Metal News.

· On Fri 2 Nov at the Enigma Bar, Raven Black Night will be doing their first show here in nearly five months, with support from Synovee, Valhull and Devonera. Also doing a comeback show at the Enigma Bar will be Imminent Psychosis, who'll be playing there on Sat 10 Nov with Omnium, Treachery and Murder Hill.

· On Sun 18 Nov, there'll be an all-ages show at the Crown and Anchor Hotel featuring Murder Hill, Locura, Burial and Sonic Euphoria. Doors open at 5pm.

· On Sat 7 Dec, the Underground will play host to the second installment of new local metal event Total Metal Mayhem. Showcasing a lineup of local bands whose names all drove my spellchecker crazy, the all-ages gig will feature Universum, Saeturnum, Octanic, Devonera and Kathexus, who between them "will deliver thrash, power, progressive, death, black and industrial metal". Doors open at 7 pm.

· Sweden's Amon Amarth, a group whose fanbase is said to include "death metal, nu-metal, hardcore and grindcore enthusiasts", are touring Australia and New Zealand. Tickets are now on sale for their all-ages show at Fowlers Live on Fri 4 Jan, and also feature locals Order of the Buzzard and Victoria's Nothing.

· Norway's Gorgoroth have undergone a split of sorts, with vocalist Gaahl and bassist King ov Hell kicking guitarist Infernus out of the band. Although Gaahl and King have vowed to continue using the group's name, Infernus has stated he'll take them to court over this. Both parties appear to have a legitimate claim on the name (which, incidentally, comes from 'The Lord of the Rings', and means "place of very great dread") - Infernus is the sole remaining original member of the group, while his bandmates consider themselves to have been "the driving force behind [its] music for the past eight years". Gaahl, who was the subject of a recent VBS.TV production entitled 'True Norwegian Black Metal', has created his own Myspace page to keep fans updated on his various musical projects (which also include the bands Trelldom and Gaahlskagg); to check it out, go to www.myspace.com/gaahlofficial.

· A grindcore band from Philadelphia called Total Fucking Destruction have lived up to their name by writing off their tour van during a recent visit to Chicago. The band were leaving the city when they found themselves caught in the middle of a car chase, which had four police cars pursuing a stolen car and tow truck against the flow of traffic, and resulted in the last vehicle colliding head-on with the tour van. According to the band (who claim they prefer to end their tours "with a bang"), "Our van and gear were completely destroyed, but we were able to walk away with only minor injuries. Total Fucking Destruction lives to grind another day, fuck yeah!"

· A recent Brisbane gig of Parkway Drive's ended in a riot and caused extensive damage to the Arena Entertainment Complex in Fortitude Valley. The show attracted an estimated two thousand punters, about thirty of whom were thrown out for aggressive behaviour; one was also arrested and charged with disorderly behaviour and resisting eviction. Police had to be called in to quell the riot, which spilled out onto the adjacent street and ended up blocking it. Fire exits at the venue were so badly damaged that another show booked there had to be shifted to a different location; the venue has decided not to hold all-ages gigs any more.

· Norway's Enslaved have staged an unusual protest against illegal music downloading by stealing a sheep from a farm owned by one of their country's politicians, a certain Lars Sponheim. Sponheim is head of the Norwegian Liberal Party, which has been advocating the legalisation of all illicit Internet downloading; so incensed were the group by this that they stole the sheep, in order to make the point that illegal downloading of music is no different from more obvious forms of theft. In a humane gesture, the group set the sheep free in the mountains, where it was no doubt later eaten by wolves. On the subject of Enslaved, I believe they were to have done an Australian tour sometime around now, though haven't heard anything more about it. I'm wondering if it ended up being either cancelled or deferred, or if I just blinked and missed it instead...

· Injustice were an eighties death metal band from Brooklyn, New York who, during their relatively brief existence, opened shows for the likes of Obituary, Sepultura and Napalm Death. In 1990, they broke up, two of the members, brothers Ron and Bill Braunstein, going on to enjoy much greater fame as rappers Necro and Ill Bill respectively. The band put out a couple of three-track demos - 'The Cursed Earth' and 'Inhuman Conditions' - the latter of whose contents have been posted up at www.myspace.com/injustice1990. It's fairly impressive stuff, made more so by the fact Necro and Ill Bill were only thirteen and seventeen respectively when it came out!

James Brazel (jbr09171@bigpond.net.au)