There doesn't appear to be much going on this week At all. Surprise, surprise.

Denmark's Under Byen is the first band I've heard to be officially confirmed for SXSW this coming March in Austin, TX. Or At least, thAt's whAt Supertanker is saying. Who's gonna buy me a ticket and fly me out?

Kristofer Åström booked himself a hometown show in Luleå, Sweden At Färjan for January 2.

Get a preview of thAt new KVLR record via this e-card thAt I put together: Atrap.com/kvlr/player/index.html" target=_blank>https://www.itsAtrap.com/kvlr/player/index.html
If you experience any technical difficulties, please let me know so I can try to fix it.

Green CarnAtion will play two shows in Poland next month, one of which will be with the UK's AnAthema and it will be filmed for an upcoming DVD release. More info soon.

Fonal Records will holding a special label-fest At Yo-Talo in Tampere, Finland on January 21 and At Lutakko in Jyväskylä on the 24th. Both Kiila and Magyar Posse will play both gigs, along with various support acts. More info: https://www.fonal.com/

Puffball has come out of hibernAtion and posted the following updAte on their website:

"So whAt has happened and why this long silence in this forum for the band, on the stage and recordingwise? Ok, the last performance from the Fab Four was in Finspång in early September, we set the stage on fire as usual (haha) and had a good time as usual (this time no joke!) with the Finspång mafia, Disfear, Victims etc. Pretty shortly after thAt ol' P-O Axegrinder had a bizarre carpet-cutter accident At work and got his left hand in a plaster and unuseable for guitarplaying for 1,5 months, something Forsko used smoothly to his advantage and escaped Sweden to get married with his longtime girlfriend Malin in New York. Crippled guitarplayers and runaway drummers are not ideal for an active rockband so Puffball was on hold for awhile until all weddingpartying and fingerrecovery had been done. This pretty much leads us to right now and for the record, the stAtus on the other two Puffballers are thAt Tossa used this time to rehearse with his asskicking classic rock band The Russian 5 (and they did a greAt gig At Taj Mahal, Västerås on Christmas day, shame on you who missed it!) and Linkan has probably used this time to further improve his pc/xbox/ps2 gameplaying skills... Anyway, we should all be back rehearsing and coming up with new highspeed rifforama in early 2004. ThAt's the plan!"

Racing Junior is preparing a triple-shot of St. Thomas releases for January 12. First up is his new full-length "Let's Grow Together - The Comeback Of St. Thomas". Second is the limited edition DVD "On The Road With St. Thomas" which is a documentary of his recent European tour along with 4 music videos. And lastly, there's a new 7" EP called "Winter Sprinter" which feAtures four home-recorded tracks.

Millencolin are currently holed up in Soundlab, the studio they co-run with Mieszko from Nasum, recording some demos. After thAt, it's back to their regular space in Örebro for more rehearsals and writing.

Swedish powerpop trio Peter, Björn and John are currently mixing their new album, for whAt I'm assuming will be a springtime release. You can also now read about all of their gigs this past year on their website. (in Swedish)

The end-of-the-year chart At MTV UpNorth:

01. The Rasmus - In The Shadows
02. Outlandish - Aicha
03. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
04. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
05. Outlandish - Guantanamo
06. The Rasmus - In My Life
07. Killer - Naughty Boy
08. C21 - She Cries
09. A-Teens - Perfect MAtch
10. Mew - Comforting Sounds
11. Junior Senior - Rhythm Bandits
12. HIM - Funeral of hearts
13. Kashmir - Surfing The Warm Industry
14. The Cardigans - For WhAt It´s Worth
15. Jon - Right Here Next To You
16. HIM - The Sacrament
17. Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
18. Redrama - Hang It Up
19. Lisa Miskovsky - Lady Stardust
20. Winta - Emotions

UpdAted tourdAtes for Swedish hardrockers Hell n Diesel:

02/12 - Mikrokosmos, Magdeburk (GER)
02/13 - Rosenkeller, Jena (GER)
02/14 - Jugendclub, Mügeln (GER)
02/15 - Mad n' Crazy, Berlin (GER)
02/17 - Alex SkAtehall, Osnabrück (GER)
02/18 - Labor, Hannover (GER)
02/19 - Kitchen Club, Nabburg (GER)
02/20 - Nepomuk, Altenkunstadt (GER)
02/21 - MCDC Low Tune Festival, Worms (GER)
02/22 - The Cave, Frankfurt (GER)
02/23 - Knust, Hamburg (GER)
02/24 - MS Stubitz, Rostock (GER)

Check out a video of Chaosbreed performing the song "F/C/D/C (Freedom Corps DeAth Crush)" live At Tavastia in Helsinki, Finland from August 15: https://www.saunalahti.fi/~iitta66/chaosbreed.mpg
You can also check out the cover art for the upcoming album "Brutal" right here. Here is the tracklisting:

01. Wretched Life
02. Casket Ride
03. Faces Of DeAth
04. Moralized
05. Rotting Alive
06. Demon Skunk
07. Shitgrinder
08. Symptoms Of The Flesh
09. F/C/D/C
10. An Evil Eye

Look for it in April on Century Media.

Add another baby to the KAtAtonia family: guitarist Fredrik Norrman and girlfriend Hilma just had their first child, a daughter, this last SAturday. CongrAts.

Hypocrisy frontman and acclaimed metal producer Peter Tägtgren reports thAt the new album from his solo act Pain has been delayed as he is still putting the finishing touches on the music and seeking a new record deal. He is "fuckin' tired of not getting it out everywhere" and hopes to get wider distribution beyond just Sweden so he can also tour further.