of Black Metal" trailer, click here.

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Source:

metalhammer.co.uk

The classic is available again! The second ATROCITY album "Todessehnsucht" (Longing For Death) will be re-released on 15th October 2007 in a most exclusive digipak version. The American fans can look forward to the 5th of November to get this masterpiece including the Death coverversion "Archangel"! Remastered by Alex Krull at Mastersound Studio.

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Atrocity

September.27.2007

Hi, just a note to let you know that To-Mera will be main support to the legendary Fates Warning for their London show. It's at The Underworld, Camden on the 21st November. Tickets are available at the usual online outlets like www.seetickets.co.uk and www.ticketmaster.com. It's only a 500 capacity venue so be quick!

We have also finished recording the follow up to "Transcendental" and it's presently being mixed. It's as yet untitled, but the release date is scheduled for the 18th February 2008. We are again working with Brett Caldas-Lima from Tower Studios. The process of recording, including photos and video clips, was captured in this Blog: http://tomeraband.wordpress.com

All the elements present on the last album have been greatly expanded upon. The music will display a much greater range of moods, tempos and dynamics (ranging from fragile subtlety to epic bombast via everything in between), whilst being simultaneously more sophisticated, yet more melodic and coherent than before. Julie's vocals have become substantially more versatile and powerful. There will be loads more guitar and keyboard (even drum!) solos. But most importantly, we feel this music has a much deeper and more genuine emotional impact to it. We're hoping the finished album will capture that.

Cheers, Lee

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

Oct.2.2007

It's with a deep degree of sadness that we have to announce the departure of keyboard player Hugo Sheppard from To-Mera.

Hugo felt that he had been neglecting his own personal musical projects since his time in the band. With a fairly heavy upcoming schedule of touring and promotional work for the upcoming To-Mera album, he was unfortunately unable to commit his time and energy to both projects.

He'll still be involved in the ongoing mixing process for the new record, and his last show with us will be when we support Fates Warning in London on the 21st November.

As a band we wish to thank Hugo for sharing his talent with us for the past two years and we wish him the very best of luck with his future endeavours. It's been a genuine pleasure to work with him.

We'll now be looking for a replacement keyboard player, and are actively seeking applications . Please direct all applications to tomeraband@gmail.com or via a message here at Myspace.

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	To-Mera

Janne Pennanen and Ville Skön from Finnish metal band Shiver have posted the following lengthy message on the band's MySpace page:

"Music and creating music are usually pleasant and joyful things, but unfortunately this is not always true. The joy was killed for us last spring, when a series of downhearting events occurred.
But let us start from the beginning, so you all will know exactly what happened.

In the beginning of the year 2006, we were searching for a vocalist for our band, and got numerous inquiries from many people. One of these people was Rick Altzi from Sweden. He was one of the noteworthy candidates, but was not chosen for the job.

We sent one of our songs to each of those who contacted us, so they could make their own interpretations of the lyrics and the vocal melody. Rick went through this procedure like everyone else. The song was called Shiver even before the search for a vocalist began.

When Rick found out he was not chosen, he told us he had already played the song to Olaf Lenk, guitarist of At Vance. Olaf asked for our permission to play the song Shiver for the record company of At Vance.

We did not grant permission for this, but told them they were allowed to play the version recorded with our chosen new vocalist.

Later on, Rick mentioned that they had not played the song to other people, respecting our wish.

A year passed peacefully, until a bomb dropped. Rick Altzi had joined At Vance as their vocalist, and they were releasing a new album.

Ville, a current member of our band Shiver, heard a familiar chorus as he was listening to the radio one day. This launched a series of unfortunate events, and we still don't know how it all will end.

The chorus played on the radio was from an At Vance song, titled Shiver. The song was almost the same we had sent to vocalist applicants in early 2006. It had gone through some changes by At Vance, but the song structure as well as the chord progressions are exactly the same as in the song Shiver we wrote in 2005.

The vocal melodies and lyrics used by Rick are exactly the same than those he recorded for us when applying for a vocalist. He naturally has the right to use these, but this only shows both of the songs are the same.

We contacted At Vance's record company via e-mail and told them what had happened. Their reply told us that At Vance is responsible for their own material, as dictated by their record deal.

The next thing to do was contacting the musicians in At Vance directly. We didn't need much imagination to guess their reply. At Vance naturally denied every connection between the two songs, and claimed that the guitarist/composer Olaf had never even heard the original song by us. Quite miraculously he could compose a song similar to ours, based on just the vocal melody. Even the solo and it's backing are almost identical to our original song. And all this based on just the vocal melody. Wonders never cease.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	At Vance

Mark Kelson from Australian The Eternal has issued the following update on the band's website:

"I'm very happy to announce that after two and a half years of writing & recording demos, we have completed 17 songs for our new album "Kartika". We will only be recording 10-12 songs for the final album, but I feel very satisfied that we have an excess of great material to choose from. I really feel fans of our music will not be disappointed with what we are about to unleash! We have really tried to incorporate sounds that we love, and have used a couple of interesting instruments such as the Chinese Pipa and the Hammer Dulcimer. I have had much fun playing around with Melotron's and Analogue Synthesizer's as well.

We are focused on making this a very organic album and will be steering away from over triggered drums and too many digital synthesizer's etc, By no means have we become a 70's Progressive band, but we are surely trying to aim for that fat organic sound which seems to be lacking in a lot of over produced production line metal albums at the moment.

We are booked at Broadcast Studios in Adelaide, Australia on the 14th of December 2007 to commence drums with engineer Ian Miller. Ian & I will be co-producing the album. We will be recording guitars in Melbourne at the end of December & the start of January. We still aim to have everything ready to master in Feb/March 2008."

The songs completed are:

01. Self Inflicted
02. Means for an Ending
03. Blood
04. Without Reason
05. A Pale Reflection
06. Illuminate
07. Walk Beside You
08. Brighter Day
09. Kartika
10. Silence
11. July
12. Lost Our Way
13. Inside the Grey
14. I've Seen The Dream Through Someone Else's Eyes
15. Sunshine
16. Frozen Sun
17. Last Embrace

Source:	the-eternal.com
Band profile:	The Eternal

According to a blog posted on the band's MySpace page, Pyramaze will enter the studio October 1st in Haderslev, Denmark to commence the recording of the successor to "The Legend Of The Bone Carver." The band's on fire and ready to record another piece of epic Heavy Metal art. You can follow the progress via the studio diary at http://www.pyramaze.com our at the band's forum, here.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Pyramaze

As posted on the band's website, the new POS' drummer will play his first show in Norway!

"Always two there is...

The search is over, and a new drummer has now joined the band. The level of competition and skills among the few drummers who remained at the top of the crop was extremely high, but this guy outplayed everyone in the end. To the extent, it might be added, that the band even chose to go for the one non-Swede finalist.

So, who could this phantom be?

Well, just to make things painful, it will not be made official who the new drummer is as of yet. Instead, the veil will fall live on stage next week, at the Motstoy festival in Notodden, Norway, 6th of October. This is not only the very last gig of the Sickening the World tour of 2007, but also the farewell show of long time drummer Johan Langell. This will be the only chance to see both drummers on stage with Pain of Salvation and, needless to say, those who have the possibility of attending this show will definitely be in for a special treat.

To celebrate the event even further, the band will also perform some songs that the fans have not heard live in a long time. All-in-all: if ever there was a different and special show of Pain of Salvation, this is bound to be it! Your one chance to say goodbye to the old king, and welcome the new one."

Facts about the show:
Description: Motstoy Festival
Country: Norway
Town: Notodden
Date: Oct 6, 2007
Length: 90 + min

Facts about the new drummer:
Description: Drummer of Pain of Salvation
Country of origin: ?
Age: 25 years old
Star sign: Scorpio

Who is the new POS' drummer? At least you can see his drumkit here...


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Source:	painofsalvation.com
Band profile:	Pain Of Salvation

A stunning new E-Card is now available, which features a trailer for their new video "Revolution Begins", a photo gallery, downloadable wallpaper and MySpace banner and the "Blood On Your Hands"? MP3 track. Click this link to check it all out.

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Source:	archenemy.net
Band profile:	Arch Enemy

10 years of DETONATION

It was in the summer of 1997 Koen, Mike and Thomas rehearsed together for the first time. In the year that followed they only rehearsed about once a month, nevertheless writing a large number of songs, in a much more black metal-ish style than nowadays. One year later, Otto joined on bass. The first show was done at the end of 1998, so were the first recordings, and the band name was changed into Detonation. The rest is history.

Now it's 2007, and we can look back on 10 years of great fun, horrible hangovers, over 200 shows, several tours, 2 Mini-CD's, 3 full-length albums, broken equipment, sleepless nights, alcoholic frenzies, empty venues, packed venues, failing cars, near-death experiences and so on. Still going strong with the original band members, and more motivated than ever to tour and play as much as we can and create music the best we can.

To celebrate, we're doing a special show on the 26th of October in dB'S, in our home town Utrecht. We'll be playing the longest set we've ever done, performing songs we haven't played live in ages, having some special guests on stage, and doing a number of covers. It's going to be lots and lots of fun, and it's an evening you do not want to miss, so be there!

We'd also like to take the opportunity to thank YOU for supporting us. Obviously it's impossible for a band to survive without people buying our CD's and merch, coming to our shows, and spreading the word about us. Plus having a few beers with you after the show is always great as well! So a big THANK YOU to all of you, we much appreciate all your support. To show our appreciation we've issued three contests:

Myspace contest

You can help us by putting us in your top friends, adding our song to your profile, or both! We're going o give away 10 copies of "Emission Phase" to people that have us featured in their top friends and/or profile song. We'll be choosing these people entirely random form our friends list somewhere between October 1st and October 20th. We'll just keep clicking on profiles (again, random, not from page 1) and will keep on trying until we have 10 winners! We'll get in touch with you via MySpace if you're one of the winners. And, if you want, as a bonus you'll be in our top friends for the month of November!

International contest

-1st prize: An exclusive limited edition LP-version of 'An Epic Defiance' containing extended artwork, a signed copy of our latest album 'Emission Phase', our first ever official release 'Lost Euphoria', a Detonation T-shirt and some bonus material.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Detonation