Peter Wichers Rejoins Soilwork!

Oh yes, some excellent news (in my opinion) on the Soilwork front, with former guitar genius Peter Wichers rejoining the band. (Ok, that sounds very biased doesn't it?)

For full information, head to the Soilwork Myspace page:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=11970182&blogID=434118592&indicate=1

As you may have guessed, I am pretty excited about this news. Peter is a fantastic song writer, and after leaving Soilwork, he wrote the Out Of The Dark album as part of Nuclear Blast's 20th anniversary, which starred a number of guest musicians from the label. It's a fantastic album, and highlighted how good a writer he is (and perhaps indicated the reason why Soilwork's latest album lacked compaired to previous releases). I'm glad to see the return of such a fantastic musician to the band!

Mental Infestation's Myspace Recommendations! Pt 1

I'm sure most people that use Myspace have at one point got sick of all the band friend requests
and most will have probably banned them from being able to add them. However, there are some great artists to be discovered on Myspace, so here are some of my favourites that I think you should check out!

SubVerSi0N

SubVerSi0N are probably my favourite unsigned Myspace band of the moment. Currently they're a two piece looking for more band members to complete the line up, but if they sound this good with 2, I just can't wait to hear what they sound like when they're a complete unit.

They're so good, that when I listened to their latest track on Myspace, the earth moved! It measured 5.2 on the richter scale.

Recommended Track: Te Odio

Peter Wichers

Peter Wichers formally of Soilwork fame has his own page for his latest musical projects on Myspace. He wrote the music for the Nuclear Blast Allstars second release Out Of The Dark, with a whole bunch of vocalists from the label. A fantastic song writer, I'm desperate to hear what else he has up his sleeve!

Recommended Track: The Dawn Of All

Smokescreen

Smokescreen are one of the most exciting metal acts in the UK at the moment, having played with the likes of Prong, Mendeed, Breed 77 and Panic Cell! They're about to head out on an English tour in the next few weeks, so make sure you check them out!

Recommended Track: Hatred Comes

Drag The Lake

Drag The Lake are the best thing out of Nottingham since Robin Hood! If you like your metal with a bit of extra bite, then these guys will do the job, and do it well! Another band who have a few tour dates coming up in England, so make sure you get yourself along!

Recommended Track: Among Nettles And Broken Earth

Blinded Colony

Blinded Colony are one of my favourite new artists out of Sweden. There are a lot of really good bands continuing to come out of Scandinavia, and these are definitely one of the best! After downloading Bedtime Prayers, I instantly went out and bought the album, which I listen to on a regular basis!

Recommended Track: Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Warrel Dane

Nevermore vocalist Warrel Dane has teamed up with ex-Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers, Matt Wickland, formally of Himsa, Nevermore bassist Jim Sheppard and Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren to create what is Warrel Dane's debut solo album. The album, which is titled Praises to The War Machine, is to be released through Century Media Records in Europe on April 29, and in North America (and presumably the rest of the world) on May 13.

It is compiled of 12 tracks, including a cover of a song by The Sisters of Mercy, and a Paul Simon cover aswell as one song featuring the one and only Jeff Loomis of Nevermore and another featuring James Murphy, who is known for his work with Death, Obituary and Testament, amongst others.

Here's the track listing:
01. When We Pray
02. Messenger (featuring Jeff Loomis)
03. Obey
04. Lucretia My Reflection (The Sisters of Mercy cover)
05. Let You Down
06. August
07. Your Chosen Misery
08. The Day The Rats Went to War (featuring James Murphy)
09. Brother
10. Patterns (Paul Simion cover)
11. This Old Man
12. Equilibrium

I must admit, I didn't find out about this today, and being a fan of Nevermore and Warrel Dane's vocals, I am rather interested in hearing how this goes and the type of music it has produced.. But, of coarse, it's yet another album to wait for, so hopefully it'll be one worth the wait. The Warrel Dane Myspace is void of any songs or previews it seems (only having Nevermore songs up to tease us), but hopefully it'll give us some insight into how the album will sound sometime in the future. Otherwise, this is a release I may just pick up and either love it, or hate it.