In a recent interview with Rocksomething.com, JON OLIVA'S PAIN / SAVATAGE founder/frontman Jon Oliva revealed that a lot of the songs on the forthcoming JOP album, Maniacal Renderings, were co-written with Oliva's brother Criss, who was killed in 1993 in a car accident. The following is an excerpt from the story:

“Writing’s not as enjoyable and it’s a lot harder without Criss,” Oliva admits. “After the accident, Savatage started to get away from the formula that we had going. We struggled to find the right balance and on “Hand Full of Rain” we beat our formula into the ground. I was feeling like we were getting into a rut and I decided to get away from that. The bi ...

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San Francisco Bay Area metal titans MACHINE HEAD have set "The Blackening" as the title of their sixth studio album, tentatively due in early 2007 via Roadrunner Records. The group will enter Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, CA on Monday, August 21 to begin tracking the effort, with vocalist/guitarist Robert Flynn returning to the producer's chair, and Mark Keaton once again handling engineering duties. Longtime MACHINE HEAD collaborator Colin Richardson (CANNIBAL CORPSE, TRIVIUM, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) will also be returning to mix the record alongside Flynn this October in London. Tentative songtitles for

A brand new INCANTATION track, entitled "Lead to Desolation", has been posted online at the band's MySpace page. The song comes off the long-standing death metal outfit's upcoming album, "Primordial Domination", due on September 5 via Ibex Moon Records.

The record — the band's seventh — sticks to INCANTATION's tried and true recipe for brutal death metal, complemented with more leads and a crushing production.

"We feel very strong about the new material," said guitar/vocalist/founding member John McEntee. "We never seem to run out of unholy dark metal movements."
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New-age Nineties progressive metal band FORTE from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — featuring MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP bassist Rev Jones and former OLIVER MAGNUM vocalist James Randel — has reunited with the Scott brothers (guitarist Jeff and drummer Greg) for a string of dates over the next couple of months. The next show will take place on Saturday, August 19 at The Hive in Tulsa, Oklahoma alongside BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and CELLADOR. Check out a flyer for the concert at this location. More dates will be announced soon. Also in th ...

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Texas doomsters Solitude Aeturnus and Massacre Records are eyeing a November release date for Alone, the follow-up to 1998's Adagio. There will be a regular edition and a digipak edition; there is no word on whether or not there will be bonus material. You can view a small version of the album artwork here; the artwork was once again done by Travis Smith (who also did the artwork for Adagio).

Track listing:

01. Scent of Death
02. Waiting for the Light
03. Blessed be the Dead
04. Sightless
05. Upon Within
06. Burning
07. Is There
08. Tomorrows Dead
09. Essence of Black

Demos from three tracks can be heard here: http://www.eternalsolitude.com

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Swedish epic/power metallers FALCONER have uploaded a low-quality MP3 "teaser" for their upcoming fifth studio album, entitled "Northwind" — their first since the departure of singer Kristoffer Göbel and return of Mathias Blad. Download it at this location.

Commented guitarist Stefan Weinerhall: "'Northwind', the fifth album of FALCONER, is a return to the folkish style after some experiment on the last one. Very melodic and catchy, and with Mathias back on vocals he gives the album that extra epic touch that none other can do. The album is not ...

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New York-based "Metal Injection" has always been on the cutting edge of new media. When the show started three years ago, producers saw opportunity on the Internet to reach a worldwide audience and became one of the firsts to fully stream a half-hour show online. The shows would constantly feature interviews with up-and-coming bands (THE RED CHORD, A LIFE ONCE LOST, FINNTROLL, BEHEMOTH, DESPISED ICON) as well as more established names (SLIPKNOT, LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, SOULFLY, UNEARTH) in a comfortable environment being themselves, often showing the audience a different side of backstage life.

Fast ...

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This week, we are pleased to announce the addition of Adam to the MetalReviews.com staff. Please help us welcome Adam aboard. We hope that he enjoys being a part of MetalReviews.com!!

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Vocalist Urban Breed (ex-TAD MOROSE) has officially left BLOODBOUND, the Swedish metal band also featuring Fredrik Bergh (STREET TALK; bass, keyboards and backing vocals) and Tomas Olsson (lead and rhythm guitars). "I've thought about this for some time and I've decided not to let Tomas and Bergh have any more of my time," Urban said in a statement. "The gig in Gothenburg [on August 8] was therefore the last thing I did for BLOODBOUND. (If it wasn't for Pelle [Åkerlind, drums] it would have been Norrtälje [on August 5].) Starting today, it's finally possible to focus entirely on my album."

BLOODBO ...

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IRON MAIDEN's new song "Different World" has been made available for streaming at this location.

The opening track on MAIDEN's upcoming album "A Matter of Life and Death", "Different World" is the shortest song on the CD at a mere four minutes.

"It wasn't intentional when we sat down and wrote it, but as soon as it was finished we thought 'THIN LIZZY!'" bassist Steve Harris told Kerrang! magazine. "It's a tribute to them, in a way. Obviously it sounds like MAIDEN, but it just conjured up that T ...

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