Norweigan black/death metallers Zyklon have been tapped as support for Dimmu Borgir on their upcoming tour of Japan. Complete dates for Zyklon at this time:

01/04 - Thunder Road Club, Milan (IT) w/Red Harvest, Incantation
01/08 - Tavastia, Helsinki (FIN)
01/09 - Klubi, Turku (FIN)
01/10 - Lutakko, Jyväskylä (FIN)
02/03 - Shibuya Club Quattro, Tokyo (JAP) w/Dimmu Borgir, Goatwhore
02/04 - Nagoya Club Quattro, Nagoya (JAP) w/Dimmu Borgir, Goatwhore
02/05 - Shinsaibashi Club Quattro, Osaka (JAP) w/Dimmu Borgir, Goatwhore

Candlelight Records has secured US licensing rights for all releases from Dutch label Karmageddon Media. Beginning in 2004 the label will release new albums from Morifade, Hearse, Within Y, Dismember and more, as well as special enhanced reissues of albums from Aeturnus, Nocturnus and the Dimmu Borgir/Old Man Child split. For those that don't know, Candlelight is the label home of black-metal legends Emperor and has recently put out records by bands such as Zyklon (feat. ex-Emperor guitarist Samoth), Grimfist (feat. ex-Immortal drummer Horgh) and many more.

It's not too dissimilar from the Dagbladet list (see 12/09), but here's the top 21 records of the year from Norway's Aftenposten:

01. Equicez - "State Of Emergency"
02. Magnet - "On Your Side"
03. Thomas Dybdahl - "Stray Dogs"
04. King Midas - "Romeo Turn"
05. Vidar Busk - "Love Buzz"
06. Turbonegro - "Scandinavian Leather"
07. Ephemera - "Air"
08. Rebekka Bakken - "The Art Of How To Fall"
09. Tord Gustavsen Trio - "Changing Places"
10. Supersilent - "6"
11. Enslaved - "Below The Lights"
12. El Corazón - "El Corazón"
13. Karen Jo Fields - "Chase The Blue"
14. St. Thomas - "Hey Harmony"
15. Dimmu Borgir - "Death Cult Armageddon"
16. Bertine Zetlitz - "Sweet Injections"
17. Kaospilot - "Kaospilot"
18. Cloroform - "Hey You Let's Kiss"
19. Kaizers Orchestra - "Evig Pint"
20. Jaa9 & OnklP - "Bondegrammatikk - The Mixtape"
21. Ricochets - "The Ghost Of Our Love"

Vendlus Records is putting out the US DVD release of the film "Lyckantropen", directed by Steve Ericsson and featuring an excellent soundtrack by Norway's Ulver. The disc features deleted scenes, a slideshow, "the sound of wolves" and a 20-minute interview with the band. View the trailer here and go to the label's newly redesigned website to order.

Also coming up from Vendlus in the near future is the US releases of the Lamented Souls album "Origins of Misery" (feat. members of Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar, Beyond Dawn, and Arcturus) and the Bomberos "Hate" CD/10" (members of Mayhem, Virus, Beyond Dawn, Aura Noir, Cadaver Inc.). Both of those releases are on license from Norway's Duplicate Records, the label run by Einar of Beyond Dawn (hence his involvement with both projects).

Nominees for Norway's Alarm awards:

Rock:
Turbonegro - Scandinavian Leather
King Midas - Romeo Turn
Ricochets - The Ghost Of Our Love
Amulet - Danger! Danger!
Sgt. Petter - It's A Record

Pop:
Julian Berntzen - Waffy Town
Magnet - On Your Side
Ephemera - Air
Thomas Dybdahl - Stray Dogs
Karen Jo Fields - Chase The Blue

Metal:
Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon
El Caco - Solid Rest
The Cumshots - Norwegian Jesus
Enslaved - Below the Lights
Thulsa Doom - ...And Then Take You To A Place Where Jars Are Kept

Hip-hop/Rap:
Paperboys - The Great Escape
Equicez - State of Emergency - Generation Equiz
Jaa9 & OnklP - Bondegrammatikk - The Mixtape
Spetakkel - Spetakkel
Diaz - Velkommen hjem, Andres

Electronica:
Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band - A Special Album
Pleasure - Pleasure
Xploding Plastix - The Donca Matic Singalongs
Tøyen - Did You Bring
Erlend Øye - Unrest

Jazz:
Atomic - Boom Boom
Supersilent - Supersilent 6
Come Shine - With The Norwegian Radio Orchestra In Concert
Håvard Wiik Trio - Postures
Paal Nilsen-Love / Ken Wandermark - Dual

Song:
Ephemera - Girls Keep Secrets In The Strangest Ways
Equicez - Barnslig
Ricochets - The Ghost Of Our Love
King Midas - Romeo Turn
Turbonegro - Fuck The World

Live:
Turbonegro
Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band
King Midas
Equicez
The International Tussler Society

The Alarm awards aren't quite as respected as the Spellemannprisen, Norway's version of the Grammy, but are considered more of a stepping stone for young artists. Go to the Alarm site to vote for your favorites: http://www.alarmweb.org/2003/

Dimmu Borgir will have two songs featured in trailers for the upcoming film "Hellboy". The movie, based on a character from the Dark Horse Comics series, is directed by Guillermo Del Toro ("Blade 2") and is set to open on April 2, 2004. More details: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/hellboy/

The Great Deceiver will release their second album "Terra Incognito" next March throughthe UK's Peaceville Records. The band features vocalist Tomas Lindberg (ex-The Crown, At the Gates, currently with Lock Up, Disfear, etc.) and guitarist Kristian Wahlin (ex-Diabolique, Grotesque) recorded the new CD at Dug-Out studio in Uppsala, Sweden with producer Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah, In Flames, etc.) and are currently working on a video for the track "Lake Of Sulphur" with director Patric Ulleaus (Dimmu Borgir, Ace of Base, Transport League). And lastly, as mentioned here before, the band will be heading out on the road with wannabe Swedish metallers Darkest Hour. Dates:

11/03 - Skylten, Linköping (SWE)
11/04 - Kafe 44, Stockholm (SWE)
11/05 - Meeths Unga Salonger, Gothenburg (SWE)
11/06 - Wehrschloss, Bremen (GER)
11/07 - Thannignton Community Centre, Canterbury (UK)
11/08 - Doctor Drakes, Aberdeen (UK)
11/09 - Basement, Leeds (UK)
11/10 - The Star And Garter, Manchester (UK)
11/11 - Flapper and Firkin, Birmingham (UK)
11/12 - TJ's, Newport (UK)
11/13 - Underworld, London (UK)

Dimmu Borgir's show at Paradiso in Amsterdam on October 2 will be webcasted live in both audio and video. More info: dimmuborgir.fabchannel.com

Check out the new Dimmu Borgir video for the song "Progenies of The Great Apocalypse" from here: http://www.nuclearblast.de/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=861
It's completely pompous and over-the-top, but that's a good thing. No, scratch that - it's a GREAT thing. Check it out. While you're at it, check out this review of their latest album "Death Cult Armageddom" from DigitalMetal.com, too.

Go here to check out cover art for the new Dimmu Borgir record "Death Cult Armageddon".

Ex-Immortal guitarist Abbath to join Dimmu Borgir? I guess the rumor has been floating around, but Dimmu guitarist Silenoz dismisses it saying, "No, that is totally wrong." He continues (from an interview with Swedish Metal):

"It is on the other hand true that he has participated as a guest vocalist in two songs on the album. But it is absolutely not anything more than that. He put down his vocals in the middle of April and that was a long time before their split up. That is by the way a high surprise for us and it is incredibly sad that they've chosen to quit. I don't understand why they're doing it but I'm sure that they have their reasons, and I fully respect that of course."

Upcoming Dimmu Borgir US tour dates w/Children of Bodom, Hypocrisy and Nevermore:

11/07 - Showplace Theater, Buffalo, NY
11/08 - Harpo's, Detroit, MI
11/09 - House Of Blue's, Chicago, IL
11/11 - Government, Toronto, ONT
11/12 - The Medley, Montreal, QUE
11/13 - Toad's Place, New Haven, CT
11/14 - Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
11/15 - Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
11/16 - Club Laga, Pittsburgh, PA
11/18 - Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
11/19 - Masquerade, Tampa, FL
11/21 - Engine Room, Houston, TX
11/22 - Deep Ellum Live, Dallas, TX
11/23 - Backroom, Austin, TX
11/25 - Bash On Ash, Tempe, AZ
11/26 - House Of Blues, Los Angeles, CA
11/28 - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
11/29 - Roseland Theater, Portland, OR
11/30 - Showbox, Seattle, WA
12/01 - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
12/03 - Bricks, Salt Lake City, UT
12/04 - Ogden Theater, Denver, CO
12/05 - Bottleneck, Lawrence, KS
12/06 - Pop's, St. Louis, MO
12/07 - The Quest, Minneapolis, MN
12/09 - The Rave, Milwaukee, WI
12/10 - Agora Theater, Cleveland, OH
12/11 - 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
12/13 - The Palladium, Worcester, MA
12/14 - Saratoga Winners, Albany, NY

Via Blabbermouth, comes this story concerning the Colorado-based Aircat Aerial Art dance group performing a piece entitled "Trycaliptica" which utilizes the music of Finnish heavy metal cello quartet Apocalyptica.

"'Trycaliptica' is a tale of transformation. It could be the tale of how aerial dancing was created by dancers trying to break the boundaries of the horizontal space, reaching for new, vertical challenges. Freed from the ground, the dancers explore the body's defiance of gravity."

They will perform the piece this coming Friday and Saturday at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, CO as part of the Frequent Flyers Productions' Aerial Dance Festival. More info: www.frequentflyers.org

Hypocrisy, the band of reknown producer/PAIN frontman Peter Tägtgren, will enter the studio on August 1 to begin recording their new album, tentatively titled "The Arrival". They expect to have it done for an early 2004 release on Nuclear Blast. Look for the band on tour playing some of the new material in the US in November with Dimmu Borgir, Children of Bodom, and Nevermore.

Speaking of Dimmu Borgir, the band has completed filming of a video for the song "Progenies of The Great Apocalypse" from the upcoming album "Death Cult Armageddon", due out September 8/9 on Nuclear Blast Records.

At the conclusion of what's being described as "a fierce label bidding war", Century Media has secured the rights to release Finnish acts Children of Bodom and Nightwish in the US. The latter's most recent album "Century Child" comes out September 23 and CoB's "Hate Crew Deathroll" has yet to get assigned a release date, but will tour the US in November with Dimmu Borgir, Nevermore and Hypocrisy. More details when I get 'em.

Listen to a sample of the track "For the World to Dictate Our Death" from Dimmu Borgir right here. The song comes from the band's forthcoming album "Death Cult Armageddon", due out September 8 on Nuclear Blast. View the cover art here.