According to The Pulse Of Radio, Paul Rodgers revealed that following the death of Jim Morrison in 1971, THE DOORS were seriously considering asking him to replace the "Lizard King" as their new frontman. Rodgers explained that it's only recently come to his attention that he was shortlisted to become THE DOORS' second lead singer before Ray Manzarek decided to take over vocal duties himself. Rodgers told Uncut magazine, "I discovered quite recently that I was lined up to join THE DOORS, which blew my mind. Robby Krieger told me that THE DOORS were all fans of FREE and after Jim Morrison's death; they came to England looking for me. (The) thing is, at that time, I had buried myself in the country, working on things, and they couldn't get a hold of me."
He went on to explain: "My jaw actually dropped like in a cartoon when Robby told me this. Would I have joined them? I dunno. It's hard to say, looking back. But I think not. I tend to form bands, that's what I do. Although it's always flattering to be asked!"
Rodgers told The Pulse Of Radio that throughout his career, his primary musical inspiration has always been linked to the blues: "You used to look around and think, 'God, is there no other way?' — y'know? And then I heard these blues guys singing about jumping on the first train smoking, and heading out of town, you know, and my friends can have my room. And I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if you could just do that?' And that drew me to playing and singing blues. And it's actually what I did, and I'm still doing."
British metal legends IRON MAIDEN will headline the Turkish edition of the Sonisphere festival, which is set to take place on Sunday, June 19 at Kucukciftlik Park in Istanbul. Also scheduled appear are ALICE COOPER, SLIPKNOT, IN FLAMES and MASTODON.
For more information, click here.
All IRON MAIDEN shows for 2011 have now been announced.
Billboard.com reported last month that IRON MAIDEN rankeds third — behind LADY GAGA and PRINCE — on the Hot Tours list, with totals reported from its "Final Frontier World Tour" that began in June 2010 and included dates in both North America and Europe. The tour resumed in 2011 with a February 11 concert in Moscow at Olympiski, a massive indoor arena built for the 1980 Summer Olympics. Attendance for the performance in Russia was 16,439 with ticket sales topping $2 million (US$). A show in Singapore followed on February 15 with 9,785 in the house at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the country's largest indoor entertainment venue.
IRON MAIDEN was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards, which was held on February 13 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. IRON MAIDEN was nominated for the track "El Dorado", from the band's 2010 album "The Final Frontier".
"The Final Frontier" sold 63,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 4.
"The Final Frontier" was IRON MAIDEN's fourth U.K. No. 1 album. The band previously topped the chart in 1982 with "The Number of the Beast", in 1988 with "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" and in 1992 with "Fear of the Dark".
IN FLAMES, IRON MAIDEN, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and SABATON are among the artists who were honored at this past Saturday night's (April 2) Bandit Rock Awards at Münchenbryggeriet in Stockholm, Sweden. The awards ceremony was organized and hosted by the Stockholm-based radio station Bandit Rock 106.3.
The complete list of winners:
* Best Swedish Group: HARDCORE SUPERSTAR
* Best International Group: AVENGED SEVENFOLD
* Best Swedish Album: SABATON - "Coat Of Arms"
* Best International Album: VOLBEAT - "Beyond Hell/Above Heaven"
* Best Swedish Live Act: IN FLAMES
* Best International Live Act: IRON MAIDEN
* Swedish Breakthrough: SHERLOCK BROTHERS
* International Breakthrough: SICK PUPPIES
* Most Played Group: ROYAL REPUBLIC
* Festival: Getaway Rock Festival
DANKO JONES, PAIN and BULLET are among the artists that performed short sets at the event, which was broadcast live on the radio.
Legendary rockers THIN LIZZY have recruited GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Richard Fortus as the temporary replacement for Vivian Campbell, who will return to DEF LEPPARD next month.
Fortus joined THIN LIZZY on stage at the final gig of THIN LIZZY's U.S. tour on April 1 at Vic Theatre in Chicago (see video below) and will take over for Campbell after LIZZY's May 28 concert at Slaine Castle, Ireland. Campbell writes on his Facebook page, "Well, that was it: my last U.S. show with LIZZY — and it was a great one to end on. New guitarist Richard Fortus came and played a couple of songs. I have one final gig with them in Ireland, and the very next day we start DEF LEP rehearsals."
THIN LIZZY's latest reincarnation includes original-era members Scott Gorham, Brian Downey and Darren Wharton. Also on board are Campbell, former WHITESNAKE bassist Marco Mendoza and ex-THE ALMIGHTY frontman Ricky Warwick.
In a recent interview with Gibson.com, Campbell stated about his involvement with THIN LIZZY, "It's been a tremendous pleasure to tour with THIN LIZZY. Playing with a band that meant so much to me in my formative years has really rekindled my passion for the instrument again. I haven't been this excited about guitar playing since I was in my teens!"
When asked if he would like to be a part of future THIN LIZZY tours, should he be available, Vivian said, "Absolutely! However, I continue to be fully committed to DEF LEPPARD, and we're going to be on the road from June of this year, so LIZZY [will be using] a replacement for me for their continuing summer dates. They have very kindly offered me the opportunity to come back when my schedule with DEF LEPPARD opens up, and you can bet that I'll be there in a heartbeat!"
British heavy metal legends SAXON will perform material from their upcoming album, "Call To Arms", live for the first time when they kick off their European tour in Thessaloniki (April 6) and Athens, Greece (April 7) this coming week. The band's frontman, Biff Byford, told Rockpages.gr, "We were asked if we wanted to start the tour in Greece, and we said, 'Yeah, fantastic!' We have some great fans in Greece and the Greek people like heavy rock, heavy metal, so it's a great honor to start the tour from Greece, and you will be the first people to listen some new songs from 'Call To Arms'! I could not think of a better place to start the tour, really!"
"Call To Arms" will be released on May 23 via Militia Guard Music, UDR and EMI. The follow-up to 2009's "Into The Labyrinth" (SPV/Steamhammer) features a guest appearance by legendary keyboardist Don Airey (DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW).
The track listing for the CD is as follows:
01. Hammer Of The Gods
02. Back In '79
03. Surviving Against The Odds
04. Mists Of Avalon
05. Call To Arms
06. Chasing The Bullet
07. Afterburner
08. When Doomsday Comes (Hybrid Theory)
09. No Rest For The Wicked
10. Ballad Of The Working Man
11. Call To Arms (orchestral version)
According to Rockville Music Magazine, METALLICA has allowed the use of its music in "Hesher", the upcoming independent movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman. Avid METALLICA fans will also instantly take note of the font used on the "Hesher" movie poster. In addition, the trailer for the film, which is due on May 13, includes a snippet of METALLICA's song "The Shortest Straw".
Commented Gordon-Levitt: "I loved making this movie, and I love how it turned out. It's hilarious, but it's not just funny, it's smart, it's sad, it's hopeful, it's heartfelt, and it fuckin' rocks.
"Natalie decided to produce Spencer's script for a reason, and by the way her character's nothing like you've seen her.
"Devin, the protagonist, is a truly talented young actor.
"Rainn gave a legit no-joke badass dramatic performance.
"And, I'm humbled to say, METALLICA themselves liked it so much they gave us their music, they never give their stuff to movies!
"Now this really is an 'indie' film, meaning it's being independently released without any huge corporations behind the marketing and advertising and all that jazz. '500 Days Of Summer' had that 'indie' spirit, but it was put out by Fox Searchlight who has tons of resources to spread the word. 'Hesher''s just got us. So pass it around!"
METALLICA's songs "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "Orion" and "The Call Of Ktulu" were prominently featured in the documentary film "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills", which marked the first significant use of the band's music in feature films. The follow-up film, "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations" also uses the song "Fixxxer". The band's music can also be heard it "Absent", a documentary film focusing on the worldwide crisis of absent fathers. In "Absent", METALLICA frontman James Hetfield provides an intimate look at the painful impact left on his life after his father, Virgil, abandoned his family when James was only 13.
For more information on "Hesher", visit www.hesherthemovie.com.
According to Kevin Kellam at Pro Wrestling Examiner, professional wrestler Triple H will make his entrance to an undisclosed METALLICA song during tonight's (Sunday, April 3) WWE Wrestlemania XXVII match against The Undertaker at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
Triple H's regular entrance theme, "The Game", was recorded by MOTÖRHEAD. MOTÖRHEAD also performed additional theme songs "King Of Kings" and "Line In The Sand" for Triple H and his former stable, Evolution.
In a recent interview, Triple H talked about how "The Game" came about and how it's helped to form his wrestling identity. He said, "Eight years ago I was at a period of time with my career where I was moving up and had become a major star within the industry and I wanted to have new music that was more fitting to what I was doing. I wanted to have a certain vibe when I walked out. I wasn't the pristine pretty boy. I wasn't the nice guy anymore. I was rough and tumble. My face is all scarred up.
"When I'm out there, I'm kicking ass and hitting them with a sledgehammer and busting them open. That is my image. I felt like the sound of MOTÖRHEAD helped to convey that.
"The song 'The Game' was written by our music guy. Lem [MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy] put his twist on it. The difference between how our studio did it and how Lem had did — it was a totally different song.
"The first time I heard it, I was like, Fuck yeah, that's me right there.'"
GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose — who is notorious for his late arrivals onstage — has reportedly agreed to pay a fine if his band shows up later than scheduled for its headlining appearance at this year's Rock In Rio festival, on Sunday, October 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
When GUNS N' ROSES last performed at Rock In Rio in 2001, the band turned up almost two hours late. Luckily, the crowd patiently waited for their idol to come on stage and didn't create any problems for the festival organizers.
Rock in Rio's vice president Roberta Medina tells Época, Globo's weekly news magazine, that GUNS N' ROSES' appearance at the 2011 event was "the hardest to arrange on the history of the festival." She admitted that no other artists performing at the festival have had a "late" clause included in their contracts. "Bands are usually on time, but GUNS is a different case," she said. "Latenesses like the one in 2001 one can make the public feel uncomfortable and cause them to possibly start a riot."
In August 2010 radio interview, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach, a close personal friend of Axl Rose, offered an explanation for why the GUNS N' ROSES frontman is persistently late going on stage.
"Everybody has all these theories as to why he acts the way he acts, and there's no big mystery," Bach said. "He tells me the source of all of the insanity — it's his voice. It's his job to sing like that, and sometimes that sound is hard for him. And a lot of singers, you know... To sing in that range is just not an easy thing to do. And he does what he can, and it takes him 45 more minutes to warm up his pipes so he can sing 'Sweet Child O'Mine'."
In the band's only U.S. appearance of 2010, at the Sturgis Bike Rally in South Dakota, GUNS N' ROSES missed its 11:00 p.m. start time by nearly two hours — leading many attendees to either leave or throw things at the stage. A festival official later explained that the delay was apparently due to a technical issue and not Axl Rose's well-known tendency to start shows hours behind schedule.
Nicki Gostin of PopEater recently conducted an interview with MÖTLEY CRÜE/SIXX: A.M. bassist Nikki Sixx. An excerpt from the chat follows below.
PopEater: Do you go to celebrity A.A. meetings?
Sixx: No, I don't believe in them. I do everything regular because nobody did this to me. I did this to me. I choose to look the way I look. I wake up everybody and I dress the way I dress because I like it. That's how I like to express myself. I don't feel that because I've been lucky enough to play music and have people know who I am that I should be treated special. We're just the same.
PopEater: Is it hard to keep yourself grounded?
Sixx: You are who you are when no one's around and with who you surround yourself with. So if you surround yourself with enablers and bottom feeders then you are one. So I surround myself with really special people because they're really hard to find. I want to rise to that level every single day. I can look as crazy as I want, tattoo whatever I want to tattoo, I can cuss like a sailor, but there's a certain level of humanity and humility you need to stay in if you want to create great stuff. Doesn't mean you can't turn the amp really loud and rip someone's fucking face off but that's all part of the fun. I think sometimes people forget to have fun. I'm having a blast. I'm so blessed, and I don't know why. Is it because I'm different and I don't want to be the same as everybody else? I really accept myself for who I am and not who my mom wants me to be or who society says I should be.
***UPDATE***: Shortly after this story was first published, Dan Nelson deleted his Facebook account.***
Former ANTHRAX singer Dan Nelson, who was in the band for nearly two years — from late 2007 until July 2009 — believes that the group's fans "deserve" to hear the unreleased album ANTHRAX recorded with him on vocals. The CD, which was completed in mid-2009 and was originally supposed to be made available in October of that year under the title "Worship Music", was mixed by Dave Fortman, a former member of UGLY KID JOE who has also worked with artists such as MUDVAYNE, EVANESCENCE, and SLIPKNOT.
John Bush, who fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005, temporarily rejoined the group for a number of shows in late 2009 and early 2010 but stepped aside in May 2010 in order to make room for the return of Joey Belladonna. Belladonna was the lead singer of ANTHRAX from 1984 to 1992, and was considered part of the band's classic lineup (alongside Dan Spitz, Scott Ian, Frank Bello and Charlie Benante), which reunited and toured during 2005 and 2006.
Joey rejoined ANTHRAX last year in time to take part in the first-ever "Big Four" shows in Europe — featuring the biggest names of 1980s thrash metal: METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — and is currently in the studio laying down his vocals on the band's new album, which is expected to feature reworked versions of many of the songs that were supposed to appear on the Nelson version of "Worship Music".
In a series of postings on his Facebook page, Nelson writes, "I just heard 'Worship Music' for the first time [presumably he means 'first time in a long time.' — Ed.] with my [vocals]. [And] while I understand the 'Big 4' cash grab, I hope the fans get to hear this. THEY MORE THAN DESERVE IT. And, for the record, that's not a knock on Joey; he's gonna sound killer on anything he does... he always has."
He added, "I won't share [the recordings with anyone], out of respect for the band. . . I still respect the band, their families (especially the lil' ones) and what they accomplished, so no leak from me. . . Sad that I still respect them at all, but that's how I was raised... Thanks, mom and pops.
"John Bush is another who is a class act. Many props to John.
"Joey [is a] great singer. [He] deserves support. He works hard in this industry... Much respect.
"Yeah, ['Worship Music' with me on vocals] will [probably eventually] see the light of day. But by then I will be with my OWN FAMILY and won't care. But KNOW that I did, very much so... and believed in both the band and its fans wholeheartedly.
"It's over two years (I know, troll assholes, not long enough) that I will never get back from my life. That I slept, bled and shat (not on Bello) for them [a reference to the widespread false rumor that he was fired from ANTHRAX for 'taking a dump' on a sleeping Frank Bello as a prank. — Ed.]."
In a 2008 interview with Metal Maniacs magazine, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian stated about Dan Nelson's singing style, "I've compared him to John Bush on steroids because he definitely comes from more of that tone, but also because he's only 31 or 32 years old. He listens to the more extreme side of heavy metal. He was in a lot of bands that were certainly more extreme than ANTHRAX so he's able to take what he has a lot further. That's not to say you're going to hear an ANTHRAX record with death metal or hardcore vocals or anything like that. The guy's a singer and a great singer at that. I'm just saying that he's already got this really powerful singing voice and he's able to take it to a level we've never explored before. We have a bunch of spots on this record where it really works."
When asked if all the music and vocal melodies/lyrics for the new songs had already been "pre-written" for Nelson prior to the singer joining the band, Ian said, "Before Dan, we had ideas for maybe two songs and not even any lyrics yet. Once Dan got involved, that's when the light bulb went off over my head. I wasn't writing anything because I had no focus as far as who was actually going to be singing this stuff. Once I had Dan's voice in my brain it totally opened the door for me writing-wise. It's been really collaborative since then. We all get together, listen to the music and work on the melody lines until everybody is happy. We have two songs done. There's a song called 'Revolution Screams' which is a straight-up thrash tune. There's another called 'Fight 'Em Til You Can't' which sounds like ANTHRAX from 1987 but in 2008. It's total old-school thrash. I'm totally stoked on them!"
ANTHRAX performed a new song, "Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't", with singer Joey Belladonna for the first time during the band's October 8, 2010 concert at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York as part of the Jägermeister Music Tour with SLAYER and MEGADETH. Watch fan-filmed video footage of the performance below.
ANTHRAX debuted "Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't" on May 28, 2008 at Double Door in Chicago, Illinois during the group's first-ever gig with Dan Nelson.
According to TheaterMania.com, TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider was honored with a certificate naming him Worldwide Ambassador for the Broadway musical "Rock Of Ages" at a celebration at Bowlmor Lanes Times Square on Friday, April 1.
Snider recently spoke to MTV News about his 11-week stint as a cast member of the hit Broadway show "Rock Of Ages".
"The entire situation is completely surreal," Snider said. "Imagine an actual Tyrannosaurus on the set of 'Jurassic Park'. They've got an actual '80s guy in a show about the '80s. I know the people who sing those songs were a little uncomfortable the first few nights."
"The biggest difference between a concert situation and a theater situation is that you can't curse out the audience. I'm used to addressing situations. If something is going on in the house that I don't like at a concert, or if the audience is not energized or enthusiastic — or if they're particularly energized and enthusiastic — I will stop a song just to comment on what's going on. I quickly realized that was unacceptable on Broadway. I just have to stay in character and stay in the show."
"While it's a comedy, it's frighteningly accurate. Especially when it comes to frontmen, and how the rest of the band regards them as complete assholes. And I sit there and feel shame. I was a pompous ass. But I feel better now."
On how he landed the gig:
"I would love to tell you that somebody knocked on the door and said, 'We want you!' But the truth is: I was invited to the premiere of the off-Broadway production, where I saw my two songs in the show, and I turned to my wife and said, 'I want to do that. I could play Dennis Dupree.' So I let it be known, and it took two years to get asked out on that date."
TWISTED SISTER drummer A.J. Pero has been named the national spokesperson for Fallen Blue, which was created as a means to provide support, both emotional and financial, for the families of police officers who are killed outside the line of duty.
Pero has spent his life entertaining rock music fans as the drummer for TWISTED SISTER. He has also dedicated his life to helping others less fortunate with his charity work.
Commented Pero: "I have been asked by John and Rachael from Fallen Blue to be a part of the brotherhood. I jumped at the opportunity.
"I am honored to be a part of this family, this vital organization. I will help out 150 percent so we can achieve our goals.
"Our goals are to help the families of these brave men and women who die outside the line of duty.
"When a police officer is killed outside the line of duty — whether accidentally or by their own hand due to job related stress — they don't receive the benefits. Some families can't even afford to have a funeral, never mind future bills. I've experienced that years ago when a friend on the job, stressed out and emotionally fried, shot himself. Our neighborhood stood together to help the wife and children. We had benefits and cookouts to raise money, but it just wasn't enough.
"This organization can and will become vital nationwide if we all recognize this is a reality and pull together our resources for all law enforcement officers.
"Even though there are many different branches, we are all the same underneath and need to be treated as such. We would also like to eventually erect a physical memorial where we can go and honor those killed outside the line of duty."
For more information, visit FallenBlue.org.
According to a posting on former MANOWAR guitarist Ross "The Boss" Friedman's Facebook page, ex-MANOWAR drummer Scott Columbus has died at the age of 54. This was confirmed by Scott's girlfriend of almost four years, Nancy, who wrote, "For all you to know, this is Scott Columbus's girlfriend of over 3 1/3 years... and I cannot get the words out, but he died today... Please send your thoughts and prayers. I can't believe he is gone. He was the absolute love of my life."
In a May 2010 interview with Classic Rock magazine, Columbus revealed that his departure from MANOWAR occurred around April 2008 when he and MANOWAR bassist Joey DeMaio "agreed to disagree on a few points of interest." He added, "I had a long and wonderful career with MANOWAR; I have no regrets, it's just life moves on."
When asked for a comment on MANOWAR's claim that Columbus was still a member of the band but that he was taking time off for "personal tragedies," Scott replied, "I'm in the best shape of my life. I mean I'm 112 years old (laughs) but I'm in the best shape of my entire life."
On the topic of whether he had had any contact with any of the MANOWAR members since his departure in April of 2008, Scott said, "Yes, I speak quite often with the singer [Eric Adams] who is a dear, dear friend of mine. He and I hung out on the road all the time for many years, so I speak to Eric all the time. Joey and I speak to periodically. Some of the ancillary people I speak with because we've always had a great relationship, so why let something professional interrupt something personal. I tend to make friends for life. Once people get to know me they realize I wear my heart on my sleeve, there's no bullshit about me. I can do a lot of things very well but one thing I really suck at is lying."
Lonny Knapp of Spinner.com recently conducted an interview with legendary rocker Sammy Hagar. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Spinner.com: In your the book you say Eddie Van Halen was completely wasted and barely able to play his guitar during most of the 2004 reunion tour. What made you finally dish on your former bandmate?
Sammy: He got away with a lot on that tour. There are YouTube videos out there with Eddie too wasted to play — but his fans are so devotional they would think that I was singing in the wrong key. I want to explain to the people why the tour didn't continue, why we didn't make an album, and why we'll never do it again. I set the record straight, and I feel real good about it. Eddie's not going to like it 'cause he's exposed.
Spinner.com: Your father was a tragic character, an alcoholic that lived on the street and eventually died in the back of a police cruiser. Given your family background, how hard was it to see a guy like Eddie Van Halen losing a battle with drugs and alcohol?
Sammy: It broke my heart. Eddie used to be the most humble guy, even when we got ripped out of our brains, we'd be laughing and crying and making great music together. And after a while he became really hard to get along with; he didn't want help, he didn't want to be friends, and he didn't want to be kind. He was like, "Fuck everybody." Eventually, I had to let him go. He looks like he is doing better, and I send him all the love in the world.
KILL DEVIL HILL — the new band featuring Vinny Appice (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, DIO) on drums, Rex Brown (DOWN, PANTERA) on bass, Mark Zavon (RATT, W.A.S.P., 40 CYCLE HUM) on guitar and Jason "Dewey" Bragg (PISSING RAZORS) on vocals — will make its live debut on April 29 at the Key Club in Hollywood, California. The group states, "it will be a 30-minute set and an introduction to what's to come!"
In other news, the second audio clip from KILL DEVIL HILL ("War Machine" is available for streaming in the YouTube clip below.
KILL DEVIL HILL recently finished demoed around 10 songs, which, according to Appice, sound "like a cross between BLACK SABBATH, ALICE IN CHAINS and a little bit of LED ZEPPELIN thrown in. It's heavy, but with a lot of cool hooks and melodic overtones, too."
The band recently stated in a post on its Facebook page, "Rex has just returned to Texas after a week of writing and recording in L.A. and just playing so goddamn loud with [KILL DEVIL HILL]! This is really kicking ass with a combination of sounds of BLACK SABBATH, ALICE IN CHAINS, and a sprinkle of ZEP. We are going old school meets new, no sample drums here!!" The group added, "Dewey laid down some amazing tracks last night on a killer new demo. We are currently putting the finishing touches on the clips which we will be posting very soon."
KILL DEVIL HILL is:
* Jason "Dewey" Bragg (PISSING RAZORS) - Vocals
* Mark Zavon (RATT, W.A.S.P., 40 CYCLE HUM) - Guitar
* Rex Brown (DOWN, PANTERA) - Bass
* Vinny Appice (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, DIO) - Drums
"Seeds Of War", the first demo track from BLACKGATES — the new band featuring former ANTHRAX singer Dan Nelson, drummer Paul Bostaph (TESTAMENT, ex-EXODUS, SLAYER, FORBIDDEN), guitarist Jeremy Epp (THE VENTING MACHINE) and bassist Uriah Duffy (WHITESNAKE) — can be streamed using the ReverbNation TuneWidget below. Dan previously stated about BLACKGATES's musical direction, "It's thrashy and heavy, so it will appeal to ANTHRAX and TESTAMENT fans. But has the groove and brutality of PANTERA, and is also very melodic. The guitarist is a kid from the Bay Area named Jeremy Epp, who's an unknown, but sensational. People are gonna love him."
BLACKGATES recently finished mastering its first demo, which the band recorded in the San Francisco Bay Area with producer Tim Narducci (SYSTEMATIC, SPIRALARMS).
BLACKGATES is:
* Dan Nelson (ANTHRAX): Vocals/guitar
* Paul Bostaph (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, FORBIDDEN, EXODUS): Drums
* Uriah Duffy (WHITESNAKE): Bass
* Jeremy Von Epp (THE VENTING MACHINE): Guitar/vocals
Nelson earlier this year joined forces with Dan "Shaggy" Hoffman and Joe Post in a brand new Levittown, New York-based "rock / blues / punk / metal / hardcore / fun" band called FAREWELL TO WASHINGTON. According to Nelson, the group entered "our junkie little studio a.k.a. 'Potato Junction'" last month to record its first demo.
When asked in an interview with Dose Of Metal what fans can expect from FAREWELL TO WASHINGTON, Nelson said, "People should expect very little from us, as we expect even less from each other."
Regarding his split with ANTHRAX in July 2009, Nelson told The Metal Den, "I never live my life with any regrets and never look back and wish I did something different. I chose instead to look forward to the future. We did some great things in the time we wrote and performed together, and I am very proud of that."
Scott "Wino" Weinrich — who has played in such acts as ST. VITUS, THE OBSESSED, THE HIDDEN HAND, PROBOT and SPIRIT CARAVAN — will perform an acoustic set at the Doom In June II festival, set to take place Saturday, June 4 at the Cheyenne Saloon in Las Vegas, Nevada. Also newly confirmed for the event are Baltimore, Maryland's long-running cult doom merchants IRON MAN.
The final billing for the Doom In June II festival:
WINO
IRON MAN
SOLITUDE AETURNUS
HOODED MENACE
STONE AXE
WO FAT
DUSTED ANGEL
LEECHES OF LORE
WHITE WITCH CANYON
HALLOWED ENGINE
STONEHELM
METH LEPPARD
PSILOBYCIN
... OF THE HORIZON
CROWNED BY FIRE
THE SWAMP DONKEY
DEAD NEON
Last year's inaugural show was a fun-filled day of some great music that saw people congregating to Las Vegas from around the world. This year Salem Rose Music gives you another dose.
Following a similar format, Doom In June II kicks off the summer the first weekend of June with 17 confirmed bands — some longtime established names and an opportunity to catch some of the brightest young talents — in a carefree, good time environment at the infamous longtime rock club the Cheyenne Saloon.
Doors open at noon, with bands performing for 14 hours on one stage.
Tickets are now on sale at www.brownpapertickets.com for only $25 advance.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/winodoomfest.jpg
Swedish metallers SABATON will be the main support for IRON MAIDEN on July 1 at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg Sweden. Also scheduled to appear is GRAVEYARD.
Commented SABATON: "We are really happy to announce that we will be the main support of IRON MAIDEN when they visit Sweden on their current tour. The show will be in the biggest open air arena in Sweden, thus making it the biggest show in SABATON history... so far."
SABATON drummer Daniel Mullback was forced to sit out the remaining dates on the band's recent European tour "due to problems with his knees." He was temporarily replaced by Robert Bäck. Also performing with SABATON during the trek was DRAGONFORCE bassist Frédéric Leclercq. He filled in for regular SABATON guitarist Rikard Sundén, who "has decided to multiply himself and will have his first kid at this time," according to a statement released by the band.
SABATON's fifth album, "Coat Of Arms", sold around 450 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 124 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.
"Coat Of Arms" was released in Europe on May 21, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.
New Jersey pirate metallers SWASHBUCKLE have parted ways with drummer Bootsmann Collins and have replaced him with Eric W. Brown (DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY, INFERI, VALE OF PNATH, COLLAPSE, MAGIC HAMMER, RAINBOWDRAGONEYES).
SWASHBUCKLE's latestalbum, "Crime Always Pays…", was released last September via Nuclear Blast Records.
SWASHBUCKLE was one of three winners of the 2008 Nuclear Blast MySpace Bands Contest.
Brazilian/American thrashers SEPULTURA have set "Kairos" (an ancient Greek word signifying a time in between, a moment of undetermined period of time in which something special happens) as the title of their new album, tentatively due late spring/early summer via Nuclear Blast Records. In the following question-and-answer session with BLABBERMOUTH.NET, SEPULTURA guitarist and main songwriter Andreas Kisser talks about the making of the new CD and addresses some of the rumors and criticisms that have been leveled at the band, including the persistent calls for a reunion of SEPULTURA's classic lineup by the group's former guitarist/vocalist Max Cavalera.
Q: How did you come up with the new album title?
Andreas: "We've been working on this new album since last year. We actually toured a lot , we played a lot many places for the time — like Reunion Island and Cuba — and we wrote [some of the material during this time]. The first ideas we talked about on the road and some of the first riffs and direction and stuff. When we stopped touring last August, we started [really focusing on] writing; we went into the studio in São Paulo. The whole theme of the album is the concept of the time, and the title reflects that — it's like one concept of time which is not chronological, from one to two; it's like a an instant in time, it's a special time of change... Everyone's life is written by [their] choices — you have many 'kairos' moments, like if you go [from] point A [to point] B [to point] C, you are driven by your choices or your guidance; you have to go either one way or the other. And that's the kind of time we talked about — not about aging or
getting old or going back [in time]; it's just [about those important] moments that can change everything. Like Martin Luther King's speech in Washington D.C. that day, it was a 'kairos' moment that changed the world, pretty much, the direction that we talked about certain things and the way we lived our lives, etc. And in that respect that's what we thought about [in regards to] SEPULTURA itself — 26 years of history and the moment where we are now; why we're here; why we're doing this album and why we have what we have; the changes we have inside and outside the band. It's a collection of 'kairos' [moments] that [got us] here. It's being inspired by our own biography, but mostly [focusing] on what SEPULTURA is today. Since the moment we started writing [the new album], we had this concept in mind. And we had the opportunity to play old stuff [during our last tour] like we didn't do for a long time. In the beginning of the tour for [2009's] 'A-Lex',
we put on our web site options for [fans to choose songs from] different SEPULTURA eras — they [were able to] choose from 'Beneath The Remains', 'Arise', 'Bestial Devastation', 'Schizophrenia' — and we [rehearsed] an extra 18 songs [in addition to the main] set so that we could be prepared to play old stuff. And then last year we played the 'Arise' album [in its entirety] at the birthday party for Manifesto, which is a rock club here in São Paulo; we had the opportunity to do this special show. Stuff like that... And we remembered the bands that we listened [in the early days of] our career, like SACRIFICE and KREATOR. So we had that kind of stuff in our heads and we talked about our experiences with labels, with the press and with our friends, and our families..."
Q: Like a feeling of nostalgia, almost?
Andreas: "No, no, not at all. It's the opposite of that — it's living the moment. Nostalgia is being in the past, trying to relive stuff, and we're not doing that; we're doing something new today. I'm just saying that we [drew on] influences that we had from ourselves and our own experiences. Like I said, we talked about our families and record labels and managers and press... It's a very [lyrically] intimate album, and at the same time it's very [sonically] raw. I think the music is, again, something new from SEPULTURA. We're just very happy with the result we have so far."
Q: What made you decide to use a Greek word as the new album title? Were you at any point contemplating using an English word instead to describe the feeling that you were referring to earlier?
Andreas: "I couldn't find any other word that could define or describe what 'kairos' means — the concept of time. Time is a very weird concept that nobody can really define. We have our own idea of what time should and we live through that, we age and we do everything [based on calendars] and we are born and we die. I refer to a lot on this subject through philosophy and what time is in even in mathematics and physics. Of course I'm not a mathematician, but the concept of ideas that can challenge what we feel and what we live, it's very interesting, especially the concept of what religion for creation and stuff like that. 'Kairos' is something very deep and very old in respect of communication in humanity, especially in Greece which created a lot of the basis of what we are today. I couldn't find any word that really... First, it's cool — it sounds cool, it's weird and different, and [it has] a heavyweight meaning [behind it]. It's kind of exciting
and it fits the concept of SEPULTURA and the purpose of the project and the album."
Q: Are you going to be using any of the old paintings from the 16th century that represent the concept of "kairos" as the album cover or will you be creating something from scratch?
Andreas: "The artwork is done already. We had this young guy [Los Angeles-based freelance digital artist and photographer Erich Sayers] that we met backstage at our show in Hollywood, at the House of Blues, in January. This guy was a fan and he gave us his card and he sent us some artwork and it was fucking amazing; the guy is an awesome artist. And we decided to work with him on this album. We explained to him the concept and, of course, we sent him lyrics and some pictures and some sculptures, [visual] representations of 'kairos,' and he came up with a really cool design. It's woman's body figure with a skull with a type of skin that is like a gel melting with big wings and stuff. And she's holding an [hourglass] with [the SEPULTURA] tribal 'S' [logo]. it's really nice. He really worked fast and he was very creative with a lot of ideas. We were very fortunate to find a guy like this under those circumstances — at a show — and it was great to work
with [someone who] was so excited to be working with us."
Q: You mentioned earlier that you seriously began working on music for this album in August of last year. Was there any material left over from before that was reworked during the sessions and used on the new CD or is it all brand new ideas?
Andreas: "We had one song left over from the 'A-Lex' sessions that we re-recorded. Because when we recorded 'A-Lex', we only recorded the instrumental parts for the song, we didn't actually [finish it with] vocals, [we didn't have] lyrics for it. It's more or less the same [as it was before] but with an extra part and lyrics. That song we had for a long time — for two or three years, at least. But all the rest of the stuff [was] really [written] from August on — when we really started working seriously [on the new CD]. And [we] really [wanted to] keep [the album] short. One of the characteristics of the old albums [was that they didn't have a lot of songs on them] — like 'Arise' had nine songs, and 'Master Of Puppets' had nine or eight — so our idea was to have ten songs, and really [make them as good as possible], maybe add parts and think a little bit more about the riffs instead of just throwing songs out there one after the other. 'Cause with
[2006's] 'Dante XXI' and 'A-Lex', it was kind of that way... especially with 'A-Lex', since it was our first album with Jean Dolabella on drums, just working with him, writing with him for the first time, it was more like a big jam. But this one, we stopped and thought more about the whole concept and we focused on being more creative in the end. After using books [as the basis of the lyrical concepts on] our past albums, and the experience of doing that, we limited ourselves [this time around] to be more creative. I think it really helps when you have a goal and focus, and it worked great on this album."
Q: Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the first time you guys have worked with a metal musician as a producer? The guy you worked with on the past couple of albums, Stanley Soares, is also a musician, I believe, but he doesn't play heavy metal.
Andreas: "Stanley is a great technician, he knows a lot about music and he's a guitar player, but he's not really a performing musician. He works a lot in the studio, but he's not part of a band and he never was really part of a band. In that respect, Roy Z [guitarist for HALFORD and BRUCE DICKINSON and producer for HELLOWEEN, JUDAS PRIEST and SEBASTIAN BACH, among others] is the first guy [we have ever worked with] that is not only a producer, but also a performing musician."
Q: And also a pretty experienced songwriter, since I believe has written much of the last couple of BRUCE DICKINSON albums and he has contributed to HALFORD as well.
Andreas: "Yeah, he's performing with HALFORD now, and he just played in Brazil November. That was great, because the idea was really to put SEPULTURA on stage in the studio and having a producer that is on stage now, it helps a lot [in capturing that live energy] in the [recording studio]. The album was practically recorded live; that was the idea initially — to try to be as live as possible — and more than 50 percent of first takes [is what we kept on the record]. It sounds really live and we're very happy with the chemistry we had with Roy in the studio. He really liked the idea of trying this raw approach. He didn't know the studio very well in São Paulo, but he learned [as we went along]. We didn't have too much time for pre-production [either], but everything worked out really perfectly. We were ready to record and he was very quick and smart in finding ways to [capture] the sound [we were looking for]. It was fun to record guitars with him,
using different pedals and amps and stuff, and [he had] nice ideas to build really cool solos. So it was great; he was really the perfect guy for us [to work with] at this moment."
Q: Since you didn't have much time to spend on pre-production, does that mean that Roy wasn't very involved in fine-tuning the songs and he mostly contributed to the overall sound of the album once you actually got down to recording everything?
Andreas: "He did [help with the songwriting]. We had songs that were really divided in two [parts] and we threw one song away and we kind of worked the first half of the song and we finished the song in a totally different way. [He was also involved in coming up with] parts for vocals and choruses and stuff that we didn't use... I mean, he was very active, but we worked in the studio at the same time that we were recording. That was kind of a pressure that was kind of good in the end for what we wanted to do — not overthinking [everything]. Of course we did something [that was] very [well thought out] and very professionally played, but at the same time we tried to keep the stage vibe — the kind of live performance [feel] that is so challenging for any musician to [capture] in the studio. But in the end, the result is amazing; we're very happy. I think it's one of the best SEPULTURA albums that we ever did — the whole vibe and the sound and the
lyrics and the songs and the style. I'm very confident that we created something really special with this one."
Q: Do you think there is anything musically on this record that will really surprise SEPULTURA fans or is it more or less what people would expect to hear from the band except, presumably, with a fresh twist to it?
Andreas: "I think it will surprise a lot of people in a very good way... I hope. [Laughs] I think every SEPULTURA album is something that people [never] know what to expect [from], and that's great for a band. It's cool to have that kind of excitement or feeling about waiting for something. it's very hard to explain. Once people hear [the new album], my words will make a lot more sense, because we wanna have the musical reference there to see what I am talking about — about this concept of time and our history and the approach of the music and everything. I think you just have to listen for yourself and enjoy and explore that. But I think that's what music is for — to travel somewhere and have a 'kairos' moment. I hope. [Laughs]"
Q: Ever since Max Cavalera left SEPULTURA in December 1996, you've assumed the bulk of the songwriting duties and you haven't had nearly as much input from the other guys as once did working with Max. Was that difficult for you to adjust to at first and how comfortable are you in that role now?
Andreas: "Of course, it's different, and it should be. The thing is that I don't suffer because I'm not looking for another Max. It would be foolish for me to try and think that [I can recreate] the kind of chemistry that me and him had in SEPULTURA, which was basically what created the SEPULTURA sound — of course, with Igor's way of playing drums, etc. But everything came from that chemistry from the guitars and the crazy ideas [we came up with as a team]. Max is always very creative and very charismatic and excited to do stuff — at least he was during the time that we worked together. And that's something that can't really be done again. Even if we work together again, we are different people and we did different things [during our years apart]. That's something that happens... It happens to everybody, I guess — in friendship and family or whatever. But I feel very happy that it happened the way that it happened and the stuff that we achieved
together. But, like I said, I'm not looking [to recreate] that — I'm looking for new things every day. That's the SEPULTURA spirit and that's the only thing that kept us alive. . . And in regards to all the comparisons [to the Max-era SEPULTURA] and the pointed fingers and concepts here and there on what SEPULTURA should be and what SEPULTURA is, we are what we are and we do what we do, and that's it. We will present [ourselves] the way we will present [ourselves]. With Derrick [Green, vocals], also, we have a different chemistry which works great to a certain limit. I cannot compare it to what I had with Max, the way we [came] up things and etc. But me and Derrick, we work great, especially on lyrics and discussing concepts; he's a guy who reads a lot, he loves books. We talked about what books we should use [for lyrical concepts] and documentaries... we bring those things together. And now with Jean in the group, I think, musically, the chemistry is
very strong. [Jean] is an amazing musician that can do anything, pretty much. He's been working with orchestras and doing stuff with percussive grooves that are very mechanical with very specific [tempos] and musical changes and stuff, and we feel like we can do anything."
Q: You recorded cover versions of MINISTRY's "Just One Fix" and THE PRODIGY's "Firestarter" during the "Kairos" sessions. Was that kind of an afterthought — something you decided to do at the last minute — or did you plan it that way all along?
Andreas: "Not really. That came up later. When we played the two shows in California during NAMM in January, we met the guy from Nuclear Blast [Records], which is gonna put the album out in the States, and we talked about different packages and different ideas. And the conversation started there — to find cool stuff that SEPULTURA hadn't done before. Because, really, we've recorded [cover versions of] so many different bands — from the hardcore and heavy stuff to BOB MARLEY and MASSIVE ATTACK. So we talked about different stuff and we came up with MINISTRY and THE PRODIGY, which was great — we love those bands, and we never really had a chance to do something with their music. Especially THE PRODIGY, it was kind of a challenge to try to find a balance between the heavy guitars and the way they have the dance kind of vibe also. But it came out great; it was really cool. MINISTRY's 'Just One Fix', which is a song that we've known for ages, and we've
toured with MINISTRY in 1992, it was great to [have a chance to record our version of the track]. And THE PRODIGY, they're an awesome band live — very energetic — and I think [our version of 'Firestarter'] came out great. Actually, they came out so good that they might be on the album; the pressure is to try to put them on the album. So let's see what's gonna happen — if they're gonna [be set aside] for later [use] or if they're gonna be on the album."
Q: Was it easier working with drummer Jean Dolabella in the studio the second time around? There was presumably more pressure on him during the "A-Lex" recording sessions because he was replacing someone (Igor Cavalera) who was such an important part of the band's sound, but I imagine that by now he must feel pretty comfortable in the role.
Andreas: "Yeah, definitely. We played so much. The 'A-Lex' tour, it [lasted] two years, going everywhere, and we played [a lot of] the old stuff [live]. He [reproduced] what Igor did very well, and it was great to see him playing the old stuff with his signature, but without losing the characteristic sound that SEPULTURA has. And, of course, the second time around, he played his own stuff from 'A-Lex' on stage and [was] received [very] well by the fans and he showed live that there was [shouldn't be any] concern about [his ability to play] anything [from] the SEPULTURA [catalog] . . . He brought great ideas during the songwriting process for the new album and an amazing way of playing. I mean, live we can play anything — from the [early] SEPULTURA [releases] we can play songs like 'Murder' and 'Meaningless Movements' and 'Septic Schizo' and 'Escape To The Void'. It's great to play that stuff again after so long."
Q: In a number of recent interviews, whenever Max Cavalera was asked about the possibility of a reunion of the classic SEPULTURA lineup, he mentioned the fact that he supposedly had a conversation with you a couple of years ago where you agreed to try to make the reunion happen. However, he claims that the whole thing fell apart a short time later after you made unreasonable financial demands and "lawyers" got involved. Did you, in fact, have any such conversation with Max, and if so, what caused the talks to break down?
Andreas: "It started, I think, in 2009 when SEPULTURA and SOULFLY finally actually played at the same festival [at the Devilside Festival on June 28, 2009 at Landschaftspark in Duisburg-Nord, Germany]. So our tour buses were parked side by side. I left my tour bus and saw Gloria [Cavalera, Max's wife and SEPULTURA's former manager] there. I walked over and just gave her a hug and said, "How are you?" I mean, there was no reason not to do that; I never really held any animosity or any hate towards them at all. Anyway, after that, it was cool because I think it opened the door, really, to our communication — without really even thinking about anything, reunion or nothing, just people that know each other and worked together, just to talk to each other again. So we opened this channel of communication, and it was clear from the beginning that Gloria really wanted to do a reunion. Actually, she started really trying to put this together, and I talked to
Max for two minutes, or maybe a minute and 48 seconds [laughs] — it was really quick, and she had him on her side. I think it was the first time that we talked on the phone for ages — since he left the band — or even [that I talked to] Gloria. So it was good to have that kind of talk. I was happy to at least talk to each other again. And we talked about football and just like basically bullshit — just to say, 'How are you?' 'How are things', kids, whatever, football... and that was it. It was just a conversation of trying to get back in touch [with one another]. But [everything that our new] album ['Kairos'] is about is opposite of what they [Max and Gloria] wanna do. I guess I live my life in a different way. And it's kind of really annoying, that kind of pressure, from everywhere, not only from the press. We see promoters trying to put pressure when promoting our shows in the States, trying to... trying to get in the way somehow, not to let
SEPULTURA just have our path or our way. We are on a very good label [at the moment], with our business in place and stuff, a great album, and I don't think Max and Gloria respect what we achieved [in the years after Max left] and what we are doing [right now]. I guess SOULFLY did great, or is doing great, and I don't see why he's even worried about us. Everyone chose their way — Max chose to leave the band, Igor is doing his MIXHELL stuff, and he's happy about it; he's very active and he's doing great. Even CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, I came to see their show here at a festival in São Paulo — I didn't meet them, I didn't see them, but I saw the show and I thought it was great; it was cool to see [Max and Igor] playing [together] again. I don't see what the problem is for us to get on with our career and stuff. I mean, the reunion stuff, it's not gonna happen at all. It was never a part of our plan to do that, and I guess they felt that the contact of
speaking on the phone for two minutes was kind of my way of saying, 'Yes, let's do a reunion.' I mean, I wanna have a relationship with the people that I work with — I'm not a slave of the fucking past and I'm not a slave of people's expectations of what SEPULTURA should be. I live SEPULTURA every day — since I joined this band in '87 — and it's been like that to this day. And I still enjoy what I do, regardless of the challenges that we [face]. And I wish they could respect that and get on with our lives. Max is a very creative musician and he should be doing great stuff, as he deserves. And that's all."
Q: But Max has said in a bunch of interviews that you guys supposedly spoke, you agreed to try to do a reunion, and then all of sudden money issues came up...
Andreas: "It never happened. This is all a fantasy. What happened is what I said — it was a really nice, cool conversation, talking about nothing but family stuff; nothing about business at all. It would be stupid for us to, after [almost] 20 years [apart], expect for a phone call of two minutes to [lead] to a big reunion. [laughs] It's kind of naive, you know — it's kind of stupid."
Q: Is it safe to say that if you guys could rebuild your relationship and have a real friendship with one another again, you would be open to maybe doing a SEPULTURA reunion with Max, but unless that happens, you are not interested?
Andreas: "No, I don't [necessarily] connect our friendship with doing a reunion. But, of course, after getting to know each other again and talking about projects, we could even do different stuff — [work together again and] not call ourselves SEPULTURA. I mean, create some different project or whatever; it doesn't necessarily have to lead to a reunion. It [would be] just a relationship [like the one] that I have with [any of] my friends — that's all."
Bella Qvist of Sweden's CriticalMass.se online magazine recently conducted an interview with keyboardist Janne Wirman of Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
On recording the new album, "Relentless Reckless Forever", in the deep dark woods of Finland:
Janne: "Yeah, it's freaky 'cos in Finland we don't have tornados or storms that big but it was crazy, the storm hit the studio and we lost power for three days and we were in the middle of nowhere. The trees cut down the power lines and the trees cut down the roads so we were stuck in the countryside in the middle of nowhere for a couple of days. . . [But] actually we had fun. We played the grand piano in candlelight and sang Britney Spears to ourselves and it was not that big of a problem, you know."
On the importance of "sauna bathing" during the production of the new album:
Janne: "Well, especially at this studio, they have a great sauna and there's another one by the lake and when we were recording in the summer time so it was great. [Our] American producer hadn't been in a Finnish wood-burning sauna before and he absolutely loved it. Every morning he woke up, heated up the sauna and had a sauna and he would work in the studio the full studio day and then in the end of the night he would heat up the sauna again. Actually this time there was a lot of sauna action during sessions."
On their reputation as a "party-hard band:
Janne: "I think the whole bunch of us just happen to be... all of us like to party and drink and have fun and then the five us got together as a band and then there was a huge party. Although now we are over thirty, we try to... I mean, we've grown old so we can't party like we did ten years ago because that was just too much and crazy. But, you know, we still party."
On whether CHILDREN OF BODOM is all about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll:
Janne: "No, to be honest, no. It might have been something like that ten years ago but, like I said, all of us have grown up a little bit in the last couple of years and trying to keep things in moderation. We still party and we still have fun, but we try to do things not too stupid all the time."
On the best thing about being a rock star:
Janne: "I guess the best thing, seriously, is that you get to do what you love to do. You get to tour around the world with your friends and, you know, all that stuff, and then when you go home you don't have to go to McDonald's and flip burgers. The best part is that you get to do what you love to do and you get a living out of it."
On what the most fake thing in the industry is:
Janne: "Well, you know, there is a lot of faking going on in the music industry. I mean, the whole music industry is kind of fucked right now, it's pretty fake, the whole thing. I hope somehow there would be a solution so that artists and record labels could still keep doing what they are doing so that it would be somewhat financially, you know, reasonable for everybody, but I don't know."
On whether the cold and dark affects a "rock star":
Janne: "Yeah, I'm not much of a winter person myself anymore. I absolutely hate it, I hate the snow and the coldness and if I was rock-star enough, I wouldn't live here during the winters, I would simply live here in the summers, it's too fucking cold. I have a house and I have this driveway and [there was] so much snow this year, you have to like twice a day shovel the snow to be able to drive and get out of your house."
Swedish metallers FALCONER will release their seventh album, "Armod", in Europe on June 3 via Metal Blade Records. The CD features 11 songs completely sung in Swedish and four bonus tracks that are said to be English versions of the bandmembers' favorite new songs.
"Armod" was once again recorded at KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque's Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden during December and January. FALCONER states, "The recording and mixing process went smoother than ever before.
"The album is embracing the Swedish folk music to a greater extent than before making it sound slightly more down to earth.
"The music spans from acoustic songs with cello, flute and fiddle to songs with blast beats and really heavy riffing.
"As said before this is a 'one-time-only' album and does not define the future sound of FALCONER, but it was about time to pay full notice to the infuence that has always made us different. Now we have that out of our system!"
"Armod" track listing:
01. Svarta Änkan
02. Dimmornas Drottning
03. Griftefrid
04. O, Tysta Ensamhet
05. Vid Rosornas Grav
06. Grimborg
07. Herr Peder Och Hans Syster
08. Eklundapolskan
09. Grimasch Om Morgonen
10. Fru Silfver
11. Gammal Fäbodpsalm
FALCONER is:
Mathias Bladh - Vocals
Stefan Weinerhall - Guitars
Jimmy Hedlund - Guitars
Magnus Linhardt - Bass
Karsten Larsson - Drums
FALCONER's most recent album, "Among Beggars And Thieves", was released in August 2008 via Metal Blade Records.
FALCONER in 2007 extended its deal with Metal Blade for another four albums.
The historic Élysée Montmartre concert hall in Paris, France was gutted by an early-morning fire on March 22 (see video below). The central stage was untouched, but the second floor partially collapsed, according to The New York Times. Police said they suspected that the fire was caused by faulty wiring. As a result, the previously announced concert featuring KAMELOT, EVERGREY, AMARANTHE and SONS OF SEASONS, which was scheduled for April 22, has been moved to April 25 and will now take place at the Alhambra.
Commented EVERGREY: "We tried to avoid moving the date but unfortunately no other suitable venues were available on the original night.
"While the circumstances are obviously beyond our control, we are very sorry for any inconvenience to those of you who had made special arrangements for this date, and hope you will be able to make the new show on the 25th. Tickets that were sold for the Élysée Montmartre will be honored! Tickets are going fast for this concert."
According to The New York Times, Élysée Montmartre opened in 1807. Toulouse-Lautrec is reported to have painted several works there, and it is said to have been the birthplace of the cancan. "It is a part of Paris's identity that has been struck," Mayor Bertrand Delanoë said of the fire. He pledged that the venue would be rebuilt.
Bloody-Disgusting.com recently conducted an interview with TESTAMENT/ex-SAVATAGE guitarist and leader of ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO, Alex Skolnick. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Bloody-Disgusting.com: During my first listen of [the new ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO album] "Veritas", something that popped out to me was the scope of emotion in the pieces. The title track is a beautiful, melancholic piece while "99/09" is as jazz/funk as it comes. Are there any limits to what the three of you come up with for an album?
Skolnick: Thank you. The idea was to capture a wide range of emotions, a sense of depth and honesty. All three of us have diverse musical tastes. We try a lot of ideas regardless of style and focus on the ones that feel right. As musicians we are not easily labeled or placed in neat little boxes. I think that's true of most people. Yet we live in a world where everything is categorized and people are molded into these cookie-cutter types. This pressure, which comes from numerous sources, is unfair, unhealthy and dishonest. This album is a declaration of truth (hence the title "Veritas", Latin for "truth") and a reaction against this form of typecasting, in music and in life.
Bloody-Disgusting.com: One of the things that I noticed was that even with the multiple tracks, "Veritas" still sounds very intimate, almost like I was sitting in the room with the three of you while you were jamming. Was that something that you were aiming for?
Skolnick: The three of us were playing almost everything at the same time. For a few songs, such as "Song Of The Open Road", "Path Of Least Resistance" and "Fade To Black", I'd been using a loop pedal to get the extra tracks live. But in the studio, I played these as extra tracks (without the loop pedal) simply for the sake of sound quality. Then there were occasional embellishments, such as my added acoustic guitar and Nathan's Calimba (thumb piano) on "Bollywood Jam". But the majority is just the trio live in the studio.
Bloody-Disgusting.com: You're not only a member of the ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO, but also very well known for your work in TESTAMENT and TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA. Considering that each of these groups has a very distinctive musical style, what do you take away from playing in these varying genres?
Skolnick: It's been really interesting. I always hated the concept of having to be exclusive to one musical genre and social scene in order to be accepted. Only at this stage in my life (not quite a "veteran" but no longer "new on the scene") am I able to comfortably express myself in multiple scenes, verbally and musically. I enjoy taking on the challenge of shattering preconceptions from anyone who thinks otherwise or underestimates. Being a part of these three very different projects has helped make that possible. TESTAMENT has enabled me to communicate in a high energy, high-volume situation that runs on "10" most of the time. TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA gave me experience playing in sold-out concert arenas, including moments where all focus of the 14,000 or so people was on me. With the special guests, I had the experience of starting THE WHO's "Pinball Wizard" with Roger Daltrey right next to me and even more challenging, YES' "Roundabout" while
standing next to Jon Anderson. And finally, ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO has enabled me to prove myself as a composer, bandleader, producer, improviser, frontman and everything else that no one would have ever guessed when I was this awkward kid who joined TESTAMENT at sixteen years old.
Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD are currently working on material for the follow-up to 2009's "Wrath" for a tentative late 2011/early 2012 release.
In a recent interview with the Artisan News Service (see video below), LAMB OF GOD drummer Chris Adler stated about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's next CD, "We've done a bit more... Now, because of the amount of time we've spent on the road and the guys spending time alone in hotel rooms, there's a lot more material coming into the process than we've had in the past. Normally, we would tour, then get together and write. But the guitar players, with the technology changing and improving, have been able to do a lot on their own coming in, so there's a lot more ideas than we've ever had, which is great. Normally, it takes... We weed through all the stuff and it takes a really long time to get to what everybody agrees on. Now we've got a plethora of material, so I think it's gonna be... It's always an interesting process, but I think we're coming a little more armed this time."
When asked if "Wrath" set the standard for what fans can expect to hear on LAMB OF GOD's next album, Adler said, "In the past, my perspective has always been very reactive to what the immediate previous album was, as in 'Wrath' was more aggressive than [2006's] 'Sacrament' and 'Sacrament' was more produced than [2004's] 'Ashes Of The Wake', and those were choices that we made. But this time I feel that with all the records we've covered the bases and creatively gotten a lot of stuff out, grown as a band, evolved, made interesting choices along the way, and I think, this time, there's no real... I can't speak for [the rest of] the band, but myself, I'm not really particularly reactive to 'Wrath' in that I was very happy with the way 'Wrath' came out. So I feel a little more free coming into this album to not be so driven in one particular direction. I think we might be a little more wide open this time."
LAMB OF GOD in February released the track "Hit The Wall" as a digital single. The all-new song was created exclusively for last year's Iron Man 2: The Videogame, and the full version with vocals has never been available until now. "Hit The Wall" was also featured in the April 2011 issue of Decibel magazine on the issue's exclusive Flexidisc.
LAMB OF GOD last year released the "Hourglass" collection, a career-retrospective set that is available in seven different configurations.
LAMB OF GOD received a second Grammy Award nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category — for the track "Set to Fail" from "Wrath", which came out on Epic Records.
The band was previously nominated in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the song "Redneck" from LAMB OF GOD's 2006 album "Sacrament".
"Wrath" landed at position No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart back in February 2009 with first-week sales of over 67,000 copies.
Mexican doom rockers MALIGNO will release their third album, "The Funeral Domine", in May. The CD was recorded by MALIGNO at La Nave studios in Monterrey, Mexico and was mixed at 7hertz Studios in Los Angeles, California with American producer/engineer Billy Anderson (MELVINS, NEUROSIS, CATHEDRAL, SLEEP). The effort was mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music (CONVERGE, HATEBREED, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) in New Windsor, New York.
"The Funeral Domine" features collaborations with the acclaimed Mexican guitar duo RODRIGO Y GABRIELA and TESTAMENT guitar legend Alex Skolnick.
"The Funeral Domine" track listing:
01. The Beginning
02. Shine
03. Great White Throne
04. Transmutation
05. Solstice
06. The Curse
07. Emperors Fall
08. Coffin of Dreams
09. We Shall Descend
MALIGNO supported IRON MAIDEN on the Mexican leg of their "The Final Frontier" world tour.
MALIGNO released its second album, "Universevil", on September 1, 2008 in Mexico via Iguana & Asenath Records. The CD was named one of the top ten albums of 2008 by a Latin artist by the Mexican edition of Rolling Stone magazine, and was honored in the "Best Metal Album" category at the Indie-O awards, which recognizes the best of independent music in Mexico.
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/malignodoom.
SONS OF AEON, the new Jyväskylä, Finland-based metal band featuring former SWALLOW THE SUN drummer Pasi Pasanen, has inked a deal with Lifeforce Records. The group's debut album is scheduled for release in early 2012.
Commented the band: "SONS OF AEON is happy to announce that we have joined the Lifeforce Records team! We feel we found a great home for our music and we're looking forward to rolling our sleeves and getting to work.
"We're currently writing more music for our upcoming debut album. We'll let you know when we have some more detailed information."
SONS OF AEON recently made three songs available for free download via the group's official web site. The drums were recorded at Studio Watercastle in Jyväskylä, Finland by Arttu Sarvanne, while guitars and bass were recorded at SONS OF AEON's home studio and the vocals were handled by Teemu Liekkala. The mixing and mastering was taken care of by Antti Malinen.
The following tracks are available for download:
01. Weakness
02. Seeds Of Destruction
03. Burden
SONS OF AEON is:
Tony Kaikkonen (CODE FOR SILENCE) - Vocals
Tapio Vartiainen - Guitar
Wille Naukkarinen (GHOST BRIGADE) - Guitar
Tommi Kiviniemi (GHOST BRIGADE) - Bass
Pasi Pasanen (PLUTONIUM ORANGE, ex-SWALLOW THE SUN) - Drums
Croatian female-fronted gothic metal band OMEGA LITHIUM will release its sophomore album, "Kinetik", via Drakkar on the following dates:
May 27 - Europe
June 7 - North America
The track listing for the CD is as follows:
01. Colossus
02. Dance with Me
03. Strip Me
04. Time of Change
05. Kinetik
06. Salvation Refused
07. I Am God
08. Breaking
09. Cut Forget
10. Wind
11. Pjesma
12. Kinetik (Mechanic Remix) (limited-edition bonus track)
According to a press release, OMEGA LITHIUM had a total of 40 song ideas to choose from for the new CD and "the result sounds fresh, dynamic and haunting throughout. The musicians have thrown all ballast overboard, concentrating on the bare essentials: evocative, danceable songs with concise hooklines and sexy grooves. Machines were fused with rock elements, producing a harmonic whole, and as a result 'Kinetik' has turned into a dance album, created with the tools of a rock band. A suitable pigeonhole still has to be invented for this kind of music, so perhaps we should create our own — how about 'industrial dance rock?' But irrespective of what you call OMEGA LITHIUM's music — tracks such as 'Dance With Me', 'Cut Forget' and 'I Am God' sound energetic, explosive and are clearly more mass-compatible and open-minded than the densely produced material on their debut."
"It's a catchy album which you can't listen to without banging your head or dancing," Malice Rime enthuses. The eleven tracks were produced at the Horus Sound Studio (HELLOWEEN, HIM, DIE HAPPY, GUANO APES) in Hanover, Germany by Zare Pak and first-time co-producer Malice. Benjamin Schäfer (mix) and Vincent Sorg, who mastered the songs at the Principal Studio (IN EXTREMO, UNHEILIG) are also significantly responsible for the recording's tight and driving sound.
The lyrics on "Kinetik" cover a wide field. On one hand, there are numbers which ironically deal with sex, drugs and parties ("Dance With Me"), the self-ironic, Croatian language song "Pjesma" (English: song), in which the musicians lampoon themselves, and the sexually inspired "Strip Me". On the other hand, OMEGA LITHIUM broaches serious subjects: the title track, "Kinetik", is about an android who feels his own heartbeat and ends up not knowing whether he is man or machine. "Wind", on the other hand, is about the hidden secrets which we would like to block out and definitely don't want to reveal to anybody. Musically, the band relies on a high degree of variation and tried a number of crazy ideas which have never been realized this way before on a rock album. "Strip Me", for example, features a Croatian Klapa choir, and "Colossus" presents a Slovenian choir, while an instrument called sopele — a traditional Croatian pipe which, according to Malice,
creates very strange sounds — was used on "Breaking". So the almost 42-minute recording lacks neither variety, catchiness nor suspense.
"We've set ourselves great targets and hope that this album will bring our breakthrough," the guitarist says. "We've put a lot into it and hope that it will pay off."
OMEGA LITHIUM is:
Mya Mortenssen - Vocals
Malice Rime - Guitar, Synths, Background Vocals
Zoltan Harpax - Bass
Torsten Nihill - Drums
Fan-filmed video footage of OMEGA LITHIUM performing the song "Nebula" at last year's edition of the Metal Female Voices Fest, which was held October 22-24, 2010 at Oktoberhallen in Wieze, Belgium, can be viewd below.
OMEGA LITHIUM's debut album, "Dreams In Formaline", was released in North America in April 2010 via Artoffact Records. The North American version of the CD includes a bonus track, "Ocean Dream", and a different cover.
"Dreams In Formaline" was released in Europe in September 2009 via Drakkar Records.
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/omegalithium.
Joe Matera of Ultimate-Guitar.com recently conducted an interview with guitarist Johan Söderberg of Swedish death metallers AMON AMARTH. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: When it came to the songwriting process for the new album, "Surtur Rising", what was it like?
Söderberg: It was pretty much the same as the last two albums. I started to write in January last year. Basically, the process is like this; I just play guitar to some simple beat in my home studio until I come up with stuff I like. I did that for about three months and then we started to rehearse. Olavi [Mikkonen] takes his ideas and I take mine, and we start to put it together in the rehearsal place. That's when Johan [Hegg] listens to the songs and he starts to write the lyrics. Usually we will rearrange some of the songs in the rehearsal place, too. Then we did a U.S tour in April, and when we got back from that, we continued to work out new songs and some days at home, to come up with new guitar parts. And then we went back to the rehearsal place to put it all together.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: When it came to this new record, was there much pressure on the band to top the success of the previous album "Twilight Of The Thunder God"?
Söderberg: I personally felt a huge pressure because "Twilight" is a great album and those songs are not easy to top. Lots of riffs and song ideas had to be put in the bin before they even made it to the rehearsal place. And it usually takes us about ten months to come up with ten songs that we feel are as good, or better than the last album. So the biggest pressure is that you know it has to be done by a certain time 'cause the date for when the recording starts, is not easy to move because then everything else has to move to along with release date and tours. If you postpone the recording by two weeks, you might have to postpone the release date by six months.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Do you prefer the studio environment to the live stage?
Söderberg: I think they are both equally fun. When I have been touring for maybe one and a half years or more like we usually do on each album, I start to miss the songwriting process and the studio. And when the new album is finished, I can't wait to go out on tour again to play the new songs live. I can't really write any new material after the recording is done either, as I have to be out touring for some time to get the urge back to start writing again. It is like a continuous cycle.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: What do you think of the association of death or metal bands in general and their association with Satanism, do you think this is an ignorant notion and one perpetuated mostly by Christians?
Söderberg: If someone makes a movie about Satan, nobody thinks that the director or the actors are sitting at home worshiping Satan. But if a band writes songs about Satan, some people instantly make the assumption that these guys are sitting at home worshipping Satan. I think that almost all bands that have lyrics about Satanism, have them in order to make the songs have a dark feeling about them, just like a horror movie. If you make the most brutal riff you can, it doesn't really fit to have lyrics about flowers in spring time.
German metallers EMERGENCY GATE have recruited Raphael Saini (CHAOSWAVE, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS) as their new drummer. The band is working on material for a new album which it plans to record later in the year for an early 2012 release.
A new video message from EMERGENCY GATE can be viewed below.
EMERGENCY GATE's latest CD, "The Nemesis Construct", was released on April 30 via Twilight Zone Records. The CD was recorded at Dreamscape Studios in Munich and features artwork by Raf W., who has previously worked with METALLICA, SLAYER, IRON MAIDEN and SOULFLY, among others. In addition, EVERGREY frontman Tom Englund makes a guest appearance on one of the tracks, sharing the vocals with EMERGENCY GATE singer Matthias Kupka.
For more information, visit www.emergency-gate.com.
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