With both albums -- along with 1982's 'Live Evil' -- set to be re-released in deluxe formats, Spinner hooked up with Tony Iommi in London to discuss the split with Ozzy, how Ronnie James Dio rejuvenated the band and the importance of a decent-sized drum kit in the world of heavy metal.
How did you come to work with Ronnie James Dio?
I met him at a party at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in LA and it had got to a point where it wasn't working with Ozzy. I phoned Ronnie up to see if he wanted to come up for a jam and he said, "Yeah" so he came over to the house in LA and we had all the gear set up and went into the studio and that was it!
Black Sabbath sound rejuvenated on 'Heaven and Hell'. Was Ronnie's presence a case of the remaining Sabbath members being on their best behaviour to impress the new boy and deliver the goods?
I think that's true. For us, it was so frustrating for those 11 months where we hadn't done anything it was such a great relief when somebody comes along and these things were working finally. And that's no disrespect to Ozzy; he just wasn't in the right state of mind then.
Ronnie James Dio's lyrics were different from what Black Sabbath had done before. Did you have any editorial input or did you just let him get on with it?
Originally [bassist] Geezer [Butler] did a lot of the lyrics but Geezer said, "You know, I just want to get on play my bass instead of having to write all the lyrics all the time," and here was an ideal opportunity with Ronnie coming in who could write his own lyrics. He gave Geezer a bit of a rest without putting Geezer's nose out of joint.
How did the band dynamic change once Ronnie James Dio came on board?
I actually think it gave us that kick up the arse that we really needed. We were so used to being able to do tours and albums and we'd done all the things we were able to do so suddenly when Ronnie came on board he gave us that challenge again to make us fight.
The year 1980 is viewed as a great one for heavy metal. Where you aware of what the likes of Judas Priest were up to and did you feel the younger generation like Iron Maiden snapping at your heels or did you simply batten down the hatches?
We actually carried on with what we were doing and didn't look at other bands and think, "Oh, we've got to do that," or "We've got to do this." We'd got enough problems of our own without worrying what anybody else is doing.
We changed management, we changed everything when Ronnie came on board so it was a new change all round for us. We were confident with what we'd got. The stuff we were writing we really liked and it was starting [the band all over] again so we had to go out and prove ourselves. We didn't have time to think abut who else was out there.
You had hit single with 'Neon Knights' and the album went Top 10 in the UK. Were you pleased with the reception for 'Heaven & Hell'?
Absolutely. The last two Sabbath albums with Ozzy ['Technical Ecstasy' and 'Never Say Die'] did alright but they didn't set the world on fire so when we did 'Heaven and Hell' and that did better than those we were very pleased. And we were very pleased with the turnout on the tour as well.
What were the circumstances surrounding the sudden departure of drummer Bill Ward?
Bill had a very big problem with alcohol and he just couldn't face it any more; he had to go and get himself sorted out but he left on the day of the bloody gig. He'd just got in this bus and gone! Blimey! He'd been up all night thinking about what he's going to do and after drinking all night, he just left like that! We had to cancel that gig big time because he'd left us in the s--- and we had to postpone things until we found another drummer.
We had some cassettes and Ronnie said, "I've got this one of [drummer] Vinny Appice," and we had a listen and thought, "Yeah, let's try him." So we tried him and he came to the rehearsal and I'm not kidding, but he had this really tiny bass drum. The whole kit was like a kid's kit and I'm like, "F---in' hell!"
I looked at Vinny and thought, "Well, it must just be his practice kit or something" but we decided that he was playing well and we'll carry on with him and a couple of days later we had a gig in Hawaii -- it was a huge festival and we were headlining.
So we went out and I was s---ting myself because I hadn't played with another drummer in years -- I played with Bill long before Sabbath, even -- and I turned round and there was this huge drum riser with this little kit! It looked like a Spinal Tap-type thing! F---n' hell! It looked absolutely ridiculous -- a wall of speakers [on one side of the stage], another wall of speakers and in the middle was this huge drum riser with a tiny kit and it looked absolutely stupid and that put me more into a panic.
Vinnie had also made a note of the songs because he'd only played with us once before but it started raining and all his notes got smudged! It was like one of those, "What's next?" moments! Just unbelievable!
But anyway, we got through the show and I said to Vinnie, "You've got to get a bigger kit; you can't go on like that. It just doesn't look right." His kit is huge now but to this day he blames me [for the size of it]. We say, "Do you really need all those extra drums?" and he goes, "Well, it was your idea!" so I get that thrown back in my face all the time now!
You were riding the crest of a wave in a very short space of time (1980 – 82) and it all seemed to come apart just as quickly. What happened?
The live album ['Live Evil']. We'd worked so much and we'd been everywhere, non-stop work for years and then we recorded the live album and I say that loosely because of instead of being involved with it and listening to the sound in the [mobile recording] truck, it was recorded that quick at these gigs and we were more concerned with the gig than getting involved in the recording side.
When we got the [live recordings] in the studio, they were just bloody awful. It was so badly recorded that we had a big problem with it. We were pretty tired and our nerves were on edge and it just led to a bad feeling in the band.
And then to top it all, the engineer that was working with us was drinking more and more during these sessions and getting more and more pissed. One day, me and Geezer said, "It sounds different from how we left it last night" -- and this was going on for weeks – and the engineer said, "I can't take this any more! Ronnie's been coming in and adjusting everything and then you lot come in and adjust and then he comes in and adjusts it again and I just don't know what to do!"
And we said, "You're kidding?" and we broke up because of that! And of course, it was all hearsay and I don't really believe [what the engineer said] now but we did at the time.
The deluxe re-issues of 'Heaven and Hell,' 'Mob Rules' and 'Live Evil' are out on Monday (April 5).
Legendary heavy metal guitarist Tony Iommi (BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL) has revealed to U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine that he will collaborate on new music with his former SABBATH bandmate, singer Ian Gillan (DEEP PURPLE). Iommi tells the magazine, "Ian was at [my place] a few weeks back, and we put a couple of tracks down, just to try and raise some money for Armenia.
"We raised some money 20 years ago and we wanted to do it again, to be able to buy stuff.
"We went over a few months ago because they gave us an Order Of Honor from the president and so Ian and I went over and Pat Cash came. They showed us what the money had bought. They showed us this old music school; it was freezing and the kids had no instruments so we bought them some new instruments — drums and guitars — and we want to build a new school for the kids.
"We're going to do a few songs and, hopefully, we can raise the money to afford to buy them a new school.
"The plans are quite open at the moment.
"We've talked about doing a couple of shows out there, but it's about working round what we are both doing — because we [HEAVEN & HELL] hope touring will start again soon."
In October 2009, Gillan and Iommi were awarded the Orders Of Honor — which were delivered to them by Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan — for the Armenia Grateful To Rock program (see video below). The objective of the program, was to express gratitude to those musicians who 20 years ago participated in the Rock Aid Armenia.
In 1989, within the framework of Rock Aid Armenia, the British rock stars recorded DEEP PURPLE's classic "Smoke On The Water" and also released a disc called "Rock Aid Armenia".
According to The Boston Globe, the Red Sox and AEROSMITH are close to finalizing a deal that will have the Boston rockers playing at Fenway Park for two nights in August. The shows would take place on Friday, August 13 and Saturday, August 14. The J.GEILS BAND would reportedly join AEROSMITH for both shows.
BAD COMPANY has announced that it will be working with instant-music specialists Concert Live on the band's forthcoming U.K. tour dates.
Concert Live will be recording three dates from the U.K. tour and creating live CDs instantly at the shows for fans to purchase and take home straight after the concerts!
Gigs that will be recorded are as follows: Wembley Arena, Manchester MEN and Birmingham's LG Arena.
The live CDs will be available after each of these shows as well as throughout the duration of the tour.
These CD sets are presented in deluxe three-disc digipaks and are strictly limited edition!
To ensure you get these ultimate souvenirs of your BAD COMPANY concert, fans are being urged to order their copies now.
To get your hands on them, either for collection after the concert or home delivery, simply visit the Concert Live web site at www.concertlive.co.uk.
If you are not coming to the live shows, but would still like to get a live CD from the tour, you can pre-order and choose to have it delivered to your front door.
BAD COMPANY U.K. tour dates:
April 02 - Manchester, UK - Arena
April 04 - Sheffield, UK - City Hall
April 05 - Cardiff, UK - CIA
April 07 - Newcastle, UK - Arena
April 08 - Glasgow, UK - Clyde
April 10 - Brighton, UK - Center
April 11 - London, UK - Wembley Arena
SCORPIONS, TWISTED SISTER and RATT are among the confirmed bands for the Rock N America festival, set to take place July 23-25 at the Zoo Amphitheatre in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
SCORPIONS
TWISTED SISTER
RATT
WARRANT
GREAT WHITE
DOKKEN
BULLETBOYS
FASTER PUSSYCAT
L.A. GUNS (feat. Tracii Guns)
ENUFF Z'NUFF
Tickets go on sale on April 10 at Tickets.com.
For more information, visit RockNAmerica.com.
Last night's (Wednesday, March 31) MEGADETH concert at the Palladium in Hollywood, California was reportedly filmed for a forthcoming DVD.
The band's setlist was as follows:
01. Skin O' My Teeth
02. In My Darkest Hour
03. She-Wolf
04. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
05. Hangar 18
06. Take No Prisoners
07. Five Magics
08. Poison Was The Cure
09. Lucretia
10. Tornado Of Souls
11. Dawn Patrol
12. Rust In Peace... Polaris
13. Trust
14. The Right To Go Insane
15. Head Crusher
16. Symphony Of Destruction
17. Peace Sells
18. Holy Wars (Reprise)
Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal of Metal Assault conducted an interview with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson on March 31 2010 at The Palladium in Hollywood, California. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Metal Assault: How would you sum up your eight years away from the band?
David: For me it was scary. At least initially it was, because I had grown up for almost 20 years in MEGADETH. It became my identity, it became how I played, how I wrote songs, how I viewed the world, how I lived, how I paid my bills. I mean, it was everything, you know. (laughs) One day that was over. First thing I did was I moved forward creatively. I did a lot of writing and some co-writing. I actually did some writing with a Roadrunner act called DRY KILL LOGIC. That really kind of got me going and opened my eyes to how guys were writing songs, different tunings and guys who grew up influenced by MEGADETH, how they went out writing their songs with some different stuff like a lot of drop tunings and all that. That led to me forming F5 and playing in TEMPLE OF BRUTALITY and all these other groups that I did, which were great and I'm glad I did those because they were really the experiences I needed to have, just as a person, musician and songwriter.
It was cool to have those. By nature I ended up being the leader of the bands because I usually had the most experience. So all those experiences made me a much better musician to come back into MEGADETH. So that's the good thing that happened from that.
Metal Assault: You had sound problems in Baltimore but made up for it the night after. I really can't think of any other band that would have done this. Once you knew that the venue was available, how hard or easy was it to convince everyone to be on board and come through with it?
David: Yeah, that! (laughs) The only person that travelled on was the lighting guy who travelled up with TESTAMENT up to Scranton. So we just used an alternate guy. But all our other crew were there. They were sick; they were tired. They were really looking forward to a day off. But it was just something we felt we had to do. We went out and almost did the show. Then we had to stop because we had to change over all the sound equipment. Then we went out and did the first three songs of the set. Then we had to basically cancel the show because it was just not working. So we figured, people got to see TESTAMENT and EXODUS so they kind of got their money's worth with that but they didn't get their money's worth seeing the "Rust In Peace" set. So, at least from our side of it, that was the thing that people coming for the MEGADETH show had paid to see. We felt we owed that to them. Even though the sound problems were not of our doing quite honestly (laughs),
but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter whose fault it is. The responsibility does lie with us as the band. Miraculously the venue was available, we had a day off and it was cool. It was kind of a good bonding session for me, Dave [Mustaine], Chris [Broderick] and Shawn [Drover]. To have that kind of an issue happen, it brought us together as a band. It brought us together as a whole touring entourage, me being pretty new in the fold. That was cool. So sometimes things happen for reasons you don't always know. It's almost like the good lord was shutting the PA off (laughs). That's what happens when you are in a band and you're on the road together. You have brotherhood bonding experiences and you usually grow through the difficult times. It's not when you are triumphant and victorious. Those are usually the outcomes of having to go through a bunch of hardships.
Metal Assault: On this tour, you've been ending the shows with a reprise version of "Holy Wars", while you still play it in the set before that. What is the reason for that?
David: It's kind of an old showbiz trick. We've done it with "Peace Sells" over the years too. Sometimes we start with a song, play the first part and then transition into a couple of other songs and then end with the back part. So the "Holy Wars" reprise is just cool. It sort of ties the end of the show with the main reason people are here, which is to see the "Rust In Peace" set. Dave does his band member introduction over the bass and drum thing that we do. We've changed some of the set a lot. We've changed some of the early songs and some of the last tunes. Then we kind of tweak our encore a little bit. We want to give the people a show. It's more than just us standing there and playing songs. We want people to be entertained and want them to have fun. So the meat and potatoes was the "Rust In Peace" set but the other part too in which we definitely played some of the old classics as well.
Metal Assault: You interviewed the original METALLICA bassist Ron McGovney last week. How did that go and what did you guys essentially talk about?
David: First of all, Ron and me are bass players. So by nature, we get along. Bass players are like that. Guitar players are like gunslingers. They fire at each other every once in a while, but bass players get along well (laughs). I've known him for many years, throughout our travels and everything. So it was cool to sit down and talk to him. I know of course a lot of the METALLICA history. He and Dave were in the band for such a short period of time but there really is a great connection. It was during the formative years of that band. So it was cool to talk to him and find out that he had a long friendship with James Hetfield before METALLICA, which I wasn't aware of. There is some great stuff and I learnt a lot talking to him, it is very cool. Stay tuned to Megadeth Radio for that!
Heavy metal singer John Bush (ARMORED SAINT, ANTHRAX) sent Ranker.com a list of the singers that have most influenced him over the years — and his influences are not all metal gods.
John Bush's top 20 vocal influences:
01. Bon Scott
02. Steven Tyler
03. Rickey Medlocke
04. Mike Patton
05. Chaka Khan
06. Rob Halford
07. Levi Stubbs
08. Thom Yorke
09. Ozzy Osbourne
10. Stevie Wonder
11. Phil Mogg
12. Maurice White & Phillip Bailey (EARTH, WIND & FIRE)
13. Chris Cornell
14. Ronnie James Dio
15. Phil Lynott
16. Freddie Mercury
17. Robert Plant
18. Bono
19. Marvin Gaye
20. James Hetfield
MANOWAR will return to Brazil and Argentina after 12 and 14 years, respectively. Hearing the call of its South American brothers and sisters of true metal, the band has confirmed the following dates:
May 07 - São Paulo, Brazil - Credicard Hall
May 08 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Citibank Hall
May 09 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil - Chevrolet Hall
May 12 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - [to be announced]
May 14 - Santiago, Chile - Teatro Caupolican
A three-minute report on the January 2010 German leg of MANOWAR's "Death To Infidels World Tour 2010" — the band's first world trek since 1998 — can be viewed below (courtesy of Germany's RTL). This marked the first time MANOWAR took part in an indoor tour of Germany since 2007.
MANOWAR's new album, "Hammer Of The Gods", which is the first installment of "The Asgard Saga", the band's unique multimedia fantasy adventure with best-selling author Wolfgang Hohlbein, is due later in the year.
MANOWAR's latest DVD in the "Hell On Earth" series was released on November 27. "Hell On Earth V" covers MANOWAR's recent world tours, including Germany, Norway, Spain, Finland, Russia, Romania, Turkey, USA and Canada. It features live performances of old and new classics such as "Gloves Of Metal", "The Crown And The Ring", "Hand Of Doom", "Hymn Of The Immortal Warrior", "Father", "God Or Man" and many others.
NWOBHM act TYGERS OF PAN TANG have announced more live dates in support of the 30th Anniversary Special Edition Of The Wildcat Sessions EP release. The band's itinerary is as follows:
April
22 - Bridgehouse 2 - Canning Town (London), England
24 - Keep it True 13 Festival - Konigshofen, Germany
May
1 - Classic Rock Festival @ Farnborough Football Club - Farnborough, UK
8 - Champions - Bournemouth, UK
12 - Fibbers - York, UK
14 - Asylum - Birmingham, UK
15 - The Diamond Rock Club - Ahoghill/ Ballymena, Northern Ireland, UK
29 - Patriot Party In the Pub 2010 - Crumlin, Gwent, Wales, UK
30 - Tackeroo Club - Cannock, UK
June
11 - Robin 2 Bilston NWOBHM celebration - Bilston, Wolverhampton, UK
August
6 - Cambridge Rock Festival - Cambridge, UK
7 - Sportovni Areal Rejsice - Mlade Boleslavi, Czech Republic
14 - Legends of Rock Festival - Colegio Carrion - San Javier, Spain
September
10 - The Lancastrian Suite - Gateshead, UK
HIGH ON FIRE has been confirmed for this year's Sweden Rock Festival festival, set to take place June 9-12, 2010 in Sölvesborg in southern Sweden.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
AEROSMITH (US)
ALDO NOVA (CAN)
ALESTORM (UK)
ANVIL (CAN)
BACHMAN & TURNER (CAN)
BEHEMOTH (PL)
BIGELF (US)
BILLY IDOL (UK)
BLACKBERRY SMOKE (US)
CATHEDRAL (UK)
CINDERELLA (US)
D-A-D (DK)
DAMN DELICIOUS (S)
DANZIG (US)
DEATH ANGEL (US)
DREAM EVIL (S)
DUNDERTÅGET
EPICA (NL)
F.K.Ü. (S)
FATES WARNING (US)
GARY MOORE (UK)
GRAVE DIGGER (D)
GUNS N' ROSES (US)
HIGH ON FIRE (US)
JORN (N)
MAGNUM (UK)
MASTODON (US)
MAYHEM (N)
MICHAEL MONROE (FIN)
MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP (D)
MOTHER'S FINEST (US)
NAZARETH (UK)
OPETH (S)
PENDRAGON (UK)
POINT BLANK (US)
PRAYING MANTIS (UK)
RATT (US)
RAVEN (UK/US)
RICK SPRINGFIELD (AUS/US)
SABATON (S)
SAGA (CAN)
SATOR (S)
SKYCLAD (UK)
SLAYER (US)
STEEL PANTHER (US)
STEELWING (S)
STONE SOUR (US)
STRATOVARIUS (FIN)
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES (US)
THE ITCH (S)
THE QUIREBOYS (UK)
U.D.O. (D)
UNISONIC (D)
W.A.S.P. (US)
WATAIN (S)
WINGER (US)
Y&T (US)
Last year's festival was attended by 35,200 people, but in 2010 the maximum number of visitors will be limited to 33,000.
For more information, visit www.swedenrock.com.
Oakland, California-based power trio HIGH ON FIRE will support METALLICA on the following dates:
May 11 - Belfast, Ireland - Odyssey Arena
May 12 - Belfast, Ireland - Odyssey Arena
May 14 - Budapest, Hungary - Puskas Ferenc Stadium
May 16 - Zagreb, Croatia - Hippodrome
May 18 - Lisbon, Portugal - Pavilhao Atlantico
May 19 - Lisbon, Portugal - Pavilhao Atlantico
May 22 - Tel Aviv, Israel - Ramat Gan Stadium
May 23 - Lyon, France - Halle Tony Garnier
Commented HIGH ON FIRE in a statement: "HIGH ON FIRE is ecstatic to join METALLICA on its upcoming tour. We are honored to be chosen by James, Lars, Kirk and Robert and look forward to introducing their loyal crowds to our brand of heaviness."
"Frost Hammer", the new video from HIGH ON FIRE, can be viewed below (courtesy of Pitchfork). Filmed on location in both Los Angeles and New York City with director Kevin Custer for Toaster in the Tub, the clip showcases intense performance footage of the award-winning band juxtaposed alongside "the epic tale of a warrior's sojourn to the cold and barren Plateau of Leng where he secures the fabled Frost Hammer that will be used to enact the final rites and complete the dark rebirth and reign of the Frost Child."
HIGH ON FIRE's new album, "Snakes for the Divine", sold around 8,600 copies in its first week of release in the United States to debut at position No. 63 on The Billboard 200 chart. The follow-up to 2007's "Death is this Communion" was made available in North America on February 23 via E1 Music. The album was recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman and is described in a press release as "HIGH ON FIRE's magnum opus, capturing every nuance of the legendary band's ongoing musical progression and evolution into one of heavy music's all-time greats."
The "Snakes for the Divine" album artwork was brought to life by longtime HIGH ON FIRE cover artist Arik Moonhawk Roper.
Original HANOI ROCKS guitarist Nasty Suicide joined ex-HANOI singer Michael Monroe on stage last night (Thursday, April 1) at Tavastia in Helsinki, Finland to perform a cover version of THE STOOGES classic "I Feel Alright". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be viewed below.
Guitarist Todd Youth (DANZIG, MOTÖRHEAD, GLEN CAMPBELL, SAMHAIN, D GENERATION, CHELSEA SMILES) and drummer Jimmy Clark (Deborah Harry, JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, GLEN BURTNICK, RICK DERRINGER, WYNONNA, BLACKHAWK, THE VAN ZANT BROTHERS, DEMOLITION 23) recently left Michael Monroe's new solo band and were replaced by Steve Conte (NEW YORK DOLLS) and Karl Rockfist (CHELSEA SMILES, DANZIG), respectively.
A lengthy recap of Monroe's recent mini-tour of the U.S. can be found on his MySpace blog.
Michael Monroe's band is completed by bassist Sami Yaffa who has played with a remarkable variety of bands including HANOI ROCKS, NEW YORK DOLLS and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, and guitarist Ginger who has dazzled audiences over the world with his band THE WILDHEARTS.
Michael Monroe and his band are set to enter the studio in the spring to record a new album for a fall release.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1laNbwzGQk&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z66uGJSq6Jw&feature=player_embedded
According to Rapid City Journal, MÖTLEY CRUE will perform at the Sturgis motorcycle rally on the Buffalo Chip Campground in Sturgis, South Dakota on August 11.
The band is making a special trip to Sturgis for this appearance, as it is scheduled to play Stockholm, Sweden four days before the rally concert.
"We were looking for someone really, really special to feature during the rally," said Rod Woodruff, owner of the Chip. "They decided they would like to be here."
MÖTLEY CRUE joins DAVE MASON, TESLA, CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVISITED, THE GUESS WHO, ZZ TOP, ORIANTHI, KID ROCK, JASON ALDEAN, DISTURBED, WILLIAMS & REE and DOOBIE BROTHERS for the 2010 lineup.
Tickets are on sale at www.buffalochip.com.
According to The Fresno Bee, Sammy Hagar will open this year's Big Fresno Fair on October 6.
No word yet on ticket prices, but they're expected to go on sale this summer.
Earlier this week, the fair also confirmed concerts with country acts JULIANNE HOUGH (Oct. 8) and MONTGOMERY GENTRY (Oct. 15), plus a classic rock doubleheader with FOGHAT and BLUE ÖYSTER CULT (Oct. 12).
L.A. GUNS (featuring guitarist Tracii Guns), FASTER PUSSYCAT and JOHN CORABI (former MÖTLEY CRUE singer) will join forces for "The Triple Threat Tour", which will run from mid-July through August. Exact cities and dates will be announced soon.
The Tracii Guns-led version of L.A. GUNS has inked a deal with the Steve Vai-owned label Favored Nations/Jibboom, which is Favored Nations Entertainment's rock/metal division. This division stands separate from Favored Nations Entertainment and will be the label's home for all things hard rock and metal.
Favored Nations/Jibboom will reissue the 1999 L.A. GUNS album "Shrinking Violet" on May 25. The LP will be completely repackaged with new artwork and five brand new, never-before-heard, live bonus tracks, including "Rip And Tear", "Never Enough", "One More Reason" and "The Ballad of Jayne".
FASTER PUSSYCAT's first-ever live recording, "Front Row For The Donkey Show", was released last July on Full Effect Records. The CD
features classics such as "Babylon, Pornstar", "Bathroom Wall", "House Of Pain" and "Sex, Drugs & Rock N' Roll".
FASTER PUSSYCAT's current lineup is as follows:
Taime Downe - Vocals
Michael Thomas - Guitar
Danny Nordahl - Bass
Xristian Simon - Guitar
Chad Stewart – Drums
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/reviewpics/triplethreat.jpg
According to The Pulse of Radio, the web site for the 2010 Lollapalooza festival is revealing the lineup on a giant "Wheel of Fortune"-type board, with one letter filling in at a time. At press time, the letters "O" and "R" had been revealed, making it almost certain that the headliners will include, as rumored for weeks, SOUNDGARDEN, GREEN DAY, THE STROKES, PHOENIX and ARCADE FIRE. Another completely blank name will likely be revealed as LADY GAGA. The complete lineup of more than 100 bands will be unveiled next Tuesday (April 6).
SOUNDGARDEN's involvement has been rumored since early this year, when a cryptic announcement from singer Chris Cornell seemed to indicate that the band was returning after a 13-year hiatus.
According to Antiquiet.com, the SOUNDGARDEN reunion has not been made official yet because of the other band members' alleged difficulty in working with Cornell's wife and manager, Vicky.
Lollapalooza is scheduled to take place on August 6-8 at Grant Park in downtown Chicago.
Other acts who may be performing include AFI, SOCIAL DISTORTION, THE BLACK KEYS, DEFTONES, SPOON, DEVO, CYPRESS HILL and more.
Toby Cook sups beer with Cathedral singer Lee Dorrian and discusses anarchism, jolliness and what could have been for Napalm Death...
You can tell a lot about a person, they say, by what he or she drinks. Someone often seen supping a pint of the guest ale is probably from the countryside, chews a stalk of corn and wears a lot of tweed [or is Quietus Ed Luke Turner]. Can of Stella? Football hooligan with personal hygiene issues. Those who enjoy methylated spirits, filtered through a loaf of stale bread and drunk from a shoe are, erm, well, mentally deranged [or was until recently Quietus Ed, John Doran] and people that drink WKD are fucking morons.
Lee Dorrian though...well, on the evidence of The Quietus' most recent meeting with the 41-year-old Cathedral vocalist and head of Rise Above records, he drinks Hoegaarden. Quite what Hoegaarden says about a person we're not sure, but you can bet that whatever is says, when applied to Lee, it would be completely insufficient and inaccurate.
From humble beginnings producing a punk fanzine called Committed Suicide in his native Coventry as a teen, it was almost purely by chance that he was invited to perform vocal duties for one of his then favourite bands, the little known Napalm Death. Although possessing little desire to actually be in a band, Lee's unique and brutal vocal delivery helped propel Napalm to their now legendary underground status, before departing to form the doom/stoner band Cathedral – who have arguably had an equally significant impact on the doom scene, one which they look set to solidify with new LP The Guessing Game.
A rare example of a man who derives as much joy from the acquisition and discovery of new and diverse music as he does from performing it, pulling up a barstool and actually talking to him is often little short of an education... although, he's not as into Miles Davis as you might have heard.
Alright Lee, how the bloody hell are you?
Lee Dorrian: At the moment, really good. It seems that the album is getting a good response, which is obviously great!
It's been a while since the last Cathedral album, what prompted a return to the studio?
LD: Well, after we did the last one [The Garden Of Unearthly Delights] we weren't even sure that we were going to do another one, for various reasons; mainly having been together for so long – we're not teenagers anymore – everyone's got their own lives and commitments. And the last album we did, we thought would be a good one to go out on; the last track is like a 28 minute track that encompassed everything that we're about and we thought, well, fuck, what do we do after that? So we did all the touring to back up the album and then just took a year off to think about what we were going to do. After a year or so, I got in touch with Gaz [Jennings – Guitar] and said: "How are you feeling about stuff? Let's get together and see what we come up with before we decide what we're going to do". So he came down to London with his guitar and we started jamming on a few ideas. He only came down about three times over the space of a year, and
we wrote quite a bit of stuff, which we'd record each time, and listen back to it and try to get our heads around where we were going.
We came up with a load of stuff that was very much like the first album – very slow, heavy doom stuff – which is ironic because the last few albums we've done have started off that way, because that's been the intention. But eventually you get to the stage when you think, well, if we are going to do this let's do the album that we've always wanted to do - rather than skirting around or being shy of certain ideas, let's just go for it this time and just make a good Cathedral album. Once we got over that hurdle of trying to work out which direction we were going to go with it, we just got on with it. We had a bunch of songs that we presented to the band about a year ago, started rehearsing a little later, and then recorded in November. That's it in a nut shell!
So it's fair to say that you're pretty pleased with the results then?
LD: Yeah! There have been times, admittedly, in the past where we've recorded records when we weren't ready to. It kind of worked on a couple of albums like The Ethereal Mirror and The Carnival Bizarre, but it didn't work on some others, and after all, what you record is what you leave behind, so we just wanted to make sure that we did it right. Like I said, we're not teenagers anymore so there's no reason to rush records out in the same way that we might have had to – or record companies wanted us to – in the past. I think we're all really pleased with the performances and the diversity of it all.
So was it ultimately your idea to start work on a new record?
LD: Well really, it was both of ours [his and Gaz's]. The thing is, as soon as I sit down with him and he comes up with some riffs, it's like, aww fuck, here we go again, because he comes out with such killer riffs every time! Until his arms fall off or something, it's probably always going to be that way! But I think that with this album we sort of broke a few moulds within ourselves. I think that we had become trapped in certain characteristics, and had become caricatures of our own little selves within the band and hopefully we've managed to break out of those moulds this time, which should make it easier for us to go on from here.
There's some interesting instrumentation on The Guessing Game – glockenspiels, sitars etc – which is nothing new for Cathedral, but there seems to be more emphasis on them this time around. Was that something that you planed from the beginning?
LD: Certainly since the second album we've always had elements of different instruments – I mean, we've been using a mellotron since '93 – but it's always been like, Wow! We've got to hire a mellotron, get it in the studio, play a few notes ourselves and mess around on it, so there's always been a bit in the background. I thought this time though that if we're going to use it then let's fucking do it properly, and make it part of the song as opposed to just a little subliminal part – make it more up-front and orchestrated. I guess that goes for a lot of the other instrumentation that's on there too. If you look at the album overall, I would say that it's not that radically different to what we've done in recent years. It's more the approach which was slightly more varied; there's not a wall of noise guitar all the way through, Gaz experimented with lots of different sounds and amps and peddles this time, whereas before it
would be just full on guitar where even the mellow parts sounded heavy, even though they weren't distorted. We just paid a lot more attention to detail this time I suppose.
What were the inspirations for this record? I don't want to say that your more recent albums have seemed to be 'concept based' or anything, but there always seems to be strong themes, and a sense of narrative. Is that true of The Guessing Game too?
LD: In the past I think that I've tried, almost to the point of banging my head against a wall, to come up with ideas that are more out-there than the ideas that I came up with on the immediately previous album, and it gets to the stage where you're thinking, well, how far can I go with that approach really? So this time I made a conscious decision just to do what came naturally, so a lot of the songs and the lyrics weren't forced out, they came out almost the way that I would have written them before I was in Cathedral.
There isn't really a concept that runs all the way through the album, but I suppose The Guessing Game isn't far removed from what we've written about before. It's basically the whole kind of confusion that people have about their existence and their motivations to try and justify it, whether it's through religion, through decadence, wealth or material things; it's the 'where do we come from, why are we here, where do we go?' questions and the way that they control peoples lives, that need to find out their reason for existence. If people just stopped being controlled by materialistic thoughts or religion I think the world would be a lot better place. There are people who really can't deal with their own reality so they have to think of this life as being some sort of in-between before the next life, where it's going to be a hell of a lot better; they think that they have to take all this shit in this life, or subscribe to some kind of
nonsense. Those kinds of people get in the way of me, and other like-minded people, who don't really believe in any kind of authority over the mind, shall we say.
Even if there's no specific concept to the album its self, Dave Patchett's art work is...well, it's epic isn't it?! Do you give him specific instructions, or images that you want included, or does he have carte blanche to do as he pleases?
LD: It's a mix really. I always have an idea way in advance, before I've even sat down and wrote anything! I have, like, visions, impromptu things that come into my head, and I think, yeah, I can imagine Dave doing something like this or interpreting this in that kind of way. Mainly, they're against religion and organised ideas and establishment and authority, but done in a way that is – I don't like to use the word metaphorical – but that is metaphorical.
So it's always my ideas; I usually just go down to Brighton and have a few beers with him, spend an afternoon just to get a scratch point to start working from; he'll start coming up with sketches, which he'll then send to me, and we'll go from there really. The art work for the new album I've had since May last year – in fact, he's already started on the next one... God knows when we might record it, if we ever do! But it's always good to have the art, it helps solidify the songs a bit more when I've got something to look at that represents it all.
There's a rather odd sample appearing before the track 'Painting In The Dark', which sounds like someone's mother...is it someone's mother? What's the story there?
LD: Ha! Yeah, it's my girlfriend's Gran! I don't know if you've ever heard and album by The End called Introspection? [It's a Bill Wyman produced record]. On that there's loads of narration between the tracks – I think the band are talking to some guy in a café – but I got the idea from there really. As opposed to the easy way of just nicking things from films I thought I'd do it myself, and because she is an older lady, I'll make her sound quite jovial about it – as if to say, y'know, she's seen a lot of things in her life, but she's just like: "Aw, well, fuck it, I'm just going to get in with it and just enjoy my life, as opposed to just sitting around and fucking moaning about it all the time."
Actually, this has ended up sounding like a positive Cathedral interview, but we're really not that positive! I don't want it to appear that we've become 'jolly' all of a sudden!
I don't think anyone would ever accuse Cathedral of being particularly 'jolly'!
LD: Well, what I mean is that a lot of it goes back to the old anarchist beliefs that I used to have when I was younger, and that are still kind of there. I've read a few books recently, like a Hakim Bey book, T.A.Z – Temporary Autonomous Zone. It's only a short book, but reading that helped me to come to terms with a lot of things about the concept of anarchism instead of being tortured by the fact that anarchism is more of a philosophy than a reality – which it never will be. When I was like 15, 16, I used to think that it had the potential to become a reality in 20, 30 years time; eventually though you realise that it's never going to become a reality, but as a philosophy, I think it's a very good one.
In this book he kind of teaches you that you'll never be 100 % free in this life and this society, but you can find pockets when you are completely autonomous. Whether it's two minutes, three minutes, five days, a week or a year even, in solitude you can find those opportunities where you do have pockets of freedom. I found it to be quite inspiring, so in many respects it is a bit more positive than usual!
Last summer you were briefly reunited with Napalm Death at Hellfest in France. How was that?
LD: Well, for two songs – about 20 seconds or something! Shane [Embury, bass guitar] has been asking me to do that for so many years and I've always kind of gone aww-umm, alright then, and conveniently walked off when it was time to do it. But this time I just thought, fuck it, let's just do it. It was fine though. If anything it's just showing that I've still got respect for what they do, because even though I'm not in the band and there's no one from the first album either – there's no original members as such – it's not about that with Napalm Death, it's more about what the band stand for, and what it says to younger kids who might listen to that kind of music and realise there's more to a band like that than just speed. Aesthetically and politically, or whatever you might say, they're a very significant band, still, in many respects. And we're still good friends!
Politically, they seem to have shifted positions since your day though. Barney's lyrics certainly seem less concerned with Anarchism than yours.
LD: Yeah, he's a bit more left wing. That's one thing that isn't really my thing, but still, at least the message is still a good one. I remember the first time we [Cathedral] went to America, and we toured with Napalm, and fair play to Barney, there were a few gigs where these Nazi twats would turn up – these bone-heads with fucking KKK tattoos and shit – and there would be like four or five of them, and he'd go up to them by himself, and say: "Fuck off. I don't want you at this gig, get out" and they'd go! I take my hat of to that sort of thing. And he's a very sincere guy, y'know. He's just very down to earth - they all are - and yeah, he might have a slightly different outlook to me, but it's still in the same area.
Now, obviously, being that Napalm was you first musical experience...
LD: Ha ha! If you can call it that!
Ha! But do you ever strike a wry smile at the fact that, as a member of both Napalm and Cathedral, you have been in two such revered and genre defining bands?
LD: Well, it's not like any of that was deliberate, that's just what happened [with Napalm Death]. It gets defined that way now, but at the time it wasn't considered that way at all, because it was still new. But how do I feel about it? I don't really know. Although people say it, I don't think that we [Cathedral] get praised that much, because we are still very much an underground band. We still struggle to get by, it's not like everyone gives us a big, big up every time we do something. Maybe nowadays it seems like that because the longer in the distance it is the easier it is to reflect on what we've done, in terms of what we've achieved musically; as time goes on you seem to get a bit more respect. It's great that people feel that way but you just carry on, you still want to continue making the music you make.
Obviously, there is quite a stylistic difference between Napalm and Cathedral. Justin Broadrick has commented several times that a major factor in his departure from Napalm was that, musically, it was just getting too fast. Was that a factor in your departure too?
LD: Yeah, to an extent. By the time we did Mentally Murdered, the band wanted to go in the death metal direction – that's where I really didn't want to go – and also, I thought that that EP was so extreme that I couldn't really see a) how it could get any faster and b) where we could go after that. My idea would have been to keep the fast parts, but add more mid-paced parts and then add some extremely slow parts – in the way that Cathedral went on to do. If Napalm had experimented more, and added some really slow, slow parts – like early Swans type parts – then I probably would have been more interested in sticking around. But there were loads of other reasons as well, and I had pretty much become tired of fast music.
Actually, hearing that, I'm pretty gutted. A Napalm Death meets Swans sound would have been truly brutal!
LD: Well that's what I wanted to do. At least it would have kept the band interesting, as opposed to going down the death metal road, which to me seemed the most obvious thing to do. They also wanted me to sing like Chuck from Death, or the singer from Obituary [John Tardy] and that just wasn't for me. The one thing that Napalm Death had was its own identity, and then all of a sudden they wanted to start copying other bands. I just thought that that was a bad move.
My editor reliably informs me that your a bit of a Miles Davis fan...
LD: Oh, really?
Yeah. Got a favourite Miles Album?
LD: Well the first one [First Miles] would probably be my favourite, but I'm not like a massive miles fan... I don't know where he's got that from! I do love Louis Bellson, the drummer. I love a load of his records, and everything that he did really. He was an amazing talent.
Cathedral's new album The Guessing Game is out now via Nuclear Blast.
Y&T, featuring original members Dave Meniketti (vocals and lead guitars) and Phil Kennemore (bass), along with longtime members John Nymann (guitar) and Mike Vanderhule (drums), will release its first studio album in 13 years, aptly titled "Facemelter", in Europe on May 21 via Frontiers Records.
As the title indicates, "Facemelter" is a hard-rockin', song-oriented album that lives up to its name: it captures the band's raw energy and tightness that they've become known for. Featuring heavy grooves, powerful guitars, and strong melodies, the band shows their versatility, delivering a range of high-energy rockers, mid-tempo head-bangers, modern rock grooves, majestic ballads, and signature Y&T rock anthems. To mark the return, the band engaged John Taylor Dismukes — the same artist who designed covers for Y&T's classic albums "Mean Streak", "Black Tiger" and "In Rock We Trust" — to create the amazing art of the new "Facemelter".
"What a great feeling to dive back into making new Y&T music," states Dave Meniketti. "After being away from it for this long, the anticipation of writing a new CD worth of material was, at first, a bit scary, but as soon as we started up I was happy to find how natural it was to get right back in it again. I think we're going to have to keep this up, because musically and emotionally, we still have a lot to say!"
"It's ridiculous that we waited so long to make a new record," states Phil Kennemore. "In creating new music for 'Facemelter', I rediscovered the most important thing for any artist, and that is to continue creating... it feeds my soul. My hope for 'Facemelter' is that people might just find a few new favorite Y&T songs."
"We recorded together to capture as much of a live feel as possible which I feel is the strong point of the band," adds Mike Vanderhule, while according to John Nymann, "The chemistry we have between us makes it so easy to develop ideas. Now that we are ignited with new material, I can't wait to bring it to the stage."
Face-melting is a term that has been with Y&T since the mid-'70s, when a rabid fan ran backstage and told the band, "you melted my face," which inspired the group's first publishing company: "Facemelting Music."
"Facemelter" track listing:
01. Prelude
02. On With The Show
03. One Life
04. Shine On
05. Wild Child
06. I Want Your Money
07. I'm Coming Home
08. If You Want Me
09. Hot Shot
10. How Long
11. Gonna Go Blind
12. Don't Bring me Down
13. Blind Patriot
14. Losing My Mind *
* Bonus track included on the first pressing in digipak
Y&T is:
Dave Meniketti - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitars
Phil Kennemore - Bass Guitar, Vocals
John Nymann - Guitar, Vocals
Mike Vanderhule - Drums & Percussion, Vocals
The lineup has been announced for Halfway Jam 2010, which will take place July 22nd-24th in Royalton, MN. Confirmed acts include: TESLA, DOKKEN, LA GUNS, WARRANT, WINGER, VINCE NEIL and more.
HELLYEAH, featuring former PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul, have confirmed two headlining dates in Brooklyn, NY and Jacksonville, FL later this month. The band's itinerary that will see them on stage at various venues with KORN, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, DROWNING POOL , LACUNA COIL, SEETHER and PAPA ROACH is as follows:
April
24 - St. Pete Times Forum - Tampa, FL
25 - Ladson Fairgrounds - Ladson, SC
27 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
30 - Hooligans Music Hall - Jacksonville, NC
May
1 - Tinker Field - Orlando, FL
3 - Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Street Amphitheater
4 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
5 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
11 - Madison, WI - Alliant Energy Center
18 - La Crosse, WI - La Crosse Center Arena
19 - Peoria, IL - Peoria Civic Center
22 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
San Francisco Bay Area metallers DEATH ANGEL will play several headlining shows immediately before their North American tour with SOILWORK, AUGURY, MUTINY WITHIN and SWASHBUCKLE.
The dates are as follows:
July 07 - Sparks, NV @ New Oasis
July 08 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Vegas
July 09 - Farmington, NM @ Gators
July 10 - Amarillo, TX @ The War Legion
July 11 - Tulsa, OK @ The Marquee
July 12 - Nashville, TN @ The Muse
Tickets go on sale today at EnterTheVault.com exclusively until April 16, at which point they will be made available through all normal ticketing systems.
DEATH ANGEL's North American tour with SOILWORK is scheduled to kick off on July 14 at Jaxx in Springfield, Virginia.
DEATH ANGEL recently entered Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, AUGUST BURNS RED, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, ALL THAT REMAINS, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER) to begin recording its new album for a tentative September release via Nuclear Blast Records.
DEATH ANGEL vocalist Mark Osegueda previously stated about the band's decision to work with Suecof, "The new material is the most aggressive and technical music we have written in years. So we needed a producer that was capable of unleashing the tones that match and complement the overall vibe of the songs. With Jason's experience in producing some of the most brutal contemporary metal artists and albums of today, I know we made the right choice! I think the collaboration between the two of us will prove to be venomous and infectious!"
DEATH ANGEL debuted two brand new songs — "River" and "Into The Arms Of Righteous Anger" — during its appearance at last year's Speedfest, which was held November 28, 2009 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The concert marked the group's first appearance with bassist Damien Sisson (SCARECROW, POTENTIAL THREAT) following the departure of Sammy Diosdado (THE SICK, ALL TIME HIGHS).
DEATH ANGEL's longtime drummer and original member Andrew Galeon left the band in April 2009 and has since been replaced by Will Carroll, formerly of SCARECROW, OLD GRANDAD and VICIOUS RUMORS.
Pittsburgh traditional metallers ICARUS WITCH have announced the addition of second guitarist Ed Skero to the group's ranks.
Commented the band: "Many people have mentioned over the last few years that they miss hearing ICARUS WITCH as a two-guitar lineup with the harmonies, rhythms and dual leads intact. Our position was that we also enjoy hearing those elements but did not want to inject a new, unknown member into an equation that was already running so smoothly on stage.
"While on the Paul Di'Anno tour [as the support act and Paul's backing band], we were fortunate enough to have that second guitar slot for Paul's set filled by a phenomenal talent in Pittsburgh-area guitarist Ed Skero (a.k.a. Full Metal Duffy).
"Performing that challenging set every night with Ed on stage proved a couple of things:
a) We sound better with the additional guitar
b) We got along so well with Ed on a personal level that the chemistry was right to make the move.
"So join us in welcoming Mr. Ed to the inner circle. Once you hear what he will bring to the band in terms of classic style, vintage tone, tasty writing and Reiki healing prowess, it will be obvious that the WITCH is about to take it up a notch on record and on stage every night."
ICARUS WITCH's third full-length album, "Draw Down The Moon", was released on February 9 through Cleopatra Records.
ICARUS WITCH was previously described as having a "heavy influence of IRON MAIDEN combined with good old-fashioned hard rock/metal production and great musicianship" by Don Jamieson, co-host of VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show". Perhaps this assessment helped land the boys the opening slot on former MAIDEN crooner Paul Di'Anno's first American tour in over 15 years, which took place this past January/February.
For more information, visit the band's MySpace page.
Denmark-based hard rock/progressive metal band ROYAL HUNT has signed a deal with Scarlet Records for the European release of its new album, "X".
ROYAL HUNT decided to revisit its roots and incorporate some of the musical values of the '70s into its songwriting as well as — in order to reinforce that particular atmosphere — employing mostly "retro" means of production (recording in analog format exclusively being one of them) for its tenth studio album. The music has been described as "an interesting mix of what's been tagged as classic rock nowadays (established by KANSAS, GENESIS, ELP's earlier works and DEEP PURPLE, URIAH HEEP's classics from the same era) and ROYAL HUNT's trademark composition/delivery."
Commented keyboardist/main composer André Andersen: "This album came out of our love for the '70s music (tagged as classic rock nowadays) — from KANSAS, GENESIS and ELP to URIAH HEEP and DEEP PURPLE — music which was/is very adventurous while just a tad naïve at the same time (as some might say). We all are notoriously resistant to categorize it in any way, form or shape, but (if hard-pressed) would go as far as saying that it's definitely much more hard rock than metal and if by 'progressive,' you might mean some odd time signatures here and there as well as random key changes — sure, there're tons of them here… as well as really basic, simple stuff — so go figure."
"X" track listing:
01. Episode X (Arrival)
02. End of the Line
03. King for a Day
04. The Well
05. Army of Slaves
06. Shadowman
07. Back to Square One
08. Blood Red Stars
09. The Last Leaf
10. Falling Down
11. Episode X (Departure)
"X" will be released in Europe in June 2010. The CD came out in Japan and Southeast Asia on January 21 via Marquee/Avalon Records.
ROYAL HUNT last year parted ways with bassist Per Schelander and replaced him with Andreas Passmark (NARNIA, ROB ROCK, E-TYPE).
Swedish glam rockers CRASHDIET have been confirmed for this year's installment of the Rock Hard festival, set to take place May 21-23, 2010 at the Amphitheater in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows (in alphabetical order):
ACCEPT
ARTILLERY
BLOODBATH
BULLDOZER
CRASHDIET
EVILE
EXHORDER
KATATONIA
KEEP OF KALESSIN
KREATOR
NECROS CHRISTOS
NEVERMORE
ORPHANED LAND
SABATON
SONATA ARCTICA
THE DEVIL'S BLOOD
VIRGIN STEELE
New Jersey's thrashing pirates SWASHBUCKLE have entered the studio to begin recording their new album, "Crime Always Pays", due later in the year via Nuclear Blast Records. The group states, "That's right, jerks, the thrash band with a pirate problem is back in action crafting malicious metal jams with tales of piratical shenannigans. It's gonna be a heavy record, so expect to beat the shit out of your siblings and parental units whilst ye get caught in a mosh. . . Let me assure you that it'll thrash your fucking brains into your butthole."
"Crime Always Pays" will feature the following songs:
* This Rounds On You!
* Raw-doggin' at the Rawbar
* The Gallows Pole Dancer
* A Time of Wooden Ships and Iron Men
* At the Bottom of a Glass
* Powder Keg
* Where Victory is Penned
* We Are The Storm
* Of Hooks and Hornswagglers
* Ropes End
* Legacy's Allure
* You Bring the Cannons, We'll Bring the Balls
* Crime Always Pays
* To Steal A Life
SWASHBUCKLE's last album, "Back To The Noose", was released on July 24, 2009 via Nuclear Blast Records.
SWASHBUCKLE took part in last year's Paganfest Europe tour alongside KORPIKLAANI, UNLEASHED, ALESTORM, DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER and EX DEO.
SWASHBUCKLE was one of three winners of the 2008 Nuclear Blast MySpace Bands Contest.
For more information, visit www.swashbuckle.info.
ENSIFERUM, EQUILIBRIUM, SWASHBUCKLE and HEIDEVOLK will join forces for the Heidenfest 2010 European tour, which will take place in September/October. An as-yet-announced "special guest" will also take part in the trek.
Very Special Guest - To Be Announced
ENSIFERUM
EQUILIBRIUM
SWASHBUCKLE
HEIDEVOLK
The dates are as follows:
Sep. 10 - DE - München - Backstage
Sep. 11 - DE - Leipzig - Hellraiser
Sep. 12 - DE - Berlin - Columbia Club
Sep. 13 - DK - Aarhus - Voxhall
Sep. 14 - DE - Hamburg - Markthalle
Sep. 15 - DE - Frankfurt - Batschkapp
Sep. 16 - DE - Saarbrücken - Garage
Sep. 17 - DE - Geiselwind - Music Hall (+EISREGEN)
Sep. 18 - DE - Bochum - Ruhrcongress (+EISREGEN)
Sep. 19 - NL - Utrecht - Tivoli
Sep. 20 - UK - London - Electric Ballroom
Sep. 21 - FR - Rennes - Antipode
Sep. 22 - FR - Paris - Elysee Montmartre
Sep. 23 - CH - Pratteln - Z7
Sep. 24 - DE - Stuttgart - LKA Longhorn (+EISREGEN)
Sep. 25 - AT - Wien - Gasometer (+EISREGEN)
Sep. 26 - CZ - Prague - Abaton
Sep. 27 - SK - Bratislava - Majestic Music Club
Sep. 28 - HU - Budapest - WigWam
Sep. 29 - SI - Ljubljana - Cvetlicarna Mediapark
Sep. 30 - IT - Bologna - Estragon
Oct. 01 - AT - Innsbruck - Hafen
Oct. 02 - AT - Linz - Posthof
Oct. 03 - BE - Antwerpen - Hof Ter Loo
For more information, visit www.heidenfest.eu.
Dutch hard rockers SLEEZE BEEZ will perform live for the first time since going their separate ways in 1995. Sharing the bill with AEROSMITH, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and STEEL PANTHER, SLEEZE BEEZ will appear in its original incarnation at the Goffertpark in Nijmegen, Holland on June 23, 2010. The band will perform songs from its Atlantic Records release "Screwed Blued and Tattooed" (including the MTV hit "Stranger than Paradise") as well as the critically acclaimed "Insanity Beach".
Commented lead vocalist Andrew Elt: "We always wanted to get the band back together. But after all we'd accomplished and been through, making records and touring the world, it just had to be something really special and worthwhile.
"Performing on the same stage as the mighty AEROSMITH, in front of a home crowd, is definitely the right time and place for us to hit the stage again! It will be well worth the wait!"
Swedish hard rockers BACKDRAFT are currently in the studio recording their third album for a tentative early summer release. The follow-up to 2007's "The Second Coming" is being produced by the bandmembers themselves at A.R.T. Studios, where ABRAMIS BRAMA's "P3 Guld"-nominated CD, "Smakar Söndag", was recorded last year.
BACKDRAFT's new album will mark the recording debut of new guitarist Jon Sundberg (of BABYLON BOMBS fame).
Guitarist David "Snejken" Nordlander left BACKDRAFT in Decemebr 2008, stating at the time, "It doesn't come natural to me anymore. Through the years I've given everything, but lately I've lost the devotion and my heart is just not there anymore."
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/backdraftse.
FORBIDDEN, GRAND MAGUS and SACRED STEEL have been confirmed for this year's Bang Your Head!!! festival, set to take place July 16-17, 2010 in Balingen, Germany.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows (in alphabetical order):
ANVIL
BULLET
DORO
ENFORCER
FATES WARNING
FORBIDDEN
GRAND MAGUS
JAG PANZER
JON OLIVA'S PAIN
KROKUS
LOUDNESS
NEVERMORE
QUEENSRŸCHE
RATT
SABATON
SACRED STEEL
THE NEW BLACK
TOXIN
TWISTED SISTER
More acts will be announced soon.
For more information, visit www.bang-your-head.de.
Reactivated San Francisco Bay Area metallers FORBIDDEN have been confirmed for the "Aardschok" stage at this year's Zwarte Cross (Black Cross) festival, set to take place July 16-18, 2010 in Lichtenvoorde, Holland.
The billing for the "Aardschok" stage is shaping up as follows:
CONVERGE
DEVILDRIVER
FORBIDDEN
GOD DETHRONED
JON OLIVA'S PAIN
KAMELOT
KUDRA MATA
LOUDNESS
MY DYING BRIDE
PAPA ROACH
PARADISE LOST
THE DEVIL'S BLOOD
VOLBEAT
Main stage:
AIRBOURNE
Zwarte Cross has grown into one of the most unique festivals over the years and welcomed over 130,000 visitors in 2009.
For more information, visit www.zwartecross.nl.
Australian melodic power metal band BLACK MAJESTY will release its new album, "In Your Honour", in Europe on May 14 via Limb Music. The CD was produced by Roland Grapow (MASTERPLAN, ex-HELLOWEEN) at his Grapow Studios in Slovakia. Dirk Illing (SCORPIONS, WIZARD) once again handled the album's artwork, which continues the theme of the band's past works.
"In Your Honour" track listing:
01. Far Beyond
02. God Of War
03. Millenium
04. Break These Chains
05. Further Than Insane
06. End Of Time
07. Wish You Well
08. Follow
09. Witching Hour
Bonus tracks (European digipack):
10. Two Hearts
11. Silent Company (acoustic version)
For more information, visit www.blackmajesty.com.
During OTEP's March 30, 2010 concert at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, California, someone in the crowd screamed "Take it off!" to the band's frontwoman, Otep Shamaya. The video clip below captures her response.
Shamaya was recently nominated for "Outstanding Music Artist" in the 21st annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards.
An outspoken advocate of gay rights, Shamaya serves as a key figure in the movement to promote fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
OTEP is currently taking part in the "Rise Rebel Resist Tour" alongside Victory Records labelmates BURY YOUR DEAD and DESTROPHY, with special guests THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD.
OTEP is promoting its fourth full-length studio album, "Smash The Control Machine", which sold around 10,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 47 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released on August 18, 2009 via Victory Records.
Swedish metallers SOILWORK have finished recording their new album, "The Panic Broadcast", and are currently mixing the effort at Fascination Street studio in Örebro, Sweden with Jens Bogren (OPETH, KATATONIA, PARADISE LOST, BLOODBATH).
Commented vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid: "There are no limitations to the joy we feel about this album.
"We started mixing the first song today, 'The Thrill', [and] it sounds absolutely majestic!!! Jens Bogren, the mixing engineer, also has a big smile on his face and is doing a fantastic job!
"We will start to mix the second song tomorrow. [I] can't wait."
Separate interviews with Strid and guitarist Peter Wichers regarding the recording process for "The Panic Broadcast" can be viewed below.
Due in Europe on June 25 via Nuclear Blast Records, the long-awaited follow-up to 2007's "Sworn To A Great Divide" is being produced by Wichers.
SOILWORK's new album will be the first to feature Wichers since his return to the band in 2008, as well as the studio debut with guitarist Sylvain Coudret, who also joined in 2008.
The drums for "The Panic Broadcast" were recorded at Echo Mountain in Asheville, North Carolina while the rest of the recording was scheduled to take place in Tampa, Florida.
Strid previously stated about "The Panic Broadcast", "If any of you missed some of the intricate riffing that makes SOILWORK so unique, you won't be disappointed. I find these songs very playful and because we're not cutting down on anything — no 'too much information,' no 'less is more' — they're just pure musical joy with no boundaries. And THAT, to me, is what this band is all about! Of course, there'll be some surprises as always, and giving every one of us the freedom to go apeshit will without a doubt yield a heavy-as-fuck and naturally catchy album."
Starting in early 2009 in between a rigorous MUNICIPAL WASTE touring schedule, guitarist Ryan Waste began working on a new project entitled VOLTURE. As a longtime fan of bands like MERCYFUL FATE, HEAVY LOAD, and JUDAS PRIEST he thought it would only be approproate to form a proper band in that vein. With only a few rehearsals it quickly became a reality and the electricity of VOLTURE is currently spreading fast!
"Ever since I was a young headbanger, I dreamed of doing a real heavy metal band," Ryan said. "Growing up on JUDAS PRIEST and eventually delving into more obscure NWOBHM bands, I yearned to have one of my own. It wasn't until 8 years ago when I met our vocalist, Brent Hubbard, that I thought this would actually be possible. His natural singing ability floored me upon the first note and I knew we needed to start a band. It's been a long time coming, but I am proud to say we have arrived in full force to shock the world with VOLTURE! In this heavy metal ensemble, I returned to my musical roots as a bass player alongside the phenomenal shredder Nick Poulos on guitar. Joined by veteran Barry Cover behind the kit, we are now stronger than ever."
VOLTURE is in the process of recording a six-song mini-LP entitled "Shocking Its Prey".
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/voltureheavymetal.
SEPULTURA bassist Paul Xisto Pinto Jr. has joined forces with current/former members of EMINENCE and THE MIST in a brand new project called THE UNABOMBER FILES. Three songs have already been recorded at WZ Estúdio in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, with more on the way. Songtitles are as follows: "Borderline", "The Clown" and "Buried in My Bunker".
THE UNABOMBER FILES is:
Allan Wallace (EMINENCE) - Guitar
Paulo Jr. (SEPULTURA) - Bass
Vladimir Korg (THE MIST) - Vocals
André Márcio (EMINENCE) – Drums
Norwegian black metallers GORGOROTH have issued the following update:
"Infernus [guitar] has just returned from rehearsals in Tomas Asklund's [drums] Monolith Studio outside of Stockholm, and the work on the follow-up album to 'Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt' is progressing as planned.
"Half the new album (which is still untitled) has been recorded in pre-production form, and work on the album will continue through the year in between touring and festival appearances, with a tentative 2011 release date.
"The upcoming European tour is GORGOROTH's first European tour since 2005 and the first tour to feature Pest (vocals) since 1997, and the band is looking forward to getting back on the road again after this long absence.
"Infernus has also made the decision to exclusively use EVH amps from now on, and is pleased to announce that an endorsement deal has been made."
GORGOROTH's latest album, "Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt", is now finally available on vinyl, in two different versions! The regular vinyl edition, which includes a poster, is released by Regain Records, whereas the picture disc version is released by Forces of Satan Records. Both versions are strictly limited pressings.
German death metal and hardcore fusionists HEAVEN SHALL BURN will release their new album, "Invictus", via Century Media Records on the following dates:
Germany, Austria, Switzerland: Friday, May 21
Spain, Italy : Tuesday, May 25
Sweden, Finland, Hungary: Wednesday, May 26
Rest Of Europe: Monday, May 24
North America: Tuesday, June 8
The CD was recorded at Tue Madsen's Antfarm Studio in Aarhus, Denmark with the band's the two guitarists, Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, handling production duties.
Los Angeles-based metallers ABYSMAL DAWN will enter Trench Studio in Corona, California in May with producer John Haddad (PHOBIA, INTRONAUT, HIRAX) to begin recording their new album for a tentative fall release via Relapse Records. The follow-up to "Programmed To Consume" will be mixed by Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, VITAL REMAINS, CANNIBAL CORPSE) at his Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Commented ABYSMAL DAWN's Charles Elliott: "It's always great to work with John Haddad, whom we've worked with on our previous two releases.
"This time we thought we'd try something a little different though as far as the mix goes. After to speaking to Erik Rutan at great length, we know he's the man for the job. He's a living legend and knows how real death metal should sound! Everyone in the band is really excited to be working with him and we know this is going to be our most crushing release yet.
"We've been hard at work demoing all the material before we enter the studio and things sound amazing already! This will be our catchiest yet most extreme and technical release to date. We're also happy to be working with our new drummer Scott Fuller (HAVOK, SKITZO, ASHES OF ICONS). Scott comes from more of a thrash background but was born to play death metal and has never had the outlet for that until now. So far it's been a real pleasure to be in a band with someone with the same fire for this music as Mike and I again. A fitting replacement for Terry with even more chops to boot."
According to a press release, "Invictus" "is the third part of the 'Iconoclast' story after 'Iconoclast' and [HEAVEN SHALL BURN's] DVD 'Bildersturm'. Again stories about unconventional heroes are being told, a different light is cast upon well known idols and legends."
HEAVEN SHALL BURN's first official DVD/live release, "Bildersturm – Iconoclast II (The Visual Resistance)", entered the German DVD chart at No. 3 (behind IRON MAIDEN and ERIC CLAPTON) and the Austrian DVD chart at No. 9 as well as the official German album chart at No. 54.
"Bildersturm – Iconoclast II (The Visual Resistance)" was released on May 25, 2009 in Europe via Century Media Records. In addition to "incredible" live material, the DVD includes a comprehensive documentary and loads of other content.
Dutch death metallers THE LUCIFER PRINCIPLE are preparing to enter the studio to record pre-production versions of some of their new songs, including "The Loss", "King Of None" and "Megaton". The band says, "The first new songs sound like a freight train on the loose, heavy and unstoppable!"
THE LUCIFER PRINCIPLE recently parted ways with bassist Michael Grunwald and replaced him with Sander Keuls.
The band's second album, "Welcome To Bloodshed", was released in May 2009 via Apache Productions in collaboration with Suburban distribution. The follow-up to 2007's "Pitch Black Dawn" features artwork by Sieger Miedema and a guest appearance by GOD DETHRONED vocalist Henry Sattler. The digipack version of the CD includes the "Graveyard Ave." video.
Regain Records has announced the signing of NECRONAUT, the solo project of former DISMEMBER/CARNAGE drummer Fred Estby.
After more than 20 years in the death metal scene, Estby wanted to express his passion for different kinds of extreme music he's bore since his youth. In 2008, Estby started to write and record material with the intention of having one unique vocalist for each song. Dubbed NECRONAUT, the project would become a reality one year later when Estby began contacting the many talented metal musicians he had in mind to complete the album of his diabolic dreams. In short, NECRONAUT is a raw slab of old-school metal and while the term "old-school" alone goes a long way in accurately describing the sound that one should expect from Estby and co, NECRONAUT is so much more. The band's approach is crude and dead simple, a la early BATHORY and VENOM mutated with BLACK SABBATH and IRON MAIDEN, but with an unorthodox bass-heavy production that allows the album to stand out amongst its peers. The goal was primitive brute force, but because of the manner in which Estby
chose to achieve it, he also managed to create an aura of pure malevolence that, prior to this album's creation, was likely difficult to imagine.
Estby is currently finalizing the self-titled album for a late 2010 release. The cover artwork for the CD was designed by Chat Zar, who was reponsible for creating the prosthetic effects for such movies as "The Ring", "Planet of the Apes" and "Darkman".
Commented Estby: "The work of this album has been possessing me for the last 12 months and it is turning out exactly as raw, heavy and dirty as I hoped!"
NECRONAUT guest musicians:
Vocalists:
* Chris Reifert (ABSCESS, AUTOPSY)
* Hellbutcher (NIFELHEIM)
* Tompa Lindberg (DISFEAR, LOCK UP)
* Nicke Andersson (IMPERIAL STATE ELECTRIC)
Solo guitarists:
* Tyrant (NIFELHEIM, DAGGER)
* Uffe Cederlund (DISFEAR, ex-ENTOMBED, PRINCIPALS OF EXISTENCE)
* Robert Pehrsson (DEATH BREATH, DUNDERTÅGET)
* Robert "Strings" Dahlqvist (DUNDERTÅGET)
* David Blomqvist (DISMEMBER, DAGGER)
ARMAGEDON, one of the most recognizable Polish death metal acts of the early Nineties, will release its new album, "Death Then Nothing", outside the band's home country on May 17 via Mystic Production. The CD was recorded at Studio X (ANTIGAMA, VESANIA) in Olsztyn and it contains "10 tracks of classic death metal with a fresh, up-to-date sound," according to a press release.
"Death Then Nothing" track listing:
01. Death Then Nothing
02. Dead Code
03. Enemy
04. Blanket Of Silence
05. Seeing Is Believing
06. Bed Of Thorns
07. Father Of Oblivion
08. Emptiness Beyond Believe
09. Betrayed
10. F… End
In the early days of death metal, two bands dominated music scene in Poland — VADER and ARMAGEDON. The beginnings of both bands date back to 1986 — ARMAGEDON released its first demo, "Dead Condemnation", in 1991 and legendary full-length, "The Invisible Circle", via Carnage Records in 1993. 15 years later, the band was revived — not only for reunion shows but for the recording of the new album.
ARMAGEDON recently completed a tour with VIRGIN SNATCH and THY DISEASE. ARMAGEDON also supported MALEVOLENT CREATION and VOMITORY at their recent show in Poland.
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/armagedonofficial.
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