“I haven’t intended to manifest myself in any way and, especially at this stage, to share my feelings or any other news with the world for obvious reasons. It is simply too early for it. But it was YOU who provoked me to say a few words. Regarding my personal low opinion of humankind, I’m shocked by the reaction to my illness. I actually expected NOTHING yet received feedback which surpassed all expectations. I want to ensure you I read EACH mail I receive, although I’m unable to reply to all of them. The power of your words is pure magic and I thank you all for it. You are a gigantic indestructible army that truly inspires me in this difficult time. The fact is that a fight with this illness is going to last for many months. Most of this time I will spend in hospital and I will go through various psychophysical states. If you know the history of Behemoth you also know we achieved everything by hard work and a steely determination. The same goes for my private life. I happen to be a strong son of a bitch. I have no faith but rely on a 100% victory and I am sure I will get out of it stronger than ever. Sun Tzu in his ‘Art of War’ said that if you know your enemy and yourself the result of a thousand battles will not surprise you… I enter the ring with this Nietzschean attitude and I will leave it as a winner, as usual. Just watch and see!

So I want to emphasize that Behemoth will by no means goes through any hibernation state. Obviously all concert plans must be postponed until some unknown point in the future, but things are happening! Lately our newest video for ‘…Alas, Lord is Upon Me’ has premiered and stirred up quite a storm in mass media, which fills us with utter pride. Plus we’ve just finished the project of our new DVD; Evangelia Heretika is a three disc release, a real encyclopedia of Behemoth with nearly 5 hours of material and a bonus audio CD that will be out in November (Metal Blade US – Nuclear Blast Europe). Expect an experience of visual madness as we went to hell and back to make it! Our official Webstore has been functional for a couple of days and official merchandise and some very exclusive stuff can be bought there. At the beginning of 2011, Peaceville in Europe and Metal Blade in US will reissue the EPs with new artwork, bonuses, liner notes, and more. As you can see, despite a complicated situation and difficult circumstances we’re remaining active wherever we can.

Finally, I want to comment on some opinions which, provoked by religious circles, lead to far-fetched and inaccurate interpretations. I was surprised to hear my illness became a pretext for some people to embark on their own crusade. Opinions suggesting I might come closer to God or abandon my ideals and grovel to the only correct world view in this country not only surprised but also frightened me. This is a typical example of supporting one’s own views by preying on someone’s misfortune. ‘He fell ill so he will convert to Christianity, he will discover the religion he fought against is actually close to him.’ Halt! Why should the illness change my point of view? It is true this is a difficult time for me and the thoughts of ultimate matters are hard to chase away. But the idea that I will change my opinions, priorities, and values as a consequence of my illness sounds as if someone regards my head, and not my body, ill. Suggesting I might convert are ridiculous. To what would I convert? After all, I know Christian mythology pretty well, not only in its literary version, and I find nothing good, creative or beautiful in it. I read books better and wiser than the Bible. War, blood, blackmail, rapes, incest, pedophilia, zoophilia, collaboration and treachery – each page emanates with evil. Some may say I don’t understand the message of the Bible. I’d rather say the Christianity is nothing more than a rusty and archaic structure that is going to fall down any moment. It lasts only because of the gullible that follow the shepherd blindly; without any questions, without any consideration, not to any promised land, but to an intellectual slaughter. So, I say to those, who see some chances to break my rules, and myself because of the illness: over my dead body!”

Nergal’s official view on benefit concerts, fund raisers, etc. is focused on marrow donations as a whole issue, not his specific situation. If you want to help Nergal the best thing you can do is set up a marrow drive or register to be a bone marrow donor. Every person that registers to be a donor increases the chances of survival for Nergal and every other person out there suffering from the same illness. Head to www.marrow.org for info.

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THE AUTUMN OFFERING’s new track “Bloodlust” has been made available for streaming over at the band’s Myspace. It comes from their new self-titled album which will hit stores on Tuesday, August 31st, through Victory.

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In conjunction with the upcoming release Enemy Unbound from Tampa, FL area natives THE ABSENCE, Metal Blade Records is pleased to release the track-listing, cover art, and the first single from Enemy Unbound. The title track can be heard on metalblade.com/theabsence.

Track-listing for Enemy Unbound:

1. Vertigo
2. Erased
3. Deepest Wound
4. Maelstrom
5. Enemy Unbound
6. Solace
7. The Bridge
8. Wartorn
9. Hidden in White
10. Vengeance and Victory
11. Triumph

Enemy Unbound, available everywhere September 14, 2010

In other news; original drummer and one of the founding members of THE ABSENCE, Jeramie Kling, has rejoined the band.

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The complete list of winners is as follows:

Hard Rock: HARDCORE SUPERSTAR – “Beg For It”
Death Metal: HYPOCRISY – “A Taste Of Extreme Divinity”
Heavy/Power Metal: HAMMERFALL – “No Sacrifice, No Victory”
Glam/Sleaze: VAINS OF JENNA – “The Art Of Telling Lies”
Punk/Hardcore: DIA PSALMA – “Re Voltere”
Metal (Black, Doom, Thrash, etc.): CANDLEMASS – “Death Magic Doom”
Alternative Metal (Modern, Nu, Progressive, etc.): LILLASYSTER – “Det Här Är Inte Musik Det Här Är Kärlek”
Video/Director: SONIC SYNDICATE – “Burn This City” (Patric Ullaeus)
Live Act: RAISED FIST
Newcomer: HYSTERICA

For more information (in Swedish), visit www.swedishmetalawards.com.

Trustkill is excited to announce the signing of Philadelphia’s VICTORY IN NUMBERS. VIN recorded their debut album with producer Scott Stallone who has worked with everyone from Jedi Mind Tricks to Britney Spears. Also a few tracks were executive produced by Matt Carter from EMERY.

Their debut album Killing. Mourning. Love. will hit in Spring 2010 on Trustkill Records. Listen to songs here.

BEFORE THERE WAS ROSALYN recently released their Victory debut, The Furhrer: An Allegory of a History of Deception, on October 26.  The album tells the tail of a bold and emotional journey into the heart of a humanity left to its own devices.  Check out the new music video for their powerful single, “The Warrior”, below:

Victory’s metal focused web platform, VictoryMetal.com, is set to debut the first full length track from BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME’s forthcoming album The Great Misdirect. A track from the album, “Obfuscation” will have its world “streaming” premiere at 6:00pm EST today. The nine minute and fifteen second song is a testament to the technically otherworldly original and proficient musicianship of BTBAM.

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME will yet again redefine the progressive metal genre on October 27 when The Great Misdirect is in stores.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, the new album from Swedish melodic metallers HAMMERFALL, No Sacrifice, No Victory, has sold over 1,500 copies in the United States and has debuted at #38 on the Heatseekers chart, which tracks the best selling albums by new and developing artists defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of the Billboard 200.

No Sacrifice, No Victory recently achieved gold status in Sweden for sales in excess of 20,000 copies.  The album has registered the following first-week chart positions in Europe:

• #2 – Sweden
• #7 – Germany
• #20 – Switzerland
• #21 – U.K. (Indie Albums chart)
• #25 – Austria
• #46 – Norway
• #95 – France

Recorded in part at Andy La Rocque’s (King Diamond) Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden, No Sacrifice, No Victory includes an instrumental written by the group’s newest member, guitarist Pontus Norgren, as well as a song entitled “One of a Kind,” which was composed as a collaboration between HAMMERFALL guitarist Oscar Dronjak and IN FLAMES axeman Jesper Strömblad (who was a member of HAMMERFALL in the band’s earliest incarnation).  Cover artwork was created by Sam Didier.

The band just finished the first leg of their European tour and will launch the 2^nd leg on April 7th in Slovenia.  Read guitarist Oscar Dronjak’s tour blog here

The upcoming tribute to German metal legends RUNNING WILD — which will contain cover versions of songs exclusively from the albums “The Rivalry” (1998), “Victory” (2000), “The Brotherhood” (2002) and “Rogues En Vogue” (2005) — will be titled “ReUnation – A Tribute To Running Wild” and is tentatively scheduled for release in the fall this year.