Brooklyn Vegan recently conducted an interview with Scott Kelly (NEUROSIS, NEUROT, SHRINEBUILDER). A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Brooklyn Vegan: Where are you exactly in the process as far as SHRINEBUILDER (the project that features in its ranks Wino [ST. VITUS, THE HIDDEN HAND], Scott Kelly, Al Cisneros [OM, SLEEP], and Dale Crover [MELVINS]), is concerned? I know you provided recent updates on your blog, but since then, how's it coming along?

Scott: We are basically in the same spot we were... Not finished mixing yet, artwork's not done yet, but getting closer on both. Wino ended up doing an extra day of guitar in Baltimore about ten days after he did the ...

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Fuck me…this album takes off like a rocket-propelled rat from a drainpipe. Obviously past albums haven’t exactly been quiet and slow, but is there a specific reason for this renewed level of intensity and violence?

Thank you. Yes there is - Mick. The ideology and atmosphere I try to build around the music will always be extreme to the point of being maniacal because I’m not quite right, but the basis is always going to be the music, and aside from the odd chat or idea I might suggest, that’s entirely down to Mick. After he’d recorded the songs, a mutual friend had the chance to listen to some of it before I went to the studio, and when I asked him how it sounded h ...

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The official web site of German industrial metallers RAMMSTEIN has been updated with the following message:

"No words can describe how happy we were to receive an official invitation to a listening of the first three RAMMSTEIN songs from the upcoming album. Three uncompromising songs and three attacks upon 'common taste and morality.' An album isn't an album until the last line has been sung and the final note has sounded. However, it's no big secret to tell you about our great enthusiasm. Just like many others, we can't wait. All departments of the good ship RAMMSTEIN are running on full steam! There are already more than 150.000 ticket requests for the tour that will start at th ...

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According ot BANG Media International, IRON MAIDEN will start work on its next album this year. The group hopes to have a new album out and be back on tour in 2010.

Guitarist Adrian Smith told BANG showbiz: "At the end of the year we'll be writing again, rehearsing and recording at the beginning of next year. Then we'll be back out on the road again next year. Kevin Shirley [producer] will be working on it with us and we'll probably be doing it somewhere where we've done a lot for recording in the past."

The next IRON MAIDEN album will be the band's fifteenth studio record, and they face a challenge to follow up their last effort, 2006s "A Matter of Life and Death" whic ...

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Longstanding death metal heavyweights DYING FETUS have entered Wright Way Studios in Baltimore, Maryland with producer Steve Wright to begin work on the follow-up to 2007's "War Of Attrition". A September release via Relapse Records is expected.

Commented DYING FETUS founder/guitarist John Gallagher: "We're stoked about starting the recording for the new DYING FETUS album. Sean, Trey, and I have put more time and energy into writing this record than any of our previous records, and it will show when we deliver the most brutal DYING FETUS album ever recorded this fall. This record will be devastating."

DYING FETUS will take part in the 2009 Summer Slaughter Tour alongsid ...

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THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN frontman Greg Puciato has posted the following message on his MySpace page:

"I'm gonna dive right into this. I hope you have about twenty minutes to kill. If you just wanna read some musical news and skip the rest go down to the bottom.

"I just read a new gallop poll, dated two days ago, that said 'the majority of Americans (53%) approve of the U.S. government's expansion to help fix the current economic crisis, but most of this group would like to see the government's role reduced once the crisis is over.'

"I hope if you are reading this and you are one of the 53% you PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS, because...NEWS FLASH...in case yo ...

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MORTIIS has issued the following update:

"We thought it would be a cool idea to share some stills from our two new videos with you guys while we all wait for these little nuggets to get on TV. Click here to check 'em out."

MORTIIS' new album, "The Great Deceiver", will be released later in the year. A refreshing blend of techno, industrial, metal, punk and progressive rock, this disc mesmerizes listeners from the first sounds of the opener, "Feed The Greed", to the fading notes of its closer, "Too Little, Too Late". More than the sum of its dozen tracks, it is a lush, layered ...

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Video footage of GOD SEED (formerly known as the Gaahl-fronted of GORGOROTH) performing the song "Teeth Grinding" on July 25, 2008 at the Hortensfestivalen in Horten, Norway can be viewed below (clip shot by Harald Sleetrød). This track is a preview of footage that will be used on the forthcoming GOD SEED DVD, which is currently in the works.

GOD SEED's Gaahl (vocals) and King (bass) entered the studio on August 25, 2008 in the their hometown of Bergen, Norway to begin recording eight new tracks composed by the bassist for an as-yet-untitled new album, due later in the year via Indie Recordings. Along with Gaahl, King and Frost (SATYRICON) on drums, the band's full recording line ...

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Norwegian black metallers IMMORTAL have commenced recording their new album. According to the band's management, "They will be working in both Grieghallen [Norway] and Abyss [Sweden] studios this time."

Professionally filmed video footage of IMMORTAL's June 28, 2008 performance at the Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium can be viewed below.

IMMORTAL guitarist Demonaz was interviewed last year by Andrew Haug of Triple J's "Full Metal Racket" (based in Australia). Download the 10-minute audio file in MP3 format at this location (4 MB).

Chad Bowar of About.com recently conducted an interview with Karl Sanders of the South Carolina-based technical death metal band NILE. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

About.com: When and how did you first become interested in Middle Eastern culture, mythology and music?

Sanders: Years ago, my friend and bandmate Pete Hammoura. His family is Lebanese, so I got a healthy dose of exposure to Middle Eastern culture. Of course I was also a fan of world history, particularly the Ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, and Egyptians. I am not at all surprised that I ended up in a band like NILE.

About.com: What's the timetable for the next NILE record?

Sa ...

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