Archive News Sep 25, 2001

Although nothing has been officially confirmed, sources close to the ENTOMBED camp have revealed that the group's much-publicized and –anticipated collaboration with a Swedish ballet ensemble at the Royal Opera Hall in Stockholm as part of a show called Unreal Estate, originally set to take place around February 2002, is unlikely to come to fruition following a breakdown in communication between the band and the above-mentioned parties over issues related to the group's compensation for their services (which were reportedly set to be consistent with the Swedish musicians union rates for similar performances). As previously reported, ENTOMBED were due to be putting on a 45-minute set of brand new, specially-composed original material while surrounded by 30 ballet dancers and a 10-year-old kid. ENTOMBED's set was set to be the third and final set of the overall show, and it was to call for two choreographers, Bogdan Szyber and Carina Reich, to get the ballet dancers performing around the band. At this point, a possibility still exists that the show will go ahead as planned, pending a resumption of talks between the involved parties, but the original time-frame of February 2002 seems unlikely and is almost certain to get pushed back to a later part of next year, if at all. We'll have more information on this as it becomes available. In the meantime, ENTOMBED have lined up several Swedish headlining gigs in support of their recently issued Morning Star CD. The dates are as follows:

...

Oct. 03 - Metropol, Hultsfred, SWE

Oct. 08 - Blå, Eskilstuna, SWE

Oct. 09 - Contan, Örebro, SWEDEN

Oct. 11 - Mejeriet, Lund, SWE

Oct. 19 - Blixen Bar, Karlstad, SWE

Oct. 26 - Kolingsborg, Stockholm, SWE

Nov. 02 - Musikens Hus, Göteborg, SWE

Former TESTAMENT/DEATH/OBITUARY guitarist James Murphy has reportedly been diagnosed with an undisclosed type of brain tumor and is said to be at home in Florida recovering from a recent emergency operation that is believed to have successfully prevented the disease from progressing to a more advanced stage. At the time of Murphy's diagnosis, the axeman was said to be working on the material for a long-awaited sophomore offering from his death metal project DISINCARNATE—also set to feature an appearance by former AT THE GATES and current THE CROWN frontman Tomas Lindberg—for a 2002 release through Nuclear Blast Records. It is presently unclear what impact this latest development will have on the guitarist's future recording plans.

Former CANDLEMASS / current MEMENTO MORI frontman Messiah Marcolin and LIONS SHARE guitarist Lars Chriss have joined forces in a brand new, as-yet-unnamed project that has been composing material for a possible album release through an as-yet-undetermined record label during the latter part of 2002. Featuring a musical direction that has been described as “heavy and doomy sounding with a lot of 70's influences (i.e. URIAH HEEP, BLACK SABBATH, ALICE COOPER, BUDGIE etc.)”, the group's present formation also comprises former HIROSHIMA drummer Örjan Englin (a DJ at Sweden's biggest classic rock radio station Rockklassiker 106.7) and is currently on the lookout for a bassist. Interested four-stringers can contact Örjan at [email protected]

ICED EARTH will be the opening act at two weeks' worth of dates on MEGADETH's headlining US tour, starting on October 20th in Cedar Point, North Carolina. According to MEGADETH bassist Dave Ellefson, “we figured it best to continue a good thing with this than take a break and come back with a second leg [of our headlining tour] and I think ICED EARTH will rock everyone's world.”

...

Here are the confirmed MEGADETH/ICED EARTH US dates:

...

Oct. 20 - Cedar Point, NC @ 105/101 Pure Rock Bash

Oct. 21 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva

Oct. 22 – Atlanta, GA @ Roxy Theater

Oct. 24 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance

Oct. 25 - Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights

Oct. 27 - Ft. Wayne, IN @ Pieres

Oct. 28 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts

Oct. 30 - La Crosse, WI @ Hollywood Theater

Oct. 31 – Wausau, WI @ Bases Loaded

Nov. 01 – Rockford, IL @ The Times Theater

Nov. 02 - Combined Locks, WI @ Ryan's Ballroom

Nov. 03 – Lafayette, IN @ Riehle Brothers Pavillion

...

In other news, ICED EARTH will now NOT be able to join JUDAS PRIEST on the latter band's rescheduled US tour, because of ICED EARTH's previous European touring commitments.

EXODUS frontman Paul Baloff will be a guest on Billy Steel's Metal Zone in San Francisco this Friday, September 28th on 107.7 The Bone at 9 PM. You can listen live to the interview at www.1077thebone.com. EXODUS and TECHNOCRACY (featuring former VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel) will play The Pound in San Francisco on Friday, October 12th.

MEDICATION's upcoming five-song EP, which is currently being mixed by producer Bill Kennedy (i.e. MORBID ANGEL, MEGADETH, TESTAMENT),will be issued through the group's own label imprint and distributed through Plastic Head in the UK in time for the band's upcoming British tour during October/November. No deal has yet been inked for the US, but the group is said to be working on a distribution deal that should be finalized in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the aforementioned, as-yet-untitled EP will also be available at show or direct through the band via a soon-t-be-published contact address. In other news, MEDICATION, who feature in their ranks former MACHINE HEAD / SOULFLY guitarist Logan Mader, ex-UGLY KID JOE / LIFE OF AGONY vocalist Whitfield Crane, ex-ADAYINTHELIFE guitarist Blunt, and ex-SOULFY drummer Roy Mayorga, have secured a permanent bassist in the form of Kyle Sanders (formerly of THE PIECE DOGS, the band that also at one time included SEVENDUST guitarist John Connolly),who will accompany the group on their aforementioned European tour.

KING DIAMOND have set the track listing for their upcoming Abigail 2: The Revenge CD, which is tentatively due to be issued through Metal Blade Records in January 2002. The song titles are as follows:

...

01. Spare This Life (intro)

02. The Storm

03. A Mansion In Sorrow

04. Miriam

05. Little One

06. Slippery Stairs

07. The Crypt

08. Broken Glass

09. More Than Pain

10. The Wheelchair

11. Spirits

12. Mommy

13. Sorry Dear (Outro)

Sweden's THE CROWN, featuring former AT THE GATES frontman Tomas Lindberg, will enter Studio Mega on October 5th to begin recording their brand new CD, entitled Crowned In Terror, for an early 2002 release. 10 songs will reportedly appear on the album, which will be mixed at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden during the latter part of November. Among the titles set to appear on Crowned In Terror are the following:

...

01. Drugged Unholy

02. Crowned In Terror

03. Under The Whip

04. (I Am) Hell

Sweden's DIMENSION ZERO—featuring IN FLAMES guitarist Jesper Strömblad, ex-IN FLAMES axeman Glenn Ljungström, ex-MARDUK vocalist Jocke Göthberg and LUCIFERION/DIABOLIQUE drummer Hasse Nilsson—will enter Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden on October 6th of October to record their upcoming full-length album, tentatively titled Silent Night Fever. Due to be issued in early 2002 through Sweden's Regain Records, the follow-up to 1996's Penetrations From the Lost World EP will contain eight tracks, including the following:

...

01. Slow Silence

02. Silent Night Fever

03. End

04. Not Even Dead

05. The Murder-Inn

06. Until You Die

German thrashers DESTRUCTION have reportedly pulled out of the remainder of the German leg of the Tattoo The Planet tour (also featuring SLAYER and CRADLE OF FILTH) as a result of various production-related disagreements with the festival organizers. More information as it becomes available.

Finland's SENTENCED will start recording their as-yet-untitled new album on November 26th at Finnvox Studios, where they will track all drums and bass before moving over to Mastervox Studios in Oulu, Finland for the remainder of the recording process. Due to be produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa (who collaborated with the group on their Crimson opus),the forthcoming CD will be mixed and mastered in early February at Finnvox Studios and it will be released through Century Media Records in April. Song titles set to appear on the album include the following:

...

01. Guilt And Regret

02. As Hard As I Try

03. At Your Grave

04. You Are The One

05. Neverlasting

06. Aika Multaa Muistot (Everything Is Nothing)

07. Excuse Me While I Kill Myself

08. Losing My Faith

09. Wither

10. Blood &amp Tears

11. Man In The Bottle

TIAMAT have entered PUK Recording Studios in Denmark to begin recording their as-yet-untitled brand new album, which is tentatively due for release on January 28th through Century Media Records.

Former SKID ROW frontman Sebastian Bach and ex-ANTHRAX guitarist Paul Crook have collaborated on a version of “Amazing Grace”, which is available for download via the singer's official web site at this location. Recorded this past Friday, September 21st, the song was produced by Bach and engineered by Crook, and it is “dedicated to the victims of the World Trade Center attack, the families &amp friends of the victims of the World Trade Center attack, the New York City Fire Department, &amp the New York City Police Department,” according to the vocalist. “Also dedicated to everyone else in the United States of America affected by the unfathomable attacks on the Pentagon &amp the airplane over PA. Words cannot express the pain , sorrow , &amp empathy I feel for all of us who have had our lives permanently scarred by the tragic events of September 11 2001. I have decided to put my feelings into song &amp offer you all this music in our collective time of grieving. Please feel free to make your own CDs , load it into your MP3 player , save it on your hard drive , play it on the radio, whatever you want , just enjoy it &amp hopefully it just might take you away from this madness for a short 3 minutes. Hope you all are A-OK &amp remember 'Seize the Day' - life is precious &amp don't ever take it for granted. WE STAND &amp WE WON'T FALL / WE'RE ONE &amp ONE FOR ALL / the writing's on the wall …”

Norway's THEATRE OF TRAGEDY entered Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland on September 17th to begin recording their brand new studio album, due for release in early 2002. Produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa (i.e. SENTENCED, H.I.M., APOCALYPTICA, MOONSPELL, BUSH, 69 EYES, etc.),the as-yet-unttiled new album's first single will be released in January, with the full CD—the group's first with new guitarist Vegard Thorsen—to follow in February. 12 songs are currently being recorded, including an as-yet-undisclosed surprise cover song.

Polish death metal legends VADER have parted ways with bassist Shambo and are currently auditioning potential replacements prior to the recording of the group's as-yet-untitled new album, which is scheduled to take place in January/February for a May 25th release through Metal Blade Records. The group's new bass player will be making his live debut with the group at the Thrash 'Em All Festival in November 2001, alongside headliners KRISIUN, BEHEMOTH, LUX OCCULTA, HATE, SCEPTIC, ESQARIAL and BELFEGOR. In other news, due to the attacks on the World Trade Center, CRYPTOPSY, DYING FETUS and KATAKLYSM have decided to return to Canada and the USA, thus causing the remainder of their Reign Forever World tour (also featuring VADER) to be cancelled after the September 26th show in Austria. Also on the VADER front, the group have been confirmed for next year's No Mercy Festival, where they will appear alongside MAYHEM, IMMORTAL and HYPOCRISY, among others.

The much-hyped Metallenium tour, which has seen a number of line-up changes due to international travel restrictions and personnel changes within bands (ultimately causing DIMMU BORGIR, NAPALM DEATH and WITCHERY to pull out of the package),will now feature SIX FEET UNDER, CANDIRIA, LAMB OF GOD, GOD FORBID and DARKEST HOUR. The confirmed dates are as follows:

...

*w/CANDIRIA

**SIX FEET UNDER only

...

*Sept. 26 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave

*Sept. 27 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall

*Sept. 28 - Detroit, MI @ Harpo's

*Sept. 29 - Toronto, ONT @ Opera House

**Oct. 02 - Albany, NY @ Valentines **

*Oct. 03 - New York, NY @ The World

*Oct. 04 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero

*Oct. 05 - Worcester, MA @ Palladium

Oct. 06 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Laga

Oct. 07 - Norfolk, VA @ Boathouse (tentative)

Oct. 08 - Springfield, VA @ Jaxx

Oct. 09 - Winston-Salem, NC @ Ziggy's

Oct. 10 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade

Oct. 12 - McAllen, TX @ Villa Realle

Oct. 13 - Houston, TX @ Cardi's

Oct. 14 - Arlington, TX @ Dream World

Oct. 15 - Tulsa, OK @ The Other Side

* Oct. 18 - Seattle, WA @ The Catwalk

* Oct. 19 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Ballroom

* Oct. 20 - San Francisco, CA @ The Pound

* Oct. 21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club

* Oct. 22 - Phoenix, AZ @ Outside Bostons

* Oct. 23 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launch Pad

* Oct. 24 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre

* Oct. 25 - Omaha, NE @ Ranch Bowl

* Oct. 26 - St. Louis, MO @ Pops

* Oct. 27 - Minneapolis, MN @ 1st Avenue

* Oct. 28 - Aurora, IL @ Riley's Rock House

* Oct. 29 - Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom

* Oct. 31 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room

...

In related news, Sweden's WITCHERY will now return to the US only one month later than their previously scheduled slot—between November 1st and December 1st—this time as special guests to THE HAUNTED on the latter band's first US headline tour. According to WITCHERY/THE HAUNTED guitarist Patrik Jensen, 'I know this may sound weird to a lot of people that I will be doing two shows per day... but I've been getting this question ever since both bands started releasing albums: 'Will THE HAUNTED and WITCHERY ever tour together?'... Well, I really think it will be no problem...I also think the tour will attract a lot of people with the combination that these two bands present. The only good thing that came out of the unfortunate cancellation of WITCHERY's participation on the Metallennium tour, is that I now all of a sudden have 5 more weeks to write new material for THE HAUNTED's next album... which, I'm sure, many WITCHERY fans are also looking forward to. I would personally like to apologize to all the WITCHERY fans that were expecting &amp counting on seeing WITCHERY at the Metallenium tour. We hope that this tour with THEHAUNTED will redeem all/any hard feelings!! Take care, sweat it out...and we will be seeing you in November!!' Official dates for the tour will be announced shortly.

ENSLAVED's brand new studio release, entitled Monumension, will be released on November 19th through Osmose Productions. The full track listing for the effort is as follows:

...

01. Convoys To Nothingness

02. The Voices

03. Vision: Sphere of the Elements - A Monument Part II

04. Hollow Inside (featuring Trygve Mathiesen on vocals)

05. The Cromlech Gate

06. Enemy I

07. Smirr

08. The Sleep: Floating Diversity - A Monument Part III

09. Outro: Self - Zero

+ A special bonus featuring Trygve Mathiesen of YM-STAMMEN

...

To promote the album's release, ENSLAVED will perform a concert in Oslo, Norway on November 24th at Betong Club. A US tour is also planned for December, the details of which will be announced shortly. In other news, ENSLAVED mainman Ivar Bjoernson has started to write a monthly column for French metal magazine Rock Hard.

RUNNING WILD's forthcoming studio CD, entitled The Brotherhood, will be released in two different versions, with the strictly 'limited edition' due to contain two as-yet-unspecified bonus tracks. In other news, longtime RUNNING WILD guitarist Thilo Herrmann has left the band in order to focus on his family life. In a personal letter to RW mainman Rolf Kasparek that was published via the band's official web site, Thilo wrote that “I will make my place within RUNNING WILD available due to some modifications within my personal area. Of course I will naturally help out again if you still took me into account briefly for this year or if you are getting into trouble because of my decision. When we played the festivals last year, I could never imagined to make this step, but considering the current situation it is not differently possible... Therefore I want to spend my whole strength and attention to my family in the future, which supported me always all the years. I would like to thank you for the good times we had together, the crew (particularly Schädel for his friendship and support: my guitars were always better after the tour than before...) and all RUNNING WILD fans and I really think that we were connected more by the music than by all our long telephone calls. I keep my fingers crossed and I wish you all the best and furthermore much success for RUNNING WILD!!!”

In a rather bizarre development, former ANTHRAX vocalist Neil Turbin has just completed his vocal tracks for the song 'Faith', which is set to be included on the upcoming, as-yet-untitled tribute album to LIMP BIZKIT that is currently being produced by Lanny Cordola (HOUSE OF LORDS) &amp Chuck Wright (HOUSE OF LORDS, QUIET RIOT) for a future release via Cleopatra Records. Neil's vocal tracks were reportedly cut in about two hours on a “very cool” version of the LIMP BIZKIT cover of the original George Michael song. Other artists set to appear on the tribute CD include rapper Tigerfist, Tommy Hendrickson/Jeff Pilson (with 'This Could Be the One'),Stacey from CARBON 9, POWDER, and members of METHODS OF MAYHEM.

....