Jim Matheos, guitarist and only remaining founding member of Fates Warning, and John Arch, the original vocalist of the band, are currently working together on a new full-length album that will be released in late spring/early summer via Metal Blade Records. The new band, called Arch/Matheos, began tracking the drums on January 12 and will continue to record through mid February with both John Arch and Jim Matheos producing the album.
Arch/Matheos features an all-star lineup including the talents of Joey Vera on bass (Armored Saint, Anthrax, Fates Warning, Seven Witches), Bobby Jarzombek on drums (Halford, Fates Warning, Sebastian Bach, Riot), and Frank Aresti on additional lead guitar (Fates Warning).

Arch was a singer on Fates Warning albums Night on Bröcken, The Spectre Within and Awaken The Guardian. In 2003 John Arch released an EP A Twist Of Fate which was his first musical work in over 17 years.

More details will be released over the coming months.

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Source:	fateswarning.com
Band profile:	Fates Warning

Sumerian thrashing black metal band Melechesh just issued the first of two making of trailers for the video for "Grand Gathas Of Baal Sin" which was shot in late 2010 in Istanbul.

Check out the trailer below!


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Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Melechesh

Official statement of the band

Following their triumphant West Coast tour this past December, Pacific Northwest metal band Agalloch will be embarking on a long-awaited East Coast run in support of their critically acclaimed album "Marrow Of The Spirit", one of the most celebrated metal releases of 2010. Likewise, Profound Lore Records recording artists Worm Ouroboros (also featuring Agalloch and Ludicra drummer Aesop Dekker) will serve as direct support to Agalloch on the tour.

Agalloch guitarist Don Anderson commented: "After seven years we are pleased to announce that we are returning to the East Coast for a series of performances with our good friends and fellow Profound Lore recording artists Worm Ouroboros. We'll also be playing dates in both select areas of the South and Canada. The last time we played on the East Coast was in February of 2004 with The Gathering and Novembers Doom. People can catch ongoing updates on the upcoming tour via our official Facebook page."

The dates go as follows:

03/17 - Austin, TX @ Barbarella Patio (as part of the Nanotear Showcase at SXSW)
03/18 - New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
03/19 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
03/20 - Raleigh, NC @ King's Barcade
03/21 - Baltimore, MD @ The Sonar
03/22 - New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
03/23 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
03/24 - Montreal, QC @ TBA
03/25 - London, ON @ The Music Hall
03/26 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
03/27 - Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club

Also Agalloch have been confirmed for this year's Scion Rock Fest to take place March 05 in Pomona, California.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Agalloch
Event:	Agalloch: East Coast Tour

Norwegian doom metal band Syrach parted ways with drummer Adam Suleiman in October of 2010. The band has now issued the following announcement about recruiting a new drummer.

We are proud to announce the new addition to the Syrach crew. Jan Åge has decided to join our ranks, and will from now on take on the drumming. Jan Åge comes from the band Temple Sleep and has also toured together with Octavia Sperati amongst others.

We will also like to thank all the others for coming in for rehearsals and trying out. You have all been great, but there was really no doubt when the time to choose came.

We will now focusing on rehearsing the new material, so that we can start recording a new and great doom album, with the brand new line-up. All songs are made, but will now be shaped into the great Syrachian style! We will be ready to take on gigs as well, if anything comes along. So all; wish Jan Åge a warm and doomed welcome!


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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Syrach

German heavy metal veterans Accept have revealed a short Russian/Belarus tour, scheduled for March this year.

Tour dates as follows:

March 7th 2011 - Belarus, Minsk - Palace of Sports
March 9th 2011 - Russia, Moscow - Milk
March 11th 2011 - Russia, Vladivostok - Golden Fish
March 12th 2011 - Russia, Ussuriysk - Extrim
March 13th 2011 - Russia, Nachodka - Diamond Concert Hall

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Source:	acceptworldwide.com
Band profile:	Accept
Event:	Accept: European Tour

English band Pythia has inked deal with Japanese "Spinning" Label in a 2 album deal.

The band announced: "We are delighted to announce that Pythia have signed with the Japanese "Spinning" label in a 2 album deal. Our debut album Beneath the Veiled Embrace will be released in Japan on 23rd February. As well as the original full UK release there will be 3 extra tracks, "Sarah" (Acoustic), "Tristan" (Acoustic) and the band's highly acclaimed cover of the Gary Moore song "Thunder Rising". These tracks were previously only available on our first two single releases, "Sarah" and "Army of the Damned". The album will also be packaged in brand new artwork.

The 2nd release will be Pythia's as yet untitled 2nd album which is currently being recorded with release planned for the later part of 2011. As a taster see a live version of new song "Just a Lie" filmed in London towards the end of 2010!"


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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Pythia

Norwegian/Spanish gothic metal band Sirenia just updated their homepage in support of the band's brand new album The Enigma Of Life.

Furthermore, Sirenia announced the first festivals for 2011, Wacken Open Air (GER) and Masters Of Rock (CZ). More to be confirmed soon!

Quoted mastermind Morten Veland: "We are very excited these days as the release date for The Enigma Of Life is coming up. We are very eager to share the new album with all our fans. We just launched our new and updated website. Here we will keep all of you up to date on all future activities. Wacken Open Air and Masters Of Rock are already confirmed and more festivals will be announced soon. stay tuned! Cheers!"

The Enigma Of Life will be released on Friday, January 21, 2011.

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Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Sirenia

Swedish band Katatonia have revealed the following update:

20 years of Katatonia going strong calls for a celebration and we'll be doing just that by throwing five very special anniversary gigs in Europe this coming May presented as the 'Last Fair Day Gone Night - An Evening With Katatonia' tour 2011.

We've decided to play the entire 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' album front to back as that's the one album that got us true worldwide recognition for the first time, but 2011 is also the album's 10th anniversary so re-visiting this album seems more fitting than any other record we've done. A second set will follow that will see us play a mix of tracks from the rest of our catalogue. We'll be doing some fan favourites classics but also look into a couple of obscure B-sides and such that we've never or hardly played live before. Together you should get over two hours of live music on this last fair day gone night.

Besides the standard tickets, which will go on sale this Wednesday Jan 19th, we've decided to reserve 70 tickets per show for VIP's who will be up for some real nice treats.

If you're one of those VIP's you will receive a Katatonia tour messenger bag upon arrival filled with exclusive items such as a t-shirt exclusive to that particular show, an exclusive VIP laminate, a + 20 page tour programme (that we're all busy writing as I'm typing this), a ltd edition vinyl of our latest album 'Night is The New Day' and a bunch more cool Katatonia merch items.

But that's not all; all VIP's will have a dedicated meet 'n greet with the whole band so we can shake hands, have your picture taken and hang out for a chat! After that you can watch us sound check for about an hour where you'll hear some songs from the set list and watch us prepare the show. Then it's dinner time so you can go out and grab a bite while you'll be confident to learn that your VIP laminate will allow you back inside the venue a bit earlier than anyone else, so you'll have a smooth and free picking to where you like to position yourself.

Last but not least; right now we're very busy talking to all our equipment endorsers for them to make some goods available that we'll combine into one 'grand prize'! All VIP's will automatically enter into a draw for one lucky guy or girl to win this ultimate prize, which we'll reveal the details about in the next coming weeks. See it as a nice extra bonus already and you can't get disappointed?.

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Source:	katatonia.com
Band profile:	Katatonia
Event:	Last Fair Day Gone Night - An Evening With Katatonia

Legendary Brazilian/American thrashers Sepultura have posted the first of several video updates regarding their new album and plans for 2011. View the clip below!


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Source:	nuclearblast.de
Band profile:	Sepultura

The French Brutal Death band Benighted have set the release date for their upcoming album entitled Asylum Cave.

The album will be out on March 21 (29 in US) through Season Of Mist

The tracklist :

Asylum Cave
Let the Blood Spill between my Broken Teeth
Prey
Hostile
Fritzl
Unborn Infected Children
The Cold Remains
A Quiet Day
Shadows Descend
Swallow
Lethal Merycism
Drowning

The artwork is available here : Link

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Source:	season-of-mist.com
Band profile:	Benighted

A press release from the people at Within Temptation:

"Faster and Faster and Faster", the lyrics of Within Temptation's new single set the pace for the exciting weeks to come.

The energy and adrenalin boasting song will receive its Worldwide Premiere on Guardian Media Group's 'Rock Radio' network in the United Kingdom on Friday January 21st at 9am GMT / 10am CET. Fans worldwide can tune in online to hear the single at Rock Radio (Those in Manchester can tune in at 106.1 FM and Scotland 96.3FM).

Robert comments: "Faster" is a song which surprised ourselves. It's a very fresh new sound wrapped around the 80'ties heart and soul of the track. "Faster" reflects one of the many musical roots we have. Combined with the modern influences on our new album, it's like the past and future created the present."

The next milestone in our journey leading to The Unforgiving album release will be the world premiere of one of the movies featured in The Unforgiving film trailer. Mark the 31st of January in your calendar, this is the day the door to The Unforgiving will open!


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

So according to the website of Poland's pride and joy, Behemoth, front man Adam "Nergal" Darski has apparently kicked Leukemia in the crotch. He left the hospital and will be spending the next several months chilling in his cave somewhere in the area of Gdansk, continuing his recuperation process, playing guitar, and doing 5,000 piece puzzles with his main squeeze, Doda. From the band's website:

NERGAL RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL!
posted 2011-01-19 by Manticore
(Nergal's quotes in italics)

We are happy and relieved to inform you, that Nergal left the hematology division of Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne (UCK) in Gdansk on Monday, January 17th, four weeks after he underwent a bone marrow transplant procedure. Below you can find his comment:

"Hey! What's up! At last - one could say. After almost half of year of treatment in various hospitals, several cycles of chemotherapy, irradiation and bone marrow transplant I have been finally released home in a pretty fuckin' good condition. I'm feeling ok, taking the intensity of treatment under consideration. That was not an easy period of my life, but, as I envisaged, I left the hospital victorious. I never considered any other options, but anyway, there were rough moments too? At this point I must express my thanks to the people, who made all of these downs fairly bearable. My parents - thank you. You deserve a monument for all your love and patience. Dorotka, thank you for your heroic attitude, love and support. I can't forget Doda's fans, who made a gigantic effort for me and other ill people. You rule! Absolutely fantastic Behemoth fans from all over the world were organizing various events to make people aware of what leukemia is. To all of you out there- my deepest respect! Thank you - the real heroes - Prof. Hellmann, Dr Piekarska, Dr Knopinska, Doc. Giebel, Prof. Ho³owiecki and all the nurses of the hematology division of the Medical Academy in Gdansk and the Oncology Clinic in Gliwice for all the professionalism and great hearts. My band mates for all the friendship and never-ending support. All my friends for sticking to me throughout the whole period of my illness. The list is too long to mention you all, but remember, you have special place in my heart."

Nergal will now go through a recovery which will last for several months. During this time he will stay in his flat in one of the Gdansk's districts.

"Although the whole treatment went really good, as well as the bone marrow transplant and the post-transplant period, the next several months is the time when I must really take care of myself. Of course I will have plenty of time to recover, think about the strategy and my return to the stage - which approaches imminently (laughs). First of all however I must rebuild my physical condition... apart from that, I hunger for playing, I haven't been playing the guitar for a half of year now! Really much to catch up, but also a huge motivation and a desire to work again at the same time. This year will be a really important one for me and the band!"

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Source:	behemoth.pl
Band profile:	Behemoth

US metallers Krallice will release their forthcoming album, Diotima, on April 26 via Profound Lore Records.

Also "The Clearing", a brand new song from Diotima, is available for streaming at this location.

Diotima almost completed image of the album cover art] tracklist:

01. -
02. Inhume
03. The Clearing
04. Diotima
05. Litany Of Regrets
06. Telluric Rings
07. Dust And Light

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Source:	profoundlorerecords.com
Band profile:	Krallice

Official press release

Protest The Hero will release their third studio album, Scurrilous, on March 22 on Vagrant Records in the US and Universal Music Canada. Scurrilous is the follow up to the 5-piece band's, critically acclaimed 2008 sophomore release, Fortress, and reunites the band with producer Julius "Juice" Butty. Scurrilous will be available for pre-order in the first week of February at www.protestthehero.com.

Protest The Hero will begin their world tour with dates in Europe and the UK from January 26th through February 12th supporting Darkest Hour. Following an appearance at Australia's 2011 Soundwave Festival, the band will begin an extensive Canadian and US tour March 23 with support acts Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster and Tesseract. The Canadian leg of the tour will be sponsored by D-Tox Clothing.

Click here for a full list of dates. Pre-sale of tickets for the headline tour are available on Wednesday, January 19 over here and over here for the US shows.

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Source:	protestthehero.com
Band profile:	Protest The Hero
Event:	Protest The Hero: The Scurrilous Tour

US metallers Mastodon have issued the following short update on their MySpace blog:

"We are currently in the writing process for the next album. Lots of riffs have been collected!"

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Mastodon