Serj Tankian's Solo Album

By Elric on 7:18 PM 30 July 2007

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System of A Down frontman Serj Tankian has set "Empty Walls" as the first rock radio single from his debut solo album, "Elect The Dead". The track will make its way to stations on September 10. Another song, called "The Unthinking Majority", will surface a little earlier on college radio and metal specialty shows. The album itself will arrive on October 23 through Tankian's Serjical Strike label.

Tankian told Launch why it was the right time for him to step out on his own with a solo project. "We've been a band for 11 years, put out five records, and myself personally, I felt I needed to do other things. I've been wanting to put out a solo record for many, many years and it's not about just the vanity of putting out your own record kind of thing. It's more about having songs and having a vision and having a place to voice that. So I've been looking forward to doing that and it's making me really happy doing that right now."

System of A Down drummer John Dolmayan and ex-Guns N' Roses drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia both play on "Elect The Dead".

System of A Down has been on hiatus since last year while its members pursue individual projects.

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Symphony X - Serpent's Kiss - Video

By Elric on 12:02 AM

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Symphony X's video for the song "Serpent's Kiss" from the new album, "Paradise Lost" - is now available on the band's official MySpace page. It is the band's first official video clip ever.

Remaining dates on Symphony X's current North American tour are as follows:

* 7/28 - Roseland Grill - Portland, OR
* 7/29 - Slim's - San Francisco, CA
* 7/30 - House of Blues - Anaheim, CA
* 7/31 - House of Blues - Hollywood, CA
* 8/1 - The Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ
* 8/3 - Ridglea Theatre - Ft. Worth, TX
* 8/4 - Meridian - Houston, TX
* 8/5 - White Rabbit - San Antonio, TX
* 8/7 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
* 8/8 - Jaxx - W. Springfield, VA
* 8/9 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA
* 8/10 - The Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA
* 8/11 - Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ


Symphony X "Serpent's Kiss"


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H.I.M.'s New Album Artwork

By Elric on 5:21 PM 29 July 2007

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The cover artwork of H.I.M.'s sixth studio album, "Venus Doom", has been posted online at this location.

Due in North America on September 18, "Venus Doom" was mixed at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California with producer/mixer Tim Palmer. The track listing for the effort is as follows (not confirmed):

01. Venus Doom
02. Love in Cold Blood
03. Passion's Killing Floor
04. Kiss of Dawn
05. Sleepwalking Past Hope
06. Dead Lover's Lane
07. Song or Suicide
08. Bleedwell
09. Cyanide Sun

"Passion's Killing Floor" is included on the soundtrack album to Michael Bay's "Transformers", which came out on July 3 via Warner Bros.

H.I.M. filmed a new video last month in the Los Angeles area. Directing the clip was Meiert Avis, who has previously worked with U2, AVRIL LAVIGNE, in addition to helming H.I.M.'s "Wings of a Butterfly" video.

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Iron Savior - Megatropolis (2007)

By Elric on 12:29 PM 19 July 2007

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Iron Savior started as intergalactig alliance. Piet Sielck (early days of Helloween), Kai Hansen (ex-Helloween, Gamma Ray), Thomas Stauch (ex-Blind Guardian) joined forces to help Piet create Iron Savior. Add also the guest apperances of Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian) and Dirk Schlachter (Gamma Ray). The band's self titled debut album was doomed to succeed. As the band grew up Hansen and Stauch had to step out and focus on their bands. Piet soon found new members and continues the Iron Savior adventure.

"Megatropolis" is the sixth studio album. The artwork reminds me of a combination of Blade Runner and Matrix while the lyrics are cyber themed as usual. The opening track called "Running Riot" and it's a classic Iron Savior track. It's good with fast guitars but not what i expected from an opening track. The following tracks "The Omega Men", "Flesh" and "Megatropolis" it's in the same style. Actually, in ten years Iron Savior didn't changed or add a thing in their music and that is realy sad.

Bu then again they write songs like "Cybernatic Queen" which a proof of their capabilities. Capabilities that they don't explore. Also "A Tale From Down Bellow" is an interesting song which has some great solos. And then nothing again.

If you are new to Iron Savior's music then "Megatropolis" is a good start but it has nothing to offer to old fans or to the power metal scene. You don't even notice the songs as they pass by except from the two songs mentioned above.


Rating: 55/100


The Band


  • Piet Sielck - guitars/vocals
  • Joachim Küstner - guitars/backing vocals
  • Yenz Leonhardt - bass
  • Thomas Nack - drums

Tracklist


1. Running Riot
2. The Omega Men
3. Flesh
4. Megatropolis
5. Cybernatic Queen
6. Cyber Hero
7. A Tale From Down Below
8. Still I Believe
9. Farewell And Good Bye

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Till's Replacement Was A Hoax

By Elric on 10:25 AM

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According to The Gauntlet, Rammstein's management has dismissed as a hoax a press release that was issued on the band's behalf announcing the departure of singer Till Lindemann and addition of En Esch (KMFDM, Pigface, Slick Idiot) as his replacement. "The news that Till would be leaving the group following the completion of its new record is not true and was not released by either band or management," a group representative said. "We have no idea where this comes from. The band is writing a new album at present."

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Saidian - Burn Down The Night - Video

By Elric on 12:36 PM 18 July 2007

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South German melodic metal outfit Saidian have posted their video for the song "Burn Down the Night" on MySpace. According to the band, the clip features, "besides live footage, some backstage impressions from our 2005 European tour with Jon Oliva's Pain."

Former Savatage/current Jon Oliva's Pain frontman Jon Oliva and Sinner/ex-Primal Fear drummer Klaus Sperling made guest appearances on the sophomore album from Saidian, entitled "Phoenix". Released in September 2006 via Metal Heaven, the disc was produced by former Sanvoisen singer Vagelis Maranis at Maranis Studios in Backnang (near Stuttgart), Germany. Sperling reportedly plays drums on the entire album, while Oliva joined the group to sing a verse in the song "Crown of Creation".


Saidian Tour 2005

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New Singer For Rammstein

By Elric on 4:14 PM 17 July 2007

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Emanuel Fialik of Pilgrim Management GmbH, which represents German industrial metal pioneers Rammstein, has issued the following press release:

"On the 13th of July 2007 the industrial gothic top act Rammstein announces that after the release of the next studio album, which is about to get finished, the current singer and frontman Till Lindemann will leave the band.

"Till's decision is mainly based on the increasing inharmoniousness within the band and was well deliberated. He will head now for other challenges which can be a solo career or maybe a new project (as of his own words).

"The band decided not to quit but announce a new singer. There is a clear statement coming from Richard Kruspe and Christoph Schneider that 'nobody ever can replace Till Lindemann' but since 'we have still so much fun doing Rammstein we looked for a new singer which is charismatic in his own way without copying Till.'

"The new singer which was found and signed to be the new Rammstein frontman is the co-founder and ex-member of the electro industrial act KMFDM and current singer of Slick IdiotEn Esch — who recently moved to Berlin to join the band.

"We all will miss Till Lindemann who gave us many years of joy by listening to his unique grinding voice. Please welcome the talented En EschTill's footsteps are big, but maybe he can dry our tears rapidly."

Rammstein will issue its "Volkerball" DVD in the U.S. in September. The exact release date will be announced soon.

Rammstein latest album, "Rosenrot", received its long-overdue U.S. release in March 2006 via Universal Music. The CD, which was certified platinum in Germany for sales in excess of 200,000 copies within two weeks of release in October 2005, topped the official album chart in Germany, Austria and Finland, and landed at No. 2 in Sweden and Denmark, No. 4 in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, No. 5 in France, No. 6 in Mexico, No. 11 in Italy and No. 29 in the U.K. In addition, "Rosenrot" achieved gold status in Austria, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.

Rammstein track "Mein Teil" was nominated in the "Best Metal Performance" category at the 2006 Grammy Awards.


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Volbeat - Rock Girl - Video

By Elric on 2:13 PM 16 July 2007

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Volbeat's new video for the song "Radio Girl" has been posted on YouTube. The track comes off the Danish group's sophomore CD, "Rock the Rebel / Metal the Devil", which was recently certified gold in Denmark for sales in excess of 20,000 copies. The CD entered the Danish chart at No. 1 upon its release in late February and stayed in the Top 5 for three months.

Volbeat supported Metallica on July 13 in Århus, Denmark. Also appearing on the bill was Mnemic.

Volbeat recently announced the addition of guitarist Thomas Bredahl from the punk rock combo Gob Squad to the group's ranks. Gob Squad supported Volbeat on their Danish tour in 2006.



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New Metallica Will Sound Like Master Of Puppets

By Elric on 4:56 PM 15 July 2007

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Mettalica frontman James Hetfield was interviewed by Norway's NRK on Tuesday (July 10) prior to the band's headlining performance in Oslo. A transcript of the interview follows:

Q: What will the new Metallica album sound like?

Hetfield: "As good as we can right now, I would say, and that's all it ever has been. Producer Rick Rubin is extremely good at getting the best out of any artist he's worked with, whether it's Beastie Boys, Neil Diamond, Slayer, Slipknot… he does all, he does rap… anything! Somehow he taps in. He's got a good vibe, and a good ear, and we think we do too. So sometimes there's a little bit of this — we like our things the way we like them, he likes his things the way he likes them — but with two great powers putting something together, I think we'll come up with something pretty amazing. He's having us focus a lot on the feeling around 'Master of Puppets' — what was going through our minds? what was it like? — the hunger around 'Master of Puppets'."

Q: You played at Live Earth. What are your thoughts on the climate crisis. What can Metallica contribute to the whole process?

Hetfield: "I really avoided the press around the Live Earth day. I didn't quite agree with what was going on there. Politics drive me crazy, and I don't like talking politics. Politics get in the way of things; they get in the way of getting things done, and getting our music across is what we wanna do — we don't wanna cloud it with 'Democrat, Republican,' whatever. Our philosophy is 'think for yourself' at the end of the day — do what you think feels right. I really believe that humans will survive. I have a lot of faith in mankind that we will overcome and adapt — whatever it is; whether it's man-made or God-made, or Earth/Mother Nature — we have a lot of smart people on this planet that will make something good out of bad."

Q: You guys have been a band for 25 years. What is the plan for the next 25 years?

Hetfield: "Yeah, to make it to 26, 27, 28… you know, it's one day at a time. Something exciting that's up for us is being eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in America, which is a pretty big deal. We played it last year for Black Sabbath, who chose not to perform, and we said we would. [Laughs] That was a lot of fun. You know, it's this historic landmark. A lot of bands get inducted, [but] not many bands are there to play all together to say 'Hi' and 'Thank you.' If you made it to 25 years, you either hate each other or you're broken up or you didn't make it that far, or something. So we're pretty proud. There's a not a whole lot of bands that can say that, so we're very grateful."

Q: You had a little bit of a difficulty on the last record. How are you guys functioning now on the new record?

Hetfield: "Well, one thing that someone said on the last record — going through all of the cleansing, the therapy, the talking, the breaking down the falls… you know, from one extreme to the other — from hating each other to not talking to hugging and crying over every note… It's crazy — one to the other. They're both unrealistic. Somewhere in the middle is where we need to live, and balance is difficult at times, especially for myself, who likes the extremes, or thinks I like them. All the work that we went through on 'St. Anger', it was said that it was not for 'St. Anger', it was for the next record, and that makes total sense. 'St. Anger' was pretty much a statement — it felt like a purging of a feeling. And this record is more us working together — in harmony, in friction, in happiness, in sadness… all of that put together. And we're able to get through it — we've walked though fire; we know how hot it can get, and we don't need to go through there again."


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New AC/CD Album On Plans ?

By Elric on 11:10 AM 13 July 2007

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AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson recently spoke to DailyRecord.com about his participation in the Classic Rock Cares tour, which raises money for the John Entwistle Foundation. The Fort Myers, Fla.-based charity, which is primarily dedicated to promoting musical education for disadvantaged children, is named in memory of the legendary Who bassist who died in 2002 at age 57 on the eve of the band's U.S. tour.

"We're not gonna change the world," admitted Johnson, "but it's a start. It's good to help (people in other lands), but sometimes, you gotta look at (what's happening) in your own country."

"Classic Rock Cares" is the collective handle of a group headlined by Johnson and his AC/DC bandmate, bassist Cliff Williams. They're joined by guitarist Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, former Deep Purple/Rainbow frontman Joe Lynn Turner, and John Entwistle Band drummer Steve Luongo, who is the foundation's founder and executive director. According to Johnson, 59, there are few causes more worthy than this one.

"When you got nothing' you got nothing," he growls in a thick Australian accent. "We're not just talkin' money. We're talkin' pride and self-respect. Being in a band gives kids a sense of purpose. It's a wonderful thing when you're meetin' with guys and learnin' new songs instead of (getting in trouble)."

It's no secret the tour's major lure is a chance to see Johnson and Williams; it's been five years since AC/DC last hit the road. Johnson promises fans of the superstar hard-rock outfit won't be disappointed, as the set will include some AC/DC favorites as well as "four or five new songs."

"We're definitely doin' AC/DC, and trying to cram as many (tunes) in as possible. We want to give people something to thank them for comin'. We want to prove we're making the effort. I haven't sung in anger in 5½ years."

So, does this portend a full-blown AC/DC project anytime soon?

"Malcolm and Angus (Young, the brothers who are the group's co-founders and chief composers) are in the studio. There's an album in the works, and a tour, too, I think. The boys are working' on something special. They don't want to do just another album."

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A Perfect Murder Breaking Up

By Elric on 11:17 AM 12 July 2007

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Canadian Hardcore band A Perfect Murder offer the following update on their band:

"Hi Metal Heads. what's going on? Well i guess this is the right time. Or is there any right time for this?

A Perfect Murder is officially breaking up. There are a lot of things that could be discussed about but we don't wanna go that way. We'd like to think about all the good things music has bring to us over the last 7 years. We've met a lot of people, made a lot friends, traveled to places that we thought we would never go.

1 Demo, 2 Ep's and 4 LPs later we are very proud to say that we, A Perfect Murder, has achieved something truly remarkable. We'd like to thanks the Quebec hardcore/Metal scene for all the support since we've started. This, also goes out to everybody that have supported us and helped us out over the last couple of years. Thank you so much.

To all the great and not-so-great bands that we have played with. Thank you. Thanks to Mike Gaytan from Premonitions of war. You've done so much for us. Thanks to Mike,Manual and the SF Crew for saving our asses on tour more than once. We'll never forget. Thanks for Bouchard's parent for being a member of this band since the beginning, this would have never happen without your help. Never ending love.

There are thousands of other people that we would like to thanks but the list would be too big.

We also wanna thanks Victory Records for having believed in us since we signed with them. Cuz hate them or not, They are the reason why all of you out there know A Perfect Murder. That was a hell of ride.

We are very proud of everything we've done. Even the mistakes. We have learn so much.

So thanks to everybody once again and keep metal alive. You'll hear from some of us pretty soon !!!

Peace out
"

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Ministry To Rest In Peace

By Elric on 11:38 PM 11 July 2007

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The last-ever Ministry studio album, "The Last Sucker", will be released on September 18 (13th Planet/Megaforce) followed by a world tour in 2008. Jourgensen has decided to lay Ministry to rest and focus on 13th Planet Records.

On his own words:

"I've got a lot of side-projects and new projects I want to focus on.We have our our own label, 13th Planet Records, we're building, and I want to sign, produce and collaborate with other artists. Being in the studio writing, recording and collaborating is my favorite part of this snake-oil industry. I'd rather be behind the console than behind the mic. Plus, I kinda like the synchronicity of Dubya and Ministry riding off into the sunset hand in hand."

"The Last Sucker" is once again "dedicated" to George W. Bush administration.

Jourgensen:

"The Last Sucker is the final nail in the Dubya coffin. My engineer and I were hunched over a computer for nights on end listening to this fucking idiot until our minds were numb.I mean, I'm absolutely stupider for listening to his drivel for such concentrated periods of time, but I viewed including these sound bites as a necessary evil."

The new album also features a cover of The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues", and the album's dual closers, "The End of Days" (Parts One and Two) captures every single element of Ministry's contribution to industrial music.

"The Last Sucker" -which was produced and recorded this past spring by Jourgensen at his 13th Planet compound just outside of El Paso, TX - sees the return of Thomas Victor (Prong) on guitars, Paul Raven (Killing Joke, Prong) on bass, with newcomer guitarist Sin Quirin from The Revolitng Cocks 2006 touring line-up. Jourgensen and his engineer John "Bixby" Bilberry handled all the drum programming. In addition, Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory makes a vocal appearance on "Die In A Crash", as well as the album's final two songs, "End of Days" parts One and Two.

"The Last Sucker" track listing:

01. Let's Go
02. Watch Yourself
03. Life Is Good
04. The Dick Song
05. The Last Sucker
06. No Glory
07. Death and Destruction
08. Roadhouse Blues
09. Die In A Crash
10. End of Days Part One
11. End of Days Part Two

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Max Cavalera Interview

By Elric on 1:55 PM 09 July 2007

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Soulfy's official web site, Soulfly Web, has been updated with a new question-and-answer session with the group's leader, Max Cavalera. It follows here in its entirety:

Soulfly Web: Can you tell us what what you're going to be up to this month?

Max: Yeah, man, this week is actually really exciting. The date today is 7/7/7 and tomorrow we are starting to record on the new project that I'm doing with my brother Igor. I've talked about it a bit last year and throughout this year, and now finally we are pulling through with it and we're entering the studio tomorrow morning — and it's just going to be some brutal, aggressive, out-of-control shit.

Soulfly Web: Have you been jamming with him at all, or is the first time you guys are playing together going to be in the studio?

Max: Nah, we're going to do it all in the studio. I think it's sounding like a combination of things I've done with Nailbomb and Sepultura, and even Soulfy, of course, but these songs are coming to be more live on the spot. I recorded some simple four-tracks for a lot of them, similar to the ones that people may have heard through the Soulfy MySpace, and I sent out a CD to everybody about a month ago with like 10 songs, but at that time I didn't even know exactly who else I'd be working with in the project. I knew that Igor would be doing drums and percussion, and I'd be doing vocals and guitar. Now Marc Rizzo is going to be playing lead guitar and and the bassist and vocalist from Gojira will help us out to give it a bit of a different vibe. I like Gojira a lot — they're a fucking kick-ass band. It's a special album for me because it's a very global group of musicians. One from France [from Gojira], one from the U.S., and two from Brasil. I think that's going to add something very cool, even trippy, and definitely my style.

Soulfly Web: Who are you going to be working with in the studio tomorrow?

Max: The album's being done Logan Mader and Dirty Icon in L.A., where I did the last two things that I've recorded in the studio. I just did the "Beautiful People" cover for Kerrang! that came out a couple of weeks ago, and and I also did four lines for a rapper named Ill Bill from the East Coast. It was very cool — I'm not usually very big into rap, but he contacted me, he's a fan of mine from way back, and he actually met me and Igor way back on our first U.S. tour with Sepultura. So he sent me a copy of this song he did called "War Is My Destiny" — and it's fucking kick-ass. It's the most evil rap I've ever heard in my life — both the music and the lyrics. So when I was here last time, I recorded a couple lines and added some stuff on top of it. All of this shit was recorded with Logan — who has played with Machine Head and with me in Soulfy right after the first record — out here in L.A., and it's really cool to work with Logan as a producer because he's an amazing engineer, we know him already, and it's fit perfect. I give my respect to Gloria [Cavalera, wife/manager] because it was all planned very well and she did a fucking kick-ass job finding the right people for the studio. All that's left for us to do now is to go into the studio tomorrow and jam out a sick-ass record, and that's what we're aiming for.

Soulfly Web: Do you think Soulfy's going to be working on their new album with him this fall, as well?

Max: It's still too early to say. Right now this project is literally consuming all of my time. I'm still writing for the next Soulfy and Marc is, as well, and so are Bobby and Joe. We've all been in good contact over the break and we're all excited to be going into the new Soulfy album, but that's going to be a chapter of its own that will have its own time. I like to keep touring, but I'm the kind of guy that likes to focus on one of my projects at a time to give it its own attention. I did Nailbomb at nearly the same time that Sepultura was recording "Chaos A.D.", but they still had their own time for me. So yeah there's idea floating around, but as far as technical things like which producer, where to record, or even the general vibe of the CD — these are things that we haven't decided yet. I think it's going to be very cool, and in fact, this project will probably have a strong influence on what comes out of the next Soulfy album. I know that Nailbomb strongly had an influence for me in the "Chaos A.D." recordings, and even on into "Roots". I hope this project is going to do the same for Soulfy, and it's going to provide some excellent inspiration.

Soulfly Web: Is this project going to be similar to Nailbomb in the same way that you won't be performing live, or do you have plans for more shows than you played with Nailbomb?

Max: We're going to try to play more shows than me and Alex Newport did with Nailbomb. Nailbomb was very unique the original idea between me and Alex was that we'd never play live and it's what we believed while we were making the songs in the studio. But we received a request for Dynamo Open Air that we just couldn't refuse. For them to put Nailbomb in front of 120,000 people on the bill was incredible, and we were like, "We've got to do this one, man!" It's not everyday that you get to play in front of 120,00 people so we went ahead and did the show, but originally we never thought we play live. So this should be a bit different — I'm liking the material we've got so far quite a bit and it'd be very fun to do more live shows. My goal in the end would be to play a couple of shows in North America, a couple of shows in Europe, a couple of shows in Australia, a couple of shows in South America, so that all the fans of me and Igor's shit can get the opportunity to see what we're doing together live. It'd be fairer to my fans to play more than one show this time around, so we'll try to do a small number of shows, but play them all over the place.

Soulfly Web: You mentioned that you're going to be on Ill Bill's next album, "The Hour of Reprisal". Does Igor's collaboration with Ill Bill's little brother and fellow hip-hop artist Necro have anything to do with your decision to record some lines for Bill, or is your only connection with him the chance meeting you guys had when you were in Sepultura?

Max: Igor working with Necro actually had nothing to do with it. Bill called me completely out of the blue. When he sent me the CD, I'm going to have to be honest, I didn't know much about what he did. The only thing that I did know for sure was that he had met me and Igor in New York on our first or second U.S. tour and we went to get some pizza with him. He grew up as a metalhead and a Sepultura fan I thought that was pretty respectable coming from someone from the rap world. He does something very different from a lot of the bullshit that's out there in rap. This is rap with a very different, almost "metal," attitude woven into it and it sounds very fucking cool. He told me it was an honor to have me on his record, but as far as I can tell, I don't think Necro working with Igor really had anything to do with it. I haven't met Ill Bill for quite a while though, and we're going to get to reunite at a festival that we're both playing at over in Europe this summer. The guest spot was his idea, he contacted me, and I put some vocals on top of it. Since he was a big Sepultura fan, I decided to do something I normally don't do, and I took a couple lines that fit his song from "Arise" and "Chaos A.D.", and I screamed those over the top of the rap that he's doing. It's going to sound fucking wild when it's done — lots of intensity and some very evil rap. Even if you don't like rap, I'd suggest giving Ill Bill a try, because it's a lot closer to some of the things that we do in metal than you might think.

Soulfly Web: Finally, do you have anything special in mind for Soulfy's short European tour in August or for the 11th annual D-Low Memorial show that Soulfy's scheduled on August 31st in Tempe, Arizona?

Max: Whoa, yeah, you know, we've got a lot that we're doing all at once right now, between the studio and touring in Europe, and of course, the Dana memorial show. The one thing that I think would be cool for this year's D-Low Memorial Show would be to have our new project play live at the show before Soulfy. Every year the D-Low show is a very special one — at last year's show I talked to Igor for the first time in person in 10 years. My fans here in Arizona deserve that and I think Soulfy fans are going to fucking love it if it happens — yeah, we'll get to Soulfy the end, but before that we'd hopefully play through some songs from the project. The bill isn't completely confirmed yet, but we're working on it, and we hope to get some guests who have known Dana in the past to come out. 90% of the people I've worked with have had some type of connection with Dana — from the first D-Low show when the Deftones played with Dub War until now. Throughout the years most bands that have played have met Dana, or they know about it, and it's important to keep that involved. That awareness is what the show is really about — it's an opportunity for us to remember Dana as a friend. He was a very awesome metal fan, he was here for the music, and that music was his salvation from all the bullshit. He stayed away from shit like drugs, stealing, and all of that crap because he had music, you know? He loved music more than anyone I know and I hung out with him everyday playing music; he was one of the best friends that I've ever met. It fucking sucked to lose him, so I'm just trying to do my part to let people know about Dana. I don't want to let the world forget Dana ever — the impact he made and the memories we share — and that is the most important thing that this show will be about.



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Smashing Pumpkins - Live Earth Performance Video

By Elric on 2:13 PM 08 July 2007

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Smashing Pumpkins' entire four-song set from yesterday's Live Earth concert in New York has been posted at YouTube. The group's setlist was as follows:

01. United States
02. Bullet With Butterfly Wings
03. Tarantula
04. Today

Spinner.com reports: "Frontman Billy Corgan, looking one part mental patient and one part prison inmate, unleashed 'United States' from the band's new 'Zeitgeist' album on the crowd, meshing in 'The Star Spangled Banner' during his guitar solo. 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' followed, played at punk-rock speeds with fellow original Pumpkin Jimmy Chamberlain furiously smashing away behind his 'kit. In what may have been a comment on the Live Earth proceedings, Corgan changed the lyrics, singing 'Can you fake it for just one rock show?'

"As the band shifted into the next song, Corgan cheekily introduced it as 'Tar-an-too-lah,' otherwise known as their current single, 'Tarantula'. He reminded the global audience that the band's new album is released on Tuesday, joking, 'We know you're all gonna buy it, not illegally download it like you did all our other albums.'"









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Mikale Goding Leaves Wolf

By Elric on 10:39 AM

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Headbangers open air will be the last show with Mikael Goding as the bass player. Here is Mikaels own words:

"To put it simple: To much business and mini van, and to less music. The reason we started the band was that we wanted to create great new wave of British heavy metal. And we certainly have! The thing that I always have enjoyed most with Wolf is to see a song grow during rehearsals. Thinking: man! this is a really good song, and we have done it together. Now with Tobias and Johannes living on the west coast, we hardly rehearse at all and that sucks! Unfortunately, releasing an album isn't just about music, there is a lot of business involved, and I hate that shit! Playing a gig is a lot more than the gig, and I hate that shit to! Last gig (BYH) we played 40 minutes and was away for 50 hours, and we didn’t get any money at all.

The worst part with leaving Wolf is how much I'll miss the fans. Even if there aren’t legions of them, there is still some who are really dedicated. Like Joxe who comes to almost every show we play in Europe. So thank you all who have bought the record and all who have been at gigs for the past "12 waysted years".

Mikael "Tormentor" Goding
PS: The HOA show will be dedicated to Joxe - a true metal warior DS.

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Sodom's Return Of The Evil

By Elric on 3:35 PM 06 July 2007

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Sodom's new album, "The Final Sign of Evil", is scheduled for release in September via SPV Records, according to the group's webmaster Toto, who is also producing the CD. The album will feature re-recordings of the material from the German thrashers' classic first EP, "In the Sign of Evil", plus no less than seven bonus tracks, all of which were originally written during the "In the Sign of Evil" era or earlier but were never officially released. As a special bonus, the album will feature return appearances by the group's original drummer Chris Dudek (a.k.a. Witchhunter) and guitarist Josef "Peppi" Dominic (a.k.a. Grave Violator), both of whom were featured on the original 1984 EP.

Commented Toto: "Since last week we're recording the last guitars and two songs are left to do now. I believe at the end of this week the guitars and bass tracks are recorded. Our deadline for mixing and mastering is the 20th of July and our work is on schedule now. At the end we had some technical problems and during the production always some... medical problems. Aching shoulders, trachoma (that was me), backaches, colds and wounded feet. Sometimes the studio looked like a retirement home. After that the tracking of the drum parts caused a lot of problems."

The cover artwork for "The Final Sign of Evil", has been posted online (artwork by Andreas Marschall). Toto previously stated about the upcoming CD, "The official name is 'The Final Sign of Evil', and follows the plan to make the 'In the Sign of Evil' a complete album. So the seven additional tracks are not a real bonus, because they fulfill an album, like it should have done back in 1984."

Regarding how he got involved on the production side, Toto said, "Peppi heard a demo I produced with a side project which was founded by me back in 2003. A friend of mine (Frank Hübner, he's with me in the project and his neighbour) gave it to him. And after all they decided not to work with Harris Johns or Andy Sneap, they decided to run a little test with me. So in spring 2006 we started a two and a half week pre-production. They were happy with the sound and after four weeks I got the call: You're the one. Of course, that was a dream! In the following month I started to watch nearly every rehearsal, learned the songs and rehearsed with Chris, when Peppi was on holiday. A real big thing for an old mid-Eighties Sodom fan! But believe me: It's real hard work!"

On the subject of how the re-recordings are turning out, Toto said, "Some of the old songs will sound a little bit different, because Chris decided to change some of the drum parts. But don't mind it, because the classic one will stay as a classic, no matter what we're doing. Some will love it, other may hate it, that's the normal way life goes.

"Peppi and me are working on the guitars and it's a hard job for him. The last time he has been in a studio was for the recordings in 1984 for the 'Sign of Evil'. For Chris it was similar. Chris made his last recordings in 1994 for a project called Witchhunter which never been released. But both have done their very best. It's obviously that both had a hard time during the recordings."

As previously reported, Sodom will play a special 25th anniversary set at this year's Wacken Open Air festival, which is scheduled to take place August 2-4 in Wacken, Germany. The 120-minute performance will kick off with four songs from the band's latest, self-titled album, after which the group will be joined by several ex-members for a set of songs that have rarely or never before been played live. Making special guest appearances during this portion of the show will be Chris Witchhunter (drums), Grave Violator (guitar), Athätor (guitar), Frank Blackfire (guitar), Michael Hoffman (guitar), Andy Brings (guitar) and Atomic Steif (drums). Sodom will then close the gig with five more classics.



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Firewind - Breaking The Silence - Video

By Elric on 11:06 AM

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Greek melodic metal sensation Firewind has released the video for its new single "Breaking the Silence" in the following formats: Windows Media, Real Media. The clip, which features a guest appearance by female singer Tara Teresa, was directed by Patric Ullaeus from Sweden's Revolver Film Company (Dimmu Borgir, Within Temptation, In Flames).

Commented Firewind guitarist Gus G: "So here it is! I hope you all dig our brand new video…I can tell you we had a blast doing it! The song itself is a highlight of our latest record, as the duet between Apollo and Tara came out fantastic. Patric Ullaeus' videos are always a guarantee and it's an honor for us to work with the best of the best! Patric definitely made sure we had enough fire on this one and really brought things to a new level!"

The "Breaking the Silence" single was released in Greece on July 2. It contains the following track listing:

01. Breaking The Silence (feat. Tara Teresa)
02. Healing Tool *
03. Till The End Of Time [live] *
+ "Breaking The Silence" (feat. Tara Teresa) [Video Clip Enhancement]

* Previously unreleased song/version

Firewind first single off the "Allegiance" album, "Falling to Pieces", reached position No. 11 on Greek chart and remained on the chart for ten weeks.

Firewind singer Apollo Papathanasiou was forced to sit out a part of the band's World Allegiance Tour earlier in the spring due to a family emergency. His temporary replacement for the the last seven dates of the band's European tour with Angra and Powerquest was Henning Basse of Metalium.

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Queensryche All Cover Album

By Elric on 4:00 PM 05 July 2007

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In an interview Queensrÿche's Geoff Tate revealed that the band will be releasing a new "all-covers" album in December.

Among the tracks to be covered by Queensrÿche for the release are Pink Floyd's 'Welcome To The Machine', Queen's 'Innuendo' and the band's take on the opera classic 'Odessa'.

More details on the new "covers" album to follow.

In related news, Tate also revealed further details for the band's upcoming compilation from EMI, entitled "Sign Of The Times: Best Of", and due for release on August 28th.

"Sign Of The Times: Best Of" will be a 2CD set. The first disc will feature the band's "greatest hits", but not necessarily the standard album versions. Single edits, live versions, and outakes will also be featured.

The second disc will feature rarities, including never before heard tracks such as 'Chasing Blue Sky', 'Liquified' and 'Dirty Little Secret'. Also to be included on the rarities disc are three songs from Geoff Tate's pre-Queensrÿche progressive band Myth, which he was in with Kelly Gray (who later was Queensrÿche's first attempt at a replacement for guitarist Chris DeGarmo).


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Former Anthrax, Nuclear Blast and Dream Theater Members Joins Forces

By Elric on 12:00 PM

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Acclaimed producer Kevin Shirley (Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, H.I.M.) has posted the following message in his "Caveman Diary": "Started a new album yesterday — a heavy metal chick — and a great band! Paul Crook (Meat Loaf, ex-Anthrax, Sebastian Back) on guitar, Scott Metaxas (ex-Nuclear Assault) on bass, Derek Sherinian (Malmsteen, ex-Dream Theater) on keys and Brian Tichy (ex-Ozzy, Slash's Snakepit,) on drums — and a fab singer fom Eastern Europe!"

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