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TOOL Frontman Maps Out Make-Believe Film Festival

Manos Spanos
According to The Pulse Of Radio, TOOL, A PERFECT CIRCLE and PUSCIFER frontman Maynard James Keenan has mapped out his own 24-hour film festival in an interview with link textThe A.V. Club, saying it would include at least one cult classic, some weird arthouse fare and adding that it would have to include something starring Denzel Washington. About his fixation with Washington, Keenan said, "I guess I'm a product of American living. Germans love David Hasselhoff and I just love Denzel Washington. I can't explain it. It's that guilty pleasure. It's almost like when you're a kid and you have your blanket. He's my comfort blanket.” Keenan cited the 1986 David Lynch classic "Blue Velvet" as a must for his festival, saying, "'Blue Velvet' was a game changer for me. It brought out some of the darker sides of my friends. They were more into 'Porky's' and 'Fast Times At Ridgemont High', and then, all of a sudden, they discovered 'Blue Velvet' and it really flipped a switch." The singer also cited two indie titles, 1997's "Gummo" and 2004's "Napoleon Dynamite", explaining, "One is in Ohio and the other is in Idaho, but to me, having grown up in Ohio, there's one side of the tracks where 'Gummo' is happening and on the other side of the tracks, 'Napoleon Dynamite' is happening." Other films on Keenan's make-believe festival schedule include "Happiness", "Videodrome", "Repo Man" and the Vin Diesel sci-fi bomb "The Chronicles Of Riddick", about which he says, "It's sci-fi but you have this one-liner dude that's just awful. It's so great." As for his own acting, Keenan has appeared in a few indie films and as a dog walker in "Crank 2: High Voltage", but has no plans to delve further into that profession. He explained, "I have no experience or natural acting ability, so I would have to stop everything I'm doing to justify being in a film. I'd have to really work at it.” Keenan has hinted in recent months that new music from TOOL is finally coming out in 2014.
02 min read

METALLICA’s KIRK HAMMETT To Perform With EXODUS And DEATH ANGEL At ‘Fear FestEviL’

Manos Spanos
Lifelong horror enthusiast and METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett will host his first annual horror convention, dubbed Kirk Von Hammett's Fear FestEviL, on February 6-8, 2014 at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California. The three-day event will include musical performances by Nuclear Blast artists EXODUS, CARCASS, DEATH ANGEL and ORCHID. In addition to hosting the convention, Hammett will join EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL for their encores. Says EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt: "EXODUS is stoked as fuck to announce that none other than Kirk Von Hammett himself will be jamming with us during our encore at Fear FestEviL! What song? Hmm, that remains to be seen! I guess you will have to be there to find out!" Hammett's relationship with DEATH ANGEL goes back more than two decades, when the METALLICA guitarist produced DEATH ANGEL's 1986 demo, "Kill As One". Hammett was a member of EXODUS' original lineup before replacing Dave Mustaine in METALLICA in 1983. In fact, Hammett was not only the person who came up with the EXODUS name, but also the first from the band to meet original EXODUS singer Paul Baloff and brought him into the group. Visit www.FEARFESTEviL.com for the latest information on horror's newest and coolest fan convention. In 2012, Hammett released "Too Much Horror Business - The Kirk Hammett Collection", an oversized 228-page hardback book documenting his love of all things related to the horror genre and features more than 300 photos of items from the collection of horror memorabilia he has accumulated over the years. The book also included three lengthy interviews with Hammett, who also wrote the captions for many of the photos. Hammett told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I've been into [horror] stuff since I was five years old . . . My love for this stuff is insane and totally obsessive-compulsive. It's just one of those things. I'm still waiting to outgrow it or get tired of it or get bored with it. But it does not seem to happen." Hammett, who has been collecting items and watching horror movies since he was a child, told Loudwire why he thinks the genre is so popular. He explained, "They're just fun. They're a fun experience. It's not unlike a roller coaster ride, you know? A good horror movie should have peaks and valleys, a good horror movie should move you emotionally, a good horror movie should be exciting to watch and energizing in a weird kind of way . . . horror movies deliver that." Hammett added, "I've always been attracted to the darker things in life. I was never one to go for light, airy stuff, even as a child. My whole aesthetic has always been one of the darker side. That rings true also in my tastes in music." Asked to name his favorite horror films, Hammett mentioned movies like 1932's "The Mummy" and a '70s low-budget cheesefest called "Dracula Vs. Frankenstein" before saying, "To me, it's just endless. I think about certain movies and I think, 'Oh, that's my favorite.' Then I think about others and I say, 'No, that's my favorite.' It's so difficult for me." Hammett has hosted Kirk's Crypt, a haunted house stocked with posters, film props, vintage comics and custom guitars, at the first two installments of the Orion Music + More festival, a music and lifestyle festival created
03 min read

EVANESCENCE Singer AMY LEE Sues Longtime Record Label WIND-UP

Manos Spanos
According to TMZ.com, EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee has filed a lawsuit against her longtime record company Wind-Up, claiming the label attempted to sabotage the band by appointing under-qualified promoters who lacked useful ideas. Lee is reportedly seeking $1.5 million in unpaid royalties from the record label as part of her suit. March 4, 2013 marked the 10th anniversary of the release of "Fallen", the major label debut by EVANESCENCE that became a monster, multi-platinum hit for the Lee-fronted rock band. According to The Pulse Of Radio, Wind-Up Records reissued the album on limited-edition purple vinyl in May 2013. Led by the smash single "Bring Me To Life", which also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie "Daredevil", "Fallen" sold a whopping seven million copies in the U.S. and yielded three more singles with "Going Under", "My Immortal" and "Everybody's Fool". EVANESCENCE also won Grammys in 2004 for "Best New Artist" and "Best Hard Rock Performance". The success of "Fallen" also led to turmoil within the group, as founding guitarist Ben Moody left in late 2003, leaving Lee as the only original member of the band. Lee continued with new members, and EVANESCENCE issued "The Open Door" in 2006. While a hit, it did not equal the sales of "Fallen". Lee told The Pulse Of Radio at the time that she wasn't concerned about matching the previous album's success. "I just haven't ever looked at it that way," she said. "'Fallen' is a great record, but I don't think you can try to match the success of another body of work. I think that's only gonna frustrate you. And if, honestly if what you really care about is record sales and money, there's no way you're gonna make a great piece of art, because then you're just gonna get all confused and make something ingenuine." After another protracted absence, during which Lee flirted with a solo career and even began a more electronic album only to abandon it, EVANESCENCE released a self-titled effort in 2011 and toured behind it for the better part of a year.
02 min read

CAVALERA CONSPIRACY Begins Recording Third Album

Manos Spanos
CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, the band led by brothers and founding SEPULTURA members Max (also of SOULFLY) and Igor Cavalera, has entered the studio to begin recording its third album for a mid-2014 release via Napalm Records.. A couple of photos from the studio can be seen below. CAVALERA CONSPIRACY recently recruited Nate Newton of CONVERGE as its new bassist. Johny Chow, who had been touring and recording with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY for the past few years, in 2013 joined STONE SOUR as that band's new touring bassist. Joining CAVALERA CONSPIRACY on stage last year for its tour of South America and Mexico was SOULFLY bassist Tony Campos. CAVALERA CONSPIRACY released the critically acclaimed and universally praised albums "Inflikted" and "Blunt Force Trauma" through Roadrunner Records. "Blunt Force Trauma" sold around 5,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 122 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's debut CD, "Inflikted", opened with 9,000 units to enter the chart at No. 72. "Blunt Force Trauma" was once again tracked with ex-MACHINE HEAD/SOULFLY guitarist Logan Mader, who co-produced the LP with Max. Logan also mixed the effort.
01 min read

SABATON Begins Recording New Album

Manos Spanos
Swedish metallers SABATON entered the studio earlier today (Thursday, January 2) to begin recording their new album. SABATON played its first show with new drummer Hannes Van Dahl on November 16 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's latest 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.
01 min read

GORGOROTH Completes Recording ‘Instinctus Bestialis’

Manos Spanos
Black metal veterans GORGOROTH have finished recording their new album, "Instinctus Bestialis", for a mid-2014 release. The recording lineup for the eight-song CD consisted of Infernus (guitar), Tomas Asklund (drums; ex-DISSECTION, DARK FUNERAL), Bøddel (a.k.a. Frank Watkins, bass, ex-OBITUARY), and new vocalist Atterigner from the Serbian band TRIUMFALL. The mixing sessions for "Instinctus Bestialis" will begin this month. "Under The Sign Of Hell 2011", the re-recording of GORGOROTH's third album, was made available in 2011. On "Under The Sign Of Hell 2011", Pest and Infernus repeated their roles as vocalist and guitarist/bassist, respectively, from the original 1996 recording, while Tomas Asklund handled the drums. GORGOROTH's ninth album, "Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt", was released on October 21, 2009 in Europe via Regain Records. The CD, which was made available in the U.S. on November 11, 2009, was recorded at Monolith Studio and featured Infernus on guitar, OBITUARY's Frank Watkins on bass, Pest on vocals and Asklund on drums. "Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt" was produced by Infernus and co-produced/engineered by Tomas Asklund. It was mastered at the Cutting Room in Stockholm.
01 min read