Here's the lineup for the Aisti Festival at Klubi in Tampere, Finland August 28-31:

08/28 - Imatran Voima, Mummypowder, Tigerbombs, Soapafest
08/29 - Circle, TV-Resistori, Cessna, Bangkok Impact
08/30 - Giant Robot, Romantic Vision, Sergio, Red Carpet
08/31 - DJs: Teemu Elo, Ville Härkönen, Ville Särmä, Bruce, Jansku

More info: tullikamari.net/klubi/

Here's the lineup for another Finnish music fest, Tulvafest in Pori, Finland on August 14-16:

08/14 - Baby Sweetcorn, Unidentified Sound Objects, Sergio
08/15 - Janne Laine, Magyar Posse, TV-Resistori
08/16 - Laidun, Ville LeiNonen, Sister Flo

More info: how.to/tulvafest

Swedish prog-metallers Opeth will be teaming up with cult UK proggers Porcupine Tree for a North American tour starting in July. PT-frontman/mastermind Steven Wilson produced the last few Opeth albums, so this news doesn't come as huge surprise, but is still very exciting Nonetheless. The confirmed dates so far:

07/15 - Toronto, ONT @ TBA
07/16 - Montreal, Spectrum
07/17 - NYC, Irving Plaza
07/19 - Boston, MA @ Berklee Performance Center
07/20 - Philadelphia, PA @ TBA
07/21 - Washington DC @ TBA
07/22 - Detroit, MI @ TBA
07/24 - Cleveland, OH @ Agora
07/25 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater
07/26 - Minneapolis, MN @ TBA
07/28 - Boulder, CO @ Fox Theater
07/30 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
07/31 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
08/03 - Portland, OR @ TBA
08/04 - Seattle, WA @ TBA

Webzine Aversionline has a feature on Finnish hardcore thrash fanzine Downsided. Check it. And, as usual, they have tons and tons of new reviews for your perusal, focusing mostly on the hardcore, metal and noise scene. Some of the bands covered: Acursed, Counterblast, Dead in the Water, Katatonia, Marduk, Nasum, Rentokiller, and Sayyadina. I may not always agree with the writer's taste, but he does a great job of covering everything in an extremely fair and honest way. One of the few reviewers who's unafraid to tell it like it is.

Aquarius Records has published their bi-weekly new arrivals list, featuring reviews and samples of new releases from Scandinvavian artists such as Enslaved, Brainbombs, Cult of Luna, Eturivi, Finntroll, Noxagt, Turbonegro and much, much more. Recommended reading.

The Leppäkoski Rhythm Festival takes place in Leppäkoski, Finland on July 4-5 and will feature Brothomstates (Warp Records, FIN/UK), Vesna (St. Petersburg, Russia), Ninja Ensemble, Rauhanorkesteri, Grayframe DJs and many more. More info here.

In other Finnish festival news, Luomo and Moloko are rumored to be making an appearance at this year's Koneisto fest. No confirmation on the news, but the full list of performers is due to be published this coming Friday. I'll keep you informed.

KVLR are currently busy rehearsing like crazy to prepare for their upcoming recording session later this month. The band says they plan on laying down the tracks for six new songs. They also report that there might be a US release planned for "The Great Collapse" (one of my favorites from last year) to coincide with their coming US tour and SXSW appearance. No details yet, but I'll keep you informed.

Logh reports that they have decided to scrap their current recordings for the almost-finished new album and start over again. No word on why, but they're back at square-one doing drum tracks again.

The following Swedish bands have been chosen to appear on the next Deep Elm "Emo Diaries" comp: Surrounded (Vaxjo), Iamuse (Halmstad), The National Anthems (Sunne), and So Sad Althea (Halmstad). I've heard None of em, but this that comp series usually at least a couple great bands on it. For instance, that's how I found out about Last Days of April.

Look for The Venue on tour in the US:

3/7 - The Casbah, San Diego, CA w/Brian Jonestown Massacre
3/8 - Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA w/Brian Jonestown Massacre
3/11 - the Echo, Los Angeles, CA
3/14 - Friends, Austin, TX - SXSW Bella Union show case
3/18 - TBA, Bay Area/San Fransisco, CA
3/19 - TBA, Bay Area/San Fransisco, CA

Some more details on that upcoming Millencolin single: there will be a special Swedish language version of the track ("Battery Check") called "E20 Norr". The Swedish version will be the b-side for the international release plus a new song called "Bowmore". Preview the artwork here. The band is working on even more tourdates, too. Look for them in England and Scotland in early March and the US in April or May.

Stickman Records has decided to re-release the Motorpsycho 3-LP "Timothy's Monster" box-set. Numbering will continue right where they left off at 1721 and the label promises to have enough copies for everyone who wants one.

Check out the video for the new Cardigans single "For What It's Worth" from MTVE.com.

Blabbermouth reports that Meshuggah has plans for a US headline tour in the near future. Rumor has it, the opener will be Strapping Young Lad.

Here's a list of some of the new Swedish acts announced for the upcoming Umeå Open fest to take place March 26-29: Meshuggah, Fireside and The Teenage Idols. Other acts already confirmed to play include Mando Diao, The Hellacopters, Melody Club, Doktor Kosmos and The Haunted.