News
OPETH: ‘Pale Communion’ Album Cover Artwork Unveiled
"Pale Communion", the highly anticipated eleventh studio album from Swedish progressive metallers OPETH, will be released on August 26 via Roadrunner Records.
NEUROSIS In Athens For The First Time!
The forefathers of thunderously heavy and dynamic music, NEUROSIS have announced more live shows in Europe this summer, continuing their voyage in support of the staggering album, "Honor Found In Decay", and as part of their journey, they shall be heading to Greece, where they have never played before.
MOTÖRHEAD’s MIKKEY DEE Says LEMMY Is Doing ‘Much, Much Better’
Kaaos TV conducted an interview with MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee on May 21 at Hard Rock Café in Helsinki, Finland. You can now watch the chat below.
MOTÖRHEAD canceled a handful of shows on its European festival tour in August 2013 after the band's frontman, Lemmy, suffered a haematoma (where blood collects outside of a blood vessel). The news of Lemmy's latest medical issue followed reports that he was also fitted with a defibrillator because of heart problems. The band also postponed a European headlining tour which was scheduled to kick off in November.
Asked how Lemmy is doing now, Mikkey said: "It's much, much better. He's been good for awhile. He's working hard on his health. We just did three weeks in the U.S. He's up and about. It's more to get going again. It's for the whole band. We've never been off eight months. But Lemmy's much better, and he played great when we did this U.S. leg, so I really hope that he can stay healthy. And he looks good, so that's all I can say. And he's working very, very hard on it, too, so all the best."
MOTÖRHEAD's 21st studio album, "Aftershock", sold 11,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart.
MOTÖRHEAD's previous CD, 2011's "The Wörld Is Yours", opened with 7,000 units to enter the chart at No. 94. The band's 2008 effort, "Motörizer", premiered with 6,400 copies to debut at No. 82, while 2006's "Kiss Of Death" registered a first-week tally of 3,500.
"Aftershock" was recorded at NRG Studios in North Hollywood, California and is described in a press release as "a true leveler, a crushing confirmation of everything MOTÖRHEAD stands for, marching from the dust storm to deliver 14 belting statements which see MOTÖRHEAD in perhaps their best writing form for years."
ARCH ENEMY: ‘You Will Know My Name’ Video To Premiere Tomorrow
The official video for the song "You Will Know My Name" from Swedish / American / Canadian metallers ARCH ENEMY will make its online debut tomorrow (Tuesday, May 27). The clip was once again directed by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE and KAMELOT, among others.
"You Will Know My Name" is taken from ARCH ENEMY's new album, "War Eternal", which will be released in North America on June 10 via Century Media Records. The cover artwork was created by Costin Chioreanu.
ARCH ENEMY played its first show with new singer Alissa White-Gluz, former vocalist of THE AGONIST, on May 23 at Turbohalle in Bucharest, Romania. Angela Gossow, who joined ARCH ENEMY in 2000 and made her debut on the now-classic "Wages Of Sin" (2001), has stepped down as frontwoman and will focus on management, while Alissa takes her place.
Fan-filmed video footage of the Bucharest concert can be seen below.
Check out photos of the concert at Metalhead.ro.
In a recent interview with Turk Gitar, ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott stated about Angela's exit from ARCH ENEMY: "It was a sudden change for the fans; we know that. But, of course, these kind of big steps in life don't come easily, and I believe this was a gradual thing that kept growing in Angela's mind for some time.
"We had decided to take 2013 off from the road and any sort of band activity. The only thing we were doing was writing music and also there always the plan to go into the studio and record at the end of 2013. As the scheduled recording time got closer, Angela informed us last year that she would definitely be stepping down from her position in the band.
"To be honest, it was not such a huge surprise to the rest of us, as there were a lot of conversations of that nature leading up to that point. I made the changes in the band that were necessary for ARCH ENEMY to continue and keep the music alive."
Regarding Alissa's more versatile vocal approach compared to that of Gossow, Amott said: "Alissa has many different vocal styles that she can do very well… She is much more versatile in that aspect than Angela. But for ARCH ENEMY, we are sticking with the aggressive vocal style that we are known for.
"When I started the band in 1995, I had the idea to make the most heavy melodic band of all time, combining elements of extreme death metal heaviness and thrash speed alongside traditional heavy metal and hard rock influences with the harmonies, melodies and solos. We are very much staying true to these roots of the band on 'War Eternal'."
Speaking to Metal Underground, Alissa had the following to say about "War Eternal": "The circumstances surrounding the creation of this album, writing the lyrics and recording it, I'm just happy to have it finally come out. I think people are going to like it. The production quality is amazing! I always wanted an album that would sound this full. I'm a really big fan of this album, myself. Even if I weren't in the band and ARCH ENEMY put out this album, I would pick it up and say it's great. I'm really excited."
On the topic of the new album title, Alissa said: "This album ended up being a lot more personal than maybe some of my previous or Michael's previous lyrics. In the past, a topic like war or a political or global issue was what we normally wrote about. We were writing in two different bands, but we happen to have similar topics in our writing. Then when we were writing for this album, we had a collection of lyrics for this album, but we found that we were actually writing on similar things. Fighting the ongoing war in your day-to-day life, everybody has their battle going on that nobody else knows about. And then there are song titles like 'Never Forgive, Never Forget' and on and on, I think it ties in very nicely. It wasn't something we planned out, but that is the way it turned out, so it worked out really nicely. I think we really saw eye to eye and were experiencing similar things in our lives, so we ended up writing about the same topics even though we have different styles of writing lyrics."
THE OFFSPRING Singer DEXTER HOLLAND Sued For $782K
According to The Pulse Of Radio, Dexter Holland, lead singer of THE OFFSPRING, is being sued by Cessna over payments he owes on a private jet he tried to buy from the aircraft company. In a lawsuit obtained by TMZ.com, Cessna says Holland owes them $782,422.16.
Cessna claims Dexter financed a plane in 2007 but had trouble making payments. The company allowed him to sell the plane privately and give them the funds from the sale, but also made him put up two other planes as collateral. They gave him until 2017 to pay the balance that he owed, but Cessna says he hasn't made a payment in a year.
The aircraft company wants the two other planes or the amount Dexter owes.
THE OFFSPRING is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its iconic album "Smash" by playing the LP in its entirety on tour in Europe this May, June and early July before finishing out the summer with U.S. "Smash" dates.
This August, Epitaph will commemorate the anniversary with a special 20th-anniversary edition of "Smash".
"Smash" has sold over six million copies in the United States alone. Having shifted 11 million copies worldwide, it is the best-selling independent-label album of all time.
OVERKILL: Box-Set Version Of ‘White Devil Armory’ To Include Leather Belt And Buckle
New Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL will release their new album, "White Devil Armory", in July in North America via eOne Music and in Europe through Nuclear Blast Records. The effort was tracked at Gear Recording and was mixed by Greg Reely, who also worked on 2012's "The Electric Age".
The limited-edition box-set version of "White Devil Armory" includes a digipack CD, a leather belt and buckle plus a certificate of authenticity. It is available for pre-order from Nuclear Blast.
"White Devil Armory" track listing:
01. Freedom Rings
02. Where There's Smoke...
03. Pig
04. Amorist
05. Down To The Bone
06. Bitter Pill
07. King Of The Rat Bastards
08. Another Day To Die
09. It's All Yours
10. In The Name
The cover artwork for "White Devil Armory" can be seen below.
Speaking to Steppin' Out magazine, OVERKILL vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth stated about "White Devil Armory": "The new record has a blend of what we've done over the past half decade. I'm noticing it's a more punchy heavy metal record with more dimension than the last record had. Where is it going to end up on the food chain? I really don't know. But my feeling is it's an eclectic collection of moments from us. 'The Electric Age' came across, to me, as kind of a two-dimensional thrash record. This one is punchy but has a whole different bunch of ways to go and things to hear on it."
OVERKILL released a very special limited tour edition of "The Electric Age" in Europe on April 19, 2013 via Nuclear Blast Records. The limited 2CD tour edition included the regular album as well as a four additional live tracks on a bonus CD, recorded at The Metro in Sidney, Australia on September 25, 2010.
"The Electric Age" sold 6,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 77 on The Billboard 200 chart.
SLAYER’s ‘Raining Blood’ Gets Banjo Treatment
Chicago-based guitarist Rob Scallon, who became an Internet sensation earlier in the month when he released a video for his ukulele cover version of SLAYER's "War Ensemble", has returned with yet another unconventional rendition of a classic SLAYER song, this time with his banjo take on "Raining Blood". Check it out below.
Written by Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King for SLAYER's 1986 studio album "Reign In Blood", "Raining Blood" is one of only three tracks on the LP that is longer than three minutes, having a running time of four minutes and seventeen seconds. The song closes out "Reign In Blood" with a minute of rain sound effects.
Eccentric singer, songwriter and pianist Tori Amos covered "Raining Blood" on her 2001 album "Strange Little Girls". SLAYER guitarist Kerry King later admitted that he thought the singer's version of the track was odd. "It took me a minute and a half to find a spot in the song where I knew where she was," he said. "It's so weird. If she had never told us, we would have never known. You could have played it for us and we'd have been like, 'What's that?' Like a minute and a half through I heard a line and was like, 'I know where she's at!'"
PHILIP ANSELMO, REX BROWN, ZAKK WYLDE Perform PANTERA’s ‘I’m Broken’ In Dallas; Video Available
Former PANTERA members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) joined BLACK LABEL SOCIETY on stage last night (Friday, May 23) at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas to perform a cover of the PANTERA classic "I'm Broken". Fan-filmed video footage of their appearance can be seen below (courtesy of Zach Rose and Sam Moncivalles).
During an interview with Matt Pinfield of Fanpass at last weekend's Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio, Anselmo — who currently fronts DOWN — was once again asked about the possibility of a PANTERA reunion with Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) filling in for the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott on guitar.
"I think the situation would have to be correct," Anselmo began before Pinfield interjected that Zakk would be the perfect guy to step in for Dimebag. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. No doubt," Philip agreed. Anselmo continued: "We [DOWN] are on tour with fucking BLACK LABEL SOCIETY right now, and don't ever underestimate the power of conversation between Zakk and I. And I know Rex is a smart man. But at the end of the day, there would have to be a meeting at a table — or without a table — between Rex, Vince [former PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott] and I, and there would have to be a bigtime understanding between the two of us [Vinnie and Philip] before anything happens at all. Otherwise I think… There is a great percentage of me that says, 'This generation deserves it. Let's do it.' And then there's a reservation in me that says, 'You know what, man? Legacies get passed down. This, that, the other. Maybe we should leave it alone and just let it be part of lore and the history and whatnot.'"
Later in the interview, Anselmo once again spoke about a hypothetical PANTERA reunion, telling Pinfield, "If there was ever a proper presentation, like, OK, PANTERA is back together, Zakk's on guitar, that would be a massive feeling. That would be outrageous. And I would go to war. I would be in the best shape possible."
After Pinfield pointed out to Anselmo that he remembered seeing the singer backstage during PANTERA's prime years working out in preparation for the live show, Philip said: "I had boxing coaches and all that shit with me. But, you know, after I injured my back, things got really vulnerable for me. And that was a very bad feeling for me. I felt like Superman one time and then, cut in half. Whatever, man. Hey, you get dealt the fucking card you get, and you play it. And I lost a bunch of rounds. But I think the reason why we're sitting here today having this conversation, I might have won a couple too."
During a September 2013 interview with Artisan News, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY mainman Zakk Wylde was asked about the possibility of a hypothetical PANTERA reunion with him filling in for Dimebag on guitar. "It'd be up to Vinnie, Phil and Rex — they're the guys that make everything happen," he said. "So if they were all gonna do it and honor Dimebag and [if they said to me], 'Zakk, would you wanna honor Dime and do Dime's parts?' Of course, I was a pallbearer for him — I laid him to rest — so, of course, I'd say, it would be a beautiful way to honor him and stuff like that. And to celebrate all things PANTERA and what they achieved. 'Cause they changed the game, as far as extreme metal goes. I mean, they're the kings of it. But it's up to the fellows. Then it would just be me woodsheddin' 25-8, learning all of Dime's parts, you know what I mean?! Yeah, but like I said, as far as I'm concerned, it would just be honoring Dime. Like with the Yankees, you honor… everybody's wearing Thurman Munson's '15' for that day, just because we're honoring Thurman's greatness. So it's the same thing, man."
Asked about the likelihood of a PANTERA "reunion" with Wylde filling in for Dimebag, Vinnie Paul told the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas radio station 97.1 The Eagle Rocks in March 2012: "I spent two hours with Zakk, sitting down — a really great talk about… [Zakk] calls [Dimebag] 'the old man.' I mean, [Zakk] and my brother were so tight. If [a PANTERA reformation] ever were to happen, [Zakk] would be the guy [to step in for Dimebag]. But I honestly think, out of respect for my brother, we should just leave the 14 amazing years PANTERA had be. We're all happy doing our own thing. We have to continue living and do other things."
Dimebag's longtime girlfriend Rita Haney in 2011 called on Vinnie and Anselmo to settle their differences in honor of Dimebag, who was shot and killed by a crazed gunman while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at a Columbus, Ohio rock club in December 2004.
Vinnie, who is Dimebag's brother, and Anselmo have not spoken since PANTERA split in 2003. But the relationship got even more acrimonious when Vinnie indirectly blamed Philip for Dimebag's death, suggesting that some remarks the vocalist had made about Dimebag in print just weeks earlier might have incited Dimebag's killer.
MICHAEL WILTON: ‘We Want To Rebuild The Name QUEENSRŸCHE’
Joseph Suto of Rock Show Critique recently conducted an interview with QUEENRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Rock Show Critique: Now that a settlement has been reached regarding the band and Geoff Tate, does it feel like the world has been lifted off your shoulders?
Michael Wilton: The situation is getting better every day. Once one has been in the trenches for the time that we have in any kind of a court battle, it can be trying. It's all about just moving forward. We're one step closer to where we want to be. It's a bit relieving, and yes, we can sleep at night.
Rock Show Critique: What does it mean going forward now for the band?
Michael Wilton: Well, full wholeheartedly, we want to rebuild the name QUEENSRŸCHE. We want to bring it back to the stature it was in the Eighties and Nineties. We want to reach out to the fans who have been wanting to hear the classics for eons of years. Now we are doing that, and we are able to bring that to the world, basically, and there are so many fans that love the first five, six albums. It's great to play those songs for them, because it means so much to them, and it also means so much to us. We're really happy to be out there and touring and bringing back the classics that fans want to hear.
Rock Show Critique: At what point do you feel the band started to go off course or make a wrong turn perhaps?
Michael Wilton: Well, the band was just firing on all cylinders up through "Empire" and part of "Promised Land". I think everybody was questioning the longevity of what they wanted to be, and what they wanted to do, and if they were happy, and if they weren't. It's a long road of ups and downs, really, the battles. Maybe, as you get older, your style of music changes a little bit. Other people wanted to stay true to what they started in the beginning. You grow as musicians and people, and sometimes it grows the other way. So it's kind of hard to pick exactly when it happened. It was at a point when we worked so hard to build up the integrity of QUEENSRŸCHE, we just got to the point where we started to get a little burned out. When Chris [DeGarmo, guitar] left, it was kind of picking up the pieces and let's see what we can do.
Rock Show Critique: We were the ones who interviewed Geoff and were surprised by how he answered on why you guys weren't playing "Queen Of The Reich" anymore. He had said it was juvenile and how he didn't want to sing it anymore. Was that part of the problem on choosing the sets, etc.?
Michael Wilton: Well, certain people grow out of songs, I guess. Being in a band, it's always kind of a battle to get certain songs into a set. That song, "Queen Of The Reich", was really our first song. That was the song Chris DeGarmo wrote and brought to the band, and we wanted to make it heavy as hell. We wanted to make it a badass song. We were really young back then. We were working at day jobs listening to the local FM rock radio station and we heard "Queen Of The Reich" play on there. We never thought that song would ever be on radio. We heard "Queen Of The Reich" on the radio and I think we lost our mind. That song took off for us all over the world. Magazines and everything. It's such a special song and it's so great that were able to bring some of those songs back that catapulted the band. I think it's still a strong song today, and we're playing it in our live show, and I think it has just as much power and passion as it did back in the early Eighties.
Read the entire interview at Rock Show Critique.