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METALLICA’s JAMES HETFIELD: It’s A ‘Blessing’ To Be Doing What We Love After 30 Years

Manos Spanos
The four members of METALLICA took part in a press conference prior to the band's August 24 performance at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore. You can watch video footage of the question-and-answer session below. On how they deal with the physical demands of touring: Kirk Hammett (guitar): "I do a lot of yoga. We're all pretty physical. Rob [bassist Robert Trujillo] and I like ot surf. We just got off a week-long stint in Bali, surfing a lot. You know, it's important to keep maintenance on the road — eat well, sleep well, and just make sure the engine inside is running well. It's really important. 'Cause the last thing I wanna do is drop on stage." Robert Trujillo: "You go through transitions in life, and you have to adjust, and you have to listen to your body and you have to listen to your spirit and really focus on what that means. And you will continue to enjoy life and do things that you couldn't imagine. I mean, to be honest, at least for Kirk and I, we're surfing better than we ever have in our life right now, at our age, which is pretty cool. So if you take that to the stage as well, it's the same principle. You get up there, you play hard and you just know your body and don't push the limits too far so you don't hurt yourself." Lars Ulrich (drums): "We have two guys downstairs who take care of stretching us and putting us back into shape — our necks and our arms and everything. They're among the two hardest-working guys in rock and roll. So we take all that stuff really seriously. I mean, if you could see our [tour] rider, it's carrots and strange vegetables and nasty fruit juices. It's not what it was back in the day, thankfully. But yeah, we do take [staying healthy] very seriously. Absolutely." On how long they can keep METALLICA going: James Hetfield (guitar, vocals): "We'll do this until we don't wanna do it anymore; it's as simple as that. There's no use doing something your heart is not in. But for us, we love what we do and we're blessed that way." On what advice they would give to young, up-and-coming bands:
02 min read

ALICE COOPER Says His Current Tour Is ‘Highest-Energy Show’ Fans Will See All Year

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Legendary rocker Alice Cooper recently spoke to Highway 81 Revisited about how he plans the setlist and the look for each tour. "It's so funny because it's almost the hardest thing when you're trying to please all the fans is trying to do something that everyone wants," he said. "Of course we're going to do all the hits, but then I get e-mails going, 'How come you didn't do this?' and, 'How come you didn't do that?' Everybody has their own favorite songs for their deeper cuts. So we're going to do 28 songs. That's one of the hardest parts of doing a show: What songs are we gonna put in? Once you get them in there, the easy part for me is staging it. " He continued: "This show that you're going to see this time is totally different from the show that you saw last time. That's kind of the fun part for me, putting
02 min read

WITHIN TEMPTATION: New Single Title, Lyrics Unveiled

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Dutch symphonic rockers WITHIN TEMPTATION have chosen the track "Paradise (What About Us?)"as the first single from their forthcoming studio album. Check out the song's lyrics and listen to WITHIN TEMPTATION 's Ruud Jolie shredding his guitar in the video below. Having recently announced their new label home with U.K.-based Dramatico, WITHIN TEMPTATION has signed a licensing deal with Nuclear Blast Entertainment for the North American territory. "There are very few bands out there today who continually deliver on such a high and consistent level asWITHIN TEMPTATION," statedNuclear Blast EntertainmentpresidentMonte Conner. "That is why they have such an incredibly loyal worldwide fan base. I am thrilled they choseNuclear Blast Entertainmentas their U.S. partner. Their fans are in for a real treat come later this year!" Equally excited areWITHIN TEMPTATION's vocalistSharon den Adeland guitaristRobert Westerholt, who comment: "We were looking for a partnership with a passionate and artist-minded company.Monte Conner,Markus Staiger[label owner], and the people atNuclear Blastexactly fit this profile."
02 min read

WATAIN’s ‘The Wild Hunt’ Tops Official Swedish Album Chart

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"The Wild Hunt", the new album from Swedish black metallers WATAIN, has entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 1. The CD was released on August 19 in Europe and August 20 in USA via the band's own label His Master's Noise through Century Media Records. Produced once again by Tore Stjerna at his Necromorbus studio in Alvik, Sweden,"The Wild Hunt" is a sonic and lyrical tour-de-force that explores WATAIN 's roots, such as BATHORY and DISSECTION, while also remaining truly unique. Having lost none of their integrity,WATAIN continues to push the boundaries of the scene with their fifth full-length, refusing to compromise their sound and vision. Amid the tracks teeming with the band's classic sound, "The Wild Hunt" also features clean vocals (a first for the trio!) which, as frontman Erik Danielsson puts it, "is just us being brutally personal and honest. It shows another important facet of the WATAIN world." Executed in oil and mixed materials, the cover of"The Wild Hunt" was created by Zbigniew M Bielak, the very same artist who was responsible for the "Lawless Darkness" artwork. The piece depicts one of the inmost shrines of WATAIN's temple. As on every classic still life, each object has a significant meaning, while each song of the album is also connected to an object.
03 min read

MIKE PORTNOY ‘Would Love Nothing More’ Than To Be ‘One Happy Family’ With Former Bandmates In DREAM THEATER

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Drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS,DREAM THEATER,AVENGED SEVENFOLD,ADRENALINE MOB) was interviewed on last night's (Friday, August 23) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Eddie Trunk Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. Asked if he has heard the new, self-titled album from his former bandmates in DREAM THEATER and what he thought of it,Portnoy replied: "I haven't heard the album. I know it's out there and I know they've been promoting it and I've seen a lot of the interviews. And, you know… It seems like there's a lot of excitement about it, but I really can't comment beyond that." He continued: "I actually got a really nice text today from Jordan [Rudess,DREAM THEATERkeyboardist], and got a nice text a few weeks ago from John Petrucci [DREAM THEATERguitarist], so it seems like the air is clearing and the dust is settling. Which I would love nothing more than for us to all be one happy family and friends again, so… We'll see. But I'm doing this 'Progressive Nation' cruise next year and Jordane-mailed me to congratulate me on that, and they also heard about [the success of] THE WINERY DOGS album, and they were congratulating me on that. So it's nice to be in good spirits with at least a couple of the guys." DREAM THEATER singerJames LaBrie recently ruled out the possibility of a reunion withMike, saying that Portnoy's replacement,Mike Mangini, "will be our drummer until the day that we finish doing this." On July 30, Portnoy was asked by Chile's Radio Futuro whether he would one day be willing to reunite with DREAM THEATER and rejoin the band as their drummer. "Sure," he replied. "I would do it in a heartbeat. They are the ones that have closed the door on it. I've only needed a break, and I've had that break. So I'm ready, willing and able. But I honestly don't think they ever will; they've closed their door on it and I think they're too headstrong in having to prove themselves without me. So I wouldn't count on it. But my door is always open."
04 min read

EYEHATEGOD Drummer Dies

Manos Spanos
According to numerous reports out of New Orleans, Joey LaCaze, drummer of EYEHATEGOD, OUTLAW ORDER and TEN SUICIDES, has passed away. He was 42 years old and leaves behind a wife and a child. No further details are currently available. EYEHATEGOD just completed a month-long tour of Europe and was gearing up for a string of dates in celebration of its 25th anniversary. It was recently announced that EYEHATEGOD would make an appearance at Philip Anselmo's first annual Housecore Horror Film Festival this fall in Austin, Texas. Since forming in 1988,EYEHATEGOD has defied all odds and continues to exist and persist despite personal and professional setbacks. They've been called doomcore, sludge and stoner rock, survived line-up shuffles, label hassles and a short-lived split. And after more than two decades of creating some of the most corrosive, vile music known to man, EYEHATEGOD still hasn't lost the piss and vinegar that fueled it back the late Eighties.
01 min read

DEVILDRIVER Frontman: ‘We Tend To Not Make The Same Piece Of Art Twice’

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Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal of Metal Assault recently conducted an interview with vocalist Dez Fafara of California metallers DEVILDRIVER. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Metal Assault: Your new album,"Winter Kills", is coming out on August 27th via Napalm Records. I was listening to it, and I think it's pretty dynamic. It's very raw in many ways but it's also melodic. Would you say that's a fair description? Dez: Yeah, absolutely! It's got a lot of presence to it. It's upfront and not over-produced. The vocals for pretty much every single track were recorded in first takes, so it has a very "live" feel. It's full of groove and hooks, and has very tight arrangements. So yeah, that's a fair assessment. Metal Assault: Talking of the past two records,"Pray For Villains"was a pretty melodic, metalcore-type album but then"Beast"was a lot heavier, and now you are coming out with"Winter Kills". What would you say about the musical changes from album to album? Are you going heavier with each one?
04 min read

FLOOR JANSEN On Singing For NIGHTWISH: ‘It Has Been Magical And Really Amazing’

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Metal Blast recently conducted an interview with former AFTER FOREVER frontwoman and current NIGHTWISH touring singer Floor Jansen about her REVAMP project as well as her time with NIGHTWISH. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Metal Blast: Is singing for NIGHTWISH any different than what you used to do with your other bands or it was more like a familiar ground? Floor: It was more of the familiar. Even though I was asked and directed a little bit, I do have the freedom to give my own ideas. When you start doing it, you have to give a part of yourself, so I couldn't done it differently. I can't just imitate the previous singers. It was wonderful to see that the songs really grew on me. I don't feel like I'm singing someone else's music anymore. It really feels natural for me. Metal Blast: By the way, how was the show and filming you did withNIGHTWISH at Germany'sWacken Open Airfestival at the beginning of the month?
03 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO Talks About 20th-Anniversary Edition Of PANTERA’s ‘Far Beyond Driven’

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The 20th-anniversary edition of PANTERA's "Far Beyond Driven"album will be in made available sometime in 2014. The seventh LP by PANTERA, "Far Beyond Driven"was released on March 22, 1994 through East West Records. Upon its release, it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making it the first extreme metal album to top the chart. "Considering its contents, it is the heaviest record to come in at No. 1, and yes, there is a fucking goddamn re-release coming up," former PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo tells Artisan News (see video below). "I don't know anything, really, about it other than, yes, it's gonna re-released with live footage from said show, but I can't name the show yet, because I think it's a fight between two different shows. And you never know. I'm trying to think of specialties or whatnot [that will be included as well]." Asked what he thinks made "Far Beyond Driven" so special,Anselmosaid: "The chemistry within PANTERA… In the early days, they were very guarded about what I said here and there. And then, finally, by'Vulgar Display Of Power', it was, like, 'Just let me handle the lyrics.' And then by 'Far Beyond Driven', I was saying anything I fucking wanted to fucking really fucking sing about, man." PANTERA manager Kimberly Zide Davis, who joinedConcrete Managementin 1994, and served as vice president of artist management until the organization ceased operations in 2003, was interviewed for Guitar World's January 2010 issue, which paid tribute to late PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. During the chat she stated, "I wish there was more [previously unreleased material], but that's one thing about PANTERA; they didn't do extra material. What they did is what everybody got. They didn't do throwaway songs."
02 min read

KORN: ‘Love & Meth’ Song Preview

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According to The Pulse Of Radio, KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch is offering fans a taste of their new track "Love & Meth"in his most recent post for his monthly column "HeAd's KoRner" on Loudwire.Welchand his bandmates are overseas promoting their new album,"The Paradigm Shift", before their first gig in Shanghai, China but he revealed that they had made a plan before they left to release another song on top of their latest single,"Never Never". Brian wrote: "A few months ago, the KORN camp came up with the plan to release another song around the same time as the 'Never Never' single was released. We filmed two videos last week before we flew to Europe — one for the'Never Never' single and the other for a bangin' song called 'Love & Meth'." He went on to explain that the videos would not be done for a few weeks so he invited everyone to check out a 90-second clip of the track to tide them over. "The Paradigm Shift" is due on October 8 via Prospect Park. The follow-up to 2011's"The Path Of Totality" features the return of Welchto the lineup after more than eight years away. His last album with the band was 2003's "Take A Look In The Mirror".
02 min read