2010 marks 10 years in the making for Warmen - the brainchild of Children Of Bodom keyboardist Janne Wirman. The band celebrates this, as well as their latest album Japanese Hospitality, with a belated release party show on the Helsinki Metal Meeting weekend on February 18th 2010 at Dante's Highlight, Helsinki Finland. As if Warmen's third live performance ever wouldn't be enough to make this a very special event, the band vows to make the show truly a night to remember by bringing a wide variety of guests on the stage.

In other news, Spinefarm Records will release a Warmen compilation album entitled The Evil That Warmen Do in early 2010.

The Evil That Warmen Do cover art] tracklist:

01. Beyond Abilities
02. Spark (Timo Kotipelto)
03. Singer's Chance (feat. Timo Kotipelto)
04. The Evil That Warmen Do
05. Lying Delilah (feat. Marko Vaara)
06. Hidden (feat. Kimberly Goss)
07. Dawn (feat. Pasi Nykänen)
08. Alone (feat. Kimberly Goss; Heart cover)
09. Invisible Power (feat. Timo Kotipelto)
10. Devil's Mistress (feat. Kimberly Goss)
11. They All Blame Me (feat. Jonna Kosonen)
12. Somebody's Watching Me (feat. Alexi Laiho; Rockwell cover)
13. Separate Ways (feat. Pasi Rantanen; Journey cover)

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Source:	warmen.org
Band profile:	Warmen

Ex-Stormwitch, Mystic Prophecy, Majesty, and current Crystal Viper members have joined forces in Born Again.

The brand new female fronted international power metal act named Born Again, has just recorded its début single titled Neverending Fire which will be released in early 2010. Songs were produced by Bart Babriel (Crystal Viper, Lonewolf), and recorded at the MP studio with Mariusz Pietka (Crystal Viper, Pathfinder). The same team is already working on the début full length album of born again, scheduled for 2010.

Born Again are:

Marta Gabriel - Lead And Backing Vocals, Keyboards (Crystal Viper)
Martin Albrecht - Bass Guitar And Backing Vocals (Ex-Stormwitch/Mystic Prophecy/Valley's Eve)
Björn Daigger - Guitars And Backing Vocals (Ex-Majesty/Civilization One/Irony/Dawnrider/R:I:P)
Tom "Golem" Danczak - Drums (Crystal Viper/Ex-Dragon/Darzamat/Adrenalina)

Mentioned début single is available for streaming at band's official MySpace page - which also includes pictures from the band's official photo session, made by famous journalist & photographer Andreas Schöwe. Band's style is described as a mixture of the '80s heavy metal (Dio, Stormwitch, Warlock), with current power metal (Edguy, Hammerfall, Epica). Born Again has signed a management deal with the Hard Rocker Management, home of bands such as: Wizard, Wild Knight, Lonewolf and Crystal Viper.

More info at http://www.myspace.com/bornagainofficial.

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Crystal Viper

After the immense worldwide success following the release of our debut album in 2006 Ebony Veiled, that was reviewed as one of the best Doom Metal releases of the year, and as many of you already know, we have a new album coming up under Russian label StygianCrypt Productions entitled Solitary Impact. The album is still in the mixing/mastering process and should be ready soon!

Meanwhile, to give you a taste of the new album and what to expect, a new track "Bloody Tourniquet" has been uploaded on our official website and now available for download.

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Kimaera

Borknagar's upcoming album Universal will be launched for a worldwide release the 22nd of February 2010 through Indie Recordings.

Comment about the artwork reads as follows: "We are really proud to finally reveal the cover for Universal. It has been a long process to circle in and establish the perfect visual approach for this album. A cover that is able to visually represent the album. We firmly believe that we have achieved that with the new cover and the general designs (including CD, CDL, LP and CD BOX) represent nothing less."

Universal cover art] tracklist:

01. Havoc
02. Reason
03. The Stir Of Seasons
04. For A Thousand Years To Come
05. Abrasion Tide
06. Fleshflower
07. Worldwide
08. My Domain (feat. guest vocals of I.C.S Vortex)

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Borknagar

Benediction have announced the following:

"Due to visa problems Benediction will not be in South America this December. Dates will be re-scheduled. Please note that the band will DEFINITELY still be playing there but just need to sort the red tape bollocks out first. Shit happens, don't worry about it."

Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Benediction

"Stronghold: Under Siege", the new official video clip from the Polish female fronted Classic Heavy Metal band Crystal Viper, can be viewed online.

The track was written for the Stronghold role-playing/dark fantasy game, which will come out later this month through Portal Publishing and their partners worldwide. The song was recorded at the MP Studio in Poland with engineer Mariusz Pietka and producer Bart Gabriel. The "Stronghold: Under Siege" CD single will be added for free to the box with the game, and will be available in very limited edition as a separate disc (on Skol Records). More about the game at http://www.portalpublishing.eu.

In other news, Crystal Viper released a brand new seven-inch vinyl single on High Roller Records titled "The Wolf And The Witch", earlier this month. The front cover artwork for the single was painted by Chris Moyen, who has previously worked with such bands as Slayer, Beherit, Blasphemy and Trivium.

UPDATE on 14.11.2009 (thanks to Bad English):

Crystal Viper released a new and different version of the "Stronghold: Under Siege" video, filmed during the recording session of the "Stronghold" single.

The video can be watched on the band's MySpace and below:


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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Crystal Viper

US metallers Attacker have issued the followig update on their MySpace blog:

"Attacker is searching for a classic metal vocalist with multi-octave range, stage presence and experience.

We are currently working on material for our next album which is scheduled for recording in late Feb/March 2010. Any interested parties can contact us at attackerband yahoo com.

Send vocal samples & photos to the above address for consideration or point us to your website or MySpace."

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Attacker

Original news, posted on 12.10.2009

Two brand new songs of the French Heavy Metal squad Lonewolf, taken from the forthcoming new studio album The Dark Crusade, are available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. Except that, the band has published the official video clip for the song "Viktoria", which was filmed on the Hard Rocker Festival 2 in Poland.

"The Dark Crusade" will hit the streets on November 11, on both CD (Karthago Records) and vinyl (Killer Metal Records).

UPDATE (thanks to Bad English)

The next two new songs from French heavy metallers Lonewolf, "Legacy Of The Wild" and "Hail Victory", are available for streaming at the band's MySpace page.

"Legacy Of The Wild" and "Hail Victory" come off the band's forthcoming album, The Dark Crusade, which will be released on November 11 on both CD (Karthago Records) and vinyl (Killer Metal Records). The CD version will include bonus track "The Hour 0", while the vinyl version, which will be available in 500 copies, will include a different bonus cut, "Burning The Icons".

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Lonewolf

Pantheist have posted the following news on MySpace:

"Following 3 great years of collaboration, fantastic times at gigs, in tour vans and the studio, we have sadly decided to part ways with guitarist Pete Benjamin (Akercocke, Corpsing, For The Blind). For the upcoming gigs this year, our Belgian, Czech and Polish fans will have the opportunity to witness Pantheist with Esoteric's Greg Chandler joining Ilia on guitar duties. We are really excited about this one-off set of appearances, as Greg, who engineered our latest album "Journey Through Lands Unknown", brings his own flair into our music.

Following these concerts we will be looking into recruiting a suitably talented and open-minded replacement for Pete. We are looking for someone capable of both rhythm and lead guitar, with their own equipment, suitable for live performances and willing to commit to at least 3 rehearsals a month in London, England. Live and recording experience and skills in other instruments are not necessary but highly welcome. If you feel you are the right person for the job, contact the band at the MySpace site."

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Pantheïst

The pioneers of the "Gothenburg Sound" have posted the "Final Resistance" live video from the upcoming "Where Death Is Most Alive" DVD online.

The show was recorded last year at the Rolling Stone Club in Milan, Italy. Disc 1 of the DVD contains 20 tracks Live In Milan and disc 2 offers the "Out Of Nothing" Dark Tranquillity documentary, another 21 rare live videos and all promo videos. Here's the link to the DVD trailer.

Furthermore Dark Tranquillity are proud to announce a special 20 Years party in their hometown Gothenburg. Mikael Stanne commented: "The day is drawing near. The day when we celebrate our 20th anniversary by releasing this DVD that we've been working our asses off on. The result is something that we feel is pretty spectacular and we felt like sharing it with some our friends and fans. So we figured what better way to do so than to have a special screening right here in Gothenburg. Right in the heart of the city in one of our most classic movie theaters.

So on the 30th of October at Bio Roy the "Where Death Is Most Alive" DVD will screen for the first and only time. And not only will we have the most awesome opening act ever in the form of Slaughter of the Bluegrass doing their first ever gig, all attendees will also receive a "The Dying Fragments" special CD with ultra-rare livematerial featuring never recorded songs. This will only be given out on this day and is limited to 333 copies.

So log in to http://www.bioroy.se now and book your tickets for 60 SEK. This will be a night to remember!"

After the DVD premier at the Bio Roy movie theater the party will move to the metal bar Henriksberg with Mikael Stanne and some more at the DJ desk.

More details and venue addresses on http://www.darktranquillity.com.

And here's the tracklist of "The Dying Fragments" CD limited to 333 hand numbered copies every guest of the DVD premier will receive:

01. Only Time Can Tell * (Rehearsal, Billdal 1991)
02. The Dying Fragment Of An Elderly Dream ** (Valvet, Gothenburg 1991)
03. Soulbreed ** (Ljungskile 1991)
04. Yesterworld (Musikens Hus, Gothenburg 1992)
05. Alone (Fågeln, Gothenburg 1992)
06. My Faeryland Forgotten (Fågeln, Gothenburg 1992)
07. Nightfall By The Shore Of Time (Fågeln, Gothenburg 1992)
08. Skywards (Gamlestaden, Gothenburg 1992)
09. Shadow Duet (Karlstad 1994)
10. Crimson Winds (Karlstad 1994)
11. Razorfever (Rotterdam, Holland 1997)

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Dark Tranquillity
Event:	Dark Tranquillity: 20 Anniversary Party

After returning from several festivals including Battlefield Metal Fest in Spain, Up The Hammers in Greece, and Manowar's Magic Circle Festival in Germany, and before starting pre-production of the forthcoming, third full lenght studio album, Polish female fronted Heavy Metal squad Crystal Viper, entered the Polish MP Studio to record the "Stronghold: Under Siege" song, for the most awaited board game of the year: Stronghold. The song has been recorded with Mariusz Pietka behind the recording/mixing console, and with Bart Gabriel as the producer. The "Stronghold" single will be released on October 8th as the digital download and CD single, which will be added to the European edition of the Stronghold game. The band is also working on the official video clip for the song, which will feature XIII and XV century knight brotherhoods.

Stronghold is the classic rpg/board game, and will be released in 4 versions: Polish (Portal), German (Phalanx Games), French (Iello) and English (distribution in UKL and Europe: Esdevium Games). The game is one of the biggest, and most monumental production of the famous Portal company: the box with the game will include almost 100 cards, more than 300 wooden elements, more than 130 coins and 2 playing boards. Portal company has already a cult status in the rpg circles, due to bestsellers such as Neuroshima and Monastyr. More information to be found at the official Crystal Viper MySpace and at the official website of the Portal company.

Crystal Viper "Stronghold" single artwork.

In the meantime the band also uploaded a new song, called "The Wolf And The Witch" on MySpace.

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Crystal Viper

Bassist/vocalist Dodo Datel of Galadriel has posted the following message regarding the recent line up change in the band:

"After some problems we decided to end the co-operation with guitarist Skkipi Skuppin. He was in the band from spring of 2005 and recorded with us our latest album "Renascence Of Ancient Spirit". We wish him all the best in his next musical and personal life. New lead guitarist is Tomax Gabris, who was a part of the band in years 1997 - 2004. Now after five years we invited him back. The band is currently in writing process."

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Galadriel

Official press release

French true heavy metal squad Lonewolf have signed multiple record deal with the German label Karthago Records. Their brand new studio album "The Dark Crusade", will hit the streets on november 11, 2009.

"The Dark Crusade" is the next classic heavy metal release, that was mixed & mastered by the grammy nominated guitarist Andy La Rocque (known from cooperation with bands such as King Diamond, Hammerfall or Falconer), and produced by Bart Gabriel (editor in chief of the biggest polish rock/metal magazine Hard Rocker, who also produced releases of bands such as Crystal Viper, Sabbat or Kat).

The front cover artwork for the album was painted by Chris Moyen, the legendary french artist known from cooperation with bands such as Slayer, Trivium, Beherit and Blasphemy.

Some of the special guests appearing on the album are: Majk Moti (ex-Running Wild, now in Wild Knight), Jan Bunning (Paragon) and Marta Gabriel (Crystal Viper).

The album is promoted by a slogan "The reaper has returned to the black hand inn", as it was strongly inspired by the classic albums from cult acts such as Running Wild, Grave Digger, but also X Wild or U.D.O. And Accept.

People that heard the album state clearly: "... if you liked albums such as "Black Hand Inn" from Running Wild, "Tunes Of War" from Grave Digger" or U.D.O.'s "Solid", then you will love Lonewolf's "The Dark Crusade"!..."

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Lonewolf

Suicidal Angels have issued the following statement:

"We are more than happy and proud to announce that we won the Rock The Nation Award 2009 and sign a deal with Nuclear Blast. We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to everybody that voted for us and of course good luck to all the bands that participated in this contest!

Our new album "Sanctify The Darkness" will be out on the 20th of November so stay tuned for more infos and as always prepare yourselves to be thrashed!"

Below you can read the official statement of Rock The Nation:

"The winner takes it all", true to the motto Rock The Nation appealed to a band contest of a particular kind. The Austrian management and booking company takes care of the needs of such bands as Deathstars, Legion Of The Damned, Sabaton, Behemoth, Kataklysm, Leaves' Eyes and Eluveitie. They offered a lucrative all inclusive package for the winner, with a long term labeldeal with Boomer Entertainment and the leading heavy metal company Nuclear Blast Records (Nightwish, Hammerfall, Testament, Dimmu Borgir and many more), and them of course.

This unique competition was presented by all leading European metal magazines, like the German, Italian, Spanish and Greek Metal Hammer, the British Terorizer, Metallian (France), Scream (Norway), Rock Tribune (Belgium), Spark (Czech Republic), and the Dutch webzine Lordsofmetal.nl.

"This high interest blew all our expectations", says Rock The Nation boss Stefan Hattinger. More than 1.200 bands from all over the world applied, hundreds of thousands votes have been counted. "It made the RTN-Award a tremendous success and proves that this is what the bands have been waiting for."

The 100 best votings were then judged by an inner circle composed of members from Rock The Nation, Boomer Entertainment and Nuclear Blast. In the end there wasn't only one, but two winners! Suicidal Angels from Greece and Steelwing from Sweden. "We love those two bands so much, that we couldn't decide us against one of them, so we had to make two winners", says Hattinger.

Regardless of the experts opinion, both acts were under the top ten of the fan votings and finally conviced with their unique and overwhelming songwriting. They simply made it! "Both bands really deserve our biggest respect, it would be cool if everybody out there sends his and her congrats & comments. Add them to your friends and see what will happen with both bands in the coming months", says Hattinger with big plans in mind. The greek Thrash metal formation Suicidal Angels play a merciless riff massacre and a perfect mix of old Kreator and Sepultura like sounds.

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Suicidal Angels

"Misery's Crown", the new video from Swedish metallers Dark Tranquillity, has been made available online. The clip contains video footage taken from the band's forthcoming DVD "Where Death Is Most Alive", which will be released on October 26 in Europe (November 11 in North America) via Century Media Records.

Also the song "The Treason Wall" , taken from "Where Death Is Most Alive", is available for streaming at the band's MySpace page.


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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Dark Tranquillity