According to BirminghamMail.net, Ozzy Osbourne's son Louis has moved back to Harborne — an area three miles southwest from Birmingham city center, England
— after living in Los Angeles and Dublin.
Ozzy's son from first marriage, Louis, 36, and his Louise have two children, aged five and three.
Louis said he gets along with half-sisters Aimee and Kelly and half-brother Jack, but said their busy work schedules make family
gatherings difficult.
"I don't travel half as much as I used to and they are in America,"
he said.
"There is more chance of us seeing each other in a random New York hotel than us
all getting round a table for a Sunday lunch. We meet on special occasions.
"Dad usually calls on a Sunday afternoon for a catch up and when he comes
over to the U.K.
we take the kids down [to his home in Buckinghamshire]. Dad is great, very much
a doting grandad."
The Pulse Of Radio reports that Ozzy Osbourne's
music played a role in locating an eight-year-old California
boy with autism who went missing on Monday (September 12), according to KABC-TV in Los Angeles. Joshua Robb vanished earlier that day and search-and-rescue teams were
unable to find him due to fierce lightning and heavy downpours in the woods
near where he lives by the San Bernardino mountains. Joshua was found the next day (September 13) when the search resumed,
dehydrated and tired, but in good shape.
Authorities played songs from Ozzy and some of Joshua's favorite
country artists, with a police spokesperson saying, "They feel it will
comfort him and draw him."
Joshua's parents warned that their son, who is severely autistic, might
have been scared away by a bullhorn or helicopter calling for him.
Police said Joshua squeezed between the bars of a metal playground fence
at his school. Staff members chased after him but couldn't catch him.
Authorities recently removed Joshua from his parents' custody and put
him under the care of his teacher after someone saw the boy being tied to a
pole, something Joshua's father, Ron Robb, said they did to
restrain him.
Ozzy's camp has not commented on the report.
BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi will
undertake a select number of signings in the U.K.
and New York
to promote his upcoming memoir, "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven
And Hell With Black Sabbath". The book will be released in the United States on November 1 in hardback by Perseus
Books/DeCapo Press and in Europe on
October 13 through Simon & Schuster.
Tony will be signing copies of "Iron Man" at London, England's HMV FOPP on Monday, October 17. Admission is free but a ticket is
required.
Please visit the sites below for instructions on how to secure your tickets:
* hmv.com/hmvweb/navigate.do
* www.facebook.com/hmv
Please note that Tony will only be signing copies of his book "Iron
Man". Any memorabilia or outside items will not be signed.
BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi will undertake a select number
of signings in the U.K. and New York to promote his
upcoming memoir, "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With
Black Sabbath". The book will be released in the United States on November 1 in hardback by Perseus
Books/DeCapo Press and in Europe on
October 13 through Simon & Schuster.
Da Capo reportedly paid a six-figure amount at auction for the rights to
the 352-page book, which was described as "'Angela's Ashes' meets 'The
Ground Beneath Her Feet' meets 'Spinal Tap'" by Foundry
Literary + Media co-founder Peter McGuigan, who completed the North
American rights deal for the memoir.
In a recent interview with Guitar World magazine, Iommi explained
how his autobiography came together. "I had a chap called TJ Lammers,
who I met many, many years ago when he used to work at Phonogram Records,"
he said. "He later became a journalist and he had his own magazine. He
lives in Holland
and we've stayed in touch over the years. I've had a few people say, 'Oh, I can
write a book for you,' but I wanted a different outlook to the normal music
journalist, and that's what happened. He came over to England and
stayed with me for a few days. Then he'd write it up, come back again and do
more. The whole thing took a couple years to finish."
When asked how his book will be different to the typical rock biography, Iommi said, "I don't know. I don't read rock biographies, so it could be the
same, it could be different. It's just my life, really. It's about what
happened and what I grew up from, and how I've gone through life to where I am
now. It's something I probably should have done a long time ago because there
are so many books out now. I've been meaning to do it for many, many years but
never got around to it."
The name "Tony Iommi" sends shivers down the spines of
guitarists around the world. As lead guitarist and songwriter of BLACK
SABBATH, Tony Iommi is considered to be one of the most influential
musicians of the past four decades and the inventor of heavy metal. From
working-class, Midlands roots, his unique playing style — a result of a
disfiguring hand injury he suffered working in a sheet metal factory — created
a dark and gothic sound unlike anything that had been heard before and which
captured the mood of its time. SABBATH went on to become a superband,
playing to massive audiences around the world and selling millions of records,
and Iommi led the life of a rock star to the fullest — with the scars
from all the drug-fuelled nights of excess and wildness to show for it.
"Iron Man" is the exclusive account of the life and adventures
of one of rock's greatest heroes. It chronicles the story of both pioneering
guitarist Tony Iommi and legendary band BLACK SABBATH, dubbed
"THE BEATLES of heavy metal" by Rolling Stone magazine. "Iron Man" reveals the man behind the icon yet still captures Iommi's
humor, intelligence, and warmth. He speaks honestly and unflinchingly about his
rough-and-tumble childhood, the accident that almost ended his career, his
failed marriages, personal tragedies, battles with addiction, bandmates, famous
friends, newfound daughter, and the ups and downs of his life as an artist.
Everything associated with hard rock happened to BLACK SABBATH first:
the drugs, the debauchery, the drinking, the dungeons, the pressure, the pain,
the conquests, the company men, the contracts, the combustible drummer, the
critics, the comebacks, the singers, the Stonehenge set, the music, the money,
the madness, the metal.
Brian May (QUEEN): "Tony Iommi is the true father of
heavy metal, a continuously creative genius riff-meister, and one of the
world's great human beings."
Eddie Van Halen (VAN HALEN): "Without Tony, heavy
metal wouldn't exist. He is the creator of heavy! Tony is a legend. He
took rock and roll and turned it into heavy metal."
James Hetfield (METALLICA): "Mr. Iommi, aka . . . The
Riffmaster. It's all his fault I am where I am."
Ozzy Osbourne (BLACK SABBATH): "Tony Iommi should be
up there with the greats. He can pick up a guitar and play a riff that'd knock
your fucking socks off."
Bassist Mark Evans joined AC/DC as a local
Australian bar band, and he remained with them through several international
tours and multi-platinum records, including "High Voltage", "Dirty
Deeds", and "Let There Be Rock". Evans has now
written the first insider account of the Bon Scott era of the band, "Dirty
Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside AC/DC". This "honest and comical
look at AC/DC's rise to the upper echelons of hard rock" is
scheduled for November 2011 release in North America,
and is currently available for preorder with a limited color metal badge from
publisher Bazillion Points.
In the book, Evans carefully illuminates at length the little-known
real-life character of legendary frontman Bon Scott, with whom he shared
buses, hotels, and stages for years. "Bon was used to
calamity," Evans writes about one of the singer's many scrapes.
"Before joining AC/DC he endured a long stay in an Adelaide hospital after a near-fatal
motorcycle crash. Bon was always willing to show me the bloodstains on
the inside of his black leather bike jacket, courtesy of that smash. It was a
favorite jacket of his and showed up in quite a few photos over the early
years. It was a funky black leather number; Bon had sewn fake
leopard-skin patches on the shoulders. He was handy with a sewing needle, that
boy."
He adds, "Bon was very big on comics. That's one memory of Bon that comes to me quite regularly: his head buried in a comic book, reading with
intent if it was Conan or having a good giggle if he was reading BC. Bon was also an avid letter writer; he was always knocking out postcards
or letters to family and friends, keeping them up with news from the front-or
should I say, his front. My other strongest memories of Bon are his
laugh and his cheeky grin. You know the grin, where you can't help but think he
was either up to mischief or had just gotten away with something. That was a
hell of a grin."
"Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside Of AC/DC" is the first
bio written by a band insider during AC/DC's early years, a true-to-life
storybook of the struggles and camaraderie that fueled the rise of hard rock's
most successful group. Mark Evans provides the first-ever street level
view of Malcolm Young, Angus Young, Phil Rudd, and the
late Bon Scott, in stories involving such rock and roll icons as George
Harrison, Gene Simmons, Phil Lynott, BLACK SABBATH, ROSE
TATTOO, Ahmet Ertegun, and METALLICA.
For more information, visit www.dirtydeedsbook.com.
Following the cancellation of both IRON MAIDEN shows
in Tokyo in March due to the massive earthquake and tsunami which devastated
Japan's northeast coast, the British heavy metal legends donated the proceeds
from sales of the Japanese event shirt available from the official IRON
MAIDEN shop (i.e. the shirt without tour dates on) to a charity assisting
victims of the earthquake. The band did the same with the stock of event shirts
in Tokyo, which were due to be sold onsite at
the Tokyo venue
(i.e. the shirt with tour dates on). The charity MAIDEN is coordinating
sales of both events shirts through is the Japanese Red Cross.
Commented the band: "The terrific support from our fans has resulted in
over £36,000 [approximately $57,000] being raised in proceeds from the sales of
the Japanese event shirt through the IRON MAIDEN shop and a retail
version of the shirt which was sold in the USA. The band have channeled all
their profits and royalties into the fund, which has been donated to the
Japanese Red Cross charity.
"We'd like to thank everyone who took part in this initiative in support
of our fellow MAIDEN fans in Japan and the many others affected
by the tsunami."
The members of IRON MAIDEN and their crew were flying into Tokyo from Seoul, South Korea. On
approaching Narita airport in Tokyo, IRON
MAIDEN's specially chartered plane Ed Force One was advised to re-route to Nagoya as the
earthquake/tsunami had just become apparent. The bandmembers stayed the night
in Nagoya and,
following the announcement of the cancelation, flew out of the country.
"Honestly, it was really no big drama, because they shut the airport ten
minutes before we were gonna land," Dickinson told the Argentinian web site Vorterix.com. "So there was a lot of
quite frightened-sounding people on the radio because they are used to
earthquakes in Japan.
So when they come on and they say, 'There has been a massive earthquake,' you
think, 'Wow, this is really big.' So we made the decision to divert to our
diversion airport, which was about a half an hour away in Nagoya. We landed in Nagoya where the weather was lovely and there
was no earthquake. Our biggest problem was finding accommodation, because
everybody was diverting there. But we got that sorted out. And, actually, we
really didn't have any idea how serious it was until we saw the news in Japan that day.
We got off without no problem at all. We had our airplane, we had our equipment
on the airplane. . . [When we found out both shows in Japan were canceled], we said, 'Well, there's no
point in staying here in Japan.
We might as well go to Mexico,
which was where our next concert was."
"Welcome 2 My Nightmare", the new album
from legendary rocker Alice Cooper, is likely to sell between 20,000
and 22,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according
to industry web site Hits Daily Double. The estimate was based on
one-day sales reports compiled after the record arrived in stores on September
13 via Universal Music Enterprises.
Cooper's previous CD, 2008's "Along Came A Spider",
opened with just under 10,000 copies to debut at position No. 53 on The
Billboard 200 chart.
Recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original
multi-platinum "Welcome To My Nightmare" album in 1975, "Welcome
2 My Nightmare" picks up right where they left off, with Alice trapped in
his own warped mind.
That original album is an all-time rock classic that spawned a worldwide
theatrical tour and pioneering U.S. TV special and cemented Alice Cooper as a visionary trailblazer whose influence persists today in rock, metal, pop,
punk, theater, television, film and much more.
More than 35 years later, Alice and Ezrin have resurrected the
horror and humor for a new generation.
"This is Alice's nightmare 35 years
later," explains Alice,
"Bob and I created this character and we know how to write for him.
I play the part but we're not writing for me, we're writing for Alice. We kept the
first 'Nightmare' album very personal to us, on this one we found more
humor and we were more open. This was our world and we want to present it to
the fans. The original album was my first solo album after all those huge hit
records with the original band and now that nightmare is exposed, this one can
be a little bit more open. The music crosses all sorts of boundaries; we went
where the lyrics took us."
There is an array of collaborators on the new album, including original Alice
Cooper members Denis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith reunited on three tracks; global pop superstar Ke$ha, who affectionately
calls Alice "dad"; and legendary Alice and Lou Reed guitarist Steve Hunter, who is part of Alice's current touring
band and featured prominently on the first "Nightmare" album.
Musically, the album ranges far and wide, from trashing disco to garage punk,
pop balladry to a rocking number very much in the spirit of THE ROLLING
STONES. And then there's the ballad "Something To Remember Me
By", described by Alice as "the prettiest song we have ever released."
Glimpses of themes from the original album are intertwined throughout, each
track representing a different aspect of Alice's
nightmare.
From the opener, "I Am Made Of You", through the already
established live favorite and first single "I'll Bite Your Face
Off", to the surprising duet with Ke$ha, "What Baby
Wants", this album is a reminder that albums just aren't made this way
anymore.
And musicians do not play together like Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith anymore.
"I wanted a '70s feel for 'When Hell Comes Home'," says Alice,
"and I didn't even have to ask for it, it's just how they play and they
did it live in the studio. When they got done playing the basic track, Bob and I just looked at each other, that sound is built into their DNA. We didn't
need to go and fix anything. The way they finished was a little bit ragged and
that's the way we used to finish songs, that's what I like about it."
Co-writers on various songs include the aforementioned Bob Ezrin, Ke$ha, Neal, Dennis, Michael, plus BUCKCHERRY's Keith
Nelson, Desmond Child (who famously co-wrote and produced "Poison" with Alice), longtime collaborator Dick Wagner, current touring
band member Chuck Garric and film composer Jeremy Rubolino.
"That's my rebellion," says Alice of the more surprising guests, "I like people that don't belong and yet
what they're doing works perfectly. I don't care where it comes from, as long
as it's right. If you tell me something doesn't work, I'll work my head of
until it does then shove it down your throat.
"I think a lot of my audience is going to go 'KE$HA!?', but she
probably wrote the most disgusting lyrics in the song — we had to rein her in.
I like people to know that just because artists are put in a pigeon hole, that
doesn't mean that's what they are. Give people a little room."
With Steve Hunter, one of rock's great guitarists, added to the band's
line-up of guitarists Damon Johnson and Tommy Henriksen, bassist Chuck
Garric, and drummer Glen Sobel, Alice has been tearing up
venues worldwide on his 2011 "No More Mr. Nice Guy" tour.
There's
a black limousine creeping along Sunset Boulevard late in the evening of 16
September 1991. It stops short of Tower Records, which looks like Dracula's
castle under siege, with a rowdy mob of people drinking, swearing and banging
on the locked doors.
Although
he's risking a full-scale riot by doing so, a dark figure slips from the limo,
sneaks unnoticed into the store's trade entrance and takes up position behind
the same two-way mirror through which he was spotted shoplifting cassettes as a
teenager. It's voyeuristic of Slash, but you'd do the same.
At
the stroke of midnight, 4.2 million copies of Use Your Illusion I and II will
be released to the US
public, marking the largest album shipment in history. The releases also draw a
line under a period that dragged Guns N' Roses through hard drugs, firings,
food fights, public nudity and – let's not forget – some of the best guitar
riffs of the decade.
"I'd have preferred
to do a record with just 10 fucking songs that were a bit more straightforward." Slash
Looking
down on the ringing tills, Slash doesn't know it yet, but these records will be
the last great statements his band makes before it fractures, falls and mutates
into the freakshow that trades under the Guns N' Roses banner circa 2011. That's
all to come. For now, everyone is listening to Use Your Illusion. Everyone,
that is, except Slash himself.
"I
don't know which one I prefer," he tells us straight out of the blocks.
"I haven't listened to the Use Your Illusion albums for so long, I don't
even know what's on each. I know people like the blue one over the red one… Or
maybe it's the other way around."
Er,
right. It's a worrying start to an interview that's based around the 20th
anniversary of these twin albums, but things soon warm up. It's not that Slash
doesn't care. It's that while making the Illusion records, he cared about
nothing else, losing himself to these 30 songs while holed up in Studio B of
LA's Record Plant as a kind of heroin withdrawal programme.
There
are memories in this music – musical, personal, glorious and painful
recollections– and you sense that listening to it is like sifting through the
old photos from a failed marriage. "I don't like to go back and look at
stuff, because I find it mesmerising," Slash says. "It freaks me out.
So I avoid it."
Push
him on it, though, and the dam breaks: "I was just totally obsessed with
the creation of the Illusion records and when I got into that studio, I was
completely absorbed with everything to do with them, all the time. Because it
had been so long.
"We'd
made Appetite [For Destruction] and then toured for years and – for me, and I
know for a couple of the other guys – we'd crashed and burned. So we were
pulling ourselves out of the fucking quagmire and going back to work."
How bad did things get pre-Illusion? Try rock bottom. An on-and-off heroin
user since the late '80s, Slash cleaned up for Guns' first serious stab at the
albums: a residential preproduction session in June 1989 that saw the band and
crew relocate to Chicago.
If this was intended as a team-building exercise, it tanked; Guns' troubled
second guitarist, Izzy Stradlin, often failed to show and Axl Rose drifted by
sporadically to jam at the piano. While kicking their heels, Slash and Duff
McKagan managed to combine a daily half-gallon of Stolichnaya vodka with an
unlikely interest in weightlifting. This wasn't going well.
Still, Chicago
wasn't a total flop. The seeds of a few songs emerged, notably Bad Apples,
Garden Of Eden and Estranged, with Axl pounding the rehearsal-room piano and
Slash wringing rich vibrato from long, hanging notes. But it was becoming clear
this new project's grandiose ambition was a sticking point. Making an album to
soundtrack fighting and fucking was no longer enough for Guns' lead singer.
"We want to define ourselves," Rose told Rolling Stone.
"Appetite was our cornerstone, a place to start. That was like 'Here's our
land and we just put a stake in the ground. Now we're going to build
something.'"
Slash had misgivings, but didn't want to start rocking an increasingly
precarious boat. "It was definitely exploratory compared to
Appetite," he explains. "I mean, honestly, I'd have preferred to do a
record with just 10 fucking songs that were a bit more straightforward, but it
was an opportunity to finally get the band to work again."
According to his autobiography, we remind him, Axl was starting to
communicate with the band through management. "Me and Axl were doing
okay," he sighs, diplomatically. "The only catch with the Illusion
records was the introduction of synthesizers. I disagreed with synthesizers –
and I still do."
By the time the Chicago
sessions collapsed, the band had become boorish and bad tempered, with Axl
dumping the band's Italian buffet on hecklers beneath their apartment and
ejecting groupies for failing to deliver.
Back in Hollywood
One by one, Guns N' Roses trickled back to LA, where it was Slash's turn to
lose the plot. The period would see him shooting speedballs, blowing a hole in
his roof with a .44 Magnum, spraying Izzy's bathroom with arterial blood during
a clumsy tie-off and – most spectacularly – running naked and sobbing around an
Arizona golf
course, hallucinating that he was being chased by the monster from Predator.
It's an episode we gloss over today. However, the fact remained: something
had to give. Ultimately, after a hellish withdrawal period, Slash returned from
the brink. Then a string of jams at the Mates rehearsal space confirmed that
even without chemicals, GN'R had chemistry.
"How was I doing personally?" ponders Slash of the moment when
Illusion started to pull together. "Well, by then, I was off smack, so
that was good. That was like the motivator for me. So I was having a good time
just doing my regular heavy drinking, as normal."
How
about the band as a whole? "We reconvened. I think the Guns N' Roses
chemistry was a natural thing that was always there if we could just get past
other distractions. When we dropped all the bullshit and just started playing,
there was a natural synergy between us.
"It
was a positive time. We started going out, playing shows, opening for the
[Rolling] Stones. We'd gone from fourth on the bill at Donington and all of a
sudden we're headlining stadiums."
In
the end, it was a marathon two-night writing session at Slash's house that
broke the back of Illusion, turning the screws on countless half-finished
doodles, including pivotal moments such as The Garden, Duff's ferocious Get In
The Ring and So Fine, plus a number of songs by the underrated Stradlin.
"I remember
thinking my playing had gotten to a point on those Illusion records where I was
really happy." Slash
"I
always thought Izzy's Double Talkin' Jive had a cool vibe," reflects Slash
of the sneering track about a dismembered body found in a dumpster behind the
studio. "And I got to play that little Spanish flamenco part on it."
For the first time since '86, it was all so easy.
"It
had just been so difficult to get into that groove," reflects Slash.
"Finally, Axl, Duff, myself and Izzy had that acoustic session and
basically sewed it up."
There
was also a sense of closet-cleaning about the Illusion records. Many of the
albums' songs had histories that stretched back years: Dead Horse was an old
Axl tune, Back Off Bitch predated Gun N' Roses' formation, You Could Be Mine
was just a whammy solo away from the version bumped from Appetite, while the
long-incubated November Rain had the same soaring solo as its 1986 incarnation.
"Right
from its inception," recalls Slash, "when Axl and I first played
November Rain, the same guitar melodies that are in the recorded version came
through. There was definitely a spark between the two of us.
"It
was hard to arrange that song and Estranged, because they were so open-ended
and we had to cut November Rain. But those were Axl's epic piano pieces and
they were both breakthrough guitar solos for me. Real melody solos, y'know? I
had some good sounds and they were melodically very spontaneous."
Before
the difficult Chicago
sessions, a messy month spent house-sharing with Izzy had yielded Locomotive,
plus the song that arguably stands out as the most ambitious guitar moment on
either of the Use Your Illusion records.
"I
wrote Coma in my heroin delirium," admits Slash of the 10-minute-long
opus. "That's a song that I'm still proud of. There's not a lot of
'technique' – it's a pretty straight up kinda Slash approach.
"But
the thing that's really interesting was the vamp-out, which was this circular
rotating chord progression that never ended: the same chord progression every
time, but it just kept changing key. That was my mathematical musical
discovery. I just stumbled on it and it's very much me doing my thing… but it
worked."
Did
Slash try to put your technique under the microscope for Illusion? "I
don't know if I had a particular aim with my style," the guitarist
considers, "but I do remember thinking my playing had gotten to a point on
those Illusion records where I was really happy. I'm not what you'd call a
'technique guy'.
"I've
always taken it seriously when I'm actually doing it, but I just go for it: I
don't spend a lot of time thinking about that stuff. I don't go, 'Oh, I held my
finger this way on the pick and this happened', or 'I stood 14 inches to the
left of my cabinet to get this sound'. I mean, I do shit like that… but I don't
know what I'm doing!"
"[Civil War] was
the first song where we went in the studio with Steven and realised that he
wasn't really playing up to par." Slash on Steven Adler
Still,
it worked, both on the ambitious Coma and the play-in-a-day arpeggios that kick
off Civil War. "That was actually one of the first songs Axl and I wrote
after Appetite," Slash explains. "The tour wasn't even finished, Axl
heard me playing this acoustic thing and we started rehearsing it with the band
in Australia.
It was also the first song where we went in the studio with Steven and realised
that he wasn't really playing up to par."
Ah
yes – Steven Adler. A childhood friend of Slash's, the drummer had taken a
similar slide into junkiedom, but with the crucial difference that he could
neither kick the habit nor maintain his chops while under the influence. Civil
War, a tempo-shifting number with a double-time crescendo, was the final nail
in his coffin.
"I
did the demo tapes for Use Your Illusion," Adler told this writer in an
interview with Classic Rock last year. "We'd go in, play the songs, go to
the listening booth and say together, 'This is gonna be bigger than fuckin'
Appetite'. And it would have been. But because of my fuck up, we didn't finish
what we started."
With
Matt Sorum bumping Adler from the drumstool, GN'R's last-gang-in-town image had
its first hairline crack, but as a functioning band they were ready. The five
men headed into A&M with producer Mike Clink to lay the foundations of the
twin albums.
"It
was fucking great," grins Slash. "I'd already spent time in
pre-production on all that stuff, where we'd sorta play the song from one end
to the other, so when we went in, I basically knew it. When I'm in the studio,
I don't want to fuck around. I want to move on. I don't dwell on it too much.
Before you know it, we were doing the basic tracks. We did 36 songs in 36
days."
I
the music was ambitious, the process of making it was relatively
straightforward. "We did what we always did," recalls the guitarist,
"which was to go in the studio with the band in one room and just play the
songs live, and that's what goes on the record. But because I don't like using
headphones, I'd go in there and play along with the band just for the vibe and
the energy, then I'd go back into the studio afterwards, get in the control
room and do my guitar parts there."
Working
on the guitar and vocal overdubs respectively, Slash and Axl took over Studios
A and B at the Record Plant, where the guitarist sank his royalties into a less
destructive habit than girls or drugs.
"That
was the first time I had enough money to buy some new guitars," he says.
"I was like a kid in a candy store, because there was so much material and
I wanted all kinds of different guitar sounds, just whatever my vision was for
that song. As tumultuous as it was to make those records, the one thing I
really enjoyed was those three weeks doing guitars [and] just having a great
time down at the Record Plant."
Was
he consciously trying to depart from the Appetite tone? "Well, no,"
he counters. "You have to digest the concept of recording almost three
records' worth of material! So it wasn't about anything other than making
30-plus songs sound interesting.
"With
a band like Guns N' Roses when we first went into it, we had pretty much one
direction. But when you have 30 different songs, different approaches, written
at different times, you want to paint each song a certain colour. It called for
a more intellectual approach."
Slash:
a Les Paul guy. (© Bureau L.A.
Collection/CORBIS)
Guitar
hopping doesn't seem very 'Slash', we tell him. He's so associated with the Les
Paul. "Yeah," he agrees. "I went from using one guitar to… God
knows how many on those albums, back to one guitar again now. It was fun at the
time and it worked then, but it's never worked for me since. I've found it's very
unsatisfying to use multiple guitars trying to make a record…
"Actually,"
he continues, "when it came to Les Pauls on those records, I basically
used my main one that I always play [a handmade Kris Derrig '59 replica with
Seymour Duncan pickups].
"I
didn't use, like, 10 different models, because at the end of the day a Les Paul
sounds like a Les Paul. But I also had a '58 Flying V, I was using Strats, a
few different acoustics… Very specific guitars for different sounds. For You
Could Be Mine, I think I used a BC Rich Mockingbird."
All
good fun, but if you squinted, there was trouble on the horizon. As Slash
wrapped up his work and vacated the studio, Axl continued to polish his vocals
and lay down those contentious synth parts (the horns in Live And Let Die and
November Rain's strings are all synth-generated).
Before
long, the process stagnated and tempers started to fray. In the mixing stages,
Bob Clearmountain was fired for a covert plan to use sampled drums and Sex
Pistols producer Bill Price was brought in, with Slash mailing daily samples
out to Axl's house in Malibu
for his approval.
The
obsession that would later define Chinese Democracy was already starting to
warm up and so too was the level of alienation, with outside writers such as West Arkeen and Paul Huge complicating the royalty split.
"The
problem was with Izzy," recalls Slash. "Because the album reached
such gargantuan proportions as far as the production and complexity and the
massive expectations [that] Izzy started to bow out. He was harder to find,
because that was against his rock 'n' roll philosophy, which I totally agree
with.
"We
got through the basic tracks and I think that's what gave the albums such a
natural feel. But when we started getting into the time it took to do overdubs
and vocals, he sorta disappeared."
Sure
enough, just a week after the Use Your Illusion albums dropped, Izzy announced
he would no longer tour with Guns N' Roses, with his departure made official in
November. His was the most significant name on a growing list of leavers; after
Adler, manager Alan Niven had been fired earlier that year and Slash's
autobiography ruefully notes the appointment of Doug Goldstein as "one of
the catalysts" for the band's downfall.
"When we started
getting into overdubs and vocals, he sorta disappeared..." Slash on
Izzy
To
the bean counters at Geffen, everything was roses, with the Use Your Illusion
albums storming to number one and two on the UK
and US album charts, and the
band selling out a residency at New York's Madison Square Garden
by the year's end.
None
of that could disguise the sense that the rock 'n' roll guard was changing. In
October, Nirvana's Nevermind led grunge out of the shadows, with Kurt Cobain
cast as Axl Rose's nemesis and Smells Like Teen Spirit doubling as the ultimate
guitar-shop riff and a death knell to the old scene.
By
contrast, starting with the limp 1993 covers album The Spaghetti Incident?, the
world's most dangerous band simply melted away. Slash quit in 1996. McKagan and
Sorum were out the following year. Given that two decades later, tensions
remain sufficiently high for Axl to call his old guitarist "a cancer and
better removed", a betting man would reckon the smart money's on those red
and blue albums being the last offerings we'll get from the 'real' Guns N'
Roses.
So,
no, Slash hasn't listened to Use Your Illusion for years. Perhaps you can't
blame him. But as we wrap up our interview, it's clear that he's enjoyed the
flashback, exorcised a handful of demons, and remembered that, beneath the
mayhem and the madness, this is music to be proud of. He gives a smoky chuckle:
"There's a lot of good crap on those Illusion records…"
Matt Sorum (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N'
ROSES), Duff McKagan (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES), Gilby Clarke (ex-GUNS N' ROSES) and Wayne Kramer (MC5)
are among the musicians who performed at the Road Recovery benefit
concert honoring legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS
N' ROSES) this past Tuesday, September 13 at Best Buy Theater in New York
City. The event was a semi-reunion of sorts, with Sorum, McKagan and Slash having played in both VELVET REVOLVER and GUNS N'
ROSES, while Clarke played with them in GUNS during that
band's "Use Your Illusion" tour.
Main band:
* Slash
* Gilby Clarke
* Duff McKagan
* Matt Sorum
* Wayne Kramer
Guest musicians:
* Jill Sobule
* Carl Restivo
* Jimmy Gnecco
* Reeve Carney
* Dick Manitoba
* Dave Kushner
The setlist was as follows:
01. Birthday (THE BEATLES)
02. Miss You (THE ROLLING STONES)
03. Dead Flowers (THE ROLLING STONES)
04. TijuanaJail (GILBY CLARKE)
05. Wish You Were Here (PINK FLOYD)
06. Always On The Run (LENNY KRAVITZ)
07. Hey Joe (JIMI HENDRIX)
08. Mama Kin (AEROSMITH)
09. Superstition (STEVIE WONDER)
10. Slither (VELVET REVOLVER)
11. It's So Easy (GUNS N' ROSES)
12. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (BOB DYLAN)
13. God Save The Queen (SEX PISTOLS)
14. Kick Out The Jams (MC5)
MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine revealed
during an appearance at today's (Wednesday, September 14) "Big Four"
concert at the new Yankee Stadium in New York City that he needs to undergo surgery on his neck
after suffering an injury on the recently completed Rockstar Energy Drink
Mayhem Festival tour.
Although it looked at one point on Monday like MEGADETH wouldn't be able
to perform today due to Mustaine's condition (with Dave apparently lying in a hospital bed yesterday in preparation for his upcoming
surgery), the guitarist/vocalist and his bandmates rocked through a 10-song set
included the group's new single, "Public Enemy No. 1".
MEGADETH's setlist was as follows:
01. Trust
02. Hangar 18
03. She-Wolf
04. Public Enemy No. 1
05. Head Crusher
06. A Tout Le Monde
07. Sweating Bullets
08. Symphony Of Destruction
09. Peace Sells
10. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
"Public Enemy No. 1" has just been released digitally via iTunes. The song comes off MEGADETH's new album, "TH1RT3EN", which 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. 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".
MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine risked
permanent injury while performing at the "Big Four" concert yesterday
(Wednesday, September 14) at Yankee Stadium in New York City with METALLICA, ANTHRAX and SLAYER. "I was in a hospital [Tuesday] morning, so I'm going
home to get [neck] surgery right after this," he told Rolling Stone magazine before the show . "It's pretty
bad. If I move wrong tonight, I could be paralyzed."
He added, "We called yesterday and said I couldn't make [the gig]. And
then I thought about it and I thought, 'You know what? I trust God and I know
He's got me in His hands. I know that He hasn't brought me this far through all
this diversity and done all this reconciliation with all the [other] bands [the
bill] and us all getting along this well to have the finale show [of the 'Big
Four' tour] here in the States stopped. And I just thought, either God's
everything or it's nothing, and I believe in Him, so that's why I'm here."
Regarding the nature of his injury, Mustaine said, "It's [caused
by] years of headbanging — just doing this [moving head up and down] over the
years. I have what's called stenosis — three herniated discs and bone spurs
everywhere. It's just a lot of wear and tear over my body over the years
touring."
He continued, "We've had to push our Dubai
date back to December and we may end up having to push our South American tour
back, too, because they say the healing time is somewhere around two months.
And even I [undergo the neck surgery] in the next three days, I'm not gonna be
able to be fully recovered within that two-month period unless I work my butt
off. I mean, I know I how I am — I got my hand back after I got injured the
first time. The funny thing is it's the same hand and almost the same thing.
It's just that it happened once before, went away and now it's back. So I'm
gonna try and figure out how I'm gonna play tonight. But I've got the will
power and I've got the determination and I've got my God and I'll be
fine."
MEGADETH's new single, "Public Enemy No. 1", has just
been released digitally via iTunes. The song comes off the band's new album, "TH1RT3EN",
which is scheduled for release on November 1 via Roadrunner Records. The
CD was recorded at Mustaine's Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos, California
with producer Johnny K (full name: John Karkazis), who has
previously worked with DISTURBED, SEVENDUST, MACHINE HEAD and STAIND, among others. The artwork 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".
"Worship Music", the new studio album from ANTHRAX, is likely to sell between 24,000 and 27,000 copies in the United States
in its first week of release, according to industry web site Hits Daily
Double. The estimate was based on one-day sales reports compiled after the
record arrived in stores on September 13 via Megaforce Records.
ANTHRAX's previous studio CD, 2003's "We've Come For You
All", opened with just under 10,000 units to debut at No. 122 on The
Billboard 200 chart.
The CD cover artwork for "Worship Music" was handled by
renowned comic book artist Alex Ross, who has worked with Marvel
Comics and DC Comics and is known for his "Marvels", "Kingdom Come", and "Astro City" illustrations. Ross also did the original artwork for ANTHRAX's "We've
Come For You All" and "Music Of Mass Destruction" albums.
"Worship Music" was produced by ANTHRAX, Rob
Caggiano and Jay Ruston and recorded over a four-year period at
studios in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Singer Joey Belladonna's return to the band prompted some of the songs
originally recorded with previous singer Dan Nelson to be re-crafted
with fresh lyrics or tweaked to better suit his overall vibe and energy. Some
of the songs were completely replaced with brand-new songs and, of course, all
have Belladonna's inimitable vocal stamp on them.
"Worship Music" track listing:
01. Worship (intro)
02. Earth On Hell
03. The Devil You Know
04. Fight 'Em Til You Can't
05. I'm Alive
06. Hymn 1
07. In The End
08. The Giant
09. Hymn 2
10. Judas Priest
11. Crawl
12. The Constant
13. Revolution Screams
September
13, 2011 — Anthrax has been one of the
biggest metal bands on the planet for the past 30 years, but no working
relationship can last that long without a few bumps along the way. Four years
ago, they began penning songs for their latest album, Worship Music,
with vocalist John Bush, but something wasn't quite right. It wasn't until
guitarist Scott Ian, drummer Charlie Benante and bassist Frank Bello reunited
with their former vocalist, Joey Belladonna, that something clicked. Now all
they had to do was re-record the entire album with Joey on vocals. You know, no
pressure or anything…
Worship
Musicreflects not only the trials and tribulations the band has endured in the past
few years; it stands as a testament to Anthrax's legacy as one of the most
prominent metal bands of our time. Below, bassist Frank Bello opens up about
why Worship Music is his favorite Anthrax album thus far and the hugely
anticipated Big
4 concert at Yankees stadium with Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica.
Congratulations
on the upcoming release of Worship Music, Anthrax's first release in
eight years. How does it feel to finally be able to put this album out?
It's a
wonderful record that we're really psyched about. I can't believe I just used
the word wonderful. [Laughs] We have this amazing, great, heavy record,
which we're really excited about and we really worked hard on. We gave
everything on this record – blood, sweat, tears. It took a lot of years of our
lives and it's coming to this culmination. People are digging it, it's getting
great reviews, and I can't wait until the actual fans hear it.
Critics
are already calling it the metal album of the year and it's not even out yet.
That's
scary to hear, and it's the ultimate compliment. We put so much work into this
record. I know every band sells their new record, they promote it and say it's
the best thing they've ever done, but I can't say I like an Anthrax album more
than I do this one. Usually when we record an album, I let it go and I don't
start listening to it until we're touring. But I haven't stopped listening to
this record in its entirety. I'm hearing from other reviewers that they don't
want to stop the record; they have to listen to it throughout, which is really
a test of the songs.
Scott
Ian has said that when work on this album first began in 2007, there was
essentially no Anthrax. What was going at that time that fractured the band in
such a way, and how did you all manage to come together again?
I think
it was the frustration of it all, and communication, quite honestly.
Communication and not being together - I was playing in another band for a
while, Helmet, and it just fractured. That's the best word for it. I wasn't
available to go to Chicago with [drummer] Charlie and Scott, so they wrote one
or two songs. Then I came in and joined them and it was just time. We knew what
we had. All of a sudden, it just started to take momentum. We just didn't know
who was going to sing on the record. All the trials and tribulations have been well-documented,
as you know. It's just a pleasure and I can't be more psyched for what Joey
Belladonna is doing with the record. Have you heard it yet?
Yes,
I was listening to it on my way home from work last night and I really enjoyed
it.
Thank
you. Joey raised his game. I think the band had a great record to begin with,
we wrote a really solid record with great riffs, great hooks, everything you
want, and then Joey comes in and puts these serious vocals on top of
everything. Man, I can't wait to play this stuff.
Do
you feel the dynamic of the band has changed since Joey's back?
Yes.
This is Anthrax and no disrespect to anybody who's played in Anthrax, but when
you hear this record, you hear Anthrax. I'm really happy to be in this place
right now with this Big
4 thing going on. For god's sake, you're talking to a guy who grew up in
the Bronx and I'm playing Yankee stadium in a
week! It's kind of overwhelming and we have a record coming out after
eight years. Joey's back in band, everybody's talking about the record, it's a
really good time to be in Anthrax. Thank God. We've been through the mill and
we're ready to have some fun again.
Your
last studio album was We've Come for You All. Considering it was recorded
so long ago and with John Bush on vocals, as well as Dimebag Darrell on two
songs, does that feel like it was a lifetime ago?
It
does, and we all love John Bush of course, he's an amazing vocalist. We're
still really tight friends; he'll always be a great singer. Dimebag Darrell was
the sixth member of Anthrax, without a doubt. He played on a few records and
he's sorely missed. If he was still around, and god rest his soul, he would be
playing on this record too. We have a song - I'm welling up as I talk about
this - it's a tribute to Dime and Ronnie James Dio, it's called "In the End."
The lyrics are about how they inspired us. When we play that song, Ronnie and
Dime are on the stage and with us in spirit. We really feel their presence when
we play that.
Was
the writing process for this album any different from past albums?
Honestly
no, it's Charlie, Scott and I, for the most part. The core of the band has
always been that. Nobody's taking any different credit for anything – who
writes the lyrics, who writes the music. It's the culmination of the band, the
personalities in this band. When Joey comes in, my god; Joey's singing better
now. I stand on his side every night on stage. I'm listening to what's coming
through the monitors. He's singing better now, and that's the god's honest
truth. Every sound man has said the same thing. It's a phenomenon. Why is he
singing better now than ever? But hey, I'll take it, it's all good. The guy
doesn't warm up. It freaks me out; I'm very jealous because I have to warm up,
but Joey goes out there and lets it go.
How
different is this version of Worship Music from the first version you
recorded?
We just
threw out the old parts that we didn't want in the songs that didn't belong
there. Joey absolutely put his stamp on each and every one of these songs. He
owned each and every one of these songs. That's a test, for Joey to come in
like he did. I tip my hat to him because it was an uphill battle for him to do
that. Look at this mountain of songs! Joey took it on; he made every one of
them his own. He really lived the songs, which I loved.
You
joined Anthrax on the Spreading the Disease album in 1985 after being a
guitar technician for them. Could you tell us about that?
I was
young, I was 17-years-old. Charlie, who is my uncle, asked me if I wanted to be
the band's guitar tech. I did it for side money, honestly. Being a guitar tech,
I heard that they were auditioning bass players. So I said, 'Give me an in,
I'll do my best,' and the rest is history. The thing about being in a band is
that you all have to get along, so that also helped.
You
left the band to join Helmet, but you came back. What keeps you coming back to
Anthrax?
[Laughs]
You know, I keep asking myself the same thing. I've been thinking about this
lately; what is this drug of Anthrax that keeps me coming back? It's something
to prove. Listen to this record for me. For me right now, this makes it all
worthwhile. Just hearing song after song, the feeling that I get after people
like you saying they really dig the songs and people talking about it being the
best record, which is the ultimate compliment, it all came to this beautiful
place. It's a challenge, but we're New Yorkers, we don't give up. You get
knocked down, you wipe yourself off and you get back on again.
You
mentioned the Big 4 concert coming up. Are you nervous? Excited?
It'soverwhelming as a New York Yankee fan that grew up in the Bronx,
10 minutes from Yankee Stadium. I don't think I've been to a game in the new
stadium, but the old stadium, god, I was living there. I live in Westchester, New York, and on Metro North there's a Yankee Stadium
stop. I think that may be how I'm getting to the show that day. It's the
ultimate New York
vibe, so I'm really psyched.
With
all the different subgenres that metal has spawned, where you do you feel the
modern metal is headed toward?
I think
it's in a really healthy place right now. You have the Big 4 that came back.
Metallica inspired Anthrax to get back into the studio and become a band again.
They inspired us with this Big 4 thing. We have 15-year-old kids coming to our
shows who are just finding out about Anthrax, which is a really beautiful
thing. There's a whole new generation out there right now, and it's a positive
thing.
Are
there any new metal bands that you're listening to?
Quite
honestly, I've been going back to my roots with Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden.
What got me so inspired before is inspiring me again. I think it's like a
battery that you recharge, I'm really recharging.
You'll
be playing Richard Hell in the upcoming Jeff Buckley biopic, Greetings from Tim Buckley,
starring Penn Badgley as the late Jeff Buckley. How did you get involved with
that project? I'm not sure many of your fans know that you act.
I've been studying theater for the last 15 years. I just love the art of
performing and getting into character. I'm not a big fame guy; it's about the
work and living a character. I have an agent here in New York and she said this role would be
really good for me. I got a call on a Thursday that I was cast, and I started
shooting on Monday. So far, I've done two days of shooting and literally the
day after Yankee Stadium I have another two days of shooting. I'm hoping I have
a late call time the day after we play Yankee Stadium. [Laughs]
Is
Anthrax planning a bigger tour after the Big 4?
Yeah,
there's a whole tour coming up that we're booking right now. It looks like it's
Anthrax, Testament, and Death Angel. It should be fun, we're old school friends.
We think people will really like that tour.
Anything
else you'd like to say to your fans?
We're
really psyched right now. We haven't been this energetic and focused in a long
time. It feels really good. We just wanna be that band that we can be again,
and I think it's time.
MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars revealed via Twitter yeterday (Wednesday, September 14) that he was in the studio working on "a
killer track" with James Durbin, the 22-year-old rocker from Santa
Cruz, California who was one of the finalists on the last season of "American
Idol".
"That's right! That's Mick Fuckin Mars!!!!! Playing on MY
record!!! This is so unbelievable!!!!" tweeted Durbin in reply to Mick's
message. He also attached a photo of what appears to be the MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist laying down a track in the studio (see below).
Durbin last week inked a deal with Wind-Up Records (EVANESCENCE, CREED) for the release of his solo album.
The singer told USA Today in May that he was planning to record an
album, with what he described as a "[DIO] 'Holy Diver', [BLACK
SABBATH] 'Neon Knights'-type" feel. "I potentially heard
my first single yesterday," he said, adding that it "still has a
heavy edge and is radio friendly." He also wrote a song with James
Michael (SIXX: A.M., SCORPIONS, MÖTLEY CRÜE) and frequent AEROSMITH collaborator Marti Frederiksen.
Durbin performed JUDAS PRIEST's classic songs "Living
After Midnight" and "Breaking The Law" with the
British heavy metal legends themselves during the "American Idol" May finale.
Durbin sang the JUDAS PRIEST classic "You Got Another
Thing Coming" on the March 1 edition of "Idol" (see
video below). His rendition marked the first time, according to AEROSMITH singer and "American Idol" judge Steven Tyler, where a JUDAS
PRIEST single was performed on the "Idol" stage.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/marsdurbin3.jpg
On Monday, September 19, Las Vegas'
favorite band SIN CITY SINNERS will be joined by special guest drummer Matt
Sorum (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER, THE CULT) at
The Crown Theater (inside The Rio Hotel) in Las Vegas. Matt will perform an entire
set of music from his career as well as some classic covers.
For FREE tickets, go to this location.
The SIN CITY SINNERS lineup for the September 19 show will feature Brent
Muscat (FASTER PUSSSYCAT), Rob Cournoyer (RAGING SLAB), Dr. Michael Ellis, Louie Merlino (BEGGARS & THIEVES)
and Jimmy Crespo (former lead guitarist of AEROSMITH).
In 2010, SIN CITY SINNERS released two CDs of original music, "Exile
on Fremont Street" and the all-acoustic "Broken Record". The SINNERS'
music video, "Goin' To Vegas", received the 32nd annual Telly
Award and the track "Numb" was nominated for an AVN award for "Best Original Song".
SIN CITY SINNERS is currently in the studio recording "A Sinners
Christmas", to be released in November. The CD will feature guest
appearances by George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB, SOULS
OF WE), Slim Jim Phantom (HEADCAT, THE STRAY CATS), Louie
Merlino (BEGGARS & THIEVES), Jimmy Crespo (AEROSMITH)
and Paul Shortino (ROUGH CUTT, QUIET RIOT), among others.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY has recruited Chad Szeliga (BREAKING BENJAMIN, OURAFTER) as the band's new drummer. He
replaces Mike Froedge (SPEED X, DOUBLEDRIVE), who toured
with the group for the past four months.
Commented BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde:
"A big BLACK LABEL thanks goes out to Mike Froedge of the Atlanta chapter of the BLACK LABEL SOCIETY for throwing down and keeping the BLACK
LABEL armada moving forward. As of now, father Chad Szeliga will be holding down the
foundation of the black cathedral, manning the throne behind the drums."
Said Froedge: "It's not every day that one gets to tour the world
with a living guitar legend, and his amazing band and top-notch crew..... and I
will never forget it! Nick [Catanese, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist] and I go back many, many years, and he and I will be making more
music together one day soon."
Szeliga's roots lie in jazz and funk, yet he still excels as the drummer
of the riff-heavy rock band BREAKING BENJAMIN. "Some jazz players see rock as some downbeat,
devil-worshipping thing," he says. "But playing rock has brought more
attitude and confidence to my drumming."
Yet Szeliga isn't a busy, hyper-technical player. He says, "One of
the things that makes a mature drummer is knowing when it's time to do your
tricks and when it's time to just play. When a rock guitarist is playing a
heavy riff, you should know not to do a Dennis Chambers or Carter
Beauford lick. You've got to keep it straight in the pocket and let the guitar
player breathe."
Szeliga has advice for drummers who find themselves suddenly inducted
into a successful group. "Being a hired gun can be hard," he says.
"If you don't do your job, you will be replaced instantly. But if you work
hard and show the band you're on your game, it's a great opportunity. But you
have to be hungry. You have to practice and show that you're dedicated. Go to
the extreme. If the drummer before you played perfectly but had bad stage
presence, then play even more perfectly and have great stage presence. Don't
just do your job and get paid. If you love music, do it 101 percent."
Will Hunt left BLACK LABEL SOCIETY in late February in order to
join his EVANESCENCE bandmates in the studio for the
recording sessions for the band's third album.
Sitting behind the kit for BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's early 2011 European
dates was Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE, SEVENTH VOID),
who made his live debut with the band on February 25 at La Cigale in Paris,
France.
THE DREADED MARCO, the band featuring former BLACK
LABEL SOCIETY/DOUBLEDRIVE drummer Mike Froedge, will make its
debut album, "Classy", available for the first time on
Saturday, October 1 at The Peachtree Tavern in Atlanta, Georgia.
The CD, which was recorded at Froedge's own recording studio, Open
Sky Studio in Atlanta, boasts "guitar rhythms and riffs,
all-encompassing soulful vocals and Froedge's unmistakable hard-hitting
style," according to a press release.
The members of THE DREADED MARCO have been signed to labels big and
small, won awards both nationally and internationally, and have performed in
front of audiences worldwide. The band features Charlie Sheets (ECHOVALVE)
on vocals/rhythm guitar, Dixie Duncan (ECHOVALVE, EYE EMPIRE)
on lead guitar, Scott Williams on bass and Froedge on drums. The
sound or genre that would classify the band was an afterthought for THE
DREADED MARCO, allowing the musicians to do what they do best — create
music and that freedom birthed a truly original sound: dirty rock and roll.
For more information, visit www.dreadedmarco.com.
Don't
feel bad if you don't know the band Queensryche. Even those that have
followed the group closely for the last thirty years probably don't know Queensryche.
Are they a heavy metal band? A progressive rock band? Progressive
heavy metal band? A theater rock band? The band is giving their
fans a taste of all different phases of Queensryche who are currently on the
road with their Thirtieth Anniversary Tour which comes to Phoenix on September 15, 2011 at the Foundry
on First. On this tour, the band is playing selections from almost every
studio album they have released. Lead singer Geoff Tate, he of the four
octave voice range, graciously took time out of Queensryche's tour schedule to
help me better understand the group.
Q: It's probably very
fitting that your latest album is titled Dedicated to Chaos.
Geoff
Tate (GT):It's a title that can be taken a number of different ways. For me chaos is that
place where creativity exists, you make something out of nothing. This record
is definitely a record that is very creative. There are lots of different
musical experimentation on it and lots of different types of songs on it.
Everyone in the band really threw themselves into it to kind of push our
envelope musically to see where we could take our chemistry again.
Q:I realize you're going
to alienate some people who'll say, well it's not classic Queensryche. But what
is classic Queensryche if you keep doing stuff different every time?
GT:Yeah, exactly. That's
the idea behind it. To constantly grow, change, experiment with our sound and
our ability to communicate with each other. To try and create something new
each time.
Q: How are the fans
reacting on your current tour to your new songs?
GT:Actually, real
good. New songs never go over as well as older songs of course because
people need more time to digest the stuff. Usually the new songs that you are
doing do better the next time you come through town because the people know
them a lot better and they react to them better. It depends on the
performer. It's kind of your job to sell the new song to people and set
it up so they understand what it's about if you're hitting them with something
they never heard. A back story really helps. I like to set the mood, set the
tone and explain what you are thinking about when you are writing it.
Q:So it helps explain the
what the heck were you thinking questions they may be having?
GT: Yeah. It's
a difficult job to communicate. Not just speaking of songs, but in
general. Communication is something that people take things you say in so many
different ways. Body language has a lot to do with communication and you miss
that on a record. You're depending totally on the music to get the lyrics
across. We have to set the mood. Things can really be interpreted a number of
different ways so it's helpful sometimes to give them a line to follow.
We all listen to music differently. We hear it differently. We run it
through our own personal filters. Certain songs become very important to
people because it's a song they gravitated to at a certain point in their life.
Perhaps it became the theme music for their life at some point so it means something
very special to them. So you have to take that into consideration when you are
picking out a set list. Trying to pick things that you like to do as an
artist and also things that the audience is going to relate to as well.
Q:It's got to be tough
when you have a big catalog like yours to go through.
GT: Yes, it's a lot of
debate amongst the band members. It becomes like a poker game. I'll play "Take
Hold of the Flame" if you play "Jet City Woman."
Q: What's tougher,
putting together an album or putting together a tour?
GT:They are both
challenging, for different reasons of course. I like both aspects of it quite a
bit. The band does as well. Everyone in the band really enjoys making records.
That's kind of what brought us together in the first place. It continues to
keep us together.
Q:Your stage shows have
always been very creative.
GT:We try to make it
interesting for the fans that come out and see us. We recognized early on that
the way we were going to make a living was to be able to play live, so we
really pushed that as far as presenting a live show. Because we would come to a
town every year we thought that people after a while are going to say, well
I've seen them, why would I want to see them again? So we just decided, let's
try to make it different each time and see what we could do. We
just started putting our heads together and coming up with ideas for different
presentations.
Q: When did you
discover your musical abilities?
GT:I discovered music when
I was about nine years old. I was infatuated with it. I got a transistor
radio for my birthday and it just opened up my world to all kinds of music.
Then shortly after that I made the declaration to my parents that I wanted to
play guitar. They gave me the option that you can play guitar but you have to
take a year of piano first. I love they did that because the piano is a great
instrument to learn music on. You can do rhythm and melody and just have to hit
the key and the note comes out. You don't have to really have to have any
technique to start out with so it's a great instrument to learn. It
really fueled my fascination with writing. I actually started writing
songs real early on. I was writing my own music when I was a very
young kid, which drove my parents crazy because they wanted me to play what was
in the lesson book, which I did, but I also branched out and was making up my
own stuff. That got me started. Then when I was in high school I started
singing in bands and becoming more focused on being a vocalist and found that I
could sing and I began leaning in that direction more.
Q: I always admire the
creativity of people like you that can write songs. What comes first, the
melodies or the words?
GT:Both really. People
always ask me. What do you listen to? I always say the same thing. I've
been listening to the music that's in my head because it's there all the time
and I'm trying to get it out (laughing). One of the great things about
technology being what it is now, we take our recording studio everywhere with
us. We set it up in the bus, the back lounge, we can take it to the
venue. We have a room set aside every day and we're all working on the next
project or a certain project or whatever. So we're constantly engaged in it.
Where years ago you wouldn't be engaged in the same way, there would be long
stretches where you wouldn't work at it. It's very pleasurable now to get your
ideas out much more quickly. Music to me is kind of like a social
commentary. You can get these ideas out very quickly now. You don't
have to wait a year to go through the recording schedule budgets and get your
whole thing in order and all that. You can just do it now. I like that quite a
bit.
Q:So it's pretty safe to
say are you working on the next Queensryche album, because you always are?
GT: Yeah, yeah, we always
are.
Q: I have noticed that on
the last couple of album covers that the umlaut over the "y" in Queensryche is
disappearing. Is this a phase out?
GT: It's not phasing out,
it's just sort of intermittent. We felt we should have lost it years and years
ago when we discovered the umlaut over the y doesn't make any sense at
all. But then we thought, well let's continue to confuse people not only with
our music but in the pronunciation and spelling of our name as well.
Q: Again, the
dedicated to chaos.
GT:It's all coming full
circle.
Q:It's a perfect
retrospective of your career then.
GT: There you go. I
like that.
SOUNDGARDEN/ex-AUDIOSLAVE singer Chris
Cornell will guest on the Thursday, September 22 edition of CBS-TV's "Late Show With David Letterman" at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT. Check
local listings for details.
Cornell's new song, "The Keeper", is the lead single
from the soundtrack to the upcoming movie "Machine Gun Preacher".
The movie, which stars Gerard Butler as a former drug dealer who becomes
a crusader for hundreds of refugee children in war-torn Sudan, opens on
September 23.
Cornell said in a new interview with ARTISTdirect that the music SOUNDGARDEN has written for its upcoming album is "different than anything" the
group has done before. Asked how the new SOUNDGARDEN material compared
to "The Keeper", the singer replied, "Well, no matter
what, SOUNDGARDEN is always going to be heavier. However, I also think
musically the new SOUNDGARDEN stuff is different than anything we've
ever done . . . every time we've made a record it wasn't really that easy to
compare it to the previous one — other than that we're the same band. I think
there may be some moments that are sort of sonically quieter and more
stripped-down. On the whole, it's a rock record. That's what we do."
"A Dramatic Turn Of Events", the new
studio album from progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER, is likely to
sell between 30,000 and 35,000 copies in the United States in its first week of
release, according to industry web site Hits Daily Double. The estimate
was based on one-day sales reports compiled after the record arrived in stores
on September 13 via Roadrunner Records.
DREAM THEATER's previous CD, 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver
Linings", opened with 40,000 units to land at position No. 6 on The
Billboard 200 chart. This was roughly in line with the first-week tally
registered by its predecessor, "Systematic Chaos", which shifted
36,000 copies in 2007 to enter the chart at No. 19. 2005's "Octavarium" premiered with 27,000 copies to debut at No. 36.
The "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" deluxe collector's edition
exclusive 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)
"We have poured our hearts and minds into the creation of this
album," keyboardist Jordan Rudess said. "All the life-changing
events that surrounded us before, as well as during the whole process, fueled
our desire to dig deep within ourselves and create the best music we possibly
could."
Vocalist James LaBrie added, "In the grand scheme of DREAM
THEATER's career, the last several months have been such an incredibly
positive, fulfilling and rewarding experience. The new songs and sound has
never been so spirited or rejuvenating. I cannot wait for every one of our fans
to sink their audio senses into this batch of tunes."
Drummer Mike Portnoy (ADRENALINE MOB, DREAM
THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD) will sit behind the kit for STONE SOUR during the band's appearance at the Rock In Rio festival on September 24
in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil..
STONE SOUR's regular drummer, Roy Mayorga, is currently home and
anxiously awaiting the birth of his first daughter (due the very same day as STONE
SOUR's Rio show). Roy personally asked his friend Portnoy to fill in for what is sure to be a special "once-in-a-lifetime"
event for the fans in attendance.
Commented Mike: "It's my honor and pleasure to be able to help out
my good friends in STONE SOUR and my brother Roy in their time of
need. It's also an unexpected treat for me to get another visit with some of
the greatest fans in the world down in Brazil."
Added STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor: "We've been waiting
a long time for the opportunity to come to South America.
This year's Rock In Rio should be fantastic. With Roy expecting his first child, we'll
charge on without him, but having Mike fill in for this one show will be
great. We can't wait to take the stage and lay it down the only way STONE SOUR knows how — full-on and in your face!"
STONE SOUR canceled a number of tour dates this past spring after Mayorga suffered a stroke following a gig in Des Moines, Iowa.
Mayorga joined STONE SOUR in 2006 after the band's previous
drummer, Joel Ekman, was forced to leave the group in order to spend
time with his son, who was diagnosed with brain stem cancer.
According to The Pulse Of Radio, Taylor recently did an extensive interview with HardDrive Radio in which he
revealed that STONE SOUR is definitely planning to release a concert DVD
and cover songs EP in one package sometime before the end of the year. Taylor went into detail about the project, saying, "We shot a concert last year
on the co-headlining tour that we did with AVENGED SEVENFOLD, and we
shot it in Brighton (England), and we've been trying to get it together ever
since and it's just been insane. There's been so much work and we just haven't
had a chance to kind of get a handle on it. But we've been talking about doing
a covers EP forever. This is just a kind of a cool way to put something cool
out that the fans will dig."
Taylor added that each member of STONE SOUR will get to pick one song for the
covers EP.
On September 14, Glen Casebeer of the American
Rock Scene conducted an interview with Sammy Hagar (CHICKENFOOT, VAN HALEN) prior to the legendary rocker's concert in Tacoma, Washington.
You can now listen to the chat below.
Hagar's autobiography, "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock",
debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times nonfiction hardcover best sellers
list, appearing on the chart dated April 3, 2011. Hagar promoted the
book's publication with major press interviews in New York City, as well as a two-week signing tour on both the East and West Coasts.
The former VAN HALEN vocalist has been making news thanks to the book's
outspoken commentary on both Eddie Van Halen and original VH frontman David Lee Roth, as well as Hagar's claims that he's met
with alien beings.
"I just finished another chapter for it, because it's coming out in paperback
and I didn't wanna just release the same book again," Hagar told
the American Rock Scene. And since that book came out and it went No. 1,
it did a lot — it really changed things within me and with people around me.
And some of my closer friends kind of had a weird response to the book and some
people that I really didn't know — people that were almost, like… I don't wanna
say 'enemies,' but people in the industry that maybe didn't respect me or give
me any love or the time of day over the years — came in and said, 'Wow, I had
no idea. Man, I have a whole different opinion of you.' So I wrote a new
chapter about that; I just did it yesterday and it will be in the paperback
[version of the book]. [It's] just about how being a rock star my whole life and
then having a No. 1-selling book had a profound influence on my stature, as a
human on this planet. . . There's only been two rock books, I guess, in history
— Keith Richards and myself — that went to No. 1, so it got a lot of
people's attention. I get a lot of phone calls through my agency or through my
management, 'What do you wanna do next? We wanna be involved?' [Laughs] I used
to go around knocking on doors. 'Hey, I wanna do this.' Now it's like, 'Hey,
you wanna make a movie?', 'Hey, you wanna be in a TV show?' 'You wanna do this?
'You wanna do that?' It's interesting."
"Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock" was released on March 15 via It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Hagar provides readers with incredible behind-the-scenes stories from
his multi-platinum career, including his rise as a solo artist and his eleven
years with VAN HALEN, after the controversial departure of original lead
vocalist David Lee Roth. During Hagar's time with VAN HALEN,
the band released four consecutive No. 1 albums. From worldwide stadium
concerts tours to private jets, Hagar enjoyed the trappings of fame and
success with VAN HALEN until he was, as he puts it,
"unceremoniously fired." Hagar later thrived as a solo act,
leading his band, the CABO WABOS, before returning triumphantly to VAN
HALEN for an historic reunion tour after which he set off on his own once
again.
Honest and compelling, Hagar's account spares no one, least of all
himself. Hagar's autobiography reveals the inside story of one of rock
music's most recognizable voices, from his humble beginnings in the town of Fontana, California,
to his incredible business success with Cabo Wabo Tequila and the Cabo
Wabo Cantinas. The book was co-authored by Joel Selvin, longtime pop
music writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Powerhouse
vocalist and former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach is back with a cracking
new album (Kicking & Screaming) and a new guitarist (21-year-old
Nick Sterling). Loud caught up with Bach during a hectic day of press to
talk about the new record, his recent personal turmoil, what it would take for
him to return to Skid Row and new music he's currently enjoying.
Q: I understand a great deal has happened in your personal life lately.
Has it been welcoming to channel some of that frustration or energy into
creating and promoting this new record?
A: Well, making the record I was going through a divorce, so a lot of
the lyrics have to do with losing your love or finding new love, so it's quite
an emotional album. Since then I've lost my home recently, (laughs) which is
quite crazy. (Editor's note- his home was recently condemned due to the
storms created by Hurricane Irene) So yeah, I've been going through some
really crazy times, that's quite accurate. But you know, my friend John Rich from
the band Big and Rich, a country band, said this to me, "Sebastian, don't ever
be afraid to write what you're feeling, because someone else is always feeling
what you're feeling". And I think that's quite accurate, so yeah, that's what
it's about. The title, Kicking & Screaming, well, it's about kickin'
ass and screaming rock 'n' roll (laughs).
Q: Great to hear. Can you tell us about your new guitarist Nick Sterling?
A: Yeah, I got him in the band when he was 19 and I was looking for the
best guitar player I could find. He was very young and I said to myself, "I
don't know if I can be in a band with a 19-year-old'. But then I said, "wait a
minute, am I going to eliminate a guitar player because he's too young? That's
pretty stupid". So yeah, I've been playing with him for two years and the
record is incredible, he's very easy to write songs with. We get along really
good and I think the record came out incredible. He wrote a lot of it and he's
very talented, he's like the next guitar superstar. He's very much like Randy
Rhoads, the way he plays, the way he writes, the way he looks, he looks kinda
similar, it's very, very crazy.
Q: I guess he helps keep you young as well (laughs).
A: I don't know if he keeps me young, but it is amazing being on-stage
with him. When I look over at him and we're doing a song called 'Youth Gone
Wild', I'm glad at least one of the guys on the stage is a youth (laughs).
Q: (Laughs) How was the experience of working with producer Bob Marlette
on the new album?
A: It was really good. The thing I love about Bob is that he always has
a really heavy, deep bass tone to his music. When I'm singing super high, doing
all my screams and stuff like that, I have to have a good bottom end to even
everything out. Bob has this gigantic bottom end on this record that is really
kick-ass. He also helped write a couple of songs; we wrote 'Dirty Power' with
him, 'Kicking & Screaming' with him and we also worked on a couple of the
other songs we had. So he's very talented in the songwriting aspect.
Q: You've said in the past that you're a major fan of heavy riffs and
screamed vocals, but you're also very fond of ballads as well. The new album,
much like almost everything else you've done has a strong mix of both. Is it
not a Sebastian Bach album without a few ballads?
A: I am definitely made to sing ballads; my voice sounds good like
that. You always have to use your instrument to its fullest capabilities and
when I sing a ballad, I just have this special kind of sound to my voice. From
'I Remember You', '18 and Life', 'In a Darkened Room' and 'Wasted Time' up to
'I'm Alive', 'Wishin'' and 'Dream Forever' on the new record. When I did
Broadway a lot of my biggest songs were ballads and some rock singers might shy
away from singing ballads, but for me music's all about emotion and if you're
feeling an emotion when you're singing it, then I don't care if it's a fast
song or a slow song. If you're feeling the lyrics then that's what I'm going
for; I'm trying to deliver emotions, vocally, through the lyrics and the music.
So whatever I feel in my heart is what I'm going to go for.
Q: With regard to touring in support of the new album, is it likely we'll
see you in Australia
in the near future?
A: Oh yeah, we played Australia like three times in the past five
years, so Australia is definitely one of our biggest markets. We did two tours
with Guns N' Roses and then we headlined a tour as well. So I've always loved Australia. I
love the weather down there, I love how you guys like to party, you guys love
rock 'n' roll and I know we'll be back there. We always come there, it's a
great place for us.
Q: Your live set lists in the past have always been a strong mix of your
solo material and Skid Row favourites, so I'm assuming that's not changing with
this album cycle?
A: Yeah, I'm just like Ozzy or Vince Neil or David Lee Roth or any… I
will definitely sing my songs for the rest of my life, definitely.
Q: Good to hear. You've often claimed in the past to be the "metal fan"
when you were a member of Skid Row. What do you think when you hear their more
recent material?
A: Well, I haven't listened to them too much because it doesn't sound
like Skid Row to me, it sounds like a punk band or a country band or something
that doesn't sound '18 and Life' to me. I think that my (solo) records sound
far more like Slave to the Grind and the first Skid Row record than what
they do without me. I've always done the same thing in the studio with whoever
I'm playing with, so they can tell you that I'm hard to work with, but you know,
I'm not hard to work with – I just refuse to suck (laughs).
Q: (Laughs) It's been 20 years since Slave to the Grindwas
released. What are your memories of that era and making that album?
A: That was a cool album. On the first Skid Row record we had such big
hits with '18 and Life' and 'I Remember You' that we were determined to prove
to everybody that we were real rockers. So we wanted to make a real rock album
with Slave to the Grind and that's a very heavy album. I think it really
stands up; when I hear the songs, especially 'Monkey Business' on the radio or
on TV, it's fucking badass. It's like, "wow, cool song" (laughs). But yeah,
that's what I'm trying to do withKicking & Screaming. If you like Slave
to the Grind, put this on your iPod and I think that it fits really good
next to that record. I think it has the same kind of heavy feel, cool guitar
riffs, kick-ass screams and that kind of vibe.
Q: So is Slave to the Grind your main reference point, or your
blueprint when you write a new album?
A: Well, also the first album too, both of them. They're different
records, but you can't argue with 'I Remember You' or '18 and Life', those are
incredible songs. So my whole past always goes into what I'm doing in the
future. I want, if you like '18 and Life' I want you to like Kicking &
Screaming, you know? I want you to put it in your iPod and to me it's like
the next logical step of music that I would be doing. That's what it sounds
like to my ear anyway.
Q: Many Skid Row fans have called for your return to the band for more
than a decade. What it would take for you to consider returning to the fold?
A: A lot of people ask me that, would I go back to Skid Row? Just the
words "going back" annoy me (laughs). I don't want to "go back" to anything. I
want to go forward; I don't want to "go back". Any true artist doesn't "go
back". I mean, for me to be interested in being in that band again would mean
that we would make a new record. But that's not the way these nostalgia reunion
tours work; it's all about just playing an hour's worth of old songs, taking
the fans' money and doing it all summer long. That just doesn't interest me; if
we were to get together and maybe make some new music, make a new CD, and then
go and tour in support of it, then that would interest me. But nobody's talking
about that. I'm just more interested in leaving this world with a body of work
that is as big and as high quality as I can and I think that Kicking &
Screaming is a very valuable addition to my body of work. If those guys wanted
to make some new music then I'd be interested but it's more about, in America anyway,
these reunion tours are all about just playing the old songs over and over
again, and that is just boring to me. I would like to make new music.
Q: Are there any of the "nostalgia tours" that you referred to that you
think have been done the "right" way?
A: Well, there's only one tour that was done like that, the right way
and that was the Kiss reunion tour, when they all got the make-up back on and
with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. That was the ultimate reunion tour; there was
no tour like that, that was amazing. But for Skid Row, I think that we were
more about the music than the image, so for me to be interested in it, it would
have to be about a new record.
Q: Changing topics, are there any new releases you're enjoying at the
moment?
A: My favourite new band and album right now is Black Veil Brides' Set
the World on Fire. Which is kinda like early Mötley Crüe, but they've got
their own sound, they're very good musicians and they look really cool with
their make-up and leather and studs, I love all that shit. There's another band
called Asking Alexandria, who do '18 and Life' and 'Youth Gone Wild' on their
record and they're a very heavy band. Those are the two bands that are brand
new that I really like a lot.
Q: Any famous last words?
A: Well, I would recommend that the fans pick up the deluxe CD/DVD
edition of Kicking & Screaming, because it's got an hour-long DVD
with live concert footage from the Guns N' Roses tour, five camera angle-shot
and Pro Tools from the board, professional sound. It's a very funny,
entertaining DVD. If you're going to get the new CD I would recommend the DVD
edition, that's what I would say.
Drummer Jörg Michael has announced his plans to
leave the Finnish melodic metal band STRATOVARUS for personal reasons. Jörg,
who has been in the group for sixteen years, will play all the remaining tour
dates until the end of January, and will celebrate with a special Finnish "Farewell
Jörg" tour from November 18 to November 26.
Jörg joined STRATOVARIUS in 1995 and made his recording debut
with the band on the "Episode" album (1996). He has appeared
on nine full-length releases from STRATOVARIUS and has played nearly
1,000 shows with the band.
Commented STRATOVARIUS singer Timo Kotipelto: "The rest of
us just has to accept Jörg's decision with a lot of sadness and wish him
all the best for the future. But we can also assure that the band will still go
on."
STRATOVARIUS and Jörg will not completely go their separate ways,
however, since Jörg will still be working for the band through his
booking agency, Twisted Talent Concerts.
"Our long journey of over fifteen years together has not ended yet, as Jörg remains among our background forces — and we couldn't be more happy about
that," added Kotipelto. Not only has he been a great drummer but
also a close friend and a true professional. "We're honored to have Jörg by our side for this farewell tour. We can't wait to rock with our 'German
Steamroller' one last time! These shows will be unforgettable for all of
us."
Jörg Michael Finnish farewell tour:
Nov. 18 - Mikkeli, Mikaeli
Nov. 19 - Tampere, Pakkahuone
Nov. 23 - Jyväskylä, Lutakko
Nov. 25 - Oulu, Club Teatria
Nov. 26 - Helsinki,
Tavastia
Michael was diagnosed with cancer last year and had his entire thyroid
removed.
SOULFLY has tapped Chris "Zeuss" Harris (CHIMAIRA, HATEBREED, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE ACACIA
STRAIN, BORN OF OSIRIS, SHADOWS FALL) to produce the band's
new album 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 the help of drummer David Kinkade (BORKNAGAR, ARSIS, MALEVOLENT CREATION) following the departure of the group's longtime
skinsman Joe Nunez earlier in the year.
SOULFLY mainman 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.
Cleveland thrash metal
legends DESTRUCTOR will enter Supernatural Sound Studios in Kirtland, Ohio next month to begin
recording their new album, "Decibel Casualties", for a 2012
release via Auburn Records. The follow-up to 2007's critically acclaimed "Forever In Leather" will be recorded and engineered by VENOMIN
JAMES guitarists Tomasz Scull and Joe Fortunato.
Despite more than a quarter of a century in existence, change is the one word
that the members ofDESTRUCTOR have yet to embrace. "We consider
ourselves to be a power thrash band that plays heavy metal in the old-school
style," singer/guitarist Dave "Overkill" Just said in a
2008 interview. "We have yet to change and don't plan on changing."
He added, "One thing about DESTRUCTOR is we're not confused about
where we've been and where we're going. A lot of bands seem to want to change
their formula and try to be hip and reach the younger crowd. We just stick to
our guns, and if you like it, that's great. And if not, we're not the band for
you."
DESTRUCTOR is:
Jamie Boulder - Bass
Dave Overkill - Vocals/Guitar
Matt Flammable - Drums
Pat Rabid - Guitar
British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST have been
confirmed for next year's edition of the Wacken Open Air festival, set
to take place August 2-4, 2012 in Wacken, Germany. The
band, which released its self-titled debut in 1990 — the same year Wacken was
lanched — will perform a best-of set at the event.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
AMON AMARTH
AXEL RUDI PELL
CRADLE OF FILTH
DIMMU BORGIR
ENDSTILLE
FORBIDDEN
GAMMA RAY
HAMMERFALL
HENRY ROLLINS (spoken word)
MINISTRY
PARADISE LOST
SCORPIONS
SIX FEET UNDER
U.D.O.
WATAIN
PARADISE LOST will release the "Draconian Times MMXI" DVD on November 7 via Century Media Records.
Sony Music reissued PARADISE LOST's seminal 1995 album "Draconian
Times" through the "Legacy" series; featuring the entire
digitally remastered album, including a 5.1 Dolby Surround mix in a brand-new
collector's edition digipak box set, so fans could hear the album like never
before. Along with this release, the band performed "Draconian
Times" live at a series of seven exclusive gigs this past spring in
Utrecht, Bochum, London, Paris, Athens, and Thessaloniki.
"Draconian Times MMXI" features the London show at The Forum
on April 1, a documentary from the whole tour filmed by the band's bass player Steve
Edmondson, interviews about the history of "Draconian Times" with producer Simon Efemey, Nick Holmes (vocals), Greg
Mackintosh (guitar), Aaron Aedy (guitar), Steve Edmondson (bass) and Andy Farrow (manager since 1990) and the two promo videos
from PARADISE LOST's latest album, "Faith Divides Us - Death
Unites Us".
Norwegian
symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR will be joined by an orchestra
and a choir for an appearance at next year's edition of the Wacken Open Air festival, set to take place August 2-4, 2012 in Wacken, Germany..
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
AMON AMARTH
CRADLE OF FILTH
DIMMU BORGIR
ENDSTILLE
FORBIDDEN
GAMMA RAY
HAMMERFALL
MINISTRY
AXEL RUDI PELL
HENRY ROLLINS (spoken word)
SCORPIONS
SIX FEET UNDER
U.D.O.
WATAIN
ANIMETAL-USA, the brand new metal band featuring
singer Mike Vescera (OBSESSION, ex-LOUDNESS), bassist Rudy
Sarzo (BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, ex-OZZY OSBOURNE, QUIET RIOT, WHITESNAKE, DIO), drummer Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST)
and guitarist Chris Impellitteri (IMPELLITTERI), will release its
self-titled debut album in Japan on October 12 via Sony Music Entertainment.
A photo of the group, which covers Japanese animation (Anime) songs, can be
seen below.
Says Impellitteri: "I wanted to confirm that I am indeed playing
with the band ANIMETAL. The band is playing a mix of classic Anime songs
mixed with our own original heavy metal riffs, solos, vocals, bass and drum
parts. The record is pretty insane sounding! The playing is intense and the
live show is extremely theatrical. It should be lots of fun for our fans. All
four of us worked extremely hard to take Anime to a new level. So, I hope you
have a chance to join us on this new musical journey both on record and live.
Hope to see you soon as our first show will be announced soon!"
"Animetal-USA" track listing below:
01. Uchuusenkan Yamato
02. Gatchaman No Uta
03. Mazinger Medley
04. Makafushigi Adventure!
05. Zankokuna Tenshino Thesis
06. Aiwo Torimodose!!
07. Ganbare Dokaben
08. Pegasus Fantasy
09. Yuke Tigermask
10. Fight! Kinnikuman Go Fight!
11. Yukeyuke Hyuma
On Saturday, September 24, the film "Lloyd The
Conqueror", staring Mike Smith ("Trailer Park
Boys") and Brian Posehn, will premiere as part of the Calgary
International Film Festival at the Globe Theatre at 7:00 p.m. Century
Media recording artists 3 INCHES OF BLOOD have a cover of the
classic RUSH song "Anthem" featured in the film and
directly following the premiere, will perform at the event's official
after-party. A sure sellout, the party begins at 9:00 p.m. at Dickens Pub in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Tickets
can be purchased at www.primeboxoffice.com.
3 INCHES OF BLOOD's latest album, "Here Waits Thy Doom",
was reissued on June 29, 2010 as a Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem edition
with four exclusive new tracks along with a bonus DVD featuring the video for "Battles
and Brotherhood", 3 INCHES OF BLOOD's performance on Fuel TV and more.
"Here Waits Thy Doom" sold around 2,300 copies in the United States
in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 8 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.
Swedish progressive metallers OPETH have scheduled a
four-date Australian headlining tour in December:
Dec. 15 - The Tivoli - Brisbane, Australia
Dec. 16 - The Enmore - Sydney, Australia
Dec. 18 - The Palace - Melbourne, Australia
Dec. 20 - Fremantle Metro - Perth, Australia
OPETH's new album, "Heritage", is available for
streaming in its entirety at NPR.org. Due on September 20 via Roadrunner Records,
the CD was produced by OPETH vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt and was recorded earlier this year at Atlantis studios (formerly Metronome studios) in Stockholm.
Mixing duties were handled by Steven Wilson (PORCUPINE TREE) and Åkerfeldt.
Longtime collaborator Travis Smith also worked with Åkerfeldt to
create, design and execute the album's artwork, which can be seen below.
"Heritage" will be released in several configurations that
will certainly incite the interest of OPETH's legion of fans, known for
their passion for collecting and collectibles. The album will be released as a
standard version; as a special edition loaded with extras; as a box set
exclusive to the Roadrunner and the band's own official Omerch webstore; and as a double LP.
OPETH made its live debut with keyboardist Joakim Svalberg (YNGWIE
MALMSTEEN, GLENN HUGHES) at the 10th annual Bonnaroo Music And
Arts Festival on June 10, 2011 on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee,
60 miles south of Nashville.
OPETH will embark on a North American headlining tour in September with
support from fellow Swedes KATATONIA.
Keyboardist Per Wiberg, who joined OPETH in 2005, was relieved of
his duties in April as part of a mutual decision with the remaining members of
the band.
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
Check out the cover artwork below.
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.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/animalscover.jpg
Australian metallers of PEGAZUS have issued the
following update regarding their upcoming "In Metal We Trust" tour:
"Due to the fact that both Ange Sotiro (drums) and Cory Betts (bass) will not be available for touring duties because of serious working-related
issues, the band has asked two well-known names from the past to join the band
for the upcoming shows in Melbourne and Europe.
"Ange Sotiro will be replaced by no one other than co-founder of PEGAZUS and former drummer Robbie Stoj! Johnny and Robbie Stoj created PEGAZUS in 1993 and Robbie was the drummer from its
beginning 'till 2003, when he had to unfortunately leave the band due to a
serious hand injury. In the past few months, he has felt very comfortable and
back into the groove of being back behind the drum kit again and will now
replace Ange for the upcoming shows."
"And the surprises will continue as Cory Betts will be replaced on
bass by the former PEGAZUS vocalist Rob Thompson!
"After Rob left the band in 2008, he always stayed in close contact
with his former bandmates. The band knew that Rob is a great guitarist
and bass player as well, so without any doubts he was asked to replace Cory
Betts for the tour."
Commented Thompson: "When I was asked if I was interested to do
these shows with PEGAZUS as their bass player, it was a no-brainer for
me. I have always loved the band and it makes no difference to me if I'm the
lead singer or the bass player. Being on stage with those four guys is all that
matters and it's a unique opportunity which I never thought would happen. The
rehearsals so far have shown already that this line-up is gonna kick some ass
and you'd better not miss this!"
It has taken the band 13 years to finally return to Europe
and the excitement is overwhelming. Founder and guitarist Johnny Stoj comments on the tour and the two guest appearances from Robbie Stoj and Rob
Thompson: "It's definitely been a long time coming and I can't wait to
finally be back in Europe rippin' it up on
stage with the boys. Having both Robbie and Rob on this tour is
going to be a BLAST!"
Adds vocalist Justin Fleming: "I'm really pumped to go to Europe and destroy some PAs over there. I hope the fans
will not miss the opportunity to see this very special line-up. For Rob and myself, it will be the first time to hit the stages in Europe
and being able to do that with this line-up will be an experience none of us
will ever forget."
Founding DESPISED ICON guitarist Eric Jarrin has rejoined the Canadian progressive band HEAVEN'S CRY, which is
reforming after a seven-year break. The group will perform at the legendary Montreal club Les
Foufounes Electriques on September 18 as the support act for the Swedish act KATATONIA.
Hailing from Montreal, HEAVEN'S CRY gained worldwide recognition with its first album, "Food
For Thought Substitute", in 1997, and is currently working on its
third release. The band's second effort, "Primal Power Addiction",
released in 2002, exceeded the success of its predecessor, with the group
getting to tour Europe the same year and support many international acts in Canada.
HEAVEN'S CRY's reformed lineup includes Pierre St-Jean, Sylvain
Auclair, Eric Jarrin and René Lacharité.
"The idea of playing again together is extremely exciting," Eric
Jarrin said. "We all went our separate ways for the past six or seven
years, and to come back to work on a new album with everyone's experiences and
successes is really promising! But I wish to warn all DESPISED ICON fans, this has nothing to do with my previous work. This is a completely
different genre, a very contrasting musical venture for me."
HEAVEN'S CRY will enter the studio early next year to record its third
album.
For more details, visit www.heavenscry.com.
AGENT COOPER, the Atlanta, Georgia-based Southern
rock/progressive band featuring former FOZZY/STUCK MOJO members Sean
Delson on bass and Mike Martin on lead guitar, has released the
first song from its upcoming EP as a free download through ReverbNation. "Mother" is the first song made available from a series of EPs
the band will be releasing over the next several months into 2012. This is also
the first recording to unveil Ganesh Giri Jaya as the newest member of
the band on drums and Martin on lead guitar to round out the five-piece
with founding members Doug Busbee, Eric Frampton and Sean
Delson.
AGENT COOPER will debut some of its new music on October 1 at The
Peachtree Tavern as support for Atlanta
band THE DREADED MARCO's CD release party (featuring Dixie Duncan on guitar and Mike Froedge of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY on drums). SIX
SHOT REVIVAL will also be perform. Doors open at 9:00 p.m.
In an era when recorded music sales are increasingly difficult to rely on for
revenue, the band is offering the song as a free download in an effort to
engage new fans in social media and promote concert attendance. AGENT COOPER believes that music is meant to be performed and that live shows are an
essential part of bringing people together.
Formed in 1998, AGENT COOPER has two albums released on ProgRock
Records to its credit.
For more information, visit www.AgentCooper.com.
The intergalactic metal maniacs of GWAR have
announced a venue change for this year's epic edition of GWAR-B-Q, the
band's annual festival of musical mayhem, bloodsport, scorched flesh and
all-around debauchery. The event will now be held on Saturday, September 17 at Richmond, Virginia's
beautiful National Theater.
Henrico County would not issue the proper
licenses for the event to run legally despite Slave Pit's intense efforts to
placate the authorities.
Commented Slave Pit's Dave Brockie (a.k.a. Oderus Urungus):
"We feel we have been treated in an unjust manner. There have been music
festivals for years in Henrico County with no problem OR
licenses. We jumped through hoops, hired cops, made safety plans...and at the
last second they chose not to give us the permits. I woke up today and heard
this. I was just about to put a bullet through my head when we got a call from
the National Theater. They had originally booked some loser from 'America's Got
Talent', but he cancelled...so the National saved the day for us and agreed
to open their doors to the event. As you read this we are scrambling madly to
accommodate all of the acts and events we had planned, and present the full
spectacle of the GWAR-B-Q."
Slave Pit and GWAR have been busy as evil beavers, breaking in a
new bass player and gearing up for the last great bash of summer 2011, the GWAR-B-Q.
What started years ago as party for GWAR members and friends has mutated
into a colossal event featuring tons of bands, food, and fun.
Headliners GWAR will be supported by DARKEST HOUR, a special
reunion of the band KEPONE, and the debut of THE ARGONAUTS,
featuring Dave Witte of MUNICIPAL WASTE. Celebrity judges and
entertainers like Rabb Himself and Don Jamieson will be on hand,
and best yet, G4's "Attack Of The Show" co-host Candace
Bailey will be eaten by GWAR's pet worm, the World Maggot!
For more information, visit www.gwar.net.
Former BIOHAZARD vocalist/bassist Evan Seinfeld has joined ATTIKA7 (formerly ATTIKA), the Los Angeles-based heavy
metal/hard rock band featuring Tony Campos (SOULFLY, POSSESSED, STATIC-X, ASESINO, MINISTRY) on bass.
A short video clip of Seinfeld announcing his involvement with ATTIKA7 from the stage at DOWN's September 10 concert at the Grove in Anaheim, California
can be seen below.
ATTIKA7 is:
* Evan Seinfeld (BIOHAZARD) - Vocals
* Rusty Coones - Guitar
* Tony Campos (SOULFLY, POSSESSED, STATIC-X, ASESINO, MINISTRY) - Bass
* Dustin Schoenhofer (WALLS OF JERICHO) - Drums
Formed in 2005 by guitarist Rusty Coones and vocalist Jayrexx (since departed), ATTIKA7's sound is described in a press release as
"a heavy drop-tuned rock/metal blend of heavy-yet-melodic riffs and hooky
leads with a taste of blues influence in them, reminiscent of Tony Iommi of BLACK SABBATH fame. The vocals are heavy but not the death-metal
cookie-monster grind. Their sound crosses genre boundaries and isn't
pigeonholed into rock or metal alone. Live, they are powerful and the songs are
performed note for note as precise as the recordings."
ATTIKA7's next live appearance will take place on Thursday, November 10
at Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, California.
Seinfeld left BIOHAZARD in June after the band's new CD was
completed and was temporarily replaced by Scott Roberts, who played on
the group's 2005 "Means To An End" album and has been part of
the BIOHAZARD extended family since.
In a recent interview with Sweden's Metalshrine, BIOHAZARD guitarist/vocalist Billy Graziadei stated about Seinfeld's departure, "It dropped like a bombshell. It
kind of came up from left field. We finished tracking the [new BIOHAZARD]
record in late February and really didn't have much contact with him that much.
Everything was through management and I was working on the mix with [producer] Toby [Wright] and some additional overdubs and different ideas and some piano
and keyboard stuff. Then a couple of weeks ago he calls up and says, 'I can't
do it anymore!' He's got a bunch of personal stuff and it's mostly secret. But
it's personal between… it's what's going on in his life, but he made a decision
and we weren't happy about it, but we made our decision to continue and keep
going. It would be great if he was here and I know he's proud of the record and
as happy as it came out as we are. We were all there and made it together and
focused equally on it, but rather to let it die out, we said, 'You know what?
Fuck it! We're all psyched and happy and even though things are different it
doesn't mean much has changed!' The heart and soul of the band is still intact
and we're gonna continue."
Swedish extreme metallers SHINING will start work on
their second-ever video in October. The clip, for the track "Tillsammans Är Vi Allt",
will be filmed both during a live concert and in a studio setting. Martin Strandberg, who directed the band's
first video, "Förtvivlan Min Arvedel", will once again be at
the helm along with SHINING founder and frontman Niklas Kvarforth.
Production will be handled by Jussi Hyttinen of FLC415. The live
footage will be filmed at a SHINING concert at the Club Nosturi in Helsinki, Finland, on October 5 when the band will end the evening by playing "Tillsammans Är Vi Allt" several times. Joining SHINING live on stage for the filming will be Nordman (Håkan Hemlin), one of Sweden's top pop stars, who originally guested on the track when it was recorded for the band's latest album.
No information has been revealed yet as to what the studio footage will
consist of, but given SHINING's reputation and the fact that their first video had to be released in both uncensored and censored versions due to the graphic nature of its content, the new footage is expected to be "interesting."
The first-ever single released by SHINING, which was exclusively distributed in Sweden via Sweden Rock Magazine, was certified gold in the band's home country in August by the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 10,000 copies. (Note: Each copy of the magazine containing the CD sold in Sweden was counted towards the certification; the single itself was **not** sold separately.)
The two-track CD single was released by Spinefarm Records and featured "Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel", taken from SHINING's new album, "VII / Född Förlorare", on the "A" side, while a previously unreleased cover of ALICE COOPER's "Prince Of Darkness" appeared on the "B" side.
SHINING will enter KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque's Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden in January to begin work on the band's eighth album. SHINING mainman Niklas Kvarforth said, "I am a huge KING DIAMOND fan, and working with Andy was an opportunity I wasn't going to pass up. He will be attending some of our rehearsals and it will be interesting to see what his input will be to the almost finished album and to SHINING's particular sound. Whilst we're there, we also plan to record some covers for future release. As to the direction 'VIII' will take, well, for the time being let's just say that it will be blacker and more sinister than our previous releases."
Vocalist Metatron of the English progressive black
metal band THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL will go to Krakow,
Poland in November to
research Auschwitz for the band's new album,
to be titled "Sonderkommando". The concept behind the release
is to see the Holocaust from the eyes of the Jewish Sonderkommando (these were
the unfortunate workers who removed the corpses from the gas chambers, and
after removing teeth/hair and valuables, cremated them). From their words the
album will lament on the burning death pits, Block 11, the crematoriums, the
daily arrival of the trains and their human freight destined to the jaws of
murder and to be stacked like logs in a factory of death.
Metatron will record narratives and parts of the album on site in Auschwitz to capture some of the horror of a unique
chapter in history.
Genocide is nothing new in the precarious path of human evolution, but the
systematic murder on an industrialized scale of a race of people is exclusively
German in origin and set in Poland
during World War Two.
The album will focus on the inhumanity of humanity, on the death camps and the
surrounding nations [to their shame] who systematically embraced this
indiscriminate slaughter of unarmed civilians.
Commented Metatron: "Maybe some things are best forgotten, maybe
unspoken. Then again, maybe they should never be forgotten, and if spoken of,
maybe the world will be a better place by remembering."
New York-based extreme metal legends SUFFOCATION are
hard at work on material for their new album, tentatively due next year via Nuclear
Blast Records.
Commented the band: "With no shortage of chaotic mayhem and
earth-shattering slams, the content and concepts are sure to please SUFFOCATION fans new and old. Prepare to receive the mark!"
Relapse Records released SUFFOCATION's only official live record, "The Close Of A Chapter: Live In Quebec City",
on October 27, 2009 in North America and
November 2, 2009 internationally. Recorded in 2005 during the band's "Souls
To Deny" world tour, the CD contains the band's complete, unedited
performance.
SUFFOCATION's latest album, "Blood Oath" (Nuclear
Blast), sold around 3,600 copies in the United States in its first week of
release to debut at position No. 135 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed
at position 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.
The follow-up to 2006's self-titled record, "Blood Oath" was
recorded with Joe Cincotta (who worked on the band's last two releases)
and was mixed by Zack Ohren (ALL SHALL PERISH, DECREPIT BIRTH).
The cover artwork was once again brought to life by Jon Zig (DEEDS OF
FLESH, DISGORGE, GORGASM).
Despite receiving "a record number of complaints from
viewers," Poland's
national television station TVP has refused to fire BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski from the Polish version of the
hit singing competition "The Voice", dubbed "The Voice
Of Poland".
A draft resolution calling for the dismissal of Darski from "The
Voice Of Poland" show was proposed by three of the TVP council's 15 member-board after
protests by conservative bishops.
The bishops lashed out at TVP for its hiring of Darski, who was
found innocent last month of offending religious feelings in connection with a
September 2007 incident when he reportedly called the Catholic Church "the
most murderous cult on the planet" during the band's performance in Gdynia
and tore up a copy of the Bible, calling it "a book of lies."
Rochstar, the company that produces "The Voice Of Poland",
has defended Darski's participation in the program, explaining that he
has proven to be "a warm and friendly man with a great sense of
humor" during his participation in the show.
Ryszard Nowak, head of the All-Polish Committee for Defense Against
Sects, called Nergal "a Satanist and blasphemous criminal,"
adding that his presence on the talent show is a "scandal."
Even though TVP has chosen not to dismiss Darski from "The
Voice", the Polish national daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported that the TV station considered replacing the BEHEMOTH frontman
on the program, but opted against it, in part because several of the show's
episodes have already been taped and are scheduled to be broadcast until late
October.
It was previously reported in the Polish media that the producers of "The
Voice Of Poland" were hoping that Nergal's presence on the program would attract a new
audience as well as improve its chances of competing against rival television
talent-show franchise "X Factor".
"The Voice Of Poland" reportedly gets around 2.2 million viewers an episode.
In a recent interview with Terrorizer magazine, Nergal stated
about his new television gig, "It's going to be fun. The first black metal
judge ever in history doing a mainstream thing, you know? People are going to
freak out! Some are going to love it, some are going to fucking hate it. But
that's what this music has always been about, right? To provoke, to cause
different opinions. The more extreme opinions, the better, I think."
He added of the attention he has received in his home country, "This
so-called celebrity life is not my environment at all, but I am a part of it if
I want it or not. So it's been crazy. Then the whole case with my sickness and
me getting out alive [Nergal was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2010
and underwent a bone marrow transplant procedure in December. — Ed.], it just
brought some extra attention to it. And there's definitely some people that
want to make some money on it because it's a cool story for them to write about
and stuff, but I was like, 'Okay, if they're going to make money, I want to
have my share, too.' I was away from music and away from being active live for
a good year, so yeah, I need to get something in return!"
The American version of "The Voice" was a big hit for NBC and helped breathe new life into the careers of coaches Adam Levine, Blake
Shelton, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green.
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