This August, audiences across the country will get an
unrivalled look into the mind of legendary rock icon Ozzy Osbourne in "God
Bless Ozzy Osbourne", an exclusive in-theater Fathom event that
will be broadcast to more than 400 movie theaters nationwide on Wednesday,
August 24 and Monday, August 29 at 7:30 p.m. (local time). Shot over the course
of three years, audiences will experience the life story of Ozzy, as
seen through the eyes of his youngest child, producer/filmmaker, Jack
Osbourne, who worked alongside directors Mike Fleiss and Mike
Piscitelli.
During the documentary, Ozzy will recount his troubled youth, his early
career with BLACK SABBATH and the impact of fame and addictions on his
first marriage. Viewers will also witness the second chapter of his life as a
family man with Sharon,
during which his addictions grew to a frightening level, as well as hear Ozzy and his children explain his attempts at staying clean, ultimately resulting in
more than five years of sobriety. Music fans will also see live performances
from around the world, including rare behind-the-scenes clips of Ozzy on
and off stage, in his dressing rooms pre-show, to his nights in a series of
hotel rooms. Throughout "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne", audiences
are given an inside look into the life of a rock star, from the good times to
the bad.
Tickets for "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" are available at
participating theater box offices and online at FathomEvents.com.
For a complete list of theater locations and prices, visit the NCM Fathom web site (theaters and participants are subject to change).
Presented by NCM Fathom, Omniverse Vision and Eagle Rock
Entertainment, "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" will be broadcast
to nearly 400 select movie theaters across the country through NCM's
exclusive Digital Broadcast Network.
"This is the most honest portrait of my father. I set out to tell the
truth — regardless of how raw it might be — and I think we accomplished just
that," said Jack Osbourne.
"During this exclusive Fathom event, Ozzy's son, Jack,
will take the legion of Ozzy fans on an unbelievable journey
experiencing a side of the music legend most have never seen," said Dan
Diamond, vice president of Fathom.
Click here for a list of all participating theaters.
"God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" was co-produced by Jack Osbourne and is the first film released by Jack's production company, Jacko
Productions. The documentary, which was originally titled "Wreckage
Of My Past: The Ozzy Osbourne Story", was directed by Mike Fleiss and Mike Piscitelli.
"God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" premiered on April 24 at the Tribeca
Film Festival in New York City and received a positive review from Entertainment
Weekly, which said, "What could have been a glossy, fawning tribute to
the most visible face in heavy metal music history — especially considering it
was co-produced by his son, Jack — actually turned out to be a
remarkably evenhanded look at Ozzy's monumental musical influence as
well as his less exemplary life as an addict and often-absent father."
Critic Joseph Brannigan Lynch added, "'God Bless Ozzy Osbourne' may not answer the question 'What makes Ozzy act so... Ozzy-like?',
but it's hardly a fluffy tribute. This documentary succeeds in offering a
balanced portrait of a man who made many mistakes over the course of his
addiction-riddled life and also happens to be one of the most influential hard
rock singers ever."
Lynch also wrote that the film "starts with Osbourne's poor
childhood in the cramped quarters of inner-city Birmingham, England, and goes
up to his long-sought sobriety following the end of the water-cooler fodder
reality series 'The Osbournes'."
While the movie does not delve into certain aspects of Ozzy's life —
such as his attempted strangulation of wife/manager Sharon years ago —
frank interviews with his five children "portray him as an absentee father
even when he was physically present due to his mind-numbing abuse of pills,
cocaine and liquor," according to Lynch.
The film features interviews with many of Ozzy's family members, friend
and colleagues, including Paul McCartney, the members of BLACK
SABBATH and MÖTLEY CRÜE's Tommy Lee.
According to KSAT.com, AEROSMITH bassist Tom Hamilton recently underwent a radical
medical procedure after his tongue-base cancer came back and extended into his
voice box.
Five years ago, Hamilton underwent chemotherapy and radiation for the cancer, and agreed to be the first
person treated by Dr. Steven Zeitels with the green-light KTP laser. The
risk, however, was that it could leave his voice and breathing passage
permanently damaged.
"I was just terrified," Hamilton said. "I really thought, 'Oh, I am looking at not being able to
talk.'"AEROSMITH bassist Tom Hamilton says that he hasn't
undergone any new surgery this year despite a report from a Texas TV station
which may have suggested otherwise.
KSAT-TV, the local ABC affiliate television station in the
greater San Antonio area, reported
on Friday (August 5) that Hamilton was treated using a radical medical procedure after his tongue-base cancer came
back and extended into his voice box.
Writing on his Twitter profile earlier today (Tuesday, August 9), the
bassist said, "I did not undergo any surgery... this year. All this news
is about 2009. Thanks for the wishes though!"
Hamilton sat out a number of AEROSMITH shows in 2009 due to what a press release
at the time described as "non-invasive surgery." Band pal and JOE
PERRY PROJECT musician David Hull filled in for Hamilton while he recuperated.
The bassist was first diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2006 and said he was
cancer-free later that year after undergoing treatment.
AEROSMITH is scheduled to kick off a South American tour in Lima, Peru
on October 22 before heading to Japan for an eight-date tour in late November.
The acclaimed documentary examining the life and career of
the MOTÖRHEAD frontman and rock icon Lemmy Kilmister, "Lemmy:
49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son Of A Bitch", has been certified gold in Germany for
sales in excess of 25,000 copies.
A photo of Lemmy receiving his gold award at this past weekend's Wacken
Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany can be
seen below.
Director/producer Wes Orshoski told BLABBERMOUTH.NET, "We
shot a lot of footage of Lem and the band in Germany, where there's incredible
love for him and the band. The live version of 'Ace Of Spades' in the
film, for example, was shot in Berlin.
The fans there were/are crazy, and the parties at the White Trash nightclub
were even better!"
Added co-director/producer Greg Olliver: "Lemmy always said
he and MOTÖRHEAD could count on German fans, and this is just further
proof of that."
"Lemmy: 49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son Of A Bitch" sold around
3,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at
position No. 1 on Billboard's "Top Music Videos" chart. In
addition, both the DVD and Blu-ray disc were among the top 10 best-selling
documentaries on Amazon.com the week of its release.
Fans and critics alike are devouring the DVD and Blu-ray extras, which stretch
to a staggering 4.5 hours of bonus content. Leading the list of extras (the
full list is below), is Lemmy and METALLICA's full intimate
backstage rehearsal and riveting performance of the MOTÖRHEAD classics "Damage
Case" and "Too Late Too Late" — all in 5.1 Surround
Sound. (Only "Damage Case" appears in the film.) Also included
is 40 minutes of live MOTÖRHEAD, interview outtakes, extended and
deleted scenes, Lemmy's full, uncut conversations with Dave Grohl and Billy Bob Thornton, featurettes on Lemmy's longtime MOTÖRHEAD bandmates Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, a special featurette on Lemmy's
50th birthday featuring never-before-released footage of METALLICA dressed as Kilmister and performing as "THE LEMMYS,"
and much, much more.
"Lemmy" U.S. bonus features:
* The Making of Lemmy
* Motörhead Live
* Lemmy & Metallica in Nashville
* (We Are) The Roadcrew
* Lemmy Interview Outtakes
* The Sweet Side of Lemmy
* Funny Stories
* Lemmy's 50th Birthday Featuring Metallica
* Marshall Stack Prototype Test
* Phil Campbell Featurette
* Mikkey Dee Featurette
* Full Dave Grohl & Lemmy Conversation
* Clarke/Kilmister/Taylor - The Early Days of Motörhead
* Meet the Superfans
* Matt Sorum Joins Motörhead
* The Making of "Motörizer"
* Triple H Interview Outtakes
* Everything Louder Than Everything Else
* Lemmy's Bass Playing Style
* Fans Around the World
* Full Billy Bob Thornton & Lemmy Conversation
* The Rocking Vickers (Extended Scene)
* Hawkwind (Extended Scene)
* Who Would Play Lemmy in a Movie?
* Lemmy World Premieres at South by Southwest 2010
Olliver and Orshoski create an intimate portrait of a man revered
by his longtime fans as well as musicians spanning the musical spectrum. Lemmy has more than a few stories, often littered with drugs and alcohol, to share
about his electrifying career with MOTÖRHEAD. He's paved the way for
countless metal bands, and from his favorite barstool at the Rainbow to his
cluttered apartment filled with memorabilia, Lemmy continues to inspire
a new generation of metalheads.
Even before MOTÖRHEAD began, Lemmy had a lifetime of experiences
under his belt — he saw THE BEATLES at the Cavern Club, served as a
roadie for Jimi Hendrix, and played in both Merseybeat and psychedelic
rock bands. Although he's 65, this rock god still acts not a day over 25 and
doesn't plan to put down his Rickenbacker bass anytime soon.
Filmed over the course of three years, "Lemmy" made its world
premiere at the 2010 South By Southwest Film and Music Festival, and has
since collected rave reviews at film festivals around the globe. Other
interviews featured in the film include musicians Dave Grohl, James
Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Joan Jett, Alice Cooper, Ozzy
Osbourne, Slash, THE CLASH's Mick Jones, JOY
DIVISION/NEW ORDER's Peter Hook, Ice-T, David
Navarro, PULP's Jarvis Cocker, as well as actor/musician Billy
Bob Thornton and professional wrestler Triple H, all of whom make
the case that Lemmy is more than just a tremendous musician: he
symbolizes what metal is, what it was, and what it should be.
"The second I had a tiny bit of consciousness, the first thing I did was
make a sound, and it felt normal, and it sounded normal," the bassist
added.
According to Yorkshire Post, an inquest has begun into the death of a MOTÖRHEAD fan who died following an argument after his friend's hair was set on fire at
the band's November 2010 concert at the O2 Academy in Leeds.
Andrew Crawford , 44, became annoyed after his friend left the show when
a fellow concert-goer burnt his hair in a "foolish and childish" act.
Crawford was upset his friend's evening had been ruined and decided to
follow the man he believed to be responsible when the gig ended at around 11
p.m.
Crawford and his cousin, Neil Chevill, confronted two men, but
the argument turned to violence that left both men unconscious.
Two men were arrested in connection with Crawford's death and are
currently on bail, but no charges have been brought against them.
Vocalist Biff Byford of British heavy metal legends SAXON has issued the following update:
"The shows in Spain
with [JUDAS] PRIEST were fantastic. Great audience and good to
meet them again and MOTÖRHEAD.
"Shows in Tokyo
were special. First band there after earthquake so they said great atmosphere
and we spent some time at the meet-and-greet.
"We are announcing further shows soon, which will make this tour the
longest for many years, I think. It will be around 150 days since March all
around the world.
"I am working on setting more charity meet-and-greets; will be talking to
the promoters when dates get confirmed. So off for a well-earned rest and a
curry. Next show Poland
and then holidays.
"Some people are talking of reunions. I can tell you all now while ever
ex-members are living in the past and pretending to be in SAXON at every
opportunity, there will be no reunion.
"As I have said before: we allowed them to use OLIVER DAWSON SAXON [featuring founding SAXON members Graham Oliver and Steve
Dawson], so they could earn money, but they are not allowed to do anything
else.
"I know all of you do not like the fact that they can use this name, but
if they cross the line too far, we will enforce our high court injunction.
After all, we did allow them to appear on the 'Heavy Metal Thunder' live
DVD which was done for the fans as it should be.
"SAXON are on a fantastic journey at the moment and we have a great
legacy of music, but that includes all our music, not just parts of it."
"Call To Arms", the new video from SAXON, can be seen
below (courtesy of AOL's Noisecreep). The song is the title track of the band's new
album, which will be released in North America
on September 27 via UDR Music/EMI.
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)
"Call To Arms" was issued in Europe
in June. Recorded at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire,
U.K. and Brighton
Electric Studios in Brighton, U.K., the
11-track album was co-produced by singer/songwriter Biff Byford and Toby
Jepson (LITTLE ANGELS). Featuring Byford on lead vocals, Paul
Quinn and Doug Scarratt on guitars, Nibs Carter on bass and Nigel
Glockler on drums, "Call To Arms" is bang on-the-money
brilliant SAXON music, a confident embrace of the aura and writing
values from their early years married perfectly to a modern SAXON crunch.
Matt Sorum (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N'
ROSES), Duff McKagan (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES), Gilby Clarke (ex-GUNS N' ROSES) and Wayne Kramer (MC5)
are among the musicians who will appear at the Road Recovery benefit
concert honoring legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS
N' ROSES) on September 13 at Best Buy Theater in New York City.
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, August 10 at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
Road Recovery is a non-profit organization that works with at-risk kids.
One hundred percent of the money raised at the show will go directly to support
the treatment of children and young adults who suffer from adversities such as
addiction, physical and sexual abuse and chronic illness.
Legendary rock group MÖTLEY CRÜE and Jack Daniel's
Tennessee Whiskey have teamed up to provide a one-of-kind offering at the
upcoming Sunset Strip Music Festival.
A special barrel of the world famous Tennessee
whiskey was selected and donated to the Skylar Neil Foundation in honor
of MÖTLEY CRÜE's 2011 Elmer Valentine Award they'll receive at the
Festival for their contributions to the history of The Sunset Strip.
Approximately 290 commemorative bottles will be available at the SSMF Tribute
Night on August 18 for a recommended donation of $100 to the Skylar Neil
Foundation. Each bottle will include a medallion with the engraving,
"Specially Selected for Mötley Crüe."
According to Jack Daniel's Master Taster Jeff Norman, the whiskey is
particularly well balanced with a hint of soft oak, caramel and vanilla and a
pleasing spicy oak finish — the perfect accompaniment for enjoying some serious
rock 'n' roll.
"It's hard to imagine rock 'n' roll without MÖTLEY CRÜE or Jack
Daniel's, and we're honored to have bottled this special offering for our
friends at the Foundation," said Norman. "And we're
particularly pleased that donations will go to a worthy cause close to the
band. As 'The CRÜE' returns to their roots on The Strip, we couldn't be
happier to be part of this special occasion."
In addition to the commemorative bottles, a Jack Daniel's barrel signed by the
band and a framed Jack Daniel's Sunset Strip street pole banner will be
available at the silent auction on the Tribute night.
"Igniting the music scene in the early '80s with a sound and style that
blended punk, glam and heavy metal, MÖTLEY CRÜE helped re-establish The
Sunset Strip as one of the top music destinations in the world," says SSMF Executive Director Todd Steadman. "The band has forever left their
mark on the music industry and The Sunset Strip, and we're looking forward to
celebrating their influence and bringing their spirited energy back home during
this year's tribute event. We're happy that our friends at Jack Daniel's are
joining the party and providing a unique experience to compliment this special
occasion."
MEGADETH, easily one of the most recognized and
culturally significant names in hard rock music for the past three decades, has
announce the forthcoming release of its thirteenth album, titled "TH1RT3EN".
The CD will be released November 1 via Roadrunner Records. "TH1RT3EN" follows up 2009's "Endgame", which was one of the most
celebrated albums of the pioneering band's storied career.
MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine is incredibly proud of the music
put forth on the new recording, saying, "This record is the culmination of
my work over the 13 records I recorded. There are moments on 'TH1RT3EN' that capture my every emotion, and other moments where I am releasing feelings
I never knew existed! My proudest moments of my musical career are captured on 'TH1RT3EN'."
"TH1RT3EN" also marks the recorded return of bassist Dave
Ellefson who was part of the band's classic lineup from 1983 to 2002. In a
move that delighted the band's legion of diehards, Ellefson returned to
performing live with MEGADETH in early 2010 and has remained a fixture
on the stage ever since. This is the first time Ellefson has played on a MEGADETH record since 2002's "Rude Awakening".
The title has several levels of meaning, which leader and guitar deity Dave
Mustaine, who first picked up an axe at the age of 13, revealed in a recent
chat with RollingStone.com, saying, "I was born on September 13th;
this is my thirteenth record. It just seemed like it was the right thing to do
to call it 'TH1RT3EN'."
The band also recorded an original track, "Never Dead",
specifically for the "NeverDead" action-adventure video game
franchise. "Never Dead" will appear on "TH1RT3EN".
Additionally, "Sudden Death" was recorded for "Guitar
Hero: Warriors Of Rock" and will appear on the album.
"TH1RT3EN" was recorded at 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".
Regarding what fans can expect from MEGADETH's next album, Ellefson told Martin Carlsson of Expressen TV, "Let's put it this
way: It's funny that 20 years ago, we came off 'Rust In Peace' and we
went in and made 'Countdown To Extinction'. So, to me, that's kind of
what this album feels like. We did 'Sudden Death' [for a title in the 'Guitar
Hero' franchise, 'Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock'] and then this new
song, 'Never Dead', which is a very violent riff. That was the first
song we did, and we finished it top to bottom because we had to get it into
this video game called 'NeverDead'. So that's a pretty good indication
of what the new record is gonna be. But it's a little wider than… That's why I
liken it to probably a little more to 'Countdown To Extinction', 'cause
there's a couple of songs that aren't just full-on, in-your-face thrashing.
However, most of it is. So you guys are gonna be excited. You'll like it.
You'll dig it. You'll have fun [listening to it]."
To
say that 2011 has been a busy year for Megadeth is an understatement. In
addition to taking part in this year's Mayhem Fest, Megadeth have been touring
around Europe this Summer with three other bands you may have heard of, leading
up to the highly anticipated East Coast show at Yankee Stadium. Despite the
nonstop touring, Megadeth have found the time to not only re-release their 1986
classic Peace
Sells…But Who's Buying, but have also been recording a new album aptly
titled TH1RT3EN.
With
their thirteenth album expected to be released on November 1, Megadeth have
been going nonstop. Despite their current hectic schedule, bassist David
Ellefson took the time to sit down with us during Mayhem Fest's Camden, NJ
stop this past Sunday (July 31). During our conversation, Ellefson opened up to
us about the recording process behind TH1RT3EN, the camaraderie shared within the
Big 4, and Megadeth's plans to bring Gigantourback from the dead.
Let's
start off by talking about Megadeth's new album TH1RT3EN. As we all
know, this is your first album with Megadeth after you returned last year. How
did it feel to return to the studio with Megadeth after such a long time?
You
know I think we did the whole process the right way by coming back on the 20th anniversary tour last year for Rust In Peace. We all knew the
songs, it gave us a chance to get acquainted, get to know each other. Obviously
Chris [Broderick, guitar] and Shawn [Drover, drums] were new musicians for me
to get integrated back in with. [With] Me and Dave [Mustaine, frontman/guitar],
it was really just an instant connection that worked out really good. And so
for us to get familiar again on the canvas together and then go in and make a
record was definitely the right way to do it, rather than try and tackle a new
creative endeavor after not playing together for a lot of years. It would
have been a much different dynamic. So going in and doing this new album was
one of the most fun records I've made with Megadeth quite honestly. It was
really pretty fun, quick process. We knew we didn't have a lot of time. We only
had ten weeks to do it in between two tours.
It
had an energy about it, kinda like when we made the Peace Sells…But Who's Buying? album. We were kind of in between tours, our record label needed an album,
there was a lot of excitement around Megadeth at the time. The only difference
is on Peace Sells…, we actually had all the songs written and we went
and recorded. On this record, we came up the road and didn't have any songs
written and started completely from scratch and knocked out an album. And it
really has an energy and a vibe about it that is just seamless with what we're
doing out here on the road.
You
already began to mention this, but how you would further say the experience
differed from recording with Dave Mustaine now as opposed to 25 years ago when
you recorded Peace Sells…?
Well
a lot like Peace Sells…, Dave wrote most of the music on TH1Rt3EN and there's a good influence from all of us around it. I think one of the
reasons it worked so quick is because everybody was like "Look, we just need to
make a great record. Let's not get caught up in your riff and my riff and your
words. Let's just throw it all into a pile and let's just take the best stuff
we got." And that really created a great synergy between the four of us and our
producer Johnny K [Disturbed, Machine Head]. So when it came for
everybody to get up to bat to record their parts, every musician's performance
took the songs into a new creative direction and that really is a process as a
band that needs to happen if it's going to be a band and not just a solo
project. And that's something that really put the Megadeth stamp on it to make
it a creative journey through these ten weeks that we had to make this album.
Between
the anniversary tour for Rust in Peace, the reissue of Peace
Sells, and the Big 4 tour, the past two years seem to have been
dedicated to celebrating the band's legacy. With the new album coming out, are
you excited to be performing new material?
Man,
I can't wait to perform! In fact, in the dressing room we'll run through some
stuff because we have all the mixes. The album is now technically done and
mixed, ready to be mastered and printed up and ready to be sent out to the
stores. And so the hardest part for us as the band is that we're so excited
about these tunes that we sit in there and we jam and work up them. We're
doing everything we can to not go out and play them every night. I mean,
it's still three or two and a half months before it comes out. So we don't want
to start playing everything and give it all away. But we can't wait to be
playing them. There's a handful of them for sure that we're going to be working
into the new set that are just going to be great for the type of shows we're
doing now.
As
of late, the only new song you've been performing is "Public Enemy No. 1." As Mayhem Fest continues on, do you think you'll be
throwing one more new tune into the setlist?
It's
possible. But again, part of the business of music is that we have to
allow our record company to set the record up. There's a process from writing
it to recording and mastering it, and then the whole process of packaging and
distribution and putting that in place. That can be sometimes an eight to
twelve week process during which time we usually shoot a video. We start doing
first the print promotions for it that have sometimes a four to eight week lead
time before those magazines actually hit the street. And then of course
web stuff which is much quicker and more immediate, but at the same time then
there'll be a single and the video will be put out and those things need to be
strategically timed.
You
want to do it so that you create excitement around the release of the album,
but you don't want to do it too soon where it comes out and people forget about
it by the time the album comes out. So that's the record company's job, to deal
with all that stuff. So it's really important that we work hand in hand with
our record company so that we can really get the biggest bang for the buck and
most importantly the fans are excited and it all delivers in a timely manner.
Speakingabout record
companies, Dave Mustaine has in the past been very
vocal about his unhappiness with Roadrunner Records. Seeing that this is
also the band's last album on the contract, can you give us any insight as to
what the band might be planning after that?
Well,
our point guy and the president of Roadrunner were at our show the other day in
[Holmdel] New Jersey
and they were obviously very happy about what they're hearing on the new
album. This is an album that I think the metal fans will be happy with
but also some of the other media outlets like radio and others that will be
able to be a little more accessible into the main stream in a very Megadeth
kind of way you know. Those are exciting times when, like with playing Yankee
Stadium, all of a sudden the MLB is excited about Megadeth. So those are some
great partnerships that you can have when you have the right kind of album, the
right kind of music, and certainly the right kind of tour or show like we're
doing with the Big 4.
So
we're a band that has been welcomed into a lot of other arenas between
professional wrestling and sports, video games, and all kinds of different things.
And a lot of that is predicated on our ability to write songs that crossover
the metal lines here and yet still be a metal band, and that's a hard thing to
do. I've found that you can't predict it, you can't force it. It has to
be something that happens naturally and that has definitely happened naturally
on this new album.
With
that said, would you be open then to staying on Roadrunner Records?
I
mean, that's a whole big picture vision. At this point right now, we wanted to
make sure we delivered to them a great album because whether it's our last
album or it's a new beginning with them or any other label, at the end of the
day the album says Megadeth on it and that's what fans see. They don't see the
record company as much as they see the name Megadeth. So for our fans we want
this to be a great record no matter what. And now we've done our part and
we turn it over to them and it's time for them to do their part.
While
still on the topic of the record industry, you have been very involved and vocal
about the business side, having released books like Making Music Your
Business: A Guide for Young Musicians. With the current state of the
industry and labels right now, I was curious whether you thought that the
do-it-yourself model is a feasible model for up and coming bands or not.
My
experience with having started on an independent label, gone up to Capitol
Records as a major label, and then ended up on sort of what they call major
indies with Sanctuary and, even Roadrunner I guess can be considered that to
some degree, the main thing is like any business you have to have funding. If
you want to have a successful donut shop, eventually you're going to have to go
to the bank and get some more money, right? If you're going to have a band,
you're going to have to go to some sort of a wealth to get some more money for
your endeavor. And that's the hardest part when you try to do DIY, is
trying to make sure you've got enough money and distribution to get your music
out to as many people, places as you want it you because that provides you with
future opportunities. So you definitely have to be entrepreneurial today.
And
should it be a more of a DIY thing? I think for sure it should. But you also
have to be thinking one and two and three steps ahead in everything that you do
with your touring, how you're releasing your music, your merchandising, and
everything that you can. Ultimately you want as many people walking around
with, in our case, a Megadeth shirt, listening to a Megadeth, either a CD or an
MP3, because music is more than just selling a song; it's about a culture and a
lifestyle. And I think those of us that have been able to develop a
culture, really kind of the way the Big 4 has become, we're a culture with our
fans and everything. It's not just about the bands who have some good songs,
it's about all of us together did something. And that to me when you can hit on
that chord, that's something that you can probably do for the rest of your
life.
Asyou mentioned
before, The Big 4's Yankee Stadium show is coming up, and there's been a
lot of talk that the four bands are planning something special. Is there
anything special planned for the show that you can reveal, or maybe anything
Megadeth is planning on their own for the show?
There's
kind of a big thing around that, that…I can't talk to you about [laughs],
but it's pretty cool. It's a personal thing.
Totally
understand!
It's
actually a cool thing. We've already sort of chatted a little bit about it
internally and so we'll have to see how it plays out, but I think it's going to
be pretty cool.
Well
I imagine there's going to be a jam involved somehow.
I
would assume so. When we were just over in Europe doing those five shows, every
night there was a jam which was great and we even started to do some other
songs. Metallica offered out some other tunes and doing cover songs I think is
the right thing because then it's something that's fun and it doesn't spotlight
any one of the four bands. It just makes the focus be about all of us being up
there.
Allowing
you to celebrate your influences together.
Yes,
exactly.
Withoutrevealing anything,
of course, is there a song that you personally would like to play with the Big
4?
I
mean, look I'm a fan of the stuff off Kill 'Em All. That's still one of
my favorite Metallica records. So I'd be fine even jumping up there and maybe
playing one of those that Dave wrote with them or something you know?
"Jump in the Fire" or "Metal Militia."
Maybe
even "The Four Horsemen"?
Eh,
probably not that one because it kinda got spread between a couple different
things, but even just one of the pure ones that is a Metallica song like again
"Jump in the Fire" or something like that, that's a great riff, great tune.
Dave was part of it, but it's clearly a Metallica song. So I don't know,
those things would be fun, but to me those jams are really about the
camaraderie; it's not so much about the tune. It's about all of us
getting up on stage and being brothers amongst brothers up there.
Did
you ever imagine 25 years ago that all of this was going to happen with all
four bands?
Man,
I never thought this would happen, really. Metallica got so big so fast and were
so far out front. Quite honestly they kicked down a lot of doors for all
of us man, for metal as a movement. And then for all of our bands, they
did so much and it's just cool that now here we are all these years later that
working with them obviously is great. And I think they're enjoying being
back around us. they're enjoying the kind of "let's take it back to the seed"
and "let's just be those snotty little kids again and go out there as best we
can as adults now".
And
for us to be able to go out and do that together, there's a real camaraderie
that happens and I think there's an honest, genuine recognition of what each
band in this scene did, because we didn't come up with the Big 4. I think
a fan or someone in the media called it the Big 4 and from there that's how it
took off. And so for us to rally around and for Metallica to want to be a part
of that, it just shows that as big as they ever got they're still a metal band
too.
While
you've got the Big 4 coming up, Mustaine also let
it leak that Gigantour was returning next year.
Yeah
we're working obviously around the release of the new album. There's going to
be a whole big tour that'll happen starting right after the first of the
year. So all those plans are starting to be put into place right now.
And
you guys have three out of four of the bands signed up for that?
I
believe so. The lineup is, from what I've been hearing, really looking good and
now's the right time to do it. Obviously right on the heels of a new album is
definitely the time for us to do it. And also to kind of get first up to
bat with the touring cycle and the season next year, now's the time to be
putting it together.
I'm
sure you can't say the lineup, but do you know when we might be able to hear an
official announcement?
I
would assume if it's going to happen, and it'll happen after the first of the
year, probably somewhere right around the time that the album comes out (November
1) the tour will be announced.
Dave Ellefson stood at the side of Megadeth mastermind
Dave Mustaine from 1983 until the band broke up in 2002. While Mustaine put the
band back together shortly afterwards, Ellefson was not a part of the new
lineup.
Eight years later, with a lot of water under the bridge,
Ellefson has returned to his former band. Since his return, the Thrash scene
has exploded as the Big 4 Tour, featuring Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer and
Anthrax, have fans around the world chomping at the bit. The Big 4 will make
their American debut on September 14th at Yankee Stadium, but in the
meantime, Megadeth is touring the USA on the Mayhem Tour, which also
features Godsmack and Disturbed.
In the interview that follows, Ellefson discusses both
the Mayhem and Big 4 dates, how Megadeth and Metallica are co-existing
peacefully and how his friend and band mate, Dave Mustaine, differ in their
views concerning recovery from addiction.
Look for Megadeth on the Mayhem Tour throughout the
summer and be sure to keep your eye peeled for Megadeth's new album, 13, to be
released this November.
Jeb: The last time we talked you were just rejoining
Megadeth. Things have been over the top with Megadeth since you've been back.
How does it feel?
Dave: It feels great. There is a really powerful thrust
behind what is happening right now. Momentum feeds momentum and the hardest
thing to get going is momentum. Any musician who reads this will understand
that to try to get that mojo going is difficult.
2010 was kind of the return of Megadeth. Megadeth had
been working, making records and touring but the stars really aligned for us
last year. It was a great time for me to come back and I think that was just
the exclamation point on an already big sentence for us. With the Big 4, the 20th anniversary of Rust in Peace and Slayer and Megadeth back touring
together, it has been something. Ultimately, the Clash of the Titans tour was
really great. We didn't call it that because officially it was the Jagermeister
Tour, but it was Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth all on tour together. If you're a
head-banger, it was a 'die and go to heaven' sort of year.
Jeb: Things have happened in Thrash that fans only
dreamed about happening. Megadeth is firing on all cylinders. Chris Broderick
is the best guitar player since Marty Friedman, in my book.
Dave: When Marty stepped away from the band it was a big
blow to the Megadeth family. The fans really admired that lineup. It was hard
when we had to make the change with Nick Mensa. Jimmy [DeGrasso] was a
fantastic drummer and came in under some difficult circumstances. When Marty
stepped away, though, that was really rough.
It is interesting; when we made the Rust in Peace album, it was essentially a reformation of the band. It was Dave and me and we
brought in Nick and Marty, and that was really a reformation of the band. We
didn't consciously think about it that way, but we had stopped, and we were off
the road for a year and a half. The cycle of events that happened this time
really reformed the group, as well. Oddly enough, that is almost exactly what
happened now.
Jeb: I've never thought about it that way.
Dave: I actually didn't think about it either, until you
brought it up. The only difference is that we launched a brand new record in Rust
in Peace with that lineup of the band. This time we got a whole year to
take this around the track and tour together with this current lineup. The fans
love Chris Broderick. He looks good in Megadeth and he sounds good in Megadeth.
With my return back, it really looks and sounds like Megadeth again.
Jeb: Metal is a community that exists outside the
mainstream. Since you have been back, and toured the world, what is your take
on the global shape of the Metal Community?
Dave: In 2010, we saw the kick start revival for Thrash,
for sure. There have been a lot of bands since 2004 and 2005 that revitalized
it for a new generation because all of these bands came up, essentially
listening to records by the Big 4. A lot of those bands are very open that
Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax were their influences. They sparked a
whole new movement, so by the time that we did the Big 4 last year, it really
came roaring back with a vengeance.
This year, we are out on the Mayhem Festival. We are
still doing Big 4 dates too. The Big 4 candle has turned into a flame. With
Mayhem, there is not only us, as the veteran band out here, there is Godsmack
and Disturbed, who made a huge contribution to Metal in their own way. On the
side stages there are all these brand new bands that are coming up the ranks.
It is so cool that there is a healthy future for Metal coming up behind us.
Jeb: Are you comfortable with being looked up at by all
these bands as the Godfathers?
Dave: It is cool to be on a tour where we are the veteran
band, but it is also cool that we aren't the ones closing the show. There is
even a legacy beyond the glory days of the '90's when MTV and radio really
supported Megadeth.
Godsmack was actually on tour with us on the Risk Tour in
1999. They did some shows with us in England. There was a good buzz about
them and they were the up and coming band. A few months later, they played
before us at Woodstock
and they were just ferocious. I remember watching Sully [Erna] singing that day
and thinking that they had really come a long way in only a few months.
You want to inspire bands to come up, and then go on and
do big things on their own, because that is what keeps the thing going. There
is no future if you're the last one in line.
Jeb: The Big 4 is coming to Yankee Stadium soon. How cool
is it to bring this show to your home country?
Dave: It is nice to still have some firsts in your
career. When you've been doing this a long time, you've seen and done a lot.
It's nice to know there are still big things that lie ahead.
Just last month, we played at Knebworth, and Megadeth had
never been there before. As I understand, it was Queen's last show and Led
Zeppelin played there. It was a huge historical thing for us. Yankee Stadium is
huge because it is new. They have only had a couple of shows there. I think Paul
McCartney played there and Jay-Z was there. Joel Osteen was there, but I
wouldn't consider him a musician. For us to come in as a Metal Infantry, as a
tribe, with our fans is great. The cool thing about the Big 4 is that it is so
big that it can only fit in baseball and soccer stadiums. To me, that is a
testament to our fans that have supported us over the years.
Jeb: You were with Dave Mustaine more than anyone back in
the day. Did you ever think that Metallica and Megadeth could play together in
harmony?
Dave: We played shows with Metallica in the past. The
first one we did was at the San Francisco Civic Center on New Year's Eve, 1985. We were
getting ready to go in and record Peace Sells and Metallica had just recorded Master of Puppets. It was Metallica, Exodus, Metal Church
and Megadeth. At the time, that was a huge show. Exodus was huge back in the
Bay area at that time.
We did some stadium shows with Metallica back in 1993,
which was the Black album for them and Countdown to Extinction for us. Those were huge shows. If everything had worked out differently than we
would have done more of them, but we both had set schedules where we couldn't
work it out.
We've done shows with them, but the key is too really to do
something that is more of a brotherhood. Metallica does not treat the Big 4
shows like it is Metallica with three other bands. They have really come into
it and operated under the mindset that they are just one of the four bands on
the show. That is so cool of them to do because they, obviously, got so popular
over the years.
It is so respectful the way that this has run, everyone
has acknowledged that these are the four bands that the fans hail, and these
are the bands that the fans see as the significant members of a movement that
probably wouldn't exist without them. For everyone to come together as brothers
of the tribe is a remarkable thing to see.
Jeb: I took sides growing up. I liked Metallica but I
chose Megadeth as the better of the two because I liked their music better.
Dave: I think it was always musically legal to have
Megadeth and Metallica records in your collection. It is cool that now you
don't have to choose sides. Everybody can come and enjoy the night out. It is
also nice because you don't hear six hours of the same songs all night. Some
festivals get put together where the bands all tend to sound the same, where if
you've heard one of them, then you've heard them all. Although we are all from
the same genre, we are all very different sounding.
It is the same way on the Mayhem Tour. It is really a
diverse lineup. It really covers a widespread section of music. It may be the
most diverse tour I have ever been on. Our heritage goes way back to the early
'80's, and then you've got bands over on the side stages that are on their
first time out. You also have Disturbed, Godsmack and Machine Head and
everything in between. It is a pretty massive sonic footprint for Metal on the
Mayhem Tour.
Jeb: You and I both subscribe to long term recovery and
sobriety and I read Mustaine's book and he has a little different take on
things than we do. It is like Dave has to always be on the edge.
Dave: That is kind of part of the Ying and Yang, you know
what I mean? It is funny that we are both named 'Dave' because we both want the
same thing, but we both go about it on very, very different avenues. I think
that's the charm of Megadeth. I think that is what the fans missed when I
wasn't here, and it is the thing that they love now that I'm back. It isn't just
me; it's how the two of us work together. If we were all on the edge then we'd
probably fall over. If we were all safe and reserved, which is where I tend to
be, then it wouldn't be Megadeth. It takes the dynamic of both of us.
There is an axiom that I try to live by, and that is to
live and let live. I live one way and Dave lives another way and we are both
cool letting each other be their own man. It isn't so much what we do
individually; it's what we do collectively that counts.
Jeb: I know there is new music coming, man. Tell me what
happens once this tour is over and once Yankee Stadium is over.
Dave: Basically, Mayhem is our summer vacation. We worked
our tails off on a new album, which is mixed and in the can, and coming out
November 1st. We get to go around the country and have a fun summer
before the work really begins to ramp up on the new album, which is called 13.
"The Devil You Know", a brand new song from ANTHRAX, will be released digitally on Tuesday, August 8. The track,
which was premiered on this past Friday's (August 5) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM,
was described by ANTHRAX guitarist Rob Caggiano in a recent interview as "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."
"The Devil You Know" comes off ANTHRAX's long-awaited
new album, "Worship Music", which will be released in the U.S. on September 13 via Megaforce Records (one day earlier in Europe through Nuclear
Blast Records). The band's first studio release in eight years marks the
return of vocalist Joey Belladonna, whose last studio work with the
group was 1990's "Persistence Of Time".
The Omega Order is offering an exclusive pre-order bundle
for "Worship Music", featuring the new CD; "Fistful Of
Metal" triple 10-inch picture discs; and an ANTHRAX LP slipmat
(only available in this bundle).
"Worship Music" track listing:
01. Worship (intro)
02. Earth On Hell
03. The Devil You Know
04. Fight 'Em Til You Can't
05. I'm Alive
06. Hymn 1
07. In The End
08. The Giant
09. Hymn 2
10. Judas Priest
11. Crawl
12. The Constant
13. Revolution Screams
ANTHRAX is making sure that you'll never lose your
religion. The band, in support of "Worship Music", the first
new ANTHRAX album in eight years and first with vocalist Joey
Belladonna since 1990, is making a limited number of glow-in-the-dark
rosary beads available at local independent record stories beginning today for
only $1. Visit www.recordstoreday.com to find a store close to you. If that isn't enough, your one buck not only gets
you this divine bauble, but you'll also get a link to download "The
Devil You Know", the first single from "Worship Music".
But hold on, there's more. When "Worship Music" is released on
September 13, take your rosary beads back to the store where you purchased them
and you'll receive $1 off a copy of the full-length CD.
"The Devil You Know" will be released digitally on Tuesday, August 8. The track,
which was premiered on this past Friday's (August 5) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM,
was described by ANTHRAX guitarist Rob Caggiano in a recent interview as "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."
The Omega Order is offering an exclusive pre-order bundle
for "Worship Music", featuring the new CD; "Fistful Of
Metal" triple 10-inch picture discs; and an ANTHRAX LP slipmat
(only available in this bundle).
"Worship Music" track listing:
01. Worship (intro)
02. Earth On Hell
03. The Devil You Know
04. Fight 'Em Til You Can't
05. I'm Alive
06. Hymn 1
07. In The End
08. The Giant
09. Hymn 2
10. Judas Priest
11. Crawl
12. The Constant
13. Revolution Screams
The CD cover artwork for "Worship Music" was handled by
renowned comic book artist Alex Ross, who has worked with Marvel
Comics and DC Comics and is known for his "Marvels", "Kingdom Come", and "Astro City" illustrations. Ross also did the original artwork for ANTHRAX's "We've
Come For You All" and "Music Of Mass Destruction" albums.
"Worship Music" was produced by ANTHRAX, Rob
Caggiano and Jay Ruston and recorded over a four-year period at
studios in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Belladonna's return to the band prompted some of the songs originally
recorded to be re-crafted with fresh lyrics or tweaked to better suit his
overall vibe and energy. Some of the songs were completely replaced with
brand-new songs and, of course, all have Belladonna's inimitable vocal
stamp on them.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/anthraxbeads.jpg
According to a new posting on RATT singer Stephen
Pearcy's Facebook page, work on his new solo album, "Sucker
Punch" should be completed in September, after which "it's all RATT muzik." He adds, "The band is starting to discuss who, what, where,
and when. All positive either way for you Ratt n' Rollers! 2012."
In a recent interview with Guitar International, Pearcy stated about RATT's
plans for a new studio album, "I haven't spoken to Warren [DeMartini, RATT guitarist] in quite awhile. We had a break and I ran into him in a
store the other day and we actually talked about getting together and starting
the writing process. I told him I'd been writing RATT music, which is
totally different than my solo stuff. . . He's got plenty of stuff. He told me
he's been writing, so when it goes down he and I will have plenty of songs. We
even have some unfinished songs that were never used on 'Infestation'.
We'll be very prepared."
When asked about the "business" issues that caused RATT to go
on a hiatus for most of 2011, Stephen said, "We're just projecting
that it should be by 2012. I mean, it should have been this year. If this all
happens or something arises and he wants to start writing next month, I'll be
available. That's the way it works. It should be a priority, but sometimes if
things aren't in their proper alignment, there's no way we can be ready. All I
know is we're both getting antsy. That's usually what brings us back together
anyway, regardless of foolishness, lawsuits and all this other crap. That is
over and done. It's time to be musicians and friends again."
RATT's latest album, "Infestation", has sold under
50,000 copies in the United States since its April 2010 release,
according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Australia's Soundwave
Revolution traveling festival has officially been canceled after the
second-biggest headliner pulled out of the event.
Speaking to Australia's Nova 969 radio station, festival promoter AJ Maddah said,
"The festival as we know it has been canceled. The situation is that we
were scheduled to make a second announcement on the first of August, which had
our festival co-headliner on that announcement. Their circumstances changed at
the last minute and they had to pull out. And unfortunately we don't have
enough time to replace them. And we didn't really want to go ahead with an
incomplete lineup.
"We were supposed to make the public announcement this evening anyway. But
what we wanted to do — because a lot of those bands are still coming and we are
creating packages and what have you, for them to do in clubs and other venues —
we wanted to be able to make the full announcement at 1 p.m. [today]. So that
we could say the festival in its format is no longer happening [and] that these
shows are taking its place. Unfortunately, one of those artists [drummer Stix
Zadinia of STEEL PANTHER — Ed.] jumped the gun [and leaked the news
of the festival cancelation via Twitter].
"The people that have already bought their tickets — I think it's nice
enough that people that have already purchased their tickets by credit card, in
which case those tickets are automatically refunded. And the small percentage
that might have bought it from outlets, they'll be able to get a refund, I
expect.
"Had we had been able to have our second headliner and make our second
announcement, I think we wouldn't have had any issues with [the festival]. And
it wasn't for the fact of not being able to attract the artists, I guess we
were victims of certain artists' circumstances or what have you. I think the
Australian festival market is still very strong.
"Obviously we love our fan base and we try to do what's best for them. And
we could have taken the option of limping through with the lineup as we have
[it] now. It still would have obviously been a much better financial outcome
for us than to go through the road we have — but we just didn't want to put an
inferior product on the market.
"Revolution was a one-off, but yes, Soundwave 2012 will be
back in February and the lineup is massive."
You can listen to Maddah's audio statement regarding the Soundwave
Revolution cancelation using the player below.
Soundwave Revolution was scheduled feature performances by VAN HALEN, ALICE COOPER, BAD RELIGION, HELLYEAH, MACHINE HEAD, DANZIG, ALTER BRIDGE, CRO-MAGS, THE DAMNED THINGS, DEVIN
TOWNSEND PROJECT and many others.
Soundwave Revolution 2011 dates:
Saturday, Sep. 24 - Brisbane Revolution
Sunday, Sep. 25 - Sydney Revolution
Friday, Sep. 30 - Melbourne Revolution
Saturday, Oct. 1 - Adelaide Revolution
Monday, Oct. 3 - Perth
Revolution
For more information, visit the festival's official web site.
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http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/soundwaverev.jpg
Marilyn Manson's paintings inspired by the murder of Elizabeth
Short (a.k.a The Black Dahlia) will be on display at the Theatrefication event on November 12 in downtown Los Angeles.
Theatrefication is a double-feature of short-format multi-media
productions; David J's "The Chanteuse And The Devil's Muse" and ElectrOpera Theatre's "ET Mostavy". Marilyn
Manson will be exhibiting his original, Black Dahlia-themed
watercolors, and Shepard Fairey will DJ the after party.
David J revisits the "Black Dahlia" song cycle that he
originally composed for the independent feature film "The Devil's
Muse". In this theatrical staging, the music works as a framework
around which another related story is interwoven, that of torch singer Madi
Comfort.
ElectrOperas are an exciting new frontier of musical theatre, taking musicals
out of the traditional theatre and put them into the venues more accessible to
young people: festivals, nightclubs, and warehouses. ElectrOpera Theatre is committed to continuing the tradition of storytelling through urban and
classical performance.
Theatrefication - November 12
Million Dollar Theatre
307 S. Broadway
Downtown L.A., CA 90012
Go to www.theatrefication.com for show info and tickets.
Former DEEP PURPLE keyboardist Jon Lord has
released the following statement via his official web site, JonLord.org:
"I would like all my friends, followers, fans and fellow travelers to know
that I am fighting cancer and will therefore be taking a break from performing
while getting the treatment and cure.
"I shall, of course, be continuing to write music — in my world it just
has to be part of the therapy — and I fully expect to be back in good shape
next year.
"God bless and see you soon."
Jon Lord is recognized for his Hammond
organ blues-rock playing and unique sound and for his pioneering work in fusing
rock and classical or baroque forms. He has most famously been a member of DEEP
PURPLE, the band he co-founded in 1968.
Lord recently received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Leicester.
According to Fox5Vegas.com, a battery case against MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman Vince Neil has been delayed until November 7.
Neil's lawyer requested the continuance, which was granted by a Las Vegas judge Monday
(August 8) during a brief hearing.
The singer did not appear in court for the hearing.
Neil pleaded not guilty to a charge of battery constituting domestic
violence for allegedly striking ex-girlfriend Alicia Jacobs in the chest
with his finger. He also pleaded not guilty to another misdemeanor charge,
disorderly conduct for allegedly harassing Jacobs' friends, Patricia
McCrone, and John Katsilometes, who is a Las Vegas Sun columnist and editor.
Neil in April completed all of the requirements of his sentence stemming
from his DUI case from in June 2010. The sentence ordered him to serve 15 days
of jail time, 15 days of house arrest, pay a $585 fine, attend DUI school and
attend a victim-impact panel online.
Dan Chesnet of Belgrade News recently conducted an interview with GREAT
WHITE guitarist/keyboardist Michael Lardie. A couple of excerpts
from the chat follow below.
BelgradeNews: Your lead vocalist (Jack Russell) is out right now [after
undergoing emergency surgery for a perforated bowel]. How is he doing and when
do you guys expect him to be back with the band?
Lardie: He is recovering. Any time you have your midsection cut into —
they had to reach a section of his large intestine — any time you open up your
body that far, it takes quite a while to rehab the body to reanimate the nerves
and all the muscles and stuff. As far as a projected date, it's really more
often than not up to Jack. I hear, and I've talked to him a couple or
three times a week, he's working, very, very hard to get back. He misses it
terribly. He misses all of us. And we'd like him to come back when he's 150
percent ready, if you follow my line of thinking. Because I'd hate for him to
come back too soon and realize, "Oh, wow, I really should have done rehab
for another month before I tried to come back. Now I gotta take more time
off." I want him to be just so ready to go that he just blows people's
minds. So we're all being very supportive of him. And the great thing is he's
being very supportive of our scenario by endorsing us to go out and do what
we're doing. And giving Terry Ilous [XYZ], who's filling in for Jack,
encouragement. He calls him a couple a times a month, and says, "I'm
hearing great things about you, thanks for singing my songs so well."
We're having a great time with Terry, so it's a win-win situation. By
like I said, I will reiterate, I don't want him coming back to soon. I want it
to be right, so when he's back he's back all the way.
BelgradeNews: How's the fan reception been with Terry at vocals?
Lardie: At first it's always like, ya know — say the guy got a divorce
and everyone loved his wife. They see the new girlfriend and they're like, (Lardie hums), automatically they're going to go, yeah I don't know. But after they
hear him sing a couple of songs, they're like, "Holy crap!" Because Terry's
such a terrific vocalist. And he is doing the songs; he's paying homage to the
songs very nicely where he's copying a perfect amount of anality but also still
putting his personality into it. So I would not want him to be a carbon copy of Jack because nobody can really be Jack just like nobody can
really be Steve Perry from JOURNEY. The guys that they have do a
pretty good job of doing the Steve Perry thing, but I like it better
that Terry not try to be Jack. He's trying to pay homage to doing
the songs greatly, but at the same time putting on enough of his own artistry
into it. The fan response by the end of the show is like, wow, you guys picked
the right guy. You can't do any better than that.
BelgradeNews: Are there any songs that you shy away from with Terry or can
he jump in and pretty much do anything?
Lardie: He can pretty much do anything. We've dusted a couple off that
we haven't done in a while. We're doing "Lady Red Light" again
and he rips up "Save Your Love". He does a great job on that.
We're doing "Big Goodbye", which we haven't done in a year. So
it's fresh for us too to be able to put in some of these songs we haven't done
in a while. Not that Jack couldn't do them. It's just that when you do
them — you write them and you sing them for so many years — it's not that
particularly fresh to you like some songs are. Because it's a fresh thing with Terry right now he can look at these songs and they seem fresh to him. So there again
it feels fresh to us.
BelgradeNews: So with Jack not there right now, I assume the band's not
working on anything new.
Lardie: We always write songs because that's what we do. And we always
think in terms of how it would sound with Jack singing them. Mark [Kendall, guitar] and I have created
music and melody for these songs over the years. Kind of like in your mind when
you're at home working on a song going, "Where would Jack go with
this. How would he approach this." We keep doing it no matter if we have a
project specifically in mind or not. So when we do get to that point where
we're doing another record we have a wealth of catalog to be able to draw from.
And hopefully have 10 or 11 really good songs on it out of 100 ideas.
Steve Williams, keyboardist for U.K. metallers POWER
QUEST, has released the following statement following the third night of
rioting, looting and massive destruction of property in London, England
(initially triggered when a 29 year-old-man was shot dead by police, leading to
a protest outside Tottenham Police Station on Saturday):
"Is this what we call being civilised?"
"Watching the recent events unfolding in London and elsewhere in the country has
compelled me to put my thoughts down on paper.
"I cannot believe that in the 21st century, and in a supposedly civilised
society, we are witnessing such disgraceful and shameful acts of criminal
damage, violence, theft and intimidation.
"I was listening to the BBC coverage into the small hours this
morning and was appalled, not only by the perpetrators themselves, but also by
those who were just standing by and watching and generally getting in the way
of police and other emergency services who were just trying to do their job and
deal with what was, and still is, a horrific situation.
"There is no justification for stealing someone else's possessions or
trashing their property that they have worked so hard for over the years.
Running amok and wearing masks is not only disorderly but cowardly as well. If
violence is your belief system, then at least have the courage to show your
face!
"Moreover I even saw on one live broadcast from Croydon people laughing
and joking in the background while the reporter told us of homes being
destroyed and businesses being razed to the ground. It just beggars belief in
my humble opinion.
"I would like to say that my thoughts and those of [the other POWER
QUEST members] Paul, Andy, Rich, Gav and Chity are very much with those affected by these shameful acts and I hope that we
don't see the violence spreading further across our country although, sadly, it
seems that this has already happened. The vast majority of U.K. residents
are peaceful, decent people and between us we will never let hooligans and
thugs dictate to the rest of us.
"If you listen to fools..... the Mob Rules".
Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM will embark on a
headlining tour of Australia
in November. Support on the trek will come from the Perth, Australia-based metallers VOYAGER.
The dates are as follows:
Nov. 06 - Capitol - Perth
Nov. 07 - HQ - Adelaide
Nov. 10 - The Palace - Melbourne
Nov. 12 - The Big Top - Sydney
Nov. 13 - The Arena - Brisbane
Tickets go on sale on August 11.
CHILDREN OF BODOM's new album, "Relentless Reckless
Forever", sold nearly 11,000 copies in the United States in its first week of
release to debut at position No. 42 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's
previous CD, 2008's "Blooddrunk", opened with 19,000 units to
land at No. 22. This number was roughly four times the opening tally of "Blooddrunk"'s
predecessor, "Are You Dead Yet?", which premiered with 5,000
units back in October 2005 to enter the chart at No. 195.
"Relentless Reckless Forever" was certified gold in the band's
home country for first-day sales of over 10,000 copies. The CD was recorded in Finland's Petrax
Studios with famed rock producer Matt Hyde (SLAYER, MONSTER
MAGNET).
After successfully decimating Europe this summer with
multiple festival appearances and headlining shows, your lords and masters the
almighty GWAR have awoken from their arctic slumber to once again create
utter devastation in North America this fall.
The tour kicks off October 18 at in Charlotte, North Carolina and will wrap on November 27 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Providing direct support on the tour will be Buffalo, New York's EVERY TIME I DIE. GHOUL will open the first half of the tour and WARBEAST will be opening the second half.
Momentarily putting down his crack pipe, the warty front thing and mutant
overlord Oderus Urungus spoke about the carnage that is sure to ensue
when GWAR tours North America: "Once again we blow the mighty horn
of war, and summon the most fanatical fans in metal history to pay homage to
their brutal overlords, us. Between holding Crack-a-Thons, having GWAR-B-Qs,
you might think that your Lords and Masters had forgotten about you...but you
won't get off that easy! GWAR is returning to personally slap the teeth
out of your collective mouths, and have a great time while doing it!"
GWAR on tour with EVERY TIME I DIE, GHOUL and WARBEAST:
Oct. 18 - Charlotte, NC @ Amos' Southend
Oct. 19 - Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa
Oct. 20 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Oct. 21 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
Oct. 22 - Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights
Oct. 23 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
Oct. 24 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
Oct. 25 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
Oct. 26 - Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection
Oct. 28 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
Oct. 29 - Detroit, MI @ Harpo's
Oct. 30 - Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
Oct. 31 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
Nov. 01 - Sauget, IL @ Pop's
Nov. 02 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Nov. 04 - Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Event Centre
Nov. 05 - Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall Ballroom
Nov. 07 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Nov. 08 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
Nov. 09 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
Nov. 11 - San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
Nov. 12 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
Nov. 13 - Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse
Nov. 14 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
Nov. 15 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
Nov. 16 - Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
Nov. 18 - Austin, TX @ East Side Drive In
Nov. 19 - Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
Nov. 20 - Houston, TX @ House of Blues
Nov. 21 - New Orleans, LA @ The Hangar
Nov. 22 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Nov. 23 - Tampa, FL @ Green Iguana Stadium
Nov. 25 - Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
Nov. 26 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
Nov. 27 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place
Bassist Casey Orr (a.k.a. Beefcake The Mighty) recently announced
his departure from GWAR. He explained in a statement that he could
"simply . . . no longer devote the time and effort required to maintain my
position within the group. I have so many projects going on now in Texas, including a new RIGOR
MORTIS record in the works, that it just wouldn't be fair to everyone
involved for me to stay and not be able to give 100%."
Video footage of GWAR's performance at this year's edition of Copenhell festival in Copenhagen, Denmark on June 18, 2011 can be
seen below.
As previously reported, the second annual GWAR-B-Q has been pushed back
to September 17 from the previously announced August 27. It will be held at
Hadad's Lake in Richmond, Virginia. The standard ticket price will be
$20, with "all kinds of cool extras and discounts." This year, for
the very first time, GWAR is playing its own GWAR-B-Q.
Metal Blade Records recently released the vinyl versions of GWAR's "Lust and Space" and "Bloody Pit of Horror" albums.
GWAR's new album, "Bloody Pit Of Horror", sold around
2,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The
band's previous CD, "Lust In Space", opened with 5,000 units
to debut at position No. 96 on The Billboard 200 chart.
German-Polish power metal act BÖRN AGAIN has entered MP
Studio in Poland with producer Bart Gabriel (BURNING STARR, CRYSTAL
VIPER, LONEWOLF) to begin recording its debut album, "Neverending
Fire". The 12-song effort will be completed later this summer for a
late 2011 release.
BÖRN AGAIN features the following musicians:
* Marta Gabriel (CRYSTAL VIPER) - Lead And Backing Vocals, Keyboards
* Martin Albrecht (ex-STORMWITCH, MYSTIC PROPHECY, ROUGH) - Bass Guitar
And Backing Vocals
* Björn Daigger (ex-MAJESTY, CIVILIZATION ONE, R:I:P) - Guitar And
Backing Vocals
* Alex Guth (STORMWARRIOR, BURNING STARR) - Guitar
* Tom "Golem" Danczak (CRYSTAL VIPER, ex-DRAGON, DARZAMAT) -
Drums
BÖRN AGAIN's debut single, "Neverending Fire", was
released in 2010 and was made available as a free download and limited
seven-inch vinyl on High Roller Records.
The band's style is described in a press release as "a mixture of
traditional power metal, heavy metal and hard rock.
For more information, visit www.bornagainofficial.com.
Vocalist Mike Vescera (OBSESSION, LOUDNESS, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN), guitarist Tim Thomas (AGENT STEEL, NEW
EDEN, STEEL PROPHET), bassist Keith Knight (ASKA),
guitarist Ron Ravi Warrion, keyboardist Hermian Dufort (ANGEL
WITCH) and drummer Rob Brug (HALLOWEEN, DAMIEN) have
joined forces in a brand new project called WARRION. These lauded
musicians showcase their skills delivering aggressive guitar works and soaring
clarion call vocals that mold together classic metal at its finest glory.
Samples can now be heard on the WARRION Facebook page.
Robert Cavuoto of Guitar International recently conducted an interview with ALTER
BRIDGE/CREED guitarist Mark Tremonti. A couple of excerpts
from the chat follow below.
Guitar International: With Myles [Kennedy, ALTER BRIDGE singer] working with Slash, I imagine it could be a double-edged sword.
There's the positives of the attention it brings to ALTER BRIDGE, and
the other side people constantly asking "Is Myles gonna be
leaving?" What's your take on it?
Mark Tremonti: We haven't seen any cons yet; it's all been positive. Myles is not the guy to say one thing and do another. He says he's completely
committed to ALTERBRIDGE just like we
told him with this CREED reunion stuff. We're all very open with one
another, there are no secrets. We're having a great time and ALTER BRIDGE is doing better than we ever have, and nobody's going anywhere. I think Slash just brings more credibility to who Myles is as a singer and a frontman
and gets some of the respect that he deserves.
Guitar International: You have been in the music news a lot regarding
you being one of the few people who heard the new VAN HALEN CD and now
you will be going to do a few dates with them. How did you form a relationship
with them?
Mark Tremonti: Yeah, well we first did shows with them back in the CREED days. Eddie [Van Halen] actually gave me one of his guitars, and
then years went by. It's funny, at one of those old shows; I think at Madison Square Garden,
he ran through a crowd of fans and press just to tell me how to set up the
guitar with the springs on the guitar when he had Valerie and Wolfgang with him. And it meant a lot to me that he'd leave his family to come tell the
young guitar player what to do. I remember Wolfgang was six or seven
years old then, and now, eleven years later, he has become a fan of ALTERBRIDGE. He came out to some shows,
and we've become friends. We invited him to ALTERBRIDGE soundchecks, and we hang
out with him every time we go to L.A.
He's also played with ALTER BRIDGE at the House of Blues the last time I
was out there. He brought his dad to our show that was a crazy night. You had Slash and Eddie and Wolfgang Van Halen at the show! The last time we
went to L.A., Wolfgang came and hung out with me and my buddy and asked
if we wanted to go see practice the next day and I said, "Of course!"
so he picked me up and got me into the studios at his dad's house, where they
played every song on the new record for me. It was just amazing.
Guitar International: Wow. From what I read it sounds like old-school
VAN HALEN.
Mark Tremonti: Yeah, it does. I haven't heard a single vocal on it yet,
but it definitely had the juice, it was great.
Guitar International: Was it like "Van Halen 1", "Van
Halen 2", "Fair Warning" era?
Mark Tremonti: I think it was a mixture of it all. It wasn't all edgy and
dark like "Fair Warning"; it was a mixture, somewhere in the
middle.
Guitar International: Do you ever get nervous playing around Eddie?
I imagine that would be a problem for some guitarists.
Mark Tremonti: Nah. You know, I was very comfortable. He's such a nice
guy; it was very comfortable for me. One moment I'll never forget is being at
the House Of Blues when I was warming up for our show and I was doing some
left-handed legato exercises to get my hands ready. I knew all these guys were
gonna be there so I wanted to be on my A game, so I'm sitting there working on
my left hand, and I notice somebody standing a few feet behind me. I turn
around and look and it was Eddie. He looks at me and he goes, "You
don't pick too much, do ya?" I'm like "Aaaah, I do! But I'm working
on my left hand!" [Laughs] So that was one of those crazy moments.
California
metallers DEVILDRIVER have released the following statement:
"[Guitarist] Mike Spreitzer was hospitalized this afternoon [after
suffering a seizure]. He has now been released and is okay, but, unfortunately,
he will not be joining the band on their South American tour as doctors have
ordered him not to. The tour is still continuing [with Jeff Kendrick as
the sole guitarist]."
DEVILDRIVER's six-date tour of South America and Mexico will kick off on Wednesday, August 10 at
Teatro Flores in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
DEVILDRIVER bassist Aaron "Bubble" Patrick (ex-BURY
YOUR DEAD) suffered a back injury last month but was able to recover in
time to perform with the rest of the band at the Heavy T.O. and Heavy
MTL festivals in Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
respectively.
Bubble joined DEVILDRIVER as the replacement for Jonathan
Miller, who quit DEVILDRIVER in March, calling it "the most
difficult decision of my life" but "something that I needed to do for
myself."
"Beast", the fifth album from DEVILDRIVER, sold a
little over 11,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to
debut at position No. 42 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Guitarist Mike Spreitzer of California metallers DEVILDRIVER,
who is sitting out the band's South American tour after suffering a seizure,
has issued the following update on his condition:
"Hey everybody. Thank you all so much for your concern. It means so much
to me. I'm doing okay and I'm back home.
"I'm not sure why, but I had a seizure in a Rite Aid while I was picking
up a few last-minute items for our South American tour. I collapsed and hit my
head fairly hard. But the good news is all the tests results and CAT scan came
back negative. So I've been ordered to rest and stay home. I'll be up and
running for the next tour with ARCH ENEMY.
"I'm so upset that I can't go to South America.
I was so excited.
"Thanks again for your concern and I love you all."
Jeff Kendrick will be the sole guitarist for DEVILDRIVER's
six-date tour of South America and Mexico, which is scheduled to kick off
tomorrow (Wednesday, August 10) at Teatro Flores in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
DEVILDRIVER bassist Aaron "Bubble" Patrick (ex-BURY
YOUR DEAD) suffered a back injury last month but was able to recover in
time to perform with the rest of the band at the Heavy T.O. and Heavy
MTL festivals in Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
respectively.
Bubble joined DEVILDRIVER as the replacement for Jonathan
Miller, who quit DEVILDRIVER in March, calling it "the most
difficult decision of my life" but "something that I needed to do for
myself."
"Beast", the fifth album from DEVILDRIVER, sold a
little over 11,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to
debut at position No. 42 on The Billboard 200 chart.
New Brunswick, New Jersey's melodic,
thrash-metal warriors GOD FORBID have inked a merchandising, publishing
and recording deal with Victory Records.
Commented GOD FORBID drummer Corey Pierce: "We are so
excited to be a part of the Victory family. We are very proud to bring
our music too all the maniacs out there who are fans of the band as well as
this label. We look forward to starting a powerful partnership which will bring
a new energy to the metal world."
GOD FORBID guitarist Doc Coyle previously stated about the
material for the band's forthcoming CD, "It's always difficult to tell how
a new album will sound this early in the process, but I can say that our new
guitar player Matt Wicklund [ex-HIMSA] is contributing tons of
material. His stuff is very hook-oriented with a Scandinavian twinge.
"The stuff I've been writing has been varied from evil MORBID ANGEL,
black metal shit to mid-tempo/power groove MACHINE HEAD-type stuff, and
signature GOD FORBID material that is a logical progression from our
previous albums."
GOD FORBID's last album, "Earthsblood", sold around
5,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen
SoundScan, to land at position No. 110 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD
debuted at No. 2 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.
GOD FORBID's previous album, "IV: Constitution of Treason",
entered The Billboard 200 chart at No. 119 in September 2005 after shifting
8,300 units.
Century Media and its associated labels — InsideOutMusic, Superballmusic and People Like You — have decided to pull their
repertoire from streaming music service Spotify in an attempt "to
protect the interests of their artists."
The U.S. version of Spotify, which gives its users access to all the
songs in its cloud to organize into playlists and listen to as they please, has
reportedly attracted 1.4 million registered users so far in spite of its
current invite-only status. Of those users, roughly 175,000 are said to be
"paying users." In Europe, where Spotify has been available in seven countries since its launch in 2008, the company
currently has around 1.6 million paying users, according to published reports.
According to the an infographic on the Information Is Beautiful web site, which visualizes the
different monetization methods available to artists and how profitable they
are, if you are a solo musician, at $0.00029 per play on Spotify, you
will have to receive 4,053,110 plays per month to earn the U.S. minimum wage of
$1,160.
In a statement released earlier today, Century Media explained its
position by saying, "While everyone at the label group believes in the
ever-changing possibilities of new technology and new ways of bringing music to
the fans, Century Media is also of the opinion that Spotify in
its present shape and form isn't the way forward. The income streams to the
artists are affected massively and therefore that accelerates the downward
spiral, which eventually will lead to artists not being able to record music
the way it should be recorded. Ultimately, in some cases, it will completely
kill a lot of smaller bands that are already struggling to make ends meet. At
the same time, Century Media also believes that Spotify is a
great tool to discover new music and is in the process of reintroducing their
bands to Spotify by way of putting up samplers of the artists. This way,
fans can still discover the great music released by the label.
"Physical sales are dropping drastically in all countries where Spotify is active. Artists are depending on their income from selling music and it is
our job to support them to do so. Since the artists need to sell their music to
continue their creativity, Spotify is a problem for them. This is about
survival, nothing less, and it is time that fans and consumers realize that for
artists it is essential to sell music to keep their heads above water.
"Obviously, it is ultimately up to the music fan and consumer how they
access their music, whether it is buying, streaming or stealing. There needs to
be awareness, though, that how you will consume your music has direct
consequences for the artists, who we are all trying to support."
Russia's Darkside webzine recently conducted an interview with former HELLHAMMER/CELTIC
FROST and current TRIPTYKON mainman Tom Gabriel Fischer. A
couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Darkside: What is the message behind your latest album, "Eparistera
Daimones"?
Tom: The message behind it is very difficult, it's a very personal
album. The album reflects a certain stage of my life. It was created during a
time when there were a lot of problems in my life, a lot of darkness, and, of
course, it's nothing unusual to say something like that in the scene, so it
sounds like a huge cliché, but it's a very personal album. I lost a band, CELIC
FROST, that was the center of my life, that was everything to me, and I
lost that under very difficult circumstances. It changed my life completely,
and on such stage of my life I created this album, "Eparistera
Daimones".
Darkside: People are fond of classifying music into genres. How would
you classify TRIPTYKON yourself?
Tom: It sounds like CELTIC FROST. [Laughs] That's how I classify
it. TRIPTYKON is a continuation of my past that started with HELLHAMMER and then went on with CELTIC FROST. I'm continuing exactly that path.
But if you really must put a label on it, I just always say we're a hard rock
band or heavy rock band, I don't even like to go any further, you know. There's
so many things that are part of TRIPTYKON's sound, it's impossible to
say whether it's black metal, or thrash metal, or death metal, or doom metal —
there's so many things in there. I've played this music 30 years before all
this tags even existed, so should I label it? I think not.
Darkside: You've never really fit into the parameters of black metal, so
why do you think you've been so popular among its fans?
Tom: I'm not so popular; there are also many people that hate me with a
passion. [laughs] I've been creating extreme music for over 30 years, and
extreme music creates extreme reactions, whether positive or negative. But, you
know, I'm not creating "elevator music." I create extreme metal, and
the reactions are as passionate as extreme. I write my music for myself. My
music is me performing exorcism on my own demons, my own therapy, me dealing
with the things that are going on in my mind. And what happens beyond that is
neither intentional nor is under my control. Of course it's flattering if
somebody likes your music, but that's not why I'm writing my music. I'm writing
my music for my own sanity.
Darkside: You told now you are experiencing a new period of your life.
What has led to it? What made some things change? Or did the changes happen
naturally?
Tom: I think it's both. I've found that I look at myself in a very
different manner the older I become. It's probably a part of life experience,
I've traveled the world all my life, there's so many things that have happened
in my life and hopefully that reflects itself through some life experience. And
that allows me to look at myself with different eyes than when I was much
younger, and I feel I'm in a completely different place than I've never been in
my life. Of course this has also reflected in my music, my lyrics have changed,
and so on. I don't like to be stagnant, I don't like to remain at the same
place, I like to move. I'm not dead yet, you know, I exist, I live, I've been
creative, and that needs to manifest itself.
Darkside: Tell us more about your death-mask project and such works as
Jesus crucified on a dildo that can be seen in your blog.
Tom: Yeah, what about that? [Laughs] People hated me doing that to
Jesus. I'm not a religious person whatsoever; I don't believe in anything:
neither Satan, nor God, nor anything else. I don't believe, that's the end of
it. Yet having said that, that little phallus statue, it's not even a comment
on Jesus, I don't give a shit, you know?! It's a comment on human mankind;
Phallus I/2011. Because to me, what the Church does with Jesus is using as a
phallus to lead people around. The whole statue is a comment on mankind, and
their religious patterns. It's not about Jesus, whether he existed or not, I
don't really care. It's a mirror of mankind, and all the outrage that happened,
when I put this on my blog, is simply a confirmation that they really do threat
him as a phallus. He really is a phallic symbol, and that just proved the
validity of my little sculpture.
Darkside: You've said that you are indifferent to any religion, but why
then would you raise this topic (Christianity, Satanism, dark side) so often in
your artistic works?
Tom: Because it determined the whole history of the world. Human beings
have been scared of things ever since the Stone Age. When we came out of the
caves and got scared of the big world outside, we couldn't explain everything.
So we always gathered around the leader, whether the leader is a dictator or a
god or whatever. We always needed to have some security, a leader that knows everything
and takes care of us. And religion is of course and exponent of that. And it's
an endless source of interest.
Darkside: Have you ever thought about your own "perfect death
scenario"?
Tom: (laughs) To me death is perfection anyway. I'm not afraid of death.
There are certain parts of me that are eager to die, because I'm very sick and
tired of this human planet. To me, death is like an escape, it is beauty, it's
the final peace from this shit we've created on this planet, from this
destroying nature, from killing animals, from killing each other, from just
destroying whatever we get in our hands. I don't enjoy that. And death is the
ultimate escape.
WARDRUNA — the Norwegian folk project featuring Einar
"Kvitrafn" Selvik (GORGOROTH, JOTUNSPOR, DEAD TO
THIS WORLD) and Kristian "Gaahl" Espedal (GORGOROTH, TRELLDOM) — will play a special concert on August 27 in Bergen during
the Hole In The Sky festival. They will perform at Logen Teater and it
will be no ordinary concert: WARDRUNA will play with an expanded lineup;
thirteen musicians will make WARDRUNA's already powerful and magical
musical expression even more massive.
As previously reported, WARDRUNA recently released its very first
self-made music video. Since the inception of WARDRUNA, the band's vision
was that videos and other visual elements would be an important part of the
project. This is merely the first step in that plan and WARDRUNA intends
to continue developing this aspect of the project towards their next album.
As far as the progress of the recording sessions for the next WARDRUNA LP goes, Kvitrafn states: "The recurring question of when the next
album will be finished is not easy to answer. I am well underway with the
recordings and there is good progress in the work. Having said that, I must add
that because of the demanding concepts behind these albums, I cannot rush this
process. I hope to be finished with the recordings next summer, but I can
obviously not give any promises now. The only thing that matters now is to make
music that I am satisfied with, no matter how long it will take."
WARDRUNA's debut album, "Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga",
was released on January 19, 2009 via Indie Recordings.
Nearly six years in the making, WARDRUNA's debut album is the first part
of the planned "Runaljod" trilogy which will musically
interpret the runes of the elder futhark. This highly visual music is hard to
place into any specific genre, and there isn't really much to compare it to.
The style can perhaps be described as a curious blend of folk, world and
ambient music, but without being limited by the sometimes restricted scope of
these genres.
"Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga" has a very profound and unique
sound that consists of a wide array of instruments, some of which are rarely
used. A few examples: deer hide frame drums, mouth harp, goat horns, lur,
Hardanger fiddle and tagelharpe ("viking fiddle"). Sounds of more
unorthodox 'instruments' like trees, stones and fire are also incorporated into
the music, and it's all topped off with powerful vocal performances from no
less than three vocalists.
The album was produced and engineered by Kvitrafn himself in his own Fimbulljóð studio. Many of the recording sessions were executed outdoors at carefully
selected locations with instruments or natural sounds that are relevant to the
different runes.
A warehouse containing stock for more than 150 record labels
— including Nuclear Blast, Victory and Vagrant — was
burned to the ground in north London, England during
the riots last night. The stock, which was to be distributed by the [PIAS]
Group, was being held at a three-story, 20,000 square-meter building in Enfield, owned by Sony
DADC.
[PIAS], the U.K.'s largest distributor of indie music, said in a
statement, "There was a fire last night at the Sony DADC warehouse
which services the physical distribution for PIAS in the U.K. and
Ireland. PIAS is working closely with Sony DADC, who are
implementing their emergency plans. PIAS's U.K.
offices in London
and all other areas of our business are unaffected. More information will be
communicated shortly to all our labels and partners."
A complete list of labels affected by the fire can be found at this
location
In a brand new interview with GuitarWorld.com, STAIND guitarist Mike Mushok spoke about the recording process for the Massachusetts band's upcoming self-titled
seventh album, which is scheduled for release on September 13.
"We started in Aaron's [Lewis, vocals] barn in Western Massachusetts," Mushok said. "We
worked with (producer) Johnny K again. We worked with him on the last
record, and, for me, he was real easy to work with. He did the engineering and
he was the guitar tech. So Johnny brought in his own gear, compressors
and stuff like that, and we tracked the drums there. I did my guitars in our
rehearsal space in Springfield
because it was closer for me to drive to every day.
"Anyway, we demoed everything in December and had 17 or 18 songs by
Christmas. Aaron, Johnny and I came back in January and went over
the songs. We chose eight or nine to go over. Aaron and I wanted to
change some arrangements and we were on the same page.
"During the sessions, it was clear Jon [Wysocki, drums]
wasn't ready or on the same page, and the motivation wasn't where it needed to
be. After thinking long and hard, we decided to do something different and
decided to split up and do all the parts separately.
"I worked up at a studio in Springfield
and Aaron worked in his barn, and that's how we kind of finished the
record. It was the first record we had a deadline with the label. They wanted
the finished product by May 1, so we had to get it done. We thought we weren't
going to be able to do it, but we did and turned it in and they accepted it and
were happy with it. That was cool because getting a phone call from the label
asking for more songs is never fun to receive.
"It ended working out, but I would not like to live January to April of
this year again. It was miserable."
STAIND will perform a handful of shows in September, including Southern California's Epicenter festival on
September 24, with full tour plans yet to be announced.
Swedish melodic rockers DEAD BY APRIL will release
their second studio album, "Incomparable", through Spinefarm
Records on November 7. A new single/video, "Calling", will
be made available on September 19; this is actually the second single from the
new album, following on from "Within My Heart", released
earlier this year.
Produced by Swedish studio-meister Jacob Hellner (RAMMSTEIN) in
his own Big Island Studio in Stockholm, "Incomparable" has been mixed by fellow RAMMSTEIN regular Stefan Glaumann and
features session guitar work from Pontus Hjelm, who left DEAD BY
APRIL last year to focus more on the writing and production side; his songs
(including "More Than Yesterday", a demo version of which was
included on the compilation mini-album "Stronger", recently
released via Spinefarm) will also feature, providing the all-important
continuity with the self-titled debut, a Top 2 outing in Sweden.
Commented the band: "The new recordings are now complete, and we're
delighted with the way they've turned out — they are WAY beyond anything we've
done before, smashing our debut! Jacob Hellner has given us the
heaviness we've always craved… we are super-excited, and can't wait for our
fans, and everyone else, to hear the results!"
DEAD BY APRIL will embark on a headlining U.K. tour in November, with support
from MARIONETTE and MACHINAE SUPREMACY.
EVIL UNITED, the Austin/San Antonio, Texas-based band
featuring Jason McMaster (WATCHTOWER, DANGEROUS TOYS, BROKEN
TEETH) on vocals, a double guitar assault of T.C. Connally (PB/DC, CULT TO FOLLOW) and John Valenzuela (PB/DC, URIAL)
as well as the brutal rhythm section of Don Van Stavern (RIOT, S.A.
SLAYER) on bass and "Shakes" West (MURDERDOLLS, NEUROTICA, SEBASTIAN BACH) on drums, will release its self-titled debut album on
September 13 via MVD Distribution.
Commented McMaster: "I think there are a lot of bands playing this
type of metal right now, but I believe that EVIL UNITED has something
different about it. There is a wide range of influence, lots of peaks and
valleys to explore, without losing any of the extreme.
"It's a pleasure to work with Texas
metal alumni such as these guys; they shred but they are paying attention to
the thrash and power as well as the melody."
"Evil United" track listing:
01. Blasphemer
02. Dawn Of Armageddon
03. Speak
04. Rise And Fall Of Earth And Man
05. Wargod
06. Dark Serenade
07. Fifty Year Storm
08. Spoonfed
09. Lost Dream
10. Taking Over The Grandmaster
11. Walking To Sodom
12. Hexorcism
Jeffrey Nothing, the haunting voice behind Cleveland's pioneering
alterna-metal collective MUSHROOMHEAD, has signed with Suburban Noize
Records. Nothing will release his debut solo album, "Nothing
- The New Psychodalia", on October 11.
"The whole album is about escaping reality. People choose a variety of
ways to feel better in the face of the depression that can be caused by trying
to survive in a world that can seem completely uncaring and smothering,"
commented Nothing. "'The New Psychodalia' is like a new safe
hallucinogenic that makes all the ugliness in the world beautiful, with no
harmful side effects. The entire album is kind of like a twisted, thought
provoking view of the truths. It exposes the lies of the American dream that
has really become more of a nightmare."
Jeffrey Nothing is ready to open the door and reveal the skeletons
buried beneath the floor boards with the release of "Nothing - The New
Psychodalia". Mixing hypnotic rhythmic grooves and punishing riffs,
along with Jeffrey Nothing's beautifully deranged lyrics, the effort is
a tormented soundscape that shakes listeners to the core.
"Nothing - The New Psychodalia" was produced by MUSHROOMHEAD drummer Steve "Skinny" Felton.
According to Kerrang! magazine, Hertfordshire, U.K. hardcore
punk rock heroes GALLOWS have announced the addition of former ALEXISONFIRE guitarist/vocalist Wade MacNeil to the group's ranks. He replaces Frank
Carter, who announced his decision to quit on July 8.
"GALLOWS are one of my favorite bands, so when Steph [Carter,
guitar] called me the day after Sonisphere, I said yes
immediately," MacNeil tells Kerrang! "I'm a fan of the
band first and foremost, so this is an honor."
GALLOWS' second full-length album and first for Sire in the USA, entitled "Grey
Britain", was released on May 5, 2009. The 13
thematically-linked-song-strong album was recorded at London's RAK studios with
producer Garth "GGGarth" Richardson (RISE AGAINST, RAGE
AGAINST THE MACHINE) and was described as even more bloody, brutal and
pissed off than the band's critically acclaimed 2006 debut, "Orchestra
Of Wolves".
Bob Larson, an American radio and television
evangelist and one of the leading practitioners of modern, Christian exorcisms,
will conduct an exorcism next week on Jørn Stubberud, best known as the
bassist in the legendary Norwegian black metal band MAYHEM (where he
performs under the stage name Necrobutcher). The entire event will be
filmed by NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), the Norwegian
government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company and the
largest media organization in Norway,
for a special program which will be aired in Norway in October.
Speaking to the German edition of the Metal Hammer magazine at this past
weekend's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken,
Germany, Stubberud said, "NRK is sending me over to Phoenix, Arizona
next week. There's this famous preacher. I'm not a believer, so I think he's a
quack. A very religious guy. He's an excorcist; that's what he does. I'm just
there for the fun of it. He's gonna perform an exorcism on me on national TV.
So it's gonna be wild as fuck and, of course, I don't expect to suddenly be
free from some demons or whatever. I'm just there for the fun of it and for the
hell of it."
He added, "All religious people, when they talk about [how] they talked to
God or God talked to them, stuff like that, I know it's a lie. Because they
look at all the people, they speak in tongue, it's a mass, they get into that
stuff, they think, 'If I behave like that guy, all the people will think that I
truly have an open connection straight to God' or whatever. But for us,
enlightened people, we know that it's all bullshit, that they're full of
fucking lies and shit. And that's why I'm there — to give a little punch and a
kick in the ass to this little quack and people saying that they have direct
contact with God and shit like that."
By the late 1980s, in what would come to define his later ministry, Larson was often heard performing exorcisms of callers on the air, including Glen
Benton of the death metal band DEICIDE, who became a regular caller.
MAYHEM vocalist Per "Dead" Ohlin committed suicide in
1991, and guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth was murdered
in 1993.
Candlelight Records has announced the signing of U.K. old-school
death metallers THE ROTTED. The band's sophomore album was recorded
earlier in the year at Parlour Studio with Russ Russell (NAPALM
DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR, EVILE) once again at the helm.
THE ROTTED last year released the "Anarchogram" EP
consisting of two new tracks and four bonus cuts. According to the band, "'Anarchogram' features two blistering new tracks of hate-filled, punk-infused U.K. death
metal, as well as four cover songs. Each band member has chosen a song that
made them personally want to play this kind of music in the first place, and is
our way of paying tribute to the metal gods that have inspired us!"
For more information, visit www.therotted.com.
Eric Stevenson, former drummer of the acclaimed
Massachusetts-based heavy rock band ONLY LIVING WITNESS, died on Monday,
August 8 after a five-month battle with melanoma, a type of skin cancer. He was
only 46 years old. He leaves behind a son, Thomas, aged six.
Stevenson (also ex-FORMICIDE) co-founded ONLY LIVING WITNESS in 1989 with singer Jonah Jenkins (MILLIGRAM, RAW RADAR WAR).
ONLY LIVING WITNESS' two studio albums, "Prone Mortal Form" (1993) and "Innocents" (1996), were reissued through Century
Media in 2006.
The song "December" from the ONLY LIVING WITNESS' album "Prone Mortal Form" was covered by SHADOWS FALL for the "Century Media: Covering 20 Years Of Extremes" collection.
Commented SHADOWS FALL singer Brian Fall via Twitter:
"Incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Eric Stevenson of
the mighty ONLY LIVING WITNESS. Your music will live on forever.
RIP."
NONPOINT drummer Robb Rivera wrote on Facebook,
"Saddened to hear that one of my main influences Eric Stevenson has
passed away. Eric was the drummer of Boston's mightiest band ONLY LIVING
WITNESS. Those who know me well know how much that band and his drumming
touched my life. From the early '90s when I heard their first four-song demo to
their last album, 'Innocents'. To me he was the modern-day Bill Ward.
Those flam hits are legendary and will be sorely missed. Rip in peace, Eric."
DEATH RAY VISION, the new project featuring Brian Fair, KILLSWITCH
ENGAGE bassist Mike D'Antonio and former OVERCAST/SEEMLESS guitarist Pete Cortese, said in an online posting, "ONLY LIVING
WITNESS was much loved by everyone in DEATH RAY VISION (OVERCAST played about a million shows with them back in the day) and had a big influence
on our lives. If you don't know ONLY LIVING WITNESS, do yourself a favor
and pick up their two albums… You won't regret it."
Multi-camera video footage of ONLY LIVING WITNESS performing the song "December" at the group's reunion concert on June 21, 2008 at the Middle East (Downstairs)
in Cambridge, Massachusetts can be viewed below.
BLABBERMOUTH.NET sends out its condolences to Eric Stevenson's
friends and family.
Swedish death metalers VOLTURYON have announced the
addition of vocalist Alexander Högbom to the group's ranks.
Commented VOLTURYON guitarist Andreas Olander, "We've known
Alexander for a while through his band SPASMODIC and his occasional
guest appearances with us. His vocals impressed us from day one. It's with
great anticipation we look into the future."
Added Högbom: "I first made contact with VOLTURYON when they
mailed me their promo CD, 'Blood Cure'. I was running a rock club in Ludvika by
the name Cavum back then, and they wanted me to book a gig for them at the
club. I listened to their promo and was really impressed, so I arranged a gig
for them in August of 2008 in Ludvika. Ever since I have been a fan of VOLTURYON.
After a few years with no further contact, I received a text message from
[drummer] Christian Netzell, wondering if I wanted to join the band and
do the East Europe/Baltic tour with them, and I said yes. It is quite an honor
to have been chosen to do the vocals in VOLTURYON and to play with such
skilled musicians."
VOLTURYON's "Eastern Death Infernal Tour 2011" with DEMONICAL will run from October 26 to November 12, focusing mainly on Baltic and Eastern
European territories. Shows in Warsaw, Budapest, Bucharest and Berlin have been booked,
with the rest of the dates to be confirmed soon. Additional support will come
from Hungary's SLYTRACT.
VOLTURYON's sophomore album, "Coordinated Mutilation",
was released in February via United Guttural Records. The CD was
recorded at Black Lounge and Abyss studios by Jonas Kjellgren (CARNAL FORGE, SCAR SYMMETRY, CENTINEX).
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/demonicalvolt.jpg
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