Long-running Swedish death metallers DISMEMBER have issued a statement dismissing reports that they are cancelling their previously announced August 29 appearance at Barby Club in Tel Aviv, Israel due to the curent unrest in the Middle East. The statement reads as follows:

“Hereby DISMEMBER states that we are not cancelling the show at the Barbie club in Israel on the 29th of August!!! We have no idea who wants to destroy for us by posting untrue statements on behalf of the band. We are doing the show as planned to promote the band in a territory we have waited so long to play shows in. Be sure that we will not let the Israeli die-hard metal fans down!!!”

(Blabbermouth)

Amaseffer is the new “Holy Project” from Andy Kuntz, enigmatic lead singer of German progressive metal band Vanden Plas.

The story of Exodus will be told in the eventual trilogy of albums with the Hebrew name of Amaseffer referring to the name chosen for the Israelites in the Bible. Originating from Israel, the musical side of Amaseffer features Yuval Kramer (g), Hanan Abramovitch (g) and Erez Yohanan (d). The unique progressive sound of the trilogy is a mixture of Middle Eastern spices with an epic, cinematic scope polished with philharmonic orchestrations.

Andy Kuntz will co-produce the albums with the second and third albums due nine and eighteen months respectively after the release of the first album.

Official Band Site:
http://www.amaseffer.com

Check out Jet Sam’s Myspace site for all the East Coast tour dates

Unfortunately Old Friend, home to the comfy Jerusalem metal scene, is closing its doors – hopefully moving to another location in a few months.  ‘Til then, Metal Israel is greatly saddened by its demise.

Hometime punk/hc menagerie Weird Chicken will be headlining the bar’s last night at its Helene HaMalka address on Saturday, August 12.  For more information visit Weird Chicken’s Myspace site.

Aborted are playing in Tel Aviv on August 3rd along with Whorecore and Emeth.  Vocalist Sven De Caluw, with quite the entertaining and erudite prosaic style, answers some questions for us…check out more about Aborted at their Myspace site and their official site.
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Azamoth (check their Myspace site here) is a black metal band hailing from Jerusalem. Azamoth, incidentally, means “bones’ in Hebrew. A few months ago, they toured Europe with Lord Belial, Dark Fortress and Born of Sin. This interview was written a few weeks after they came back. Scorch, the lead vocalist and bass player, was kind enough to answer my questions.

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Yeh, Borgo Pass has nothing to do with Israel but they rock mad hard so this deserves a mention…anyway, you Israeli bands should take heed about the opportunities this show can provide.  Visit www.locobazooka.com for more information.

Long Island’s Borgo Pass has been hand picked to play alongside the legendary Alice in Chains at the 15th annual Locobazooka Festival. This year’s event will take place Sun. Aug. 13th at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield Mass. and is sponsored by Boston’s WAAF, 107.3 fm. This festival has been headlined in recent years by Slipknot, System of a Down, Godsmack, Staind and Damageplan. Locobazooka has also become known as a unique opportunity for unsigned bands to play alongside major label artists in front of thousands of fans. Every year over 5,000 submissions are received from bands all over the world hoping to get selected for this colossal event. The Locobazooka Festival boasts an average attendance of 18,000 or more fans and may prove to be the catalyst in launching a promising future for Borgo Pass. Borgo Pass has opened for many major acts such as Type O Negative, Anthrax, The Misfits, Life of Agony and more. Admission for this festival is $46 and is a rain or shine event. For tickets and more information log on to www.borgopass.com or contact Ticketmaster.

Read this in a Russian accent – it’s really cute that way.

“After some period of silence we are returning with brand new album! As we told you before we have planned to record a full-length album. Unfortunately, the result of recording process which we have achieved by now shouldn’t be referenced as really “full-lengthâ€?.  In fact, the album consists of 6 songs (5 brand new tracks + re-recorded version of “More Than My Lifeâ€?), with total running time of approximately 30 minutes, so the record could be called “a very long EPâ€? 🙂 ..”

Read more about it at the official Desert website.

“Good luck IDF. All the best.”

taken from a comment he left on Metal Israel Myspace. 

Salem is currently in the recording studio working on their follow up to “Strings Attached”.
The new release will be a double album.
So far the band has recorded a 27 minutes long piece titled “Once Upon a Lifetime Parts I – V”.
Parts 1 is available now for your listening pleasure at M Y S P A C E.
Part II will follow shortly.