Metal News.

A final reminder that on Thurs 22 February, locally-produced television show, 'Night Live', will be filming a show at the Enigma Bar featuring local metal oddballs Hekyl, as well as Amundsen's Flag, Raw Ether and Black Knight. Doors open at 8 pm. For more info on 'Night Live', which screens every Sunday at 9:30 pm on Channel 31, go to www.myspace.com/adelaidenightlive or www.adelaidenightlive.com.

A final reminder also that the massive Scorcherfest will be taking place at Adelaide Uni on Sun 25 February. The all-ages outdoor show will feature an exclusively local line-up, with 60 bands (many metal ones among them) and ten DJs performing on five stages throughout the day. Gates open at 11 am. For more info, go to scorcherfest@yahoo.com.au or www.myspace.com/scorcherfest.

Two years after their last show here, LA's Terror return to Adelaide on Fri 2 March to promote their latest album, 'Always The Hard Way'. Their licensed all-ages show will be held at Fowler's Live and also feature Hatebreed.

On Thurs 8 March, US melodic punk band Strike Anywhere will be appearing at the Enigma Bar, with support from locals Stolen Youth and God So Loved the World.

Those hanging out to see US old-school thrashers Toxic Holocaust here on Fri 9 March (and I was one of them) will be disappointed to learn that their impending Australian tour with Japan's Abigail appears to have been postponed, if not cancelled outright. Unfortunately, even with the vast resources of the Net at my disposal, I'm finding it difficult to discover exactly what's going on; all I've really been able to ascertain has been that Fowler's Live, which is where they were supposed to have been playing, will be featuring someone completely different (and not at all metal) on the night of the 9th and that a show they were supposed to be playing at in Melbourne the following evening won't be featuring them either. More information when (or if) I get it.

On Sat 10 March, power metal comes to the Enigma Bar with a show featuring locals Skintilla and The Loving Tongue, as well as Sydney's Transcending Mortality and Melbourne's Anarion. Doors open at 9 pm.

A bunch of international metal bands look like coming our way during the next few months. In addition to the ones I've already given a mention here, Poland's Vader will be playing at the Enigma Bar on Tues 24 April, while England's Dragonforce, who cruelly snubbed us during a tour they did last year (boo hoo), will be playing at Fowler's on Sat 12 May. Also playing at Fowler's in May will be the legendary Sodom, who appear there on Friday the 25th. Unfortunately, their show will clash with one at the Adelaide UniBar featuring America's Nile and Poland's Decapitated: something that will no doubt present many metalheads here with an agonizing dilemma.

In my continuing quest to give publicity to metal bands from some of the unlikeliest corners of the world, one part of the globe I've yet to look at has been Africa, mainly because that continent unfortunately still doesn't seem to have many metal bands on it. Not surprisingly, what bands there are come mainly from South Africa, although the five nations that make up North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco) also have a decent number between them. One band hailing from another part of the continent, however, is a fairly traditional heavy metal outfit called Neblina, who come from the war-torn nation of Angola. Residing in the national capital, Luanda, they've been around since 2000 and put out their first full-length release, 'Innocence Fall In Decay', last year. To listen to some of their material, go to www.myspace.com/neblinarockband. Another African group worth checking out are Botswana's Crackdust, a death metal band that formed only last year and whose members are apparently spread across the country (although the group officially resides in the national capital, Gaborone). To find out more about them, go to www.myspace.com/crackdust.

James Brazel

jbr09171@bigpond.net.au