According to Billboard.biz, DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan's new solo album is currently being mixed by engineer Nick Blagona at Jukasa Studios, a $4 million resort facility on the Six Nations of the Grand River in the village of Ohsweken, Ontario, an hour from downtown Toronto, Canada.
Gillan's last solo album, "One Eye To Morocco", entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 97. The CD was released on March 31, 2009 in North America via Eagle Rock Entertainment.
In Europe, "One Eye To Morocco" was made available in the following formats: standard CD, limited-edition CD, 2CD (standard CD + CD single) and 2LP set.
Produced and recorded in Canada with Nick Blagona, the music was written by Ian Gillan together with longtime collaborator Steve Morris, as well as Michael Lee Jackson and Rodney Appleby — who both performed on the "Gillan's Inn" U.S. tour, as featured on the double album/DVD "Live in Anaheim" (released through Edel Entertainment).
According to industry web site Hits Daily Double, legendary rocker Alice Cooper will finally be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at the 26th annual induction ceremony, which will be held on March 14, 2011 at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. Also being inducted are Neil Diamond, Tom Waits, Dr. John and Darlene Love.
The inductees into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2011 will be officially announced on December 15 at 10:30 a.m. EST on the RockHall.com web site.
The list of nominees for this go-round also included BON JOVI, BEASTIE BOYS, CHIC, Donovan, J GEILS BAND, LL Cool J, Laura Nyro, Donna Summer, Joe Tex and Chuck Willis.
Eligible since 1994, Cooper released the following statement in response to the announcement that he was on the shortlist of nominees for the 2011 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction:
"On behalf of Dennis (Dunaway), Neal (Smith), Michael (Bruce) and the late great Glen (Buxton), we are honored to be nominated for induction in to the Hall. Anytime you are nominated in your chosen profession, it's definitely a compliment to be recognized.
"It's hard to fathom possibly being in the same club as artists who inspired us originally, like THE BEATLES, THE [ROLLING] STONES, THE BEACH BOYS, THE WHO, THE YARDBIRDS, and Chuck Berry, and to be nominated the same year as legendary artists like my personal favorite songwriter of all time, Laura Nyro, as well as Donovan, who sang on our 'Billion Dollar Babies' record, and our good friends in Bon Jovi, is a great feeling.
"Five guys starting a band, just hoping to meet girls and drink free beer, rehearsing and playing local bars five hours a night for the first few years — that was us. We came up with the theatrics and made every effort not to sacrifice the music one bit; we thought it was like our job to bring theatrics to rock 'n' roll. And then, amazingly enough, we were having a bunch of massive hit records which was proof that theatricality and rock 'n' roll could, in fact, be joined successfully. We've been told that we revolutionized the live concert experience and if that's truly the case and it's led to this nomination for induction into the Hall of Fame, the only thing to say is, of course, 'There's no business like show business!'"
To be eligible for nomination into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, an act must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. This year's nominees had to release their first single no later than 1985.
Ballots were sent to more than 500 voters, who selected the artists to be inducted at the induction ceremony, which will be televised live on Fuse.
My mother made this upside-down cake that went horribly wrong. I made her make it again and again, for years, because I liked it so much. It never worked, yet it always worked, if you get my drift.
I don't eat vegetables. I eat potatoes and green beans and that's it. I don't care if you eat 200 artichokes, you still won't last through a tour. Mushy peas, I like. brussels sprouts, foul. I won't eat anything with onions in whatsoever, I hate them – me and Ringo Starr have that in common.
When I lived in Heaton Moor Lane in Stockport in the early 60s there'd be 35 other people living in the same room, so it was kind of cramped. The basic diet consisted of creamed rice. Punch two holes in the can with an old beer-bottle opener and you can suck the Ambrosia out, no problem.
I developed a taste for cold food. I couldn't afford room service so I started stealing food uneaten left out on trays. Cold spaghetti, cold chips, cold steak. Cold pizza is a perfect breakfast, with lots of salt.
Girls used to steal food to feed us, out of their parents' fridges and from stores. I knew one bird who could steal a box of cereal from a shop while only wearing a tiny mini-skirt and T-shirt. Where Phyllis hid the cornflakes I'll never know.
I was in the Rockin' Vicars, which was the first British band to tour behind the Iron Curtain. A lot of photos were taken of us next to milk churns. We had dinner – some terrible borscht – with President Tito [in Yugoslavia], but I was down under the table and don't think he was particularly impressed.
Living in LA makes it so much easier to get food. I can have a full meal with two waiters and a table, brought to my door. Or order pre-cooked bacon strips, shipped to me in a polystyrene container of dry ice from Omaha Steaks. Yet I can't buy boil-in-a-bag fish with parsley sauce, and there's no proper Heinz baked beans, they're in a different sauce. But mainly it's the cheeses I object to.
My rider is a few biscuits, a few cakes, a meat plate, a cheese plate, some cigs, some JDs. I must say, I'm not completely fixated on Jack Daniel's – it's just that it's the one with the best distribution system worldwide. At one point I mainly drank Southern Comfort mixed with Special Brew. What was I thinking?
If a bus driver says "You will not make a mess on this bus," that's tempting fate, isn't it? I love food fights.
I once judged a spaghetti-eating contest, with Sam Fox. I just said '"Him first, him second and him third'". They were gross, faces buried in huge bowls, covered in marinara sauce, I couldn't tell one from the other.
I make a very good steak. I've never worn an apron – it's beyond all reason. I prefer a completely splatter-free diver's outfit in the kitchen.
Motorhead's new single, Born to Lose, is released tomorrow on EMI
Jon Wiederhorn of AOL's Noisecreep recently conducted an interview with SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Noisecreep: You've done a lot of touring with MEGADETH and probably will continue to do so. Are you friends with Dave Mustaine now. Have you put the bitterness of the past behind you?
Araya: He's another human being who lives on this planet, and that's about it. He comes across as a nice guy, but I keep my guard up around him. He's courteous to me and my wife and my kids. So I'm courteous in return.
Noisecreep: Was it more fun doing the U.S. dates with ANTHRAX or TESTAMENT?
Araya: Wow. I thought both were good. I think it would have been cool if we could have done it with all four bands. It would have been a Clash of the Titans reunion if TESTAMENT had done that.
Noisecreep: What's the plan for the new year?
Araya: We'll be busy from February through May. We'll be heading to Australia, there are some shows we're going to be doing in Europe and South America is in there also. As far as who the shows are with, I don't know. I think some of those shows might be with MEGADETH, but I'm not sure. We're booked up until May. After that, I don't know.
Noisecreep: Have you had to make any adjustments to your performance post surgery?
Araya: Yeah. I can't headbang anymore. The whole thing's a bum out. Headbanging is a big part of what I did. My singing has improved and my playing has improved. But it's just not the same for me.
Noisecreep: Have you ever caught yourself almost starting to headbang?
Araya: I did it once. The very first show after the surgery. We did the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show and we went into the three songs that we did off air. I started headbanging and then realized what I was doing and stopped. And I haven't headbanged since. It's just a bum out, and that's about the only way I can really describe it. To me, being onstage and performing is a big thing. And not headbanging has taken a lot of that away from me. When you've got the kind of relationship that we have as a band — when you put your heart into the performance because that's all you're allowed to do, it's a bum out.
Noisecreep: Are SLAYER working on any new material?
Araya: I don't know. No one has sent me anything in reference to anybody getting together to work on anything. Nobody has sent me that memo yet. So if they're getting together and working on material, I don't know. They're in L.A., I'm in Texas. So we really don't communicate.
Noisecreep: You don't talk when you're not on tour?
Araya: Not really. We've never really communicated, period. We talk and communicate out on the road, but as far as being home, no. It's been like that for a long time. I hate to say that, but it's kind of been like that since the band's inception.
BELLADONNA, the band named after ANTHRAX vocalist Joey Belladonna, have confirmed a January 29th live date at Bogie's in Albany, NY. Belladonna hit the stage this month (December 18th) at Dingbatz in Clifton Park, NJ.
German power metallers HELLOWEEN have been confirmed for next year's edition of the Sweden Rock Festival, set to take place June 8-11, 2011 in Sölvesborg in southern Sweden.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
AGENT STEEL
DAN REED BAND
DESTRUCTION
FLÄSKET BRINNER
GHOST
GROUNDHOGS
HELLOWEEN
JASON & THE SCORCHERS
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS
JUDAS PRIEST
MASON RUFFNER
MOONSPELL
MUSTASCH
OVERKILL
OZZY OSBOURNE
RAGE (acoustic)
RAUBTIER
RHAPSODY OF FIRE
SAXON
STYX
THE DAMNED
THE HAUNTED
WALTER TROUT
SAXON will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its classic album "Denim And Leather" by performing it in its entirety at the event, "spiced with a lot of other immortal SAXON classics and yes, they will bring the eagle!
Swedish melodic metallers HAMMERFALL have been confirmed for next year's installment of the Summer Breeze festival, set to take place August 18-20, 2011 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows (in alphabetical order):
ARCH ENEMY
BOLT THROWER
CALIBAN
CORVUS CORAX
FARMER BOYS
HAIL OF BULLETS
J.B.O.
KALMAH
KVELERTAK
PRIMORDIAL
SALTATIO MORTIS
THE HAUNTED
TÝR
VOMITORY
WITCHERY
Tickets can be purchased for 72 euros (excluding pre-sale fees, including parking/camping) at Silverdust-Shop.de. The first 10,000 tickets get a free DVD with live footage and impressions from the 2009 edition of the festival.
Former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. frontman Udo Dirkschneider has recorded a Christmas song for the biggest European music and merchandise mailorder company EMP. Laid down at DocMaKlang studio in Osnabrück, Germany, the track "Jingle Balls" was written by various staff members of EMP and is a new interpretation of the Christmas song "Jingle Bells" and the ACCEPT anthem "Balls To The Wall".
"Jingle Balls" will be released in the middle of December under the band name EVIL DISPOSITION.
U.D.O. will partner with EMP for a special promotion surrounding the release of the band's next album, "Rev-Raptor", which is tentatively due in May 2011. This special collaboration will consist of a countdown on EMP's web site an entire week before the CD's release, including a message from Udo and advance snippets of each of the songs from the new album.
The release date of "Rev-Raptor" was pushed back by a few months as a result of back problems experienced by guitarist Stefan Kaufmann, the same issue that forced him to quit playing drums for ACCEPT back in the day. Stefan recently received medical treatment for this condition and had recovered enough to have played with the band on November 6 at the Rock Antenne festival at Schwabenhalle in Augsburg.
As previously reported, 17 new songs were written for "Rev-Raptor", with 11 of them set to appear on the final product.
U.D.O.'s last album, "Dominator", entered the official chart in Germany at position No. 27. This marked the highest German chart entry in U.D.O.'s history.
Photo below (from left to right): Matthias Lohmoeller (producer), Florian Drees (EMP, vocals), Udo Dirkschneider, Oliver Kirchner (EMP, guitar), Christian Albers (EMP, bass), Philipp Mannel (EMP, drums)
Scott "Wino" Weinrich — who has played in such acts as
ST. VITUS, THE OBSESSED, THE HIDDEN HAND, PROBOT and SPIRIT CARAVAN — has released the following statement regarding the passing of former SAINT VITUS drummer, Armando Acosta:
"With great sadness we say rest in peace, Armando. The strong, gentle bear is gone to a better place. I knew him as a beautiful, mellow guy who shared a lot of my loves — motorcycles , swords, armor and music.
"Ride on, brother. See you later!
"If you loved as he loved, there is no love greater, forever..."
Acosta passed away Thanksgiving Day (November 25) at the age of 58.
Armando was one of the original SAINT VITUS members, having joined the group in 1979 when they were known as TYRANT. He was replaced in 2009 by the band's current drummer, Henry Vasquez.
When asked by The Obelisk in a January 2010 interview what caused the split between Acosta and SAINT VITUS, the band's guitarist, Dave Chandler, stated, "He's got some major health problems, and it's just restricting his playing. We had set up to do a really, really big show in France with 100,000 people, 80,000 — the Hellfest. We did Roadburn and like three German shows, and we were like, 'Man, you gotta get help, dude,' because we can't have something going on like this for the France thing, because that could open up a lot of doors for other things.' We played between HEAVEN & HELL and MÖTLEY CRÜE, so we couldn't have stuff screwing up. Hopefully he'll attend to it. We all hope that he does."
American/Norwegian melodic metallers KAMELOT will support IRON MAIDEN on Friday, April 8, 2011 at Estadio Velez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
KAMELOT recently announced its highly anticipated return to Europe on the heels of the band's new album release, "Poetry for the Poisoned". The 2011 European leg of "The Pandemonium Tour" will begin on April 22 at Paris' famous Elysee Montmartre venue, taking the band's spectacular show to 18 top venues and a host of new cities in Europe.
In keeping with KAMELOT's flair for the theatrical, as well as their innovative and creative spirit, the second leg of the tour promises to push the limits of the live concert experience, bringing fans a spectacle even more eye-popping than what they experienced during the thrilling first leg of "The Pandemonium Over Europe Part 1". "It's still called 'The Pandemonium Tour', but it's more theatrical and visual than before," guitarist Thomas Youngblood said in a October interview. "It has a dark theme, a new stage design and more surprises for the KAMELOT fans!"
"Poetry For The Poisoned" sold around 6,100 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD was 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 made 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.
Livia Zita (pictured below), the 26-year-old wife of 54-year-old Danish heavy metal singer King Diamond (real name: Kim Bendix Petersen; MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND), has issued the following update:
"Let me catch you all up on the past couple of weeks' happenings, because it affects many things.
"On Monday the 29th of November, King had to be transported to the nearby hospital by ambulance. After several different tests were done and the EKG machine showing abnormalities, the doctors recommended that he get a cardiac catheterization.
"Cardiac catheterization is a procedure where the doctors lead a very thin tube up from the leg and into the heart, where it injects dye into the bloodstream. Then a camera at the end of the tube takes many pictures of the heart's arteries, looking for blockages.
"After this was done, they determined that King had several heart attacks, and three of his heart's arteries were the cause: one was completely blocked, the second was 90% blocked, and the third was 65% blocked. The only solution to this was an open-heart triple-bypass surgery.
"If you are interested in the details of how this surgery is performed, please look it up online. I will only touch on the basics. The sternum (breastbone) is cut in half and pulled apart, to expose the heart. Veins are harvested from other places of the body, in King's case it was his left leg and chest wall. The person is then hooked up to a machine that practically does the job of the heart, circulating and oxygenating the blood. The heart is then stopped, and the lungs collapse (the lungs stop working since the blood is being oxygenated by the machine). The surgeon then sews the harvested veins in place, bypassing the found blockages. Once the surgery is done, the surgeon moves the ribs and breastbone back into place and wires it together. The chest is closed as well. They use an electric pulse to start the heart and a breathing machine is lead into the lungs to restart breathing.
"King's surgery took approximately seven hours. Everything went well, and King was taken to ICU for recovery. He was walking and eating solid food already two days after the operation, and he was the first one in the history of the hospital who walked on his own power from the ICU to normal care.
"10 days after the ambulance took him to the emergency room, he is at home and is recovering well. It will be a few months before he feels completely normal and is without pain.
"He would like to mention here that he's eternally grateful for the wonderful staff at Centennial Medical Center who took care of him. Dr. Kourlis, Dr. Kamili, Dr. Alang, Nurse Christie and Nurse Thomas among many others made sure that he got the best care and attention he could ever have hoped for. They were always very nice to me, too, letting me stay overnight in the ICU after visiting hours were over.
"In light of this, he will be taking a break from music and the music business altogether until further notice. He very much wants to write new music, finish the DVDs, and go on tour, but for now, all those things are in the distant future and he's not thinking about them.
"Please understand that the KING DIAMOND band is not stopping, disbanding or anything of the sort. King's health is first priority, and when everything is going good with him, the music will resume.
"Thank you all very much for reading this and STAY HEAVY."
A video update from King Diamond — which was filmed by Germany's Rock Hard magazine on September 27, 2010 in King's homebase of Frisco, Texas — can be viewed below.
KING DIAMOND's video for the song "Give Me Your Soul" can be viewed below. The band's first clip in 17 years was shot in September 2007 with director Bill Schacht from video company Aestheticom, which has previously worked with DIO, ALICE COOPER and DREAM THEATER, among other artists. Speaking to MTV.com, the group's frontman/namesake — who was suffering from a herniated disc at the time — said about the video shoot, "They limited what I had to do, of course, so I only did one day of shooting for 90 minutes, but just standing there moving a little bit in the full outfit was very difficult. And afterwards, I got one of those sharp attacks of pain that I hadn't had in a month and a half. The only thing I can compare it to is a really super-bad toothache or earache. And afterwards, I was like, 'OK, I'm not ready [to tour] yet.' "
KING DIAMOND received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill" off the group's latest album, "Give Me Your Soul … Please".
"Give Me Your Soul ... Please" entered the Swedish national chart at position No. 28. The CD also landed at No. 58 on the Danish chart (the second highest new entry on the chart behind VELVET REVOLVER).
"Give Me Your Soul ... Please" sold 4,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 174 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Veteran Arizona metallers FLOTSAM AND JETSAM will perform at club Caradura in Mexico City, Mexico on January 14 and January 15. The band's lineup for the concerts will include guitarists Michael Gilbert and Edward Carlson, who will share the stage for the first time in about 14 years. FLOTSAM AND JETSAM drummer Craig Nielsen tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET, "Mark Simpson [who has played guitar for FLOTSAM AND JETSAM since 1997] can make any personal statement about his status at his discretion as he chooses. He is at a crossroads about future touring and writing at this time."
Craig adds, "We had an offer and it forced an action, in this case very special and exciting for the band and its fans.
"[FLOTSAM AND JETSAM's latest album] 'The Cold' is doing far better in the international press than we expected, our fans profoundly love this record, we have had strong rotation and reaction from Sirius XM radio, sales are respectable and increasing... The band has every reason to stay active."
"The Cold" was released on September 14 via Driven Music Group, the label created by former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. According to Simpson, the CD features "10 songs — ALL brutal, ALL killer, NO filler!!" The cover artwork, which can be viewed below, was once created by Travis Smith (OPETH, NEVERMORE), a collaboration that the band is "extremely excited about because of his amazing skill and vision," says Simpson.
Veteran Arizona metallers FLOTSAM AND JETSAM have officially parted ways with their guitarist of the last 13 years, Mark Simpson. Simpson says in a statement, "I've decided to leave the band. No bad blood at all, of course. Those guys are my brothers, nothing will ever change that, and I will continue to support them always.
He adds, "I'm ridiculously happy [FLOTSAM AND JETSAM's new album] 'The Cold' is doing so well in the press and with the fans but I'm just taking this moment to move on and try something new. It's as simple as that.
"Thanks to everyone that I've had a chance to work with and a huge thank you to all the passionate and loyal fans that I had the honor to meet over the years. Buy 'The Cold'! Flots out."
FLOTSAM AND JETSAM will perform at club Caradura in Mexico City, Mexico on January 14 and January 15. The band's lineup for the concerts will include guitarists Michael Gilbert and Edward Carlson, who will share the stage for the first time in about 14 years.
"The Cold" was released on September 14 via Driven Music Group, the label created by former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. According to Simpson, the CD features "10 songs — ALL brutal, ALL killer, NO filler!!" The cover artwork, which can be viewed below, was once created by Travis Smith (OPETH, NEVERMORE), a collaboration that the band is "extremely excited about because of his amazing skill and vision," says Simpson.
Mark Kadzielawa of 69Faces Of Rock recently conducted an interview with guitarist Craig Locicero of reactivated San Francisco Bay Area thrashers FORBIDDEN. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
69 Faces Of Rock: The album isn't nostalgic in any way. Many bands reform, and they try to rewrite their first album, but the only connection between "Omega Wave" and the first record are some similar themes on the album cover.
Craig: That and a lot more solos. "Forbidden Evil" had a lot of solos, and I think this one has the most besides that. It's also the fastest album since the first one, without a doubt. It might be actually faster than "Forbidden Evil". We didn't want to rehash anything. The whole idea was go into it with all-new material. Just completely kick a hole through everything we've ever done, and follow the stream of consciousness. Also, the phrase Mark [Hernandez, drums] and I would use a lot when we worked on the material was "embrace the metal." Be way more metal than we ever been before, and love it. Fall into that metal thing, and if we ever got off the track, we would say that, and then we fall right back on. And that's something maybe we fought on "Distortion" and "Green".
69 Faces Of Rock: And how is the public reacting to the new material, and the fact FORBIDDEN is back?
Craig: Pretty good. I would say nine out of ten people approve. It's been really great. You're always gonna have haters and I enjoy the haters as much as I enjoy the sympathizers. And there haven't been too many, so it's little less enjoyment for me. I get a kick out of the haters. I'm little weird like that. They don't hurt my feelings. It's been extremely good. The reviews had been really great. The average placing of the record is between 87 and 95 out of a 100 possible. There is an occasional 70, but generally the reviews are positive.
69 Faces Of Rock: Even prior to you releasing "Distortion", there were some really cool songs on the demos you've released. While the directions of the songs was slightly different, the strong emotional content was too good to ignore. Will this material ever see the light of day apart from the above mentioned demos?
Craig: I'm gonna resist that temptation for now (laughter.) I don't think any of us wants to re-live our darkest days. Those were our darkest times. And that's why those songs are so melancholy, and we were also taking on a lot of Tim's [Calvert, ex-guitarist] influences. His QUEENSRŸCHE stuff that he loved. Which is not a bad thing, but it was not really FORBIDDEN. I get into this argument once in a while, and it amazes me how a kid or an adult that loved "Forbidden Evil" can like "So Dark on This Side" and "Trapped" which have nothing to do with our first two albums, like nothing!
69 Faces Of Rock: It was just good material.
Craig: It was good material, but it could've been FATES WARNING. It wasn't aggressive, and I think that's what we have now. In retrospect, when I look back, and think what was the best about us? I look at the first two records, and I look at "Distortion" and "Green". And you'll find parts of these records on the new album, because it was us. It's all FORBIDDEN albums, it's all-encompassing, it's everything, but it's not nostalgia. It's new.
69 Faces Of Rock: "Omega Wave" is very forward-thinking, but I feel the best is yet to come.
Craig: I love writing music with these guys. They may piss me off from time to time, and vice versa, but we love each other. This band really cares about one another.
69 Faces Of Rock: A little known, and probably forgotten fact about you is that you've played a European tour with DEATH. It will soon be 10 years since Chuck Schuldiner's passing. What memories do you have from that tour?
Craig: Only fun memories. I know Chuck had his issues with other musicians, but on that tour, and you can ask each guy from that band, it was the best anyone had ever gotten along on any DEATH tour. We got along great, and Chuck even asked me at the end of the tour to join the band. I said, "that's awesome brother," but I was with Russ [Anderson], and I felt I had the best singer in metal, and I was not about to bail. Chuck was great, they treated me well, they paid me well. Everything about that tour was next level for me. I was like, this is how it should be, but at the same time my belief in FORBIDDEN didn't wane. Since then I became extremely close friends with Gene (Hoglan). We've been great friends ever since. He stays at my house, he knows my wife, my son, we're all really close.
69 Faces Of Rock: Also, your former manager, Debbie Abono, recently passed away. And Debbie was a very dedicated person to the scene, she helped so many great bands. What memories do you have of Debbie?
Craig: I have to say I miss her very much, and I'm glad I got to see her before her death. Her family treated me wonderfully. When we had our album-release party, Debbie's family showed up. Two of her daughters came and represented her. We learned a lot from her. She was an incredibly wise person, and she was hard on us, too, which was good. We needed that, we really needed that. I loved her.
69 Faces Of Rock: Any challenges in getting the band going again?
Craig: Just getting everybody motivated sometimes. We're all wanting the same thing, but everyone has different schedules, families, mortgages, and jobs, and you just have to accept it. It will all come together eventually, and that's what happened. This album, we didn't rush the writing process. I've made two records in that time. In 2009, I did the tracks for the DEMONICA record, and the SPIRALARMS record, and was writing with Mark 2-3 days a week the whole year. Some days were difficult, but we're all human. Whatever is difficult is not completely above us. It's just dealing with personalities. I look back at this, and I know there were hard days, but I don't think anything was that tough. We're very fortunate to be doing what we are doing. This is an honor to be doing what we are doing, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. People come and like you after all these years, and are actually passionate about the music? That's nothing to laugh at,
that's an honor. It's a really deep honor for us to do this again.
Relapse Records has announced the signing of BLOODIEST, the Chicago, Illinois-based seven-piece ensemble that creates a stunning collection of metal-meets-psychedelia-via-early-AmRep epics. The band recently completed work on its debut album, "Descent", at Electrical Audio and Semaphore studios in Chicago with noted engineer Sanford Parker for an early spring release.
BLOODIEST was recently visited by Giant System Chicago, a local video project that videotapes bands in their practice spaces to capture the live and creative energy of a group.
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/bloodiestmetal.
Germany's ACCU§ER, one of the country's leading thrash metal bands of the '90s, has been confirmed for next year's edition of the Wacken Open Air festival, set to take place August 4-6, 2011 in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany.
The festival billing is now shaping up as follows (in alphabetical order):
ACCU§ER
APOCALYPTICA
AVANTASIA
BLIND GUARDIAN
EXCREMENTORY GRINDFUCKERS
HAYSEED DIXIE
IN SOLITUDE
JUDAS PRIEST
KHOLD
KNORKATOR
MAYHEM
OZZY OSBOURNE
PRIMAL FEAR
RUSSKAJA
SEPULTURA
SKÁLMÖLD
SODOM
STIER
SUBWAY TO SALLY
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
TRIVIUM
WARRANT
Wacken Open Air was first held in 1990 as a small event for local German bands. By 1998 the event had become the major festival on the European metal calendar and has included over 70 bands from all over Europe, North America and Australia.
Wacken Open Air is usually held at the beginning of August and lasts three days, during which the festival-goers camp on several large camping grounds surrounding the actual festival area. The 70 or more bands perform across four separate stages over the course of the event.
The 2009 edition of Wacken Open Air set a sales record; it sold out on December 30, 2008. All 70,000 tickets were sold over 200 days before the start of the festival.
Wacken Open Air, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, was honored with a Live Entertainment Award in 2008 in the "Festival Of The Year" category. This award recognizes distinguished achievements in live entertainment and is given out by Live Entertainment Award (LEA) committee.
LEAVES' EYES — the German/Norwegian band formed by ex-THEATRE OF TRAGEDY singer Liv Kristine Espenaes Krull and members of ATROCITY — has issued the following update:
"The production of the new [LEAVES' EYES] album will be finished soon.
"We are proud to announce our cooperation with the Lingua Mortis Orchestra and Victor Smolski (RAGE) as well as the choir 'Al Dente,' who also worked with us on previous releases.
"The classical recordings will take place next week in Minsk, Belarus. Moreover, we are happy to announce that we have more special guests on the upcoming album, for duets and special historic instruments.
"The album is planned to be released in April 2011."
LEAVES' EYES recently parted ways with bassist Alla Fedynitch "for personal reasons." The group played the last show of this year — at the Metal Female Voices Fest on October 24 in Wieze, Belgium — with Dutch session bassist J.B. van der Wal (ABORTED, DR. DOOM).
J.B. van der Wal previously played with LEAVES' EYES at the Bloodstock Open Air and Summer Breeze festivals as well as on the band's last U.S. tour.
"Take The Devil In Me", the latest video from LEAVES' EYES, can be viewed below. The song comes off the group's most recent album, "Njord", which was re-released in May as a "special fan edition," containing three previously unreleased tracks — "At Heaven's End", "Angus and the Swan" and an acoustic version of "Irish Rain". The set also features an appearance by Liv's sister, Carmen Elise Espenaes from MIDNATTSOL, as a guest vocalist on "Irish Rain". The special fan edition comes with a noble matt and glossy foil printed slipcase, which is strictly limited.
The "special fan edition" of "Njord" consists of the "Njord" digipack, including two bonus tracks, as well as the brand new bonus CD "At Heaven's End", which contains seven non-album tracks, and the "My Destiny" video.
The Scream Queen recently conducted an interview with Oli Herbert, founding member and lead guitarist of the acclaimed metal band ALL THAT REMAINS. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
The Scream Queen: You just released "For We Are Many" [in October]. How has the response been so far?
Oli: It seems to be pretty decent, you know. You have, obviously, the haters out there on Blabbermouth, but whatever. (laughs) But no, I guess we made #10 on the Billboard Top 200, so can't complain about that.
The Scream Queen: Do you think that because your music is kind of diverse, meaning it has a rock side to it and a metal side to it, that it opens doors for new fans who've never really listened to metal before?
Oli: Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, if you tell someone you're in a metal band, they get the impression that you're in CANNIBAL CORPSE if they don't listen to metal. I know when I was a kid, I hated metal. Like, when I was 11 or 12, I used to listen to British pop music, you know because it was on the radio and stuff, PET SHOP BOYS, you know. My friends would be like, "Do you like metal?" I'd be like, "No, that stuff is noise to me! They played MÖTLEY CRÜE and I instantly liked it. So, I didn't understand the difference. I think with metal, people's ears have to grow into it. I think that fans of more mainstream-hard-rock will find us more accessible than say, a band like CANNIBAL CORPSE, who are an awesome band, but they're a death metal band.
The Scream Queen: What is something that's always intrigued you about metal?
Oli: I think there was some kind of combination, inner power of darkness, because I was kind of a picked on kid and I needed some kind of strength; something, you know. When I heard MÖTLEY CRÜE's "Shout at the Devil", it was my first foray into metal, and it just brought me into the world. And I started getting into, I was a Dungeons and Dragons geek as a kid, and I started getting into all these fantasy type metal bands like CANDLEMASS and stuff. It just all fit together, and the imagery, back then especially, the mid-'80s was very powerful for a kid entering his teen years, like myself. There was so much allure back then. I got into Satanism for a while, and I had my Satanic bible in school; you know, because I always wanted — I always knew that kids who called themselves Christian, you know, were mean to me, so it must be a bad religion. I read the Bible, I went, "Oh, this makes sense, Do unto others as you would have others do unto you... If
someone hurts you, you punch them in the face." (laughs) It made perfect sense to me! So, I think that everything kind of came together, like the whole package of metal, I just fell in love with that part. Later on, down the road, I went to school for music; I consider myself more of a musician than just a metalhead, but definitely when I started off, I was proud to just be called a metalhead, and you know, I still am, but I definitely consider myself to be a musician first and foremost. Not an artist. (laughs) You know people think I'm an artist, it's like, "Shut the fuck up!" It's the most cliché thing people say. I'm a musician. But, metal flows strong through my veins, plus other music, but metal is it.
The Scream Queen: Since you just said you got your Bachelors Degree, what is something you've learned throughout college that you've applied to being in ALL THAT REMAINS?
Oli: Oh God, pretty much everything. I got into composition because I'm a big song-writer in the band, and that's obviously important to be able to have a grasp of what's going on. The way you orchestrate the guitars and just having a handle on being able to listen to different kinds of music and understand it, analyze it, and apply that to a metal situation, I think, is crucial. Because, like you mentioned before, a lot of bands coming out, sounding repetitive. I think the problem with a lot of the new bands that come out is that they're listening to a group of groups, and basically, all they do is copy that; and they're not going back to what influences them, they're not really studying the music. Say, if you wanted to understand, let's say, LED ZEPPELIN, well, you would study blues guitars before them, you don't just — you've got to go to the roots in order to do that. I think bands just don't do that anymore. Well, some do, I don't know if you're
familiar with the band DAATH?
The Scream Queen: Yes!
Oli: Eyal [Levi] is — he's a good guitar god! (laughs) But he's a real jazz guitar player, the guy is just amazing. And he's doing Django Reinhardt stuff, the way he incorporates it into metal, it reminds me of Alex (inaudible), it's just a takes you there.
The Scream Queen: What is it, do you think, that makes metal such a tight-knit "community," I guess you could say?
Oli: I think metal, you know, it's kind of got a working-class vibe to it, I was talking to a guy down the street, he was like, "Yeah, you guys should play Red Rocks [Amphitheatre]!" "Like what's the cap[acity] there?" "9000." I'm like, "Nobody in the metal genre, except METALLICA could fill that place." Look at the biggest bands in our genre, I would say like SLIPKNOT and DISTURBED, ROB ZOMBIE, those three together could pack that place. (laughs) SLIPKNOT could pull, you know 4,000 or 5,000. It's tough right now. I think that, coming from that, you're not making a lot of money, but you're having a strong impression on the kids. So, you're also getting to know each other well, you're not isolated in the fancy dressing rooms, you're in one green room with all of the bands. So, I think it's important for bands be friends with each other because if you piss off other bands, you're going to burn bridges. You're going to meet each other down the road at more
opportune times. Again, things aren't — I started playing guitar in '88, and in that time period, you had the big arena-rock bands, and there was so much money thrown at them, and in my head I was like, "So that's what being in a band is like!" That was part of the allure, of course in starting too, and then you get to 2010 and obviously it's nothing like that. (laughs) And you better love it, and if you don't love it for what it is, then you're in the wrong business. It can be great, like what fans think, lavish, but it's not like that. (laughs) Those days are gone.
Guitarist Niklas Skogqvist has left Swedish female-fronted melodic thrashers DECADENCE. The band states, "Nicke felt that he had too many things going on in his life. He said DECADENCE needs a guitarist that gives 100% which he says he was not able to do."
Regarding a possible replacement guitarist, DECADENCE says, "We have not yet decided if we will continue as a quartet. In fact, our music is more technically suited for two guitarists and we might therefore need a second guitarist again."
The band adds, "We will enter the studio for our fifth album as a quartet, same as with 'The Creature', '3rd Stage Of Decay' and 'Chargepoint'. The new tracks are being polished at the moment and we are really looking forward to sharing it all with you on our next album with a secret title so far. The title of '3rd Stage Of Decay' symbolized so well who we are and this next title will, too!"
DECADENCE's "Silent Weapon (For A Quiet War)" video can be viewed below. The clip was shot last year with producer Helena Starenby.
"Silent Weapon (For A Quiet War)" comes off DECADENCE's fourth album, "Chargepoint", which was released in October 2009 via the Japanese label Spiritual Beast.
DECADENCE's third album, "3rd Stage of Decay", which was originally released in 2006 through HTI Records, was reissued on August 28, 2008 via Massacre.
For more information, visit www.decadence.se.
Athens, Ohio extreme metallers SKELETONWITCH have been confirmed for next year's installment of the Summer Breeze festival, set to take place August 18-20, 2011 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows (in alphabetical order):
ARCH ENEMY
BOLT THROWER
CALIBAN
CORVUS CORAX
FARMER BOYS
HAIL OF BULLETS
J.B.O.
KALMAH
KVELERTAK
PRIMORDIAL
SALTATIO MORTIS
SKELETONWITCH
THE HAUNTED
TÝR
VOMITORY
WITCHERY
Tickets can be purchased for 72 euros (excluding pre-sale fees, including parking/camping) at Silverdust-Shop.de. The first 10,000 tickets get a free DVD with live footage and impressions from the 2009 edition of the festival.
CLOSE TO HOME has joined the Artery Recordings roster, the joint venture between The Artery Foundation and Razor & Tie. Hailing from Cincinnati, the hard rock band is the seventh addition to the Artery Recordings family. They will release their debut full-length album, "Never Back Down", on February 15.
Fans can get a taste of the new album on Monday, December 13 when the pre-order goes live at this location. Pre-orders will be available in a variety of different packages, including a t-shirt or hoodie, and all will all come with an instant download of an original Christmas track written by the band.
"Never Back Down" was recorded in Florida and produced by Tom Denney (formerly of A DAY TO REMEMBER) and was mixed by Andrew Wade (A DAY TO REMEMBER, THE WORD ALIVE). "Having this team together was literally a dream come true for us," said guitarist Josh Wells. It also helped the band create and develop their vision for the album, with Wells adding "It's basically the summary of our lives and who we are in pursuit of our dreams."
"Being happy with your team is important," Wells said. "Artery Recordings have been so supportive of who we are and what we want to do, and they understand our vision perfectly. The biggest thing with us is wanting to stay free creatively, and Artery lets us pursue that."
CLOSE TO HOME will be on a national tour around release to promote "Never Back Down", to be announced at a later date.
Artery Recordings is the label home to The Artery Foundation and an imprint of independent label Razor & Tie, whose roster now includes CHELSEA GRIN, BURY TOMORROW, ATTILA, I DECLARE WAR, A BULLET FOR PRETTY BOY and VANNA. A management company since 2004, The Artery Foundation has a knack for finding diamonds in the rough and nurturing them into worldwide prominence. Some of their recent artists flooding the Billboard charts have included Top 40 releases with THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and ATTACK ATTACK!, Top 100 releases with ALESANA and BREATHE CAROLINA and additional artists such as ASKING ALEXANDRIA, JONNY CRAIG and DANCE GAVIN DANCE.
For more information on CLOSE TO HOME, visit www.myspace.com/cth.
Dallas, Texas-based trio TRUE WIDOW will release its sophomore album, "As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth", on March 29, 2011 via Kemado Records. The follow-up to the band's 2008's self-titled debut was produced by TRUE WIDOW and recorded by Matt Pence (CENTRO-MATIC, ESTER DRANG) at The Echo Lab in Denton, Texas.
TRUE WIDOW's debut album quickly won over fans as news of the independent release spread. Aquarius Records was an early champion of the band, sharing these words with customers, "Every song here is practically perfect, and each one segues seamlessly into the next, the sort of record where you don't just remember the melody or the lyrics, but which songs comes next, and how long the pause between songs is, the sound just so hypnotic and mesmerizing, a sort of lyseric doom pop, a druggy post rock, but the thing is, none of that really explains how addictive these songs seem to be. Literally, from the moment we first heard this record, we have not been able to stop listening to it." In the press, the band was lauded for its "morphine-induced melodies dripping with haunting, heartfelt lyrics." (AOL Spinner).
TRUE WIDOW is DH Phillips (vocals/guitar), Nicole Estill (vocals/bass) and Slim Texas (drums).
A DVD of FUCK THE FACTS' April 11, 2009 "Live In Whitby" concert performance has been made available in limited quantities at this location. It includes interviews as well as full sets from every band that played that night: FUCK THE FACTS, HEAPS OF DEAD, THE UNBORN DEAD and F.A.T.O.
Commented FUCK THE FACTS guitarist Topon Das: "Awhile back I got an e-mail from the promoter of the Whitby show telling me that he had finished footage and was putting some DVDs together. Flash forward a few weeks later and a small box of DVDs showed up. So we're making these available to you guys."
A video clip of FUCK THE FACTS performing the song "Everyone Is Robbing The Dead" — taken from the "Live In Whitby" DVD — can be viewed below.
FUCK THE FACTS' "Live In Whitby" was originally released as a limited-edition cassette and "pay-what-you-want" download, which is still available here.
FUCK THE FACTS is currently mixing its new full-length album, "Die Miserable", with Craig Boychuk (KEN MODE, PROPAGANDHI). A 2011 release via Relapse Records is expected.
Koblenz, Germany-based extreme metallers SIX REASONS TO KILL have inked a deal with Massacre Records. The band's fourth album, "Architects Of Perfection", is scheduled for release on January 28, 2011.
Commented the band: "After several months of working and recording on our forthcoming album, we're happy to have [Massacre Records, a] strong an established partner behind us. It's a great step forward for us and we're more than thrilled to reach this level now.
"We know Massacre Records since the days of our youth and we are proud to become part of this awesome band-roster somewhere between and KING DIAMOND.
"Thanks to Thomas for his confidence in what we are doing. Another great person we have to mention here is Leif Jensen for his management support.
"Last but not least, we want to spread some words of gratitude to all our fans, friends and supporters and everybody who reached his helping hands to us during the past years. We are looking forward to an exciting 2011!"
"Architects Of Perfection" track listing:
01. Welcome To Forever
02. My Bitterness
03. False Absolution
04. Perfection
05. Awaken
06. My Poison
07. Day Of The Apocalypse
08. Scum Belongs To Scum
09. Wandering Stars
10. Buried To The Sea
A trailer for the "My Bitterness" video can be viewed below.
SIX REASONS TO KILL is:
Lars Tekolf - Vocals
Loc Tran - Guitars
Marco Andree - Guitars
Matthias Machenheimer - Bass
Florian Dürr - Drums
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/sixreasonstokill.
Falkenberg, Sweden-based metallers BY NIGHT have set "Sympathy For Tomorrow" as the title of their third album for a tentative early 2011 release. The CD was recorded this past at StudioMega in Varberg, Sweden and "the results are absolutely mind-blowing," according to a press release. "The heaviness and the aggression are there and the songs grow [with] every listen. The fans will not be disappointed."
BY NIGHT parted ways with Lifeforce Records in 2009 and is currently considering various options on how to distribute the new songs.
"We are thrilled to get out on the road again and have a great time with our fans," the band said in a statement.
BY NIGHT's sophomore album, "A New Shape of Desperation", was released in September 2006 via Lifeforce Records. The follow-up to 2005's "Burn the Flags" was recorded at StudioMega and was mixed by Chris Silver and Johan Öhrnborg. Artwork was handled by Henric Carlsson from BY NIGHT's Lifeforce labelmates NIGHTRAGE.
"Concerning the Christmas Metal Tour with SIX FEET UNDER, DISBELIEF would like to let you know that we are very sorry about the fact that this tour was cancelled in the last minute.
"From the booking agency of the tour we got the message that the tour was cancelled two days before tour start! DISBELIEF contacted SIX FEET UNDER and they sent us their point of view. We cannot tell any details, but we have now two oppositional statements which we have to live with. Those who suffered the most are the fans, who already bought their tickets and the bands as well as the venues, who had efforts and costs! This fact is unacceptable and leaves a foul taste of disappointment for all participators!
"However, the fact of this cancellation (after overcoming the shock) cannot stop the path of DISBELIEF.
"With this statement we want to show our fans why we can't come to your city to play for you. And by the way, we also want to let you know what ugly things are sometimes going on in this business. At the same time, DISBELIEF can also announce some good things. We were successful in looking for our new constant lineup! In addition to our new drummer Corny Althammer (AHAB, DEADEYEDSLEEPER) and new guitar player Wolfgang Rothbauer (IN SLUMBER, THIRDMOON), Alex Hagenauer (SOUL DEMISE) on guitar will help us out in early 2011 and will then join as a permanent band member! Welcome to the band!
"This short-term cancellation of the tour actually resulted in the fact that DISBELIEF (as a new formed band) verified themselves by extensive rehearsing and at the same time by starting the songwriting process for the new DISBELIEF output. The first song lets us suspect that many big things will happen with this new spirit in the band!
"To all our fans, this is not the end of DISBELIEF, this is the beginning of a new chapter!
"DISBELIEF will arrange a headlining tour in April/May 2011 to make up for the cancelled shows. More details will follow soon!"
Drummer Kai Bergerin recently left DISBELIEF due to "private" reasons which make it "impossible" for him to embark on long tours. Guitarist Witali Weber, on the other hand, exited the group "because of personal differences."
DISBELIEF'd 20th-anniversary album, "Heal", was released on May 21 via Massacre Records. The CD contains eight songs, including three cover versions and a remake of the classic track "Shine". The first album to be recorded and mixed by the DISBELIEF members themselves, "Heal" also features four original compositions which "are meant to be a tribute to bands who influenced us a lot over those two decades concerning their music and attitude!!" according to the group.
"Heal" was released with a bonus DVD containing footage of a complete DISBELIEF show from the Walpurgis Metal Days in 2009.
DISBELIEF's "Protected Hell" album was released in April 2009 via Massacre Records. The LP, which was recorded at MX studio in Buchen, Germany with producer Michael Mainx, was made available as a limited-edition digipack and regular jewel case CD.
Due on January 11, 2011, "Black Metal: The Music Of Satan" is a no-holds-barred documentary on the black metal scene from the mind of Bill Zebub.
Some people think of church burnings and murders when the hear the word "black metal." This documentary is not for them.
Bill Zebub wanted to prove that a documentary about black metal could still be entertaining without using sensationalism. You get to see most artists express themselves candidly, while of course some people embarrass themselves with their facades... But that's entertainment.
From the mind of Grimoire magazine and films like "Death Metal: Are We Watching You Die?", "Metal Retardation" and "Black Metal: Norwegian Legacy", "Black Metal: The Music Of Satan" features interviews with VENOM, DARKTHRONE, BEHEMOTH, IMMORTAL, CRADLE OF FILTH and tons more.
Check out a trailer for the movie below.
To pre-order "Black Metal: The Music Of Satan", go to this location.
NEGURA BUNGET — the Romanian band that incorporates elements of black metal, progressive metal, folk metal and dark ambient — is putting the finishing touches on a new mini-CD, "Poarta De Dincolo" (English translation: "A Gate From The Above" or "Carrying From The Other Side"). The effort is being recorded once again at Negura Music studio and, as the title suggests, focuses on exploring the relation between worlds, either from above, under or beyond.
"Poarta De Dincolo" will mark NEGURA BUNGET's final release for Code666 Records, putting an end to a collaboration that began almost 10 years ago.
NEGURA BUNGET's latest album, "Vîrstele Pamîntului" (English translation: The Ages of the Land/Earth), came out in the U.S. on August 10 via Aural Music/MVD. The CD was tracked at Negura Music studio under the supervision of sound engineer Mihai Toma. The group stated in a press release, "'Vîrstele Pamîntului' is an album about embracing your destiny, about choosing and consciously assuming a way of life. The earth is where we came from and where go back into, the one from above and beyond us. Understanding and respecting it is understanding yourself, your purpose and destiny. 'Vîrstele Pamîntului' is an album about places of the earth and places of the spirit, about bounds transcending worlds."
"Maiestrit", a magical and passionate reinterpretation of NEGURA BUNGET's classic album "Maiastru Sfetnic" (2000), was released in February by Lupus Lounge. This record contains the last studio recordings of the classic NEGURA BUNGET lineup (Hupogrammos, Sol Faur, Negru).
Dutch death metallers ASPHYX will enter Sonic Assault studio in January with engineer Frank Klein Douwel to begin recording the first four songs for their forthcoming album, "Deathhammer". Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Reign Of The Brute", "Vespa Cabro", "We Doom You To Death", "Asphyx-Minefield" and "Deathhammer". Axel Hermann will create the cover artwork while Dan Swanö (BLOODBATH, EDGE OF SANITY) will take care of the mixing duties.
Quality fan-filmed video footage of ASPHYX's November 27, 2010 performance at the Headbanging Enschede festival at Atak in Enschede, The Netherlands can be viewed below (courtesy of "letthedeathmetalflow").
ASPHYX recently entered Sonic Assault studio to record two new songs — a cover version of the MAJESTY classic "Bestial Vomit" and the new song "We Doom You To Death". The MAJESTY cover will appear on the upcoming split seven-inch with Dutch death/thrash band THANATOS and will feature lyrics in Dutch dialect while "We Doom You To Death" will be included on a split seven-inch single with Finnish doom/deathsters HOODED MENACE.
ASPHYX's new DVD and double CD, "Live Death Doom", was released in August through Century Media Records. With a total playing time of approximately 225 minutes, "Live Death Doom" contains ASPHYX's two-hour-plus July 4, 2009 performance in Essen, Germany as well as a one-hour-plus documentary about the history of ASPHYX and "tons of krushing additional bonus material." The main live show's audio (which is the same as the CD content) was mixed and mastered by producer Dan Swanö, who had previously worked with ASPHYX on the band's 2009 comeback album, "Death...The Brutal Way". The glorious "Live Death Doom" old-school artwork was created by Axel Hermann, who was also responsible for the artwork on the group's classic 1990s releases. The DVD was coordinated and edited by Oliver "Bomber" Barth.
ASPHYX parted ways with bassist Wannes Gubbels earlier in the year and replaced him with Alwin Zuur (PULVERIZER, ESCUTCHEON).
ASPHYX's new lineup made its live debut at this year's edition of the Hammer Of Doom festival on February 6, 2010 at Posthalle in Würzburg, Germany.
ASPHYX 2010 is:
Martin van Drunen (vocals)
Alwin Zuur (bass)
Paul Baayens (guitar)
Bob Bagchus (drums)
Finnish melodic black metallers CATAMENIA have announced the addition of vocalist Juha-Matti Perttunen (pictured below; ALL AGAINST) to the group's ranks. The band states, "There was a damn tight fight between the last three candidates [which included Ash from AGATHODAIMON and Olli-Jukka Mustonen], but Juha-Matti took over everything with his charisma, attitude and especially wide variety of different vocals to cope with our all songs."
CATAMENIA recently parted ways with Ari Nissilä (guitar, vocals), Toni Kansanoja (bass/backing vocals), Kari Vähäkuopus (clean vocals) and Mikko Nevanlahti (drums) and replaced them with Mikko Hepo-oja (bass), Tony Qvick (drums) and Sauli Jauhiainen (guitar).
The new CATAMENIA lineup is:
Riku Hopeakoski - Guitar
Mikko Hepo-oja - Bass
Tony Qvick - Drums
Sauli Jauhiainen - Guitar
Juha-Matti Perttunen - Vocals
"Cavalcade", the latest video from CATAMENIA, can be viewed below. The song is the title cut of the band's most recenr album, which was released on February 26 via Massacre Records. The CD was recorded and mixed by Kari Vähäkuopus at Mastervox Studios in Oulu, Finland and was produced by CATAMENIA. POISONBLACK/ex-SENTENCED frontman Ville Laihiala makes a guest appearance on the album's opening track, "Blood Trails".
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