According to People.com, legendary heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his wife/manager Sharon bought a Yorkshire terrier puppy on
Saturday, July 23 as part of a live auction at the 13th annual Design Care,
an event that benefits Sharon's "The Talk" co-host Holly
Robinson Peete's HollyRod Foundation. The bidding started at $5,000,
but Ozzy continued to outbid everyone in the room, and the auction
eventually ended with the singer's final offer of $10,000.
Photo below courtesy of Sharon Osbourne's Facebook
page
Wymer Publishing has set a September 12 release date
for "Rock Landmarks: Judas Priest's British Steel". This book
is the second in Wymer's CD-sized series on "landmark" rock
albums and documents JUDAS PRIEST's seminal 1981 release "British
Steel", a pivotal album in the band's career.
JUDAS PRIEST's sixth studio album has rightly earned its place as one of
the greatest heavy metal albums of all time. It comfortably — perhaps too
comfortably for some fans' tastes — sits between PRIEST's harder-edged
heavy metal of the Seventies with their far more commercial albums of the
Eighties. Sure, it is a world away from the likes of "Killing
Machine" and it's not as pop-orientated as, say, "Defenders Of
The Faith" and certainly not "Turbo", but it set the
benchmark for the kind of metal that was to become popular in the decade of its
birth. From the furious opening track "Rapid Fire" (had the
twin-guitar attack of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton sounded
better?) to the blistering closing song "Steeler", "British
Steel" is a monster of an album; adrenalin fuelled and endlessly
listenable. While not every track is the perfect PRIEST song, it is a
hugely infectious piece of work that represents the mighty PRIEST in
near-perfect style. But despite its impact, it is not their best album yet it
is undoubtedly their most popular.
Not only has "British Steel" gone on to become a cherished
item amongst ardent metal supporters, but it inspired a whole generation of
metal bands, notably the American thrash metal bands of the eighties such as METALLICA, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX and SLAYER and later, ANNIHILATOR and PANTERA. Even the name "British Steel" conjures up
the working class sounds of classic British heavy metal.
"British Steel" is, quite simply, genre-defining. This fans'
hand-book, will tell you why. It features a foreword by GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.
Journeyman
guitarist Doug Aldrich has played with the likes of Lion, Hurricane, House of
Lords, and Ronnie James Dio. It was not until 2002 that Aldrich found a home
with the revitalized version of Whitesnake and has since been inseparable from David Coverdale. Nine years into his
tenure with Whitesnake Aldrich and Coverdale have issued their second studio
album together, Forevermore,
released in North America on March 29th
through Frontiers Records. The new music is a nod to the old-school 'Snake and
they also incorporate elements of their '80s glory with modern production.
Oregon Music News caught up with Doug Aldrich before the band comes to Chinook
Winds on July 29th and 30th and talked about the new album, David's
recovery from vocal injury, splitting guitar work with Reb Beach,
past work with the aforementioned bands, auditioning for KISS, and playing with
Ronnie James Dio.
"Steal Your Heart Away," "All Out of Luck," and "Love Will Set You Free." What
a trio to set up Forevermore.
Like with past Whitesnake albums the ballads are also the highlights. Do you
think it edges out Good
To Be Bad?
Maybe
I'm too close but I do know there are some very good moments on both. After
Good To Be Bad it's kid of hard not to get stuck in a rut. Fortunately we
didn't and we had a great time working on the new album. Everybody got involved
and we had a great time and a lot of laughs. We kept our heads down and worked
hard. I agree with you; the record starts off with a vintage Whitesnake sound.
There's a very heavy blues vibe on this record, more so than the last record. I
agree with you it starts off with a blues vibe and then takes you to a lot of
different other places that maybe other records haven't in the past.
I've seen the clip of your performance in Colorado when David Coverdale blew out his
voice. That was a prime tour you were on with Judas Priest. Your stomach must
have sunk when that happened.
(long
pause) Yes, I've never seen David in that position before. It's very rare that
you see someone stop in the middle of a song like that. That is way out of
character for David; he's one of those guys that just doesn't give up. He also
doesn't want to fake it and sell the fans short, so had to pull the plug on it.
I said to him, "David take it easy." He said, "I just can't — this what I do."
David along with a number of select singers are like race horses; you can't
tell them to slow down. That incident was very unfortunate, but I'll tell you that
he is singing better than ever. The challenge with David has been capturing his
voice in a regular microphone. Since I've been working with him we've not yet
captured the full vibe onto a record. If you heard him singing next to you it
would be like, "holy shit that's the tone!" Having said that, I think we got
pretty close on this album.
I'm glad David is back, I was worried when I saw the clip. It was surreal, like
Superman being exposed to Kryptonite.
I
see what you mean. I've seen the clip too and it took some time for me to be
able to watch it. I think you nailed the vibe of what was going on there. It
was very disheartening for him, but I'll say this: He stopped it just in time.
He was later told by his doctor that he stopped just in time. Otherwise he
would have done serious damage.
You've been in Whitesnake since 2002. Were you a fan of the band or Coverdale's
work?
Originally
I signed up for a two-month tour in 2002. I've been a fan since I was about 16.
I recall my mother had dropped me off at my friend's house because we wanted to
learn how to play "Mistreated." There was no way that I could have played
"Burn" at that time! I've been a fan since I was a teenager. I really love
David's voice. I was definitely influenced by [Deep] Purple and later on by
Whitesnake. When David left Purple it would have been easy to do a Deep Purple
Jr. kind of thing, but instead he did Whitesnake. The music was very different;
it was blues based, it was gutsy, and had a sound that was influenced by bands
like Slade, Status Quo, Thin Lizzy and stuff like Allman Brothers. As you know,
it wasn't until Slide It In that Whitesnake found success in America, but there were several records released
in Europe before that. I was fortunate enough
to have been turned on to those records early on.
How was the song writing handled on Forevermore? Was it mainly you and
David Coverdale?
David
and I have great chemistry. Initially it was supposed to be people sending in
their ideas, which is how it was on the last record. It turned out that David
and I got on a roll with the songwriting that continued from the last record.
It's very organic and easy. I show him something and he takes it further or he
shows me something and I take it further. So to answer your question, we have
written everything on both of these records but it didn't start out that way in
the beginning; it just turned out that way.
As a fan of Whitesnake from all eras it sounds like you locked yourself up in a
room and you didn't surface until you came out with classic Snake riffs. Was it
that simple?
You
know we didn't really think about it that much. We didn't sit around thinking
that we needed to write a ballad that sounded a certain way because it would be
cutting off a lot of other inspiration. We would just write. There are songs
that naturally sounded like the classic Whitesnake blues sound and then David
adds his touch to it. We approached all of the songs in the same manner as we
did with the last album, Good To Be Bad. I definitely didn't sit down
with a goal to write another "Still Of The Night" or another "Slide It In." I
just couldn't do it. I just had to let the songs come out the way that they
are; that's actually the advice I have for anyone that writes. Don't put any
constraints; just see what happens.
As mentioned, there's some great bluesy riffs, slide guitar, and there's even
some harmonica on there. Forevermore will draw some comparisons to
70s-era Whitesnake.
Aside
from the classic Whitesnake there are aspects of other bands that David and I
like. There's a Rolling Stones influence on "I Need You (Shine A Light)." "Fare
Thee Well" has a Faces type of vibe to it as does "Steal Your Heart Away." Our
bass player, Michael Devin, plays harmonica on "Steal Your Heart Away" and it
makes that guitar riff great. The riff is cool, nothing too complicated but the
flavor of the harmonica really lifts that to another level. I'm a huge fan of
bands like The Black Crowes, The Allman Brothers, and a new blues guy,
Johnathan Tyler. The song has that kind of vibe but heavier.
How did you split the playing time with Reb Beach
(Dokken, Winger, Night Ranger) on Forevermore? How is that different
from Good To Be Bad?
It
was a lot different on this album. Reb was more involved on this album. He's
featured on five or six of the songs on the album. Originally he was going to
come in and lay down some rhythms and he was going to lay down background
vocals, because David wanted everybody to sing on this album. Reb has a great
voice and so does Michael Devin. So we brought in Reb and we featured him on
some songs playing a solo, and he sang on everything. Reb and I really hit it
off on this album, One of the songs that he soloed on was "I Need You (Shine A
Light)," which was initially going to be the single for the album. I had a demo
of that song that I had Reb listen to and he completely turned it around. He
made it into this kind of sing-a-long type solo which is really great. Reb did
a shredding solo on the song "Dogs In The Street" which is a song that is a
throwback to the 80s sound. That solo that you hear just slayed me. Originally
we were going to trade off on it but I just added a little melodic thing at the
end because his solo was just so burning. I didn't want to fuck with it!
(laughs)
You're not kidding about "Dogs In The Street." That could have come off the
1987 album.
Right
and that sound is considered vintage now. We didn't plan it that way; it's just
the way it happened. "Dogs In The Street" wasn't going to make the album, but
in the end David and the record label wanted to release everything. In the end
it goes together very well with the rest of the album.
The production on this album has a bit more grit than the previous album, yet
it was produced by Brutal Brothers, which is Michael McIntyre, David Coverdale,
and yourself.
Let
me explain a little bit about the name Brutal Brothers. Michael, David, and I
were very hard on each other when we were working on Good To Be Bad. We
were also very hard on the musicians that played on the album. That was good
because it was David's first album after being gone for a while, so we needed
to raise the bar. On the new album we had a lot of fun. There was no drama of
any kind. We laughed, we played, and everybody went into the studio to record
together rather than doing a session in another state or something. You're
right, the album sounds more raw and we did it in a shorter amount of time.
There wasn't a lot of time to get too anal about it. We threw it down,
tightened it up a little, and that was it.
"Love Will Set You Free" from Forevermore:
You've gone through a couple of rhythm sections in your time in Whitesnake and
you added Michael Devin and Brian Tichey who I saw last summer playing in Lynch
Mob. The album is one thing, but judging from what I saw with Lynch Mob, these
guys are going to take the live show to an entirely different level.
Yeah.
I was talking to Michael Devin the other day because there's times on records
where you have to work within the framework of the song. If you have a ballad
that has a lot of melodies or a heavy song that has a lot of melodies you don't
want to hear a ripping solo every time. Sometimes you want to hear good
melodies. We were talking about doing what is best for the song and captures
the band on the album but we are excited about the live show. Like you said,
playing live will be a great opportunity for us to put more into it. Those two
guys made a huge difference in the making of this album because they came in
before we started recording so they were part of the process. The last record
we were in transition; we had changed drummers before we hit the studio. Brian
[Tichey] had a huge role in the design of how the vibe of these songs and
Michael [Devin] is a real blues aficionado and it was a real pleasure to work
with him. I loved watching him play in the studio.
He has played with Kenny Wayne Shepherd for a while.
Right,
how cool is that? Michael Devin is the baby of the band but he's got an old
soul. He plays like it; you can hear it when he plays. You can hear it on the
harmonica parts that he did on "Steal Your Heart Away" and "Whipping Boy
Blues." Listen to those songs, he sounds like a seasoned blues player.
You played in a couple of my favorite bands. You played on House Of Lord's Sahara, Hurricane's Slave To The Thrill and
Dio's Killing The Dragon. What do you recall about the Slave To The
Thrill album?
Hurricane
started writing the album without a guitar player then I came in and brought a
couple of songs with me. My role was to help them finish out the design of the
album they had started without me. There were some fun times on that album and
tour. That was my first real tour. I was pretty immature back then. I still see
some of the guys in the band periodically I saw Kelly [Hansen] last year. It's
funny, I was listening to the radio and "Can't Find My Way Home" by House Of
Lords came on. That album was recorded around the same time. I guess at that
time I was the go-to guy for hard-rock session work. I had some demos that I
brought to House Of Lords for the Sahara album and, as it turns out, they released the demo of "Can't Find My Way Home."
The version that you heard on the album is my demo with drums on it. We
cut that in a little house in Studio City, California, in
a garage that had a studio in it. House Of Lords was a good time too.
You auditioned at one point for KISS didn't you?
I
did. I moved to Los Angeles
and I was playing at Gazzarri's every couple of weeks. I met a girl who said
she was Eric Carr's girlfriend and they were looking for a guitar player and
she thought that I might be a good fit. Eric came down and watched me play and
eventually I wound up going down to jam with them three times. That was just
surreal. I was stylistically a bit different than them. I love KISS more than I
did back then. In the end I was just very young, but that did motivate me to
become a better musician.
Why didn't Lion make a big splash in North America?
Lion was a great, melodic hard-rock band that found success abroad and in Asia.
We
were probably a couple years to late, I think. A lot of labels passed on us,
but there was one label that enticed us, so we signed with them and in the end
it was the kiss of death. The deal was horrible. There was no way that we were
going to make any money. The worst part is that there was no way to get the
band on the road. In those days you'd release the album and you'd go on the
road to support it versus these days where the record helps promote the tour.
We did have a label in Japan
that took the album and worked it. Like you said, we did well there and some
places in Europe. In a last-ditch effort we
got an attorney and he looked over the contract and said, "I can't work with
you." We said, "Why?" He said, "you guys basically signed your lives away on
this." We didn't know. We were juts kids and that's the way it goes.
Lastly, you recorded Killing The Dragon with Ronnie James Dio. What was
that like?
It
was awesome, man. I wouldn't be in Whitesnake if it wasn't for Ronnie. He put
me out there. I'm a late bloomer, I guess, but he really helped me out. He was
very good to me and he had so much faith in me and in my playing. We had a
great time designing the album that would become Killing The Dragon.
Once again it didn't work out with their guitar player and I was asked to come
in and I started from scratch on everything. We put together an album that was,
for him, a new beginning. In the end, through Ronnie and Wendy [Dio], I was
noticed by David and the rest is history. I will say that I miss Ronnie
tremendously and we got close toward the end. He was upset when I joined
Whitesnake full-time but he kept asking me to participate in certain projects
with him here and there. We were really tight. I was out of the country when he
passed, but my wife and my son went to his service to pay their respects on my
behalf. He was a great singer and even better person.
Read
reviews of Whitesnake's Forevermore from 2011, Good To Be Bad from 2008, and
the recent CD/DVD package of Live At Donington 1990 here.
Doug
Aldrich and Whitesnake will be playing two shows at Chinook Winds Casino on July 29th & 30th. Show at 8:00 pm. Reserve your seats by phone at
1-888-CHINOOK (1-888-244-6665), in person at Chinook Winds Box Office, or online. Reserved
Seating Tickets are $31.50 – $46.50. Must be 16 or older to attend.
A photo of the members of MEGADETH being presented
with gold plaques by EMI last night (Saturday, July 23) in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada for their "Greatest Hits: Back To The Start" collection can be seen below. Also available is professionally filmed footage
of MEGADETH performing at the Heavy T.O. festival in Toronto on Saturday.
Released in 2005, "Greatest Hits: Back To The Start" is the
second greatest-hits album by MEGADETH. The track listing for the set
was largely the result of a poll on the band's official web site, where tens of
thousands of fans voted for their favorite songs from the group's albums and
rarities compilation. The title "Back To The Start" is a
reference to lyrics in the title track, "Rust in Peace...Polaris" from MEGADETH's 1990 album "Rust In Peace".
MEGADETH's new album, "TH1RT3EN", is tentatively due in
November via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine's Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos,
California with producer Johnny K (full name: John Karkazis), who
has previously worked with DISTURBED, SEVENDUST, MACHINE HEAD and STAIND, among others. The artwork will once again be created by
artist John Lorenzi, who was responsible for the artwork on the last two MEGADETH studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame", as well as the band's 2007 box set, "Warchest".
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/megadethemi.jpg
On
Tuesday, September 13, Anthrax will release their first studio album in eight
years, Worship Music.
Not
only is it the first original music from Anthrax since 2003, it's also the
first Anthrax album in more than 20 years to feature vocalist Joey Belladonna,
who was the group's lead singer on classic albums like Among the Living and Persistence of Time. All this makes for one of the most anticipated
heavy metal releases in recent memory.
Guitar
Worldrecently got the chance to talk to Anthrax lead guitarist Rob Caggiano about a
number of topics, from guitars and the new album to the ex-Anthrax singer who
"shall not be named" (Hint: It's not John Bush or Neil Turbin). Here,
Rob gives us a track-by-track breakdown of the new album.
"Earth
On Hell"
"That's
one of the most aggressive tunes on the record. It features a lot of blast beat
drumming and the riff is really aggressive. It's got more of that thrashy
element to it."
"The
Devil You Know"
"That
song's kind of a cross between 'Caught in a Mosh' and an AC/DC song, like
'Whole Lotta Rosie.' It's got that thrashy rock 'n' roll vibe to it, which I
love."
"Fight
'Em Til You Can't"
"That
was kind of the first song we started playing as a band, even in the rehearsal
room. It was one of the first songs that got finished, so we started playing it
a lot. It's a song that's got all the elements of what the band is about; it's
got the thrashy vibe, it's got melody, it's got a groove, it's got a lot of
over-the-top playing in it."
"I'm
Alive"
"That's
probably my favorite solo on the record. I really, really tried to push myself
to make that as interesting as it could be. I was really happy with the way it
came out. It probably took me a full day to nail down that lead. It started off
in one direction and I wasn't really digging it so I tried some other things.
The way I do solos, it's not planned out at all. I start out with a very improv
approach. I'll jam to a track a few times, come up with some ideas and then
start to connect the dots."
"In
the End"
"That
song was originally called 'Down Goes the Sun,' from the first round. It was
one of the ones that got re-recorded and it actually went through probably
three or four renditions before it ended up how it is now. It's one of my
favorite tracks on the album; it's pretty epic. It's got almost a Zeppelin kind
of vibe to it with the chords in the chorus.
At
one point that riff was gone and I called up Charlie and said, 'Dude, we have
to put that riff back in.' So he went back in and re-did the drums and the song
came out awesome. I love it."
"The
Giant"
"That's
a fun song, top to bottom. That song actually took Joey a while to lock into
the vibe on, but once he did, it just sounded perfect. I took the same approach
on the leads to all the songs, which is a really lyrical approach."
"Judas
Priest"
"This
is an interesting song. This was the other song that got re-worked. 'Judas
Priest' was originally called 'Maniacal,' and at the time, on the first
go-round of the record, it had my favorite lead on it. I thought it was one of
the best parts on the whole album; even the riff under the solo I thought was
awesome.
The
original version of the song, though, I think reminded everyone too much of
'the other guy,' if you know what I mean. There wasn't anything wrong with the
song, it just had a negative vibe to it. We felt like it needed to be re-worked
and re-written, so to make a long story short, some of the riffs are the same
but the majority of the song is completely different now.
Along
with "I'm Alive," I'd have to say this is one of my favorite leads on
the album. I was on tour with The Damned Things when we were wrapping up work
on the album. This was the last song to get finished on the album. I basically
had to play the lead on a tour bus in Belgium! [laughs]"
"Crawl"
"'Crawl'
is an interesting one. It's more of a moody, slow track for Anthrax. I think
Joey sounds phenomenal on this song, he really shines on this one. I think
overall it's a great tune, the chorus is great. There's a lot of depth to this
song, musically. Just the mood and the atmosphere on the song makes it a really
mature song.
For
the lead, I really needed to capture that as well and make it something that
would stand out and be memorable."
"Revolution
Screams"
"This
song has an anthem kind of vibe to it, in my opinion. Lyrically and melodically,
just what Joey's singing and how he's hitting the melodies makes it almost like
a grandiose, anthemic vibe. I can see the crowds chanting along with their
fists in the air.
The
riff is really aggressive. The drum part is also really interesting on this
song. If you pay attention to what Charlie's playing, it's this crazy,
technical part."
Stay
tuned for more from Anthrax on their new album, Worship Music, in the
comings weeks. Worship Musichits stores on September 13.
"Sensory Overdrive", the new solo album
from Michael Monroe, iconic rock 'n' roll frontman and founding member
of hugely influential Finnish outfit HANOI ROCKS, will be released in
the U.S. and Canada on
August 23 via Spinefarm/Universal.
"Sensory Overdrive" was released on March 14 via Universal
Music subsidiary Spinefarm Records. The CD features guest
appearances by MOTÖRHEAD's Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister and
three-time Grammy-winning country/folk singer-songwriter Lucinda
Williams.
"Sensory Overdrive" was recorded in Los Angeles with legendary producer Jack
Douglas, who has previously worked with AEROSMITH, JOHN LENNON, CLUTCH, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT and NEW YORK DOLLS, among many
others.
"Sensory Overdrive" track listing:
01. Trick Of The Wrist
02. '78
03. Got Blood?
04. Superpowered Superfly
05. Modern Day Miracle
06. Bombs Away
07. All You Need
08. Later Won't Wait
09. Gone, Baby Gone
10. Center Of Your Heart
11. Debauchery As A Fine Art
In support of the CD, Michael will head out on a 16-date U.S and
Canadian tour with his all-star band featuring guitarists Steve Conte (NEW
YORK DOLLS) and Dregen (HELLACOPTERS, BACKYARD BABIES),
bassist Sami Yaffa (HANOI ROCKS, NEW YORK DOLLS, JOAN
JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS), and drummer Karl Rockfist (DANZIG).
Following the U.S. run, the
band will head to Japan for
the V Rock festival, to be followed by shows in Michael's home country
of Finland.
The band will then end 2011 with a run of shows in the U.K.,
co-headlining with Wednesday 13.
Michael Monroe U.S./Canadian tour dates:
Sep. 30 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
Oct. 01 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar
Oct. 02 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Oct. 04 - Boston, MA - Great Scott
Oct. 05 - Montreal, QC - Les Foufounes Electriques
Oct. 06 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club Theater
Oct. 07 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's
Oct. 08 - Chicago, IL - Reggie's Rock Club
Oct. 09 - St Paul, MN - Station 4
Oct. 10 - St Louis, MO - Fubar
Oct. 12 - Denver, CO - Moe's
Oct. 15 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
Oct. 16 - Portland, OR - Dante's
Oct. 18 - Santa Clara, CA - Avalon Theater
Oct. 19 - Santa Ana, CA - Galaxy Theatre
Oct. 20 - Hollywood, CA - Whisky A Go Go
"'78" (a homage to a year of great music and significant
cultural happenings), was made available on February 21 on both digital
download and colored vinyl complete with exclusive extra track.
Drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED
SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) has joined forces with guitarist/vocalist John Sykes (WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, THIN LIZZY)
and an as-yet-undisclosed bassist in a brand new power trio. The project is
currently recording material at a Los Angeles studio, with Portnoy describing one
song as "copping the [LED] ZEPPELIN/[BLACK] SABBATH vibe" and another as "[PINK] FLOYD meets [DEEP] PURPLE!!!
Some serious old-school classic rock."
As previously reported, Portnoy is also playing in a new band called ADRENALINE
MOB alongside SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar
virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP), bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward. The group made its
live debut on June 24 at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City and is presently seeking a
suitable record label to release its already completed debut album.
Sykes announced his departure from THIN LIZZY in July 2009,
explaining that "I feel it's time to get back to playing my own
music."
The reunited classic "Animosity" lineup of CORROSION
OF CONFORMITY — Mike Dean (bass, vocals), Woody Weatherman and Reed Mullin (drums) — has canceled its scheduled appearance tonight
(Sunday, July 24) at Ground Zero in Traverse City, Michigan with CLUTCH.
The group states, "We are still in Pittsburgh
waiting for our drummer to be released from the hospital. We're all wishing Reed a speedy recovery and hope we can resume the tour as soon as possible."
(Note: CLUTCH's performance at Ground Zero in Traverse City is unaffected by CORROSION
OF CONFORMITY's cancelation.)
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY previously canceled last night's (Saturday, July
23) appearance at The Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan while Reed was
"receiving medical attention" for an undisclosed ailment.
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY entered the studio earlier in the year with
longtime producer John Custer (1991's "Blind", 1994's "Deliverance",
1996's "Wiseblood", 2000's "America's Volume
Dealer", 2005's "In The Arms Of God") to begin
recording the band's new album for a late 2011 release.
In a recent interview with UGO, Dean stated about the forthcoming CD, "The
title is yet to be determined. A self-titled release crossed our minds but the
album title is a game-time decision. October is a good time but if we miss
that, early 2012 would be a fine time for release. 'The Moneychangers', 'River Of Stone' and 'Rat City' are some of the [song]titles
[that will appear on the CD]."
Speaking to Metal Kaoz, Dean described CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's
new material as "familiar but surprising. All of the old influences are
there — hardcore, three generations of heavy rock and no rules as to how to
combine them and make something new and creative."
FAITH NO MORE singer Mike Patton confirmed to RollingStone.com that the reactivated influential '90s
alt-metal act will play on the final day of this year's edition of the SWU
Music and Arts Festival in Paulínia, São Paulo, Brazil,
the band's first show since a successful reunion tour last year. "Other
than that, we don't have plans for a new recording or anything like that, we're
just taking it slow as it comes," Patton said.
"Reunions can be done very distastefully I think, and we were all very
worried about that," he added. "But I think we were all very
surprised with how good it felt. It's a tired old script: band splits up, gets
hard up for cash, goes on tour and records a shitty record. We don't want to be
part of that kind of history."
FAITH NO MORE played the final show of its reunion tour last December at
Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida in Santiago.
In an October 2010 interview with Consequence Of Sound, bassist Billy Gould spoke
about the possibility of the reunited act playing more shows after the Santiago concert. "I
personally can't see us not doing any more shows again, I just don't see
it," he said. "There's no point in not to do it. Why quit now? I
think it's just this tour… We did this tour and that's what we decided to do.
And we did it. We accomplished this goal, it worked out for all of us, and then
we look at each other and say, 'Hey what do you want to do now?' And I think
that's how it's got to be."
Regarding how the reunion tour had gone up until that point, Gould said,
"I was probably the guy who dragged his feet the most in doing this, and
I've got to say it exceeded my expectations 100 percent. It was much better
than my best-case scenario, and my worst case didn't even come into play."
FAITH NO MORE made a comeback in June 2009 with a headlining performance
at the Brixton Academy
in London, England and played sporadic shows
for the next 18 months.
FAITH NO MORE's last LP, "Album Of The Year", came out
in 1997.
Justin Seeby of Keller Williams Realty has
listed a house in Decatur, Georgia which
is said to be currently owned by MASTODON vocalist/bassist Troy
Sanders. The three-bedroom home, which is on the market for $134,900,
features "a large, open kitchen with tons of counter space and cabinets,
upgraded black appliances, recessed lighting, and room for a large island. The
enclosed back porch boasts plank wood flooring and large windows. Enjoy the
open deck overlooking a fenced in yard — perfect for kids, pets, and
entertaining! One-car garage is great for parking and storage. Gleaming
hardwood floors, crown molding, and spacious bedrooms complete this [house] to
make it the perfect place to call home!"
MASTODON's new album, "The Hunter", is tentatively due
this fall via Reprise Records. The CD's cover artwork was created by AJ
Fosik, a wood carver who is also responsible for the backdrop the band uses
live. This marks the first time MASTODON has not used acclaimed artist Paul
Romano, who was responsible for all of the group's previous artwork.
"The Hunter" was recorded at Doppler Studios in Atlanta with producer Mike
Elizondo. Drum tracks were previously completed in Los Angeles at the legendary Sound City
Studios where NIRVANA's masterwork "Nevermind" was
recorded.
Atlanta
progressive metallers MASTODON will release their new album, "The
Hunter", on September 27. The follow-up to 2009's "Crack The
Skye" will be MASTODON's third studio CD to be made available
on Reprise Records in the U.S. and Canada and the band's first to be
issued through Roadrunner Records outside of North America.
Beginning today, MASTODON will launch a pre-order at MastodonRocks.com for "The Hunter" limited-edition package, which includes a
CD/DVD housed in a digipack with an exclusive alternative artwork cover, a
20" x 30" lenticular poster featuring the album cover of the standard
CD, an Augmented Reality Experience by Total Immersion (more on that later)
that will contain exclusive content only available to this package, plus an
instant download of the band's first new album track, "Black
Tongue", also available for sale through all participating digital
music retailers starting today.
The visual companion to the song "Black Tongue", featuring contemporary
American folk artist A.J. Fosik, creator of "The Hunter" cover art piece, can be seen below.
Want more MASTODON? Fans who purchase the limited-edition package will
also receive a download of "Curl Of The Burl", the first
official single from "The Hunter" before it becomes widely
available for sale at all digital retails stores.
This limited package is a one-time-only edition. Once these exclusives sell
out, no more will be created.
When asked about the sound of MASTODON's forthcoming album, drummer Brann
Dailor told the German edition of Metal Hammer magazine, "When
you listen to the songs, they don't sound as 'fun' as we perceive them to be, I
guess; it's still pretty extremely heavy material." He added, "We had
a few songs that were kind of, not left over from 'Crack The Skye', but
just stuff that we wanted to be on that album, but that album kind of took on a
whole different thing of its own and there were a few stragglers that were
super-heavy and crazy that didn't make it, and we finally got to put them on
this record. And then we wrote a whole bunch of brand new stuff. There's, like,
14 songs that we recorded. And it's sort all over the place — a lot of
different sounds. Some straight-up classic-rock-sounding songs, straight-up
death metal-sounding songs and some completely bizarre, weirdo rock songs that
we're not really sure what they are, but we love them."
"The Hunter" was recorded at Doppler Studios in Atlanta with producer Mike
Elizondo. Drum tracks were previously completed in Los Angeles at the legendary Sound City
Studios where NIRVANA's masterwork "Nevermind" was
recorded.
Soundsphere recently conducted an interview with VOLBEAT singer, songwriter and guitarist Michael Poulsen. A couple of excerpts
from the chat follow below.
Soundsphere: You seem to have a very positive relationship with your
fanbase, so what do you most enjoy about that element of live performance in
contrast to simply working in the studio?
Michael: I would always rather be on stage and connecting with the fans.
But you have to remember, without being in the studio there would be no songs
to play for them! [laughs] In the studio you're again together with the band,
as in the tour bus and on and on. But the live shows, there will always be new
people, and fans you haven't seen for a long time, so that's always great.
Soundsphere: Where does lyrical inspiration come for VOLBEAT when
writing the storyline that is constant through your albums? Does it come from a
specific location? Can you be out walking, or watching TV, for example?
Michael: It just seems that my mind is working non-stop, and that's
good, but actually also a pain in the ass! But it can come from every corner of
the world, or every corner in my mind. I always write lyrics as the last thing
to a song. So I always improvise words when I'm writing the music. When I have
the music and the melody in the vocals, I start putting words into it.
Soundsphere: What kinds of ideas are inspiring you most at this moment?
Michael: [Pause] I really don't know. It's not that easy to put into
words. Because inspiration is such a crazy process — where your mind sometimes
flies away, and when it comes back, you don't know where you've been. And hey,
I'm not doing drugs here! [laughs] Sometimes you are aware of where you got it
from and other times you just don't know. And my ideas can change from one hour
to another.
Soundsphere: How do you feel that you have developed personally through
the music you've made as VOLBEAT since the project began, until now?
Michael: Tough question. Ask my mom or wife! [laughs] I feel I'm the
same. I know I am. But you learn a lot being away from home so much as we are.
You become aware of how fast time goes by, and we're only here on a short
notice. So you just want to use your time the right way and be a good person,
and not waste it on the wrong people, which sometimes can be difficult in this
business.
After more than three decades of delivering heavy metal to
the masses, Colorado
power metallers JAG PANZER have decided to call it quits.
"We are proud of every album we released and the support we've received
from the heavy metal community," states guitarist and founder Mark
Briody. " We've played so many places around the world and enjoyed
every minute of it but the time has come where we just cannot move forward as a
band.".
Guitarist Christian Lasegue left the band last month to pursue his
degree full time.
"Christian did an amazing job on 'The Scourge Of The Light' and it was a pleasure working with him," continues Briody. "We
wished Christian well but kept this quiet until we found a
replacement."
Drummer Rikard Stjernquist says, "Several guitar players applied
for the job. It was a pleasant surprise to see so many young guitarists with
advanced chops. One player, 19-year-old Jake Dreyer, submitted videos of
him nailing solos from both Chris Broderick and Christian Lasegue.
We were ready to welcome Jake into the band, but, unfortunately, that
will not happen. There is no doubt in any of our minds that Jake will go
on to be a household name in his own right."
Bassist John Tetley adds a final statement:" In closing, we'd like
to send out a huge heartfelt THANK YOU to metal fans throughout the world. You
all rule!"
Issued on February 28 in Europe and on March 8 in the U.S. via SPV/Steamhammer Records, "Scourge
Of The Light" sold around 500 copies in the United States in its first week of
release. The CD landed at position No. 117 on the Top New Artist Albums
(Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing
artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The
Billboard 200.
"The Scourge Of The Light" was mixed by Jim Morris at Morrisound
Studios in Florida and was mastered at New York's renowned Sterling
Sound.
SOULFLY mainman Max Cavalera's son Zyon will sit
behind the drum kit for the band's July 31 performance at the Lokerse festival in Lokeren, Belgium following the rumored recent
departure of the group's longtime drummer, Joe Nunez.
Zyon made many special appearances with Max's other band, CAVALERA
CONSPIRACY, on CC's recent European tour, performing "Attitude/Cockroaches" at Sonisphere, With Full Force, and Hellfest festivals, to
name a few. According to Max's wife/manager (and Zyon's mom) Gloria
Cavalera, Zyon learned to drum "sitting at the feet of some of
the most gifted metal drummers of all time, including his uncle Igor
Cavalera, Bill Ward and Roy Mayorga, to name a few."
This will be a special guest appearance only, since Zyon's full-time
band is MOLD BREAKER, which he formed with his younger brother Igor.
Fan-filmed video footage of Zyon performing with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY at the Nova Rock festival in Austria this summer can be seen
below.
SOULFLY recently tapped metal veteran Tony Campos (STATIC-X, PRONG, ASESINO, MINISTRY, POSSESSED) as the group's
new permanent bassist following the departure of Bobby Burns.
Campos will make his live debut with SOULFLY at the Lokerse festival.
Bassist Johny Chow, who has played with SOULFLY's Max Cavalera and Marc Rizzo (guitar) in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and is a member of FIREBALL MINISTRY, loaned his skills to SOULFLY for the band's
recent touring activities.
SOULFLY's latest album, "Omen", sold 6,000 copies in
the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 73 on
The Billboard 200 chart.
Guitarist Roland Grapow and keyboardist Axel
Mackenrott German/Norwegian melodic metallers MASTERPLAN are working
on material for the band's next album which they will begin recording in the
fall. An early 2012 release via AFM Records is expected.
MASTERPLAN's last CD, "Time To Be King", was released
on May 21, 2010 through AFM Records. The CD's first single, "Far
From The End Of The World", was issued on April 16, 2010.
MASTERPLAN vocalist Jorn Lande told Germany's Rock Hard magazine in 2009 about his renewed collaboration with MASTERPLAN,
"We never had problems with each other, but professionally, we decided for
to go separate ways for a while. . . I am happy that we are . . . working
together again — mainly because the combination of MASTERPLAN's music
and my singing [is] truly something special."
Lande left MASTERPLAN in May 2006, citing "musical
differences" between the vocalist and the rest of the band. During the
songwriting process for the group's third album, it became increasingly
apparent that the other members of the band had different visions and plans for
the group's musical direction. While Jorn allegedly wanted MASTERPLAN to follow a more melodic path, the rest of the band apparently wanted to return
to the metallic roots of their debut album.
Vocalist Mike DiMeo (RIOT, THE LIZARDS) announced his
departure from MASTERPLAN in January 2009 after recording just one
studio album with the group — 2007's "MK II".
Want to win a pair of tickets to Exodus,
Slayer and Rob Zombie at the Memorial Coliseum on August 5th? Leave a
comment below telling Oregon
Music News why you should win…
Exodus are one of the pioneers of thrash
metal; even Metallica owes a debt to Exodus as Kirk Hammett left the band in
1983 to audition for the Metallica gig. Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica and Anthrax
may be "The Big Four" of thrash but bands like Testament, Overkill and Exodus
make a good argument to expand that list. Exodus released their follow-up to
2007′s The
Atrocity Exhibition… Exhibit A in May of 2010 titled Exhibit
B: The Human Condition–both are highly recommended. Oregon Music News
had an opportunity to speak with guitarist Gary Holt, a founding member of the
Bay Area thrash band Exodus. Holt will be doing double duty as he opens
the Portland
show on August 5th with Exodus and then joins Slayer, filling in for guitarist
Jeff Henneman who is recovering from illness.
Gary
Holt will be pulling double duty in Portland.
You
toured with Megadeth in 2010; how was it working with Dave Mustaine on a
day-to-day basis? Some have said he's difficult to work with. How is your
relationship with the guy?
I
can't speak for anyone else but I like the guy. He and I go way back as you know,
and it has been great to get to reconnect with him. He was gracious enough to
think of us and get us on that tour. He's been nothing but a good friend to me.
We got an opportunity to go out on the road with our old friends in Megadeth
and Testament. The tour also sold out night after night; it was a good time to
reconnect with Dave again. It was a total blast man.
On
most of the shows we saw the young kids out there. I think there were two shows
where there were a lot of the fans that were long in the tooth. We'd play
something and get a pit going and they didn't move! It was like, "What's wrong
with you guys? Are your hips as bad as mine?!" [Laughs]
You've
recorded three records and a live album with Rob Dukes. For those who haven't
heard this incarnation of Exodus, what does Rob bring to the band?
A
new-found energy and aggression that's in perfect synchronicity with what we
are doing musically right now. We are a full-on garage, thrash metal band; we
have gotten more and more aggressive as the years have gone by. Rob brings out
that fury and rage in the band, both in studio and in the live setting, that
the songs so require.
So
for those who might consider Rob the new guy, it isn't necessarily fair?
No
at all. Rob and Lee [Altus]
joined the band at the same time, which was about five years ago. So in terms
of being in the band they haven't been here as long as I have but it wouldn't
be fair to say that they are new. These guys didn't join Exodus yesterday or
anything.
When
you released your last album of original material, The Atrocity Exhibition…
Exhibit A, was there any material written at that time that made onto this
new album?
Yeah,
there were three tracks that made it onto Exhibit B: The Human Condition and I think there was a bonus track "Devil's Teeth," which is on the U.S. pressing.
"Class Dismissed" is one of the tracks that was completed but we changed a few
things around and we needed to rewrite some of the lyrics.
Wasn't
the original plan to get these two albums out fairly quickly? I recall it
sounding like there were to be issued within the same year.
Well,
the idea to release two albums like that was because we wrote and wrote and we
just had so much material. Releasing a double album didn't make financial
sense. There was even talk about part way through the tour of Exhibit A that we release an EP but I said, "Fuck it, let's keep touring and when we get
back into the studio we'll work on the next album." Well, that tour lasted
close to two years and by the time we got back to the studio we wrote some more
and we decided only to use some of the songs that we had intended on using.
There's
nothing left over at this point then?
Nothing
except a cover of Scorpions' "Don't Make No Promises That Your Body Can't
Keep," which is the bonus track for Japan. It's a fucking rockin' track
man; it turned out killer. We tracked another cover that we'll use at some
point but I won't comment on that one right now. Exodus is tapped out right now
as far as songs.
How
did you guys settle on the Scorpions cover?
Tom
[Hunting] was doing his drum tracks one night and he called me and he said that
we had some time for some more recording. The idea to do the song came up; we
played that song during our early Exodus days. Since Tom was familiar with the
song and it didn't require me to be there. I asked him to speed it up a bit,
which he did, and when I came into the studio next, I laid down my guitar on it
and it turned out killer.
You
guys once again used producer Andy Sneap who has become the go to guy for
many bands these days. This has been a long-lasting partnership between you
guys and Andy.
Right,
we've been working with Andy since 1997 when we recorded Another Lesson In
Violence. First and foremost Andy is a friend of ours. Working with Andy
isn't considered work because he's one of us and we're just having a fantastic
time the whole time. It's very loose, humorous and we see eye to eye. He knows
and I know what works for this band and he gets the best out of us. He's a
great producer and engineer and he get the best mixes. He's on top of his game
and that's why he's in high demand.
Do
you recall when you met Andy for the first time?
I
had met Andy back when he was in Sabbat. When it came time to record the live
album with Paul [Baloff], his name came up a few times. He was this young
up and coming producer. We met and felt that he was the right guy and went for
it. As you can hear, it came out brutally heavy. While we might have only
worked on that album for a few days the relationship has lasted thirteen years
now.
What's
the make up on the set list? Is it going to be heavy on the last two studio
albums or will it be a balanced, retrospective of the band's career?
We'll
always do the classic stuff like "Bonded By Blood," "Toxic Waltz" and stuff
like that but we also love doing the new shit. That's why we as a band do this
in the first place. We don't make albums to hit the road and just play the
classics. We have to get the new stuff played too; it keeps it fresh for us. So
we'll be playing a fair share of the newer material.
You'll
be touring with Slayer and Rob Zombie this summer. What are some new tracks
that you'd like to make it onto the set list?
That's
hard to say. I won't comment because that could get you into trouble. Sometimes
you think the song that will go over the best with the fans doesn't and other
times the least likely becomes that fan favorite. I'll say this: We'll have our
work cut out for us in the coming weeks trying to get the set list together.
Watch
"Riot Act" from Exhibit A:
Gary,
you had the opportunity to fill in for Slayer's Jeff Hanneman, who is on the
mend after contracting necrotizing fasciitis. Was this an audition or were you
just asked?
No
audition. Kerry called me up and I said, "Yeah, let's do it!" I missed the last
few shows in Europe due to Exodus obligations,
but other than that, I had the time, so why not?
You
played the Big Four show in Southern California
with Slayer. How was that experience?
Pretty
awesome! The ones over in Europe were really
amazing as well; best part has been reconnecting with Kirk Hammett [Metallica]
after all these years.
Does
it bother you that bands like Exodus, Testament, and Overkill get overlooked at
times because of the exposure that the Big Four have received?
Not
at all. I've never been one of those dudes who sits and complains about who
should be where. I'm perfectly happy with what Exodus has accomplished and we
continue to push the envelope of thrash metal.
Playing
arenas, this is a high-exposure tour for Exodus. What do you hope to
accomplish with The Hell on Earth tour?
I
hope to survive playing twice a night! It's a good tour; wish it were longer.
It should be fun having both of my metal families out on tour at once.
You're
clearly a Slayer fan and go way back with them. Were you a White Zombie or Rob
Zombie fan?
Always
have been a big fan, from the beginning to the Johnny Tempesta years to the
present. And John 5 is one of the best guitarists I've seen in years and a
really great dude, so it'll be fun watching him play night after night.
Gary
Holt and Exodus will join Slayer and Rob Zombie on the Hell on Earth Tour at
the Memorial Coliseum on August 5th. Show at 7pm. You can buy tickets for this
event by clicking
here or you can win a pair by leaving a comment below. Why should we
pick you to go to this show?
This
is so awesome. I really should have arranged to have had this interview done by
the 4th of July but not thinking clearly I didn't initiate it until that day.
But yes, Steve 'Zetro' Sousa of Hatriot agreed to answer a few questions for me
to promote his new band Hatriot which is gearing up quickly to be a thrash
force in the coming year. Having been a fan of his work with Exodus and really
digging the demo tracks with this project being released it was pretty exciting
to get this conversation going. So after the jump enjoy this discussion with
the legendary thrash vocalist Zetro of Hatriot.
Thanks
Zetro, for taking the time out to do this. I'm pretty sure you're busy as
hell:)
1.
Can you tell us how the formation of Hatriot came to be?
Well
after fronting bands for most of my life, Legacy, Exodus, I felt it was time
for me to do something that everybody knows me for. That's when the idea of
Hatriot came out, I wanted to start a new thrash band with a stellar line up of
outstanding musicians that would for me take Bay Area thrash to the next level.
So it took me about a year to find the right members and get some cool songs
together, create a logo, website and that's when we came out in February with a
new band and new songs.
2.
The band is closing in on 2500 likes on Facebook. How fulfilling is that to
know you have a fan base before the official release of a studio album comes
out?
It's
very flattering. I feel that I've always been real cool with my fans and the
people inside the business, and that everything I've done musically has been
reveled and always admired, so I felt if I put out something as good as Hatriot
is, I knew the fans from Exodus, Legacy, Testament, even the people that like
DDP and the stuff I did with Tenet would be a little curious of what I had to
offer, and if it was good, people would definitely want to hear it. I have a
lot of history in the business, so curiosity would be on my side.
3.
After listening to the released demos for some of the songs there is a
resemblance to Exodus where you left off with Tempo of the Damned. Was that a
conscientious decision to do so or is that a style of thrash you're most
comfortable with?
Obviously,
I hear all the time that people love what I did in Exodus, and Legacy for that
matter, so if you listen to the demo, I think it reflects both bands, ie; "The
Fear Within" I would think is definitely more what I did with Legacy than what
I did with Exodus, but if you listen to "Weapons" or "Mechanics", those are
definitely songs that reflect what Exodus is all about and what I did in
Exodus. As for "Globicidal", that's more maybe a death metal type song because
the guitars and drums are so fast. So to answer your question, it's not
necessarily a conscientious decision, but a definite progression of Tempo of
the Damned.
4.
I assume your son Cody is playing bass for the band. How cool is that to be
working with your kid on this project?
It's
what every Rock stars dream is, is that one of his kids loved what you did so
much as a child, he followed in your footsteps. He listened to the metal and he
did his homework. He totally deserves to be there, and it's the greatest thing
in the world.
5.
The name of the band and indeed many songs use play on words to take digs at
the government. What exactly would you like to see different by our government?Honesty and less
hypocrisy, and a little bit more about the people, and that's what a Hatriot
is, he can't be a Patriot because that would be supporting what the machines
cause is, a Hatriot supports the peoples cause for freedom and honesty and the
right to live in this country without anybody fucking with them.
6.
What is the status on AC/DZ now that this project is launched? Are you still
jamming the AC/DC tunes or is it on hold for awhile?
No,
booking shows right now for AC/DZ. I try to keep myself as busy musically as I
can, obviously it's what I love to do, and playing those AC/DC songs to me is
like therapy because I get to be Bon Scott for 1.5 hours, and I guess that's
who I really wanted to be. Bon Scott is my biggest influence and mentor. I
watch AC/DC shows, just to see how he carried himself, amazing frontman.
7.
Can you take us back to the golden era of Bay Area thrash? Being an East Bay
native I remember it from a fan perspective but what can you tell us from being
on that side of the stage?
It
was like magic, every day was new, something happened every night, you can see
a Tuesday night at the Rock on Broadway in San Francisco, Possessed, Death Angel,
Legacy. Then on Saturday night, you would go see Exodus and Suicidal. Then on
Monday night, Violence and Forbidden Evil were playing somewhere else, so yeah,
it was very magical. I don't see any other scene that compares to it. I think
that now even 30 years after the fact, its even more legendary now, and that's
something you can never take away, so wherever I go in the world on tour, all
the fans are very well schooled in what Bay Area thrash was all about.
8.
What do you have left to do to fully get Hatriot off ground and get an album
out and start doing some live gigs?
We
are doing some live gigs, and I'm about ready to shop the demo to labels and
definitely we want to get a record deal, pull out a full length album, start
the world tour and every year to year and a half a new Hatriot album and world
tour.
9.
After all these years of being a vocalist how do you keep your voice in shape?
I ask because other guys like Udo and Brian Johnson with your vocal style
seemed to deteriorate a bit over the years. Yet you sound even more vicious
then before.
I
think I'm still very angry to be successful at heavy metal, you have to have
some angst, and I think I still have that edge, and I pride myself on being
very great vocally, live and on my records. I work on it, I sing every day all
types of heavy metal music, I'm still a student. I may listen to something
Corey Taylor does and learn from him, even though he wasn't around when I was
inventing my sound, but that doesn't matter, I'm not above any of that, if it's
good and its heavy and it kicks ass,bring it!
10.
Any final words you want to get out there before we sign off? Plug away!
I
want to thank everybody for supporting all the projects that I do over the past
26 years. I still have so much metal to spew on the world. I'm still very
pissed off, and you can only expect the most violent of topical subjects and
take pot shots at those who deserve it, because we're all Hatriots and we have
a voice too, remember, death first, never surrender.
So
there you have it. Steve is a legend and gave us some great answers. If you
love thrash and have yet to check out Hatriot head over to their Facebook page or their official page to learn more.
In
the mean time here is video evidence of a gig the band played in Santa Clara a few days
ago. Enjoy.
Willis Reese of Drums Examiner recently conducted an interview with drummer Casey Grillo of Florida-based metallers KAMELOT. A couple of
excerpts from the chat follow below.
Drums Examiner: How do you switch gears from hitting at the big concerts
like that out on the road and then you come back home and today we saw you
playing with the JEREMY THOMAS BAND and with a relatively small crowd.
Do you like the difference or does it seem weird to you once you have played in
a big arena.
Casey Grillo: At first it did, and this was a few years ago when KAMELOT started to do really well. I have always played with guys in town because if I
don't go out and play with local bands, then I don't play. I will sit at home
and play Nintendo or whatever thing is going on. I won't go practice and that's
kinda my problem. I never practice. If I'm gigging, then I'm practicing. So I
have always tried to make it to where I always have some kind of gig going on.
With Jeremy's band, for me it's like, "Wow." These guys are
really great. They are my favorite local rock band I have ever played with. Jeremy is one of the greatest vocalists I have ever worked with. I'm not going to say
that lightly either. That's going to be heavy. I think he is the best vocalist
I have worked with, my favorite voice. These guys are like my brothers. We just
spent a week in Ohio
on an island with nothing but partying. We gigged for three days and it was one
of the most amazing times I have ever had. We were in a small band house,
sleeping in bunk beds. Playing golf during the day.
Drums Examiner: What was it like the first time you stepped out on a
stage and looked out at 80,000 people?
Casey Grillo: At first you don't really think [about it]. Well, it
wasn't 80,000 the first time I played in front of a really big crowd. The first
really big crowd was at Sweden Rock [Festival]and there was like
25 or 30 thousand people there. It looked really big. I remember sitting back
stage and doing jumping jacks because you peek out and you see all these
people. I was warming up and moving my feet and all this stuff because the
first song we were doing is really fast. Then I got out there and the first
song felt really, really slow. My heart rate was going so fast. And I play to a
click all night. Because if you don't with this type of music, then you can
really mess yourself up because that's the thing, it gets really fast. But it
was all really slow, that's what I remember. But you know what, it's a gig and
for me, tonight there's no difference for me playing in front of what we had
here or from that to playing in front of 80,000 people. I play as hard as I can
and as good as I can in front of five people.
Drums Examiner: So what is the next thing for Casey Grillo?
Casey Grillo: Well, I want to try to do a solo record. I just did a
video with a [Norwegian singer] by the name of Atle Pettersen [ABOVE
SYMMETRY]. We did that in Miami.
He got second in [reality-TV singing competition] "X-Factor" over in Norway
so he is quite big over there now. There are talks about doing something with
him, maybe on a solo record. I want to do a solo record, like a musical kinda
thing but more guitar-oriented. I have always been way big into Yngwie
Malmsteen. I have a couple of guys I want to record with. I also want to do
this Jeremy Thomas thing. I really think that Jeremy is an
amazing vocalist. And, obviously, KAMELOT is going through some changes
now that our lead singer is gone.
Drums Examiner: Are you still teaching?
Casey Grillo: Yeah, at Seminole Music.
Drums Examiner: What's the biggest thing that you help kids with when
you are teaching them?
Casey Grillo: Just to learn how to love playing drums. There is nothing
better than seeing a kid that really wants to play drums and then teaching them
how to do that. Most kids don't want to learn how to read music but I sneak it
in there. They're like, "I didn't know it was going to be this hard."
Most teachers just want them to get a pad and practice for an hour and a half.
I get bored doing that, so I know a 10-year-old is not going to like it. But I
don't do so much of that anymore. I used to teach out of the music store, and
it was all ages, but now I get a lot of people that know who KAMELOT is
and they want to learn from me. I even have had people that fly in for the week
and take like a week thing.
Alternative rock pioneers JANE'S ADDICTION will debut
their new single, "Irresistible Force", on Tuesday, August 2
on the KROQ morning radio show "The Kevin & Bean Show".
The song, which will be available through all digital outlets August 3, is
taken from the band's much-anticipated new album, "The Great Escape
Artist" (Capitol Records). Marking the first new studio album
by in eight years by Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro and Stephen
Perkins, it is due out Tuesday, September 27. The album also features "End
To The Lies", a pre-single teaser track which the band made available
to their fans as a free download this past April.
For "The Great Escape Artist", JANE'S ADDICTION joined
forces with producer Rich Costey (MUSE, FRANZ FERDINAND, INTERPOL),
with TV ON THE RADIO's Dave Sitek on the team. Sitek, best
known for his production work on TV ON THE RADIO, YEAH YEAH YEAHS and THE FOALS, is writing, programming, and playing bass on the album.
The band, with Chris Chaney on bass, will be touring throughout 2011.
Coming off a powerful headline performance this past weekend (Saturday, July
23) at the "Gathering Of The Vibes" festival in Bridgeport, Connecticut, JANE'S
ADDICTION tonight (Monday July 25) plays an exclusive, private show at
Terminal 5 in New York City,
in association with YouTube and LG. Not only will the concert be
streamed live on YouTube, but it will also be the first 3D
user-generated concert event. Attendees — including more than 200 lucky ticket
holders selected by LG and JANE'S ADDICTION — will be the first
to be able to film the show on brand new LG Thrill 4G Devices, and then these
films are combined into one special 3D 60-minute documentary film which will be
premiered on the LG Thrill 3D YouTube channel on August 4.
Meanwhile, JANE'S ADDICTION announced an exclusive show at Koko in London on August 30, to follow their headline appearance
on the Radio 1/NME stage at Reading and Leeds festivals. The show sold out within minutes
of going on sale.
BLEEDING THROUGH vocalist Brandan Schieppati recently spoke to AOL's Noisecreep about his newly opened training facility called
Rise Above Fitness in Huntington Beach, California.
Rise Above Fitness is described as a "fully functional training
facility for everyone, from the serious athlete to people who just want to get
in ridiculous shape." Its mission is "to inspire and change peoples'
lives by promoting a rise above attitude and lifestyle."
"I started working on my body back when I was in high school,"
Schieppati tells Noisecreep. "I played baseball back then and I
hated lifting weights with my team. I despised it. I remember when we would go
into the gym to do that I would try to find ways to get out of it. But then
towards the end of my sophomore year, I started learning more about the science
of it and how the weight training helped my baseball skills," remembers Schieppati.
"After high school, I started losing interest in the weight training
stuff. But I got back into it towards the end of my junior year in high school.
At that point I had stopped playing baseball and I needed something to replace
that physical exertion that I got from it. It was a way to get out my
aggression. It comes from the same place as my need for playing music does —
being heartbroken. Being in a band has helped me get through all of my anxieties
and heartbreak and so does working out."
When asked about how he's managed to stay fit on tour, Schieppati said,
"The first couple of tours I went on, I didn't work out. I just didn't
think I would be able to or find the time to even do it. Luckily I was in my
early 20s and I was able to maintain my body. But on those two tours I found
myself being cranky all the time. I then realized it was from not working out.
I knew I had to do something about it. So I started with pushups. I would do
500 of those and then 500 sit-ups a day. Then I started bringing out a couple
of dumbbells and eventually figured out a routine that worked on tour."
All training at Rise Above Fitness is done by Schieppati and his
staff.
For more information, visit www.riseabovefitnessoc.com.
After successfully completing his North American tour with CHILDREN
OF BODOM, OBSCURA and SEPTICFLESH, Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend will now be traveling abroad for the rest of the summer,
playing various European festivals and solo acoustic dates — but come October,
he'll be back in the States for another tour.
THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT will be hitting the road this fall on a
headlining tour (support acts will soon be announced), so fans can expect even
more Hevy Devy this time around! Dates for the tour are listed below,
and Canadian dates will be announced soon! Fan-club pre-sale starts on August 1
exclusively at HevyDevy.com, and a limited amount of VIP packages will
be available for each date.
THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT North American headlining tour dates:
Oct. 12 - Sound Stage - Baltimore, MD
Oct. 13 - The Note - Philadelphia, PA
Oct. 14 - Rock And Shock - Worcester, MA
Oct. 15 - The Chance - Poughkeepsie, NY
Oct. 16 - The Altar - Pittsburgh, PA
Oct. 17 - Peabody's - Cleveland, OH
Oct. 18 - Harpo's - Detroit, MI
Oct. 19 - Reggie's - Chicago, IL
Oct. 21 - Black Sheep - Colorado Springs, CO
Oct. 22 - Marquis - Denver, CO
Oct. 24 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 25 - Slim's - San Francisco, CA
Oct. 27 - Hawthorne - Portland, OR
Oct. 28 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
Townsend released "Deconstruction" and "Ghost" — the third and fourth in a series of albums to be made available under DEVIN
TOWNSEND PROJECT moniker — on June 21 (one day earlier internationally) via InsideOut Music.
"Deconstruction" and "Ghost" complete Devin's
tetralogy album concept — a great journey through Townsend's different
states of musical moods — which he started in 2009 with the albums "Addicted" (2009) and "Ki" (2009).
Townsend has announced the first two special shows in U.K. for
November 2011 for a unique DVD recording.
On his recent mostly sold-out European tour, Devin already performed
some of the new material and if you have followed Devin through his
career, you will know that he is always up for pushing the limits to higher
levels. After releasing "Deconstruction" and "Ghost", Devin Townsend will return to London U.K. in
November 2011 to play a set of very special shows dedicated to his four-album
concept and which will be captured live on DVD.
Chicago's DIRGE WITHIN will release a new digital EP, "Absolution",
on August 16. The three-song effort will give fans a taste of what's to come
from the band's forthcoming sophomore album, due out in early 2012.
According to a press release, "Absolution" "showcases
what fans of DIRGE WITHIN have grown familiar with — powerful grooves,
strong hooks and punishing guitar riffs the band has built its sound around. 'Absolution' and 'Prey' bring a sound that fans are familiar with, while showing
progression overall in their sound and songwriting; 'All Light Fades' takes their sound up a few notches in intensity and edginess alike."
The "Absolution" EP was produced by the band and Scott
Creekmore at Mercenary Digital Studios in Zion, Illinois.
Fan-filmed video footage of DIRGE WITHIN performing a brand new song, "Memories",
on July 10, 2011 at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin can be viewed below.
DIRGE WITHIN guitarist, Shaun Glass, previously stated about the
group's new material, "I think the songs are more powerful and musical
than some of the past tracks but still remaining true to our sound."
In addition to Glass DIRGE WITHIN features vocalist Jeremy
"Jerms" Genske, guitarist Matt Szlachta, bassist James
Pezanoski (ex-FROM ALL WITHIN), and drummer Frankie Harchut (ex-THE DOOMSDAY CATALYST).
The band released a new digital EP on September 14, 2010 via iTunes featuring the rare track "Eulogy" as well as a re-recorded
version of an old demo song, "Ties That Bind".
DIRGE WITHIN's debut album, "Force Fed Lies", came out
on September 1, 2009 via E1 Music (formerly Koch Records). The CD
was mixed by Jeff Rose and Martin "Ginge" Ford of Nott-In-Pill studios in Newport, Wales,
United Kingdom. Edsel Dope (DOPE) produced the effort alongside Chris Djuricic (Studio One). The album features guest appearances by Corey Beaulieu of TRIVUM and Michael Angelo Batio of NITRO fame. The
cover artwork was created by Stephen Jensen from F3 studios.
Italy's OPERA IX has inked a deal with Agonia Records for the release of
the band's new album, "Strix Maledictae In Aeternum". Due in
November, the CD — which is described in a press release as "a great opera
dedicated to the dark ages of medieval witchcraft" — was recorded at the Occultum studios, owned by the OPERA IX guitarist Ossian, and was mastered
at the Necromorbus Studio in Alvik, Sweden.. The artwork was created by Kris
Verwimp.
"Strix Maledictae In Aeternum" will be released as a digipack
CD and on limited vinyl. A promotional video clip for the song "Mandragora" was recently completed and will make its online debut in the fall.
OPERA IX was previously signed to Displeased Records.
FAKE FIGURES, the Orange County, California-based
band featuring former members of ATREYU, HOTWIRE, SCARS OF
TOMORROW, NIGHTFALL and THE IRON MAIDENS, is preparing to
release its debut EP, "Hail The Sycophants".
According to a press release, "FAKE FIGURES has come, and
approaches at full tilt with a sonically diverse platter for those to choose
from. Having the good fortune of each member being associated with their
individual acts has led to an immense arsenal of song writing capabilities and
comfort during live performances.
"FAKE FIGURES are preparing to give a complete spectrum of their
inception and where they are now by also furnishing a full-length documentary
chronicling the bands beginning stages (demoing, rehearsals, photo shoot, new
member addition, first show, etc.), filmed by bass player Bob Bradley and singer Rus Martin; who also filmed and edited the band's first video
for the track 'Something Deadly'."
After accomplishing these freshman steps they are currently primed for the
future by reading themselves with social media promotions, merchandise plans,
additional shows, and a PR strike which will, conceivably, boost them into the
arms of their peers.
Soulseller Records is loudly presenting an exclusive
and limited seven-inch EP vinyl by Norwegian masters of
progressive/experimental metal ENSLAVED.
The mythological universe of ENSLAVED is full of references to the
timeless concepts of one's word and the strength of bonds. About a decade ago,
a pact between ENSLAVED and Soulseller Records were made to do a
strictly limited seven-inch release with exclusive ENSLAVED material.
The whole agreement was based on both parties' love for vinyl and the old ways
of the extreme metal scene. Well, shortly after the pact was made, ENSLAVED's
career accelerated a lot, and the ENSLAVED/Soulseller deal kept
having to wait for the next recording, promo trip or tour. Well, finally it was
realized that things were never going to slow down (which is good news!), and
that the time was right to do it! That ENSLAVED's present record label Indie
Recordings respected the agreement without hesitation only adds to the air
of genuine musical and artistic values that surrounds this release.
The result is the seven-inch vinyl entitled "Thorn";
consisting of the songs "Disintegrator" and "Striker",
pressed in a strictly limited number of 1,000 copies. The songs are eerie and
atmospheric, with nods both back towards ENSLAVED's edgier-monotonous
past and dark-psychedelic present. The seven-inch is produced by ENSLAVED's
own Ivar Bjørnson and Iver Sandøy (whom the band has worked with
since last year's "Axioma Ethica Odini").
Daniel Bobis, drummer for the Long Beach, New York
hardcore/metal/punk band CIPHER (Facebook
page), reportedly went missing Sunday morning in Sumatra, Indonesia.
According to the Long Beach Patch, Bobis, who is also a teacher at Long Beach High School
and surf team coach, was surfing in the city of Damai in the south of the Indonesian island
when he disappeared.
Long Beach teacher Jay Spitz told Long
Beach Patch that he received word from Bobis' wife, Rachel,
that Daniel had gone missing in the waters of south Sumatra
10 hours earlier. His board was located, but there was no sign of Bobis. Spitz explained that the "rescue efforts are horrible there"
due to the remote nature of the area. He added that Rachel Bobis, whom
he has been in contact with, said that the local United States Consulate has
been no help thus far.
Jarkko Ahola of the Finnish metal groups TERÄSBETONI and NORTHERN KINGS has launched a new "vital rock act" called AHOLA.
According to a press release, the group "has a suitable mix of past and
present — which is always an essential part of rock music. The band's musical
core consists of hit tunes, feeling and of course the skill to write and play
true and powerful rock music, wherein the authenticity and emotion are
relevant, leaving the vain posing to others."
Commented Ahola: "AHOLA is something I've been working on
for a long time.
"From the beginning I've written rock songs in English, but since being a
musician, you find yourself doing something you did never expect like singing
and playing in a huge act called TERÄSBETONI or participating a cool
project called NORTHERN KINGS. I guess that's part of the fascination!
"Anyway, still riff-based rock being the heart of my musical world, I
wanted to add some spice to the soup and do something that I wasn't so familiar
with: super tightness, speed… a flavor of punk rock, you might say.
"Oh, don't get scared, there's only a glimpse of it, giving the right edge
to the songs. THAT is the territory none of us really handle well which brings
this odd 'hanging on the edge' magic to our performance."
He continued, "The way I want to see AHOLA's music is: songs are, I
dare say, approachable with catchy choruses but when giving the songs a deeper
thought, loaded with layers you can dig into. You can hear echoes from classic
rock of the '70s, alternative rock and metal of the '90s and last decade, pop
music in general, that punk rock I mentioned and… well, listen to yourselves."
After a nine-month delay fraught with production delays and
financial woes, the long-awaited black metal documentary titled "Out Of
The Black" is back on track. The producers of the project plan on
making a full independent release sometime in the fall or winter of 2011. The
project will partially focus on the roots of black metal and the influence of
American death metal and thrash.
Commented executive producer Will Shackleford: "It's almost like
this production is cursed. We have had every single kind of issue you could
think of; personal, professional, you name it, it's happened."
Shackleford, a political blogger and guitarist/vocalist for the
Christian black metal band INCHAINED, says continues, "I hope we
are in the home stretch with this thing. We shifted the original focus a bit
and concentrated, partially, on the opinions of those outside of the black
metal scene. We interviewed some of the godfathers of death metal and thrash to
get their opinion on the origins of the sound of black metal."
DEATH OF DESIRE guitarist Pablo C. Vergara (a.k.a. Morbid),
who also serves as a co-producer for the project, added, "I'd like to say
that I am proud to be a part of this film. Not only did I have the chance to
meet with real extreme black metal bands on the West Coast of the U.S., but I
also had the opportunity of co-direct this movie along with Stefan Rydehed and William Shackleford, both talented filmmakers.:
"We never really stopped working. This kind of project takes some time in
the making, especially since all three directors were working in different
states and even separate continents."
The documentary will feature the following arists, among others:
* Simon "Pilgrim Beastarius" Rosén (CRIMSON MOONLIGHT)
* George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher (CANNIBAL CORPSE)
* Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE)
* Paul Mazurkiewicz (CANNIBAL CORPSE)
* Grim Vindkall (DOMGÅRD)
* Gary Holt (EXODUS)
* Rob Dukes (EXODUS)
* HansFurste (SVARTTJERN)
* Steve Tucker (MORBID ANGEL)
* Weston Cage (EYES OF NOCTUM)
* Morbid (DEATH OF DESIRE)
* Dawn Desiree (DEATH OF DESIRE)
* Steve Asheim (DEICIDE, ORDER OF ENNEAD)
South Carolina-based extreme metal band LECHEROUS
NOCTURNE has parted ways with vocalist Jason Hohenstein. He tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET in a statement, "I was writing/arranging in preparation of the new record
when I was asked to leave."
He continues, "I felt it was time to issue a statement since nothing has
officially been said.
"I DID NOT QUIT! I want to make that perfectly clear.
"Thanks to all the friends and fans for their support over the
years."
He adds, "Anyone looking for an experienced touring/session vocalist can
contact me at [this] email address: Songofsleep@yahoo.com."
LECHEROUS NOCTURNE's second album, "The Age of Miracles Has
Passed", was released in October 2008 via Unique Leader Records.
Once again recorded at SoundLab Studio in Columbia, South Carolina, "The Age of Miracles Has Passed" was said to be "a
refined yet diversified progression from 2006's 'Adoration of the Blade'."
ABOMINATION, the 1990s band formed by MASTER mainman Paul Speckmann, has tapped Raphael Saini (CHAOSWAVE, EMERGENCY GATE, WE ARE BUILDING RUINS, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS)
to play drums on its upcoming European reunion tour, which is scheduled to kick
off in November.
Commented Saini: "I am really happy to have the chance to joinPaul Speckmann for the European tour of ABOMINATION since I am a
very big fan of old-school U.S.
death metal! I am looking forward to have the chance to play some fast death
metal drums around Europe! Also I am happy to
play with Demetrio Scopelliti, an Italian killer guitar player. It will
be a blast!"
When asked about ABOMINATION's split and the possibility of a reunion, Speckmann stated in a 2009 interview, "Management played a big part in the fall of ABOMINATION and [the band's record label] Nuclear Blast made many mistakes as well.
As for a reunion, this will never happen as guitarist Dean Chioles died
of multiple sclerosis many years ago and this was a sad loss for all."
Regarding what significance ABOMINATION has had for him personally and
musically, Speckmann said, "ABOMINATION was a group that
experimented with many genres of music and wasn't afraid to try new ideas out
and this was a chance to try out many of my crazy changes and the band would
successfully implement them in their songs. I had the pleasure of bringing my ABOMINATION vision to Europe one time only for 26
performances and I will never forget this."
Vocalist Tor Arne Fassotte and guitarist/programmer Pål
Evensen of the Stavanger,
Norway-based goth-influenced rock/metal band ARTIFACT are mixing the
group's sophomore album, tentatively titled "Desolation", for
a late fall/early winter release.
Songtitles set to appear on the CD (in no particular order):
* Burn
* Nexus 6
* Close To You
* Never Failure
* Bound To Lose
* Headed For Breakdown
* A Home?
* My Happy Happy Pills
* The Devil's Road
* My Hate Is The Cure
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