Timo Tolkki Posts Symfonia Album Update

Timo Tolkki, guitarist for the Hamburg, Germany-based power metal super group Symfonia, recently posted an online update regarding the recording of the band's debut album:

"Me and André [Matos, vocals] have been here in the middle of a Swedish forest for a week recording vocals.

"We rented a cabin which is at a top of a hill with an amazing view.

"If the drumming studio was in the middle of nowhere, then this one is in the middle of that nowhere.

"Things are going smooth; we got a great vocal sound.

"Had to put some blankets on the wall to treat the place acoustically a bit.

"The cabin is slightly haunted; the owner told us that a man named Hans died here 80 years ago and can sometimes be seen around. So far we haven't seen him." (Read More)

Black Mass Organizer Interviewed About Festival Cancellation

The cancellation of the Sydney's Black Mass Festival, due to be held last November, turned into one of the biggest stories in the local metal scene in 2010. Metal Obsession caught up with organizer Seance Records to clear up exactly what happened.

METAL OBSESSION: First things first, what aspects of the Black Mass festival were the actual cause of the initial complaints?

SEANCE RECORDS: Predominantly the name Black Mass was an issue to these people who viewed it as being anti Christian, discriminatory & in their words promoting hate against Catholics due to the act of the Black Mass being the inversion of the traditional Catholic Mass. Yet they failed to understand or indeed ignored the fact that this was not an actual black mass or religious rite or act at all but only a music festival featuring Black Metal bands.

They also found issue with ALL associated artwork, the written press release and ALL bands performing (in other words everything). They scoured the web for information on the event and performers and commandeered artwork posted to private forums to spread amongst their peers and heighten their 'outrage.' They took all press releases out of context claiming that it was a gathering of Satanists who were assembling in Sydney to actually cast evil spells on the city in order to promote "evil and anarchy." They additionally made claims of animal sacrifice and other utterly ridiculous stereo types & misconceptions that should have gone the way of the dinosaur by 2010. (Read More)

(Poster for ArmageddoN Festival - the Black Mass Festival replacement event.)

Apocalyptica Sued By Rammstein

Apocalyptica has experienced a couple legal hurdles recently. First, The Regional Court of Berlin has convicted Apocalyptica for trademark infringement against Rammstein. The Finnish cello metallers face a fine of 45,000 Euro. The Finnish band was sued over the album's release being promoted on stickers, magazines and posters with the words "featuring Rammstein" without the authorization of the band and their management, despite the appearance of Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann and guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe on the track "Helden" (a David Bowie cover of "Heroes"). (Read More)

Destruction Announces North American Tour Dates

German thrash metal legends Destruction recently announced that they will be heading to North America in April 2011 for a headlining tour in support of their latest album, Day of Reckoning. Supporting them on their trek will be Deströyer 666. Speaking with regards to the upcoming tour, Destruction front man Schmier said:

"It feels fantastic to return to North American shores for the first time after our return to Nuclear Blast with a new album as brutal as Day Of Reckoning on our backs. This is the strongest material we have written since [2001's] The Antichrist and we are burning to present these shredding songs and introduce our new 6.6 foot tall drum animal VAAVER live!" (Read More)

Sepultura Posts New Year Update

Brazilian thrash metal legends Sepultura recently posted a new online message which details some of their plans for 2011. The posting reads as follows:

"Hello Sepultura fans! Happy New Year!

"This is going to be one busy year for the band. Next week the guys fly to USA to visit NAMM and to play a couple shows in California. Special-limited-edition-supercool-exclusive-tshirts on sale on both shows.

"Then, we fly back to Brazil to start recording the new album on January 20th at Trama Studios in São Paulo." (Read More)

Glen Drover Unveils Solo Band

Former Megadeth/King Diamond guitarist Glen Drover recently completed work on his debut solo album, Metalusion. The album will see an early 2011 release via Magna Carta Records. Drover has also put together a solo band consisting of the following musicians:

Glen Drover - Guitar
Paul Yee - Bass
Jim Gilmour - Keyboards
Chris Sutherland - Drums

On his newly launched official Facebook page, Drover stated:

"In December of 2007, I made one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in my life, which was to leave the band Megadeth - a band that I had worked very hard with and helped bring back from the dead. Although I am very happy about what we accomplished in the four-year period I was in the band, things had changed quite a bit towards the end of my time with Megadeth, and not necessarily for the better for me, so I handed in my resignation, so to speak.

"Shortly after a nice long break, I decided to start recording again, but wanted to try something different, which was to form a band and play all instrumental music - a task that would not be easy and would become something very challenging and fun, of course! A combination of metal, harder edge jazz fusion and prog. I contacted Chris Sutherland and shared this idea with him and he was very excited about this possibility. At that point, he recommended a friend of his to play bass, Paul Yee, and also recommended Jim Gilmour from the prog rock band Saga, which Chris had played with for a short while." (Read More)

Testament Confirm Second Show for 70000 Tons of Metal

Testament are set to play two unique shows on board the 70000 Tons of Metal heavy metal cruise. The band has revealed that they will play The Legacy album in its entirety for their first show and the second show will feature a complete performance of The New Order album.

The heavy metal cruise is scheduled to set sail on Monday, January 24, 2011, aboard the Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas. The ship will disembark at Miami, Florida and head to Cozumel, Mexico, reaching final port on January 28. (Read More)