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ZAKK WYLDE On RANDY BLYTHE, ‘Unblackened’ And Next BLACK LABEL SOCIETY Album

Manos Spanos
Anthony Morgan of Metal Forces recently conducted an interview withBLACK LABEL SOCIETY frontman and ex-OZZY OSBOURNE guitaristZakk Wylde. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. On the paperback release of his book, "Bringing Metal To The Children": Zakk: "The book all started from me and Eric [Hendrikx, co-author] just sitting around, talking, like any of the guys. It'd be like me and you sitting at the bar, talking about 'You're not gonna believe what happened the other day,' and this and that. It's the music business, where there are no rules [laughs]. There's no qualifications; you don't have to have a Master's degree. You just show up and you're there, but that's where you get the cast of characters, and that's where you get all of the comedy man. Like I always say, it's unimportant people making important decisions. They have no business doing what they're doing, but that's how it gets run. Anywhere else, if you wanna apply for a job welding or being a brain surgeon or any of that, you have to have a degree and you have to have a license, and everything like that [laughs]. Not in the music business, though. But yeah, it just came out of funny stories and us just laughing our balls off, talking about how ridiculously goofy the music business is. That's how the book came about, me saying 'You've gotta write a book about all this crap someday.'"
04 min read

MOTÖRHEAD Frontman’s Health Issues Force Concert Cancelations

Manos Spanos
According to Soundsblog.it, MOTÖRHEAD canceled this past Saturday's (June 22) appearance in Austria at the See-Rock festival and the June 25 show in Milan, Italy, due to an unspecified "haematoma" suffered by the band's frontman, Lemmy Kilmister. The news was first broken by the See-Rock festival web site, and then the promoters of the Milan show confirmed the health issue. A haematoma is a localized collection of blood outside the blood vessels usually in liquid form within the tissue. It can happen on any part of the body, with different degrees of heath consequences. It was revealed in the latest issue of U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine that \Kilmister recently had a defibrillator fitted — an operation to put a device in his chest to help his heart beat normally — after experiencing "heart problems."
01 min read

SLAYER’s KING: ‘I Don’t Think We Should Throw In The Towel Just Because JEFF’s Not Here’

Manos Spanos
The surviving members of California thrash titans SLAYER have opened up to Guitar World magazine about the passing of the band's founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who died on May 2 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver, a result of a lifetime of drinking. "Jeff was always a drinker," former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo tells the publication for its August 2013 issue. "He always had a Coors Light tall can in his hand. Always." "Jeff and I always drank," SLAYER guitarist Kerry King adds. "They called Steven Tyler and Joe Perry the Toxic Twins. We were the Drunk Brothers." He laughs. "The difference being that I don't wake up in the morning and need a beer. Jeff didn't know how not to drink."
07 min read

NILE Drummer GEORGE KOLLIAS: Solo Album Update

Manos Spanos
NILE drummer George Kollias is at 9800 Studios in Athens, Greece with with engineer Antonis Kontozoglou putting the finishing touches on the pre-production for his upcoming solo album. Kollias is scheduled to begin laying down drums for the CD on July 15. He says: "[I am] really happy with the songs so far." A new video update from the studio can be seen below. Kollias' solo album is primarily set to show off some of George's craziest metal drumming to date, is being completely written and recorded by George, including the guitars, bass, keys, vocals, and percussion. It will also feature a DVD of the recording process. Hudson Music last year released George's "Intense Metal Drumming II" instructional DVD. Produced independently by Kollias, and appearing on the Hudson Ltd.label, this brand-new two-disc set comes four years after George's first instructional DVD release. Since then, Kollias has become known as an international authority on extreme metal drumming, and this DVD is a must-have for anyone interested in this topic.
02 min read

U.D.O.: ‘Heavy Rain’ Video Released

Manos Spanos
"Heavy Rain", the new video from U.D.O., the German metal band led by former ACCEPT frontman Udo Dirkschneider, can be seen below. The song comes off U.D.O.'s new album, "Steelhammer", which was released on May 24 via AFM Records. The CD was produced by Dirkschneider andFitty Wienhold. Guitarist Igor Gianola recently left U.D.O. and was replaced by Finnish axeman Kasperi Heikkinen. U.D.O. last year announced the addition of guitarist Andrey Smirnov to the group's ranks. He replaced Stefan Kaufmann, who left the group for health reasons. Stefan will continue to work with U.D.O. behind the scenes and produce other bands at his Roxx studio.
01 min read

NEWSTED: ‘Heroic Dose’ Song Available For Free Download

Manos Spanos
"Heroic Dose", a brand new song from NEWSTED — the new band led by former METALLICA, VOIVOD and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM bassist Jason Newsted — can be downloaded for free at this location. The track comes off NEWSTED's full-length debut, "Heavy Metal Music", which will be released on August 6 in North America via Chophouse Records/Collective Sounds and August 5 in Europe through Spinefarm Records. Jason told Billboard.com the 11-song album will be very similar to the band's debut EP, "Metal", which sold around 6,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 62 on The Billboard 200 chart. "The EP was always intended to be the primer, a sampler of what was to come on the LP," he said. "It's all metal all the time. It's not all fast, but it is all heavy." "Heavy Metal Music" track listing:
02 min read

NINE INCH NAILS: ‘Hesitation Marks’ Track Listing Revealed

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NINE INCH NAILS' new album, "Hesitation Marks", is scheduled for release on September 3. The follow-up to 2008's "The Slip" will contain 14 tracks, including first single "Came Back Haunted", the video for which is being helmed by acclaimed filmmaker David Lynch. According to RollingStone.com, "Hesitation Marks" will feature guest appearances by a number of musicians, including guitarist Lindsey Buckingham of FLEETWOOD MAC; bassist Pino Pallidino, who is currently a touring member of THE WHO; and KING CRIMSON's Adrien Belew, who recently left NINE INCH NAILS just a few weeks after he was announced as a new member of the Trent Reznor-led group.
03 min read

ADRENALINE MOB To Open For AVENGED SEVENFOLD

Manos Spanos
ADRENALINE MOB will be the opening act for AVENGED SEVENFOLD on July 16 at La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Also on the bill isFIGHT OR FLIGHT, the new band featuring DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan and drummer Mike Wengren. Says ADRENALINE MOB: "After coming off an amazing run in South America with HALESTORM, we have, unfortunately, parted ways with drummer Mike Portnoy due to scheduling conflicts, as you all know. "We had an incredible run with Mike and made two great albums together, as well as many great shows and tours since we've launchedADRENALINE MOB. It was a pleasure to share the stage with such a great talent, but as a band, we need to be able to move forward and work as hard as we can to take ADRENALINE MOB to the next level. We wishMike all the best in everything he does! 'As far as filling the drum position... we will not be announcing a permanent replacement just yet. We are currently seeking out the right person to fill the spot at this time and will use a fill-in for the AVENGED SEVENFOLDahow on July 16.
02 min read

Video: KVELERTAK Hits New York City

Manos Spanos
Video footage of Norwegian rockers KVELERTAK going out drinking, getting tattooed, and playing a sold-out show at New York's Studio at Webster Hall can be seen below. Kaaos TV conducted an interview with Norwegian rockers KVELERTAKbefore their June 14 performance at the Provinssirock festival in Seinäjoki, Finland. You can now watch the chat below. KVELERTAK's sophomore album, "Meir", topped the official chart in Norway. The CD, which sold 1,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release, was issued on March 26 via Roadrunner Records. It was produced by CONVERGE's Kurt Ballou and features cover artwork byJohn Dyer Baizley.
01 min read

OZZY OSBOURNE Wants BILL WARD Back For Next BLACK SABBATH Album

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According to The Pulse Of Radio, BLACK SABBATH's new album, "13", is such a success for the reunited band that singer Ozzy Osbourne wants to make another one — and hopes that original drummer Bill Ward can join the group in the studio this time. When asked by NME about the chances of Ward returning, Ozzy answered, "It's a strong possibility. We would have loved to have Bill on this album. Maybe we can work things out by the next one. But it won't take another 35 years. I'm 65 now. There's no fucking recording studios in the afterlife. We're all even closer for all this shit so there's one positive, one fucking silver lining." RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk played drums on "13"after Ward sat out the sessions. While money was believed to be an issue, Ward was reportedly also upset that the group wanted another drummer around anyway to back him up if he was physically unable to get the job done.
02 min read