Sir
Mick Jagger's latest project has hit a slight snag as the supergroup he has put
together have been compelled to cut down the running times of tracks following
their recording of "hour-long" jams.
The
68-year-old Rolling Stones legend has been working with singers Dave Stewart
and Joss Stone, as well as reggae star Damian Marley and AR Rahman – who won an
Oscar for composing the music on hit movie Slumdog Millionaire – under the
sobriquet SuperHeavy.
While
the album is scheduled to hit stores next month, Dave revealed that editing the
recording has become the band's main concern ahead of its release date.
Dave
spoke to BBC One programme The Andrew Marr Show, explaining that "it's a whole
fusion of different styles – Damian Marley's Jamaican, AR Rahman is Indian and
Mick's from England, so am
I, and Joss is from Devon".
The
58-year-old – who is probably most famous for his time with 1980s pop
sensations Eurythmics – added that "some of the first songs were an hour long,
(so) we had to edit them down".
He
added that "we wrote about 30 songs and then we brought it back down to 16 and
the album's out in September".
According to The Pulse Of Radio, Ozzy Osbourne had a small medical emergency on Monday night (August 1) — two of his front
teeth fell out. This news was announced by Ozzy's wife and manager, Sharon,
who appeared on the "Chelsea
Lately" talk show that night and said she got a call from her husband
right before going on the show. Sharon
explained to host Chelsea Handler, "I just got a phone call from
him. He goes, 'I've got a problem — my two bottom crowns have fallen out.' I
said, 'The two front bottom ones?' He said, 'Yeah'. I go, 'We've got a
problem.' He's got a show to do on Thursday (August 4)."
There is no word yet on whether Ozzy has gotten the teeth replaced in
time for the gig at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.
Monopoly: AC/DC Collector's
Editioncelebrates the rock 'n' roll dream with some of the greatest rock music of the
20th century and beyond. This completely customized game features the band's
most popular albums and locations including "Black Ice", "Stiff
Upper Lip", AC/DC Lane and more, allowing fans to build their
own AC/DC empire.
Includes six custom tokens: Cannon, Bundle of Dynamite, Bell on Fire, Lightning Bolt, Angus's School
Boy Hat, Stacks of Cash.
Ages 8+, 2-6 players.
Available now directly from the official AC/DC store where you can also find an exclusive "Monopoly:
AC/DC Collector's Edition/Live At River Plate" bundle (DVD or Blu-ray)
with commemorative t-shirt. Each order will also include a limited edition 2x3'
poster, available exclusively to fans who order through ACDC.com. Poster
supplies are limited, order now and reserve yours!
According to Fox Sports Australia, AC/DC lead singer Brian
Johnson is planning to co-drive in the 50th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. The 63-year-old is likely to drive for
Predator Performance in a Riley prototype car.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona will be run over January 28-29, 2012.
Eagerly anticipated by drivers, auto manufacturers and race fans everywhere,
the Rolex 24 at Daytona is the first major race of the international
motor sport season. Every January, the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
comes to life in celebration of this incredible endurance race, recognized by
leading drivers as one of the most difficult in the world to win.
Johnson is not only a rock legend, second-to-none at infusing
razor-sharp lyrics with the screaming metal energy of a true rock and roller,
but also a dyed-in-the-wool car fanatic. He told Motor Trend magazine that before he traversed the globe
many times as a rock star he drove all over the world in his mind as a kid in
his bedroom. Since driving represented freedom, he longed to drive, so learning
was easy. "I just took to it like a dog to water."
At age six, Johnson's father bought him a steering wheel and put a stick
through it. "I put it through the headboard of my bed and put four
cushions up. My dad would shake his head. I would drive all over the world. I'd
just be sitting there, brrrr!" he made an engine sound. "I could hear
my father say to my mother 'We're going to have to do something about
him.'"
Back then, rock star was not yet a career option, so Johnson would
daydream of one day becoming a bus driver. "I wanted to be a bus driver
more than anything," he explained. "When I was in school, I used to
look out the window and see the big red double-deck buses driving by. It just
looked so free. Then you'd hear, 'Johnson, pay attention when you're in
school!' 'Oh, sorry, sorry, mate!'"
Vocalist Bruce Dickinson of British heavy metal
legends IRON MAIDEN has told Daily Star that the band will make "at least one more
album" to follow last year's acclaimed "The Final Frontier".
Dickinson revealed that the bandmembers often struggle during the songwriting process,
explaining: "We try to keep things on an even keel. Being English, we still
have some reserve when we're communicating ideas to each other.
"[In the old days] we'd have a stand-up knock-down fight about anything.
But we know each other better now and people do mellow."
He added, "[When it's time to write an album] we go off on our own,
scribble ideas into our notebooks and come back to throw everything into the
melting pot.
"We know the boundaries of what we can do musically.
"We're not the kind of band who could say, 'Hey, let's do an album with Kanye
West,' because that wouldn't interest MAIDEN fans at all.
"Things have been going a bit more prog-rock on our recent albums and the
fans seem to love that."
In other news, IRON MAIDEN did not perform its classic song "The
Trooper" during the band's headlining concert last night (Wednesday,
August 3) in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Although no
official explanation was given by the group for its decision to omit the track
from the setlist, MAIDEN fans are speculating that this is because the band's
mascot, Eddie, has been an inspiration for several Irish loyalist
paramilitaries who have used its image from "The Trooper" single on wall murals throughout the North of Ireland (Photo#1, Photo#2, Photo#3).
Back in 2003, MAIDEN's Irish fans erupted in fury when Dickinson provocatively waved two giant Union Jacks during the band's first concert in Ireland in
almost 10 years.
In addition to Dickinson,
52, MAIDEN features guitarists Adrian Smith, Janick Gers and Dave Murray, all 54, plus bassist Steve Harris, 55, and
drummer Nicko McBrain, 57.
KISS vocalist/guitarist Paul Stanley will take
part in Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp's 14th-anniversary celebration at the
Playboy Mansion.
According to Shropshire Star, former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Kenneth
"K.K." Downing is seeking permission to put up marquees for
weddings and other functions in the grounds of his home at Astbury Hall in Shropshire, England.
Downing, who owns 18- and nine-hole golf courses on the property, has
permission for extensions to the hall to provide a hotel, use of a barn for
holiday lets and the erection of 12 holiday lodges. However, he is presently
not allowed to hold functions, including wedding receptions or barbecues, in
open areas outside the hotel building without the prior approval of Shropshire
Council and he wants to vary the conditions to allow marquees in three
locations.
Chelmarsh Parish Council has objected and is concerned there would be noise
nuisance and disturbance for residents.
In a 2009 interview with Shopshire Magazine, Downing admitted
that it could be odd coming back to sleepy Shropshire
after touring the world with JUDAS PRIEST.
"It is weird," he said. "I've been going and coming from this
place all my life and every time it's like it's reinventing itself. I have to
reintroduce myself to everything. I go to the cupboard and say, I'm sure I
bought some sugar — where is it?'"
Regarding his decision to buy a house not too far from his Midlands roots, he
said, "It became common sense to buy a property of your own and a few of
us acquired homes in the south of Spain. I came here in 1985 — a long
time. It was the house really that I liked. Before I came here I had a tiny
semi in Bloxwich as my first house, but the deal was that there was bus stop
outside it, and when we started doing 'Top Of The Pops' in the late
'70s, people used to get off the bus and walk up the garden path for an
autograph."
Downing recently slammed as inaccurate reports that he chose to quit JUDAS
PRIEST to concentrate on his championship golf course.
This fantasy-meets-fantasy 14th-anniversary camp, which is scheduled to take
place November 10-13, will include the final-night concert at the world-famous Playboy Mansion where you will perform live on
stage with Paul Stanley of KISS. The four-day camp or five-day
recording experience in Hollywood, California features the Camp's best
counselors, the option of a full day of recording and the final concert to be
performed in front of a sold-out audience at the famous Playboy Mansion.
"It's a great thing," said Stanley.
"It's a way for me to say thank you to a lot of people, but, nobody should
think that this is just a joy for those people... For me to get up and play
with people who have that exuberance and energy, it's really a gift to me as
much as to anybody else."
About Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp: Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp was
founded by David Fishof in 1997 as the ultimate music experience for the
amateur or aficionado, pairing music lovers of all levels together with rock
icons for a first-hand immersion in the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. Camp attendees
move from spectator to band member, sharing the stage — and limelight — with
rock icons for an once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Learn more about Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp, tour dates and pricing at www.rockcamp.com.
On September 27, British heavy metal legends SAXON will release their 19th studio album, "Call To Arms", in North America via UDR Music/EMI, and the
following day will launch a Stateside tour.
The digipack version of "Call To Arms" includes a glorious
bonus — a free seven-track CD, "Live At Donington 1980".
"Call To Arms" track listing:
01. Hammer Of The Gods
02. Back In '79
03. Surviving Against The Odds
04. Mists Of Avalon
05. Call To Arms
06. Chasing The Bullet
07. Afterburner
08. When Doomsday Comes (Hybrid Theory)
09. No Rest For The Wicked
10. Ballad Of The Working Man
11. Call To Arms - Orchestral Version
Digipack bonus feature:
Live At Donington 1980 (remixed and remastered from original multitrack tape)
01. Motorcycle Man
02. Still Fit To Boogie
03. Freeway Mad
04. Backs To The Wall
05. Wheels Of Steel
06. Bap Shu Ap
07. 747 (Strangers In The Night)
The band latest video clip, for the song "Call To Arms", will
be premiered this Friday, August 5 at noon EST on AOL's Noisecreep.
It's been 35 years since SAXON's inception, and the group can still
easily hold its own with the headbanging competition.
"It's important to keep one foot in the past and one foot very much in the
present," says singer Biff Byford. "At some points in your
life, whether you're younger or older, you do have these wonderful periods of
'state of graceness' where everyone likes everything you write. But you can't
keep being your own tribute band, you have to try and write great new songs,
and you have to try to appeal to a younger audience. SAXON has been
successfully doing that for the last decade, and the result is we still have
our old fan base but we also have a whole new, younger one too."
California
rock veterans MÖTLEY CRÜE have landed at position No. 4 on this week's Billboard.com "Hot Tours" rankings with ticket
sales from 11 performances, adding $5.8 million to the tour's overall gross of
$10.7 million. The summer trek has included stops at both amphitheaters and
arenas and featured support from the bands POISON and NEW YORK DOLLS.
Total attendance was logged at just over 197,000 from the 20 shows that have
been reported.
* Artist/Event: MÖTLEY CRÜE
* Total Gross: $5,816,669
* Show Dates: June 24-July 22
* Show Venue/City:
- Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- DTE Energy Music Center, Clarkston, Michigan
- First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, Illinois
- Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, Indiana
- Star Pavilion at Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania
- Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, New Jersey
- Comcast Center, Mansfield, Massachusetts
- Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Darien Center, New York
* Total Attendance: 122,548
* Capacity: 122,548
MÖTLEY CRÜE's current headlining trek with support from POISON and special guests NEW YORK DOLLS kicked off on June 7 at Gexa Energy
Pavilion in Dallas, Texas and will have hit more than 40 cities before coming
to a close this month.
The initial tour announcement by Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and NEW
YORK DOLLS' David Johansen was made on the syndicated radio show "Sixx
Sense With Nikki Sixx"on March 1.
During a May 1 press conference at Bamboozle in East Rutherford, New
Jersey, MÖTLEY CRÜE's veteran production manager and set designer, Robert
Long, presented graphic renderings of the new set design, which he
described as "a hard-hitting CRÜE rendition of a rock 'n' roll
burlesque theatre." According to Long, the entire stage is
enveloped in red velvet drapery and a damask printed wall of guitar amps.
Continuing to integrate the input of their fans, MÖTLEY CRÜE conducted a
survey by listing every song they have ever recorded. Fans voted at Motley.com for the final set list, which includes tracks band hasn't performed live
together in almost 20 years.
U.D.O., the German metal band led by former ACCEPT frontman Udo Dirkschneider, has been for confirmed for next year's
edition of the Wacken Open Air festival, set to take place August 2-4,
2012 in Wacken, Germany. The group states, "The show will be recorded for
the forthcoming live DVD! Furthermore, there are more surprises currently in
the works."
Quality video footage of U.D.O.'s May 6, 2011 performance at El Teatro
Colegiales in Buenos Aires, Argentina can
be seen below.
The band's setlist was as follows:
01. The Bogeyman
02. Dominator
03. Independence Day
04. The Bullet and the Bomb
05. Restless and Wild (ACCEPT cover)
06. Son of a Bitch (ACCEPT cover)
07. Thunderball
08. Vendetta
09. Princess of the Dawn (ACCEPT cover)
10. Midnight Mover (ACCEPT cover)
11. Man and Machine
12. Breaker (ACCEPT cover)
13. Animal House
14. Metal Heart (ACCEPT cover)
Encore:
15. Holy
16. Balls to the Wall (ACCEPT cover)
Encore 2:
17. I'm a Rebel (ACCEPT cover)
18. Burning (ACCEPT cover)
19. Fast as a Shark (ACCEPT cover)
"Rev-Raptor", the new album from U.D.O., was released
on May 20 via AFM Records. The effort was made available in the
following formats:
* CD (Jewel Case)
* CD (Digipak)
* CD (Japan)
* Vinyl black
* Vinyl green
* Limited Box
The digipak contains the two bonus tracks "Time Dilator" and "Heavy
Metal W:O:A" plus the videos for "Leatherhead" and
the second single, "I Give As Good As I Get".
The Japanese version of "Rev-Raptor" includes the bonus tracks "Stormbreaker" and "Bodyworld".
The green-vinyl edition of "Rev-Raptor" is limited to 200
copies and available exclusively via Nuclear Blast mailorder.
The recordings for "Rev-Raptor" took place between June 2010
and February 2011 at Roxx studios (owned by U.D.O. guitarist and
ex-ACCEPT drummer Stefan Kaufmann) in Pulheim, Germany.
The CD was mastered by Manfred Melchior at MM Sound Digital studios in Steinhagen, Germany. The album's cover artwork
is once again a comic-like motif: but the "Dominator" character is this time "a lot more effectual and colorful," according
to a press release.
Tonight's QUEENSRŸCHE concert at the Hampton Beach
Casino & Ballroom in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire has been postponed
due to illness. The new show date will be Saturday, October 29. All tickets for
tonight's show will be honored for the new date in October. Those that cannot
make the new date can get refunds at the point of purchase. The band states,
"We are extremely sorry for any inconvenience."
Fan-filmed video footage of QUEENSRŸCHE performing a new song, "Get
Started", on July 16, 2011 at the O2 Apollo in Manchester, England
as the support act for JUDAS PRIEST can be seen below.
"Get Started" comes off QUEENSRŸCHE's new album, "Dedicated
To Chaos", which sold 8,000 copies in the United States in its first
week of release to land at position No. 70 on The Billboard 200 chart. The
band's previous CD, the epic concept album "American Soldier",
opened with 21,000 units back in April 2009 to enter the chart at No. 25. This
was roughly half the first-week tally registered by QUEENSRŸCHE's "Operation:
Mindcrime II" album, which shifted 44,000 copies in the United States
in its first week of release back in April 2006 to debut at No. 14 on The
Billboard 200 chart.
QUEENSRŸCHE's 2003 effort, "Tribe", sold 20,000 copies
in the first week while 1999's "Q2K", opened with sales of
28,000.
QUEENSRŸCHE's top-selling album by far is 1990's "Empire",
which was certified triple-platinum in October 1994 for sales in excess of three
million copies in the United States. The original "Operation:
Mindcrime" release (1988) attained platinum status in August 1991,
while 1994's "Promised Land" reached the same plateau in
December 1994.
"Dedicated To Chaos" was released on June 28 in North America via Loud & Proud Records, a Roadrunner
Records imprint focusing on established artists. The band is currently
touring in support of the new opus, which was recorded in the group's hometown
and produced by Kelly Gray.
Former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy spoke to AOL's Noisecreep earlier this week about his new band ADRENALINE
MOB's upcoming first U.S.
headlining tour, which kicks off on August 14 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
When asked if he expected ADRENALINE MOB to be doing a headlining tour
this soon in the game, Portnoy said, "Actually, after the one New
York City 'unveiling' we did at the end of June, we weren't planning on doing
any more shows until the album came out — and then the offer came in to do
these GODSMACK dates, which of course we couldn't pass up! However, the GODSMACK shows are all in the secondary markets that they didn't hit on the [Rockstar
Energy Drink] Mayhem Festival, so we figured being we were already
going to be up and running, we'd fill in the 'off' dates with some shows of our
own in some of the major markets we could get to while out touring with the GODSMACK shows. But honestly, this all came about sooner than we had planned! The original
plan was to wait until the album came out (which at this rate wasn't going to
be until the beginning of 2012). This all also played into us moving things
forward quicker than expected and getting the EP out NOW, so we could do this
tour and have a product out that was available to the public and for people to
get to know some of the music immediately rather than waiting for the
traditional three-to-four-month 'set-up period' record companies usually need
to get a release out."
Regarding how he sees his role onstage with ADRENALINE MOB as compared
to other bands he's been in and whether he is the de facto frontman (that is to
say, actual, though not official, frontman) given his history, Portnoy said, "Well, with DREAM THEATER live, I may have been a bit of a
focal point because I absolutely live for the energy on stage and having
interaction with the audience is absolutely crucial to me — regardless of how
some others have described it! [laughs] So my character and stage presence may
have stuck out a bit with those guys who are maybe slightly more reserved than
I. However, in ADRENALINE MOB, there are five guys that are ALL
absolutely insanely energetic performers each of their own right. It's like a
five-ring circus on stage! I absolutely am NOT the 'de facto frontman' in the MOB — that title surely goes to Russell Allen, who is one of the best
frontmen in the business. I am just happy to be part of the band, and not
necessarily leading it."
In a recent interview, DREAM THEATER singer James
LaBrie said that everything "is much more balanced" in the band
following Portnoy's departure" and things are "where [they]
should be on stage, [without anybody] in the background trying to grab the
limelight when maybe they should just be grooving or whatever." He added,
"But I mean, that's [Portnoy's] character, that's just his
personality. He's big and he wants to be in the limelight. But, unfortunately,
the problem with that is that it takes away from the bigger picture — and that
is the band as a unit."
In addition to Mike Portnoy, ADRENALINE MOB features SYMPHONY
X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC
STOMP), bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward.
The band will release its debut EP on August 9. The self-titled effort will
available via iTunes as well as sold in physical form at the group's
upcoming shows and online store. Self-produced by the band, "Adrenaline
Mob" features four original tracks as well as a blistering cover of
the Ronnie James Dio-era BLACK SABBATH classic "The Mob
Rules". From the opening riff of "Psychosane" through
the over-six-minute epic-sounding "Hit The Wall", it is clear
that ADRENALINE MOB are in class all their own as musicians.
"Adrenaline Mob" track listing:
01. Psychosane
02. Believe Me
03. Hit The Wall
04. Down To The Floor
05. The Mob Rules
ADRENALINE MOB formed in early 2011 when Orlando approached Allen with
some material the guitarist had written. Allen and Orlando refined those ideas, at which time Allen reached out to longtime friend Portnoy to see if he had any interest in playing with them. Portnoy jumped on
board and soon thereafter DiLeo and Ward were recruited to join
the family. From the very first note, the chemistry was apparent and the beast
that is known as ADRENALINE MOB was born.
Professionally filmed video footage of ADRENALINE MOB performing a cover
version of the BLACK SABBATH classic "The Mob Rules" on
June 24 at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City can be seen below.
A review of ADRENALINE MOB's concert at the Hiro Ballroom — which marked
the group's first-ever live performance — can be found at NY Hard Rock Music Examiner.
THE DARKNESS frontman Justin Hawkins has
revealed to U.K.'s Total Guitar magazine that the band's third album is almost complete.
"To use one analogy, the house is built," Justin tells Total
Guitar as part of an exclusive interview for issue 218. "And it's a
lovely house. How we decorate it is the next conundrum. We're getting to the
stage where it's like, how much do we want to blow it?
"We could do all those big QUEEN arrangements, it's just whether we
want to. Do you overblow it? Do you underblow it? Do you cup the sack while
administering said blowjob? Do you pop a finger up the arse? We have to decide
how the happy ending goes."
The as-yet-untitled comeback CD was rehearsed in THE DARKNESS' Lowestoft hometown and was recorded at guitarist Dan
Hawkins' home studio.
"Home is where the heart is," says Justin. "When you
write songs, you need a grounding to set the stories in. There's a lot about
small-town life. The album has songs about stuff that's happened to us in the
town. [As for influences], it's AC/DC, QUEEN, AEROSMITH,
et cetera."
"There's some really great, almost 'DIRE STRAITS' Strat stuff from Justin on the record," says Dan. "That's another big influence.
"There are some interesting wah sounds, and we made a point of ditching
all that click track shit, because rock music needs to breathe. It's party
music. With something like 'Cannonball', every single part of the song is
a riff!"
THE DARKNESS made its U.K.
live comeback on June 5 in front of just 200 people at the Norwich Waterfront.
THE DARKNESS' appearance at the Download festival at Donington Park
in Leicestershire, United Kingdom in June marked the
band's first festival appearance since splitting up in 2006.
THE DARKNESS' first album, "Permission To Land", was
released in 2003, hitting the No. 1 spot in the U.K. chart and winning
"MasterCard British Album" at the 2004 Brit Awards (along with
"Best British Group" and "British Rock Act").
Between 2003 and 2006, THE DARKNESS was honored with many awards and
accolades; along with three Brit Awards, the band won an Ivor Novello in 2004 for "Songwriters Of The Year", four Kerrang! Awards,
two Metal Hammer Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award and even an Elle
Style Award in 2004 for "Most Stylish Band".
Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal of Metal Assault recently conducted an interview with
guitarist Phil Demmel of San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD.
A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Metal Assault: The new album is titled "Unto The Locust".
What can you tell me about the idea behind the title and the overall lyrical
theme for the album?
Phil: Well... (laughs) .. the word "locust" kind of came up
because I had a couple of people in my life that had ulterior motives under the
guise of purity. They had ulterior intentions, and I'm sure everybody has
discovered in their lives when a friend or a business associate or lover, or
anything like that, come up to you only to get what they can from you. Like a
locust, they soak up everything until they see that it's eradicating, and move
on to the next resource. This title is about that type of person.
Metal Assault: Musically, where do you think it stands in comparison to
the previous MACHINE HEAD albums?
Phil: I think this is a big departure. Not a huge departure, but there
are elements that we're kind of branching out in. So I think you'll get to hear
some of the old elements that have kind of drawn the people that have been part
of our fan base, but it's a snapshot of where we are in time right now. That's
what the past records have been, too. [It's] just kind of where we are
personally, emotionally and creatively.
Metal Assault: How has this album compared to previous ones in terms of
the time you've taken to write it? Have you taken longer with this one?
Phil: Well, I think the fact that the [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem [Festival] tour was coming up kind of pushed us into the studio before
we would have liked. But timing-wise, I would have liked to be able to write a
little bit more, because we were on such a roll. Sometimes you don't get to
choose those things, but we still took 15 months off, and I think we've got a
great and solid record. Besides, we don't write like most other bands do. I
mean, I was talking to some of my buddies in these bands (laughs), and they go,
"Yeah, we've got 30 songs written and we're going to pick and
choose!" And I was like, man, we wrote just eight songs for the previous
album and for one of them it was just like we threw a bunch of stuff together
and it turned out to be pretty cool. We write the songs one at a time, and they
tell a story. So if the story is incomplete, we can't put them on there.
"The Hunter", the new album from Atlanta progressive
metallers MASTODON, will be released in several configurations that
feature an exciting interactive 3D experience known as Augmented Reality. The
technology, created by Los Angeles-based company Total Immersion,
combines virtual and real worlds to create a 3D one-of-a-kind interactive
experience that users can control. Just by using a camera on a computer, their
own face and the cover art on "The Hunter", the user can turn
themselves into "The Hunter" sculpture that is pictured on the
cover.
Though the track "Black Tongue" from "The Hunter" has already made its presence known, "Curl Of The Burl" will
be the first official single from the album and will be digitally released
worldwide on August 16 through all digital music retailers. A video for the
track will be filmed in the near future.
The physical configurations for "The Hunter", which will be
released by Reprise Records on September 27, are as follows:
* Standard CD: Includes the album's 13 tracks, plus a basic Augmented Reality
Experience in which the users head becomes the "creature" on the
album's front cover in full 3D.
* Deluxe Physical CD/DVD: Sold as a 13-song digipack with an alternative cover,
this package includes the standard CD, with the basic Augmented Reality
Experience, plus a DVD that includes a track-by-track, psychedelic visualizer,
the "Deathbound" and "Black Tongue" videos.
* Direct-To-Fan Package: This exclusive package will be comprised of the
complete 13-song digipack album. Additionally, buyers will receive two digital
bonus tracks on day of release (more on that soon). An exclusive insert will be
included which triggers an enhanced Augmented Reality Experience and contains
additional embedded content (again, more on the subject to be revealed
shortly). Also included is a 20" x 30" lenticular poster of the
standard album cover artwork.
"The Hunter" track listing:
01. Black Tongue
02. Curl Of The Burl
03. Blasteroid
04. Stargasm
05. Octopus Has No Friends
06. All The Heavy Lifting
07. The Hunter
08. DryBone Valley
09. Thickening
10. Creature Lives
11. Spectrelight
12. Bedazzled Fingernails
13. The Sparrow
14. The Ruiner (limited-edition bonus track)
15. Deathbound (limited-edition bonus track)
"Curl Of The Burl" will make its online debut on August 6.
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.
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.
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.
EspyRock conducted an interview with
rhythm guitarist and keyboard player Bob
Katsionis of Greek melodic metallers FIREWIND at the U.K. installment of the
Sonisphere festival, which was held July 8-10, 2011 at Knebworth House. A
couple
of excerpts from the chat follow below.
EspyRock: I know right now you're working on new material and I've been talking
to some bands about the control over the creative aspect of music and
how important they feel it is to control that side of the music and let
the business side of the things be handled by others. One thing that is
noticeable with FIREWIND releases is that you change often from
self-producing to bringing someone in to produce but even then you still have a
strong hand in that side of things so what do you think brings
better results?
Bob Katsionis: This is actually tricky
because we were actually thinking about having someone else come in to
take a look at our sound because we want others' opinions, but Gus [G., guitar]
and I have a pretty certain idea of what we want to do with the music. Gus lays
all the guidelines and I have a lot of technical
knowledge, so it is pointless at times to have someone come in and say
"do this and do that" when we are pretty sure about what we are
doing. I think
this is why we have somewhat of an original sound but, of course, it's not the
most original sound ever like SYSTEM OF A DOWN.
EspyRock: But you can always tell it is FIREWIND when you hear it.
Bob Katsionis: Exactly. You always know it is FIREWIND when it has these riffs
and these keyboards and this can only happen if you produce your own band. So
now we're at a turning point that we
think maybe we shouldn't do something that sounds like an
"Allegiance" part
four, maybe we should bring in someone else who can say "Let's try this
and
that," and why not?! We're on our seventh album.
EspyRock: How is the new material coming along that you have been working on?
Bob Katsionis: It has been coming along well. I can tell you that we have
around
ten
new songs so far which we are working very hard on and we trade files
with one another every day. We still don't know what is going to happen, but we
know there is going to be a change, whether it has a little more pop or death
metal to the sound or whatever. We all have this feeling
that we will need to change something and explore what is going on
because we had people calling us "power metal," but people don't know
what power metal is. We know what power metal is because we grew up with it but
people just gave us a tag and then others followed. We want to
do music in our own style and to do that maybe the arrangements will
change or maybe the production will change but whatever happens we will
release another good album with good songs.
EspyRock: From that point of maybe having to introduce more pop or death metal,
what
would you actually like to hear being brought into the FIREWIND sound if you
feel it needs that change?
Bob Katsionis: I don't know, and it is hard, because we are five different
people with three songwriters, so it is hard to determine which way it will
turn. I know in my mind but I cannot think of the way to describe it right now.
[laughs] Ahh, it is on my tongue, but I wish I could describe it
[laughs], I just cannot think of the correct words, but I suppose, in a
way, a little more rock. We just really want to release good songs, that is the
main goal, and I don't want to throw in all of my influences as
I'm a DREAM THEATER fan and stuff like that. I don't want to take my influences
and put that into the band because it is useless. A lot
of bands do it when they say, "Let's play like this band," and
nothing
good happens as you just sound like something that has already come and
passed you by. I don't know where it will end but we also feel a little
pressure right now because a lot of heads have turned to FIREWIND because of
Ozzy, he has helped turn heads to FIREWIND, and we have to make sure that this
is a very good album.
Attila Timár of Über Röck recently conducted an interview with WARRIOR
SOUL/TROUBLE frontman Kory Clarke. A couple of excerpts from
the chat follow below.
Über Röck: A few days ago you aired some new WARRIOR SOUL demos
on your Facebook profile. How would you describe the direction of the
new songs for those who missed the 24-hour pre-listen chance? Are the songs
going to be as kick-ass as "Destroy The War Machine" or can
fans expect some psychedelic tripping infiltrating into the new WARRIOR SOUL output?
Kory: It's going to be a WARRIOR SOUL album, and due to the title
("Rubicon") and theme, we will probably be once again
majestic, soaring, aggressive, proud. I went to the studio at Christmas in Stockholm with Rille
Lundell [WARRIOR SOUL guitarist] and we tracked about eight songs.
It might have been more, I can't remember. It was great writing and we found a
deal and we are getting ready to release in mid-September 2011. The album is
called "Rubicon", which means "past the point of no
return." Some of it was written in Salon, Sweden; most of
it in Rille's apartment.
Über Röck: And how are you feeling yourself in [TROUBLE]?
Kory: Well, I feel myself in every band. [laughs out loud] Irate! I
mean... great! [more laughing] This is going to be one of my proudest/best
records. To work on a debut with Rick Wartell and Bruce Franklin is pretty amazing. To be able to cross genres and truly speak a new language
and excel at it is the ultimate fulfillment. By the way, we did a cruise in
January 2011. We did the 70,000 Tons Of Metal cruise in January. It was
great to play with all those guys and we used the time as well to record in Chicago.
Über Röck: Your artistic versatility is clear from your current
activity: you have a new spoken-word CD coming out, you sell your original
artwork, plus photos of you. Please, tell us about all these projects. Are you
the one who takes care of the business part of all these, or you have someone
handling this?
Kory: I've decided just do art and be creative and expand the horizons
of what an artist can do. All the "Kory The Words" pieces and
projects have been successful on many levels and I enjoy making them. I have
wonderful people that help out on the business side and I'm truly indebted to
them for their dedication to my projects. I also have close friends like John
Dryland from Cargo Records throwing out ideas to me all the time. I
started painting in preparation for a gallery show in London while waiting for tours to start and
people started buying my stuff so the idea was to have a limited run of these
as a special collection up until the beginning of the tour dates. Then I was
reading some of my new poetry I was working on and thought, "Why not put
it out with the paintings?" Then the 'Warrior Soul For Download' Facebook page got my attention as I was receiving so many messages and decided to make
"We Are The Government Flags" to protest not being allowed to play
and they started selling! Now I'm expanding on all of it and introducing my
first "Metal Flag" this week and it looks great in person, I'm still
trying to get it photographed properly. I'm also working on a Kory "The
Words" acoustic album that many of my friends will play on. I'll have
a teaser up on Kory Clarke Facebook page in a couple days as well as some other
fun stuff for free like my new Kory's Compliments and WARRIOR SOUL ringtones. If anyone is curious about "The Words" project, go
to korythewords@gmail.com and someone will answer all inquiries about showings,
solo performances, my art pieces, all that stuff.
CHICKENFOOT, the supergroup featuring former VAN
HALEN members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, will release
its sophomore effort, "Chickenfoot III", on September 27. VAN
HALEN is also rumored to be releasing a new album this fall.
Speaking to VH1 Radio Networks' Dave Basner, Michael said,
"I know people, from the fans and the critics, they'll all be doing the
heavy comparison thing and you know what, I'd be lying if I didn't say, 'Yeah,
sure I'm interested to hear what a new album, you know, what they got
happening.' But I'm very proud of what we've done and I don't mind at all. They
can put their album out before, after, or on the same day. They want to go out
on tour, we'll open up for them, I don't care. [laughs]"
Anthony hasn't spoken to any of the members of VAN HALEN since
the end of the band's 2004 tour. He said earlier this year, "The tour did
not end as harmoniously as we would have liked it to and it probably should
have gone on longer than it did." Still, Anthony wouldn't be
against having his band CHICKENFOOT open for VAN HALEN should
they go on tour — "I got no problem with that," he said.
Anthony last year said that Eddie and Alex Van Halen hold
a grudge against him for maintaining a friendship with Sammy Hagar. Anthony recalled to Mojo, that the problems started between him and the band
when in the late '90s, VAN HALEN once again tried unsuccessfully to
bring David Lee Roth back into the fold. With VAN HALEN seemingly
on hiatus, Hagar had called Anthony to see if he was interested
in hooking up with him and Neal Schon in their side project PLANET US.
Anthony explained, "Some VAN HALEN fans say I left the band
to hook up with Sammy, but I never said, 'I quit.' There was nothing
going on in the VAN HALEN camp, but Eddie kinda backed me up against
a wall. . . Eddie felt that I was a traitor. I helped hook Sammy back up with them for the 2004 reunion tour, but Eddie didn't want me to
be a part of that originally, so I took a big pay cut. I'm not crying, I didn't
need the money. I did that because I wanted to play for the fans. I signed away
any legal rights I had with the name, the trademark or whatever. I did it
because if that was the last time VAN HALEN would ever be on stage, I
wanted to be part of it."
He went on to say, "The major reason why I'm not in VAN HALEN (now)
is because I became friends with Sammy again. The Van Halen brothers never got over that. If they hold a grudge, they hold it
forever."
During VAN HALEN's August 2007 press conference announcing their reunion
tour with David Lee Roth and Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen on bass, Roth skirted over the issue of why a then-16 year old kid was
playing bass instead of Anthony. "Michael Anthony is part of
this band's history, " he said. "There's a lot of great alumni who
have been through this band. I'm shocked that any of us are still vertical
after 30 years. And as far as why Wolf is in the band, may I speak for
you, Ed? I understand how he wanted to play with the boy because he's
amazing."
Jonny B. of Bloody-Disgusting.com conducted an interview with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan
Bathory about the band's upcoming album, "American Capitalist".
A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Bloody-Disgusting.com: Let's jump right into the new album, "American
Capitalist", and, specifically, the title. What does it mean and how
does it relate to the music?
Zoltan: First of all, we always liked the idea that the title could push
a couple of buttons on top of being just a title. And I mean "pushing a
button" as in we have something to say. Though it's definitely not a
concept album, there is a definite theme that runs across the songs. I don't
want to jump into analyzing the economy and politics and the various fields of
social sciences, but it's kind of connected to the songs in a way that America adopted
a form of capitalism that is very close to nature. Nature is pretty cool in
that the way it works is that the strong kills the weak and it's a circle of
life and we dig that theme. We placed that in today's society. We're living in
a concrete jungle, you know what I mean? You have to go and "hunt,"
so that you can make money. Even though the process changed, the fundamentals
are still the same. So if the fundamentals are still the same, you pretty much,
humans especially due to the intelligence we acquired, have to make conscious
of whether you're going to be the zebra or whether you're going to join the
lion pride and go out there a maul a motherfucker! [laughs] It's just what it
is! You know! And we get a lot of flak from people who say, "This is bro
metal," or "This is tough-guy music," and you know what?! Yeah!
It's like, "Fuck you! I don't play music for the pussies. It IS tough-guy
music!" I like that we play to an audience that share this idea of
survivalism. And this connects to the spirit of the champion. You get the fuck
up and fight one more round, no matter what! And that's what "American
Capitalist" is about. I can definitely speak about this because I came
to this country with my guitar on my back and nothing in my pocket. I came from
absolute zero and kind of made it. I look at my singer who was a foster child.
My guitarist was adopted after being found in the streets in some garbage.
Every single member of this band came and fought for it.
Bloody-Disgusting.com: You won the "Best Shredder" at the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. Did this make you feel any kind of
pressure when writing and recording for "American Capitalist"?
Zoltan: No, it's more that I want to give a shout-out to Yngwie
Malmsteen and all those guys: Thank you for not running that year! [laughs]
You know what I mean? There is no way you beat Yngwie, right? Or Steve
Vai. No, but it's definitely an honor and I feel like something like that,
an award like that, it is a milestone, it is an honor. It is not an open door
for someone to become an asshole. It just means that at that moment you were
bringing something interesting to the table that is both technically
interesting for the people that play and was also digestible enough for the
fans so that they will vote for you. Look, I'm sure there are guitarists that
can play our eyes out, but maybe they didn't bring anything to the table. Music
in an interesting thing because there are songwriters and there are noodlers.
The noodlers can sit at home and play your eyes out, but they're never going to
go anywhere because they just fucking noodle. You have to understand that there
is another part of music, which is songwriting. Much more difficult to connect
to millions of people with a song than to write a song that has weird time
signatures and a million notes per second. Yeah, we can all do that, but that's
not the idea. So an award like that, that's what it means. As for pressure? Not
really. The pressure is more self-inflicted if anything because we are a people
that can't fail. We do not expect and do not accept failure and if we would do
a record that is not really strong or just thrown together, that would be
unacceptable to us first and foremost. So if the pressure comes from anywhere,
it comes from ourselves and from our bandmates. You have five guys in a band
that has a really strong "shit meter." We are really critical and we get
on each other if somebody sees something that is not right or that could be
better.
British thrashers EVILE have dedicated one of the
songs from their new album, "Five Serpent's Teeth", to the U.K.'s Bloodstock festival. Fans attending the festival next weekend will be
among the first people to hear the brand new track, titled "Centurion",
as it will be played through the PA system between bands on the main stage
throughout the festival.
EVILE frontman Matt Drake spoke to Bloodstock to explain
the meaning behind the new track and why it was dedicated to the U.K.'s favorite
all-metal festival. Check out the clip below.
Stated Drake: "Bloodstock festival has always been good to
our little band EVILE and we can't thank them enough for the chance they
gave us way back in 2006 to headline the unsigned stage, which ultimately put
us on course to being able to have a go at some of the things we've done. So
when we had recorded the song called 'Centurion', it made us think about Bloodstock — there's just something about that track that made us feel
'Bloodstocky'. It might be the epicness, or the subject matter, or just the
sheer 'taking it seriously while not taking it seriously' shamelessness of the
song. Maybe all those things! But it made us think about Bloodstock all
the same, so we would like to dedicate the song to Bloodstock festival
as a thank you for being so good with our rock quartet over the years! Bloodstock is an amazing place; long may it continue!"
Bloodstock's Vicky Gregory has issued the following statement:
"Nothing gives us more excitement and pleasure to see the success of EVILE;
the band stormed through our unsigned competition at Bloodstock and have
never looked back! We expect great things from them and, having heard tracks
from the new album, they won't disappoint!"
The cover artwork for "Five Serpent's Teeth", the third
full-length album from EVILE, can be seen below. The CD was once again
recorded with producer Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU
BORGIR) at Parlour Studios in Kettering, U.K. and is
scheduled for release on September 26 via Earache Records.
Regarding the new album cover, EVILE vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matt
Drake stated, "As is always the case with EVILE, we try and do
things a bit differently from what we've done before, so we fancied something a
bit more design-orientated this time around. It's been done by a great artist
by the name of Gustavo Sazes and he really came through for us as we
were struggling to find something that visually accompanied the music, so hats
off to the man! Make what you will of any meaning you think the cover may hold,
much the same as you will be able to do with the lyrical content of the album;
we know what it means to us, so enjoy!"
"Five Serpent's Teeth" track listing:
01. Five Serpent's Teeth
02. In Dreams of Terror
03. Cult
04. Eternal Empire
05. Xaraya
06. Origin of Oblivion
07. Centurion
08. In Memoriam
09. Descent Into Madness
10. Long Live New Flesh
"Eternal Empire" is now available for purchase at iTunes.
Commented EVILE lead guitarist Ol Drake: "There's such
diversity through this album that I simply can't wait for people to hear these
tracks. We spent a long time in the studio and at home figuring out the best
order we could place these tracks in to flow perfectly through the album. The
tracks go from the stomping heaviness of 'Cult' to the
eeriness/melancholy of 'In Memoriam' to the pure insanity of 'Descent
Into Madness'."
Italian rock/metal act LACUNA COIL will hit the road
in support of its upcoming album, "Dark Adrenaline", with an
extensive U.K.
tour under the banner "Darkness Rising" in November.
After spending many months in the recording studio, the band are dying to get
on the road again and perform songs from "Dark Adrenaline" live.
Commented vocalist Cristina Scabbia: "LACUNA COIL is back,
coilers! We can FINALLY announce the new U.K. tour dates and I couldn't be
more thrilled (it was hard to keep them a secret)! And this will also be your
first chance to hear something new from our upcoming album, 'Dark
Adrenaline'!
"You all know how much we enjoy being surrounded by the ol' British dark
love, that's why we definitely want to see you all this November! We'll give
away our black hearts and velvet vibes to you.
"We are already excited about this tour... So be there with us, horns up
in the darkness!"
The dates are as follows:
Nov. 02 - Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
Nov. 03 - Stoke On Trent, UK - Sugarmill
Nov. 04 - Sheffield, UK - Corporation
Nov. 05 - Birmingham, UK - Institute Library
Nov. 07 - Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK - Newcastle University
Nov. 08 - Glasgow, UK - King Tuts
Nov. 09 - Aberdeen, UK - Lemon Tree
Nov. 10 - Dundee, UK - The Doghouse
Nov. 12 - Manchester, UK - Academy 2
Nov. 13 - Cardiff, UK - CF10
Nov. 14 - Exeter, UK - Phoenix
Nov. 16 - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2
Nov. 17 - Folkestone, UK - Quarterhouse
Nov. 18 - Bournemouth, UK - Old Fire Station
Nov. 20 - Colchester, UK - Colchester Arts Center
Nov. 21 - Northampton, UK - Road Menders
Nov. 22 - London, UK - ULU
Nov. 23 - Oxford, UK - O2 Academy
Century Media Records has pushed back the projected release date of "Dark
Adrenaline" to early 2012 from the previously announced October.
LACUNA COIL co-vocalist Andrea Ferro recently told Revolver magazine about the sound of the new CD, "We
have different kinds of songs — some are pretty heavy with a really powerful
groove and some killer riffs, some have a darker vibe a bit more in our traditional
style, and some others are more anthemic. In my opinion, it's a great
collection of metal and rock songs."
When asked if the band is trying anything different with the material this time
around, Ferro said, "There's a variety of moods; some things which
are new, and some which sound like more traditional LACUNA COIL. We were
experimenting with the previous album and we learned a lot from that about what
is the essence of our 'sound.' We usually never repeat the same record, and
that will again be the case this time around. It's 100 percent a LACUNA COIL album, with the benefit of some great inspiration during the songwriting
process."
Regarding the band's renewed collaboration with producer Don Gilmore (PEARL
JAM, LINKIN PARK, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE), Ferro said, "After you've spent a few months constantly working on the songs,
it's important to have someone like Don come in and give you a sincere
opinion of the songs. He is helping us in keeping things fresh, and getting our
sound together for 2011. Most of the songs haven't really changed in essence,
but he is really good at outlining the most important and interesting details
of the music and the lyrics. He also creates a really great vibe while
recording."
Check out photos from the studio at RevolverMag.com.
WHITE WIZZARD's previously announced European tour,
which was scheduled to take place in September, has been postponed. The band
states, "We are sorry we will not make it next month, but we promise you
we will be there soon!"
WHITE WIZZARD will release its new album, "Flying Tigers",
on September 19 via Earache Records. The CD features twelve new tracks
and expands on the Los Angeles
band's traditional heavy metal blueprint, with songs ranging from fist-pumping
NWOBHM-style anthems, through the arena rock power of "Starchild",
to a six-track epic concept piece featuring science-fiction and philosophical
elements tied together with a progressive vibe.
"Flying Tigers" features the core WHITE WIZZARD lineup
of bassist, songwriter and founding member Jon Leon, drummer Giovanni
Durst and studio vocalist Wyatt Anderson, who featured on the band's
debut album, "Over The Top". The album was once again recorded
with producer Ralph Patlan in Phoenix, Arizona.
"Flying Tigers" track listing:
01. Fight To The Death
02. West L.A.Nights
03. Starchild
04. Flying Tigers
05. Night Train to Tokyo
06. Night Stalker
07. Fall of Atlantis
08. Blood on the Pyramids
09. Demons and Diamonds
10. Dark Alien Overture
11. War of the Worlds
12. Starman's Son
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/wizzardflying.jpg
Danish hard rockers D-A-D have tapped producer Nick
Foss to helm the follow-up to their 2008 album "Monster
Philosophy" for a tentative October 31 release.
Foss previously worked with D-A-D on such LPs as "No Fuel
Left For The Pilgrims", "Sympatico", "Everything
Glows" and "Soft Dogs".
The vinyl edition of "Monster Philosophy" was made available
in March, including two exclusive bonus tracks.
"The Overmuch Box", a collection ofD-A-D's complete
works in a box, was released in November 2009.
Swiss hard rockers GOTTHARD will release a live album
entitled "Homegrown - Alive In Lugano" on September 30 via Nuclear
Blast Records. On September 2, a previously unreleased track entitled "The
Train", featuring the band's late singer Steve Lee on vocals,
will be made available.
"Homegrown - Alive In Lugano" contains a live recording of GOTTHARD's
July 17, 2010 concert in Lugano, which turned out to be one of the band's last
performances with Lee.
Steve was killed on October 5, 2010 in what has been described as a
freak road accident in Nevada.
Due to Lee's sudden passing, the CD's release was postponed — until now.
"Lugano was where it all began and so the circle is closed of all that
we've experienced with our friend Steve Lee," comments GOTTHARD bassist Marc Lynn.
"The memories of the past 20 years on stage with Steve are brought
again to life intensively with this album. They reflect the memorable times
that we were able to enjoy on the Mount Olympus of rock 'n'
roll."
The concert in Lugano took place during a local HOG Rally, a big annual event
organized by Harley-Davidson bikers. Being able to play for the Harley circle in the band's hometown was an unforgettable experience. All the GOTTHARD musicians are enthusiastic Harley-Davidson bikers themselves and perform
at such events and take part in rallies at every opportunity they get. In
addition, "Homegrown" was one of the very few concerts GOTTHARD got to play in its hometown.
"Steve was warmer and more cheerful than he had been in a long
time," GOTTHARD guitarist Freddy Scherer said. "The
chemistry between him and the audience couldn't have been more intense, despite
the fact that there were more than 20,000 people standing on the piazza. It is
a stroke of good luck that we recorded this memorable concert, for
unfortunately it was one of the last ones with Steve."
"Music has allowed us to travel round the whole world together during the
last 20 years," GOTTHARD guitarist Leo Leoni explains.
"In doing so, we've shared lots of unforgettable moments that rank among
the best times of our lives. Anyhow, returning to Lugano has always been
something special. It's the place we belong to and where we have strong and
deep roots."
"Homegrown - Alive In Lugano" marks the end of an era for GOTTHARD,
which is currently searching for a new lead singer.
Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen is once
again collaborating with Swedish songwriters/producers Erik Nyholm, Matthias
Lindblom and Anders Wollbeck on material for her next solo album,
tentatively due in 2012.
Nyholm previously collaborated with Turunen on the songs "Rivers
Of Lust" and "Sing For Me" while Lindblom and Wollbeck worked on "I Walk Alone" and "In For A Kill".
Commented Turunen: "It's been a great summer so far. I have been
able to be creative besides the shows that we are doing and that make me happy.
"Some days ago I met Erik in Finland and we wrote a couple of
very nice songs together. . . Now when we sat down together, very different
kind of songs were born unexpectedly and that was really cool.
"The songs I wrote so far are very different in spirit: about eagles,
killers, dreams, love, journeys, colors, and darkness.
"I already sense that the new album will have a more positive vibe than
the previous ones and it'll rock!"
Turunen released a new digital-only single, "Underneath",
on April 22. The three-song single was made available Austria, Switzerland,
Russia, Poland, Finland,
Sweden, Ukraine, France
and U.K.
It includes two unreleased versions of the beautiful ballad "Underneath" plus a non-album track in Spanish language. In North America, the single was
released on May 24 as an exclusive limited edition seven-inch vinyl with two
tracks: "Underneath" (radio mix) and "Underneath" (orchestral mix).
Tarja's sophomore solo album, "What Lies Beneath", sold
around 1,300 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD
landed at position No. 24 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.
"What Lies Beneath" was released in North America on September 14, 2010 via The End Records.
HEADCAT (formerly THE HEAD CAT), the
high-energy, "take-no-prisoners" combo featuring Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD), Slim Jim Phantom (THE STRAY CATS) and Danny
B. Harvey (ROCKATS, 13 CATS, LONESOME SPURS), will
guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with
host Bob Coburn on Monday, August 29 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET.
Fans are encouraged to speak with HEADCAT by calling 1-800-344-ROCK
(7625).
For more information, visit RocklineRadio.com.
"Walk The Walk...Talk The Talk", the new album from HEADCAT,
sold around 700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD
debuted at No. 49 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.
"Walk The Walk...Talk The Talk" was released on July 5 through Niji Entertainment Group, the record label Wendy Dio and her and
late husband Ronnie James Dio formed before his untimely passing.
HEADCAT was formed in 2000 after recording an Elvis Presley tribute special to which all band members contributed.
Slim Jim Phantom (drums, percussion), was born in Brooklyn
and listened to his parents' jazz records. At the age of ten he took up the
drums although he always says that the drums chose him. He is an exceptional
drummer who cemented his place among rock royalty long time ago and inspires
and excites audiences worldwide.
Danny B. Harvey (guitar, piano) is Texas-born and also discovered his
love for music very early. He started playing the guitar at the age of six and
even got a full scholarship to study classical guitar. He developed a finger
picking guitar style that's very unique and based on his idols Merle Travis and Chet Atkins but also a result of his classical-technique education.
Lemmy Kilmister (vocals, bass, harmonica) was born and raised in England
and started to play the guitar at the age of sixteen. With a laughing eye he
always said that he only took the guitar to impress the girls. He is an
autodidact and changed early to bass as he stated he wasn't a good guitar
player. After founding MOTÖRHEAD in 1975 he knows the ups and downs in
the business and has reached the status of an icon all over the world.
Twelve fantastic songs for "Walk The Walk, Talk The Talk" were
chosen easily. HEADCAT prepare to take over the airwaves with their first
single, "American Beat". "American Beat" is a
song written in the studio — Lemmy had the words and the rest came
together very quickly. "I Ain't Never" is one of the songs Lemmy really likes and Danny knew it — a real country, rockabilly number, full
of love and ready to take you drifting away. "Let It Rock" is
one of their favorite Chuck Berry tunes — THE ROLLING STONES did
it a lot in their live show in the '70s — HEADCAT plays a different
version. "Something Else" is a classic Eddie Cochran — Lemmy came on stage with the STRAY CATS and jammed on it at a show in the '90s
at Hammersmith Odeon so it came quite natural to take this on the record as
well.
"Walk The Walk...Talk The Talk" track listing:
01. American Beat
02. Say Mama
03. I Ain't Never
04. Bad Boy
05. Shaking All Over
06. Let It Rock
07. Something Else
08. The Eagle Flies On Friday
09. Trying To Get To You
10. You Can't Do That
11. It'll Be Me
12. Crossroads
Lemmy previously stated about HEADCAT, "[It's all about]
having fun. Fun for the sake of it. No ulterior motive. No politics. No gender.
No fucking around! (laughs)"
When asked what each member of HEADCAT brings to the sound of the band, Lemmy replied, "I don't know. You'd be the one to tell me that! . . . Well,
you'd have to because I can't judge it, because I'm in it! (laughs) You can't
judge what you're in the middle of. It's for the outsiders to judge that. It's
for the fans to interpret a song, you know. You can write a song and three
different people will write three different stories. I can't tell you what we
bring to it. We bring what we got."
DISTURBED singer David Draiman spoke to Revolver magazine about the speculation regarding the
band's future, which he started last month when he hinted that the group's
current tour could be its last for a while — if not for good.
"The absolute truth is we've been touring nonstop — make a record, tour, make
a record, tour for 12 years straight, and it hasn't afforded us the opportunity
to do anything else as artists and individuals," Draiman said.
"Our entire world has always been encompassed by DISTURBED."
Addressing rumors that DISTURBED's decision to take a break is fuelled
in part by strained relationships within the band, Draiman said, "I
want to make it very clear that it is absolutely, unequivocally not due to any
animosity between bandmembers because there is none. I just had dinner with
everybody for [guitarist] Danny Donegan's birthday the other night. We
had a great time. Danny and Mike [Wengren, drums] are
standing up at my wedding, for God's sake. There's no animosity whatsoever.
These guys are my brothers and we have a tremendous love and admiration for
each other and this hiatus has nothing to do with any perceived or conceived
infighting between the band members."
Regarding why DISTURBED has chosen to go on an indefinite hiatus after
five studio albums — four of which have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 —
and worldwide sales of more than 13 million, Draiman explained that the
instability within record companies and the music industry is largely to blame.
"The state of the music industry is very apparent to everyone," he
said. "I'm not enlightening anyone by saying that it is in a state of
decline. I'm not enlightening anyone by saying it is in a state of reformation
and it needs to figure itself out again. It's just a very difficult time to
function as a musician within the music industry when personnel are lost left
and right and people you've counted on for years are suddenly cast by the
wayside. People are much more concerned with how the company looks on a balance
sheet to a potential buyer as opposed to concerning themselves primarily with
things like artist development. That's definitely a factor in why we chose to
do this indefinite hiatus now. If things were gangbusters in the industry it
would be much more difficult to turn away for a little while and concentrate on
other things we'd like to do. It would be cutting off our nose to spite our
face. Where things go with any of us in our own individual projects during this
hiatus will determine how long it lasts or if it is, in fact, indefinite."
Draiman also insisted that he was taken out of context by Billboard magazine when was quoted as saying the indefinite hiatus is partially due to
"the demise of hard rock and metal right now."
"When I spoke about the demise of hard rock and heavy metal, I was talking
about the disrespect for the genre, the fact that it is relatively ignored by
the mass media," he said. "It's never given its due even though here
we are on one of the biggest tours of the summer, yet the tour is relatively
ignored and brushed under the carpet, with the exception of the metal press.
We've always been champions of the genre, and I want to make it absolutely
crystal clear that I've never been more proud to be a part of it. And I think
bands like ourselves and GODSMACK and certainly METALLICA are
making it very clear that hard rock and heavy metal are here to stay. They're
not going anywhere. And we're very happy to have been champions of that cause
and will continue to do that even during the hiatus."
Andrew "Mac" McDermott, the former lead
singer of U.K. progressive
metallers THRESHOLD, reportedly passed away in England yesterday (Wednesday,
August 3). A condolences page has been launched at this
location.
McDermott had "serious health problems" in the months leading
up to his death, according to a June 2011 statement from the German melodic
metal band POWERWORLD, with whom McDermott recorded the 2010
album "Human Parasite".
"I'm very sad about our big loss," POWERWORLD bassist Ilker
Ersin stated about his former bandmate's passing. "I can't find the right words in this
moment."
McDermott performed in clubs in England
and tried to establish a band there in his early years before he moved to Germany to join
the band SARGANT FURY. After three albums, the band dissolved and in
1998 McDermott joined THRESHOLD as lead singer, replacing Damian
Wilson.
Shortly after the release of THRESHOLD's 2007 album "Dead
Reckoning", McDermott left the band, resulting in Wilson's return to
the group.
McDermott's most recent musical project was SWAMP FREAKS, which
"took some of the cool 'n' heavy from the '70s [FREE, LED
ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH] and mashed it up with some '90s anarchy [PEARL
JAM, NIRVANA, ALICE IN CHAINS] threw in some RED HOT CHILI
PEPPERS and a sprinkle of punk rock," according to the band's Facebook page.
Andrew "Mac" McDermott, the former lead
singer of U.K. progressive
metallers THRESHOLD, passed away in England on Wednesday, August 3. He
succumbed to kidney failure after spending four days in a coma. He was only 45
years old.
McDermott had "serious health problems" in the months leading
up to his death, according to a June 2011 statement from the German melodic
metal band POWERWORLD, with whom McDermott recorded the 2010
album "Human Parasite".
Commented THRESHOLD guitarist Karl Groom: "Mac played
a large part in the story of THRESHOLD and appeared on five studio
albums. He also sang on numerous fan club releases and live albums. Although I
have not seen him since 2007 for the last video shoot in Leipzig, he still remains in our minds and
there is a big sense of loss. I have spoken to and seen ex-members of the band
over the last two days who are all very saddened by this turn of events. We remember Mac as being so vibrant and full of life, so find this news is hard to
accept."
Added THRESHOLD keyboard player Richard West: "Mac had such a big personality and one of the world's greatest rock voices, it's so
very sad that we lost him so young. Our thoughts and prayers are with his
family and loved ones."
Stated Ilker Ersin of POWERWORLD: "A friend is gone! We are
very sad about our big loss. We can't find the right words in this moment. Our
sympathy and condolence goes to his family. The world lost a gently, nice,
honest and warm-hearted person. We will miss him."
A condolences page has been launched at this
location.
McDermott performed in clubs in England
and tried to establish a band there in his early years before he moved to Germany to join
the band SARGANT FURY. After three albums, the band dissolved and in
1998 McDermott joined THRESHOLD as lead singer, replacing Damian
Wilson.
Shortly after the release of THRESHOLD's 2007 album "Dead
Reckoning", McDermott left the band, resulting in Wilson's return to
the group.
McDermott's most recent musical project was SWAMP FREAKS, which
"took some of the cool 'n' heavy from the '70s [FREE, LED
ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH] and mashed it up with some '90s anarchy [PEARL
JAM, NIRVANA, ALICE IN CHAINS] threw in some RED HOT CHILI
PEPPERS and a sprinkle of punk rock," according to the band's Facebook page.
The Pulse Of Radio reports: With one controversial
album title behind them in 2009's "War Is The Answer", FIVE
FINGER DEATH PUNCH has chosen another provocative name for the band's third
set, "American Capitalist". With debates raging in the country
right now about the economy and wealth and Wall Street, guitarist Jason Hook told The Pulse Of Radio why it was the right title for FIVE FINGER
DEATH PUNCH. "You know, it's kind of wearing it on our sleeves how we
feel about just the competition and struggles in life and business in
general," he said. "You know, it's kind of like dog eat dog, it's the
survival of the fittest, and we're sort of putting it out there as a positive
thing. It's like, we are American capitalists, we will divide and conquer, we
will — we're going for the throat and we're not ashamed to say that."
"American Capitalist" arrives on October 10. The set's first
single, "Under And Over It", was just released this past
Tuesday (August 2).
Following some festival dates this month and next, the band will headline a
package tour called "Share The Welt" that kicks off on October
16 in San Francisco.
Joining FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH in the lineup will be ALL THAT
REMAINS, HATEBREED and REV THEORY.
"War Is The Answer" debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard album chart, while the single "Far From Home" reached No. 2 on
the rock radio chart and the band's cover of "Bad Company" hit
No. 1.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH played its first show with new bassist Chris
Kael on July 1 at Boonstock in Gibbons, Alberta,
Canada.
Check out photos of the concert at this location.
Kael replaced Matt Snell, who left the group late last year for
reasons that have not been disclosed. Originally from Kentucky, Kael moved to FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's home base of Las Vegas to pursue
playing music full-time. He said in a statement about landing the job,
"Never give up on your dreams — I'm living proof that with hard work and a
little bit of luck, they can come true."
COHEED AND CAMBRIA has released the following
statement:
"After a lot of thought, introspection and discussion, COHEED AND
CAMBRIA will be continuing our journey without bassist Michael Todd.
We have spoken to him and this is a mutual decision between both parties.
Michael was a great contributor; our hearts go out to his family and to all
those who appreciate his talents. We wish him nothing but the very best.
"We are currently writing and recording songs for a new album, as well as
a couple compilations this fall. We are very excited about how the songs are
shaping up and can't wait to share them with you.
"We'd like to thank Wes Styles for filling in for the live gigs in
the interim, including the upcoming South America and Mexico shows. A
belated thanks to Rob Gill for covering in Boston; and the biggest thank you to all of
you for your unwavering support.
"A new chapter awaits."
According to BostonHerald.com, COHEED AND CAMBRIA bassist Michael
Todd was released from jail on July 25 after posting $25,000 bail.
Todd was arrested for armed robbery on July 10 shortly before the band's
performance at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts as the support act
for SOUNDGARDEN. Todd allegedly walked into a Walgreens in Attleboro, Massachusetts
and threatened to blow up the store with what was apparently a fake bomb unless
he was given OxyContin. Todd made off with six bottles of the pain pill
before police tracked the cab he escaped in. He was arrested outside Comcast Center and officially charged with armed
robbery and unlawful possession of prescription narcotics.
Todd, 30, was freed from the Dartmouth House of Corrections, Bernie
Sullivan, spokesman for Bristol Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, told BostonHerald.com.
It was unknown who posted bail for the bassist.
Todd previously left COHEED AND CAMBRIA in 2006 in order to seek
treatment for heroin addiction. After a stint in rehab, he returned to the
group in 2007.
STATIC-X frontman Wayne Static will release
with his first solo album, "Pighammer", on October 4 via Dirthouse
Records.
According to a press release, "Pighammer" "has a disarming
raw quality of heavy driving guitar riffs and lyrics that will take hold of
your bowels and into the mind of Static's dark past and warped mind.
This is blatant, as the first single, 'Assassins Of Youth', was inspired
by Wayne Static's last days of drugs and partying.
"I wrote this song while living in a hotel room, listening to PINK
FLOYD, drinking Crown and doing whippits," explains Static.
"I started the song in that condition but never finished it until years
later after dumping off the drugs. Now the song has a whole new meaning from
when I started it."
"Assassins Of Youth" is an old-school term for drugs. The first verse
is about doing drugs, the chorus is going dry and the second chorus is about
getting off and no longer being slave to the drugs.
With Static's transformation, his mind has creatively twisted to a side
that he has waited to unleash.
"The 'Pighammer' concept conjures up bizarre images," Static explains. "It's about a mad plastic surgeon, with a pig fetish, that likes
to convert hot chicks into pigs. It is the total opposite if what a plastic
surgeon would do. He has this crazy hammer device made from a pig foot. The
images of the surgery in the CD package are only a dark comedic visualization
of the real theme of the album, which is my transformation."
"Pighammer" is the bastard child of Wayne Static's
transformation after a 12-year journey of metal annihilation.
"It's hard to believe that it's 12 years since the release of [STATIC-X's
debut album] 'Wisconsin Death Trip', and
now my warped musical lunacy will take me down a new path of metal destruction.
I'm looking forward to seeing you all on the upcoming fall tour."
"Pighammer" track listing:
01. Pighammer
02. Around The Turn
03. Assassins Of Youth
04. Thunder Invader
05. Static Killer
06. She
07. Get It Together
08. Chrome Nation
09. Shifter
10. Slave
11. The Creatures Are Everywhere
12. Behind The Sky
Josh Hard of Guitar World magazine recently conducted an interview with
guitarist Rob Arnold of Cleveland, Ohio metallers CHIMAIRA. A
couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Guitar World: So you guys have had some big changes in the band since
[the release of] "The Infection" [album] in 2009. You guys lost three
members…
Rob Arnold: Yeah, towards the end of last year our longtime bassist Jim
LaMarca decided it was time to throw in the towel, retire and do the family
thing at home. He is also a barber — he always cut our hair on the road for
years. His family has a barbershop business and all that, and he decided that
was what he wanted to do. And then also our drummer Andy [Herrick]
and our keyboard player Chris [Spicuzza] earlier in the year made
the decision they didn't want to move forward with making the record. And that
was that. You know that sort of thing happens. We've been together for a long
time and changes come up in peoples' lives. Guys come in and they have to
decide if they really want to continue for the long haul or make other changes
in their life, and changes in their lives are what those guys decided to do.
Guitar World: Do you think the fans will be able to tell that these
changes influenced the band and the new album ["The Age Of Hell"] in
any way?
Rob Arnold: Well, I think that at first the fan reaction was definitely
like, "Whoa, we can't believe this is happening." But we assured the
fans that things wouldn't change too much. I think with a lot of bands new
members bring fresh energy and reinvigorate a band, and that's what we were
counting on. So we got Emil Werstler from DAATH, Sean Zatorsky from DAATH, and Austin D'Amond from BLEED THE SKY — who is
also in my side project THE ELITE. I've known Austin for a while and knew he was a
great drummer. So we brought these guys in and it was exactly that, they were
totally excited, glad to being doing it, pumped on the music. We did a little
tour around Ohio
and that went great. The fans seem to react real well to that. We're
super-tight and moving on.
Guitar World: Did those guys get to contribute much to the songwriting
process for the new album or was that already in place?
Rob Arnold: No. Actually we had already finished the album before that
tour even happened. Basically, Mark [Hunter, vocals] and I made
the album, along with Ben Schigel — our longtime producer — who played
drums for the record. He had been playing drums with us for a couple years,
just having fun, and Mark was in a band with him before CHIMAIRA and we just knew he would do well for us. We wanted to make the record and then
incorporate new members. Rather than just taking a shot with new members, we
wanted to keep the core songwriting between Mark and I there for the record and
then see what happened after that.
Guitar World: Is there any message you would like to send to fans about
what they should expect from this album?
Rob Arnold: A lot of excitement. More dynamics than you've ever heard on
any CHIMAIRA album. A fresh energy. I think for Mark, especially,
there is a new freedom in his vocals that you've never heard before. A breath
of fresh air or a sigh of relief in that department. A lot of cool rifts, great
guitar tones, awesome drumming — really in-the-pocket drumming with a lot of
creative fills. I think, overall, a lot of people are going to be really happy
and surprised. It's different than any album that we've ever done in the past,
which is something that we are very proud of, that every record is different
from the last. But you can totally tell it's CHIMAIRA.
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada-based post-hardcore act ALEXISONFIRE has called it a day.
In a statement posted on the band's official web site, ALEXISONFIRE vocalist George Pettit explained that the group played what its
last-ever show with guitarist/vocalist Dallas Green on December 19, 2010
in ALEXISONFIRE's hometown.
"Almost a year ago, Dallas informed us he would be leaving after we finished our [2009 album] 'Old
Crows/Young Cardinals' tour cycle," Pettit said. "Trying
to balance his life between touring with us [and] CITY AND COLOUR was a
task too difficult to continue managing. He informed us he wanted to focus his
efforts on CITY AND COLOUR."
George added that the remaining members of ALEXISONFIRE had
planned to continue, but a series of "personal issues . . pulled [us]
further and further" from the band. Finally, after guitarist Wade
MacNeil's recent decision to quit in order to focus on another project, the
rest of the musicians — drummer Jordan "Ratbeard" Hastings and
bassist Chris Steele — felt it was better to go their separate ways than
to let it "get old and ugly."
"Replacing one guitar player/singer/writer was something we thought
possible, but replacing two would run the serious risk of perverting the legacy
of what we had achieved," explained George. "We took a good
hard swallow and decided to end it so it would never get old and ugly. Was the
break-up amicable? Not really. Was it necessary? Probably. The members of this
band are my family and I wish them nothing but good fortune."
ALEXISONFIRE's 2007 album "Crisis" achieved
platinum-selling status in Canada
after debuting at #1 on the Top 200 Nielsen Soundscan chart there.
The band's fourth studio album, "Old Crows/Young Cardinals",
came out in June 2009 via Vagrant Records in the U.S.A. and on Dine
Alone in the rest of the world.
ALEXISONFIRE is planning to commemorate its 10th anniversary with a
series of releases and one last run of Canadian headline shows.
"In closing, I'd like to offer my sincerest gratitude to our fans,"
said George. "You were the coal that stoked our engines. You've
given us a spectacular decade, rich with experience and joy. I love you all."
Jarrod Bennett of the Edmonton Journal recently conducted an interview with
drummer Fredrik Andersson of Swedish death metallers AMON AMARTH.
A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
EdmontonJournal: Even though the common themes of "Twilight Of The Thunder
God" and "Surtur Rising" are Norse mythology, what
was different about this latest album for you?
Fredrik: The lyrical theme is the same. We feel it's such a big part of
AMON AMARTH that we really don't want to venture too much out of it, because we
would lose our identity a little bit. Musically, we've developed a lot as
musicians and as songwriters. That's something that's a progress since the
first album and onward; we just keep getting better and better at what we're doing.
For this album, we decided pretty early just to think a little bit out of the
box and allow us to experiment a little bit more than we usually do . within
reasonable limits, I would say.
EdmontonJournal: In the writing of "Surtur Rising", was there one
specific element you wanted to include?
Fredrik: No, not really. On the previous album, we collaborated with
guests. but we thought that was something that was called for. On this album,
we didn't want to bring in guests just for the hell of it. We may have
different ideas in the process of how things should be done, but once we've
nailed it on the album, we unite on that. When the album is finished and the
end part is done, then everybody is like, "This is what we as a team came
up with. This is what we are going to tour with and play."
EdmontonJournal: Most of the time, we get the chance to talk with vocalists and
guitarists, but as a veteran drummer, do you have any advice for burgeoning
metal percussionists?
Fredrik: Most of all I think it's important to just have fun. If you go
in with any other goal, that's the wrong angle to begin with. There is no
golden shortcut, there are really no tricks that you can learn to get better
faster — it's just tedious practice. In extreme metal drumming, it's important
to relax and not rush it because you can hurt yourself.
New York
death metal veterans IMMOLATION have announced the second headlining run
in support of their critically acclaimed release "Majesty And
Decay". Support on the trek will come from long-running
Wisconsin-based death metallers JUNGLE ROT and experimental death
grinders GIGAN.
"We are once again hitting the road here in the U.S. in October and are really
excited to have both JUNGLE ROT and GIGAN join us for this
tour," commented IMMOLATION bassist/vocalist Ross Dolan.
"We have some new material in the works and will be making a more formal
announcement about this in the next few weeks. We look forward to seeing
everyone again and hope to see some new faces as well as old at these
shows."
The dates are as follows:
Oct. 05 - Wreck Room - Toronto, ON
Oct. 07 - The Basement - Kingston, NY
Oct. 08 - Montage Music Hall - Rochester ,NY
Oct. 09 - Broadway Joe's - Buffalo, NY
Oct. 10 - The Gramercy Theatre - New York, NY
Oct. 11 - Bogie's - Albany, NY
Oct. 12 - Championship Bar and Grill - Trenton, NJ
Oct. 13 - Peabody's - Cleveland, OH
Oct. 14 - Al Rosa Villa - Columbus, OH
Oct. 15 - Blondie's - Detroit, MI
Oct. 16 - Reggie Rock Club - Chicago, ILL
Oct. 17 - Vaudeville Mews - Des Moines, IA
Oct. 19 - Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO
Oct. 20 - The Complex - Salt Lake City, UT
Oct. 21 - Cheyenne Saloon - Las Vegas, NV
Oct. 22 - Chain Reaction - Anaheim, CA
Oct. 23 - Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ
Oct. 25 - Backstage Live - San Antonio, TX
Oct. 26 - Scout Bar - Houston, TX
IMMOLATION's Tommy Jones-directed video for the song "A
Glorious Epoch", can be viewed below. The track comes off the band's
eighth album, "Majesty And Decay", which was released in March
2010 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD sold around 1,400 copies in the United States
in its first week of release to land at position No. 29 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.
"Majesty And Decay" was recorded Millbrook Sound Studios in New York
with longtime producer Paul Orofino. Mixing duties were handled by Zack
Ohren, who has previously worked with DECREPIT BIRTH, SUFFOCATION and ALL SHALL PERISH, among others.
IMMOLATION's new album contains "10 songs [plus two intros] of the
strongest material we have ever written," the band said in a statement.
"The new material is more violent and aggressive, with fast sections that
take us to a new level of speed and intensity, while complementing the dark and
sullen heavier moments. There are plenty of miserable and militant movements to
please the diehard and new IMMOLATION fans alike."
"Majesty And Decay" is the third consecutive release featuring IMMOLATION's current lineup:
Ross Dolan - Bass, Vocals
Robert Vigna - Guitars
Bill Taylor - Guitars
Steve Shalaty - Drums
The most extreme tour of the year has returned with its most
devastating and dynamic lineup yet. The Summer Slaughter Tour features
such heavyweights as Michigan metal leaders THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER,
Southern face-melters WHITECHAPEL, D.C.'s metal moshers DARKEST HOUR,
the legendary SIX FEET UNDER, as well as DYING FETUS, AS BLOOD
RUNS BLACK, OCEANO and many more.
The Summer Slaughter Tour webcast is scheduled for this Saturday, August
6 at 5 p.m. ET and will be available on a live pay-per-view for $3.99 in
advance, and $4.99 on the day of the show. The concert will be streamed live
from The Rave/Eagles Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and will be available
for viewing at TheRaveLive.com.
The webcast will be shot with up to six HD cameras.
TheRaveLive.com has been broadcasting concerts from The Rave/Eagles Club
since 2009, including acts like SHINEDOWN, HINDER, INSANE
CLOWN POSSE, ALESANA, FEAR FACTORY, HOT HOT HEAT, UNDEROATH,
and many more. "There are fans all over the world that often don't get
their favorite band to come to their city," says Tommy Wilde,
project manager for The Rave Live. "It's great to have an outlet to
bring the live concert to those fans, as well as fans who may have already seen
the concert in their city and want to re-live the experience again."
San Diego, California-based death metallers CONDEMNED will release their second album, "Realms Of The Ungodly", on
November 8 via Unique Leader Records.
According to a press release, "This barbaric creation has taken huge steps
ahead of their debut with more devastating brutality fused with dark visions of
ancient evil, bestial figures and barren worlds of tormented spirits. CONDEMNED ravages through scores of enfeebled souls to bring to you the heaviest death
metal release of the year. The [CD] was recorded by engineer Samur Khouja of Seahorse Sound Studios and mastered by Scott Hull of Visceral
Sound Mastering, giving the final product a massive and high-quality sound.
Phenomenal art concept created by the famous Jon Zig."
CONDEMNED's debut album, "Desecrate The Vile", was
released in 2007 via Lacerated Enemy Records.
Northern California's FALLUJAH will release its new album, "The Harvest Wombs", on November
22 via Unique Leader Records.
According to a press release, the follow-up to 2009 s "Leper
Colony" EP is "the apex of nearly two years of musical and ideological
progression the band has hoped to achieve. Hailing from the musically and
aesthetically vibrant San Francisco Bay Area, the band is finally prepared to
make this release the quintessence of their sound. Recorded by Sam Pura at Panda Studios and mixed/mastered by Logan Bennet, 'The
Harvest Wombs' is the largest leap forward for a band quickly developing
and refining the sound of atmospheric death metal. Expect something fresh,
complex, and thought-provoking."
Peaceville Records has set a September 5 release date
for the reissue of DARKTHRONE's seventh album of primitive black metal, "Ravishing
Grimness", featuring new artwork selected by the band, plus a bonus
commentary disc with Fenriz and Nocturno describing their
inspirations, as well as memories from the time of recording.
DARKTHRONE began in the late '80s as a thrash/death metal act and
progressed through technical death/doom metal experimentation to become legends
of the black metal world and one of the original leading bands of the Norwegian
scene.
"Ravishing Grimness" was DARKTHRONE's seventh studio
album, originally released in 1999. The LP contained more mid-paced black metal
than some of their previous releases — with CELTIC FROST-inspired riffs
once again an important factor in DARKTHRONE's music — as well as
featuring more rock and punk elements than earlier albums. Most of the tracks
on "Ravishing Grimness" were this time written by Nocturno
Culto, as well as guest lyrics on "The Beast" appearing
courtesy of Aldrahn and Fog (DØDHEIMSGARD).
TRACKS
Disc 1:
01. Lifeless
02. The Beast
03. The Claws of Time
04. Across the Vacuum
05. Ravishing Grimness
06. To the Death (Under the King)
Disc 2:
* As above, including commentary from Fenriz and Nocturno Culto
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