The relentless Finnish band Hevein have finished recording the guitars for their new album Gentle Anarchy. The vocals are next. Cello and violin will follow. All of the recording has been paid by the band and their fans.

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Source:	hevein.com
Band profile:	Hevein

Just one day after the Finnish melodic thrash band Hevein announced they would disband, an anonymous fan gave them a generous pledge to donate 500 Euros. Hevein will try to raise the sum up to 1000 euros. The money will go straight to the recording of new material for the band's upcoming album Gentle Anarchy.

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Source:	hevein.tumblr.com
Band profile:	Hevein

Finnish melodic thrashers Hevein are disbanding for a while. The band has posted the following sad news for fans on their official website: "Hevein have decided to disband indefinitely. The decision comes after many months of consideration but under the current circumstances it has become impossible to continue as a band."

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Source:	hevein.com
Band profile:	Hevein

Vocalist Tony Kakko and Keyboarist Henrik Klingenberg from Finnish Power Metal band Sonata Arctica will do a short promotion tour in Japan for their 5th Album "Unia" in May.
The detail information was announced at the Japanese record label Marquee/Avalon's website.
In-store event at CD shops in Tokyo and a fan meeting in Osaka.

May 22 Tokyo HMV Shibuya
May 23 Tokyo Towerrecords Shinjyuku
May 25 Tokyo Disc Union Ocyanomizu
May 26 Osaka Fan Meeting (Details will be revealed soon).

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Source:	janiliimatainen.net
Band profile:	Sonata Arctica

Sonata Arctica has announced the following dates for the new European tour that is due after the North American tour.

31.10.2007 - Arenan, Stockholm, Sweden
01.11.2007 - Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway
03.11.2007 - Lisebergshallen, Göteborg, Sweden
04.11.2007 - Mejeriet, Lund, Sweden
05.11.2007 - Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany
07.11.2007 - Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany
08.11.2007 - LKA-Longhorn, Stuttgart, Germany
09.11.2007 - Z7, Pratteln, Switzerland
10.11.2007 - All Kart Halle, Kaufbeuren, Germany
12.11.2007 - Carling Academy, London, UK
13.11.2007 - Elysée Montmartre, Paris, France
14.11.2007 - Transbordeur, Lyon, France
16.11.2007 - Heineken, Madrid, Spain
17.11.2007 - Razzmatazz II, Barcelona, Spain
19.11.2007 - Alcatraz, Milano, Italy
20.11.2007 - Petöfi Hall, Budapest, Hungary
21.11.2007 - Planet Music, Vienna, Austria
23.11.2007 - Garage, Saarbrücken, Germany
24.11.2007 - Hof Ter Lo, Antwerp, Belgium
25.11.2007 - 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands

It has been stated that Jani will not perform in the North American tour due to his serving the country.

The band has also announced a small Japanese tour in which the following dates have been confirmed so far.

21.07.2007 - Shibuya-AX, Tokyo, Japan
22.07.2007 - Shibuya-AX, Tokyo, Japan

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Source:	sonataarctica.info
Band profile:	Sonata Arctica

After many years of hard work the Finnish metal band Agonizer has finally got a record deal with Spinefarm Records. Their début album "Birth/The End" is due to be released on the 1st of August, 2007 through Spikefarm.

Here is it's tracklist:
01. Prisoner
02. Harmless Hero
03. Everyone Of Us
04. Hazardous
05. Prophecy
06. Sleepless
07. Black Sun
08. The Birth And The End

Source:	agonizer.org
Band profile:	Agonizer

The following message was taken from the ofiicial Iron Maiden website:

Always keen to take Metal to new places, Maiden will for the first time ever play in India, on the spectacular grounds of Bangalore's Palace on Saturday 17th March, marking the first time a major metal band has ever played in the subcontinent.

Iron Maiden's new album, 'A Matter Of Life And Death' reached No 2 in the Indian album charts after debuting at No 4, which is believed to be the highest chart position in India ever for any rock act. Maiden will be the first to bring in a full massive western style stage production - air freighting in almost 20 tons of backline equipment and their huge stage Production for this one show.

Another new territory for the band to visit is Dubai in the United Arab Emirates where they will headline the Desert Rock Festival on Friday 9th March. This is the 4th Desert Rock Festival and is an event which has grown steadily in stature and Iron Maiden will be the biggest act to headline the festival to date. It is expected to be the most succcessful yet. Maiden's new album was Top 5 in Arabia.

Dates announced so far are as below. Further headline shows will be released first on their website www.ironmaiden.com with full show details and ticket links.

March 2007
Fri 9th - Dubai Desert Rock Festival, UAE
Sun 11th - Hellinikon Basketball Arena, Athens, Greece
Wed 14th - Belgrade, Serbia
Sat 17th - Bangalore, Bangalore Palace, India

June 2007
Wed 6th - Ostrava Banik Football Stadium, Ostrava, Czech Republic
Fri 8th - Sudweststadion , Ludwigshafen, Germany
Sun 10th - Download Festival , Donington Park, England
Thu 14th - Heineken Jammin Festival, Venice, Italy
Sat 16th - Fields of Rock Festival, Zwolle, Holland
Sun 17th - MSV Stadium, Duisburg, Germany
Wed 20th - Olympic Stadium, Rome, Italy
Sat 23rd - Graspop Festival, Dessel, Belgium

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Source:	ironmaiden.com
Band profile:	Iron Maiden
Event:	Desert Rock Festival

The following shows have been confirmed for the summer of 2007:

Germany:
08.06.07 - Sudweststadion, Ludwigshafen (near Mannheim)
17.06.07 - MSV Stadium, Duisburg

Tickets will go on sale at Thursday 8th February and they can be ordered from eventim.de or via telephone on the ticket hotline +49 (0)1805 - 57 0000.

Support for the shows will be announced soon. You can check the promoters site: wizard-promotions.de.

Czech Republic Special Show:
06.06 Ostrava Banik Football Stadium, Ostrava

Tickets will be go on sale at Wednesday February 7th and they can be ordered from ticketpro.cz.

At the time of Iron Maiden's "A Matter Of Life And Death World Tour 2006" it wasn't possible to schedule a date for the Czech Republic, but the band have said that they like playing there, so they've included this date in their short run of European stadium and festival appearances.

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Source:	ironmaiden.com
Band profile:	Iron Maiden
Event:	Iron Maiden: Summer Stadium Tour

The following gigs have been confirmed for 2007:

22.05.07 - Big Cat, Osaka, Japan
24.05.07 - Liquid Room, Tokyo, Japan
25.05.07 - Finland Fest at Liquid Room, Tokyo, Japan

More details about Stratovarius' appearances at Masters Of Rock Festival in July and Wacken Open Air in August are said to be announced soon.

Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius
Event:	Stratovarius: Japanese Dates

The Finnish melodic metallers have recently posted the following tour dates on official site.

27.4.2007 Teatria, Oulu
28.4.2007 RockKatti 2007, Holiday Club Katinkulta, Vuokatti (Other performers: Kotiteollisuus, Ruoska & Charon)
29.4.2007 Pakkahuone, Tampere
30.4.2007 Tavastia, Helsinki

Sonata Arctica has also been set to play in the Finnish rock/metal festival Sauna Open Air.

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Source:	sonataarctica.info
Band profile:	Sonata Arctica
Event:	Sonata Arctica: Finnish Tour

On the 15th of November 2006, Sonata Arctica will release their second compilation "The Collection 1999-2006". This one has nothing to do with the compilation released in Japan earlier this year.
The compilation (cover art here) will include two re-makes and the limited version will include two live videos and one promotional video.

Tracklist:
01. The Ruins Of My Life
02. 8th Commandment
03. Don't Say A Word
04. Victoria's Secret
05. Tallulah
06. Wolf & Raven
07. Black Sheep
08. Broken
09. Kingdom For A Heart
10. FullMoon
11. My Land
12. The Cage
13. Last Drop Falls
14. UnOpened
15. San Sebastian
16. Ain't Your Fairytale
17. Replica

Limited Edition:
18. Wolf & Raven
19. The Cage
20. Kingdom For A Heart

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Source:	fanzone.fi
Band profile:	Sonata Arctica

Lordi will release their first DVD. The DVD will include performances from the Eurovision Song Contest and the afterparty which was filmed in the market square of Helsinki on 25.5.2006.

More details can be found here.

Tracklisting goes as follows:

Live At The Market Square:
# Bringing Back The Balls To Rock
# Devil Is AiLoser
# Blood Red Sandman
# It Snows In Hell
# Would You Love A Monsterman
# Hard Rock Hallelujah

Special features:
Eurovision Specials Live at Finnish Semifinal:
# Hard Rock Hallelujah
# Bringing Back The Balls ToRock

Live at Finnish Final:
# Hard Rock Hallelujah
# Hello Athens documentaries

Music Videos:
# Would You Love A Monsterman (2006)
# Who's Your Daddy?
# Hard Rock Hallelujah
# Blood Red Sandman
# Devil Is A Loser

Bonus:
# The Kinimovie
# Making Of The Kin
# Storyboard
# Gallery

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Source:	discshop.fi
Band profile:	Lordi

Jani Liimatainen (Sonata Arctica) will replace J-P Alanen (ex-Celesty) for a while. Alanen has been given strict orders by his doctor not to do gigs for a week because of some health issues. Liimatainen, (who was a member of Altaria during the first five years), will replace J-P on the gigs until Alanen is fully recovered.

Altaria's gig list for this week:

14.09.2006 Rock's Bar & Club, Savonlinna
15.09.2006 Night Life, Lahti
16.09.2006 Ravintola Karhu, Kitee

Source:	altariamusic.com
Band profile:	Altaria

The soon to be released next full length Tarot album is called 'Crows Fly Black'. Excluding the group backing vocals the whole album has now been recorded and the album will be mixed and mastered at Finnvox studios in the beginning of next month.

The official album release date in Finland has been set to October 27th.

Crows Fly Black tracklist:

01. Crows fly black
02. Traitor
03. Ashes to the stars
04. Messenger of gods
05. Before the skies come down
06. Tides
07. Bleeding dust
08. You
09. Howl!
10. Grey

Source:	wingsofdarkness.net
Band profile:	Tarot

After many years of waiting, finnish melodic metal band Agonizer will finally step into the Astia-Studio in Lappeenranta, Finland, to record their debut album on September the 18th. The album will be recorded in a period of two weeks and it should be ready by the beginning of November. The name of the album and the song order are still in consideration but the songs are the following ones:

Prisoner
Harmless Hero
Everyone Of Us
Indifferent
Prophecy
Sleepless
Black Sun
Birth
The End

The album length will be about 40 minutes and it will be a self-release.

Source:	agonizer.org
Band profile:	Agonizer