A PINK FLOYD spokesman says founding member Richard Wright has died. He was 65.

Wright died Monday after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. His family did not want to give more details about his death. The spokesman is Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist.

Richard Wright met PINK FLOYD members Roger Waters and Nick Mason at college and joined their early band Sigma 6.

Sigma 6 eventually became PINK FLOYD and Wright wrote and sang some of the band's key songs. He wrote ``The Great Gig In The Sky'' and ``Us And Them'' from PINK FLOYD's 1973 ``The Dark Side Of The Moon.''

He left the group in the early 1980s to form his own band but rejoined PINK FLOYD for their 1987 album ``A Momentary Lapse of Reason.''

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In light of the major event that is the releasing of Metallica's 9th studio album, Death Magnetic, the staff at Metal Reviews are taking a break from our normal review cycle with what we are dubbing "Metallica Week". Be on the lookout for reviews of new and classic albums, as well as those of oddities and documentaries. Enjoy!

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Martin Eric Ain and Tom Gabriel Fischer of the Swiss avant-garde/metal pioneers CELTIC FROST have issued the following statement:

"In the wake of the events transpiring earlier this year, we, who together formed CELTIC FROST in 1984 and together reformed the group in 2001, have discussed the situation and agree that any continuation of CELTIC FROST without either one of us would be irreconcilable with our original ideas and detrimental to the group's legacy. We have therefore jointly decided to lay CELTIC FROST to rest for good and to treasure and honor what we have created together in the course of the history of this truly unique band. All ...

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Veteran Polish death metallers VADER have issued the following update:

"We would like to thank to all the participants of our anniversary gig [on August 30 at Stodola Club in Warsaw, Poland]: bands [GRAVE, ROTTING CHRIST, DISMEMBER, GOREFEST, MARDUK, NILE, ENTOMBED and SAMAEL], fans and staff. Thanks to you all we were able to celebrate the 25th anniversary of VADER in so special way. Big thanks to fans for such a numerous presence, bands for fantastic shows they all played in Warsaw, guests for their appearance on this show and our crew for nearly 24 hours of hard work! It was a very important show for us, the mor ...

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According to a posting on SODOM's official web site, the group's original drummer, Chris Dudek (a.k.a. Witchhunter), passed away yesterday (Sunday, September 7). No further details are currently available.

Dudek made a special guest appearance on SODOM's latest album, "The Final Sign of Evil", which was released as a double vinyl package on February 1, 2008 via SPV Records. The LP features re-recordings of the material from the German thrashers' classic first EP, "In the Sign of Evil", plus no less than seven bonus tracks, all of which were originally written during the "In the Sign of Evil" era or earlier but were never o ...

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"D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.", the new album from German thrash metal veterans DESTRUCTION, has entered the Media Control chart in the band's home country at position No. 65.

The "D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N." title track is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. The CD was released on August 22 via AFM Records and features guest appearanaces by Gary Holt (EXODUS), Jeff Waters (ANNIHILATOR) and Vinnie Moore (UFO).

"V.icious Circle - The 7 Seven Deadly Sins", the new video from DESTRUCTION, can be viewed below.

Norwegian black metallers MAYHEM have issued the following update:

"As many of you know, the previous Australian tour [which was scheduled to take place late May 2008] was cancelled. MAYHEM was extremely disappointed and outraged for the cancellations. This was COMPLETELY out of the band's control. MAYHEM wants to let you know that the fans Down Under have not been forgotten. An Australian tour is in the works right now. MAYHEM will not release official dates until the tour is SOLID to avoid any further disappointments or screw-ups! Just wanted to let everyone know that the band knows Australia demands MAYHEM and they will answer the call! Look for d ...

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Swedish melodic death metallers DARK TRANQUILLITY have parted ways with longtime bass player Michael Nicklasson. According to the band, "all booked shows will go on as scheduled with a session bassist. We thank Michael for his time in the band and wish him the best of luck in future endeavours."

Commented Michael: "After almost 10 years and tons of tours and festivals, I chose to leave DARK TRANQUILLITY for personal reasons.

"It's been so cool all this time to meet all the people and the tons of fans around the world, and all the friends that I got during this amazing journey — crew, fans and all the people I (we) worked with. I can't name everyon ...

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A brand new AMON AMARTH track entitled "Twilight of the Thunder God" is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. The song is the title cut of the Swedish Swedish Viking metallers' new album and it features a guest appearance by CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist Roope Latvala. A video for the track was recently filmed on the old Viking site, Jomsborg, home of the Jomsvikings in Wolin, Poland, with the Polish team Group 13 and director Dariusz Szermanowicz.

Check out photos from the video shoot at

"Ultra Beatdown", the new album from British extreme epic power metallers DRAGONFORCE, is availaboe for streaming in its entirety on the band's MySpace page.

"Ultra Beatdown" is scheduled for release in North America on August 26 (one day earlier internationally) via Roadrunner Records.

"Ultra Beatdown" track listing:

01. Heroes Of Our Time
02. The Fire Still Burns
03. Reasons To Live
04. Scars Of Yesterday
05. Heartbreak Armageddon
06. The Last Journey Home
07. Inside The Winter Storm
08. The Warri ...

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