HELLOWEEN’s forthcoming album, Rabbit Don't Come Easy, is due on May 5 through Nuclear Blast. The album will be released in a jewel case and there will be a limited edition digipack available which will include the bonus track, ‘Far Away’. The first single off the album, ‘Just A Little Sign’, (written by Andi Deris; a fast, traditional Helloween track sources say) will be released on April 7 in Europe.

The tracklisting of the album is as follows: ‘Just A Little Sign’, ‘Open Your Life’, ‘Tune’, ‘Never Be A Star’, ‘Liar’, ‘Sun 4 The World’, ‘Don't Stop Being Crazy’, ‘Feels So Good’, ‘Hell Was Made In Heaven’, ‘Back Against The Wall’, ‘Listen To The Flies’, ‘Nothing To Say’.

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More than a dozen heavy metal musicians and fans have been jailed in Casablanca, Morocco for moral and religious crimes, according to the BBC. The 14 men, all between the ages of 22 and 35, were convicted of "acts capable of undermining the faith of a Muslim" and "possessing objects which infringe morals". Their sentences of between one month and one year followed newspaper pieces which dubbed them "Satanists" involved in international devil-worship.

Nine of the convicted men were in three Moroccan heavy metal groups NEKROS, INFECTED BRAIN and REBORN. The case has highlighted concerns that the country's authorities are totally out of touch with young people. French-lan ...

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German neo-classical melodic power metallers AT VANCE will release their new album, "The Evil In You", on May 19 through AFM Records. In other news, the group will support KAMELOT on their upcoming European tour beginning in late May.

Confirmed dates are as follows:

May 23 - Bergara - Sala Jam
May 24 – Barcelona, ESP - Razzmatazz 2
May 25 – Madrid, ESP – Caracol
May 26 – Porto, POR - Hard Club
May 28 – Marseille, FRA - Le Poste a Gallene
May 29 – Eloys, FRA - Centre Culturel
May 30 – Paris, FRA - Elysee Monmatre
May 31 – Vosselaar, BEL – Biebob
Jun. 02 – Bochum, GER – Matrix
Jun. 03 – Pratteln, SWI - Z7
Jun. 04 – Stuttgart, GER - TBA
Jun. 05 – Hamburg, GER - Markthalle

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Atlantic Records has announced the forthcoming release of the mother lode of LED ZEPPELIN live recordings.

Slated for a simultaneous May 27 release are "Led Zeppelin DVD", a two-disc set, and "How The West Was Won", a three-CD set. Long sought-after by ZEPPELIN devotees and collectors, this marks the first-ever official release of these rare and legendary performances, which span the group's entire career. Much-rumored and eagerly anticipated, the DVD and CD sets each contain entirely different material, so there is no overlap between the two releases. As a gesture to the band's millions of fans, both sets are specially priced — the 2-DVD set at 29.98 list, and the 3-CD set at 26.98 ...

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German supergroup RAMMSTEIN are on the verge of splitting up, according to Britain's Metal Hammer magazine.

A source close to the band says that "they feel as though they have taken their music/stage show as far as it can go" and are now "looking to pursue other musical projects."

Guitarist Richard Kruspe-Bernstein is currently demoing tracks for his new band, EMIGRATE, with RAMMSTEIN vocalist Till Lindemann and RAMMSTEIN bassist Oliver Riedel. KMFDM mainman Sascha Konietzko has also been linked with the group.

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METALLICA have posted a new video to the "Jump In The Studio" section of their official web site, featuring footage recorded last November during bassist Robert Trujillo's first audition with the band. Also included is a snippet of a new song without vocals.

To download a 23-second clip of new METALLICA, click here.

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ICED EARTH mainman Jon Schaffer has posted the following update to the band's official web site, www.icedearth.com: "We will begin recording around the first week of April. I am very happy with the way things are going. I've never felt so good and excited about a record before, this will really be a special one. "A while back I was working on a song called 'Gettysburg' and it was a nice piece of music but it really wasn't giving me what I felt I needed to tell the story of what went on there 140 years ago. It's nearly impossible in 5-6 minutes of music. So around Super Bowl weekend I scrapped the original idea and started writing what I hope will be the biggest and best epic I've ever ...

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Former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted is set to audition for the slot in OZZY OSBOURNE's band left vacant by the recent departure of current METALLICA four-stringer Robert Trujillo, a spokesperson for Newsted has told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Newsted, who is already confirmed to appear at this year's Ozzfest as a member of VOIVOD, reportedly got a call from the OSBOURNE camp asking him to come down and "jam" with the rest of OZZY's band, which presently includes drummer Mike Bordin (ex-FAITH NO MORE) and guitarist Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY). In related news, VOIVOD are in talks with SEPULTURA to team up for a month-long North American tour beginning on April 17 in Seattle. Exact dates and venues will be announced soon.

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Long-running Canadian metallers VOIVOD — who currently feature in their ranks former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted — have secured a slot on the second stage at this year's Ozzfest. An official press release is expected shortly. VOIVOD's self-titled CD is due on March through Newsted's Chophouse label in association with Surfdog Records. A month-long headlining U.S. tour is scheduled to kick off on April 10. Ozzfest 2003 will begin on June 28 in San Antonio, Texas.

CRADLE OF FILTH have also been officially confirmed as one of the second-stage acts at this year's edition of Ozzfest. As a result, the band have been forced to pull out of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival (set to tak ...

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Fans of Heavens Gate and Crystal Ball will ceratinly want to check this out. The band plays excellent melodic metal with a few unique twists. VII Gates is a Swedish band and these two tracks come from their third demo.
Read review here.

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