Dutch Gothenburg metal band Detonation has gone gone through some serious line-up changes recently. Guitarist Mike Ferguson (ex-Kutschurft checked in with the following message:

"We have some good and some sad news!

Sad news first... we parted ways with 3 band members recently. Danny Tunker (guitar) and Michiel van der Plicht (drums) have gone on to seek their fame and fortune with God Dethroned and Prostitute Disfigurement. Due to their busy schedules it was impossible to keep playing in Detonation. However, we parted as friends and wish them good luck and much success in these bands.

Also, after 12 years in Detonation Otto Schimmelpenninck (bass) has decided to leave the band. His busy schedule with Delain prohibited his 100% focus and attention for Detonation, and as he did not think this was fair towards us, he respectfully gave up his role as bass player for Detonation. We will miss Otto as a friend and also wish him much success with Delain!

Then the good news!

Koen Romeijn and I have no intention on quitting, quite the contrary, we are more focused and determined than before. We have been practicing with new musicians for a month or so, and it is going great.

On drums we welcome Allard van der Kuip, known from Utrecht band Grindpad. And on bass we welcome Harry van Breda. Harry is known as the vocalist in I-Chaos, and also the guy that recorded and mixed our new album Reprisal. Both new guys come from our town Utrecht, and have been friends of the band since quite a while. Together with Allard and Harry we are driven and focused to get Detonation back on track, playing gigs and kicking ass!

We are very happy with the new guys in the band, and are eager to get our killer new album Reprisal to you. Thank you all for your patience, we'll make sure it will all be worth the wait!"

A release date for Reprisal has yet to be announced. The cover artwork was done by Eliran Kantor.

Reprisal cover art] tracklist:

01. Enslavement
02. There Is No Turning Back
03. Feeding On The Madness
04. Ruptured
05. Absentia Mentis
06. Washing Away The Blood
07. Falling Prey
08. Insults To My Heritage

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Detonation

Nuclear Blast is proud to announce the signing of Finnish melodic death / dark metal outfit Before The Dawn.

The rest of the official press release goes as follows: founded in 1999 and led by multi talented Tuomas Saukkonen (Black Sun Aeon, Dawn Of Solace), Before The Dawn have managed to pave their way to uniqueness by combining the heaviness of melodic death metal, the gloom of dark metal and the frostbitten cold of finnish winters with beautiful melodies and epic hymnody like no other band out there!

Commented Tuomas Saukkonen: "After 10 years and 5 albums the very best that could have happened to BTD was to get under the wings of one of the most powerfull metal machineries ever. The new alliance between Nuclear Blast and Before The Dawn is an fine examble of determination, devotion, motivation and a true northern "thru the thickest stone wall" attitude."

The band's brand new album Deathstar Rising will be unleashed February 25, 2011.

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Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Before The Dawn

Legendary UK heavy metal act Motörhead will embark on a massive world tour in 2011, in support of their newest release The Wörld Is Yours. The tour will start at the end of January 2011 in North America, followed by live dates in Australia and South America and festival dates in Europe. Support bands will be announced subsequently.

North American tour dates:

01/25/2011 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
01/28/2011 - Reno, NV - Knitting Factory
01/29/2011 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
01/31/2011 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
02/02/2011 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield
02/04/2011 - Seattle, WA - Sodo
02/05/2011 - Portland, OR - Roseland
02/07/2011 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue
02/09/2011 - Edmonton, AL - EEC
02/10/2011 - Calgary, AL - Flames Central
02/12/2011 - Winnipeg, MT - Burton
02/13/2011 - TBA - TBA
02/15/2011 - Minneapolis, MN - 1st Ave
02/16/2011 - Milwaukee, WI - Rave Ballroom
02/17/2011 - Kansas City, MO - Midland Theatre
02/19/2011 - Chicago, IL - The Congress Theatre
02/20/2011 - St Louis, MO - Pops
02/22/2011 - Grand Rapids, MI - Orbit
02/23/2011 - Detroit, MI - Royal Oaks
02/25/2011 - Kitchener, ONT - Elements
02/26/2011 - Toronto, ONT - Koolhouse
02/28/2011 - New York, NY - Best Buy
03/01/2011 - Boston, MA - House of Blues (Avalon)
03/03/2011 - Sayerville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
03/04/2011 - Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues
03/05/2011 - TBA - TBA
03/08/2011 - Austin, TX - Stubb's
03/10/2011 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
03/11/2011 - Los Angeles, CA - Nokia Live

Australian tour dates:

03/26/2011 - Melbourne, Australia - Festival Hall
03/28/2011 - Sydney, Australia - Big Top
03/30/2011 - Adelaide, Australia - Thebarton
04/01/2011 - Gold Coast, Australia - Convention Centre

South American tour dates:

04/06/2011 - San Jose, Costa Rica - Palacio de los Deportes
04/09/2011 - Santiago, Chile - Teatro Caupolican
04/12/2011 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Luna Park
04/14/2011 - Montevideo, Uruguay - Teatro de Verano Ramon Collazo
04/16/2011 - São Paulo, Brazil - Via Funchal
04/17/2011 - Curitiba, Brazil - Master Hall
04/20/2011 - Florianópolis, Brazil - Floripa Music Hall
04/26/2011 - Lima, Peru - Explanada Sur Del Monumental

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Source:	imotorhead.com
Band profile:	Motörhead

Shining guitarist Peter Huss has joined Swedish black metal act Apostasy after the departure of Ludvig Johansson in early October.

The band revealed the following statement: "Apostasy is very pleased to present our new guitarist, Peter Huss. Peter Huss has done tons of session/live works and can play any type of music. He will be a great addition to Apostasy on our upcoming songwriting/recording/live/drinking sessions. We're excited to have this amazing guitarist onboard. And the best thing beside his chops is that he's a really nice and easygoing dude with a great sense of humor and great passion for music.

Peter also play guitar in the legendary Swedish band Shining. He has toured with Sinergy in 1999 as a session guitarist replacing Alexi Laiho. Some of the bands/albums Peter has participated on lately are Swedish death metal band Ruined Soul, Dutch/Belgian death metal band Unlocked, Norwegian metal band Pantheon I, and he did all guitars on the ISSA Sign of Angels album with monster drummer Uli Kusch among others. Weird fact: Apostasy drummer Thomas Ohlsson is playing in the ISSA "I'm Alive" video."

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Apostasy

Dutch death metallers Sinister have announced the addition of bassist Joost van der Graaf (Cypher, Creepmime) to the group's ranks.

The band commented: "For people who don't know this... Sinister has a new bass player. His name is Joost van der Graaf. We practiced now a couple of times together and it's going fucking amazing... The band is really happy with him and we cannot wait to show this to you by one of our live gigs."

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Sinister

Amon Amarth have announced a string of European headlining shows, scheduled for May 2011. Support on the road will come from The Black Dahlia Murder. As previously reported, Amon Amarth will support Children Of Bodom and Ensiferum on the UK/Ireland leg of their Ugly World Tour. Get dates here.

Amon Amarth's upcoming album, Surtur Rising, will be released on March 29, 2011 via Metal Blade Records.

May 13 - Oslo, NOR - Betong
May 14 - Stockholm, SWE - Tyrol
May 15 - Gothenburg, SWE - Tradgarn (without The Black Dahlia Murder)
May 17 - Copenhagen, DEN - Vega
May 18 - Hamburg, GER - Grosse Freiheit 36
May 19 - Antwerp, BEL - Hof Ter Lo
May 20 - Amsterdam, NET - Melkweg
May 21 - Cologne, GER - E-Werk
May 22 - Paris, FRA - Elysee Montmarte
May 24 - Munich, GER - Tonhalle
May 25 - Milan, ITA - Limelight
May 27 - Dessau, GER - Metalfest Germany
May 28 - Mining, AUT - Metalfest Austria
May 29 - Pratteln, SWI - Metalfest Switzerland

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Source:	amonamarth.com
Band profile:	Amon Amarth
Event:	Amon Amarth: European Tour

Slayer and Megadeth will team up once again for their European Carnage Tour 2011 taking place in March and April. The list of confirmed tour dates looks as follows:

Mar. 13 - Kiev, Ukraine - Expo
Mar. 15 - Moscow, Russia - Olimpiski
Mar. 16 - St Petersburg, Russia - Jubileeny
Mar. 17 - Helsinki, Finland - Ice Hall
Mar. 19 - Stockholm, Sweden - Arenan
Mar. 20 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
Mar. 21 - Aarhus, Denmark - SCC
Mar. 23 - Brussels, Belgium - Forest
Mar. 24 - Bamberg, Germany - Stechert Arena
Mar. 26 - Paris, France - Zenith
Mar. 28 - Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
Mar. 29 - La Coruna, Spain - Coliseum
Mar. 30 - Lisbon, Portugal - Pavilhao Atlantico
Apr. 01 - Barcelona, Spain - St Jordi Club
Apr. 03 - Rome, Italy - Atlantico
Apr. 04 - Padova, Italy - Gran Teatro
Apr. 06 - Zagreb, Croatia - Arena
Apr. 07 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
Apr. 08 - Budapest, Hungary - Arena
Apr. 10 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
Apr. 11 - Lodz, Poland - Sportshall
Apr. 13 - Basel, Switzerland - St Jakobshalle

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Source:	slayerized.com
Band profile:	Slayer
Event:	Slayer + Megadeth: European Carnage Tour

Swedish metallers Spawn Of Possession have issued the following update on their MySpace blog:

"We regret to inform you that we have released Richard Shill of his drumming duties in Spawn Of Possession. Reason being is that Richard depends very much on actual band practice and with Spawn Of Possession members being scattered all over Sweden, Norway and Germany band practice becomes an impossibility. This decision is in no way a reflection on Richards skills as a drummer or his personality as he will always remain part of the Spawn Of Possession family. We wish him all the best with his ongoing and future endeavors in music.

To fill the gap after Richard we have recruited Henrik Schönström to take over the percussive side of the band. Right now Henrik is preparing for the recording of the next album and we welcome him to the camp."

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Spawn Of Possession

Helstar will be touring Europe this December in support of its latest effort, "Glory of Chaos", released on November 5, 2010 in Europe via AFM Records. Helstar's European headlining tour will kick-off on December 10th in Kerkrade, Netherlands, and will conclude on December 18th in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Helstar December 2010 European Tour Schedule:

10-12 The Rock Temple - Kerkrade, Netherlands
11-12 Metal City Festival - Lünen, Germany
12-12 Kaminwerk - Memmingen, Germany
13-12 Gala Hala - Ljubljana, Slovenia
14-12 Viper Room - Vienna, Austria (with Blaze Bayley)
15-12 Rock City - Uster, Switzerland
16-12 Eiche - Crailsheim, Germany
17-12 Eindhoven Metal Meeting Festival - Eindhoven, Netherlands
18-12 Little Devil - Tilburg, Netherlands

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Helstar
Event:	Helstar: European Tour 2010

Chimaira have parted ways with long-serving bassist Jim LaMarca. The message from the band reads as follows:

"After a decade of good times and achievements, our friend and band mate Jim LaMarca has decided to retire from Chimaira. We wish him nothing but the best as he settles in and starts a family. As for seeking a replacement... we'll cross that bridge down the line. In the meantime, consider it "business as usual" with the Chimaira you know and love."

Dååth guitarist Emil Werstler will be handling the bass duties in Chimaira for the rest of the year.

Chimaira will embark on a short headlining tour in late November with support from Impending Doom, Dååth and This Or The Apocalypse. Click on the event link below to get all the dates.

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Source:	chimaira.com
Band profile:	Chimaira
Event:	Blue Collar Brawler Tour 2010

Teutonic thrash metallers Sodom have announced a string of European live dates, scheduled to take place in February next year. The band will be touring in support of their latest effort, In War And Pieces, released in Germany last week and the rest of Europe today (more album details available here).

04.02.2011 (B) Vosselaar, Biebob
05.02.2011 (NL) Eindhoven, Dynamo
06.02.2011 (UK) London, Underworld
07.02.2011 (D) Saarbrücken, Garage
09.02.2011 (CH) Pratteln, z7
10.02.2011 (I) Milan, Live Club
11.02.2011 (A) Wien, Szene
12.02.2011 (SLO) Maribor, Stuk
13.02.2011 (H) Budapest, Diesel
15.02.2011 (D) Aschaffenburg, Colos Saal
16.02.2011 (D) Hamburg, Markthalle
17.02.2011 (D) Bochum, Zeche
18.02.2011 (D) Erfurt, Centrum
19.02.2011 (D) Herford, X
20.02.2011 (D) Ludwigsburg, Rockfabrik

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Source:	sodomized.info
Band profile:	Sodom
Event:	Sodom

Official press release

Occasionally a musician has to take a step back into the past to develop artistically. Tom Englund, guitarist and vocalist with Swedish rock group Evergrey, took this risk and reorganised his artistic environment. "The most recent Evergrey line-up had reached a point where we no longer had fun as a group," he confesses, adding: "So we went our separate ways to save our friendship. There were no angry words, and we're still friends privately."

Naturally, the decision to break up wasn't easy for these long-standing friends, especially for Englund and his remaining keyboardist, Rikard Zander, for whom a continuation of Evergrey was never called into question. Yet they both had to face a new challenge: "In the beginning, we weren't sure whether we'd be able to write a new album without the wealth of experience that the previous line-up brought in. But after Rikard and I had composed a full three numbers during the first week, we felt that was a real coup."

Listeners will feel this positive energy throughout Glorious Collision, the band's eighth studio album, which is due for release on 28 February 2011 (Germany: 25 February 2011; USA/Canada: 22 February 2011) on Steamhammer/SPV. A dynamic goody bag featuring the most diverse material ever released on an Evergrey album. "This may sound like a contradiction in view of our personnel situation, but Rikard and I have allowed more influences on Glorious Collision than ever before. Some elements on Glorious Collision are classic rock, based on a metal format, sometimes the tracks are quiet and haunting, sometimes wild, demanding and gripping."

This diversity is also expressed in the instrumentation of this extremely dynamic studio production which presents the new band members Marcus Jidell (guitar), Hannes Van Dahl (drums) and Johan Niemann (bass). "It's great to hear what a breath of fresh air Marcus, Johan and Hannes have brought into the band," Englund enthuses. "Although the entire material, except for two songs to which Marcus wrote and contributed on the compositional side, had already been decided when we started recording, they all left their own, very personal mark on this album." The great experience of Jidell and Niemann, who have worked with acts such as Royal Hunt and Therion, among others, and have now contributed lots of positive energy together with the 20-year-old drummer, Van Dahl, can be felt throughout the album.

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Source:	evergrey.net
Band profile:	Evergrey

Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation has released the following statement:

"We're really excited to be able to finally announce the title of our new album.

Recently we've started giving clues on the website about our concept album. As you might have noticed our concept album is going to be based on a comic book series, written by Steven O'Connell (BloodRayne & Dark 48). We've asked comic artist Romano Molenaar (Witchblade, Darkness and X-men) to draw the characters and scenery.

The new album and comic will be titled: The Unforgiving.

On this album, we've taken a totally different approach. Each song on The Unforgiving was written along Steven's narrative. The main characters of the comic are reflecting the characters of our songs. The concept pushed us and gave inspiration to come up with a new approach in our sound. It resulted in writing our best songs so far.

We have been big comic fans since our childhood. With this album we felt the time was there to take a new step in our creative development, take it further and broaden our horizon. Next to the concept form of the album, the songs are more divers than ever before. In addition, the music of the late 80ies, that's when we started to read comic books, certainly has left a mark on our new sound.

The album is set for release in March 2011, but our loyal visitors knew this already."

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Source:	within-temptation.com
Band profile:	Within Temptation

In February next year Immortal will do 6 more shows in the US, and these will be the final concerts in North America for All Shall Fall. Absu will join as special guests for all dates.

All Shall Fall USA 2011:

02/19 - New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
02/20 - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
02/21 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small's Theatre
02/22 - Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge
02/24 - Denver, CO @ Summit Theatre
02/26 - San Antonio, TX @ Backstage Live

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Source:	immortalofficial.com
Band profile:	Immortal
Event:	Immortal + Absu

Amon Amarth have released the following update:

"The last couple of months we have been busy working on our follow up to Twilight of the Thunder God. Ten songs were written and on October 1st we started tracking drums for the album in Park Studios.

After a short trip to Tokyo, which included our first ever show in Japan at the renowned Loupark Festival, we continued tracking bass and guitars at Fascination Street Studios. Recordings have been going well and we are now more than half-way through and the album starts to take shape. We'll keep you updated with more info soon!"

For now the band can confirm some shows in the UK as part as the "Defenders Of The Faith 2011" tour with Children Of Bodom. Those dates were posted yesterday at this location.

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Source:	amonamarth.com
Band profile:	Amon Amarth