Metal News.

On Sun 17 Feb, locals Cry Murder will be putting on their first show in five months when they share the stage with Parkway Drive at HQ. The band, who have a new vocalist and drummer, are also in the process of completing writing for their new album, the follow-up to 2006's 'From the Shadow of Doubt' EP. A new song of the band's can be found on their Myspace page (www.myspace.com/crymurder).

On Fri 22 Feb, there'll be a night of "grind madness" at the Enigma Bar featuring locals Guantanamo Bay City Rollers and Los Diablos, semi-locals Captain Cleanoff, Melbourne's Agents of Abhorrence, and international visitors Insect Warfare, who hail from Houston, Texas. Doors open at 8:30 PM. Sample some of Insect Warfare's material by going to www.myspace.com/insectwarfare.

On Fri 29 Feb, Melbourne's The Abandonment will be doing a show at the Enigma Bar with brand-new vocalist Hugh Butcher. Also playing will be Sydney's Slowly Building Weapons, as well as locals Abandon All Hope, Robotosaurus and Craterface, the last band a new thrash outfit featuring former members of Through Closed Eyes, Stronghold and Jungle Fever. Doors open at 8:30 PM.

By the time you read this, locals Truth Corroded should have a couple of new tracks, Decimate and The Immolation Seen, posted up on their Myspace page (www.myspace.com/truthcorroded). The tracks are taken from their new album, 'Upon the Warlords Crawl', which should be out in March on their own Truth Inc. label.

You may recall me mentioning in a column last year that a certain Ernie Carletti - guitarist for a band called Naughty Naughty (and a very short-lived member of Iced Earth) - had been arrested on charges of kidnapping, torturing and raping a young woman back in 2003. Well, the aforementioned musician has since been found guilty of all of the above, and been sentenced to a whopping 33 years in prison! The 32 year old Carletti, who showed no remorse for his crimes, seems to have had quite a history of sexually inappropriate behaviour. Not only was he also accused of having raped a girl while still in high school, but while working as a guitar instructor, he was the subject of numerous complaints concerning a habit he had of reaching into his pants while tutoring female students.

And as one metal musician goes into prison, another comes out. On-again, off-again Obituary guitarist (and one-time Six Feet Under member) Allen West has just been released from a Florida jail after serving eight months for driving under the influence, the fifth time he's been charged with such an offence. West has long had problems with alcohol, and a troubled history with Obituary as a consequence; replacing him in the band for the time being is Ralph Santolla.

Annual metal event Metalstock will soon be on again, and for the first time since its inception in 2005, will be taking place in Sydney rather than a farm outside Scone. Unfortunately, it looks like being a somewhat meagre affair compared to previous years, featuring only 17 bands (less than half the number present at last year's event); even worse, none of those groups will be coming from here! On the upside, Canada's Kataklysm will be headlining the two day, all-ages show (which will take place at the Manning Bar on Sat 22 and Sun 23 Mar), while New Zealand's Dawn of Azazel will also be making an appearance. For more information, go to www.myspace.com/metalstock.

In a piece of news that seems oddly fitting in light of the attention I've recently been giving old 80s and 90s metal bands, a couple of groups from that era have recently re-formed. First of all, Florida's Cynic have gotten back together after a successful European reunion tour last year. The group, who originally formed in 1987, broke up in 1994, a year after the release of their only full-length album to date, 'Focus'. Also enjoying a reunion (of sorts) are Holland's Pestilence, who formed in 1986 and also broke up in 1994 (after having released four full-length albums). Vocalist/guitarist Patrick Mameli and bass player Tony Choy are the only two members of the newly re-formed group who've had any previous involvement with it; completing the new lineup is Darkane's Peter Wildoer on drums.

Unfortunately, while some bands may have re-formed, another has just broken up. Just days after the release of their latest album, 'Oblivion Beckons', West Virginia's Byzantine have announced they're "no longer a functioning band". The group were not forthcoming with reasons for the breakup, instead only stating that it was due to "various circumstances".

Shakespeare in Hell are a Gothic/death metal band from New Orleans who started in 2000 as a school project but went on to become a full-time endeavour. Inspired by the famed Elizabethan playwright, they nonetheless seem to have a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards him; while all their lyrics apparently consist of lines from his plays, their motto is "Shakespeare is dead... but he lives on in hell!" (a thought that I'm sure would cheer many readers forced to grapple with the Bard's works at school!) With two albums, 'Hecate' and 'The Tempest', already to their name, the group is unfortunately on hold at present due to the hurricanes that devastated their home city in 2005. To find out more about them, go to www.myspace.com/shakespeareinhell.

James Brazel (jbr09171@bigpond.net.au)