
Raven has scheduled a September 13 concert at L'Amour in Staten Island, New York. The group's schedule is now shaping up as follows:
Aug. 23 - Safari Sam's - Hollywood, CA (w/ Hirax, Hatchet)
Sep. 12 - The Sterling House - Allentown, PA
Sep. 13 - L'Amour - Staten Island, NY
Mike Stone with Demon has written us to let everyone know that an an Italian record label has just pressed a very limited run Spaced Out Monkey( they like it) 333 pressings if anyone wants a future classic! For more information, click here.
Clive Jones of Agony Bag also wrote us to show an email he
got a few days ago:
Hello Sir.
You might wanna check out Guitar & Bass Magazine August 2008 vol. 19 No.
8
On page 44 there's a listing of the Top 5 Evil Rock albums, as part of an
article on the Iron Maiden album The Number Of The Beast. "Black Widow:
Sacrifice" is listed as no. 4, among a couple Sabbath albums, a Slayer
disc and a Venom album.
In a somewhat NWoBHM related news item, Woodbridge, Virginia-based power metal
band Forgotten Realm— which consists of David Fefolt (Valhalla,
Hawk, Mast) on vocals, Matthew Mills on guitar, Brian Sanders on bass, and
Rhino (Manowar, Hollyhell) on drums — has released its debut album,
"Power and Glory", via Sonic Age Records. The CD was recorded at
Saltmine Studios in Mesa, Arizona and features "10 metal anthems"
and a cover of the Rainbow classic "Man on the Silver Mountain".
For more information, go here.
In an item that i missed (my apologies guys!) Elixir has a new video out of
a rehersal for a brand new song Midnight Messiah. The video was edited by
Phil Denton's son and looks like he has a future in it! Check out the video
here.
This one rocks hard!
The Handsome Beasts have written us to let everyone know their first of only 2 show dates scheduled so far this year will be Saturday, July 12 at the Sheldon Marquee in Birmginham.
Today is also Paul Gaksin's birthday. A big happy one Paul!
Universal Music Enterprises has set an August 12 North American release date for "Hell", the new album from Venom.
Budgie, Praying Mantis, Tygers of Pan Tang, Waysted, Blitzkrieg and
Chariot have been confirmed for this year's Hard Rock Hell II festival,
set to take place December 5-7, 2008 at Prestatyn Sands, North Wales, UK.
For more info on the festival check out their website here.
Rock radio DJ and PeteWay.net webmaster Joe Kleon has posted an interview
with bassist Pete Way (UFO, Waysted, Damage Control) that
was recorded last Friday, June 27, 2008, Pete talks about the Waysted gig
the night before the interview, how Waysted songs from the newest release,
"The Harsh Reality", sound live, the new release from Damage Control,
future plans, and more! Pete also discusses his battle to be allowed back
into the United States and how he plans on making it to the United States
for UFO's 40th anniversary tour.
Download the interview, along with other interviews with Pete, and one with
Paul Chapman, at this
location.
In more Girlschool news, Guitarist/vocalist Kim McAuliffe has reported that the band's upcoming 30th anniversary album will feature a plethora of special guests, including Tony Iommi, Ronnie James Dio, Lemmy and Phil Campbell, "Fast" Eddie Clarke and a couple of members of Twisted Sister.
Girlschool has been confirmed for this year's Wacken Open Air festival, set to take place July 31 - August 2, 2008 in Wacken, Germany.
Raven will perform at Safari Sam's in Hollywood, California on August 23. Also scheduled to appear are Hirax and Hatchet. A San Francisco Bay Area will also be announced soon.
Sweet Savage have reportedly been added to Metallica's August
20 concert at Marlay Park in Dublin, Ireland. Also scheduled to appear is
Tenacious D..
Witchfynde have announced new tour dates. You can get more info at the bands Myspace page.
Maniacal Records (USA) and High Roller Records (Germany) have announced a joint vinyl release for 2008, a Sweet Savage two-LP release of studio material and live songs from the band's early years (1978-1981) done with the group's co-operation. Due in the summer, "Eye of the Storm - The Early Years" marks the first time that original studio recordings from the late '70s and early '80s are properly made available to the general public and also the first time that most of the songs have been committed to vinyl. The material consists of studio material and some live cuts from the early years. This is rare studio and live material. 500 copies will be pressed and only 250 will be available for the USA. Half the pressing will be on green vinyl in tribute to Ireland.
Contact Mike at Maniacalrecords@aol.com for pre-order information. Or if in Europe, contact Steffen at info@high-roller-records.de.
Cloven Hoof are confirmed for this year's installment of
the Heavy Metal Maniacs festival, set to take place Saturday, October 25 at
Manifesto in Hoorn, Holland.
Praying Mantis have been confirmed for the Bloodstock Open Air 2008 festival, set to take place August 15-17 at Catton Hall in Derbyshire, England.
Rekuiem has lined up the following dates:
June 26 - Rock Cafe 2000, Stourbridge, West Midlands
June 27 - Sheldon Marquee (Chestnut Tree), Birmingham
June 28 - The British Rock And Metal Festival 2008, JB's, Dudley, West Midlands
The upcoming Rekuiem dates and the group's forthcoming studio album, "Raise the Dead", will feature singer Chitral "Chity" Somapala, who joined the band last year.
Tokyo Blade have announced three new shows in northern Italy:
Nov 21 - Motorockas – Mozzat Como, ITA
Nov 22 - Stonehenge - Verona, ITA
Nov 23 - True Metal Festival - Bologna, ITA
The band is currently in rehearsal for its first show in Europe in over a decade at the Leyendas Del Rock Festival in Madrid, Spain (also featurng Saxon and UFO, among many others). The group also plans to schedule some warm-up shows in the Detroit, Michigan area shortly.
Dumpy's Rusty Nuts is offering for the next few weeks a free bonus CD with every order of merchandise from the DRN website!
The bonus CD will be one of a classic live recording from the early 1980s. For more information visit their website.
Bitches Sin's latest album UDUVUDU now available from www.bitchessin.co.uk or to download from CD Baby and www.iTunes.com
Venom's new album, "Hell", has had its release date pushed back to June 9 (Europe) and June 10 (U.S.) from the previously announced May 26 and May 27, respectively.
Cloven Hoof have scheduled the following dates:
May 08 – Zico's Bar - Wishaw, Scotland
May 15 - Bridgewater Arts Centre - Taunton, Southwest
Jul. 05 - Gosport Waterfront - Southampton, Southwest
Jul. 13 - Diamond Club - Sutton In Ashfield, UK
Jul. 26 - Metal Brew festival - London, UK
Sep. 26 - Underworld Club - Athens, Greece
Sep. 27 - Harley Bar - Thessaloniki, Greece
Oct. 18 - Darwin Library Theatre - Blackburn, Northwest
Oct. 25 - Metal Maniacs 2008 Festival - Hoorn, Holland
Cloven Hoof and Pagan Altar are among the confirmed bands for the Metal Brew festival, set to take place July 26 at at the Mill Hill Rugby Club (Page Street, Mill Hill) in London, UK (the festival is held on the field outside the rugby bar).
Tygers Of Pan Tang have been confirmed for the Metal Rock
Fest, a brand new two-day event set to take place August 15-16 in Lillehammer,
Norway.
Cloven Hoof have scheduled the following dates:
May 08 – Zico's Bar - Wishaw, Scotland
May 15 - Bridgewater Arts Centre - Taunton, Southwest
Jul. 05 - Gosport Waterfront - Southampton, Southwest
Oct. 18 - Darwin Library Theatre - Blackburn, Northwest
Cloven Hoof was recently rejoined by guitarist Mick Powell. His first show back with the group took place at JB's in Dudley on April 23.
The cover artwork for "Hell", the new album from Venom, can be seen below. Due in Europe on May 26 via Sanctuary (May 27 in the U.S.), the CD is "packed with 13 brand new malevolent tracks from the masters of black metal," according to a posting on the band's web site.

Saxon have been confirmed for this year's Download festival, set to take place the weekend of June 13-15 at Donington Park, Leicestershire, UK.
Tokyo Blade have scheduled the following dates:
Aug. 23 - Leyendas Del Rock Festival, Puerto de Mazarro, Spain
Nov. 14 - The Purple Turtle, Camden/London, UK
Nov. 15 - Keep It True 11 Festival, Wurzburg, Germany
Nov. 16 - Mylos Complex - Xyloyrgeio, Thessaloniki, Greece
Nov. 18 - Underworld Club, Athens, Greece
Black Rose has finished recording a new demo as a taste of what is to come on the group's new full-length album, due later in the year. These are the first recordings made by Black Rose in nearly 20 years.
Four brand new song snippets can be heard at the band's MySpace page here.
Shadowkeep singer and former Angel Witch bassist Richie Wicks has urged Witch mainman Kevin Heybourne to come out of the shadows and reclaim the throne of NWoBHM kings by getting the band back on the road.
Wicks said: "It was only last year that I was offered a potential deal for the recordings we did back on 2000/1 plus the soundtrack to our incredible stint at Wacken Open Air by one of the labels I was with whilst in the Tygers Of Pan Tang. Those new songs sound amazing seven years on and it's such a shame Angel Witch isn't out there. We put in so much hard work into those new songs but we all got into other bands and projects and Kev probably thought we weren't focused enough — hence the USA thing. I'd LOVE to see Kevin resurrect Angel Witch again. That's the band I'm constantly linked with even now, so I know how important the music and imagary is to all those loyal fans out there. Come on Kev, sort it out!"
Geffen has set a May 7 Japanese release date for a two-album Diamond Head cardboard sleeve reissue series featuring the following LPs:
* "Borrowed Time" (1982)
* "Canterbury" (1983)
Each cardboard sleeve reissue features a high-quality SHM-CD disc (playable on standard CD players).
Raven has issued the following update:
"Running order for the new album 'Walk through Fire' is set. Mixing is
done. Next stage is mastering, which we hope to have completed shortly."
Ian Toomey of Bitches Sin sent us some most excellent news. Their first brand new album in 21 years is due for realease around April 21, contains 10 new tracks and is called UDUVUDU (You Do Voodoo). Ian has promised us a copy as soon as its released and we will have it for you on the show asap! For more information, visit their website.
Phil Denton of Elixir has let us know about this years British Steel Festival which is is hard at work getting everything arranged. Scheduled date is April 26th in London and appearing with Elixir is Praying Mantis, Witchfynde, Lyadrive and Redline (ex-members of Bitches Sin). Should be one hell of a show.
There will be a warm-up show the night before the BSF and Cloven Hoof will be making an awesome appearance i am sure. Flyers for both shows are below.

Steve Slater of Rekuiem has written us to tell
us the following: "We have a British Rock and Metal Festival at JB's,
Dudley, West Midlands, England, all day from 1pm in the afternoon until well
after midnight on Saturday 28th June 2008. Headline band is Blaze Bayley (ex-Iron
Maiden). 2nd Headline spot is Rekuiem. Then line up is as follows:
Holy Rage featuring Al Atkins the original Judas Priest frontman, Spit Like
This, Hostile, Rattlesnake Remedy, Orius, Abigail's Mercy, Get Vegas.
For more information on the British Rock and Metal Fest, head on to British
Rock and Metal Fest.
Classic metal reissue label Lost and Found Records USA has signed a license
deal with Razar Ice Records to reissue two rarities from the Tokyo
Blade catalog. In spring of 2008, the albums "Warrior of the
Rising Sun" and "Blackhearts and Jaded Spades" will be available
on CD, both remastered and with rare bonus material never before available
on CD.
"Warrior of the Rising Sun" was originally released in 1985 as a best-of compilation, with tracks from the "Midnight Rendezvous", "Madame Guillotine" EP, and "Night of the Blade" releases. Originally pressed on vinyl and cassette, this will be the first time being offered on CD format. This two CD release will offer the rare pre-Tokyo Blade KILLER demos from 1981.
"Blackhearts and Jaded Spades" also released in 1985 has been a highly sought after release on CD for collectors worldwide. As bonus material, this reissue will contain the "Cave Sessions" demos, and the 12" "Undercover Honeymoon" release.
Tokyo Blade management announced a new lineup in early 2008, and tour plans in the fall of 2008. There are also plans in the works for a new Tokyo Blade album in 2009.
The new Tokyo Blade line-up includes:
Andy Boulton - Original guitarist and founding member
Bryan Holland - Guitar
Chris Gillen - Vocals
Lorenzo Gonzalez - Bass
Frank Saparti - Drums
Blitzkrieg will return to Greece in September for two shows — their first since they played Athens in December 2005. The bands current touring schedule is as follows:
Apr. 26 - Thatched House Stockport, Northwest
Apr. 27 - Carling Academy 2 Newcastle upon Tyne, Northeast
Apr. 28 - Ivory Blacks Glasgow, Scotland
Apr. 29 - The Town Mill Mansfield, Midlands
Apr. 30 - Camden Underworld London, London and South East
May 01 - Rio's Leeds, Northeast
Aug. 14 - Gloria-Kulttuuriareena Helsinki, Finland
Aug. 15 - Jalometalli Festival Oulu, Finland
Sep. 07 - Rock of Ages Festival at The Asylum Birmingham, Midlands
Sep. 19 - The Underworld Club Athens, Greece
Sep. 20 - Harleys Bar Thessaloniki, Greece
Oct. 04 - East Riding Rock Festival at Memorial Hall Beverley, East