HYPNOS has modified its name to HYPNÖS and reports that former guitarist David M. will guest on the band's third CD Rabble Manifesto which is due this month and was again produced by Harris Johns. The band's new name signifies a change in musical direction...HUMAN MINCER entered V.R.S. Studio in Madrid in October and will issue an album called Devoured Flesh soon...Metal War Productions has cancelled the PENTACLE/BLOOD STORM split-10" following criticism of the label by two members of the latter band. The label is hoping to release a 7" by PENTACLE instead...Upcoming releases by the new Canadian label Sinister Sounds are albums by CONTAGION BLACK, GAUNTLET and MARTIAL BARRAGE...Upcoming releases on Autopsy Kitchen Records are SUPERCHRIST's Back & Black 12", PROFANATOR's Shit On The Cross 7" (featuring Antimo of DISGORGE) and CHEMIKILLER's Evil Speak. Elsewhere, SUPERCHRIST has issued a live CD called Heavy Metal Tonight through Bestial Onslaught Productions...Red Stream has two new releases. These are Italy's URSHURARK's Pandemonium Theory and REVENGE's Victory, Intolerance, Mastery CDs...Karmageddon Media has re-released MITHOTYN's back catalogue comprised of the In The Sign Of The Raven, King Of The Distant Forest and Gathered Around The Oaken Table releases...ADIMIRON has recruited Danilo Valentini as its new guitarist. Danilo was already a session member in the band for most of 2004. The band will record a video-clip for the song Cold Anxiety in February which will be included as a bonus on the band's second album...JUDGEMENT DAY has a new bassist. He is Bas van den Boogaard and has already helped the band out on its most recent Benelux mini-tour supporting DISMEMBER and CALLENISH CIRCLE. Furthermore, the band will enter the studio in March, 2005 to record a new album...Deadsun Records has a new website at http://deadsun.free.fr. The French label can be contacted at deadsunrecords@aol.com...Alien, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD's fourth Century Media album, has been slated for release on March 22, 2005. The band's first DVD For Those Aboot To Rock (Live At The Commodore) was released on Nov. 15th...According to Code666, NEGURA BUNGET has started recording its new album which is scheduled for a late March 2005 release. Entitled OM ('man' in Rumanian), the album is another concept, but this time dealing with purification. The label has also signed SCALD from Northern Ireland to a Licensing deal. The same label will release and promote the instrumental CD Vermiculatus which is planned for September, 2005. DIABOLICUM spent the summer of 2004 in studio recording its third album, Vengeance (The Matricide). Unfortunately the final result did not meet expectations and the act has decided to rerecord everything from scratch. In the meantime, they have composed new songs and will enter another studio in February, 2005. Finally, UK's THE AXIS OF PERDITION is finishing its new full-length album, Deleted Scenes From The Transition Hospital, which is scheduled for March, 2005 on Code666...Metal Blade Records has signed a deal with the upstate New York metal band THE RED DEATH. Having previously released a six-song EP with Crooked Halo Records, this will be the band's first full-length album and is due to hit stores in the Spring/Summer of 2005. The band has just finished recording its album...Candlelight Records has confirmed February, 8th as the US release date for the new album for ENSLAVED. Titled Isa, the US pressing is set to contain bonus material not featured on the current European release...Some upcoming releases on The End Records are EPOCH OF UNLIGHT's The Continuum Hypothesis, FRANTIC BLEEP's The Sense Apparatus, GREEN CARNATION's The Quiet Offspring, LILITU's The Delores Lesion, NOVEMBERS DOOM's The Pale Haunt Departure, OATHEAN's (from South Korea) Fading Away Into The Grave Of Nothingness, an album by UNEXPECT and ULVER's Blood Inside...Brazil's TORTURE SQUAD has a new album called Death, Chaos And Torture Alive...After a string of bootleg products, Meyhna'ch the only member of MÜTIILATION has decided to give all the rights of the works (old and new) to Ordealis Records for a 2005 release as a set. These works were originally released on Drakkar Productions, but are now deleted...UNHOLY GHOST has teamed up with COUNCIL OF THE FALLEN for the Reigning Florida Tour this month...New Jersey's KNIFE THE GLITTER has recently signed with Venge Records. The band will be releasing an EP in early 2005...MALEVOLENT CREATION has organized a major European tour for March and April...Profound Lore Records has announced a vinyl release of the classic DIABOLICAL MASQUERADE debut album, Ravendusk In My Heart. The label has also signed Canada's DEAD OF WINTER...WINGED SERPENT MASTER has three new songs from its second album Serpent Sigil on its website www.purevolume.com/wingedserpentmaster. WINGED SERPENT MASTER is 21-year-old Adhab Al-Farhan (a k a Lord Nefarious) and is based in Virginia...The third PANDEMIA album, named Riven, is complete. The band has secured various South American licensees...THORNAFIRE's Exacerbated Gnostic Manifestation will be released by Ibex Moon Records in March...Poserslaughter Records is re-releasing NECRONY's Pathological Performances from 2003, DEAD's You´ll Never know Pleasure... from 1995 and promises a surprise for 2005...Austria's DEMOLITION has a new demo out called Existence...KLANG has lost drummer Mickael, but expects to forge ahead with the recording for its debut this summer. The band has made its MCD available for download at klang.music.free.fr...On December 9th SUNN O))) recorded its first Peel Session, posthumously of Peel. The music was commissioned by Peel before his passing. The track is available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/johnpeel and the band expects to have it on CD at some point...Earache Records has several releases planned for the next few months. These are the reissue of AKERCOCKE's Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene, SOCIETY 1's The Sound That Ends Creation, BLOOD RED THRONE's Altered Genesis and WITH PASSION's In The Midst Of Bloodied Soil plus releases from England's Codebreaker Records...CLANDESTINE BLAZE's Deliverers of Faith six-song CD is out on Northern Heritage Records...SODOM has been confirmed to perform at next year's Minneapolis Mayhem 2 Metalfest on May 7th, 2005. The band is also issuing a DVD this March...Restless Records is issuing a DEATH ANGEL CD/video box featuring the band's The Ultra-Violence, Frolic Through The Park and some unreleased material February 1st, 2005. The package is called Archives & Artifacts...NASUM's Mieszko Talarczyk is among the approximately 1,500 Swedes missing in Thailand following the recent tsunami...BELPHEGOR has picked The Goatreich - Fleshcult as the title for its next album. Expect it in February though Napalm Records...PSYCHOTRON has completed recording its third CD Pray For Salvation and will have it out this spring...ARCH NEMESIS has followed up the release of the Of Mind And Fantasy album with the addition of guitarists Lars Solbakken and Espen Carlsen...Nepherex Records will release the debut album by black metal band MORRIGU. Blood Shall Be Spilled will feature twelve tracks...EXTOL's fourth full-length album Blueprint will be out in March through Century Media and will be the band's first with guitarists Tor Glidje and Ole Halvard Sveen both formerly from LENGSEL and GANGLION)...WITHERING SURFACE has thrown in the towel...OVERKILL has chosen Relix IV as the title for the new album. It is expected in April through Regain Records in Europe...Former THE CROWN singer Johan Lindstrand has a new project called ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTET. He is currently the act's sole member...FIGHT might release a live DVD culled from shows performed in 1993...WITHIN Y and guitarist Niklas Almen have parted ways...Death metal band CRYPTIC has a new album called Once Holy Realm on Dark Horizon...The recent SATYRICON tour of North America was cut in half when two of the band members were accused of rape during the Toronto stop...DISBELIEF and guitarist Jan-Dirk Löffler have gone their separate ways. He is temporarily replaced by a Tommy Fritsch. The band's 66 Sick album is sue in May through Nuclear Blast Records...A Kris Verwimp retrospective book is due to be released soon. The book, entitled The Seventh Serpent, is limited to 400 copies and offers an overview of the man's best work from the past ten years. Head to home.tiscali.be/krisverwimp/welcome.htm...SOULGRIND will include a bonus DVD with its upcoming album, The Origins Of The Paganblood, due on January 24th, 2005 through Holy Records.


Metallian Hard