Orange County metal stalwarts LEATHERWOLF are currently looking for a new vocalist following the departure Wade Black who fronted the band on their critically acclaimed comeback album, "World Asylum", released last June on N.I.L.8 Records. "We would like to thank Wade for his contributions to LEATHERWOLF and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors," commented the group on the split. "There are no hard feelings between both parties. Unfortunately, certain economic realities and the geographical distance between Wade and the rest of the band turned out to be an obstacle too hard to overcome and made working as a unit that much more difficult."

"We are now looking for someone closer to home, perferably based right here in Southern California. Potential candidates must be able to sing both the Michael Olivieri- and Wade Black-era songs (guitar abilities a huge plus!, have a valid passport, and be able to go on the road as we have a European tour in the works for spring 2007."

Interested parties get in touch with the band via dean.rob_at_cox.net.

For more information, visit www.leatherwolfmusic.com.

Danish metallers PYRAMAZE have vowed to carry on following the departure of vocalist Lance King (ex-BALANCE OF POWER). The band parted ways with King this week due to "personal and professional reasons," according to a posting on the group's web site.

"This split might come as a shock to our fans, but be assured that PYRAMAZE is very much alive and well," the band says. "In fact the songwriting for our third album has already begun, and as always Michael Kammeyer [guitar] is responsible for the songwriting. As you may remember, the music was all recorded for the first disc, before Lance was brought in to deliver his vocals, so nothing will really change in the band except who is going to be behind the microphone. PYRAMAZE will stay PYRAMAZE, and the third album will slay you all!

"PYRAMAZE is currently communicating with a vocalist who is very interested in being a part of the PYRAMAZE lineup, and should this work out you are all in for a HUGE surprise! We all view this as a possibility for an even better future for the band, rather than a step down. We realize that Lance will be a hard man to replace, but we're very confident in our music and our team spirit.

"Let's finally state that we're not happy with the way this parting-of-ways was communicated out. When we informed Lance that we had to let him go he asked for us to not send out any statement until he had a chance to comment on it. So we were waiting for his reply when he himself made a public statement. This is not the way to do it, and it really saddens us to have to go out at this stage with our own press release. Nevertheless, we are ready to face the future and we're very much looking forward to what's in store for PYRAMAZE."

PYRAMAZE's latest album, "Legend Of The Bone Carver", was released earlier in the year via Massacre Records (Europe) and Nightmare Records (USA and Canada).

Finnish melodic metallers STRATOVARIUS have issued the following update:

"[The proposed STRATOVARIUS anthology] album has been shelved for now for the undetermined time. We were never supporting this idea of Sanctuary [record label] and finally after long discussions, they are not releasing it, at least for now. We just didnt feel right about releasing another compilation after 'Chosen Ones' at this point of our career. So now we are putting all our effort to our next album."

STRATOVARIUS mainman Timo Tolkki (guitar) and drummer Jörg Michael have just completed the basic demos in Germany for the band's new album (whose title consists of two separate words that both start with "R". The actual album recordings are expected to begin in February for a tentative late 2007/early 2008 release.

STRATOVARIUS' latest, self-titled effort was released in the U.S. in September 2005 via Sanctuary.

After a long delay, finally Mind Key first Dvd "Habemus Poland - Live In
Katowice" will be released on the 27th November worldwide by Metal Mind
Productions. It will include the entire concert in Katowice recorded at
Wyspianski Theatre, plus an interview with Dario and Emanuele, band
biography, photogallery, some extra footage from the recent tour with
Pendragon and a powerful version of Deep Purple's Stormbringer. Tracklist
will show the best songs recorded so far plus some new, yet unreleased,
tracks. Habemus Poland will be also issued in limited digipack edition
Dvd+Cd.