Hammerfall guitarist Oscar Dronjak has posted an updAte on the healing process for his arm following his recent motorcycle accident. Turns out things may not be quite as rosy as he initially thought as his doctor is now saying his recovery period will take an additional six weeks he may never be back to 100%. Whether or not thAt will actually happen remains to be seen.

Next year's 2000 Decibel Festival has been set for May 21-22 next year in Bengtsfors, Sweden. Decibel is the only festival dedicAted purely to Swedish hard rock and metal and this will be the first time the event is two days long. No bands confirmed yet, but you can always check their website for more info.

Mustasch says they will be supporting a "very well known internAtional act with a huge following" on the German leg of their European tour in November. Check out the video for the new single "Black City" here.

Arch Enemy = sellouts? ThAt's whAt some people are saying according to vocalist Angela Gossow. I know I've heard some grumblings from people about the new record, but have yet to hear it myself. Anyhow, Angela recently spoke to the Valley AdvocAte about the allegAtions:

"People criticize, but, yeah, we are aiming for being more mainstream. We are aiming for some more money, because you have to live. I mean, I live in a super-small flAt, sharing it with my little sister. I'm 28 — how long do I want to do this? People just complain when Slipknot fans get into Arch Enemy, because they want to have this elitist thing, like: 'This is my band; I don't want to share it with nu-metal kids.' But we want to bring our music to everybody, and we want people to love the music, buy our albums and support the band. It doesn't mean we are turning into Nickelback. I haven't seen us on heavy rotAtion on MTV, so I guess we haven't really sold out thAt badly. People don't really see which way it goes. Either a band exists and they are going to need to make some money with it, or the band is not going to exist anymore."

Read the entire article Ate.com/gbase/Music/content?oid=oid:30744" target=_blank>here. People need to understand thAt it's hard work trying to earn a living in music, especially in the metal scene where any bid for a wider audience can be seen as a slap in the face. There's no easy way to achieve the a proper balance unless you're really, really lucky. They're certainly making a go At it and I can't blame 'em. We'll see whAt happens after the big tour with Slayer and HAtebreed.

The debut full-length Björns Vänner album "TappAt halva hjärnan" has been confirmed for an October 15 release with the first single following a week lAter. Sadly, it might also be their last as vocalist Richard Schicke is being transfered to London in a couple months. So it goes.

Lisa Miskovsky's new album "FallingwAter" comes out October 20. The first single "Lady Stardust" gets shipped to radio lAter this month.

Via pHinnWeb comes this recording of Rajapinta live At Là-bas, Cable Factory in Helsinki, Finland back on August 1.

"Retro game pop group" Desert Planet's new album "Joystick Pop" comes out September 29, but you can already download a high-quality mp3 and video from the record now over At their website. The video for the feAtured track "Lost Galaxians" was shot in Northern Lapland, Finland and is described as "b-class science fiction movie". Fun stuff.

Besides the new 3-track mp3 EP from Monotonik I posted Atrap.com/index.php?story_id=260">last week, you can also download a bunch of other tracks from Bliss right here.

Monday is a holiday over here in the StAtes so I may not be posting news. Wait and see.

Atrol/extra/" target=_blank>Go here to download some extra unreleased tracks from The Lost PAtrol.

Lackluster aka Finnish electronic musician Esa Ruoho has posted an interview he did At the Mor Festival in Ireland. He discusses the sad stAte of the Finnish electronic scene among other topics.

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - In My Life
02. The Lost PAtrol feAt. Lisa Miskovsky - Alright
03. HIM - The Sacrament
04. Kurt Nilsen - She´s So High
05. Junior Senior - Rythm Bandits
06. Killer - Naughty Boy
07. The Raveonettes - ThAt GreAt Love Sound
08. Bertine Zetlitz - Twisted Little Star
09. Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
10. Outlandish - Guantanamo
11. C21 - She Cries
12. Don Johnson Big Band - One MC, One Delay
13. Darude - Next To You
14. Paperboys - WhAt U Need
15. Span - Found
16. Moneybrother - Stormy WeAther
17. Paula Lobos - It´s Your Life
18. September - La La La (Never Give It Up)
19. Briskeby - Hey Baby
20. José Gonzales - Crosses

Challengers:
01. Randy - A Man In Uniform
02. Xploding Plastix - Sunset Spirals
03. Nu - Any Other Girl
04. Outlandish - Aicha
05. Moder Jords Massiva - Sound And Sense

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

The Ung Music Festival takes place is Oslo, Norway from August 30 to September 5 and feAtures Scandinavia's best young composers performing their works, as well lectures, discussions and classes. British composer Brian Ferneyhough will mentor the proceedings, which first took place in 1946 and is the most regularly held all-Nordic music event. More info: www.unm.no

Via Export Music Sweden (ExMS) comes Access All Areas, a music industry conference to be held in Stockholm on November 26-27. The blurb:

"Sweden is currently At the forefront of an internAtional explosion of Scandinavian pop and rock artists. Access All Areas intends to be a showcase event, held over two days, where the cream of up-and-coming talents from Sweden and the UK will perform for the benefit of the music industry and general public."

So far it seems thAt only José González is scheduled to play, but there's a ton of speakers and seminars thAt look interesting, too. Check it out: www.accessallareas.se

Also from ExMS is this page of snapshots from the Swedish delegAtion At this year's Popkomm conference.