German black/death/gothic metallers AGATHODAIMON have issued the following update:

"After lots of rehearsals and a long search, we finally can confirm and hereby present our new vocalist Chris 'Ashtrael' Bonner. [see photo below]

"Amongst the candidates during the past weeks, he was the one that really convinced us with his motivation, attitude and, of course, his awesome voice!

"During the next weeks, we'll be working together on the vocal lines for the songs of our upcoming album, 'Phoenix', as well as the setlist/rehearsals for the next gigs. We can't wait to enter the stage again!"

AGATHODAIMON's last album, "Serpent's Embrace", was released in 2004 via Nuclear Blast Records.

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Swedish death metal "supergroup" BLOODBATH has launched a mini-site for its new studio album, "The Fathomless Mastery", which is scheduled for release on October 6 in Europe and October 28 in North America via Peaceville Records. According to a press release, "the site will feature a different track from the album each week in the run-up to the release with 'Iesous' being added today. Check back next Friday for the next track. The site also contains info on the album, downloads, a free MP3 of the track 'Mock The Cross' to anyone who signs up to the mailing list and also ...

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New York death metal legends SUFFOCATION have confirmed that they have inked a deal with Nuclear Blast Records for the release of their new album, entitled "Blood Oath" (as BLABBERMOUTH.NET first reported back on August 27). The band most recently made the announcement during its appearance Thursday night (September 18) at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California (where CARCASS was the headliner). The CD is expected in early 2009.

Norway's Eternal Terror webzi ...

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German progressive metallers SIEGES EVEN have split up "due to internal differences." No further information is currently available.

SIEGES EVEN released its first-ever live album, "Playgrounds", at the end of July via InsideOut Music. The CD contains ten songs from the "A Sense Of Change", "The Art Of Navigating By The Stars" and "Paramount" albums recorded during the first leg of the band's "Paramount" tour 2007-2008.

SIEGES EVEN's latest CD, entitled "Paramount", last year entered the Greek album chart at position No. 46. Released in North America on October 10, 2007 via Inside Out Music, the CD's c ...

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A PINK FLOYD spokesman says founding member Richard Wright has died. He was 65.

Wright died Monday after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. His family did not want to give more details about his death. The spokesman is Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist.

Richard Wright met PINK FLOYD members Roger Waters and Nick Mason at college and joined their early band Sigma 6.

Sigma 6 eventually became PINK FLOYD and Wright wrote and sang some of the band's key songs. He wrote ``The Great Gig In The Sky'' and ``Us And Them'' from PINK FLOYD's 1973 ``The Dark Side Of The Moon.''

He left the group in the early 1980s to form his own band but rejoined PINK FLOYD for their 1987 album ``A Momentary Lapse of Reason.''

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In light of the major event that is the releasing of Metallica's 9th studio album, Death Magnetic, the staff at Metal Reviews are taking a break from our normal review cycle with what we are dubbing "Metallica Week". Be on the lookout for reviews of new and classic albums, as well as those of oddities and documentaries. Enjoy!

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Martin Eric Ain and Tom Gabriel Fischer of the Swiss avant-garde/metal pioneers CELTIC FROST have issued the following statement:

"In the wake of the events transpiring earlier this year, we, who together formed CELTIC FROST in 1984 and together reformed the group in 2001, have discussed the situation and agree that any continuation of CELTIC FROST without either one of us would be irreconcilable with our original ideas and detrimental to the group's legacy. We have therefore jointly decided to lay CELTIC FROST to rest for good and to treasure and honor what we have created together in the course of the history of this truly unique band. All ...

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Veteran Polish death metallers VADER have issued the following update:

"We would like to thank to all the participants of our anniversary gig [on August 30 at Stodola Club in Warsaw, Poland]: bands [GRAVE, ROTTING CHRIST, DISMEMBER, GOREFEST, MARDUK, NILE, ENTOMBED and SAMAEL], fans and staff. Thanks to you all we were able to celebrate the 25th anniversary of VADER in so special way. Big thanks to fans for such a numerous presence, bands for fantastic shows they all played in Warsaw, guests for their appearance on this show and our crew for nearly 24 hours of hard work! It was a very important show for us, the mor ...

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According to a posting on SODOM's official web site, the group's original drummer, Chris Dudek (a.k.a. Witchhunter), passed away yesterday (Sunday, September 7). No further details are currently available.

Dudek made a special guest appearance on SODOM's latest album, "The Final Sign of Evil", which was released as a double vinyl package on February 1, 2008 via SPV Records. The LP features re-recordings of the material from the German thrashers' classic first EP, "In the Sign of Evil", plus no less than seven bonus tracks, all of which were originally written during the "In the Sign of Evil" era or earlier but were never o ...

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"D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.", the new album from German thrash metal veterans DESTRUCTION, has entered the Media Control chart in the band's home country at position No. 65.

The "D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N." title track is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. The CD was released on August 22 via AFM Records and features guest appearanaces by Gary Holt (EXODUS), Jeff Waters (ANNIHILATOR) and Vinnie Moore (UFO).

"V.icious Circle - The 7 Seven Deadly Sins", the new video from DESTRUCTION, can be viewed below.