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DAVE MUSTAINE To JAMES HETFIELD: ‘We Changed The World, Brother!’

Manos Spanos
James Hetfield turned 51 years old on Sunday (August 3). The METALLICA singer/guitarist's former bandmate Dave Mustaine took to Twitter to wish James a happy birthhday, calling Hetfield "my first real guitar partner" and adding, "We changed the world, brother!" Born in 1963 in Downey, California, James was the son of a truck driver named Virgil and a singer named Cynthia. Hetfield's parents were Christian Scientists and strongly disapproved of the use of any kind of medicine or medical treatments, even when Cynthia was dying of cancer in 1979. This upbringing inspired many of METALLICA's later songs, such as "The God That Failed". Hetfield also had two older half-brothers from his mother's first marriage and a younger sister. Hetfield took up piano at the age of nine and began playing guitar at 14. He was in bands called LEATHER CHARM and OBSESSION during his teen years. In October 1981 he answered a classified ad placed in a local paper called Recycler by Danish drummer Lars Ulrich, and METALLICA was born. Hetfield told The Pulse Of Radio he still recalls the group's first gig, with original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine. "First METALLICA show was at Radio City in Anaheim. I remember the first song we played, Dave broke a string, and I was stranded up there. I was just singing, I wasn't playing guitar back then, and I was so uncomfortable, I was like, 'So, how's it going...' There were about 200 people. You know, your first gig, everyone shows up. Second gig, there's about 20, you know. [laughs]" Solidifying the lineup with bassist Cliff Burton and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, who replaced Mustaine, METALLICA signed to Megaforce Records in 1983 and released its debut album, "Kill 'Em All", in July of that year, while also relocating from the Los Angeles area to San Francisco.
02 min read

ROBERT PLANT Is ‘Disappointed And Baffled’ By JIMMY PAGE’s LED ZEPPELIN Reunion Push

Manos Spanos
Although Robert Plant has long been thought of as the lone holdout in a LED ZEPPELLIN reunion, it seems that an offer was made by him, which Jimmy Page chose to pass on. Plant, who's receiving good notices for his SENSATIONAL SPACE SHIFTERS album "Lullaby And… The Ceaseless Roar", spoke to the Uncut magazine following the announcement of the next two ZEPPELIN reissues on October 28 — "Led Zeppelin IV" and "Houses Of The Holy" — and addressed Page's claims of him being uninterested in teaming up, saying, "I feel for the guy. He knows he's got the headlines if he wants them. But I don't know what he's trying to do. So I feel slightly disappointed and baffled." Plant revealed that he proposed working again with Page in an acoustic capacity. "A couple of years ago, I said, 'If you've got anything acoustic, let me know. I'll give it a whirl,'" Plant said. "It was hands across the water. He just walked away. But we couldn't do anything proper. The weight of expectation is too great." Back in May, Page told The New York Times that Plant was blocking the return of LED ZEPPELIN. "I was told last year that Robert Plant said he is doing nothing in 2014, and what do the other two guys think?" he said. "Well, he knows what the other guys think. Everyone would love to play more concerts for the band. He's just playing games, and I'm fed up with it, to be honest with you. I don't sing, so I can't do much about it. It just looks so unlikely, doesn't it?" In June, during Plant's press conference in Morocco to publicize the SENSATIONAL SPACE SHIFTERS' shows, Plant addressed Page's comments, saying, "He needs to go to sleep and have a good rest, and think again. We have a great history together and like all brothers we have these moments where we don't speak on the same page, but that's life." When The Pulse Of Radio last caught up with Robert Plant, he was asked what the bottom line was regarding him resisting a full-scale LED ZEPPELIN reunion. "It's not that I've been obstructive," he said. "It's just that it meant what it meant when it meant it, and beyond that there was no story, and with John's [Bonham] passing and all that stuff, it was gone. There's no need for it."
02 min read

SLIPKNOT: New Song ‘The Negative One’ Available For Streaming

Manos Spanos
A brand new SLIPKNOT song titled "The Negative One" is available for streaming on the band's official web site. The track is expected to appear on the group's upcoming album, which is due out sometime this fall via Roadrunner. **Note**: After listening to "The Negative One" for the first time, you must sign up for an e-mail list before you are able to hear it again. A music video for "The Negative One" will be released on Tuesday, August 5.
00 min read

MIKE PORTNOY Admonishes Fan For Showing Up To Signing Wearing MANGINI-Era DREAM THEATER Shirt

Manos Spanos
**UPDATE**: Mike Portnoy posted the following message on his Facebook page earlier tonight: "Once again everyone's got their panties in a bundle and have taken a post of mine and turned it into sensationalized 'news'....ugh! "Look...it's as simple as this: do what you want, say what you want, listen to what you want, wear whatever shirt you want...It's a free world!! All I'm saying is remember there are human beings on the other side of your words and actions! "I'm into peace, love and understanding... Live and let live... "Sometimes we all get emotional, I am totally guilty of that, no question!! I am a passionate person... But I have no ill intent towards anybody and have no anger or resentments, so please don't attack me as if I do... "Can't we all get along??? Haha... "Lighten up, live and love! : )" The original article follows below. Mike Portnoy has admonished a fan for showing up to the ex-DREAM THEATER drummer's in-store signing earlier today (Saturday, July 26) wearing a t-shirt representing the post-Portnoy era of the band. Mike and his THE WINERY DOGS bandmate Billy Sheehan took part in a meet-and-greet with fans at The Guitar Factory in West Seneca, New York prior to the group's performance tonight at The Traif in Buffalo. After the session, Portnoy took to his Facebook and Twitter accounts to express his disapproval, writing: "Somebody came to my signing today wearing a 'Dramatic Turn Of Events' shirt....REALLY??? Couldn't find a DT shirt from 1985-2010? Please try to use some sensibility/sensitivity when choosing a shirt for an MP event." He added in a separate status update and tweet (both of which have since been deleted): "Sad I can't post anything on my own FB & Twitter without getting everyone jumping down my throat. Seems everyone's allowed an opinion but me." Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than 27 years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI). DREAM THEATER's current lineup has recorded and released two studio albums without Portnoy: 2011's "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" and 2013's "Dream Theater". Asked in a September 2013 interview with "The Classic Metal Show" why he bothers still answering DREAM THEATER-related questions in interviews when he seems to get criticized no matter what he says, Portnoy replied: "Because when I get asked it, and then I say, 'I don't wanna talk about it,' then that's what goes in print and that becomes the headline and then I'm still a bad guy; there's no winning." He continued: "My problem is that I care too much and I'm too honest; to be honest, that's the problem. I wish I could say I have thick skin and I don't give a shit what people say, but the reality is I do care what people say, and I've always been that way. I read the Internet, and I care what the fans have to say, and when they tear me apart, I wish I could say it doesn't bother me, but the reality is I'm human. I guess that's the bad that comes with the good. The good is that I do care and I read the Internet and I try to be a very fan-oriented artist. But the bad that comes with that is that I'm also subject to all the ridicule and the criticism and things like that. "So, what can I say?! It is what it is, and I try my best to ignore it and try to… The reality is that for every one person that tears me apart and hates me, I see 99 other people that are supportive and get it and are behind me. And I guess that's what I really need to focus on and appreciate." mikeportnoyshirttweet3
05 min read

MUSTAINE: Getting FRIEDMAN And MENZA Back In MEGADETH Makes As Much Sense As Putting Rotten Tooth Back In Your Mouth

Manos Spanos
Loaded Radio's Scott Penfold recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). On the status of the songwriting sessions for MEGADETH's follow-up to 2013's "Super Collider": Mustaine: "We're taking our time with this one. The last record we've done, we felt we were really on a positive upswing with [producer] Johnny K and we were excited to get in and do the record. But looking back over time, all the records that we had a lot of success with, personally…. Because, I mean, at the end of the day, if you don't like what you're doing, then what's the point? But the ones that we really got the most enjoyment out of was the ones that took the longest to write. We would sit with the songs and let them digest and assimilate and become part of us, instead of, 'OK, that's a great song. Let's go.' Or versus, 'You know what? Would it be better if we [played] this part one more time or cut that one in half or sped this up a little bit. There's so many variables." On whether he still gets pressure to get guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza back in MEGADETH: Mustaine: "Yeah, but that makes as much sense as somebody saying, 'Put a rotten tooth back in your mouth.' Don't get me wrong, but I've seen stuff that Menza's been saying [in interviews and online postings], and it's unfortunate. And I know that Marty's happy doing what he's doing. And frankly, if I wanted to get them back in the band, I would have worked it out, but I don't want 'em in the band. I think that Shawn [Drover, current MEGADETH drummer] is, all around, if you add all the parts up, is way more what I want in my life and my band, and the same thing with Chris [Broderick, current MEGADETH guitarist]. We all have our peculiarities. I'm strange by the definition myself, and I'm sure you are too, but that's what makes us unique and awesome and cool and everything like that. Because if we were all the same, one of us would be unnecessary. I kind of like the fact that you never know what you're gonna get with these guys; they're funny, their sense of humor is really dry, and they love the fans. There's no 'I'm in it for myself' bullcrap and 'I can't wait to do my solo albums' kind of stuff that'll tear a bunch of bands apart. If you look back at my career, I've been doing this for 33 years, almost, and I've only done one thing outside of MEGADETH, and that was the MD.45 thing, and that was because I loved FEAR; I thought FEAR was one of the greatest punk bands from America ever. I'm sure people will disagree, but I don't care." On whether there has been any more talk of further "Big Four" shows with METALLICA, SLAYER and ANTHRAX: Mustaine: "The thing about reconciliation is… it kind of is like that story about the monk that was walking down the river and saw a woman out in the middle and the tide was coming and he rolled up his garment and went out and got her and set her down on the side of the river bank and continued his journey. And about a mile later, another monk standing next to him said, 'Isn't it against our vows to have touched a woman?' And he goes, 'You know, I set her down a mile ago, yet you still carry her.' And, to me, that's… a lot of these people, they're still carrying the woman when it comes down to this whole thing about us and METALLICA having some kind of a grudge. We don't. In fact, I just recently contacted James [Hetfield] when people were attacking him about the whole PETA thing. And I just told him, I said, 'Look, man, you're my brother and I love you. Just be strong and it'll blow over.' Coming from a guy that's no stranger to controversy. I still love James a lot. That's part of the reason why there was so much emotion about it… I mean, it's kind of like when you really like a girl and you go up to ask her to dance and she says 'no' and you walk away and you say, 'Well, F you.'" On joining METALLICA on stage in December 2011 at one of four intimate shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco as part of the band's week-long celebration of its 30th anniversary as a group for fan club members only: Mustaine: "Well, they gave me an invitation and I thought it was really awesome. And I had asked them, 'Do you want me to just play rhythm?' Because, you know, Kirk's [Hammett] in the band. And Lars [Ulrich] said, 'No. Play your stuff.' And I went, 'Alright. Now we're talking.' So I went up there and I did my thing. And it was great. I imagine it must have been really awkward for Kirk watching me play the songs the way that they were supposed to be played in the beginning, but that's open for his artistic interpretation. If he doesn't wanna play it the way that I played it, hey, that's cool."
05 min read

SLIPKNOT: First Teaser Images, Video For Forthcoming Album

Manos Spanos
SLIPKNOT's official web site, Slipknot1.com, and Facebook page have been updated with creepy images and sounds in preparation for the release of the band's long-awaited new album, tentatively due before the end of the year via Roadrunner Records. In addition, there are all-new graphics, including a new version of the nonagram. SLIPKNOT has announced that the second edition of its Knotfest event will take place on October 24-26 in San Bernardino, California. The Iowa-based band will headline two of the three days, Friday and Saturday, playing a completely different set on each night. More than two dozen other acts are scheduled to appear, including FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, VOLBEAT, OF MICE & MEN, DANZIG, ANTHRAX, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, IN THIS MOMENT, HELLYEAH, ATREYU, SUICIDE SILENCE, MISS MAY I, TESTAMENT and many others. Friday night's show will be exclusively for fans who buy VIP or camping packages. With the long-awaited new SLIPKNOT album nearing completion, singer Corey Taylor told The Pulse Of Radio that the band did not want to announce any new live dates until the record was almost done. "After everything that happened last year, you know, we just basically said okay, what are we gonna do?" he said. "And everybody wanted to make an album. So we basically just cleared the slate and started looking at touring after we've got the album done. It's gonna be with new content, with new music, with new everything, basically." Fans who purchase tickets to Knotfest will receive a digital copy of SLIPKNOT's new album when it's eventually released. The band will also stage Knotfest Japan on November 15-16 in Tokyo. Taylor said that the new SLIPKNOT album is "98 percent done" in an interview posted by Loudwire. Taylor revealed, "It is very close. The next step is the mix, and we’re going to try to get it out very soon. There will be big announcements soon." The band's first all-new album since 2008's "All Hope Is Gone" will be its first since the 2010 death of bassist Paul Gray and the late 2013 dismissal of drummer Joey Jordison, both founding members and primary songwriters in the group. SLIPKNOT is rumored to have recruited drummer Jay Weinberg to play on the new album. Weinberg is the son of Max Weinberg, longtime BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND drummer.
03 min read

OBSCURA Parts Ways With Drummer HANNES GROSSMANN, Guitarist CHRISTIAN MUENZNER

Manos Spanos
Drummer Hannes Grossmann and guitarist Christian Muenzner have left German progressive death metallers OBSCURA. Says Muenzner: "My decision to step down from my position as the lead guitar player in OBSCURA after more than six years was not an easy one, but even though it may come unexpected for the majority of fans, it is something I have been contemplating for the last couple of years. "There is no bad blood between me and any of the other members of the band. However, I just want to devote the biggest part of the time that I have to work on my own music and visions. Doing this, I just can't invest the bulk of my time into the band, because a band operating at the level of OBSCURA does not work as an additional thing or even a 'hobby'. It demands a lot of time and availability, but I I know that if my heart is not fully into the music anymore, it is not true to myself, my bandmates or to the fans, and I have always believed that solely the fact that a band is successful or that people expect you to play a certain style of music are not enough of a reason to do it. "A second crucial factor in my decision was that I am still dealing with a neurologic condition in my fretting hand called Focal Dystonia, which almost took the ability to play guitar away from me completely by late 2011/early 2012. Even though I regained most of my chops by now through re-training and Botox therapy, the condition is still there and I have to be very careful not to relapse and undo my progress by putting too much strain on my hand, which is why touring several months on an album cycle with material that brings me to the edge of my technical ability every night is not an option for me anymore in the near future. The slightest chance of recovery or at least further improvement have absolute priority for me in the coming years, as I want to be able to play guitar and release music for much longer. Thus I decided to focus mainly on my teaching career and on writing and recording my own music for now. I will remain very active and you will hear a lot of new music from me in the future. "I still consider all past and present members in OBSCURA that I played with among my very best friends, and the album recordings and tours we did in the last six years are among the greatest memories of my life so far. The band took me all around the world several times and I got to meet thousands of great people and fans. "I want to thank all of you for your support, even in the tough times when my condition was at its worst. I do not exclude the possibility of future collaborations with each of the other members and wish the band the best of luck for the future." States Grossmann: "Leaving the band was a difficult choice to make, but it was also a big relief. "In the last two years, it just became more and more obvious that the musical chemistry between band founder Steffen [Kummerer] and me just wasn't right anymore. It's not a personal issue, it's a musical one. "For the last two records I contributed a large amount of music, including most of the arrangement work. However this was causing problems, because the band was set up as a collective of songwriters, and so the new record should have been a collective work. In general, I also prefer working with other people rather than just doing it on my own. However, my musical vision was going into the direction of songs like 'Aevum' or 'Septuagint', maybe in terms of complexity even further. Steffen's ideas are musically rather in the vein of the 'Comogenesis' album. But I wanted to explore a way different side of OBSCURA. The catchy 'Anticosmic Overload' side just doesn't really hook me emotionally. "In the end, it's hard to explain to an outsider, but our musical taste and vision for the band's future are just incompatible at this point. It even started to affect our personal relationship and I don't think that it's worth sacrificing our friendship for personal issues. That's why I decided to quit the band and record the songs I wrote with my new band ALKALOID." As a result of these lineup changes, the recording sessions for OBSCURA's as-yet-untitled fourth album have been postponed until the end of 2014. OBSCURA will soon begin the audition process to replace both Muenzner and Grossmann. Muenzner and Grossmann appeared on OBSCURA's last two releases, "Cos
05 min read

CANNIBAL CORPSE Bassist Talks Masturbating On Tour Bus: ‘If Somebody Knows It’s Happening, Then You Blew It’

Manos Spanos
On June 25, bassist Alex Webster of Florida death metal veterans CANNIBAL CORPSE was interviewed by El Prezidente of 91.3FM WTSR's "The Chainsaw Symphony". You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below. Asked about CANNIBAL CORPSE's touring setup and how he navigates masturbating regularly on "a bus with a bunch of dudes," Webster said: "This summer [on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival] we're not [sharing a bus with any other bands]. Sometimes we share, sometimes we don't. It just really depends on what our budget is. When we have enough money coming in from the shows to be able to pay for the bus all by ourselves, that's generally the option we'll take, just to have that extra space." He added: "I think with anything personal like that [masturbation], you just… you know… discretion. [laughs] I will leave it at that. [laughs] If somebody knows it's happening, then you blew it. [laughs] And I won't talk too much further about that. But yeah, man, anything like that, I think, yeah, discretion is very important. Nobody wants to know that kind of thing is going on right next to them, you know. [laughs]" Webster also spoke about the CANNIBAL members' family situations and how having kids is affected by the touring lifestyle. "I'm married — no kids — but yeah, me and my wife have been together, married in 2001, and we were actually seeing each other since 1997," Webster said. "So I've been very settled into that whole situation for a very long time now. The other guys… Like, George ['Corpsegrinder' Fisher, vocals] has been married a long time and has two daughters. Paul's [Mazurkiewicz, drums] married as well; he's got a daughter. Rob [Barrett, guitar] has a wife, [but] no kids. "Me and my wife never wanted to have kids; that was something we both agreed on long before we even got married, as a matter of fact. It's the most important thing a person could ever do, so that decision shouldn't be taken lightly. You're creating a human being, so you have to really be in the right frame of mind for that. And my wife and I knew that we were never gonna be in the right frame of mind for that kind of a thing; it just wasn't something that we were inclined to do. But for some people, it's absolutely the right decision. You've gotta just think it over; it's an important thing." CANNIBAL CORPSE will release its new album, "A Skeletal Domain", on September 16 via Metal Blade Records. The band switched gears for the new CD, opting to work with producer Mark Lewis (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, DEVILDRIVER) at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida, after having tracked their previous three outings ("Kill", "Evisceration Plague", "Torture") with Erik Rutan.
03 min read

GHOST Shrugs Off NERGAL’s PAPA Photo ‘Leak’: ‘At Some Point It’s Bound To Happen’

Manos Spanos
Swedish occult rockers GHOST, who go to great lengths to keep the identities of their bandmembers a secret, have commented on the recent release of a photo that appeared to show the band's frontman Papa Emeritus II (believed to be Swedish musician Tobias Forge of MAGNA CARTA CARTEL, REPUGNANT and SUBVISION) without his trademark makeup posing backstage at a Dutch festival with BEHEMOTH's Adam "Nergal" Darski. Speaking to Jägermeister at this weekend's Sonisphere festival in the U.K., one of the Nameless Ghouls from GHOST said (see video below): "Adam from BEHEMOTH [who posted the photo in question on his Instagram account] is a really, really nice guy; we only have good things to say about him, and we hope [he feels] the same way [about us]." He continued: "I mean, it's… We don't really know what to say about that except for we keep our identities as secret as we possibly can, of course, but at some point it's bound to happen, some things that are not really optimal for us, of course. But the identity part is always gonna be, for as long as can take it, it's gonna be a hassle in many ways, and I think we have managed to keep it below the radar, for the most part, at least."
01 min read