Metal News.

In local news, Truth Corroded have parted ways with lead guitarist Corey Grieve, who'd been a member of the group since its re-formation in 2003. Apparently, Grieve had not been performing with the band for some months, and failed to join them on a recent Asian tour. "Unable to commit any further due to personal circumstances, Corey made the decision to leave the band after assessing the future commitments required to be a member of Truth Corroded," reported the group in a press statement. The group also stressed that there were no hard feelings involved in his departure, and thanked him for all his work with the band; they also promised that he'd be contributing to their next release. Grieve's replacement will be Darren McClennan, someone sure to be familiar to followers of the local scene thanks to his work with such groups as The Harrowed (formerly Fury) and Sarsekim. McClennan made his debut with Truth Corroded at last year's Against The Grain festival, in September.

· In a bit of interstate news, Melbourne's Pegazus have just been rejoined by original vocalist Justin Fleming, who left the power metal outfit way back in 1996. Said the rest of the band in a statement, "Justin has been spending most of his time since leaving the band acting and singing on stage and screen, so we are very excited to have his stage presence and huge voice drive Pegazus forward like never before!"

· Moving onto news from overseas, Californian "deathcore" band All Shall Perish have let guitarist Chris Storey go due to "many long-standing internal issues", but have already found an "unbelievable" replacement for him in the form of a certain Jason Richardson. On the other side of the country, meanwhile, Connecticut-based metalcore outfit Hatebreed have welcomed back original guitarist Wayne Lozinak, whose return to the band came about as a result of the departure of longtime member Sean M. Martin. "After ten years, I've decided to leave Hatebreed," said Martin. "This in no way reflects my personal relationship with Jamey, Chris, Matt and Frank; they're four of my closest friends, and I'll always love them with all my heart." Neither Martin nor his bandmates have given reasons for his departure.

· Limp Bizkit are back! The band's original lineup of Fred Durst, Wes Borland, Sam Rivers, John Otto and DJ Lethal - which had not played together for some eight years - have reunited, with plans already underway for a world tour and new album. "We decided we were more disgusted and bored with the state of heavy popular music than we were with each other," claimed Durst and Borland in a joint statement. "Regardless of where our separate paths have taken us, we recognize there is a powerful and unique energy with this particular group of people we have not found anywhere else. This is why Limp Bizkit is back."

· Over in the Netherlands, long-running symphonic metal band After Forever have broken up, saying that their decision to do so was motivated by a break they took last year. During this break, the group's members started dabbling in other musical genres, and it was eventually decided that everyone should be allowed to go his or her own way. "Although After Forever is very special to us," said the group in a statement, "we feel that we have reached the point where we need to explore the world of music in each of our own different ways. Thus, we've decided to quit while we're ahead. We are sincerely proud of every CD; each album represents a unique period, and all comes together in our last album, 'After Forever', which made all of our dreams possible. We hope After Forever will continue to be a source of inspiration for new bands and musicians alike so that our music can live on."

· In another disturbing indication of the growing authoritarianism in Russia, a recent St Petersburg show of Moscow-based "Slavic pagan metal" band Arkona was brought to an unexpected and rather rude end when riot police raided the venue and announced the show was over, before forcing musicians and fans alike against a wall, searching them, and then taking their fingerprints and photos. In a statement, the band, who combine metal with traditional Russian folk music, blamed the police action on a war the city authorities have been waging against "nonconformist subculture", and claimed that other music shows in the city had been shut down in a similar fashion.

· SubMission are a classic heavy metal band from Windhoek, the capital of the southwestern African nation of Namibia. Featuring "many stalwarts of the Southern African scene" (including members of another Namibian outfit called Arcana XXII, which seemed to have quite an illustrious career before it broke up a few years ago), they formed in 2005 and have so far put out a handful of short releases, the longest a five track EP entitled 'i mortal', which came out last year. To give them a listen, go to www.myspace.com/submissionnamibia.

James Brazel

(jbr09171@bigpond.net.au)