Kyle Jongerden of the Vermont Cynic recently conducted an interview with ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Vermont Cynic: Why do you think heavy metal is becoming so popular in America?

Michael: "I mean, everything seems to go around in circles. Now people seem to be more open. A few years ago it was bands like GODSMACK. That stuff was still pretty heavy, I guess, but it had a certain atmosphere, a 'nu-metal' tag or whatever. I don't really know, I'm not from here so I don't really know what goes on too much. I jus ...

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Long-running Swedish metallers ENTOMBED have amicably parted ways with guitarist Ulf Cederlund. The band's official statement on the matter reads as follows: "We want to inform everyone that Uffe Cederlund is no longer in the band and that the split is definite and amicable. We wish him all the best!" ENTOMBED will continue as a four-piece and are currently finishing up the "Inferno" tour. The band will shortly start work on their new studio album, which is tentatively expected in in early 2006 via Threeman Recordings. Previously announced songtitles, "The Fiery Father", "I Need Hell", "Radarslave" and "Burn the Flag", ha ...

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The cover artwork for HELLOWEEN's long-awaited new album, "Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy", has been posted online at Helloween.org.

"Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy" is scheduled for release in Europe on October 31 via Steamhammer/SPV (November 8 in the U.S ...

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Greetings from the Deep!

The newly designed site is now online at http://www.alowerdeep.com in conjunction with the release of Trinity. Check out new photos, interviews and ton more. Also, there is another full length track from the new album online entitled A Grief Observed. Also mp3 from Parable of the Thorn, and from our debut demo from 2002 that haven't been available online.

In an effort to keep cost to a minimum, for a limited time, we are foregoing wide distribution and offering Trinity exclusely through alowerdeep.com. The price is just $10.00 per CD and that includes shipping worldwide. We won't be able to do this indefinitely so order soon at http://www.alowerdeep.com/merchandise/merchandise.html

Keep an eye on alowerdeep.com for Trinity reviews, tour dates and much more coming soon.

Thanks so much for your support of A Lower Deep and Keep It Metal!

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CHILDREN OF BODOM's video for the song "In Your Face" has been posted online at Universal-Music.de (Real Media). The clip, which was shot a few weeks ago in Berlin, Germany, features an edited version of the track, with approximately 20 seconds of the cut shaved off to adhere to radio/MTV programming standards (regular version clocks in at 4:16; single version is 3:55).

"In Your Face" is the first single off CHILDREN OF BODOM's ...

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Toronto's Eye is reporting that a brand-new documentary offering a guided tour through heavy metal's storied but largely ignored history, "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey", will make its world premiere in Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14 at the Ryerson Theatre. Drawing from interviews with the genre's godheads (i.e. Tony Iommi, Bruce Dickinson, Alice Cooper, Lemmy) and contemporary extremists (i.e. LAMB OF GOD, SLIPKNOT and some hilariously evil Norwegian black metal-makers), the movie succeeds as both an insightful exercise ...

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OPETH's video for the track "The Grand Conjuration", featuring a special guest appearance by STRAPPING YOUNG LAD drummer Gene Hoglan, has been posted online at Roadrun.com. The song comes off the group's new album, "Ghost Reveries", available now on Roadrunner Records. The CD was mastered on June 16 at the Cutting Room facilities in Stockholm and features a running time of 66 minutes.

OPETH utilized the services of Hoglan during the bulk of the recently completed Sounds of the Underground tour after the group's regular skinsman, Martin L ...

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RUSH will be releasing the highly anticipated "R30" DVD in late fall 2005. "R30" will feature the sold-out concert that RUSH played in Frankfurt, Germany in October 2004 during their 30th anniversary tour.

In other news, RUSH drummer Neil Peart is currently working on the follow-up to his instructional drum video, "A Work In Progress". The new video will be issued as a DVD and is set for release in late fall 2005. The new DVD is produced by Hudson Music and is entitled "Anatomy of Drum Solo".

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Italian epic metal band RHAPSODY will be releasing their first live album ever in November. The recordings will be based on performances made during leg one of MANOWAR's "Demons, Dragons and Warriors World Tour" where RHAPSODY appeared as the special guests in spring 2005.

This recently completed first leg of the tour was highly acclaimed for its stripped down and performance-oriented arrangements, which allowed the band to prove that the music is the message. No track list has yet been released, but RHAPSODY's record label, Magic Circle Music, announced the songs played during the shows included old favorites and tracks from their lates ...

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Sharon Osbourne spoke exclusively to Kerrang! magazine (web site) last week regading IRON MAIDEN's final performance on this year's Ozzfest tour, during which she cut MAIDEN's power and arranged to have the band pelted with eggs and debris from the crowd. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow: Kerrang!: Reading between the lines of [IRON MAIDEN manager] Rod Smallwood's statement, the unspoken suggestion is that you orchestrated this whole thing... Sharon Osbourne: "Of course I did. I had the PA turned on and off. And look, it's not hard for someone to walk into a diehard Ozzfest crowd and say, 'Who wants to throw an egg at a rock star?' Who wouldn't wanna do that? I went out a ...

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