METAL NEWS

METAL NEWS
Just like Blabbermouth... except better. WINDS: 'Prominence and Demise' Artwork, Track Listing Revealed The artwork and tracklisting for the upcoming album from Norway's classical/progressive metal supergroup WINDS, titled "Prominence and Demise" (out September 4, 2007 on The End Records), has been revealed. The CD artwork and layout was created by renowned cover artist Travis Smith (OPETH, AMORPHIS, DEVIN TOWNSEND), who has collaborated with WINDS on all of their artwork since their first full-length album. "Prominence and Demise" track listing: 01. Universal Creation Array 02. Distorted Dimensions 03. The Grand Design 04. When the Dream of Paradise Died 05. Fall and Rise 06. The Darkest Path 07. Convictions and Contradictions 08. Where the Cold Winds Blow 09. The Last Line "Prominence and Demise", which took the band three years to write and record, is the follow-up to the band's well-received 2004 opus "The Imaginary Direction of Time". It features guest appearances by Agnete M. Kirkevaag (MADDER MORTEM), Lars Nedland (BORKNAGAR, SOLEFALD), Dan Swanö (EDGE OF SANITY, NIGHTINGALE, ex-BLOODBATH) and Øystein Moe (ex-TRITONUS, ULVER).

ARCH ENEMY: New Album Details Revealed According to a posting on the Spanish metal web site Hall of Metal, Swedish/German extreme metallers ARCH ENEMY have set "Rise of the Tyrant" as the title of their follow-up to 2005's "Doomsday Machine", tentatively due on September 25 via Century Media Records. The CD was produced by Fredrik Nordström at the new Studio Fredman in Hyssna, Sweden and will feature artwork by Niklas Sundin of Cabin Fever Media. ARCH ENEMY vocalist Angela Gossow previously stated about the upcoming LP, "I experimented quite a bit with doubling vocal lines on the last album, which I now feel kind of took personality and vocal attack away. So this time it's the classic, one-vocal-track, no-frills, no-effects approach. "I put a lot of work and emotions into the lyrics, some of them actually made me cry, most of them made me very, very angry. They deal with the pain and losses we cause each other. To balance these gloomy themes out, we managed to write some lyrics in the vein of 'We Will Rise' — you know, FIGHT songs! There is not only suffering and injustice in this world, but also hope, love and friendship." To watch Angela lay down her raging vocals, check out this clip at YouTube. This album has ARCH ENEMY reuniting with Nordström, who last worked with the band on 2001's breakthrough "Wages of Sin". "Fredrik produced that record and I think the material we have is a little bit more in that vein," guitarist Michael Amott told Decibel magazine. "It's more intense than what we've seen on the last couple of albums. We went back a little bit to what we did on 'Burning Bridges' and 'Wages of Sin', with more riffs, more melodies, a bit more stuff going on, more action-packed." "Rise of the Tyrant" track listing: 01. Blood on Your Hands 02. The Last Enemy 03. I Will Live Again 04. In This Shallow Grave 05. Revolution Begins 06. Rise of the Tyrant 07. The Day You Died 08. Intermezzo Liberté (instrumental) 09. Night Falls Fast 10. The Great Darkness 11. Vultures

Sticky this thread. And you should probably delete any posts that aren't news containing, just for ease of use.

A LIFE ONCE LOST Completes Work On New Album Philadelphia, PA rock powerhouse A LIFE ONCE LOST has completed work on its new album, entitled "Iron Gag". Set for a September 18, 2007 release, "Iron Gag" was self-produced by the band and mastered at West West Side Music by the venerable Alan Douches. The follow-up to 2005's "Hunter" "delivers a massive wallop of scorched-out, supercharged hard rock," according to a press release. "Supremely well-paced, the release exhibits the sound of a band injecting a brazen swagger into its wide musical palette. The music dovetails its blend of raw-power metal and fuzz-tripping rock, combining each in various permutations: the rock coming to the forefront in the songs 'Firewater Joyride' and the crunching 'De-*test*-('")'; the more deliberate side of the band emerging in the bruising 'Worship' and the snide, slow-boil of 'The Wanderer'. Like a shark, this band can only go forwards and the deeper reaches of 'Iron Gag' are very clearly the sound of A LIFE ONCE LOST finding new waters in which to hunt." A sneak peek at what "Iron Gag" holds in store for its listener is now available as the new track "Firewater Joyride" has been posted online at this location. "Today we bestow upon you the future classic known only as 'Firewater Joyride'," comments ALOL guitarist Doug "Snake Sustain" Sabolick. "Since we are known mostly for the ultra-heavy, we figure we'd throw out a curve ball and release a f*ckin' rocker. It's time for the real motherf**kers to take the reins." "There's a lot of things I wanted to say to a lot of people on this record," ALOL frontman Bob Meadows explains. "Even within a song, there could be two or three people I'm talking about. It was inspired by a lot of things I've wanted to say but haven't because I had to watch myself. There are so many ugly things going on in the music scene and life, and I was just like, 'F--- it, if I say something that's going to piss someone off, then it wasn't meant to be anyway. Let me just get this all off my chest.' So, this album's just really pissed, and it's very vicious." "The songs are just way more fierce," he continues. "There's an element about it that 'Hunter' didn't have, and I think maybe that was because of us doing it ourselves. It was us learning from <'Hunter' producer and ANTHRAX guitarist> Rob Caggiano how to actually approach the songs and my working with Randy Blythe on the vocal production, which taught me how to approach the songs well. And with all of that working together, we've definitely put out a record that's going to move a lot of heads — make people turn around and be like, 'Holy sh--.' It's a monster of a release." "Iron Gag" track listing: 01. Firewater Joyride 02. De-*test*-('") 03. The Wanderer 04. Worship 05. All Teeth 06. Meth Mouth 07. Masks 08. Pigeonholed 09. Others Die 10. Silence 11. Ill Will A LIFE ONCE LOST will hit the road this August in support of "Iron Gag", opening for the fast-rising metal unit JOB FOR A COWBOY, with further touring plans to be announced soon.

METALLICA's ULRICH Says New Album Will Be 'More Dynamic, More Varied' Than 'St. Anger' Belgium's Studio Brussel conducted an interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich on Sunday (July 1) prior to the band's appearance at the Rock Werchter festival. In regards to METALLICA's new studio album, Lars said the backing tracks were done in May and that the band will start laying down vocals and overdubs in August in hopes of finishing the CD by October or November. Lars predicted the album will drop in February 2008. He said, "It doesn't sound like 'St. Anger' to me. It's a little early to kind of put in a soundbite exactly. But it doesn't sound anything like 'St. Anger'. It's probably a little more dynamic, and a little more varied, and it has lots of different nutty METALLICA stuff on it. I don't know. . . One thing I can tell you is that are quite long." Regarding talk of Eastern influences, as hinted by guitarist Kirk Hammett in an Austrian interview a couple of months ago, Ulrich said, "There's a couple of bits in there that could be called Eastern, but don't read too much into that — it's not an album full of 12 'Kashmir's or anything . But there is some stuff in that direction, sure." Lars also spoke about some of his favorite European festivals and what to expect from their Rock Werchter show. Listen to the four-and-a-half-minute interview at this location.

This sounds promising: Former ENFORSAKEN guitarist Steve Stell has resurfaced in the Chicago, Illinois-based band called THE SHOTGUN SUICIDES. Commented Stell: "When ENFORSAKEN broke up in August of 2006, I took a few months off from the music thing. After eight years of playing with and managing ENFORSAKEN, I definitely needed a break. I wasn't planning on starting a new project anytime soon, but in January 2007, I started playing around with some old ENFORSAKEN riffs…. guitar stuff that never made it on to any of our albums...just for fun. It wasn't long before I found myself with a full album's worth of new material. If I had made only a couple of songs back in January, they would have probably never seen the light of day. At best, they probably would have just shown up on a shitty MySpace page at some point. However, I really like how these songs came out, so the only right thing to do is to release them as a full length album. So, that's what is going to happen! THE SHOTGUN SUICIDES is a complete death metal project. It's got a lot of early '90s metal influences like DISMEMBER, CARCASS, SENTENCED, GRAVE, PESTILENCE, IMPALED NAZARENE, DARKTHRONE, AUTOPSY, DEATH, KREATOR, EDGE OF SANITY, ENTOMBED etc… the metal music I grew up with. The stuff that was going on before metalcore ruled the world, haha. We've also incorporated a bit of the classic 'chainsaw guitar tone' made famous by Swedish death metal pioneers ENTOMBED, CARNAGE, DISMEMBER etc. into our guitar sound. We've blended a modern, high-gain guitar tone with that old-school chainsaw sound, and the end result is pretty damn cool. Many of the riffs on the album were originally intended for ENFORSAKEN, so I think fans of that band will probably enjoy what they hear in this new project. It's basically in the vein of ENFORSAKEN with a little less melody, and a little more brutality. Straight-up, to-the-point death metal. The album is called 'A Glorious Tragedy' and will be released in the fall of 2007. I will be initially releasing this album in the USA on my own label, Soulside Records. I plan on licensing this album to Europe and Japan. Any interested labels can contact me directly." Regarding the name choice of THE SHOTGUN SUICIDES, Stell said, "It's just a sick name I've had in my head for years. It is obviously a horrifying thing, so there you have it. When you think of a guy that has blown his brains against the wall, the image in your head isn't very pretty, is it? It's truly brutal and that's the way i feel about this project. No whimpering clean vocals or weak choruses are allowed in this band, haha. There are no songs about holding hands and going to the movies with your girlfriend on this album. It's done in the spirit of how it was done back in the day. 100% raw, in-your-face, trend-free death metal. Before the scene was flooded with cheap, paint-by-numbers mallcore bullshit." :lol: THE SHOTGUN SUICIDES will enter Studio One (MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO, SOIL, NOVEMBERS DOOM, ENFORSAKEN, JUNGLE ROT) in Racine, Wisconsin on July 14 to begin recording "A Glorious Tragedy". Chris Djuricic (NOVEMBERS DOOM bassist and Studio One owner) will produce and engineer the project. Cover artwork for "A Glorious Tragedy" was recently completed by acclaimed metal/prog artist Mattias Noren (EVERGREY, JOHN PETRUCCI, INTO ETERNITY, KOTIPELTO, DEREK SHERINIAN). Underground artist Brian Guther created THE SHOTGUN SUCIDES logo. Brian also did the ENFORSAKEN logo way back in 1998.

And so does this: :D KALMAH To Enter Studio In October - July 2, 2007 Finnish metallers KALMAH are currently writing material for their fifth studio album, tentatively due next spring. "Right now we have about seven songs ready and will enter studios in October to record the next swamp metal masterpiece. I guess the new material will represent heavier and even more riff-oriented KALMAH but the melodies and basic KALMAH sound has not been forgotten. The writing process has been firm and there has been no 'run-and-piss' hurry. There was a compulsory month break in the beginning of summer since Antti broke his wrist. The wrist has shaped up well and it seems there will be no permanent injury." KALMAH's la-*test*-('") CD, "The Black Waltz", entered the Finnish national album chart in March 2006 at position No. 38. The follow-up to 2003's "Swampsong", "The Black Waltz" marked the group's recording debut with keyboardist Marco Sneck (POISONBLACK)

This is something that I'm really looking forward to. Hope it turns outs to be a masterpiece: ENGEL Completes Mastering Debut Album - July 1, 2007 ENGEL, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based quintet featuring guitarists Marcus Sunesson (ex-THE CROWN) and Niclas Engelin (PASSENGER, ex-GARDENIAN, IN FLAMES), drummer Mojjo (RELEVANT FEW, DRACENA), vocalist Mangan Klavborn, and bassist Michael Håkansson (ex-EVERGREY), has finished mastering its debut album with Björn Engelmann (RAMMSTEIN). Anders Fridén (singer of IN FLAMES) helped his old friend Niclas (both played together in PASSENGER) record demos and assisted in the production of the debut ENGEL album at Dug-Out Studios in Uppsala with Daniel Bergstrand (producer of IN FLAMES, MESHUGGAH). Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Casket Closing", "In Splendour", "The Paraclet", "Propaganda" and "Seven Ends". A fall release via SPV is expected. Already touted as one of the "Best Unsigned Bands 2006" by the readers of Metal Hammer U.K. and crowned winners of Rock Hard Germany's "Demo Con-*test*-('")" 2006, ENGEL is set to take the metal world by storm. Hailing from Sweden's famous breeding ground for riffs and groundbreaking bands — Gothenburg — the members of ENGEL have years of combined experience and a uniquely mesmerizing heavy-as-hell melodic sound to take over the world's metallic hearts and minds.

ARSIS Drops Off SUMMER SLAUGHTER TOUR West Virginia's ARSIS has been forced to drop off the Summer Slaughter Tour while supporting its la-*test*-('") release, "United in Regret". Commented ARSIS guitarist and vocalist James Malone: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, we've been forced to drop off the Summer Slaughter Tour. I do apologize to ALL the fans that missed seeing us. "To make a long story short, everything was going great for us until we reached Sacramento, California. After that show, our van began to give us trouble — which surprised us since the van had just been in for repairs twice before the tour even started and we were sure the problem had been fixed. So we took the van in to the nearest dealership, were told the problem could be resolved in three days, and decided to wait in Sacramento until the van was fixed. It's now over two WEEKS LATER and the van STILL hasn't been repaired. Unfortunately, it's already too late for us to rent a vehicle. We've gone broke paying for hotels. Van rental fees and the cost of gas would have cost us a fortune to catch up to the tour. Please understand that we made the best decision we could with the information we were given. Unfortunately, it turns out we made the wrong decision." Offers to assist with lodging, gas card gift donation pledges, and general well-wishes for the band can be left at www.myspace.com/arsis.

GENERAL SURGERY Parts Ways With Vocalist, Announces Replacement Legendary Swedish grindcore merchants GENERAL SURGERY have issued the following update: "Once again, our resident alcoholic Scottish doctor has decided to take leave of the band. Due to 'administrative problems pertaining to morgue-related issues' (he's too busy getting intoxicated to be of any use) he has finally broken down and given up his active duties in the band. "The torch has been handed over to new pathological talent, Dr. Erik Sahlström (MAZE OF TORMENT, SERPENT OBSCENE). Rest assured he has been schooled well, and is already a nervous wreck from various initiation ceremonies to our wonderful world of gore." Dr. Sahlström comments: "It's an honour for me to get this promotion when Dr. McWilliams is stepping down. My working methods will of course be different than his, and this will undoubtedly change the proceedings of our future pathology work in some ways. I'm confident that I can rise to the challenge and make incisions even deeper. I'm eager to be a part of future decomposition and dismembering along with the great Dr. Carlsson, Dr. Mitroulis, Dr. Wallin and Dr. Eriksson. There is a lot of work ahead, and I can just smell the offensively malodorous corpses advancing." The band continues: "Dr. McWilliams will continue to taint the band in the role of consultant. Nobody in the band seems to know what this means, but it most likely entails paying the Scotsman ludicrous amounts of money to help write lyrics, hold motivational speeches for the band and generally just be the usual psychotic waste of space he's always been, albeit minus the vocal duties in the band." McWilliams comments: "Dr. Sahlström will bring striking good looks to the band, in a swashbuckling pathologist kind of way. Plus he isn't a balding Scottish git. Not to mention the fact that his methods will not only be different, but will also be considerably better and cause less consternation, grief and legal attention for the band." The band continues: "Dr.Sahlström will be making his first appearance with the band at the Obscene Extreme Festival on Friday the 6th of July, thus beginning a new era of audio insanity in the epic and drunken saga of GENERAL SURGERY. To commemorate this historic event, we have planned a massive setlist (close to 20 songs) with both old songs and quite a few tasters off the new recording. "In the meantime, for further proof of Dr. Sahlström's vocal talents, we have uploaded a new song entitled 'Restrained Remains' from the forthcoming split with BUTCHER ABC to our MySpace page. Head on over there and check out his first vocal contribution to the band. Also, we've uploaded a second new song, 'Decedent Scarification Aesthetics', from the same session featuring the departed Dr. McWilliams, who is the featured lead vocalist on the split. We hope you will enjoy the new songs, and see you in the pit at the OEF." GENERAL SURGERY's first full-length album, "Left Hand Pathology", was released in May 2006 via Listenable Records.

Former ANTHRAX, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, DREAM THEATER Members Join Forces In New Project Acclaimed producer Kevin Shirley (IRON MAIDEN, DREAM THEATER, H.I.M.) has posted the following message in his "Caveman Diary": "Started a new album yesterday — a heavy metal chick — and a great band! Paul Crook (MEAT LOAF, ex-ANTHRAX, SEBASTIAN BACH) on guitar, Scott Metaxas (ex-NUCLEAR ASSAULT) on bass, Derek Sherinian (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ex-DREAM THEATER) on keys and Brian Tichy (ex-OZZY OSBOURNE, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT, GILBY CLARKE, PRIDE & GLORY) on drums — and a fab singer fom Eastern Europe!"

EXODUS Guitarist GARY HOLT: New CD Is 'The Baddest Slab Of Metal Recorded In Years' Veteran San Francisco Bay Area metallers EXODUS entered Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California on June 10 with producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, MACHINE HEAD, NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY) to begin recording their new album for a late 2007 release via Nuclear Blast Records. EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has issued the following update: "Sorry about the total lack of communication, but I've been staying in the Bay Area at my parents' house (I live three hours north nowadays) and have had no Internet, nor the time since we have been locked away with Mr. Sneap for up to 14 hours a day, just killing ourselves. But all that's left are Lee's solos and then the mix and it's finished. And I know you hear this shit all the time, which is why I've stay pretty silent through all this, but this record is like nothing you've ever heard. A genre-defining record, a career-defining record — simply put, the baddest fucking slab of metal recorded in years. Epic, crushing, huge in scope, and at times brutally simple, and at time massively complex. I am sooo stoked! You can't wipe the smile off of my face when I am listening to it. Proudest moment, for sure. Solos are off the hook, Lee is adding a ton more shred as I am typing this, Tom raised the bar on drumming in general, Jack's bass is a jack hammer, and Duke's just kills it like never before. Can you tell I'm a bit excited about this one? No if only it will fit on one disc, we are off and running! Song titles coming soon. I have to have some secrets." Vocalist Rob Dukes added: "Just got home (New York) after being in Cali for two months... Everyone — Gary, Jack and Lee — killed. I'm so glad Tom is back and playing in my opinion better than ever. He defintely schooled motherfuckers in the thrash drumming department. He just killed. Working with Andy Sneap was rad. I don't want to say too much and sound like everybody else about how heavy the new record is; I'll let it speak for itself when it comes out and kicks your fucking face in... I'm so stoked to be a part of it; it's the coolest thing I have ever done in this life..." As previously reported, EXODUS has scheduled the following dates during August: Aug. 04 - San Marcos, CA @ The Jumping Turtle Aug. 05 - Mexicali, Mexico @ El Jardin Sllencio Extreme Aug. 06 - Modesto, CA @ Fat Cat Music house Aug. 07 - West Hollywood, CA @ Whiskey A Go Go Aug. 08 - Corona, CA @ Showcase Theater Aug. 09 - Fresno, CA @ Belmont Aug. 10 - San Jose, CA @ Blank Club Tickets for the above dates are available through EnterTheVault.com and all normal ticketing outlets. Gary Holt has just released his first-ever instructional DVD, "A Lesson in Guitar Violence", through Zaentz. The disc, which contains never-before-seen live footage from 1985 at the Dynamo Club in Holland, can be ordered at The Exodus Store. Holt previously stated about the DVD, "I am planning on focusing on rhythm technique, some lead chops, and going over the correct way to play some of the EXODUS riffs. I feel there are enough straight shred things out there, so I want to do something as bit differrent. And of course I will make it funny as hell!" Zaentz Records is the new label formed by Steven Warner (EXODUS' manager) and partner Jonnie Zaentz (son of Saul Zaentz, Fantasy Records co-founder). Zaentz is an independent artist-friendly upstart label that features an in-house, state-of-the-art recording facility.

This is the funniest Metal News I've read in recent times on Blabbermouth: METALLICA Frontman Temporarily Detained At British Airport - July 5, 2007 According to British newspaper The Times, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was temporarily detained by security officials at a British airport. Hetfield jetted into Luton airport ahead of Saturday's (July 7) Live Earth London gig — where his band is performing — but was stopped by officials before he could leave the terminal. The Times claims Hetfield's friends blame his "Taliban-like beard" for the interrogation. METALLICA will join the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, FOO FIGHTERS and others at London's Live Earth concert on July 7 before headlining Wembley Stadium on July 8. I agree that the situation in the UK is pretty bad with the Glasgow blasts and everyone is one high alert. But, I can't imagine how the British Security can think of James, one of the most popular figures, as a threat because of the way he looks. Thats lame !!

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