-- Judas Priest, Heaven And Hell, Motörhead & Testament!!

What do these four biggest names in heavy metal have in common? I believe we'd have a long list if we intend to write them down. But this summer the one thing they'll be having in common will definitely be a tour package. A sixteen date U.S. tour titled The Metal Masters Tour, will kick off on August 6th in Camden, New Jersey with an all-star line-up of Judas Priest, Heaven And Hell, Motörhead and Testament.
Judas Priest will headline the shows promoting their new epic album Nostradamus which will be out on June 17th. Heaven And Hell will be also be promoting a new release. Rhino Records releases a five-CD box set including all Dio-era Black Sabbath albums remastered.
for more info click here.

-- Necroticism

Earache Records reissued legendary grinders Carcass' 1991 album Necroticism - Descanting The Insalubrious as a dual disc (CD + DVD) featuring a documentary titled The Pathologist's Report. The reissue is out in UK and Europe today (april 21st). The first 5000 copies of this dual disc come with a free band member death scene card for collectors. Click here to check out the details of the release.
a trailer of the feature documentary has been uploaded to youtube:


here are the confirmed live dates for the "reformed" Carcass:
06 June 2008 Sweden Rock Festival - Solvesborg, Sweden
20 June 2008 Hellfest Summer Open Air - Clisson, France
27 June 2008 Tuska Open Air Festival - Helsinki, Finland
28 June 2008 Gods Of Metal Festival - Bologna, Italy
09 July 2008 Rockwave - Malakasa, Greece
02 August 2008 Wacken Open Air - Wacken, Germany
16 August 2008 Brutal Assault - Jaromer, Czech Republic
29 August 2008 Hole In The Sky Festival - Bergen, Norway

5to1 : 5 Q&A with Sweden's Calm

Starting the week with a brand new episode of 5to1 interview series. Swedish madmen Calm are this time had to deal with my 5 humble questions. As you've probably heard, or will hear a few seconds later, they released their album themselves via their website for free. So what better time can you think of to discover some brand new heavy stuff for free than now??
--Lets start with putting online an album for free idea... are you guys big radiohead fans?
Whats a radiohead? ;) Actually we were first.. haha.. We put it out for free cause we don't make music to earn money, and what's the best way to spread your music?
-- So what would be next for Calm? as the reactions you got for "Army Of A Few" concerned..you're gonna release the album in may, will it feature any extras from the downloadable version?
Since we released it on the web people begun to ask for a printed one, so when we got in touch with a label we decided to print it.There's nothing new with the printed version except the case with a printed booklet. We don't want to entice people to buy our record cause of extras. They should buy it cause they want the songs on a real compact disc with some great cover art. If you want extras you should show up when we play live or be creative and make a personal remix of our songs and put on the web for free.
--Being from Sweden is some kind of a trademark, a quality certificate in extreme metal scene.. do you think you guys benefit from advantages (and disadvantages) of this thing?
We do our thing in our way, and we put everything we are in to it. the result is a product with a Calm trademark, its just a coincidence that we are from Sweden.
-- It is written at your myspace page :"insano metal-crew which consists of six madmen and an elephant" :) what does this concept all about? an elephant??
We had this mad grey elephant pursuing us on live shows for some years. and to honour him we labeled him sidekick on "army of a few".
--To end this tiny little interview, could you please name your biggest influences for creating Calm's "insano" music??
Life and all its contents !



click here to download "One Moment To Seize"
calm @ myspace.com

-- Listen Fate's debut album online

Californian Deathcore newcomers Fate's debut album Vultures is now available both online and in stores via Metal Blade Records.
click here to listen to Vultures in its entirety.
or check out their myspace page for more details.

-- Vomitory: 4 more albums under Metal Blade Flag

Swedish death metal veterans Vomitory decided to extend thier contract with Metal Blade for another 4 new albums. "We are happy and proud to have signed a new deal with Metal Blade Records Europe. After doing four successful albums out of our six together with Metal Blade, it was no doubt that we wanted to continue working with them. Obviously, they like the way we deliver our death metal and we have no plans on letting them down on that from now on either!” states drummer Tobias Gustafsson.
vomitory @ myspace

-- Darkseed albums to be reissued

One of the pioneers of the Gothic metal genre, Germany's Darkseed will release 3 reissues from their back catalogue. Spellcraft(1997), Give Me Light(1999) and Diving into Darkness(2000) will all be released through Metal Mind Productions as limited edition digi-pack formats. All will be remastered with 24-bit technology and be available in European territories from May 5th.
darkseed @ myspace

-- Another New Track from Till Death Do Us Part

Till Death Do Us Part is title the of new Deicide album as you probably heard till now. The Glen Benton crew has just made available another new track for download. Title track of the new Deicide offering can be heard and downloaded at the band's myspace page.

A special edition of Till Death Do Us Part will also hit the stores on April 28th alongside the regular copies. This special pack will include a free "Glen For The President" woven patch!!

-- First Three Albums of Blood Duster are reissued

Relapse Records reissues Aussie xtreme grinders Blood Duster's first three albums. Band's second full-length Str8outtanorthcote and Mini-CD Fisting The Dead / Yeest both include bonus material and all three of the reissues including 2000's Cunt album have been re-mastered and feature new artwork.
check out Relapse's online store for release info and purchasing details.
for more news about Blood Duster click here.

The 3s -- this week: Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative)

From today [ofviolence] starts a new column which will periodically bring you survey-like shortlists of some unique characters of metal .
Johnny Kelly of Type O Negative (aka "Four Dicks from Brooklyn") and Danzig was kind enough to list his "3s".

here we go :
.:The last 3 albums you purchased?
Johnny Cash - The Legend (boxset)
What can you say about Johnny Cash that hasn't been said? The boxset spans his entire career. 4 cd's of the man in black kicking ass and taking names.
Led Zeppelin - Mothership
A definitive Zeppelin collection along with the dvd. I have all this stuff already but I wanted to complete my collection.
Hellyeah - Hellyeah
This record is a great time. Good drinking music.
.: The Last 3 movies you saw?
Airplane
The Pursuit of Happyness
Pink Floyd's The Wall
.: 3 bands/artists you saw live on stage lately?
Hellyeah, Mara's Drug and Suicide City.
.:3 records you won't be able to survive/live without?
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
.: 3 things you can't survive without when you're on tour?
My Bose ipod docking station, laptop & beer
.: Which 3 bands'/artists' new album you think, would surprise you either in a good or bad way?
Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Hellacopters

type o negative @ myspace

-- Sepultura clockworking

All-time favorites of this blog, Sepultura, is working on the new album which is based on Anthony Burgess' groundbreaking novel A Clockwork Orange. The novel was written in 1962, it was made into a movie by Stanley Kubrick but now it is time to hear a soundtrack composed by our favorite South Americans.
"We will write our soundtrack for this story and Burgess.. life will be an inspiration also to write the music, lyrics and for the artwork. Today at the studio, really good ideas came up, the vibe is great and the songs are coming in a easy and brutal way." reported Andreas Kisser from the studio on march 27.
here is a video from the recording sessions:

-- Warpath's Damnation in May 2008

UK Thrash Revival keeps on coming up with cool new bands one after another. This time Warpath has announced the release date of their Damnation! Apart from a fresh breath to modern days' thrash ethics we'll be hearing an album mastered by the living legend guitar player none other than James Murphy!!

click here to listen 4 exclusive songs of Damnation.

-- Fleshgore's call for Freedom!

Ukranian exteremists Fleshgore reports officially that they have finished working on their new album, and currently looking for a proper label to release it. Check out 4 brand new brutal tunes from Wake Up For Freedom at their myspace player.
You want more of this brutal piece of Fleshgore? Than here is a live video from their recent Sydney, Australia gig.

-- Streamin' Silhouettes

Textures' new album Silhouettes which is due to be out on April 21 is currently available in its entirety at band's myspace page. To check out this streaming album extravaganza here is the link:
www.myspace.com/textures

-- Get ready for Skinlab's first ever live album

"Bay Area Crushers" are releasing their first ever live CD, SkinnedAlive! on April 29 via BCD Music Group. The live footage was recorded at Skinlab's show in june at their hometown Oakland, California.
for more details: skinlab@myspace

-- "Eternal Kingdom" on june 16

Cult Of Luna, Swedish voyagers of undiscovered territories in rock/metal have announced the release date of their fifth album. Eternal Kingdom will be out in Europe on june 16 and in U.S. on july 8. The follow up to both critically and commercially praised Somewhere Along The Highway is said to be sounding "strong and progressive" by band members.
check out the front cover artwork of Eternal Kingdom by clicking here.

A Classic Moment ofviolence #1

The first video i've picked for "a classic moment of violence" posts is an excerpt from mighty Gorefest's dynamo open air 96 performance..

-- Sirenia's new singer

Norwegian masters of gothic/symphonic metal, Sirenia finally announced the new female singer of the band. Her name is Ailyn [no surname has been announced yet though :)] and she's from Granada, Spain.
"...Sirenia has done pre-productions of several new songs and recognizes that Ailyn’s voice match perfectly with the new songmaterial. The band is very pleased to have Ailyn onboard and we all look forward to a future collaboration." is what the band said about the new lady on the block.
click here for more details.

-- Origin enters billboard charts with Antithesis

Billboard's Heatseekers chart is based on the first week sales of records and Origin's new brutal opus Anthithesis entered the chart with the help of 2000+ metalheadz buying the album on its release week. They will be teaming up with Dying Fetus and Sworn Enemy for a brief tour in May. Get all the details about the live dates @ their myspace page.

-- Download Claustrophobia's 2Thousand Hate Demo

Italian Death thrashers Claustrophobia made available their newest 5 song demo for free download. Check out their profile at myspace to download the tunes.

www.myspace.com/claustrophobia666

-- illdisposed puts online a 3rd new track from "The Prestige"

Danes keep posting new songs from their new audio assault The Prestige @ their myspace page.
here is the official blog Illdisposed posted:
"We’ve uploaded a third track from "The Prestige" for you. This one is called "Ich Bin Verloren In Berlin" which means "I’m Lost In Berlin" in German. And you guessed it right - the song is about.... being lost in Berlin!! At the moment we’re preparing everything for our tour that is beginning on the 30th this month. See you there..."

-- Decaying Purity sets the phases of dimensional torture!

Brutal death metallers of Istanbul, Decaying Purity, finally released their debut full-length, Phases Of Dimensional Torture via Spanish Label Grotesque Productions. The album was recorded in Istanbul's Turquosie Studios in 2007 and the cover artwork was done exclusively by extreme metal scene's veteran designer Jon Zig.

decaying purity@myspace

-- Darkest Hour ice hockey fans?

They are indeed! Not just fans but kind of hooligans. They've just recorded a song named "Washington Caps Fight Song" in the name of praising Washington Capitols' qualifying for NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.
here is the link to listen to the song:
www.myspace.com/letsgocapsmusic

-- Carach Angren unleashes Lammendam

Dutch black metallers Carach Angren (translates to english as "iron jaws") finally releasing their debut album via Maddening Media on April 18th.
You can check out two brand new tunes from Lammendam at the band's myspace.
Maddening Media also made Lammendam available for pre-ordering at amazon.de

WITH BLOOD COMES CLEANSING - HORROR [2008]

With Blood Comes Cleansing
Horror
Victory Records
2008

With Blood Comes Cleasing, is one of the bands that some of you out there reading this review will (probably listening to some "extreme" bad ass stuff) eventually call generic. This whole new generation of bands (mostly coming from U.S. for sure) made the extreme music scene a bit over crowded, that's an undeniable fact. It became really hard to figure out which ones are really worth listening and which ones worth "the recycle bin" treatment. With Blood Comes Cleansing is in my very humble opinion not of those worth "dragging and dropping" to the recycle bin type bands. Though their 2nd release (debut for victory rec.), Horror, is nowhere near a groundbreaking gem. At least with the lyrical content of christianity issues. They seem to not preach anything to anybody, but well, (am i the only one thinking this whole breed of bands who have just "seen the light" before releasing an album, got a bit overrated?) as long as they use the "christian" tag this willingly, not everybody will probably believe their sincerity. Anyway what we've got in our hands is an above average band playing mostly highly average tunes of modern metal. Still worth waiting for their best shot to come with the next release though. [6/10]


www.myspace.com/withbloodcomescleansing

vid: The Haunted @ PUK Studio 2008

an exclusive video footage from The Haunted's current recording sessions with producer Tue Madsen for their upcoming album ..

-- The Terror The Damned The Shamed

Heavy weight champions of hardcore, Terror, has just put online a brand new track from their upcoming album The Damned The Shamed at their myspace profile. The Damned The Shamed, the follow up to 2007's Rhythm Amongst The Chaos EP will the stores on 10th of June via Century Media Records and was produced by the semi-legendary producer Zeuss.

click here to check the new terror anthem now!!

-- In Flames with a sense of purpose

It is now officially available in European and Australian territories, and will be available in UK on monday 7th April. We're talking about Swedish stallions In Flames' new album "A Sense Of Purpose".
Those of you who like their new CDs served in a special way, In Flames & Nuclear Blast made available a mail order special edition of the album via this link.
Short after the official release, they'll join the new installment of Gigantour. Megadeth (who else you think would headline a "gigantour"??), Children Of Bodom, Job For A Cowboy and High On Fire are the other bands on the bill.

vid: Shaped By Fate

www.myspace.com/shapedbyfate

-- Anterior seeks a new drummer

Metal Blade artists Anterior, who likes to spice their meat with goose eyelid (as they declared at their myspace!!) announced an official statement about a necessary member change. Here is the statement:
"Ross has decided to pursue a new career and wishes to leave the band as soon as we have a replacement. So, we need a new drummer as soon as possible. We are preferably looking at someone between 18-25 based in the South Wales area and must be 1,000,000% commited with their own gear and transport. However if you are interested and think you can do the job but live elsewhere then get in touch."
anterior@hotmail.co.uk is the email destination to submit stuff proving how you're good at drums.

anterior @ myspace

-- God Forbid's Doc Coyle reports from the studio

God Forbid has started to run a studio diary with the help of Danish Revolution Music.
The first entry was written by Doc Coyle (guitar) on 23th March.
Here is the link : God Forbid studio diary

here is a short excerpt:
"..One highlight during the recording was being able to get out of the studio for a night to check out the All That Remains/Chimaira tour at the Starland Ballroom which is literally down the street from Trax East. It was nice to share some drinks with old friends, and enjoy a great show. That fucker was packed too!.."

-- Arkaea = Fear Factory + Threat Signal

Fear Factory members Christian Olde Wolbers (guitar) and Raymond Herrera (drums) and Threat Signal's Jon Howard join forces for a new band named Arkaea.
They're planning for a possible release in fall 2008 via Koch Records. But you can already check out their myspace page to preview whats going on at Arkaea front.
Arkaea @ myspace

-- No Souls Lost releases their 2nd full-length

Brutal Texas Death Metallers No Souls Lost is releasing their 2nd full-length via Open Grave Records. Artwork for "Hostis Humani Generis" was done by Mike Hrubovcak (previously designed for bands like Cattle Decapitation and Mortician) of Visual Darkness. The album will hit the stores on 29th April but you can pre-order it from Open Grave's online store.
-to hear what No Souls Lost sound like click here.
-to take a closer look at the artwork click here.

-- Ancient Existence announces new bass player

German brutal metallers Ancient Existence has announced a new bass player.
here is the official bulletin they posted:
"Alexander decided to leave the band after the recordings. We thank Alex for six great years and we wish him all the best for the future!!! Micka Maroof is our new bass player."
By the mean time the band managed to record the new album and set the release date as May 2008. Click here to check out more details about the new tunes.

vid: In Flames' A Sense Of Purpose EPK

here's the video footage shot at recording sessions of newest In Flames album.

-- Johnny Truant set the release date

British extremists Johnny Truant will be releasing their newest fist of fury on 2nd June. You can check out the excellent new track Death Rides from No Tears For The Creatures @ their 'space. They'll start touring for the new album in May. Recently confirmed UK dates with Cancer Bats are also available at the band's myspace in full detail.

Johnny Truant @ myspace

-- Nettlethrone releases Dissonant Progression

Nettlethrone, death metallers from the capital city of Turkiye has just released their debut full length called Dissonant Progression via Ghostwall Records. They come up with a collection of 10 brutal anthems proving their ability to blend their influences from Swedish oldschool riff-masters of the 90s with modern extreme sounds of the new millenium.


to check out some of their tunes click here.