AEROSMITH will celebrate the 35th anniversary of its iconic 1976 album, "Rocks", with a special edition release, due out in Japan on November 23. The release will coincide with AEROSMITH's fall tour through Japan, kicking off Tuesday, November 22 in Kanazawa.
"Rocks" 35th-anniversary deluxe edition will include:
* "Rocks" Japan-edition CD (jewel case with a replica of a golden spine onsert for Japanese LP sleeve)
* The first Japan tour program replica (28 pages)
* The first Japan tour poster replica (Nippon Budokan version)
* The first Japan tour ticket replica (from the first show at Gunma Sport Center)
* Japanese 7" singles' artwork replicas ("Home Tonight" / "Back In The Saddle" / "Last Child")
* Four postcards of photos from the "Rocks" era
All housed in a clear, plastic case
The raw and raucous "Rocks" is the fourth album by AEROSMITH, originally released on May 3, 1976. The LP — which featured such stand-out tracks like "Back In The Saddle", "Rats In The Cellar", "Sick As A Dog" and "Nobody's Fault" — peaked at No. 3 in the U.S., No. 14 in Canada and No. 46 in Sweden.
"Rocks" 35th-anniversary deluxe edition will include:
* "Rocks" Japan-edition CD (jewel case with a replica of a golden spine onsert for Japanese LP sleeve)
* The first Japan tour program replica (28 pages)
* The first Japan tour poster replica (Nippon Budokan version)
* The first Japan tour ticket replica (from the first show at Gunma Sport Center)
* Japanese 7" singles' artwork replicas ("Home Tonight" / "Back In The Saddle" / "Last Child")
* Four postcards of photos from the "Rocks" era
All housed in a clear, plastic case
The raw and raucous "Rocks" is the fourth album by AEROSMITH, originally released on May 3, 1976. The LP — which featured such stand-out tracks like "Back In The Saddle", "Rats In The Cellar", "Sick As A Dog" and "Nobody's Fault" — peaked at No. 3 in the U.S., No. 14 in Canada and No. 46 in Sweden.
According to the Los Angeles Times, legendary rocker Alice Cooper will make a cameo in Johnny Depp's new vampire film. Alice plays himself in "Dark Shadows", which is set in 1972 — Depp's character, the recently revived vampire Barnabas Collins, hires the rock star to play a private ball at his seaside home in Maine. The Warner Bros. film also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green and Helena Bonham Carter and is scheduled to reach theaters in May 2012.
Cooper's previous acting credits include cameos in "Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddy's Dead" and John Carpenter's "Prince Of Darkness".
Cooper's previous acting credits include cameos in "Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddy's Dead" and John Carpenter's "Prince Of Darkness".
Two years ago, at Madison Square Garden for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concert, Lou Reed was saying goodbye to the members of Metallica after they all jammed out a rendition of his song "Sweet Jane" on stage. With the so-longs and the take cares, Mr. Reed tacked on: "Let's make a record together." It was no throw-away.
The result is "Lulu", a collaborative album that will be released by Warner Brothers on Nov. 1. Ben Sisario, who interviewed Mr. Reed, 69, and Metalllica's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich for this Arts & Leisure feature described the product of this odd alliance as "a set of wrenching, astonishingly profane songs inspired by two century-old German plays." Here, in edited excerpts from a conversation with Mr. Sisario, the Metallica bandmates and Mr. Reed talk about the odd pairing, the importance of "the rock muscle" and their very different approaches to live performances.
Q.
Did you ever think this was a crazy, oil-and-water combination, or did you feel that it was going to work?
A.
LOU REED: Never thought that. Always thought it was going to work.
I sent the guys examples of the idea: "here's this thing I want to do." I did a version of it for Bob Wilson at the Berliner Ensemble Theater. There's this idea I've had almost forever of something I wanted to do, but it required a certain ability I didn't have at the time for singing, and a certain kind of sophisticated rock muscle in back of it that wouldn't truncate it. So I sent it to Lars and James and said, "What do you think? Could we take a crack at this? Because in my head it works and I know we can do this." And they came right back saying, "Absolutely," and that was that. I never doubted for a second. No one would go to the trouble of failing.
LARS ULRICH: There was no question. This goes back two years to the awesome experience we had at Madison Square Garden. Lou turned around and in his goodbyes he said, "let's make a record together, let's do this again." There was no question; this has been lingering since that night.
Q.
That was the origin: "Let's do a record?"
A.
ULRICH: Yeah. We had to finish our Death Magnetic endeavor around the globe a couple times, but this goes back to those awesome three days we had in New York in '09 at Madison Square Garden.
"I'd rather be in a small club and watch a guy beat his guitar to death."
— Lou Reed
REED: We knew then. No missing it. Takes one to know one, that kind of rock. You need people who love rock. So studio musicians – that's gone – and 99 percent of the players these days don't really like rock. They like pop, but not rock. Not what I call rock. Not what they do.
Q.
You were looking for something, that rock muscle?
A.
REED: I was looking for them, and I found them at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of all places. Who would have thought?
Q.
But you were writing these songs for a theater production, a totally non-rock band kind of situation.
A.
REED: I had sent a couple of rock people over there [to Berlin] to try to move them along, but that wasn't going to happen. We were doing it with electronics, having electronics move them that way. There's no way over in Berlin they're going to have a drummer like him or a guitarist like him. That's not going to happen. They're going to have the generic God knows what. That's not going to happen. Not real rock 'n' roll people with real muscle. There they are. This is what I call a great thing. There are people who actually can do that. And everybody else – don't want to name names – I would say for 99.9 percent, it's not rock.
Q.
You're in the .1 percent guys, congratulations!
A.
JAMES HETFIELD: One-percenters, that's it.
ULRICH: I'll take that any day.
REED: You can hear it. It's the way their studio is set up for God's sake. Those are rock 'n' roll people who set the studio up, not an engineer like with everybody in their separate room and it's digital, separate, clean and all that. This was, including the vocals, all of us in a circle looking at each other. When you do a show – I can't stand being blinded by a stupid light show when I want to see the people. When did it turn into "you have to have a light show"? What happened? Where did I go wrong? I mean I started out with Warhol doing light shows, but that was different. It was movies and it was in the spirit of the music. Now it's pyrotechnics and clever lights and computerized… who cares?
"It adds a little extra danger."
— James Hetfield of Metallica
Q.
The last time I saw Metallica, you guys had some pyrotechnics and light.
A.
HETFIELD: Well, we care. We like it. It's another dimension. It adds a little extra danger.
REED: Well the thing is, you're playing places where you can't really see you. It's like a video broadcast.
HETFIELD: We're playing a venue that's big, that can be a little bigger.
REED: When you're playing a place like that, what are you going to do? There are four ants on stage, like, what's that? You can't see any sweat, can't see any muscle, can't see anything. So they put it on a video monitor, but what happens then? You might as well watch it on TV as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather be in a small club and watch a guy beat his guitar to death.
Q.
Do you have plans to play a live concert together?
A.
REED: Only for an audience of 11. I want a really tight experience.
HETFIELD: And that's including the band.
Dan Armonaitis of GoUpstate.com recently conducted an interview with GUNS N' ROSES guitarist D.J. Ashba. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
On GUNS N' ROSES' upcoming performance in Greenville, South Carolina on Halloween (October 31):
"My favorite holiday — I can't wait. I'm really excited about it. ... It's going to be so much fun.
"I know [GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose is] really into Halloween — he usually likes going off and trying to get to a Halloween party — so, yeah, it should be a lot of fun."
On GUNS N' ROSES' current tour:
"If I wasn't in the band, I would be the first one in line to buy a ticket. With GUNS, you come out and you never know what to expect. It's just a crazy, wild show, and I think that's part of (the appeal). And I think the other part is the music. It's music that a lot of us grew up on, so it brings back a lot of amazing feelings and memories. And I think when you come to a GUNS show, you know there's a danger element to this music, but it's very cool."
On GUNS N' ROSES' recent nomination for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame:
"They [the classic lineup of GUNS N' ROSES] brought so much to the world of music. I have nothing but respect, as a fan, for GUNS N' ROSES. They also set a standard for music videos, which I thought was really cool. Every video they put out was just epic, almost like mini-movies. They would dump millions of dollars into making these mind-blowing videos."
On Axl Rose:
"[He is] a musical genius [who] puts his heart and soul into his music.
"Axl is one of those people who would give you the shirt off his back. And he's also one of the funniest guys I know. I always tell him, 'It's a good thing this music thing worked out, but if it didn't you should've been a comedian.'
"The guy is hilarious. He just cracks me up. We're always sending each other the funniest jokes back and forth."
On GUNS N' ROSES' next album:
"I think everybody's main focus is on putting out the ultimate GUNS N' ROSES record."
On being a member of GUNS N' ROSES:
"Being in a band like this is awesome. You just kind of pinch yourself."
On GUNS N' ROSES' upcoming performance in Greenville, South Carolina on Halloween (October 31):
"My favorite holiday — I can't wait. I'm really excited about it. ... It's going to be so much fun.
"I know [GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose is] really into Halloween — he usually likes going off and trying to get to a Halloween party — so, yeah, it should be a lot of fun."
On GUNS N' ROSES' current tour:
"If I wasn't in the band, I would be the first one in line to buy a ticket. With GUNS, you come out and you never know what to expect. It's just a crazy, wild show, and I think that's part of (the appeal). And I think the other part is the music. It's music that a lot of us grew up on, so it brings back a lot of amazing feelings and memories. And I think when you come to a GUNS show, you know there's a danger element to this music, but it's very cool."
On GUNS N' ROSES' recent nomination for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame:
"They [the classic lineup of GUNS N' ROSES] brought so much to the world of music. I have nothing but respect, as a fan, for GUNS N' ROSES. They also set a standard for music videos, which I thought was really cool. Every video they put out was just epic, almost like mini-movies. They would dump millions of dollars into making these mind-blowing videos."
On Axl Rose:
"[He is] a musical genius [who] puts his heart and soul into his music.
"Axl is one of those people who would give you the shirt off his back. And he's also one of the funniest guys I know. I always tell him, 'It's a good thing this music thing worked out, but if it didn't you should've been a comedian.'
"The guy is hilarious. He just cracks me up. We're always sending each other the funniest jokes back and forth."
On GUNS N' ROSES' next album:
"I think everybody's main focus is on putting out the ultimate GUNS N' ROSES record."
On being a member of GUNS N' ROSES:
"Being in a band like this is awesome. You just kind of pinch yourself."
Legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) has announced that he and his band will play two private shows "in Los Angeles to stretch their legs with the new stuff" before they resume recording Slash's second solo album. More details will be made available soon.
Slash recently revealed that he has finished the first phase of recording for his new CD and announced three of the songtitles before an appearance on VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show". The three tunes he named are "Halo", "Standing In The Sun" and "Bad Rain", although he did not play any of them on the program. Slash's new disc, which will follow up last year's acclaimed solo debut, will tentatively arrive next April.
Slash and his band have been working on the new record at Barefoot Recording in Hollywood, California.
While Slash's self-titled debut featured a different guest vocalist on each track, as well as various other musicians, the new record is being laid down with his touring band.
The Pulse Of Radio asked the ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist how he knows when he's got the right "chemistry" in whatever band he's playing with. "I think the most important thing about chemistry is just connecting people together," he said. "You can have great musicians and not be able to get a spark very easily. It's really about people connecting and music being the conduit, and I think that's probably what it is about chemistry that makes it work for some people and not for others."
The lineup includes singer Myles Kennedy of ALTER BRIDGE, guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Todd Kerns and ex-THEORY OF A DEADMAN drummer Brent Fitz.
In a recent interview, Slash stated about the musicians in his band, "I was really fortunate. When I'd done the [first solo] record, I thought, 'I've gotta tour on this.' And I had to figure how I was gonna actually pull that off. And I set about auditioning musicians in L.A. and I just happened to meet Brent Fitz, who I'd never played before and who is not from Los Angeles; he was one of the guys I auditioned and he was great. And then he introduced me to Todd Kerns, who fit in perfectly. And it turned out to be a great band from the start — definitely worth going in and making a record with."
Regarding the musicial direction of his new material and how it compares to last year's self-titled effort, Slash said, "This one's definitely a very focused… Very hard. Some of it's very heavy. It's got sort of a more unified sound to it, especially with one vocal all throughout."
Slash's first solo effort featured guest appearances from Ian Astbury, Chris Cornell, Fergie, Dave Grohl, Kid Rock, Lemmy Kilmister, Adam Levine of MAROON 5, Duff McKagan, Ozzy Osbourne and others.
Slash recently revealed that he has finished the first phase of recording for his new CD and announced three of the songtitles before an appearance on VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show". The three tunes he named are "Halo", "Standing In The Sun" and "Bad Rain", although he did not play any of them on the program. Slash's new disc, which will follow up last year's acclaimed solo debut, will tentatively arrive next April.
Slash and his band have been working on the new record at Barefoot Recording in Hollywood, California.
While Slash's self-titled debut featured a different guest vocalist on each track, as well as various other musicians, the new record is being laid down with his touring band.
The Pulse Of Radio asked the ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist how he knows when he's got the right "chemistry" in whatever band he's playing with. "I think the most important thing about chemistry is just connecting people together," he said. "You can have great musicians and not be able to get a spark very easily. It's really about people connecting and music being the conduit, and I think that's probably what it is about chemistry that makes it work for some people and not for others."
The lineup includes singer Myles Kennedy of ALTER BRIDGE, guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Todd Kerns and ex-THEORY OF A DEADMAN drummer Brent Fitz.
In a recent interview, Slash stated about the musicians in his band, "I was really fortunate. When I'd done the [first solo] record, I thought, 'I've gotta tour on this.' And I had to figure how I was gonna actually pull that off. And I set about auditioning musicians in L.A. and I just happened to meet Brent Fitz, who I'd never played before and who is not from Los Angeles; he was one of the guys I auditioned and he was great. And then he introduced me to Todd Kerns, who fit in perfectly. And it turned out to be a great band from the start — definitely worth going in and making a record with."
Regarding the musicial direction of his new material and how it compares to last year's self-titled effort, Slash said, "This one's definitely a very focused… Very hard. Some of it's very heavy. It's got sort of a more unified sound to it, especially with one vocal all throughout."
Slash's first solo effort featured guest appearances from Ian Astbury, Chris Cornell, Fergie, Dave Grohl, Kid Rock, Lemmy Kilmister, Adam Levine of MAROON 5, Duff McKagan, Ozzy Osbourne and others.
QUEENSRŸCHE will perform its 1986 album, "Rage For Order", in its entirety for the first time this Halloween (October 31) at the Highline Ballroom in New York City. The band will also play other QUEENSRŸCHE hits and favorites that night.
"'Rage For Order' was only our second full studio album and it's hard to believe it's been 25 years," says lead singer Geoff Tate. "We plan to let the good times roll on Monday night and hope you come join us in the Big Apple for what we promise to be a memorable show."
Click here to get two-for-one tickets for this Halloween night special show (access code: SILENT31).
"Rage For Order" introduced a much more polished look and sound for QUEENSRŸCHE. The album featured keyboards as prominently as guitars, and the group adopted an image more closely associated with glam rock or glam metal than with heavy metal (of which glam metal was a subgenre). A video was filmed for the song "Gonna Get Close to You", originally recorded in 1984 by DALBELLO. A song titled "Rage For Order" was written and demoed for the album, but it was not included on the final release. The main riff from this song was worked into an instrumental piece played during some shows on the tour in support of this album and eventually morphed into the track "Anarchy-X" on the "Operation: Mindcrime" album.
"Rage For Order" was ranked #88 on Kerrang! magazine's "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time" in January 1989.
Although not credited, the album cover was designed by Garry Sharpe-Young. It had originally been proposed for a 12" picture disc, which never materialized, and was used by EMI Records for the album cover.
"'Rage For Order' was only our second full studio album and it's hard to believe it's been 25 years," says lead singer Geoff Tate. "We plan to let the good times roll on Monday night and hope you come join us in the Big Apple for what we promise to be a memorable show."
Click here to get two-for-one tickets for this Halloween night special show (access code: SILENT31).
"Rage For Order" introduced a much more polished look and sound for QUEENSRŸCHE. The album featured keyboards as prominently as guitars, and the group adopted an image more closely associated with glam rock or glam metal than with heavy metal (of which glam metal was a subgenre). A video was filmed for the song "Gonna Get Close to You", originally recorded in 1984 by DALBELLO. A song titled "Rage For Order" was written and demoed for the album, but it was not included on the final release. The main riff from this song was worked into an instrumental piece played during some shows on the tour in support of this album and eventually morphed into the track "Anarchy-X" on the "Operation: Mindcrime" album.
"Rage For Order" was ranked #88 on Kerrang! magazine's "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time" in January 1989.
Although not credited, the album cover was designed by Garry Sharpe-Young. It had originally been proposed for a 12" picture disc, which never materialized, and was used by EMI Records for the album cover.
Like his bandmates — vocalist Philip Anselmo, drummer Jimmy Bower, bassist Pat Bruders and guitarist Pepper Keenan, guitarist Kirk Windstein has never been one to mince words. Whether it's discussing the band's musical partnership, his working relationship with Keenan as a guitar team, or his overview of the state of the music industry, Windstein pulls no punches. Shooting straight with uncensored honesty is part of Down's credo: in their music, their band ethics and their interviews.
Windstein, also recognized for his work with Kingdom of Sorrow and Crowbar, is still taken aback — and humbled — by the impact Down's music has on their fans. "The style of music we play gets a bad rap as far as the image of what we do," he says. "The lyrics are dark subject matter, but the lyrics themselves are positive and about finding strength and getting through the tough times in life. It's amazing; I've gotten handwritten letters from people all over the world that say, 'Can you please sign this picture?' and they write a deep letter about how the music affects them in a positive way. It's a great feeling to be able to do that for somebody. I know what music did for me when I was growing up. I fell in love with KISS when I was 10 years old in 1975, and I can't say that they have deep lyrics or anything, but it really pulled me through my adolescence and into the teen years, which are really tough. Then I discovered Van Halen in the late '70s, and all heavy metal music, and I would literally run home from the school bus, put on music and practice guitar. So it's very important to a lot of people."
Why the longevity?
If it weren't for taking breaks, sometimes long sabbaticals and doing other things … we toured ourselves silly in the past at times. We now know how long of a tour we can do without wanting to kill one another and how long we can go until we need a break. It's difficult because we've got five very strong personalities, very talented guys that have all been successful in other bands, and it can get to be a bit much. I will say that we've mellowed with age. It's helped a lot, not only as in partying and stuff like that, but our whole attitude. We realize that we're blessed to be able to do what we're doing, which is make a living playing the music we create, and we have a great diehard fan base and we're grateful for that. As we get older, we realize how fortunate we really are to still be doing this and at some level of success. We all appreciate the band, and ourselves in general, more than we did ten years ago.
This band has outlasted most marriages.
You're right. It's absolutely a relationship. Everyone's got a different personality, everyone's got different quirks and different moody things, and you really have to learn to put up with each other and cut someone a little slack when they're having a bad day. We've talked about it quite a bit. Like in any band, there are ups and downs, you get burned out on each other. Sometimes we tour for months and months with very little time off, and we'd joke but we'd be serious — we'd literally get to the airport and be like, "Yeah, I'll call you," and we'd get home and not talk to each other for a month because you need to get back to your life and your own thing and just break from one another. When the creative juices start flowing, you get ready to jam again. We all consider ourselves brothers and great friends, but we've tried to remedy what happened in the past, which was being burned out from over-touring. Now we pick and choose the touring, and the way we want to do our music, and it seems to be working out great.
What do your other projects bring to Down when you come back to this band?
Nothing, and that's the beauty of it. Crowbar — I've been doing that for over twenty years. That's my baby. I'm the lyricist, the chief songwriter, the singer, all of that. Kingdom of Sorrow is a partnership between me and Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed, and I just got off of a tour with that project this summer. I like all styles of music, so I'm thinking about starting a fourth band for my own pleasure that would be different in style from the other three. I don't think I bring anything to Down from Crowbar and Kingdom. Down is a completely different beast. It really doesn't have anything in common with the other two and that's the way I like it. You can get burned out on one. Look at Phil — he's got so many things going on: his independent label, his solo record that's coming out, his punk band, he's done black metal. He just loves music, and when you're an artist and a musician, and you really do create and your life is creating music, it's healthy to branch out and do things that are completely different. Down is my main band, it's my breadwinner, always has been and always will be, but I enjoy doing other things when we're taking breaks.
Twenty years ago, you could get a musical education from the radio. Today, a guitarist can tune in to a satellite station and listen to only one type of music, or even one artist. Do they paint themselves into corners this way?
I think you are 100 percent correct. I agree; I do think that's what they're doing. Not everyone, of course, but I feel very fortunate that I can listen to classic rock radio when I'm at home. I'm a big fan of all music and I think that these younger bands kind of do one thing. I guess it's because I'm old and I enjoy old-school stuff. I thoroughly enjoy watching Megadeth and Godsmack; they've been around a long time and it's different, but for me, personally, I'm set in my ways. I look for new music and new bands and there's not much that lights a fire under me or gets me excited. I'll always love classic rock and New Wave of British Heavy Metal music from the '80s.
How has your relationship with Pepper grown and how do you continue challenging each other?
He's a lot better on things like slide guitar, playing the dobro, the acoustic guitar fingerpicking, even the downpicking. He's got the James Hetfield right hand, which I would kill to have. I can't do the 200-mile-an-hour downpicking thing. It's kind of weird, because it's like he has a great right hand and I have a great left hand, so we work together with that. We always talk about that and joke about it. Even in the studio, there'll be a part that's really fast downpicking and I'll just hand him the guitar and say, "Here, you do it." Then we have something that's more complicated with the left-hand thing, like a really busy riff, and he's like, "Here, Kirk, you take this part." We use it to our advantages. It's not egos. It's the smart way to do it. We want the best that we can have. We use each other's best assets to our advantage when we play together, writing and in the studio. I'm always the harmony guy. I love Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, the Allman Brothers, and I'm constantly hearing harmonies, so when he comes up with the riff, I come up with the harmony right away and then we'll take off from there. It works well.
Onstage, as well, it's almost like we're polar opposites, because Pepper's more of a showman than I am. It's kind of like that's part of his job, and with me, it's more like I have to keep the foundation solid. Phil uses an in-ear monitor. He cues off of me a lot, so of course I can jam and move around as good as my 46-year-old fat ass can move! But with Pepper, it's easy. He's a lot more of a visual performer, where my role is to hold it down. Although we do split solos 50/50, in my opinion I'm kind of like the Malcolm Young of the band, where Angus is the lead player and Malcolm is the backbone of the rhythm section. That's another way we're different — I concentrate a little more on playing as precisely as I can and he's able to be more visual as well as playing really well. Once again, another example of how we work together.
Over the course of twenty years, have you ever come close to calling it a day, especially with the current state of the industry?
When I'm at home, I see my daughter on weekends, I love doing yard work, my fiancée works for a friend's freight company and goes in to work really early, so I get up between 5:30 and 6 in the morning and I'm in bed by 9 at night. I don't go out to clubs or bars or anything like that. I do that when I'm on tour. When I'm at home I like being a regular guy, and there are times when I'm like, How long is it going to be able to last with the state of the music industry? Am I going to have to throw in the towel and take a forklift-driving class or some sh-t? But I don't give up. I don't get discouraged. I don't think I've ever come close to saying, "F--k it," but the thought does cross my mind at times. Honestly, a lot of times new bands ask my advice and I'm like, "Quit!" New bands starting out: Quit! People don't realize that things are worse than ever in the industry, with record sales and the whole thing being at an all-time low. Honestly, if I were a young musician, I would probably make music for fun, play on the weekends with friends, but I don't think I'd try to pursue it as a career if I weren't already twenty years into it. If I were 18 years old and had a new band, I think I'd play music for the love of playing music but not for making a living.
Have you always played in two-guitar bands?
Yes. I think that has to do with the fact that all the bands I like, with the exception of maybe Van Halen and Pantera and a handful of other ones, like Black Sabbath, were two and even three guitars, like Lynyrd Skynyrd. When you have someone as amazing as Eddie Van Halen, or as Dimebag Darrell was, you don't necessarily need a second guy, but I'm nowhere near the level of those guys. To me, it's always sounded heavier, and I hate sounding like a broken record, but going back to my love of harmonies and all the bands I grew up with, 90 percent of them had two guitars. When I started my first band when I was a kid, with a friend of mine and his younger brother, he played bass, his younger brother played guitar and I played guitar, and we taught each other how to play. It's been two guitars always.
You're working on an EP series. What is that about?
We looked at one another and said, "Do we really want to do another long stint in the studio, doing 14 or 15 songs, for nobody to buy it?" We feel that it gives us an opportunity. Each individual one will be centered around one part of Down's sound. Our first one is our heavy stuff. There'll be maybe an acoustic one because we like having a lot of elements in our sound. We don't want to be cornered into being a heavy metal band. We want to be able to do what we want to do. We play rock and roll with a little bit of metal in it, and with the state of the industry, we feel that it's a good idea to do four EPs. We can get the product out there quicker and it's cheaper for the consumers to buy it. Even if you want to download the whole thing, it'll be five bucks instead of ten if you go to iTunes. Pepper usually does the artwork for the records and T-shirts, and he's working on a concept where the artwork for all four EPs will tie in with one another as one big piece of work. The same with merchandising. So we think it's a fresh, different approach to what's going on. We're honestly just trying to survive in today's industry. We think we have a good chance, a better chance, of that happening this way.
You're doing everything yourselves.
Oh yeah. It's totally old school. I think we'll do the drums at a real studio in New Orleans, but everything else will be done at Phil's in the swamp. He's got 16 or 17 acres of land about an hour and 15 minutes north of New Orleans. It's ideal because it's out in the middle of nowhere, so I'm kind of at peace and there's no outside distractions. We get out there to work and record and it seems it's always very productive because we're literally in his barn that he turned into a studio, we're writing and we don't keep track of time. You're in that world and it's a great environment to create. It's our version of when Zeppelin would take the mobile to a castle in the English countryside in Wales or someplace and just do it. That's our version of that, basically.
What is your definition of tone? Guitarists always chase it. Is it overrated?
No. I think tone is extremely important. For Crowbar, we're one of the pioneer bands; we started tuning to B and drop A in 1988 and only a handful of bands in the world were doing that. So we were a pioneer band of that. So many people freak out on tone, and with Crowbar it's the simplest, stupidest rig ever. I use these old Randall RG100ES heads that Dimebag turned me on to in the '80s when Phil joined Pantera. I have six or seven of them, they're old, and it's the stupidest rig ever, but everyone's always complimenting the tone. With Down, we both use Orange Thunderverb 50s. We each run two stacks, two heads, four cabinets. I split mine with a Boss Stereo Chorus for my solos. It's kind of a fake Robin Trower tone, I call it, with the Uni-Vibe type of feel split in stereo. We want a clean tone with a punch and we want it to be retro, but we don't just stack up a bunch of Orange amps and a bunch of fuzzboxes and turn them on 10 or anything. We try to go for a long, clean but punchy rock and roll tone. When I'm playing with Down, I want to hear Scott Gorham from Thin Lizzy's tone come out of my amp. I want to hear old-school tones.
According to Pepper, and I quote, tone is "F--king stupidly overrated! It's in your f--king hands!"
I agree. He goes for more of a percussive/concussive because he's a hard picker and downpicker and uses the heavier strings and heavier picks. He goes for a cleaner tone. My whole thing is left hand vibrato. It's a different approach. I go more for a Billy Gibbons or Tony Iommi or somebody with more vibrato in the left hand. But he is correct: Tone is 100 percent from your hands. I can pick up an acoustic guitar and you can tell it's me playing, or I can tell when Bobby Landgraf, who's teching for Pepper right now — Bobby's a great player who plays with a killer band out of Austin called Honky — I can tell when it's Bobby and I can tell the second he hands the guitar over to Pepper. It's easy to tell who's who. Phil would say, when he was in Pantera, he'd have an idea and he'd play Dime's rig and it would sound like sh-t, but the second he'd hand the guitar back to Dime, it sounded like magic. It's definitely in your hands.
What have you listened to recently?
The only brand new band that I'm really getting as far old school but bringing something new and fresh to the table is a band from Sweden called Ghost. It's great songs, great melodies, to me they sound like Blue Oyster Cult, like a band from 1976. I really like them a lot. We tune to C-sharp with Down, and me and Pepper were messing around at soundcheck with a song called "Medusa" by Trapeze, an old band Glenn Hughes used to be in. He was like, "Why don't we string up one of the extra guitars to E so that we can start picking out some of this old-school stuff that we love listening to?" I'm like, "Perfect idea," so I called my tech to string one, a backup, we brought some practice amps, some old Fender amps, and we're going to go back and learn from the masters.
Select one Down song that you feel best represents your guitar sound.
I'm going to go out on a limb and pick "Ghosts Along the Mississippi." It's one of these songs that's got four, five, six parts to it, but it all seems to gel. It's got a bit of upbeat to it, but it's got the bluesy stuff to it. Phil's vocals are great. I think if you want to hear what Down sounds like, my reason for picking it is because of all the different elements that are within that five-minute thing. It's got some mellow stuff mixed in. The intro — that's Phil's riff. Me and Pepper worked on what I think would be considered a verse, the bridge was Pepper's idea and the break in the middle is mine. There's a couple of breaks, but it's a break that goes into a melodic descending riff that I showed him and it's a perfect example of "I've got a riff that'll go perfect with that." It came together really quickly. We play it in the set every night. It's really hard to pick one. We just did a song called "There's Something On My Side" at soundcheck that we haven't done in a long while and that one's kind of similar. Everybody wrote it together, it came out and flowed really easily, and it's once again got the heavy element and a little bit of everything Down is about all in one song.
What does your practice consist of?
I like to think I have a pretty doggone good ear for picking things out, since I'm self-taught, but I've never been the kind of guy — and God bless those who have the patience — I've never been the kind of guy that can sit there and run scales and have this long guitar regime thing. I like riffs. I pick out stuff that I like, older songs, and a lot of times I just put on a record, a KISS record or something like that, and if it's in the key of A, I play in A the whole time and pick up some A's and sing along the way. For me, it's more about taking the time to play the guitar every day, even if it's just for 20 minutes, just to have it in my hands. Every time you pick up the guitar, I like to think you learn something a little different and you're going to be a little better. It's not just about practicing eight hours a day for scales; not for me, anyway. It's about writing and just feeling comfortable with the instrument in my hands.
From the first time you picked up a guitar until now, what's changed and what has stayed the same? And when was the first time?
The first thing I picked up was probably an Epiphone acoustic that my parents bought me. My dad was always a big music fan and he said, "If you stick with it for a year and you show promise, I'll buy you an electric guitar." The first thing I learned was "Smoke On The Water" on the E string and I taught myself "Black Diamond" by KISS. I'm totally self-taught. Pepper and I both are. We don't have any theory at all, which sometimes can be a bad thing, but I like it because it makes us maybe break the rules because we don't know what the rules are. We just do what we think sounds good. I remember Eddie Van Halen a long time ago saying, "If it sounds good, it is good." Miles Davis was like, "Learn all the theory you can learn and then throw it out the window and forget about all of it." I never did learn it. A lot of things we do are against the rulebook, you could say, but that helps give it some original sound. I remember having that Epiphone, and lucky for me, back in the '70s, my dad's cousin used to distribute Gibson, Pearl, Moog and all those instruments, so he was able to get me a Les Paul with a paint job flaw in the back for cost, a black '78 Les Paul Custom, for a really good deal. That was my first electric. I still have that guitar. I had to have a Les Paul because of Ace Frehley!
Now I own a home, I have a family and I'm finally making time for myself to actually practice and write in the afternoon when the old lady's at work, and really go back to like when I was a kid, because there was nothing better or more innocent than not having to worry about anything. I started to play when I was 13 years old, and being able to run home and just plug in your guitar and learn — it was great. I miss that, so I really want to get back to making the time. I think it's a necessity, not just to rehearse my Down and Crowbar and Kingdom songs, but I want to go back and learn stuff that I've been wanting to learn for years and become a better player.
Read more of Kirk Windstein's interview here: http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-getting-down-pepper-keenan-and-kirk...
Special thanks to Rob Fenn (www.MusicThroughTheLens.com) for the images of Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein that accompany their individual interviews. Fenn is the project founder and photographer of On The Road ... Where Music Lives. Learn more about the upcoming documentary and book, which detail Fenn's remarkable travels throughout summer and fall 2011, photographing artists and music festivals and discovering local independent record stores, by visiting his website.
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson will embark on a short tour in February 2012 during which he will recount stories from his recently released book, "Rockers And Rollers: A Full-Throttle Memoir". Accompanying Brian on stage will be his two good friends from SKID ROW, Rachel Bolan (bass) and Scotti Hill (guitar). The lighting and multimedia presentations that will illustrate the stories will be designed by Cosmo Wilson, who worked with Brian on the recent record-breaking AC/DC world tour.
The dates are as follows:
Feb. 07 - Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
Feb. 08 - Atlanta. GA @ Center Stage Theatre
Feb. 10 - Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
Feb. 11 - Richmond, VA @ The National
Feb. 13 - Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
Feb. 15 - Millvale, PA @ Small's Funhouse
Feb. 16 - Covington, KY @ Small's Funhouse
Feb. 18 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at ONC
Feb. 21 - Madison, WI @ Overture Center
Feb. 22 - Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
Johnson recently came under fire from Christian leaders after he slammed religion as "a waste of time" in an interview with PopEater.com. Although he sang in a church choir when he was a young boy, Johnson said, "I don't believe in religion, let's put it that way. I believe all religions are bad. I think they're a waste of time. Jesus was a clever man. He wasn't the son of God. We all know that he was a very clever, wonderful man and he said, 'Church is in here, meaning you are your own church.'"
As for why he sang in the choir, Johnson said, "Was it religion? No, it was two shillings and sixpence a week!"
According to Christian Today, Pastor Drew Dixon of New Covenant Baptist Church in Albertville, Alabama, said, "Viewing Jesus this way is not an option. C.S. Lewis said you must view Jesus as liar, lunatic or Lord. There aren't any other options. You can't say Jesus was a clever man but not the Son of God because Jesus claimed to be the Son of God."
Allen Palmeri, associate editor of Baptist news journal Pathway, said, "(Jesus is) the author of Brian Johnson's musical talent. When one day he comes to the end of his showmanship on earth, he will have to face the fact that Jesus is the door to God the Father, who is there."
Johnson's views came up because he touches on them in "Rockers And Rollers: A Full-Throttle Memoir". The book is primarily about his love of cars, and Johnson told The Pulse Of Radio he has no desire to write a real autobiography. "I hate autobiographies," he said. "I think they're boring and rotten and I'm not interested. This was just short stories that would be funny and positive and wasn't a tell-all book. I don't like them either, 'cause it's usually just some bitter old git who wants to get his own back at everybody, you know (laughs)."
AC/DC has hinted that the band may hit the road in 2013 to celebrate their 40th anniversary, with Johnson saying that the group is scheduled to get together soon for a meeting to discuss the possibility of an anniversary tour and album.
The dates are as follows:
Feb. 07 - Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
Feb. 08 - Atlanta. GA @ Center Stage Theatre
Feb. 10 - Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
Feb. 11 - Richmond, VA @ The National
Feb. 13 - Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
Feb. 15 - Millvale, PA @ Small's Funhouse
Feb. 16 - Covington, KY @ Small's Funhouse
Feb. 18 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at ONC
Feb. 21 - Madison, WI @ Overture Center
Feb. 22 - Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
Johnson recently came under fire from Christian leaders after he slammed religion as "a waste of time" in an interview with PopEater.com. Although he sang in a church choir when he was a young boy, Johnson said, "I don't believe in religion, let's put it that way. I believe all religions are bad. I think they're a waste of time. Jesus was a clever man. He wasn't the son of God. We all know that he was a very clever, wonderful man and he said, 'Church is in here, meaning you are your own church.'"
As for why he sang in the choir, Johnson said, "Was it religion? No, it was two shillings and sixpence a week!"
According to Christian Today, Pastor Drew Dixon of New Covenant Baptist Church in Albertville, Alabama, said, "Viewing Jesus this way is not an option. C.S. Lewis said you must view Jesus as liar, lunatic or Lord. There aren't any other options. You can't say Jesus was a clever man but not the Son of God because Jesus claimed to be the Son of God."
Allen Palmeri, associate editor of Baptist news journal Pathway, said, "(Jesus is) the author of Brian Johnson's musical talent. When one day he comes to the end of his showmanship on earth, he will have to face the fact that Jesus is the door to God the Father, who is there."
Johnson's views came up because he touches on them in "Rockers And Rollers: A Full-Throttle Memoir". The book is primarily about his love of cars, and Johnson told The Pulse Of Radio he has no desire to write a real autobiography. "I hate autobiographies," he said. "I think they're boring and rotten and I'm not interested. This was just short stories that would be funny and positive and wasn't a tell-all book. I don't like them either, 'cause it's usually just some bitter old git who wants to get his own back at everybody, you know (laughs)."
AC/DC has hinted that the band may hit the road in 2013 to celebrate their 40th anniversary, with Johnson saying that the group is scheduled to get together soon for a meeting to discuss the possibility of an anniversary tour and album.
Everyone knows Deep Purple's 'Mark III' era with David Coverdale on vocals, Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals, Jon Lord on keys, Ian Paice on drums and Richie Blackmore on guitar. Burn is one of the undisputed classic albums of 70s rock, after all! But not enough attention is paid to the Mark IV era, when Blackmore left and Tommy Bolin stepped in on guitar. This line-up made only one album, 1975′s Come Taste The Band, before going their separate ways. Phoenix Rising is a DVD and CD which looks at this rarely-examined era, including Gettin' Tighter, an 80-minute documentary featuring in-depth interviews with Lord and Hughes, behind-the-scenes footage from a chaotic Indonesian tour, and even the band's appearance at the Sunbury music festival here in Melbourne. But the set's centrepiece is Rises Over Japan, a five-song set featuring "Burn," "Love Child," "Smoke On The Water," "You Keep On Moving" and "Highway Star." It's an incredible document of a little-seen era of the band.
The Phoenix Rising DVD is a really cool thing to have, especially the footage of the Mark IV line-up on stage in Japan.
Oh it is, Peter. That footage is warts and all. You can see in the interview that I'm kind of rattled a little bit. Jon Lord and I did separate interviews but when you look at the footage that was found by Drew Thompson of the Indonesian debacle and the very inebriated performance we did in Tokyo, and then you get Jon Lord into a room one day, and then you get Glenn Hughes – and we had no preconceived notions of what Jon would be talking about – but we were both talking about the same stuff, both pretty much with the same topic.
One thing I find really interesting about that era is that all of you guys were learning for the first time how to be rock stars. The really big concerts like California Jam didn't exist before then. No! And remember in that period, let's just say the golden era of rock and roll… mate, I'm not being an old fuddy duddy here, I'm talking about the big-time era, the grandiosity of private jets and private this and that, penthouse suites, groupies and all of that. In the era between 1968 and 1975, the Stones and the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and The Who, it was a grand, grand scale. You're talking to somebody that's lived through many deaths, many gunshots, many escapades, and I'm here to tell the bloody tale!
I'm glad you are! Now, Tommy Bolin – what was it like to work with him?
Here's the deal, Peter, with Tommy. When he got into the band, before he played a note with the band I said this to him, because he had the green and yellow and red hair. I said "I don't care if you get the gig or not, you're coming home with me." Because he looked so cool. And also, unbeknownst to me, I wanted to have a relationship in the band with somebody I could drink with and get high with. Tommy was that guy. We were both born in the same month of the same year, both Leos, both with the same kind of composure and nature. Two very working-class boys. We hit it off, and he lived at my home for three months when he joined the band. In fact the night he got the gig he just moved right on in! When we lost Tommy 18 months later it was really beyond sad for me. To bury a 25-year-old friend from this hopeless addiction…
I really appreciate how candid you've been about that time and how you got through it.
You know, I am one person, and I say this to you very frankly, who doesn't sugar-coat anything. I'm not an angry man, I'm not a man full of remorse. I've made my amends to the people who are still alive, but I'm a man that tells the truth because the truth has got to be told, whether it hurts me or not. I'm not one to be mean to people, but what you see on that DVD and what you read in my autobiography that's out now called Glenn Hughes: The Autobiography (Click here to order)
is the real deal. The real deal. And you can see on the DVD that at the finish I was getting a little bit rattled. I'm a man that's dodged so many bullets and had many near-death experiences as a result of my stupidity. I've been caught in a fire, fallen off roofs. I could have fallen on my own sword a few times in Deep Purple. One of us didn't get out to tell the tale. Actually, three of us didn't. Tommy Bolin died, my bodyguard in the Indonesian incident was murdered – I was in jail for 48 hours – and Richie Blackmore's technician was driving to my home in Hollywood from Malibu one night and was killed in a car crash. We were burying three people from the Deep Purple organisation within one year, which not many people really remember. So I need people to remember I was 24 and all of a sudden I'd lost three of my best friends, all from the same organisation.
is the real deal. The real deal. And you can see on the DVD that at the finish I was getting a little bit rattled. I'm a man that's dodged so many bullets and had many near-death experiences as a result of my stupidity. I've been caught in a fire, fallen off roofs. I could have fallen on my own sword a few times in Deep Purple. One of us didn't get out to tell the tale. Actually, three of us didn't. Tommy Bolin died, my bodyguard in the Indonesian incident was murdered – I was in jail for 48 hours – and Richie Blackmore's technician was driving to my home in Hollywood from Malibu one night and was killed in a car crash. We were burying three people from the Deep Purple organisation within one year, which not many people really remember. So I need people to remember I was 24 and all of a sudden I'd lost three of my best friends, all from the same organisation.I just find it really inspiring that you can be so up-front and positive about these things. Whenever you're on Twitter you seem to spread these positive vibes.
It's a powerful medium. You live so many miles from me and you're reading my Twitter stuff. I never really think how many thousands of people read my tweets, and they do. Like last night I was doing a national TV show and I wasn't thinking "How many millions of people are watching this?" I just write without a preconceived notion of "I'm going to try and be rather cool now." It's just the way I'm feeling! I think you can tell by my messages that I'm pretty stable and tuned in and locked onto a spiritual path. Let's just say I was over-served at the bar a lot so I don't do that any longer.
Back to Deep Purple – the DVD includes some footage from the Sunbury festival. What do you remember about that show?
The first time we ever went there was crazy. Sunbury was the festival, AC/DC were opening, it was raining and it was February or March of 1975. We flew out from our homes in Beverley Hills for an enormous amount of money to do one show for you guys in Australia and it was bloody raining cats and dogs! And remember the Woodstock moment when they were all sliding down in the mud? It was like that! The artists were actually having a lot of fun because you Aussies know how to drink, let's be clear! We flew in, did the show, there was a lot of rain and we flew out again. It was my first experience of Australia and it was a big moment.
And speaking of live DVDs, there's a Black Country Communion one on the way.
We set about on our tour in May or June this year in America and did ten shows, then we went to Europe and did 26 shows. We knew going into the European tour that we were going to film three concerts in Germany: Hamberg, Munich and Berlin. Three different sets, one being a very large club and the next two being outdoor. Three different kinds of venues. We wanted to show the different hues and colours of the way we play our stuff. What it is is, there's no smoke and mirrors. There's no Wizard of Oz, there's no fake singing, there are no overdubs. It's all real, raw, organic, just like the way Machine Head was done in 1972 and the way Frampton Comes Alive was done. I'm talking about big, big live albums. I'm hoping you get to see this because when you see it, Peter, I want you to remember these words. It's raw, real, I don't think there are any mistakes on there but what I'm trying to tell you is it's not glossed with any lip synching and tomfoolery and autotuning. It's very, very raw and I hope the fan and the critic will get the pleasure of that.
That band is an unstoppable juggernaut! It's really reminded people of what it sounds like when a band actually plays.
It is a juggernaut and I've kinda got my hands on the wheel of that bloody thing because I'm the main songwriter. It keeps me very, very busy. Everybody's doing their bits and drabs. I'm doing my solo show next year, Joe's already doing his, Jason's got the Led Zeppelin experience. Black Country Communion is a band that will move forward when the next round of shows comes along.
I wanted to ask when you would get back to your solo stuff. I have F.U.N.K. and Soul Mover and they're great albums.
Yeah man! I'm going to give you an exclusive. People are going to read this and go 'Wow!' I'm thinking about doing a solo thing. I haven't really gone public and said it but you asked me the question and I told you I would tell you the truth. I'm really thinking about making a Glenn album early next year. It's been four years since I entered the studio for F.U.N.K, but my hat now has been very much thrown into the rock ring. What I will do, Peter, on the next Glenn album, is portray the image of the Glenn Hughes on the Black Country Communion albums. Because it's the same Glenn that was in Deep Purple, really. The classic rock iconic Glenn that, let's be clear, the majority of the fans want. The F.U.N.K. album was very well recorded and I love the songs, but that's for a cultured audience and a different kind of audience. It's more of a cult audience, if you will. But my audience now with BCC and a lot of my fans are rockers, man, so it's time to rock. So the next album, Peter, will be a rock record.
Cool! I find it really interesting that every guitar player I know thinks they can sing, but of the few bass players who can sing, they can really sing.
There are half a dozen of us. There's Paul and there's Sting and there's Geddy Lee and Jack Bruce, there's me and a couple of others I'm sure, that are lead-singing bass players. There's a handful of us and it's great to be in that club. I was a guitar player first but I'm glad I made the switch to bass because I love groove bass playing and it enables me to play the way I sing.
One last question: what basses are you using?
I'm using Bill Nash. You should know Bill Nash if you're a guitar freak. Bill Nash is the relic king. Do you know about Bill Nash?
Of course! His Telecasters are incredible.
The first time I played a Bill Nash was in Melbourne in 2007. I met Bill back in the 90s and now I'm actually playing his basses. I've got four of them. I've got two '57 Ps and two '63 Jazz. They are insane!
According to Reuters, shock rocker Marilyn Manson has been voted the world's creepiest celebrity in a survey conducted by E-Poll Market Research ahead of the U.S. Halloween holiday on October 31.
E-Poll surveyed 1,100 people who ranked celebrities between 1-100, with the lowest scores highlighting celebrities that were more negatively portrayed and disliked. The "Creepiest Celebrities" list is derived from the survey as voters selected "creepy" from 46 attribute options for each celebrity.
Following is a list of the top 10 "Creepy" celebrities in order and their percentage of creepiness.
01. Marilyn Manson (69%)
02. Casey Anthony (57%)
03. O.J. Simpson (56%)
04. Spencer Pratt (49%)
05. Nadya Suleman (41%)
06. Charlie Sheen (34%)
06. Eliot Spitzer (34%)
08. Woody Allen (31%)
08. Tim Burton (31%)
10. Jesse James (30%)
E-Poll surveyed 1,100 people who ranked celebrities between 1-100, with the lowest scores highlighting celebrities that were more negatively portrayed and disliked. The "Creepiest Celebrities" list is derived from the survey as voters selected "creepy" from 46 attribute options for each celebrity.
Following is a list of the top 10 "Creepy" celebrities in order and their percentage of creepiness.
01. Marilyn Manson (69%)
02. Casey Anthony (57%)
03. O.J. Simpson (56%)
04. Spencer Pratt (49%)
05. Nadya Suleman (41%)
06. Charlie Sheen (34%)
06. Eliot Spitzer (34%)
08. Woody Allen (31%)
08. Tim Burton (31%)
10. Jesse James (30%)
Reunited U.K. rockers WOLFSBANE — featuring former IRON MAIDEN frontman Blaze Bayley — have set "Wolfsbane Save The World" as the title of their new album. The CD will be available from Wolfsbanehms.com as well as via the merchandise stand on the band's upcoming tour.
"Wolfsbane Save The World" track listing:
01. Blue Sky
02. Teacher
03. Buy My Pain
04. Starlight
05. Smoke And Red Light
06. Illusion Of Love
07. Live Before I Die
08. Who Are You Now
09. Everybody's Looking For Something Baby
10. Child Of The Sun
11. Did It For The Money
WOLFSBANE guitarist Jase Edwards previously stated about the band's new album title, "It's a suitably modest title... self-effacing, not too ambitious!!!! But the world does need saving and we are gonna start doing it with the help of our fantastic Howling Mad Shitheads. So spread the word and let's get this record out there to the people who NEED to hear it! They dont know they need to hear it, but they do!! So we can infect and affect the unknowing masses with our Howlingmad optimism and who gives a fuckery!!"
The "Wolfsbane Save The World" cover artwork can be seen below.
WOLFSBANE — which features Bayley, Jase Edwards, bassist Jeff Hateley and drummer Steve Danger — released its first record in 17 years in April. Entitled "Did It For The Money", it contained the brand new title track along with re-recordings of four old WOLFSBANE numbers.
Commenting on the reunion, Blaze said, "Although we have done other things over the years, we always had WOLFSBANE in our hearts and following our tour with THE QUIREBOYS last year, we had so much fun and have had so much interest that we decided to get back in the studio."
Formed in 1984 in Tamworth, England, WOLFSBANE signed to Def American Records, and Rick Rubin produced the band's first album, "Live Fast, Die Fast", released in 1989. WOLFSBANE's second release, an EP titled "All Hell's Breaking Loose Down", followed in 1990. The band's second studio album, "Down Fall the Good Guys", was released in 1991, giving WOLFSBANE its only U.K. chart entry, with the single "Ezy" landing at No. 68.
After Def American dropped WOLFSBANE, the band released a live album, "Massive Noise Injection", through the Bronze label in 1993. The group's third studio album, the self-titled "Wolfsbane", followed in 1994.
On September 9, 2007, WOLFSBANE reformed for a one-off short set at the Rock of Ages festival in Tamworth. This was followed by their first U.K. tour in 13 years, with the band playing five dates as support for the THE WILDHEARTS in December 2007. Their next tour came in December 2009 supporting THE QUIREBOYS on the aforementioned "A Little Bit of What You Fancy 20th Anniversary Tour".
"Wolfsbane Save The World" track listing:
01. Blue Sky
02. Teacher
03. Buy My Pain
04. Starlight
05. Smoke And Red Light
06. Illusion Of Love
07. Live Before I Die
08. Who Are You Now
09. Everybody's Looking For Something Baby
10. Child Of The Sun
11. Did It For The Money
WOLFSBANE guitarist Jase Edwards previously stated about the band's new album title, "It's a suitably modest title... self-effacing, not too ambitious!!!! But the world does need saving and we are gonna start doing it with the help of our fantastic Howling Mad Shitheads. So spread the word and let's get this record out there to the people who NEED to hear it! They dont know they need to hear it, but they do!! So we can infect and affect the unknowing masses with our Howlingmad optimism and who gives a fuckery!!"
The "Wolfsbane Save The World" cover artwork can be seen below.
WOLFSBANE — which features Bayley, Jase Edwards, bassist Jeff Hateley and drummer Steve Danger — released its first record in 17 years in April. Entitled "Did It For The Money", it contained the brand new title track along with re-recordings of four old WOLFSBANE numbers.
Commenting on the reunion, Blaze said, "Although we have done other things over the years, we always had WOLFSBANE in our hearts and following our tour with THE QUIREBOYS last year, we had so much fun and have had so much interest that we decided to get back in the studio."
Formed in 1984 in Tamworth, England, WOLFSBANE signed to Def American Records, and Rick Rubin produced the band's first album, "Live Fast, Die Fast", released in 1989. WOLFSBANE's second release, an EP titled "All Hell's Breaking Loose Down", followed in 1990. The band's second studio album, "Down Fall the Good Guys", was released in 1991, giving WOLFSBANE its only U.K. chart entry, with the single "Ezy" landing at No. 68.
After Def American dropped WOLFSBANE, the band released a live album, "Massive Noise Injection", through the Bronze label in 1993. The group's third studio album, the self-titled "Wolfsbane", followed in 1994.
On September 9, 2007, WOLFSBANE reformed for a one-off short set at the Rock of Ages festival in Tamworth. This was followed by their first U.K. tour in 13 years, with the band playing five dates as support for the THE WILDHEARTS in December 2007. Their next tour came in December 2009 supporting THE QUIREBOYS on the aforementioned "A Little Bit of What You Fancy 20th Anniversary Tour".
Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger of Canadian metal innovators VOIVOD. An excerpt from the chat follows below.
Radio Metal: Not too long ago, a year or two, you said that you weren't sure you were going to continue under the name VOIVOD without [late VOIVOD guitarist] Piggy [Denis D'Amour]. Where are you at with that now? Will the next album come out as a VOIVOD album?
Snake: Yes, we're working on an album and we're going to keep the name VOIVOD. We asked ourselves that question when we were starting over, and there were a lot of « "ifs" and "maybes." But ever since we reformed with this lineup, we really enjoy doing what we do. I think Piggy would've wanted us to keep on going, so that's what we're doing. We don't know how to do anything else than what we're doing, so we might as well keep on going! (laughs) With the album we're working on right now, there [is] new stuff [already written]. Lately, what we have been releasing is songs with Piggy on them. This is going to be the first one without Piggy. Dan [new guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain] and [bassist] Blacky [Jean-Yves Thériault] write most of the structures, and it's going to be really cool. It's VOIVOD and it's new. A lot of Piggy's touches are still here; I don't really know where they're coming from, but there are bits where you can recognize him. They're little winks. Piggy's there in our approach and everything. It feels strong, it feels like a renewal of VOIVOD. I can't wait to start recording. Actually, we are supposed to start recording in January. Right now I'm working on the lyrics, doing some pre-production to get ready for January.
Radio Metal: You're saying that Piggy is still there, in the writing of the songs, even if he's not writing them himself. Don't you think that to finish mourning and to move on, you should turn the page and stop thinking about him when you're writing songs?
Snake: I think the page is being turned. Mourning takes time, and as you said, we talked about Piggy a lot with the other albums because he was still part of them, he was actually on the albums so we had to talk about it. Now it's different. Anyway, Daniel has his own view of things, his own style, and I think that'll bring something new in the band. When I'm talking about winks, I'm thinking about some sounds, some effects, a little bit in the approach, there are still some of Piggy's dissonant chords, but these are entirely different songs, with a different guitarist, it comes from another mind so it'll be something else. When it comes to the style itself, VOIVOD fans will recognize it; they'll notice it's not a completely different band.
Radio Metal: Don't you think Daniel could feel like he's stuck in Piggy's shadow? Maybe in general or from comments from fans?
Snake: I haven't seen anything like that. I was expecting it, because there are always whiners or people who are going to criticize. But what can you do about it? Piggy is gone, we can't change that. Then if someone were to criticize Dan Mongrain's work… He would really need some guts, because I don't know anyone who could do it and do it right. We didn't have a single negative comment. Most of the time it's, "My God! I wasn't expecting that, how well Dan can reproduce the songs!" Everyone's just blown away. I think people are with us in this weirdish adventure called VOIVOD. We've had some ups and downs. It was a tragedy, really, but people support us and understand our situation, they understand that we're doing everything we can to go on, so it's for the greater good.
Radio Metal: As you earlier, Piggy had a really unique style. It's true that his playing almost made the band's identity, and it's true that Dan manages to play the songs live right, but composing in VOIVOD's style is something else entirely. Do you think he pulled it off?
Snake: Yes, what he shows me sounds right. He manages to put everything into perspective. I don't know how to explain it. Over the years, we learned to know each other on tour. He knows exactly what musical direction we want to take for the next album, there's no doubt about that. I think the direction we're taking is the best. I'm sure that when the album will come out, there will be all kinds of criticism, and I hope most of them are going to be positive, but come will probably say that he's not Piggy. I'm expecting anything but as a band and as a composer, I think he's following the right path, he understands where to go and how to get there.
Radio Metal: It's true that VOIVOD has followed different musical directions. Should we expect a more complex style, kind of like you did on the old albums like "Killing Technology", or should we expect a more direct punk/rock approach like on the latest albums you did?
Snake: I'm thinking more about albums like "Dimension Hatross", "Killing Technology", "Nothingface". I think it'll sound more like those rather than the latest ones which were more straight-forward rock. We have some seven-minute songs with several musical parts, so there's a link towards a "Dimension Hatross" album, a "Killing Technology" album or a "Nothingface", so I think the fans of those albums will be positively surprised by the next one.
Radio Metal: Not too long ago, a year or two, you said that you weren't sure you were going to continue under the name VOIVOD without [late VOIVOD guitarist] Piggy [Denis D'Amour]. Where are you at with that now? Will the next album come out as a VOIVOD album?
Snake: Yes, we're working on an album and we're going to keep the name VOIVOD. We asked ourselves that question when we were starting over, and there were a lot of « "ifs" and "maybes." But ever since we reformed with this lineup, we really enjoy doing what we do. I think Piggy would've wanted us to keep on going, so that's what we're doing. We don't know how to do anything else than what we're doing, so we might as well keep on going! (laughs) With the album we're working on right now, there [is] new stuff [already written]. Lately, what we have been releasing is songs with Piggy on them. This is going to be the first one without Piggy. Dan [new guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain] and [bassist] Blacky [Jean-Yves Thériault] write most of the structures, and it's going to be really cool. It's VOIVOD and it's new. A lot of Piggy's touches are still here; I don't really know where they're coming from, but there are bits where you can recognize him. They're little winks. Piggy's there in our approach and everything. It feels strong, it feels like a renewal of VOIVOD. I can't wait to start recording. Actually, we are supposed to start recording in January. Right now I'm working on the lyrics, doing some pre-production to get ready for January.
Radio Metal: You're saying that Piggy is still there, in the writing of the songs, even if he's not writing them himself. Don't you think that to finish mourning and to move on, you should turn the page and stop thinking about him when you're writing songs?
Snake: I think the page is being turned. Mourning takes time, and as you said, we talked about Piggy a lot with the other albums because he was still part of them, he was actually on the albums so we had to talk about it. Now it's different. Anyway, Daniel has his own view of things, his own style, and I think that'll bring something new in the band. When I'm talking about winks, I'm thinking about some sounds, some effects, a little bit in the approach, there are still some of Piggy's dissonant chords, but these are entirely different songs, with a different guitarist, it comes from another mind so it'll be something else. When it comes to the style itself, VOIVOD fans will recognize it; they'll notice it's not a completely different band.
Radio Metal: Don't you think Daniel could feel like he's stuck in Piggy's shadow? Maybe in general or from comments from fans?
Snake: I haven't seen anything like that. I was expecting it, because there are always whiners or people who are going to criticize. But what can you do about it? Piggy is gone, we can't change that. Then if someone were to criticize Dan Mongrain's work… He would really need some guts, because I don't know anyone who could do it and do it right. We didn't have a single negative comment. Most of the time it's, "My God! I wasn't expecting that, how well Dan can reproduce the songs!" Everyone's just blown away. I think people are with us in this weirdish adventure called VOIVOD. We've had some ups and downs. It was a tragedy, really, but people support us and understand our situation, they understand that we're doing everything we can to go on, so it's for the greater good.
Radio Metal: As you earlier, Piggy had a really unique style. It's true that his playing almost made the band's identity, and it's true that Dan manages to play the songs live right, but composing in VOIVOD's style is something else entirely. Do you think he pulled it off?
Snake: Yes, what he shows me sounds right. He manages to put everything into perspective. I don't know how to explain it. Over the years, we learned to know each other on tour. He knows exactly what musical direction we want to take for the next album, there's no doubt about that. I think the direction we're taking is the best. I'm sure that when the album will come out, there will be all kinds of criticism, and I hope most of them are going to be positive, but come will probably say that he's not Piggy. I'm expecting anything but as a band and as a composer, I think he's following the right path, he understands where to go and how to get there.
Radio Metal: It's true that VOIVOD has followed different musical directions. Should we expect a more complex style, kind of like you did on the old albums like "Killing Technology", or should we expect a more direct punk/rock approach like on the latest albums you did?
Snake: I'm thinking more about albums like "Dimension Hatross", "Killing Technology", "Nothingface". I think it'll sound more like those rather than the latest ones which were more straight-forward rock. We have some seven-minute songs with several musical parts, so there's a link towards a "Dimension Hatross" album, a "Killing Technology" album or a "Nothingface", so I think the fans of those albums will be positively surprised by the next one.
Rock My Monkey TV conducted an interview with SANCTUARY/NEVERMORE singer Warrel Dane on October 2, 2011 at El Corazon in Seattle, Washington (where EVERGREY and BLACKGUARD were performing). You can now watch the chat below.
On his recent comments about former NEVERMORE drummer Van Williams ("I mean, I could give a shit about our drummer — we never got along anyway"):
Dane: "I was taken aback by things I had heard by certain friends, and I may have said some things that I might regret. But at the same time, we were never the best of friends. And is that a bad thing to say — that we were never the best of friends? No. Not really, in my opinion, anyway."
On former FORCED ENTRY guitarist Brad Hull's addition to SANCTUARY:
Dane: "Brad toured with SANCTUARY back in 1990 when our original guitar player, Sean Blosl, quit the band just before Jeff Loomis joined the band. So it was kind of a natural thing for us to go back to him. And he fits so well. He showed up at the shows wearing the stretched jeans and the white high-tops and he had the uniform on and he just rocked like crazy; it was great. We did one show in Seattle — a warm-up show that wasn't the best in our career — and then we went to Atlanta and we did ProgPower, and that was crazy. That was great. And then we did two shows in Greece, which were just astounding."
On SANCTUARY's future plans:
Dane: "We're gonna do a new record. We've got a lot of new songs written and we're working on a deal with Century Media; it's kind of an imminent thing. I've been with that label since 1995, so I know the people that work there, I trust them, and I have a very good working relationship with them, so it makes the most sense for me right now. And for the rest of the guys, too. So we'll see. Nothing's ever written in stone, but it looks like that's what's gonna happen."
On whether guitarists can still send audition videos to be considered for the vacant lead axeman position in NEVERMORE:
Dane: "Yeah, they can still send them, but it's really kind of challenging to wade through all the stuff. Some of these kids are amazing; some of them suck. It's just kind of overwhelming. To tell you the truth, I'd rather have Jeff [Loomis] back, but you never know what's gonna happen with that. He's been calling me. We still talk. But I don't know…"
Hull and Shannon Sharp, one of the moderators at Metalguitarist.org, were the top picks for the SANCTUARY second-guitarist position. Brad, having previously toured with SANCTUARY, was given the opportunity to play the dates in Atlanta (ProgPower USA XII festival) and Greece.
Hull has spent the last two years playing the role of "James Hetfield" in the METALLICA tribute band BLISTERED EARTH, which plays "classic songs ranging from 1983's 'Kill 'Em All' to 1991's self-titled 'Metallica'."
SANCTUARY's current touring lineup:
Warrel Dane - Vocals
Lenny Rutledge - Guitar
Brad Hull - Guitars
Jim Sheppard - Bass
Dave Budbill – Drums
In a recent interview, Dane stated about how SANCTUARY's reformation came about, "[SANCTUARY guitarist Lenny Rutledge and I] always talked to each other, but never really been friends again. And when the whole thing came about, that we were actually friends again, that's when we started talking more about doing it. And it definitely wasn't because NEVERMORE was imploding... which it was, at that point . . . We all just started talking with each other again. That was kind of the groundwork for it. And then we started saying, 'Well, gosh, let's make music again.' And my god! Lenny is writing some stuff that is so friggin great! Obviously, he's been bottling this up for years, because he really hasn't been doing anything... Well, he's had bands here and there. But he's really writing some great stuff that's really inspiring me, and making me fall in love with music again, with the creative process... everything that revolves around that. Really inspiring me to write really evil lyrics."
Regarding the sound of SANCTUARY's upcoming studio album, tentatively titled "The Year The Sun Died", Dane said, "This record is not going to sound like the other two. It might sound very similar to the second one ('Into The Mirror Black'). It's definitely not going to sound like the first one, because we're all a little bit older and I can't come up with a c-clamp for a scrotum and a helium tank . . . It's not going to sound like the old ones... it's 2011. It's still gonna be that good, I think, and there's gonna be high-pitched screaming. I'm making sure of that. With NEVERMORE, high-pitched screaming was never really called for. You know, with SANCTUARY... of course it is."
SANCTUARY played its first U.S. show in more than 20 years on January 21 at El Corazon in Seattle, Washington.
On his recent comments about former NEVERMORE drummer Van Williams ("I mean, I could give a shit about our drummer — we never got along anyway"):
Dane: "I was taken aback by things I had heard by certain friends, and I may have said some things that I might regret. But at the same time, we were never the best of friends. And is that a bad thing to say — that we were never the best of friends? No. Not really, in my opinion, anyway."
On former FORCED ENTRY guitarist Brad Hull's addition to SANCTUARY:
Dane: "Brad toured with SANCTUARY back in 1990 when our original guitar player, Sean Blosl, quit the band just before Jeff Loomis joined the band. So it was kind of a natural thing for us to go back to him. And he fits so well. He showed up at the shows wearing the stretched jeans and the white high-tops and he had the uniform on and he just rocked like crazy; it was great. We did one show in Seattle — a warm-up show that wasn't the best in our career — and then we went to Atlanta and we did ProgPower, and that was crazy. That was great. And then we did two shows in Greece, which were just astounding."
On SANCTUARY's future plans:
Dane: "We're gonna do a new record. We've got a lot of new songs written and we're working on a deal with Century Media; it's kind of an imminent thing. I've been with that label since 1995, so I know the people that work there, I trust them, and I have a very good working relationship with them, so it makes the most sense for me right now. And for the rest of the guys, too. So we'll see. Nothing's ever written in stone, but it looks like that's what's gonna happen."
On whether guitarists can still send audition videos to be considered for the vacant lead axeman position in NEVERMORE:
Dane: "Yeah, they can still send them, but it's really kind of challenging to wade through all the stuff. Some of these kids are amazing; some of them suck. It's just kind of overwhelming. To tell you the truth, I'd rather have Jeff [Loomis] back, but you never know what's gonna happen with that. He's been calling me. We still talk. But I don't know…"
Hull and Shannon Sharp, one of the moderators at Metalguitarist.org, were the top picks for the SANCTUARY second-guitarist position. Brad, having previously toured with SANCTUARY, was given the opportunity to play the dates in Atlanta (ProgPower USA XII festival) and Greece.
Hull has spent the last two years playing the role of "James Hetfield" in the METALLICA tribute band BLISTERED EARTH, which plays "classic songs ranging from 1983's 'Kill 'Em All' to 1991's self-titled 'Metallica'."
SANCTUARY's current touring lineup:
Warrel Dane - Vocals
Lenny Rutledge - Guitar
Brad Hull - Guitars
Jim Sheppard - Bass
Dave Budbill – Drums
In a recent interview, Dane stated about how SANCTUARY's reformation came about, "[SANCTUARY guitarist Lenny Rutledge and I] always talked to each other, but never really been friends again. And when the whole thing came about, that we were actually friends again, that's when we started talking more about doing it. And it definitely wasn't because NEVERMORE was imploding... which it was, at that point . . . We all just started talking with each other again. That was kind of the groundwork for it. And then we started saying, 'Well, gosh, let's make music again.' And my god! Lenny is writing some stuff that is so friggin great! Obviously, he's been bottling this up for years, because he really hasn't been doing anything... Well, he's had bands here and there. But he's really writing some great stuff that's really inspiring me, and making me fall in love with music again, with the creative process... everything that revolves around that. Really inspiring me to write really evil lyrics."
Regarding the sound of SANCTUARY's upcoming studio album, tentatively titled "The Year The Sun Died", Dane said, "This record is not going to sound like the other two. It might sound very similar to the second one ('Into The Mirror Black'). It's definitely not going to sound like the first one, because we're all a little bit older and I can't come up with a c-clamp for a scrotum and a helium tank . . . It's not going to sound like the old ones... it's 2011. It's still gonna be that good, I think, and there's gonna be high-pitched screaming. I'm making sure of that. With NEVERMORE, high-pitched screaming was never really called for. You know, with SANCTUARY... of course it is."
SANCTUARY played its first U.S. show in more than 20 years on January 21 at El Corazon in Seattle, Washington.
The "Metal Battle", which was started in 2004 by the founders of the world's biggest heavy metal festival — the Wacken Open Air in Wacken, Germany — as a contest to support up-and-coming bands from all over the world, will go into its ninth round in 2012 — with Nuclear Blast Records and ICS Festival Service GmbH, which organizes the Wacken Open Air festival, joining forces.
What initially started out as a small contest with six German bands and five bands from other countries grew and grew over the years — so much so that there was a total of 29 international bands performing during the festival in 2011 and striving to win the competition after having won the preliminary decisions in their respective countries. In the past, the first prize was a record deal with Wacken Records. For 2012, Nuclear Blast and ICS Festival Service have announced their participation, meaning that the winning band of "Metal Battle" 2012 will be given a record deal with Nuclear Blast — the biggest independent heavy metal label worldwide!
Commented Nuclear Blast A&R manager Andy Siry: "We're looking forward to this cooperation with the Wacken Open Air 'Metal Battle' and ICS. Supporting young talents means paving the way for a diverse and prosperous international heavy metal scene in the future. Plus it's always great to see how many musical rough diamonds are out there, who deserve much more attention than they currently receive."
What initially started out as a small contest with six German bands and five bands from other countries grew and grew over the years — so much so that there was a total of 29 international bands performing during the festival in 2011 and striving to win the competition after having won the preliminary decisions in their respective countries. In the past, the first prize was a record deal with Wacken Records. For 2012, Nuclear Blast and ICS Festival Service have announced their participation, meaning that the winning band of "Metal Battle" 2012 will be given a record deal with Nuclear Blast — the biggest independent heavy metal label worldwide!
Commented Nuclear Blast A&R manager Andy Siry: "We're looking forward to this cooperation with the Wacken Open Air 'Metal Battle' and ICS. Supporting young talents means paving the way for a diverse and prosperous international heavy metal scene in the future. Plus it's always great to see how many musical rough diamonds are out there, who deserve much more attention than they currently receive."
Legendary Dutch rock band VENGEANCE has inked a deal with Steamhammer/SPV. The group's new album, "Crystal Eye", will be made available in Europe on February 27. A North American release will follow in early March.
Commented VENGEANCE vocalist Leon Goewie: "We are proud that we have signed with SPV/Steamhammer. We finally found our home and together we have many ways to make the fans rock!" Olly Hahn, A&R representative at Steamhammer/SPV, added, "I was always a fan of the band and now they are part of the SPV family, which is fantastic. The new album rocks big time and will bring a huge smile on the face of every fan!"
In addition to Goewie, the recording lineup on "Crystal Eye" incudes Chris Slade (drums; ex-AC/DC), Keri Kelli (guitar; ex-ALICE COOPER), Chris Glen (bass; ex-MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP), and Timo Somers (guitar; son of VENGEANCE guitarist Jan Somers, who sadly died of a heart attack in January 2011).
"More than ever before, this is a band which consists of friends," states Goewie, whose excellent reputation as an exceptional vocalist made this impressive lineup possible. Goewie, Slade, Glen and Kelli also form the nucleus of the AC/DC cover band CHRIS SLADE'S STEEL CIRCLE, which rocks clubs around the globe whenever the musicians' schedules allow it.
"Crystal Eye" was produced by Michael Voss, who composed most of the songs in collaboration with Goewie. The title track was penned by former VENGEANCE guitarist Arjen Lucassen (AYREON, STAR ONE), while Tony Martin (ex-BLACK SABBATH) contributed "Whole Lotta Metal", which is said to be "tailor-made for Goewie and VENGEANCE." The album closes with the instrumental "Jan's End Piece", which features the last guitar solos recorded by Jan Somers before his tragic death.
"I've listened to the new tracks a couple of times now and consider this the most professional album I've ever done," says Goewie proudly, adding, "The fun and humor which are typical of VENGEANCE are all there on 'Crystal Eye', but in addition, the material is perceptibly more serious, which I feel really suits VENGEANCE mark 2012."
VENGEANCE will embark on a European tour in support of "Crystal Eye" in March/April 2012.
Commented VENGEANCE vocalist Leon Goewie: "We are proud that we have signed with SPV/Steamhammer. We finally found our home and together we have many ways to make the fans rock!" Olly Hahn, A&R representative at Steamhammer/SPV, added, "I was always a fan of the band and now they are part of the SPV family, which is fantastic. The new album rocks big time and will bring a huge smile on the face of every fan!"
In addition to Goewie, the recording lineup on "Crystal Eye" incudes Chris Slade (drums; ex-AC/DC), Keri Kelli (guitar; ex-ALICE COOPER), Chris Glen (bass; ex-MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP), and Timo Somers (guitar; son of VENGEANCE guitarist Jan Somers, who sadly died of a heart attack in January 2011).
"More than ever before, this is a band which consists of friends," states Goewie, whose excellent reputation as an exceptional vocalist made this impressive lineup possible. Goewie, Slade, Glen and Kelli also form the nucleus of the AC/DC cover band CHRIS SLADE'S STEEL CIRCLE, which rocks clubs around the globe whenever the musicians' schedules allow it.
"Crystal Eye" was produced by Michael Voss, who composed most of the songs in collaboration with Goewie. The title track was penned by former VENGEANCE guitarist Arjen Lucassen (AYREON, STAR ONE), while Tony Martin (ex-BLACK SABBATH) contributed "Whole Lotta Metal", which is said to be "tailor-made for Goewie and VENGEANCE." The album closes with the instrumental "Jan's End Piece", which features the last guitar solos recorded by Jan Somers before his tragic death.
"I've listened to the new tracks a couple of times now and consider this the most professional album I've ever done," says Goewie proudly, adding, "The fun and humor which are typical of VENGEANCE are all there on 'Crystal Eye', but in addition, the material is perceptibly more serious, which I feel really suits VENGEANCE mark 2012."
VENGEANCE will embark on a European tour in support of "Crystal Eye" in March/April 2012.
earMUSIC has announced the release of the first official product by former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen's new project HARUS. A brand new HARUS live album/DVD will be made available worldwide by earMUSIC in collaboration with Edel's classic music division Berlin Classics. This joint venture from two music labels apparently far away from each other would probably sound bizarre at first sight (a label operating in alternative and metal music with one representing traditional classical music artists). The reason lies beneath the many sides of Tarja Turunen's music.
It's widely known that Tarja's music background is in classical music. She later became one of the most important female voices of metal, first as part of multi-million seller NIGHTWISH and later with her successful solo career, carrying her own name.
After two gems of heavy rock, Tarja can finally go back to her "first love" for a while. The new live CD and DVD shows a side of Tarja's music personality that so far was only enjoyed by the lucky fans attending her classical music concerts.
The first output of HARUS features traditional and emotional music from Finland presented together with more international repertoire. If Tarja's vocal approach when it comes to rock music is "classical", what stands out in this new musical adventure is the modern approach to classical music.
Tarja Turunen and HARUS created a unique blend of organ, electric guitar, percussion and voice. Tarja has the talent to make it sound warm and soft, appealing for the purists as well as for the fans who follow her with a unique dedication.
Besides Tarja's metal superstar status, HARUS represents the start of a new journey, crossing genres and music cultures. HARUS is a rather peculiar, uncommon Finnish word that describes the four tensors that keep a tent together or the tensor that keeps the mast from falling in a sailing boat. Both of the meanings apply to the musicians involved in Tarja's new project: four members, four equals, four different backgrounds to tie together exquisite classical music developed strongly and in a very stable way, with a taste of experimental, modern feel.
Tarja has declared: "In 2006 we did our first concert together. We had such a joy and fun that we decided to keep on performing as a group. The name
came many years after when we believed it is time to make it official. What
is special in HARUS is that every concert represents a magic moment. We have the freedom to be inspired by our own emotions. We hope to be able to
offer you that spirit with this CD/DVD."
The international release date for the live CD is November 25. The audio/video bundles (CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray) will hit stores one week later (December 2).
HARUS is:
Tarja Turunen: Vocals
Kalevi Kiviniemi: Organ
Marzi Nyman: Guitar
Markku Krohn: Percussion
CD track listing:
* Arkihuolesi Kaikki Heitä
Music Leevi Madetoja, Lyrics Alpo Noponen
Arrangement Marzi Nyman
WCMF Serious Catalogue
* Ave Maria Op. 80
Music Luigi Luzzi, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Jarkko Kiiski (percussion), Kalevi Kiviniemi (organ)
* Ave Maria
Music Tarja Turunen, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Kalevi Kiviniemi, Marzi Nyman
Universal Music Publishing
* Maa On Niin Kaunis
Music Trad. Lyrics Bernhard Ingemann (Finnish Lyrics Hilja Haahti)
Arrangement Anders Öhrwall, Marzi Nyman (guitar)
* Varpunen Jouluaamuna
Music Otto Kotilainen, Lyrics Zacharias Topelius (Finnish Lyrics K.A. Hougberg)
Arrangement Marzi Nyman (guitar)
WCMF Serious Catalogue
* Heinillä Härkien
Music Trad. Lyrics Martti Korpilahti
Arrangement Olli Ahvenlahti, Kalevi Kiviniemi, Marzi Nyman
Copyright Control
* En Etsi Valtaa Loistoa
Music Jean Sibelius, Lyrics Zacharias Topelius
Arrangement Marzi Nyman (guitar)
Warner Chappel Music Finland
* Jouluyö, Juhlayö (Silent Night)
Music Franz Gruber, Lyrics Joseph Mohr (Finnish lyrics G.O Schönemann)
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
* Astral Bells
Markku Krohn, Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
* You Would Have Loved This
Cori Connors
Arrangement Marzi Nyman
Songcastle Music
* Walking In The Air
Howard Blake
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
EMI Music Publishing
* Improvisation: Variations Sur Un Noël
Kalevi Kiviniemi
CD-exclusive bonus track
Recorded at Melbourne Town Hall, Australia
DVD/Blu-ray track listing:
* Heinillä Härkien
Music Trad. Lyrics Martti Korpilahti
Arrangement Olli Ahvenlahti, Kalevi Kiviniemi, Marzi Nyman
Copyright Control
* Ave Maria Op. 80
Music Luigi Luzzi, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Jarkko Kiiski (percussion), Kalevi Kiviniemi (organ)
* Varpunen Jouluaamuna
Music Otto Kotilainen, Lyrics Zacharias Topelius (Finnish Lyrics K.A. Hougberg)
Arrangement Marzi Nyman (guitar)
WCMF Serious Catalogue
* Maa On Niin Kaunis
Music Trad. Lyrics Bernhard Ingemann (Finnish Lyrics Hilja Haahti)
Arrangement Anders Öhrwall, Marzi Nyman (guitar)
* Concert Etude
Franz Liszt
Arrangement Kalevi Kiviniemi
DVD /Blu-Ray Exclusive
* En Etsi Valtaa Loistoa
Music Jean Sibelius, Lyrics Zacharias Topelius
Arrangement Marzi Nyman (guitar)
Warner Chappel Music Finland
* Arkihuolesi Kaikki Heitä
Music Leevi Madetoja, Lyrics Alpo Noponen
Arrangement Marzi Nyman
WCMF Serious Catalogue
* Improvisation On Christmas Themes
Kalevi Kiviniemi
DVD /Blu-Ray Exclusive
* Ave Maria
Music Tarja Turunen, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Kalevi Kiviniemi, Marzi Nyman
Universal Music Publishing
* You Would Have Loved This
Cori Connors
Arrangement Marzi Nyman
Songcastle Music
* Astral Bells
Markku Krohn, Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
* Ave Maria
Music Giulio Caccini, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Jarkko Kiiski, Kalevi Kiviniemi
DVD /Blu-Ray EXCLUSIVE
* Walking In The Air
Howard Blake
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
EMI Music Publishing
* Jouluyö, Juhlayö (Silent Night)
Music Franz Gruber, Lyrics Joseph Mohr (Finnish lyrics G.O. Schönemann)
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
It's widely known that Tarja's music background is in classical music. She later became one of the most important female voices of metal, first as part of multi-million seller NIGHTWISH and later with her successful solo career, carrying her own name.
After two gems of heavy rock, Tarja can finally go back to her "first love" for a while. The new live CD and DVD shows a side of Tarja's music personality that so far was only enjoyed by the lucky fans attending her classical music concerts.
The first output of HARUS features traditional and emotional music from Finland presented together with more international repertoire. If Tarja's vocal approach when it comes to rock music is "classical", what stands out in this new musical adventure is the modern approach to classical music.
Tarja Turunen and HARUS created a unique blend of organ, electric guitar, percussion and voice. Tarja has the talent to make it sound warm and soft, appealing for the purists as well as for the fans who follow her with a unique dedication.
Besides Tarja's metal superstar status, HARUS represents the start of a new journey, crossing genres and music cultures. HARUS is a rather peculiar, uncommon Finnish word that describes the four tensors that keep a tent together or the tensor that keeps the mast from falling in a sailing boat. Both of the meanings apply to the musicians involved in Tarja's new project: four members, four equals, four different backgrounds to tie together exquisite classical music developed strongly and in a very stable way, with a taste of experimental, modern feel.
Tarja has declared: "In 2006 we did our first concert together. We had such a joy and fun that we decided to keep on performing as a group. The name
came many years after when we believed it is time to make it official. What
is special in HARUS is that every concert represents a magic moment. We have the freedom to be inspired by our own emotions. We hope to be able to
offer you that spirit with this CD/DVD."
The international release date for the live CD is November 25. The audio/video bundles (CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray) will hit stores one week later (December 2).
HARUS is:
Tarja Turunen: Vocals
Kalevi Kiviniemi: Organ
Marzi Nyman: Guitar
Markku Krohn: Percussion
CD track listing:
* Arkihuolesi Kaikki Heitä
Music Leevi Madetoja, Lyrics Alpo Noponen
Arrangement Marzi Nyman
WCMF Serious Catalogue
* Ave Maria Op. 80
Music Luigi Luzzi, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Jarkko Kiiski (percussion), Kalevi Kiviniemi (organ)
* Ave Maria
Music Tarja Turunen, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Kalevi Kiviniemi, Marzi Nyman
Universal Music Publishing
* Maa On Niin Kaunis
Music Trad. Lyrics Bernhard Ingemann (Finnish Lyrics Hilja Haahti)
Arrangement Anders Öhrwall, Marzi Nyman (guitar)
* Varpunen Jouluaamuna
Music Otto Kotilainen, Lyrics Zacharias Topelius (Finnish Lyrics K.A. Hougberg)
Arrangement Marzi Nyman (guitar)
WCMF Serious Catalogue
* Heinillä Härkien
Music Trad. Lyrics Martti Korpilahti
Arrangement Olli Ahvenlahti, Kalevi Kiviniemi, Marzi Nyman
Copyright Control
* En Etsi Valtaa Loistoa
Music Jean Sibelius, Lyrics Zacharias Topelius
Arrangement Marzi Nyman (guitar)
Warner Chappel Music Finland
* Jouluyö, Juhlayö (Silent Night)
Music Franz Gruber, Lyrics Joseph Mohr (Finnish lyrics G.O Schönemann)
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
* Astral Bells
Markku Krohn, Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
* You Would Have Loved This
Cori Connors
Arrangement Marzi Nyman
Songcastle Music
* Walking In The Air
Howard Blake
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
EMI Music Publishing
* Improvisation: Variations Sur Un Noël
Kalevi Kiviniemi
CD-exclusive bonus track
Recorded at Melbourne Town Hall, Australia
DVD/Blu-ray track listing:
* Heinillä Härkien
Music Trad. Lyrics Martti Korpilahti
Arrangement Olli Ahvenlahti, Kalevi Kiviniemi, Marzi Nyman
Copyright Control
* Ave Maria Op. 80
Music Luigi Luzzi, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Jarkko Kiiski (percussion), Kalevi Kiviniemi (organ)
* Varpunen Jouluaamuna
Music Otto Kotilainen, Lyrics Zacharias Topelius (Finnish Lyrics K.A. Hougberg)
Arrangement Marzi Nyman (guitar)
WCMF Serious Catalogue
* Maa On Niin Kaunis
Music Trad. Lyrics Bernhard Ingemann (Finnish Lyrics Hilja Haahti)
Arrangement Anders Öhrwall, Marzi Nyman (guitar)
* Concert Etude
Franz Liszt
Arrangement Kalevi Kiviniemi
DVD /Blu-Ray Exclusive
* En Etsi Valtaa Loistoa
Music Jean Sibelius, Lyrics Zacharias Topelius
Arrangement Marzi Nyman (guitar)
Warner Chappel Music Finland
* Arkihuolesi Kaikki Heitä
Music Leevi Madetoja, Lyrics Alpo Noponen
Arrangement Marzi Nyman
WCMF Serious Catalogue
* Improvisation On Christmas Themes
Kalevi Kiviniemi
DVD /Blu-Ray Exclusive
* Ave Maria
Music Tarja Turunen, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Kalevi Kiviniemi, Marzi Nyman
Universal Music Publishing
* You Would Have Loved This
Cori Connors
Arrangement Marzi Nyman
Songcastle Music
* Astral Bells
Markku Krohn, Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
* Ave Maria
Music Giulio Caccini, Lyrics Trad.
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Jarkko Kiiski, Kalevi Kiviniemi
DVD /Blu-Ray EXCLUSIVE
* Walking In The Air
Howard Blake
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
EMI Music Publishing
* Jouluyö, Juhlayö (Silent Night)
Music Franz Gruber, Lyrics Joseph Mohr (Finnish lyrics G.O. Schönemann)
Arrangement Marzi Nyman, Kalevi Kiviniemi
Poison, one of the most successful hair metal bands of the 1980s, is striking back in response to a new lawsuit that claims four hit songs were stolen a quarter century ago from another band. A lawyer for the group led by frontman-turned-reality-TV-celebrity Bret Michaels tells THR how the rock stars intend to defeat the copyright infringement claims. Put in lyrical form, it might go like this: Every rose has its thorn, just like every claim has its dawn, just as every sleeping plaintiff sings a sad, sad song.
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The insanely long-gestating lawsuit was filed last week in Illinois federal court by Billy McCarthy and James Stonich, who were members of a Chicago band known as Kid Rocker, formerly signed to Atlantic Records and a fixture on the Hollywood club scene. In court papers, McCarthy and Stonich describe auditioning future Poison guitarist C.C. DeVille in 1984, and showing him songs they allege would become the basis for later Poison hits.
Mark D. Passin, attorney for the members of the group Poison, says the claims have absolutely no merit.
"Poison will vigorously defend against the baseless accusations alleged in the complaint," he says. "Obviously, if the Poison songs that are the subject of the complaint infringed any songs written by Plaintiffs McCarthy and Stonich they would have filed their lawsuit over 20 years ago when Poison released the albums on which the songs are embodied. It is unfortunate that success in the entertainment business often invites unmeritorious lawsuits."
Song theft allegations are not unusual, but it's not every day that a band faces allegations over material created so long ago.
In making the claim, Daniel Voelker, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, pointed to Taylor v. Meirick, a 1983 decision at the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that suggested "the statute of limitations does not begin to run on a continuing wrong till the wrong is over and done with" and that plaintiffs could "reach back and get damages for the entire duration of the alleged violation."
Passin responds with his own case citations. He says: "In subsequent decisions, including one written by Chief Justice Posner, the 7th Circuit has held that the continuing wrong theory discussed in Taylor v. Meirick does not entitle a plaintiff to reach back and get damages beyond three years if, for example, the plaintiff knew or with the exercise of reasonable diligence would have known of the wrongful act."
In answering the lawsuit, Poison also intends to seek dismissal of the claims under the doctrine of laches because the Plaintiffs delayed too long before filing their lawsuit and that delay prejudiced Poison.
As for the intriguing question of why it took Kid Rocker members more than two decades to launch a claim, Poison's lawyer promises to get sworn answers about this during the litigation.
Here's one of the songs in dispute -- Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me"
The plaintiffs say that the song was stolen from them, and Poison shot this music video in order to avoid being dropped by their record label at the time.
California-based act NEW RISING SON has inked a deal with the French label Deadlight Entertainment.
NEW RISING SON is the band of Matthew Roberts, who claims to be son of notorious killer Charles Manson.
Now 43 years old, Matthew Roberts — who bears a strong resemblance to Manson — says his biological mother, Terry, revealed that she had been raped by Manson in a drug-fueled orgy back in 1967.
After his birth, his young mother gave him up for adoption.
"I didn't want to believe it. I was frightened and angry. It's like finding out that Adolf Hitler is your father. I'm a peaceful person — trapped in the face of a monster," Roberts told The Sun newspaper.
Roberts says he has confirmed his mother's story through letters with Manson, The Sun reported.
"He sends me weird stuff and always signs it with his swastika. At first I was stunned and depressed. I wasn't able to speak for a day. I remember not being able to eat."
A year after Roberts' birth in 1968, Manson and his "family" of followers committed nine murders in Los Angeles over five weeks, including the stabbing of pregnant actress Sharon Tate. She was the wife of film director Roman Polanski.
NEW RISING SON is the band of Matthew Roberts, who claims to be son of notorious killer Charles Manson.
Now 43 years old, Matthew Roberts — who bears a strong resemblance to Manson — says his biological mother, Terry, revealed that she had been raped by Manson in a drug-fueled orgy back in 1967.
After his birth, his young mother gave him up for adoption.
"I didn't want to believe it. I was frightened and angry. It's like finding out that Adolf Hitler is your father. I'm a peaceful person — trapped in the face of a monster," Roberts told The Sun newspaper.
Roberts says he has confirmed his mother's story through letters with Manson, The Sun reported.
"He sends me weird stuff and always signs it with his swastika. At first I was stunned and depressed. I wasn't able to speak for a day. I remember not being able to eat."
A year after Roberts' birth in 1968, Manson and his "family" of followers committed nine murders in Los Angeles over five weeks, including the stabbing of pregnant actress Sharon Tate. She was the wife of film director Roman Polanski.
German modern metallers DEADLOCK and have parted ways with vocalist Johannes Prem. A replacement singer has been recruited and his identity will be revealed soon.
Commented Prem: "After over 15 years of heavy music and being one of the founding members of DEADLOCK, it is time to start a new chapter in my life.
"It was not an easy decision for me to split ways with my longtime friends but as life goes on, everybody has to learn where to set his priorities. Having a great job and a perfect little family, there is simply not enough time to give DEADLOCK the attention and time it deserves.
"So it is time to say a big thank you to all the people I met during that time and to all those friends that will always be part of my life. DEADLOCK, to me, always was so much more than just music, it was all about a strong message, a lifestyle and being on the road and party with friends, but times are changing and so I will search for new ways to give my thoughts and emotions a voice.
"It was a great time to be on the road with best friends, sharing so many funny moments we will laugh about for the rest of our lifes (Tobi and Gert know what I talk about), having a musical genius that gave my lyrics the base (thanks for that, Sebastian), having a beautiful voice on my side, that became more and more to the DEADLOCK trademark (thanks, Sabine). And thanks to all the people that worked for or with us troughout those years.
"All the best to the new DEADLOCK team. I will never forget those years."
DEADLOCK's latest album, "Bizarro World", was released on February 28 in Europe and March 16 in the U.S. via Lifeforce Records. The CD was recorded at Slaughter's Palace studio and was once again produced and engineered by the band's musical mastermind and guitar/sound wizard Sebastian Reichl.
DEADLOCK's "Virus Jones" video was filmed in Leipzip, Germany with directors Philipp Hirsch and Heiko Tippelt (HEAVEN SHALL BURN, TRIPTYKON, AMON AMARTH), and attempts to capture the meaning behind the track's lyrics, which deal with pharmaceutical, medical, and biological technology, and the business behind it.
Commented Prem: "After over 15 years of heavy music and being one of the founding members of DEADLOCK, it is time to start a new chapter in my life.
"It was not an easy decision for me to split ways with my longtime friends but as life goes on, everybody has to learn where to set his priorities. Having a great job and a perfect little family, there is simply not enough time to give DEADLOCK the attention and time it deserves.
"So it is time to say a big thank you to all the people I met during that time and to all those friends that will always be part of my life. DEADLOCK, to me, always was so much more than just music, it was all about a strong message, a lifestyle and being on the road and party with friends, but times are changing and so I will search for new ways to give my thoughts and emotions a voice.
"It was a great time to be on the road with best friends, sharing so many funny moments we will laugh about for the rest of our lifes (Tobi and Gert know what I talk about), having a musical genius that gave my lyrics the base (thanks for that, Sebastian), having a beautiful voice on my side, that became more and more to the DEADLOCK trademark (thanks, Sabine). And thanks to all the people that worked for or with us troughout those years.
"All the best to the new DEADLOCK team. I will never forget those years."
DEADLOCK's latest album, "Bizarro World", was released on February 28 in Europe and March 16 in the U.S. via Lifeforce Records. The CD was recorded at Slaughter's Palace studio and was once again produced and engineered by the band's musical mastermind and guitar/sound wizard Sebastian Reichl.
DEADLOCK's "Virus Jones" video was filmed in Leipzip, Germany with directors Philipp Hirsch and Heiko Tippelt (HEAVEN SHALL BURN, TRIPTYKON, AMON AMARTH), and attempts to capture the meaning behind the track's lyrics, which deal with pharmaceutical, medical, and biological technology, and the business behind it.
Legendary Florida death metal behemoths OBITUARY will embark on a short East Coast run of dates this November alongside DENIAL FIEND. The trek will commence on November 12 in Tampa, Florida and run through to November 20 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Commented OBITUARY guitarist Trevor Peres: "We are gonna rip out some old songs that we haven't played in ages during these shows!"
DENIAL FIEND's Terry Butler — who will be pulling double duty on this tour as the new bassist for OBITUARY — had this to say about the upcoming jaunt: "First off we would like to thank OBITUARY for asking us to be part of their 'East Coast Possession Tour'; very cool indeed. We are very excited to finally playing some shows with the new lineup. Hope to see all you FIENDS at the shows crushing and tearing it up!!"
OBITUARY is currently writing material for the follow-up to the "Darkest Day" full-length CD, released in 2009 via Candlelight Records. "Our goal is to be in the studio by January or February and to release the album in May or June of 2012," said Peres. "Of course, the album will be followed up by a ton of tour dates. We will start out in Europe with the summer festival circuit, followed by a proper European tour package and then do a full North American tour in the fall of 2012."
In other news, OBITUARY is working on a new web site that will allow fans a more interactive experience. "We'll be able to have more direct, real-time communications with our fans through our web site utilizing audio, video, chat rooms, etc." Peres said. "We're working on making these features function on our website, but as soon as we are ready to go live we will make an announcement."
OBITUARY "East Coast Possession Tour" dates with DENIAL FIEND:
Nov. 12 - The Brass Mug - Tampa, FL
Nov. 14 - Sirens - St. Augustine, FL
Nov. 15 - C Level - Panama City, FL
Nov. 17 - Championship Sports Bar & Grill - Trenton, NJ
Nov. 18 - 42nd Street Rock House - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA
Nov. 19 - Santos Party House - New York, NY
Nov. 20 - The Casbah/Tremont Music Hall - Charlotte, NC
Nov. 21 - The Archive Gallery - Atlanta, GA
Quality video footage of OBITUARY's performance at this year's edition of the Neurotic Deathfest, which was held April 29-30, 2011 at 013 and MIDI theatre in Tilburg, Holland, can be viewed below (courtesy of "letthedeathmetalflow").
"Darkest Day" landed at position No. 32 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.
Commented OBITUARY guitarist Trevor Peres: "We are gonna rip out some old songs that we haven't played in ages during these shows!"
DENIAL FIEND's Terry Butler — who will be pulling double duty on this tour as the new bassist for OBITUARY — had this to say about the upcoming jaunt: "First off we would like to thank OBITUARY for asking us to be part of their 'East Coast Possession Tour'; very cool indeed. We are very excited to finally playing some shows with the new lineup. Hope to see all you FIENDS at the shows crushing and tearing it up!!"
OBITUARY is currently writing material for the follow-up to the "Darkest Day" full-length CD, released in 2009 via Candlelight Records. "Our goal is to be in the studio by January or February and to release the album in May or June of 2012," said Peres. "Of course, the album will be followed up by a ton of tour dates. We will start out in Europe with the summer festival circuit, followed by a proper European tour package and then do a full North American tour in the fall of 2012."
In other news, OBITUARY is working on a new web site that will allow fans a more interactive experience. "We'll be able to have more direct, real-time communications with our fans through our web site utilizing audio, video, chat rooms, etc." Peres said. "We're working on making these features function on our website, but as soon as we are ready to go live we will make an announcement."
OBITUARY "East Coast Possession Tour" dates with DENIAL FIEND:
Nov. 12 - The Brass Mug - Tampa, FL
Nov. 14 - Sirens - St. Augustine, FL
Nov. 15 - C Level - Panama City, FL
Nov. 17 - Championship Sports Bar & Grill - Trenton, NJ
Nov. 18 - 42nd Street Rock House - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA
Nov. 19 - Santos Party House - New York, NY
Nov. 20 - The Casbah/Tremont Music Hall - Charlotte, NC
Nov. 21 - The Archive Gallery - Atlanta, GA
Quality video footage of OBITUARY's performance at this year's edition of the Neurotic Deathfest, which was held April 29-30, 2011 at 013 and MIDI theatre in Tilburg, Holland, can be viewed below (courtesy of "letthedeathmetalflow").
"Darkest Day" landed at position No. 32 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.
Tony Laureano (NILE, DIMMU BORGIR), Gus Rios (MALEVOLENT CREATION, UPON INFLICTION), Steve Asheim (DEICIDE, ORDER OF ENNEAD) and Donald Tardy (OBITUARY) will take part in the Titans Of The Throne Drum Festival on Saturday, November 5 at The Brass Mug in Tampa, Florida. The event will also include raffles and giveaways.
Tickets range from $15 to $25 for VIP access. Students with valid I.D will receive a discounted rate.
For more information, visit TitansOfTheThrone.com.
Tickets range from $15 to $25 for VIP access. Students with valid I.D will receive a discounted rate.
For more information, visit TitansOfTheThrone.com.
Mark "Barney" Greenway of British grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH will join Danish metal rock 'n' rollers VOLBEAT on stage this coming Saturday, October 29 at the HMV Forum in London, England to perform the VOLBEAT track "Evelyn".
In April 2011 interview with Straight.com, VOLBEAT vocalist/guitarist Michael Poulsen spoke about Barney's appearance on the studio version of "Evelyn", which appears on the band's fourth album, "Beyond Hell/Above Heaven".
"Writing a song like 'Evelyn' was my way of showing people that it was not only the '50s elements we were inspired by, but we were actually growing up with a lot of great metal bands," Michael said. "And NAPALM DEATH was one of the first extreme metal bands I was listening to — I was listening to them when I bought my first guitar. So being able to have a singer like Barney from NAPALM DEATH on my record was a real accomplishment. It's great to see that it's actually possible for dreams to come true, in a way."
VOLBEAT will release "Live From Beyond Hell/Above Heaven" in Europe on November 21 via Vertigo/Universal on double DVD, Blu-ray, limited double DVD + audio CD, CD, digital download and VOD.
Filmed on 11 cameras, leaving no musical stone unturned, this is as close to a backstage pass as you can get. And joined by such musical greats as Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano of ANTHRAX/THE DAMNED THINGS, Michael Denner (MERCYFUL FATE), Mille Petrozza (KREATOR), Jacob Øelund, and L.G. Petrov (ENTOMBED), viewers also witness VOLBEAT in a rock and metal Hall Of Fame.
In April 2011 interview with Straight.com, VOLBEAT vocalist/guitarist Michael Poulsen spoke about Barney's appearance on the studio version of "Evelyn", which appears on the band's fourth album, "Beyond Hell/Above Heaven".
"Writing a song like 'Evelyn' was my way of showing people that it was not only the '50s elements we were inspired by, but we were actually growing up with a lot of great metal bands," Michael said. "And NAPALM DEATH was one of the first extreme metal bands I was listening to — I was listening to them when I bought my first guitar. So being able to have a singer like Barney from NAPALM DEATH on my record was a real accomplishment. It's great to see that it's actually possible for dreams to come true, in a way."
VOLBEAT will release "Live From Beyond Hell/Above Heaven" in Europe on November 21 via Vertigo/Universal on double DVD, Blu-ray, limited double DVD + audio CD, CD, digital download and VOD.
Filmed on 11 cameras, leaving no musical stone unturned, this is as close to a backstage pass as you can get. And joined by such musical greats as Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano of ANTHRAX/THE DAMNED THINGS, Michael Denner (MERCYFUL FATE), Mille Petrozza (KREATOR), Jacob Øelund, and L.G. Petrov (ENTOMBED), viewers also witness VOLBEAT in a rock and metal Hall Of Fame.
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