Legendary BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi has just released his memoir, "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath", in hardback via Perseus Books/DeCapo Press. The book is filled with funny and fascinating stories from throughout the rocker's career, but how did he remember all of them? Tony said it was easy.
"Well, I have trouble remembering last month," Iommi told VH1 Radio Network's Dave Basner. "I have trouble remembering last week, but past stuff I can remember. And funny enough, Ozzy [Osbourne, BLACK SABBATH singer] is the same, and we talk about stuff from 30 years ago and we can remember it as clear as a bell but we try to talk about stuff that happened last week — no idea. Even yesterday (laughs)."
When asked about Ozzy's statement from a few months ago where the singer revealed that he didn't think all four original members of BLACK SABBATH could "physically" take part in a reunion, Iommi said, "Who knows? I mean, somebody might keel over. It might be me. But we'll see. At least we're talking, everybody."
If SABBATH were to reunite and work on new music, does Tony have any material ready for a possible studio album? "I'm writing all the time," he told VH1 Radio Network. "I've got a lot of stuff. I've got a studio at home. I just go in and play for a bit, put something down. My engineer is good; he'll program up drums and whatever else. So I've got plenty of ideas for whatever thing I want to use them as, but usually I end up writing for that particular thing. I might have an idea for whoever it might be, whatever lineup or whatever I'm going to do, I might start off with that, but that thing might not end up like that. I'll change the riff as we go along, depending on the vocal."
Ozzy told Billboard.com last month that a reunion of the original BLACK SABBATH lineup was a "very, very strong possibility." He added, "It's in the very early stages, so we haven't recorded anything yet. If it works out, it'll work out. If it doesn't, I'll keep doing my thing."
The Birmingham Mail reported in August that the original SABBATH lineup — Ozzy, Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — had begun rehearsing and writing music in secret for a new album. The Mail based its story around remarks made by Iommi, who later said the comments were off the record and taken out of context. Iommi's manager, however, did not deny that a reunion was underway.
Speculation about a reunion was fueled later that month when Ozzy skipped the Hollywood premiere of the documentary about his life, "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne". Both his son Jack and daughter Kelly hinted at the time that their dad was "doing something that is very, very exciting."
SABBATH did try to record a new album 12 years ago, the original lineup's first since 1978, but abandoned the attempt after just a couple of songs. The original lineup has not toured together since summer 2005 and last appeared together when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2006.
"Well, I have trouble remembering last month," Iommi told VH1 Radio Network's Dave Basner. "I have trouble remembering last week, but past stuff I can remember. And funny enough, Ozzy [Osbourne, BLACK SABBATH singer] is the same, and we talk about stuff from 30 years ago and we can remember it as clear as a bell but we try to talk about stuff that happened last week — no idea. Even yesterday (laughs)."
When asked about Ozzy's statement from a few months ago where the singer revealed that he didn't think all four original members of BLACK SABBATH could "physically" take part in a reunion, Iommi said, "Who knows? I mean, somebody might keel over. It might be me. But we'll see. At least we're talking, everybody."
If SABBATH were to reunite and work on new music, does Tony have any material ready for a possible studio album? "I'm writing all the time," he told VH1 Radio Network. "I've got a lot of stuff. I've got a studio at home. I just go in and play for a bit, put something down. My engineer is good; he'll program up drums and whatever else. So I've got plenty of ideas for whatever thing I want to use them as, but usually I end up writing for that particular thing. I might have an idea for whoever it might be, whatever lineup or whatever I'm going to do, I might start off with that, but that thing might not end up like that. I'll change the riff as we go along, depending on the vocal."
Ozzy told Billboard.com last month that a reunion of the original BLACK SABBATH lineup was a "very, very strong possibility." He added, "It's in the very early stages, so we haven't recorded anything yet. If it works out, it'll work out. If it doesn't, I'll keep doing my thing."
The Birmingham Mail reported in August that the original SABBATH lineup — Ozzy, Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — had begun rehearsing and writing music in secret for a new album. The Mail based its story around remarks made by Iommi, who later said the comments were off the record and taken out of context. Iommi's manager, however, did not deny that a reunion was underway.
Speculation about a reunion was fueled later that month when Ozzy skipped the Hollywood premiere of the documentary about his life, "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne". Both his son Jack and daughter Kelly hinted at the time that their dad was "doing something that is very, very exciting."
SABBATH did try to record a new album 12 years ago, the original lineup's first since 1978, but abandoned the attempt after just a couple of songs. The original lineup has not toured together since summer 2005 and last appeared together when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2006.
Bassist Mark Evans, author of the new book "Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside Of AC/DC" (Bazillion Points Books), joined AC/DC in 1975 and remained with them through their barroom days, their first international tours, and the majority of the Bon Scott-era albums: "High Voltage", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap", "T.N.T.", "Let There Be Rock", and the U.S.-only '74 "Jailbreak" collection-recordings that have since sold in excess of 10 million copies in the U.S. alone.
To this day, controversy surrounds the popular bassist's exclusion from AC/DC's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction. Towards the end of his memoir, the first of its kind by a classic-era AC/DC insider, Evans addresses the confounding experience of being an announced "foundation inductee" of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in November 2002 and then in short order being disinvited six weeks later, prevented from joining the group of past and present band members honored.
Evans describes the events in detail in "Dirty Deeds", and then reaches a damning conclusion:
"At first, the Hall Of Fame was full of positive signs: I was given dates, details of the induction at the Waldorf Astoria, the arrangements to be made. They said they'd be in contact and get the information to me. But then the temperature turned chilly. When we did get a reply, it was simply to announce that the Hall Of Fame had seen fit to review the nomination and had come to the conclusion that I didn't qualify. I was out.
"Let me just say that the band richly deserved to be in the Hall Of Fame. It was way overdue. Bon had to be included, of course, as well as the current lineup. And I had absolutely no problem with not being included; in the AC/DC timeline, I was there for only a brief time — an important time, in my opinion, but a heartbeat by comparison with Cliff Williams's thirty-year-plus tenure. What I found galling was the Hall Of Fame's attitude. If a mistake was made, fine, then they should have dealt with it. A simple apology or at least an explanation would have been appreciated."
At nineteen years old in 1975, Evans joined AC/DC, one of the hardest-working and loudest barroom bands in Australia. His memoir, "Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside Of AC/DC", dubbed "a rare 'been there, done that' perspective of touring with the group" by Library Journal, is a rich bounty of insight into the struggles and camaraderie that fueled hard rock's most successful group. Evans's likeable stories capture the energy and essence of Malcolm Young, Angus Young, Phil Rudd, and the late Bon Scott. Encounters with rock and roll icons like George Harrison, Gene Simmons, Phil Lynott, BLACK SABBATH, Ahmet Ertegun and METALLICA also feature.
"Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside AC/DC" is now available for order at www.dirtydeedsbook.com.
To this day, controversy surrounds the popular bassist's exclusion from AC/DC's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction. Towards the end of his memoir, the first of its kind by a classic-era AC/DC insider, Evans addresses the confounding experience of being an announced "foundation inductee" of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in November 2002 and then in short order being disinvited six weeks later, prevented from joining the group of past and present band members honored.
Evans describes the events in detail in "Dirty Deeds", and then reaches a damning conclusion:
"At first, the Hall Of Fame was full of positive signs: I was given dates, details of the induction at the Waldorf Astoria, the arrangements to be made. They said they'd be in contact and get the information to me. But then the temperature turned chilly. When we did get a reply, it was simply to announce that the Hall Of Fame had seen fit to review the nomination and had come to the conclusion that I didn't qualify. I was out.
"Let me just say that the band richly deserved to be in the Hall Of Fame. It was way overdue. Bon had to be included, of course, as well as the current lineup. And I had absolutely no problem with not being included; in the AC/DC timeline, I was there for only a brief time — an important time, in my opinion, but a heartbeat by comparison with Cliff Williams's thirty-year-plus tenure. What I found galling was the Hall Of Fame's attitude. If a mistake was made, fine, then they should have dealt with it. A simple apology or at least an explanation would have been appreciated."
At nineteen years old in 1975, Evans joined AC/DC, one of the hardest-working and loudest barroom bands in Australia. His memoir, "Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside Of AC/DC", dubbed "a rare 'been there, done that' perspective of touring with the group" by Library Journal, is a rich bounty of insight into the struggles and camaraderie that fueled hard rock's most successful group. Evans's likeable stories capture the energy and essence of Malcolm Young, Angus Young, Phil Rudd, and the late Bon Scott. Encounters with rock and roll icons like George Harrison, Gene Simmons, Phil Lynott, BLACK SABBATH, Ahmet Ertegun and METALLICA also feature.
"Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside AC/DC" is now available for order at www.dirtydeedsbook.com.
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford's longtime manager John Baxter has filed a lawsuit against Halford and other members of the band and its management team, alleging fraud, breach of contract and intentional interference with contractual relations – and asking for around $50 million in damages.
Baxter, who had been Halford's personal manager since 1982 until he was fired in August, claims he discovered in August that frontman Rob Halford owes him millions of dollars for contract breaches, including failure to pay commissions, salary and expenses dating back to 1992. He alleges that Halford actively misled him by saying that he was simply unable to fulfill his financial obligations to his manager, promising that he would pay Baxter when he was able.
On August 9th, Baxter was fired from his job as manager via a letter from a British law firm that reads, in part: "It has become clear over recent weeks that the relationships between our parties has run its course and that you are not acting in our clients' best interests." The letter also claims that Baxter, who lives in Arizona, withdrew his sponsorship of Halford's U.S. visa in order to prevent his entry into the country and that he posted cruel comments on Halford's official website, actions that "placed an intolerable strain upon our clients' ability to maintain constructive and professional relations with the remaining members of Judas Priest and their representatives at this crucial time."
Baxter's attorney, Barry K. Rothman, tells Rolling Stone that the termination was unjust and that the defendants have ulterior motives, referring to the announcement of the Judas Priest farewell tour last December. "It was wrongful termination because there's no basis to have terminated. They have their own agenda," says Rothman. "Baxter has been managing [Halford] for decades. Judas Priest was coming to an end and the Judas Priest people wanted to engage Halford in his solo endeavor and to continue to have a relationship with him which was not possible with Baxter in the middle. There's a whole reason why this all of the sudden abruptly came to an end."
Defendant Andrew Thompson, a British lawyer whose firm sent Baxter the termination letter, tells Rolling Stone via email that he never interfered, intentionally or otherwise, with the Halford and Baxter relationship. In the suit, Baxter claims that Thompson and the suit's other defendants (who include Judas Priest manager Bill Curbishley and Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill) intentionally tried to interfere with the Baxter/Halford contractual relationship because they wanted to be Halford's global managers and to influence Halford's relationship with Judas Priest, his participation in the Judas Priest farewell tour and Halford's post-Judas Priest career.
Neither Thompson nor defendant Jayne Andrews, another Judas Priest manager, has seen the suit yet. But like Thompson, Andrews rejects Baxter's allegations. "We are aware of the false claims he is trying to make – this has been ongoing for a while now. Rob Halford validly terminated his contracts with John Baxter and there's nothing in John Baxter's various claims, all of which will be vigorously resisted."
Entertainment lawyer Doug Mark, who is not involved in the suit, explains that the statute of limitations on written contracts is four years – but that if the plaintiffs allege fraud, the statute does not apply. In Mark's opinion, the lawsuit is "terrible. You've got a guy who was given the opportunity to be a manager for a longtime.
Where are the records to show that [Baxter] was complaining that he wasn't receiving appropriate commissions? Why wasn't there an email saying, 'You owe me this money. When can I get it?' At some point, he got angry with people and their relationship came to an end and now he's mad. It smacks of a very aggressive and unseemly way to get a going away present to which he's not entitled. A judge would likely perceive this very unfavorably. My best guess for a settlement is a hundred or two hundred thousand dollars to get rid of the nuisance lawsuit."
The friction in the band became public in April, when longtime guitarist K.K. Downing quit the rock group after over 40 years. "There has been an ongoing breakdown in working relationship between myself, elements of the band, and the band's management for some time," he said in a public statement. "Therefore I have decided to step down rather than tour with negative sentiments." Guitarist Richie Faulkner was hired as a replacement.
In August, Judas Priest band members posted a statement on their official website: "There has recently been some nonsense and propaganda posted on the Internet including on Rob's website, regarding the band and management. (Rob currently is not controlling his website and absolutely does not agree with the comments). We refuse to get drawn into any public arguments - it is below us and will be dealt with legally. The band have always jointly made any major decisions and have been with the same management team for over 25 years. Everyone knows and respects them in the music business and we have ultimate faith and trust in the way they have always guided us."
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Metallica and Lou Reed are releasing their collaborative album, Lulu, today. The album tells the tale of a girl, Lulu, who falls from her place in high society into prostitution and other questionable activities—she even has a run-in with Jack the Ripper. Reed took the concept from a pair of plays by 20th Century German playwright Frank Wedekind, and the music he and Metallica play is just as dramatic, full of plodding guitars, Reed's spoken-word recitations, and lots of strings. Below, Kirk Hammett talks about how meeting Reed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concert led Metallica into making an album that forced them outside of their comfort zone. For more on the making of Lulu, check out the November/December issue of Revolver, available on newsstands everywhere and online here.
REVOLVER Was Lou Reed influential on Metallica, musically, prior to this?
KIRK HAMMETT That's a very, very interesting question because the person who turned me onto the Velvet Underground was Cliff Burton. He would listen to the Velvet Underground. He started listening to the Velvet Underground on the Ride the Lightning tour, and him and I shared a room. So we would take turns playing DJ and throwing on various stuff. And he would always throw on the same stuff. He would always throw on Misfits [laughs], Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Velvet Underground, the Dictators, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Having said that, I've always been a huge Velvet Underground fan, ever since Cliff turned me onto them.
KIRK HAMMETT That's a very, very interesting question because the person who turned me onto the Velvet Underground was Cliff Burton. He would listen to the Velvet Underground. He started listening to the Velvet Underground on the Ride the Lightning tour, and him and I shared a room. So we would take turns playing DJ and throwing on various stuff. And he would always throw on the same stuff. He would always throw on Misfits [laughs], Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Velvet Underground, the Dictators, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Having said that, I've always been a huge Velvet Underground fan, ever since Cliff turned me onto them.
You have to really, really understand the Velvet Underground in context to really truly appreciate what they did. They were writing songs, and Lou was writing lyrics that there was no precedent for that before them. To me, that earns the utmost respect, because you can almost say that about Metallica. Before us there was no precedent for what we did. In that regard, sure, a huge influence. They're outsiders, the Velvet Underground, in much the same way Metallica were outsiders back then, and still to a certain extent are now. So come on [laughs] Lou is the original punk. He truly is the original punk. He explored that whole punk attitude. It's in Metallica now, because we share a little bit of that punk ethic. We always did and we still kind of do now, I would say. Our fuck-it-all sort of attitude. [Laughs]
It's interesting that, 25 years after his passing, Cliff is still affecting what you do.
You know, you're absolutely right. I actually never gave it that much thought or looked at it like that. But yeah, he still is affecting us and he is still having an influence over us, which is pretty amazing.
You know, you're absolutely right. I actually never gave it that much thought or looked at it like that. But yeah, he still is affecting us and he is still having an influence over us, which is pretty amazing.
Lou Reed is known for being…difficult. Were you nervous about working with him?
Yeah, because he has a reputation for being a grouchy kind of guy, but he couldn't be a nicer kind of fellow. It's really remarkable because he has a really similar attitudes about things that we do. He has a bit of sarcasm to his personality, which is exactly how we function. We function on sarcasm. [Laughs] I was just with Lou, like, 15 minutes ago and I said, "Lou, you're one of us. Are we one of you?" And it's just one of those situations where it's incredible how well we get on. We get on that well musically and it's just amazing to me.
Yeah, because he has a reputation for being a grouchy kind of guy, but he couldn't be a nicer kind of fellow. It's really remarkable because he has a really similar attitudes about things that we do. He has a bit of sarcasm to his personality, which is exactly how we function. We function on sarcasm. [Laughs] I was just with Lou, like, 15 minutes ago and I said, "Lou, you're one of us. Are we one of you?" And it's just one of those situations where it's incredible how well we get on. We get on that well musically and it's just amazing to me.
When did you feel a connection with him?
Once we started playing, he was just like, "Oh, my God. This is great! This is what I've wanted to hear all my life." He was just basically saying that the day we rehearsed with him for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And that's what led to, "Oh, we should make an album." And we all kind of unanimously agreed: Yes, we should make an album. And that's pretty much how things started. It was really actually very cool.
Once we started playing, he was just like, "Oh, my God. This is great! This is what I've wanted to hear all my life." He was just basically saying that the day we rehearsed with him for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And that's what led to, "Oh, we should make an album." And we all kind of unanimously agreed: Yes, we should make an album. And that's pretty much how things started. It was really actually very cool.
How did the Lulu concept come up?
Originally, we were supposed to cover some of his songs, maybe some of the more well-known songs as well as some of the more unknown songs in his catalog. But then he got this idea to present these lyrics to the Lulu plays that he wrote and pretty much present the lyrics to us and say, let's do something around this. Let's write some music around this. And basically that's what we did and it turned out really well. The lyrical content was pretty heavy, but very cool nonetheless. And it didn't even take that long, which was amazing for me. We were thinking it was going to take two or three weeks, but really took only about a week. Maybe a week and a half. Totally not as long as we expected it to.
Originally, we were supposed to cover some of his songs, maybe some of the more well-known songs as well as some of the more unknown songs in his catalog. But then he got this idea to present these lyrics to the Lulu plays that he wrote and pretty much present the lyrics to us and say, let's do something around this. Let's write some music around this. And basically that's what we did and it turned out really well. The lyrical content was pretty heavy, but very cool nonetheless. And it didn't even take that long, which was amazing for me. We were thinking it was going to take two or three weeks, but really took only about a week. Maybe a week and a half. Totally not as long as we expected it to.
How did you change the music from Lou's demos?
They were really loose-knit. The demos basically were… Most of the lyrics were there, I would say 95 percent of the lyrics were there. But then you would have a few chords underneath the lyrics, or he would have a very definitive sort of melody that ran through the song. A melody that went over those chords and basically we took what was there and just kind of riffed on it and just made it grow and turned it into something else. It was really very easy, just because it was. [Laughs]
They were really loose-knit. The demos basically were… Most of the lyrics were there, I would say 95 percent of the lyrics were there. But then you would have a few chords underneath the lyrics, or he would have a very definitive sort of melody that ran through the song. A melody that went over those chords and basically we took what was there and just kind of riffed on it and just made it grow and turned it into something else. It was really very easy, just because it was. [Laughs]
At what point did the wall come down in regard to working with him?
He was very comfortable with us. He was very honest. And us as a band, we totally respect honesty. We totally respect all the things that come along with building a musical relationship, and he totally trusted us musically. It was an amazing sort of situation that we're still blown away at how good it turned out. All five of us. It's just one of those things, bro. Just one of those things.
He was very comfortable with us. He was very honest. And us as a band, we totally respect honesty. We totally respect all the things that come along with building a musical relationship, and he totally trusted us musically. It was an amazing sort of situation that we're still blown away at how good it turned out. All five of us. It's just one of those things, bro. Just one of those things.
What did you do that was adventurous in the studio?
For me, the one huge thing was that Lou Reed doesn't like guitar solos, and I'm a lead guitar player. I had to come up with a totally different approach, so I played a lot of synth guitar, a lot of Moog guitar. And I played a lot of eBow, electronic bow on my guitar. I took it from that approach and it worked out brilliantly because we were coming up with sounds and textures that fit the overall mood of the lyrics and the songs. And basically what we were trying to achieve. And Lars did a lot of totally experimental drum stuff. James was really, really happy about the fact that he didn't have to write a ton of lyrics and sang every word to every song. Rob was just totally into it. He was totally and completely into it. It was a very cool situation for us and it felt very, very comfortable. It was very cool.
For me, the one huge thing was that Lou Reed doesn't like guitar solos, and I'm a lead guitar player. I had to come up with a totally different approach, so I played a lot of synth guitar, a lot of Moog guitar. And I played a lot of eBow, electronic bow on my guitar. I took it from that approach and it worked out brilliantly because we were coming up with sounds and textures that fit the overall mood of the lyrics and the songs. And basically what we were trying to achieve. And Lars did a lot of totally experimental drum stuff. James was really, really happy about the fact that he didn't have to write a ton of lyrics and sang every word to every song. Rob was just totally into it. He was totally and completely into it. It was a very cool situation for us and it felt very, very comfortable. It was very cool.
Lou is a great guitarist. What was it like for you to play with him?
He is absolutely a great rhythm guitar player. He has a very, very unique sound. he's very into his guitar gear. I was shocked at how into it he was. He pored over every little nuance in his guitar sound and put a lot of time into making sure that his guitar sound was the way that he wanted it to sound. I was very impressed by that and I was very impressed by his overall guitar sound. To the point I was thinking, Wow, I have to check some of this stuff out because it's really tremendously great. He was just phenomenal. What can I say?
He is absolutely a great rhythm guitar player. He has a very, very unique sound. he's very into his guitar gear. I was shocked at how into it he was. He pored over every little nuance in his guitar sound and put a lot of time into making sure that his guitar sound was the way that he wanted it to sound. I was very impressed by that and I was very impressed by his overall guitar sound. To the point I was thinking, Wow, I have to check some of this stuff out because it's really tremendously great. He was just phenomenal. What can I say?
Did you discover any new things about the band or yourself in this process?
Yeah, it showed me that we could still be truly spontaneous and in the moment. We wrote the songs right there on the spot, and the entire time I thought we were just coming up with some rough, basic tracks. But they sounded so good and Lou was so bent on using that and using those particular takes on the album that all we truly could say was, "Sure, we are capturing a moment, and it really is truly, truly spontaneous." We haven't been spontaneous like that for years and years and years, probably since the '80s. [Laughs] To actually see that we were still capable of something like that this far into our career is very cool. Truly very cool.
Yeah, it showed me that we could still be truly spontaneous and in the moment. We wrote the songs right there on the spot, and the entire time I thought we were just coming up with some rough, basic tracks. But they sounded so good and Lou was so bent on using that and using those particular takes on the album that all we truly could say was, "Sure, we are capturing a moment, and it really is truly, truly spontaneous." We haven't been spontaneous like that for years and years and years, probably since the '80s. [Laughs] To actually see that we were still capable of something like that this far into our career is very cool. Truly very cool.
I think it's one of the best things we've ever done. I say that from a pure musical standpoint. I'm not saying that from a heavy metal fan's point of view. I love it. I can't say enough about how great I think it is.
How would you describe the music you've recorded?
That's a really, really hard one. All of us were pretty much out of our element. [Laughs] We were all out of our comfort zone, and because of that, we came up with stuff we normally wouldn't come up with. The heavier songs are just super different and loose but heavy. The more ballady songs were very, very—I don't even know how to describe it. There's a lot of strings. There's a complete string section on most of the songs. It's just something that's completely different from anything any of us have done. And the fact that there are strings on a lot of it brings it to a different place completely. "Junior Dad" is 19 minutes long. And a lot of the reason why it's so long is because of the strings. There's a complete string section that we used as an outro and it works really well.
That's a really, really hard one. All of us were pretty much out of our element. [Laughs] We were all out of our comfort zone, and because of that, we came up with stuff we normally wouldn't come up with. The heavier songs are just super different and loose but heavy. The more ballady songs were very, very—I don't even know how to describe it. There's a lot of strings. There's a complete string section on most of the songs. It's just something that's completely different from anything any of us have done. And the fact that there are strings on a lot of it brings it to a different place completely. "Junior Dad" is 19 minutes long. And a lot of the reason why it's so long is because of the strings. There's a complete string section that we used as an outro and it works really well.
You've said in other interviews how emotional "Junior Dad" was for you. Why is that?
I had lost my father about three weeks previous. It's one thing when you work on a song, you work on the chords, you work on the music, you have a certain emotional attachment, but it becomes next level when you become exposed to the lyrics and you're exposed to the actual subject matter of the song. That song, I don't really want to pinpoint exactly what the song is about, because it's one of those songs that could mean a million different things to a million different people, but what it really meant to me, it had everything to do with the fact that my relationship with my father was just kind of, you know, very emotional. And that's really what hit it. It pretty much touched up on my own relationship with my own father. It's a hard one for me to talk about. Even now, bro.
I had lost my father about three weeks previous. It's one thing when you work on a song, you work on the chords, you work on the music, you have a certain emotional attachment, but it becomes next level when you become exposed to the lyrics and you're exposed to the actual subject matter of the song. That song, I don't really want to pinpoint exactly what the song is about, because it's one of those songs that could mean a million different things to a million different people, but what it really meant to me, it had everything to do with the fact that my relationship with my father was just kind of, you know, very emotional. And that's really what hit it. It pretty much touched up on my own relationship with my own father. It's a hard one for me to talk about. Even now, bro.
Having worked together now, what does Lou think about Metallica now?
I get the feeling that when we got together with him at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, that was his very first experience with us. From what I could gather, he loved what he heard right off the bat. He became a tried and true believer—not so much a fan—but a believer in us. We're definitely kindred spirits. In our approach, in our attitude, in the way we believe things should be done. It truly is amazing because, like I said, he was not really a fan…ever, I think. Maybe not even now! But he totally believes in us a hundred percent.
I get the feeling that when we got together with him at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, that was his very first experience with us. From what I could gather, he loved what he heard right off the bat. He became a tried and true believer—not so much a fan—but a believer in us. We're definitely kindred spirits. In our approach, in our attitude, in the way we believe things should be done. It truly is amazing because, like I said, he was not really a fan…ever, I think. Maybe not even now! But he totally believes in us a hundred percent.
Are you worried at all about how Metallica fans will receive the album?
It was a creative journey that we needed to embark on for ourselves, and I would say that it's not for everyone. It definitely is not for everyone. If you can tune into it, I would say that that's a great thing. But if you can't really relate to it, that's fine, too, because it really isn't for everyone. I would venture to say that some Metallica fans would love it and I would venture to say that some Metallica fans would hate it. And I'm not trying to be safe or anything like that or trite, but that is how I truly feel. This was not a very accessible album. It's artsy in a lot of different ways, but it's something that we wanted to pursue creatively. And it's something that we wanted to see where it would go, where we could take it. And it's largely an artistic endeavor for ourselves, and we're just inviting everyone else along for the party. Truly, that's what it is.
It was a creative journey that we needed to embark on for ourselves, and I would say that it's not for everyone. It definitely is not for everyone. If you can tune into it, I would say that that's a great thing. But if you can't really relate to it, that's fine, too, because it really isn't for everyone. I would venture to say that some Metallica fans would love it and I would venture to say that some Metallica fans would hate it. And I'm not trying to be safe or anything like that or trite, but that is how I truly feel. This was not a very accessible album. It's artsy in a lot of different ways, but it's something that we wanted to pursue creatively. And it's something that we wanted to see where it would go, where we could take it. And it's largely an artistic endeavor for ourselves, and we're just inviting everyone else along for the party. Truly, that's what it is.
Do you have anything else you want to say about Lulu?
I would just say that it's something that most people won't be expecting from us. All I have to say is don't judge it by heavy-metal standards and maybe you'll understand it a little better. [Laughs]
I would just say that it's something that most people won't be expecting from us. All I have to say is don't judge it by heavy-metal standards and maybe you'll understand it a little better. [Laughs]
The promoters have made the following arrangements for refund of tickets to all the customers who are holding a valid ticket for METALLICA's F1 Rocks concert originally scheduled for October 28, 2011 in Gurgaon (a suburb of Delhi), India.
1) For tickets booked online, refund will be done directly to the customer's credit/debit card used to book the tickets. Once the refund is credited into customer's account, the physical tickets held by the customer will be null and void.
2) For tickets booked through retail outlets, customers need to surrender the physical tickets along with a printout of the booking ID number to the respective retail outlets and collect a cash refund.
3) For corporate clients, tickets need to be sent back to the promoters' office and the refund will be made by cheque or through RTGS transfer as applicable to their respective accounts.
Company address:
DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt. Ltd.
215, Bellary Road
Palace Orchards
Bangalore – 560080
A representative for DNA Networks told Pollstar that the cancelation of METALLICA's performance at the Indian Formula 1 motor racing Grand Prix show was caused by an "unruly" section of the crowd climbing over safety barriers and damaging the stage set.
Karuna Prithvi from the DNA's press department told Pollstar it's difficult to explain what sparked the fuss because "it was all so quick."
Prithvi said the company always has barriers in place for its shows and the problem was caused when fans broke through them.
She said unruly fans "vandalized and destroyed" a lot of stage equipment, which meant it was impossible to fix it and get permission for a new show within 24 hours.
Other media reports, however, claimed fans became unruly when the gates opened several hours later than the scheduled opening times. Still other media reports said fans became angry after DNA sold more tickets than the venue's estimated 30,000 capacity and because the organizers failed to inform ticket holders of the cancelation.
METALLICA issued a statement on its web site, explaining it was "deeply disappointed" about the gig's cancellation. The band added, "We arrived in Delhi on Friday very excited and ready to play our first show ever in India at the F1 Rocks concert. However, immediately at the end of our afternoon press conference at a hotel near the venue, we were notified that there was a serious question as to whether the show could proceed with regard to the safety of the concert audience. And our first and foremost concern is always for the safety of you, the fans."
Police arrested four executives of DNA Networks over the weekend on reported fraud charges. The police have asked DNA's local bank to freeze its account while the investigation is still ongoing (although during preparations, DNA had given the local authorities a bank guarantee of $200,000).
METALLICA performed Sunday in Bangalore, India, at the Palace Grounds before an estimated 50,000 fans. METALLICA frontman James Hetfield told the crowd, "India has been a life-changing experience for us."
1) For tickets booked online, refund will be done directly to the customer's credit/debit card used to book the tickets. Once the refund is credited into customer's account, the physical tickets held by the customer will be null and void.
2) For tickets booked through retail outlets, customers need to surrender the physical tickets along with a printout of the booking ID number to the respective retail outlets and collect a cash refund.
3) For corporate clients, tickets need to be sent back to the promoters' office and the refund will be made by cheque or through RTGS transfer as applicable to their respective accounts.
Company address:
DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt. Ltd.
215, Bellary Road
Palace Orchards
Bangalore – 560080
A representative for DNA Networks told Pollstar that the cancelation of METALLICA's performance at the Indian Formula 1 motor racing Grand Prix show was caused by an "unruly" section of the crowd climbing over safety barriers and damaging the stage set.
Karuna Prithvi from the DNA's press department told Pollstar it's difficult to explain what sparked the fuss because "it was all so quick."
Prithvi said the company always has barriers in place for its shows and the problem was caused when fans broke through them.
She said unruly fans "vandalized and destroyed" a lot of stage equipment, which meant it was impossible to fix it and get permission for a new show within 24 hours.
Other media reports, however, claimed fans became unruly when the gates opened several hours later than the scheduled opening times. Still other media reports said fans became angry after DNA sold more tickets than the venue's estimated 30,000 capacity and because the organizers failed to inform ticket holders of the cancelation.
METALLICA issued a statement on its web site, explaining it was "deeply disappointed" about the gig's cancellation. The band added, "We arrived in Delhi on Friday very excited and ready to play our first show ever in India at the F1 Rocks concert. However, immediately at the end of our afternoon press conference at a hotel near the venue, we were notified that there was a serious question as to whether the show could proceed with regard to the safety of the concert audience. And our first and foremost concern is always for the safety of you, the fans."
Police arrested four executives of DNA Networks over the weekend on reported fraud charges. The police have asked DNA's local bank to freeze its account while the investigation is still ongoing (although during preparations, DNA had given the local authorities a bank guarantee of $200,000).
METALLICA performed Sunday in Bangalore, India, at the Palace Grounds before an estimated 50,000 fans. METALLICA frontman James Hetfield told the crowd, "India has been a life-changing experience for us."
According to BangaloreMirror.com, a number of fans who attended METALLICA's show in Bangalore, India on Sinday, October 30 found their bags missing from where they had left it outside the venue.
For security reasons, those who went to the venue carrying backpacks with laptops and other valuables inside were forced to leave their belongings at an open ground prior to entering the venue.
Those affected are now being slammed by others as "irresponsible" for even thinking of carrying precious personal belongings, when the ticket clearly said baggage wouldn't be allowed.
Nikhil John, 23, who works at Deloitte Bangalore, said, "Six of us reached the Palace ground at 6 p.m. and we put all our stuff into one backpack. Security personnel at the gate told us that we were not allowed to carry the backpack inside the venue. They told us to leave it on the open ground at our risk. It was raining and the ground was muddy, but we had no choice but to leave it there since the organizers had not made any arrangements for keeping bags, etc. There were hundreds of backpacks left there. Towards the end of the show, we left a little early, perhaps at 10.15 p.m., so that we could collect the bag, but we couldn't find it. There were only a few bags strewn around on the ground."
Nikhil and his friends spent two hours looking for their bag before finally concluding that it had been stolen. Meanwhile, more people arrived and found their bags too were missing.
"Around 60 to 70 people couldn't find their backpacks," Nikhil said.
For security reasons, those who went to the venue carrying backpacks with laptops and other valuables inside were forced to leave their belongings at an open ground prior to entering the venue.
Those affected are now being slammed by others as "irresponsible" for even thinking of carrying precious personal belongings, when the ticket clearly said baggage wouldn't be allowed.
Nikhil John, 23, who works at Deloitte Bangalore, said, "Six of us reached the Palace ground at 6 p.m. and we put all our stuff into one backpack. Security personnel at the gate told us that we were not allowed to carry the backpack inside the venue. They told us to leave it on the open ground at our risk. It was raining and the ground was muddy, but we had no choice but to leave it there since the organizers had not made any arrangements for keeping bags, etc. There were hundreds of backpacks left there. Towards the end of the show, we left a little early, perhaps at 10.15 p.m., so that we could collect the bag, but we couldn't find it. There were only a few bags strewn around on the ground."
Nikhil and his friends spent two hours looking for their bag before finally concluding that it had been stolen. Meanwhile, more people arrived and found their bags too were missing.
"Around 60 to 70 people couldn't find their backpacks," Nikhil said.
METALLICA's collaborative album with Lou Reed, titled "Lulu", is likely to sell between 12,000 and 15,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to industry web site Hits Daily Double. The estimate was based on one-day sales reports compiled after the record arrived in stores on November 1 via Warner Bros. Records (one day earlier in the rest of the world through Universal Music).
METALLICA's "Death Magnetic" album sold close to a half million copies in just a three-day sales window and topped The Billboard 200 chart back in September 2008.
The band's first studio album since 2003 moved 490,000 copies in its abbreviated frame, scheduled off-cycle on a Friday to accommodate a worldwide release date.
METALLICA's previous CD, "St. Anger", also had an unusual release date after Elektra Records decided to move up its release to Thursday, June 5, 2003 from Tuesday, June 10, 2003 "to ensure that counterfeit copies of the band's first studio album in six years do not proliferate in the marketplace," the label said at the time.
"St. Anger" sold 363,000 copies in its first full week of release to land at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. The album shifted 418,000 copies in the U.S. in its first, shortened week on the streets.
METALLICA's "Re-Load" album sold 435,000 units during its first week in 1997, while 1996's "Load" opened at 680,000. 1991's self-titled "black album" debuted with 598,000 and has since gone on to sell more than 15.7 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Already polarizing fans around the world and earning some of the most scathing reviews of their career, "Lulu" features the former THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman's spoken-word poetry and lyrics combined with METALLICA's musical assault for a jarring experience that doesn't sound like anything METALLICA has ever attempted before. A concept album based on two early 20th century plays by German author Frank Wedekind, the CD was co-produced by Reed, METALLICA, Hal Willner — who has produced albums for Reed, Marianne Faithfull, and Laurie Anderson, among others — and Greg Fidelman. Fidelman also mixed the record.
The collaboration between METALLICA and Reed was sparked by their performance together of Reed's "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" at the 25th anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at Madison Square Garden in October of 2009.
The songs were all written by Reed with extensive arrangement contributions by METALLICA.
Only two songs on the album are under five minutes in length, while two are more than 11 minutes long and the closing cut, "Junior Dad", clocks in at 19 minutes.
Reed and METALLICA will perform selections from the album on several European TV programs but has yet to announce any live dates or U.S. appearances.
METALLICA's "Death Magnetic" album sold close to a half million copies in just a three-day sales window and topped The Billboard 200 chart back in September 2008.
The band's first studio album since 2003 moved 490,000 copies in its abbreviated frame, scheduled off-cycle on a Friday to accommodate a worldwide release date.
METALLICA's previous CD, "St. Anger", also had an unusual release date after Elektra Records decided to move up its release to Thursday, June 5, 2003 from Tuesday, June 10, 2003 "to ensure that counterfeit copies of the band's first studio album in six years do not proliferate in the marketplace," the label said at the time.
"St. Anger" sold 363,000 copies in its first full week of release to land at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. The album shifted 418,000 copies in the U.S. in its first, shortened week on the streets.
METALLICA's "Re-Load" album sold 435,000 units during its first week in 1997, while 1996's "Load" opened at 680,000. 1991's self-titled "black album" debuted with 598,000 and has since gone on to sell more than 15.7 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Already polarizing fans around the world and earning some of the most scathing reviews of their career, "Lulu" features the former THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman's spoken-word poetry and lyrics combined with METALLICA's musical assault for a jarring experience that doesn't sound like anything METALLICA has ever attempted before. A concept album based on two early 20th century plays by German author Frank Wedekind, the CD was co-produced by Reed, METALLICA, Hal Willner — who has produced albums for Reed, Marianne Faithfull, and Laurie Anderson, among others — and Greg Fidelman. Fidelman also mixed the record.
The collaboration between METALLICA and Reed was sparked by their performance together of Reed's "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" at the 25th anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at Madison Square Garden in October of 2009.
The songs were all written by Reed with extensive arrangement contributions by METALLICA.
Only two songs on the album are under five minutes in length, while two are more than 11 minutes long and the closing cut, "Junior Dad", clocks in at 19 minutes.
Reed and METALLICA will perform selections from the album on several European TV programs but has yet to announce any live dates or U.S. appearances.
METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich and former THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman Lou Reed spoke to Marc Spitz of VanityFair.com about METALLICA and Reed's musical collaboration "Lulu", which was released yesterday (Tuesday, November 1) in North America via Warner Bros. Records (one day earlier in the rest of the world through Universal Music). A couple of excerpts follow below.
VanityFair.com: When did Lou Reed first come across your radar as a kid?
Lars Ulrich: I grew up in a house that was very cultural. There was music and art and a lot of writing around. My dad spent a lot of time traveling in America in the 60s, and he would bring a lot of records home and have these people over . . . and they'd listen to DOORS records or HENDRIX. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND started showing up in that group of bands played around the house.
VanityFair.com: Lou is an imperious figure. Was he ever snappy at all with you during the recording sessions?
Lars Ulrich: This is not a guy that minces words. He goes directly to the point; he says what's on his mind, and we love him for that. Sometimes he's very blunt and it's almost like, "Whoa, gotcha!" We had three to four full fantastic rock days together in New York a couple of years ago [before the Hall Of Fame concerts], so obviously we knew what we were getting in bed with. We became soulmates. We just bonded. I'm aware of his reputation, but he treats me with respect.
VanityFair.com: I think it's different with other musicians than it is with journalists.
Lars Ulrich: There were a couple of times where we'd do a take of a song, and I was knocking on the door and said, "Hey, should we do another take?" And he'd just look at me and go, "I'm not singing that ever again." And I thought, O.K., Lou, I can't argue with that. I like the bluntness of it.
VanityFair.com: How far along were you with the "Lulu" project before you decided that you wanted this particular power for your songs?
Lou Reed: I did a version of it for Bob Wilson that went one way, and I thought it would be remarkable to do it with my metal brothers . . . It was done with electronics and cellos and strings — and then when we did it with METALLICA, we sent them that and said, "Now what happens if you take a crack at it using this as a takeoff point?"
VanityFair.com: The freedom they have and the freedom you have joining forces—
Lou Reed: To say the least. Look, O.K.? Just to cut through so much of this formality — I could do anything I want. They could do anything they want. We chose to do this as a project we wanted to do. Something beautiful. Period. It's not complicated.
VanityFair.com: When did Lou Reed first come across your radar as a kid?
Lars Ulrich: I grew up in a house that was very cultural. There was music and art and a lot of writing around. My dad spent a lot of time traveling in America in the 60s, and he would bring a lot of records home and have these people over . . . and they'd listen to DOORS records or HENDRIX. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND started showing up in that group of bands played around the house.
VanityFair.com: Lou is an imperious figure. Was he ever snappy at all with you during the recording sessions?
Lars Ulrich: This is not a guy that minces words. He goes directly to the point; he says what's on his mind, and we love him for that. Sometimes he's very blunt and it's almost like, "Whoa, gotcha!" We had three to four full fantastic rock days together in New York a couple of years ago [before the Hall Of Fame concerts], so obviously we knew what we were getting in bed with. We became soulmates. We just bonded. I'm aware of his reputation, but he treats me with respect.
VanityFair.com: I think it's different with other musicians than it is with journalists.
Lars Ulrich: There were a couple of times where we'd do a take of a song, and I was knocking on the door and said, "Hey, should we do another take?" And he'd just look at me and go, "I'm not singing that ever again." And I thought, O.K., Lou, I can't argue with that. I like the bluntness of it.
VanityFair.com: How far along were you with the "Lulu" project before you decided that you wanted this particular power for your songs?
Lou Reed: I did a version of it for Bob Wilson that went one way, and I thought it would be remarkable to do it with my metal brothers . . . It was done with electronics and cellos and strings — and then when we did it with METALLICA, we sent them that and said, "Now what happens if you take a crack at it using this as a takeoff point?"
VanityFair.com: The freedom they have and the freedom you have joining forces—
Lou Reed: To say the least. Look, O.K.? Just to cut through so much of this formality — I could do anything I want. They could do anything they want. We chose to do this as a project we wanted to do. Something beautiful. Period. It's not complicated.
MEGADETH's new album, "TH1RT3EN", is likely to sell between 40,000 and 45,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to industry web site Hits Daily Double. The estimate was based on one-day sales reports compiled after the record arrived in stores on November 1 via Roadrunner Records.
MEGADETH's previous CD, 2009's "Endgame", opened with 45,000 units to debut at position No. 9 on The Billboard 200 chart. This was slightly less than the 54,000 first-week tally registered by 2007's "United Abominations", which landed at No. 8. 2004's "The System Has Failed" premiered with 46,000 copies (No. 18) while 2001's "The World Needs A Hero" moved 61,000 units in its first week (No. 16).
"TH1RT3EN" was recorded at MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine's Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos, California with producer Johnny K (full name: John Karkazis), who has previously worked with DISTURBED, SEVENDUST, MACHINE HEAD and STAIND, among others. The artwork was once again created by artist John Lorenzi, who worked on the last two MEGADETH studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame", as well as the band's 2007 box set, "Warchest".
"TH1RT3EN" marks the recorded return of bassist David Ellefson who was part of the band's classic lineup from 1983 to 2002. In a move that delighted the band's legion of diehards, Ellefson returned to performing live with MEGADETH in early 2010 and has remained a fixture on the stage ever since. This is the first time Ellefson has played on a MEGADETH record since 2002's "Rude Awakening".
MEGADETH filmed the "Public Enemy No. 1" video on September 17 in Santa Clarita, California. The clip was shot on a movie set where old Westerns are filmed.
CD track listing:
01. Sudden Death
02. Public Enemy No. 1
03. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
04. We The People
05. Guns, Drugs & Money
06. Never Dead
07. New World Order
08. Fast Lane
09. Black Swan
10. Wrecker
11. Millennium Of The Blind
12. Deadly Nightshade
13. 13
Limited-edition picture-disc vinyl track listing:
Side A:
01. Sudden Death
02. Public Enemy No. 1
03. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
04. We The People
Side B:
01. Guns, Drugs & Money
02. Never Dead
03. New World Order
Side C:
01. Fast Lane
02. Black Swan
03. Wrecker
Side D:
01. Millennium Of the Blind
02. Deadly Nightshade
03. 13
MEGADETH's previous CD, 2009's "Endgame", opened with 45,000 units to debut at position No. 9 on The Billboard 200 chart. This was slightly less than the 54,000 first-week tally registered by 2007's "United Abominations", which landed at No. 8. 2004's "The System Has Failed" premiered with 46,000 copies (No. 18) while 2001's "The World Needs A Hero" moved 61,000 units in its first week (No. 16).
"TH1RT3EN" was recorded at MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine's Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos, California with producer Johnny K (full name: John Karkazis), who has previously worked with DISTURBED, SEVENDUST, MACHINE HEAD and STAIND, among others. The artwork was once again created by artist John Lorenzi, who worked on the last two MEGADETH studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame", as well as the band's 2007 box set, "Warchest".
"TH1RT3EN" marks the recorded return of bassist David Ellefson who was part of the band's classic lineup from 1983 to 2002. In a move that delighted the band's legion of diehards, Ellefson returned to performing live with MEGADETH in early 2010 and has remained a fixture on the stage ever since. This is the first time Ellefson has played on a MEGADETH record since 2002's "Rude Awakening".
MEGADETH filmed the "Public Enemy No. 1" video on September 17 in Santa Clarita, California. The clip was shot on a movie set where old Westerns are filmed.
CD track listing:
01. Sudden Death
02. Public Enemy No. 1
03. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
04. We The People
05. Guns, Drugs & Money
06. Never Dead
07. New World Order
08. Fast Lane
09. Black Swan
10. Wrecker
11. Millennium Of The Blind
12. Deadly Nightshade
13. 13
Limited-edition picture-disc vinyl track listing:
Side A:
01. Sudden Death
02. Public Enemy No. 1
03. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
04. We The People
Side B:
01. Guns, Drugs & Money
02. Never Dead
03. New World Order
Side C:
01. Fast Lane
02. Black Swan
03. Wrecker
Side D:
01. Millennium Of the Blind
02. Deadly Nightshade
03. 13
Anthrax, the thrash-metal legends led by iconically bearded guitarist Scott Ian, has never fallen off. While other heavy-music peers with as much longevity have taken time to get weird or experimental, this act has always stuck to searing, soaring, anti-gravity riffs and melodies with a charging punk fury. Anthrax has always straddled the lines between heavy and hard and hard and fast and as such has always enjoyed a wider fan base than many of its original scene peers.
So the band's excellent tenth studio album, Worship Music, isn't a return to form but rather a continuation of it. The record features most of the band's "classic" mid-'80s lineup: Ian, of course, on guitar and principal songwriting duties, Frank Bello on bass, and Charlie Benante on drums, as well as the long-maned, elastic-voiced Joey Belladonna back on vocals. Guitarist Rob Caggiano, an integral member of the band in its '00s iteration and its album producer, rounds out the roster.
County Grind caught up with the always outspoken Ian in advance of the band's show tonight at Revolution with two other classic thrash staples, Testament and Death Angel. We chatted Worship Music, illegal downloading, and comics. Here's what he had to say.
County Grind: The last time you were in the area was when you played an outdoor amphitheater in Miami with Slayer and Megadeth. This time around, it's a club tour. Do you have any preference in the kinds of venues you play?
Scott Ian: Bigger venues are easier from a production standpoint, and generally you have more room on stage and things like that. But when it comes to playing, as soon as I get onstage and we start, I really don't know where I am anyways. It doesn't matter. I do the same thing no matter where we're playing. As soon as the music kicks in and we get going, I get into my own zone. As far as a preference goes, whatever makes it easiest on our crew to get their job done!
Obviously you recently became a father, so congratulations. Has that affected your choice of how long and when to tour or any other aspect of your working schedule with the band?
Thank you. Well, my wife and I, before we had the baby, pretty much tried to never go longer than two weeks without seeing each other, regardless of tour. She would come out when I was on tour, and then when she was on tour, I was lucky enough to play guitar in her band. So it's pretty much the same thing now. I just don't want to ever go two weeks without seeing them, and we're working it that way.
On to Worship Music, your latest album. It entered the charts pretty high, at number 12. It's your highest chart debut in 20 years. At a time when so many people are struggling to sell records, why do you think your band and this album in particular are doing so well right now?
Well first, you've got to put things in perspective. We did great above and beyond expectations for 2011, at least my own expectations. With the way things are now and people stealing music and not actually buying records, it's just the way it is. So the fact that we sold 30,000 the first week and entered at number 12 was awesome -- for 2011.
If you put that in 2001, we would have sold probably 250,000 the first week and been number 12. Or let's say 20 years ago, if you want to put things in perspective, in 1993 Sound of White Noise entered the charts at number seven, and it sold like 110,000 copies. So a lot of it has to do, of course, with what other records come out the same week as you and all that.
But to put it in perspective sales-wise, it just sucks that 30,000 is considered a huge success in 2011. It's a double-edged sword because on one hand, it's like, "Woo-hoo, we did great," but then it's also like, "Yeah, but how many other people stole the record and you should have sold 150,000 copies this first week?"
Do you think a lot of your fans in fact stole the record, or --
I don't think; I know they did. It's the way it works these days. People can get the records for free, whether they're an actual fan or just a casual person who just wants to check something out. It's not a case of going out and checking out music. Now you can steal it, because the internet makes that possible for people. People have this sense of entitlement now where they think music is free, and that's the way it is, whether or not they even realize they're stealing it.
Before the internet, the only way to steal music was to walk into a music store and physically walk out with something, and you were stealing, and you knew it. You knew, unless you're a fucking maniac, that there was a consequence. If you got caught, you were going to get in trouble.
On the internet, there is no consequence for stealing. Nobody gets in trouble for stealing music; nobody gets in trouble for stealing movies. Illegal downloading has no consequence. So until there is a consequence, it's going to happen more and more and more, and people are going to see less and less original and good content from the record industry and movie industry.
I've noticed you've gone back and forth on Twitter with some people making a devil's advocate argument that --
There is no argument. I'm not even going to get into that conversation. You're stealing! It's stealing -- that's what it is. It's not free for us to make these records. These records are on sale in many, many places where you can pay your money to buy the product that we are selling. Anything outside of that is stealing. There is no conversation to be had.
There's no, "Well, I just wanted to check it out, and then I liked it so I bought the record." I don't give a fuck. It's stealing. Everyone can say that, "I just wanted to check it out" or "There's no way for me to get music where I live." That's bullshit. It's fucking bullshit! I've been doing this for way too long. I sold records in the '80s and '90s before there was an internet, and no one seemed to have a problem going out and buying a shit ton of records back then. The whole record industry has collapsed because people are stealing. That's the end of the story.
Do you think that you would have to tour less or do things differently if people were buying more and stealing less? In other words, have you had to change your business model as a band to account for it?
No. We've always been a touring band, even in the '80s, from day one, that's what we do. If anything, that side of it -- because you still can't steal a ticket to come see us. That side of it is still there for us, because you can't replicate a live show. I don't care how many videos you watch on YouTube, it's not the same as being there. Thank God for that.
What do you think the consequence should be for illegal downloading?
You lose your internet. That's it, no more internet for you. Seriously! Like you drive drunk, you lose the privilege of driving. You download illegally, you lose the privilege of having the internet. The punishment fits the crime. Why these service providers don't stop the torrent sites and put a consequence on this, I have no idea. Everybody complains about the trillions of dollars being lost, but nobody does anything about it. Believe me, if I could do something about it, I would.
Some service providers are starting to send cease-and-desist letters, but it seems like they have to get subpoenaed by the RIAA first.
You know what, until the person sitting behind their laptop, downloading free music and movies and porn, until that person -- OK, picture this. Picture the guy just sitting at his laptop downloading all this free shit, and all of a sudden his connection goes off. He's off the internet, and he starts pushing buttons and checks his Wi-Fi and all that, and all of a sudden he's not connected anymore.
That's when it will stop, when people actually know that there will be a consequence for what they're doing. Throwing people in jail isn't the answer, and even fining them and all that, I don't think that's the answer either. Just stop their access, because these people live on the internet, and that's all they care about. So stop their internet access and they'll stop stealing.
To change tack a little bit, you said you were a touring band and had always been a touring band. You Tweeted last week that you were headed to Chicago and it would be the first time actually playing some of the songs from Worship Music. Is that generally how it has always worked for you guys?
When you record, you're not all together playing those songs. I mean, Charlie and I were, but Joey wasn't singing the songs at the same time we were playing them.
Right, but do you ever have a rehearsal together before you physically go into the studio? Or do you generally work things out in preproduction?
Well, Joey wasn't in the band when these songs were written, so there was no way for that physically to have happened, unless he had a time machine.
That was another one of my questions. These songs were written mostly before even that last tour that brought you to South Florida, right?
Yes.
OK, so at that point, before the tour, Joey wasn't in the band. When you all decided that he was back in the band, did he have any involvement in going through the songs and changing anything about them?
Yeah, we basically spent that whole tour last fall working on the material before he went back in and started singing the songs at the end of the year.
How much input did he actually get?
As much as he wanted.
His style of singing is very particular. So since he wasn't around when you wrote the core of each song, how much did he change later on, maybe with the melodies or anything else?
Do you want a number? I don't know how to quantify that. Joey wasn't there when we wrote [the 1985 classic] Spreading the Disease either. That album was finished, and then we found Joey, and he went into the studio and he sang the songs like he had been singing them for ten years. It's pretty much the same situation with this record.
You wrote all the lyrics, right? Did he have any hand in that?
No. I've been pretty much always writing all the lyrics.
Around the same time of that tour, when people asked you if Joey was back in the band for good, you said you really didn't know. Has anything changed about that? Are you still taking it day by day?
As far as I'm concerned, everyone's in the band for good. But I mean, hey, I could be gone tomorrow! Of course I'm kidding when I say that, but I like to think that this is the lineup that will be Anthrax until there is no more Anthrax.
Do you consider this to be more or less the "classic" lineup of Anthrax, of course not counting former guitarist Dan Spitz?
I think it's the best Anthrax lineup, certainly, because Rob has just become such an integral part of the band. I don't mean this negatively towards Danny Spitz at all, but Rob produces the record.
He's so integral to what we do and has been for the last ten years when it comes to that stuff, that it would be insane for me to think about doing stuff without him. And his playing is head and shoulders above -- he's the best lead guitarist I've ever played with. I really don't have to say anything; the album speaks for itself. Listen to this band on the record and then tell me there's a better lineup.
People always want to ask about Dan Spitz coming back because he was in the band in the '80s. Do you get sick of hearing about that? There's no possibility that he would ever come back, right?
No.
For you, lyrically, which songs mean the most to you personally on this album? The obvious question too is what's behind the title?
They all are equal to me on the record. I can't say there's one that I feel more strongly about or one I feel less strongly about. It's all crap I had in my head that I was somehow able to get out of my brain and put into lyrics to fit the music we made. It's all equal to me.
As far as the title goes, Charlie came up with that idea. I just thought it sounded good -- I never even asked him why. My own personal meaning behind it is I just feel that music is something worth worshiping. Music should be right up there with everything else that's worshiped on this album.
One song I was wondering about was "Judas Priest." Obviously it's not about the band, but what did you have in mind when you were writing that? Some of the songs seem to be politically oriented, so did that come from similar ideas?
It came from the Oppenheimer quote, after he realized what he had built. When he said, "I am become death, destroyer of worlds." It's one of my favorite quotes of all time. Phonetically, that line fit perfectly with the riff in the chorus, so I started with that line, then just kind of built around it.
Considering that you write the lyrics too, do you ever think of the riff and lyrics simultaneously?
No. It's always music first.
With the song "In the End," it's a tribute song to Dimebag Darrell and Ronnie Dio. Why write the song now?
Well, it's the first record we made since we lost both of them, so the idea was to try and pay tribute to them, whether it was just putting something in the liner notes or actually being able to write a song.
Right, but Dimebag's been gone for a few years. So had you been thinking of doing something for him back then?
No, because we weren't working on a record back then.
Certainly you're always writing music, though....
Certainly we're not always writing music!
Fair enough. So are you writing anything nonmusic right now? You've talked about writing a graphic novel or a book.
I'm working on The Demon for DC Comics right now. I'm just waiting on some pages, and I'm kind of right in the middle of it at this point.
Can you tell me a little bit about the plot?
Nope. I'm sworn to secrecy!
When is it supposed to be finished, and when is it supposed to be due out?
It's whenever I'm done, and then they'll schedule it. It's not like I'm an on-staff writer at DC, where I have deadlines. My stuff kind of operates outside of their schedules and continuity, and I'm just lucky I get to do it and that there are people up there who dig working with me. So there really is no schedule yet.
It's not like I'm lagging; it's just taking a while because the artist, Sam Keith, has other projects going on. This not being something going that's a regular thing, he's doing everything in his power to get it done in a timely fashion. So my attitude is, I'm just lucky enough to be doing this, and when it gets done, it'll be done, and they'll be able to schedule a release date.
Have you seen any of the art for it yet?
Yeah, I've seen about 20 pages or so.
Are you planning to work on that at all while you're on this Anthrax tour, or do you have to wait until it's done?
If I have the stuff in front of me, I can work anywhere. The story's already written; it's just a case of getting the art and then breaking it down into dialogue. I lay out all the pages in front of me and basically start speaking the characters. So I just need all the art to be able to do that.
On a similar note, you've mentioned how you've gone onstage a few times and just told funny stories and it's gotten a good reaction. Is that something you want to pursue further?
I think about it, but the big question is always when, you know? With Anthrax, we have stuff we know we can do, touring-wise, all the way through the end of next August. It could also certainly go longer than that if we decide we want to go longer than that. So it's a case of when, because if I came off that, the last thing I would want to do is go back out on tour. And at the same time, we would probably start working on a new record when this touring finishes.
So there are a lot of things I want to do, but it's just a case of being able to physically do it. I think I could do that, and I think I could do it really well, but it's a case of when, and I don't know when that would be.
Anthrax, with Testament and Death Angel. 7 p.m. Wednesday, November 2, at Revolution, 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $27. Call 954-449-1025, or visit jointherevolution.net.
Do you want a number? I don't know how to quantify that. Joey wasn't there when we wrote [the 1985 classic] Spreading the Disease either. That album was finished, and then we found Joey, and he went into the studio and he sang the songs like he had been singing them for ten years. It's pretty much the same situation with this record.
You wrote all the lyrics, right? Did he have any hand in that?
No. I've been pretty much always writing all the lyrics.
Around the same time of that tour, when people asked you if Joey was back in the band for good, you said you really didn't know. Has anything changed about that? Are you still taking it day by day?
As far as I'm concerned, everyone's in the band for good. But I mean, hey, I could be gone tomorrow! Of course I'm kidding when I say that, but I like to think that this is the lineup that will be Anthrax until there is no more Anthrax.
Do you consider this to be more or less the "classic" lineup of Anthrax, of course not counting former guitarist Dan Spitz?
I think it's the best Anthrax lineup, certainly, because Rob has just become such an integral part of the band. I don't mean this negatively towards Danny Spitz at all, but Rob produces the record.
He's so integral to what we do and has been for the last ten years when it comes to that stuff, that it would be insane for me to think about doing stuff without him. And his playing is head and shoulders above -- he's the best lead guitarist I've ever played with. I really don't have to say anything; the album speaks for itself. Listen to this band on the record and then tell me there's a better lineup.
People always want to ask about Dan Spitz coming back because he was in the band in the '80s. Do you get sick of hearing about that? There's no possibility that he would ever come back, right?
No.
For you, lyrically, which songs mean the most to you personally on this album? The obvious question too is what's behind the title?
They all are equal to me on the record. I can't say there's one that I feel more strongly about or one I feel less strongly about. It's all crap I had in my head that I was somehow able to get out of my brain and put into lyrics to fit the music we made. It's all equal to me.
As far as the title goes, Charlie came up with that idea. I just thought it sounded good -- I never even asked him why. My own personal meaning behind it is I just feel that music is something worth worshiping. Music should be right up there with everything else that's worshiped on this album.
One song I was wondering about was "Judas Priest." Obviously it's not about the band, but what did you have in mind when you were writing that? Some of the songs seem to be politically oriented, so did that come from similar ideas?
It came from the Oppenheimer quote, after he realized what he had built. When he said, "I am become death, destroyer of worlds." It's one of my favorite quotes of all time. Phonetically, that line fit perfectly with the riff in the chorus, so I started with that line, then just kind of built around it.
Considering that you write the lyrics too, do you ever think of the riff and lyrics simultaneously?
No. It's always music first.
With the song "In the End," it's a tribute song to Dimebag Darrell and Ronnie Dio. Why write the song now?
Well, it's the first record we made since we lost both of them, so the idea was to try and pay tribute to them, whether it was just putting something in the liner notes or actually being able to write a song.
Right, but Dimebag's been gone for a few years. So had you been thinking of doing something for him back then?
No, because we weren't working on a record back then.
Certainly you're always writing music, though....
Certainly we're not always writing music!
Fair enough. So are you writing anything nonmusic right now? You've talked about writing a graphic novel or a book.
I'm working on The Demon for DC Comics right now. I'm just waiting on some pages, and I'm kind of right in the middle of it at this point.
Can you tell me a little bit about the plot?
Nope. I'm sworn to secrecy!
When is it supposed to be finished, and when is it supposed to be due out?
It's whenever I'm done, and then they'll schedule it. It's not like I'm an on-staff writer at DC, where I have deadlines. My stuff kind of operates outside of their schedules and continuity, and I'm just lucky I get to do it and that there are people up there who dig working with me. So there really is no schedule yet.
It's not like I'm lagging; it's just taking a while because the artist, Sam Keith, has other projects going on. This not being something going that's a regular thing, he's doing everything in his power to get it done in a timely fashion. So my attitude is, I'm just lucky enough to be doing this, and when it gets done, it'll be done, and they'll be able to schedule a release date.
Have you seen any of the art for it yet?
Yeah, I've seen about 20 pages or so.
Are you planning to work on that at all while you're on this Anthrax tour, or do you have to wait until it's done?
If I have the stuff in front of me, I can work anywhere. The story's already written; it's just a case of getting the art and then breaking it down into dialogue. I lay out all the pages in front of me and basically start speaking the characters. So I just need all the art to be able to do that.
On a similar note, you've mentioned how you've gone onstage a few times and just told funny stories and it's gotten a good reaction. Is that something you want to pursue further?
I think about it, but the big question is always when, you know? With Anthrax, we have stuff we know we can do, touring-wise, all the way through the end of next August. It could also certainly go longer than that if we decide we want to go longer than that. So it's a case of when, because if I came off that, the last thing I would want to do is go back out on tour. And at the same time, we would probably start working on a new record when this touring finishes.
So there are a lot of things I want to do, but it's just a case of being able to physically do it. I think I could do that, and I think I could do it really well, but it's a case of when, and I don't know when that would be.
Anthrax, with Testament and Death Angel. 7 p.m. Wednesday, November 2, at Revolution, 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $27. Call 954-449-1025, or visit jointherevolution.net.
SOUNDGARDEN singer Chris Cornell tells Billboard.com that the band's new album — its first studio set since 1996 — is "mostly done. We just need to finish a couple of songs and mix it, so that will be happening probably over the holidays."
As to what it sounds like, Cornell says that, "It's certainly not nostalgic. It's definitely forward. It sounds to me exactly like it should sound — like we took a break and we got together and we're making an album. I don't think we've taken any dramatic new approaches to writing or recording, and yet there's definitely changes. We've all had a decade-plus of more experience in writing and recording and took a long break... So it's very refreshing and it feels to me like the next logical step in SOUNDGARDEN, creatively."
Audiences at Cornell's upcoming "Songbook" tour solo shows shouldn't expect to hear previews of any of the new songs, however. "I think it's definitely a SOUNDGARDEN record," Cornell says, "and I wouldn't want to take it out of that context just yet."
SOUNDGARDEN entered Cornell's studio in Los Angeles in March to begin recording the band's first album in 15 years.
Adam Kaspar, who co-produced SOUNDGARDEN's last record, 1996's "Down On The Upside", is working with the group on the new effort as well.
SOUNDGARDEN reunited last year after disbanding in 1997.
As to what it sounds like, Cornell says that, "It's certainly not nostalgic. It's definitely forward. It sounds to me exactly like it should sound — like we took a break and we got together and we're making an album. I don't think we've taken any dramatic new approaches to writing or recording, and yet there's definitely changes. We've all had a decade-plus of more experience in writing and recording and took a long break... So it's very refreshing and it feels to me like the next logical step in SOUNDGARDEN, creatively."
Audiences at Cornell's upcoming "Songbook" tour solo shows shouldn't expect to hear previews of any of the new songs, however. "I think it's definitely a SOUNDGARDEN record," Cornell says, "and I wouldn't want to take it out of that context just yet."
SOUNDGARDEN entered Cornell's studio in Los Angeles in March to begin recording the band's first album in 15 years.
Adam Kaspar, who co-produced SOUNDGARDEN's last record, 1996's "Down On The Upside", is working with the group on the new effort as well.
SOUNDGARDEN reunited last year after disbanding in 1997.
On October 24, Universal Records re-released DIAMOND HEAD's classic debut album, "Lightning To The Nations", as a "deluxe edition." Remastered from the original tapes, it comes in a dual case with brand new full-color sleeve plus a bonus disc of singles and B-sides. It also features a 16-page booklet with liner notes by Dave Everley.
The full track listing is as follows:
Disc One:
01. Lightning To The Nations
02. The Prince
03. Sucking My Love
04. Am I Evil?
05. Sweet And Innocent
06. It's Electric
07. Helpless
Disc Two:
01. Shoot Out The Lights
02. Streets Of Gold
03. Waited Too Long
04. Play It Loud
05. Diamond Lights
06. We Won't Be Back
07. I Don't Got
The full track listing is as follows:
Disc One:
01. Lightning To The Nations
02. The Prince
03. Sucking My Love
04. Am I Evil?
05. Sweet And Innocent
06. It's Electric
07. Helpless
Disc Two:
01. Shoot Out The Lights
02. Streets Of Gold
03. Waited Too Long
04. Play It Loud
05. Diamond Lights
06. We Won't Be Back
07. I Don't Got
Due to illness, tonight's (Wednesday, November 2) Chris Cornell (SOUNDGARDEN, ex-AUDIOSLAVE) show at War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee has been postponed. A new date will be announced as soon as possible. All tickets for tonight's show will be honored at the rescheduled date. Refunds are available at point of purchase. Please go to this location for more information.
Although Cornell has been recording a new album with SOUNDGARDEN for the first time in 15 years, he continues to work as a solo artist as well. He told Spin.com how it's different from playing with a band. "An acoustic show is all about you, and any little nuance or mistake is amplified," Cornell explained. "I'm very nervous about it, but I love the intimacy. Once you sit in front of people and start playing songs, it's all on you. No matter what happens, it's entirely your responsibility the entire time. I like that intensity."
Cornell told The Pulse Of Radio that he sees working with SOUNDGARDEN again as having a positive influence on his solo career. "One thing about a solo artist is you can just be in a room way too long with yourself and your own thoughts and your own songs, and it feels really good to be working with Ben (Shepherd, bassist) and Matt (Cameron, drummer) and Kim (Thayil, guitarist) again, and it's actually a really nice reprieve also from just being alone, doing what I do," he said. "It's helping with the balance, I think, too."
Cornell has issued three solo albums. The last one, 2009's "Scream", was trashed by critics and fans for abandoning Cornell's rock roots for an urban pop sound.
Although Cornell has been recording a new album with SOUNDGARDEN for the first time in 15 years, he continues to work as a solo artist as well. He told Spin.com how it's different from playing with a band. "An acoustic show is all about you, and any little nuance or mistake is amplified," Cornell explained. "I'm very nervous about it, but I love the intimacy. Once you sit in front of people and start playing songs, it's all on you. No matter what happens, it's entirely your responsibility the entire time. I like that intensity."
Cornell told The Pulse Of Radio that he sees working with SOUNDGARDEN again as having a positive influence on his solo career. "One thing about a solo artist is you can just be in a room way too long with yourself and your own thoughts and your own songs, and it feels really good to be working with Ben (Shepherd, bassist) and Matt (Cameron, drummer) and Kim (Thayil, guitarist) again, and it's actually a really nice reprieve also from just being alone, doing what I do," he said. "It's helping with the balance, I think, too."
Cornell has issued three solo albums. The last one, 2009's "Scream", was trashed by critics and fans for abandoning Cornell's rock roots for an urban pop sound.
"Glorious Christmas Songs That Will Make Your Black Label Heart Feel Good", a brand new EP of acoustic, instrumental Christmas classics from BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, is available now on iTunes via eOne Music.
The track listing for the effort is as follows:
01. I'll Be Home For Christmas
02. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
03. It's A Wonderful World
In other news, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY has been confirmed as main support for GUNS N' ROSES on the following dates (except where otherwise noted):
Dec. 03 - Atlanta, GA – Masquerade (no GN'R, BLS headlining show)
Dec. 04 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
Dec. 05 - Southaven, MS - DeSoto County Civic Center
Dec. 07 - Youngstown, OH - The Covelli Centre
Dec. 08 - Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse
Dec. 10 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont (no GN'R, BLS headlining show)
Dec. 11 - Broomfield, CO - 1st Bank Center
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's "The Song Remains Not The Same" sold around 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 41 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released on May 10 via Entertainment One Music, the offering features unplugged versions of material from BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's latest album, "Order Of The Black", as well as additional material recorded during the "Order Of The Black" sessions. "The Song Remains Not The Same" was conceived, created and compiled by BLS mainman Zakk Wylde himself and the title is, of course, a nod to one of Wylde's favorite bands, LED ZEPPELIN.
"Order Of The Black" was released in North America in August 2010 via E1 Music. The CD featured four unique covers designed by Zakk Wylde himself — one for each territory: North America, Europe, Asia and Australia/New Zealand.
The track listing for the effort is as follows:
01. I'll Be Home For Christmas
02. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
03. It's A Wonderful World
In other news, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY has been confirmed as main support for GUNS N' ROSES on the following dates (except where otherwise noted):
Dec. 03 - Atlanta, GA – Masquerade (no GN'R, BLS headlining show)
Dec. 04 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
Dec. 05 - Southaven, MS - DeSoto County Civic Center
Dec. 07 - Youngstown, OH - The Covelli Centre
Dec. 08 - Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse
Dec. 10 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont (no GN'R, BLS headlining show)
Dec. 11 - Broomfield, CO - 1st Bank Center
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's "The Song Remains Not The Same" sold around 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 41 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released on May 10 via Entertainment One Music, the offering features unplugged versions of material from BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's latest album, "Order Of The Black", as well as additional material recorded during the "Order Of The Black" sessions. "The Song Remains Not The Same" was conceived, created and compiled by BLS mainman Zakk Wylde himself and the title is, of course, a nod to one of Wylde's favorite bands, LED ZEPPELIN.
"Order Of The Black" was released in North America in August 2010 via E1 Music. The CD featured four unique covers designed by Zakk Wylde himself — one for each territory: North America, Europe, Asia and Australia/New Zealand.
DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Mangini will take part in a drum clinic on November 15 at Fork's Drum Closet in Nashville, Tennessee.
For more information, go to this location.
In a recent interview with Zoiks! Online, Mangini stated about the fan reaction to his addition to DREAM THEATER, "It depends on what you mean by fan reaction, because there are people who have seen the show and then there are people who have not seen the show, so you have to divide them into two distinctly different groups. A lot of times the people who haven't seen it have more to say, but they haven't seen it, so I don't know what that is all about sometimes. The people that have seen it, by the third song they are making me feel so welcome that it has transformed everything for me to another level. It makes it that much easier because they have been overwhelmingly positive. It's great."
When asked about the fact that DREAM THEATER's current tour setlist is remaining consistent for the entire duration of the trek as opposed to when Mike Portnoy was a member of the band and it would change from night to the next, Mangini said, "The consistent setlist is the way to go. It allows the crew to be consistent each night. It allows the transitions to be consistent. It allows us to get comfortable with the flow. For me I wouldn't want to mix up the set at all, because I haven't been in the band for too long. My past would dictate that just throwing songs in would be risky for the flow… It might be fun, though. I don't know; I've never done it."
For more information, go to this location.
In a recent interview with Zoiks! Online, Mangini stated about the fan reaction to his addition to DREAM THEATER, "It depends on what you mean by fan reaction, because there are people who have seen the show and then there are people who have not seen the show, so you have to divide them into two distinctly different groups. A lot of times the people who haven't seen it have more to say, but they haven't seen it, so I don't know what that is all about sometimes. The people that have seen it, by the third song they are making me feel so welcome that it has transformed everything for me to another level. It makes it that much easier because they have been overwhelmingly positive. It's great."
When asked about the fact that DREAM THEATER's current tour setlist is remaining consistent for the entire duration of the trek as opposed to when Mike Portnoy was a member of the band and it would change from night to the next, Mangini said, "The consistent setlist is the way to go. It allows the crew to be consistent each night. It allows the transitions to be consistent. It allows us to get comfortable with the flow. For me I wouldn't want to mix up the set at all, because I haven't been in the band for too long. My past would dictate that just throwing songs in would be risky for the flow… It might be fun, though. I don't know; I've never done it."
If alt-rock bad boy Scott Weiland had sang, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" in the 1990s, he might have been arrested. But in 2011, the Stone Temple Pilots frontman is legitimately in the holiday spirit, and on his just-released holiday LP The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (preview it here), he teams with an orchestra and lays a suave croon over time-honored classics like "Silent Night," "Winter Wonderland," and, of course, "White Christmas." We called up the 44-year-old singer at his Los Angeles home to chat about merriment, getting booted from his junior high school choir, and what he wants for Christmas.
Why record a Christmas album now, more than 20 years into your career?
It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. But we — myself and Doug Grean [Weiland's regular producer/collaborator] — only recently got our studio to the point where we have a very rare collection of old vintage gear, including vintage mics and our favorite mixing board, the same board that Steve Albini uses. It has a really warm sound, which is perfect for this style of music. It cost about $12,000 and is worth about $60,000 now. So, if you're interested in making some money, vintage gear is definitely the way to go [laughs]. We recorded with a 16-piece string orchestra, a 10-piece horn section, plus woodwind instruments, piano, standup bass, and guitar. I can't read sheet music, I have to just listen to it, and then just go for it. You can't restrain yourself with this kind of music. It's very emotional music and it's all about the phrasing and being able to change notes. [Weiland adopts a Bing Crosby-esque voices and belts "I'll Be Home for Christmas."]
It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. But we — myself and Doug Grean [Weiland's regular producer/collaborator] — only recently got our studio to the point where we have a very rare collection of old vintage gear, including vintage mics and our favorite mixing board, the same board that Steve Albini uses. It has a really warm sound, which is perfect for this style of music. It cost about $12,000 and is worth about $60,000 now. So, if you're interested in making some money, vintage gear is definitely the way to go [laughs]. We recorded with a 16-piece string orchestra, a 10-piece horn section, plus woodwind instruments, piano, standup bass, and guitar. I can't read sheet music, I have to just listen to it, and then just go for it. You can't restrain yourself with this kind of music. It's very emotional music and it's all about the phrasing and being able to change notes. [Weiland adopts a Bing Crosby-esque voices and belts "I'll Be Home for Christmas."]
Were there any Christmas albums or holiday experiences that inspired you?
I sang in choir as a kid. I remember being in first grade, they picked me to sing the two solos, which was very humiliating. All the other first graders were laughing at me. What do you do when you're a kid? You're embarrassed so you laugh with them. Then I just did the best job that I could. That got the ball rolling. So I sang in choir up to junior high and then in high school I was in the Magical Ensemble, which was the elite group. It was really cool. We'd sing Mozart and Vivaldi. Pretty heavy stuff. We did over 100 shows a year and most of them were around Christmas. I started listening to the music of the '40s — Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, and on and on and on. I was really, really, really moved by those albums.
I sang in choir as a kid. I remember being in first grade, they picked me to sing the two solos, which was very humiliating. All the other first graders were laughing at me. What do you do when you're a kid? You're embarrassed so you laugh with them. Then I just did the best job that I could. That got the ball rolling. So I sang in choir up to junior high and then in high school I was in the Magical Ensemble, which was the elite group. It was really cool. We'd sing Mozart and Vivaldi. Pretty heavy stuff. We did over 100 shows a year and most of them were around Christmas. I started listening to the music of the '40s — Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, and on and on and on. I was really, really, really moved by those albums.
Do you think this album will surprise your fans? Or will this help change the public's perception of Scott Weiland?
My image now is only a smidgen is who I actually am. Just like Keith Richards or Perry Farrell or even Mick Jagger. Jagger was never a real druggie, but they were thought of as the bad boys. I had a period in my life in the '90s where I was definitely young, dumb, and full of even more dumb.
My image now is only a smidgen is who I actually am. Just like Keith Richards or Perry Farrell or even Mick Jagger. Jagger was never a real druggie, but they were thought of as the bad boys. I had a period in my life in the '90s where I was definitely young, dumb, and full of even more dumb.
But people still see you as a badass. Don't you think fans will be surprised that the frontman of Stone Temple Pilots is now singing gentle Christmas songs?
I don't think so. My solo albums are very avant-garde compared to Velvet Revolver or STP. It's more influenced by bands I like such as Granddaddy and the Flaming Lips and Sigur Ros and the Smiths. Also, STP played "A Charlie Brown Christmas" song at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show a few years back. The backing vocals have this really eerie, multiple layered jazz feel.
I don't think so. My solo albums are very avant-garde compared to Velvet Revolver or STP. It's more influenced by bands I like such as Granddaddy and the Flaming Lips and Sigur Ros and the Smiths. Also, STP played "A Charlie Brown Christmas" song at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show a few years back. The backing vocals have this really eerie, multiple layered jazz feel.
Did anybody try to convince you that The Most Wonderful Time of the Year was a bad idea?
Not at all. Nope. And I'll tell you why: Back in 1990, before STP were even signed, [STP bassist/guitarist] Robert DeLeo and I were very broke. Like broke, broke, broke. We had no money to buy presents for our family. So we decided to record a version of "The Christmas Song," but we didn't have an orchestra. We had a keyboard with some good string samples and Robert put some toilet paper behind his bass strings to mute it so it sounded like a standup bass. He had a Gibson 175 and he just played the drums on it. I mixed it and we gave it to our parents and grandparents, and to this day they say that it's the best Christmas present that they have ever received.
Not at all. Nope. And I'll tell you why: Back in 1990, before STP were even signed, [STP bassist/guitarist] Robert DeLeo and I were very broke. Like broke, broke, broke. We had no money to buy presents for our family. So we decided to record a version of "The Christmas Song," but we didn't have an orchestra. We had a keyboard with some good string samples and Robert put some toilet paper behind his bass strings to mute it so it sounded like a standup bass. He had a Gibson 175 and he just played the drums on it. I mixed it and we gave it to our parents and grandparents, and to this day they say that it's the best Christmas present that they have ever received.
What's more difficult: Singing these classic Christmas songs or a classic Stone Temple Pilots song like "Sex Type Thing"?
It's harder singing a song like "Sex Type Thing." Particularly that song because I was only 22 when I wrote the melody and lyrics and it's very blatantly an anti-date rape song, kind of like "Polly" by Nirvana. That was our first single it became huge. The story about it being an anti-date rape song was well known. But there were a couple of shows where I would wear a granny's dress from the '60s, and these big huge jocks were moshing. They didn't even notice the message in the song. There have been two generations of music fans and the media is completely different now. So people don't really know what "Sex Type Thing" is about. So it really bums me out when I see people moshing to that song. It's basically the opposite of what we had in mind when we wrote it.
It's harder singing a song like "Sex Type Thing." Particularly that song because I was only 22 when I wrote the melody and lyrics and it's very blatantly an anti-date rape song, kind of like "Polly" by Nirvana. That was our first single it became huge. The story about it being an anti-date rape song was well known. But there were a couple of shows where I would wear a granny's dress from the '60s, and these big huge jocks were moshing. They didn't even notice the message in the song. There have been two generations of music fans and the media is completely different now. So people don't really know what "Sex Type Thing" is about. So it really bums me out when I see people moshing to that song. It's basically the opposite of what we had in mind when we wrote it.
Have you thought about caroling this year?
[Laughs] That's a possibility. The Magical Ensemble used to go Christmas caroling every year in Balboa, California, and me and my friend got into quite a bit of trouble. Everyone would bring tumblers of hot chocolate and my friend and I would sneak Schnapps in ours. We were fine with it — we were veterans by then. But some of the others involved were definitely rookies. We all got caught and it was definitely our fault. It was a stupid thing to do. We were kicked out of the ensemble, but were allowed back in the new year.
[Laughs] That's a possibility. The Magical Ensemble used to go Christmas caroling every year in Balboa, California, and me and my friend got into quite a bit of trouble. Everyone would bring tumblers of hot chocolate and my friend and I would sneak Schnapps in ours. We were fine with it — we were veterans by then. But some of the others involved were definitely rookies. We all got caught and it was definitely our fault. It was a stupid thing to do. We were kicked out of the ensemble, but were allowed back in the new year.
So, what do you want for Christmas this year?
I want my ex-wife and children to be happy. I want all the changes in the Middle East, which have happened so rapidly, to work out for the best. I pray to God that clearer heads prevail and those nations don't open their doors to radicalism.
I want my ex-wife and children to be happy. I want all the changes in the Middle East, which have happened so rapidly, to work out for the best. I pray to God that clearer heads prevail and those nations don't open their doors to radicalism.
In a nutshell, you'd like peace on earth?
Yep. That's it. Peace on earth and goodwill towards men.
Yep. That's it. Peace on earth and goodwill towards men.
t's not usually a good idea to judge a book by its cover, but it's hard not to with Ace Frehley's new memoir, No Regrets (Simon & Schuster). The cover image features the former KISS guitarist slumped in the back seat of a car, his hair greasy and his eyes bloodshot, giving an unconvincing thumbs up to the camera. Frehley has had plenty of triumphant rock star moments in his career, but this ain't one of them. He looks wasted and tired, like he just threw up on or near a passed-out groupie and he's trying to decide whether to shotgun another beer or huff some paint fumes. If that sounds mean, well, you might want to give No Regrets a read. Frehley doesn't exactly portray himself as a role model for clean living. There are high-speed car chases with the cops and mishaps involving Uzis and homemade explosions. Airplane glue is ingested several times but not, curiously, cold gin. A .357 Magnum is fired inside a house, unwashed polyester costumes become conduits for sexually transmitted diseases, and a groupie gets hit in the head with a golf club after her body is painted with onion dip. If it's kind of gross or a felony, Frehley has probably already freely admitted to doing it.
I called Frehley to talk about his memoir, and we ended up talking about Nazis and aliens. For somebody who's been allegedly clean and sober for almost three years, he was literally the most stoned-sounding person I have ever spoken to in my life.
From Mötley Crüe's The Dirt to Led Zeppelin's Hammer of the Gods, the best rock biographies tend to be a little disgusting. There's drugs and vomit and groupies and mud sharks. Does your book have enough disgusting rock star behavior to be a bestseller?
I think so. It's pretty high on that kind of stuff. Between the car accidents and the shenanigans on the road, I think it holds up as well as any other rock star bio out there. But I have to admit, I haven't read any of those other books, so I don't really know. I just know what people tell me about my book and how it compares. The one thing everybody tells me is "Boy, this would make some fucking movie."
There's a paragraph in No Regrets that I personally think is one of the greatest things ever written about a rock band. It's about the unexpected consequences of all your unwashed KISS costumes being stored together. Would you mind if I read it to you?
[Laughs.] Sure.
"The suitcase filled with hot, sweaty leather, crabs jumping gleefully from the Demon to the Starchild to the Cat to the Spaceman. Must have been like a giant petri dish." Did you actually get crabs from your bandmates' costumes?
Yeah. We all got it.
With all those STDs floating around in one suitcase, who could say where any of it originated. Did you ever identify patient zero?
It was definitely Gene (Simmons). He admitted as much. He told us he had 'em. "Occupational hazard, boys." Whenever any of us got crabs, we always just assumed it was from Gene's costume. We were a little more particular about who we slept with than Gene.
Even before getting Gene's crabs, weren't you also taking regular shots of penicillin during KISS tours, just as a precaution?
Well yeah. It's what you do when you have multiple partners. Back in those days there wasn't AIDS. The only things we had to worry about were gonorrhea or worst case scenario syphilis. But strong antibiotics kill that. We'd pull into a town and if it'd been awhile since we'd been checked out, we'd go to a doctor and say, "Hey doc, can I get a shot of penicillin?" And then we went on our merry way.
You mention in the book that some female fans wanted to have sex with you while you wore the Spaceman costume. But you left out the details. Was there a whole role-playing thing involved?
A what? [Long pause.] No, there wasn't any major role-playing.
There was no set-up? No context? They didn't want you to say things like, "Let's go back to my space pad and have space sex?"
Naw, nothing like that. They were already with the Spaceman so, you know … by definition the fantasy was already true.
Did they ever ask you to do dialogue from Phantom of the Park?
[Laughs.] Oh come on.
"You're looking for someone, but it's not KISS." Nothing like that?
You're reading too much into it. We just did what we did.
You just had sex while wearing moon boots.
Yeah. It's just part of the fantasy.
You also reveal in the book that you had groupie orgies with Paul Stanley and Peter Criss. Did the other guys wear the KISS makeup during sex?
It was usually without.
Did Paul do all the talking like he does in KISS shows? "You wanted the best, you got the best!"
Naw. Paul does all the talking in a KISS show because he's pretty much the frontman. But as for the rest of it [laughs] there wasn't a lot of talking going on.
Ace Frehley in 1977. Photo: Roberta Bayley/Redferns
It's funny the things that surprised me in No Regrets. When you revealed that Gene Simmons didn't shower with the rest of the band, my first reaction wasn't "What a party poop." My first thought was, "The guys in KISS showered together?"
You have to understand, that was only when we were playing sports arenas. They don't have regular shower stalls. You have a locker room and then you have one giant shower with ten sprockets coming out of the wall. What's the big deal?
It's not a big deal, I just-
A lot of the places that we played hosted sports teams. It's one big shower where all the guys in the team shower together. But Gene would never shower with us. He'd go off alone or shower by himself back at the hotel. Whatever!
Everything about the KISS costumes is fantastic, but I never understood the codpieces. Why did you need them? Were you constantly getting kicked in the nuts?
I never had a codpiece. I was … oh wait, I guess I did have it on one costume. Yeah, I don't know. It's not like we needed them. It was just part of our stylized costumes.
So being in KISS wasn't like being in a Benny Hill episode?
No, no, nothing like that. But it did get over the top. When we toured Australia in 1980, our costumes were designed by the same people who do circus costumes. When we were getting started, we made our own costumes. We found everything in little shops in Greenwich Village. Those early costumes were tough and they had studs and leather. But towards the end, the whole thing shifted and became larger than life and a little silly. We became a parody of ourselves. I was starting to lose my identity to the Spaceman.
You apparently came up with the Spaceman character because you were fascinated with space travel. In a science fiction kind of way or a "I seriously want to go to space" kind of way?
All of the above. I've always been obsessed with science and physics as well as science fiction. I read books on quantum mechanics all the time.
No you don't.
I do! My dad was an electrical engineer. My brain is just attracted to that type of stuff. I also read a lot of books about Einstein. I'm fascinated by the speed of light and whether we can go beyond it. Some people believe that time travel is possible. I'm also completely intrigued by the idea that maybe human beings were spawned from aliens.
I'm going to need you to elaborate. Do you mean like in Scientology? Are you talking about Xenu?
Listen, homo sapiens have been around for about 300,000 years. But in the last 5000 years our brain capacity has tripled. And there's no explanation for that biologically. The only logical explanation I can come up with is that we mated with aliens and our DNA mixed with theirs and gave us that much more intelligence. How do you think the pyramids got built?
I don't know. Egyptian teamsters?
What about Chichen Itza and all that stuff? All the great civilizations from the past had one commonality and that's pyramids.
How do you know that you personally have alien DNA? Is it just a hunch? Or do you ever feel or think or behave in a way that suggests an other-worldly bloodline?
Well, let's just say that sometimes I feel a lot smarter than other people.
Smarter how?
I never took a guitar lesson. I never took an art lesson. I just know how to do a lot of things and nobody ever told me how to do it.
You think one of your extraterrestrial ancestors had some crazy guitar skills?
Maybe, I don't know. How does that work? It's like I inherited an intelligence and I don't know where it comes from.
KISS perform at the 1996 VMA Awards. Photo courtesy of MTV
Of all the bad behavior documented in No Regrets, you didn't really dig too deep into the Nazi controversies. Like the KISS logo, which you designed, with the two lightning bolt S's reminiscent of the Schutzstaffel.
There were so many crazy rumors about us in the early days. Like that KISS stood for Knights in Satan's Service, or that we were Satan worshippers or Nazis. And it all turns out to be completely false. Paul and Gene were Jewish, I was brought up a Lutheran, and Peter Criss was a Roman Catholic.
Even if it was an accident, when it was pointed out to you that the KISS logo had some unintentional Nazi symbolism, did you or anybody else in the band ever think, "Maybe we should come up with something else?"
Nope, not at all.
You couldn't spell KISS without the Nazi-looking lightning bolts?
I'm glad we didn't, because it's probably one of the most recognizable rock logos in the world. I think it's probably number three. There's a website that rates all the rock logos, and we're definitely in the top ten.
Yeah, but the swastika is also recognizable and that doesn't mean Coldplay should use it in their name.
I'm still glad we didn't change it. And I'll go on record saying it wasn't modeled after Hitler or Nazis. It was just cool lightning bolts.
What about that time when you purportedly burst into Gene's hotel room while wearing a full Nazi uniform and started shouting "Sieg Heil" at him?
Well for one thing, it wasn't just me. Paul and Peter were there too. They were all dressed as Nazis.
Okay, I didn't know that, but I'm not sure if that makes it less creepy or weird.
We had gone to a toy store in Japan and there was all these old Nazi uniforms. We ended up buying a bunch of them as a joke. We had a few drinks and we dressed up in the uniforms, and we were taking a few pictures, admiring them, and somebody said, "Hey, let's knock on Gene's room and surprise him." In retrospect it was really not a cool thing to do. I think he was caught off guard.
I'm sure anybody visited by three Nazi officers in the middle of the night would be a little confused and freaked out.
Yeah, but Gene's mom was in a concentration camp. In hindsight, I feel bad about it. It probably brought back some negative memories for him. But when you're in the heat of the moment sometimes, you don't realize that you're doing something that could hurt somebody. I want to go on record saying I don't believe in Hitler or his ideology or anything he stood for.
You just like the uniforms.
Yeah, they did have the coolest clothes.
Those Nazis could be spiffy dressers.
They really could. Regardless of whether or not you agree with Hitler's ideology, there was still something fascinating about his costumes. I always thought they had the coolest costumes. It was very fashionable.
No Regrets is out now.
DIAMOND HEAD played one of the biggest shows of its career in early July at the U.K. installment of the Sonisphere festival at Knebworth House. The band opened for the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX — who had been paying tribute to DIAMOND HEAD at previous "Big Four" shows by performing "Am I Evil?", a DIAMOND HEAD track METALLICA made famous by covering it on the B-side of its 1984 single "Creeping Death".
In a recent interview with Radio Metal, Tatler was asked if it's fair to say that without METALLICA, DIAMOND HEAD might not be as well-known today as it is. "Yes, absolutely. Since they've started covering songs in 1984. And of course, if METALLICA hadn't had made it big, it wouldn't have made any difference, but the fact that DIAMOND HEAD had been covered by such a huge and important band has just reflected the glory onto DIAMOND HEAD, hasn't it? It's just made the DIAMOND HEAD legacy seem much more cool and credible and important, because we've influenced the major metal band in the world. . . Obviously, DIAMOND HEAD were going before METALLICA, but yes, I think we would've faded away in the late '80s without METALLICA. If they hadn't have done covers — because a lot of bands don't do covers, do they? They just do their own material, but METALLICA decided to do covers for B-sides and things and that has just been fantastic for bands like DIAMOND HEAD, and BUDGIE, and MOTÖRHEAD, and MERCYFUL FATE, or whoever they've chosen to cover."
Swedish/German extreme metallers ARCH ENEMY have teamed up with the non-governmental human-rights organization Amnesty International for their upcoming "Khaos Over Europe" tour. The tour will kick off in Sweden on November 8 and brings the band back to the European clubs after playing many high-profile festivals this summer as well as completing an extensive North American tour and taking part in a blistering show at the Loud Park festival in Japan. Following up on the successful collaboration on the band's recent North American tour, both parties are looking forward to spread the word about Amnesty International's campaign "Expression Of Freedom."
Amnesty International will be attending selected shows during the tour and will offer additional information for interested fans at the venues.
Commented ARCH ENEMY frontwoman Angela Gossow: "We have Amnesty International with us again on the European leg of our 'World Khaos' tour to support their 'Expression Of Freedom' campaign and raise awareness.
"Many people sacrifice their lives to fight against terror, crime and oppression. They are being brutally murdered or imprisoned for simply communicating the truth. In honor of their outstanding courage and to bring justice to them (and the generations to come), it is important to support the cause and keep fighting for freedom! Each one of us can do something: Spread the word amongst your social network (sites), sign petitions, donate money, join peaceful demonstrations — pick your activism of choice! End repression. Allow expression!"
Jo Metcalf, head of Art For Amnesty, said, "We're thrilled that ARCH ENEMY are supporting our work on freedom of expression. We're lucky to have the support of musicians and other artists who fully appreciate the value of being able to express their creativity without fear of arrest or worse. In some parts of the world, pursuing a creative goal — or just speaking freely — can lead to harassment, loss of freedom and even torture. I hope that everyone who comes to an ARCH ENEMY gig — not least to witness ARCH ENEMY's amazing show — gets involved in supporting Amnesty's work in this area."
Amnesty International has more than three million supporters, members and activists in over 150 countries whose main goal is to campaign for internationally recognized human rights to be respected and protected. Make sure to also visit your local Amnesty International sites to learn more about their fantastic work to protect human rights: www.amnesty.org.
When asked if he gets tired when people talk about "Am I Evil?" and confuse it with a METALLICA song, Tatler said, "I don't mind, because I get the royalties! [laughs] I think we've all done that, we've all listened to an artist and thought, 'That's a good song,' and then later realized they didn't write it, they just did a good version of it. . . I've had [people not believe me when I told them who originally wrote the track]. I said, 'It's a DIAMOND HEAD song,' and people answered, 'No, it's METALLICA!' You have to tell them to look at the small print on the record where it says, 'Written by Tatler/Harris in 1980.'"
Amnesty International will be attending selected shows during the tour and will offer additional information for interested fans at the venues.
Commented ARCH ENEMY frontwoman Angela Gossow: "We have Amnesty International with us again on the European leg of our 'World Khaos' tour to support their 'Expression Of Freedom' campaign and raise awareness.
"Many people sacrifice their lives to fight against terror, crime and oppression. They are being brutally murdered or imprisoned for simply communicating the truth. In honor of their outstanding courage and to bring justice to them (and the generations to come), it is important to support the cause and keep fighting for freedom! Each one of us can do something: Spread the word amongst your social network (sites), sign petitions, donate money, join peaceful demonstrations — pick your activism of choice! End repression. Allow expression!"
Jo Metcalf, head of Art For Amnesty, said, "We're thrilled that ARCH ENEMY are supporting our work on freedom of expression. We're lucky to have the support of musicians and other artists who fully appreciate the value of being able to express their creativity without fear of arrest or worse. In some parts of the world, pursuing a creative goal — or just speaking freely — can lead to harassment, loss of freedom and even torture. I hope that everyone who comes to an ARCH ENEMY gig — not least to witness ARCH ENEMY's amazing show — gets involved in supporting Amnesty's work in this area."
Amnesty International has more than three million supporters, members and activists in over 150 countries whose main goal is to campaign for internationally recognized human rights to be respected and protected. Make sure to also visit your local Amnesty International sites to learn more about their fantastic work to protect human rights: www.amnesty.org.
When asked if he gets tired when people talk about "Am I Evil?" and confuse it with a METALLICA song, Tatler said, "I don't mind, because I get the royalties! [laughs] I think we've all done that, we've all listened to an artist and thought, 'That's a good song,' and then later realized they didn't write it, they just did a good version of it. . . I've had [people not believe me when I told them who originally wrote the track]. I said, 'It's a DIAMOND HEAD song,' and people answered, 'No, it's METALLICA!' You have to tell them to look at the small print on the record where it says, 'Written by Tatler/Harris in 1980.'"
DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT will release "Contain Us", a special tribute box set for its epic quadrology ("Ki", "Addicted", "Deconstruction" and "Ghost") on November 29 in North America. "Contain Us" was designed and created by Man Alive's Tom Bejgrowicz (who also conceived the classic and must-have MISFITS "Coffin" box-set) and is the ultimate collection for every diehard Devin fan. Pre-orders are now exclusively available at CM Distro. The standard box-set is priced at $80.00 while the hand-numbered box with the 10" and a lithograph drawn and autographed by Devin is $100.
"Contain Us" official specs:
* A 12" x 12", 64-page, perfect bound book featuring a charcoal linen hardcover with ink-less debossing of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT logo on the front and applicable titling on the spine.
* Housed in an uncoated, charcoal linen, hardcover slipcase — presented with a photographic portrait of Devin inset on the front and ink-less embossing of applicable titling on the spine.
* Contains the following: the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT albums: "Ki", "Addicted", "Ghost" and "Deconstruction" plus two bonus DVDs and CDs. The DVDs have one featuring live performances and all the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT promotional videos while the other has audio commentary for all four albums, live audio tracks, song stems for remixing and more. One of the audio CDs features all the bonus tracks from the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT sessions with the other having the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT session demos. "Ghost" and "Deconstruction" were both remastered just for this set.
* The four DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT albums will be housed within the front cover's pastedown while the four unreleased discs will be in the back's.
* The interior features acid free, linen-embossed charcoal end papers and museum-quality, dull text and cover stock throughout.
* The center of the book will feature a double gatefold printed on cover stock and comprised of the four album covers.
* A clean, crisp, classic-yet-modern design featuring color and black-and-white imagery throughout. Materials include Devin and the band's personal archives, photography from around the world, and any InsideOut/Devin-related photoshoots from the period.
* A permanently attached, purple fabric linen bookmark.
* This edition is limited to 5000 copies worldwide
* 500 individually-numbered, limited edition copies that include two exclusive items: A. An autographed lithographic print featuring original artwork by Devin drawn exclusively for this edition, and B. A 10" piece of vinyl featuring two exclusive tracks, "Rapture" and "Dinosaurs". Note: 250 copies of the record will be pressed on black vinyl while the other 250 are on white.
"Contain Us" official specs:
* A 12" x 12", 64-page, perfect bound book featuring a charcoal linen hardcover with ink-less debossing of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT logo on the front and applicable titling on the spine.
* Housed in an uncoated, charcoal linen, hardcover slipcase — presented with a photographic portrait of Devin inset on the front and ink-less embossing of applicable titling on the spine.
* Contains the following: the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT albums: "Ki", "Addicted", "Ghost" and "Deconstruction" plus two bonus DVDs and CDs. The DVDs have one featuring live performances and all the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT promotional videos while the other has audio commentary for all four albums, live audio tracks, song stems for remixing and more. One of the audio CDs features all the bonus tracks from the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT sessions with the other having the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT session demos. "Ghost" and "Deconstruction" were both remastered just for this set.
* The four DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT albums will be housed within the front cover's pastedown while the four unreleased discs will be in the back's.
* The interior features acid free, linen-embossed charcoal end papers and museum-quality, dull text and cover stock throughout.
* The center of the book will feature a double gatefold printed on cover stock and comprised of the four album covers.
* A clean, crisp, classic-yet-modern design featuring color and black-and-white imagery throughout. Materials include Devin and the band's personal archives, photography from around the world, and any InsideOut/Devin-related photoshoots from the period.
* A permanently attached, purple fabric linen bookmark.
* This edition is limited to 5000 copies worldwide
* 500 individually-numbered, limited edition copies that include two exclusive items: A. An autographed lithographic print featuring original artwork by Devin drawn exclusively for this edition, and B. A 10" piece of vinyl featuring two exclusive tracks, "Rapture" and "Dinosaurs". Note: 250 copies of the record will be pressed on black vinyl while the other 250 are on white.
Helsinki-based progressive metallers ADAMANTRA have announced the addition of vocalist Michael Henneken to the group's ranks. Gifted with a personal voice paired with a powerful range, he's got that rare capability for both painting melodic landscapes, and rocking hard — he is the perfect fit for ADAMANTRA.
Michael, being the former singer of the Finnish prog metal aristocrats SILENT VOICES and the current frontman for the band SENTIMENT, is no stranger to the job. Powered by his experience and talent, ADAMANTRA is again moving full speed ahead!
"I am very happy for getting the chance to join such a brilliant band as ADAMANTRA," said Michael in a statement. "The guys are really talented and that gives me a great opportunity to push my self musically forward as well. I will give my 110% for making the next album an amazing piece of work on my part and I'm looking forward doing live shows with the new material."
ADAMANTRA's debut album, "Revival", was released in 2009 and received considerable acclaim from the progressive metal audience and critics alike.
The band is currently working on its next CD at Pathos Music Studio with producer Mikko P. Mustonen.
Michael, being the former singer of the Finnish prog metal aristocrats SILENT VOICES and the current frontman for the band SENTIMENT, is no stranger to the job. Powered by his experience and talent, ADAMANTRA is again moving full speed ahead!
"I am very happy for getting the chance to join such a brilliant band as ADAMANTRA," said Michael in a statement. "The guys are really talented and that gives me a great opportunity to push my self musically forward as well. I will give my 110% for making the next album an amazing piece of work on my part and I'm looking forward doing live shows with the new material."
ADAMANTRA's debut album, "Revival", was released in 2009 and received considerable acclaim from the progressive metal audience and critics alike.
The band is currently working on its next CD at Pathos Music Studio with producer Mikko P. Mustonen.
Coinciding with the release of "Carbon-Based Anatomy", progressive rock/metal band CYNIC has confirmed a special release party for this Wednesday, November 2 at Idle Hands Bar in New York City. The band will be on hand to sign copies of the new EP and will take part in a special intimate acoustic performance.
Idle Hands is located in the East Village on 25 Avenue B, between 2nd and 3rd streets. There will be plenty of drink specials, including the $10 Tasting Night with Sierra Nevada.
On "Carbon-Based Anatomy", CYNIC has once again taken its natural interfusion of musical styles and turned it into something truly singular. The EP is equal parts KING CRIMSON, TOOL, MUSE and ALLAN HOLDSWORTH. It's a 23-minute transcendent musical journey through the fertile musical minds of guitarist Paul Masvidal and progressive drumming icon Sean Reinert.
Beginning with its much-venerated 1993 debut release "Focus", CYNIC has long been famous for pushing musical boundaries. Now in 2011, CYNIC has redefined itself once again with a six-song EP that combines diverse influences from '70s prog rock to cutting-edge metal, tribal folk and futuristic alien shapes and sounds. All of these diverse elements have been harnessed and carefully shaped by mixer John Hiler into what is unquestionably the most open and expansive-sounding release of CYNIC's career. "Carbon-Based Anatomy" is retro, yet at the same time is unapologetically modern. It is respectful of the groundbreaking artists that have made musical evolution possible yet refuses to be stifled by that reverence. It is wholly appreciative of past musical landmarks but is unashamedly forward- thinking.
"Carbon-Based Anatomy" track listing:
01. Amidst The Coals
02. Carbon-Based Anatomy
03. Bija!
04. Box Up My Bones
05. Elves Beam Out
06. Hieroglyph
Idle Hands is located in the East Village on 25 Avenue B, between 2nd and 3rd streets. There will be plenty of drink specials, including the $10 Tasting Night with Sierra Nevada.
On "Carbon-Based Anatomy", CYNIC has once again taken its natural interfusion of musical styles and turned it into something truly singular. The EP is equal parts KING CRIMSON, TOOL, MUSE and ALLAN HOLDSWORTH. It's a 23-minute transcendent musical journey through the fertile musical minds of guitarist Paul Masvidal and progressive drumming icon Sean Reinert.
Beginning with its much-venerated 1993 debut release "Focus", CYNIC has long been famous for pushing musical boundaries. Now in 2011, CYNIC has redefined itself once again with a six-song EP that combines diverse influences from '70s prog rock to cutting-edge metal, tribal folk and futuristic alien shapes and sounds. All of these diverse elements have been harnessed and carefully shaped by mixer John Hiler into what is unquestionably the most open and expansive-sounding release of CYNIC's career. "Carbon-Based Anatomy" is retro, yet at the same time is unapologetically modern. It is respectful of the groundbreaking artists that have made musical evolution possible yet refuses to be stifled by that reverence. It is wholly appreciative of past musical landmarks but is unashamedly forward- thinking.
"Carbon-Based Anatomy" track listing:
01. Amidst The Coals
02. Carbon-Based Anatomy
03. Bija!
04. Box Up My Bones
05. Elves Beam Out
06. Hieroglyph
Los Angeles theatrical rockers BLACK VEIL BRIDES have released a video trailer for their "Rebels" EP, due this Christmas. The 15-second clip features footage of vocalist Andy Biersack recording a cover version of BILLY IDOL's "Rebel Yell".
In an interview with the Artisan News conducted this past summer, Biersack said that BLACK VEIL BRIDES planned to release an EP before heading into the studio to begin work on its next full-length album. "[It's] just a couple of songs and some stuff that we've been toying around with, some tracks from the last record that didn't make it to the [last] record, kind of revamping some stuff," he said. "We just wanna keep putting out material while our fans are interested and happy."
As for a new album, Biersack said BLACK VEIL BRIDES hoped to begin recording by next April. Guitarist Jinxx added, "We definitely have a whole album worth of material. We're always coming up with ideas and we have [recording gear] in the back of our bus; we'll just put down ideas whenever we can."
BLACK VEIL BRIDES postponed the remaining shows on its U.K. tour after Biersack broke his nose in Luxembourg on October 26.
Even though Biersack and his bandmates played sold-out concert this past Saturday night (October 29) at London's O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, they released an official statement Sunday morning announcing their decision to cancel their shows at Wolverhampton Civic Hall (October 30) and Bristol O2 Academy (November 1), as well as their Oxford Street HMV signing and special Halloween show at London's Borderline on October 31.
In an interview with Revolver magazine, Biersack said he suffered his most recent injury as a result of his "typical routine to entertain the crowd …. rolling around and being crazy."
In an interview with the Artisan News conducted this past summer, Biersack said that BLACK VEIL BRIDES planned to release an EP before heading into the studio to begin work on its next full-length album. "[It's] just a couple of songs and some stuff that we've been toying around with, some tracks from the last record that didn't make it to the [last] record, kind of revamping some stuff," he said. "We just wanna keep putting out material while our fans are interested and happy."
As for a new album, Biersack said BLACK VEIL BRIDES hoped to begin recording by next April. Guitarist Jinxx added, "We definitely have a whole album worth of material. We're always coming up with ideas and we have [recording gear] in the back of our bus; we'll just put down ideas whenever we can."
BLACK VEIL BRIDES postponed the remaining shows on its U.K. tour after Biersack broke his nose in Luxembourg on October 26.
Even though Biersack and his bandmates played sold-out concert this past Saturday night (October 29) at London's O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, they released an official statement Sunday morning announcing their decision to cancel their shows at Wolverhampton Civic Hall (October 30) and Bristol O2 Academy (November 1), as well as their Oxford Street HMV signing and special Halloween show at London's Borderline on October 31.
In an interview with Revolver magazine, Biersack said he suffered his most recent injury as a result of his "typical routine to entertain the crowd …. rolling around and being crazy."
Drummer Chris Pennie has announced his departure from COHEED AND CAMBRIA. The decision was mutual by both parties due to creative differences.
Pennie plans to focus his time on the various musical projects in the works — acclaimed metal band RETURN TO EARTH (Metal Blade Records), which is currently writing its third album; his music production company Fight Mannequins, which just completed its first documentary score; and producing two exciting artists whose records will be released in 2012.
"I am very thankful for the years that I shared the stage with the guys and want to thank the amazing, supportive fans that I've met while on tour, but there are a lot of exciting projects on the horizon, in addition to RETURN TO EARTH and Fight Mannequins, that I feel require my absolute 100 percent commitment and attention," Chris said in a statement. "I feel that this is the right time to make that happen."
Pennie officially joined COHEED in 2007, replacing drummer Josh Eppard and touring extensively with the band internationally. He is featured on COHEED's most recent studio album, "Year Of The Black Rainbow".
Pennie plans to focus his time on the various musical projects in the works — acclaimed metal band RETURN TO EARTH (Metal Blade Records), which is currently writing its third album; his music production company Fight Mannequins, which just completed its first documentary score; and producing two exciting artists whose records will be released in 2012.
"I am very thankful for the years that I shared the stage with the guys and want to thank the amazing, supportive fans that I've met while on tour, but there are a lot of exciting projects on the horizon, in addition to RETURN TO EARTH and Fight Mannequins, that I feel require my absolute 100 percent commitment and attention," Chris said in a statement. "I feel that this is the right time to make that happen."
Pennie officially joined COHEED in 2007, replacing drummer Josh Eppard and touring extensively with the band internationally. He is featured on COHEED's most recent studio album, "Year Of The Black Rainbow".
According to the Hartford Courant, JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE — which celebrates the life and music of Jason's father, the legendary LED ZEPPELIN drummer John Bonham — has canceled its performance tonight at the Webster Theatre in Hartford, citing unspecified concerns about the number of Connecticut homes remaining without power after an early winter snowstorm hit the Northeast over Halloween weekend.
The theater plans to reschedule the show, and will honor tickets for today's performance at the new date. Alternately, refunds are available at point of purchase.
JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE features Bonham on drums, Tony Catania on guitar and theremin, Stephen Leblanc on keyboards/pedal-steel guitars, Dorian Heartsong (in for Michael Devin) on bass and James Dylan on lead vocals. The band's powerful live performance of LED ZEPPELIN's classics takes concert-goers through a mesmerizing visual and aural journey as giant backdrops display iconic art and Bonham's own historical video footage and photos give the show an intimate feel. Show highlights include a heartfelt duet with Jason performing "Moby Dick" off "Led Zeppelin II" alongside his father. Jason is honored to perform 20 hand-picked favorites encompassing the band's albums including their 1969 debut "Led Zeppelin" ("Your Time Is Gonna Come", "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"), 1969's "Led Zeppelin II" ("Thank You", "Lemon Song"); 1970's "Led Zeppelin III" ("Celebration Day"); 1970's "Led Zeppelin IV" ("When The Levee Breaks" and "Rock and Roll"); 1975's "Physical Graffiti" ("Kashmir") and many more LED ZEPPELIN favorites.
The theater plans to reschedule the show, and will honor tickets for today's performance at the new date. Alternately, refunds are available at point of purchase.
JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE features Bonham on drums, Tony Catania on guitar and theremin, Stephen Leblanc on keyboards/pedal-steel guitars, Dorian Heartsong (in for Michael Devin) on bass and James Dylan on lead vocals. The band's powerful live performance of LED ZEPPELIN's classics takes concert-goers through a mesmerizing visual and aural journey as giant backdrops display iconic art and Bonham's own historical video footage and photos give the show an intimate feel. Show highlights include a heartfelt duet with Jason performing "Moby Dick" off "Led Zeppelin II" alongside his father. Jason is honored to perform 20 hand-picked favorites encompassing the band's albums including their 1969 debut "Led Zeppelin" ("Your Time Is Gonna Come", "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"), 1969's "Led Zeppelin II" ("Thank You", "Lemon Song"); 1970's "Led Zeppelin III" ("Celebration Day"); 1970's "Led Zeppelin IV" ("When The Levee Breaks" and "Rock and Roll"); 1975's "Physical Graffiti" ("Kashmir") and many more LED ZEPPELIN favorites.
Central Florida-based metal band CATALEPSY has parted ways with vocalist Rick Norman and has been rejoined by Josh Anderson, who was the singer for CATALEPSY from early 2008 to fall 2010.
CATALEPSY's second album, "Bleed", was released on May 10 via Eulogy Recordings. The CD was produced by Matt Johnson (THE AUTUMN OFFERING) and contains the track "Goliath", which features guest vocals by Matt Bruso (BURY YOUR DEAD).
Formed in 2004, CATALEPSY has been a giant in the Florida music scene for years. Signed to Jamey Jasta from HATEBREED's label, Stillborn Records, in 2007, CATALEPSY recorded an EP and full-length album. The "Godless" EP was releaseed in October 2007 and sold out of all available copies quickly. "Iniquity", the group's crushing debut full-length, was then released in May 2008 and is in stores nationwide.
CATALEPSY has toured the U.S. with HATEBREED, EMMURE, AGNOSTIC FRONT, WAKING THE CADAVER, TOO PURE TO DIE, OCEANO, AFTER THE BURIAL, GOD FORBID and even NECRO.
CATALEPSY's second album, "Bleed", was released on May 10 via Eulogy Recordings. The CD was produced by Matt Johnson (THE AUTUMN OFFERING) and contains the track "Goliath", which features guest vocals by Matt Bruso (BURY YOUR DEAD).
Formed in 2004, CATALEPSY has been a giant in the Florida music scene for years. Signed to Jamey Jasta from HATEBREED's label, Stillborn Records, in 2007, CATALEPSY recorded an EP and full-length album. The "Godless" EP was releaseed in October 2007 and sold out of all available copies quickly. "Iniquity", the group's crushing debut full-length, was then released in May 2008 and is in stores nationwide.
CATALEPSY has toured the U.S. with HATEBREED, EMMURE, AGNOSTIC FRONT, WAKING THE CADAVER, TOO PURE TO DIE, OCEANO, AFTER THE BURIAL, GOD FORBID and even NECRO.
Vocalist/guitarist Adam "Nergal" Darski of Polish extreme metal veterans BEHEMOTH was interviewed on this past weekend's (October 28-30) edition of Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. A few excerpts from the question-and-answer session follow.
Full Metal Jackie: Obviously a lot has happened in the past year with regards to your health; I just want to start out by asking how you're feeling.
Nergal: Actually, I'm doing well I'm physically. I'm improving pretty much every day. I'm also helping myself a lot; it's not that I just sit and wait for miracles to come — nothing like that. I really push myself to the top and try to bring out all the potential there is and I need to push myself and I need to develop. It's going in the right direction, considering the fact that a few months ago I wasn't even able to run for, let's say, 200 meters — it was enough for me to spit out my lungs — and now I'm doing six to eight kilometers every day, every morning jogging and I'm lifting weights and stuff and I actually look good and I look quite fit and healthy, so I guess that the way I look speaks for how I feel. [Laughs] It's going well. Thanks.
Full Metal Jackie: When we found out about the diagnosis last year, there was a pretty amazing response from the metal community. How did that feel for you?
Nergal: It was touching. Yeah, I mean, I've said that several times already that I would never expect the extreme metal community to be that sympathetic, to be that empathetic, for all of these people to feel for me so much and to just send all the messages and emails all of the post I've seen on several forums. It was cool, it was really cool. It was really encouraging and having in mind this massive support coming from people who I consider our fans, it was really helpful and it was very encouraging, as I said. It's not just me and my family behind my back, in a way it's my new family, I consider all these people as a family in way, you know, so it's an extreme metal family. [Laughs] So it's awesome, it feels good that there is people that have so much support and have so much faith in you and that you really mean something to them and you can't overrate it. It's amazing, yeah; it's killer. I mean, I'm speechless.
Full Metal Jackie: Metal Blade is going to be releasing "Demonica" worldwide on November 22. What could you tell us about the release?
Nergal: Well, it was released in Europe, like, a few years back, but it was a small label from Sweden that didn't really take much effort to bring it out to people, it didn't get enough attention, so we decided to pass it over to Metal Blade and they took the right care of it. There's new packaging and it's going to look really cool. It's going to be a deluxe edition with two CDs, obviously, because there's a lot of material. There's a lot of versions of the old songs and there's a really big booklet of stories from the old days and stuff like that, so it's pretty exciting. There's a lot of people who know us from the "Demigod" period up to now, there's a lot of people who just discovered BEHEMOTH with our last record, "Evangelion", so they have a chance now to revisit our catalog, the very beginning of the band. I call it the toddler period, you know — it was the starting of us getting together as a band and we were shaping up, so to say, and it's older, it's a lot of songs from the first and second demo tape and there are songs that were recorded like rehearsal songs. A lot of cool stuff. So, for diehards it's a must, and for others, I think it's cool to check out where we came from.
Full Metal Jackie: Recently it was confirmed that you're going to be a judge on Poland's version of the singing competition "The Voice" and obviously there has been a lot of controversy on that subject. Being a judge on the show, and it's called "The Voice Of Poland", do you feel sort of like Alice Cooper, who, let's say, infiltrated the mainstream on TV game shows in the '70s?
Nergal: Well, he did it on the big scale, and I don't really see myself doing it on a big scale these days, because it's a national thing, right?! It's a Polish thing, but obviously, for some reason — I know the reason, which I'm going to talk later about — there's a lot of controversy here in Poland about it, because there's a group of people that's part of society that apparently find it offensive that a guy like me, a guy that fronts a black metal band and the guy who is considered being a Satanist… We have two main TV channels which are national channels and this is the national TV channel, so [they] find it offensive. Apparently they have to pay, in Poland you have to pay, actually, it comes off your taxes, you cover the national TV off your taxes, and they can't stand the fact that they're actually paying, the money comes from their pocket straight to my pocket. All my virtues and life stands pretty much in opposition to their life, so there's a lot of controversy, there's a lot of articles. In the last couple of weeks, it was crazy because the program started in early September and it's doing really well and it's a singing competition, obviously. There's not much heavy metal there, but it's cool. It's pretty ambitious, I would say. There's a lot of people who really know how to use their voice, and obviously I'm aiming for a strong male rocking voices and I actually have two really killer guys in my team. I'm happy, you know. It's like a new treat for me, and I was surprised to see the extreme metal community in Poland... I mean, some of them obviously make jokes because of that, but all the smart guys know that I'm being myself on TV, I'm not pretending I'm someone else, I'm not wearing different clothes, and if they ask me what I think of music, I pretty much speak up my mind and I don't hide behind a mask or anything like that. I'm just being myself. I'm an extreme metal musician with a lot of albums behind my belt, and that's all the success that I've had with BEHEMOTH and it's undeniable, so my status is there and there's quality behind it, too. They just can't stand the fact that someone like me who part of society considers an outcast or Satanist, anarchist, whatever, there's a lot of controversy, but other than that, it's cool. A lot of people find it really cool and very refreshing that people from the alternative scene find their place in TV. I think it's cool, you know, and it's also a new thing for Poland. I think it's going to change worldwide, too. I know you guys get "The Voice" in the U.S and there's Christina Aguiliera, among others, so yeah, you guys got Christina Aguilera and in Poland it's me.
Full Metal Jackie: Nergal, you keep on saying that "somebody like you," but you're university educated, you're now a TV personality and you front BEHEMOTH. What's the most fun part of being a contradiction to the mainstream?
Nergal: Well, you know what?! I don't need to bend to any rules, and that's awesome. The coolest thing is that whatever happens. I always come back to my cave, I always come back to the place that I feel so comfortable and the environment is very comfy for me. And I'm talking about BEHEMOTH and I'm talking about our tours, our shows, our rehearsal place, so whatever happens with my TV affair, if they crucify me in media or whatever, I don't give a fuck, you know?! Because my priority number one and my biggest passion and love in life is extreme metal music and I've always said that. Even now if they ask me in interviews, I'm always being honest and straight up, and I say that I'm an extreme metal musician, so whatever happens I just don't care, I know that I got legions behind me, and I got people who worship BEHEMOTH's music and really have a lot of faith and trust in what we do artistically, and that's awesome, and that's who I am, that's what made me who I am. This whole TV affair, I'm flirting with mainstream, but don't expect me to do a pop record. I'm not the right person to make that kind of music, because I know how to do extreme stuff and I got extreme opinions; I got love for extreme metal music so that's what I know how to do.
Full Metal Jackie: That's obviously where your heart is.
Nergal: Yeah, there's really nothing wrong with to explore a different type of music; it's cool and it can be teaching in a way. There's a lot of people, there's a lot of professionals there, and I watch how they work and stuff and I'm a good observer and can really draw a lot of inspiration. It's a different territory — it's TV, it's mainstream, but as long as they're professional in what they do, you can still draw inspiration from this and can bring it over to extreme and underground and make it even more professional, so there's nothing wrong with that. I think the tools are there, it's just up to me if I want to learn how to use them, that's it.
Full Metal Jackie: Being in a black and death metal band, people probably think that you're musical taste is pretty limited what would surprise people most about the music on your iPod.
Nergal: Well, there's thousands of songs, there's hundreds of albums. Well, I woke up today and I played the new RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS on my iPod and I really enjoyed it a lot; I think it's a really really cool album, a lot of good songs. So to people who expect me to listen to MORBID ANGEL and DISSECTION only, they're wrong. I'm a very open-minded musician and I listen to anything; it's a really wide spectrum of stuff that I can enjoy. I hate limiting myself in any way. I go for what works for me in any case.
Full Metal Jackie: I know that you're preparing to tour right now. What could we expect in terms of the rest of the world? I know you're doing some European stuff right now.
Nergal: We're doing Poland now. It's a warm-up tour and then we're starting with CANNIBAL CORPSE in February in Europe and actually we're putting final touches to a U.S. tour which will start on April 12. The lineup is still a secret, but probably within days or weeks it's going to be revealed to the world. All I got to say now, because I'm not really allowed to reveal any names, but it's like a dream team tour for me. It's going to be very underground, very dangerous and when we go on tours, especially in the U.S., we've always compromised to be on a bill with bands, bigger bands, smaller bands it doesn't matter. But sometimes it's just politics, it's labels involved, it's money and stuff that we need to compromise and there's bands that we hate, good guys, you know, but a lot of music that's on the bill it's shit, and this time, for the first time ever, it's my favorite bands on the bill. Just wait and see — it's going to be a huge surprise. It's going to be massive. It's very underground, but people will fucking love it. People are dying to see this kind of bill; it's going to be super-evil. It's going to be the most satanic tour that's going to invade the U.S in a long time and there's going to be no tour like that in years. That's a promise; just wait and see. I can't wait for this to happen.
Full Metal Jackie: Last year, what made you stronger — being on trial or battling leukemia?
Nergal: Well, the whole trial thing, you know, I consider it… Occasionally you go to the circus and that's how I felt. The whole thing it looked like someone was trying to do PR for themselves, some so-called politicians and people who tried to promote themselves through the whole case. It's a serious thing in the eyes of the world, but to me, it's just a joke, so I'm over with this and I don't really care anymore. So obviously leukemia because it was a life-changing experience and it was a life-threatening experience. It was definitely something.
Full Metal Jackie: Obviously a lot has happened in the past year with regards to your health; I just want to start out by asking how you're feeling.
Nergal: Actually, I'm doing well I'm physically. I'm improving pretty much every day. I'm also helping myself a lot; it's not that I just sit and wait for miracles to come — nothing like that. I really push myself to the top and try to bring out all the potential there is and I need to push myself and I need to develop. It's going in the right direction, considering the fact that a few months ago I wasn't even able to run for, let's say, 200 meters — it was enough for me to spit out my lungs — and now I'm doing six to eight kilometers every day, every morning jogging and I'm lifting weights and stuff and I actually look good and I look quite fit and healthy, so I guess that the way I look speaks for how I feel. [Laughs] It's going well. Thanks.
Full Metal Jackie: When we found out about the diagnosis last year, there was a pretty amazing response from the metal community. How did that feel for you?
Nergal: It was touching. Yeah, I mean, I've said that several times already that I would never expect the extreme metal community to be that sympathetic, to be that empathetic, for all of these people to feel for me so much and to just send all the messages and emails all of the post I've seen on several forums. It was cool, it was really cool. It was really encouraging and having in mind this massive support coming from people who I consider our fans, it was really helpful and it was very encouraging, as I said. It's not just me and my family behind my back, in a way it's my new family, I consider all these people as a family in way, you know, so it's an extreme metal family. [Laughs] So it's awesome, it feels good that there is people that have so much support and have so much faith in you and that you really mean something to them and you can't overrate it. It's amazing, yeah; it's killer. I mean, I'm speechless.
Full Metal Jackie: Metal Blade is going to be releasing "Demonica" worldwide on November 22. What could you tell us about the release?
Nergal: Well, it was released in Europe, like, a few years back, but it was a small label from Sweden that didn't really take much effort to bring it out to people, it didn't get enough attention, so we decided to pass it over to Metal Blade and they took the right care of it. There's new packaging and it's going to look really cool. It's going to be a deluxe edition with two CDs, obviously, because there's a lot of material. There's a lot of versions of the old songs and there's a really big booklet of stories from the old days and stuff like that, so it's pretty exciting. There's a lot of people who know us from the "Demigod" period up to now, there's a lot of people who just discovered BEHEMOTH with our last record, "Evangelion", so they have a chance now to revisit our catalog, the very beginning of the band. I call it the toddler period, you know — it was the starting of us getting together as a band and we were shaping up, so to say, and it's older, it's a lot of songs from the first and second demo tape and there are songs that were recorded like rehearsal songs. A lot of cool stuff. So, for diehards it's a must, and for others, I think it's cool to check out where we came from.
Full Metal Jackie: Recently it was confirmed that you're going to be a judge on Poland's version of the singing competition "The Voice" and obviously there has been a lot of controversy on that subject. Being a judge on the show, and it's called "The Voice Of Poland", do you feel sort of like Alice Cooper, who, let's say, infiltrated the mainstream on TV game shows in the '70s?
Nergal: Well, he did it on the big scale, and I don't really see myself doing it on a big scale these days, because it's a national thing, right?! It's a Polish thing, but obviously, for some reason — I know the reason, which I'm going to talk later about — there's a lot of controversy here in Poland about it, because there's a group of people that's part of society that apparently find it offensive that a guy like me, a guy that fronts a black metal band and the guy who is considered being a Satanist… We have two main TV channels which are national channels and this is the national TV channel, so [they] find it offensive. Apparently they have to pay, in Poland you have to pay, actually, it comes off your taxes, you cover the national TV off your taxes, and they can't stand the fact that they're actually paying, the money comes from their pocket straight to my pocket. All my virtues and life stands pretty much in opposition to their life, so there's a lot of controversy, there's a lot of articles. In the last couple of weeks, it was crazy because the program started in early September and it's doing really well and it's a singing competition, obviously. There's not much heavy metal there, but it's cool. It's pretty ambitious, I would say. There's a lot of people who really know how to use their voice, and obviously I'm aiming for a strong male rocking voices and I actually have two really killer guys in my team. I'm happy, you know. It's like a new treat for me, and I was surprised to see the extreme metal community in Poland... I mean, some of them obviously make jokes because of that, but all the smart guys know that I'm being myself on TV, I'm not pretending I'm someone else, I'm not wearing different clothes, and if they ask me what I think of music, I pretty much speak up my mind and I don't hide behind a mask or anything like that. I'm just being myself. I'm an extreme metal musician with a lot of albums behind my belt, and that's all the success that I've had with BEHEMOTH and it's undeniable, so my status is there and there's quality behind it, too. They just can't stand the fact that someone like me who part of society considers an outcast or Satanist, anarchist, whatever, there's a lot of controversy, but other than that, it's cool. A lot of people find it really cool and very refreshing that people from the alternative scene find their place in TV. I think it's cool, you know, and it's also a new thing for Poland. I think it's going to change worldwide, too. I know you guys get "The Voice" in the U.S and there's Christina Aguiliera, among others, so yeah, you guys got Christina Aguilera and in Poland it's me.
Full Metal Jackie: Nergal, you keep on saying that "somebody like you," but you're university educated, you're now a TV personality and you front BEHEMOTH. What's the most fun part of being a contradiction to the mainstream?
Nergal: Well, you know what?! I don't need to bend to any rules, and that's awesome. The coolest thing is that whatever happens. I always come back to my cave, I always come back to the place that I feel so comfortable and the environment is very comfy for me. And I'm talking about BEHEMOTH and I'm talking about our tours, our shows, our rehearsal place, so whatever happens with my TV affair, if they crucify me in media or whatever, I don't give a fuck, you know?! Because my priority number one and my biggest passion and love in life is extreme metal music and I've always said that. Even now if they ask me in interviews, I'm always being honest and straight up, and I say that I'm an extreme metal musician, so whatever happens I just don't care, I know that I got legions behind me, and I got people who worship BEHEMOTH's music and really have a lot of faith and trust in what we do artistically, and that's awesome, and that's who I am, that's what made me who I am. This whole TV affair, I'm flirting with mainstream, but don't expect me to do a pop record. I'm not the right person to make that kind of music, because I know how to do extreme stuff and I got extreme opinions; I got love for extreme metal music so that's what I know how to do.
Full Metal Jackie: That's obviously where your heart is.
Nergal: Yeah, there's really nothing wrong with to explore a different type of music; it's cool and it can be teaching in a way. There's a lot of people, there's a lot of professionals there, and I watch how they work and stuff and I'm a good observer and can really draw a lot of inspiration. It's a different territory — it's TV, it's mainstream, but as long as they're professional in what they do, you can still draw inspiration from this and can bring it over to extreme and underground and make it even more professional, so there's nothing wrong with that. I think the tools are there, it's just up to me if I want to learn how to use them, that's it.
Full Metal Jackie: Being in a black and death metal band, people probably think that you're musical taste is pretty limited what would surprise people most about the music on your iPod.
Nergal: Well, there's thousands of songs, there's hundreds of albums. Well, I woke up today and I played the new RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS on my iPod and I really enjoyed it a lot; I think it's a really really cool album, a lot of good songs. So to people who expect me to listen to MORBID ANGEL and DISSECTION only, they're wrong. I'm a very open-minded musician and I listen to anything; it's a really wide spectrum of stuff that I can enjoy. I hate limiting myself in any way. I go for what works for me in any case.
Full Metal Jackie: I know that you're preparing to tour right now. What could we expect in terms of the rest of the world? I know you're doing some European stuff right now.
Nergal: We're doing Poland now. It's a warm-up tour and then we're starting with CANNIBAL CORPSE in February in Europe and actually we're putting final touches to a U.S. tour which will start on April 12. The lineup is still a secret, but probably within days or weeks it's going to be revealed to the world. All I got to say now, because I'm not really allowed to reveal any names, but it's like a dream team tour for me. It's going to be very underground, very dangerous and when we go on tours, especially in the U.S., we've always compromised to be on a bill with bands, bigger bands, smaller bands it doesn't matter. But sometimes it's just politics, it's labels involved, it's money and stuff that we need to compromise and there's bands that we hate, good guys, you know, but a lot of music that's on the bill it's shit, and this time, for the first time ever, it's my favorite bands on the bill. Just wait and see — it's going to be a huge surprise. It's going to be massive. It's very underground, but people will fucking love it. People are dying to see this kind of bill; it's going to be super-evil. It's going to be the most satanic tour that's going to invade the U.S in a long time and there's going to be no tour like that in years. That's a promise; just wait and see. I can't wait for this to happen.
Full Metal Jackie: Last year, what made you stronger — being on trial or battling leukemia?
Nergal: Well, the whole trial thing, you know, I consider it… Occasionally you go to the circus and that's how I felt. The whole thing it looked like someone was trying to do PR for themselves, some so-called politicians and people who tried to promote themselves through the whole case. It's a serious thing in the eyes of the world, but to me, it's just a joke, so I'm over with this and I don't really care anymore. So obviously leukemia because it was a life-changing experience and it was a life-threatening experience. It was definitely something.
Former GORGOROTH/GOD SEED frontman Gaahl (real name: Kristian Eivind Espedal) will star in a new Norwegian film called "Flukt" (English: "Escape"). An action picture set in the remote Norwegian countryside during the 1300s, it is being helmed by "Cold Prey" director Roar Uthaug and will feature Norwegian actress Ingrid Bolsø Berdal in the role of the leader of a group of outlaws living in the mountains.
Synopsis: "The film takes place in the year 1363. Black Death has killed half the population. Many travel from death and misery in search of a better life elsewhere. But the country is sparsely populated, and in the mountains, raging outlaw gangs and a life is worth little."
Uthaug said, "'Escape' should be a grand adventure that takes us back to a time that is little described in the Norwegian film. It should be an epic rollercoaster ride of a thriller."
"Flukt" has been in production since the beginning of September and is scheduled to premiere on September 28, 2012.
Synopsis: "The film takes place in the year 1363. Black Death has killed half the population. Many travel from death and misery in search of a better life elsewhere. But the country is sparsely populated, and in the mountains, raging outlaw gangs and a life is worth little."
Uthaug said, "'Escape' should be a grand adventure that takes us back to a time that is little described in the Norwegian film. It should be an epic rollercoaster ride of a thriller."
"Flukt" has been in production since the beginning of September and is scheduled to premiere on September 28, 2012.
American black metal outfit ABIGAIL WILLIAMS is putting the finishing touches on its new album, "Becoming", for a January 24, 2012 release via Candlelight Records. The CD was recorded in various warehouses throughout Los Angeles with frontman Ken Sorceron handling the mixing, mastering, production and engineering duties for the entire album. The final track listing, album art and more will be unleashed in the weeks ahead as the record nears release.
Following a warm-up headlining gig in Trenton, New Jersey, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS will be providing support for Norway's black metal legends MAYHEM as their massive thirty-six date North American tour gets underway this Wednesday in Baltimore. HATE and KEEP OF KALESSIN will both provide support for the entire trek as well, and ABIGAIL WILLIAMS' labelmates WOE will also perform in eight cities of the tour.
Following the tour with MAYHEM, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS will continue touring through the New Year in support of "Becoming", with full stateside tours supporting DARK FUNERAL and then DEICIDE already confirmed for the first quarter of 2012, and much more in the planning stages for the months ahead.
Following a warm-up headlining gig in Trenton, New Jersey, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS will be providing support for Norway's black metal legends MAYHEM as their massive thirty-six date North American tour gets underway this Wednesday in Baltimore. HATE and KEEP OF KALESSIN will both provide support for the entire trek as well, and ABIGAIL WILLIAMS' labelmates WOE will also perform in eight cities of the tour.
Following the tour with MAYHEM, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS will continue touring through the New Year in support of "Becoming", with full stateside tours supporting DARK FUNERAL and then DEICIDE already confirmed for the first quarter of 2012, and much more in the planning stages for the months ahead.
Reactivated Dutch death metal veterans HOUWITSER have parted ways with vocalist Stan Blonk and drummer Marco De Groot. Blonk left the band for personal reasons and will be replaced for HOUWITSER's final two shows of 2011 by Mike Van Mastrigt (SINISTER, HOUWITSER). The group will then begin the search for a new frontman. Marco's replacement is Marten Van Kruijssen (DICTATED), who was also the fill-in drummer for the last two HOUWITSER shows.
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