Guitarist Matt Wilcock has left British extreme metal veterans AKERCOCKE. He says in a statement, "After five years with AKERCOCKE and a lot of good times, it's now time for me to move on. Musically, I'm differing a bit with the natural path that AKERCOCKE's taking, so it's best for me to part ways now. There's no shit between anyone, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to going out with a bang (or blast) on these last four shows [in early March as the support act for DARK FUNERAL]. Full respect to the guys, especially Jason [Mendonça] and Dave [Gray, drums]. I'll be continuing to work with Dave on THE ANTICHRIST IMPERIUM which will be up and running very soon. Also much respect to everyone ...

---

BLEEDING THROUGH's Brandan Schieppatti has joined forces with musical polymath Mick Kenney (ANAAL NATHRAKH) to create SORROWS.

The two musically minded neighbors met up in Huntington Beach, California in October 2009 to collaborate on this new musical project. The resulting album is, in Mick's own words, "a mixture of hardcore crustpunk, black metal, electronic beats and super heavy riffage."

The album has been written and produced by Mick, with Brandan taking on the vocalist mantle once again. Although still recruiting members for the live lineup, they have already drafted in Trevor Friedrich (formerly of EIGHTEEN VISIONS, and now of industrialists COMBICHRIST), on drums, while Mick will play guitar.

SORROWS is seeking a suitable label to release the band's already completed debut CD.

Audio samples from SORROWS are available for streaming on the band's MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/sorrows

---

Prosthetic Records will release the brand new album from Norwegian black metal legends 1349 in North America via an agreement with Indie Recordings. The new CD, which promises "a return to the band's more traditional, raw-yet-technical black metal sound", is due on April 13. In support of the yet-to-be-titled record, 1349 will embark on a North American tour in April and May as the support act for CANNIBAL CORPSE (alongside SKELETONWITCH and LECHEROUS NOCTURNE). (Note, 1349 will not appear on the last week of the tour.)

1349 rose from the ashes of ALVHEIM in 1997, and in 2003 they released their debut album, "Liberation". Since then, 1349 has added three more albums to its critically acclaimed catalog and this spring the band will return with its fifth full-length effort.

1349 is:

Ravn - Vocals
Archaon - Guitar
Seidemann - Bass
Frost - Drums

---

Veteran British doom/stoner band CATHEDRAL will release its ninth full-length album and second for the Nuclear Blast label, "The Guessing Game", on March 26. The CD was recorded at the Chapel studios (THE DARKNESS, NAPALM DEATH, URIAH HEEP, WET WET WET, SIMPLE MINDS) in Lincolnshire, U.K. and was once again produced by Warren Riker (DOWN, CROWBAR). It also sports stunning new artwork from band collaborator Dave Patchett.

"The Guessing Game" track listing:

01. Immaculate Misconception (2:24)
02. Funeral Of Dreams (8:28)
03. Painting In The Dark (6:18)
04. Death Of An Anarchist (7:12)
05. The Guessing Game (3:08)
06. Edwige's Eyes (7:08)
07. ...

---

British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN have completed the recording process for their new album at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas with producer Kevin Shirley. According to a posting on Kevin's official web site, "There's still work to do, but the band portion is complete and in the can, so to speak."

Shirley previously worked on the last three MAIDEN albums — 2000's "Brave New World", 2003's "Dance of Death" and 2006's "A Matter of Life and Death".

The next IRON MAIDEN album will be the band's fifteenth studio record, and they face a challenge to follow up "A Matter of Life and Death", which was received well critically and saw the group play the whole alb ...

---

Finnish power metallers KIUAS will release their fourth album, "Lustdriven", on March 31 via Spinefarm Records. The CD was produced at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki by Janne Joutsenniemi, who previously worked with the band on the pre-production of their last album, "The New Dark Age". Mikko Karmila mixed the CD at Finnvox studios while the mastering duties were handled by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers.

"Lustdriven" track listing:

01. Kiuassault
02. Cry Little Angel
03. Of Lust, Love and Human Nature
04. Aftermath
05. Lights Are Many
06. The Visionary
07. Heart and Will
08. The Quickening
09. Summer's End
10. Winter's Sti ...

---

TAROT — the Finnish group led by NIGHTWISH/ex-SINERGY bassist Marco Hietala — will release its ninth studio album, "Gravity Of Light", on April 23 via Nuclear Blast Records (excluding Finland). A tour will follow, including a stop in Moscow, Russia as well as a number of summer festival appearances.

Check out the "Gravity Of Light" artwork below.

TAROT has been confirmed for this year's ProgPower USA XI festival, set to take place September 8-11 in Atlanta, Georgia.

An e-card for "Undead Indeed", the latest DVD from TAROT, can be accessed at this location.

"Undead Ind ...

---

According to The Pulse of Radio, TOOL guitarist Adam Jones met with KING CRIMSON founder and guitar player Robert Fripp last month in London to discuss reactivating a collaborative album the pair began working on several years ago. Fripp revealed the news about the meeting in a post at his online diary, writing, "A fabbo lunch with Adam covering a wide range of common interests & experiencing, among which: the possibilities of continuing our album, begun in Los Angeles some 5-6 years ago; and go out speaking together."

The possibility of Jones and Fripp working together leads to the question of what — if anything — is going on with TOOL itself. Frontman Maynard James Keenan is ...

---

William Goodman of SPIN.com recently conducted an interview with DEFTONES frontman Chino Moreno. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

SPIN.com: What can fans expect from the new album?

Moreno: The dynamics DEFTONES are known for — aggressive overtones and lush openness. They're on opposite sides of the spectrum, but we meld them together without sounding contrived. There are a few heavy songs, too, like our first couple records, and there are also experimental tunes -- but there's not a minute on this record that feels like it doesn't need to be there. Each sound complements the other. I'll straight-up say it: it's definitely one of our best albums.

SPIN ...

---

A new BLEEDING THROUGH track entitled "Anti-Hero" is available for streaming at the band's MySpace page. The song will appear on the Orange County, California group's forthcoming self-titled album, which is scheduled for release on April 13 via the Portland, Oregon-based independent record label Rise Records. The CD was recorded at Planet Z Studios in Hadley, Massachusetts with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who has previously worked with MUNICIPAL WASTE, AGNOSTIC FRONT and HATEBREED, among others.

"Bleeding Through" track listing:

01. A Resurrection
02. Anti-Hero
03. Your Abandonment
04. F ...

---