A brand new Slayer track, entitled "Skeleton Christ", was premiered Tuesday night (August 1) on the "Mike Davies Rock Show" on BBC Radio 1. Listen to a replay of the program here (the track appears at around the 19:06:30 mark).

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Band profile:

Slayer

Ever since ex-Agathodaimon bassist Darin Smith had left the band, the Black Metallers have been searching for a replacement. Now they've found one. Agathodaimon have finally decided on Till Ottinger as their replacement bassist. Ottinger has been in Death Metal band Misanthropic, and Agathodaimon are quite happy with him.

Here is a small comment by the band: "Our search is over, although there have been a few excellent bass players, we finally decided to take Till Ottinger."

More information about him, and a photo of him, will be posted on Agathodaimon's website soon.

Source:	agathodaimon.de
Band profile:	Agathodaimon

Edge Of Sanity, the acclaimed Swedish band led by producer/multi-instrumentalist Dan Swanö, has finalized the track listing for its upcoming double CD collection, "The Best of Edge of Sanity". According to Dan, "one disc will feature the highlights of the more 'normal' studio albums and the mini-album 'Until Eternity Ends' (1994)," while "the second disc will be packed with 'Crimson' (1996) and 'Crimson II' (2003) in slightly edited versions. All songs will be remastered."

"The Best of Edge of Sanity" track listing:

Disc A:

01. Tales?
02. Human Aberration
03. Enigma
04. In The Veins/Darker Than Black
05. Lost
06. The Masque
07. Until Eternity Ends
08. Eternal Eclipse
09. Twilight
10. Black Tears
11. 15:36
12. Hell Is Where The Heart Is
13. Hellwritten
14. Bleed You Dry

Disc B:

Crimson (full album)
Crimson II (full album)

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Edge Of Sanity

'Christ Illusion' will be in stores this Tuesday, but you can listen to the whole damn thing exclusively on Myspace this weekend. Head over to http://myspace.com/slayer to check it out.

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Source:	slayer.net
Band profile:	Slayer

Michael Håkansson has decided to part ways with Evergrey. The new bass player will be the band's long-time friend Fredrik Larsson (Hammerfall, Cans). Michael has left the following message for all the Evergrey fans:

"After a long time of consideration and many, many hours of thinking I now, with sadness, announce my departure from the band.
I have been a part of the band for seven years and during that time I have experienced so much and I have seen more than I ever thought I would. But now it is time for me to say goodbye.
My reason for doing this is that I feel a strong urge to do something different in music. This is the one and only reason and it's 100% my own decision.
I want to thank the boys for all the good times we have had together thoughout the years. I wish them the best of all success, something they truly deserve and without doubt will achieve."

Source:	evergrey.net
Band profile:	Evergrey

Australian band Vanishing Point have been chosen as an opening act for Black Label Society when they come to Australia. Vanishing Point will play in Adelaide on the 23rd September at The Barton Theatre and in Melbourne on the 24th September at The Palace. Both shows will start at 8.00pm and will cost $62.35 and $69.90 repectively.

Source:	vanishing-point.com.au
Band profile:	Vanishing Point

Slayer have released an alternate cover for their upcoming 'Christ Illusion' album. The original cover caused controversy as it showed Jesus with his limbs cut off, floating in a river of blood and dead people. So a less graphic cover has been released as an alternative.

You can view the alternative cover here.

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Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Slayer

Finnish Folk/Black Metallers Ensiferum have announced that they will be releasing a new album next year. They will be entering the studio later this year, most likely in November, to start recording the new album. The band's label, Spinefarm Records, have said that the release date for the album will be 21st February, 2007. More information regarding the album will be released soon.

Source:	ensiferum.com
Band profile:	Ensiferum

In addition to touring Australia this year, Dark Tranquillity will also visit South Korea and Japan

Quoted from the Dark Tranquillity homepage:

"The rumours are true - we're indeed coming to Australia, but not only that; we're including Japan and Korea on the same trip.

Throughout the years, we've recieved tons of questions from fans down under wanting us to play there, so needless to say we're extremely pleased to finally have gotten the chance to deliver some metal mayhem in the land of Foster's and kangaroos.

Playing in Japan and Korea is always a fantastic experience, so it'll be a pleasure to come back for the first time in 2-3 years and play the first "Character" based shows in these territories."

07.09.2006 Osaka, Japan - club Quattro
08.09.2006 Nagoya, Japan - club Quattro
10+11.09.2006 Tokyo, Japan - Unit (two shows)
15.09.2006 Perth, Australia - Capitol
16.09.2006 Adelaide - Australia - Unibar
17.09.2006 Sydney - Australia - Manning Bar
18.09.2006 Brisbane, Australia - Basement
19.09.2006 Melbourne, Australia - Hi Fi
22.09.2006 Seoul, South Korea - tba club show
23.09.2006 Seoul, South Korea - Gwang Myeong Music Valley Festival

Source:	darktranquillity.com
Band profile:	Dark Tranquillity

Death Metallers Katatklysm have announced the bands that will be supporting them for their upcoming 'Road to Devastation' tour. The tour will take place in January next year, however no exact dates have been announced yet. The three bands that will be supporting Kataklysm are Fear My Thoughts (Germany, Extreme Power Metal), Neaera (Germany, Melodic Death Metal) and Quo Vadis (Canada, Melodic Death Metal). The Road To Devastation tour will be the start of Kataklysm's support shows for their recently released album "In The Arms Of Devastation."

Source:	kataklysm.net
Band profile:	Kataklysm

Norwegian Black Metallers Satyricon will be touring Europe in a few months. The tour will cover quite a few countries, and will start mid-September, finishing mid-October. Satyricon will be touring in support of their recently released 'Now, Diabolical' album. The tour will be the first time Satyricon has gone through Europe in three years, and they will be visiting some never-before-visited countries. Keep Of Kalessin and Insomnium have been announced as supports for Satyricon.

Here are all the tour dates:

Sep. 11 - GER - Hamburg - Knust
Sep. 12 - GER - Frankfurt - Batschkapp
Sep. 13 - GER - Bochum - Zeche
Sep. 15 - UK - Birmingham - Academy
Sep. 16 - UK - London - Islington
Sep. 17 - UK - Manchester - Academy
Sep. 18 - UK - Newcastle - Academy
Sep. 19 - UK - Glasgow - Cathouse
Sep. 20 - UK - Nottingham - Rock city
Sep. 21 - NL - Utrecht - De Helling
Sep. 22 - NL - Rotterdam - Baroeg
Sep. 23 - NL - Amsterdam - Melkweg
Sep. 24 - BEL - Antwerp - Hof ter Loo
Sep. 26 - FR - Paris - Locomotive
Sep. 27 - SP - Barcelona - KGB
Sep. 28 - SP - Madrid - Caracol
Sep. 29 - SP - Bilbao - Bilborock
Sep. 30 - FR - Lyon - CCO
Oct. 01 - CH - Fribourg - Frison
Oct. 03 - IT - Milan - Alcatraz
Oct. 04 - SLO - Ljubljana - VKP Mediapark
Oct. 05 - CRO - Zagreb - Boogaloo
Oct. 06 - HUN - Budapest - A38
Oct. 07 - AT - Wien - Planet Music
Oct. 08 - CZ - Prague - Abarton
Oct. 10 - PL - Wroclaw - WZ Club
Oct. 11 - PL - Warsaw - Proxima Club
Oct. 12 - GER - Berlin - Kato
Oct. 13 - GER - Saarbrucken - Garage
Oct. 14 - GER - Munchen - Kleiner Elserhalle
Oct. 15 - GER - Stuttgart - Röhre

Source:	satyricon.no
Band profile:	Satyricon

Doom Metallers Katatonia have announced that they will be doing a tour through Turkey. They will be returning to Turkey in September, for a four date tour. Katatonia have toured Istanbul before, but no other Turkish cities. The band is looking forward to visiting Turkey. Here is a small comment: "It has always been a pleasure coming to Istanbul, so this time it should be exciting to visit the remaining cities as well."

Here are the exact dates of the Turkish shows:

Sep. 14 - Yeni Melek, Istanbul
Sep. 15 - Dungeon Club, Izmir
Sep. 16 - Saklikent, Ankara
Sep. 17 - 222 Club, Eskisehir

Source:	katatonia.com
Band profile:	Katatonia
Event:	Katatonia Turkey Tour

The Polish act "Moonlight" added a MySpace profile; people will now be able to easily get info on the band's progress, new albums, listen to their music and a lot of other great things.

check their profile HERE

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Source:

myspace.com

For the past nine years or, to be more precise, since the opening tones of their sensational debut album, Legendary Tales, Rhapsody have been one of the most unusual phenomena of the current metal scene. The huge range of their creativity, the number of legendary compositions that the Italian band, with their primary members guitarist Luca Turilli and keyboarder Alex Staropoli, have released so far reached now the climax with the new album "Triumph or Agony" .

A new tour is planned and a new album is on the way, Rhapsody Of Fire will continue to explore musical fantasy worlds with the precision musicianship and unique symphonic concepts that their fans have come to expect and adore. Fresh on the heels of the band's first live album release, Live In Canada 2005 - The Dark Secret, a new name and renewed vigor ensure that Rhapsody Of Fire still hold the passion and power that have always been associated with their music.

Tracklist :
01. Dar-Kunor
I. Echoes From The Elvish Woods
II.Fear Of The Dungeons
02. Triumph Or Agony
03. Heart Of The Darklands
04. Old Age Of Wonders
05. The Myth Of The Holy Sword
06. Il Canto Del Vento
07. Silent Dream
08. Bloody Red Dungeons
09. Son Of Pain
10 The Mystic Prophecy Of The Demonknight
I. A New Saga Begins
II. Through The Portals Of Agony
III. The Black Order
IV. Nekron's Bloody Rhymes
V. Escape From Horror
11. Dark Reign Of Fire
I. Winter Dawn's Theme

Produced by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli

RELEASE DATE EUROPE: September 25th

See the artwork here

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Source:	rhapsodyoffire.com
Band profile:	Rhapsody

Swedish Metallers Arch Enemy have had to cancel their upcoming appearance at Metal Camp Festival. One of the band members is involved in a 'personal family crisis' and so the band has had to pull out. Arch Enemy were going to play on the 21st July at the Slovenian Metal festival.

Here is a statement by Arch Enemy taken from their official website: "We very much regret that due to a personal family crisis for one of the band members, Arch Enemy will not be able to play at the Metal Camp Festival in Slovenia as advertised on Friday June 21st. We apologise to all the fans hoping to see us there, and we are very disappointed not to be able to come and play in your country. We are planning to tour Europe again in November/December this year and will do everything possible to find a suitable show to play in Slovenia."

In other Arch Enemy news, the band have announced that they will be headlining the Kerrang! Day of Rock Festival on August 10th in London, UK.

Here is a comment by Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott: "'After the full on mayhem of playing to 40,000 metalheads at Download this year we weren't expecting to be back in the UK again so soon... So it's really cool that we will be headlining the Kerrang! Day Of Rock next month. It'll be insane getting together with a few fans in such a small place but we are really looking forward to it and will dishing out some pure fucking metal, Arch Enemy style! In fact we're gonna turn it into the Kerrang! Day Of METAL!!'"

Source:	archenemy.net
Band profile:	Arch Enemy