ZOOM News

*3 Inches Of Blood Nearly Finished Recording New Album

-Last month, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD announced a worldwide record deal with label Century Media. In the months leading up to the new record deal, the band spent countless hours writing songs for a new album. In the weeks following the Century Media announcement, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD have been in the studio recording a new album. The album is being made in Seattle, WA. The drums were recorded at London Bridge Studios. The rest was done at Soundhouse Recording. Producing, engineering, and mixing duties are being handled by Jack Endino. Most recently Jack has recorded albums for High On Fire, Toxic Holocaust and Early Man, but his previous work covers a myriad of renowned artists including Nirvana and Bruce Dickinson.

With the album near completion, all parties involved are hoping for a fall 2009 release date.

*Suicide Silence Streaming New Song Online

-Suicide Silence is currently streaming online the first track from their upcoming album "No Time To Bleed." The song "Wake Up" can be heard on the band's official MySpace page. "No Time To Bleed" is currently set for a June 30th release date via Century Media Records.

*Chthonic Discusses New Album, "Mirror Of Retribution"

-Taiwan is a country where history and folklore work very much hand in hand, and both of these elements are central to the latest studio album from that country’s premier metal outfit, Chthonic (pronounced "Thonic"). Mirror of Retribution will be released August 10 on Spinefarm Records UK.

Chthonic (a name deriving from a Greek word signifying spirits of the underworld) has delivered an 11-track body of work that touches on both the spirit and mortal worlds, with loss of national identity and the sometimes turbulent history of their homeland recurring themes.

With Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano at the production and mixing helm, "Mirror Of Retribution" sees the award-winning musicians further developing a style that started with the 1999 album "Where The Ancestors' Souls Gathered," blending full-on metal of the darker persuasion with traditional Taiwanese instruments such as two-string violin, the hena.

“The story behind this album combines true historical fact with an ancient myth of hell,” explains bassist and band spokesperson Doris Yeh. “Amongst other things, we make reference to the famous ‘228 Massacre’, which was the biggest ever massacre in Taiwanese history. Tens of thousands of Taiwanese were killed by the Chinese army. The final battle of the event occurred in the middle of Taiwan, where 40 local militia attempted to resist 2,500 soldiers from the Chinese army. In the end, the militia lost their lives near the Sing-Ling Temple.

“Musically, we tried to move the band to a whole new level,” continues Doris. “In the past, we’ve been described in various ways, as ‘symphonic black metal’ or ‘melodic death,’ the word ‘folk’ has also been applied at times, but this was our chance to establish a new place for ourselves in the extreme metal genre…”

Never ones to shy away from a just cause, Chthonic – in particular frontman Freddy Lim – has been consistently active on the political front at home, whilst away from their hometown of Taipei they have appeared at the Wacken Festival in Germany and toured as part of the Ozzfest in the US, the first Asian extreme metal band to make such a mark.

*Mastodon Plans UK In-Store Signings

-Mastodon will celebrate the release of their latest album, "Crack the Skye," with three signing sessions at HMV stores starting at HMV’s High Street store in Sheffield on Friday 5th June 2009.

The band will be at the store from 5.00 pm, to meet fans and sign copies of the new album which was released in March through Warner Bros.

Next up the band head to HMV’s Market Street store in Manchester on Saturday, June 6th and then on to HMV’s Argyle Street store, Glasgow on Sunday, June 7th. Both these in-store signing sessions also kick off at 5.00 pm.

The Grammy nominated Mastodon, will be on tour with Metallica this summer on the European leg the World Magnetic Tour.