CHILDREN OF BODOM's new album, "Are You Dead Yet?", has entered the Finnish album chart at position No. 1. View the whole chart at this location. The CD has also sold 21,000 copies in Japan in its first week of release, where it debuted at No. 17.

"Are You Dead Yet?" is scheduled for release in the U.S. on October 25 via Spinefarm Records. The album has been declared to be one of the first priority UMG international releases through Universal's Fontana Distribution system. The U.S. version includes a previously unreleased bonus track that is exclusive t ...

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Australia's News.com.au has issued the following report:

A priest whose century-old church was burned to the ground by a drunken teenage heavy metal fan said today he was satisfied with the three-year sentence the arsonist received.

Reverend Ron Rosinsky said a "lingering sadness" remained in his Melbourne congregation following the loss of the St Albans Uniting Church in August last year.

The damage bill for the 109-year-old church has been put at more than $3 million, but Mr Rosinsky said his congregation was focused on forgiveness.

He said parishioners also wanted to play ...

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BLACK LABEL SOCIETY have parted ways with bassist James Lomenzo (ex-WHITE LION, DAVID LEE ROTH, PRIDE & GLORY), informed sources have told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. A replacement bassist has yet to be announced.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY will be embarking on a U.S. tour with BRAND NEW SIN beginning in mid-October. A double-disc compilation, entitled "Kings of Damnation - Era '98-'04", is due on October 4 via Spitfire Records. "Kings of Damnation" is a look at the evolution of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY mainman Zakk Wylde's progression as a musician, beginning from his solo venture with PRIDE & GLORY a ...

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After conquering over 40 cities and towns in as many days, THOR "The Mighty Rock Warrior" was struck down by an unimaginably powerful bolt of lightning!

This unthinkable event took place in Portland where he was performing for dazzled audiences. As he placed the steel bar to his lips in order to bend it in half with his muscular arms, lightning split the sky and struck him down. He managed to finish the show, but immediately afterwards was rushed into the care of Venus (nurse to the Gods). Due to these unforseen circumstances THOR was forced to cancel the remaining dates on the tour. He is quite fully recovered now and plans to tour again this winter. Look for dates soon.

THOR is continuing to promote his new album, entitled "Thor against the World", and retrospective DVD, entitled "An-THOR-logy", available on Smog Veil Records.

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ARCH ENEMY have now settled on Fredrik Åkesson as a replacement for Chris Amott (guitar) for the continued "Doomsday Machine" touring campaign.

Commented ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott: "This guy, he just simply kills on the axe! Rhythms and leads — he's really got a shredding and musical style. He was down here rehearsing with us last week and we had a great time playing music and hanging out. We are eagerly looking forward to hitting the road again, this time with Fredrik on board the good ship ARCH ENEMY."

Fredrik Åkesson, born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden first picked up the guitar at the age of ...

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Effective immediately, Olympic Recordings, a sub-label of the Century Family Inc. specializing in "extreme" music, will cease to exist. Century Media Records was recently contacted by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) who notified the company that because they own a trademark on the word "Olympic," they would have to stop using it in order to avoid a legal battle. A representative for the committee informed the label that the word "Olympic" is a legally protected trademark that Congress gave the USOC the exclusive right to use. Furthermore, the USOC may file a civil action suit against anyone if they, without consent of the US ...

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A brand-new OLD MAN'S CHILD track, entitled "Enslaved and Condemned", has been made available for download at this location (MP3, 4 MB).

"Enslaved and Condemned" comes off the Norwegian band's upcoming album, "Vermin", due in Europe on October 18 via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2003's "In Defiance of Existence" was recorded at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden and features a guest appearance by TESTAMENT/DRAGONLORD guitarist Eric Peterson. Artwork was handled by Set<'H>.

Andi from Germany's Metal1.info webzine conducted an exclusive itnerview earlier today with MNEMIC guitarist Mircea Eftemie. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal1.info: [On] Monday, September, 12th, we heard that your singer Michael [Bøgballe] left the group due to personal/family-related reasons. Please tell us, how you reacted [to] that. Did you already know it for some time, or came it as suddenly as for the fans to the rest of the band?

Mircea: "Well, Michael told us like one and a half week in advance that he was going to leave ...

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NBC 4 is reporting that Columbus Police Officer James D. Niggemeyer, who is widely credited for saving lives on Dec. 8, 2004 when he entered Alrosa Villa without backup and killed a crazed gunman responsible for blowing away four people, including PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, is receiving a national honor.

Niggemeyer received honorable mention in Parade magazine's 2005 Police Service Awards. His story will appear in Sunday's edition.

Niggemeyer responded to the DAMAGEPLAN concert at Alrosa Villa. Nathan Gale shot and ki ...

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The following is posted at www.jonoliva.net:

It is with deep regret and disappointment that we announce that the Canadian goverment would not allow the bands to enter into their country and so we are forced to cancel both the Toronto show this evening and the Montreal show on Tuesday night.

We would like to thank the promoters, Stefan and Noel, for all their help in getting these shows together and we'd also like to apologize to the fans for any inconvenience that this may have caused. We look forward to re-scheduling these shows in the next couple of weeks.

The Metal Insurgence Tour 2005 — featuring JON OLIVA'S PAIN, CHRIS CAFFERY'S FACES (solo proj ...

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