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TANKARD To Enter Studio This Week

Manos Spanos
German alcoholic thrashers TANKARD will enter Studio 23 in Frankfurt, Germany this eek to begin recording the follow-up to their acclaimed 2012 album "A Girl Called Cerveza". Entitled "R.I.B." (Rest In Beer), the new CD will be released in the summer of 2014 via Nuclear Blast. Taking inspiration from the motto "never change a winning team," TANKARD is working with producer Michael Mainx (BÖHSE ONKELZ, DER W, D-A-D, DISBELIEF), who helmed the band's last effort. TANKARD has also chosen to use Patrick Strogulski, who created the artwork for "A Girl Called Cerveza" and is also a student of Sebastian Krüger, the artist that was responsible for TANKARD's previous album artwork up to the 2012 release. Comments Mainx: "Three times is the charm — I'm totally looking forward to have my hands on the controllers for TANKARD for the third time in year 2 after the band anniversary! Only a few more days left before we will take off recording 'R.I.B.' at Frankfurt studio. This is gonna be interesting..." Adds TANKARD vocalist Andreas "Gerre" Geremia: "We can hardly wait to be nailing down 10 new songs with Micha and are looking forward to a hopefully productive collaboration!"
01 min read

SLAYER’s JEFF HANNEMAN Snubbed During GRAMMY ‘In Memoriam’ Tribute

Manos Spanos
Even though SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman died last year from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver, he was excluded from the list of faces and names showcased during Grammy Awards' "In Memoriam" segment last night (Sunday, January 26). Other notable hard rock and heavy metal musicians who passed away in 2013 but weren't recognized at last night's event included former IRON MAIDEN drummer Clive Burr and VIXEN's founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund. SLAYER has been nominated for a "Best Metal Performance" Grammy Award five times and has won twice: in 2007 for "Eyes Of The Insane" and in 2008 for "Final Six". When SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray and TYPE O NEGATIVE's Peter Steele failed to make the "In Memoriam" segment in 2011, less than a year after both of them passed away, Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), addressed the issue of stars being left out, saying that the "'In Memoriam' segment is a real connundrum, because we keep a list — and it's a sad job — of when we lose people in our industry, actually, starting this past week [for next year's awards show], because if it's very late, it's not something we can factor in. And this past year [2010] we had over 300 people in the industry pass, and many of them — all of them — important, so we have to, at the end of the day, make a selection, and you can't get everybody there, and we try to have a broad represenation of different genres and generations and so on. We're never happy with how that exactly turns out, [but] we have the list of everybody [who died] in our program book every year." Hanneman is credited for writing many of SLAYER's classic songs, including "Angel Of Death" and "South Of Heaven". The guitarist, who passed away in Los Angeles on May 2, 2013, had actually not been playing with SLAYER for more than two years since he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, from a spider bite in his backyard in January 2011. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman's arm, leading to numerous surgeries, skin grafts and intense periods of rehab that forced him into semi-retirement and left him near death at several points. Hanneman's last appearance with SLAYER was in April 2011, when he played an encore with the band at the "Big Four" concert in Indio, California.
02 min read

ERIK DANIELSSON: ‘WATAIN Is A Mouthpiece Of Satan’

Manos Spanos
Raymond Westland of Ghost Cult magazine recently conducted an interview with Erik Danielsson of Swedish black metallers WATAIN. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Ghost Cult: "The Wild Hunt" should be seen as a standalone release and not so much as a continuation from the previous works. Can you clarify this, please? Erik: I do not know how you drew that conclusion but no, that is not correct. Every WATAIN album is a "continuation" of our journey, and although that journey always takes us to new places that may appear different from those we have visited in the past, it is still very much a living continuum. Every WATAIN album should be seen as a monument erected at a specific point in time and space, but still transcending that point by reaching beyond the tangible and the defined. Ghost Cult: "The Wild Hunt" is a very rich and diverse record and it far exceeds the traditional black metal aesthetics. To which extent was this the thing you set out do? Erik: We set out to make another WATAIN album, and as always we let the currents of our Temple lead the way. As these currents are and have always been strongly rooted in the black metal cult, that obviously reflects on the album as well. But WATAIN is first and foremost a world on its own, a place in which we can do whatever we feel the need to do, unbound by musical genre. We do not answer to any expectations of anyone else but those of our own. WATAIN is a mouthpiece of Satan, and as such we can not limit our ways of expression, we must always be open to learn new languages in order to express that which needs to be expressed. Ghost Cult: Can you take us through the motions of writing and recording the album? What did you really set out to achieve? Erik: The album was written over a period of three years, starting after "Lawless Darkness". Many of the lyrics were written on the road, in Australia, Japan, USA and Transylvania. The recording itself was four months long and took place in different places in Scandinavia which altogether made for the diversity that you mentioned earlier. The nomadic impulse of WATAIN, and the ever on going pilgrimage we find ourselves on, were things that became quite central in the album. We took the time to look back on past experiences and the evolution of the band, and eventually framed it inside a spiritual, even mythological, context. "The Wild Hunt" is the long, hard and yet incredible rewarding road which we have walked upon for the past 15 years. Read the entire interview at Ghost Cult magazine.
02 min read

BLACK SABBATH Wins ‘Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance’ GRAMMY Award

Manos Spanos
BLACK SABBATH was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 56th annual Grammy Awards, which is being held tonight (Sunday, January 26) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. BLACK SABBATH was nominated for the track "God Is Dead?", from the band's 2013 comeback album "13". The SABBATH members did not personally accept the award at the pre-telecast ceremony because they were busy preparing to be one of the presenters during the main show. Pop singer Cyndi Lauper, who co-hosted the pre-telecast, said that she spoke with them prior to the event and that they were grateful for the honor. "I know that Ozzy is not here and I saw them last night," she said. "They asked me to accept this award for them. It's awesome. And I'm sure he thanks the Academy. They had to be next door to do something. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everybody." Osbourne came up with the title for "God Is Dead?", but bassist Geezer Butler wanted to call it something else. Ozzy told Shortlist, "I was in a doctor's office and there was a magazine in there with that line on the cover. I thought, 'Yeah — people flew planes into the World Trade Center because of God, there's all this fucking shit going on in the world in the name of God.'" Geezer added, "Ozzy gave me that line, and I wrote the lyrics. I wanted to call the song 'American Jihad'." Ozzy continued, "Fuck that. I'm the guy at the front singing it; I would have had a fucking army after me . . . In the early days [of BLACK SABBATH], there was a lot of backlash from religious groups . . . I was sent letters written in blood. In my house I must have 25 fucking Bibles, each with a marked-up passage that [the sender] wanted me to read." Butler told The Pulse Of Radio what the song was about. "It's about this guy that sets out to prove that God is still alive, and he has this voice in his head saying that God's dead, and he can't get rid of the voice telling him, so he goes out and kills everybody," he said. "13" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart in June 2013, the first SABBATH album to ever top the U.S. chart. The disc features Ozzy, Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi playing together for the first time in 35 years. Their last effort together was 1978's "Never Say Die!" The nominees in this year's "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category were as follows: ANTHRAX - "T.N.T." Track from: "Anthems" Label: Megaforce BLACK SABBATH - "God Is Dead?" Track from: "13" Label: Vertigo/Republic DREAM THEATER - "The Enemy Inside" Track from: "Dream Theater" Label: Roadrunner Records KILLSWITCH ENGAGE - "In Due Time" Track from: "Disarm The Descent" Label: Roadrunner Records VOLBEAT feat. King Diamond - "Room 24" Track from: "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies" Label: Republic Records BLACK SABBATH's "God Is Dead?" also picked up a nomination in the "Best Rock Song" category. In addition, the band's comeback CD, "13", earned a nod for "Best Rock Album", alongside LED ZEPPELIN's "Celebration Day" and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's "…Like Clockwork", among others. METALLICA's "Through The Never" received a nomination for "Best Recording Package" and ALICE IN CHAINS' "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was up for the "Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical" award. Nominations for the 56th annual Grammy Awards were announced on December 6, 2013 by The Recording Academy and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by the voting members of The Academy. For the sixth year, nominations for the annual Grammy Awards were announced on primetime television as part of "The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night", a one-hour CBS entertainment special broadcast live from Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. "This year's nominations reflect the talented community of music makers who represent some of the highest levels of excellence and artistry of the year in their respective fields," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy, in a statement. This year's Grammy Awards process registered more than 22,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (October 1, 2012 - September 30, 2013). Grammy ballots for the final round of voting were mailed on December 11 to the voting members of The Recording Academy. They were due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by January 8, when they were tabulated and the results kept secret until the 56th Grammy telecast. The 56th annual Grammy Awards are produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer, and Louis J. Horvitz is director. The Grammy Awards will air live on CBS tonight (Sunday, January 26) at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
05 min read

COREY TAYLOR Shoots Down ‘Myth’ That JOEY JORDISON Wrote All Music For SLIPKNOT

Manos Spanos
During a recent interview with Rock Revolt Magazine, SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor was asked about the band's recent split with drummer Joey Jordison and how Joey's exit will change the group's sound on its next album. "Honestly, it depends on who we get [as Joey's replacement]," Taylor said (see video below). He continued: "It all comes to someone who can play the old stuff, but also brings a certain creativity to it. "In lieu of what we've done, we need to, kind of, focus on that, and make that the focus right now, instead of worrying about what's gonna happen later." Regarding whether SLIPKNOT has any candidates in mind as a possible replacement for Jordison, Taylor said: "A few people." He added: "As soon as we know [who is going to be the new SLIPKNOT drummer], the fans will know. And that's how we're keeping it. We're keeping everything really close to the chest right now. I mean, it's out of respect for Joe, and for us. And there's just a host of legal things that we still need to sort out. "It's hard — it's really hard — but the only other [option] was shutting the band down, and none of us wanted to do that. So we're gonna push on." Taylor also elaborated on how he thinks SLIPKNOT's musical approach might be affected by the absence of Jordison, who has been one of SLIPKNOT's primary songwriters since the group's inception. "I mean, obviously, it will [change] a little bit, but we all write," Taylor said. "I know there's this myth out there that Joey wrote everything, but that's not at all true. We all write, and we all bring something to the table. And between me and Jim [Root, guitar] and Mick [Thomson, guitar] and Clown [Shawn Crahan, percussion] and everybody [else], I think we're gonna be able to put something really, really cool together. The dynamic will change a little bit, but as far as our approach to the music and our intensity and how much we love doing what we do, that will remain unchanged, and we're gonna go for it just 110 percent." The new SLIPKNOT album will be its first since 2008's "All Hope Is Gone" and the first since the 2010 death of bassist Paul Gray . Root told The Pulse Of Radio late last year — before the news about Jordison broke — that he was feeling the urgency to make a new SLIPKNOT album. "You know, we haven't done a record since Paul's been gone and it's been pushing six years. And there's a lot of people in SLIPKNOT and a lot of fans and me myself kind of feel like it's time for that hurdle to be overcome. And for me, that's really like my number one priority and the most important thing for me right now." SLIPKNOT has not disclosed the reasons for Jordison's exit, although the drummer issued a statement recently saying that he did not quit the band. Taylor and Crahan have both indicated that 2014 will be a comeback year for the band.
03 min read

New DIMEBAG Signature Guitar Uses Pieces Of Oak Tree From Late PANTERA Guitarist’s Backyard

Manos Spanos
An inside look at the new limited-edition Dean Dimebag Darrell Signature Roots ML guitar at this year's NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show, which is taking place January 23-26 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, can be seen below (courtesy of Guitar Center). Dean Guitars, in collaboration with the estate of late PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, has introduced the Dean Dimebag Darrell Signature Roots ML. This very special guitar, limited to only 200 individually numbered pieces, features an oak razor blade inlayed directly into the body of the guitar. The 200 razor blades were cut from a branch of an old oak tree, located right outside the studio window in Dimebag's backyard where PANTERA recorded most of their now-legendary albums. There is no doubt that Dimebag Darrell's own Dean MLs and monstrous guitar sound shook the branches of this very oak tree. This is a historical, guitar-industry first. The wood used in the making of this guitar was taken directly from the artist's backyard with the blessing and endorsement of his loved ones! The 200 guitarists lucky enough to get their hands on this instant collector's piece will forever have a piece of heavy metal and guitar building history, literally in the palm of their hands. This wood belonged to Dimebag Darrell and now it can belong to you — the Dean Dimebag Darrell Signature Roots ML. Dimebag was co-founder and lead guitarist for PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, Dimebag and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by Nathan Gale. He was 38 years old.
02 min read