KATAKLYSM to Headline Benefit Concert in Halifax

Montreal based extreme metallers KATAKLYSM will headline a benefit concert for heart attack and stroke victims on Thursday July, 5^th 2012. The event will take place at the Halifax Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. The official name of the event is the "Spread the Metal Festival" and all ticket sales are going towards the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Hosted by Spread The Metal Records, the concert will feature 18 bands performing over 2 days. For more info please visit any of the following sites:

Label Website: www.spreadthemetal.com
Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/#!/spreadthemetalrecords
Facebook event:http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/190001607777740/
Twitter: @STM_Records

KATAKLYSM will release a multidisc DVD on June 19th entitled "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined", which features a documentary and bonus CD materials. The set will depict the ups and downs of the band's long, turbulent career, as well as footage of KATAKLYSM's performance at last year's Summer Breeze festival, which took place August 18-20, 2011 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany. The cover art for the release was created by artist Colin Marks (ORIGIN, EXODUS, NEVERMORE) and can be viewed above.

Check out the second teaser for the upcoming release here.

KATAKLYSM recently recorded the single "The Iron Will" in Montreal, Canada with guitarist/producer Jean-François Dagenais. It will be mixed Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, BEHEMOTH, MNEMIC) in Denmark and will be made available with a video clip on iTunes one month before the release of "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".

Watch the video clip for the song "At the Edge of the World" here. The footage was taken from the bands hometown show at Club Soda in Montreal, which was part of their recent “Spread the Venom” headlining world tour. “At the Edge of the World” comes from the bands latest acclaimed album Heaven's Venom. The video clip was filmed by director Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, SOILWORK), who is also helming the bands upcoming Documentary/DVD "THE IRON WILL: 20 YEARS DETERMINED".

KATAKLYSM’s new album Heaven’s Venom was released on August 24^th 2010 in North America and sold around 2,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 7 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart and #196 on the Billboard Top Current Albums chart, making it the bands highest charting album and their biggest first week sales to date. Heatseekers lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

Heaven’s Venom was recorded by KATAKLYSM guitarist J-F Dagenais (MALEVOLENT CREATION, MISERY INDEX) and was mixed by Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, MNEMIC, DARK TRANQUILLITY).

KATAKLYSM shot a video clip for the song "Push The Venom" with director Ivan Colic (TYPE O NEGATIVE, UNLEASHED, DEATHSTARS, EX DEO) in Belgrade, Serbia. The clip can be viewed here.

ORIGIN: U.S. Headlining Tour Announced!

Genre defining technical death metal giants, ORIGIN, will tour the United States this April/May on an epic headlining run that will bring together some of today’s best brutal bands. Groups like spastic-vegetarian-gore-grinders CATTLE DECAPITATION, psychedelically influenced tech-deathsters DECREPIT BIRTH, groove laden death-gore mongers ABORTED, and underground buzz band sensations RINGS OF SATURN and BATTLECROSS. Commented gentlemen drummer/wordsmith John Longstreth of ORIGIN:

"Hey ladies n' germs, it's Longstreth of ORIGIN here with a little dirt on what we currently have on the table. We're calling it OCCUPATION DOMINATION 2012. Simply put, it’s the most brutal death metal tour package of the spring and it’s starting up in the end of April and running all the way through till the end of May. This tour is for fans of the extreme, blast beat driven, face melting, skull crushing, type of DEATH METAL that parents and young children are still afraid of. In addition to ORIGIN, we have CATTLE DECAPITATION, ABORTED, DECREPIT BIRTH, and new comers RINGS OF SATURN and BATTLECROSS coming through your town to lay waste to your local music venues. It would be appropriate to consider these shows more endurance tests than metal concerts. Come out and treat yourself to death metal boot camp this spring to ensure yourself that you will be in top shape for the next ‘progressive’ core band or washed up ‘old school death metal’ fest tour that will be sure to roll through the states soon after. Cheers and see you there!"

OCCUPATION DOMINATION 2012

ORIGIN, CATTLE DECAPITION, DECREPIT BIRTH, ABORTED, RINGS OF SATURN, BATTLECROSS

April 20 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
April 21 Wilmington, DE @ Mojo 13
April 22 Trenton, NJ @ BackStage at Champs
April 23 Keene, NH @ Railroad Tavern
April 24 Brooklyn, NY @ Europa
April 26 Peoria, IL @ Brass Rail
April 27 Joliet, IL @ Mojoe's
April 28 Portage, IN @ Camelot Arena
April 29 St Louis, MO @ Fubar
May 2 Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theater
May 4 San Diego, CA @ Ruby Room
May 5 Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
May 6 Hollywood, CA @ The Whisky A Go-Go
May 7 Fullerton, CA @ Slidebar
May 8 San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
May 9 Stockton, CA @ Plea For Peace
May 10 Sparks, NV @ The Alley
May 11 Portland, OR @ Branx
May 12 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
May 13 Boise, ID @ The Venue
May 14 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
May 15 Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
May 18 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater

Entity was released on June 7, 2011, and was recorded at Chapman Recording Studios in Lenexa, Kansas with longtime engineer and friend Robert Rebeck. Artwork was handled this time around by Colin Marks (NEVERMORE, KATAKLYSM, EXODUS).

One of the most intense and technical forces of the contemporary death metal world, ORIGIN has returned to stake its claim as the leader of metal's new wave of extremity with its fifth studio effort, Entity. As expected, the death the band continues to churn out frantic, hell-paced grids of metal torment, but now further complements the arrangements with a newfound propensity for churning grooves and the hook-laden approach that first reared its ugly, but accessible head on the band's 2007 offering, Antithesis. As stated multiple times in the past, ORIGIN proves once again that they stand head and shoulders above their peers.

KATAKLYSM FRONTMAN LAUNCHES CM-BACKED BOOKING AGENCY, ROCK THE NATION AMERICA

The North American metal scene just got a lot heavier. The launch of Rock The Nation America celebrates a groundbreaking booking agency partnership between Kataklysm frontman Maurizio Iacono, his agent and Canadian metal promoter Stephan Mellul, and Century Media Records.

Rock The Nation America will be focused on bringing the best names in heavy metal to North American audiences, while maintaining a razor-sharp focus on emerging acts and artist development. Iacono will capitalize on his decade as frontman of the Canadian death metal band Kataklysm as he heads the agency's artist relations efforts, while Mellul will build on his history as one of Canada's premier metal promoters and agents. Based out of the same Los Angeles offices that the Century Media and Nuclear Blast record labels call home, the pair will be supported by Century Media for all marketing and administrative needs.

"I spent the last 15 years touring and learning what being on the road is all about, and my partner, Stephan Mellul, has been booking shows for 18 years - together, we decided to bring something different to the industry," says Iacono. "We decided to create an agency that will help new artists develop, as well as preserve and grow the careers of established bands. I'm a soldier on the field, I understand the touring life, I still live it... and the fans deserve unselfish packages and lineups that are worth paying the ticket price. We thank Europe's premier agency, Rock The Nation, for joining forces."

"Rock The Nation going overseas was always a big wish of RTN Europe," says Stefan Hattinger, CEO of RTN Group Europe. "We found experienced and hard-working people in Maurizio and Steph who know the market and what the artists need, thus the right people to run Rock The Nation America."

At their launch, the Rock The Nation America roster contains more than two dozen acts spanning the extreme metal market, including Hammerfall, Hypocrisy, Kataklysm, Wintersun and more. The agency's first tour will be Paganfest USA Tour 2012, a package featuring worldwide metal acts Turisas (Finland), Alestorm (Scotland), Ex Deo (Rome), Arkona (Russia) and Huntress (USA) - a complete itinerary will be announced shortly.

"What really excites me about this agency is that it is a true metal organization," says Century Media founder Robert Kampf. "From metal agents, metal bookers and metal bands, straight to metal fans - when I heard of this I wanted nothing more than to be a part of it... Horns up!"

Visit Rock The Nation America online: http://www.rockthenationusa.com/

SUFFOCATION: Announce Two Exclusive One Off Shows

New York based extreme metal legends SUFFOCATION are proud to announce two exclusive one off shows, in the middle of the groups busy writing process for the follow up to their most recent release, Blood Oath. The following dates have been confirmed so far:

5/15 Santos Party House – New York, NY (w/ MISERY INDEX)
9/4 La Respuesta – Santurce, Puerto Rico

Tickets to their hometown show with special guests MISERY INDEX can be purchased here.

View the video clip for the track “Cataclysmic Purification” at this location. The footage was directed by David Brodsky (ARSIS, GOD FORBID, KATAKLYSM, SWASHBUCKLE) with animation by Tim Kellen.

For more info visit: www.myspace.com/Suffocation | www.Suffocation.us | www.facebook.com/Suffocation