Art rock pioneers QUEENSRŸCHE will perform the classic album "Operation: Mindcrime" in its entirety on the upcoming fall 2004/winter 2005 tour, which is being presented by VH1 Classic. A "greatest hits" set will open each show, and at the end of the night there will be a preview of the upcoming Sanctuary Records release "Operation: Mindcrime II", the working title of the long-awaited, eagerly desired sequel to the groundbreaking concept album. Audiences will be blown away by the Surround Sound audio setup on the tour.

Vocalist Geoff Tate, guitarist Michael Wilton, guitarist Mike Stone, bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfield will open each show with a "great ...

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After negotiating for several months with various independent and major labels, Finland's NIGHTWISH have officially inked a North American/Australian deal with Roadrunner Records, the label has confirmed in a posting on its web site. Roadrunner will be releasing the band's most recent CD, "Once", later this year in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The follow-up to 2002's "Century Child", "Once" topped the pan-European album chart two weeks ago for the second time since the album's June 7 release, according to Billboard magazine. "Once" has already been certified gold in Germany for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. In addition, NIGHTWISH have sold more than 30,000 copies of the CD in Finland — enough for the album to be certified platinum in the group's home country.

NIGHTWISH's North American tour will kick off on August 16 in Toronto. Support at all shows will come from fellow Finns LULLACRY.

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Due to the higher than expected amount of entries, there are two winners rather than the initial one.

For more information:

http://forums.hmas.org/showthread.php?p=133331#post133331

In other news, Pyramaze will be embarking on a short tour beginning September 9th in Haderslave Denmark at their album release party, followed by dates in Germany and France. Other acts are yet to be announced. Following their short European jaunt, drummer Morten Gade will be playing the prestigious Prog Power festival in Atlanta, Georgia, USA with Wuthering Heights.

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In attendance at this year’s Earthshaker Festival, BW&BK caught up with HELLOWEEN guitarist Michael Weikath to discuss the current state of the band. During the conversation, Weikath revealed that the band has left Nuclear Blast after two albums – The Dark Ride and Rabbit Don’t Come Easy – and that there MIGHT be a Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part III after all.

With regards to switching labels:

“Yes, we have left Nuclear Blast. The business department of Nuclear Blast is responsible to EastWest, and someone at EastWest wasn’t happy with the figures so they offered us a new deal. We weren’t happy with the offer because it wasn’t much different from other dea ...

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SLAYER frontman Tom Araya recently spoke to the Tucson Citizen about the group's July 11 show in Augusta, Maine which was recorded for an upcoming live DVD. The band, who played the 1986 album "Reign In Blood" from start to finish at the gig, were focused on just the final minute of "Raining Blood", the closing song on the 10-track record.

"It's kind of like little kids waiting for a new toy. 'Here it comes. Here it comes,' " Araya said, laughing. "The effect we were trying to achieve only happens at the end of the album, the last minute ... . And when it happened, it was g ...

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EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet recently answered several questions for the group's official web site regarding the band's recent tour, the upcoming DVD and the group's next studio album. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

Q: The fans have been asking so here it goes — will there be an EDGUY DVD sometime soon?

Tobias Sammet: "Yes, someday we'll release something for sure. But we've always said, that whatever we do, we only do it if we are really convinced about it and if we can do it with 120% of our power. Otherwise we don't do it or wait until the right moment has come. But it's already confirmed that we're gonna film a couple of sh ...

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Floridian death metallers MORBID ANGEL have parted ways with longtime label Earache Records, BLABBERMOUTH.NET can exclusively reveal. The band, whose last Earache album, 2003's "Heretic", has sold 21,295 copies in the U.S. to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan, are actively seeking a new label home. The SoundScan figures for the group's entire catalog are as follows:

"Altars of Madness" (1990): 41,394*
"Altars of Madness" (special edition) (2003): 6,837
"Altars of Madness" (re-release): 19,254
"Blessed Are the Sick" (1991): 56,127
"Blessed Are the Sick" (re-release) (2003): 4,953
" ...

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Italian police have arrested three more members of a Satanic black metal group "Beasts of Satan" after charging them with the sacrificial murders of two of the group's members.

Paolo Leoni (a.k.a. "Ozzy", photo), 27, Eros Monterosso, 27, and Marco Zampollo, 28, were charged as accomplices in the murders of teenagers Chiara Marino and Fabio Tollis, whose bodies were found in shallow graves in Northern Italy last month.

The revelations began in early June when two shallow graves were

According to a recent update on guitarist Scott Ian's website, the posting reads as follows: "John (Bush) has been in (bassist) Joey Vera's studio finishing up the vocals on Metallum, which might now be called, Old School, New School, Our School: Metallum Maximum Aeturnum. Or, just good 'ol Metal Thrashing Mad: MMA. What do you think since you voted on this? It sounds great. It's raw, loads of energy. Somehow even the song 'Anthrax' sounds current. Kind of. We'll mix it when we get home after Budapest and it's scheduled for release November 8 in Europe and November 23 in the states. Australia is in there as well. I will get you the exact dates. Both releases will have different extras. I thi ...

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Swedish thrashers The Haunted have revealed the complete track listing for their fourth album, "rEVOLVEr", tentatively due in Europe on October 18 through Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2003's "One Kill Wonder" was recorded at Gothenburg's famed Studio Fredman (In Flames, Dimmu Borgir, Arch Enemy) with co-producers Patrik J. Sten and Fredrik Nordström and mixed at Denmark's Antfarm Studio by Tue Madsen. The album will be released as jewel-case CD and limited edition digipak (each with a different cover), featuring two special bonus tracks.

"rEVOLVEr" track listing:

01. No Compromise
02. 99
03. Abysmal
04. Sabotage
05. All Against All
06. Sweet Relief
07. Burnt To A Shell
08. Who Will Decide (feat. Sick of it All's Lou Koller)
09. Nothing Right
10. Liquid Burns
11. My Shadow

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