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Manos Spanos

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES: ‘Smash It!’ Video Teaser

Manos Spanos
A teaser for "Smash It!", the new video from the long-running Venice Beach, California thrash/punk band SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, can be seen below. The band was joined during the shoot by the the Metal Mulisha freestyle motocross team. "Smash It!" comes off SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' new album, "13", which sold around 3,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 187 on The Billboard 200 chart. The first studio album in 13 years from SUICIDAL TENDENCIES was produced by vocalist Mike Muir and Grammy-nominated engineer/mixer Paul Northfield (DREAM THEATER, HOLE, RUSH). In a recent interview with Jersey Beat, Muir stated about "13": "We just wanted to have a record which felt like going back through a time machine, that if I was playing straight through at 15, I would go, Whoa!' We didn't want to make a record which sounded old, but one that people not even 20 years old hearing even 20 years from now at would say, 'Wow, that’s a great record.' A lot of people, the first thing that they ask is: 'Well, what style is it? Is it punk, is it metal?' and we’re just, like, 'Why do you want to categorize something so quickly, not care only if it’s good?' That takes time, but I do think that there are a lot of people who are going to love it for the right reasons." Asked why now was the right time for SUICIDAL TENDENCIES to release a new studio album, Muir told Grammy.com: "We've been touring at least a couple of months [per year] for the last six years, and among other things I had a couple of back surgeries. We didn't want to put out a record afterwards and make it look like we were throwing out our last baseball, the athlete going for the last hurrah before he falls apart. We wanted to get out there and gain a little new ground. "Our [fan] base is pretty strong. Obviously, a record helps out a lot, and on this tour we're seeing a lot of people excited to come, not to be nostalgic but as more of a resurgence. We've got a lot of families coming. A lot of people saying that their first show they saw was 20 years ago, and they're bringing their kids there for their first show. We never used to hear that before. At our first show in San Francisco, this girl came up and asked us to sign something for her mom. Then she said, 'I love you too, but my mom's loved you longer!' We were all laughing."
03 min read

NIGHTWISH: Third ‘Showtime, Storytime’ Trailer Available

Manos Spanos
Finnish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH will release their new DVD, "Showtime, Storytime", on November 29 as a limited 2Blu-ray + 2CD digipack, limited 2DVD + 2CD digipack, limited 2CD digipack, 2LP (colored) in gatefold and an exclusive Nuclear Blast mailorder edition. "Showtime, Storytime" contains NIGHTWISH's entire August 3 performance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany. The show, which was played in the front of 85,000 screaming metalheads, was directed by Ville Lipiäinen, filmed with seventeen cameras and has a total running time of 85 minutes. The second disc consists of a 120-minute tour documentary, "Please Learn The Setlist In 48 Hours", also directed by Ville Lipiäinen, with no shortage of drama or overall madness. Also, there is a 16-minute NIGHTWISH Table Hockey Tournament, filmed on tour. In addition, there are two music clips: "I Want My Tears Back"(live at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland) and "Ghost Love Score" (live in Buenos Aires). The Wacken Open Air appearance was the first of the three final shows of NIGHTWISH's"Imaginaerum World Tour", which saw the band and their Dutch singer Floor Jansen(REVAMP, ex-AFTER FOREVER) playing 104 concerts in 34 different countries, with a total audience of over 1.5 million fans around the globe. Commented NIGHTWISH mastermind and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen: "Our darling flying Dutchwoman, Floor Jansen, has been nothing but incredible during her time in NIGHTWISH on this tour, so this is a perfect opportunity to immortalize the current vibe of the band on film!" NIGHTWISH's setlist for the Wacken Open Air performance was as follows: 01. Dark Chest Of Wonders 02. Wish I Had An Angel 03. She Is My Sin 04. Ghost River 05. Ever Dream 06. Storytime 07. I Want My Tears Back 08. Nemo 09. Last Of The Wilds 10. Bless The Child 11. Romanticide 12. Amaranth 13. Ghost Love Score 14. Song Of Myself 15. Last Ride Of The Day 16. Outro (Imaginaerum) A third trailer for"Showtime, Storytime", featuring footage from the "Please Learn The Setlist In 48 Hours" documentary, can be seen below.
02 min read

JORN Parts Ways With Longtime Drummer WILLY BENDIKSEN

Manos Spanos
JORN, the hard rock band fronted by powerhouse Norwegian singer Jorn Lande(MASTERPLAN, ARK), has parted ways with longtime drummer Willy Bendiksen. A replacement drummer has not yet been announced. JORN in July announced the addition of bassist Thomas Bekkevold to the group's ranks. JORN's latest album, "Traveller", landed at position No. 12 on the official chart in Norway. The CD was released on June 11 in North America and June 14 in Europe via Frontiers Records. Considered one of the greatest legends in rock, and by many as the best male rock singer of the millennium, Lande never seems to stop producing music, and is back with yet another slab of classic first-division heavy rock. "Traveller" is definitely a suitable title to fit this gifted and creative viking's extreme productivity. During his almost-30-year-long career, his albums have sold millions. He managed to release close to 40 albums with various bands/projects in the past decades, and "Traveller" is his eighth studio album under the Jorn banner. Some say he has passed his successors by his gift of being versatile, and ability to not get stuck in the political frames of the music business. A true independent "freebird" hammering his legacy in stone as he goes, with a band of grounded and solid craftsmen to back up his hurricane force voice. This album represents the first product of the pairing of Jorn Lande and the new JORN guitaristTrond Holter (WIG WAM, DREAM POLICE). The result is eleven new songs encompassing a variety of moods and styles, with Lande's voice shining through memorable anthems, backed by wonderful grooves and tightly-executed classic and melodic heavy metal. "This album has all the elements of the Jorn legacy," says Lande. "It is heavy, but still very melodic and experimental, and it really rocks! As usual we haven't spent much time analyzing the material before recording it, this is an album about life, doom and death reflecting on what I know and thoughts about what I don't."
02 min read

SLAYER’s KING On Recording HANNEMAN-Penned Material: ‘If It Ain’t Awesome, You’re Not Gonna Hear It’

Manos Spanos
Revolver magazine recently conducted an interview with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King and drummer Paul Bostaph. You can now watch the chat at RevolverMag.com. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). On the progress of the songwriting sessions for SLAYER's long-awaited follow-up to 2009's"World Painted Blood": King: "I've been working on stuff for the better part of three years, probably. I did a demo with [now-former SLAYER drummer] Dave [Lombardo] a year ago, [in] March [2012]. We finished two songs that we thought were gonna be out for [the Rockstar Energy Drink]Mayhem [Festival] in 2012, and to this day, they're not mixed. Now [drummer] Paul's [Bostaph] with us, so we're gonna re-record those with Paul. But [Paul] and I have done, like, 11 demos since Paul's been with us. I think there's two or three more that are finished that we've just gotta work on, and there's, like, halves of three others. So we have an abundance of material. We've just gotta sign a deal with whoever is gonna put it out and record it, which I'm really hoping to do in January. And we should be so prepared that it should be a pretty short recording time frame. So my idea [for a possible release date] is May of 2014]. But I'm always wrong." On the possiliby of using material that was originally written by guitarist Jeff Hanneman prior to this death: King: "Jeff had… We both had a song that was left off the last album ['World Painted Blood']. And mine, 'Atrocity Vendor', came out on some obscure single. But I'd like to re-record that with Paul, change the lyrics up a bit, change the leads and have that as a bonus track on the new record. Jeff's song he finished right at the end, so it was kind of like an afterthought. There's some good stuff on it, but good as a whole, it's gotta be reworked, and I plan on reworking it. I know Jeff wanted to rework it, so it's not like he's not here, so I'm gonna change his song. [laughs] I know he talked about rewriting lyrics for it. "It's hard, because once a song is finished, it's hard to hear it any other way. You basically have to deconstruct it and start fresh. The verse will be the verse and the chorus will be the chorus, but all the glue in the middle, you've gotta deconstruct it and see what you can do to make it better. And I planned on working on that one; it's just that I've got a couple I'm working on I wanna finish first. And he's got, I think, two other strong ideas that I don't even think were done, so they're gonna need to be helped as well. "My big thing is, if we're gonna put out something that Jeff wrote, I've seen other musicians and bands [release] music [that was originally written] in the past, and it's generally not good. I don't want it to be perceived like that. If we're gonna put out Jeff's last contribution inSLAYER, if it ain't awesome, you're not gonna hear it. So I wanna make it awesome, so youcan hear it." On SLAYER's current North American tour featuring an "old-school" setlist: King: "Well, we had a really good set made up, and since we were playing two shows in L.A., they wanted something for the night that was added, so I came up with a setlist that's'Seasons In The Abyss' and prior, and once we did it, everybody wanted it. And it's a good time to do it, because we don't have any [new] product, so… I'm, like, well, shit. It's fun to play, it goes by in a minute, it seems like. We just did it last night and played an hour and 25 [minutes], and it seemed like it was, like, 10 minutes. It was just [snaps fingers], bam, done."
04 min read

DAVE MUSTAINE Says ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’ For MEGADETH

Manos Spanos
On October 22, Mau Alvarado of Costa Rica's "80s Y Mas" conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine when the band played at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San José as the support act for BLACK SABBATH. Check out the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow. On where he sees MEGADETH five or ten years from now: Mustaine: "There was a period about ten years ago when I was really unhappy with the way things were going in the music business and with MEGADETH in general. And there was a lot of internal turmoil with the band — a lot of fighting and stuff like that — and a lot of times, I would ask myself: 'Is this really what I wanna do with the rest of my life?' And once we had the breakup after I my arm got injured and I re-evaluated my career, it changed things, and meeting up with Shawn [Drover, drums] and Chris [Broderick, guitar] really made me, I believe, a much more grateful player. So I think right now the best is yet to come for us. We really have gotten a lot better in the last, probably, two years even. We're playing better now than, I think, we've ever played." On whether he will still be rocking like THE ROLLING STONES when he reaches the age of 65 or 70: Mustaine: "Like THE ROLLING STONES? [laughs] Let's see. I hope so. I hope better, actually, because I think I am in better shape than they are at… When they were 52, I think I'm in better shape than they were. And I have tremendous respect for THE ROLLING STONES, but I think it's all relative. I mean, look at Bruce Springsteen; he's just as old as they are, but nobody says anything about it, 'cause he takes of himself. I take care of myself. A lot of people say stuff about my age because of the whole 'Big Four' thing and what it stands for, or they [mention] the injury to my neck. But if I didn't have those two things, nobody would say, 'Oh, God, he's 52.' They wouldn't even care."
02 min read

DEVILDRIVER ‘Ugly Christmas Sweater’ Coming Next Month

Manos Spanos
DEVILDRIVER is offering its own contribution to "ugly Christmas sweater," a ubiquitous feature of the holiday season which began to sprout up in the last several decades. "Ugly Christmas sweater" or "tacky Christmas sweater" parties have been a holiday staple for several years, but there have been very few places to actually buy these sweaters. That has since changed, according to Time magazine, which reports that vintage stores, the Salvation Army, and Goodwill are reaping the benefits of this craze, as are fast-fashion shops like H&M and high-end retailers such as Nordstrom. The DEVILDRIVER "ugly Christmas sweater" is part of a holiday bundle that also includes an embroidered scarf, a five-inch vinyl sticker, and a custom DEVILDRIVER ornament. It will be available from IndieMerch.com starting around December 2.
01 min read

RHAPSODY OF FIRE: New Song ‘Silver Lake Of Tears’ Available For Streaming

Manos Spanos
Italian symphonic metallers RHAPSODY OF FIRE will release their new studio album, "Dark Wings Of Steel", on November 22 in Europe and December 3 in the USA via AFM Records. The CD was produced by keyboardist Alex Staropoli, with all songs composed by Staropoli and Manuel Staropoli, with assistance from Roby De Micheli. All lyrics were written by singer Fabio Lione. The effort features a full orchestra, a choir and real string instruments, as in the finest RHAPSODY OF FIRE tradition. "Dark Wings Of Steel" will be released on CD, double vinyl and as a digipak. The digipak and vinyl versions will include a bonus track. "Dark Wings Of Steel" track listing: 01. Vis Divina 02. Rising From Tragic Flames 03. Angel Of Light 04. Tears Of Pain 05. Fly To Crystal Skies 06. My Sacrifice 07. Silver Lake Of Tears 08. Custode Di Pace 09. A Tale Of Magic 10. Dark Wings Of Steel 11. Sad Mystic Moon Bonus track on digipak and vinyl: 12. A Candle To Light (extended version) The song "Silver Lake Of Tears" can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. RHAPSODY OF FIRE in June "respectfully" parted ways with their American guitarist Tom Hess due to "philosophical differences." RHAPSODY OF FIRE released a new live album, "Live - From Chaos To Eternity", on May 3 in Europe and May 7 in the USA via AFM Records. It was made available as two-CD digipak and as limited three-vinyl set. The material (a mixture of old classics and newer tracks) was recorded on the band’s latest European tour in spring 2012. Staropoli and RHAPSODY OF FIRE guitarist Luca Turilli in 2011 announced their decision to go their separate ways. Due to legal reasons, Staropoli is continuing under the RHAPSODY OF FIRE name. Turilli, on the other hand, is making his efforts available under the RHAPSODY moniker (RHAPSODY OF FIRE's original name), in which he is joined by guitarist Dominique Leurquin, bassist Patrice Guers, singer Alessandro Conti (TRICK OR TREAT) and drummer Alex Landenburg (AT VANCE, ANNIHILATOR, MEKONG DELTA, STRATOVARIUS). RHAPSODY OF FIRE's latest album, "From Chaos To Eternity", was released in North America on July 12, 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records. Described by the band as "the natural evolution" from 2010's "The Frozen Tears Of Angels", the CD marks RHAPSODY OF FIRE's final release based on the fantasy saga started in 1997 with the group's debut album, "Legendary Tales".
03 min read

LAMB OF GOD: Entire 10th-Anniversary Edition Of ‘As The Palaces Burn’ Available For Streaming

Manos Spanos
Richmond, Virigina metallers LAMB OF GOD will release a special 10th-anniversary edition of their "As The Palaces Burn" album on November 11. You can now stream the entire CD using the SoundCloud widget below (courtesy of RollingStone.com). After some serious detective work tracking down the original album master tapes, the band went in with producer Josh Wilbur (who also produced LAMB OF GOD's "Wrath" and"Resolution" CDs) and gave "Palaces" a full-on, ass-kicking remix and remaster, front to back, top to bottom. The remixed version of "Palaces" is now how they had originally intended it to be. To go along with the album re-release, LAMB OF GOD also shot a brand new DVD documentary recounting the recording process and the stories behind the music which features new interviews with original producer Devin Townsend, the band members and current producer,Josh Wilbur. LAMB OF GOD drummer Chris Adler comments: "We are lucky to have the opportunity, a decade after our first attempt, to bring what I consider to be our master work up to speed sonically. "Ever since the original release, we've been distraught about the sonic qualities of 'As The Palaces Burn'. "The band had captured lightning in a bottle and the budget limitation of a sophomore album turned our lightning into a firefly in a jar. "The songs are undeniable and we've always been very proud of how this album launched our career. It feels appropriate to revisit now that we can and give this very special album the chance to reach our original hopes and it's true potential." "As The Palaces Burn" 10th-anniversary edition track listing: 01. Ruin 02. As The Palaces Burn 03. Purified 04. 11th Hour 05. For Your Malice 06. Boot Scraper 07. A Devil In God’s Country 08. In Defense Of Our Good Name 09. Blood Junkie 10. Vigil 11. Ruin (previously unreleased demo) 12. As The Palaces Burn (previously unreleased demo) 13. Blood Junkie (previously unreleased demo) To order "As The Palaces Burn" 10th-anniversary edition, go to this location. The "Vigil" video can be seen below. The clip was directed by Don Argott and edited byDemian Fenton, the team responsible for the forthcoming LAMB OF GOD feature film "As The Palaces Burn", which is scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release in February 2014.
03 min read

DREAM THEATER: ‘On The Backs Of Angels’ Performance Clip From ‘Live At Luna Park’

Manos Spanos
On November 5, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release "Dream Theater: Live At Luna Park"on 2DVD, Blu-ray, visual digital formats and a deluxe edition. The deluxe edition is an 11.5" square 60 page hardback photobook containing the Blu-ray, 2 DVDs and 3 CDs presenting all the key physical formats in one release; the CDs are only available in this deluxe edition. These releases boast the 160 minute main show — accompanied by a wealth of bonus material — and feature many of the band's classic tracks, including "Metropolis Pt. 1", "The Silent Man", "Pull Me Under", "The Root Of All Evil", "The Test That Stumped Them All", "The Spirit Carries On" and the recent "On The Backs Of Angels". DREAM THEATER began their mammoth "A Dramatic Tour Of Events" world trek in July 2011 with the final leg in South America taking place in August 2012. It was here at the Luna Park Arena in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that they decided to film the two nights that make up this DVD release. The "Live At Luna Park" band lineup for this show is James LaBrie (vocals); John Petrucci(guitar); Jordan Rudess (keyboards); John Myung (bass); and Mike Mangini (drums). This was DREAM THEATER's first tour and album with their new drummer and all the tracks from that album, "A Dramatic Turn Of Events", are included in either the main show or the bonus performances. The bonus features offer live versions of six great tracks: "These Walls"; "Build Me Up, Break Me Down"; "Caught In A Web"; "Wait For Sleep"; "Far From Heaven"; and "Pull Me Under". Also on "Live At Luna Park" is a documentary, the trailer for the cinema release of the film, a "behind-the-scenes" feature and the cartoon intro that ran on big screens prior to the band taking to the stage in Buenos Aires. The Blu-ray additionally features six multi-angle options on "Outcry". The "On The Backs Of Angels" performance clip taken from "Live At Luna Park" can be seen below. Roadrunner Records e-mailed guitarist John Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess to get their thoughts on these special shows. Roadrunner Records: You played four songs with a string quartet over the two nights. Who did the arrangements? Jordan Rudess: All the string parts were written by Eren Basbug, the young and talented Turkish musician that I discovered online through his beautiful orchestrations of DREAM THEATER's music and then his great work orchestrating and conducting the premiere of my own composition, "Explorations For Keyboard And Orchestra". For two of the songs we did live with the quartet ("Beneath The Surface" and "Far From Heaven") I had originally arranged and recorded quartet-like string parts from my keyboard, and that is what you hear on "A Dramatic Turn Of Events". Eren was able to take those two songs and really make sure what I wrote worked for real players, as well as add some nice touches! For the other two songs, "The Silent Man" and "Wait For Sleep", he created original quartet arrangements. Roadrunner Records: How much rehearsal time did you have with the quartet? John Petrucci: We played through each song with them a couple of times at soundcheck. We probably spent about an hour in total making sure they were comfortable and that they knew certain cues, etc. Jordan Rudess: We had one rehearsal before the first show. I had sent all the music to coordinator Luis Gorelik (who is a well known conductor in South America) and he helped organize the players. Roadrunner Records: How did their presence alter the way you guys in the band played those songs? Obviously they weren't just sawing away in the background; they were integral to the music, so…in what ways? John Petrucci: Honestly, we played the songs just as we have been and they followed us. On"Beneath The Surface" and "Far From Heaven", they basically played the arrangements that are on the album. Original arrangements were created for "The Silent Man" and "Wait For Sleep".
06 min read

MEGADETH’s DAVID ELLEFSON: ‘My Life With Deth’ EPK Available

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A two-minute EPK (Electronic Press Kit) on MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson's autobiography, "My Life With Deth", can be seen below. The autobiography of Ellefson, co-founder and bassist of 11-time Grammy-nominated heavy metal titans MEGADETH, was made available on October 29 via Howard Books. Ellefson's memoir, "My Life With Deth", chronicles the story of Ellefson's fall into addiction during the band's early years, followed by his subsequent recovery and the return to faith which championed the band's rise to fame over the past several decades. The book was written withJoel McIver, the bestselling author of 21 books on rock music, and features a foreword byAlice Cooper. World rights to "My Life With Deth" were sold to Philis Boultinghouse atHoward Books by agent Lisa Gallagher at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. Since 1983, the celebrated metal band MEGADETH has sold more than 20 million albums, received eleven Grammy nominations, and built a fan base of millions. Still going strong, they recently toured the world with METALLICA, ANTHRAX and SLAYER. Now, in "My Life With Deth", Ellefson tells the whole behind-the-scenes story of the band and his personal journey from suffering to salvation. At first glance, Ellefson's history reads like a how-to manual of excess, from hardcore drugs to X-rated debauchery. But Ellefson goes much deeper, taking us on a gripping journey from his Lutheran upbringing as a Minnesota farm boy, through the culture shock he experienced when he arrived in Los Angeles and entered the music industry, to his drug-fueled MEGADETH days, and finally how he beat his addictions and embarked on a path of sobriety and faith, entering a new life of Christian devotion. Today, studying to become a Lutheran pastor, Ellefson presides over MEGA Life! Ministries, a foundation that reaches hundreds of churchgoers every week. Ellefson says: "My autobiography is not the usual tale of rock 'n' roll woe, but rather something I hope will truly inspire people. I have dedicated my life to my craft, and I wanted to share the story of how a kid with a bass guitar and the dream of rock stardom literally risked it all to move from the farm in Minnesota to Los Angeles, and with a lot of hard work, sacrifice and a little luck along the way, made the dream come true. I think the readers will enjoy the stories, as well as the hardships, of this way of life as a musician and artist. I've been very open about my life's obstacles and the means by which I overcame them. Now, my hope is that this story will inspire others to follow their dreams and really live out the purpose for their lives, too.” The book features contributions from Kerry King (SLAYER), Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), Ellefson's current bandmate in MEGADETH Shawn Drover and also former colleagues Chris Poland andMarty Friedman. In addition to numerous gold and platinum records, David is the author of the book "Making Music Your Business" and has two metal bass guitar instructional DVDs through Rock House Method entitled "Metal Bass Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2". He is also a featured bass clinician, keynote speaker and panelist on the subject of music and the music industry.
03 min read

Manos Spanos

Manos Spanos (Metalpaths' co-editor-in-chief), eight years in this site but still can't be characterised as a metalhead.