The organizers of the Germany's Wacken Open Air festival have issued the following update:

"As announced a few weeks ago, we had an incredible pre-sale und now it's happened: the 19th Wacken Open Air 2008 is SOLD OUT! We thank you all for your loality and support. In the coming weeks we will announce campside maps, running orders and volumes of the full metal bag."

As previously reported, Wacken Open Air festival was honored with a Live Entertainment Award in the "Festival Of The Year" category. This award recognizes distiguished achievements in live entertainment and is given out by Live Entertainment Award (LEA) committee. The winne ...

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Tonight's (December 14) NIGHTWISH's concert at the Paviljonik Arena in Jyväskylä, Finland was interrupted by a fire. According to Finnish media reports, 6,000 people were evacuated when the concert hall started to fill up with smoke. The situation was quickly brought under control and no injuries were reported. The concert eventually continued, but since some of the fans waiting outside the venue were asked to leave by the s ...

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After numerous delays, the release date for Íon's debut album Madre, Protégenos has finally been announced. The album will be out on the 27th November 2006 via Equilibrium Music in a luxurious digipak CD, and cab be pre-ordered from the Discography section of the band's website.

Íon is a new minimalist, ambient project from Duncan Patterson (ex-Antimatter, ex-Anathema).

A recent press release reads as follows:

One can arguably class Íon as Patterson's most personal creation t ...

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A live video of OVERKILL performing the track "Elimination" at radio personality Eddie Trunk's annual Halloween party on Oct. 29 at the Hard Rock Café in New York City has been posted online at this location (12.3 MB, Windows Media). Sitting behind the drum kit during OVERKILL's set was none other than DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy, who was filling in for regular OVERKILL drummer Tim Mallare. Also making an appearance in the video on backing vocals and air guitar is Mets catcher Mike Piazza, a longtime heavy metal f ...

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Polish death metallers VADER have been forced to drop off the upcoming North American tour with CANNIBAL CORPSE, NAPALM DEATH, GOATWHORE, and KATAKLYSM due to an injury suffered by the band's frontman, Peter. An official statement from the group's manager, Mariusz Kmioek, reads as follows:

"We are sorry to inform everyone that during Scandinavian tour (October 2004) Peter has suffered from a minor spinal injury (vertebra-related) and will have to undergo a procedure to set things right (1 week at hospital and 2 weeks of rehabilitation). The only possible date to enter the hospital and fix it is in October, so we have decid ...

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WEST WARWICK, R.I. (AP) - A nightclub erupted in a raging fire during a rock band's pyrotechnics display, killing 97 people and injuring more than 180 others as frantic mobs rushed to escape. Club officials said Friday the special effects were used without permission. The death toll rose as firefighters searched through the charred shell of the single-story wood building. Gov. Don Carcieri said the number of dead had reached 86 by Friday afternoon and rescue crews had identified ``pockets'' in the rubble where they expected to find more bodies.

``We believe that number is going to go higher. How much higher, we don't know,'' said Carcieri, who rushed back to the state from a Florida ...

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The last week has really been a shitty one. Work and other things in life included. So, what is the average fella to do under these circumstances? Of course, go to a Metal show! We have been planning to go to the Symphony X/Blind Guardian show for about two months now. Got tickets and everything, so no wonder we were fretting having learned that shows in Houston and San Antonio got cancelled because of drunk promoters or incompetent engineers. For a whole week we kept our fingers crossed and kept checking Blind Guardian’s official website for the news. As no bad news surfaced we left for Cleveland about two hours before the show.

The Agora Ballroom is i ...

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I have to admit I don’t get out to metal shows often (as I think I should!). So, when I heard that Dark Tranquillity, Sentenced, In Flames and Killswitch Engage were on the same bill, I thought: “It is now or never”. You see, the first three bands are among my all time favorites, so the show was shaping up as a “can’t miss”.

As all other companions dropped out, it was only the two of us, myself and my bro-in-law, who went. Funny thing, my bro-in-law isn’t much into metal, much less death metal, but he was a good soldier throughout and enjoyed it even with my annoying explanations of who is who and who is singing ...

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