The Batallion, the Bergen, Norway-based old-school Death/Thrash band consisting of members of Old Funeral, Deathcon, Borknagar and Grimfist, has just released a self-titled four-song debut EP via the Norwegian label Masculin Records on both vinyl and CD.

Members of The Batallion are:

Stud Bronson - Guitar and Vocals
Lust Kilman - Guitar
Colt Kane - Bass
Morden - Drums

For more information, including audio samples, go to this location.

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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Grimfist

Dutch female-fronted symphonic metal band After Forever will embark on a North American tour in October.
Confirmed dates so far are as follows:

Oct. 07 - Nashville, TN @ The Muse
Oct. 09 - Houston, TX @ The Meridian (supporting Sonata Arctica)
Oct. 10 - San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit (supporting Finntroll)
Oct. 12 - Cedar Falls, IA @ The Reverb
Oct. 13 - St Paul, MN @ Station 4
Oct. 14 - Mokena, IL @ Pearl Room (supporting Overkill)
Oct. 15 - Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's Down Under
Oct. 16 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
Oct. 17 - Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks
Oct. 18 - Montreal, QUE @ Club Soda
Oct. 19 - Bedford, NH @ Marks Place
Oct. 20 - Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
Oct. 21 - New York, NY @ B.B. King Blues Club & Grill (supporting Overkill)

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Source:	metalunderground.com
Band profile:	After Forever
Event:	After Forever: N. American Tour

The tracklist for the upcoming new album "Salomé - The Seventh Veil" (cover), which will be released on 25th May 2007, has been posted online :

01. Save My Life
02. Vampire
03. Beware
04. Emotional Man
05. Salomé
06. Only For The Stars In Your Eyes
07. Firestorm
08. A New Age
09. The Wind And The Ocean
10. Sisters Of The Light
11. Sleeping Dogs Lie
12. On My Way

In addition, a sample of 'Save My Life' has been posted on their MySpace, here.

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Source:	xandria.de
Band profile:	Xandria

Cephalic Carnage has unveiled the first new track 'Endless Cycle Of Violence', from their upcoming full-length album "Xenosapien", via the band's MySpace page.
"Endless Cycle Of Violence", the album's lead-off track, will also be the first video from the record.
The albums is due for a 28 May release.

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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Cephalic Carnage

The following message was posted on Primal Fear's official website:

We've finalized all recordings now incl. the orchestra parts and Ralf recorded lead & backing vocals on his last full song 'The Curse Of Sharon' & 'Drenched In Blood' over the Easter weekend and today, we can reveal the title of the new Primal Fear album: NEW RELIGION

... and even more - here are the songtitles of the recorded tracks:

- New Religion
- Drenched In Blood
- The Curse Of Sharon
- Face The Emptiness
- Too Much Time
- Everytime It Rains
- Burning Bridges
- Psycho
- World On Fire
- The Man (I Don't Know)
- The Darkness
a. Fighting The Darkness
b. Darkness II
c. Reprise

"New Religion" is due on August 31 via Frontiers Records. Guest musicians on the album include Magnus Karlsson (Starbreaker, Allen/Lande), Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray, ex-Helloween) and Simone Simons (Epica).

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Source:	primalfear.de
Band profile:	Primal Fear

Taken from The Underground Video Television Newsletter:

Another live performance video of Lacuna Coil has been posted at Underground Video Television Website, here.
The footage was taken at The Palladium in Worcester MA last year during the band's tour with In Flames & The Sword and is for their track 'Fragments Of Faith' from their Century Media release "Karmacode".

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Source:	uvtv.info
Band profile:	Lacuna Coil

California-based Speed Metallers Agent Steel have confirmed dates on the Alienigma European Tour 2007 with labelmates Vicious Rumors and Belgium's loudest After All. Dates are as follows:

September
5 - Frankfurt, Germany - Nachtleben
6 - Weert, Netherlands - De Bosuil
7 - Eeklo, Belgium - Meetjeslands Metalfest 4 (CC De Herbakker)
8 - Noordwijk, Netherlands - Join
9 - Rijssen, Netherlands - Lucky & Co. (+ Candlemass)
10 - TBA
11 - TBA
12 - TBA
13 - Madrid, Spain - Ritmo & Compas
14 - Palencia, Spain - Carabel
15 - Bilbao, Spain - Santana 27
16 - Barcelona, Spain - Salamandra
18 - Treviso, Italy - New Age Club Roncade
19 - Montegranaro (Fermo), Italy - Tana delle Tigri
21 - Athens, Greece - Venue TBA
22 - Thessaloniki, Greece - Venue TBA
23 - Skopje, Macedonia - Venue TBA

More dates TBA....

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Source:	agentsteelonline.com
Band profile:	Agent Steel
Event:	Agent Steel: Alienigma European Tour

Nocturnal Rites have posted the brand new song 'Never Again' at their MySpace page, here.

Furthermore, the band present the new video clip for 'Never Again' at YouTube, here or here.
The clip was directed by the band's drummer Owe Lingvall, who started his own video production company Village Road Films last year and already created clips for Wolf, Carnal Forge and Morgana Lefay.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Nocturnal Rites

Token from the official Seasons Of Mist Newsletter:

British Doom metallers Esoteric welcome new drummer Joe Fletcher to the band. After 18 months, the guys have finally found someone suitably talented and disturbed to join them. Esoteric look forward to working with him both live and in the studio.

Alongside this comes the news that the band is looking for a third guitarist following the recent departure of Steve Peters. Please not that Esoteric is based in the Birmingham area of the West Midlands, UK, and that experience and dedication are essential. You can contact the band through www.myspace.com/esotericuk or greg@sinistrous.demon.co.uk

Esoteric have nearly completed writing and arranging their fifth album. So far there are over 100 minutes of material and the band hopes to enter the studio in the next month or two, so you can expect a possible double album for a late 2007 release.

Finally, Esoteric will be returning to the live stage after an 18 month absence. The shows are as follows:

* 20 Apr 07 Birmingham (UK) The Barfly ( + Anaal Nathrakh + Deadweight)
* 08 Jun 07 Luynes (FR) Le Korigan
* 09 Jun 07 Paris (FR) La Locomotive ( + Pantheist + Imindain + ...)

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Source:	season-of-mist.com
Band profile:	Esoteric

Token from the official Season Of Mist Newsletter:

Season Of Mist are happy to welcome back Norwegian "schizo" metallers Atrox, and are proud to announce the upcoming release of the band's third album for the label, after "Contentum" (2000) and "Terrestrials" (2002). Here's the band's comment:

"After having journeyed through the blistering white silence for a long time, we climbed the high towers of the landscape. Only equipped with our binoculars, we sat there for days, weeks, months, even years passed by. Observing. Monitoring. Gently assembling the pieces. Suddenly, the perspective exceeded before us, enlightening us, sharing its secrets. We finally found the formula with all the ones and zeros in the right order. We could go higher, deeper, beyond the boundaries that we once had created and into a higher level of consciousness. Atrox have always been considered visionaries in the metal genre, and this will in no way change with the new album release. However, this time we have focused more on building stronger structures, spent years on finding the right recipe so that we could blend all components into the Atroxsphere, leaving us with a high-intensity acoustic and digital energy product.
This is an ambitious record, certain to be the best Atrox album to date. Musically this will be an album full of contrasts. Contrasts of old and new, organic and mechanic. Modern electronics meets vintage instruments in a rare symbiosis. It can be weird, it can be complex, it can be smooth. In the name of Retrofuture and White Silent Binoculars."

Source:	season-of-mist.com
Band profile:	Atrox

In a shock development, Avantgarde metallers Arcturus have decided to disband after a highly successful tour of Australia.

Local tour promoters Just Say Rock Productions broke the news to patrons of the concerts via e-Mail, stating their reasons: "The band just thought that the time was right, the moment had come and that due to their tour of Australia being so successful they wanted to go out on top... their Australian tour was one of their greatest highlights and they rated their Melbourne show as one of their all time memorable all round events."

Bravewords.com reported that, in response to a question asked by Australian fan Vanessa at the band's MySpace page, Arcturus drummer Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg (Dimmu Borgir, Mayhem) responded with the following:

"Yes we are splitting up, there is no more time for all of us, as everyone is extremely busy. But there have been some killer 16 years or so :-)

See you next time with Mayhem or Dimmu, and those bands are not likely to split up any time soon ;-) ."

Another fan post on the page reads: "Vortex (vocalist Simen "Vortex" Hestnæs) announced that the Melbourne show was their last, I spent alot of time talking to all members of the band and they all gave me the impression that they were somewhat relieved it was coming to an end. I feel totally blessed to have been able to spend a week with them and be at their last ever show. Sadly they all said that a reunion is very unlikely."

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Source:	bravewords.com
Band profile:	Arcturus

"Supervillian Outcast", the new album from the Norwegian Black Metal band Dødheimsgard, is available for streaming at this location. The album will be released on April 17th on Moonfog/The End Records.

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Source:	mp3.com
Band profile:	Dødheimsgard

Killswitch Engage are excited to announce that they'll be on the Warped Tour this summer.
Vans Warped Tour 2007 Killswitch Engage dates are as follows:

6/29 Pomona Fairgrounds Pomona, CA
6/30 Seaside Park Ventura, CA
7/01 Shoreline Amphitheater San Francisco, CA
7/03 Thunderbird Stadium at UBC Vancouver, BC
7/05 Race City Motorsport Park Calgary, AB
7/07 Utah State Fairgrounds Salt Lake City, UT
7/08 Invesco Field/Pepsi Center Denver, CO
7/11 Cricket Pavilion Phoneix, AZ
7/12 NMSU Practice Field Las Cruces, NM
7/13 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater San Antonio, TX
7/14 Smirnoff Dallas, TX
7/15 Reliant Center Houston, TX
7/18 HiFi Buys Amphitheater Atlanta, GA
7/19 Equestrian Center Jacksonville, FL
7/20 Vinoy Park St. Petersburg, FL
7/21 Bayfront Park Miami, FL
7/22 Tinker Field Orlando, FL
7/24 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Virginia Beach, VA
7/25 Merriweather Post Pavillion Washington, DC
7/26 Montage Mountain Amphitheater Scranton, PA
7/27 Comercia Park and Street Detroit, MI
7/28 1st Midwest Bank Amphitheater Chicago, IL
7/29 Metrodome Minneapolis, MN
7/31 Marcus Amphitheatre Milwaukee, WI
8/01 Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH
8/02 Tower City Amphitheater Cleveland, OH
8/03 Tweeter Center @ Waterfront Philadelphia, PA
8/04 Nassau Coliseum New York, NY
8/05 Raceway Park Englishtown, NJ
8/07 Verizon Wireless Music Center Indianapolis, IN
8/08 Post Gazette Pavilion Pittsburgh, PA
8/09 Tweeter Center Boston, MA
8/10 Darien Lakes Fields Buffalo, NY
8/11 Park Place Toronto, ONT
8/12 Parc Jean-Drapeau Montreal, QC
8/14 UMB Bank Pavillion St. Louis, MO
8/15 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Kansas City, KS
8/17 Idaho Center Boise, ID
8/18 The Gorge Amphitheatre Seattle, WA
8/19 Columbia Meadows Portland, OR
8/22 Selland Arena Fresno, CA
8/23 Sleep Train Amphitheater Sacramento, CA
8/24 Coors Amphitheater San Diego, CA
8/25 Home Depot Center Los Angeles, CA

You can find more information at this location.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Killswitch Engage
Event:	Killswitch Engage: Vans Warped Tour

The following statement was posted by frontman Herr Morbid on Forgotten Tomb's official homepage:

"It looks like the german media (in particular: Legacy Magazine) are trying to boycott Forgotten Tomb without reserve. Not only they refused to interview the band and review "Negative Megalomania", but they refused to include the advertisement for our new album in their fucking magazines too. The nazi-paranoia going on in the german Metal scene is nothing new, but I think this time they're really going beyond any reasonable measure. Starting from the idea that ALL Black Metal bands are automatically Nazi and basing their paranoia on completely unreliable sources, these magazines are trying to boycott our band in every possible way. It seems like the band won't be able to play live-shows in Germany too, due to this fucking Anti-FT Propaganda.
After explaining the band's point of view on such topics in the clearest way possible, it seems like those people are still ignoring the fact that FT can't be labelled as a "Nazi" band. So, with this post, we're asking to all our german fans to boycott the german Metal magazines, since they're trying to boycott our band.
I think all this story is completely pathetic, especially when I see Legacy Magazine putting up Type O Negative's Peter Steele on the front-cover of their current issue (all german Metalheads will remember the controversial battle of Peter Steele against the german media and left-winged activists in the middle of '90s, due to the same reasons that led me to write this post).
So, if you support our band, boycott those fucking magazines. We know most of the magazines get money from the national Publishers Associations to be printed, and that's probably the real reason why all this mess happened. They fear that covering a "suspected Nazi" band, they could have problems from the government and lose money, heh.
We don't care if our fans are right-winged, left-winged, anarchists or whatever, FT is an unpolitical band and we don't care about people's personal political belief, unlike the german media.
Thanx for support to all our german fans! We'll be back in Germany with a vengeance, promised."

Source:	forgottentomb.com
Band profile:	Forgotten Tomb

To tie in with the release of its forthcoming album "Antichrist" (due on May 28 via Earache), U.K. Death Metal band Akercocke has launched a treasure hunt with a twist ? The Antichrist Code. This is a unique digital phenomenon that asks fans to take part in a quest that is both challenging and confounding, with the reward of seeking a unique grand prize.

Avid Akercocke devotees will be guided around the depths of the Internet, through sites such as MySpace and YouTube with their skills of discovery put firmly to the test at every stage. By following clues and unearthing conclusions relating to AKERCOCKE, fans will take part in a rare pursuit that will present them face-to-face with a dazzling and satisfying result.

The hunt to crack The Antichrist Code begins at this location.

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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Akercocke