According to Bay Of Plenty Times, AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd will open a harborside restaurant — named Phil's Place — in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand with a launch party
mid-September.
Rudd, who has lived in Tauranga for more than 25 years, bought the The
Bridge Bistro And Bar business, which closed in July. The restaurant has
since had a complete overhaul of the interior which has been personally
overseen by Rudd.
"We have completely re-kitted the inside," Rudd said. "I
want it to be more than a restaurant — a whole dining experience. I have
focused on the visuals, the sound, the smell and of course the taste. Most of
all, 'the feel'. It will be a place that will blow your mind."
Rudd returned to AC/DC in 1994 and is still performing with the
band, which completed its "Black Ice" world tour in June last
year.
According to Ticketmaster.com, GUNS N' ROSES will perform the
following U.S. dates at the
end of October:
Oct. 28 - Amway Center
- Orlando, FL
Oct. 29 - AmericanAirlines Arena - Miami,
FL
More U.S. shows will be announced soon.
GUNS N' ROSES made its first U.S.
concert appearance in four years and only one of 2010 when it headlined the
fifth and final night of the Rock 'N Rev Festival at the 70th annual Sturgis
Bike Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota on August 13, 2010.
GUNS N' ROSES last toured the U.S. in 2006, and has not played
any other American shows since the November 2008 release of its "Chinese
Democracy" album.
"Chinese Democracy" was made available exclusively through Best
Buy. The long-in-the-making, 14-song CD finally arrived 17 years after the
last full-length collections of original GUNS material, "Use
Your Illusion I" and "II", were released, and nine
years after the non-album track "Oh My God" surfaced on the
soundtrack of the movie "End Of Days".
ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian has posted the
following message on his official blog:
"'In The End' is a song on our record. I think it's the best song
on the record. I think it's the most important song on the record and it's the
centerpiece of 'Worship Music'.
"This song started out as something completely different back in 2007 and
over the last four years it went through revision after revision. We were never
satisfied with it, always just missing the mark. Even the 'finished' version
(it had a different title at the time) in 2009 was not as good as it could've
been and actually may not have even made the record.
"It was this song that we wanted to write as a tribute to ['Dimebag'] Darrell [Abbott; PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN] and Ronnie [James Dio; BLACK SABBATH, DIO, RAINBOW, HEAVEN
& HELL]. This being our first chance to say how we felt about these
guys in the context of what we do and what they influenced. Musically this was
the one, epic in scope, the right balance of melancholy and aggression, a
proper tribute to two guys that meant so much to us except, it wasn't perfect.
And it had to be. It had to be perfect to honor them.
"Darrell was our friend first and foremost. We'd been on this crazy
path together since we met in 1986. His impact on our lives will never be
forgotten and will always be missed. He played on three ANTHRAX records.
He was truly the sixth member of the band. Getcha' pull!
"Ronnie, what can I say? I started out as a fan from RAINBOW and then, of course, followed him to SABBATH.
"I saw Ronnie for the first time on the 'Heaven And Hell' tour in 1980. He was incredible. On the 'Mob Rules' tour my friend Jimmy (who knew Ronnie) was able to score us some passes and we literally got
them from under Ronnie's hotel room door! We met him after the show, I
had a brief chance to stammer a hello, or at least tried to as I was so sweaty
and nervous. Cut to years later and I'm meeting Ronnie again and he
remembered me from that short meeting years before. That's who he was. He
always put you at ease. He always had a kind word and a smile. He was a mentor
to us in so many ways, mainly how to be so fucking cool. On tour in 2004 I
remember standing on the side of the stage night after night blown away by the
power he possessed and also giving him Yankees scores between songs!
Yes, Ronnie was as fanatical about the Yankees as I am. To have
had the privilege to become friends with one of my heroes was an incredible
experience and I will never forget my moments with either of them.
"We were still fighting with this song, the arrangement just not right and
then Charlie [Benante, drums] found the bells. He sent this
melody idea to Rob [Caggiano, guitar] and I with a new
arrangement that had these bells playing this really dark melody and it was
soooo close. Rob suggested Charlie tweak the chorus combining his
new idea with some of the previous idea and that was it. It was one of those
moments of clarity when you just know something is right. The song was finally the
song it was supposed to be. So now, words to match the power of the music.
"I wasn't sure how to even try and express what I felt. Everything I came
up with lyrically just sounded cheesy to me. I finally had the music that lived
up to the task of honoring our friends, now I needed the words to convey the
emotions. I kept hitting a wall and then Charlie sent me a line… 'Lone
star was dark tonight.' That line opened the door for me and the words came
naturally. The feelings translating into lyrics that I felt did Darrell and Ronnie justice.
"I'll leave the rest to you, my friends. You'll be able to hear it in 11
days. Enjoy it and I hope it fucks your world the same way Darrell and Ronnie fucked mine!"
"Worship Music" will be released on September 13 in North
America via Megaforce Records and three days later in Europe
via Nuclear Blast Records. The album will be available as a regular CD,
digipack, vinyl and MP3 download. Nuclear Blast is also offering the
album as a mail-order edition with a bonus seven-inch (featuring the REFUSED cover song "New Noise") and two different double-LPs: splatter
and orange vinyl.
The Japanese version of "Worship Music", which will be made
available on September 14 via Victor Records, will include a remix of
the song "Crawl" as a bonus track.
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.
Marilyn Manson has set "Born Villain" as the title of his eighth studio album, tentatively due before the end of the
year through Cooking Vinyl Records.
The singer yesterday unveiled a new music video for the song "Born
Villain" directed by actor Shia LaBeouf. The shock-rocker and
the "Transformers" star met at a KILLS concert, when LaBeouf,
a longtime Manson fan, struck up a conversation. LaBeouf said,
"He's a big deal to me, and in my childhood, I don't know of a scarier
figure in art. He, in my teenage years, was the scariest thing in the world, so
part of me has always been intrigued." LaBeouf offered to direct
Manson's next video and the singer agreed after LaBeouf showed him a
clip he had directed for a band called CAGE. LaBeouf said that Manson is "like a brother to me now. He's a real sweet dude, a real close
friend."
Marilyn Manson has also posted the following message about both the
album and the film on his official web site, MarilynManson.com:
"'Born Villain' is the title of the new MARILYN MANSON album. While looking to experiment in unlikely collaborations, I met Shia,
and we spent a long night at my studio. After seeing 'Maniac', his short
film, which is somewhat inspired by 'Man Bites Dog', I was astonished by
his directing ability. So I shared quite a few of my favorite inspirations in
art, literature, and obviously film. I was impressed with how Shia digested my world, and made what I'd like to think, is both an homage and a
mockery of the history of cinema. We ended up writing a short film. The score
is from my new album, and is, in the words of Macbeth, 'Full of sound
and fury.'"
Drummer Ginger Fish (real name: Kenneth Robert Wilson) quit MARILYN
MANSON in February and has since joined ROB ZOMBIE.
MARILYN MANSON in 2009 parted ways with longtime record label Interscope following the disappointing sales performance of the shock-rocker's latest
album, entitled "The High End Of Low".
"The High End Of Low" was Manson's first album with
longtime bassist Twiggy Ramirez since 2000's "Holy Wood".
Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with former SKID
ROW singer Sebastian Bach. An excerpt from the chat follows below.
Radio Metal: One of the strongest videos in hard rock history is the one
you did with SKID ROW for "18 And Life". On the other
hand, the video for your latest single is much lighter and is clearly on the
fun and rock 'n' roll side. Does this mean you don't want to get too serious
nowadays?
Sebastian Bach: To be honest with you, the money we spent for the three
videos we shot for "Kicking & Screaming" was less than the
money for the catering truck on the "18 And Life" video. Those
are 300,000-dollar videos. Since there's no TV stations, at least in America, that
will play the videos, we're very lucky to even be doing videos. But the
technology is so advanced, the filming is all high-def, and it looks really
clear and cool. The "Kicking & Screaming" video is
basically just video performance with us, and because I wrote the lyrics for my
girlfriend, she's in the video when the lyrics are talking about her. She makes
the video look a lot prettier than just us three greasy rockers! (Laughs) It's
just fun. I read online a comment like, "Why is he smiling?" Number
one, nobody told me I couldn't smile, and number two, I'm so happy with the
music and the way my girl looks, I'm smiling because I'm really happy! I'm
like: "I love this song, I love the lyrics and I'm having fun". To
me, that song is so heavy and cool that it makes me smile. This is fucking
really cool, I really like it! I didn't know you weren't allowed to smile, I
didn't know there was a rule against that!
Radio Metal: Why would somebody ask why you're smiling? That's strange…
Sebastian Bach: I don't know. Even my manager said that at first. Again,
the song is very heavy, so I guess I should be making a mean face! (Laughs) I
don't think about what face I should make, I'm not that contrived. I don't plan
things out like that, I just try to have emotion. It always comes down to
emotion, that's what music is to me. It's about feeling things. And above all, rock
'n' roll should be a lot of fun, and it is, if you let it be.
Radio Metal: Everybody has an idea about what is metal and what is not,
so I guess smiling is not metal!
Sebastian Bach: Smiling is not metal, but on the VAN HALEN-David
Lee Roth "Jump" video, which was just a performance piece,
they're smiling and having fun. I'm a VAN HALEN fan, and I think those
videos are some of the best videos ever. Rock 'n' roll is totally fun, it
should be about escaping normal, conventional life. Yeah, Rock 'n' roll is fun. Ozzy Osbourne has fun!
Radio Metal: I saw him on stage this summer, and, yeah, he was smiling!
Sebastian Bach: Yes, rock 'n' roll is fun, man! It makes me smile!
Radio Metal: It's now been over ten years that you've been releasing
music as a solo artist. Aren't you missing playing in a real, stable band
context, being equal with your band mates and not a singer with a backing band?
Sebastian Bach: I guess you're referring to my old band, SKID ROW.
I think if you listen to the music they make without me, and then to "Angel
Down" and "Kicking & Screaming", you would
realize why we're not together. I don't want to brag, but my albums just blow
their fucking albums away, and anybody with two ears would tell you that. To
me, my albums sound more like original SKID ROW than the new SKID ROW sounds like SKID ROW.
Radio Metal: That was actually one of my questions: your solo albums are
much more aggressive and heavy than what SKID ROW does today. Does this
mean that the heaviness and aggressiveness of the older SKID ROW albums,
especially "Slave To The Grind", came from you?
Sebastian Bach: Yes, it did. I'm not gonna lie to you: I am a guy that
makes sure his CDs sound like that. People can say I'm hard to work with. I'm
not hard to work with. I just refuse to suck! I will not put out a fucking CD
that sucks. I have a good ear. We don't like each other, but even Snake from SKID ROW said in an interview: "Sebastian's biggest
contribution to SKID ROW was that he could take a good song." And I
can. If I feel a song in my heart, like "18 And Life", then I
can really sing it emotionally, and that's what people relate to, it's emotion. Snake's a manager now, he manages other bands, he's into the business
side of things. I'm not into that. I'm more into the creative side of music.
That's why I got in it. I didn't get in it as a job, I got in it 'cause I've
always been a singer, and my voice just has a life of its own. I was the
metalhead in SKID ROW. I was the guy that would be in the studio when
those guys would be playing golf or doing business. I was the guy that was in
there all the time, making sure that those albums sounded like they sound. And
I will keep doing that for the rest of my life. I love making CDs, it's very
fun to me. I like writing songs, doing album covers and making videos. It's
very fun, I get very excited about it. Ask my girlfriend, I even get too
excited! (Laughs)
Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has
released a statement clarifying a "joke" he made in the current issue
of Revolver magazine, available here and on newsstands everywhere. In the issue,
he blames the Internet for making it possible for anyone to say anything about
who he slept with, saying that his wife read these things and became
disillusioned with him, leading to his divorce. He later joked that it takes a
strong woman to date a rock and roller "or at least a woman who doesn't
know how to use a computer."
Q: You have recently partly blamed the Internet for the demise of your
marriage. Do you think it's even harder than before to be a rock star in the
Internet age because of all the rumors that get emphasized?
Bach: "I'd like to kind of clarify what I meant by that. Nobody was
responsible for the demise of my marriage except me. I was the one responsible,
not the Internet.
"Sometimes I say things in interviews because I'm trying to make you
laugh, or trying to be funny. But some things aren't funny.
"When I said it takes a strong girl to be with a rock 'n' roller, or a
girl who can't work a computer, I was trying to make a joke. But it's actually
not a joke, and it's not funny.
"If I'm with a girl and she's with me, just because I'm on the road
doesn't mean I have any right to do whatever I want to do.
"I would like to apologize to my ex-wife for saying that, and also to my
current girlfriend for saying really stupid shit sometimes that I think is
funny, and it's not. When I read it in print, it doesn't come across the same
as I was saying it, out of my mouth.
"If I cheat on the one I love, it's not the Internet's fault, it's my
fault. I shouldn't have said that, and I should own up to being a jerk. That's
reality. I shouldn't blame others for the things I do, I should take
responsibility for what I do. That's the truth."
In the September/October 2011 issue of Revolver magazine (see cover
image below), Bach spoke about his recent divorce from Maria Bierk,
his wife of 18 years with whom he had been coupled since before joining his
former band. According to Bach, the marriage started unraveling after
tales of his past dalliances began to crop up online.
"When you go on tour starting in the mid-'80s and then someone invents the
Internet in, like, 1996, you're pretty much fucked," Bach said.
He added, "I mean, the shit on these web sites is the reason my three kids
don't have a father right now. You can go online and there's a 'cock chart'
where you can check out my rig, and find these chicks typing whatever they want
to type."
In addition to online accounts, Bach pointed to a 2010 book, "The
Last Living Slut: Born in Iran, Bred Backstage", penned by a
self-professed groupie named Roxana Shirazi, as contributing to the
breakdown of his marriage. "There's all these lies about me in there when
we toured with GUNS N' ROSES in 2006," he said. "You read the
book and it's like, I'm backstage with a case of dildos that I'm using on all
these different women. Dude, can I tell you something? I do not travel
on the road with a case of dildos. That never fucking happened. But my ex-wife
doesn't give a fuck. She's in Barnes & Noble reading this and it's like…
what are you gonna do? I said to my lawyer, 'Should I sue?' And he said, 'All
you're going to do is make the book bigger.'"
Bach was most recently linked to 26-year-old model Minnie Gupta,
who appears in the videos for two songs from Bach's forthcoming album, "Kicking
& Screaming", and serves as the model on the CD's cover art.
Said the singer: "You know, Dave Mustaine wrote in his
autobiography something like, 'If you're gonna try and be married and have a
family and then go on the road and be in a heavy-metal band, just don't.' And I
get it. Because it's tough being in a relationship with a guy who plays rock
and roll. It takes a strong woman to do it." He laughed. "Or at least
a woman who doesn't know how to use a computer."
Guitarist Chris Caffery (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, SAVATAGE) will join German "metal queen" Doro Pesch on
stage at her September 9 concert at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City.
In conjunction with the Stateside release of the mammoth "25 Years In
Rock" 2 DVD/CD set, Doro will perform two special shows in New
York City on September 9 and Chicago on September 11. Both nights will include
clips from the DVD, limited edition merchandise and an autograph session
followed by a performance by the metal queen herself.
Released in Europe late last year (also via Nuclear Blast), the epic "25
Years In Rock" two-DVD/CD set includes Doro's 25-year
anniversary show in its entirety as well as clips from her 2,500th concert and
so much more.
"Fear No Evil", the latest album from Pesch, was made
available in North America in June 2009 via AFM/Dismanic/Ryko
Distribution.
Released in Europe in January 2009 via AFM
Records, "Fear No Evil" entered the German Media Control
chart at position No. 11. This was the highest chart entry for Doro in
her home country in almost 20 years.
German "metal queen" Doro Pesch will guest
on Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" show tonight
(Friday, September 2).
"Friday Night Rocks" airs live every Friday on Q104.3 (New York City, New Jersey,
Long Island, Connecticut) from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
This program also runs on affiliate stations and worldwide on KNAC.com.
If you live in the U.S.,
you can listen to the program live on the Internet between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00
a.m. EST at www.q1043.com.
In conjunction with the Stateside release of the mammoth "25 Years In
Rock" 2 DVD/CD set, Doro will perform two special shows in New
York City on September 9 and Chicago on September 11. Both nights will include
clips from the DVD, limited edition merchandise and an autograph session
followed by a performance by the metal queen herself.
In a recent interview with Canada's XplosiveMetal.com, Pesch discusses the new song "Raise Your Fist" which she played for
the first time at last month's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken,
Germany. "It was the first time I performed it," she said. "It
got great feedback. It will be a killer song. I want to play it at the two
shows in the U.S.
in September. On the 9th of September at the Gramercy Theatre, we want to do a
great DVD release party show and bring highlights of the DVD and do a great
concert with great guests and I definitely want to play 'Raise Your Fist' to bring something new and exciting for the fans. At Wacken . . . we
played the anthem. It was originally written by a Wacken fan, a
metalhead, and then I did my own thing to it. It was actually a diehard Wacken fan who did a demo and sent it to the promoter. He sent it to me and said,
'Hey, how about we make a Wacken anthem and here's an idea from a
diehard Wacken fan.' I listened to it and thought, 'Hey that's great.'
Then we worked on it and continued working on it. Just to tell you how that
song came about, it was a collaboration with a diehard fan and it was actually
really good. Sometimes the fans have the best ideas. It was so dead on. I
always sing it at every concert in the States too. Usually people know what Wacken is, or they went there. It is a great honor to do it. I am always happy to be
there."
Released in Europe late last year (also via Nuclear Blast), the epic "25
Years In Rock" two-DVD/CD set includes Doro's 25-year
anniversary show in its entirety as well as clips from her 2,500th concert and
so much more.
"Fear No Evil", the latest album from Pesch, was made
available in North America in June 2009 via AFM/Dismanic/Ryko
Distribution.
Released in Europe in January 2009 via AFM
Records, "Fear No Evil" entered the German Media Control
chart at position No. 11. This was the highest chart entry for Doro in
her home country in almost 20 years.
Swedish/German extreme metallers ARCH ENEMY havejoined forces with the worldwide human rights organization, Amnesty
International, to help raise awareness of social injustices around the world.
Amnesty International booths will be present at many of the upcoming dates
on ARCH ENEMY's headlining U.S. tour, "North American Khaos
2011", to hand out flyers and accept fans' signatures in support of
the cause.
Commented ARCH ENEMY vocalist Angela Gossow: "We have
invited Amnesty International to join us on the 'North American
Khaos' tour to help raise awareness for defending human rights, freedom of
speech and saving lives.
"We are living in very extreme and turbulent times and it is important to
take a stand.
"We hope one day everybody is allowed to freely say what they think, that
no government has the right to punish and kill those who do not conform and
that those who are oppressing the masses will be brought to justice. It will be
a long and hard struggle, but it's a goal worth fighting for.
"The metal scene is non-conformist, alternative and revolutionary — we
know how to practice what others preach. So let's go out there and support the
cause! Go to www.amnesty.org for more info or check out their booth at some of our shows!"
The supporting bands on the tour have also joined in on the fight. CHTHONIC added, "Freedom to create is the fundamental to artist's dignity as
freedom of speech is the fundamental to human rights for all human beings. We
should fight for those who are denied these privileges in other parts of the
world so that they will be entitled to these rights one day."
ARCH ENEMY's North American headlining tour, "North American
Khaos 2011", will kick off next week in Baltimore. Support on the trek will come from DEVILDRIVER, SKELETONWITCH and CHTHONIC.
MONSTER MAGNET's "Dopes To Infinity" tour of Australia, which was
scheduled to kick off in Perth
next weekend, has been canceled. The trek, which was supposed to see the band
playing its classic 1995 album "Dopes To Infinity" in its
entirety, will now "visit Australia
at a more appropriate time."
The official statement from tour promoters, Live Nation: "Due to
several unforeseen factors beyond our control, we regret to advise that the MONSTER
MAGNET 'Dopes To Infinity' tour has been cancelled. A number of
circumstances have conspired to form the perfect storm and we are disappointed
that this planned tour has been a casualty. The MONSTER MAGNET 'Dopes' tour will visit Australia
at a more appropriate time. We appreciate your continued support."
In a recent interview with Australia's Loud magazine, MONSTER MAGNET mainman Dave
Wyndorf stated about the band's decision to perform "Dopes To
Infinity" in its entirety, "I've been watching people do this
album routine where they play an album and I've always been interested because
if I was a kid, I'd think that was the coolest fucking thing ever, to see a
band do an entire album in sequence. You kinda want to do that. I finally
talked to some people that I know who have done that — I talked to Mark Arm from MUDHONEY, I talked to Josh [Homme] from QUEENS OF
THE STONE AGE and they said how much fun they had doing it. I said,
'Alright, we're going in, we're doing it.'
"I picked 'Dopes' because 'Dopes' is not our biggest-selling
record but it's not our smallest-selling record either. It leaves me a chance
to do the biggest seller again if it's successful. I could go up to 'Powertrip',
which is the biggest-selling record, or I could go down to total
undergroundsville, which is 'Spine Of God', 'Superjudge' and
stuff like that. So this seemed a good place to start."
"Trip The Darkness", the new single from
the Italian rock/metal band LACUNA COIL, will be released digitally on
October 17. The song comes off the group's new album, "Dark
Adrenaline", which is scheduled for an early 2012 release via Century
Media Records.
LACUNA COIL will hit the road in late October in support of "Dark
Adrenaline", with an extensive tour of Italy
and the U.K.
under the banner "Darkness Rising".
After spending many months in the recording studio, the band is dying to get on
the road again and perform songs from "Dark Adrenaline" live.
LACUNA COIL co-vocalist Andrea Ferro recently told Revolver magazine about the sound of the new CD, "We
have different kinds of songs — some are pretty heavy with a really powerful
groove and some killer riffs, some have a darker vibe a bit more in our
traditional style, and some others are more anthemic. In my opinion, it's a
great collection of metal and rock songs."
When asked if the band is trying anything different with the material this time
around, Ferro said, "There's a variety of moods; some things which
are new, and some which sound like more traditional LACUNA COIL. We were
experimenting with the previous album and we learned a lot from that about what
is the essence of our 'sound.' We usually never repeat the same record, and
that will again be the case this time around. It's 100 percent a LACUNA COIL album, with the benefit of some great inspiration during the songwriting
process."
Regarding the band's renewed collaboration with producer Don Gilmore (PEARL
JAM, LINKIN PARK, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE), Ferro said, "After you've spent a few months constantly working on the songs,
it's important to have someone like Don come in and give you a sincere
opinion of the songs. He is helping us in keeping things fresh, and getting our
sound together for 2011. Most of the songs haven't really changed in essence,
but he is really good at outlining the most important and interesting details
of the music and the lyrics. He also creates a really great vibe while
recording."
Joe Matera of Ultimate-Guitar.com recently conducted an interview with AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Synyster Gates.
A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: I want to start the interview by asking you how has
the dynamic changed within AVENGED SEVENFOLD having added new recruit Arin
Ilejay on drums?
Synyster Gates: Well, it is hard to say. I mean, there are a few
different things, definitely, compared to the dynamic we had with Jimmy ["The Rev" Sullivan] and the dynamic we had with Mike
Portnoy [DREAM THEATER], so it is different. Also, Arin is
very young, and it is more about us taking him under our wings at this point
whereas with Jimmy, things were absolutely insane and the guy was a
madman, very funny and we were all friends, so it was a much crazier time for AVENGED
SEVENFOLD. I also think since The Rev's passing, we've had to grow
up quite a bit, and I think Mike helped us to get through our period of
grieving. I mean, playing with Arin now is definitely a lot lighter kind
of atmosphere than the moments we had with Mike Portnoy at that time.
And not because of Mike, but because it was a lot closer towards the
passing of The Rev. But now, I think we're into the healing process and
it is a breath of fresh air to have this really young talented kid out with us
that is so humbled by this experience and very deserving of all the things that
are going to come to him.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: So have you begun the writing process for next
album yet?
Synyster Gates: We don't have any plans right now, as we are just really
focused on touring. A lot of new cool places have opened up and we are really
excited to come and see all our fans, both old fans and new fans, and go out
and just play for all these kids, that haven't seen us or haven't seen us in
awhile. And that is what is exciting to us right now. When we try and blend the
two together, the songwriting and the touring like we did before, it doesn't
really work. We tend to become very focused on what we are doing. And we tend
to be a little bit one-track-minded. We're very much perfectionists, so when
we're putting on a huge show and want to play to the best of ability, we
rehearse intensely. And I have a guitar pretty much in my hand for at least
five hours before doing a show. I'm just noodling and mucking around and
working on some of the songs here and there.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: What do you think of bands such as BLACK VEIL
BRIDES who are taking the whole '80s glam thing and putting a modern twist
to it all?
Synyster Gates: It is definitely a cool thing. The first time I saw
those guys, I hadn't heard anything about them previously, and we were just
doing festivals, and I was like, "Oh, wow, this is pretty crazy. I have
got to definitely check them out," purely based on their look. I was
pretty much expecting it to be a screamy hardcore or a poppier-sounding band
trying to be like MÖTLEY CRÜE. But they're extremely talented dudes and
I love the image and I think they are really a great band.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: The turning point both musically and commercially
for AVENGED SEVENFOLD came with 2005's "City Of Evil". How do you
look back on that album today?
Synyster Gates: We pretty much had decided on that record that we were
going to pretty forget about any guidelines or rules or regulations, and that
we would create any form or type of music that we wanted, and so pretty much we
threw out the rule book and went in and wrote an album that we were and are
very, very proud of. It is a very musically adventurous album and it saw us
delving into different types of music, music that we hadn't previously done.
And it was a cool time to explore all this type of music.
Canadian heavy metal legends ANVIL have scheduled the
following U.S. tour dates:
Oct. 19 - Springfield, VA - Jaxx
Oct. 20 - Pittsburgh, PA - Altar Bar
Oct. 21 - Akron, OH - Ripper Owens Tap House
Oct. 22 - Westland, MI - Token Lounge
Oct. 23 - South Bend, IN - Club Landing
Oct. 25 - Denver, CO - Casselman's Bar
Oct. 27 - San Francisco, CA - Red Devil Lounge
Oct. 28 - Redondo Beach, CA - Brixton South Bay
Oct. 29 - Tempe, AZ - Club Red
Oct. 30 - San Juan Capistrano, CA - Coach house
Oct. 31 - Las Vegas, NV - Cheyenne Saloon
Nov. 02 - Oklahoma City, OK - Samaurai's
Nov. 04 - Darien, IL - Q Sports
Nov. 05 - Cleveland, OH- West Side Masonic Temple
Nov. 06 - Rochester, NY - Montage Music Hall
Nov. 07 - New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
The End Records will celebrate ANVIL's career with "Monument
Of Metal: The Very Best Of Anvil", a 19-track career retrospective
that will earn "must-own" and "must-hear" status for fans
both fans new and old.
Due on September 27, this set collects choice cuts from ANVIL's career
and the track listing was hand-selected by the members of ANVIL and
spans their three-decade career. It is designed to show you why the
aforementioned likes of GUNS 'N ROSES, METALLICA, MOTÖRHEAD, ANTHRAX, SLAYER and more have praised ANVIL as pioneers
and way pavers in the heavy metal world. It's a retrospective spanning the
band's entire iconic career and a comprehensive heavy metal history lesson
captured on record.
ANVIL's latest album, "Juggernaut Of Justice" was
released in Europe on June 20 (three days earlier in Germany) via SPV/Steamhammer.
The effort was made available as a limited-edition digipak (including two bonus
tracks), double gatefold LP in blue vinyl, standard version and a digital
download.
"Juggernaut Of Justice" sold around 1,600 copies in the United States
in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 12 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.
Reunited '80s cult metal outfit SANCTUARY, which
features in its ranks current NEVERMORE frontman Warrel Dane and
bassist Jim Sheppard, has tapped Brad Hull (FORCED ENTRY)
to play second guitar for the band.
Hull and Shannon Sharp, one of the moderators at Metalguitarist.org, were
the top picks for the position. Brad, having previously toured with SANCTUARY,
was given the opportunity to play the upcoming dates in Atlanta
(ProgPower USA XII festival) and Greece.
Hull has spent the last two years playing the role of "James
Hetfield" in the METALLICA tribute band BLISTERED EARTH,
which plays "classic songs ranging from 1983's 'Kill 'Em All' to
1991's self-titled 'Metallica'."
In a recent interview, Dane stated about how SANCTUARY's
reformation came about, "[SANCTUARY guitarist Lenny Rutledge and I] always talked to each other, but never really been friends again. And
when the whole thing came about, that we were actually friends again, that's
when we started talking more about doing it. And it definitely wasn't because NEVERMORE was imploding... which it was, at that point . . . We all just started talking
with each other again. That was kind of the groundwork for it. And then we
started saying, 'Well, gosh, let's make music again.' And my god! Lenny is writing some stuff that is so friggin great! Obviously, he's been bottling
this up for years, because he really hasn't been doing anything... Well, he's
had bands here and there. But he's really writing some great stuff that's
really inspiring me, and making me fall in love with music again, with the
creative process... everything that revolves around that. Really inspiring me
to write really evil lyrics."
Regarding the sound of SANCTUARY's upcoming studio album, tentatively
titled "The Year The Sun Died", Dane said, "This
record is not going to sound like the other two. It might sound very similar to
the second one ('Into The Mirror Black'). It's definitely not going to
sound like the first one, because we're all a little bit older and I can't come
up with a c-clamp for a scrotum and a helium tank . . . It's not going to sound
like the old ones... it's 2011. It's still gonna be that good, I think, and
there's gonna be high-pitched screaming. I'm making sure of that. With NEVERMORE,
high-pitched screaming was never really called for. You know, with SANCTUARY...
of course it is."
The cover artwork for FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's third
album, "American Capitalist", can be seen below (courtesy of Metal Hammer). The CD
is scheduled for release on October 11.
The Pulse Of Radio reports that FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH spoke out
to calm fans after it was revealed that the group had commissioned a dubstep
remix of its current single, "Under And Over It", by DJ and
producer Kraddy (check out audio below). According to Radio
Contraband, the unveiling of the remix — described by the band as a
"dubstep-infused version in sync with the original" — did not go over
well with hardcore followers. One wrote, "If it gets 5FDP to
another audience, fine, but this actually kinda pussifies the song," while
another stated bluntly, "I love dubstep and I love 5FDP, but that
was not good, like at all."
While some fans showed their support for the remix as a sign of the band's
diversity, many more said things like, "Being served a steaming pile of
crap for dinner diversifies your menu but it doesn't make the dish more
palatable."
Finally the band itself issued a statement online, saying, "Before all the
confusion starts with the 'Under And Over' remix — we are not turning
into a dubstep or step dance act any time soon . . . We heard a couple of
remixes we thought were interesting and felt like sharing them with you
guys."
Guitarist Zoltan Bathory told The Pulse Of Radio that FIVE
FINGER DEATH PUNCH is not afraid to take risks with its music sometimes.
"We are here to step forward and take as much development in anything we
do as it is possible, and that's the mentality and that's gonna be in every
aspect," he said. "We're gonna kind of push the envelope, maybe go
overboard here and there, but, you know, that's the idea."
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is not the first heavy rock act to experiment
with dubstep, a dark, ominous-sounding form of electronic dance music. KORN is releasing an album of collaborations with dubstep artists this fall.
Following some festival dates this month, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH will
headline a package tour called "Share The Welt" that kicks off
on October 16 in San Francisco.
Also on the bill is ALL THAT REMAINS, HATEBREED and REV THEORY.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/fivefingercapitalist.jpg
Vocalist Apollo Papathanasio of Greek melodic
metallers FIREWIND has been forced to miss the band's imminent European
tour due to family issues. Apollo will be back with FIREWIND for
the group's North American "Frets Of Fury" tour in October. Apollo's
replacement for the European "Defiance
Over Europe" shows is the acclaimed
Swedish vocalist Mats Levén (KRUX, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, THERION, TREAT, ADAGIO, AT VANCE).
FIREWIND's European tour kicks off on September 9 in the U.K. and will
include dates in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and France,
with support coming from Swedish metallers WOLF.
FIREWIND's latest album, "Days Of Defiance", landed at
position No. 53 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.
"Days Of Defiance" was released
in North America on October 26, 2010 (one day
earlier internationally) via Century Media Records. The CD's striking
cover artwork was designed by the band's longtime partner in all design
matters, Gustavo Sazes.
SANCTUARY played its first U.S.
show in more than 20 years on January 21 at El Corazon in Seattle, Washington.
"World War Live: Battle Of The Baltic Sea",
the first-ever live album from Swedish epic power metallers SABATON, has
registered the following first-week chart positions:
Poland: #7
Germany: #26
Sweden: # 26
Switzerland: #62
Commented SABATON bassist Pär Sundström: "Thank you. Once again you show
that you truly support us. See you soon on the final part of the tour!"
"World War Live: Battle Of The Baltic Sea" was released on August 5 via Nuclear
Blast Records.
Sundström previously stated about the band's decision to release a live
album, "Over the years so many people have told us we should make a live
album and finally we fell to the demands of all of you, our fans.
"'The World War Tour' was amazing and we wanted to record it and
keep the shows alive forever. So, during the magic night aboard the SABATON
Cruise 2010 we recorded the whole show and now we stand ready to release it
as the first-ever official SABATON live CD. And as if it was not enough,
we also recorded many shows all around Europe
and put together a whole CD with mixed songs from various cities. And finally
we decided to release the recording we did at the first Rockstad:Falun festival 2008 from Falun as a bonus for you who buy the limited edition. In
total it will be over 20 different songs and we have also collected a lot of
pictures from the tour and put them in a massive booklet."
CD1:
Battle Of The Baltic Sea (Live At SABATON
cruise, December 2010):
01. The March To War (intro)
02. Ghost Division
03. Uprising
04. Aces In Exile
05. Cliffs Of Gallipoli
06. White Death
07. Swedish Pagans
08. Wolfpack
09. 40:1
10. The Art Of War
11. Attero Dominatus
12. The Price Of A Mile
13. Primo Victoria
14. Metal Medley
15. Dead Soliders Waltz (outro)
CD2 (bonus CD):
World War Tour Live (Recorded during World War Tour 2010):
01. Screaming Eagles
02. Coat Of Arms
03. Into The Fire
04. Talvisota
05. Final Solution
06. Back In Control
07. Panzerkampf
08. 7734
09. Hellrider
10. Panzer Battalion
11. Rise Of Evil
12. 40:1
DVD (bonus DVD):
* Live 2008 at Rockstad:Falun
* "Coat Of Arms" (video clip)
* "Uprising" (video clip)
* "Screaming Eagles" (video clip)
SABATON has set "Kings Of War" as the working title of
its next album, tentatively due before the end of 2012 via Nuclear Blast
Records.
SABATON will play the final show of its current tour on December 18 at
Trix/Hof Ter Lo in Antwerp, Belgium. The
band states, "This will be a one-off and we will not bring a setlist or
respect any venue curfew."
"Storytime", the new single from
Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH, will be released on
Friday, November 11 via Nuclear Blast Records.
In order to "avoid mix-ups" with various things named "Imaginarium",
the title of NIGHTWISH's upcoming album and movie has been changed to "Imaginaerum".
The "Imaginaerum" track listing and audio samples of all the
songs that are set to appear on the CD will be unveiled in a week.
NIGHTWISH recently inked a new European deal with Nuclear Blast
Records. The band's new album, "Imaginaerum", will be
released in December. The U.S.
version of the CD will be made available through Roadrunner Records.
Regarding the musical direction of the forthcoming album, NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon wrote on her official blog, "I think it's a
great and varied CD. The feelings in it are great and there are a lot of
elements in it, so I am sure it will have many different favorite songs for the
listeners since the songs are so different in styles and sound. [2007's] 'Dark
Passion Play' is a great album and this one, too, so I don't know yet which
one I like more, but, of course, for me personally, this one feels better to do
since the songs are more adjusted to my voice and my style."
NIGHTWISH recently spent time not only putting finishing touches to its
new album, "Imaginaerum", but also planning a movie of the
same name. If all goes well, the film will arrive at some point in 2012.
NIGHTWISH will kick off the "Imaginaerum" world tour in
Los Angeles.
The very first show of the trek will take place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California
on Saturday, January 21. This will be the biggest NIGHTWISH show
production ever on North American soil and strictly a one-off — there will be
no U.S.
tour until later in 2012.
The reactivated MINISTRY has scheduled the following
U.S. tour dates for June 2012:
June 17 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
June 21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Club Nokia
June 23 - New York, NY @ Best Buy Theater
June 28 - Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
June 29 - Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
Tickets for MINISTRY's 2012 Relapse U.S. tour go on pre-sale to MINISTRY
Facebook fans and e-store customers September 16 at 10 a.m. venue time, one
week prior to the public on-sale September 23. You do not have to join a fan
club or pay fan club access for this pre-sale.
Denver, Los Angeles,
New York and Chicago
are the only U.S.
cities in which MINISTRY will be performing in 2012. They will not be
adding any more cities to the Relapse 2012 tour, as the band is
scheduled to perform in Europe July 1, 2012
(city and venue to be announced).
Click here for more information and to buy tickets.
MINISTRY mainman Al Jourgensen spoke to U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine about his band's decision to reform
for a new album and tour, including an appearance at next year's Wacken Open
Air festival in Wacken, Germany.
When asked how the resurrection of MINISTRY came about, Jourgensen said, "While I was working on [the BUCK SATAN record], me and Mike
Scaccia from RIGOR MORTIS fucked around to pass the time and we had
like, 5,6,7 songs and I didn't really want to do anything with them but Mikey was like, 'Dude, these songs are awesome.' They weren't country, they were more
like MINISTRY. So he's coming by in September and Tommy Victor's
[PRONG; guitar] coming by in October with Tony Campos [SOULFLY,
ex-STATIC-X; bass] and we're gonna finish up and put out another MINISTRY album by Christmas called 'Relapse'."
Regarding the sound of the new MINISTRY material, Al said,
"We've only got five songs to go. I've been listening to it the last
couple of weeks and I wasn't really in the mood, I was just taking it as a
joke. Just to pass the time at first but [Mikey's] raving about it. It's
like, dude c'mon, this is not about Bush, so… that parts over. The ulcers are
gone and Bush is gone so it's time for something new. I think this is actually
gonna wind up being the fastest and heaviest record I've ever done. Just
because we did it as anti-therapy therapy against the country music we would
just take days off and thrash faster than I've done in a long time, faster than Mikey's done in a long time. He just did a RIGOR MORTIS tour and
said it was easy compared to this MINISTRY stuff so it's gonna be brutal
and it's gonna freak a lot of people out."
On the topic of MINISTRY's upcoming tour activities — which will feature
the lineup of Al Jourgensen, Mike Scaccia and Tommy Victor on guitar, Tony Campos on bass, Aaron Rossi on drums, and John
Bechdel on keyboards — Jourgensen said, "The doctors told me to
keep it light [following Al's recent health scare], so we're doing four shows in the
States next June. The Nokia Theatre in L.A., the
Vic theatre in Chicago — we'll add second shows
if those sell out — Denver at the Ogden Theatre,
and one night at the Nokia Theatre in New York and that's our whole American tour. That's it.
And then we go to Europe and I'm gonna do a
couple of festivals and club shows. We're gona do a limited tour, it'll be like
5-6 weeks. Maybe 20, 21 shows and just see how it works."
MINISTRY's "farewell" tour, the "C-U-LaTour",
started its North American leg on March 26, 2008 and concluded in Chicago on May 12, 2008.
The final date on the trek took place on July 18, 2008 at the Tripod in Dublin, Ireland.
During the performance, Jourgensen repeatedly reaffirmed that it would
indeed be the last-ever MINISTRY show. Due to a large demand for
tickets, an extra gig was added at the Tripod on July 19, 2008. "Adios...
Puta Madres", a live album featuring material culled from MINISTRY's
"final" tour, was released in 2009 on CD and DVD.
When asked in a 2007 interview prior to "C U LaTouR 2008" if
there would ever be a big MINISTRY reunion in 15 years, Jourgensen said, "I don't think so, my friend. First of all, who am I gonna get to
reunionize with? I'm the fucking band. So unless I make a reunion with myself… Whatever,
no. I've got a lot of other stuff going on. Literally, I'm booked solid for the
next 15 months. I know exactly what I'm doing for the next 15 months, plus I've
got a record label [Thirteenth Planet Records], I've got a lot of other
bands I need to baby-sit for. There would be no time, need, or inclination to
every get some kind of redundancy going on."
Australian thrash metal veterans MORTAL SIN have been
added to the "Thrashfest Classics" European tour, set to take
place in November/December. The band's setlist will consist of material from
the "Mayhemic Destruction" and "Face Of Despair" albums. Also scheduled to appear are co-headliners SEPULTURA and EXODUS along with DESTRUCTION and HEATHEN.
Commented MORTAL SIN: "We're thrilled to announce MORTAL SIN will be joining the 'Thrashfest Classics' tour through Europe
in November/December 2011, thanks to Rock The Nation. We're proud to be
sharing the stage with thrash legends SEPULTURA, EXODUS, DESTRUCTION and HEATHEN, and playing songs from 'Mayhemic Destruction' and 'Face
Of Despair' albums. The tour will also coincide with the European release
of our new album, 'Psychology Of Death', on 18th November 2011 through NoiseArt
Records.
"As a new chapter in the life of MORTAL SIN brings us back to our
roots, we will be proud to stand alongside some of the pioneers of the thrash
revolution performing for generations of loyal followers on the 'Thrashfest
Classics' tour, thus filling the void between past and future.
"'Thrashfest' is proof that the unity among metal heads has stood
the test of time and we are truly honored to be a part of it."
As previously reported, SEPULTURA's setlist will consist of material
exclusively from the "Beneath The Remains", "Arise" and "Chaos A.D." albums. The trek's other co-headliner, EXODUS,
will perform songs from the "Bonded By Blood", "Pleasures
Of The Flesh" and "Fabulous Disaster"; DESTRUCTION will play tracks from "Sentence Of Death" and "Infernal
Overkill"; and HEATHEN will perform selections from "Breaking
The Silence" and "Victims Of Deception".
Commented the tour's promoter, Rock The Nation: "Back to the
Eighties, back to the roots! Tour promoter Rock The Nation turns back
the time for you headbangers, catapulting you back into the glorious Eighties —
the unforgettable days of prime for thrash metal — with a phenomenal package of
top acts. Hardly another period of time carries so much metal history with it
than this one. Rough, rapid and impulsive sounds dominated the whole
music-industry at that time. Breath-taking masterpieces of metallic art, which
still enjoy authority and significance these days, emerged out of the creative
urge of charismatic musicians and bands. Now the time is right to let the
flair, the feeling and the sounds rise again! 'Thrashfest Classics' is a
pure celebration for the high-culture of thrash metal. Some of the most
influential combos will perform their cult albums in full length."
The dates are as follows:
Nov. 25 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
Nov. 26 - Leeuwarden, Netherlands - Zaal Schaaf
Nov. 27 - Paris, France - Bataclan
Nov. 28 - Braunschweig, Germany - Meier Music Hall
Nov. 29 - Würzburg, Germany - Posthalle
Nov. 30 - Saarbrücken, Germany - Garage
Dec. 01 - Prague, Czech Republic - Kd Vltavska
Dec. 02 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle
Dec. 03 - Giessen, Germany - Hessenhallen
Dec. 04 - Antwerpen, Belgium - Trix
Dec. 05 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
Dec. 06 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Trädgarn
Dec. 07 - Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
Dec. 08 - Berlin, Germany - C-Club
Dec. 09 - Katowice, Poland - Mega Club
Dec. 10 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
Dec. 11 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Majestic Music Club
Dec. 12 - Zagreb, Hungary - Boogaloo
Dec. 13 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Kino Siska
Dec. 14 - Bologna, Italy - Estragon
Dec. 15 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z-7
Dec. 16 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar
Dec. 17 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA Longhorn
For more information, visit www.thrashfest.eu.
Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR will
embark on a very special U.K.
tour in November.
Having last trekked through the U.K. in 2009 with LAMB OF GOD and FIVE
FINGER DEATH PUNCH on Metal Hammer U.K.'s "Defenders Of The
Faith" tour, DIMMU BORGIR has changed gears and will be
performing in eleven small clubs from Brighton to Birmingham to provide fans
with the ultimate intimate show experience.
There will be no support band and DIMMU will perform two sets. The first
set will be a full album in its entirety as chosen by the fans and the second
set will include a variety of DIMMU classics.
Commented DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Silenoz: "It feels great to
finally announce more U.K.
dates! We have not only kept our promise about coming back after playing just
one show on our last run, but this time around, we will also do a special
two-hour set. You don't want to miss this! See you down the pit!"
U.K.
fans can vote for the following three albums on DIMMU's official Facebook page.
A) 1994's "For All Tid"
B) 1996's "Stormblåst"
C) 1997's "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant"
Confirmed U.K. tour dates are as follows:
Nov. 14 – Brighton, UK - Concorde 2
Nov. 15 - Colchester UK - Arts Centre
Nov. 16 - Norwich UK - Waterfront
Nov. 18 - Glasgow UK - Classic Grand
Nov. 19 - Leeds UK - The Cockpit
Nov. 20 - Cardiff UK - Great Hall 2
Nov. 21 - Stoke UK - Sugarmill
Nov. 23 - London UK - Islington Academy
Nov. 24 - Nottingham UK - Rescue Rooms
Nov. 25 - Manchester UK - Academy 3
Nov. 26 - Birmingham UK - 02 Academy 2
Tickets are VERY limited and will go on sale Monday, September 5.
DIMMU BORGIR's most recent touring lineup included Geir Bratland (APOPTYGMA BERZERK, THE KOVENANT) on keyboards and Terje
Andersen (a.k.a. Cyrus; SUSPERIA) on bass.
"Abrahadabra", the ninth album from DIMMU BORGIR, sold
9,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at
position No. 42 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, "In
Sorte Diaboli", opened with 14,000 units back in May 2007 to debut at
No. 43. This was more than double the 6,400 first-week tally achieved by its
predecessor, "Death Cult Armageddon", which came out in
September 2003 and landed at position No. 169 on The Billboard 200 chart.
The word "abrahadabra" (which roughly translates into "I will
create as I speak") first publicly appeared in Chapter III of "Liber
AL vel Legis" (commonly referred to as "The Book of the
Law") written by Aleister Crowley in Cairo, Egypt
in 1904.
"Abrahadabra" was released in Germany
on September 24, 2010, in the rest of Europe on September 27, 2010, and it was
made available in North America on October 12,
2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.
REDSCREAM, the new Stockholm, Sweden-based project
featuring three members of the legendary Swedish death metal band GRAVE and American guitarist Ralph Santolla (OBITUARY, DEICIDE),
has announced the addition of guitarist Mika Lagreen (FACEBREAKER, GRAVE) to the group's ranks.
Commented REDSCREAM: "Three guitars! LYNYRD SKYNYRD! IRON
MAIDEN! Volume wars!
"We had intended to be a three-guitar band, with Mika, from the
beginning. He was unavailable during our recent writing sessions in Stockholm, but now that
he's gotten some things out of the way, he's ready to rage (again).
"GRAVE are currently on tour in the U.S., and Ralph is learning
music software. He will join GRAVE in Seattle to begin filming the sequel to Oscar
Ramirez' 'Count Chocula' (being edited now). It will either be an
instant tour movie classic or the stupidest thing ever. Either way, GREAT
SUCCESS!!!
"We will reconvene in Stockholm
in October to keep writing and narrow down our search for a singer."
A new four-minute video clip featuring rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage
can be seen below.
Regarding how REDSCREAM came together and its future plans, the group
told BLABBERMOUTH.NET, "In April, OBITUARY, GRAVE,
and PATHOLOGY toured Europe together on
the 'Metal Chainsaw Massacre' tour. Everyone involved agreed that it was
one of the best, most fun tours we had ever done, and the chemistry on the bus
was really good. The 'Late Night Party Crew' (Trevor Peres, Ronnie
Bergerstål, Oscar Ramirez, Tobbe Cristiansson, Ralph
Santolla, Ola Lindgren, and Tim Tzsieconanovichski) also
found we all loved the same classic rock, classic metal, and Southern rock.
After many nights of cranking THIN LIZZY, RIOT and DEEP PURPLE,
the guys in GRAVE and Ralphy decided to form a band and call it REDSCREAM (cheap wine).
"It's hard to describe a sound, but every day before practice we listen to
hours of IMMORTAL, DEF LEPPARD, DIMMU BORGIR, KATY
PERRY, SCORPIONS, KISS, RAINBOW and TRIPTYKON.
Strange but true!"
REDSCREAM is:
Ralph Santolla (OBITUARY, DEICIDE) - Guitar
Ola Lindgren (GRAVE) – Guitar
Mika Lagreen (FACEBREAKER, GRAVE) - Guitar
Tobias Cristiansson (GRAVE) - Bass
Ronnie Bergerstål (GRAVE) - Drums
[To Be Announced] - Lead Vocals
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/redscreamofficial.
Aethyris, former ABSU and current PANTHEON
I guitarist, will be filling in for MELECHESH's Moloch during
Sumerian black/thrash metal band's "Lux Mundi" European tour
with SAMAEL and KEEP OF KALESSIN.
Moloch, who is unable to take part in the trek due to his PHD
commitments, spent many weeks with Aethyris meticulously going through
the material that will be performed during the tour.
Comments MELECHESH mainman Ashmedi: "Aethyris fits in
perfectly in the band , personally, ideologically and musically. MELECHESH sounds as tighter as ever."
MELECHESH recently amicably parted ways with bassist Rahm, who
joined the band last year. The remaining members of the group cited
"professional reasons" as the reason for the split.
MELECHESH's latest album, "The Epigenesis", was
recorded in the newly built Babajim Studios in Istanbul, Turkey
and was mixed by Reuben de Lautour and mastered by Pieter Snapper.
The "The Epigenesis" cover art was created by the U.K.-based
renowned occult artist John Coulthart, who had already collaborated with MELECHESH in the past.
Italian dark metal outfit GRAVEWORM will release its
new album, "Fragments Of Death", on October 21 via Nuclear
Blast Records. The follow-up to 2009's "Diabolical Figures" was recorded in July at the Dream Sound Studios in Munich, Germany
and was mastered by Jan Vacik. According to a press release, "The
songs are about the death in its thousand faces, which is also reflected in the
album title and cover art. Musically, the album can be seen as a mixture of the
best of the last four records, with some old-school roots and definitive darker
than its predecessors."
"Fragments Of Death" track listing:
01. Insomnia
02. Only Death In Our Wake
03. Absence Of Faith
04. Living Nightmare
05. The World Will Die In Flames
06. Anxiety
07. See No Future
08. The Prophecy
09. Remembrance
10. Old Forgotten Song
11. Where Angels Do Not Fly
Bonus track:
12. Awake
Commented vocalist Stefano Fiori: "For me, the cover artwork
reflects exactly the lyrics. The album generally deals with the topic of death.
So the fragments are pieces of the puzzle of death. Each one of the songs
represents a way to die. For example, song 6 is about the happenings in Japan. Other
songs are about war, which sadly still exists in this world these days. We're
all influenced by all of these proceedings. Be it that you're confronted with
them yourself, you know someone who is, or you see it in the media. The angel
of death on the cover is made of pieces of the puzzle, the so-called elements
of death."
Added cover artist Daniel Hofer: "When the band presented the new
album's title and the contentual orientation to me, a concrete picture came to
my mind quite quickly. An angel of death, rising from one dimension and
returning to his former strength. The 'fragments' of this angel of death are
both depicted as shards and pieces of a puzzle — this image can be found
throughout the whole booklet.
"The basic idea for the cover can be transferred to the band's musical
return to their roots and can be compared to the quite well-behaved angel that
could be seen on the '(N)Utopia' cover who returns now as a cornuted
messenger of death.
"After 'Diabolical Figures', it was a very nice and productive
cooperation again and I'm happy that the band agreed on me as the designer once
more."
GRAVEWORM is:
Stefano Fiori - Vocals
Eric Righi - Guitar
Thomas Orgler - Guitar
Florian Reiner - Bass
Martin Innerbichler - Drums
Sabine Mair – Keyboards
Century Media Records has revealed more details about
its latest signing, the U.K.
death metal band VALLENFYRE. The group is the brainchild of Gregor
Mackintosh, songwriter and guitarist of PARADISELOST, and features members of MY DYING BRIDE, AT THE GATES and DOOM.
VALLENFYRE just released the "Desecration / Iconoclast" seven-inch single (limited to 500 copies) on Imperium Productions.
Samples of both tracks can be found on the band's official web site.
VALLENFYRE is:
* Gregor Mackintosh (PARADISE LOST) - Vocals and Lead Guitar
* Hamish Glencross (MY DYING BRIDE) - Rhythm and Lead Guitars
* Mully - Rhythm Guitars
* Scoot (DOOM, EXTINCTION OF MANKIND) - Bass
* Adrian Erlandsson (AT THE GATES, PARADISE
LOST) - Drums
The sound of VALLENFYRE goes back to Gregor's youth.
"I was first introduced to more extreme music by my older brother in
1981." Gregor says. "Over the next few years in my early
teens, I grew to love various early hardcore punk bands like DISCHARGE, ENGLISH
DOGS, CONFLICT, etc. Around a similar time I was becoming aware of
other more metal music like MOTÖRHEAD and BLACK SABBATH. In
'84/85' I got into bands who were fusing these styles like HELLHAMMER, ANTISECT and AMEBIX. A couple of years later I started tape-trading with people
all around the world, which enabled me to hear lots of really cool,
interesting, extreme music. AUTOPSY, NAPALM DEATH, MORBID
ANGEL, REPULSION, NIHILIST are some of the more well-known
names I started to get into, but there were many, many more which never gained
the same notoriety. At the same time, I formed PARADISELOST with my friends. Our early stuff was a bit of a mixture of all this
stuff but we also had a lot of doom influence from the likes of CANDLEMASS, TROUBLE and ST. VITUS."
The events that led to the conception and formation of VALLENFYRE are
not particularly happy or pretty ones.
"In the late summer of 2009, my father, John Mackintosh, was
diagnosed with prostate cancer," Gregor explained. "Later in
the autumn as his treatment progressed, PARADISELOST embarked on their European tour to support the latest album ['Faith
Divides Us – Death Unites Us']. A week into this, I received a call from my
mother telling me that the doctors had found cancer in his lungs and it was
terminal. He only had weeks to live. I made the decision to leave the tour,
leaving my very able guitar tech Milly [not be confused with VALLENFYRE's Mully] to take my place. I went and stayed with my parents for the next
few weeks. After a very sad and painful time, he passed away on the 2nd
December early in the morning. Over the next few weeks I experienced all the
famous stages of grief. It started to become very self-destructive so I decided
to channel it into creating something. To pay respects to the man that drove us
to our very first gigs because none of us could drive. The only dad I knew that
listened to BOLT THROWER's 'Peel Sessions' on the radio. The guy
who gave me my first chord book. I decided that I was going to go right back to
the beginning. To my roots in death, crust and doom. It all started very angst
ridden. This wasn't originally meant for anyone else to hear. It was a release.
After recording some material, I realized that I was actually enjoying doing
this but I wanted friends involved so it could actually become real fun."
The tracks on the seven-inch single and the upcoming album were recorded
between December 2010 and April 2011.
Added Gregor: "The album is called 'A Fragile King', which
is a reference to my father's battle with cancer. The lyrics are predominantly
about the same thing, but also include gripes with society, religion, politics
and relationships as well. It's all pretty grim."
"A Fragile King" will be released on October 31 in Europe and
on November 1 in North America.
VALLENFYRE is not a one-off project but will continue as a band that
will also play live in 2012.
Former IN THIS MOMENT bassist Kyle Konkiel has
joined WORLD UNDER BLOOD, the melodic death metal side project featuring CKY guitarist/vocalist Deron Miller and Luke Jaeger on
guitar.
In other news, WORLD UNDER BLOOD is seeking a new drummer that resides
"in the Los Angeles area and no more than
an hour from Santa Clarita, California." Applicants
should be between 18 and 30-something years old and serious and passionate.
Send auditions via YouTube links or anything viewable to
xcampkillx@aol.com.
WORLD UNDER BLOOD's debut album, "Tactical", sold
around 900 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD
landed at position No. 32 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart,
which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as
those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
The artwork for "Tactical" was brought to life by the twisted
mind of Pär Olofsson (IMMORTAL, THE FACELESS, ABYSMAL
DAWN) and can be seen below.
In an early 2010 online posting, Miller stated about the WORLD UNDER
BLOOD debut, "The goal for the eight original tunes that ended up on
this album was that they would all be super-fast, extremely brutal and harsh,
catchy, melodic, and occasionally offensive and disturbing. I also had to make
sure that the entire band was satisfied with their work.
"Tactical" recording lineup:
* Deron Miller (CKY) - Guitar/Vocals
* Tim Yeung (DIVINE HERESY, VITAL REMAINS, HATE ETERNAL) - Drums
* Risha Eryavec (DECREPIT BIRTH) - Bass
* Luke Jaeger – Guitar
Swedish melodic death metallers WITHIN Y will release
their fourth album, "Silence Conquers", on September 28 via Gain
Music Entertainment. The CD was recorded at the Gain studio with the
band's frontman, Andy Solveström, as producer. Mixing duties were
handled by Mattias Wänerstam while the mastering was taken care of by Jacob
Hansen (MERCENARY, VOLBEAT, RAUNCHY).
The cover artwork for the CD can be seen below.
WITHIN Y recently released a new three-song digital EP, "Asylum",
via Spotify and iTunes.
According to the band, "The song 'Asylum' shows the diversity of
the new album which contains guest vocals (Niclas Bergstrand, Sun
Wahlberg), guest musicians and a lot of new elements that we´ve never used
before. The EP also contains two more songs ['Lost' and '…At The End
Of The Rope'] that will also be featured on the album."
WITHIN Y's third album, "The Cult", entered the Swedish
national chart at position No. 24 back in March 2008.
WITHIN Y is:
Erik Hagström - Drums
Jonas Larsson - Bass
Niknam Moslehi - Guitars
Mikael Nordin - Guitars
Andreas Solveström – Vocals
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/withinysilence.jpg
U.K.-based crust punk death metal band THE ROTTED will release its new album, "Ad Nauseam", on October 31 via Candlelight
Records. The CD was recorded earlier in the year at Parlour Studio with Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR, EVILE)
once again at the helm.
The dark and dirty artwork for "Ad Nauseam", as drawn by the
bass-playing Minister Of The Sinister The Reverend M. Trudgill can be
seen below along with a "track-by-track" YouTube video sampler
by vocalist Ben McCrow.
The "Ad Nauseam" artwork is inspired by the lyrics and each
part represents a different song.
"Ad Nauseam" track listing:
01. Anarchogram Sun
02. Rex Oblivione
03. Surrounded By Skulls
04. Non Serviam
05. Just Add Nauseam
06. Entering The Arena Of The Unwell
07. The House Of Bedlam
08. Apathy In The UK
09. Motorbastards
10. The Hammer Of Witches
11. Put Me Out Of Your Misery
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!"
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