The forthcoming album from Akercocke, abruptly titled "Antichrist", has run into more controversy. The provocative nature of the record has already led to problems in Ireland, where the band will take part in a live discussion on the 'Nolan Live' show on BBC1 Northern Ireland tonight at 10.45pm with members of the Irish Catholic clergy.

Now the album has run into problems in the US, where the pressing plant handling the production of the album, Disc USA, has refused to handle the record due its 'anti-Christian' perspective. Commenting on the decision, Akercocke frontman Jason Mendonca stated:
"I rather perturbed that in this day and age, the 21st Century, people are so uptight. Whatever happened to freedom of speech and freedom of expression in the alleged democracy of the USA? Censorship is always ugly no matter how you view it. It smacks of fascism to me. What other works of art are barred to the good people of America?
The attitude of the printers is typical of the brainwashed. Judging something (literally) by its cover here for a picture of the cover art].
Anyone who took the time to look into our history would recognise that we have always stated we are anything but anti-christian. It's divisive attitudes such as this that bring about conflict. Conflict through ignorance."

Akercocke's "Antichrist" is currently set for May 28 release in UK/Europe, with an American release due on July 17.

Go to Akercocke's MySpace page to listen to the track 'Summon The Antichrist' and an album teaser.

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Source:	earache.com
Band profile:	Akercocke

Swedish Power Metal band Morgana Lefay have made 'Rush Of Possession' available for streaming online on their official MySpace page, here.

A video for the song 'Delusions' has been posted on YouTube. The clip was directed by the band's drummer, Owe Lingvall of Village Road Films.

Both songs come off Morgana Lefay's latest album "Aberrations Of The Mind", which was released in March via Black Mark.

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Source:	morganalefay.se
Band profile:	Morgana Lefay

Australian Power Metallers Black Majesty have updated their website with the following message:

"We are pleased to offer a sneak preview from the forthcoming new Black Majesty album "Tomorrowland" by featuring the album opening song 'Forever Damned'. We hope this track gives everyone a taste of the new album.
The release date is set at June 1st for Europe with the rest of the world to follow soon after. A digi-pack version of the new album will also be released featuring two bonus tracks. We're looking forward to meeting everyone in the coming months when we go on tour - if you get the chance please come and say hello.
Metal cheers from Australia, Black Majesty."

"Tomorrowland"'s tracklisting goes as follows:
01. Forever Damned
02. Into The Black
03. Evil In Your Eyes
04. Tomorrowland
05. Soldier Of Fortune
06. Bleeding World
07. Faces Of War
08. Wings To Fly
09. Another Dawn
10. Scars
11. Memories
12. Kingdoms

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Source:	blackmajesty.com
Band profile:	Black Majesty

Nuclear Blast Records has posted the tracklisting and a picture of the cover art of the upcoming Nile album "Ithyphallic" online. The album is due for a July 20 release in Germany and July 23 in the rest of Europe. The album was recorded at Sound Lab Studios in Columbia, South Carolina with producer Neil Kernon (Nevermore, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide) and engineer Bob Moore.

"Ithyphallic" tracklisting:

01. What Can Be Safely Written
02. As He Creates So He Destroys
03. Ithyphallic
04. Papyrii Containg The Spell To Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is In The Water
05. Eat Of The Dead
06. Laying Fire Upon Apep
07. The Essential Salts
08. The Infinity Of Stone
09. The Language Of The Shadows
10. Even The Gods Must Die

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Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Nile

Italian Symphonic Power metal outfit Thy Majestie have welcomed vocalist Dario Cascio and guitarist Simone Campione to their ranks. Simone Campione was already familiar to the band as a session musician from the beginning of this year and later also as a touring musician.

A statement from the band goes as follows: "The new two members, Dario Cascio and Simone Campione have been absolutely FANTASTIC! We are so pleased to have them in our team!
They brought us LIFE and new enthusiasm. THEY ARE OFFICIALLY IN THE BAND. We look forward to starting working on the new album!!!"

In other news, the band just returned from The Fear Dark Festival at The Netherlands. The band commented "The Fear Dark festival was a GREAT GREAT experience!!! We are all really excited about that!" Video footage was made available at their website for the songs 'The Chosen', 'The King And The Warrior' and 'Echoes Of War'.

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Source:	thymajestie.com
Band profile:	Thy Majestie

Metal Mind Productions has issued the following press release:

"British Thrash Metal legend Onslaught will release their first live DVD on 11th June via Metal Mind Productions.

After the band's reunion in 2005 and the release of their 4th studio album "Killing Peace" in 2007, the British thrash-metal legend Onslaught takes another step towards establishing their status as one of the greatest acts of that genre.

Their first live DVD "Live Polish Assault 2007" is due to be released on 11th June and will contain more than an hour of veritable thrash mayhem: dirty and furious guitar riffs, powerful rhythm section - all this havoc crowned with Sy Keeler's distinctive devilish shrieks. Filmed during the band's first gig in Poland, the DVD will include a well-balanced mixture of some of the best Onslaught songs performed live! Among other bonus features, the DVD will also include an interview with Nige Rockett and Sy Keeler, bonus live video footage from the band's gigs in Japan and Holland, as also bonus audio tracks from the gig at Bristol Colston Hall, 1987 (featuring Onslaught's very first live performance of "Let There Be Rock")!"

"Live Polish Assault 2007" Tracklist:

01. Intro
02. Let There Be Death
03. Angels Of Death
04. Thermonuclear Devastation Of The Planet Earth
05. Killing Peace
06. Fight With The Beast
07. Metal Forces
08. Twisted Jesus
09. Intro
10. Flame Of The Antichrist
11. Shellshock
12. Demoniac
13. Burn
14. Power From Hell

Bonus video: Live in Japan, September 2006
15. Demoniac
16. Let There Be Death
17. Angels Of Death
18. Power From Hell

Bonus audio: Live at Bristol Colston Hall, 1987
19. Metal Forces
20. Let There Be Rock / Let There Be Death

Also includes:
+ Interview with Nige Rockett and Sy Keeler
+ Photo gallery
+ Biography
+ Discography
+ Desktop images
+ Weblinks

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Source:	metalmind.com.pl
Band profile:	Onslaught

Norwegian Black Metallers Keep Of Kalessin have posted their video for the song 'Crown Of The Kings' on their homepage. Click here for the Windows Media version, and here for the Quicktime version.

The song can be found on the band's latest effort "Armada", which was released on 27 March 2006 via Tabu Recordings.

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Source:	keepofkalessin.no
Band profile:	Keep Of Kalessin

A video for the song 'Tervaskanto' has been made available online at the official Napalm Records website, here. (Windows Media required)
The song is the title track of the Finnish Folk Metallers' fourth album, which is due for a June 26 (U.S.) / June 29 (Europe) release through Napalm Records.

Another song 'Veriset Äpärät' could already be found on the band's MySpace page.

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Source:	napalmrecords.com
Band profile:	Korpiklaani

Open Grave Records is currently streaming the entire new album from Indonesian Avantgarde Metal band Kekal. This is their sixth album "The Habit Of Fire", which releases in North America, Australia and Japan on May 15th.

Described as "an experimental (but yet accessible) 70-minute epic concept album of urban avantgarde metal, with a liberal use of electronic elements and mix of countless musical sub-genres to accompany their trademark guitar-driven soundscapes," "The Habit Of Fire" features the following track listing:

01. Prelude: Worldhate Chronicle
02. The Gathering Of Ants
03. Isolated I
04. Manipulator Generals (Part I Of Dictatorship)
(1) - Failure Is The System
(2) - The Precaution Of Aftermath
(3) - Decadence And Excess
05. Our Urban Industry Runs Monotonously
06. To Whom It May Concern
07. Free Association
08. Historicity And State Of Mind (Part II Of Dictatorship)
(1) - Repeated Patterns
(2) - Aftermath
09. Postlude: Saat Kemarau
10. A Real Life To Fear About
11. Escapism
(1) - What On Earth Am I Here For?
(2) - The Habit Of Fire
(3) - Subterranean Passageways
(4) - A Road Above, A Road Ahead
(5) - Finding A Way To Stand Up Again

The album is set to stream now through August 21st. Visit http://www.opengraverecords.com to listen.

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Source:	bravewords.com
Band profile:	Kekal

Finnish cello-metallers Apocalyptica have lined up for the following European dates during this fall:

Oct. 08 - Riga Arena - Riga, LAT
Oct. 09 - UPA - Vilnius, LIT
Oct. 10 - Linnahall - Tallinn, EST
Oct. 11 - R-Beat - Turku, FIN
Oct. 12 - Lippupalvelu - Tampere, FIN
Oct. 13 - Sibelius Hall - Laht, FIN
Oct. 17 - Tavastia - Helsinki, FIN
Oct. 19 - Arena - Stockholm, SWE
Oct. 20 - KB - Malmo, SWE
Oct. 21 - Grosse Freiheit - Hamburg, GER
Oct. 22 - Jolly Joker - Braunschweig, GER
Oct. 23 - Gebläsehalle - Dortmund, GER
Oct. 24 - Ringlokschuppen - Bielefeld, GER
Oct. 25 - Schlachthof - Wiesbaden, GER
Oct. 27 - Elserhalle - Munich, GER
Oct. 28 - Alterschlachthof - Dresden, GER
Oct. 29 - Columbiahalle - Berlin, GER
Oct. 30 - E-Werk - Cologne, GER
Oct. 31 - Congresszentrum - Stuttgart, GER
Nov. 01 - Haus Auensee - Leipzig, GER
Nov. 03 - Club Progresja - Warsaw, POL
Nov. 04 - Klub W-Z - Wroclaw, POL
Nov. 05 - Congress Centre - Prague, CZR
Nov. 06 - DK Invest - Pilsen, CZR
Nov. 07 - Petofi Csarnok - Budapest, HUN
Nov. 08 - Gasometer - Vienna, AUT
Nov. 09 - Volkhaus - Zurich, SWI
Nov. 10 - Rainbow - Milan, ITA
Nov. 11 - Circolo Degli Artisti - Rome, ITA
Nov. 29 - Elysee Montmatre - Paris, FRA
Nov. 30 - La Phare - Toulouse, FRA
Dec. 01 - Sala Jam - Bergara, SPA
Dec. 03 - Joy - Madrid, SPA
Dec. 04 - Apollo - Barcelona, SPA
Dec. 07 - Melkweg - Amsterdam, NETH
Dec. 08 - AB - Brussels, BEL
Dec. 09 - Oosterpoort - Groningen, NETH
Dec. 10 - 013 - Tilburg, NETH
Dec. 11 - Mean Fiddler - London, UK
Dec. 12 - Academy 3 - Manchester, UK
Dec. 13 - Academy 2 - Birmingham, UK
Dec. 14 - Garage - Glasgow, UK

Apocalyptica performed an eight-minute medley during the Eurovision Song Contest on May 12. The show was broadcasted in front of several million TV viewers. To watch bootleg-quality rehearsal footage of that show, go to YouTube.com.
UPDATED:
Higher quality video footage of the Eurovision Song Contest Final the same evening, has been made available online here.

In other news, Apocalyptica will release their new, as yet untitled album; produced by Jacob Hellner (Rammstein), in September. The CD will feature a whole host of guest stars including Corey Taylor (Stone Sour, Slipknot), Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Tomoyasu Hotei (Japanese composer, whose credits include the Kill Bill soundtrack), Joe Duplantier (Gojira), Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) and many more to be announced in the coming weeks.

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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Apocalyptica
Event:	Apocalyptica: European Tour

The following tour/studio update was issued on the website of legendary US Death Metal band Obituary:

"We had 4 great shows in Mexico with Sadus and really want to thank all our fans for coming out and supporting us and our crew guys for their hard work! This trip took us through 4 cities and saw the reunion S.O.S. show - Sepultura - Obituary- Sadus! What a blast!!!

4 shows in 4 cities in 4 days was not exactly easy, but it was a lot of fun!

The good news! The studio has been going great and all the music is just about done being tracked. This is some really heavy material and I can't wait to get this released! When we get back from Australia we will start the final mix with Mark Prator at RedRoom Recorders!

The bad news! Anyone that keeps up with this website or our message board knows we usually keep you up to date with what is going on. We have been usually quite about Allen and his absence from these last set of shows. Well, Allen has gotten himself into trouble again and we have been waiting for him to make a statement himself:

"To my friends and fans,
I have gotten into trouble that can only be resolved by my incarceration. I will do this with thoughts of all of you. Soon I will be free again and come back stronger and better. My release is scheduled for February 2008. I will not let this problem kill my spirit and will use it to sharpen my creativity. Hope to see all of you next year. Allen West"

This sucks and there is not much we can do about it but, we will continue to move on and do what Obituary does! We have a lot planned for this new album with Candlelight and look forward to the September release of our new CD! Tomorrow we are off to Australia for our first trip down under and we can't wait to have a few cool ones with our Australian fans!!!!!

After Australia we head to South America for 5 shows! Click HERE for the full Tour Schedule."

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Source:	obituary.cc
Band profile:	Obituary

German Symphonic/Gothic Black Metallers Agathodaimon have welcomed two new members to their ranks:

"After lots of auditions with several musicians, we're proud to announce our new line-up. It took us a while to fill the gap that our vocalist Frank "Akaias" Nordmann left, but we've had a bunch of rehearsals until now, and we're sure to have the strongest line-up so far - and are of course we're looking forward to play live again to present you the new members on stage! First gigs will be announced shortly.
So, the current line-up consists of newcomers Jonas Iscariot on vocals and Jan Jansohn on guitar and of course the already known members Sathonys (guitar), Till (bass), Felix (keys) and Matthias (drums)."

A picture of the new line up can be found at Agathodaimon's website.

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Source:	agathodaimon.de
Band profile:	Agathodaimon

A studio clip of the incredible 'Firestorm' (Taken from the new album "Spiritual Apocalypse") is online now at YouTube.

Go and listen to this great song and see the insane drumming of Lee Harrison and the other Monstrosity guys in action by clicking here.

The fifth studio album by this US Death Metal outfit was released on April 5th through Metal Blade Records.

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Source:	Metal Blade Newsletter
Band profile:	Monstrosity

The following announcement has been psoted on the official Uleashed website:

"Sadly....and just like with a few other tours before ours..... The tour promoter Metallysee fucked up again...!!!
It is with anger in our hearts we have to announce that the european tour has been cancelled for reasons completely beyond our control. Ourselves and our brothers in Belphegor tried in a combined effort to make this tour happen until the very last minute, but in the end there was nothing we could do.

HOWEVER, thanks to the local promoter in Ireland the shows in Dublin and Cork this weekend will happen as planned!
We will also do the headline festivals in Germany:
The Deathcrush fest in Adelsheim on the 26th of May and Hellraizer fest on the 27th in Leipzig.

We are of course extremely disappointed but will not let this bring us down!
We will spend no extra energy on slandering Metallysee, it is far too obvious that this company is not worth mentioning ever again.

Unleashed will reschedule the European tour to later this year, most likely in the autumn."

Metallysee was also responsible for the cancellation of the remaining of the Earthshaker Roadshock Tour (News Story) and the Excess Of Evil tour (News Story).

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Source:	unleashed.se
Band profile:	Unleashed
Event:	Unleashed: Midvinterblot Tour II [CANCELLED]

Paradise Lost, the godfathers of Gothic metal, have returned with a stunning new offering "In Requiem", which marks a return to the band's trademark heavy sound. To get a full impression of this brilliant dark opus, fans can now stream the entire album on the band's official MySpace page. Note that the album can be streamed only for one week (starting from Friday, May 11), so check it out now!

The album, produced by Rhys Fulber (Fear Factory, Front Line Assembly) and mixed by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Metallica, Slipknot), is set for a June 5th U.S. release.

Click for full Paradise Lost album stream here.

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Source:	Century Media Newsletter
Band profile:	Paradise Lost