Sweden's IN FLAMES have set "Soundtrack To Your Escape" as the title for their forthcoming album, due in Europe on March 29, 2004.

The follow-up to 2002's "Reroute To Remain" was recorded at a rented house/converted studio in Denmark with producers Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD) and Örjan Örnkloo (ex-MISERY LOVES CO.) and is currently being mixed at Galaxy Studios in Mol, Belgium. Mastering will take place at the Cutting Room in Stockholm, Sweden.

The following is the tentative track listing for "Soundtrack To Your Escape" (in no particular order):

01. F(r)iend
0 ...

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Sweden's OPETH recently returned from their first-ever Scandinavian tour. The band performed live in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The Finns finally had a chance to see the band live in concert for the first time ever, and OPETH tried to repay their "debt" by playing a set over two hours 20 minutes long in Helsinki. Surprise for this tour was the inclusion of "April Ethereal" from the 1997 album "My Arms Your Hearse". This has only been played live twice before back in 1997.

The long-awaited DVD, "Lamentations - Live at Shepards Bush Empire" will be released in late November through Music For Nations. American release is set for the en ...

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NIGHTWISH studio engineer Tero Kinnunen has posted the following studio diary entry to the band's web site:

"Howdy ho!!! Greeting from our new studio! It has been a month full of work and fun since we started to work with the new NIGHTWISH album in these facilities. As a result of the demo recordings we now have twelve new songs and [keyboardist/songwriter] Tuomas [Holopainen] still has couple of new songs on the way.

"Everything went on as scheduled and everybody did their part as a good ole 'MetalHead' should. Some of the takes were so good that they will propably end up being on the final album as they are. (Especially [singer] Tarja ...

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Original vocalist Guy Speranza of the Brooklyn, NY based metal band Riot passed away in a Florida hospital due to pancreatic cancer.

Speranza was with the band from the beginning, and can be heard on 3 of the band's albums: Rock City (1977), Narita (1979), and the classic Fire Down Under (1981). Speranza was only 47 years old.

We extend our condolences to Speranza's family and friends.

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Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and singer/bass player Tom Araya have updated BW&BK on all current activities.

On the new record, Araya says: "Kerry and Dave have six songs written, and Jeff has five done. We're going into the studio after this tour and then we'll start recording. It should be out by spring."

"So far it's been pretty intense,” Lombardo adds. “Kerry's material is definitely balls-out. Once Jeff gets involved in the song-writing, he'll bring in a different angle. I can't wait to work with him so we can blend the two styles, we'll make it a really killer record."

As for the the new box set, Soundtrack To The Apocalypse, due out on December 2nd, ...

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IRON MAIDEN producer Kevin Shirley, who has worked with the group on their last two studio releases as well as the live album "Rock In Rio", has taken the unusual step of publicly defending the production on MAIDEN's latest CD, "Dance Of Death", calling it a perfect replica of the band's live sound.

Writing to his web site, Shirley said, "I have been getting all sorts of e-mails (yeah I read 'em, but don't reply to them all) about the sonic quality of 'Dance of Death'. Now, I don't need to qualify anything, except it sounds like that 'cos it's meant to sound like that! The band love it! Nicko [McBrain] prefers the energy o ...

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CIRCLE II CIRCLE, the new band fronted by former SAVATAGE singer Zachary Stevens, appears to have disintegrated over irreconcilable business-related differences, with Stevens currently standing as the sole remaining member of the group.

The rest of the band - John Zahner (keyboards), Christopher Kinder (drums), Matt La Porte (guitars), Kevin Rothney (bass) and Shane French (guitars) - have posted the following message to CIRCLE II CIRCLE's official web site, www.circle2circle.net:

"We are afraid that the rumors are fact. All members of the band have ...

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Video footage of late METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton's headbanging 1982 performance with the heavy metal group TRAUMA, shot only 24 hours before Burton was discovered by METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich, is finally being made available to METALLICA and Cliff fans everywhere.

Don Wrege, director of "TRAUMA Live", explains how he ended up with this historic footage:

"In the summer of 1982, I was working in Los Angeles and was contacted by a British fellow calling himself Tony. He asked me if I would be interested in directing a long-form music video for a heavy metal band he was managing out of San Francisc ...

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German melodic metallers EDGUY have announced the details of their upcoming EP, "King Of Fools", due on February 2, 2004 through Nuclear Blast Records.

The complete track listing for "King Of Fools" is as follows:

01. King Of Fools (3:30)
02. New Age Messiah (5:58)
03. The Savage Union (4:14)
04. Holy Water (4:13)
05. Life and Times Of A Bonus Track (3:23)

Total Running Time: 21:32

According to vocalist Tobias Sammet, "There will even be two orchestra songs on the EP...it's gonna be first-class stuff and some of the material is gonna be played live as well, so there is no B-side shi ...

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As the buzz surrounding the Italian sextet LACUNA COIL's latest single "Heaven's A Lie" continues to build at commercial radio, the group prepares to make their much anticipated return to the U.S. After developing a rabid following throughout this past year relentlessly touring with the likes of ANTHRAX, OPETH and TYPE O NEGATIVE, they are more than excited to come back as headliners. The trek will begin on November 12 and wrap up on December 15. The group will also take part in many commercial radio sponsored festivals, including performances alongside such mainstream acts as 3 DOORS DOWN. As of October 24, "Heaven's A Lie" has been added to ...

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