Uprise Zine is holding an entertaining contest to give away free copies of the new US edition of "Sweet sweet Suicide" from Norwegian hardcore act Silence the Foe, out now on Lujo Records. Check it: http://www.uprisezine.com/contest.html

The details for the new Bear Quartet album have been revealed! The new album will be called "Saturday night" and in usual BQ fashion, will be preceded by an EP for the song "I have an itch". The tracklist for both:

I Have An Itch EP
01. I Have An Itch
02. An Epidemic Touch
03. I Am The Driver

Saturday Night
01. I Know My Owner
02. Birds are Singing in the Greenery
03. Loneliness Abandons the Lonely
04. I Have An Itch
05. I Speak Much English
06. Little Ghost
07. Weakling Keep Blinking
08. The Supremes
09. Today I Will Dress Up
10. Your Name Here
11. Class Trip
12. Death To The Bear Quartet

As mentioned before, the music is said to be much more on the electronic side of things and "impossible to play live." They themselves list Suicide, Black Grape and Enya as influences. Should be interesting, to say the least.

US label Lujo Records will be releasing the "Sweet sweet Suicide" EP from Norwegian hardcore act Silence the Foe in a special new version this coming September with two bonus tracks and two videos included on the disc. In other news, StF will be entering GrandSport Studio today with Christian Engfelt from Cato Salsa Experience to begin work on their debut full-length album.

Finnish mp3 blog Lupatarkastaja posts some new tracks from Jyväskylä-based dark metal act Obscurant: http://lupatarkastaja.samizdat.info/2005/06/17/obscurant-first-degree-Suicide-mp3/

Finland's Rotten Sound is touring the US in May:

05/13 - Studio S, Hollywood, CA w/Phobia, Blown to Bits, Terrorism, Society's Decay, Take Hold
05/14 - Arcadia Skate Hotel, Oakland, CA w/Phobia, Annihilation Time, Voetsek, Population Reduction
05/15 - Sabala's Mt Tabor, Portland, OR w/Phobia, Fall of the Bastards, Lord Gore
05/16 - Elcorazon, Seattle, WA w/Phobia, Skarp
05/17 - tba, Eugene, OR w/Fall of the Bastards
05/18 - The Playground, Sacramento, CA w/Fall of the Bastards, Kuru, Rebel's Advocate
05/19 - tba, OR w/Fall of the Bastards
05/20 - tba, Long Beach w/Phobia
05/21 - Voodoo, Tijuana (MEX) w/Phobia, Noctuary
05/23 - Knitting Factory, NYC w/Misery Index, Magrudergrind, Hope and Suicide
05/24 - The Hall On Smith St., Providence, RI w/Misery Index, Magrudergrind, Bane of Existence
05/25 - Cherry Street Station, Wallingford, CT w/Misery Index, Magrudergrind, Guerra
05/26 - The Roboto Project, Pittsburgh, PA w/Misery Index, Magrudergrind, Bodies Lay Broken, Spoonful Of Vicodin
05/27 - Speakeasy, Philadelphia, PA w/Misery Index, Magrudergrind, Total Fucking Destruction, Rottenness, With Immortality
05/28-29 - Thunderdome, Baltimore, MD w/Maryland Death Fest III

Live report: ExMS Swedish Showcase @ The Troubadour, LA 03/16/2005

More Pan Sonic dates:

02/15 - STUK Arts Centre, Louvain (BEL)
02/22 - Spazio Boario, Roma (ITA) w/Suicide
02/25 - tba, Pisa (ITA)
02/26 - tba, Ravenna (ITA)

Also from FE comes word that Finnish noise artists Mika Vainio and Ipso Vaisanen aka Pan Sonic will be collaborating once again with Alan Vega of Suicide for a release on the Mego label. Look for it sometime around March.

Streaming playlist: In rotation

Check out the press release for the brand new Soundtrack of Our Lives album "Origin (I)": http://tsool.net/origin_release.doc
Tracklist:

01. Believe I've found
02. Transcendental Suicide
03. Bigtime
04. Heading for a breakdown
05. Mother one track mind
06. Midnight children (Enfants de la Nuit)
07. Lone summer dream
08. Royal explosion II
09. Wheels of boredom
10. Borderline
11. Song for the others
12. The age of no reply

Some news from The Ricochets:

We are now preparing for our European tour starting 29th of September.Next week we´re gonna work in the studio with some new songs that we will try out on you on the tour. Trond has been writing some new stories from his life. Where the first album "Slo-mo Suicide" was about him moving to Oslo and the how life was treating (or threatening) him there, and the second album "The ghost of our love" was about one girl he couldn't have, and at last made him leave Oslo for good and move back to his mother in his hometown Fredrikstad, where he now works as a cook and where he found true love at last, the new material will be about .....well you have to wait and hear. You have all something to look forward to. I guess we will play between four to six new songs. The next record will be expected summer/autumn next year.

Tracklist for the upcoming "Slaughterous Souls - A Tribute to At The Gates" compilation coming in September from Drowned Scream Records and Goi Music:

01. Taetre (SWE) - "At The Gates"
02. Godhate (SWE) - "Kingdom Gone"
03. Mörk Gryning (SWE) - "Neverwhere"
04. Moonskin (ISR) - "Raped By The Light Of Christ"
05. Darkness By Oath (BAS) - "The Swarm"
06. Soul Demise (GER) - "Forever Blind"
07. Eternal Oath (SWE) - "The Fevered Circle"
08. Eternal Gray (ISR) - "Blinded By Fear"
09. Illdisposed (DK) - "Slaughter Of The Soul"
10. Enter Chaos (POL) - "Cold"
11. Detonation (HOL) - "Under A Serpent Sun"
12. Misanthrope (FRA) - "Suicide Nation"
13. Paganizer (SWE) - "Nausea"
14. Vile (US) - "Cold" (Live)
15. In Aeternum (SWE) - "Blood Run From The Altar" (Grotesque cover bonus track)

The CD package will also contain a 20-page booklet including comments from At the Gates members, a map of the band history and more. The sentiment is cool, but I'm not terribly impressed with that lineup. Who knows though? Could still be great.

The Ricochets are starting to put together a full European tour for September/October. Here's what they've got so far:

09/18 - In The City, Liverpool (UK)
10/01 - Flex, Vienna (AUS)
10/03 - Exil, Singen (GER)
10/04 - Nachtleben, Frankfurt Main (GER)
10/05 - Ziegel Rote Fabrik, Zürich (SWI)
10/06 - Fisherman's Cafè, Langenau (GER)
10/07 - ISC, Bern (SWI)
10/08 - Groovestation, Dresden (GER)
10/09 - Atomic Cafè, München (GER)
10/10 - Mudd Club, Berlin (GER)

As mentioned before, their albums "The Ghost of Our Love" and "Slo-mo Suicide" will be released across Europe in a special bundled edition on August 30 via Glitterhouse.

Norway's The Ricochets have signed a new record deal with Germany's Glitterhouse for a special release of the excellent album "The Ghost Of Our Love" across Europe. The new edition will contain not only "The Ghost....", but also the debut record "Slo-mo Suicide" for the price of one album. Look for it on August 30.

The Haunted have announced that "Subliminal Messages of Suicide Promotion" from fan Conner Tadena was the winning entry in their album title competition. They won't be using for the new record, but it may turn up at some point in the future.