Da Capo Press has announced that it will publish a two-volume biography of the biggest hard rock band in the world, METALLICA. "Birth School Metallica Death: Volume I" by Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood will hit bookstores in the fall of 2013. "Birth School Metallica Death: Volume II" will land in the fall of 2014.
Paul Brannigan is the acclaimed author of Da Capo's "This Is A Call: The Life And Times Of Dave Grohl". Ian Winwood is a music journalist. Their book will be the most comprehensive, complete, authoritative, and compelling narrative biography of METALLICA to date, and will be based on 75 hours of rare interviews.
Divided into two distinct books, "Volume I" will cover METALLICA's formative years in the underground, from the unassailable one-two-three punch of speed metal classics "Ride The Lightning", "Kill 'Em All" and "Master Of Puppets" to the mainstream breakthrough heralded by "...And Justice For All" and realized with the multi-platinum success of the "black" album. "Volume II" will cover METALLICA after breaking through to the mainstream, the megatours, excess, and many challenges and successes that followed.
The book was acquired by Da Capo Press executive editor Ben Schafer who said, "It's an honor to work once more with Paul Brannigan, as well as Ian Winwood, on what will be the definitive biography of METALLICA. METALLICA's story is an epic narrative finally getting the same multi-book treatment as Elvis Presley, Charles Darwin, and several former presidents."
U.S. and Open Market (excluding Europe) rights were sold by agent Matthew Elblonk of DeFiore & Company in association with Matthew Hamilton at Aitken Alexander.
One of the world's biggest rock bands, METALLICA has sold in excess of 100 million albums. Their journey from scuzzy Los Angeles garages to the stages of the world's biggest and most storied stadiums has been an epic and often traumatic one. There are countless memorable stories about the band yet to make it into print: tales of bed-hopping and drug-taking and car crashes and fistfights and backstabbing that occur when you mix testosterone and adrenaline and alcohol and egomania.
No music writers have been afforded greater access to METALLICA over the past two decades than Brannigan and Winwood. The duo have conducted approximately 75 hours of interviews with the band, gaining not only an unparalleled knowledge of the group's history but also an insider's view of how this story has developed. The pair have ridden in the band's limos, flown on their private jet, joined them in the studio during the recording of seminal albums, been invited to the quartet's "HQ" (headquarters) in San Rafael outside San Francisco and shared beers and stories with the four-piece backstage in venues across the globe.
Da Capo Press is a member of the Perseus Books Group and has recently published such music books as "Iron Man", a memoir by BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi, and "Seven Deadly Sins" by Corey Taylor, lead singer of the hard rock bands SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR. Both were New York Times bestsellers.
SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo confirmed to Metal Injection at the fourth annual Revolver Golden Gods awards — which was held on April 11 at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles, California — that the band will release a new EP prior to taking part in this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.
During an interview with The Nervous Breakdown, Lombardo stated about SLAYER's current status, "[We're] writing new music. Kerry [King, guitar] and I are writing new material. We have nine songs and everything's moving forward."
When asked what the new material sounds like, Lombardo said, "[It sounds like] SLAYER. . . Traditional fans will be pacified and non-traditional fans will be like, 'Again?'"
On the topic of when SLAYER fans can expect to hear some new music from the band, Lombardo said, "I don't know, but we're going to do a three- or four-song EP to keep the fans pacified until we come out with the full-length record. Kind of like what we did with 'Psycopathy Red', which was like a two-song 45."
Lombardo's side project PHILM — which also features guitarist/vocalist Gerry Nestler (CIVIL DEFIANCE) and bassist Pancho Tomaselli (WAR) — will release its debut album, "Harmonic", on May 15 via Ipecac Recordings.
Joey Belladonna may be a legend of the 80s Metal scene but it only takes a couple of minutes in his presence to realise what a positive, polite and down to earth person he really is. The music of Anthrax has played an integral part in my musical 'upbringing' over the last twenty five years so when the opportunity arose for me to conduct the interview with the mighty frontman I grabbed it. Only a couple of hours prior to the band storming the somewhat moderate (for their status) stage of the O2 Islington Academy, I met Joey and made sure that our chat did not simply revolve around their latest opus "Worship Music" but that it also covered some other important topics, including his return into the fold and what we should expect from the New York metallers in the future. Hopefully, reading this will be as interesting as conducting it turned out to be.
By Yiannis (John) Stefanis.
• Hi Joey, let me start by saying what an absolute pleasure it is for me to be doing this interview with you, having you here in the UK and also seeing you back with Anthrax! You are of course on tour for the promotion of "Worship Music" and you have already done the first part of the tour which covered the States and the reaction has been great, based on the reports I have read on the Internet. Tonight you are about to film a DVD here in London – a decision that I found somewhat surprising as I know that you will soon be performing at the Hammerfest Festival (Prestatyn/Wales) in a venue that will attract far more people. Based on that, what was the reason that you chose London as the location for the filming of the upcoming DVD?
Joey: Well, that is a good question and I am not sure why we chose London as I know that the room here is quite tight, especially when it comes to filming a show. I know a lot of things about the things that we do but why we decided to film the DVD here I have no idea! Maybe because it is a sold-out show – I really don't know. I know that we had a chance to do it now time-wise but why here? I don't know – good question! The whole operation is now under way and this will be the shoot – there is no more shooting to be done, that's for sure.
• It probably has to do with the fact that London has showed its dedication towards Anthrax over the years…
Joey: No doubt!
• …most of the band's shows have been sold out and the crowd tends to be quite energetic but as you quite correctly mentioned before, this is indeed quite a small stage for a band as energetic and 'mobile' as Anthrax. I, for one, am very interested to see how you will manage to deal with it.
Joey: Well, basically I have bumped into Scott a couple of times when we were performing on small stages before as it all depends on the lights and in both those cases the stage was dark. We just try to be a lot more cautious than reckless, you know? It is really quite methodical and it happens without thinking – we just make are little own ways around each other. Of course you will have the cameras which are going to be sitting right on the stage and they will literally be in the way, so…maybe it's just as well! It's going to be like a studio live-ish type of compromise as we are recording at the same time so we should be more careful than reckless…I don't know – we will be fine, I am sure. It will be quite good.
• You guys have a lot of experience when it comes to doing shows as you have played in some of the biggest stadia around the world and last time you played here in the UK was for the Big Four festival which was attended by thousands of people and which really speaks volumes! Based on that fact, do you really get a kick out of the knowledge that you have to play in a venue as small as this one?
Joey: I play in such types of venues all the time. I liked getting up, going out of the bus and thinking to myself "Ok, we are in London – this is cool"! You drive around, then you get out of the bus and people start appearing out of nowhere and it is all very exciting for me. I am always cherishing the fans that are really excited to see the show and I like being able to be good enough for them to enjoy it and say that it was really awesome, you know? That alone is just enough to get excited over, you know? I don't get nervous at all anymore because there is nothing really to be nervous about! I used to get happily nervous but even that within seconds would be gone. I mean, I would hate it if I were to be the kind of person that gets overtly nervous and cannot think as a result, so…it doesn't matter what type of venue we are playing in, big or small – it's no problem at all! But yeah, I am very happy to know that people still enjoy us, especially as I see the next 'go-around'. It's as if we were gone and this whole thing has just come back in – it's like a new thing to us.
• Ok, let's talk about "Worship Music". You managed to release an album against all odds, an album that has scored quite highly on the Billboard 200 if that still means anything anymore to you.
Joey: It does, it means a lot to us.
• I am not going to get into the whole politics of who was involved and how it came to life – that is probably an over-saturated subject. The thing that I do want to ask you, however, is whether performing this album in a live environment is the same as performing the classic Anthrax material from let's say "Among The Living" or "Spreading The Disease" – material that was originally recorded with you in mind?
Joey: As far as difficulty is concerned or just like…
• …as far as emotional connection is concerned.
Joey: Well the only thing with new stuff is that until you feel it and know it well enough, like there are certain songs like "In The End", "I'm Alive", "Earth On Hell", "Fight 'Em Till You Can't" that we know real good but those songs are so different than let's say "Among The Living" and "Indians", because people know them very well and some songs live are evident – big and large and well-known and that is the only difference really. Otherwise, you take them all the same but none of them are the same because they don't have the same magnitudes. "Indians" is a totally different song to "Caught In A Mosh", you know- they don't even compare. They are both really good tunes but when you see them being performed live they do not get the same reaction from people. So, you've got to take the reaction that you get for the song and roll with it. I think that this is kind of what you were asking in a way. We are also pushing ourselves by putting new material on the set list like "The Constant" which we never did before; this will be the first time that we will play it since I sang it on the record and I didn't even know it when I did it then! I literally just walked in each day and sang one song without even hearing it or even seeing any lyrics and by the end of the day I was done so for me to do this now it felt strange as I didn't know it, but I knew it without knowing it. So to play it live it will be completely different because it just hasn't yet sunk in – it hasn't been felt all the way through yet. It takes a little while for some of the songs to really kind of develop and sometimes they just never get to a point where the expectations are what you would think you want and the crowd could love it, but you yourself may not get the same reaction from it. A song like "In my World"… (note: "Persistence Of Time" album, 1990); it doesn't come across as big as another song but to me it is fun to play, yet it is quite straight-ahead – one of those fist-banging songs. Some songs just doesn't work all the time and the same is with the new record. I mean, we are doing five songs as it is: I don't remember us ever doing five songs from a new album except perhaps at the very beginning during the "Spreading The Disease" (1985) when we basically started to do new songs straight away, you know?
• When you perform certain songs live, do you find that sometimes they are 'asking you' for a different interpretation of them? Do you ever find yourself thinking things like "maybe I can change this or add that next time we will play this one live", and to that to the point when a songs starts coming across as a slightly different entity?
Joey: Oh definitely. I mean, I obviously try to perform the songs as they sound on the record; I will naturally start singing that way. Sometimes it's the feel of it; trying to find a part that just because it is a live performance it can be performed faster or it can be done in a different way, you know? In the studio you might just have enough time to let each part develop, you know, as you don't have to do it all at once but live…I always add a few things, constantly doing something different. (note: During the interview the door is constantly opening and Joey finally decides to put his foot down – in a somewhat polite way, which did work as the door never opened again after that). Anyway, being able to do something live and just letting it happen…it is what it is, you know? But I love doing new stuff; I am constantly throwing something new like throwing a few notes in between verses and even in "In the End" I do a few of my own things with it and same with "Earth In Hell" – I just try to do what I can live with it because I want to have fun with these songs. I love doing stuff spontaneously but there are certain things that you just cannot change without messing things up or putting yourself into jeopardy with missing a part. There's overlaps and lyrics that I find that I cannot finish on time in order to get onto the second verse and so into the next line as there are two different parts interacting and they would not have worked if you did them like you did it on the record…so you have to change them a little bit.
• One of the things I really enjoy about "Worship Music" is that I hear in it a Joey Belladonna that is so diverse…
Joey: Seriously? I cannot personally hear such a thing!
• Yeah! There are some songs like "Crawl", for instance, which ten years ago I would never have believed that you would ever choose to sing.
Joey: Well, I can indeed do all that stuff because I think that the song is quite lined up for it, you know? I mean, I have a covers band at home and we do things from Rush, Journey and Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Triumph and Pink Floyd, Hendrix, Cream and all that stuff. I do all that kind of stuff but certain songs, their tunings are different, their tempos are not consistent – we do not have many songs where the guitars are going (note: at this point Joey sings a 4/4 guitar riff). In "Spreading The Disease" we did a song called "The Enemy" which was more of a slower, chunkier thing. I still cannot tell what I did for this new album that I am not supposed to do normally, but I guess I will take what you said in good faith (laughs). You see, it's hard for me to hear what you hear, you know?
• It is supposed to be a compliment by the way! (I laugh).
Joey: No, I know (laughs) – thank you very much. I am going beyond that now, I am trying to think what is it that someone hears that I don't. Like when somebody says "you heard that new song where he sounds like this or that" and I normally go "really, I don't hear that"! Well, that is cool! That is really great! I love it – I just didn't expect it. That was what I was worried about, coming in and doing a record that I didn't really have involvement in the beginning stages of and so get the opportunity to say things like "hey, can we move the key or change the part" which I never did anyhow in any of the records. Coming back after so long I was hoping that this thing would be in my favour and it was – it was much more open for me to do something with it, but even "Crawl", you know, that would have been considered quite mellow by somebody…It could have gone the other way around and have people saying "these songs are so slow" or me thinking "he is here so where am I going to sing"? So certain things are right there, this is where you will have to do it and you will have to make it work because there are certain keys that you will have to be able to sing in and there are tempos that you will have to follow.
• Well, I personally feel that you have done an excellent job in the vocal department and as a result "Worship Music" is such an enjoyable album. I have to be honest with you; when I first heard the album in its entirety, the first couple of spins, I found it to be interesting but I was not what you would call 'hooked'. Now, a few listens later, everything started to make sense and I truly believe that what we have here is a 'grower' type of album; you have to give it time and devotion – listen to it in an old-school kind of way. Once you honour all that, the end result is very rewarding indeed.
Joey: I think that some of the writing with Anthrax is trickier as it will not always follow the kind of format that you will get from any basic structured song. I mean, myself I need to understand how some of the things tend to connect and make those parts sound like they are a verse and a chorus and pre-chorus because some of our stuff…I remember one time during the "Persistence Of Time" there was a man who was listening to "One Man Stands" and went "where is the chorus" to which I replied "it just went by" (laughs). So, we don't have structures that sound like straight forward to most and then there are some bands whose name I do not wish to mention that when you get their record you never have to wait for it to catch on, but maybe for ours you did. There's nothing wrong with that; some stuff is a lot deeper than others and I like it when I listen to stuff that grows on me. There are so many things that do that to me and make me think "wow, I don't believe how much I love this record". At first I would be "Oh no, I don't think that I like it" but you start to get at what we did when we were putting this new album together and you start figuring out how it works and then if something was made in such a way that you have caught on it straight away you might have ended up liking it less as a result because it just didn't have much to offer in the end. It's kind of neat: that's what is great about songs if you get that far into it or someone else just doesn't even go there thinking "I don't like it, I don't care and I don't want to listen to it ever again". I mean, how do you know? You might just like it in the end!
• What is the strangest thing that you've heard with regards "Worship Music"? Can you recall something that particularly annoyed you or something that you found to be strange?
Joey: My vocal thing is obviously the one thing that I am focusing on…I don't know. I know that they (note: remaining members of the band) have changed the style of their writing; the tuning is a little bit different and some of the arrangements are a little bit more structured, you know, before consumption, should I say as people might want something a little more 'intact'. I kind of came into something when they were going to find what route they were going to be taking and they pulled some old ideas and thoughts with new ones and then all of the sudden I came in. I sound different which to me is great again as if you got something that you did not expect and you like it then that is cool. My big thing was 'can you live up to the expectation of long ago'? To me this is different but not too far off, so it's all there – it's just how different it was for you to either dislike it or like it. That was it but when people say "I love the way you sound on it" and for what little time I've put into it…that is my favourite part of it. I literally did four to five hours a day on it and that was it to be done with a song. I did not have four or five days to be pounding it out and trying all different kinds of shit or farting around with too many different ideas and burning out as a result. Nobody was there, either! That was one of the biggest things; I didn't have anybody there – it was like being in detention! You felt like you were under the microscope all the time, but it sounds good too! The sonic aspects of it, the sound is one of my other favourite things about it. Jay Ruston, I don't know, just made us really come to life. That's a cool thing because over time we did work with some really good producers but sometimes…you just sit and hear this album and you know what is right and what is not.
• I also believe that "Worship Music" opens a whole new world of possibilities for you. I think it is the kind of album that will help you spread your artistic wings and thus enjoy new experiences.
Joey: Yeah, I hope that, looking ahead for another record, I hope that we have opened the door for a lot more interpretation where we can expand and explore a few more avenues and help us become even better because maybe you can end up finding a few more things that can make you say "oh my God, I love the way you are doing that now" and I hope that this is what we are going to do. I hope we will not get too…I know that it's one thing to live up to certain expectations and if you don't think about it, then that is good, you know?
• Well, you certainly made this album sound very approachable, the kind of album that even the traditional Anthrax fan will not really react badly towards.
Joey: Yeah, that was the hardest thing and nor did we want to put ourselves in the position of staying with this classic thing, you know what I mean? We are advancing our whole musical horizons, everybody is into all different kinds of new things and new ideas are always manifesting themselves into new things, you know? I have been out of the band for a long time and I have been singing so many different things which kind of helped me go back to where I used to be musically and to be heavier without doing any of the classic stuff right now…I don't do anything like this, ever, but to come in and sing those new songs was easier for some reason. It wasn't like I was singing that new stuff all day long when I wasn't with the band. I have been gone since 1990 and even though I came back for the reunion (note: 2010) we did not play anything other than old songs!
• Now that you are back in the fold do you find that perhaps your approach towards certain things has changed? Are you seeing things in general through different eyes when it comes to touring or the way you approach and work on your vocals? Do you do things differently now?
Joey: Yeah, I mean, I am now more into 'how this all is working', 'what are we doing here', 'who is taking care of this' and 'why is it like this'- it's all business. I also want to have a lot more fun with the other members of the band, a lot more hands-on with each person so that you can connect better. Say that Scott (note: Ian/guitars) is in 'that' room and I am in 'that' room and that's it – I try to change that. Then again, I also try to conserve myself because I am doing the singing and it's not like somebody can stay up till four in the morning and then just get out of bed and feel "Ok" – there is something about the voice that makes it very sensitive and I always do my best to maintain it.
• Well, you are not doing yourself many favours vocals-wise on the new album. The band has a very long tour schedule to work with and that will certainly push your voice to the limit in the weeks/months to come!
Joey: Nobody thinks about those things, it is always "how many things can we do"!? I looked at the last schedule and I thought "shit, we are doing nine/ten days in a row" – I mean, nobody is doing that! If they are, I don't know what they are doing music-wise and how far they are travelling, you know? I have done more even with my own band; we are doing things like fourteen shows in a row and we are also driving fourteen hours a day to get to the next show and blowing tyres on the way there! I don't know, I just like to play! I don't really think about it so much but there is also a point in time where you want to make sure that things are going to work and people are going to enjoy it more so we can do it more, otherwise this can be…not what you are hoping for, you know? It won't work! You've got to make it happen and everybody needs to be happy when doing it because I find that if I am to be in a band where people are just satisfied without saying anything then it's just bound to get kind of thinned-out, you know? You don't want to put anybody in the position where he is just going to be like…if I feel that way…I have played with people like that who have never been to where I've been and I know that they are not right for me because they do not have my priorities checked out – they do not want to be here in the first place! I feel that and I cannot be with those people! The guy that I play with now, we are on the phone all day talking about the night before for hours! Just methodically thinking about what went wrong, what would we do and what can we do to change it. That's how things should be. We say the same things over and over again but that makes a lot of sense to me, you know? Or we watch DVDs and we say things to each other like "I watched this thing and I noticed so much stuff that we can do" and I feel like a little kid, you know? But that is part of it.
• Joey, forgive me but I really need to ask you this question. Believe me when I say that there is no ulterior motive, it's a question that comes from the heart and from somebody who loves this band and simply wants to know what is really happening with it. I have read quite a few articles and interviews with you and other members of the band these past few months and I am left with the impression that it has not been decided if you are back with Anthrax for the long run or whether this is simply a temporary arrangement. Now, I am one of those people that cannot think of Anthrax without Joey Belladonna behind the mic so, as you understand, I am really interested to hear what it is that you have to say on the matter! What's the deal here? Have you guys openly spoken about what will happen when the touring for "Worship Music" is over?
Joey: There hasn't been any such talk but, if anything, we are already gearing up for more stuff. We've got a lot of new personal people involved who are putting things in the position that we are touring the right way, putting things on a specific timeframe and where things are thought out right and not for us to miss a good opportunity as a result of not thinking things through properly. We are doing all that stuff. All the touring between now and the end of the year is all really planned out nicely and everybody has enough time to prepare themselves properly. Now albums-wise, it obviously takes time to do stuff and people do tend to say things like "you guys started writing new stuff again" but our answer would be "not yet" as we have been touring. Put it this way: there is no such thing as 'testing waters' happening right now – we are not at that stage. We are at the stage where we are rolling; we are a band and I guess that all that you can do is to make sure that everything that you are doing is made properly and in everybody's hands so each person has a fair shot at looking at exactly what has been done so that they can make some changes. I am up for it… I am not here to test anything – all I know is that when you are doing something that you want you have to make sure that everything is as fair as possible so that you are not just riding for the hell of it, you know what I mean? It's just one of those things that make more sense. I mean, I am not going to sit around to see if the band is good enough for me or whether I am good enough for them because, either way, if it doesn't multiply then fine – that's the way it is! I mean look at…why…they had to bring out all that stuff without me – why was I not there before? I didn't do…I am no different now, if anything I am better! It's just something that they wanted to do and I am still baffled by that anyhow! I mean, we missed out on a lot of time there! Unfortunately, maybe it worked out for the better but I didn't choose that, so…I am not sitting around thinking "do I want to stay or do I want to go" – it's not that! It absolutely isn't that. I wanna be good at what we are doing and do it right and I would love to do it for as much as possible. Who in this band can do what we do if we are not together? We can't! It's just…really, I shouldn't say that we can't but it's really hard to put yourself into another band and hope that you can really do what we do as a group because we are together – it's the right recipe, you know? It seems to work.
• Joey, take it for somebody who has been listening to this band loyally over the years; Anthrax only really make sense if you guys stick together! I mean no disrespect to any past singers but that is how things are.
Joey: That's a hard thing too! The whole thing is probably one of the…not hard but the one thing that I never thought I would be dealing with is like comparing because I don't feel that there's any comparing – these were too different things (note: Joey seems to be referring to the John Bush era here). Do I really need to get into that? I don't really care! It's not whether I like or dislike anything, it's just that I don't have any time to think that one was better than the other or whatever, you know? I do what I do so I do not think about such things!
• That is the healthiest approach one can follow for sure.
Joey: I am glad that I do not have to chase any of it to be honest with you. I did one song live from the old stuff…he had to but not me – I just rather not, you know? I don't want to have to sit there and have to dwell on comparisons. If you name any other bands that have been through such a situation you will see that they don't really follow that either – there is no need to. When it comes to a voice, you don't need to try to change somebody's style, that is the thing. I wanna have my own style and to be this 'dude that wasn't there before'. I mean, it's hard to do that. I do that in my cover bands all day long but I do that because I want to but at this stage I'd rather not. I think that we're doing quite well right now, I think that everything is really the best that it can be and we just have to make sure that we keep doing what it is that we are doing. We haven't stopped yet; we just keep plugging away!
• You guys have spoiled people rotten with this whole 'The Big 4' thing! It has been a huge success; it has been well documented and as you will certainly appreciate people are simply left wanting more. Will you guys consider repeating the exercise sometime in the future?
Joey: I don't even have any say in that and neither do we all. I just think that there is a great possibility for this to happen again but I also think that this is something for Metallica to figure out. It's really Metallica who are going to dictate when they are ready to do something, when it is that they are going to do it and whenever we receive 'that call' we will be there! We always have the 'bat phone' ready to go, you know (laughs)? As soon as the phone rings we will find the time! I think that you will see something.
• Do you remember there being a form of healthy competition between the bands? Do you remember thinking to yourselves "you know what, I am going to go on stage now and show them how it's done"?
Joey: Oh no. Believe me, everybody's got the best intentions of being as good as possible but I know that on that whole tour there is no way for each to compare with one another. I love that because we are so different from one another and yet we belong in the same 'building'. We may play together but there are so many differences. I mean, just the fact that I am the only lead singer without holding any guitar, which is cool!
• You know what, I never actually thought of that one – quite an interesting point indeed.
Joey: That is awesome! Just that alone makes us different but I also think that our music is much different from the rest of the bands but, again, we all seem to fit so well together. There are some people who went "why do you guys go out first" and I am "I don't mind going out first". I mean, that is a very exciting time of the day, even though it is early in the sense that people are still filtering things in I still love that because it is something else…what a kick off, you know? And then we're done, you know – we've done our part. Then we would go out later we used to join them every night and so we got to see everybody again.
• Joey, once again, it has been an absolute pleasure talking to you. I want to wish you all the best on both a personal and professional level, health and every success possible.
Joey: Thank you man – I really appreciate that! I hope so too! I really cannot wait for more things to come and I still like to do some of my own stuff just to keep myself busy. I do have to go and play small bars when I go home, play drums and sing and be as happy as I can be, you know? It's all just a part of making noise, music and getting to watch people to come and hopefully enjoy themselves with what we do. That's really what I like most about playing, you know?
• Ok, thank you very much.
Joey: You're welcome.
Kevin Lyman, Vans Warped Tour founder and producer of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, has confirmed to Metal Insider that The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Boat will take place December 7-11. The floating festival will feature performances by LAMB OF GOD, ANTHRAX, MACHINE HEAD and SUICIDE SILENCE as well as other, yet-to-be-announced acts from the Metal Blade, Sumerian, Roadrunner and Century Media labels. KORN's Jonathan Davis and SLIPKNOT's Sid Wilson will DJ on the cruise as J-Devil and DJ Starscream, respectively, and there will also be a film festival presented by Fangoria and SLIPKNOT's Shawn "Clown" Crahan, who will also curate a charity art show.
"We are just excited to get to put this together," Lyman told Metal Insider. "It has been a fun process for both of us and really allows us to expand the Mayhem brand and good times."
"Stalingrad", the new album from reformed heavy metal legends ACCEPT, has registered the following first-week chart positions:
Germany: #6
Switzerland: #17
Czech Republic: #25
Austria: #32
France: #50
"Stalingrad" was released on April 6 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was once again helmed by British producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY), who worked on the band's critically acclaimed comeback effort, "Blood Of The Nations".
"Stalingrad"was made available in the following formats:
* Limited CD+DVD
* CD
* 2LP (red) in gatefold
* 2LP (white/red) in gatefold - exclusive Nuclear Blast mailorder edition
"Stalingrad" track listing:
01. Hung, Drawn And Quartered
02. Stalingrad
03. Hellfire
04. Flash To Bang Time
05. Shadow Soldiers
06. Revolution
07. Against The World
08. Twist Of Fate
09. The Quick And The Dead
10. Never Forget (bonus track)
11. The Galley
DVD contents:
Official Bootleg
Live at Bang Your Head!!! 2011
01. Princess Of The Dawn
02. Pandemic
03. No Shelter
Live at Masters Of Rock 2010
04. Teutonic Terror
05. The Abyss
Video clips
06. Teutonic Terror
07. Pandemic
Commented ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffman: "ACCEPT and Andy Sneap have the perfect synergy. This was so clear with 'Blood Of The Nations' and we are excited to continue on that path. Andy is not only an amazing and prolific producer but also a very good friend who has long become a member of the ACCEPT family."
Regarding the musical direction of ACCEPT's new album, Hoffmann told The Rock Pit last year, "We're just gonna have the same attitude, the approach; we're just gonna do more of the same, you know, without it being the same. More similar-style stuff, hopefully fresh new ideas. And I mean, we're not gonna… The intention is not to change it right now. I mean, why would we? . . . But I have to say, it's always easier said than done. It's incredibly difficult to write songs that are sort of reminiscent of the past but they're not, you know, rip-offs of your own music. That sounds incredibly very simple, but it's really not, especially if you have a sort of history of 15 albums or whatever we have. Then there are always similarities that you have to avoid. It can't be too close, but it can't be too far away from it. So it's a pretty fine line that you have to walk sometimes, but, you know, hopefully we'll manage again."
ACCEPT 2012 is:
Wolf Hoffmann: Guitar
Peter Baltes: Bass
Herman Frank: Guitar
Mark Tornillo: Vocals
Stefan Schwarzmann: Drums
GODSMACK will unleash its first-ever live album, "Live & Inspired", on May 15 via Universal Republic Records.
"Live & Inspired" features fierce and furious live renditions of numerous hits from the Massachusetts rockers' five studio albums. Their incendiary and infectious shows have become legendary in modern rock, and they continue to impress both critics and audiences alike every time they hit the stage. The group sounds unchained on rousing performances of "Awake", "Keep Away", "Straight Out of Line", "Whatever", "Voodoo", and "I Stand Alone".
This is the first time that's been captured on CD, and bonus tracks of covers that have "inspired" GODSMACK is also going to be included along with it. The four tracks are quite close to the band's collective heart. The band started ripping through local Massachusetts haunts with their renditions of some of these songs, and these recordings bring everything full circle.
About the collection, frontman Sully Erna reveals, "'Live & Inspired' is our way of saying 'Thank you' to all of our fans for believing in us throughout the years, and helping us to become a great live band! Along with this ass-whooping set live from Detroit Rock City, we've also included four cover songs of our favorite hits in the past to show you that, we too, are simply just fans that appreciate nothing more than good old fashion ass-kicking rock 'n' roll! Enjoy!"
Erna told Loudwire in a recent interview, "We were going to do a compilation with this song from Vegas, this song is from Chicago, this one is from Dallas, but I don't know, the more we listened to the Detroit show, the more we kind of figured out that it was a really good show for us."
Erna also said that GODSMACK has nothing but love for the Motor City, explaining, "It's always a great audience, as any rock band will tell you. Playing there is a special kind of fanbase that they have there, they live up to their reputation. They're a great rock audience."
In addition, the quartet encouraged its legion of supporters to be a part of the release. The collection's packaging actually showcases a variety of fan photos. Fans may submit live snapshots of the group on stage, pictures of themselves rocking out at GODSMACK concerts, or photos of their tattoos of the group's iconic logo on the band's official Facebook. Now, the winning photos adorn the album's booklet and packaging.
The album will hit shelves and digital retailers while the band is in the midst of its Mass Chaos Tour with STAIND and HALESTORM. The jaunt commenced on April 13 in Augusta, Georgia at the James Brown Arena.
Like many guitarists, John 5 moved to L.A. to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional player. But unlike the countless others who were quickly chewed up and spit out by the music industry, John 5 became one of the most successful rock guitarists of the last two decades, achieving a level of success unimaginable for most. He's an in-demand guitarist and songwriter for some of the biggest names in the business—Ricky Martin, Salt-N-Pepa, David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Zombie—and also maintains an illustrious career as a solo artist.
With his unique bluegrass-meets-metal style, John 5 is a bona fide guitar god. He developed his prodigious abilities through an unwavering dedication to the instrument and endless hours of rigorous practice. Like the late Randy Rhoads, John 5 would seek out guitar teachers on the road while on tour. "It had to be the right kinds of teachers, not just a rock guy who's got a Metallica shirt on and is going to show me some licks," John 5 clarifies. "I looked for the real guys who just know how to play one style of music, whether it's classical or country." He's become extremely articulate in reversing those roles and taking on the duties of the teacher. In 2008, he released the instructional DVD, The Devil Knows My Name, and earlier this year, he released an instructional book, The Book of John, both through Hal Leonard Corporation. "It's definitely a great book if you want to figure out certain ways that I do things," says John.
Currently, John is in the midst of a world tour with Rob Zombie (co-headlining with Megadeth). Although the shows are physically demanding and the tours exhausting, he says, "When I'm on the road, instead of just sitting around and doing nothing, I'm writing music and working on stuff. If I have an hour free, I take advantage of that time and work. I learned that from Rob Zombie. He's always working and he's very productive in his life." As a testament to this making-every-minute-count work ethic, John 5's sixth and latest CD/DVD release, God Told Me To, will be released mid-tour this month, and he's currently scoring Zombie's upcoming film, The Lords of Salem. We got the scoop from John 5 on his new album and how to make it as a session player, and then we geeked out on his massive gear collection while trying to nudge him to purchase Eddie Van Halen's exorbitantly priced 1984 guitar, which recently hit the auction block.
Is God Told Me To an evolution forward from your previous releases?
I think it is because it's half acoustic and half electric. I'm dabbling in some Spanish style music on this one—some different acoustic types of playing like knocking on the guitar and creating rhythms, and using the violin bow. I'm also using the mandolin and all sorts of crazy stuff.
What inspired this?
I've never done it before and I wanted to change it up. I want to make every album special, so people aren't like, "Oh, here's another John 5 album. It's going to be a little country and a little rock." I want to keep them on their toes so they never know what they're going to get.
On "Beat It," you pretty much played Eddie Van Halen's solo note-for-note. Why did you do choose to do that?
"Beat It" is just an iconic piece of music and the solo is also iconic—it's incredible. So, I had to pay tribute to how amazing it is. I think it came out great, I'm really proud of it.
After the solo proper, you go into your own solo and it sounds like you made a conscious effort to avoid any signature Eddie Van Halen-isms.
I wanted to put my style into it. Eddie always said, "Have your own style, have your own thing, and do your own thing." So that's what I did.
Speaking of which, you've played and recorded with David Lee Roth before. Have you checked out the new Van Halen album, A Different Kind of Truth?
Yes. It's amazing. I love it so much. I think they did a phenomenal job and they're kicking ass on tour.
"Noche Acosador" features a lot of authentic-sounding, acoustic Spanish-style playing.
I study so many players, so many styles, and the right way to do it. Whenever I do something country or a different style of music, I don't listen to a rock guy doing it. I listen to the real guys doing it. That's why, hopefully, it sounds authentic.
You got your start as a session player. How did you break into the scene?
I was just a guitar player around L.A. looking for work and I didn't know what people charged for sessions. I was like, "I guess $100," meanwhile people were charging like $1,500 a track. So I would do everything for half the price everybody else was doing it for and I would do it in half the time just because I didn't know. And so I got a reputation—everybody was like, "Hey, this guy will do this really cheap and he's really good."
You're now an established A-lister. What's the secret to scoring the big gigs at this level? It's safe to assume that anyone called in for a high-profile audition is also a monster guitarist who can play the required parts flawlessly.
You have to really know the songs. In addition to all the guitar parts, I would learn the keyboard parts and I would practice and practice. I did so much research. I would just be so prepared it was ridiculous. I would find out what guitars were played for certain gigs and what kind of clothes they wore. Because it wasn't enough to just know the songs. You have to have the look and you have to play the right kind of guitar. If you're going to go audition for The Allman Brothers, you're not going to go up there with crazy makeup on your face.
Your obsession with the Tele has long been documented. In the past you said you wanted to get a Tele for every year. Have you reached your goal yet?
It's not like a huge hurry to do it. I want to do it in my lifetime, but I want to get the right Tele of each year. The ones that are in nice condition and are all original. It's kind of the thrill of the hunt for me. I'm missing just a few though so I'm doing pretty well.
You're talking big bucks here with the old Fenders. What's the priciest guitar you've bought?
A 1950 Fender Broadcaster that was probably $150,000.
How well researched are you on what to look for and how to verify an instrument's provenance?
I'm an old Fender history nut and am very educated on the Teles—the lacquer, wiring, pots, and wood. And then, once it passes me, I take it to some experts that I have before I make the deal. I usually buy one a year or something like that. It's been going great though.
Do you ever just buy stuff on your own through Craigslist or eBay?
Sometimes I'll do it from eBay. There are certain dealers I know on eBay, and I know they're totally legitimate and they have great stuff.
What about buying one from a private seller—have you done that or is it too risky?
Not really, no. It's sometimes too risky.
Although you do a good amount of country chicken pickin', you're most commonly identified as a metal shredder. The Tele is not the first guitar that comes to mind for that genre.
Yeah, I love it. The Telecaster is like our first electric guitar and it's a workingman's guitar. You can't really hide anything on a Tele—it's a really tough one to play but it's just like a part of my body now. At this point, playing anything else would be more uncomfortable to me.
Your signature J5 Triple Tele Deluxe and Squier J5 Telecaster both have flat 12" radiuses and two humbuckers—specs favored by shredders and not typical on Teles. Did you choose these specs to make the guitars easier to play?
Yeah, when you're on stage and it's blaring loud and it's so super loud, you're going to need some power. That's why I put some humbuckers in there and the flat neck, makes it comfortable to play. The neck was designed around a 1966 Esquire I have, which has an amazing neck, and the body was kind of designed around a Fender Custom Telecaster with the binding they had back in the '60s.
Your signature guitars probably feel a little bit different than the vintage Teles in your collection. Would you be able to just pull out an old Tele and use it onstage immediately or would it take some adjusting to get used to?
They feel the same. The only thing is, the Teles from my collection are completely original. So they would feedback a lot because I play at huge venues at such loud volumes. But in the studio, I use a lot of old Teles for recording.
On "Beat It," there's some whammy bar action. Do some of your Teles have whammy bars?
I have a bunch of Teles with Floyd Roses in them. I used to play a lot with a Floyd Rose because I was a big Eddie fan. I just wanted to have that exact sound.
Were they after-market Floyd Roses or did they come stock from Fender?
They came stock from Fender.
You also have some guitars up on eBay. Why did you decide to put them up on the auction block?
I was cleaning house a little bit and I was like, "Man, I have a lot of guitars." I was kind of trying to make room. I was thinking to myself that if back when I was a kid there was eBay, and Eddie Van Halen put some of his guitars up—I would have freaked out. I just wanted to put them up and have people enjoy them as much as I have.
But, hey, did you know that Brad King from rig-talk.com has Eddie Van Halen's Kramer Frankenstrat guitar that was used for 1984 listed up for sale?
I didn't know that.
Yeah, just Google it.
What would I put in, "Eddie Van Halen 1984 guitar?" [Finds guitar online.] Oh yeah, you're right. This is crazy. Wow, that's cool.
It would be a nice one for your collection. Are you as obsessive about amps?
I'm not a big amp guy because I guess I'm such a big guitar guy. I'm not that fussy with amps, as long as it works and sounds good. Marshalls always worked and sounded good to me.
Even though you're not as obsessive with your amps, you now have a DiMarzio-branded John 5 cable. Do you find that quality cables make a noticeable difference?
I do. I'm not a tone chaser but I do notice a difference with cables, especially live. Sometimes even though I play wireless I'll go to a cable because it just sounds better. Eddie did the same thing on the last tour—not this one. He was plugged in.
Can you describe the sonic difference between cheap and better cables?
It's really hard to explain. It's like trying to explain the color blue. You kind of have to hear it, but there is a difference.
Just from speaking with you, I can tell that you're really obsessed with all facets of the guitar. Yeah, I was just playing before you called. [Laughs.]
GEARBOX
Guitars: Fender Telecasters including a massive vintage collection and signature models—J5 Triple Tele Deluxe, J5 Telecaster, Fender J5 Bigsby Telecaster, Squier J5 Telecaster
Amps: Marshall JCM 900 with vintage Marshall 1960 4x12 cabinets
Effects: Boss SD-1, Boss CH-1, Boss NS-2, Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synthesizer, Zoom G1J
Strings: GHS .009s [sometimes .010s or .011s, depending on the tuning]
Picks: Seven Kings .96mm
Cables: DiMarzio John 5 Signature
According to The Pulse Of Radio, the Secret Service will meet with Ted Nugent today (April 19) in response to his remarks on April 14 in St. Louis at the National Rifle Association convention. Nugent, who has endorsed Mitt Romney in the general election, said, among other things, "If you don't know that our government is wiping its ass with the constitution, you're living under a rock. . . I'll tell you this right now: if Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year. . . Our president, and attorney general, our vice president, Hillary Clinton — they're criminals. We're Americans because we defied the king. . . We are patriots, we are bravehearts. We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November. Any questions?"
Since then, Nugent told conservative radio host Glenn Beck, "We actually have heard from the Secret Service and they have a duty. I support them. I salute them. And I look forward to our meeting tomorrow." Nugent went on to say: "I've never threatened anybody's life in my life. I've never threatened. I don't waste breath threatening."
He went on to joke: "We're going to have a little barbecue get-together. I'm not trying to diminish the seriousness of this, because if the Secret Service are doing it, they are serious. They are dedicated and I will be as polite and supportive as I possibly can be, which will be thoroughly."
Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul addressed the controversy in a brief statement: "Divisive language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from. Mitt Romney believes everyone needs to be civil."
Ted Nugent told The Pulse Of Radio that he can't believe how anything he says seems to be automatically cast in a negative light. "I mean, it's just insanity how they immediately reduce everything I do to homophobic, sexist, racist, and shameless self-promotion," he said.
The Pulse Of Radio asked STYX guitarist J.Y. Young whether he plans on discussing politics with Nugent while on the road with him and REO SPEEDWAGON this summer. "I don't see any point in that, actually," he said. "Ted's really made his points really clear. This is not about politics. (We) played Freedom Rocks and we played it six years earlier, 2005, that was the only two times we've done that particular festival. But someone mentioned at least one side of Ted's family had originated in Sweden — and one side of my family had originated in Sweden. I like to think that Ted Nugent was a Viking warrior that was born just 1,000 years too late. (laughs)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0mNe1MdEzuI
Frontiers Records will the release of the brand new studio album from Norwegian powerhouse vocalist Jorn Lande (MASTERPLAN, AVANTASIA), "Bring Heavy Rock To The Land", on June 1 in Europe and June 5 in North America.
Following a three-year silence since the release of "Spirit Black", Jorn unleashes upon the world yet another slab of classic hard rock with metal elements.
"I think this album follows a similar Jorn tradition like those before, more heavy rock oriented than metal," says Jorn. "But, as usual, it's not one musical expression all the way through the album, but a variety of musical landscapes within the categories of rock and metal."
A winning formula should not change, so Jorn has again worked with Tommy Hansen at Jailhouse Studios in Denmark, who mixed the album, ensuring the right edge to the rich guitar and vocal sound that is now trademark to all JORN releases. The lineup sees the return of Jimmy Iversen on guitar who also appeared on "Spirit Black". The pairing with Tore Moren works really well and gives Jorn's sound the usual depth and solidity.
As usual, in addition to the original material, Jorn offers some interesting covers. This time, MASTERPLAN's "Time to Be King" and Christopher Cross' "Ride Like The Wind" are the ones to get the Jorn treatment.
"When we wrote 'Time To Be King', I heard a different and more rock-oriented arrangement in my mind," says Jorn, "so after the MASTERPLAN album was released, I couldn't stop thinking about how it would sound if it was recorded with this other arrangement. I don't know which one's better, I have ended up liking both versions. As for Christopher Cross, I have always loved 'West Coast'-oriented music and bands like 10CC, PAGES, SANTANA, LITTLE RIVER BAND, EAGLES and so on. So I thought 'Ride Like The Wind' would be a good song to do Jorn style. SAXON also released a version of this song in the '80s, and the arrangement we made ended up beeing a mix between the original version and SAXON's. It's also a fun song to sing and play."
Jorn Lande's strong and diverse voice and solid songwriting skills have now become legendary in the hard rock world. In a career spanning over close to 40 album releases, as frontman for ARK and MASTERPLAN, in addition to featuring on spectacular projects such as NOSTRADAMUS "The Rock Opera", BEYOND TWILIGHT "The Devil's Hall of Fame", Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA and AYREON.
"If you buy a Jorn album today, you know what you will get," states Jorn Lande. You are guaranteed to get your adrenaline going with the riveting sound that has solid roots in classic hard rock/heavy metal music, such as DIO, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW and WHITESNAKE.
"Bring Heavy Rock To The Land" track listing:
01. My Road
02. Bring Heavy Rock To The Land
03. A Thousand Cuts
04. Ride Like The Wind
05. Chains Around You
06. The World I See
07. Time To Be King
08. Ride To The Guns
09. Black Morning
10. I Came To Rock
11. Live And Let Fly (bonus track)
The title track, "Bring Heavy Rock To The Land", will be released as a single worldwide on May 14. A video for the song is in the works and will be directed by Thomas Tjäder (PRETTY MAIDS, IN FLAMES). Jorn says, "The title track has really a strong Jorn trademark. It was a natural choice for a title track, I felt the same about 'Lonely Are The Brave' back in 2008. Sometimes one song's got the magic and you just know it. 'Bring Heavy Rock To The Land' is such a song and regardless of how the whole album is evaluated by critics, I feel that this song will live on and become an essential Jorn classic!"
Jorn will appear live at select shows in Europe during the summer.
JORN is:
Jorn Lande: Vocals
Willy Bendiksen: Drums
Nic Angileri: Bass
Tore Moren: Guitar
Jimmy Iversen: Guitar
Jorn Lande's "Live In Black" 2-CD/DVD set was released in August 2011 via Frontiers Records. The concert was recorded on June 10, 2010 at the Sweden Rock Festival in front of more than 25,000 people.
2010 was a significant year in Jorn's career. Besides releasing a tribute album to his hero Ronnie James Dio, Jorn was invited to perform, alongside Glenn Hughes, with HEAVEN & HELL at their final concert, which was held in July 2010 at the High Voltage festival in Victoria Park, London, England.
Just a few weeks earlier, Jorn appeared at the Sweden Rock Festival, in Sölvesborg and blew the crowd of more than 25,000 fans away.
"The special thing with 'Live In Black' is that it captures a very rough, uncut and spontaneous moment in the band's history," says Jorn Lande. "It was a hectic day, with many interviews and several TV appearances and I also had to do a short speech and statement regarding the great Ronnie James Dio's untimely passing a few weeks earlier. The whole festival became in the spirit of Ronnie, and it was very moving to see everyone there, including the artists honoring his memory."
Swiss hard rockers GOTTHARD will release a new single, "Starlight", on Friday, April 20. The title track will be made available in two versions: a rock and an acoustic variation.
"Starlight" was one of the first songs that the band wrote with new singer Nic Maeder.
"The chemistry between us worked immediately," says guitarist Leo Leoni. "It is really unusual to be able to sit down together and straightway write a song which is later the single."
"Right from the get-go, we had a really laid-back atmosphere between us," agrees Nic. "It was therefore not hard to come up with good ideas. It was really good fun from the start!"
"Starlight" comes off GOTTHARD's new album, "Firebirth", which will be released on June 1 via Nuclear Blast/Warner Music. The CD was produced at the band's own Yellow House Studios in Lugano, Switzerland, with guitarist/songwriter Leo Leoni and Paul Lani (who has previously worked with GOTTHARD on several of their earlier albums, including "G-Spot" and "Homerun") at the helm.
"Firebirth" marks GOTTHARD's first release with Maeder, who was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, lived in Melbourne, Australia and grew up between Switzerland and "Down Under."
"Firebirth" track listing:
01. Starlight
02. Give Me Real
03. Remember It's Me
04. Fight
05. Yippie Aye Yay
06. Tell Me
07. Shine
08. The Story Is Over
09. Right On
10. S.O.S.
11. Take It All Back
12. I Can
13. Where Are You? (dedicated to Steve Lee)
GOTTHARD vocalist Steve Lee was killed on October 5, 2010 in what has been described as a freak road accident in Nevada.
The "Firebirth" album cover depicts the firebird Phoenix, which symbolically rises "from the ashes to the sky" — this line expresses what each GOTTHARD fan feels and underlines the turbulent time that GOTTHARD has gone through in the past months.
Commented Leoni: "We are delighted with the new album. Songwriting with Nic and Freddy was a real explosion of inspiration and new ideas! Regarding sound and production, we have returned to our roots and we deliberately produced it with a pure — and for GOTTHARD — typical sound. For us, 'Firebirth' is the comeback album with the rating: back to basics!"
Added Marc Lynn: "Collaboration with Nic was unbelievable — it feels that we have known each other forever and the euphoria in the band is now burning like a new fire. It is a true rebirth of the zest of 20 years ago, when the band took off 'to conquer the world.' Producing this album with the new lineup was a real 'birth of fire' — we are very proud of our new baby."
GOTTHARD's first recording with Maeder, a song called "Remember It's Me", was made available late last year as a free download via the GOTTHARD web site and was met with a firestorm of enthusiasm and positive feedback.
Stated Maeder: "It was absolutely amazing to experience the positive feedback from the GOTTHARD fans and the media after the release of 'Remember It's Me'. Now I am looking forward to the reaction to our first album together. The chemistry in the band feels fantastic and we are very much looking forward to being onstage in a couple of weeks and rocking with the fans."
GOTTHARD's first live shows with Maeder will take place in May in South America before the band makes several European festival appearances. The new group's German live debut will take place on July 14 at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen.
Eagle Rock Entertainment has set a July 31 release date for the Blu-ray version of SLIPKNOT's "(sic)nesses".
Originally released on DVD in September 2010, "(sic)nesses" captures SLIPKNOT's unforgettably electric 2009 headlining performance at Download, where the group brought the venue to its knees with a performance that'll put viewers in the front row, butted up against the barricade, surrounded by thousands of fans losing their minds to their favorite band. Additionally, the DVD features several riveting extras including a 45-minute film, music videos and much more.
It was indeed a year of "firsts" for a band that was a decade-deep into their hard rock superstardom and dominance. Their latest album, 2008's "All Hope is Gone", debuted at #1 on The Billboard 200 chart — the first time in their history. SLIPKNOT embarked on a two-year touring trek that was globally successful, playing to packed houses across continents, including their headlining stint at New York City's legendary Madison Square Garden, which was stacked to the rafters and chronicled by Rolling Stone.
It makes perfect sense that the band, known for their eclectic DVD collection, ranging from multi-camera angle concert documents to arthouse-style films, would release "(sic)nesses", which captures a special performance at Download. All SLIPKNOT shows are memorable, but this one is particularly memorable, as the band blasted through hits from all of their platinum albums. On stage is SLIPKNOT in its most natural state and "(sic)nesses" will put you in the front row.
30 cameras were on hand to capture every possible angle of the band as they motored through their parade of hits; the cameras also caught the fans on tape, as they are just as crucial an element of a SLIPKNOT show as the band members themselves.
Perhaps most importantly, "(sic)nesses" is one of the final major performances for founding member Paul Gray, who tragically passed away in May 2010. While initially unintended, the concert is a testament to the legacy of Gray, where fans can enjoy a lasting glimpse of the bassist doing what he loved most.
Additionally, the DVD also includes a 45-minute behind the scenes documentary created by band percussionist Clown, as well as all four music videos from the "All Hope Is Gone" cycle.
"(sic)nesses" features the following track listing:
01. 742617000027
02. (sic)
03. Eyeless
04. Wait and Bleed
05. Get This
06. Before I Forget
07. Sulfur
08. The Blister Exists
09. Dead Memories
10. Left Behind
11. Disasterpiece
12. Vermilion
13. Everything Ends
14. Psychosocial
15. Duality
16. People=Shit
17. Surfacing
18. Spit it Out
* "Audible Visions Of (sic)nesses" - 45-minute film directed by M. Shawn Crahan that captures SLIPKNOT on the road during the "All Hope Is Gone" cycle
Music Videos:
01. Psychosocial
02. Dead Memories
03. Sulfur
04. Snuff
Making Of:
01. Snuff
DEFTONES, DETHKLOK, VOIVOD, SWORD (not to be confused with the Texan band THE SWORD), TRIVIUM, EMMURE, DIEMONDS and DANCE LAURY DANCE have been added to the Heavy MTL festival, which will return to Montreal, Qebec, Canada at Parc Jean-Drapeau on August 11 and August 12.
As of now, weekend passes for Saturday, August 11 and Sunday, August 12 at Parc Jean-Drapeau, as well as single-day tickets, are on sale via HeavyMTL.com, by phone at (514) 790-2525 or 1-877-668-8269 in person at the Bell Centre box office.
The Heavy MTL festival billing is shaping up as follows:
Saturday, August 11
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
DEFTONES
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
CANNIBAL CORPSE
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME
KATAKLYSM
THE FACELESS
PERIPHERY
VEIL OF MAYA
JOB FOR A COWBOY
GOATWHORE
FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE
ROSE FUNERAL
ORIGIN
EXHUMED
DIEMONDS
Sunday, August 12
SLIPKNOT
MARILYN MANSON
LAMB OF GOD
DETHKLOK
GOJIRA
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
VOIVOD
SWORD
OVERKILL
CANCER BATS
EMMURE
HIGH ON FIRE
PROTEST THE HERO
DANCE LAURY DANCE
THE AGONIST
IWRESTLEDABEARONCE
A few more bands will be added to this lineup and other events that will take part of the festival will be announced soon.
DEFTONES, DETHKLOK, TRIVIUM, CANCER BATS, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, ROSE FUNERAL and ORIGIN are among the newly confirmed bands for the Heavy T.O. festival, set to take place August 11-12 at Downsview Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
Saturday, August 11
SLIPKNOT
MARILYN MANSON
LAMB OF GOD
DETHKLOK
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
TRIVIUM
GOJIRA
PROTEST THE HERO
OVERKILL
CANCER BATS
HIGH ON FIRE
Sunday, August 12
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
CANNIBAL CORPSE
KATAKLYSM
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME
VEIL OF MAYA
JOB FOR A COWBOY
GOATWHORE
THE FACELESS
PERIPHERY
EXHUMED
FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE
ROSE FUNERAL
ORIGIN
Tickets are on sale now at HeavyTO.com.
Melodic metal band ARTIZAN will enter legendary Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida in August with producer Jim Morris (ICED EARTH, SAVATAGE, CRIMSON GLORY, DEATH) to record its new album, "Ancestral Energy", for release via Pure Steel Records at the April 2013 edition of the Keep it True Festival in Germany. The title track reveals a deep backstory of the Artizan character.
Commented ARTIZAN founder Ty Tammeus, "We have created a rich, unique and quite dark concept which describes the lineage and source of power for our Artizan character. The new material continues in the vein of the first album along with some more up-paced and heavier songs. There is more emphasis on the progressiveness elements, and, of course, we continue to focus on strong melodies."
ARTIZAN's full-length debut, "Curse Of The Artizan", came out in April 2011 through Pure Steel.
ARTIZAN, hailing from Jacksonville, Florida, was formed by original members of the acclaimed Century Media recording artist LEVIATHAN, and released its self-titled debut EP in late 2009. With a strong resemblance to such great bands as IRON MAIDEN, QUEENSRŸCHE, FATES WARNING and CRIMSON GLORY, ARTIZAN is undoubtedly one of the best exponents of what classic heavy metal is all about.
The reactivated original lineup of SPINESHANK — featuring Jonny Santos (vocals), Tommy Decker (drums), Mike Sarkisyan (guitar) and Rob Garcia (bass) — will release its long-awaited fourth album, "Anger Denial Acceptance", on June 19 (one day earlier internationally) via Century Media Records. Produced by Sarkisyan and Decker and mixed by Mike Plotnikoff (PAPA ROACH, BUCKCHERRY), the CD promises to surpass everyone's expectation of what SPINESHANK is capable of.
Commented guitarist Mike Sarkisyan, "It was very important to us, as artists, to make this record. We felt like we had something to say as a band." Their message was urgent and unambiguous, a sonic exorcism of sorts. "Some of us were going through divorces, others lost people very close to them and that's what basically surrounded us during the creative process."
"Anger Denial Acceptance" track listing:
01. After The End
02. Nothing Left For Me
03. Anger Denial Acceptance
04. I Want You To Know
05. Murder Suicide
06. The Endless Disconnect
07. I Am Damage
08. Ploratio Morbus (interlude)
09. Everything Everyone Everywhere Ends
10. The Reckoning
11. God Complex (Anger)
12. Motive Method Opportunity (Denial)
13. Exit Wound (Acceptance)
The official "lyric video" for the song "Murder Suicide" can be seen below.
In a recent interview with FrontRowRock.com, Decker stated about "Anger Denial Acceptance", "It's three of the stages of grieving, rearranged a bit. I think it's something a lot of people can relate to; things ending, relationships, people. Members of this band have been through a lot in the last few years and it all came out in this record. This is the most personal record we've ever done. Everything you hear is real. The pain, anger and sadness come from a real place. It was not a fun record to make."
When asked about the recording process for the new CD, Decker said, "The recording process was a lot different this time. It was the first record where we didn't have an outside producer come in, we did it completely on our own. We also did it in different sessions. We'd write three or four songs and then go record them. Write three or four more and record them in a different studio. We actually took our Pro Tools rig to a cabin in Big Bear and did a lot of the vocals there. We were totally isolated from the outside world; we were able to fully focus and concentrate on the songs. It was a really cool way to record."
Speaking to Valerie Bastien of RockSource360, Sarkisyan stated about "Anger Denial Acceptance", "I think the biggest difference in making this record was that it was done by us from the writing stage all the way to tracking. We didn't have a label rep up our asses all the time and we just kind of had the freedom to do what we wanted, when we wanted and how we wanted. Musically, it's light years ahead of what 'Self-Destructive Pattern' was, as it should be. We all have grown as writers and performers, and we've gotten better at expressing ourselves in our music.
On the topic of the new album's title track and why the band felt it was a perfect fit to name the whole album after it, Mike said, "That song was like my 'baby' on this record. I had come up with the skeleton of it before bringing it up to the guys. I had a pretty clear idea of where it needed to be, musically. Those three words just kept ringing in my head the whole time I was putting this together. It's some of the stages of dealing with loss. Any kind of loss. It was the first time that me, Tommy and Jonny collaborated on lyrics. It sort of became the centerpiece of the record and although it's not a full concept album, the album does tie together in more ways than one. And it's not structured like a basic song either. It's not that 'verse/chorus/verse…' thing. It has three distinct and different parts that sorta tie in together and represent 'Anger Denial Acceptance'. I'm super happy with the way it came out and am very proud of it."
According to DailyFreshies.com, MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil will appear in the season finale of "Ghost Adventures", the weekly American paranormal television series that first premiered on October 17, 2008 on the Travel Channel. The episode featuring Neil was taped at a Las Vegas hotel and will air on April 27. Neil will join the show's team of paranormal investigators — Zak Bagans, Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin — to check out The Riviera Hotel, which some say is haunted.
"Built in 1955, it's one of the oldest hotel and casinos still standing on the Vegas strip," a show synopsis says. "Filled with history, the hotel has had a roster of celebrity clientele and was formerly connected to the Chicago Mafia — needless to say, the hotel has had its share of good times and bad. Perhaps its most well-known guest was Frank Sinatra, who had his own penthouse suite where he often threw lavish parties. As the 'Ghost Adventures' team heads into the hotel to begin their investigation, exploring paranormal occurrences in Sinatra's room and various guest rooms. Attempting to channel Sinatra, they recreate a party in his suite, which delivers some startling results. As Vince and his entourage experience unexplained first-hand encounters — including scratch marks on one woman's back, cold sensations, voices and knocking — Zak, Nick and Aaron document the multiple EVPs and unexplained events. But it's not until Vince and his girlfriend, Rain, head into room No. 908 that Vince encounters an overwhelming physical experience."
SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist Clint Lowery have launched their new project, CALL ME NO ONE, with a first single titled "Biggest Fan". The track, which will be available to purchase on iTunes on April 24, is taken from the outfit's debut disc, "Last Parade", which will arrive on June 5.
"Last Parade" track listing:
01. The World Is Dead
02. Thunderbird
03. Soapbox
04. Hillbilly
05. Alls Well
06. Biggest Fan
07. Please To Meet You
08. Broken Record
09. War Song
10. Last Parade
The record will also include two bonus tracks.
Rose told The Pulse Of Radio that CALL ME NO ONE has turned into something bigger than he and Lowery first envisioned. "This isn't really a side project. This is another band," he said. "I mean, other people have done it, but I guess that the closest thing we could compare it to is like STONE SOUR to SLIPKNOT, you know. I mean, we're gonna go ahead and do this, then when this runs its course, it should be right on time for SEVENDUST to get back and rolling."
Lowery recently described the sound of CALL ME NO ONE as "kind of NINE INCH NAILS meets FOO FIGHTERS."
SEVENDUST guitarist John Connolly and bassist Vince Hornsby also recently launched a new project, joining forces with CREED/ALTER BRIDGE drummer Scott Phillips in a new outfit called PROJECTED.
PROJECTED has already entered the studio to begin recording its debut disc, to be made available later in the year.
SEVENDUST itself will begin writing its ninth studio effort this summer, with plans for an early 2013 release. SEVENDUST issued its most recent outing, "Cold Day Memory", in April 2010.
SPINESHANK's third and last album, "Self-Destructive Pattern", was released on September 9, 2003. The album's lead single, "Smothered", was nominated for a Grammy in the category of "Best Metal Performance".
Following his departure from SPINESHANK, Santos formed SILENT CIVILIAN, which released its debut album, "Rebirth of the Temple", in May 2006. A follow-up effort, "Ghost Stories", came out in May 2010 via Mediaskare/Century Media.
Canadian viking/folk metal band VALFREYA has inked a worldwide deal with Toronto's Maple Metal Records. The six-piece group's debut album, "Path To Eternity", will be released in late May.
Formed in February 2009, the Montreal-based VALFREYA is fronted by Crook, whose singing style ranges from symphonic clean vocals to guttural growls.
Although Crook is VALFREYA's main composer, the material on "Path To Eternity" features key contributions from guitar player Graz'zt, drummer Mawhjey, and the rest of the band.
"Path To Eternity" was produced by VALFREYA and was recorded, mixed and mastered in the fall of 2011 at Silver Wings Studio in Montreal.
Influenced by bands like MOONSORROW, EQUILIBRIUM and WINTERSUN, VALFREYA is known for its dynamic, crowd-pleasing, theatrical stage shows. They have shared the stage with such acts as DESPISED ICON, ARKONA, UNEXPECT, CANCER BATS, NORDHEIM, and many others
"Path To Eternity" track listing:
01. Path To Eternity
02. Deity's Grace
03. Inferno
04. Beyond Illusions
05. Ocean's Assault
06. Confront Immensity
07. Condemned The World
08. Alefest
09. My Everlasting Scar
10. Glorious Death
VALFREYA is:
Crook - Lead Vocals
Graz'zt - Guitars, Vocals
Karhu - Guitars
Pinch - Bass
Shark - Keyboards
Mawhjey - Drums, Vocals
Swedish death metallers SARGATANAS REIGN have announced that Joakim Göthberg, the former frontman for DIMENSION ZERO and MARDUK, will guest on the upcoming SARGATANAS REIGN CD, "Godwork". The band states, "[Joakim] had some great ideas for the vocals on his two tracks and his voice is angrier then ever. You will be blown away by his performance!"
Also making a guest appearance on "Godwork" are Mathias Lillmåns, the frontman of FINNTROLL, THE INIQUITY DECENT and MAGENTA HARVEST; SCAR SYMMETRY singer Roberth Karlsson; as well as one other vocalist, to be named later.
SARGATANAS REIGN's sophomore album, "Bloodwork - Techniques Of Torture", came out in 2005 via Blooddawn Productions/Regain Records.
According to the band's official bio, SARGATANAS REIGN's take on old-school American death metal creates a unique blend that is sure to attract fans of the most brutal metal and more commercial metal genres alike.
After the release of "Bloodwork", bassist Niklas Samuelsson and vocalist Jonas Matsson left SARGATANAS REIGN due to personal reasons.
__._,_.___
.
__,_._,___
0 comments:
Post a Comment