A couple of select quotes from a recent interview with Metalrage.com. Metalrage.com: There’s been this quote going around that Max Cavalera has labelled the new album “a calm and peaceful album.” Explain to me what a calm Soulfly album sounds like. Marc Rizzo: “You know what?! There’s no way that could be true. Because this record, is the heaviest SOULFLY record so far. It’s a mix of SOULFLY, and old-style SEPULTURA that Max was doing back on ‘Arise’ and ‘Beneath the Remains’. It’s almost like a thrash record, you know. The real SOULFLY elements are still there, but there’s a lot of new songs that are fast-paced, a lot of guitar solos, it’s got fast thrash-type rhythms. So I’m pretty sure he didn’t say that. Maybe lyrically, but musically it’s fucking heavy. It’s the best SOULFLY record yet. It’s got everything I like in heavy music. A lot of awesome drumming, a lot of double-bass. Lots of fast tempos, Max’s vocals are really heavy. I think it’s awesome, it’s right where ‘Prophecy’ left off, with a step further to the heavier side. Totally. It’s a brutal record, people are going to be shocked when they hear it.” Metalrage.com: SOULFLY is not unfamiliar to the word “experimenting,” even soul and traditional Brazilian influences have been put into the records. With all the heavy stuff going on this new record, is there still room for that sort of stuff? Marc Rizzo: “Yeah, there’s a lot of cool jams on it too, but overall it is the most relentless SOULFLY record. It’s all ‘Boom,’ in your face! One after another of just slamming heavy fucking songs that kick your ass, man. There is a couple of jams on it, but it is not as ‘jammy’ as the earlier records. This record is more song-orientated.” Read Marc Rizzo’s entire interview with Metalrage.com

The latest issue of KERRANG! features an awesome three page feature on Trivium which starts out as follows: Saturday June 11, 2005 will be remembered as the day the UK fell in love with Trivium. At a stroke, their ecstatically received Download festival performance – at which a 30,000-strong crowd went collectively apeshit at 11am – transformed Trivium from up-and-coming newbies into genuine global contenders. The band’s cutting-edge take on classic thrash, combined with frontman Matt Heafy’s startling, stadium-size star quality, has made Trivium THE name to drop in metal circles – as demonstrated by the current, lightning-fast proliferation of Trivium T-shirts and hoodies. But this is just the beginning… Buy KERRANG! today to read the full article!!

Roadrunner Records is proud to announce the signing of critically acclaimed Dutch goth-metallers Within Temptation for the UK, Australia, and Japan. 퉌æ Fronted by the nightingale-throated Sharon den Adel, the band is completed by Robert Westerholt (guitar), Jeroen Van Veen (bass), Stephen van Haestregt (drums), Martijn Spierenburg (keyboards), and Ruud Jolie (guitar). 퉌æ í¢ä‰åñWe are very happy that our new album is being released by Roadrunner in the U.K., Australia, and Japan,í¢ä‰åŒ say Sharon and Robert. í¢ä‰åñA lot of our fans from these countries send us messages requesting a local album release. We wanted to work with a label that understands our music and now we are definitely at the right place.í¢ä‰åŒ 퉌æ Formed in 1996, Within Temptation has released three albums including the platinum album ‘Mother Earth’ – selling over 800,000 albums in their career to date. Latest album ‘The Silent Force’, originally released in November 2004, crashed into the Netherlands official chart at #1, and was certified gold a mere three weeks later. Further Top 5 positions followed in Germany (gold), Belgium (also gold), and Finland, with Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, France, and Norway all also placing the album high in the Top 30. A UK release is set for August 29th in brand new CD and CD/DVD formats including bonus tracks and live footage. 퉌æ In early 2005, with over 400,000 copies of ‘The Silent Force’ sold in Europe, the band was awarded the Conamus Music Export prize as well as the Edison Award for Best National Band (the Dutch equivalent of the US Grammys & the UK Brits). A TMF Award (MTV Benelux’s domestic award ceremony) followed. 퉌æ Within Temptation are currently on the European festival circuit, appearing at Pinkpop, Werchter, Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Sweden Rock, Ruisrock, Aerodome, Wacken, and Gurten. Support slots with Iron Maiden in Paris and Zurich have also been announced. In addition, a special one-off show in Amsterdam on July 22 is confirmed, where the band will perform on an island in the middle of a river for 10,000 fans! 퉌æIn the UK, Within Temptation will headline the annual Bloodstock Festival on September 3. Stay tuned for more dates.

“2005 is the year of Transgression for FEAR FACTORY!” Due out on the 22nd August the aptly named Transgression sees Fear Factory at their finest. In addition to the standard album, the record will be available as a limited edition pack with BONUS DVD featuring 3 music videos!! and the ‘making of the album documentary’.