NILE guitarist/vocalist Karl Sanders has issued the following update on the recording sessions for the group's new album:

"We finished the guitar, bass vocal and additional instrument tracking at the Soundlab in Columbia, SC with [producer] Neil Kernon and Bob Moore. It was an utterly grueling session, with every single day of those 2 1/2 weeks being a 14-16 hour working frenzy. The next phase will be to start mixing on Friday at Rax Trax in Chicago. We have 10 days scheduled there with Neil Kernon mixing/producing.

"Based on what we have heard from the recordings so far, this is easily our strongest work yet. There are 10 songs as well as two reasonably short intro/instrumentals , with total album time weighing in at a pre-mix length of 65 minutes.

"We are seriously intense about these new songs, and can't wait for people to hear them. Be prepared to be crushed."

---

BOLT THROWER bassist Jo Bench recently spoke to Sweden's Global Domination webzine about the return of original vocalist Karl Willetts and the group's upcoming follow up to 2001's "Honour, Valour, Pride", tentatively due later in the year via Metal Blade Records. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

Global Domination: So, Karl is back now. How long will he stay this time you think? With all the vocalists in the scene, how come you decided to use [Dave] Ingram when Karl bailed? He did a decent job but we wouldn't say he was the ultim ...

---

BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch has posted the following message at the group's official web site:

"Though you have not heard a lot from us during the last months we have not been lazy at all. There are a lot of things going on at the moment. Just to mention a few: the DEMONS AND WIZARDS production is making good progress and the same can be said about the songwriting for the next BLIND GUARDIAN album which is at a very important point.

"André [Olbrich, guitar] and I have completed five songs for the new album and 10 songs for the orchestral project. Yesterday, we had a meeting with Charlie Bauerfeind (who is going ...

---

Norway's Imhotep Zine recently asked more than 60 heavy metal and hard rock musicians to answer the following two questions related to last month's shooting death of PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott: 1) Can aggressive music led people to kill others? 2) Is there any connection between heavy music and violence / killings / crimes against humanity? Several select responses follow:

Alex Skolnick (ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, SAVATAGE, TESTAMENT):

"Unfortunately, any form of communication can get misinterpret ...

---

San Francisco Bay Area thrashers EXODUS have announced the addition of singer Rob Dukes (pictured here with EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt) to the group's ranks. "[Rob] has been absolutely crushing in practice and only gets stronger every day," guitarist Gary Holt writes in the group's official forum.

"I know some of you will want details, i.e. what bands has he been in, etc., but I'll have to get back to you on that one," Holt added. "I've heard some of his old demo stuff, but he is a virtual unknown. But he is going to blow people's minds. He does i ...

---

NBC4.tv is reporting that MÖTLEY CRÜE will not appear on NBC again because of singer Vince Neil's use of an obscenity when wishing bandmate Tommy Lee a happy new year in the midst of performing "Girls, Girls Girls" on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group told a meeting of the Television Critics Association Friday (Jan. 21).

The profanity, broadcast live after midnight in the Eastern time zone, was removed when the taped show was replayed in the Pacific and Mountain time zones.

The next New Year's Eve edition of "The Tonight Show" will be shown on a five-second delay because of Neil's slip-up, Zucker said.

The Federal Communications Commission received complaints about the New Year's Eve "Tonight" show and subsequently began a preliminary probe. But it's likely little will come of it.

---

Former PANTERA/current SUPERJOINT RITUAL frontman Philip Anselmo has posted the following message at his official web site, PhilAnselmo.com:

"I've been stumbling around in a coma of loss. No truer lyric has been written than 'You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.'

"To explain my side of things with the hiatus of PANTERA, please give me a moment and think about what I say. Think.

"I joined the band in late '86/early '87, and the chemistry clicked like a vice grip, we hit it off like four bad mother fuckers could. Perfection. Dime, Vince and ...

---

For those who attended the quasi-riot at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center in December 2002 due to the GUNS N' ROSES no-show, GNR bassist Tommy Stinson claims the band is coming back and will actually perform this time.

"We owe Philly," Stinson told Ed Condran of SouthPhillyReview.com. He wouldn't elaborate about the aforementioned debacle. "That's all still in litigation." But he promised that GN'R would be on the road this year after the release of "Chinese Democracy" in April.

---

JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton has told Launch Radio Networks that despite nearly a decade-and-a-half apart, the group's writing process for the upcoming CD, "Angel of Retribution", was not forced in any way. "We've obviously evolved, but one of the things we said to ourselves on this album is we're not gonna try too hard to write an album to order," he said. "We're just gonna write naturally. We're fortunate that we've got a formula in this band, a writing formula, that, even though we've evolved, is still unmistakably PRIEST. And although this album has evolved, I think it's pretty classic PRIEST, and I think that's what people want."

...

---

Germany's SQUEALER have issued the following statement with regards to the recent passing of the band's singer/founder and AFM Records label boss Andreas "Henner" Allendörfer:"

"Last Monday we received the horrible news, that SQUEALER singer and band founder Andreas 'Henner' Allendörfer died on January 16, 2005 in a tragic car accident. He only reached an age of 38 years.

"At about 9:25 pm, Andy lost the control over his car due to black ice and hit a tree. He even died at the place of the accident.

"Making music for years and spending lots of time and patience working together on the band SQUEALER, we became a little ...

---