Italian modern metal act Destrage have won the "Videoclip Category" of the Torino Best Soundtrack Awards 2010 with their video of the track "Jade's Place". You can watch the clip below.

For more info about the Awards, visit this page.

The clip was written and directed by The Jack Stupid. The video also features a guest appearance by Mattias "IA" Eklundh (Freak Kitchen) performing the guitar solo on the song. "Jade's Place" comes off the band's sophomore release The King Is Fat'N'Old, released in October via Coroner Records. Read Darkside Momo's review here.


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Source:	coronerrecords.net
Band profile:	Destrage

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

Den Bosch, Netherlands based Thrash/Death quintet Persistense have renewed their agreement with Deity Down Records.

A new full-length, sophomore to 2009's In Blood And Heart will be slated for release in the second half of 2011. During the first half of the year Persistense will focus on touring extensively once more, as well as on adding the finishing touches to the new material.

The band, whose moniker often is thought to contain a spelling error while in fact it is a contraction of "to persist" and "intense", have welcomed new guitarist Hein Willekens, who replaces Jacques Maas.

Persistense recently launched a videoclip of "The Reality", a track taken from their current album In Blood And Heart. You can watch it below. More info about the band can be found on MySpace.


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Source:

deitydownrecords.com

As posted on Blabbermouth, guitarist Christian Muenzner of German progressive death metallers Obscura is working on an instrumental guitar record for a tentative spring release.

The album will feature Hannes Grossmann (Obscura, Blotted Science) on drums, Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, Death, Iced Earth) on bass and Daniel Galmarini (Mercury Falling) on keyboards, with guest appearances by Ryan Knight (The Black Dahlia Murder, ex-Arsis), Per Nilsson (Scar Symmetry, Kaipa) and Bob Katsionis (Firewind). Vic Santura (Dark Fortress, Triptykon) will handle the production duties on the CD, the drums for which will be laid down starting on December 27.

Commented Muenzner: "Being a fan of instrumental guitar music for many years, this has always been a dream of mine. After I finished recording my guitar parts for the upcoming Obscura album Omnivium, I felt quite inspired and spent all of my free time working on the songs for this project.

The CD is gonna contain 12 instrumental songs. Stylistically, the music is quite diverse and has influences from various genres such as neoclassical shred, fusion, power metal, hard rock, prog and thrash metal. And, of course, the songs will have guitar all over it! I like to describe it as '80s Shrapnel Records shred meets modern metal.

I am super-happy and honored that some of the world's best metal musicians agreed to work on this album with me! I'm very excited and can't wait to hear their contributions!"

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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Obscura

Rotten Sound's brand new full-length album, Cursed, will see its worldwide (excluding Finland) release on March 15th via Relapse Records. The album will see its Finnish release on March 16th courtesy of Fullsteam Records.

Cursed, the follow-up to 2008's Cycles, was recorded at Nordic Audio Labs. Lyrically, the 16-track album will be themed around the six curses of mankind. Cursed is currently available for pre-order. Additional album details to be posted soon.

Rotten Sound, who will be touring in North America early next year, has also announced a headlining European tour in support of Cursed. This four week tour will kick-off in early April and also include Trap Them, Gaza, The Kandidate and Haust. A listing of confirmed tour dates and cities can be found below with more to be announced soon.

Rotten Sound will be touring North America as part of The Finnish Metal Tour 2 featuring Finntroll, Ensiferum, and Barren Earth. This five-week tour will kick-off on January 31st in Orlando, FL and conclude in early March in Raleigh, NC. Dates were already posted here.

Rotten Sound: Cursed To Tour (with Trap Them, Gaza, The Kandidate, Haust)

April 01 - Karlsruhe, Germany - Stadtmitte
April 02 - Koln, Germany - Underground
April 03 - Rosswein, Germany - Juha
April 04 - Prague, Czech Rep. - Exit Chmelnice
April 05 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Randal
April 06 - Munchen, Germany - Feierwerk Kranhalle
April 07 - Salzburg, Austria - Rockhouse
April 08 - Mezzago, Italy - Bloom
April 09 - Rome, Italy - Init
April 10 - Zurich, Switzerland - Dynamo Werk 21
April 11 - Paris, France - Glazart
April 12 - London, UK - Underworld
April 13 - Plymouth, UK - White Rabbit
April 14 - Colchester, UK - Arts Centre
April 15 - Antwerpen, Belgium - Trix
April 16 - Venlo, Holland - Perron 55
April 17 - Hamburg, Germany - Hafenklang
April 18 - Lyngby, Denmark - Templet
April 19 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Henriksberg
April 21 - Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser Slussen
April 22 - Turku, Finland - Klubi
April 23 - Jyvaskyla, Finland - Lutakko
April 24 - Helsinki, Finland - Nostur

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Rotten Sound
Event:	Rotten Sound: Cursed To Tour

Update by Chris through Alestorm's official Facebook:

"Greetings my fellow bawbags, pirates, and gobshites!

It is my very great pleasure to announce that on January 10th, Alestorm will be heading to the studio to record our 3rd album, which we're gonna call Back Through Time. It's gonna be an epic adventure through piratical badassery in 11 tracks, with more drunken singalong anthems than you can shake a stick at. There will be songs about midgets. There will be songs about Wisconsin. There will be songs about travelling through time to kill Vikings. And of course, loads of songs about pirates doing what they do best; kicking your ass and stealing your wenches!

Lasse Lammert will once again be at the helm of the production, at his LSD Studios in Lubeck, Germany. We'll be there for about a month (1 week of recording, 3 weeks of alcohol abuse), and we're hopefully looking at a release in early summer, in time for us to kick your asses with these songs at all the festivals.

In no particular order, here's the songtitles that we've got penned for the album:

The Sunk'n Norwegian
Shipwrecked (Pure Dead Banjaxed)
Buckfast Powersmash
Rum
Back Through Time
Swashbuckled
Death Throes Of The Terrorsquid
Midget Saw
Scraping The Barrel
Rumpelkombo
Barrett's Privateers

Of course these are all possibly subject to change, if we go crazy in the studio. There will inevitably also be a silly digipak version with a bunch of daft covers as bonus tracks as well, the exact details of which we'll announce at a later date.

Cheers everyone, and Merry Christmas!"

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Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Alestorm

"Aschevolk" a new song from German black metallers Helrunar has been uploaded for streaming. Head over to this location and let us know what you think. The song is off the bands upcoming album Sól scheduled for release on 11th January 2011. Click here for more details on the album

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Helrunar

Stand Up And Fight, the third studio album from Turisas will be released through Century Media Records on the following dates:

Finland, Japan: February 23, 2011
Germany, Austria, Switzerland: February 25, 2011
Rest Of Europe: February 28, 2011
Australia, New Zealand: March 4, 2011
North America: March 8, 2011

The title track off the band's highly anticipated new album is available as a free download at this location.

Stand Up And Fight cover art] tracklist:

01. The March Of The Varangian Guard
02. Take The Day!
03. Hunting Pirates
04. βένετοι! - πράσινοι!
05. Stand Up And Fight
06. The Great Escape
07. Fear The Fear
08. End Of An Empire
09. The Bosphorus Freezes Over

The rest of the press release reads as follows: "Stand Up And Fight is a loose continuation of the story from The Varangian Way, and picks up where the previous one left us, in Constantinople," explains mainman Mathias Nygård. "However, it is not a sequel as such. In general, the songs are much more universal and deal with topics that can be placed just as tightly into the modern world as in the 11th century Byzantine Empire. Stand Up And Fight has much more to offer the contemporary listener."

Their more contemporary and universal approach is also reflected by a revamped look: "Turisas has always been about progression and evolution, and now with a new album we're not here to repeat ourselves but to have something new to come with - also visually. Our look has developed through the years, and it's never been something we created once to be static forever. Innovation is reinventing yourself regularly. We toured The Varangian Way for three and a half years with a look that was tied to the album. With a new release, it was time for a makeover. The visual side has always played a very strong role in Turisas, and fear not - that's not going to change. Stronger than ever, Turisas has returned!"

The biggest, boldest and most gloriously extravagant album of the band's career, Stand Up And Fight erupts like the ultimate heavy metal musical, with many layers of orchestration and choral harmonies adding to these songs' intense sense of drama and mischief. Although remaining true to the spirit of past Turisas records, the new album, which was mixed by Jens Bogren (Opeth/Katatonia) at Fascination Street in Sweden, takes the Finns to a whole new level of depth and bravado, as their unmistakable sound expands before our very ears, consistently conjuring up vivid images of the Vikings' ongoing adventures.

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Source:	centurymedia.com
Band profile:	Turisas

The members of Stream Of Passion have been working hard the last few months on new material for a new album that will see the light in 2011. But to make the waiting a little bit easier and as a big "thank you" to all their fans for their unconditional support, the band has released a new track online entirely for free! The song, titled "Spark", plus a special end of the year message from the band members can be seen and heard below.

Stream Of Passion wishes you Happy Holidays and all the best for 2011!


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Source:	streamofpassion.com
Band profile:	Stream Of Passion

Warrior Soul will be hitting the studio in January to record their eagerly anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed Destroy The War Machine album.

More updates as they happen.

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Source:

myspace.com

Official Press Release:

Mortiis will return to the touring circuit this winter with a two-month, full European tour supporting evil-electro outfit Combichrist.

"In some fundamental ways, Combichrist and Mortiis are very different, but in other fundamental ways, we are very much the same," explained vocalist and namesake Mortiis. "At the end of the day, both bands have this 'f-you' attitude. It's expressed somewhat differently musically, but energy and attitude-wise we're carrying the same torch, so to speak. I think fans of both bands will pick up on that."

Mortiis took a break from touring while preparing their latest releases, the soon-to-emerge next album, The Great Deceiver and Perfectly Defect are totally free digital download. Unveiled October 10, Perfectly Defect is full-length, downloadable album available at www.mortiis.com. Perfectly Defect is the quintessential prelude to the world of The Great Deceiver - while the latter is heavier and darker, the former is varied, experimental, and largely instrumental. The bottom line is that Perfectly Defect leads into The Great Deceiver acting as a crucial stage in the evolution of Mortiis' music.

The group is anxious to get back on stage and is ready to unleash months of pent-up aggression during their live show. Fans can expect to hear tracks from Perfectly Defect and The Great Deceiver as well as some older songs with a different twist.

"We've seriously pimped up a selection of older songs that we'll be performing," Mortiis said. "So, across the board, it will be a new, and for lack of a better expression, very 'pimped up' bunch of songs!"

A tour with Combichrist was imminent. Aside from having a long acquaintance with Combichrist's founder and Norwegian-native Andy LaPlegua, drummer Joe Letz is an extended member of the Mortiis family. After connecting with Letz during Mortiis' US tour with the Genitorturers - Letz's former band - the drummer got involved with Mortiis on some of the recording of The Great Deceiver

"It was just a question of time until we'd go out on tour together again," Mortiis said. "Joe is still a part of this band, the way we all see it. We always have a great time when we're together and I think this is something everyone's been wanting to happen for a while now. So when the opportunity came about, we pretty much did what had to be done to make it happen."

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Mortiis
Event:	Combichrist + Mortiis: Monsters on Tour

Norwegian avantgarde metal outfit Ram-Zet are currently working on a new record, the follow up to 2009's Neurtralized.

The band posted the following short statement from the studio: "We're recording our 5th album these days... we're done with the drums, almost there with the bass, and Thursday, Zet started at his guitar work, which is going to be areal blast for him, as he's never been this exited!"

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Ram-Zet

As was reported earlier, Japanese death metal jaggernauts Defiled are set to release their fourth studio effort, entitled In Crisis, this January. As you eagerly wait for this release, the band gives you a "taste of things" to come. Download the brand-new track, "Retrogression", NOW and let us know what you think!

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

Finnish metallers Poisonblack - who are a quartet again after the departure of guitarist Janne Markus (The Man-Eating Tree) a couple of weeks ago - will begin recording their new studio album in January. Lead & Roll Vol. 5 will be the working title of the band's fifth full-length.

Here's the official word from the band: "So it is set. The recordings for the next album will start January 14th 2011 in Antfarm studios, Århus Denmark with Tue Madsen as the producer. We'll keep you posted as the recordings start and progress. So until then sleep tight and dream of Sodoma."

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Source:	poisonblack.com
Band profile:	Poisonblack

Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend has tapped Jens Bogren (Opeth, Paradise Lost, Bloodbath etc.) to mix Deconstruction ? the third in a series of albums to be made available under The Devin Townsend Project moniker. The sessions will take place in late February 2011 at Fascination Street studio in Örebro, Sweden.

In a November update Townsend had the following to say about Deconstruction: "There are 2 drummers on this one, Ryan Van Poederooyen (The Devin Townsend Band) for the crushing stuff, and Dirk Verbueren (Soilwork, Scarve), Aborted) for the inhuman stuff. This is a record I have been working up to for some time, and while doing it, I realize that not only am I in control of it (totally) but that this newfound control allows me to take it to places I would have never been able to a decade ago. I pretty much believe that this will be one of our finest hours, and although there is some funny moments, it's a pretty 'pointed' record (if ya know what I mean)..."

According to Devin "Ghost is the mellowest (by far) and prettiest record I've done so far" with a "very wonderful vibe." It will be released with "the shitstorm that is Deconstruction simultaneously" ? possibly in early April 2011.


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Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Devin Townsend