Israel's progressive folk metal masters ORPHANED LAND are currently recording the highly anticipated follow-up to 2004's "Mabool". "ORwarriOr" will be mixed by legendary musician/producer Steven Wilson (PORCUPINE TREE, OPETH) and is tentatively due in the fall via Century Media Records.

Commented vocalist Kobi Farhi: "The album is going to be more than 70 minutes long, and, as usual, many traditional instruments and languages will be involved in the process. In my opinion, this is the best ORPHANED LAND album ever! We can't wait for you to put your hands on it and we look forward to tour and meet you all on the road!"

You can read ORPHANED LAND's regularly updated studi ...

---

AVA INFERI, the Portugal-based band whose lineup includes Norwegian guitarist Rune Eriksen (a.k.a. ex-MAYHEM guitarist/songwriter Blasphemer), will release its third album, "Blood Of Bacchus", on May 25 via via France's Season Of Mist.

The final track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Truce
02. Last Sign Of Summer
03. Colours Of The Dark
04. Black Wings
05. Appeler Les Loups
06. Be Damned
07. Tempestade
08. Blood Of Bacchus
09. Memoirs

The album features guest appearances by Kristoffer Rygg (ULVER), Live Kostöl (PANTHEON I), Fredrik Söderlind (PUISSENCE) and the "amazing piano talent" Arne Martinussen.

...

---

Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH have posted an extended five-minute preview clip (see below) of their new CD/DVD, "Made In Hong Kong (And In Various Other Places)".

Due on March 13 via Nuclear Blast Records, "Made In Hong Kong (And In Various Other Places)" will contain a DVD documentary (with a running time of approximately 45 minutes) of NIGHTWISH's world tour in support of the band's latest album, "Dark Passion Play", as well as a CD featuring live recordings from the trek. The documentary footage was reportedly directed by Ville Lipiäinen.

"Made In Hong Kong (And In Various Other Places)" track listing:

CD (running time - 66:13):

...

---

GORGUTS, the acclaimed technical death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, has reportedly reformed with a brand new lineup and is currently working on material for a new studio album. Four songs are said to have already been completed, with several more on the way.

GORGUTS' current lineup is reportedly as follows:

* Luc Lemay (NEGATIVA) - Vocals, Guitar
* Kevin Hufnagel (DYSRHYTHMIA, WHILE HEAVEN WEPT, BYLA, EUCLID STREET, THE FIFTH SEASON, GREY DIVISION BLUE) - Guitar
* Colin Marston (DYSRHYTHMIA, BEHOLD... THE ARCTOPUS, BYLA, KRALLICE, INDRICOTHERE) - Bass
* John Longstreth (DIM MAK, ORIGIN, THE RED CHORD, SKINLESS, POSSESSION, ANGELCORPSE) - Dr ...

---

Norwegian death metal tyrants BLOOD RED THRONE have finished recording their fifth studio album at Studio Deadline in Trollhattan, Sweden with Valle Adzic (who also mixed the band's two previous studio CDs). Entitled "Souls Of Damnation", the new LP's release will coincide with the band's 10th anniversary, which will be celebrated in the form of a DVD, to be included in a special version of the album. The DVD will feature an in-depth studio diary, documenting the recording process of the new CD, along with an exclusive new interview with the band.

"Souls Of Damnation" is scheduled for release on June 1 through Earache Records.

The band will preview new material on the o ...

---

Holland's Mascot Records has set a May 29 release date for "Hubris I & II", the first-ever solo album from SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser. A two-disc set, the self-produced effort was recorded in part at A Voz do Brasil studio in São Paulo, Brazil.

Kisser previously stated about the album, "I'm very pleased with the result and I'm excited to hear it all done. It was a long process, a learning process and a great experience. It's a musical journey trough the influences I had for last 15 years of my life and at the same time it's very different from everything I did so far."

"Hubris" comes from Greek word "hybris," which means "excessive pride, wanton violence."
< ...

---

Guitarist Waclaw "Vogg" Kieltyka of the Polish extreme metallers DECAPITATED — whose brother, DECAPITATED drummer Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka, died on November 2, 2007 in a Russian hospital from injuries sustained in a road collision — has issued the following update:

"I was thinking about that for a long time and it's really hard decision for me, but I have decided to continue this band and keep DECAPITATED alive. I know it will be not the same anymore but I want to try, and I'm sure Witek and Covan [DECAPITATED singer Adrian Kowanek, who was also hurt in the accident] will support me and will be happy about that.

"So I want to say that: If anybody from drummers and v ...

---

LAMB OF GOD drummer Chris Adler has commented on the the success of the band's new album, "Wrath", which sold around 68,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 2 (behind TAYLOR SWIFT's "Fearless") on The Billboard 200 chart.

LAMB OF GOD's previous album, "Sacrament", sold around 63,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release back in August 2006 to land at No. 8. This represented almost double the amount of records sold by its predecessor, "Ashes of the Wake", which registered a first-week tally of 35,000 in September 2004.

"Tonight we are in Jakarta, Indonesia. Tomorrow is the last show of the first leg o ...

---

Varg Vikernes (a.k.a. Count Grishnackh) — the former BURZUM mastermind who is currently serving a Norwegian prison term for the August 1993 murder of MAYHEM guitarist Oystein Aarseth (a.k.a. Euronymous) and setting fire to three churches — will soon be a free man.

In September 2008, Vikernes's fourth application for parole was denied, but a couple of weeks ago he finally received the message he has been waiting for: after almost 16 years in prison, he will be released.

"I will have to report [to the parole officer] for one year — initially every two weeks, and then once a month," Vikernes told the Dagbladet newspaper.

Varg's mother, who last year wrote ...

---

The verdict has been reached in the dispute over the rights to the GORGOROTH band name involving vocalist Gaahl, bassist King ov Hell and the group's estranged guitarist Infernus.

Infernus (real name: Roger Tiegs) filed a lawsuit against King ov Hell (real name: Tom Cato Visnes) in September 2008 claiming that King (the sixth bass player in GORGOROTH's history) went behind his back in September 2007 and secretly applied for trademark protection of the GORGOROTH bandname and logo, which Infernus had been using since 1992.

A posting on Infernus' MySpace page reads as follows: "Oslo City District Court has today [Tuesday, March 10] delivered a verdict on the main question ...

---