MY DYING BRIDE and GRIMFIST are the latest two bands confirmed for the 2004 edition of the Inferno Metal Festival, set to take place set to take place April 8-10 at the Rockefeller and John Dee venues in Oslo, Norway. As previously reported, Norway's MAYHEM and Poland's DECAPITATED are also scheduled to appear at the event.

Limited three-day passes for the price of 666 NOK went on sale November 1 and quickly sold out even before any bands had been announced. Regular tickets are now on sale via www.infernofestival.net.

The whole lineup for the Inferno Metal Festival will be revealed at the kick-off party at John Dee in Oslo on January 24. Toastmaster Geir Kolden (VALHALL) will MC and Britain's RETURN TO THE SABBAT (featuring ex-SKYCLAD singer Martin Walkyier) will perform.

Band profile:

My Dying Bride

Swedish melodic metallers NOCTURNAL RITES have reportedly set "New World Messiah" as the title of their follow-up to 2002's "Shadowland", tentatively due in early 2004 through Century Media Records. Working songtitles include "Against the World", "The Icon" and the projected title track. The group's bassist Nils Eriksson had previously described the new material as "pretty much like we've always done... maybe just a tad better."

Band profile:

Nocturnal Rites

KAMELOT mastermind Thomas Youngblood has posted the following message on the band's official web site:

"Hello Kamelotians!!!

"We are very pleased to tell you all that the writing sessions are going even better than expected. We have now completed 8 new songs and cannot get the melodies out of our heads. A good sign for everyone) We just finished 'March of Mephisto', this should be our heaviest song ever and a live classic. Also, we finished a beautiful ballad that will mostly be piano and a small string ensemble. A first for us as well. So we are always working on new twists to the KAMELOT style we hope you all love. Our beloved producer Sascha Paeth will come to Florida after the New Year to begin preproduction and then the fun starts!"

As previously reported, KAMELOT's forthcoming album will be their first for SPV Records, with whom they signed a worldwide deal last spring. An early 2004 release is expected. Other songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Nothing Ever Dies" and "Serenade".

Upcoming KAMELOT shows:

Feb. 13 - Monterrey, MEX @ TBA
Feb. 14 - Mexico City, MEX @ TBA
Feb. 15 - Guadalajara, MEX @ TBA
Feb. 28 - Granada, SPA @ Piorno Rock Festival

Band profile:

Kamelot

The title track to DEICIDE's forthcoming album, "Scars Of The Crucifix", has been posted online at the Earache Records web site at this location.
"Scars Of The Crucifix" (view cover here) was recorded at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida with producer Neil Kernon (CANNIBAL CORPSE, NEVERMORE) and was mixed at Sonic Ranch studios in Tornillo, Texas. A February 24, 2004 release through Earache Records is expected.

The complete track listing for "Scars Of The Crucifix" is as follows:

01. Scars Of The Crucifix
02. Mad At God
03. Conquered By Sodom
04. Fuck Your God
05. When Heaven Burns
06. Enchanted Nightmare
07. From Darkness
08. Go Now
09. Pentecostal

Band profile:

Deicide

Dutch progressive metallers SUN CAGED, who feature in their ranks STAR ONE keyboardist Joost van den Broek, have announced the addition of drummer Roel Van Helden to the group's ranks. The 23-year-olf Van Helden, a student at the academy of music in Tilburg, Netherlands, joins the band as the replacement for Dennis Leeflang, who left the group earlier in the month. " surprised us with the fact that he managed to play the whole album within a week," the band write on their web site. "Besides that, there is a very good chemistry between us and Roel, musically as well as on a personal level. We never played our songs that well before!

"What's funny is the fact that Roel is already a member of Marcel 's solo band and he is also the drummer our bassist Rob played with, at age 14, in his first band.

"We welcome Roel in the Cage, and we are sure that this has brought SUN CAGED to a higher level. We also would like to thank all other drummers who showed interest, and we also hope that the true SUN CAGED fans will welcome Roel with open arms, possibly at one of our upcoming gigs."

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Sun Caged

Norway's THE KOVENANT are in the process of editing video footage from their appearance at the Inferno Festival for use in two clips ("Star By Star" and "Mirror's Paradise") that are expected to be included on their upcoming DVD and various Nuclear Blast Records DVD compilations.

In other news, THE KOVENANT bassist/singer Lex Icon is going to participate with bass and vocals on the second album from Norwegian "dark masters" CROWHEAD. Lex is also working on a new TROLL album.

As previously reported, THE KOVENANT entered the studio earlier this month to record a demo of some of the songs planned for inclusion on the group's follow-up to this year's "S.E.T.I." (Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence), tentatively due in late 2004.

The forthcoming CD, which is tentatively titled "The Dreaming Spires", will be THE KOVENANT's last for Germany's Nuclear Blast Records. One new songtitle has thus far been revealed: "Radiation King".

THE KOVENANT recently added two new members to the group's lineup: RAM-ZET drummer Küth and APOPTYGMA BERZERK keyboardist Geir Bratland.

Band profile:

The Kovenant

Former HALFORD/current PAINMUSEUM guitarist "Metal" Mike Chlasciak has issued the following update on his recent activities:

"Two days ago I returned from the very, very ? and I mean very ? metal city of Gothenburg, Sweden where I recorded my guitars for the debut album from HAMMERFALL's Joacim Cans. The album is CANS 'Beyond The Gates' and should be out in April of 2004. I joined forces with Joacim on this what I feel will really be a much-talked-about album. High-quality songs on the entire album. I did guitars with Stefan Elmgren, also from HAMMERFALL. We did the tracking at the famed Studio Fredman (DIMMU BORGIR, ARCH ENEMY) and that was an experience in its own right. Basically at that studio, well ... you hear metal 24/7 !! I must say I did not hear one clean note my all 10 days there ? now, that is metal!! All 10 days I drank like a fish and ultimately met one of my guitar influences, Andy LaRocque . It was nice to escape the 'biz' of this all and just play guitar non-stop for 10 days, the reason why I got into this in the first place. Also caught up with some Internet friends like Wojtek from LUCIFERION, Gus G and all. That place in just awesome and reminded me of my childhood in Poland. www.joacimcans.com

"While there, I also did a guest solo on the new album from Fredrik Nordström's vicious band DREAM EVIL. I did an insane guitar trade of section with Gus G. (also in FIREWIND). Total tasteless, self-indulgent guitar shred that was wonderful to record. DREAM EVIL guys are killer and have one of the best drummers in metal: Snowy Shaw . That CD should be out in '04 on Century Media.

"Carrying on ... I will be doing two guest DJ spots on 'Metal Mania' NJ's WDHA 105.5 FM with Matt Murray. The shows will air 12/26 and 1/2. On 1/2 we'll do a year in review segment. www.wdhafm.com

"Year 2004 will be also picking up with my 'Flurry Of Black Notes' Pt. II guitar clinic appearances across the East Coast. After that its straight to the set up for the debut from PAINMUSEUM, followed by touring.

"Also myself, Tim and Bobby from PAINMUSEUM wish everyone a safe New Year, stay METAL - reject the rest. We'll see you in 2004. This time on the road everyone!!!!!!"

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HammerFall

KORN and MOTÖRHEAD are among the first bands confirmed to appear at next year's Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals, set to take place June 4-6, 2004 in Nürnberg and Nürburgring, Germany (respectively). Other acts scheduled to perform at the event are RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, DIE TOTEN HOSEN, FAITHLESS, MUSE, THE RASMUS and WIR SIND HELDEN.

For more information, visit www.rock-am-ring.com.

Band profile:

Motörhead

Pony Canyon Records in Japan will be issuing a new YNGWIE MALMSTEEN compilation CD, entitled "Instrumental Best Album", on January 21, 2004.

The complete track listing for the album is as follows:

01. Brothers
02. Dawn
03. Air On A Theme
04. Britzkrieg
05. Blue
06. Asylum
07. Sky Euphoria
08. Quantum Leap
09. Power And Glory-theme for Nobuhiko Takada-
10. Molto Arpeggiosa
11. Preludium
12. Instru-Mental Institution
13. Treasure From The East
14. Requiem
15. Far Beyond The Sun (Live)

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Yngwie Malmsteen

Hypocrisy mainman Peter Tägtgren has posted the following message to the band's official web site:

"Hell-o everybody!

"We wanna thank everybody that came to the shows in Europe and the USA and supported us. This resulted in Cannibal Corpse wanting to take us out in the USA again in February/March 2004, after which we will tour Europe on the No Mercy festival.

"We will be playing new songs as well as old songs, but we need you to help us select the songs.

"And for those of you who've already downloaded the new album on the net... Great,
however, I just remixed and remastered it. I'm soooooooooooo happy that I did it,
it sounds so much better and will end up on the CD when it's out in stores 16.02.2004. Last minute as always (HYPO-motto)

"Have a good one and we will see you on the road!!!!!!!!

"Peter/hypercrazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

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Band profile:

Hypocrisy

Former HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske has been composing new material over the course of the last few weeks and has already completed pre-production versions of six new songs, according to his latest newsletter.

Says Michael: "I am very optimistic because I really think that those songs are my best material so far. What I succeeded to do ? more or less by accident -? in my earlier career with songs like 'Always', 'Longing' and one or two more I do consciously nowadays..."

Kiske, who has dismissed rumors that he may fill the vacant singer position in STRATOVARIUS following the departure of Timo Kotipelto, claims that he has no intentions of writing in the "rock and heavy metal" genres anymore. "I will only make pop music in the future!" he says.

In other Kiske-related news, the metal opera "AINA - Days Of Rising Doom", for which Michael recorded the vocals for two songs, will be released in Europe on February 26, 2004 through The End Records. The Japanese version of the CD has been available since early November.

Band profile:

Helloween

Ex-JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim Owens recently spoke to Electric Basement about the experience of singing for the veteran British heavy metal band and his decision to join ICED EARTH as the replacement for Matt Barlow. Asked about ICED EARTH mainman Jon Schaffer's reputation as someone who can be extremely difficult to work with, Owens said, "I think part of the reason is that many people don't understand that Jon didn't fire everybody . A lot of the older members left on their own or realized they wanted to do something else. Jon has worked so hard and made that band. He's built it from the ground up ? obviously Matt has been a big part of it as well ? but Jon has handled most of the business from merchandising to song writing. He has been the major driving force in every aspect, and some people didn't want to get involved. I think that maybe Jon may not have even wanted that at the time either, but that was the first thing we talked about was that he said that he actually wanted somebody to help. He said that he actually wanted help on the business end, and he wanted help from others making decisions. In the end though, Jon knows what Jon wants. He's a very determined person, and he definitely knows what he wants. If you don't want that same thing or you don't agree with it, you could very well be hitting the highway. Jon just works really hard, and you should expect to be paid in relation to how much work you put into it whether it's the next record or whatever. . . He's a good guy. I mean, he may be a little hard headed, but he has his beliefs, and that's part of what's good about him. I think that's why he's built this thing up to be as big as it is."

With regards to a possible solo album, Tim said, "I've got some friends that I'm working with, and I've written all the guitar parts and everything. We've been practicing some of the stuff together to try to get a feel for it. Then, it's off to the studio to make some demos and shop them around to some labels. Depending on how long I tour with ICED EARTH next year, I'd like to get the album out by 2004."

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Iced Earth

KING DIAMOND recently spoke to Metal Reference about the his upcoming live album, tentatively due next fall through Metal Blade Records.

"The musicians are currently located in Andy 's studio in order to listen to their takes ," he explained. "The real task is to pick the best takes of them all from each and every concert... the guitars, the drums, and I don't need to participate in that. I think that Hal has joined them as well in order to scrutinize his bass work.

"We wanted to have released earlier than this, but it seemed quite inappropriate as there was no tour to support 'Abigail 2', and we obviously have to conduct more shows than that if we want to select some of the better parts for a live release. But we definitely thought at that time that we would be able to release a live album."

Asked if the recordings will also be released on DVD, King said, "Oh, no. It's going to be a double live album, this one, and it was recorded on our last US tour, and we almost recorded all the shows for this purpose. A live DVD will probably surface later, and both my record labels Metal Blade and Massacre are interested in joining forces to release it. This one will however feature live material from our European tour, and this is likely to happen right after summertime 2004".

Regarding the group's original plans to record material from both "Abigail" and "Abigail 2" towards the live album, the singer said, "Yes, that was indeed my intention. We wanted to record 75 - 80 percent of those two records, but these plans were as you suggested abandoned... due to the massive illegal downloading of 'Abigail 2'. Our record label said that we lost about 30 percent of the sales due to illegal downloading. That was a bit tough, and we thus had to renegotiate our contract with the record label. We were in fact ready to go on tour in the U.S. and had almost signed a contract with a local promoter when we learned from our record company that they wouldn't support the tour. This is the first time that we experienced such a thing. The only good thing that came out of this situation is the way that we were forced to record 'The Puppet Master'."

King also commented on his contribution to the upcoming PROBOT CD (in the form of the track "Sweet Dreams"), the project headed up by former NIRVANA drummer/current FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl.

"I contributed my vocals to the tracks just before I flew to Denmark," he explained. "When we were about to rehearse for the Sweden Rock Festival. The record label has kept much of it a big secret... which of the tracks that would be released, the cover and the release date. Dave told me to just do it my way, the way I sang, the lyrics and so on. 'Just do it like KING DIAMOND,' he said. I actually never met him, but we corresponded through a representative of his. Dave Grohl is actually depicted as King Diamond on the front page in the newest issue of Kerrang! ... I refused to believe it, but it's true. He's wearing my outfit and make up. This is totally awesome."

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King Diamond

WITHIN TEMPTATION are the first band confirmed for Borstrock 2004, a two-day festival set to take place May 21-22, 2004 in Nieuw-Vossemeer, in the south of the Netherlands. The band will headline Friday night's festivities.

For more information, visit the festival's web site at http://www.borstrock.nl/

Band profile:

Within Temptation

Demo versions of all the songs written for the DREAM THEATER album "Falling into Infinity", recorded by the band between 1995 and 1997, have been posted online in MP3 format at http://www.greatlakes.org.uk/dreamtheater/cfii.html . In addition, several acoustic tracks by the band, including "Another Day", "Lifting Shadows Off a Dream" and "Tears", can be downloaded at http://www.greatlakes.org.uk/dreamtheater/acoustic-dreams/ . Other DREAM THEATER rarities, including a cover of DEEP PURPLE's "Perfect Strangers" featuring IRON MAIDEN's Bruce Dickinson on lead vocals, and demo versions of "A Change of Seasons" and "Caught In A Web", are available for download at http://www.greatlakes.org.uk/dreamtheater/antiquities/ .

Band profile:

Dream Theater