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DIMMU BORGIR Vs. BUSHIDO: Rapper Accused Of ‘Stealing’ Band’s Music

Manos Spanos
For the second time in six years, German rapper Bushido (real name: Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi) is accused of having "stolen" music from the black metal band DIMMU BORGIR, this time for his new song "Leben Und Tod Des Kenneth Glöckler" (English-language translation: "Life And Death Of Kenneth Glöckler"). Bushido's track — which will appear on his upcoming album "Sonny Black" (due in February 2014) — allegedly borrows the musical theme from the DIMMU BORGIR cut "Dimmu Borgir", which is featured on the Norwegian group's 2010 CD "Abrahadabra". You can hear both songs below. DIMMU BORGIR in 2007 threatened to sue Bushido for allegedly using melodies from the band's songs on his albums without permission. DIMMU BORGIR manager Yvette Uhlmann stated at the time: "The band was contacted via the Internet and was told that Bushido had stolen the melody of their song 'Mourning Palace' and that he used it in his song 'Mittelfingah'. Since we were not contacted by Bushido through proper channels and told about his desire to do this, it is clear that Bushido has seriously infringed our intellectual property rights." DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Silenoz was quoted as saying: "If the German rapper in question does not agree to compensate us adequately, we will sue him! Whoever crosses us will face serious consequences." Bushido was also accused of having stolen music from the American gothic group NOX ARCANA. Bushido allegedly copied music from three of the band's songs: "Beyond Midnight" (used by Bushido on "Weißt Du?" ), "No Rest for the Wicked" (used by Bushido on "Kurt Cobain") and "Cthulhu Rising" (used by Bushido on "Blaus Licht"). Bushido allegedly took NOX ARCANA's recordings, including the complete melodies, arrangement and instrumentation, then simply rapped over the music. He also registered the songs as his own.
02 min read

LOSTPROPHETS Singer Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Rape Baby

Manos Spanos
According to the BBC News, singer Ian Watkins of the Welsh rock band LOSTPROPHETS has pleaded guilty to 13 sexual offenses, including two of attempting to rape a baby. The 36-year-old musician admitted three counts of sexual assault involving children and six involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal. He will be sentenced on December 18. Prosecuting barrister Chris Clee QC told Cardiff Crown Court earlier today: "Ian Watkins was the lead singer in a successful band called the LOSTPROPHETS. "He accepts he was a determined and committed pedophile." Watkins' two female co-defendants also admitted a string of sex abuse charges against their own children. Clee said: "Both women sexually abused their own children and made them available to Watkins for him to abuse." Watkins allegedly sent a text to one of the women saying: "If you belong to me, so does your baby." Watkins initially claimed he was the "victim of a malicious campaign" against him, telling police during interviews he was being stalked by "a crazed fan" and other people had access to his computers. The following details about the charges against Watkins have been revealed: * A laptop seized from Watkins' home in Pontypridd was password protected but was later sent to GCHQ to be cracked. The password was later discovered to be "Ifuckkids." * In a 45-minute webcam chat downloaded by detectives, Watkins and one of the two women charged discuss making the baby have sex with animals and take drugs.
04 min read

Video: PAUL DI’ANNO, BLAZE BAYLEY Perform IRON MAIDEN Classic In Helsinki

Manos Spanos
Fan-filmed video footage of former IRON MAIDEN singers Blaze Bayley and Paul Di'Anno — who are currently on the road together — performing MAIDEN's theme song, "Iron Maiden", on November 14 at Tavastia in Helsinki, Finland can be seen below. Bayley and Di'Anno previously toured together in Russia and Australia/New Zealand last year. Asked how the trek came about, Blaze told Metal-Rules.com, "I had put it off for years as once before it had been suggested, but it didn’t feel right at the time. Also, when I had my full-time band, it was exclusive. No one in the band could do anything else, and that included me. There was a lot of things that I wanted to try, but I couldn’t do it as I was committed to staying with my full-time band. This offer came up, and I had done a couple of festivals on the same bill as Paul, and it was offered as a co-headliner, not as a support, switching the headliner every night. Paul was also OK with that and it also wasn't just all my MAIDEN stuff — it was a lot of my stuff from my own albums — so I could choose my setlist, to a certain degree, and also include my popular MAIDEN material also. It felt good to do it and say yes! It was also in Russia, a very difficult place to get into. The fans are great but it's very difficult to get in touch with them. Sometimes even to let them know that you are playing! I thought that it would be an opportunity for me, but on my last trip, there was poor promotion; I hardly played to anybody. I thought this time it would be different as all the shows were full, reaction was great and I played to a lot of new people. These people knew about me from IRON MAIDEN but had never seen me live. I came away from the tour after playing to my target audience and new people who had never previously seen me live; it was really good, Paul and I both enjoyed it." Bayley added, "[Di'Anno is] a very funny guy with a dry sense of humor and we gave each other plenty of space, as we are both experienced with different opinions of IRON MAIDEN. It worked well."
03 min read

LEMMY On His Health Issues: ‘I’m Paying For The Good Times’

Manos Spanos
In a brand new interview with The New York Times, MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy Kilmister was asked how he is feeling after recently canceling a European tour due to his health issues. "I just feel really down," Lemmy said. "I'll never get a job again. I'm paying for the good times, I suppose. It's a mixture of all the things I ever did — and I did plenty." On the topic of whether he has had to stop drinking, Lemmy said, "I've already given up smoking. I drink wine and that's it." Lemmy also spoke about whether he reconciled with his father, whom he once called a "nasty little weasel." "No, he died nine years back," Lemmy said. "We didn't run through the cornfields to each other in slow motion." Asked why he thinks a lot of heavy-metal giants have had very problematic relationships with their fathers, Lemmy said, "You could say that about anyone, really, couldn't you? With heavy metal, I suppose it's because of the look. Parents don't like you looking like this and going out and disgracing the family."
01 min read

RIOT Live in Athens

Manos Spanos
Source: Blabbermouth.net Yesterday we informed you that RIOT will carry on as RIOT V and with Todd Michael Hall as the new singer. Well today we have th...
00 min read

SAXON: Entire ‘Unplugged And Strung Up’ Album Available For Streaming

Manos Spanos
SAXON's "Unplugged And Strung Up" album can be streamed in its entirety below. SAXON's selection of unique, fresh and adventurous interpretations of material previously heard only with raw heavy metal thunder, "Unplugged And Strung Up" was released on November 18. The effort reveals layers and pieces previously dormant in many of the 14 classic SAXON songs chosen for this makeover, thanks to some ear-catching new arrangements and mixes. Recorded, mixed and mastered with Andy Sneap in Derbyshire, U.K. earlier this year, "Unplugged And Strung Up" contains re-evaluated, re-worked and re-energized versions of "The Eagle Has Landed" and "Crusader" by introducing orchestral dynamics to offer added dimension. "Frozen Rainbow", from the band's 1979 debut, gets a stunning acoustic reprisal which transports it into a power ballad to be proud of, while "Red Star Falling" soars and sweeps the emotions with its orchestrally arranged dovetail. As if this reinvention wasn't enough, SAXON superfans and collectors can purchase a digipak version of the release which includes 2002's storming set of full-volume, pedal-to-the-metal re-recorded hits "Heavy Metal Thunder". Featuring staple SAXON stormers such as "Motorcycle Man", "Strong Arm Of The Law" and "Dallas 1pm", it is a quintessential part of any collection. The standard single CD of "Unplugged And Strung Up" comes in a jewel case, and a double-vinyl gatefold sleeve version of the release is also available. The digipack is a two-disc version of the release featuring the bonus disc "Heavy Metal Thunder", and there was a digital release of the same. "Unplugged and Strung Up" track listing: 01. Stallions Of The Highway (remix) 02. Crusader (orchestral version) 03. Battle Cry 04. The Eagle Has Landed (orchestral version) 05. Red Star Falling (orchestral version) 06. Broken Heroes (orchestral version) 07. Call To Arms (orchestral version) 08. Militia Guard 09. Forever Free (re-recorded version) 10. Just Let Me Rock (re-recorded version) 11. Frozen Rainbow (acoustic version) 12. Iron Wheels (live acoustic version) 13. Requiem (acoustic version) 14. Coming Home (acoustic version) "Heavy Metal Thunder" track listing: 01. Heavy Metal Thunder 02. Strong Arm Of The Law 03. Power & The Glory 04. And The Bands Played On 05. Crusader 06. Dallas 1pm 07. Princess Of The Night 08. Wheels Of Steel 09. 747 (Strangers In The Night) 10. Motorcycle Man 11. Never Surrender
03 min read

SLAYER’s KERRY KING Says DAVE LOMBARDO ‘Shot Himself In The Foot’

Manos Spanos
SLAYER guitarist Kerry King was the featured guest on "The Steve Austin Show - Unleashed!" podcast last week. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. "The Steve Austin Show - Unleashed!" is the explicit version of the podcast hosted by former WWE wrestling champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. On SLAYER's early years: King: "Me and [late SLAYER guitarist] Jeff [Hanneman] would go hang out and see bands. We saw METALLICA at the Woodstock in Orange County, of all places, and we were blown away. We were already into MOTÖRHEAD and VENOM, and there was a lot of talk of the METALLICA guys. So we were, like, 'Let's go check this out.' And they were doing what we were doing the way we wanted to do it… We just weren't there yet. They were probably six to eight to twelve months ahead of us, just with shit-togetheredness. Even back then, I look at [then-METALLICA guitarist] Dave Mustaine, and to this day, I love him as a guitar player; he's one of my favorites. And then I saw him playing and it just blew me and Jeff away that he was just ripping solos and he wasn't even looking at what he was playing. And we were just like, 'Man, that's awesome.' And were just into it. Me and Jeff were six months apart in age. We were just like the same person." On SLAYER's recent split with original drummer Dave Lombardo: King: "When Dave was in [the band] this last time, I figured I'd be on the stage with him until one of us fell off the stage, dead. Things change. He got some bad advice and listened to some bad advice, gave us an ultimatum ten days before we went to Australia [to do the Soundwave festival tour]. And I said, 'I can't have this over my head.' And I feel bad for Dave to this day; I really feel bad for him because he shot himself in the foot. Maybe he thought he had the upper hand, but you ain't gonna get me…. Before I got home, I knew exactly what I was going to do for Australia." On how SLAYER has managed to maintain its camaraderie within the band for more than 30 years: King: "The only thing that we've done to separate each other purposely is when Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] started coming out with his family, I don't know, maybe ten or so years ago. And I said, 'It's probably a good idea to get your own bus.' Because you never know what's gonna be going on on our bus. For the band, kids keeping you awake all night — if that's what would happen; kids stumbling in on something they really don't need to see, that's something. But that's the only thing. We fly together, we're still on the same bus. We take off on the same bus in a few days. [Editor's note: The interview was conducted a few days prior to the start of SLAYER's current North American tour.] "What took me the longest time to figure out for myself personally was what not to say to people. You have your opinion, someone is pissing you off that day? You don't need to say it. Shut up, get on with your day, tomorrow's a new day and it's all gonna be fine. And, you know, there are so many bands that break up, and the individual doesn't usually have the talent of the whole. "We're good at what we do, we've got a very strong brand, a very strong following and it would be stupid [for us to call it quits]. "The only reason I would leave SLAYER today is if Tom said he was done, 'cause then it's just me. Or if I was done and it was just Tom, I don't think Tom would wanna do it. It's now just the two of us." "The Steve Austin Show - Unleashed!" podcast (audio):
04 min read