Lost your password?

News

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY To Release ‘Catacombs Of The Black Vatican’ Album In April

Manos Spanos
The new BLACK LABEL SOCIETY studio album, "Catacombs Of The Black Vatican", will be released in Europe on April 7 via Mascot Label Group and one day later in North America through eOne Music. The band's mainman, Zakk Wylde, joked in a recent interview that the forthcoming CD will be "all completely the same as the last nine records, except just different songtitles." Mascot Label Group is honored to welcome BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to the label, having recently signed the band exclusively for European territory. The group will join, among others, JOE BONAMASSA, VOLBEAT, GOV'T MULE, BETH HART, VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION and KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD on the Rotterdam, The Netherlands-based record company's roster. BLACK LABEL SOCIETY recently amicably parted ways with longtime guitarist Nick Catanese and replaced him with Dario Lorina (LIZZY BORDEN). "Catacombs of the Black Vatican" is BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's first new studio album since 2009's "The Order Of The Black", which debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 chart. BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's new live DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital Video, "Unblackened", was released on September 24, 2013 by Eagle Rock Entertainment. Wylde's label home, eOne Music, also released the audio version of the "Unblackened" DVD under the same name.
01 min read

BLACK SABBATH Partners With CONVERSE

Panagiotis Karagiannidis
Converse Inc. launched the Spring 2014 Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Black Sabbath sneaker collection featuring five new styles inspired by BLACK SABBATH, one of the most iconic rock bands of all time. The collaboration features the album artwork of four of BLACK SABBATH's most groundbreaking records, including "Black Sabbath", "Paranoid", "Never Say Die!" and "Vol. 4".
04 min read

Brutal Assault confirms SATYRICON, NIGHTFALL and HACKTIVIST

Manos Spanos
Satyricon - one of the greatest ikons of black metal genre confirmed their performance on 19th edition of Brutal Assault festival. The leader of the band Satyr bewitch their crowd for over 23 years contrary to some other black metal bands he still has the burning force and appetite to do things different way which designites them to conquer... Nightfall - Legend of Greek melodic death/doom metal makes their first live appearance in CZ after their reunion. They have brought to the scene such gems as Macabre Sunset (1993) or Athenian Echos (1995). Their latest album is called Cassiopeia. Hacktivists - What a great combination of djent technics and hard core / rap barking with their first ever performance on BA.
00 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO And THE ILLEGALS: Promotional Video For Upcoming Tour

Manos Spanos
Philip Anselmo, legendary frontman of PANTERA and DOWN, will kick off the second leg of his first-ever solo tour, dubbed "Technicians Of Distortion", on January 10 in Houston, Texas and head westward, trampling through over a dozen cities with additional support provided by HYMNS. On this trek, Anselmo will once again be joined by his backup band THE ILLEGALS — guitarist Marzi Montazeri (ex-SUPERJOINT RITUAL), drummer José Manuel Gonzales (WARBEAST) and bassist Steve Taylor. Anselmo's recently released, limited-edition two-song "Housecore Horror Fest" 10-inch vinyl EP will be available for purchase on all tour dates. A new one-and-a-half-minute promotional video for the upcoming tour can be seen below. Anselmo's career-first solo album, "Walk Through Exits Only", sold around 8,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 35 on The Billboard 200 chart. Produced by Anselmo and Michael Thompson, and recorded over the past couple of years at Philip's New Orleans studio, Nodferatu's Lair, "Walk Through Exits Only" is abrasive, aggressive, anthemic and 100% Anselmo. According to Anselmo, he worked on an estimated 15-17 songs for "Walk Through Exits Only", which was issued via his own Housecore Records (MRI/Megaforce) "I could've put on any number (of songs) I wanted, but for me, these eight songs all together, 40-something minutes, that's my idea of a proper listening length," he tells Billboard.com. "When you start to get longer it gets a little redundant and boring, and I didn't want to bore anybody." Asked why he felt the need to start another band outside of DOWN, Anselmo told The Washington Times: "If you look at DOWN, we're made up of three different bands, EYEHATEGOD and CROWBAR and whatever the fuck Pepper's [Keenan, guitar] doing, you know; he does a lot of different things. So, we have this flexibility of freedom and dead time is lame. Instead of starting some fucking other band, you know, branding it with a name and having to have people buy into a whole new name, this is something I wanted to do for the long term and something I can do long term because I don't want any other fucking projects. That's the beauty of having a solo band. I can really do what I want. So, 'Walk Through Exits Only' is one expression of music. We have another EP coming out in October that's really completely different than anything that I've put out. And then we're gonna get even more different and base it off the
03 min read

SLAYER’s AMERICAN RECORDINGS Discography Available In Clear Vinyl From NUCLEAR BLAST

Manos Spanos
Nuclear Blast USA's webshop will be the exclusive online distributor of the 10 seminal albums from SLAYER's American Recordings catalog on clear, Collector's Edition vinyl. Each album will be sold individually, is strictly limited to 666 hand-numbered copies, and can be shipped internationally. Full audio has been remastered from the original analog flat master tapes and pressed on the highest-quality, 180-gram audiophile vinyl to satisfy the most discerning turntables and SLAYER collectors. Featuring original album artwork (including exact reproductions of the original 12x12 vinyl sleeves), the nine studio releases comprising the American Recordings discography are: * "Reign In Blood" (1986) * "South Of Heaven" (1988) * "Seasons In The Abyss" (1990) * "Divine Intervention" (1994) * "Undisputed Attitude" (1996) * "Diabolus In Musica" (1998) * "God Hates Us All" (2001) * "Christ Illusion" (2006) * "World Painted Blood" (2009) Also included is SLAYER's live double album "Decade of Aggression: Live" (1991).
01 min read

Video: AMON AMARTH, ENTOMBED Singers Join VOMITORY On Stage At Farewell Show

Manos Spanos
Johan Hegg (AMON AMARTH), Lars Göran Petrov (ENTOMBED) and Tomas Lindberg (AT THE GATES, THE GREAT DECEIVER, LOCKUP, DISFEAR, THE CROWN) joined Swedish death metallers VOMITORY on stage at the band's last-ever show on December 27, 2013 at Metal Clüb / Nöjesfabriken in Karlstad, Sweden. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below. VOMITORY announced its decision to disband in February 2013, explaining in a statement: "After 24 years, eight albums and hundreds of live shows across 30 countries, we have finally come to the end of the road. We in the band — Tobias, Urban, Erik and Peter — have made the collective decision to end VOMITORY by the end of 2013. It has been a blast on all accounts, but all good things come to to an end, and for VOMITORY, it is now." VOMITORY's eighth full-length album, "Opus Mortis VIII", was released in 2011 via Metal Blade Records. The CD was recorded at Leon Music Studios outside Karlstad, Sweden with producer Rikard Löfgren. VOMITORY was: Erik Rundqvist - Bass/Vocals
01 min read

DEF LEPPARD To Enter Studio In February

Manos Spanos
DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen tells Artisan News that the band will enter the studio on February 1 to begin work on the follow-up to 2008's "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge". "I saw Joe [Elliott, vocals], Vivian [Campbell, guitar] and Rick [Allen, drums] on Rick's birthday out here on November 1," he said (see video below). "And we were discussing and we were all excited and buzzing about new material. I can't even remember the last time we were like that about that stuff. 'Cause it's been a long time since we've had new recordings out, so it's like a brand new band; you have all these ideas and we're just gonna get together and bash it out." In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Collen revealed that the band has plans to record both an EP and full-length album. He explained: "An album would obviously take too long, so we're gonna do about four or five songs, get those out and then [later in the] year have an album come out, so it'll be an EP and an album." Campbell explained to Billboard that DEF LEPPARD's next release will likely see them delivering elements of their classic tunes while also delving into new territory. "The band is successful for a certain sound," said Campbell. "It's a brand like Coca-Cola and you've got to give the people what they expect. At the same time, you have to move on." After completing the successful "Viva! Hysteria" residency in Las Vegas last spring that resulted in the recently released concert video and album packages, DEF LEPPARD is planning to return to Sin City later this year with a "Viva! Pyromania" residency, which will see the group perform the entire classic 1983 album "Pyromania" at each show. The move comes in time for the album's 31st anniversary rather than its 30th, but Elliott told journalist Gary Graff that commemorating that mark wasn't on DEF LEPPARD's agenda last year. "We ignored the anniversary because I think a lot of these anniversaries are just invented by the record companies to rehash for some bullshit reason, to re-release an album that doesn't need re-releasing because it's never been deleted," he said. "We agreed to doing the 25th anniversary of 'Pyromania' five years ago, where we put out the second disc which was... basically an extra live album with the Steve Clark lineup, if you like, the way that we were in 1983," he continued. "The cupboard's bare. There's nothing left. "They wanted to do a re-release of a 30th anniversary of 'Pyromania', and we just said, 'Absolutely no! The only thing that anybody is going to get out of this is some different liner notes.' I think it's just ripping off the kids, so we said no. "If somebody wants 'Pyromania Deluxe', it's already out. "We celebrated after 25 years; we don't need to do it again after 30."
03 min read

OPETH’s MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT On Next Album: It’s Time To Go ‘All In’ With String Instrumentation

Manos Spanos
Guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH spoke to Decibel magazine about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2011's "Heritage". "I have about six songs done and another two or three just started," he said, "plus a million ideas that I haven't processed yet. Some songs are simple and stripped-down, while others are epic in the true sense of the word. Business as usual, hopefully with unusual music." Åkerfeldt also revealed that he plans to enrich at least a few of the new OPETH tracks with strings. "Some of these things could easily be done with synthetic sounds or effects," he said, "but recording the STORM CORROSION LP with Steven Wilson made me realize what a massive difference it can mean to incorporate the real shit. I'm semi-pretentious in my songwriting and sometimes I go all in. I think it's time for 'all in' with strings and the full monty. Hopefully it won't be a mess." One of the songs that will appear on OPETH's forthcoming album was previously described by Åkerfeldt as a "crazy rip-off" of Italian prog outfit GOBLIN, which formed in 1972 and ran for ten years before splitting (the band has since reformed). "It's a jam I came up with during the MASTODON/GHOST tour," he told Decibel, "that we ended up soundchecking. After a few days, you'd hear people in the corridors humming it. It's a fucking hit! But basically it's a not-so-subtle headbanging-type nod in GOBLIN's direction. And to avoid confusion, the song is even called 'Goblin'. My rip-off deteriorates mid-song and becomes fusion-esque darkened prog rock like MAHAVISHNU or ELP (yikes!). But it swings! It really does." Speaking to the Swedish newspaper Expressen in September, Åkerfeldt stated about OPETH's plans for the upcoming CD: "We've been looking at [tracking the next album at] Rockfield Studios in Wales where QUEEN recorded 'Bohemian Rhapsody', but we haven't made a decision yet. But it will be an expensive album. There's a lot going on, lots of string arrangements that we haven't had in the past."
03 min read