Tony Belcher of Tartarean Desire recently conducted an interview with vocalist/bassist Steev Esquivel of San Francisco Bay Area metal veterans SKINLAB. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Tartarean Desire: At one point I recall SKINLAB was reported as finished, done, over.... What caused the Houdini act?
Steev: It's been a while, but I feel the break was needed. Things were getting hectic in our personal lives, and at the time we were touring 15 months per album cycle if not more. But we are back now and still heavy as fuck. I'm sure you'll be just as stoked as we are about the new album!
Tartarean Desire: How has it been since SKINLAB regrouped?
Steev: Great! We're still the same goofballls we always were; just a little more revived and beat up. Everyone is really ready to get out there and fuck some shit up!
Tartarean Desire: Has the songwriting process changed since the "reunion"/resurrection and how was it for the upcoming record?
Steev: Not really. It's pretty much the same as we always would [write]... someone will write something and bring it in for changes and comments and we'll take it from there. We'll usually run with the idea of whoever is writing it, just to keep the same spirit and emotion they are trying to get. Then we'll bash it out at rehearsals and twist and turn shit ‘til it makes sense to us. I will say that this is the most diverse record we have ever written.... ...Not so much verse/chorus/verse. We just went for it and wrote what felt best to us.
Tartarean Desire: Are there any surprises in terms of sound this time around?
Steev: The whole album is just gonna blow everyone away! We are super proud of everything and now that's it actually being recorded with "real" tones and album quality sounds are coming out, we're all starting to freak out and get excited about the music we've created this time around. It's not n¸ metal, metalcore, black metal, comb-over metal.... We've kinda adapted our own tag — "stoner metal"...that works best.
Tartarean Desire: So what is your greatest inspiration for writing music? Aside from a band perhaps influencing you, what inspires you?
Steev: I always keep my eyes rolling and my mind racing trying to think of stupid shit to write about. The music I contributed to the new album was all about energy and emotion. Lyrically I'm still in the mode for the last few weeks here, and things are coming out more life against life situations and just looking at things from behind the smoke and mirrors and making up my own way of communications.
Tartarean Desire: What do you think of METALLICA's latest record, "Death Magnetic", and their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? This band still causes lots of reaction and emotions in fans and former fans alike.
Steev: Ummm, I dig the record, actually, and I even bought two copies of "St. Anger". ...I'm not a hater. I learn off of other peoples' strengths and artistic adventures. If you don't you'll always stay boxed in. I see James [Hetfield] is singing heavy again live... that's killer!! And just the fact that they opened the doors for bands like LAMB OF GOD and MACHINE HEAD to inspire a whole new generation to heavy music and they helped to keep the ball rolling.
Tartarean Desire: Robb Flynn went from VIO-LENCE to MACHINE HEAD and you had a similar "career path" from DEFIANCE to SKINLAB (i.e., from Bay Area thrash to a more aggressive, PANTERA-influenced sound). And now you've got both DEFIANCE and SKINLAB at once. How's your "other band" going and how do you balance the two, musically and in terms of writing? How do you keep the musical and lyrical ideas separate?
Steev: Well, first off, DEFIANCE and SKINLAB are two completely different monsters. It was really easy to separate the two just because they're so different. [SKINLAB guitarist] Snake helped record the vocals for the DEFIANCE album, which was cool because he'd always let me know if I crossed over into SKINLAB mode.
Tartarean Desire: Back to the new record, do you have any information you want to share — songtitles, name of the album, etc.? When can we expect to see it?
Steev: The name of the album is "The Scars Between Us". A few titles include "Scream At The World", "Karma Burns", "Papertrails", "In For The Kill", "No More Heroes" and "Wolves' Blood". It should be released this [fall] sometime. ...It's a sick ugly bastard of an album. There's nothing pretty about it. We're back in full guttural mode.... Fans should expect this to be the best SKINLAB album yet.
Capital Chaos has uploaded video footage (see below) of SKINLAB performing on April 17, 2009 at The Kennel Club in Sacramento, California. Also on the bill were STEPCHILD, DROP SEVEN and MUCUS MEMBRANE. The show was a benefit concert for DEFTONES bassist Chi Cheng.
Fan-filmed video footage of MORBID ANGEL's June 26, 2009 concert in Quito, Ecuador can be viewed below.
"Blessed Are The Sick", the seminal death metal classic by MORBID ANGEL, will be reissued by Earache Records as a special DualDisc format redux edition on July 27.
MORBID ANGEL's second album, "Blessed Are The Sick" was originally released in 1991 and is widely regarged as one of the most important death metal releases of all time. This essential album is now due to be re-released in a deluxe, multi-panel digipack with the album on one side of the disc and an exclusive bonus DVD on the other side. The DVD side contains a brand new, exclusive one-hour documentary featuring interviews with the band and crew discussing the recording and release of the album, and highlighting the band's rise from underground heroes to worldwide flag-bearers for the death metal scene.
To celebrate this important release, a special limited-edition picture disc LP will also be issued, marking the first time the album has been available on this format.
MORBID ANGEL guitarist Trey Azagthoth recently spoke to Revolver magazine about the band's upcoming album, which will mark the Florida-based group's first release to feature bassist/vocalist David Vincent since 1995's "Domination".
"We played the new song 'Nevemore' on the last tour and that kind of shows where our heads are at," he said. "I'd say it's like an assemblage of all sorts of stuff from the catalog and some new influences. I listen to a lot of hardcore [techno] music now — the fuckin' serious, artistic stuff, not that crap you hear at the clubs. That stuff has impact and it's really extreme. Even if there's no guitar in it or no real drums, the energy coming out of the speakers is amazing."
When asked who's going to be producing the album and what label it will be on, Azagthoth replied, "All I can say is, when it's ready, it's going to be extreme and outside the box. And, hopefully, the songs will inspire people to look deeper inside themselves for 'the stuff' and to tap that potential that we as human beings have."
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has issued the following update:
"Our new album (title of which you'll just have to wait a bit longer for) is just a few steps from being completely done. We're planning on revisiting one of the eleven songs, to make sure it's gotten everything it deserves. Maybe re-arranging it one last time. Then time to mix.
"The entire writing and recording process of the album harkened back to an earlier, more innocent time. A time that produced albums such as 'Rock And Roll Over' and 'Love Gun'. And, the new songs have that feeling, I have to say.
"It all started with a point of view Paul [Stanley, guitar/vocals] had. The view had to do with ignoring the times, ignoring the critics, not over thinking who and what we are... and that we had nothing to prove to anyone.... nothing. We have been releasing albums and touring for 35 years and why wouldn't we want to do an 'honest' record. Just do it!!! And, he wanted to produce the album himself!!!
"While it's true in the past we had produced KISS records together. And we had both produced other acts outside of KISS. But here was Paul saying he wanted to shoulder the responsibility and burden of steering the good ship KISS on his own.
"He was serious. And I saw it was real. I saw the commitment he was going to make to the album and the band... and I agreed. We all trusted each other and saw the same vision of the band... and perhaps democracy is overrated... and sooner or later, someone had to decide.
"And I will tell you here and now, he's done a great job.
"The process of writing songs involved both writing separately, but often, in hotel rooms and rehearsal halls, literally starting from scratch and throwing riffs and chords at each other. Then working on melody and lyric...starting alone, then bringing it into the rehearsal halls and even during recording, we would often critique the lyrics all the way down to the last minute.
"Tommy [Thayer, guitar] really stepped up in the songwriting area....co-wrote some songs with us and actually sings his first song on a KISS album. Eric [Singer, drums], likewise was always encouraging and of course, provided his always dependable bombastic drumming style. But unlike other drummers, Eric is also a great singer. Wait until you hear him tear it up on his lead vocal.
"What else, you ask? Well, Paul and I trade vocals on a few tunes and had a lot to say about each other's songs... Result? Maybe the best record we've done in 30 years. Bold statement? You bet.
Vocalist Jape Peratalo of Finnish gothic metallers TO/DIE/FOR — who announced their breakup in April 2009 — has issued the following update:
"I just have to let this train go on! I have been in contact with Tonmi Lillman [TO/DIE/FOR drummer] very often now, and we really are on fire again! So... TO/DIE/FOR will CONTINUE! But when our next album comes? We do not know, but it may be in 2010.
"I can already tell you that next cover song (as we always do) is gonna be DURAN DURAN, and the song called 'Of Crime And Passion'. We will do our own version [of] it, yeahhhh...
"This really feels crazy but I just can't help myself after these fucking great 'inspirationfilled' moments I got after talking with Tonmi.
"I really thought I will stop doing TO/DIE/FOR forever... but I just can't. I love it too much anyway!"
TO/DIE/FOR's fifth album, "Wounds Wide Open", was released in Finland in October 2006. The follow-up to 2005's "IV" was recorded by Samu Oittinen at Fantom Studios and by Jari-Jukka Nippala at Sonic Image, and was mixed at Sweden's Abyss Studios by Peter Tägtgren (DIMMU BORGIR, CELTIC FROST).
Mexican avant-garde/black metallers LACRIMAE will release their third album, "White Pest", later this month via American Line Productions. The CD mixed and mastered by J. Miguel Rolon at Flatline Studio.
"White Pest" track listing:
01. Black Euphoria 02. Entropic Rush 03. Zerpente 04. Luciferina 05. Casus Luciferi 06. Gates to Perdition 07. Course to Arsoning 08. Way to Obllivion/Throw (bonus track)
Commented the band: "It has been over 13 years of insanity and self-destruction. This album is an ode to madness, in the use and abuse of substances and the lost of human sensibility as well as of the contact with reality. As tough as it at may seem our sound, it is the path that we have decided to follow and have do not regret our insanity… not only we have enjoy it, we praise it and celebrate it… it is the privilege of mankind. Of dust you are and in white dust you will become."
Legendary rocker Ted Nugent has penned the following "Fourth Of July" essay:
"As the stunned and defeated British army marched out of Yorktown, their band appropriately played the song 'A World Turned Upside Down'.
"Our forefathers pledged their lives and fortunes to fight and defeat the world's mightiest army and give birth to America. Our victory over King George was the greatest military upset in the annals of human history. George Washington believed our amazing victory was a result of divine providence.
"The dream of limited government, personal freedom and liberty, rugged individualism, and self-sufficiency that our forefathers fought and died for is rapidly disappearing in 2009. It is once again a world turned upside down.
"Our federal government is turning into the very type of heavy-handed, unaccountable, and disrespectful government our forefathers despised, fought against, and warned us to avoid. Too few Americans know and appreciate this critically important piece of American history. Shame on them.
"Instead of heeding the warnings of our forefathers, we have embraced big government and both political parties have been more than happy to give it to us over the past 45 years, thereby making us more dependent on Fedzilla — the federal beast with a voracious appetite for our tax dollars, and intentionally creating dependency and control. We are once again becoming subjects, not citizens.
"Fedzilla is the most unresponsive, unaccountable, bloated and ineffective bureaucratic nightmare the world has ever witnessed. It punishes the producers and risk-takers while rewarding the simpletons it has conned into believing it is helping. Fedzilla is the enemy of the free market and freedom.
"Instead of allowing the free market to correct itself, Fedzilla meddles in the free market and makes things worse. I give you Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Using our tax dollars, Fedzilla has purchased General Motors, and bailed out AIG and other financial institutions.
"Fedzilla pushed through an unauthorized trillion-dollar economic stimulus bill that not one elected representative read before voting on it. Regardless what legal nuance or loophole some Fedzillacrat lawyer could point to in our constitution or court decision that allows for such grotesque meddling and spending, I adamantly believe this level of federal meddling and control was not the dream of our forefathers.
"And guess what? It’s not working. Our economy would recover more and faster if Congress repealed the phony 'stimulus' and get out of the way of free market capitalism.
"In the latest of initiatives that 'we must solve immediately,' President Obama wants to Fedzillarize the health-care industry. Placing your health and trust in the bureaucratic hands of Fedzilla is analogous to asking a drunk driver for a ride. Fedzilla will destroy your health. It creates cancer, does not cure it.
"We are witnessing what large government will do to its citizens and to itself if left virtually unchecked. Due to unsustainable and out-of-control 'budgets,' the state of California is on verge of a financial meltdown. Other states such as New York are not far behind. Fedzilla will ultimately collapse under its own weight because the socialism model it is built upon is ultimately unsustainable. However, the social, economic, and cultural carnage it will cause to America until it collapses will be catastrophic. Free men and women are horrified.
"Higher taxes and more government ultimately lead to economic genocide. Alternatively, lower taxes, less government, and more independence lead to prosperity for all who are willing to take advantage of it. Our forefathers who threw the tea over the side of the ship in Boston Harbor knew this. The people who attended the Tea Parties this past April know it. Do you?
"Sometime during your Dependence Day celebration, you should take a few moments and read the Declaration of Independence aloud to your children, relatives and guests. Read it slowly and let the words sink in. When finished, reflect for a moment on our forefathers who bravely signed their names to it, thereby signing their own death warrant.
"Think about that. They were willing to die for the chance at limited federal government, independence, freedom and liberty. They didn't fight and die for freedom so you could have Fedzilla housing, food, transportation and health care.
"To my fellow Americans who still cherish the dream of our founding fathers, I wish you a wonderful and Happy Independence Day. To those of you who are willing to compromise your liberty and freedom in the hopes that Fedzilla will provide you an artificial blanket of security, enjoy your Dependence Day.
"I'm a free man — a citizen, not a subject — who still hears the distant ringing of the Liberty Bell. Don't tread on me and I won't be forced to Ted on you. Be forewarned: push me too far at your own peril."
Melanie Falina of Examiner.com recently conducted an interview with TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
On the 25th-anniversary edition of the "Stay Hungry" album:
"Twenty-fifth anniversary and yeah it's pretty amazing to think that 25 years have passed. It's amazing to see the significance of the record, you know the original and how many times I hear people saying, 'This was my primer to heavy metal' or 'I was a disco boy or pop princess before I got my 'Stay Hungry' record and it changed my life.' And then you've got 'We're Not Gonna Take It' and 'I Wanna Rock' which sort of started — especially 'We're Not Gonna Take It' — to transcend even the genre and become almost folk songs. I may be a little over-exaggerating at this point but everybody knows that song and it pops up everywhere — anybody that's got a complaint about anything: 'We're Not Gonna Take It!' So it's really strange to see it take on a life of its own.
"I remember, and plus it was weird — late one night on one tour when we were in Connecticut in a real urban area, and the bus had stopped — I had to make a phone call because there were no cell phones in those days. So it's like the middle of the night and I'm on a payphone and a carload of African-Americans drive by, and they look out the window and go, 'Hey, that's that guy from TWISTED SISTER!' And I was like, holy crap, talk about crossing genres. But I think for TWISTED, the video did the crossing over and took the song with it. Not the song wasn't certainly embraced, and a lot of people think the video made the song but the fact was 'We're Not Gonna Take It' was added at 145 radio stations the first week it came out and that was two weeks before the video even hit. And just so you know that's a lot of radio stations to play a heavy metal band in 1984. So the song itself spoke for itself but the video reinforced it; when it came to crossing the pop world and into the urban world and all these other communities I think the video — you know, movies are a common bond — and people watched the movie and got hooked on the song. Plus it was groundbreaking — no one was doing videos like that. When ever they have the 'Top 100 Videos of All Time', 'We're Not Gonna Take It' always shows up. And as a matter of fact — and this is a little-known fact about the video — when 'We're Not Gonna Take It' was delivered to MTV, I believe the guy's name was Les Garland but I'm not sure, he hated it, he was hostile. The reaction was, 'This is not rock video, this is method acting.' And they never allowed 'We're Not Gonna Take It' to go out of medium-rotation and as much as you know that song that was medium-rotation but it had such a connection that people waited for that thing to come on. And the funny thing is when we delivered 'I Wanna Rock', which was basically the sequel to 'We're Not Gonna Take It', the reaction was, 'Ah, now this is a rock video!' So either the perception had changed within the company or they were just sort of covering their tracks from their denial of it being a real video into the first place. But then of course there were so many videos that started following our formula after that it was ridiculous."
On whether the TWISTED SISTER guys had any inkling at all when they were writing and arranging "Stay Hungry" that it was something special:
"You know, no, it's just like we were on a path — it was 'Under The Blade' and that independent record led to our major record deal with Atlantic, 'You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll', and that broke in Europe namely and then it spilled over the United States. And we knew they were going to pull out all the stops on the record. As far as writing goes, I was just writing more music. And one thing a lot of people have said was, ''Stay Hungry' was TWISTED SISTER's go-commercial, selling out.' And I always laugh because it was anything but. That album was written in 1982, what I would do is when we were working on 'Under The Blade', I was writing songs for the next album, and in all the down time between sessions I was working the songs. So I was writing 'You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll' when 'Under The Blade' was being recorded. When we were recording 'You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll', I was writing 'Stay Hungry'. And we couldn't have been more broke, we couldn't have been hungrier. So there really was no commercialization or selling out or anything like that. I mean the biggest hat-tilt towards commercialization was assigning Tom Werman, who was this pop producer, who was cleaning up people like TED NUGENT and MÖTLEY CRÜE, and they figured, 'Hey, we can clean these guys up too.' So I'll tell you what, I'm looking at something right here — I have this laminated and actually taped to my triple-platinum 'Stay Hungry' album on my wall in my studio where I am right now. And during the recording I was really having a lot of problems with our producer, Tom Werman, and we just didn't agree and I really felt like he was compromising the record, and it was a real struggle for me to try to keep the band's integrity. He wanted to clean us up even more, you know, and I was really frustrated and the engineer, Geoff Workman, who really is responsible for all of the positive things on that record as far as sound and everything. And he said, 'What's the matter, man?' And I said, 'Fricking Tom is killing my record, he's pissing me off!' He goes, 'Relax dude, this record is guaranteed to go platinum.' And I said, 'You want to put that in writing?' And he goes, 'Yeah, I'll put that in writing.' So what it says here on this laminated page — it's written on an old note sheet, it says: 'The record that I am currently working on with TWISTED SISTER [because we didn't have a name yet] is guaranteed to go at least platinum or I resign. Signed: Geoff Workman. Witnessed: Gary McGachan [who was the assistant engineer].' So, he knew."
Constantine Maroulis from the five-time Tony-nominated musical "Rock Of Ages" was on hand this past Tuesday (June 30) at J&R Music World in New York City to present the members of TWISTED SISTER with RIAA-certified gold plaques signifying 500,000 digital downloads of the "We're Not Gonna Take It" single. Dee Snider, Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda, Mark Mendoza, and A.J. Pero also took part in a signing session to celebrate the release of the 25th anniversary edition of "Stay Hungry", which came out June 30 on Rhino. Watch video footage of the event below.
Quality fan-filmed video footage of FAITH NO MORE performing at this year's Nova Rock festival, which was held June 19-21 on the Pannonia Fields in Burgenland, the easternmost federal state of Austria (near Nickelsdorf and the Hungarian and Slovak borders), can be viewed below (courtesy of "Archive625").
FAITH NO MORE kicked off its reunion tour on June 10 with a headlining performance at the Brixton Academy in London, England.
Original guitarist Jim Martin is not part of the reunion. Performing in his place is Jon Hudson, who played with FAITH NO MORE during the latter stages of its initial run after Martin departed.
The rest of the band's best-known lineup — singer Mike Patton, Gould, drummer Mike "Puffy" Bordin and keyboardist Roddy Bottum — is intact.
FAITH NO MORE released "The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection" on June 8 in the U.K. via Rhino Records.
This double disc set contains the band's greatest hits on the first CD, while the second CD features b-sides and rarities.
So far, no North American appearances are on the radar, but according to Gould, "U.S. shows are not out of the question."
Steve Wildsmith of The Daily Times recently conducted an interview with singer Jizzy Pearl (L.A. GUNS, LOVE/HATE). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
On the current L.A. GUNS tour:
"It's what we do for a living. I mean, how do those guys on 'The Deadliest Catch' do what they do? They dig deep. They've got soul. That's what we have, and that's 10 times better than anything else. We're all blue collar now. There are no more mansions or Learjets, so I think the fans that come to our shows these days appreciate that we're working twice as hard.
"Playing-wise, there's really no adjustment; I've just got to get used to the long days and the drinking. Everything changes, and we're not 20 years old anymore. We do a very blue-collar gig. There's a lot of driving, and it's harder in some ways — but in other ways, it's more fun because you don't have this oppressive record label whipping you every 10 minutes and stealing all of your money."
On the fact that there are two versions of L.A. GUNS — one led by guitarist Tracii Guns and the other fronted by singer Phil Lewis:
"It's just a made-up controversy — to me, Tracii is the original guitar player. We're just doing what we do, and the songs sound great, and we're having fun."
On the creative spark that keeps the Tracii Guns version of L.A. GUNS going:
"You have to keep the joy of playing music alive. A lot of these guys in other bands don't like each other — they're tired, and they've lost that magic and joy of playing. You have to be friends with the people you're in a band with, and that's what keeps us going. We all like each other.
"To me, everything we do sounds like the classic band; there's just the twist of me bringing my own identity to the songs. They're the same, but they're not the same, if that makes any sense — and that's what makes it cool to me. For anybody who doubts it, go to YouTube and check out the videos that were put up just in the last couple of days.
"I think they speak for themselves. In this day and age, you're not allowed to suck anymore, and anybody who watches them is going to want to come out, I think."
Fan-filmed video footage of L.A. GUNS performing on June 28, 2009 at the Emerald Theatre in Mount Clemens, Michigan can be viewed below (shot and edited by Rick Arnett).
Fan-filmed video footage of CHICKENFOOT performing at this year's Nova Rock festival, which was held June 19-21 on the Pannonia Fields in Burgenland, the easternmost federal state of Austria (near Nickelsdorf and the Hungarian and Slovak borders), can be viewed below.
CHICKENFOOT's self-titled debut album has sold 199,000 copies in the United States since its June 5 release. The LP is packaged in heat-sensitive artwork, which means when you put your hand on the CD inlay, photos of the band members are revealed behind the CHICKENFOOT band logo.
CHICKENFOOT first got together more than a year ago when they started jamming in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Although they called the band CHICKENFOOT at the time, guitarist Joe Satriani told The Pulse of Radio that nobody thought the name would stick. "Sammy's [Hagar] saying, 'Oh, you know, we can call it CHICKENFOOT,' and everybody laughs and says, 'Yeah, okay, it'll never be called CHICKENFOOT, of course, that's a horrible name.' And that's the way it was for about nine months, until finally someone said, 'You know, you can't change it now, everyone's calling you guys CHICKENFOOT.' So we wound up with that name, I think, quite by accident."
The band will launch its first major North American tour on August 2 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, finishing up on September 5 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. This will be the group's first extensive run since completing a nine-date club jaunt last month.
Wrexham, Wales-based "Metalheadz" show conducted an interview with guitarist Joel Stroetzel of Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE at this year's Download festival, which was held June 12-14 at Donington Park, United Kingdom. You can now listen to the chat using the player below.
According to Hits Daily Double, the companion web site of music industry tip sheet HITS, the new, self-titled album from Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE is on track to sell between 55,000 and 60,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's last CD, "As Daylight Dies", opened with just under 60,000 units to debut at position No. 32 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was the follow up to 2004's Grammy-nominated album "The End of Heartache", which was certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's self-titled fourth album was released on June 30 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was produced by Brendan O'Brien (AC/DC, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE) and co-produced by guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE will team up with IN FLAMES for a co-headlining tour of Canada in Sepember. Support on the trek will come from PROTEST THE HERO and BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE will spend the summer touring as a main-stage attraction on the second annual Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.
01. In The Presence Of Enemies 02. Beyond This Life 03. Misunderstood 04. A Nightmare To Remember 05. Hollow Years 06. Caught In A Web 07. Erotomania 08. Voices 09. Solitary Shell 10. A Rite Of Passage 11. Pull Me Under
Encore:
12. Metropolis Pt. 1 / Learning to Live / A Change of Seasons
Fan-filmed video footage of DREAM THEATER and CYNIC's performances can be viewed below.
According to Billboard.biz, DREAM THEATER's "Black Clouds and Silver Linings" has topped the pan-European album chart. The set jumps 14-1 in Finland and debuts at No. 3 in Germany and Holland, No. 4 in Hungary, No. 5 in Italy, No. 9 in France and No. 23 in the United Kingdom, the band's best ranking there to date.
DREAM THEATER is on a steady upward curve on the composite European chart, having opened at No. 7 with its first Roadrunner album, "Systematic Chaos", in 2007 and No. 16 with "Octavarium", on Atlantic in 2005.
"Black Clouds & Silver Linings" has registered the following first-week chart positions:
"Black Clouds & Silver Linings" sold 40,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release.
DREAM THEATER's last CD, "Systematic Chaos", opened with 36,000 units in 2007 to enter The Billboard 200 chart at No. 19. 2005's "Octavarium" premiered with 27,000 copies to debut at No. 36.
In addition to the standard-version CD, DREAM THEATER's tenth studio album, "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", was also made available on vinyl LP, as well as a three-disc, special-edition CD that includes the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs.
Video footage of legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB) building his own guitars at the ESP headquarters in North Hollywood, California can be viewed below.
LYNCH MOB — George Lynch (guitar), Oni Logan (vocals), Marco Mendoza (bass; ex-WHITESNAKE, THIN LIZZY) and Scot Coogan (drums; ACE FREHLEY, ex-BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION) — recently comleted work on its new album, titled "Smoke And Mirrors", for a late summer release. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "The Phasist", "Mansions In The Sky" and "Hollywood Heroes". Lynch previously stated about the new tracks, "It's got a nice old-school, four-on-the-floor vibe to it… very honest, bare and raw!"
George Lynch's unique melodic style and technical mastery have influenced countless fans for decades. In his IMV "Behind the Player" DVD, George gives in-depth lessons for how to play "Mr. Scary" and "Tooth and Nail" by DOKKEN — then jams the tracks with MEGADETH bassist James Lomenzo and KORN drummer Ray Luzier. The DVD also includes a behind-the-scenes look at George's life as professional musician, motion graphic VideoTab that shows exactly how he plays his part in the two tracks, and exclusive special features.
Long-running U.K. rockers THE QUIREBOYS are currently recording an acoustic album of old THE QUIREBOYS songs and possibly a couple of covers. Songs recorded so far include "Hates To Please", "Roses And Rings", "Long Time Coming", "Hello", "Mona Lisa Smiled" and "There She Goes Again". Mandolin, dobro, fiddle, accordian and pedal steel have been laid down and more tracks are due to be finished during July. The album will be available in November.
In other news, THE QUIREBOYS have scheduled the following dates in Spain in November:
Nov. 13 - Kafe Antzokia - Bilbao, Spain Nov. 14 - Acapulco - Gijon, Spain Nov. 16 - Playa Club - A Coruña, Spain Nov. 17 - El Sol or Caracol - Madrid, Spain Nov. 18 - La Bola - Caceres, Spain Nov. 19 - El Tren - Granada, Spain Nov. 20 - Durango Club - Valencia, Spain Nov. 21 - Apolo (2) - Barcelona, Spain
For a complete list of upcoming THE QUIREBOYS shows, go to this location.
EMI Records last year released "The Best Of" from THE QUIREBOYS, a double CD of material from the band's EMI-era recordings. It contains many previously unreleased tracks and rarities and is available at a budget price.
THE QUIREBOYS' latest album, "Homewreckers & Heartbreakers", was made available in stores in June 2008 via Townsend Records. The CD was mixed at Good Luck studios in London with Mark Wallis, who has previously worked with TRAVIS and U2. According to a posting on the group's web site, "this album sees the band returning to their roots with a more varied selection of styles than 'Well Oiled' [2004]."
Sarah Vogler of Australia's News.com.au reports that at least 40 online ticket sales are being investigated as the Queensland Police Service's Property Crime Investigation Unit closes in on illegal scalping.
The Sunday Mail revealed last month that hundreds of tickets to megaband AC/DC's concerts were being sold illegally at inflated prices on online auction site eBay.
Tickets to concerts at Queensland sporting stadiums are not allowed to be re-sold for more than 10 per cent above the purchase price.
Swedish metallers EVERGREY have scheduled the following dates (venue details to be confirmed):
Sep. 16 - Bochum, Germany Sep. 17 - [to be announced], Czech Republic Sep. 18 - Budapest, Hungary Sep. 19 - Sofia, Bulgaria Sep. 20 - Bucharest, Romania Sep. 21 - Larissa, Greece Sep. 22 - Athens, Greece (Acoustic / MTV Headbangers Ball) Sep. 23 - Athens, Greece Sep. 24 - Cluj Napoca, Romania Sep. 25 - Belgrade, Serbia Sep. 27 - Dudley, England Sep. 29 - Milano, Italy Oct. 01 - Paris, France Oct. 02 - Colmar, France Oct. 04 - Baarlo, Netherlands Oct. 09 - Drammen, Norway
Commented the band: "ALL these dates are confirmed by us and if nothing extraordinary happens (even if luck lately has not been on our side) they will all go on as planned. So run, crawl or do whatever you see fit in order to get your tickets before the promoters get cold feet.
"Hope to see all of you and there will probably be some more dates added but don't take that as a promise!
"If anyone feels like they want to join as opening acts and have finances to support such a thing to there is still time even though we are right now sorting out a few bands. Send a mail and bio/anything else you feel is necessary to tom@evergrey.net and you'll get a fair chance. Last day for applications is July the 30th."
Fan-filmed video footage of EVERGREY's April 5, 2009 concert at The Boerderij in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands can be viewed below.
"Torn", the new album from EVERGREY, entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 4. The CD was released in North America on September 23. The limited edition comes in a high-class digipack with one bonus track ("Caught In A Lie").
"Torn" was previously described by frontman Tom S. Englund as a "modern mix of 'In Search Of Truth' and 'Recreation Day'." "The tracks are all guitar-oriented and very atmospheric," he said. "They have exactly the sound that our fans expect from us." According to Englund, the slightly more experimental direction of EVERGREY's previous release, "Monday Morning Apocalypse", has given way again to old strengths and virtues. "Two years ago we needed an album with a slightly different approach and an expensive producer, just to find out how that sort of thing works," he explained. "It was the right album at the time, but now we have returned to our typical trademarks." This is one of the reasons why the tracks on "Torn" were self-produced by Englund together with drummer Jonas Ekdahl. In addition, the band has a new bassist, Fredrik Larsson having been replaced by former STRATOVARIUS musician Jari Kainulainen.
More fan-filmed video footage of JUDAS PRIEST's July 2, 2009 performance at the Milwaukee Summerfest can be viewed below.
JUDAS PRIEST kicked off its "British Steel" 30th-anniversary tour Monday night (June 29) at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana.
JUDAS PRIEST has chosen 10 songs not previously released in live album form for "A Touch of Evil: Live", which is due out July 14, in the midst of the band's U.S. summer tour.
"A Touch of Evil" includes live renderings of longtime fan favorites such as "Painkiller", "Dissident Aggressor", "Riding on the Wind", "Between the Hammer & the Anvil" and "Eat Me Alive", as well as "Hellrider" from "Angel of Retribution", the group's 2004 reunion album with frontman Rob Halford, and two tracks — "Death" and "Prophecy" — from last year's rock opera "Nostradamus".
"I love those songs," Halford told Billboard.com. "All of those songs just crush. Because they've never been recorded live in this way, it's just something fresh to put out. And when you listen to it and think this band has been around for three decades, with a combined age of 250-something years...I mean, how cool is that? It's a very fierce record and just captures the band's attitude and feeling in a very strong, determined way."
Recorded by Martin Walker and Brian Thorene during JUDAS PRIEST's mammoth 2005 and 2008 world tours, "A Touch Of Evil: Live" marks the first PRIEST album that producer Tom Allom has worked on since 1988 (co-producing along with the band). It was such Allom-produced albums as the aforementioned "Unleashed In The East", as well as "British Steel" and "Screaming For Vengeance" (among others) that made PRIEST not only one of the premier metal acts, but one of the leading global rock acts.
"A Touch Of Evil: Live" track listing:
01. Judas Rising 02. Hellrider 03. Between The Hammer & The Anvil 04. Riding On The Wind 05. Death 06. Beyond The Realms Of Death 07. Dissident Aggressor 08. A Touch Of Evil 09. Eat Me Alive 10. Prophecy 11. Painkiller
Italy's NOVEMBRE has canceled its appearance at the first edition of the Madrid Is The Dark Fest, set to take place September 11-12 at Ritmo y Compas in Madrid, Spain. According to the festival organizers, "As per [NOVEMBRE's] management agency, a knee surgery scheduled for those days is the reason that will prevent the band from being in Madrid on September 11."
A new headliner for the first day of festival is expected to be announced soon.
NOVEMBRE's latest album, "The Blue", was released in November 2007 via Peaceville Records. The CD was recorded at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland with producer Mikko Karmila (NIGHTWISH, SENTENCED, AMORPHIS).
NOVEMBRE's third album, "Classica" (1999), which is hailed as a masterpiece of atmospheric and progressive doom/death metal, was re-released by the band's current label, Peaceville Records, on October 27, 2008. The reissue includes three bonus tracks of rare demo recordings.
HELLWITCH, one of the oldest and most cult thrash/death bands to have emerged from Florida, has re-released its first opus, 1990's "Syzgial Miscreancy", via Displeased Records in Holland. The reissued album contains 12 additional bonus tracks that were recorded during the 1984-1990 period. Included are the "Transgressive Sentience" 1986 demo, "Mordirivial Disemanation" 1987 demo, "Nosferatu" 1984 demo, a rare rehearsal demo from 1989. There is also a 20-page booklet featuring the original HELLWITCH cartoon series, new artwork via Bulgaria's infamous Plamen Kolev, and new commentaries from the original "hellwitch" himself, Patrick Ranieri!
This album encompasses the original thrash/death crossover period that emerged from Florida and spread across the globe.
Dean Goodman of Reuters reports: Here's AEROSMITH by numbers: The veteran rock band has performed seven shows on its summer tour, but now two of its five members are on the sick list forcing the postponement of at least three shows. In the latest development singer Steven Tyler, 61, has been hobbled by an unspecified injury, putting the kibosh on Cincinnati (July 1), Hershey, Pa. (July 3) and Virginia Beach, Va. (July 5).
Guitarist Joe Perry sent out a Twitter message on Friday expressing "sincere apologies," and asking fans to pray for Tyler's speedy return. "It really bums me out too — you have no idea," he said.
Guitarist Phil Fasciana of long-running Florida death metallers MALEVOLENT CREATION was reportedly involved in a bizarre shootout at a convenient store in his hometown of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. According Fasciana, he pulled into a small store at around 3:00 p.m. Friday afternoon (July 3) to get something to drink and walked right into a robbery in progress. "I went in this little store on my way home to get a chocolate milk, of all things, and little did I know, I was walking into a life-or-death situation," he says. "When I walked into the store, I did not notice anyone else in the store until someone started screaming at me and pointed a gun at me. I nearly shit myself, because the dude looked wacked out of his mind and fired four shots directly at me and I went down to the ground because I thought I was surely shot. After about 30 seconds, I realized I was not hit at all and the shooter thought I was dead or injured and started attacking the store worker when I snuck up behind the burglar and talked [to] him and took the gun out of his hands and told him to get out of the store. He then reached in his sock and pulled another gun out and pointed it at me and that's when I fired two shots into his head, killing him instantly!
"Never in my life has anything so twisted happened to me before and I would like to forget it ever happened, but I had no other choice. Lucky for me, the stupid crackhead burglar had the worst aim in the world and missed me with all four shots from about 10 feet away! Needless to say, all charges have been dropped and the store owner has offered me a lifetime of chocolate milk! Ha Ha!
"I have been in some scary situations before, but having someone shoot out you from that close and miss is a fucking miracle and I have no remorse for killing the assailant who tried to take my life and the store owner's.
"I gotta move out of this town!! I have enough problems as it is!!
"I am very lucky and could easily be dead at this moment, but I'm not and I'm gearing up for our Mexican, South American and European headlining tour which start at the end of July.
"I would like to put this behind me and not talk about it anymore. It was the most fucked up thing I have ever been involved with, besides my ex-girlfriend!!"
BLABBERMOUTH.NET could not independently confirm the veracity of any of Fasciana's claims at press time. Furthermore, BLABBERMOUTH.NET could not find any news reports that corroborate the guitarist's account.
Crash Music released a limited-edition digipack from MALEVOLENT CREATION entitled "Essentials" in February. The package features 38 tracks on three discs, with over 110 minutes of "pure brutality."
MALEVOLENT CREATION's "Lost Commandments" DVD was released in August 2008 in Europe via Massacre Records. The one-hour, 45-minute disc features two complete shows from the band — Party.San Open Air festival (August 9-11, 2007 in Bad Berka, Germany) and Paris, France (2004).
MALEVOLENT CREATION's latest album, "Doomsday X", was released in the U.S. in July 2007 via Nuclear Blast Records and in Europe in August 2007 via Massacre Records. The CD was recorded and engineered at Mercury Recording Studios in Pompano Beach, Florida by longtime friend and producer (and sometimes session member) Gus Rios, and is said to be the most diverse MALEVOLENT CREATION album recorded to date and "without a doubt their fastest!!" Mick Thomson, guitarist for SLIPKNOT, contributed a "ripping" guitar solo to the song "Deliver My Enemy".
MALEVOLENT CREATION performing live in Czech Republic - August 2007:
Huntington Beach, California-based progressive metallers PRYMARY will play their first show in two years on August 1 at Fitzgerald's Sports Pub in the band's hometown. The group says, "Please come and help support the band by welcoming us back with the new lineup. Also, we will be performing songs from our upcoming album, 'The Enemy Inside' (which is being mixed at this very moment)."
PRYMARY recently announced the addition of keybardist Neil McQueen and vocalist Jackson Heskett to the group's ranks.
PRYMARY 2009 is:
Jackson Heskett - Vocals Sean Entrikin - Guitar Chris Quirarte - Drums Neil Mcqueen - Keyboards Rob Young - Bass
A photo of the new lineup can be viewed below.
PRYMARY's second full-length album, "The Tragedy of Innocence", was released in October 2006 via ProgRock Records.
Beatrice Thomas of The West Australian reports: It might have been a highway to hell for AC/DC but tram tour operator Jon Tomkins hopes his new tour marking hometown hero and lead singer Bon Scott's early years in Fremantle will be a road to a successful tourism venture.
The "Highway to Hell" tour, which had its first trial yesterday for visiting U.S. Navy sailors, starts at the Bon Scott statue at Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour.
It takes in Scott's childhood home in Harvest Road and his schools, North Fremantle Primary and John Curtin High School.
Video footage of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada-based death metallers AETERNAM performing the song "Angel Horned" live at Le Medley in Montreal on June 29, 2009 as the opening act for BEHEMOTH can be viewed below (clip shot by Benoit Nantel).
AETERNAM recently inked a deal with Metal Blade Records. The band's first studio album, "Disciples of the Unseen", was produced by Jef Fortin (NEURAXIS, THE LAST FELONY) and contains "10 tracks of pure intensity, crushing riffs, pounding bass lines and brutal growls paving the way for epic solos, acoustic melodies, ambient keyboards and large vocal harmonies," according to a press release. "Fans of BEHEMOTH, NILE and MELECHESH will most certainly find something about this band to enjoy."
AETERNAM commented: "We are very excited and proud to see our debut album come out on Metal Blade and what could be more fitting for us to be labelmates with such bands as BEHEMOTH and CANNIBAL CORPSE. A lot of inspiration and work went into creating 'Disciples of the Unseen' and we cannot wait to present it to the worldwide metal scene. We'll soon be on the road to promote the album and we can't wait to bring this monster to the stage."
Added Metal Blade: "This is one of those rare bands that was an absolute no brainer for us to bring on board and has everyone at Metal Blade unanimously excited about the possibilities. The sheer amount of talent and creativity inherent in this band is refreshing. We look forward to working together on this and many future albums!"
AETERNAM is:
Achraf Loudiy - Vocals, Guitar Alex Loignon - Guitar Jonas Lapointe - Bass & Vocals Samuel Dubois - Keyboards Antoine Guertin - Drums
Stephen Stewart of the U.K.'s The Daily Record reports: Furious fans forked out £62 each (approximately $101) for tickets to see their idols AC/DC — but barely got a glimpse of the veteran rockers.
Graham Fraser and his brother Kevin booked seats at the sell-out concert at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland.
But they were stuck at the far side of the stage and couldn't even see the rock legends.
Kevin, 39, travelled from Inverness to see Glasgow-born rockers Malcolm and Angus Young, and singer Brian Johnson perform.
Graham, 25, of Glasgow, said: "We were really angry when we saw the seats we had been given. We couldn't see a thing."
Pazz magazine conducted an interview with the Cleveland, Ohio-based all-female metal act LEVEL-C in June 2009 before the group's concert in Lima, Ohio. Watch the six-minute chat below.
LEVEL-C released its self-titled debut album in July 2008 in the U.S. via Locomotive Records. The band has since parted ways with the company and is currently seeking a new label home.
Founded in 2002, LEVEL-C was featured on the premiere of MTV's "Battle For Ozzfest", which aired continuously for several months. LEVEL-C placed in the top ten overall with its audition. While the group was not chosen for the show, it did, however, most definitely make its presence felt, not only for its talent, but also for being the only all-female band auditioning.
LEVEL-C guitarist Christina Crago puts a personal spin on the group's collective vision. "My mission for music is basically for the audience," she says. "I love guitar, I love music, and I love seeing fans dig our music and get away from their daily life with it. It's us giving them an outlet to forget about reality for a moment. Put us on in your car; forget about someone yelling at you at work."
Holland's FaceCulture recently conducted an interview with DOWN/ex-PANTERA bassist Rex Brown. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
On PANTERA's influence on younger bands:
"We were the kings of metal forever. A lot of bands were influenced by PANTERA back in the day. I'm not patting myself on the back or anything, I'm just saying, we were really good at what we did. We were the kings. No questions asked."
On the end of PANTERA:
"Philip [Anselmo, DOWN/ex-PANTERA vocalist] and I wanted to do this DOWN thing. We had written all these tracks [for what turned out to be DOWN's second album] and wanted to do this. And the brothers [late PANTERA guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott and his brother, ex-PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul] got really mad about it. 'Cause we took a year off. We needed three years off, you know what I'm saying?! But they drew an imaginary line in the sand. And I was like, 'I'm staying out of this.' Phil wanted to do SUPERJOINT RITUAL and the whole thing, and before you knew it, it was like Sammy Hagar and VAN HALEN and whatever. I didn't say a word to the press — nobody. I just sat there and hoped to my lucky stars that everybody would clean their act up and get back together. And it didn't happen. Some crazy lunatic fucking shot Dime in the head four times. He was the best man at my wedding. It's tragic, man. [It was a] lot to go through."
On whether PANTERA would have gotten back together had Dimebag not been murdered:
"Guaranteed. I would have made it happen."
On DOWN's forthcoming album:
"We have a bunch of stuff left over from the last record. What we wanna do is just go back to a bare-bones approach — get back to good old riffs, and that's the way we're gonna approach this record.
"I think right now heavy riffs are fuckin' in. And it's not that we're following any trend or anything. We went as far as we possibly could with the last record — I mean, that thing was a monster — but we don't wanna go through that period again of taking a year to put it together. For what it was, it was a great record — [it] still is, and always will be. We went really raw on the second one, and then the third one, we really wanted to delve into all kinds of different stuff."
"I'll just put it this way: Phil and I have a bunch of ideas that are recorded on tape. And he has three with the band that I played on or Kirk [Windstein, DOWN guitarist] might have played on. So there's like three heavy ones and like... I write a bunch of stuf on acoustic, but that's not gonna happen on this record. We can do that at a different time, and it'll still stand the test of time, I promise you that."
"We can go knock out a record in 15 days or 30 days, or we can... We've just gotta make it right. That's all I can say. I'm not gonna give you a date, I'm not gonna give you a time period or anything. When it comes out, it'll be bad-ass."
Watch FaceCulture's chat with Rex Brown in six parts below.
DOWN will tour select U.S. markets with the MELVINS in August/September. The group will then return to the studio from October through December to record what will eventually become the fourth DOWN album, tentatively due in early 2010.
DOWN/ex-PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo recently spent time at home in New Orleans recovering from surgery. Anselmo said in an April online posting, "this time it was a semi-torn ACL [anterior cruciate ligament, one of four ligaments that are critical to the stability of the knee joint] and a semi-torn meniscus [a common knee injury that can cause pain in the joint]."
In October 2008, DOWNreleased a "deluxe edition" of its critically acclaimed third album, "Over the Under". The deluxe package, which was made available as a Best Buy exclusive, includes a DVD with over 30 minutes of previously unreleased live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. The album was released on Down Records in conjunction with Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group (ILG).
Athera (real name: Pål Mathiesen), vocalist with Norwegian thrashers SUSPERIA, rejoined his band on stage at the Steinkjer Festival in Norway on Friday, June 26. The singer, who earlier this year suffered a heart attack which resulted in major open heart surgery, has made a rapid recovery and doctors gave him the go-ahead to make his comeback.
Trønder-Avisa, a regional newspaper in Norway, has posted performance footage and an interview with Athera conducted at the Steinkjer Festival. Watch the Norwegian-language report at this location.
Athera recently gave his first interview since the heart attack to Belgium's Metal Nose. Talking about his new perspective on life, he said, "I haven't seen the light or anything but things are certainly different. I would never ever dare to touch any kind of drugs anymore and I don't understand now how people can pull smoke into their lungs and stuff like that, even though I used to love it. I guess you must go through something like this to realize the dangers and insanity of some of the bad things in life."
SUSPERIA enlisted Bernt Fjellestad from fellow Norwegian band GUARDIANS OF TIME to stand in for vocalist Athera for the group's recent U.K. tour.
SUSPERIA's fifth album, "Attitude", was released on May 19 via Candlelight Records (one day earlier internationally). The follow-up to 2007's "Cut From Stone" was recorded in Norway and was mixed at Studio Fredman in Sweden. It features guest appearances by Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT) and Shagrath (DIMMU BORGIR).
An e-card for "Attitude" can be accessed at this location.
SUSPERIA currently includes guitarists Cyrus and Elvorn, bassist Memnock, with drummer Tjodalv and vocalist Athera.
Soundshock.Net has uploaded quality video footage of SUSPERIA performing the song "Home Sweet Hell" on May 22, 2009 at the O2 Islington Academy in London, England. Watch the clip below.
Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON were IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson's guests earlier tonight (Friday, July 3) during Bruce's weekly BBC 6 Music radio program, dubbed "The Bruce Dickinson Friday Rock Show". The program is now available for streaming at BBC.co.uk.
MASTODON recently launched a "Crack The Skye"tour page featuring pictures, videos, setlists and fan commentary for each show on the band's current trek.
MASTODON in May released two versions of the band's new album, "Crack The Skye", on vinyl. The first is a standard high-quality vinyl issue with beautiful full-size album artwork. There is also a special deluxe edition mastered and pressed on two discs at 45 rpm for maximum audiophile fidelity housed in a gatefold sleeve available in a very limited edition, one-time-only pressing. This edition also includes the complete album on CD.
"Crack The Skye" sold 41,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 11 on The Billboard 200 chart.
MASTODON's 2006 CD, "Blood Mountain", came in with just over 24,000 units — significantly more than the 8,000 first-week tally registered by its predecessor, 2004's "Leviathan" — which put it at No. 32.
"Oblivion", the new video from MASTODON, can be viewed below.
New York City experimental doom metal act BLOODY PANDA has completed work on its new album, "Summon", for an August 11, 2009 North American release via Profound Lore Records.
Fronted by Japanese siren and accomplished visual artist Yoshiko Ohara, whose death-defying wails have at once drawn comparison to Diamanda Galas, Björk and Jarboe, BLOODY PANDA creates unique, affecting heavy music that combines visceral power, pained beauty and devastating emotion. Since its formation in 2005, BLOODY PANDA has skillfully combined the brutal with the entrancing, generating buzz with the UG metal sect and the indie set alike, each drawn to the band's super-strength songs, funeral doom arrangements and the sight and sound of a petite woman chanting and screaming in both English and Japanese alongside four imposing musicians sporting executioner's masks.
Recorded at New York's Excello Recordings and Secret Weapon Studios with engineer Jason Marcucci (FLAMING LIPS, THE WHITE STRIPES) and the band's Josh Rothenberger, "Summon" is a nightmarish, cryptic trip that boosts BLOODY PANDA's disturbing cinematic vision of terror and frightening ferocity to altogether new spheres. The follow-up to the band's acclaimed debut, "Pheromone", "Summon" is described as "the aural equivalent of a Takashi Miike film translated into doom metal." The album is an artful time-stretching opus that morphs through a vast cornucopia of both darkened sound and disturbing tone.
"Summon" will be issued as a two-disc, CD/DVD release; the DVD bringing to life an abstract visual interpretation of the 20-plus-minute BLOODY PANDA track "Miserere". Filmed in various Brooklyn locales and coupled with footage captured in Jatiluhur Dam, Indonesia, this optic translation is a very dark and mysterious offering that features world-renowned Butoh dancer Yuko Kaseki. "Miserere" was shot and edited by BLOODY PANDA's Bryan Camphire, Blake McDowell and Josh Rothenberger, all of whom are also New York City-based filmmakers.
"'Summon' spans two years of work — not just songwriting and recording, but also collaborations with different percussionists, studios, guest musicians, dancers and video artists," comments BLOODY PANDA guitarist Josh Rothenberger. "The final piece of the puzzle was Profound Lore, a label that has the attention of not only the metal world, but of the experimental art community as well; making it a good home for this release; the most important relic we've given birth to thus far."
"Summon" track listing:
01. Gold 02. Pusher 03. Saccades I 04. Saccades II 05. Miserere 06. Grey 07. Hashira
An excerpt from the new BLOODY PANDA track "Miserere" is available at this location.
BLOODY PANDA will launch a month-long North American tour on July 21 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania- The 27-city trek will run through August 21 at the Union Pool in Brooklyn.
BLOODY PANDA performing on June 27, 2009 in New York City:
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