SIRENIA, the Norwegian gothic metal band featuring former TRISTANIA guitarist/vocalist Morten Veland, have posted the following message on their official web site:

"We will start the recordings of our new album on the 17th of July. We have chosen a somewhat different solution this time, and will record in altogether three different studios. This is a solution that we feel can add something new and different to our sound, as well as keeping the essential basics of SIRENIA. First we will track the drums in Jailhouse studios in Norway with engineer Hans Eidsgard, then we proceed to Soundsuite studios in France to record everything else, to ...

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Niko Kaartinen of Finland's Imperiumi webzine recently conducted an interview with STRAPPING YOUNG LAD mastermind Devin Townsend. A few excerpts from the chat follow (translated from Finnish by Mike Portnoy forum member "tommidt"):

Imperiumi: "The New Black" is STRAPPING YOUNG LAD's fifth and final record for Century Media. Is this the last record of SYL's career?

Devin: "I hope so. I believe so. I signed a five-album deal with Century Media and this is now the fifth. There you have five records; they are very happy with th ...

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An expanded version of the latest DEEP PURPLE album, "Rapture of the Deep", will be re-released on July 25th via Eagle Rock Entertainment. The new version pairs the original release with a second CD that has, among other things, a new version of the song "Clearly Quite Absurd" and five live performances from when the band reopened the Hard Rock Cafe in London last October. PURPLE guitarist Steve Morse told Launch the atmosphere that night helped the band play exceptionally well. "Any time you play in a club, the energy's fantastic. I don't know — just (an) excited crowd right at our feet, literally, 'cause it's a tiny little place, and just a packe ...

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Finland's NIGHTWISH have finished writing the material for their next album and are now preparing to record pre-production versions of the songs so that they can be edited and arranged. The band are currently seeking a replacement for departed singer Tarja Turunen before entering the studio in September 2006 to begin recording the follow-up to 2004's "Once", tentatively due in mid-2007.

As previously reported, NIGHTWISH's "End of an Era" DVD and CD entered the German chart at a No. 3 and has already been certified gold for sales in excess of 25,000 copies. "End of an Era" was also certified gold in Finland the day after its release.

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Former BURZUM leader and convicted murderer and arsonist Varg Vikernes (photo) (a.k.a. "Greven"), who has served 12 years out of a 21-year jail sentence, will not be released from prison just yet.

The Norwegian prison authorities have denied Vikernes' parole application, according to the newspaper Dagbladet.

Varg's attorney John Christian Elden says Vikernes' release is long overdue.

"He is disappointed by the decision because he feels he ...

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TWISTED SISTER are celebrating their 30th anniversary with a new label, Razor & Tie, and a new album on the way. The band's new disc, A Twisted Christmas - featuring metal versions of holiday classics including 'Deck the Halls' and 'O Come All Ye Faithful' - is due October 17th. Twisted Sister are currently recording and have had to cancel performances at European festivals this summer to have the LP completed for the holiday season.

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A brand new LAMB OF GOD track, entitled "Redneck", has been posted online at www.sacrament2006.com.

"Redneck" is the first single off LAMB OF GOD's new album, "Sacrament", due on August 22 via Epic. A video for the song has reportedly been shot by director Bill Fishman (EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, GOOD CHARLOTTE).

"Sacrament" was produced by Machine (BLOODSIMPLE, WHITE ZOMBIE), who also helmed the group's 2004 effort, "Ashes of the Wake".

In a recent interview with MTV.com, LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Mo ...

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Sweden's WOLF have set "The Black Flame" as the title of their fourth album, due this fall release via Century Media Records in Europe and Prosthetic Records in the U.S. The band are currently tracking the effort at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden and will be done recording by the end of June. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "The Bite", "I Will Kill Again", "Silverbullit Eater", and "Black Magic". The follow-up to 2004's "Evil Star" will be the first album to feature new drummer Tobias R Kellgren and longtime session/live guitarist Johannes Losbäck alongside founding members Niklas Stålvi ...

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Nebraska-based power metallers CELLADOR have posted the video for their song "Leaving All Behind", at this location (Windows Media). The video shoot took place in Los Angeles, CA between May 8 and May 11 with director Dan Dobi (CANNIBAL CORPSE, INTO THE MOAT). According to the band: "It was a fantastic first experience in the music video world for us and the resulting neck and head pains from the nine hours of thrashing we will cherish in our hearts for many days to come. We can't say enough good things about our video director Dan Dobi and his producer Jer ...

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WINDS guitarist Carl August Tidemann recently posted a message on the the band's forum stating that he has now completed the solo-guitar recordings for the upcoming album. The rhythm guitars were already completed last year and the recent completion of the solos now concludes all the guitar recordings for the fourth WINDS album.

WINDS — comprised of singer Lars Eric Si (KHOLD), guitarist Carl August Tidemann (ARCTURUS), keyboardist Andy Winter (AGE OF SILENCE) and Jan Axel Von Blomberg (ARCTURUS, MAYHEM) — have also confirmed recent suspicions of a guest performance by Dan Swanö ( ...

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