CANDLEMASS - LUCIFER RISING - OUT NOW!

CANDLEMASS are an epic doom metal band from Sweden who have been hugely influential in the doom metal scene since their start in the early 1980's.

1986's Epicus Doomicus Metallicus birthed a new genre basically overnight and their far-reaching impact and legendary status has failed to wane ever since.

With their catalog 'scanning over 200,00 units in the U.S. alone, 2007's King Of The Grey Islands built upon this loyal fanbase and brought them Stateside for their first North American tour in over 17 years!

Now with new vocalist Rob Lowe (of Solitude Aeturnus fame), the band is once again poised to reign supreme.

TRACK LIST:
01. Lucifer Rising
02. White God
03. Demon's Gate (Re-recording from '86 classic Epicus
Doomicus Metallicus)
Live in Athens 2007:
04. At The Gallows End
05. Solitude
06. Emperor Of The Void
07. Devil Seed
08. Mirror Mirror
09. Under The Oak
10. Of Stars And Smoke
11. Black Dwarf
12. Samarithan

Dark Tranquillity Part With Bassist

Swedish death metallers, Dark Tranquillity, have parted ways with bassist Michael Nicklasson. The band, who are about to head out on tour, will continue on with a session bassist.

A statement from Michael, from an email sent out by label, Century Media:

"After almost 10 years and tons of tours and festivals, I chose to leave D.T. for personal reasons. It's been so cool all this time to meet all the people and the tons of fans around the world, and all the friends that I got during this amazing journey - crew, fans and all the people I (we) worked with. I can't name everyone, as the list would take up all the space on the web site, but I'm going to miss all of you that worked and supported us (me) during these years, but this is the right thing to do, I really need a break."

"There are no hard feelings in the band; it's a thing that we all felt was the best for DT. Now I'm going to kick back for a while, and then I'll see what's in the future for me. I wish the best for the rest off the boys in my old crew, and to all: I'm coming back in one way or another......thanks to all off you! Cheers!"

The dates for the tour are as follows:

Oct 24 2008 8:00P kato berlin, Berlin
Oct 25 2008 8:00P Grünspan hamburg, Hamburg
Oct 26 2008 8:00P Bibelot Doordrecht
Oct 27 2008 8:00P Biebob vosselaar
Oct 28 2008 8:00P Locomotive paris
Oct 29 2008 8:00P Ninkasi kao Lyon
Oct 31 2008 8:00P Rolling Stone milano
Nov 1 2008 8:00P Estragon Bologna
Nov 2 2008 8:00P Alpheus rome
Nov 4 2008 8:00P New Age treviso
Nov 5 2008 8:00P Gala Hala Ljubljana
Nov 6 2008 8:00P Szene Vienna
Nov 7 2008 8:00P Orpheum Graz
Nov 8 2008 8:00P Salzhaus Winterthur
Nov 9 2008 8:00P Backstage Munich
Nov 10 2008 8:00P Röhre Stuttgart
Nov 11 2008 8:00P Underground Cologne
Nov 12 2008 8:00P Pumpehuset Copenhagen
Nov 13 2008 8:00P John Dee Oslo
Nov 14 2008 8:00P Brewhouse göteborg
Nov 15 2008 8:00P Valhall skövde
Nov 16 2008 8:00P Tyrol stockholm
Nov 18 2008 8:00P Hårdrocksklubben östersund
Nov 20 2008 8:00P Platens linköping
Nov 21 2008 8:00P KB malmö
Nov 22 2008 8:00P Folkets Park Huskvarna

For more information on the band, head on over to their Myspace page:

www.myspace.com/dtofficial

Amon Amarth Studio Diary Part 5 - More Guitar

Does it go past 11?
Amon Amarth 2008 Studio Diary Part 5

Dismember - Australia Burns Tour July 2008

Proudly presented by Bleed Records, Soundworks & Riot...

Swedish Death Metal Gods are returning! On their ' Australia Burns ' July Tour 2008 !!!!!



Tue, July 15th - Perth - Amplifier
Tickets : www.moshtix.com.au

Wed July 16th - Adelaide - Enigma
Guests : Tzun Tzu & Altars Tickets : www.venuetix.com.au
ph charge 8225 8888

Thur July 17th - Hobart - The Bris Hotel
Guests : Earth, Terrorust, Separatist & M.S.I. Tickets : www.moshtix.com.au

Friday July 18th - Melbourne - Hi Fi Bar
Guests : F*ck I'm Dead, Earth, Terrorust, & Embodied Tickets : www.thehifi.com.au
ph charge 9654 7617

Sat July 19th - Sydney - Gaelic Theatre
Guests : Earth & Terrorust Tickets : www.moshtix.com.au

Sun July 2oth - Brisbane - Rosies on Edwards
Guests : Vomitor & More T.b.c. Tickets : www.moshtix.com.au

Founded 1988 in Stockholm/Sweden, Dismember were among those responsible for Death Metal's big break through. The Classic Debut album, 'Like An Ever Flowing Stream' from 1991, has resulted in their rise to ' CULT ' status.

After 20 Years of Unrelentless live performances and more classic album releases, Dismember is now back with their most crushing album to date!

The self titled Album 'Dismember' is out now through Riot / Regain.
It's the ultimate death metal album!

One of the finest Swedish bands ever formed. Dismember have lost nothing in terms of intensity over the years . The sheer pace and passion of the songs are blistering and the vocal sounds are as pissed off as ever. Powerful riffs that are not in short demand, plenty of lead works and memorable melodic harmonies are what the metal scene needed and Dismember have them in Huge Spades.
Stockholm's Death Metal Gods are back to their glory days..... back to the early 90's.
LIVE, Dismember are one of the best live bands on Earth! full stop.

If you missed out on the Australian 2005 Tour and still hear people talking about it, you know there is a very good reason why.
As long as Dismember live, Death Metal will reign!

Article & pics source, and band information: http://www.myspace.com/dismemberofficial

Opeth Watershed Tour Australia

Opeth have announced a run of shows on Australian shores for September. With a bunch of sold out shows for their April '06 tour, I'll be expecting no less of this one. Line up early on May 16th to secure your ticket.
Although this time around Peter will be in absence, Fredrik Åkesson will be in his shoes this time around. It should make for a different Opeth experience to last time.
The dates are as follows. Be at one!

SEPTEMBER 2008

Tuesday 2nd - PERTH, METRO CITY.
Tickets available at : www.heatseeker.com.au & mills, star surf, planet & beat

Thursday 4th - ADELAIDE, THEBARTON THEATRE (LIC/AA)
Tickets at : www.venuetix.com.au or ph 8225 8888

Friday 5th - MELBOURNE, PALACE THEATRE
Tickets available at : www.ticketek.com.au or ph 132 849

Saturday 6th - SYDNEY, THE BIG TOP (LIC/AA)
Tickets available a t: www.ticketek.com.au & ph 132 849Big Top Box Office www.bigtopsydney.com.au & ph 1300 BIG TOP or www.custommade.com.au & ph 1300 762 545 http://www.bigtopsydney.com/Opeth_2008.html

Sunday 7th - BRISBANE, THE ARENA (LIC/AA)
Tickets available at : www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849 & www.oztix.com.au

Scar Symmetry Album News

Taken from their Myspace blog:

"Ladies and gentlemen!

We're happy to announce that our 3rd CD, "HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE", has now been mixed, mastered and delivered to the people at Nuclear Blast Records! We pushed the "record"-button for the first time early December and the time since has been hectic and intense to say the least. We've worked our asses off 24/7 and the result is 12 new songs, featuring all the creamy goodness of "SYMMETRIC IN DESIGN" and the spicy flavours of "PITCH BLACK PROGRESS", this time with a lot of added cheese and pork-fat... Does it make sense to you? No, not to us either... Anyway, here's the tracklist:

1. Morphogenesis (3:54)
2. Timewave Zero (5:13)
3. Quantumleaper (4:09)
4. Artificial Sun Projection (4:00)
5. The Missing Coordinates (4:37)

6. Ghost Prototype I (Measurement of Thought) (4:35)
7. Fear Catalyst (5:03)
8. Trapezoid (4:17)
9. Prism and Gate (3:46)
10. Holographic Universe (9:05)
11. The Three-Dimensional Shadow (3:57)
12. Ghost Prototype II (Deus Ex Machina) (6:03)

Estimated time of arrival: June 2008"

I don't know if I can really wait that long for this album! Pitch Black Progress was one of my favourite purchases of last year, so I'm desperate to hear what they've done with this album!

Meshuggah : obZen

Swedish ExperiMENTALists, Meshuggah are due to drop their next album next month. Europe sees the album released on the 7th of March while North America receive it the following Tuesday.

obZen is the bands first proper studio album since 2005s Catch 33. It also sees the return of drummer Tomas Haake, after he was replaced on Catch 33 with a drum machine.


In Recent interviews Haake has hinted that the band are moving away from the math-metal stylings of Catch 33 and returning to a more Technical/Progressive sound.

Tracks from the album can be heard via the bands myspace page.

A tour, alongside Ministry, will follow the release of the album. All dates confirmed so far are for North America and Canada. These dates can be found here.

Blinded Colony for Sweden Rock Festival? It's in YOUR hands!

Blinded Colony are one of the latest bands I've become a big fan of. I was recommended them by a friend last year, and instantly went out and bought their latest album Bedtime Prayers, which is more often than not on my playlist!

Coming from the heartland of melodic death metal, they could easily be dismissed as yet another Swedish metal band. But these young guys have something that just grabbed my ear, and I'm yet to put my finger on what it is!



They're a band gaining momentum, without big label backing, but have yet to set foot on British soil. Hopefully, this summer, they will manage to head off on a tour of European festivals, but they really need help in getting there!

They've managed to make it into the last 5 Swedish acts of The Nordic Challenge! This challenge consists of 20 acts from 4 countries who are trying to gain a place in this years Sweden Rock Festival line up. So if you're heading to the festival this year, and you want to see Blinded Colony on the bill, you will have to vote for them:

http://creative.myspace.com/se/swedenrock/b/b.html

They are also trying to gain votes to play at this year's Bloodstock! Personally, this would make me an extremely happy bunny! As I say, they've not played here in the UK before, so this would be a fantastic opertunity for them (and a great chance for the fans to see them playing).

To vote for them to play this years Bloodstock, you will need to vote for them:

http://www.bloodstock.uk.com/videos/dl.php?key=Blinded_Colony_21st_Century_Holocaust_Live

A band to keep your eyes and ears open for! For more information on the band, visit their Myspace page:

www.myspace.com/blindedcolonymusic

Soilwork Parts Ways With Guitarist Ola Frenning

This statement comes from their Myspace blog:

"Swedish metallers Soilwork, who recently completed the Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage U.S. tour in support of their new album Sworn to a Great Divide, have decided to part ways with guitarist Ola Frenning.

It was felt that Ola resisted the demands of the road and found it difficult to come to terms with the amount of touring scheduled.

Sworn To A Great Divide is Soilwork's fastest seller and the live demand for the band is growing. They intend to play everywhere and fulfill the album's potential.

Vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid says: "It was a very difficult decision to make because Ola has been our friend and bandmate for a very long time."

The decision will not affect any of Soilwork's plans. Guitarist David Andersson will fill in on their upcoming Finnish/Baltic tour as well as the "Scum Of The Earth" U.S. tour with Throwdown. The band will then tour Australia, Japan and Southeast Asia before returning to Europe for festivals and a headlining U.S. tour in the fall.

Ola Frenning comments: "After 10 years, seven albums and several world wide tours, we've realized that we have developed in different directions and have a different set of values, profession wise. The disagreements have reached their peak and it has become an untenable situation. The band's solution is that I part ways with them so that I won't be in the way for the future plans of Soilwork. However, since I'm not gonna be on the road (at least for a while), I will now be able to continue with my songwriting and producing at another level. For further information, visit www.myspace.com/olafrenning. The page will be updated in the near future. Cheers to ya all... And thanks for making these 10 years with the band memorable.""

So is this the end of the mighty Soilwork? I doubt it. It may be the second departure in as many albums, but there are many bands who have constant line up changes that survive. If anything, the departure of Peter Wicher was a more significant shift for the band, since he was pretty much their backbone being the main songwriter.

I personally want to wish Ola the best of luck in the future, and I'm really looking forward to hearing what he does next!

In Flames - A Sense Of Purpose Album Cover Poll

This is the cover for the new In Flames album A Sense Of Purpose. After it was first post up, there were mixed reactions to the artwork, some positive, some negative. So, we now have a poll (on the right hand side of the page) where you can vote on how good, bad or ugly you think this new cover is!

Bloodbath - Unblessing The Purity

The Swedish death metal supergroup, Bloodbath, are back! Hoorah! Yes, they have a brand new release due out through Peaceville on the 10th of March.

Unblessing The Purity sees one Mikael Åkerfeldt, of Opeth fame, return to the vocal helm, along with fellow bandmate Martin "Axe" Axenrot on the drums. The complete line up for this venture out are:

Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) - Vocals
Martin "Axe" Axenrot (Opeth) - Drums
Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström (Katatonia) - Guitars
Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) - Bass
Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson (ex-21 Lucifers) - Guitars

For a sneak preview of Unblessing The Purity, make sure you visit www.peaceville.com/bloodbath.

My initial reaction to the clips? Well it is certainly a release I am interested in hearing more of! As a huge fan of Opeth and Katatonia, this is a project which always keeps me watching and listening to see where it goes.

Bloodbath are not a combination of the two bands, but are a far more brutal offering of death metal which may not appeal to the fans of later Katatonia and Opeth albums. But even so, this is a project worth checking out, even if it's just out of curiosity.