Last night (Jan. 31) in Nashville, METAL CHURCH drummer Jeff Plate suffered a spinal disk injury. Jeff is currently seeking medical treatment, and the prognosis is soon to follow. Unfortunately, the band has been forced to cancel at least 3-6 shows, pending Jeff's prognosis.

Commented the band: "We apologize to our fans for the inconvenience... We were especially looking forward to the Texas shows and makeup dates should be forthcoming soon. Contact your venues for refund/honoring information."

The following shows are definitely cancelled:

Feb. 01 - The Princess Theater - Columbus MS
Feb. 02 - Ridglea Theater - Fort Worth, TX
Feb. 03 - White Rabbit - San Antonio, TX

More information will be made available soon.

As previously reported, the five current members of METAL CHURCH will host "The Classic Metal Show" on Saturday, February 3. Kurdt Vanderhoof (guitar), Ronny Munroe (vocals), Jay Reynolds (guitar), Steve Unger (bass) and Jeff Plate (drums) will discuss their current album, "A Light in the Dark", as well as the history of the band, the passing of David Wayne, and their involvement in other bands, including MALICE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, CHRIS CAFFERY, SAVATAGE and PRESTO BALLET.

"The Classic Metal Show" is heard live every Saturday from 9:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. EST, and in rebroadcast throughout the week.

To view the weekly schedule or to tune in, go to www.theclassicmetalshow.com.

Escapi Music has set a February 23 German release date for a live METAL CHURCH DVD featuring the band's now 1991 performance at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Eindhoven, Holland. The footage features the band touring in support of its "The Human Factor" album with the following lineup:

Mike Howe (vocals)
Craig Marshall (guitars)
Craig Wells (guitars)
Duke Erickson (bass)
Kirk Arrington (drums)

METAL CHURCH's video for the song "Mirror of Lies" has been posted online at this location (you must have Flash enabled to view the video). The clip was shot by Roax Films on the band's "Light in the Dark" summer European tour at the Wacken Open Air festival and in Hamburg at the Markthalle.

METAL CHURCH's latest album, "A Light in the Dark", was released in Europe on June 19, 2006 (June 27 in the U.S.) via SPV. The CD includes a new version of the classic "Watch the Children Pray" as a tribute to vocalist David Wayne, who passed away in May 2005.

Glasgow-based modern metallers MENDEED have been confirmed for the 2007 edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, set to take place July 6-7 at Catton Hall in Derbyshire, England. Also scheduled to appear are BLIND GUARDIAN, KORPIKLAANI and RISE TO ADDICTION.

MENDEED has revealed the track listing for its new album, "Dead Lived By Love", due in the spring via Nuclear Blast Records. It is as follows:

01. Burning Fear
02. The Fight
03. The Dead Live By Love
04. Fuel The Fire
05. Gravedigger
06. Our War
07. Blood Brothers
08. Through Dead Eyes
09. Reload 'N' Kill
10. Take Me As I Am
11. It's Not Over Yet
12. Thirteen

MENDEED recently completed a European tour with NAPALM DEATH and BORN FROM PAIN.

An e-card for the upcoming debut album from DAATH, entitled "The Hinderers", is available at this location. Due on March 20 via Roadrunner Records, the CD was produced by James Murphy (ex-DEATH, OBITUARY, DISINCARNATE, TESTAMENT), co-produced by DAATH, and mixed by Colin Richardson (BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, MACHINE HEAD, CRADLE OF FILTH, FEAR FACTORY), with additional engineering by Andy Sneap.

States the band's guitarist Eyal Levi, "Colin Richardson's mix is, as expected, CRUSHING! Working with him has been a blast and having Andy Sneap re-amp our rhythm guitars is no side note. This album is going to sound like we intended it to!"

"The Hinderers" (view artwork at this location) track listing:

01. Subterfuge
02. From The Blind
03. Cosmic Forge
04. Sightless
05. Under A Somber Sign
06. Ovum
07. Festival Mass Soulform
08. Above Lucium
09. Who Will Take The Blame?
10. War Born (Tri-adverserenade)
11. Dead On The Dance Floor
12. Blessed Through Misery
13. The Hinderers

A short question-and-answer session with DAATH has been posted online at this location. A studio report from the making of "The Hinderers" can be found here.

Legendary bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH) has posted the video for the song "This House" from his latest solo album "Music for the Divine" on his MySpace page. Featuring Glenn on vocals and bass guitar, Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) on drums and JJ Marsh on acoustic guitar, the clip was filmed at Chad's home in the Hollywood Hills, California and directed by Jon Cohan.

"Music for the Divine" has just receive its long-awaited U.S. release via Demolition Records. The CD, which is available in Europe on Frontiers Records, was recorded in Chad Smith's house and again features Smith on drums and longtime Glenn Hughes collaborator JJ Marsh on guitar. Also featured are RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS guitarist John Frusciante and Mark Killian, who has provided the string arrangements and keyboards.

Glenn recently announced his new touring band as Jeff Kollman on guitar, Mark Mondesir on drums and Anders Olinder on keyboards.

(Thanks: GHPG.net)

The FINAL cover artwork for MEGADETH's new album, "United Abominations", has been posted online at this location.

Due on May 8 via Roadrunner Records, "United Abominations" is currently being mixed at Backstage Studios in Derbyshire, England by Andy Sneap (MACHINE HEAD, SKINLAB, NEVERMORE). A professionally shot video clip of MEGADETH performing a new song, entitled "Washington is Next", on October 14, 2006 at the Loud Park '06 festival in Tokyo, Japan has been posted online at YouTube.com. Other songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Gears of War", "Sleepwalker", "United Abominations", "Burnt Ice", "Never Walk Alone" and "Amerikhastan". A rough-mix version of "Gears of War", is available for download at this location. A video clip of MEGADETH performing "Gears of War" live on October 31, 2006 at Six Flags in Springfield, Massachusetts during the "Gears of War - Match Made In Hell" event has been posted online at YouTube.com.

Irish doom titans MOURNING BELOVETH have announced the addition of bassist Brendan Roche to the group's ranks. "[Brendan] will bring fresh ears and a Wexford wit to the doomed proceedings of writing a new album," the group writes on its web site.

In other news, "we now have three [new] songs written and another three in the pipeline" [for the upcoming MOURNING BELOVETH album, the band writes. "The songs are sounding VERY HEAVY and it should be interesting to hear how they develop over the coming months. We are aiming for an October recording session in Studio E again, three years after the recording of 'A Murderous Circus' [2005].

"In other news, Grau has re-released 'Dust' [2001] and 'The Sullen Sulcus' [2002]. Nothing new except the artwork. The albums were supposed to go on sale at mid-price but that hasn't happened and we are disappointed but.....

"We had some great experiences playing at Brutal Assault in Czech Republic and Party.San in Germany ([former bassist] Adrian [Butler]'s last gig) over the summer and our gig in the Voodoo in Dublin was a major success, despite our sloppy performance that night. It was also the first time we had some serious stage diving during one of our gigs and it made for a memorable night, and some broken pedals."

Thomas Youngblood, guitarist and songwriter for American/Norwegian melodic metallers KAMELOT, has issued the following update:

"We are returning from shooting our next video for the upcoming album. The shoot took place in Belgrade, Serbia with the ICode company. This was our first visit to Serbia and we found the people there to be some of nicest and most passionate in the world. We are really looking forward to the concert even more this April. Thanks to Stacca, Ivan and the rest of the ICode staff for making our visit an amazing experience. We will be adding photos from the shoot very soon!"

Youngblood recently checked in with Hardrock Haven for a 25-minute interview to discuss their new live DVD, "A Cold Winter's Night"; how the songwriting process works with lead singer Roy Khan, who lives in Norway while Youngblood is American; North American tour plans; the technical difficulties of bringing their kind of epic and symphonic metal to life in a live environment; and what we can expect from KAMELOT in the upcoming months.

To hear the interview in its entirety, go to www.hardrockhaven.net.

As previously reported, a video clip of KAMELOT performing the song "When the Lights are Down" on February 11, 2006 at the historic Rockefeller venue in Oslo, Norway has been posted online at YouTube.com. The footage comes off the group's first-ever DVD, "One Cold Winter's Night", which entered the Swedish Music Video chart at position No. 8. KAMELOT enlisted renowned film and video director Patric Ullaeus (DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES) to chronicle the night's events. Bringing with him from Gothenberg, Sweden, Patric had a large crew of professionals and equipment, including 18 cameras, that would be used in and around the concert grounds.

KAMELOT's new studio album is scheduled for a spring release.

U.K. death metallers AKERCOCKE have commenced the recoridng sessions for their as-yet-untitled album at their own Goat of Mendes Studios in West London.

Commented frontman Jason Mendonca: "The studio has recently undergone a refit following the recording of the previous album 'Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That go Undone', and is now a fully digital facility. It's been interesting to have to work with the new equipment on this new album. Ideally I would have liked to have completed some demo work at Goat of Mendes first to familiarize myself with the new digital mixing console, but this wasn't possible so it's been a steep learning curve whilst doing the pre-production for the album.

"The drums are 80% recorded and are sounding very powerful. I am particularly pleased about this as even at this early stage I think the source sounds are even better than on 'Words'. David has played some killer performances with one section of blasting topping out at a genuine, accurate 280BPM (he's playing to a click track so we know this for sure).

"I am reluctant to divulge too much about the new material other than to say 2006 was a difficult year for us and I think this has been subconsciously reflected in the vitriolic sound of some of the songs. I can safely say that this will be our most aggressive work to date. I am pleased about this as it means we are beginning the 10th year of our bands history in the way we intend to continue — making extremely dark, violent and challenging music.

"Drum sessions are expected to reach a frightening conclusion by the 29th of January. At that time work on the guitars will begin. I'm really looking forward to recording the guitars this time. We've got some fantastic new amplification from Hughes and Kettner that I reckon will make a significant difference in creating an extraordinarily heavy yet clear sound."

AKERCOCKE will play two “special” intimate shows in March:

Mar. 27 - Water Rats, Kings Cross - London
Mar. 29 - Colchester Arts Centre - Colchester, Essex (w/ HECATE ENTHRONED)

A Gibson guitar owned by BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi is going on display at Harrods' central London store today (Thursday, February 1) in an exhibition called "Born to Rock" as part of the month-long "Harrods Rocks" series of events. The guitar in question is one of his black limited-edition Gibson Custom Shop SGs, as played on BLACK SABBATH recordings and tours since 2001. The exhibition in London follows the extremely successful Dublin show "Rock Chic", which had record-breaking attendances at the National Museum Of Ireland and featured more than 100 legendary, vintage, rare and customized guitars, including instruments played by Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Phil Lynnott, Keith Richards, Bo Diddley and Mark Bolan. More information on the event, which runs until March 3, is available from the "Born to Rock" web site and at the Harrods site.

San Francisco-based death metal/hardcore act ANIMOSITY will support CONVERGE on a European tour beginning mid-June. Also appearing on the bill is RISE AND FALL. Confirmed dates are as follows:

Jun. 15 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
Jun. 16 - Trier, Germany - Summer Blast Festival
Jun. 18 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
Jun. 19 - Berlin, Germany - SO36
Jun. 21 - Hoogeven, Holland - Trashfest
Jun. 22 - Herne, Germany - Pressure Festival
Jun. 23 - Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
Jun. 24 - Clisson, France - Hellfest
Jun. 25 - Irun, Spain - Tunk
Jun. 26 - Madrid, Spain - Copernico
Jun. 28 - Montpellier, France - The Rockstore
Jul. 13 - Dour, Belgium - Dour Festival
Jul. 15 - Budapest, Hungary - Kultiplex
Jul. 16 - Wien, Austria - Arena
Jul. 17 - Tolmin, Slovenia - Metal Camp Festival
Jul. 19 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Le Romandie
Jul. 22 - Plzen, Czech Republic - Fluff Festival

ANIMOSITY will enter Godcity studios in Salem, Massachusetts in April with producer Kurt Ballou of CONVERGE to begin recording its new album, "Animal", for a late summer/early fall release via Black Market Activities.

ANIMOSITY released its first disc, "Shut It Down", on Tribunal Records back in 2003 and its follow-up effort, "Empires", in August 2005 via Black Market Activities. The band has been on tour ever since and spent the majority of 2005 and 2006 tearing up the States alongside NAPALM DEATH, A LIFE ONCE LOST, DEAD TO FALL, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, INTO THE MOAT, THE RED CHORD, MALEVOLENT CREATION, ED GEIN, ORIGIN, THE ACACIA STRAIN and many others.

Sanctuary Records has set a March 26 U.K. release date for reissues of two classic SABBAT albums: "History of a Time to Come" (1988) and "Dreamweaver" (1989). The remastered CDs contain audio recordings from the band's 1990 concert in East Berlin, which was previously released as the official "The End of the Beginning" video.

A short video clip of SABBAT being interviewed and rehearsing for their recent U.K. tour as the support act for CRADLE OF FILTH has been posted online at YouTube.com. A Quicktime version can be found at this location.

The SABBAT reunion came about "due to many a conversation with Dani [Filth, CRADLE frontman] and Paul [Allender, COF guitarist] whilst mixing the [new] CRADLE album," SABBAT guitarist-turned-producer Andy "Undie" Sneap told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "It was put to us that they'd love to see it happen (Dani still has his stolen copy of 'Dreamweaver' [1989] on cassette), and the more we've talked about it, it just seemed like opening for CRADLE on these shows would be a great way of getting the five of us together again for a bit of fun. It's not a long-term thing, [and we don't have] any delusions about the future — [it's] just a chance to play some of the old songs and have a blast."

SABBAT reunion lineup (same as that on "Dreamweaver"):

Martin Walkyier - Vocals
Andy Sneap - Guitar
Simon Jones - Guitar
Fraser Craske - Bass
Simon Negus - Drums

Finnish metallers NORTHER have revealed the track listing for the new EP, "No Way Back", to be released in Finland by Suomen Musiikki at the Finnish Metal Expo (held February 16-18 in Helsinki). Release dates for other territories will be announced soon.

"No Way Back" track listing:

01. Frozen Angel
02. C.U.S.
03. No Way Back
04. Reach Out
05. Close Your Eyes

A teaser medley for the EP can be found at this location. Check out the CD artwork here.

NORTHER's video for the new song "Frozen Angel" has been posted online at this location (MPG file, 41 MB). The track is featured on the soundtrack to the new Finnish film "V2: Jäätynyt Enkeli", which was released in Finland on January 5 via King Foo Entertainment. Also appearing on the soundtrack are AMORPHIS, KOTIPELTO and THUNDERSTONE, among other artists.

NORTHER's latest album, "Till Death Unites Us", was issued in Finland in January 2006 and the rest of Europe in March. The CD entered the official Finnish chart at position No. 6.

(Thanks: Audrey Dujardin / Tartarean Desire)

Danish "apocalyptic" old-school death metallers USIPIAN have issued the following update:

"We are sorry to announce that USIPIAN no longer exists due to differences within the band in regard to musical direction. The final testament of USIPIAN will be a MCD/7-inch EP containing three tracks recently recorded in Sweet Silence Studios with Flemming Rasmussen (METALLICA, MORBID ANGEL, ARTILLERY, KING DIAMOND). More info will be posted at www.usipian.com and www.myspace.com/usipian. MP3 samples will be added soon.

"Toke [Eld, vocals], Jeppe [Hasseriis, guitar] and Andreas [Lynge, guitar] have formed a new yet unnamed band and Kent [Værens, bass] and Nis [R. Larsen, drums] will later on form a new death metal band. Nis and Jeppe will continue playing in STRYCHNOS. Kent will continue playing in VARDLOKKUR, HOLMGANG and ANGANTYR.

"We wish to thank all the people, bands and magazines that have supported USIPIAN throughout the years."

USIPIAN's debut album, "Dead Corner of the Eye", was released in July 2005 via Metal Fortress. The album's artwork was painted by legendary artist Dan Seagrave. Additional vocals on the tracks "Selfless" and "Shadows of the Once Unseen" were provided by by Martin Rosendahl of CORPUS MORTALE.

W.A.S.P. has scheduled the following European tour dates in April:

Apr. 08 - Stadthalle – Langen, GER (Noisegate Festival)
Apr. 26 - Gates of Metalbåten - SWE
Apr. 27 - Nöjesfabriken – Karlstad, SWE
Apr. 28 - Stoltz – Karlskrona, SWE
Apr. 29 - Mejeriet – Lund, SWE
Apr. 30 - Cloetta Center – Linköping, SWE

A video clip of W.A.S.P. performing the new song "Mercy" on September 6, 2006 at Kaliakra Stadium, Kavarna, Bulgaria has been posted online at YouTube.com. Several video clips of W.A.S.P. performing live in Athens, Greece on October 13, 2006 have been posted online at the W.A.S.P. MySpace group page at this location. A fall 2006 Finnish TV interview with W.A.S.P. mainman Blackie Lawless is available at YouTube.com.

W.A.S.P.'s new album, "Dominator", is due later in the year.

Regarding the album title, Blackie Lawless said in a recent interview, "It is based on the idea of Western imperialism and about what's wrong with Washington D.C. It's important that people understand this is not about the American people and it is not a critique on the American people — it is a critique on the government in the United States. If someone looks at the lyrics of 'Dominator', they'll think it's a man talking to a woman. And I like the interesting concept of that because that's what bigger countries do to smaller countries — they toss them like they're their bitch."

(Thanks: Mike Duda In Your Face Fan Site)

AGHORA from the USA, DAY SIX from the Netherlands and DGM from Italy have been confirmed for the ProgPower Europe 2007 festival, set to take place October 5-7 in Baarlo, Netherlands. DGM wil headline the pre-party, AGHORA will play on Saturday and DAY SIX will open on Sunday. The festival billing is now shaping up as follows:

Friday, October 5 (pre-party):

DGM (Italy)
+ one more band

Saturday, October 6:

HEAVEN'S CRY (Canada)
MECHANICAL POET (Russia)
AGHORA (USA)
+ three bands

Sunday, October 7:

JON OLIVA'S PAIN (USA)
SIEGES EVEN (Germany)
DREAMSCAPE (Germany)
CIRCUS MAXIMUS (Norway)
MEYVN (USA)
DAY SIX (Netherlands)

For more information, visit www.progpower.com.

Vocalist Justin Wolfe of the Canadian thrash/metalcore act THINE EYES BLEED — who feature in their ranks former KITTIE guitarist/technician Jeff Phillips and bassist Johnny Araya (brother of SLAYER's Tom Araya) — has issued the following update:

"We have been working on some new material as much as possible through the holidays and so far this winter... It's cold. Maybe some day we'll have a heated practice space.

"We have three shows with SLAYER and UNEARTH in a little over a week, We all just got back in town and are hittin' it hard putting together a set with some new material. Sounding good this weekend for being after a small break.

"Looks like we will be hitting the studio mid-March to begin recording our second album! We are extremely excited and will have more details posted very soon, as for who? when? where?... Looks like we will also take on a headline gig at London, ON's Salt Lounge March 2nd. [We're] planning to debut most, if not all, of our new material!!"

THINE EYES BLEED last fall compelted a month-long tour of Europe as part of the "Unholy Alliance Chapter II: Preaching To The Perverted" (also featuring SLAYER, IN FLAMES, LAMB OF GOD and CHILDREN OF BODOM).

THINE EYES BLEED last year re-released their 2005 debut for The End Records, entitled "In the Wake of Separation". The CD now includes the bonus track "Better off Dead" (previously available only in Japan) and the video for "Cold Victim".

Veteran Swedish death metallers UNLEASHED will headline the seventh edition of the Walpurgis Metal Days festival, set to take place Saturday, April 28 in Hauzenberg, Germany. The festival billing is shaping up as follows (in alphabetical order):

COCK AND BALL TORTURE
COLD TRAGEDY
DISBELIEF
ENSIFERUM
EPICEDIUM
EXOTOXIN
GJENFERDSEL
GRIND INC.
LEGION OF THE DAMNED
LOST LEGACY
MIDWINTER
NORDAFROST
NAILDOWN
ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTET
OUTRAGE
RESURRECTED
SCARED TO DEATH
SUIDAKRA
SYCRONOMICA
ULTRAWURSCHT
UNLEASHED

For more information, visit www.walpurgismetal.de.

UNLEASHED's eighth full-length album, "Midvinterblot", was released in the U.S. on October 10 via SPV Records. The band will embark on a North American headlining tour in February/March, with KRISIUN and BELPHEGOR supporting.

Stockholm, Sweden-based rock 'n' rollers MARYSLIM have confirmed 12 European dates as the support act for THE 69 EYES. Also appearing on the bill is WEDNESDAY 13. The trek will start only a few days after the release of MARYSLIM's third album, "A Perfect Mess", which is due in Sweden on February 21 (March 30 in the rest of Europe) via Wild Kingdom Records. A single, "This Corrosion", will be made available as a special digital release. THE 69 EYES frontman Jyrki69 shares lead vocals with Mats "MF" Olsson on this song. Check out the "This Corrosion" video, directed by Charlie Granberg, at this location.

Mar. 03 - Nosturi - Helsinki - FIN (supporting HANOI ROCKS)
Mar. 30 - On The Rocks - Helsinki – FIN

With THE 69 EYES, WEDNESDAY 13:

Apr. 02 - Zeche - Bochum - GER
Apr. 03 - Markthalle - Hamburg - GER
Apr. 04 - Capitol - Hannover - GER
Apr. 05 - Biebob - Vosselaar - BEL
Apr. 06 - Melkweg - Amsterdam - NETH
Apr. 08 - New Backstage - Munich - GER
Apr. 09 - Batschkapp - Frankfurt - GER
Apr. 10 - Longhorn - Stuttgart - GER
Apr. 11 - Garage - Saarbrucken - GER
Apr. 12 - Live Music Hall - Cologne "Köln" - GER
Apr. 13 - Wild At Heart - Berlin - GER (MARYSLIM only)
Apr. 14 - Strasse E - Dresden - GER

THE EXPLOITED, FINAL CONFLICT, FUNERAL DRESS (March 9 to March 17), PHANTOM ROCKERS (March 19 to March 24), RESILIENCE, THE GHOULS, and SO UNLOVED will team up for The British Are Coming 2007 touring festival, which is set to kick off March 9 in Ventura, California. The dates are as follows:

Mar. 09 - Ventura, CA - Alpine
Mar. 10 - Perris, CA - Real Ride Skate Park
Mar. 11 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
Mar. 13 - El Paso, TX - House of Rock N Roll
Mar. 15 - Lewisville, TX - Fat Daddy's Sound Shack
Mar. 16 - Mc Allen, TX - The Metro
Mar. 17 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
Mar. 19 - Aurora, CO – Hubbas Pub
Mar. 20 - Salt Lake City, UT - TBD
Mar. 22 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
Mar. 23 - Portland, OR - Outlaws
Mar. 24 - San Francisco, CA - TBD
Mar. 25 - San Jose, CA - TBD
Mar. 27 - Hollywood, CA - Knitting Factory
Mar. 30 - San Diego, CA - TBD
Mar. 31 - Tijuana, Mexico – Multikulti
Apr. 01 - Lompoc, CA – TBD (THE EXPLOITED only)

MISERY INDEX will co-host the "Hostile Takeover" show on XM Radio today (Thursday February 1) at 1:00 p.m. EST.

"Hostile Takeover" is a live program on XM Channel 42 Liquid Metal (Channel 841 for Direct TV subscribers), where MISERY INDEX will join host Ward Cleaver to talk about their latest release, "Discordia", as well as their upcoming European tour with labelmates NECROPHAGIST and ORIGIN.

MISERY INDEX's video for "Conquistadores" will premiere on this weekend's edition of MTV2's "Headbanger’s Ball". The "Conquistadores" video was filmed on location in Brooklyn, NY with director Rick Carmona (SUFFOCATION) and producers Dale Resteghini and Melissa Manousos of Raging Nations Films.

The band's European tour will kick off next week, taking them to over 14 countries within a month and half's time. The band will have an exclusive tour 7", "Hang 'Em High" (Garden of Exile Records), available at all the dates.

IN THIS MOMENT have posted a new track, "Daddy's Falling Angel", on their MySpace page, along with the cover art and track listing for their debut album, "Beautiful Tragedy", which is set for a March 20 release. The group kicks off their 2007 touring cycle with a bang, joining KITTIE, WALLS OF JERICHO, DEAD TO FALL and 36 CRAZYFISTS for a massive U.S. tour, which starts on February 7 and runs through the end of March.

Chris Howorth (guitars) further describes his excitement over the upcoming tour: "We couldn't think of a better way to start this year than by hitting the road for eight weeks. We are honored to be the opening band on such an amazing tour. It's such a great lineup, and we are beyond excited to make new friends and watch some amazing bands every night."

IN THIS MOMENT recently shot a new video for the track "Prayers" with up-and-coming director Mike Wildt; look for it to make its debut exclusively on MySpace in conjunction with the start of the tour.

IN THIS MOMENT quickly became one of the most talked-about artists within the Southern California scene due to the intensity of frontwoman Maria Brink and an undying work ethic. Their organic buzz quickly carried over to the band's MySpace page, with over 127,000 friends and more than a million plays. Their invigorating mixture of metal and hard rock is sure to catch the attention of fans of acts ranging from AFI and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE to BLEEDING THROUGH and ATREYU.

The quintet closed out 2006 with a three-week national tour that saw them play alongside a number of different artists such as 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, 36 CRAZYFISTS, SWORN ENEMY and labelmates DIECAST. Look for them to remain on the road through the end of the year.

Boston's punk metal grandfathers POST MORTEM have announced plans to reform in some form in the near future. Vocalist John McCarthy is the only member remaining from the 1980s-'90s period. They will also be starting their own record company, Taboo Records, an off-shoot of their tape label, which has existed since the early '80s.

POST MORTEM was formed on March 22, 1982 in the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts. The definitive lineup was finally settled on in early 1985. This consisted of: John McCarthy (vocals), John Alexander (guitar), Mark Kelley (bass) and Rick McIver (drums). Their first album, "Coroner's Office", was released in 1986 on New Renaissance Records, followed in 1987 by the EP "The Missing Link" on the same label. In 1989 "Festival of Fun" was recorded, but was deemed "too inaccessible" by the label it was recorded for. So POST MORTEM "stole" the tape and released it as a "bootleg" two years later. The final release by POST MORTEM was "Destined for Failure".

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/postmortemtheoriginal.

An e-card for KORN's "MTV Unplugged" CD, which has had its release date pushed back to March 6 from the previously announced February 20, has been made available at this location. The performance, which was recorded December 9, 2006 at MTV's Times Square (New York City) studios, includes guest appearances by Amy Lee of EVANESCENCE on "Freak on a Leash" and Robert Smith of THE CURE on a cover of the CURE classic "In Between Days". The album version of the performance will also include KORN's cover of "Creep" by RADIOHEAD. The full "Unplugged" performance will appear online on February 24 and premiere on MTV on March 2. A special February 23 premiere will take place at KORN's official web site.

KORN's video for the "unplugged" version of "Freak on a Leash", featuring a guest appearance by Amy Lee of EVANESCENCE, has been posted online at YouTube.com.

KORN is currently working with veteran rock drummer Terry Bozzio on its eighth studio album. The 56-year-old Bozzio is sitting in for KORN drummer David Silveria, who announced in December that he was taking a "temporary hiatus" from the group for at least one studio album and tour. Bozzio, long considered one of the greatest drummers in rock, is best known for his work with MISSING PERSONS and FRANK ZAPPA. He also worked with KORN vocalist Jonathan Davis on music for the soundtrack of the film "Queen of the Damned". Pictures from the current studio sessions with Bozzio can be found at Korn.Simpol.Net.

KORN expects to release its new album later this year.

According to Dagbladet.no, LAMB OF GOD and KEEP OF KALESSIN have been confirmed for Hovefestivalen, a brand new five-day festival set to take place June 25-29 on the island of Tromøy, just outside the city of Arendal, in Norway. Also scheduled to appear are SLAYER, MASTODON, HATEBREED, NEUROSIS, SHE SAID DESTROY and DIMENSION F3H.

Hovefestivalen reportedly has the potential to become Norway's biggest festival, with up to 20,000 music fans expected to attend this year's event.

LAMB OF GOD will perform live on NBC-TV's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" on Friday, February 9. (Note: Show starts at 12:35 a.m. Friday night — technically Saturday morning).

As previously reported, LAMB OF GOD has been nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category for "Redneck", the first single from their acclaimed album "Sacrament".

"Sacrament", which was produced by Machine (CLUTCH, KING CRIMSON, PITCHSHIFTER, EIGHTEEN VISIONS, EVERY TIME I DIE), has sold 185,000 copies in the United States since its August 21, 2006 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

LAMB OF GOD will embark on a headlining American tour in February-April 2007 with modern-day metal traditionalists TRIVIUM, Bay Area metal titans MACHINE HEAD and France's heaviest metal export GOJIRA.

VELVET REVOLVER and former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash makes a guest appearance in Latin pop star PAULINA RUBIO's new video for her single "Nada Puede Cambiarme". The song itself, the second single from the Mexican singer's 2006 Spanish-language album "Ananda", also features guitar work from Slash. The clip was filmed in Los Angeles on January 9 with Dago González, who directed MADONNA's "Paradise (Not for Me)". Watch the video online at YouTube.com.

VELVET REVOLVER drummer Matt Sorum revealed during a Camp Freddy Radio broadcast on Los Angeles' Indie 103.1 FM earlier in the month that the band will team up with AEROSMITH for some South American dates in April. The trek is expected to include stops in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.

VELVET REVOLVER is recording its second album, tentatively titled "Libertad", with producer Brendan O'Brien, who's worked with AUDIOSLAVE, PEARL JAM and singer Scott Weiland's former group, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS. An initial stint with producer Rick Rubin did not work out.

VELVET REVOLVER hopes to release "Libertad" in early May. Weiland is also working on his second solo album, which he said will surface sometime in 2008 on his own label, Softdrive Records.

SIN DEALER, the band featuring members of SEA OF GREEN, SONS OF OTIS, EDWIN and PLASMA BLAST, will be working at Q Music in Toronto over the month of February to finish vocals and guitar overdubs on the 11 new songs that were recorded last month at Escarpment Sound. Frontman Eric Kuthe says, "We’re almost done and ready to mix. I just want to spend a little more time on the vocals for this new CD to really show the progress I have made over the last few years and Ron, the guitar player, is a perfectionist who is always tweaking things with his tracks. We'll be finished all the tracking over the course of this month and we will start mixing in March so we can get the CD out by May".

In the mean time go to www.myspace.com/sindealer to hear a "rough mix version" of the song "Betrayal".

According to a posting on FifthAngel.net, the previously rumored plans by the Seattle metal band FIFTH ANGEL to reunite for some live shows later this year have apparently been scrapped. According to bassist John Macko, a couple of key members of the group preferred not to go forward with the live dates, causing the band to shelve reunion plans indefinitely.

In an interview conducted last summer, Macko and FIFTH ANGEL guitarist Kendall Bechtel had the following to say regarding the possibility of a reunion:

Bechtel: "I think it would be a blast, and if people are out there to receive it, I would be only too happy to deliver."

Macko: "I would love to do some shows, but I don't think Ted [Pilot, vocals] will ever do it. But I really do appreciate the folks out there that still enjoy the music. Regardless of what happened in the past … the bottom line is the music was great and that's all that really matters."

Swedish melodic death metal band ZONARIA has finished tracking the songs for its upcoming, as-yet-untitled debut, tentatively due this fall via Pivotal Rockordings.

Commented guitarist Emil Nyström: "As I'm writing this our man Jonas Kjellgren is sitting in his Black Lounge Studios (SCAR SYMMETRY, SONIC SYNDICATE, CARNAL FORGE) mixing our new album. For all we know we put our life in his hands, and we're certain that the final product will be amazing. We are as excited as you are to hear the final results. Hopefully he's finished with it this weekend. We've also got more stuff in the works: Music videos. For the last few weeks, we have been planning and discussing music videos for the upcoming album. We have some cool ideas and Standard Film Team also have some really awesome ideas. So we are really looking forward to woking with them again. It's going to be a blast and for sure we're gonna turn out with a good video for the song 'Armageddon Anthem' which will also be the first single from our debut album!

"Even though the album will be finished this coming weeks and we'll record a music video the coming months, the album won't be released until September this year. Yeah, we know, it's too far away. But it's the only solution — 'cause we want to make sure everyone gets a chance to buy the album. For those who can't wait — we'll probably do some summer festival shows this year and some one-off gigs whenever we get the chance.

"ZONARIA has also been hand-selected to have their video for the song 'Rendered in Vain' featured on the video game The Darkness, whose developers may be known for the highly acclaimed Playstation/Xbox game The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. This opportunity to be part of a video game is really exciting. It's another dream come true. I've always wanted to be part of a video game, and now our music is on it. You got to check the game out when it's released. I know for sure it's going to be killer. And if you don't like the game, at least you'll like the music on it. I also know the guys from BLINDED COLONY have their video on it, so it will be packed with amazing bands."

Relapse Records has announced the details for its 2007 South by Southwest (SXSW) label showcase.

This showcase, the label's sixth consecutive at SXSW, will be held at Room 710 (710 Red River Street) on Thursday, March 15, and will be open to the public as well as SXSW badge-holders.

This year's lineup includes ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY (Richmond, VA), DON CABALLERO (Pittsburgh, PA), MINSK (Peoria/Chicago, IL ), RWAKE (Little Rock, AR), a special appearance by PRADA KILLERS (featuring members of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN; Morris Plains, NJ), and one more band to be announced soon. Running order and show time are forthcoming.

Additional information on SXSW can be found at the official SXSW web site, www.SXSW.com.

On February 5, CHIMAIRA will premiere "Resurrection", the video for the title cut off the band's forthcoming release on Ferret Music (Nuclear Blast in Europe). The "Resurrection" clip was directed by Todd Bell and features an appearance by Mixed Martial Arts fighter Mavrick. The next day, February 6, CHIMAIRA will launch the single for purchase. Fans can download/buy the single through various web stores like Napster and iTunes. The full album will be released on March 6 (one day earlier internationally).

Check out the new video on February 5 at Yahoo! Music.

"Resurrection" will contain the following track listing:

01. Resurrection (4:37)
02. Pleasure In Pain (3:05)
03. Worthless (3:44)
04. Six (9:45)
05. No Reason To Live (3:45)
06. Killing The Beast (3:48)
07. The Flame (5:23)
08. End It All (4:22)
09. Black Heart (4:34)
10. Needle (3:09)
11. Empire (5:38)
12. Kingdom Of Heartache (Bonus Track) (4:11)
13. Paralyzed (Bonus Track) (3:07)

CHIMAIRA frontman Mark Hunter recently told MTV.com, "We named the album 'Resurrection' because that's exactly what it was. When we talked, we got everything off our chests and out of our systems, and now we're friends again. And we're writing and playing better than ever."

While 2005's "Chimaira" was mostly written by guitarist Rob Arnold, this time Hunter and guitarist Matt DeVries shared the songwriting duties, resulting in a far more eclectic album that ranges from simple and driving to complex and meandering. "It's a bit all over the place in a good way," Hunter said. "I think it's a good combination of [2003's] 'The Impossibility of Reason' and the self-titled record. But I think that there's so much more energy behind it because everyone was so excited to be back together."

In addition to being more diverse, many of the songs are also longer. Hunter said the average track length is six minutes, and one number clocks in at 10 minutes. At the same time, he insisted that the progressive arrangements don't detract from the hookiness of the album.

"It's super-catchy without being FALL OUT BOY or something," Hunter said. "There are really fantastic hooks that people are gonna latch on to right away as opposed to the last album where it might take you a few listens to get what we were doing. And it's not one of those records where you get it right away, and then three days later you're done with it. This is something you're gonna want to listen to over and over again. I say that because I don't listen to our records, but this record is still in my CD player."