Italy's Eldritch have posted the following message on their website:

"Yo folks!! So, here we are again.... The band is working hard for the March 22nd event (plus the live DVD recording of such show). Oleg Smirnoff will surely play the old tracks from the 1st 3 albums. For the rest, there will probably be some special guest on stage, but nothing official yet... the songwriting for the new album will begin in the months to come.... What else??? Hope to see the most of you guys at the DVD gig and in the meantime the band wishes everybody to keep the faith!! Rock on..."

Eldritch will be recording their first official live DVD at the Music Street Club in Lugnano, Pisa, in Italy, on March 22nd.

Source:	eldritchweb.com
Band profile:	Eldritch
Event:	Eldritch: DVD Recording Show

Nuclear Blast Records USA have released an e-card for Death Angel's upcoming album "Killing Season". Check it out at this location. "Killing Season" will be released on February 26th

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Source:	nuclearblastusa.com
Band profile:	Death Angel

BW&BK has received the following press release:

New York, NY: "Swedish progressive metal titans Opeth, often credited as being forward thinkers who are a genre of one, are proud to announce "Watershed" as the title of their forthcoming album, due out on Roadrunner Records on June 2nd, 2008. The album, recorded in the band's native Sweden and produced by frontman/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt and Jens Bogren, is a masterwork that follows the time-honored Opeth tradition; its modern yet timeless, progressive yet paying homage to the sounds of classic rock.

"Watershed" is truly one of those special records that cycles through a variety of moods, speeds and textures, complete with lots of subtleties and nuances of sound. Because of its expansive scope, "Watershed" is destined to land the album atop many "Best Of" lists. Album opener "Coil" is a gorgeous acoustic number, featuring local folk vocalist Nathalie Lorichs, while "Heir Apparent" will knock listeners unconscious with its blunt force metal. Always one to defy the rules, Opeth posits sung vocals over artillery-like blast beats on "The Lotus Eater", cementing their reputation as innovators and redefiners.

"Watershed" combines elements of modern metal, prog rock, free jazz and hints of European folk music, all of which come together for a seamless, unique collection of songs that will leave an indelible mark upon all who listen. "Watershed" is the first Opeth release to feature new guitarist Fredrik Akesson and drummer Martin Axenrot and is the band's second effort for Roadrunner Records. "Watershed" is the eagerly awaited follow up to 2005's critically acclaimed Ghost Reveries."

The complete track listing is as follows:

01. Coil
02. Heir Apparent
03. The Lotus Eater
04. Burden
05. Porcelain Heart
06. Hessian Peel
07. Hex Omega

Source:	bravewords.com
Band profile:	Opeth

Black/Viking Metal combo Månegarm have announced a Russian mini-tour. This will be the first time the band has graced these lands. They will be playing two shows, one in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg. The main support band will be Arkona.

Here are the dates and venues:

19.04 - Club Gorod, Moscow (with Arkona, Alkonost, Kalevala)
20.04 - Club Arktika, St. Peterburg (with Alkonost, Nomans Land, Svartby, Fearlight)

Source:	manegarm.com
Band profile:	Månegarm
Event:	Månegarm

Speculation around the line-up of Finland's Thunderstone has come to an end. The band has decided upon a new vocalist and keyboarder. While people thought that tour vocalist Tommi "Tuple" Salmela would gain permanent duties with the band, this has turned out not to be the case. The new member behind the microphone is Sweden's Rick Altzi, who some may know through his recent work with At Vance. As for the band's tour keyboarder Jukka Karinen, he has been signed to the band for a permanent position.

Here is a comment regarding Tuple from bassist Titus Hjelm: "There was no drama with Tuple. It was clear to everybody from the beginning that the deal was for the tour only and then we would check the situation again. At the end of the day we were just more comfortable with Rick's voice and we didn't want to make any compromises in this issue. Tuple is an awesome singer and we are forever indebted to him for doing the tour with us and taking us through some hard times. And we will certainly drink vodka with him in the future also!"

A full article about the new line-up can be read from this link at Thunderstone's official website.

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Source:	thunderstone.org
Band profile:	Thunderstone

Norwegian Death Metal fivesome Blood Red Throne have announced new shows around Europe. They will start with a Scandinavian show, then head towards Turkey and surrounding areas for some gigs and some festival appearances.

Here are the new tour dates:

09.02 - Voxhall, Århus, Denmark (Royale Metal Festival)
12.04 - Dynamo/Grosser Saal, Zurich, Switzerland (Heavymetal.ch Festival IV)
02.05 - TBA, Istanbul, Turkey
03.05 - TBA, Ankara, Turkey
13.09 - Caos Emergente Festival, Lisboa, Portugal

Blood Red Throne will also make appearances at Neurotic Death Fest in Tilburg, The Netherlands on the 30th May, Summer Breeze Open Air Festival in Dinkelsbühl, Germany on the 16th August and Castle Festival in Smederevo, Serbia on the 1st July this year.

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Blood Red Throne

Darkthrone's Nocturno Culto has posted the following message on his official myspace page regarding the band's new album:

"After some months with making riffs, recording, working, planning and generally having a blast, I suddenly remembered there's something called MySpace. Yeah, we have recorded four songs for the next album 'Dark Thrones And Black Flags', we sort of tried to keep the title 'hidden', but my mouth ran over talking to Metal Hammer (damn!!!), so anyway, that's the title, and NO, it's not punkish you bastards, it's METAL TO THE BONE!!! I tell ya, what we allow ourselves to do these days....riff wise I mean. IT'S A BLOODY FEAST!!!! The plan is to have the final recordings ready in July at latest. I know I know, this album comes fast, but not to worry, we'll use just a tad more time on the album after that."

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Darkthrone

Argentinian folk metal act Skiltron have announced very special guests to play on their upcoming album ''Beheading The Liars'', set to be released in May 2008. The guests include Kevin Ridley, Steve Ramsey and Georgine Biddle of Skyclad, Jonne Järvelä of Korpiklaani and Patrice Roques and Patrick Lafforgue of Stille Volk.

The tracklist with the guests musicians reads as follows:

01. Skiltron
02. The Beheading
03. I'm What You've Done
04. Praying Is Nothing (featuring Jonne Järvelä)
05. Calling Out
06. The Vision Of Blind Harry
07. Hate Dance
08. Signs, Symbols And The Marks Of Man (featuring Kevin Ridley, Steve Ramsey and Georgina Biddle)
09. Let The Spirit Be
10. Fast And Wild
11. Crides (featuring Patrice Roques and Patrick Lafforgue)

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Source:	skiltron.net
Band profile:	Skiltron

A new song called "Massacre Mountain" from Canadian thrash legends Exciter is currently streaming at this location.

The track is pulled from the band's new albumv"Thrash, Speed, Burn", which will be released via Massacre Records on February 22nd. The full tracklist is as follows:

01. Massacre Mountain
02, Thrash Speed Burn
03, In Mortal Fear
04. Crucifixion
05. Demon's Gate
06. Hangman
07. Evil Omen
08. Betrayal
09. The Punisher
10. Rot The Devil King

"Thrash, Speed, Burn" cover] will be issued as a regular CD and limited CD digipak. More info about the album at this location.

Exciter's 2007 line-up features original guitarist John Ricci, Rik Charron (drums), Clammy (bass) and new singer Kenny Winter.

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Source:	bravewords.com
Band profile:	Exciter

Hail Of Bullets will enter Excess studios in Rotterdam, Holland in February to begin recording their debut album for a May release via Metal Blade Records.

Comments drummer Ed Warby: "Yesterday we had our last band rehearsal before we enter the studio. Worked out some final arrangements and played the last two songs we wrote for the first time. One is the epic closer to the album (we'll have fun building this one up in the studio), and another is the proposed bonus track; a groovy beast of a tune that actually has a dual guitar solo in it. Martin couldn't attend, so we'll leave the vocal fine-tuning for the studio. I'm also working on a nice, moody intro for the album. Some strings, some bombs... it's turning out a lot cooler than I expected; God bless ProTools! Meanwhile our creative department is hard at work on putting together the artwork, it's starting to look very promising indeed. And finally we're close to securing a U.S. deal... more information will follow shortly."

Hail Of Bullets' entire four-song promotional CD is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page http://www.myspace.com.

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Source:	metalblade.de
Band profile:	Hail Of Bullets

Behemoth frontman Nergal has just revealed that the band will be filming their show in Paris La Locomotive on February 17.

"I've been thinking about this DVD for a long time now. Our last release "Crush.Fukk.Create" seems to be pretty outdated. We've released two records in new line up since then, we've toured the world few times and definitely grew as a band and developed our stage show. It's time for something fresh and exciting!

We've managed to collect over 100 tapes documenting all the touring for our last two records. Some of the most insane footage was caught there. Fall/winter release on Regain records is planned."

Source:	behemoth.pl
Band profile:	Behemoth
Event:	Behemoth: European Tour

Guitarist Alan Jordan of the reactivated British Thrashers Onslaught has released the following statement to Blabbermouth.net:

"It is with immediate effect that I will no longer be a part of Onslaught. I had the best part of three very happy years with the band and recorded what I considered to be a great album and DVD, both of which I'm very proud to be a part of.

Some internal circumstances within Onslaught changed and certain ideas were moving in a very different direction to what I envisaged.

I have no long-term plans at this moment in time, but would like to thank all the fans across the globe that I have met and spent time with. Respect to you all."

Source:	roadrunnerrecords.com
Band profile:	Onslaught

Greek melodic metal masters Firewind are glad to premier the first track taken off their forthcoming, much anticipated fifth album "The Premonition". The song is entitled "Mercenary Man" and will also be released as a CD-single in the band's home country, the song is streaming at the is location.

"The Premonition" scheduled for a release on March 24th in Europe, album cover art can be viewed here.

Album tracklisting:

01. Into The Fire
02. Head Up High
03. Mercenary Man
04. Angels Forgive Me
05. Remembered
06. My Loneliness
07. Circle Of Life
08. The Silent Code
09. Maniac
10. Life Foreclosed

Bandleader and guitar-wizard Gus G. advances some own words about the new material:

"Although the CD starts out with a pretty intense song ("Into The Fire") which is like a six and half minute riffing, shredding and double bass madness, the next few songs are what I'd call modern hard rock - if I have to put a tag on it!

I think there's a lot of cool guitar stuff all over the album and generally this is a more guitar-oriented effort. Our influences draw from Thin Lizzy to Black Sabbath and Megadeth and you can clearly hear that on the riffs and guitar melodies.

Songwriting-wise I think all songs are special and once again everyone was involved in the writing - we basically kept the Allegiance "winning team" together.

Thus, we once again recorded and mixed @ Studio Fredman in Sweden. Fredrik really knows the sounds we're after and delivers it in no time! We tried a few different things in the engineering this time - mainly with the drums and guitars and I feel we have a pretty tight, bone crushing Metal sound.

As for surprises we decided to cover the 80s pop smash hit, "Maniac", not because we're such lovers of the film "Flashdance", but because it's a kick ass song, period. Who knows, maybe we'll get to do a remake of that famous video one day!"

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Firewind

It is time once more for the annual Metal Storm Awards to take flight and collect your votes! It is up to you to decide just which of the many great albums of 2007 deserve the glory of being hailed winner in their category.

As the trend has been the past number of years, 2007 provided us once more with another fantastic year for metal of all kinds, which once again proved to be a more difficult task than we first imagined where agreeing on the limited amount of nominations is concerned. Indeed each category we feel has the best selection of albums from over the span of the year with the focus on the quality of the albums, not to be swayed by the big names that may just assume they have a place. Of course if your favourite is not nominated, you can still vote for it using the "write-in vote" to have your say about it.

This year we have nineteen genre categories as well as the other usuals for biggest surprise and letdown, etc. and of course our "drama of the year" to spice things up even further.

The voting is open for one month; it is time to make yourselves heard! Visit the Metal Storm Awards.

Metal Storm Staff

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Eluveitie have been busy the last days producing an "EPK" (Electronic Press Kit) from the new album, entitled "Slania". You can find this EKP at this location.
This short video includes previews of the songs: "Samon (acoustic)", "Primordial Breath", "Inis Mona", "The Somber Lay", "Bloodstained Ground", "Gray Sublime Archon" & "Slanias Song".

Also the band has uploaded a new video for the song "Inis Mona" at this location.

"Slania" release dates are as follows:
Germany / Switzerland / Austria: February 15th, 2008.
Rest of the World (except the USA): February 18th, 2008.
USA: March 11th, 2008.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Eluveitie