Xtreem Music is proud to announce the signing of one of Spain's most prominent Black Metal bands called Dantalion. After having released two albums in '06 & '08 through German label Det Germanske Folket and having gained a respectful reputation, the band has now finished the recordings for their 3rd full length entitled All Roads Lead to Death which will be released in October 2010.

This new album was recorded at Oceano Studios & BV2 Studios and then mastered in Sweden at famous Unisound Studios by Dan Swanö. According to the press release, "All Roads Lead to Death has an excellent and original cover art as well as a great overall layout and means a definite improvement in the band's musical direction of aggressive yet melodic and melancholic Black Metal displaying 8 mature and varied compositions in a total of 56 minutes."

All Roads Lead to Death cover art] tracklist:

01. Only Ashes Remains
02. Bleackness
03. Walking to Eternity
04. Claws of Pestilence MySpace]
05. My Last Breath
06. Thought of Desolation
07. Scorn
08. Gloom and Failure

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Source:	xtreemmusic.com
Band profile:	Dantalion

Drum & Bass/Electronica outfit Pendulum recently (as in: yesterday) released their third studio album Immersion, which features some very interesting guest appearances that might interest a few people around here.

It appears that the track "Self vs. Self" features In Flames vocalist Anders Fridén, guitarist Björn Gelotte and bassist Peter Iwers. Another track, entitled "The Fountain" features the vocals of Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree/Blackfield/OSI fame. Check out both tracks below, and let us know what you think!

Pendulum regularly appears on the Download and Reading Festivals, and is also lined up for 2 Sonisphere Festivals this year. More on Pendulum at MySpace.

Pendulum Feat. In Flames - Self vs Self

Pendulum Feat. Steven Wilson - The Fountain

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	In Flames

Mastodon are sorry to inform fans that their upcoming summer tour dates are all cancelled.

Guitarist Bill Kelleher, was diagnosed with pancreatitis (a sudden inflammation of the pancreas which can have severe complications and high mortality despite treatment) and doctors advise him to pursue further medication. Doctors are optimistic and expect full recovery in the coming weeks for Bill, as the band is eager to take part in the BlackDiamondSkye Tour, along with Alice In Chains and Deftones, scheduled for September.

The affected events include: Rock im Park/Rock am Ring, the Sonisphere Festivals, Sweden Rock Festival, Tuska Open-Air and Graspop Metal Meeting.

Mastodon recently cancelled the April 27 gig in Rochester, New York due to Kelliher's illness. On some other live dates, Baroness guitarist Peter Adams and John Baizley filled in. Kelliher's pancreatitis previously sidelined him in November 2008 on the European tour with Slayer.

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Source:	gr.sonispherefestivals.com
Band profile:	Mastodon

Can't make it to Europe this June for one of the seven Sonisphere "Big Four" shows featuring Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax? No problem. The Sonisphere concert in Sofia, Bulgaria will be broadcast exclusively in high quality HD-format in 800 movie theaters across the world (450 US movie theaters, and 350 theaters across Europe, Canada, and Latin America).

These theater shows will feature nearly four hours of live performances (so each band's entire set will not be shown) and behind-the-scenes footage.

Tickets for the one night only event are available at the local theater box offices and online at thebigfourlive.com where you can see a complete list of presenting theaters. Tickets will start to go on sale Friday, May 21 in the USA and Friday, May 28 internationally.

(Note that ticket on sale times and even days will vary by theatre, so check with your friendly neighborhood participating movie theatre for exact days and times tickets will be available and keep watching thebigfourlive.com for theatre additions/changes.)

Delayed screenings for Australia, South Africa and New Zealand will be announced later.

For the USA:

Presented by NCM Fathom, this one night event will be simulcast exclusively in select movie theaters on Tuesday, June 22nd at 7:30 pm (local time). Ticket prices in the US will be around $20 plus whatever service charges your local theater may add.

Click here for a list of all participating US movie theaters.

For Europe:

Info tba soon. Keep an eye on thebigfourlive.com for updates.


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Source:	thebigfourlive.com
Event:	Sonisphere Festival 2010

As announced last month, Mar De Grises' next album will be released on Season of Mist. We can now reveal that the Chilean doomsters' third album will be entitled Streams Inwards, and it is slated for an August 30th release.

Bassist Rodrigo comments on the title: "The name Streams Inwards reflects the idea that emotion is the connection between us and the world that surrounds us, between our most intense feelings and the universe. All of us, all of this, everything is part of an endless sea. It is about how all the elements around us build and nourish our most sincere emotions - good, bad, whatever...

"Our previous album, Draining the Waterheart, referred to some similar process: the liberation of these same streams. The new title shares that same concept, but in a broader way. Wherein the mix of these simple and transcendent elements define our most pure nature, to feel and create."

More details on the album to follow soon.

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Source:	season-of-mist.com
Band profile:	Mar De Grises

Danko Jones are pleased to announce that the long awaited video for "Full Of Regret" is finally here. The video features Elijah Wood, Selma Blair, Mike Watt and Lemmy Kilmister. The song comes off the recently released Below The Belt.


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Source:

myspace.com

Vocal powerhouse Veronica Freeman (Benedictum), will be doing session work for the Lyraka project.

Lyraka is described as a "Wagnerian Opera Metal" project that encompasses a set of highlights CD's, as well as a 3-D animated movie. Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, MSG, Alcatrazz) and Tommy Heart (Uli Jon Roth, Fair Warning, Soul Doctor) are also contributing vocal tracks.

Andy DiGelsomina, the composer and lead guitarist of the project, commented: "I was massively inspired by Veronica's performance on the Benedictum CD's. She is not only viciously heavy when neccessary, but has a phenomenal sense of dynamics. Veronica is as gloriously heavy metal as you can get, and we are excited about working with her."

The first volume of the CD set, Lyraka Volume 1, is set for release in March 2011.

Visit the band's website for more info.

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Source:

lyraka.com

Old school death metal from Japan? Yes please!

Official Pulverised Records press release

It is with great privilege to announce the official signing of Japan's upcoming Death Metal fiends GxSxD.

GxSxD (which stands for God Send Death) exploded into the Japanese Extreme Metal scene in 2002 and barely a decade into the band's career, GxSxD found themselves touring massively throughout their homeland and thus gaining widespread popularity as one of the most powerful Death Metal acts to have emerged from Japan. With an unforgettable trademark of the Japanese-tattooed twin brothers Yusuke and Yosuke Oka's synchronised windmill headbanging style; and with the unforgiving assault of heavily-induced Euro-Death Metal, GxSxD is definitely the perfect combination of flawless musicianship with an amazing stage presence.

The band commented: "Finally we have found our home!! We are very excited to work with Pulverised Records since we've been recognizing them as one of best label. We'll prove what we can do. Expect our Pulverised release."

States Pulverised Records A&R Manager Calvin: "I was instantly jaw-dropped by what I heard when I discovered GxSxD! Unbelievably tight and a literally vicious twin-guitar attack, GxSxD caught our attention and we knew they are an exceptional class of their own. After some discussions with the band, the deal was quickly sealed and plans are currently underway for their second full-length effort, which we should expect sometime this year. GxSxD is truly an unstoppable force and be prepared for their brand of barbaric Death Metal!"

Pulverised Records label manager Roy Yeo also added: "I had the pleasure of seeing GxSxD live in action when they stopped by in Singapore recently. The band is just visually stunning on stage and I was absolutely blown away! GxSxD is probably one of the most outstanding Death Metal band coming from Asia that I have heard in a long time, and also not forgetting that Japanese bands are notoriously known for producing real quality Metal. It is a great honour to have GxSxD as a part of the Pulverised family and we will expect nothing less than a devastatingly crushing album from GxSxD!"

I know you want more info about this band, so clickety click click!

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Source:

pulverised.net

Greek melodic power metal outfit InnerWish have released their video for the track "Burning Desires" online. The track comes off their forthcoming album No Turning Back which will be released in Europe and North America on May 28rd through Ulterium Records. "Burning Desires" was directed by Bob Katsionis (who previously worked for Firewind).


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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	InnerWish

Diego "Grom" Meraviglia, former drummer of Norwegian Melodic Black metal band Ancient and Italian Doom band DoomSword, has provided ear-shattering drumming for a track on the new Hexfire album. The recording session took place in Valencia (CA) with engineer Steven Leavitt. A few pics of the recording can be found here.

The band says: "Grom is an amazing drummer. We wanted him to record the fastest song from our forthcoming album because we were sure that he was the only man who could do the job perfectly! His style is exactly what we were looking for. That's why we asked him to record a song for us and he agreed! It's just amazing! We're so proud!"

Recently, Hexfire also tapped renowned metal drummer Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody Of Fire, Avantasia, Dol Ammad) to help bring some of the tracks to life, while Jonno Lodge (Biomechanical) will perform the rest of the drums.

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Source:

myspace.com

Absolve - the Montreal thrash/death metal band that recently signed to Panoptic Records - has unveiled the artwork and tracklisting for their first EP, Sadistic Crown.

The EP which is set to be released on June 8th 2010, was produced by Kim Gosselin (Blackguard) at Silver Wings Studios. Two songs , the title track and "My Wrath Will Follow You" are streaming on MySpace.

Sadistic Crown cover art] tracklist:

01. My Wrath Will Follow You
02. Sadistic Crown
03. Rot and Decay
04. Burn a Blind Eye
05. Helldust Impulse

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Source:

myspace.com

Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal recently began recording material for his second album (the first as Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects in 1997). The effort will likely be available later this year.

Among those contributing to the album is Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who has issued the followed regarding his participation: "What a dream come true! Fredrik has been very supportive of my career for many years in many ways, and I respect him immensely both as a musician and songwriter. It was huge for Scarve to be asked to open for Meshuggah and we've been in touch ever since. When Fredrik asked me to be a part of the second Special Defects record, I just couldn't believe it! Now that I have the Soilwork album under my belt, it's exciting to dive into a completely different challenge where my drum parts will be based on improvisation more than anything else."

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Source:	lambgoat.com
Band profile:	Meshuggah

Juhani Palomäki, the main force behind Yearning and Colosseum has passed away last Saturday (May 15th) at age 32. The news was confirmed today by a source inside Kolony Records. Further details are not disclosed at the moment.

A Facebook memorial page has been created at this location.

In 1994, the Finnish atmospheric doom metal outfit Flegeton (later known as Yearning) was established by vocalist/guitarist Juhani Palomäki and drummer Toni Kristian. With their five studio albums the band received a lot of praise and recognition in the underground scene. Later, in 2006, Palomäki founded funeral doom act Colosseum, and released two albums. Both of them took the second spot in The Best Extreme Doom Metal Album category in the MS Awards 2007 and 2009. The band was currently in the studio working on a third album entitled Chapter 3: Parasomnia. The album will feature five lengthy epics and should be released in autumn through Firebox Records.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Yearning

Barren Earth has completed filming their first music video for the track "The Leer", taken from the band's debut full-length record, Curse of the Red River. The globally acclaimed release hit stores in the US last month on Peaceville Records. The brand new video for "The Leer" was directed by Owe Lingvall, and can be viewed exclusively at Metal Hammer.

Another track off Curse of the Red River, "Forlorn Waves", can be heard on the band's MySpace page.

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Source:	metal-hammer.de
Band profile:	Barren Earth

Official press release

Metal band A Sound of Thunder has written and recorded the song "Justice At Last" for and about the West Memphis Three. The song is released on May 10th, available on iTunes and at all major digital music outlets, as a very special charity single benefiting the WM3. 100% of proceeds will go to the West Memphis Three Legal Defense Fund.

In 1993, shortly after three eight-year-old boys were found murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, police arrested Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley and charged the three teenagers with murder based solely upon an error-filled and police-coerced false confession, extracted from 16-year-old Jessie Misskelley Jr. After 12 hours of questioning, without counsel or parental consent, mentally disabled Jessie Misskelley repeated back to the police what he was told to say.

There was no other physical evidence, no weapon, no motive, and no connection to the victims. Instead, prosecutors terrified and inflamed the shell-shocked community ed.]. Jessie Misskelley recanted his statement immediately upon being released to his family, stating that the police forced, via threat and the lure of money, the story he told, but it was too late. Misskelley, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols, known as The West Memphis Three, were arrested ? then convicted of murder.

Stunningly, Jason Baldwin, 16 at the time and a model student, was sentenced to life without parole Metallica t-shirts as evidence that he was involved in "satanic activity" and "the trappings of the occult", ed.]; Jessie Misskelley got life plus 40 years, while Damien Echols was sentenced to death. Damien has spent years in solitary confinement awaiting death by lethal injection for a crime neither he nor Jessie nor Jason had anything to do with. The West Memphis Three have been wrongfully convicted for crimes they did not commit.

A Sound of Thunder is a female-fronted heavy metal band from the Washington, DC area. Formed in 2008, A Sound of Thunder has toured the Eastern US playing their brand of classic metal with catchy riffs, powerful vocals, and sing-along choruses, and released their debut EP in March 2010. Social justice has been an interest of the band from the start. "Justice at Last" was written in a fit of anger and outrage one late night after watching the film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, a documentary about the West Memphis Three. The music and lyrics of the song cover the range of emotion evoked by the case itself, from sadness to anger, and even hope.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	A Sound Of Thunder