Archive News Nov 08, 2001

RAVEN bassist/vocalist John Gallagher has posted the following update on the band's activities at the group's official web site at www.ravenlunatics.com: “Hi!! It's been a while. Sorry to have been out of it for a while, but a lot has been happening behind the scenes... [Guitarist] Mark [Gallagher] &amp I were over in England in early September as our father passed away... Mark ended up getting stuck in Canada (due to the Sept. 11th attacks his plane got diverted there). He then was involved in a car crash..then last week narrowly escaped death as a 20 ft wall fell on him!!! Luckily he only sustained injuries to his legs - shattered ankle on one leg, most of the flesh ripped off the other… So he is hurting — but in good spirits... phew!!! On the music side, we are still chasing new licensing deals with our recent demos… We will probably put some 'snippets' up on the site for you lot to get an idea of what we are up to!!! Of course, this thing with Mark is gonna slow things up a bit — the important thing is that he gets well…already had to go back to the hospital for post-operative infection... What can I tell you, its been an 'interesting' year! Cheers, John”

TESTAMENT guitarist Steve Smyth has recorded a guest appearance on San Francisco Bay Area band DOWN FACTOR's newest release, entitled Pure. Steve plays guest lead on the tracks 'Vein', 'Judicial Hunt', and 'Broken Shell'. For more info on DOWN FACTOR, check out their official web site at this location.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

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FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS INVITED TO HAVE A LITTLE MERRY MAYHEM

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Clear Channel Entertainment commends the peacekeepers of our nation for their amazing work over the past two months. To show our deep-felt appreciation of the dedication, Clear Channel Entertainment, in conjunction with OZZY OSBOURNE, are extending a personal invitation to all police officers and firefighters to share in the common passion for music that resonates within us all.

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OZZY OSBOURNE's current fall tour with ROB ZOMBIE, dubbed the Merry Mayhem Tour, kicked off October 31 in Tucson, Ariz. and is on its way through 27 cities across the nation. In each of the upcoming cities OZZY and Clear Channel Entertainment are providing two tickets for each firefighter and police officer to attend the local performance.

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'We feel by hosting a 'Policeman and Firefighter Appreciation Night' in each city on the tour, it's a great way to show our support for the local heroes as well as getting back to our daily lives,' says Jane Holman of Clear Channel Entertainment Touring. 'The show is really tremendous--irreverent, fun, visually assaulting, potato-flake spraying--a completely entertaining show.'

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Tickets are on sale now through cc.com for all Merry Mayhem dates.

DEFTONES vocalist Chino Moreno and RED TAPE's Jeff Jaworski make an appearance in WILL HAVEN's video clip for the title track to their latest release, entitled Carpe Diem, which is currently being shot with director Brad Oates of Trainwreck Productions. A late November air date is expected via MTV2, VH-1, Kerrang, and the BOX. The band are also planning to sell “special edition” copies of the clip via their official web site, featuring extra behind-the-scenes footage of the video shoot and “footage of us on tour breaking stuff”, according to an official statement from the band.

SYSTEMATIC's October 6th performance in Las Vegas, Nevada was recorded by House Of Blues and will be available for listening via a webcast at www.hob.com beginning Tuesday, November 13th at 12 PM PT.

1605 Records has announced plans to sign new acts to the label. If you are a band that would like to submit your material to 1605 for review, please contact: [email protected].

DRY KILL LOGIC's version of the PRONG classic 'Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck', recorded “in the backwoods of Tennessee”, according to the Roadrunner Records web site, is available for download at this location.

EDGUY's latest release, Mandrake, was issued by AFM Records in vinyl format, featuring two bonus tracks.

According to www.melodicrock.com, classic Australian rockers HEAVEN have been confirmed as support act to JUDAS PRIEST on their upcoming Australian and American tours. Also scheduled to appear on the US portion of the trek is ANTHRAX (the band),who will presumably take the middle slot, while HEAVEN will likely open the show.

Sweden's MORIFADE have been forced to push back the release of the second full-length CD, entitled Imaginarium, to February 25th after a remix of the album was deemed necessary. Imaginarium will be issued through Hammerheart Records.

Britain's RAGING SPEEDHORN will embark on a headline tour of the UK with Clutch and Candiria in late January. Opening the shows on various dates will be DUKES OF NOTHING (London only),HELVIS (Manchester and Leeds) and LANDMINE SPRING (all other shows). The dates are as follows:

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Jan. 25 – Bristol, UK @ Fleece &amp Firkin

Jan. 26 – Colchester, UK @ Arts Centre

Jan. 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Garage

Jan. 28 – Manchester, UK @ MDH

Jan. 29 – Leeds, UK @ Cockpit

Jan. 30 – Wolverhampton, UK @ Wulfrun Hall

Jan. 31 – London, UK @ Mean Fiddler

According to a Japanese unofficial MSG site (and as reported by www.rockreunion.com),the new MSG drummer is 25-year-old Jeremy Carlson. In other news, guitarist Michael Schenker revealed to Japan's Burrn! magazine in their December issue that he is currently working on a “concept” album that may or may not feature contributions from former JUDAS PRIEST and current HALFORD frontman Rob Halford.

Australian rockers SILVERCHAIR will appear at the 2002 Big Day Out Festival, which is scheduled to take place in late January. The band will play all dates on the festival tour of Australia and New Zealand in January/February next year alongside international visitors like THE PRODIGY, NEW ORDER and GARBAGE. This will be SILVERCHAIR's first-ever appearance on the main stage of the Big Day Out and they will play from 7 PM until 8 PM at each date. Apart from their gigs at last year's Falls Festival and January's Rock In Rio, these will be the band's first live performances since late 1999. After taking a break in 2000 they have spent most of this year working on a new album in Sydney, the mixing for which is scheduled to commence in Los Angeles next week. 'We're really looking forward to doing the Big Day Out in a couple of months', said SILVERCHAIR's drummer Ben Gillies. 'We've spent most of this year rehearsing and recording the new album so it will be fun to finally get back to playing some gigs. It should be a really good way to introduce a few of the new songs to people too.' A new SILVERCHAIR single will be released shortly before Christmas, to be followed by their as-yet-untitled fourth studio album later in 2002.

Epitaph Records has been forced to remove an MP3 file of BAD RELIGION's “Sorrow”, taken from the group's forthcoming The Process Of Belief CD, from their site temporarily. In other news, the release date of The Process Of Belief has now been moved forward to January 22nd.

Former MEGADETH guitarist Chris Poland's OHM project, a Los Angeles-based jazz rock trio consisting of major label and studio musicians, have completed the following eight songs for their upcoming CD:

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01. Peanut Buddha

02. OHMage

03. Sister Cheryl

04. Came to Believe

05. Brandenburg Gate

06. The Mountain

07. Suicide King

08. Iguana

Hard-rocking german female Doro Pesch has announced the following European live appearances for late December/early January:

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Dec. 31 - Pratteln, SWI @ Z7

Jan. 02 - Verviers, BEL @ Spirit of 66

Jan. 04 - Bergara, SPA - Sala Jam

Jan. 05 - Barcelona, SPA @ Paulau Olympic Vall D' Hebron

The Metal Maniacs Xmass Ball Tour 2001, featuring ENSLAVED, MACABRE, ELECTRIC WIZARD, DIABOLIC and SCAR CULTURE, will be making the following stops:

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Dec. 05 - Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA (w/MOONSPELL, LACUNA COIL)

Dec. 07 - North Six - Willamsburg (Brooklyn),NY

Dec. 08 - Jarrods - Attleboro, MA

Dec. 09 - Jaxx - Springfield, VA

Dec. 10 - Peabody's - Cleveland, OH

Dec. 11 - The Strand Theatre - Pittsburgh, PA (w/PENANCE)

Dec. 12 - Creepy Crawl - St. Louis, MO

Dec. 13 - Double Door - Chicago, IL

Dec. 14 - Riley's Rockhouse- Aurora, IL

Dec. 15 - Shelter (St. Andrews Basement) - Detroit, MI

Dec. 16 - Howards Club H - Bowling Green, OH

Dec. 18 - Reverb - Toronto, ONT

Dec. 19 - Foufounes Electriques - Montreal, QUE

Dec. 21 - El-N-Gee Club - New London, CT

Italy's CENTURION have replaced drummer Sebastiano Masseti with Emanuele Beccacece and have begun work on their new CD, entitled Non Plus Ultra, which is due to be released through Scarlet Records in early 2002.

Brazilian death metallers KRISIUN are planning on issuing a DVD during 2002, containing footage filmed in Japan, Germany and the legendary Whiskey A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. 'All the images were filmed with five cameras by a professional team. Now we need some time to work in the conclusion of the final material', said KRISIUN guitarist Moyses Kolesne.

Norway's RED HARVEST are currently making their final preparations before entering the recording studio at Akkerhaugen, Norway with producer Neil Kernon (i.e. NEVERMORE, CANNIBAL CORPSE) to begin tracking their upcoming CD, which is tentatively due in March. Boasting a sound that is being described as a mixture of VOIVOD, LAIBACH, NEUROSIS and GGFH, the upcoming album will be mixed in the US and will likely feature several guest appearances, including one from MAYHEM guitarist Blasphemer.

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN's Concerto Suite Live CD/DVD and CD/VHS packages via Japan's Pony Canyon will include a special time-limited coupon that can be sent in for a free color Yngwie 2002 calendar. In addition to the actual concert, the DVD is expected to include an Introduction, Behind-the-Scenes footage, Yngwie Interview, Biography, Discography, and Photo Gallery. Heavy promotion for the release will begin in early December in Japan. No news yet about distribution outside Pony Canyon sales territory.

Germany's ANGEL DUST will perform at Matrix in Bochum, Germany on December 25th. Also on the bill will be German alcohol metal crew TANKARD.

JADED HEART's upcoming The Journey Will Never End CD will include a cover of the BACKSTREET BOYS' “Larger Than Life” (penned by former IT'S ALIVE frontman and mega-producer Max Martin aka Martin Sandberg). JADED HEART are currently recording the new album with producer Thommy Newton in Celle, Germany for a spring 2002 release through MTM Records.

A brand new Scarlet Records signing, Italy's NUDE is a dark/gothic metal act that will be issuing their debut CD, entitled Cities And Faces, at the end of November. According to the label, NUDE's musical style is a combination of gothic, electronic, new wave and metal, blending “the modern pop-dark of DEPECHE MODE, the heavy gothic melodies of PARADISE LOST, the rockiest-impact of THE CULT and the ethereal vein of TIAMAT”.

KING'S X will be embarking on the second leg of their current Manic Moonlight tour in February. Opening band will be announced shortly.

Swedish pop-punkers MILLENCOLIN have completed the recording sessions for their as-yet-untitled new album, which is due to be released in March. 15 songs were tracked during the sessions, including new versions of “Kemp” and “Black Eye”, with 12 tentatively scheduled to be included on the finished CD. According to the group's official web site, “you can expect an album with a variation of songs (as always),but overall heavier than ever.” Other tracks that are set to make an appearance on the CD are 'Man or Mouse', 'Happiness For Dogs' and 'Punk Rock Rebel'.

MR. BIG guitarist Richie Kotzen has shot a video for a track off his upcoming solo album, entitled Slow, which is due to be released on December 19th in Japan via Yamaha Records.

Hammerheart Records will re-release Dutch death metal act SEVERE TORTURE's Feasting on Blood LP in digipack format in December. It will contain the two bonus tracks 'Lambs of a God' and 'Taking Down the Descender', taken from the 'Lambs of a God' seven-inch single and also a video clip for the song 'Butchery of the Soul', recorded by LowLifeMedia.

The full track listing for BLACKMORE'S NIGHT's exclusive Japan-only ballads compilation, entitled Minstrels And Ballads, is as follows:

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01. The Times They Are A Changin'

02. Spirit Of The Sea

03. Fool's Gold

04. Again Someday

05. Fayre Thee Well

06. Greensleeves

07. Wish You Were Here

08. Mid-Winter's Night

09. Catherine Howard's Fate

10. Durch Den Wald Zum Bach Haus

11. Be Mine Tonight

12. Ocean Gypsy

13. Benzai-Ten

14. Now And Then

Sweden's VINTERSORG, featuring vocalist Vintersorg of the Norwegian band BORKNAGAR, has set The Contrast Excursion as the title to their upcoming DVD, featuring footage of the group's recent Canadian live performance.

STRATOVARIUS/ex-DIO keyboardist Jens Johansson has recorded a guest appearance on a CD called Einstein Too, also featuring Jonathan Mover and Stan Jankowski. For more information, go to this location.

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