Have I never posted anything from Notre Dame before? I feel like the answer is no and that's a damn shame because they're an excellent act and seriously underappreciated. Band leader Snowy Shaw spent some time playing drums for King Diamond and Mercyful Fate some years back before getting frustrated that he wasn't able to contribute his own musical ideas to those projects, so he started Notre Dame, among many other sideprojects such as Memento Mori, Illwill and more recently, Dream Evil. I spent a good chunk of time yesterday listening to some of my old 'Fate records, so I thought why not post a cover tune by an ex-member? Or something like that. I guess I could've posted an actual Fate original since they are actually Danish, but King Diamond has lived in Texas so long it just doesn't seem right. It's almost like considering Metallica to be a Danish act since Lars was born there and we all know that just isn't right. So anyhow, there was a time in the late 90s when everyone seemed to be gung-ho about doing metal tribute albums. The Listenable Records tribute to Mercyful Fate is definitely not the best of the bunch (that title belongs to the first "Slaytanic slaughter" tribute to Slayer), but it's not bad. Pretty much every contribution is played straight-ahead except, that is, for Notre Dame. Snowy Shaw is actually all over this damn comp - he does vocals for Luciferion and also contributes a cover of "Evil" under his own name - but it's the final track "Into the coven" that stands out most. It takes the original song into a whole new dimension of grandeur and theatrics. What's also great about Snowy is that he doesn't take his work too seriously. His comic book-meets-metal vision is often light-hearted and fun, but it's definitely not the same as ironic detachment. This is not like whats-his-name from Pinback playing with Goblin Cock. There is no question that this is true metal. No sly winks or expensive "vintage" t-shirts. Be forewarned however, this is an epic track so that means an equally epic 16mb download. Enjoy!

MP3: Notre Dame - Into the coven

Have I never posted anything from Notre Dame before? I feel like the answer is no and that's a damn shame because they're an excellent act and seriously underappreciated. Band leader Snowy Shaw spent some time playing drums for King Diamond and Mercyful Fate some years back before getting frustrated that he wasn't able to contribute his own musical ideas to those projects, so he started Notre Dame, among many other sideprojects such as Memento Mori, Illwill and more recently, Dream Evil. I spent a good chunk of time yesterday listening to some of my old 'Fate records, so I thought why not post a cover tune by an ex-member? Or something like that. I guess I could've posted an actual Fate original since they are actually Danish, but King Diamond has lived in Texas so long it just doesn't seem right. It's almost like considering Metallica to be a Danish act since Lars was born there and we all know that just isn't right. So anyhow, there was a time in the late 90s when everyone seemed to be gung-ho about doing metal tribute albums. The Listenable Records tribute to Mercyful Fate is definitely not the best of the bunch (that title belongs to the first "Slaytanic slaughter" tribute to Slayer), but it's not bad. Pretty much every contribution is played straight-ahead except, that is, for Notre Dame. Snowy Shaw is actually all over this damn comp - he does vocals for Luciferion and also contributes a cover of "Evil" under his own name - but it's the final track "Into the coven" that stands out most. It takes the original song into a whole new dimension of grandeur and theatrics. What's also great about Snowy is that he doesn't take his work too seriously. His comic book-meets-metal vision is often light-hearted and fun, but it's definitely not the same as ironic detachment. This is not like whats-his-name from Pinback playing with Goblin Cock. There is no question that this is true metal. No sly winks or expensive "vintage" t-shirts. Be forewarned however, this is an epic track so that means an equally epic 16mb download. Enjoy!

Notre Dame - Into the coven

Ex-Notre Dame frontman and Mercyful Fate/Dream Evil drummer Snowy Shaw has posted a video clip for the new song "XXX – Le Masochiste" from his upcoming solo album: http://www.snowyshaw.com/video/SnowyReal.rmvb
Sounds like a mix of Notre Dame and Illwill to me. Not surprising.

The Tartarean Desire webzine talks to King Diamond about the possibility of a new Mercyful Fate album, Dimebag Darrel's on-stage murder and more: http://www.tartareandesire.com/interviews/kingdiamond.html

Download two tracks from Danish all-star metal act Force of Evil off their new album "Black empire": http://www.forceofevil.net/7.htm
As mentioned before, FoE features current and ex Mercyful Fate members Michael Denner, Hank Shermann and Bjarne Holm as well as Hal Patino (King Diamond) and Martin Steene (ex-Ironfire).

Patrik Jensen (The Haunted) reports that his campy retro-thrash sideproject Witchery is done with their third album. The band, which also features Sharlee D'Angelo from Mercyful Fate/King Diamond/etc., is currently unsigned and is on the lookout for a label to work with. Read more: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=32018

Fenriz of long-running Norwegian black-metal act Darkthrone has put together a comp highlighting "The Best of Old School Black Metal" for release on September 20 via Snapper Music. While not all the bands included are Scandinavian, it does show a good representation of the origins of the scene. Fenriz personally selected all of the tracks and the accompanying booklet will include liner notes giving his thoughts on each song. The full tracklist for "Darkthrone's Fenriz Presents… The Best Of Old School Black Metal":

01. Blasphemy - Winds of the Black Godz
02. Sarcofago - Satanic Lust
03. Celtic Frost - Dawn of Megiddo
04. Nattefrost - Sluts of Hell
05. Mercyful Fate - Evil
06. Sodom - Burst Command Til War
07. Tormentor - Elisabeth Bathory
08. Aura Noir - Blood Unity
09. Destruction - Curse the Gods
10. Samael - Into the Pentagram
11. Bulldozer - Whisky Time
12. Mayhem - The Freezing Moon
13. Hellhammer - The Third of the Storms
14. Burzum - Ea, Lord of the Deeps
15. Venom - Warhead
16. Bathory - Dies Irae

In some ways, I'm surprised that Burzum made the cut considering the murderous infighting of Count Grishnackh/Varg Vikernes. Then again, his influence and importance is undeniable.

Check out the video for "Wolf's Blood" from Swedish thrashers Wolf: http://www.wolf.nu/mp3/wolf%20-%20wolfs%20blood%20320x240.wmv
The look of the clip is described as "Thin Lizzy at 'Top of the Pops' '77 meets Judas Priest at Budokan in '81." As for the sound, I'd say they perfectly combine the best qualities of Mercyful Fate and Iron Maiden.

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/

Michael Denner and Hank Shermann, the core guitar duo of Mercyful Fate, will release the debut album from their new band Force of Evil January 26 on Escapi Media. The band also consists of bassist Hal Patino (King Diamond), drummer Bjarne Holm (Mercyful Fate), and vocalist Martin Steene (Ironfire). Various samples are available on the band's website here: http://www.forceofevil.net/

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, 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.

Listenable Records will be putting out a five song EP of previously unreleased Soilwork material that was recorded during the "Steelbath Suicide" and "Chainheart Machine" sessions. I wonder how the band feels about this and if they approve, since this is totally the sort of thing that smells like a label trying to cash in. Anyhow, here's the tracklist:

01. Burn (Deep Purple cover)
02. Disentigrated Skies
03. Shadow Child (original version)
04. Egypt (Mercyful Fate cover)
05. The Aardvark Trail (live)

Edge of Sanity has revealed that guitarists Mike Wead (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Firegod) and Simon Johansson (Memory Garden, Abstrakt Algebra, Firegod) will be making appearances on the groups upcoming comeback album "Crimson II", due late summer on Black Mark Records.

Witchery is starting work on their new album, their first since 2001's "Symphony For The Devil". Guitarist Jensen says that he and fellow guitarist Richard Corpse have been trading CDRs back and forth and have about 4-5 songs ready to go. The band was originally planning to enter Berno Studios to record in August, but bassist Sharlee D'Angelo's (Arch Enemy, Mercyful Fate, etc.) busy schedule means they will have to postpone it till later. The band hopes to finish in the next 4-5 months and have it out sometime early next year.