Nine has been added to the lineup of the Funfest in Leuven, Belgium on September 27-28. More info: www.funtimerecords.com/funfest

Nine has put up a new website to coincide with the upcoming release of their new album "Killing Angels", due out September 15 on Burning Heart. They also put up a new video. There's some really cool animation going on so check it out.

The full lineup for the upcoming Burning Heart Records Heart Attack tour:

08/08 - Göteborgskalaset, Göteborg: Moneybrother, Looptroop, Fireside, Bombshell Rocks, Nine
08/15 - Örebromässan, Örebro: Moneybrother, Randy, Looptroop, Fireside, Raised Fist, Nine, Bombshell Rocks, C.Aarmé
08/29 - Kockums, Malmö: Moneybrother, Randy, Fireside, Looptroop, Raised Fist, Mike Vallely & the Rats
08/31 - Riddarholmen, Stockholm: Rancid, Moneybrother, Randy, Looptroop, Fireside, Raised Fist, Mike Vallely & the Rats

Swedish hardcore act Insula has broken up and cancelled their scheduled Augustibuller appearance along with the planned "Deadlock" 7". The band featured members from Nine and Within Reach and released one MCD called "A Blood Red Sky". Some samples of their work: "Cathode Ray Conspiracy" / "Sharing Needles"

Nine has posted a new mp3 from their forthcoming album "Killing Angels". It's called "Euthanasia" and you can download it here. It comes out September 15 on Burning Heart.

Not only is Jacob Bannon from Converge doing the artwork for the new Nine record (as reported on 02/27), but he's also taking them out on the road around the UK in late September. The dates:

09/29 - Mean Fiddler, London
09/30 - Hop and Grape, Manchester
10/01 - King Tuts, Glasgow
10/02 - Rock City, Nottingham
10/03 - Zodiac, Oxford
10/04 - Concorde II, Brighton

Check out some pics from the recent C.Aarmé/Alarma Man show at Club Surburbia.

The Caesars are doing a quick US tour in support of their recently released compilation album "39 Minutes Of Bliss (In An Otherwise Meaningless World)". The single "Jerk it Out" continues to gather more and more airplay (I heard it once myself on SF's Live 105) and will also be heard in an upcoming Michelob TV ad. They'll also be playing the Glastonbury in the UK on June 27. Anyhow, those US dates:

06/19 - San Francisco, Popscene
06/20 - Los Angeles, Spaceland
06/21 - Los Angeles, Viper Room
06/23 - New York, Sin'e
06/24 - Brooklyn, Southpaw
06/25 - Boston, Paradise

Fireside has posted a bunch of new pictures over at their website.

Via Home Groan Net comes these lo-fi videos of Groan Alone playing live opening for Lucinda Williams.

Martin Hagfos has now been confirmed to play the Øya festival along with a new backing band called "Cream of the Crop" that will feature some of Norway's best musicians. Check out the cast list: Martin Hagfors (Home Groan), Håkon Gebhardt (Motorpsycho, Tussler and HGH), Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Lars Håvard Haugen (Hellbillies, Respatexans), Pål Flaata (Midnight Choir), Vidar Ersfjord (Velvet Belly), and Askil Holm.

Read a short review of the recent Radio Dept. show in London opening for Apples in Stereo.

Unioncarbideproductions.com sends word that they have received twenty promo copies of the new UCP single that will be given out at Hultsfred. Since not everyone can attend said fest, the aforementioned website will be holding a contest to give their copies away. Go here to find out how.

Bridge Records has posted an update on the label's recent activity. Head on over for the full skinny, otherwise note the most important thing is that the new Jam Session album is now out. Their intriguing description:

It all looks awesome, and sounds even better. This record has been doomed, but we stared Satan in his eyes and told him we would not give up until we got this shit out. Since this needs to be heard. Great melodic breakdowns and then it just erupts into manic, furious assault.

In other Bridge news, the label also has plans to release a 7" from The Accidents, a band which features members from Voice of a Generation, or what they call "fyllepunkös". They also have a new 7" coming out from I Ren Desperation, a new crust-style band with members from Nine, Totalitär and Millencolin. That one's a joint release with Finland's Combat Rock and Hater of God in the US, so be sure to check it out.

Some new bands have been announced for the Øyafestivalen Vika-scenen shows: Don Juan Dracula, Oslo Athletico, Wholy Martin, Point Shirley, and Lorenzo. More info here. (in Norweigan)

DigitalMetal.com reviews new albums from Enslaved and Passenger, the side project of Anders Friden from In Flames and Niclas Engelin from "the vastly under-rated" Gardenian.

Norway's Extol is heading over to the States for a number of dates. Shows on June 13 through July 1 are with Demon Hunter, Still Breathing and The Agony Scene and their latest album "Synergy" is out now from Century Media. The dates:

06/13 - Club Impact - Tacoma, WA
06/14 - Fat Tuesday - Spokane, WA
06/15 - The Zone – Yakima, WA
06/17 - Radio Rendezvous – Twin Falls, ID
06/19 - Meow Meow - Portland, OR
06/20 - JoshuaFest -Quincy, CA
06/21 - The Boardwalk -Sacramento, CA
06/22 - Showcase Theater - Corona, CA
06/23 - The Brickhouse - Phoenix, AZ
06/24 - TBA - Albuquerque, NM
06/25 - Sox Palace - Denver CO
06/26 - Ground Zero - Wichita KS
06/27 - The Door - Dallas, TX
06/28 - TBA - Little Rock AR
06/29 - El Torreon – Kansas City, MO
07/03-05 - Cornerstone Festival – Bushnell, IL
07/06 - The Oracle – Atlanta, GA
07/07 - Rocktown Skatepark – Nashville, TN
07/08 - Emerson Theater - Indianapolis, IN
07/10 - Sonshine Festival - Wilmar, MN

Children of Bodom and Soilwork will be teaming up for Japanese tour in September. Dates so far:

09/05 – Osaka, JAP - Big Cat
09/06 – Nagoya, JAP - Club Quattro
09/07 – Tokyo, JAP - Shibuya AX

MTV Nordic will broadcast their footage of this weekend's Stockholm Calling Festival on June 15 at 22:00 CET. Some of the bands scheduled to play the event include Christian Kjellvander & Lazy Grace Frontier, The Cardigans, De Stijl, and Thomas Rusiak.

P3 Musikjournalen reports that Håkan Hellström will be making a guest appearance on the upcoming Universal Poplab cover of the Morrissey classic "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Succesful". The song will be on the band's as-yet-untitled debut album, due out this coming fall. Their first single "Casanova Fall" is out now.

The new Accelerator comp comes out this week and it features some of the best indierock that Sweden has to offer. The tracklisting:

The Embassy - It never entered my mind
Radio Dept. - 1995
The Concretes - Forces
Laakso - Out of taste
Johan Borgert - Smal
David & the Citizens - Stop!
Bear Quartet - Load it
Isolation Years - Open those eyes
Moneybrother - Reconsider me
Franke - Aldrig förstå
Paper - Gone today gone tomorrow
The Knife - You take my breath away
Fireside - Thing on a spring

View the coverart here. Check out Club Accelerator's site here. To download the D&tC track, go here.

Da Buzz are hitting the road in support of the new single "Alive":

05/30 - Umeå, Umeåfesten
07/31 - Eskilstuna, Ungdomsfestivalen
06/06 - Katrineholm, Stadsparken
06/07 - Malmö, Dockan
06/13 - Sollentuna, Sollentunamässan
06/27 - Ludvika, Ludvikafesten
06/27 - Motala, Vätternfestivalen
06/28 - Enköping, Enköpingsfestivalen
06/29 - Uppsala, Birjer Jarl
07/03 - Halmstad, Halmstad stadsfest
07/03 - Sölvesborg, Killibomdagarna
07/04 - Töreboda, Torget
07/10 - LYSEKIL Meddelas
07/11 - Luleå, Hamnspelet
07/12 - Lekvattnet, Sommarens höjdare
07/19 - Åsele, Åsele marknad
07/24 - Karlskoga, Stranddagar
07/25 - Sävsjö, Sävsjöfestivalen
07/26 - Visby, Burmeister
07/31 - Karlstad, Hamnfestivalen
08/01 - Skellefteå, Underbar
08/02 - Öostervåla, Folkets park

Green Carnation's new album "A Blessing in Disguise" is gathering all sorts of accolades including Album of the Month in the magazines Terrorizer, Metal Hammer, and BW&BK. They play the Quart Festival on July 5.

The Peepshows just posted a couple photos from their recent tour with The Hellacopters. Check them out here.

Voice of a Generation just posted a bunch of new pics, too. Theirs are from the band's recent shows in Marburg and Berlin.

The Cardigans have revealed that their upcoming performance at the Rock am Ring fest on June 6 will be webcasted by WDR Rockpalast. Go to their homepage on that date to view the stream. The band will also be doing a live chat the same day at 8:30pm mid-european summer time.

As hinted at before, Norway's St. Thomas is starting to make headways in the UK. "Hey Harmony" is the Album of the Week for the Sunday Times and the magazine Bang gave it a 5 out of 5. Here's the full review from the former:

Looking back on the success of "Harvest", Neil Young famously commented that he had found himself in the middle of the road and, not much liking it there, "headed for the ditch". While many of us have enjoyed the erratic, ditch-bound career that followed, those who own "Harvest" and no other Young albums should consider getting better acquainted with St. Thomas — aka Norwegian Thomas Hansen — whose quavering falsetto, simple mixture of folk and alt-country and tendency to leave a chorus just sort of hanging there all recall Young at his kindest and gentlest. Hansen had his own middle-of-the-road moment when his previous album, "I'm Coming Home", made him a star in Norway. He reacted in the traditional way — drinking too much, behaving badly at gigs and ending up in the tabloids for all the wrong reasons. But you wouldn't know it by listening to "Hey Harmony". Light, fluffy, upbeat and irrepressibly catchy, the songs suggest a sunny view of the world. The musicians — including Howe Gelb and various Lambchop members — play with tasteful simplicity. And when Hansen sings "we're having a Sunday party, come on over and be our friends" it sounds like an invitation you should accept.

Nasum has posted an extensive tour diary on their site with photos and video footage from their recent trip to Finland. Definitely entertaining. Also, for those that missed it, Shane Embury of Napalm Death and original Nasum member Rickard Alriksson recently joined the band onstage at their record release show this past weekend. See pictures here.

In Flames reports they have completed pre-production on six new songs at their house/studio in Denmark. They plan to spend about another week there writing and recording before heading back to Sweden where they will record the actual album this coming fall. Check out some pics from the so-called "Tuborg Sessions" right here.

The first dates of the rumored HIM tour supporting Ozzy Osbourne have been announced:

09/05 - London, Wembley Arena
09/07 - Birmingham, NEC
09/08 - Rotterdam, Ahoy
09/10 - Oberhausen, Arena
09/13 - Helsinki, Arena
09/15 - Stockholm, Globen
09/16 - Oslo, Spektrum
09/19 - Zurich, Hallenstadion
09/20 - Salzburg, Stadion
09/22 - Stuttgart, Schleyerhalle
09/24 - Vienna, Stadthalle
09/25 - Munich, Olympiahalle

Godsmack opens the shows and HIM plays right before Ozzy for about 45-50 minutes. After this tour HIM also plans to head out on their own around Europe on their own tour. More info when I get it.

Export Music Sweden is planning an outing in Tokyo, Japan for October 16-19. The event has been dubbed 'Swedish Style' and details are currently being worked out in conjunction with the embassy. No bands have been announced yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted. Read this for more.

Digfi.com has published the schedule for Stockholm's Popaganda fest which takes place this coming weekend. Be sure to check it out so you don't miss the bands you intend to see.

Bands now added to the Avrikafest tour with Kamera now include Quit Your Dayjob, Alice In Videoland, Kristian Anttila, Don Juan Dracula, Nina Natri and Kitty.

And speaking of Avrika, here's some more bands added to the regular fest bill: Fireside, Mikael Wiehe, Paola, Moneybrother, Dub Sweden, USCB Allstars, De Stijl, Seven, the Monotypes, Love Olzon, Franke, Kristian Anttila, Nine, Dozer and TPIKSA.

Fireside, Burek V, David & The Citizens, Cult of Luna, and Heikki have now all been confirmed for the lineup of the free Trästock festival which takes place at Nordanå in Skellefteå on July 17-19.

We are now almost finnished with the recordings. We have until sunday this week and then we take a break for 3 weeks before we enter again for the final mix in mid June. It sounds very fuckin' great and we can't wait to release this fury upon your souls. It has gone very smooth in the studio, no problems at all and everybody is working their asses off. When we're not beating our instruments we are kickin' eachothers asses in Tekken 4 and the undisputed champion is for the moment Janne. We have now tuned down the guitars even more to get a more deadly sound to the songs and it fuckin' working, and the fast songs have become even more faster than the pre-production we did. As I'm writing this I have only one more song to do vocals on and that's "Dawn of Emptiness" , a mid tempo song that's gonna end the album along with the instrumental piece "The Endless Gate". Marcus has also some solos left to do and the shit he's done so far has fuckin' blown me away.

That's The Crown's vocalist Johan Lindstrand discussing the band's progress on the new album "Possessed 13" from their message board. The tentative release date is set for September.

Download two mp3s samples from the upcoming Nine album "Killing Angels": "Inferno" and "Discontent OD". Look for it in stores around August/September on Burning Heart.

Logh has been announced as the support act for Fireside on their upcoming Swedish tour. Congrats! And besides that, they've got quite a bit of other touring coming up. The dates:

03/20 - Prinzenbar (Docks), Hamburg, GER
03/21 - Magnet, Berlin, GER
03/22 - Starclub, Dresden, GER w/The Kills
03/23 - Gebaedue 9, Köln, GER w/The Faint
03/24 - Normal Records, Köln, GER
03/26 - La route du rhum, Nantes, FRA
03/27 - Local Transmission, Bordeaux, FRA
03/28 - Atzavara Club, St Feliu de Guixols, Girona, ESP
03/29 - Sala Moby Dick, Madrid, ESP w/The Donnas
03/30 - Sala Azkena, Bilbao, ESP
04/02 - Le Gibus, Besançon, FRA
04/03 - BOA, Luzern, CH
04/04 - Rockplanet, Pinarella di Cervia, ITA
04/07 - Szene Wien, Wien, A w/Cameran
04/08 - Orange House, Munich, GER
04/09 - Schlachthof, Wiesbaden, GER
04/10 - Schwimbad Musik Club, Heidelberg, GER
04/12 - La Guintuette Pirate, Paris, FRA
04/13 - Freebutt, Brighton, UK
04/14 - 93ft East , London, UK
04/15 - Club Fandango @ Dublin Castle, London, UK
04/16 - Sticky Fingers, Gothenburg, SWE w/Fireside
04/18 - Grand, Uppsala, SWE w/Fireside
04/24 - Herrgårn, Linköping, SWE w/Fireside
04/25 - Village, Västerås, SWE w/Fireside
04/29 - Kägelbanan, Stockholm, SWE w/Fireside
04/30 - Blå, Oslo, NOR w/Fireside
05/01 - Mejeriet, Lund, SWE w/Fireside

The Sounds say they are playing San Diego tonight on their website. No word on what club, but I'm sure if you're down there it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Zillion Digits aka David Sandström (ex-Refused) will be playing Klubb Modos in Umeå on March 22. I've been hearing good things about this, so check it out if you can.

Download an mp3 of 69-Hard's song "The Bullets", taken from the forthcoming album "Blues From Hell" due out April 11 on Idle Hands Records. Preorders are being taken at the label's website so act now, especially if you want a copy of the limited 3-song single.

There's going to be a new comp coming out called "Nordic Favourites" featuring 17 tracks from 17 artists including Silje Nergaard, Gåte, Bel Canto, Morten Abel, Maria Mena, The Rasmus, Junior Senior, The Sounds, Kristofer Åström, The Crash, and Lordi. Look for a "massive" Nordic TV ad campaign in the near future.

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. v/a - Melodifestivalen 2003
02. Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
03. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
04. The Refreshments - On the rocks
05. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
06. Wilmer X - Lyckliga hundar
07. Fernandoz - Vem får din kärlek i natt
08. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
09. Emil Sigfridsson - Tillbaka till igår
10. v/a - Fame Factory volym 4
11. Kikki Bettan Lotta - Live från Rondo
12. The Sounds - Living in America
13. Robyn - Don´t stop the music
14. Kajsa Grytt - Är vi på väg hem?
15. The Knife - Deep Cuts
16. Ted Gärdestad - Droppar av solregn
17. Anders Widmark featuring Sara Isaksson - s/t
18. Magnus Uggla - Klassiska mästerverk
19. Barbados - Rewind
20. A Teens - New arrival

Lars Winnerbäck's new album "Söndermarken" has already gone gold in Sweden. Look for him on tour this summer over there.

This week's Swedish college radio chart (from Dagensskiva):

Leaving the chart:
(09) Whyte Seeds "Slow Motions"
(15) USCB Allstars "Watch Me Roll"
(16) Dj Format Ft. Chali 2na & Akil "We Know Something You Don't Know"
(17) Simian "La Breeze"
(18) Håkan Hellström "Den fulaste flickan i världen"
(19) Lars Winnerbäck "Åt samma håll"
(20) Millencolin "E20 Norr"

Kent has lined up another show this summer: the Park festival in Moss, Norway on June 14. Also playing are Kaizers Orchestra and Vibeke Saugestad.

UPDATED: Finntroll, Impaled Nazarene, and (maybe) Children of Bodom will be doing a benefit/memorial show at Nosturi in Helsinki on March 25 for Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta. The price of entry will be a 10 euros dontation with all proceeds going to cover expenses for Teemu's family. The funeral will be on March 29.

The Finnish band Amorphis have signed with EMI to release their next album, the self-produced "Far From The Sun". The first single "Day Of Your Beliefs" comes out in April, the album to follow in May. This will be the band's first major label release following a long relationship with Relapse Records.

Nine's new album has been pushed back to a August/September release, but Jacob Bannon (Converge) has signed on to do the artwork.

On March 28 The Knife will release the third single from their latest album "Deep Cuts". The track is called "You Take My Breath Away" and it featured guest vocals from Jenny Wilson. The b-sides will be two remixes by Emmon and Puppetmasters. A video is also on the way from Puppetmasters member Henry Moore Selder.

Division of Laura Lee will have a CD of their old material reissued in the US this spring from Lovitt Records. It's gonna be called "97-99" and Chad Clark at Inner Ear did the mastering. In the meantime, you can download a preview mp3 on this page.

Remember that item I posted about The Haunted being upset with their label Earache? Well, it seems that singer Marco Aro is calling that whole interview "total bullshit". Read more. (from Blabbermouth)

Katatonia has put up a third and final sample from their forthcoming album on their website. This one's called "Ghost of the Sun". I managed to track down a copy of the three-song promo they released and can report that it definitely sounds good. I'm excited to hear the full-length when it finally comes out on March 24.

The new video for HIM's "Funeral of Hearts" premieres February 28 on Viva, Viva Plus and MTV Central. TV4 in Finland will debut it March 4 on 4POP along with a 'Making of the Video' program.

Listen to P3 between 8 and 9pm on March 4 to hear The Sonnets perform a few live acoustic tracks and do an interview.

Promopop will be holding a showcase event at Lava/Kulturhuset in Stockholm on April 26. The bands scheduled to perform: Wendy, By Heart, The Alpine (DK), Planet Superfly, The Leeches, and Paris.

a-ha has announced the title of their new double live album will be "How Can I Sleep With Your Voice in My Head". It doesn't come out until March 24, but you can listen to preview snippets here. The tracklist:

CD1
Forever Not Yours
Minor Earth Major Sky
Manhattan Skyline
I’ve Been Losing You
Crying In The Rain
The Sun Always Shines On TV
Did Anyone Approach You?
Swing Of Things
Lifelines
Stay On These Roads
Hunting High And Low
Take On Me
Living Daylights
Summer Moved On

CD2
Scoundrel Days
Oranges On Appletrees
Cry Wolf
Dragonfly
Time and Again
Sycamore Leaves
Video track: tour diary

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. Emil Sigfridsson - Tillbaka till igår
02. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
03. The Sounds - Living in America
04. Barbados - Rewind
05. Robyn - Don´t stop the music
06. Kikki Bettan Lotta - Live från Rondo
07. v/a - Fame Factory volym 3 final 2002
08. Thomas Rusiak - In the sun
09. A Teens - New arrival
10. Melody Club - Music machine
11. The Knife - Deep Cuts
12. Slaptones - Simplify
13. Magnus Uggla - Klassiska mästerverk
14. The Haunted - One kill wonder
15. Christian Kjellvander - Songs from a two-room chapel
16. Helen Sjöholm - Visor
17. Björn Skifs - Ingen annan
18. Nicke & Nilla - Pannkakor med sylt
19. Johannes Kotschy - And that's why I love you
20. Eric Gadd - Life support

This week's Swedish college radio chart (from Dagensskiva):

Leaving the chart:
(09) The Cardigans "For What It's Worth"
(13) Fireside "Throw It Away"
(16) Mull Historical Society "The Final Arrears"
(17) Reef "Give Me Your Love"
(19) Eminem "Sing For The Moment"
(20) Her Majesty "I'm Fire C'mon!"

"Sweden's most requested demoband" Florence Valentins will be putting out an EP on April 14 called "Allt Dom Bygger Upp Ska Vi Meja Ner". The band plans to play a number of festival gigs this summer, too.

Gloria has a new album called "People Like Me And You" coming out on March 24. The first single will be a cover of the Talking Heads song "This Must Be The Place".

After touring the US for four weeks together, Cato Salsa Experience and The Soundtrack of Our Lives will play together again - this time in Malmö on March 7 and Lund on the 8th.

Stratovarius has announced they will be filming their upcoming show in Milan, Italy for release on a future DVD. The band also says they will be performing a 'secret' show in their native Finland sometime before their next tour. Look for details to be announced on their webpage.

Looptroop is heading out on a European tour with The Chords and Timbuktu as support. The dates:

1/22 - Jyväskyla (SF) Lutakko (no support)
1/23 - Tampere (SF) Klubi (no support)
1/24 - Helsinki (SF) Nosturi (no support)
1/29 - Luleå Fär1/(no support)
1/30 - Luleå Fär1/(no support) All Ages
1/31 - Umeå Corona (no support)
2/01 - Östersund Folkets Hus (no support)
2/07 - Växjö Popstad (no support)
2/12 - Stockholm Fasching
2/13 - Köpenhamn (DK) Vega
2/14 - Hamburg (D) Phonodrom
2/16 - Siegen (D) TBA
2/18 - Gent (B) De Centrale
2/21 - Lasarte (E) Zulo
2/22 - Madrid (E) Aqualung
2/23 - Barcelona (E) Apolo
2/25 - Milano (I) 111 Coctail Bar
2/26 - Lausanne (CH) Casino De Montbenon
2/27 - Basel (CH) Kaserne
2/28 - Wil (CH) Remise
3/01 - Biel (CH) La Coupole
3/02 - Linz (A) KAPU
3/03 - Wien (A) B72
3/04 - Bratislava (CS) Bajkal
3/05 - Prague (CS) Rock Café
3/06 - München (D) Backstage
3/08 - Bremen (D) Moments/ Ring The Alarm

Nine reports they are finished with their new album and expect it to be out in late April or early May. No titles or anything yet, but they say they finished 10 songs total and LG Petrov (Entombed) makes a guest appearance.

For those interested, Pitchforkmedia.com totally skewers "Behind the Music" from The Soundtrack of Our Lives in this review today.

Swedish composer Krister Hansén will be having a premiere of the piece "1" at Scandinavia House New York on February 2. The ensemble Acidophilus will be performing the music, which is to be accompanied by the video work "Shovel" by artist Pernilla Edholm.

Preview the cover for the new Lullacry album "Crucify My Heart". It will be out in Finland on February 17 from Spinefarm Records and the rest of Europe on March 17 from Century Media.

The upcoming album "Welfare Problems" from the band Randy got a set release date. Look for it April 21 on Burning Heart. Jocke Åhlund (Caesars Palace) produced. I'm excited - the last record was great and I think they just keep getting better and better.

The Virtues will having a big party on February 6 at Tantogarden in Stockholm to celebrate the release of their debut album "Ruminate". Look for it on Crying Bob in Sweden or from Zip Records in the US come April.

Falconer singer Mathias Blad has been replaced by Destiny frontman Kristoffer Göbel because of his unwillingness to tour. Blad will still stay involved with the band they say, as he will be tapped to help out with backing vocals on future recordings. And speaking of future recordings, the band is getting ready to enter Los Angered Studios to work on their next album, due late 2003 on Metal Blade. "It will be a concept album," the band says, "but fear not... it will not be one of those weird concept albums. The music is mostly as it has been but with one lyrical story throughout the whole album."

Nine are currently recording their new album at Dug Out Studio in Uppsala. Look for it April 28 on Burning Heart Records.

Looks like Division of Laura Lee managed to get their upcoming US tour schedule solidified. The dates:

01.15 Brooklyn, Southpaw
01.16 New York, Mercury Lounge
01.17 Washington DC, Black Cat
01.18 Boston, TT Bears
01.19 Philadelphia, The Kyber
01.20 Montreal, Cabaret 500
01.22 Toronto, Horseshoe Tavern
01.23 Detroit, Small's
01.24 Chicago, Double Door
01.25 Minneapolis, 400 Bar
01.26 Lawrence, Bottleneck
01.27 Boulder, Tulagi
01.28 Salt Lake City, Xscape (small room)
01.30 Vancouver, Richards on Richards
01.31 Portland, Satyricon
02.01 Seattle, Crocodile Café
02.03 San Francisco, Bottom Of The Hill
02.04 Pomona, Glass House small room
02.05 Los Angeles, Troubadour
02.06 San Diego, Brick By Brick

Put up another track from that "We Love You" comp tribute to the Rolling Stones. Today's selection is "Miss You" from The Concretes.

Pain mainman Peter Tägtgren has revealed his plans to do an all-cover album. Some of the potential selections are The Beatles - "I Am The Walrus", Ultravox - "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", and Johnny Cash - "Ring Of Fire". Tägtgren also said he's done with about nine tracks for the next album and that the direction is even more "groovy" and nü-metal than before. "like Korn when they are at their absolutely heaviest" he says. Um well, good for him says me.

Kasual Records has got the new cds from Ariel Kill Him and The New Mess available for preorder. They're even offering a 15% discount and promise to get all orders from this week out and in mailboxes by Christmas. Check it.

After they release the new album, Cult of Luna will be doing a couple dates in Sweden with The Haunted and Merciless. If you're in Nottingham, UK you can check em out tonight at Rock City, but here's the other dates:

02.14.03 - Göteborg, Sticky Fingers
02.15.03 - Örebro, Contan
02.16.03 - Stockholm, Klubben

The Sounds' single for "Living in America" has gone gold in Sweden. The new one for "Seven Days A Week" will be out January 13.

It may not concern Swedish bands, but a reunited Twisted Sister has been confirmed as the headliner for the upcoming Sweden Rock festival to take place June 6-8, 2003 in Sölvesborg, Sweden. The other confirmed acts so far are Blind Guardian (GER), Jethro Tull (UK), Y&T (US), Krokus (GER), Budgie (UK), Kamelot (US), Peer Günt (FIN), Sonata Arctica (FIN), and Tankard (GER). And yes, TS will be wearing full make-up. Awesome.

The new album from Amon Amarth "Versus The World" will see a US release on January 14. A limited 2xCD "Viking Edition" will be available, filled with various demo tracks and a remastered version of the band's first EP. A European tour around April is also in the works.

Apparently Caesars Palace will have to be known as The Caesars outside Sweden. The tour with t(I)NC may have been cancelled, but I still think they're just about to break to the big time.

Wanna win a copy of the latest Hellacopters single "Carry Me Home"? Find the name of the artist who originally recorded the b-side "Big Guns" and email it with your name and address to hellacopters_com@hotmail.com before December 15. They've got 10 copies to give away, so get on it.

Bjorn Olsson's (ex-TSOOL, Union Carbide Productions) second album "UPA" just came out and is available in the US from Forced Exposure. Aquarius Records has a review and some samples in their new release list this week, too. If you're into psychedelic instrumental music, you should definitely check it out.

Nine only got to do 2 of the 8 shows planned with Motörhead before getting the boot from the tour. Seems that Lemmy felt the band Meldrum was more important and Nine had to go. The band says there's no hard feelings, but I bet they're bummed - I know I would be. Unfortunate, but that's the way it goes, I guess.

Division of Laura Lee are gathering all sorts of press as they continue to conquer America. Check out this feature from muchmusic.com. There's even more over at burningheart.com.

Nine is set to tour Scandinavia along with Motörhead during the second half of November. After that they'll be going into Dug Out studios in Uppsala, Sweden with Daniel Bergstrand and Örjan Örnklo on December 1st to record a new album.

The Ark got themselves a little boutique of sorts over at Hotstuff.se. Check it out.

Get a preview of Håkan Hellström's new album here. I'm not fully decided about my opinion of it overall, but there are most definitely a couple of outstanding tracks. Aftonbladet gives it 5 stars. The album comes out next week.

Per Sinding-Larsens and Mathias Engstrands' documentary about the band Kent entitled "Så nära får ingen gå - ett år med Kent" gets its premiere on the 27th at the Popcorn Film Festival in Stockholm.

Yet another Swedish rock feature from Rolling Stone. There's also a "Who's who in Swedish rock". Check it out, there's some great quotes from the seven bands profiled.