Guitarist Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams have announced their departure from Seattle-based progressive thrashers Nevermore. The following announcement was posted on the band's Myspace page:

"In a mutual decision Jeff Loomis and Van Williams have decided to leave Nevermore. The time has come to pursue our own paths from the group. Due to internal struggles and ongoing issues within the band, we feel it is our time to move on. We would like to thank all of our fans around the world for their years of love, support and enthusiasm. This was not an easy decision but a very necessary one at this point, may we all meet again someday, somewhere in time."

Loomis and Williams had been with Nevermore since the band's first album, the self-titled Nevermore from 1995. Nevermore recently announced that they would be cancelling their planned tour with Symphony X. No information regarding additional confirmed tour dates is known at this time.

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Nevermore

Original news, posted on 12.12.2008

German metallers Deadlock posted the following statement on their myspace page:

"We're not happy to announce, that we parted ways with Tom after more than 7 common years. Due to some musical and personal differences we agreed with him that it's better to make a cut.
There's no shittalking whatsoever, no bad mood or angry feelings. We just decided that Deadlock should go on with a new bass player.

We thank Tom for all the amazing years, the great time, his friendship and all our happy experiences together!
All future shows will be played with session musicians until we find a new member for that part. More news on our search for the new DEADLOCK family member will be posted soon!"

UPDATE (thanks to 37592)

Deadlock have announced the following:

"We just got overwhelmed with inquiries for the Deadlock bass job and we want to thank everyone who was interested in becoming this part of our machine! You guys and girls are great!

We're very pleased to announce an old friend, a talented musician, an eager beaver and one of the sexiest people around John Gahlert (ex-Fall Of Serenity) for the Deadlock bass position! In the end we let our hearts speak and we chose John for his patience, his energy, his visions and his grace! We could not have done it better and we're sure to reinvent and advance our musical creation to the next level.

From now on we are back with full effect and we are looking forward to see you girls and boys at one of our next shows around this planet! Please welcome John with high passion!"

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Deadlock

Norwegian black/death metallers Allfader posted the following item on their official website:

"Since the release of 'At Least We Will Die Together' in 2006 we had a period where our guitarist Per was very indifferent and not motivated to continue with the band. We didn't fire him because I go back with him quite a few years and was hoping his feelings would change. They did not, at least not fast enough. So eventually I took over his guitar duties. That's why things have been a bit slow over here. There’s no bad blood, no scandals. We’ve all moved on.

At first I was apprehensive about playing guitar while singing, but it has worked out incredibly well. Also, I feel I'm more in touch with the material when we write, and the writing process itself has been smoother than ever. We also did more shows in 2007 than the years 2001-2006 combined.

So what are we up to at the moment? Well, we're currently recording our next album. The drums are done, and right now we're focusing on guitars. We're recording eight songs for the album with a total playing time around 50 minutes. The songs sound huge and they have a bit of a different vibe (to us, at least). We're focusing on groove, dynamics and solid arrangements. Heavier, less technical guitars but some awesome drumming. I'm psyched to hear the songs come alive and I can't wait for our fans to hear this!

If we meet the necessary deadlines the album will be released by Osmose sometime in the fall. More info will come soon.

That's it for now, gotta go back to recording guitars...

-John/Allfader"

Source:	allfader.cjb.net
Band profile:	Allfader

Lifeforce Records posted the following news on the label's official website:
"Lifeforce Records is proud to announce the signing of a multiple album deal with French melodic Death Metal band Destinity. The band's first worldwide (excluding France) release via Lifeforce Records will be their album "The Inside" which was previously released through Rupture Music in France only. "The Inside" was recorded, mixed and mastered in August 2007 with Jacob Hansen (Mercenary, Raunchy, Deadlock).

Destinity, who is currently on the road with Dew-Scented (Nuclear Blast) and Severe Torture (Earache Records), was formed in 1996 and released 3 albums with Adipocere Records.

"The Inside" is set to be released on April 28th in Europe and June 24th in the US/ Canada."

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Source:	lifeforcerecords.com
Band profile:	Destinity

The following message was posted on the official site of Swedish death metallers Bloodbath:

"So the time has come for Bloodbath to once again poison the scene with a contagious doze of über brutal death metal. An old acquaitance in this zombified bloodline has once again re-visited his old home. We can now announce that the vocalist on the new mini-cd is none other than Mikael Åkerfeldt courtesy of Opeth.

Second deathster to join the elite is Mr Per 'Sodomizer' Eriksson (ex-21 Lucifers, ex-Genocrush Ferox). Sodomizer's brutal death metal songwriting approach as well as guitar shredding is a highly welcomed element in the legacy of Bloodbath."

Source:	bloodbath.biz
Band profile:	Bloodbath

The following news was posted on Withered's homepage:

Prosthetic Records is proud to announce Atlanta's Withered as the latest addition to the label's ranks. The band's upcoming effort, 'Folie Circulaire,' is scheduled for a late-spring release and will be produced by Phillip Cope (Kylesa, Baroness, Black Tusk) through Prosthetic. "We're very excited to start this new chapter for Withered by joining the Prosthetic Records family," guitarist/vocalist Mike Thompson says. "We've put a lot of time and consideration into deciding which label we wanted to work with for our next album and Prosthetic have really proven their commitment to Withered's music and metal in general. It can be difficult to find a label that understands your band AND has the resources to help cultivate your music without compromising it. This is a natural step for Withered and we are quite eager to contaminate and disgrace everything Prosthetic Records has to offer."

Source:	withered.net
Band profile:	Withered

The following news was posted on Hatesphere's official website:

"After having received close to one hundred submissions from around the globe, it's with great pleasure that we are finally able to unveil the new front man. 19 year-old Jonathan "Joller" Albrechtsen. This guy, a Copenhagen native, showed up and performed a stunning display of brutal power and basically screamed the shit out of all the other applicants. Needless to say, we are more than excited and can't wait to get back out there."

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Source:	hatesphere.com
Band profile:	Hatesphere

According to the organizers of the festival, the More Than Fest, set to go down on August 25th and 26th in Ruzina, Slovakia, has been cancelled. The festival should have been headlined by Mayhem and Edguy. Further information on the reasons for this cancellation will be posted as soon as the news is translated from Slovakian. For those who read this language, go to this location.

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Source:	epg.sk
Event:	More Than Fest [CANCELLED]

Hell yeah! If that is not a great victory for hard rock/metal, I don't know what is. No, you're not hallucinating, Finnish metal monsters Lordi won the formatted Eurovision contest (known for its sloppy poppish radio tunes) HANDS DOWN!

They were 44 points ahead Russia (the mullet singer) and gave a fresh new start to the oh-so-boring Eurovision stuff.

We wish to congratulate the winners from the depths of our hearts. LONG LIVE METAL

Source:	deadsoulman in front of his tv
Band profile:	Lordi
Event:	Eurovision Song Contest

Following on from the chart success of their recent single 'Our Truth', Lacuna Coil are now set to unleash thier second single to be taken from thier latest album ' Karmacode'. The band's cover of the Depeche Mode song 'Enjoy the Silence' is due to be released in UK via Century Media on Monday June 26th.

'Enjoy the Silence' will be available in the following formats:

Enjoy the Silence - Vol I (CD single Digipack+Poster)
1. Enjoy the Silence
2. To the Edge (Live)
3. Fragile (Live)
4. Enchanced Video Interview

Enjoy the Silence - Vol II (CD single)

1. Enjoy the Silence
2. Virtual Environment (Non Album bonus track )

Enjoy the Silence - Vol III ( 7" Blue Coloured Vinyl )

1. Enjoy the Silence
2. Silence

Lacuna Coil have just wrapped up a sell-out US tour with headliner Rob Zombie and are now preparing to hit the European Festival circuit this summer before heading back to US for a main stage on this year prestigious Ozzfest.

Source:	rockdetector.com
Band profile:	Lacuna Coil

During tonight's emotional show in Paris at the Locomotive, Nicolas Chevrollier (guitars) announced that he had to leave the band in order to take care of his family and of his son, who will be born in July.

The band will probably be looking for a replacement soon.

We wish Nicolas Chevrollier some great time with his family and good luck for the future and his new life.

Sources: Jeff and Deadsoulman, special reporters for Metal Storm at the Locomotive, Paris.

Band profile:

The Old Dead Tree

The Warsaw-based Melodeath/Metalcore band Sunrise have posted the following message on their official website:

"It is high time to say goodbye after 11 years of being around. It has been a while and we came to the point where we are pretty happy with the shape of the band but in the very same time we realize that we won't go much further and can easily get frustrated, as lives of some of us are not that careless anymore. We went through lots of hardships and we could start one of these 'veteran' talks but the bottom line is that every good show we had paid it off tenfold. There were many of them and we will always remember these great times. We never thought it could last so long and we would meet so many good people. We would lie big time if we wrote that Sunrise was not one of the most important things in our lives and some of us were absorbed by doing this every single day. It might sound pretty weird but calling it quits when Sunrise is in its best shape is the best we can do. We had enough opportunities to break up but we always wanted to carry on. This time we all agreed it is time to call it a day. We are not able to carry it on and we don't want to see how it deteriorates.

Many good things happened to us and we are pretty sure we used our voice in the right way. There were tons of supportive people who helped us out along the way. We will never forget you. You know who you are. You put on shows for us, put our records out, helped us in the studio, lent us gear, drove us, put us up, did merch and other artwork, took pics, stage dove, moshed and sang along. It meant and still means a world to us. We felt cursed but never alone. Thanks to ya'll.

There were many people who played in Sunrise and all of them made this band what it was: Maciek, Roy, Marcel, Kajtek, Czaja, Piotrek, thanks a lot! We played with many great bands who inspired us and helped us out a lot. We had an opportunity to speak out on stage or in interviews. We were part of the HC scene and it was honor for us.

We are playing one last show in Warsaw, on 23 April 2006 and then we're done for good.
The saga continues!"

Source:

sunriseblast.com

Rotting Christ have announced the official re-release (digitally remastered) of their first albums "Passage To Arcturo" and "Non Serviam" on a double CD through their new label Season Of Mist (www.season-of-mist.com). The package is coming with bonus songs from their first demo and the 7" EP "Dawn Of The Iconoclast" as well as bootleg live video performances shot back in 1994.

Source:	rotting-christ.com
Band profile:	Rotting Christ

Gorefest posted the following message on their official website:

"Due to severe problems at the side of German agency Bruchstein Records, we have been forced to cancel our entire European tour. We are extremely disappointed with the way things have been dealt with, and as such have lost all faith in the whole operation. Rest assured we're working very hard to try and salvage as much from this wreckage as possible, and hope to do most of these shows properly at a later time. Our sincere apologies to everyone who has been waiting for so long to see us, and now have to wait even longer. We'd also like to apologize to Master, Luna Field, Ressurecturis, and Kragens. Just like you guys, we were all geared up and ready to go. Decisions like these are not easily made but as much as we wanted to do this, things have been turning rapidly into a farce. As we refuse to be toyed with, there really was no other choice.

We hope we can rely on everyone's patience, so we can lay out some frightfully heavy Metal for ya as soon as we get things back on track!"

Source:	gorefest.nl
Band profile:	Gorefest

Karl Logan, lead guitarist of heavy metal powerhouse Manowar, was injured on Tuesday, January 24th 2006 in a motorcycle accident. Logan sustained severe injuries to his left arm, which will prevent him from performing for an as-yet-unknown period of time. "Manowar will have to reconsider all of our plans, but the good news is that Karl is ok and he'll be back stronger than ever," says MANOWAR bassist Joey DeMaio.

Logan was preparing to record his lead guitar parts for the upcoming, yet to be named, MANOWAR album, the release of which will now be delayed. Touring plans are also expected to change as a result of this unfortunate turn of events. However, Manowar will soldier on. "We don't have any more information at this time," says DeMaio. "But nothing ever has, or ever will, stop MANOWAR." More information will be released as it becomes available.

Source:	manowar.com
Band profile:	Manowar