Metal News.

On Fri 29 June, there'll be an all-ages show at the Underground featuring Skintilla, Asphyxia, Saeturnum, Kathexis and Universum.

New metal venue The Magill Club (Uren St, Magill) will be hosting a licensed all-ages show on Sat 30 June featuring Stigmartyr, Dominian, 3 Days Darkness, Karma Slice and The Irresponsibles.

After a lengthy absence from the live scene, locals Tidal (who've been keeping themselves busy writing and pre-recording a new album) are doing a show at the Enigma Bar on Sat 7 July, with support from Stigmartyr and Shot In Paris.

Semi-locals Captain Cleanoff (who'll be supporting Napalm Death when they play here in early September) have begun work on a new full-length release, the follow-up to their 2002 self-titled album. Mixing and mastering duties have been entrusted to Maryland's Scott Hull, who's also worked with the likes of Pig Destroyer and Agoraphobic Nosebleed.

During a recent tour of his native Brazil, Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser had the misfortune to contract dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease whose symptoms include headache, fever, joint pains and skin rash. In a press statement, Kisser claimed the disease (which did not prevent him from performing) put him in a lot of pain, and lamented the failure of his birthplace to eradicate the "evil" mosquito that transmitted it.

Melbourne progressive thrash band Alarum recently bade farewell to longtime guitarist Scott Young, who left to focus on his new Gothic metal project, Darkest Dawn (whose debut album 'End Of Season' should be out in August).

Just weeks after a government-appointed "watchdog" in Poland resurrected the ludicrous controversy over purple Teletubby Tinky Winky's alleged homosexuality, another bunch of busybodies from that country - a group calling themselves "The All-Polish Committee For Defence Against Sects" - have created a blacklist of musical acts they believe should be banned from the country because they "promote Satanism". Even worse, many authority figures are reportedly eager to get their hands on the list and use it for the purpose its compilers intended! Although the contents of the list remain confidential, Marilyn Manson is believed to be one of the performers on it, as are Behemoth, who, of course, come from Poland themselves. Not surprisingly, Behemoth frontman Nergal was less than impressed by revelations of the list, which he claims "must be some kind of joke".

Then again, some metal people really don't do the scene's public image any favours, if a recent church-burning in France is anything to go by. A few weeks back, a 16th Century chapel in an isolated part of Brittany (the westernmost region of the country) was gutted by a deliberately-lit fire that left only the building's walls standing. Though the culprits have yet to be caught, graffiti at the scene of the crime suggest they were part of a Satanist movement called 'Aryan Black Metal', whose members are into heavy metal, paganism and far-right politics.

And on the subject of people giving metal a bad name, how about this guy from Sweden? A 42 year-old man called Roger Tullgren recently qualified for welfare benefits in the Scandinavian state after having his love of metal (a form of music he's reportedly been obsessed with since 1971) classified as an addiction and therefore a disability entitling him to government support. In addition to having his wages as a dishwasher topped up by the state, Tullgren has also been allowed to attend metal concerts in work time (so long as he makes up for it afterwards), dress in full metal regalia for his job, and also listen to his music of choice while working. I'm still not sure whether to regard him as some sort of unlikely hero striking an inspiring blow against the forces of conformity, or simply a colossal tosser.

For this fortnight's obscure band plug, the spotlight is on a Japanese Gothic metal outfit called Moi Dix Mois, who were started in 2002 by one of the most astonishing musicians I've ever seen, an enigmatic individual known only as Mana. A music producer and fashion designer in addition to guitarist, Mana masquerades as a (stunningly attractive) woman, and was also involved with a group called Malice Mizer, who, towards the end of their career, dabbled in metal themselves (to see a clip of one of their more metal songs, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvsH6m7LYqE). There is a heap of Moi Dix Mois fanpages on Myspace (hmm, maybe they're not so obscure after all...). Try www.myspace.com/disinfernal and www.myspace.com/moidixmoisfan to begin with. Marvel at Mana's astounding androgynous beauty by going to www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xedhlx8uXA or www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV7ybBH50pw&NR=1. Believe me, Marilyn Manson has nothing on this guy!

James Brazel