Switchblade will be heading into Mission Hall Studios in july to record two songs for a new 7". One track will feature Mattias Friberg of Logh on vocals and the whole thing will be engineered by Mathias Oldén, also in Logh. It should be ready for release by the time of the band's short European tour in late August based around their appearance at Ieper Fest on 08/27.

Fredrik Brändström of Starmarket/The Crystal Committee will be standing in on bass for johan Gustavsson on the upcoming Randy shows with Bad Religion as johan is becoming a father. Congrats! Will johan Brändström feel intimidated with his older brother on stage?

The melancholic Norwegian band jim Stärk have confirmed a May 10 release date for their new EP "Morning Songs". The disc contains five songs, including the new single "Morning Song" and a cover of "Like A Summer Thursday" by Townes Van Zandt. Upcoming live dates:

05/12 - Garage, Oslo (NOR)
05/13 - Posepilten, Trondheim (NOR)
05/14 - Lille Løvenvold, Ålesund (NOR)
05/15 - jacobs, Bergen (NOR)
05/20 - Rust, Copenhagen (DK)

The Fine Arts Showcase, the new band from Gustaf Kjellvander (Songs of Soil), has confirmed May 26 as the release date for their new album on Startracks.

Finland's I Walk the Line is heading to the UK:

06/04 - Free Butt, Brighton w/Grabass Charlestons, jerry Built
06/05 - Horseshoe, Portsmouth w/jets Vs Sharks, Chillerton
06/06 - Stout Fiddler, Newcastle
06/07 - 13th Note, Glasgow
06/08 - tba, Belfast
06/09 - tba, Limerick
06/10 - tba, Dublin
06/11 - The Matrix, Grimsby
06/12 - The Verge, London w/K-line, Chillerton

Dan Swanö reports that Swedish all-star death-metal band Bloodbath will be entering his own Studio Kuling on May 4 to record their new album. The record will be called "Nightmares Made Flesh" and will be released by Century Media this fall. As mentioned before, the band was recently joined by Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, Pain) on lead vocals following the departure of Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth).

Nordscen is helping to promote Scenerum, a new 'virtual meeting place' for Nordic artists of all varieties. To help kick-start the new project, Nordscen will be holding three simultaneous workshops this fall. Read more: https://www.nordscen.org/index.php?id=296

Upcoming tourdates for Namur:

04/29 - Paraplyen, Vejle (DK) w/Lampshade
05/01 - Studenterhus, Odense (DK) w/Lampshade
05/02 - KB, Malmö (SWE) w/Lampshade
05/06 - Nordischer klang festival, Klex, Greifswald (GER)
05/07 - King kong club, Berlin (GER) w/The Broken Beats
05/09 - Ms Stubnitz, Rostock (GER) w/Bob Log III
05/10 - Kino Melodie, Potsdam (GER)
05/12 - tba, Leipzig (GER)
05/13 - Schilleroper, Hamburg (GER)
05/14 - Z Altenberg, Oberhausen (GER) w/Festspielhaus
05/15 - Project 7, Magdeburg (GER)

Danish electronic pop group Tiger Baby will rerelease their debut album "Lost in You" in the US via Souvenir Records on june 1. They will release it locally in their home country through the label Gunhero Music.

Randy may have been forced to cancel their recent US tour plans, but they're still planning on heading back to Canada on july 31 for a show at Envole et Macadam in Quebec City.

New bands confirmed for Augustibuller: Cult of Luna, Division Of Laura Lee, Her Majesty, Krymplings and jettie. More info: https://www.augustibuller.com/

I've confirmed a couple new solo Christian Kjellvander dates in the US. Here's what his schedule currently looks like:

05/20 - Neumos, Seattle, WA w/jonathan Rice, The Cardigans
05/21 - Roseland, Portland, OR w/jonathan Rice, The Cardigans
05/24 - Make-out Room, San Francisco, CA w/Pony Rabco
05/25 - Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA w/jonathan Rice, The Cardigans
05/27 - The Paper Heart, Phoenix, AZ

I'm still working on trying to get one or two more dates, so I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Umeå's Klubb Modos is alive again. Upcoming events:

05/08 - Kamenski w/Dj Modos & Dj Fylla
05/28 - Corona w/Dj Community, Valnadi-C & Ellis the vacuumchild

The new issue of Aversionline is up featuring interviews with Swedish hardcore band Path of No Return and their usual huge list of reviews including Crowpath, Dismember, Hearse, In Flames, Kaaos in Eccentris, Lamented Souls, Lasse Marhaug, Morifade, Ovro, P-Nissarna, the aforementioned Path of No Return, Skitsystem, Totalt jävla Mörker, Vintersorg, Winds, Within Y and tons more: https://www.holyterror.com/aversionline/

New European tourdates for The Peepshows:

07/01 - Mau Club, Rostock
07/02 - Wild at heart, Berlin
07/03 - With Full Force Festival, Roitzschjora
07/05 - Bei Chez Heinz, Hannover
07/08 - Underground, Köln
07/09 - Georgsmarienhütte Tor 3, Osnabrück
07/10 - tba, St. Niklaas
07/11 - Metro, Münster
07/13 - tba, Kassel
07/14 - Abart, Zürich
07/15 - Sedel, Lüzern
07/16 - Kulturwerkstatt, St. Pölten
07/17 - tba, Wien
07/18 - Club 007, Praha
07/19 - Glashaus, Bayreuth
07/21 - Zwischenfall, Bochum
07/22 - Universum, Stuttgart
07/23 - Fulda, Kreuz
07/24 - Glaubitz Open Air, Glaubitz
07/25 - Hafenklang, Hamburg