ARTILLERY Announce NEW Drummer!

Danish Metallers ARTILLERY have announced that they have recruited drummer Josua Madsen to replace founding member Carsten Nielsen, who quit the band this past April "for personal reasons." Madsen previously played drums in CONSUMED (the Houston, Texas-based progressive death act). This is what the band had to say about this:

"Josua has been living the last couple of years in the U.S. playing with different bands. Last Danish band was CLUB HELL. We are looking forward to go on the road with Josua, his first gig will be at Headbangers Open Air in Hamburg, Germany: Thanx to former drummer Carsten for the 30 years of thrashing!"

This past May, ARTILLERY performed in New York and at the Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore. They also performed in Argentina, Chile and Brazil. At the end of the year, ARTILLERY will be part of the "Barge To Hell" cruise ship that will go from Miami, Florida to the Bahamas.

ARTILLERY's sixth album, 'My Blood', was released in Europe on March 21, 2011. 14 songs were laid down during the sessions at Medley Studios in Copenhagen — 10 brand NEW tracks, a remake of "Ain't Giving In" (from 1992's "Mind Factory" demo) and three bonus tracks which are all NEW versions of timeless classics from the 1985 album 'Fear Of Tomorrow' ("The Eternal War", "The Almighty" and "Show Your Hate"). The cover artwork was created by well-known Polish graphic designer Graal, who has previously worked with VITAL REMANS, SINISTER, SOLITUDE AETURNUS and BULLDOZER. Graal was also responsible for the covers of ARTILLERY's 'Through The Years' box and 'When Death Comes'.

Related links:
ARTILLERY's Official Site

BORKNAGAR Announce NEW Super Young Drummer; Upcoming Album 'Urdu' Available Now For Pre-order!

In the wake of the release of their upcoming album, 'Urd', on March 26th in Europe and in North America, Norwegian avant-garde Metallers BORKNAGAR have announced a NEW drummer for the band's line-up. The exceptionally talented youngster Baard Kolstad is now joining BORKNAGAR as their drummer, and he will perform his first show together with the band at this year's Inferno Festival during April 4th-7th in Oslo, Norway. Kolstad's extreme drum abilities have been proven through several YouTube clips, TV-appearances in Norway-- and just recently, he won the world championship in V- Drums in Los Angeles.

In regards to Kolstad joining the band, BORKNAGAR's mastermind Øystein G. Brun comments: "First and foremost I would like to welcome Baard into the fold, may our journey ahead become a joy able ride. We are all very excited about Baard teaming up with the band. He has proven to be an immensely talented drummer with skills and a technique that is simply breathtaking. Our first encounter was late last year when he stepped in and recorded drums for ICS VORTEX's cover version of METALLICA's song 'Don't Tread On Me'. Since then we have kept an eye on him. When we spilt with David Kinkade a bit later on, the road ahead was obvious. We are all very much looking forward to pull off the very first gigs..."

Kolstad adds : "I'm really happy for this opportunity and the fact that I have earned the respect to play with BORKNAGAR. Really looking forward to the musical adventure that the future holds and will do my best to deal with the challenge in the most respectful and creative way. Now, I just want to play!"

"Roots", BORKNAGAR's first single off their much anticipated NEW studio album, 'Urd', can be heard at the link below, thanks to Decibel Magazine.com. The album's artwork was designed by Brazilian artist Marcelo Vasco from P2RDESIGN.com, who has not only already worked on the band's previous Universal release, but also with artists such as SOULFLY, BELPHEGOR, EINHERJER, and KEEP OF KALESSIN. Jens Bogren handled mixing duties for Urd at Sweden's Fascination Street Studios (OPETH, PARADISE LOST, KATATONIA), and the track-listing for the album is below.

1. Epochalypse
2. Roots
3. The Beauty Of Dead Cities
4. The Earthling
5. The Plains Of Memories
6. Mount Regency
7. Frostrite
8. The Winter Eclipse
9. In A Deeper World

BORKNAGAR is:

- Øystein G. Brun: Clean & Electric Guitars (Cronian, ex-Molested)
- Vintersorg: Grim Vocals, Clean Vocals & Choirs (Vintersorg, Fission)
- Lars A. Nedland: Keys, Clean Vocals & Choirs (Solefald, ex-Carpathian Forest)
- Jens F. Ryland: Lead Guitars (ICS Vortex)
- ICS Vortex: Bass, Clean Vocals & Choirs (ex-Dimmu Burgir, Arcturus, ICS Vortex
- Baard Kolstad: Drums

- Drums and percussion on 'Urd' were performed by David Kinkade (Soulfly, ex-Malevolent Creation)

BORKNAGAR Live 2012:

- 4/4-7: Oslo (Norway) - Inferno Festival
- 4/13-14 - Lichtenfels (Germany) - Ragnarök Festival

Related links:
Click here to listen to Borknagar's "Roots"
Official Site of Borknagar
Borknagar on MySpace
Borknagar on Facebook
Century Media Records
Inferno Festival

Sepultura Announces Line-up Change As They Prepare For A European Tour!

Brazil’s triumphant Heavy Metal export, Sepultura, has announced the addition of drummer, Eloy Casagrande, to its arsenal of world-class musicians, replacing Jean Dolabella as the band’s full-time percussionist.

The 20-year-old drum prodigy from Sao Paulo, Brazil, who won the Modern Drummer Undiscovered Drummer Contest as a teenager in 2006, is more than eager to begin his career with the veteran Metal icon.

“When I got the invitation to join Sepultura, I was in shock,” said Casagrande. “I'm a fan of the band for years; it'll be an honor to play with them.”

Commented guitarist, Andreas Kisser, “I'm sure Eloy will do a great job with Sepultura. He's already a musician who shows a lot of strength and technique, although he's young. We did a rehearsal with him and it was fantastic; he played the old and new material as if he was in the band for a long time. Sepultura will show the world another Brazilian talent on the drums.”

Dolabella, who leaves Sepultura after a five-year run of relentless touring and two studio albums, will depart to focus on personal projects. “The period we spent with Jean in the band was very positive,” added Kisser. “We’ve recorded two great albums together and did a lot of concerts which will be in Sepultura's history. We only have reasons to thank him for his contribution and energy all these years.”

Sepultura is currently home in Brazil preparing for a European run with Exodus and Destruction, which will kick off later this month. The band is touring in support of its 12th studio album, and Nuclear Blast Records debut, "Kairos", which hit stores in July.

European Tour with Exodus and Destruction:

- Nov 25: Stadthalle in Lichtenfels, Germany
- Nov 26: Schaaf in Leeuwarden, Netherlands
- Nov 27: Bataclan in Paris, France
- Nov 28: Meier Music Hall in Braunschweig, Germany
- Nov 29: Backstage in Munich, Germany
- Nov 30: Garage in Saarbrücken, Germany
- Dec 01: Kd Vltavska in Prague, Czech Republic
- Dec 02: Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen, Germany
- Dec 03: Hessenhallen in Giessen, Germany
- Dec 04: Trix in Antwerp, Belgium
- Dec 05: Markthalle in Hamburg, Germany
- Dec 06: Trädgår'n in Heden, Sweden
- Dec 07: Vox Hall in Arhus, Denmark
- Dec 08: C-Club in Berlin, Germany
- Dec 09: Mega Club in Katowice, Poland
- Dec 10: Hellraiser in Leipzig, Germany
- Dec 11: Majestic in Bratislava, Slovakia
- Dec 12: Boogaloo in Zagreb, Croatia
- Dec 13: Kino Siska in Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Dec 14: Estragon in Bologna, Italy
- Dec 15: Z-7 in Pratteln, Switzerland
- Dec 16: Effenaar Main in Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Dec 17: LKA in Stuttgart, Germany
- Dec 18: Arena in Vienna, Austria



Related links:
Sepultura on Facebook
Sepultura on YouTube
Sepultura on Twitter
Sepultura on MySpace
Nuclear Blast

Black Label Society Recruit Johnny Kelly

Black Label Society has asked former Type O Negative drummer Johnny Kelly to join the band on their current European tour. After working with Will Hunt from Evanescence on their latest album titled "Order Of The Black", who also went on tour with the band, Kelly was asked to sit behind the throne on the current Black Label Society tour.

It was always made clear by Hunt that he was not a permanent member: "In the beginning, all I agreed on was that I would do the record, because I thought at this point, I would be busy with Evanescence. But my singer Amy [Lee] decided to really take the time to make the new record as good as possible. So when the option became available for me to tour with Black Label, I jumped at it."

Kelly will make his live debut tonight in Paris, France at "La Cigale". With the experience that he has, the next few tours be a lot of fun for Black Label Society. Here are some facts about Black Label's new drummer Johnny Kelly:

- Kelly was born on March 9, 1968 and was a vital part of Type O Negative when he replaced Sal Abruscato (Life Of Agony & A Pale Horse Named Death) in 1994.

- He is the current drummer for Danzig and is one of the founders of Seventh Void, were he also plays drums.

- Johnny also plays drums in a Led Zeppelin tribute band called Earl's Court.

- Before stepping in as drummer for Type O Negative he was the band's drum tech.





Related links:
Black Label Society
Type O Negative