Dissection singer/guitarist Jon Nödtveidt announced in an exclusive interview segment with fans only on the band's website forum, titled 'An Interview by the Fans for The Fans', that the band has come to a close.

In the words of founder Jon Nödtveidt: "With Reinkaos we have reached the ending chapter. Dissection's work is done and this is our legacy."

On June 24th, 2006 the first European gig based on the material of Reinkaos will be performed. The first, as well as the last. The Midsummer Massacre will mark the victorious end of Dissection. "We will also make our first and last concert in Israel, as well as two final concerts on the American continent."

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Source:	dissection.nu
Band profile:	Dissection
Event:	Dissection Midsummer Massacre

Suffocation have posted the following message on their website:

"Suffocation regrets to announce that our scheduled European run for June 12th - July 2nd has been cancelled due to the inability of the booking agent to secure the dates needed to fulfill this tour. We apologize to the fans who may have purchased tickets in advance. On a more positive note, Suffocation will be doing a three week tour of Europe in August that is already confirmed and will be posted shortly. Regarding the new release you've all be waiting for, we are currently in the studio recording it and all is going as planned. We have hired the services of Tattoo Artist JonZig to complete the new album cover and the new Suffocation symbol. We are thrilled with the results so far and guarantee you will be too."

Source:	suffocation.us
Band profile:	Suffocation

According to MTM Music, Sinner have signed to the label and are due to release a new album in September. The band line-up features Primal Fear bassist Mat Sinner and his PF bandmate Tom Naumann (guitars), Frank Rössler (keyboards), Metalium's Matte Lange (guitars) and former Primal Fear drummer Klaus Sperling. The new album is slated for a January 2007 release.

MTM president Mario Lehmann has issued the following statement: "I'm really pround and especially happy about this signing and that a metal legend like Mat Sinner decided to release his next Sinner album on MTM Music. With Mask Of Sanity we will not only please the traditional friends of hardrock, but also a lot of metalfans!"

Mat Sinner, meanwhile, has offered the following comment on working with Sperling again: "It's really fantastic to have Klaus back on board and with MTM Music, we found a great trustfully partner for the bands future! I can promise, that Mask Of Sanity will be a 100% Sinner album, with a lot of harmony guitars and all trademarks of the Sinner history! Klaus Sperling is no stranger to the Sinner songs, as he helped out the band on their Japan tour 1999, their European tour with Dio in 2000 and some open air performances in Europe. Sperling played drums on the highly acclaimed Sinner version of Accept's classic 'Balls To The Wall' (A Tribute To Accept)!. We've finished the pre-production for the first bunch of tracks and we're excited. Here are some of the songtitles: 'The Sign', 'Revenge', 'Last Men Standing', 'Thunderroar', 'Mask Of Sanity' and 'Black'. We're going on with the pre-production and get back with some more news asap!"

The new album will be produced by Achim Koehler. A release date has been set for January 19th, 2007.

The debut show for the new Sinner line up will take place on October 7th in Reichenbach, Germany together with Primal Fear.

Source:	mtm-music.com
Band profile:	Sinner

Napalm Death have begun recording their followup to 2005's "Long Live The Code". The tentatively titled "Smear Campaign" is set to be released through Century Media Records at the end of 2006. More details to be released soon.

Napalm Death vocalist Barney Greenway commented, "After working our arses off on new stuff for the last couple of months, we kind of slipped into the studio when noone was looking. This thing is already sounding totally immense - even better than Code..., from where I'm standing. It's fast and furious, as you'd expect, but we're also throwing a few curveballs in, in true ND tradition. Can't wait for everyone to hear it. Take it easy peeps."

Source:	centurymedia.com
Band profile:	Napalm Death

Dying Fetus have officially announced the addition of drummer Duane Timlin to their line-up. Here's a statement from the band:

"It's been a long year of searching, but we wanted to move forward in the certainty of having the right person for the group. Duane joins Mike Kimball, guitar, Sean Beasley, bass and vocals, and original member John Gallagher, guitar and vocals, to complete our 4-piece lineup. The band were already friends with Duane, and even toured with him when he played drums for Divine Empire, who supported Dying Fetus on our 2003 summer headlining tour. Duane submitted an impressive video audition as well as auditioning in person the weekend of May 13, and has demonstrated to us that he has the skills and dedication we were looking for! We want to thank everyone who auditioned or contacted us about the spot - we appreciate your consideration, talent, and hard work. We will announce further details about our recording and touring schedule soon. Keep checking back for recording dates in mid-summer and tour dates in late winter of this year."

Source:	dyingfetus.com
Band profile:	Dying Fetus

On the 22nd of May, Inside Out released Riverside's mini album, "Voices In My Head". It contains five new, previously unreleased songs, live versions of three tracks from "Out Of Myself" and a video clip to "Acronym Love" created by John Vis.

Source:	riverside.art.pl
Band profile:	Riverside

Morbid Angel and World Management have announced the band's full European tour festival schedule for this summer. Here are all the confirmed dates:

Aug. 5 - Wacken, Germany - Wacken Open Air
Aug. 7 - Kavarna, Bulgaria - Monsters Of Rock Festival
Aug. 12 - Svojsice, Czech Republic - Brutal Assault Festival
Aug. 14 - Vienna, Austria - Planet Music
Aug. 15 - Budapest, Hungary - Sziget Festival
Aug. 16 - Belgrade, Serbia - SKC
Aug. 18 - Dinkelsbuehl-Sinbronn, Germany - Summer Breeze Festival
Aug. 20 - Tilburg, Holland - 013
Aug. 22 - London, England - Mean Fiddler
Aug. 24 - Bergen, Norway - Hole In The Sky Festival
Aug. 26 - Germunden Am Main, Germany - Up From The Ground Open Air

Source:	metaleater.com
Band profile:	Morbid Angel
Event:

BLIND GUARDIAN have announced a North American tour to support "A Twist In The Myth," their new album to be relseased September 2006 release via Nuclear Blast Records. The dates are as follows:

Nov. 08 - Marquee Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
Nov. 09 - House Of Blues - San Diego, CA
Nov. 10 - Galaxy Theatre - Santa Ana, CA
Nov. 11 - Avalon - Los Angeles, CA
Nov. 12 - Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
Nov. 14 - TBA - Vancouver, BC
Nov. 15 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
Nov. 17 - Avalon - Salt Lake City, UT
Nov. 18 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
Nov. 20 - The Rave - Milwaukee, WI
Nov. 21 - House Of Blues - Chicago, IL
Nov. 22 - The Quest - Minneapolis, MN
Nov. 24 - Newport Music Hall - Columbus, OH
Nov. 25 - Harpo's - Detroit, MI
Nov. 26 - Opera House - Toronto, ON
Nov. 28 - Salle Albert-Rousseau - Québec City, QC
Nov. 29 - The Medley - Montreal, QC
Nov. 30 - tba - New York, NY
Dec. 01 - Palladium - Worcester, MA
Dec. 02 - TBA - Philadelphia, PA
Dec. 04 - 9.30 Club - Washington, D.C.
Dec. 05 - TBA
Dec. 07 - House Of Blues - Orlando, FL
Dec. 08 - Roxy - Atlanta, GA
Dec. 09 - House Of Blues - New Orleans, LA
Dec. 10 - Meridian - Houston, TX
Dec. 11 - Backroom - Austin, TX

More dates will be announced soon.

Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Blind Guardian

Lamb Of God have set "Sacrament" as the title of their highly anticipated album release, due late Summer 2006 via Epic Records.

The group has been unusually tight lipped about the new recording, turning down all but a select few in-studio and pre-studio interviews. No listening sessions, demo recordings or audio samples have been granted or released.

News from March 2nd notes that the band had once again tapped friend and producer Machine ('Ashes of the Wake') to handle the production duties for "Sacrament".

At that time drummer Chris Adler had the following to say:
"Everyone wants to know what the new material is like or have us compare it to something. It's tough to do because when your proud of something you want to say it's better than something else or that it's more of this or that. I don't want to do that - every Lamb Of God album has been a snapshot in time, a puzzle that spelled out who we are as individual musicians and as a band. They each represent a certain amount of experience and ability - and without saying more, we now have more of both of those than ever. We have continued to raise the bar for ourselves in every aspect of what we do, and we are expecting more of ourselves than ever heading into this. We're looking forward to tracking and releasing this intense and very heavy release."

News surfaced that as of April 11th drummer Chris Adler had finished tracking drums at Spin Recording studios in Long Island City, New York.

All interviews with Chris and his brother Willie Adler were cancelled during the drum tracking session and several more have been cancelled as the band continues tracking guitars and vocals in Richmond, VA.

In the most recent news from the camp guitarist Mark Morton had the following comments on the recording and the material:
"There's an intensity to this project that feels heavier than previous records. The vibe around the sessions has been serious. Not in a conflict sort of way, just more focused and driven than ever before. We know we're onto something. I've done very few interviews over the course of these sessions and everybody wants to know titles and track listings and details like that, but we're not coming off of that kind of stuff just yet. It's too early. This record's way too important to us to allow anyone in until the five of us are in agreement that it's exactly how we want it. It's definitely not a casual approach this time around. We really want this album to have an impact....it feels like it will."

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Source:	lamb-of-god.com
Band profile:	Lamb Of God

Swedish Viking metallers AMON AMARTH have started recordings for their sixth full length album at Fascination Street studio (OPETH, SOILWORK - www.fascinationstreet.se) in their home country Sweden. The band have posted the following studio report at their official website:

"Around noon (yesterday - May 23rd) Ted (Lundström) finished all bass lines and added another level of heaviness to the production and, just to show his appearance, Thor brought on a little thunderstorm yesterday. It changed our bbq plans for the evening a bit, but we don't mind. Next up is Johan (Hegg) adding his powerful grunts. We have divided the vocals recording into two sessions so we will start with two or three days first. After that we take five days to lay down lead guitars and will continue with the vocals after that. This to make it easier for Johan's voice to last, since screaming 8-10 hours straight per day is not the easiest task!"

Amon Amarth's as-yet-untitled album is scheduled for release mid to end of September.

Source:	thegauntlet.com
Band profile:	Amon Amarth

Hammerfall guitarist Oscar Dronjak has posted this studio report on the band's MySpace page:

"We had a few beers and watched some stand-up comedy in the form of Eddie Izzard's 'Cricle' until late last night, but I woke up at nine-thirty feeling rested anyway. There were only two songs left for today, the instrumental 'Reign Of The Hammer' and the fast triplet song 'Genocide'. Saving the hardest for last, it was instrumental time now. It's a fairly simple song, and Magnus (Rosen - bass) had learned the stops well before hand. So, by one o'clock, it was triplet time again. Woo-hooo...

Being a first-timer with the pick, he had his work cut out for him, but Magnus came through beautifully. This Hammerfall album is going to sound more Heavy Metal than ever based on the pick factor alone! It sounds so much better, so much tighter, so much more ON it's ridiculous! The track was finished just in time for Magnus and me to make the departure from Lundgård in time to catch the ferry in Fredrikshavn (a three-hour drive, remember?).

It feels like we really have come a long way since last time, this album will be a definite improvement sound - and performance wise (provided that Charlie (Bauerfeind - producer) puts the rest of us through the same rigorous filet he did with the other two, but why shouldn't he?). I just hope the music itself will have improved an equal amount, but it absolutely feels like it. We shall see... Whatever the case, that's it from me for now. We'll return to Denmark on May 31, and I will continue to keep you updated on what's going on down here. Thanks for reading, hope you have found it entertaining and not a complete waste of your time. Cheers!"

Source:	metaleater.com
Band profile:	HammerFall

According to To/Die/For's official website, the band have finished the recordings of their new album, tentatively entitled "Wounds Wide Open". Recorded by Samu Oittinen at Fantom Studios and Jari-Jukka Nippala at Sonic Image, the album will now be sent to Abyss Studios where Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, Pain) will mix it.

"Wounds Wide Open" is set to be released in October. Tentative song titles scheduled to appear on the album include 'Wicked Circle', 'Guilt Ridden State', 'Quiet Room' and 'Liquid Lies'.

Source:	todieforlove.com
Band profile:	To/Die/For

Denmark's Mercenary, having just wrapped up mixing their August 22 release, "The Hours That Remain", with producer Jacob Hansen (Maroon, Hatesphere), who worked with the band on "11 Dreams", have finalized its tracklisting. Vocalist Mikkel Sandager commented on the album, "We made what we feel is the most powerful album in the band's history. Both the writing and the recording processes have really made us a stronger band as we faced quite a few challenges along the way. We can't wait for people to check out the new stuff, and look forward to playing it all live." The Hours That Remain will be packaged with beautiful artwork by Travis Smith (Nevermore, Opeth).

Additionally Mercenary have welcomed bass player René Pedersen, an active performer from Denmark's Transparent, as their new bass player. Pedersen's live debut will be this weekend at The Sägfestival in Greding, Germany. Speaking for the band Sandager said, "We are confident that René fits the bill perfectly, both as a musician and as a person. We have been rehearsing with him through the last month, and he is really kicking ass!" This will also be fan's first opportunity to witness material from The Hours That Remain live. The band will then appear at Germany's Rock Hard Festival, June 2, before joining King Diamond's spring tour.

Mercenary have also been confirmed for September's ProgPower USA VII and ProgPower Europe.

The Hours That Remain Tracklist (in no particular order) :

01. Redefine Me
02. Year Of The Plague
03. My World Is Ending
04. This Eternal Instant
05. Lost Reality
06. Soul Decision
07. Simplicity Demand
08. Obscure Indiscretion
09. My Secret Window
10. The Hours That Remain

Source:	mercenary.dk
Band profile:	Mercenary

Israeli metal band Orphaned Land have announced that Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, No-Man, Bass Communion...) will produce their next album, entitled "The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR".

Commented Orphaned Land vocalist Kobi Farhi: "We are a big fans of Steven's works, we are very much exited that we will work together and we are sure we will make an unforgettable album!"

Added Wilson: "I'm very happy to have the opportunity to work with Orphaned Land, one of the most unique and ambitious metal bands on the scene. I know we are going to make an extraordinary album together."

With regards to the next album's concept, Farhi had previously stated, "The next Orphaned Land album will deal with the war of light and darkness. We've dealt with this topic in the past, yet this time the emphasis will be on the hero of this war ? The Warrior of Light (Lohem Ha'or in Hebrew).

Orphaned land have yet to set a date to begin recording the new album, as they are still working the new material for the new effort. More details will be made available during the coming months.

Source:	blabbermouth.net
Band profile:	Orphaned Land

The End Records have set August 8th, 2006 as the release date for Agalloch's forthcoming album 'Ashes Against The Grain.'
"There will not be a digipack edition, however, there will be a special edition made. More information on that will unfold in the coming months," reveals the band in a statement. "The band will be extremely busy this summer with various projects to promote the new album including a record release show in Portland, as well as other performances. More detailed news will be posted as it comes."

Track listing:
1. Limbs
2. Falling Snow
3. This White Mountain On Which You Will Die
4. Fire Above, Ice Below
5. Not Unlike The Waves
6. Our Fortress Is Burning... I
7. Our Fortress Is Burning... II - Bloodbirds
8. Our Fortress Is Burning... III - The Grain

Source:	theendrecords.com
Band profile:	Agalloch