German epic metallers BLIND GUARDIAN have announced a replacement for drummer Thomen Stauch, who left the band in April after 20 years. The new man behind the kit is fellow German Frederik Ehmke, so far fairly unknown in the world of Metal.

The production of BLIND GUARDIAN's debut on NUCLEAR BLAST will start soon with the help of Charlie Bauerfeind. No album title has been set as of yet, but it looks like there will be a total of ten songs. Some working titles, which might be kept, are: 'Carry The Blessed Home', 'The Edge', 'In Search For The Lionheart', 'Market Square', 'Another Stranger Me', and 'Otherland'. The release of the first single is planned for February 2006, the album will follow in April, before the band embarks on an European tour in September.

Here is news update from BLIND GUARDIAN Hansi Kursch.

"A Happy New Year to everyone! Though you have not heard a lot from us during the last months we have not been lazy at all. There are a lot of things going on at the moment. Just to mention a few: the Demons and Wizards production is making good progress and the same can be said about the songwriting for the next Blind Guardian album which is at a very important point.

André and I have completed 5 songs for the new album and 10 songs for the orchestral project. Yesterday, we had a meeting with Charlie Bauerfeind (who is going to produce both albums) during which we have set up a rough schedule for the next months. We definitely will start the production within the year and it won't take as much time to accomplish it as it did with "A Night at the Opera".

With regards to the next Demons and Wizards album I am happy to tell you that 5 songs have been mixed for it already and that there are 7 more to go. How many of them we are going to use for the regular album and how many we will use as bonus material I can ´t tell you right now. There are 11 Schaffer/Kürsch songs and one cover tune. We will be done with everything mid February. The album surely will be released in late spring, or early summer. I am very pleased with the songs and so is Jon. My favourite tune at the moment is called "Touched by the Crimson King". We have not spoken about an album title yet but have to make a decision rather soon. I will let you know.

Hansi"

German melodic metallers BLIND GUARDIAN have set a May 26 release date for their as-yet-untitled live album. The two-disc collection, which is currently being mixed at a German studio, will contain 20 songs recorded last year on the band's world tour.

The full track listing for the CD is as follows (in no particular order):

01. Into The Storm
02. Welcome To Dying
03. Nightfall
04. The Script For My Requiem
05. Harvest Of Sorrow
06. Valhalla
07. Majesty
08. The Soulforged
09. Under The Ice
10. Born In A Mourning Hall
11. Lord Of The Rings
12. Punishment Divine
13. Time Stands Still
14. Bright Eyes
15. The Bard's Song - In The Forest
16. Imaginations From The Other Side
17. Lost In The Twilight Hall
18. Journey Through The Dark
19. A Past & Future Secret
20. Mirror Mirror

A single will precede the album on April 28 containing a brand new studio version of "Bard's Song" backed up with several different live versions of the same track.

Countdown to BLIND GUARDIAN's first ever North American tour has begun! If you have yet to get your tickets you better hurry as they are going fast. And in case you live under a rock the tour starts November 15th in Atlanta, GA at the sold-out ProgPower Festival and moves north to Canada before crossing back over into the states. Direct support on all dates is New Jersey's Symphony X. Also, among the bands opening on various dates are Century Media's own ONWARD and up-and-comers Avenged Sevenfold. Check local lisings for details.

Here is how the metal/hard rock genre fared in the German Media Control (Top 100) chart for the week ending April 15th (as reported by Rock Hard magazine):

10. NICKELBACK - Silver Side Up
15. DIE HAPPY - Beautiful Morning
17. DIE TOTEN HOSEN - Auswärtsspiel
19. PUDDLE OF MUDD - Come Clean
22. P.O.D. - Satellite
27. LINKIN PARK - Hybrid Theory
30. IRON MAIDEN - Rock In Rio
34. SYSTEM OF A DOWN - Toxicity
42. STAIND - Break The Cycle
63. BLIND GUARDIAN - A Night At The Opera
79. RHAPSODY - Power Of The Dragonflame
80. RAMMSTEIN - Mutter
84. MILLENCOLIN - Home From Home
94. FARIN URLAUB - Endlich Urlaub
100. MEGAHERZ - Herzwerk II

WACKEN : OPEN : AIR - Part 13

01. - 03. August 2002

The following bands are confirmed yet (in alphabetical order):

- ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY - AMON AMARTH - BLAZE - BLIND GUARDIAN - - BRUCE DICKINSON - CANDLEMASS (Reunion) - CANNIBAL CORPSE - - CHILDREN OF BODOM - CRIMINAL - DESTRUCTION - DIMPLE MINDS - - DOMINE - DORNENREICH - DORO - DYING FETUS - EDGUY - EISREGEN - - EVERGREY - EXODUS - FALCONER - FLESHCRAWL - GREEN CARNATION - - HEATHEN (Reunion) - HOLLENTHON - HYPOCRISY - IMMORTAL - - IN EXTREMO - J.B.O - KREATOR - LOCK UP - MACABRE - MOB RULES - - MY DYING BRIDE - MÖRK GRYNING - NECROPHOBIC - NUCLEAR ASSAULT - - ONKEL TOM - PRETTY MAIDS - PRIMORDIAL - PUNGENT STENCH - RAVEN - - REBELLION - RED AIM - ROTTWEILLER - SINERGY - U.D.O. - - VICIOUS RUMORS - VISION DIVINE - VOMITORY - WARLORD - WIZARD - WOLF - and many more......

Homepage: http://www.wacken.com
Tickets: 3 - Day´s - Festival & Camping - OriginalTicket: 55 EUR incl. 7% VAT & charge plus Postage
Tickethotline: + 49 (0) 46 27 - 18 38 38 http://www.metaltix.com
Telefax: + 49 (0) 46 27 - 18 38 80

ATLANTA - ProgPower USA III, Atlanta's third annual progressive and power metal festival, has been announced for Friday, November 15 and Saturday, November 16 at Earthlink Live.

Confirmed bands include a number of artists making their first US appearances, including Germany's BLIND GUARDIAN, Brazil's ANGRA, Germany's GAMMA RAY, and the UK's THRESHOLD.

“With great enthusiasm we are looking forward to our first US appearance ever,” said BLIND GUARDIAN vocalist Hansi Kursch. “We really feel privileged and greatly honored to headline one of the finest and best US Metal Festivals. This festival will be our first opportunity to present us as one of the most intense and exciting metal bands around in these days.”

Added GAMMA RAY's Kai Hansen: “We're absolutely looking forward to playing the US for the first time and bringing the American metalheads something different from Germany other than Schnitzel and Sauerkraut. We're expecting to have a ball with a lot of people that are ready to rock and have a good time singing, screaming, raising hands and shirts (girls only) and banging brains out.”

Sweden's PAIN OF SALVATION, fresh off of an opening spot on the DREAM THEATER European tour, will be making their third trip to the States. Germany's EDGUY will also be returning to the U.S. for the second time. America's own READING ZERO, the only independent band on the roster, has secured one of the opening slots. Three roster spots are still to be confirmed over the coming weeks.

“I'm thrilled with this year's lineup, as I truly believe it is the best roster for progressive and power metal ever assembled in the U.S.,” said the event's organizer, Glenn Harveston.

Tickets will go on sale July 1 via all TicketMaster outlets. Only 850 two-day passes will be available to the public at a cost of $80 each.

ProgPower USA, an international affiliate of ProgPower Europe located in the Netherlands, was created to attract the top names in both the progressive and power metal genres. The first event was held at a small bar in Lansing, Ill., in February 2001 and featured the first U.S. appearance of PAIN OF SALVATION. The 350-capacity show sold out three months in advance. Due to popular demand, a second event was held in November 2001 and featured the most unique progressive and power metal roster in the States to date (SYMPHONY X, KAMELOT, ARK, EVERGREY, ANGEL DUST, SPIRAL ARCHITECT, plus others). The attendance increased in size to 750 with a crowd coming from 38 states and 15 countries.

ProgPower USA has various promotional opportunities for vendors, labels, and bands in the metal market. For more information and full details visit www.progpower.com.

ProgPower USA III is sponsored by Guitar Center in Marietta, Ga.

February 5th
THE CROWN - The Burning (reissue)
THE CROWN - Eternal Death (reissue)
SACRILEGE - Lost In The Beauty You Slay/The Fifth Season (2-on-1 reissue)
WARMEN - Beyond Abilities

February 19th
ONWARD - Reawaken

March 5th
ROYAL HUNT - The Watchers
ANGEL DUST - Of Human Bondage
ICED EARTH - Dark Genesis (limited to 3000 copies)

March 19th
BLIND GUARDIAN - A Night At The Opera
DIMMU BORGIR - Stormblast

Apr. 2nd
ARCH ENEMY - Wages of Sin (w/bonus disc)

CANNIBAL CORPSE and ROTTWEILLER are the latest bands to have been confirmed for this year's Wacken Festival, which is scheduled to take place on August 2-3 in Wacken, Germany. The full line-up of acts that are presently scheduled to partake in the festivities now looks like this:

AMON AMARTH
BLAZE
BLIND GUARDIAN
CANNIBAL CORPSE
CHILDREN OF BODOM
DESTRUCTION
DIMPLE MINDS
DORO
EDGUY
FALCONER
GREEN CARNATION
HEATHEN
HOLLENTHON
HYPOCRISY
IN EXTREMO
J.B.O
KREATOR
MACABRE
NECROPHOBIC
ONKEL TOM
PRETTY MAIDS
PUNGENT STENCH
RAVEN
ROTTWEILLER
U.D.O.
VICIOUS RUMORS
WIZARD
WOLF