Pony Canyon Records in Japan will be issuing a new YNGWIE MALMSTEEN compilation CD, entitled "Instrumental Best Album", on January 21, 2004.

The complete track listing for the album is as follows:

01. Brothers
02. Dawn
03. Air On A Theme
04. Britzkrieg
05. Blue
06. Asylum
07. Sky Euphoria
08. Quantum Leap
09. Power And Glory-theme for Nobuhiko Takada-
10. Molto Arpeggiosa
11. Preludium
12. Instru-Mental Institution
13. Treasure From The East
14. Requiem
15. Far Beyond The Sun (Live)

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Yngwie Malmsteen

Hypocrisy mainman Peter Tägtgren has posted the following message to the band's official web site:

"Hell-o everybody!

"We wanna thank everybody that came to the shows in Europe and the USA and supported us. This resulted in Cannibal Corpse wanting to take us out in the USA again in February/March 2004, after which we will tour Europe on the No Mercy festival.

"We will be playing new songs as well as old songs, but we need you to help us select the songs.

"And for those of you who've already downloaded the new album on the net... Great,
however, I just remixed and remastered it. I'm soooooooooooo happy that I did it,
it sounds so much better and will end up on the CD when it's out in stores 16.02.2004. Last minute as always (HYPO-motto)

"Have a good one and we will see you on the road!!!!!!!!

"Peter/hypercrazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

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Hypocrisy

Former HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske has been composing new material over the course of the last few weeks and has already completed pre-production versions of six new songs, according to his latest newsletter.

Says Michael: "I am very optimistic because I really think that those songs are my best material so far. What I succeeded to do ? more or less by accident -? in my earlier career with songs like 'Always', 'Longing' and one or two more I do consciously nowadays..."

Kiske, who has dismissed rumors that he may fill the vacant singer position in STRATOVARIUS following the departure of Timo Kotipelto, claims that he has no intentions of writing in the "rock and heavy metal" genres anymore. "I will only make pop music in the future!" he says.

In other Kiske-related news, the metal opera "AINA - Days Of Rising Doom", for which Michael recorded the vocals for two songs, will be released in Europe on February 26, 2004 through The End Records. The Japanese version of the CD has been available since early November.

Band profile:

Helloween

Ex-JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim Owens recently spoke to Electric Basement about the experience of singing for the veteran British heavy metal band and his decision to join ICED EARTH as the replacement for Matt Barlow. Asked about ICED EARTH mainman Jon Schaffer's reputation as someone who can be extremely difficult to work with, Owens said, "I think part of the reason is that many people don't understand that Jon didn't fire everybody . A lot of the older members left on their own or realized they wanted to do something else. Jon has worked so hard and made that band. He's built it from the ground up ? obviously Matt has been a big part of it as well ? but Jon has handled most of the business from merchandising to song writing. He has been the major driving force in every aspect, and some people didn't want to get involved. I think that maybe Jon may not have even wanted that at the time either, but that was the first thing we talked about was that he said that he actually wanted somebody to help. He said that he actually wanted help on the business end, and he wanted help from others making decisions. In the end though, Jon knows what Jon wants. He's a very determined person, and he definitely knows what he wants. If you don't want that same thing or you don't agree with it, you could very well be hitting the highway. Jon just works really hard, and you should expect to be paid in relation to how much work you put into it whether it's the next record or whatever. . . He's a good guy. I mean, he may be a little hard headed, but he has his beliefs, and that's part of what's good about him. I think that's why he's built this thing up to be as big as it is."

With regards to a possible solo album, Tim said, "I've got some friends that I'm working with, and I've written all the guitar parts and everything. We've been practicing some of the stuff together to try to get a feel for it. Then, it's off to the studio to make some demos and shop them around to some labels. Depending on how long I tour with ICED EARTH next year, I'd like to get the album out by 2004."

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Iced Earth

KING DIAMOND recently spoke to Metal Reference about the his upcoming live album, tentatively due next fall through Metal Blade Records.

"The musicians are currently located in Andy 's studio in order to listen to their takes ," he explained. "The real task is to pick the best takes of them all from each and every concert... the guitars, the drums, and I don't need to participate in that. I think that Hal has joined them as well in order to scrutinize his bass work.

"We wanted to have released earlier than this, but it seemed quite inappropriate as there was no tour to support 'Abigail 2', and we obviously have to conduct more shows than that if we want to select some of the better parts for a live release. But we definitely thought at that time that we would be able to release a live album."

Asked if the recordings will also be released on DVD, King said, "Oh, no. It's going to be a double live album, this one, and it was recorded on our last US tour, and we almost recorded all the shows for this purpose. A live DVD will probably surface later, and both my record labels Metal Blade and Massacre are interested in joining forces to release it. This one will however feature live material from our European tour, and this is likely to happen right after summertime 2004".

Regarding the group's original plans to record material from both "Abigail" and "Abigail 2" towards the live album, the singer said, "Yes, that was indeed my intention. We wanted to record 75 - 80 percent of those two records, but these plans were as you suggested abandoned... due to the massive illegal downloading of 'Abigail 2'. Our record label said that we lost about 30 percent of the sales due to illegal downloading. That was a bit tough, and we thus had to renegotiate our contract with the record label. We were in fact ready to go on tour in the U.S. and had almost signed a contract with a local promoter when we learned from our record company that they wouldn't support the tour. This is the first time that we experienced such a thing. The only good thing that came out of this situation is the way that we were forced to record 'The Puppet Master'."

King also commented on his contribution to the upcoming PROBOT CD (in the form of the track "Sweet Dreams"), the project headed up by former NIRVANA drummer/current FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl.

"I contributed my vocals to the tracks just before I flew to Denmark," he explained. "When we were about to rehearse for the Sweden Rock Festival. The record label has kept much of it a big secret... which of the tracks that would be released, the cover and the release date. Dave told me to just do it my way, the way I sang, the lyrics and so on. 'Just do it like KING DIAMOND,' he said. I actually never met him, but we corresponded through a representative of his. Dave Grohl is actually depicted as King Diamond on the front page in the newest issue of Kerrang! ... I refused to believe it, but it's true. He's wearing my outfit and make up. This is totally awesome."

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King Diamond

WITHIN TEMPTATION are the first band confirmed for Borstrock 2004, a two-day festival set to take place May 21-22, 2004 in Nieuw-Vossemeer, in the south of the Netherlands. The band will headline Friday night's festivities.

For more information, visit the festival's web site at http://www.borstrock.nl/

Band profile:

Within Temptation

Demo versions of all the songs written for the DREAM THEATER album "Falling into Infinity", recorded by the band between 1995 and 1997, have been posted online in MP3 format at http://www.greatlakes.org.uk/dreamtheater/cfii.html . In addition, several acoustic tracks by the band, including "Another Day", "Lifting Shadows Off a Dream" and "Tears", can be downloaded at http://www.greatlakes.org.uk/dreamtheater/acoustic-dreams/ . Other DREAM THEATER rarities, including a cover of DEEP PURPLE's "Perfect Strangers" featuring IRON MAIDEN's Bruce Dickinson on lead vocals, and demo versions of "A Change of Seasons" and "Caught In A Web", are available for download at http://www.greatlakes.org.uk/dreamtheater/antiquities/ .

Band profile:

Dream Theater

HAMMERFALL guitarist Oscar Dronjak has posted the following message on the band's official web site:

"A couple of days ago, Joacim ' girlfriend gave birth to a healthy, little baby girl! She is the first child born under the Templar banner, and congratulations from the whole band is in order, of course!

"Injury update: The physical rehabilitation continues. As I have been allowed to work with weights, the process have been speeded up, and I don't really have any problems with day-to-day life anymore. Nevertheless, we are looking at a delay in the songwriting process and subsequent album recording and release. Normally, if we were to follow our an-album-every-two-years routine, we would have between three and five songs ready by now. We have none. This will most likely lead to a delay in schedule by about four-to-six months. You should see a new HAMMERFALL studio album in early 2005, by the looks of it. This also gives us time to give the songs the proper attention they need and deserve in order to avoid rushing anything and making sure they are 100% HAMMERFALL worthy when recording them.

"Site news: We will totally revamp this web page again, and this time it's not an empty promise! During the holidays, we will move the site to another server (the address will remain www.hammerfall.net). For this we have hired Fredrik Kreem, who currently is managing InFlames.com, FullStrike.net, SwedishMetal.net and others, and he will be our new webmaster and site caretaker. The design will be completely new and developed by Fredrik and the band, to ensure a look in accordance with what the Templars of Heavy Metal expects. I will continue to do the news section myself, and this time we will update the updates, so to speak, meaning that they will have some new features. The site should have plenty of new stuff for you as well, and we will try to make it a bit lighter in size so that all you modem users won't have to wait for an eternity for the page to download with each new click (been there, hated that). The brand new design should be up in the beginning of the New Year, but we don't want to set a date just yet. Let's wait and see where we end up during the next couple of weeks. That's all for now. Oh, almost forgot, Merry Christmas to all you metal fans out there, hope you get many LOUD gifts!"

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HammerFall

From the Official Homepage, posted by Daniel Brennare:

Daniel: "The recordings of 'Black brick road' will start at Friday the 13th of February and hopefully be finished around late April or early May. The release will probably take place in August.

We will play at least three festivals next year ...

Sweden Rock (Sweden) in June (10-12)
With Full Force (Germany) in July (2-4)
Summer Breeze (Germany) in August (19-21)

That's that ... take care."

Band profile:

Lake Of Tears

VINTERSORG, the band led by BORKNAGAR frontman Andreas Hedlund (a.k.a. Vintersorg), have posted the lyrics to their upcoming album, "The Focusing Blur", at their official web site.

As previously reported, "The Focusing Blur" is due on February 16, 2004 through Napalm Records.

The complete track listing for "The Focusing Blur" (view cover here) is as follows:

01. Prologue Dialogue - The Reason
02. The Essence
03. The Thesis's Seasons
04. Matrix Odyssey
05. Star Puzzled
06. A Sphere In A Sphere? (To Infinity)
07. A Microscopical Macrocosm
08. Blindsight Complexity
09. Dark Matter Mystery (Blackbody Spectrum)
10. Curtains
11. Artifacts Of Chaos (instrumental)
12. Epilogue Metalogue - Sharpen Your Mind Tools

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Vintersorg

NAPALM DEATH bassist Shane Embury recently spoke to Germany's Voices From The Darkside about the rumors that guitarist Jesse Pintado has left the group due to personal problems. "The future with Jesse in NAPALM DEATH is really up to him to be honest, and without him here to defend himself I don't want to say too much," Shane said. "Yes, we have had problems with him due to many things, alcohol and personal ? he's also been through a rough time recently. We decided that he should take a break at home with his family until he really works out what is best for him in general, not just for the band, but for the rest of his life. I miss him, to be honest, but the break is necessary I think and all being well he should be back on track with us next year, but we all plan on taking some time off next year to concentrate on other things so let's see what the future brings shall we!"

NAPAM DEATH, who recently completed a European tour as a four-piece, will issue a full-length collection of covers, entitled "Leaders Not Followers 2", in early 2004 through their own Feto label.

Band profile:

Napalm Death

British extreme metal outfit CRADLE OF FILTH have signed a deal with Roadrunner Records.

The band, second-stage headliners of this year's Ozzfest and recently on tour in America supported by TYPE O NEGATIVE and MOONSPELL, are delighted by the recent turn of events. Dani Filth, the group's often outspoken vocalist had this to say about the move "Obviously everybody in the band is very excited about the decision to sign to the label. I believe Roadrunner will definitely give us a much further push and without doubt, better credibility within the extreme metal scene. Bring on 2004, the year destined to be spattered with FILTH..."

Roadrunner are equally thrilled, as A&R man Mike Gitter states, "As all truly great bands do, CRADLE OF FILTH provoke...that makes people draw a line. CRADLE assault the senses: hitting both head and groin. CRADLE OF FILTH are leaders rather than followers ? often copied, never replicated. They have already left a bloody stain on the Encylopedia Metallicus ? Roadrunner and I are excited to help make the world a FILTHier place."

CRADLE OF FILTH have already written enough material for their first album with Roadrunner (their sixth full length to date) and are due to begin recording in late January with a release date scheduled for early June. The album, tentatively titled "Nymphetamine" (roughly translated as the druggish beast-like addiction to beautiful, classical women) will feature the following tracks (as of December 2003):

01. Medusa And Hemlock
02. Nemesis
03. Prey
04. Gilded Cunt
05. Absinthe With Faust
06. Painting Flowers White Never Suited My Palette
07. Coffin Fodder
08. Filthy Little Secret
09. Gabrielle
10. Swansong For A Raven

CRADLE OF FILTH bassist David Pybus describes the new material as an "eclectic mix between the group's 'Damnation..' and 'Cruelty...' albums with a renewed vigour for melody, songmanship and plain fucking weirdness spat into the smelting bowl. Revolting human worms, you have been warned!"

Band profile:

Cradle Of Filth

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde has told Guitar World magazine that the group's upcoming CD, "Hangover Music, Vol. 1", will feature "mainly piano and acoustic guitar. But of course there will be some electric stuff and some screaming solos in there too."

The album, which is currently being recorded at a California studio, will follow in the tradition GUNS N' ROSES' "Lies" EP and ALICE IN CHAINS' "Jar of Flies". "When you go out raising hell, you can listen to 'The Blessed Hellride', and when you wake up the next day feeling like shit, you can listen to 'Hangover Music'," Zakk explained.

"Hangover Music, Vol. 1" is due in March 2004 through Spitfire Records.

Band profile:

Black Label Society

IAN PARRY, who fronted the Dutch progressive metallers over the later half of their eight album career (State Of Mind, Manifestations Of Fear, Forbidden Fruit and Principles Of Pain) contacted BW&BK with the somber news that the band has decided to call it a day.
"We are trying to get a deal to do a farewell CD and tour," he announced. "Maybe Sanctuary will do it (formerly Noise Records, from Berlin, who worked with Elegy in the past). We are discussing the possibility of the original guitarist (Henk van der Laars) to join us on tour."

To date, the only North American show remains their appearance at the inaugural BW&BK 6-Pack Weekend, earlier this year. Outside of ELEGY, Parry has busied himself with the multi-guest musician CONSORTIUM PROJECT discs, the final part of the sci-fi trilogy, Terra Incognita, is currently available through Century Media Europe.

Band profile:

Elegy

Bassist Steen Mogensen and guitarist Jacob Kjaer have officially left Danish melodic/progressive metallers ROYAL HUNT. No reason was given for their departure.

Mogensen is expected to continue his collaboration with ex-RAINBOW/current YNGWIE MALMSTEEN vocalist Doogie White in CORNERSTONE, whose third album, "Once Upon Our Yesterdays", was released last month through Germany's Massacre Records.

ROYAL HUNT's most recent CD, "Eye Witness", was issued in June through Frontiers Records.

Band profile:

Royal Hunt