THE 11TH HOUR, the doom metal collaboration between Ed Warby (drums, guitar, bass, vocals, programming; GOREFEST, DEMIURG, HAIL OF BULLETS) and Rogga Johansson (vocals, additional guitar; RIBSPREADER, PAGANIZER, DEMIURG), will release its debut album, "Burden Of Grief", via Napalm Records on the following dates:

Oct. 28 – Finland, Spain
Oct. 30 – Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Benelux, France, Italy
Nov. 02 – Rest of Europe
Nov. 03 – USA, Canada

Check out the cover artwork below.

THE 11TH HOUR last year uploaded two tracks from its promotional recording, "The Origins Of Mourning", to MySpace. Check out the songs "One Last Smoke" ...

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Moscow, Russia-based "Slavic pagan metal" band ARKONA will release its new album, "Goi, Rode, Goi!", via Napalm Records on the following dates:

Oct. 28 - Finland, Spain
Oct. 30 - GAS, Benelux, France, Italy, Sweden
Nov. 02 - Rest of Europe
Nov. 03 - USA, Canada

The CD was recorded at CDM Records studio between October 2008 and May 2009 except the drums, which were recorded at Gigant studio, and the guitars, which were recorded at Astia studio.

"Goi, Rode, Goi!" contains a 15-minute song called "Na Moey Zemle" ("In My Land"), which is being described as "a kind of pagan metal opera about the travelling of Slav around countries of Europe." The ...

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The cover artwork for "Memorial Roots", the new album from German melodic metallers BRAINSTORM, can be viewed below. Due on October 16 via the band's new label, AFM Records, the CD was mixed at the Gate Studio in Wolfsburg, Germany under the watchful eye of Sascha Paeth and Miro as producers. 15 songs were recorded for the album, including "Forsake What I Believed", which frontman Andy B. Franck calls "a headcrusher."

"Memorial Roots" tentative track listing:

01. Shiver
02. Nailed Down Dreams
03. Greed Of Gain
04. Cross The Line
05. Forsake What I Believe
06. Honesty
07. The Final Stages Of Decay
08. Seems To Be Perfect
09. Victim ...

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A new MEGADETH track entitled "1,320'" is available for streaming at the U.K. Roadrunner Records web site. It can also be heard in the YouTube clip below.

Commented MEGADETH drummer Shawn Drover: "I remember hearing the riffs for this tune from Dave's [Mustaine] 'Pandora's box of metal riffs,' KNOWING that this song had to be on the record. I really like the overall punk vibe the song has (I was a huge hardcore punk fan back in the day — D.R.I., CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER and the lot; I still am to this day) and I knew that a big sector of our fanbase would dig this song. Like I have said previously, 'E ...

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Vocalist Alan "Nemtheanga" Averill of Irish dark metal masters PRIMORDIAL has issued the following update:

"We are in a period of purgatory. The kind we are well used to, where that time is upon us to start thinking about a new album. The gigs and festivals offers still come in, but what everyone is waiting for is news of some new PRIMORDIAL songs.

"I won't lie, it's been hard as we now live far away from each other and we had always been against sending sound files and writing outside of the rehearsal room, but necessity might become the mother of invention.

"There were some bare bones exhumed at the last rehearsal and we all know they must become our prio ...

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NEVERMORE's Van Williams will record the drums for the band's new album, "The Obsidian Conspiracy", between August 7 and August 14 in the band's hometown of Seattle with producer (and SOILWORK guitarist) Peter Wichers (who previously worked with NEVERMORE vocalist Warrel Dane on Dane's solo debut, "Praises to the War Machine"). The rest of the instruments will be tracked at Wichers' studio in North Carolina. Longtime friend and collaborator Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, ARCH ENEMY, EXODUS, MACHINE HEAD) will once again be handling mixing duties.

The follow-up to 2005's "This Godless Endeavor" is tentatively due in early 2010 via Century Media Records.

Commented Dane: "These s ...

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Jon Chattman of The Huffington Post recently conducted an interview with DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Huffington Post: What do you think of the state of rock?

Portnoy: Well, the state of the "music industry" is at its most fragile that it's ever been since rock music became corporate business 50 years ago and in that respect, I'm happy to see a lot of artists are finally "getting their music back" (by default) after been getting it stuck to them by unfair record company deals for all these years. As far as the state of "rock," it's actually pretty sad actually. When the new DREAM THEATER CD entered the Billboar ...

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Former EMPEROR vocalist/guitarist Ihsahn has set "After" as the title of his third solo album, tentatively due in early 2010 via Mnemosyne Productions/Candlelight Records. More information about the CD will be made available during the coming months.

Ihsahn played his first-ever concert as a solo artist, supporting OPETH at Rockefeller in Oslo, Norway on March 10.

Video footage of the "Scarab" performance can be viewed below.

Ihsahn stated about the gig, "I felt well prepared for the show, and luckily all technical aspects worked out to our advantage, so that the overall experience for me and my band was extremely positive. The feedback from the audience was ...

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EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's official web site has been updated with a brand new interview with the singer/songwriter about the forthcoming album from his AVANTASIA project. The question-and-answer session follows below.

Q: Tobias, how are things going in the studio?

Sammet: I am pretty damn busy, there's a lot of work to be done. I've been working on this forthcoming material for more than two years on and off. But the material will be worth the wait. We got quite many songs, and it ranges from epic ballads to metal opera. From pop to hard rock to folk to speed metal. My best friend, who co-wrote the story of "The Metal Opera" back then, just listened to some of the ...

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Vocalist Dani "Filth" Davey of British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH has posted a lengthy update on the band's MySpace blog. A couple of excerpts from the entry follow below.

"The video for 'The Death Of Love' is now finished [and can be viewed below]. The premise for this track is very much along the same lines as the lyrics for the song, featuring a defiant Joan of Arc and a brooding Gilles De Rais slung about an evocative dungeon band performance. There is definitely a very sinister vibe to the proceedings and some people have already compared it to 'Her Ghost In The Fog' for its eerie cinematography.

"On the live front, this last month or so has found COF playin ...

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