[Classic_Rock_Forever] The Rolling Stones, Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, KISS/Motley Crue, Metallica, Rush, Sex Pistols, Corrosion of Conformity, Adler and tons more hard rock and heavy metal news

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GRRR! The Rolling Stones announce greatest hits album
 
The Rolling Stones, ABKCO Music & Records and Universal Music Group are pleased to announce the release of GRRR! by the Rolling Stones on the 12th November 2012 for the world, excluding North America, and on the 13th November 2012 in North America.
 
Available in five different formats, including a three-CD 50 track version including 50 tracks, and a four-CD super-deluxe version gathering a whopping 80 tracks, the collection tells the fascinating ongoing story of the Greatest Rock'n'Roll Band In The World, from their high octane version of Chuck Berry's "Come On", their first single issued in June 1963, via the thrilling chart-toppers "The Last Time", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "Get Off Of My Cloud", "Jumping Jack Flash", "Honky Tonk Women" and the perennial juke-box and concert favourites "Brown Sugar", "Tumbling Dice", "Miss You" and "Start Me Up", all the way to the present day with the inclusion of "Gloom And Doom" and "One Last Shot", two new studio recordings recently completed by the group in Paris, France in August 2012.
 
These brand new recordings constitute the first time Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood have all been together in the recording studio since completing the exalted A Bigger Bang album in 2005, and follow on from the critically-acclaimed expanded re-releases of the historic 40th Anniversary live Madison Square Garden concert Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out in November 2009, and of two of their seventies masterworks, Exile on Main St., in May 2010, and Some Girls, in November 2011.
 
All GRRR! formats will feature a striking painting by award-winning American artist Walton Ford, who has created the latest in a long line of iconic artwork that has always been part of the band's DNA.
 
In celebration of the Rolling Stones' incredible journey, an innovative campaign has been launched to reveal their GRRR! Greatest Hits album sleeve using 3D Augmented Reality.
 
During a three week teaser campaign fans were invited to download the free uView app in preparation for the announcement. From today, using the uView app fans can scan the GRRR! sleeve and watch the stunning imagery come to life in 3D animation right before their eyes. The campaign will have further exciting updates coming soon. The use of one of the most advanced forms of mobile technology currently around solidifies The Rolling Stones as one of the most innovative bands in the world and as relevant as they have always been. The technology has been developed in partnership with Aurasma, the leaders in image recognition and augmented reality technology.
 
GRRR! GREATEST HITS FORMATS:
 
50 Track 3CD album
 
3CD / 50 tracks in a digipack with 24 page booklet
 
50 Track 3CD Deluxe Edition
 
3CD / 50 tracks in a DVD size box with 36 page hardback book and 5 postcards
 
Super Deluxe Edition Box Set
 
4CD / 80 tracks plus Bonus CD, 7″ Vinyl, Hardback book, Poster, 5 postcards in a presentation box
 
12" Vinyl Box Set
 
5x 12″ Vinyl / 50 tracks in a casebound LP Box
 
"WhoCares", the two-disc set of rarities and recordings culled from the careers of DEEP PURPLE's Ian Gillan and BLACK SABBATH's Tony Iommi, sold 700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The set landed at position No. 52 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.
 
Reuniting for the first time since their collaboration on BLACK SABBATH's 1983 "Born Again" album, Gillan and Iommi took everybody by surprise in 2011 when they released the charity singles "Out Of My Mind" and "Holy Water". For the recording of these songs, the two rock legends called a few friends, asking for some "help." Jason Newsted (METALLICA, VOIVOD), Jon Lord (DEEP PURPLE, 1941-2012), Nicko McBrain (IRON MAIDEN), and Linde Lindström (HIM) completed the supergroup WHOCARES.
 
Now, "Out Of My Mind" and "Holy Water" are featured in a special two-disc set of rarities and recordings culled from the careers of Iommi and Gillan. The "WhoCares" double-CD will be released in North America on August 28.
 
Among the tracks are the two original WHOCARES songs, DEEP PURPLE's unreleased studio jam "Dick Pimple", and a song from REPO DEPO (a band Ian Gillan formed before the DEEP PURPLE reunion) which never released an official song before this CD. Also included is "Zero The Hero", from the aforementioned BLACK SABBATH "Born Again" release (which is the only album to feature Gillan on lead vocals), as well as two unreleased songs from Tony Iommi featuring Glenn Hughes.
 
The "Out Of My Mind" and "Holy Water" singles were a joyful and inspired moment from two musicians with nothing to prove, willing to support music where music is considered a luxury. The spark to bring Iommi and Gillan in a studio together again was to finance the rebuilding of a music school in Armenia they had visited together on various occasions in past years.
 
"As I said once in the song 'Razzle Dazzle', it's a real fine line between an orgy of destruction and a wonderful time,'" states Gillan. "The destruction of conformity in this case: some of these pieces never really fitted into their contemporary program and got sidelined or forgotten, and some of the album tracks never had much exposure. As the track listing for this album came together, I noticed many of the titles had character similarities: a combination of freshness as they finally felt the sun on their backs and rebellion in a 'yeah told you so' kind of way. And that adds up to a wonderful time and more money for the music school we are building in Armenia.
 
"The ad-hoc benefit WHOCARES band," continues Gillan, "was a band put together by Tony Iommi and myself on a flight home from Yerevan, where we'd been deeply humbled by the honor and expectation bestowed upon us. Well, that's it really, in a nutshell, so to speak, what more can I say? It's all there in the music."
 
CD1
 
01. WHOCARES "Out Of My Mind" (fi rst time on an album)
Featuring Jon Lord, Linde Lindström (HIM), Jason Newsted (METALLICA), Nicko McBrain (IRON MAIDEN)
02. BLACK SABBATH "Zero The Hero"
03. Ian Gillan feat. Iommi, Ian Paice and Roger Glover "Trashed"
04. M. Rakintzis feat. Ian Gillan "Get Away" (fi rst release on a Gillan album, only released in Greece before)
05. Tony Iommi feat. Glenn Hughes "Slip Away" (fi rst time on CD)
06. Gillan "Don't Hold Me Back"
07. Ian Gillan "She Thinks It's A Crime" (vinyl single B-side, fi rst time on CD)
08. Repo Depo feat. Ian Gillan "Easy Come, Easy Go" (previously unreleased)
09. DEEP PURPLE feat. Ronnie James Dio "Smoke On The Water" (live with the Royal Philaarmonic Orchestra)
 
CD2
 
01. WHOCARES "Holy Water" (fi rst time on an album)
Featuring Jon Lord, Linde Lindström (HIM), Jason Newsted (METALLICA), Nicko McBrain (IRON MAIDEN)
02. BLACK SABBATH "Anno Mundi"
03. Tony Iommi feat. Glenn Hughes "Let it Down Easy" (fi rst time on CD)
04. Ian Gillan "Hole in My Vest" (7" vinyl single B-side, fi rst time on CD)
05. Gillan & Glover feat. Dr. John "Can't Believe You Wanna Leave me"
06. Ian Gillan & The Javelins "Can I Get A Witness"
07. Garth Rockett & The Moonshiners aka IG "No Laughing in Heaven" (rare track)
08. Ian Gillan "When A Blind Man Cries" (Live at Absolute Radio, previously unreleased)
09. DEEP PURPLE "Dick Pimple"
 
A truck transporting some of the pyrotechnics equipment for MÖTLEY CRÜE's tour with KISS was involved in a road accident en route to the two bands' concert tonight (Wednesday, September 5) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan.
 
MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx posted three post-accident photos of the truck — which ended up on its side — on his Twitter account and wrote, "Thank god our driver is OK."
 
The two bands have since issued the following joint statement:
 
"On its way to Detroit, our pyro truck was involved in an accident and flipped, spilling our gear all along the freeway.
 
"We owe you the show you expect and deserve, so we've jointly decided to give our crews the 24 hours necessary to piece everything together to make it possible.
 
"The party is now Thursday night, September 6th. See you there!"
 
MÖTLEY CRÜE and KISS's tour — dubbed simply "The Tour" — kicked off on July 20 in Bristow, Virginia and is currently scheduled to wrap on September 23 in Hartford, Connecticut. Although the bands are officially co-headlining the tour, MÖTLEY CRÜE is opening for KISS each night.
The official release party for the book "If You Like Metallica..." (Backbeat Books) by Mike McPadden will be held on Friday, September 7 at 8:00 p.m. at Duff's Brooklyn in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
 
The address is:
 
Duff's Brooklyn
168 Marcy Avenue (between S 5th & Broadway)
Williamsburg, New York
 
For more information, visit www.duffsbrooklyn.com.
 
McPadden will be reading from the book, and special guests will give live "Metal Trauma" readings from writers, musicians, and other headbanging wordsmiths on the topic of awesome/atrocious/humiliating/hilarious personal war stories from the frontlines of heavy metal.
 
Special guests include:
 
* Charly Roth ("The Liza Colby Sound")
* Mike Edison (author of Dirty, Dirty, Dirty and I Have Fun Everywhere I Go)
* Julianne Smolinski (MTV, xoJane, Today Show)
* Judy McGuire (author of The Official Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll Book of Lists)
* Christine Colby (Penthouse magazine)
* Lilah Wild (Goddess of Thunder)
* Mike Edison (Dirty! Dirty! Dirty!, I Have Fun Everywhere I Go)
* Julianne Smolinski (MTV, xoJane)
* David Szulkin aka Dave Depraved (Blood Farmers, Grindhouse Releasing)
* Christine Colby (Penthouse Magazine)
* Rachel McPadden (xoJane)
* Dean Rispler (Drug Front Records)
* Judy McGuire (Official Book of Sex, Drugs, and Rock-N-Roll Lists, Seattle Weekly)
* Charly Roth (The Liza Colby Sound)
* LC von Hessen (Mass Culture, Propagandist Productions)
* Sean Sakamoto (The Existential Weather Report)
* Lilah Wild (Goddess of Thunder)
* Meirav Devash (Allure)
 
In hard rock history, there is the time before METALLICA and there is everything that has come since: metal, punk, industrial, grunge, alternative — all of it absorbed, transformed, and reinvented by the band that, for decades, has ruled as both THE BEATLES and THE ROLLING STONES of heavy music. From garage rock to the avant-garde, indie pop to hardcore punk and, of course, all shades of metal, "If You Like Metallica..." illuminates the sounds and styles that influenced and have been influenced by this band, in addition to nonmusical elements such movies, books, and cultural iconoclasts. Just as METALLICA expanded heavy metal to new meanings and new possibilities, "If You Like Metallica..." expands being a fan of the band to an education and a treasure hunt that, put as bluntly as a devil-fingered salute to the face, rocks.
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According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the official merchandiser for Canadian rockers RUSH has filed a lawsuit to get a judge's order that it can use to direct federal marshals, and authorize local and state police and agents hired by the company to seize bootleg T-shirts and similar items during the band's U.S. tour.
 
The lawsuit, filed by Ontario, Canada-based Showtech Merchandising Inc., was authored by New Jersey attorney Jules Zalon, who said he has "gotten probably 250 or 300 of these types of orders" on behalf of entertainment acts. "These days bands make more money from merchandise than from concert tickets," he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
 
In August 2010, Live Nation filed a lawsuit against several "John Does" in advance of that month's Ozzfest in Devore, California. ("John Doe" is a term used in lawsuits for individuals whose actual names are not yet known.) Live Nation was attempting to get a court order that would have federal and local law enforcement authorities seize and impound trademark-infringing gear at Ozzy Osbourne's travelling festival.
Nick Krewen of GRAMMY.com recently conducted an interview with bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee of Canadian rock legends RUSH. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
 
GRAMMY.com: Your first concert for the upcoming tour is Sept. 7 in Manchester, N.H. Is touring easier these days?
 
Geddy: Easier? I find it more stressful than when I was younger. I think the physical part of it takes its toll on me, and the other guys I know for sure. Staying healthy becomes a more difficult challenge, and as the tour winds on, nerves fray in a different way than they used to. Although, you have more confidence than when you were younger, and more command of your instrument [and], as a result, more command of your audience's attention, which makes it easier. There is kind of a physical price you pay as the tour winds on, whereas when I was younger I could be in almost any condition, get out there and bang it off. I'm grateful for the audiences that we have, wherever we go. But it's a difficult thing for me to do right now.
 
GRAMMY.com: What do you think is the reason for RUSH's longevity?
 
Geddy: It's a little mysterious to me. There's a particular obvious chemical reaction we have with each other as players. We all like making the same kind of music, which I think is the one thing that kills a lot of bands: the fact that their tastes start changing, and the thing they want to put in their music is not something the other guys agree with. We don't have that problem here. The other thing that breaks up most bands is interpersonal relationships. We don't have that problem either, because we do get along well and we respect each other. Most of the time the biggest concern we have is, who is going to say something funnier? Where we get into one-upmanship is in the comedy department, not the music department. I think those things combined have really helped keep this band going.
 
Phil Collen, lead guitarist for the iconic rock band DEF LEPPARD, has announced plans for a charitable auction of "Wings", a custom Jackson PC1 guitar that Collen has played throughout this summer's "Rock Of Ages" tour. The auction, taking place exclusively on eBay, will begin on September 5 and end September 14, the last date of the tour. The winner will be announced in November which is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and all proceeds from the auction will benefit the Gerson Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the Gerson Therapy, an alternative treatment for cancer and other degenerative diseases.
 
In early 2012, Jake Willoughby, a guitar and music store owner, asked Collen if he would assist in helping to raise money towards the fight against cancer, with Jake's mother having just passed away from pancreatic cancer after a courageous 13-month fight. By tragic coincidence, Phil's own father, Kenneth, succumbed to the same disease in 2004. Jake donated a Collen signature guitar, the Jackson PC1, from his music store. In the spirit of hope, it was named "Wings". Mike Learn, a noted artist whose graphics are well known in the guitar world, donated the graphic custom paint job on the guitar. Ironically, Mike lost two family members to the same disease.
 
Phil began researching companies that were not only looking to prevent cancer, but also reverse its devastating effects. He initially had heard about the Gerson Institute located in San Diego, California from Jeni Cook, a raw foods chef and the wife of SEX PISTOLS and MANRAZE drummer Paul Cook. As Phil watched "The Gerson Miracle" DVD, he was incredibly moved by their cause, wishing he would have known about them before his father passed.
 
The Gerson Institute is a non-profit organization in San Diego, California dedicated to providing education and training in the Gerson Therapy — an alternative, non-toxic treatment for cancer and other chronic degenerative diseases. The Gerson Therapy, developed by Dr. Max Gerson in the 1920s, activates the body's extraordinary ability to heal itself through an organic, vegetarian diet, raw juices, detoxification, and natural supplements. Since this powerful, natural treatment boosts the body's own immune system, it is an effective method for treating not only cancer, but a variety of degenerative diseases including arthritis, heart disease, allergies, and skin tuberculosis.
 
Dr. Gerson began developing the Therapy while looking for a way to manage his own debilitating migraines, a path that lead him to a holistic understanding of medicine that is finally gaining growing acceptance.
 
This year marks a number of anniversaries for Collen, namely the 30th anniversary of his joining DEF LEPPARD as lead guitarist making his debut on the 10-times-platinum (in the USA) album "Pyromania". In addition, this year marks the 25th anniversary for the 13-times-platinum (USA) album "Hysteria", as well as the 20th anniversary of its 5-times-platinum (USA) follow-up, "Adrenalize".
 
The 35th-anniversary "Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols" super-deluxe box set will be made available in the U.K. on September 24.
 
A sneak peek video of the 100-page 12-inch-by-12-inch hardcover book that's included in the release can be seen below. The book, a diary of 1977, is packed with exclusive images, recording details, memorabilia and rare photos chronicling every significant band event that year with quotes from key figures.
 
As one of the most iconic and influential albums in music history, "Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols" still sounds as powerful and unique as ever, 35 years since the original release. As such an important musical and cultural force the album changed the landscape for records and the music industry. The SEX PISTOLS defined a generation and captured a feeling within the nation that simply no one else could of. The band created a truly distinctive sound and "Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols" impact and influence still strongly resonates with musicians, artists and people to this day. To celebrate its 35th anniversary, Universal Music U.K. has assembled a super-deluxe box-set release that really does this legendary album justice.
 
While many fans will undoubtedly be of the opinion that there can be very little left in the SEX PISTOLS vaults that hasn't already been seen and heard, followers of the band will be thrilled by the treasure trove of music, footage, interviews, pictures and artifacts confirmed to be included.
 
The original master tapes from the "Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols" recording sessions in 1977 were thought to be lost for many years. Now thankfully rediscovered during the recent move from Virgin Records to Universal Music catalogue in January 2012, the tapes have been remastered, for the very first time, by Tim Young under direction from original producer Chris Thomas. Some real treats have also been found along the way. The find that will perhaps excite fans the most is the lost 1977 demo studio recording of "Belsen Was A Gas", the only original SEX PISTOLS composition of the era thought not to be recorded.
 
Other treats include the inclusion of six demos first included on the infamous "Spunk" bootleg album, released for the very first time in their original, untouched form following the very recent discovery of their original master tapes. These, combined with a selection of unreleased Chris Thomas demos and outtakes from the recording of the album — including tracks with Sid Vicious on bass — plus a wealth of live audio and visual material all from 1977 make up a box set that will truly satisfy fans of the band.
 
Candlelight Records has set a November 6 North American release date for CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's "Eye For An Eye". This special reissue has been remastered/packaged and includes the EP "Six Songs With Mike Singing". Both titles have been out of print for years. It follows the successful release of the band's self-titled album earlier this year. A deluxe digibook edition of the album, limited to 1000 for North America, will be available at limited retailers and via Candlelight's official webstore. The digibook version includes extended liner notes and a rare pictorial gallery.
 
Twenty-six songs showcase the early sonic years of the North Carolina-based band. Far more punk than their later recordings, the album found an immediate fanbase. Amazon customers over the years have called the album an "undisputed classic," while noting it is "for the true skaters of the mid-to-late '80s," and "brings me back to a good time of hardcore/punk."
 
Comments guitarist Woody Weatherman, "We were just kids when we wrote and recorded these tunes." Vocalist/bassist Mike Dean notes, "Making that album was our dream and we worked hard to make it happen because it was the vehicle to allow us to go out and play two hundred shows a year, like the bands we looked up to — BLACK FLAG, BAD BRAINS, D.O.A."
 
Originally released in 1984, "Eye For An Eye" featured the original lineup of Weatherman, Dean, drummer Reed Mullin and vocalist Eric Eycke. Reissued to incorporate the 1989 EP by Mike Dean (who left the band between 1987-1992), "Eye For An Eye" is raw in sound but focused on message. The years that followed would see the band rise to worldwide popularity with breakthrough and Billboard-charting releases "Blind" and "Deliverance".
 
Formed in Raleigh in 1982, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY quickly transformed heavy music. Politically charged and socially aware, the band has influenced countless others and today remains humble about their accomplishments. With over 1.1 million albums sold in the United States, the band continues to find new fans via nonstop touring.
 
"We had a lot of fun doing it and it's great to have this album officially back out there again," says Weatherman. "I had basically written this off as being our sloppy beginner's effort but listening to it now, I really hear a few songs that hold up well," adds Dean.
 
"Eye For An Eye" track listing:
 
01. Tell Me
02. Minds Are Controlled
03. Indifferent
04. Broken Will
05. Rabid Dogs
06. L.S.
07. Rednekkk
08. Coexist
09. Excluded
10. Dark Thoughts
11. Poison Planet
12. What?
13. Negative Outlook
14. Positive Outlook
15. No Drunk
16. College Town
17. Not Safe
18. Eye For An Eye
19. Nothing's Gonna Change
20. Green Manalishi
21. Eye For An Eye*
22. Center of the World*
23. Citizen*
24. Not For Me*
25. What?*
26. Negative Outlook*
 
* "Six Songs With Mike Singing"
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ADLER, the new band led by former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler, has finished mixing its debut album for an early 2013 release. The CD will be mastered later this week.
 
ADLER is comprised of Steven Adler, frontman Jacob Bunton (LYNAM, MARS ELECTRIC), guitarist Lonny Paul (ADLER'S APPETITE), and bassist Johnny Martin (CHELSEA SMILES).
 
ADLER's full-length CD was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Jeff Pilson (FOREIGNER, DOKKEN) and was mixed by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STONE SOUR). The effort features guest appearances by Adler's former GUNS N ROSES bandmate Slash and ROB ZOMBIE/ex-MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5. The first single, "The One That You Hated", is out now on iTunes.
 
In a recent interview with Bloody-Disgusting.com, Bunton stated about "The One That You Hated", "That was actually the first song that me and Lonny wrote together, and the last song that we recorded. How it came about was we were just sitting in Lonny's living room with a couple of acoustic guitars, and I had the music and the verses, I just didn't have the chorus, and once it got to the chorus, Lonny just started singing 'I'm the one that you hated,' and I was like, 'That's it, that's awesome!' So it came together really naturally and really quick. And the funny thing is, it's the first single, but it's not like it's the best song on the record or anything like that. Literally, Steven was about to go into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and he said, 'You know, Slash has got his thing and Duff [McKagan] has got his thing, but nobody's heard anything from me for a long time. I would like my fans to know what I'm up to.' So, literally, we just pointed at a piece of paper with all of the songs that we had recorded on it, and went, 'Eeny meeny miny moe,' and that's the one that we picked. And we shot the video, and the cool thing about it is VH1 just added the video two weeks ago. So they've been playing it, which is very cool."
 
ADLER was recently added to the lineup of the Kiss Kruise. The second Kiss Kruise is setting sail October 31 - November 4, 2012 from Miami, Florida to Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas onboard the Norwegian Pearl.
 
The Kiss Kruise will mark the first-ever live performance of ADLER.
 
"I'm really excited to debut my new band by playing with KISS," stated Adler. "KISS has always been one of my favorite bands and they are all great guys. The cruise is sure to be an amazing time!"
 
According to KTVU.com, a man claiming to be former WHITE ZOMBIE drummer Phil Buerstatte was arrested last Thursday (August 30) on suspicion of defrauding a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Sausalito, California.
 
The man allegedly tried to pay $75,000 for his treatment at the Alta Mira Recovery Center in June with a fraudulent check and bank account information.
 
The 46-year-old has been identified as Loren Breckenridge, but investigating officers are yet to ascertain whether he is actually Phil Buerstatte, someone else using his name, or is really Loren Breckenridge and uses Phil Buerstatte as a stage name.
 
(It should be noted that a 2011 photo of Buerstatte on his Facebook page and several Florida mugshots of Breckenridge from last year do not appear to depict the same person.)
 
While conducting their investigation, Sausalito police learned that Breckenridge was being interviewed by Novato Police Department after a rehabilitation center in that city had reported that Breckenridge was staying there and that he was the subject of a warning bulletin issued by the National Association of Addiction Treatment Centers.
 
Sausalito Sgt. Bill Fraass tells the Marin Independent Journal, "He would show up and tell people he was this rock star and needed treatment. In all my years of police work, I have never seen a case like this — someone defrauding rehab centers."
 
Breckenridge was arrested on suspicion of passing fictitious checks, identity theft and fraudulent use of account information. He also has outstanding warrants in Florida and Minnesota, and an extensive criminal past, including arrests in numerous states for forgery, passing fictitious checks, theft and vehicle theft.
 
Buerstatte was the drummer for WHITE ZOMBIE between 1992 and 1994 and he played with the band on the "La Sexorcisto" tour.
 
 
MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman Vince Neil has offered his version of the events that led to his outburst at a Las Vegas parking lot.
 
Neil was videotaped late last month screaming at a group of Miracle Mile Shops parking attendants after a valet refused to return the singer's Rolls-Royce because Neil couldn't produce a claim ticket.
 
In the clip, Neil could be seen walking over to the valet booth, yelling, "Give me my fucking car! Give me my fucking car! Give me my car!" and then banging on the window.
 
Vince continued, "Call the police! This is my car. What the fuck is wrong with you?"
 
After the parking attendants apparently told Vince that they wouldn't hand over the vehicle because he couldn't produce a parking ticket, Vince responded, "They didn't give me a fucking ticket!"
 
According to TMZ.com sources, police were called to the scene, but by the time they arrived, Vince had already taken off, and the valet company decided against filing a report.
 
In a statement released exclusively to the lifestyle program "More Access" on Las Vegas's Fox 5 television station, Neil said about the incident, "I was not given a valet ticket when I first parked my Rolls-Royce. They then refused to give me the car even though it was parked only ten feet away. I gave them my license and told them to simply open the car and look at my registration, and again they refused. This could have been avoided except for the stupidity and incompetence of the valets and security."
 
Drummer Bobby Blotzer says that he is "exhausted" dealing with his RATT bandmates and insists that he is "very excited" about his new gig as a member of the singer Geoff Tate's version of QUEENSRŸCHE.
 
Tate, who was fired from QUEENSRŸCHE in June after fronting the group for three decades, recently sought to prevent his former bandmates from touring and operating under the QUEENSRŸCHE name without him. While ruling against Tate, the presiding judge determined that there was no legal reason why Tate couldn't also use the name with an all-new lineup of musicians. "I don't see any reason that Mr. Tate can't have the benefit, if he gets other members, of whatever name he uses of using the brand," Superior Court Judge Carol A. Schapira said during the July 13 court hearing. " I think [doing that would be] inherently confusing, although I'm sure the market can get these things sorted out," she added.
 
On September 2, Tate announced that he was launching his own version of QUEENSRŸCHE with Blotzer, former QUIET RIOT, OZZY OSBOURNE and WHITESNAKE bassist Rudy Sarzo and former MEGADETH and KING DIAMOND guitarist Glen Drover. Also on board in the new group are returning QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Kelly Gray — who played with the band from 1998 until 2001 and also produced several of their albums — and keyboardist Randy Gane, who has toured and recorded with QUEENSRŸCHE and Geoff's solo group in the past.
 
Addressing concerns from RATT fans about that band's future, Blotzer took to his Facebook page to write, "Hey peeps, I really appreciate the loads of positive feedback about the grouping with Geoff and company. A lot of questions about the state of RATT surfacing as well. Those should be directed in the direction the usual suspects in RATT's disappearance, Warren [DeMartini, guitar] and Stephen [Pearcy]. I've exhausted myself for two years with those two. I'm sorry for all the b.s. They have fed false info to fans. Not meant to be mean, just exhausted with unreasonable people."
 
In a statement posted on Queensryche.com, Blotzer said about his addition to the new QUEENSRŸCHE lineup, "Geoff and QUEENSRŸCHE and RATT have a long history of touring together and I am very excited about this new project with Geoff and the guys."
 
Tate and his wife, Susan, QUEENSRŸCHE's former manager, filed a lawsuit against Geoff's ex-bandmates on June 22 in King County Superior Court over whether he should be awarded the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being dismissed from the group in June. Their complaint states Rockenfield, Wilton and Jackson wrongfully fired the singer and are tarnishing the group's brand by attempting to move forward without him.
 
If the case goes to trial, the date is set for November 18, 2013.
 
Original RATT bassist Juan Croucier rejoined the Californian rockers for their show at the M3 Rock Festival on May 12 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
 
RATT's first studio record in 11 years, "Infestation", sold around 14,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 30 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was issued on April 20, 2010 via Loud & Proud.
According to WashingtonExaminer.com, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has slammed Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan for his supposed love of rock and roll.
 
Speaking at last week's GOP convention in Tampa, Florida, Ryan said of his running mate Mitt Romney, "There are the songs on his iPod which I've heard on the campaign bus — and on many hotel elevators. He actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies. I said, 'I hope it's not a deal-breaker, Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC and ends with ZEPPELIN.'"
 
While performing with CAMP FREDDY last night (Monday, September 3) at the Butter nightclub in Charlotte, North Carolina as part of a kick-off event for the Democratic National Convention, Bach poked fun at Ryan, telling the crowd, "That means [his playlist] stops at the letter L. I guess he doesn't like MÖTLEY CRÜE, I guess he doesn't like Minnie Riperton, he doesn't even have any Melissa Manchester on his [expletive] iPod."
 
Between songs, Bach blasted Ryan again. "Do you like LED ZEPPELIN more than Paul Ryan?" he said.
 
Other artists that have blasted the campaign include TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello, Somali-Canadian artist K'naan and SILVERSUN PICKUPS, who objected to the campaign's use of their song "Panic Switch".
 
When Ryan listed RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE as one of his favorites, despite their hardcore leftist leanings, Morello slammed the far-right Congressman in an op-ed piece for Rolling Stone.
 
After a successful reunion with singer Randy Blythe at the two Knotfest shows in mid-August, Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD have announced a 38-date fall U.S tour starting October 30 in Phoenix, Arizona. Joining LAMB OF GOD as direct support for the entire tour is IN FLAMES. HATEBREED will be joining the package from October 30 until November 19, at which point HELLYEAH will replace them for the remainder of the shows. British band SYLOSIS will open all dates.
 
Due to Blythe's continuing legal situation, LAMB OF GOD will not be able to perform in Canada on this tour, but look forward to doing an entire Canadian run in the near future.
 
The dates for the tour are as follows:
 
Oct. 30 - Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theater
Oct. 31 - Los Angeles, CA @ [to be announced]
Nov. 01 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
Nov. 03 - Lubbock, TX @ Lonestar Pavilion
Nov. 04 - San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Garden
Nov. 05 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
Nov. 07 - St. Louis, MO @ Pageant
Nov. 08 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room
Nov. 09 - Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
Nov. 10 - St. Paul, MN @ Myth
Nov. 12 - Louisville, KY @ Expo Five
Nov. 14 - Stroudsburg, PA @ Sherman Theater
Nov. 15 - [to be announced]
Nov. 16 - New York, NY @ Roseland
Nov. 17 - Silver Spring, MD @ Fillmore
Nov. 19 - Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
Nov. 20 - Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
Nov. 21 - Charlotte, NC @ Fillmore
Nov. 23 - Wallingford, CT @ Oakdale Theater
Nov. 24 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
Nov. 25 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues
Nov. 26 - Niagara Falls, NY @ Rapids Theater
Nov. 27 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
Nov. 28 - Richmond, VA @ The National
Nov. 30 - Chicago, IL @ Congress Ballroom
Dec. 01 - Detroit, MI @ State Theater
Dec. 02 - Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion (no HELLYEAH)
Dec. 03 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Orbit Room
Dec. 04 - Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom
Dec. 06 - Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
Dec. 07 - Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom
Dec. 08 - Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
Dec. 10 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore
Dec. 11 - Farmington, NM @ McGhee Park
Dec. 13 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
Dec. 14 - Medford, OR @ Medford Armory
Dec. 15 - Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
Dec. 16 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
 
Blythe was released from a prison in Prague on August 2, more than a month after he was arrested and incarcerated. Blythe was facing the possibility of conviction and a long-term jail sentence after a 2010 incident in which a fan attending a LAMB OF GOD show died almost a month later, allegedly from injuries sustained when he was thrown off the stage. Blythe's predicament galvanized the heavy rock community, with artists across the hard rock genre pledging their support.
 
Interviewed by a Czech media outlet before boarding the plane to go home, Blythe said, "I'm relieved to be out of jail but if it's necessary for me to return to Prague to go to this court thing, I certainly will, I'm no flight risk."
 
Blythe added that he had no memory at all of the incident in question, saying, "I feel very bad that a fan of my band is dead and his family has to go through it, it's terrible, I feel awful for them but it's a tragic coincidence . . . we had no knowledge whatsoever that someone had been injured much less died."
 
The case is expected to be heard in court in December.
Austin, Texas metal luminaries THE SWORD will release their fourth album, "Apocryphon", on October 22 in the U.S. via Razor & Tie and November 2 in Europe through Napalm Records. The CD was produced and engineered by J. Robbins (CLUTCH, JAWBOX) at Magpie Cage Studios and will feature cover art by famed comic book artist J.H. Williams III (Batwoman, Promethea).
 
THE SWORD has announced a 37-date U.S. tour, commencing October 29 in Corpus Christi, Texas and running through December 18. GYPSYHAWK will be support on the entire tour while EAGLE CLAW will appear through November 24 and AMERICAN SHARKS will appear December 2 through December 18.
 
The dates are as follows:
 
Oct. 29 - Corpus Christi, TX - House Of Rock
Oct. 31 - Oklahoma City, OK - Acm
Nov. 01 - Little Rock, AR - Downtown Music Hall
Nov. 02 - Shreveport, LA - The Riverside Warehouse
Nov. 03 - Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Festival
Nov. 05 - Lincoln, NE - Bourbon Theater
Nov. 06 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
Nov. 07 - Chicago, IL - Double Door
Nov. 08 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
Nov. 09 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
Nov. 10 - Covington, KY - The Thompson House
Nov. 11 - Detroit, MI - St Andrews Hall
Nov. 13 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
Nov. 14 - New York, NY – Webster Hall
Nov. 15 - Pawtucket, RI - The Met
Nov. 16 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs
Nov. 17 - Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel
Nov. 19 - Birmingham, AL – Workplay
Nov. 20 - Orlando, FL - Beacham
Nov. 21 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
Nov. 22 - Nashville, TN - Exit / In
Nov. 23 - Memphis, TN - Hi Tone
Nov. 24 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
Dec. 02 - Tulsa, OK - Eclipse
Dec. 03 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
Dec. 04 - Denver, CO - Bluebird
Dec. 05 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
Dec. 06 - Boise, ID - Neurolux
Dec. 07 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne
Dec. 08 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
Dec. 10 - Sacramento, CA - Harlows
Dec. 11 - San Francisco, CA - Independent
Dec. 12 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
Dec. 13 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
Dec. 14 - Phoenix, AZ - Club Red
Dec. 15 - Tucson, AZ - Congress
Dec. 18 - Houston, TX – Fitzgeralds
 
Asked about the band's decision to work with J. Robbins on "Apocryphon" after self-producing two records and then working with Matt Bayles, THE SWORD guitarist Kyle Shutt told AltPress.com, "We're all huge CLUTCH fans, and we know those guys real well. [James] did two of their last three records, and those sound great, so we figured it was a no-brainer. We called him up and he was into it. He saw our live show at a club in Baltimore on the tour before we came here so he could get a feel of the kind of show we put on because we wanted to make an album that sounds like we do live in a club. And it was great. It was a real speedy process."
 
On the topic of the musical direction of the new album, Shutt said, "It is a reflection of everything that we [have gone] through and the lessons we learned. We then deal with these situations metaphorically in our lyrics. This record is just 10 banging hard rockers. There's no real 'stick-out' thrash song, or, like, this one is the ballad. I don't think there's going to be any instrumental songs on this record, either, so that'll be a first for us. It's just 10 kick-ass rock songs."
 
Regarding the subject matter covered in the new songs' lyrics, Shutt said, "There are lyrical themes that weave in and out of the songs, but there's no story or anything like that. With 'Warp Riders', J.D. [guitarist/vocalist John Cronise] had already written [the story] and now he [doesn't] have the time to sit down and write another book. We had the idea to make a comic book for 'Warp Riders', but we had some really poor management at the time, so nothing really came together with that and it was going to cost so much money that it never saw the light of day. It was just a nice thing we did. Now we're moving on to other things."
 
According to WTOP, D.C. punk rocker Vance Bockis, member of local punk and metal bands THE OBSESSED, THE FACTORY, 9353, and PENTAGRAM, died Saturday at age 50.
 
Bockis, a popular fixture in the scene, had rotator cuff surgery Thursday and died at the Fairfax County home he shared with his wife Linda Leisz Bockis, apparently of a blood clot.
 
"Vance was clean and sober for almost six and a half years," Leisz Bockis told WTOP. "He was so thrilled with his life being sober," she added.
 
Bockis's musical career and recovery was the subject of a 2010 documentary, "Shift".
 
"I should be dead or I should be in prison," Bockis said in the film.
 
A service for Bockis will be held Thursday, September 13 at 6 p.m. at Fairfax County Memorial Funeral Home (9902 Braddock Road, Fairfax).
 
Razor & Tie has joined forces with A&R veteran Mike Gitter.
 
With a rich history that includes tenures at Roadrunner and Atlantic Records, signing highly successful and cutting-edge bands such as KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, BAD RELIGION, OPETH, MEGADETH and DRAGONFORCE, Mike brings a wealth of knowledge and know-how that will continue expand Razor & Tie's already burgeoning rock, alternative and metal footprint in the market place.
 
Razor & Tie head of A&R Pete Giberga comments, "Mike brings to the table serious A&R chops and a level of expertise that we find critical to our success as a company. I couldn't be happier that someone with his vision, creativity and credibility is going to be a part of our team."
 
Gitter adds, "Razor & Tie is already a growing force in the world of cutting-edge music. It has an energy and vitality that only happens once in the evolution of a company — and it's a privilege to be asked to be part of it." He continues, "I have a personal history with Pete Giberga and SVP of marketing John Franck that goes back many years. There's a respect we have for each other built out of watching each other careers. We're music people first and foremost."
 
Gitter will take on A&R responsibilities that will encompass not merely his skills in identifying talent but all-around aspects of A&R, including helping to identify talent, signing and record making. Mike will also be involved with Razor & Tie's expanding palette of business ventures.
 
While Gitter has been actively working for labels since 1993, he has also honed his skills as a journalist and artist manager.
 
Gitter will be based out of Los Angeles, California.
 
British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH will release their tenth studio album, "The Manticore And Other Horrors", in North America on October 30 via Nuclear Blast Records.
 
In a new blog entry on the band's web site, CRADLE OF FILTH frontman Dani "Filth" Davey states about the new CD, "I can truly say that 'The Manticore And Other Horrors' sounds fucking awesome, a real noticeable twist in tone but all the better for it. It's ornate, taut, punk and aggressive, but very much the neo-classical whore of yore, spitting raw bloody fury through the maw of the majestic. But I would say that; I've had a firm hand in its oily whelping!"
 
Recorded in eight weeks at both Springvale and Grindstone studios (where it was also mixed by Scott Atkins), Suffolk, "The Manticore And Other Horrors" is a testament to the longevity of the 'FILTH, as not only does it reek of CRADLE's (feared or revered) brand of delicious metal vamperotica, but this thoroughly modern album places the band firmly in fresh killing fields anew.
 
"The Manticore And Other Horrors" itself possesses an altogether new atmosphere for the band, incorporating a heavier, faster NWOBBM punk vibe that is both current and cruel, blended with ornate orchestration and the quirky immediateness of 2000's "Midian" opus.
 
The album's title can be likened to a bestiary, a collection of stories on monsters - personal demons, Chimeras, literary fiends and world-enslaving entities to blame but a few. "Manticore", the ravening title track, is a song about a beautiful mythological horror that comes to be feared as the disfigurehead of foreign occupation in the Indian provinces.
 
The songs "Illicitus" and "Pallid Reflection" bear the sweet ingredients of vampirism and lycanthropy; the wicked "For Your Vulgar Delectation" and "Frost On Her Pillow" are woven perversely into grim fairy tales, whilst classic, monumental tracks like "The Abhorrent And Siding With The Titans" both extol tentacular Lovecraftian values.
 
CRADLE OF FILTH is:
 
Dani Filth - Vocals
Paul Allender - Guitar
James McIlroy - Guitar
David Pybus - Bass
Martin Skaroupka - Drums
 
Bassist Brent Ashley (pictured below) has left STATIC-X. His final show with the band took place this past Saturday, September 1 at the House Of Blues in West Hollywood, California. He writes on his Facebook page, "[I] wish things would have ended differently, but I'm very excited for what the future will bring."
 
Original STATIC-X bassist Tony Campos — who is currently on the road with SOULFLY — issued a statement in July indicating that he had "no interest in working with [STATIC-X frontman] Wayne Static, now, or anytime in the foreseeable future."
 
Regarding his decision to resurrect STATIC-X, Wayne said, "I really just wanted to go back to old-school STATIC-X since the band has been gone for a few years. The last tour I was on I did a lot of my solo stuff, and I'm ready to get back to old-school STATIC-X stuff, which is actually new again."
 
STATIC-X's recent trek marked the band's first outing since they announced a hiatus in 2009.
 
Athough none of the other original members — Campos, Koichi Fukuda (guitar) and Nick Oshiro (drums) — are part of the new STATIC-X lineup, Tony previously said that he was supportive of his former bandmate's decision to reform the group, saying, "I'm proud of my years with STATIC-X, and want to see the name of the band stay alive and well. I hope that all of our fans will continue to support both Wayne and I in our individual endeavors."
 
Atlantic recording group HALESTORM will headline the "Jägermeister Presents Halestorm" tour. The hard rock festival trek gets underway November 8 at Mobile, Alabama's Soul Kitchen and then continues through mid-December.
 
Tickets for "Jägermeister Presents Halestorm" — which also features special guests IN THIS MOMENT and EVE TO ADAM — will go on sale this Friday, September 7.
 
In addition, HALESTORM will continue their partnership with JVC on the "Turn Me On: The Road" campaign on this tour and will be capturing behind-the-scenes footage with their cutting-edge ADIXXION action cameras for an in-depth look at one of the hardest working rock bands on the road.
 
"We are so stoked to be partnering with our friends at Jägermeister for this upcoming tour," said Lzzy Hale of HALESTORM. "We've known all of these guys for years and can't wait to throw down with them out on the road! It's going to be great to finally be seeing all of our HALESTORM freaks in all the cities that we have not yet been to this year. Joining us will be our good friends from JVC and our partners in crime, IN THIS MOMENT and EVE TO ADAM. Rock it out, people! See you at the shows!"
 
Following the completion of the tour, HALESTORM is continuing onward for an additional week's worth of headline shows in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Lexington, Kentucky.
 
A major European headline tour will begin in late September, with stops slated for Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United Kingdom. HALESTORM will also be among the top artists performing at Tokyo, Japan's annual Loud Park extravaganza, set for Saturday, October 27.
 
As if all that weren't enough, HALESTORM will support the one and only ALICE COOPER on a pair of eagerly awaited Pacific Northwest concert dates: November 20 at Kennewick, Washington's Toyota Center and November 21 at Garden City, Idaho's Revolution Concert House & Event Center. Finally, the band will celebrate its extraordinary 2012 with a New Year's Eve extravaganza at Baltimore's Baltimore Soundstage on December 31.
 
Nov. 08 - Mobile, AL - Soul Kitchen
Nov. 09 - Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's
Nov. 10 - Backstage Live - San Antonio, TX
Nov. 12 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
Nov. 13 - W. Hollywood, CA - House of Blues
Nov. 14 - Chico, CA - Senator Theater
Nov. 16 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
Nov. 17 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
Nov. 18 - Reno, NV - Knitting Factory
Nov. 20 - Kennewick, WA - Toyota Center * (w/ ALICE COOPER)
Nov. 21 - Garden City, ID - Revolution Event Center * (w/ ALICE COOPER)
Nov. 23 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
Nov. 24 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
Nov. 25 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
Nov. 27 - Jackson, WY - Pink Garter Theatre
Nov. 29 - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall
Nov. 30 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
Dec. 01 - Sauget, IL - Pop's
Dec. 03 - Sioux Falls, SD - The Vault
Dec. 04 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
Dec. 05 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre
Dec. 07 - South Bend, IN - Club Fever
Dec. 08 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
Dec. 10 - Richmond, VA - The National
Dec. 11 - Knoxville, TN - Valarium
Dec. 12 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
Dec. 14 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm
Dec. 15 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
Dec. 29 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre
Dec. 31 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
 
November 8 - December 15: "Jägermeister Presents Halestorm" except *
 
Guitarist Michael "Padge" Paget of Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE is currently recovering in the hospital after undergoing back surgery. The band states, "He's doing great."
 
According to BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE guitarist/vocalist Matt Tuck, the recording sessions for Don Gilmore (LINKIN PARK, GOOD CHARLOTTE) on the group's last LP, 2010's "Fever". "We worked with Don Gilmore again on this new record we just finished, Matt told South Africa's Voice Of Rock Radio. "For me, it's a huge compliment that he really didn't have much input, 'cause on the last record he did, and it kind of opened my eyes to write differently and to think about, not slowing things down, but kind of… there's no restraint on screaming and restraint on a million miles an hour. It's not necessary, really. We've kind of done that [already]. So on this record, [he kind of] sat back and let me do it without having much input, which to me, knowing Don, is a huge compliment, 'cause it means I've kind of done it right by my own. So, yeah, we've definitely fucking nailed it on this record. I know it's a long way before coming out and anyone's gonna hear anything, but I've lived with [it] and I know what it is, and trust me, it's good."
 
Asked about BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's longevity and musical progression over the years, Tuck said, "I definitely think we've got longevity, 'cause we are longevity. We've been doing this eight years now and we're still at the top of the game of… we're still at the top of our tree of our style of music. I mean, no one's really kind of tried to take us over. So we have kind of taken the foot off the gas already a little bit with 'Fever', and the album we just recorded, we've actually backed off a little bit again — not because we don't think people don't wanna hear heavy music, we've actually made it heavier by slowing down and less is more. Like METALLICA's 'black album,' you wouldn't necessarily call it a heavy album, but the sound of it is fucking heavy and it's big and it sounds timeless because of that. It's not a million miles an hour — it's big and heavy and loud. We're not trying to make a 'black' album, we're just trying to kind of take that theory of slowing down, putting less technical bits in and concentrating on the vocals and the meat and bones of the song."
 
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's new album is tentatively due in early 2013.
 
Austin Dickinson — the singer for the up-and-coming London, England metalcore outfit RISE TO REMAIN and the son of IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson — has posted a message on his band's Facebook page recapping the events of the twelve months since their debut album, "City Of Vultures", was released in the U.K.
 
Writes Austin: "When we started this band, we knew we'd do an EP, 'Bridges Will Burn'. We wrote that pretty quick, we re-adjusted old songs and wrote some new ones in our practice space, and we recorded it: presto! EP! That was the sound of a band that just wanted to play music and hit you as hard as it could in the head.
 
"The reaction that we had off of that was immense, with Metal Hammer releasing it as a freebie, we got amazing exposure and had some fantastic, fantastic times touring it. Then we got the push to go an do the big one: the debut record. Holy fuck.
 
"When we had our songs ready, our pre-production done and our team locked in, we'd already undergone five times more than what we did on the EP. We won both Kerrang! and Metal Hammer's "Best Newcomer" awards and had toured our shorts off! We had already had a pretty mental journey. Things good, and bad, reared their head and looked us right in the eyes. Then, as if by magic, we are in a studio.
 
"It's the first week of recording drums at Chapel Studios, and then, suddenly, we are standing face to face with a monitor, displaying the raw drum takes, in Treehouse Studios about to start guitars. Then it all got a little mental and we spent two and a half months making the record we'd dreamed of since we were kids.
 
"When I started vocals, I had no idea whether or not people would connect with my lyrics. I also had no idea wether or not people would connect with my melodies.
 
"As strange as it sounds, you always bear your fans in mind, even when your in a booth 8-12 hours a day screaming your heart out. So I pushed myself harder than I've ever pushed myself before.
 
"It was a huge time for all of us. Both Pat and I turned 20 in the studio, I spent it tracking vocals and having the time of my life. We didn't have a label, we didn't have a guarantee of a label, and we frankly didn't 100% know what we were going to immediately do afterwards. Times were uncertain, but then again, they always are. Any mitre of stress that we felt, we dealt with, because nothing would get in the way of us having this album in our hands, and, indeed, in yours. Then we finished and we ended up on a whirlwind of tours that saw us out with BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, KORN, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, HATEBREED, Soundwave in Australia, opportunities and bands that we felt absolutely honoured to tour with. All of this, before the record came out! We finally signed a record deal with EMI for 'City Of Vultures', and then we found out that, having completed the album in November 2010, the album was coming out September 5th, 2011. Woahhhh!!!!!
 
"Despite having grown as a band and a live act, we simply still had no comprehension how things could or would turn out. Would people give a damn? Would people pick it up? All these questions and more race through your mind.
 
"Well…. A week after release, we charted in the U.K. Top 100 at #83, charted in various [European] charts and got to #10 in India (which still confuses/stokes the fuck out of me…we WILL tour there soon, promise). Then we underwent our first headliner, which absolutely fucking ruled, and sold out The Underworld on my 21st birthday, a year on from when I was stuck in a vocal booth screaming my guts out. And now we find ourselves a year further on yet, tens of thousands of copies of 'City Of Vultures' and a world album tour later, we are on the next plateau upwards, writing new music and writing the next chapter in our band's history.
 
"How did we get here!?! Well, I think I know the answer, and it's none other than you guys.
 
"If you picked up a copy, bought a shirt, watched a show or caught us at a festival, the meaning of this message is: Thank you. Thank you for helping a kid who wanted to do this his whole life achieve his dreams on our own terms, and thank you from all of us in RISE TO REMAIN, for allowing us into your minds, stereos and hearts. This really is the best thing in the world, and thank you for your blood, sweat and beers.
 
"This has been a crazy year, and it just gets crazier. The coming year, and the remainder of this year, are shaping up to be the biggest ones yet. I just hope your all ready for more.
 
"Album #2 is go!
 
"Anyway, I've rambled for a long time now.
 
"We love you and I love you, with all I can give.
 
"Thank you for this amazing gift."
It takes just one listen to AXEWOUND's "Post Apocalyptic Party", the ferocious track they released as a free introductory download back in May, to make their intentions abundantly clear. Which is to say, they are a metal band… proudly, defiantly and unbendingly so.
 
Their pedigree is inarguably first class — since they feature guitarist/vocalist Matt Tuck from BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and singer Liam Cormier of Canadian hardcore bruisers CANCER BATS, prime movers both in two of the most exciting bands to have emerged onto the metal scene in recent years.
 
The lineup is completed by drummer extraordinaire Jason Bowld (PITCHSHIFTER), guitarist Mike Kingswood (GLAMOUR OF THE KILL) and ex-RISE TO REMAIN bassist Joe Copcutt. Not surprisingly, they have already been branded a "supergroup" in the press.
 
AXEWOUND see themselves in more precise terms. This, they say, is an outlet for them to make music that is more extreme than they can and do in their regular bands. Their inspirations for doing so hark back to a golden generation of metal acts — to such heavyweight names as PANTERA and SLIPKNOT.
 
"Those were the bands that I adored growing up," says Matt Tuck. "They each had that 'don't-give-a-fuck' attitude. AXEWOUND is about us taking the same opportunity to do exactly what we want. Musically, lyrically, it is what it is — no boundaries or limits."
 
The roots of AXEWOUND go back to 2010, when Jason Bowld filled in for BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE drummer Michael "Moose" Thomas on a brace of shows. He and Tuck kept in touch and last year began discussing working together on a project separate from the hugely successful Welsh metallers. They eventually got together in December 2011 to write the songs that make up AXEWOUND's debut album, "Vultures".
 
Cormier was the obvious choice to front and pen lyrics for these songs. He and Tuck had been friends for years, CANCER BATS having supported BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE on numerous tours.
 
"There was no one else I even had in mind," says Tuck. "Liam's voice alone is just so vicious."
 
Due in the U.S. on October 2 via The End Records, the "Vultures" album was recorded in Cardiff at the start of this year, regular BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE collaborator Martin "Ginge" Ford engineering the sessions. From the outset, the aim was to work quickly and instinctively. In the event, they recorded 11 songs in 11 frenetic days.
 
"It was very intense, very demanding but that's how we wanted it to be," reasons Tuck. "No pre-writing, no rehearsing… just booking a studio and going in and doing a song a day. We wanted to capture something that happened right there and then."
 
Says Cormier: "The record is great because it's been made by a bunch of friends who are just enjoying themselves playing together and doing something that's different to what they normally do."
 
By any measure "Vultures" is a terrific debut. It is, as was intended, a thoroughly uncompromising beast: standout songs "Burn Alive" and the title track being driven by venomous riffs, the former in particular echoing the sort of thrilling assault administered by the likes of SLAYER and SEPULTURA in their pomp. Yet Tuck's melodic gifts are in ready supply too on hulking tunes like "ExoChrist" and the epic "Collide".
 
"Doing what I do in BULLET, I know what people want in every sense from a band like this," he says. "Whether they are fans of hardcore metal or of classic melodic metal. We've tried to encompass all of that into one brutal, nasty machine."
 
There is as well a sense of weight and substance to AXEWOUND. Tracks like "Victim Of The System", "Blood Money And Lies" and "Church Of Nothing" reflect on the state of things right now.
 
"Liam's a very switched on guy," considers Tuck. "He knows what's going on in the world. Some of the things he's written about here, you're not hearing from any other metal band these days."
 
Says Cormier: "I love that there's a political side to what we're doing. It's not specific but it is saying that the world is fucked. That attitude completely fits with the music."
 
Interest in AXEWOUND has been rabid enough for them to be featured on the cover of Kerrang! magazine and will intensify through a spate of live and festival dates this summer. The release of "Vultures" at the end of July will assuredly bring it to fever pitch.
 
Of course, with Matt Tuck also currently finishing up the writing of BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's next record, it remains to be seen if AXEWOUND is to be repeated. But for now — and as the band would have it — it is what it is: a glorious one-off.
 
"This is what comes out when I'm given free rein," concludes Tuck. "It was the right time to let my hair down… and let Satan compel me."
 
"Vultures" track listing:
 
01. Vultures
02. Post Apocalyptic Party
03. Victim Of The System
04. Cold
05. Burn Alive
06. ExorChrist
07. Collide
08. Destroy
09. Blood Money And Lies
10. Church Of Nothing
 
AXEWOUND made its live debut on May 31 at Tivoli in Utrecht, Holland as the support act for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE.
 
AXEWOUND is:
 
Matt Tuck (BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) - Guitar, Vocals
Liam Cormier (CANCER BATS) – Vocals
Mike Kingswood (GLAMOUR OF THE KILL) - Guitar
Joe Copcutt (RISE TO REMAIN) - Bass
Jason Bowld (ex-PITCHSHIFTER) – Drums
Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, poet and political activist Serj Tankian is featured in Amoeba Music's "What's In My Bag?" segment in which he talks about some of the records he is into. Watch the clip below.
 
Tankian's new solo album, "Harakiri", sold nearly 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 29 on The Billboard 200 chart.
 
"Harakiri" was released on July 10 via Reprise Records/Serjical Strike.
 
"Harakiri", a Japanese word meaning ritual suicide, is the follow-up to 2010's critically acclaimed "Imperfect Harmonies", and the third solo release from the SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman. As with 2007's "Elect The Dead" and "Imperfect Harmonies", Serj produced "Harakiri" himself at his home studio in Los Angeles. The album also features performances by Serj's touring band, THE F.C.C. — Dan Monti on guitar, Mario Pagliarulo on bass, and Troy Zeigler on drums. Dan Monti also co-mixed and co-engineered the album with Serj. The CD was mastered by Vlado Meller (METALLICA, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, KANYE WEST, BEASTIE BOYS).
 
Sacramento, California-based alternative rock band DEFTONES has set a November 13 release date for its seventh studio album, entitled "Koi No Yokan". The group worked again with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who helmed 2010's "Diamond Eyes" and has also worked on albums by RUSH and FOO FIGHTERS.
Speaking to AOL's Noisecreep, DEFTONES frontman Chino Moreno stated about the songwriting process for "Koi No Yokan", "We were coming out of a tough time, obviously, and our goal was to kind of rebuild what we created over all the years. I felt like we had to prove ourselves. We'd taken so much time between records, had some inner turmoil, and our records were starting to get pieced together versus really being created together, so for us it was a chance to get back to basics. We didn't have an idea of what sort of style we wanted. We just came in fired up and motivated to do something great. It was all very positive. We had more songs than ever, tons of ideas."
 
Asked about DEFTONES bassist Chi Cheng, who has been in a semi-comatose state since a 2008 auto accident, Moreno said, "When I was 17 years old, I moved out of my parents' house and moved in with him. We've been best friends most of my life. I'll just be doing some random thing in my life and he's always in my thoughts. The whole band feels very strongly about him and he's always been a part of things. The main thing we try to do is keep a positive attitude because it's not like he died — it's more or less he's still alive and fighting and we all have hope — that's the way we handle things."
 
"Dead End Kings", the ninth album from Swedish dark rockers KATATONIA, sold 3,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 138 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at position 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.
 
KATATONIA's previous album, 2009's "Night Is The New Day", opened with around 2,200 units.
 
"Dead End Kings" was released on August 28 (one day earlier internationally) via Peaceville Records. Containing some of KATATONIA's most poignant and ambitious material to date, the CD sees the quintet conjure yet another milestone in audial angst and melancholy with this much-anticipated follow-up to 2009's inspired and acclaimed "Night Is The New Day".
 
"Dead End Kings", which features a guest appearance by Norwegian singer Silje Wergeland (THE GATHERING), was recorded at Ghost Ward Studios and The City Of Glass, and was produced by KATATONIA's own Anders Nyström and Jonas Renkse, and mixed by David Castillo, known for his prior work with KATATONIA, as well as OPETH and BLOODBATH.
 
The album marks the recording debut of KATATONIA guitarist Per Eriksson and bassist Niklas Sandin. Additionally, KATATONIA was joined once again by Frank Default and his invaluable expertise on sampling and atmospherics. The cover artwork was created by KATATONIA's longtime visual collaborator Travis Smith.
 
"Dead End Kings" track listing:
 
01. The Parting
02. The One You Are Looking for is Not Here
03. Hypnone
04. The Racing Heart
05. Buildings
06. Leech
07. Ambitions
08. Undo You
09. Lethean
10. First Prayer
11. Dead Letters
 
KATATONIA hit the road last night in support of "Dead End Kings" as part of a co-headlining tour, "Epic Kings & Idols", with the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT. The 18-city trek also features PARADISE LOST and STOLEN BABIES.
 
Century Media has announced the signing of Washington-state based metal quintet INTO THE FLOOD. The band will enter the studio this week with producer Aaron Smith (JEFF LOOMIS, 7 HORNS 7 EYES) to begin recording its debut album for an early 2013 release.
 
Comments the band, "This is absolutely a dream come true to be involved with a label like Century Media. This is something every musician dreams of and we were blessed enough to have it happen for us."
 
Formed in the winter of 2010, INTO THE FLOOD came together to combine a vast array of influences to create a punishing blend of brutal metal and post-hardcore.
 
For the past few years, they were the go-to local band asked to open up for nationally touring artists passing through Pacific Northwest. Sharing the stage with such bands as DEMON HUNTER, HATE ETERNAL and GOATWHORE, they were tipped off to Century Media from a Seattle promoter. Shortly after that, a label representative reached out, negotiations were made and a deal was signed.
 
INTO THE FLOOD is:
 
Brendan Wilson - Vocals
Jacob Sacquitne - Guitar
Justin Thacker - Guitar
Anthony Taylor - Bass
Kevin Brady – Drums
Aleh Klimchanka, the bass player of the popular Belarusian folk-metal band LITVINTROLL, died on September 2 at the Mass Medium festival. The group was scheduled to perform at the event, which was held in the city of Gomel.
 
Klimchanka reportedly appeared on stage with his bandmates at around 7:15 p.m. and collapsed a short time later. Paramedics treated the musician at the scene, but could not save his life.
 
Contrary to initial reports, the doctors found no traces of electric shock on Klimchanka's body.
 
According to Aleh's friends, he complained about a headache on the day of the concert.
 
Aleh was buried in the Zabalotstse village, not far from Minsk.
 
Klimchanka, who was 35 years old, also played in OSSUARY and PARTYZONE. He is survived by a wife and a three-year-old son.
 
Formed in 2005 by vocalist and bagpiper Andrei Apanovich and drummer Sjarhei Tapcheusky, LITVINTROLL spent about four years working on its debut album. The effort, "Rock'n'Troll", included several loose renditions of Belarusian folk songs and even more loose variations on medieval European and modern American songs telling stories of vagrant musicians lives, wooden trolls, mountain trolls and other kinds of trolls. However, the main thing the band tries to convey in its music is an atmosphere of reckless fun that the creatures who inspired the album like to have so much. After all, the trolls are not essentially evil, just somewhat rough and uncouth.
 
Michigan-based post-hardcore act I SEE STARS was arrested on August 30 on charges of possession and intent to use hallucinogenic drugs. The bandmembers and their crew were taken into custody by Salina County Police in Salina, Kanasas and were released after posting $1,000 bond each.
 
Vocalist Devin Oliver tweeted about the incident, posting: "Just had the worst 13 hours of my life." He followed that tweet with another message: "First and last time in jail."
 
Check out the I SEE STARS mugshots at SalinaPost.com.
 
I SEE STARS' latest album, "Digital Renegade", was released in March via Sumerian Records.
 
The self-titled new album from Canadian extreme metallers CRYPTOPSY will be released in the U.S. on November 20 via Cryptopsy/Defen Society in association with Revulotion Harmony/Candlelight Records. Pre-orders for the album are available through the band at Cryptopsy.ca.
 
The cover artwork for "Cryptopsy" was created by Mircea Gabriel Eftemie (MNEMIC) and can be seen below.
 
"Cryptopsy" track listing:
 
01. Two-Pound Torch
02. Shag Harbour's Visitors
03. Red-Skinned Scapegoat
04. Damned Draft Dodgers
05. Amputated Enigma
06. The Golden Square Mile
07. Ominous
08. Cleansing The Hosts
 
CRYPTOPSY in January tapped bassist Olivier Pinard (NEURAXIS, VENGEFUL) as the replacement for guitarist-turned-bassist Youri Raymond.
 
Raymond left CRYPTOPSY in December, explaining in a statement that "it's in the best interest of both the band and I to part ways." He added, "As a musician, moving from guitar to bass was a great challenge, but honestly, I never really felt comfortable in that position and my motivation in general was stagnating."
 
Lead guitarist and songwriter Jon Levasseur rejoined CRYPTOPSY in May 2011.
 
"The Unspoken King", CRYPTOPSY's sixth full-length and first to feature new vocalist Matt McGachy, was released on June 24, 2008.
 
CRYPTOPSY is:
 
Flo Mounier: Drums/Vocals
Jon Levasseur: Lead, Rythm guitar
Chris Donaldson: Lead Guitar
Matt McGachy: Lead Vocals
Olivier Pinard: Bass Guitar

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