Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is rolling out the welcome mat
for fans coming to town to see iconic heavy metal bands METALLICA, ANTHRAX, MEGADETH and SLAYER, the "Big Four," all performing
live in the Bronx on Wednesday, September 14 at Yankee Stadium.
Diaz, whose love of hip hop is well known and who initiated the
first-ever "Bronx SalsaFest" this past summer, is "moshing"
to a much heavier beat this month.
"This mega concert, one of the most anticipated events in recent memory,
will bring thousands of new visitors to the Bronx,"
said Diaz. "We're inviting concert goers to come early and count
down to the start of the show at our great neighborhood restaurants and bars,
and take in a little of what the Bronx has to
offer."
The "Big Four" concert also represents a homecoming for ANTHRAX,
which features three native Bronxites among their members — Charlie Benante, Frank Bello and Rob Caggiano. Both Benante and Bello grew up in
Throggs Neck, while Caggiano is a native of Pelham Parkway. In honor of the band's
return home, Diaz will officially declare September 14 as "Anthrax
Day in the Bronx."
"The Bronx may be known as the home of
hip-hop and salsa, but make no mistake, our musical contributions are much more
expansive. These heavy metal legends grew up right here in our borough, and I
am proud to welcome ANTHRAX back to their Bronx
home," said Diaz.
In the build-up to the concert, the Bronx Tourism Council at BOEDC is spearheading the Metal Heads Welcome promotion, which spotlights the
businesses in the 161st Street
neighborhood surrounding the stadium. Restaurants and bars will offer choices
like "Metallica Martinis" and "Metal Mayhem Meatball"
specials and pipe in music by the world-famous bands. Baltimore-based radio
station 98Rock FM will also broadcast live from the neighborhood,
capturing the energy and enthusiasm of the Bronx
crowds gathered for this historic heavy metal event.
"Concerts at Yankee Stadium like the 'Big Four' and college football games
later this year are providing an unprecedented opportunity for more foot
traffic and increased business for area merchants," said Doris Quinones,
executive director of the Bronx Tourism Council. "We're delighted
to be working with these great local businesses to attract visitors and to
redefine what constitutes busy season at 161st Street."
Echoing the Borough President's enthusiasm is Joe Bastone, owner of
Yankee Tavern, who went to school with some of the ANTHRAX band members
and who is participating in the tourism council promotion.
"All of these events are great for neighborhood merchants," said Bastone.
"The more of them, the better."
Slash's (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES)
"homecoming" gig on July 24 at the Victoria Hall in the British town
of Stoke-On-Trent, where he was raised until he was five, was filmed for a DVD
and Blu-ray release, "Made In Stoke - 24/7/11", due on
November 15 via Eagle Vision.
Slash's setlist was as follows:
01. Been There Lately (SLASH'S SNAKEPIT song)
02. Nightrain (GUNS N' ROSES song)
03. Ghost
04. Mean Bone (SLASH'S SNAKEPIT song)
05. Back From Cali
06. Rocket Queen (GUNS N' ROSES song)
07. Civil War (GUNS N' ROSES song)
08. Nothing To Say
09. Promise
10. Starlight
11. Doctor Alibi (with Todd Kerns on vocals)
12. Speed Parade (SLASH'S SNAKEPIT song)
13. Watch This
14. Beggars & Hangers-On (SLASH'S SNAKEPIT song)
15. Patience (GUNS N' ROSES song)
16. Guitar Solo / Godfather Theme
17. Sweet Child O' Mine (GUNS N' ROSES song)
18. Slither (VELVET REVOLVER song)
Encore:
19. By The Sword
20. Mr. Brownstone (GUNS N' ROSES song)
21. ParadiseCity (GUNS N' ROSES
song)
Check out the cover artwork below.
"I've been wanting to do this for a long time and for some reason it just
never seemed possible," said Slash.
"One of the things about doing the solo record and setting up my own tour
was that I told the powers-that-be that I wanted to play in places I'd never
played before. And so Stoke was something that was high on my list and I told
them just make it happen."
Slash, whose real name is Saul Hudson, left Stoke-on-Trent
when he was five years old. But he said he still had "vivid memories"
of the city.
"I have memories that I went to school there, of the basic neighbourhood
that I lived in. I remember exactly what the house looked like. Just everything
in general, for some reason my memory is really clear. Better than my memory of
later years."
The Stoke-on-Trent concert sold out in less
than two hours after tickets went on sale on May 6.
Over 1,500 fans attended the show, which marked Slash's first-ever
concert in his hometown.
David Bradbury, Group Press Officer of the Ambassador Theatre Group,
told StaffsLive, "We always knew the gig was going to be popular
and the fact that the gig sold out in less than two hours is brilliant.
"Slash is a local hero, he's from Stoke-on-Trent
and not a lot of people know that. I think he lived here until he was 11 so
this is a bit of a homecoming gig."
Slash stated after the concert: "Stoke was a [fuckin'] blast!!
Great vibe and energy. It's going to make a killer DVD. We'll be back next year
definitely!"
Although ALTER BRIDGE vocalist Myles Kennedy sang just two tracks
on Slash's self-titled solo debut, Slash recently confirmed that Myles will sing everything on the guitarist's next solo effort.
In an interview with The Pulse Of Radio, Kennedy said about the
fact that Slash would like him to handle the lead vocals on the
guitarist's next CD, "It's very flattering. I think there's kind of a cool
thing we got going. We really enjoy working with each other."
Slash's debut disc came out last year and featured a different singer on
each track, including Chris Cornell, Ozzy Osbourne, M. Shadows and others.
The cover artwork for MEGADETH's new album, "TH1RT3EN",
and single, "Public Enemy No. 1", can be seen below. The artwork
was once again created by artist John Lorenzi, who worked on the last
two MEGADETH studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame", as well as the band's 2007 box set, "Warchest".
"TH1RT3EN" is scheduled for release on November 1 via Roadrunner
Records. The CD was recorded at MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine's Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos, California with producer Johnny K (full name: John Karkazis), who has previously worked with DISTURBED, SEVENDUST, MACHINE HEAD and STAIND, among others.
CD track listing:
01. Sudden Death
02. Public Enemy No. 1
03. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
04. We The People
05. Guns, Drugs & Money
06. Never Dead
07. New WorldOrder
08. Fast Lane
09. Black Swan
10. Wrecker
11. Millennium Of The Blind
12. Deadly Nightshade
13. 13
Limited-edition picture-disc vinyl track listing:
Side A:
01. Sudden Death
02. Public Enemy No. 1
03. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
04. We The People
Side B:
01. Guns, Drugs & Money
02. Never Dead
03. New WorldOrder
Side C:
01. Fast Lane
02. Black Swan
03. Wrecker
Side D:
01. Millennium Of the Blind
02. Deadly Nightshade
03. 13
"Public Enemy No. 1" is now available for streaming at Megadeth.com.
"TH1RT3EN" marks the recorded return of bassist David
Ellefson who was part of the band's classic lineup from 1983 to 2002. In a
move that delighted the band's legion of diehards, Ellefson returned to
performing live with MEGADETH in early 2010 and has remained a fixture
on the stage ever since. This is the first time Ellefson has played on a MEGADETH record since 2002's "Rude Awakening".
The title has several levels of meaning, which leader and guitar deity Dave
Mustaine, who first picked up an axe at the age of 13, revealed in a recent
chat with RollingStone.com, saying, "I was born on September 13th;
this is my thirteenth record. It just seemed like it was the right thing to do
to call it 'TH1RT3EN'."
Mustaine is incredibly proud of the music put forth on the new
recording, saying, "This record is the culmination of my work over the 13
records I recorded. There are moments on 'TH1RT3EN' that capture my
every emotion, and other moments where I am releasing feelings I never knew
existed! My proudest moments of my musical career are captured on 'TH1RT3EN'."
Regarding what fans can expect from MEGADETH's next album, Ellefson told Martin Carlsson of Expressen TV, "Let's put it this
way: It's funny that 20 years ago, we came off 'Rust In Peace' and we
went in and made 'Countdown To Extinction'. So, to me, that's kind of
what this album feels like. We did 'Sudden Death' [for a title in the 'Guitar
Hero' franchise, 'Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock'] and then this new
song, 'Never Dead', which is a very violent riff. That was the first
song we did, and we finished it top to bottom because we had to get it into
this video game called 'NeverDead'. So that's a pretty good indication
of what the new record is gonna be. But it's a little wider than… That's why I
liken it to probably a little more to 'Countdown To Extinction', 'cause
there's a couple of songs that aren't just full-on, in-your-face thrashing.
However, most of it is. So you guys are gonna be excited. You'll like it.
You'll dig it. You'll have fun [listening to it]."
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The members of Anthrax should be feeling pretty good about themselves as
they take the stage at Firebird International Raceway Saturday, Sept. 10, to
co-headline Red, White & UFEST with Five Finger Death Punch.
A day later, they're sharing a bill with Metallica,
Slayer and Megadeth at Yankee Stadium as the Big Four, a title referring to
their status as the big four of the thrash scene that made metal more
relentless in the '80s.
And it's their 30th anniversary.
We caught up with guitarist Scott Ian, the only constant in the Anthrax
story, to talk about all that and more. Here's what he had to say.
Question: How does
it feel to still be doing Anthrax after 30 years?
Answer: It's
awesome. Certainly, back in 1991, I could safely say I never in a million years
thought that in 2011 I would still be doing this, let alone playing Yankee
Stadium on Sept. 14. I can tell you those thoughts never crossed my mind.
Q: What keeps you
going?
A: The main thing,
obviously, is just the love of what we do. And it's also our job. The best way
I can explain it is we've all been getting to do something we love as our
career our whole lives and I would assume that's pretty much what most people in
life set out to do.
Q: What do you
think of those early records now, albums like "Fistful of Metal" and
"Spreading the Disease?"
A: I love 'em. I
mean, I can't listen to "Fistful of Metal" because I hate the mix so
much, mainly because my guitar is buried. Everything else sounds great but my
rhythm guitars are lost on that record. I love the songs on the record but it's
one of those things that I've always wanted to go back and remix. And maybe
when that album turns 30 in 2014, we'll do that. But all those records, I love
'em. We still play so much of that material live, so I think that's kind of the
proof, at least in my mind, that it's stood the test of time.
Q: When the thrash
scene was starting, it seemed like such a departure for metal at the time. What
inspired you to take the sound in that direction?
A: There was no
thrash direction at the time when we were doing what we were doing. Thrash
didn't exist yet. We were just listening to lots of music, you know, that
somehow we were channeling into what was to become our sound. I would say
mainly at the time, Maiden and Priest and Motorhead were huge influences on us
and then a lot of the more obscure New Wave of British Heavy Metal stuff, like Raven and Venom, which at the time wasn't obscure but now a lot of
people probably don't know about it, certainly not in the mainstream. Even
Anvil. We were huge fans of Anvil. We're just massive, massive music fans, all
of us, and somehow it just turned into what we started doing.
Q: You mentioned
the show at Yankee Stadium. You were one of the Big Four of thrash with
Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. When Metallica crossed over like they did, was there any thought in
the Anthrax camp like "We could do that; we could be the next ones to have
that big crossover like they did"?
A: I never thought
that way. Metallica just made a record that connected with humanity. Right
place, right time, right album. I don't see it as them doing anything
different. They were just being Metallica. That's like saying when Guns N'
Roses put out "Appetite for Destruction," they crossed over. No.
People just connected with the record. It could have been any Metallica record.
As far as I'm concerned, it could have been "Master of Puppets." It
could have been "Justice." It was just kind of the right place at the
right time, I think. And no, we never thought like we could do the same thing,
because you can't, you know? If you tried to do something, you would just fail
miserably. You either write songs that just come organically or you shouldn't
be in a band.
Q: How does it
feel to do these Big Four shows?
A: Well, Yankees
Stadium, it doesn't get any bigger than that. We're the lone New York band on the bill and the fact that
four of us are Yankee fans. Two of us, myself and our bass player Frankie (Bello) are crazy Yankee
fans. So it's pretty much Mecca
for us.
Q: Now, you're
about to drop your first album in eight years. How did it feel to dive back
into the creative process?
A: Well, we
started the record back in 2007 and then it basically became a work in progress
up until June of this year. So it was unlike any other record that we'd ever
worked on, in the sense that we pretty much had a finished record in 2009 and
then sat on it for a year, then went back in and kind of reopened the books on
it and had the luxury to fix things that we didn't think held up and really
focus it down to the 10 songs that we thought were gonna be the best 10 songs
we could possibly put out at this point in time.
Q: This is your
first record with Joey Belladonna on vocals in a really long time. At what
point did he re-enter the picture and what brought him back?
A: It was early
2010 when we all sat down and asked him if he wanted to go forward and play Big
Four shows in the summer of 2010 and make the record and all that. It just
seemed like it was the right time for all of us to be able to make this happen
and to make it happen 100 percent.
Q: How does it
feel to have him back on board?
A: It feels great.
I just think his performance, that's all you need to hear. Just listen to this
record. He's singing songs that he's only known for a little while and he sings
like he's been singing them for 20 years. He owns the album.
Q: Do you have a
favorite Anthrax album?
A: Right now, this
one, certainly. Hearing Joey with us after all this time, it's almost like I
could listen to it as an outsider and just enjoy it from the fans' point of
view because it's been so long.
Q: How drastically
did the material change when Joey came on?
A: Not at all. We
get this question a lot. People ask, "How much did you have to change to
tailor it to Joey's voice?" I'm like, "We've never tailored anything
we've written to anyone who's in this band." We just write songs and the
singer sings them. A singer will take the songs we write and put his stamp on
them. That's what he does,
the same way I play the guitar the way I play the guitar on the songs. We never
thought once, "OK, now Joey's singing these songs; we need to change
things," because he's gonna take these songs and just kill on them anyway.
That's his job.
Some bands release mere snippets of songs to preview their upcoming tours.
Some release a single song. In typical balls-to-the-wall ICED EARTH fashion, the legendary metal band has re-recorded the entire 17-minute
fan-favorite epic "Dante's Inferno" — and is giving it away
free on the group's official web site.
"If there's one song fans have asked us to play live more than any other
it's 'Dante's Inferno'," ICED EARTH mainman Jon Schaffer said. "The simple reason why we haven't is because the original click
track was erased, therefore requiring a keyboard player to do the parts live.
That's OK for a special event like when we recorded 'Alive In Athens', but to hire
a keyboard player for a full tour, for one song, just isn't financially
feasible."
This summer, during the recording of "Dystopia", ICED EARTH's
soon-to-be-released 10th studio album, the band entered the studio for the
express purpose of remedying that situation — and emerged with a powerful
rendition that's (if possible) even more monumental than the original, which
was the closing track on the band's 1995 album "Burnt Offerings".
Schaffer and new vocalist Stu Block talk about the recording of "Dante's
Inferno" in an exclusive video clip which can be seen below.
"Dante's Inferno" can be downloaded — for free — from ICED
EARTH's official
web site (free e-mail sign-up required).
"Dante's Inferno" (which is based on "Inferno",
the first part of Dante's poem "The Divine Comedy")
hasn't been played live since 1999's "Alive In Athens" album.
"We wanted to say, 'Thank You' to all of our loyal fans who have waited so
long to hear us play 'Dante' again," said Schaffer.
"So, we decided to give this to them, free. It's because of our fans we've
been able to make music all these years. This is a way to show how much we
appreciate them."
Schaffer promises "Dante's Inferno" will be back in the
band's setlists for all upcoming shows on the 2011-2012 World Dystopia Tour.
The European leg of the 2011-2012 World Dystopia Tour has been posted on
the band's official web site, and all official social-media sites. The tour
begins October 30 in Bochum, Germany.
"Dystopia" is scheduled for release in Europe on October 17
and in the U.S.
on October 18 via Century Media. Two bonus tracks have also been
recorded for inclusion on special editions of the album.
The release of "Dystopia" will be followed by the most
extensive world tour ICED EARTH has ever undertaken.
Progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER will embark on a European
headlining tour in January 2012. Support on the trek will come from the
Maryland-based experimental, progressive metal six-piece PERIPHERY.
The dates are as follows:
Jan 23 - Helsinki, Finland - Icehall
Jan 25 - Stockholm, Sweden - Hovet
Jan 26 - Oslo, Norway - Valhall
Jan 27 - Copenhagen, Denmark - KB Hallen
Jan 29 - Poznan, Poland - Arena Hall
Jan 30 - Berlin, Germany - Columbialle
Feb 01 - Zwolle, Holland - IJsselhallen
Feb 02 - Dusseldorf, Germany - Mistubishi Electric-Halle
Feb 03 - Paris, France - Le Zenith
Feb 05 - Hannover, Germany - AWD Hall
Feb 06 - Offenbach, Germany - Stadthalle
Feb 08 - Glasgow, UK - Clyde Auditorium
Feb 09 - Manchester, UK - Apollo
Feb 10 - London, UK - Wembley Arena
Feb 12 - Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Rockhal
Feb 13 - Stuttgart, Germany - Liederhalle
Feb 14 - Wettingen (Zurich), Switzerland - Sportzentrum Tagerhard
Feb 17 - Budapest, Hungary - Arena
Feb 18 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
Feb 20 - Pordenone, Italy - Palasport
Feb 21 - Milan, Italy - Mediolanum Forum
Feb 22 - Perugia, Italy - Palaevangelisti
Feb 24 - Barcelona, Spain - Palau St Jordi
Feb 25 - Madrid, Spain - Palacio Vistalegre
Feb 26 - Lisbon, Portugal - Coliseum
DREAM THEATER will take part in an in-store signing session at Guitar
Center (25 West 14th Street) in New York City on Friday, September 16 at 6
p.m. Attendance is strictly limited to 400 fans, so in order to guarantee
yourself a spot in line, you must go to Guitar Center starting September
13 and purchase the band's new record, "A Dramatic Turn of Events";
along with your CD, you'll be given a wristband which will get you into the
event on Friday.
"A Dramatic Turn Of Events" will be released on September 13
via Roadrunner Records.
The "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" deluxe collector's edition
exclusive pre-order box set includes the following:
* "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" album
* Instrumentals of the entire album
* DVD of "The Spirit Carries On" – a 60-minute movie
documenting DREAM THEATER's drummer auditions
* Double-LP set of "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" (180-gram vinyl
in gatefold jacket)
* DREAM THEATER branded custom turntable slipmat
* Litho Print of album cover
* 50 lucky winners will find a DREAM THEATER "Ticket For Life"
(randomly inserted)
* All content housed in a custom box
* Receive a digital download of the album the day before release
CD1
01. On The Backs Of Angels
02. Build Me Up, Break Me Down
03. Lost Not Forgotten
04. This Is The Life
05. Bridges In The Sky
06. Outcry
07. Far From Heaven
08. Breaking All Illusions
09. Beneath The Surface
CD 2
01. On The Backs Of Angels (instrumental)
02. Build Me Up, Break Me Down (instrumental)
03. Lost Not Forgotten (instrumental)
04. This Is The Life (instrumental)
05. Bridges In The Sky (instrumental)
06. Outcry (instrumental)
07. Far From Heaven (instrumental)
08. Breaking All Illusions (instrumental)
09. Beneath The Surface (instrumental)
You can now pre-order this set at this location.
As we approach the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks
on the World Trade Center,
drummer Mike Portnoy (ADRENALINE MOB, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED
SEVENFOLD) shared with AOL's Noisecreep his recollections of the day.
He said, "I remember waking up Tuesday, September 11, 2001 to my wife
telling me to put on the TV because I wasn't going to be going into [New York City] as
planned.
"DREAM THEATER was working in New York City at the time mixing our album 'Six Degrees
Of Inner Turbulence' and I would've been driving in that afternoon for our
session. But as the events of the morning unfolded, I found myself glued to the
TV in disbelief as to what I was witnessing. It was all too surreal. I felt
like I was watching a Will Smith Hollywood
film. It couldn't possibly be really happening.
"When I finally did return to work in New York City
a few days later, it was just as surreal as there was a sadness and almost
deafening silence still lingering throughout the streets of Manhattan.
"On a personal side note, one of the strangest coincidences of my career
was that DREAM THEATER's 'Live Scenes From New York' was released on Tuesday, September 11th 2001, the cover
artwork of which illustrated a big apple (representing New York City) with the World Trade Center
in flames! [see image below]"
Nearly 3,000 victims and the 19 hijackers died in the September 11, 2001
attacks. Among the 2,753 victims who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center were 343 firefighters and 60 police officers
from New York City
and the Port Authority, and 8 private emergency medical technicians and
paramedics. Another 184 people were killed in the attack on the Pentagon.
When
Mike Portnoy quit Dream Theater a year ago, it could have been a disaster for
the band. Instead they went into audition mode, recruiting former Extreme/Steve
Vai drummer Mike Mangini to record A Dramatic Turn Of Events. The new
album is classic Dream Theater, with odd time signatures, clever arrangements,
genre-hopping, long instrumental sections and plenty of shred. Mangini proves he's
the perfect man for the job, and the entire band sounds energised and inspired
by the new, more democratic approach to composition. It's their most varied and
creative work since 1999′s Scenes From A Memory.
The
first impression I had of this album was "This reminds me of something. What is
it? Oh! Dream Theater!" It really brings back the things I really loved about
the Images & Words era.
Cool!
We were definitely conscious to look at our goals for the new album and really
talk to each other beforehand. I had a lot of conversations with Jordan
(Rudess, keys) about the compositional direction, and trying to hone in on the
elements that make the band special in our eyes. We had a conversation with
James (LaBrie) about where we wanted to take the vocals melodically, and
conversations with John Myung (bass) not only about the album but each song. We
had a very focused general outlook of the entire writing process. And not only
that but as a producer what it was going to sound like when it was all said and
done. So that probably helped keep it in that direction.
It's
a very colourful album. As a producer, how did you approach it?
It's
the first time I produced by myself. I had an idea in my head of all the
elements coming into play and working together. Having Paul Northfield engineer
it and having Andy Wallace mix it, those all contributed greatly to that goal.
I wanted this album to be big and have a powerful sonic impact but to be really
hi-fi and polished, and with a lot fidelity where you can hear all of the
instruments, but have a lot of balance where you can hear not only each player
but the songs, the songwriting too. The songs need to be strong. The writing,
the riffs, the motifs, the melodic passages, the choruses, the chord
progressions, everything needs to be thought out and honed in to the best they
can be. That was my mindset as a producer going in.
One
thing that really struck me about the album was that there were a few
particular melodies that really stuck in my head after the very first listen.
Oh
cool! That's great! I mean, I'm a big fan of melody and meaning in songwriting
and lyrics. Obviously that's something I'm striving for as a songwriter, and by
the time we're done, we're listening to it and going "Wow!" If you can be
objective and step back and say "This is really cool, I really like the way
that came out," or "There's something about this melody that I can't get out of
my head," you have to trust your instincts. And when people give you feedback,
like the way you just did, for example, it kinda reassures you that we made the
right decision and it was working. It's a matter of being focused and also having
a lot of confidence to know when it's right.
Well,
you wouldn't have got to where you are if what you do naturally wasn't what
people wanted to hear.
It's
a really great thing to be a musician and to be able to play and write the kind
of music that you want to, which is certainly not the commercial norm, and have
it be appreciated and accepted on such a worldwide level that we are. We're in
a very unique position as a band and we all really value that very, very
highly. We're very aware of how fortunate we are.
I
understand that this time around you had a big role in composing the drum
parts. How did you go about that?
Well
what I did was, when we were writing the music we were all set up in the studio
and we'd write a section of music, whether it be a riff or a chord sequence or
whatever it was, and I wanted to be able to present it in such a way – Mike
Mangini wasn't available when we were writing – and I wanted to be able to
present ideas in a way that, instead of just giving him a click with guitars and
keyboards, I thought it would be better to give him more of a blueprint of what
we were thinking as far as the feel and groove of the sections. I didn't go
crazy programming the drums. I did it on a basic level. I didn't want to waste
a lot of time being very nerdy with the drums. It'd be a waste of time! Y'know,
I'm not a drummer, I'm a guitar player! But when all is said and done, the
songs existed as full demos with full drums. I used the Superior
drumming program, which sounded great. So we were able to send that to Mangini,
and he was able to get a really good feeling as to what we were going for. And
of course, him being really creative and a master drummer he was able to take
care of that in his own way and add incredible fills and segues and turnarounds.
He would catch things that people were playing and make it a hell of a lot more
interesting than my little drum programming! It's important that people realise
how creative he is.
I
like how you were able to keep a lid on Mangini's hiring for so long. People
were speculating, but nobody actually knew until the moment it was revealed on
the online documentary.
Yeah.
It was really hard to do! We had a plan all along that we wanted to announce
our new drummer through this documentary, and in order to do that the
documentary had to be filmed, it had to be produced, edited, it took a lot of
time, and fast-forward four or five months later and people were getting really
itchy, like, "What's the big deal? Just tell us who the drummer is!" But I'm
glad that we held out. I'm glad we waited. It was a nice way to make it a big
event, to include our listeners, and I think it really helps people get an idea
of the kind of person and drummer that Mike is. It ends up being a very
positive thing.
Well
there seems to be a really positive feeling to the whole album. It doesn't feel
like you were bogged down by Mike Portnoy's departure.
Well,
y'know, the thing that may be important for people to realise is that we are a
band. We're not a band that's focused on or about one particular person. It's
the collective thing, it's the synergy, it's us together that makes it special.
Of course, having a member leave or changing members is definitely a big deal,
but this is something that from my perspective I started from the beginning and
have been doing for 26 years or so, so there's no question in my mind. This is
what I want to do, what I love doing, and it's the kind of music I was born to
write and play. So if there's no question about that, then you can move on and
react in a positive way. It certainly doesn't mean it was hard for us, it
certainly doesn't mean that it wasn't emotional and heartbreaking, which it
was, but it hits that point where you realise that things change in life, you
embrace that change and move on, and make sure you focus on your strength, and
have that self-confidence that I talked about earlier.
Well
the musical results really validate your decision to keep going. The album is
kickass!
Oh
good, thank you! Like I said, we love to do it. I've been writing this kind of
music from the beginning, so there's no reason to stop.
"Lost
Not Forgotten" is an incredible track. What's going on there?
Well
that one is the only song where the guitar is tuned a whole step down to D.
It's probably one of the more techy songs on the album. It's heavy and
aggressive but it's definitely very technical. So it's a good blend of those
two styles. Sometimes with this kind of music it gets tricky: when you write
things that are heavy they get less progressive and when you write things that
are progressive they get less heavy. To try to find that marriage and to blend
it is the tricky thing. It's what makes it unique and original. So this is that
blend. So the goal behind it was we wanted to write something that was driving
and heavy and very thematic but that also had really cool twists and turns and
technical elements to it. And the whole while, the purpose of it was to keep it
musical, to make sure it's always contributing to what you're trying to say
with the song. That's so important and you never want to lose sight of that.
Well
it's interesting – a lot of your work over the last decade has been pretty
heavy, and James LaBrie's most recent solo album was really heavy…
Yeah
it was! Yeah!
I
love that album. But it's great that there's a lot of the lighter side of Dream
Theater on this album as well. It's something we haven't heard much of for a
while.
I
think that setting really makes the most sense. I think that balancing those
elements is the type of thing that creates a new sound. Those things on their
own have been done before, but if you can get that blanace and make it your
own, then you have something that people identify only with your group and your
music. And I think that's really important. And it also makes it more
interesting as a songwriter and a player, because you change faces as a player
throughout the song. And it's fun! It's a challenge and it's fun, and it leaves
a lot of opportunities for expression open. That song ["Lost Not
Forgotten"] is heavy and technical but it also has some beautiful and soaring
parts, but it also has a tango moment, it has a Zappa-esque section, and it
keeps you on your toes as a player. It makes it interesting, and I think the
result is that as a listener, you don't know what's going to happen next,
what's going to hit you, and that makes it fun to listen to and more enjoyable,
and of course the whole thing needs to be tied in by theme and melody and
lyrical content. That's what makes it special in the end.
What
did you use guitar-wise this time around? I've always wondered if you have a
particular main guitar that you use more than the others, or if you spread the
love out across a range of different ones.
Well
on this record I did use one guitar, my JPXI
model, which is the latest in the series of my Ernie Ball Music Man
signature models. And that guitar is the entire album. I used the six string
and the seven-string, and that was it. There are some acoustic moments where I
used a Taylor
acoustic, but it's the Music Man JPXI on the whole record. And it's also the
same amp on the whole record, a Mesa Boogie Mark V. All the cleans, all the
leads, all the rhythms, it's the one amp. I am a person who has a lot of gear –
I'm a gear geek and I love it – but my setup in the studio was really simple:
my guitar, a cable, my amp and a cabinet.
I
read recently that you've just got the Axe-FX II - how's
that working out for you?
I
did! Actually I haven't hooked that up yet! I've been so busy. I finally opened
the box and got it open. I didn't get home [from tour] too long ago, so I'm
still getting settled. And not only that, but the new Mesa Boogie Royal Atlantic just came, so I'm going to check
that out as well. Too many toys, too little time! But there are bigger problems
though, right!
So
any chance of an Australian tour?
Yeah!
I don't have a specific date, but it's definitely on board as one of our stops
on this tour. We've just finished the European open-air festivals, and when the
album comes out in September we're following that up with a North American
tour. We'll be in the US and
Canada, and some shows in Mexico as well.
We'll hit Europe up in late January and February, and we certainly plan on
coming to Australia, Asia
and South America as well. It's just a matter
of how 2012 lines up. So I don't have a specific date, but that's the order of
things.
Well
watching YouTube videos of the Europe gigs,
Mangini fits in so well that I can't wait to hear it first-hand.
Yeah,
he really does. It's tricky when a band member leaves. It's like, anything can
happen. There are so bands in the world and so many musicians trying to get
together and make things work, and chemistry is such a big part of it. The fact
that we found Mike Mangini after this and he fit in so well, not only as a
person but as a player on the record and as a band member that's touring, it
kinda boggles my mind. I'm really, really thankful for that. I feel like I've
been playing with the guy for 20 years. Again, anything could have happened,
and when you bring somebody new in there are so many variables. We're very,
very fortunate to have him as a member of Dream Theater. He's very happy to be
here and the band sounds great with him. I'm really, really looking forward to
the album coming out, but playing live want people to see him and hear him and
to hear the band with him. It's a lot of fun.
A
Dramatic Turn Of Events is released on September 9 in Australia and September 13 in the USA via
Roadrunner.
San Francisco Bay Area thrashers TESTAMENT have tapped their former
drummer John Tempesta (EXODUS, WHITE ZOMBIE, ROB ZOMBIE, HELMET, THE CULT) to sit behind the kit for the band's upcoming U.S.
tour with ANTHRAX and DEATH ANGEL. The trek is scheduled to kick
off on October 14 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Due to a "serious injury," regular TESTAMENT drummer Paul
Bostaph is unable to take part in the tour. Paul was also absent
from the recording sessions for TESTAMENT's new album, "The Dark
Roots Of Earth", tentatively due in February 2012 via Nuclear Blast
Records. Playing drums on the follow-up to 2008's "The Formation Of
Damnation" is Gene "The Atomic Clock" Hoglan (ex-DARK
ANGEL, ex-STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, FEAR FACTORY, DETHKLOK),
with LAMB OF GOD's Chris Adler set to make a special guest
appearance on a couple of bonus tracks.
Commented Tempesta: "I haven't left THE CULT. I'm just
helping these guys [TESTAMENT] out for this tour since Paul is
still injured."
Although Tempesta recorded only two studio albums with TESTAMENT (1994's "Low" and 2001's "First Strike Still
Deadly", a collection of re-recordings of songs from "The
Legacy" and "The New Order"), he left a lasting
impression on TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson. "John is definitely one of the best drummers in the country," Peterson remarked. "He has the power of John Bonham, the finesse of Carter
Beauford, and the aggression of Dave Lombardo. As a drummer, John really has it all."
SADUS drummer Jon Allen sat behind the kit for TESTAMENT when the band performed in the place of IN FLAMES at the first two shows
of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival — on July 9 in San
Bernardino, California and on July 10 in Mountain View, California — as well as
on the group's recently completed South American tour.
"Age Of The Joker", the new album from German melodic
metallers EDGUY, has registered the following first-week chart
positions:
Germany: #3
Czech Republic: #10
Switzerland: #13
U.K.: #14
Austria: #30
France: #63
Regarding the CD's high first-week chart entry in the band's homeland, EDGUY said in a statement, "Thank you all for getting an original copy of 'Age
Of The Joker' and making this possible. It might have been the strongest
chart week of the year, with seven new albums hitting the album Top 10. There
was stiff competition, but YOU were there for us!!! We have given our very best
to deliver the best possible album, but YOU, our fans, are responsible for
making it such a great success. We are in the middle of our rehearsals for the
tour that will kick off on September 23rd and the news hit us in the rehearsing
room, where we are sitting right now! Now we're gonna rehearse so hard, we'll make
sure to blow you all away during the forthcoming live shows and celebrate the
biggest heavy metal party you won't be able to imagine... Be prepared for a
great set with a lot of specials, and we are looking forward to seeing you all.
Thank you, thank you, thank you — and cheerzzz!"
"Age Of The Joker" was released in Europe
on August 29 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Peppermint
Park studio (SCORPIONS, PHIL COLLINS) in Hannover,
which was previously described by the group as "a recording temple with a
tremendously great-sounding room." The album features 11 songs with a
total running time of over one hour. The limited-edition digipack contains a
bonus disc with six additional songs.
"Age Of The Joker" track listing:
01. Robin Hood
02. Nobody's Hero
03. Rock Of Cashel
04. Pandora's Box
05. Breathe
06. Two Out Of Seven
07. Faces In The Darkness
08. The Arcane Guild
09. Fire On The Downline
10. Behind The Gates To Midnight World
11. Every Night Without You
Limited-edition bonus disc track listing:
01. God Fallen Silent
02. Aleister Crowley Memorial Boogie
03. Cum On Feel The Noize (SLADE cover)
04. Standing In The Rain
05. Robin Hood (single version)
06. Two Out Of Seven (single version)
EDGUY's new video, "Robin Hood", can be seen below.
Video director Oliver Sommer (AVANTASIA, NENA, HELLOWEEN)
and the band decided to satirize the Errol Flynn film "The
Adventures Of Robin Hood". The miniature epic was shot in the forest
with a large number of additional actors, starring German TV comedian Bernhard
Hoecker in two different leading roles.
Canadian thrash metal veterans ANNIHILATOR will headline the first
day of the 11th edition of the Trois-Rivières Metalfest. The festival
will take place Friday, October 14 and Saturday, October 15 at the Bâtisse
Industrielle (1760 av. Gilles-Villeneuve) in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada.
Trois-Rivières Metalfest 2011 final festival billing:
Friday, October 14:
ANNIHILATOR
NAPALM DEATH
ATHEIST
CARNIFEX
BENEATH THE MASSACRE
LES ÉKORCHÉS
KALTER
Saturday, October 15:
CAVALERA CONSPIRACY
SACRIFICE
CRYPTOPSY
BLINDWITNESS
L'ESPRIT DU CLAN
INSURRECTION
MASS MURDER MESSIAH
END IS NEAR
ANNIHLATOR is currently working on its 14th studio release as well as a
"special" recording that Waters describes as "a treat for
the faithful ANNIHILATOR fans and a welcoming to our new fans." The
band is also in talks with labels about a record deal for Canada and the USA.
ANNIHILATOR's self-titled album was released in Europe
on May 17, 2010. The CD was made available in Europe via Earache Records,
in Japan through Marquee and in Australia
via Riot Entertainment. It was also released in the U.S. and Canada via iTunes and most
all other digital/online outlets.
Les Paul's family and friends will gather at Prairie
Home Cemetery
in Waukesha, Wisconsin on Saturday, September 10 to
dedicate his gravesite memorial. The 10:30 a.m. event will provide a first
glimpse of the 500 square foot granite monument and a chance to hear Les
Paul's family and close friends recount moments with the famous guitar
player and inventor. The event is open to the public.
After viewing several proposals, the Les Paul estate commissioned Rock
Of Ages of Barre, Vermont to design, build and install the
granite memorial. Ford Construction of Waukesha
laid the foundation and New Eden Landscape Architecture of Milwaukee designed the
landscaping.
Visitors walk into the monument to read about Les. Granite slabs
containing Paul's biography and a list of his most significant awards
encircle benches for visitors. Paul, who chose the hometown location,
directed that his mother be laid next to him. While choosing the site, Les said he hoped the site would be a place where his family, friends and fans
could sit and reflect.
"The memorial shares Les' legacy with all who visit the site. We
are very pleased with how everything looks. Les chose to be in Waukesha. We know the
people of his hometown will cherish this site as Les Paul cherished his
hometown," said Michael Braunstein, Executive Director of the Les
Paul Foundation.
Toby Cole of Heavy Planet recently conducted an interview with drummer Brant
Bjork of KYUSS LIVES!, the project featuring three-quarters of KYUSS — the influential American stoner rock/metal band, originally from Palm Desert,
California. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Heavy Planet: Going back to when the ball started rolling with KYUSS
LIVES!… I know that John [Garcia, vocals] was playing under
the moniker GARCIA PLAYS KYUSS at…what was it… the Roadburn festival when you and Nick [Oliveri, bass] joined him on stage
back in 2010?
Brant Bjork: Actually that was the Hellfest in France.
Heavy Planet: So was that something you guys planned or was it kind of a
spontaneous thing?
Brant Bjork: Actually, that was spontaneous. I had gotten wind that John was gonna go out and do KYUSS songs with three other European musicians
under the name GARCIA PLAYS KYUSS, and not long after I had been told
that, he got in contact with me and asked me if my solo band would do a couple
weeks of dates with them in Europe. I said "sure." You know… I was
excited that John was going out doing KYUSS songs and I certainly
wanted to get on the bill and tag along. And we had a blast and the shows were
fantastic and from night one, I would get up onstage and I would play "Green
Machine" with them. That turned into a nightly ritual on that tour.
And by the time we got to Hellfest, Nick and his band MONDO
GENERATOR happened to be on the same bill. But as far as I knew, John hadn't made plans for Nick to join us until that day. And a couple of
hours prior to getting onstage… we were all hangin' out having beers and just
chattin' it up… Nick mentioned, "Yeah, John asked me to get
up on stage with you guys." And, of course, we were all excited and like,
"Wow, this is awesome," and so in that sense it was very, very
spontaneous. And then a couple weeks after that, John called me and
said, "Hey, man, I want you to come over and let's talk about some
stuff." And I had a fairly good idea what I felt he was probably gonna
pitch at me, and sure enough, he was like, "What do you say, man?! That
was a lot of fun and you know, now is as good a time as any." So I agreed,
"Yeah, let's do this, man." And that's just pretty much how all this
started.
Heavy Planet: Now I've read some things here and there that you and the
rest of the guys are intending on writing a new album or some new music
together. Has that process started? Or when can we expect something like that?
Or is that even true?
Brant Bjork: Yeah, that is true. After our first rehearsals and our
first handful of shows, it was evidently clear that we were… rocking, so to
speak. And so we quickly committed to the challenge of creating new music. I'm
actually in the car on my way to jam right now with [guitarist] Bruno [Fevery,
who most recently played with Garcia in the GARCIA PLAYS KYUSS project] on new material. So we plan to record in early February with the release
of new material sometime next year.
Heavy Planet: I know recently Scott Reeder had to fill in on some of
your dates while Nick dealt with some personal issues and I think that I
read that he's gonna be playing on your upcoming Canadian dates as well. That's
quite a bullpen to pull from when you can get a guy like Reeder to just step
in… that's pretty cool. Can you talk a little bit about that? How did that
process go down in terms of getting in touch with him? And I'm sure it must
have been crazy for Scott to get that phone call… He probably hadn't
played those songs in years and all of a sudden he's got to relearn them and
get onstage with you guys.
Brant Bjork: Yeah, well… You know, there were only seven members of KYUSS and there were only two bass players, so Scott is the obvious and really
the only "plan B" that would even be considered for what this is and
what we're doing. And he's super excited to have been given the chance to get
back onboard, even though it was due to unfortunate circumstances. What can you
say? Nick and Scott are very different musicians and ultimately
almost polar-opposite people. But they're both awesome in their own individual
way, and for whatever reason, there's just not enough room for two bass players
or even… with respect to 'Fredo… two drummers on stage for what we're
doing. I mean, Josh [Homme, guitar] is the only odd man out here
and it's only because he obviously just chooses not to be part of it. But Scott is an exceptional bass player and we did four shows with him in Europe and it was amazing… Of course, he had no problems
getting right back into it. And you know… Nick… there's a fondness for Nick simply because Nick was there when the band was really forming. The
essence of what KYUSS was and became was born with Nick on bass,
so there's a fondness for that within. But Nick has a lifestyle that can
be very interesting at best, and when Nick is unable to fulfill an
obligation, you're absolutely right; we have an amazing plan B. So we'll just
have to see how things evolve…or de-evolve. But there are only two bass players
for KYUSS and if either of those two guys isn't able… then this just
wouldn't work.
In
2007, a Jason Hook-less Five Finger Death Punch released their debut album, The
Way of the Fist, and immediately won recognition from the metal community.
When gearing up to write and record their follow-up, co-founder and guitarist
Zoltan Bathory finally got the chance to bring in guitarist Jason Hook, who
took over the majority of lead duties.
When
FFDP started in back in 2005, the idea was the Hook would shred alongside Zo',
but he was tied up with commitments to tour and record with several acts,
including Alice Cooper, Vince Neil Band and Mandy Moore. Wait, wait… One of
these names doesn't belong. Seriously, Mandy Moore?
Turns
out the sick, super heavy guitarist of Five Finger Death Punch, purveyors of
testosterone-filled fucking metal, is versatile as hell. It makes sense,
though, because Jason Hook has been playing the guitar since the age of 6, so
he probably has experience with other types of music. His stint with Mandy
Moore is just the most jarring example.
Since
all those commitments have run their course, Hook now has the time to fully
devote himself to FFDP, and according to him, their new record, American
Capitalist, is just the beginning. Keep reading to see what Jason had to
say about the new album, the writing process, their new music video (read:
naked girls), and what he learned from working with Mandy Moore. There's also a
surprise appearance by FFDP drummer, Jeremy Spencer!
Brady
Lavin: First of all, how's your back feeling? [The interview had been
postponed due to Jason's back pain.]
Jason
Hook: It's
definitely better, but not completely. We shot this video, what was it a week
ago? And it was one of those situations where you go like full blast for a
minute then stop, then full blast again when they're like "Action!"
I've
suffered from like a whiplash thing going down my back, I've had that from gigs
before, but this one won't go away. Usually they're gone by now. It's really
uncomfortable, it's like a stretching pain. You know when you reach down and
touch your toes you feel that uncomfortable stretch behind your knees? It's
like that, but on the right side of my neck and back, and it won't stop. It's
this uncomfortable stretch. It sucks.
Brady: Well I
hope it works itself out! The new album, American Capitalist, is coming
out October 11th, right? Can you shed some more light on any album details,
like what it will sound like, how it progresses from War Is The Answer,
any guest spots, etc.?
Jason
Hook: It
sounds to me like a continuation of War Is The Answer. This could have
been Side C and D of War Is The Answer. We sort of made a conscious
decision to make a heavier record, but for some reason the melodic stuff always
ends up creeping its way in. It's like a balance. There may be a higher
percentage of heavier material on here, but there's certainly still a balance
like War Is The Answer has.
American
Capitalist album cover
Brady: The
first single, "Under and Over It," is basically a big, fat "Fuck you" to
haters, which is very fitting for the really aggressive sound of Five Finger
Death Punch. Lyrically, what does the album look like, does it go with the
theme suggested by the title, American Capitalist?
Jason
Hook: Well, the
lyrics are pretty much 95% Ivan Moody. Even though we try to feed him concepts
of the record, the overall concept, we only usually get one or two or three
songs that fit with the concept. The rest of it, from where I stand, seems to
be whatever is going on with him emotionally and personally. I believe the
opening track is the title track to the record, and it's one of my favorites
actually.
Brady: You
split guitar duties with Zoltan, but neither of you is designated as the "lead
guitarist" per se.
Jason
Hook: I
play the leads, not that Zo can't, but I believe it's one of my strengths.
Brady: Oh, ok.
I read somewhere that you guys split the duties. So do you do all the solos on
the new album?
Jason
Hook: Yes,
and on War is The Answer (with the exception of one lead run at 1:28 of the
instrumental Canto 34 – that's Zo). Recording an album takes a lot of time and
work … doing the leads is time consuming … Zo does a lot of the rhythm work, so
that's kind of how we split the duties.
Brady: How do
you guys write, do you write the leads and he writes the rhythm parts or what?
Jason
Hook: I'm
writing songs pretty much all the time regardless of what's happening with
Death Punch. I have a home studio, and that's what I like to do. In this
scenario, I started working with Zoltan and Jeremy and I had maybe four or five
song ideas prepared at the top of the record, just to have more material to
pick from ends up being a smarter approach. At the end of the day regardless of
where the idea came from, everybody adds their ingredient to the mix, and the
end product ends up being Five Finger Death Punch.
But
ideas have to come from some source to get the ball rolling. Knowing that, I
think everybody was cooking up their ideas at home and sort of brought them in
that way. I know Zoltan had a bunch of stuff he had been working on, the 3 of
us (Jeremy, Zo, Jason) would get together 3-4 times a week and toss the ideas
around until we had a completed sketch of a song …. That's really how it starts.
Brady: So
somebody will have an idea and somebody will add their own parts to it, it's
not like, "Play this the way I'm telling you"?
Jason
Hook: Everybody
has input and freedom. I think we have developed a nice system. Each person has
a role and not all of the weight is carried by one individual. I think that's
going to be really helpful when it comes down to squeezing out records 4, 5, 6,
and 7. Just trying to get an album built and completed is a tremendous process.
Brady: So you
guys are in this for the long haul? You have definite plans to keep it going
for albums 4, 5, 6, and 7?
Jason
Hook: Yeah!
There is no better job. Be careful what you wish for. My last job was playing
for other people, and this is much
Jason
Hook
more
passion-driven than any hired-gun type work that I've had.
Brady: You
were with Mandy Moore for a while, how was that?
Jason
Hook: Oh
it was great!
Brady: I
imagine that would be very different from being in Five Finger Death Punch. Not
just musically, but being in a band with some camaraderie. With Mandy, were you
just playing what you're told, or what?
Jason
Hook: It
was professional, but it was loose at the same time. Basically, when they had
their records, they had to go out on promo campaigns and they needed a bunch of
musicians to be the background music, so things were changing all the time.
It's hard, it's like "Thursday, we're gonna take just the guitar players and
the violin player and play on MTV Beach House" or something like that. I would
be like "Ok, what song?" and I would prepare it. You have to be able to respond
quickly. It helped me as far as being disciplined and getting used to that type
of work environment.
Brady: I read
that at last year's Download Festival, you guys had to cut your set short
because too many people were crowd surfing… How does that happen? Isn't that
the point?
Jason
Hook: What
we found out was that in the history of the festival, that has only happened
one other time, and that was for Iggy Pop. I can't remember what year it was,
but the one other time the festival has been stopped was Iggy Pop, and it was
probably for the same reason. I guess he just had too many people going
berserker.
We
have a section of our headlining show where we play"Dying Breed," which is the
opening track on War Is The Answer, and we invite everyone to crowd-surf
to the front and shake our hands. It always goes crazy, and there's a lot of
bodies that start flying forward. It's really fun for us, but when you got
70,000 people at a multi-million dollar festival with insurance policies, I
don't think they appreciated it that much.
Brady: Well
maybe they should have done their research!
Jason
Hook: Well
now we have a reputation, so when we're booking a show people are like "They're
not gonna do that one part, are they?" Well now that you mention it, we're
gonna play it twice! LOL just kidding.
Brady: Over
the years, Five Finger Death Punch has toured with a bunch of different bands.
What group or artist has been your favorite to tour or record with and why?
Jason
Hook: [Asks
someone in car with him] Who's our favorite act to tour with and hang out with?
Well for me personally, the Mayhem Festival was probably the most fun. Last
year, we were on the main stage with Lamb of God, Rob Zombie and Korn. The Lamb
of God guys are a riot. They're pretty down to earth, friendly and cool guys.
So I'll take them. I pick choice A. Lamb of God.
Brady: Who's
in the car with you?
Jason
Hook: Jeremy
Spencer, our drummer extraordinaire. We had to go to, what do you call it, an
audiologist? We're getting molds for our in-ear monitors for our headlining
tour.
Brady: Yeah,
what do you call that, the "ear-molder"?
Jason
Hook: Hah,
ear-molder. It's pretty trippy when they stuff this cotton down your ear and
inject your ear with expanding liquid foam. So that was new.
Jason
Hook and Jeremy Spencer, Photo: Revolver Magazine
Brady: I was
looking at your gear and you only use Voodoo amps, right?
Jason
Hook: It's
interesting how that's been skewed. Voodoo amps I met a couple years back. I
have a Marshall endorsement, so I'm kind of a
die-hard Marshall
guy. But if you're into Marshall
heads, most of the time in this heavy, high-gain music, they need to be
modified to fit the style.
Voodoo
is a company out of New York
that had a reputation for doing the best modifications, so I developed a
friendship with those guys. Then they pretty much got their fingers and did
their magic, and everything that I have with a Marshall logo on it has been tweaked by
Voodoo. They're very talented anal-retentive tone guys over there. Trace Davis is the CEO, and I
can tell him I want anything and he can pretty much make it happen. They also
make their own amplifiers, which I'm looking forward to trying some out. Maybe
I'd be impressed enough to play them exclusively.
Brady: What would
it take for an amp to change your mind and make you play it exclusively?
Jason
Hook: I
don't require a lot, I just like something to have lots of head room and lots
of available gain as far as being able to get plenty loud without running into
difficult problems like feedback and squeals. I like it to have plenty of
headroom and enough gain where… I think my type of playing, high-gain does not
really run away on me. It's kind of like Eddie Van Halen. He likes insane
amounts of gain because they way he holds and touches the instrument; he can
control it. I'm kind of the same way. I like high gain because I've learned how
to control it.
Brady: I
recently read that Zoltan uses 13 gauge strings on his BC Rich guitars, which I
found odd considering many metal players use lighter gauges to make it easier
to bend and vibrato. Do you know why he likes the heavier gauge more?
Jason
Hook: Well
I'm using .13 to .70. We're in baritone tuning, so I'm using a Gibson Explorer
which is a shorter scale than the Fender scale which is 25 1/2, Gibson being 24
3/4, so it takes a tighter string, a heavier gauge to get up to pitch.
So
I went to the wonderful people at the Jim Dunlop string manufacturers, they had
me take out… I went through every string individually to find the correct gauge
for bending and wound up with a custom set that goes from .13 up to .70. It's
quite heavy, its almost like a bass string.
Jason
Hook
Brady: What
was the video you were shooting? What song was that for?
Jason
Hook: The
video we just shot was for the first single called "Under And Over It."
Brady: Do you
know when that video's gonna come out?
Jason
Hook: It's
gonna be ready August 25th, so a few more days.
Brady: Wow,
that's a pretty quick turnaround for production on that.
Jason
Hook: I
wanna say that the producer or the director was the director of Machete.
Ethan… Ethan… Cool McDude Sauce [actual last name: Maniquis]. He directed
[Jeremy corrects him], I'm sorry co-directed Machete. He came to us, or
at least his manager did and said, "I love this band, and I would love to offer
my services if there's any way I can get involved with a video or anything." We
were like "Ok, that's cool." I mean any time you can mix it up with Hollywood its kind of a
cool thing. You get some special treatment from the big dogs.
For
me it was one of the highlights of all the things we've done so far. That was
really fun. Basically we just doused the set with super expensive cars and
naked girls [Laughs] We had a private jet fly in, we shot some segments
inside the jet. And more boobs, legs, butts, you know all that mature, credible
stuff. [Laughs]
Brady: So is
there gonna be an R-rated version of the video?
Jason
Hook: The
R rated version is the one we're releasing, it's the XXX version that we were
fighting for! [Laughs]the label was like … aahhhh no.
Brady: One
last question: Can you shed some light on former bassist Matt Snell's exit from
the band?
Jason
Hook: First
of all, I'll tell you that I really like Matt Snell, and obviously we wish him
the best. He was asked to leave the band, just to clarify. We can't
legally talk about the reason why, but we're moving forward with our new
bassist Chris Kael and all is well!
German metallers RAGE will enter Twilight Hall Studio in Grefrath, Germany
in October to begin recording their new album for an early 2012 release.
RAGE's latest CD, "Strings To A Web", was released in
February 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Twilight
Hall Studio and was produced by Charlie Bauerfeind (BLIND
GUARDIAN, HAMMERFALL). The cover artwork was created by Thomas
Ewerhard (AVANTASIA, THERION), and it shows the soundchaser
as a spider, caught in a web.
The limited-edition digibook version of "Strings To A Web" included a high-quality DVD including 15 live clips. The main portion of the
DVD consists of the "best-of" show RAGE played at the Wacken
Open Air festival in 2009, including guest appearances by Hansi Kürsch (BLIND GUARDIAN), Schmier (DESTRUCTION) and Jen Majura (BLACK THUNDER LADIES).
The cover artwork of the European version of "Krush The Enemy",
the debut album from WARBEAST — the Texas-based band featuring RIGOR
MORTIS vocalist Bruce Corbitt, guitarist Scott Shelby, GAMMACIDE/DEVILFIST bassist Alan Bovee, DEMONSEED drummer Joe Gonzalez and
guitarist Bobby Tillotson (a.k.a. "J.R." ) — can be
seen below. The artwork was designed by "Carcass" John Fossum.
The European version of "Krush The Enemy" will be made
available before the end of the year and will include "a couple on bonus
tracks," most likely live recordings.
"Krush The Enemy" was released in the U.S. on April
27, 2010 via Philip Anselmo's (DOWN, PANTERA) Housecore
Records. The record features ten tracks covering a wide range of metal
terrain aimed squarely at the neck-snapping headbanger in the front row.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/warbeastkrusheurope.jpg
Maryland-based experimental, progressive metal six-piece PERIPHERY will support DREAM THEATER on the following dates:
Oct 15 - Palace Theater - Albany, NY
Oct 16 - Philadelphia, PA - Merriam Theatre
Commented PERIPHERY guitarist Misha Mansoor: "To say that
the chance forPERIPHERY to open for DREAM THEATER is a dream
come true would be a gross understatement. DREAM THEATER has been one of
my favorite bands for about as long as I can remember. I started taking guitar
seriously and bought my first seven-string because of John Petrucci. If
it weren't for DREAM THEATER, PERIPHERY simply would not exist. I
can't express in words just how excited we are for the opportunity to share the
stage with them."
PERIPHERY is currently taking part in the "Frak The Gods" headlining tour in with support from THE HUMAN ABSTRACT, TEXTURES and THE CONTORTIONIST.
PERIPHERY released a new EP, "Icarus Lives", on April
19 via Sumerian Records. This CD features a brand new unreleased track,
a series of remixes and video clips.
PERIPHERY's self-titled debut album sold around 4,500 copies in the United States
in its first week of release to debut at position No. 128 on the Billboard 200
chart. The CD landed at No. 2 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart,
which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those
who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
Dutch symphonic metallers EPICA have issued the following update:
"As of today, EPICA has started the recordings for their fifth
full-length album. This still-untitled album will expectedly be released by Nuclear
Blast on March 9th, 2012. EPICA entered the famous Gate studios in Germany
once more to work with world-renowned producer Sascha Paeth [KAMELOT, AVANTASIA, RHAPSODY OF FIRE]. First up is Ariën Van Weesenbeek to record his drum parts (see photo below)."
A CD-release party for the new EPICA album will be held on March 16,
2012 at 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands.
Commented the band: "As our previous CD presentation ('Design Your
Universe' at Paradiso in Amsterdam)
sold out in advance, we have decided to play the next one in a slightly bigger
club."
EPICA will play the new album in its entirety, along with some older
tracks, during the more-than-two-hour event. Pyrotechnics and special show
elements will be added as well.
EPICA's latest album, "Design Your Universe", landed at
position No. 12 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists
the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who
have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
"This Is The Time", the latest single from EPICA, was
released digitally on October 15, 2010. A video for the song, which was written
for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), was filmed in March 2010 was
in Hilversum,
The Netherlands.
"I've Failed You", the sixth album from the veteran
all-girl Canadian metal outfit KITTIE, sold 3,000 copies in the United States
in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200
chart.
The band's previous CD, "In The Black", opened with around
3,400 units back in 2009 to land at No. 132.
KITTIE's fourth album, "Funeral for Yesterday",
registered a first-week tally of 9,000 in February 2007 to enter the chart at
No. 101.
"I've Failed You" was released on August 30 via eOne Music.
The CD was recorded at Beach Road Studios in Goderich, Ontario, Canada. The band once again worked
with producer Siegfried "Siggy" Meier, who helmed KITTIE's
last CD, 2009's "In The Black".
"I've Failed You" track listing:
01. I've Failed You
02. We Are The Lamb
03. Whisper of Death
04. What Have I Done
05. Empires (Part 1)
06. Empires (Part 2)
07. Come Undone
08. Already Dead
09. Never Come Home
10. Ugly
11. Time Never Heals
Guitarist/vocalist Morgan Lander previously stated about KITTIE's
new material, "In some cases these new songs are faster, darker and much
more sinister than our previous release. It contains some of the most difficult
and personal subject matter I have had the pleasure (or displeasure) of
writing."
KITTIE is:
Morgan Lander (Guitar, Vocals)
Mercedes Lander (Drums)
Tara Mcleod (Guitar)
Ivy Vujic (Bass)
Italian thrashers MERENDINE (formerly MERENDINE ATOMICHE) have
completed work on their fourth studio album, "New World Disorder", for a November release. The band entered New Sin Studios in Loria (Treviso), Italy on July
25 with producer Luigi Stefanini and laid down 12 tracks in three weeks.
MERENDINE will embark on a European tour in October as direct support
for Doro Pesch. The trek will include dates in Poland, Switzerland,
Slovakia, Germany, Spain,
Italy, France and the Czech Republic.
MERENDINE ATOMICHE's third full-length album, "Rude Rebel
Brotherhood", was released in April 2009 via Locomotive Records.
The CD was recorded at New Sin studios in Loria, Treviso, Italy
and was produced by Luigi Stefanini and SAVATAGE guitarist Chris
Caffery, who also played and sang on the disc.
Louisiana
rockers LILLIAN AXE are "more than halfway finished" tracking
their new album, tentatively titled "XI: The Days Before Tomorrow",
for a Valentine's Day 2012 release via Love and War Records/Megaforce.
The CD is being recorded at Sound Landing Studio in Covington, Louisiana,
with the band's guitarist/songwriter Steve Blaze acting as producer and Rob
Hovey engineering. The mixing duties will be handled by Sylvia Massey (TOOL, JOHNNY CASH, DEFTONES, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, PRINCE, BLACK CROWES). Songtitles set to appear on the album include "Bow
Your Head", "Gather Up The Snow", "Soul
Disease" and "The Great Divide".
Commented Blaze, "This is an important album as it introduces Brian
Jones on vocals.
"As I have been writing this record, there has been a feeling of
creativity that is similar to that of when I wrote 'Psychoschizophrenia'.
"The band has really done a great job so far. We can't wait to get back
out on the road to support it."
LILLIAN AXE in March announced Jackson, Mississippi native Brian Jones as the band's new lead vocalist.
Jones, vocalist for the bands GUNS OF ADDICTION and FULL MOON
CIRCUS, as well as guitarist for Wind-Up artist PAPERCUT MASSACRE,
approached Blaze for the job in September 2010.
Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH recently spent time not only putting finishing touches to their new album, "Imaginaerum",
but also planning a movie of the same name. The CD will be released in December
via Nuclear Blast Records in Europe and Roadrunner Records in North America.
"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.
Stobe Harju has issued the following update on the "Imaginaerum" film:
"It was four years ago. We had just shot NIGHTWISH's music video, 'The
Islander', in Rovaniemi, Finland. As we
sat down afterwards with [NIGHTWISH keyboardist/mainman] Tuomas
Holopainen, we pondered over the idea of having a music video for each of
the songs on their next album. Back then it was the distant dream of two
ambitious people.
"One year later, Tuomas called me and said, 'This is it: would you
be willing to come over and talk about our next project together?' The next few
months were full of excitement, writing treatments for twelve clips, thinking
how hard it would be to make all this happen.
"At one stage, I lost track of time as I was writing a story about a young
boy, growing old in his own dream. It was in fact a fictional story about NIGHTWISH,
but above all about Tuomas himself, a forever-young genius, who loved
life but also every single person around him. As we got inside each other's
minds, we knew that music videos weren't enough for what we wanted to say to
the world. We wanted something more.
"Our love for life, our families, our memories, music, waking up to new
wonders each day and love for the best tool available to us human beings, our
imagination, became the cornerstones of the story. It had to be about the
mixture of our lives and our worst fears of growing old. As we wanted to
emphasize all these things, we found there was only one way to convey the
story.
"'Imaginaerum' tells the story of an elderly composer, Tom,
who suffers from severe dementia. As he has had the disease for years and has
regressed into childhood, he remembers practically nothing from his adult life.
His music, friends, all his past including the memory of his daughter are a
blur in his fragile mind. All he has left is the imagination of a ten year old
boy. As he drifts away into coma, it seems impossible to get back what he has
lost. Or is it?
"The film is a journey between two different dimensions. Tom travels through his imaginary world seeking answers and finding memories, while
his daughter, Gem, tries to recover the bond she had once shared with
her father in the real world. As they have become more and more distant from
each other over the years, and as there's even greater obstacles separating
them now — Tom's coma and his imminent death — Gem's project
feels doomed to failure. However, through Tom's darkest secrets, Gem discovers the path she must follow in order to find her father again.
"There are some questions we must ask ourselves before entering the world
of 'Imaginaerum'. What is most important in life? Can the power of memories
protect us during our last moments? Will our imagination help us find the spark
of life in the deepest darkness? Can we still find love after bitter
forgiveness?
"'Imaginaerum' is an emotional fantasy-adventure powered by the
music of NIGHTWISH. The story reminds us of our childhood where the
smallest but most precious thing meant everything and losing it would have left
an everlasting scar. Now it's time to reopen the wound and see what became of
it, but above all, where it came from."
NIGHTWISH's new single, "Storytime", will be released
on Friday, November 11 via Nuclear Blast Records.
The "Imaginaerum" track listing and audio samples of all the
songs that are set to appear on the CD will be unveiled later this week.
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.
"Until Fear No Longer Defines Us", the
third album from Finnish metallers GHOST BRIGADE, entered the official chart in the band's home country at
position No. 7. It also came in at No. 90 on the German Media Control chart.
"Until Fear No Longer Defines Us" was released as a CD digipak
limited to the first pressing, a double gatefold colored vinyl with digital
download card, and a collector's box with CD digipak, regular or unisex
t-shirt, leather bracelet, postcard hand-signed by all band members and metal
button badges.
"Until Fear No Longer Defines Us" track listing:
01. In The Woods
02. Clawmaster
03. Chamber
04. Traces Of Liberty
05. Divine Act Of Lunacy
06. Grain
07. Breakwater
08. Cult Of Decay
09. Torn
10. Soulcarvers
CITY OF FIRE, the band featuring Burton C. Bell (FEAR
FACTORY), bassist Byron Stroud (FEAR FACTORY, STRAPPING
YOUNG LAD), guitarist Terry "Sho" Murray, and drummer Bob
Wagner, will enter the studio this week to begin recording its sophomore
album.
Funding for the CD was aided by the PledgeMusic.com project, which encourages fans to contribute funds to the recording of albums
and the artists themselves to donate to charity as a part of their fundraising.
The pledge campaign will continue for another month to secure funding for final
mixes.
CITY OF FIRE will release a new single in 35 days, and a promotional
video for the track will be made as well.
The response to PledgeMusic.com campaign has been very positive from the
fans. The band is currently at 187 percent of its goal, with over 60 pledges.
40 different portals, web sites and blogs have mentioned the campaign.
Recorded at renowned Factory Studios in Vancouver
in late 2008 with additional material completed in April of this year, CITY
OF FIRE's
self-titled debut CD featured fourteen songs, including remakes of THE CULT's "Rain" and T.REX's "Children Of The
Revolution". It also includes the band's video for the song/single "Rising".
Progressive instrumentalists ANIMALS AS LEADERS will
release their second full-length album, "Weightless", in North
America on November 8, in mainland Europe on November 4 and in the U.K. on
November 7 via Prosthetic Records. The CD was produced by drummer Navene
Koperweis and his bandmates, and was mixed by guitarist Javier Reyes.
The album marks the recording debut of Koperweis and Reyes with ANIMALS
AS LEADERS.
"Weightless" track listing:
01. An Infinite Regression
02. Odessa
03. Somnarium
04. Earth Departure
05. Isolated Incidents
06. Do Not Go Gently
07. New Eden
08. Cylindrical Sea
09. Espera
10. To Lead You To An Overwhelming Question
11. Weightless
12. David
In a recent interview with "Ryan's Rock Show!", ANIMALS AS
LEADERS guitarist Tosin Abasi stated about the songwriting process
for the band's forthcoming CD, "When we did the first album, it wasn't
anything anyone knew about, so there was total freedom — there was no
expectation. A lot of people really liked the first album, and it created a
weird sense of obligation to continue in a direction that allowed people to
like it in the first place… But that isn't necessarily the best way to make
music."
ANIMALS AS LEADERS is currently in Europe
opening for BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME following a string of shows as
direct support to the DEFTONES. They will kick off an extensive North
American tour alongside BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME on October 27.
Bassist Ray Riendeau (HALFORD, JAMES LABRIE)
has launched a new project called STAR MONARCHY. The music will feature
songs written by Ray and some collaborations with other artists. It will
be recorded by an ongoing cast of players/singers in various metal genres. "Volume
1" features Francesco Artusato (ALL SHALL PERISH)
guitar, Dan Tompkins (TESSERACT) vocals and Peter Wildoer (DARKANE, JAMES LABRIE) drums,. More players will be announced
soon.
Mediaskare Records has announced the signing of CONFESSION,
the Australian band featuring former I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN vocalist Michael
Crafter. The band's new album, "The Long Way Home", will
be released in the U.S.
on September 27 through digital retailers and November 8 through retail stores.
CONFESSION recorded "The Long Way Home" at Studio
Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden with producer Fredrik
Nordström, who has previously worked with AT THE GATES, IN FLAMES, DARK TRANQUILLITY, ARCH ENEMY, SOILWORK and BRING ME
THE HORIZON, among others.
According to a press release, "The Long Way Home" "presents an assured and strengthened outfit that is out to stake their claim
as the next force in the international hardcore community. Lyrically, 'The
Long Road Home' explores themes relating to decisions that we make
regarding the life path we follow." "It's about being happy and doing
what we want to do," stated Crafter. "We take roads that lead
us very far away from the people we love and place we call home, but our family
and friends will always be there for us when we need them."
"Hell Over Sofia - 20 Years Of Chaos And
Confusion", the new DVD from Swedish extreme metallers HYPOCRISY,
will be released on October 21 via Nuclear Blast. The disc will contain
footage of the band's February 27, 2010 concert at the Blue Box club in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Guitarist Mikael Hedlund states, "It was a show that had
everything! The crowd was helping us doing one of our best shows ever in our
history and it was recorded with several cameras. The DVD will also contain a
one-and-a-half-hour documentary that will show you our 20 years of chaos and
confusion."
He adds, "We would like to give our fans the true story of the past and
give them all the details what have happened on our journey over all these
years. There are secrets that never have been told plus pictures and clips that
never have been shown. This DVD will give you the full cover of HYPOCRISY!"
A report on the DVD shoot can be found at Tangra Mega Rock. Photos are available at this location.
DVD – "Hell Over Sofia" (94 minutes) (live at Bluebox, Sofia, Bulgaria
– February 27, 2010)
01. Valley Of The Damned
02. Hang Him High
03. Fractured Millenium
04. Adjusting The Sun
05. Eraser
06. Pleasure – Osculum - Penetralia (medley)
07. Apocalypse - 4th Dimension (medley)
08. Killing Art
09. A Coming Race
10. Let The Knife Do The Talking
11. Weed Out The Weak
12. Fire In The Sky
13. The Final Chapter
14. Warpath
15. Roswell47
"20 Years Of Chaos And Confusion" (documentary) (91 minutes)
CD: Hell Over Sofia
01. Valley Of The Damned
02. Hang Him High
03. Fractured Millenium
04. Adjusting The Sun
05. Eraser
06. Pleaser Of Molestation
07. Osculum Obcenum
08. Penetralia
09. Apocalypse
10. Fourth Dimension
11. Killing Art
CD 2: "Hell Over Sofia"
01. A Coming Race
02. Let The Knife Do The Talking
03. Weed Out The Weak
04. Fire In The Sky
05. The Final Chapter
06. Warpath
07. Roswell47
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/hyposofianew.jpg
Croatian female-fronted metallers RISING DREAM will
enter The Sweetspot studio in Halmstad, Sweden next
week to begin recording their new album, titled "System Corrupt",
for a mid-2012 release. Twelve new compositions will be laid down during the
sessions with producer Rickard Bengtsson (ARCH ENEMY, FIREWIND).
Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Religion For The Weak", "Jericho", "Gunshot Melodies", "System
Corrupt", "Probe The Bloodline" and a cover version
of A PERFECT CIRCLE's "The Outsider".
Commented RISING DREAM: "This time around we wrote more diverse
material, mostly due to [the addition of singer Ines Tancheva) and
somewhat more refined music taste. The new songs are some of the heaviest and
some of the easiest stuff we have ever written. This will surely be more
compact RISNG DREAM sound!"
RISING DREAM's latest CD, "Failed Apocalypse", was
released in July 2008 via Dallas Records. The album featured a guest
appearance by former VISIONS OF ATLANTIS singer Melissa Ferlaak on the song "Dreams Come True".
RISING DREAM has previously opened for such bands as IRON MAIDEN, HELLOWEEN, AMON AMARTH and DEEP PURPLE, and has played at
major European open air festivals.
RISING DREAM is:
Ines Tancheva - Vocals
Josko Barbir - Guitar
Goran Paleka - Guitar
Ivan Kutija - Keyboards
Igor Goic - Drums/Vocals
Filip Letinic – Bass
Yossi Sassi, guitarist, founding member and musical
mastermind of Israeli progressive folk metal masters ORPHANED LAND, is
working on his first album as a solo artist. The CD will feature guest
appearances by former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman and
"other leading musicians."
Although Sassi is known for pioneering Middle Eastern and folk
progressive metal for over 20 years, his solo effort is will be of a
semi-instrumental nature and "far from being ORPHANED LAND No.
2," Sassi stated.
ORPHANED LAND's new concert DVD, "The Road To OR-Shalem",
will be released on October 24 in Europe and November 1 in the U.S. via Century
Media Records.
According to a press release, "The Road To OR-Shalem" "is
the premier Middle Eastern progressive metal crusaders' DVD debut and documents
the band's incredible mission to unite warring factions in their home region
through the power of music. Filmed in Tel Aviv, Israel in December 2010, 'The
Road To OR-Shalem' features nearly two hours of stunning live material, as
well as a second bonus DVD. The bonus DVD material includes additional live
footage, a behind-the-scenes documentary and video clips."
AMON, the resurrected Florida-based death metal band
featuring former DEICIDE members Eric Hoffmann (guitar) and Brian
Hoffman (guitar), has begun mixing its new album, "Liar In
Wait", at RedRoom Recorders in Tampa with producer Mark Prator. Eric tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET, "[The CD sounds] brutal! Drums sound like a
helicopter on steroids. Engl amps crushing."
In other news, AMON has launched its official web site at Amon.mobi.
In a an interview with U.K.'s Terrorizer magazine, Eric stated about the decision to bring AMON back from the dead, "We were actually going to use the [DEICIDE]
name [for the new band], but [DEICIDE members Glen Benton and Steve
Asheim] got on the bandwagon faster than us. "They basically took the
name, and Glen writes all the lyrics, so the kids are familiar with
that, but in the beginning we hired Glen, and we wrote most of
the music. So we had to go out and find a singer, which was pretty difficult at
the time."
When asked about the musical direction of AMON, Eric said,
"[The music's] a little bit more technical than the DEICIDE stuff.
It's not too intricate, so it's still catchy at the same time. You'll still
have a couple of classic DEICIDE beginnings, and then it'll go into some
killer technical, in-your-face shit."
While confirming that AMON will play several DEICIDE classics
during the band's upcoming live shows — "We've gotta give it to the
fans," said Eric — the guitarist remains adamant that any chances
of a reunion with Glen and Steve remain slim.
"This is our band," Eric said. "I haven't seen [Glen]
in [seven] years. He says if he sees me, he's gonna shoot me and ask questions
later. He hates me more than Jesus."
AMON recorded two demos — 1987's "Feasting The Beast" and 1989's "Sacrifical" — before signing with Roadrunner
Records and changing its name to DEICIDE. After producing two
extremely successful albums as DEICIDE, the band chose to make the AMON demos available on CD in 1993 under the title "Amon: Feasting The
Beast".
The Hoffman brothers parted ways with DEICIDE in 2004 after
becoming embroiled in a bitter dispute with DEICIDE bassist/vocalist Glen
Benton over royalties and publishing issues.
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