The multi-talented Snowy Shaw has a bit more of his new website online, including a new section for Notre Dame, a site for the band Them Sluts! and much more: http://www.snowyshaw.com/

There's not really anything there yet, but Snowy Shaw (Notre Dame, ex-Mercyful Fate, King Diamond) has finally opened up his new website: http://www.snowyshaw.com/

Notre Dame, the band fronted by Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Dream Evil, etc.), will release their new album "Demi Monde Bizarros" in February, not April as previously reported. The tracklist:

01. Munsters!
02. The Ride
03. The Stripper
04. My Ride Into Afterlife
05. Bon Voyage Mutherfucker
06. Hitmusic For Hitmen
07. Verbal Diarrhoea
08. Beyond The Threshold Of Pain
09. S/S Hellride
Bonus live tracks:
10. These Boots Are Made For Walking
11. The Wurld Is Sick

Dream Evil's next album will be called "The Book of Heavy Metal". In related news, Dream Evil drummer Snowy Shaw's other band Notre Dame has confirmed April 1 as the release date for their new opus "Demi Monde Bizarros".

The first list of bands confirmed for next year's Decibel Festival are Astral Doors, Count Raven, Draconian, Pain Of Salvation, Persuader, Tad Morose, Vintersorg, Ablaze My Sorrow, Arise, Morifade, Notre Dame and Wolf. The event takes place May 21-22 in Bengtsfors, Sweden. More info: http://www.mfdecibel.com/

Dream Evil, the Swedish power-metal supergroup featuring acclaimed producer Fredrik Nordström (from Studio Fredman, too many credits to list) and Snowy Shaw (Notre Dame, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, etc.), will be entering the studio on December 15 to begin work on their third album, tentatively due out in early 2004 on Century Media.

The new Notre Dame album will be called "Demi Monde Bizarros (songs about sex, satan and sado-masochism)" and it should be out in December or January.

Guitarist Jean-Pierre De Sade has rejoined Notre Dame. Frontman/mastermind Snowy Shaw says that they persuaded him to come back with "an offer he couldn't refuse." He says "fangs-a-bunch" to everyone who sent audition materials and says they'll hold onto it "in case the master of moodswings (Jean-Pierre) has second thoughts." Look for the new album sometime this fall.

Eric Gadd, Da Buzz and Kamera have been added to the Rockoff Festival in Mariehamn on July 18-26. More info: www.mariepark.com/rockoff

Check out this site to watch the new European version of "In the Shadows" from Finland's The Rasmus. And after twenty record-setting weeks on the MTV Nordic's UpNorth chart, they have decided the retire the single from further competition so as to give other acts more chance for exposure. In other news, the band was supposed to be supporting Evanescence on their upcoming German tourdates, but those shows have unfortunately been cancelled by the headliner. They still plan on going out and doing promotion in Hamburg and Berlin regardless.

Randy has posted a bunch of new pics from their recent European tour.

From thearkworld.com comes yet another live video. This is one is "Tell Me this Night is Over", live from Stockholm.

Ebbot hurt his back after drinking too much and failing to navigate some stairs so, under doctor's orders, he's had to cancel the scheduled Soundtrack of Our Lives show at Roskilde.

C.Aarmé just put up a couple videos on their homepage. They also report that they will be entering the studio on July 7 to record 'at least' 15 new songs.

Bear Quartet has put up an old mp3 of "Guilt Jazz/High Noon" from a live Luleå radio broadcast in 1995.

One more band has been added to the Uppsala Hardcore Fest: Parade. They'll play Tuesday at 18:00. See previous days news for more details.

Denmark's Ravonettes will appear on 'Late Night with David Letterman' this coming September 10. Obviously, the previously announced date in July will not be happening as planned. The band also will be supporting Beck at the Brixton Academy in London on August 21.

The band Dechas won the Emergenza demoband fest and they now get to play at the Taubertal festival in Germany this coming August. More on Dechas here. More on Taubertal here. Other bands playing the fest include The Cardigans and HIM.

The latest edition of the Brainwashed Brain reviews Ulver's "1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines", among other fine releases.

Kiss frontman Paul Stanley is working on a new solo album with Swedish songwriter Andreas Carlsson due out sometime early next year. Andreas' previous credits include working with artists such as Celine Dion, Def Leppard, Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, Bon Jovi and Britney Spears.

Here's an update from Borknagar drummer Asgeir Mickelson concerning the recording of their forthcoming album and other current activities, as posted on their message board:

"I've recorded all the acoustic drums. I still have to do some V-drums stuff on one of the two Lars-instrumentals (don't know what to do yet...), and I'll spend a couple of hours going through all the drum tracks fixing small errors (like when I hit the snare or a tom a little bit wrong I can replace it with a better take, or move the bassdrums if they're not dead on the snare). Lars has recorded all keyboards (very happy with the sounds!) and Hammond (different one than last time - even more organic sound), but still have to record the grand piano in Fagerborg studio. Andreas is doing all his vocals next week (starting tomorrow). Øystein recorded most of the rhythm tracks in April and will continue recording his endless amounts of guitars the same week as Andreas is doing the vocals. Tyr was supposed to record bass this week but had to postpone it to the second week in July due to not getting his new fretless bass in time."

"Other news is that we've chosen to release the album early next year. We have way too much material so we'll probably save some songs for a Japanese release or something else. We still haven't found a title for it, but it's decided that I will - as usual - do the cover design + this time shoot the band pictures (the problem with being in front and behind the camera at the same time is solved with a remote control and then some hours with Photoshop...). Other reasons for releasing the album next year is that we need more time to find and record "the snacks". We want it to be better produced - more sound effects, more intros/outros, whatever... We have found a possible session guitarist to replace Jens, but still need to learn him the songs before playing live. Looks like we will have to cancel the (only) two scheduled shows and come back stronger next year. Who knows, maybe it's worth the wait..."

Some of the bands confirmed for the upcoming 4th annual Norbergfestival for modern electronica which takes place in Norberg, Sweden on July 24-26: Pan Sonic (FIN), Philip Jeck (UK) & Jacob Kirkegaard (DK), Gert-Jan Prins (NL), Mikael Stavöstrand (S), Björn Svin (DK), Håkan Libdo (S), Karsten Pflum (DK), Bauri (S), and Wäldchengarten (DK). More info: www.norbergfestival.com

Via pHinnWeb, comes these pictures from a recent Pan Sonic show in Russia.

In what is being billed as a 'knight to remember', Sweden's power-metal superstars Dream Evil will be playing the Camden Underworld in London on September 27. Dream Evil features Studio Fredman owner/engineer Fredrik Nordström and ex-Mercyful Fate drummer/Notre Dame frontman Snowy Shaw and have two albums out. Fellow Swedes Falconer open, and as the press release says, "Prepare to do battle against false metaaaal with thy sword held on high!!!"

Okay, I know it's totally goofy, but I posted an mp3 excerpt of the new Weird Al track that parodies The Hives. Download it on the right.

Scandinavianleather.com has put up a Turbonegro trivia contest to compete for special limited edition copies of the new album.

JR Ewing has two new interviews online, one from sandiegopunk.com and another from punk/porn site burningangel.com. And as said before, there's also been another date added on the upcoming Turbonegro/Surferosa Norweigan stadium tour on May 30 in Fredrikstad. Tickets are going fast, so be sure to get yours if you want to attend.

The Cardigans have posted an interview that Magnus did with Amir, Henrik and Mattias, the three gentlemen behind the recent videos. In other news, the band has added a woman named Eva on as their temporary sixth member to play keyboard, guitar and sing back ups on the upcoming summer tour dates. "She is very nice, 163 tall, brunette, a little older than us, very experienced in the Swedish music scene. And she is good looking," they say.

Bergland Productions has announced that Cucumber Slumber (feat. Ståle Storløkken of Supersilent) has started work on a new record and should have it out sometime this coming fall. The band's last album "New Cumber" came out in 2001.

The Sounds will be on David Letterman tonight. Check local listings for airtime.

StillHoldingOn.net recently did an interview with Swedish hardcore act Misconduct. The band also confirmed a bunch of shows on their upcoming European tour with 25 Ta Life. Go here for the latest.

KVLR has posted a whole bunch of new pictures from their recent time in the studio. They recorded a total of four new songs for their next album and plan to do the rest after they return from tour at the end of the summer. And yeah, like I said before, they've been getting assistance from Marcus and Lena of Komeda. If the rough mix stuff I've heard is any indication, the record is gonna be great. Can't wait.

The buzz-band Radio Dept. will be heading over to the US for a few select west coast dates:

07/10-13 - San Francisco, CA - Pop Holiday Fest at Bottom Of The Hill w/Even As We Speak, Aerospace, Pipas, Evening Lights, more
07/15 - Portland, OR at The Blackbird w/Aerospace, Pipas, Evening Lights, The Frenchmen
07/16 - Seattle, WA at Chop Suey

Håkan Hellström will be releasing a new single for the song "Mitt Gullbergs Kaj Paradis" on June 20 that'll include two new songs for b-sides. Just in time for the Kalas tour, eh?

Neovoid has posted a review of ex-black metal band Manes new album "Vilosophe". The label Code666 describes them as a mix of Katatonia, Radiohead and Aphex Twin, but I'm not sure I'd completely agree with that assesment myself. Katatonia yes, but that's a no-brainer for this sort of pop-infused avant metal. Anyhow, I agree that it's a good album and well worth investigating for people who are into different kinds of heavy music.

Read PopMatter's review of "Sky Pilots", the latest album from Finland's Flaming Sideburns.

The full schedule and set times for Pop Dakar have been published. Check it out. Bands scheduled to appear include Paris, Bear Quartet, First Floor Power, Radio Dept. and more.

Here's a short tour diary with photos and video from the recent Narcissists tour in Germany.

Swedish webzine Samson & Rourke has put up a featured review and contest for Logh.

Big news from Nasum! Bassplayer Jesper has decided to leave as to focus on his other band Burst, which he has been involved with for over 10 years with some of his childhood friends. There's no animosity on anyone's part, the time just came to make a decision between the two projects. Read the full statement from the band on the subject. In other smaller news, Nasum has added Urban Skytt from Regurgitate on 2nd guitar and put up a newly redesigned website. As mentioned before, the band will play a record release show for the new album "Helvete" at Hotel Continental in Örebro on May 24.

I first talked about it way back in March, but here's a new MIC Norway feature on the upcoming 'Midnight Sun' tour featuring Supersilent, DJ Strangefruit, Arve Henriksen and Sidsel Endresen that's coming to the UK later this month. Those dates again:

05/22 - Exeter, Phoenix
05/23 - Bath, Bath International Music Festival Pavillion
05/24 - Belfast, Crescent Arts Centre
05/25 - Salisbury, Salisbury Festival
05/26 - Birmingham, Medicine Bar
05/27 - Liverpool, Unity Theatre
05/28 - London, 93 Feet East

Unioncarbideproductions.com sends word that there will indeed be a promo CD from the band available at Hultsfred this year featuring newly remixed versions of the songs "Be Myself Again" and "San Fransisco Boogie". There's also word of a potential commerical release for the single, but nothing's been decided yet. Also by way of UCP.com, comes this article paying tribute to the band. Check it out.

Expressen reports that Timbuktu will be contributing music to the film "Hip Hop Hora". It was directed by Teresa Fabik and premieres on February 6. Björn Kjellman stars. Read more. (in Swedish)

The new album from The Perishers will come out in September with the first single "Sway" to drop in June.

Jakob Hellman, Helena Bergström, Kjell Höglund & Johan Johansson and Tomas Di Leva have all been added to the roster of the Visfestivalen which takes place in Västervik on July 10-12.

Dates scheduled so far for the upcoming Avrikafest tour, featuring the band Kamera along with various DJs and more:

05/30 - Oslo, So What
05/31 - Fredrikstad, Dis Café
06/01 - Göteborg, Sticky Fingers
06/03 - Malmö
06/04 - Örebro
06/05 - Linköping, Platens Bar
06/06 - Stockholm, Debaser/Ultrachrome
06/07 - Karlstad, Arena

Norway's Moonfog records, the label run by Satyr of Satyricon, has signed the new band Disiplin to their roster. The band was started by Savant M of Myrkskog back in 2000 and will be entering the studio in August to record their debut album. "It´s very rare that a new band on the scene succeeds in catching my interest on the strength of a demo alone," says Satyr, "apart from the obvious fact that I enjoy their music and that I have a great belief in their potential, I think they have that undistinguishable Moonfog sound." And the sound he's talking about? Well, Savant describes the band as "based on old school black metal with inspiration from thrash and death metal." Read a recent interview with the band here. (in Norweigan)

Check out the latest edition of reviews and samples from Brainwashed, including writeups on Scandinavian artists such as Supersilent, Erkki Kurenniemi, the "Arctic Hysteria - Early Finnish Avant-Gardeners" comp, and more.

Here's some new dates from Sunride:

06/12 - Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland w/Endstand
08/16 - Nosturi, Helsinki, Finland w/Sweatmaster, Minus SF
08/30 - FUZZFEST 2, Musikens Hus, Göteborg, Sweden w/Mushroom River Band, Terra Firma, Awesome Machine, more

The new album "Through The Red" comes out today and the band will be playing around Europe later this month.

The Hommos have rescheduled their gig at the Barfly Camden in London from May 26 to the 27th.

Johan Bergqvist has finished up work on the video for the song "Lovelace" and posted it online. Check it: low / high
The track comes from a mini-album that was released last September and is being reissued later this summer as a precursor to the forthcoming full length.

More US press for David & the Citizens: The album "For All Happy Endings" is now reviewed on indiepages.com.

Rumor has it that Thirdimension is planning a US tour in the near future.

Another sign things are probably not okay for The (International) Noise Conspiracy? Keyboardist Sara Almgren has been recruited by Marit Bergman to play guitar in her touring band. If you weren't already aware, Sara used to play guitar for the all-girl hardcore/metal act Doughnuts. They released a couple reconds on Victory in the mid-90s. Anyhow, Marit has decided to ditch the guitar on stage so she can, I assume, focus more on her singing. Look for her on the Kalas tour this summer, among other festival dates. In other news, my sources tell me she plans on doing five different cover tunes for her new EP "From Now On" which comes out on June 12. More details when I get 'em.

Laakso will be heading into the studio soon to lay down the tracks for their debut full length. They say to expect a good live sound as evidenced already on their debut EP "Long Beach".

The terminally underappreciated Notre Dame, led by the multitalented Snowy Shaw (Dream Evil, ex-Mercyful Fate, Illwill, etc.), reports that they have completed work on the new album "Creepshow Freakshow Peepshow". Originally titled "Vaudeville le Devil", the album will be the first lacking guitarist Jean-Pierre De Sade and should be out later this year from Osmose Productions.

Melody Club has annouced their full list of summer tour dates. Here's the schedule as of now:

05/14 - Hamburg (D) Molotow
05/15 - Düsseldorf (D) Unique
05/16 - Weinheim (D) Cafe Central
05/17 - Berlin (D) Bastard
05/18 - Kassel (D) K19
05/19 - Frankfurt (D) Cookys
05/20 - Dresden (D) Downtown
05/21 - München (D) Atomic Cafe
05/23 - Göteborg Liseberg / Okej Dagen
05/30 - Eskilstuna Blå
05/31 - Härnösand Högslättens Isstadion
06/06 - Drammen (NO) Working Class Hero
06/06 - Hultsfred Hultsfred Festival
06/06 - Visby Gutekällaren
07/01 - Östhammar Musikveckan
07/04 - Sundsvall Sundsvalls Gatufest
07/05 - Kristianstad Tivolirock
07/11 - Arvika Arvikafestivalen
07/19 - Mariehamn, Åland Rock Off Festival
07/23 - Hedemora Hedmora Parken
07/26 - Karlskoga Stranddagar
07/30 - Visby Gutekällaren
08/01 - Östersund Storsjöyran
08/02 - Stockholm Pridefestivalen
08/06 - Gävle Gävle Cityfest
08/08 - Emmaboda Emmabodafestivalen

Johan Bergqvist has posted all three songs from his new single in RealMedia format over at his (newly refurbished) website. Check em out in the upper right-hand corner.

Billboard reviews the US release of "Living in America" from The Sounds.

Stylus Magazine has named Norway's Rune Grammofon their label of the week.

Massproduktion has announced that they will be reissuing a remastered version of the very first Left Hand Solution seven-song EP "Shadowdance" on CD with five extra bonus tracks, three of which are previously unrereleased. It's been ten years since the recording first came out and serves as an almost-complete document of the era when Kicki Höijertz fronted the band.

The Flicker will be playing Club Clampers in Stockholm on May 17 and the first 25 attendees will receive a copy of their new CDr "Phases". Download an mp3 of the track "Consulation" right here.

DigitalMetal.com interviews the avant-metal band Solefald and black/dark metallers Aeternus.

Samson & Rourke recently published an interview with Anders Wendins of Moneybrother. (in Swedish)

The new Lost Patrol single "All Right" featuring Lisa Miskovsky comes out June 2. For those that don't know, LP is the solo project of International Noise Conspiracy frontman Dennis Lyxzen.

Even more bands added to Popaganda fest in Stockholm: Doktor Kosmos, Isolation Years, Superheroes, Miss Universum, José González, Tiger Lou, Carpet People, Mano & the tears, The Search, Blanka, Callahan, Ebon Tale and Anna Vnuk.

Starting on June 3 Swedish Radio P3 will have a week-long feature on Swedish music. Be sure to check it out and remember you can listen online at their website.

The Caesars recently had the single "Sort it Out" featured during an episode of the UK's most watched soap opera Eastenders. Listen to the track here. Like I've said before, expect big things from these guys. The band has also been confirmed for the 'new bands' stage at Glastonbury fest which takes place June 27-29.

The Ark, Hammerfall, Looptroop, Paola, Her Majesty, Evergrey, Moneybrother and Mando Diao have all be confirmed for Göteborgskalaset on August 8-16.

Mike Wead (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate), Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Dream Evil, Notre Dame), Sharlee D'Angelo (Mercyful Fate, Witchery) and Simon Johansson (Memory Garden, Abstrakt Algenra) have all teamed up to form a new band called Firegod. Mike's statement on the current state of the group:

I'm more than thrilled to be joined by some of the guys I consider to be the most creative and talented in Scandinavia. Me and Simon [have] been working really hard for almost two years writing and demoing something like 40-45 tracks... These tracks will be the perfect frame for what I'm sure will become a concept album that will stand out among the rest! People into our older bands as well as our current ones WILL NOT be disappointed!

They expect to have an album out around early 2004.

The new Finnish death-metal "supergroup" Chaosbreed has posted a couple sample mp3s from their demo for downloading:

01. Wretched Life
02. Rotting Alive
03. FC/DC (Freedom Corps Death Crush)

As mentioned before, Chaosbreed features vocalist Taneli Jarva (ex-Sentenced, The Black League), guitarist Marko Tarvonen (Moonsorrow), guitarist Esa Holopainen (Amorphis), among others. The band is currently entertaining any serious offers for booking or label support and anyone wanting to get in touch should email them at chaosbreeders@hotmail.com.

David & the Citizens and The Knife are both receiving gold disc awards from Border Music in Sweden for sales of over 5000. It's part of a new initiative enacted by the company to encourage and reward independent labels. The ceremony will be held at Pustervik in Göteborg on May 23.

In other D&tC news, the band's album "For All Happy Endings" was just reviewed in English over at firesideometer.com.

Lovitt Records has announced they will start taking preorders of the new Division of Laura Lee collection "97-99" with songs from before they signed with BHR/Epitaph. Email mailorder@lovitt.com for more info or visit the label's website. You can also download a preview mp3 of the track "Stereotype" if you're curious about their old sound, which they describe as "reminiscent of the DC post-punk sound with a dash of Drive Like Jehu." The record hits stores June 16.

So that Nicolai Dunger show was, uh, 'interesting'. I know the guys doesn't like playing live, but he really showed a large amount of disrepect to the audience. It's hard to explain exactly, but I felt kinda cheated. He just seemed to be messing around a lot like he didn't care. There probably weren't too many people there just to see him like I was, but I felt let down anyways. I'd say 'maybe next time', but I'm not sure I want to chance it. Oh and for what it's worth, Nicolai was accompanied by a woman on violin and a guy on lead electric guitar and 12-string.

A new song on the right for you this week - this one from David & the Citizens. I don't know too much about these guys, but their album "For All Happy Endings" is just a great pop record. Check 'em out.

www.thearkworld.com just posted some video footage of The Ark's performance on the MTV program 'The Fridge'. Check it: "Calleth You, Cometh I" / "Disease" (requires RealPlayer)

Continuing proof that they're poised to become the "next big thing": Dave Grohl will sport a t-shirt from The Sounds in the new Foo Fighters video "Times Like These". The Sounds also lined themselves up with another show in NYC on their first sweep of America: March 12 at Mercury Lounge.

Watch the video for "Slow Motions" from the Whyte Seeds right here. (requires RealPlayer)

Peter LeMarc got himself a new record deal and will be heading into the studio in April to work on a new album. It will be his first since "Nio Broars Väg" from 1997.

The performance of Sahara Hotnigts doing their new single "Keep Up The Speed" on the Carson Daly Show will air March 7.

Snowy Shaw reports he's back from the recent Dream Evil tour and ready to work on a new Notre Dame record. He promises to have something ready by summer.

The final word on the new Fireside album is out! It's finally finished and it's gonna be called "Get Shot". Look for it on April 7 from Startracks. Frontman Kristofer Åström will also be doing a video for the track "One Good Moment" from his forthcoming solo EP "Dead End". He reports it will be animated and should be ready in about a month.

Askil Holm will be traveling all the way to LA from Norway to attend the "Cody Banks Secret Agent" movie premiere on March 8. He's got a song in the film, in case you were wondering. In other news, his album has been moved up to a March 17 release with a concert to follow the next day in Oslo.

Rune Grammofon has gotten themselves a new subsidiary label called Rune Arkiv to rerelease material from Fra Lippo Lippi, Rune's founder's old pop duo. First up is "The Early Years", a CD that will include the albums "In Silence" (1981) and "Small Mercies" (1983) plus a couple instrumental b-sides. Then there's "The Best Of Fra Lippo Lippi", a compilation of material from 1985-95 including their biggest hit "Shouldn't Have To Be Like That" and more. Read more here.

Timbuktu's new album "The Botten Is Nådd" comes out April 28. The first single will be for the track "Ett Brev", a song about the current world situation directed towards State Minister Göran Persson.

Just in case you weren't paying attention, GSL Records recently released the new JR Ewing album "Ride Paranoia" worldwide. Distro is being done through Mordam for most of the world, so it shouldn't be too hard to track down. As you should already know, the band recently lost the Norweigan Grammies, but says they "got to drink with all the lame Norwegian celebrities, and got a good laugh out of it." Hard for me to even imagine a band like that at the US Grammies, but whatever. Oh, and they also got a bunch of new shows lined up besides that Turbonegro tour (see 2/26). The dates:

3/07 - Bodø @ Samfundet w/Amulet
3/08 - Bodø @ Kulturhus w/Amulet
3/09 - Tromsø @ Blå Rock w/Amulet
3/28 - Namsos, Norway @ Namsos Rock Festival
4/12 - Andøya @ Rock Mot Rus w/Amulet
4/15 - Hannover, Germany @ Korn w/Seven Feet Four
4/16 - Tilburg, Netherlands @ 013 Club w/Seven Feet Four
4/17 - Stuttgart, Germany @ Smith Wigglesworth Festival w/Seven Feet Four
4/18 - Vienna, Austria @ Tuwi w/Seven Feet Four
4/19 - Nurnberg, Germany @ ... (TBC) w/Seven Feet Four
4/20 - TBA w/Seven Feet Four
4/21 - Koln, Germany @ Underground w/Seven Feet Four
4/22 - Berlin, Germany @ SO31 w/Poison The Well, Seven Feet Four
4/23 - Braunschweig, Germany @ Drachenflug w/Seven Feet Four
4/24 - Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Waterfront w/The Hanson Brothers w/Seven Feet Four
4/25 - Leiden, Netherlands @ LVC w/Seven Feet Four
8/03 - Augustibullar Festival, Sweden

The Moonbabies are currently working on their new album "The Orange Billboard". They say they're going for a bit more or an organic, subtle sound comparable to "Sgt. Pepper[-era] Beatles, Wilco and Kate Bush." Look for a single in May, the album to follow in September from Chalksounds.

Dark Funeral has revealed they have found a replacement guitarist for the recently departed Dominion. "It looks like we finally have found the 'right' guy for the job," says Lord Ahriman, "But there's really no hurry to reveal his name as of yet, but we will give you all a full presentation on him shortly." The band is currently rehearsing, booking shows for late spring and autumn, and starting to think about their next album. When the dates are confirmed, I'll post 'em.

Drummer Hellhammer has left black-turned-goth metalband Kovenant. The new album "S.E.T.I." (Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence) comes out March 31 on Nuclear Blast. A limited edition version will include two bonus tracks: "The Memory Remains" (Metallica cover) and "Subtopia".

Øyvind Hægeland (Sprial Architect) has joined Arcturus as a replacement for singer Kristoffer Rygg (aka Garm, from Ulver). In somewhat related news, Spiral Architect/Borknagar drummer Asgeir Mickelson will be filling in for Jon Allen of Testament on the band's upcoming European tour. Jon has family issues which prevent him from joining the band on the road.

Entombed has annouced the following shows for the near future:

3/22 - Esbjerg, DEN @ TBA
3/28 - Björkliden, SWE @ Fjällanläggningen
4/17 - Oslo, NOR @ Inferno Festival
4/20 – Groningen, NETH @ Noordshock
4/21 – Nijmegen, NETH @ Doornroosje
5/02 - Durban, RSA @ TBA
5/03 - Johannesburg, RSA @ TBA
5/07 - Cape Town, RSA @ TBA
5/24 – Alingsås, SWE @ Westgothafestivalen
5/31 - Kranj, SLO @ TBA
6/01 - Milano, ITA @ TBA
6/05 - Leipzig, GER @ With Full Force Festival

The band's upcoming album is currently being mixed by engineer producer Pelle Gunnerfeldt for a May 12 release on their own label Threeman Recordings.

Dismember bassist Richard Cabeza recently got married in Las Vegas to a woman he met while on tour with Dark Funeral. The name of the lucky bride and the time of the wedding are unknown, but you can view the proceedings for yourself in its full, Vegas-style glory.

Jean-Pierre De Sade has decided to leave Notre Dame right in the middle of recording their new album. Some of his tracks will remain, but the rest of the guitars will be covered by ND's multitalented mainman Snowy Shaw. Of course, this also means the band now has an opening. If you feel like you've got what it takes, send your pic, bio and demo to:

S.O.S management
gamla tuvevägen 16
417 05 gothenburg
Sweden

The Soundtrack of Our Lives are nominated for a U.S. Grammy! The album "Behind the Music" got the nod in the 'Best Alternative Music Album' category. See the rest of the list here.

Here's some of the nominees for the Spellemannsprisen, the Norweigan version of the Grammies. Read the full list here. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on February 22.

Rock
AI Phoenix - "Lean That Way Forever"
Gluecifer - "Basement Apes"
JR Ewing - "Ride Paranoia"
Madrugada - "Grit"
Vidar Vang - "Rodeo"

Metal
Immortal - "Sons Of Northern Darkness"
Red Harvest - "Sick Transit Gloria Mundi"
Satyricon - "Volcano"

Pop
Dadafon - "Visitor"
Ephemera - "Balloons And Champagne"
Minor Majority - "If I Told You, You Were Beautiful"
Popium - "Permanently High"
The Margarets - "What Kept You?"

Electronica
Biosphere - "Shenzhou"
Kim Hiorthøy - "Melke"
Salvatore - "Tempo"

Open Class
Mari Boine - "Eight Seasons"
Sidsel Endresen and Bugge Wesseltoft - "Out Here, In There"
Jaga Jazzist - "The Stix"
Nils Petter Molvær - "nP3"
Ulver - "Lyckantropen Themes"

Song:
"Forever Not Yours" - a-ha
"Mysteriet Deg" - Bjørn Eidsvåg
"My Lullaby" - Maria Mena
"Barcelona" - Paperboys
"Remind Me" - Röyksopp

Black metal-turned goth-electronica act Kovenant has their new album "S.E.T.I" (The Search For Extraterestial Intelligence) coming out in Europe March 31 on Nuclear Blast Records.

Northside Records reports that Mari Boine and Frifot will both have new records coming out soon in the new year.

Backyard Babies frontman/guitarist Dregen is recovering nicely from his mugging injuries and the band has resumed rehearsals and preparing demos for their upcoming album. In other news, the band has also made their first foray into the world of sports by becoming an official endorser of their local hockey team, Njckey Club. The endorsement consists of the BB skull logo being stenciled onto one of the face-off circles.

Remember to watch Conan O'Brien on November 26 to see The Soundtrack of Our Lives perform.

Sweden student radio top 20:

Leaving the chart:
(10) The Crash "New York"
(11) Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Machine"
(13) Peter Bjorn And John "I Don't Know What I Want Us To Do"
(17) The Distillers "City of Angels"
(18) Marit Bergman "This Is the Year"
(20) Adam Green "Dance With Me"

The Knife (ex-Honey is Cool) has got a new record coming out. The first single and video "Heartbeats" will drop January 7 with the album "Deep Cuts" following on January 27.

After a rare concert appearance on Halloween, Notre Dame frontman Snowy Shaw went straight back to Fredman Studio in Sweden to record the next album from Dream Evil. The planned title is "Evilizer" and Snowy contributed four tunes. Work Notre Dame's next album will continue soon.

Watch the video for "The Band" from Mando Diao:

Real: High / Low   Windows: High / Low

Listen to Peter, Bjorn and John play live on P3 here and here. For those that don't know, the members of PBJ have connections to artists such as Caesars Palace, TSOOL, The Plan, Marit Bergman, and Nicolai Dunger among others.

The Project Hate just signed a new record deal with Holland's Mascot Records. They will entering Sunlight Studios on Dec. 10 to record their next record, which actually be a revamp of an older album. "It's the album we recorded in 1998 that I decided not to release as I wasn't satisfied with the other people's performances on it," said guitarist Lord K.

Dream Evil, featuring the amazing Snowy Shaw (Notre Dame, King Diamond, and more) and acclaimed producer/engineer Fredrik Nordström (way too many credits to mention - if you like Swedish metal, you have probably heard his work) have set Jan. 27, 2003 as the release date for their new album "Evilized". They will also be supporting Hammerfall and Masterplan on tour through Germany and Scandinavia during the month of February.