Jake Serd of the band DEGRADE THE SIGNAL and the Danville, Illinois radio station 94.9 K-Rock recently conducted an interview with former SOIL and current DIRGE WITHIN guitarist Shaun Glass. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.
When asked why he, as a founding member of SOIL, isn't involved in the current reunion of the band's original lineup, Glass said, "There's a lot of reasons. Mainly, yes, [it's] because I am focused on DIRGE WITHIN. And I'm way more into this band. And I think that my work ethic and their ethic are very different, to be polite. And I think that we just grew apart as people, man. It's like a marriage — not every girlfriend or wife you were with you want to still be with. It's kind of like I don't wanna go back to that girlfriend. Imagine living with her and playing with her and going to work with her, but you don't want to be with her anymore. And to be brutally honest, I really, really like DIRGE WITHIN. My heart is more into this music and this style and what I created from scratch. And I think that's more me. Life is about evolving and changing and not always going backwards. Some people like the past. Me, I'm proud of my past, but I like to move and progress and grow. Dude, we're only so long on this Earth and I don't want to wear the same pair of pants I wore in high school."
Interview (audio):
DIRGE WITHIN's sophomore album, "There Will Be Blood", was released on April 10 via Rocket Science Ventures/THC: Music. The CD was recorded at Mercenary Studios in Zion, Illinois with engineer Scott Creekmore and producer Ari Mihalopoulos and was mixed at Inner Light Studios with Ari and DIRGE WITHIN guitarist Shaun Glass.
Guitarist Matt Szlachta recently left DIRGE WITHIN to continue to focus on his passion for teaching guitar to his students and for other personal reasons. He has since been replaced by Chuck Wepfer.
DIRGE WITHIN's new album is the band's first to feature drummer Frankie Harchut and bassist Jeff Paulick (bassist/vocalist of LAZARUS A.D.), who has been filling on bass duties on tour with DIRGE WITHIN.
A four-and-a-half-minute YouTube clip containing audio samples of the "There Will Be Blood" album songs "For My Enemies", "There Will Be Blood", "Vultures", "Without You", "As We Prey", "Memories" and "Apathy" can be found below.
DIRGE WITHIN's "Absolution" EP was made available on August 16, 2011. The three-song effort gives fans a taste of what's to come from the band's forthcoming sophomore album.
DIRGE WITHIN's debut album, "Force Fed Lies", came out on September 1, 2009 via E1 Music.
Fan-filmed video footage of DOKKEN's May 12 performance at the M3 Rock Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland can be seen below.
Frontiers Records last week announced that it will release DOKKEN's new album, "Broken Bones", in the fall. The drums for the CD were laid down at MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee's The Atrium studio in Calabasas, California.
DOKKEN frontman Don Dokken stated in a recent interview about the new album title, "[It]is a metaphor that we all have broken bones, be it from an accident, failed relationship, or a broken heart. Everybody gets wounded as we go through life, but, as they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Dokken previously described the band's new material as "very uptempo and heavy." He added, "We know our fans like the classic DOKKEN sound, and this is where our new music is headed. It's been a band of brothers doing what we love: 'music.'"
Regarding the new songs' lyrical approach, Dokken said, "I write what comes from the heart, I don't believe in writing music trying to repeat what you've already done. I understand what the fans want but as an artist I see no point in painting the same picture over and over."
The cooperation between Frontiers and DOKKEN started with the European release of the group's "Lightning Strikes Again" CD in 2007. The album marked a return to DOKKEN's signature style with melodic hooklines and blazing guitar riffs that epitomized the band's sound on such records as "Tooth And Nail", "Under Lock And Key", "Back For The Attack" and "Dysfunctional".
DOKKEN's current lineup consists of Don Dokken on lead vocals, Jon Levin on guitar, Sean McNabb on bass and Mick Brown on drums.
GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose has reportedly slipped and pulled a hamstring during a "wild weekend" in Moscow, Russia.
Roseposted a photo on his Twitter account showing extensive bruising to his leg. He wrote, "Can U say HemaToma?!"
According to WebMD, hematoma is a collection of blood outside of a blood vessel. It occurs because the wall of a blood vessel wall, artery, vein or capillary, has been damaged and blood has leaked into tissues where it does not belong. The hematoma may be tiny, with just a dot of blood or it can be large and cause significant swelling.
GUNS N' ROSES played two shows in Moscow at the sold-out Stadium Live Friday and Saturday and is scheduled to continue the tour with a show in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday, May 17.
According to the Komsomolskaya Pravda web site, Rose hurt his leg when he fell off a table while dancing at the trendy club Premier Lounge after the second Moscow concert.
Axl Rose skipped GUNS N' ROSES' induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last month and declined to be inducted along with the rest of the group. The singer also reaffirmed that there is no chance of the original lineup reuniting, and seemed to speak directly to fans still hoping for a reunion when he added, "Time to move on. People get divorced. Life doesn't owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another's, or in this case several others', expense."
In at least a partial nod to his former bandmates, however, Rose wrote, "For the record, I would not begrudge anyone from GUNS their accomplishments or recognition for such. Neither I or anyone in my camp has made any requests or demands of the Hall Of Fame. It's their show, not mine."
Original GN'R members Slash, Steven Adler and Duff McKagan, along with later members Matt Sorum and Gilby Clarke, performed three songs at the induction ceremony in Cleveland. They were joined on vocals by Myles Kennedy, who sings in Slash's solo band.
In addition sole original member Axl Rose, the current lineup of GUNS N' ROSES includes guitarists Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Richard Fortus and DJ Ashba, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.
Former DIO and current DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell revealed late last month that he is planning to join forces with three other original DIO members to play "some gigs" that will see the musicians performing material from the early DIO records that Campbell appeared on. Campbell, Vinny Appice (drums), Jimmy Bain (bass) and Claude Schnell (keyboards) will be accompanied by singer Andrew Freeman, who has previously fronted HURRICANE and LYNCH MOB.
In a May 14 interview with Jason Saulnier of the MusicLegends.ca web site (hear audio below), Schnell explained how the reunion of the former DIO bandmates came about. "We got together for a coincidental play a few weeks ago," he said. "And what was initially supposed to be just kind of a fun hang to see what would come of it. I mean, it had been — amazingly — 26 years since we had all been in the same room together, since Viv's exit post the 'Sacred Heart' album. So we got together just to have a play for fun, and it turned out to be more than just fun. It was a a lot of fun, and as chance would have it, it actually sounded quite good. I think we were all a little bit surprised at not only by how good it sounded, but more importantly, how good it felt, and how authentic it felt, and how familiar everything seemed; it was kind of like walking through some kind of a time portal. I mean, basically, we recaptured — I think — the vibe that we had all those years ago, and it just seemed like an obvious next step to maybe proceed with this a little bit further."
On what it felt like to playing with his former DIO bandmates again:
Schnell: "For the most part, we had all been in touch over the years anyway. I speak with Vinny very, very often — probably on a weekly basis, I would say. And Viv and I kind of keep in touch. We have some mutual friends. We share an auto mechanic, for one thing. So we kind of keep tabs on each other and keep in touch in that regard. But Jimmy, actually, I don't think anybody had heard from in a long time. And it was actually a chance encounter with Viv at this past NAMM [convention] in January [in Anaheim, California], when I had approached him to perhaps get together with me to work on some stuff that I had been trying to pursue that the subject of maybe getting together for a play with the old guys kind of came up. I know Viv had done an impromptu play with, I think it was STEEL PANTHER at the House Of Blues, if I'm not mistaken. And he was energized from that performance to the point of saying, 'Yeah, we should get together with Jimmy and Vinny.' So Viv got everybody's e-mails and got everybody in touch with each other, and we got together, and again, it felt like old times. [We gave each other] a couple of bro hugs, and within an instant we were off and playing. And also, Andrew, the singer with whom we did that initial rehearsal, is somebody that Vinny had played with when he was playing with George Lynch in LYNCH MOB. And I had briefly done some work with Andrew on some of my projects. So they were very familiar faces, and it felt very organic and very natural."
On the new band's tentative plan to play some shows under the name LAST IN LINE:
Schnell: "[To call the band LAST IN LINE is] the plan at the moment; that seems to be the consensus, and from the e-mails that I have received and from the various commentaries that I have seen through the social sites and online, it's been getting a very good response, so I think that's probably gonna be the name that will survive. And also, it's kind of a subtle nod to how, in his last efforts, when Ronnie did the [BLACK] SABBATH reunion of sorts, even though they couldn't call it SABBATH, they chose to use the name of the first album on which Ronnie played with SABBATH. Similarly, the first DIO album on which we all played together — myself included — was 'The Last In Line'. And I think LAST IN LINE works better as a band name than HOLY DIVER does anyway, so…"
On the first LAST IN LINE rehearsal:
Schnell: "I think 'Holy Diver' was the first [song] that we played. And interestingly, too, because the song starts with just the instruments alone, I think all of us had kind of a memory anticipation of the next thing we were gonna hear being Ronnie's voice. Because other than the obvious and notable absence of Ronnie's voice, it sounded exactly like it sounded back in the day. It was very, I guess, duplicitious. On the one hand, it felt great to be playing this music again and to have the authenticity and the strength and the power and all of the things that go with playing with such notable material, but the absence of Ronnie being no longer with us to sing it became painfully obvious as we progressed through the session. Not to take anything away from Andrew's performance — he did an outstanding job, and if he didn't, I don't believe that he'd be the one that we'd be pursuing the project with. But he did a very, very good job. His online comments about 'preparing to be the world's most hated singer notwithstanding,' I think he's going to do a very credible and very impressive job of covering this material."
"Sadly, none of us really remembered all the songs all the way through exactly the same way, but it didn't really matter. As a testament, I think, to Ronnie's work ethic, having played together for so long and having had so much repetition back when we did play together, it didn't matter, and I think the momentum and inertia of how strong the music is just carried us through and we basically got through it all. Probably the largest component of that is the military Swiss clock that Vinny and Jimmy provide when they play together. I mean, I don't think there's a better rhythm section in rock out there."
On LAST IN LINE's setlist:
Schnell: "Well, it's largely gonna be material from the first three albums — 'Holy Diver', 'The Last In Line' and 'Sacred Heart' — the albums on which Viv played. I don't think we're gonna be doing any material from the albums on which Craig [Goldy, Vivian's replacement in DIO] played and the later incarnations of the band. But, fortunately, there is no shortage of material and hits on those first few records, so you can count on 'Rainbow In The Dark' and 'Holy Diver' and 'Rock And Roll Children', and so forth and so on. The list goes on and on, on and on."
On LAST IN LINE's touring plans:
Schnell: "We've been putting out some feelers and getting some kind of feedback about… Actually, [there is] a very strong international interest in seeing this back on the road. Again, this is all kind of very ironic and surprising, because quite honestly, initially, the only interest in doing this is a bunch of friends getting together to have a play and socialize a little bit and kind of catch up. But, like I said, it just seemed so organic once we started playing that the notion of doing it more than once seemed inevitable. And, of course, with that being considered, then it was an obvious conclusion that, 'Well, let's see if anybody would be interested in hearing this.' Needless to say, the ears that were listening within the rehearsal hall were on fire. There was an awful lot of, 'Hey, that sounds like that band from way back when.'"
On Vivian's involvement with LAST IN LINE:
Schnell: "I'm not terribly familiar with what Viv's following has been post-DIO. I mean, I know everything that he's done, but it seems to me that he is largely defined by what he did on those first few albums, and I'm here to tell that, believe me, every bit of fire he had back in the day is still well in place and is just chomping at the bit, waiting to break out."
Campbell and Ronnie James Dio worked together on the first three DIO albums 1983's "Holy Diver", 1984's "The Last in Line" and 1985's "Sacred Heart" — before Irishman Campbell left to join WHITESNAKE in 1987. Their subsequent relationship was strained, to say the least.
In a June 2011 interview with Share My Guitar, Vivian was asked about his "falling out" with Ronnie and how Dio's passing affected him. "It's not so much that we had a falling out. Ronnie and I never really had much in common other than the music," he said. "There was a real age difference between us. When I joined DIO, I had just turned twenty. Ronnie was a lot older. I'm sure it was just as uncomfortable for him as it was for me. We had this very awkward kind of relationship where we found it very hard to communicate with each other. It was like being in a band with your stepdad. It was really weird. Then Ronnie fired me. A lot of people think I left DIO and I turned my back on him. That's absolutely not the case. I got fired half way through the 'Sacred Heart' tour. I never wanted to leave the band."
When asked why he got fired, Vivian said, "When we first got together, Ronnie promised us that by the third album there would be an equitable split for the band. Everyone would be an equal guy in terms of merchandise and record sales. We got none of that. Jimmy Bain and Vinny Appice and myself were all salaried players. We earned less than our road crew. I just felt it was wrong. Ronnie, and particularly his wife Wendy, made this promise to all of us back then. So we started doing the third album, and I was probably the most vocal. 'Hey Ronnie, we talked about this back then and you promised us this.' Ronnie kept saying, 'We'll talk about it when the record is over.' Then the record was over and I brought it back up again and he said, 'We'll talk about it when we're on the road.' It just kept getting put off. Then we had a break in the tour and I went back to Ireland to visit my parents. I got this FedEx [package] asking me to sign this contract. They were going to pay me an extra two hundred bucks a week, and that failure to return it signed by such and such a date would be constituted as me leaving the band. So I'm on the phone trying to get Ronnie, and, of course, Ronnie won't pick up the phone. The next thing I know, the band is doing the U.K. part of the tour with Craig Goldy and I'm fired.
"I'm very proud of those records. The songs that I wrote with Ronnie and the records we made really stand up. It's bittersweet for me because I never got paid for them, nor did Vinny or Jimmy. . . We got no royalties on the records. We got none of the receipts from the tour. We were salaried guys getting paid less than the lighting designer, getting paid less than the sound guy, getting paid less than the professionals on the crew. To put a dollar figure on it, in 1984 I earned sixty-something thousand dollars, and Ronnie earned eleven million. It's a little bit of a financial discrepancy, considering that the band also wrote the music. Jimmy Bain and I wrote a lot of those songs with him. To not get paid at all and then to be fired…"
He continued, "I don't like talking about the details of it in that way. I thoroughly enjoyed playing in that band. I never wanted to leave. I got fired. As a result, it did leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, so I hadn't spoke to Ronnie since then. Frankly, when he died it was two weeks after my mother died, so I was kind of a little bit numb to the whole thing. People were calling me saying, 'What do you think about Ronnie dying?' I didn't feel anything about Ronnie dying. I hadn't talked to him in over twenty-five years and my mother had just passed. Saying that I left the band and turned by back on DIO is absolutely not true. I was 100% fired."
In interview conducted a short time before he died, Ronnie stated about Vivian's tenure with DIO, "In my opinion, Vivian no longer had the commitment to the band he had in the early days. He was — and remains — an excellent guitarist. I never lost sight of how good he was as a musician, but as a person… Well, he was no longer on the same page as the rest of us. That annoyed me hugely. When you've got four people really stretching and straining to do their very best, and one person who's clearly holding back, it makes for an unhappy camp. A lot of negative things have been said since by both Vivian and me… Now, I regret some of those things. I'm sure he does, too."
Speaking to U.K.'s Metal Hammer for the magazine's May 2012 issue which features a six-page spotlight on DIO, Bain said about Campbell's exit from the group, "Viv did nothing that warranted his removal from the band in what is still considered to be a cowardly way. For me, firing Viv was the biggest mistake of Ronnie's career. The problem could've easily been resolved if there had a been a will to do so from Ronnie and Wendy [Dio, the band's manager and Ronnie's wife]."
Vinny also regretted Vivian's departure although he was a little more diplomatic in his comments on the situation.
"Viv wasn't happy with the business part of the band, and musically wanted to pursue something else," Vinny said. "If he had been happy with the business end of it, he probably would've stayed and made a few more records with us. We had a successful, great band with Viv, and it was unfortunate to change ingredients."
Bain also felt that DIO was in decline by the time the band released "Sacred Heart".
"DIO should have gotten better with each album, but what happened was the opposite," Jimmy told Metal Hammer. "The production was watered down with all the keyboards, [and] the songs were not as good because it became harder to satisfy Ronnie's need to complicate arrangement and structure."
In a May 2011 interview with Brazil's Roadie Crew magazine, Wendy Dio stated about the controversy surrounding Ronnie's relationship with Campbell (in a 2003 interview Vivian called Ronnie "an awful businessman and, way more importantly, one of the vilest people in the industry."), "[Vivian] always said that he hated all the albums that he played on with Ronnie, and that was very hurtful to Ronnie. Very hurtful. Would you like someone who said something like that about your albums? He said a lot of things in the press that I don't wanna get into, because it really wasn't Ronnie's feud at all. Ronnie didn't fire him. I fired [Vivian]. He wanted as much money as Ronnie wanted. He thought he was as important as Ronnie was, and that was just wrong. But I don't wanna get into that. It's water under the bridge. It doesn't matter."
In March 2011, it was announced that the surviving members of the final lineup of DIO would embark on a project with former JUDAS PRIEST frontman Tim "Ripper" Owens under the name DIO DISCIPLES.
During an April 2011 appearance on the "All Hail Hair" show on Fightin' Words Radio, Vinny Appice was asked what he thought of DIO DISCIPLES going out on the road and paying tribute to Ronnie James Dio. "I think it's disgusting," he said. "I mean, why are they even doing it? Plus, [Ronnie has] not even been passed away for a year. And, you know… It's kind of… I don't know. It's kind of weird, man. It's weird."
As a tribute to metal legend Ronnie James Dio, and in honor of the two-year anniversary of his death, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based metallers 3 INCHES OF BLOOD have released a lyric video for their song "Look Out". Vocalist Cam Pipes explains, "It was hard to find the right words for a song honoring Ronnie James Dio, but I hope it is regarded as a fitting tribute to a legendary figure. His impact on the metal community will last forever, and though he may have been small in stature, his contribution to the music scene is larger than most will ever achieve."
"Look Out" can be found on 3 INCHES OF BLOOD's latest album, "Long Live Heavy Metal", which was released on March 27 via Century Media Records.
For "Long Live Heavy Metal", 3 INCHES OF BLOOD reunited with producer and engineer Terry "Sho" Murray (CITY OF FIRE, EXHIBITIONISTS), who worked with the band on their seven-inch single, "Anthems For The Victorious".
3 INCHES OF BLOOD teamed up with Kim Thiessen to perfect their artistic vision for the album, which was released as a digipack and when opened, lays out similar to that of a book.
3 INCHES OF BLOOD recently recruited Byron Stroud (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, FEAR FACTORY) as its new bassist.
Stroud and 3 INCHES OF BLOOD have been working together on a variety of things, and Stroud is beyond pleased to shift his involvement to a creative level.
3 INCHES OF BLOOD recently took part in the "Metal Alliance Tour 2012" alongside DEVILDRIVER, THE FACELESS, DYING FETUS, JOB FOR A COWBOY, IMPENDING DOOM and WRETCHED.
Starting in June, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD will hit the road with MUNICIPAL WASTE and BLACK TUSK for a U.S. tour, and then head back to Canada for a headlining run.
Celebrating its 15th anniversary, Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp has announced the next installment of its highly successful music-magic experience taking place in Sin City this coming fall. Headlining the October camp at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas will be co-founder and bassist for KISS — iconic rock god and media mogul Gene Simmons.
Commented Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp founder David Fishof: "I can't think of a better way to kick off our next installment of Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas with none other than rock god Gene Simmons."
Simmons added: "I can't wait to reveal the secrets of becoming a rock star. Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp is a grueling, military-style musical training process. And I'm just the guy to be your sergeant. Now, drop and give me twenty."
Kicking off October 10 and culminating October 14, Gene Simmons will jam with campers of all talent levels providing them a taste of what it's like to live the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and a memory that will last a lifetime. The camp will host special rock stars, including Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY), Vince Neil (MÖTLEY CRÜE), and Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW).
The rock camps allow music fans a chance to jam nightly with legendary rock stars, write and record an original song and perform live on stage in front of family and friends. Campers have the option of purchasing a three-day rock star package or five-day headliner experience. Both packages will cover hotel accommodations, breakfast/lunch, daily classes and jam session, opening-night dinner and cocktail party as well as a DVD copy of the final concert performance.
To celebrate the camp's culmination on October 14, campers will jam at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada during a live concert.
The Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp is the world's only place where real people get the life-changing experience of meeting, writing songs, recording and performing with their musical heroes. Created by veteran music producer David Fishof to be the ultimate music-making experience, these camps provide once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for musicians of all skill levels.
Legendary guitarist Slash dropped by the studios of CBC's "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight" (formerly "The Hour") recently, and host George Stroumboulopoulos had a chance to ask him about his his relationship with late pop singer Michael Jackson (see video below).
"Michael, I only knew him, for the most part, on a professional level," said Slash. "I don't even think… When he attempted to be any closer than that, I even allowed it. 'Cause it was just too crazy. There's being famous and then there's being that kind of famous. And that's a crazy world to be in, because you have no sense of reality. . . I was close enough at that point, 'cause GUNS N' ROSES was probably the biggest stadium rock band at the time, and then you had Michael, who was this sort of Elvis Presley of the period. That's scary fame. And he was just dealing with it, and I felt for him, 'cause, he was, as an artist… one of the most genius artists I've ever really been around next to maybe Ray Charles and a couple of other guys. And [he was] sort of stuck in this world where nobody is real — nobody will talk to him in a real fashion and everybody is sort of around him so they can gain something from him and so on and so forth. It's a really lonely situation."
Watch for the full "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight" interview with Slash when it airs later this month.
Slash said a couple of years ago that wanted Michael Jackson to contribute a guest vocal on his solo album before the singer died of cardiac arrest, according to Ace Showbiz. The former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist played lead solos on a handful of Jackson's songs in the past and said he regrets not asking Jackson to return the favor before his death at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009.
Slash said, "When I was thinking about who I wanted to work with, Michael crossed my mind. I thought about doing something that would see him totally cross over into rock. But it was around this time last year and he was flat-out rehearsing for the London O2 gigs so in the back of my mind I thought, 'He's not going to have the time.'"
Slash told The Pulse of Radio that he refused to take part in the media frenzy surrounding Jackson's death and skipped seeing "This Is It", the concert rehearsal film rush-released afterwards. "He'd been sort of completely ostracized by the public and the people that, you know, used to work for him and all that because of all these issues that he had," he said. "And he had a really rough last nine years. And then all of a sudden when he passed away, it was like, 'Oh, Michael,' you know? So I didn't want to have anything to do with everybody capitalizing on his death, so I didn't go see the movie and I'm sure he probably wouldn't have wanted them to make a movie out of rehearsal anyway."
Jackson was accused of child molestation in 1993 and again in 2003. He settled the first case and was acquitted of all charges in the second case in a 2005 trial.
Graham "Gruhamed" Hartmann of Loudwire conducted an interview with vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of New Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL prior to the band's May 12 concert at the Best Buy Theater in New York City. You can now watch the chat below.
OVERKILL has just completed a North American headlining tour with support from GOD FORBID, SUIDAKRA and DIAMOND PLATE.
OVERKILL's new album, "The Electric Age", sold 6,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 77 on The Billboard 200 chart.
OVERKILL's previous CD, "Ironbound", opened with 4,100 units to enter the chart at No. 192. The effort landed at No. 4 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
"The Electric Age" track listing:
01. Come And Get It 02. Electric Rattlesnake 03. Wish You Were Dead 04. Black Daze 05. Save Yourself 06. Drop The Hammer Down 07. 21st Century Man 08. Old Wounds, New Scars 09. All Over But The Shouting 10. Good Night
The "Electric Rattlesnake" video can be seen below. The clip was directed by Kevin J. Custer (HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, SUFFOCATION), who previously worked with OVERKILL on the "Bring Me The Night" video.
"The Electric Age" was recorded and mixed at Gear Recording Studios in New Jersey, owned and operated by OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni.
OVERKILL is Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (vocals), D.D. Verni (bass, backing vocals), Derek "The Skull" Tailer (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Dave Linsk (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Ron Lipnicki (drums).
"God Of Nothing", the video from from MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE, will make its online debut on Monday, May 21. Several photos from the video shoot can be found on the band's Facebook page. A couple of pictures are also available below.
"God Of Nothing" comes off MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE's third, self-titled album, which was released on March 13 via Solid State Records. The CD was the band's third release in six years, and the first since 2010's lauded "Lost Boy", which debuted at No. 183 on The Billboard 200 chart.
For MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE, the self-titled album represents a new chapter for the band, and stamps the advent of a refined sound the members have been chasing since the group's inception.
"That's exactly what this album is, a new beginning," says guitarist Robert Bloomfield. "I really do feel we found our sound. It's definitely MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE still, but with this new flare that we've all loved and understood but never figured out a way to translate it to our music."
Recorded with esteemed producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (HATEBREED, SHADOWS FALL), MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE finds the band reaching deep mentally and emotionally for what is without a doubt their crowning achievement thus far, a hard-hitting, experimental, cinematic opus that will set a fire in the hearts of old and new fans alike. With a no-holds-barred approach to programming and effects, and good, old-fashioned brutal riffage — not to mention a new level of dynamics from frontman Matthew Hasting — MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE have boldly redefined themselves for this new chapter of their career.
"I feel like everything we've done as a band all comes together in this one record," Bloomfield says. "Everything we've learned along the way. We put all our love and hate into it. It's the best album in our career so far."
Swedish hard rockers THE QUILL have been rejoined by bassist Roger Nilsson. Previously a member of SPIRITUAL BEGGARS and FIREBIRD, Nilsson played bass on the first four THE QUILL albums but left the band in 2005 to pursue other musical ventures.
Commented Roger: "Ten minutes into our first rehearsal in seven years, it was obvious to all of us that there's a connection between us musically as well as personally that can't be denied. I had a feeling that the first shows this past weekend would feel a little awkward, but instead it felt like the most natural thing in the world. It's great being back and I'm really looking forward to start writing new music again. Bring it on!"
Added the other members of THE QUILL: "After the bass player seat was vacant, we sat down and started to think about who the perfect replacement would be, and the first name to pop up was Roger Nilsson! To our great joy, he accepted the offer and after two shows we can tell you that this guy is still lethal!"
THE QUILL's latest album, "Full Circle", was released on June 24, 2011 in Europe and July 26, 2011 in North America via Metalville Records. According to a press release, the CD "is packed with heavy rock firmly rooted in the Seventies but vibrant and updated rather than retro. Yes, there's a new twist to the sound. Less is more, if you will. The songs are sharp, direct and catchy, built around big riffs, big grooves and big hooks. Just check out 'Sleeping With Your Enemy' and try to get that chorus out of your head. Surrender to the up-tempo outburst of energy that is 'Medicine'. And physically feel how 'Bring It On' simply rocks like a motherfucker. Very much classic rock and yet contemporary in the FOO FIGHTERS / QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE vein. Needless to say, THE QUILL is a band reborn."
"Full Circle" was mixed by songwriter/producer/artist Chris Laney (real name: Ulf Larsson).
THE QUILL's video for the song "Medicine" can be viewed below. The clip was shot in October 2011 during at Tierp Arena in Sweden — Northern Europe's most acclaimed new raceway for drag racing. It was shot live in front of racers, personnel, firemen and, of course, the thousands of wild drag-racing fans on site.
Norwegian singer Silje Wergeland, who has been fronting Dutch rockers THE GATHERING since early 2009, has recorded a duet with KATATONIA's Jonas Renske for the Swedish dark rockers' new album, tentatively due in September via Peaceville Records. KATATONIA describes the collaboration as "a beautiful fit in every way."
KATATONIA's new CD was recorded over a two-month period at Stockholm's Ghost Ward studios and the band's new, as-yet-unnamed headquarters. David Castillo returned to "twiddle the knobs," while band co-founders Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström and Jonas Renkse handled the rest of the production duties.
"Our seal of identity is on here for sure," Nyström told Decibel magazine. "We haven't gone and changed our sound, but we've further explored some different angles of good music, and that's what we need to do to keep the focus. It might not be so obvious to some, but to others it will be a bigger deal. So, sure, a few surprises and a few songs going off territory are in there, but overall this album is a natural follow-up to [2009's] 'Night Is The New Day', and that is what we wanted to do."
In a recent interview with Loud TV (audio available below), Nyström stated about the overall musical direction of the band's new CD, "It sounds definitely like KATATONIA; it's a KATATONIA album — solely KATATONIA album. The difference this time is that we maybe even pushed the differences even further. If you compare some of the songs, they could be almost in difference categories of genres, but the interesting thing here is that we have managed with our sound and the production and our performances to make it sound like it's not that far apart; it sounds like it's the same band. But if we would give the songs to some other band, it would sound very, very different. So I'm really happy with that. It was a big challenge. Like, for instance, you could have a song that is going totally off into this singer-songwriter territory, and you could have another song that goes into one of the most aggressive, heavy songs we've ever done, but when I listen to those both songs back to back, I can hear it's the same band doing [them]."
When asked if the new KATATONIA album is the kind of record that will take several airings to really register with the listener, Nyström said, "Yes. It might be even more like that this time [than in the past], probably, which is a good thing. I was nervous in the beginning and a little bit insecure with how we were gonna pull this album off and what people were gonna think and everything, but now I have this total calm about it; I am totally positive and confident that we have made the album that we needed to do and also what people expect from us. It might take a few listenings to get into the whole thing, but that will stay longer in your listening collection — you will not get tired of it in the first place; I am totally sure of it."
Regarding the upcoming CD's cover artwork — which is once again being created by Travis Smith of Seempieces (OPETH, DEVIN TOWNSEND) — Nyström said, "It's also gonna be a little bit different. It's actually a really big piece that we're splitting into four, and one of those four is gonna be on the cover. So there will be more to it than what you see first. I don't want to describe too much what's on it yet — you're gonna see that when it's [unveiled] pretty soon — but we're changing the color theme this time. We have been doing the black and the red for a long time now, and we're going totally the opposite and we're doing, actually… The basic color is, actually, white on the new one, but it's not solid white — it's like shades of frost whites and a little bit grey and mixed with black."
On the topic of the lyrical themes cover on the new KATATONIA album, Nyström said, "The lyrics are, actually, a mixture of trying to be as direct and easy as possible but also remaining a very cryptic feel at the same time, which is a very cool paradox. We're not trying to make it too complicated, but it might be… I mean, the words aren't too complicated, but the meaning of the songs is encrypted. And that we are very eager to see how people will react to and how they will define the meanings of these lyrics. 'Cause they're easy to read, easy to access, but the meaning itself might not be that easy [to decipher]."
Artisan News recently spoke to Rob Zombie and MEGADETH's Dave Mustaine about their two bands touring together again more than twenty years after they first shared the stage. You can now watch the report below.
In a recent interview with Loudwire, Zombie said that he didn't recall much about the last time he toured with MEGADETH. He said, "We played three shows. I'm pretty sure one of them was Dayton, Ohio. All I remember is MEGADETH and PANTERA [who was also on the bill] seemed to be always fighting with each other. That's my memory of it. [laughs] I do remember one show I think I had a broken rib and it was miserable to play 'cause our drummer at the time, John Tempesta, was throwing things at me — these are the things I remember, I don't really remember much [laughs]."
Prior to hitting the road with Rob Zombie earlier this month, Mustaine told Loudwire, "We've done shows with Rob as ROB ZOMBIE, we've also played with him when his band was called WHITE ZOMBIE. We have formed a friendship with him over the years, it's pretty interesting to see how he's been so successful with movies. There are some people that don't even know he's a musician because he's been so successful with his movies."
He added, "I'm really looking forward to seeing the production, I know he's got such an incredible show. I think it's going to be cool too because MEGADETH is a little bit about that 'Fangoria' kind of stuff because we started around that whole comic kind of thing. The two bands are going to meld together pretty well."
On May 7, Metal Mark of SkullsNBones.com conducted an interview with vocalist Burton C. Bell of Los Angeles cyber metallers FEAR FACTORY before the band's May 7 concert in Atlanta, Georgia. You can now watch the chat below.
FEAR FACTORY's new album, "The Industrialist", is due in North America on June 5 via Candlelight Records. The CD is a conceptual record based around a story written by vocalist Burton C. Bell. Lyrics to the album's ten songs divulge the narrative as discussed recently by Bell with Decibel magazine. The album's artwork was created by American designer Anthony Clarkson with additional direction from the band. The album will be available on three formats — standard CD, a limited edition deluxe digi-book (featuring two additional songs), and 180-gram double vinyl.
Bell notes, "The protagonist (The Industrialist) is the incarnation of all industries in the form of an automaton. The mechanical, technological, and scientific advances through the industrial age led to the creation of The Industrialist. In the story, the automaton becomes sentient as it collects memories with each passing day. Through observation and learning, it gains the will to exist. What was meant to help man, will eventually be man's demise."
"The Industrialist" again pairs FEAR FACTORY with producer Rhys Fulber. Mixed by Greg Reely (PARADISE LOST, SKINNY PUPPY, MACHINE HEAD), with additional tracking by Logan Mader (GOJIRA, DIVINE HERESY), the album is the second written by Bell and guitarist Dino Cazares since reuniting in 2009 after a seven-year split. Cazares says, "Collaborating with Burton again on the new album was like magic. Everything just fell into place naturally. It felt good to recapture the true sound of FEAR FACTORY, taking it back to where it all started while raising it to new levels." Regarding Fulber, Cazares says, "Rhys has been our secret member. He is the one producer who has been able to understand what we have been trying to accomplish from the beginning and has opened our eyes to new things without sacrificing our original sound. His production and keyboard talents has made FEAR FACTORY stand out amongst the many bands of our genre."
"The Industrialist" track listing:
01. The Industrialist 02. Recharger 03. New Messiah 04. God Eater 05. Depraved Mind Murder 06. Virus of Faith 07. Difference Engine 08. Dissemble 09. Religion is Flawed Because Man is Flawed 10. Human Augmentation 11. Blush Response (Difference Engine) * 12. Landfill *
FEAR FACTORY recently enlisted Matt DeVries as the band's new bass player. DeVries, previously of CHIMAIRA (where he played guitar) and most recently SIX FEET UNDER, joined FEAR FACTORY as the replacement for Byron Stroud (now with 3 INCHES OF BLOOD).
FEAR FACTORY has tapped Mike Heller (MALIGNANCY, SYSTEM DIVIDE) as its new touring drummer.
Rock Hard magazine's Holger Stratmann visited renowned producer Jens Bogren (OPETH, KATATONIA, BLOODBATH, AMON AMARTH, SYMPHONY X, PARADISE LOST) at Fascination Street Studio in Örebro, Sweden to ask him a few questions about KREATOR's upcoming album, "Phantom Antichrist". You can now watch the short interview below.
"Phantom Antichrist" will be released on June 1 in Europe and June 5 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records.
The cover artwork for the standard edition of "Phantom Antichrist" was created by Wes Benscoter (SLAYER, DIO, BLACK SABBATH) and can be seen below.
The limited edition of "Phantom Antichrist" will be made available as two-disc digipack, including a bonus DVD.
"Phantom Antichrist" formats:
- Jewel case CD * - 2LP yellow vinyl * - 2LP bi-colored vinyl (red/black): limited to 500 copies, hand-numbered *+ - 2LP picture vinyl ** - CD/DVD digi limited edition: 2 digipacks in a slipcase. ** - Limited mailorder edition: metallic box including CD/DVD digi limited edition, T-shirt, exclusive CD "Live In Wacken", poster, signing card, limited to 500 copies, hand-numbered **+
* = Featuring artwork by Wes Benscoter (DIO, BLACK SABBATH, SLAYER) ** = Featuring artwork by Jan Meininghaus + = only available at www.nuclearblast.de/shop
The "Phantom Antichrist" video can be seen below. The clip was helmed by Poland's Grupa 13, which has previously worked with BEHEMOTH, ELUVEITIE, SONATA ARCTICA and DECAPITATED, among others.
In a recent interview with Suicide Scriptures, Petrozza stated about "Phantom Antichrist", "We made sure that it contains all the trademarks that we're known for — crushing brutality, riffs that are very hard to play, lyrics that talk about things that I get angry about. You know, the full treatment, basically. We didn't try to do anything different. The only goal that we set for the band was we wanted to top everything that we'd done before and make this record an exciting record. That's always the main goal."
He added, "First off, we don't plan ahead too much. I take a long time to prepare the songs at home, in my little home studio, and then when I feel that have something lyrically and musically that I feel is good and exciting and powerful, then I play it to the other guys and then we discuss it. And we might come up with new ideas or we might arrange the songs differently, or we tear them apart and put them back together. It's a long process. We started this in the beginning of 2011, and we kept writing and rehearsing the songs until January 2012."
Regarding the lyrical themes covered on "Phantom Antichrist", Mille said, "Many things: injustice; the crisis in Greece; me thinking that religion is obsolete now in this day and age; personal things. I think the lyrics for 'From Flood Into Fire', they're very different, but it's very hard for me to explain what it's about. I want people to listen to it and leave room for their own imagination. I go to the movies all the time and I'm a big movie nerd, and I hate watching a 'making-of' [documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage] before I go into a movie. So if I would explain the lyrics right now, [it would lose the magic]."
On the topic of the "Phantom Antichrist" artwork, Mille said, "I got in touch with [artist] Wes Benscoter in the middle of June last year and I gave him a couple of songtitles. And I told him that the album might be called 'Phantom Antichrist'. I already had the idea and I told him what the lyrics were about — it's all about the apocalypse, evil in the world… typical KREATOR topics that I always write about. I think he had 'Pleasure To Kill', and he knew about the band. I liked this AUTOPSY cover that he did, and then I found that he did a lot of great stuff for BLACK SABBATH, SLAYER and many, many bands. . . I talked to one of my colleagues that plays in a German band and he told me that he would draw, with a pencil, artworks and then he would give it to a professional artist. I don't have that much influence on the artwork. I think it's best to give an idea and maybe a title or something, maybe some music even… I think that's more of letting the artist be the artist. He needs to create the visual as we do with the music."
The "Phantom Antichrist" single was released April 20 on seven-inch colored vinyl and as a digital download via iTunes, Amazon and various other digital music providers. The release also includes the exclusive IRON MAIDEN cover "The Number Of The Beast".
KREATOR is:
Miland "Mille" Petrozza – Vocals, Guitrar Sami Yli-Sirniö - Guitar Christian "Speesy" Giesler - Bass Jürgen "Ventor" Reil - Drums
"Monolith Of Inhumanity", the new album from California progressive grind conquerors CATTLE DECAPITATION, sold around 2,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 6 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
CATTLE DECAPITATION's previous CD, 2009's "The Harvest Floor", opened with 1,700 units to debut at No. 16 on the Top New Artist Albums chart.
Released on May 8, "Monolith Of Inhumanity" was produced by Dave Otero of Denver's Flatline Audio and sees the band exploring innovative new techniques in songwriting without abandoning their signature formula of confrontational audio wreckage and self-loathing lyrical content.
"Monolith Of Inhumanity" is an achievement that stands out as one of the most volatile, ambitious, and impossible to aptly categorize records you will hear in 2012. Dragging their ever-evolving deathgrind sound kicking and screaming into the epic territory inhabited by the likes of DIMMU BORGIR and ANAAL NATHRAKH, the quartet redefine all perceptions of what CATTLE DECAPITATION is. With their seventh full-length, the band have never sounded more focused, aggressive, or manically determined to get in the faces of those who erroneously believe they've already experienced the band at their extreme best.
The 11-track "Monolith Of Inhumanity" features a host of guests including Mike Majewski of DEVOURMENT (guest vocals on "Projectile Ovulation"), Lenard Leal of CEPHALIC CARNAGE (backing vocals by on "A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat"), The Cephalic Carnage Community Men's Choir, consisting of all current CEPHALIC members and alumni Jawsh Mullen and Zac Joe (gang choir vocals on "The Carbon Stampede"), and ambient and noise interludes by Los Angeles' most extreme decimator of sound, John Wiese, as well as another strikingly brutal cover by Wes Benscoter.
In addition, CATTLE DECAPITATION collaborated with famed pop culture artist Tom Bunk, best known for his work for the 1980s Garbage Pail Kids trading cards and MAD magazine, for a very special art project. Bunk was gracious enough to create individual pieces of art for each member of the band, heavily influenced by and practically just as they appeared in the Garbage Pail Kids series of the '80s! A GPK-inspired CATTLE DECAPITATION trading card set and T-shirts were included with special limited pre-order packages and collector's bundles.
BLABBERMOUTH.NET is run and operated independently of Roadrunner Records. The accuracy of the information
contained herein is neither confirmed nor guaranteed by Roadrunner Records, and the views and opinions of
authors expressed on these pages do not necessarily state or reflect those of Roadrunner Records or its employees.
