News editors: Mikael Kahrle & Johan Carlsson

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40 dates set for Nine Inch Nails
• March 23 marks the start of the new Nine Inch Nails tour in Fresno, California. Fresno is part of an initial four dates (including London) in the end of March.
The next trip starts on April 27 with a full North American tour in April and the whole of May. Then it's off to Mexico's Hurricane Festival (alongside New Order and Rammstein) on June 2, followed by a European tour which will take NIN to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain and the UK (including a second London visit). /Mikael Kahrle, Alex Veronac

Girls under Glass against the wall

• Hamburg's Girls under Glass have just released their first album in four years, "Zyklus" on Dependent. The release has reached no. three in the Deutsche Alternative Charts and the band has been promoting the record with various concerts in Germany, Austria and the UK in February. Wave Gotik Treffen and a gig in Hard Club, Porto, Portugal awaits.  
The darkwave and electro genres have changed substantially since Girls under Glass started in 1986.
- I personally hardly listen to electronic music these days. It's far too clubby and party-orientated. I am not involved. That's why Girls under Glass were concentrating on the quality of the production and the atmosphere instead of writing songs people can dance to, front man Volker Zacharias tells Release.
The band members have to listen to what their family members enjoy nowadays, whether the want to or not.
- My daughter is six years old. She likes Depeche Mode, Linkin Park - especially the co-production with Jay-Z I'm afraid , Oomph! and all the goth metal stuff like Nightwish. There are also songs with us she likes a lot. Last week she started to sing "Whatever Makes You Happy", so there you go, the first new generation rock a&r is in town. Keyboardist Hauke Harms' son prefers hip hop but is proud when he sees his father on stage.
Zacharias tells us Girls under Glass side-project Trauma is asleep.
- It's due to the fact that we put 100% power into our main band. There are already ideas for another Trauma record but I doubt that there will be a chance of starting work on this record this year. /Peter Marks

Japan testing ground for new electronica
• It would appear that Japan is gearing itself to become one of the hotbeds for electronic music again, as increasingly more acts are releasing their albums and touring in Japan prior to the rest of the world. The Chemical Brothers recently promoted their new album "Push the Button" with what has become a bi-annual sell-out tour of the country. Recent additions to this roster include Autechre who will be touring Japan as well as the rest of the world in promotion of their new album "Untilted", released nine days earlier here than anywhere else; and Prefuse 73 who are releasing their hotly anticipated new album "Surrounded by Silence" one week before it hits the shelves internationally. Prefuse 73 will also be touring Japan in support of their album in late March - a hot ticket for those nearby... /Mike Whyte (Japan)

Colony 5 return with help from Håkan Lidbo
• Colony 5 from southern Sweden are returning with "Plastic World", the first single off their new spring album "Fixed". The single includes a remix by Håkan Lidbo, who has been heard lately in the successful "Shout" with Sophie Rimheden - and not so successful Pay TV in the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest semi finals. "Plastic World" has two versions of the title track and two extras, among them "Heta nätter". /Mikael Kahrle

Jourgensen to join Killing Joke live

Jourgensen's Ministry live at Guelph, Canada 2004.
Photo by: Alex Veronac (Release)

• Long time UK influential music pioneers Killing Joke are about to celebrate 25 years of existence with a couple gigs in London this weekend. Did anyone think they'd make it that long? The two shows at Shepherd's Bush Empire are to be filmed for a future live DVD release, to kick off their 25th anniversary "War Zones" world tour.
We were tipped off early that Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen will make a guest appearance at the London gigs. Hopefully by then, they can confirm a joint UK/Europe tour for the Spring. Killing Joke should have their new CD out by then as well. Curiously they've been added as support for Mötley Crüe's UK tour this June.
The voice of Killing Joke, Jaz Coleman, will take the honours of conducting the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra later this year at special events.
The veteran band recently got word that they'd received a Lifetime Achievement Award from UK metal magazine Kerrang!.
Catch our earlier KJ news at Release. /Alex Veronac

Saft reborn at SAMA

Saft live at Arvika Festival 1999.

• Stockholm pop act Saft will be reborn for an exclusive live show at this year's SAMA event in Gothenburg on May 13. SAMA has also booked technopop project Stisch, with Magnus Carlson (Weeping Willows) and Nina Natri (Homy, Fidget) on guest vocals. /Mikael Kahrle

Fourth album from Qntal out soon
• "Ozymandias" (Stars in the Dark) will be out on May 5. The album features the first song ever in English by the band Qntal. The initial run will also feature extra remixes not on the regular edition. Qntal's sound is medieval with some modern electronic influences. Michael Popp (formerly of Deine Lakaien) is the founder of this band and also operates under the moniker Estampie. /Peter Marks

Time for launch

One of several new pics. More will follow in Release.

• We can't tell you all in one single News, so here is a follow-up to the VNV Nation News entry published a few days ago.
You can listen to track clips of the new album "Matter and Form" at Music Non Stop and other sites.
The track listing looks as follows: 1) "Intro" 2) "Chrome" (first single) 3) "Arena" 4) "Colours of Rain" 5) "Strata" 6) "Interceptor" 7) "Intropy" 8) "Endless Skies" 9) "Homeward" 10) "Lightwave", 11) "Perpetual".
We have added the album cover picture to the last VNV Nation News entry further down this page. The cover will be in silver colour.
So far, 21 dates from the European leg of the "Formation Tour" have been revealed (with Diorama and Soman as support), from March 31 and April 24. A US leg will follow, as will more European dates. VNV Nation promise to use a new stage show and new elements. Also, frontman Ronan Harris, known for DJ:ing from time to time, has a new DJ date in Ludwigsburg on March 5. /Mikael Kahrle

Dance acts to Roskilde
• The Roskilde Festival reports that they have invited dance acts Autechre, Carl Cox, Armand van Helden, Khonnor and Two Lone Swordsmen to this year's event this summer. /Mikael Kahrle

A new Blipp! on the radar
• Swedish synthpop veterans Blipp! (formerly known as Poetica Grotesque) are back after seven long years of silence since their charmingly naive album "Blå Ögon". Song samples on their web site promise more of the same, but the going seems faster and more dance friendly. The new album "Impulser" is released on February 26, in connection with which Blipp! will also play their first live gig since 2002 in Falun, Sweden. You can't keep a good band down! /Mattias Huss

New project from Jonathan Sharp seeks label
• Vent, whose debut track was reviewed a while back on the "Latitude" compilation have recently completed an entire album's worth of material which is in need of a home. The sound of this project? "It's been described as a cross between Future Sound of London and Soma", states Jonathan Sharp, the man behind it all. For those who aren't familiar with his work, he has operated under the names New Mind, Bio-Tek, Hexedene and Hyperdex-1-Sect to name a few. /Peter Marks

Gothminister ready for a new term


Gothminister and his cabinet.

• The Norwegian goth overlords in Gothminister have finished their new album, entitled “Empire of Dark Salvation”. The album contains more guitar orientated goth-industrial-metal, and is co-mixed by Stefan Glaumann, who has worked with Rammstein, Within Temptation and Paradise Lost. It’s out in Scandinavia now, on Tatra Records, and will come out in Europe on Drakkar Entertainment on April 4. USA hasn’t got a firm date yet. /Johan Carlsson

Call the COP:s
• US/German record company COP Intl now offers the complete back catalogues of labels Pandaimonium, Alfa Matrix, Ausfahrt and Black Rain. /Mikael Kahrle

Das Ich to Brazil


Carnival here we come.

• Das Ich, together with 3 Cold Men (a four piece...), are heading to Brazil for some live dates in April. /Mikael Kahrle

New Swedish label signs auto-auto
• Substream is the name of a new Swedish label and community for electronic pop music. First signing is auto-auto, an electronic band with lots of different influences. Their first album comes out this summer. The label also plan for an internet community for electronic music professionals. /Johan Carlsson

VNV Nation return with "Matter and Form"

• Anticipation is building as VNV Nation gets into gear with “Chrome”, the first single from the upcoming album “Matter and Form”. Their US label Metropolis reports that the single will be available online only, and it you can access it online on March 7.
The new album is produced by German Humate, together with band mastermind Ronan Harris. They have used vintage synthesizer equipment to achieve a warmer and more organic sound. Ronan feels this is the best and most comprehensive VNV Nation release to date. "Matter and Form" contains eleven tracks, and comes out on April 4 in Europe and April 12 in North America. /Johan Carlsson

Big birthday party for ten year old

Diary of Dreams are ready to party with the Oslo goths.

• During the last years the goth and industrial scene has exploded in clubs around Norway (Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and so forth). One of the main clubs, Gotham Nights, celebrates one decade of dressed-in-black-clubbing during two cold Oslo nights on February 25-26. Four bands are to appear on stage: Elusive, Funhouse, Diary of Dreams and Psyche. /Mikael Kahrle

Strip Music aim at Europe
• At the end of this month, Sweden's dark rock outfit Strip Music releases the single "24 Hours" in Europe. The band's label Playground tries to market Strip Music outside their home country. The band has played live around Europe with Melody Club and a gig in London awaits them on March 18. /Mikael Kahrle

Made in Norway

• Newly founded label Electro Shock has signed its second band, Cue to Recall from Norway. We can (of course) expect a coctail of electro, EBM and futurepop inspired by Apoptygma Berzerk, all according to the press release. The debut album is called "Mainland". /Mikael Kahrle

Mentallo & the Fixer on new label
• About a year from now, US industrial project Mentallo & the Fixer returns with the album "Enlightenment Through a Chemical Catalyst", on new label Static Sky. It will also be possible to catch Mentallo on stage. /Mikael Kahrle