LEAVES' EYES / ATROCITY guitarist Sander van der Meer has checked in with the following update:

"Hi everyone,

As some of you might have noticed at the Leaves' Eyes concert yesterday at Mittelalter Rock is that I was not on stage with my bandmates. The reason for this is that I have been spending the last week in the hospital with severe back aches which left me pretty much incapacitated, to the point that the only option is to stay in bed.

We are currently checking treatment options and there is a good chance an operation will be needed. I really hope I'm up and running (or at least walking) as soon as possible again to be joining both bands on stage!"

Leaves' Eyes were recently confirmed for Germany’s Summer Breeze Open Air - which will take place from August 15th to 17th at its usual location in Dinkelsbühl. The band has issued a video trailer for their appearance, which can be viewed below:

Atrocity recently unveiled the first taste of the upcoming Okkult album called 'Pandæmonium'. Check out the song here.

The band has since checked in with the following update:

"To celebrate the release of the new Atrocity album, Okkult, we will be playing a special release show at Rock It in Aalen, Germany. It will be the first time we will play material from the first part of the Okkult trilogy; expect a very raw and brutal set with highlights of the extreme musical side of Atrocity and songs that haven't been played live for a long time!

The first 100 people attending will receive a special custom Okkult guitar pick and we are planning on some more surprises!"

Okkult will be released April 26th via Napalm Records and it will be the first part of the dark brutal and epic Okkult album trilogy. More information about the up-coming release and the special 'treasure hunt' will be available soon.

"Musically, no prisoners will be taken, the Okkult series is also brutal, bombastic and dark," Atrocity leader Alexander Krull (also LEAVES' EYES) told Metal Hammer Germany recently. These will not only be the heaviest and most brutal albums of Atrocity since years, but also the darkest works of our band's history. Lovers of our harder material like 'Hallucinations', 'Todessehnsucht', 'Blut' or 'Atlantis' will surely be delighted with the Okkult series at their expense, although the Okkult songs have their own trademarks, of course."

The orchestral parts were recorded in September by the Lingua Mortis Orchestra under the direction of Victor Smolski (RAGE) in Minsk / Belarus. In keeping with the dark atmosphere of Okkult we got the Canadian Sound Designer Katie Halliday on board. She worked for movies like Saw V, Saw VI, Saw 3D (VII), The Devil's Carnival and Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, and already could reap some awards for her work.

The lyrical concept is anything but one-dimensional. For Okkult, we have no desire to go only in a certain direction. So the whole thing will be broadly based: From occult magic, occult places to conspiracy theories and mysteries that are still unsolved."