RAZORBACK, the new band consisting of Rolf Munkes (guitar, MAJESTY, ex-VANIZE), Stefan Berggren (vocals, ex-COMPANY OF SNAKES), Marcus Bielenberg (bass, ex-VANIZE), Pierre Fienhold (drums, ex-VANIZE) and Chris Heun (guitar, ex-SHYLOCK), have set the tentative track listing for their self-titled debut, tentatively due on March 29 through Massacre Records.

"Razorback" track listing (in no particular oder):

01. The Hymn
02. One By One
03. A New King In Town
04. Release Me
05. Lone Wolf
06. Fire And Rain
07. The Eye Of The Storm
08. Bastard
09. Kiss Of Death

RAZORBACK are expecting to finish mixing the album around February 23. More information will be made available soon.

Finland's SENTENCED have announced plans to play a few European festivals during the summer, including Summer Breeze, which is set to take place August 19-12, 2004 in Abtsgmünd, Germany.

"We will throw in some brand-new stuff during our show this summer, because we don't want to play a 'best of SENTENCED' kind of set this time around. That would be too boring," drummer Vesa Ranta said.

The band are currently writing and rehearsing the new material.

"We haven't worked on too many new songs yet as a band, but I know that Miika , Sami and Ville have written lots of new material . We are now rehearsing at a small studio and it's a very good place to build new songs.

"We are going to enter the studio next autumn, so I guess that the new album will arrive in the beginning of the next year. But it's up to record company of course...

"I guess it will take about two months to record the new album... It's a lot longer than it used to take during the old days when we used to record albums in a week... For example, it only took ten days to make 'North From Here'," Ranta laughed.

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Band profile:

Sentenced

The seventh annual Tuska Open Air Metal Festival has now confirmed its
first artists for the 2004 festival.

The headliner for Saturday, the 17th of July, will be Nightwish, who will
release their much-anticipated new album, "Once" in June. Nightwish will
be mainly touring Europe and the United States next summer and their
Tuska-performance is going to be one of their three finnish shows.

Another headliner at Tuska during 16.-18.7.2004 will be the legendary
King Diamond. This pioneer of black metal has been touring the world for
almost three decades, sold millions of records and inspired four
generations of metalheads. Also appearing at Kaisaniemi Park are swedish
melodic-deathmetal groups Soilwork and Dark Tranquility and german
thrashers Dew-Scented.

Besides Nightwish, Tuska-festival will once again present the hottest
finnish metal acts. During the weekend, performances by Impaled Nazarene,
Sonata Arctica, Sinergy, Suburban Tribe, Mokoma, Kotiteollisuus and Timo
Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus will be taking place. The new generation
of finnish metal will be represented by the highly acclaimed Swallow the
Sun, Diablo, Machine Men, Kilpi and Twilightning.

Over the course of three days more than 30 bands will be appearing on
three different stages.

In addition to the festival itself, the evening-clubs will entertain the
festival crowd from Thursday through Sunday on four different locations.
More than 30 up-and-coming acts will be performing in the evening-clubs,
styles ranging from deathmetal to goth, industrial and cover-material.

Tickets for Tuska 2004 will go on sale in May through Tiketti
(www.tiketti.fi), Lippupalvelu (www.lippupalvelu.fi) and the new addition
of Menolippu (www.menolippu.fi). Tickets will also be available at
selected record stores. Tuska 2004 is an all-ages festival.

www.tuska-festival.fi

Sweden's LAKE OF TEARS will enter the studio on Friday, February 13 to begin recording the follow-up to 2002's "The Neonai", entitled "Black Brick Road". "The album cover will be done by the brilliant artist Kristian Wåhlin, who painted all of the previous LAKE OF TEARS covers except 'Forever Autumn'," according to a post on the band's web site. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "The Greymen", "Black Brick Road", "Making Evenings", "Crazyman" and "A Trip With The Moon".

LAKE OF TEARS have scheduled the following summer 2004 European festival appearances:

Jun. 10/12 - Sölvesborg, SWE @ Sweden Rock
Jul. 02/04 - Leipzig, GER @ With Full Force
Aug. 19/21 - Abtsgmünd, GER @ Summer Breeze

Band profile:

Lake Of Tears

Cult Canadian Thrash Titans Infernal Majesty have posted the following on their website http://infernalmajesty.ca/index1.html

Infernal Majesty signs with Galy Records, new album due out April 6th, 2004 Canadian act Infernal Majesty the band who released 1987's cult classic "None Shall Defy" have set "One Who Points to Death" as the title of their upcoming new album, due out April 6th, 2004 through Galy Records. The CD, which was recorded by Sho at Profile Sound Studios in Vancouver, Canada and mastered by Pierre Remillard at Wild Studios in St-Zenon, Quebec, Canada, contains the following track listing:

01. Death of Heaven
02. Pestilential Eternity
03. Angels and Acid
04. Honey Tongue of Satan
05. Hysterion Proteron
06. Cathedral of Hate
07. Virgin Blood Tastes Purest At Night
08. One Who Points To Death

"One Who Points to Death" is packed with old school thrash crunch and modern death metal intensity. Get ready for some infernal mayhem!

Upcoming shows:

February 13 - The Cobalt, Vancouver, BC.
March 26 - The Brickyard, Vancouver, BC.

Stay tuned for Canadian Tour dates

Band profile:

Infernäl Mäjesty

Century Media Records proudly presents the new signing DRAGONLAND. The melodic metal six-piece from Gothenburg signed a worldwide multi-album deal. "We are really happy to have found a new home with Century Media Records", states lead-guitarist and founder of the band Nicklas Magnusson.

After their formation in summer of 1999 DRAGONLAND have already released the two albums The Battle Of The Ivory Plains and Holy War via the Greek label Black Lotus Records and even toured Japan in May 2003. Most of the musicians are known by playing in bands like Prophanity (Nicklas Magnusson) or Nightshade (bassist Christer Pedersen). Keyboardist Elias Holmlid did not only play for Ironware, but also during King Diamond's tour in 2001 and recorded keyboards for Falconer's second album.

DRAGONLAND are currently working on their forthcoming album. "It's needless to say that it will be our best material ever", reveals Nicklas. Century Media Records is looking forward to releasing new melodic metal tunes from DRAGONLAND around fall 2004.

http://fade.to/dragonland

Band profile:

Dragonland

JUDAS PRIEST SCHEDULED TO RELEASE CAREER-SPANNING BOX SET 'METALOGY' ON MAY 4 ON SONY MUSIC/LEGACY RECORDS

FOUR-CD, 65-TRACK SET TOTALING MORE THAN 5 HOURS OF MUSIC INCLUDES HITS, RARITIES AND MORE ENCASED IN LEATHER-AND-STUDS DELUXE PACKAGING

LIMITED EDITION LIVE DVD ADDED BONUS IN INITIAL PRESSING

Judas Priest has reigned supreme for 30 years as the most influential and commercially successful pure heavy metal band, and the masters are being honored with the career-spanning, four-CD, 65-track box set 'Metalogy' scheduled for release on May 3rd for Europe and the UK and May 4th 2004 for the US and Canada, by Sony Music/Legacy Records. The worldwide reverence for Judas Priest has resulted in sales of 20 million albums and countless sold-out concerts.

'Metalogy,' the first-ever Judas Priest box set, was assembled with the full participation of the band and it covers music recorded worldwide for the Gull, Sony Music/Columbia, CMC International, SPV, Atlantic and JVC labels between 1974 and 2002. Remastered hits, fan favorites, live rarities, B-sides and a previously unreleased demo are included. And as a bonus, the initial pressing of 'Metalogy' will include a live DVD of a complete concert filmed on December 12, 1982, at Mid South in Memphis, TN, on the 'Screaming for Vengeance' tour. This show was released on home video as 'Judas Priest Live' but it has been out of print for many years, and fans have often requested that it be reissued. This new DVD is mastered in pristine 5.1 Surround Sound for the ultimate Priest live concert experience.

Fans will be thrilled with the packaging of 'Metalogy.' The 7"x7" box is appropriately wrapped in leather and metal studs. The 7"x7" full color book features a full discography, biographical essay, timeline and numerous previously unpublished photos.

The CD track listing is as follows:
CD 1
1. Never Satisfied (4:52)
2. Deceiver (2:44)
3. Tyrant (4:39)
4. Victim Of Changes (Live) (7:11)
5. Diamonds & Rust (Live)** (3:28)
6. Starbreaker (Live)** (7:19)
7. Sinner (6:40)
8. Let Us Prey (6:12)
9. Dissident Aggressor (3:02)
10. Exciter (5:33)
11. Beyond The Realms Of Death (6:51)
12. Better By You Better Than Me (5:19)
13. Invader (4:10)
14. Stained Class (5:12)
15. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown) (Live)* (4:42)

CD 2
1. Killing Machine (3:02)
2. Evening Star (4:06)
3. Take On The World (3:03)
4. Delivering The Goods (4:16)

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Band profile:

Judas Priest

According to Flotsam drummer, Craig Nielsen: "...The DVD will come out late April/early May
and the Metallica tribute DVD should be scheduled for release very soon. A couple of different bigger labels are looking at picking it up..."

Swedish death/thrashers IMPIOUS have inked a deal with Metal Blade Records. The group plan on entering the studio this summer to begin recording their fourth album, tentatively due in October.

"We saw the band live when they toured with NECROPHOBIC in early 2003 and they kicked MAJOR ASS!" a spokesperson for Metal Blade Records Europe said in an official statement. "We see many shows each year, but this was one of the few moments we felt completely blown away. We didn't get into the albums they released before very much, but the pre-production with five brand new songs they sent us in late 2003 showed an explosion in songwriting and intensity. Much, no, MUCH better than all their previous stuff!"

IMPIOUS hail from Trollhättan, Sweden — the city that has already brought the "Deathrace Kings" THE CROWN to the world of metal. The music of this quintet is an intense and sharp combination of death and thrash metal.

"We are very excited about signing to Metal Blade," said guitarist Valle Adzic. "To be on the same roster as some of the finest bands in the extreme metal industry just feels fucking awesome. Very few record labels have such a good reputation, such an amazing history, and such a bright future. We're definitely looking forward to be a part of all that."

IMPIOUS lineup:

Martin Akesson - vocals
Valle Adzic - guitars
Robin Sörqvist - guitars
Erik Peterson - bass
Mikael Norén - drums

Band profile:

Impious

German power metallers IRON SAVIOR are scheduled to release their new album, "Metalizer", in May through Noise Records. The follow-up to 2002's "Condition Red", which is currently being recorded at Karo studios in Brackel, Germany, will feature songwriting contributions from new bassist Yenz Leonhardt, who joined the band in December.

Band profile:

Iron Savior

A brand new ORPHANED LAND track, titled "Ocean Land", has been posted online in Real Media format at this location: http://www.centurymedia.de/century/mainarea/audio.aspx?id=orphaned_land__ocean_land.rm.

"Ocean Land" comes off the Israeli group's forthcoming third album, "Mabool", due on February 23 through Century Media Records.

The group's first release since 1996's "El Norra Alila" features vocals that were partly sung by female and male classic as well as oriental choirs in five languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, Yemen and Latin as well as "a form of gibberish," according to an official press release.

Aside from the five band members, more then 30 guests appear on the album. Among them is a percussionist who plays more then 10 different instruments. Also, a lot of oriental instruments such as Oud, Saz and Buzuki are used besides violins, cello, piano and classic/acoustic guitars.

"Our music style is a mixture of all kinds of metal, from progressive to black metal. In general I would call it Middle Eastern metal," said vocalist Kobi Farhi.

Asked about their musical influences, the singer revealed more about the unusual recording of "Mabool": "We are influenced by all kinds music, from Indian music to Jazz. I even recorded musicians in the streets of India."

The official recording of "Mabool" took place between July and October 2003 in Zaza Studios for drums, piano, cello, violin, some of the choirs as well as the majority of the mix (handled by Simon Vinestock, who also worked as an engineer on the recording) whereas the rest was taken care of in Bardo Studio. A five-track bonus CD containing a recording of an acoustic show in Tel Aviv will be added to the first pressing of the album.

Band profile:

Orphaned Land

Former DIMMU BORGIR drummer Nick Barker has spoken exclusively to BLABBERMOUTH.NET about his surprising departure from the group.

Barker, a former member of CRADLE OF FILTH, joined DIMMU BORGIR in 1999 as a replacement for original drummer Tjodalv (a.k.a. Kenneth Åkesson). He has since appeared on two full-length studio albums with the band: "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" (2001, Nuclear Blast) and "Death Cult Armageddon" (2003, Nuclear Blast).

In an official statement announcing Barker's departure, DIMMU BORGIR indicated that "Nicholas has been removed" from the band's lineup and advised their fans to not "waste time speculating why," adding that "we have already moved on."

The following is a transcript of an exclusive question-and-answer session held between BLABBERMOUTH.NET and Nick Barker the evening of Monday, February 9:

Q: DIMMU BORGIR confirmed your departure from the group by saying that you were "removed" from the band's lineup. Most people would interpret that statement to mean that you were kicked out of the band, not that you left of your own accord.

Nick Barker: "That's right. I guess they let me go because they think it's the right decision for the band. And I totally respect their decision, and I have to go with it, obviously. And I just wish them all the best."

Q: Was this decision a long time coming? Were you surprised at all to learn of their decision to kick you out of the band?

Nick Barker: "It was a total surprise to me. But I guess they think it's the right thing to do, and all the best to them."

Q: But they must have given you a reason as to why they were kicking you out, didn't they?

Nick Barker: "I guess it's because of the distance thing ? me being English and those guys being Norwegians. And me commuting from England to Norway all the time. I guess they thought things just weren't working out. I think there might have been a few cultural differences, with me being English and those guys being Norwegians. I mean, we always seemed to get along, and we made some good music together.

Q: The way their statement was worded implied that there might have been some bad blood there ? like the split wasn't entirely amicable.

Nick Barker: "I don't know anything about that."

Q: So there were no band fights or internal disagreements that precipitated this decision to kick you out of the band?

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Band profile:

Dimmu Borgir

A brand new DISMEMBER track, titled "Where Ironcrosses Grow", has been posted online in the < MEDIA ] section of the new Karmageddon Media website :

www.karmageddonmedia.com

"Where Ironcrosses Grow" is the title track of DISMEMBER's long-awaited new album, to be released on the 8th of March through Karmageddon Media.

Distributed by Plastic Head (PHD).

The follow-up to 2000's "Hate Campaign" was recorded at Stockholm's Sami studio and features artwork by acclaimed artist Dan Seagrave (ENTOMBED, SUFFOCATION, MORBID ANGEL).

Complete tracklist:

1. WHERE IRONCROSSES GROW
2. FORGED WITH HATE
3. ME-GOD
4. TRAGEDY OF THE FAITHFUL
5. CHASING THE SERPENT
6. WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD
7. SWORD OF LIGHT
8. AS THE COINS UPON YOUR EYES
9. CHILDREN OF THE CROSS
10. AS I PULL THE TRIGGER

"The Swedish Death Metal Legend returns... long live Stockholm Dods Metall !!!"

From Blabbermouth:

BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward recently gave an interview to the U.K.'s Rhythm magazine in which he discussed the group's early years, his musical upbringing and SABBATH's current status. Asked if there are any plans to make another BLACK SABBATH album, Ward said, "That would be nice. I'd like to. We certainly have enough material. At my house here, I have nearly 60 cassettes of new SABBATH songs we've worked on. It's just stuff we churned out. Tony and Geezer have the same amount of tapes. Tony comes up with these riffs, and like we always did, I tried some melody ideas, took them back to Tony, he would come back to me with ideas, same with Geezer. We'd be sending things back and forth. We just share ideas and that makes the songs work, like always. I just love it. I love them all and working with them is so easy. You just have to listen to Tony, see where he's going, and he inspires so much. So we'd like to do another SABBATH album, but Ozzy's on tour. Geezer's in the U.K. Tony is working on projects. We just have to just get together in the same room."

In the same issue of Rhythm magazine, current OZZY OSBOURNE drummer Mike Bordin spoke about filling in for his "hero" Bill Ward for a number of BLACK SABBATH dates several years ago.

"I've been really, really into music since I was about eight years old, but when I first heard a BLACK SABBATH record, that was it - there was nothing else," Bordin said.

"The very next week, on April 6, 1974, I saw them on TV on the 'California Jam'. It was the most compelling, the most exciting, the most physical thing that I had ever seen â?" it was a revelation. I remember Bill as this big, crazy, giant hairy dude with red tights and no shirt. By the middle of the first song, you couldn't see him - it was just hair and flailing arms.

"When you look at Bill's style of playing, you have to look at it in the context of the giants around him. Geezer, Tony and Ozzy are like forces of nature, and to balance in between them and not be squished, you have to be a giant as well.

"Bill's playing is phenomenally individual and completely unique - nobody can play those songs like him. I was raised on BLACK SABBATH music and it was hugely important to me even before I started playing drums.

"Bill Ward is a prince of a human being and I feel honored to have had a chance to play in BLACK SABBATH with Ozzy, Tony and Geezer. It was my tribute to the man that wasn't onstage, but should have been"

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Band profile:

Black Sabbath

Frontman Nergal of Polish black/death metallers BEHEMOTH has posted the following message on the band's official website:

"We are extremly busy with the new stuff. It's going the direction we want, there is no doubt about it. Songs are the continuation of our latest album but it seems that the new stuff is gonna be way more intense and brutal. Some of it will be a bit slower, with a groove...but most of it is just unbelievably fast and technical. That's what we've already started on 'Zosâ?|'. But all the ideas will be pushed even further now...which in result will give you the strongest record we've ever made.

I've got tons of stuff written though there are no final versions of the lyrics for 'Demigod'," he continued. "But one thing is certain. It's all about things we experience in our lives... I think I'm not far from the truth if I say that it's gonna have the most vital energy of all the albums, with a very powerful and mighty approach to it. Some of the lyrics I'm working on right now have titles such as: 'XUL', 'Babylon 2004 e.v.', 'Sculpturing the Throne ov Seth'. There's also gonna be a song called 'Conquer All' which title speaks for itself. It's about how much we strive for greatness in our lives, compromising with nobody. It tells how much pain it takes to transgress into new beings, by leaving all the shit behind and taking only what's good and valuable. It's...all that gave me so much strength and self-confidence. I push myself thru snow and rain but in the end of the day I will get exactly what I want. The best of all there is..."

Pictures from the studio can be found here: http://www.behemoth.metalkings.com/misc_en.html

Band profile:

Behemoth