Viking/Folk metal band Glittertind has had some setbacks with the release of their new album. Pre-production for seven songs has been completed already and five more will be done by the end of this month and the full production will be done by August. However the recording of the folk instruments, orchestras and choirs had to be be delayed until September. The mixing for these will take place in October/November.

Here is a comment from the band:

"We are making some huge arrangements and we had to re-schedule the production to reach our quality mark for these recordings. A new temporary release-date is set to March 2009 and there will be no more delays after this."

Source:	glittertind.net
Band profile:	Glittertind

Death Metallers Benediction will be releasing a 7" split EP with their mates in Wolfbrigade. Both bands will have two unreleased tracks on the EP. There will be a regular version of the EP available, limited to 2000 copies, and a picture disc version limited to 500 copies. It will be released by Feto Records.

Here is the tracklist for the split EP:

Benediction
01. Hell's Gate
02. Largactyl

Wolfbrigade
03. War From Within
04. The Enemy: Reality

Here is a comment from Benediction regarding the track "Largactyl":

"This version of "Largactyl" will be a different version to the one on the "Killing Music" album. We have a new guest on lead vocals. He is an innovator of the crust/punk/metal scene but you will have to wait until the release to find out who it is!".

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Benediction

Further details about the new upcoming The Haunted album have been posted at the band's Myspace page by vocalist Peter Dolving. He mentions that the new album will be released in September this year and that members of Soilwork and Machine Head have heard and enjoyed the material written so far.

Other details haven't been released yet with a comment from Dolving explaining: "I can't say a hell of a lot more at the moment because it's all record company preparing their stuff for the best way to present what's coming".

In other The Haunted news, the band will also embark on a Scandinavian tour this October. The dates are as follows:

01.10.2008 - KB, Malmö, Sweden
02.10.2008 - Brewhouse, Gothenburg, Sweden
03.10.2008 - Garage, Oslo, Norway
04.10.2008 - Klubb Aska/Kulturhuset, Örebro, Sweden
06.10.2008 - Nalen, Stockholm, Sweden

Read more ››

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	The Haunted
Event:	The Haunted

An exclusive Nightwish gig in Russia has just been announced by the band. It will be the only show Nightwish will be playing in Russia all year. The gig will take place on the 11th October at the Palace Of Sport Luzhniki, Moscow. "Cyber-goth-industrial" band Pain will be Nightwish's support for the night.

Advance tickets will be available soon from www.concert.ru

Read more ››

Source:	nightwish.com
Band profile:	Nightwish
Event:	Nightwish + Pain [CANCELLED]

Nearly a dozen European shows have been confirmed for Denmark's Hatesphere's upcoming tour. The band will cover their own country, but also Switzerland, France, Germany and five dates in Italy with Italian bands Methedras and Neurasthenia as part of the TMF On The Road mini-tour.

Here is the full list of dates:

28/08/08 - Present Aarhus Festival, Ridehuset, Aarhus, Denmark
05/09/08 - Le Grillen, Colmar, France
06/09/08 - Backstage Free and Easy Festival, Backstage, Munich, Germany
17/09/08 - Kulturfabrik Kofmehl, Solothurn, Switzerland
18/09/08 - Music Drome, Milano, Italy
19/09/08 - Rockhouse, Pescara, Italy
20/09/08 - Total Metal Festival, Bari, Italy
21/09/08 - Rock Planet, Ravenna, Italy
15/11/08 - Værtshuset, Næstved, Denmark
28/11/08 - Kulisselageret, Horsens, Denmark
29/11/08 - Bygningen, Vejle, Denmark

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Hatesphere

Australia beckons for British Power Metallers Dragonforce. The sextuplet will be performing five shows across the country. Tickets will be available for purchase from the 11th July. The band will be touring in support of their soon to be released new album "Ultra Beatdown".

Here are the dates for each night:

22nd October - Metropolis Fremantle, Perth
24th October - HQ, Adelaide
25th October - The Forum Theatre, Melbourne
27th October - Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane (all ages)
28th October - The Metro, Sydney

Source:	dragonforce.com
Band profile:	DragonForce
Event:	DragonForce: Ultra Beatdown Australian Tour

USA Death Metallers Malevolent Creation have decided to cancel their appearance at Central Illinois Metalfest. The band pulled out from headlining the festival due to reasons unknown. Floridian Death Metal band Monstrosity will be now headlining again on the 18th and Misery Index will now play the co-headlining slot.

Other festival lineup changes are - Estuary from Ohio has been added and Deadnight from Illinois has replaced Ebonmortis who had to cancel due to lineup issues.

All other bands that were set to appear at the festival will play as scheduled.

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Malevolent Creation
Event:	Central Illinois Metalfest

For those that haven't heard, Grindcore legends Carcass are coming down under to Australia for a five date tour. The tour will take place in mid-October. Tickets are already on sale and are reported to be selling fast, so you'll have to get in quick if you want to see Carcass live for possibly the last time! With word that Carcass' last show will be November this year, this seems like the last time Carcass will tour Australia ever.

Here are the tour dates:

Oct. 09 - Capitol, Perth, Australia
Oct. 10 - HQ Complex, Adelaide, Australia
Oct. 11 - The Arena, Brisbane, Australia
Oct. 12 - The Metro Theatre, Sydney, Australia
Oct. 13 - Billboard, Melbourne, Australia

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Carcass
Event:	Carcass: Australian + New Zealand Tour

Pioneering Australian Black/Death metallers Destroyer 666 have announced information about an upcoming album and various worldwide tours. The tentative title for the album will be "Siege" and the probable release date will be in January 2009 sometime (for Europe). The rest of the world will be able to get it a little later. Season Of Mist will be the label releasing it.

Destroyer 666 also hopes to have an Australian tour in February/March of next year and follow that up with some shows in the USA and later dates in South America.

More details are expected to be announced in the coming months.

Source:	destroyer666.net
Band profile:	Deströyer 666

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.

Read more ››

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

Power/Progressive metallers Symphony X have posted a new video online at their official myspace site. The video is for the song Serpent's Kiss, which comes from the band's new album Paradise Lost. As stated, this is the first official Symphony X video clip ever made. The video can't be downloaded, but it can be streamed from the aforementioned location.

Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Symphony X

Brainstorm have entered Gate Studios in Wolfsburg together with producers Sascha Paeth and Michael Rodenberg to start recording their new upcoming album, which is due 25th January 2008. Preceding the full length CD will be a single release, which will come out on 19th October 2007. The single will give fans a first look at the new Brainstorm tunes. "Be prepared for a real Brainstorm from head to toe." say the band.

Brainstorm comments further: "Recordings are going extremely well so far and we are simply overwhelmed how impressive the new songs sound. These are definitely the best Brainstorm songs that have seen the light of day yet, no kidding, no empty phrases - this is the ultimate Brainstorm album so far. Really can't wait to let you hear!!!"

Source:	brainstorm-web.net
Band profile:	Brainstorm

Veteran thrashers Exciter have ended their search for a new record label. The band is now signed to Massacre Records, who will release their upcoming new album "Thrash, Speed, Burn". The newly announced album will have ten tracks and is the first Exciter release to feature new vocalist Kenny Winter. The album will be released on the 9th November this year.

Here is the full track list for Thrash, Speed, Burn:

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

Source:	massacre-records.com
Band profile:	Exciter