The band posted an update on their official website concerning the tours, projects, new releases and more. Read the whole statement at http://www.hydrahead.com/pelican/_news.html

Band profile:

Pelican

Solitaire's brand new album will be released on Battle Cry Records on 29th May. The new outburst, the band's 3rd in their career, will be titled Invasion Metropolis and it features the following 10 new Solitaire originals:

Soul Restless Soul
Open Season
Wipe-Out
Blue Lights Flashing
The Decade Of Aggression
Invasion Metropolis
Die Tonight
Engage The Power
Potential Hazard To Life
Closing Circle

Source:

solitairemetal.com

Thy Majetie decided to parted ways with singer Giulio Di Gregorio. The band commented: "There are a lot of personal reasons for this choice. But it had to be done.
It will be really difficult to find a replacement here in Sicily, so at the moment Thy Majestie's future is uncertain. We hope to come back soon with good news."

The band doesn't have any requirements more than being professional to fill in the position. "We have posted on our site a .Zip file with some mp3s of our latest album, if you think that you are a professional singer and you would like to join Thy Majestie please download the file from here : MP3s , add your voice and then send back the mp3 to our official address. We will let you know."

Read more ››

Source:	thymajestie.com
Band profile:	Thy Majestie

Keyboard player Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater) rejoined the Yngwie Malmsteen touring band according to Malmsteen's website for the upcoming tour. The touring lineup is the following:

Yngwie Malmsteen: Guitars
Dougie White: Vocals
Derek Sherinian: Keyboards
Mick Cervino: Bass
Patrik Johansson: Drums

2006 Yngwie Malmsteen Confirmed Dates:

5/3 - The Handlebar / Greenville, SC

5/4 - The Neighborhood Theatre / Charlotte, NC

5/5 - The Orange Peel / Asheville, NC

5/6 - The State Theatre / Falls Church, VA

5/7 - The Roper Performing Arts Center / Norfolk, VA

5/9 - Webster Theatre / Hartford, CT

5/10 - Crocodile Rock / Allentown, PA

5/11 - Mr. Small's Theatre / Pittsburgh, PA

5/12 - Northern Lights / Clifton Park, NY

5/13 - Imperial / Quebec City, QC

5/14 - Le Medley / Montreal, QC

5/15 - Opera House Concert Venue / Toronto, ON

5/16 - Royal Oak Music Theatre / Royal Oak, MI

5/18 - Newport Music Hall / Columbus, OH

5/19 - Jillian's / Louisville, KY

5/20 - Pop's Nightclub / Sauget, IL

5/21 - Fayetville, AR

5/26 - House of Blues / New Orleans, LA

5/29 - House of Blues / Orlando, FL

Read more ››

Source:	yngwie.org
Band profile:	Yngwie Malmsteen

The band has added Tampa, Florida's own J.R. Daniels aka "Kid Gnarly"(ex-Unholy Ghost/Royal Anguish) to its roster! He'll be covering the upcoming tours and is a permanent replacement.

Cattle Decapitation upcoming dates are:

w/Necrophagist/Arsis/Neuraxis/Alarum:
5/10 Reno, NV @ Liquid Lounge
5/11 - Roseville (Sacramento), CA @ The Underground
5/12 - San Francisco, CA @ The Pound
5/13 - Whittier, CA @ California Metalfest
5/14 - Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
5/15 - Albuquerque, NM @ The Compound
5/16 - Tulsa, OK @ The Venue
5/17 - Arlington (Dallas), TX @ Phoenix Music Complex
5/18 - San Antonio, TX @ Graham Central Station
5/19 - Houston, TX @ Java Jazz
5/20 - Baton Rouge, LA @ The Darkroom
5/21 - Jacksonville, FL @ Thee Imperial w/ Into the Moat
5/22 - Orlando (Winter Park), FL @ Wills Pub w/ Into the Moat
5/23 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Studio A w/ Into the Moat
5/24 St. Petersburg, FL @ The State Theater
5/25 - Augusta, GA @ Sector 7G
5/26 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Peppermint Beach Club
5/28 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
5/29 - New York, NY @ B.B. King's
5/30 Bucksport, ME @ The Kave

w/From A Second Story Window/Misery Index/Animosity/Job For A Cowboy:
5/31 Kingston, PA @ Backstage Enterprises
6/01 Bedford, NH @ Marks Place
6/02 Sommerville, MA @ Goodtimes Emporium
6/04 Nashville, TN @ The Muse
6/05 Kansas City, MO @ El Torreon
6/06 Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theater
6/08 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
6/10 Newburgh, NY @ Post 973
6/11 Centereach, NY @ Centereach VFW Hall
6/12 Kingston, PA @ Backstage Enterprises
6/13 Revere, MA @ Club Lido
6/14 Hamden, CT @ Hamden Elks Lodge
6/23 Houston, TX @ Java Jazz
6/25 Corpus Christi, TX @ The Ballroom
7/01 Bakersfield, CA @ Jerrys Pizza
7/02 Fresno, CA @ The Belmont
7/05 Orangevale, CA @ The Boardwalk
7/07 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
7/15 Southgate, MI @ The Modern Exchange
8/20 West Hollywood, CA @ Whiskey a Go Go

Source:

myspace.com

The following message has been delivered via The Gathering newsletter:

Dear all,

Due to illness, the Gathering has unfortunately been forced to cancel all shows in Europe and the Netherlands scheduled between 19 April and 28 May. Anneke van Giersbergen is suffering from an obstinate bronchial and sinus infection, which has taken a turn for the worse over the past few days.
"The band very much regrets having to take this step, but Anneke's health will have to come first. We are consulting with promoters to try to reschedule the concerts to later this year so that tickets would remain valid", declares the band's management.

The latest recording Home was released this past weekend. So this cancellation is very unfortunate for the band as well as for their fans. The Gathering will resume touring starting in June.

We will keep you updated!
TG Webteam

Source:	- The Gathering Newsletter -
Band profile:	The Gathering

To coincide with the announcement of Virgin Black's three requiems, the band is giving an inside view of the production process by revealing excerpts of string arrangements performed by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra - (full instrumentation not represented). The fragments are taken from songs featured on "Requiem - pianissimo". You can find the download on the "Download" section of their website http://www.virginblack.com

A release date for Requiem has not as yet been confirmed. The label is currently deliberating over those details.

Source:	- Virgin Black Newsletter -
Band profile:	Virgin Black

The band announced the new bassist, it's Roel Vink, "he is a young bassplayer with a lot of good musical ambitions, and we will start to work hard on learning him all the songs." commented the band.

Roel Vink will play live with Sun Caged for the first time at the Elsrock festival in Rijssen, The Netherlands on August 26th.

Also the band commented on the recording of their upcoming album: "We are currently recording our second album. All drums have been recorded, and now Marcel and Rene are recording their tracks.
Barend Tromp (ex Lemur Voice) will play bass on a few songs, and also will play a sitar solo in one of our songs. It will be great for fans of Lemur Voice to see Marcel work with Barend again, since Lemur Voice splitted up in 2000."

Source:	suncaged.com
Band profile:	Sun Caged

The following statment was posted at Mercenary's official website:

"We've been waiting for this moment for a long time, and now it's finally here.
The new Mercenary album - the follow up to "11 Dreams" - is done.
The recordings ended on Friday, April 7th.
We're also finally able to spill out some more details that we've had on the tip of our tongues for several months:

The new album title is: "The Hours that Remain"

The album will contain 10 brand new songs - about 60 minutes of playing time.
Some track titles are; "The Year of the Plague", "My world is Ending", "Obscure Indiscretion" & "Lost Reality".

We're very happy with the result - and if you like "11 Dreams" you'll definately like this as well. "The Hours
that Remain" has the custom Mercenary riffs and sound, but a lot more heavy, speedy and melodic at the
same time. We've gone even further in mixing the different styles as we like them into a nice "Mercenary" type blend.

"The Hours that Remain" will also include special guests, that we keep a secret for now.

As for the art work, we've decided to go another round with Travis Smith (Nevermore, Testament, SYL etc.).
Travis also did the "Everblack" artwork for us and we're very happy with the layouts he has done for
"The Hours that Remain" so far.

"The Hours that Remain" -was recorded at Jacob Hansen Studios from march 11th - April 7th.
The mixing will take place 5th - 15th of May. Mastering will once again be handled by Ziggy.at zigzound Studios."

Source:	mercenary.dk
Band profile:	Mercenary

Vintersorg posted the following message on his official website:

"The new album will be finished recorded after the summer. There're some things that has to be solved but most of the guitars are recorded, the keyboards are done and some other FX are also completed.
We'll record the drums and bass during the summer, this time our live session drummer Benny Hägglund will be perfoming with us. For the bass we'll work with our live session bass player Johan Lindgren and we think it'll be a very interesting album from several aspects. The metal element are extended still melody is there of course. The most striking thing is that the lyrics will be this time is Swedish.
After having several albums with a mix between languages, and the last one totally in English, I got inspired to write in Swedish again. The change is for the same reasons as when we switched to write in English, to feel inspired and to stay fresh. A more ethnic touch is also to be noticed, still the music is forward thinking. So it's not a part II for TF or ÖS, so read this before you start mailing us about that

The album will be called "Solens Rötter" and can be translated to "The Origin of the Sun" or "The Sun's Roots". It's very hard though to give a good translation as the the combined words give you a certain feeling and the phonetics is also something that taste good in our mouths. Stay tuned for more info about the recording. Over and out!

Mr V"

Source:	vintersorganic.com
Band profile:	Vintersorg

Sirenia is finally ready to introduce their new female singer. Her name is Monika Pedersen, from Denmark, born 1978. Monika has been dedicated to music all her life, and has loads of experience from other bands, projects, choirs etc. In addition she has been working with several professional singing teachers in Luxemburg and Denmark. From now on she will have an important role in Sirenia's music, and we all look forward to a future collaboration.

Click Here to see her picture.

Read more ››

Source:	sirenia.no
Band profile:	Sirenia

Luca Turilli posted the following message on his official website:

"Hi my friends, today I am proud to announce you that Karsten, my faithful and talented webmaster, added some samples to this and the Dreamquest website for all those people that want to know more about the evolution of my musical style and how these new upcoming releases will sound. The samples that you can find on this website consist in an excerpt from the following tracks: 'Mother Nature', 'Altitudes' and 'The Miracle of Life', tracks that represent well the intensity of these new compositions sounding more mature and modern than ever before, also thanks to the wonderful voice of Bridget Fogle, that from simple chorist became lead singer of this band. Surely 'The Infinite Wonders of Creation' is the most symphonic album I released until now and the opera choirs, singed by the talented 'Voices of Astral Conscience', are massive and epic from the first until the last track of the CD. And more: when you will see the booklet that Karsten created for this album you will understand how the complete concept around my new release, musically, lyrically and graphically, took a particularly defined way of inner expression that will represent from now on the trademark for my future solo productions.

I am also proud to tell you that for the first time in my solo career my 3rd solo album 'The Infinite Wonders of Creation' has been chosen as 'album of the month' in an important German magazine. I'll tell you more when more infos will be available.

Very important: very soon, thanks to the hard word of my brother Karsten Vom Wege, this site, totally renewed, will be finally open. But before, in a couple of days, you'll be already able to exchange your opinions and thoughts in the new forum linked to this website.

Best Wishes and stay tuned for further news!"

Go to Luca's official website to check the samples:
http://www.das-buero-jaeger.de/lucaturilli/index.php

Band profile:

Luca Turilli

The Rekuiem album 'Time Will Tell' will be available around the World from 24th April 2006. The album is already released in Japan on Jan 27th, 2006 (entering the album chart in Japan at number 44).

The band have also shot videos for two tracks from the album and these will be made available in some format to Rekuiem fans in the near future (some early copies of the album will be sold complete with a free copy of the dvd featuring both videos, but these will be available purely on a first come, first served basis). The Video is expected to be avaiable for streaming in place from the band's website.

The band have signed to Majestic and plan later in the year to play a few select festivals across Europe and hopefully make a debut appearance in the U.S.A. to promote the release. Edited MP3 samples of all 10 tracks from the European release are now available from the album page on their website.

The band announced that have some studio material from the days with Mike Reid and his later replacement Steve Mills (formerly with Trespass) and they are considering releasing these for fans and collectors on vinyl and cd via the website later in the year.

Source:

rekuiem.org

The new guitarist for Lizzy Borden is Ira Black (Metal Church/ Vicious Rumors)
"Ira came in, turned up and started shredding up the place, I can't wait for everyone to hear him play all the Borden songs. The rehearsals so far have been just crushing! He's just the new blood we've been dying for" Reports Lizzy...

Lizzy Borden have decided to go back to their classic line up of two guitarists, so they are still on the lookout for a second guitarist of equal abilities.

Any interested Guitarist:

Must live in Los Angeles
Must be a shredder with taste (Rhoads/Wylde)
Must have stage presence and be a part of the Lizzy Borden Show.
Send us a link to your website so we may hear samples of your playing and see pictures. (No Snail mail please.) Go here to submit the link http://www.lizzyborden.com/lizzyborden-contact.htm

Source:

lizzyborden.com

The release date for upcoming Persuader album "When Eden Burns" is set for 15 May 2006. The tracklist is the following:

01. Twisted Eyes
02. Slaves Of Labour
03. Sending You Back
04. R.S Knights
05. The Return
06. When Eden Burns
07. Judas Immortal
08. Doomsday News
09. Zion
10. Enter Reality
11. Alight The Heavens (Japan Bonus)

Click here to see the artwork.

The band will be performing at Release Fest at Äpplet/Umeå with Reveria (Umeå) and Dreamland (Gothenburg).

Read more ››

Source:	persuader.nu
Band profile:	Persuader