OZZY OSBOURNE has landed at position No. 5 on this week's Billboard.com "Hot Tours" rankings with over $2.4 million in ticket sales from three venues on the South American leg of his ongoing worldwide tour — Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile; and Gigantinho, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
IRON MAIDEN ranks No. 7 this week with a single performance on March 18 at Foro Sol in Mexico City drawing a crowd of 47,489 with box office grosses topping the $2 million mark.
Artist/Event: OZZY OSBOURNE
Gross Sales: $2,400,093
Date: March 26-30
Venue/City/State/Country: Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Venue/City/State/Country: Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile
Venue/City/State/Country: Gigantinho, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Attendance: 30,957
Capacity: 46,499
Artist/Event: IRON MAIDEN
Gross Sales: $2,037,580
Date: March 18
Venue/City/State/Country: Foro Sol, Mexico City
Attendance: 47,489
Capacity: 52,036
Metallica -- a band that has sold upward of 60 million albums in the U.S. alone, played 1,697 tour dates around the world and has made metal music heavy enough to melt faces -- has been taking baby steps when it comes to one of the biggest musical events in heavy music.
When the big four bands of thrash metal -- Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax -- got together and toured Europe last year, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said that the tour was "definitely an experiment."
"We were all keeping our fingers crossed that the experiment would work. When we played the first show in Warsaw, just about 10 months ago, in June of last year, everybody felt right away that this thing was really working and the 75,000 people who showed up in Warsaw really felt that it was working, too," Ulrich said in a telephone interview last week.
He said even with the success of The Big 4 in Europe, the bands still didn't want to cram the tour down the throats of fans.
"There's a fine line. You don't want to push it to the point so 'Now we're going to hit every arena, every theater, every backyard, everywhere.' You want to keep it special," Ulrich said.
The Big 4's first, and right now only, U.S. tour date is Saturday at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, a site where hipsters and celebrities watched the likes of Arcade Fire and Kanye West at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last weekend and where country fans will see Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood next weekend.
2009 / The Press-Enterprise
Lars Ulrich, drummer for Metallica, shows some emotion during the band's show at the Honda Center in Anaheim in 2009.
"The Coachella Festival is probably the most revered both from the fans' and the bands' standpoint, the top U.S. destination festival on the yearly calendar in America. People love the polo grounds there and the whole vibe," Ulrich said.
Ulrich, who had a great time at Coachella when he went to see the Rage Against the Machine reunion in 2007, said that Coachella and Stagecoach promoter Goldenvoice offered to leave up the scaffolding at the site and it was an offer the band couldn't refuse.
The bands will be playing full sets and Metallica, with members Ulrich, singer and guitarist James Hetfield, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo, will be bringing their high production values with them.
"We're bringing all the bells and whistles and all of the stuff that turns on and off and all of the stuff that pops and goes boom ," Ulrich said, laughing.
That means pyrotechnics and the massive stage production the band took to Europe. The Big 4 is going to be, well, big.
"Hopefully people all over Southern California will be able to experience some part of this, if not by direct association, then at least by indirect association," Ulrich said, laughing. "It will be cool. If the weather's clear, they'll be able to share this all over Southern California."
METAL CELEBRATION
With the bands' ties to Southern California, Indio is a natural fit for the festival. Metallica started out in Los Angeles as did Megadeth, whose lead singer Dave Mustaine is a Fallbrook resident. Slayer started in Huntington Beach and guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman live in the Riverside and Hemet areas, respectively. Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax are also celebrating their 30-year anniversaries this year.
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Ulrich said Metallica is starting to "throw ideas" around for its 30th anniversary.
"I think we sort of forgot. When you get to have been around as long as we have, you can almost find an anniversary in anything -- 10 years since this, 20 years since that came out, 15 years since somebody picked their nose. There's always an anniversary you can celebrate," he said.
But the fact that the band has been around for three decades is a reason to celebrate, Ulrich said.
One of the things that has made Metallica have enduring success is its ability to evolve as a band. Early albums such as "Kill 'Em All," "Ride the Lightning" and "Master of Puppets" saw the band rise to an arena success with breakneck beats and lightning riffs without the aid of MTV in a time where music videos made careers.
With the 1988 album "...And Justice For All," the epic "One" became some viewers' first look at the band. By the group's self-titled release in 1991, known as "The Black Album," Metallica cemented their place as one of the biggest bands in the world with hits such as "Enter Sandman," "The Unforgiven," "Nothing Else Matters," "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad But True" -- songs that have become part of America, played at sporting events and on rock radio 20 years later.
The band continued to push itself, recording with the San Francisco Symphony and pushing its metal envelope with albums such as "Load" and "St. Anger" before returning to thrash roots on most recent effort, 2008's "Death Magnetic."
Ulrich said the band was headed back into the studio to work on new material for about six to eight weeks after The Big 4 show in Indio.
When asked about the band's continued success and relevance, Ulrich credited the band's ability to change.
"We have a tendency to be pretty adventurous in Metallica. We're not afraid to move around on the musical map a little bit ... you've got a lot of curious personalities in this band; you've got a lot of people who are very inspired by many different things," Ulrich said. "There's always different flavor that comes up whenever we get together and do our thing. We like to mix it up as much as possible. Hopefully in the wake of that, there comes an unpredictability and something where people don't pigeonhole you and take you for granted."
Reach Vanessa Franko at 951-368-9575, vfranko@PE.com, http://blogs.inlandsocal.com/music or www.facebook.com/iguidemusic
The Big 4
METALLICA doesn't often grant permission for the use of its songs in movies, making just a handful of exceptions over its nearly 30-year career. But the group likes an upcoming independent feature called "Hesher" enough to let the filmmakers use some of the band's music.
According to ContactMusic.com, star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays the title character, admits he based much of his character's behavior on late METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton, who died when METALLICA's tour bus crashed in Sweden in 1986, and he was stunned when his rock idols recognized the similarities without prompting.
Gordon-Levitt says, "They dug the movie. It was a real honor and I took a lot of inspiration for this character from the basis of some of their early albums, this guy named Cliff Burton, who played on 'Master Of Puppets' and 'Ride The Lightning'. And when the band saw it, they were like, 'You know what?! He reminds us of Cliff,' and we didn't even tell them that's what we were going for. And they let us use their songs and I was actually moved because I grew up headbanging to METALLICA."
Gordon-Levitt previously said about the "Hesher" film "I loved making this movie, and I love how it turned out. It's hilarious, but it's not just funny, it's smart, it's sad, it's hopeful, it's heartfelt, and it fuckin' rocks . . . And, I'm humbled to say, METALLICA themselves liked it so much they gave us their music, they never give their stuff to movies!"
"Hesher" arrives on May 13 in theatres. The film also stars recent Oscar winner Natalie Portman and "The Office"'s Rainn Wilson.
The movie is a dark comedy-drama about a disturbed young man, played by Levitt, who wreaks havoc in the lives of a boy and his father after the death of the boy's mother.
The film's title on all its advertising and marketing materials is done in the style of the METALLICA logo.
Of all the musicians onstage at Saturday's epic Big 4 Festival of thrash, Dave Mustaine arrives with the most complicated history. He is an essential figure within this loud-fast genre of metal, and the originator of a certain style of guitar-shredding - first as a founding member of Metallica, then as leader of the platinum-selling Megadeth. Thrash wouldn't be the same without him.
Despite his own significant successes, his ongoing anger over being fired from Metallica in 1983 haunted him for decades, erupting during interviews and cutting wisecracks. That's finally behind him now, especially since last year's European Big 4 tour, and the four acts joining together in Sofia, Bulgaria, to perform Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?" - with Mustaine once again standing beside Metallica's James Hetfield.
In an exclusive interview, Mustaine tells the LA Weekly about the ongoing reunion of the Big 4 bands, his earliest days creating Megadeth with bassist David Ellefson, and all the scary and beautiful fans of thrash he'll see this weekend in Indio:
Even aside from the "Big 4" shows, you've been spending a lot of time on the road with Slayer.
We've gotten past all the tension of the past. It's not a secret that there was stuff I'd said a while ago - I was angry about something and I was trying to be funny. It wasn't funny to the people I was saying it about. Sometimes you tell a joke and it lands flat. Fortunately, the spirit of heavy metal heals everything with us.
Was there a rivalry between the bands?
There is probably healthy competition, but rivalry - no. We would have to be competing for the exact same core audience and playing the exact same kind of music. We're two totally different bands. Megadeth is a little jazzier, Slayer is a lot more straightforward. We both have some punk influences and were endeared by the punk audience.
Who has been showing up at your shows?
The diversity of the audiences is truly amazing. There's young and old, there's beautiful people and scary monsters. We didn't expect things to happen like this, certainly not to be this successful. I listen to kids playing guitar, and I can hear a little of my influence - and I can certainly hear the influence of what we set out to do in Metallica. We really changed the world as far as guitar playing is concerned. I know if I hadn't made that trip up to Downey that day to go audition for those guys, the world would be a different place.
You guys all started at the same time and, with thrash, created a movement that didn't exist before.
That's the thing I'm so grateful for right now. There were a lot of sour grapes in our camp for a long time. You would see all these other bands fall upward, and we would be digging in the trenches, scratching and clawing just to get a meal. Then it started to change. I guess after a period of time, if you stand for what's right and you do what's right, eventually the whole thing's going to come full-circle. I'm grateful that people even want to talk to me anymore.
Leaving Metallica and then becoming a platinum-selling artist on your own was a huge accomplishment, but your acrimony with that band seemed to go on for years.
It was a pretty big mountain to climb. The thing was, I wasn't really looking at what was right in front of me. I was looking down the road at my pals that had left me behind because the different chemical reaction that alcohol had on us. When we drank, those guys would get happy and I would get angry. I grew up fighting. My whole life I was living on the streets, scratching and clawing. I'm almost 50, and when I think back . . . David Ellefson and I had an asinine agreement: We were panhandling in Hollywood, and if we didn't make it, we were going to handcuff ourselves to a light pole and pull a hand-grenade pin and go out in a bang. Obviously we were stupid and probably stoned at the time.
You've said that performing "Am I Evil?" with all those guys in Bulgaria last year was an important moment for you.
Well, I think it was important for everybody. It was almost like a cosmic polarity thing that happened between two opposing forces. Me and James [Hetfield] were the guys that people used to always put against each other. For us to be onstage finally playing . . . The sad thing was, when they put a face to the feud, it was me against James. So when it was over, I remember hearing the audience when I hugged James and how loud they were - it was like a global sigh, like the world going, "Uhh, finally."
Will there be another collaboration at this show?
I certainly don't know how you could eclipse that, and I know James and Lars [Ulrich] are consummate professionals and showmen. I imagine if they were going to try and do something with all of us to surpass that, it probably won't be doing a song. It will probably be doing something like skydiving onto the stage.
Tom Araya of Slayer told me he would actually be interested in doing "The Four Horsemen" [an early Metallica song originally written by Mustaine]. He said it was more representative of what you guys were all about.
Wow. On tour I've gotten to know Tom and I really like that guy. He's a really interesting and cool guy. Today I just walked in [to Slayer's dressing room] and said I heard from [ailing Slayer guitarist] Jeff Hanneman - because I texted Jeff and told him I've been praying for him about his arm and asking if he wants to talk to me. I said to Jeff, "Look, I want you to remember I had an arm injury that almost ended my career. And I know what it feels like to not be able to play."
There were a couple of Christian protesters outside your show in Long Beach some months ago. Do you find some irony in that?
You mean the fact that they're out there picketing and I'm a born-again Christian? Well, it just shows that they don't know me. If you really want to preach the Gospel to people, you have to do it with your deeds and not your words. There's been ups and downs in my life. Everybody knows I've had a really checkered past. What better way to get me prepared to be of service to other people at the end of my career. I had a really rough beginning, but I'm having a great ending. This is all getting me prepared for what I'm going to do next.
Thrash metal musicians are not always the most social of animals. The guys in Anthrax do tend to get along with other bands, but Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica have famously traded insults across the decades over slights big and small. That all came to an end last year in Europe, during their first-ever tour as the "Big 4" thrash originators.
Even the tattooed, rock-hard exterior of Slayer guitarist Kerry King seemed to soften during the seven-date tour with his rival shredders, and he spent several dates watching Metallica's set from behind Lars Ulrich's drumkit. Now their unexpected collaboration arrives as the Big 4 Festival on Saturday at Empire Polo Field in Indio, where Slayer will unleash a loud-fast mix of metal tunes dating back to the '80s and up through 2009's World Painted Blood album. (But he won't be recreating his wildman solo from the Beastie Boys' 1987 hit "No Sleep Till Brooklyn.")
In an exclusive interview, King tells the LA Weekly about the rise of thrash, remembers seeing Dave Mustaine shred for the first time, and explains why Slayer will never be bigger than they are now:
That's a gigantic venue to fill in Indio. How are these four metal bands able to fill it?
Metallica is pretty huge on their own. The historic-ness of it - four of the biggest metal bands to come out of the U.S. getting together. The media named us the Big 4 so long ago, it's been every fan's pipe dream.
How were the "Big 4" shows in Europe last year?
I thought it was going to be something cool for the fans, but I went in thinking it was just going to be another show, you know, who cares - everybody's going to be segregated in their worlds. But it was a lot more fun than I expected. I was onstage watching Metallica at least three of the seven shows, if not four times.
Had you spent much time around Metallica before this?
No. We just ran in different circles. We never toured with Metallica - other than onetime at the Woodstock [club] before we even had a record out, or just a random festival.
What was the Woodstock like?
That's where we came to power. Metallica would have too if they had not moved to the Bay. I saw Metallica there before we played with them, when Dave Mustaine was in the band. I was blown away at the band in general, but Mustaine because he was really fucking good.
Did he play differently than other people?
I was amazed at the things he was playing without even looking at his fingers. I look at my fingers today. Thirty years ago he was ripping these kick-ass leads without even looking.
What do you think of the changes the bands have gone through over the last 30 years?
We were lucky because we didn't have to change at all. In the other bands, they just became different entities. We all started out as this crazy metal beast, and from that birth we all grew four heads that are very different.
Slayer is the only band with its original lineup intact.
I don't know about the L.A. show. I don't think Jeff's coming back for that.
What is the latest news with [guitarist] Jeff Hanneman?
He's trying his ass off. He's been talking about playing that show, but I just don't see how physically he'd be able to do that. I'm just being realistic. He came to the last rehearsal and surprised everybody. I was blown away that he was even out of the house. That was after his first or second skin graft to fix the huge opening he had. He was totally out of gas because he hadn't left the house much. He was cold because his immune system was all fucked up. We haven't talked since then. I get updates through management. He's doing whatever the doctors tell him to do.
Did the thrash acts share any fans with glam bands in the '80s?
It wouldn't surprise me if eventually. What we were doing - and Metallica and Megadeth - was more street. That's how those things pan out. I knew there was going to be a big wave of people getting into metal again when Disturbed and Godsmack started getting big. These people get tired of this and look for the next thing. And even though we're not the next thing, we're the next level of rage, so to speak.
Didn't thrash fade back a bit during the grunge era?
Grunge was definitely a fad, as nu-metal was. There are still grunge bands that are awesome. It's really cool that Soundgarden's playing. I'd like to hear what they come up with. Pearl Jam still plays. Nu-metal was more of a traditional fad where it just came and went.
Outside the Long Beach last time, there were a couple Christian protesters. Do you still get a lot of that?
I think it was bigger before. Now I think people are more tolerant of different people's views and opinions. The funny thing about protesters is, you never see atheists or Satanists protest anything. They're comfortable in their beliefs. It's only Christians that are so uncomfortable with how they feel, they're not happy unless everyone believes what they believe.
This has been a busy two years for Slayer.
I think this is as big as we're ever going to get. Because we play such an extreme form of metal that we're selling -- there's only so may people who will be into it. It will always keep regenerating itself because it's very street and kids can really relate to it, but I don't think we'll ever achieve Metallica size.
There aren't a lot of acts or tours than can fill a stadium these days, but it seems likely that the Big 4 could easily do a stadium tour.
It's totally die-hard. They are very dedicated fans, the metal heads. That's why we try to take care of them.
Scott Ian isn't your typical thrash metal guitarist.
He's 47, expecting his first child in July, and his father-in-law is Meat Loaf, the rock 'n' roller-turned-"Celebrity Apprentice" contestant.
Ian's band, Anthrax, isn't your typical thrash metal act, either. Its lead singer, Joey Belladonna, is a big Frank Sinatra fan. He recently recorded "Strangers in the Night" for a metal tribute to the late crooner titled "SIN-atra."
But Belladonna and Ian won't be stopping by Sinatra's Cathedral City grave or doing any other sightseeing this weekend. They'll be joining Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer as part of the Big 4 concert Saturday at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
It's clearly the biggest metal event of the year in the United States. The title comes from the groups' reputation as the four biggest thrash metal bands going back to the 1980s. This is their only U.S. appearance after a major European tour last summer.
Goldenvoice, the Los Angeles-based company that produced last weekend's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and next weekend's Stagecoach country festival, won a national bidding war for the right to book the Big 4 in Indio. But Ian, who has lived in L.A. for 20 years after co-founding Anthrax in New York, said the bands wanted to play in Southern California.
"Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica all formed in Southern California," he said. "There was a lot of uproar over the fact that there was this one Big 4 show, so far, and it's taking place in Southern California. People are like, 'Well, where's my show?' I think it makes absolute sense that this first Big 4 explosion on American soil would happen in Southern California because it was the genesis of those other three bands."
Ian said the Metallica people decided they wanted to do a Big 4 concert in Southern California "months and months in advance" and they called the other bands to ask them about doing a show in April.
Ian said the European tour went so well, "We were like, 'It sounds (bleeping) awesome. We'll be there.'"
Thrash metal grew out of the heavy metal genre of the late 1970s and early '80s, characterized by its speed and aggression.
Almost 30 years after its creation, Ian says that thrash metal bands are a tight-knit community.
"Not just the bands, but certainly the fans, everything," he said. "I think the community between the bands is obvious because we're doing this Big 4 show. The amount of people who are going to come to the Big 4 show in Indio and the amount of people who showed up to the Big 4 shows in Europe last summer pretty much answers the question about the sense of community between the audience as well."
But the bond between the Anthrax band members hasn't been quite so communal. Anthrax has had four lead singers since Neil Turbin joined the band as the frontman in 1982 and two of them have returned for reunion tours.
Belladonna, who was the lead vocalist during Anthrax's peak years from 1985 to 1992, returned to the band in 2010 and both he and Ian expect him to continue with the band for its duration.
Ian said the band had been in some turmoil in 2009 and 2010 with Dan Nelson and John Bush as successive lead vocalists. Ian wanted Belladonna back in the band, but they had fired Belladonna in 1992 and Belladonna had quit in 2007.
Belladonna said he wasn't surprised to be asked back because, "Anything can happen these days. I am happy to be back."
Ian said he had wanted Belladonna back since the "Among the Living" tour.
"I thought after a couple weeks of doing that we really became a great band again," he said. "I felt we were a better band than we were even in 1987 or 1988 because we're all better at what we do. I think the mistake we made on that tour was just jumping into it too quick. We hadn't seen each other forever and it seemed like a week later we were out playing shows. I look at that reunion tour as, that broke the ice and enabled us to get to know each other again. That's why this can work now in 2010 and 2011 and we're not just going out and singing a greatest hits set. Joey's singing on our new record and we're moving forward with Joey."
There are rumors of a Big 4 U.S. tour, but Ian said that's out of his control.
"Everybody asks, 'Is there going to be more?' The best answer I can give to that is, there are 17 guys in these four bands and all 17 want to continue doing this. If it's driven by the artists' compassion for wanting something to happen, then it's going to continue happening."
Jason Price of Icon Vs. Icon recently conducted an interview with Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER, DUFF MCKAGAN'S LOADED). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Icon Vs. Icon: What spawned your literary side and is it something that you have always been drawn to?
Duff: I wasn't always drawn to writing. It just kinda came out of nowhere! Someone from men's Italian Vogue asked me to write an article for them about three years ago. One thing led to another. I wrote another article for Playboy and then they asked me to write a weekly column at the same time that Seattle Weekly asked me. So it was a trial by fire. I just started there and now I am also writing for ESPN. I feel like I have found my voice in writing and I am very comfortable writing. I can express myself much better writing than I can by talking. The book deal basically came from my Seattle Weekly column. As for the autobiography ["It's So Easy (And Other Lies)"], I kinda write in my column voice. It is my story as I would tell it in my writing, not as I would sit down and tell you my story because I wouldn't really know how to tell you my story. I can write it and get into the bleaker, darker things a lot easier and the more joyful things that have
happened, especially after I got sober. It is basically a story of "How did a guy like me get from Seattle to addiction, totally, fully addicted? How did that happen?" Because the most common question that I get asked in private is, "How did you get sober?" I get asked that a ton by people that are still out there using. So I wrote about it. I wrote about how I got into that place. [Laughs] It is also my story of playing in punk rock bands up here and going down to L.A. and the first band that formed was GUNS N' ROSES. That band wasn't the reason that I got addicted. It was just the situation that I was in. Drinking, drugs and whatnot was completely condoned, especially by our band. I am not blaming anyone else. I take my part in my life. I take accountability for myself. I think that too often we go through life and if something like that happens in your life, you are quick to point a finger and say, "Well, those motherfuckers …" or "That guy…" or
"Us going on late was that guys fault …" or "it was management." I just took accountability for things that I probably could have done differently. Going all the way into the addiction part was gnarly to write about. I really hadn't figured that to happen but I went through a couple of months of really saying, "Whoa! Fuck! I never even thought about this stuff. It is in my past." I think it is a good book [pauses] because I wrote it! [Laughs] I am editing it so I have written and read the words, different edits, about eight to 10 times! I think it is good. I can't tell anymore.
Icon Vs. Icon: Did you have any reservations about telling your story?
Duff: Well, here's the deal. I wrote the book myself. You write alone. You don't write with someone else sitting there. I was sitting there like, "I'm not going to sit here and throw someone under the bus." No one else that is part of my story asked me to write about them here, ya know? In making that sort of my mantra, I started to discover my part in things. I had reservations about confidences of old bandmates and friends. If you are a bandmate or a friend of someone, you don't leave that band or friendship and start telling everyone things. That is sorta like gossiping. Kinda like "chick shit." But whatever, that isn't the point. I wouldn't do that. I think that my story is interesting enough and will have relevance to the people. I think that "rock people" will like the book. You know, I'm a dad and I think that parents will like the book. The book starts off at my daughter's 13th birthday and then unravels to the past and comes forward again. I
don't know if you have read any of my Seattle Weekly columns but, like I said, it is told in that voice, from now. My reservations were, "What does the book company want? Do they want a GUNS N' ROSES book?" because if they want that, there are enough of those out there. I don't need to write another one of those and I don't have a burning desire to unleash and I don't have some burning secret that I need to tell. In the past year or so, Duff McKagan has been busy. He recorded and released The Taking, the third album from his solo band, Loaded. He finished an autobiography detailing everything from the joys of parenting to the horrors of addiction and in-between putting that together he found time to write a weekly column for SeattleWeekly.com. The guitarist/bassist/writer/singer wrote for several months with Jane's Addiction and even found time to jam with old bandmate Axl Rose in a one-off appearance in London.
There are few musicians in the world who have had the type of success Duff experienced with Guns N' Roses and then to a lesser extent with Velvet Revolver. The success and excess of GNR almost killed him but he somehow managed not to become just another rock casualty statistic. Instead he got sober and more importantly remained sober. And now is one of the hardest working players around.
UG: You've had this pretty extraordinary success with Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver. You've been involved in recording a lot of albums. Can you still get revved up when you release a new record? Are you able to muster up the same feelings about the release of The Taking as you did when Appetite For Destruction came out?
Duff McKagan: I think probably the biggest release for me was like the first punk rock single I ever made in 1979. It's the first time your music's on a record that other people can hear. People were buying it and it got distributed in little punk rock record stores around the country and that completely freaked me out. But I was young and it was really exciting and really amazing. Then I made records and EPs in my early career and moved to LA.
Where you eventually formed Guns N' Roses and released Appetite For Destruction.
The Appetite was my first major label release and it was funny because we made the record we wanted to make and that's all it was about. And that's the rewarding thing. We knew when we went out and started touring that record that we made the record and that was the representation of us. It got through to vinyl and we were happy if nothing else and only for that reason. It was like, "That's our fuckin' record." There was success that came a year later after that.
What did that success feel like?
Everything was a first like, "Wow, people are dressing like us." That was weird you know? And it went from that cute sort of like, "Wow, this is strange; people recognize me at the supermarket" to a kind of alienating thing. Really music has been for me over my career and it's about the record you're doing and is that truth getting through? I'm always gonna write songs and music is always gonna be part of my life. I've made some records and maybe the whole thing didn't get through right and those are the records you try not to make. But I think with Loaded and the last two records and this one with Terry [Date], fuck, it was kind of epihpanerial [an epiphany] when we started recording the actual songs because we had made demos of all the songs for.
Producer Terry Date was an important part of the process?
Just the way he mikes up and watchin' him go to work with the mic on a kick drum and an overhead mic and the way he mikes up a guitar cab and the bass. It's like, "Oh, shit, he's getting' ready for somethin' here." You know what I mean? Like he's puttin' on the warpaint and you could tell and I've made enough records where I was like, "Oh, this guy really fuckin' knows what he's doin'." And then you get nervous: "Are we up for it? Am I up for it? I know those guys are up for it but am I gonna be good enough?" I think as an artist you always live in that [uncertainty]. You've gotta be exceedingly confident but you always live with this weird sort of self-doubt; at least I do. Whether it's writing music or writing poems or whatever. It's like I have, "Is that any good?"
Even after all the accolades with Guns, you still feel unsure?
And VR and everything; sure. Of course. But I think it makes you better; it makes you keep getting better. I wouldn't know what it's like just being completely comfortable like, "No, that's good enough" because if I start doin' that, it's gonna suck. I know that. So it's a challenge doing every new record to answer your question.
When Guns did break up did you think, "What am I going to do now?" or were you looking forward to the freedom?
Historically, I made the Believe In Me album while we were on the Illusions tour. But after I left I was sober and everything in life to me was brand new so there was no sort of, "Oh, my god" shit. There was, "Oh, what's fuckin' out there?" I was going to school; I was doing martial arts; and I had just met my wife and I was exploring what it's like to be in a relationship where you're actually fuckin' there and present. You know? Having kids and moving on. Loaded happened in '99 while I was goin' to Seattle University and we would just kinda go out and play in Japan; like on my spring break, we played in Japan. One thing to led another and school, Loaded, and being a father … being a father, the band and school in that order happened. You never know what's gonna happen in your professional life and especially mine; I had no plans and there was nothing in the cards. Like me and Slash and Matt [Sorum] are gonna get back together
and play because there was that kind of stigma around us like, "Oh, what are you gonna do? Go find another singer?" And when we played a benefit show in 2003 [a concert to commemorate the passing of drummer Randy Castillo], we kind of threw all that out the window. It was just that first moment of the three of us playing in the same rehearsal place … again. Sort of an anger, you know? We really knew at that point but not before. It was like, "OK, well, this is kind of meant to be and let's explore this some more."
You, Slash and Matt put together Velvet Revolver and recorded two really good records.
I'm glad we did and we made a couple really strong records. I don't know if they really represent what we could be. Maybe the first record was, nah, I don't know if either of those VR records are really representative and maybe we haven't made that record yet and maybe one day we will.
You moved on to once again pursue the Loaded project and now you've just released the third album, The Taking.
These last two records from Loaded [Dark Days and Sick] are really representative of the growth of this band and I'm really proud of this new record. I'm really happy that Terry Date came onboard.
Was Terry Date someone with whom you wanted to work?
He wanted to work with us, which was kind of crazy. He heard some of our demos and Terry and I have a lot of mutual friends; we're from the same city [Seattle, Washington]. But he and I never worked together and never even gone to the same barbeque. We'd seen each other and met each other at the Sea-Tac Airport once and we kinda brought that all up. "How is it that we're not good friends?" because we were both friends with Kim Thayil and all these other people. So he heard through Isaac [Carpenter], our drummer, a couple songs from our demos and he just really wanted to do the record. In this day and age he's kind of a forward-thinking producer in that we're not on a major label and a majority of rock bands are not on major labels anymore. Therefore producers aren't gonna get that $150,000 or $200,000 upfront, you know? Those old days are gone. So he partnered up with us on this thing and he got us into Studio X in Seattle for a great
price and we made this record as sort of a team and it was a really, really great experience.
You had worked with Martin Feveyear on Dark Days and Sick. What did Terry Date bring to the music that was different than what Martin brought?
We would have made a fuckin' great record with Martin. I stick with the guys that are my friends and loyal guys and Martin is that guy; he's our tour manager and sound guy. So it was kind of tough when this thing came up with Terry. So we had have an open conversation with Martin and go, "Dude, this is an opportunity to do a record with the great Mr. Terry Date and not that you're any less great" because Martin is fuckin' great. But maybe it's the name recognition and the angle to this record; this record is harder than the rest of ours and I think we need that guy that understands dry fuckin' brutality. It was a really tough record to write lyrically and the songs were kind of hard fought and beaten out of the guitars.
What do you mean?
"Follow Me to Hell," "Lords of Abaddon," and "Your Name," they're not chords that are recognizable to a guitar teacher teaching a student; they're made up weird chords. I think it's a really interesting way to write and that's the way I write.
You'll just put your fingers on the fretboard and see what comes out?
I do, yeah. Martin would say, "Dude, do one of your chords; find one of your chords." Sometimes I just find something that works and that's the way I write.
You did some writing recently with Jane's Addiction. What was that like?
I went in and wrote with Jane's right before we did this record. We were done writing the Loaded record and there was a space of about three months where between writing the Loaded record and recording it, I had freed up to help Jane's with their new record. I started just sending 'em my weird fuckin' songs and they loved 'em. You know, Dave Navarro plays guitar weird and he's fuckin' great. He was like, "Dude, this is great. These are fucked up chords; what the fuck are you doing? This is how I play." I didn't really grow up with the kind of G, A, B major chords. I mean I know 'em but it's more about inventing stuff.
You and Jane's Addiction seemed like a really good fit. What happened?
Oh, I just went into write with them. My main band is Loaded and I think things got a little out of control and especially on the Internet and on the sites. Not that I go and visit all the sites but I do interviews so I know what's said on the sites. So I was left to answer some of these questions like, "What? So Loaded is not a band?" And I'd have to answer it and explain it over and over and over. I write a column for the Seattle Weekly and I wrote a column and said, "OK, for all of those that are questioning whatever I'm doing, here's the final story." I simply went into write with them; there were a couple gigs booked that were booked when Eric [Avery, former bassist] was still in the band and I played with 'em. I talked to Eric first about it like, "Hey, here's the deal; they want me to play these gigs." I respect Eric way too much just to go," Yeah, fuck yeah, I'll go play" without talkin' to him. So they are guys
I've known since the '80s and I'm friends with them and it was a great experience for me.
Getting back to Loaded, you'd mentioned "Follow Me to Hell" a moment ago. Is that your inner punk coming out?
Well, "Follow Me to Hell" is my inner fuckin' pissed off dad coming out. It was really written about that story about this girl Chelsea down in San Diego last year who disappeared; she was like 15 and then they found her dead. He was released early from prison, a child predator guy. I'm the father of two girls and that was like my rage came out in that song instantly. I saw the story on CNN that morning and I went over to Isaac's studio and we were doing the demos and I had this little weird chord progression: G# G F# G with an A overtone. So on the E string it's just G# with an open A on it and it's basically what you'd do, what any man would do to a fuckin' child predator if he had him alone in a room for five minutes. And in my case I'm already there; "Found my way to hell so I'm gonna bring you there with me."
If you go back to your Beautiful Disease album, you can hear those same types of weird chord progressions on songs like "Rain" and "Hope."
Yeah, how do you find a chorus out of that weird and dissonant verse. How do you find a melody in a chorus after that? The songwriting journey is one that can be rewarded and it goes back to "How do you find excitement about making records all these records later after Appetite?" And it's a no brainer for me; it's just a challenge always and it's all about song and I don't think I've written that perfect song yet.
And again that exploration goes back to your earliest records. "Hope" almost sounds like a Dave Matthews song.
I'm not one to be afraid of what somebody might think of me or some nice little category they might have. If you look on my iPod, I don't listen to one kind of music. When I play live it's all pretty aggressive and that kind of thing but when writing and listening and the records, it's sort of a journey; it should be a journey. And I think in terms of a record still. Like I said, I have kids who are 10 and 13 and the older one, she only buys one or two songs from a record. And I asked her, I said, "Grace, why do you only buy one or two songs?" And she said, "Well dad, the rest of the record sucks." And I said, "Really?" I don't remember which record it was but I said, "Let's listen to the rest of the record" and she was kinda right. People don't make full records anymore so maybe it's a dying breed and maybe it'll be born again. Maybe that's what's gonna make the difference between a good new young rock movement is
commercial bands making full records.
You've brought up drummer Isaac Carpenter several times. What does he bring to the groove of Loaded that's not the same as what Geoff Reading brought?
They're two completely different guys: Geoff Reading is a fuckin' great drummer and a great band guy. I think it was a simple matter of economics and a home situation. He had a new son, a baby, and it was a situation he had to get back to. And he's got full custody now of the boy so it was a personal thing. It was like, "Oh, fuck" because we were out in the middle of a tour when this was goin' down. Like, "Shit, OK, dude, go do what you gotta do. We need to get a drummer." One of my favorite records was Loudermilk's The Red Record and my first choice was, "Well, let's see if we can get Isaac. Yeah, right, like we'll get Isaac." And the next thing we knew he was sittin' behind a drumkit. He plays everything; on "Wrecking Ball" on this record he played all the guitars. He's a great songwriter and Pro Tools and recording are second nature to him. He did all the drums on this record in a day-and-a-half, in less than 36
hours, and he edited it all himself within those 36 hours. Which is just kind of like, "What?" And that's the record that you have and all of the bonus tracks that we did. He's just a force; you can't contain him. You just hope to get the best out of him at that moment; he goes a million miles an hour and you just try to capture a little bit of the dude when you can. But he's a force.
It sounds like you're becoming more comfortable with your voice on The Taking. That you're interpreting your own lyrics in a more concise and creative manner.
Yeah, interpreting, that's a good way to put it. Gaining confidence and finding your comfort range. We recorded all the demos in Isaac's studio and he's like, "Dude, do that fuckin' Duff McKagan thing." And I'm like, "What is that? What is the Duff McKagan thing?" And he goes, "Dude, you know, you fuckin' sing high." I said, "I don't really sing high, Isaac" and he says, "Yes, you do." And then he would make me write something a whole step higher. He'd go, "Just transpose it up" and I'm like, "Dude, no, that's way out of my range" but he pushed me to push my range at least and maybe there was a method to his madness. Sometimes we'd bring the songs back down a full step and all of a sudden I was more than comfortable with it. I know I can go out and play every night and not lose my voice.
Singing on the road is a different animal than singing in the studio.
That's a big thing, you know? We toured for Sick and we went to Europe and played 42 nights in a row or something like that. And my voice, where I sing, I don't lose it. Check out a guy like Dave Grohl who sings the way he does. He told me one time, he said, "Yeah, I go out and I blow my voice out the first two nights of the tour. I blow it out and I can't talk for a whole day and then my voice is fine." And maybe I'm that kind of guy where you just don't think about it too much and just fuckin' go. You've gotta be careful; air conditioning and shit like that but don't be too precious about your voice. Just go out and fuckin' rock.
You actually played with Dave Grohl on "Watch This," the track from Slash's last solo album. What was that like?
Yeah, we'd never played together; been friends with him for a long time and we never played so it was great. He hadn't played drums for a little while and I hadn't played bass; I think I just got off the Sick tour so I was playing rhythm guitar. So we were both going, "Oh, fuck, are we gonna suck?" He doesn't suck and it was a great classic Slash chord progression thing, riff, and we just kinda sunk into it and had a good time. We laughed through the whole thing; that guy is kinda like Isaac grown up. Has like three things goin' on at all times and has kids and a beautiful wife and a beautiful home. He is THE example with capital T, H, E.
What did you think of the Slash record?
Oh, I thought it was great. I was happy for him because obviously I'd known him for a long time. I know he wanted to make this record in like 1992 and he finally got his feet underneath and pulled himself together. A lot of these songs he's had stashed away for a long time. I thought it was really great.
Certainly you know that Steven Adler played on "Baby Can't Drive" from the Slash record. He talks about it in his book, My Appetite For Destruction, and talks about you in the most positive ways.
I haven't read that. Is it OK?
It was a very cool book.
I saw Stevie in London a few days ago; I hadn't seen him for a couple years.
I had interviewed him a while ago and he sounded really great. He had amazing things to say about you like, "When me and Duff first got together, we clicked instantly." Do you remember the first time you met Steven Adler?
I do remember the first time I met him, of course. I met Slash over the phone; his name was Slash and I answered an ad in the paper. It was 1984 so I thought he, like me, was a punk rock guy and I went to Canter's to meet him and he said he had this drummer, Stevie, and I went and met these two longhaired dudes and I had short blue hair. And I just moved to California and in Seattle I didn't know any longhair rock dudes so it was kind of culture shock for me. They were probably a little surprised by me, too, with blue hair. But it wasn't important what we looked like; we sat down at the table and we just talked about music and that was the common ground. We were young but we were grownup as far as, "Yeah, I'm interested in your idea musically."
And what was Steven like?
Steven was instantly a happy guy and I was new and didn't know a fuckin' soul. So havin' two friends was more than I had five minutes earlier in LA. Yeah, we clicked as friends instantly and when we played together it was great; it was a great groove. And then he and I developed a thing; we really worked hard on it to develop a rhythm thing and discovering what we were.
Were you good during those early rehearsals or did Guns N' Roses just gradually become a great band?
I don't know if we were good but there was a feel that was definitely there. That's what we went after. I don't know if we were good technically at all. I don't know if we ever got good technically but we always had a feel.
There's a great feel on the track "We Win" from The Taking album. The chord changes are very simple – E B and A - …
That's it.
But the melody is pretty intricate. How do you come up with vocal melodies?
My lyric melodies are always by the riff or the chords and that was something Isaac was playing and it was that half step [the rhythm guitar plays a sort of Cheap Trick half-step riff in the verse], that rub, that really helped me find the melody. I don't ever just sit there and go, "OK, this melody; no, that melody." It either comes or it doesn't and that melody came. And that's a classic when we got to the chorus and Isaac was like, "Dude, do that fuckin' McKagan thing. Where you're fuckin' up high and do the thing." I turn to him and go, "Alright, what dude?" So it went up and that song just wrote itself.
You've finished your own memoirs?
I wrote a book; I wouldn't call it a memoir at all. There are a lot of those. I've been writing for the last two years now and I write a lot and I decided in writing my Seattle weekly column there was some discovery in there; when you write something there are statements and then you've got to follow it up by supporting things. You look back in your rearview mirror and it's easy to accuse others of your own faults. And in writing, I started to discover my part and really be kind of honest about my own part in my demise in drugs and alcohol. Maybe it wasn't everybody else's fault this whole time. It starts off in the present day being a father and it goes back to how did a guy like me get so into those stages of addiction and then how did I get my way out. Two of the biggest common questions to me are, "How much did you fuckin' drink and how much drugs did you do?" and "How did you get sober?" So it's not really my Guns N' Roses
story; it's not my story about my relationship with Slash or Scott Weiland. It's about my journey down and my journey back out. That's it.
Talking about Scott Weiland, might there be a third Velvet Revolver record?
Well, in a perfect world there would be that record that's just fuckin' raw and brutal. But we'd have to have a singer and it would have to like it was in 2003 and 2004 when it just seemed right and things appeared in front of us. We can't force it so I don't know. To be honest with you, I don't know.
And finally, you jammed with GNR in London recently for the first time in 17 years.
It was a bumble you know? No pun intended. Yep, I did. I go to London a lot for non-music related business and I stay at the same hotel every time I go and Axl's room was next to mine this particular time when I arrived. So it gave us a great opportunity to reconnect and that was it. One thing led to another and I'm onstage and looked out at all the people and went, "Oh, I'm gonna have to answer interviews about this." There's nothing more to it than that really.
Did you remember the songs? I'm kidding.
Yeah, we played "You Could Be Mine" and that was like, "Oh, shit, I haven't played that for a long time." I didn't have in-ears [monitors] like the rest of 'em and there were no amps onstage and I did it by rote. That's it; good job. See ya, pal.
Thirty years after Nikki Sixx began his career recording albums and becoming a fixture on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip with Mötley Crüe, his head is still exploding with musical ideas. Sixx's latest showing, This is Gonna Hurt (out May 3), shows his arena rock style growing more diverse, swelled with strings, epic melodies and his always-fluid, meat-and-potatoes rock bass lines.
Of course, the past few years have proved Sixx is more than a one-talent gent. He's a Renaissance man who hosts a nationally syndicated rock radio show (Sixx Sense), writes New York Times best-selling books (2007's The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star and the just-released This Is Gonna Hurt), fronts his own hard rock band (Sixx:A.M.), and devotes countless chunks of time to photography.
In this exclusive interview with Gibson.com, Sixx talks about what makes his new book so personal, spills details on the forthcoming album and explains why he "can't really stand on a stage" without a Thunderbird in his hand.
I read that you put together your new book, This is Gonna Hurt, with the goal to inspire people to do something they've never done before. Is that right?
Absolutely. I think as an artist, we all hope, on one level or another, to inspire people with our work. I was inspired by people growing up, whether it was Aerosmith or The Rolling Stones or photographers, and fashion has always been a big inspiration for me as well. In a sense, this is giving back.
This book is filled with photos you took and passages that bleed out your thoughts and experiences. Would you say this is extremely personal?
It's very personal, but yet I think the social commentary in it doesn't necessarily speak from my voice. It's speaking from what I've found to be true in the world, which is wonderful. I think a lot of people relate to it.
Where do you get inspiration for your photography?
I've always loved different things in life. Whether it was different bands or even architecture, I've always had an eye for stuff some would deem odd and some would say is extremely beautiful. For me, that's where I've always been, and the photography that has inspired me is wide – everything from wet plate style photography in the 1800s to early 1900s to beyond. With my photography, I was able to look at what I loved as an artist and start to experiment.
Your forthcoming CD, This is Gonna Hurt, is a companion to the book. How are the emotions of the book and album intertwined?
Well, the book was originally going be a coffee table book with just the art. Having a huge body of work, I was able to look at it and try to find some consistency in it, to bring it together in one collection. I started writing a passage that would accompany the photography book, and it ended up being almost 500 pages. It really turned into a breakdown on social commentary on beauty and those messages that have been downloaded into my head and my life, and I was able to find that thread. In that moment of inspiration, the guys in Sixx:A.M. could see it, too. We had that moment where we sat together as a band and talked and they were like, "Dude, I relate to this," or "I felt like that, as well." So we started writing music, and that started to push me more as a photographer. It really became like one in itself.
Tell me about the making of the album documentary, which is on Hulu.com.
Well, I had a documentary crew with me filming me doing my photo sessions, and that was a personal thing for me. I didn't know what I wanted to do with that, and as the band started talking, we started realizing it was a bigger piece. I interviewed the band members, the subjects I photographed, and myself for the documentary. I was able to capture someone like Amy Purdy, who is a double amputee due to Neisseria Meningitis and has gone on to do great things with her life. What was missing was that moment where they get a voice, and that's where the documentaries come into play.
What are you most proud you were able to accomplish on the album?
I'm proud of the fact we were able to be vulnerable and honest as songwriters and true to what we said we were going to do – to raise the standard of songwriting within the band and really push ourselves musically. That's a good feeling. That honest punk rock attitude: just doing it because you love it.
You're a big Gibson player. What make Gibson basses special?
The attention to wood is important. With the Thunderbird, for me, I feel like I can't stand on a stage and not have a Thunderbird in my hand. It's like my skin. It completely fits me like a glove. The way it fits in my hand and lays in my hand, the way it leans against my body, everything about it. It's been amazing to have a relationship with Gibson and have Gibson work with me on certain types of pickups and wiring. These are just very little things that may not mean a lot to someone else, but are very personal to me.
What was important to you when helping to design your signature Blackbird and Thunderbird IV?
One of the things important to me was to be a bit subtle with the signature series. I didn't want to call it the Nikki Sixx bass. I wanted other bass players to want to play it. That's why we came up with the name, Blackbird. Gibson Thunderbirds are what I've always played, but my signature is the Blackbird. I've seen a lot of guys in a lot of bands play the Blackbird, because it doesn't scream my name all over it. I think musicians want to be individual. They love a certain instrument and want to play it, but they don't want it to be too gaudy or too much about the other guy. They want to make it their own.
Any plans for the return of Crüe Fest this year?
Well, we're doing a headline tour with Poison and New York Dolls that will take us through August. At that point, we're heading towards the end of summer, and I don't know at that point what we're going to do or whether we're going to tour anymore or not. So right now, no plans for Crüe Fest.
On top of writing, performing, and photography, you also host a nationally syndicated rock radio show, Sixx Sense. How do you do it all?
Radio is an opportunity to say something into a microphone, and whether you play a song or say something provocative or funny, it makes people have an emotional reaction. They feel something. They feel good. They feel bad. They feel angry. They feel disappointed. You have an opportunity to change something, and for me, that's where radio has always been a bit like magic.
When I turn on the radio, it creates a mood, and I really enjoy that. Kerri Kasem, my co-host, and I do seven shows in four days, and it's very organized. It's a lot of work, and it's the most fun I've had outside of playing rock and roll. We laugh every day. No matter what you're going through, you have to deliver. If you're going through a high, you have to control that, and if you're going through a low, you have to control that, because that part of your life is personal and you always have a responsibility to entertain them.
Seattle's progressive stronghold QUEENSRŸCHE will join the stellar 2011 Synergia Northwest lineup on Friday, May 6 at the Moore Theatre in Seattle to support youth music education. "They are a perfect fit," said musician and show producer Michael McMorrow. "Their music has resonated for a couple generations of music fans here in the northwest and world-wide; and of course lends itself to symphonic components beautifully, and most importantly, they get it. They totally understand the tremendous need to support youth music education programs. They know where they come from."
The concert event raises funds to provide extended learning, enrichment and performance opportunities to music students who would not have the necessary financial resources. A first of its kind event, Synergia Northwest 2010 launched in Tacoma's Landmark Convention Center last year, and blended classical, contemporary, professional and student musicians into one concert, unifying musicians across cultures, ages and musical genres all in the name of Washington State Youth Music Education. This year Music Aid Northwest's "Music Matters" Washington State License Plate Initiative campaign fund will be an emphasized beneficiary. This initiative allows the Washington State Department of Licensing to collect fees to create special 'Music Matters' license plates. These plates will help fund music programs in our Washington schools.
Other highlights of the evening will include performances of the Synergia Northwest Orchestra with Pacific Northwest rock recording artists including Grammy award-winning drummer Alan White (YES, JOHN LENNON) and his band WHITE in a reprise of their performance at Synergia 2010, Shawn Smith of BRAD, tennis pro, Heart by Heart with Heart founder Steve Fossen and Somar Macek, Brendan Hill of BLUES TRAVELER, Geoffrey Castle, Scotty Olsen, Michael McMorrow, special performances by the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS BLUE THUNDER DRUM CORP and Seattle's Kokon Taiko. The Kokon Taiko performance continues Synergia Northwest's acknowledgement of the area's unique and diverse cultural heritage. The Synergia Orchestra will also perform the brilliant and moving Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia composition "China Doll" from Georgia-based composer and educator Lee Johnson's "Dead Symphony #6: An Orchestral Tribute to the Music of the Grateful Dead".
The concert will conducted by internationally recognized Dr. Nikolas Caoile, Director of Orchestras at Central Washington University and the conductor of the Wenatchee Symphony Orchestra. Acclaimed violinist William Boyd is the concertmaster. The Synergia Northwest Orchestra is comprised of some of the area's finest professional classical musicians and selected players from Washington State All-State groups and regional youth and public school orchestras.
The event will have special emphasis on "Music Matters", a self-perpetuating fundraising initiative Senate-House Bill 1329 to help support school music programs through sales of a distinctive new Washington State license plate, available through the Washington State Department of Licensing. Monies raised through Synergia Northwest 2011 will help the campaign fund school music programs statewide in Washington as well as collect signatures needed to continue its development in the state legislative process.
Synergia Northwest 2011 is sponsored by Washington Music Educators Association, Central Washington University, NAF Productions, Drifting Homeward Music, STG, Stenide Ilumination. Synergia Northwest 2011 has again enlisted Music Aid Northwest, a Washington State 501 (c)(3) organization, to direct the funds to Young Musicians Excelling award funding grant program through Washington Music Educators Association to Musicworks Northwest and Music Matters. Other non-profit agencies benefiting from Synergia Northwest 2011 will be announced.
Tickets are on sale at Tickets.com, in person at the Paramount Theatre box offices (Monday-Friday 10am-6pm), 24-hour kiosks located outside The Paramount & Moore Theatres, charge by phone at 877-784-4849 or online at STGPresents.org.
(Golden Circle seats are a reserved seat in the first 3 rows with access to a pre-show meet and greet with musicians, a poster for autographs and a photo opportunity.)
German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR have issued the following update:
"Just a short hello from the pre-production of the new PRIMAL FEAR album. We've written 15 songs so far and are thrilled and excited about the new stuff so far. But we can already promise to deliver a pure PRIMAL FEAR album with all the trademarks, heavy riffs and melodies our loyal fans want to hear, spiced with a splendid musical journey and garnished with two outstanding ballads. We will start with the drum recordings soon!
"And now it's your time. The new PRIMAL FEAR album has no title so far. If you have any suggestion, write us! The best three options will receive a very special PRIMAL FEAR package!"
Guitarist Henny Wolter left PRIMAL FEAR in August 2010 because — in his words — "it just didn't feel like a band anymore." Henny, who is also no longer a member of SINNER (led by PRIMAL FEAR bassist Mat Sinner), is focusing on his new band NITROGODS, also featuring ex-PRIMAL FEAR drummer Klaus Sperling and vocalist Oimel Larcher. The group's self-titled debut album is expected later in the year.
PRIMAL FEAR last year released a 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, 2010 in the USA. The DVD is filled with an abundance of extra materials, such as an entire bootleg section with funny moments on the road, bootleg footage from various festival appearances and other concerts, all of PRIMAL FEAR's most recent promotional videos, plus the making-of footage for "16.6" and a brand new interview section about the past, present and future of PRIMAL FEAR.
2010 marked the 20th anniversary of U.K. doom metal legends MY DYING BRIDE. To commemorate two decades of doom and gloom from the elite British act, the band embarked upon a special project to re-work familiar melodies and themes from its extensive catalogue into long, flowing symphonic compositions, incorporating new vocals and passages from vocalist, Aaron Stainthorpe. These arrangements have been brought to life in co-operation with keyboard maestro Johnny Maudling (of BAL-SAGOTH fame), as well as a clutch of talented classical musicians, and shared vocals courtesy of professional opera singer Lucie Roche. The collection — titled "Evinta" — will be released on May 31 via Peaceville Records as a two-disc set and deluxe three-disc edition with 64-page book inspired by MY DYING BRIDE's illustrious recordings of the past two decades.
"Evinta" track listing:
Disc 1
01. In Your Dark Pavilion
02. You Are Not The One Who Loves Me
03. Of Lilies Bent With Tears
04. The Distance, Busy With Shadows
05. Of Sorry Eyes In March
Disc 2
01. Vanité Triomphante
02. That Dress And Summer Skin
03. And Then You Go
04. A Hand Of Awful Rewards
Disc 3 (deluxe edition only)
01. The Music Of Flesh
02. Seven Times She Wept
03. The Burning Coast Of Regnum Italicum
04. She Heard My Body Dying
05. And All Their Joy Was Drowned
Commented the band: "'Evinta'. A project almost 15 years in the making. An idea that has sat smoldering and never really had a reason to burn alive until now. Nine albums worth of darkness recreated anew to mark 20 years of MY DYING BRIDE. Music arranged to the soundscapes of sorrows past. Finally the 20th anniversary allows us to release this music in a form it has been desperately, woefully waiting for. Enjoy the darkness."
Norwegian singer Roy Khan (full name: Roy Sætre Khantatat) has officially announced his departure from the American melodic metal band KAMELOT. His statement on the matter follows below.
"Dear fans and friends,
"There have been a lot of speculations around why I am not touring with KAMELOT and I want to make a statement although it may not prevent further guessing as to what's actually going on. It is a fact, however, that I told the guys in the band already last fall (well after my burnout) that I was leaving the band. Naturally enough, they were shocked (as was the label and everyone else working with KAMELOT). In addition to risk of dropping ticket sales, they wanted to give me time to think things over, and so I did. My decision still stands; it is finished.
"I am currently spending time with my family in Norway taking it easy and wondering profoundly what the future is going to bring. Communication with the outer world has been so and so, but I have had several talks with Thomas [Youngblood, KAMELOT guitarist/mainman] along the way, although I am still called in sick.
"I am terribly sorry that my decision is affecting so many others and I want you to know I wish the band and associates all the best for the future and that I enjoyed every second in the spotlight. How could I not?! They were nourished by the best fans in the world!
"I am eternally thankful for everything you and KAMELOT have given me and equally sorry that it has to end here. The good news is; God was there after all...
"Love you to death!!!"
KAMELOT kicked off its South American tour on April 7 at Teatro Teletón in Santiago, Chile. Simone Simons (EPICA) and Elize Ryd (AMARANTHE) made guest appearances during the show, which marked KAMELOT's first-ever performance with singer Fabio Lione (RHAPSODY OF FIRE).
KAMELOT's setlist was follows:
01. Rule The World
02. Ghost Opera
03. The Great Pandemonium
04. The Human Stain
05. Center Of The Universe
06. Nights Of Arabia
07. A Sailorman's Hymn
08. When The Lights Are Down
09. Soul Society
10. Keyboard Solo
11. Hunter's Season
12. Eden Echo
13. Necropolis
14. The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)
15. Drum Solo
16. Forever
Encore:
17. Bass Solo
18. Karma
19. Don't You Cry
20. March of Mephisto
Check out photos of the concert at PowerMetal.cl. Fan-filmed video footage is available below.
In a recent interview with PowerMetal.cl, KAMELOT guitarist Thomas Youngblood stated about the band's decision to recruit
Lione to fill in for longtime KAMELOT frontman Roy Khan, "I've heard some songs with Fabio singing — some KAMELOT songs like 'Ghost Opera' — and he sings quite different than he does with RHAPSODY for KAMELOT, which also, of course, makes sense, because it's a different approach to vocals.
"The idea [to hire Fabio for the tour] came from Sascha Paeth, our producer, who also produces RHAPSODY. He suggested it because he has worked with Fabio and knows his abilities. But, obviously, the high range that he can do with songs like 'Center Of The Universe' or 'Nights Of Arabia', these are songs that we… I think over the years, Roy, his range has dropped, so a song like 'Nights Of Arabia' is no problem for Fabio to sing. So we're gonna add some songs [to the upcoming tour's setlist] that we haven't been able to play over the past few years that I think fans have been wanting to hear."
When asked about the rumor that Roy Khan's "religious conversion" played a major part in his decision to sit out KAMELOT's current world tour, Youngblood said, "This is what we do, this is what we love doing — the band loves performing, we love touring. And I don't know if Roy has lost that… in his heart, in terms of what he likes doing. I know that there are some other issues. I know that there is a religious aspect to it now that I can't really 100 percent explain. Obviously, we were disappointed, and I'm not gonna lie, I was a little bit pissed off about it, but at the same time, we — the whole band, together — decided, 'Listen, we're not gonna slow down! We've got this new album and we wanna come to South America.' And that's what we're doing."
"Whenever we had a day or two off in Europe [on previous KAMELOT tours], [Roy] needed to fly home, which I thought was kind of extreme, to fly home, but that kind of was a sign was that I should have noticed that maybe the touring part was not for him. But the religious aspect of it is something that I want him to kind of talk about, but I know that he had been going to religious classes, for whatever reason. Obviously, over the years of working together and being, at times, best friends and things like that, we have discussed all kinds of topics about religion, so it's actually very surprising to me that this is where we are at now with him. But I don't really wanna talk too much more about it, because that's really something, I think, that he should come out about, in terms of what he believes or doesn't believe or whatever. All I can say is right now the band is unified and we're just not gonna slow down."
Regarding the possibility that KAMELOT may need to look for a new permanent singer, Youngblood said, "I don't really wanna think about that until this touring cycle is over. All I can say is we're not gonna fire him; that's not my position and I... It is my position, but I'm not gonna do that. . . If Roy decides that he doesn't wanna do this anymore, he has to make an announcement. But right now, I think the smartest thing for us, and the most compassionate thing, is to just give him the time until the next record, until we start really working hard on the next album, and if by that time he is not ready to work and doesn't wanna work, then we have to look at the possibility of getting another singer, which is, obviously, something we are willing to do, if we have to do that."
The remaining members of KAMELOT have released the following statement regarding the departure of the band's frontman, Roy Khan:
"With a heavy heart, we can now announce that Roy Khan has chosen to leave the band. We wanted to give him ample time for this kind of decision, due to his recent burnout and also the amount of amazing times we have shared with him in KAMELOT. We respectfully accept his resignation from the band and wish him the best in his future endeavors. The timing is actually good since we feel the uncertainty the fans have had can now be laid to rest and the band can move on to finding a new singer."
"The tour is going great so far and the fans have been amazing throughout this entire process," adds keyboardist Oliver Palotai.
With the new tour already in progress, KAMELOT has already begun the search for a new vocalist. "I have a few guys in mind," says KAMELOT founder Thomas Youngblood. "And as you can imagine, it is a very important decision. There are some amazing singers that have already contacted us on this but we will take our time to find the right person."
Due to the overwhelming success of the recent shows in South America, KAMELOT is in the process of booking new shows in Europe in November/December.
KAMELOT's latest album, "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.
NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon recently completed tracking all the vocal parts for the band's new album, "Imaginarium", and the mixing sessions for the CD began on April 13.
Olzon was forced to delay the start of her recording sessions for "Imaginarium" because she needed a longer recovery period after she suffered broken ribs in a fall. The band's keyboardist and main composer Tuomas Holopainen wrote on NIGHTWISH's official web site, "[Anette] hasn't quite cured from her broken ribs yet, but fortunately it doesn't affect her singing at all. She's never sounded better."
Olzon has issued the following report from the recording studio:
"Last time I wrote a studio diary was back in 2007 after three weeks of recording my vocals, hiding out in the deep forests of Finland. No one knew my name as the new singer of NIGHTWISH. Today I read through it for the first time since then, and well, I must say that I recognize a lot and laughed even more while reading it.
"Things were naturally a bit different in 2007 compared to today. I went into the studio with a radically different starting position. I am not a secret anymore, I know the songs really well and have already recorded them in a demo session in Röskö. The songs were made for my voice and this time I could sing them with much more confidence. This also made my time in the studio much shorter than last time and we all worked really fast and efficient, like a racing team — we all knew our positions.
"We started out on Monday and I took a cab from the hotel, knowing that I had visited Finnvox Studios only once before. Then it was for a listening session for 'Dark Passion Play'. What I didn't remember was that it was far out in a factory area hidden between lots of other grey buildings. This famous studio looks kinda greyish and not so special when you first get closer, but when you get inside and see all the gold records hanging in the hallway, all the photos of famous musicians in the stairs you know this is the place for big things and big recordings. Of course 'Imaginarium' needs to pass through this pit stop, too!
"After hugging and having a short brief with Tuomas about practical things with 'Imaginarium' tour and future plans, he took me to 'my room' and when I entered I was so surprised! The room looked like my own little Shangri-la. Lots of candles burning, pink and red carpets and fabrics that were hung to make it comfortable. Candy, teas, coffees, nuts, fashion magazines, a cozy lounging chair, a big framed poster with us all, and lots of other little things to make me feel at home. Teemu, our dear pyro tech had been there to make me feel welcome and get into a nice singing mood. So thanks to Teemu and the guys, my days at Finnvox got even nicer!
"We took a great song to start with and even if my rib still gave me some pain my singing worked well. A little bit of tiredness from flying two days in a row, but still the whole day floated well and it was simply a great start for me.
"Our goal was to do one song per day but we actually made something like 1.5 per day and were done in eight days. We started at ten and ended around 15 or 16 every day. Took shorter breaks but mainly we just worked and worked.
"I like to be efficient and when I start to sing I get into the mood and then stopping and taking a long break can just make me lose the feeling and cadence. And 'Imaginarium' has a lot of different feelings in it, different ways for me to interpret the songs. Tuomas, [as well as studio engineers] Tero [Kinnunen] and Mikko [Karmila] were there to guide me to sing even better and to create those little things in every song that make it 'historical,' as Tero always says, haha!
"Every time we were about to start recording a song, I first just sat down and listened to the songs with the orchestra, choir, solos and everything else I hadn't heard yet, and I must say that I got the shivers every time. From recording the demo to getting the whole package with everything added is just a thrill! And I can hear that Pip [Williams, NIGHTWISH's orchestral arranger] and Tuomas just get better and better in using the orchestras, different instruments and voices.
"After having listened to a song and heard the new things, I went to 'my studio,' did some warm-ups and then we started with the recordings. We took it in parts and mainly did the verses first. I sang the part over and over for a couple of times until we felt we had it. Then I doubled and tripled the whole thing if we wanted a fuller sound, as we did mainly in the faster songs. Then it varied if we did the harmonies for that specific part directly or if we continued and recorded the lead parts for the whole song before doing the harmonies. It also depended on my mood and how good my voice felt. I got food poisoning one day and threw up for nine hours straight, affecting some parts of my voice. I was tired and weak so the day after I didn't feel my high soft voice was perfect and therefore we didn't take those high harmonies until the next day.
"After eight days of recording all the songs were recorded and all we had left were some harmonies here and there to fix, and then we just jumped from song to song and added what Tuomas felt was missing.
"Tuomas is great to work with and he is really clear with what he wants in every song. He is so devoted to the album, to getting every little piece perfect and I know he won't sleep or rest well until the whole album is mixed and mastered and put into a safe somewhere.
"When I was done, I felt that little 'empty' feeling I get when I have completed something. A little bit sad 'cause I had so much fun and I just love to sing in the studio, this album being such a thrill for me. So many songs, all of them very different and I just gotta love the challenge. To get more out of my voice than before and to be part of this massive music where all of us, every musician that plays on it, is the key to make it work. To make 'Imaginarium' come alive! And believe me — it will be one hell of a ride for us all.
"On we go! Next step for me is to do some acting in the movie, but let's take it one step at a time. Now I'll enjoy the summer before all that happens!"
NIGHTWISH is not only putting finishing touches to its new album, "Imaginarium", but also planning a movie of the same name. If all goes well, the CD will be released in early 2012, to be followed by the movie at some point further down the line. The first single off the album as well as the trailer for the film should arrive well before the end of 2011.
For the movie, NIGHTWISH has teamed up with director Stober Harju's production team and Solar Films.
NIGHTWISH will kick off the "Imaginarium" world tour in Los Angeles. The very first show of the trek will take place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on Saturday, January 21. This will be the biggest NIGHTWISH show production ever on North American soil and strictly a one-off — there will be no U.S. tour until later in 2012.
Scottish folk/power metal band ALESTORM recently filmed a video for the song "Shipwrecked". The song comes off the band's third album, "Back Through Time", which will be released via Napalm Records on the following dates:
June 1 - Spain, Finland, Sweden
June 3 - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Italy
June 6 - Rest Of Europe
June 14 - U.S./Canada
Commented ALESTORM frontman/keyboardist Christopher Bowes: "We've just got back from sunny Belgrade in Serbia, where we've been filming the music video for our new song 'Shipwrecked'. No expense was spared in the making of it, and I can confidently say that it's gonna be the best damn music video ever. 'But how can you be so sure?' I hear you ask. Here's why: violin playing midgets! Hot medieval babes! Ridiculous CGI! Rampant alcohol abuse! All this and much much more! The video was directed by the mighty Ivan Colic (EPICA, KAMELOT, KATAKLYSM), and should be released sometime in May, a month before our forthcoming album, 'Back Through Time', hits the stores! I'm sure like us, you can't wait to see the finished thing!"
"Back Through Time" was produced by Lasse Lammert at LSD Studios in Lübeck, Germany. The effort will be made available as a jewelcase, mediabook, LP, and special-edition boxset "featuring bonus tracks and other mad shite!"
"Back Through Time" track listing:
01. Back Through Time
02. Shipwrecked
03. The Sunk'n Norwegian
04. Midget Saw
05. Buckfast Powersmash
06. Scraping The Barrel
07. Rum
08. Swashbuckled
09. Rumpelkombo
10. Barrett's Privateers
11. Death Throes Of The Terrorsquid
12. I Am A Cider Drinker (bonus track)
The song "Shipwrecked" can be streamed using the Soundcloud player below.
ALESTORM's last album, "Black Sails At Midnight", landed at position No. 87 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart. The Heatskeers chart 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.
ALESTORM released its debut album, "Captain Morgan's Revenge", in January 2008 through Napalm.
According to a press release, the quartet "plays Scottish 'pirate metal,' by their own definition, and musically resembles the great battle metal bands such as KORPIKLAANI or TURISAS, albeit with a unique touch and Scottish instrumentation."
MY DYING BRIDE has been the leading light of doom metal since the debut album, "As the Flower Withers", was released on Peaceville Records back in 1992. Influenced by acts such as CELTIC FROST and CANDLEMASS, the band's heavy atmospherics have carved a huge worldwide following over the years, as it remains a pinnacle of the genre.
MY DYING BRIDE's "Albion In Ruin" tour dates:
May 18 - The Electric Ballroom - London, England
May 19 - Manchester Academy - Manchester, England
May 20 - Wulfren Hall – Wolverhampton, England
May 21 - Button Factory – Dublin, Ireland
May 22 - The Spring & Airbrake – Belfast, N. Ireland
German power metal band LANFEAR has set "This Harmonic Consonance" as the title of its sixth album, due later in the year.
Commented the group: "No joke: [This is] the heaviest LANFEAR album until now. Some pretty fast tracks but also the very first doom song in our history! The end result will blow your heads off! You can definitely achieve a natural and authentic production without sounding as if the recording sessions were held in a garbage can!"
According to the group, the forthcoming CD "will contain nine songs plus intro" and is described by the band as "the heaviest LANFEAR album to date." LANFEAR adds, "Of course, we know that every band tells the same on their new material. Since we never did so, it seems as if you can really trust us. We'd never lie to you..."
The first trailer for "This Harmonic Consonance" can be viewed below.
LANFEAR's fifth album, "X to the Power of Ten", was released in August 2008 via Locomotive Records.
The band's fourth CD, "Another Golden Rage" (2005), was recorded at Dreamscape studios and featured a lyrical theme that was a continuation of the story which began on the title track of 2003's "The Art Effect".
According to LANFEAR's official bio, the band "play[s] powerful and melodic metal with a progressive edge. Originality, subliminal details and intelligent songwriting combined with haunting melodies and the constant urge to evolve — that's what it's all about! Certainly not the easy way to success in the superficial pseudo-scene of these days — but LANFEAR don't give a fuck! No breakdowns, no kilts, no horns, no makeup, no image, no rockstar-dom, no support by mass media — no hot air! LANFEAR play[s] 100% underrated metal exclusively!"
Despite widespread speculation to the contrary, KORN is not quite looking for a new musical direction on its next release. While the band is collaborating with famed dubstep DJ Skrillex and others for an upcoming EP, singer Jonathan Davis told The Pulse Of Radio that a full-blown change in the band's musical style isn't in the cards. "I don't think it was us looking for a new direction," he said. "It was just something that I stumbled upon when I stumbled upon dubstep and first heard Skrillex and a lot of different dubstep DJs. I loved the heaviness of it, and so we decided to make this EP and to go in that direction for a couple of songs, and then I'm sure we'll go back and do a regular record."
The EP is due in May and follows up last year's album "Korn III - Remember Who You Are", which marked a return to the band's early sound.
A new track from the EP, called "Get Up", is available for free download at the band's official web site.
"I heard a few of Skrillex's remixes and really felt there would be a good chance that he would have the right sensibility to connect us to a new hard sound and direction, but still keeping KORN guitars and our vibe," Davis told SPIN.com. "We were just thinking of trying something new, to be honest, so I had my manager reach out to the Skrillex camp. When we got into the studio the connection was instant!"
According to The Pulse Of Radio, KORN will join the ranks of other world-famous Sony Music artists when "The Essential Korn" is released on May 10. The two-disc, 29-song collection will feature classics from the band such as "Blind", "Shoots & Ladders", "Got The Life", "Freak On A Leash", "Falling Away From Me", "Here To Stay", "Alone I Break", "Did My Time" and many more, including the recent "Oildale (Leave Me Alone)" from the band's latest effort, "Korn III: Remember Who You Are".
KORN has actually not been with Sony Music for its last three albums. It signed with Sony in 1994 and issued its last record through the company, "Take A Look In The Mirror", in 2003.
KORN is currently off the road, but will appear at Pointfest in St. Louis on May 15 and Rock On The Range in Columbus, Ohio on May 21 before hitting the European festival circuit.
POISON singer Bret Michaels told Mary Colurso of The Birmingham News that he is suffering from a corneal ulcer due to infection in his eye.
The problem began after fans accidentally hit him with a glass during an impromptu nightclub appearance in Panama City, Florida during spring break. When Michaels began to walk out of the venue, "Someone said, 'Bret, you rock!,' and this glass filled with vodka and Red Bull fell on my head, and something in the glass scratched my eye," Michaels said. "It was this comedy of errors that I survived through."
Instead of seeking medical attention, Michaels said he decided to try eye drops and be a "self-remedy guy." A short time later, however, he realized something was seriously wrong. Three doctor visits followed, including a trip to a specialist in Annapolis, Maryland.
"I got a shot in my eye yesterday," Michaels said. "They numb your eye completely. They don't even have a remedy for what's wrong with my eye. They're using this crazy stuff in my eye that they invented."
ICON IN ME — the Russian/Swedish/Danish modern metal band featuring HOSTILE BREED guitarist Dmitry Frans, Danish drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen (SUBMISSION, THE ARCANE ORDER, SCARVE, INSTANT CARNAGE, STRANGLER, SCARVE, SOILWORK) and Swedish vocalist Tony Jelencovich (M.A.N, ex-MNEMIC, TRANSPORT LEAGUE) — will release its sophomore album, "Head Break Solution", on July 12 via the Chicago, Illinois-based label Goomba Music.
An eight-and-a-half-minute video clip featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the recording studio can be viewed below. The clip is hosted by Jelencovich and was filmed at Grand Recording Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden and A-Lab Studios in Moscow, Russia. The video shows Tony recording vocals, guitarists Dmitry Frans and Artyom overdubbing acoustic guitars, Rob Guz (M.A.N) adding strings and Andy Solveström (WITHIN Y, AMARANTHE, VILDOER, CIPHER SYSTEM) recording harsh vocals.
The band has also posted four free downloads on its web site, IconInMe.com. Two of the free tracks, "The Quest" and "Tired and Broken", are from "Head Break Solution". Also included are a cover of MOUNTAIN's "Mississippi Queen" and a remix of "The Quest" by Xe-NONE.
"Head Break Solution" features guest appearances by the following musicians:
* Glen Drover (MEGADETH, KING DIAMOND)
* Anders Björler (THE HAUNTED, AT THE GATES)
* Rob Guz (M.A.N.)
* Olof Mörck (NIGHTRAGE, AMARANTHE)
* Magnus Söderman (IN RAGE, SLAPDASH)
* Andy Solveström (WITHIN Y, AMARANTHE, EVILDOER, CIPHER SYSTEM)
* Oleg Izotov (TRINITY, ANJ)
The album was recorded at CBS Studio (Denmark), A-Lab (Moscow), and Grand Recordings (Sweden) and was mixed by Ben Schigel (CHIMAIRA, DROWNING POOL, WALLS OF JERICHO) at Spiders Studio. The mastering duties were carried out by Maor Appelbaum (HALFORD, FIGHT, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, CYNIC, THERION).
"The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues", the brand new album from progressive rock innovators BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, sold 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 54 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD also landed at No. 5 on the Hard Music chart and No. 8 on the Independent Albums chart. In Canada, "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" entered the chart at No. 62 , Hard chart at No. 6, and Independent chart at No. 14.
"The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" was released on April 12 via Metal Blade Records. The three-song strong, 30-minute tour de force was recorded at Canada's Metalworks Studios and Rattlebox Studios and helmed by the Grammy award–winning producer/engineer David Bottrill (TOOL, MUSE, KING CRIMSON, DREAM THEATER).
"The response to the new album has been absolutely amazing!" commented BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME's Tommy Rogers. "It's always a rewarding experience to hear excitement about the music we create. These days it's hard to judge what people think of new music, and the early feedback on tour and the Internet has really motivated us to create an even more badass record for the second part of 'The Parallax'. See you all on tour!"
"The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" was released on April 12 via Metal Blade Records. The three-song, 30-minute tour de force was recorded at Canada's Metalworks Studios and Rattlebox Studios and helmed by the Grammy award–winning producer David Bottrill (TOOL, MUSE, KING CRIMSON, DREAM THEATER).
"The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" represents BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME's musical and conceptual masterwork; the record showcases both the quintet's vivid execution and ambitious vision. The otherworldly conceptual thread linking each of the songs is mobilized around two human characters that live in different planes of existence and are separated by millions of light years, each confronted with similar personal issues. Subsequently, both characters make decisions that will change their lives, and perhaps the course of the universe, forever. Musically, the release presents aura-rich atmospheres rife with roaring volumes, corrugated rhythms and trance-inducing intricacies. Cerebral and visceral, soft and heavy, melodic and abrasive, tender and brutal, familiar and strange and taut yet sprawling and epic, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME has crafted a sound that is musically sophisticated yet primal and a disc where every new passage leads to the culmination of
an epic adventure.
"The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" track listing:
01. Specular Reflection
02. Augment of Rebirth
03. Lunar Wilderness
I.C.S Vortex has officially announced his return to BORKNAGAR.
To mark this grand cooperation between Vintersorg and I.C.S. Vortex, the organizers of the Inferno festival have revealed that BORKNAGAR will headline the 2012 edition with both vocalists on stage.
Over the past months, there has been a wide array of rumors and speculations about I.C.S Vortex' involvement with BORKNAGAR, so now it's time for us to bring this out from the dungeons and into the plains of clarity: Vortex is back as a permanent member of BORKNAGAR. Vortex will handle the bass as well as doing vocals together with Vintersorg.
I.C.S. Vortex was re- introduced to BORKNAGAR in 2010 after a 10-year break with his participation on "Universal" as guest vocalist, and also stepped up to help out the band on a tour of South America that was later canceled. After this the rumors and speculations have been many, and this is the confirmation that so many have hoped for.
I.C.S Vortex comments: "I am chuffed and proud to be part of the BORKNAGAR universe once again. Hailing the dawn of a new era, I lionize their splendorous glare."
BORKNAGAR mainman Øystein G. Brun comments: "Even though Mr. Vortex has been absent from the band for almost a decade due to other musical endeavors, he has always remained a good, loyal and supportive friend of the band. Personally, I have always had a feeling that our paths would cross again — and now they do. I would like to welcome Mr. Vortex back in the fold, and I am really excited to get another opus done with the strongest lineup BORKNAGAR has ever had. Just imagine the musical potential having two of the best and most renowned vocalists in the scene in the same band. This is surely a huge step forward and another exciting chapter in the musical legacy of BORKNAGAR — and I feel like a lucky bastard being part of this. The new album will surely knock your socks off and set some new standards in the world of metal!"
Adds Lars A. Nedland: "Vortex and Vintersorg in the same band! Can you imagine the possibilities here? Can you imagine the choirs? The vocal duels? The sheer musical potential? Let me tell you: If you are a BORKNAGAR fan, these are exciting times."
Vintersorg adds: "The Vortex has made a touchdown in the BORKNAGAR camp again. It feels very inspiring just to think about starting to shape vocal lines with this in mind. Time to make some epic music!"
Drummer David Kinkade comments: "Nothing can describe the potent amount of excitement that has been flowing through my veins since this became a reality for BORKNAGAR. Having two of the most talented, unique and well-rounded singer/musicians that I've ever known….now together in the same band. The creativity behind this effort is off the chart. Be ready. Limits don't exist."
Jens F. Ryland comments: "What more is there to say? I can now lean back and enjoy the ride!"
BORKNAGAR recently signed a new worldwide recording deal with Century Media Records. The band's new album is scheduled for an early 2012 release.
California deathcore masters SUICIDE SILENCE are currently mixing their new album, "The Black Crown", tentatively due in July via Century Media Records. The CD was recorded with heavyweight producer Steve Evetts (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, EVERY TIME I DIE, HATEBREED) and will feature the following songtitles, among others: "Human Violence", "Cancerous Skies" and "Fuck Everything".
AOL's Noisecreep ran into SUICIDE SILENCE singer Mitch Lucker at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards this past Wednesday and asked him about the band's forthcoming album.
"'The Black Crown' is our most mature, well-produced, and well-written record as a band," Lucker said. "People should come see us play songs from it live on [this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem [Festival] this summer, or buy it when it comes out!"
Lucker also revealed that "The Black Crown" will be SUICIDE SILENCE's third and final release for longtime label Century Media Records. Lucker noted that the band will be free agents after the release of this album.
On June 29, 2010, SUICIDE SILENCE reissued the "No Time To Bleed" album in the U.S. as a special "body bag" edition featuring a bonus DVD containing never-before-seen live performance footage.
"No Time To Bleed" sold 14,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 32 on The Billboard 200 chart. The effort was made available on June 30, 2009 in a number of different versions.
"No Time To Bleed" was recorded with acclaimed producer Machine (LAMB OF GOD).
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