News
GHOST Is About ‘Escapism,” Says One Of The Nameless Ghouls
Ghost Cult recently conducted an interview with one of the nameless ghouls from Swedish occult rockers GHOST. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below
ENSIFERUM Keyboardist Forced To Sit Out South American Tour
Keyboardist Emmi Silvennoinen of Finnish folk metallers ENSIFERUM will be forced to sit out the band's South American tour — which is scheduled to kick off on May 28 in Bogota, Colombia — due to personal reasons. The group states: "The shows will go ahead as planned and the band will perform with Emmi's parts as backing tracks, so you needn't worry about the shows missing the signature ENSIFERUM melodies!
"We'd like to assure you that everything is fine within the band — Emmi is healthy and this is just for this tour because of circumstances beyond her control. She will be performing at future ENSIFERUM shows.
"We hope to see as many of you as possible at the shows and look forward to playing in South America for the first time!"
ENSIFERUM recently forged a deal with Metal Blade Records. The band signed the agreement with Metal Blade CEO Brian Slagel during thePaganfest USA tour, and all parties are enthusiastic about new
CARPATHIAN FOREST Forced To Pull Out Of MARYLAND DEATHFEST
CARPATHIAN FOREST frontman Nattefrost is one more in the long line of Scandinavian black metal musicians who have been unable to gain entry into the United States due to the immigration laws that have so often denied U.S. fans the opportunity to see their favorite European bands. Despite this setback, CARPATHIAN FOREST, whose remaining four members had been granted visas, was still aiming to appear at the Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore on May 26 as scheduled, but as a four-piece, with guitarist BloodPervertor taking on vocals. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, the embassy was not able to return drummer Kobro's passport in time for the band to leave, and CARPATHIAN FOREST has therefore been forced to pull out of the festival completely. However, three members — guitarists Tchort and BloodPervertor and bassist Vrangsinn — will attend and will be available to talk to fans.
It is only under very exceptional circumstances that CARPATHIAN FOREST play without Nattefrost, the only other occasion having been when BloodPervertor stepped in to cover vocals on a handful of dates during the No Mercy Tour in 2004 when Nattefrost broke his collar bone.
IN FLAMES To Take Year Off From Touring To Write Next Album
100.3 The X Rocks conducted an interview with Björn Gelotte of Swedish metallers IN FLAMES backstage at this year's Rock On The Range festival, which took place May 17-19 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. You can now watch the chat below. Also available is footage of IN FLAMES' entire Rock On The Range performance.
IN FLAMES' tenth album, "Sounds Of A Playground Fading" (Century Media), sold around 14,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart.
IN FLAMES' previous CD, "A Sense of Purpose" (Koch) opened with 20,000 units to land at No. 28. This was slightly less than the opening tally of "Come Clarity" (Ferret), which shifted just under 24,000 copies in February 2006 to enter the chart at position No. 58.
"Sounds Of A Playground Fading" was the first IN FLAMES album to be recorded without founding guitarist Jesper Strömblad, who quit the band in February 2010 in order to continue receiving treatment for his alcohol addiction.
HEATHEN Drummer Quits
Drummer Darren Minter of San Francisco Bay Area metallers HEATHEN has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:
"It is with great regret to announce that, after 25 years of drumming forHEATHEN, I have left the band due to unforeseen circumstances and will not be joining them on the European tour that starts in several weeks (a replacement will be named in the next few days).
"I apologize to all of our fans, but plan to pursue other musical endeavors and will continue to move forward making music.
"The split between HEATHEN and I was amicable and there is no bad blood or hard feelings towards one another.
"Hope to see you all on the road soon and I wish nothing but the best for the future of HEATHEN."
RUSH Frontman Says ROCK HALL Induction ‘Was Quite An Emotional Evening’
Steve Adams of the Birmingham Post recently conducted an interview with bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee of Canadian rock legends RUSH. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.
On finally being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last month:
Lee: "It was really overwhelming and we all got choked up.
"Our fans have always placed more importance on us getting in than we have — we'd always thought it was no big deal. But at that particular moment it sure did feel like a big deal.
SLAYER’s JEFF HANNEMAN: Video Footage, Photos Of Public Memorial Celebration
Kerry King (SLAYER), Dave Lombardo (SLAYER), Gary Holt (EXODUS, SLAYER), Robert Trujillo (METALLICA), Shavo Odadjian (SYSTEM OF A DOWN), Robb Flynn (MACHINE HEAD), Paul Bostaph (SLAYER, TESTAMENT, EXODUS), Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT) and John Tempesta(THE CULT, EXODUS, TESTAMENT) are among the musicians who attended the public memorial celebration for SLAYER's late guitarist Jeff Hanneman, which was held yesterday afternoon (Thursday, May 23) at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California.
High-quality photos of the event from photographer Stephanie Cabralcan be found at this location. Fan-filmed video footage is available below.
A full report, including photos from Stephanie Cabral, can be found at the web site of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine.
Members of SLAYER released a statement on May 9 saying thatHanneman died of alcohol-related cirrhosis. He is credited for writing many of the band's classic songs, including "Angel Of Death" and "South Of Heaven".
NIGHTWISH Kicks Off Japanese Tour In Osaka; Audio Available
Finnish/Dutch symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH kicked off their Japanese tour this past Tuesday, May 21 at Namba Hatch in Osaka.
The band's setlist was as follows:
01. Dark Chest Of Wonders
02. Wish I Had An Angel
03. She Is My Sin (performed for the first time since 2007)
04. Ever Dream
05. Storytime
06. I Want My Tears Back (with Troy Donockley)
07. Nemo (with Troy Donockley)
08. Last Of The Wilds (with Troy Donockley)
09. Bless The Child (with Troy Donockley) (performed for the first time since 2005)
10. Romanticide
11. Amaranth
12. Over The Hills And Far Away (GARY MOORE cover) (with Troy Donockley)
13. Ghost Love Score
14. Last Ride Of The Day
Fan-recorded audio clips of the concert can be streamed below.
NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen told Finland's MTV.fi in November that he was pleased with the addition of Dutch singer Floor Jansen to the group and that she was only getting better with each performance.
"We have done 13 shows with her [so far] and every concert has been better than the last," he said. "We are taking it day by day as much as we can. The vibe in the band is marvellous. We are enjoying every moment."
Holopainen has known Jansen, who is Dutch, for more than 10 years already, having previously toured with her former band, AFTER FOREVER.
CARCASS Signs With NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS
Reactivated British extreme metal legends CARCASS have inked a deal with Nuclear Blast Records for the release of their comeback album,"Surgical Steel". Due in the fall, the CD was mixed by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, ACCEPT, EXODUS, ARCH ENEMY) after the project's producer, Colin Richardson (FEAR FACTORY, MACHINE HEAD, NAPALM DEATH, SLIPKNOT, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE), quit the project two weeks into the mixing process. During a March 2013 concert at the Underworld in London, CARCASS bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker claimed thatRichardson walked away from the mix in order to work on the newTRIVIUM album.
The first official photo of the new lineup of CARCASS can be seen below (courtesy of Adrian Erlandsson of Murder Mile Studios). Joining guitaristBill Steer and Walker in the band's current incarnation are new drummerDan Wilding (ABORTED, TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED) and guitarist Ben Ash (PIG IRON, DESOLATION, LIQUEFIED SKELETON).