STRYPER singer Michael Sweet's wife Kyle Rae Sweet passed away on March 5, 2009 after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer. She was only 52 years old.

Michael and Kyle met when she was hired to do makeup for STRYPER's first video, "You Know What To Do". They married in 1986 and had two children — Michael Jr. and Ellena — who are now 22 and 18 years old, respectively.

In message posted on his web site a few days before Kyle's death, Michael wrote about his wife, "Kyle was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer in February of 2007. Standing by her side and seeing her physically and emotionally face this horrible disease, I've realized that not only is she the love of ...

---

Grau Records has announced the tour dates for MOURNING BELOVETH and LONGING FOR DAWN:

09 april Rouen,Le Bateau Ivre (FR)
10 april Rouen,Le Bateau Ivre (FR)
11 april Rotterdam,The Baroeg (NL)
12 april Hamburg,Bambi Galore (DE)
14 april Tampere,Club Hellä (FI)
15 april Helsinki,Dante`s Highlight (FI)
16 april Tallinn,Rockclub Tapper (EE)
17 april Riga,Melna Piektdiena (LV)
18 april Moscow Doom Fest,Plan B (RU)
19 april Vilnius,Muse (LT)
20 april Lublin,Tektura (PL)
21 april Poznan,U Bazyla (PL)
22 april Wodzislaw Slaski,Art Café(PL)
23 april Prague,Black Pez (CZ)
24 april Zapfendorf,Top Act (DE)
25 april Eindhoven,Dynamo (NL)
26 april Antwerp,De Rots (BE)

---

German power metallers BLIND GUARDIAN have finished writing eight new songs for the band's forthcoming album. Vocalist Hansi Kürsch states: "What can I say about these songs? They rule, of course. You want a more precise description? Impossible. All I can say is that each and every song is 100% BLIND GUARDIAN, which, naturally ,means there is a wild bunch of different things going on from time to time (always?). According to atmospheres: we have everything from the more 'Nightfall'-ish 'Curse My Name', to the 'Script'-ish 'Wheel Of Time'. In comparison to 'A Twist In The Myth', the lyrical direction will be more on the fantasy side as you most probably can figure out by these titles. The so ...

---

Norway's TRAIL OF TEARS will release its sixth album, "Bloodstained Endurance", this spring via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded and mixed over a six-week period at Sound Suite Studio in Marseille, France with producer Terje Refsnes. Mastering duties were handled by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios in Finland.

"Bloodstained Endurance" release dates:

May 27 - Finland, Spain
May 29 - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, France, Italy, Sweden
Jun. 01 - Rest of Europe
Jun. 02 - USA, Canada

The cover artwork for the album, which was designed by acclaimed artist Travis Smith (AMORPHIS, OPETH, NEVERMORE) can be viewed below.

Commented ...

---

DORNENREICH/AGALLOCH (+Mely):
20.03.'09 D - Würzburg / Posthalle
21.03.'09 AT - Henndorf bei Salzburg / Wallerseehalle (Spring Metal-Festival)
22.03.'09 IT - Brescia / Covo Antico
23.03.'09 CZ - Prague / Exit Chmelnice
24.03.'09 D - Berlin / K17
25.03.'09 FR - Paris / Glazart
26.03.'09 GB - London / Underworld
27.03.'09 BE - Vosselaar / Biebob
28.03.'09 D - Hamm / Alfred-Fischer-Halle (Tomahawk festival)
29.03.'09 NL - Den Bosch / W2 (afternoon show)

DORNENREICH:
17.-18.04.'09 D - Lichtenfels / Stadthalle (Ragnarök festival)
29.04.'09 PO - Barrosselas / SWR warm up (acoustic gig)
30.04.'09 PO - Barrosselas / SWR MetalFest XII (metal gig)

---

Taken from the official SEASON OF MIST newsletter:

Season of Mist is immensely proud to announce that ATHEIST and GNOSTIC just inked a deal with our label! After CYNIC, that's two more technical US death metal legends we are welcoming to our roster. Here's drummer Steve Flynn's comment:

"We're absolutely thrilled that, as of today, both GNOSTIC and ATHEIST are officially signed to SEASON OF MIST! GNOSTIC's debut CD "Engineering the Rule" will be released before the summer and ATHEIST's yet untitled CD, will be released later in the year. Season really stepped up to the plate to get this done, for this is also a highly unique situation for technical death metal. Three me ...

---

DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy played a one-minute "teaser" for the band's forthcoming album on this past Friday's (February 27) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. The clip is now available for streaming below.

DREAM THEATER is wrapping up work on its tenth studio album, due early summer via Roadrunner Records. The band commenced work on the as-yet untitled CD last October. Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci are once again producing the LP, while engineer Paul Northfield will mix the record beginning this coming week.

Portnoy previously stated about the upcoming CD, "Imagine a DREAM THEATER album with 'A Change Of ...

---

Guitarist Kirk Windstein (CROWBAR, DOWN, KINGDOM OF SORROW) has posted a short video message (see below) reassuring CROWBAR fans that there will "definitely" be a new record out this year.

Windstein was forced to miss much of KINGDOM OF SORROW's tour dates with GWAR late last year due to commitments with DOWN and a need to "tackle some serious issues and personal demons."

Metal Mind Productions re-released three CROWBAR albums — "Crowbar" (1993), "Time Heals Nothing" (1995) and "Live+1" EP (1995) — in Europe in April 2008. Each limited-edition digipack title (limited to 2,000 copies) was made available on golden disc, digitally remastered using 24-bit technology. Th ...

---

"No Sacrifice, No Victory", the new album from Swedish melodic metallers HAMMERFALL, entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 7 — the band's highest German chart entry ever! In Sweden, the CD opened at No. 2 and in Austria, it landed at No. 25 in its first week of release.

In other news, HAMMERFALL has scheduled the following signing sessions:

March 6 - Madrid @ Tipo Shop (Calla Montera) - 17.00 to 18.00 CET
March 10 - Milano @ Mariposa Duomo (Galleria S. Radegonda Duomo) - 17.00 to 18.00 CET
March 16 - Stuttgart @ Saturn (Königsbau Passagen) - 17.00 to 18.00 CET
March 17 - Cologne @ Saturn (Kaisserstrasse/Kaufhof) - 17.00 to 18.00 CET

"Uranium", which is exclusively available on Fuse On Demand, sat down with members of MESHUGGAH to talk about the band's latest album "obZen", the symbolism of its artwork and the songwriting process. The full interview is available all March long only on Fuse on Demand.

Watch a clip below.

Fuse on Demand is available on Cablevision, Comcast, Cox, Direct TV, Insight, Knology, WAVE, Metrocast, Hometown, Midcontinent and a whole bunch of other places across the U.S.

Released in March 2008, MESHUGGAH's "obZen" album debuted at No. 59 on The Billboard 200 chart and at No. 14 on the iTunes Top Rock Albums chart. "obZen" has sold more than 50,000 copies in the Unit ...

---