We here at Metalreviews.com team would like to wish everyone all the best for the holidays. May they be safe, merry and metalized!

Keep strong! Only a couple of days left until the Christmas music ends!

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MINISTRY mainman Al "Alien" Jourgensen has penned a special Christmas poem entitled "T'was The Night Before Impeachment". It goes like this:

T'was 2007 and all through the year
Not a creature was buying this climate of fear
The stockings were hung in a foreclosure scare
In hopes that the Banks would forget we were there!
The soldiers were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of extended tours messed with their heads
And Dick and Lynn Cheney with shotguns in lap
Had just pardoned Scooter for shutting his yap
When down at the White House there arose such a clatter
I sprang out the door to see what was the matter!
Away to the pr ...

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Thiago Sarkis of the Imhotep webzine has compiled a list of more than 60 hard rock/heavy metal stars' favorite albums of 2007 and has posted it online at this location. The following is complete list of the musicians offering their picks for the finest releases of last year:

Alan Nemtheanga (PRIMORDIAL)
Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE, BLOTTED SCIENCE)
Anders Nyström (KATATONIA, BLOODBATH, BEWITCHED, DIABOLICAL MASQUERADE)
Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA)
Björn Daigger (MAJESTY, R:I:P, ANGUISH)
Blasphemer (MAYHEM, AVA INFERI)
Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth

METALLICA has made its August 17, 1985 performance from Donington Park, Donington, UK available for free download via its official download site, LiveMetallica.com.

The setlist for the 45-minute concert was as follows:

01. Creeping Death
02. Ride The Lightning
03. The Four Horsemen
04. Fade To Black
05. Seek And Destroy
06. Whiplash
07. Motorbreath

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Examiner.com in an October 2007 interview that the band's upcoming album will be "heavier" yet more "melodic" than 2003's controversial

Singer Tim "Ripper" Owens has released a statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET regarding his surprising departure from ICED EARTH three months after the release of the group's latest album, "Framing Armageddon - Something Wicked Part I".

ICED EARTH mainman/guitarist Jon Schaffer issued a press release last week (Statement#1, Statement#2) announcing that the band was parting ways with Owens and was on ...

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Canadian death metallers KATAKLYSM have cancelled their previously announced tour of the UK and Iberia with Poland's BEHEMOTH (scheduled for February 2008).

Commented KATAKLYSM singer Maurizio Iacono: "First, I'd like to say how crazy of a ride it's been since the release of 'In the Arms of Devastation'. We've done over 200 shows in less then two years — nine tours across the world — and meeting all our fans was the highlight; they made our last album the biggest and strongest album to date.

"It's been great, but the machine needs time off. There's nothing more we like then to stay on the road non-stop but we have to come to reality here ...

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Tonight's (December 14) NIGHTWISH's concert at the Paviljonik Arena in Jyväskylä, Finland was interrupted by a fire. According to Finnish media reports, 6,000 people were evacuated when the concert hall started to fill up with smoke. The situation was quickly brought under control and no injuries were reported. The concert eventually continued, but since some of the fans waiting outside the venue were asked to leave by the s ...

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As some of you may have already noticed, the 2007 Reader's Choice Voting Threads are up and running. Please read the guidelines at the top of each thread, and feel free to ask if there are any questions. Above all, have fun and let your vote be heard!

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ICED EARTH mainman/guitarist Jon Schaffer has issued the following statement:

"Hello, dear friends!

"Once again the winds of change are upon us, and this time I can say that I am very happy about the result.

"While out on the European tour I had several in depth discussions with many loyal ICED EARTH fans. A common theme of these discussions was how much Matt is missed. I agreed with the fans that things were not the same and that it was a very special period in ICED EARTH's history.

"When I heard several months ago that Matt [Barlow] was going to be doing a project in music again, I was thinking about contactin ...

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ITV News has posted a video report on the LED ZEPPELIN reunion show that took place earlier tonight (December 10) at London's O2 Arena. Watch the two-minute clip below.

The setlist:

01. Good Times, Bad Times
02. Ramble On
03. Black Dog
04. In My Time Of Dying
05. For Your Life
06. Trampled Under Foot
07. Nobody's Fault But Mine
08. No Quarter
09. Since I've Been Loving You
10. Dazed and Confused
11. Stairway To Heaven
12. The Song Remains the Same
13. Misty Mountain Hop
14. Kashmir

Encore:

15. Whole Lotta Love