Metal News.

* On Thurs 6 and Fri 7 Mar, Vae Victus and Give Up All Hope, a couple of punk/hardcore acts from NSW and the UK respectively, will be doing shows here. Thursday's show will take place at the Crown and Anchor Hotel and also feature Guantanamo Bay City Rollers, while Friday's show will be held at the Enigma Bar and have Space Bong and Los Diablos as supports. To check out the material of Vae Victus, go to www.myspace.com/sufferingtotheconquered; to see what Give Up All Hope sound like, go to www.myspace.com/giveupallhope.

* Local death metal outfit Closed Casket have gotten a new vocalist in the form of ex-Fatality Cries member Dan Torode, who replaces former front-man Killer Causby. In further news relating to the band, they aim to have an EP, their first, out later in the year. Entitled 'Thy Blood, Thy Word', it'll be released on Truth Inc. Records. Catch them when they, Double Dragon and Victoria's Five Star Prison Cell support A Red Dawn at the last group's new album launch at the Underground on Sat 15 Mar.

* "Ready to move into its next eclipsing stage" and eager to get its name out, Obsidian Records is an emerging, Brisbane-based label that distributes releases by groups from both Queensland and interstate. Bands on the label's roster including Misery, 'neath, Limb From Limb and Oracle of the Void. Albums recently put out on the label include the self-titled debut of Brisbane death metal outfit The Dead, as well as Portal's 'OutrŽ', while upcoming releases include a re-release of Astriaal's 'Renascent Misanthropy' and the evocatively-titled 'You Worship Shit' from Sydney's Rookwood. For more information, go to www.obsidianrecords.com.

* Keep an eye out for a couple of upcoming movies featuring members of various metal and hardcore bands. One of these movies is "New York Blood", a horror/gangster flick executive-produced by Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta, and featuring Agnostic Front's Vinnie Stigma as a drug-dealing gangster who also runs a brothel. Various other figures in the New York hardcore scene have cameos in the movie, which looks as if it'll be going straight to DVD. Also in the horror vein is "Dark Floors", a picture featuring 2006 Eurovision winners Lordi. Despite featuring a Finnish band and a predominantly English cast, the film takes place in America, and revolves around "a small group of people... inexplicably trapped in a suddenly deserted hospital." And on the subject of both Finland and Eurovision, it appears that that country may well end up fielding another metal band in the famed song contest. A metal group called TerŠsbetoni is one of the bands hoping to represent the Scandinavian nation in this year's competition, which is set to take place in Belgrade in May.

* During a show in his native Poland last year, Behemoth front-man Adam "Nergal" Darski ripped up a Bible on stage. While this in itself isn't all that newsworthy (given what a sadly overdone gimmick it's become), the shit it's gotten Nergal into is. His actions (which were accompanied by a diatribe against the Catholic Church) have brought him to the attention of the newly-formed All-Polish Committee for Defence Against Sects, a body whose stated aim is to get artists who "promote Satanism" banned from performing in Poland. The Committee (whose formation Nergal initially considered a "joke") have lodged an official complaint against the artist; whether any action is taken because of this remains to be seen.

* In my last column, I mentioned that a couple of old metal bands were getting back together. Well, I've since learnt that another group is deciding to give things a shot again - this time it's death metal band Brutality (who you may recall me giving a little plug for a few issues back). It'll be the second attempt at a reunion by the Florida-based outfit who originally broke up in the '90s, reformed in 2001, and then broke up again in 2004. This time around, the lineup will consist of Jeff Acres, Scott Reigel, Jay Fernandez and Demian Heftel, all of whom have been involved with the group at one point or another - a fifth member is still being sought to fill the role of drummer. In a further piece of good news, the group's three full-length albums, all released during the '90s, are going to be reissued. The crucial question, though, is whether they will be bringing back their old logo - the one with the dragons in it?

* Last Hope are a hardcore band from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, who describe themselves as a "Bulgar display of power" (ho ho). Unfortunately, they don't provide much information about themselves on their Myspace page (www.myspace.com/lasthopesofia), and their official website is even less helpful (being very much a work in progress), but they're definitely worth checking out for some nice, angry hardcore.

James Brazel (jbr09171@bigpond.net.au)