Former STRATOVARIUS singer Timo Kotipelto has posted audio clips of all the tracks from his forthcoming sophomore solo album, "Coldness", at his official web site. Check them out at this location. As previously reported, "Coldness" is scheduled for release in Europe on April 26 through Century Media Records (a May 18 U.S. release ...
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A brand-new KOTIPELTO track, titled "Reasons", has been posted online in MP3 format at this location. "Reasons" comes off the former STRATOVARIUS singer's sophomore solo album, "Coldness", due in Europe on April 26 through Century Media Records (a May 18 U.S. release is expected). The follow-up to 2002's "Waiting for the Dawn" was ...
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STRATOVARIUS' split with singer Timo Kotipelto was the result of years of alcohol abuse and non-communication, the vocalist has revealed in an interview with Holland's Lords of Metal. "It lies in the Finnish mentality not to openly talk about problems," Kotipelto said. "That is what ultimately ended STRATOVARIUS. For all those years we ...
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Former STRATOVARIUS vocalist Timo Kotipelto was interviewed by Spain's Rafa Basa the day of STRATOVARIUS' appearance at Piorno Rock festival in Granada in late February. Kotipelto spoke about his departure from the group and his upcoming solo album, "Coldness", due on April 26 through Century Media Records. Listen to the interview (in English with Spanish ...
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Finland's Sonera Plaza has posted a 14-minute video report from STRATOVARIUS' recent appearance at the Piorno Rock festival in Spain. Included are short interviews with the various members of the band, clips from the group's performance, Timo Tolkki's comments on the legendary "pissing" incident and keyboardist Jens Johansson's description of the stabbing attack that nearly ...
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More information has surfaced regarding KOTIPELTO's sophomore album, "Coldness", due in Europe on April 26 through Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2002's "Waiting for the Dawn" was recorded by CHILDREN OF BODOM keyboardist Janne Wirman at his Beyond Abilities Studios as well as by Tero Kostermaa at High and Loud's ELK Studios and Finnvox ...
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Finnish "monster metal" band LORDI have set an April 14 release date for their second, as-yet-untitled album. The group shot a video for the album's first single, "Blood Red Sandman", at a Helsinki studio last week. The CD was produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa (H.I.M., SENTENCED, AMORPHIS) and will contain the following track listing: 01. Blood ...
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Members of NIGHTWISH and APOCALYPTICA are among the guest musicians appearing on the new TIMO RAUTIAINEN & TRIO NISKALAUKAUS CD, "Kylmä Tila" ("Cold Space"), due in Finland on March 22. NIGHTWISH's Tuomas Holopainen plays keyboards on the songs "Juoksevan Veden Aika" and "Kylmä Tila", NIGHTWISH/TAROT's Marco Hietala appears in "Älkää Selvittäkö" and APOCALYPTICA's Eicca Toppinen ...
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Despite published reports to the contrary, there is no truth to the rumors that Simona Bressi, the drummer for the Los Angeles-based BLACK SABBATH cover band MISTRESS OF REALITY, is in line to fill the vacant drummer slot in STRATOVARIUS. The rumor that Bressi might be joining STRATOVARIUS first originated on www.metalmeltdown.com shortly ...
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SENTENCED frontman Ville Laihiala has taken over the lead vocal duties in his side-project POISONBLACK following the departure of CHARON singer Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto. Laihiala's decision to handle the vocals himself comes less than a month after reports surfaced that the group's new singer would be a Canadian vocalist whose name had never been officially revealed. ...
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NIGHTWISH have set a June 7 Finnish release date through Spinefarm Records for their brand-new album, "Once". A single containing the album track "Nemo" is due on April 19. In other news, the "Once" album cut "Creek Mary's Blood" will feature an appearance by Lakota tribe's Indian John Two-Hawks. John (johntwohawks.com), a NAMMY-nominated ...
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Finland's Sonera Plaza has posted several photos of STRATOVARIUS performing at Spain's Piorno Rock festival on Saturday, including pictures of keyboardist Jens Johansson pissing (literally!) on guitarist Timo Tolkki during the opening notes of the song "Forever" (no, we're not kidding). Check them out here. STRATOVARIUS' set list for the Piorno Rock performance: ...
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STRATOVARIUS guitarist Timo Tolkki was assaulted in the center of Granada, Spain on Sunday (Feb. 29) as he was taking a walk, Finland's Sonera Plaza is reporting. According to STRATOVARIUS keyboardist Jens Johansson, who witnessed the attack, the alleged attacker was extremely agitated and had "a Hispanic looking appearance". During the assault, the ...
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MetalYou.com has posted a review and pictures of STRATOVARIUS' performance at the Piorno Rock festival in Spain Saturday night (Feb. 28). "[Singer Timo] Kotipelto was the best yesterday, he sang everything perfectly, reaching all the high notes and, like always and giving everything to the audience," Jose M. Tornay writes. "Kotipelto and [drummer] Jörg [Michael] ...
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Former STRATOVARIUS singer Timo Kotipelto has released a statement via his official web site reassuring his Spanish fans that he will, in fact, be appearing with the group at the Piorno Rock festival this weekend. Since being officially ousted from the group in December, Kotipelto has reportedly been refusing to rehearse with the band for ...
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FINNTROLL have been confirmed for this year's Sauna Open Air festival, set to take place on June 11-12 in Tampere, Finland. FINNTROLL will play at Ratinanniemi (the outdoor concert place) on Friday, June 11 alongside CHILDREN OF BODOM, NIGHTWISH, DIABLO and THUNDERSTONE. Other acts scheduled to perform during the weekend (including the post-festival party) include ...
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DIO, IN FLAMES, BESEECH, CHAOSBREED, TROLLHEIM'S GROTT and CHARON are the latest bands confirmed for Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, set to take place July 16-18 in the Kaisaniemi park in the center of Helsinki, Finland. The previously announced co-headliner KING DIAMOND will NOT be performing at this year's festival (as first reported
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STRATOVARIUS guitarist Timo Tolkki continues to entertain the metal masses with his hilarious online postings. Check out the following masterpiece (dated Feb. 20): "World peace, tolerance to other people's feelings and opinions, systematically refusing to cooperate with EVIL, world without armies, world without hate, love... My eyes have opened finally. These fucking things ...
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Sweden's PSYCHOPUNCH are scheduled to enter Sunlight Studio in Stockholm on March 6 with producer Tomas Skogsberg (THE HELLACOPTERS, ENTOMBED, BACKYARD BABIES) to begin recording their new album, "Smashed On Arrival", tentatively due in June via Germany's Silverdust Records. The band had previously released four albums on the White Jazz label. "Smashed On Arrival" will ...
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STRATOVARIUS webmaster Fred Derf has posted the following message on the band's official web site: "Today I received a phone call from [STRATOVARIUS mainman] Timo Tolkki. "He sounded like being in a very confused state of mind and was talking about red Kabbalah ribbons and how when he was reading Madonna's biography he felt warm ...
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CHILDREN OF BODOM won the "Export Award" during the first annual Femmagaala ceremony held at Helsinki's Nosturi Friday night (Feb. 20). KOTITEOLLISUUS, a Finnish band singing in their native language, won the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Album" award, while HANOI ROCKS guitarist Andy McCoy took home the "Total Media" award. Femmagaala is not to be confused ...
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Speculation is running rampant that STRATOVARIUS leader Timo Tolkki is focusing his attention on Simona Bressi (a.k.a. Jill Ward) from the Los Angeles-based BLACK SABBATH cover band MISTRESS OF REALITY (web site) as a possible replacement for of Jörg Michael in the new STRATOVARIUS lineup. Rumors of Bressi's addition to the group were ...
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STRATOVARIUS guitarist/mainman Timo Tolkki spoke to Metal Meltdown Online Monday (Feb. 16) about the band's current situation and what has happened over the course of the past few months. Among the topics discussed are the recent lineup changes, the forthcoming album, the upcoming festivals, all the Internet-related controversies, and even alcohol. Download the interview in ...
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STRATOVARIUS guitarist Timo Tolkki participated in a very special "hard rock jam session" on Sunday (Feb. 15) at London Pub in Tampere, Finland. Joining Tolkki during the jam were HANOI ROCKS drummer Lacu and BOMFUNK MC'S bassist Ville Mäkinen. The unnamed "band" performed nine cover songs, including KISS' "Lick It Up", IRON MAIDEN's "The Trooper", ...
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Veteran German power metallers HELLOWEEN have been confirmed for this year's Sauna Open Air festival, set to take place on June 11-12 in Tampere, Finland. Also scheduled to perform are NIGHTWISH, CHILDREN OF BODOM, THUNDERSTONE, TAROT and DIABLO, among others. HELLOWEEN will perform on Saturday, June 12 at the Pakkahuone concert hall (capacity 1,500). More ...
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Finland's NIGHTWISH filmed the video for their new single, "Nemo", on Saturday (Feb. 14) at a studio in Helsinki. Check out pictures from Sonera Plaza (all photos by Timo Isoaho) and the band's official web site. As previously reported, the "Nemo" clip is being helmed by renowned director Antti Jokinen, who ...
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NIGHTWISH have announced that they will be supported by DUNCES and TIMO RAUTIAINEN & TRIO NISKALAUKAUS at their special record-release show on May 22 at Kitee Icehall in Finland. According to the band, "NIGHTWISH will spend more money than never before for the lights and pyros [and] there will be plenty of foreign and Finnish ...
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Former STRATOVARIUS singer Timo Kotipelto will release his new single, "Reasons", in mid-March. The single will include the following tracks: 01. Reasons 02. Seeds of Sorrow 03. Vizier (extended version) The first two songs are taken from KOTIPELTO's new album, "Coldness", while "Vizier" comes off the singer's solo debut, "Waiting for the Dawn". This previously ...
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Finland's SENTENCED have announced plans to play a few European festivals during the summer, including Summer Breeze, which is set to take place August 19-21, 2004 in Abtsgmünd, Germany. "We will throw in some brand-new stuff during our show this summer, because we don't want to play a 'best of SENTENCED' kind of set this ...
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NIGHTWISH and KING DIAMOND have been announced as the headliners of the seventh annual Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, set to take place July 16-18 in the Kaisaniemi park in the center of Helsinki, Finland. The complete list of artists currently scheduled to appear at the three-day event is as follows: NIGHTWISH KING DIAMOND SOILWORK ...
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