According to BBC News, the AC/DC exhibition "AC/DC Scotland's Family Jewels" opened this weekend at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Scotland. Set to run until February next year, it gives enthusiasts a chance to view more 400 items, including photographs, instruments, over 35 years of gig posters from shows staged around the world, programs and show tickets, letters and lyrics, personal memorabilia and costumes.
"There's so many connections with Glasgow and Scotland and when I was putting the exhibition together in Australia I kept finding material about it," says curator Tim Fisher.
"One of my bits of research was to go see AC/DC at Hampden Park a couple of years ago, and when I was here I came to see the people at Kelvingrove and that's how it all came about."
"We know there is a huge audience for this kind of exhibition.
"Over 60% of those who came to the show during the Australian tour hadn't been to the museum for the last five years and that's like the Holy Grail for museums.
"They want to try and attract new audiences.
"What I am hoping for this show is that people are interested in all the material I have collected together, and the kind of cultural bit of it, but the main thing is the music. They have got to have a great rock and roll experience."
Kelvingrove is the only scheduled European location on the exhibition's world tour, which has been presented previously by the Arts Centre, Melbourne, and the Western Australian Museum in Perth. The exhibition will next move to The Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington.
"There's so many connections with Glasgow and Scotland and when I was putting the exhibition together in Australia I kept finding material about it," says curator Tim Fisher.
"One of my bits of research was to go see AC/DC at Hampden Park a couple of years ago, and when I was here I came to see the people at Kelvingrove and that's how it all came about."
"We know there is a huge audience for this kind of exhibition.
"Over 60% of those who came to the show during the Australian tour hadn't been to the museum for the last five years and that's like the Holy Grail for museums.
"They want to try and attract new audiences.
"What I am hoping for this show is that people are interested in all the material I have collected together, and the kind of cultural bit of it, but the main thing is the music. They have got to have a great rock and roll experience."
Kelvingrove is the only scheduled European location on the exhibition's world tour, which has been presented previously by the Arts Centre, Melbourne, and the Western Australian Museum in Perth. The exhibition will next move to The Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington.
According to The Times Of India, METALLICA fan Vikram Verma, who runs an advertising firm and wanted to extend an experience of a lifetime to the band's other fans in India, has come up with a "cool" way for the group's devotees to make it to the maiden METALLICA concert in Gurgaon (October 28) or Bangalore (October 30), from Mumbai. Interested parties can hop on board a dedicated bus to the show, hang out with like-minded fans, attend the concert and ride back to Mumbai.
Stated Vikram about the initiative called "For Whom The Bus Rolls": "My friend Sandy and I are huge, huge metal fans. And last year when SLAYER and TESTAMENT were supposed to play here, we wanted to plan a trip from Mumbai to Bangalore. Sadly, that concert was a heartbreaker, and didn't happen. So, when we heard that the Gods of thrash metal are going to perform here, this had to be done."
When asked what he is getting out of this, Varma, 39, replied, "Nothing. This is purely for the love of metal and METALLICA. METALLICA is METALLICA... They form a huge part of all metal fans' lives."
Regarding whether they expected this kind of response from all over the country, Sandeep "Sandy" Suvarna, who co-conceptualized the idea, said, "The love for METALLICA transcends generation gaps, and for people who are not into the rock scene, it's difficult to realise what the phenomenon is all about, or the numbers of rock fans in India. They'll be amazed at the kind of responses we've got."
Added Vikram, "This is a fan-driven initiative. Firstly, we wanted to see if it would really work, so we posted this on the Facebook page and saw that the response was tremendous. After that, we launched a web site to get fans to register for the journey. So, as the number of people increases, we're tying up with bus tour companies to book the buses. The itinerary and the pricing will be put up by the second week of September, and payment will be on the day they take the bus ride."
For more information, visit www.forwhomthebusrolls.com.
Stated Vikram about the initiative called "For Whom The Bus Rolls": "My friend Sandy and I are huge, huge metal fans. And last year when SLAYER and TESTAMENT were supposed to play here, we wanted to plan a trip from Mumbai to Bangalore. Sadly, that concert was a heartbreaker, and didn't happen. So, when we heard that the Gods of thrash metal are going to perform here, this had to be done."
When asked what he is getting out of this, Varma, 39, replied, "Nothing. This is purely for the love of metal and METALLICA. METALLICA is METALLICA... They form a huge part of all metal fans' lives."
Regarding whether they expected this kind of response from all over the country, Sandeep "Sandy" Suvarna, who co-conceptualized the idea, said, "The love for METALLICA transcends generation gaps, and for people who are not into the rock scene, it's difficult to realise what the phenomenon is all about, or the numbers of rock fans in India. They'll be amazed at the kind of responses we've got."
Added Vikram, "This is a fan-driven initiative. Firstly, we wanted to see if it would really work, so we posted this on the Facebook page and saw that the response was tremendous. After that, we launched a web site to get fans to register for the journey. So, as the number of people increases, we're tying up with bus tour companies to book the buses. The itinerary and the pricing will be put up by the second week of September, and payment will be on the day they take the bus ride."
For more information, visit www.forwhomthebusrolls.com.
According to industry web site Hits Daily Double, VAN HALEN recently inked a deal with new label Columbia after spending its entire 35-year career at Warner Bros. The band's already completed new studio album — its first in 27 years to feature original singer David Lee Roth — is now expected to arrive early next year.
There has virtually no info from the VAN HALEN camp about album or tour plans. Rumors have also suggested that the band pulled out of an Australian festival tour, which was scheduled to kick off later this month.
ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti recently said in an interview that he had gotten an opportunity to hear new VAN HALEN music through his friendship with Wolfgang Van Halen, saying it sounded like "vintage VAN HALEN."
Producer Ross Hogarth spoke with Ultimate-Guitar.com about the work he did on the project, saying, "The whole VAN HALEN record has been recorded and we're all excited. I'm really stoked about it, as it is the original band, Eddie and Alex with Wolf [Eddie's son] playing bass, and David Lee Roth singing, it's the killing side of VAN HALEN at the top of their game again with Diamond Dave, and the band on fire."
VAN HALEN reunited with Roth in 2007 for a successful year-long reunion tour — minus original bassist Michael Anthony, who now plays with ex-VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar in CHICKENFOOT.
There has virtually no info from the VAN HALEN camp about album or tour plans. Rumors have also suggested that the band pulled out of an Australian festival tour, which was scheduled to kick off later this month.
ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti recently said in an interview that he had gotten an opportunity to hear new VAN HALEN music through his friendship with Wolfgang Van Halen, saying it sounded like "vintage VAN HALEN."
Producer Ross Hogarth spoke with Ultimate-Guitar.com about the work he did on the project, saying, "The whole VAN HALEN record has been recorded and we're all excited. I'm really stoked about it, as it is the original band, Eddie and Alex with Wolf [Eddie's son] playing bass, and David Lee Roth singing, it's the killing side of VAN HALEN at the top of their game again with Diamond Dave, and the band on fire."
VAN HALEN reunited with Roth in 2007 for a successful year-long reunion tour — minus original bassist Michael Anthony, who now plays with ex-VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar in CHICKENFOOT.
Meg Foster has joined the cast of Rob Zombie's upcoming film, "The Lords Of Salem", as Margaret Morgan, the leader of a secret coven of witches in Salem.
Meg previously appeared in such films as John Boorman's "The Emerald Forest", Sam Peckinpah's "The Osterman Weekend" and John Carpenter's "They Live".
Zombie recently told Empire magazine that "The Lords Of Salem" will be his "bleakest" outing yet — this from the man whose four previous directorial efforts include the ultra-violent "The Devil's Rejects" and two grim "Halloween" movies. As for the plot of "Salem", Zombie gave a more detailed outline than before, saying, "There were twenty people that everyone knows about — obviously all innocent — executed as witches in Salem . . . there were a further four who actually were witches, who were killed secretly, and vowed one day to return to wreak havoc on Salem's descendants. That's when the movie jumps ahead to the present day and things start to go wrong."
Zombie said he's had the idea for the movie for years, even before he recorded the song of the same name.
Zombie also revealed that he's no longer involved with a remake of "The Blob", saying, "If it's too similar to the original, everybody wonders what the point was, but if it's too different, everybody complains that it's too different! . . . It's like people have a set of rules in their minds about how these things should function, and you can't work like that."
Zombie told Empire that he still would like to make his biker film, "Tyrannosaurus Rex", someday, and also hopes to make a Western. He also told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago what kind of horror movie he'd like to see Hollywood make again. "It would be so cool to do, like, 'The Return Of Frankenstein', but you do it like Frankenstein looked in all the original Universal films," he said. "That would be so cool to go back and make a totally classic horror movie. Don't jazz it all up like Van Helsing, but make something really classic. I think people would go for it."
Zombie, who directed all his own music videos, made his debut as a feature film writer and director with 2003's "House Of 1000 Corpses".
Meg previously appeared in such films as John Boorman's "The Emerald Forest", Sam Peckinpah's "The Osterman Weekend" and John Carpenter's "They Live".
Zombie recently told Empire magazine that "The Lords Of Salem" will be his "bleakest" outing yet — this from the man whose four previous directorial efforts include the ultra-violent "The Devil's Rejects" and two grim "Halloween" movies. As for the plot of "Salem", Zombie gave a more detailed outline than before, saying, "There were twenty people that everyone knows about — obviously all innocent — executed as witches in Salem . . . there were a further four who actually were witches, who were killed secretly, and vowed one day to return to wreak havoc on Salem's descendants. That's when the movie jumps ahead to the present day and things start to go wrong."
Zombie said he's had the idea for the movie for years, even before he recorded the song of the same name.
Zombie also revealed that he's no longer involved with a remake of "The Blob", saying, "If it's too similar to the original, everybody wonders what the point was, but if it's too different, everybody complains that it's too different! . . . It's like people have a set of rules in their minds about how these things should function, and you can't work like that."
Zombie told Empire that he still would like to make his biker film, "Tyrannosaurus Rex", someday, and also hopes to make a Western. He also told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago what kind of horror movie he'd like to see Hollywood make again. "It would be so cool to do, like, 'The Return Of Frankenstein', but you do it like Frankenstein looked in all the original Universal films," he said. "That would be so cool to go back and make a totally classic horror movie. Don't jazz it all up like Van Helsing, but make something really classic. I think people would go for it."
Zombie, who directed all his own music videos, made his debut as a feature film writer and director with 2003's "House Of 1000 Corpses".
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/salemmeg.jpg
After years of waiting, Anthrax fans finally get to hear Worship Music, featuring the return of Joey Belladonna on CD for the first time in 20 years. Making the album was a long road with a lot of turmoil and lineup changes, but the legendary thrash metal band is very happy with the end result. Anthrax will be playing the "Big 4" show with Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth in New York, then will embark on a U.S. tour in October and November. 2011 has been a good year for guitarist Scott Ian, with the new album and a new baby.
Chad Bowar: Congrats on the new baby! How has the adjustment to parenthood been so far?
Scott Ian: You just do it! For years we said we're not ready, we're not ready,but you could say that for your whole life. When are you really ready? There's no way to be truly ready for kids, which I guess is something you can't really know until you have a kid. You can make all the plans in the world, then the baby comes home with you, then it's throw all the plans out the window, here we go! I think it came very natural for both my wife and I. We just wanted it so much, and it has been the greatest. Any of the hard work and change of life schedules doesn't matter, because he's the payoff.
Scott Ian: You just do it! For years we said we're not ready, we're not ready,but you could say that for your whole life. When are you really ready? There's no way to be truly ready for kids, which I guess is something you can't really know until you have a kid. You can make all the plans in the world, then the baby comes home with you, then it's throw all the plans out the window, here we go! I think it came very natural for both my wife and I. We just wanted it so much, and it has been the greatest. Any of the hard work and change of life schedules doesn't matter, because he's the payoff.
You've always been involved with multiple projects. Do you see yourself slowing down any now that you have a child?
With Anthrax coming out, this would be the only thing I would be doing for the next year or so anyway. There's just no time to do anything else. Anything else I've ever done is just because I was afforded that time because there were windows in the Anthrax schedule, and there aren't going to be any windows in the Anthrax schedule any time soon. That's all I would be doing, anyway.
With Anthrax coming out, this would be the only thing I would be doing for the next year or so anyway. There's just no time to do anything else. Anything else I've ever done is just because I was afforded that time because there were windows in the Anthrax schedule, and there aren't going to be any windows in the Anthrax schedule any time soon. That's all I would be doing, anyway.
You recently performed with Public Enemy at the Sunset Strip Music Festival. How was it being back on stage with them?
It was amazing. I've gotten to do it a bunch of times over the years. It's always great. We're old friends and it's like putting on your favorite shirt or something. I get to be on stage and rap with Chuck D and Flavor Flav, which is something I never thought I'd get to do. All these years later I still to get on stage and play music with Chuck D. It's awesome.
It was amazing. I've gotten to do it a bunch of times over the years. It's always great. We're old friends and it's like putting on your favorite shirt or something. I get to be on stage and rap with Chuck D and Flavor Flav, which is something I never thought I'd get to do. All these years later I still to get on stage and play music with Chuck D. It's awesome.
Something else you probably never thought you'd do was play a zombie, but you recently were able to do that as well, on a webisode of AMC's Walking Dead..
It was completely unexpected. It came out of the blue and I jumped at the opportunity to get to do that. I drove home with the zombie makeup on, but people couldn't really see because I was in the back of a town car. I did come home and feed my kid with the makeup on, and he didn't blink an eye. That made me wonder what he sees when I don't have the makeup on! Am I just that weird looking that it didn't matter?
It was completely unexpected. It came out of the blue and I jumped at the opportunity to get to do that. I drove home with the zombie makeup on, but people couldn't really see because I was in the back of a town car. I did come home and feed my kid with the makeup on, and he didn't blink an eye. That made me wonder what he sees when I don't have the makeup on! Am I just that weird looking that it didn't matter?
It's an exciting time with the release of Worship Music, but is it also a relief that fans will finally get to hear it after so many years?
Not so much relief as satisfaction. I never questioned that it was going to come out. I never had any fear that this record wouldn't eventually see the light of day. I just knew whatever hurdles we had to face over the past few years, we would make it. We would get through it and find out way out of this maze that we got stuck in for a little bit.
Not so much relief as satisfaction. I never questioned that it was going to come out. I never had any fear that this record wouldn't eventually see the light of day. I just knew whatever hurdles we had to face over the past few years, we would make it. We would get through it and find out way out of this maze that we got stuck in for a little bit.
It's a sense of satisfaction, because I know how great this record is. When we first started writing it, it was special. The material felt great, and it's obviously something we stuck with and kept working on to the point that we got this record out of it. It feels awesome that the rest of the world is finally going to get to hear it.
I guess it had been about 20 years since you'd last been in the studio with Joey Belladonna.
Yes. Persistence Of Time was the last studio album we did together. I've been listening to Worship Music for the past couple of months since it has been done, and I don't even feel like I'm listening to my own band. It has been so long hearing Joey sing with us that I feel like I'm sitting and listening to it as an outsider, as a fan. It feels amazing. It's really exciting, and makes me excited to get out and start playing these songs.
Yes. Persistence Of Time was the last studio album we did together. I've been listening to Worship Music for the past couple of months since it has been done, and I don't even feel like I'm listening to my own band. It has been so long hearing Joey sing with us that I feel like I'm sitting and listening to it as an outsider, as a fan. It feels amazing. It's really exciting, and makes me excited to get out and start playing these songs.
It doesn't seem like Joey has lost much range over the years. He's still hitting the high notes on this album.
He's actually gotten better. It's one of those rare cases where all these years later he's singing better than he was. It's incredible. His range on this record and the stuff he's doing creatively to me blows away any other performance he's ever had in Anthrax. I guess maybe some of it has to do with the fact that after not making a record with us for 20 years, then getting in that vocal booth and doing it, he had a lot to say. There's a lot of emotion going into those tracks.
He's actually gotten better. It's one of those rare cases where all these years later he's singing better than he was. It's incredible. His range on this record and the stuff he's doing creatively to me blows away any other performance he's ever had in Anthrax. I guess maybe some of it has to do with the fact that after not making a record with us for 20 years, then getting in that vocal booth and doing it, he had a lot to say. There's a lot of emotion going into those tracks.
The album has been getting some great response so far. Do you pay any attention to reviews?
From the start, I think we were all pretty good at taking the good and the bad the same. If you go too much one way or the other, it's going to end up getting you in trouble. We've always been good at just listening to ourselves. That's how it has been in this band since day one. If we had listened to people outside the band back in the early '80s, during those formative years when we were writing our first album, we never would have made it to that record. We would have been pulled apart by too many different ideas.
From the start, I think we were all pretty good at taking the good and the bad the same. If you go too much one way or the other, it's going to end up getting you in trouble. We've always been good at just listening to ourselves. That's how it has been in this band since day one. If we had listened to people outside the band back in the early '80s, during those formative years when we were writing our first album, we never would have made it to that record. We would have been pulled apart by too many different ideas.
We just stayed focused on what we wanted to do as Anthrax, which at the time nobody cared about or wanted to hear or have anything to do with. That's where I think we developed a thick skin. You don't like what we're doing? That's fine, you don't have to like it. We like it. You love what we're doing? That's awesome. We're glad you hear it the same way we do. That's great, but we don't let it affect anything we do.
You're doing a show in New York a couple days before the "Big 4" concert. Will it be a different setlist than the Big 4 show?
Probably. We are going to do more new stuff at the Best Buy show, because it's related to the record, it's the night before it comes out, and we want to! I think I can safely say it's going to be a different set.
Probably. We are going to do more new stuff at the Best Buy show, because it's related to the record, it's the night before it comes out, and we want to! I think I can safely say it's going to be a different set.
As we do this interview, you're preparing to go on Jimmy Fallon (if you saw their performance, they killed it). Back in the early days of the band, a group like Anthrax would never have been given the opportunity to play on a late night show like Johnny Carson. Things have changed.
It's great. We did Conan back in the day. We even played Arsenio Hall back in 1993. I think that was our first late night show appearance. Strangely enough, we were on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno back in 2001, not actually playing, but doing a bit with him when the whole anthrax scare thing was going on. We did this bit with him and Gilbert Gottfried. It was at that point we realized we weren't going to have to change the band's name since Jay Leno was making jokes about it.
It's great. We did Conan back in the day. We even played Arsenio Hall back in 1993. I think that was our first late night show appearance. Strangely enough, we were on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno back in 2001, not actually playing, but doing a bit with him when the whole anthrax scare thing was going on. We did this bit with him and Gilbert Gottfried. It was at that point we realized we weren't going to have to change the band's name since Jay Leno was making jokes about it.
It's super exciting to go on Fallon. I'm a fan of that show. I'm really excited to get to be on it.
The "Big 4" show is coming up in New York. I imagine the first show or two had a very special vibe, but have the ones since then had that same feeling, or are they just another show for you?
Oh, no. The luster will never come off these shows. No way. It's just the best, on so many levels. It's just a great thing. I don't care if we did 200 of them, every one would be awesome and special. It's so much fun being there and being a part of something with our friends in these other bands that we've known forever. That's one level. Then there's how excited people are to get to see this.
Oh, no. The luster will never come off these shows. No way. It's just the best, on so many levels. It's just a great thing. I don't care if we did 200 of them, every one would be awesome and special. It's so much fun being there and being a part of something with our friends in these other bands that we've known forever. That's one level. Then there's how excited people are to get to see this.
And from the shows we've played we know how insane the crowds are and how every place in the world wants the Big 4 to come to their city. Knowing that, we all very quickly realized how privileged we are to actually get to do this. It's not a right, it's a privilege because so many people love what we do. And getting to play these giant shows is always fun.
As a lifelong Yankee fan, is it extra cool to play the New York show in Yankee Stadium?
Of course. I've been telling people it's all pretty much downhill from here. As far as dreaming about things, and saying if I could do anything, what would I want to do? Playing Yankee Stadium would be right at the top of that list. It's an incredible feeling to know that we are going to do this. I have a feeling the day is going to fly by so fast it will take a little time for me to be able to look back on it and think about it. It's hard for me to believe we're doing it. That's pretty much where I'm at with that.
Of course. I've been telling people it's all pretty much downhill from here. As far as dreaming about things, and saying if I could do anything, what would I want to do? Playing Yankee Stadium would be right at the top of that list. It's an incredible feeling to know that we are going to do this. I have a feeling the day is going to fly by so fast it will take a little time for me to be able to look back on it and think about it. It's hard for me to believe we're doing it. That's pretty much where I'm at with that.
You did an album and just wrapped up a tour with The Damned Things. Was it a one-off type project, or do you plan on doing more albums with them in the future?
There's no way to say now, because schedule-wise we're all off doing different things. We all consider it to be a real band, and if we have the opportunity to make another record at some point, I'm sure we would.
There's no way to say now, because schedule-wise we're all off doing different things. We all consider it to be a real band, and if we have the opportunity to make another record at some point, I'm sure we would.
You played on your wife Pearl's album a couple years ago. Is there another one in the works?
Yes, for sure. She's already got a bunch of new songs. It's just a case of starting to demo them and start to put them all together.
Yes, for sure. She's already got a bunch of new songs. It's just a case of starting to demo them and start to put them all together.
You graduated high school in 1981. Did you go to your 30th reunion this year?
No, I could care less. I couldn't wait to get out of school. The last thing I'm going to do is go back.
No, I could care less. I couldn't wait to get out of school. The last thing I'm going to do is go back.
You recently started a blog and have embraced social media like Twitter. That has quickly become probably the most important platform to promote a band these days.
It's the way to get the word out about things without any middle man, having to wait for other people to do stuff for you. It's something I think is important, to stay on top of it and keep it current and up to date.
It's the way to get the word out about things without any middle man, having to wait for other people to do stuff for you. It's something I think is important, to stay on top of it and keep it current and up to date.
Social media, especially for major bands with millions of followers, may help make record companies less necessary going forward.
Record companies are already completely unnecessary. Record companies have rendered themselves obsolete.
Record companies are already completely unnecessary. Record companies have rendered themselves obsolete.
Heavy metal legend Zakk Wylde -- one of the greatest thrasher guitarists EVER -- claims he's "terrified" of an obsessed fan who recently left a "sacrifice" at his home ... this according to court docs obtained by TMZ.
Wylde -- founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society -- filed a request for a restraining order against his 20-year-old neighbor ... claiming the guy has been stalking and harassing him a while.
According to the docs, Wylde recently called police to respond to an incident at his home involving the neighbor -- which resulted in cops placing the neighbor in a 72 hour hold for mental evaluation.
Wylde claims the neighbor was "deemed mentally ill" -- and diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder.
An L.A. County Superior Court judge approved a temporary restraining order against the neighbor -- requiring him to stay at least 100 yards away from the rocker and his family.
Both sides are scheduled to appear in court on the matter on Friday.
Wylde -- founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society -- filed a request for a restraining order against his 20-year-old neighbor ... claiming the guy has been stalking and harassing him a while.
According to the docs, Wylde recently called police to respond to an incident at his home involving the neighbor -- which resulted in cops placing the neighbor in a 72 hour hold for mental evaluation.
Wylde claims the neighbor was "deemed mentally ill" -- and diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder.
An L.A. County Superior Court judge approved a temporary restraining order against the neighbor -- requiring him to stay at least 100 yards away from the rocker and his family.
Both sides are scheduled to appear in court on the matter on Friday.
Sakis Fragos, publisher and chief editor of the Greek edition of Rock Hard magazine, last month conducted an interview with drummer Mike Portnoy (ADRENALINE MOB, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD). A few excerpts from the chat follow below (transcribed from the original audio by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On whether he already made the decision to leave DREAM THEATER before he began touring with AVENGED SEVENFOLD:
Portnoy: "I didn't make the decision to leave DREAM THEATER before [hooking up with] AVENGED SEVENFOLD, but I knew that something had to change in the DREAM THEATER camp. It's unfortunate that it was me that had to change, because I never wanted to leave the band — it was never my intention; I never wanted the split. I just merely thought that the band really could use a break, because I think the romance was really dying — backstage and between [the members] personally. 25 years without a break is a very, very, very long time and sometimes these relationships need a break from each other to rekindle the flame. So that's all I suggested. And even before I [went on the road] with AVENEGED SEVENFOLD, I remember touring with [the progressive rock project] TRANSATLANTIC at the beginning of 2010 and already knowing that something was wrong in the DREAM THEATER world and that I really needed a break from the guys and the whole DREAM THEATER machine. I knew something was brewing and I knew that I was unhappy, and as has been well documented elsewhere, I merely just wanted a break. But unfortunately, those guys [the rest of DREAM THEATER] didn't see it that way and didn't respect my request for time off. It's unfortunate [that it turned out that way]."
On some of the recent interviews with DREAM THEATER members in which they described their roles in the band as being "much more balanced" following Portnoy's departure and keyboardist Jordan Rudess' comment that Portnoy was "the DREAM THEATER police" who controlled the songwriting process while the drummer was in the band:
Portnoy: "It hurts me when I read stuff like that, but I also know that a lot of Internet web sites love to start controversy and stir up the pot, so I know a lot of times quotes are taken out of context; I've seen it happen to myself so much over the past year. So I understand that I have to take that stuff very lightly and not get too upset about it. But yeah, maybe they are more balanced, because the reality is, in all the time I was in DREAM THEATER, I was running the show; I don't think that's a secret and I think those guys would admit it. I was always the most proactive, the most passionate and most focused workaholic member of the band. I worked for that band every single day and never took a day off. So I was very, very obsessive and passionate and controlling over the baby; I didn't anybody to ever come in and hurt it or change it or affect it, and I had my finger very much on the pulse of what I thought the band should be and what I wanted to give to the fans. So I don't take offense to somebody pointing it out, because the reality is that's the way it was. And if now, without me, they're a little bit more balanced and they're splitting up the jobs… whatever works for them. But I always knew that they were each gonna have to step up in terms of their involvement and commitment once I left, because before I left, every single decision went through me, and those guys didn't necessarily have their hands in a lot of decisions through all those years. So I knew that they were all gonna have to step up their game and split up the work so they could work. So I guess that that's what they're doing, and if they're happy, then I'm happy for them."
On how the last few DREAM THEATER albums contained some very heavy, PANTERA/METALLICA-influenced riffs along with brutal backing vocals from Portnoy, all elements which are missing from the new DREAM THEATER CD, "A Dramatic Turn Of Events":
Portnoy: "I can't speak for those guys. I can only speak for myself. But I always wanted DREAM THEATER to change with the times. A lot of people only wanted to hear 'Images And Words' for the rest of DREAM THEATER's career, and as far as I'm concerned, I think DREAM THEATER needs to be a band that moves with the times and changes with the times. I didn't wanna be playing stuff that sounded like 'Learning To Live' for the rest of my life. So I think it was important to have modern elements and incorporate it. And if those guys disagreed and didn't want [the music] to go in that direction, then they could have easily spoken up. As much as I was a control freak with everything in DREAM THEATER outside of the music itself, when it came to the music itself, me and John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess basically wrote all the music together. So if they objected to a direction that I was presenting, then they were always welcome to speak up and have a say. So it's not fair to blame me for the musical direction; we shared that vision together."
On the possibility of a reunion with his former DREAM THEATER bandmates at some point in the future:
Portnoy: "Well, you can't take a 25-year relationship and just throw it out the window and disregard it. So I never say never. If those guys ever asked me to work with them again, I would surely consider it, depending on my availability and what's going on in my life. But the reality is right now they've moved on and I've moved on. And I don't think they have any intention in looking backwards right now; it doesn't seem that way. I suppose if things work out with their new drummer, then they would probably have no reason to ever look back. But if, for some reason, things didn't work out, then I suppose that maybe it would be something that they would consider. But I guess we would cross that bridge when we get there. But right now a lot of those bridges are burned at the moment, so there's gonna be a lot of rebuilding that's gonna need to happen first."
On his current relationship with his former bandmates:
Portnoy: "Jordan, to his credit, has been the only member of the band that has reached out and sent me some very nice, supportive e-mails, and I appreciate that. Jordan has always been a real sweet person. As far as [bassist] John Myung and [singer] James [LaBrie] go, I haven't seen or heard from them since September 9, 2010 when we had our last conversation. [John Myung] happens to live down the block from me, but I still have yet to see or speak with him since September [of 2010], so it's been almost a year now. And John Petrucci I reached out to in October of 2010 in hopes to try to reconcile and work out our differences and make things work. And I reached and talked to him. But that was the last time I spoke to him. And he never even responded [after that], actually — he just had his lawyer respond to me. So, unfortunately, I would love to have a personal relationship with the guys, but for whatever reason it's been shut off between us and it's very sad. It's sad for me because those guys were my brothers for so many years. But they've moved on and I'm moving on as well.
On whether the "fun" element was missing from DREAM THEATER towards the end of his tenure with the band:
Portnoy: "I think so. I think with ADRENALINE MOB it's just about having fun. I know when I left DREAM THEATER I was leaving a lot of security. I could have stayed in DREAM THEATER the rest of my life and been secure financially and secure in terms of a career, but to me, I can't be making music with a band because I have to — I need to be making music with people because I want to. And with ADRENALINE MOB, we just absolutely love playing with each other, and there's a real sense of excitement every time we hit the stage. And we're definitely building this band from the ground up. I can't count on playing to five thousand DREAM THEATER fans every night. We're playing in a lot of these clubs to just a few hundred people every night. And it doesn't matter — we feel like a new, young band that's going city to city and making fans every single night; we have to win over every single person in the audience each and every night. And there's a sense of excitement and rejuvenation that comes with that."
On how it feels for him to see DREAM THEATER releasing a new studio album that he had nothing to do with:
Portnoy: "It's something that I never in a million years thought I would have to see. It's very strange for me and it hurts in a lot of ways; it's very sad for me. I would have preferred it if we just took a little break rather than split up, but this is the way that the cards unfolded and there's nothing I can do about it. If this is what they wanna do, then they'll move on and I'll move on. So what can I say? It's not anything I can control."
On whether he feels that some fans have misinterpreted his decision to leave DREAM THEATER and forgotten all his contributions to the band:
Portnoy: "It hurts, because all of my heart and soul and blood and sweat and tears for all those years of DREAM THEATER was based on doing things for the fans. I always made sure DREAM THEATER was a very fan-oriented band, and everything from the fan clubs to the web sites to the official bootlegs to the setlists to the artwork to the merchandise, that was all stuff that I oversaw and controlled for the fans. And then, when this split happened, to see so many DREAM THEATER fans turn their backs on me, it really hurts. I'm a human being — I'm made out of flesh and bone — and when I read that stuff on the Internet, it breaks my heart and it bothers me. But I've had to turn off my computer and try to turn my back to that stuff, because when I read it, it breaks my heart. When I don't read it, I'm very happy with where I'm at — I'm very comfortable with what I'm now doing in my life and career and I just need to, for the first time ever, make decisions to make myself happy. For 25 years, I made decisions to make the fans happy, but for once in my life, I need to follow my own heart. It breaks my heart when I see fans turning their backs on me, but on the other hand, I don't want to forget to mention the fact that there's a tremendous amount of fans that do have my back and that are supportive of me and understand what happened and are behind my next musical steps. So for those people that are [still behind me], I'll never let them down — I will continue to work as hard and as passionately as I did for DREAM THEATER. I will put all of that into everything I do in my career, so the fans that stick with me will have a fan-friendly artist for life. It's just the way I am, and that applies to every band that I work with."
On the fact that the recent DREAM THEATER European tour was the first time the band played the same exact set every night:
Portnoy: "Well, I'm sure there's gonna be many things in the DREAM THEATER camp that are gonna be different, because the fact is that I made all of the decisions for the band beyond the music itself. So, of course, there's gonna be some things that are different and then, of course, there's gonna be other things that are gonna follow the framework and the ideas that I laid down and they'll just continue to utilize what was established in the past with me. So how they run the band and pick up all of my slack, all duties that I left for them [to take care of following my departure], how they do that is up to them. I don't know. I guess we'll all be waiting to find out."
On some DREAM THEATER fans' opinion that the "magic is gone" from the band's sound and songwriting chemistry now that he is no longer part of the group:
Portnoy: "I always thought that the strongest elements and personalities in DREAM THEATER were me and John Petrucci. And in the early days Kevin Moore [former DREAM THEATER keyboardist] was a big, big part of that chemistry, and then in the later days Jordan Rudess was a big part of that chemistry. But at the end of the day, it was always me and John [Petrucci]. And John Myung, of course, but he's a quieter person, so he's not as strong of an element because he's quiet by nature. But yeah, John Petrucci and myself were, and I think will always be, the sound and the style and the heart and the soul of DREAM THEATER. And I think if you take either one of us out, I think it's like when Roger Waters and David Gilmour split. David Gilmour carried on PINK FLOYD without Roger Waters, but as far as I was concerned, it was never the same. Roger Waters was a big part of the [sound on] all the classic PINK FLOYD albums, and once he left, I think PINK FLOYD sounded like a David Gilmour solo band. I honestly think if John Petrucci came to me last year and said he needed a break, I wouldn't have continued DREAM THEATER without him; I would have absolutely respected his desire for a break and I would have put the band on hold and waited for him. So it saddens me that he wouldn't do that for me, because I think DREAM THEATER, at the end of the day, was always about the chemistry between me and him."
On whether he already made the decision to leave DREAM THEATER before he began touring with AVENGED SEVENFOLD:
Portnoy: "I didn't make the decision to leave DREAM THEATER before [hooking up with] AVENGED SEVENFOLD, but I knew that something had to change in the DREAM THEATER camp. It's unfortunate that it was me that had to change, because I never wanted to leave the band — it was never my intention; I never wanted the split. I just merely thought that the band really could use a break, because I think the romance was really dying — backstage and between [the members] personally. 25 years without a break is a very, very, very long time and sometimes these relationships need a break from each other to rekindle the flame. So that's all I suggested. And even before I [went on the road] with AVENEGED SEVENFOLD, I remember touring with [the progressive rock project] TRANSATLANTIC at the beginning of 2010 and already knowing that something was wrong in the DREAM THEATER world and that I really needed a break from the guys and the whole DREAM THEATER machine. I knew something was brewing and I knew that I was unhappy, and as has been well documented elsewhere, I merely just wanted a break. But unfortunately, those guys [the rest of DREAM THEATER] didn't see it that way and didn't respect my request for time off. It's unfortunate [that it turned out that way]."
On some of the recent interviews with DREAM THEATER members in which they described their roles in the band as being "much more balanced" following Portnoy's departure and keyboardist Jordan Rudess' comment that Portnoy was "the DREAM THEATER police" who controlled the songwriting process while the drummer was in the band:
Portnoy: "It hurts me when I read stuff like that, but I also know that a lot of Internet web sites love to start controversy and stir up the pot, so I know a lot of times quotes are taken out of context; I've seen it happen to myself so much over the past year. So I understand that I have to take that stuff very lightly and not get too upset about it. But yeah, maybe they are more balanced, because the reality is, in all the time I was in DREAM THEATER, I was running the show; I don't think that's a secret and I think those guys would admit it. I was always the most proactive, the most passionate and most focused workaholic member of the band. I worked for that band every single day and never took a day off. So I was very, very obsessive and passionate and controlling over the baby; I didn't anybody to ever come in and hurt it or change it or affect it, and I had my finger very much on the pulse of what I thought the band should be and what I wanted to give to the fans. So I don't take offense to somebody pointing it out, because the reality is that's the way it was. And if now, without me, they're a little bit more balanced and they're splitting up the jobs… whatever works for them. But I always knew that they were each gonna have to step up in terms of their involvement and commitment once I left, because before I left, every single decision went through me, and those guys didn't necessarily have their hands in a lot of decisions through all those years. So I knew that they were all gonna have to step up their game and split up the work so they could work. So I guess that that's what they're doing, and if they're happy, then I'm happy for them."
On how the last few DREAM THEATER albums contained some very heavy, PANTERA/METALLICA-influenced riffs along with brutal backing vocals from Portnoy, all elements which are missing from the new DREAM THEATER CD, "A Dramatic Turn Of Events":
Portnoy: "I can't speak for those guys. I can only speak for myself. But I always wanted DREAM THEATER to change with the times. A lot of people only wanted to hear 'Images And Words' for the rest of DREAM THEATER's career, and as far as I'm concerned, I think DREAM THEATER needs to be a band that moves with the times and changes with the times. I didn't wanna be playing stuff that sounded like 'Learning To Live' for the rest of my life. So I think it was important to have modern elements and incorporate it. And if those guys disagreed and didn't want [the music] to go in that direction, then they could have easily spoken up. As much as I was a control freak with everything in DREAM THEATER outside of the music itself, when it came to the music itself, me and John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess basically wrote all the music together. So if they objected to a direction that I was presenting, then they were always welcome to speak up and have a say. So it's not fair to blame me for the musical direction; we shared that vision together."
On the possibility of a reunion with his former DREAM THEATER bandmates at some point in the future:
Portnoy: "Well, you can't take a 25-year relationship and just throw it out the window and disregard it. So I never say never. If those guys ever asked me to work with them again, I would surely consider it, depending on my availability and what's going on in my life. But the reality is right now they've moved on and I've moved on. And I don't think they have any intention in looking backwards right now; it doesn't seem that way. I suppose if things work out with their new drummer, then they would probably have no reason to ever look back. But if, for some reason, things didn't work out, then I suppose that maybe it would be something that they would consider. But I guess we would cross that bridge when we get there. But right now a lot of those bridges are burned at the moment, so there's gonna be a lot of rebuilding that's gonna need to happen first."
On his current relationship with his former bandmates:
Portnoy: "Jordan, to his credit, has been the only member of the band that has reached out and sent me some very nice, supportive e-mails, and I appreciate that. Jordan has always been a real sweet person. As far as [bassist] John Myung and [singer] James [LaBrie] go, I haven't seen or heard from them since September 9, 2010 when we had our last conversation. [John Myung] happens to live down the block from me, but I still have yet to see or speak with him since September [of 2010], so it's been almost a year now. And John Petrucci I reached out to in October of 2010 in hopes to try to reconcile and work out our differences and make things work. And I reached and talked to him. But that was the last time I spoke to him. And he never even responded [after that], actually — he just had his lawyer respond to me. So, unfortunately, I would love to have a personal relationship with the guys, but for whatever reason it's been shut off between us and it's very sad. It's sad for me because those guys were my brothers for so many years. But they've moved on and I'm moving on as well.
On whether the "fun" element was missing from DREAM THEATER towards the end of his tenure with the band:
Portnoy: "I think so. I think with ADRENALINE MOB it's just about having fun. I know when I left DREAM THEATER I was leaving a lot of security. I could have stayed in DREAM THEATER the rest of my life and been secure financially and secure in terms of a career, but to me, I can't be making music with a band because I have to — I need to be making music with people because I want to. And with ADRENALINE MOB, we just absolutely love playing with each other, and there's a real sense of excitement every time we hit the stage. And we're definitely building this band from the ground up. I can't count on playing to five thousand DREAM THEATER fans every night. We're playing in a lot of these clubs to just a few hundred people every night. And it doesn't matter — we feel like a new, young band that's going city to city and making fans every single night; we have to win over every single person in the audience each and every night. And there's a sense of excitement and rejuvenation that comes with that."
On how it feels for him to see DREAM THEATER releasing a new studio album that he had nothing to do with:
Portnoy: "It's something that I never in a million years thought I would have to see. It's very strange for me and it hurts in a lot of ways; it's very sad for me. I would have preferred it if we just took a little break rather than split up, but this is the way that the cards unfolded and there's nothing I can do about it. If this is what they wanna do, then they'll move on and I'll move on. So what can I say? It's not anything I can control."
On whether he feels that some fans have misinterpreted his decision to leave DREAM THEATER and forgotten all his contributions to the band:
Portnoy: "It hurts, because all of my heart and soul and blood and sweat and tears for all those years of DREAM THEATER was based on doing things for the fans. I always made sure DREAM THEATER was a very fan-oriented band, and everything from the fan clubs to the web sites to the official bootlegs to the setlists to the artwork to the merchandise, that was all stuff that I oversaw and controlled for the fans. And then, when this split happened, to see so many DREAM THEATER fans turn their backs on me, it really hurts. I'm a human being — I'm made out of flesh and bone — and when I read that stuff on the Internet, it breaks my heart and it bothers me. But I've had to turn off my computer and try to turn my back to that stuff, because when I read it, it breaks my heart. When I don't read it, I'm very happy with where I'm at — I'm very comfortable with what I'm now doing in my life and career and I just need to, for the first time ever, make decisions to make myself happy. For 25 years, I made decisions to make the fans happy, but for once in my life, I need to follow my own heart. It breaks my heart when I see fans turning their backs on me, but on the other hand, I don't want to forget to mention the fact that there's a tremendous amount of fans that do have my back and that are supportive of me and understand what happened and are behind my next musical steps. So for those people that are [still behind me], I'll never let them down — I will continue to work as hard and as passionately as I did for DREAM THEATER. I will put all of that into everything I do in my career, so the fans that stick with me will have a fan-friendly artist for life. It's just the way I am, and that applies to every band that I work with."
On the fact that the recent DREAM THEATER European tour was the first time the band played the same exact set every night:
Portnoy: "Well, I'm sure there's gonna be many things in the DREAM THEATER camp that are gonna be different, because the fact is that I made all of the decisions for the band beyond the music itself. So, of course, there's gonna be some things that are different and then, of course, there's gonna be other things that are gonna follow the framework and the ideas that I laid down and they'll just continue to utilize what was established in the past with me. So how they run the band and pick up all of my slack, all duties that I left for them [to take care of following my departure], how they do that is up to them. I don't know. I guess we'll all be waiting to find out."
On some DREAM THEATER fans' opinion that the "magic is gone" from the band's sound and songwriting chemistry now that he is no longer part of the group:
Portnoy: "I always thought that the strongest elements and personalities in DREAM THEATER were me and John Petrucci. And in the early days Kevin Moore [former DREAM THEATER keyboardist] was a big, big part of that chemistry, and then in the later days Jordan Rudess was a big part of that chemistry. But at the end of the day, it was always me and John [Petrucci]. And John Myung, of course, but he's a quieter person, so he's not as strong of an element because he's quiet by nature. But yeah, John Petrucci and myself were, and I think will always be, the sound and the style and the heart and the soul of DREAM THEATER. And I think if you take either one of us out, I think it's like when Roger Waters and David Gilmour split. David Gilmour carried on PINK FLOYD without Roger Waters, but as far as I was concerned, it was never the same. Roger Waters was a big part of the [sound on] all the classic PINK FLOYD albums, and once he left, I think PINK FLOYD sounded like a David Gilmour solo band. I honestly think if John Petrucci came to me last year and said he needed a break, I wouldn't have continued DREAM THEATER without him; I would have absolutely respected his desire for a break and I would have put the band on hold and waited for him. So it saddens me that he wouldn't do that for me, because I think DREAM THEATER, at the end of the day, was always about the chemistry between me and him."
ADRENALINE MOB — the new band featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD), SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP), bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward — has entered the studio to record three new songs for inclusion on the group's forthcoming debut album, tentatively due in early 2012. Portnoy stated in an online posting, "All three [tracks] are AMAZING!!"
The self-titled debut EP from ADRENALINE MOB sold 1,800 copies in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 13 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.
"Adrenaline Mob" is available via iTunes and is being sold in physical form at the group's shows and online store. Self-produced by the band, the effort features four original tracks as well as a blistering cover of the Ronnie James Dio-era BLACK SABBATH classic "The Mob Rules". From the opening riff of "Psychosane" through the over-six-minute epic-sounding "Hit The Wall", it is clear that ADRENALINE MOB are in class all their own as musicians.
"Releasing the EP gives fans around the world a chance to get a taste of the MOB NOW without having to wait until the full-length album comes out at the beginning of next year," stated Portnoy.
"Adrenaline Mob" track listing:
01. Psychosane
02. Believe Me
03. Hit The Wall
04. Down To The Floor
05. The Mob Rules
The EP is now available for streaming in its entirety using the player below.
ADRENALINE MOB's first-ever headline tour made stops in various markets, including Chicago, Denver and San Francisco. ADRENALINE MOB also opened for GODSMACK on select dates of the Massachusetts act's headlining tour.
ADRENALINE MOB formed in early 2011 when Orlando approached Allen with some material the guitarist had written. Allen and Orlando refined those ideas, at which time Allen reached out to longtime friend Portnoy to see if he had any interest in playing with them. Portnoy jumped on board and soon thereafter DiLeo and Ward were recruited to join the family. From the very first note, the chemistry was apparent and the beast that is known as ADRENALINE MOB was born.
The self-titled debut EP from ADRENALINE MOB sold 1,800 copies in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 13 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.
"Adrenaline Mob" is available via iTunes and is being sold in physical form at the group's shows and online store. Self-produced by the band, the effort features four original tracks as well as a blistering cover of the Ronnie James Dio-era BLACK SABBATH classic "The Mob Rules". From the opening riff of "Psychosane" through the over-six-minute epic-sounding "Hit The Wall", it is clear that ADRENALINE MOB are in class all their own as musicians.
"Releasing the EP gives fans around the world a chance to get a taste of the MOB NOW without having to wait until the full-length album comes out at the beginning of next year," stated Portnoy.
"Adrenaline Mob" track listing:
01. Psychosane
02. Believe Me
03. Hit The Wall
04. Down To The Floor
05. The Mob Rules
The EP is now available for streaming in its entirety using the player below.
ADRENALINE MOB's first-ever headline tour made stops in various markets, including Chicago, Denver and San Francisco. ADRENALINE MOB also opened for GODSMACK on select dates of the Massachusetts act's headlining tour.
ADRENALINE MOB formed in early 2011 when Orlando approached Allen with some material the guitarist had written. Allen and Orlando refined those ideas, at which time Allen reached out to longtime friend Portnoy to see if he had any interest in playing with them. Portnoy jumped on board and soon thereafter DiLeo and Ward were recruited to join the family. From the very first note, the chemistry was apparent and the beast that is known as ADRENALINE MOB was born.
Metal Insider's Joshua Bottomley recently conducted an interview with guitarist Andreas Kisser of Brazilian/American thrashers SEPULTURA. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Metal Insider: Many critics are hailing "Kairos" as a return to the "old" SEPULTURA sound. Were you aiming in that direction?
Kisser: This album is inspired by ourselves. A little bit of everything that we did in our history since day one, it's there. It's SEPULTURA today. We wanted to try to reproduce what we are on stage. We play songs from every part of SEPULTURA's history in order to have that kind of intensity. Every album that we do we try to reach for that, to sound as alive as possible. And we achieved more than ever this kind of vibe [on "Kairos"]. The album sounds very alive. We had a lot of fun recording. The production coming from Roy Z. was amazing. Musically, it has a little bit of the past. We didn't try to represent another album. We have so many different albums throughout our history and we respect every one of them. I guess there's a little bit of the thrashy old style. We listened to a lot of the bands we listened to before: HELLHAMMER, CELTIC FROST, DESTRUCTION, KREATOR, and VIO-LENCE. All that thrash. We went back to those feelings to try to remember what they were and how we did it, and why we did it. The limitations with vinyl on classic albums, they have eight or nine songs at the most. We did albums with 16-17 songs. So we decided that we needed to shorten the number of songs and really focus on each one of them. Really thinking about construction of solos, vocals, all of it. We didn't try to copy anything we did [before] but tried to get that feeling back.
Metal Insider: Did it help that this was Jean's [Dolabella, drums] second album with the band?
Kisser: No doubt. We've played for five years. Did many tours. Now, the second album. It gets easier, definitely. He understands more about the old stuff, and we play a lot of the old stuff. We did the whole "Arise" album for the anniversary party [of a club in São Paulo, Brazil] last year. It helps to get that vibe, that feeling we used to play with. And we still do play those songs, "Arise", etc. But it helps, of course. We've played so many different stages, festivals with big bands like METALLICA, MAIDEN, FAITH NO MORE, so you see a lot, too. It helps, definitely.
Metal Insider: This is your first release on Nuclear Blast. How has it been working with that label?
Kisser: It's definitely a step forward. Since last year, when we signed, everything has been working as we planned. It's amazing. They're doing a great job. They're very excited to have SEPULTURA and we are very excited to be with them. I think the chemistry is great. They love the style of music. They understand how to work this. And they are fans themselves. Hopefully it will be like that for a long time. It's a great partnership. The album is receiving amazing reviews. The response has been very positive. I think it's a great place to be right now. It's perfect.
Metal Insider: For the "Thrashfest Classics" European tour this November/December with EXODUS, DESTRUCTION and HEATHEN, you are only playing songs from "Beneath The Remains", "Arise" and "Chaos A.D.", correct?
Kisser: We are going to choose songs from the three [albums] and create a set list around that era. The whole festival has that kind of [throwback] idea. It's great. I think the concept is awesome. There's a lot of kids who want to see some songs that we never play live, because we have no room in our setlist. I think it will be a good challenge for us to try to learn some old stuff that we don't play for a long time. The setlist is still being worked out. We have some songs that we already play, but we'd like to do some extra stuff that we don't do for many years and try to do something different for us as well.
Metal Insider: Many critics are hailing "Kairos" as a return to the "old" SEPULTURA sound. Were you aiming in that direction?
Kisser: This album is inspired by ourselves. A little bit of everything that we did in our history since day one, it's there. It's SEPULTURA today. We wanted to try to reproduce what we are on stage. We play songs from every part of SEPULTURA's history in order to have that kind of intensity. Every album that we do we try to reach for that, to sound as alive as possible. And we achieved more than ever this kind of vibe [on "Kairos"]. The album sounds very alive. We had a lot of fun recording. The production coming from Roy Z. was amazing. Musically, it has a little bit of the past. We didn't try to represent another album. We have so many different albums throughout our history and we respect every one of them. I guess there's a little bit of the thrashy old style. We listened to a lot of the bands we listened to before: HELLHAMMER, CELTIC FROST, DESTRUCTION, KREATOR, and VIO-LENCE. All that thrash. We went back to those feelings to try to remember what they were and how we did it, and why we did it. The limitations with vinyl on classic albums, they have eight or nine songs at the most. We did albums with 16-17 songs. So we decided that we needed to shorten the number of songs and really focus on each one of them. Really thinking about construction of solos, vocals, all of it. We didn't try to copy anything we did [before] but tried to get that feeling back.
Metal Insider: Did it help that this was Jean's [Dolabella, drums] second album with the band?
Kisser: No doubt. We've played for five years. Did many tours. Now, the second album. It gets easier, definitely. He understands more about the old stuff, and we play a lot of the old stuff. We did the whole "Arise" album for the anniversary party [of a club in São Paulo, Brazil] last year. It helps to get that vibe, that feeling we used to play with. And we still do play those songs, "Arise", etc. But it helps, of course. We've played so many different stages, festivals with big bands like METALLICA, MAIDEN, FAITH NO MORE, so you see a lot, too. It helps, definitely.
Metal Insider: This is your first release on Nuclear Blast. How has it been working with that label?
Kisser: It's definitely a step forward. Since last year, when we signed, everything has been working as we planned. It's amazing. They're doing a great job. They're very excited to have SEPULTURA and we are very excited to be with them. I think the chemistry is great. They love the style of music. They understand how to work this. And they are fans themselves. Hopefully it will be like that for a long time. It's a great partnership. The album is receiving amazing reviews. The response has been very positive. I think it's a great place to be right now. It's perfect.
Metal Insider: For the "Thrashfest Classics" European tour this November/December with EXODUS, DESTRUCTION and HEATHEN, you are only playing songs from "Beneath The Remains", "Arise" and "Chaos A.D.", correct?
Kisser: We are going to choose songs from the three [albums] and create a set list around that era. The whole festival has that kind of [throwback] idea. It's great. I think the concept is awesome. There's a lot of kids who want to see some songs that we never play live, because we have no room in our setlist. I think it will be a good challenge for us to try to learn some old stuff that we don't play for a long time. The setlist is still being worked out. We have some songs that we already play, but we'd like to do some extra stuff that we don't do for many years and try to do something different for us as well.
David Kinkade (BORKNAGAR, ARSIS, MALEVOLENT CREATION) has finished laying down the drums for the new SOULFLY album, which is scheduled for an early 2012 release via Roadrunner Records. The follow-up to 2010's "Omen" is currently being recorded at a Phoenix, Arizona studio with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who has previously worked with CHIMAIRA, HATEBREED, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE ACACIA STRAIN, BORN OF OSIRIS and SHADOWS FALL, among others. Kinkade describes the band's new material on his Facebook page as "crushing, fast thrash, blasting, tribal and fueled by extreme burrito fury. . . The record is sounding fucking SICK. Thrashy as fuck... totally 'Arise' [referring to SEPULTURA's classic 1991 album] on crack and speed."
Kinkade joined SOULFLY a few weeks ago following the departure of the group's longtime skinsman Joe Nunez. Kinkade says, "Max [Cavalera, SOULFLY/ex-SEPULTURA frontman] and I get along great, [and] my [new] bandmates are great."
Max Cavalera's son Zyon sat behind the drum kit for the band's July 31 performance at the Lokerse festival in Lokeren, Belgium. The concert also marked the debut appearance with SOULFLY of the band's new bassist Tony Campos (STATIC-X, PRONG, ASESINO, MINISTRY, POSSESSED), who replaced Bobby Burns this past spring.
Zyon made many special appearances with Max's other band, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, on CC's recent European tour, performing "Attitude/Cockroaches" at Sonisphere, With Full Force, and Hellfest festivals, to name a few. According to Max's wife/manager (and Zyon's mom) Gloria Cavalera, Zyon learned to drum "sitting at the feet of some of the most gifted metal drummers of all time, including his uncle Igor Cavalera, Bill Ward and Roy Mayorga, to name a few." This was a special guest appearance only, since Zyon's full-time band is MOLD BREAKER, which he formed with his younger brother Igor.
Bassist Johny Chow, who has played with SOULFLY's Max Cavalera and Marc Rizzo (guitar) in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and is a member of FIREBALL MINISTRY, loaned his skills to SOULFLY for the band's recent touring activities.
"Omen" sold 6,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 73 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Kinkade joined SOULFLY a few weeks ago following the departure of the group's longtime skinsman Joe Nunez. Kinkade says, "Max [Cavalera, SOULFLY/ex-SEPULTURA frontman] and I get along great, [and] my [new] bandmates are great."
Max Cavalera's son Zyon sat behind the drum kit for the band's July 31 performance at the Lokerse festival in Lokeren, Belgium. The concert also marked the debut appearance with SOULFLY of the band's new bassist Tony Campos (STATIC-X, PRONG, ASESINO, MINISTRY, POSSESSED), who replaced Bobby Burns this past spring.
Zyon made many special appearances with Max's other band, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, on CC's recent European tour, performing "Attitude/Cockroaches" at Sonisphere, With Full Force, and Hellfest festivals, to name a few. According to Max's wife/manager (and Zyon's mom) Gloria Cavalera, Zyon learned to drum "sitting at the feet of some of the most gifted metal drummers of all time, including his uncle Igor Cavalera, Bill Ward and Roy Mayorga, to name a few." This was a special guest appearance only, since Zyon's full-time band is MOLD BREAKER, which he formed with his younger brother Igor.
Bassist Johny Chow, who has played with SOULFLY's Max Cavalera and Marc Rizzo (guitar) in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and is a member of FIREBALL MINISTRY, loaned his skills to SOULFLY for the band's recent touring activities.
"Omen" sold 6,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 73 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Niclas Müller-Hansen of Sweden's Metalshrine recently conducted an interview with bassist/singer Troy Sanders of Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Metalshrine: Why Mike Elizondo for producer [of the new MASTODON album "The Hunter"]? Did that have anything to do with him producing AVENGED SEVENFOLD?
Troy Sanders: We chose Mike. A lot of people look at his résumé and he co-wrote some giant hits with Eminem and Dr. Dre and he worked with Fiona Apple and Mavis Staples and that was one thing that drew us to him. Mike is a very, very musically intelligent person from all genres of music, just like the four of us are, as people who respect music from all over and every genre. But deep down his roots are in… he grew up playing bass in heavy metal and thrash bands and then he went to college for orchestral upright bass guitar and then he went and worked with Dr. Dre and then Fiona Apple and then he worked with Mavis Staples and he's all over the place. Mike is the first producer for this record that approached us and said, "Hey, guys, I want you to know that I'm a big fan of what you guys have been doing and if you have any inclination to work with me at any time, these are things that I can bring to the table, dah dah dah dah!" So we befriended on a personal level immediately and then after many, many talks and sharing demos with each other, we thought he was the guy to work with. Now, listening back to the record, we're very, very glad that we did.
Metalshrine: Did he approach you and had you come across him before and knew of his work?
Troy Sanders: We knew of his work, but he actually approached us back in February of this year when we were in the demoing process of all our new stuff. He flew to Atlanta and took us out to eat some tacos and that's when we started sharing ideas and first and foremost we bonded on a friendship level, which was the most important to us. We wanna be friends with someone that we're working with before we enter into a business relationship. It started from the ground up, personally first and business second.
Metalshrine: After "Crack The Skye" and you were done touring and all that, had you already decided that you weren't gonna be working with [producer] Brendan O'Brien again?
Troy Sanders: Well, we didn't decide that we would not work with him. It was more of a fact that we knew… once we decided to change everything… we wanted to change the direction of the music, we wanted to change the album artwork, we wanted to change producers. We just wanted to change everything and we wanted to hit the refresh button on our band. Kind of like feel free to explore anything that we felt and explore in any direction we wanted to go. We didn't speak about the idea of working with Brendan again, but then we just said, "You know what, let's change everything!" We love Brendan and he's a giant reason why we were able to make "Crack The Skye" what it was.
Metalshrine: Speaking of that artwork? How did you come across that guy AJ Fosik?
Troy Sanders: We'd seen some of his work in magazines and such and books and it was quite striking. Months ago while we were in the writing process, we contacted him and discussed the idea of making an epic wood sculpture and he was very much into it, so he started busting his ass similarly to the way we feel about creating our music. He spent hours and hours of dedicated time and talent making this massive wood sculpture of a triple jarred minotaur-type head and it turned out to be so slick and beautiful, that it almost looks like a computer-generated image, but it's not. It's actually a massive wood sculpture that he spent many, many hours on. It was cool to change it up and we're very, very happy with what he did.
Metalshrine: These days and I've talked to others about this, these days there's like five different versions of the album released. The making-of DVD, the bonus tracks, the deluxe jewel case and so on. What's your thought about that? Is that just another way of selling things?
Troy Sanders: Well, I think… we always do a limited deluxe because we do have a handful of people that want to have everything, that are collectors. A lot of people think that the deluxe stuff is only released like a cash grab, but in our opinion that's not the case. I only buy the $50 version of things from the bands that I truly love and I really want to own. That's why we only make a small run of those things, for those that wish to have that and that's fine, but if you just wanna hear that 14th song, then you can simply buy that digitally for a dollar, so we're definitely not doing that for any type of monetary gain. Obviously we release the standard version and that's what bands do, but the deluxe is strictly for those that really want this limited collector's-type release.
Metalshrine: Writing this album, I understand that it was more of a collaboration and a group effort than "Crack The Skye". How do you guys work on songs? Does everyone bring an idea for a riff or a melody? How does it work?
Troy Sanders: Yeah. Essentially, everyone in the band contributes a lot to the finished product, but the majority of songs are written in one or two ways. One of the ways is that one of the guitar players will come into practice because they both have acoustic guitars and they play a lot of music at home on their couches, so sometimes that guitar players will walk in and say, "Hey, I think I have a whole song. Check this out," and they'll play it and then we take what we love and move forward and build on that or it might be a complete song already and we're like, "Wow, kick-ass!" The other way that a lot of the songs are written is that somebody will come into the practice space and somebody will start jamming on something cool and everybody kind of joins in and then we try and find other riffs that match that and just kind of build it very spontaneously and then by the end of the day we'll go, "Holy shit, that's a song! Done! High five!" so those are the two main ways that songs are written in the MASTODON world. Essentially everybody has their style and their feel and their contributions to it, whether it be guitar-wise or vocally or whatever. It is very much a band effort when it's all said and done.
Metalshrine: Why Mike Elizondo for producer [of the new MASTODON album "The Hunter"]? Did that have anything to do with him producing AVENGED SEVENFOLD?
Troy Sanders: We chose Mike. A lot of people look at his résumé and he co-wrote some giant hits with Eminem and Dr. Dre and he worked with Fiona Apple and Mavis Staples and that was one thing that drew us to him. Mike is a very, very musically intelligent person from all genres of music, just like the four of us are, as people who respect music from all over and every genre. But deep down his roots are in… he grew up playing bass in heavy metal and thrash bands and then he went to college for orchestral upright bass guitar and then he went and worked with Dr. Dre and then Fiona Apple and then he worked with Mavis Staples and he's all over the place. Mike is the first producer for this record that approached us and said, "Hey, guys, I want you to know that I'm a big fan of what you guys have been doing and if you have any inclination to work with me at any time, these are things that I can bring to the table, dah dah dah dah!" So we befriended on a personal level immediately and then after many, many talks and sharing demos with each other, we thought he was the guy to work with. Now, listening back to the record, we're very, very glad that we did.
Metalshrine: Did he approach you and had you come across him before and knew of his work?
Troy Sanders: We knew of his work, but he actually approached us back in February of this year when we were in the demoing process of all our new stuff. He flew to Atlanta and took us out to eat some tacos and that's when we started sharing ideas and first and foremost we bonded on a friendship level, which was the most important to us. We wanna be friends with someone that we're working with before we enter into a business relationship. It started from the ground up, personally first and business second.
Metalshrine: After "Crack The Skye" and you were done touring and all that, had you already decided that you weren't gonna be working with [producer] Brendan O'Brien again?
Troy Sanders: Well, we didn't decide that we would not work with him. It was more of a fact that we knew… once we decided to change everything… we wanted to change the direction of the music, we wanted to change the album artwork, we wanted to change producers. We just wanted to change everything and we wanted to hit the refresh button on our band. Kind of like feel free to explore anything that we felt and explore in any direction we wanted to go. We didn't speak about the idea of working with Brendan again, but then we just said, "You know what, let's change everything!" We love Brendan and he's a giant reason why we were able to make "Crack The Skye" what it was.
Metalshrine: Speaking of that artwork? How did you come across that guy AJ Fosik?
Troy Sanders: We'd seen some of his work in magazines and such and books and it was quite striking. Months ago while we were in the writing process, we contacted him and discussed the idea of making an epic wood sculpture and he was very much into it, so he started busting his ass similarly to the way we feel about creating our music. He spent hours and hours of dedicated time and talent making this massive wood sculpture of a triple jarred minotaur-type head and it turned out to be so slick and beautiful, that it almost looks like a computer-generated image, but it's not. It's actually a massive wood sculpture that he spent many, many hours on. It was cool to change it up and we're very, very happy with what he did.
Metalshrine: These days and I've talked to others about this, these days there's like five different versions of the album released. The making-of DVD, the bonus tracks, the deluxe jewel case and so on. What's your thought about that? Is that just another way of selling things?
Troy Sanders: Well, I think… we always do a limited deluxe because we do have a handful of people that want to have everything, that are collectors. A lot of people think that the deluxe stuff is only released like a cash grab, but in our opinion that's not the case. I only buy the $50 version of things from the bands that I truly love and I really want to own. That's why we only make a small run of those things, for those that wish to have that and that's fine, but if you just wanna hear that 14th song, then you can simply buy that digitally for a dollar, so we're definitely not doing that for any type of monetary gain. Obviously we release the standard version and that's what bands do, but the deluxe is strictly for those that really want this limited collector's-type release.
Metalshrine: Writing this album, I understand that it was more of a collaboration and a group effort than "Crack The Skye". How do you guys work on songs? Does everyone bring an idea for a riff or a melody? How does it work?
Troy Sanders: Yeah. Essentially, everyone in the band contributes a lot to the finished product, but the majority of songs are written in one or two ways. One of the ways is that one of the guitar players will come into practice because they both have acoustic guitars and they play a lot of music at home on their couches, so sometimes that guitar players will walk in and say, "Hey, I think I have a whole song. Check this out," and they'll play it and then we take what we love and move forward and build on that or it might be a complete song already and we're like, "Wow, kick-ass!" The other way that a lot of the songs are written is that somebody will come into the practice space and somebody will start jamming on something cool and everybody kind of joins in and then we try and find other riffs that match that and just kind of build it very spontaneously and then by the end of the day we'll go, "Holy shit, that's a song! Done! High five!" so those are the two main ways that songs are written in the MASTODON world. Essentially everybody has their style and their feel and their contributions to it, whether it be guitar-wise or vocally or whatever. It is very much a band effort when it's all said and done.
This Monday (September 19) at 4:00 p.m. EST, the WJRR-FM radio station in Orlando, Florida will host a live video chat with Matt Heafy, Corey Beaulieu and Nick Augusto of Florida metallers TRIVIUM. The live video chat will be hosted by Pat Lynch and broadcast live at WJRR.com. The guys will also perform their new single "Built to Fall".
TRIVIUM last week filmed a video for "Built To Fall". The track comes off the band's latest album, "In Waves", which sold 22,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart — the highest U.S. chart entry of the band's career. The group's previous CD, "Shogun", opened with just under 24,000 units back in October 2008 to debut at No. 23. The effort followed up "The Crusade", which registered a first-week tally of 31,000 copies in October 2006 to enter the chart at No. 25.
"In Waves" was recorded primarily at Paint It Black Studios in Orlando, Florida (with only the drums having been tracked at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida) with the production/mixing team of Colin Richardson (MACHINE HEAD, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, SLIPKNOT, FEAR FACTORY) and Martin "Ginge" Ford, along with engineer Carl Bown. A two-disc special edition is also available. It features five bonus tracks, plus a DVD with a 40-minute, behind-the-scenes documentary, as well as an exclusive concert filmed in a warehouse located in Orlando, Florida, which is the band's stomping grounds. This concert features the first performances of tracks from "In Waves", along with TRIVIUM classics.
TRIVIUM last week filmed a video for "Built To Fall". The track comes off the band's latest album, "In Waves", which sold 22,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart — the highest U.S. chart entry of the band's career. The group's previous CD, "Shogun", opened with just under 24,000 units back in October 2008 to debut at No. 23. The effort followed up "The Crusade", which registered a first-week tally of 31,000 copies in October 2006 to enter the chart at No. 25.
"In Waves" was recorded primarily at Paint It Black Studios in Orlando, Florida (with only the drums having been tracked at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida) with the production/mixing team of Colin Richardson (MACHINE HEAD, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, SLIPKNOT, FEAR FACTORY) and Martin "Ginge" Ford, along with engineer Carl Bown. A two-disc special edition is also available. It features five bonus tracks, plus a DVD with a 40-minute, behind-the-scenes documentary, as well as an exclusive concert filmed in a warehouse located in Orlando, Florida, which is the band's stomping grounds. This concert features the first performances of tracks from "In Waves", along with TRIVIUM classics.
Troy Culpan of May The Rock Be With You recently conducted an interview with former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
May The Rock Be With You: Do you get nervous around album-release time?
Bach: Yes, I do. Of course you do. You always want to top what you've done before and make everyone happy and but the thing is that if you make yourself happy and you're happy with what you've made deep down in your own heart that that really is the ultimate accomplishment. If everybody didn't like "Kicking & Screaming", I would still love it. I mean, I honestly love the record, and if I put my name on something, that's because I believe in it 100 percent and I totally believe in every song on this record. From the production and the sound and the performances, everything about it I absolutely love 100%.
May The Rock Be With You: This is your first with new label Frontiers Records. How did this marriage come about?
Bach: Well, I have a big-time rock and roll manager named Rick Sales — he manages SLAYER and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE — and if you've noticed that I've been more in the forefront in the industry in the last couple of years, a lot of it has to do with Rick, my manager. He's a great manager, he got me the record deal with Frontiers, and Frontiers have pulled out all the stops to give me a great shot at getting to my fans. We're not only doing a CD, we're doing a DVD in a deluxe version that is an incredible DVD that has an hour long movie called "As Long As I Got The Music" with like at least an hour's worth of live concert footage from around the world from Santiago, Chile; San Sebastian, Spain; Bogota, Colombia; and Halifax, Nova Scotia; and London, England at the O2 Arena. It's got amazing footage on the GUNS N' ROSES tour. It's all pro-shot, Pro Tools on the board and five camera angles from Axl's [Rose] camera crew and it came out amazing. It's also got the three brand new videos on it and an Easter Egg which is the "Battle With The Bottle" video from "Gone Country", which is… I don't know how to access it, but it's on there somewhere. [laughs] The DVD is almost as exciting as the CD. If you like "Oh Say Can You Scream" and "Road Kill" and the home movies that we made, you're gonna really like this DVD. And it's not only the DVD, but we're also doing a record, a vinyl album with a gatefold sleeve which is really cool. I think it's the first vinyl record I've designed since 1990 or something like that. [laughs] So, yeah, Frontiers is really pulling out all the stops and I could not be happier with them.
May The Rock Be With You: You mentioned that you worked with Bob Marlette on this record. Why was he the right choice for this record?
Bach: Basically, because he was available right when we wanted to work, and he's a great producer and he was right ready to go in February when we were ready, and he has had a lot of success with Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes and SHINEDOWN and BLACK SABBATH. The reason I really liked working with him — number one, he's a great songwriter; we sat down and wrote some great stuff together. But he also has a great bottom end to all his productions and when I'm singing really high, I have a high singing voice a lot of the time, so when I was singing the high screams and stuff, it's good on the production side to have a big bottom end to even everything out with my high vocals and Bob's bottom end is just monstrous, it's really big and powerful. And I would love to work with him again, definitely. Great, great producer.
May The Rock Be With You: You talk about being able to sing high but I must say, you still have a killer set of pipes where many others are clones of their former selves. What's your secret?
Bach: Well, my secret is definitely these Italian opera scales called Bel Canto which is a style of singing that originates back in the 1600s in Italy and these scales that everybody from Tony Bennett to Lady Gaga use. Jon Bon Jovi sent me to this vocal instructor in Manhattan back in 1987 and this guy taught me how to warm up my voice. I do these scales all the time and before I sing every time and they really make my voice very strong. I also sing along to like JOURNEY and JUDAS PRIEST and songs like that, so yeah, it's a style of singing that's been around for hundreds of years and it really works.
May The Rock Be With You: Do you get nervous around album-release time?
Bach: Yes, I do. Of course you do. You always want to top what you've done before and make everyone happy and but the thing is that if you make yourself happy and you're happy with what you've made deep down in your own heart that that really is the ultimate accomplishment. If everybody didn't like "Kicking & Screaming", I would still love it. I mean, I honestly love the record, and if I put my name on something, that's because I believe in it 100 percent and I totally believe in every song on this record. From the production and the sound and the performances, everything about it I absolutely love 100%.
May The Rock Be With You: This is your first with new label Frontiers Records. How did this marriage come about?
Bach: Well, I have a big-time rock and roll manager named Rick Sales — he manages SLAYER and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE — and if you've noticed that I've been more in the forefront in the industry in the last couple of years, a lot of it has to do with Rick, my manager. He's a great manager, he got me the record deal with Frontiers, and Frontiers have pulled out all the stops to give me a great shot at getting to my fans. We're not only doing a CD, we're doing a DVD in a deluxe version that is an incredible DVD that has an hour long movie called "As Long As I Got The Music" with like at least an hour's worth of live concert footage from around the world from Santiago, Chile; San Sebastian, Spain; Bogota, Colombia; and Halifax, Nova Scotia; and London, England at the O2 Arena. It's got amazing footage on the GUNS N' ROSES tour. It's all pro-shot, Pro Tools on the board and five camera angles from Axl's [Rose] camera crew and it came out amazing. It's also got the three brand new videos on it and an Easter Egg which is the "Battle With The Bottle" video from "Gone Country", which is… I don't know how to access it, but it's on there somewhere. [laughs] The DVD is almost as exciting as the CD. If you like "Oh Say Can You Scream" and "Road Kill" and the home movies that we made, you're gonna really like this DVD. And it's not only the DVD, but we're also doing a record, a vinyl album with a gatefold sleeve which is really cool. I think it's the first vinyl record I've designed since 1990 or something like that. [laughs] So, yeah, Frontiers is really pulling out all the stops and I could not be happier with them.
May The Rock Be With You: You mentioned that you worked with Bob Marlette on this record. Why was he the right choice for this record?
Bach: Basically, because he was available right when we wanted to work, and he's a great producer and he was right ready to go in February when we were ready, and he has had a lot of success with Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes and SHINEDOWN and BLACK SABBATH. The reason I really liked working with him — number one, he's a great songwriter; we sat down and wrote some great stuff together. But he also has a great bottom end to all his productions and when I'm singing really high, I have a high singing voice a lot of the time, so when I was singing the high screams and stuff, it's good on the production side to have a big bottom end to even everything out with my high vocals and Bob's bottom end is just monstrous, it's really big and powerful. And I would love to work with him again, definitely. Great, great producer.
May The Rock Be With You: You talk about being able to sing high but I must say, you still have a killer set of pipes where many others are clones of their former selves. What's your secret?
Bach: Well, my secret is definitely these Italian opera scales called Bel Canto which is a style of singing that originates back in the 1600s in Italy and these scales that everybody from Tony Bennett to Lady Gaga use. Jon Bon Jovi sent me to this vocal instructor in Manhattan back in 1987 and this guy taught me how to warm up my voice. I do these scales all the time and before I sing every time and they really make my voice very strong. I also sing along to like JOURNEY and JUDAS PRIEST and songs like that, so yeah, it's a style of singing that's been around for hundreds of years and it really works.
Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH will release their new album, "Imaginaerum", in the U.S. on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 via Roadrunner Records; in Finland on Wednesday, November 30 and the rest of Europe on Friday, December 2 via Nuclear Blast Records.
"Imaginaerum" track listing:
01. Taikatalvi
02. Storytime
03. Ghost River
04. Slow, Love, Slow
05. I Want My Tears Back
06. Scaretale
07. Arabesque
08. Turn Loose The Mermaids
09. Rest Calm
10. The Crow, The Owl And The Dove
11. Last Ride Of The Day
12. Song Of Myself
13. Imaginaerum
A track-by-track breakdown of the album by NIGHTWISH keyboardist/mainman Tuomas Holopainen can be found at Metalhammer.co.uk.
Regarding the "Imaginaerum" cover artwork, which can be seen below, Tuomas Holopainen said, "Originally, this was supposed to be the centerfold image of the album, but once I and some mates saw the final image, we immediately knew that the hunt for the actual cover artwork was over. I believe this is Toxic Angel's finest piece of work yet, capturing the deepest essence of what 'Imaginaerum' is all about. The power of imagination and places of wordless wonders, magic and awe, of longing and the surreal.
"I emphasized from the start that not a single living thing should be seen in the picture, and Toxic was able to create that sublime but desolate, 'all this waiting for you, and you only' feeling.
"All you need is the courage to enter."
NIGHTWISH recently spent time not only putting finishing touches to the "Imaginaerum" album, but also planning a movie of the same name.
"Imaginaerum" is one of the projects which recently received grants from the Finnish government institution called the Finnish Film Foundation. The movie, directed by Stobe Harju, about an old man on his deathbed who glimpses a childhood dream in which he refuses to grow old, and fights aging with his imagination, will get $575,000 toward its $3.7 million budget.
NIGHTWISH's new single, "Storytime", will be released on Friday, November 11 via Nuclear Blast 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 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.
"Imaginaerum" track listing:
01. Taikatalvi
02. Storytime
03. Ghost River
04. Slow, Love, Slow
05. I Want My Tears Back
06. Scaretale
07. Arabesque
08. Turn Loose The Mermaids
09. Rest Calm
10. The Crow, The Owl And The Dove
11. Last Ride Of The Day
12. Song Of Myself
13. Imaginaerum
A track-by-track breakdown of the album by NIGHTWISH keyboardist/mainman Tuomas Holopainen can be found at Metalhammer.co.uk.
Regarding the "Imaginaerum" cover artwork, which can be seen below, Tuomas Holopainen said, "Originally, this was supposed to be the centerfold image of the album, but once I and some mates saw the final image, we immediately knew that the hunt for the actual cover artwork was over. I believe this is Toxic Angel's finest piece of work yet, capturing the deepest essence of what 'Imaginaerum' is all about. The power of imagination and places of wordless wonders, magic and awe, of longing and the surreal.
"I emphasized from the start that not a single living thing should be seen in the picture, and Toxic was able to create that sublime but desolate, 'all this waiting for you, and you only' feeling.
"All you need is the courage to enter."
NIGHTWISH recently spent time not only putting finishing touches to the "Imaginaerum" album, but also planning a movie of the same name.
"Imaginaerum" is one of the projects which recently received grants from the Finnish government institution called the Finnish Film Foundation. The movie, directed by Stobe Harju, about an old man on his deathbed who glimpses a childhood dream in which he refuses to grow old, and fights aging with his imagination, will get $575,000 toward its $3.7 million budget.
NIGHTWISH's new single, "Storytime", will be released on Friday, November 11 via Nuclear Blast 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 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.
SYMPHONY X, EPICA, REDEMPTION and PRETTY MAIDS are among the confirmed bands for next year's edition of the ProgPower USA festival, set to take place in September 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia (exact dates to be announced).
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
Friday:
SINBREED
KINGCROW
SOLUTION .45
SERENITY
PRIMORDIAL
REDEMPTION
EPICA (headliner)
Saturday:
ABOVE SYMMETRY
LANFEAR
AMARANTHE
MYSTIC PROPHECY
MAYAN (WITH SPECIAL GUESTS)
PRETTY MAIDS
SYMPHONY X (headliner)
For more information, visit www.progpowerusa.com.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
Friday:
SINBREED
KINGCROW
SOLUTION .45
SERENITY
PRIMORDIAL
REDEMPTION
EPICA (headliner)
Saturday:
ABOVE SYMMETRY
LANFEAR
AMARANTHE
MYSTIC PROPHECY
MAYAN (WITH SPECIAL GUESTS)
PRETTY MAIDS
SYMPHONY X (headliner)
For more information, visit www.progpowerusa.com.
California rockers WARRANT have canceled their appearance at this year's Firefest, set to take place October 21-23 at Rock City in Nottingham, England. They have been replaced by W.E.T., which features the immense talents of singer/songwriter Jeff Scott Soto (TALISMAN); guitarist/songwriter Erik Martensson (ECLIPSE) and keyboardist Robert Sall (WORK OF ART).
Irish rockers THERAPY? will release a brand new studio album, "A Brief Crack Of Light", in February 2012. A "taster" single will precede the full-length effort in November, with a "proper" single set to follow in January. The band states, "We'll be shooting videos for these two tracks in the next couple of weeks plus working on the artwork which is shaping up to be quite interesting."
Issued in March 2009 via Global Music, THERAPY?'s last studio album, "Crooked Timber", was produced by Andy Gill, a founding member and guitarist for the English rock group GANG OF FOUR, considered among the most influential post-punk bands. Gill also produced much of GANG OF FOUR's output, and albums for many other artists, including the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, THE JESUS LIZARD, THE STRANGLERS, THE FUTUREHEADS, MICHAEL HUTCHENCE, KILLING JOKE and THE YOUNG KNIVES.
THERAPY? released its first-ever official live album, "We're Here To The End", in November 2010 via Global Music.
Issued in March 2009 via Global Music, THERAPY?'s last studio album, "Crooked Timber", was produced by Andy Gill, a founding member and guitarist for the English rock group GANG OF FOUR, considered among the most influential post-punk bands. Gill also produced much of GANG OF FOUR's output, and albums for many other artists, including the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, THE JESUS LIZARD, THE STRANGLERS, THE FUTUREHEADS, MICHAEL HUTCHENCE, KILLING JOKE and THE YOUNG KNIVES.
THERAPY? released its first-ever official live album, "We're Here To The End", in November 2010 via Global Music.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of their "Resisting Success" album, reunited '80s/'90s metallers HADES have announced their only European show of 2012: Saturday, July 28 at the Headbangers Open Air festival in Brande-Hoernerkirchen Germany. HADES will perform songs from its first two LPs, "Resisting Success" and "If At First You Don't Succeed".
Commented HADES guitarist Dan Lorenzo: "We all had a blast at the Bang Your Head!!! festival [in Germany] last year. It felt too good to not do it one more time."
A warm-up show will likely take place in New Jersey several days prior to the band's Headbangers Open Air appearance.
HADES lineup for Bang Your Head!!! consisted of Alan Tecchio on vocals, Dan Lorenzo and Scott LePage on guitars, Tom Coombs on drums and former NON-FICTION bassist Kevin Bolembach.
HADES' April 2010 reunion show is documented on the DVD "Reunited & Re-Ignited", available at DanLorenzo.net. The disc also includes footage of NON-FICTION's reunion show at Dingbatz in November 2009.
Commented HADES guitarist Dan Lorenzo: "We all had a blast at the Bang Your Head!!! festival [in Germany] last year. It felt too good to not do it one more time."
A warm-up show will likely take place in New Jersey several days prior to the band's Headbangers Open Air appearance.
HADES lineup for Bang Your Head!!! consisted of Alan Tecchio on vocals, Dan Lorenzo and Scott LePage on guitars, Tom Coombs on drums and former NON-FICTION bassist Kevin Bolembach.
HADES' April 2010 reunion show is documented on the DVD "Reunited & Re-Ignited", available at DanLorenzo.net. The disc also includes footage of NON-FICTION's reunion show at Dingbatz in November 2009.
Sam Roon of FrontRowRock.com recently conducted an interview with SPINESHANK drummer Tommy Decker. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
FrontRowRock.com: Tell us about [the new SPINESHANK album] "Anger, Denial, Acceptance".
Tommy Decker: Well, it's three of the stages of grieving, rearranged a bit. I think it's something a lot of people can relate to; things ending, relationships, people. Members of this band have been through a lot in the last few years and it all came out in this record. This is the most personal record we've ever done. Everything you hear is real. The pain, anger and sadness come from a real place. It was not a fun record to make.
FrontRowRock.com: What was the recording process like?
Tommy Decker: The recording process was a lot different this time. It was the first record where we didn't have an outside producer come in, we did it completely on our own. We also did it in different sessions. We'd write three or four songs and then go record them. Write three or four more and record them in a different studio. We actually took our Pro Tools rig to a cabin in Big Bear and did a lot of the vocals there. We were totally isolated from the outside world; we were able to fully focus and concentrate on the songs. It was a really cool way to record.
FrontRowRock.com: Why is this album important for fans to own?
Tommy Decker: It really shows the progression of the band. If you go all the way back to "Strictly Diesel" and listen to "Anger, Denial, Acceptance", you will be amazed at the growth. We've gotten better as musicians and songwriters. Jonny [Santos] is singing better than ever on this record. This record is just the most extreme SPINESHANK there has ever been. Heavier, more melodic and darker than we've ever been.
FrontRowRock.com: With the first album in eight years about to be released, do you feel any pressure from the heavy music community?
Tommy Decker: Not really. I mean, obviously, we hope that people like the new music, but we made this record because we felt like we still have something to bring to the table. We've never been motivated by what other people think. We won't just go through the motions and write music for no reason. A lot of bands from our era kept going and were just beating a dead horse. We broke up in the same month that we were nominated for a Grammy, because we felt like it wasn't working anymore. It's working again. Better than ever. Were comfortable with who we are as a band.
FrontRowRock.com: Tell us about [the new SPINESHANK album] "Anger, Denial, Acceptance".
Tommy Decker: Well, it's three of the stages of grieving, rearranged a bit. I think it's something a lot of people can relate to; things ending, relationships, people. Members of this band have been through a lot in the last few years and it all came out in this record. This is the most personal record we've ever done. Everything you hear is real. The pain, anger and sadness come from a real place. It was not a fun record to make.
FrontRowRock.com: What was the recording process like?
Tommy Decker: The recording process was a lot different this time. It was the first record where we didn't have an outside producer come in, we did it completely on our own. We also did it in different sessions. We'd write three or four songs and then go record them. Write three or four more and record them in a different studio. We actually took our Pro Tools rig to a cabin in Big Bear and did a lot of the vocals there. We were totally isolated from the outside world; we were able to fully focus and concentrate on the songs. It was a really cool way to record.
FrontRowRock.com: Why is this album important for fans to own?
Tommy Decker: It really shows the progression of the band. If you go all the way back to "Strictly Diesel" and listen to "Anger, Denial, Acceptance", you will be amazed at the growth. We've gotten better as musicians and songwriters. Jonny [Santos] is singing better than ever on this record. This record is just the most extreme SPINESHANK there has ever been. Heavier, more melodic and darker than we've ever been.
FrontRowRock.com: With the first album in eight years about to be released, do you feel any pressure from the heavy music community?
Tommy Decker: Not really. I mean, obviously, we hope that people like the new music, but we made this record because we felt like we still have something to bring to the table. We've never been motivated by what other people think. We won't just go through the motions and write music for no reason. A lot of bands from our era kept going and were just beating a dead horse. We broke up in the same month that we were nominated for a Grammy, because we felt like it wasn't working anymore. It's working again. Better than ever. Were comfortable with who we are as a band.
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