NEWS

Canadian power noise acts Iszoloscope and Ad·ver·sary have announced upcoming North American tour dates. The Tragedy (For Us) Tour begins in Montreal, Quebec on July 30 and continues throughout North America in August, winding up September 7 in Ottawa, Ontario.

Celldweller will release the third of the five chapters in the Wish Upon a Blackstar album series July 27 on FiXT Music. Available as a digital download, Wish Upon a Blackstar: Chapter 03 features two brand new songs, "The Lucky One" and "Tainted." A deluxe download version will also be available and will feature instrumental versions, demo tracks and audio commentary. The FiXT Store website is also offering several discounted merchandise packages featuring stickers, posters and T-shirts along with the audio download.

Electro/rock project The Luna Sequence will release a new digital EP, After Sunrise, July 27 on FIXT Music. The EP combines The Luna Sequence's signature hard synth sequences and drum & bass rhythms with heavy guitar riffs.

Industrial rock act Stayte signed to Spiralchords Music recently and have scheduled their next studio album, The Two Sisters, for a European release in September. The nine-track album was delayed since 2007 due to numerous side activities, including singer Josh Bradford and guitarist/keyboardist Clayton Worbeck's work in Revolting Cocks, but Stayte have finalized the album and will be releasing it through Spiralchords in the coming months. Follow the links for further details.

Belgian electronic label Alfa Matrix has partnered with ethical music download site Fairshare Music for charity, renewing the charity-focus that Alfa Matrix launched with their promotion of Bruderschaft's Forever EP. According to Alfa Matrix, "for every track you download from Fairshare Music, the site will donate half the profit to your chosen charity. And on top of that, the more you download, the more they donate." Charities under this partnership include Amnesty International, the British Heart Foundation, the British Red Cross, the Teenage Cancer Trust and more. "This is a great way to download the music from our label's artists," says Alfa Matrix's Bernard Van Isacker, "and at the same time support some really important campaigns and charities which the Alfa Matrix staff members have been supporting financially for years. And all this without actually paying anything extra."

Artoffact Records has announced a North American re-release of the 2009 album 120 Tage: The Fine Art of Beauty and Violence, a collaboration between Mona Mur and En Esch. The release will coincide with the unveiling of an IO Interactive video game for which the two composed the soundtrack. As a special bonus, the re-released version will feature three tracks not available previously. Pre-orders are being accepted now for the album's August 10 release date.

Next up in Black Rain's recent vinyl reissue series of classic albums is Apoptygma Berzerk's 1996 album, 7. The groundbreaking album will be released as a vinyl picture disc, strictly limited to 500 hand-numbered copies. As an added bonus, the first 50 will include an autograph from band founder Stephen Groth. Orders can be placed now, and the picture disc will ship in August.

Swedish synthpop act Ashbury Heights will release a new two-CD set, Origins, July 23 on Out of Line Music. The two CDs collect the project's first full-length album, Three Cheers for the Newlydeads, as well as its follow-up EP, Morningstar in a Black Car. Also featured is a previously unreleased bonus song, "Decent Cancer." Ashbury Heights released their second studio album, Take Care Paramour, earlier this month.

Dark electronic act Bella Lune will release their second full-length album, Synesthesia, later this month; the band will celebrate with a July 24 CD release party in Scottsdale, AZ, with all proceeds going to ChildHelp, a national organization devoted the prevention and treatment of child abuse. Visit the links for more information.

The Machineries of Joy label has announced a new 19-track label compilation, Hymns of Sex, to be released July 16. The compilation's theme is sex, and like its predecessor, Hymns of Steel,the artists on the sampler were asked to provide an exclusive song about the chosen subject. Artists featured on the release include Leaether Strip, The Horrorist, Autodafeh, The Plastic Noise Experience, Ionic Vision, Millimetric and many more. Please follow the links for more information and to hear samples from Hymns of Sex.