Former XYSMA guitar player Toni Stranius (a.k.a. Minister Stranus), who played with the band from 1991 until 1998, reportedly passed away on July 7, 2006. He was 34 years old. No further details are currenty available.According to the All Music Guide, Finland’s enigmatic XYSMA were formed in the late ’80s by a colorfully named cast […]

Frontiers Records has announced the signing of Danish metal legends PRETTY MAIDS to a multi-album deal. The group’s long awaited follow-up to 2002’s “Planet Panic“, entitled “Wake Up to the Real World“, will be released in November.“Wake Up to the Real World” track listing:01. Wake up to the real world02. All in the Name of […]

Previously unseen footage of SLAYER in the studio recording their upcoming album, “Christ Illusion“, has been made available at the Warner Bros. web site: Quicktime Windows Media

Follow The Hollow of KickedInTheFace.com recently conducted an interview with DARK TRANQUILLITY guitarist Niklas Sundin. A few excerpts from the question-and-answer session follow:KickedInTheFace.com: How are things going for the new DARK TRANQUILLITY album?Niklas Sundin: “It’s going fine, thanks! We’re rehearsing like madmen and things are really starting to take shape now even if there still […]

Over 320 high-quality photos taken at the Metaltown festival on July 7, 2006 in Gothenburg, Sweden have been posted online at Metalnyheter.se. The following bands performed at the event:CRADLE OF FILTHDANKO JONESENGELENTER THE HUNTEVERGREYKHOMAMOTГ–RHEADOPETHSOILWORKSTONEGARDTHE HAUNTEDTOOL

Brian D’Souza, former guitarist/vocalist for the India-based death metal band DEMENTRA, has joined forces with old friend and “extremely talented” pianist/jazz player Jeremy Fonseca to record a re-arranged version of the DEF LEPPARD classic “Two Steps Behind“. Download an MP3 of the song at this location.

GWAR recently shot a video for “School’s Out” with acclaimed director Dave Brodsky (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, THE RED CHORD) at Paul Robeson High School in Brooklyn, NY. The video should be available shortly. Some photos of the making of the video are available below: Photo#1 Photo#2 В  Photo#3 Photo#4 If you wanna know what all […]

KING DIAMOND is featured on the soundtrack to the motion picture “Clerks II”, the 2006 sequel to Kevin Smith’s 1994 movie “Clerks”. The “Clerks II” soundtrack contains 11 music tracks (plus one bonus music track) from the movie, including two KING DIAMOND tracks ― “Welcome Home” and “The Invisible Guests” ― as well as 13 […]

According to Roadrunner Records Germany, NEGATIVE‘s new single, “Planet of the Sun“, has already been streamed more than 10,000 times from the band’s official MySpace page. The song comes off the Finnish hard/glam rock band’s upcoming third album, “Anorectic“, due in Europe on September 29.

BROTHER FIRETRIBE, the Finnish AOR/hard rock band featuring NIGHTWISH guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, filmed a video for their track “One Single Breath” on July 2 at Nosturi in Helsinki. Check out pictures from the shoot at this location. BROTHER FIRETRIBE‘s debut album is called “False Metal“.For audio samples, check out www.myspace.com/brotherfiretribe.