On the 16th May 2010 Ronnie James Dio passed away and the world of music mourned the loss of the greatest voice of heavy metal.

Dio was a truly iconic figure in music, whose work with Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and most recently Heaven & Hell defined a genre.

Heaven & Hell were set to play High Voltage Festival and when news came through that despite the amazing progress he was making Ronnie wouldn't be well enough to tour this appearance and other European dates were cancelled.

But now, remaining members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice will join with Glenn Hughes and Jorn Lande at High Voltage Festival to host ‘A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio' on Saturday 24 July 2010: the only live tribute to Ronnie this summer.

Former Deep Purple / Black Sabbath star Glenn Hughes was a close friend of Ronnie's for many years and performed a musical tribute at Ronnie's funeral service in Los Angeles. Norwegian Jorn Lande is best known in the UK as the vocalist for power metal band Masterplan; he has also released many solo albums including a tribute to Ronnie. It promises to be a fitting celebration to a man that the metal scene owes so much and High Voltage is proud and privileged to be hosting this tribute .

High Voltage Festival will be making a donation to the Ronnie James Dio "Stand Up And Shout" Cancer Fund.

For further information on the Fund and to make a donation please visit www.ronniejamesdio.com

The Seattle, Washington, based Power / Prog Metal gods, Throes Of Sanity the band reformed over the last year and will be performing at Swordbrothers Festival IX on September 11, 2010. The band printed up a batch of shirts to honor the Festival and the reunion. Check the designs out for yourself. You can order online at the link below. All proceeds go to the Throes Of Sanity Plane Ticket Foundation ;-)

NEW THROES OF SANITY SWORDBROTHERS SHIRTS:

http://seattlef.startlogic.com/throes/?page_id=171

Hi Metalheads!

The summer strikes hot and the latest Metal Releases by Arkeyn Steel Records are even hotter.

As you can see since Heir Apparent release all future Arkeyn Steel CDs will feature 12-pages full color booklets with many pics and full color label prints.This combined with full digital remaster directly from original master tapes will provide the perfect package to Arkeyn Steel friends!

Kraken: Underground 1980-1983

Limited Edition 1000 Handnumbered CDs
Canada, Toronto's true power metal presents first 3-song demo '80 + 6-song demo (with C. Tsangarides) + 5 live songs from 81-83 first time on CD. Running time about 66' mins! All full digital remaster, lyrics, unpublished pics and bio. For all Anvil, Cirith Ungol, Jag Panzer, Deaf Dealer fans!

Blackkout: Ignorance Of Man+7"

Limited Edition 1000 Handnumbered CDs
Florida's strong technical power metal presents "Ignorance Of Man" LP-tape first time on CD plus rare 2-song 7" vinyl EP. Running time about 77' mins! All full digital remaster, lyrics and unpublished pics. Incredible cover artwork from Uwe Jarling! For all Oliver Magnum, Realm, Savatage, Toxik fans!

Go to http://www.arkeynsteel.com at releases section to see info and covers for all previous and future killer re-issues.

Next releases from Arkeyn Steel Records:
Moriah: Speak + Demos DCD (End Of September 2010)
Kraken: Kraken I CD (End Of November 2010)

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PLUS:

We got some more stuff to come this time from Steel Gallery Records that finally re presents the best Greek Prog Metla band EVER. So:

Next release from Steel Gallery Records:
Fatal Morgana: In Quiet Us CD (Incl. one of the best Greek demo ever, legendary "Access: Quietus" Demo Tape + Never released Mini-CD "Windfall", all full digital remaster with great artworx, pics and lyrics (End Of September 2010)

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Get in touch soon for orders and more info:

kostas@steelgallery.com
info@arkeynsteel.com

HEATHENDOM LIVE

23/05/10 @ Rodeo club (Athens-Greece) with Versus Heaven/Disharmony/Tornado.

Ticket: 10 Euros with beer!

Wendy Dio, wife/manager of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW), has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. [on Sunday] 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.

"Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all.

"We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us.

"Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss.

"Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

It was only a month ago that Dio, 67, spoke about his battle with cancer with the Artisan News Service on the "black carpet" of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which took place on April 8 at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. When asked about how he had been feeling since he was diagnosed with the disease late last year, Dio said, "Well, I feel good and bad at times. It's a long process. Chemotherapy is a... I never realized what a difficult thing it was to go through. It's a real cumulative effect - the more you have, the more it piles up on top and it takes longer and longer to get over it. I find it very difficult to eat. I don't like to eat anyway, so I guess that's OK. But I know I have to. But this makes it very, very hard. But if you're determined to beat it, then you have to go with what you believe is going to beat it for you, and in this case it's that. I go to a great hospital in Houston called M.D. Anderson, which I think is the best hospital in the world, I have the best doctor in the world, Dr. Ajani, who I really trust and I really believe in, so I think I've done all the right things. It makes me feel positive about my life and positive that there is a lot more of it to live."

Earlier this month, HEAVEN & HELL canceled its summer tour plans in Europe due to Dio's treatment for stomach cancer. The band said in a statement that Dio wasn't "well enough to tour this summer. We hope that everyone understands and want to thank fans and industry colleagues for their continuing support at this time."

Ronnie James Dio had performed with ELF, RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, and his own band DIO. Other musical projects included the collective fundraiser "Hear 'n Aid". He is widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal, renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the "devil's horns" hand gesture in metal culture. He was most recently involved with HEAVEN & HELL, a project which also included former BLACK SABBATH bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice. Their first and only studio album, "The Devil You Know", was released on April 28, 2009.

As some of you may, or may not have already heard the news that AGENT STEEL has parted ways with vocalist Bruce Hall. We as a band would like to acknowledge the accomplishments together with Bruce and the (3) three solid metal offerings; 'OMEGA CONSPIRACY', 'ORDER OF THE ILLUMINATI', and 'ALIENIGMA'. Together we had the fortune of touring and sharing the stage in some amazing places and visited some breathtaking countries. Bruce dedicated over a decade to AGENT STEEL and for this he should be recognized, and we part on good terms. We as a band still have the fire and passion to deliver the metal goods to fans from the past, present and future. We had been writing new material for the next chapter of AGENT STEEL, and after the news got out that we separated from Bruce; we were contacted by original singer; CYRIIS. Call it destiny; call it what you will, but now the communicative channel is open between AGENT STEEL and vocalist CYRIIS; we are in talks about an imminent AGENT STEEL reunion tour possibly involving summer/fall 2010 appearances and an extensive '2011' Metal-blitz. Honestly, we do not know how long this reunion will last; however this could be the long awaited destiny of AGENT STEEL originally interrupted, so long as everything moves forward in an evolving good working climate. Our objective regarding this AGENT STEEL reunion is attached with the intentions of providing the opportunity to not only the dedicated fans, but also to a whole new generation of metal fans the chance to see AGENT STEEL live on stage with CYRIIS; the original voice on the classic ‘SKEPTICS APOCALYPSE', ‘UNSTOPPABLE FORCE', and ‘MAD LOCUST RISING' releases. The legacy continues...stay tuned.

Read more: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=8905039&blogId=533784770#ixzz0mr9lDRf1

Limited Deluxe Edition - 1000 copies with 16 Tracks including two newly recorded, previously unreleased tracks.

Orion's Reign: The six member group stand out for - powerful - melodic and most of all Symphonic - Epical and Majectic Melodic/Power Metal. The keyboards blend with the symphonic metal and the metallic riffs - and a great vocals performance.

Tracks: 1. Amidst The Battle, 2. Nuclear Winter, 3. Cruor Ritus, 4. Darkness Comes, 5. A Way Out, 6. Steel Horizons, 7. Medfeast, 8. Oldead, 9. Beyond Eternity 1 - The Parting, 10. Beyond Eternity 2 - The Slaughter, 11. Beyond Eternity 3 - The Vision Bonustracks: 12. Dawn In Carnage, 13. Last Stand, 14. Siege Of Ruad, 15. Last Stand (Orchestral Version), 16. Siege Of Ruad (Orchestral Version)

Album Credits: Yiannis - Vocals, Themis - Guitars, Kostas - Bass, Kyriakos - Keys, Noel - Drums Guest Appearences: Bob Katsionis on tracks 13,14 (Firewind), Vangelis Yalamas on tracks 4,6 (Fragile Vastness), Theodore Ziras on track 5 (Theodore Ziras/Euroforce), Darkface on track 2 (WEB), Yiannis Papadopoulos on tracks 13,14 (Burden of Legacy), Nina Kassis on tracks 2,5 (Ex-Wastefall), Vicky Psaraki on tracks 16, 14, Emmanouil Papaioannou on track 4 (Imature Death), Morfoula Papageorgiou on track 10 (Athens Symphonic Orchestra), Fotini Thoma on track 10

Orion's Reign: The six member group stand out not only with typical NWoBHM arrangements, their style - powerful - melodic and most of all Symphonic - Epical and Majectic. The keyboards blend with the symphonic metal and the metallic riffs - and great vocals performance.

Check:

http://www.myspace.com/orionsreign

http://www.rockitup.de

http://www.rockngrowl.com

http://www.7hart.de 

Limited Deluxe Edition - 1000 copies with 16 Tracks including two newly recorded, previously unreleased tracks.

Orion's Reign: The six member group stand out for - powerful - melodic and most of all Symphonic - Epical and Majectic Melodic/Power Metal. The keyboards blend with the symphonic metal and the metallic riffs - and a great vocals performance.

Tracks: 1. Amidst The Battle, 2. Nuclear Winter, 3. Cruor Ritus, 4. Darkness Comes, 5. A Way Out, 6. Steel Horizons, 7. Medfeast, 8. Oldead, 9. Beyond Eternity 1 - The Parting, 10. Beyond Eternity 2 - The Slaughter, 11. Beyond Eternity 3 - The Vision Bonustracks: 12. Dawn In Carnage, 13. Last Stand, 14. Siege Of Ruad, 15. Last Stand (Orchestral Version), 16. Siege Of Ruad (Orchestral Version)

Album Credits: Yiannis - Vocals, Themis - Guitars, Kostas - Bass, Kyriakos - Keys, Noel - Drums Guest Appearences: Bob Katsionis on tracks 13,14 (Firewind), Vangelis Yalamas on tracks 4,6 (Fragile Vastness), Theodore Ziras on track 5 (Theodore Ziras/Euroforce), Darkface on track 2 (WEB), Yiannis Papadopoulos on tracks 13,14 (Burden of Legacy), Nina Kassis on tracks 2,5 (Ex-Wastefall), Vicky Psaraki on tracks 16, 14, Emmanouil Papaioannou on track 4 (Imature Death), Morfoula Papageorgiou on track 10 (Athens Symphonic Orchestra), Fotini Thoma on track 10

Orion's Reign: The six member group stand out not only with typical NWoBHM arrangements, their style - powerful - melodic and most of all Symphonic - Epical and Majectic. The keyboards blend with the symphonic metal and the metallic riffs - and great vocals performance.

Check www.myspace.com/orionsreign - www.rockitup.de - www.rockngrowl.com and www.7hart.de for all announcements.

Out on April 9,2010: SAVAGE GRACE "Master Of Disguise / The Dominatress". Legendary album, rare MLP and four extra bonus tracks - remixed and mastered by Uwe Lulis.

Out on April 23, 2010:SAVAGE GRACE "After
The Fall From Grace / Ride Into The Night". Legendary album, rare EP and threeextra bonus tracks - remastered by Uwe Lulis.

http://www.limb-music.de/cgi-bin/limb.cgi 

Check here for an overview of the new releases of this great Doom Metal label from Russia.

Feb. 19 - Gagarin 205 - Athens, Greece
Feb. 20 - Block 33 - Thessaloniki, Greece