VELVET CACOON has been on hold, not broken up. SGL has been on self-vacation for the last few months and unable to clear up this confusion until now. Hopefully nobody was injured or offended in the process.

Ivory Snowfish Music is currently pressing a very limited quantity of the band's 2002 release "Northsuite" (Chapelflames/Red Steeples). The disc includes 2 bonus tracks from the "Music For Falling Buildings" demo. Click here for more info.

New official VELVET CACOON website can be found at: http://www.velvetcacoon.com

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In an interview with Metal Crypt Varg Vikerness said: "The future albums, if I ever record anything, will as far as I can tell sound much like the old albums, whether I like it or not, because I am incapable of making music that doesn't sound rather "burzumic"."

Varg also discusses Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Burzum's dischography, culture, tradition and many other things.

You can read the interview here.

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According to a posting on RAGE's official web site, the group's frontman Peter "Peavey" Wagner was hit by a car on Wednesday (May 4) while he was riding his bicycle. The driver of the car reportedly didn't give Peavy right of way, resulting in injuries to Peavy's arm. Peavy is presently in the hospital, where he underwent surgery. No further information is currently available.

RAGE recently signed a long-term deal with Nuclear Blast Records. The group's follow-up to 2003's "Soundchaser" is expected in late 2005/early 2006.

GORGOROTH guitarist Infernus (real name: Roger Tiegs) was sentenced in a Norwegian court to three years in prison for rape. The incident happened April 27, 2004 when Tiegs, 34, and a friend, 32, brought a 29-year-old woman they met at a nightclub called Garage in Bergen back to Tiegs' appartment after closing hours. The two men allegedly punched the woman in the face and forced her to have sex with them. The defendants admitted that they had sex with the woman, but claimed it was consensual.

"The verdict is full of factual errors and lacks logic and reason. I'm convinced that both these men are innoncent," the defense attorney, Jørgen Riple, told the Norwegian newspaper Bergens ...

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According to the United Press International, Idaho concert club officials say they will not press charges against guitarist Zakk Wylde for allegedly damaging the club with a baseball bat.

Police in Boise, Idaho, said considerable damage occurred at The Big Easy and witnesses said the damage was caused by Wylde, Boise police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower told the Idaho Statesman.

Police detained Wylde and another man, Charles Hurd, but they were later released.

Wylde, a longtime guitarist for OZZY OSBOURNE, was to play at The Big Easy with his band, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, but the concert was canceled.

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Sweden's OPETH have posted the following update on their official web site:

"Per Wiberg [keyboards] has now officially joined OPETH as a permanent member of the band. As most of you know he's been touring with OPETH since their 'Damnation' record. SPIRITUAL BEGGARS fans should not despair as he will continue playing and recording with them.

"The band is currently hard at work in Fascination Street studios [in Örebro, Sweden]. Nine titles have been recorded and at this moment Hammond organs and Mellotrons are being put down to tape. The recording is being supervised and engineered by Jens Bogren and produced by the b ...

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Montreal-based metallers NEURAXIS have entered the studio to begin recording their fourth album, "Trilateral Progression". Yannick St Amand (DESPISED ICON) will be recording the album, while Jason Suecof (CAPHARNAUM) will be handling the mixing duties. "Trilateral Progression" will be released in North America on September 13 via Willowtip Records. A European release will follow through Earache Records. A North American tour is in the works for the fall.

For more information, visit www.neuraxis.org.

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The following press release was issued by ANTHRAX's publicist, Maria Ferrero of Adrenaline PR:

The news is spreading; not the disease. ANTHRAX, the heavy metal band has reunited with a serious purpose. Having had a very well-attended press conference at Sirius Satellite in New York City April 1, 2005, ANTHRAX continues to lead the heavy metal industry into taking up social causes. ANTHRAX is beating the drum about the forced vaccination of our soldiers with experimental drugs. The Anthrax Vaccine is allegedly one of the major causes of the mysterious Gulf War Syndrome.

A few hours prior to their first Chicago performance ...

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NAPALM DEATH guitarist Mitch Harris recently spoke to Australia's The Metal Forge webzine about the group's recent performance in Indonesia and the departure of guitarist Jesse Pintado, among other topics. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow:

On playing Indonesia:

"It's cool to see that there are so many people that really knew how much we had put into the scene, y’know? They studied detail and knew lyrics down to the very last word. It was really amazing to see, because you never know quite how many albums you would sell in a country like that or how your word ge ...

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CELTIC FROST frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer has posted the following message on his official blog:

"We recorded vocals for one of the songs for the final production demos for our new album yesterday, and we'll continue with two more on Saturday. Martin [Ain, bass] and I have worked on a variety of lyrics for months now… and some of the lyrics even go back much further than that. I had spent weeks preparing the vocal lines at my place and then took them to our rehearsal studio to practice them in absolute solitude, but with the energy of a live performance. As has always been true for CELTIC FROST, numerous rewrites became necessary to make eve ...

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