27th july

updates

Interview

Ida Haukland - Triosphere

Photos

Sepultura - Scala, London, UK

Review

Sepultura - Waterfront, Norwich, UK

26th july

updates

Feature

Bloodstock

power quest issue blood alliance update

Power Quest main man Steve Williams has checked in on how the band are progressing with their new, eagerly awaited, album Blood Alliance.

“Hey guys

Here's the latest BA news for you all.

We are heading to Foel studios in Wales in early September to record the new album, called Blood Alliance. Check out the studio here www.foelstudio.co.uk

10 songs have been written, 9 of which will feature on the album proper with one song to be used as a bonus track.

We are currently in the latter stages of pre-production. Sacrifice, Rising Anew and Time to Burn were fully demoed back in March and the remaining 7 songs are close to finalising in terms of arrangements etc

The photoshoot for the album will be taking place in Derby at the end of July, whilst my good friend Felipe Machado (who did the art for the MOI album) is currently developing ideas for the new artwork.

We are aiming for a release in late January/early February 2011 through Napalm Records.

Cheers

Steve”

architects hit the road

Architects are set to hit the road in September / October with Devil Sold His Soul and Norma Jean. CHeck out the dates below:

30 Sept: Leeds - Cockpit

01 Oct: Birmingham - Academy 2

02 Oct: Manchester - Club Academy

03 Oct: Glasgow - Garage

04 Oct: Newcastle - Academy

06 Oct: Nottingham - Rescue Rooms

07 Oct: Norwich - Waterfront

08 Oct: London - Koko

09 Oct: Bristol - O2 Academy ** new venue**

Tickets available from usual outlets. Subject to change.

white wizzard to headline shows in uk

Los Angeles traditional heavy metal band White Wizzard have announced a headlining tour of the UK in November.

Following their recent appearance at the Download , where the band kicked off the Sunday on the Ronnie James Dio stage in front of thousands of fans, White Wizzard are set to return for their irst-ever headlining UK tour. Support will come from Primitai.

Commented  bassist and founding member Jon Leon: "We are really excited to come back and do our first headline tour in the UK and Ireland. We're excited to visit all the great places we played with edguy and to see the fans again, and to play some new places as well. Look forward to seeing you all there!"

05 Nov: Wolverhampton - Slade Rooms

06 Nov: Dublin - Academy 2

07 Nov: Belfast - Auntie Annie's Porterhouse

08 Nov: Glasgow - Cathouse

10 Nov: Sheffield - Corporation

11 Nov: Manchester - Satan's Hollow

12 Nov: Milton Keynes - Sno Bar

13 Nov: Nottingham - Rock City

14 Nov: London - Underworld

Tickets available from usual outlets. Subject to change.

19th july

updates

Reviews

Reckless Love - Romance EP

Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here

Hovercraft Pirates - When Our Wake Hits Your Shore

Grand Illusion - Brand New World

Chris Laney - Only Come Out at Night

Fozzy - Chasing the Grail

high voltage festival confirms line up and additions

High Voltage is the must-see rock event of 2010 - a two day festival featuring the very best in classic rock, progressive rock and metal built by rock fans, for rock fans.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer will be playing a special 40th anniversary show, their first show in over fifteen years and possibly their last.

Heaven & Hell 'A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio' will be a world exclusive and the last performance by the band. They wll be joined by Glenn Hughes and Jorn Lande and will be the only live tribute to Ronnie James Dio.

The festival will also see 2010 UK festival exclusives from ZZ Top, Black Label Society and Down.

The lastest line up information can be found on the official High Voltage website. There will be a range of added attractions including an air guitar championship, a rea ale pub, fine food, classic car & motorbike show and a fairground to name but a few.

Standard tickets are priced at £135 (weekend tickets ) and £75 (day tickets). There is no booking fee for Clack Rock Presents High Voltage tickets. Living Legend, Rock God and VIP packages are available.

For more infomration please visit the official site.

steel panther special guests at ozzfest

Steel Panther are the latest band to be confirmed for the UK leg of Ozzfest 2010. The Sunset Strip quartet, famed for their outrageously funny and profane shows - where no one is safe from ridicule - make a welcome return to the UK after their recent appearance at Download, and hosting Ozzfest media partner Metal Hammer Magazine's Golden Gods Awards.

The legendary touring behemoth that is OZZFEST hits the UK with a one-off date at London’s O2 arena on 18 September 2010. Headliner Ozzy Osbourne will be accompanied on the main stage by Korn, Murderdolls, Steel Panther and Skindred, with more acts still to be announced for the second stage. In addition to the music on offer, Ozzy and co will take over the entire O2 complex, offering up a Village of the Damned, with fairground rides, stalls and tattooists.

The 2010 package will be the first UK Ozzfest show in over five years, and is also the first time the O2 features a general admission format on the lower bowl; GA ticket holders will be able to choose between watching the show from seats, or the specially enlarged standing area. Top level tickets will also be available offering the usual seating.

18.09.2010 Ozzfest 2010 O2 Arena Greenwich, London

karma to burn to play sonisphere

Cry havoc and let slip the bees of war. Karma to Burn have announced they will appear at Sonisphere 2010 at Knebworth where they will headline the Jagermeister Stage on Friday 30 July 2010.

"We here at Karma to Burn are quite pleased to be buttering our bread at the ultimate carnal circus of nudity, and gore known as Sonisphere 2010.'

The band's long awaited and highly anticipated new album ‘Appalachian Incantation’ is out now on Napalm Records.

fozzy hit the road in october

Fozzy, the band featuring WWE wrestling superstar Chris Jericho and Stuck Mojo mastermind Rich Ward have announced they will return to the UK for a lengthy jaunt in October that will also take in Ireland.

Fozzy, who also feature Sean Delson and Frank Fontsere, made a whistle stop four shows in three day appearance here in May but now have the time to give fans over here a proper chance to take part in the intense Fozzy  live experience.

CHRIS JERICHO sounds the war cry:

"Our fans in England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales are some of the best Fozzy fans in the world and we are looking forward to tearing the house down with each and every one of you crazy bastards this October!"

Support bands and more dates will be announced shortly.

10 Oct: Cardiff - Millennium Hall

11 Oct: Sheffield - Corporation

13 Oct: Edinburgh - Studio 24

14 Oct: Belfast - Spring and Airbrake

15 Oct: Dublin - Button Factory

15 Oct: Manchester - Academy 3

17 Oct: Leicester - Academy

18 Oct: Norwich - Waterfront

19 Oct: Southampton - Talking Heads

20 Oct: Yeovil - The Orange

Tickets available from the usual outlets. Dates and venues subject to change.

Fozzy will be releasing a new video for Let the Madness Begin at Noon UK time on Wednesday, 21 July 2010 shot during the May 2010 UK tour dates. The video link will be here.

18th july

nightwish back to summer camp!

Taken directly from the official Nightwish site:

Almost exactly 4 years ago we gathered into an idyllic place in the small village of Sävi to rehearse and arrange what would later be called Dark Passion Play. It was such glorious and inspiring times that we decided to do something similar with the upcoming Nightwish album called ...........

So again we are here in the deepest countryside of Finland beginning to create a follower for DPP. It`s just us guys for now, Anette will join the camp a bit later. We arrived yesterday and the reunion was celebrated with some water-skiing, bbq and Quilmes. I foresee the same trinity taking place more or less on a daily basis. 

We just got the equipment and PA set up with the help of our legendary engineer / co-producer TeeCee Kinnunen and probably will start working with the songs in a couple of days. This campsite is so amazing we`ll let that sauna of a rehearsal room wait in silence for a while, and just concentrate on chilling out and catching up. And raising the official NW camp - flag high into the pole.

I have 12 songs completed now, but am still working with some lyrics. It`s been an immensely fruitful songwriting process, as well as very consuming and ponderous. But I feel more satisfied with the stuff than ever before. Don`t know if it`s a good sign or bad. 

To me the album sounds like a rollercoaster ride in a theme park designed by Neil Gaiman, Tim Burton and Salvador Dali. That`s the best way I can put it at this point. 

Like before, we will record a demo once the songs are arranged, to listen to and to perfect the material, and to give to Mr. Pip Williams so he can start with the orchestration process. The actual enter-the-studio-date is set for October 15th.

Again, the London orchestra and choir will be there, as well as Mr. Troy Donockley playing a slightly bigger part this time. And loads of new elements `n twists we haven`t tried before!

So things are finally rolling. We`ll keep you posted in written, as well as in visual form. Stay tuned for updates. 

And thanks for sharing the journey once again!

You can find pictures from our summer-camp gallery -page!

Yours, Tuomas'

TOP 5 / Week 28

1. Water sports
2. Dimebag Darrell biography
3. Alice In Wonderland dvd
4. Ihmebantu dvd
5. Amorphis: Tales From The Thousand Lakes

Written by Tuomas on July 17, 2010

15th july

reckless love upgrade / extend uk tour

Finnish rockers, Reckles Love, who have burst spectacularly onto the UK scene in the past few months, have extended their debut Back to Paradise headling tour of the UK to include shows in Dublin, Belfast, LIverpool and Brighton. Also, due to exceptional demand, the London venue has been swiftly upgraded from The Borderline to The Garage.

In addition to their own shows, the band have also been confirmed for the annual ‘Firefest’ event on 29 October; once again, the venue has been upgraded, and the all-day show (also featuring Crazy Lixx & H.E.A.T) will now take place at Trent University in Nottingham.

With the quartet’s debut self-titled album picking up stellar reviews, plus a spectacular Download Festival debut now firmly under their belt, the time is right for Reckless Love (fronted by former Crashdiet vocalist Olli Herman) to return to the UK to give further impetus to a new glitter-coated movement founded on strong songs, equally strong image and the all-consuming desire to entertain!

To date, the band – signed to Spinefarm Records UK – have only visited the UK on two occasions; first, to play a sold-out show at the Barfly club in London, and second, for the aforementioned Download outing, where they packed out the expansive Pepsi Stage tent, being cited as ‘2010’s surprise package’ by Kerrang! magazine.

The full list of Back To Paradise shows is as follows:-

SEPTEMBER

16: Swindon - The Furnace

17: Nuneaton - Queen’s Hall

18: Manchester - MOHO

19: Glasgow - Cathouse

21: Aberdeen - The Tunnels

22: Edinburgh - Cabaret Voltaire

23: Sheffield - Corporation

24: Nottingham, Basement

25: London - Garage
26: Reading - Sub 89
27: Brighton - Concorde 2
28: Joiners - Southampton
29: Liverpool - Uni
30: Belfast - Auntie Annie’s Porterhouse 

OCTOBER
01: Dublin - Crawdaddy, Dublin
29: Firefest, Trent University

Special Guesting on all dates (apart from Firefest) will be UK ‘stadium rockers’ Jettblack, whose debut Get Your Hands Dirty single & album are currently on release, also through Spinefarm Records UK.

13th july

bloodstock update

Information hot off the Bloodstock press:

With just four weeks to go - Bloodstock HQ are putting together the final touches to this years 10th Anniversary festival which promises to rock the very foundations of Catton Hall this August.

The metal mayhem commences midday Thursday when campsites Asgard, Midgard, Valhalla and Hel open to the footfall of 12,000 metal heads giving plenty of time to set up camp before the Village Green and Sophie Lancaster tent opens at 5pm.

Thursday night is PARTY night with metal comedy hour followed by Welsh death metal bastards Desecration - Thrash Maniacs Hospital of Death, Bloodstock’s infamous Metal Karaoke, The 4 DJ’s of the Apocalypse - and all this just to warm you up for a full on three day assault of 100% UNADULTERATED HEAVY F#*KIN METAL !

FRIDAY 13TH FANCY DRESS COMPETITION - FREDDY Vs JASON

We couldn’t let Friday 13th slip by without giving you all the chance to really show your gruesome potential - Werewolves, Zombies, Vampires or anything else blood and gore your imagination allows will be a welcome sight this eve. The winners will receive tickets to Bloodstock 2011.

JAGERMEISTER ACOUSTIC STAGE
Our very good friends at Jagermeister make a welcome return this year with the Acoustic Stage and all new Ice Bar so you can literally chill out with some light refreshment while taking in the more intimate performances from some of the bands performing over the weekend.

BLOODSTOCK PHONE APP

As previously reported there will be an announcement regarding the phone app shortly, with details on how to purchase this.

Keep checking back for more information regarding this year's event!

attack attack! announce live dates

Flash-back to the late 1950s when rock music was becoming the single most infectious phenomenon the world had ever seen. The people at the forefront of this era were the ones who had something inherently special and unique to bring to music. Flash forward to the present and the same is still true, but rock music is now an aggressive match of 'king of the hill', where the only ones standing out are the ones who have the capacity to re-invent rock. Attack Attack! is that band.
 
Bringing their intensely unique show to the UK for the first time in October 2010 the band commented, “We are so stoked to play for an audience that has never seen us in a place that we have always wanted to visit!" Catch them on the following dates.
 

11 Oct: Birmingham - Academy 2

12 Oct: London - Garage

13 Oct: Cardiff - Clwb Ifor Bach

15 Oct: Newcastle - Academy 2

16 Oct: Glasgow - G2

17 Oct: Manchester - Academy 3

18 Oct: Leeds - Cockpit

19 Oct: Norwich - Waterfront

20 Oct: Portsmouth - Wedgewood Rooms

Tickets available from usual outlets. Information subject to change.

as i lay dying to tour the uk in november

As I Lay Dying will be touring the UK in November in support of their new album, The Powerless Rise. They recently played Download 2010 and will be undertaking their biggest UK jaunt to date. THey will be supported by Heaven Shall Burn, plus more to be announced shortly.

Dates are as follows:

25 Nov: Norwich - Waterfront

26 Nov: London - Koko

27 Nov: Wolverhampton - Wulfrun Hall

28 Nov: Manchester - Academy 2

29 Nov: Glasgow - Garage

30 Nov: Sheffield - Corporation

Tickets available from usual outlets. Information subject to change. The Powerless Rise is out now on Metal Blade.

battlelore studio diary online

Battlelore once again entered the studio in June. Fans can catch up with their experiences during the recording of the upcoming Middle Earth saga by visiting their 'studio diary' here. Their previous album, The Last Alliance, is out now on Napalm Records.

12th july

updates

Reviews

Third Eye Blind - Ursa Major

Judas Priest - British Steel - 30th Anniversary Box Set

Drive, She Said - Dreams WIll Come - The Best of and More

Jurojin - The Living Measure of Time

amaranthe sign to spinefarm records

Amaranthe have inked a record deal with Spinefarm/Universal for the release of their debut album, tentatively out early next year.

Commented guitarist Olof Mörck: "After talking to several of the highest profile labels Spinefarm completely outdid them all, most importantly through the understanding they've shown towards what we are trying to acheive as a band, musically and visually. The deal we have struck will enable us to take the band to levels we have yet only dreamt of, and beyond! You can expect a HUGE release that is bound some send tremors throughout the metal world early 2011!"

Commented Hannu Lehtonen of Spinefarm: "We are very happy and proud to have a chance to work with this very talented and fresh sounding Swedish group! Amaranthe has definitely found their own, unique sound and they are ready to start working with their debut album to be released early 2011 through Spinefarm Records".

atheist set to release new album jupiter later in the year

Reactivated seminal technical metal pioneers Atheist  have set Jupiter as the title of their long-awaited fourth album, tentatively due in November. The CD is being recorded at LedBelly studios in Atlanta, Georgia with engineer Matt Washburn and will be mixed by Jason Suecof.

Regarding the direction of the new material, Shaefer wrote in a recent online posting, "[We] have taken great strides to make this the record we, as fans, would want to hear from Atheist. It's ferocious, intelligent, and dead-balls heavy as shit! "When people hear this, they're going to say, 'It's ATHEIST!'"

"There are so many twists and turns in the average ATHEIST song, and we felt like it was very important to have enough killer material written so as to make it the most interesting record we have ever created. We wanted to make sure we took the next logical step in the evolution of our music. According to the critics out there, it's a tall — almost impossible — order. However, we feel like we have done it." 

"Our late and great friend and foundational element of the Atheist sound, Roger Patterson, was always with us in spirit in the process of writing," added Shaefer. "In fact, that frantic, technical Patterson spirit has come shining through once more in the form of Jonathan Thompson, our newest guitar player.

'JT' is a young-spirited multi-talented player — he also plays bass for Flynn's band Gnostic. As long-time Atheist  fans, JT and Chris Baker understand what Atheist  is at its core and what the fans expect. Both have proven to be invaluable in bringing out that classic Atheist  sound and have been instrumental the course of writing this long-awaited record."

11th july

updates

Reviews

Deathstars - ABC, Glasgow, Scotland

Purified in Blood - Under Black Skies

Serpentine - A Touch of Heaven

Trident - World Destruction

bloodstock launces phone app

With only five weeks to go until Bloodstock 2010 for the first time you will be able to buy our very own mobile app to keep you up to date with everything happening on site. There are iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Java versions of the app available, which cover the vast majority of handsets.

The app will have the following features: 

Full set times for ALL the stages

An Interactive Festival Map

Breaking news before, during and after the event

A personal itinerary option to ensure you don’t miss anything you want to see over the weekend!

Exclusive photo’s, podcasts and video’s over the course of the weekend. 

Useful festival information to keep you up to speed with all that is happening on site.

There will even be money saving offers appearing on the app as we get closer to the festival.

Keep your eyes on the official site for more information.

reckless love: back to paradise tour 2010

Taken directly from the band's official website:

'Hello hello hello!!

We are super stoked to finally announce our September tour of the UK!

The dates are as follows:

16 Sept: Swindon - The Furance

17 Sept: Nuneaton - Queens Hall

18 Sept: MOHO - Manchester

19 Sept: Glasgow - Cathouse

21 Sept: Aberdeen - The Tunnels

22 Sept: Edinburgh - Cabaret Voltaire

23 Sept: Corporation - Sheffield

24 Sept: Nottingham, Basement

25 Sept: London - Borderline

26 Sept: Reading - Sub 89

27 Sept: Southampton - Joiners'

Tickets available at usual outlets. Information subject to change.

07th july

updates

Reviews

The Paddingtons - The Lady Boy Tapes EP

John5 - The Art of Malice

06th july

updates

Photos

Slash - Academy, Manchester, UK

27th june

updates

Review

Haken - Aquarius

26th june

updates

Photos

Deathstars - Academy, Liverpool, UK

Greenday - Stadium, Wembley, UK

Reviews

Reckless Love - Reckless Love

20th june

updates

Photos

KISS - Echo Arena, Liverpool, UK

The Haunted - Academy, Manchester, UK

Anvil - Academy, Islington, UK

16th june

updates

Reviews

KISS - Echo Arena, Liverpool, UK

Stage Dolls - Always

Shylock - RockBuster

The Glitterati - Are You One of Us

opeth return to bloodstock to fill final headline slot

With a line-up boasting headline appearances from Children of Bodom, Fear Factory, Twisted Sister, plus a special guest slot filled by Meshuggah, Bloodstock can now confirm the final headline slot for BOA 2010. The Friday night will be closed by Opeth, who headlined back in 2008.

"We're pretty excited about coming back to play the Bloodstock festival with Opeth.” States frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt “Myself and Axe will of course be double-fisting since we gonna cause some havoc with Bloodbath as well. We got asked to play since Heaven & Hell cancelled and even though we obviously feel that we cannot possibly match their magic or fill the void, it will be a like a personal tribute show to the memory of Ronnie Dio. So needless to say I'm honoured to play, it will be intimidating and emotional I believe. We'll deliver as usual of course but yeah, I will be thinking about Dio, that's for sure."

Check Bloodstock's official site for more information regarding this year's line up, or alternatively, over the next few days check out our soon to be updated Bloodstock feature. 

heaven & hell announce one off show - tribute to ronnie james dio

On 16 May 2010 Ronnie James Dio passed away and the world of music mourned the loss of the greatest voice of heavy metal.
 
Dio was a truly iconic figure in music, whose work with Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and most recently Heaven & Hell defined a genre.
 
Heaven & Hell were set to be on the road in Europe this summer when news came through that despite the amazing progress he was making Ronnie wouldn't be well enough to tour and those shows were cancelled.  But now, remaining members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice are set to play a one off show to celebrate his life and work. The band will be completed by Glenn Hughes and Jorn Lande who will both contribute vocals. Former Deep Purple / Black Sabbath star Glenn Hughes was a close friend of Ronnie’s for many years and performed a musical tribute at Ronnie’s funeral service in Los Angeles. Norwegian Jorn Lande is best known in the UK as the vocalist for power metal band Masterplan, he has also released many solo albums including a tribute to Ronnie.  It promises to be a fitting celebration to a man that the metal scene owes so much.
 
“It's going to be a very emotional occasion. Ronnie loved his fans like no-one else I know - and they loved him. It will be a privilege doing a gig in honour of his memory, and to help towards his charity. Above all, I hope it encourages people to have regular check-ups for this disease. Early detection is vital, and greatly improves the chance of a cure. I know everyone has heard that a million times before, but seeing one of your best friends die because we all think we're immune from this disease, really brings it home. Do it for yourself, your family, your friends. Ronnie would be proud of you.” Love & Peace, Geezer Butler

Tony Iommi says “Ronnie’s passing has left a huge hole, we hadn’t anywhere near finished what we set out to do as a band together.  He was so looking forward to the European tour and we hope this appearance will go some way to fulfilling that.”

For further information please visit the High Voltage website.

ozzfest 2010 to hit the uk

Ozzfest is set to hit the UK with a one-off date at London’s O2 arena on 18 September 2010. Ozzy Osbourne will be accompanied on the main stage by Korn, Muderdolls and Skindred, plust a special guest TBC, with more acts still to be announced for the second stage. In addition to the music on offer. Ozzy and co will take over the entire O2 complex, offering up a Village of the Damned, with fairground rides, stalls and tattooists.
 
The 2010 package will be the first UK OZZFEST show in over five years, and is also the first time the O2 features a general admission format on the lower bowl; GA ticket holders will be able to choose between watching the show from seats, or the specially enlarged standing area. Top level tickets will also be available offering the usual seating.
 
Headlined by Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary Prince of Darkness will lead the charge. Ozzy - who’s solo albums have all achieved top 40 chart success in the UK - is currently gearing up to release his 10th studio album Scream, which will hit the streets on 21 June. With his recent book “I Am Ozzy” enjoying top 10 positions in book charts the world over, the time is perfect for Ozzfest's return to the birthplace of metal, and with the awesome supporting cast that Ozzy brings with him, fans are in for a truly special day. States Ozzy:

“It means a lot to bring Ozzfest back to the UK. This is the first time that we’re bringing Ozzfest indoors. The  O2 is the perfect place to hold a festival.   Let it rain, let it hail,  let it thunder, because we’ll be rocking inside.”

Please visit usual ticket outlets for more information.

14th june

updates

Feature

Sonisphere

13th june

Note from editor:

I've been out of action for a little while due to some complications after having an impacted widsom tooth removed... thanks to Cj for helping me out in getting these updates online at this time.

updates

Reviews

Marduk - Moho, Manchester, UK (with support from Anaal Nathrakh)

The Knockouts - Among the Vultures

DragonForce - Valley of the Damned (re release)

Hardcore Superstar - Academy, Newcastle, UK (with support from Bullet)

Katonia - Academy, Manchester, UK (with support from Swallow the Sun)

Triosphere - The Road Less Travelled

10th june

updates

Review

Emilie Autumn - Cathouse, Glasgow, Scotland

27th may

updates

Photos

Reckless Love - Barfly, Camden, London, UK

25th may

updates

Reviews

Edguy - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK

Dark Funeral - Rio's, Leeds, UK

spinefarm announce boneshakers 2010 uk tour

Kiuas, Metsatöll + Celesty confirm run of UK shows together…

For the first time in the label’s history, three acts signed to the Spinefarm label will embark on a series of UK shows in tandem, flying the flag for epic heavy metal (Finnish five-piece Kiuas), authentic folk metal ( Estonian quartet Metsatöll) & dramatic power metal (Finnish sextet Celesty).
Kiuas, who have played in the UK on a number of occasions, including an appearance at the Bloodstock Open Air Festival plus a full run of dates with Firewind, will headline all of the shows, with Metsatöll providing the meat in the middle, and Celesty (who have also featured on the Bloodstock bill) opening the bill.

KIUAS recently released their latest album, Lustdriven, supported by the single/video Of Love, Lust & Human Nature, following hard on the heels of Aio – Metsatöll‘s first release for the Spinefarm label.

Celesty’s latest offering, Vendetta, came out in 2009, and saw the six heading deep into symphonic / progressive rock territory, with tracks such as Lord (of This Kingdom), Like Warriors and first video Fading Away showing that musical ambition doesn’t have to lead to any loss of power. Latest news from the camp is that the band now have a new frontman, with previous singer Antti Railio having recently been replaced by Tony Turunen – brother of former Nightwish frontwoman, Tarja.

The full list of UK dates is as follows:

20 Oct: Wrexham - Central Station

22 Oct: Sheffield - Corporation

23 Oct: Glasgow - Ivory Blacks

24 Oct: Nottingham - Basement

26 Oct: London - Underworld

24th may

updates

Reviews

Paganfest - Islington Academy, London, UK

Igneous Human - Pyroclastic Storm

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter - Rock City, Nottingham, UK

17th may

rest in peace: ronnie james dio

It is with great sadness we bring you the news of Ronnie James Dio's death yesterday morning when he lost his battle with cancer. The world has lost one of the greats. His wife published this statement on his official website:

'Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.'

- Wendy Dio

Rest in peace Ronnie - you will forever be remembered.

slash to hit the uk and album release info

In what is his first true solo album, rock icon Slash’s album, Slash, was released in the UK on the 10 May 2010 through Roadrunner Records.   The album features an all-star roster of guest musicians including Ian Astbury, Chris Cornell, Rocco DeLuca, Fergie, Dave Grohl, Myles Kennedy, Kid Rock, Lemmy Kilmister, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Duff McKagan, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, and Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother.
 
A major undertaking for Slash, he enlisted services of producing partner Eric Valentine (Queens of Stone Age, The All-American Rejects) and compiled a rhythm section of bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction) and drummer Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails). Slash handled the majority of arranging and songwriting duties and hand-picked each guest artist.  The album’s guests worked collaboratively with Slash to round out the song.  
 
“The idea was really simple in the beginning,” said Slash. “These are all artists I wanted to work with – that I thought it would be amazing to do something creative and collaborative.  And I was so impressed with what everyone brought to the table.  They were all so committed to doing a good job.  And we had a lot of fun making these songs.”
 
Track list:

 
Ghost (Ian Astbury)
Crucify the Dead (Ozzy Osbourne)
Beautiful Dangerous (Fergie)
Back From Cali (Myles Kennedy)
Promise (Chris Cornell)
By the Sword (Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother)
Gotten (Adam Levine)
Doctor Alibi (Lemmy Kilmister)
Watch This (Dave Grohl/Duff McKagan)
I Hold On (Kid Rock)
Nothing to Say (M Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold)
Starlight (Myles Kennedy)
Saint Is A Sinner Too (Rocco De Luca)
We're All Gonna Die (Iggy Pop)

10 May also saw the release of a DIGITAL ONLY special edition of the album. The special edition will feature above tracklisting plus the following bonus tracks
 
Baby Can’t Drive (feat Alice Cooper & Nicole Scherzinger)*
Mother Maria (feat Beth Hart)*
Paradise City (feat Fergie and Cypress Hill)*
* bonus track

Tour dates:
 

13 June: Download Festival

27 June: Glastonbury Festival

29 June: Vicar Street - Dublin

30 June: Mandela Hall - Belfast

01 July: Picture House - Edinburgh

03 July: Academy - Manchester

04 July: Wireless Festival

Tickets available at the usual outlets.

new generation superstars announce line up change

This statement was posted on the band's official website today:

'Sadly, Tony decided he will no longer be playing bass with the band, but we would like to clarify will always be a member of the N.G.S family, this... is a more than a just a band, and the experiences shared within it have made bonds that transcend the music.'

'The band has had an amazing few years since the release "Crash Course" and through the more recent "Raising the Stakes" times, and Tony has always made a huge contribution to the writing, performance and live shows of the band....and we would like to thank Tony from the bottom of our hearts.' AJ 

However, the rocking is NOT over, (told you this had been bittersweet!). We would like to introduce the new bass player Mr Dazzle Rebel (ex Red Star Rebels).N.G.S have known Dazzle for a few years now, and thought there would be no better replacement. With his own glowing rock credentials, and song writing ability, Dazzle is eager to rock. The official debut of Dazzle will be in Newcastle on 2 July, at Legends supporting Tigertailz. A single and video are set for release in September 2010.

28th april

sonisphere add to line-up

Now in it’s second year, with a line up boasting exclusive performances from Iron Maiden, Rammstein, Motley Crue and Slayer plus many more amazing acts who you won’t catch at any other festival this year - Sonisphere Knebworth has today announced its first comedy line-up ever. Inspired by discussion with ticket-holders and forum users, the comedy section will take place in Bohemiaon the Saturday and Sunday, providing hilarious relief from the serious business of rocking out to the awesome bands on offer. With comedians rapidly becoming the new rock stars, Sonisphereis pleased to announce the first of some of the biggest names in the business - with more exciting names to be announced in the coming weeks - making the £132.50 weekend ticket price - which unlike most festivals carries NO BOOKING FEE - the best value for money out there.

Tickets for Sonisphere are on sale now at www.sonispherefestivals.com with a full weekend ticket costing just £132.50 (no booking fee).

Check out the line-up so far:

arch enemy forced to postpone uk tour

We are very sorry to have to announce the long awaited headline tour from Metal titans Arch Enemy has had to be postponed until later this year.
 
Arch Enemy has released the following statement about the postponement:

"Sorry to all our great UK fans, but the tour we had scheduled has unfortunately been postponed 'til November 2010.

As we all know, it's been a tough time in Europe with the volcanic ash shutting down airspace in 23 countries and causing travel misery for millions of people. One minute airports are open - the next they are not. We are determined to make these shows work but don't want to disappoint our fans, so it has been mutually agreed upon that the best way forward is to postpone the UK dates 'til November.”

We'd like to thank all of the promoters who took on the shows, and also the support bands — everything was shaping up very nicely and their professionalism is obvious. We appreciate their willingness to make these shows happen later in 2010 and we're more eager than ever to do so.
 
It's important to make it clear that this is not a cancellation — we just have to move the tour to a different time.
 
Sorry again to all who planned to attend. Hope to see you in November!"

The new and only UK Arch Enemy dates for 2010 are:

23 Nov: Manchester - Academy 2

24 Nov: Glasgow - Garage

25 Nov: Wolverhampton - Wulfrun Hall

27 Nov: London - The Forum

All tickets will remain valid for the new dates.

dir en grey announce london show

Dir En Grey have announced an exclusive London show. The five piece will play London’s Koko on 4 August 2010 as the only UK club show on their The Unwavering Fact of Tomorrow Tour 2010 - there will be only one other UK performance at Sonisphere Knebworth.
 
Says guitarist Kaoru:
 
"It's been awhile since our last headline show in London so you can expect as much as you want!! We're looking forward to see our fans in the UK again and hopefully see some new faces who saw us on the Kerrang! Tour.  Come and enjoy a performance that you can only experience at our headline shows!"  

The band are also gearing up to release a brand new CD / DVD Uroboros - with the proof in the name of the living... at Nippon Budokan - this will be released by Okami Records on 24 May.

Tickets for the London show are available at the usual outlets.

necronaut sign to regain records

After more than twenty years in the death metal scene, former Dismember / Carnage drummer Fred Estby wanted to express his passion for different kinds of extreme music he’s bore since his youth. In 2008, Estby started to write and record material with the intention of having one unique vocalist for each song. Dubbed Necronaut, the project would become a reality one year later when Estby began contacting the many talented metal musicians he had in mind to complete the album of his diabolic dreams. Estby is currently finalizing the selftitled album slated for release later this year via Regain Records. The cover artwork for this album is already done by Chat Zar, which created prosthetic effects for such movies as The Ring, Planet of the Apes and Darkman.

In short, Necronaut is a raw slab of old school metal and while the term “old-school” alone goes a long way in accurately describing the sound that one should expect from Estby and co, Necronaut are so much more. The band’s approach is crude and dead simple, a la early Bathory and Venom mutated with Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, but with an unorthodox bass-heavy production that allows the album to stand out amongst its peers. The goal was primitive brute force, but because of the manner in which Estby chose to achieve it, he also managed to create an aura of pure malevolence that, prior to this album’s creation, was likely difficult to imagine. The list of musicians we want to mention for now looks like the following:

Vocalists:

Chris Reifert (Abscess, Autopsy)
Hellbutcher (Nifelheim)
Tompa Lindberg (Disfear, Lock up)
Nicke Andersson (Imperial State Electric)

Solo guitarists:

Tyrant (Nifelheim, Dagger)
Uffe Cederlund (Disfear, ex-Entombed, Principals of Existence)
Robert Pehrsson (Death Breath, Dundertåget)
Robert “Strings” Dahlqvist (Dundertåget)
David Blomqvist (Dismember, Dagger)

Listen to “Infecting Madness”(feat. Chris Reifert on vocals) here.

18th april

updates

Reviews

Sonata Arctica - Takatalvi (re release)

DragonForce - Sonic Firestorm (re release)

Angels of Babylon - Kingdom of Evil

17th april

updates

Interview

06th april

updates

Review

Rammstein - MEN Arena, Manchester, UK

05th april

updates

Photos

Steel Panther - Academy, Sheffield, UK

22nd march

updates

Photos

Finntroll - Nosturi, Helsinki, Finland

Barren Earth - Nosturi, Helsinki, Finland

21st march

updates

Review

Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild

16th march

updates

Photos

Emilie Autumn - O2 Academy, Islington, UK

14th march

updates

Photos

Machine Head - Apollo, Manchester, UK

The 69 Eyes - Academy, Islington, UK

Swallow the Sun - Garage, London, UK

Reviews

Swallow the Sun - New Moon

State of Rock - A Point of Destiny

Sonata Arctica - Songs of Silence - Live in Tokyo

Marty Friedman - Tokyo Jukebox

Hellfueled - Emissions of Sin

the crave hit the road again

The Crave have issued the following update:

'Hey guys, thanks to everyone who came out to see us with Heavens Basement and Dear Superstar. We had a truly amazing time with you all and will take alot of fond memories with us!

We have now confirmed three shows in support of American rock band Flyleaf at the end of this month -

March 22: Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms

March 23: Nottingham Rock City

March 24: Leeds Cockpit

Tickets are now on sale and we'd love to see you there!'

12th march

updates

Review

Brother Firetribe - Live at Apollo

deathstars to return to the uk in june

Deathstars have updated their site with the following information:

'We are pleased to announce the following UK dates in June 2010:
 
London, 02 Academy Islington, Saturday 19th June 
Birmingham, 02 Academy 2, Sunday 20th June
Liverpool, 02 Academy 2, Monday 21st June
Newcastle, 02 Academy 2, Tuesday 22nd June
Glasgow, 02 ABC, Wednesday 23rd June'

Tickets on sale today.

11th march

updates

Reviews

Scalping Screen - Twelve Out of Chamber

Backyard Babies - Them XX

Jon Oliva's Pain - Festival

10th march

dragonforce announce departure of vocalist

DragonForce announced the departure of their vocalist, ZP Theart on their official site yesterday:

'It is with great regret that DragonForce announce a parting of the ways with singer ZP Theart. This is due to insurmountable differences of musical opinion but the rest of the band sincerely wish ZP great success with his future projects.

While the creative core members have begun writing the fifth album, they have also started a worldwide search for a new vocalist. “We are looking for a powerful melodic singer, to write a new chapter of DragonForce with us.” said guitarist Herman Li.

Anyone wishing to audition for the vacant position should apply following the instructions at this web address www.dragonforce.com/audition '

heaven's basement looking for new singer

Heaven’s Basement have prepared this statement on the departure of former frontman Richie Heavenz:

“Hi guys, writing stuff like this is never easy so we'll just come right out with it.

Unfortunately, Richie has decided to leave Heaven's Basement. This will probably come as a surprise to most of you (as it did us) but to be honest we've seen signs in Richie over the last few months that suggested there was something wrong. He first told us about how he felt when we regrouped for some writing sessions in the studio last month. Richie was upfront with us all about his doubts in continuing. He feels he can no longer keep up with everything that goes along with being part of Heaven's Basement. He's written a message for you all, so here it is.
 
"After 18 months of amazing highs and amazing experiences, I feel that the lifestyle and constant touring has taken its toll and its time for me to move on to different pastures! In short guys, I'm afraid I will be stepping down as the lead singer of Heaven's Basement.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me through this amazing time in my life. I also want to thank my brothers in HB for their understanding and friendship!  I would like to thank all the fans of Heavens Basement for all their love and support over the last 2 years! You've all made my life a brighter place!

I wish the guys all the luck in the world for their future.
Love ya!!"

It goes without saying that we'll miss him, Richie will always be an important part of the band's history as one of the founding members. It's not even two years yet since the first Heaven's Basement show but during that time we've had some amazing times together which we'll never forget. We've all become great friends over the past few years and he was a very important part of what makes the band chemistry work. We wish him all the best for the future, we're sure he will go on to do well in what ever path he chooses.

I guess you will all be wondering about what we're going to do about the upcoming tour dates we have. While we initially thought that Richie would come out and play these tours with us until we found ourselves a new frontman, that's not going to be the case anymore. As you know, we're not the kind of guys to let a small thing like not having a singer get in the way, so we're happy to say that they will all be going ahead as planned! Us guys thrive of being on the road, it's what HB is about. We pride ourselves on being a live band. We've been through our fair share of sticky situations in the past and always managed to pull through, obviously losing your singer a couple of weeks before a two month tour is a new thing for us but if there's a way to make it work, we'll find that way. We're lucky to have met and played alongside some great musicians over the past few years which have fused some great friendships, this has led to our saviour for these dates, our good friend Johnny Fallen. Johnny's been working hard with us for the past few days on our set, he's doing a great job at learning the stuff at such sort notice. Learning an hour long headline set in a week is no easy task! Lucky for us his own band theFALLEN have a break in their schedule so he's able to stand in for us on the upcoming dates. Massive thanks to all the guys in his band....we're very grateful for this and we owe ya's one!!
 
Johnny’s really excited about coming out on tour. We've told him all good stuff about you guys and we know you will all give him a warm welcome when he takes to the stage with us!
Aside from all this, the search is now on for our future full time singer. Obviously we're keen to get someone in as soon as we can, as we already have a lot more tours and festivals booked and this year will be our busiest yet. We're lining up auditions as soon as we return from the Theory Of A Deadman tour. Anyone interested should email us at info@heavensbasement.com with the subject title "singer", some samples of them singing (either a myspace link or attachment), photos and a bio that covers basic info such as age, location etc..

So, as clichéd as it is, a new chapter begins in our history, one thing you all should know is that us four guys are as fired up as ever, we know people naturally become concerned whenever a band loses a member but we're not going anywhere! We're so glad that we're able to keep on the road despite this situation and we have no doubt that we'll look back on this in the future as another obstacle that we turned into a positive!

Anyway, its time for us to get back in the rehearsal room with Johnny! We hope you lot have all got our lyrics down to give him a hand over the coming weeks if he needs it! ;)
 
We'll see you on tour
 
Jonny, Sid, Chris, Rob”

08th march

updates

Review

Bonecrusher Fest - Rio's, Leeds, UK

07th march

updates

Review

Lyriel - Paranoid Circus

06th march

updates

Reviews

Dark Funeral - Angelus Exura pro Eternus

Deathbound - Non Compos Mentis

10th february

swallow the sun return to uk with katatonia

Following on from their recent UK tour, Swallow the Sun have been confirmed to pay six shows as special guests to Katatonia on their forthcoming New Night Over Europe 2010 dates.

The tour, which takes in fourteen different European countries, is set to kick off on 3 March, with the UK leg running from March 9 – 14. The full list of dates is as follows:-
 
09 Mar: Manchester - Academy 3

10 Mar: Nottingham - Rock CIty

11 Mar: London - Garage

12 Mar: Prestatyn - Wales (Hammerfest II festival)

13 Mar: Cardiff - Barfly

14 Mar: Wolverhampton - Little Civic

kreator sign with nuclear blast

Nuclear Blast have announced the signing of the mighty German thrash metallers - Kreator!
 
Commented guitarist/vocalist Mille Petrozza: "We're happy to announce that Kreator has just signed a new long-term deal with Nuclear Blast! Based on a friendship with Andy Siry (head of A&R of Nuclear Blast) that lasted for decades we will now finally join forces on a professional level! Becoming a part of the Nuclear Blast family means a lot to us and together with the world's biggest metal label we will conquer the future!"

Added Andy Siry: "For me another 'thrash dream' has come true with the signing of Germany's finest and Europe's leading thrash legends Kreator!!! I still remember the day when I heard 'Endless Pain' for the first time, I became a huge fan of the band. I have been following Kreator through their career and I built up a very good friendship with Mille. The last years I have been working very hard to make it possible that Kreator would join the Nuclear family. Together we are looking into a very bright future in which we will be leading Kreator onwards to world domination!"

memoira announce new vocalist

Memoira recently announced that they have found their new vocalist in Kati Rantala. The band had this to say:

"We are happy to announce that Kati Rantala is our new vocalist. We were blown away by her vocal abilities and her work ethic! We received lots of contacts from all around the world and we would like to thank everyone and wish you all good luck. We were surprised that how easy the whole process was and the amount of time that it took. We are excited and really looking forward to hit the studio after we have finished the song writing process."

MusicXtra will be interviewing the band in the very near future - check back for updates!

arch enemy announce headline tour

It’s the news that metal fans across the UK have been waiting for, for some time now – metal titans Arch Enemy are going to headline the UK...and they’re bringing Sabbat & Enslaved with them!
 
Singer Angela Gossow checked in from the road to say a few words to the UK fans 'We strongly felt its time to visit the shores of The United Kingdom Of Heavy Metal again! We miss you, ladies and gentlemen!!! We only did the Bloodstock Festival in 2009. It was a fantastic gig and reminded us of why we love the Amott brothers' homeland so much. Even better, we are bringing the UK cult thrashers Sabbat with us and the Norwegian Sons Of Darkness, Enslaved! We will cook up a devastating setlist for this run and won't leave any prisoners behind ;-) Get ready for The Metal Hammer Meltdown attack!'

Arch Enemy have teamed up with Metal Hammer Magazine UK and Kilimanjaro for the inaugural Metal Hammer Meltdown UK tour.

Metal Hammer Magazine UK’s Editor Alexander Milas comments “It's been far too long since these shores were blackened by the ball-hefting brutality of Arch Enemy, so imagine our surprise when we heard they were bringing none other than the classic thrash of the almighty Sabbat and the prog-heavy viking metal of Enslaved in tow. It's an honour to hang our banner on what promise to be a truly neck-snapping series of dates. Mosh ahoy!”

Dates are as follows:

27 April: Wolverhampton - Wulfrun Hall

28 April: Glasgow - O2 Academy

29 April: Manchester - Academy

30 April: London - HMV Forum

09th february

bloodstock announce more bands

Today Bloodstock announced the addition of Gorgoroth, Bloodbath and Black Spiders to their already impressive line up for this year... Check out the poster below to see who else has been confirmed so far for the 10th Anniversary.

07th february

updates

Interview

Bullet - Adam Hector & Hampus Klang

Review

Makajodama - Makajodama

06th february

updates

Photos

Sonata Arctica - Academy, Islington, UK

Delain - Academy, Islington, UK

28th january

updates

Review

James Warner Prophecies - Fell

24th january

updates

Photos

DragonForce - Academy, Liverpool, UK

DragonForce - Academy, Manchester, UK

Sylosis - Academy, Manchester, UK

19th january

brother firetribe to release 'live at apollo' dvd

Brother Firetribe will release their long awaited live DVD on 12 February (Finland / release date to be set for the UK). The dvd was shot on 15 April 2009 at the Apollo in Helsinki and features a guest apperance by Anette Olzon (Nightwish) on the song Heart Full of Fire.

The tracklisting is as follows:

Who Will You Run to Now

Runaways

Wildest Dreams

Midnite Quen

Game They Call Love

One Single Breath

Play it From the Heart

Chasing the Angels

Going Out With a Bang

Break Out

I'm on Fire

Heart Full of Fire feat Anette Olzon

Valerie

I am Rock

The dvd can be pre-ordered from the band's official site along with an exclusive tshirt.

18th january

updates

Interviews

Lostprophets - Lee Gaze

Sabaton - Pär Sundström

17th january

updates

Photos

The Butterfly Effect - Academy, Islington, UK

15th january

updates

Reviews

Heathen - The Evolution of Chaos

Sabaton - Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, UK (Supporting Dragonforce with Sylosis and Glamour of the Kill)

14th january

updates

Review

Mean Streak - Metal Slave

13th january

updates

Photos

Sabaton - Academy, Liverpool, UK

10th january

updates

Photos

Sabaton - Academy, Manchester, UK

Monster Magnet - Academy, Manchester, UK

09th january

leaves' eyes / atrocity announce line-up change

Leaves' Eyes and Atrocity have announced that Mathias Röderer will no longer be a part of the bands due to family reasons.

They had this to say: "Matze has been a part of Atrocity from the beginning and did music with the band for more than twenty years. Both bands wish him the best for his future!"

Sander van der Meer rom Dutch Death Metalheads Cypher will take up the place on second guitar for Leaves' Eyes and Atrocity.

Leaves' Eyes will appear at this year's Bloodstock Open Air in the UK on Saturday 14 August 2010.

celesty announce departure of vocalist

Celesty have announced that their vocalist, Antti Railio, has decided to pursue a different path than that of the band and has subsequently left.

A note on the band's official site read:

"The remaining members of Celesty would like to take this moment to wish Antti success in his vocal career but they are ready to take the next step for the future of the band."

Celesty are moving forward and are already in the process of creating new and more powerful, innovative music for the upcoming album. Whilst they are busy doing this they will also be looking for a replacement for Antti.

Bearing in mind the band is based in Seinäjoki, Finland, those who believe they have what it takes to be the vocalist for the band should send an informal application to rekry[at]celesty.net. They should include mp3 samples or links to where the music can be heard.

evile on tour with warbringer / announce new bassist

Evile have revealed the identity of their new bassist, who joins the band following the tragic and untimely death of their late bassist, Mike Alexander. Mike sadly passed away on 5 October2009 while the band was on tour in Sweden.

Evile members Matt Drake, Ol Drake and Ben Carter have released the following statement:

"This has been one of the most bizarre and surreal tasks we've ever had to undertake. It isn't like Mike has decided to leave the band and we're simply finding a new bass player, he was taken from us, and we were forced to replace him. In effect we had to look for a new Mike, but that would   never happen. He was one of a kind, and we'll never forget him.

We had hundreds upon hundreds of emails from bass players from around the world (though we can only realistically have a bassist from the UK), and we want to thank everyone for taking the time out to contact us, and the people  who came to jam with us. We only had a certain amount of time to actually audition/jam with bass players before the upcoming tours, to get time in for   rehearsing the songs, getting visas sorted etc.

Our new bass player goes by the name Joel Graham. He's an excellent, experienced bass player, and a really nice guy. We'd all appreciate it if you gave him a warm welcome to the band, as this must be a bizarre situation for him to be in also. We'll be getting some photos taken with him soon so you can see us with Joel, we just wanted to get the news out there that we have a new bassist, and that we thank each and every person for auditioning. Mike would be honoured at the amount of respect and admiration you expressed to us through contacting us."

Photos can now be found on the official Evile website.

The band are set to kick off their headlining European tour in a matter of days. The Infecting Nations tour will start with a run of UK dates, before the band head to mainland Europe. Joining Evile will be Warbringer and The Fading.

Dates are as follows:

14 Jan: Cardiff - Barfly

15 Jan: Wrexham - Central Station

16 Jan: York - Fibbers

17 Jan: Glasgow - Cathouse

18 Jan: Newcastle - University

20 Jan: Manchester - Academy 3

21 Jan: Nottingham - Rock City

22 Jan: Leeds - Rios

23 Jan: London - The Underworld

25 Jan: Wolverhampton - Civic Hall

08th january

updates

Review

Theatre of Tragedy - Forever is the World

04th january

happy new year!

Musicxtra would like to wish all of our readers a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2010!!!

updates

Interviews

Swashbuckle - Captain Nobeard

SOIL - AJ Cavalier

Reviews

Månegarm - Nattväsen

The Flare-Up! - Whip 'Em Hard, Whip 'Em Good

Firenote - Firenote

Monster Magnet - Academy 2, Manchester, UK (with support from Karma to Burn and Lions)

Mama Kin - In the City

Abgott - Godfather in Black

Leaves' Eyes - Njord

Leverage - Circus Colossus

Finntroll - Rock City, Nottingham, UK (with support from Battlelore)

Bonafide - Something's Dripping

Swallow the Sun - Star & Garter, Manchester, UK (with support from Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum)

29th december

updates

Reviews

Rammstein - Liebe Ist Für Alle Da

Spit Like This - We Won't Hurt You (But We Won't Go Away)

Siegfried - Nibelung

Schelmish - Die Hässlichen Kinder

28th december

updates

Reviews

Arkona - Goi, Rode, Goi!

Lahannya - Rockers, Glasgow, Scotland (with support from Griever and Semper Fi)

W.A.S.P. - Babylon

22nd december

updates

Reviews

Grand Design - Time Elevation

Shinedown - Rock City, Nottingham, UK (with support from SOIL and Counterpoint)

18th december

updates

Photos

The 69 Eyes - Nosturi, Helsinki, Finland

13th december

updates

Photos

Amon Amarth - Academy, Manchester, UK

Elis - Catharsis

Gorgoroth - Quantos Possunt ad aStanitatem Trahunt

Soul Doctor - Way Back to the Bone

Belladonna - The Noir Album

The Butterfly Effect - Final Conversation of Kings

Jorn - Dukebox

08th december

updates

Suicidal Angels - Sanctify the Darkness

07th december

updates

Chthonic - Rock City, Nottingham, UK

new festival - high voltage - to launch in july 2010

High Voltage will launch in July 2010 with headline apperances from Emerson, Lake & Palmer and ZZ Top. The festival will take place in VIctoria Park, London on 24 - 25 July.

Taken from press release:

High Voltage is the must-see rock event of 2010 – a two-day festival featuring the very best in classic rock, progressive rock and metal, with over forty acts handpicked by the UK’s fastest-growing music magazine, Classic Rock.

Topping the bill are the legendary Emerson, Lake & Palmer and ZZ Top with many more acts to be announced.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer are reuniting especially for High Voltage. This will be ELP’s one and only live performance of 2010 – and possibly the last show they will ever play together, the culmination of a spectacular career that has seen the trio sell over 30 million albums worldwide.

This marks the first time that ZZ Top will be headlining a UK rock festival in 25 years. The superstar trio, known far and wide as that little ol' band from Texas, is celebrating its 40th year with the same personnel line-up intact.  The group has sold in excess of 40 million albums over the course of a career that saw them inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards in 2004. The Birmingham Mail cited their recent Wolverhampton appearance as "a barnstorming boogie blitz that pretty much blew the roof off the Civic Hall."

Says Classic Rock Editor-in-Chief Scott Rowley: “High Voltage is the festival all true rock fans have been waiting for – custom built by rock fans for rock fans. The High Voltage team have been to every rock festival imaginable – we’re taking what we’ve learned to build a festival unlike any other.
 
“First of all there’s the music: two amazing headliners AND three unique stages specially curated to cater for different sides of the rock audience, and a brilliant supporting cast playing special must-see sets.
 
“Then there’s the festival itself. The facilities will be second to none: great food, proper beer, clean toilets, deluxe hospitality packages, designated hotels, free shuttle transport. This is somewhere you take the whole family.”

High Voltage offers a new and unique festival experience for rock fans of all ages. Only High Voltage gives ticket buyers the freedom to design their own bespoke festival package – which can include accommodation, transport, parking and VIP bar access. Early bird ticket purchasers will be able to upgrade their tickets with a host of options from January 2010.
 

For more information visit the official website - www.highvoltagefestival.com. Tickets are available now.

06th december

updates

Saxon - O2 Academy, Leeds, UK (with support from Anvil and SuidAkrA)

05th december

Due to being on holiday and starting a new job there has been a lack of regular updates over the past few weeks. However, normal service shall resume from today! Keep checking back for reviews / photos / interviews and news.

updates

Review

Amon Amarth - Academy, Manchester, UK (with support from Entombed)

29th november

updates

Reviews

Therapy? - O2 Academy, Liverpool, UK

Paradise Lost - King Tuts Wah-Wah Hut, Glasgow, Scotland

28th november

updates

Reviews

101 South - No U-Turn

Switch Opens - Switch Opens

11th november

updates

Reviews

Steel Panther - Rock City, Nottingham, UK

Ronny Munroe - The Fire Within

10th november

updates

Reviews

Lahannya - Defiance

Rammstein - Pussy / Rammilied

09th november

updates

Review

Ensiferum - From Afar

08th november

updates

Reviews

Leprous - Tall Poppy Syndrome

11th Hour - Burden of Grief

Shadows Fall - Retribution

Bert Heerink - Better Yet...

06th november

updates

Photos

Dying Fetus - Koko, London, UK

Cannibal Corpse - Koko, London, UK

Annotations of an Autopsy - Koko, London, UK

Tarja - 02 Islington Academy, London, UK

02nd november

updates

Photos

Steel Panther - Rock City, Nottingham, UK

25th october

updates

Review

Marduk - Wormwood

Chthonic - Mirror of Retribution

trash fest to return to helsinki in 2010

Taken from official press release:

International Promoter Mama Trash of US based Mama Trash Promotions, Inc. will return to Helsinki, Finland for the third annual Trash Fest in March 2010. MT says, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Trash Fest back to Helsinki for a third year! In 2010 Nosturi will be welcoming us as the Mama Trash Family Artist roster continues to grow!!” Trash Fest was created and produced in an effort to introduce fans to her Family Artists music that are located all over the globe.

The weekend festivities will start with a Trash Fest Kick-Off Party on Thursday, March 4th at Gloria located at Pieni Roobertinkatu 12, in Helsinki featuring Spiritraiser (FIN), Baby Jane (SWE) and Sexydeath (SWE). Trash Festival performers as well as other Mama Trash Family Artists will be in attendance!

Trash Fest III will be held for the first time at Nosturi located at Telakkakatu 8, in Helsinki, Finland on March 5th and March 6th 2010 featuring Mama Trash Family Artists from around the globe!

Friday, March 5th

Night By Night (UK)
Stereo Junks! (FIN)
Lord of the Lost (GER)
Lacrimas Profundere (GER)
Private Line (FIN)

Saturday, March 6th

Cold Cold Ground (FIN)
New Generation Superstars (UK)
Neon Synthesis (ITA)
Gemini Five (SWE)
Dope Stars Inc (ITA)
2010 Mama Trash All Star Band!

Doors open each night at 7pm. All ages to enter, 18 to drink! More details to follow in the weeks ahead.

Special Guests to be announced in addition to scheduled Meet & Greet sessions with the bands!

Tickets will be available in advance via www.tiketti.fi in November.

gotthard invited to the vatican

Swiss Rockers Gotthard visited the holy halls of the Vatican before playing Rome earlier this week. The group had been invited by The Swiss Guards to come and have a look in the Pope´s home.

With the successful album Need to Believe Gotthard have spread the belief in true Rock music - now the musicians went to the place that symbolises belief more than anywhere else in the world. The visit took place on the first day of the tour: On October, 23rd, Gotthard, who have just returned from a show in Japan, will start their two month European tour in Rome. Before going on stage for the first time on this tour, the Swiss gentlemen will meet up with Swiss Guards in the Vatican - a more than impressive start for a tour that offers a lot of exciting moments - including the German shows with Europe as a special guest as well as the French shows with Deep Purple as a headliner.

You can catch Gotthard on their UK leg of the tour at the following venues:

02 Nov: Dudley - JBs

03 Nov: London - Garage

04 Nov: Manchester - Academy 3

leverage release new album

Leverage, Finnish sextet fronted by Brother Firetribe vocalist Pekka Heino, have confirmed the release of their third studio album, Circus Colossus, for 30 November 2009.
 
Featuring ten brand new tracks of melodic hard rock with an epic, progressive flavour, Circus Colossus is the follow-up to 2008s Blind Fire – a record voted second best metal album of that year by influential website melodicrock.com .
 
Formed in Helsinki by childhood friends Tuomas Heikkinen (guitar) and Pekka Lampinen (bass), musicians with a longstanding regard for classic acts such as Rainbow, Leverage is a band determined to celebrate the legacy of the past, whilst still keeping a keen eye on the future, and Circus Colossus is their most ambitious outing to date…
 
From the symphonic overtures of Wolf and the Moon through to straight-out heavy-hitters like Prisoners and Legions of Invisible, taking in power ballad Don’t Keep Me Waiting along the way, this third studio outing is sure to be welcomed by those who like their music expertly played and performed, and conceived on a grand scale.

24th october

updates

Reviews

Dead by April - Dead by April

Warmen - Japanese Hospitality

20th october

more bloodstock 2010 announcements

The Bloodstock team are pleased to announce that German metallers Doro have been added to the bill for Bloodstock Open Air 2010.

Fronted by former Warlock singer Doro Pesch, Doro the band have been the vehicle for the talents of this female vocal legend since Warlock’s demise following their 1987 album Triumph and Agony. Her first release as Doro – 1989’s Force Majeure - bore much of the signature Warlock sound and although the band have varied their style over the years and undergone numerous line-up changes, melodic heavy metal remains at their core.

As one of the few prominent female metal singers of the 1980s, Doro’s early career was extremely influential, and many female metal vocalists of later decades have cited her example as encouraging them to enter what is still a male-dominated scene. Her extensive discography is diverse and she has often collaborated with other writers and producers. 1990’s self-titled Doro album was produced by KISS bassist Gene Simmons and on 2000’s Calling the Wild, she duets with Motorhead mainman Lemmy on the ballad Alone Again. She also performed on the 2008 track The Seer with ex-Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen who joined a host of metal luminaries including members of the Scorpions, Nevermore and Overkill at Doro’s 25th Anniversary concert in December 2008.

Doro’s latest album Fear No Evil, released earlier this year, is a typically feisty collection of metal anthems from one of the genre’s true survivors.

Not content with just giving us one announcement the Bloodstock team have also announced the following:

Leaves' Eyes, Suffocation and Dream Evil.

Keep checking back over the next week or so as we update our feature on Bloodstock with the latest announcements.

hard rock hell in ibiza // 2 - 9 june 2010

Please see press release below:

Ibiza, a new rock frontier and yet another new concept from the team at HRH


It’s simple, why not take one of the worlds most famous islands, invite a 1000 of your best rock mates along for the trip and plonk them on the white isle of Ibiza with their families n kids in tow and have a total rock out over 7 days of fun packed rock n roll debauchery. Add to that a Marshall wall for most of the evenings, bring in about 20 bands and let this new HRH horde party hard with artists, press, DJ’s and mates alike all over this sun kissed isle.
 
This new niche event is proudly sponsored by Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Classic Prog, Rock Radio and Scuzz TV, who will each be hosting an arena during the weeks trip. There will be 5 big nights out, crossing the full spectrum of HRH. This will include, Classic Rock, NWOBHM, Classic and Battle Metal, Young Bloods and even a Prog evening with some special talent to be announced shortly. HRH will be taking the world famous venues within Ibiza and lacing them with Rock couture to make it,” all in line” with this first ever rock n metal crusade onto the shores of Ibiza.
 
The event will not solely be about big nights out but will also include, some unplugged sunset sessions on beach front venues plus all out madness in open air venues during the day as well as multiple catamaran boats all rigged up for the sheer hell of it. Hotels are being kitted out exclusively for this special event plus a range of sport and day time activities. There will also be a special HRH concierge service locally offering everything right down to restaurant bookings.
 
The concept may be described as insane, but that’s the boundaries that HRH continuously break, to create total rock n roll experiences. There will be 20 bands flown into party with the HRH horde as well as some local Spanish Talent to fill in the gaps. First bands to confirm include tried and tested HRH legends
 
Wolf, Grand Magus, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Alestorm, TYR, Battlelore and Attica Rage who will be joined by many more, very shortly

In time the event will be open to all nationalities throughout Europe making this a new mile stone in the rock calendar. HRH has the ability to increase this 20 fold, but want to show the world what its all about before they crank it up to future levels.


  HRH Promoter Jonni Davis said:-
 
We’ve been working on this for a year now, we’ll have our own hotels, our own bars, our own venues, all as exclusive as we want them to be, being somewhat local experts by choice, only makes it easier to turn this into something that people will remember as a true rock experience for the rest of their lives. We are overwhelmed with the support from the trade, so only look at putting on something that’s off the chart….we’ve even went as far to open this up to peoples families and kids.
 
All rooms sleep 2 or 3 pax with AC, TV and pool and we can play about with flights either side of these dates if needed, just call us .

Kids under 11 are free, kids 11/ 14, 50% …its that easy and if you need a baby sitter, we have trained qualified people at hand to take care of that too, so you don’t miss out on anything.
 
For full info and terms and conditions log onto www.hrhroadtrip.com or e-mail us at info@hrhroadtrip.com
 
Alternatively call the hotline  08700 110034 / DC Bloodline   08700 111169

17th october

updates

Interview

Circus Insane - Doc Insane

14th october

lacuna coil announce uk tour

While still being on the road with All That Remains in North America Lacuna Coil have announced the UK and Ireland dates for their upcoming European tour in 2010:
 
29 Jan: Dublin - The Academy

31 Jan: Manchester - Academy

01 Feb: Birmingham - 02 Academy

02 Feb: Glasgow - The ABC

04 Feb: Bristol - 02 Academy

05 Feb: London - 02 Shepherds Bush Empire

More dates to be announced soon! Tickets available from usual outlets.
 
Andrea Ferro and the band had this to say:
 
“Finally Europe!!! We are proud to announce the headliner tour in UK, it took a while to organize it but finally everything seems to be in place. We are really happy to visit all our fans and friends and we're preparing a really special show! We will bring the Shallow Life songs and themes alongside some of our classic songs and some surprises. The tour will start in the UK and will spread over Europe, more details to come soon, stay tuned!”

To sweeten the time of waiting until you finally get to see a full Lacuna Coil headlining show and to get yourselves into the mood for the special live experience make sure to grab the digital only I Like It single. In order to see where people coming from completely different genres were able get the song, three unique artists were approached to remix I Like It for the single:

Interface: One of New York’s longest-lived electronic music acts, Interface combines the sonic edge of industrial, the club energy of trance, and a melodic sensibility for a unique experience.

Das Basslaster: Das Basslaster, synthies/samples/computer and vocals as well as producer for Electro/Pop/Emo/Trash darlings Frittenbude, went for a more Pop mix of the song.

Dan Peace: 20 year old Underground Electro / Big Bass producer and DJ from the North East England, Dan Peace, emerged from the bedroom mid September 2008. He has since been knocking out his own brand of dance music & DJ'ing regularly.

I Like It is out digitally ONLY in Europe and Australia already.

eluveitie finish recordings for upcoming release

Eluveitie have just finished recordings for the new album which is scheduled for release in Spring 2010. The band also revealed the artwork and album title - Everything Remains. Mainman Chrigel Glanzmann attends the mixing sessions with Colin Richardson and Martyn Ford in Wales.

“Somehow it seems almost unreal to me: The recordings for our upcoming album are finished!

Right now I’m in the Welsh Nott-In Pill studios with Colin Richardson and Martyn “Ginge” Ford working on the mix of the album. And believe me, the mix will be mind-blowing! Well, what can I say… Colin is just a pure genius!

We can look back at two extremely intense months of working our asses off recording the album. It has been an intense, exhausting, but also satisfying time with all of us giving 150% in. Many things developed very spontaneously and songs became very authentic, pure and genuine.

Speaking of the recording I have to mention the amazing job of Tommy Vetterli for sure, who really worked his balls off for the album! Once again he assured his position among the world’s best engineers. That’s what Colin Richardson stated about his work: ”one of the best drum and guitar trackings I’ve ever heard”!

We'’d like to reveal the album title: Everything Remains. Lyrically the album consists of diverse stories and narrations from ancient Gallia: Historical occurrences and fates of individuals as well as myths and legends bequeathed throughout the centuries. Yet the lyrics pretty much focus the “human” aspects of those historical happenings and also behold them with some questioning and probably also with a slightly bitter-sweet smile, being well aware of the fact that today we simply cannot tell, how things exactly have been back then.

But enough babbled for now – back to some mixing work!

Cheers from Wales,

Chrigel”

11th october

updates

Interviews

Eden's Curse - Michael, Paul, Thorsten & Alessandro

Darkness Dynamite - Julien, Junior & Cris

Battlelore - Jussi Rautio

Review

Steel Panther - Shepherds Bush Empire, London, UK

10th october

updates

Interviews

Arthemis - Andrea Martongelli

Celesty - Antti Railio

Dear Superstar - Milton Gunns

Photos

Lacuna Coil - The Masque, Liverpool, UK

Reviews

Children of Bodom - Skeletons in the Closet

Grimmstine - Grimmstine

Five Finger Death Punch - War is the Anwer (Sampler)

Fair Warning - Aura

Syrach - A Dark Burial

06th october

updates

Reviews

Augury - Fragmentary Evidence

Spheric Universe Experience - Unreal

evile: mike alexander 22.06.1977 - 05.10.2009

Sadly, just a few days into their European tour with Amon Amarth, Evile's Mike Alexander was suddenly taken ill and rushed to hospital, but tragically passed away in Lulea, Sweden.

Evile members Matt Drake, Ol Drake and Ben Carter have released the following statement:

"This is so hard to find the words to express fully how we feel. We can't believe or accept what's happened. One minute we're talking to our buddy, Mike, the next minute we can never speak to him again.

There's so many things rushing through our heads that we want to say, do and feel. We half expect him to come round the corner and call us 'dickheads'. We can't get our heads around it.

It upsets us so much that he was away from his family when this happened, although knowing Mike, we're at least glad he was on tour doing what he loves.

We're lost for words. We all miss him so much already. He was such a headstrong, genuinely nice guy who loved music and his family. We've got so many brilliant memories with him.

Our hearts go out to his daughter, family and friends at this tragic, difficult time.

Mike is much loved and is sorely missed.

Rest in peace, brother."

bloodstock 2010: devin townsend confirmed

The Bloodstock team are proud to announce that legendary multi-instrumentalist Devin Townsend has been added to the bill for Bloodstock Open Air 2010 as a Very Special Guest appearance. This will be his ONLY UK SHOW in 2010!

Devin Townsend is the mastermind behind extreme metal pioneers Strapping Young Lad and a series of diverse solo albums released under his own name and also as The Devin Townsend Band and The Devin Townsend Project. In addition, he has collaborated with a huge number of other artists and is also a noted producer.

Devin had this to say: “Hey folks, Devin Townsend here. Coming at you after a multi year hiatus of playing live.

I am extremely proud to say that I have the honor of playing the 2010 Bloodstock festival in England this coming summer! It's been a while since I've played any shows so I hope you'll join me as I finally get the chance to bring this vision to the big stage.

I will be playing selections from Addicted, Deconstruction, Ziltoid, Physicist, Ki, Infinity, Ocean Machine and various other albums from the past fifteen years. I'm extremely proud to have the opportunity to finally bring these albums to you; I have been planning this for many years. It will be an experience that I hope we will all remember for years to come.

There's no time like the present, Lets kick some ass.

Devin Townsend”

chimaira find replacement for matt devries on euro tour

Chimaira rhythm guitarist Matt DeVries is sitting out the remainder of the band's European tour so that he can be home in time for the birth of his son. Filling in for him for the rest of the European dates is Emil Werstler of Daath.

DeVries will be back on stage for the band's U.S. tour with Trivium, which kicks off on October 29.

Commented Matt: "This is going to be one of the happiest moments of my life and I want to thank the fans for understanding my absence. Emil is one of the most talented guitarists I have ever jammed with and I am fully confident he will do a fantastic job filling in. I'll be back on stage riffing in a few weeks."

Chimaira will play its tenth annual Christmas show on December 27 at the House Of Blues in the band's hometown Cleveland.

The band will embark on a tour of Australia and New Zealand in January 2010. Support on the trek will come from Double Dragon. This will be the band's first headlining Australian tour, having previously played the country as a support act for In Flames, Biohazard and Korn.

04th october

updates

Interview

Hardcore Superstar - Adde

Feature

Bloodstock Open Air - photos and review

Photos

Tarja - Elf Fantasy Fair, Arcen, The Netherlands

Arthemis - Bloodstock Open Air, Derby, UK

Abgott - Bloodstock Open Air, Derby, UK

Reviews

Foobar The Band - Your Fiend, My Friend

Reece - Universal Language

D'espairsRay - Rainbow Bar, Birmingham, UK

power quest unveil new line up

We are very pleased to finally reveal the all-new Power Quest line-up. A farewell to members Alessio Garavello, Andrea Martongelli and Francesco Tresca was given at Saturday’s final show @ Metalfest UK in Dudley. The band’s final performance took the Metalfest crowd by storm as they tore through a blistering set of Power Quest classics.

Power Quest is now facing the biggest change in band history since they started in 2001.

Steve Williams is confident that the new members of the family will continue to keep the PQ dream alive.

First addition to the now UK based 6 piece is vocalist Pete Morten, who is also known from his guitar job in Threshold. Pete is an extremely talented vocalist and brings his own style to the unique Power Quest sound. “To recruit a singer similar to Alessios’ style was never an option, when we were looking for a strongly skilled singer with his own personality. Pete is just the man for it!” comments Steve.

The first of our new guitarists is 21-year-old Andy Midgley. He will take care of the rhythm parts but will also be blasting out some solos too!

Behind the drum kit is Derby based sticks man Rich Smith, an extremely talented drummer, Rich has been a part of the UK metal scene for more than ten years.

Replacing Andrea was never going to be an easy task; but Ben Randall will show the fans, together with his twin shredder Andy, that the new team is ready to strike in the Power Quest tradition. At the tender age of 16 Ben made it to the final of International Guitar Idol in 2008 where he was voted "most promising young guitarist" from over 750 contenders.

Completing the line up on bass guitar is Paul Finnie, a close member of the Power Quest family for many years, who’s now taking the chance to step into the spotlight.

The all-new POWER QUEST will be back on the road next month. You'll be able to catch the new Power Quest line up in action at the following shows in October 2009.

lahannya to release new album / tour dates

Lahannya will release her new album Defiance on 19 October via Kabuki Records / Plastichead. The tracklisting is as follows:

Adrenaline
Open Your Eyes
Interference
Piece By Piece
Kill Me If You Care
No Way Out
Our War

You can also catch the band at the following venues:

20 Nov: Blackpool - West Coast Rock Cafe
21 Nov: Sheffield - Corporation
22 Nov: Leeds - Subculture
24 Nov: Newcastle - Trillians
25 Nov: Glasgow - Rockers
26 Nov: Nottingham - Old Angel
27 Nov: London - Purple Turtle

Tickets available at usual outlets.

behemoth confirmed for bloodstock

Bastions of brutality Behemoth are the fifth act to be confirmed for Bloodstock Open Air's 10th Anniversary next year. Recent album Evangelion has taken the metal world by storm, with rave reviews across the board and the most enthusiastic reaction to any album in the band’s eighteen year career.
 
Their performance at the 10 year anniversary of Bloodstock next year marks the band’s debut UK festival performance. Frontman Nergal states: “What can I say? We’re thrilled to be playing Bloodstock 2010. It’s our first ever UK festival which makes it all the more special and exclusive for us. Make sure you come and check us out, we’re really looking forward to raising hell and kicking some ass there!”
 
With just under eleven months to go, the outdoor metal event is already shaping up to be an unmissable experience, with Obituary, Rage, Andromeda and Ross the Boss also confirmed. Look out for another exclusive announcement next week too!
 
Bloodstock Open Air 2010 will take place at Catton Hall, Derbyshire from 13th – 15th August.
 

latest additions to hellfire festival line up

Blackhole, The Cumshots, Carcer City, Arthemis and Imperial Vengeance have all been added to the line up for this year's Hellfire Festival. They will be appearing alongside the likes of:

CKY

Cancer Bats

Electric Eel Shock

Malefice

Saxon

Anvil

Evile

Fields of the Nephilim

My Dying Bride

Anathema

Katatonia

+ many more

The festival will run from Frodau 6 - Sunday 8 November. For tickets and more information please visit the Hellfire Festival official site.

to-mera to release new ep

To-Mera are delighted to announce that their new EP Earthbound is finished and is to be released on 24 October 2009. You can listen to a teaser on the band's official myspace page. You can also pre-order the EP from their site for just $10, which includes postage to anywhere in the world. The band will also throw in some stickers and sign the EP for you if you like. In the merch section you will also find some offers.

30th september

updates

Feature

Steel Panther

Steel Panther - Shepherds Bush Empire, London, UK

23rd september

updates

Reviews

Voices of Rock - High and Mighty

Diablo Swing Orchestra - Sing Along Songs for the Damned and Delerious

Lillian Axe - Sad Day on Planet Earth

20th september

updates

Photos

Apocalyptica - M'era Luna Festival, Hildesheim, Germany

the haunted to tour uk

After finishing up this year’s festival season, Sweden’s The Haunted have now confirmed a UK headlining tour kicking off in late October 2009. This will be the band’s first UK headlining run in support of its current album Versus, See below for dates:

With The Casino Brawl & Romeo Must Die
 
29 Oct: Glasgow - Cathouse
30 Oct: Swansea - Vice
31 Oct: Leeds - Rios
01 Nov: Manc hester - Academy
02 Nov: Birmingham - O2 Academy
03 Nov: Reading - Sub 89
04 Nov: London - Scala

Tickets available from usual outlets.

new sonata arctica album certified gold in finland

Sonata Arctica have just released their brand new album The days of Grays - which has been cetified Gold on the first day of release in Finland (sales in excess of 15 000 copies). The band recently released The Last Amazing Grays which hit the Finnish singles charts at #4 and then climbed to #3,

Their last album Unia was certified Gold in Finland back in May 2007 and is about to go Platinum with more than 30 000 copies sold. The band are currently touring the USA and will be back in Europe for a headlining run in November. The band will make their way back to the UK in December.

03 Dec: London - Carling Academy Islington

04 Dec: Prestatyn - Hard Rock Hell

05 Dec: Dudley - JB's

slayer return to the uk

With the release of their new studio album World Painted Blood set for 2 November, thrash titans Slayer have announced a headlining tour of the UK later the same month. Over a career spanning three decades, Slayer have solidified their position as one of the biggest and most important metal bands in the world, a name synonymous with hard aggressive music, and punishingly brutal live shows.
 
Early reports claim the latest album to be their finest work since the 1986 classic Reign in Blood, with the band themselves agreeing “It sounds like the stuff we wrote in the 80’s”. Fans will be able to find out for themselves how the new songs hold up against their tremendous back catalogue in a live setting for the first time at the following shows:
 

18 Nov: Nottingham - Rock City

19 Nov: Birmingham - Academy

20 Nov: Manchester - Academy

22 Nov: Glasgow - Barrowlands

23 Nov: Leeds - Academy

25 Nov: London - HMV Forum

26 Nov: London - HMV Forum

19th september

updates

Photos

The Birthday Massacre - M'era Luna Festival, Hildesheim, Germany

18th september

updates

Photos

Steel Panther - Academy, Manchester, UK

17th september

updates

Photos

Oomph - M'era Luna Festival, Hildesheim, Germany

13th september

updates

Reviews

Merauder - God is I

The Bitter Twins - Global Panic!

Crew

Profile added - Marcus

metalfest: just around the corner

The first installment of MetalFest is nearly upon us. Come 25 September MetalFest will open its doors for the first time and unleash a barrage of bands including:

Swallow the Sun, Blaze Bayley, Evergrey, Primal Fear, Dragonland, Kalmah, Omnium Gatherum, Pathosray, Brainstorm, Power Quest and many more!

What more could you ask for over a late September weekend!? If you've not already got your tickets, what are you waiting for? Discounted tickets are still available via the official site.

marilyn manson announces uk shows

Marilyn Manson has announced a run of UK shows in December. The first UK tour since the release of The High End of Low - considered by many to be the bands finest album in years - kicks off at London's Brixton Academy on 9 December. Frontman Marilyn Manson had this to say:

“The world needs a reminder that rock n' roll is as long as it wants, whatever it wants, and however it wants to be done. People say that, "if it ain't broke, etc..." Well I say, Break it.”

Polarising opinions and driving moral watchdogs crazy, whatever one may think of Manson, it’s hard to argue against the power of a Marilyn Manson concert. Alternative anthems such as Disposable Teens, The Dope Show, The Beautiful People and Arma-Goddamn-Motherf***in-Geddon set against a vivid stage show coupled with impressive costumes, ensures the shows will be a highly entertaining, not-to-be-missed audio-visual experience.
 
See below for dates:

09 Dec: London, Brixton Academy

13 Dec: Birmingham, O2 Academy

14 Dec: Manchester, 02 Academy

17 Dec: Nottingham, Trent FM Arena

Tickets are available from usual outlets.

children of bodom to release covers album

The Finnish five-piece with a penchant for covering songs have gone one better this time and are releasing Skeletons in the Closet on 21 September via Spinefarm Records. This will see he band release seventeen covers spanning their decade-plus career.

Some of the covers have appeared as bonus material on hard-to-find single releases or limited edition re-issues, others are brand new recordings.

Tracklist as follows:

Lookin' Out My Back Door(Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Hell is For Children (Pat Benatar)
Somebody Put Something in My Drink (Ramones)
Mass Hypnosis (Sepultura)
Don't Stop at the Top (Scorpions)
Silent Scream (Slayer)
She is Beautiful (Andrew W.K.)
Just Dropped in (to See What Condition My Condition Was In) (Kenny Rogers)
Bed of Nails (Alice Cooper)
Hellion (W.A.S.P.)
Aces High (Iron Maiden)
Rebel Yell (Billy Idol)
No Commands (Stone – a band that once featured current C.O.B guitarist Roope Latvala)
Antisocial (Trust/Anthrax)
Talk Dirty to Me (Poison)
War Inside My Head (Suicidal Tendencies)

Ooops! I Did it Again (Britney Spears)

12th september

updates

Photos

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter - M'era Luna Festival, Hildesheim, Germany

Lacuna Coil - HMV Forum, London, UK

07th september

updates

Photos

Circus Insane - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

06th september

updates

Photos

Europe - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Satyricon - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Moonspell - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

05th september

updates

Photos

Anathema - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Equilibrium - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Girlschool - Bloodstock Open Air

Sabaton - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Cradle of Filth - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Blind Guardian - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

04th september

updates

Photos

Apocalyptica - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Kreator - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Enslaved - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

03rd september

updates

Photos

Candlemass - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

02nd september

updates

Photos

Entombed - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

The Haunted - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Wolf - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

01st september

updates

Photos

Battlelore - Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Uncle Rotter - Bloodstock Open Air, UK