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Manos Spanos

GENE HOGLAN: Teaser For ‘The Atomic Clock: The Clock Strikes Two’ DVD

Manos Spanos
A teaser for "The Atomic Clock: The Clock Strikes Two", the forthcoming DVD from legendary extreme-metal drummer Gene Hoglan (TESTAMENT, DEATH, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, DARK ANGEL, DETHKLOK), can be seen below. In a recent interview with Metal Assault, Gene stated about what fans can expect to see on the forthcoming disc: "Well, I managed to get licenses to a lot of songs that I've played. We put together a small track listing of me playing along to the actual recorded versions of a lot of people's favorite tunes. "On the next one, I'm getting even more licenses, but on this one I've included a bunch of bands that I've played for and still playing for. That's the notable difference. "On the first "The Atomic Clock", I didn't get any licenses so I merely played to the bandMECHANISM, which at the time was my main focus. I even played two instrumental tracks ofMECHANISM as opposed to playing the whole song. This time I'm not playing instrumental tracks except for one from one of my more popular bands, but I've got all the basic instrumental backing tracks and I'm playing along to those as opposed to having all the vocals, samples and everything else on it. For the most part, that's a major difference and that's really exciting, seeing myself play to actual recorded tracks to some of these cool bands. "It's in the stages of editing right now. It's coming along great; it looks better than the last one and way more pro. It's an improved version of the last one. I'm still pretty light-hearted in it and I don't take myself real seriously. It's got a lot of footage that the last one didn't have. So I'm sure people checking it out will see that it's definitely a departure from the first one. That was done on a shoe-string budget, pretty much all by myself, but for this one I've got a team of experts helping me with it." Earlier this week, Gene announced a few of the tracks that will be included on the DVD: * TESTAMENT - "Rise Up" * MELDRUM - "A Toast To Romance" * GALAKTIKON - "On My Way" * STRAPPING YOUNG LAD - "Skeksis" The jam-packed DVD is available for pre-sale now, with several awesome package options.
03 min read

IGOR And MAX CAVALERA To Form ‘Metal Version Of THE WHITE STRIPES’

Manos Spanos
Former SEPULTURA drummer Igor Cavalera has told The Guardian that he will form "a metal version of THE WHITE STRIPES" with his brother, fellow ex-SEPULTURA and currentCAVALERA CONSPIRACY bandmate Max. Igor, 42, who has been living in England with his wife Laima Leyton since last October, says that the idea for the new project came from producer James Murphy — DFA Records' head honcho and ex-LCD SOUNDSYSTEM frontman. "James Murphy approached me with the record idea, but eventually suggested some others,"Igor said. "To start with, he wants only the two of us in the studio, like a metal version of THE WHITE STRIPES. He also wants nothing but the two of us on stage. "He basically asked me to get rid of the rest of the band. CAVALERA CONSPIRACY has four members and two records. Murphy asked us to start from scratch as a duo. According to him, 'this will come to be the heaviest record of our careers.' He promised me that." He continued: "The last time my brother and I played together as a duo was back home, when we were still teenagers learning how to play in our bedrooms. I had some pieces of an old drum and he had his guitar. This new project feels as though my brother and I are coming back home, 30 years later." Igor's main focus continues to be MIXHELL, the DJ/hip hop/electro project also featuring his wife. Igor left SEPULTURA in June 2006 due to "artistic differences." His departure from the band came five months after he announced that he was taking a break from SEPULTURA's touring activities to spend time with his second wife and their son (who was born in January 2006). In 1996, Max Cavalera exited SEPULTURA after the rest of the band fired Max's wife Gloriaas the group's manager. Igor and Max's CAVALERA CONSPIRACY project released its sophomore album, Blunt Force Trauma", in March 2011 via Roadrunner Records.
02 min read

Guitarist KIRK WINDSTEIN Exits DOWN

Manos Spanos
Guitarist Kirk Windstein appears to have exited DOWN in order to focus "100%" on his other band, CROWBAR. Windstein is not taking part in the songwriting sessions for the next DOWNEP and is being replaced in that band by longtime DOWN stage manager and HONKY founding guitarist Bobby Landgraf. Writing on Facebook, Windstein said: "For months now, I have been posting that I am concentrating on CROWBAR 100% FULL TIME… "2014 marks the 25th anniversary of CROWBAR and it's a great feeling to put my heart and soul into something that I created so long ago. "We are entering the studio on December 16 to record our 10th full-length record. Look for a late spring release on eOne. "See y'all on the road with CROWBAR!!!" Added Landgraf in a separate posting: "Feeling very lucky to have this gig with DOWN. It wouldn't be the same without Kirk Windstein's blessing. He is Riff Lord and the newCROWBAR will be amazing." DOWN bassist Pat Bruders recently left CROWBAR and was replaced in the latter band byJeff Golden. Said Windstein in a new Facebook posting: "I will say it again… With my decision months ago to focus 100% on CROWBAR, Pat resigned as our bassist, and I respect his decision because it's impossible to give 100% to two bands. I am giving my ALL to CROWBAR as he is giving his ALL to DOWN. There is no animosity… no drama… Just great music being written by all, and that sounds pretty awesome to me!"
01 min read

ALICE COOPER Completes Work On Covers Album

Manos Spanos
On September 26, Chad Tyson of the 98.7 The Gater radio station in West Palm Beach, Florida conducted an interview with legendary rocker Alice Cooper. You can now listen to the chat below. Cooper has just completed work on a covers album featuring songs that were originally written and recorded by THE DOORS, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and THE WHO, members of the so-called "Hollywood vampires" of the early and mid-'70s. A spring 2014 release is expected. "We're still adding on certain people; we have a list of people that we want to get and a lot of times it's scheduled," Alice said. "In a situation like this, you have certain friends you want to put on the record and their availability is really what it is… y'know, finding where they are, what they want to play and when they want to play." Pushed for names of the special guests, Alice replied, "I'm just saying…probably the 'usual suspects.' Put it that way." "We're really happy, all of us, everyone involved in the covers because it's pretty much what we wanted to do," Cooper told RollingStone.com earlier in the year. "We specified a certain time period and said, 'Let's stay within that. Let's not move it around too much.' We don't want to be doing cover songs from the 80s and 90s when the Hollywood vampires kind of thing was more '73, '74, '75." Back in March, Cooper said about the upcoming CD: "We do a thing in our show, which is a tribute to Hollywood Vampires, my drinking club. And it was Keith Moon, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Micky Dolenz — a very eclectic bunch of drunks. Half of them are dead, so we do four songs in the show in tribute to them. We do 'Break On Through', 'Revolution', 'My Generation' and Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxey Lady'. I just kind of said, 'We've never done a covers album, let's think about that.'" Asked what some of the wish-list songs are, Cooper said: "I would keep it right to about '73, '74. I don't want to just go anywhere. I want to keep it right in that sort of drunk era, so it's specific. I would say 'Break On Through', that's a really good rock track there. The other ones, think of it — Harry Nilsson, there's a lot of good stuff there that could be rocked out. I think of songs as being clay. Take a song like 'Jump Into the Fire' and take that to a harder level, and that'll work."
02 min read

WATAIN Mainman: ‘The Devil Always Wins And The Devil Always Finds His Way’

Manos Spanos
The Great Southern Brainfart recently conducted an interview with Erik Danielsson of Swedish black metallers WATAIN. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. The Great Southern Brainfart: So I have to be honest. Aside from listening to VENOM as a kid, I was never much of a black metal fan, and then I gave you guys a listen, and I'm really intrigued with your songs and your performances. Erik: That is really good to hear that you made that comparison. I wish I heard VENOM andWATAIN in the same sentence more often. VENOM is one of my all-time favorite bands, and I think if you have that sort of background, you might actually be able to relate to what we do as well. Musically, there might be a slight difference. VENOM are the originators of the black metal movement that we later became a part and we like carrying that torch onwards and uphold that legacy. The Great Southern Brainfart: WATAIN seems to have more of that classic element than most of the other modern bands. Is that something that was intentional? Erik: We never really sat down and discussed how WATAIN should sound. It's pretty safe to say, though, that our own personal preferences, when it comes to black metal, have always been very traditional. VENOM are one of the most important bands ever to WATAIN and the same goes for bands like MERCYFUL FATE and even bands like EXCITER, RAZOR, andVOIVOD. We've always leaned towards bands like that in our own musical tastes when it comes to metal. I suppose our sound really comes from a mix of those bands and late-era black metal such as MAYHEM and DISSECTION and so on. The Great Southern Brainfart: One of the things that intrigued me the most about Watain was the ritualistic approach to the live show using animal carcasses, lighting candles on a small alter and whatnot. What can you tell me about the live show and the background to this ritual? Erik: If you play music of a diabolical nature, and the music that you perform is permeated by a sinister and infernal essence, of course, that will have to translate to the stage show as well and your appearance. It's not a process that should be forced. It should come as a natural consequence of the music that you're playing and the artistic work that you are doing. WithWATAIN, it was very much that way and it evolved into this thing that it is. When we started playing, we already had that kind of extreme view of how a black metal live show should be like. It should look like the music sounds. That's how it all began. The longer that WATAINexisted, the more we realized that the magical side of this band, the spiritual side began to come through and it just began to transform into a ceremonial thing rather than just a rock concert, so to say. It evolved into an event where we communicate with the forces that gave birth to this band and that have always been a part of this band. It became a time where we could let these things just come to life and be at one with them. It's an ever-ongoing evolution and the live shows are constantly progressing. They have become something more and more severe and intense and that's a very good thing to me. It's a very inspiring context to work with. The Great Southern Brainfart: When WATAIN takes this ceremony on the road, especially when touring in the southern part of the U.S., sometimes there are limits as to what you can and can't do on the stage. When that does happen, how much of an impact does that have on the purpose of your live performance? Does it make things harder for you to do? Erik: Yes, of course it does, but being in a band like WATAIN is always quite a challenge. When you take something as inhuman as WATAIN into the world, then, of course, things can be a bit strange. We knew since day one that we would have to face a lot of opposition because of some of the things we wanted to do. I think we're always pretty well prepared for that to happen. Of course, it's annoying and it makes me want to punch the living shit out of anyone who stands in our way, but we always find a way around these things. There's always a way for the devil to come through, no matter what. It cannot be stopped. It's just a fact and it's been that way since the dawn of man. The devil always wins and the devil always finds his way. I think that in general, all of that opposition and all of the people who prevent us from doing what we want to do just makes us stronger. It makes us feel more proud and stronger about what we're doing. We like to fight against the extreme and we like to go against the current. We like to be the enemy and that just fuels the fire of WATAIN and I actually appreciate that. I like touring in places especially the South because we always feel that tension and how skeptical they are but in the end we just do what the fuck we do anyway. [laughs]
05 min read

ACID DEATH’s new album on the way!

Manos Spanos
Greek legendary death metal band Acid Death released the following statement: More than a year has passed from band’s latest official release, “Eidolon” full album and almost six months from the release of “Misled-2013” free EP. (www.aciddeath.net/downloads) So, it’s time for some new stuff! ACID DEATH has started working on its new, yet untitled, full album, band’s 6th official release. More than 6 new songs are already under hard process. According to band’s schedule the recordings will start in spring/2014 and the album will be ready till the end of the summer/2014. Production, mix and mastering will be integrated in Austria at Noisehead records’ studios, Noisehead studios, by Mario Jezik. A winter full of hard work in on the way!
00 min read

FATES WARNING’s RAY ALDER: ‘Before My Voice Started To Change, I Just Didn’t Want To Sing High Anymore’

Manos Spanos
David E. Gehlke of DeadRhetoric.com recently conducted an interview with FATES WARNINGvocalist Ray Alder. A few excerpts from the chat follow below. DeadRhetoric.com: The band has been active on the live front since the release of "X", but did it ever cross your mind that as a recording entity, FATES WARNING may never record another album? Ray Alder: Yeah, it definitely crossed my mind. People were doing their side-projects all over the place, and it was never discussed or anything that "We might not get around to doing another album, it's been so long." It was always in the back of my mind that we would, though.Jim [Matheos, guitar] and I are pretty proud in that way and don't want to just fade away. I knew we'd get around to do another album, it was just a matter of when. All of these fucking side-projects, but here we are now and I'm completely happy. DeadRhetoric.com: You had a stretch where REDEMPTION was your main thing, obviously. Alder: I think I did four albums with REDEMPTION. Jim was doing OSI, and they seemed like his main thing. It was never meant to be that way, but I had the opportunity to tour and record with REDEMPTION and I don't want to sit around and do nothing. DeadRhetoric.com: There's been a lot of patience from your fanbase. You haven't totally fallen off the map. There's genuine interest in another FATES WARNING record. Did that help with getting the album together?
04 min read

TOMMY LEE To BLABBERMOUTH.NET: You Still ‘Suck Ass’

Manos Spanos
MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee tweeted the following last night: "Hey @BLABBERMOUTHNET Whats if feel like to be the worst site ever? Yeah its me again and ya'll still suck ass!!" He added: "Oh yeah and bring on the haters....i mean admirers!!!" Back in February 2012, Lee was similarly enthused about BLABBERMOUTH.NET, writing on his Twitter account: "@BLABBERMOUTHNET has got to be THE WORST music site ever! maybe its not the site but the assholes that post there!" In January 2011, Lee posted a message on Twitter congratulating BLINK-182 drummer and hip-hop producer Travis Barker on the release of his album, "Give The Drummer Some", and slamming BLABBERMOUTH.NET "haters" who made comments that were critical of the CD's musical content and cover artwork. Lee wrote, "Travis! Congrats on the new CD and [by the way]... FUCK all the haters at Blabbermouth.com [sic]. They can suck it! They did the same shit to me!" MÖTLEY CRÜE kicked off its second residency at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on September 18. The fall shows, dubbed "Evening In Hell", are an all-new production designed exclusively for The Joint in partnership with AEG Live. "A Public Disservice Announcement", the latest album from Lee's METHODS OF MAYHEMproject, sold 2,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 153 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released in September 2010 via Loud & Proud Records, a Roadrunner Records imprint focusing on established artists.
02 min read

CARCASS Frontman Says Illegal Music Downloading ‘Can Be A Positive Thing’

Manos Spanos
Tarja Virmakari of Metal Shock Finland and TrueMetal.it recently conducted an interview with bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker of reactivated British extreme metal pioneers CARCASS. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. Asked about his views on illegal music downloading, Walker said: "It can be a positive thing, if people download an album, hear it, enjoy it and buy it. The danger is that there is a hard core of people who download and never buy anything, and that's damaging to the music scene. They're not supporting anybody, they're not supporting the artists as fans. But for the most part, I think it's positive. Because I understand fully why people do it. There's so much music out there; people don't have the money or the resources to buy everything. And also people have probably spent or wasted money in the past on albums that have disappointed them. So it gives people a chance to test something before they buy it. I personally don't think it's any different to hearing music on the radio. But, like I say, it's that hard core of people, who… their attitude is very nihilistic and it's out of step with the idea of what being a fan is about. You shouldn't be trying to damage the artist who's trying to being people pleasure. We're not at war with the audience." CARCASS' new album, "Surgical Steel", sold around 8,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 41 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released on September 16 in the U.K., September 13 in the rest of Europe and September 17 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records. The effort was produced by Colin Richardson(FEAR FACTORY, MACHINE HEAD, NAPALM DEATH, SLIPKNOT, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) and mixed by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, ACCEPT, EXODUS, ARCH ENEMY). Joining guitarist Bill Steer and bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker in CARCASS' current incarnation are new drummer Dan Wilding (ABORTED, TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED) and guitarist Ben Ash(PIG IRON, DESOLATION, LIQUEFIED SKELETON). In a recent interview with Chile's Radio Futuro, Walker stated about the new CARCASS CD: "We think we've made a good album, so it's gonna be very interesting when people get to hear the record. We can't wait to see what people think." He continued: "It sounds like CARCASS. Even the drumming sounds like CARCASS. Everything about it… I think it's gonna shock people, how good it is. I think it's got all the elements that people like, yet it still sounds fresh. So that's all I can say, really, 'cause we don't really sound like any other band, and the fact that after 17 years, we wrote music and it still sounds likeCARCASS, I think it's good." Regarding the direction of the new CARCASS album, Walker previously stated: "We've taken stylistic cues from all the albums because it's in our blood, but it's no rehash or mess of ideas. I think it sounds almost like the missing link between the third and forth albums but with some groove in there. I've jokingly christened some parts 'trad blast' and some 'death sleaze'… don't think for a minute this is just some nostalgic throwback album — we're setting up another 17 years of ideas for other bands to copy and clean up on. [laughs]"
03 min read

AMARANTHE Singer’s NIGHTWISH Audition Tape Posted Online

Manos Spanos
Elize Ryd of Swedish metallers AMARANTHE has uploaded an audio recording of her singing the NIGHTWISH song "Nemo". Ryd laid down the vocals for the track in 2006 when the Finnish symphonic metal band was seeking a replacement for Tarja Turunen. Check it out below. Says Ryd: "I've been saving this for a special moment. And now when I became a singer as I was dreaming of… and been travelling all over the world and met fantastic people and alsoNIGHTWISH on stage. And have such wonderful fans. "It is a amazing memory from the day when NIGHTWISH sent me a demo with music and ask me to put my voice on it!! So here it is. 'Nemo' from the NIGHTWISH audition 2006!!" Ryd, who has been touring the world as a backing singer vocalist for KAMELOT, filled in for then-NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon for a show in Denver, Colorado in September 2012 because Olzon was suffering from fever and vomiting and was forced to spend the night at a local hospital. In a recent interview, Ryd stated about the Denver gig: "It was a very special thing. "I love NIGHTWISH and I've sung their songs many times for myself. [laughs] "They asked me if I would be willing to sing for them that night, and we decided that if the audience agreed it was okay for them that I sing, of course I was going to help NIGHTWISHout so they could do the show. At least with some singing so they wouldn't have to do it all instrumental."
02 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.