Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers Nightwish have issued the following statement:

"Another chapter of the Nightwish story has ended today. Nightwish and [singer] Anette Olzon have decided to part company, in mutual understanding, for the good of all parties involved.

"In recent times it has become increasingly obvious that the direction and the needs of the band were in conflict, and this has led to a division from which we cannot recover.

"Nightwish has no intention of canceling any upcoming shows, and as a result we have decided to bring in a substitute vocalist starting in Seattle on October 1. Her name is Floor Jansen (ex-A ...

The official lyric video for Dark Passenger, a brand new song from the Los Angeles metal quintet Holy Grail, can be seen here. The track comes off the group's sophomore album, Ride the Void, which will be released in early 2013 via Prosthetic Records. The follow-up to 2010's Crisis in Utopia was recorded with producer Matt Hyde (Slayer, Hatebreed, Children of Bodom) throughout the year, working around national tours with Dragonforce and Valient Thorr.

Romanian female-fronted metal band Magica will release its sixth album, Center of the Great Unknown, on October 12 via AFM Records.

The song One Angry Gaia can be streamed here.

Of Fire, and Fucking Pigs, a brand new song from England's Anaal Nathrakh, can be streamed here. The track comes off the band's new album, Vanitas, which will be released on November 6 via Candlelight Records. Produced by Mick Kenney (Bleeding Through, Ingested), the CD carries the band's signature and regarded union of black metal and grindcore.

German pagan metallers Adorned Brood will release their seventh album, Kuningaz, on November 23 via Massacre Records. The CD was recorded at the Kohlekeller Studio in Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany with producer Kai Stahlenberg.

Finsterforst, the nature-loving warriors hailing from the German Black Forest, will release their fourth album, Rastlos ("Restless"), on November 23 via Napalm Records.

Astral Body, the new video from Between the Buried and Me, can be seen here. The clip, which was directed by Wes Richardson, is filled with extraterrestrial imagery climaxing in the explosion of a glacier and land mass as the sole character flies through space.

Astral Body comes off Between the Buried and Me's new album, The Parallax II: Future Sequence, which will be released on October 9 via Metal Blade Records. The CD, which clocks in at approximately 72 minutes, features artwork from Charlotte, North Carolina artist and designer Chandler Owen (Underoath, Shai Hulud, Hopesfall).

The song Telos can be streamed here.

Mechanical Mind, a brand new song from Canadian metal innovators Voivod, is available for streaming here. The track will be released on October 9 (one day earlier internationally) as a digital single and a limited-edition seven-inch single-sided vinyl with a skull etching by Voivod drummer Michel "Away" Langevin on the B-side.

Mechanical Mind comes off Voivod's new album, Target Earth, which will be released on January 22, 2013 (one day earlier internationally) via Voivod's own company, Iron Gang Factory, and Century Media.

Singer Søren Adamsen has left Danish thrash metal veterans Artillery for personal reasons and has been replaced by Michael Bastholm Dahl. Michael has already played two successful shows with Artillery in Denmark.

Commented Michael: "One thing I do know — I have been given the opportunity to join the most hard-hitting legendary thrash metal band of all time out of Denmark! Which means I'm going to go out and be the most frantic and hard-singing vocalist I can be! And following the renowned singers prior to me, in Artillery's history, it's both a daunting and exciting challenge. I can't freakin' wait to go out and give it 100% together with the guys in A ...

The Afterman, the title track of the new double concept album from New York progressive rockers Coheed and Cambria, can be streamed here.

The Afterman will be released in two separate full-length volumes. The first volume, The Afterman: Ascension, will be available on both physical and digital platforms in the U.S. on October 9 via Hundred Handed/Everything Evil, and distributed through Fontana/Ingrooves (to be available in Canada via Universal Music Canada). The second volume, The Afterman: Descension, is due in February 2013.