Nocturnal Art Productions is now entering into full time collaboration with Candlelight Records on a worldwide basis. The two labels have already been cooperating for several years with Candlelight licensing various Nocturnal Art titles for the North American territory. This new collaboration sees a full on worldwide cooperation with all coming Nocturnal Art titles being marketed through the Candlelight Records network.

Candlelight label manager Edward Christie had the following comment about the collaboration "We are delighted to be working with Samoth and N.A.P. and look forward to building a successful partnership. It was a natural step for both companies as Candlelight look after the N.A.P. releases in the USA and of course we have been working together for a number of years with EMPEROR and ZYKLON."

With this new collaboration, Nocturnal Art has already signed Norwegian extreme metal thrashers SHE SAID DESTROY? a name that has been on many people's tongues recently. They have been an active live unit and have made many impressive live appearances. Vampire Magazine (Holland) quoted the band as "One of the highlights at this years Inferno I would say!!!" on their appearance at the Inferno Festival 2005. Their latest demo Armageddon Anyone? has also made strong impressions on fans and media alike. Metal Hammer Germany declared it demo of the month, and Metal Hammer UK gave it 8 out of 10 points and quoted it as "This is heavy fucking metal, not Paris Fashion Week!". The band is currently in writing mode for their debut album and expects to be recording in the fall.

http://www.bravewords.com

The band posted the following message on their website:

"we are working on new material that will be recorded some day...
some new working titles of finished songs are: preludium apocalypsis, invocation of doom runes, black magick sorceres, fisher of souls, the devils (imperium magnum infernalis)."

Source:	runemagick.se
Band profile:	Runemagick

VISION DIVINE frontman Michele Luppi will release the debut album from his solo project, MICHELE LUPPI'S HEAVEN, in mid-July via Scarlet Records. Entitled "Strive", the CD was produced and arranged by Michele Luppi and is said to be "a must for all AOR/melodic hard rock lovers into bands like MR. BIG, EUROPE, JOURNEY, BON JOVI and KISS." 10 songs are featured on the album, which includes featuring special guest appearances by Alex De Rosso (DOKKEN), Olaf Thorsen (VISION DIVINE), Oleg Smirnoff (VISION DIVINE) and Maurizio Solieri (VASCO ROSSI).

"Strive" track listing:

01. Trust
02. If You Walk Away
03. Feel Alive
04. Always Remember You
05. Tell Me About It
06. Wasting My Time
07. Stars
08. The Castle Inside My Head
09. Time For Love
10. I Found A Way To Pray

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

One of the most emblematic figures of the South American Metal music scene, Eduardo "Picoroco" Navarrete was found dead in the evening of May 23rd in the bathroom of his mother's apartment.

The cause of death is still not clear but it is presumedly a heart attack.

Picoroco was active in the Metal scene from the beginning of the '80s and by the beginning of the '90s had started his own record label, Picoroco Records.

With the label he helped to produce and release acts like CRIMINAL, BEWITCHED, POEMA ARCANUS, KINTRAL, BLODEN-WEDD, CENTINEX, BRUJERIA, BITTERDUSK, WITCHBLADE and PENTAGRAM.

Picoroco was in the process of releasing the debut album from LETAL SOLARIS, a mini CD from Witchblade, the second album from KINTRAL and the DVD release of Pentagram's Reborn 2001,
already available on VHS.

Everyone interested on sending condolences can do so by sending an e-mail to Chilean label Negative Entertainment at the following address negative@negative.cl . Negative Entertainment label manager Francisco will pass the messages on to Eduardo's family.

http://www.bravewords.com

From MS Staff we send our condolences for friends, family and everyone who knew him.

French death metallers FURIA have parted ways with lead guitarist Sébastien Lobut who has decided to left the band for personal reasons. According to a band update, "He will be with us until July 15thy. Of course, this departure won't change the band's objectives for this year. (new MCD, new album, new musical orientation, new logo). The band is now searching for a new guitarist. People interested can contact us here
mick.furia@wanadoo.fr, furia-prod@wanadoo.fr ."

Furia's upcoming MCD, Re-Birth, featuring artwork by Chris Saiyan, will be issued by Adipocere Records on June 11.

Upcoming Furia live dates are as follows:

June

18 - Chaulnes, France at Salle Municipale

26 - Le Mans, France at Fury Fest

July

8 - Champagnole, France at Festival

15 - Macon, France at Parc des Expos

September

9 - Grande Synthe, France at TBA

October

28 - Olivet, France at Salle Yvremont - Metalloween Festival

29 - Attignat, France at Beast In Bresse

More shows will be announced soon to coincide with the release of their full length album in October.

http://www.bravewords.com

Band profile:

Furia (FRA)

The band posted the following message on their website:

"We can now officially announce that Opeth has signed a worldwide contract with Roadrunner records. The rumours were true! The new album is set to be released sometime in the late August or early September of 2005.

Opeth has cancelled their Vienna/Austria Aerodromme festival appearance (May 27) due to the recording taking longer time than expected. We are very sorry for the fans who expected to see Opeth there, but we hope to return to Austria as soon as humanly possible!

The recording process is going well. One song is mixed and done, another one in the process of being mixed. Solos are being recorded as well as death screams. Some songtitles? "Ghost of perdition", "The baying of the hounds", "Isolation years" and "Harlequin forest" The record plan to be done by June 1.

Opeth are most likely to appear at Bergen/Norway´s Hole in the sky festival (August 24-27) as well as the semi legendary Summerbreeze (August 18-20) fest in Germany. We will confirm this as soon as it´s....confirmed!"

Source:	opeth.com
Band profile:	Opeth

The band posted the following message concerning the delay of their upcoming album "OM";

"We decided to postpone the release of the new album "OM" for autumn 2005 due to delays with the composition and recording. The album will be initially released by code666 Records in a limited edition with a very special packaging, containing beside the CD with the album a full DVD, featuring a brand new clip for a track of the album, live footages from Negurã Bunget gigs, a detailed media gallery, interviews, presentation, making-off, and lots of other extras... Everything will be recorded and mixed again by us in our own studio (more details about the studio soon!)."

and, this message about the "Inarborat Kosmos" MCD:

"The Inarborat Kosmos MCD will be officially released by code666 Records on May 31!
It will be released in a strictly limited digipak edition of 734 copies, which will never be re-printed. This is the first material we recorede and mixed on our own, in our studio, and we're quite happy with the final resutl. Grab your copy now if you're interested! Pre-orders area already accepted(contact@negurabunget.com), the price is 10 EU (postage included). A Inarborat Kosmos T-shirt will also be available soon, in a 100 copies limited edition."

Source:

negurabunget.com

Guitarist Curran Murphy had formed a new band called "Shatter Messiah" together with Greg Wagner on vocals, Robert Falzano on the drums and Ron Boisvert on the bass.

The band is described as a "viciously intense mixture combining Curran's hardcore metal roots with classic thrash and power goth, resulting in compositions of over the top aggression and melodic skill. These musical works showcase Curran's awe-inspiring guitar playing and a flair for dramatic songwriting."

They just finished the recording of the first EP of the band, then, after the edit, mix and master, Curran and Wags "will finish the remaining vocal tracks for the second EP."

Read more ››

Source:	shattermessiah.com
Band profile:	Shatter Messiah

Former HEATHEN bassist Mike "Yaz" Jastremski passed away this morning (May 23). No further information is currently available.

Jastremski performed on HEATHEN's classic 1987 debut "Breaking the Silence" before leaving the group a short time later to form PIGS. He eventually rejoined HEATHEN in time for their appearance at the August 2001 Thrash of the Titans benefit concert for TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy.

HEATHEN parted ways with Jastremski in June 2004 over what was rumored at the time to be Yaz's "continued drug and drinking problems." He was replaced in the group by Jon Torres, who had previously participated in such bands as THUNDERHEAD, WARNING SF, ULYSSES SIREN, LAAZ ROCKIT and ANGEL WITCH.

HEATHEN guitarist Lee Altus said at the time of Yaz's final departure from the band, "We're sorry to see go and wish him all the best. He is a good friend and I'm glad that we parted ways without any animosity and can still remain best of friends."

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

R.I.P.

Read more ››

Band profile:

Heathen

Townsend Avalanche Music will be releasing an IMMORTAL tribute album this fall. Entitled "Epimythion - Tribute to Immortal", the collection will feature the following track listing:

SUNN O))) - "Cursed Realms Of The Winterdemons"
BEYOND DAWN - "Storming Through Red Clouds And Holocaust Winds"
VREID - "As The Eternity Opens"
OCD+BRAINCONTROLLER - "Pure Holocaust"
ENDWARFMENT - "Unsilent Storms In The North Abyss"
TRAGEDY BEGINS - "The Sun No Longer Rises"
ZWEIZZ - "Blacker Than Darkness"
ENTHRONED - "Eternal Years on the Path to the Cemetary Gates"
AURA NOIR - t.b.c.
SETH - "Battles in the North"
FUNERAL PROCESSION - "A Perfect Vision of the Rising Northland"

In other news, ZWEIZZ mastermind Svein Egil Hatlevik has issued the following statement regarding his contribution to the project:

"I am about to make an interpretation of the IMMORTAL song 'Blacker than Darkness' with my band/project ZWEIZZ for the IMMORTAL tribute album 'Epimythion - Tribute to Immortal', and in connection with this I am doing the following experiment.

"I would like to try to collect audio recordings of IMMORTAL fans screaming, and try to put it all together in a collage/mixture/whatever thing. If you are interested to participate in this project, please record an audio file of yourself screaming and send it in mp3 or ogg format in high quality (little compression) to s.e.hatlevik@gmail.com. You may be anonymous if you want, but for my own interest, I would appreciate if you could let me know which country you come from. The scream you record may be as long as you want, provided you do it one exhalation. Please do not send screams sampled from movies etc. Or the death screams of people you have killed lately.I also want to encourage everyone to spread the word about this project to other people that might be interested in spewing their guts in tribute to Immortal. I need all contributions before the 15th of June."

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

Band profile:

Immortal

Nuclear Blast announced that "Swedish experimental extreme metallers MESHUGGAH have re-signed with the label!"

The band recently release their album "Catch 33" on 23 May in Europe, and will release it on 31 May in the U.S.A.

Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Meshuggah

Last month GOD FORBID completed the final round of touring in support of their Gone Forever album. The group immediately proceeded to the studio to begin work on their highly anticipated new album, IV:Constitution Of Treason, with Eric Rachel (ATREYU, DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, EVETY TIME I DIE) at Trax East and Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM) at Audiohammer Studios. The eagerly anticipated new album is tentatively set for a September 20th release via Century Media.

Dallas Coyle (guitars, vocals) checks in with the following studio report: "This is Dallas here to let you guys know what's been going on with us. We just finished the Black White Dead All Over tour at the end of April and it was a complete success. I'd like to thank all the people for coming out to the shows and showing us some love. We met a lot of cool people and went to a lot of familiar and unfamiliar cities. Good times. I'd also like to thank all the bands on the Black White Dead All Over tour: It Dies Today, Caliban and Full Blown Chaos.

One day after we finished the tour Corey went into Trax East with producer/long time friend Eric Rachel to lay down the drums for the new record IV: Constitution Of Treason. Currently, we are in the middle of doing guitar and vocals at Audio Hammer Studios with Jason Suecof and everything so far is sounding really special. It's such a relaxed atmosphere and you guys should have a new GOD FORBID record by the end of the year. Don't worry you won't be disappointed. We'll be having some video up of our recording sessions so keep a look out.

We have some new features on www.f-p-e.com with Ferrante's Power Equipment. I have one of the riffs of the month and Doc and I give some tips on guitar playing. Check out if you're a gear head, if you want learn some techniques on guitar. Well, I gotta get going and get back to the studio. Keep rockin out there and raise the new flag."

http://www.bravewords.com

The upcoming album by Falkenbach will be entitled "Heralding - The Fireblade", the album that was recorded before under the name "En Their Medh Riki Fara" was going to be the Falkenbach debut but "due to the bad equipment and a lack of competence of the engineer the recording was stopped and the songs were not completed", some of the songs are featured "on other Falkenbach albums, like "Laeknishendr" or "Homeward Shore" for example, but most of them are unreleased so far, like "?En Their Medh Riki Fara?"or " Of Forests unknown"."

"At the moment it´s not sure if all the songs will make it on the album in the end, but you can expect a running time of about 40-50 minutes. The final recording and mixing will start at the end of July, the day of release has not been announced by Napalm Rec. yet."

Source:	geocities.com
Band profile:	Falkenbach

The video for "Abduction" from the upcoming album "Tyranny of Souls" is posted on the Bruce Dickinson website: http://www.screamforme.com

The album is set for a May 23 release.

Band profile:

Bruce Dickinson

The Following is the Press Release posted on the David Wayne website:

David Wayne's Metal Church

May 10, 2005

On behalf of David Wayne's Metal Church, we would like to express our deepest sorrow in the passing of our Metal Brother, David Wayne. This is not only a loss for us as a band and his family, but also millions of "Metal Heads" throughout the world. David died due to complications from injuries he sustained in a head-on automobile accident several months ago.

David Wayne was the patented scratchy vocals of several Metal Church albums and was in the process of returning to the metal scene with his new band lineup. His goal was to return to the sounds of Metal Church's albums released in 1984 and 1986. We will always remember the burning words and vocals in "Gods of Wrath," "Watch the Children Pray," and "Start the Fire." David and his current band had just completed several new songs and were ready to head to the recording studio after their European tour dates this summer.

Along with David's family and friends, we would ask that cards, letters, and flowers be sent to the below address. Additionally, donations are being accepted to help David's family with funeral expenses.

David Wayne's Memorial Fund
C/O Verna Schielling
1217 North 57 th Court
Ridgefield, WA 98642

Source:	davidwaynesmetalchurch.com David R.I....
Band profile:	Metal Church