SWEDEN'S AMON AMARTH COMPLETES WORK ON NEW ALBUM; ANNOUNCES U.S. TOUR DATES

Swedish metal powerhouse AMON AMARTH has completed work on its long-awaited new studio album. The full-length release, titled Twilight of the Thunder God, will see a September 30 North American release date via Metal Blade Records.

Twilight of the Thunder God was recorded at Fascination Street Studio in Örebro, Sweden. The album will feature 10 ravaging tracks of AMON AMARTH’s menacing battle metal replete with swarming riffs and searing percussion that provides a monolithic backdrop for vocalist Johan Hegg's wracked howls and lyrics rife with Nordic mythology. Known for seamlessly combining the key attributes of death, black and power metal to create “fantasy-fueled sonic mayhem”, AMON AMARTH (Elven-speak for “mountain of doom” in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings) has eclipsed its previous efforts with Twilight of the Thunder God, creating an album that places the band amongst metal’s elite.

Twilight of the Thunder God features several high-profile guest appearances including Entombed singer L.G. Petrov (on ‘Guardians of Asgaard’), Children of Bodom guitarist Roope Latvala (who shreds a fierce solo on the track 'Twilight of the Thunder God') and Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica (a guest appearance on ‘Live For The Kill’).

The final track listing for Twilight of the Thunder God is as follows:

1.) Twilight of the Thunder God
2.) Free Will Sacrifice
3.) Guardians of Asgaard
4.) Where is Your God?
5.) Varyags of Miklagaard
6.) Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags
7.) No Fear for the Setting Sun
8.) The Hero
9.) Live for the Kill
10.) Embrace of the Endless Ocean

In support of Twilight of the Thunder God, AMON AMARTH has announced a fall, 2008 North American headlining tour. The scheduled 3 week trek will kick off on October 1 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA. Support on the AMON AMARTH tour will be provided by Helsinki folk-metal act Ensiferum, Austrian blackened death metal band Belphegor and Tampa, Florida melodic death metal troupe The Absence.

On the topic of the headlining tour, the band states, “It's time again for us Vikings to make our way across the Atlantic. It's now official; we will be heading over for a North American headlining tour in support of our new album, “Twilight of the Thunder God.” Joining our venture will be Ensiferum, Belphegor and The Absence, all solid and outstanding bands that we are honored to make part of our tour. We are excited to perform in front of our North American fans and cannot wait until then. Since “Twilight of the Thunder God” will be released on September 30th, look for new songs to be played! We're expecting a good proper horde, so hope to see as many of you out there as possible!"

Following the completion of the North American headlining tour, AMON AMARTH will embark on a month-long European tour as hand-picked support for thrash metal titans Slayer and the band’s “Unholy Alliance Chapter III” tour. Also appearing on the tour will be Mastodon and Trivium (an admat for the tour can be accessed at this location). AMON AMARTH will also play four shows at Zeche in Bochum, Germany in late December under the banner "Bloodshed Over Bochum". The band will play one of its first four albums in its entirety each night along with a "best of" mix from "Fate of Norns" (2004), "With Oden On Our Side" (2006) and Twilight of the Thunder God. A full listing of upcoming AMON AMARTH tour dates follows this message.

Additionally, Metal Blade has launched a special multi-media website to advance Twilight of the Thunder God. The website features a video diary from the studio and regular installments of an AMON AMARTH “comic strip” featuring the band, which will later see print as one piece. The comic is being penned by well-known artist Lucio Parrillo (known for his cover art and character design for video games and role play games such as Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Magic, Hecatomb, etc.), is based upon Twilight of the Thunder God and includes “everything a fine bloodshed is supposed to have.” Check out the site now at this location.

AMON AMARTH features Johan Hegg (vocals), Johan Söderberg (guitar), Olavi Mikkonen (guitar), Ted Lundström (bass) and Fredrik Andersson (drums).

Updated AMON AMARTH news and tour information will be made available via the band’s online domains: www.amonamarth.com / www.myspace.com/amonamarth, the Metal Blade Records website: www.metalblade.com and the ACTION! PR site: www.action-pr.com.

“the Viking war metal of AMON AMARTH is limitless” – VILLAGE VOICE

“Vikings are totally metal, dude. Enslaved may have taken a classy approach to Nordic mythology, but nobody sings songs about life as a Viking with as much fervor as AMON AMARTH.” – DECIBEL

“ultra-fast picking of single string melody-riffs against matching power chords… pure sonic mayhem” – POPMATTERS

“AMON AMARTH continue to be champions of the worldwide death metal tournament.” – ALL MUSIC

“AMON AMARTH are Viking Metal's flag bearers. They lay on very thick mid-tempo grooves with some of the most memorable melody lines. Go forth and conquer..." – CRUSTCAKE

“Viking metal rules!” – CLEVELAND SCENE


AMON AMARTH tour dates:

North American Twilight of the Thunder God Tour (w/ support from Ensiferum, Belphegor and The Absence)
October 1 Anaheim, CA House of Blues (w/ Ensiferum only)
October 2 Los Angeles, CA The Avalon
October 3 San Francisco, CA Slim's
October 4 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater
October 5 Seattle, WA El Corazon
October 6 Vancouver, BC Croatian Cultural Centre
October 8 Edmonton, AB The Starlite Room
October 9 Calgary, AB The Warehouse
October 10 Regina, SK Riddell Centre
October 11 Winnipeg, MB The Garrick Centre
October 12 St. Paul, MN Station 4
October 13 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
October 15 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theatre
October 16 Montreal, QC Le Medley
October 17 Quebec City, QC Theatre Imperial
October 18 Worcester, MA The Palladium
October 19 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
October 20 New York, NY The Fillmore
October 21 West Springfield, VA Jaxx


'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III' European Tour’ (w/ SLAYER, TRIVIUM, AMON AMARTH, MASTODON)

October 27 Manchester, England Manchester Arena
October 28 Birmingham, England NEC
October 30 London, England Hammersmith Apollo
October 31 London, England Hammersmith Apollo
November 2 Cardiff, Wales CIA 7000
November 3 Glasgow, Scotland SECC Hall 3
November 5 - Offenbach, Germany Stadthalle
November 6 Köln, Germany Palladium
November 7 Amsterdam, Holland Heineken Music Hall
November 9 Stuttgart, Germany Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
November 10 Winterthur, Switzerland Eishalle Deutweg
November 11 Paris, France Le Zenith
November 12 Antwerp, Belgium Sportpaleis/Lotto Arena
November 16 Wein, Austria Gasometer
November 18 München, Germany Zenith
November 19 Berlin, Germany Columbiahalle
November 22 Gothenburg, Sweden Lisebergshallen ( *AMON AMARTH as direct support to Slayer, Mastodon opens)


AMON AMARTH’s "Bloodshed Over Bochum"

(* The band will play one of its first four albums in its entirety each night along with a "best of" mix from "Fate Of Norns" (2004), "With Oden On Our Side" (2006) and the upcoming album *)

December 28 "Once Sent From The Golden Hall" (1998) Bochum, Germany Zeche
December 29 "The Avenger" (1999) Bochum, Germany Zeche
December 30 "The Crusher" (2001) Bochum, Germany Zeche
December 31 "Versus The World" (2002) Bochum, Germany Zeche

ESP GUITARS AND HOT TOPIC PRESENT THE CHILDREN OF BODOM U.S. HEADLINING TOUR

Finnish heavy metal giant CHILDREN OF BODOM has announced a U.S. headlining tour in support of its critically acclaimed new album Blooddrunk. The scheduled four week, 25 city CHILDREN OF BODOM tour will kick off on September 11 in Baltimore, MD and criss-cross the U.S., closing with a bang on October 10 in Worcester, MA.

The CHILDREN OF BODOM U.S. headlining tour will feature support from Between the Buried and Me as well as a “very special guest to be announced”. The major market trek will represent the influential metal band’s first U.S. headlining jaunt in support of Blooddrunk and follows the quintet’s red hot summer North American “Gigantour” live dates as hand-picked support for heavy music legends Megadeth.

Advance ticket pre-sales for the CHILDREN OF BODOM tour will begin on July 16 via Nokia Ticket Rush (www.ticketrush.com) with general public on-sales slated to start on July 18 and 19 via www.livenation.com. The COB tour will be produced by Live Nation and presented by sponsors ESP Guitars and Hot Topic and tour supporters Guitar World, Metal Kult, Rock House Method and Spinefarm Records.

Blooddrunk skyrocketed to #22 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart this spring, shifting over 19,000 units in its first week of sales. Released in North America on April 15 via Spinefarm / Fontana International, Blooddrunk is CHILDREN OF BODOM’s sixth studio album, and is the highest charting record in the band’s sales history. Blooddrunk also debuted at #2 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart and at #3 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock chart. The Top 25 Billboard debut capped a string of exceptional worldwide charting positions for the band, highlighted by a #1 debut in its native Finland. Blooddrunk also debuted at #7 in Canada, #10 in Germany, #12 in Japan, #19 in Austria, #28 in Sweden and #44 in the UK, solidifying CHILDREN OF BODOM’s place as one of the most revered metal bands in the world.

The follow up to the band's acclaimed 2005 release, Are You Dead Yet?, Blooddrunk has been called COB’s "strongest and most advanced recording to date" and features a "heavier, darker" take on CHILDREN OF BODOM's enthralling mix of modern thrash metal, melodic hooks and the guitar acrobatics of front man and metal guitar hero Alexi Laiho. Laiho is widely recognized as a modern day guitar hero and is one of the premier shredders in metal / hard rock today, drawing praise from both peers and respected guitar publications the world over.

In addition to Laiho, CHILDREN OF BODOM features Roope Latvala (guitar), Janne Warman (keyboard), Henkka Seppälä (bass) and drummer Jaska Raatikainen.

Updated CHILDREN OF BODOM news and tour information will be made available via the COB online domains: www.cobhc.com / www.myspace.com/childrenofbodom, the Spinefarm Records U.S. MySpace page: www.myspace.com/spinefarmrecordsus and the ACTION! PR site: www.action-pr.com.

“If all you notice about Blooddrunk is how fast and furious it sounds, you’re missing the point. Because the coolest thing about CHILDREN OF BODOM isn’t that their average song features more notes than the whole of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid; it’s that each tune also boasts as many hooks as Paranoid. CHILDREN OF BODOM’s well-camouflaged pop will get you disgustingly drunk” – REVOLVER (5 star review)

“Going into their 15th year as a band, CHILDREN OF BODOM have risen through the ranks of their assigned Euro-metal contemporaries wielding a carefully-honed palette that fuses two well-established and already overlapping subgenres (melodic death metal and what we like to call “Scandi-thrash”) with blazing neo-classical chops." - DECIBEL

"nitro-boosted melodic death metal…strength, virtuosity and over-the-top spectacle." – GUITAR WORLD

"technically dazzling" - THE NEW YORK TIMES

“lightning-fast, ultra-disciplined metal…better synths than any metal since Dio's "Rainbow In The Dark." Every song has a keyboard solo, barreling out of the speakers like Rick Wakeman composing soundtrack music for Atari 2600 game cartridges in 1982. CHILDREN OF BODOM make black metal that knows how to party hard. you'll bounce off your apartment walls all night, but you'll be smiling beneath your corpse paint.” – VILLAGE VOICE

“CHILDREN OF BODOM boasts the requisite elements to please any Scandinavian metal enthusiast…plenty of darkness and dread” – THE ONION

“Sharp weapons cut deeper, don’t ya know, which is why these Finns get bigger all the time…they will rock any crowd” – LA WEEKLY

“One of the most talented metal bands of our time” – VICE

“slick staccato synth-thrash that has captured the hearts and iPods of technically minded metalheads the world over…bombastic” – ALTERNATIVE PRESS

“Kings of Metal” – KERRANG!


CHILDREN OF BODOM tour dates:

** U.S. “Blooddrunk” headlining tour (featuring support from Between the Buried and a “very special guest to be announced”) **

September 11 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live!
September 12 Norfolk, VA The NorVa
September 13 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
September 14 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Live
September 16 Dallas, TX House of Blues
September 18 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
September 19 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern
September 20 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
September 21 San Francisco, CA The Warfield
September 22 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
September 23 Seattle, WA Showbox Market
September 25 Salt Lake City, UT The Great Salt Air
September 26 Denver, CO Gothic Theatre
September 27 Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club
September 28 St. Louis, MO Pop's
September 30 Minneapolis, MN Myth
October 1 Chicago, IL House of Blues
October 2 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
October 3 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
October 4 Detroit, MI Clutch's Cargo
October 6 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
October 7 Rochester, NY Water Street Music Hall
October 8 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
October 9 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom
October 10 Worcester, MA Palladium

MASSACHUSETTS METAL GIANTS UNEARTH COMMENCE WORK ON NEW ALBUM

Influential metal quintet UNEARTH has begun work on its new album. The follow up to the band’s acclaimed 2006 release III: In the Eyes of Fire is scheduled to drop this October via Metal Blade Records.

UNEARTH is currently recording at MA’s System Recording Studios with producer Adam Dutkiewicz, while the album’s drum tracks are being laid to tape by drummer Derek Kerswill (Kingdom of Sorrow, Seemless) at Zing Studios. The as-yet-untitled record is said to feature the band’s “most dynamic material to date,” combining strong tension and release, abundant guitar solos and a bulldozing power-groove.

“HEAVY METAL SHRED MAYHEM! NOW WITH 50% MORE GUITAR SOLOS!! If the new Unearth songs were laundry detergent, then this is what it would say on the box,” dishes UNEARTH lead guitarist Buz McGrath. “Fortunately for all you metal maniacs, it's not laundry soap but a mind-blowing journey consisting of epic mosh and shred, so we had to call in the one man who could wrangle such a massive beast - Adam Dutkiewicz. We are very excited to be working with him again and between 40 oz. chugging and doing burn-outs in Ken's '82 Corvette, we are recording what will definitely be the best album of our career.”

A “teaser” look at UNEARTH working in the studio can be accessed via the band’s MySpace page at this location. Additional looks at the recording of the album, including fly-on-the-wall video footage, riffs and excerpts of new music will be made available in the coming weeks.

UNEARTH formed in 1998 and in the decade since, has become one of the U.S.’ most proven metal bands, shifting over 400,000 units over the course of its career. The group’s tireless touring schedule has seen it perform alongside some of the genre’s most revered names (including tours with Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne as part of Ozzfest [2004 and 2006] and a 2007 U.S. tour as hand-picked direct support for thrash titans Slayer), and also headline venues the world over, consistently helping give rise to some of extreme music’s fresh blood in the process. In 2007, UNEARTH contributed a song, titled "The Chosen", to the popular film Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, appearing on the movie’s standout soundtrack amidst contributions from Andrew W.K., Mastodon, The Hold Steady and more.

On August 1, UNEARTH will make a special main stage appearance at the 2008 Wacken Open Air Festival. “Wacken” is the largest exclusively metal music festival in the world and will see UNEARTH share the stage with Iron Maiden, At the Gates, Carcass and more.

In addition to McGrath, UNEARTH features vocalist Trevor Phipps, guitarist Ken Susi, bassist John Maggard and drummer Derek Kerswill.

Updated UNEARTH news and tour information will be made available via the UNEARTH web domains: www.unearth.tv and www.myspace.com/unearth, the Metal Blade Records website: www.metalblade.com and the ACTION! PR website: www.action-pr.com.


"The talent within the band is obvious...brutish melodies...guitar runs that are as creative as they are powerful...a major force" – BLENDER

“Thrash titans” – MTV NEWS

"big, chunky riffs, raspy throat-roar vocals, baterram drums...an innate sense for the theatrical...like better-produced 80s skateboard-thrash...pretty great" - VILLAGE VOICE

“challenging and non-repetitive without relinquishing one iota of aggro attitude” – GUITAR WORLD

"wildly thrashing and charismatic" - LA WEEKLY

“stunning" - REVOLVER

“Unearth are one of the very best at what they do...At The Gates and In Flames disciples will bask in the galloping rhythms and the dizzying depths of guitarists Ken Susi and Buz McGrath's ever-intertwined riffs and electrifying lead acrobatics...go metal-thrashing mad" - ALTERNATIVE PRESS

"dark, hard and heavy...a tight assembly of Maiden riffs, blast beats and rocky road breakdowns" – DECIBEL

“Boldly venomous” – METAL EDGE

UK EXTREME-DOOM METAL BAND MOSS SET TO UNLEASH NEW ALBUM

UK extreme-doom metal band MOSS has completed work on its new album, entitled Sub Templum. Already being described as, “the bleakest, darkest doom metal ever recorded,” Sub Templum will drop in North American on July 8 via England’s Rise Above Records.

MOSS creates eerie anti-music that transmits the occult like none other. Nocturnally recorded deep within the mystical Welsh valleys, Sub Templum takes the funereal wickedness of the MOSS sound to excruciatingly new territories. Produced by Jus Oborn of veteran UK doom metal band Electric Wizard (who had previously worked with MOSS on its debut album, Cthonic Rites), Sub Templum’s monstrous and macabre sonic groan retains the monolithic simplicity of a Martian pyramid, while the production somehow increases the scope of MOSS’ trademark wall of distortion and despair.

Sub Templum is an immense opus of occult hypnosis inspired by the macabre, masonry, marijuana, a steady diet of macabre horror a la 'Death Line' and 'Last House on Dead End Street' and Doris “ZORA” Norton. With Sub Templum, MOSS urge the awakening of Earth's deepest, most destructive secrets - the dreadful final judgment spelled out in the cultic symbols and perverted relics of an almighty elder species, lying in wait to claim the apocalypse. A terrifying work of uncompromisingly cryptic enormity, MOSS’ s Sub Templum will ruin "extreme" doom metal for everyone.

A sneak peak at the sounds that Sub Templum holds in store can be conjured now as the new MOSS track “Dragged to the Roots (edit)” has been posted online at this location. An advance look at the album’s talismanic cover art can be viewed at this location.

The final track listing for Sub Templum is as follows:

1.) Ritus (5:24)
2.) Subterraen (23:25)
3.) Dragged to the Roots (9:33)
4.) Gate III: Devils from the Outer Dark (35:31)

When asked to comment on Sub Templum, the band offers the following arcane interpretation:

“SUB TEMPLUM:

Sub Templum is underground worship. A dirge mass for the hidden spaces, for the altars untouched by man, for the foul cultures spawned and praised in long-petrified canyons. An esoteric system alive to the reality of its own futility, a process of spiritual trauma in four stages:

I. RITUS

A fugue for the summoning.

II. SUBTERRAEN

The madness, agony and doom of the men who seek to know the unknowable.

III. DRAGGED TO THE ROOTS

Ceremonial sacrifice and the revelation of darkness in motion.

IV. GATE III: DEVILS FROM THE OUTER DARK

i) WALPURGIS ii) THE COMING OF 13 iii) EXITUS TEMPLUM

Unleashed.”

“CONGREGATION RISE!! MOSS HERALD THE COMING OF THE NEW DARK AGE.”

MOSS features Olly Pearson (vocals), Dominic Finbow (guitars) and Chris Chantler (hammer horror).

Updated MOSS news and tour information will be made available via the Rise Above Records website: www.riseaboverecords.com, the MOSS web domain: www.myspace.com/cthonicrites and the ACTION! PR website: www.action-pr.com.


“Something far beyond the outer reaches of extreme doom…MOSS are opening previously locked doors to new worlds of sonic torture…WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE OF THE DOOM” – KERRANG!

“MOSS finds a way to slip into the subconscious, with an existence undeniable, yet never wholly available even as it slowly slips out of the speakers…for those ready and willing for music as destroyed nebula, as cancerous haze, search no more: Look therein.” – STYLUS

“Abject, miserable, mournful, agonized, anguished, tortured and tormented ultra mega doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom! Every time we hear from these crushing creeps they've pushed it even further into the deep dark damnable depths, forcing us to add more and more o's. That's right, it's the return of Moss, the UK's heaviest, slowest, sludgiest slow motion downtuned doom metal behemoth.” – AQUARIUS RECORDS

IN FLAMES GUEST ON SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO! SPECIAL “HARD FILES” AIR TIMES ANNOUNCED!

IN FLAMES’ Anders Fridén and Daniel Svensson paid a visit to the SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO studios on their recent NYC tour stop to chat with Sirius’ resident metal maniac Jose Mangin for a special one hour “Hard Files” special. The special SIRIUS IN FLAMES interview will air for the first time this week on Sirius’ “Hard Attack” (channel 27).

Check it:

IN FLAMES HARD FILES on Sirius’ HARD ATTACK // SIRIUS 27:

“This week Anders and Daniel from IN FLAMES share their thoughts on fans, some of their favorite bands, family life, Swedish gnomes, porn and good whiskey. Plus music from the latest IN FLAMES release A Sense of Purpose, and tracks from At The Gates, Dark Tranquility, Dio, Arch Enemy, Carcass, Megadeth and more!”
Air times (w/ repeats):

TONIGHT (June 5) @ 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM PT

Friday (June 6) @ 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PT

Saturday (June 7) @ 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM PT

Sunday (June 8) @ 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM PT

A special ACTION! thanks to Jose and everyone at Sirius Satellite Radio for rockin’ this out!