On Monday, February 16, Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH entered Radio Gdansk studio in Poland to begin work on the follow-up to their highly acclaimed 2007 album, "The Apostasy". Daniel Bergstrand from Sweden's Dugout Productions (MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES, DARK FUNERAL) has joined the band in the studio to produce the drums on the record.

Commented Bergstrand: "The drums from beyond hell are miked up and ready to get whipped. I'm super happy with what we got so far...a lethal Polish bulldozer! I'm sure you guys will dig it! The drums are going to be tracked here in Radio Gdansk during next two weeks and after that I will start mixing them and get ...

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Powerhouse American Heavy Metal vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, ex-JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) will release his first solo album, "Play My Game", in May via SPV/Steamhammer. The offering consists of around a dozen brand-new tracks that Owens composed himself or together with renowned friends, such as Bob Kulick, Chris Caffery (SAVATAGE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA), Mike Callahan (ex-EARSHOT) and John Comprix (BEYOND FEAR, RINGWORM).

The list of guest musicians featured on Owens' solo debut is even more spectacular:

Guitar:
Bob Kulick
Chris Caffery (SAVATAGE, TR ...

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After cancelling several shows last week due to singer Phil Labonte's throat issues, Massachusetts metallers ALL THAT REMAINS have now officially dropped off the U.S. tour with IN FLAMES, 36 CRAZYFISTS and GOJIRA.

Commented the band: "Sorry, but we aren't gonna be at any more of the shows on the IN FLAMES tour. We'll have a press release probably [later today, Monday, December 1]. The holiday weekend has prevented an official release 'cause everyone at the label had gone home when the decision was made to drop. Sorry and we'll figure some way out to make it up to you guys. Thanks and we hope you have a happy holidays and a happy New Year."

Jobana Soto of Living in Peru reports: IRON MAIDEN is coming to Peru in their first-ever live performance in Lima slated for March next year. Many fans are in disbelief, excited to see the British heavy metal icons after so many years.

For over a year, El Comerc ...

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Former RAINBOW musicians Joe Lynn Turner, Tony Carey, Bobby Rondinelli and Greg Smith have united with a second-generation Blackmore to form OVER THE RAINBOW.

OVER THE RAINBOW is:

Joe Lynn Turner (RAINBOW 1980-1984) - Vocals
Tony Carey (RAINBOW 1975-1978) - Keyboards
Bobby Rondinelli (RAINBOW 1980-1983) - Drums
Greg Smith (RAINBOW 1994-1997) - Bass
Jürgen "J.R." Blackmore - Guitar

Carey, who has produced several artists (including Joe Cocker and David Knopfler) since his RAINBOW days, says, "Having done everything from country to opera, I th ...

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Norwegian melodic black metal masters OLD MAN'S CHILD will release a new studio album in early 2009 via Century Media Records. The band, which is led by guitarist/vocalist Galder (also in DIMMU BORGIR), has just returned from a trip to Gothenburg, Sweden, where it spent several weeks laying down the new unholy compositions at Studio Fredman with producer Fredrik Nordström (DIMMU BORGIR, ARCH ENEMY, IN FLAMES, etc.), who had previously worked with the band on the "In Defiance Of Existence" (2003) and "Vermin" (2005) albums.

The new OLD MAN'S CHILD album's title has not yet been revealed, but the nine-s ...

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Tampa, Florida-based death metal veterans CANNIBAL CORPSE have set "Evisceration Plague" as the title of their new album due on February 3, 2009 via Metal Blade Records. The follow-up to 2006's "Kill" was produced by Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, MORBID ANGEL) at his Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Commented bassist Alex Webster: "In CANNIBAL CORPSE, our goal has always been to try and make each new album we record our heaviest. That goal was a bit more challenging this time since we were extremely satisfied with our last album 'Kill', but we knew that by working with producer Erik Rutan ...

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Gary Wehrkamp, Shadow Gallery band member, officially releases this press statement:

ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA -

It is with deep sadness and regret that we announce the passing of Shadow Gallery vocalist, Michael A. Baker. Mike, 45 years old, suffered a heart attack, Wednesday afternoon, October 29th, 2008. Mike was a founding member of Shadow Gallery and for the past 16 years helped shape the sound of the band with his magical voice. Additionally, he made many appearances on rock records around the world. Those who knew him best were moved by his gentle spirit, sincere kindness, fun nature and passion for both music and sports. He was a warrior in the studio, a true profes ...

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"Perpetual Flame", the new album from the legendary Swedish guitarist YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, sold around 2,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Short audio samples of all 12 tracks that appear on "Perpetual Flame" can be found on the

German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR have set "16.6" as the working title of the follow-up to last year's "New Religion" album. The CD will be recorded in November/December 2008 for a tentative early 2009 release via Frontiers Records.

Commented the band: "The pre-production for the new PRIMAL FEAR recordings is close to be finished and the studio and crew are finally booked. We've finished the songwriting and pre-production on ten songs so far and have some more little things to do on another four songs."

The group added, "The material so far makes us all very happy. Between real back to the roots Sinner/Wolter/Scheepers vi ...

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