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20 äåê 2019
DISTURBED Releases Live Video For 'Hold On To Memories'
 DISTURBED has released a music video for the song "Hold On To Memories". The clip, directed by Rafa Alcantara, is both a remembrance of those who are no longer with us, as well as a celebration of their life and the light they brought to those closest to them. The video and song's message is a powerful and universal one: as long as you keep someone's memory with you, a piece of them is still alive. The message is also a timely one, with many taking stock of the past year and decade.
Additionally, DISTURBED has launched an interactive video creator where fans can upload up to eight photos of their favorite memories to create a video montage backed by "Hold On To Memories". Fans can access this feature on DISTURBED's web site here.
The live video for "Hold On To Memories" captures a moment during DISTURBED's live show where the band performs the song alongside a video collage of their favorite memories, with photos and videos of their friends and families, both here and gone. During this part of each show, lead vocalist David Draiman asks the crowd to actively create these memories: "The people who have left us are never completely gone. They stay in our memory, and I encourage each and every one of you to live every day of your lives like it's the last day of your life, making memories that last forever with the people you care about and love. Shine your light on this world, everyone. Make memories that will last forever and cut through the darkness." This message is also reflected in the song's lyrics: "So now go do the best things in life / Bring the fight to this world while you can/ Make the most of the rest of your life /Shine your light on this world while you can/ And hold on to memories/ Hold on to every moment/ To keep them alive." The band will also release an official music video for the song in the New Year, directed by Matt Mahurin, who has previously directed DISTURBED's "The Sound Of Silence" music video.
This past September, DISTURBED's "No More" landed at position No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart. The track, which is the third single from the band's 2018 album "Evolution", marked DISTURBED's seventh straight No. 1 on the chart.
Each of DISTURBED's last seven singles has reached No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Songs, a feat unmatched by any artist.
DISTURBED has a total of 10 Mainstream Rock Songs No. 1s. THREE DAYS GRACE holds the record with 15 No. 1s, followed by SHINEDOWN at 14 and VAN HALEN with 13.  | +2 |  |
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20 äåê 2019
BLAZE OF PERDITION Launch Live Video Of “Transmutation Of Sins”
 On February 14th, Blaze Of Perdition will release their new album, The Harrowing Of Hearts, via Metal Blade Records. Fans can now check out a live version of the first single "Transmutation Of Sins" below:
"This is an official bootleg video recorded by the Metal Blade crew at one of the concerts of the Void Dancers tour w/ Bölzer, DHG and Matterhorn during which we played an experimental set with Konrad "Destroyer" Ramotowski (Untervoid, ex-Hate, ex-Kriegsmaschine) as the third guitarist and vocalist. Here you can check out an alternative version of the new song 'Transmutation of Sins'." Blaze Of Perdition, December 2019
The record can be pre-ordered here in the following formats:
- digipak-CD
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- blue violet marbled vinyl (limited to 200 copies)
- pale yellow green vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- blue / red swirl vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
- clear grey-brown marbled w/ golden glitter (EU exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
* exclusive bundles with shirts, plus digital options are also available
Existing at the forefront of the Polish black metal movement, Blaze Of Perdition return with their fifth full-length, The Harrowing Of Hearts - their most urgent, refined, dynamic and accomplished work to date. Richly layered, it is also their most textured release, and they dive ever deeper into the themes they have been exploring since dropping their debut full-length in 2010, Towards The Blaze Of Perdition.
"I would say the new record is to 2017's Conscious Darkness what [2011's] The Hierophant was for Towards The Blaze Of Perdition - a continuation of the initial idea, but in more energetic and catchy form. Perhaps more approachable and listener-friendly, but it's not up to me to decide," states vocalist Sonneillon. "Although some gothic rock influences could be heard on Conscious Darkness, here we took them out of the shadows and let them shine in the spotlight. It's also our most collectively written effort so far, with every band member throwing something meaningful to the whole."
Working with the same producer they've been teaming with since 2013 and with artwork designed by Izabela Grabda, every aspect of The Harrowing Of Hearts has come together as intended, and with Metal Blade now behind them, the band are now ready to work their asses off to spread their name ever further. It's also safe to say the members of Blaze Of Perdition don't feel like they have anything to prove going into 2020.
"To me, art isn't about proving anything to anyone, it's about the expression of whatever one wants to express and channeling emotions and/or abstract concepts into something perceptible, something that might turn out to be just as precious for others. Focusing on proving anything to anyone usually doesn't do any good for artistic endeavours."
The Harrowing Of Hearts tracklisting:
"Suffering Made Bliss"
"With Madman's Faith"
"Transmutation Of Sins"
"Królestwo Niebieskie"
"What Christ Has Kept Apart"
"The Great Seducer"
"Moonchild"
"Transmutation Of Sins" video:
Void Dancers MMXIX Tour (with Bolzer, Dodheimsgard, Blaze Of Perdition, Matterhorn):
November
27 - Budapest, Hungary - Dürer Kert
28 - Bohinijska Bistrica, Slovenia - Winter Days Of Metal
29 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Majestic
30 - Krakow, Poland - FOAD Fest
December
1 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
2 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
3 - Leiden, Netherlands - Gebr de Nobel
4 - Kassel, Germany - Hole In The Svn
5 - Mannheim, Germany - MS Connexion Complex
6 - Basel, Switzerland - Sommercasino
7 - Wels, Austria - Celebrare Noctem
8 - Oberhausen, Germany - Helvete
9 - Paris, France - Petit Bain
10 - London, England - The Underworld
11 - Antwerp, Belgium - Zappa
12 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar
13 - Berlin, Germany - De Mortem Et Diabolum
14 - Poznan, Poland - U Bazyla
15 - Warsaw, Poland - Merry Christless
Blaze of Perdition studio lineup:
S. - vocals & lyrics
XCIII - guitars, lyrics & songwriting
M.R. - guitars
DQ - drums
Blaze of Perdition live lineup:
Destroyer - guitars/vocals
Wyrd - bass/backing vocals
XCIII - guitars/backing vocals
M.R. - guitars
DQ - drums
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20 äåê 2019
ASTRAL DOORS Singer NILS PATRIK JOHANSSON Announces Second Solo Album The Great Conspiracy
 Swedish singer Nils Patrik Johansson (Lion's Share, Astral Doors, Wuthering Heights, ex-Civil War), is back with a second solo album The Great Conspiracy - to be released February 28 on Metalville.
The album is a concept album about the still unsolved murder of the then Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, back in 1986.
After more than 33 years, this is still a trauma for many Swedes, and there are hundreds of theories of who did it. Was it a lonely madman or was it a conspiracy?
Johansson has studied this case since 2015, with the founder of the podcast "Palmemordet" Dan Hörning, as a big inspiration and advisor. On The Great Conspiracy, NPJ presents the most important traces and also what he thinks is the most logical solution.
Music wise it is a natural sequel to his previous solo album, Evil Deluxe (2018), and the three albums he did for Civil War (2012-2016). Classic rock/heavy metal with a touch of power metal.
Once again his Lion's Share bandmate Lars Chriss, is in charge of producing and mixing. The band is intact from Evil Deluxe with Lars Chriss on guitars, Andy Loos (Lion's Share, Glory, Seven) behind the bass, Kay Backlund (Lion's Share) on keyboards and of course Nils Patrik’s son, Fredrik Johansson (Tuck From Hell, Rifforia), on drums.
The song “Freakshow Superstar” features a duet between Johansson and Håkan Hemlin, from one of the most successful bands in Sweden, Nordman.
For those out there that have no relation to the Palme-assassination, this album will work out fine as a truly brilliant piece of art, containing a bunch of catchy metal songs in the highest league.
Tracklisting:
“The Agitator”
“One Night At The Cinema”
“The Baseball League”
“Freakshow Superstar”
“March Of The Tin Foil Hats”
“Prime Evil”
“Killer Without A Gun”
“The Great Conspiracy”
“This Must Be The Solution”
“Requiem Postlude”
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19 äåê 2019
OZZY OSBOURNE Unveils Music Video For 'Under The Graveyard'
 The official cinematic music video for Ozzy Osbourne's single "Under The Graveyard" can be seen below. For the clip, the BLACK SABBATH singer re-teamed with acclaimed film director, screenwriter and music video director Jonas Åkerlund (who worked with Osbourne on videos for "Let Me Hear You Scream" and "Gets Me Through").
The semi-autobiographical video was filmed in Los Angeles and features actors Jack Kilmer (as Ozzy Osbourne) and Jessica Barden (as Sharon Osbourne). Set in the late 1970s in the early part of Ozzy's solo career, the clip shows the darkness of life and how a helping hand and love can change everything.
"For 'Under the Graveyard', Jonas developed the story into a 'mini movie,'" says Ozzy. "But, to be quite honest, it's hard for me to watch because it takes me back to some of the darkest times in my life. Thankfully, Sharon was there to pick me up and believe in me. It was the first time she was there to fully support me and build me back up, but it certainly wasn't the last."
Last week, "Under The Graveyard" captured the top position on the U.S. Rock Radio chart. This marked Ozzy's third No. 1 on this chart and his first in 10 years; "Under The Graveyard" is his first new solo music in as many years. It also heralds Ozzy's forthcoming album, "Ordinary Man", due out on Epic Records in early 2020.
Last month, Ozzy unleashed "Straight To Hell", the album's second single, featuring GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash. Ozzy also joined Post Malone to perform their record-breaking collaboration "Take What You Want" in front of a sold-out audience at the Forum in Los Angeles (Nove,ber 21) and to a national audience on ABC's American Music Awards (November 24).
"Ordinary Man" was recorded in Los Angeles and features producer Andrew Watt on guitars, Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) on bass and Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) on drums.
"This album was a gift from my higher power — it is proof to me that you should never give up," Ozzy said. "It all started when Kelly [Osbourne] comes in and says, 'Do you want to work on a Post Malone song?' My first thing was, 'Who the fuck is Post Malone?!' I went to Andrew's [Watt] house and he said we will work really quick. After we finished that song, he said, 'Would you be interested in starting an album?' I said 'that would be fucking great, but now I am thinking I don't want to be working in a basement studio for six months! And in just a short time, we had the album done. Duff and Chad came in and we would go in and jam during the day and I would go work out the songs in the evenings. I previously had said to Sharon I should be doing an album, but in the back of my mind I was going 'I haven't got the fucking strength...' but Andrew pulled it out of me. I really hope people listen to it and enjoy it, because I put my heart and soul into this album."
Ozzy has not released an all-new solo effort since 2010's "Scream", having spent the last few years touring with BLACK SABBATH in support of that band's "13" LP, as well as playing a number of solo shows. More recently, Osbourne has been recuperating at home after sustaining a bad neck injury resulting in the postponement of his solo tour.
This past October, Ozzy once again postponed his European tour, marking the second time the BLACK SABBATH singer has done so following a series of health issues.
Ozzy initially scrapped his entire 2019 schedule earlier this year, as he recovered from surgery to repair an injury sustained while dealing with his recent bout of pneumonia. The European leg of his "No More Tours 2" trek was then rescheduled for January through March 2020, with the North American dates set to follow in May 2020.
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19 äåê 2019
METALLICA's LARS ULRICH: 'My Biggest Passion In The World Of Art Is Film'
 On November 21, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich and world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma took part in a "fireside chat" during Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco about how they use the power of their music as a platform for change. You can watch the entire 50-minute discussion below.
Speaking about how METALLICA has taken what could be construed a narrow category of music and invited more people and broadened its audience and its reach, Ulrich said: "For me, for us, it's very simple. To me, there's only two kinds of music — great music, and less great music. Beyond that, you don't need to break it down into any categories, as far as I'm concerned. I think the press and maybe the music business benefits from categorizing things, but we've never felt the need to really go beyond that. Yes, we understand that we fit into the harder rock category, but we're just not comfortable being… that everything has to be so isolated in these subdivisions.
"When I was five years old, the earliest sounds I remember coming out of my dad's music room was John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, THE DOORS, Jimi Hendrix, THE ROLLING STONES, Ornette Coleman — the list goes on," he continued. "All these things — Bob Marley… I grew up in a very diverse musical household. And so I love that, and I love being inspired by all these different things and bringing that to my day job. And I certainly encourage people to broaden their horizons as much has possible.
"There's a whole separate conservation here about… There's certain conservative traits that go through the world of hard rock that we've tried our best to fight against. And certainly one thing is to be open-minded and to not get stuck in these narrow views of music or the world or whatever. So, as far as I'm concerned, as far as METALLICA is concerned, we like to look in broad strokes. I would even say, when people talk to me about, 'What do you think of this?' or 'What do you think of that?' or 'What inspires you?' I actually go outside of music.
"Those of you who know me know that my biggest passion in the world of art is film," Ulrich added. "And I think film as a medium still has a lot of — there's a lot of exciting things that are happening, a lot of barriers that are still being broken down.
"When I see a great movie — I saw a movie a couple of days ago called 'Honey Boy'. I saw a movie two days ago, a preview of a movie that I highly recommend, called 'Uncut Gems', with Adam Sandler, that's coming out in the next month. When you see movies at that level — they're rare — but when you see movies like that, it makes me wanna go back to METALLICA and create: write songs [and] play music. So whether it's painting or whether it's sculpture or whether it's film or whether it's literature, I find just as much inspiration outside the world of just music or even just hard rock. So, to me, it's just about curiosity, broadening your strokes, broadening your horizons and not thinking in too limited a scope."
METALLICA will headline five major North American festivals next year, all of which are produced by Danny Wimmer Presents. The events are Epicenter, Welcome To Rockville, Sonic Temple Music + Arts, Louder Than Life and Aftershock. The band will play two separate headlining sets at each stop, with a unique setlist for each performance, resulting in 10 different shows.
These shows will be METALLICA's only U.S. festival appearances of 2020. The quartet will play on Friday night and Sunday night at each event.
To mark the 20th anniversary of METALLICA's first performance with the San Francisco Symphony, which resulted in the live "S&M" album and video, the band re-teamed with the symphony in early September for two shows for the grand opening of Chase Center, the new home of the Golden State Warriors.
A film of the concerts, called "S&M²", arrived in theaters worldwide in October.
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19 äåê 2019
ROB HALFORD Looks Back On Coming Out As Gay 21 Years Ago: 'In My World Of Metal, It Was Kind Of A Big Leap Forward'
 In a brand new interview with the "Music Vibes With DC Hendrix" podcast, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford reflected on his decision to publicly declare his homosexuality back in 1998 during an appearance on MTV News.
"When I look back on that, I kind of feel good about the fact that I didn't really have a plan or an agenda when I went into MTV studios to do an interview that day," Rob said. "I was in there talking about a record that I made with my good friend John 5, who is a tremendous guitar player. We made a record called TWO. And I was in the studio promoting that record, if my memory serves me correctly. It was kind of an off-the-cuff type of statement. I forget what the question was that the producer asked me, but I said, 'Yada yada yada, speaking as a gay man, yada yada yada…' And that's how it kind of broke through.
"It only takes a fraction of a second of your life to step forward and tell the world — tell your family, tell your friends, tell your schoolmates, tell your co-workers — who you are," he continued. "'This is the way I am.' And it's the most wonderful, liberating feeling you can ever experience.
"After I got back to the hotel, my brain was, like, 'What have I done?' And secondly [I thought to myself], 'I feel great now. Now I've got a huge weight off my shoulders. I don't have to hide. People can't make snickery remarks about me — it's all kind of out in the open.' That's why we call it coming out. And it's the best thing you can do for yourself. In my world of metal, it was kind of a big leap forward.
"We're all connected," Halford added. "We've still got a long way to go in terms of equality and acceptance, but great things never happen overnight. So we've still got a long journey to make. But I'll never stop talking about it, 'cause it's important to me and so many other people."
Two years ago, Halford told Fox Sports 910 AM's "The Freaks With Kenny And Crash" radio show in Phoenix, Arizona that the response to his addressing his sexuality publicly for the first time was overwhelmingly positive.
"So I said that thing [during the MTV interview], and I went back to the hotel, and I thought, 'Oh, what have I done? There's gonna be a fallout,'" he admitted. "[But] I'd never seen such an outpouring of love from people in all my life — the letters, the faxes, the phone calls from everybody in the metal community: 'Rob, we just don't care. We want you to be who you are. We want you to sing those songs. We wanna come see you.' And that was a tremendously uplifting moment for me. And it was also a tremendously uplifting moment for metal. Because, for the longest time, metal was the underdog in rock and roll, metal was never getting any respect, metal was always at the back of the line. And so I thought, 'Well, isn't this great?' This just goes to show you that we in the metal community, as we call ourselves — probably because of the pushback that we felt because of the music that we love — we are the most tolerant, if you wanna say, the most open-minded, the most loving, the most accepting of all the kinds of music that we know in rock and roll. So it was a great moment."
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19 äåê 2019
MÖTLEY CRÜE's Manager Says Some Members Are Working With A Trainer And A Nutritionist To Prepare For Upcoming Tour
 Why did MÖTLEY CRÜE scrap its contractual agreement to never tour again after just four years after the band's farewell trek? The answer is simple, according to manager Allen Kovac, who has been managing the band for 26 years: a renewed interest in the band thanks to the success of the Netflix biopic "The Dirt", which was seen by "tens of millions of people," with streaming of the band's music increasing more than 350 percent, and the majority of its fanbase shifting from the 45- to 58-year-old demographic to 18 to 45.
"The most relevant statement is that global film, with a global internet and global streaming, is the future," Kovac told Fox Business. "When I go to Amazon, I can see a MÖTLEY CRÜE book, I can see a MÖTLEY CRÜE documentary, I can see a MÖTLEY CRÜE live show, I can see the fact that they got a film, they got CDs out and they got streaming and they're selling merchandise. So to me, managers and artists should move into 2020 and out of 1999, and so should record companies. You can't make music in quarters. You can't develop an artist in a quarter. It takes a couple of years, sometimes a lot more."
Earlier in the month, CRÜE confirmed it will team up with DEF LEPPARD, POISON, and special guests JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS for a 22-date North American stadium tour next summer. Produced by Live Nation, "The Stadium Tour" kicks off July 7 at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium and winds down on September 5 at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium. According to Kovac, a third of the dates are already sold out, and six more shows will be announced soon, possibly next week.
The trek marks CRÜE's first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. The band toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017 — but the upcoming jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.
Kovac also addressed criticism of CRÜE singer Vince Neil for his supposed diminished singing ability and weight gain and the health status of guitarist Mick Mars, who has been dealing with a chronic form of arthritis that led him to undergo a hip replacement.
"Some of them are working with a trainer, some of them are working with a nutritionist to make themselves the best they can be," Kovac told Fox Business. "The greatest insecurity for an artist is: Is anyone going to care about my music? Is anyone going to buy a ticket? We were in November when the discussions were happening, and these guys were already into regimens of how they get ready for a tour."
Speaking specifically about Neil, Kovac said: "Let's see what Vince sings like and looks like when the tour goes out."
At a press conference in Hollywood announcing the CRÜE's stadium tour, bassist Nikki Sixx explained the band's decision to return, saying: "Honestly, I don't think any of us thought, when we were on 'The Final Tour', we would ever get back together. We weren't really getting along at that point. We had been together 35 years, and it had been a lot of years on the road. I don't think we took a lot of time for ourselves off; we were just constantly touring for all that time. And when it came to the end, we broke the band up and everybody went their own ways."
Sixx continued: "It was during the making of 'The Dirt' movie, we started working on the script, started being on the set, we started hanging out again together. And I think we really started to realize — without even talking about the music — how much we missed each other. And then that got us to go in the recording studio, which is where the whole thing always starts for all of us."
"The Dirt", a film adaptation of the CRÜE's 2001 memoir, featured four new songs recorded by the band expressly for the soundtrack.
Photo credit: Dustin Jack
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19 äåê 2019
ROB HALFORD: No New JUDAS PRIEST Music In 2020
 In a brand new interview with Meltdown of Detroit radio station WRIF, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford was asked if fans can expect to hear new music from the band in 2020. "Probably not, no," he responded. "But we're starting work [on new material]. And like I've always said, it'll be ready when it's ready. But we're probably moving faster than we ever did, because the clock is ticking. Thank you, ROLLING STONES. When I watch Mick [Jagger] and the boys, man, it makes my heart swell. And [the way] those guys are doing it at that point in their life — man. I said year ago, I wanna be screaming out 'Painkiller' when I turn 80; I wanna be on a stage somewhere.
"It's a beautiful life in rock and roll, and I never wanna switch it off, man; I wanna keep that electricity buzzing," he continued. "It's so important, as a musician, to have that connectivity, and that connectivity is stronger than ever now with our beautiful fans and supporters."
Rob also spoke about the health status of JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton, who announced his retirement from touring in February 2018 after revealing that he was battling Parkinson's disease. The 72-year-old guitarist passed on the torch to the producer of 2018's "Firepower" LP, Andy Sneap.
"Glenn's doing well," Halford said. "In fact, we stay in touch, and he's got his guitar on and he's putting down riffs and ideas for new PRIEST music. He's a hero. We have a song on 'Firepower' called 'No Surrender'. Glenn's with us in spirit wherever we play. Andy's doing a great job in Glenn's part of the stage.
"Just say hi to Glenn on social media on the PRIEST site," Rob added. "He looks at it. It means the world to him. He loves his fans passionately. And so anything like that thrown in Glenn's way is a real thrill for him."
Tipton was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disorder nearly six years ago, after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier. The guitarist, who has performed on every PRIEST record since the band's 1974 debut set, "Rocka Rolla", is not quitting the band, but simply cannot handle the rigorous challenges of performing live.
Glenn has appeared onstage with PRIEST many times following his retirement, always performing the same fan-favorite tracks "Metal Gods", "Breaking The Law" and "Livin' After Midnight".
JUDAS PRIEST will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020 and 2021 with a run of shows across Europe and North America. | +8 | |
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19 äåê 2019
GHOST's TOBIAS FORGE Says SLAYER's TOM ARAYA Would Make A Good SANTA CLAUS
 GHOST's Tobias Forge and LACUNA COIL's Cristina Scabbia recently answered a number of fan-submitted Christmas-related questions for the viewers of France's Heavy1 TV YouTube channel. Asked which rock musician would make a "cool" Santa Claus, Forge said (see video below): "Just based on looks, I think that Billy Gibbons [ZZ TOP] would probably be a good Santa. Nowadays, there are a lot of aged — and I say aged nicely; that is meant as a compliment — aged musicians who [do] have kind of a Santa aura. So there are some to choose from, I think. For a good while there, Tom Araya from SLAYER had a little bit of a Santa thing going, and I think that he would be a very pleasant, very calm, subdued [laughs] Santa. So, yeah, if I had to choose… Billy Gibbons, Tom Araya… Leif Edling from CANDLEMASS has a nice, gray beard nowadays; he would make a good Santa. He would probably do lots of good rhymes as well, I think. He's good on rhymes. So, that's a few to choose from."
Back in 2015, SLAYER's Kerry King admitted in an interview that he wasn't a GHOST fan. "I love the imagery… I love it. I just hate the fucking music," he said. "I like them [as people]. You know, they've been on many tours with us. I just… I can't [get into their music]. And I tried. I wanna like 'em, and I can't. I got their CD from Brian Slagel from Metal Blade. It was when Gary Holt [EXODUS and SLAYER guitarist] first started playing with us, and I picked up Gary. And I'm, like, 'Brian said this is awesome, man.' So we put it in, going to practice. It wasn't awesome. It wasn't awesome for me. It wasn't awesome for [Gary] either. I'm, like, 'Well, maybe the first song sucks.' [Laughs] And we went to the next one. It's just not for me. I know GHOST is hugely popular, and I'm very happy for their popularity. And, like I said, [they're] the nicest guys you'll ever meet. It's just not my music. And I've tried so hard. [Laughs]"
King later said that the way the metal media covered his original comments about GHOST was overblown. He told DigBoston: "The problem with doing interviews is that whoever you're doing the interview with may or may not have bad intentions. They didn't see the part where I said they were wonderful dudes. I said I love the imagery. I tried to like their music, but it's just not my thing. Somehow that became 'Kerry King hates fucking GHOST.' Whatever I say is just taken out of context for the furthering of whatever crappy web site they write for." | +10 | |
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19 äåê 2019
RUSH Frontman GEDDY LEE On CREAM's "Crossroads" - "It Not Only Made Me Want To Play Bass, But Play Bass In A Rock Trio"
 Rush frontman / bassist Geddy Lee recently spoke with Rolling Stone about his five favourite songs with distinctive bass parts. Following is an excerpt from Lee's rundown.
"What Is And What Should Never Be" - Led Zeppelin
Lee: "There are so many songs I could choose from Zep that feature profound but understated bass playing, but this one is my fave. The way John Paul Jones changes gear, holds down the heavy bottom and adds terrific melody throughout the song. He is such a fluid player and all-round musical talent."
"Crossroads" (Live) - Cream
Lee: "This is a classic and hugely influential rock / blues jam. Having seen Jack Bruce roam wildly up and down the neck of his Gibson EB3 in concert, I can testify that it not only made me want to play bass, but play bass in a rock trio. And the other two guys in Cream weren’t so bad either."
Read the complete interview here.
Lee recently announced three more dates where he will be signing copies of his Big Beautiful Book of Bass and giving fist bumps; this time on the east coast.
Find ticket purchasing information here.
Dates:
December
8 – Pittsburgh, PA – Barnes & Noble (3 PM)
9 – New York City, NY – Barnes & Noble (7 PM)
14 – Halifax, NS – Indigo
One ticket grants you admission and one copy of Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book Of Bass for Geddy to personalize. Candid photos are permitted, but not while at the signing table. Geddy will not sign memorabilia or instruments - only the book.
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19 äåê 2019
DANNY WORSNOP On ASKING ALEXANDRIA's Upcoming Album: 'It's By Far The Strongest Material' That We've Written
 British metal outfit ASKING ALEXANDRIA has completed work on its new album for an early 2020 release. Singer Danny Worsnop told Australia's Heavy in a new interview (hear audio below): "We spent the last few months in and out of the studio, in between tours, writing and recording. [Guitarist] Ben [Bruce] and I basically locked ourselves away and put together a collection of songs that define where we're at as musicians and as artists and as people. I think it's by far the strongest material that we've [written]. I cannot give anyone a street date or any of that stuff, or titles, but there's a new album [coming]."
Last July, ASKING ALEXANDRIA released a new single called "The Violence", along with an accompanying seven-minute short film written and directed by Jensen Noen and presented by Scissor Films and Sumerian Films.
At the time, Bruce said that the song "encompasses everything we have been working towards: huge guitars, anthemic drums and some of the catchiest, most technically accomplished vocals that Danny has ever delivered, and this is only just the beginning."
Worsnop added that "The Violence" was "an incredibly rewarding song to create. Ben and I both got to go way outside anything we'd done before and create something fresh and engaging.
"Thematically, the song is about the way mainstream media and politicians manipulate and spread mistruth amongst the people to encourage and create anger, fear, division, and conflict in their quest to control and acquire power," he revealed. "As the history books have shown, this only goes so far before the people stand up and say enough is enough.
ASKING ALEXANDRIA's self-titled fifth studio album was released in December 2017 via Sumerian Records. The disc marked the group's first full-length effort with Worsnop since he rejoined ASKING ALEXANDRIA in the fall of 2016.
Worsnop is bringing his solo show to Australia later this month. He is touring in support of his latest solo album, "Shades Of Blue", which came out in May. | +1 | |
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19 äåê 2019
BRUCE KULICK Is Looking Forward To Recording Music With His 'Kiss Kruise' Band
 Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick says that he is "looking forward" to recording some music with the band that accompanied him on the recent editions of the "Kiss Kruise".
Last month, Kulick celebrated the 35th anniversary of his first shows with KISS by performing a six-song "Animalize" medley on the "Kiss Kruise" with a band that consisted of SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS singer/guitarist Todd Kerns and drummer Brent Fitz along with bassist/vocalist Zach Throne. The foursome's set also included other '80s and '90s songs that KISS rarely, if ever, played live.
On December 3, Kulick spoke about the "Kiss Kruise" during an interview with Soy Kissero. Calling the experience of playing the KISS-curated event "amazing" and "a lot of fun," Bruce said that he "really did enjoy it. And the crowds were amazing," he said. "To play that music, it means a lot to me — especially for that particular crowd, of course. They're wonderful. So, [it was] a lot of fun."
Asked what project he has lined up for 2020, Kulick said: "Well, I have to admit I would love to have an opportunity to record a few songs with that 'Kruise' band. To do some recording would be really exciting. So, I'm looking forward to that."
Kulick joined KISS in 1984, soon after then-guitarist Mark St. John left the band after being diagnosed with Reiter's Syndrome, a form of inflammatory arthritis. He recorded five studio albums with the group — "Asylum", "Crazy Nights", "Hot In The Shade", "Revenge" and "Carnival Of Souls" — and can also be heard on the band's "Alive III" and "Kiss Unplugged" live sets. He joined GRAND FUNK RAILROAD in 2001 and continues to serve as the band's lead guitarist today.
Bruce is heavily featured on "Kissology – Vol. 2" and "Vol. 3", the DVDs spanning KISS's historic 45-year career. | +2 | |
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19 äåê 2019
Four Songs From AC/DC's 'Back In Black' Album Receive Platinum Certificatons From RIAA
 Just six days after AC/DC's 1980 breakthrough album "Back in Black" was certified by the Recording Industry Association Of America for U.S. shipments of 25 million copies, four of the LP's tracks received individual single certifications.
On December 12, "Back In Black" and "You Shook Me All Night Long" were both certified triple platinum, accumulating three million certified units, while "Hell's Bells" and "Shoot To Thrill" were certified platinum, representing one million certified units.
According to the RIAA, one equivalent song unit is equal to a single digital song sale, or 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams.
"Back in Black" first went platinum in October 1980 and had previously been certified 22 times platinum in December 2007. The RIAA lists "Back In Black" as the fourth biggest-selling album of all time.
On July 25, 1980, AC/DC released "Back In Black" in the U.S., followed by the album's U.K. release on July 31. It was the band's first album without lead singer Bon Scott, who had died a few months earlier after passing out and choking on his own vomit following a long night of drinking.
The group quickly decided to press on and hired Brian Johnson from the band GEORDIE to take over on vocals, and they headed to the Bahamas for about six weeks to do the album. AC/DC had made some serious headway in America before Scott's death, but no one knew how "Back In Black" would be received.
Johnson told The Pulse of Radio that he didn't have a clue how successful "Back In Black" would turn out to be. "I'd just melted me brain in there, and I didn't know if it was good or bad," he said. "That was the first time I'd been in the Bahamas, anyway, or near America, you know, and you (have to) remember, I was just fascinated by the whole culture and all, and I had no idea what the hell I was doing! And (laughs) lucky, really — I was a bit lucky, I think."
"Back In Black" included the singles "You Shook Me All Night Long", which peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Back In Black", which peaked at No. 37.
Despite its massive success, it never got higher than No. 4 on the album charts. The band's next album, "For Those About To Rock", reached No. 1.
"Back In Black" was produced by Robert "Mutt" Lange, who went on to produce DEF LEPPARD, FOREIGNER, THE CARS, and BRYAN ADAMS.
In 2012, "Back In Black" was added to The Recording Academy's legendary Grammy Hall Of Fame collection. | +10 | |
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19 äåê 2019
IRON MAIDEN Bassist STEVE HARRIS Has Never Thought About Releasing Instructional Video
 IRON MAIDEN's Steve Harris, widely considered one of the greatest bassists of all time, was asked in a new interview with Rockin' Metal Revival if he has ever thought about putting out an instructional video to showcase his playing technique. He responded (hear audio below): "Well, I've never really thought about it. I think these days, with people putting things on YouTube, and even our own stuff — official video stuff — I think you can see stuff that I'm playing. I suppose you're not gonna see everything, because [the camera focus] is changing from person to person. I never really thought about it. To be honest, it's a time factor as well. I mean, there's not enough hours in the day to do [everything I'm] doing now without doing things like that… I suppose, at some point, who knows — I wouldn't rule anything out — but at the moment, I haven't really considered it, to be honest."
According to Bass Player magazine, Harris's trebly tone was considered unconventional for the heavy metal genre when IRON MAIDEN first burst on to the scene in the late 1970s. Steve's now-infamous "gallop" sound — a right-hand, two-finger technique (middle/index) — was created without using a pick.
Asked by Bass Player if he changed anything in his approach or his tone when MAIDEN became a three-guitar band in 1999, Steve said: "No, not really. At first, I was a little concerned. I thought I might have to change my tone to cut through, but I didn't have to change anything. It just worked right off the bat. I suppose it might have been different if the guitar player had never played with us before, but Adrian [Smith] had. It just works naturally very well."
Formed nearly 45 years ago, IRON MAIDEN has released 39 albums, including 16 studio albums, 12 live albums, four extended plays, and seven compilations. Often considered one of the most successful heavy metal bands in history, they also won the Ivor Novello songwriting award for international achievement in 2002.
Last month, IRON MAIDEN announced nearly three dozen shows for next spring and summer as part of its acclaimed "Legacy Of The Beast" tour. | +6 | |
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19 äåê 2019
MASTODON's Next Album 'Will Probably Come Out In 2020,' Says BRANN DAILOR
 Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON will "probably" release their next studio album in 2020, according to the band's drummer, Brann Dailor.
Dailor offered an update on the writing process for the follow-up to 2017's "Emperor Of Sand" while reflecting on the past decade during an interview with Rolling Stone.
Asked about his "biggest hope for the 2020s," Brann said: "My biggest hope for the 2020s is: I'm gonna try to keep my life together and I'm gonna try to keep from mentally collapsing. And I'm gonna try to keep writing music and recording music and pretty much just do what I've been doing. Try to write a kickass MASTODON record within the next few months, and it will probably come out in 2020. So I'm hoping for continuation of what's been going on the last 10 years. More of the same, please. Thank you."
This past August, Brann told the Razor 94.7 104.7 radio station that he and his bandmates were looking forward to making some new music after spending most of the last couple of years touring in support of "Emperor Of Sand".
"We have a [new] song that we wrote, and we recorded it," he said. "We have done so much touring — for 'Emperor', and then we did this 'Crack The Skye' [anniversary] tour with COHEED [AND CAMBRIA], and then [a couple of] festivals… We're kind of chomping at the bit to get in there and put together some of the ideas that have been swirling around. There's lots of riffs; there's lots of material. There's too much material, so we need to get in there and start chipping away at that giant hunk of granite and hopefully produce a beautiful sculpture for all to see."
"Emperor Of Sand" debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. That album was nominated for the 2018 Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album," and its opening track, "Sultan's Curse", won the Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance." | +10 | |
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19 äåê 2019
METALLICA - Rob & Kirk's Doodle From Munich, Germany; HQ Video
 Metallica have released the new video below, featuring Robert Trujillo and Kirk Hammett jamming on Spider Murphy Gang's "Schickeria" in Munich, Germany on August 23, 2019.
Metallica's next scheduled live performance is on March 28 for the All Within My Hands Helping Hands Concert & Auction at The Masonic in San Francisco, CA. Find the band's live itinerary here.
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19 äåê 2019
MIKKO SIRÉN Says New APOCALYPTICA Instrumental Album 'Cell-0' Is 'Back To The Roots'
 France's United Rock Nations recently conducted an interview with drummer Mikko Sirén of Finnish cello rockers APOCALYPTICA. You can listen to the entire chat via the SoundCloud widget below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On the reasoning behind APOCALYPTICA recording their first instrumental album in 17 years, "Cell-0":
Mikko: "It was based on the audience reaction as we saw how excited and enthusiastic people were when we did that kind of music. Then we said to our agent, 'We need seven months off. We need to make this album. We cannot do it when being on the road.' We took two months to write the music. Then, within five months, we recorded everything and edited everything and mixed it. It took that time. When going into the studio, with that in the back of our heads, it would not have been possible without the touring in between. Even though it didn't go how we originally planned it, now when we see the result, we are more than happy that how amazing it is that we were able to create this kind of thing. That is not to say we would have not loved to do all the vocal tracks, but as the previous four albums were leaning toward that vocal thing, then we thought, 'Let's do one of these things in between.'"
On whether he prefers recording instrumental albums or albums featuring an array of guest vocalists:
Mikko: "For this moment, I could not have chosen a different way. At this moment, it felt absolutely the best way. Same as when we were doing 'Shadowmaker' that we made with, I think, eight or nine vocal tracks. At that time, we felt it was absolutely what we wanted to do and we are kind of lucky bastards that we get to do both. We get to do those vocal tracks that we love and we got to go to the far extreme of instrumental music, like progressive metal, which we love to do. That is the trick of the band, one of the key features that have been from the very beginning. We cannot be still or stagnant. There needs to be a feeling that we are developing, that we are challenging ourselves, that we are going forward. That's already, after a second album, as the band started as a cover band, there were people who said, 'You cannot change the concept. You need to do cover songs. That's what you need to do.' That needed to change and we said 'We need to do original music.' Then people said, 'You cannot take singers.' 'We will take singers.' 'You cannot take drums.' 'We will take drums.' And that's all the time we need to go forward. Even though now, going forward, means that we lean backward. We go back to the roots. Still, for us, it's going forward, it's developing, kind of because of the knowledge and the experience we have now compared to the beginning is different. We do things differently. I'm not saying better, but we do them differently compared to the first album. Therefore, it feels like even though we're doing the same thing, we do it in a different way."
On the writing process for "Cell-0":
Mikko: "It was pretty fast. There were a lot of ideas from spending two and a half years on the tour bus. You actually talk quite a bit — one might say, too much. This is a concept album. Besides the music, for us, it was super important that we come up with the surroundings for the music, that we come up with the story and the depth within the music. In instrumental music, it's so abstract because the only thing you are actually giving to the listener is the album title and the song titles."
On the concept behind "Cell-0":
Mikko: "The 'Cell-0', which is how we pronounce the name, is an imaginary concept that we came up with. You can call it a 'God particle.' In our heads, there is this undefined thing that you cannot pinpoint, that you cannot see or feel, but it is there. That's kind of the center of everything in this album. In the album, there is a lot about things, a lot about particles, how everything is made out of the tiniest little particles if you talk about cells to create something that is living, that a lot of cells are needed to create something, and atom-level, you need a lot of atoms to create something. But even though cells would create something, it doesn't make anything living. There needs to be this 'Cell-0', there needs to be this essence of something. And it came basically from the musical perspective. If you think of music, it's made of tiny particles. There are notes, there are rests, there are rhythms, there are this and this and this. When you put them together, it's almost like music, but it's missing the soul, the soul of the song, which is something you cannot put on a note. You cannot put it in a music sheet. It's the emotion. The x-factor. That's the 'Cell-0' for music. When we talk about all the particles and things like that, we are talking mainly about politics or social, environmental issues or something like that. It was one of those things that amazingly people have gotten disconnected from each other, from nature, from the earth and everything like that. Maybe the 'Cell-0' is the one thing we lost. We don't have the ability to connect anymore, especially in the last ten years. The world has changed."
"Cell-0" is due out January 10, 2020, via Silver Lining Music.
In support of the release of "Cell-0", APOCALYPTICA — cellists Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso and Paavo Lötjönen, and Sirén — will be the special guests for SABATON on a 15-country, 23-date European tour that begins on January 17, 2020, in Zurich, Switzerland.
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19 äåê 2019
ALICE COOPER: 'You Can't Shock An Audience Anymore'
 Rock legend Alice Cooper was recently interviewed by Tommy Sommers of Three Sides Of The Coin. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On the musicians currently in his solo band:
Alice: "I allow them each to have their own personality up there. I tell them up front: 'Ego belongs on stage. I don't want you up there being a wallflower. People want to see you be a star, so be the star. When you get on stage, be a star. Off stage, I don't act like a star, so I don't expect you to.' They get on stage, and they're bigger than life. That's what I want."
On his initial impressions of KISS:
Alice: "I went, 'They're going to kill these guys if they don't do totally different makeup.' They're a good hard rock band, and they created comic book characters, which I thought was so smart, and they kept it really rock and really down the middle — AC/DC sort of, down the middle hard rock that was very understandable. They didn't try to get complicated; they just kept it what it was. I never had one problem with KISS. KISS and I were friends — we were always friends. I think at one point, our people told them where to buy makeup down on Hollywood Boulevard."
On producer Bob Ezrin:
Alice: "Bob Ezrin was very, very smart when he says, 'Dumb it down, dumb it down, dumb it down for the radio.' Sure, everybody wants to be KING CRIMSON. Everybody wants to be THE YARDBIRDS. Our guys were able to do that, but does that get on the radio? No. On the album, you could stretch out and do a lot of things, but for those singles like '[I'm] Eighteen' and 'No More Mr. Nice Guy' and 'Rock And Roll All Nite', you can't. It's so simple, you can't get away from it. For any young band that's out there trying to show off their chops, that's great, but I don't know how far that's going to get them on the radio. Once you get on the radio, you've got the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. That means people have to listen to you."
On shock rock:
Alice: "The problem now is that shock rock, you can't shock an audience anymore. It was easy to do in 1970. That audience was set up to be shock-rocked. We were still in a kind of innocent area where if you put a guy with makeup on named Alice with snakes and guillotines and baby dolls and pure I-don't-care and the lyrics were 'Cold Ethyl' — which I thought were very funny songs. Later, people started getting the comedy behind it, but at first, it was a real subversive thing, and it was easy to shock the audience. Now, I do the guillotine in a whole different way, and it's really effective, but you can turn on CNN and there's a guy really getting his head cut off — that's 100 times more shocking than anything that SLIPKNOT or ALICE COOPER or MARILYN MANSON can do. Reality has caught up, and we really are not shocking as much as it's a [device] where people want the theatricality of it. I think now, it's such a tradition that they want to see Alice's head cut off that they would feel really... At first, that was really a shocking thing."
On overcoming his alcohol addiction:
Alice: "Too many people go into these rehabilitation places to slow down. You don't go in to slow down — you go in to stop. You never want to go in twice... God took [my dependency] away. I came out of there and never had another thought about having a drink. You talk about a miracle — even the doctor said, 'That is a miracle. You were a classic alcoholic. It's like you had cancer one day, and the next day, you didn't have cancer. I never had a drink in 37 years. It just went away. The doctor said, 'This is crazy. You're not going to AA. You don't have a sponsor. You're not tempted? You're not craving?' I said, 'Nothing. It's just gone.' I look at that as a miracle, and I only look at one place for miracles."
On how sobriety changed his musical direction:
Alice: "The old Alice was dead. The old Alice who was a whipping boy. He was society's underdog. I appealed to all of the outcasts — all the kids who were outcasts — because Alice was the outcast. As soon as I got sober, I said, 'I can't play that character anymore because I'm not that character anymore.' The alcohol played a big part of that. I decided at that point that Alice needed to be a really arrogant, condescending villain... He was suddenly this thing that was not talking to the audience. He was looking down on the audience. He was sort of a dominatrix of the audience, and they loved that character. That's why I like playing Alice now."
Cooper's latest release —– the six-track "Breadcrumbs" EP, described as a tribute to the garage-rock heroes of his hometown of Detroit — was released on September 13 via earMUSIC.
In a recent interview with Consequence Of Sound, Cooper said that "Breadcrumbs" serves as preview of sorts for his next studio album, which will be released in 2020. | +11 | |
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19 äåê 2019
SLIPKNOT's JIM ROOT And MICK THOMSON Named World's Best Heavy Metal Guitarists
 SLIPKNOT's Jim Root and Mick Thomson have been named winners of this year's Music Radar poll for "Best Metal Guitarists In The World." The pair received over 17,000 votes, beating out such names as James Hetfield (METALLICA); James "Munky" Shaffer and Brian "Head" Welch (KORN); Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg (AMON AMARTH); Richard Z.Kruspe and Paul Landers (RAMMSTEIN); Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa (AS I LAY DYING); Sean Long and Mat Welsh (WHILE SHE SLEEPS); Kerry King and Gary Holt (SLAYER); Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE); and Alexi Laiho and Daniel Freyberg (CHILDREN OF BODOM).
Earlier this year, Root addressed the fan criticism regarding the perceived lack of guitar solos on SLIPKNOT's sixth album, "We Are Not Your Kind".
"I see a lot of comments like, 'Where are the guitar solos on this record?'" Jim mused in an interview with "The Art & Span Show". "Well, obviously, Mick and I are very into guitar; we love playing guitar, love doing solos over every song, but that didn't occur to me. I was more concerned about the arrangements and making a good song top to bottom.
"There is a solo on 'Spiders', albeit a kind of a non-traditional solo, but that's what I love," he continued. "The point I'm trying to make is I get to think outside of the box and approach guitar playing in a way that I would never approach it with a song like 'Spiders', because [percussionist] Clown wrote that song and it didn't come from my mind, so it's hard for me to process it."
"We Are Not Your Kind" sold 118,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked SLIPKNOT's third consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. Furthermore, the album made an impact worldwide with No. 1 debuts in the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia, Canada, Japan, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal and Finland, as well as Top 5 debuts in Germany, France, Norway, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and New Zealand.
Image and video courtesy of Japan's Young Guitar magazine
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19 äåê 2019
CYHRA's JAKE E: 'I Want To Become The Next IRON MAIDEN'
 JJ's One Girl Band recently conducted an interview with vocalist Jake E (ex-AMARANTHE) of multi-national pop metallers CYHRA. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On the origins of the CYHRA name:
Jake: "What was most important was we needed to find a band name that, as I used to call it, was 'search engine optimized,' that, in a sense when you're searching for us on Google, we will be the first thing that comes up. I think that's very important nowadays when the Internet is what it is. Everything is going through the Internet. But, also, my daughter's name is Celine, which also means moon. It was a different combination. I wanted to do a homage to my daughter, then we also added the 'h' in the middle so it was a standalone name. Let's take the word 'seventh' for example. There's a lot of bands that use that. There's SEVENTH KINGDOM, SEVENTH WONDER… all great bands, but they get mixed up in the search engine. You want to have something that stands out, that you're alone to have. It doesn't matter if you have two fans or one hundred thousand fans because Google is optimizing it on how many people are searching for your word if there are many of them."
On CYHRA's songwriting process:
Jake: "Usually — I can only speak for myself — I sit down and either I'm on the piano or the guitar, and I make chord structures. Then I sing some gibberish vocal lines over that. For me, the vocal line is what is most essential in a song. I don't focus on lyrics at that point. I only focus on making the melodies sound right. Then I always work a little bit backward and forwards at the same time. I never start in the beginning and drop off in the end. You can sometimes start writing chords for a chorus, make the vocal line on that and see what else I can do, like what goes great into that chorus. Sometimes it works the other way around where I do the first verse, then try to find another chorus. Then sometimes me and Jesper [Strömblad, guitar] sit together. He comes with a riff, we start working out on that, or Euge [Valovirta, guitar] does the same. We're sending a lot of things back and forth. Sometimes we're sitting in my studio, sometimes we're just bombarding each other with ideas, then we're cutting them together. A lot of different ways of writing songs nowadays in modern times."
On his advice for young bands who want to have a successful career in music:
Jake: "First of all, make sure that you play with people that want the same thing as you. Make that clear from the beginning, because it takes a couple of years from the day you start a band until you get your first record contract until you get your first tour and so on and so forth. But, also, put your goal in your head. I've always put my goals to a point that is probably unreachable. I want to become the next IRON MAIDEN. Obviously, the chance of me getting to be the new IRON MAIDEN is pretty small, but if I can come halfway, then I made it pretty big anyway. But if you're just having the goal of, 'Yeah, next year we're going to have a show at the local pizzeria.' Then you're maybe not even going to come to the pizzeria. And, also, never give up. Because you're going to hit so many obstacles along your way in the music business. You're going to be fucked over, you're going to release a good album that did not get any promotion. Don't just sit down and feel sad about yourself. Just do it again. Get up on ten and do it again. It's not an easy business to succeed in, but if you're just fighting enough and believing in yourself, things will go the way you want."
On his biggest goal for CYHRA:
Jake: "As I've said throughout my career: To have IRON MAIDEN opening up for us. [Laughs]"
CYHRA's second album, "No Halos In Hell", was released on November 15 via Nuclear Blast Records.
CYHRA recently announced Strömblad will be sitting out the band's live performances. Filling in for him is Marcus Sunesson, who has previously played with ENGEL.
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19 äåê 2019
It's Official: KIRK WINDSTEIN Rejoins DOWN For 'NOLA' 25th-Anniversary Tour
 Kirk Windstein has confirmed that he will be part of DOWN's upcoming 2020 shows to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the group's debut album, "NOLA".
A founding member of DOWN, Windstein left the band in 2013 in order to focus on CROWBAR and his family life. He was replaced by Bobby Landgraf, DOWN's former guitar tech who was previously in GAHDZILLA MOTOR COMPANY, a 1990s outfit also featuring Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS, WATCHTOWER), and HONKY.
After DOWN singer Philip Anselmo suggested in recent interviews that Windstein will take part in next year's "NOLA" tour, the CROWBAR frontman told Revolver that he will definitely rejoin his bandmates to celebrate the quarter-century milestone.
"I'm in, 100 percent," Windstein said. "The quote from Pepper [Keenan, DOWN and CORROSION OF CONFORMITY guitarist] was, 'If you ain't doing it, I ain't doing it.' Phil, Pepper and Jimmy [Bower, DOWN drummer and EYEHATEGOD guitarist] are my three of my oldest, closest friends, so this is a no-brainer for me."
When asked if this means he's back in DOWN for good, Windstein replied: "As far as I know, I'm back in the band. Bobby Landgraf did a fantastic job, and he's a very good friend of mine. But once again, DOWN is back to what it started out as, which is a 100 percent complete side project. Everyone's other bands are the priority and that's that. But it's been six and a half years since I jammed with those guys, so I'm excited. It's gonna be fun."
DOWN has several shows scheduled in 2020 so far, including appearances at the 2020 editions of the Graspop Metal Meeting festival in Dessel, Belgium, and at the Copenhell festival in Copenhagen, Denmark.
DOWN was forced to cancel a number of shows in 2016 after Anselmo was filmed giving a Nazi salute and shouting "white power" at a California concert.
Keenan later offered his take on what transpired, telling Metal Wani that DOWN was "far from done" after the controversial incident. "You know, DOWN didn't do anything wrong," he said. "I mean, we were just guilty by association on that one. That was Phil's mistake. I've spoken to Phil and told him to get his shit together, and he is. He knows he made a mistake and was being stupid."
He continued: "I've known the guy [most of my life]. He's not what that whole thing framed him to be at all. But, yeah, there's definitely a future for DOWN. I wouldn't throw all the shit we've done, beautiful music we've done on one stupid moment that was caught on camera, and he apologized for. [So we are] far from done."
DOWN's last live appearance took place in August 2016 at the Psycho Las Vegas festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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19 äåê 2019
BEHEMOTH's NERGAL Joins TRIUMPH OF DEATH For Performance Of HELLHAMMER's 'Aggressor' (Video)
 BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski joined TRIUMPH OF DEATH on stage on Sunday, December 15 at the "Merry Christless" event at Progresja in Warsaw, Poland to perform the HELLHAMMER song "Aggressor". Video footage of his appearance can be seen at this location (courtesy of Instagram user "silenceandfire").
TRIUMPH OF DEATH is Tom Gabriel Fischer's tribute band that performs songs from his first group, the pioneering act HELLHAMMER. He is joined in TRIUMPH OF DEATH by bassist Mia Wallace (NIRYTH, THE TRUE ENDLESS, KIRLIAN CAMERA), guitarist/vocalist Michael Zech (SECRETS OF THE MOON, ODEM ARCARUM) and drummer Alessandro Commerio (FORGOTTEN TOMB, HIEMS).
Nergal took to his social media earlier today to share a few photos of yesterday's concert and included the following message: "Sooo... in 1992 with BEHEMOTH we recorded our first ever cover by legendary HELLHAMMER, 'Aggressor'. There was no way we could find the lyrics so I simply improvised... which is pretty obvious when listen to it. It was pre-internet times kids, I was a poor metalhead, I couldn't even afford buying an original LP (was there even a lyric sheet?), not even mentioning none were available in Poland. Last nite I had an immense pleasure and honor to join one of my heavy metal heroes, personally a friend, to perform 'Aggressor' on stage in Warsaw during Merry Christless festival (WITH lyrics this time) The circle (of the tyrants) is completed. I'm beyond fulfilled and eternally grateful for this life's opportunity Tom! Loved EVERY fuckin' second of it!"
HELLHAMMER existed for a mere two years, from May 1982 to May 1984. During this time, the band wrote material for three demos, one 12-inch EP, and the legendary "Death Metal" compilation album, along with a number of unrecorded songs. In light of HELLHAMMER's now mythically iconic status in the global metal scene, it is almost inconceivable that most of this music had never been performed life.
HELLHAMMER's successor group, CELTIC FROST, formed by ex-HELLHAMMER members Fischer (a.k.a. Tom Gabriel Warrior) and Martin Eric Ain, initially played two of HELLHAMMER's songs but soon abandoned this habit due to the band rapidly developing its own material. Tom Gabriel Warrior's TRIPTYKON, founded in 2008, have played one or the other rare HELLHAMMER song during special occasions. The vast body of HELLHAMMER's work remains unperformed, however.
The resurrection of the music of HELLHAMMER has been an idea Fischer and Martin Eric Ain have discussed for many years, sparked not least by their renewed collaboration in the reformed CELTIC FROST in the 2000s and by the years of work on Warrior's second book "Only Death Is Real" (2009), which details the history of HELLHAMMER and early CELTIC FROST.
The first steps towards the realization of TRIUMPH OF DEATH, named after HELLHAMMER's most infamous song and intended to be a very respectful and authentic tribute to HELLHAMMER, were taken years ago. TRIUMPH OF DEATH consists of some of Warrior's closest friends; individuals who not only love this music but truly understand it. The lineup emulates HELLHAMMER's final incarnation of April-May 1984, when the group had added an additional guitarist.
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19 äåê 2019
NIGHTWISH Is Still Mixing New Album
 Finnish/British/Dutch symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH are putting the finishing touches on their new album for a spring 2020 release via Nuclear Blast. "As we speak, Tuomas [Holopainen, keyboardist and main songwriter] is at a studio in Helsinki, Finnvox Studios, mixing the album, still for a couple of days until we all head off somewhere for holidays," bassist/vocalist Marco Hietala told United Rock Nations in a new interview (hear audio below). "And next year, things are gonna be happening. We're gonna be releasing the new studio album and hitting the road. Some of that info is already out."
A couple of photos from Finnvox, where the mixing sessions are taking place, can be seen below.
NIGHTWISH frontwoman Floor Jansen recently told FaceCulture that she was "very, very happy" with how the new disc turned out. "Already with the first notes, I [was, like], 'Oh, yeah. There we go,'" she said. "It's as much NIGHTWISH thing you might expect from us as, 'Wow! What's this now? What's happening?'"
She continued: "I can't really say too much about it, because there are a couple of things that are the same, a coupe of things that are different. But all I can say is I'm very happy with it and I'm very excited about it. And I think people that already knew NIGHTWISH will really enjoy this."
NIGHTWISH's new album will mark the band's second full-length effort with the Dutch singer, who has been touring with the group since 2012.
NIGHTWISH's latest release was the "Decades: Live In Buenos Aires" set, which came out on December 6 as a Blu-ray digibook, 2CD digipak, Blu-ray+2CD earbook and 3LP via Nuclear Blast. The effort was recorded on September 30, 2018 at Estadio Malvinas in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the "Decades" tour in support of the band's compilation album of the same name.
Tuomas and TeeCee changed the studio from C to D for checking and listening mastering samples. New Nightwish album is getting ready step by step but still lots of mixing before the final master.
Posted by Finnvox on Friday, December 6, 2019
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19 äåê 2019
JOSH RAND Has 'No Idea' When STONE SOUR Will Release Another Studio Album: 'The Band Is On Hiatus Right Now'
 STONE SOUR guitarist Josh Rand says that he has "no idea" when the band will release a new studio album.
STONE SOUR has been off the road and out of sight since completing the touring cycle for its 2017 LP "Hydrograd". Singer Corey Taylor has been working with SLIPKNOT since then, recording and currently touring behind that group's sixth effort, "We Are Not Your Kind". Corey has also announced plans to release a solo album before eventually regrouping with STONE SOUR to make another LP.
Rand, who is currently promoting STONE SOUR's first official live album, "Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno", was asked in a new interview with Guitar World if he has made much progress in the follow-up to "Hydrograd". He responded: "That's a good question… To be honest, the band is on hiatus right now with no timetable on a return. It's a mixture of needing a break, plus Corey wants to do a solo album, so I don't know when there will be new STONE SOUR music.
"I have started writing things but I don't want what it will end up being something later for STONE SOUR or maybe a new project for me or whatever," he continued. "I haven't really thought about it because I've been working on this live release, plus we have some exciting stuff getting announced next year which I can't say yet.
"But as far as a proper STONE SOUR record, I genuinely have no idea when that will happen."
"Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno" arrives on December 13 on CD, digital, and as a numbered 180-gram double vinyl package. The latter is limited to 2500 copies and includes a poster, backstage pass, guitar pick, autographed setlist and more.
Taylor recently told WhatCulture Music that he has already written 26 songs for his long-in-the-works solo album, which he has hinted at doing over the years. He stated about the LP's musical direction: "It's definitely going to be rock-based, but it's going to be rock meets so many different things. There will be harder-edged stuff, but there also will be big, expansive, huge, world-changing guitar songs that you're going to want to sing along to. That's just who I am, and I'm not going to fight who I am."
Corey told Australia's Heavy magazine in 2018 that he and his STONE SOUR bandmates started writing new music "pretty much as soon as we got on the road" in support of "Hydrograd". "We just can't be stopped; we're just gluttons for punishment at this point," he said. "But the cool thing is that knowing that we've got all this great material, we can kind of enjoy the rest as much as we can because we know that when it's time to really start kind of ramping up the demo machine, we're gonna have all this cool stuff to listen to. There's no pressure for us to just run right in."
Taylor, who stepped away from STONE SOUR in 2019 to focus on SLIPKNOT, said that the former band's absence from the touring circuit "will allow the audience to miss [STONE SOUR], which is the best thing in the world you can have — that built-in need for a band to come back. Just when you think you can't wait any longer, here comes this band and they're, like, 'Oh, goddamn, they're so good right now.' So we're pretty stoked, man. We're definitely looking forward to trying to see if we can top 'Hydrograd'." | +4 | |
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19 äåê 2019
FALLING IN REVERSE To Perform Entire 'The Drug In Me Is You' Album On Upcoming Tour
 To celebrate the gold certification of its debut album, "The Drug In Me Is You", FALLING IN REVERSE has announced "The Drug in Me Is Gold" tour. The trek kicks off February 8 in San Antonio, Texas and runs through March 3 in Sacramento, California. ESCAPE THE FATE and THE WORD ALIVE will serve as support. All dates are below.
"I'm very honored and thankful to the fans for this milestone," says singer Ronnie Radke.
"The Drug In Me Is You" arrived on July 26, 2011 via Epitaph Records. The record is considered a classic of both the genre and the era, and has spawned several hits, such as the title track, "Sink Or Swim" and "I'm Not A Vampire".
FALLING IN REVERSE will be performing "The Drug In Me Is You" in full, along with some other fan favorites, on this tour.
The band will also release a limited-run, gold vinyl edition of the album on January 17.
Earlier this fall, FALLING IN REVERSE dropped the cinematic video for the new song "Popular Monster", which has tallied over five million views in less than a month.
The band previously dropped the song "Drugs", which features SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor. It marked the third track in a successful trilogy of standalone songs and also included "Losing My Life" and "Losing My Mind". The trifecta of videos has accumulated nearly 43 million combined views to date.
FALLING IN REVERSE's most recent full-length album, 2017's "Coming Home", is available via Epitaph Records.
"The Drug In Me Is Gold" tour dates:
Feb. 08 - San Antonio, TX - The Aztec
Feb. 10 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
Feb. 11 - St. Petersburg, FL - Jannus Live
Feb. 12 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution Live
Feb. 14 - Richmond, VA - The National
Feb. 15 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
Feb. 16 - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
Feb. 18 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
Feb. 19 - Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection
Feb. 21 - Louisville, KY - The Mercury Ballroom
Feb. 22 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee
Feb. 23 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
Feb. 24 - Kansas City, MO - The Truman
Feb. 25 - Colorado Springs, CO - Sunshine Studios Live
Feb. 28 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SODO
Feb. 29 - Portland, OR - Roseland Ballroom
Mar. 01 - Vancouver, BC - The Vogue Theatre
Mar. 03 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades | +2 | |
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19 äåê 2019
It's Official: DAVID LEE ROTH To Open For KISS On 2020 North American Leg Of 'End Of The Road' Tour
 It's official: VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth will open for KISS on the 2020 North American leg of the "End Of The Road" tour.
The Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana said Tuesday that Roth had been added as a special guest to the last leg of the "End Of The Road" tour that will stop in Fort Wayne on Sunday, February 16, 2020.
"David Lee Roth will bring his exciting stage show featuring a twin guitar big rock sound and a set list of classic hits and future energy," the Memorial Coliseum said.
KISS's North American dates kick off February 1 in Manchester, New Hampshire, and run through October 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. The trek will consist of two legs, with gigs in South America and Europe taking place in between.
The VAN HALEN frontman is scheduled to play a nine-show residency at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas in January and March, but none of those shows conflict with the KISS dates. Roth will also appear at the Epicenter festival in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 1.
In a recent interview with the KSHE 95 radio station, Roth confirmed that he will play additional shows beyond his Vegas residency.
"Once we get this up and rolling, then, of course, we're going to start to take this out on the road," he said. "I think I'm the face of VAN HALEN from this point on, and we take it as seriously as all you listening to it. Yeah, there's a lot of smile and style to it, but there's a lot of, 'We really, really have to mean it in the notes and what we do in the subtext of the lyrics.' It's the sound of several generations on one big prison break... We're up there on stage to work it."
Roth told Van Halen News Desk that his band will recreate the sound of VAN HALEN's albums and his own solo work, not VAN HALEN's live performances.
"We do not sound like VAN HALEN live," he said. "You have not heard this. VAN HALEN live is lead guitar, bass, drums, sing. Here, we bring it the way a record brings it. To do that requires two or three guitars. We have five people hollerin'. It's a big rock sound. It's not [1985's] 'Just A Gigolo'. It's not brass band. That was a quickie vacation."
Roth's upcoming Vegas residency won't be the first time he has set up shop in Sin City. Back in 1995, Roth completed a Las Vegas engagement at Bally's Hotel and Casino and another short run at MGM Grand.
VAN HALEN has been inactive since it completed its U.S. tour in October 2015 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.
Roth recently launched Ink The Original, a skin-care line specifically made to preserve, protect, and highlight tattoos and keep them from fading. | +1 | |
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19 äåê 2019
Watch HELLOWEEN's DANI LÖBLE Play Drum Kit Previously Used By Original Drummer INGO SCHWICHTENBERG
 HELLOWEEN's as-yet-untitled new album will see the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analogue and Dani Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings. A sneak peek is available in the video below.
The "Pumpkins United" lineup of HELLOWEEN recently entered the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984) to work on brand new song material. The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" is now being utilized to record the band's new studio album, which will feature singer Michael Kiske and guitarist Kai Hansen. Due at the end of August or beginning of September 2020, the disc is being produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, who are excited about the quality of the material they have on offer from the band.
"The 'Pumpkins United' world tour 2017-2019 forged us into a real band," said singer Andi Deris. "We are all very keen in recording a new studio album now. Artistically, it's extremely thrilling."
Earlier in the month, HELLOWEEN announced the "United Alive World Tour Part II", set to kick of in September 2020.
The "Pumpkins United" tour marked the first time Kiske had played live with HELLOWEEN since 1993. Hansen, who departed HELLOWEEN in 1988, had been joining the band onstage on various tours and festival appearances throughout the years. The set featured several duets with Kiske and his replacement, Deris, along with many rarely played songs, including "Kids Of The Century", "Rise And Fall" and "Livin' Ain't No Crime". Hansen — who fronted HELLOWEEN until late 1986 — sang a medley of several early HELLOWEEN classics, including "Ride The Sky", "Judas", "Starlight" and "Heavy Metal (Is The Law)".
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19 äåê 2019
DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB And LITA FORD To Team Up For 2020 U.S. Tour
 DOKKEN, LITA FORD and LYNCH MOB will join forces for a U.S. tour in 2020. The trek will also include what is being billed as a "special encore performance" featuring Don Dokken and George Lynch.
An early admat for the tour was posted to DOKKEN's social media, along with the following message: "Coming in 2020! Dates TBA soon! #dokken#dondokken #georgelynch #lynchmob #litaford"
DOKKEN's classic lineup — Dokken, Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown — reunited for a short Japanese tour in the fall of 2016. The trek marked the first time in 21 years the four musicians had hit the road together.
Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group's current lineup — including bassist Chris McCarvill and guitarist Jon Levin.
DOKKEN is currently working on material on a new studio album, tentatively due in 2020 via Silver Lining Music, the label owned by Thomas Jensen, one of the founders of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival. It will mark the group's first disc since 2012's "Broken Bones".
Over the past two years, Lynch — one-fourth of the classic DOKKEN lineup — has appeared on recordings by THE END MACHINE, KXM, ULTRAPHONIX and SWEET & LYNCH.
LYNCH MOB is currently working on material for a new album, to be released in 2020. The effort will serve as the follow-up to 2017's "The Brotherhood".
Ford is scheduled to support Alice Cooper on 15 North American shows between April 1 and April 22, 2020.
Coming in 2020! ? Dates TBA soon! #dokken #dondokken #georgelynch #lynchmob #litaford
Posted by Dokken on Tuesday, December 17, 2019
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19 äåê 2019
MATT SORUM's Autobiography, 'Double Talkin' Jive', Due In April 2020
 Chicago Review Press has set an April 7, 2020 release date for the "Double Talkin' Jive: True Rock 'N' Roll Stories From The Drummer Of Guns N' Roses, The Cult, And Velvet Revolver" book from Matt Sorum.
The official book description reads as follows: "Cocaine smuggling, shoot-outs, and never-ending decadent parties: Matt Sorum's 'Double Talkin' Jive' could almost be described as the autobiographical equivalent of the film 'Blow'. But rather than becoming a premier drug smugglers, Matt Sorum becomes a world-famous drummer in GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER, and THE CULT. Sorum drops out of high school to become a drummer, but turns to selling pot to support himself, and later smuggling large quantities of cocaine. When Sorum is given the chance to play in THE CULT, he is finally able to make a living as a drummer. The very next year Slash and Duff McKagan recruit Matt to join GUNS N' ROSES, and with that, Matt's life is transformed. When Axl Rose starts turning up at the recording studio more and more sporadically, sometimes not at all, Matt recounts in keen detail how he and the band stagger toward their downfall. Matt and his GUNS N' ROSES bandmates Slash and Duff form VELVET REVOLVER with Dave Kushner and Scott Weiland. When Weiland suddenly leaves the band, Matt steps in as drummer for MOTÖRHEAD during their U.S. tour, and then starts his own all-star band, KINGS OF CHAOS. During his time as a professional drummer, Matt battles alcohol and coke addictions, but meeting his girlfriend, Ace Harper, helps him manage to go clean. Matt Sorum's autobiography, written with writer duo Leif Eriksson and Martin Svensson, avoids all the usual rock biography clichés."
Back in March 2018, Sorum told the "2 Hours With Matt Pinfield" podcast about his upcoming autobiography: "It's going to be the juiciest of the juiciest of the GN'R books, for sure, plus all the other crap I've done. I'm being really truthful about everything that happened. I'm not a jaded individual; I'm not a bitter guy. There's a lot of bad shit that went down, but I just want to tell the story straightforward, and I don't want to, like, hold back. I will edit some things — my wife's got to look at it. [Laughs] I've had such an amazing life, and I go, 'Wow, man. If I don't write it down now, I don't want to forget.' There's a lot of good shit in the book that doesn't pertain to GN'R."
He continued: "Before I was in a rock band, I was a drug smuggler. I used to smuggle cocaine across borders. I'd fly on airplanes with two kilos strapped around my waist. Most of my deliveries were in Hawaii, because I had a big connection there. I thought about the title 'Rock 'N' Roll Smuggler'. Imagine the movie 'Blow', and then think about coming up in rock 'n' roll, before I got into bands that I was in. My way to pay my way was smuggling, and that's what I did. A lot of the book, there's probably going to be at least a chapter or two on my drug-dealing days. The last time I smuggled two kilos to Hawaii, I remember thinking I was being followed, and it wasn't because I was paranoid on cocaine — I really felt that I was being followed. So, I told the guy that flew this stuff for — I was the mule, and I got, like, a couple grand every time I went — 'I can't do this. I'm being followed.' He's like, 'Oh, man, you're just high.' I'm like, 'No, man. I'm not doing it. I'm going back to L.A.' The guy that took my place got arrested. 20 years in a federal penitentiary [for] international drug smuggling. That would have been me."
Sorum, who replaced Steven Adler in GUNS N' ROSES, recorded the highly successful albums "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" (both 1991) and "The Spaghetti Incident" (1994). He also supported the group on the "Use Your Illusion" tour and can be heard on GUNS N' ROSES' "Live Era: '87-'93" (1999) and "Greatest Hits" (2004).
Sorum has said in the past that a GUNS reunion tour should have included both him and Adler, with each playing the songs they recorded with the group. Sorum was inducted as a member of the band into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April 2012. | 0 | |
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19 äåê 2019
MACHINE HEAD's New Drummer MATT ALSTON: Drum-Cam Footage Of 'Take My Scars' Performance From Milan
 Drum-cam footage of MACHINE HEAD drummer Matt Alston performing the song "Take My Scars" with his bandmates on October 25 at Live Club in Milan, Italy can be seen below.
MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn recently spoke to France's HEAVY1 about the addition of Polish guitarist Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (DECAPITATED) and British drummer Alston (DEVILMENT, EASTERN FRONT) to the group's ranks. Kiełtyka and Alston joined MACHINE HEAD on the first leg of its 25th-anniversary tour for the band's classic debut, "Burn My Eyes", which kicked off in Germany on October 5 in Freiburg, and wrapped in Dublin, Ireland on November 8.
"We were doing auditions for a while, and Vogg's audition just fucking blew my mind — it was so fucking tight and fucking accurate," Flynn stated about how the guitarist ended up landing the gig. "He sent over [a recording of] 'Imperium' as his first song just as a test. We always had all the dudes do a sound test, just to make sure the levels are good and stuff. I was, like, 'Oh my God! This dude is playing 'Imperium' better than I can right now.' [Laughs] It was crazy. And we ended up talking. Super-nice guy. Matt, same thing. We flew him out, jammed with him, and he killed it."
Each show on MACHINE HEAD's latest tour was described in a press release as "a three-hour musical extravaganza," comprised of two parts: part one features a battery of MACHINE HEAD's modern classics, such as "Imperium", "Halo" and "Now We Die", featuring Flynn and bassist Jared MacEachern performing alongside Kiełtyka and Alston. Part two features "Burn My Eyes" played in its entirety for the first time ever, with original drummer Chris Kontos and guitarist Logan Mader joining in.
Asked how all the musicians are getting along and whether they are traveling together, Flynn told HEAVY1: "We're all in the band together — we all live together. The band's all on the bus — all six of us. And it's a great ride, man. Everybody is very respectful; everybody knows their role and just kind of doing it here and enjoying it. Everybody is out here having a blast. It's so nice to have people who are in a positive frame of mind, 'cause it wasn't like that in the past. And now it is, and it's fucking awesome."
Kontos left MACHINE HEAD before the release of the band's second album, 1997's "The More Things Change", and was replaced by Dave McClain.
Mader contributed to two MACHINE HEAD albums, the aforementioned "Burn My Eyes" and "The More Things Change", before exiting the group and being replaced by Ahrue Luster and, later on, Phil Demmel.
McClain and Demmel both left MACHINE HEAD in October 2018. | +2 | |
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Disturbed
