Last week Morifade started the recording of their coming album "Imaginarium" at "Los Angered Recording" with Andy LaRocque behind the mixingtable and as the producer. It will be a 60+ minute album with really great metal songs. For everyone of you who have heard their last album "Possession Of Power" be sure that the melody's still there but there are more heavy riffs than it was on "P.o.P.". The album will be released in October or November. Keep that in mind! later on they will have some downloadable sound samples ready for you at their website.
Grave Digger will be recording a live album at their show of the Wacken Open Air Festival in early August. The as-yet-untitled CD could have the following track listing: "Scotland United", "Excalibur", "The Dark of the Sun", "Headbanging Man", "The Roundtable (Forever)", "Circle of Witches", "Ballad of Mary", "Lionheart", "Witch Hunter", "Morgane Le Fay", "Knights of the Cross", "Rebellion" & "Heavy Metal Breakdown".
Black Abyss have pushed back the recording of their third album to the end of this year or beginning of the next one. The release is planned for the summer of 2002.
On the 21st of July at 9:00pm CET (3:00pm Eastern Standard Time in the U.S.) will be a chat with the whole band of Jacobs Dream on this site: http://www.jacobsdream.de. Simply click on "Contact", then the link for the chat room.
Dionysus, the Power Metal band featuring singer Olaf Hayer (the voice behind guitarist Luca Turilli's solo project) and ex-Sinergy drummer Ronny Milianowicz, have signed a multi-album deal with AFM Records. Their debut CD is tentatively scheduled for release in early 2002. No name for the album has been announced yet.
Right after playing the shows with King Diamond end of April, Brainstorm entered the House of Music Studios in Stuttgart to record their fourth album with producer Achim Köhler (Primal Fear...). Entitled "Metus Mortis", Brainstorm are about to record an album that is even heavier than its predecessor "Ambiguity" but without losing their variety and surprising moments. Songs like "Hollow Hideaway", "Strenght Of Will", "Checkmate In Red" and "Face Down", just to name a few, will not only guarantee neck-pain in a live situation. Release date will be around September, a small preview will be shown on this years festivals (Bang Your Head, Wacken Open Air) where Brainstorm will play one or two brand new songs.
In brief: Angra have finished pre-production work for their upcoming album, which is tentatively due to be released in October 2001... Blind Guardian frontman Hansi Kursch and his wife are expecting the birth of a baby boy in late August. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Here you have some details of the upcoming album of Yngwie Malmsteen´s vocalist Mark Boals and his new project Ring Of Fire. The title will be "The Oracle" and it´s scheduled for a July 25th Japanese release. The album will include the following tracks: "Prelude For The Oracle", "Circle Of Time", "Shadow In The Dark", "Vengeance For Blood", "Samurai", "City Of The Dead", "Dreams Of Empire", "The Oracle", "Interlude", "Land Of Illusion", "Take Me Home", "Face The Fire" & a secret bonus for Japan. The line-up of musicians performing on the album is as follows: Mark Boals (Vocals), Vitalij Kuprij (Keyboards), George Bellas (Guitars), Philip Bynoe (Bass) & Virgil Donati (Drums).
Living legends Running Wild are working on their new studio album, tentatively titled "The Brotherhood" and scheduled for a January/February 2002 release. Some of the working titles are "The Brotherhood", "U-Nation" & "Welcome to Hell".
ShadowKeep announced the new line-up. The members appointed are Steve Scott on Bass and Scott Higham on Drums. They made their debut with the band at the Bloodstock festival 2 weeks ago and have straight away won their fans respect, as well as new converts. Many said it was their best gig ever... In related news, they have given a change to their official homepage, check it out!
The release party for Steel Prophet´s "Book of the Dead" is confirmed for July 8, 2001 at the Dragonfly (California). Tickets for the party are seven bucks, and doors open at 8:00 PM. Joining them will be Agent Steel (now known as Order of the Illuminati), Cage and New Eden. Members of the bands will have a covers jam at the end of the night. That should be fun! They´re also confirmed to play the Milwaukee Metal Fest the weekend of August 10-11, with a possible tour starting after that featuring three or four other top quality heavy bands.
According to the official homepage of Germany´s Ivanhoe, Chitral Somapala ("Chity", from Avalon) is the new singer for the band (!) They are now working on the pre-production of a new CD...
Because of "business-problems" and the line-up change Vanize were forced to neglect their live-activities. In the future their label Breaker-Records is going to work together with SPV and the guys hope to go on tour again as soon as possible. Meanwhile they will use the time to prepare a new album, they already started writing new songs. So keep patient because they will be back soon, better than ever.
Contrary to the rumours and according to Lars Ratz, Metalium have signed with Locomotive Music just for the release of a VHS video + CD package during Summer 2001, but they´re still with Massacre for the CD's. The video will feature concert clips, interviews and more and the CD will include 8 tracks (new and unpublished songs as well as live performances).
Federica "Sister" De Boni has left White Skull due to personal problems. The band now have a new singer, Gus Gabarrò. He is originally from Argentina, but he lives in Italy (Alessandria). He has recorded the new demo. Since to the first show the crowd and all the White Skull fans had good reaction and also the Management and the Record Company are very happy about the band's choice. Now they are writing the new songs for the next album. It will be recorded from 15 September to 30 October at New Sin Studio (Loria -TV). The new album will be a concept about the Inquisition Story and it will be on the market in January 2002.
The Storyteller second guitarist, Erik "Bonecrüsher" Gornostajev has decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. This will however not affect the band in any negative way. They are currently looking for a new guitarist, but until they find one the band will continue as a trio.
After six years with Crystal Eyes, drummer Kujtim Gashi has decided to leave the band to spend more time with his very ill daughter. Therefor they're now looking for a new drummer.
On July 23rd Elvenking will release their new album titled "Heathenreel". The album is mixed by Fredrik Nordstrom (In Flames, Hammerfall...) and the cover artwork has been done by Travis Smith (Nevermore, Iced Earth...). The Japenese and South American versions will contain a cover of Skyclad's "Penny Dreadful" as bonus track.
Grave Digger just started the recordings for the "Excalibur" follow-up called "The Grave Digger". They have revealed the title of another song to be included, it´s "Funeral Procession". As "special" for you the band began writing an online-diary: day by day they will post entries about what is happening during the recordings, as well as many exclusive photos. The next three confirmed dates for festivals: 09.06.01 Sweden Rock, Sölvesborg / Sweden, 29.06.01 Derrame Rock, Oviedo/ Spain & 28.07.01 Rock Machina, Valencia / Spain.
Waiting for the definitive list of bands for Rock Machina 2001, you can see the confirmed bands and other details by clicking HERE or checking out the official site of the fest www.rockmachina.com
Obús (legendary Spanish band) Official Homepage is already on line. The website is still under construction, but you can access a press note where the band explains the reasons that forced them to cancel their performance at Viñarock 2001 Festival, celebrated last May 5th in Villarrobledo (Albacete, Spain). The note is supervised by Obús themselves.
Bobby Rondinelli will play the drums on Riot´s upcoming album. The recordings started last April 7th and the release is planned for June.
Elegy is now in the middle of talking to several record companies about a new deal. Elegy singer Ian Parry will release the "Consortium II" record soon and guitarist Patrick Rondat will be doing some big stadium gigs with Jean Michel Jarre in Greece. Drummer Dirk Bruinenberg can be heard on an upcoming release from a project called Adagio with French guitarist Stefan Forte and the singer for Pink Cream 69. The bass player Martin Helmantel, is keeping himself busy with a party band, The Heavy 70's, also featuring Andrew Elt (Sleeze Beez). This band played about 250 gigs in the last five years which makes them a pretty busy tribute band.
The next show of Draconian as an opener for Judas Priest and Savatage in Murcia (Spain) is not confirmed yet. The final resolution will be announced soon.
Primal Fear have started the songwriting for their new CD. The lyrics of the album tell the story of the eagles heading into the universe, searching for the Black Sun (which is an early possibility for the album title). The recordings will take place at the House Of Music studios (Germany) in December/January, with a release planned for April 29th 2002.
Denmark´s Pretty Maids are currently working on the follow-up to last year's "Carpe Diem" release, and have so far completed rough versions of 3-4 new songs. The as-yet-untitled album will be recorded at the end of the year for an early 2002 release.
Vocalist Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche) will debut his new solo/side project, with guitarist Scott Moughton, on June 1st at The Catwalk in Seattle, WA. Tate's project will also play this year's fan club-only gathering, Seattle 2001 (aka S2K1), on June 2nd at the Showbox in Seattle. Queensrÿche will also perform, and there will be a meet-and-greet with autographs and picture-taking. Furthermore, Tate will contribute vocals to a song on a Queen tribute album due this summer.
It´s been confirmed that the opening band for Yngwie Malmsteen´s concert next June 1st at Sala Industrial Copera (Granada) will be Draconian. The spanish band has signed a deal with Avispa Records and the first CD "To Outlive The War" will be issued on May 2001, furthermore they will be playing with Judas Priest & Savatage in Los Alcázares (Murcia, Spain) the 6th of July.
The second part of Tobias Sammet´s Avantasia is already recorded and will be getting its last finishing touches at the end of the year. However, as Edguy will be the highest priority for Tobi right now, "Avantasia Pt. II" won't be released before Spring/Summer 2002. Sammet will be strongly again by people such as Eric Singer (Kiss) and Bob Catley (ex-Magnum) and others.
Reverend, the reborn Seattle band featuring Metal Church vocalist David Wayne, have made their new EP, "A Gathering Of Demons", available to order through their official web site. The EP contains the following four tracks: "Massacre The Innocent", "Down", "Stealing My Mind" & "Legion".
Sonata Arctica have delayed the release of their new single "Wolf & Raven" until May 21st, due to scheduling problems related to the making of an accompanying promo video. The song comes off the band´s next CD, "Silence", which is scheduled to be published on July 15th.
Tomas Wäppling and keyboardplayer Tommie have left Freternia. It is still uncertain if the band will continue without them. Very bad news, indeed...
Former Persuader guitarist Pekka Kiviaho and Jesper Johansson (Morifade´s guitarist) have started a new project together. The song writing process has just started so the direction is still not clear, but it will surely be Metal. The sound will probably be a blend of Morifade and Persuader mixed with some heavier stuff. They´re still searching for a singer.
Adagio is a new studio project led by french guitarist Stephan Forte, whose debut album, "Sanctus Ignis", is scheduled for release on May 22nd. It features performances from singer David Readman (Pink Cream 69), drummer Dirk Bruinenberg (Elegy), Richard Anderson (Majestic) on keyboards and Franck Hermany on bass. The producer is Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Vanden Plas, D.C. Cooper). The full track listing: "Second Sight", "The Inner Road", "In Nomine...", "The Stringless Violin", "The Seven Lands Of Sin", "Order Of Enlil", "Sanctus Ignis", "Panem Et Circences", "Immigrant Song" (Led Zeppelin cover) & "Niflheim"
Grave Digger will begin recording their forthcoming studio album on May 4th, for a late 2001 release. It is entitled "The Grave Digger" and the following tracks are set to appear on the album: "Son Of Evil", "The Grave Digger", "Raven", "Scythe Of Time", "Spirits Of The Dead", "The House", "King Pest", "Black Cat", "Haunted Palace" & "Silence", there will be two additional, as-yet-untitled, songs on the CD.
Davide Dell'Orto and Daniele Persoglio are the new singer and bassist of Drakkar respectively. The band will start the recordings of their third album next May at Bips Studios.
Finally the "Welcome To The Other Side" tour of Rage will first start in Spain on 27th of April as scheduled.
Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances Rage will announce that the first 3 concerts of the "Welcome To The Other Side" tour will be cancelled. Peavy Wagner is suffering from a throat problem and which has affected his vocal cords and is forbidden to sing until further notice by doctor's orders. On Tuesday it will be decided whether the tour has to be displaced completely or if a part can be held. Rage hopes Peavy will recover in time so that they don't have to cancel even more concerts. Rage would like to apologies to the fans and they hope they can reschedule the first 3 concerts of the tour at a later point in time.
The new album of Azrael (from Granada, Spain) will be out in the first week of May. Its title is "Dimensión IV". The album, as the previous one, has been produced by Josué M. Martín and was recorded during January and March 2001 at Supersonic Studios in Granada. Some titles of the new songs are "En El Umbral", "Sacrificio", "Nada Que Temer", "Sentencia", "Mujer de Hielo", "La Noche Cae", "La Luz de Ishtar"...
Tom Naumann (former Sinner/Primal Fear) will be on stage with Metalium for the Festivals 2001 to get the double guitar action going on stage. Lars and Tom know each other personally for more than 13 years. The band started writing for their 3rd studio album (another concept one) to be released in September 2001 and will put out a 60 minute video European Wide at June 6th 2001. It will be a complete documentation about the first 3 years of Metalium's existance including live shots from the early shows up to new material, interviews, studio shots of the making of both chapters "Millennium Metal" and "State of Triumph" and a lot of private material from the musicians themself on tour. It's possible that this will be coming in a package with a complete 20-page comic booklet drawn by Metalium's artworker Markus Mayer. Metalium got the offered to play at Gods Of Metal in Milano Italy for June 9th, as the band is already performing at this day in Karlsham at Sweden Rock they moved the show to Gods Of Metal 2002. Metalium also got confirmed for Wacken Open Air Germany for August 4th and Graspop Festival in Dessel (Belgium) for June 22nd. It hasn´t been confirmed yet, but they could be playing at MenoRock Festival in Murcia, Spain next September 11th.
Vocalist Morgan Thorn has quit Vicious Rumors on the eve of their European tour with Rage, which is set to begin on April 18th in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Updates will be posted as available.
Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow has laid down a guest guitar solo and vocals on one track on the upcoming album from Argentina's Imperio.
There are rumors about a Warlord reunion...It seems a new Warlord project with William J. Tsamis, Mark Zonder and Joacim Cans (HammerFall), as the new vocalist, is in the works! Hammerfall once ago made a remake of the song "Child Of The Damned" from Warlord on their debut album "Glory To The Brave" and sounded great, so it fits together.
Some release dates for you: Dragonland "The Dragonland Chronicles Part 1: The Battle Of The Ivory Plains"-April 10th, Manticora "Darkness With Tales To Tell"-April 30th, Ambeon "Faith Of A Dreamer" (based on Ayreon songs)-May, Christian Liljegren (singer from the Swedish Power Metal band Narnia) "Wisdom Call"-May 21st, Powers Court "Nine Kinds Of Hell"-June, Judas Priest "Demolition"-pushed back to July 16th (first single on May 28th), Edguy "Mandrake"-September 24th (single on August 27th).
Brazil´s Shaman, the new band of former Angra members André Matos (vocals), Luis Mariutti (bass) and Ricardo Confessori (guitar), are tentatively due to release their debut album in October through an as-yet-unspecified record label. Tracks set to appear on the CD include: "Time Will Come", "Here Will Go", "Be Free" & "Blind Shell".
Silent Force, featuring former Royal Hunt vocalist D.C. Cooper, will enter House Of Music Studios in Winterbach (Germany) in early April to record their second full-length album, tentatively titled "Infactuator". The CD should be released in November 2001. The band will also start a short US tour next May 19th in Pittsburgh at the Kings Court Theatre.
Falconer (including former Mithotyn members) finally has an official homepage at www.falconer-metal.com. Their s/t debut album is out in Europe and is due out in the US on May 8th.
WEA released the Various Artists compilation, "A Tribute To ABBA", on April 2nd. The first pressing of the CD has come in a limited edition digipack. Artists on the album include Metalium, Sinergy, At Vance, Therion and more.
Overlorde have a new EP out, presenting 5 songs of traditional Heavy/Power Metal. Overlorde is Bobby Lucas (Vocals, ex Seven Witches & currently in Exhibition), John Bunucci (Bass), Mark Edwards (Guitar) and Dave L. Wrenn (Drums).
Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki will start recording his second solo album on April 16th at the Hästholmen estate in Finland, the same place where Stratovarius rehearsed and recorded pre-production demos for the "Infinite" album. Timo will produce, record and mix the album himself. The title will finally be "Hymn To Life" and it will contain a dozen of the 17 songs he has written for the album. Song titles include: "Hymn To Life", "Soul Searching", "Now I Understand", "Dear God", "Little Boy I Miss You", "Father", "Divine", "Fresh Blue Waters", "Love Conquers All", "It's XMas Morning", & "Key To The Universe". This will reportedly be a very personal album for Timo and it will include some of the most introspective lyrics he has ever written. The line-up of musicians for the album will be: Timo Tolkki (vocals, all guitars & bass), Anssi Nykänen (a famous finnish musician, on drums) and Mika Ervaskari (the original Stratovarius keyboardist). The release date for "Hymn To Life" is tentatively set for January 2002.
The forthcoming Judas Priest CD is entitled "Demolition" and has a May 28th european release date. The album will include 13 or 14 tracks, some of which have the following titles: "Machine Man", "In Between", "Lost And Found", "One On One", "Feed On Me" and "Metal Messiah". Furthermore the band has announced the dates for their spanish tour (go to "agenda" in the spanish version to see them) and it has also been confirmed that Savatage will be the opening act for the first leg of their European/UK tour.
Sinergy, featuring Alexi Laiho (Children Of Bodom mainman) and american vocalist Kimberly Goss, have announced the title for their new studio album, it will be "Suicide By My Side". They will begin recording on August 1st at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden and they expect to end their sessions on September 10th. The album, the third for Sinergy, is tentatively scheduled to be released on January 14th 2002.
The upcoming album of Powergod, which will be a tribute to some of their favorite 80´s Metal bands, is nearing completion and is due out in early summer. The album features, among others, Stryper´s "Soldiers Under Command", Lizzy Borden´s "Redrum" and Warlock´s "Burning The Witches" (performed on tour recently). The band has approached several of the original artists about contributing liner notes and possible musical performances to the album. Former Warlock´s guitarists Niko and Peter Szigeti played all the leads on "Burning The Witches" and there are plans to take Doro Pesch to the studio as well...
Brainstorm will support King Diamond for 3 shows in Germany: 4/27 Offenbach - Hafenbahn, 4/28 Zwickau - Alarm & 4/29 Essen - Zeche Carl.
Wyvern´s new album "No Defiance Of Fate" is at last ready for release. After the not too successful debut "The wildfire", they listened to the critics and a new singer was recruited, Toni Kocmut, formerly the vocalist of swedish metallists Sins of Omission, who proved to be in possession of a most outstanding voice. The album was recorded at Studio Fredman (In Flames, Dark Tranquillity etc), and the sound, which had been so poor on the debut, proved to be another very strong side of the album. Heavy and thunderous, although clean and distinct. The music can be described as Heavy/Power Metal, a little progressive, a little symphonic, but still in a very own way a very Heavy way. The titles are: "Horizon Of Glory", "The Liquid And The Metal", "Morningstar", "Starborn", "The Last Ordeal", "Like Dogs Climbing Up The Moon", "Defiance Of fate", "Northern Union" and "The Power of Wyvern". They have now teamed up with Swedish No Fashion records. You can wait for a spring release of the album.
Kamelot´s forthcoming album "Karma" will be released next April 30th with the following tracklisting: "Regalis Apertura", "Forever", "Wings Of Despair", "The Spell", "Don´t You Cry", "Karma", "The Light I Shine On You", "Temples Of Gold", "Across The Highlands", Elizabeth Trilogy: I. "Mirror, Mirror", II. "Requiem For The Innocent", III. "Fall From Grace". "Ne Pleure Pas" will be the french bonus track and "Future King" the japanese one. The band plans special appearances at european festivals in July and will also play a special Florida gig that will include some video shooting in June.
The spanish band Vallachia will hopefully finish their first demo in April, containing four or five tracks. Furthermore they have a new member on guitar, so the new line up is as follows: Luis Molero: Vocals (ex-Posesión), Plácido: Drums, Raúl: Guitar, Valentín: Guitar and Ricardo: Bass. By now they have also confirmed some dates to introduce the band to the spanish audience, you can see them by clicking the "agenda" section in the spanish version of Heavy Weight.
Insania are back with a new full-length album, recorded at Finnvox Studios (Helsinki, Finland) and produced by Mikko Karmila (Stratovarius, Edguy etc). The new album carry the name "Hymns Of Insania-Sunrise In Riverland part II". It includes 12 songs and will be out next April 23th. Their album will also be released in Japan with the bonus track "The Right To Be Free".
The new Iced Earth album "Horror Show" is finished. It will be released on june 18th. These are the names of the tracks: "Wolf", "Damien", "Jack", "Ghost Of Freedom", "Mummy", "Jeckyl & Hyde", "Creature", "Frankenstein", "Dracula" and "The Opera Ghost". A limited edition 2 CD will feature an hour-long interview and Maiden's "Transylvania" as a bonus.
New details about Avalanch´s new album "El Ángel Caído". It has been recorded at Bunker Studios and remastered at Metropolis Studios in London by Tim Young, their guitarist Alberto Rionda has been the producer. These are some tracks that will be on the album: "Delirios de Grandeza", "Antojo de Un Dios", "Las Ruínas del Edén", "Corazón Negro", "Levántate y Anda". Vocalist Leo Jiménez from the spanish band Saratoga will appear as special guest.
Billy Queen from Jacobs Dream wrote: "This is an important announcement for all who are interested in Jacobs Dream. The search is over for another guitarist. Derek Eddleblutte has joined Billy, David, James and John as the new guitarist for Jacobs Dream. We're all very pleased and ask you all to welcome him to our family. He's a great guitarist and a great guy. We think you'll all be pleased with this new addition. Stay Hard!!!"
Dark Moor will release a new Maxi CD in May. It will contain the following tracks: "The Fall Of Melniboné" (new), "Silver Lake" (taken from their last album "The Hall Of The Olden Dreams"), "Wood Song" (new track), "Halloween" (from "The Keepers Of Jericho: A Tribute To Helloween") & "Cuentos de Ayer y de Hoy" (previously released in a tribute to Ñu). Furthermore they will play at Mijas Rock Festival next July 14th in Mijas (Spain).
On 14th of March there's a Workshop with Victor Smolski at P.P.C. Music Hannover, Alter Flughafen 7a at 16.30 o clock. If you have the chance better don´t miss it.
The second Album from the guys around John A.B.C.Smith is ready. The new songs present a new band with a different songwriting and new power. The release from Gallows Pole-"Exorcism" will be in April 2001.
The new guitarist for french Power Metal band Heavenly is Fréderic Leclercq (keyboards). He replaces Chris Savourey, who recently left the band to consecrate all his effort to Northwind.
Angra introduces new members and debuts new material. Vocalist Edu Falaschi, drummer Aquiles Priester, and bassist Felipe Andreoli have joined founding members, guitarists and main songwriters Kiko Loureiro and Rafael Bittencourt to complete the new line-up of Angra. The five-piece has just recorded a new four-track demo tape, and all of its songs will also appear on the forthcoming studio album, set to be released in the second half of 2001.
Jack Frost definitely leaves Metalium. He is the new guitarist for Savatage (as we told you before) since March the 5th. That way Jack cannot stay with Metalium any longer. Henning Basse, Lars Ratz, Matthias Lange and Mark Cross (the remaining members of Metalium) congratulates Jack for his new job and will stay friends with him.
Guitarist David T. Chastain is preparing the second album of Zanister, titled "Fear No Man". Like their first album, this one will be released by Shark Records.
Vision Divine´s new album is finished. The plans are to begin recordings in May and release the album in September. This time the cover song will be "Take On Me" from the 80´s Pop band A-HA. You can go to the VD official homepage for new tourdates.
The guys from Zonata are working on a video-clip of the new album. It´s the title track "Reality". The video will be shot in an old storage facility outside Borås, in Sweden. Also the band is going to head on a tour with Nocturnal Rites.
Mesmerize, the italian band which entered the Heavy Metal scene in 1998 with the debut-CD "Tales Of Wonder", have recently signed a new record deal with the italian label Dragonheart/Audioglobe (the same label of Domine and Drakkar, amongst others) for a total of 3 albums. The recording of "Off The Beaten Path" (the first CD for the new label) will start in late April 2001 at Mirage Recording Studios (Inverigo, Como-Italy); the Cd will be released in Autumn 2001. The tracklist includes 12 songs, and here's some titles: "Argos Died Twice", "Jail TV", "Warriors (When The Battle Calls)", "King Of Terror", "Off The Beaten Path", "Doom Of The Darksword", "Pit Of Charming Snakes", "Gates Of Mercy". During the next months they´ll release a new double-mini-CD (in deluxe digipack format with a miniposter too, just like the debut CD). This release, titled "Vultures Paradise" and recorded in May 2000, will end up the deal with the band's former label Underground Symphony. Giving some details, "Vultures Paradise" will include on Cd-1 four new Mesmerize tracks ("Vultures Paradise", "The Cube", "Screams Of A Dying World" & "Chains Of Life"). On Cd-2 there will be a bunch of cover tunes: "Sirens" by Savatage, "Die Young" by Black Sabbath, "D'Ailleurs" by Sortilege (sung in french) & "Tierra Santa" by Tierra Santa (both in spanish and english). More news coming soon...
Now it´s confirmed. Eduardo Falaschi from Symbols is Angra´s new singer. Although they have booked some gigs they have yet to announce who their bass player will be. Fabio Ribeiro, from the "Fireworks Tour", will be on keyboards. Their new drummer is, as said before, Aquiles Priester. The new Angra sound is said to be much heavier and less keyboard oriented.
Frank the Baron von Gilchriest is not on tour with Virgin Steele, but the band has not broken ways with the Baron. The schedule provided him with some conflicts which made him unable to commit to the tour for its duration...the door is, as they say, open for his return. Pounding the skins in his stead is Frank Zummo. The name may sound familiar to some of you as he has been a guest player on previous records. And on bass, they have a blistering six-string player, Josh Block.
Rolf Kasparek is in the preparation phase of the new Running Wild album (which will appear presumably at the beggining of 2002). Bodo is no longer the bassist for the band, Rolf had to make that decision because the predominant majority of the Running Wild apparatus (management, concert agency & roadcrew) is unable to see a further successful work together with Bodo. He has played over eight years with the band and, only to the next tour, another bassist will be obligated.
The working title for the next Kamelot album will be "Karma". These are the songs that are complete: "Forever", "Once And Future King", "Karma", "Across The Highlands", "Fate" & Elizabeth Trilogy: "Mirror Mirror", "Requiem For The Innocent", "Fall From Grace". There are four more songs and the cover artwork is almost finished. The band will also be playing at Rock Machina in Spain and the german festival Bang Your Head. Furthermore, they´re preparing a world tour with some great bands as support.
Zonata has completed "Reality" a few weeks ago. This album is much more direct, with killer production and with massive vocals from Johannes Nyberg. The legendary Derek Riggs is doing the cover for it. The band has a new date for release in Europe, 19th of March and they have no date in Japan yet but it´s coming. The track listing is as follows: "Reality", "Divided We Stand", "Illusion Of Madness", "Hollow Rain", "Symphony Of The Night", "Forever", "Wheel Of Life", "Dimension To Freedom", "Evil Mind", "Life?" & "Intro + Gate Of Fear" (new recorded 2000), instrumental bonus tracks will be added for the Japan release.
Guitarist Kevin Lewis has decided to leave October 31. The band will continue on as a four piece until they find a suitable replacement. Their new album will be titled "No Survivors" and is expected to see the light in summer.
Gamma Ray will release a 3 track single in March, featuring a cover of Thin Lizzy´s "Angel Of Death". They expect to release the new album in May/June 2001.
The swedish Wolf have finished touring with Edguy and they are currently writing new material for their next album. The CD will probably be released in summer 2001, with a previous single coming late February.
The release dates for the new single and album of Savatage have been confirmed. The three track single "Commissar" will be available on February 5th 2001. Besides the brand new songs "Commissar" & "Drive" it contains the acoustic instrumental "Voyage" (originally on the Japanese compilation "The Best And The Rest"). Their new studio album "Poets & Madmen" will finally be available in stores on March 5th 2001. There will possibly be three different formats: The normal CD, a 2 LP version with picture vinyl produced in limited form and maybe a limited edition in a special packaging with the bonus track "Stay" (this is not confirmed and this song can finally be on the normal CD). These are only european issues, no word has been said on the american release yet.
Edguy have been hard at work in their rehearsal room writing new material, and so far nearly 12 songs have been written. Very soon the band will go into the studio to begin recording, and you can expect the new full length album sometime in the fall of this year. Besides, all the old Edguy demos will be made available soon!
Destiny´s End will release their forthcoming album "Transition" on March 6th (in the U.S.). Some of the new tracks are available on their homepage. Besides, the band will be playing at several big festivals this year (ProgPower, Classic Metal...).
Gary Holtzman and Jon Noble are no longer part of Jacobs Dream. The band wish them all the luck in all their pursuits. The recording of the new CD is still going great though, it will be finished soon.
Heavenly´s entrance in studio is planned for February 2001 and the new album is likely to be released in May or June of this year, as we announced before. Seven songs are already done, in a more personal style. The band is also thinking of doing a " non-metal " famous band's cover. This new album could be produced by the band itself and mixed by Tommy Hansen.
Brainstorm have started with the pre-production of the new CD. They're working on the new songs in their own little studio. If all goes as planned it will be released in September 2001.
Powergod already started working on new material. This time they will deliver an album with 80's metal classics. Release will be in April/May 2001.
Thom Youngblood is in Germany finishing up the next album of his band Kamelot. The CD has 12 songs, including a 10 minute track broken up into three separate songs, closing the album. It is untitled yet.
"Plenty Of Power", the new album of the veteran band Anvil, will be out next January 22th. The track list is as follows: "Plenty Of Power", "Groove Science", "Ball Of Fire", "The Creep", "Computer Drone", "Beat The Law", "Pro Wrestling", "Siren Of The Sea", "Disgruntled", "Real Metal" & "Dirty Dorothy" (Bonus Track). Soon we´ll post our review (in the spanish version first).
The Europe tour of Helloween has been postponed, and that means the dates in Spain too. Uli Kusch was told by the doctor to take three or four weeks off from playing as he had some trouble with his right elbow due to playing stress. However the asian tourdates will be played as scheduled. The European tour will be reschedule soon. When we get the new dates we´ll post them here.
The english folk Metal band Skyclad will not play together with Mägo de Oz (Spain) at their concerts in La Riviera (Madrid). It has been said that vocalist Martin Walkyer has left the band. We still don´t know who will be the new supporters for these shows, which are three now (see our agenda, in the spanish version). We´ll try to bring you more news about this.
John Allan from Steel Attack has told us that the band is looking forward to the release of the new album "Fall Into Madness", just the mastering left then around 23-25 this month he will get the cover paint from JP Fournier. As soon as we get the songs titles we´ll let you know...
It has been confirmed that Grave Digger will be playing at Piorno Rock Festival in Pinos Puente (Granada) next February. Chris Boltendahl´s band will be there instead of Kreator, that was announced before. You can find more info about this festival in our concerts section.
Dan has after five years together with Evergrey decided, due to personal reasons, to leave the band. A replacement has been found in Henric Danhage who will participate on the new album and will play his first gig with Evergrey on February the 8th. The guys are currently writing new material for their upcoming album which is set to be recorded in January-March 2001 and will probably see its release in April/May. The studio is as always Los Angered recordings together with mentor Andy La Rocque.
The new project of Testament´s guitarist Erik Peterson goes under the name Dragonlord. It features Steve DiGiorgio, Jon Allen, Steve Smyth and Lyle Livingston and they have got a deal with Spitfire Records.
Things are getting quite confused around Angra. Eduardo Falaschi, lead singer from Symbols, has said that he has never made any imposition or condition to any Angra member. That's all lies. He said that those informations are made from people that wants to destroy his image. He said that there isn't any Bola Jones stuff and no big label around it like it was said. It's possible for him to work with other musical projects, but his only band is Symbols, totally Heavy Metal. His brother Tito and Rodrigo Arjonas both has left Symbols, that´s true, and Eduardo is still testing with Angra. That´s all (by now...).
Jag Panzer guitarist Mark Briody has revealed the band will begin recording the follow-up to "Thane To The Throne" on February. They hope to finish the album, which won't be conceptual like "Thane..." and will be faster than it, by mid March. They're shooting for a June release, with tour plans hopefully including Wacken 2001 and a September or October run.
The excelent Hard Rockers Pink Cream 69 will start recording their new album in spring. This new CD will be released probably in the fall. No title has been announced yet.
Former Crimson Glory frontman Midnight is back, after nearly ten years of silence one of the best voices of Heavy Metal is preparing his comeback under the name of Midnight. But that's not all, he has recently been approached by Rhapsody's guitarist Luca Turilli in Florida to work in a possible side project. Midnight is also talking again with Crimson Glory's guitarist Jon Drenning, as they have in mind working together in a "project", still undisclosed, that will not include Crimson Glory material.
Portuguese metal legends Tarantula will have a tribute album made by portuguese metal groups like Oratory, In Solitude, The Fire and Attick Demons, that will feature this record to the oldest portuguese Heavy Metal band alive in their 20th anniversary celebration. The release date is schedule for October 2001.
Grave Digger´s new guitar player is Manni Schmidt (ex Rage). In the next few weeks they´ll get an e-mail address for Manni and then he will be able to answer all the questions from the fans of the Digger. In January they will start composing songs for the new record and the band is also confirmed for the Sweden Rock Festival in June 2001.
Sacred Steel are preparing their fourth album, which is probably going to be recorded in Summer 2001. Two songs called "Sacred Bloody Steel" and "Slaughter Prophecy" are already finished. Century Media's Uriah Heep tribute album featuring Sacred Steel's version of "Return To Fantasy" has been delayed until some time in 2001.
A new edition of the Bang Your Head Festival will be celebrated next 29 & 30 of June in Balingen (Germany). Take a look at the list of bands: Stratovarius, Brainstorm, Axel Rudi Pell, Kreator, Armored Saint, Eidolon, Kamelot, Anvil, Helstar...
The spanish band Tierra Santa will release a video tape next March, including shots of their last european tour with Skyclad as well as live performances in different festivals (Rock Machina...). They´re currently recording some new songs, which will probably be released also in March 2001.
The 2-track single "Always Will Be" by Hammerfall, previously released in Sweden last November 27th, will be out in January 2001, this time as a 3-track single, in the rest of Europe. With the "Renegade" single and album they got a lot of attention in Sweden, both on radio and TV, so they surely expect the same with the "Always Will Be" single and video clip. Don´t miss the chance of seeing the band live in their World Crusade Tour, together with Virgin Steele and Freedom Call.
Ex- Judas Priest singer Rob Halford, Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson and Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche) will stick together under the name The Three Tremors; an album release is announced for next summer.
The italian band Athena will release their new album "Twilight Of Days" next January 22th 2001, now without Fabio Lione and this new line up: Francesco Neretti-Vocals, Graziano Poggetti-Guitar, Simone Pellegrini-Guitar, Fabio Doveri-Bass, Gabriele Guidi-Keyboards and Ross Lukather-Drums. The definitive track list is the following: "Twilight Of Days", "Till The End", "The Way To Heaven's Gates", "Hymn", "Your Fear", "Falling Ghosts", "The Highest Tide", "Touch My Heart", "Lord Of Evil", "Take My Life Away", "End Of A Life" and the Bonus Track "Making The History".
More rumours around Angra: It seems they have found a new drummer, Aquiles Priester (Hangar, Nomad) and probably Eduardo Falaschi and his brother Tito wouldn´t get in the new line-up, due to their new "look" and their side project, a brasilian Pop band. Besides, the replacement for André Matos could be a known european vocalist. At the moment they´re searching for a brazilian bass player. We´ll keep on informing...
October 31 will record their new album, "No Survivors", in early 2001, most likely with producer King Fowley, once again. The CD will continue in the old school metal attack tradition the band is now known for with even more energy. Some new titles are "Powerhouse", "One More Second Chance", "A Heroes Welcome", "The Temptress", and a cover of Riot's classic "Loan Shark".
Next January 2001, and to celebrate the first anniversary of Heavy Weight, we´re going to organize a big contest as an acknowledgement to all our visitors. Stay tuned ´cause soon we´ll inform you about the prizes you can get and the way to gain them.
At Vance have a new official homepage since last November 21th. It´s still under construction but, if you go there, you can download two tracks from their new album, "Dragonchaser" and "Heaven Can Wait".
Grave Digger and guitar player Uwe Lulis split up last week in a friendly way. Uwe will go his own way in the Metal scene and will form a solo project untitled in the moment. The band is looking for a new guitar player and expect to release the new record in fall 2001.
Jürgen Steinmetz, Headstone Epitaph´s bassist, has left the band to join Silent Force. Jürgen has recorded with the group their two records for Noise, "Wings Of Eternity" (´98) and "Power Games" (´99), and he´s a well known musician in the german scene.
Stormhammer are recording their second CD, which will be released hopefully in spring 2001, and maybe they play a concert in the end of December in Rockfabrik (Nurenberg). Also the official Stormhammer fanclub has been founded, if you want to join mail to fanclub@stormhammer.de.
Iced Earth are planning to release their rare "Melancholy" EP in Europe. Originally released as a five-track EP in the USA a couple of years ago, the new european version features the following seven songs: "Melancholy", "Shooting Star" (Bad Company cover), "Watching Over Me", "Electric Funeral" (Black Sabbath cover), "I Died For You", "The Ripper" (Judas Priest cover) and the live version of "Colours" that wasn´t previously released in their "Alive In Athens" live album. The band are currently working on their next studio CD, "Horror Show", expected to be out next spring.
Savatage is officially announcing the departure of Zachary Stevens as lead singer of the group. Zak has decided to pursue other career options and has also expressed his desire to spend time with his family and new daughter. As for Savatage upcoming CD "Poets and Madmen", Jon Oliva has resumed his role as the sole lead singer for this new CD. For right now there´s no replacement for Zak and the band is looking at several options. Things are expected to be O.K. before the tour starts in February.
Awesome new tribute to Scorpions, here you have the track-list: Helloween- "He´s A Woman, She´s A Man", Stratovarius- "Blackout", Sinergy- "Rock You like A Hurricane", Sonata Arctica- "Still Loving You", Steel Prophet- "Top Of The Bill", Metalium- "Another Piece Of Meat", Seven Witches- "Alien Nation", Paradox- "Dynamite", Children Of Bodom- "Don´t Stop At The Top", Agent Steel- "Dark Lady", Prolopower- "Dampflockfuhrer", Tankard- "Coming Home", Disbelief- "Coast To Coast", To/Die/For- "Passion Rules The Game", Breaker- "Pictured Life", Therion- "Polar Nights", Rough Silk- "Is There Anybody There", Custard- "Send Me An Angel" and S.O.D.- "Rock You Like A Hurricane".
Bassist Mike Dargis has quit Imagika after seven years working together. The band is currently auditioning bassists to find a good replacement.
The singer of Crimson Glory, Wade Black, has left the band to join Seven Witches and Bobby Lucas (ex-Witches vocalist) has joined Overlorde who have recently reformed.
Brainstorm will be playing at Wacken and Gods Of Metal 2001.
Blind Guardian started the recordings for their long awaited new album last October, with producer Charlie Bauerfeind (Helloween, Brainstorm...). It will surely be out on next spring.
Primal Fear started the recordings of their new album "Nuclear Fire" last July and, is expected to be released in January 2001. This is the track list: "Angel In Black", "Fire On The Horizon", "Red Rain", "Living For Metal", "Iron Hand In A Velvet Glove", "Eye Of An Eagle", "Bleed For Me", "Kiss Of Death", "Now Or Never", "Back From Hell", "Fight The Fire" and the title song "Nuclear Fire".
Dionysus is a new band from Sweden with former members of Sinergy, Nation and Luca Turilli's solo album. Currently the band is looking for a deal. We wish them good luck, they deserve it.
The new record of the spanish band Dark Moor, "The Hall Of The Olden Dreams", will be out later this year all over Europe. It has been recorded in Italy and its cover is made by the great artist Andreas Marschall who, as you know, has made very good works for bands like Hammerfall, Blind Guardian...
The australian Pegazus have found a new singer. The replacement for Danny Cecati is called Rob Thompson. His voice is rougher than Danny´s; we just want to hear the band again. Now you can be sure they will record a new album soon.
Morifade are going to start recording their new CD in February or March 2001, to be released next summer.
The new album of Freedom Call , "Crystal Empire", is expected to be released in January 2001.
The 7th of November will be the date for the release of the new Yngwie J. Malmsteen album called "War To End All Wars". It has been produced by Yngwie and features vocalist Mark Boals, keyboards player Mats Olausson and drummer John Macaluso. The definitive track list is this: "Prophet Of Doom", "Crucify", "Bad Reputation", "Catch 22", "Masquerade", "Arpeggios from Hell", "Miracle Of Life", "The Wizard", "Prelude", "Wild One", "Tarot", "InstruMental Institution", "War To End All Wars" and "Black Sheep Of The Family".
Andy B. Franck (vocalist for Symphorce and Brainstorm) broke his collar bone while he was going for a ride on his brand new mountain bike, the front brake locked and he crashed. But don´t worry, he´s O.K.. He´s not plannig to cancel the Brainstorm tour. We wish you get well soon Andy!.
Rhapsody has finished recording their new album, "Dawn of Victory". It´s scheduled for an October 30th released in Europe and probably USA. The band will released the single "Holy Thunder Force" on September 25th.
Metalium is going to do an EP, with 4 or 5 songs off "State Of Triumph", backed with an orchestra and hope to have a new studio record by October 2001.
Ronnie James Dio is preparing the second "Hear´n Aid" project. The recordings will start in December, and again with many well known Metal musicians participating. One of the guests could be Mat Sinner.
Iron Savior has added a new guitarist, Joachim "Piesel" Kustner, a former Gamma Ray tech.
Imagika, Bay Area thrashers, have signed a deal with Massacre Records. Their third album, titled "...And So It Burns" will be released on September 25th.
According to John Allan, guitarist of 
Steel Attack: "We will enter studio Fredman for the final mix the 20 November then you can expect the release soon, we hope". The band was playing last August at the Wacken Open Air, obtaining a great response from the audience. Here you have them in action.
Saxon have released a live album on 4/9/2000 called 'Live - In The Raw'. Recorded in Antwerp, Belgium in 1981 during their mammoth 'Strong Arm Of The Law' tour, it features the definitive line up of Graham Oliver, Steve Dawson, Pete Gill, Paul Quinn and Biff Byford. Some songs included: Hungry Years, Strong Arm Of The Law, Wheels Of Steel...
The new album of Supreme Majesty, titled "Tales Of A Tragic Kingdom", will be out next autumn. Until then, here you have its cover. Cool, right?.
The release of "Insanity" of Backslash has delayed till 4 September. Cross your fingers...
"The Dark Ride", the new Helloween album, will be released the next 30 October. The first single "If I Could Fly" will be out the 4th of September. These dates are only for Europe.
The debut CD of the italian power-prog band IVORY, titled "Prophecy of a dream", will be out in october for Underground Symphony prod. special guests Roby Bruccoleri from Projecto on vocals (on every songs) and Olaf Thorsen from Labyrinth and Vision Divine (on an istrumental track). http://ivoryattitude.supereva.it for contacts and underground.symphony@tiscalinet.it for preorder/mailorder .
The new Backslash CD, "Insanity", will be out on August. They are a german Heavy Metal band with female singer. This is their second album and till now they have gotten very good reviews from all Europe.
After some problems with Randy Rampage, Annihilator has a new singer, Joe Comeau (Liege Lord). He was playing the guitar in Overkill some years ago. We wish them good luck with this new line-up.
In the spring of 2001 will be out the first album of Michael Kiske and his new band. It will be heavier than his last records.
Jacobs Dream will start to record their new album next November. They have finished some of the songs ("Theater Of War"...).
"Avantasia", the famous rock opera of Tobias Sammet (Edguy), will be finally out in November, first as a MX.
Powergod, have already released their second album "Back to Attack-Evilution Part 2". They have a new singer (Alex Koch) that was playing with the band in WOA 99.
Renowned producer Dennis Ward coordinated the pre-production of the new tracks for the upcoming album of 
Latest news around Spain´s Rock Machina Festival 2001, these are the confirmed bands so far: Friday July 27th- TYR, Uzzhuaia, Tarantula, Grass, Lacuna Coil, Pyramid, Kreator, Iron Savior (+ Kai Hansen), Symphony X & Rhapsody. Saturday July 28th- User Ne, Dragon Lord, Onassis' Day, Axxis, Kamelot, Blaze (ex-Iron Maiden), Grave Digger, In Flames, Axel Rudi Pell & Gamma Ray. Soon we´ll give you the time table for both days. Meanwhile, you can find more information about this great event just going to the official homepage of the festival at 
Guitarist 
Vocalist Timo Kotipelto from 
Next metallic releases: Lions Share "Entrance"-23 April, Kamelot "Karma"-30 April, Wizard "Head Of The Deceiver"-21 May, Jacobs Dream "Theater Of War"-28 May, Jag Panzer "Mechanized Warfare"-16 June, Steel Attack "Fall Into Madness"-25 June, Supreme Majesty "Tales Of A Tragic Kingdom"-25 June, Nostradameus "Prophet Of Evil"-20 August. 
The new album of the spanish Power Metal band
will release a special album titled "Intermission". The CD features 3 new songs ("Will My Soul Ever Rest In Peace?", "Falling Into Fantasy" & "Faster Than Lightning"), 3 cover songs ("Blood Stone" - Judas Priest, "Kill The King" - Rainbow & "Blackout" - Scorpions), 6 songs previously released as bonus tracks ("Keep The Flame", "Why Are We Here", "What Can I Say", "Dream With Me", "It´s A Mistery" & "Cold Winter Nights") and four songs recorded live in France ("Against The Wind", "Father Time", "SOS" & "Hunting High And Low"). These guys don´t stop... 
The coming Europe tour of
Kai Hansen and Dirk Schlächter are mixing the 
because another band (exactly Hammerfall) is going to use the other title ("The Live Legacy") for their next live album. Kamelot´s CD was recorded in their shows in Greece and Germany last April and will be released the 18th of September.
The date of release for the new Symphony X CD ("V- The New Mythology Suite") will probably be the 9th of October, just for Europe. Take a look at its fantastic cover. 
The new