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TARJA TURUNEN: ‘Victim Of Ritual’ Video Released

Manos Spanos
Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen will release a new single,"Victim Of Ritual", as a digital download, CD single and on seven-inch vinyl on July 12 via earMUSIC, the Hamburg, Germany-based international rock label which is part of Edel Group. The official "Victim Of Ritual" video can be seen below. An evocative snare-drum that sounds like it was coming from a mysterious place, the tender sound of an orchestra joins followed by a familiar and seductive melody played by an oboe. When Tarja's distinctive voice resounds through the speakers, her warm timbre fills the room. Her melody is full of emotions and tender, before the song explodes into an epic, heavy chorus: "Hysterical, tragical, Victim of ritual, Cynical, critical, Victim of ritual, She's a killer, killer, She's a killer, killer." Inspired by the one-movement orchestral piece "Boléro" by Maurice Ravel, the almost-six-minutes-long "Victim Of Ritual" is the first single from Tarja's forthcoming album, "Colours In The Dark".
05 min read

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Singer Says New Album Is ‘More Mature’ Than ‘Dead Throne’

Manos Spanos
Australia's Music Feeds recently conducted an interview with vocalistMike Hranica of the Dayton, Ohio Christian metalcore band THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA will release its new album on September 17 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded with producer/engineer Matt Goldman. KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, who handled production duties on THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA's "Dead Throne"LP, served as executive producer on the upcoming effort. Songtitles set to appear on the disc include "Gloom" and "Martyrs", both of which the band has been performing live at recent shows. Asked how the new effort compares to 2011's "Dead Throne", Hranicatold Music Feeds: "I think it's kind of a totally new animal. It definitely is a very cohesive record. A lot of the times, I feel like we'll write songs and a lot of them are really cool songs and they'll all have kind of a theme, but sometimes they stray from that path of the theme that we originally intended. And I think that this album as a whole, it all sounds like the album, it all is a cohesive idea. Which, don't get me wrong — I don't mean to say that all the songs sound the same, because they definitely, each has their own unique personality. But as far as 'Dead Throne', our progression from 'Dead Throne', I definitely do think that this album is just a more mature record and has a lot more thought put into it. As always — we're always gonna put a little bit more effort and thought into the new record than our previous effort."
03 min read

KREATOR: Second ‘Dying Alive’ Trailer Released; German Theatrical Premiere Announced

Manos Spanos
The second trailer for "Dying Alive", the new concert DVD/Blu-ray from German thrash metal veterans KREATOR, can be seen below. Due on August 30 via Nuclear Blast, the set features the band's sold-out homecoming show in Oberhausen, Germany on December 22, 2012 after an extensive 45-day European tour in support of KREATOR's "Phantom Antichrist" album. The packed and sweat-driven show was filmed by 24 cameras, as well as guitar and even mosh-pit cams. The DVD/Blu-ray contains footage of the Oberhausen concert, a behind-the-scenes documentary as well as video clips. Approximate total running time: 115 minutes. The exclusive theatrical premiere of "Dying Alive" will take place on August 29 at the renowned theater Lichtburg in KREATOR's hometown of Essen, Germany starting at 8 p.m. CET. KREATOR mainman Mille Petrozza will be present at the event and will be available for a question-and-answer session after the screening. A signing session is planned as well. Tickets can be purchased at www.lichtburg-essen.de.
04 min read

Does MACHINE HEAD Use Fake Guitar Amps?

Manos Spanos
Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel (pictured below) of San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD have defended themselves against accusations that they use fake amps as a part of their stage show, insisting that it's something that's been a part of rock shows for decades. Responding to an article that was posted on the web site of the El Paso, Texas radio station KLAQ 95.5 FM that attempted to call out MACHINE HEAD for using dummy cabs on stage, the band released the following statement: "Wow? "While it seems absurd that El Paso, Texas-based radio station 95.5 FM KLAQ would choose to go through the effort to post this on their website, we guess in-light of the big hub-bub about BLACK VEIL BRIDES getting 'called out' by the drummer for THE BRONX for having 'fake cabs' on theWarped tour earlier this month, some 'brain donor' over at the station has decided to drop the 'newsflash of the century' and 'call out' MACHINE HEAD for having 'fake amps' too! A practice that for over 40 years now has been common-place in rock 'n roll going back to the days of VAN HALEN and AC/DC.
03 min read

DEATH ANGEL Completes Mastering New Album

Manos Spanos
San Francisco Bay Area metallers DEATH ANGEL have completed mastering the follow-up to 2010's "Relentless Retribution" for an October release via Nuclear Blast Records. The band's seventh CD was tracked at AudioHammer Studios in Sanford, Florida with Jason Suecof(TRIVIUM, AUGUST BURNS RED, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, ALL THAT REMAINS, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER) and DEATH ANGELguitarist Rob Cavestany handling production duties. The cover artwork is being created by Brent Elliot White (JOB FOR A COWBOY, CARNIFEX,WHITECHAPEL), who also worked on "Relentless Retribution". Says the band: "Now the record is DONE done! Final masters approved!Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound in New York did a brutally beautiful job, as he did with 'Relentless Retribution'. Completely and absolutely satisfied. So excited for you to hear it."
02 min read

MEGADETH’s DAVE MUSTAINE: No Offense To ROADRUNNER, But We’re A Major-Label Band

Manos Spanos
O2 Academy TV recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. You can now watch the chat in two parts below. Asked how the switch in record labels from Roadrunner to Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) affected MEGADETH's songwriting approach on its new album, "Super Collider", Mustaine said: "I think it affected the sound of the album, the style of music, the outlook of the band. I mean, no offense to Roadrunner — they did what they do — but we're a major-label band. And when we left Capitol to go to Sanctuary, it was for two reasons. One, I hated that record president that [Capitol] had at that time, and two, Sanctuary made a lot of big promises. And you know, when you think about [IRON MAIDEN's manager] Rod Smallwood, who had a big part to do with the label, that's IRON MAIDEN, and I love IRON MAIDEN, so I thought, 'For sure, this is gonna be great.' Well, it didn't end up being great, 'cause Rod wasn't involved in it as much as my brain would like to have thought. And we left Sanctuary and went toRoadrunner, and it just kept going like this. [makes downward motion with his hand] And I figured, I'm not gonna bail on the contract, I'm not gonna be a scumbag musician like so many musicians are where they stick people with
03 min read

CARCASS: First ‘Surgical Steel’ Trailer Released

Manos Spanos
A one-and-a-half-minute trailer for "Surgical Steel", the comeback album from reactivated British extreme metal pioneers CARCASS, can be seen below. The CD will be released on September 16 in the U.K., September 13 in the rest of Europe and September 17 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records. The effort was produced by Colin Richardson (FEAR FACTORY, MACHINE HEAD, NAPALM DEATH, SLIPKNOT, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) and mixed by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, ACCEPT,EXODUS, ARCH ENEMY). Joining guitarist Bill Steer and bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker in CARCASS' current incarnation are new drummer Dan Wilding (ABORTED, TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED) and guitarist Ben Ash (PIG IRON,
05 min read

SEBASTIAN BACH: ‘I Want To Keep Making Music Until I’m Not Able To Anymore’

Manos Spanos
Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal of Metal Assault recently conducted an interview with former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Metal Assault: Your new solo DVD+CD, "ABachalypse Now", came out recently. It has three shows from last year, the Graspop and Hellfest festivals, and the show at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. While doing those shows, did you know that they were going to be released on the DVD? Bach: No, except for the Nokia show. The other two we did not plan on releasing, or even filming them. But the record company asked me if I wanted to do a DVD, so I went through all of the footage. Those festivals were filmed by the people running the festival themselves, so they were available.
03 min read

WATAIN: ‘The Wild Hunt’ Format Details Revealed

Manos Spanos
Swedish black metallers WATAIN wll release their new album, "The Wild Hunt", 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, WATAINcontinues 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."
03 min read

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE: New Song ‘Elegy’ Available For Streaming

Manos Spanos
"Elegy", a brand new song from Italian symphonic death metallersFLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, can be streamed in the YouTUbe clip below. The track comes off the band's new album, "Labyrinth", which will be released on August 16 in Europe and August 20 in North America viaNuclear Blast Records. 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. Comments FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE's Francesco Paoli: "'Labyrinth' is going to be THE album for FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE. It's the perfect combination of all our strong points with the best production we've ever had. It's definitely the most FLESHGOD thing we've ever thought with the most FLESHGOD riffs, lyrics, melodies, drumparts, solos, etc. We went deep inside the core of this music, we broke it, and we finally unleashed these eleven songs.
02 min read