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DREAM THEATER: Complete ‘Live At Luna Park’ Details Revealed

Manos Spanos
On November 5, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release "Dream Theater: Live At Luna Park" on 2DVD, Blu-ray, visual digital formats and a deluxe edition. The deluxe edition is an 11.5" square 60 page hardback photobook containing the Blu-ray, 2 DVDs and 3 CDs presenting all the key physical formats in one release; the CDs are only available in this deluxe edition. These releases boast the 160 minute main show — accompanied by a wealth of bonus material — and feature many of the band's classic tracks, including "Metropolis Pt. 1", "The Silent Man", "Pull Me Under", "The Root Of All Evil", "The Test That Stumped Them All", "The Spirit Carries On" and the recent "On The Backs Of Angels". DREAM THEATER began their mammoth "A Dramatic Tour Of Events" world trek in July 2011 with the final leg in South America taking place in August 2012. It was here at the Luna Park Arena in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that they decided to film the two nights that make up this DVD release. The "Live At Luna Park" band lineup for this show is James LaBrie (vocals); John Petrucci (guitar); Jordan Rudess (keyboards); John Myung (bass); and Mike Mangini (drums). This was DREAM THEATER's first tour and album with their new drummer and all the tracks from that album, "A Dramatic Turn Of Events", are included in either the main show or the bonus performances.
06 min read

JOB FOR A COWBOY Working On New Material

Manos Spanos
Arizona extreme metallers JOB FOR A COWBOY spent their summer on tour throughout North America as part of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. After returning home, the band has hunkered to write their follow up album to "Demonocracy". While JOB FOR A COWBOY demos new material, fans can check out a live drum cam video of "Tarnished Gluttony", live from Mayhem. Additionally, guitarist Tony Sannicandro is preparing to launch a series of new instructional videos via his YouTube channel. Bassist Nick Schendzielos updates fans: "Mayhem was absolutely phenomenal. We want to send out a huge thanks — from the massive, rabidly energetic crowds every single day (despite the heat!), to John Reese and his amazing production staff, and to all the killer bands and crew we were fortunate enough to party/share the stage with. "Now it's time to get knee deep in riff-land to start composing our next full length record which will be coming out in 2014. We have a really exciting concept for the record and we can't wait to share it with you guys! Til then, keep metal as an adjective!" Schendzielos continues: "And to our German friends — I'm flying out tomorrow to the Warwick Bass Guitar Camp at the Warwick HQ in Markneukirchen. There's an open day where you can come and hang. It's gonna be awesome."
02 min read

ICED EARTH Completes Mixing And Mastering New Album

Manos Spanos
North American metallers ICED EARTH have completed mixing and mastering their new album, "Plagues Of Babylon", for a January 2014 via Century Media Records. Says ICED EARTH guitarist/mainman Jon Schaffer: "It's been a long summer, but a very productive one. "I am very proud of my bandmates! Everyone kicked ass, and we made a really special record. "Now it's time try to rest for a few 'minutes' before the next chapter of world touring begins. "Best to you all! We will see our European friends on the road with our brothers in VOLBEAT, then the rest of you on the worldwide Plagues tour 2014!" Speaking to Metal4 magazine at the Rockharz open-air festival in Germany in July, Schaffer said about the upcoming CD: "It's a bit of a different thing for us, because it's half of a concept and the other half is [standalone] tracks. Musically, I think it's just another step in the right direction. It's really heavy, it's very melodic. It has a really epic feeling. Even though there isn't, like, a monster, long epic track, the overall feel of the songs is very epic. I mean, there's no 'Dante's Inferno' or 'Gettysburg' or the 'Something Wicked' trilogy or something like that on here, but I'm really happy with it."
02 min read

MOTÖRHEAD: ‘Aftershock’ Cover Artwork Unveiled

Manos Spanos
MOTÖRHEAD's 21st studio album, "Aftershock", will be released as a an official Classic Rock collectors fanpack that features the new LP in full plus a 132-page magazine that forms the "ultimate sleevenotes" to the new release, with extensive and exclusive interviews with Lemmy, Mikkey Dee and Phil Campbell. Pre-order your copy now at this location (official on-sale date is October 21). Inside is everything you need to know about "Aftershock" and the world of MOTÖRHEAD in 2013: inside the making of album, new features covering all eras of the band's career from 1975 to 2013, and tons of previously unseen pictures. Fanpack edition includes: * New album "Aftershock" * 132-page magazine * Giant double-sided poster * Exclusive MOTÖRHEAD car sticker Plus, if your order is placed before 12:00 (GMT) on Monday, September 23, your 100% official collector's fanpack will come with an exclusive personalized poster featuring your name.
03 min read

OPETH Mainman Says Next Album Will Have ‘More Sinister-Sounding Riffs’

Manos Spanos
This coming Friday, September 6, Swedish progressive metallers OPETH will set sail on Melloboat 2013, a two-day cruise between Stockholm, Sweden and Riga, Latvia featuring performances by a number of progressive cult bands and heavy hitters, including Morgan Ågren (featuring a guest appearance by Devin Townsend), SAGA (Sweden), CRESSIDA, ICECROSS, TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET, ÄNGLAGÅRD, PANTA REI 2.0 and BADGE. The cruise will mark OPETH's very last show in support of the band's latest album, "Heritage", which came out in 2011. The group will spend the remaining months of 2013 putting the finishing touches on the writing and recording process for its next studio effort, which will be released sometime next spring. According to OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt, four songs have already been written for the upcoming CD and three others are in various states of completion. "We've been looking at [tracking the next album at] Rockfield Studios in Wales where QUEEN recorded 'Bohemian Rhapsody', but we haven't made a decision yet," Åkerfeldt tells the Swedish newspaper Expressen. "But it will be an expensive album. There's a lot going on, lots of string arrangements that we haven't had in the past." Will it be heavier or softer than "Heritage"?
02 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO: ‘Without VINNIE PAUL, There’s Not Any PANTERA Reunion At All’

Manos Spanos
Fuse News recently spoke to former PANTERA and current DOWN frontman Philip Anselmo. You can watch the report below. Asked about the persistent Internet rumors about the possibility of a PANTERA reunion with Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) filling in for the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott on guitar, Anselmo said: "For me, really, I think it would mean a lot for [ex-PANTERA bassist] Rex [Brown] and [ex-PANTERA drummer] Vince [Paul Abbott] and myself to sit down and, I guess, bury the hatchet where we can be on more friendly terms. And, you know, I think it would mean a lot to the fans." He added: "Without Vince, there's not any PANTERA reunion at all; it's useless. But he damn well knows my door's wide open. He needs to bust out the keys and unlock his, man. I'm waiting, but I'm not holding my breath."
01 min read

CARCASS Frontman: ‘We’re Not Trying To Compete With Any Bands That Are Influenced By Us’

Manos Spanos
David E. Gehlke of DeadRhetoric.com recently conducted an interview with bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker of reactivated British extreme-metal pioneers CARCASS. A few excerpts from the chat follow below. DeadRhetoric.com: With the new album ["Surgical Steel"], what was your "Hey, this is going to work" moment? Walker: In the rehearsal room; it's that simple. Bill [Steer, guitar] actually was like, "Okay, let's try this out and if it works, great, if not, we haven't lost anything." My attitude was that it will work, like, "Don't worry, Bill." I have enough confidence in myself and him as a guitar player, and Daniel [Wilding] is a fantastic drummer and I was never under any illusion that we couldn't pull something great off. I mean, we're hungry and we have something to prove after 17 years and we don't want to disappoint people. We don't want to be one of these bands who come back after a long period of time with an album that people are like, "That album sucks!" We already made that album — it's called "Swansong". It's important we don't shit on our legacy. This is almost like making our first album. We've done this off our own volition, with our own time, and our own money. No one was dangling a carrot in front of us. We could have easily found a record deal, then made this album. But I think it was out of pride — especially from my side that it was more important we put our money where our mouth is. We kept it secret, and we didn't want to be accused of doing it for the money. DeadRhetoric.com: There's no money in metal anyway. Walker: I disagree. [laughs] Joking aside, it's easy to deal with those kind of snipes, but I don't want to give people ammunition.
04 min read

QUEENSRŸCHE Trial Delayed Until January

Manos Spanos
Singer Geoff Tate — who was fired from the Seattle progressive rock band QUEENSRŸCHE last year after fronting it for three decades — was granted a continuance until January 27, 2014 in his legal battle with his former bandmates over the rights to the group's name. Tate and his wife, Susan, QUEENSRŸCHE's former manager, filed a lawsuit in June 2012 asking the judge to award them the rights to the band's name in exchange for Tate paying Eddie Jackson (bass), Michael Wilton (guitar) and Scott Rockenfield (drums) the fair market value for their interests in the QUEENSRŸCHE companies. Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson filed a countersuit against the Tates in which they accused Geoff of creative obstruction and violent behavior, and Susan Tate of questionable business practices. In their August 9 motion to continue the trial date — originally scheduled for November 18 — and amend the case schedule, the Tates requested "a minimum 180-day continuance to provide sufficient time for the parties to continue active settlement negotiations without incurring substantial trial preparation costs and, if such efforts fail, to provide sufficient time to complete discovery and properly prepare for what will be a very lengthy trial." The Tates added that "80 potential witnesses" have been identified for trial and they estimated that the parties will need to collectively take 20 to 40 depositions. Further complicating the scheduling of depositions is the fact that Tate's former bandmates will be traveling for most of September and will be unavailable for depositions. Said the Tates in their motion, which can be viewed on the The Breakdown Room web site: "There simply is not enough time to properly prepare for trial. Discovery is incomplete. Even if the parties only depose a fraction of the witnesses identified, doing so will take 20 to 30 days. Many of these witnesses are located out of state. The facts that underlie this dispute span nearly 30 years. Trial could take three to four weeks with 20 to 40 witnesses."
05 min read