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6 äåê 2019
MOTIONLESS IN WHITE Releases Music Video For 'Another Life'
 MOTIONLESS IN WHITE has released the official music video for the song "Another Life". The clip was directed by Max Moore, who has previously worked with CODE ORANGE and THY ART IS MURDER.
MOTIONLESS IN WHITE frontman Chris "Motionless" Cerulli said: "After six months have passed since releasing our new album, 'Disguise', the one thing we wanted to do more than any other when it came to picking the next single was listen to the fans' feedback as the deciding factor. The fans have overwhelmingly spoken, and we are proud to release our favorite track off the album, 'Another Life', as our next single and music video. This is a very special and deeply meaningful song for our band, and we couldn't be happier that it will finally have its moment."
"Disguise" is available now at all DSPs. The disc is highlighted by a series of singles, including "Brand New Numb", "Undead Ahead 2: The Tale Of The Midnight Ride" and "Disguise", the latter joined by a companion video directed by frequent collaborators Jeremy Danger and Travis Shinn. In addition, "Brand New Numb" was recently joined by an official visual, also directed by Moore.  | +3 |  |
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6 äåê 2019
JOURNEY's JONATHAN CAIN Releases Music Video For His New Christmas Single, 'Wonder Of Wonders'
 Jonathan Cain is joined by Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling NEWSBOYS frontman Michael Tait in the official music video for the JOURNEY keyboardist's newest Christmas single, "Wonder Of Wonders". Available now from Identity Records at iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, Google Play, iHeartRadio and more outlets globally, the song was produced at Cain's Addiction Sound Studios in Nashville by Grammy-nominated, two-time Dove Award-winning "Producer Of The Year" Ian Eskelin and co-written by Cain, Eskelin and Tony Wood, a five-time Dove winner with 31 No. 1 songs.
Cain shares: "We knew we wanted to write a Christmas song that really emphasized the incredible miracle of Jesus's birth.
"So many times, we can celebrate Christmas without fully recognizing the miracle of salvation that Christ's birth purchased for us," continues Cain. "We wanted to celebrate the many miracles surrounding the Nativity and draw attention to the pure wonder of the gift of Jesus. I am excited for nations to rejoice because of the Wonder of Wonders!"
Co-writer of the best-selling catalog rock song in iTunes' history ("Don't Stop Believin'"), as well as writer of "Faithfully" and co-writer of "Who's Crying Now", "Open Arms" and many more international hit songs, this iconic artist continues to press into his faith with inspired new music.
The new single follows Cain's first Christmas solo album "Unsung Noel", which was released amidst wide critical acclaim in 2017, along with three more solo albums in as many years, including his current Billboard-featured "More Like Jesus" that Parade calls a "triumphant new album."
Taking his new music and fan favorites on the road, Cain will headline his "Don't Stop Believin' Family Christmas Tour" in December, followed by a major, 60-plus-city North American headlining tour with his JOURNEY bandmates alongside THE PRETENDERS next year. In 2018, JOURNEY's 58-city arena/stadium tour played to over one million people.
Earlier this year, Cain performed at the NCAA Final Four tournament, National Day Of Prayer, Unleashed Conference, Creation Music Festival, Curetivity Golf Invitational & Gala and Lifest, and was featured on NPR "Morning Edition", "Huckabee" and many more national media. He also leads worship most weekends at New Destiny Christian Center where his wife, Paula White-Cain, is the senior pastor.
Along with his music, Cain released his Rolling Stone-lauded, Publishers Weekly-best-selling book "Don't Stop Believin'" in 2018 and has become a sought-after speaker, featured at this year's Prestonwood Men's Conference, Better Man Event and more. He has also helped raise more than $500,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Tennessee, as well as lends his support to Toys for Tots, the T.J. Martell Foundation and the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, among others. | +2 | |
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6 äåê 2019
Pennsylvania’s PALE DIVINE Signs To Cruz Del Sur Music
 Cruz Del Sur Music has announced the signing of Pennsylvania doom mainstays Pale Divine.
Founded in 1995, Pale Divine has made a name for itself with its time-honored and distinctive take on classic doom metal. Albums such as 2004’s Eternity Revealed and 2007’s Cemetery Earth cemented the band’s reputation as one of the best pure torchbearers of Black Sabbath and Saint Vitus-styled doom, while their most recent 2018 self-titled album was hailed by critics.
Pale Divine — who comprise of vocalist/guitarist Greg Diener, guitarist Dana Ortt, bassist Ron McGinnis and drummer Darin McCloskey — is currently hunkered down in the studio with producer Richard Whittaker recording their sixth studio album, “Consequence Of Time”, which will see the light of day in May 2020. The album’s artwork will be handled by Brian Tutlo, the man responsible for the eye-catching “Thunder Perfect Mind” and “Eternity Revealed” covers.
“It’s definitely a natural progression but maybe not in the way people might expect, which is one of the reasons we’re excited,” says McCloskey. “We have a new lineup now which includes Dana, whom Greg and I played with in Beelzefuzz. Dana has brought a new element to the band that blends perfectly with Pale Divine that has helped us take things to the next level.”
Pale Divine came to join Cruz Del Sur Music through a familiar face: While Heaven Wept leader Tom Phillips. The band originally crossed paths with Cruz Del Sur label head Enrico Leccese at the 2018 Hammer Of Doom festival in Germany, but it was Phillips who initiated the proper discussions. After that, according to McCloskey, it was a no-brainer to sign with Cruz Del Sur.
“We had heard great things about Cruz Del Sur from our friends in Argus and Apostle Of Solitude so we were already familiar and very interested. We discussed things with Enrico and he offered us a great deal. Moving forward, we’re really excited to be part of the Cruz Del Sur Music roster. It feels like we’re part of a family now. This is where we belong.”
Pale Divine will be celebrating its 25th year as a band in 2020. McCloskey says the highlights have been numerous, starting with the bands they’ve played with and the people they’ve met over the years, as well as their first trip to Germany in 2005 playing alongside Place Of Skulls and Rising Dust.
“In many ways, it always sort of feels like we’re just starting out,” he says. “Every new experience, every new song and new album pretty much reinforces that. We still have a lot of music in us and a lot more to accomplish. It hardly seems like it’s been 25 years, in all honestly. Going overseas for the first time and playing for people who were fans of our music was pretty mind-blowing for us at the time...still is, really. Even our recent trip to Würzburg last year for Hammer Of Doom was an awesome experience as well. Certainly, the chemistry we have in our current lineup has been a big highlight and, of course, signing with Cruz Del Sur!”
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5 äåê 2019
Ex-SCORPIONS Drummer JAMES KOTTAK's Message To Immigrants And Refugees: 'Fix Your S**thole Country First'
 Former SCORPIONS and current KINGDOM COME drummer James Kottak has a message for immigrants and refugees hoping to resettle in the U.S.: "fix your shithole country first" before placing an undue toll on American taxpayers.
It's unclear what prompted the musician to lash out, but his comments came in a series of tweets touting America's greatness while putting down other countries.
"So you want to come to my country....maybe try to fix your shithole country first instead of putting the burden on me tax payer," he tweeted on Friday (November 29).
"I've had it ...I paid $38000 in taxes last year...what did you pay?" he asked his 18 thousand Twitter followers.
A short time later, he added: "Man, Americais the best! I have been to 85 + countries and they all suck. We live in the most blessed country ever!" He then quickly corrected himself: "Germany is great… They don't all suck...I just don't remember a good time"
In recent months, Kottak has repeatedly used Twitter as a way to voice his controversial views. On November 3, he opined that "all law enforcement should be men." In September, he raised eyebrows when he questioned whether climate change is real, writing in a series of since-deleted tweets: "Tell me when one time you have seen 'killed from climate change' or 'death from second hand smoke' appeared on a gravestone....and I am a total anti smoker... it's all b s"
Back in July, he angered some people on the social media platform when he wrote that "Trump rules" and insisted that "anyone against America is a socialist communist asshole."
In June, Kottak, who calls himself a "news political junkie" on Twitter, made BLABBERMOUTH.NET headlines when he said that America should take care of its "homeless problem" before accepting any more "outsiders."
This past week, Kottak seemingly offered up an explanation for his controversial tweets, saying: "You know I post things for debate...this goes back to my college days as a young philosopher minor and music major. Most peeps hate the truth. I gravitate towards it and relish."
Kottak has spent much of the last year touring with the reunited KINGDOM COME, also featuring guitarists Danny Stag and Rick Steier, bassist Johnny B. Frank and singer Keith St. John (formerly of MONTROSE and LYNCH MOB).
In September 2016, Kottak was dismissed from SCORPIONS during his well-publicized battle with alcoholism and was replaced by former MOTÖRHEAD member Mikkey Dee.
SCORPIONS guitarist Matthias Jabs later said that he and his bandmates "had to make" the decision to fire Kottak, explaining that they gave the drummer "all the chances" to get better. "We reached the point — or he reached the point — where it was just not worth it," Jabs said.
Last fall, Kottak told Detroit's 101 WRIF radio station that his recovery was "a work in progress." He explained: "Over the last 10 years, I would say I was 90 percent sober, and then I'd have these struggles and I'd go through a bad two- or three-week period. So right now it's, like I said, to use a cliché, it's one day at a time and I work the program. I still go out, and if you wanna drink a bottle of Jack in front of me, go for it — [it's] no big deal — but it is, like I said, a work in progress."
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5 äåê 2019
THANATOS - Dutch Death Metal Pioneers To Release Violent Death Rituals Album In March
 Thanatos are celebrating 35 years of fully dedicated fierce death fuckin' thrash metal. Admittedly, they absolutely still sound incredibly and accurately relevant to today's metal scene, thanks to their utterly implacable material. Saying their seventh album, Violent Death Rituals, sounds removed from their original early Slayer, Possessed, Kreator influences would be a mistake. They have undoubtedly honed their vehemently powerful sound over the years to become a purely individual relentless machine.
Their uncompromising new album, Violent Death Rituals is just pure catchy madness, Thanatos thoughtfully pace their songs for maximum ferocious headbanging folly, their furiously sharp arrangements contain so many well balanced acute melodies and enough murderous riffing to crush any fan in genuine extreme metal music history. Fuckin' Hell awaits in 2020.
Band leader Stephan Gebédi comments: "When Thanatos emerged in the metal scene of the early 80's, there was a huge ‘Us against the World’ feeling. We were at war with the establishment, despised all forms of organized religion and guess what? We still feel the same after all those years!
The current metal scene has lost a lot of its rough edges. A lot of bands have adopted a polished, plastic sound and a somewhat happy, politically correct attitude. But there are still bands that choose to go against the grain, stir up some controversy and never let go of the ‘us against the world/fuck the mainstream’ attitude."
Violent Death Rituals was produced by the band themselves and mixed by Dan Swanö. Artwork created by Roberto Toderico.
This album marks the debut of drummer Martin Ooms and bass player Mous Mirer (both ex-Melechesh and ex-Liar Of Golgotha) who have joined guitarist Paul Baayens and founding member Stephan Gebédi (vocals/guitars) in their never-ending quest for death and destruction.
Violent Death Rituals is scheduled for a late-March release via Listenable Records in limited edition digipack with bonus track and vinyl, digital.
Lineup:
Stephan Gebédi - Vocals / Guitar
Paul Baayens - Guitar
Marco de Bruin - Bass
Martin Ooms - Drums
(Photo - Gerard van Roekel)
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5 äåê 2019
Exclusive: IN/VERTIGO Premieres “Bad Enemy” Video
 Calgary hard rockers In/Vertigo are gearing up to release their new EP Sex, Love & Chaos and the band is premiering their new video, “Bad Enemy”, through BraveWords!
In/Vertigo comments on “Bad Enemy”: “The first single from Sex, Love & Chaos: we feel this song showcases an all-around view of the band performance wise and musically. This song stemmed from a negative encounter turned humorous and full of karma on one of our tours. This spawned the idea, ‘I'm not a good friend, I'm a bad enemy’!”
Formed in 2016, the quartet delivers relentless, memorable performances at the jet engine decibels of a Boeing 747. Consisting of vocalist Reed Alton, guitarist Shaddy Elsaghir, bassist Duncan McCartney, and drummer Keaton Byfield, the band has already made a mark for itself touring and constantly gigging around Western Canada.
Performing high profile gigs with international acts (Diamond Head, Age Of Electric, Pop Evil, The Wild!) has proven the band as young pros, still hungry for bigger stages and even bigger crowds. Their self-titled demo, recorded under Ronnie Champagne (Alice In Chains, Janes Addiction, Social Distortion) had a limited run of 500 and subsequently sold out.
Currently completing their official EP Sex, Love & Chaos, set to be released in early 2020 via Rockshots Records, the four song debut promises to be a rude awakening in the current hard rock drought.
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5 äåê 2019
JEFF WATERS Says ANNIHILATOR's New Album Is 'Early-Style, Back-To-The-Roots Stuff'
 ANNIHILATOR guitarist Jeff Waters recently spoke with EMP España. The full conversation can be seen below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):
On how he feels about the band's 30-year career:
Jeff: "I feel old! [Laughs] In a short answer, I'm honored and happy that I have a small, little piece of being in heavy metal history with so many great bands from different countries and different types of metal music. I just think it's really cool that I'm in there — [that] I'm one of these many thousands of good metal bands.... [I've been] making a living at it for many years. It's been my only job — playing music — since I was a teenager, so you can't complain about that. A lot of people complain about things no matter who you are, and I love to complain sometimes. When there's no camera on, I always complain. But there's ups and downs in the music business. It's not easy today to make a living. I'm only making a living for many years because we have a lot of songs, and we have some underground, hardcore fans that keep staying with us. Not a big group like fans of SLAYER, [who] have millions — we don't have that success — but we have this smaller group of people that really like what we're doing. Being sober and taking care of business, a little bit taking care of my health and trying to be as honest as I can with people, and try to be [a] good person, and try to write honest heavy metal music that I like. Sometimes, you can write some great songs; sometimes, not so good; but you keep trying. I'm in a good position where if I die tomorrow, if something happened to me, you'd have to know that I'm very proud of all the people I've met and all the music I've made. I'm in a really good place now... I think in my band's case, there's so many reasons why we are where we are now. Some people will say, 'Why weren't you bigger?' Then people will go, 'Because you changed singers. You have different styles of music. Maybe some of your songs or CDs were not so good.' I think a lot of it is, I don't have the drive, the will [to play the game]. I don't give a shit about being on the covers of magazines. I like playing music. I like getting together with the guys and playing on stage. I like traveling; I like good food; I like meeting people. I don't care about covers of magazines. I don't care about selling millions and millions of records. It's not the driving force. My thing is just to survive and keep playing music, and when it's time to stop, then I'll stop... I'm really lucky now, because not many people get to write whatever they want, and even if sometimes the songs aren't that good, fans are going, 'Okay, well, maybe this wasn't the best ANNIHILATOR CD, but we'll wait for the next one and see if it's better.'"
On whether ANNIHILATOR can be considered a solo project:
Jeff: "I think generally, yes, it's mostly been a solo project behind the scenes with business and management and music and studio and writing. But when it comes to going on tour, the only thing I'm the boss of is the crew and the busing, like a manager kind of thing, trying to keep everybody doing their jobs. But musically, the band are the band. They're not my employees. Legally, yes — I pay them money — but we all just get along and have fun. It's no point in being too serious with the guys in the band. [They] are really good, [and] they've been with me — some of them up to five years now."
On why he's stayed the course:
Jeff: "Along the way in the last 30 years or so, there's been opportunities — musical or money opportunities or artistic or whatever. I've had offers to produce, to be the head of a team that produces the music for video games or writing songs for other people. I did that with Sony and publishing and Warner Chappell and wrote songs for other artists. There's all these cool things that I could have done, like maybe become a mix engineer, but that kind of thing — to be good at it [and do it as] a hobby is one thing, but make a career and be really good at it, that means you have to dedicate your life, 24 hours a day, to that work. To be a mix engineer means I should have stopped ANNIHILATOR. To play another kind of music, I'd have to stop ANNIHILATOR. I don't want to do something half-assed. I wouldn't want to do 50 percent effort with this and 50 percent effort with that. I kind of decided somewhere in the late 1990s, when I had many opportunities to join other, bigger bands, 'You know what? As long as I'm happy playing with ANNIHILATOR, why would I change that? I like it. It's fun. It's what I do... There was a 10-year period, 1997 to 2007, where we really went to a low, but I kept going because I was doing other jobs in music to pay for ANNIHILATOR. It all went back to keep ANNIHILATOR going. It's an up-and-down business. Try to keep a family together – a new wife and kids. To do that and travel the world for half the year, every year, it's not easy for anybody. People think, 'Wow, nice bus,' and everybody says, 'They give you food and they give you money and it's cool.' That part is the best, but then there's a side of it that you don't see. But we shouldn't complain, because we have it very good."
On moving from Canada to England:
Jeff: "I thought it would be easy, because it's not like I was moving to Germany or Spain or Italy and learning a new language. Of course, there's different accents that we speak, but it's English, so that makes it much easier for me. But I thought it would be so easy, because I like to travel. I travel all the time. England's a nice country, and there's lots to see. The music history in England is so incredible. To see all the different cities... I sit there at night on Google sometimes and go, 'Sheffield. DEF LEPPARD.' You go through all the different [cities] – 'Newcastle. VENOM. Brian Johnson.' The history is there, and it's really cool to be in the city that BLACK SABBATH started out in. But it was a totally different thing when I actually said goodbye to my family and friends [and] sold my house, cars, life, all the stuff I had, toys and things, furniture and said, 'Well, new life — let's just buy new furniture [and] start everything fresh here.' I thought it'd be easy, but it was actually the opposite. It was horrible for about eight [or] nine months. I realized I'd just said goodbye to my country and my family, my son, everybody. I thought, 'Oh, that's easy — that's what planes are for. I can get on a plane and go visit.' But it wasn't the same. I'm living in England. But after about eight months... My wife is really understanding. She saw what was going on with me. I thought I could handle everything, and slowly after time, I started realizing that Canada's my home. [Now] I can go back and forth, and I can deal with it, but it wasn't easy. It was actually very difficult. I found myself waking up in the mornings being very angry for a couple months, and I didn't know what was wrong with me. I was eating way too much, and then you realize, 'I'm a little depressed from leaving my country.'"
On what to expect from the group's forthcoming album, "Ballistic, Sadistic":
Jeff: "Nothing's ever going to beat our second album, [1990's] 'Never, Neverland', but I think this is one of the albums that we really brought up on the list. It's early-style, back-to-the-roots stuff."
ANNIHILATOR will release its seventeenth studio album, "Ballistic, Sadistic", on January 24 via Neverland Music/Silver Lining.
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5 äåê 2019
ENSLAVED Enter The Studio To Record New Album; Pro-Shot Video Of Summer Breeze 2019 Performance Streaming
 Norwegian metal avant-gardists, Enslaved, have some big news for their fans: the band have just entered the studio and are currently working on new material for their upcoming album. This new gem will be released once again via Nuclear Blast Records and has a tentative release date of May 2020.
Band founding member and guitarist Ivar Bjørnson stated about the recordings: "The days are growing darker in the Northern hemisphere - and Bergen is covered in a blanket of frost. This sets the scene as we have entered the studio to record the new Enslaved album. Since our last album, we have a "new" drummer - in quotation marks, since he has been with us behind the scenes for more than a decade. Together with me (Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson) he constitutes the production team on this new album - and as before we will record in Bergen in Duper Studio and next door at Iver's Solslottet Studio. Before crossing the mountains eastwards to Örebro into Fascination Street where Jens Bogren will handle the mix. The new material I feel is very powerful. The Enslaved signature is there, but there is a wild drive and a level of energy that makes me extremely excited. All five members have poured their dedication and souls into the preparations, and there are new sides to the band shown that will elevate this album. "
Just weeks ago, Enslaved renewed the bond with Nuclear Blast and re-signed to the label. With that, a successful collaboration lasting for more or less ten years continues. A collaboration that two years ago produced the universally lauded album E, in which the progressive metal masters once again reinvented themselves and brought Enslaved to a new level.
Enslaved also recently released a stunning new music video for their interpretation of ‘What Else Is There’ by Norwegian electropop band Röyskopp. The song is featured as a bonus track on the digital version of their latest album, E.
Watch and listen below:
Meanwhile, ARTE Concert has uploaded professionally-filmed footage of Enslaved's performance at Summer Breeze 2019. Watch below:
Enslaved live 2020:
March
20 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Prognosis Festival
June
25-27 - Ekeberg, Netherlands - Tons of Rock
July
11-12 - Moran, WY - Fire In The Mountains Festival
August
7-9 - Kortrijk, Belgium - Alcatraz Festival
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5 äåê 2019
SERIOUS BLACK To Release Suite 226 Album In January; "When The Stars Are Right" Music Video Streaming
 German/American power metallers, Serious Black, will release their fourth studio album, Suite 226, on January 31 via AFM Records. You can pre-order the album here, and watch a video for the first single, "When The Stars Are Right", below.
For eighteen months it was really quiet on the Serious Black front, a comparatively long time for a band that, since its inception in 2015, let a maximum of one year pass until the release of a new album. After three successful predecessors and more than 120 shows worldwide, they used their well-deserved time-out to design new concepts, to work on fresh material.
Bassist Mario proudly announces: "The waiting comes to an end, we are fresh and rested. Above all, we are hungry to return to the stage."
Suite 226 features more driving guitars, catchy hooks and the finest riffing, as you know from As Daylight Breaks. Serious Black takes the listener on a musically journey into psychiatry, between heaven and hell; Suite 226 is the perfect soundtrack for this trip to the place of damnation. Ruthless riffs meets catchy melodies, driven by a manic rhythm section, Urban Breed's top-rated unleashed vocals add the necessary amount of insanity. After listening to this dervish of an album one may ask oneself what is actually fiction, what is reality. And who knows, after that you may also hear these soft voices in your head. Don't say nobody warned you.
Complete album details to follow.
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5 äåê 2019
ARCHON ANGEL Feat. ZAK STEVENS Premier "Fallen" Music Video; More Debut Album Details Revealed
 Frontiers Music Srl has announced that Archon Angel will release their debut album, Fallen, on February 14. The band's first single and video, the title track to their debut, is out today. Watch the video below. Fans can stream the single and pre-order the album, including merch bundles, here.
Archon Angel was born from a meeting between producer/guitarist Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere) and former Savatage, Circle II Circle, and current T.S.O. lead vocalist Zak Stevens during the making of Timo Tolkki's Avalon's Return To Eden album, of which Aldo produced and played guitar and Zak did some guest lead vocals. The two soon started talking to Frontiers about the concept of working on new music together, which was met with great enthusiasm from the label. Aldo submitted to Zak some song ideas which were reminiscent of the classic Savatage sound, the two felt the magic was there, and thus no time was wasted in getting together to craft an absolutely striking metal album. Aldo was also helped in the songwriting department by some of the most outstanding writers and musicians from the Italian rock scene including Simone Mularoni (of DGM and Sweet Oblivion) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (Aldo’s bandmate in Edge of Forever and of course Jorn, Hardline, etc.).
The album itself deals with a central character, the "Archon", who is a modern day angel figure. The idea goes back to the religious system of Gnosticism. The only difference is that we are immersing the Archon's story into modern-day times. The Archon is a medium who brings messages to God (Demiurge) from the people of Earth. The only real concept to the albums is that they simply follow the story and life and times of the modern day "Archon" and his life as he is called upon to protect the people of earth through frightening, turbulent times.
On the first single, vocalist Zak Stevens says, "The title track accompanies the Archon on his journey in transitioning from a successful businessman, who leads a life of excess and egoism, to a superhero who will clean up the city and eventually, save the world from self destruction. In the song, he is reminiscing about his past and the family he left behind, while summoning the power that called him to save the world to "hear him."
About the filming of the video, Zak continues, "After an arduous search for the perfect city and videographer, we settled on Pittsburgh, PA for my scenes. The band was filmed in Genova, Italy, near the famous Porto Antico. In Pittsburgh, we shot atop Mt. Washington, overlooking downtown, much like the Archon would be doing as he pondered his future. The weather didn't cooperate the first day as it was a rainy day. But one of the coolest moments occurred while filming the video....one of the locations was right across from Heinz Field during a Pittsburgh Steelers [football] game. At the apex of the song, the crowd erupted in cheering at the perfect time, and people who were watching us film were caught by surprise. It really contributed to my overall mindset during that portion of the song. I felt like they were cheering for the Archon and it mimicked a true live performance. I can't wait to get out there and perform this song live with Archon Angel."
Archon Angel are currently working on booking some live shows to present the band in the live environment, but their exclusive live premiere will happen at the 2020 edition of the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise.
If Savatage are a favorite of yours, then Archon Angel's Fallen may well be your album of the year in 2020.
Tracklisting:
"Fallen"
"The Serpent"
"Rise"
"Under The Spell"
"Twilight"
"Faces Of Innocence"
"Hit The Wall"
"Who's In The Mirror"
"Brought To The Edge"
"Return Of The Storm"
"Fallen" video:
Lineup:
Vocals - Zak Stevens
Guitars - Aldo Lonobile
Bass - Yves Campion
Drums - Marco Lazzarini
Keyboards & Piano (Studio) - Antonio Agate
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5 äåê 2019
DEFILED Streaming New Single “Centuries”
 Death metal maniacs Defiled have shared "Centuries," the second single from their upcoming release, Infinite Regress.
Defiled comment on the new track: "Here is another oddball from our new album for you to chew on while waiting for the official release! This song represents pretty much our own 'out-there' style, if you know what we mean! We hope you enjoy! You guys rock, Cheers!"
Infinite Regress will be out January 24, 2020; find preorders here.
Artwork by Wes Benscoter:
Tracklisting:
“Intro”
“Divide And Conquer”
“Tragedy”
“Systematic Decomposition”
“So Blind”
“Legacy”
“Masses In Chaos”
“Centuries”
“Aftermath”
“Invisible War”
“Ignorant”
“Slaverobot”
“Infinite Regress”
“Outro”
"Centuries":
“Tragedy”:
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5 äåê 2019
VOLBEAT - "Cologne, Those Two Nights… Incredible!"; Rewind, Replay, Rebound Tour Recap Video
 Volbeat have released a new Rewind, Replay, Rebound tour recap video. Says the band: "Cologne, those two nights … incredible!"
The itinerary for Volbeat’s Rewind, Replay, Rebound World Tour can be found at this location.
Volbeat recently debuted their new music video for “Die To Live”, directed by Adam Rothlein at Ghost Atomic Pictures and taped at Futura Studio in Roslindale, MA. The song and video both feature appearances by Clutch’s lead singer Neil Fallon, as well as Raynier Jacob Jacildo and Doug Corcoran of JD McPherson’s band. The video, as well as behind-the-scenes footage, can be seen below:
The band's seventh studio album Rewind, Replay, Rebound is out now.
The album was produced by long-time collaborator Jacob Hansen and co-produced by Rob Caggiano and Michael Poulsen. This marks the first studio album with Kaspar Boye Larsen on bass. Ultimately, Volbeat have not lost their passion to create and progress. It’s that which keeps them hungry - and musically honest on the new album.
"Pelvis On Fire":
“Cheapside Sloggers” video:
"Last Day Under The Sun" video:
"Leviathan" video:
"Parasite" lyric video:
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4 äåê 2019
ROB HALFORD Says JUDAS PRIEST Song 'Raw Deal' Was 'Like A Coming-Out Experience' For Him
 In a recent interview with Nikki Preston of 96.7 KCAL Rocks!, JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford spoke about his involvement with the LGBTQ community. Halford came out as a homosexual during an MTV interview in 1998 and has long since been an outspoken advocate for gay rights. The legendary singer recently expressed his frustration with the state of the LGBTQ equality battle, especially in America, where he feels "there's still a long way to go."
"I urge people, LGBTQ, any of us that are still trying to find that moment to break down the door and step forward and say, 'This is who I am' and 'I'm proud of who I am. I'm not going to be intimidated. I'm not going to live in fear. I'm not going to put everybody else before me,'" he said (see video below). "It's an unusual thing because I think that one of the most beautiful things you can do in life is to share your life and give as much as you possibly can. You can't really do that if you're kind of locking yourself away in this thing we call the closet. If you have the chance, please step forward because two things happen: First of all, you become extremely powerful because you're in control; not that I think you can be in control in life, but you know what I mean. You claim your life for you and not for other people. This is my life and I'm going to live my life on my terms. I'm not going to stop being this way or dress this way or talk this way for you. I'm going to be me. That's incredibly self-empowering and takes a lot of strength. And then you don't have to lie anymore. You don't have to hide. You take away the innuendo, the whispering. It's all gone. It floats away. I tell you, it's the best thing you can do for yourself and you. You live a much better life after you've stepped forward and proclaimed who you are."
Halford was then asked whether the subject matter of his lyrics has changed after he came out. In spite of his very public persona, the singer has largely stayed away from lyrical topics that addressed his sexuality within JUDAS PRIEST.
"I don't think it really went into that side of me, no," he said. "Firstly, because I'm known for being the lead singer of JUDAS PRIEST. That's my thing; that's who I have always wanted to be and only want to be. I have the great joy of stepping away and doing these other projects, but I've never really utilized that side of me in the lyrics because I try and speak for the band in terms of the messages that we send out. What I mean by that is everybody looks at these lyrics before we put them out. Everybody agrees on the content of what we're doing represents the band. I've never really pushed that apart from one song."
He continued: "There's a song off the [1977] 'Sin After Sin' album called 'Raw Deal'. When I wrote the lyrics to that song, I'm sure there wasn't an agenda on my part; it just felt like a very natural thing to do. But this is like the third album PRIEST ever made. It talks about Fire Island, which is the big gay hangout in New York. And I talk about these guys in the bar and everything and when I presented these lyrics, my feeling was, 'Oh, this is just too much.' But the guys were, like, 'This is great. The words fit with the mood and the atmosphere with the song.' But you listen to that song, it really is almost like a coming-out experience for me. And it never really registered. [Laughs] It's only been in recent years that people have picked up on that song. That's the one. But what I will say has been very, very strong through all the PRIEST years in terms of the message is this idea of good overcoming evil. It's kind of a common theme in metal, that you take on adversity and you turn it around and you triumph. I think that is what's so special about ourselves as metal maniacs, as metalheads."
Halford recently released his second holiday album, "Celestial". The disc sees the "metal god" joined by a supporting cast of those very close to him — his brother (Nigel) on drums, his nephew on bass (Alex, son of PRIEST bassist Ian Hill), his sister (Sue) on bells, and twin guitar tandem of Robert Jones and Jon Blakey.
This past October, it was announced that JUDAS PRIEST is among the nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's class of 2020. The top vote-getters will be announced in January and inducted May 2, 2020, at a ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall. This is PRIEST's second nomination, having previously been up for induction in 2018.
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4 äåê 2019
MICHAEL SWEET Says STRYPER Is 'The Most Logical Choice' For Opening Slot On MÖTLEY CRÜE's Tour With DEF LEPPARD And POISON
 Michael Sweet says that STRYPER is "the most logical choice" to open the rumored MÖTLEY CRÜE tour with DEF LEPPARD and POISON.
Less than two weeks ago, MÖTLEY CRÜE announced that it was coming out of retirement, nearly four years after playing what was billed as the band's final concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The same day, Rolling Stone reported that CRÜE will embark on a stadium tour with DEF LEPPARD and POISON in 2020, but that has yet to be officially confirmed.
Earlier today, Sweet took to his social media to argue that STRYPER should be added to CRÜE's upcoming trek, explaining that his openly Christian band's addition to the package "would work perfectly."
He wrote: "4 reasons @Stryper is the most logical choice to be the 1st of 4 on the MÖTLEY CRÜE tour:
"1. Because MÖTLEY CRÜE has never done things 'by the book'. They've always surprised people, and adding STRYPER to the tour would definitely raise some eyebrows.
"2. Musically it works. It just does. I look at our audiences every night and see MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD & POISON T-shirts. Whether we all want to admit it or not, we have the same fan bases for the most part. Albeit their fan base is much larger than ours, but musically I think it would work perfectly. STRYPER is at the top of our game musically right now. And I think the entire tour will be performing at its best.
"3. The encore could be an epic mash-up of 'Shout At The Devil' and 'To Hell With The Devil'
"4. More than ever in the history of music we need someone to make a bold statement that says "No matter how different we may seem, as human beings we're really all the same." This is MÖTLEY CRÜE's chance to unite a very divided world right now. For them to say 'Yeah, we may (or may not) believe the same thing as STRYPER, but we're all human beings and we should all get along with one another, no matter what we believe'
"Whatever happens, this scenario would be epic. And certainly the most unique.
MÖTLEY CRÜE
DEF LEP
POISON
STRYPER
"#motleycrue #music #metal #tour"
Formed 36 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
STRYPER's albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen" and the band's latest effort, "God Damn Evil".
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4 äåê 2019
JUDAS PRIEST's ROB HALFORD: Second ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Nomination Is 'Another Thrill And An Honor'
 JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford says that it is "another thrill and an honor" to be nominated for the second time for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction.
Having been eligible for induction since 1999, JUDAS PRIEST was on the ballot for last year's class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but ultimately didn't clinch the nomination.
Last month, it was announced that JUDAS PRIEST is among the nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's class of 2020. The top vote-getters will be announced in January and inducted May 2, 2020 at a ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall.
When asked in a new interview with The Metal Voice which current and/or former PRIEST members will speak at the ceremony and accept the award if PRIEST gets inducted into the Rock Hall, Halford said: "I feel we're gonna have to wait until the day, quite frankly. But it's JUDAS PRIEST in every aspect, in every respect, and to be nominated for the second time is another thrill and an honor for everything that we love about JUDAS PRIEST and the 50 years that we'll have been around as a metal band next year… So, hey, man, whatever turns out will be great for PRIEST and will be great for metal."
To be eligible for this year's ballot, each nominee's first single or album had to be released in 1994 or earlier.
A voter pool of more than 1,000 artists, historians, journalists and members of the music industry will select the new class. Fans will also have a chance to take part in the process by voting at RockHall.com or an interactive kiosk at the museum in Cleveland.
Halford, Les Binks, K.K. Downing, Ian Hill, Dave Holland, Glenn Tipton and Scott Travis are on the ballot for JUDAS PRIEST.
Downing, who left the band acrimoniously eight years ago, told BlastEcho in a 2016 interview that he "would be fine" with performing with his former bandmates at the Rock Hall induction ceremony if they were to ever receive the honor. Halford was also open to the idea of reuniting with Downing on the night, telling Billboard in 2017: "Everything's on the table for anyone that's been associated with PRIEST in and out of the band." | +5 | |
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4 äåê 2019
SCORPIONS Plot July 2020 Las Vegas Residency, Tap METALLICA Producer For New Album
 SCORPIONS guitarist Matthias Jabs has confirmed to New Zealand's "The Metal Bar" that the band is putting the finishing touches on the songwriting process for a new studio album. The upcoming disc will mark the German hard rock legends' first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of SCORPIONS' new and classic material.
"We've been writing some material before we went on tour, before we went on tour this summer," Matthias said (hear audio below). "It's always difficult to come up with stuff on tour. You get the inspiration, but to actually put it down, that's a different story, when you travel every day. So we have songs — about 10, I guess — but we will have to do some more writing once this tour is over, and then prepare for the rehearsals and recordings right after our shows in New Zealand and a couple in Asia. So we will be back in early March. And we know that we work with the producer Greg Fidelman, who is known for doing METALLICA and SLIPKNOT and others, and he's a great guy. And he came to visit in our studio in Hannover, Germany already. So the plan is to record until the first of July, where we have a residency in Las Vegas for a whole month. And then, during that time, we can either do the final touch-ups or mix. And then the album should come out in the fall of 2020. And then, of course, we go on the road again."
Asked where he gets the inspiration for new SCORPIONS material nowadays, Matthias said: "It works slightly different than in the early days. In the early days, I took the guitar and came up with some great riffs and was excited about that. And we took it from there. Today, almost every riff has been played already by myself and by others. What else do you wanna do? So the approach is slightly different — it's more about the song and the melody and even the lyrics, sometimes, they could be the inspiration. And you do the riff and all the guitar work, you do that later on. Not always, but it's not the main source for songwriting anymore, as it used to be in the beginning, when we were so excited. 'Oh, listen to this new riff. It's great. Let's turn it into a song.' It's a little bit the other way around now."
SCORPIONS' last full-length collection of new recordings was 2015's "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.
SCORPIONS previously played a Las Vegas mini-residency in May 2016, consisting of five shows at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Support on those dates came from QUEENSRŸCHE.
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4 äåê 2019
ROB HALFORD Says He Needed To Explore Other Parts Of His Musical Personality With FIGHT And 2WO Projects
 In a brand new interview with SiriusXM's "My First Time", Rob Halford spoke about his decision to leave JUDAS PRIEST in 1992 before going on to record and tour with the aggressive metal group FIGHT and the industrial project 2WO before his return to traditional metal with the eponymous band HALFORD in 2000 and eventual PRIEST comeback in 2003. Asked if he needed to leave PRIEST for a while to understand the other parts of his musical personality, Rob said: "Yes. And I think that if I hadn't done that, we'd be talking about a lot of different things right now.
"Life is, to me… As I've gotten older, I'm trying to figure things out [laughs] — still," he explained. "It's a beautiful thing. And if you have the opportunity to step away and do these other adventures in your chosen career, it's teriffically valuable. Because it's all about growth, isn't it?
"There's nothing worse than 'shouda, coulda, woulda,'" Halford added. "And I know in some instances in life, it's difficult to go there — the 'shouda, coulda, woulda' thing. But I'm grateful that I had that chance to make those records with those different bands, because you make discoveries — you make discoveries about yourself, about what really is the most important to you in your music world. And for me, obviously, it led me back to JUDAS PRIEST, because that was where I felt my anchor was in life and in music."
FIGHT's initial lineup was completed by JUDAS PRIEST/RACER X drummer Scott Travis, Russ Parrish (a.k.a. Satchel of STEEL PANTHER) on guitar, Brian Tilse on guitar and keyboards and Jay Jay on bass.
FIGHT released two studio albums in the early 1990s — 1993's "War Of Words" and 1995's "A Small Deadly Space".
The 2WO project issued the much-maligned "Voyeurs" album in 1998 via Trent Reznor's Nothing Records label and sold poorly before Halford returned to his roots and formed the aforementioned HALFORD.
Although Reznor is given "executive producer" credit for the "Voyeurs" disc, the project is largely the work of Halford and co-writers John 5 and Bob Marlette.
Halford released an all-new Christmas album, titled "Celestial", on October 18 via Legacy Recordings. | +10 | |
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4 äåê 2019
OZZY OSBOURNE: ZAKK WYLDE Is 'One Of The Greatest Friends I'll Ever Have'
 Ozzy Osbourne has spoken about the "See You On The Other Side" box set, the definitive vinyl collection of all of his original solo material. Due out Friday, November 29 on Sony Legacy, this set marks the first-ever all-vinyl collection of all the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy-winning singer and songwriter's career music.
A question-and-answer session with Ozzy follows below.
Q: Let's talk about the "See You On The Other Side" box set, due out November 29 on Sony Legacy. You've obviously had many box sets released.
Ozzy: "This one's the most elaborate one so far and I'm really pleased with the outcome. It's got everything in there that you could possibly want. And there's some surprises along the way. I think it's very well thought out and well put together."
Q: This is a vinyl collection, and with vinyl, music fans get to appreciate the warmer-sounding music and of course there's the visual aspect.
Ozzy: "When 'Blizzard Of Ozz' came out, it was all about vinyl. That's what nearly everyone bought. You know what I miss about out vinyl? You used to get a double sleeve album and it was a big deal. When CDs first came out I thought it shrinks the size! You can't put as much artwork or information on a little sleeve which ruined a part of the experience for me. I don't care what people say, it's a totally different sound on vinyl."
Q: Let's talk about the differences from when the music biz went from vinyl to CD.
Ozzy: "The first time I saw a CD I was recording at Ridge Farm Studio. The engineer told us that it would last forever and that you couldn't scratch it. We ended up using it as a frisbee. On the other hand, I thought, 'Oh, what a great idea! You smoke a doobie, and there's no turntable where you have to flip the record over. I thought, 'Oh, good, now, you can just listen without getting off your butt!'"
Q: Do you think this is the definitive Ozzy collection?
Ozzy: "Oh, absolutely!"
Q: Let's talk about some of the iconic album covers. Let's start with "Bark At The Moon". It's an image that everyone remembers.
Ozzy: "I always like the idea of getting dressed up in certain little costumes. It took eight hours to put that make up on. The video was filmed in a Victorian Mansion, this old mental hospital...it was creepy! I remember going to one of these different rooms and we even found a pickled fetus in a jar."
Q: In filming A&E's "Ozzy & Jack's World Detour" show with your son, you went to truly interesting places.
Ozzy: "Oh yeah, there were some fascinating places that I never knew existed. We went to a mental hospital and also to the prison where Al Capone had the luxury cell! When you go there, even with a sideboard and his belongings, it was still a prison! I bet he didn't go, 'Oh, I'm happy!'"
Q: Do you remember the first vinyl album you bought?
Ozzy: "THE BEATLES and THE ROLLING STONES. I was like, THE STONES and BEATLES, anything like that!"
Q: When you started doing this, did you have any idea you'd be where you are today?
Ozzy: "Absolutely! I knew, I thought, 'Oh, this will do!' When the first BLACK SABBATH album got on the charts, it was the first time I ever got success. I figured it would end, but we were picked up by various magazines and I thought, 'This will be good for a few years. Partying every night, women, and wine and rock 'n' roll.' I mean, here we are, 50 years up the road. I know that without a shadow of a doubt though, if it wasn't for my wife Sharon, I wouldn't be here now. I wouldn't be alive. She pushed me when I needed it. She yelled at me when I needed it. At the time I didn't think I wanted to be yelled at, but in the long run, you got to get off your butt and you got to get to what you're here to do. And I believe that's what I'm here to do!"
Q: If you hadn't done this, you've said you would have been miserably working in a factory.
Ozzy: "I mean, I knew I wasn't built to do a 9-to-5 job. I'd start a new job, they'd tell me what I'd make a week, after three days, I'd say, 'This is going to drive me nuts!' I wouldn't last...I'd jump jobs. And then, I got in the band with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. Even if we had money or not, I traveled around with the boys, we saw Europe and had a good laugh. Would I have done anything different? No. It's just wild! I love it. When I heard THE BEATLES, I knew what I wanted to do."
Q: Let's talk about the first time you heard that song.
Ozzy: "My son says to me, 'Dad, I like THE BEATLES, but why do you go so crazy?' The only way I can describe it is like this, 'Imagine you go to bed today and the world is black and white and then you wake up, and everything's in color. That's what it was like!' That's the profound effect it had on me. I remember it like it was yesterday: I was walking around with a transistor radio on my shoulder. And 'She Loves You' came on. And, I don't know, it just went, 'Bang! And that's what I want to do! Wouldn't it be great?'"
Q: With regards to music, you've been able to share music with your children and now your granddaughters...
Ozzy: "Oh, my granddaughters! They're something else! My oldest one, Pearl, did a thing at school about the eighties. She came up on the stage and said, 'This is for my Papa!' (she calls me 'Papa'). And she sang 'Crazy Train'. I was like, 'She's got balls!' I think that every parent should teach their kids a bit about music. Buy piano lessons, or singing lesson, or whatever. Encourage it, because somebody once told me, 'In any crisis, there's two things people want: Food and entertainment.' My wife can't cook, but I can sing!"
Q: Let's talk about how your father helped you initially.
Ozzy: "My father was a factory worker who wouldn't miss a day's work if his life depended on it. He worked the night shift. He knew the passion I had for the music. I didn't have much of an education, because I'm a dyslexic, attention-deficit, so I can sit still for more than five minutes. And he saw that passion, and he went into debt for me. It was 500 dollars or something like that. We couldn't afford it, but he bought me a PA system and a microphone. Not a big PA system, a little one. But, because he got me a microphone and a mike stand and a small PA, I got gigs because I was the first singer to have that equipment. It was a way of getting into bands. If you had your own PA, you had the tools for the job."
Q: Let's talk about the early days with you and Sharon. You had nothing at that point.
Ozzy: "When we started off, I can remember, we were both broke, no credit cards, nothing. We'd have all the cash from the gig in a briefcase and we'd have to stay in these really cheap hotels, like motorway hotels. The briefcase with cash in it was handcuffed to my wrist 'cause if we got ripped off, we were done. But it was fun, because we had nothing to lose, and everything to gain! We'd beg, borrow, and steal."
Q: This is when you were starting fresh as a solo artist, getting your debut solo album ready.
Ozzy: "With BLACK SABBATH, I'd go and let them do their thing, and I'd add the vocal, no matter what the key was. I'd have to try and work out a way to put a melody on there. But, when I started working with Randy Rhoads, he was the first guy to go, 'Maybe you should do it in this key.' And I go, 'Oh!' He was a first guy to ever consider my opinion and give me a break. But I got an education working with BLACK SABBATH, it made it a little easier for me to work with other musicians. But with Randy, it was fun again!"
Q: You've worked with a lot of guitarists in your solo career: Randy, Jake E. Lee, Zakk. Let's talk a little bit about the differences between them.
Ozzy: "Well, Randy Rhoads was the best. If I had to say which one of the guitar players you'd rather work with, who was the most musically trained, it was Randy, because he could write, he could read, he could play, he taught at his mother's school, and he had patience with me. And he would work with me, as opposed to me having to work on top of what he put down. It was fun! Then he got tragically killed. And I'll never forget it as long as I live. That story, we all know now. But, I mean, he was only a young man. He was in his early twenties. It just doesn't seem right... I'm 70 years of age and it's so sad when you think the guy got killed so early. And then there was Jake E. Lee, he was another great player. But then, Zakk is somewhere else, man! That guy gets faster and faster. Zakk has been with me longer than any guitar player ever! He's been with me the longest and is one of the greatest friends I'll ever have. He is a family member to me. I mean, if I ever really needed him for anything, I could phone him up and he'd say, 'I'll be there in five minutes.' And vice-versa. Zakk's a hard-working guy. He works his balls off."
Q: You play a lot of the hits from this set every night on stage. Are there songs that resonate with you to this day?
Ozzy: "Well I don't play songs that don't do something for me. We play 'Crazy Train', 'Mr. Crowley', 'Bark At The Moon' every night."
Q: When you go onstage and play "Crazy Train", is it a burden?
Ozzy: "No, I mean these songs are a part of me and what my show is about, but my job is to give the audience what they want and try my best to never disappoint them. I try my hardest to get that audience going, no matter what I have to do."
Q: Let's talk about how you douse the audiences with water at your shows.
Ozzy: "It all started when I threw a bucket of water at the audience...just one show and it kinda grew from there! It's all good fun, and I love it!"
The full list of vinyl (all of which contain the original track-listings) is as follows:
* "Blizzard Of Ozz", 1980
* "Mr. Crowley" (EP), 45 RPM 1980
* "Diary Of A Madman",1981
* "Bark At The Moon", 1983
* "The Ultimate Sin", 1986
* "Tribute" (2 LPs), 1987
* "No Rest For The Wicked", 1988
* "Just Say Ozzy" (EP), 1990
* "No More Tears", 1991
* "Live & Loud" (3 LPs), 1993
* "Ozzmosis" (2 LPs), 1995
* "Down To Earth", 2001
* "Live At Budokan", (2 LPs) 2002
* "Black Rain" (2 LPs), 2007
* "Scream" (2 LPs), 2010
Bonus features include:
"Flippin' The B Side"
(a new collection of non-LP tracks)
Side A
"You Looking At Me Looking At You"
Originally from the "Crazy Train" UK 7" single, released 1980
"One Up The B Side"
Originally from "Bark At The Moon" 7" single,released 1983
"Spiders"
Originally from "Bark At The Moon," 7" single,released 1983
"Hero"
Originally a hidden track from the "No Rest For The Wicked" US CD and cassette release, released 1988
"The Liar"
Originally from the "Miracle Man" UK 12" single, released 1988
"Don't Blame Me"
Originally from the "Mama I'm Coming Home" UK 7" single, released 1991
Side B
"Party With The Animals"
Originally from the "Mama I'm Coming Home" US CD single, released 1992
"Living With The Enemy"
Originally from the "Perry Mason" UK CD single, released 1995
"Voodoo Dancer"
Originally from the "I Just Want You" UK CD single, released 1996
"Back On Earth"
Originally from "The Ozzman Cometh" compilation, released 1997
"No Place For Angels"
Originally from the "Gets Me Through" CD single, released 2001
"Walk On Water"
Originally released on "Prince Of Darkness," released 2005
Flexi Disc, 7" (45 RPM)
Unreleased version of "See You On The Other Side" (Demo)
Photo credit: Mark Weiss Photography
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4 äåê 2019
ADAM DUTKIEWICZ Says Next TIMES OF GRACE Studio Album Could Arrive In Late 2020
 Grasser Production conducted an interview with vocalist Jesse Leach and guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz of Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE prior to their November 10 at Löwensaal in Nürnberg, Germany. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On the songwriting process for their latest studio album, "Atonement":
Adam: "It was a lot tougher this time. It took about two years. We started writing two years before we recorded it. We ran into problem after problem, and opportunities, so it kept dragging on."
Jesse: "My life fell apart. Then I also had to get vocal surgery. There’s a lot going on. Touring with IRON MAIDEN was nuts."
Adam: "You can’t say no to MAIDEN."
Jesse: "It was amazing. It was tough. Mostly for him."
Adam: [Because of his role as producer] All of it."
On whether Dutkiewicz would ever want someone else to produce a KILLSWITCH ENGAGE album:
Adam: "I'd be fine with it. I love when things come together and it's a creative process and I love being spearheading and giving people direction and helping out and making things the best they can possibly be. It's very rewarding to see a song grow up. But when it refuses to grow up, then it becomes a problem."
Jesse: "I think if nothing there's lessons learned"
Adam: "I think when we do our next record, we'll do a lot of things differently. A lot of things."
Jesse: "And I'm approaching my writing differently now with TIMES OF GRACE. Just in general it helps make me see the bigger picture of how songwriting and album processes should go. I think it was a blessing in disguise for me personally."
On the status of the next TIMES OF GRACE album, the side project of Leach and Dutkiewicz:
Adam: "We're working on it. We've got four more songs to record vocals on. Then I have a lot of guitar parts and bass parts to record. I'm thinking it will be done by early next year, and then maybe we'd release it in about a year. There's a lot that still needs to happen for all of that to be in motion."
Jesse: "We're going to be smart with it."
On why they think people are interested in a second TIMES OF GRACE album:
Adam: "I have no idea. [Laughs]"
Jesse: "Just an emotional connection."
Adam: "It's definitely a project of passion and maybe people see that. Obviously, this is our freakin breadnand butter, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. Not to say it's not our passion. We do TIMES OF GRACE just for the love of it, the love of music, doing something different, doing something a little bit more out of our shell. It's a lot of fun for us and we can experiment with different sounds and almost become different types of musicians."
Jesse: "It's liberating. It really is what it is. And the lyrics, I take a different approach to that stuff. On this next one, there's a lot of real poetry, I'd say. There's a couple of [spoken-word parts]. I'm really stoked. Especially the last session we had, I'm really happy with the way it's coming out."
"Atonement" was released in August via Metal Blade Records in the U.S. and Sony Music Entertainment in the rest of the world. The disc features guest appearances by KILLSWITCH's former lead singer Howard Jones and TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy. It marks the band's third full-length release since the return of Leach, who rejoined the group in 2012.
TIMES OF GRACE's debut studio album, "The Hymn Of A Broken Man", was released in 2011 via Roadrunner. | +1 | |
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4 äåê 2019
TERRORVISION Unveil Festive Video For "Our Christmas Song"
 Terrorvision are ready to rock this Christmas with "Our Christmas Song", their first new material since 2011.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of their biggest album, How To Make Friends And Influence People, during a sold-out tour in May 2019, the band finally decided to make good on a long-standing ambition to write a Christmas single – a proper, glorious foot stomping, arms around each other Wizzard / Slade inspired Christmas single!
“'Our Christmas Song' is that festive present to the fans, and anyone else with a love of the heady days of pop music, when the Christmas No.1 mattered and the main event on Christmas Day was settling down to watch Top Of The Pops with the last few segments of your chocolate orange, washed down with a cheeky swig of your Gran’s Snowball,” exclaim the band.
Stream and/or purchase "Our Christmas Song" at this location.
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4 äåê 2019
GUNS N' ROSES Bassist DUFF MCKAGAN Releases Video For 'Cold Outside' In Support Of Seattle's Union Gospel Mission
 GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan has released a new video for the song "Cold Outside". The clip addresses the growing homeless crisis facing the U.S. and is being released on "Giving Tuesday". The release coincides with a Propeller campaign that benefits Seattle's Union Gospel Mission.
The video was designed to help raise awareness and support during the holiday season for the Mission and their work to provide emergency care and long-term recovery services to the hurting and homeless people in the greater Seattle area.
"Cold Outside" was featured on McKagan's "Tenderness" solo album, released earlier this year via UMe. The LP was produced by and features recent Grammy winner Shooter Jennings.
"In my early days, I was in similar situations," recalls McKagan, "so I know what it's like to not have anyone to turn to and sometimes need a helping hand to get back on my feet. I know many know others in need and I am hoping that, if we come together, we can help make a real difference."
McKagan has given much of his own time to this campaign and has donated memorabilia as part of the Propeller campaign with all proceeds going to Seattle's Union Gospel Mission.
Through the Propeller platform, fans will be able to earn points as they "take action" by volunteering at the Union Gospel Mission, donating to the Mission, sharing the campaign info on social media to help spread the word, and buying donated memorabilia. Items include a signed Litho, a signed "Tenderness" deluxe LP, as well as a "Tenderness" U.S. tour t-shirt, wristbands and more.
All donations made on Tuesday, December 3 will be matched dollar for dollar (up to $60,000) by an anonymous donor.
For more information on Propeller, go to this location. | +1 | |
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4 äåê 2019
HAMMERFALL Guitarist: 'I Think Individuality Is What Separates Swedish Bands From The Rest Of The World'
 Clint Switzer of the "Music Mania" podcast conducted an interview with guitarist Oscar Dronjak of Swedish melodic metallers HAMMERFALL prior to the band's October 25 concert at Riot Room in Kansas City, Missouri in support of SABATON. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On whether he feels American audiences have been slow to embrace HAMMERFALL:
Oscar: "We've been around for 22 years and heavy metal, the way we play it, the melodic stuff, at the end of the '90s and for a large part of the 2000s as well was…I don't know, it wasn't regarded [laughs] nicely. If you had a band that was singing with clean vocals, it was not worth a lot over here, unfortunately. That has changed now, for sure — in the last ten years or so, it's been a big change. When we do these tours, we are coming back again next year as well. It will be four tours in four years. That is because it's finally working over here for us."
On HAMMERFALL's formation in 1997 at a time when melodic metal was considered to be unhip:
Oscar: "The climate over here was much worse for much longer, but it was pretty bad first in Sweden as well in the early, mid-'90s for this type of music. I mean, it took actually the turn of the millennia where it started getting more recognition in Sweden as well. The reason I started HAMMERFALL is simple: I wanted to play the music that I love the most. That's what it was. I didn't have any aspirations. I didn't have any goals or anything, I just wanted to make great music that I enjoy with my friends who also enjoy the same type of music. That was the whole thing with HAMMERFALL."
On the reception to the band's new studio album, "Dominion":
Oscar: "It's been really good. This is our 11th album, so you'd think we'd get used to it somehow. It's always that way — you write songs, you invest time and effort and passion and everything you have into them, recordings and everything, and when that's done, you can't change anything, but you still don't know how other people are going to react to it when they hear it. I always think that we've done a good job, but I never know what other people are going to think. Once the album actually does come out, there's a couple of singles before and videos and stuff, you can sort of tell where we were headed. People have been very receptive to this album for sure. The great thing is that when we finish, I have certain feelings about it. Like, this, I think is good for that reason, and it seems like people have heard the same things I've heard in the album."
On why Sweden produces so many quality hard rock and heavy metal bands:
Oscar: "I don't really know why this is. I just know the facts and there are so many bands out of Sweden, and what I think is the most important thing about all these bands is their individuality. Because you can continue with the bands you mention, you can continue going with SABATON, or IN FLAMES, and DARK TRANQULLITY, AT THE GATES, HARDCORE SUPERSTAR, EVERGREY. It's a bunch of bands from different genres but they all sound unique in their own way. They don't sound like other bands coming from Sweden. I think individuality is what separates Swedish bands from the rest of the world."
On vocalist Joacim Cans:
Oscar: "The thing with Joacim is he's 49 now, and the last five years, his voice has only gotten better and better with every release. It's usually the other way around. They start really high and scream their lungs out for their whole career, and when they can't scream anymore, they're more or less done. Like I said, I'm the biggest JUDAS PRIEST fan in the whole world, but Rob Halford can't do what he could do 20 years ago or whatever. The thing is, with Joacim, he does take care of his voice a lot. He's been doing this since way before I met him. He went to MI, the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles in '93 or something like that, so he learned proper techniques, breathing, and all these warm-ups and cool-downs. He's doing that before every show, like taking care of his voice, making sure it's ready and also, he doesn't overexert. He doesn't do these screams that take a toll on his vocal cords. He had some problems with his vocal cords about 13 years ago, maybe, something like that, so he had to have an operation. It was fifty-fifty for him to be able to do the tour after that. But he pulled through and since then, he's only been taking more and more care of his voice. That was sort of a thing: If this could have gone the other way, he may not have had a lot of voice left. He got through on the other side and decided to take even better care of his voice. I think that's really nice. It's great because that means…like we said, how many bands have a singer that's closing in on 50 and it's getting better and better with each release? I don't think that's very common. For HAMMERFALL, Joacim has the perfect voice. There's no question about it."
"Dominion" was released in August via Napalm Records.
HAMMERFALL recently announced a fall 2020 North American headline tour. The tour starts September 14, 2020, in West Palm Beach, Florida and runs through October 19, 2020 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Support will come from BEAST IN BLACK and EDGE OF PARADISE.
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4 äåê 2019
MARYANN COTTON Reunites With Original Lineup; New Album Coming
 The original Maryann Cotton group is reunited and will kick off their North American tour in February followed by their fourth studio album coming in April 2020.
The original lineup broke up in Los Angeles, California and has been away from each other for three years.
Maryann says: “We just saw each other the other day, and it just felt right!”
The band is now putting the finishing touches to their new album, and Maryann Cotton is doing the last vocal parts before the mix and mastering.
Cotton says drugs and alcohol killed the band:
''When we stopped and took a break from this line-up 3 years ago, we ended in a very bad way, it was the last day of the tour and people was fried and drained. It was our first big American tour with a few sold out shows, everything was overwhelming for a new upcoming band - but the tour life, and travel circumstances were definitely not luxurious, far from it! Girls and parties took away all the focus from the shows, and it quickly became the way for us to survive. Usually we would wake up an hour before show time, and some concerts had to be canceled. Later on that whole lifestyle led to major health problems, and ended up killing the band and our friendship.
We are all alpha males in the band, and everybody wanted to ‘run the show’, we were fighting with each other constantly, and only focused on all the negative things.
“Last time we saw each other was in Beverly Hills, California and that was the last time we spoke to our drummer Shawn (Kernon) after the last party of the tour. People travelled back home overseas and didn’t even say goodbye to each other. I guess we needed that break!
“We continued with a new line-up the year after, which was a failure. Major health issues in the band, I personally was dealing with a lot drama in my private life, and in the band alcohol started speaking louder than the concerts. We lost our sound, and the spark, so we took a whole year off in 2019 to restart the engines, I started writing new music in Las Vegas for our new album and around Halloween this year, we decided to reform the original band and lineup.
''I believe that it was good for the band to go through the hard times, and we definitely needed a break. But it only made us stronger, and WE WILL be back stronger than ever with our new album. Everyone is so passionate and dedicated to the band now, because what happened is that people started to miss each other and all the good things we had together, - you start to realize it after a few years away from each other. We have all gone through the same thing in our private lives, and we can definitely feel the new energy and blood, our strong friendship is back and our fans and the people out there will definitely see our strongest live performances to date.”
The first tour dates for the 'Holy' North American tour will be announced next week.
Lineup:
Maryann Cotton – vocals
Hal Patino – bass
Sebastian Sly – guitar
Shawn Kernon – drums
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4 äåê 2019
Ex-CANDLEMASS Vocalist MATS LEVÉN On Releasing His First Solo Album: 'I've Been Waiting For This For A Long Time'
 A veteran of bands such as CANDLEMASS, THERION and YNGWIE J. MALMSTEEN, and a touring member of TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, acclaimed Swedish vocalist Mats Levén has finally released his first solo album under the name of SKYBLOOD. The self-titled album features guest contributions from past and present members of KING DIAMOND, OPETH, THERION and WITCHERY, and leans heavily on Levén's rough-but-ever-soulful vocals.
In a recent interview with Sebastian from The Metal Gods Meltdown, Levén shared his feelings on having an album to call his own, as well as the various reasons why he waited so long to release a solo outing.
"To me it's amazing," he said (hear audio below). "For all those years, I always knew that I wanted to do something by myself. Twenty years ago, I didn't feel like I had the knowledge. I didn't feel like I was writing good songs. I didn't feel good enough about it. Then, over the years, I've been doing other stuff, especially the last five or six years I played with CANDLEMASS, I didn't want to put this solo album out because I felt it was disturbing what I did in CANDLEMASS because it's hard to play in CANDLEMASS, anyway, with so many singers before and you just want to be a part of the band and be on the team, so to speak. I guess I just waited for the right moment to release the album and that happened after the split with CANDLEMASS last year. I've been waiting for this for a long time. [Laughs]"
Levén was then asked why he chose the SKYBLOOD as the moniker for his solo material instead of simply releasing the album under his own name.
"I started thinking about names a year ago," he said. "It's so hard. It's so hard coming up with a name. [Laughs] They've all been used before. I think it all came from the start. It just came from the James Bond movie 'Skyfall'. I liked how it sounded, kind of that short kind of word. Then I forgot about that. I had things with 'blood' that this was really me and true, coming from myself. Then I saw the picture that ended up on the artwork. It didn't look exactly like it does on the artwork, the foundation of it. And I saw that picture and it was just that red color and the blue color behind and it just suddenly struck me, 'SKYBLOOD'. And I suddenly felt this guy was called 'Skyblood'. It was natural to call it that. To me, it was really obvious. It was cool as well because it really helped me to write the lyrics and write through another character even though it's kind of myself as well. So yeah, I guess the SKYBLOOD thing felt really right when I saw that picture or that artwork."
SKYBLOOD's debut album was released November 22 via Napalm Records. Among the guest musicians who appear on the disc are Martin "Axe" Axenrot (BLOODBATH, OPETH, WITCHERY), Nalley Påhlsson (TREAT, THERION), Snowy Shaw (ex-KING DIAMOND) and Petter Karlsson (ex-THERION, DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA).
Mats, who was in CANDLEMASS for six years, began his professional musical life with SWEDISH EROTICA from Gothenburg, Sweden in 1989. In 1990, Mats got an offer from TREAT and moved to Stockholm where he still lives with his wife and two kids.
After recording albums with ABSTRAKT ALGEBRA and AB/CD, Mats as approached by Yngwie Malmsteen to join the guitarist's band in 1997-98 and to lay down his vocal tracks on the "Facing The Animal" LP.
Over the past couple of decades, Levén has been involved with a number of different bands and projects, including SOUTHPAW, DOGFACE, ESSENCE OF SORROW, AT VANCE and KRUX.
In 2004, Mats supplied lead vocals for THERION's two albums "Sirius B" and "Lemuria". This led to some 150 shows with the band over the course of the next four years. THERION's 2007 album "Gothic Kabbalah" saw Mats co-writing six of the tracks, including the epic "Son Of The Staves Of Time". In 2010-2011, Mats toured with ADAGIO and FIREWIND before joining CANDLEMASS as the replacement for Robert Lowe.
Between 2016 and 2018, Mats toured with rock theater sensation TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, whose 20th-anniversary trek visited 65 cities across North America, for more than 100 performances.
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4 äåê 2019
IRON MAIDEN: 'Pop! Rocks' Figures From FUNKO Coming Soon
 The popular vinyl collectible company Funko — best known for its big-headed Pop! figures — has joined forces with IRON MAIDEN.
The British metal legends' collaboration with Funko was announced on Monday (December 2) in a blog post on the Funko web site.
Four different versions of Eddie, the iconic mascot of IRON MAIDEN, are available for pre-order. The figures capture Eddie in forms relating to the band's first four LPs: "Pop! Iron Maiden Eddie", "Pop! Killers Eddie", "Pop! Number Of The Beast Eddie" and "Pop! Piece of Mind Eddie".
"Showcase your IRON MAIDEN pride by bringing home the band's immortal mascot today," the blog post reads.
According to Funko, this is "wave one reimagining Eddie's appearances," implying that more figures will be coming at a later date.
Other artists who have gotten the Pop! Rocks treatment include KISS, METALLICA, GUNS N' ROSES, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, DEF LEPPARD and Rob Zombie.
A Funko vinyl Pop! figure, or popularly known as a "Pop!", is packaged carefully inside a box with a transparent front. The figurine is made out of vinyl and may come as a bobblehead.
Funko reported that these figurines increased its sales by 38 percent in the second quarter of 2019. International sales spiked 65 percent to $68.5 million, while U.S. revenue grew 26 percent to $122.7 million.
Headquartered in Everett, Washington, Funko is a leading pop culture consumer products company. Funko designs, sources and distributes licensed pop culture products across multiple categories, including vinyl figures, action toys, plush, apparel, housewares and accessories for consumers who seek tangible ways to connect with their favorite pop culture brands and characters. | +6 | |
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4 äåê 2019
THE MURDER OF MY SWEET Streaming New Song "Hit The Ground"
 Frontiers Music Srl will release The Murder Of My Sweet's fifth studio album, Brave Tin World, on December 6. The song "Hit The Ground" is available for streaming below. You can pre-order the album here.
Brave Tin World is yet another fantastic album where the band delivers a fine slice of cinematic/symphonic metal. Often compared to musical giants such as Within Temptation, Nemesea, and Delain, The Murder Of My Sweet are Sweden’s significant answer to those revered Dutch acts.
Musically, the band’s new album follows the path of their previous record, Beth Out Of Hell, with a more straight-ahead songwriting approach, while still offering the symphonic and cinematic elements the band is now well-known for. Brave Tin World showcases a Nordic sound that the members of the band grew up listening to and lyrically takes on issues in tune with our modern day life.
"It's a more relaxed and mature album,” says producer and drummer Daniel Flores. "We're currently in transition with our songwriting, trying to bring out our identity instead of our chops. Sonically, we've taken a step further too, concentrating on more details than before."
Debuting with the first single, “Tin Soldiers”, the band is truly stronger than ever. "The song seems like it's been growing in our heads for the past ten years. We just didn't know how to communicate it properly until now. It's sort of an adventure about a mature topic that is unfortunately still very much of an issue these days,” says singer Angelica Rylin.
With Angelica Rylin carrying the vocals with her smooth, powerful voice, the wall of sound supporting the vocals is provided by Christopher Vetter on guitar, Patrik Janson on bass, and Daniel Flores on drums and keyboards. It’s easy to close your eyes while listening to The Murder Of My Sweet and imagine you are listening to a movie soundtrack. It has that musical film production value that makes movies feel bigger than life, but translated to music.
"This album has something we've never accomplished before,” concludes Daniel Flores. "It's a perfect balance between heavy and light and the immersion is so substantial no one will be able to deny it."
The Murder Of My Sweet’s aim is to create a distorted film noir vibe and experience by putting the wonder, sadness, humour and sheer zest of life into their music. By playing it to the point where the drama explodes, the music and the words become the utmost expression of the direct and ecstatic pure joy of being. The Murder Of My Sweet have arrived again with an unforgettable thrill of a lifetime album. Whatever you do, don’t miss the show.
Tracklisting:
"Tin Soldiers"
"My Religion"
"Head Of The Snake"
"Reasons To Live"
"Safe In The Shadows"
"Hit The Ground"
"Everyone Wins"
"Memento"
"Keeper Of The Flame"
"Worth Fighting For"
"Alchemy Of Sins"
"Hit The Ground":
"Head Of The Snake":
"Tin Soldiers" lyric video:
Lineup:
Angelica Rylin - Vocals
Daniel Flores - Keyboards, strings arrangements, backing vocals and Drums
Christopher Vetter - Acoustic and electric guitars
Patrik Janson - Bass
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4 äåê 2019
CHRIS ADLER Says Things Are 'Weird' But 'Friendly' Between Him And His Brother Following His LAMB OF GOD Exit
 Chris Adler says that things are "weird" between him and his brother, LAMB OF GOD guitarist Willie Adler, following the drummer's departure from the band.
LAMB OF GOD officially parted ways with Chris in July. His replacement is Art Cruz, who has previously played with PRONG and WINDS OF PLAGUE, and filled in for Adler on several LAMB OF GOD tours in 2018 and 2019.
Chris, who is a founding member of LAMB OF GOD, addressed his relationship with his brother during an appearance on "Elliot In The Morning", a morning radio talk show hosted by DJ Elliot Segal.
Answering "yes" to a question about whether it is "weird" between him and Willie now that he is out of LAMB OF GOD, Chris went on to say (hear audio below): "[Willie and I have] done it together. I wouldn't call it a family business, but it's kind of a cottage industry that we've put together, and it's just unfortunate that we weren't able to see eye-to-eye on it."
Pressed about whether things are still "friendly" between him and his brother, Chris said: "It is. You know, it's blood. It's kind of one of those things, and not that this is the case, but with family, there is a level of disrespect that's somehow tolerated, [where] it wouldn't be with friends or whatever. And I don't think there's any real disrespect going on here in either direction. So, yeah, we're gonna be fine."
Asked if he is still friendly with the other guys in LAMB OF GOD, Chris said: "We've spent 26 years in a bus, a train, a plane. There's not much left to talk about. We've explored our friendships to the fullest."
The drummer also talked about his recent statement in which he attempted to finally explain some of the reasons for his exit from LAMB OF GOD. Asked if his comment that he is "unwilling to paint by numbers" meant that he felt the band was no longer "pushing it creatively," Chris replied: "I didn't necessarily mean that at all. In fact, everybody in the band is very, very creative people and I'm sure the new music's gonna be great. They're pushing the boundaries of the genre, and I have no doubt that it's gonna be awesome. What I meant was that I had a dream when I was 14 years old, and I've been very fortunate to go around the world several times, and we've played the arenas, we've had the headline slots, we've kind of done everything there is to do, and I just don't really feel the need to continue to do it and miss time from my family."
Asked if that means that he will be hanging up the drum sticks for a while, Chris said: "No. Not at all. I [just got back from] the Middle East, and I was playing drums over there [with HAIL!]. And I'm working with a guy from California right now — his name is Myrone — and we're doing some stuff right now; we're doing a 1970s Oakland Raiders theme-based album.
"No, I'm definitely not stopping [playing drums]," he reiterated. "I absolutely love playing the drums. I do two things well, and one of them is drums. So I'm sticking with it, for sure. And I look forward to any kind of other opportunities that may arise in doing it; I just don't need to spend six months a year playing the same places I have for the past 20 years."
When Adler's absence from LAMB OF GOD's summer 2018 tour was first announced, he released a statement saying that he had been undergoing physical and occupational therapy for injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident.
In addition to LAMB OF GOD, Adler has played drums with a number of metal artists, including MEGADETH, NITRO, BLOTTED SCIENCE and PROTEST THE HERO.
Adler is currently playing with the rotating supergroup HAIL!, whose lineup also includes EXODUS vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza, VIO-LENCE/ex-MACHINE HEAD guitarist Phil Demmel and former MEGADETH/BLACK LABEL SOCIETY bassist James LoMenzo.
Last year, Adler partnered with music industry executive Jason Lekberg to launch Kintsugi Management.
In November, Chris will return to India to conduct a series of drum and music-business clinics and live shows titled "The Chris Adler Experience", presented by Gravity Talent. The live shows will see Adler supported by a number of the country's top musicians belting out the best-known LAMB OF GOD and MEGADETH material.
Listen to "EITM: Chris Adler 10/28/19" on Spreaker. | +4 | |
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4 äåê 2019
SAVATAGE Singer ZAK STEVENS Launches ARCHON ANGEL
 Frontiers Music Srl has announced the signing of ARCHON ANGEL to the label's rapidly expanding metal roster. The band's debut album, "Fallen", will be released in early 2020, with a music video for the title track and pre-orders for the album launching on December 4. The band will make its exclusive live debut on the 2020 edition of 70000 Tons Of Metal in January.
A new band project born from a meeting between producer/guitar player Aldo Lonobile (SECRET SPHERE) and former SAVATAGE and CIRCLE II CIRCLE vocalist Zak Stevens during the making of TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON's "Return To Eden" album, of which Aldo produced and played guitar and Zak did some guest lead vocals. The two soon started talking to Frontiers about the concept of working on new music together, which was met with great enthusiasm from the label. Aldo submitted to Zak some song ideas which were reminiscent of the classic SAVATAGE sound of records such as "Edge Of Thorns" and "Gutter Ballet". The two felt the magic was there, so no time was wasted in getting together to craft an absolutely striking metal album.
Zak Stevens tells the story of how everything came together: "Aldo Lonobile of SECRET SPHERE was producing the 'Return To Eden' album and that's how we originally met in 2018. He contacted me by e-mail and together we chose the two songs I would be singing on. Right away, it was super easy working with Aldo and we thought very much alike as far as music and production are concerned. And now, here we are today as bandmates in ARCHON ANGEL and playing together on the debut album, 'Fallen'!"
"For ARCHON ANGEL, we pretty much started all the songs from scratch," continues Zak. "Aldo had quite a few songs demoed to get things started with and we just went from there. He's an amazing guitarist and I was more than impressed with everything he did. From there, everyone got involved. The band guys in Italy [Aldo - guitars, Marco Lazzarini - drums, and Antonio Agate - keys] and in France (my old friend Yves Campion from the band NIGHTMARE on bass) helped Aldo with the instrumentation. I worked on vocal melodies with Aldo, along with my wife Katherine Stevens, who is a is very creative writer in her own right. She helped Aldo and I with some amazing lyrical contributions and with the overall concept stuff for the album."
Adds Aldo Lonobile: "Zak had a huge impact on my musical background: he has a unique vocal tone and the milestone albums he recorded with SAVATAGE are among my all time favourite albums. When Frontiers gave me the chance to work with him during the production of the latest TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON metal opera 'Return To Eden', I was very excited and everything has been super easy. I am very proud of the music we wrote together and we are a great team. Stay tuned for more news!"
Aldo was also helped in the songwriting department by some of the most outstanding writers and musicians from the Italian rock scene, including Simone Mularoni (of DGM and SWEET OBLIVION) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (Aldo's bandmate in EDGE OF FOREVER and of course JORN, HARDLINE, etc.).
The album itself deals with a central character, the "Archon", who is a modern-day angel figure. The idea goes back to the religious system of gnosticism. The only difference is that we are immersing the Archon's story into modern-day times. The Archon is a medium who brings messages to God (Demiurge) from the people of Earth. The only real concept to the albums is that they simply follow the story and life and times of the modern day "Archon" and his life as he is called upon to protect the people of earth through frightening, turbulent times.
ARCHON ANGEL is currently working on booking some live shows to present the band in the live environment, but its exclusive live premiere will happen at the 2020 edition of the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise.
Lineup:
Vocals - Zak Stevens
Guitars - Aldo Lonobile
Bass - Yves Campion
Drums - Marco Lazzarini
Keyboards & Piano (Studio) - Antonio Agate
Zak Stevens image courtesy of YouTube user "squintyt4e" | +1 | |
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4 äåê 2019
BEAST IN BLACK Debut Official Live Video For "Cry Out For A Hero"
International heavy metal group, Beast In Black, have released a video for "Cry Out For A Hero", a song from their chart topping sophomore record, From Hell With Love, released back in February via Nuclear Blast Records.
Says the band: "During our recent From Hell With Love tour, Damien of Dust In Mind came to us and offered to record our show in Strasbourg in order to make a live video out of it. The result he sent to us was way above our expectations. His video truly shows the real power of the Beast In Black live performances!"
Beast In Black, as well as Edge Of Paradise, will support HammerFall on their 2020 North American headline tour. The trek starts September 14 in Palm Beach, FL and runs through October 19 in Silver Spring, MD.
Dates:
September
14 - West Palm Beach, FL - Kelsey Theatre
15 - Tampa, FL - Orpheum
16 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
18 - San Antonio, TX - Rock Box
19 - Dallas, TX - Trees
20 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
22 - Tempe, AZ - Club Red
23 - Anaheim, CA - Orange National Grove
24 - Oakland, CA - Oakland Metro
25 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
26 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
27 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre
29 - Calgary, AB - Dickens
30 - Edmonton, AB - The Starlite Room
October
2 - Salt Lake City, UT - Liquid Joe’s
3 - Denver, CO - Hermans Hideaway
5 - Minneapolis, MN - The Cabooze
6 - Racine, WI - Rt 20
7 - Chicago, IL - Concord Music Hall
8 - Westland, MI - Token Lounge
9 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverfront Live
10 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Ballroom
11 - Toronto, ON - MOD Club
12 - Montreal, QC - Corona Theatre
13 - Quebec, QC - Le D’Auteuil
15 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance
16 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
17 - New York, NY - The Gramercy Theatre
18 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
19 - Silver Spring, MD - The Filmore
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4 äåê 2019
JOHAN SÖDERBERG Says AMON AMARTH Gave MACHINE HEAD Idea For 'Evening With' Shows
 In an interview with Grasser Production prior to AMON AMARTH's November 15 concert at Zenith in Munich, Germany, guitarist Johan Söderberg and drummer Jocke Wallgren discussed whether they could be a hypothetical replacement for IRON MAIDEN as one of metal's leading arena and festival headlining bands, as well as their approach to live shows considering they now have 11 studio albums to their credit.
"I don't see us as a replacement for IRON MAIDEN in any way," said Johan (see video below). "Of course, someday, they're going to quit, I guess, then we need other bands to take their spot."
Söderberg and Wallgren were then asked about their thoughts on doing "An Evening With" shows since they now have so many songs to choose from for a live set. These shows — since largely employed by MACHINE HEAD — eschew opening acts in favor of extended set times.
"We actually told MACHINE HEAD about that idea," said Johan. "We did it before them."
When asked whether AMON AMARTH would consider doing more of these shows in the future, Johan said, "I mean, it's possible," while Wallgren added, "I'm not opposed to it."
"Maybe not for a tour, then," added Johan. "Maybe for a special show or something."
The conversation shifted to Wallgren's experience recording AMON AMARTH's latest studio album, "Berserker", which was released this past May. Wallgren [ex-OCTOBER TIDE] joined AMON AMARTH as the replacement for Fredrik Andersson, who was dismissed from the band in 2015.
"It was good," he laughed. "It was easy. Since I was a part of writing the drums, of course, it was good. Good feedback from the band and good feedback from the producer [Jay Ruston] as well. Yeah, it was kind of easy."
"Of course, entering the band, I was super nervous," he continued. "I'm always nervous when it comes to recording because you can hear everything very clear. If you make one single hit wrong, then you have to re-do the take or whatever. But, yeah, it turned out well."
"Berserker" was released in May via Metal Blade Records. The disc was recorded at Sphere Studios in North Hollywood, California with Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, URIAH HEEP and STONE SOUR.
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Motionless in White
