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Ex-MEGADETH Drummer NICK MENZA Claims DAVE MUSTAINE ‘Blew Him Off’ At NAMM

Manos Spanos
Ex-MEGADETH drummer Nick Menza claims that he attempted to reconnect with his former bandmate, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine, at this past weekend's NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show in Anaheim, California, only to be brushed off and told to "go away." Menza, who was a member of MEGADETH from 1989 to 1998 and appeared on four of the band's studio albums, wrote on his Facebook page earlier today: "I had a blast at NAMM hanging with fans and old friends I also made a major mistake for trying to saying hello to Dave Mustaine at the Dean booth, [which] he totally blew me off and wouldn't even look at me then had his hired goons / bodyguard tell me go away, pretty lame! I'm over it and life goes on!!!" He added: "I don't hate Dave nor was I trying to get back in the band. [I just wanted to say a] friendly hello, that's all. Nothing more nothing less! "I have so many other things going on right now that even if Dave asked me back in the band, I would have to turn down the offer." Asked last September by Argentinean rock journalist Lucas H. Gordon if there is a possibility of him ever doing anything with MEGADETH again, Menza said: "You never know what can happen in the future. It's, like, I'm open to whatever. I would never say, 'I'll never join MEGADETH back up again.' But it's really up to Mustaine. I put the ball in his court." Following the reissue of the entire MEGADETH catalog, Menza was invited to reunite with the band in 2004. Days after a reunion was announced, Menza was fired after rehearsals and replaced with Shawn Drover. Mustaine said that this was because Nick "just wasn't prepared." Menza has been writing, recording and producing constantly but only releasing sporadic singles for years. That will all change when he opens the floodgates with the upcoming release of his memoir, "Nick Menza: Megalife", by acclaimed writer J. Marshall Craig. "MEGADETH was a big part of my story," Menza said, "but it was just one part. Jeff [Craig] has got me to talk about it all!" Menza is currently negotiating a publishing deal for the book, which was written over the past 18 months. It features rare and never-before-seen photos of Menza with every band he's ever been in, including, of course, MEGADETH. "It's a memoir of music," writer Craig said. "But a lot more. It's a book about chasing the ultimate gig, the ultimate drum setup, the ultimate sound and, it will come as no surprise to Nick's fans, the ultimate aliens, government conspiracies and anything else his muse sees fit to lay across his path." Menza's first performance was at the age of two on stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival when legendary jazz percussionist Jack DeJohnette (Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson) placed Nick on his kit. Thirty years later, he was stepping out on stage in front of thousands of screaming fans every night. Menza, son of legendary jazz saxophonist Don Menza, was at the top of his game when MEGADETH started a world tour in support of its album, "Cryptic Writings", but began to suffer knee problems and escalating pain. Doctors diagnosed him with a tumor. Surgery waylaid the drummer briefly, but he was relieved to learn the tumor was benign and was eager to rejoin his bandmates, who had continued their tour with a replacement drummer. But deteriorating relations within the band exploded and Menza was replaced permanently.
05 min read

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE: Second ‘Pathfinder’ Video Teaser

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The second teaser for "Pathfinder", the new video from Italian symphonic death metallers FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, can be seen below. The full clip will be released on February 3. Regarding the video shoot, the group stated: "It will definitely stand up from the average as we are going to shoot it in one of the most beautiful places in the world, Sicilia. This region was part of Greece right in the era where the 'Labyrinth Of Knossos' myth is collocated and our philological research led us there. It will be artistically deep and metaphorically intricate, a real reflection on the sense of our lives." "Pathfinder" is taken from FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE's latest album, "Labyrinth", which was released on August 16, 2013 in Europe and August 20, 2013 in North America via Nuclear Blast. The CD was mixed and mastered by Stefano "Saul" Morabito. The cover artwork was once again created by Colin Marks, who was also responsible for several neoclassical pieces of art in the massive inlay.
01 min read

Video: WITHIN TEMPTATION Plays Acoustic Set At Vintage Vinyl

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Dutch female-fronted symphonic rockers WITHIN TEMPTATION took part in a signing session and acoustic performance earlier today (Monday, January 27) at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, New Jersey. Fan-filmed video footage of the acoustic set can be seen below. WITHIN TEMPTATION's new album, "Hydra", will be released in North America on February 4. The album will be available in several luxury formats. The cover artwork was created by Romano Molenaar ("X-Men", "Batman", "The Unforgiving"). Pre-order "Hydra" via iTunes now, and you will instantly receive the first two singles: "Dangerous", featuring a guest appearance by former KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Howard Jones and "Paradise (What About Us?)" featuring ex-NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen. The digital premium album, complete with digi-booklet, will be available on iTunes and includes 18 audio tracks and a music video. The digital premium album features bonus "Evolution Versions" of four new songs, which contain audio commentary from guitarist Robert Westerholt and Sharon and give you unique access to the development of the songs, their lyrical inspiration and the sound of the initial demos and vocals. "Hydra" digital premium album track listing: 01. Let Us Burn 02. Dangerous (feat. Howard Jones) 03. And We Run (feat. Xzibit 04. Paradise (What About Us?) (feat. Tarja) 05. Edge Of The World 06. Silver Moonlight 07. Covered By Roses 08. Dog Days 09. Tell Me Why 10. Whole World Is Watching (feat. Dave Pirner) 11. Radioactive (originally performed by IMAGINE DRAGONS) 12. Summertime Sadness (originally performed by Lana del Ray) 13. Let Her Go (originally performed by PASSENGER) 14. Dirty Dancer (originally performed by Enrique Iglesias) 15. And We Run (evolution track) 16. Silver Moonlight (evolution track) 17. Covered By Roses (evolution track) 18. Tell Me Why (evolution track) 19. Paradise (What About Us?) (feat. Tarja) music video (exclusive to iTunes premium version) Aside from the digital premium version, "Hydra" will also be released in a deluxe box set including exclusive items many of you have been asking for, for a long time: "Hydra" deluxe box set * "Hydra" 18-track album including bonus tracks in the form of a media book with a hot foil print cover, featuring a 100-page booklet consisting of unique photos * Double gatefold black vinyl version of the album including bonus tracks * Instrumental version of the entire album * Songbook with sheet music of the songs of the album * "Hydra" guitar pick * Packaged in an especially designed LP-sized box In a recent interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com, Sharon stated about the songwriting process for "Hydra"": "A lot of bands were inspired by the '80s at the time we were writing 'The Unforgiving' album. There was a lot of music based on the '80s coming out and it had a lot of '80s flavors. With this new album, even though we're only a few years further up the road, you can feel that music has changed again. Music is not inspired on the '80s, but more like there are different influences in the music again. Music's always organic, and you feel things are changing comfortably." She added: "When people asked us after 'The Unforgiving', 'Are you gonna make another 'Unforgiving' album?" we said, 'Of course.' Because we were really full of it in a positive way. We really like the album a lot and still do like it a lot but we really feel there's an '80s feel to the songs. When we started writing this album, again we felt like we were already knowing we were gonna go a different direction also."
04 min read

CALIBAN: ‘Your Song’ Lyric Video

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The official lyric video for the song "Yougr Song" from Germany's CALIBAN can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's new album, "Ghost Empire", which is being released on the following dates via Century Media Records: * Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand: January 24 * Rest of Europe: January 27 * U.S., Canada: February 4 The CD was produced by by guitarist Marc Görtz in cooperation with Benny Richter. Said Görtz of the the "Ghost Empire" art, which was created by U.K. artist Chris Lovell: "Another great artist told me about Chris and his art. When I checked out his page, I loved his style and amazing drawings straight away. So I wrote him a message if he would be into designing a t-shirt design for us. It turned out great, so there was no doubt whom to ask for the new album artwork for 'Ghost Empire'! I told him what the album is about and he said that he would love to do it. It didn't take long for him to come up with first ideas which were amazing! I hope we can work with him on other projects in the future, he is a great guy and easy to work with and I think the result speaks for itself!" Added Lovell: "I have been heavily into metal since the age of 12. "It's always nice when a band I am a fan of contacts me with a brief for a project. "I was stoked to read Marc's ideas as post-apocalyptic imagery is something I have an obsession with. I grew up loving films like 'Mad Max', 'Cyborg' and the 'Fist Of The North Star' anime. There's something about destroyed buildings and wastelands that stir my imagination and conjure up all kinds of haunting images in my head. It's also much more fun and easier to draw ruined buildings than perfect ones! "Marc and I brainstormed ideas one evening and we came up with lots of elements we liked such as crows, scarecrows, rats etc. I sketched out a very rough concept idea and layout for the basic image. The front and back cover is all in one, so I had a nice wide landscape to work with. I liked the idea of a road on the main cover, leading to what could look like a hive of collapsed skyscrapers and buildings, leaning on each other and climbing into the clouds. On the left side a cliff face leading down to stormy seas and a shore line littered with ship wrecks and capsized boats. "I wanted the image to look void of human life and haunting. "I drew out the bulk of the main image in pencil, then used inks and acrylic paint to add depth and highlights. I then scanned the image in and coloured it with a graphics tablet on Photoshop. I drew a number of other elements, like telegraph poles, crows, skulls and rats and scanned them in separately. "I wanted to be able to experiment with placement and give the band the option to move elements around etc. "I lost track of how many hours I put into the piece, it all becomes a blur. "I like to stream horror movies or listen to music and just lose myself in the art I make. "I have a bit of an obsession with detail and I tend to spend hours tweaking elements on an image people will probably never even notice. "CALIBAN have been a pleasure to work with. After I had the pleasure of hearing the demos while working on this project it is an honour to have done the artwork for what will be an amazing album!" CALIBAN's eighth studio album, "I Am Nemesis", entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 21. "I Am Nemesis" was released in North America on February 28, 2012 via Century Media Records. The CD featured guest appearances by Marcus Bischoff (HEAVEN SHALL BURN) and Mitch Lucker (SUICIDE SILENCE).
04 min read

MADBALL’s MITTS: ‘New York Pioneered What Still Lasts As Hardcore Today’

Manos Spanos
Greg Prato of Songfacts recently conducted an interview with guitarist Mitts (real name: Brian Daniels) of New York hardcore legends MADBALL. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Songfacts: What is MADBALL currently up to? Mitts: We're writing for a new record right now. We've got three or four songs. As a hardcore band, our songs are fairly short compared to metal — they're not, like, seven-, eight-minute songs. Our songs are generally between two and three minutes, so we usually go for in the 12-to-15-song range for a record. We like to have at least 30 minutes. Songfacts: How does the songwriting work in the band? Is it you that comes up with an idea or is it Freddy, or do you guys collaborate? Mitts: It's basically between my bass player, Hoya, and myself. We'll come up with riffs and song ideas. If it's not just one riff, we'll have one or two riffs that go together and that'll be a piece. When we get those, we'll bring it into the rehearsal room and we'll start to work on it as a band. Nobody ever writes an entire song in MADBALL on their own. Basically, we take a couple of riffs and we piece it together. Once we get it in the room, then the four of us work out the kinks and pitch in ideas on the arrangement and structure of it. And as we're doing that, Freddy, my singer, he'll make a lot of arrangement calls, because he's starting to imagine what he's going to sing over it. And so he'll say, "No, this verse had go to be longer," or "This is where we'll stick a chorus. Let's put a little intro piece here, because I've got an idea for this or that." He definitely has a strong input as far as arrangement. And our drummer, Mike, he's going to try to come up with different drum patterns. Generally the drummer in this band, whoever it may be over the years, has a lot of input as far as what they're playing over these riffs. I'll have an idea for how I think a drum part should go along with one of my riffs, but he's the one that's going to interpret that. And same thing with Hoya. Hoya will sit there and be like, "No, the beat's gotta be more like this or more like that." And he'll specify. But at the end of the day, one of us comes up with a riff or a couple of riffs and then we take it into the room and we all hammer it out. Songfacts: To the best of your knowledge, who would you say are some of the first bands that truly merged hardcore with heavy metal? Mitts: I think AGNOSTIC FRONT, the CRO-MAGS. In those early records by those bands, you can start to see the development. On the first AGNOSTIC FRONT record, you can hear that late '70s punk sound and that early '80s sound that started to become hardcore. Bands like the CIRCLE JERKS and the DEAD KENNEDYS and the BAD BRAINS were merging that speed with the punk. Punk was the SEX PISTOLS and the RAMONES, but then hardcore started just making it a little louder, a little heavier, and a little more aggressive. And then you had the New York sound — I think New York pioneered what still lasts as hardcore today. They started to add more metal into it, more right hand riffing, more palm muting riffing as opposed to just, "dadadadadadadada." That was punk, that open strumming. You listen to records like the first CRO-MAGS record, "The Age Of Quarrel", there's a lot of right-hand chugging, like metallic kind of riffs. Same thing with AGNOSTIC FRONT. Their second record, "Cause For Alarm", all of a sudden you start to hear really fast picking, a lot of dissident guitar patterns and stuff like that. So those are the bands that really started to pioneer that. You look at hardcore today, and 90 percent of hardcore bands that are around today doing well still have that metal edge to them. Read the entire interview at Songfacts.
04 min read

OBITUARY Performs Three New Songs In Tampa; Video Available

Manos Spanos
Florida death metal icons OBITUARY performed three brand new songs during their January 24 concert at The Brass Mug in Tampa, Florida. Fan-filmed video footage of the entire show can be seen below. OBITUARY's setlist was as follows: 01. Stinkupuss 02. Intro X 03. Bloodsoaked 04. Immortal 05. Gates To Hell 06. Infected 07. [New Song] 08. [New Song] 09. Chopped In Half / Turned Inside Out 10. Back To One 11. The End Complete 12. Dead Silence 13. [New Song] 14. I'm In Pain 15. Slowly We Rot OBITUARY is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its landmark "Slowly We Rot" full-length debut. The band last year offered up a pay-per-view, professionally shot live stream of its homecoming performance at The Orpheum which featured a pummeling all-classics setlist from its first three platters of brutality: 1989's "Slowly We Rot" 1990's "Cause Of Death" and 1992's "The End Complete". Due later in the year, OBITUARY's new album is being recorded with the Kickstarter funding help of their legion of dedicated fans around the globe. The campaign was rooted in an honest desire to produce the next record on the band's own terms. "We've been creating death metal since 1984," the band commented. "It's who we are...it's in our blood. "If there's one thing that we've learned touring all these years, it's that OBITUARY fans are among the most loyal and supportive motherfuckers in the world! "We've been trying to find better ways to engage with and give back to our fans. "Over the past couple of years, we've streamed concerts live from around the globe, given away tons of merch packages and dozens of all-access backstage passes. It's inspiring to see and share in your excitement about OBITUARY, and the inspiration that provides keeps us going. This is about putting our trust, our music, our career, and our new album in fans' hands! We want to make music for the people who still come out to shows, still sport our gear, and still have a 'Slowly We Rot' cassette in their car." OBITUARY 2014 is: John Tardy - Vocals Trevor Peres - Guitar Donald Tardy - Drums Terry Butler - Bass Kenny Andrews - Guitar Guitarist Ralph Santolla, who joined OBITUARY in 2007 as the replacement for Allen West, has not played any shows with the group since 2011. OBITUARY's next album will be the follow-up to the "Darkest Day" full-length CD, released in 2009 via Candlelight Records. "Darkest Day" landed at position No. 32 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
03 min read

LAMB OF GOD’s RANDY BLYTHE Won’t Be Thinking About Playing Heavy Metal ‘For A Good Long While’

Manos Spanos
Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD are planning to take a long break from the road following the completion of the touring activities in support of the band's 2012 album, "Resolution". In a post on his official Instagram account, LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe writes: "And so another album cycle comes to an end. "This has been a very eventful, at times VERY STRESSFUL, album cycle, and it's been about three years since we started on this one in our practice space. "I need a break. "Tomorrow is a 19-hour flight back to the USA, and then another one home to [Richmond], and except for two festival shows in 2014, I will not be thinking about LAMB OF GOD, touring, playing heavy metal, writing new LAMB OF GOD material — NONE OF THAT STUFF AT ALL — for a good long while. "[It's] time to do other things for a bit, and let my brain regroup, and be a somewhat normal human being. "This has been a pretty wild ride, though, and to end it in Africa of all places still amazes the crap outta me. "So thanks, Johannesburg, for an awesome end to the 'Resolution' tour cycle." LAMB OF GOD entered into a worldwide distribution deal with Specticast (LED ZEPPELIN's "Celebration Day", Paul McCartney's "Rock Show") for their Don Argott-directed ("Last Days Here", "Art Of The Steal", "School Of Rock") feature film "As The Palaces Burn". Filming for the movie began in 2012 and concluded in March of 2013. "As The Palaces Burn", which should not be confused with the making-of documentary packaged with the recent re-release of the 2003 LAMB OF GOD album of the same name, was conceived to be a documentary focused on the power of music and its impact on cultures around the world and its ability to bring together people of all nationalities regardless of religious or political differences. After a worldwide casting call, filming took place in Colombia, Venezuela, Israel, India, and the United States. As filming reached its conclusion, the documentary was forced to take a major turn when the band's lead singer, Randy Blythe, was arrested in the Czech Republic and charged with the murder of a fan in June 2012. Granted unique access to Blythe's saga, Argott's filming covered Blythe's 38-day imprisonment in Prague, his release and the band's return to live performances, and finally Blythe's trial for murder in Prague in February 2013.
02 min read

SLAYER’s JEFF HANNEMAN Snubbed During GRAMMY ‘In Memoriam’ Tribute

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Even though SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman died last year from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver, he was excluded from the list of faces and names showcased during Grammy Awards' "In Memoriam" segment last night (Sunday, January 26). Other notable hard rock and heavy metal musicians who passed away in 2013 but weren't recognized at last night's event included former IRON MAIDEN drummer Clive Burr and VIXEN's founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund. SLAYER has been nominated for a "Best Metal Performance" Grammy Award five times and has won twice: in 2007 for "Eyes Of The Insane" and in 2008 for "Final Six". When SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray and TYPE O NEGATIVE's Peter Steele failed to make the "In Memoriam" segment in 2011, less than a year after both of them passed away, Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), addressed the issue of stars being left out, saying that the "'In Memoriam' segment is a real connundrum, because we keep a list — and it's a sad job — of when we lose people in our industry, actually, starting this past week [for next year's awards show], because if it's very late, it's not something we can factor in. And this past year [2010] we had over 300 people in the industry pass, and many of them — all of them — important, so we have to, at the end of the day, make a selection, and you can't get everybody there, and we try to have a broad represenation of different genres and generations and so on. We're never happy with how that exactly turns out, [but] we have the list of everybody [who died] in our program book every year." Hanneman is credited for writing many of SLAYER's classic songs, including "Angel Of Death" and "South Of Heaven". The guitarist, who passed away in Los Angeles on May 2, 2013, had actually not been playing with SLAYER for more than two years since he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, from a spider bite in his backyard in January 2011. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman's arm, leading to numerous surgeries, skin grafts and intense periods of rehab that forced him into semi-retirement and left him near death at several points. Hanneman's last appearance with SLAYER was in April 2011, when he played an encore with the band at the "Big Four" concert in Indio, California.
02 min read

ERIK DANIELSSON: ‘WATAIN Is A Mouthpiece Of Satan’

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Raymond Westland of Ghost Cult magazine recently conducted an interview with Erik Danielsson of Swedish black metallers WATAIN. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Ghost Cult: "The Wild Hunt" should be seen as a standalone release and not so much as a continuation from the previous works. Can you clarify this, please? Erik: I do not know how you drew that conclusion but no, that is not correct. Every WATAIN album is a "continuation" of our journey, and although that journey always takes us to new places that may appear different from those we have visited in the past, it is still very much a living continuum. Every WATAIN album should be seen as a monument erected at a specific point in time and space, but still transcending that point by reaching beyond the tangible and the defined. Ghost Cult: "The Wild Hunt" is a very rich and diverse record and it far exceeds the traditional black metal aesthetics. To which extent was this the thing you set out do? Erik: We set out to make another WATAIN album, and as always we let the currents of our Temple lead the way. As these currents are and have always been strongly rooted in the black metal cult, that obviously reflects on the album as well. But WATAIN is first and foremost a world on its own, a place in which we can do whatever we feel the need to do, unbound by musical genre. We do not answer to any expectations of anyone else but those of our own. WATAIN is a mouthpiece of Satan, and as such we can not limit our ways of expression, we must always be open to learn new languages in order to express that which needs to be expressed. Ghost Cult: Can you take us through the motions of writing and recording the album? What did you really set out to achieve? Erik: The album was written over a period of three years, starting after "Lawless Darkness". Many of the lyrics were written on the road, in Australia, Japan, USA and Transylvania. The recording itself was four months long and took place in different places in Scandinavia which altogether made for the diversity that you mentioned earlier. The nomadic impulse of WATAIN, and the ever on going pilgrimage we find ourselves on, were things that became quite central in the album. We took the time to look back on past experiences and the evolution of the band, and eventually framed it inside a spiritual, even mythological, context. "The Wild Hunt" is the long, hard and yet incredible rewarding road which we have walked upon for the past 15 years. Read the entire interview at Ghost Cult magazine.
02 min read