It's taken them a very long time, but veteran heavy metal band Metallica and its noted anti-piracy spokesman Lars Ulrich have apparently finally seen the light. After years of moaning about how mp3 downloads are costing him money, Lars Ulrich and Metallica are finally giving themselves the chance to earn some of it back by offering their music for sale on iTunes.

Back in 2000 or so, there was a spirited battle going on in the online world between illicit downloading services offering free and easy downloads of copyrighted music on one side, and the traditional music industry on the other.

Source:	canada.com
Band profile:	Metallica

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

Poisonblack will support Lacuna Coil on their upcoming European tour to present their upcoming album "Lust Stained Despair" live on the road.

Dates are as follows:

22.09.2006 (I) Treviso - New Age
23.09.2006 (I) Cesena - Vidia
24.09.2006 (I) Rome - Palacisalfa
25.09.2006 (I) Florence - Auditorium
26.09.2006 (I) Milan - Alcatraz
28.09.2006 (ES) Barcelona - Razzmatazz
29.09.2006 (ES) Madrid - Arena
30.09.2006 (ES) Bergara - Jam
01.10.2006 (F) Bordeux - Barbey
02.10.2006 (F) Clermont - Ferrant Cooperative de Mai
03.10.2006 (F) Paris - Olympia
06.10.2006 (UK) Portsmouth - Pyramids
07.10.2006 (UK) Cardiff - Coal Exchange
08.10.2006 (UK) Birmingham - Academy
10.10.2006 (UK) Glasgow - Barrowland
11.10.2006 (UK) Nottingham - Rock City
12.10.2006 (UK) Manchester - Academy
13.10.2006 (UK) London - Astoria
16.10.2006 (UK) Dublin - Olympia
17.10.2006 (UK) Sheffield - Corporation
18.10.2006 (NL) Tilburg - O13
19.10.2006 (B) Antwerp - Hof Ter Loo
21.10.2006 (DK) Copenhagen - Pumpehuset
22.10.2006 (SE) Malmo - KB
23.10.2006 (N) Oslo - Rockefeller
28.10.2006 (SE) Stockholm - Klubben
29.10.2006 (SE) Gothenburg - Tragarn
30.10.2006 (D) Berlin - Huxley.s
31.10.2006 (D) Hamburg - Docks
02.11.2006 (D) Muenchen - Georg Elser Halle
03.11.2006 (A) Vienna - Planet Music
04.11.2006 (A) Linz - Posthof
06.11.2006 (D) Koeln - Live Music Hall
07.11.2006 (D) Stuttgart - Longhorn (LKA)
08.11.2006 (CH) Zurich - Rohstofflager

Source:	poisonblack.com
Band profile:	Poisonblack

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

Primal Fear and Sinner - both featuring bassist/songwriter Mat Sinner - will join forces and appear for the first time on the same stage on the same night at H20 in Reichenbach (near Stuttgart), Germany. The gig is scheduled for October 7th.

This "German Mega Event" will include a convention and a party with the bands, promoters and fans from Europe and around the world.

Source:	primalfear.de
Band profile:	Primal Fear

Heavy/power metallers Manowar will release a new single "The Sons of Odin" in October via Magic Circle Music, followed by a full length DVD containing the historic EarthShaker Fest 2005 performance this November.
"Fans can soon expect more details about the release date of the new studio album entitled "Gods Of War."
For further details visit the band homepage.

Source:	manowar.com
Band profile:	Manowar

Wuthering Heights finally announces the release dates for their new album "The Shadow Cabinet." The dates are:

In Japan the album will be released (including the bonus track "Shadow Of A Gipsy," which is a coversong by the band ACHE) on October 25th 2006.
In Europe the album (including the bonus song "Midnight Song") will be released October 27th through Locomotive Music.
In USA the album (including bonus live disc "Roaming Far From Home - Live At ProgPower 2004") will be released through Sensory Records on November 07th 2006.
They're still waiting for the release date for South America.

They have also done a serious layout change on their homepage to match the new cover art. It also features two soundclips from the new album.

Source:	wuthering-heights.dk
Band profile:	Wuthering Heights

'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

You can now listen to samples from two new songs of the upcoming Draconian's bonus album "The Burning Halo." The samples can be found on the band's official website.

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Source:	draconian.se
Band profile:	Draconian

When Deicide's upcoming album 'The Stench Of Redemption' is released it will be available as a boxset. There will be the "Super-Limited Edition Collector's Box Set" version which will contain the normal cd with a bonus track, four collectable band member art cards and a double sided colour poster. It will be limited to only 2000 copies and the Earache website says "First come first served." It will also be in an actual box. There will still be the normal cd version, but also an LP version and a special edition "picture disc" version. The Stench Of Redemption will be released on the 22nd August.

Source:	earache.com
Band profile:	Deicide

The artwork for the first single from the new Iron Maiden album, A Matter Of Life And Death, has been posted on the Iron Maiden Online Club forums, Check it out at here.

As previously reported, the new single entitled The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg, will be released in mid-August

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Source:	maidennorway.com
Band profile:	Iron Maiden

German death metallers Suidakra have completed the production of their new album "Caledonia" to be released November 17th with Armageddon Music. The follow-up to "Command to Charge" was recorded at Gernhart Records studio in Siegburg, Germany and features artwork by Kris Verwimp at http://www.armageddonmusic.de/php/news/uploaded_images/image40.jpg.

According to the band webpage, "Caledonia" adopts the lyrical concept of ancient Scottish history, and has such as "Highland Hills," "Forth-Clyde," and "The IXth Legion."

Source:	suidakra.com
Band profile:	Suidakra

The artwork for the forthcoming Megadeth Album United Abominations has been revealed in the Gigantour 2006 e-card. See the small preview at http://www.rattleheadhq.com/wordpress/?p=423.

The e-card appears to use one of the Vic Rattlehead redesigns from the DeviantART contest. This entry appeared in the top 11 but did not win the contest. The Vic that appears to feature on the cover of United Abominations can be found here.

View all contest entries.

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Source:	rattleheadhq.com
Band profile:	Megadeth