NUCLEAR BLAST

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2007 Fall Update: From their newsletter: AFTER FOREVER will embark on a North American tour beginning on October 5 at the world famous Progpower Festival. After Forever out on: EUROPE: April 20, 2007 NORTH AMERICA: September 25, 2007 . New York hardcore legends AGNOSTIC FRONT will unleash their new CD, entitled Warriors this November. Produced by Madball/Hazen Street frontman Freddy Cricien (who also happens to be AGNOSTIC FRONT vocalist Roger Miret's younger brother) and engineered by Zeuss from Planet Z in Hadley, Massachusetts, Warriors will contain 15 pummeling New York hardcore anthems! AGNOSTIC FRONT will launch a short USA tour beginning on October 25 alongside Death Before Dishonor. On November 3, these hardcore legends will take part in the famous local Saints & Sinners Festival in Asbury Park, NJ. AMORPHIS latest release, Silent Waters, is now available to purchase in North America!! This will mark the second release with vocalist, Tomi Joutsen.Make sure you get your copy today! DIMMU BORGIR in collaboration with Joachim Luetke (http://www.luetke.com) and Rainer ZIPP Franzen (http://www.omniamedia.de) have recently completed the work on the latest music video for the track "The Sacrilegious Scorn" from the new album, In Sorte Diaboli. Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for the latest update on the debut of the video! Trust us when we say this, it's unlike ANYTHING you've ever seen!! DIMMU BORGIR will begin a massive European tour beginning on September 23 with Amon Amarth. Nuclear Blast label mates EDGUY (Germany) and ECHOES OF ETERNITY (Los Angeles) are currently on the Rocket Ride North American tour alongside Canada's Into Eternity (Century Media) and San Francisco's Light This City (Prosthetic Records). If you haven't purchased your show tickets, do so now and make sure you catch this unique tour line up when they hit a town near you! Netherlands' EPICA are currently on a North American tour in support of their latest release, The Divine Conspiracy. Joining them across North America will be Austrian pioneers, Visions of Atlantis. The North American release date of GOTTHARD's Domino Effect is finally here! The Nuclear Blast USA version will contain the following bonus tracks: Can't Be The "Real Thing"; Anytime Anywhere; El Traidor; Lift U Up; Tu Pasión . These heavy metal rockers from Switzerland are in the first steps of a 3 month nonstop tour all over Europe! If you're a fan of all that is classic rock and heavy metal, GOTTHARD is the band for you! RIDE THE SKY is a force to count on for the crowded hard rock world. Watch for their distinctive approach to reshape heavy metal music in this new millennium. New Protection is available to purchase now! Having already established themselves in the competitive hard rock scene with their many previous projects, the five musicians Uli Kusch (Masterplan), Kaspar Dahlqvist, Bjorn Jansson (Tears of Anger), Benny Jansson, and Mathias Garnås are now ready to step out into a new international spotlight. Featuring an all European line up, Katatonia (Sweden), SCAR SYMMETRY (Sweden), Insomnium (Finland), and Swallow The Sun (Finland) are currently on the final days of the Live Consternation North American Tour. If this tour is heading to your town, and you still haven't purchased tickets to the show, do it NOW! This will mark Katatonia's first North American headlining tour, SCAR SYMMETRY's second North American tour, and Insomnium and Swallow The Sun's first North American tour. Be a part of history! An important message to all the SOILWORK fans worldwide! After much anticipation, something big will be taking place online in the coming days. Keep your eyes open! A BIG surprise is on the way! Where you ask? I think we all know the answer to this! Spread the word!

2007 Summer Update: From their newsletter: Dutch symphonic metallers AFTER FOREVER will launch their first North American tour beginning on October 6, 2007 at the world famous ProgPower Festival in support of their latest self titled album, After Forever. If you're a fan of bands like Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, The Gathering, then AFTER FOREVER is definitely the next band you will need to add to that list! Make sure you visit the AFTER FOREVER MySpace page for song samples and Official Website for all the latest tour dates and information on the band. After Forever out on: EUROPE: April 20, 2007; NORTH AMERICA: September 25, 2007. New York Hardcore legends AGNOSTIC FRONT continue to pummel the masses year after year with their in your face tunes and anthems. When it comes to hardcore, only the strongest survive. Are you up for the fight? Are you tough enough to be one of the Warriors? Warriors out on: NORTH AMERICA: November 6, 2007. Nuclear Blast label mates EDGUY (Germany) and ECHOES OF ETERNITY (Los Angeles) will team up for the Rocket Ride North American tour beginning on September 11, 2007. Other acts on the bill will include Canada's Into Eternity (Century Media) and San Francisco's Light This City (Prosthetic Records). If you haven't purchased your show tickets, do so now and make sure you catch this unique tour line up when they hit a town near you! Beginning September 5, 2007, one of Netherlands' finest Gothic Metal bands EPICA will be launching a North American tour in support of their latest release, The Divine Conspiracy. Joining them across North America will be Austrian pioneers, Visions of Atlantis. The Divine Conspiracy out on: NORTH AMERICA: August 28, 2007; EUROPE: September 7, 2007. Prepare to surrender yourselves to the new era of Thrash Metal! Bay Area legends EXODUS have done it again! EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt had this to say: "This record is like nothing you've ever heard. A genre defining record, a career defining record, simply put, the baddest fucking slab of metal recorded in years. Epic, crushing, huge in scope, and at times brutally simple, and at time massively complex. I am sooo stoked!" For those of you who haven't heard, beginning in January of 2008, EXODUS will be teaming up with Goatwhore, ARSIS, and Warbringer. For the latest tour dates and info, make sure to visit the bands MySpace Page and Official Website! The Atrocity Exhibition - Exhibit A out on: NORTH AMERICA: October 23, 2007; EUROPE: October 26, 2007. The North American release date of GOTTHARD's Domino Effect is approaching! Things are looking mighty busy for these heavy metal rockers from Switzerland as they will be launching a 3 month nonstop tour all over Europe! If you're a fan of all that is classic rock and heavy metal, GOTTHARD is the band for you! Domino Effect out on: NORTH AMERICA: September 18, 2007; EUROPE: April 27, 2007. Featuring an all European up, Katatonia (Sweden), SCAR SYMMETRY (Sweden), Insomnium (Finland), and Swallow The Sun (Finland) will arrive on September 4, 2007 for the Live Consternation North American tour. IF YOU HAVEN'T PURCHASED YOUR TICKETS YET, DO SO NOW! This will mark Katatonia's first North American headlining tour, SCAR SYMMETRY's second North American tour, and Insomnium and Swallow The Sun's first North American tour. If you haven't checked them out yet, now is the time to do it. Become a part of musical history and make sure to attend the upcoming shows! After much anticipation from fans worldwide, Sweden's Elite Metal Force SOILWORK will release their seventh studio album, Sworn To A Great Divide, this October. Beginning on September 30, 2007, SOILWORK will embark on a massive European tour in support of the new album. All the lucky fans in attendance will most likely be the first to experience the new tracks in a live setting! Make sure to keep an eye out on the bands MySpace page and Official Website for the latest information and special surprises! Sworn To A Great Divide out on: NORTH AMERICA: October 19, 2007; EUROPE: October 23, 2007. SONATA ARCTICA guitarist Jani Liimatainen has been absent from the line-up this spring and summer due to his compulsory military/civil/prison duty. Consequently, members of the band have come to a decision and their statement is below: During fall of '06 and spring of '07, Jani's personal matters and actions drove us to a situation where we had no option but to ask Jani to leave the band. Jani was notified of this in May, and the separation was amicable. We wanted to give Jani the chance to get his life together before making this public, which is why we didn't make this announcement earlier. We wish Jani well on his chosen path. Facing the facts, we hereby humbly announce that Elias Viljanen is from this day forward a full and official member of SONATA ARCTICA. A long Unia tour lies in front of us. We extend Elias a warm welcome to the family, and we hope the fans will, too. Swedens most prolific (and by far the most creative!) band to cross over into different musical territories will be performing exclusively across North America beginning this October in support of their most innovate work to date, Gothic Kabbalah. Possibly one of the most fascinating acts to witness in a live setting, attendance from ALL the fans of the various metal communities are invited to these events. It will definitely be worth it ;) For tour dates and more info, please make sure you visit the THERION MySpace Page and Official Website.

HYPOCRISY- Catch 22
Nice. This sounds awesome. There are some parts that are a little boring to me, but for the most part, I'm digging this. I don't think I have their other albums, so I can't compare this to any of them. I have been told, that modern sounds mixed with the traditional gives this a new sound. (Yes I copied that from the promo sheet).

IMMORTAL- Sons of Northern Darkness
Ever since I heard that one album where they were in the snow on the cover, I just thought they were gay. This is the first one I have heard from them since, and it's not horrible. Black metal. They have some cool riffs. The drummer is super fast. I'm not hearing any high pitch screams or anything, so that's always a plus.

LOCK UP- Hate Breeds Suffering
Now we are fucking talking! I love these guys! How can you not love them?! And my favorite drummer of all time plays for them. This is probably one of the very few releases I waited for by my mailbox for. I think this is better than the last one. The songs are really short, right around 2 minutes, give or take. One of the best CD's to come out in 2002.

TO DIE FOR- Epilogue
This sounds very gothy to me. I don't like the guy singing. He is singing, but he has a super low voice. It doesn't sound like metal. It's more of a rock-pop type thing. Very dark and melodic.

DIMMU BORGIR-Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia
Woo Hoo! I didn't even know these guys were coming out with another CD! I like this. Black metal, for those who don't know these guys. The drummer is so fast. Great riffs. Awesome!

SOILWORK-A Predator's Portrait
This is one of those CD's I was waiting by the mailbox for. The last album ruled and this is just as great! I like the vocals a lot, it is those scratchy type of vocals I dig. The drummer has really fast feet and I like his fills. This is definitely a must get!!

A Tribute to the Scorpions
This is real good. I was never a huge fan of the Scorpions, but I know most of the songs on the CD. Bands on this are Helloween, Children of Bodom, Therion, SOD and 15 other bands. I am having a hard time choosing between my favorite songs, either Rock You Like A Hurricane by Sinergy, or Blackout by Stratovaruis.

DIMMU BORGIR-Godless Savage Garden
Here is black metal at it's finest. These guys are the best. The drummer is so fast but now I have heard they have Nick formerly from Cradle of Filth and everyone knows how much I worship him! So I can't wait to hear them with him. But anyway, they have keyboards, which sound so good. They are tight, everything blends together, and sounds so good together. The last three songs are live and they crush live also. These guys are excellent and anyone even remotely into black metal needs to have this for the collection!

GARDENIAN-Soulbuner
Garedenian is a band that definitely shows it's roots hailing from Sweden. They are melodic, fast and Brutal. But they have a twist of rock. Female vocals are used, but not ever done. The male singer does a great job harmonizing with the death vocals, not making it sound too mismatched. Get this! (review by Jim Mills, come on, did you think I would be able to write a review like that? metalblood@hotmail.com)

GRAVE DIGGER-Excalibur
The music on this defiantly sounds like a power metal band. Then the vocals kick in. Now, this sounds like a cross from metal and power metal vocals. They don't sound too bad, they aren't really high vocals at all. This is something that will grow on me after a few listens.

GORGOROTH-Incipit Satan
This isn't bad. I like this better than the old singers band now, Obtained Enslavement, he should have stayed with these guys! LOL! Anyway, this is some black metal. Sounds really good, everything is clear. I guess one of the guys from Enslaved, Ivan, made a guest appearance on this, not that that makes a difference to me, because I don't like them anyway. But this is a good album.

KATAKLYSM-The Prophecy (Stigmata of the Immaculate)
I have heard a lot about this band, but this is the first time I heard them. I heard they were death metal, then went to hard core. Well this album is back to death metal. Everything is really clear on this CD, from the double bass kicks to the snare, to the guitars. The vocals aren't brutal death metal vocals, they change range a lot, so it isn't boring to listen to. I like it.

LOCKUP-Pleasures Pave Sewers
I was so excited to get this CD, I went home every day for my lunch break (which is a half hour one way away) to see if it came in the mail. But it ended up getting to me weeks later, because it went to the wrong house! Just my luck. Anyone who knows anything about me, knows Nicholas, the drummer, is one of my idols. So I was dying to hear this, and I am not disappointed at all. This is great!!! I wouldn't call it black metal, but I wouldn't call it death metal. I think it is in between. The guitar riffs are insane, I'm not even going to mention the drums because I could go on for a page about them. You just have to get this!

POWER FROM THE NORTH- Sweden Rocks the World
This is a cover album. It has some bands like In Flames, Entombed, The Crown, Hammerfall, Meshuggah, covering songs from Agony, Europe, Bathory, Candlemass and more. I suggest picking it up.

RAISE HELL-Not Dead Yet
I'm not sure what to say this sounds like. It is metal not death metal or anything, just metal. This is a hard one. It is good. I just can't figure out who these guys would sound like. The vocals, I can't place. I'm going to say, they sound like they would be a mix between power metal and heavy metal. He isn't screaming or anything, (which is good), and his vocals aren't high, they are low. But they aren't death metal or anything. So they are somewhere in between?!

SINERGY-Beware the Heavens
God, more fucking power metal. The vocals, I can tolerate and I think it is because it is a female. So they aren't so bad. This sounds like it could have dropped right from the 80's. The music isn't bad at all, that is pretty good. They have some pretty cool riffs.

SATYRICON-Rebel Extravaganza
Here is some black metal. This is the first time I'm hearing these guys, I think they have a couple releases out, but I could be thinking of someone else. The drummer is wicked fast! The music is real good. I can't get over the drummer, he is sounding like a machine gun with his double bass.

SINNER-The End of Sanctuary
Is that Madonna on the cover with the burning cross? Oh no, sorry, it's just Mat Sinner. Just got an 80's flash back. This is some power metal, but it is tolerable. They vocals aren't super high.

UDO-Holy
This has the former singer of Accept. Accept was before my time, so I never got into them. This is some heavy metal for you. It isn't bad. It would take a few times for me to get into them, but it is pretty good.

WHITE SKULL-Tales from the North
I think this is some cheese! This is some 80's sounding metal. There are two vocalist, it sounds like, so that doubles the cheese. Acutally, the two vocals don't sound too bad, the one guy has a higher voice than the other. So it isn't that bad. When they sing together, that sounds horrible. The music itself isn't bad at all, I like that.