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LOSTPROPHETS Singer IAN WATKINS Sentenced To 29 Years In Prison For Child Sex Abuse

Manos Spanos
LOSTPROPHETS singer Ian Watkins has been sentenced to a jail term of 29 years for a string of sexual offenses, including two of attempting to rape a baby. His two accomplices, whose identities have not been officially released to the public and are known simply as Woman A and Woman B, were jailed for 14 years and 16 years, respectively. The 36-year-old musician reportedly spoke with a female fan from prison the day after admitting two counts of attempted baby rape and said he was going to issue a statement saying it had all been "megalolz. I don't know what everyone is getting so freaked out about." In another phone call, he told a friend that "there was no medical evidence" and "nobody was harmed", adding: "I'm not a pedophile, I'm not. You know I plead[ed] guilty just to avoid a trial, not realizing 'Hang on, that makes me look a bit guilty' but I would never harm anybody." Asked whether he still thought the case was "megalolz", meanwhile, he replied: "No, it's just lols now." Watkins pleaded guilty in Cardiff Crown Court to 13 child sex offenses last month, but he insisted he was a drug addict with no recollection of the acts. Judge Roger John Royce told him and his co-defendants that what they had done "plumbed new depths of depravity." The judge said: "Those who have appeared in these courts over many years see a large number of horrific cases. This case, however, breaks new ground. "You, Watkins, achieved fame and success as the lead singer of LOSTPROPHETS. You had many fawning fans. That gave you power. You knew you could use that power to induce young female fans to have help satisify your insatiable lust and take part in the sexual abuse of their own children." LOSTPROPHETS announced in October that they were splitting up, explaining in a statement, "After nearly a year of coming to terms with our heartache, we finally feel ready to announce publicly what we have thought privately for some time. We can no longer continue making or performing music as LOSTPROPHETS. Your love and support over the past 15 years has been tremendous, and we'll be forever grateful for all you've given us. As we look forward to the next phase of our lives, we can only hope to be surrounded by people as devoted and inspiring as you guys have been." LOSTPROPHETS formed in 1997 and have sold 3.5 million albums in their 16-year career. They scored a No. 1 hit at Modern Rock radio in 2004 with the track "Last Train Home".
02 min read

METALLICA Drummer Nervous About Letting Fans Pick Set List

Manos Spanos
According to The Pulse Of Radio, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told BBC Radio One that he's nervous about letting fans select the band's set list for each night on its European tour next summer. Ulrich, who usually writes the set list, explained, "It certainly gives me butterflies in the stomach in a good way and I think it should be a lot of fun for the fans. This at least puts a stop to the whining about the set list because it's basically the fans that are picking it.” Starting about 10 years ago, METALLICA began changing its set list nightly, with Ulrich telling The Pulse Of Radio a while back that it keeps the show fresh. "When we started the 'St. Anger' touring cycle, we started just changing the set every night," he said. "Up through the Nineties, we got a little stuck, and it got a little rigid, and we would go out and play the same set list for six months every night. So we're really trying to just play different stuff every night. It's pretty cool." Fans who purchase tickets online to the European dates will be invited to vote on the set list METALLICA will play at their show, choosing from close to 140 recorded songs. The band's traditional 18-song set will include the 17 top voted songs along with a brand new track. Ulrich added that he's excited to play a new song during the tour, saying, "Since 2014 is basically about the next METALLICA record and we're so excited about writing and getting all that off the ground that it only is right to bring a new song out there. Obviously we haven't quite figured out what that's gonna be, but as we get a little closer, hopefully we'll come up with something cool." The tour, dubbed the "Metallica By Request" tour, will kick off on May 28 at the Sonisphere festival in Helsinki, Finland and travel across Europe through July 11.
02 min read

ANDREAS KISSER Says CHUCK BILLY’s SEPULTURA Audition Tape Was ‘Interesting’

Manos Spanos
David E. Gehlke of DeadRhetoric.com recently conducted an interview with SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser. A few excerpts from the chat follow below. DeadRhetoric.com: Since you're working with Ross [Robinson] again, it makes one think of the first time you recorded with him, which is when down-tuning became really big with bands like KORN and the DEFTONES doing it. Max [Cavalera] was always a big proponent of it; were you as well? Kisser: At the beginning, not much. I was skeptical of the low tuning because bands like KORN or the DEFTONES, they don't have the fast pace of SEPULTURA's music. I was concerned to lose that kind of fast ability and the picking, the heavy picking on sloppy, low strings. But there are so many possibilities of using heavier-gauge strings, which give that kind of tension, and you don't lose that ability to play fast. "Trauma Of War", the song that opens the [new SEPULTURA] album, it's in low tuning, but it's a very fast song, but we don't lose that kind of ability. I learned how to do deal with that, and you open a lot of worlds in music, but yeah, at the beginning I was a little skeptical. DeadRhetoric.com: Your very first meeting with Derrick, what do you remember the most about it? Kisser: It was great. He came down from the States to Brazil because we were holding auditions with different people in Brazil. Derrick came down after the demo and he did "Choke". I have "Choke" with so many different singers [including Marc Grewe of MORGOTH; Phil Demmel of MACHINE HEAD and VIO-LENCE; Jason "Gong" Jones of DROWNING POOL; and Jorge Rosado of MERAUDER) some day I'll release it with all the different versions. Even Chuck Billy from TESTAMENT, he did a tryout. It was interesting the way he sang "Choke" and stuff. It would be cool to put it out some day. Derrick was for the future, though. We weren't looking for somebody similar to Max, or trying to replace him with a clone. Different visuals different attitude we liked Derrick we felt he could really grow up and be into simple terms is it, which he did. His vocals are great, he's very diverse, he can do melodic stuff and aggressive shit, and he hardly loses his voice. He's very professional and he takes care of his voice on tour and everything. He's great. He's a guy who is also very intelligent. We talk a lot about different movies, documentaries, books, and we do lyrics together. We come up with song titles, concepts, and everything. He's a great partner in that respect. DeadRhetoric.com: Personality-wise with Derrick, did you guys connect fairly quickly? Kisser: I think it was different for him. He came to Brazil, replacing Max Cavalera, which was very hard in the beginning — being black as well in such a racist society everywhere in the world, not only in America. It's great that he was able to face all this with great courage and great professionalism. SEPULTURA as well, with somebody like him in the band, and we said what we always said, that we're for justice and equality, and respect. We live that; we not only say that for the lyrical purposes. We really are what we are. He was the best choice for us. He's a guy who could understand the SEPULTURA way of living, of hard touring everywhere and we can survive in a bus together without wanting to kill each other and stuff. [laughs] We have the same type of ideas and conversations. I think Derrick was the perfect guy for us, and it shows. DeadRhetoric.com: The big vocalist search in 1997 and '98, was your head spinning from all the submissions? Kisser: Oh yeah, definitely. Right after Max left at the end of '96, back in January and February of '97, me, Igor [Cavalera, drums], and Paulo [Xisto Pinto Jr., bass] got together and started writing new stuff. We didn't want to play any old stuff. We didn't want try people out on something like "Refuse/Resist". That would be too easy, so we wanted to see the new guy singing something he never heard before; we wanted to see his input and his ideas and his possibilities with the vocals. We took eight to nine months just as a trio. We had the idea of staying as a trio, me being the singer and I even took vocal classes and tried to do demos, but I sing like crap. [laughs] I was the first singer of SEPULTURA that received a "no." [laughs] DeadRhetoric.com: I've seen and heard you do backup vocals — you don't have a bad voice. Kisser: I can use my voice fairly well, I can scream, but to be a singer and to embrace it, it's much more than having a good voice. You have to embrace something different. I am a guitar player. I didn't want to lose my guitar playing time just to embrace something that I am not. I don't want to force the situation. The trio time was great — we didn't do any live shows or anything, but we were practicing and trying out stuff, putting our heads in place, without making any big decisions with the turmoil that was going on. We resolved everything with Max, we signed all the papers, he's out, he didn't want anything to do with SEPULTURA. He left, and we started looking for a new singer. Then when Derrick came at the beginning of '98, he moved out to Brazil, and we started our journey. You can read the entire interview at DeadRhetoric.com.
06 min read

Video: TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX, NIGHTWISH, Ex-HELLOWEEN, ACCEPT Singers Perform At ‘Christmas Metal Symphony’

Manos Spanos
Fan-filmed video footage of the first two shows of this year's Christmas Metal Symphony European tour — which kicked off this past Friday night (December 13) in Trollhättan, Sweden and played again last night (Saturday, December 14) in Kristianstad, Sweden — can be seen below. Magnum Opum Rockestra (under conductor Marcel Heijnen), a 32-strong orchestra accompanied by the METALFORCE 1 rock band and led by singers/vocalists which influenced the metal scene in recent years and decades, are taking part in the Christmas Metal Symphony European tour. Musical director of the production is Joost van den Broek. Singers taking part in the trek include Joey Belladonna (ANTHRAX), Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT), Udo Dirkschneider (U.D.O., ex-ACCEPT), Michael Kiske (HELLOWEEN, UNISONIC) and Floor Jansen (REVAMP, NIGHTWISH, AFTER FOREVER). It is a well-known fact in the world of international metal fans that Tilburg in The Netherlands was host of this impressive metal show for two years. As a direct result of the succes of these shows, the requests for bringing it to the rest of Europe kept growing. Nowthe time is right to fulfill these wishes and bring this monster on the road. Christmas Metal Symphony comes with six fantastic international metal vocalists, a six-piece metal band with musicians from bands like EPICA, AFTER FOREVER and STREAM OF PASSION and an impressive 32-piece symphonic orchestra. The heavy backbone of the show is METALFORCE 1. These musicians were handpicked by Joost van den Broek and these Santa's Little Helpers contain some of the finest metal artists: * Marcel Coenen (SUN CAGED) - Guitar * Johan Van Stratum (STREAM OF PASSION) - Bass * Abel Carnizales (LABIRINTHO) - Guitar * Jeffrey Revet (STREAM OF PASSION) - Keyboards * Koen Herfst (EPICA) - Drums * Joost Van Den Broek (AFTER FOREVER) - Keyboards Over the last 35 years of metalmusic, bands have written many concept albums and concept shows; great stories and fantastic songs. The team of Christmas Metal Symphony therefore decided that with the impressive heritage of all these great metal songs ever written, it would be a shame not to use them. So for this reason you can expect performances of your all time favorite metal songs, by some of the best international artists who are part of that great metal history themselves. All of this in a great Christmas and metal setting and brought to you as a full metal show; loud and extremely powerful… just like the doctor ordered! Kristianstad fan-filmed video footage:
04 min read

CAVALERA CONSPIRACY Signs With NAPALM RECORDS

Manos Spanos
Napalm Records has announced the signing of CAVALERA CONSPIRACY. The thrash metal outfit, which released the critically acclaimed and universally praised albums "Inflikted" and "Blunt Force Trauma" through Roadrunner Records, has found a new home at the Austrian label. The band revolving around the legendary brothers Max and Igor Cavalera — both founding members of SEPULTURA — is currently working on its as-yet-untitled third studio effort. Metal fans can expect another groundbreaking and innovative record that will shake the foundations of the music scene! "I am so excited that CAVALERA CONSPIRACY has signed with Napalm Records," says Max. "This is gonna be our third album and it's going to be a brutal grindcore style. I am already working on the riffs, and it is going to come out next year. Get ready to be brutalized by CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and Napalm Records!" "I am very excited to record the new CAVALERA CONSPIRACY record," adds Igor. "Me and Max have been planning this for a while, and all I can say is that it will be a 'brutal' record. Also I'm super proud to join Napalm Records, home of lots of amazing artists." "Blunt Force Trauma" sold around 5,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 122 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's debut CD, "Inflikted", opened with 9,000 units to enter the chart at No. 72. "Blunt Force Trauma" was once again tracked with ex-MACHINE HEAD/SOULFLY guitarist Logan Mader, who co-produced the LP with Max. Logan also mixed the effort.
01 min read

Video Premiere: SOULFLY’s ‘Bloodshed’

Manos Spanos
SOULFY's video for the song "Bloodshed" can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's ninth album, "Savages", which was released on October 1 via SOULFLY's new label home, Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The CD was produced by Terry Date, who is known for his work with such acts as PANTERA, DEFTONES and SOUNDGARDEN, among many others. Guest vocal appearances on "Savages" include SOULFLY bass player Tony Campos, CLUTCH's Neil Fallon, NAPALM DEATH's Mitch Harris, Jamie Hanks of I DECLARE WAR and SOULFLY mainman Max Cavalera's son Igor Cavalera (of LODY KONG). "['Bloodshed'] is about the absurdity of the human condition in territories plagued by bloodshed all over the world," commented Max Cavalera. "Not just recent events like Iraq, but also historical conflicts such as the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, etc." "Savages" track listing: 01. Bloodshed (feat. Igor Cavalera) 02. Cannibal Holocaust 03. Fallen (feat. Jamie Hanks) 04. Ayatollah Of Rock ‘N’ Rolla (feat. Neil Fallon) 05. Master Of Savagery 06. Spiral 07. This Is Violence 08. K.C.S. (feat. Mitch Harris) 09. El Comegente (feat. Tony Campos) 10. Soulfliktion Limited-edition CD and 2LP vinyl bonus tracks: 11. Fuck Reality 12. Soulfly IX The cover artwork for "Savages" was created by renowned artist Paul Stottler, who is best known for his work on SACRED REICH's legendary "Surf Nicaragua" cover. Date previously mixed SOULFLY's "3" (2002), "Prophecy" (2004) and "Dark Ages" (2005) albums, but had never produced any of the group's CDs. The drum tracks on the new SOULFLY CD were laid down by Max's 20-year-old son, Zyon Cavalera, who joined the band as its touring drummer for its recent rampage through North America. "I am very proud and it is very cool that Zyon is in the band," said Max Cavalera. "He brings a lot of energy to the band. He is 20 years old now and already a really good drummer. He is permanently on tour with us now and every night he really plays his heart out. We are all very excited to have him in the band and he did a really good job on the new album."
02 min read

METALLICA Sets World Record By Performing Concerts On All Seven Continents In Under A Year

Manos Spanos
METALLICA set a world record on December 8, 2013 by becoming the first and only band in history to perform concerts on all seven continents in under a year. METALLICA's 10-song show in Antarctica on Sunday "was the most unique show [the band] has ever done," the group said in a statement. "The band, contest winners, research station scientists (from Russia, South Korea, China, Poland, Chile, Brazil and Germany), and the ship crew, all crammed in this little dome out on the helipad of Carlini Station in Antarctica! The energy in the little dome was amazing! Words cannot describe how happy everyone was." The METALLICA concert was sponsored by Coca-Cola Zero and fans from several Latin and South American countries had a chance to enter a contest and win the opportunity to join the band on the expedition. The concert took place under a dome at the Carlini Argentine Base and was heard by the fans through headphones, with no other amplifiers or sound system. The gig was also live-streamed in the participating countries. METALLICA's setlist was as follows: 01. Creeping Death 02. For Whom The Bell Tolls 03. Sad But True 04. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) 05. Master Of Puppets 06. One 07. Blackened 08. Nothing Else Matters 09. Enter Sandman 10. Seek & Destroy An official Metallica TV video recap of the concert is available below. Speaking to Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone last month, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett said: "We are playing Antarctica; it's pretty wacky. It's crazy, because I don't deal with cold very well, so I have my reservations. But it should be pretty cool, because we've played the North Pole before — we've played Tuktoyaktuk [in 1995]— so we have to play the South Pole. Tuktoyaktuk was fine; it wasn't as cold as it sounded. But I have a feeling that the Antarctica is a lot colder than the North Pole. And it should be an interesting experience."
02 min read