According to an article on the Swedish IT news web site IDG.se, METALLICA have threatened legal action against the Swedish steelworkers union Metall over the rights to the Internet domain name Metallica.st (view web site at this location).

The domain name Metallica.st is registered by Förvaltnings AB Metallica, which is the Swedish steelworkers union's venture capital firm.

METALLICA's representatives (Zacco Sweden AB, the leading intellectual pro ...

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Norwegian symphonic metal band TRISTANIA have parted ways with vocalist Kjetil Ingebrethsen.

Commented Kjetil: "After four amazing years, I have decided to leave TRISTANIA. There is no bad blood between us at all, and we are still good friends. This is a choice I had to make, just for my own part, and it was the right time to do it now — before the new album.

"I just want to take the opportunity to thank all the fans I have met, and bands I have shared stage with, during tours and festivals. It's been a blast — you will truly be remembered!

"To the TRISTANIA 'family'; Einar, Vibeke, Kenneth, Anders, Ru ...

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SIRENIA, the Norwegian gothic metal band featuring former TRISTANIA guitarist/vocalist Morten Veland, have announced the addition of 27-year-old Danish female singer Monika Pedersen (photo) to the group's ranks. "Monika has been dedicated to music all her life, and has loads of experience from from other bands, projects, choirs etc." the group write on their web site. "In addition, she has been working with several professional singing teachers in Luxemburg and Denmark. From now on she will have an important role in SIRENIA's music, and we all look forward to a futur ...

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Canadian extreme metallers STRAPPING YOUNG LAD have completed recording their next album, "The New Black," which will see a release later this year.

In the meantime, the band's 1995 debut "Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing" will be reissued by Century Media on June 12th with the following bonus tracks:

"Japan" (originally a Japanese bonus track)
"Monday" (previously unreleased)
"Exciter" (European bonus track from original version/Judas Priest cover)

New artwork, liner notes and the video for the track "S.Y.L." will also be included.

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BEFORE THE DAWN, the melodic death metal band masterminded by Tuomas Saukkonen, will release their new album, "The Ghost", on May 26th via Locomotive Music. The CD was recorded and mixed at Villvox studios during the fall and early winter 2005 by Aleksanteri Kuosa. Mastering duties were handled by Minerva Pappi at Finnvox studios.

"The Ghost" (view cover here) track listing:

01. Disappear
02. Repentance
03. Away
04. Scar
05. Angel's Tombstone
06. Black Dawn
07. Enemy
08 ...

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JUDAS PRIEST have announced that they are creating their first conceptual album based upon the life and predictions of Nostradamus. The CD will be theatrically staged and performed in its entirety as an epic musical by JUDAS PRIEST.

JUDAS PRIEST made their only live appearance of 2006 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England on March 31. This was a special performance in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust charity and was a tribute to Tommy Vance (U.K.'s "Friday Rock Show") who passed away last year.

JUDAS PRIEST's "Rising in the East" DVD was recently certified gold in the United States by the RIAA (Recor ...

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Norwegian black metallers GORGOROTH have completed work on their new CD, "Ad Majorem Satanhas Gloriam". Next week (April 11-12), the band's bassist and songwriter King ov Hell will take off for New York to sit in on a listening session for the new CD and to give interviews. A summer release via Regain Records is expected.

GORGOROTH reportedly recorded several shows on their fall 2005 European tour with 1349 for an upcoming live album, entitled "True Norwegian Black Metal". Scheduled for a late autumn release in 2007, it will mark and celebrate GORGOROTH's 15-year anniversary.
GORGOROTH were most recently signed to ...

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Finland's FINNTROLL have secured the services of TWILIGHT MOON frontman Mathias Lillmåns as the group's new lead singer. Lillmåns is reportedly 23 years old, and like FINNTROLL's original vocalist, Katla Mathias, is Fenno-Swedish, with Swedish as his mother tongue. Check out pictures of FINNTROLL performing live with Mathias Lillmåns on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 at the Night Life Rock club in Helsinki at this location.

For more information on Lillmåns' other band, TWILIGH ...

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A representative for Dark Essence Records has confirmed that TAAKE frontman Hoest is doing time in a Norwegian prison at the moment. "He will be out in a couple of months, and will then finish the work on the new TAAKE release," the representative said. "Yes, there will be more coming from TAAKE in the near future! More info about that will come. We can also mention that C. Corax who plays guitar on the '...Doedskvad' and '...Bjoergvin...' albums, also is in prison at the moment, but for a bit longer time."

TAAKE's third album, "Doedskvad", was released last year via Dark Essence Records. The band had previously released two albums on the Wounded Love label: "Nattestid..." (1999) and "Bjoergvin" (2002). "Doedskvad" is the last installment in this trilogy.

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MEGADETH guitarist Glen Drover has posted the following message in the "Forums" section of the band's official web site:

"Just arrived back home [in Canada] from the start of recording the new MEGADETH album and I must say that things went very well! We all had a great time and I am very happy with the results! Some really cool heavy and complex stuff going on in the material, which I'm very excited about."

MEGADETH's appearance at this year's Desert Rock 2006 festival on March 16 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates marked their debut performance with new bassist James Lomenzo, who has previously played with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and WHITE LION, among others.

Lomenzo joined MEGADETH as the replacement for James MacDonough (ex-ICED EARTH), who was fired from the group on February 10, 2006 due to "personal differences."

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