Old News / Tours February 1999


Old News / Tours - February 1999 - Back
February 27th, 1999	Lastnight at the ICED EARTH, JAG PANZER and THE QUIET ROOM concert I found out some information about these bands: ICED EARTH's recording of their live album went great. The live album will be released during the summer on 2 CDs and may possibly be close to 3 hours of music. They will also be doing another US tour in April, dates will be posted when I receive them. JAG PANZER will also try to get another US tour going by the end of the year. THE QUIET ROOM will be releasing their new album I believe in August if I remember correctly.

February 26th, 1999	KATATONIA has just entered the studio without a rhythm section, vocalist Jonas Renkse will play drums while Anders Nystrom and Fredrik Norrman will each handle a portion of the bass parts. Metal Update

February 24th, 1999	Under strict orders from Ozzy's doctors the final four shows of the Black Sabbath 1999 Reunion Tour have been postponed. The rescheduled dates have yet to be confirmed but they will take place sometime in May or June. As soon as the dates are finalized we will post them on this site. Thank you all for your understanding and well-wishing. -Black Sabbath Management The following shows will be rescheduled: Denver (2-21), Salt Lake (2-22), Peoria (2-25), & Ames (2-26). Black Sabbath

February 22nd, 1999	MTV News reported recently that OZZY OSBOURNE plans to head into the studio with COAL CHAMBER in the coming weeks to lend his vocals to their cover of the Peter Gabriel tune 'Shock The Monkey'. "He's getting ready to come in after they (Black Sabbath) get off touring and do his vocals. I can't believe it," Coal Chamber frontman Dez Fafara stated in the studio working on Chamber Music. "If you listen to the original track, it sounds like Ozzy. Peter Gabriel and Ozzy sound the same. They have that high range thing, so we were like, 'Let's have Ozzy come in,' and then we heard he was a big Peter Gabriel fan. It just came together. It was killer." Hard Radio SEVENDUST are gearing up to enter the studio and record the follow-up up to their debut record. Recording is set to begin at the end of March at Longview Studios in Boston, Massachusetts with ace producer Toby Wright signing on to co-produce. Once the Long View sessions are completed, Andy Wallace will mix the album at SoundTrax Studios in New York City. With help from the band's constant touring schedule their album is quickly nearing gold status. In the past year alone, Sevendust performed an astounding 340 dates including a spot on the mainstage at OZZFEST. The presently untitled record is tentatively scheduled for a Summer 1999 release. Hard Radio

February 21st, 1999	"Grotesque Blessings" is the name of the new BROKEN HOPE album... recording for the album will take place in Quali-Tone Studios with Brian Griffin producing. The scheduled start date is in 2 weeks. Expect a June release followed by a US tour. There is a rumor going around that VISION OF DISORDER and MADBALL have been dropped from Roadrunner Records. If anyone knows if this is true, please let me know. Machine Head

February 20th, 1999	PANTERA bassist Rex has now joined DOWN. Hard Radio The DEFTONES were on the receiving end of a rather unkind "gift" on Valentine's Day -- as the touring truck containing all the band's gear and instruments was stolen Sunday morning from a hotel parking lot in Dearborn, Michigan. The band was supposed to wrap up its opening stint on Black Sabbath's Reunion tour with a pair of shows in Detroit's, but the Deftones were forced to cancel its appearance at the first show because of the "technical" difficulties. With the help of Pantera and Black Sabbath, the Deftones were able to amass enough musical equipment to play the second Detroit show, but have now opted to bow out of the last week of the Sabbath tour. "Ozzy was great," vocalist Chino Moreno said in a statement regarding the theft, "he came into our dressing room Monday night and told us, 'Anything that I can do, just let me know.'" The Deftones are offering a reward for information leading to the recovery of the truck and its gear, and anyone who may have witnessed what happened are asked to contact the band at deftones@maverickrc.com or 323.937.1931. MTV

February 19th, 1999	Its official! Meshuggah will be doing their first U.S. tour in March in support of SLAYER! Tour dates will be posted soon! The rumors of STUCK MOJO's premature break-up have been halted by the band's recent slew of touring all over the southeast the past month. And while bass player Corey Lowery may have decided to leave the band in favor of Life Of Agony, the show must go on and dates are booked throughout March. Dan Dryden is the name of the new bass player who is currently filling in for the guys on the road. A live album is being recorded on these recent dates and is expected for a late summer release. Century Media Not able to wait until the official release of their crushing new album, Disembody: The New Flesh (Feb. 23), SKINLAB have already jetted off for a 6 week European tour supporting Entombed. The last date of that tour is April 2nd and 4 days later they will begin a US run of dates with Napalm Death across the US for a month concluding at the Metal and Hardcore Festival in Worcester, Massachusetts the first weekend of May. The limited-edition EP Eyesore is now sold-out, if you find a copy be sure to pick it up as it’s already becoming a rare collector’s item. Century Media OPETH have been writing new material, which they say is going great and they are very satisfied so far. According to Opeth the new stuff is along the lines of a mellower Morningrise to a heavier My Arms, Your Hearse with “fever sick blistering” leads as part of many riffs. Imagine the most mellow music you’ve heard, and then the most insane, yet controlled outburst in the metal pattern. Some song titles are (these are not 100% yet): “Serenity Painted Death”, “Face Of Melinda” and “Absinthe”. The band will head into Gothenburg’s Studio Fredman April 15th. Century Media KATATONIA has just entered Sunlight Studios this week to record their fourth full-length, entitled Tonight’s Decision. They are following the sound crafted on last year’s depressingly dark classic Discouraged Ones, although focusing more on each aspect of the writing. The group says the music will still be heavy, dark and bitter with a few more leads and a lot more variation. The band are once again without a rhythm section. For the record, vocalist Jonas Renkse will handle drums once again while Anders Nystrom and Fredrik Norrman will be sharing bass duties. The band plans on filling these two spots by the onset of the Summer European festivals. Century Media For those that have heard advances of the new EMPEROR album, IX Equilibrium, the reaction has been amazing! And rightfully so as the group have taken their trademark sound up a notch having crafted their finest songs to date all aided by a powerful production and clear mix. The album will be released April 27th. Emperor will head out on the European No Mercy Festival tour with Morbid Angel, Absu, The Crown, Limbonic Art, and Peccatum that same month. A US tour is being discussed for the summer. Last, but not least, March 9th marks the date Emperor’s classic first recording Wrath Of The Tyrants will officially be issued on CD, as well as their last two efforts, Into The Nightside Eclipse and Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk, revamped with bonus tracks. Century Media

February 18th, 1999	Path To Enchantment Records are trying to sign NOCTURNUS for a full-length release scheduled for summer 99 more news concerning Nocturnus will follow soon. PTE Records At the moment MY DYING BRIDE are in the process of writing for a new album. Plans are to start recording, for 2 months, at Academy Studios on June 7th. According to the band the new album will be a lot darker and "more like MY DYING BRIDE of old". Since the band wants to concentrate fully on this album, plans for a tour have been put on ice for now. My Dying Bride

February 17th, 1999	ICED EARTH have recorded their live album in Athens, Greece on January 23rd and 24th. Both shows were completely sold out! At the same time, video footage was recorded for a long-form ICED EARTH home video! Century Media OLD MAN'S CHILD band leader Galder has decided to take a little bit of time off before heading back into the studio. The guitarist/vocalist is currently writing material and seeking some new band members. OLD MAN'S CHILD intend to record by June of '99. Century Media ROTTING CHRIST are set to release their next album, The Sleep Of Angels, in the US in March. Once again produced by Samael's Xy, the track listing is: "Cold Colours", "After Dark I Feel", "Victoriatus", "Der Perfekte Traum", "You My Flesh", "The Word Made End", "Sleep The Sleep Of Angels", "Delusions", "Imaginary Zone" and "Thine Is The Kingdom". Century Media After much delay, it's finally time for the Swiss gods, SAMAEL, to prepare a new masterstroke in their career! This time around, the band will be recording in their home country of Switzerland instead of their traditional recording spot, Woodhouse Studios. Look for a Summer '99 release. Century Media The new line-up in ANCIENT consist of the following: APHAZEL: Guitars, Vocals DEADLY KRISTIN: Female vocals & Seductive Black Arts SCORPIOS: Bass KRIGSE: Drums JESUS CHRIST!: Infernal Keyboards and Blasphemy . The band is now based "in The Alps" in Europe. More European shows with the new line-up will take place the next months. The band will record the new album with the title "The Halls Of Eternity" in March. The album will contain 13 tracks, most of the music is written by Aphazel as usual, lyrics are written by Aphazel, Deadly Kristin, Thorne and Scorpios. Some song titles are "Born In Flames", "The Heritage" and "The Halls Of Eternity". The band has also recorded covers for tribute albums to Mayhem and King Diamond that will be released later this year. Furthermore, Hammerheart Records will re-release the "Trolltaar" mini-album with a couple of previously unreleased bonus tracks, in April. The band is planning to produce a video for the new album in May, and possibly go out on a festival tour this summer. More info. will follow shortly.....

February 11th, 1999	CRADLE OF FILTH's drummer Nicholas Barker will be leaving the band to be replaced with former Blood Divine and December Moon skin-basher Was Sarginson

February 10th, 1999	IRON MAIDEN Official Press Release: BRUCE DICKINSON AND ADRIAN SMITH ARE BACK!! The new line-up is Dave Murray (Guitar), Janick Gers (Guitar), Nicko McBrain (Drums), Bruce Dickinson (Vocals), Steve Harris (Bass), and Adrian Smith (Guitar). This will be the first time Maiden have had a three guitar onslaught on stage. Tour dates in USA/Europe currently being lined up for July/August/September. New studio album to be recorded at the end of this year. Full World Tour in 2000. For more info go to www.ironmaiden.com I recently got an e-mail from James Murphy of TESTAMENT and he told me that the drums and Bass are finished. Eric just started his guitar parts and he'll do his guitar parts in a week or so. It should be out around June 1st. If you didn't know by now, AMORPHIS will make their first U.S. appearance in over 5 years at the March Metal Meltdown. But what you probably didn't know is a U.S. tour will happen sometime this year.

February 8th, 1999	Bret Michaels of POISON told Metal Edge recently that he was looking forward to the summer tour. "We're definitely doing it, we're stoked, and we're getting along great," he said, mentioning RATT, DOKKEN, GREAT WHITE, and SLAUGHTER as likely tour participants. The tour looks to begin on Memorial Day in the U.S. Check out www.bretmichaels.com for more information. hardradio

February 7th, 1999	Yes its true, the first six new ANATHEMA songs have been recorded during a 3 day demo session at Parr Street studios in Liverpool. This is to keep on track with the album schedule with the release date of May '99. The now solid line-up will enter a studio in northern Italy (Damage Inc. studios, Ventimiglia), again with Kit Woolven at the producing and engineering helm, in early February. This is what Vincent had to say about the album: "All I can say at this point is that its very ANATHEMA. There are a lot of ideas coming from everyone and the only problem we have is finishing it all in time for the studio. There seems to be so much variation in the songs too, some are very heavy and quite angry, others are beautiful ambient pieces. I don't think the album will be a short one, that's for sure." Anathema CRADLE OF FILTH have announced that they have parted company with long-standing drummer Nicholas Barker. The split happened on Wednesday, January 27th, 1999 in the evening, and is a completely amicable parting of ways. Nicholas has decided to pursue his other interests, which he will announce at a later date. Nicholas Barker is the only member of CRADLE OF FILTH who has so far been arrested for wearing his own bands' T-shirt. CRADLE OF FILTH will shortly be going into the studio to record the debut track from their forthcoming album, the follow up to the highly acclaimed "Cruelty & The Beast", with drummer Was Sarginson formerly of the BLOOD DIVINE and DECEMBER MOON, a project that he worked on with Rob of CRADLE OF FILTH. He has known the band for years and is another local resident of the infamous witch-hungint area of Suffolk. Finally there are some official news on TIAMAT's new album taken from Century Media: "TIAMAT have already laid down some new tracks at Woodhouse Studios in November, and will be recording there on and off throughout the Winter. The new album is tentatively titled Children Of The Underworld, and early reports suggest it is much heavier than their last release. Meanwhile, guitarist Thomas Petersson is no longer in the band; no word yet on a replacement." MAD SEASON bassist John Baker Saunders died last week of an apparent drug overdose. Mad Season was the one-time side project of ALICE IN CHAINS singer Layne Staley, Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin, and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. Ironically, Mad Season actually came together when most of the members met each other in rehab. TONY IOMMI of BLACK SABBATH is headed for the studio in March to finish his solo album.

February 5th, 1999	DEFTONES bassist Chi Cheng has been forced to sit out the rest of the BLACK SABBATH/PANTERA tour due to surgery on his left foot. QUICKSAND's Sergio Vega will filling in for him for the remainder of the tour. According to reports, KMFDM is dead. Sascha Konietzko recently issued a media blackout until March 1st which happens to be the bands 15th anniversary. Their forthcoming album is entitled Adios, so anything is possible. KORN's Jonathan Davis, METHOD MAN, EMINEM and STONE TEMPLE PILOT's Scott Weiland will make guest appearances on the upcoming LIMP BIZKIT album due out in April. The band plans to hit the road come springtime with STAND. FATES WARNING drummer Mark Zonde and guitarist Eric Zimmermann are in the pre-production stages of recording and are currently looking for a vocalist "open to all styles, shapes and sizess."

February 2nd, 1999	CHRISTIAN DEATH, whose former singer Rozz committed suicide last year, can confirm that they have signed a deal with Candlelight, and will release their first album for their new label in the near future. Candlelight will also re-issue Enslaved's 'Hordanes Land' in February. Terrorizer Another Press Release for MARCH METAL MAYHEM was released MARCH METAL MELTDOWN HEADLINERS AND MORE BANDS ANNOUNCED ASBURY PARK, N.J. - Dimmu Borgir and Sepultura have been announced as the headliners of March Metal Meltdown, the East Coast's premiere heavy metal festival, on March 12 and 13, respectively. The festival will feature 70 bands on two stages at the Paramount Theater and Convention Hall, which are adjacent to each other on the boardwalk of Asbury Park. The show kicks off on Friday, March 12 at 4 p.m., with Amorphis, Hypocrisy, Iced Earth, Hatebreed, Madball, and 22 others. Saturday's event starts at 11 a.m., and will feature Biohazard, Meshuggah, Vader, Enslaved, Grim Reaper, Gorguts, Blitzkrieg, Whiplash, Anvil, Sweet Savage, Bloodfeast, Napalm Death, and 30 others. Relapse Records will host a stage on both days. From 5-7 p.m. on Friday and 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Soilent Green, Mortician, Incantation, Morgion, Exhumed, Dillenger Escape Plan, and Benumb will appear on the Relapse stage. Other bands featured on the March Metal Meltdown bill include: Spineshank, Puya, One Minute Hero, Stretcher, Dead By Morning, Evilution, Divine Empire, Cryptopsy, Dying Breed, Iron Monkey, Candiria, Infusion, Slaughter House, Vicious Rumors, Obliviaxe, Myself Am Hell, October Thorns, Shango, Wykked Witch, Solus, Balistik Kick, Disarray, The Step Kings, In Ruins, Dirty Brown Eye, Monster X, Grim Reality, Long Winter's Stare, Corrupture, Vindiction, Garden of Shadows, Somnus, Impaler, and more. Adult film star Jasmine St. Claire will MC the show, with additional adult film star appearances by Brittany O'Connell, Tera Heart, and Micky Lynn. Hardcore wrestling matches will take place in the Paramount Theater on Friday, with pro wrestling superstars from the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The event will also feature exhibition booths, grab bags, autographs signings, and food courts. Tickets are $30 for one day and $50 for a two-day pass, and will be available through TicketMaster (201) 507-8900, (609) 520-8383, (212) 307-7171, www.ticketmaster.com; Relapse Records (800) 303-0606, www.relapse.com; and select ticket outlets in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The show is all ages. Bands and exhibitors interested in being a part of the event should contact: Jack Koshick Presents, 1626 N. Prospect Avenue, Suite 1801, Milwaukee, Wis. 53202 Tel: (414) 225-9026 Fax: (414) 225-9025 or Don Decker at Nightfall Records Tel: (612) 724-8166. Additional news and hotel information can be obtained from www.metalfest.com, March Metal Meltdown, or www.relapse.com. For more information, please contact: Michael Mazur, Debbie Sellnow or David Peck at Mazur Public Relations Tel: (609) 426-1277 Fax: (609) 426-1217 E-mail: MazurPR@aol.com Website: www.mazurpr.com

February 1st, 1999	The band CONTROL DENIED goes into Morrisound in March with producer Jim Morris. They are currently in rehearsal in guitarist Chuck Schuldiner's newly built home studio. SEPULTURA has been added as a headliner for MARCH METAL MELTDOWN, and SPINESHANK will be there as well.