PECCATUM, the Norwegian band featuring EMPEROR frontman Ihsahn and his wife Ihriel, have issued the following statement:

"After eight years of creating within the borders of PECCATUM, Ihsahn and Ihriel have decided to go elsewhere with their music. Ihsahn is going solo and Ihriel will continue her work in STAR OF ASH. They both still run Mnemosyne Productions and Symphonique Studio, and will definitely continue to explore the outer boundaries of dark music in many years to come — 'To boldly go where no man has gone before.' Ihriel and Ihsahn would like to take the opportunity to thank a ...

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Billboard.com is reporting that Ozzy Osbourne, who will be inducted — along with the rest of BLACK SABBATH — next week into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a New York ceremony, plans on returning to the recording studio this year.

"I'm gonna get with [guitarist] Zakk [Wylde] soon and start hopefully writing a new studio [album]. I've gotta get a studio album this year," Osbourne tells Billboard.com. "I'm well overdue."

Osbourne is also still involved in the musical "Rasputin", which has been a wo ...

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VICIOUS ART, the Swedish death/thrash metal band featuring former DARK FUNERAL members Matias Mäkelä and Robert Lundin, along with Jörgen Sandström (THE PROJECT HATE, ex-ENTOMBED, GRAVE) on bass, have posted a brand-new three-song EP, "Weed the Wild", on their official web site, ViciousArt.se. The tracks available for download are as follows:

01. Weed the Wild
02. Tanja Joins the Beating
03. Exit Wounds

"Weed the Wild" was recorded at the Offbeat studios in Stockholm in February 2006 and contains material that "will not be re-recorded [for] a future release," according to the band.

VICIOUS ART's debut album, "Fire Falls and the Waiting Waters", is now available via Threeman Recordings (Europe) and Candlelight Records (U.S.).

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ANOTHER LIFE, the Swedish project featuring Andreas Karlsson (ex-PAGANIZER, RIBSPREADER) and Dan Swanö (EDGE OF SANITY, BLOODBATH, PAN THY MONIUM), will release their debut album, "Memories from Nothing", on March 20 via VIC Records. A teaser MP3 containing selections from the album can be downloaded at this location.

"Memories from Nothing" (view cover here) projected track listing:

01. Firstborn Unicorn
02. Falling Apart
03. The End Of Days
04. I Am Nothing
05. Cotton Pines
06. Everlasting
07. The Last Goodbye
08. The Everflow
09. Poltava (Part I, Part II, Part III)

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London-based "extreme power metal" band DRAGONFORCE have added two North American headlining dates as part of their "Inhuman Rampage World Tour". The band's schedule is now shaping up as follows:

Apr. 28 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
Apr. 29 - Montreal, QC @ Medley
Apr. 30 - Worcester, MA @ New England Metal and Hardcore Festival
May 01 - New York, NY @ Avalon
May 03 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
May 04 - West Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
May 05 - Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom
May 06 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
May 08 - Denver, CO @ Cervantes
May 10 - San Francisco, CA @ The Pound
May 11 - Los Angeles, CA @ Whisky

Support at the shows will come f ...

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A .ZIP file containing the title track from FRAGMENTS OF UNBECOMING's upcoming sophomore album, "Sterling Black Icon", has been made available for download at this location. Due on March 24 via Metal Blade Records, the follow-up to 2004's "Skywards – A Sylphe's Ascension" was recorded at PMT and Sound Tunnel studios and will contain the following track listing:

01. Carmine Preface
02. Sterling Black Icon
03. Weave Their Barren Path
04. Dear Floating Water
05. Breathe In the Black To See
...

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Swedish doomsters CANDLEMASS have recorded four new songs with producer Andy Sneap (NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY, MACHINE HEAD). The recordings took place last weekend at the new Polar studios in Stockholm, Sweden and the band say that they are very happy with the result. “The songs are pretty much in the same vein as the stuff on the [self-titled 2005] reunion album, maybe a bit darker," says bassist/songwriter Leif Edling.

CANDLEMASS's next studio session will take place in May. The band's new album is tentatively scheduled for release in October 2006 via Nuclear Blast Records.

CANDLEMASS last month won a Swedi ...

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MONSTER MAGNET have cancelled their European tour after the group's mainman, Dave Wyndorf, was hospitalized following a drug overdose.

"The battle with one's inner demons is the most personal fight any of us can undertake," said MONSTER MAGNET's manager, Steve Davis of Davis Entertainment Group. "The fight is at times a lonely, confusing journey. On the evening of February 27, Dave Wyndorf suffered a setback in his own fight and was hospitalized due to a drug overdose. His full recovery is expected. We ask that all those he has encountered over the years or simply affected by his music to take a moment to think good thoughts of and for him. W ...

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King Diamond will be lending his inimitable voice to acclaimed director Kevin Smith's next movie, "The Passion of the Clerks", which is a sequel to the 1994 independent classic "Clerks", and is due to arrive in theaters later this year.

The movie is set 10 years later, but Dante and Randall are still spending time together, sitting around work, not working.

"Welcome Home", from 1988's gothic masterpiece "Them" is the song in question. There has been no word yet on whether Jay and Silent Bob will launch into fits of air guitar or burst into a joint chorus of "GRANDMAAAAAA!"

IGN's

American/Norwegian melodic metallers KAMELOT have posted the following message on their official web site:

"We are pleased to announce that KAMELOT will be returning to Norway for the Ragnarock Festival (web site) in August 2006.

"Work continues on KAMELOT's first DVD, 'One Cold Winter's Night'. The [disc] is tentatively [slated] for a fall/winter release and is sure to please all the fans. The incredible concert in Oslo includes special appearance from Simone Simons (EPICA), Sascha Paeth and Snowy Shaw, plus many more!

"Next album news! In ...

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