„Hero-Nation – Chapter III“ , this will be the title of the new METALIUM album, and it.s no exaggeration to call the LP which will be released 25th of February a sensation. The quartet from Hamburg presents itself as a homogene unity from the personal point of view, and they have the best material in the band.s history, because “Hero-Nation” convinces with versatility.Along with typical up-tempo doublebass bangers, this time there are also some mid-tempo songs; in addition to that, the guest appearances of the keyboard legends Ken Hensley (ex- Uriah Heep) and Don Airey (ex Ozzy Osbourne) give a special flair to the songs, especially the original keyboardsounds of the “Blizzard Of Ozz” milestone from the madman used by Don Airey are a real ear-candy. Carolin Fortenbacher is one more guest, her unbelievable vocal range puts a further highlight to the song “Infinite Love”, a great duet with Metalium frontman Henning Basse. It goes without saying that the concept story of the Metalin finds its continuation on this album. Let yourselves be surprised by the really interesting experiences which happen to the Metalian. By the way, the Metalian will not just remain a painted fantasy-figure, but soon will be brought to life: in March it will be available as a plastic puppet – or you can win it in some magazines.

HELLOWEEN have officially acquired former METALIUM drummer Mark Cross as the replacement for the recently departed Uli Kusch, a previously rumored move that was first reported here last week. According to HELLOWEEN’s official web site, Cross’ addition to the group’s ranks had not been made public until now “due to the fact that Mark was still officially in METALIUM and [he] had not told Lars Ratz and the rest of the band that he was leaving yet.” Meanwhile, Cross has issued a statement of his own, saying simply that “leaving METALIUM was a decision I had to take. HELLOWEEN is a great band with high potential, good musicians and nice down-to-earth people! I’m looking forward to working with them. We’re still good friends with METALIUM and they understand my decision. Of course it was bad timing, because we were just about to start working on the new album. But I wish them all the best and am sure that their next albums will be as good as the first ones.” HELLOWEEN have yet to announce a replacement for guitarist Roland Grapow, who is presently busy composing material for an as-yet-unnamed new project with Kusch, which is due to record its debut album at producer Andy Sneap's (NEVERMORE, MACHINE HEAD, etc.) Backstage studio from September 24th through November 11th, with additional mixing scheduled to take place at Roland Grapow's home studio in Hamburg. In other news, HELLOWEEN had a good portion of their equipment used on the last tour stolen last week when someone broke into the warehouse where the band stores their gear and walked off with many of guitarist Michael Weikath's axes and Markus' basses. Michael Weikath is missing a white Epiphone V and Les Paul, an orange ESP Mirage with green MPTOK on it, a black Ovation acoustic guitar, two almost brandnew Yamaha Pacifica Strats in whitish/fleshy color with tribal boomerang inlays in the fretboard. Markus is missing a variety of Fender Jazz and Precision basses as well as a few Warwick and Music Man ones, as seen live and in pictures. If ANYONE has an information about these missing items or has seen them, send an e-mail to: drstein@helloween.org. Source: BLABBERMOUTH.NET

METALIUM/ex-KINGDOM COME drummer Mark Cross is strongly rumored to have joined HELLOWEEN as a replacement for the recently departed Uli Kusch, who is presently playing in a new band with ex-HELLOWEEN guitarist Roland Grapow. At the time of his alleged departure from METALIUM, Cross had been working with the band on their upcoming third full-length CD, tentatively titled Chapter III, which is scheduled for an early 2002 release through Locomotive Music. No official statement has yet been issued by either camp. Source: BLABBERMOUTH.NET