ALCEST to tour the United States and Canada for the first time!!!

Today, PROPHECY PRODUCTIONS in conjunction with Sepulchral Productions confirms ALCEST's first North American tour. Set to begin April 22nd in Quebec City and ending May 1st in Boston, this tour will see the white-hot ALCEST peform songs from their critically acclaimed Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde debut as well as songs from their forthcoming Écailles De Lune, which is set for North American release on April 20th. Here are the CONFIRMED dates + venues:

APRIL 22 - QUEBEC CITY, QC @ BAR OCTOBRE

APRIL 23 - TORONTO, ON @ HARD LUCK BAR

APRIL 24 - CHICAGO, IL ...

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Norwegian extreme metal veterans KEEP OF KALESSIN will release their new album, "Reptilian", in North America on June 8 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD will be made available in Europe (except Germany, Austria and Switzerland) on May 10 through Indie Recordings.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Dragon Iconography
02. The Awakening
03. Judgement
04. The Dragontower
05. Leaving The Mortal Flesh
06. Dark As Moonless Night
07. The Divine Land
08. Reptilian Majesty

Regarding the album artwork, which can be viewed below, KEEP OF KALESSIN's Obsidian C. stated, "The music on 'Reptilian' is more in your face and dire ...

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GRAND MAGUS, the three-piece Swedish heavy rock band featuring "JB" Christofferson (guitar, lead vocals), Fox Skinner (bass, backing vocals) and Sebastian "Seb" Sippola (drums), will release its fifth album, "Hammer Of The North", this summer via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at 301 studios outside of Stockholm and will feature artwork by Necrolord.

Commented JB: "Necrolord is a legend and has created some of the most striking and powerful images ever. He's also closely connected with Swedish metal. We just knew that he would deliver the perfect feel, mood and imagery for the new record. No one else would come close. It's an honor to have his artwork for 'Hammer Of The N ...

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KINGDOM OF SORROW, the metal project created by Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Kirk Windstein (DOWN, CROWBAR), has completed work on its second album for a tentative June release via Relapse Records. The CD was mixed by Chris "Zeuss" Harris at Planet Z Recordings in Hadley, Massachusetts.

Commented Jasta: "I'm really excited about the KINGDOM OF SORROW album because I feel like I really went all out this time. I love the first album but I brought way better riffs to the table this time and really brought a different vocal style on a lot of tracks. I think this new album is much more memorable and that the songs are really catchy but still heavy and raw.

"CROWBAR has some ...

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Norway's THEATRE OF TRAGEDY has released the following statement:

"After nearly 17 years in existence, THEATRE OF TRAGEDY has decided to call it a day and close down.

"This has not been an easy decision to make and we have thought about this for a long long time. We finally agreed to this during the production of our latest album, 'Forever Is The World'.

"THEATRE OF TRAGEDY will come to an end on October 2, 2010, exactly 17 years after we started making music together.

"Over the years all of us have strived to combine the THEATRE with everyday life but in the end it has proven more and more difficult.

We have come to appreciate our famil ...

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Guitarist Matt Wilcock has left British extreme metal veterans AKERCOCKE. He says in a statement, "After five years with AKERCOCKE and a lot of good times, it's now time for me to move on. Musically, I'm differing a bit with the natural path that AKERCOCKE's taking, so it's best for me to part ways now. There's no shit between anyone, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to going out with a bang (or blast) on these last four shows [in early March as the support act for DARK FUNERAL]. Full respect to the guys, especially Jason [Mendonça] and Dave [Gray, drums]. I'll be continuing to work with Dave on THE ANTICHRIST IMPERIUM which will be up and running very soon. Also much respect to everyone ...

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BLEEDING THROUGH's Brandan Schieppatti has joined forces with musical polymath Mick Kenney (ANAAL NATHRAKH) to create SORROWS.

The two musically minded neighbors met up in Huntington Beach, California in October 2009 to collaborate on this new musical project. The resulting album is, in Mick's own words, "a mixture of hardcore crustpunk, black metal, electronic beats and super heavy riffage."

The album has been written and produced by Mick, with Brandan taking on the vocalist mantle once again. Although still recruiting members for the live lineup, they have already drafted in Trevor Friedrich (formerly of EIGHTEEN VISIONS, and now of industrialists COMBICHRIST), on drums, while Mick will play guitar.

SORROWS is seeking a suitable label to release the band's already completed debut CD.

Audio samples from SORROWS are available for streaming on the band's MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/sorrows

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Prosthetic Records will release the brand new album from Norwegian black metal legends 1349 in North America via an agreement with Indie Recordings. The new CD, which promises "a return to the band's more traditional, raw-yet-technical black metal sound", is due on April 13. In support of the yet-to-be-titled record, 1349 will embark on a North American tour in April and May as the support act for CANNIBAL CORPSE (alongside SKELETONWITCH and LECHEROUS NOCTURNE). (Note, 1349 will not appear on the last week of the tour.)

1349 rose from the ashes of ALVHEIM in 1997, and in 2003 they released their debut album, "Liberation". Since then, 1349 has added three more albums to its critically acclaimed catalog and this spring the band will return with its fifth full-length effort.

1349 is:

Ravn - Vocals
Archaon - Guitar
Seidemann - Bass
Frost - Drums

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Veteran British doom/stoner band CATHEDRAL will release its ninth full-length album and second for the Nuclear Blast label, "The Guessing Game", on March 26. The CD was recorded at the Chapel studios (THE DARKNESS, NAPALM DEATH, URIAH HEEP, WET WET WET, SIMPLE MINDS) in Lincolnshire, U.K. and was once again produced by Warren Riker (DOWN, CROWBAR). It also sports stunning new artwork from band collaborator Dave Patchett.

"The Guessing Game" track listing:

01. Immaculate Misconception (2:24)
02. Funeral Of Dreams (8:28)
03. Painting In The Dark (6:18)
04. Death Of An Anarchist (7:12)
05. The Guessing Game (3:08)
06. Edwige's Eyes (7:08)
07. ...

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British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN have completed the recording process for their new album at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas with producer Kevin Shirley. According to a posting on Kevin's official web site, "There's still work to do, but the band portion is complete and in the can, so to speak."

Shirley previously worked on the last three MAIDEN albums — 2000's "Brave New World", 2003's "Dance of Death" and 2006's "A Matter of Life and Death".

The next IRON MAIDEN album will be the band's fifteenth studio record, and they face a challenge to follow up "A Matter of Life and Death", which was received well critically and saw the group play the whole alb ...

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