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TESTAMENT Parts Ways With Bassist GREG CHRISTIAN, Announces Return Of STEVE DIGIORGIO

Manos Spanos
San Francisco Bay Area metal veterans TESTAMENT have released the following statement: "It is with much respect that we announce our mutual parting with bassist Greg Christian. Metal fretless bass pioneer Steve DiGiorgio will be returning to TESTAMENT. "Steve previously was a member of TESTAMENT on 'The Gathering' (1999) as well as 'First Strike Still Deadly' (2001). He will be joining TESTAMENT on their upcoming shows in Australia on the Soundwave Festival, Japan and Mexico City. Steve will also be taking part in the new TESTAMENT album. "We are looking forward to continuing the momentum you, the fans, have made possible." Christian was forced to leave the band's North American tour with LAMB OF GOD and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in November for "personal reasons." Filling in for him was EXODUS bassist Jack Gibson. "Dark Roots Of Thrash", a DVD/2CD release documenting TESTAMENT's sold-out headlining performance at the Paramount in Huntington, New York this past February, was made available on October 18, 2013 (Europe) and October 29, 2013 (North America) via Nuclear Blast Records. "Dark Roots Of Thrash" was produced by Get Hammered Productions, directed by Tommy Jones (DEATH ANGEL, KATAKLYSM, SOILWORK) and mixed by Juan Urteaga (VILE, EXODUS, SADUS, MACHINE HEAD). It captures a total of 19 live tracks with countless cams onstage and high above the audience, plus a special moshpit cam that makes you feel like you're a part of the show.
01 min read

LACUNA COIL Announces ‘Broken Crown Halo’ Album, ‘Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock’ Tour

Manos Spanos
Italian heavy rockers LACUNA COIL will release their new studio album, "Broken Crown Halo", in North America on April 1 (one day earlier internationally) via Century Media Records. The CD was recorded Italy by producer Jay Baumgardner (P.O.D., SEVENDUST, EVANESCENCE, PAPA ROACH) and engineer Kyle Hoffmann (P.O.D., BUSH, ZEBRAHEAD). The effort was mastered by Howie Weinberg, whose credits include RAMMSTEIN, SOUNDGARDEN, NIRVANA, DEFTONES and SHERYL CROW. "Broken Crown Halo" is LACUNA COIL's seventh studio effort, and the highly-anticipated follow-up to "Dark Adrenaline", which was released in January 2012 and saw the band tour with acts including MEGADETH, MOTÖRHEAD, VOLBEAT and SEVENDUST after debuting at No. 15 on The Billboard 200 album chart. LACUNA COIL will return to the road to introduce North America to "Broken Crown Halo" as part of the Revolver Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock Tour, which launches February 20 and features LACUNA COIL sharing a stage with SICK PUPPIES, Century Media Records labelmates EYES SET TO KILL and CILVER. The tour launches in Wilmington, North Carolina, and runs through March 20 in Anaheim, California. See complete itinerary below, and visit www.hottestchickstour.com for additional details and VIP packages. LACUNA COIL had this to say about "Broken Crown Halo": "What conflict could run so deep that it takes you to the deepest corners of your inner world? "Today we are surrounded by a lot of lies, aliases, and people acting like they are wearing an invisible crown — but you better have thick skin if you want to wear this crown! "'Broken Crown Halo' is a cinematic album that could be the soundtrack of our days — it is a dark vision of a near future when survival is second nature, and failure is not something to be avoided, but rather cultivated with lessons learned along the way. "We set the bar pretty high with 'Dark Adrenaline' and it hasn't been easy bringing our sound to the next level, but we have lived, learned and grown through a year full of personal issues and changes. We learned to be strong and get stronger, and we felt an inner vibe in this band that we haven't felt before. We locked ourselves in an age-old studio in Milan, Italy, where history was strong and the past met with our future, vintage gear and the influence of classic Italian horror movies and bands like GOBLIN meeting the fresh and rough sounds of the modern world with unique and invigorating results. "'Broken Crown Halo' is LACUNA COIL introducing a new order, and letting nothing stand in our way..." Revolver Hottest Chicks In Rock Tour featuring LACUNA COIL with SICK PUPPIES, EYES SET TO KILL and CILVER: Feb. 20 - Wilmington, NC - Ziggy's By The Sea Feb. 21 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade Feb. 22 - Lexington, KY - Buster's Feb. 23 - Springfield, VA - Empire Feb. 24 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza Feb. 26 - Worcester, MA - Palladium Feb. 27 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club Feb. 28 - Columbus, OH - Alrosa Villa Mar. 01 - Joliet, IL - Mojoe's Mar. 02 - South Bend, IN - Club Fever Mar. 05 - Broussard, LA - The Station Live Mar. 06 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar Mar. 07 - Austin, TX - Infest Mar. 08 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Mar. 10 - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall Mar. 12 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex Mar. 14 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory Mar. 15 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven Mar. 19 - Los Angeles, CA - House Of Blues Mar. 20 - Anaheim, CA - House Of Blues
04 min read

SEBASTIAN BACH: New Solo Album Title Revealed

Panagiotis Karagiannidis
Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has set "Give 'Em Hell" as the title of his new solo album, tentateively due in March via Frontiers Records. The follow-up to 2011's "Kicking & Screaming" was once again produced by Bob Marlette, who has previously worked with ROB ZOMBIE, BLACK SABBATH and SHINEDOWN, among others.
03 min read

ANTHRAX’s SCOTT IAN On Next Album: ‘Where We’re At Musically Right Now, This S**t Is Just So Killer’

Manos Spanos
ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian spoke to Metal Insider about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2011's "Worship Music". "It's really coming along," Scott said. "It's crazy to think that we're already in January of this year; it seems like we just finished touring in August and we said decided to start writing again. "We decided not to take a break and we're jumping right in because everyone felt we could. "We're sitting here right now with 12 songs musically arranged and really focusing on lyrics now. "At the end of the month, after the NAMM show, is the next time we're getting together at [producer] Jay's [Ruston] studio to work on vocals. "I like to think at the pace we're going we would be ready to start recording maybe in April. "I hate to ever put a stamp on something like this, because you just never know. But where we're at musically right now, this shit is just so killer. It's not like we have that far to go. "Sometimes as a band when we're writing — and I'm sure this happens to other bands too — you could sit down and listen to where you're at and think 'this stuff is good, but maybe there's too much mid tempo stuff, or we don't really have an album opener yet.' There are just certain ways you listen to it in the context of how are to sequence and pace it, things like that. "I think we've got all our bases covered and we're ready. "If we come out with some better shit in the next couple of months, that's awesome, but the 12 things we have musically so far we're really happy with. "Things came together really fast for us and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that we just came off such a good run with 'Worship Music'. We were all really excited about getting back in a room and writing songs together, and it was the first time in a really long time that we weren't going into writing a record coming off a really shitty time. [laughs] So for us to have come off such a great run with 'Worship Music', we were all really excited about it and I think it really shows in the music." Asked how he would compare ANTHRAX's new material to "Worship Music", Ian said: "It's hard to compare. That, to me, has always been the hardest question and it's something I just don't like to do because to me it's just all ANTHRAX. I would just tell you anything we've ever done is ANTHRAX, so I don't know how to compare it to 'Worship Music'. "If you liked 'Worship Music', you're gonna like this. The one thing I can say is that it definitely has more thrash elements. It definitely hearkens back to more of who we were in the '80s, yet at the same time sounding like us now in present day, which is what a lot of people said about 'Worship Music'. I think this one hits even harder and faster, more brutal with crazier riffs. "We were all super inspired coming in and working with Charlie [Benante, drums] and Frankie [Bello, bass] in the room, and then having Jay in the room with us as well, has been amazing because he really pushes us. He pushes us hard. Like when we may get stuck on something in an arrangement or where to go with a melody, he will really push us and make sure we're not just saying, 'Alright, that's good.' He's like, 'No, that's exactly what to do. It's just good, now work harder.' We all trust him so much, so it's great having him in the room there to push us." ANTHRAX's next album will mark the recording debut with the band of lead guitarist Jonathan Donais (SHADOWS FALL), who replaced Rob Caggiano in January 2013. Regarding whether Donais is now officially an ANTHRAX member, Ian said: "For all intents and purposes, he's in ANTHRAX. He's going to be there for everything we do moving forward. As far as how you title it, yeah. As far as I'm concerned, Jon is in ANTHRAX and will be playing leads on the record and will be touring with the band starting at the end of May 2014."
04 min read

MÖTLEY CRÜE: ‘RIP: All Bad Things Must Come To An End’

Manos Spanos
MÖTLEY CRÜE will hold a special event in Los Angeles on January 28 under the banner "RIP: All Bad Things Must Come To An End". The band is expected to announce the first details of its farewell tour, which will likely last for a couple of years. MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx was asked in an October 2013 interview with RollingStone.com about the time table for the band's eventual farewell tour, which singer Vince Neil said could begin as early as May 2014. "We haven't decided when that is, we're talking about that," Sixx said. "It'll happen, but we don't know when it will happen. "The most important thing about a farewell tour is that the band doesn't lie to the fans, and the band doesn't tour and then come back years later. That's what's important for us, planning what's the right time to go out. "We have a great fan base, we have original fans all the way down to teenagers, and we really feel grateful to that and we continue to reinvent ourselves over the years. "People always tried to make us an unimportant part of rock history and that doesn't really affect us because it's always been that way. Critics have always snubbed us. "The thing about MÖTLEY CRÜE is we are a people's band, we don't kiss ass to the industry. We believe artists should be in control of their own destiny and that destiny also includes when it should be done so that their fans can forever be proud. It's not one or two band members up there dragging the band name around. It's a band for a reason, it works for a reason. We're really proud of that. I think that's why, when the day does come, we want to be proud of our band and what we've achieved." He continued: "Someone said to me the other day, 'Won't you be sad?' I go, 'No, I'd be sad if we were playing half-full theaters and only two band members were in the band.' That would be sad. Sad is not taking your final bow in Los Angeles all together as four brothers. "I talked to a friend the other day and they were talking about a friend of theirs who passed away. And after the funeral, they had this huge party and everybody was celebrating, drinking and telling stories about this guy and how fun he was and how much joy he gave everybody in life. That's how I feel about MÖTLEY CRÜE. "When that day comes, that's what I want: one big fucking huge party to celebrate what we've done, all the good, all the bad, all the in-between. There it is, one big party, one final bow. It's gonna be fucking rad, but we're not there yet. Right now, we got three shows left in Vegas and then we're gonna start looking forward to when we tour next." Asked if there there could be multiple tours, or if the next one will be the finale, Sixx said: "We don't know right now. We said as brothers and a band, that's something we plan on doing sometime in the future, but we're not there yet, so we don't have any idea when. We're not sitting down right now planning on that." In an interview with Billboard.com, Neil said about MÖTLEY CRÜE's upcoming farewell tour, "I think we'll start the tour around May — I'm just kind of guessing on that, but in the spring of '14 — and we'll do one more time around the world and kinda call it quits. It's just that time. We're going out on top. We don't want to be some band that people are like, 'Oh, they're playing a club now,' that kind of band. We still sell out arenas, have stadium stuff and things like that, so let's go out when it's a big deal." Vince also insisted that MÖTLEY CRÜE's retirement will be for "real" and that they won't hold multiple farewell tours like certain other acts. "There are some bands that are on their fifth and sixth farewell tour," Vince told KVVU Fox 5. "Nah, we're not gonna do that. I'm not gonna say we would never get back together and do some concerts or something — we wanna keep that open — but we're not gonna do a farewell tour and then a couple of years later go, 'Ah, never mind.'" MÖTLEY CRÜE wrapped up its second Las Vegas residency at the Hard Rock Hotel’s Joint last October.
04 min read

GEOFF TATE, Former Bandmates Involved In Settlement Talks Over Rights To QUEENSRŸCHE Name

Manos Spanos
Singer Geoff Tate — who was fired from the Seattle progressive rock band QUEENSRŸCHE in 2012 after fronting it for three decades — has revealed to AL.com that he currently is involved "in settlement talks" with his former bandmates over the rights to the group's name. Tate and his wife, Susan, QUEENSRŸCHE's former manager, filed a lawsuit in June 2012 asking the judge to award them the rights to the band's name in exchange for Tate paying Eddie Jackson (bass), Michael Wilton (guitar) and Scott Rockenfield (drums) the fair market value for their interests in the QUEENSRŸCHE companies. Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson filed a countersuit against the Tates in which they accused Geoff of creative obstruction and violent behavior, and Susan Tate of questionable business practices. While ruling against Tate, the presiding judge determined that there was no legal hurdle in Tate also using the name with an all-new lineup of musicians. "I don't see any reason that Mr. Tate can't have the benefit, if he gets other members, of whatever name he uses of using the brand," Superior Court Judge Carol A. Schapira said during the July 13, 2012 court hearing. "I think [doing that would be] inherently confusing, although I'm sure the market can get these things sorted out," she added. Asked by AL.com what his ultimate goal of the court proceedings is — to get the original lineup of QUEENSRŸCHE back together or to win the name and continue with this band, Geoff said: "Right now, we have two QUEENSRŸCHEs, which is way too confusing to fans. We have to give someone the name and someone has to pay the other person off. We're in settlement talks now, and I hope that we can come to a conclusion in the next couple of weeks." Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson last year accused Geoff Tate of "continu[ing] to harm the QUEENSRŸCHE brand" since the Tates' original lawsuit was filed in June 2012. In a court document, they wrote: "The newest self-titled QUEENSRŸCHE CD release by the [Todd La Torre-fronted version of the band] entered the U.S. charts at #23 and continues to get 9-out-of-10-star reviews and is still selling very well on a weekly basis around the globe. In comparison, Geoff Tate released his own QUEENSRŸCHE CD in April of [2013] titled 'Frequency Unknown' and depicted as F.U. on the cover, which entered the charts at #82, received very bad reviews around the world, and has slowed to almost no more weekly sales. [The Todd La Torre-fronted version of QUEENSRŸCHE's] new CD even outperformed the last two CDs of them with Geoff Tate, selling more in a month than the 'Dedicated to Chaos' CD has since its release in 2010, and charting much better than both that album and the previous one, 'American Soldier'. Thus, the return to the classic sound [Tate's former] bandmates have made with the new CD and live shows has been met with overwhelming success." They added: "Geoff Tate also chose very poorly in hiring live musicians that have shown that they are not capable of representing the correct performances of the QUEENSRŸCHE music legacy, and he was constantly replacing them. He has been offering his low-quality version of QUEENSRŸCHE to the promoters at a much reduced rate, as low as $10,000 per night, when, in fact, [his former] bandmates have done their best to keep the authorized QUEENSRŸCHE at an average of well over $20,000 per show this entire year. However, this becomes harder and harder with Geoff Tate's sub-par band and cut-rate pricing that continues to be damaging to the QUEENSRŸCHE brand and legacy no matter who ultimately wins control after trial." In an interview with The Oakland Press, Rockenfield said said that "negotiations are ongoing between Tate and the singer's former bandmates and "there's still time for anything to happen between now and [the start of the trial in January 2014]." "I think our confidence is pretty high," Scott said. "There's a lot of legal stuff you have to deal with, but we just feel good and look at it as a light at the end of the tunnel and keep playing shows and making music. I think when you do that, the right decision will be made in time."
04 min read

SABATON: ‘Heroes’ Alternate Artwork Unveiled

Manos Spanos
Swedish metallers SABATON will release their new album, "Heroes", on May 16 via Nuclear Blast Records. The cover artwork for the CD was created by Péter Sallai. There will also be "alternate artwork for some editions," according to the band. The cover artwork for both the standard and special "Heroes" editions can be seen below. "We had the title in mind since before we even recorded 'Carolus Rex' and we already had ideas for artwork years ago," says SABATON bassist Pär Sundström. "We had a few different ones to choose from, but when we saw this one, we knew it was the right one for this album." "Heroes" is being recorded at The Abyss, the recording studio in Pärlby outside Ludvika, Sweden owned and operated by record producer and musician Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY, PAIN). "[Peter] still has some aces in his sleeves that we are sure will lift the new album," says Sundström. A video clip of the drum-recording sessions can be seen below. SABATON played its first show with new drummer Hannes Van Dahl on November 16, 2013 at the Metal Hammer Paradise festival in Germany. Regarding their decision to enlist Hannes Van Dahl, SABATON said in a statement: "For some time, there has been rumors about Robban [Bäck] coming back soon, or that Snowy [Shaw] would fill in for a while longer, or even take Robban's place permanently behind the drums. "To put an end to these rumors we now present our new full-time member in SABATON: Hannes Van Dahl. "Hannes has previously played in EVERGREY, which we have toured with in the past, and he has also worked side by side with us as drum technician for Snowy during his time in SABATON." SABATON will return to the U.S. and Canada in April as direct support to American metallers ICED EARTH on their "Worldwide Plagues" North American tour. Opening each show on the six-week trek will be Dutch metallers REVAMP (featuring NIGHTWISH singer Floor Jansen). SABATON's last album, "Carolus Rex", was released on May 22, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records. The lyrics for the CD, which was made available in both English and Swedish, deal with the Swedish Empire (referring to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721). SABATON in 2012 parted ways with guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, drummer Daniel Mulback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr. Alternate cover:
03 min read

DESTRUCTION’s SCHMIER Says He Is Collaborating With ACCEPT Members On New Project

Manos Spanos
"Met Al Metal" — Israel's metal radio show hosted by brothers Lior and Niv Peleg — recently conducted an interview with DESTRUCTION bassist/vocalist Schmier. During the chat, which can be streamed using the audio player below, Schmier reveals that he is currently working on a new side project with members of ACCEPT. DESTRUCTION's 30th-anniversary album, "Spiritual Genocide", was released on November 23, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to 2011's "Day Of Reckoning" was recorded at Gernhart Studios in Troisdorf, Germany with engineer Martin Buchwalter and was mixed by Andy Classen. The album features guest appearances by Thomas "Angelripper" Such (SODOM), Andreas "Gerre" Geremia (TANKARD) and Ol Drake (EVILE). In addition, the "Mad Butcher"/"Release From Agony" lineup of DESTRUCTION — featuring guitarist Harry Wilkens and drummer Oliver Kaiser — reunited for one song. Asked how DESTRUCTION's sound has evolved over the years, Schmier told Metal Assault, "We were 17-18 years old when we started, and we were young and wild. We didn't play that well at the time. Of course now, we have the experience of 30 years and our playing skills are totally different, so we cannot really compare, but I still compare the style of music and it's still thrash metal. We still do it with a lot of emotion and a lot of aggression, and those things will never change. I think we even came more brutal and more aggressive with this new album as compared to the old ones, actually. [Today's] DESTRUCTION doesn't sound like an old band." Interview (audio):
02 min read