Manos Spanos

XANDRIA Parts Ways With Singer, Announces Replacement

German symphonic metallers XANDRIA have parted ways with their singer of the past three years, Manuela Kraller. Her replacement is the "astonishing 28-year-old Dutch talent" Dianne Van Giersbergen, who also fronts the progressive metal outfit EX LIBRIS. Says Manuela in a statement: "After three years with the boys in XANDRIA, I decided to follow a different path and go my own musical way." The sympathethic Bavarian singer leaves with regret but also full of gratitude, thanking band and fans for the time they had together and being grateful for the "wonderful moments in mutual tours and shows." Manuela is "wishing Dianne and band all the very best for the future!" XANDRIA has just hit the studio to begin recording its sixth studio album for an early 2014 release. According to the band, the as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2012's "Neverworld's End" will "continue the musical journey and direction" of the last CD but "will bring in even more of everything people liked" about "Neverworld's End". Dianne Van Giersbergen will make her live debut with XANDRIA at the end of November on a Spanish tour. She says in a statement: "Thinking of all the beautiful things I am yet to do, people I am yet to meet and memories that are yet to be made brings a smile to my face! I am looking forward to this adventure and would love to take you all along with me." Fans had a last chance to see Kraller singing with XANDRIA this past weekend in Leipzig, Germany and Pratteln, Switzerland, where she performed at the Masters Of Symphonic Metal festival at Z7.

DREAM THEATER: ‘Pull Me Under’ Performance Clip From ‘Live At Luna Park’

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 "Pull Me Under" 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". Jordan Rudess: In our rehearsal, I was literally conducting them and we all worked quickly to get things into shape and make sure the players really understood the music and what was going to happen in the chain of events on stage. The good thing was that these four songs all really are totally suitable for real strings, so it was an easy conceptual/musical addition to our presentation.

SERJ TANKIAN’s ‘Disarming Time’ Musical Paintings To Be Exhibited In Hollywood

Project Gallery welcomes multifaceted musician, artist, poet and activist Serj Tankian in the premiere of his debut interactive art exhibit, "Disarming Time". A uniquely audible and visual experience, "Disarming Time" features a collection of Tankian's 22 original art pieces: paintings, mixed media and sculptural works paired with a track of music composed specifically for each visual work. Via a set of headphones accompanied by his newly created iOS/Android application "Eye For Sound" (powered by VStory), smartphones are able to scan and recognize art and immediately cue the associated audio track and other content. Of the project which began in early 2013, Tankian says, "The urge came to me in the discovery that music has become so temporal and devalued in the world today, so I wanted to create an exclusive experience…something unique for someone to hold so they become the only person to experience this. I'm aiming to have people SEE the music and HEAR the art. Using a modern app, we're able to take Kandinsky's 'Synesthesia' to a whole new level." Serj Tankian was on born August 21, 1967 in Beirut, Lebanon and is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, poet, painter and political activist. He is best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, keyboardist and occasional live rhythm guitarist of the metal band SYSTEM OF A DOWN. During his musical career, Tankian has released five albums with SYSTEM OF A DOWN, one with Arto Tunçboyacıyan ("Serart"), as well as four solo albums: "Elect The Dead", "Imperfect Harmonies", "Harakiri" and "Orca", his first real classical symphony. A live orchestral version of "Elect The Dead" incorporating the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra named "Elect The Dead Symphony" was released in 2009. He's also released two books of poetry, "Cool Gardens" and "Glaring Through Oblivion". In 2002, Tankian and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE/AUDIOSLAVE guitarist Tom Morello co-founded a non-profit organization, Axis Of Justice. Tankian also founded the record label Serjical Strike Records and in 2011 he was awarded the Armenian Prime Minister's Medal for his contributions to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the advancement of music. The application "Eye For Sound" was born from the desire to create a unique and immersive musical experience that reconnects the value of tangible products to music. It provides a fusion of art and music easily accessed through a smartphone or tablet making each experience personal and unique to each user. By exploring the simultaneous connection between art and music via optical recognition, each user experiences a one of a kind stimulation of the senses. "Eye For Sound" was created with broad intention and aims to become a platform for other artists to utilize. Beautifully designed, Project Gallery is a cultural destination located in the center of Hollywood, California.

SEPULTURA: Entire ‘Mediator Between Head And Hands’ Album Available For Streaming

"The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart", the new album from Brazilian/American metallers SEPULTURA, is available for streaming in its entirety using the SoundCloud widget below. The CD will be released on October 25 via Nuclear Blast Records. SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser recently gave the Brazilian newspaper Diario de Pernambuco a track-by-track breakdown of "The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart". Check it out below. "Intro" Andreas: "Actually, the intro is the demo we did just before we went to the studio, with all the songs played at the same time! It's like you are listening to all the songs that you will hear separately on the album at once. It sounds so great, noisy and powerful and it was a result of an accident that I had on my computer. Each song had its track so when I accidentally played the tracks together they came strong and beautiful so I decided to show the guys and they all liked it!" "Trauma Of War" Andreas: "This will be the first song on the album and is one of the fastest and most brutal songs we ever did. The performance of our drummer, Eloy [Casagrande], is fantastic, it gave such an energy to the song that the guitars, bass and vocals had to top that level of brutality, for sure our strongest opener so far. I wrote the lyrics inspired by friends that went to war and came back with some kind of trauma, some kind of disturbance that they have to live with for the rest of their lives." "The Vatican" Andreas: "An ironic tribute to the conclave that elected Argentinian Pope Francis I as the successor of Benedict XVI. This track has some death metal influences. The lyric tells the story of how the Vatican was created, filled with blood, orgy, murders, corruption, adultery. It's one of the most evil and perverse lyrics I ever wrote." "Impending Doom" Andreas: "Song with a very slowed tempo, with heavy picks and a low-tuned rhythm. Its nickname was 'Puxada', because of the guitar's riff characteristic. This track is very heavy. The lyrics are Derrick's [Green, vocals]. And it talks about cursed inheritances that are left from generation to generation. What world we are going to leave for ours heirs?" "Manipulation Of Tragedy" Andreas: "Another of Derrick's lyric. Talks about collective manipulation through a culture of fear, creating tragic and drastic situations in order to justify certain decisions made by the governors, legitimizing some limitations to the society. The manufactured consent. The song was born from Eloy's double-bass drumming rhythm. It sounds very SEPULTURA, with influence from several periods of the band." "Tsunami" Andreas: "Derrick wrote the lyrics for it, part inspired by the natural phenomena and part by the 'tsunami' of information we receive nowadays through the worldwide web and the media in general. A tsunami is the most powerful force of nature, stronger than any earthquake, tornado or a storm. It simply destroys everything in its path. The result is total destruction but also total cleanup, a new beginning." "The Bliss Of Ignorants" Andreas: "Derrick's lyric. It's about the illusion created in society that we are free to do whatever we want, but, in fact, it is not like that. Freedom is limited and part of the society lives under ignorance, euphoric, without awareness of everything that surrounds us. The song opens with percussive drum, low tuning and groovy sound. Its nickname was 'Brasuca'. It's kind of a mix of 'Roots' and 'Chaos A.D.' rhythm. Ross [Robinson, producer] influenced us to explore more this Brazilian side. With participation of percussionist Fred Ortiz (BEASTIE BOYS' former drummer who plays with Derrick in MAXIMUM HEDRUM)." "Grief" Andreas: "It is a song that starts with clean guitars in a way that we never attempted before, I think it was our biggest challenge on this album and it came out amazing. I wrote the song inspired by a tragic incident that happened in Brazil in January 2013. More than 200 kids died in a fire inside a night club. The place didn't have the proper emergency exits and most of the people died asphyxiated, it was horrible. The small town at the south of the country, where most of the people were from, was in total grief. I wrote this song to honor the victims and their families." "The Age Of The Atheist"

SLASH On Possibility Of GUNS N’ ROSES Reunion: ‘If It Happens One Day, It Happens’

Legendary guitarist Slash stopped by the "Larry King Now" studio last week for a taping with Larry King. Several clips from the show can now be seen below. Asked if there is any possibility of a reunion of the classic lineup of GUNS N' ROSES, Slash replied: "That's the $64,000 question. But it's not something that any of us have reached out to each other and said that we wanted to do thus far. So, rather than be a pessimist and say, 'No, it'll never happen,' it's not like I'm harboring a lot of resentment. But it's not something that we're all thinking about doing. So if it happens one day, it happens. If it doesn't, I don't think anybody's, you know, losing any sleep over it." Slash told Rolling Stone in April 2012 that GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose "hates my guts." The two have not performed together since 1993. Rose currently tours with a completely different version of GUNS N' ROSES featuring no original members but him. During a 2009 interview with longtime friend and former road manager Del James, first published on Spinner, Rose called Slash a "cancer."

Video: Original KISS Members ACE FREHLEY And PETER CRISS Perform Together For First Time In 13 Years

Original KISS members Ace Frehley (guitar) and Peter Criss (drums) reunited on stage for the first time in 13 years last night (Wednesday, October 23) during the all-star jam at the 30th-anniversary party for VH1 Classic "That Metal Show" co-host Eddie Trunk's radio show at the Hard Rock Café in New York City. Drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) served as the musical director for the event, which featured additional performances by members of GUNS N' ROSES, ANTHRAX, ACCEPT, TNT, TWISTED SISTER and OVERKILL, among others. The setlist for Eddie Trunk's 30th-anniversary-party all-star jam was as follows: 01. Captain Nemo (MSG) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) - Drums * Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) - Bass * Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES) - Guitar 02. Diamonds And Rust (JUDAS PRIEST) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) - Drums * Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) - Bass * Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES) - Guitar * Tony Harnell (TNT) - Vocals 03. Burn (DEEP PURPLE) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) - Drums * Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) - Bass * Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES) - Guitar * Tony Harnell (TNT) - Vocals 04. Restless And Wild (ACCEPT) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) - Drums * Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) - Bass * Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES) - Guitar * Mark Tornillo (ACCEPT) - Vocals 05. On Fire (VAN HALEN) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM

Fan Gets Throat Slit By Box Cutter At BROKEN HOPE Show

In a case of life imitating art, a day after Broken Hope released a pretty gruesome new music video, a fan in attendance at their show in El Paso was injured severely after having his throat slashed by a box-cutter. The band posted the following on their Facebook page about the incident last night: No further information is available currently, but obviously this is really shitty news. I can't in my right mind imagine a scenario where this was an "accident." This is a dispicable act and I hope whomever was responsible was caught and tried for the heinous act that he committed. In spite of the vague reference in the beginning of the post, I don't think the band is responsible based on creating gruesome imagery. People should be able to separate entertainment from reality. Our thoughts are with the victim.

Video Premiere: KVELERTAK Performs ‘Bruane Brenn’ Live At London’s Electric Ballroom

Professionally filmed video footage of Norwegian rockers KVELERTAK performing the song"Bruane Brenn" live at Electric Ballroom in London, England in March 2013 can be seen below. The track comes off the band's sophomore album, "Meir", which topped the official chart in Norway. The CD, which sold 1,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release, was issued on March 26 via Roadrunner Records. It was produced by CONVERGE's Kurt Ballouand features cover artwork by John Dyer Baizley. Asked how the band came up with the concept for the "Bruane Brenn" music video, vocalistErlend Hjelvik told About.com Heavy Metal: "It was Vidar [Landa, guitar] and Marvin's [Nygaard, bass] idea. I guess we didn't have time to be in the video ourselves, so they came up with an idea of having a bunch of kids in the video. A friend of ours, who's a Norwegian movie director, Stian Kristiansen, then kind of developed the idea and made a small story out of it. It turned into a fun and great looking video that fits really well with the lyrics." Regarding the recording process for "Meir", Erlend said: "I thought it was even more fun than last time. Mostly because we've all gotten more confident and experienced from all the touring we've done on our first album. Also Kurt is an awesome guy to work with; he's professional and has a great ear for what things should sound like." KVELERTAK will hit the road with HIGH ON FIRE in November. Support on the trek will come from DOOMRIDERS (Nov. 10 to Nov. 23), PACK OF WOLVES (Nov. 27) and WINDHAND (Nov. 29 to Dec. 12). The dates are as follows: Nov. 10 - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA Nov. 11 - Orange Peel - Asheville, NC Nov. 12 - Rock & Roll Hotel - Washington, DC Nov. 13 - Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA Nov. 15 - Webster Hall - New York, NY Nov. 16 - Middle East - Cambridge, MA Nov. 17 - Corona Theatre - Montreal, Canada Nov. 18 - Opera House - Toronto, Canada Nov. 19 - The Crofoot Ballroom - Pontiac, MI Nov. 20 - A and R Music Bar - Columbus, OH Nov. 22 - Metro - Chicago, IL Nov. 23 - Pop's - Sauget, IL Nov. 25 - House of Blues - Houston, TX Nov. 26 - Trees - Dallas, TX Nov. 27 - Mohawk Outside - Austin, TX Nov. 29 - Granada Theatre - Lawrence, KS Nov. 30 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN Dec. 02 - WECC - Winnipeg, Canada Dec. 04 - Starlite Room - Edmonton, Canada Dec. 05 - Republik - Calgary, Canada Dec. 07 - Venue - Vancouver, Canada Dec. 08 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA Dec. 09 - Hawthorne Theatre - Portland, OR Dec. 11 - The Regency Ballroom - San Francisco, CA Dec. 12 - El Rey - Los Angeles, CA KVELERTAK is Erlend Hjelvik (vocals), Vidar Landa (guitar), Bjarte Lund Rolland (guitar),Maciek Ofstad (guitars), Marvin Nygaard (bass) and Kjetil Gjermundrød (drums).

METALLICA’s JAMES HETFIELD: ‘Writing Music Is Somewhat Important To Us’

The four members of METALLICA spoke to HuffPost Canada about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the long-awaited follow-up to the band's 2008 album, "Death Magnetic", tentatively due in 2015. "Writing music is somewhat important to us," METALLICA frontman James Hetfield said. "We focus. Focus." "That's the plan," added guitarist Kirk Hammett. "We'll start writing the album. We were supposed to start last year [laughs] but there you have it; we'll see how it goes." "We are looking forward to making a record," drummer Lars Ulrich said. "It's not even penciled anymore," said bassist Robert Trujillo. "We're going to have to do this." "Up at HQ in northern California, we've already done, what, two or three dances there," saidUlrich. "We've got a lot of the basic stuff waded through. When we write, we have a very peculiar writing process; we don't sit down and go, 'Okay, A to E to let's come up with something.' Ninety-five percent of our records come from jams — literally pre-concert jams, tuning room jams, all this kind of stuff — so everything we do is always recorded," he explains. "The biggest time consuming element of us making a record is listening to all the stuff that we've recorded. So there's five years worth of stuff. We've listened to about 80 percent of it. We've done two or three dances maybe, collectively six weeks to just listen through the ideas and kind of grade them." "Process of elimination, too, at the same time," Trujillo interjected. Continued Ulrich: "Grade them. Five stars, four stars, three stars, and then we take all the five stars bits and try to make songs out of them." "But during that time we're having a blast, really a lot of fun doing it," added Trujillo, "so if we can continue with that spirit, we're gonna have a good time making this record." Ulrich acknowledged in a new interview with U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine that the band's next studio album is unlikely to arrive before 2015 at the earliest. The drummer explained: "Obviously, there are a lot of people asking where the next record is. We're going to make another record, but like I said before, we don't really feel this kind of… what's the word? I guess 'responsibility' is probably the right word. We don't feel this inherent responsibility to just churn out records whenever people want them. [Adopts a sarcastic voice] 'I'm sorry! Let me slap myself on the wrists and go make a record for you!' We'll get 'round to it again." Asked about a possible release date for METALLICA's next CD, Ulrich replied: "Actually, we know the date… no, we don't! If I was betting on this, I would say 2015 — that's where my money is. So if you think of the actual age of this planet, if it's been 75 billion years since dinosaurs walked the Earth or whatever, then one year is basically a blink of an eye, right?" Ulrich also spoke about METALLICA's mindset going into the songwriting phase for the band's next album. He explained: "The only thing I can tell you is that there seems to be a consensus in the band that [2008's] 'Death Magnetic' was a really good record that we're proud of, that had good legs on it — meaning that it still sounds really rocking five years later. And I can tell you that with most of the previous METALLICA records, I found any faults, I had any issues with them way, way sooner than five years. So the stuff that we've been jamming on is certainly not a million miles removed from where we left off from 'Death Magnetic'. But two years from now, when I sit and talk to you about the new record, it'll probably be a different story from the six-year-old looking for the ice cream shop." According to Lars, there is no shortage of ideas for METALLICA's next CD, with the guys having met up twice in the last six months to cook up some tasty riffs in the studio. "We have more riffs than we know what to do with," Ulrich said. "We talked about setting up a special riff thing, where maybe we could share some of these riffs with others, like an eBaykind of thing for leftover riffs. Some of them are actually quite decent, but we won't be able to use all of them."

Manos Spanos

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