MELDRUM Announce Live Dates For Sweden And Italy, Drummer GENE HOGLAN On Board

MELDRUM, featuring former PHANTOM BLUE guitarist Michelle Meldrum, have issued the following announcement:

"Hey all you crazy Meldrum Freaks: Meldrum has just completed drums to the follow up to their newly released CD, Blowin' Up The Machine. With no time wasted we are hittin the road in Europe with the metal master himself Gene Hoglan. Check tour dates for the shows and hope to see ya all out there...STAY HARD!"

DARK TRANQUILLITY Nominated For Video Of The Year On Headbanger's Ball

DARK TRANQUILLITY's 'Focus Shift' has been nominated for Video Of The Year at MTV2's Headbanger's Ball. Go to www.mtv2.com/#series/10896, click "Vote" and scroll to the D.T. clip "to show your undying support, unparalleled devotion and impeccable taste."

As previously reported, Dark Tranquillity's live schedule is as follows:


January
11 - Beijing, China - MG Live Hall
13 - Taipei, Taiwan - Young lion

January (Japanese co-headline with THE HAUNTED)
16 - Osaka - Big Cat
17 - Nagoya - Club Quattro
18 - Tokyo - O-East

CRADLE OF FILTH - Cover Art For Thornography Deluxe Edition Revealed

As previously reported, CRADLE OF FILTH are gearing up for the release of Harder, Darker, Faster: Thornography Deluxe Edition, due out in early 2008, which features new artwork, new music, live material and videos. The cover art can be viewed on the left (click to enlarge).

BW&BK scribe Aaron Small recently spoke to frontman Dani Filth about the release:

"The artwork is just an extension really of what’s gone before. It’s the same artist (Samuel Araya). He’s just furnished it out a little bit more. The actual content is six new tracks. It was going to be seven, due to the fact that we recorded a song for the new Dario Argento film (Mother Of Tears). We were trying to get the rights for that, but it didn’t come through. There’s going to be some live stuff that we recorded in Philly and Worcester. There are videos on there as well (‘The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking’, ‘Tonight In Flames’ and ‘Temptation’). Then there’s this totally new format where you can mix ‘Lovesick For Mina’ yourself.”

The aforementioned new songs “were written during the Thornography session, but actually finished slightly later.” Dani briefly details each of them: “There’s ‘Murder In The Thirst’ - that’s one of our classic intros. The title was stolen from the lyrics of ‘Cemetery And Sundown’. ‘The Snake-Eyed And The Venomous’ is sort of an anti-critic song; it’s metaphorical. ‘Halloween 2’ (a Misfits cover) has been remixed and remastered by Andy Sneap (who mixed and mastered Thornography), so it sounds a bit better than it did on the Underworld 2 soundtrack – which was the only place it was available prior to this. ‘Courting Baphomet’ is another fable-type song in the vein of ‘Her Ghost In The Fog’. Again, it’s metaphorical. ‘Stay’ is a track by Shakespears Sister that we’ve bastardized. Now it sounds a bit more like a symphonic ‘Nymphetamine’. ‘Devil To The Metal’ is a celebration of everything dark and nasty really. It could have come off Vempire; it’s really fast and brutal. It’s got some really nice drop-downs and weird bits.”

To those who question why Cradle Of Filth is issuing Thornography Deluxe, Dani answers, “the reason for wanting to release a special edition, rather than saving them (the unreleased songs) is because they serve as quite a nice bridge or stop-gap between Thornography and the newer material, which is really shaping up to be fast. There’s 30 minutes of totally new material (on Harder, Darker, Faster). It promises to be good. I’m the first to balk at cash-ins and stuff like that. I’m really excited about this! It’ll be a good attribute to our proverbial boat.”

STEEL ATTACK - Release Date For New Album Confirmed

According to the band, STEEL ATTACK will release their as-yet-untitled new album on February 22nd through Massacre Records.

As previously reported, earlier this year bassist Anden Andersson decided to leave the band to conentrate on his family and was replaced by Johan Löfgren (LACK OF FAITH). Drummer Tony Elfving and guitarist Johan Jalonen Penn also decided to move on and were replaced by Peter Morén (TAD MOROSE) and Simon Johansson (MEMORY GARDEN, ABSTRAKT ALGEBRA) respectively.

TESTAMENT - New Album Title Confirmed

Bay Area thrash legends TESTAMENT have confirmed that the title of their new record will be The Formation Of Damnation. According to a band update, the album "is being recorded as we speak! They are currently recording the drum tracks with Andy Sneap at Fantasy Studios, in Berkeley, California. More details, studio reports and pics coming soon... stay tuned!"

Testament 2007 features the originating classic thrash legends Chuck Billy on vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar and Greg Christian on bass. Paul Bostaph (ex-SLAYER, EXODUS) was recently named as the band's drummer.

The Formation Of Damnation is tentatively scheduled for a spring 2008 release via Nuclear Blast.