As promised, elesewhere on the site you will find the cover to our upcoming single "Blood Bound", to be released worldwide at the end of January. Now, onto the details about the album. Here's the complete and final tracklist:

Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken

1. Secrets
2. Blood Bound
3. Fury Of The Wild
4. Hammer Of Justice
5. Never, Ever
6. Born To Rule
7. The Templar Flame
8. Imperial
9. Take The Black
10. Knights Of The 21st Century

I'll try to describe its contents for you. The production is ten times more powerful than last time, and there's more energy in the performance than we've ever managed to get in a studio before. Playingwise, we have grown a lot; this is a much more coherent unit than on any other HF release. The songs, then, are as diverse as you have come to expect of us, and with a few twists and turns to keep your attention 100% throughout. Some, like "Hammer Of Justice" and "Born To Rule" are classic HammerFall songs, whereas others, like "Secrets" and the epic "Knights Of The 21st Century" contain stuff we've not really done before. There you have it, "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" in a nutshell. I feel very strongly for this release, a feeling only growing by time, it seems. I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am with the outcome of this session, and I know the others agree. It's like we're on the brink of something big.

Anyway, onto the next item: the very special guest on the recording. He is a bloke from England - Newcastle, I believe - who gave me goosebumps from listening to his powerful voice in the Eighties, who is the grandfather of the black metal movement and a true icon in extreme metal today. I am of course talking about none other than the high priest himself, Mr. Conrad "Cronos" Lant from Venom! We have collaborated with a lot of musicians in the past, many of them who has had a more direct influence on our sound than him, but the unexpectedness and sheer coolness of this goes beyond everything. I simply never even played with the thought of the mighty Cronos appearing on a release of ours. It was unthinkable! But the passages in the lyrics wich suited his talents magnificently, the aura he brings to the record-closing track is a vital part of its dynamics. In short: thank you, Conrad, for injecting the song with what it needed to reach previously unscaled HF heights!

More news: another show has been confirmed, in Slovenia. HammerFall will appear at Metal Camp in Tolmin, on June 24th. The festival also features bands like Primal Fear, Danzig, Sentenced and Destruction. Find out more at: http://www.rockthenation.at/metalcamp_2004/webpage/at/uvodna.htm

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Band profile:

HammerFall

Two years ago a meeting took place in Norway. A group of people convened to discuss the possibility of making an album that would impact the world music scene like never before. Some rehearsals took place in 2002 and ideas and plans were thrown back and forth. However, due to prior commitments and time conflicts, the line up was forced to change. But the core of the group maintained the idea and finally, in the fall 2004, the decision was made to make it happen. SCUM was spawned! Scum is a unique project in many aspects; first and foremost its line up is probably the most interesting gathering of people to record an album in a long time...

Casey Chaos (Amen), Samoth (Zyklon, ex-Emperor), Faust (ex-Emperor), Cosmocrator (MindGrinder) and Happy Tom (Turbonegro)

http://www.scumband.com/

Band profile:

Emperor

FURIA will record its third album titled "Kheros" between january and march 2005. It will be released only in october 2005 but a mini-Cd will see the day of light in spring with 2 tracks from the forthcoming album and some bonus material and videos. The band will hit again the roads of France for a lot of gigs till the summer....

http://www.adipocere.fr

Band profile:

Furia (FRA)

Theatres des Vampires will be back in the studio soon to produce the new album, which is scheduled to be released in late 2005 from Plastic Head Records.
This new album will be 100% vampiric and will be the most "evil" and "horror" in the band's history.
The band and the label are considering the option to make a double CD case, consisting of the new album and a DVD, featuring all the band's music videos as well as some other rare and incredible material never seen before.
The site will be on-line soon with a new graphics and all the details about the new upcoming album.

Theatres des Vampires are searching for a new male singer.

Sonya Scarlet is following the selection of demo material of singers.
Get in contact with her at: sonyascarlet@katamail.com

http://www.theatres-des-vampires.com/

Band profile:

Theatres Des Vampires

Xmas News, seal three and four are broken - we are proud to announce the confirmation from one of the most respected producer and mixer in metal history Mike Fraser. Mike will mix our new album in Vancouver/Canada probably at The Warehouse. Mike Fraser's creditlist, is a "Who Is Who" of the metal scene: AC/DC, Metallica, Van Halen, Coverdale/Page, Aerosmith, The Cult, Slipknot, Hatebreed etc. ...... and now Primal Fear - wow! Even recording engineer and co-producer Charlie Bauerfeind is excited about our decision! The new album will be released in Europe and USA via Nuclear Blast and in Japan/Asia via JVC/Victor in October 2005.

http://www.primalfear.de/

Band profile:

Primal Fear

Things are going great with the writing of the new album. I am really excited and can't wait to get into the studio. We are really happy to announce that we will be playing the Wacken Festival this year! They always put on such a great festival that is a real honor to be playing it this year. I will get more info on this as time goes on...

http://www.obituary.cc/

Band profile:

Obituary

Guess what? I let November slip through the cold laces of work and focusing and walking on these entrancing suburban moods, inside thy head, on the lookout from a window, on the step by step of hopeful and darkened territories, the usual boring and fascinating lunar strains at least people strange enough to read through these updates, documents of a growing fast shadow of a mind.

Silence does not mean absence of disturb and that is exactly what might be said about Moonspell these winter days. Even though it is all too premature to utter a word about them, our new songs are our favourite subject, the thing and things that make us run in circles again and again to our heated inferno rehearsal place (where the heating bills are becoming gargantual) because they are enthusiastic for us and even though we all need time for them we can not wait to have them finished and communicated complete at last. Yet we will have to wait in the hope you wait for us. Pragmatically we do intend to document those forces driving us, that is, to record it during the approaching year and hopefully to bring it together on a record that will brand 2005 era vulgaris on the back of it.

Many people ask us whether we are going to stay with the Century Media family or stray away but believe us we know as much as you do about that. All we know is that we are looking for someone who does not only believe in our past and in our (always doubtful) name. We are certain we exist now and in the future, for few or more than few- who will guess?- and right now we are focused in doing but enthusiastic music that can be a gateway to that future and an invitation to belief. We have and had had a great relationship with Century so far but right now we are just doing music and music, hoping someone is still looking for us in the always waning out there.

We are now in train of finishing our contemporary dance piece for Gulbenkian ballet and for how odd it might seem what we have done is a grotesque yet dark atmospheric representation of the many demons in Moonspell and are as curious as one can be to see it translated into the body, the weapon and temple of the dancers who will walk on our fire. To see them running about the dark and crushing soundtrack we are putting together. January will see its premiere and if all goes well, the "show" might tour nationally and internationally and we will keep you posted. About its name we still have to be authorized to divulgate it, for us it has name we suggested but we do not know if it will be taken and we do not want to post on other our conceptual obsessions and sorts, four are enough bearers of this curse.

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Band profile:

Moonspell

Jack Frost have signed with Massacre Records. The recording sessions for "Wannadie Songs" will be finished in January 2005. Expect a release in May 2005. The band is currently shooting a video of the track "Me and Dark and You". All live activities have been cancelled for the next months.Expect new merchandise soon!!

http://www.jackfrost.at

Band profile:

Jack Frost

INSOMNIUM raises Christmas spirit by making all songs from our first demo downloadable! To boot this best gift ever we even offer official tablature for the song Dying Chant (album version, powertab translation). Go and have fun with it!

Album We have been busy writing new material for our third release and that's main reason for lack of updates. We have finished few new songs already but there's still long way to go until we have whole new Insomnium album in our hands. If everything goes well we'll enter studio probably somewhere in the next year.

http://www.insomnium.net/

Band profile:

Insomnium

The recordings of the new album of ARACHNES are begun... Now Enzo, after he had an operation, feel very well...the voice is in great shape... Frank in the first days of recording has thought well to slice a finger with a knife of the kitchen!!!!!

http://www.arachnes.it

Band profile:

Arachnes

The guys around guitar player Olaf Lenk and singer Mats Leven are currently searching for a new a drummer to sit behind the drums on the upcoming tour with Brainstorm. Those who think to be right for this position, please submit your applications (including demo material) to AFM Records.

http://www.afm-records.de/

Band profile:

At Vance

"?no problem to get a record deal with this name? We are proud to inform you that ROB ROCK (by the way, that´s his real name) signed a record deal with AFM Records. We are sure that we will have a great relationship and we are looking forward to working with you, Rob! The new album entitled "Holy Hell" is still in the recording process, nevertheless the release date is planned for spring 2005. As it currently looks like the album will be mixed by ROY Z, after he finished the mix of the new JUDAS PRIEST album."

http://www.afm-records.de/

Acording to the Candlelight website the band will be releasing a MCD in 2005 to be called "Thematic Emanation Of Archetypal Multiplicity"

http://www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

"A new epic album of Rivendell has been recorded and mixed. The title of the new album will be "Farewell - The Last Dawn". A release date is not known yet, but prepare for this masterpiece within a few months.

Tracklist:
Rivendell
The Fall of Gil-Galad
The Old Walking Song
Eärendil
A Drinking Song
Back To Lands We Once Did know
Tinúviel

More information on this release will come as soon as possible. Check out the official site of Rivendell here."

http://www.skaldicart.de/

"Just want to fill you all in... This new CD is fully mixed and mastered and after an all night session at the Hit Factory, finishing the mix and then a drive back to Tampa from Miami at 4am, only to start a photo session with Joe Giron starting at 11am and finishing up last night at 9pm. I am sitting here right now cranking the fucking shit out of this motherfucker. Its full on brutal death metal guys -I mean heavy as fuck! The title track is on right now--this is the first CD ive done in a long time probably since Max Violence that I'm just freaking out on. I don't know how we put this together, but we did and its really, really incredible. Just had to share that with you this new CD will rip your fucking heads off. That's a promise-late Barnes

The title of the album is 13 and here are some of the track titles that we are allowed to release:
Decomposition of the Human Race
Somewhere in the Darkness
The Poison Hand

13 will be released through Metal Blade Records on March 22, 2005!"

http://www.sfu420.com/

Band profile:

Six Feet Under