As posted on the official website:

"Finally we are going to south america! We had lined up shows in other countries than Mexico too, but due to circumstances beyond Satyricon's control, Mexico is the only country we will visit this time. The good thing is that we have three shows in Mexico alone and we are excited as hell! More festivals in Europe confirmed as well and we expect one or two more to surface in the near future."

June 8 - Mexico City, Mexico - Circo Volador
June 9 - Monterrey, Mexico - Cafe Iguana
June 10 - Guadalajara, Mexico - Venue TBA

Source:	satyricon.no
Band profile:	Satyricon
Event:	Satyricon

The Månegarm website has been updated with the following message:

"A new track from the upcoming album "Vargstenen" posted online at http://www.myspace.com/manegarm. Enjoy!!!

The upcoming album "Vargstenen" will be released 18th of may in Sweden and 25th of may in the rest of Europe! Keep your eyes open!!!"

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Source:	manegarm.com
Band profile:	Månegarm

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]

As posted on the official website:

"Somebody in Greece is making promotion for a Nightwish-show next June. There is even a poster of that "concert". That concert is a hoax, so don't buy tickets for that show! English translation from that poster goes:

"NIGHTWISH launch their world tour, beginning with Greece, and will proudly present their brand new "mystery" singer SONTRA...
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 - Lycabettus Theatre - Doors open at 19:30 - Show starts at 21:30 - Ticket Price: 40 Euros"

So once again: All that text is so called bullshit."

Source:	nightwish.com
Band profile:	Nightwish

As announced before, Metal Mind Productions will be releasing the first Blaze Bayley's DVD. The material entitled "Alive In Poland" was recorded during the 21st edition of the Metalmania Festival, which took place on 24th April 2007 in Katowice (Poland).

Blaze Bayley and his band gave a fantastic, over 1,5 hour show during which he presented the best tracks taken from Blaze's discography as well as selected tracks of his previous band - Iron Maiden ("Man On The Edge", "Futureal"). This very energetic performance was one of the highlights of the festival.
The DVD will also include many great bonus features such as an interview with Blaze Bayley, an interview with all members of Blaze's band (featuring footage filmed during their visit to Poland) and more. The title will also be available in a limited edition including a CD with songs recorded at the concert!

"Alive In Poland" DVD is a must have for fans of good quality melodic heavy-metal. Release date: 11th June 2007

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Source:	planetblaze.com
Band profile:	Blaze Bayley

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

Germany's leading metal band Helloween today (Friday 11th May) entered Andi Deris' Mi Sueno Studios on Tenerife to start the recordings for the yet untitled follow up to the highly acclaimed and successful "Keeper Of The Seven Keys - The Legacy" studio album, the Live-double-CD "Live in Sao Paulo" and the Live-double-DVD "Live On 3 Continents". Once more, the band teamed up with long time producer Charlie Bauerfeind (Blind Guardian, Saxon).

The planned release date again is scheduled for Halloween-day, October 31st. The world tour will start mid of November in Europe, to be followed by South East Asia, North and South America in the first half of 2008.

Source:	helloween.org
Band profile:	Helloween

From Wacken Open Air and onwards, Mats Levén will no longer be singing with the band. It was a decision taken by the whole band in discussion with Mats. This change of line-up is on friendly terms and the remaining shows before Wacken will be performed with the same energy and passion as if nothing had happened. There are no bad feelings. Therion will continue to delevop even further into the direction we set on the last tour and Mats will focus on his new projects.

The background to this change is that on the last tour we all noticed that Mats lacked a bit of the energy and motivation we used to see in him. Not in a way that the actual performance on stage suffered from it, he has always been extremely professional and would never let down an audience. It was rather us noticing behind the scenes that some of his previous fire was missing. It seemed the new concept with 4 lead singers and a somewhat more musical type of set up didn't suit him as well as the concept we had before where his rock n' roll style contrasting to Karin Fjellanders traditional classsical appearance was a huge part of the idea. So we started to think and talk about the possibility of finding someone else who would have the right motivation and vocal skills to develp this new live concept even further.
A while after the tour we had discussions with Mats that in the end led to the decision to free him from his duties and search for a replacement.

Every time there was a change in the Therion line-up, it caused a lot of discussions. Some will always prefer the previous line-up because for some reason or another. Those who was with us back then probably remember the discussions after Martina, Anders "the bald guy" Engberg etc. Some fans fell in love with the high-energy vitamin injection that Mats gave to the band, while others thought he was too much rock n' roll for Therion (which btw was totally our intention when engaging him for the Lemuria/Sirius B tour). Without a doubt though, it is clear that a majority will think back of the period with Mats on stage with a huge smile. Each stage in Therion's development has had it's own unique charm and strenghts and it is therefore a good thing when people are missed, but the good part is that it does not mean one has to be disappointed with the next step.

And the part you all have been waiting for... The new guy will be Thomas Vikström, a singer who has been singing both opera, operettas and musicals as well as rock, metal and loads of other stuff. He is probably most known in the metal world for singing on a Candlemass album (which is actually far from his best effort). Here in Sweden he is also know for the melodic hard rock band Talk Of The Town. His great vocal abilities will for sure be more known at least among the Therion fans after the tour.

Source:	megatherion.com
Band profile:	Therion

The following links were posted on Annihilator's official forum on their website:

Never, Neverland - live at Elysée Montmatre 28.04.2007
Alison Hell - live at Elysée Montmatre 28.04.2007
Clown Parade - live at Elysee Montmartre 28.04.2007
King of the Kill - live in Paris 28.04.2007 (Trivium Tour)
W.T.Y.D - live in Glasgow 13.04.2007

You can also find live pictures of the show at Paris here and live pictures of the show at Glasgow here.

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Source:	annihilatormetal.com
Band profile:	Annihilator

The following message was posted on Winds's official website:

"Winds is entering the studio on April 4th to complete the work on their long anticipated fourth recording. The laying down of the tracks was finished gradually over the past three years, and now ready for the task of mixing, Winds has chosen Hipposonic Studios in Vancouver and mixing engineer Shaun Thingvold for the task. Shaun Thingvold has previously worked with bands like Fear Factory, Paradise Lost, Lamb Of God, Strapping Young Lad and Devin Townsend Band.

As previously reported, guest performances on the follow-up to 2004's The Imaginary Direction of Time have been completed by Dan Swano, Agnete M. Kirkevaag, Lars A. Nedland and Oystein Moe, along with a classical string ensemble from the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. It has also been confirmed that graphic designer Travis Smith has completed the cover layout, and that a title for the record has been known within the band for several years already. The album title, along with a complete track listing, front cover and release date, will all be announced in the not too distant future".

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Source:	winds.ws
Band profile:	Winds

It has been reported that Devin Townsend has announced during a Ziltoid the Omniscient press conference that he has put an end to Strapping Young Lad and The Devin Townsend Band, and that he shall do no more tours in the future. He will though apparently continue to release solo music.

"Yesterday InsideOut Music and the Tora! Company held an exclusive media showcase for the new Devin Townsend solo album Ziltoid The Omniscient, including an appearance and Q&A session with the man himself. This turned out to not in fact include a musical performance from Devin, but a hilarious puppet show using Devin's superb hand-made rubber Ziltoid puppet he uses in the videos on the Ziltoid MySpace page, and held a press conference from a booth on the stage of the Underworld in Camden, London.

Ziltoid took questions from the audience and during his answers he mentioned Devin would be moving into the mountains, never to be seen from again.

The audience thought it was part of the Ziltoid act, but after a while a tired looking Townsend emerged and confirmed that he is, indeed, quitting and moving to a remote town in Northern Canada.

He plans to continue to make "a ton of music", some of which will be heavy, some ambient, like his other new CD The Hummer, and everything in between. He's going to build a new studio at his new house, and will be keeping his studio in Vancouver where he produces other bands. So every now and again a Devin Townsend album will emerge, possibly on the internet, but he won't tour and won't be doing any other kind of public appearances, like interviews etc.

Eight months ago he and his wife had their first child, Reyner Liam Johnstan Townsend, and his arrival has accelerated Devin's decision to back away from the limelight, but is not the sole reason for it. He said these are feelings he's had for some time, and is just so tired of touring and doing interviews and being the focus of things. He also said he's tired of Strapping Young Lad. The last tour was a real struggle for him to muster any enthusiasm, mostly because SYL was initially created to vent all his frustrations, which no longer exist. He's not the angry early-twenties nutter anymore. He's a mellow mid-thirties nutter, and doesn't feel the need to be screaming at everyone.

So, Strapping Young Lad is over for good. So is the Devin Townsend Band. Devin's music will be made solo from now on, and he will continue to produce other peoples' music, but will not tour."

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Source:	jukebo.cx
Band profile:	Devin Townsend

French Heavy Metallers Nightmare have posted two new videos online.Check out a live clip of the band performing 'Heretic' at France's Hellfest in 2006 at this location.
Also, footage of the band performing 'The Legend' during their comeback gig in Grenoble, France in 1999 can be see at this location.

This week, Nightmare began recording their sixth studio album. After 3 albums produced by Norwegian producer Terje Refsnes, the band has now opted for a new challenge.
The recording is taking place at the famous Fredman studio in Gothenburg, Sweden and the album will be produced by Fredrik Nordström (Dimmu Borgir, In Flames, Hammerfall, Dream Evil, etc.).
The group's follow-up to 2005's "The Dominion Gate" will be released by Sweden's Regain Records in fall, 2007, followed by full French tour and European dates.

The band has also joined forces with international booking agent MDM Concerts in Germany in cooperation with Blue Steel Agency.

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Source:	bravewords.com
Band profile:	Nightmare

The song 'Deeprooted' from the latest Manes album "How The World Came To An End" - released through Candlelight Records in April - is now made available for your listening pleasure at the band's official MySpace page.

This song will also be released as a part of an iTunes-only release due out Monday, May 14. The track listing for the "Deeprooted" webrelease is as follows:

01. Deeprooted (edit)
02. Deeprooted (fox treatment)
03. The Cure-All (lost time mix)

A new E-Card for "How The World Came To An End" is now available at this location.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Manes

The new album "Stone Of Light" of Aisling (Melodic Pagan Black Metal from Italy) is coming soon.

Two new songs of it 'Bora' and 'Stone Of Light' were added on the official MySpace page of the band, here.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Aisling

According to Blabbermouth.com, East Coast Thrashers Overkill have signed with Bodog Music in the US and TVT in Europe for the release of their follow-up to 2005's "ReliXIV", tentatively due in September/October.

More news about Overkill's upcoming US tour dates can be found here.

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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Overkill