Tyler's fall at Toronto concert just part of the 'contact sport' of rock, Perry says
Brad Wheeler
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Not for nothing are Aerosmith's members known as the "bad boys from Boston." Turmoil, squabbles and drug-fuelled friction have plagued the Nine Lives band for decades, with the latest blowups involving a YouTubed-to-death stage-shoving incident between singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry on the catwalk at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. Perry is reportedly upset over Tyler's possible new gig as a celebrity talent-rater on American Idol.
The Tyler/Perry collision
Artist's conception by Trish McAlaster/The Globe and Mail. Click to view at full size.
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And yet, the blues-based rockers are still on the road, finishing off their North American tour with dates next week in Winnipeg, Calgary, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Recently, in separate phone interviews, the loose-lipped Tyler and the brooding, every-inch-a-rock-star Perry discussed the strange inner workings of a band dreaming on.
A Rolling Stone magazine story described Aerosmith as "back from the brink." True?
Tyler: Absolutely not. Last year I had fallen off the stage in Sturgis, S.D. The band was angry that I fell off, as opposed to being concerned about me falling. [Tyler broke his shoulder; the tour was cancelled.] I was angry at them for not contacting me, and they were angry at me for the cancellation of the tour. And, to be fair, I understood their anger. After that, Joe started talking about replacing me with another singer. But, you know, it was the inner workings of a married bunch: In 40 years, no divorces, just a lot of anger at times.
Perry: I didn't think the band was at the brink. It was a bump in the road, more like it. As far as I was concerned, the band wasn't breaking up. I didn't know though when the band was going to get back together and actually play. We actually got back together sooner than I thought.
Though Aerosmith hasn't released an album of original material since 2001, Joe maintains the band has yet to release its ultimate record.
Tyler: I don't feel that way. I can say that Pump is my favourite album. And when I go back to and listen to Get Your Wings, I can't believe how good that record is. I'm different than Joe; I look for something that is melodically compelling. Nothing could be better than the songs on Pump.
Perry: I think this band always thinks there's something better coming. I've always felt that way – that we've always got a better song to write, a better album to make, a better show. Once you get over the fact that rock 'n' roll is a really simple form, there are infinite ways you can take it. Your start to realize that there are new ways you can stir up those three chords, and to create a new slant on that energy. That's the bottom line.
What really happened that night in Toronto, when the floppy-hatted frontman was toppled off the catwalk by the hip-checking guitarist?
Tyler: I had bumped into Joe. I kind of strafe him – that's what we do night after night. We've done it for 40 years. In return, he gave me a hit that I feel was a bit out of place. Facing forward, I was able to jump off and grab peoples' shoulders, and it was fine. I got right back up. I don't know what he was thinking. He's Joe Perry.
Perry: If you watch the film, he backed into me hard. And I was also standing on the edge. All I did was brush against him. Basically he had a choice: He could have kept his balance and not gone into the audience, or he could have dropped in, which he did. None of it was planned – it's a contact sport. The week before, he hit me over the head with a mic stand. But did you read anything about that?
Despite it all, Aerosmith's train keeps a rollin'. How is that?
Tyler: I just have this need to rock other peoples' worlds, and what I get back is tenfold. There's so much love and adulation – my heart is heavy when I leave the stage at night. We've done it for so long; it's part of our lives. I mean, I walk around at home, and I don't think about who I am or whatever people think I am. But, right there on stage, it's full frontal.
Perry: When we get out on stage and we start the show, all of a sudden the lights change. A whole different battery of feelings come up again. It drives the band. The audience is egging us on – that's kind of how it works. We play until we're just about to drop. Then the show is over, and we all take off in separate ways. But when it comes to the music, that side of us is still there. And I don't see that changing.
According to Billboard.biz, IRON MAIDEN's "The Final Frontier" (EMI) has topped Billboard's European Albums chart for the second week in a row, outpacing its studio predecessor "A Matter of Life and Death", which had one week at the pan-European summit in 2006. "Frontier" now debuts at No. 1 in Italy and retains its crown in France, Spain, Sweden, Norway and the Czech Republic, but drops from the top spot in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal and Germany.
"The Final Frontier" sold 63,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 4.
IRON MAIDEN's previous album, 2006's "A Matter Of Life And Death", opened with 56,000 units to land at No. 9. This was a notable increase from the 40,000 first-week tally registered by its predecessor, 2003's "Dance of Death" (which debuted at No. 18 on The Billboard 200 chart), and that of "Brave New World", which moved 38,000 copies in June 2000 to land at No. 39 on The Billboard 200 chart.
"The Final Frontier" was IRON MAIDEN's fourth U.K. No. 1 album. The band previously topped the chart in 1982 with "The Number of the Beast", in 1988 with "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" and in 1992 with "Fear of the Dark".
"The Final Frontier" was released in North America on August 17 via Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). The effort was made available in a unique limited-edition collectors' "Mission Edition" CD case and features access to extra bonus content, including the director's cut of a video for the edited version of the opening song on the album, entitled "Satellite 15... The Final Frontier"; band "Mission Debrief" interview footage; wallpapers; photos; and the exclusive game "Mission II : Rescue & Revenge". MAIDEN is also for the first time making the album available as an iTunes LP with bonus content as well as the traditional digital format. There is also a limited-edition double picture disc.
The band reunited with long-time MAIDEN producer Kevin "Caveman" Shirley in early 2010 at Compass Point Studios, Nassau to record the album and then moved to The Cave Studios in Malibu, California to finish the recording and do the mixing. Compass Point Studio is very familiar to the band, it was where they recorded the "Piece Of Mind" (1983), "Powerslave" (1984) and "Somewhere In Time" (1986) albums.
HALFORD, the band fronted by JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford, will release its new album, "Halford IV - Made Of Metal", on September 27 (Europe), September 28 (North America) and October 13 (Japan).
Produced by Roy Z. and recorded during 2009 and 2010, "Made Of Metal" features 14 new songs penned exclusively by Rob Halford.
Commented Halford: "It has been a long wait for the global HALFORD fan base, and of course I'm very pleased to return with 'Halford IV - Made Of Metal' this September. It is probably the most personal release of my solo career in terms of my writing and performances.
"'Halford IV - Made Of Metal' hits hard on many musical and emotional levels. I'm certain it will be recognized as one of the band's best releases, and I'm looking forward to performing the new tracks this year and reconnecting the HALFORD band with its legions of metal fans."
"Halford IV - Made Of Metal" track listing:
01. Undisputed
02. Fire and Ice
03. Made Of Metal
04. Speed Of Sound
05. Like There¹s No Tomorrow
06. Till The Day I Day
07. We Own The Night
08. Heartless
09. Hell Razor
10. Thunder and Lightning
11. Twenty-Five Years
12. Matador
13. I Know We Stand A Chance
14. The Mower
HALFORD's new NASCAR-themed, animated-music video, "Made Of Metal", created by London-based animator Dean Wright, will debut on September 13. A 54-second teaser clip for the animated video can be seen below. Also available is performance footage of "Made Of Metal", filmed on July 24, 2010 at the Heavy MTL festival at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
"Made Of Metal" is available for paid download at HalfordMusic.com. Those who order the track will receive its accompanying animated video on the clip's worldwide release date of September 13.
HALFORD played its first show in more than seven years on July 17 at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California.
Prior to the San Francisco show, HALFORD's last gig took place on June 6, 2003 in Anaheim, California.
HALFORD released another single, "The Mower", on June 25 via HalfordMusic.com. The track was the first single from "Halford IV - Made Of Metal".
HALFORD's last album, "Halford III - Winter Songs", sold 1,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 26 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which 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.
"Halford III - Winter Songs" was Rob's first solo release in more than seven years, and it included a collection of new Halford-penned tracks plus traditional holiday favorites presented with original arrangements by HALFORD (Rob Halford on vocals, Roy Z. on guitar, Metal Mike Chlasciak on guitar, Mike Davis on bass and Bobby Jarzombek on drums).
Metal God Records and Rob Halford recently announced plans to release "Halford - Live In Anaheim Original 2CD Soundtrack", "Halford Crucible - Remixed & Remastered" and "Halford - Live In Anaheim" DVD, a 5.1, 23-song, two-plus-hour film documenting Rob Halford's 2002-2003 solo release ("Crucible") and tour.
Armed with metal's most diverse band of the decade, "Halford - Live In Anaheim" is an intimate, in-your-face, solo performance featuring HALFORD, FIGHT and JUDAS PRIEST classics: "Golgotha", "The Heretic", "Sun", "Into The Pit", "Light Comes Out Of Black", "Painkiller", "Rapid Fire", "Never Satisfied", and more. Also featured are bonus live tracks from HALFORD's Tokyo, Japan performances February 2003.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/reviewpics/halfordmade.jpg
MÖTLEY CRÜE's Nikki Sixx and former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler are no strangers to drug addiction and they both wrote about it in their recent autobiographies. These days, though, Adler thinks his buddy Nikki has another addiction — food.
"I love that big boy. And I do mean 'big' boy," Adler told VH1 Radio Networks' Dave Basner about the MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist.
He added, "Come on, Nick!
"I'm waiting to see Nikki on that... what's that Valerie Bertinelli diet thing? Slim Fast.
"Come on, Sixx. I can see you in that commercial, Sixx. In a bathing suit! Yes! A little thong! I'd love that."
Adler has battled drugs for years and was a cast member of "Celebrity Rehab", although he relapsed briefly after appearing on the program.
Adler is on the road with his band ADLER'S APPETITE and also recently played on ex-GUNS guitarist Slash's self-titled solo album. He has just published his autobiography, "My Appetite For Destruction: Sex & Drugs & Guns N' Roses".
Keith Carman of Exclaim! recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine about Dave's newly published autobiography, "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir". A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
On writing the autobiography:
Mustaine: "It was really cathartic. When you're putting your life down into a book, you wonder what you're gonna leave behind you. I want to leave a legacy of achievement but one that says you can overcome anything. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had to work my ass off to get what I have and I love what I have. I'm very grateful for it and I don't take it lightly."
"Telling the truth is hard for anybody. The only uncomfortable thing about this was putting the stuff in there that made me look bad, but I had to in order for it to be the truth. I could have written a book that was all about, 'Oh, I love me. I'm so beautiful and wonderful,' but that wouldn't be true. I don't think I'm that great and the beauty of the book is that I am fallible. Who would laugh at comedy if it didn't have people making mistakes? The root of comedy is people doing stupid stuff. Some people laugh at different stuff though. I remember reading the book and at the part where the girl is tossed into the grass and all the vodka bottles are pitched around her head. I laughed at that 'cause I remember the day. She was so wasted and we had to leave so we drove her to her apartment and hoofed her on the lawn. She was like a lawn troll out there."
On the legal aspects of telling his life story in book form:
Mustaine: "There were a lot of other things legally we had to look at because there were a lot of people in my life that, if I tell the story, they're going to jail. It's not about getting pissed off. They're going to jail. Nowadays when you tell a story... say there was a dude I had an encounter with [but] we don't know each other anymore. I [relate] the story and all of a sudden someone goes sniffing into that person's life. It's an invasion of privacy so there's that and there's the fact that there are ambulance chasers everywhere. We had to word it in a way that the information got out but still told the same story. Legally, the same thing being said one way is totally malicious another way. That's something I had to learn.
"It's very bizarre — for lack of a better word—trying to figure out how to tell a story two different ways and keep it the same story. When you see somebody who's an attorney working somebody in the witness chair, they need to ask the right questions to get the right information out. That's basically what happened. We had to word it in a way that the information got out but still told the same story. Legally, the same thing being said one way is totally malicious another way. That's something I had to learn."
Tom Trakas of the None But My Own blog recently conducted an interview with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
None But My Own: The "World Painted Blood" era officially begins in the U.S. after several setbacks. The European shows you've done have also included some definite career highlights as well. How's it feel to have the ball finally rolling on the "new" album here at home? Bring us up to date on SLAYER.
Kerry King: (laughs) Yeah, we're finally out and we're playing the "Seasons in the Abyss" album and only two new songs. (laughs) We're only playing an hour and ten, us and MEGADETH both. So it doesn't leave you much time to hit the other twenty-six or whatever it's been years of your career! We come out with two new ones, go into "Seasons…" then four others and we're out. We jam sixteen songs into an hour and ten…
None But My Own: In doing the entire album live, is there ever a time where some of the truly "deep cuts" aren't so well received? A song like "Temptation" springs to mind.
Kerry King: People are stoked to see these songs, they're going over really well nobody's ever really seen some of the songs… "Temptation". There's some great riffs in that song and I've always thought about putting it in the set, but I didn't want to tackle the vocal thing with an answer track.
None But My Own: Is that what you're doing?
Kerry King: Tom's [Araya] singing the second of the tracks, the stronger one. If kids want to sing the first one, they can. This is the way the song was originally written; the way it was on the record was an accident.
None But My Own: How was your European run? I know you did a few months there. Sonisphere and the "Big Four" was obviously a huge thing.
Kerry King: We did Sonisphere and the "Big Four" Sonisphere, we did IRON MAIDEN. It was a lot of fun, we were out there a little too long, I mean, it was fun but the traveling gets to you. But yeah, I had way more fun on those "Big Four" shows that I ever thought I would.
None But My Own: Oh yeah?
Kerry King: Yeah, I did. I got to be pretty close with Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] where I'll text him now to bust his balls! [Laughs] So yeah, it's been fun. Hopefully we get to do it in the States; hopefully we get to do it in more western European countries. I think everybody's on the same page of wanting to do it; it's just the logistics of getting four bands who are headliners on their own, and just to get that all together is tough.
None But My Own: What's next for SLAYER? I know you begin the second leg of the "American Carnage" tour with ANTHRAX and how do you end the year?
Kerry King: We were supposed to go back to Europe after the ANTHRAX run but I believe that's been pushed back to next year [2011]. I mean, we were just there over the summer and spent a lot of time there. So instead of Europe we'll hit South America and Mexico late this year and get those markets out of the way. So maybe the first thing we'll do, after the Super Bowl; because I won't be in Europe for the playoffs… I'll quit. [Laughs]! I mean, I just won't do it! [Laughs] But we'll be doing Australia festivals, there are five festival shows and we're also going to India for the first time at the end of February. So finally after all that we'll do the Europe thing, if they're looking for us.
None But My Own: Media-wise, you recently re-issued your three DVDs. What are your feelings on metal media these days? There's the IRON MAIDEN movie, the ANVIL movie, some really killer documentaries have come out, books. They really seem to be thriving in an era when music is on the decline.
Kerry King: Two of the DVDs that came out are the exact same thing that was out before so I really don't see the reason for that other than maybe Sony wanting to put them out because they didn't put them out the first time? "Live Intrusion"? I get it! It should have been on DVD long ago, a long time ago, maybe like 10 years ago! It's a good show, I gotta go back and watch it.
Jay Nanda of the San Antonio Metal Music Examiner recently conducted an interview with guitarist Wolf Hoffmann of reformed heavy metal legends ACCEPT. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: How would you categorize ACCEPT's return: comeback, rebirth, or rejuvenation?
Wolf: Well, a little bit of all of the above, really. It's definitely a new chapter because we're coming back with a new lineup, and it's a rebirth in a way. At the same time, Peter [Baltes, bass] and myself, we've been with ACCEPT for 35 years.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: I saw you and Mark [Tornillo, vocals] on "That Metal Show" explaining how you began working together. But for those who don't know, can you recount how it came about?
Wolf: Yeah, sure, no problem. It all started in May 2009. We basically just ran into Mark by pure accident. We were doing a jam session one day near Peter's hometown, and somebody suggested to invite Mark as a singer for a day for fun. We did, and when we heard him sing, it was incredible. A light bulb went off. Udo [Dirkschneider, former ACCEPT singer] was not available and may never be again, according to him. You know, some people may be ticked off that it's not the original guy, but what choice do we have? In some ways, he's reminiscent of Udo but has his own style.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: I was going to say that in listening to the new album, it seems you struck the right balance with Mark. He has history and his own sound, but he can also sound like Udo, particularly when reaching high notes. Would you agree with that?
Wolf: Absolutely. And overall, personality-wise, I gotta tell you, when you really think about all this stuff and analyzing it, he's the right age and the right type of guy. If we had met some 22-year-old kid with a similar voice, I don't know if that would have been the right thing.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: And this all came after you reached out to Udo first, right?
Wolf: Udo, we've been in negotiations with him for weeks, months, and he said he's not interested. We weren't actively looking for anyone new. We were just running off steam and ran into Mark. We didn't even hold any auditions.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: What are your impressions of "Blood of the Nations", and how was it getting back into the recording process after 15 years, particularly with a new singer?
Wolf: Yeah, well first of all, it was great to be back at it again. Peter and I have a lot of energy stored in us, and we had no trouble writing songs, that's for sure. We sat down and came out with ideas. It was great to work with Mark in the studio. It was the first time really that we could work with a singer in the studio that was open-minded to a lot of ideas rather than being set in a certain way. It was really refreshing. A lot different from Udo.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: Over the years, was there a competition or friendly rivalry in Germany with the SCORPIONS?
Wolf: You betcha (laughs). Well, I never really had it as a competition because they've always been way more successful as far as records and sales goes. But on an influential level, I think ACCEPT reached a remarkable level as well. "Restless and Wild" and "Balls to the Wall" influenced a lot of people, and it's still reaching a lot of people to this day. I think the album "Restless and Wild" was the stepping stone for us to get some attention worldwide, especially underground. But then the breakthrough was "Balls to the Wall", with the catchy phrase and the riff. It was an instant metal anthem and still is to this day. It's being used in movies and video games.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: Are you happy with the way Mark is sounding on the older songs?
Wolf: Oh, more than happy. I think it's better than ever. Well, you can't say it's better than the original, but he's doing the best job anybody could ever do on covering this older material.
DANZIG will embark on the 2010 edition of the "Blackest Of The Black Tour" in October. The dates are as follows:
Oct. 23 - Pala, CA (warm-up show)
Oct. 25 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre
Oct. 27 - Little Rock, AK - The Village
Oct. 29 - San Antonio, TX - San Antonio Live
Oct. 30 - Houston, TX - Warehouse
Oct. 31 - Dallas, TX - Palladium
More shows will be announced on Tuesday, September 7.
Glenn Danzig recently spent time editing the music video he directed for DANZIG's new single, "On A Wicked Night", which was shot on location in early June at the infamous BatCave in the Hollywood Hills.
"On A Wicked Night" comes off the first new DANZIG studio album in six years, "Deth Red Sabaoth", which sold 11,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 35 on The Billboard 200 chart.
DANZIG's last album, "Circle of Snakes", opened with 6,400 units back in September 2004 to enter the chart at No. 183. That number was in line with the 6,900 first-week tally registered by 2002's "Danzig 7:77 I Luciferi", which debuted at No. 159.
"Deth Red Sabaoth" was released on June 22 via Evilive/The End Records. Produced by Glenn, the CD was recorded in Los Angeles over the course of 2009.
The 11-track collection, penned by Danzig, is laced with Glenn's lycanthropic growls and blues-infected wailing. Tracks including "Black Candy", "The Revengeful" and "On A Wicked Night" emit a spectral glow to rival the highest points in Danzig's colossal discography. Part I of the exquisite two-part "Pyre of Souls" opens with acoustic guitar, haunting piano, Glenn's plainsong vocal, and an almost dirge-like feel; Part II explodes with electric guitars and a driving, mesmerizing cadence.
Joining Glenn in the studio for the recording of "Deth Red Sabaoth" were guitarist Tommy Victor (PRONG, MINISTRY), a Danzig cohort on and off since 1996, and drummer Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE, SEVENTH VOID). While Kelly has toured with Glenn intermittently since 2002, this is the first time he has recorded with the band. Glenn handled the bass chores for most the album, and played drums on "Black Candy".
As with all of Danzig's releases, the CD cover artwork for "Deth Red Sabaoth" (see below) is provocative and ominous. The cover is an original piece created specifically for the CD by the award-winning artist Joe Chiodo, whose work has graced not only Danzig's Verotik publishing line, but also the covers of numerous graphic novels and comic books, including X-Men Unlimited. "Deth Red Sabaoth" isn't the first time one of Chiodo's paintings has been part of a Danzig package — one of his erotic "good girl" pinups was part of 2007's "The Lost Tracks of Danzig".
DANZIG — Glenn, guitarist Tommy Victor, drummer Johnny Kelly and bassist Steve Zing (also an original member of SAMHAIN with Glenn) — plans to tour extensively to support "Deth Red Sabaoth".
Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE ) took part in a live media teleconference on August 3 where he answered questions from a number of journalists — including Steven Rosen of Ultimate-Guitar.com — regarding the new BLACK LABEL SOCIETY album, "Order Of The Black". A few excerpts from the chat follow below (courtesy of Ultimate-Guitar.com).
(Note: Although the questions here are all attributed to Ultimate-Guitar.com, some of them were actually posed by some of the other members of press taking part in the media teleconference.)
Ultimate-Guitar.com: You just built a home studio — the Black Label Bunker. What does that mean to have your own recording studio and be able to spend all the time you wanted on the "Order of the Black" album?
Zakk: I remember telling Ozzy when he put the studio in [at Ozzy's house], I just go, "Ozz, could you imagine how much money you must have spent in studio time since the first BLACK SABBATH album to now? I mean you could have basically bought a small country with the amount of money you've probably spent." Break it down: if it's a $1,000 a day, you're in there for 80 days, it's $80,000 right there. You know what I mean? It's just like buying a house; it's not so much the mortgage payment, it's the down payment on the house. I think any young band startin' especially when they used to get big record advances or whatever, the best thing would have probably been to do: buy your own recording studio and just record your album in there and then you always have this recording studio forever. Any band, when you get a record deal, you sign a record deal and then you have to pay the studio and then you have to pay the guy that's gonna engineer the record or
whoever the producer guy is. The next thing you know there's $250,000 gone that you coulda used to buy a studio. Ya know what I'm sayin'? I'm just sayin' that's always what the case is. Obviously having a studio is gonna save me a ton of money down the line. Makin' this record obviously bought the studio but I keep makin' records for the next 15, 20 years, the whole thing will have paid itself off already.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: What has it felt like to be able to devote all the time you wanted to dial in guitar sounds and stuff like that?
Zakk: Put it this way, I never had any time restrictions; I never recorded like that back in the day. Every BLACK LABEL album we've done or Ozzy record, we go in there [and] miking up my rig is pretty simple. It's just a JCM800 and I've done enough records now so I know what types of mics to use and EQ settings and everything like that. When I want to get clean guitar tones, I use my Roland Jazz Chorus or I'll take my Marshall and dial it in or whatever or just like a little combo or something like that. I've been doing it long enough where you know what clean guitar tones you want to get and nice, warm, clean guitar sounds and acoustic or 12-Danelectro or whatever. That was never a problem in the past; we wouldn't take a week to get drum sounds. That's just insanity [and] obviously the engineer doesn't know what the hell he's doing. You know what I mean? It shouldn't take that long. I remember reading with Ozzy when they were doing "Bark at the Moon",
or not "Bark at the Moon", "Ultimate Sin", Jake E. Lee was sayin', I remember readin' an article, he said, "Oh, yeah, it took us like four days to get a guitar tone." I mean that's insane and that's with Ron Nevison who worked with LED ZEPPELIN. Four days to get a guitar tone? I mean, are you guys smokin' crack? You take 10 minutes to get the guitar sound and then the rest of the whole day is just getting loaded? I don't understand it. I mean four days; give me a break, man. But I mean the whole thing is ridiculous. I'd end up breakin' somebody's legs if it took me four days to get me a guitar tone. You know what I mean? I never look at it that way. But havin' the Bunker, no, it's definitely great, man. Zack Fagan, who made Ozzy's studio, his company Under the Wire, they made the Bunker and put it this way: it's road-tested now. 'Cause originally and usually when you have the studio you're gonna need another place to mix or whatever. We recorded and I
brought it to another place to mix which got a big ol' SSL board, the whole nine yards and all the bells and whistles, and the mixes from the studio like smoked it. So now I can actually make the donuts in here, actually wrap 'em up, box 'em, and send 'em out. Know what I mean? It's one-stop shoppin' now. So I mean I could actually do everything in the Bunker so I'm completely stoked.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Craig Nunenmacher is gone and has been replaced by new drummer Will Hunt. What is that about?
Zakk: With Craigo, he just said, he was like, "Zakk, unless we're tourin' year-round, I've gotta move on and start doin' some other thing. Either getting into the medical field or whatever." I said, "Alright, well, Craig, you know you always have a home here." Like I said nobody's ever been fired or quit BLACK LABEL. If you can make more money playin' drums with Celine Dion, I'm not gonna stop ya from doin' that. You can always come back to BLACK LABEL; you always got a gig here. You know what I'm sayin'? That's the beautiful thing about BLACK LABEL, you know what I mean? You could always come and go, do whatever, and that's the beautiful thing about it.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: What has it been like working with Will Hunt on drums?
Zakk: I'm at this point in my career where we don't have to like set up 50,000 drum auditions and go through tapes. The whole thing is Will was out on the road on the Pedal to the Metal Tour and he was jammin' with STATIC-X so we all hung out; we all hang out with each other. When Craigo told me, he said, "Zakky, I'm not gonna be able to keep rollin' on this thing anymore" so the first thing I did was I spoke with Nick and then I said, "Dude, what's Will doin'? See if he's doin' anything with EVANESCENCE or he's doin' the STATIC-X thing. See what his status is." And we talked with Will and he said, "Nah, Zakk, I'm just chillin' out right now. I got nothin' going on." He goes, "Yeah, I'll come out, we'll make a record" and he goes, "We'll take it from there. If I'm gonna be jammin' with EVANESCENCE again." I said, "Well, dude, we'd love to have you if you want to do the record and do the tour you're more than welcome to do that." So Will just came out and
knocked the record out and now he's doin' the tour so it's game on. Will is awesome. The two requisites to be in BLACK LABEL, to be in the band: can't be an asshole and you have to know how to play your instrument. So Will fits the job description fine. So you know, everything is killer, man; Will is awesome.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Back in the day you'd always be working on BLACK LABEL and Ozzy records. Now that you just have BLS to think about is it different knowing you can let it all fly without having to hold anything back musically for an Ozzy record down the road?
Zakk: No, you know why? The only thing that I ever said, "Well, I'll definitely use this and I'm not gonna bring this to the Boss" was when I was doing the PRIDE & GLORY stuff. You know what I mean? You're not gonna have banjos and mandolins flyin' around on an Ozzy record you know what I mean? So it was just like if I had all those PRIDE & GLORY ideas, I would just leave those to themselves. No, whenever I would go in and write an Ozzy record, it was just like I'd write the riffs just like I was gonna write a BLACK LABEL album. It's gotta be a metal or a rock riff, a hard rock riff. I never approach it that way: I'm gonna save this for BLACK LABEL. It's like Jimmy Page if they woulda wrote "Stairway to Heaven" on the first album, they would have put it on the first album. It's like, "Oh, well save this one for down the line." I mean you know it's like, "Dude, you got it now. We might die in a bizarre gardening accident later on today. I mean, just
friggin' record the thing."
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Is there any meaning behind the title of the new album: "Order of the Black"?
Zakk: Nah, I just thought that would be a cool [title.] I read a lot of stuff. I'm Catholic and everything but I just like religion and Crowley [and] all types of stuff. You know, whether it's covens, lodges, the order and with BLACK LABEL it has to be the Order of the Black and then the Black Label Order and everything like that. Because BLACK LABEL is just one gigantic family. That's why I always say, "We don't have fans, we have fams." The fam club. As regards to that, it's just like, "The Order?" I said, "Yeah, we'll just name it almost like a religious movement." On the one album, "Mafia", it was just one gigantic family.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: How does the songwriting process work for you?
Zakk: It's always gotta be the riff, man. I don't know how you come up with a melody without [a riff.] I mean I could sing a melody off the top of my head. But I'm sure when Paul McCartney wrote "Yesterday" or "Long and Winding Road", usually you're sittin' because you're playing behind a piano or something and then the chords will inspire you to sing a melody over it. So usually with me when I'm writin' on a piano or an acoustic guitar or we're gonna do somethin' heavy, the riff will dictate kinda what the melody's gonna be over it. Whether I'm gonna sing the riff or how Ozz always had his trademark things whether he was gonna sing a riff on certain ones and other ones he'd just do a polyrhythm against the riff or whatever. The sky's the limit. For me it's always usually the music first and then a melody and then I'll start singin' or somethin' like that. Or else I'll see somethin' like a cool line goin' to see a movie or I see a title in the newspaper.
And I go, "Man, that would be a great name for a song." I'll write it down and then later on down the road it'll be like, "Yeah, I wanna use that as a title for a song." And then that'll be like a chorus or whatever and I'll write the song about that.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: You went through some health scares a while ago. How are you feeling?
Zakk: The longest I ever went [without] drinking was if we had a contest and I went like three months when I was doing the vocals for "Blessed Hellride". And then that last day of the third month, we all went out and got tanked. With the blood clots, the back of my leg was freakin' killin' me. I was puttin' ice on it, the whole nine yards. I was just like, "What the hell did I do to my leg?" We were tryin' to troubleshoot it: maybe we went out drinkin', hit an Irish pub, and I was doin' like David Lee Roth splits off the bar top or something. I don't know what ridiculous thing we were doing. When we're onstage doing the BLACK LABEL gigs, I'm strapped up with that microphone. It's not like with an Ozzy gig where I'm jumping off of things or whatever. When I got the ultrasound, the doctor was just like, "Yeah, Zakk, you got like three blood clots." I was like, "How the hell did I get these things?" And he was just like, "Well, Zakk, do you travel much?"
And I said, "Well, yeah, I'm a musician." And I said we're either in the submarine, the tour bus, or we're going air force or otherwise flying planes. And he just goes, "Well, Zakk, usually truck drivers will get it or airplane pilots." I go, "Why because they're sitting around? For that matter people working on a laptop, sittin' there for 12 hours a day on a laptop doing that for a living, a graphic artist or something." And he goes, "Yeah, well, pretty much. Zakk, if you're just stationary in one position like that that's the reason why these things happen." Anyways basically all I was taking were these coumadin pills because he said your body has to break 'em down. It's not like havin' a toothache where you just go and you get a root canal and you're good to go. He said that it's not like that. He said, "Zakk, your body physically has to break it down." As far as the alcohol went, he was just like, "Well, Zakk, you gonna be on board?"Then he goes,
"Look at it this way: you don't drink like one or two beers and be watchin' 'Monday Night Football' with the guys or nothing like that? Or you're watching the Super Bowl?" I go, "No, probably not one or two beers." He was just like, "Alright, you could be out watching a fight at Hooters with the guys. And Zakk, if you guys are berzerkin' and you're like hammering 'em down like it's nobody's business, between the blood thinners and the alcohol which is a blood thinner, you'll just start spillin' over, bleedin' out inside. Literally, you'll be bleedin' out of your eyes, your mouth, you're done, dude." And I go, "So it's safe to say the pub is closed for Zakk Wylde." And he goes, "Yeah, pretty much, jackass." Some of these guys were asking me, they were like, "Well good for you, brother, well you're with the 12-step program?" I go, "No, the BLACK LABEL one-step: that's it, you're done. OK?" I don't need to spend $40,000 on some guy telling me that I
shouldn't be drinkin'. The doctor told me, "That's it; you're done." You just quit; I don't know what to tell you. How'd you learn how to play "Stairway to Heaven"? You practice. I don't know what to tell you — I'll show you how to play the chords, you've got to put in the time. It's that easy. That's why in BLACK LABEL the colors are black and white. The gray issue? Yeah, there's a lot of gray issues but the only thing that anyone cares about is what happens from point A and the final result. So there you go. You know what I mean? As far as do I miss like drinkin' with the guys? I still go to pubs and I still hang out 'cause I like the whole social thing and just like chillin' and getting away from the whole music thing and the biz part of everything. Just to go out and hang out with my buddies and talk about anything that's going on in the news, sports or anything.
German power metallers HELLOWEEN will release their new album, "7 Sinners", in late October. The CD was recorded at singer Andi Deris' Mi Sueno Studios in Tenerife, Spain. The band wrote more than 20 songs and selected the best ideas with longtime producer Charlie Bauerfeind.
HELLOWEEN bass player Markus Grosskopf previously stated about the band's new material: "For all those out there who found our special best-of [CD] 'Unarmed' to be too smooth and calm, I have a great news: The new album will hit you right in the face! It's gonna be very heavy and contain all HELLOWEEN trademarks! Some songs are very powerful and hymnic, others contain the fastest bass-drum patterns our drummer Dani [Löble] ever played, and this means a lot!"
Check out the "7 Sinners" cover art below.
HELLOWEEN will team up with Finnish melodic metallers STRATOVARIUS for a European tour, dubbed "The 7 Sinners World Tour 2010/11 - European Part I", in November/December.
Commented Deris: "We had a great package with GAMMA RAY last time , and we are very proud to have STRATOVARIUS with us this time.
"We look forward to have another power metal party with our fans all over the planet — see you soon!"
HELLOWEEN's 25th-anniversary album, "Unarmed - Best Of 25th Anniversary", was released in North America on March 30 via The End Records, under exclusive license from Sony Music Entertainment Germany.
"Unarmed - Best Of 25th Anniversary" was made available in Europe on January 29. The artwork was once again created by Martin Haeusler, who had previously worked with HELLOWEEN on the "The Legacy" and the "Gambling With The Devil" releases.
"Unarmed" was released in a limited-edition version with a very special digipack, including a 30-minute making-of DVD, containing interviews and studio footage. It was also made available as a double vinyl.
Legendary British power metal mercenaries TANK — featuring Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans on guitar alongside three new recruits, ex-RAINBOW/YNGWIE MALMSTEEN frontman Doogie White, ex-BRUCE DICKINSON bassist Chris Dale and ex-ZODIAC MINDWARP drummer Dave "Grav" Cavill — will release their new album, "War Machine", on October 25 in Europe via Metal Mind Productions (December 7 in the U.S. through MVD). The production was handled by Pedro Ferreira (THE DARKNESS, THERAPY?, MEAT LOAF) and the bulk of the recording was done at Pedrock Studios in London. Drums were laid down by Tony Newton at Steve Harris' (IRON MAIDEN) Barnyard Studios.
Due to the changed lineup, "War Machine" will combine all the influences and experience of individual band members. Cliff Evans states, "We intend to make this a classic British rock/metal album that every fan should have in their collection."
Adds the band: "We think it's going to be our best album so far."
"War Machine" will be released in four different versions: as a jewel case CD, a limited-edition digipak CD including two bonus tracks and LP with one bonus track. The Japanese edition of the album will include two exclusive bonus tracks which won't be available elsewhere.
The track listing for the standard CD edition is as follows:
01. Judgement Day
02. Feast Of The Devil
03. Phoenix Rising
04. War Machine
05. Great Expectations
06. After All
07. The Last Laugh
08. World Without Pity
09. My Insanity
A demo version of a new track, "Judgement Day", is available for streaming on TANK's official web site.
The current TANK formation last year commented on a statement issued by the group's founding bassist/vocalist Algy Ward, in which he slammed his former bandmates for taking a version of the band out on the road in Europe without him.
Ward told Classic Rock magazine that the group "playing various European festivals [last] summer under the name of 'TANK'" was doing so "without my consent." He added, "The band name TANK, associated logos and images are my sole intellectual property and copyright."
Responding to Algy's statement, TANK's current lineup said, "It's a real shame when bands come to this isn't it? The trouble is TANK fans want to hear TANK play live. E-mails have come in from all over the world. Promoters have for the last eight years been trying to book TANK shows but Algy can't play live.
"As Algy himself says, he's not able to tour due to ongoing health problems. We wish him all the best there, but in the meantime, it's a question of do TANK fans want to hear three quarters of TANK plus two highly qualified new chaps playing the TANK material (and some new songs) or not get to see TANK at all?
"Judging from the amazing reception we received at Sweden Rock Festival last [year], it would seem the overwhelming answer is yes, TANK fans are rabid to get a chance to hear TANK live.
"Many of the fans at Sweden Rock were young enough never to have had a chance to see TANK play before, now at last they can. Some of the old fans we spoke to nearly had tears in their eyes, saying they never thought they'd get a chance to hear TANK live ever again.
"But it's always difficult for some fans to cope with band lineup changes, especially when it's the frontman not able to perform any more. However, we would like to point out that since 1984, the TANK sound can be directly attributed to the bludgeoning wall of power created by the Gibson Les Pauls of Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans. The most popular songs in our live show were written by Mick and he's come up with some classic new material for the forthcoming studio album which TANK fans are going to love.
"Some difficult decisions have been made over the past few months and we have no regrets. The music and our fans are what's most important to us now and always will be. Anyone who thinks we're in it for the money has been very misinformed.
"Come and see us live, have a beer with us and enjoy our music."
In an interview with The Rainbow Fanclub Legacy, White stated about his collaboration with TANK, "Mick and I write well together but I need to understand TANK. It is important for the fans who have loved this band to understand that if Algy wanted to still play, then I would not be here. If they want to hear TANK, then they will have to adjust to the departure of Mr. Ward the same way the guys in the band have to. It will still be big riffing guitars. I have wanted to do a metal album for ages, so here goes."
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German metal queen Doro Pesch is putting the finishing touches on her biggest project to date — the 2DVD/CD set "25 Years In Rock", featuring the entire 25-year anniversary concert, including guest performances in front of about 10,000 enthusiastic fans in Düsseldorf, Germany as well as a China special, outtakes from Doro's 2500th concert and a whole lot more.
The DVD will be released in Europe via Nuclear Blast on November 26, 2010 and in the rest of the world sometime in 2011.
After a break in 2011, Doro will begin writing material for a new studio album.
Pesch celebrated her 25-year career as the reigning queen of German heavy metal by performing a three-hour set on December 13, 2008 at the ISS Dome in Düsseldorf, Germany. HOLY MOSES, LEAVES EYES' and ARCH ENEMY opened the show and were followed by full set by DORO herself, which included guest appearances by Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (OVERKILL), Jean Beauvoir, GRAVE DIGGER's Chris Boltendahl and guitarist Axel Rudi Pell, former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen, SCORPIONS' Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker, as well as a host of other female vocalists, such as Liv Kristine (LEAVES' EYES), Floor Jansen (AFTER FOREVER), members of GIRLSCHOOL, Liv of SISTER SIN and Sabina Classen of HOLY MOSES.
"Fear No Evil", the latest album from Pesch, was made available in North America in June 2009 via AFM/Dismanic/Ryko Distribution.
Released in Europe in January 2009 via AFM Records, "Fear No Evil" entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 11. This was the highest chart entry for Doro in her home country in almost 20 years.
Swedish guitarist Magnus Karlsson (PRIMAL FEAR, STARBREAKER, LAST TRIBE) has finished laying down his parts for the forthcoming solo album from Ralf Scheepers of German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR. According to a posting on the PRIMAL FEAR web site, "Magnus delivered his guitar parts on some songs of the album and did a killer job as always. Just some more lead guitars are missing by some other great players and we're ready to mix the album after the forthcoming [PRIMAL FEAR] European tour!"
As previously reported, owerhouse American vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (HAIL!, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) will make a guest appearance on Scheepers' forthcoming CD. Owens will be heard dueting with Scheepers in the track "Remission Of Sin". Other guest musicians expected to appear on the album include Swedish multi-instrumentalist Snowy Shaw (THERION, DREAM EVIL, KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE, MEMENTO MORI, NOTRE DAME) on drums, Sander Gommans (AFTER FOREVER, HDK) on guitar and PRIMAL FEAR's Mat Sinner playing bass on the entire LP and producing. A photo shoot with Alex Kühr for the CD's cover took place in early July in Germany.
In a recent interview with the "Metalzone" radio show (web site) with Kostas Purevil Kyriakakis and Helena Mihailidou, Scheepers revealed that his upcoming solo album will include two cover versions — "Saints Of Rock" from Scheepers' pre-PRIMAL FEAR band TYRAN PACE and "Before The Dawn' from JUDAS PRIEST. "'Saints Of Rock' is gonna be, of course, a little bit more modern than it was [when the original version was recorded] in 1986," he explained. "I mean, right now we have much more possibilities to make songs sound a little bit more modern, starting with the drum sound and the bass sounds — having a much more distorted sound." He added, "I think 'Before The Dawn' pretty much is a [straight] cover — [there's] just a little more orchestral things going on, I have more strings in the song compared to the JUDAS PRIEST [original]. Back then there wasn't much strings going on. I think they even have a piano [in the original version], which I don't have.
I have strings and I have this atmosphere stuff going on. Vocal-wise, I just added a harmony at the last bridge before last chorus, I added a harmony which is not on the original, but that's the basic difference."
In a June 2010 interview with Metal Assault, Scheepers stated about the musical direction of his forthcoming solo CD, "It's more diverse [than PRIMAL FEAR], you can say."
He added, "In the beginning I had those ballads that we couldn't use for PRIMAL FEAR because they might be too mellow, but now we've started to write together on it. Basically, it's my ideas on it, but I have a great team, with Mat and Magnus and some other members — Sander [Gommans], the ex-AFTER FOREVER guitarist, helped me a lot.
"It's a good variety — from the hardest to the softest tones."
PRIMAL FEAR recently released a new live DVD, "16.6 - All Over The World" (recorded in various locations between September and November 2009), and a live CD, aptly titled "Live In The USA". Frontiers Records issued the two products separately and as a limited-edition combo on June 22 in the USA.
American/Norwegian melodic metallers KAMELOT have released the following statement:
"The band and crew are all here in Tampa rehearsing for the tour — visas have been cleared and the guys are in good spirits and ready to party with all of you. However, during rehearsals, Roy [Khan; full name: Roy Sætre Khantatat] became severely ill. Due to this, as yet undiagnosed, illness, Roy reluctantly has been forced to head back home to Norway. He is currently under his physician's care, but, unfortunately, these circumstances will prevent him from joining us on the North American concert tour. Of course, we want Roy to take care of his health as priority one for now and for the future.
"After much consideration on how to proceed, all of us in KAMELOT feel strongly about keeping our commitment to our fans, promoters, and support bands on this tour! We are all ready and excited about playing these shows, we have flown in people from around the world to be apart of it and it has been in the works over a year! Therefore, we are working diligently with a fantastic singer willing to step in at the eleventh hour in order to make this tour a reality — our good friend Michael [Eriksen; pictured below] from CIRCUS MAXIMUS (Norway) has agreed to fill in for Roy! And we are excited to announce a special guest: Swedish vocalist Elize Ryd from AMARANTHE will be joining the band on the North American tour. She will also be part of the VIP meet-and-greet! Elize toured with us on our Summer Pandemonium Tour and also the European tour earlier this spring.
"Also as a special thank you to our North American fans, our friends at ESP guitars have donated a beautiful ESP guitar which will be signed by [KAMELOT guitarist] Thomas Youngblood and given away at the end of our North American tour — this contest is open only to North American tour concert-goers. Fans can enter for a chance to win this exclusive item by signing up in the designated area at each show! More surprises are in store at many shows including special guest appearances and more."
Commented Roy: "I am terribly sorry that I cannot do this upcoming tour in North America this fall. We have our most fantastic album ever coming out in September, and the timing could have been better, I guess. The band has my full and unconditional blessing to go out there and kick ass regardless, and I feel we have found a good replacement in Michael. He is a very good singer and longtime friend. Be good to him! Hope to see you soon!"
Michael stated: "Roy and I go way back, so when he called and asked me to help him and the rest of KAMELOT to do their long planned USA tour, I told him, 'Sure, bro, I am there for you.'
"It will be big shoes to fill , but in his honor I will do my best to give the KAMELOT fans a show they have long awaited. So grab your earplugs and come join the party!"
KAMELOT's first North American tour in two years will kick off on September 8 at the House Of Blues in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Support on the trek will come from LEAVES' EYES and BLACKGUARD.
"Poetry For The Poisoned", the highly anticipated ninth studio album from KAMELOT, will be released in North America on September 14 via the group's own label, Kamelot Media Group (KMG Recordings), and in Europe on September 10 through earMUSIC/Edel. Marquee/Avalon Records will make the CD available in Japan.
Recordings took place in the familiar Gate Studios in Wolfsburg, Germany with producers Sascha Paeth and Miro. Additional tracking also took place in Tampa, Florida as well as various studios in Sweden, Greece and the U.S.
"Poetry for the Poisoned" features guest appearances by Simone Simons (EPICA), Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND), Björn "Speed" Strid (SOILWORK) and Jon Oliva (SAVATAGE, JON OLIVA'S PAIN). The artwork was created by many great artists, including Seth Siro Anton, Natalie Shau and Michal Loranc.
"Poetry For The Poisoned" will be available in three versions:
* Regular CD edition
* Digipak CD with bonus DVD
* Two-LP gatefold vinyl edition
DVD bonus material:
* "The Great Pandemonium" video
* Exclusive and in-depth interviews with each KAMELOT member
* "Pick and Play" for the song "The Great Pandemonium"
* "Poetry For The Poisoned" background images
* Exclusive video footage from Norway Rock festival 2010
* Bonus song "House On A Hill" (uncut version)
Greek melodic metallers FIREWIND, who feature in their ranks current OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Gus G., will release their new album, "Days Of Defiance", on October 26 (one day earlier internationally) via Century Media Records. The CD's striking cover artwork was designed by the band's longtime partner in all design matters, Gustavo Sazes, and can be viewed below.
Commented Gus: "I'm very excited and cannot wait for our fans to listen to our new album! We feel we've captured great performances and took our songwriting to the next level on this one. There's tons of cool guitar on there and I believe Bob [Katsionis] has finally managed to reach warp-speed with his keyboard solos! Even more seriously, I highly recommend that you listen to this album at a very loud volume.
"As for the artwork, it was once again done by our visual wizard and webmaster extraordinaire, Gustavo Sazes. This time we asked Gustavo to come up with a great landscape scenery, with a more traditional approach and even get the 'pencil' style of artwork on there, but also combine it with more modern stuff. So, he gave us that… with a slight futuristic, sci-fi element and I think the end result is stunning!"
"Days of Defiance" track listing
01. The Ark Of Lies
02. World On Fire
03. Chariot
04. Embrace The Sun
05. The Departure
06. Heading For The Dawn
07. Broken
08. Cold As Ice
09. Kill In The Name Of Love
10. SKG
11. Losing Faith
12. The Yearning
13. When All Is Said And Done
14. Riding On The Wind (iTunes exclusive)
"Days Of Defiance" is described in a press release as "a truly ambitious and dynamic opus featuring some of the most brilliant guitar playing the genre has seen in many years."
The "World On Fire" single was made available for purchase on digital platforms starting on August 17.
Commented Gus G.: "Usually when we write an album we let the music come to us and go with the flow. Maybe that's why our albums have variety and you can hear everything from super-heavy songs to speed-metal shredding to rock anthems and ballads. 'Days Of Defiance' wasn't much different in the making, but this time we recorded almost all of it in our home studios, which allowed us to be more relaxed. That's why I feel the new album features the best performances by all of us. One of our main goals, though, was to get a bit more of an 'unpolished' sound and be more raw. I think we achieved it and that gives an extra heaviness to the overall sound."
FIREWIND's 2010 lineup (from left to right in photo below):
Michael Ehre - Drums
Petros Christo - Bass
Apollo Papathanasio - Vocals
Gus G. - Guitar
Bob Katsionis - Keyboards
"The Premonition", the latest album from FIREWIND, was released on vinyl on March 8 via Century Media Records. The band's first-ever vinyl release contains one bonus track.
FIREWIND recently parted ways with drummer Mark Cross (ex-HELLOWEEN, METALIUM) due to personal differences.
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Sludge metal legends CROWBAR recently entered the studio to begin recording their new album for an early 2001 release via E1 Music. Guitarist/vocalist Kirk Windstein is scheduled to begin laying down his guitar tracks tonight. He says in an online posting, "I'm so ready to hear the wall of doom on these riffs."
In other news, CROWBAR will perform on October 1 at The Hangar in New Orleans, Louisiana. Also scheduled to appear on the bill are WARBEAST and haarp.
CROWBAR will re-release three of its influential records — "Crowbar", "Live +1" and "Time Heals Nothing" — on October 5, 2010. These three albums are the band's core titles and have influenced many of today's major metal acts, including LAMB OF GOD and HATEBREED. With each title originally being released in the early Nineties, this will be the first time all three records will be widely available in stores.
CROWBAR debuted two brand new songs during its June 5, 2010 headlining performance at the House Of Blues in the band's hometown.
The Rock & Roll Emporium will host a special performance by Michael Olivieri (vocals, guitar) of the legendary Southern California band LEATHERWOLF on Tuesday, September 21. In conjunction with downtown Huntington Beach's "Surf City Nights", Michael will perform two sets — from 6 to 7 p.m. and from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. — with a "meet-and-greet" in between the sets.
The Rock & Roll Emporium-sponsored stage is at the corner of Main and Walnut, and the show will be FREE of charge.
Olivieri's solo album, "Goodbye Rain", came out in December 2009. Produced by Olivieri and Forcone, the CD takes a different direction to that of Michael's previous work with LEATHERWOLF. Olivieri states, "After the latest LEATHERWOLF album, 'New World Asylum', which is the heaviest of all LEATHERWOLF releases, I felt I needed to get back to the roots of where I came from musically. 'New World Asylum' was a great record for us, but I felt that I left a major part of me out of that equation. 'Goodbye Rain', like it or leave it, is musically what I'm really all about."
British thrashers EVILE are working on material for a brand new studio album.
EVILE, who recently won a coveted Metal Hammer Golden Gods award, will once again be working with producer Russ Russell.
Commented EVILE lead guitarist Ol Drake: "We're well on our way into writing the material for EVILE's third album now.
"We've been playing around with the odd part and riffs since 'Infected Nations' came out in 2009.
"I have about ten song ideas which are being built on daily, but not going to stop there. We're not going to limit ourselves this time to a certain number of songs; we're just going to write until it's time to give up and go into pre-production.
"We've been sending tracks/recordings/ideas back and forth between ourselves, Russ Russell and our management (Wiseblood) and there's an excellent vibe going.
"I don't want this to be a typical 'new album' update using the same descriptions and words most bands use to big up an album, so I'll just say the new stuff is really getting my blood boiling and my heart racing.
"We've been through a lot over the past year, and it's being naturally reflected in the music which is coming out.
"I've never been as passionate as I am now about writing the best material we can.
"With [new bassist] Joel [Graham] in the mix, and him being a die-hard thrash fan since the '80s, I'm looking forward to see how this will turn out."
Graham joined EVILE following the tragic death of their previous bassist, Mike Alexander, who passed away on October 5, 2009 while the group was on tour in Sweden. According to Ol Drake, Mike died of a pulmonary embolism, a blockage of an artery in the lung.
Joel previously played in the Yorkshire metal band RISE TO ADDICTION, which recorded for Mausoleum Records.
EVILE earlier in the year released a digital-only single of the band's cover of PANTERA's "Cemetery Gates".
EVILE recorded "Cemetery Gates" in 2009 for a special Metal Hammer "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN) tribute album. Tragically, it was also the last song the band recorded with its late bassist, Mike Alexander.
"Cemetery Gates" is available on iTunes, and also features a special version of EVILE's track "Time No More", with Japanese vocals/lyrics.
EVILE's sophomore album, "Infected Nations", was released in September 2009 via Earache Records.
On Monday, Seattle's TRAP THEM will convene in Salem, Massachusetts at Godcity Studio with producer Kurt Ballou (CONVERGE, DISFEAR, BLACK BREATH) to commence recording its Prosthetic Records' debut (and third full-length album overall). This will be the band's first album to feature drummer Chris Maggio, formerly of COLISEUM. The group has also launched a new blog where it will be documenting the recording process and, ultimately, the touring cycle around this as-yet-untitled effort. Expect new entries, photos and videos regularly at WeCraftInDarkness.com.
Vocalist Ryan McKenny commented; "Next week, and for the rest of September, we get knee-deep in the shit.
"This record has been a long time coming. It's the first, what we consider, proper LP as a full, solid band.
"Brian and Chris have been hard at work sweating bullets down in Louisville, loading them up in a death-punk black talon and preparing to fire at will.
"This will be our fifth visit to Godcity with Kurt Ballou, who was, naturally, the most obvious choice. We've always had a great relationship with him, and there is a certain chemistry between our music and his talent as a producer that puts each session at ease.
"To sum it up, there was a certain potential the members of this band felt had not yet been met. On this record, that potential has been fully realized.
"Get heavy, motherfuckers."
TRAP THEM's sound combines elements of old-school Swedish death metal, punk, and d-beat and takes influence from bands such as ENTOMBED, BLACK FLAG, NASUM and TRAGEDY. The band has toured with the likes of NAPALM DEATH, DISFEAR, SKELETONWITCH, VICTIMS, ROTTEN SOUND, TOXIC HOLOCAUST and COLISEUM, among others, and played the Scion Rock Fest, Maryland Deathfest and the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. The group most recently released an EP on Southern Lord Records, and has previously released two full-lengths and several seven-inch singles and EPs on Deathwish Inc. and Trash Art.
Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR will embark on a 32-date North American tour in November/December. Support on the trek will come from countrymen ENSLAVED and BLOOD RED THRONE, plus DAWN OF ASHES from Los Angeles.
Confirmed tour dates are as follows:
Nov. 05 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA
Nov. 06 - Northern Lights - Albany, NY
Nov. 07 - Recher Theater - Towson, MD
Nov. 08 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY
Nov. 10 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
Nov. 12 - Mr. Smalls - Pittsburgh, PA
Nov. 13 - Royal Oak Music Theatre - Detroit, MI
Nov. 14 - House of Blues - Chicago, IL
Nov. 15 - The Rave - Milwaukee, WI
Nov. 16 - Cabooze - Minneapolis, MN
Nov. 18 - MacEwan Ballroom - Calgary, AB - CANADA
Nov. 19 - Edmonton Events Center - Edmonton, AB - CANADA
Nov. 21 - Rickshaw Theater - Vancouver, B.C. - CANADA
Nov. 22 - The Knitting Factory - Spokane, WA
Nov. 23 - Roseland Theatre - Portland, OR
Nov. 24 - Showbox SoDo - Seattle, WA
Nov. 26 - The Knitting Factory - Reno, NV
Nov. 27 - The Fox Theater - Pomona, CA
Nov. 28 - The Regency Grand Ballroom - San Francisco, CA
Nov. 30 - House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV
Dec. 01 - Rialto Theater - Tucson, AZ
Dec. 02 - Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ
Dec. 03 - Sunshine Theatre - Albuquerque, NM
Dec. 04 - Gothic Theater - Englewood (Denver), CO
Dec. 06 - House of Blues - Dallas, TX
Dec. 07 - House of Blues - Houston, TX
Dec. 09 - Newport Music Hall - Columbus, OH
Dec. 10 - Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA
Dec. 11 - Town Ballroom - Buffalo, NY
Dec. 12 - Sound Academy - Toronto, ON - Canada
Dec. 13 - Metropolis - Montreal, QC - Canada
Dec. 14 - Imperial - Quebec City, QC - Canada
Tickets will go on sale online on Wednesday, September 15.
As previously reported, DIMMU BORGIR has launched its first and free iPhone app.
View photos, watch videos, get access to sound samples from the band's new album, "Abrahadabra"; share tweets; chat with other die-hards and more. This app syncs up with your Facebook and Twitter accounts, so connect directly with DIMMU BORGIR to get the latest news, music and information.
This DIMMU BORGIR iPhone app is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. It requires iPhone OS 3.1.2 or later and is available to fans in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
Download the DIMMU BORGIR app at this location.
Video footage of the new DIMMU BORGIR track "Gateways" being performed by KORK, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, can be viewed at this location.
"Gateways" is the first single from DIMMU BORGIR's ninth album, "Abrahadabra". The track is now available for purchase via iTunes.
"Abrahadabra" will be released in Germany on September 24, in the rest of Europe on September 27, and in North America on October 12 via Nuclear Blast Records.
The word "abrahadabra" (which roughly translates into "I will create as I speak") first publicly appeared in Chapter III of "Liber AL vel Legis" (commonly referred to as "The Book of the Law") written by Aleister Crowley in Cairo, Egypt in 1904.
"Abrahadabra" track listing:
01. Xibir (2:50)
02. Born Treacherous (5:02)
03. Gateways (5:10)
04. Chess With The Abyss (4:08)
05. Dimmu Borgir (5:35)
06. Ritualist (5:13)
07. The Demiurge Molecule (5:29)
08. A Jewel Traced Through Coal (5:16)
09. Renewal (4:11)
10. Endings And Continuations (5:58)
ThrashHits.com recently conducted an interview with guitarist Galder (real name: Tom Rune Andersen) of Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
ThrashHits.com: Having just heard the [new DIMMU BORGIR album "Abrahadabra"], it seems safe to say it's going to surprise a few people.
Galder: Yeah, I think that's fair enough.
ThrashHits.com: Was this deliberate?
Galder: As soon as we made this album I knew this was going to be an album that would surprise. And yes, it was sort of intentional. We wanted to do something different to what we'd done before — not too extreme, but we wanted to fool around and experiment a lot more. There are a lot of samples here that are from the Norwegian natives, for instance, that we've never done before, and lots of crazy samples. And also the music, too, is a bit different from what we've done before. So, yeah, we always knew that this would surprise. It's an album you need to listen to more than once because there's so much going on — so much orchestration, so much choir and so many samples and guitar and vocal stuff. Shagrath has been experimenting so much with his vocals, too.
ThrashHits.com: Even by DIMMU BORGIR standards, this is a very dark record. Given the lineup changes, was there a dark feeling within the band that might have contributed to that?
Galder: It drove us to push ourselves to make it harder, because we were afraid the fans would be saying, "The band is over and it's not going to happen anymore because those two people left," so we were thinking, "No, that's not true, we can be even stronger." Even though it was very hectic at that time because they left the band in the middle of this process, it really pushed us to want to make it stronger, to make it aggressive. So, of course, maybe there is some of that stuff shining through in the end result. It's hard to say, but there might be something in there — a little bit more aggression maybe than the previous albums.
ThrashHits.com: One thing that's very noticeable is that it's very black metal riffing on pretty much every song. Does being seen as black metal still matter to you?
Galder: Black metal is the roots of DIMMU BORGIR and has been surrounding the band, but we don't really look at it as old-school black metal, because we know it's not. We know it's too well produced to be old-school black metal. We like to keep it a bit primal and to have black metal riffs, but even with the guitar riffs it's more new black metal than old black metal. We keep the riffs very open and very simple, so that's not very DIMMU but maybe more of the new black metal — kind of MAYHEM-ish, more of the picking type.
ThrashHits.com: What do you think about the world of black metal at the moment? Do you think it's doing well?
Galder: It's doing well, but black metal will never again be the same as it was back in the '90s. If you ask me, that's just a train that's left the station. It's sad to say it, but all music moves along. Black metal moves along, and it can't be the same, you know? It can't all sound like DARKTHRONE today because it wouldn't be the same. Studios evolve, musicians evolve. It's cool, and we still have black metal today, but it won't be the same as it was back in the day. But that's good because all music needs change, it needs to go in new directions otherwise it dies out, and black metal has survived for a very long time. Twenty years it has survived and it's still going strong so that's very good. Not many musical styles go for that long — death metal didn't really last for twenty years. I'm very proud of black metal surviving that long. Hopefully it will last another twenty years — with good digital sound!
ThrashHits.com: Do you think black metal moving beyond the territories it started in to be a much more global force will help keep it alive?
Galder: It will keep it alive, but at the same time it's always the original stuff that, for me, is the best. I think the Scandinavian bands are the best but it's cool we have bands from other countries. That's just how the story goes — like how death metal started in America and moved out to Europe. If that's the way it needs to be for black metal survive, it's cool — as long as it stays true to its roots and as long as black metal stays evil and about the dark message. I'd rather that than for it to die out.
ThrashHits.com: You're touring the U.K. with KORN in September…
Galder: Let me hear it!
ThrashHits.com: Well, they didn't seem like the obvious band for DIMMU BORGIR to tour with…
Galder: No.
ThrashHits.com: Were there any concerns about doing that tour?
Galder: We know it's different, and we knew that people would go "KORN?!?" because we were thinking "KORN?!?". We just wanted to do something new, and it's not like we're selling out, because if we want to make money we'd go on a headline tour! That's not why we're doing it. We're doing it because it's something new and we can play in front of more people and see the reaction and see "how's this going to be?". It's not like we're going to tour with KORN and then evolve from that to go on tour with all punk rock bands or whatever, we're going to go back and tour with ENSLAVED. It's just a cool thing for us to experiment with there and then, and see how it goes. It's a new thing for DIMMU to do. We've toured so much with other black metal bands, and for 17 years DIMMU has only toured with metal bands. It's about evolving, trying stuff and seeing how it goes.
New York-based, Egyptian-born visual artist Nader Sadek has announced his collaboration with Steve Tucker (MORBID ANGEL), Rune Erickson (MAYHEM, AVA INFERI), and Flo Mounier (CRYPTOPSY) for the upcoming full-length album, "Nader Sadek: In The Flesh", to be released on January 11 via newly launched Greyhaze Records (with worldwide distribution through a renowned metal label to be announced). An audio manifestation of Sadek's acclaimed visual work (MAYHEM, SUNN O)))), the project also features KRALLICE bassist Nick McMaster on the entirety of the album as well as guest performances from Attila Csihar (MAYHEM, SUNN 0))), Tony Norman (TERRORIZER, MONSTROSITY), Travis Ryan (CATTLE DECAPITATION), Mike Lerner (BEHOLD... THE ARCTOPUS) and Destructhor (MORBID ANGEL, ZYKLON, MYRKSKOG).
Commented Sadek: "My general association with death metal deals with the notion of false perceptions, and how great individuality can be smothered by the weight of an overwhelming environment. This idea is ever-present throughout all my work. Each of the players in this album played key roles in their respective bands, facing difficult challenges, and yet taking their bands to higher levels. Their talent as well as their tenacity has always intrigued me. As such, they fit perfectly in this project."
A Sadek-directed video for the song "Nigredo In Necromance" (the first of several visual accompaniments to the project) made its premiere recently on Brooklyn Vegan and a live performance is scheduled in New York City around the album's January 2011 release date.
Watch the video for "Nigredo In Necromance" below.
"Nader Sadek: In The Flesh" represents a continuation of the work showcased on Sadek's art installation "Ageless", which took place last November at New York's Santos Party House and consisted of a live death metal performance enshrined in Sadek's nightmarish stage landscape. Some of the songs performed during the installation, will be featured in the upcoming release.
Says Tucker: "I've been looking forward to doing this recording for months. Nader does some very interesting art and I enjoy helping him achieve his twisted vision. It's rare to get to play alongside a drummer with the abilities that Flo possesses. It's a bonus that I get the opportunity to jam with professionals such as Rune and Flo. It'll be brutal."
Says Mounier: "It's amazing that artists with different backgrounds can come together to create something so extreme and so dark but yet have so much fun doing so! It has been a pleasure working with Nader and Steve in the past and I'm looking forward to experimenting with Rune's unique style, I can't wait to start laying down the extreme with my boys."
Says Eriksen: "When first being approached by Nader to collaborate with him, Steve and Flo, I was immediately caught up by the idea of it. Not only is Nader's concept and reasons for doing this of an inspirational character in itself, but also the very thought of collaborating with musicians such as Steve and Flo seemed like an opportunity not to miss."
Through his association with Attila Csihar (SUNN O))), MAYHEM), Sadek gained considerable exposure as the artist responsible for the stage imagery on MAYHEM's 2009 U.S. tour. The stage sets featured silicone-based sculptures, which resembled entrails and impaled heads, with the centerpiece being a fully detailed flesh-like rendering of the MAYHEM logo. Sadek's work has also included the costumes and silicone "earth masks" worn by Csihar on all his bands. Sadek's use of petroleum-based raw materials is not coincidental. His work revolves around the notion that all petroleum energy originates from death and, in a morbid vicious cycle, also ends in death, where human lives are expendable and sold for the support of an unending addiction to money and power.
Before his work with MAYHEM, Sadek had implemented two very successful interconnecting art projects: "B'Doun Wag'h", a live performance event; and "Faceless", a drawing exhibit featuring recorded music.
Norwegian drummer Tom V. "Fordervelse" Nilsen (ex-KOLDBRANN, ARVAS) has joined the Norwegian-Ukrainian pop black metal band SEMARGL. He made his live debut with the group when they headlined the Music Bike Ukraine festival this past July in the city of Uzhgorod. Shortly after, SEMARGL played the Devilstone Open Air festival in Anykšciai, Lithuania alongside such acts as MAYHEM, GRAVE and TANKARD.
Fordervelse commented: "It all started when I accidentally saw a YouTube video for the song 'Credo Revolution'. It was an unusual combination of elements including black metal, electronic and dance music. This did not leave me cold! And after listening to their latest disc, I was determined to get acquainted with the band. After several weeks of communication, I was offered a permanent place as the drummer for SEMARGL. I gladly agreed!"
SEMARGL's fourth album, "Ordo Bellictum Satanas", was released in March via the German label Twilight Vertrieb. The CD was recorded at at Blacklight studio in Kiev. Guest musicians on the album include Jonny Maudling (BAL-SAGOTH, MY DYING BRIDE), Nera (DARZAMAT), Iscariah (IMMORTAL, DEAD TO THIS WORLD, NECROPHAGIA), Novy (DIES IRAE, BEHEMOTH, VADER) and Vrangsinn (CARPATHIAN FOREST, NATTEFROST, A.W.O.T.).
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