Artist: Satyricon

Viewing posts 121-131 out of 131

A new song from Marit Bergman on the right today. She was kinda vanilla to me at first, but the album has really started to grow on me. Nothing mindblowing, but still a good listen.

Curious about the new Bjön Olsson album that comes out today? Read all about it.

Check out this video of Supersilent playing live from The Wire's website.

Randy will do five dates in their native Sweden before heading out on the road across Europe in support of their forthcoming album. The itinerary so far:

4/24 - Melkweg Amsterdam (NL)
4/25 - W 2 Den Bosch (NL)
4/26 - Groezrock Meerhout (BE)
4/27 - Live Music Hall Cologne (GER)
4/29 - Logo Hamburg (GER)
4/30 - Columbia Fritz Berlin (GER)
5/01 - Musikzentrum Hannover (GER)
5/02 - Alter Stadsbanhof Schweinfurt (GER)
5/03 - Exil Trier (GER)
5/04 - Backstage Munchen (GER)
5/06 - Conrad Sohm Dornbin (AUT)
5/07 - Arena Vienna (AUT)
5/08 - Orpheum Graz (AUT)
5/09 - La Gabbia Bassano (IT)
5/10 - Leoncavallo Milan (IT)
5/13 - Kaserne Basel (CH)
5/14 - Remise Wil (CH)
5/15 - Abart Zurich (CH)
5/16 - MJC Lyon (F)
5/17 - Mephisto Barcelona (ESP)
5/18 - Gruta 77 Madrid (ESP)
5/20 - Roxy Valencia (ESP)
5/21 - Nashville Vigo (ESP)
5/22 - Cafe Albenitz Gijon (ESP)
5/23 - Atzavara Girona (ESP)
5/24 - Le Fuzz La Roche Sur (F)
5/24 - Mondo Bizarro Rennes (F)
5/26 - Festival Tours (F)
5/28 - Wedgewood Room Portsmouth (UK)
5/29 - Academy Birmingham (UK)
5/30 - Josephs Well Leeds (UK)
5/31 - King Tuts Wah Hut Glasgow (UK)
6/03 - Garage London (UK)

Here's the official press release regarding Håkan Hellström's departure from Broder Daniel.

Johan Bergqvist started recording a new single for the song "This Could Be Our Time" this past weekend. He may even film a video for it, too. Candidates for b-sides include "Waiting" and "Endure", but nothing has been decided yet. Look for it around May.

Sahara Hotnights are doing the Carson Daly show on February 27. Wanna be in the audience? The show tapes that Thursday afternoon at 30 Rockefeller Center in NYC. It's free, but also first-come-first-served, so send an email to lastcallaudience@nbc.com with the subject 'Hotnights' plus your full name, age and number of tickets desired in the body. Oh, and it's limited to people 16 and older.

Finland's HIM have set what they declare to be the final tracklist for the new album "Love Metal":

01. Buried Alive By Love
02. The Funeral of Hearts
03. Beyond Redemption
04. Sweet Pandemonium
05. Soul on Fire
06. The Sacrament
07. This Fortress of Tears
08. Circle of Fear
09. Endless Dark
10. The Path

A limited edition version will include the bonus track "Love's Requiem". The album comes out on April 14 for most of Europe.

Norweigan singer/songwriter Askil Holm gets to have about a minute of his music featured in the new film "Agent Cody Banks" directed by Harald Zwarts. It stars Frankie Muniz of "Malcolm in the Middle" fame and premieres March 8 in LA.

Here's the winners of the Spelleman Awards which took place in Norway on Saturday:

Best Spellemann: Röyksopp
Pop group: Ephemera - "Balloons and Champagne"
Best newcomer: Gåte - "Jygri"
Electronica: Salvatore - "Tempo"
Best video: Röyksopp - "Remind Me"
Metal: Satyricon - "Volcano"
Pop soloist: Thomas Dybdahl - "That Great October Sound"
Rock: Madrugada - "Grit"
Hip-hop: Paperboys - "No Cure For Life"

A full list of winners can be found here.

No, Soundtrack of Our Lives did not win a Grammy and I'm really not surprised. The competition was tough and Coldplay won the 'best alternative album' category. Still, it's pretty cool that they were even nominated. Next time, eh?

"SATANIC! SICK! UGLY!" Arch Enemy's Michael Amott has posted a new studio report on their website. Check it out.

Crystal Committee just released their new album and the response has been great, including record of the week on Swedish student and national radio. They're also planning on doing a full Swedish tour in spring, but for now you can check 'em at these two dates in Stockholm:

3/1 - Debaser
3/11 - Kafe 44

From Timo Isoaho / Sonera Plaza Kaista by way of Blabbermouth:

Swedish high-energy thrashers The Haunted have fulfilled their contractual obligations to Earache Records and have no intentions of re-signing with the label, according to frontman Marco Aro. "Earache are lying to us all the time," he told Finland's Kaista. "According to them, we have sold only ONE thousand copies of the last album in the States even though we've done headlining tours over there. You know, Earache doesn't keep any records that would reveal how many albums have been pressed and so on, so we have no idea how many albums we have actually sold.

"When we signed to Earache, we actually [inherited] At the Gates' old contract [as per the leaving member's clause in the agreement]," he added. "So when we got some royalties from our first album, all that money went to pay back the debts that At the Gates had with the label.

"Entombed's situation with Earache was the 'funniest'," Aro continued. "Earache was built from the money that they made by selling the early records from Napalm Death and Entombed. Anyway, [former Entombed drummer] Nicke Andersson saw some of the Earache guys when he was doing a show in London with The Hellacopters, and he asked them if he should perhaps be collecting some money from them in back royalties. The Earache guys were like, 'Yeah, sure.' Guess what Nicke got from them later? 25 pounds and one 'Monkey Puss' live video! (laughs)"

According to Aro, it was Earache's unwillingness to properly fund the group's recently-released DVD, "Caught On Tape", that resulted in the final product not being of the high standard that the band had hoped for.

"Well, it's ok, there's two shows and everything," Marco said of the DVD. "But it could have been better, too. We were supposed to get really good digital video camera from our record company when we went to tour US with Cannibal Corpse and Dimmu Borgir. We were supposed to shoot some material for the DVD... Well, we got that camera when there was two shows left in the tour. And then, when we asked if we could shoot some material from the summer festivals with that camera, we were told that this was not OK and we had to return the camera to the record company. By the way, our first idea was to release the live DVD and live album in one package at a special price. But that was not OK with Earache..."

Of course, this really shouldn't sound all that new to you if you follow the metal scene. Earache Records has been notorious for ripping bands off in the past and many, many allegations have been tossed their way. I was under the impression they were trying to make up for past mistakes, but I guess that's not the case. I only hope that other promising, young bands like Cult of Luna don't get crushed by the label.

Speaking of jumping labels, In Flames is apparently shopping around for a new contract now that they've furfilled their obligation to Nuclear Blast. Do I see a major in their future? I don't doubt it - the band is really doing quite well over here in the States. Expect negotiations to be wrapped up around spring they say. In other news, the band is currently filming a video for the track "Trigger" and plan to have it ready by the end of March.

Okay, here's the winners of the Swedish Grammis:

Best artist: Kent
Best song: Kent - "Dom andra"
Best album: Kent - "Vapen & ammunition"
Best pop/rock group: Kent
Best pop/rock, female: Robyn
Best pop/rock, male: Håkan Hellström - "Det är så jag säger det"
Best newcomer: The Sounds
Best lyrics: Joakim Berg (Kent)
Best composer: Joakim Berg (Kent)
Best producer: Martin von Schmalensee, Zed (Kent)
Best hard-rock: Opeth - "Deliverance"
Best jazz: Oddjob - "Oddjob"
Best folk: Stefan Sundström - "Sundström spelar Allan"
Best club/dance: Koop - "Waltz for Koop"
Best hip-hop/soul: Timbuktu - "Watt's dö madderfakking diil"
Open category: v/a - "Nationalsånger"
Government export prize: The Hives

Jeez, does Kent really need to win any more awards? I mean, c'mon now! Anyhow, for the full list of winners, go here. (in Swedish)

Your Halo Is A Radar have been disbanded. Why? Lack of time, careers, paranoia, creative differences, blah blah blah... The usual crap.

Read the full statement from the band.

In Flames reports they are in the middle of working on new material for an album to come this summer. They also say they're excited about the upcoming Ministry/Mudvayne tour: "We are all getting eager to go out on the road again. After all, we´ve had 2½ months off now, and it´s about time to get out there and have some fun."

Here's some new Peter, Björn & John tourdates:

3/15 - Trondheim
3/16 - Oslo
3/22 - Stockholm, DJing at Debaser
3/25 - Jönköping
3/27 - Linköping, DJing at Herrgårn
3/28 - Hässleholm

Kristofer Åström is heading out on the road for probably the last time in awhile as he will most likely be concentrating on Fireside in the future. Here's the dates and be sure to check out his new EP "Dead End" when it comes out March 10:

3/14 - Helsingborg Tivoli - w/Peter Hermansson on piano
3/18 - Uppsala Katalin
3/19 - Sthlm Nalen
3/20 - Malmö KB
3/21 - Lund Stadshallen
3/22 - Göteborg Bommens Salonger
3/23 - Umeå Stationen - w/Peter Hermansson on piano

A number of new bands have been confirmed for the Emmaboda fest including Cato Salsa Experience, Paris, Björns Vänner, Pamplonas, La Masa and Bring Me The Fucking Riot Man. Paris and Cato Salsa have also both been confirmed for this year's Hulsfred fest along with Cult of Luna.

The winners of this year's Norweigan Alarm awards are as follows:

Best live band: Turbonegro
Best metal album: Satyricon - Volcano
Best pop album: Thomas Dybdahl – That Great October Sound
Best rock album: JR Ewing – Ride Paranoia
Best music video: Kaada – No You Don't
Best hip-hop/rap album: Gatas Parlament – Holdning over underholdning
Best jazz album: Dadafon – Visitor
Best song: Satyricon – Fuel For Hatred
Best electronica/techno album: Jaga Jazzist – The Stix
Alarm prize: Ephemera

Metal-Reference.com recently did an interesting interview with Ulver mainman Trickster G aka Garm. Read it here.

Carcrash Records has set the release dates for Dialog Cet's "Konsumera Era" on March 24 and QGMR's "Quiet Is Not Loud" on March 3.

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - In The Shadows
02. The Cardigans - For What It´s Worth
03. User - You Belong
04. Trucker - I Feel So Sick
05. Caesars Palace - Candy Kane
06. Beats & Styles - Smilin´
07. The Raveonettes - Attack Of The Ghostriders
08. Jon - Right Here Next To You
09. Paperboys - Find My Way

Challengers:
01. Kaah -Du Kan Få Mej
02. Freak Kitchen - Nobody´s Laughing
03. St. Thomas -Long, Long Time
04. Winta - Emotions
05. Blues - Gamla Tider

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

Check out this video of The Cardigans playing live on MTV's Morning Glory.

All the new material is ready and we have also mastered our own pre-production and it sounds awesome in our ears. We rehearse like we are possessed every day and will continue to do so until we go into studio.

That's Silenoz of Dimmu Borgir talking about the band's preparations to go into Studio Fredman on March 3 to record their new album.

Cult of Luna will touring the UK with ISIS in March. If you like heavy music, I highly recommend you check both these bands out. The dates so far:

3/12 – Manchester, UK - Roadhouse
3/13 – Cardiff, UK - Ms1
3/14 – Brighton, UK - Concorde
3/15 – London, UK - Mean Fiddler

Don't forget to watch The Soundtrack of Our Lives tonight on The Late Show with David Letterman.

69-Hard will be filming the video for "Gone Gone Gone" this weekend. The track is the first single for the upcoming album "Blues from Hell", to be released sometime in February. The album comes out late March on Idle Hands Records.

Moonfog labelmates Khold will joining Satyricon on their upcoming European tour. Dates are here.

The split 7" from The Hives and The Pricks will see a fourth and final pressing in February. Only 100 copies will be available for mailorder, so pre-order it now from Hard-on Records.

The New Mess is now a quartet as live guitarist Adam has decided to sign on fulltime. Look for them to be playing a lot more around Sweden very soon.

Opeth is doing very well with their current US tour. A number dates are already sold out, so if you plan on seeing them you should get your tickets ASAP.

Most anticpated releases of 2003? Read what MTVE.com has to say on the issue. Besides the new Cardigans album, the list of anticpated Nordic releases in on page two and three.

Christian Kjellvander will be doing a Scandinavian tour starting at the end of the month in support of his fantastic "Songs from a Two-Room Chapel". The dates so far:

1/29 - Hultsfred / Metropol
1/30 - Linköping / Herrgår´n
2/1 - Sandviken / Dinos
2/5 - Sandviken / Kungen
2/6 - Umeå / Humlan
2/7 - Skellefteå / Pinkerton
2/8 - Östersund / Gamla Teatern
2/22 - Lund / Stadshallen Feat. Ebreliuskvartetten
2/23 - Göteborg / TBA Feat. Ebreliuskvartetten
2/24 - Uppsala / Katalin Feat. Ebreliuskvartetten
2/25 - Stockholm / Södra Teatern Feat. Ebreliuskvartetten
2/26 - Malmö / KB Feat. Ebreliuskvartetten
3/5 - Oslo / So What
3/7 - Halmstad / Diezelfestival
3/8 - Nybro / Mejeriet
3/14 - Norrköping / Kulturkammaren
3/15 - Jönköping / Kulturhuset

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

01. Melody club - Music machine
02. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
03. The Sounds - Living in America
04. Robyn - Don´t stop the music
05. v/a - Fame factory vol 2
06. Håkan Hellström - Det är så jag säger det
07. Christian Kjellvander - Songs from a two-room chapel
08. Eric Gadd - Life support
09. The Hellacopters - By the grace of god
10. Björn Skifs - Ingen annan
11. Kent - B-sidor 95-00
12. Hans Martin - Landet där solen ej går ner
13. Mando Diao - Bring´em in
14. Roxette - Ballad hits
15. v/a - Fame Factory volym 1
16. Joybells Gospel Choir - Oh happy day - 14 gospel klassiker
17. v/a - Chess - på svenska
18. Fredrik Kempe - Songs for your broken heart
19. Anders Widmark ft. Sara Isaksson - Anders Widmark ft. Sara Isaksson
20. The Ark - In lust we trust

Håkan Hellström is going to be doing a Scandinavian tour, too. The dates:

2/19 - Lillehammer, Bingo'n
2/20 - Sogndal, Meieriet
2/21 - Oslo, Rockefeller
2/22 - Bodö, Samfundet
2/26 - Kristiansand, Vaskeriet
2/27 - Stavanger, Folken
2/28 - Bö, Kroa
3/1 - Ålesund, Högskolen
3/2 - Halden, Studenthuset

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.

Dagbladet's top 10 Norweigan artists for 2002:

1. Jaga Jazzist - "The Stix"
2. Dadafon - "Visito"
3. Thomas Dybdahl - "That Great October Sound"
4. Jim Stärk - "Ten Songs and Hey Hey"
5. Satyricon - "Volcano"
6. Gåte - "Jygri"
7. Salvatore - "Tempo"
8. Tungtvann - "Mørketid"
9. Safariari - "Zebra Knights"
10. JR Ewing - "Ride Paranoia"

How about some 2002 lists from the paper VG out of Norway?

Kurt Bakkemoen
1. Odd Børretzen/Lars-Martin Myhre - "Kelner!"
2. Come Shine - "Do do that voodoo"
3. Vamp - "Månemannen"
4. Maria Mena - "Maria Mena"
5. Gåte - "Jygri"

Espen Arnold Hansen
1. Satyricon - "Volcano"
2. The Margarets - "What Kept You?"
3. Big Bang - "Frontside Rock 'n' Roll"
4. Gluecifer - "Basement Apes"
5. Ugress - "Resound"

Stein Østbø:
1. Elias Akselsen - "Hjemlandsklokker"
2. Gåte - "Jygri"
3. Vamp - "Månemannen"
4. Thomas Dybdahl - "That Great October Sound"
5. Tungtvann - "Mørketid"

Hammerfall's latest album "Crimson Thunder" has gone gold in Sweden with sales of over 30,000.

Nostradameus will be releasing their third album "The Third Prophecy" on January 27. Hey guys, it'sreally not that clever.

The Gathering has confirmed their new album "Souvenirs" will come out February 24 in most of Europe on their own Pyschonaut Records. Scandinavia and North America will have to wait until March 12.

Some general housekeeping: I updated the About page. Not quite a FAQ, but just some issues I wanted to address.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives just keep racking up accolades from all over the place. Most recently, "Behind the Music" was named Entertainment Weekly's #2 album of the year:

As their name implies, these Swedish rockers are all about distilling the essence of their fave art-rock, psychedelic, folk, and punk bands into a bold, tuneful brew. You'll hear echoes of the Kinks, the Beatles, Love, and Pink Floyd here. But what's really exciting is that Soundtrack may be the first group in ages that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as its idols.

And that's not all! TSOOL also made Empyre Lounge's top 50 at #47:

A Swedish rock group taking the States by storm? No not those Swedes, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives is the second Swedish rock export that put out a killer disc this year. With more pop sense than their Swedish brethren The Hives, TSOOL have put together an impressive display of glam guitars and keyboards, with some psychedelic vibes mixed in.

And yes, The Hives get honored there too, coming in at #17:

Another one of the discs that doesn't really belong here since it is a couple years old but this it he first year the Hives have been in the mainstream. Frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist owes all his moves to Mick Jagger but the music is more like good ole Americans, the Stooges, and the MC5. Just under a half hour, Veni Vidi Vicious is the perfect shot in the ass that music needed this year.

The First Time Records put up a couple mp3s on their website. There isn't much else there as the new site isn't finished (how long has it been in the works guys?), but TFT is the label that put out Kevlar, Cobolt (ex-Refused) and a number of other groups in the States.

See the video for "Oh Night" from Christian Kjellvander right here: 56 / 100 / 300 (Windows Media)

Nicolai Dunger will be coming back to the US to play 2 shows at the Sundance Film Fest in Utah on January 17 & 18. After that, it's back to Europe. Dates are here.

Drummer Martin Svensson has left the Satanic Surfers. The band is currently taking a break after a long tour, but will resume work on new material shortly.

If you can, be sure to catch Hederos & Hellberg at one of the duo's final concerts. Their last EP just came out and it's getting great reviews.

Dec. 19 - Paris (ExMS show w/Weeping Willows)
Dec. 20 - Stockholm
Jan. 10 - Oslo
Jan. 11 - Karlstad
Jan. 13 - Göteborg

Satyricon has announced the dates for their upcoming European tour:

Feb. 14 - Essen - Zeche Carl
Feb. 15 - Oss, NETH - Groene Engel
Feb. 16 - Vosselaar, BEL - Biebob
Feb. 17 - Amsterdam, NETH - Melkweg
Feb. 18 - Hengelo, NETH - Metropool
Feb. 19 - Groeninge, NETH - Vera
Feb. 21 - Bristol, UK - Academy
Feb. 22 - Bradford, UK - Rio
Feb. 24 - Glasgow, UK - King Tuts
Feb. 25 - London, UK - Mean Fiddler
Feb. 26 - Manchester, UK - Hope & Grape
Feb. 27 - Dublin, IRE - Temple Music C
Feb. 28 - Birmingham, UK - Academy
Mar. 02 - Nancy, FRA - Terminal Export
Mar. 03 - Paris, FRA - Locomotive
Mar. 04 - Bordeaux, FRA - T.B.A
Mar. 05 - Vitoria, ESP - sala Azkena
Mar. 06 - Porto, POR - Hard Club
Mar. 07 - Lisabon, POR - Paradise Garage
Mar. 08 - Madrid, ESP - Caracol
Mar. 09 - Barcelona, ESP - KGB
Mar. 11 - Marseille, FRA - T.B.A
Mar. 12 - Milan, ITA - Transilvania
Mar. 13 - Rome, ITA - Horus
Mar. 14 - Treviso, ITA - New Age
Mar. 15 - Wil, SWI - Remise
Mar. 17 - Graz, AUT - Hafen
Mar. 18 - Vienna, AUT - Orphenum
Mar. 19 - München, GER - Metropolis
Mar. 20 - Frankfurt, GER - Batscchkapp
Mar. 21 - Berlin, GER - SO 36
Mar. 22 - Glauchau, GER - Alte Spinnerei
Mar. 23 - Hamburg, GER - Markthalle

Just got a copy of Thirdimension's "Protect Us from What We Want" from the good folks over at Parasol. Fans of The Soundtrack of Our Lives should take note, as they share the same kind of pop/psyche-rock sound. A full review over at indieworkshop will be up later this week, but for now you can download the first track on your right.

Holy shit! Check this out! Apparently, Yngwie Malmsteen was overheard making derogatory comments about homosexuals on a flight to Japan and an upset traveller dumped a cup of water on him. That mp3 is Yngwie's reaction caught on tape inluding comments such as "I don't a need a fucking cunt (to) come up to me and do that shit! See you in Tokyo bitch!" and "You've unleased the fucking fury!" Amazing! (from Blabbermouth)

Hypocrisy have started work on a new album. Expect a late 2003/early 2004 release.

Kasual Recordings is just about the release the new single from Ariel Kill Him entitled "Not Today, Not Tomorrow". It will contain two songs from the upcoming album plus an exclusive remix track and will only be available directly from the label. As for their new record, it's called "In the Pyramid" and will be out February 3.

Wanna see a bunch of record recommendations from various Norweigan artists such as Gluecifer, Turbonegro, Madrugada and more? Check this out. (in Norweigan) There will be a new artist added every day until Christmas.

The Ark visit Kenya? Read more here or here. (in Swedish)

Firesideomer just posted an interview with Kristofer Åström. It may not be very relevatory, but it's still pretty amusing. Check it out.

Moonfog will release the vinyl version of Satyricon's latest album "Volcano" in February.

Paola will perform her third and latest single live on MTV during the program Morning Glory this weekend.

Gluecifer will be heading into the studio on December 16 with producer Rings to record five songs for their next album.

Oh man, Mikkey Dee from Motörhead pulls no punches! Read what he has to say about Hammerfall:

Look at a band like Hammerfall and shit. They're going through the roof. When kids come up to me and say "Iron Maiden, they're almost as good as Hammerfall," there's something wrong, you know? I saw two kids with Iron Maiden-shirts, in Stockholm when me and Lemmy were there doing press, and I was sitting in the lobby waiting to get to the airport and I saw two eleven-year-olds with Iron Maiden t-shirts and I said, "Yeah, that's a great band you've got there" and they said, "Yeah, they're almost as good as Hammerfall, they sound exactly the same."

Then you realize there's something wrong here, you know. It's not a shit band, but it's incredible that they can hit the way they did. Anders is a great friend, and I hope to see Jens tonight. Someone told me that the Stratovarius guys are here. And the bass player, Magnus, he was the first bass player in Geisha. I fired his ass. He's an old friend since 25 years ago. So I'm glad for Magnus, and I'm glad for Anders. And Stefan is a good guy, the bald guitar player, he's good, but Joacim and Oscar, they can suck my cock. Because they really think they're god's gift to the planet, and I used to say don't shit on the ladder because you're going to climb on it on the way back. They pissed me off too much, let's say two years ago, by being rock stars. I've done this now for 22 years, around the world, and I'm no fucking rock star, I'm a normal guy, and I have a million friends around the world. They did a couple of fucking club shows and they were being the biggest rock stars you've ever seen in Gothenburg. It pissed me off because they were treating me almost the same way, and I said you should kiss my ass instead of throwing me out of the dressing room, you know? So I was pissed off. And Anders and Magnus, they had a long talk with Joacim and Oscar and said "Mikkey is really fucking pissed." So Oscar called me and he apologized and says he was so scared every time I showed up anywhere, and I said, "Oh, I'm not going to beat you up but you're still a fucking asshole." So they're like that when they see me. But I don't agree with that; I have a problem to see these fucking guys when they play one year then they're bigger than Mick Jagger. And the way they became big is by ripping off Helloween, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, even King Diamond stuff. I hear a complete rip off of some harmonies that are complete King Diamond stuff... And Helloween. And Accept. So, I mean, good luck to them, because I'm glad Magnus finally has a band, because he lived in an apartment of 27 square metres, for almost 20 years. He never had any money, he always played bass, he always stuck to his hard rock, and then he got a chance. I remember him calling me and saying, "Mikkey, I'm playing with a band called Hammerfall soon and we're going to do a tour," and I go, "Fucking great for you, Magnus." And then when Anders came into the band, he's a great drummer, that other guy was a fucking joke. So I'm happy for them. But I just can't agree on this rock star image, especially Oscar.

Read the rest of the interview with Metal Rules here. He actually talks a bit about the Scandinavian hard rock scene and dishes some dirt on W.A.S.P. and King Diamond, too.

The nominees for Norway's Alarm Awards have been announced. A sampling of the categories:

Pop: Jim Stärk, Monopot, Loch Ness Mouse, Hello Goodbye, and Thomas Dybdahl
Rock: We, JR Ewing, Gluecifer, Madrugada, and Gåte
Metal: Satyricon, Immortal, Red Harvest, Khold, and Arcturus
Live: Turbonegro, Jaga Jazzist, Gatas Parlament, JR Ewing, and Ralph Meyers & the Jack Herren Band

The Moonbabies report that they are now 3/4 of the way through recording their new album. It's scheduled for a March release on Chalksound in Europe and A Bouncing Space Recordings in the US. Here's a bit of what they had to say about it:

The new album sounds (at this point) like a hybrid between the more melodic parts of "June and Novas" and something totally colorful, new and unexplored. I definitely think we'll break some new ground with it. We started with a lot of songs and are on our way to narrowing down to twelve, or thirteen tracks. Funnily enough right now, we are working on an album of songs with no names. Unimaginary working titles like "apples" and "fear" are what we call the songs until they get finished lyrics and a real name, and it has been really hard to come up with the right titles for the this album. The best one's so far I think are "Bang goes another day" and "Fieldtrip U.S.A"... those I am proud of.

The band also finished their first ever video for the song "Over My Head". Filmed by the Swedish production company Colony and shot in Malmö, you can view it right here. (Requires Quicktime)

TSOOL is now confirmed to be entering the studio in January to work on their next record. Of course, you should have already suspected as such, but now we've got an official statement. As for their upcoming appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, frontman Ebbott had this to say:

"Being on the show will hopefully make a breakthrough easier, but you never know what effect these things have. But it's great fun!"

A Saturday Night Live appearance is apparently in the works, too. Pretty exciting!

Check out some new tunes in Real Audio from the folks at Promopop: By Heart - Catchy Music / The Leeches - World's End

Win some exclusive Motorpsycho stuff from NRK Stereo. (In Norweigan)

Recording of the new Entombed record is already beginning to wrap up. Expect a March release on Music for Nations.

Even more Entombed related news:

The band's Threeman Recording label is actually starting to get down to business. Entombed-side projects Murder Squad and The Project Hate MCMXCIX will be the first releases. There's also plans to do vinyl versions of the albums "Uprising" and "Morning Star".

Project Hate has parted ways with vocalist Mia Ståhl. That means they're looking for replacement female singer. Check their website for more details.

Washoe has apparently changed their name to Alpha Safari.

Uffe's old band Haystack has plans to do a one-off reunion gig in the near future. No date yet, but here's the band's lineup: Uffe - Guitar, vocals; Johan (Backyard Babies) - Bass; Jonas (The Maggots) - drums

Cobolt, featuring ex-Refused bassist Magnus Björklund, have a new album out on BCore Disc. It's called "Passoã". Fans of bands such as the Red House Painters might wanna check em out.

Håkan Hellström's new album "Det är så jag säger det" went straight to no. 1 on the Swedish music charts. Like no one saw that coming.

Hey, whaddya know? Marie Fredriksson is out of the hospital after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor and will be back in the studio soon to work on the next Roxette album.

"A Swedish Blondie?" Aftonbladet reviews the latest album from The Sounds and provides some samples to listen to here.

Christian Kjellvander is the band of the week over at MTVE.com. There's an interview posted and you can also view his video for "Oh Night". The track is also available to your right, in convenient mp3 form.

Starmarket has started working on material for their next record. They've got about 5 songs so far with the goal of finishing 10 by Christmas. Their statement on the matter:

Worth to mention is also our new way of working, writing together, sometimes from scratch, sometimes from some ones idea. As a matter of fact it's a long time since it was so much fun to do new stuff.

Satyricon's upcoming European tour has been postponed to early next year. They promise the new tour will be a "MUCH better one for the benefit of our fans, record company and Satyricon" and will be posting dates as they are confirmed.

All sorts of metal news today. Kinda fitting for the Halloween season, I guess.

Norweigen black-metal legends Emperor have a greatest hits package in the works from Candlelight Records. As for new stuff, ex-guitarist Samoth is busy on the next Zyklon album. Ex-drummer Faust is busy, too. He was recently released from prison (or is being released soon?) and will be playing on the upcoming Dissection album, which isn't due until 2004.

Check out the new Satyricon video for the track "Fuel for Hatred" here. The clip was directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who has previously worked with artists such as Metallica, Madonna, and The Prodigy.

The Haunted just finished recording their third album at Studio Fredman in Göteborg. Tentatively titled "One Kill Wonder", it is due to be released sometime early next year.

Hederos and Hellberg have decided to give it up. Here's the statement from their label Silence:

The great duo who started out as a cover project now call it a day. They don't have the time to combine all the projects they're involved in. An EP will be released in december and they'll play two gigs in Stockholm and Gothenburg. They'll also play one evening in Paris December 19.

Here's an article with more info, but it's in Swedish.

Founding member and bassplayer Nathias Lindh of Bombshell Rocks has left the band. Official statement at the band's website.

Kristofer Åström is the band of the week over at www.visions.de, homesite of German music magazine Visions.

Satyricon put up the final report from their recent Scandinavian tour. Check it.

I recorded today's Sahara Hotnights radio broadcast from Boston. Expect mp3s later this week.