AEROSMITH drummer Joey
Kramer, a coffee-lovin' Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer introduces Rockin'
& Roastin', an organic, fair trade, custom-roasted coffee.
Now you can get yourself a taste of the rock-star life with Kramer's new
blends available in four different roasts. From regular to decaf, medium to
dark, Ethiopian to Guatemalan, Rockin' & Roastin' has got the brew
for you! Order yours today at RockinAndRoastin.com.
Other musicians who previously rolled out their own lines of coffee include Rob
Zombie, Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) and Dave Mustaine (MEGADETH).
Â
Legendary rock band RUSH will herald the release of its new album, "Clockwork
Angels", with a new single, "Headlong Flight",
landing at rock radio on April 19.
The cover artwork for the single can be seen below.
RUSH's first new collection of original material in over five years and
their first studio release via Anthem/Roadrunner Records, "Clockwork
Angels" will be released on June 12.
The recording of "Clockwork Angels" began in April 2010 with Grammy
Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES)
â€" who also collaborated with the band on their last studio album, 2007's
"Snakes
& Arrows". RUSH co-produced both records. The first two
songs, "Caravan" and "BU2B", were completed
during that first session at Nashville's Blackbird studios and performed nightly
during the wildly successful Time
Machine Tour, which ran from June 2010 to June 2011. Work on "Clockwork
Angels" resumed in the fall of 2011 at Revolution Recording in
Toronto after the tour's finale, with additional strings (arranged by David
Campbell) recorded at Hollywood's Ocean Way Studios earlier this
year. Lyrically, "Clockwork Angels" chronicles a young man's
quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he
attempts to follow his dreams. The story features lost cities, pirates,
anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on
every aspect of daily life. The novelization of "Clockwork Angels" is being
written by science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson in
collaboration with RUSH drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
"Clockwork Angels" track listing:
01. Caravan
02. BU2B
03. Clockwork Angels
04. The Anarchist
05. Carnies
06. Halo Effect
07. Seven Cities Of Gold
08. The Wreckers
09. Headlong Flight
10. BU2B2
11. Wish Them Well
12. The Garden
Â
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/rushheadlongco\
ver.jpg
More than 100,000 tickets to METALLICA's six shows at
the SportsPalace
in Mexico City
â€" scheduled for August 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9 â€" are now officially sold out. As
a
result, the band has added two more dates in Mexico City: July 28 and July 30 at
the same
venue. The band states, "The two additional shows will be the world debut
of our massive new stage show including elements from our entire 30 years of
touring and marking the beginning of a new era in METALLI-shows... you
will definitely need to see it to believe it!"
METALLICA fan-club pre-sale begins Wednesday, April 18 at 11:00 a.m.
local time. The Banamex pre-sale begins Thursday, April 19 at 11:00 a.m.
local time, and any remaining tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, April
20, also at 11:00 a.m. local.
METALLICA announced on March 15 that the band will unveil what the
group's publicist described as a "mind-blowing new stage" in Mexico
"that needs to be seen to be believed." The 140-foot-by-50-foot stage
will feature "colossal components and striking visual elements spanning
METALLICA's
entire 30-year career."
The band itself went further in a post at its official web site, saying,
"After years in the making, we are beyond excited to finally unveil the
all new, out of control, massive stage and METALLI-show . . . Mexico will be
the first to see what will be the cornerstone of our touring escapades for
years to come."
It is not clear whether this production is the highly theatrical show that the
band first discussed back in 2010, with co-manager Peter Mensch saying
it would be METALLICA's "equivalent of [PINK FLOYD's] 'The
Wall'" and would "blow your mind."
When The Pulse Of Radio asked drummer Lars Ulrich about that idea
recently, he said it was one of many projects METALLICA was considering.
"That's still circling also," he said. "None of this stuff goes
away. I mean, we just throw these balls up in the air and then we try to tackle
them one at a time. That one's still in the air, nothing definitive, but it's
still circling. None of these things go away, they just get bigger and costlier
and overwhelm us more (laughs)."
METALLICA last appeared in Mexico in 2009, playing to over
150,000 fans during three sold-out nights at Foro Sol Stadium that were
captured for a live DVD.
The new stage show is said to be twice the size of the production that METALLICA
has been using since 2008 on its "World Magnetic" tour.
Before all this happens, METALLICA will headline its own two-day musical
event, the Orion Music + More festival, scheduled for June 23-24 in Atlantic
City, New Jersey. Over 20 acts are slated to perform.
Legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS
N' ROSES) will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with
host Bob Coburn on Monday, May 21 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET.
Fans are encouraged to speak with Slash by calling 1-800-344-ROCK
(7625).
For more information, visit RocklineRadio.com.
Slash's second solo album, "Apocalyptic Love", will be
released on May 22 via Slash's own label Dik Hayd International distributed
through EMI. In the U.K., the album will be made
available on May 21 in exclusive Classic Rock Fan Pack form â€" providing
a unique collectable package containing the studio album with bonus tracks
alongside a specially created magazine with unseen behind-the-scenes content
put together by Classic Rock. The Fan Pack format will also come with
free gifts, including a pin badge and artwork poster and will be available to
buy via more than 2000 retail outlets on newsstands nationally as well as the
traditional high street and online music retailers. Roadrunner Records will
simultaneously release the record digitally. The standard physical release
of the Slash album will follow through Roadrunner Records on June
18.
For the new album, Slash â€" along with and his bandmates Myles Kennedy
(vocals), Brent Fitz (drums) and Todd Kerns (bass) â€" teamed with
producer Eric Valentine, who also produced the "Slash" disc. All the songs were
written together by Slash and Kennedy,
and cameras have been rolling throughout the entire making of the album.
On Saturday, April 7, Slash shot a "dark" video for the song "You're
A Lie" with director Anthony Leonardi III. Leonardi is
also helming the first feature film produced by Slash, called "Nothing
To Fear", which was recently picked up for distribution by Anchor
Bay Entertainment. The movie is the first of a proposed series of horror
films produced by Slash's company, called Slasher Films, which he
launched last year in partnership with two other producers. The film began
shooting last month in Louisiana,
with Anne Heche and others confirmed for the cast.
Former GUNS N' ROSES members Slash, Duff
McKagan, Steven Adler, Matt Sorum and Gilby Clarke performed
three "Appetite For Destruction" songs with Myles Kennedy at the band's Rock And
Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony earlier
tonight (Saturday, April 14) in Cleveland, Ohio. Kennedy, who handles
lead vocals in Slash's solo band and ALTER BRIDGE, sang "Mr.
Brownstone", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise
City", with "Use Your Illusion"-era member Sorum sitting behind the drum kit on
"Brownstone" and the man he
replaced in GN'R, Adler, pounding the skins for the other two
songs.
"I am overwhelmed," McKagan said of the honor. He also
addressed singer Axl Rose's absence during his acceptance speech,
saying, "I don't know if it matters who's here tonight because it's about
the music that band created."
Slash said, "We have new fans who have never seen the original
lineup and they're pulling for us."
Adler quoted QUEEN's "We Are the Champions":
"You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, and I
thank you all."
GREEN DAY's Billie Joe Armstrong delivered the induction speech
for GN'R, saying, "The first time I saw GUNS N' ROSES on MTV,
I thought, 'One of these guys could end up dead or in jail,'" He raved
about "Appetite For Destruction", calling it "the best
debut album in the history of rock and roll. Every song hits hard. It takes you
a trip to the seedy world of Los Angeles. The thing that set them apart from
everyone
else was guts. They never lost their edge for one second." He also praised
each of the GN'R members, before saying, "Let's see, who am I
missing?" to a round of boos. He then referred to Rose as "one
of the best frontmen to ever touch a microphone," and added, "And
you're fucking crazy. Most singers in bands are, I can vouch for that."
Clarke played guitar with GN'R in the 1990s but was not inducted.
As for the other inductees, Chris Rock inducted the RED HOT CHILI
PEPPERS, Chuck D did the honors for the BEASTIE BOYS, Bette
Midler inducted Laura Nyro, ZZ TOP was on hand for Freddie
King, Carole King inducted Don Kirshner, John Mellencamp paid tribute to Donovan
and Steve Van Zandt handled duties for
the SMALL FACES/FACES.
Some 7,000 fans packed Public Auditorium for the sold-out event.
Â
Ex-GUNS N' ROSES drummer Matt Sorum says that
he feels "truly blessed beyond [his] wildest dreams" to have been
inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame alongside his former GN'R
bandmates.
After being inducted by GREEN DAY's Billie Joe Armstrong last
night (Saturday, April 14) in Cleveland, Ohio, Slash, Duff
McKagan, Steven Adler and Sorum gave short speeches. They
then proceeded to perform three "Appetite For Destruction" songs with
ALTERBRIDGE's Myles
Kennedy handling lead vocals. He sang "Mr. Brownstone", "Sweet
Child O' Mine" and "ParadiseCity", with "Use
Your Illusion"-era member Sorum sitting behind the drum kit on "Brownstone" and
the man he replaced in GN'R, Adler, pounding the skins for
the other two songs.
In a series of tweets from yesterday and today, Sorum wrote, "From
today forward, I will not be commenting on GUNS N' ROSES. Or making any
remarks about the future.
"Thank you to all the fans.
"The legacy continues without my commentary.
"Feel truly blessed today beyond my wildest dreams.
"I was a kid that just loved rock and roll and never new I would see this.
Honored and emotional to the core.
"Eternally grateful to Steven Adler for sharing the stage with me.
Proud of how far he has come to get to get to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.
Congrats, my friend. Your music is a piece of rock and roll history.
"Let's honor the music and its legacy. This is for how great it was to be
in a band with a bunch of pirates!!!! AXL!!!!! AXL!!!!! AXL!!!!
"I said I wouldn't comment to the press. I will do whatever I choose on my
Twitter. Have already been offered 25 press things today and have turned
them all down."
Â
Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart surprised FOREIGNER's leader
and founder Mick Jones when he
presented him with three platinum and one gold award for sales of FOREIGNER's
hit singles "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Waiting
For A Girl Like You", "Hot Blooded" and "Juke
Box Hero" during Thursday night's Texas Motorsports Hall Of Fame gala at Texas
Motor Speedway. A new millennium testament to the current value
of these classic hits is that more than half of the sales that contributed to
the awards were digital downloads registered since 2004.
In addition to the platinum and gold awards, Jones added another on the
evening that recognized FOREIGNER's generosity toward SpeedwayChildren's
Charities-Texas
Chapter. Speedway Children's Charities, which put on the Hall Of Fame
fundraiser, presented Jones on behalf of FOREIGNER with the Maj.
General Thomas Sadler Award. The award is given for humanitarian efforts
that go above and beyond to assist Speedway Children's Charities in
their mission to assist children in North Texas.
"It was a tremendous surprise to have Mick on hand to accept the Maj.
General Thomas Sadler Award," Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie
Gossage said. "FOREIGNER has appeared at more NASCAR-related
events than any other top classic rock band and has been a generous friend to
Speedway
Children's Charities. Just earlier this week they did a benefit acoustic
concert for them. Tony's presentation of the three platinum and one gold
award to Mick was quite a treat for the Hall Of Fame audience and Texas
Motor Speedway. I was particularly delighted to see FOREIGNER's 'Hot
Blooded' get the platinum recognition it deserved, especially since Texas
Motor Speedway has a unique 'No Limits' version of 'Hot Blooded' as its theme
for the entire 2012 season."
Mick, who wrote "Feels Like The First Time", "I
Want To Know What Love Is" and co-wrote and co-produced every FOREIGNER hit,
made the journey to Texas
while recovering from his recent arterial leg surgery. "I hope to be back
in the saddle soon, but nothing could keep me away from this event!" said Mick,
"It is a thrill for us to be part of the NASCAR firmament and a
particular honor to have one of my personal heroes, Tony Stewart,
present us with these awards. Our race day appearances started right here at
the Texas Motor Speedway in the spring of 2009, and they have become a
highlight in our touring season. NASCAR fans are our kind of
people."
"Juke Box Hero" is the band's first all-digital sales award.
FOREIGNER has nine RIAA-certified (Recording Industry
Association Of America) platinum and multi platinum awards. "Foreigner", "Double
Vision", "Head Games", "4", "Agent Provocateur", "Inside Information",
"Records", "The Very Best… And Beyond" and "Complete Greatest
Hits" have all been certified. Now these three singles are added to FOREIGNER's
platinum tally.
"FOREIGNER has some of the most enduring songs in the history of
rock music, so it's no surprise that these legendary tracks continue to have
success in the digital world," said Kevin Gore, President & CEO
of Rhino Entertainment. "Mick Jones' songwriting and
production have combined to create lasting music that still resonates with new
audiences every year. I suspect we'll see more FOREIGNER hits achieving
similar certifications very soon."
Â
Jack Russell had the world in the palm of his hand. Then
poof â€" it disappeared before his very eyes and he found himself on the outside
looking in. And outside was not a safe place to be. Waking up to the hum of
machines and a voice whispering that a friend had died is a cruel reality
check. Jack Russell needed to wake up before it was too late.
Turning the late 80’s on fire with a breakthrough single called “Rock Me,â€
followed by several years of building a reputation as a solid straight-shooting
rock & roll band;Â Great White fell into the pop metal tornado that
engulfed the LA music scene and became famous for Russell’s Plant-like vocals
and Mark Kendall’s blues inspired chords. It was a good time that continued
through several albums, hundreds of gigs and some popular videos showcasing
Russell’s good looks and some blonde chick with a mermaid’s tale.
Jack Russell is a survivor and the time has come where he feels healthy enough
to go back into the fold of his fans and his music with a band he currently
calls Jack Russell’s Great White. And a few weeks ago, while lounging out on
his boat where he lives with his wife, Russell had a lot he wanted to say.
There are so many rumors and there are so many people talking. So can YOU
tell us how you are feeling and what it’s been like these past few years for
you physically and emotionally?
You know, it’s been a long road back. I did damage to my body and it was touch
and go for a while there. I was in a coma at one point for five days with
sepsis from a bowel perforation, where the contents of your bowels seep into
your body and cause a massive infection. The doctors told my wife they weren’t
sure if I was going to make it. They thought I was going to die. I woke up five
days later with a colostomy bag going, what the hell just happened? Oddly
enough, through the whole time, none of my former band members even called me
to see how I was doing or to see if I was even alive. And that really, really
hurt me.
Granted, they’re upset because I cost them some money but it’s like when did
money become more important than a human life; somebody that you called your
friend, that you spent your life with, and that was the beginning of the end
right there. But right now, I’m doing good. My health is great. Sure, I’ve
got
aches and pains, I always will. I’ve got degenerative disease which means
basically it’s vertebrae on vertebrae but it’s tolerable. I can still go out
and do my thing on stage and run around and there’s nothing missing, you know.
My voice is better than it’s ever been because I’ve been taking care of
myself.
A lot of the medicine I was taking, like prednisone, which is a super-radical
anti-inflammatory, which I was taking for my voice because I was being worked so
hard by the guys when I needed some time off. Come to find out it was actually
worse for me than not taking it and that caused a lot of osteoporosis. The
stuff I did because I wanted to sing and now I realize I don’t need it and my
voice is great right now. Notes that I thought I’d lost forever are back, my
voice is stronger than it has been in years and it sounds just like it always
did so I’m really happy, you know.
You had a bulging disk in your back, didn’t you?
Yeah, that was the first thing I had. In my lower back I had a bulging disk and
they did a surgery and two days later it re-herniated. They did another
surgery. It was hard to walk and I went out on the road. I didn’t really want
to but it was kind of like, “Come on, dude, we need the moneyâ€; “Ok,
I’ll go.
I’ll just take a bunch of pain pills and go outâ€. Then I tripped over a
monitor
cable and I shattered my left femur and I finished the show on a stool. But I
lost two units of blood, they rushed me to the emergency room after the show
was done and put a rod down my left femur. Now my left leg is two inches
shorter than my right leg.
After that, it was all downhill. I fell and I broke my right hip and then I had
the colostomy bag, then I shattered my pelvis. Enough, you know. I’m like the
Evel Knievel of rock & roll (laughs). If I had nine lives I’ve spent eight
of them. I just can’t push it anymore. The bottom line was I wanted to take
some time off and my former manager would say, "Ok, yeah, Jack, no
problem, we’re behind you 100%, we’ll pull the tour down but I’ll tell you
as a
friend, it’ll probably ruin your career, because promoters will never trust
you
again. So what do you want to do, just let me know, and I’m behind you all the
wayâ€. So, ok, do I lose my career or do I take a bunch more pills and go on
the
road? So I took a bunch more pills. Then at the end, I was ostracized for
taking the pills. It was ok to take them when I was working. It’s sad when you
have people that you thought were your friends for thirty-something years and
they
turn out to try and knife you in the back. When I found out that they’d filed
for the [Great White] trademark, that just devastated me. That was the only way
to get the name cause they can’t fire me cause it’s my band. The only way
they
could do it is try to steal it from me. But I just found out their trademark
application just got denied.
You played NAMM a few months ago with your new band and the fans seem really
excited to have you back.
The fans are really excited to have me back, God bless them. They’ve been here
to support me all through the downtime and it’s nice that I can vindicate
them.
There were a lot of naysayers â€" “Oh, he’ll never be able to come backâ€
or “He’s
doneâ€. No, I’m not done, I’m far from it. I have a new lease on life.
I’ve been
sober over seven months. I had a colostomy bag and I was still drinking and I
had all these broken bones and I was still drinking and what saved my life was
on August 11 of last year when I woke up from my last surgery, I had a
shattered pelvis, and my wife said, “Jack, your friend Jani Lane just passed
away from alcohol poisoningâ€. And I went, “Oh my God, I’m nextâ€. Then
Steven
Tyler called me up a day or two later and said, “Jack, what the fuck are you
doing?†And I said, “Steven, I don’t know†and he goes, “Man, you got
to get
sober. We don’t want to lose you.†So between that and Jani’s death it
saved my
life. It really did. Being sober, I just feel great again, like myself again,
and I have a new lease on life and my life is wonderful. It is once again a
dream. I live on a beautiful boat with my wonderful wife and every day is an
adventure and it’s just been fantastic.
The only downside right now is all the legal stuff going on with the other
guys. They’re trying to steal my name but that’s all being worked out so
I’m
not concerned about that at this point. It’s just a fly in the ointment,
really.
But yeah, we’re booked all over. We’re just doing weekend shows right now.
Then
in June we’re headlining a tour with Faster Pussycat, BulletBoys and Lillian
Axe. It’s going to be great. We’re going to get on a bus for the first time
in
years and do that and it’s going to be a lot of fun. I haven’t been on a
tour
bus in years.
So you’re ready and raring to go.
Yeah, it’s going to be a blast and I’m looking forward to it. The only
downside
is that I’ll miss my wife. We’re very, very close. She literally saved my
life
three times. She’s a nurse, you know, thank God or I wouldn’t be alive. At
one
point I was a 137 pounds and she used to have to pick me up out of a wheelchair
into my bed, bathe me, feed me. I had to learn how to walk again. Five months
ago I was in a wheelchair permanently and I had to teach myself how to walk
again.
But the tour is going great. We’ve had nothing but sold out shows and it’s
been
wonderful. It’s so nice to be back. I’ve got the best band in the world,
these
guys are phenomenal. I’ve never heard my songs sound so good. We’re doing a
lot
of different stuff in the set so it’s not the same old thing. We’re not a
bunch
of old farts standing around just going through the songs. We’ve changed a lot
of the endings to make them different and exciting. I don’t want to give it
all
away but just make sure you come out and see it. It’s going to blow your mind.
Once there is only one Great White, which is probably going to happen pretty
soon, then the offers are going to get a lot more cause right now there are two
fish in the sea so it kind of dilutes the market. But this is my band, always
has been. I’ve been the only one in the band in every inception. I started it,
I dissolved it at one point, I fired this guy, this guy quit, but I’ve been
the
only constant. I’m like the Northern Star, I’ve always been there (laughs)
Where did you grow up? Aren’t you a California
guy?
Yeah, I grew up all over California.
I’ve been living at the beach for years. I lived out in the desert for ten
years and it just drove me crazy. So my wife and I bought a new boat and moved
back out on the boat and are living in Redondo Beach on the water and it’s
great. I just sit here on
the back of the boat and it’s like living at Sea World. There’re seals all
over
the place and fish jumping out of the water. I’ll take the boat out fishing
all
the time. It’s my kind of life. I’m a pirate, you know, I always have been
and
a pirate belongs on a ship.
What were you like growing up?
I was a fucking nightmare (laughs). I drove my parents crazy, poor people. I
was always in trouble with the law, this that and everything but I was always a
good singer and music was always in my blood. I always knew I was going to be a
rock star. Ever since I was six years old when my parents got me the Beatles
Help album I just knew â€" I didn’t think, I didn’t wish, I just knew. I was
just
waiting around for it to happen. I never worried about it happening because I
always knew it would. I just figured God didn’t give me this voice to sell
hamburgers, you know. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, all work is
honorable, but I knew I had this voice for some reason and the ability to write
songs.
How did you know you had this strong voice?
Well, I was in the Glee Club when I was in Military school and that was my
first experience. When I was eleven years old, I met a guy on the next street
over and we started my first band and I’ve been doing it ever since.
Were you ever nervous on stage?
Only when I’m sick. If I’m sick and my voice isn’t feeling good then I’m
nervous. Other than that, nah. That’s the one place I feel totally at peace.
It’s like the one place I never feel uncomfortable in my own skin.
You always seemed to have this sexy, cool swagger about you. Were you the
cool guy in high school?
You know, I was always different. I was the wearing the things nobody else
wears kind of guy. I was twelve years old and had my ear pierced. I always
dressed different and I didn’t really care what people thought about me, I am
what I am. I was never afraid to be myself. Despite the side-long glances and
the talking behind my back like, “That guy what a freak, what a fagâ€. It
never
bothered me. I knew who I was and I’m confident in that. I love who I am and I
wouldn’t trade myself for anybody. I wouldn’t. You could be Steven Tyler if
you
want â€" nope. I’d rather be Jack Russell. I love my life. It’s been one
hell of
an adventure and it continues to be so. It’s not always good but it’s
definitely never boring (laughs)
What was the first band or musician that just totally blew you away?
Alice Cooper. I used to dress like him and go to high school. I used to paint
my eyes all up and go to school. People thought I was a freak. Oddly enough, it
was cool because I got to meet Alice Cooper and we did a tour in 1989. I
recorded one of his songs one year and he called me up and said, “I’m really
glad you did the songâ€. Actually I just saw him again when I did That Metal
Show. We did the show together so it was good to see him again. He’s a
really wonderful guy, a sweetheart of a man.
What was it about him that caught your attention? Was it the music or the
theatrics?
The music. I really like the songs. The theatrics thing was alright but I just
liked the tunes. After that I got into Zeppelin and Aerosmith, and Steven Tyler
is probably my favorite singer and he is actually a friend, which is really,
really cool. He’s my mentor in a lot of ways and he’s always been there for
me
when I needed him, as busy as he is. He was one musician that called me in the
hospital besides Jani; not the last time but the time before that. My band guys
never called me at all. I haven’t spoken to them in years. But in their
interviews
it’s, “Oh I talk to Jack three times a weekâ€, Mark was saying. I’m like,
it
must have been a different Jack (laughs). It wasn’t me.
The last time I saw Mark was at Jani Lane’s memorial and he had a panic
attack, had to
go to the hospital before the show because he thought he might have to play a
song with me. It is what it is. It’s sad and it really hurts me because these
guys were my friends, we grew up together; but they got sober before I did so I
guess I wasn’t worth waiting for. To me, the voice is the band. That’s the
one
element that makes the band sound like that band. I mean, as good a singer as I
am you couldn’t put me in Aerosmith and call it Aerosmith. Nor could you put
Steven Tyler in Great White and call it Great White. The singer is one element
you cannot change because it is the signature sound of the band. And for those
guys to come out and do a 30th anniversary album and show, it is just
blasphemous. I mean, come on, are you serious? That’s not Great White. They
aren’t in Great White anyway, they were fired. They just don’t want to give
up
the name because that is the only way they can make a living so they’re just
trying to keep using it and it’s unfortunate that people have to be that way.
Had they called me and said, “Hey, dude, we’re sick of your crap and we
don’t
want to play with you anymore, maybe we could work something outâ€, I probably
would have come up with some kind of terms. But they couldn’t do that. So now
it has to go a different way, which is really sad. I thought they were my
friends.
When you started Great White, you were originally called Dante Fox. Where
did that name come from?
It was a friend of the bass player and that was his name, Dante Fox. That was
the name of the band. Actually, when we originally started the band it was
called Highway and then we changed it to Wires and then it became Dante Fox.
Then in 1982, I used to call Mark Kendall the Great White cause he’s so white
and I’m a shark aficionado so it naturally came up that way. The manager at
the
time said, “Hey, why don’t you guys change your name to Great White?†I
thought, what? And Mark was like, “Are you kidding me?†We thought it was
kind
of a stupid name but it grew on us and actually it is a good name cause I love
to shark fish.
When you were starting out, you weren’t really in with the pop metal that
was happening then. You were more straight up rock & roll with a bluesy
undertone. What do YOU think made Great White stand out from everybody else
that was out there on the Strip trying to make it?
We never tried to write formula rock. We just wrote songs that we liked. I
write stuff that I like and hopefully everybody else will like it too. If not,
we’d go broke with integrity. We never sat there and said, “Ok, we need two
ballads, two mid-tempo songsâ€. We just write what we like and if the song’s
any
good you put it on the record. Fortunately we got lucky and the songs we wrote
came out to be really good and people liked them. Great White wasn’t a hair
band. Sure some of the guys in the band liked to spray their hair up, like
Michael Lardie, he looked like he got shock treatment or something (laughs) but
that was the trend. But as far as the band we were a blues rock band, we were
more akin to our influences like Aerosmith.
And we really didn’t play that much. We just kept rehearsing and writing
songs.
There were only a few clubs that we were playing and we weren’t a top 40 band
and we didn’t want to play every single night of the week because then nobody
shows up. You’ve got to make it special, you know. So we’d play like once or
twice a week so not to burn ourselves out and we played mostly like the
Troubadour or the Whiskey and a place in Anaheim
called the Woodstock,
and that was pretty much our three gigs. Occasionally we’d do something else
and that was enough. We put out our own EP and we sold 10,000 copies in Southern
California on our own and then every label in
town wanted to sign us and after that it’s all history. We’ve been on five
different labels. With our record deal with Sony, I got the record deal myself.
John Kalodner didn’t want to deal with anybody else but me. I went in to
negotiate the whole thing and got us a record deal. At one point he told me,
“Jack, I’m not sure if Great White has another good record in them or not
but I
love your voice and I believe in you so I’m going to sign the bandâ€. And
that
made me feel good.
So what happens now with your new band? Are you going to record or stay on
the road for a while?
Oh yeah, we’re going to record. We’ve got stuff in the can already.
When do we get to hear it?
What I think we’re going to do in the next month or so I think we’re going
to
do some live stuff, toss it out for free on YouTube and just let people have
it, not sell it, just give it to them. There’s no point in selling records
anymore. People just download them anyway. As far as a live album goes, I want
to do a live album and just give it away.
You’re feeling good and you’re getting your band together. Some of these
guys
were in Great White before, correct?
Oh yeah, I mean Matt Johnson was in Great White when Mark quit. Derrick Pontier
was in Great White when I fired Audie. So we have former members, they’re all
former members since I fired them (laughs). It’s funny because in their
statement they called it a garage band and I’m thinking, wait a minute, these
guys played with you guys. Why would you call them a garage band? I thought
that was kind of funny, you know.
But I want to say one thing here. The one element of this band that makes it
really unique is I have two lead guitar players. Both of them are virtuosos.
And the stuff they’re able to do together, doing harmonies and trading off
solos, is truly remarkable. And that was something we were never able to
accomplish because, Mark’s a great guitar player and Mike is a good utility
player, but he really couldn’t do the kind of things we’re doing now, which
is
really, really wonderful, it’s out of the box, and makes the songs sound that
much more dynamic.
When did you first start to write songs? And what kind of songs were you
writing about then?
Well, I was younger and it was the same old stupid stuff: chicks and sex
(laughs). As I got older I was really getting into writing about my life and my
life experiences. So each record is basically a snapshot of my life at that
moment, where I was emotionally and spiritually. You could pretty much listen
to any of my records and see exactly where I was at that time. I write about
myself and my experiences and I think that’s what makes it easier for people
to
understand cause no matter who you are or what you do, we all have the same
stuff, we all go through the same shit, and none of us are any different in
that regard. So when you hear a song about somebody’s life you can relate to
your own a lot of times. “Oh you wrote that song for meâ€. And a lot of times
it
seems that way because you touch a chord with somebody. For me, that’s the
most
important thing as a lyricist, to make somebody feel something: sorrow,
happiness, anger, whatever; just tap into their emotions and make them feel
something, make that song special to them even though they may not understand
the meaning of the song as I wrote it, whatever it means to them is what the
song is about.
So the songs you are writing now, are they more positive or more negative?
You know, the ones I am writing now so far have been very positive, but there
are some aspects. I focus on every facet of my life but obviously the last
couple of years haven’t been all fun and games. But I’m not going to write a
song called, “In The Hospital With A Colostomy Bag†or “The Colostomy Bag
Blues†(laughs)
Oh you should (laughs). The fans would get a kick out of it.
Yeah, like “Oh I Shit Myself†(laughs). Of course I’m not going to write
about
that but there’s definitely a blues song in there somewhere. For the most
part,
I want to keep the positive because that’s the way I’m feeling right now,
that’s my life right now, very upbeat and positive. There is a song called
“Footprints†that we wrote and put in the can so far. It’s about that old
poem,
“Footprints In The Sand†where a guy is walking looking at his life and he
looks in the sand and there’s two sets of footprints and he tells Jesus,
“Well,
look Jesus, how come during the worst times in my life there is only one set of
footprints? You weren’t thereâ€. And Jesus goes, “That’s when I was
carrying
youâ€. And that is what the song is about. It’s a beautiful, beautiful song.
It
really is. And regardless of what people’s beliefs are, it could be anything,
your higher power, God, a friend. It doesn’t matter. It’s not per se a
religious song but a spiritual song.
“
House Of Broken Loveâ€, I have to say, is one of my favorite songs.
Yeah, mine too. I wrote that song at 2:00 in the morning in Nashville,
Tennessee.
I woke up out of a dead sleep and wrote that song. I’d left my first wife and
my friend’s wife left him and I moved into his house, there was no furniture,
she took it all, and we were sitting there and drinking a bottle of Boone’s
Farm sitting up against the wall depressed. His brother walks in the front door
and goes, “What is this? The house of broken love?†And I go, “Dude, that
is a
great name for a song. One of these days I’m going to write that songâ€. And
two
years later I did.
In 1988, you told Music Connection Magazine, “When you forget where
you came from then you’re no longer a bandâ€. Do you still believe in that?
Oh yeah, you can’t forget your roots. You have to understand where you came
from. Years ago, I talked about Aerosmith and Joe Perry sent me a message
saying, “You know, I’m flattered by your comment but you need to look
farther
backâ€. So I started investigating a lot of old blues players and to really see
where it came from, like Lightnin’ Hopkins and Howlin’ Wolf and Willie
Dixon.
And I started to really uncover where rock & roll came from, back to these
old guys on the porch in Kentucky
singing, “Waaaahhhhhaa, I got me a new dog and he just diedâ€. So I really
started to discover the roots of the music and it really made my writing a lot
more diverse, to know where it all kind of came from. And I suggest that to any
musician who goes, “Oh Justin Bieber is my influenceâ€, you need to go back
and
really, really discover and think about where music actually came from. That’s
going to help you a lot.
Who was the first real rock star that you ever met?
It would have been Rob Halford actually. I was twenty-two. I met him at the
Troubadour one night, he happened to stop by, and I said, “Dude, you don’t
know
who I am but one of these days I’m going to open up for youâ€. And he said,
“Alright, good luck to youâ€. Two years later we were opening up for him on
the
Defenders Of The Faith album. I told him, “You don’t remember this but
…†And
he’s like, “That’s an amazing story, Ladâ€.
What do you like to do when you’re not concentrating on music?
I fish, I scuba dive, I sky dive, I surf. I just started surfing again last
week. I don’t know if you can call it surfing. I ate about a mouthful of sand
and drank about half an ocean of water (laughs). I think a couple more times
I’ll be back up on the board. I mean, it’s been years since I surfed but it
was
nice to get out there again.
That means you’re getting your strength back.
Yeah absolutely and things like that help. We just did Disneyland.
I must have walked fifty miles, man. God, that place is huge. I’ve forgotten
how big it was. I took my wife there for her birthday and it was our
anniversary last Sunday and her birthday was the Sunday before.
Any plans to start a family? I’ve noticed that a lot of musicians in your
age group are only now starting families.
I would love to but I’m just too old right now. I’m 51 years old and I just
don’t want to start a family right now. I want to spend time with my wife.
She’s twelve years younger than me and I’m probably not going to be here and
she’s going to be a young widow so I want to spend as much time with her as I
can. We’re like soul mates in every sense of the word. I’ve never had a love
this great. Every minute together is precious. To bring a child into this
world, it’s just such a messed up place and who knows what it’s going to be.
But I do have one child from a girl in high school I was with and I have a
stepson and they are both named Matthew (laughs)
But my wife is truly, truly amazing. God brought her into my life to save my
life and she did. Every day with her is a blessing. She is the most wonderful
woman I’ve ever met in my life and I worship that woman. I am very happy.
Guns N Roses is riding a new wave of success, having recently toured the
country playing to sold out crowds, so join us next week to learn more about
GNR guitar player Richard Fortus.
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Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach performed at Carioca Club in São Paulo,
Brazil last
night (Saturday, April 14) as part of a short South American headlining tour.
Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.
After the show, Bach posted the following message on his Facebook page:
"Well, that was crazy. Thank you, São Paulo, for being an incredible crowd
tonight.
"It is frustrating for us to play in smaller venues sometimes. The crowds
are insane and we just got physically attacked trying to leave the venue. Hair
was pulled, crew members got punched, my ears are blown because of the sheer
excitement and pandemonium playing this place tonight.
"I know you all want a picture, but we can only do so many pictures with
you all. It's impossible to take a picture with every single one of you.
"After playing stadiums here for years, playing the theatre tonight just
didn't make sense. We had to do an early show to make room for the samba band
coming in after us and it really wasn't fair to the band or the fans.
"Doing four cities in four nights by plane is insanely gruelling and it's
hard for the fans to understand how physically demanding this is.
"I would love to hang out with you all, but everyone gets so excited they
just grab and pull and scream and it's not that much fun to be grabbed and
yanked and pulled at for hours on end.
"We try to give all our energy onstage, so please try and realize we are
just human beings when we are done with the show.
"If I dont feel like posing for pictures for hours on end, it doesn't mean
I don't like you. It means that I would rather maybe talk, hang out, relax a
little.
"I love you all!
"Please try and understand we are people just like you.
"If I walked up to you and pulled your hair or screamed at you, maybe you
wouldn't like it either.
"We are on a crazy schedule, so please bear with us.
"Don't shoot me â€" I'm only the piano player, okay!
"Thanks, São Paulo.
See you again in a couple of days!"
Â
Bach completed a short run of North American dates in
February and is scheduled to take part in the Rock 'N' Roll Allstars tour, which
will hit the road in South and Central America
in late April/early May.
Sebastian's new album, "Kicking & Screaming", sold
6,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land
at position No. 73 on The Billboard 200 chart. The singer's previous CD, "Angel
Down", opened with 6,400 units back in November 2007 to debut at No.
190.
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According to USA Today, former PANTERA/DOWN and current KILL
DEVIL HILL bassist Rex Brown owes $449,567 to the federal government
in back taxes and penalties. Five tax liens have been filed by the Internal
Revenue Service, including the most recent and largest lien, for $210,157,
in his former home state of Texas
in January. A sixth lien for $72,695 was released by the IRS in 2008,
which likely means that those back taxes were paid.
The federal government can seize Brown's share of PANTERA's
revenue, including royalties from his record and songwriting credits, if a
payment plan is not worked out.
Brown last year signed a deal with Da Capo Press to write a
memoir. Due in the fall, "Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story
Of Pantera" is described as a "starkly honest and revealing"
book about Rex's time in one of the most influential and enduringly
popular bands in heavy metal history, offering Brown's shocking personal
insight into a band that had swapped the grimy clubs of Texas for arenas around
the world but whose story would ultimately be touched by tragedy.
De Capo is the publisher of BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi's
book "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black
Sabbath" and SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey
Taylor's New York Times best seller "Seven Deadly Sins -
Settling The Argument Between Born Bad And Damaged Good".
PANTERA's "Vulgar Display Of Power", a landmark album
widely acknowledged as one of metal's most enduring and influential
masterworks, will be reissued for its 20th anniversary on May 15 as a two-disc
Deluxe Edition. Recorded by singer Philip Anselmo, guitarist "Dimebag"
Darrell Abbott, Brown and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, the
album has been certified double platinum by the RIAA and features
several of the group's most iconic songs including "Walk", "Mouth
For War", "This Love" and "Fucking
Hostile".
The self-titled debut album from KILL DEVIL HILL â€" the band featuring Brown,
Vinny Appice (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, DIO)
on drums, Mark Zavon (RATT, W.A.S.P. , 40 CYCLE HUM)
on guitar and Jason "Dewey" Bragg (PISSING RAZORS) on
vocals â€" will be released at the end of May via SPV/Steamhammer.
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"The Electric Age", the new album from New Jersey thrash metal veterans
OVERKILL, has
registered the following first-week chart positions:
Germany: #34
Switzerland: #62
Austria:
#73
Commented singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth: "Danke, Europa!
'The Electric Age' has arrived! More good spots in the charts, thanks to YOU!
See you at the festivals this summer and on tour in October."
"The Electric Age" sold 6,500 copies in the United States
in its first week of release to debut at position No. 77 on The Billboard 200
chart.
OVERKILL's previous CD, "Ironbound", opened with 4,100
units to enter the chart at No. 192. The effort landed at No. 4 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 Electric Age" track listing:
01. Come And Get It
02. Electric Rattlesnake
03. Wish You Were Dead
04. Black Daze
05. Save Yourself
06. Drop The Hammer Down
07. 21st Century Man
08. Old Wounds, New Scars
09. All Over But The Shouting
10. Good Night
The "Electric Rattlesnake" video can be seen below. The clip
was directed by Kevin J. Custer (HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, SUFFOCATION),
who previously worked with OVERKILL on the "Bring Me The
Night" video.
"Damn, this one BITES hard! Kevin Custer did it again! So plug us
in yeah, set us free, this is a thrashing vid the way it's supposed to be! Here
we go kids, 'Electric Rattlesnake'!" says Bobby
"Blitz" Ellsworth.
"The Electric Age" was recorded and mixed at Gear Recording
Studios in New Jersey,
owned and operated by OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni.
OVERKILL will embark on the "Killfest 2" headlining
tour in April/May. Support on the trek will come from BELPHEGOR, BLACKGUARD and
DIAMOND PLATE.
OVERKILL is Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (vocals), D.D.
Verni (bass, backing vocals), Derek "The Skull" Tailer (rhythm guitar, backing
vocals), Dave Linsk (lead guitar, backing
vocals) and Ron Lipnicki (drums).
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German alcoholic thrashers TANKARD have set "A
Girl Called Cerveza" as the title of their 30th-anniversary album, due
at the end of July via the band's new label home, Nuclear Blast Records.
The CD is currently being recorded at Studio 23 in Frankfurt
with producer Michael Mainx (ONKELZ, DER W, DISBELIEF, D-A-D).
The second part of the "A Girl Called Cerveza" album cover can
be seen below (hidden behind beer cans).
TANKARD's fourteenth studio album, "Vol(l)ume 14", was
released on December 17, 2010 via AFM Records. The limited-edition
digipak version of the album includes a bonus DVD containing footage of
TANKARD's
performance at the 2009 edition of the Headbangers Open Air festival,
which took place July 23-25, 2009 in in Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany.
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A heavy metal fan from Washington, D.C. by the name of Bryan
Buchanan was surprised with "the most metal birthday cake ever"
this past weekend.
Bryan, who just turned 30, tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET, "It's the
best cake I've ever seen, let alone received!"
Although Bryan's girlfriend, Vanessa,
came up with the design, the cake was actually made by Charm City Cakes in
Baltimore, Maryland.
According to a posting on the Charm City Cakes web site, the company
"was started in March of 2000 when Chef Duff had tired of wandering
the country and decided to settle in Baltimore.
At first, Chef Duff was just making a few cakes for friends and family,
but as word got out about his uncommon creations, business picked up fast. In
March of 2002, Chef Duff was getting so inundated with cake orders that
he decided to fling off the oppression of his day job and make cake baking his
full-time gig! He quickly outgrew his home kitchen and two bakeries; in August
of 2005 he bought a 6,000-square-foot cake compound in Remington. Today, Charm
City Cakes has grown to a staff of eleven friends who make cakes, listen to
music, and eat a lot of sushi."
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The Rave Live will stream KITTIE's April 17
concert from The Rave in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin.They will be joined by BLACKGUARD, BONDED BY BLOOD and CANDY
MACHINE GUNS.
The webcast is scheduled for Tuesday, April 17 at 9 p.m. Eastern / 8 p.m.
Central / 6 p.m. Pacific and will be available free of charge. This performance
will be streamed live and will be available for viewing at TheRaveLive.com.
KITTIE recently parted ways with bassist Ivy Vujic and was
rejoined by Trish Doan. Doan was previously with the band from
2005 to 2007, appearing on the band's 2007 release "Funeral For
Yesterday".
KITTIE's new album, "I've Failed You", sold 3,000
copies in the United States
in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200
chart.
The band's previous CD, "In The Black", opened with around
3,400 units back in 2009 to land at No. 132.
KITTIE's fourth album, "Funeral for Yesterday",
registered a first-week tally of 9,000 in February 2007 to enter the chart at
No. 101.
"I've Failed You" was released on August 30, 2011 via eOne
Music. The CD was recorded at Beach Road Studios in Goderich, Ontario, Canada.
The
band once again worked with producer Siegfried "Siggy" Meier,
who helmed KITTIE's last CD, 2009's "In The Black".
Bassist Jason Christopher â€" who filled in for Shawn Economaki during STONE
SOUR's spring 2011 tour and who previously played with SLIPKNOT/STONE
SOUR frontman Corey Taylor in the JUNK BEER KIDNAP BAND â€"
recently joined Bach's solo group. Bach said, "I have known Jason for years,
ever since he tried to pickpocket me at the Rainbow [in West Hollywood] aeons
ago."
New EPICA bassist Rob van der Loo (MAYAN, DELAIN),
who recently joined the band as the replacement for Yves Huts, has
released the following statement:
"Yesterday I've experienced some serious and unexpected health issues. To
make sure I can be treated correctly, I have to run a couple of tests at the
hospital, and my doctors also advised me to take some rest before going on full
power again. Though this is hard for me to accept, it's also something which I
have to respect since health is a very precious thing. This does mean that I
won't be able to be on the [EPICA] European tour until all examinations
are done (hopefully wihin the next couple of days). Of course I will join the
band as soon as possible, but unfortunately I can't give an exact date as of
yet. I wish the rest of the band and crew all the best for the start of the
tour and I really can't wait to join!"
The rest of EPICA said in a statement, "Despite these unforseen
circumstances, we'll kick off the European tour today with a temporary solution
for Rob's absence. While we await his return we wish him a swift
recovery. The show must go on!"
EPICA's fifth full-length album, "Requiem For The
Indifferent", sold 4,800 copies in the United States in its first week of
release to debut at position No. 104 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's
previous CD, "Design Your Universe", opened with 2,100 units
to land at position No. 12 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart,
which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as
those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
"Requiem For The Indifferent" was released on March 9 in
Europe and four days later in North America
via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Gate Studio in Wolfsburg,
Germany
under the watchful eye of Sascha Paeth.
A video for "Storm The Sorrow" was filmed in February and it
"will show the band in a way you have never seen before," according
to a press release.
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BENT SEA, the grindcore formation lad by
drummer/guitarist Dirk Verbeuren (SOILWORK, ABORTED, DEVIN
TOWNSEND PROJECT), has been joined by legendary NAPALM DEATH bass
player Shane Embury. Completed by vocalist Sven De Caluwé (ABORTED, SYSTEM
DIVIDE), the trio is currently recording new music for several
upcoming releases.
"Working with Shane is a dream come true for both Sven and
myself," said Verbeuren. "First Devin, now Shane â€" it doesn’t get much
better than that in my book! We're super-excited about
our new songs and impatient to get them out there."
Formed in January 2011 by Verbeuren, BENTSEA self-released its Devin
Townsend-produced debut EP, "Noistalgia",
in November. Townsend played bass on the 11-song EP, which is due out
shortly as a limited cassette via Tankcrimes. The digital version of
"Noistalgia" is available directly from the band through their webstore.
Decibel magazine describes "Noistalgia" as
"rousing, ripping, aptly-titled . . . a dead-on evocation of NAPALM
DEATH and REPULSION, which remembers just how catchy and deceptively
dynamic those old classic albums were." Blistering.com calls it
"grindcore done right" and VoicesFromTheDarkside.de says it's BENTSEA's "firmly
drawn allegiance
to the old that makes this EP so great."
"Noistalgia" track listing:
01. Noistalgia
02. Digital Disaster
03. Blast Beat Barrage
04. A Common Affliction
05. In One Word
06. Grind Control
07. Tripwire Target
08. Sustained Idiocy
09. Dead Meat
10. Truth Will Out
11. Fool For Life
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EX DEO, the Ancient Roman-themed arsenal fronted by KATAKLYSM singer Maurizio
Iacono, has completed work on its sophomore album, "Caligvla",
for an August 31 release via Austria's Napalm Records. The CD was mixed
by KATAKLYSM guitarist Jean-François Dagenais, who has previously
worked with MALEVOLENT CREATION, MISERY INDEX and DESPISED
ICON, among others. The artwork and layout for the album will be handled by
SEPTICFLESH's Seth Siro Anton.
Commented the band: "Eight months in the making and we are sure we have a
classic album in our hands, producer JF Dagenais has done a fabulous and
great production, all guests appearances are massive, the gods are pleased.
Expect the artwork to be unveiled very soon and also a new teaser trailer.
Where all have failed in the past... EX DEO will succeed, Roma caput
mundi!! Epic Roman-inspired metal!!"
EX DEO debuted a brand new song "I, Caligvla", on April
1 at Club Soda in Montreal, Quebec, Canada as part of the "Paganfest America
Part III" tour with TURISAS, ALESTORM, ARKONA and HUNTRESS. Video footage of the
performance can be seen below.
In addition to the previously announced guest appearances by ALL SHALL
PERISH guitarist Francesco Artusato and TRISTANIA singer Mariangela
Demurtas, "Caligvla" will feature contributions from SEPTICFLESH's Seth Siro
Anton and GRAVEWORM's Stefano Fiori. Every
invited guest on the album is of Roman or Greek descent.
"Caligvla" track listing:
01. I, Caligvla
02. The Tiberius Cliff (Exile To Capri)
03. Per Oculos Aquila
04. Pollice Verso (Damnatio Ad Bestia)
05. Divide Et Impera
06. Burned To Serve As Nocturnal Light
07. Teutuborg (Ambush Of Varus)
08. Along The Appian Way
09. Once Were Romans
10. Evocatio: The Temple Of Castor & Pollux
The "Caligvla" cover artwork can be seen below.
EX DEO recently canceled its participation in the "Paganfest America Part
III" tour due to delays in the production of "Caligvla".
The band still performed with Paganfest on April 1 in Montreal
at Club Soda and April 2 in Toronto
at The Opera House.
EX DEO last year completed a North American tour with NILE, PSYCROPTIC and KEEP
OF KALESSIN.
"Romulus", the debut album from EX DEO, landed at
position No. 90 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.
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New York-based progressive/gothic metallers DESDEMON have officially called it
quits. The group says in a statement, "We as a
band would like to thank everyone that has supported DESDEMON. With a
humble heart, we will no longer continue down this path together. We all
mutually feel that through thick and thin, this band has lived its life. Again,
we thank you all, past members, fans, and anyone that we have had the pleasure
of crossing paths with."
DESDEMON last year announced the addition of female singer Chelsea
Knaack to the group's ranks.
After a series of auditions, this Minnesota native flew out to New York and
recorded DESDEMON's most recent album, "Through The Gates",
which came out last summer. The CD featured guest appearances by Tim
"Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, YNGWIE
MALMSTEEN, CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, BEYOND FEAR), Amanda
Somerville (AVANTASIA, SOMERVILLE/KISKE, HDK, EPICA), Sander Gommans (AFTER
FOREVER, HDK, SOMERVILLE/KISKE)
and Joe Stump (HOLYHELL)
Â
SCYTHE, new band formed out of the ashes of legendary
underground metal act USURPER, will play a record-release show for its debut
CD, "Beware The Scythe", on April 27 at Reggie's Rock Club in
Chicago. Also scheduled to appear are STONE MAGNUM, MIDNIGHT and THE
GATES OF SLUMBER.
"Beware The Scythe" is out now on CD through Primitive
Reaction Records (Finland);
limited-edition vinyl via R.I.P. Records; as well as a digital download
through iTunes and Amazon MP3.
According to a press release, SCYTHE takes up where USURPER left
off, with traditional thrashing black/death metal anthems and complete poser
annihilation!"
"Beware The Scythe" track listing:
01. The Iron Witch
02. Mastermind
03. Beware The Scythe
04. Tyrannical Stranglehold
05. TunguskaDeath Ray
06. Opus Dei Of The Dead
07. Talons Of Steel
08. Eye Of The Crow
09. Planet Of The Humans
SCYTHE is:
Rick Scythe: Guitar, Vocals
Dan Geist: Bass, Vocals
Tim Pearson: Drums
For more information, visit www.scythe.us.
Â
The next album from Canadian musician/producer Devin
Townsend to be released under the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT banner is "Epicloud",
a "poppy, proggy" record which will feature a guest appearance by
former THE GATHERING frontwoman and previous Devin collaborator Anneke
Van Giersbergen.
Anneke, who is currently recording her vocals for "Epicloud" at Devin's studio
in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,
wrote in a Facebook posting, "Mister Devin Townsend is a
genius. I cannot tell you how awesomely fantastic his album will be. Epic!
Epic! Epic! And he made me do 20 hours of the loudest and most gorgeous vocals
I've ever done."
Added Devin, "Epicloud: weirding out one gospel choir at a
time since this afternoon, 2012. Anneke killing it, yet again..."
Townsend debuted a song from "Epicloud" called "Back
Where We Belong" during an acoustic performance this on March 31 at
Club Saw in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada as part of this year's Junofest.
The idea for "Epicloud" came about while Devin was
attempting to write material for the follow-up to his 2007 "Ziltoid The
Omniscient" concept album about a fictional extraterrestrial being
named Ziltoid from the planet Ziltoidia 9.
In a recent interview with Soundwave TV, Devin stated about how "Epicloud" was
conceived, "In this sort of process of writing that I've discovered
that I guess I'm capable of now, with a sober frame of mind, part of that is
just not second-guessing it, so if I write something like that, I just do it,
and just finish it."
He continued, "Over the past couple of years, I thought, 'OK, I've gotta
write this next 'Ziltoid' thing; I'm inspired to make this epic space
opera and, like, really overdo it, and [make it] really dark. And so I sat down
to write, but every time I went to write, I'd write some poppy hard rock thing.
And I was like, 'OK, we'll get that one out of the way and then I'll write
'Ziltoid'.'
And I got it out of the way and I'd go write 'Ziltoid'. And I'd write
another one. So I'm thinking, 'OK, it's pretty obvious to me that I've got this
that wants to come out before that.'"
Regarding the musical direction of "Epicloud", Devin told Noisecreep, "Over the
course of the full record, there's sort
of new agey stuff, jazzy stuff, really heavy stuff. We basically cover the
gamut. 'Epicloud' is the first record that I felt confident enough to
include all those things on one record so it goes between melodic hard rock to
schizophrenic heavy metal to country to really ambient stuff and it's all in
one place. I'm using a gospel choir, a string section and a horn section for
this one as well. On [the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT album] 'Deconstruction',
I got to use the Prague Philharmonic [orchestra] and really go far into
making an absurd album as over the top as possible and on 'Epicloud' I'm
trying to take the same advantages to make some things musically very pleasing,
as opposed to just claustrophobic."
"Epicloud" will contain the following tracks:
* Taurus
* Animals
* Liberation
* Back Where We Belong
* Save Our Now
* Kingdom (re-recording of PHYSICIST song)
* Divine
* Grace
* More!
* Heatwave
* Hold On
* Angels
On the topic of his decision to re-record "Kingdom", a song
from his PHYSICIST album, which came out in 2000 on Townsend's
label, HevyDevy Records, Devin said, "We re-did 'Kingdom' because it's a live
set staple, and so much better now than the PHYSICIST recording."
Â
Canadian extreme metallers KATAKLYSM will embark on a
North American summer headlining tour, "The Iron Will Tour 2012",
in August. Support on the trek will come from ORIGIN, FLESHGOD
APOCALYPSE, ROSE FUNERAL and VITAL REMAINS. The dates follow
below.
With ORIGIN, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE and ROSE FUNERAL:
Aug. 11 - Montreal, QC - Heavy MTL
Aug. 12 - Toronto, ON - Heavy TO
Aug. 13 - Detroit, MI - Blondie's
Aug. 17 - Regina, SK - The Exchange *
Aug. 18 - Calgary, AB - The Distillery *
Aug. 19 - Kelowna, BC - Sapphire Night Club *
Aug. 20 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre *
Aug. 21 - Prince George, BC - The Generator *
Aug. 22 - Edmonton, AB - Pawn Shop *
Aug. 23 - Brandon, MB - North Hill Inn *
Aug. 24 - Winnipeg, MB - Park Theatre *
With FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, VITAL REMAINS and ROSE FUNERAL:
Aug. 25 - Saint Paul, MN - Station 4 **
Aug. 26 - Chicago, IL - Reggie's Rock Club **
Aug. 27 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's
Aug. 31 - Springfield, VA - Jaxx
Sep. 02 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
Sep. 04 - Houston, TX - Numbers Night Club
Sep. 05 - Dallas, TX - Trees
* with DIABHOLICO (feat. ex-KATAKLYSM member)
** with ORIGIN
KATAKLYSM will release a multidisc DVD, "The Iron Will: 20 Years
Determined", on June 19 via Nuclear Blast. The set will depict
the ups and downs of the band's long, turbulent career, as well as footage of
KATAKLYSM's
performance at last year's Summer Breeze festival, which took place
August 18-20, 2011 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany. The cover art for the release was
created by artist Colin Marks (ORIGIN, EXODUS, NEVERMORE)
and can be viewed below.
Commented KATAKLYSM frontman Maurizio Iacono: "Director Tommy
Jones has really captured the band's story and magic on this thing. I'm
super-excited; this DVD will turn many heads. Our fans will be proud. Most of
all, I got memories immortalized of a beautiful story. If we don't earn the
respect with this, then the ones not giving it are in the wrong biz."
KATAKLYSM recently recorded the single "The Iron Will" in Montreal, Canada with
guitarist/producer Jean-François
Dagenais. It was mixed Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, BEHEMOTH, MNEMIC) in Denmark
and will be made available with a video clip on iTunes one month before
the release of "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".
KATAKLYSM's "At The Edge Of The World" video was filmed
on March 20, 2011 at the band's hometown show at Club Soda. This concert also
marked the end of the group's "Spread the Venom" European/North American tour.
The video was helmed by director Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, SOILWORK), who is
also working with KATAKLYSM on "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".
KATAKLYSM's latest album, "Heaven's Venom", sold around
2,400 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.
KATAKLYSM's previous CD, "Prevail", opened with 2,250
units back in June 2008.
"Heaven's Venom" was produced by Jean-Francois Dagenais and was mixed by Tue
Madsen (THE HAUNTED, MNEMIC, DARK
TRANQUILLITY).
Â
After five years of absence, progressive rock band THE
FLOWER KINGS will release its new studio album on June 19 in North America
and June 18 in Europe. Led by mastermind Roine
Stolt (TRANSATLANTIC), the groups new CD is called "Banks Of Eden" and will be
released via InsideOut Music. The material is classic THE
FLOWER KINGS, with all the dreamy, melodic and cinematic elements that fans
around the globe have learned to love over the years. However, the 2012
incarnation of the band mixes it up with both psychedelic and darker metal
passages that place this album somewhere in between the late 60's proto prog
and the new generation of art rock.
Comments Roine: "It was both a scary and exciting prospect to go
back into the studio after an almost five-year-long, well-earned hiatus. We
have all been active with TRANSATLANTIC, KARMAKANIC, AGENTS OF
MERCY since, so we were up to speed in the playing department, but starting THE
FLOWER KINGS again put some weight on my shoulders, I suppose, but
it's fun. We knew we could make an album 'cause this is what we do and we know
we do it good, but the question was if we had anything new or anything
important to contribute in 2012, in a time when the Internet fills every hour
with entertainment and every town or village seems to have emerging prog
superstars. Realizing now with ELP, CRIMSON, GENESIS, GENTLE
GIANT and PINK FLOYD being history, we are among the new eldermen of
prog and we feel responsible for keeping the standard up, so a lot of hard work
is gonna go into the coming months. The core members were there and for this
re-starting of THE FLOWER KINGS, we brought in new 26-year-old drummer
prodigy Felix Lehrmann. Without playing one single note together, or no
audition, we started the recording at Varispeed studios in Sweden, January
23rd, taking a big, big chance. It is with happy smiles on our faces that we
can conclude that it was a jackpot and a great choice and we feel Felix is gonna
breathe life into both the new and old material in a live setting,
possibly with a more hard hitting edge. His outgoing personality and general
love for music and playing will be very evident live and for coming albums I
can feel he may contribute even in writing. The progressive daredevil at the
helm made us start the new album with a 25-minute epic centrepiece that is NOT
easy listening, it is in fact a quite demanding task. But the material also has
all classic elements of THE FLOWER KINGS style with all the dreamy
melodic and cinematic glow sprinkled all over, that the band's fans have come
to love over the years. My advice is: just give it time and it will be very
rewarding."
While in the studio recording "Banks Of Eden", the band filmed a few
behind-the-scenes videos allowing fans the chance to share this experience with
them. Several other videos should be released in the coming weeks, and the
first one can be seen here:
THE FLOWER KINGS will play their first official reunion gig at the Sweden
Rock Festival in June and will be embarking on an extended headline tour
across Europe in September.
Â
According to a Facebook posting by vocalist Phil Labonte of
Massachusetts metallers ALL THAT REMAINS, "rumor has it" that HALESTORM singer
Lzzy Hale will sing a duet with Labonte on a song on ALL
THAT REMAINS' new album, tentatively due before the end of the year.
ALL THAT REMAINS is once again working with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam
Dutkiewicz, who also helmed ALL THAT REMAINS'
latest album, 2010's "For We Are Many", as well as 2004's "This
Darkened Heart" and 2006's "The Fall of Ideals".
ALL THAT REMAINS's "The Last Time" video (directed by
Nathan Cox) was recently added to MTV2. The clip was filmed on January
30, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois with director Nathan
"Karma" Cox (LINKIN PARK, BLACK VEIL BRIDES, MARILYN
MANSON). The song comes off "For We Are Many", which
debuted at No. 10 on The Billboard 200 chart while also coming in at No. 1 on
the Hard Music Albums chart.
"For We Are Many" sold 29,000 copies in the United States
in its first week of release. The band's previous CD, "Overcome",
opened with just under 29,000 units in September 2008 to enter The Billboard
200 chart at No. 16.
"For We Are Many" was released through a joint venture between Prosthetic
Records and Razor & Tie. The CD was recorded last
spring at Zing Studios in Massachusetts
and produced by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, who
also helmed ALL THAT REMAINS' "This Darkened Heart" and "The Fall of Ideals".
Â
Â
Artist Series Guitar (ASG) has announced the
release of the exclusive signature guitar from one of the most influential
hardcore bands of all time, AGNOSTIC FRONT. The guitar, a.k.a. Stigma,
marks the 30th anniversary of this gritty New York City punk institution and is
named for main
songwriter and guitarist Vinnie Stigma.
Responsible for helping to define the urban New York hardcore sound with 1984's
"Victim In Pain" album and known as one of the first bands to
introduce heavy metal to hardcore punk in 1986's "Cause For Alarm", AGNOSTIC
FRONT's Stigma guitar was designed by the bandmembers
themselves and is a flat-back SG classic adorned with the band's signature
combat boot logo.
AGNOSTIC FRONT vocalist Roger Miret speaks of the symbolism of
the guitar, saying, "I think the guitar is perfect for the working class
musician endorsed by the ultimate working-class band! The boots symbol has
always been of the same character. Hardcore has been our life. Our dedication
to this movement has been our passion. Our boots stomped the way into NYHC
history."
Stigma will be available to purchase on April 24 and has a limited
production of 500 guitars worldwide.
For more information, go to this location.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/afguitar.jpg
Â
Before he suffered a heart attack and underwent an emergency
operation in late March, Jerry Gaskill, drummer for legendary rockers KING'S
X, was busy demoing material for his upcoming solo album with
Nashville-based songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist D.A. Karkos.
In a new online posting, Karkos writes about Gaskill's upcoming
CD, "As of now, we have 11 killer songs that we believe will be some of Jerry's
(and my) best work to date. And when the time comes, we plan on having some
very special guest musicians/friends lend some of their talents to the record
as well. Needless to say (but I'm saying it anyway), we are very excited about
all of this!
"And to quote Jerry, speaking of his recent heart attack and
recovery from his public thank you video: 'This is a really bad situation that
I think has turned into a really good situation.' There is no doubt in our
minds that we we'll see evidence of this truth on this record."
In 2005, Karkos was guitarist and backing vocalist for Gaskill's
well-received solo performances on the East Coast and became songwriting foil
and producer afterward. He helped Jerry write and arrange the song "Julie",
which appeared on KING'S X's fifteenth album.
The Karkos/Gaskill partnership will bear further creative fruit
in a 2012 album on EMMJAM Records.
Â
Norwegian singer Liv Kristine (LEAVES' EYES,
ex-THEATRE OF TRAGEDY) last year entered Mastersound Studio in Steinheim,
Germany
â€" the facility owned by her husband, Alexander Krull (ATROCITY, LEAVES'
EYES) â€" to begin recording her fourth solo album. She is collaborating on
the effort with Dutch musician J.B. van der Wal (ABORTED, DR.
DOOM), who recently joined LEAVES' EYES and ATROCITY as the
two bands' new bassist.
One of the tracks from Kristine's forthcoming CD is called "Vanilla
Skin Delight" and is a duet with German singer Tobias Regner,
the third-season winner of "Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar",
the German reality show in the style of "American Idol".
Commented Liv: "[Tobias'] voice just fascinates me, and as
soon as we had made the decision that we would want a male singer on 'Vanilla
Skin Delight', I thought it would be just perfect having Tobias'
powerful and warm voice completing this composition, i.e. turning it into a
real rock song duet. Fortunately, our friend and movie-maker Konrad Hollenstein
was able to provide us with the necessary contact information, thus we were
able to get hold of Tobias the very next day. 48 hours later, Tobias knocked on
the door and I was very happy and grateful that he had found his way
to Mastersound Studio. We realized straight away that we have so much in
common (sports, both being born on the country side, good and bad experience
with the music business, touring, red wine, art...), despite the fact that we
come from completely different musical backgrounds: Tobias winning 'Deutschland
Sucht Den Superstar', the German version of 'Pop Idol', in 2006,
compared to my own revolutionary beginnings with THEATRE OF TRAGEDY in
the Nineties.
"Here we are, being duet partners in the same song. Moreover, it felt like
we had known each other for a long time.
"Tobias is a very open-minded, warm-hearted and fine guy, with whom
I really would like sharing stage with sometime in the future. He is a
fantastic rock singer, and he is highly professional. I asked him to sing in
the way he felt the most comfortable with. 'Vanilla Skin Delight' will
blow you away!"
Added Tobias: "To be honest, I have to admit that the style of
music that [Liv] is doing with LEAVES' EYES is not 100% my
favorite one, so I don't know Liv as good as her fans do. I got to know
her as a very open-hearted person who is happy with what she's doing and loves
to sing and compose music. She was so down to earth that I didn't feel like
standing in front of a star. We exchanged experiences concerning our musical
past and after a glass of red wine we started recording. I think this must have
been one of the most effective days of recording I've experienced so far. The
atmosphere was so relaxed that there was absolutely no need to get nervous. I
just felt very focused and into it. So after a few hours it was done, and Liv
was very happy with my work."
Liv debuted one of her new tracks, "Libertine", at a
special concert on December 2, 2011 at Alte Seminarturnhalle in Nagold, Germany
under the banner "One Night With Liv Kristine". Liv performed acoustic versions
of her original songs as well as a few covers,
including tracks from LEAVES' EYES and THEATRE OF TRAGEDY.
Liv Kristine's third solo album, "Skintight", came out
in North America in September 2010 via Napalm
Records. The follow-up to 2006's "Enter My Religion" was
recorded at Mastersound Studio and the artwork was created by Stefan
Heilemann.
Â
Drummer Alex Rüdinger has left Canadian metallers THREAT
SIGNAL. He tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET in a statement, "A lot has
been changing for me in recent months and I've decided that it is time to move
on from THREAT SIGNAL and pursue other things. I made some good friends
in that band and had some good experiences. I wish them all the best of luck
with their future musical endeavors.
"I have some new and exciting things going on and I couldn't be more
stoked about them. An announcement will be made on the topic in the near
future, so be on the lookout!"
THREAT SIGNAL's third, self-titled album was released last October via Nuclear
Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Planet Z studios in Hadley, Massachusetts
with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (CHIMAIRA, HATEBREED, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE
ACACIA STRAIN, BORN OF OSIRIS, SHADOWS
FALL).
"Threat Signal" track listing:
01. Uncensored
02. Comatose
03. New WorldOrder
04. Trust In None
05. Face The Day
06. Fallen Disciples
07. Disposition
08. Death Before Dishonor
09. Buried Alive
10. Resistance (bonus track)
Â
Toronto, Ontario, Canada's WARMACHINE has announced the addition of drummer
Darren Smith (HAREM
SCAREM) to the group's ranks. Smith joins the band as the
replacement for Dave Langguth (NELLY FURTADO, RIK EMMETT, GILBY
CLARKE), who was in WARMACHINE for less than a year.
WARMACHINE's next live appearance will take place on May 31 at The
Rockpile in Etobicoke, Ontario.
WARMACHINE filmed a video for the song "Moving On" in
December with director/producer Jeff Hazin of Obsolete Talko
Productions.
"Moving On" comes off WARMACHINE's latest album, "Left
For Dead", which was released in July 2011 via JMD Records. The
CD was once again produced by Murray Daigle and was recorded in Canada.
WARMACHINE's "Raw in the Hammer" DVD contains footage
from the band's January 20, 2007 concert at The Underground in Hamilton, a
documentary on the band's
history, behind-the-scenes footage and more.
WARMACHINE's debut album, "The Beginning of the End",
was released in 2006 in North America via Nightmare
Records.
"The Beginning of the End" features a guest appearance on
three tracks ("Betrayed", "Empty" and "Taunted
Souls") by MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.
For more information, visit www.warmachineonline.com.
Masters of Sumerian black/thrash metal MELECHESH will
be joined by session bass player Scorpios of the American black metal
band CRIMSON MOON.
Scorpios has been residing in Germany
for several years and will be arriving in Amsterdam
on Tuesday for intensive rehearsal sessions. His first show will be April 20 at
Dubai's Holy
Noise metal event. This will mark MELECHESH's second performance in Dubai,
having first
played there in 2009 at the Sand Storm festival.
MELECHESH will release a digital EP called "Mystics Of The
Pillar II" on April 27 in Europe and May 1 in the U.S. via Nuclear
Blast Records.
The EP will contain the following tracks:
01. Mystics Of The Pillar (Alternate Ending)
02. Sacred Geometry (Instrumental)
03. The Epigenesis (Instrumental)
Commented MELECHESH mainman Ashmedi: "We recorded two
different ending version of 'Mystics Of The Pillar' â€" this one changes
tempo and picks up steam. Why? Because we felt like it; a song with two
different endings is not too common in this day and age. Last minute we chose
one to be included on the album, thus the second version was not mixed and
mastered
'till a much later date. We also decided to release a couple of instrumental
versions to our songs, namely 'The Epigenesis' title track, which is a
12-13 minute epic, and 'Sacred Geometry'. Both are multi-faceted and
work perfect just as instrumental works. We actually have an instrumental
version of the entire album mixed and mastered so enjoy these couple of
tracks."
"The Epigenesis" was recorded in the recently built Babajim
Studios in Istanbul, Turkey and was mixed by Reuben
de Lautour and mastered by Pieter Snapper.
The "The Epigenesis" cover art was created by the U.K.-based
renowned occult artist John Coulthart, who had already collaborated with
MELECHESH in the past.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/melechdubai.jp\
g
Â
Swedish extreme metallers SHINING will release an EP
of cover songs with a choice of material that will come as a surprise to many
of the band's fans. The four-track EP, titled "Lots of Girls Gonna Get
Hurt", includes tracks from KATATONIA, KENT, IMPERIET and POETS OF THE FALL, and
is due for release on Spinefarm Records on May 16.
While KATATONIA is an internationally recognised name, KENT and Thåström's
IMPERIET are relatively unknown outside of Sweden, where they are two of the
country's biggest names, and POETS OF THE FALL is a Finnish band with a
substantial following in their own country. Cover art is by Pauline
Greefhorst.
Commenting on the decision to release an EP of covers, as well as on the choice
of material, SHINING's frontman and founder Niklas Kvarforth had
this to say: "In no way should this EP be seen as a new direction for SHINING,
and it is absolutely no indication of what you can expect from our upcoming
eighth album. Like most musicians neither myself, nor the rest of the band,
restrict ourselves to listening to only one genre of music. We all have
eclectic tastes, and finding ourselves with some spare time in the studio, we
recorded a total of six covers, and decided to release four of them. This EP
simply represents some of the artists and music that we like. We know that
those fans of SHINING who limit themselves to a narrow musical spectrum
will hate the album, but that really is of no concern to us."
SHINING's as-yet-untitled eighth full-length album will be released in
the fall.
Â
Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based extreme metallers KATAKLYSM will release a
multidisc DVD, "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined",
on June 19 via Nuclear Blast. The set will depict the ups and downs of
the band's long, turbulent career, as well as footage of KATAKLYSM's
performance at last year's Summer Breeze festival, which took place
August 18-20, 2011 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany. The cover art for the release was
created by artist Colin Marks (ORIGIN, EXODUS, NEVERMORE)
and can be viewed below.
Commented KATAKLYSM frontman Maurizio Iacono: "Director Tommy
Jones has really captured the band's story and magic on this thing. I'm
super-excited; this DVD will turn many heads. Our fans will be proud. Most of
all, I got memories immortalized of a beautiful story. If we don't earn the
respect with this, then the ones not giving it are in the wrong biz."
The third trailer for "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined" can
be seen below.
KATAKLYSM recently recorded the single "The Iron Will" in Montreal, Canada with
guitarist/producer Jean-François
Dagenais. It was mixed Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, BEHEMOTH, MNEMIC) in Denmark
and will be made available with a video clip on iTunes one month before
the release of "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".
KATAKLYSM's "At The Edge Of The World" video was filmed
on March 20, 2011 at the band's hometown show at Club Soda. This concert also
marked the end of the group's "Spread the Venom" European/North American tour.
The video was helmed by director Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, SOILWORK), who is
also working with KATAKLYSM on "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".
KATAKLYSM's latest album, "Heaven's Venom", sold around
2,400 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.
KATAKLYSM's previous CD, "Prevail", opened with 2,250
units back in June 2008.
"Heaven's Venom" was produced by Jean-Francois Dagenais and was mixed by Tue
Madsen (THE HAUNTED, MNEMIC, DARK
TRANQUILLITY).
Â
Â
Eric Greif, the former manager of DEATH and
president of Perseverance Holdings Ltd., which manages Chuck
Schuldiner's (DEATH, CONTROL DENIED) legacy, was interviewed
at the DEATH/Schuldiner portion of the Golden Gods: The
History Of Heavy Metal exhibition, which opened on April 11 at the Grammy
Museum in Los Angeles, California. You can watch the chat below. Through
rare artifacts from iconic metal bands and interactive experiences, the exhibit
teaches visitors about the origins of heavy metal, its many subgenres, the
bands that made heavy metal famous and offers a look into the controversy that
has surrounded the genre for the past four decades.
Launching on the same day as the Revolver Golden Gods award show taking
place next door at Club Nokia at L.A. Live, this is the first major museum
exhibition to explore heavy metal in America, and the genre's impact
across the globe. Visitors can enjoy a wide-array of items, including:
* Handwritten lyrics and sketches from MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy Kilmister;
* Several wardrobe pieces, from acts like BLACK SABBATH and GWAR;
* Stage props from bands such as Alice Cooper, IRON MAIDEN, SLAYER and more;
* An interactive "scream booth," designed to introduce metal vocal
technique;
* Several famous guitars including Chuck Schuldiner's (DEATH)
B.C. Rich Stealth;
* Concert posters, tour books and fan memorabilia
Exhibit runs until February 2013.
Chuck died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a
rare type of brain tumor.
Â
Century Media Records will release the complete demo
recordings of Swedish death metallers EVOCATION. Entitled "Evoked
From Demonic Depths - The Early Years", it will feature the following
tracks:
01. A Wind Has Risen
02. Through The Darkened Peril
03. The Ancient Gate
04. Desolated Spirits
05. On A Journey To Heaven
06. Where The Headstones Shine
07. Veils Were Blown
08. Spiritual Affinity
09. Outro
10. On A Journey To Heaven (rehearsal)
11. Where The Headstones Shine (rehearsal)
12. Spiritual Affinity (rehearsal)
13. Veils Were Blown (rehearsal)
14. Genesis
Video enhancements
15. The Ancient Gate (live at Gamlestaden, Gothenburg 1992)
16. Genesis (live at Gamlestaden, Gothenburg 1992)
17. Where The Headstones Shine (live at Gamlestaden, Gothenburg 1992)
Tracks 1 to 4 are taken from the "The Ancient Gate" demo,
tracks 5 to 9 from the "Promo 1992" demo. Tracks 10 to 13 are
previously unreleased rehearsal tracks and as a very special the band has
recorded the unreleased track "Genesis", which has been
written in 1992, but so far has never ever been available before (track 14).
"Genesis" was recorded at IF Studios (IN FLAMES, THE HAUNTED) by
producer Robert Laghi. All tracks have been mastered at Fascination
Street Studio (OPETH, PARADISELOST, ENSLAVED, GRAND MAGUS and many more). The
remastering
of the demo tracks was done using the original master tapes. The CD version
also includes three live bootleg video enhancements as a bonus.
Besides the historical musical content, the release is packed with in-depth
information on the history of EVOCATION. A foreword has been written by Anzo
Sadoni (Metal Hammer), Björn-Thorsten Jaschinski (Rock
Hard, Legacy) and Frank Schenk (Chaos magazine) took a
deep dive into EVOCATION's history from their start in 1991 until the
reunion in 2005 and on until the release of the band's highly praised third
studio album "Apocalyptic". Guitarist Marko Palmén comments on every song and
gives not just a glimpse but a detailed view into
the writing process of the demos. All this information gets underlined by an
elaborate usage of band photos, concert flyers and other visual content from
the years 1991 to 1993 and the noble and balanced layout by Xaay (NILE,
BEHEMOTH).
"Evoked From Demonic Depths - The Early Years" will be
released as CD with 32-page booklet and an O-card as well as on deluxe 2LP
(180g vinyls, gatefold sleeve, printed inner sleeves) and as digital download.
The album will be released on the following dates:
* Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway: Friday, June 22
* Spain, Italy: Tuesday, June 26
* Sweden, Finland, Hungary: Wednesday, June 27
* Rest Of Europe: Monday, June 25
* Australia, New Zealand: Friday, June 29
EVOCATION recently entered IF Studios, the IN FLAMES-owned
facility in Gothenburg, Sweden, with producer Roberto Laghi (IN
FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE, HARDCORE SUPERSTAR) to begin
recording its fourth album for a late 2012 release via the band's new label
home, Century Media Records.
EVOCATION's third album, "Apocalyptic", was released on October
29, 2010 via Cyclone Empire Records.
Kramer, a coffee-lovin' Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer introduces Rockin'
& Roastin', an organic, fair trade, custom-roasted coffee.
Now you can get yourself a taste of the rock-star life with Kramer's new
blends available in four different roasts. From regular to decaf, medium to
dark, Ethiopian to Guatemalan, Rockin' & Roastin' has got the brew
for you! Order yours today at RockinAndRoastin.com.
Other musicians who previously rolled out their own lines of coffee include Rob
Zombie, Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) and Dave Mustaine (MEGADETH).
Â
Legendary rock band RUSH will herald the release of its new album, "Clockwork
Angels", with a new single, "Headlong Flight",
landing at rock radio on April 19.
The cover artwork for the single can be seen below.
RUSH's first new collection of original material in over five years and
their first studio release via Anthem/Roadrunner Records, "Clockwork
Angels" will be released on June 12.
The recording of "Clockwork Angels" began in April 2010 with Grammy
Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES)
â€" who also collaborated with the band on their last studio album, 2007's
"Snakes
& Arrows". RUSH co-produced both records. The first two
songs, "Caravan" and "BU2B", were completed
during that first session at Nashville's Blackbird studios and performed nightly
during the wildly successful Time
Machine Tour, which ran from June 2010 to June 2011. Work on "Clockwork
Angels" resumed in the fall of 2011 at Revolution Recording in
Toronto after the tour's finale, with additional strings (arranged by David
Campbell) recorded at Hollywood's Ocean Way Studios earlier this
year. Lyrically, "Clockwork Angels" chronicles a young man's
quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he
attempts to follow his dreams. The story features lost cities, pirates,
anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on
every aspect of daily life. The novelization of "Clockwork Angels" is being
written by science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson in
collaboration with RUSH drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
"Clockwork Angels" track listing:
01. Caravan
02. BU2B
03. Clockwork Angels
04. The Anarchist
05. Carnies
06. Halo Effect
07. Seven Cities Of Gold
08. The Wreckers
09. Headlong Flight
10. BU2B2
11. Wish Them Well
12. The Garden
Â
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/rushheadlongco\
ver.jpg
More than 100,000 tickets to METALLICA's six shows at
the SportsPalace
in Mexico City
â€" scheduled for August 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9 â€" are now officially sold out. As
a
result, the band has added two more dates in Mexico City: July 28 and July 30 at
the same
venue. The band states, "The two additional shows will be the world debut
of our massive new stage show including elements from our entire 30 years of
touring and marking the beginning of a new era in METALLI-shows... you
will definitely need to see it to believe it!"
METALLICA fan-club pre-sale begins Wednesday, April 18 at 11:00 a.m.
local time. The Banamex pre-sale begins Thursday, April 19 at 11:00 a.m.
local time, and any remaining tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, April
20, also at 11:00 a.m. local.
METALLICA announced on March 15 that the band will unveil what the
group's publicist described as a "mind-blowing new stage" in Mexico
"that needs to be seen to be believed." The 140-foot-by-50-foot stage
will feature "colossal components and striking visual elements spanning
METALLICA's
entire 30-year career."
The band itself went further in a post at its official web site, saying,
"After years in the making, we are beyond excited to finally unveil the
all new, out of control, massive stage and METALLI-show . . . Mexico will be
the first to see what will be the cornerstone of our touring escapades for
years to come."
It is not clear whether this production is the highly theatrical show that the
band first discussed back in 2010, with co-manager Peter Mensch saying
it would be METALLICA's "equivalent of [PINK FLOYD's] 'The
Wall'" and would "blow your mind."
When The Pulse Of Radio asked drummer Lars Ulrich about that idea
recently, he said it was one of many projects METALLICA was considering.
"That's still circling also," he said. "None of this stuff goes
away. I mean, we just throw these balls up in the air and then we try to tackle
them one at a time. That one's still in the air, nothing definitive, but it's
still circling. None of these things go away, they just get bigger and costlier
and overwhelm us more (laughs)."
METALLICA last appeared in Mexico in 2009, playing to over
150,000 fans during three sold-out nights at Foro Sol Stadium that were
captured for a live DVD.
The new stage show is said to be twice the size of the production that METALLICA
has been using since 2008 on its "World Magnetic" tour.
Before all this happens, METALLICA will headline its own two-day musical
event, the Orion Music + More festival, scheduled for June 23-24 in Atlantic
City, New Jersey. Over 20 acts are slated to perform.
Legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS
N' ROSES) will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with
host Bob Coburn on Monday, May 21 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET.
Fans are encouraged to speak with Slash by calling 1-800-344-ROCK
(7625).
For more information, visit RocklineRadio.com.
Slash's second solo album, "Apocalyptic Love", will be
released on May 22 via Slash's own label Dik Hayd International distributed
through EMI. In the U.K., the album will be made
available on May 21 in exclusive Classic Rock Fan Pack form â€" providing
a unique collectable package containing the studio album with bonus tracks
alongside a specially created magazine with unseen behind-the-scenes content
put together by Classic Rock. The Fan Pack format will also come with
free gifts, including a pin badge and artwork poster and will be available to
buy via more than 2000 retail outlets on newsstands nationally as well as the
traditional high street and online music retailers. Roadrunner Records will
simultaneously release the record digitally. The standard physical release
of the Slash album will follow through Roadrunner Records on June
18.
For the new album, Slash â€" along with and his bandmates Myles Kennedy
(vocals), Brent Fitz (drums) and Todd Kerns (bass) â€" teamed with
producer Eric Valentine, who also produced the "Slash" disc. All the songs were
written together by Slash and Kennedy,
and cameras have been rolling throughout the entire making of the album.
On Saturday, April 7, Slash shot a "dark" video for the song "You're
A Lie" with director Anthony Leonardi III. Leonardi is
also helming the first feature film produced by Slash, called "Nothing
To Fear", which was recently picked up for distribution by Anchor
Bay Entertainment. The movie is the first of a proposed series of horror
films produced by Slash's company, called Slasher Films, which he
launched last year in partnership with two other producers. The film began
shooting last month in Louisiana,
with Anne Heche and others confirmed for the cast.
Former GUNS N' ROSES members Slash, Duff
McKagan, Steven Adler, Matt Sorum and Gilby Clarke performed
three "Appetite For Destruction" songs with Myles Kennedy at the band's Rock And
Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony earlier
tonight (Saturday, April 14) in Cleveland, Ohio. Kennedy, who handles
lead vocals in Slash's solo band and ALTER BRIDGE, sang "Mr.
Brownstone", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise
City", with "Use Your Illusion"-era member Sorum sitting behind the drum kit on
"Brownstone" and the man he
replaced in GN'R, Adler, pounding the skins for the other two
songs.
"I am overwhelmed," McKagan said of the honor. He also
addressed singer Axl Rose's absence during his acceptance speech,
saying, "I don't know if it matters who's here tonight because it's about
the music that band created."
Slash said, "We have new fans who have never seen the original
lineup and they're pulling for us."
Adler quoted QUEEN's "We Are the Champions":
"You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, and I
thank you all."
GREEN DAY's Billie Joe Armstrong delivered the induction speech
for GN'R, saying, "The first time I saw GUNS N' ROSES on MTV,
I thought, 'One of these guys could end up dead or in jail,'" He raved
about "Appetite For Destruction", calling it "the best
debut album in the history of rock and roll. Every song hits hard. It takes you
a trip to the seedy world of Los Angeles. The thing that set them apart from
everyone
else was guts. They never lost their edge for one second." He also praised
each of the GN'R members, before saying, "Let's see, who am I
missing?" to a round of boos. He then referred to Rose as "one
of the best frontmen to ever touch a microphone," and added, "And
you're fucking crazy. Most singers in bands are, I can vouch for that."
Clarke played guitar with GN'R in the 1990s but was not inducted.
As for the other inductees, Chris Rock inducted the RED HOT CHILI
PEPPERS, Chuck D did the honors for the BEASTIE BOYS, Bette
Midler inducted Laura Nyro, ZZ TOP was on hand for Freddie
King, Carole King inducted Don Kirshner, John Mellencamp paid tribute to Donovan
and Steve Van Zandt handled duties for
the SMALL FACES/FACES.
Some 7,000 fans packed Public Auditorium for the sold-out event.
Â
Ex-GUNS N' ROSES drummer Matt Sorum says that
he feels "truly blessed beyond [his] wildest dreams" to have been
inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame alongside his former GN'R
bandmates.
After being inducted by GREEN DAY's Billie Joe Armstrong last
night (Saturday, April 14) in Cleveland, Ohio, Slash, Duff
McKagan, Steven Adler and Sorum gave short speeches. They
then proceeded to perform three "Appetite For Destruction" songs with
ALTERBRIDGE's Myles
Kennedy handling lead vocals. He sang "Mr. Brownstone", "Sweet
Child O' Mine" and "ParadiseCity", with "Use
Your Illusion"-era member Sorum sitting behind the drum kit on "Brownstone" and
the man he replaced in GN'R, Adler, pounding the skins for
the other two songs.
In a series of tweets from yesterday and today, Sorum wrote, "From
today forward, I will not be commenting on GUNS N' ROSES. Or making any
remarks about the future.
"Thank you to all the fans.
"The legacy continues without my commentary.
"Feel truly blessed today beyond my wildest dreams.
"I was a kid that just loved rock and roll and never new I would see this.
Honored and emotional to the core.
"Eternally grateful to Steven Adler for sharing the stage with me.
Proud of how far he has come to get to get to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.
Congrats, my friend. Your music is a piece of rock and roll history.
"Let's honor the music and its legacy. This is for how great it was to be
in a band with a bunch of pirates!!!! AXL!!!!! AXL!!!!! AXL!!!!
"I said I wouldn't comment to the press. I will do whatever I choose on my
Twitter. Have already been offered 25 press things today and have turned
them all down."
Â
Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart surprised FOREIGNER's leader
and founder Mick Jones when he
presented him with three platinum and one gold award for sales of FOREIGNER's
hit singles "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Waiting
For A Girl Like You", "Hot Blooded" and "Juke
Box Hero" during Thursday night's Texas Motorsports Hall Of Fame gala at Texas
Motor Speedway. A new millennium testament to the current value
of these classic hits is that more than half of the sales that contributed to
the awards were digital downloads registered since 2004.
In addition to the platinum and gold awards, Jones added another on the
evening that recognized FOREIGNER's generosity toward SpeedwayChildren's
Charities-Texas
Chapter. Speedway Children's Charities, which put on the Hall Of Fame
fundraiser, presented Jones on behalf of FOREIGNER with the Maj.
General Thomas Sadler Award. The award is given for humanitarian efforts
that go above and beyond to assist Speedway Children's Charities in
their mission to assist children in North Texas.
"It was a tremendous surprise to have Mick on hand to accept the Maj.
General Thomas Sadler Award," Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie
Gossage said. "FOREIGNER has appeared at more NASCAR-related
events than any other top classic rock band and has been a generous friend to
Speedway
Children's Charities. Just earlier this week they did a benefit acoustic
concert for them. Tony's presentation of the three platinum and one gold
award to Mick was quite a treat for the Hall Of Fame audience and Texas
Motor Speedway. I was particularly delighted to see FOREIGNER's 'Hot
Blooded' get the platinum recognition it deserved, especially since Texas
Motor Speedway has a unique 'No Limits' version of 'Hot Blooded' as its theme
for the entire 2012 season."
Mick, who wrote "Feels Like The First Time", "I
Want To Know What Love Is" and co-wrote and co-produced every FOREIGNER hit,
made the journey to Texas
while recovering from his recent arterial leg surgery. "I hope to be back
in the saddle soon, but nothing could keep me away from this event!" said Mick,
"It is a thrill for us to be part of the NASCAR firmament and a
particular honor to have one of my personal heroes, Tony Stewart,
present us with these awards. Our race day appearances started right here at
the Texas Motor Speedway in the spring of 2009, and they have become a
highlight in our touring season. NASCAR fans are our kind of
people."
"Juke Box Hero" is the band's first all-digital sales award.
FOREIGNER has nine RIAA-certified (Recording Industry
Association Of America) platinum and multi platinum awards. "Foreigner", "Double
Vision", "Head Games", "4", "Agent Provocateur", "Inside Information",
"Records", "The Very Best… And Beyond" and "Complete Greatest
Hits" have all been certified. Now these three singles are added to FOREIGNER's
platinum tally.
"FOREIGNER has some of the most enduring songs in the history of
rock music, so it's no surprise that these legendary tracks continue to have
success in the digital world," said Kevin Gore, President & CEO
of Rhino Entertainment. "Mick Jones' songwriting and
production have combined to create lasting music that still resonates with new
audiences every year. I suspect we'll see more FOREIGNER hits achieving
similar certifications very soon."
Â
Jack Russell had the world in the palm of his hand. Then
poof â€" it disappeared before his very eyes and he found himself on the outside
looking in. And outside was not a safe place to be. Waking up to the hum of
machines and a voice whispering that a friend had died is a cruel reality
check. Jack Russell needed to wake up before it was too late.
Turning the late 80’s on fire with a breakthrough single called “Rock Me,â€
followed by several years of building a reputation as a solid straight-shooting
rock & roll band;Â Great White fell into the pop metal tornado that
engulfed the LA music scene and became famous for Russell’s Plant-like vocals
and Mark Kendall’s blues inspired chords. It was a good time that continued
through several albums, hundreds of gigs and some popular videos showcasing
Russell’s good looks and some blonde chick with a mermaid’s tale.
Jack Russell is a survivor and the time has come where he feels healthy enough
to go back into the fold of his fans and his music with a band he currently
calls Jack Russell’s Great White. And a few weeks ago, while lounging out on
his boat where he lives with his wife, Russell had a lot he wanted to say.
There are so many rumors and there are so many people talking. So can YOU
tell us how you are feeling and what it’s been like these past few years for
you physically and emotionally?
You know, it’s been a long road back. I did damage to my body and it was touch
and go for a while there. I was in a coma at one point for five days with
sepsis from a bowel perforation, where the contents of your bowels seep into
your body and cause a massive infection. The doctors told my wife they weren’t
sure if I was going to make it. They thought I was going to die. I woke up five
days later with a colostomy bag going, what the hell just happened? Oddly
enough, through the whole time, none of my former band members even called me
to see how I was doing or to see if I was even alive. And that really, really
hurt me.
Granted, they’re upset because I cost them some money but it’s like when did
money become more important than a human life; somebody that you called your
friend, that you spent your life with, and that was the beginning of the end
right there. But right now, I’m doing good. My health is great. Sure, I’ve
got
aches and pains, I always will. I’ve got degenerative disease which means
basically it’s vertebrae on vertebrae but it’s tolerable. I can still go out
and do my thing on stage and run around and there’s nothing missing, you know.
My voice is better than it’s ever been because I’ve been taking care of
myself.
A lot of the medicine I was taking, like prednisone, which is a super-radical
anti-inflammatory, which I was taking for my voice because I was being worked so
hard by the guys when I needed some time off. Come to find out it was actually
worse for me than not taking it and that caused a lot of osteoporosis. The
stuff I did because I wanted to sing and now I realize I don’t need it and my
voice is great right now. Notes that I thought I’d lost forever are back, my
voice is stronger than it has been in years and it sounds just like it always
did so I’m really happy, you know.
You had a bulging disk in your back, didn’t you?
Yeah, that was the first thing I had. In my lower back I had a bulging disk and
they did a surgery and two days later it re-herniated. They did another
surgery. It was hard to walk and I went out on the road. I didn’t really want
to but it was kind of like, “Come on, dude, we need the moneyâ€; “Ok,
I’ll go.
I’ll just take a bunch of pain pills and go outâ€. Then I tripped over a
monitor
cable and I shattered my left femur and I finished the show on a stool. But I
lost two units of blood, they rushed me to the emergency room after the show
was done and put a rod down my left femur. Now my left leg is two inches
shorter than my right leg.
After that, it was all downhill. I fell and I broke my right hip and then I had
the colostomy bag, then I shattered my pelvis. Enough, you know. I’m like the
Evel Knievel of rock & roll (laughs). If I had nine lives I’ve spent eight
of them. I just can’t push it anymore. The bottom line was I wanted to take
some time off and my former manager would say, "Ok, yeah, Jack, no
problem, we’re behind you 100%, we’ll pull the tour down but I’ll tell you
as a
friend, it’ll probably ruin your career, because promoters will never trust
you
again. So what do you want to do, just let me know, and I’m behind you all the
wayâ€. So, ok, do I lose my career or do I take a bunch more pills and go on
the
road? So I took a bunch more pills. Then at the end, I was ostracized for
taking the pills. It was ok to take them when I was working. It’s sad when you
have people that you thought were your friends for thirty-something years and
they
turn out to try and knife you in the back. When I found out that they’d filed
for the [Great White] trademark, that just devastated me. That was the only way
to get the name cause they can’t fire me cause it’s my band. The only way
they
could do it is try to steal it from me. But I just found out their trademark
application just got denied.
You played NAMM a few months ago with your new band and the fans seem really
excited to have you back.
The fans are really excited to have me back, God bless them. They’ve been here
to support me all through the downtime and it’s nice that I can vindicate
them.
There were a lot of naysayers â€" “Oh, he’ll never be able to come backâ€
or “He’s
doneâ€. No, I’m not done, I’m far from it. I have a new lease on life.
I’ve been
sober over seven months. I had a colostomy bag and I was still drinking and I
had all these broken bones and I was still drinking and what saved my life was
on August 11 of last year when I woke up from my last surgery, I had a
shattered pelvis, and my wife said, “Jack, your friend Jani Lane just passed
away from alcohol poisoningâ€. And I went, “Oh my God, I’m nextâ€. Then
Steven
Tyler called me up a day or two later and said, “Jack, what the fuck are you
doing?†And I said, “Steven, I don’t know†and he goes, “Man, you got
to get
sober. We don’t want to lose you.†So between that and Jani’s death it
saved my
life. It really did. Being sober, I just feel great again, like myself again,
and I have a new lease on life and my life is wonderful. It is once again a
dream. I live on a beautiful boat with my wonderful wife and every day is an
adventure and it’s just been fantastic.
The only downside right now is all the legal stuff going on with the other
guys. They’re trying to steal my name but that’s all being worked out so
I’m
not concerned about that at this point. It’s just a fly in the ointment,
really.
But yeah, we’re booked all over. We’re just doing weekend shows right now.
Then
in June we’re headlining a tour with Faster Pussycat, BulletBoys and Lillian
Axe. It’s going to be great. We’re going to get on a bus for the first time
in
years and do that and it’s going to be a lot of fun. I haven’t been on a
tour
bus in years.
So you’re ready and raring to go.
Yeah, it’s going to be a blast and I’m looking forward to it. The only
downside
is that I’ll miss my wife. We’re very, very close. She literally saved my
life
three times. She’s a nurse, you know, thank God or I wouldn’t be alive. At
one
point I was a 137 pounds and she used to have to pick me up out of a wheelchair
into my bed, bathe me, feed me. I had to learn how to walk again. Five months
ago I was in a wheelchair permanently and I had to teach myself how to walk
again.
But the tour is going great. We’ve had nothing but sold out shows and it’s
been
wonderful. It’s so nice to be back. I’ve got the best band in the world,
these
guys are phenomenal. I’ve never heard my songs sound so good. We’re doing a
lot
of different stuff in the set so it’s not the same old thing. We’re not a
bunch
of old farts standing around just going through the songs. We’ve changed a lot
of the endings to make them different and exciting. I don’t want to give it
all
away but just make sure you come out and see it. It’s going to blow your mind.
Once there is only one Great White, which is probably going to happen pretty
soon, then the offers are going to get a lot more cause right now there are two
fish in the sea so it kind of dilutes the market. But this is my band, always
has been. I’ve been the only one in the band in every inception. I started it,
I dissolved it at one point, I fired this guy, this guy quit, but I’ve been
the
only constant. I’m like the Northern Star, I’ve always been there (laughs)
Where did you grow up? Aren’t you a California
guy?
Yeah, I grew up all over California.
I’ve been living at the beach for years. I lived out in the desert for ten
years and it just drove me crazy. So my wife and I bought a new boat and moved
back out on the boat and are living in Redondo Beach on the water and it’s
great. I just sit here on
the back of the boat and it’s like living at Sea World. There’re seals all
over
the place and fish jumping out of the water. I’ll take the boat out fishing
all
the time. It’s my kind of life. I’m a pirate, you know, I always have been
and
a pirate belongs on a ship.
What were you like growing up?
I was a fucking nightmare (laughs). I drove my parents crazy, poor people. I
was always in trouble with the law, this that and everything but I was always a
good singer and music was always in my blood. I always knew I was going to be a
rock star. Ever since I was six years old when my parents got me the Beatles
Help album I just knew â€" I didn’t think, I didn’t wish, I just knew. I was
just
waiting around for it to happen. I never worried about it happening because I
always knew it would. I just figured God didn’t give me this voice to sell
hamburgers, you know. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, all work is
honorable, but I knew I had this voice for some reason and the ability to write
songs.
How did you know you had this strong voice?
Well, I was in the Glee Club when I was in Military school and that was my
first experience. When I was eleven years old, I met a guy on the next street
over and we started my first band and I’ve been doing it ever since.
Were you ever nervous on stage?
Only when I’m sick. If I’m sick and my voice isn’t feeling good then I’m
nervous. Other than that, nah. That’s the one place I feel totally at peace.
It’s like the one place I never feel uncomfortable in my own skin.
You always seemed to have this sexy, cool swagger about you. Were you the
cool guy in high school?
You know, I was always different. I was the wearing the things nobody else
wears kind of guy. I was twelve years old and had my ear pierced. I always
dressed different and I didn’t really care what people thought about me, I am
what I am. I was never afraid to be myself. Despite the side-long glances and
the talking behind my back like, “That guy what a freak, what a fagâ€. It
never
bothered me. I knew who I was and I’m confident in that. I love who I am and I
wouldn’t trade myself for anybody. I wouldn’t. You could be Steven Tyler if
you
want â€" nope. I’d rather be Jack Russell. I love my life. It’s been one
hell of
an adventure and it continues to be so. It’s not always good but it’s
definitely never boring (laughs)
What was the first band or musician that just totally blew you away?
Alice Cooper. I used to dress like him and go to high school. I used to paint
my eyes all up and go to school. People thought I was a freak. Oddly enough, it
was cool because I got to meet Alice Cooper and we did a tour in 1989. I
recorded one of his songs one year and he called me up and said, “I’m really
glad you did the songâ€. Actually I just saw him again when I did That Metal
Show. We did the show together so it was good to see him again. He’s a
really wonderful guy, a sweetheart of a man.
What was it about him that caught your attention? Was it the music or the
theatrics?
The music. I really like the songs. The theatrics thing was alright but I just
liked the tunes. After that I got into Zeppelin and Aerosmith, and Steven Tyler
is probably my favorite singer and he is actually a friend, which is really,
really cool. He’s my mentor in a lot of ways and he’s always been there for
me
when I needed him, as busy as he is. He was one musician that called me in the
hospital besides Jani; not the last time but the time before that. My band guys
never called me at all. I haven’t spoken to them in years. But in their
interviews
it’s, “Oh I talk to Jack three times a weekâ€, Mark was saying. I’m like,
it
must have been a different Jack (laughs). It wasn’t me.
The last time I saw Mark was at Jani Lane’s memorial and he had a panic
attack, had to
go to the hospital before the show because he thought he might have to play a
song with me. It is what it is. It’s sad and it really hurts me because these
guys were my friends, we grew up together; but they got sober before I did so I
guess I wasn’t worth waiting for. To me, the voice is the band. That’s the
one
element that makes the band sound like that band. I mean, as good a singer as I
am you couldn’t put me in Aerosmith and call it Aerosmith. Nor could you put
Steven Tyler in Great White and call it Great White. The singer is one element
you cannot change because it is the signature sound of the band. And for those
guys to come out and do a 30th anniversary album and show, it is just
blasphemous. I mean, come on, are you serious? That’s not Great White. They
aren’t in Great White anyway, they were fired. They just don’t want to give
up
the name because that is the only way they can make a living so they’re just
trying to keep using it and it’s unfortunate that people have to be that way.
Had they called me and said, “Hey, dude, we’re sick of your crap and we
don’t
want to play with you anymore, maybe we could work something outâ€, I probably
would have come up with some kind of terms. But they couldn’t do that. So now
it has to go a different way, which is really sad. I thought they were my
friends.
When you started Great White, you were originally called Dante Fox. Where
did that name come from?
It was a friend of the bass player and that was his name, Dante Fox. That was
the name of the band. Actually, when we originally started the band it was
called Highway and then we changed it to Wires and then it became Dante Fox.
Then in 1982, I used to call Mark Kendall the Great White cause he’s so white
and I’m a shark aficionado so it naturally came up that way. The manager at
the
time said, “Hey, why don’t you guys change your name to Great White?†I
thought, what? And Mark was like, “Are you kidding me?†We thought it was
kind
of a stupid name but it grew on us and actually it is a good name cause I love
to shark fish.
When you were starting out, you weren’t really in with the pop metal that
was happening then. You were more straight up rock & roll with a bluesy
undertone. What do YOU think made Great White stand out from everybody else
that was out there on the Strip trying to make it?
We never tried to write formula rock. We just wrote songs that we liked. I
write stuff that I like and hopefully everybody else will like it too. If not,
we’d go broke with integrity. We never sat there and said, “Ok, we need two
ballads, two mid-tempo songsâ€. We just write what we like and if the song’s
any
good you put it on the record. Fortunately we got lucky and the songs we wrote
came out to be really good and people liked them. Great White wasn’t a hair
band. Sure some of the guys in the band liked to spray their hair up, like
Michael Lardie, he looked like he got shock treatment or something (laughs) but
that was the trend. But as far as the band we were a blues rock band, we were
more akin to our influences like Aerosmith.
And we really didn’t play that much. We just kept rehearsing and writing
songs.
There were only a few clubs that we were playing and we weren’t a top 40 band
and we didn’t want to play every single night of the week because then nobody
shows up. You’ve got to make it special, you know. So we’d play like once or
twice a week so not to burn ourselves out and we played mostly like the
Troubadour or the Whiskey and a place in Anaheim
called the Woodstock,
and that was pretty much our three gigs. Occasionally we’d do something else
and that was enough. We put out our own EP and we sold 10,000 copies in Southern
California on our own and then every label in
town wanted to sign us and after that it’s all history. We’ve been on five
different labels. With our record deal with Sony, I got the record deal myself.
John Kalodner didn’t want to deal with anybody else but me. I went in to
negotiate the whole thing and got us a record deal. At one point he told me,
“Jack, I’m not sure if Great White has another good record in them or not
but I
love your voice and I believe in you so I’m going to sign the bandâ€. And
that
made me feel good.
So what happens now with your new band? Are you going to record or stay on
the road for a while?
Oh yeah, we’re going to record. We’ve got stuff in the can already.
When do we get to hear it?
What I think we’re going to do in the next month or so I think we’re going
to
do some live stuff, toss it out for free on YouTube and just let people have
it, not sell it, just give it to them. There’s no point in selling records
anymore. People just download them anyway. As far as a live album goes, I want
to do a live album and just give it away.
You’re feeling good and you’re getting your band together. Some of these
guys
were in Great White before, correct?
Oh yeah, I mean Matt Johnson was in Great White when Mark quit. Derrick Pontier
was in Great White when I fired Audie. So we have former members, they’re all
former members since I fired them (laughs). It’s funny because in their
statement they called it a garage band and I’m thinking, wait a minute, these
guys played with you guys. Why would you call them a garage band? I thought
that was kind of funny, you know.
But I want to say one thing here. The one element of this band that makes it
really unique is I have two lead guitar players. Both of them are virtuosos.
And the stuff they’re able to do together, doing harmonies and trading off
solos, is truly remarkable. And that was something we were never able to
accomplish because, Mark’s a great guitar player and Mike is a good utility
player, but he really couldn’t do the kind of things we’re doing now, which
is
really, really wonderful, it’s out of the box, and makes the songs sound that
much more dynamic.
When did you first start to write songs? And what kind of songs were you
writing about then?
Well, I was younger and it was the same old stupid stuff: chicks and sex
(laughs). As I got older I was really getting into writing about my life and my
life experiences. So each record is basically a snapshot of my life at that
moment, where I was emotionally and spiritually. You could pretty much listen
to any of my records and see exactly where I was at that time. I write about
myself and my experiences and I think that’s what makes it easier for people
to
understand cause no matter who you are or what you do, we all have the same
stuff, we all go through the same shit, and none of us are any different in
that regard. So when you hear a song about somebody’s life you can relate to
your own a lot of times. “Oh you wrote that song for meâ€. And a lot of times
it
seems that way because you touch a chord with somebody. For me, that’s the
most
important thing as a lyricist, to make somebody feel something: sorrow,
happiness, anger, whatever; just tap into their emotions and make them feel
something, make that song special to them even though they may not understand
the meaning of the song as I wrote it, whatever it means to them is what the
song is about.
So the songs you are writing now, are they more positive or more negative?
You know, the ones I am writing now so far have been very positive, but there
are some aspects. I focus on every facet of my life but obviously the last
couple of years haven’t been all fun and games. But I’m not going to write a
song called, “In The Hospital With A Colostomy Bag†or “The Colostomy Bag
Blues†(laughs)
Oh you should (laughs). The fans would get a kick out of it.
Yeah, like “Oh I Shit Myself†(laughs). Of course I’m not going to write
about
that but there’s definitely a blues song in there somewhere. For the most
part,
I want to keep the positive because that’s the way I’m feeling right now,
that’s my life right now, very upbeat and positive. There is a song called
“Footprints†that we wrote and put in the can so far. It’s about that old
poem,
“Footprints In The Sand†where a guy is walking looking at his life and he
looks in the sand and there’s two sets of footprints and he tells Jesus,
“Well,
look Jesus, how come during the worst times in my life there is only one set of
footprints? You weren’t thereâ€. And Jesus goes, “That’s when I was
carrying
youâ€. And that is what the song is about. It’s a beautiful, beautiful song.
It
really is. And regardless of what people’s beliefs are, it could be anything,
your higher power, God, a friend. It doesn’t matter. It’s not per se a
religious song but a spiritual song.
“
House Of Broken Loveâ€, I have to say, is one of my favorite songs.
Yeah, mine too. I wrote that song at 2:00 in the morning in Nashville,
Tennessee.
I woke up out of a dead sleep and wrote that song. I’d left my first wife and
my friend’s wife left him and I moved into his house, there was no furniture,
she took it all, and we were sitting there and drinking a bottle of Boone’s
Farm sitting up against the wall depressed. His brother walks in the front door
and goes, “What is this? The house of broken love?†And I go, “Dude, that
is a
great name for a song. One of these days I’m going to write that songâ€. And
two
years later I did.
In 1988, you told Music Connection Magazine, “When you forget where
you came from then you’re no longer a bandâ€. Do you still believe in that?
Oh yeah, you can’t forget your roots. You have to understand where you came
from. Years ago, I talked about Aerosmith and Joe Perry sent me a message
saying, “You know, I’m flattered by your comment but you need to look
farther
backâ€. So I started investigating a lot of old blues players and to really see
where it came from, like Lightnin’ Hopkins and Howlin’ Wolf and Willie
Dixon.
And I started to really uncover where rock & roll came from, back to these
old guys on the porch in Kentucky
singing, “Waaaahhhhhaa, I got me a new dog and he just diedâ€. So I really
started to discover the roots of the music and it really made my writing a lot
more diverse, to know where it all kind of came from. And I suggest that to any
musician who goes, “Oh Justin Bieber is my influenceâ€, you need to go back
and
really, really discover and think about where music actually came from. That’s
going to help you a lot.
Who was the first real rock star that you ever met?
It would have been Rob Halford actually. I was twenty-two. I met him at the
Troubadour one night, he happened to stop by, and I said, “Dude, you don’t
know
who I am but one of these days I’m going to open up for youâ€. And he said,
“Alright, good luck to youâ€. Two years later we were opening up for him on
the
Defenders Of The Faith album. I told him, “You don’t remember this but
…†And
he’s like, “That’s an amazing story, Ladâ€.
What do you like to do when you’re not concentrating on music?
I fish, I scuba dive, I sky dive, I surf. I just started surfing again last
week. I don’t know if you can call it surfing. I ate about a mouthful of sand
and drank about half an ocean of water (laughs). I think a couple more times
I’ll be back up on the board. I mean, it’s been years since I surfed but it
was
nice to get out there again.
That means you’re getting your strength back.
Yeah absolutely and things like that help. We just did Disneyland.
I must have walked fifty miles, man. God, that place is huge. I’ve forgotten
how big it was. I took my wife there for her birthday and it was our
anniversary last Sunday and her birthday was the Sunday before.
Any plans to start a family? I’ve noticed that a lot of musicians in your
age group are only now starting families.
I would love to but I’m just too old right now. I’m 51 years old and I just
don’t want to start a family right now. I want to spend time with my wife.
She’s twelve years younger than me and I’m probably not going to be here and
she’s going to be a young widow so I want to spend as much time with her as I
can. We’re like soul mates in every sense of the word. I’ve never had a love
this great. Every minute together is precious. To bring a child into this
world, it’s just such a messed up place and who knows what it’s going to be.
But I do have one child from a girl in high school I was with and I have a
stepson and they are both named Matthew (laughs)
But my wife is truly, truly amazing. God brought her into my life to save my
life and she did. Every day with her is a blessing. She is the most wonderful
woman I’ve ever met in my life and I worship that woman. I am very happy.
Guns N Roses is riding a new wave of success, having recently toured the
country playing to sold out crowds, so join us next week to learn more about
GNR guitar player Richard Fortus.
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Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach performed at Carioca Club in São Paulo,
Brazil last
night (Saturday, April 14) as part of a short South American headlining tour.
Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.
After the show, Bach posted the following message on his Facebook page:
"Well, that was crazy. Thank you, São Paulo, for being an incredible crowd
tonight.
"It is frustrating for us to play in smaller venues sometimes. The crowds
are insane and we just got physically attacked trying to leave the venue. Hair
was pulled, crew members got punched, my ears are blown because of the sheer
excitement and pandemonium playing this place tonight.
"I know you all want a picture, but we can only do so many pictures with
you all. It's impossible to take a picture with every single one of you.
"After playing stadiums here for years, playing the theatre tonight just
didn't make sense. We had to do an early show to make room for the samba band
coming in after us and it really wasn't fair to the band or the fans.
"Doing four cities in four nights by plane is insanely gruelling and it's
hard for the fans to understand how physically demanding this is.
"I would love to hang out with you all, but everyone gets so excited they
just grab and pull and scream and it's not that much fun to be grabbed and
yanked and pulled at for hours on end.
"We try to give all our energy onstage, so please try and realize we are
just human beings when we are done with the show.
"If I dont feel like posing for pictures for hours on end, it doesn't mean
I don't like you. It means that I would rather maybe talk, hang out, relax a
little.
"I love you all!
"Please try and understand we are people just like you.
"If I walked up to you and pulled your hair or screamed at you, maybe you
wouldn't like it either.
"We are on a crazy schedule, so please bear with us.
"Don't shoot me â€" I'm only the piano player, okay!
"Thanks, São Paulo.
See you again in a couple of days!"
Â
Bach completed a short run of North American dates in
February and is scheduled to take part in the Rock 'N' Roll Allstars tour, which
will hit the road in South and Central America
in late April/early May.
Sebastian's new album, "Kicking & Screaming", sold
6,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land
at position No. 73 on The Billboard 200 chart. The singer's previous CD, "Angel
Down", opened with 6,400 units back in November 2007 to debut at No.
190.
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According to USA Today, former PANTERA/DOWN and current KILL
DEVIL HILL bassist Rex Brown owes $449,567 to the federal government
in back taxes and penalties. Five tax liens have been filed by the Internal
Revenue Service, including the most recent and largest lien, for $210,157,
in his former home state of Texas
in January. A sixth lien for $72,695 was released by the IRS in 2008,
which likely means that those back taxes were paid.
The federal government can seize Brown's share of PANTERA's
revenue, including royalties from his record and songwriting credits, if a
payment plan is not worked out.
Brown last year signed a deal with Da Capo Press to write a
memoir. Due in the fall, "Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story
Of Pantera" is described as a "starkly honest and revealing"
book about Rex's time in one of the most influential and enduringly
popular bands in heavy metal history, offering Brown's shocking personal
insight into a band that had swapped the grimy clubs of Texas for arenas around
the world but whose story would ultimately be touched by tragedy.
De Capo is the publisher of BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi's
book "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black
Sabbath" and SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey
Taylor's New York Times best seller "Seven Deadly Sins -
Settling The Argument Between Born Bad And Damaged Good".
PANTERA's "Vulgar Display Of Power", a landmark album
widely acknowledged as one of metal's most enduring and influential
masterworks, will be reissued for its 20th anniversary on May 15 as a two-disc
Deluxe Edition. Recorded by singer Philip Anselmo, guitarist "Dimebag"
Darrell Abbott, Brown and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, the
album has been certified double platinum by the RIAA and features
several of the group's most iconic songs including "Walk", "Mouth
For War", "This Love" and "Fucking
Hostile".
The self-titled debut album from KILL DEVIL HILL â€" the band featuring Brown,
Vinny Appice (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, DIO)
on drums, Mark Zavon (RATT, W.A.S.P. , 40 CYCLE HUM)
on guitar and Jason "Dewey" Bragg (PISSING RAZORS) on
vocals â€" will be released at the end of May via SPV/Steamhammer.
Â
"The Electric Age", the new album from New Jersey thrash metal veterans
OVERKILL, has
registered the following first-week chart positions:
Germany: #34
Switzerland: #62
Austria:
#73
Commented singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth: "Danke, Europa!
'The Electric Age' has arrived! More good spots in the charts, thanks to YOU!
See you at the festivals this summer and on tour in October."
"The Electric Age" sold 6,500 copies in the United States
in its first week of release to debut at position No. 77 on The Billboard 200
chart.
OVERKILL's previous CD, "Ironbound", opened with 4,100
units to enter the chart at No. 192. The effort landed at No. 4 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 Electric Age" track listing:
01. Come And Get It
02. Electric Rattlesnake
03. Wish You Were Dead
04. Black Daze
05. Save Yourself
06. Drop The Hammer Down
07. 21st Century Man
08. Old Wounds, New Scars
09. All Over But The Shouting
10. Good Night
The "Electric Rattlesnake" video can be seen below. The clip
was directed by Kevin J. Custer (HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, SUFFOCATION),
who previously worked with OVERKILL on the "Bring Me The
Night" video.
"Damn, this one BITES hard! Kevin Custer did it again! So plug us
in yeah, set us free, this is a thrashing vid the way it's supposed to be! Here
we go kids, 'Electric Rattlesnake'!" says Bobby
"Blitz" Ellsworth.
"The Electric Age" was recorded and mixed at Gear Recording
Studios in New Jersey,
owned and operated by OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni.
OVERKILL will embark on the "Killfest 2" headlining
tour in April/May. Support on the trek will come from BELPHEGOR, BLACKGUARD and
DIAMOND PLATE.
OVERKILL is Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (vocals), D.D.
Verni (bass, backing vocals), Derek "The Skull" Tailer (rhythm guitar, backing
vocals), Dave Linsk (lead guitar, backing
vocals) and Ron Lipnicki (drums).
Â
German alcoholic thrashers TANKARD have set "A
Girl Called Cerveza" as the title of their 30th-anniversary album, due
at the end of July via the band's new label home, Nuclear Blast Records.
The CD is currently being recorded at Studio 23 in Frankfurt
with producer Michael Mainx (ONKELZ, DER W, DISBELIEF, D-A-D).
The second part of the "A Girl Called Cerveza" album cover can
be seen below (hidden behind beer cans).
TANKARD's fourteenth studio album, "Vol(l)ume 14", was
released on December 17, 2010 via AFM Records. The limited-edition
digipak version of the album includes a bonus DVD containing footage of
TANKARD's
performance at the 2009 edition of the Headbangers Open Air festival,
which took place July 23-25, 2009 in in Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany.
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A heavy metal fan from Washington, D.C. by the name of Bryan
Buchanan was surprised with "the most metal birthday cake ever"
this past weekend.
Bryan, who just turned 30, tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET, "It's the
best cake I've ever seen, let alone received!"
Although Bryan's girlfriend, Vanessa,
came up with the design, the cake was actually made by Charm City Cakes in
Baltimore, Maryland.
According to a posting on the Charm City Cakes web site, the company
"was started in March of 2000 when Chef Duff had tired of wandering
the country and decided to settle in Baltimore.
At first, Chef Duff was just making a few cakes for friends and family,
but as word got out about his uncommon creations, business picked up fast. In
March of 2002, Chef Duff was getting so inundated with cake orders that
he decided to fling off the oppression of his day job and make cake baking his
full-time gig! He quickly outgrew his home kitchen and two bakeries; in August
of 2005 he bought a 6,000-square-foot cake compound in Remington. Today, Charm
City Cakes has grown to a staff of eleven friends who make cakes, listen to
music, and eat a lot of sushi."
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The Rave Live will stream KITTIE's April 17
concert from The Rave in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin.They will be joined by BLACKGUARD, BONDED BY BLOOD and CANDY
MACHINE GUNS.
The webcast is scheduled for Tuesday, April 17 at 9 p.m. Eastern / 8 p.m.
Central / 6 p.m. Pacific and will be available free of charge. This performance
will be streamed live and will be available for viewing at TheRaveLive.com.
KITTIE recently parted ways with bassist Ivy Vujic and was
rejoined by Trish Doan. Doan was previously with the band from
2005 to 2007, appearing on the band's 2007 release "Funeral For
Yesterday".
KITTIE's new album, "I've Failed You", sold 3,000
copies in the United States
in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200
chart.
The band's previous CD, "In The Black", opened with around
3,400 units back in 2009 to land at No. 132.
KITTIE's fourth album, "Funeral for Yesterday",
registered a first-week tally of 9,000 in February 2007 to enter the chart at
No. 101.
"I've Failed You" was released on August 30, 2011 via eOne
Music. The CD was recorded at Beach Road Studios in Goderich, Ontario, Canada.
The
band once again worked with producer Siegfried "Siggy" Meier,
who helmed KITTIE's last CD, 2009's "In The Black".
Bassist Jason Christopher â€" who filled in for Shawn Economaki during STONE
SOUR's spring 2011 tour and who previously played with SLIPKNOT/STONE
SOUR frontman Corey Taylor in the JUNK BEER KIDNAP BAND â€"
recently joined Bach's solo group. Bach said, "I have known Jason for years,
ever since he tried to pickpocket me at the Rainbow [in West Hollywood] aeons
ago."
New EPICA bassist Rob van der Loo (MAYAN, DELAIN),
who recently joined the band as the replacement for Yves Huts, has
released the following statement:
"Yesterday I've experienced some serious and unexpected health issues. To
make sure I can be treated correctly, I have to run a couple of tests at the
hospital, and my doctors also advised me to take some rest before going on full
power again. Though this is hard for me to accept, it's also something which I
have to respect since health is a very precious thing. This does mean that I
won't be able to be on the [EPICA] European tour until all examinations
are done (hopefully wihin the next couple of days). Of course I will join the
band as soon as possible, but unfortunately I can't give an exact date as of
yet. I wish the rest of the band and crew all the best for the start of the
tour and I really can't wait to join!"
The rest of EPICA said in a statement, "Despite these unforseen
circumstances, we'll kick off the European tour today with a temporary solution
for Rob's absence. While we await his return we wish him a swift
recovery. The show must go on!"
EPICA's fifth full-length album, "Requiem For The
Indifferent", sold 4,800 copies in the United States in its first week of
release to debut at position No. 104 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's
previous CD, "Design Your Universe", opened with 2,100 units
to land at position No. 12 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart,
which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as
those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
"Requiem For The Indifferent" was released on March 9 in
Europe and four days later in North America
via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Gate Studio in Wolfsburg,
Germany
under the watchful eye of Sascha Paeth.
A video for "Storm The Sorrow" was filmed in February and it
"will show the band in a way you have never seen before," according
to a press release.
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BENT SEA, the grindcore formation lad by
drummer/guitarist Dirk Verbeuren (SOILWORK, ABORTED, DEVIN
TOWNSEND PROJECT), has been joined by legendary NAPALM DEATH bass
player Shane Embury. Completed by vocalist Sven De Caluwé (ABORTED, SYSTEM
DIVIDE), the trio is currently recording new music for several
upcoming releases.
"Working with Shane is a dream come true for both Sven and
myself," said Verbeuren. "First Devin, now Shane â€" it doesn’t get much
better than that in my book! We're super-excited about
our new songs and impatient to get them out there."
Formed in January 2011 by Verbeuren, BENTSEA self-released its Devin
Townsend-produced debut EP, "Noistalgia",
in November. Townsend played bass on the 11-song EP, which is due out
shortly as a limited cassette via Tankcrimes. The digital version of
"Noistalgia" is available directly from the band through their webstore.
Decibel magazine describes "Noistalgia" as
"rousing, ripping, aptly-titled . . . a dead-on evocation of NAPALM
DEATH and REPULSION, which remembers just how catchy and deceptively
dynamic those old classic albums were." Blistering.com calls it
"grindcore done right" and VoicesFromTheDarkside.de says it's BENTSEA's "firmly
drawn allegiance
to the old that makes this EP so great."
"Noistalgia" track listing:
01. Noistalgia
02. Digital Disaster
03. Blast Beat Barrage
04. A Common Affliction
05. In One Word
06. Grind Control
07. Tripwire Target
08. Sustained Idiocy
09. Dead Meat
10. Truth Will Out
11. Fool For Life
Â
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EX DEO, the Ancient Roman-themed arsenal fronted by KATAKLYSM singer Maurizio
Iacono, has completed work on its sophomore album, "Caligvla",
for an August 31 release via Austria's Napalm Records. The CD was mixed
by KATAKLYSM guitarist Jean-François Dagenais, who has previously
worked with MALEVOLENT CREATION, MISERY INDEX and DESPISED
ICON, among others. The artwork and layout for the album will be handled by
SEPTICFLESH's Seth Siro Anton.
Commented the band: "Eight months in the making and we are sure we have a
classic album in our hands, producer JF Dagenais has done a fabulous and
great production, all guests appearances are massive, the gods are pleased.
Expect the artwork to be unveiled very soon and also a new teaser trailer.
Where all have failed in the past... EX DEO will succeed, Roma caput
mundi!! Epic Roman-inspired metal!!"
EX DEO debuted a brand new song "I, Caligvla", on April
1 at Club Soda in Montreal, Quebec, Canada as part of the "Paganfest America
Part III" tour with TURISAS, ALESTORM, ARKONA and HUNTRESS. Video footage of the
performance can be seen below.
In addition to the previously announced guest appearances by ALL SHALL
PERISH guitarist Francesco Artusato and TRISTANIA singer Mariangela
Demurtas, "Caligvla" will feature contributions from SEPTICFLESH's Seth Siro
Anton and GRAVEWORM's Stefano Fiori. Every
invited guest on the album is of Roman or Greek descent.
"Caligvla" track listing:
01. I, Caligvla
02. The Tiberius Cliff (Exile To Capri)
03. Per Oculos Aquila
04. Pollice Verso (Damnatio Ad Bestia)
05. Divide Et Impera
06. Burned To Serve As Nocturnal Light
07. Teutuborg (Ambush Of Varus)
08. Along The Appian Way
09. Once Were Romans
10. Evocatio: The Temple Of Castor & Pollux
The "Caligvla" cover artwork can be seen below.
EX DEO recently canceled its participation in the "Paganfest America Part
III" tour due to delays in the production of "Caligvla".
The band still performed with Paganfest on April 1 in Montreal
at Club Soda and April 2 in Toronto
at The Opera House.
EX DEO last year completed a North American tour with NILE, PSYCROPTIC and KEEP
OF KALESSIN.
"Romulus", the debut album from EX DEO, landed at
position No. 90 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.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/exdeocalig.jpg
Â
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New York-based progressive/gothic metallers DESDEMON have officially called it
quits. The group says in a statement, "We as a
band would like to thank everyone that has supported DESDEMON. With a
humble heart, we will no longer continue down this path together. We all
mutually feel that through thick and thin, this band has lived its life. Again,
we thank you all, past members, fans, and anyone that we have had the pleasure
of crossing paths with."
DESDEMON last year announced the addition of female singer Chelsea
Knaack to the group's ranks.
After a series of auditions, this Minnesota native flew out to New York and
recorded DESDEMON's most recent album, "Through The Gates",
which came out last summer. The CD featured guest appearances by Tim
"Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, YNGWIE
MALMSTEEN, CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, BEYOND FEAR), Amanda
Somerville (AVANTASIA, SOMERVILLE/KISKE, HDK, EPICA), Sander Gommans (AFTER
FOREVER, HDK, SOMERVILLE/KISKE)
and Joe Stump (HOLYHELL)
Â
SCYTHE, new band formed out of the ashes of legendary
underground metal act USURPER, will play a record-release show for its debut
CD, "Beware The Scythe", on April 27 at Reggie's Rock Club in
Chicago. Also scheduled to appear are STONE MAGNUM, MIDNIGHT and THE
GATES OF SLUMBER.
"Beware The Scythe" is out now on CD through Primitive
Reaction Records (Finland);
limited-edition vinyl via R.I.P. Records; as well as a digital download
through iTunes and Amazon MP3.
According to a press release, SCYTHE takes up where USURPER left
off, with traditional thrashing black/death metal anthems and complete poser
annihilation!"
"Beware The Scythe" track listing:
01. The Iron Witch
02. Mastermind
03. Beware The Scythe
04. Tyrannical Stranglehold
05. TunguskaDeath Ray
06. Opus Dei Of The Dead
07. Talons Of Steel
08. Eye Of The Crow
09. Planet Of The Humans
SCYTHE is:
Rick Scythe: Guitar, Vocals
Dan Geist: Bass, Vocals
Tim Pearson: Drums
For more information, visit www.scythe.us.
Â
The next album from Canadian musician/producer Devin
Townsend to be released under the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT banner is "Epicloud",
a "poppy, proggy" record which will feature a guest appearance by
former THE GATHERING frontwoman and previous Devin collaborator Anneke
Van Giersbergen.
Anneke, who is currently recording her vocals for "Epicloud" at Devin's studio
in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,
wrote in a Facebook posting, "Mister Devin Townsend is a
genius. I cannot tell you how awesomely fantastic his album will be. Epic!
Epic! Epic! And he made me do 20 hours of the loudest and most gorgeous vocals
I've ever done."
Added Devin, "Epicloud: weirding out one gospel choir at a
time since this afternoon, 2012. Anneke killing it, yet again..."
Townsend debuted a song from "Epicloud" called "Back
Where We Belong" during an acoustic performance this on March 31 at
Club Saw in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada as part of this year's Junofest.
The idea for "Epicloud" came about while Devin was
attempting to write material for the follow-up to his 2007 "Ziltoid The
Omniscient" concept album about a fictional extraterrestrial being
named Ziltoid from the planet Ziltoidia 9.
In a recent interview with Soundwave TV, Devin stated about how "Epicloud" was
conceived, "In this sort of process of writing that I've discovered
that I guess I'm capable of now, with a sober frame of mind, part of that is
just not second-guessing it, so if I write something like that, I just do it,
and just finish it."
He continued, "Over the past couple of years, I thought, 'OK, I've gotta
write this next 'Ziltoid' thing; I'm inspired to make this epic space
opera and, like, really overdo it, and [make it] really dark. And so I sat down
to write, but every time I went to write, I'd write some poppy hard rock thing.
And I was like, 'OK, we'll get that one out of the way and then I'll write
'Ziltoid'.'
And I got it out of the way and I'd go write 'Ziltoid'. And I'd write
another one. So I'm thinking, 'OK, it's pretty obvious to me that I've got this
that wants to come out before that.'"
Regarding the musical direction of "Epicloud", Devin told Noisecreep, "Over the
course of the full record, there's sort
of new agey stuff, jazzy stuff, really heavy stuff. We basically cover the
gamut. 'Epicloud' is the first record that I felt confident enough to
include all those things on one record so it goes between melodic hard rock to
schizophrenic heavy metal to country to really ambient stuff and it's all in
one place. I'm using a gospel choir, a string section and a horn section for
this one as well. On [the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT album] 'Deconstruction',
I got to use the Prague Philharmonic [orchestra] and really go far into
making an absurd album as over the top as possible and on 'Epicloud' I'm
trying to take the same advantages to make some things musically very pleasing,
as opposed to just claustrophobic."
"Epicloud" will contain the following tracks:
* Taurus
* Animals
* Liberation
* Back Where We Belong
* Save Our Now
* Kingdom (re-recording of PHYSICIST song)
* Divine
* Grace
* More!
* Heatwave
* Hold On
* Angels
On the topic of his decision to re-record "Kingdom", a song
from his PHYSICIST album, which came out in 2000 on Townsend's
label, HevyDevy Records, Devin said, "We re-did 'Kingdom' because it's a live
set staple, and so much better now than the PHYSICIST recording."
Â
Canadian extreme metallers KATAKLYSM will embark on a
North American summer headlining tour, "The Iron Will Tour 2012",
in August. Support on the trek will come from ORIGIN, FLESHGOD
APOCALYPSE, ROSE FUNERAL and VITAL REMAINS. The dates follow
below.
With ORIGIN, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE and ROSE FUNERAL:
Aug. 11 - Montreal, QC - Heavy MTL
Aug. 12 - Toronto, ON - Heavy TO
Aug. 13 - Detroit, MI - Blondie's
Aug. 17 - Regina, SK - The Exchange *
Aug. 18 - Calgary, AB - The Distillery *
Aug. 19 - Kelowna, BC - Sapphire Night Club *
Aug. 20 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre *
Aug. 21 - Prince George, BC - The Generator *
Aug. 22 - Edmonton, AB - Pawn Shop *
Aug. 23 - Brandon, MB - North Hill Inn *
Aug. 24 - Winnipeg, MB - Park Theatre *
With FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, VITAL REMAINS and ROSE FUNERAL:
Aug. 25 - Saint Paul, MN - Station 4 **
Aug. 26 - Chicago, IL - Reggie's Rock Club **
Aug. 27 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's
Aug. 31 - Springfield, VA - Jaxx
Sep. 02 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
Sep. 04 - Houston, TX - Numbers Night Club
Sep. 05 - Dallas, TX - Trees
* with DIABHOLICO (feat. ex-KATAKLYSM member)
** with ORIGIN
KATAKLYSM will release a multidisc DVD, "The Iron Will: 20 Years
Determined", on June 19 via Nuclear Blast. The set will depict
the ups and downs of the band's long, turbulent career, as well as footage of
KATAKLYSM's
performance at last year's Summer Breeze festival, which took place
August 18-20, 2011 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany. The cover art for the release was
created by artist Colin Marks (ORIGIN, EXODUS, NEVERMORE)
and can be viewed below.
Commented KATAKLYSM frontman Maurizio Iacono: "Director Tommy
Jones has really captured the band's story and magic on this thing. I'm
super-excited; this DVD will turn many heads. Our fans will be proud. Most of
all, I got memories immortalized of a beautiful story. If we don't earn the
respect with this, then the ones not giving it are in the wrong biz."
KATAKLYSM recently recorded the single "The Iron Will" in Montreal, Canada with
guitarist/producer Jean-François
Dagenais. It was mixed Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, BEHEMOTH, MNEMIC) in Denmark
and will be made available with a video clip on iTunes one month before
the release of "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".
KATAKLYSM's "At The Edge Of The World" video was filmed
on March 20, 2011 at the band's hometown show at Club Soda. This concert also
marked the end of the group's "Spread the Venom" European/North American tour.
The video was helmed by director Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, SOILWORK), who is
also working with KATAKLYSM on "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".
KATAKLYSM's latest album, "Heaven's Venom", sold around
2,400 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.
KATAKLYSM's previous CD, "Prevail", opened with 2,250
units back in June 2008.
"Heaven's Venom" was produced by Jean-Francois Dagenais and was mixed by Tue
Madsen (THE HAUNTED, MNEMIC, DARK
TRANQUILLITY).
Â
After five years of absence, progressive rock band THE
FLOWER KINGS will release its new studio album on June 19 in North America
and June 18 in Europe. Led by mastermind Roine
Stolt (TRANSATLANTIC), the groups new CD is called "Banks Of Eden" and will be
released via InsideOut Music. The material is classic THE
FLOWER KINGS, with all the dreamy, melodic and cinematic elements that fans
around the globe have learned to love over the years. However, the 2012
incarnation of the band mixes it up with both psychedelic and darker metal
passages that place this album somewhere in between the late 60's proto prog
and the new generation of art rock.
Comments Roine: "It was both a scary and exciting prospect to go
back into the studio after an almost five-year-long, well-earned hiatus. We
have all been active with TRANSATLANTIC, KARMAKANIC, AGENTS OF
MERCY since, so we were up to speed in the playing department, but starting THE
FLOWER KINGS again put some weight on my shoulders, I suppose, but
it's fun. We knew we could make an album 'cause this is what we do and we know
we do it good, but the question was if we had anything new or anything
important to contribute in 2012, in a time when the Internet fills every hour
with entertainment and every town or village seems to have emerging prog
superstars. Realizing now with ELP, CRIMSON, GENESIS, GENTLE
GIANT and PINK FLOYD being history, we are among the new eldermen of
prog and we feel responsible for keeping the standard up, so a lot of hard work
is gonna go into the coming months. The core members were there and for this
re-starting of THE FLOWER KINGS, we brought in new 26-year-old drummer
prodigy Felix Lehrmann. Without playing one single note together, or no
audition, we started the recording at Varispeed studios in Sweden, January
23rd, taking a big, big chance. It is with happy smiles on our faces that we
can conclude that it was a jackpot and a great choice and we feel Felix is gonna
breathe life into both the new and old material in a live setting,
possibly with a more hard hitting edge. His outgoing personality and general
love for music and playing will be very evident live and for coming albums I
can feel he may contribute even in writing. The progressive daredevil at the
helm made us start the new album with a 25-minute epic centrepiece that is NOT
easy listening, it is in fact a quite demanding task. But the material also has
all classic elements of THE FLOWER KINGS style with all the dreamy
melodic and cinematic glow sprinkled all over, that the band's fans have come
to love over the years. My advice is: just give it time and it will be very
rewarding."
While in the studio recording "Banks Of Eden", the band filmed a few
behind-the-scenes videos allowing fans the chance to share this experience with
them. Several other videos should be released in the coming weeks, and the
first one can be seen here:
THE FLOWER KINGS will play their first official reunion gig at the Sweden
Rock Festival in June and will be embarking on an extended headline tour
across Europe in September.
Â
According to a Facebook posting by vocalist Phil Labonte of
Massachusetts metallers ALL THAT REMAINS, "rumor has it" that HALESTORM singer
Lzzy Hale will sing a duet with Labonte on a song on ALL
THAT REMAINS' new album, tentatively due before the end of the year.
ALL THAT REMAINS is once again working with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam
Dutkiewicz, who also helmed ALL THAT REMAINS'
latest album, 2010's "For We Are Many", as well as 2004's "This
Darkened Heart" and 2006's "The Fall of Ideals".
ALL THAT REMAINS's "The Last Time" video (directed by
Nathan Cox) was recently added to MTV2. The clip was filmed on January
30, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois with director Nathan
"Karma" Cox (LINKIN PARK, BLACK VEIL BRIDES, MARILYN
MANSON). The song comes off "For We Are Many", which
debuted at No. 10 on The Billboard 200 chart while also coming in at No. 1 on
the Hard Music Albums chart.
"For We Are Many" sold 29,000 copies in the United States
in its first week of release. The band's previous CD, "Overcome",
opened with just under 29,000 units in September 2008 to enter The Billboard
200 chart at No. 16.
"For We Are Many" was released through a joint venture between Prosthetic
Records and Razor & Tie. The CD was recorded last
spring at Zing Studios in Massachusetts
and produced by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, who
also helmed ALL THAT REMAINS' "This Darkened Heart" and "The Fall of Ideals".
Â
Â
Artist Series Guitar (ASG) has announced the
release of the exclusive signature guitar from one of the most influential
hardcore bands of all time, AGNOSTIC FRONT. The guitar, a.k.a. Stigma,
marks the 30th anniversary of this gritty New York City punk institution and is
named for main
songwriter and guitarist Vinnie Stigma.
Responsible for helping to define the urban New York hardcore sound with 1984's
"Victim In Pain" album and known as one of the first bands to
introduce heavy metal to hardcore punk in 1986's "Cause For Alarm", AGNOSTIC
FRONT's Stigma guitar was designed by the bandmembers
themselves and is a flat-back SG classic adorned with the band's signature
combat boot logo.
AGNOSTIC FRONT vocalist Roger Miret speaks of the symbolism of
the guitar, saying, "I think the guitar is perfect for the working class
musician endorsed by the ultimate working-class band! The boots symbol has
always been of the same character. Hardcore has been our life. Our dedication
to this movement has been our passion. Our boots stomped the way into NYHC
history."
Stigma will be available to purchase on April 24 and has a limited
production of 500 guitars worldwide.
For more information, go to this location.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/afguitar.jpg
Â
Before he suffered a heart attack and underwent an emergency
operation in late March, Jerry Gaskill, drummer for legendary rockers KING'S
X, was busy demoing material for his upcoming solo album with
Nashville-based songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist D.A. Karkos.
In a new online posting, Karkos writes about Gaskill's upcoming
CD, "As of now, we have 11 killer songs that we believe will be some of Jerry's
(and my) best work to date. And when the time comes, we plan on having some
very special guest musicians/friends lend some of their talents to the record
as well. Needless to say (but I'm saying it anyway), we are very excited about
all of this!
"And to quote Jerry, speaking of his recent heart attack and
recovery from his public thank you video: 'This is a really bad situation that
I think has turned into a really good situation.' There is no doubt in our
minds that we we'll see evidence of this truth on this record."
In 2005, Karkos was guitarist and backing vocalist for Gaskill's
well-received solo performances on the East Coast and became songwriting foil
and producer afterward. He helped Jerry write and arrange the song "Julie",
which appeared on KING'S X's fifteenth album.
The Karkos/Gaskill partnership will bear further creative fruit
in a 2012 album on EMMJAM Records.
Â
Norwegian singer Liv Kristine (LEAVES' EYES,
ex-THEATRE OF TRAGEDY) last year entered Mastersound Studio in Steinheim,
Germany
â€" the facility owned by her husband, Alexander Krull (ATROCITY, LEAVES'
EYES) â€" to begin recording her fourth solo album. She is collaborating on
the effort with Dutch musician J.B. van der Wal (ABORTED, DR.
DOOM), who recently joined LEAVES' EYES and ATROCITY as the
two bands' new bassist.
One of the tracks from Kristine's forthcoming CD is called "Vanilla
Skin Delight" and is a duet with German singer Tobias Regner,
the third-season winner of "Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar",
the German reality show in the style of "American Idol".
Commented Liv: "[Tobias'] voice just fascinates me, and as
soon as we had made the decision that we would want a male singer on 'Vanilla
Skin Delight', I thought it would be just perfect having Tobias'
powerful and warm voice completing this composition, i.e. turning it into a
real rock song duet. Fortunately, our friend and movie-maker Konrad Hollenstein
was able to provide us with the necessary contact information, thus we were
able to get hold of Tobias the very next day. 48 hours later, Tobias knocked on
the door and I was very happy and grateful that he had found his way
to Mastersound Studio. We realized straight away that we have so much in
common (sports, both being born on the country side, good and bad experience
with the music business, touring, red wine, art...), despite the fact that we
come from completely different musical backgrounds: Tobias winning 'Deutschland
Sucht Den Superstar', the German version of 'Pop Idol', in 2006,
compared to my own revolutionary beginnings with THEATRE OF TRAGEDY in
the Nineties.
"Here we are, being duet partners in the same song. Moreover, it felt like
we had known each other for a long time.
"Tobias is a very open-minded, warm-hearted and fine guy, with whom
I really would like sharing stage with sometime in the future. He is a
fantastic rock singer, and he is highly professional. I asked him to sing in
the way he felt the most comfortable with. 'Vanilla Skin Delight' will
blow you away!"
Added Tobias: "To be honest, I have to admit that the style of
music that [Liv] is doing with LEAVES' EYES is not 100% my
favorite one, so I don't know Liv as good as her fans do. I got to know
her as a very open-hearted person who is happy with what she's doing and loves
to sing and compose music. She was so down to earth that I didn't feel like
standing in front of a star. We exchanged experiences concerning our musical
past and after a glass of red wine we started recording. I think this must have
been one of the most effective days of recording I've experienced so far. The
atmosphere was so relaxed that there was absolutely no need to get nervous. I
just felt very focused and into it. So after a few hours it was done, and Liv
was very happy with my work."
Liv debuted one of her new tracks, "Libertine", at a
special concert on December 2, 2011 at Alte Seminarturnhalle in Nagold, Germany
under the banner "One Night With Liv Kristine". Liv performed acoustic versions
of her original songs as well as a few covers,
including tracks from LEAVES' EYES and THEATRE OF TRAGEDY.
Liv Kristine's third solo album, "Skintight", came out
in North America in September 2010 via Napalm
Records. The follow-up to 2006's "Enter My Religion" was
recorded at Mastersound Studio and the artwork was created by Stefan
Heilemann.
Â
Drummer Alex Rüdinger has left Canadian metallers THREAT
SIGNAL. He tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET in a statement, "A lot has
been changing for me in recent months and I've decided that it is time to move
on from THREAT SIGNAL and pursue other things. I made some good friends
in that band and had some good experiences. I wish them all the best of luck
with their future musical endeavors.
"I have some new and exciting things going on and I couldn't be more
stoked about them. An announcement will be made on the topic in the near
future, so be on the lookout!"
THREAT SIGNAL's third, self-titled album was released last October via Nuclear
Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Planet Z studios in Hadley, Massachusetts
with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (CHIMAIRA, HATEBREED, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE
ACACIA STRAIN, BORN OF OSIRIS, SHADOWS
FALL).
"Threat Signal" track listing:
01. Uncensored
02. Comatose
03. New WorldOrder
04. Trust In None
05. Face The Day
06. Fallen Disciples
07. Disposition
08. Death Before Dishonor
09. Buried Alive
10. Resistance (bonus track)
Â
Toronto, Ontario, Canada's WARMACHINE has announced the addition of drummer
Darren Smith (HAREM
SCAREM) to the group's ranks. Smith joins the band as the
replacement for Dave Langguth (NELLY FURTADO, RIK EMMETT, GILBY
CLARKE), who was in WARMACHINE for less than a year.
WARMACHINE's next live appearance will take place on May 31 at The
Rockpile in Etobicoke, Ontario.
WARMACHINE filmed a video for the song "Moving On" in
December with director/producer Jeff Hazin of Obsolete Talko
Productions.
"Moving On" comes off WARMACHINE's latest album, "Left
For Dead", which was released in July 2011 via JMD Records. The
CD was once again produced by Murray Daigle and was recorded in Canada.
WARMACHINE's "Raw in the Hammer" DVD contains footage
from the band's January 20, 2007 concert at The Underground in Hamilton, a
documentary on the band's
history, behind-the-scenes footage and more.
WARMACHINE's debut album, "The Beginning of the End",
was released in 2006 in North America via Nightmare
Records.
"The Beginning of the End" features a guest appearance on
three tracks ("Betrayed", "Empty" and "Taunted
Souls") by MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.
For more information, visit www.warmachineonline.com.
Masters of Sumerian black/thrash metal MELECHESH will
be joined by session bass player Scorpios of the American black metal
band CRIMSON MOON.
Scorpios has been residing in Germany
for several years and will be arriving in Amsterdam
on Tuesday for intensive rehearsal sessions. His first show will be April 20 at
Dubai's Holy
Noise metal event. This will mark MELECHESH's second performance in Dubai,
having first
played there in 2009 at the Sand Storm festival.
MELECHESH will release a digital EP called "Mystics Of The
Pillar II" on April 27 in Europe and May 1 in the U.S. via Nuclear
Blast Records.
The EP will contain the following tracks:
01. Mystics Of The Pillar (Alternate Ending)
02. Sacred Geometry (Instrumental)
03. The Epigenesis (Instrumental)
Commented MELECHESH mainman Ashmedi: "We recorded two
different ending version of 'Mystics Of The Pillar' â€" this one changes
tempo and picks up steam. Why? Because we felt like it; a song with two
different endings is not too common in this day and age. Last minute we chose
one to be included on the album, thus the second version was not mixed and
mastered
'till a much later date. We also decided to release a couple of instrumental
versions to our songs, namely 'The Epigenesis' title track, which is a
12-13 minute epic, and 'Sacred Geometry'. Both are multi-faceted and
work perfect just as instrumental works. We actually have an instrumental
version of the entire album mixed and mastered so enjoy these couple of
tracks."
"The Epigenesis" was recorded in the recently built Babajim
Studios in Istanbul, Turkey and was mixed by Reuben
de Lautour and mastered by Pieter Snapper.
The "The Epigenesis" cover art was created by the U.K.-based
renowned occult artist John Coulthart, who had already collaborated with
MELECHESH in the past.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/melechdubai.jp\
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Swedish extreme metallers SHINING will release an EP
of cover songs with a choice of material that will come as a surprise to many
of the band's fans. The four-track EP, titled "Lots of Girls Gonna Get
Hurt", includes tracks from KATATONIA, KENT, IMPERIET and POETS OF THE FALL, and
is due for release on Spinefarm Records on May 16.
While KATATONIA is an internationally recognised name, KENT and Thåström's
IMPERIET are relatively unknown outside of Sweden, where they are two of the
country's biggest names, and POETS OF THE FALL is a Finnish band with a
substantial following in their own country. Cover art is by Pauline
Greefhorst.
Commenting on the decision to release an EP of covers, as well as on the choice
of material, SHINING's frontman and founder Niklas Kvarforth had
this to say: "In no way should this EP be seen as a new direction for SHINING,
and it is absolutely no indication of what you can expect from our upcoming
eighth album. Like most musicians neither myself, nor the rest of the band,
restrict ourselves to listening to only one genre of music. We all have
eclectic tastes, and finding ourselves with some spare time in the studio, we
recorded a total of six covers, and decided to release four of them. This EP
simply represents some of the artists and music that we like. We know that
those fans of SHINING who limit themselves to a narrow musical spectrum
will hate the album, but that really is of no concern to us."
SHINING's as-yet-untitled eighth full-length album will be released in
the fall.
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Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based extreme metallers KATAKLYSM will release a
multidisc DVD, "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined",
on June 19 via Nuclear Blast. The set will depict the ups and downs of
the band's long, turbulent career, as well as footage of KATAKLYSM's
performance at last year's Summer Breeze festival, which took place
August 18-20, 2011 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany. The cover art for the release was
created by artist Colin Marks (ORIGIN, EXODUS, NEVERMORE)
and can be viewed below.
Commented KATAKLYSM frontman Maurizio Iacono: "Director Tommy
Jones has really captured the band's story and magic on this thing. I'm
super-excited; this DVD will turn many heads. Our fans will be proud. Most of
all, I got memories immortalized of a beautiful story. If we don't earn the
respect with this, then the ones not giving it are in the wrong biz."
The third trailer for "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined" can
be seen below.
KATAKLYSM recently recorded the single "The Iron Will" in Montreal, Canada with
guitarist/producer Jean-François
Dagenais. It was mixed Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, BEHEMOTH, MNEMIC) in Denmark
and will be made available with a video clip on iTunes one month before
the release of "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".
KATAKLYSM's "At The Edge Of The World" video was filmed
on March 20, 2011 at the band's hometown show at Club Soda. This concert also
marked the end of the group's "Spread the Venom" European/North American tour.
The video was helmed by director Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, SOILWORK), who is
also working with KATAKLYSM on "The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined".
KATAKLYSM's latest album, "Heaven's Venom", sold around
2,400 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.
KATAKLYSM's previous CD, "Prevail", opened with 2,250
units back in June 2008.
"Heaven's Venom" was produced by Jean-Francois Dagenais and was mixed by Tue
Madsen (THE HAUNTED, MNEMIC, DARK
TRANQUILLITY).
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Eric Greif, the former manager of DEATH and
president of Perseverance Holdings Ltd., which manages Chuck
Schuldiner's (DEATH, CONTROL DENIED) legacy, was interviewed
at the DEATH/Schuldiner portion of the Golden Gods: The
History Of Heavy Metal exhibition, which opened on April 11 at the Grammy
Museum in Los Angeles, California. You can watch the chat below. Through
rare artifacts from iconic metal bands and interactive experiences, the exhibit
teaches visitors about the origins of heavy metal, its many subgenres, the
bands that made heavy metal famous and offers a look into the controversy that
has surrounded the genre for the past four decades.
Launching on the same day as the Revolver Golden Gods award show taking
place next door at Club Nokia at L.A. Live, this is the first major museum
exhibition to explore heavy metal in America, and the genre's impact
across the globe. Visitors can enjoy a wide-array of items, including:
* Handwritten lyrics and sketches from MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy Kilmister;
* Several wardrobe pieces, from acts like BLACK SABBATH and GWAR;
* Stage props from bands such as Alice Cooper, IRON MAIDEN, SLAYER and more;
* An interactive "scream booth," designed to introduce metal vocal
technique;
* Several famous guitars including Chuck Schuldiner's (DEATH)
B.C. Rich Stealth;
* Concert posters, tour books and fan memorabilia
Exhibit runs until February 2013.
Chuck died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a
rare type of brain tumor.
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Century Media Records will release the complete demo
recordings of Swedish death metallers EVOCATION. Entitled "Evoked
From Demonic Depths - The Early Years", it will feature the following
tracks:
01. A Wind Has Risen
02. Through The Darkened Peril
03. The Ancient Gate
04. Desolated Spirits
05. On A Journey To Heaven
06. Where The Headstones Shine
07. Veils Were Blown
08. Spiritual Affinity
09. Outro
10. On A Journey To Heaven (rehearsal)
11. Where The Headstones Shine (rehearsal)
12. Spiritual Affinity (rehearsal)
13. Veils Were Blown (rehearsal)
14. Genesis
Video enhancements
15. The Ancient Gate (live at Gamlestaden, Gothenburg 1992)
16. Genesis (live at Gamlestaden, Gothenburg 1992)
17. Where The Headstones Shine (live at Gamlestaden, Gothenburg 1992)
Tracks 1 to 4 are taken from the "The Ancient Gate" demo,
tracks 5 to 9 from the "Promo 1992" demo. Tracks 10 to 13 are
previously unreleased rehearsal tracks and as a very special the band has
recorded the unreleased track "Genesis", which has been
written in 1992, but so far has never ever been available before (track 14).
"Genesis" was recorded at IF Studios (IN FLAMES, THE HAUNTED) by
producer Robert Laghi. All tracks have been mastered at Fascination
Street Studio (OPETH, PARADISELOST, ENSLAVED, GRAND MAGUS and many more). The
remastering
of the demo tracks was done using the original master tapes. The CD version
also includes three live bootleg video enhancements as a bonus.
Besides the historical musical content, the release is packed with in-depth
information on the history of EVOCATION. A foreword has been written by Anzo
Sadoni (Metal Hammer), Björn-Thorsten Jaschinski (Rock
Hard, Legacy) and Frank Schenk (Chaos magazine) took a
deep dive into EVOCATION's history from their start in 1991 until the
reunion in 2005 and on until the release of the band's highly praised third
studio album "Apocalyptic". Guitarist Marko Palmén comments on every song and
gives not just a glimpse but a detailed view into
the writing process of the demos. All this information gets underlined by an
elaborate usage of band photos, concert flyers and other visual content from
the years 1991 to 1993 and the noble and balanced layout by Xaay (NILE,
BEHEMOTH).
"Evoked From Demonic Depths - The Early Years" will be
released as CD with 32-page booklet and an O-card as well as on deluxe 2LP
(180g vinyls, gatefold sleeve, printed inner sleeves) and as digital download.
The album will be released on the following dates:
* Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway: Friday, June 22
* Spain, Italy: Tuesday, June 26
* Sweden, Finland, Hungary: Wednesday, June 27
* Rest Of Europe: Monday, June 25
* Australia, New Zealand: Friday, June 29
EVOCATION recently entered IF Studios, the IN FLAMES-owned
facility in Gothenburg, Sweden, with producer Roberto Laghi (IN
FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE, HARDCORE SUPERSTAR) to begin
recording its fourth album for a late 2012 release via the band's new label
home, Century Media Records.
EVOCATION's third album, "Apocalyptic", was released on October
29, 2010 via Cyclone Empire Records.
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