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BLACK SABBATH, DREAM THEATER, ANTHRAX, VOLBEAT, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Among GRAMMY AWARDS Nominees

Manos Spanos
BLACK SABBATH, DREAM THEATER, ANTHRAX, VOLBEAT and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE are among the nominees for the 56th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on January 26, 2014 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The nominees in the "Best Metal Performance" category are 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" is up for the "Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical" award. Nominations for the 56th annual Grammy Awards were announced tonight 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. The Grammy Awards will air live on CBS on Sunday, January 26 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
02 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO: I Don’t Know Why VINNIE PAUL Is Scared Of Me

Manos Spanos
PANTERA/DOWN vocalist Philip Anselmo recently spoke to Loudwire about the moment he knew PANTERA was over and how he misses having a friendship with the band's drummer, Vinnie Paul Abbott. "It is unfortunate," Anselmo said about the rift between him and Vinnie Paul (see video below). "I am a music fan. I hate reading about fucking my favorite bands arguing or inner turmoil or anything like that, especially under these circumstances. It's kind of unfair to the fans. "I'm sick of the fence riding, or the fence in general, because it took all of us to break the band up. "The truth is, when I was doing terribly, and I realized that PANTERA was dissolving and [Vinnie Paul and PANTERA guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott] had moved on and they were doing [a new band called] DAMAGEPLAN, the first thing I did was call Vince. And he was, like, 'Man, this is what we're doing.' He was actually pretty cool about it. And he said, 'It's good to hear from you.' And I said, 'What do you think, man? I wanna talk to Darrell.' He goes, 'Man, I don't know. He's really upset with you.' And I called [Darrell]. And he was short, he was to the point. He said, 'We're sick of waitin' for you. We're gonna go ahead and do DAMAGEPLAN.' And that day I knew PANTERA was over." Anselmo also spoke about whether there he has publicly tried to reach out to Vinnie Paul in an effort to bury the hatchet. He said: "There was no public attempt, really; it was just [me being asked about it in] interviews. It was really just interviews. "He's surrounded by security guards. Man, if I showed my face, Jesus Christ… "I don't know why he's scared of me. He's got this fear. I think it all comes from deep love, really. 'Cause when you love something, or somebody, so much and things go backwards, that if you love 'em that much, then eventually the word 'hate' comes in, and you can hate 'em even worse. So… "I know the dude loves me. I know he does. And I miss him." Anselmo was asked how he feels about hearing Vinnie Paul state over and over again in interviews that he is not interesting in having any kind of personal relationship with Philip and former PANTERA bassist Rex Brown. "I don't even pay attention to that," Anselmo replied. "I don't even know that that happened. I don't pay attention. He's the captain of his own ship — that's that — and I'm heading in my direction." Dimebag's longtime girlfriend Rita Haney in 2011 called on Vinnie and Anselmo to settle their differences in honor of Dimebag, who was shot and killed by a crazed gunman while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at a Columbus, Ohio rock club in December 2004. Vinnie, who is Dimebag's brother, and Anselmo have not spoken since PANTERA split in 2003. But the relationship got even more acrimonious when Vinnie indirectly blamed Philip for Dimebag's death, suggesting that some remarks the vocalist had made about Dimebag in print just weeks earlier might have incited Dimebag's killer.
03 min read

BEHEMOTH: ‘Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel’ Video Released

Manos Spanos
Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH will release their long-awaited new album, "The Satanist", on February 3 in the U.K., February 4 in North America and Poland, February 5 in Japan, and February 7 in the rest of the world. Pre-order bundles, include: CD, LP, t-shirt, as well as the deluxe box set, and are available at metalblade.com/behemoth in North America, nuclearblast.de/behemoth in Europe, and on behemoth-store.com (digibook and box). BEHEMOTH's video for the new single "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel" has been unveiled. This visual masterpiece was produced by Grupa 13 and is one of BEHEMOTH's most unsettling and unique works to date. BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski states about the video: "Yes, we took all the time in the world to complete this project. And we did everything that was humanely possible to accurately express our vision. We crossed the Rubicon. "'Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel' is an ecstatic manifest of our unrestrained artistic will, where we dare to reach out beyond the limitations of the heavy metal genre. And it's only the beginning." "The Satanist" deluxe box, which is available in North America as an European import, includes: CD/DVD digibook in silver mirror slipcase with a high-quality 44-page booklet (with gold foil, UV gloss lamination), supersize poster flag (approx. 3.5' x 5'), wooden black inverted rosary cross, metal pin, black envelope with black communion wafers. The DVD, "Live Barbarossa", includes a professionally filmed show in Ekaterinburg, Russia, as well as 30-minute documentary about the creative process behind "The Satanist". "The Satanist" was produced by BEHEMOTH, Wojtek and Slawek Wieslawscy and Daniel Bergstrand at Hertz Studio. The CD was mixed by Matt Hyde (SLAYER) and mastered by Ted Jensen (METALLICA, AC/DC) at Sterling Sound in New York City. The cover art for "The Satanist" was painted by renowned Russian painter and occultist Denis Forkas. The paint used included some of Nergal's own blood. Additional art and design was completed by Metastazis (PARADISE LOST) and Zbigniew Bielak (WATAIN, GHOST). "I wanted to incorporate some of my DNA into the art," Nergal told Australia's Heavy magazine about having his blood included in "The Satanist" artwork. "This album seems to be so defining of who we are now as people and as individuals, and considering all the instances in recent years, [we wanted] to make it more 'ours' than it is usually." In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, Darski described BEHEMOTH's new songs as "very atmospheric" and "very emotional." "Think BURZUM meets NEW ORDER meets KILLING JOKE," he added. But at the same time, fans shouldn't expect the album to sound too far removed from BEHEMOTH's past efforts. "Take SLAYER, for example," Darski said. "Whatever genre they deal with, they still end up sounding like SLAYER. Even when they were flirting with nu-metal, it was a SLAYER record. Same with BEHEMOTH." According to Darski, at least some of the inspiration for the new BEHEMOTH album came from his five-month bout of leukemia he overcame in January 2011, after receiving a bone-marrow transplant. "When I was in the hospital, I was collecting experiences and emotions," he said. "I'm pretty sure that it's coming out now. There are moments I catch myself thinking about how my state was back then. It was me versus life, me versus death. It definitely changed my thoughts a lot. It's 100 percent being reflected in the record and songs I'm writing nowadays. I'm way more radical than I used to be." Fans can still order the limited edition 12-inch EP of "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel" (1,000 white and 1,000 black, 180-gram vinyl) that will be released as a gatefold with each copy hand numbered and signed by the band. The 12-inch EP can be pre-ordered via BEHEMOTH's webstore, Nuclear Blast Europe webstore, and Metal Blade Records U.S. webstore. "The Satanist" track listing: 01. Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel 02. Furor Divinus 03. Messe Noire 04. Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer 05. Amen 06. The Satanist 07. Ben Sahar
04 min read

JIM ROOT To Sit Out STONE SOUR Tour In Order To Focus On SLIPKNOT’s Next Album

Manos Spanos
STONE SOUR guitarist Jim Root will sit out the band's upcoming tour with POP EVIL and STOLEN BABIES in order to focus on the songwriting process for SLIPKNOT's long-awaited new studio album. STONE SOUR says in a statement: "Everyone involved is okay with the decision and our mutual friend Christian Martucci will be filling in on guitar. "It was a difficult decision, but as the fans have wanted another STONE SOUR tour and Jim had responsibilities to the writing process with SLIPKNOT, we feel this is the best decision where everyone wins." STONE SOUR's tour with POP EVIL and STOLEN BABIES is scheduled to kick off on January 14 at the House Of Blues in Orlando, Florida. SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor — who also fronts STONE SOUR — told ARTISTdirect in a recent interview that things may finally be moving forward for SLIPKNOT in terms of making its first new album since 2008's "All Hope Is Gone". Taylor explained: "SLIPKNOT is looming on the horizon. That's what's next in my mind anyway. I'm writing some demos. [Shawn 'Clown' Crahan, percussion] is putting some things together. Joey [Jordison, drums] is doing [his side project] SCAR THE MARTYR, but he's a fucking machine. He can write at any time. This band is just loaded with writers. We don't have a definitive start date, which is fine. That's okay for us now. When we're ready to make the album, we will. That's the mindset. Next year we're going to get together and start putting the pieces together." Asked what he thinks when someone brings up SLIPKNOT's 2004 album "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses", Taylor replied: "That album is a bit of a peek at what I think the next album will be. It'll be a cross between 'Iowa' and 'Vol. 3' in a lot of ways, while also evolving the way we always have. The stuff I'm writing right now is really dark. The stuff Clown is coming with is fucking beyond. It's really cool. It's going to be cool to get the alchemists in the same room and see what happens." Jordison recently told Stereoboard.com about the forthcoming SLIPKNOT CD: "What I can say is that there is SLIPKNOT material. We're writing right now, and we're all in talks . . . I've got so much SLIPKNOT material, I started writing this a long time ago. Y'know, when the time is right. Everyone works at their own pace and I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, I just kinda put myself in the mindset where I'm writing for a certain project. I kinda just take myself to that place, get in that mindset. When the time is right." Jordison and Crahan are the main creative forces within SLIPKNOT and the ones most ready to make a new record, as Crahan hinted to The Pulse Of Radio not long ago. "Before you know it, there is going to be another record, and it's gonna come sooner than anybody thinks," he said. "Everybody thinks differently, but I'm here to tell you as the Clown, it's gonna come sooner than you think and it's gonna hit you in the back of the head instead of the front of the face. And it's gonna be an amazing, amazing part of our lives." The new SLIPKNOT album will be the band's first without bassist Paul Gray, another key member of the songwriting team who died of a drug overdose in May 2010. Taylor and Root have spent the last three years recording and touring behind three full STONE SOUR studio records, 2010's "Audio Secrecy" and the double concept album "House Of Gold & Bones", which was released in two parts in 2012 and 2013. SLIPKNOT toured earlier this year and last summer.
04 min read

Interview: Suicidal Angels (Chris Tsitsis)

Panagiotis Karagiannidis
What can one say about Suicidal Angels? They've made the Greek metal scene so proud over the past years being the first Greek Thrash metal band to sign a deal with a large record company (Nuclear Blast, 2009) and make it big with tours all over Europe with legends of the scene. Metalpaths had the chance to talk with Chris Tsitsis (lead guitarist) a week before the big show with British Evile about various issues concerning the band. Let's see what he said to us
09 min read

Live Report: Black Sabbath – Copenhagen, Denmark

Panagiotis Karagiannidis
The Forum in Copenhagen is a venue that can hold 10,000 people and it's an arena that I've visited fairly frequently the past 15 years. I have never seen the Forum be SOLD OUT... But when the godfathers of metal, BLACK SABBATH visit Copenhagen, the place is sold out. I honestly thought that there would be people left outside in the freezing cold that evening.
04 min read