EYES OF FIRE's new album, "Prisons" is scheduled for release on February 7, 2006 via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2004's "Ashes to Embers" was produced by the band and mixed by Matt Bayles (MASTODON, ISIS, NORMA JEAN). The drums and bass were tracked at the legendary Grandmaster Recorders (TOOL, NINE INCH NAILS, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) in Hollywood. Additional tracking was done in the group's studio in Santa Ana and the record was mixed at For The Record (18 VISIONS, THROWDOWN, DEATH BY STEREO) in Orange. The first 5,000 copies will include a slipcase and a special bonus CD featuring one song, entitled "Home", clocking in at just under 25 minutes. The "It All Dies Today" video was shot with acclaimed director Gary Smithson (EXODUS, HIGH ON FIRE).

---

Finnish dark metallers BEFORE THE DAWN will release their new album, "The Ghost", in March/April 2006 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. Stormbringer
09. ...

---

We'd like to first thank all the Metal bands who have blessed us with another year of great music, impressive releases, and some amazing debuts. We're also thankful to our readers for their enthusiastic participation in a new event: MetalReviews.com Readers' Choice Awards. Your votes have been counted, your voice mattered, and now there's some really interesting results that are bound to generate a lot of talk (dare I say "flames"?).
We would also all like to thank Mike who has worked through Christmas and New Year to compute the results and come up with the final layout of awards.
We hope you'll like our work, our choices, our reviews, and most of it all, we hope you'll be with us for the Readers' Choice 2006 Awards.
Thank you... Now scoot over to the results.

---

An audio clip of a brand-new KITTIE track, entitled "Never Again", has been posted online at this location (Windows Media). The song is the title cut of the Canadian metal band's upcoming EP, which will be released digitally on February 7. More exclusive sneak preview clips of the tracks appearing on the EP will be available on the band's official MySpace.com page before the release date. A new 45-second clip will be available to preview on the official KITTIE MySpace.com p ...

---

Sweden's DARK TRANQUILLITY and Canada's THE DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND have been confirmed as the opening acts for OPETH on their upcoming North American tour beginning in mid-February. Dates so far include:

Feb. 15 - Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
Feb. 16 - Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa
Feb. 17 - Towson, MD @ Recher Theatre
Feb. 18 - Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small's
Feb. 19 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's
Feb. 21 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall

More dates will be announced soon.

As previously reported, OPETH have once again been nominated for a Swedish Grammy the "Best Hard Rock" category for their "Ghost Reveries" release. This is t ...

---

Vocalist John Tardy of the Floridian death metal legends OBITUARY has posted the following message on the band's official web site:

"As you may or may not know, we are no longer with our old record company [Roadrunner Records] and we have a lot of options for what we might want to do. One thing is for sure and that is we will have a new CD out sometime this year. We have been working on some new material and when we get done with our European Tour in January we are going to work hard on getting that completed.

"Everything is set for our trip to Europe and we are all ready to go. I was just checking the weather and it looks like we will be freezing our ...

---

The cover artwork (by Anthony Clarkson) for BLIND GUARDIAN's upcoming single, "Fly", has been posted online at this location. The single, which is tentatively scheduled for release on February 24, 2006 via Nuclear Blast, will contain the following track listing:

01. Fly
02. Skalds and Shadows (acoustic version)
03. In A Gadda Da Vida (IRON BUTTERFLY cover)

The acoustic version of "Skalds and Shadows" and BLIND GUARDIAN's version of the IRON BUTTERFLY classic "In A Gadda Da Vida" ...

---

San Francisco Bay Area progressive metallers ZERO HOUR have completed the songwriting process for their new album, "Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond", tentatively due in early 2006. "This is easily our most technical CD to date and it's going to be our best," stated guitarist/keyboardist Jasun Tipton. "We can't wait to get this CD out to everyone. It's a MONSTER!!!"

"Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond" tentative track listing:

01. Specs Of Pictures Burnt Beyond
02. The Falcon's Cry
03. Face the Fear
04. I am Here
05. Zero Hour
06. Evidence of the Unseen

ZERO HOUR's most recent CD, "A ...

---

Swedish progressive metallers AMARAN have called it quits. The group's official statement on the matter reads as follows:

"This year comes to an end and we are sad to say that AMARAN does the same. Since Johanna [DePierre, vocals] left us in July we have really been struggling looking for a replacement. We have tried by contacts, friends, ads, headhunting, hostile kidnapping and threat without any success. Our bad luck always seems to keep up with us. This issue has simply unplugged our tub of motivation, and we all decided to put AMARAN six feet under.

"We would like to thank everyone who has been involved in any way with us during these A ...

---

Italy's LACUNA COIL have confirmed on their official web site that the recording, mixing, and mastering of their forthcoming album, "Karmacode", is complete. The CD is tentatively scheduled for release in early April via Century Media Records. The highly anticipated follow-up to 2002's "Comalies" was co-produced once again by Waldemar Sorychta and was mixed by Ronald Prent (RAMMSTEIN, H.I.M., IRON MAIDEN). Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "What I See", "Fragile", "In Visible Light", "Fragments of Faith", "Within Me" and "Our Truth".

In a recent interview with Decibel