Michael Kiske New Album Will Contain New Versions Of Some Old Songs

By Elric on 12:08 PM 27 March 2008

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Frontiers Records is pleased to announce all the details for the release of Michael Kiske new album entitled "Past In Different Ways" on May 9th 2008.

This much talked about album includes the reworking in a new fully acoustic and stripped back mood of some of Helloween's classics that Kiske wrote and recorded in his early days with the legendary German Heavy Metal band.

"When Serafino Perugino brought up the idea to do this record" says Michael, "my first reaction was: "No way! I don't want to be dealing with my past all the time anymore!". But after a few days my thinking changed and I thought: maybe it's not such a bad idea at all? Because on one hand it shows that I don't reject my past just because I'm a different person today and on the other hand it can maybe give people who were part of that past a different view at those songs. It's my music, I can still identify myself with its spirit, so why should I not do this?".

Working in a creatively free environment helped Michael to look at his past with different eyes and brought the idea of working again on the songs that Michael wrote for Helloween during his years with the band. The result is "Past In a Different Ways", a record which includes brand new recordings of Kiske's songs taken off the two "Keeper" albums, "Chameleon" and "Pink Bubbles Go Ape", plus the brand new song "Different Ways".

The unconventional arrangements of many of the tracks will surprise and delight many of his fans and more surprising is to see how well these songs sound with a basic acoustic arrangement, without the "useless weight" and with new keys. "Songs like 'In The Night' or 'When The Sinner' which where never favourites of mine are much cooler and much more convincing now for my ears", says Michael.

The album was recorded and mixed in Hamburg under Michael Kiske's direction and features long time collaborators such as Sandro Giampietro on guitar, Fontaine Burnett on bass and Karsten Nagel on drums.

Kiske concludes: "It was not always easy for me emotionally to deal with this material. Music somehow seems to preserve emotional memories and I connect big human disappointments with the last years of that time. There's also something very unsatisfying about re-recording old songs; it's always MUCH better to write new stuff, but I wanted to make those songs mine again. And in spite of the fact that I strongly felt for the last couple of years that I rather have to build myself a new base of friends, it's always good to make peace with your past".

Final tracklisting of "Past In Different Ways" include the following tracks:
You Always Walk Alone
We Got The Right
I Believe
Longing
Your Turn
Kids Of The Century
In The Night
Going Home
A Little Time
When The Sinner
Different Ways (brand new song).

"Past In Different Ways" will see the light in Europe on May 9th 2008 on Frontiers Records.

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Die Apokalyptischen Reiter Guitarist Change

By Elric on 12:32 PM 25 March 2008

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Die Apokalyptischen Reiter will be supported by Lady Cat-Man on guitar from now on. She will replace guitarist Pitrone, who the band split up with. From the band: "Hello Maniacs. There was a line up change. Pitrone is no longer part of the band. His job as guitarist will be taken over by Lady Cat-Man this instant. We hesitated for a long time to take this step, but there were many reasons to let Pitrone go and look for a replacement. Not many of you know that Pitrone himself wanted to leave in May 2006. That hit us like a ten ton hammer back then since "Riders on the storm" was about to be released and the Riders-tour in autumn was threatened.

After a week of looking desperately for a replacement we got a surprise call from Pitrone, saying that he wanted to continue after all. So hold your horses? Since the schedule was so tight we hardly had the time to think it over. Still, the bitter aftertaste lingered. Not on tour, not during backstage parties, but being home alone with all the sudden silence there was the feeling that something wasn`t working, somehow everything felt tainted. In the past few months the impression got stronger that it was no longer five guys standing on the same side of things. Small things cumulated, the anger was rising, different views on the sound of the band became obvious. For a long time it was unthinkable to continue without Pitrone, but the harder we were working on the new album the more we got unsatisfied with him. We talked with him many times about what should be improved and about the fact that we were unhappy with the situation. We have been waiting for a sign from his side for a long time - until we couldn´t wait any longer. This wasn`t a decision against Pitrone as a person. We have had lots of awesome months, weeks and days together since 2002. Das war keine Entscheidung gegen Pitrone als Menschen. We would like to thank him for all the unforgettable moments. But in the end we had a decision to make. A decision against Pitrone, but in favour of the band. This is not about having a bad phase. We´re all just human beings and nobody can be hypercreative all of the time. But we simply had the feeling that Pitrone couldn`t invest much enthusiasm in the band in the last couple of months. So we consider this step inevitable. We´re currently housed in the Principal studio (where also "Riders on the storm" was recorded) to record our new album. This one will be released end of summer. Don´t expect anything less than an absolute killer record! The sound is damn heavy, melodic and chock full of surprises. Lady Cat-Man may look like an angel, but she`s playing like the devil! Treat our Metal sister real nice, she is part of the family now. Fuchs, Dr. Pest, Sir G. & Volk-Man


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Septicflesh's New Song Posted Online

By Elric on 9:43 AM 24 March 2008

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Septicflesh, the best greek metal and one of my personal favorites are finally back. A brand new track from the reunited Greek demons Septicflesh (now written as one word), entitled "Anubis", has been posted on the band's MySpace page. The song comes off the group's new album, "Communion", which was released in Europe on March 17 (March 25 in the U.S.) via Season of Mist. This is the second song that is posted online after "Lovecraft's Death".

According to a press release, "Communion" "contains nine gates to unearthly dreams and nightmares. The 'rituals' of 'Communion' took place in the famous Studio Fredman in Sweden. The massive heavy guitar sound of the album is supported by a haunting triumphant orchestration that surpasses every past attempt of the band on that field. The classical arrangements are composed and directed by Chris Antoniou (guitar) and performed by the 80-piece full orchestra and 32-piece choir of philharmonic orchestra of Prague. As a result the music besides being brutal is also very 'visual,' like the soundtrack of an occult movie projected straight to your mind. Concerning the vocals, Seth is growling as a hellish beast in contrast with the melodic, yet intense and emotive vocals of Sotiris V. This album is definitely the more dark, brutal and at the same time avant-garde release of the band to date, crossing the borders of death and black metal. Yes, this album is not recommended to people resonating with holy ideals and bright emotions."

01. Lovecraft's Death
02. Anubis
03. Communion
04. Babel's Gate
05. We the Gods
06. Sunlight Moonlight
07. Persepolis
08. Sangreal
09. Narcissus



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Stone Temple Pilots Reunion And Live Dates

By Elric on 9:33 AM 19 March 2008

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"Although Stone Temple Pilots broke up in 2002 under less than friendly circumstances, both singer Scott Weiland (who currently fronts Velvet Revovler) and guitarist Dean DeLeo have said that the band members are all on good terms now. Weiland even told The Pulse of Radio he could envision making another STP album. "We were never a band that felt like we needed to lean too hard onto our muscle," he said. "We always felt like we had enough beauty and enough finesse in our music, you know, while we were together, that could carry us into a long career. So for us to make a record at an older age doesn't seem like a stretch, you know, 'cause we were never all about brawn."

Stone Temple Pilots have scheduled the following dates:

May 17 - Columbus, OH - Crew Stadium (Rock on the Range)
May 18 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center (WMMR Event)
May 23 - Indianapolis, IN - Indianapolis Motor Speedway
May 31 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Garden State Amphitheatre (WXRK Event)
Jun. 01 - Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center (WBCN Event)
Jul. 12 - Toronto, ON - Downsview Park (Edgefest)

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Chop Suicide - Demo (2007)

By Elric on 9:44 AM 14 March 2008

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Chop Suicide is a newly band formed from Stacy T. Rat (ex-Red Light Rippers). Teamed up with Danyell DeVille on vocals (ex-Pantychrist), Stephane DeBernardi (ex- RLR) on bass and Kevin Eamon on drums they decided to release a rock and roll mayhem.

The demo consists of 5 track of amazing sleaze rock ‘n’ roll. Sounding like Joan Jett and G'N'R hurtling towards each other and crashing head on in a bloody mess creating images on my mind from the movie “Natural Born Killers”. They will attack your speakers with songs like Panic Attack, Rockabilly Bitch and Turn It On.

Solid dirty riffs from Stacy, rumbling drums and the voice of DeVille saying you can look but not touch ‘cause I am a bad ass bitch. The only bad thing is the short duration of the demo (only 12 minutes). I hope they for full release soon.

As someone else wrote “this band is the soundtrack to the night before that you can't remember, and aren't they always the best nights?” Just turn you speakers on and be prepared to blow your head off.


Rating: 85/100


The Band
  • Stacy T.Rat
  • Danyell DeVille
  • Stephane DeBernadi
  • Kevin Eamon
Tracklist
  1. Panic Attack
  2. Here To Stay
  3. Turn It On
  4. Rockabilly Bitch
  5. Runnin' On Empty



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Iron Maiden Singer's Horror Film To Be Unveiled At Cannes Film Festival

By Elric on 7:41 AM

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BBC News reports that Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson's upcoming supernatural horror-thriller will be unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

"Chemical Wedding" will then be released in British cinemas in the summer.

Dickinson, a trained pilot, is due to fly invited guests to Cannes on the band's own Boeing 757 jet for the premiere on May 17.

"Chemical Wedding" wrapped principal photography in September with Julian Doyle at the helm. The film stars Simon Callow as a reincarnation of Crowley, once dubbed "the most evil man in Britain." Callow's character, Haddo, is a shy, stuttering professor.

"My experience with stages is obviously Iron Maiden and that sort of stuff," Bruce said. "I've directed a few videos over the course of my rock 'n' roll past and I enjoyed them, I enjoyed directing videos. Writing movies a completely different thing. I wrote a couple of absurd comic novels — that came out as well, and you know, they did OK actually. So, writing is something that's always sort of interested me, so this seemed like a good opportunity to learn the process, really."

Dickinson is not the first rocker to be inspired by Crowley, who died in 1947. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was a big collector of Crowley's writings and even bought his Scottish estate. Ozzy Osbourne, meanwhile, eulogized him in the song "Mr. Crowley".

Reuters last year posted a five-minute interview with Bruce Dickinson about "Chemical Wedding". The video, which includes footage from the "Chemical Wedding" movie set, can be viewed at this location.

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Cavalera Conspiracy - Sanctuary - Video

By Elric on 10:12 AM 11 March 2008

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Do you want to know how the Cavalera Conspiracy will sound ? Then go here and watch their new video from the song "Sanctuary"

"I'm excited about the 'Sanctuary' video," Cavalera Conspiracy frontman Max Cavalera told Headbanger's Blog. "Apart from being the first video I'm in with my brother Igor since the 'Roots' video in 1996, 'Sanctuary' is a cool video. It was filmed in France, where the Conspiracy monster killed the camera men, crew and video director. That alone is worth watching."

Two songs from "Inflikted" are currently available for free download:

"Sanctuary": MP3
"Inflikted": MP3

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At The Gates North American Live Dates And Summer Festivals

By Elric on 10:23 AM 08 March 2008

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As previously reported here swedish death metal legends, At the Gates have reunited. Yesterday the band have announced the following North American live dates with Darkest Hour and Municipal Watse.

Confirmed dates are as follows:

* 7/10 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
* 7/11 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
* 7/12 - Montreal, QC - Le Medley
* 7/13 - Toronto, ON - Opera House
* 7/14 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
* 7/15 - Sauget, IL Pop's
* 7/17 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
* 7/18 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
* 7/21 - Denver, CO - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
* 7/23 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
* 7/24 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
* 7/25 - San Francisco, CA- The Fillmore
* 7/26 - Pomona, CA - Glasshouse
* 7/27 - Hollywood, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre

Also, At The Gates confirmed the following festivals

*04-06 July Ruis Rock, Finland
*31 July-02 Aug Wacken Open Air, DE
*15-17 Aug Bloodstock, Derby, UK


At The Gates
2008 reunion lineup:

Adrian Erlandsson - drums
Martin Larsson - guitar
Anders Björler - guitar
Tomas Lindberg - vocals
Jonas Björler - bass

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AC/DC To Record New Album

By Elric on 9:47 AM

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Australian hard rock icons AC/DC are getting closer to ending an eight-year drought of new music. "God, I'm ready," bassist Cliff Williams, who was in L.A. to participate at the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp. To that end, the group will hit the studio March 1.

Almost as long as the wait for new music is the band's absence from the stage. Tour plans, however, aren't as firm. "If we go out again or when we go out again," Williams said. "You just never know. We've been around a long time, so we're going to get together and get in the studio and I fully expect we will tour. I don't mean to be so negative about that. When the last tour ended in early '01, you'd see kids on their dads' shoulders. And these kids were like 10, 12 years old. It will be tremendous to see that again. And it's very cool — younger kids getting into older music."

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Testament's Forthcoming Album

By Elric on 4:54 PM 07 March 2008

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Testament's forthcoming album, "The Formation of Damnation", is due in North America on April 29 via Nuclear Blast Records.

The band recorded the effort in part with producer Andy Sneap at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California.

"The album is very traditional-sounding," guitarist Eric Peterson recently told Decibel magazine. "The ideology of what we're doing is like 'The Legacy' [1987]. But the musicianship's a lot better, so it's like 'The Gathering' [1999]. As most bands record their first, second and third albums, they're developing, developing, developing… until they've got their sound. Then they get worse. As a rule, you get good when you're starving and start slipping as soon as you're eating well. We never really made it to the big time. But, then again, we didn't fail. Because we've always been on that borderline, we've never had to make the kinds of compromises that end up killing so many bands. As we see it, we're better off doing what we do best, especially since things seem to have turned full circle. Kids even have long hair again."

Testament recently recruited Paul Bostaph (Slayer, Ecodus, Forbidden) to play the drums on new CD. The group was previously rehearsing and writing new material with British drummer Nick Barker (Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir), but Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and international work visa issues have prevented Barker from continuing to be involved in the project.

Bostaph, who was a member of Testament for a brief period starting around February 2004, had previously played several live dates with the group in 1992 and appeared on the band's 1993 live EP, "Return to the Apocalyptic City". He also toured with Testament in 2006.

"The Formation of Damnation" track listing:

01. For The Glory Of
02. More Than Meets The Eye
03. The Evil Has Landed
04. Formation Of Damnation
05. Dangers of The Faithless
06. The Persecuted Won't Forget
07. Henchman
08. Killing Season
09. Afterlife
10. F.E.A.R.
11. Leave Me Forever

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Serj Tankian - Money - Video

By Elric on 9:51 AM 03 March 2008

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System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian's video for the song "Money" can be viewed at this location.


Tankian recently added more headlining U.S. dates to his current tour schedule, which finds the vocalist alternating between his own shows and an opening stint for Foo Fighters. Tankian's newest confirmed gigs will take him out west and into Canada during a two-week period in mid-March, before he heads overseas for a European trek that begins on April 1. Fair To Midland will open for Tankian on the March dates. Tankian's run with Foo Fighters started on February 18 in Worcester, Massachusetts and ends on March 6 in Los Angeles.
Serj Tankian recently issued "Sky is Over" as the second single from his debut solo album, "Elect the Dead". Although Tankian doesn't say straight out what the song is about, he did tell The Pulse of Radio that it comes from both his childhood memories and his concerns about the planet. "I've always thought of the sky as, like, an open canvas," he said. "When I was a kid and I looked at the sky, I always remember being able to daydream, just looking at the sky, being creative, being able to design things. What would happen if we had no sky? Where would we be? Well, obviously, scientifically, without an atmosphere, we'd all be dead."

"Elect the Dead" made the "long list" of finalists for this year's Shortlist Prize, which is awarded to an album that has sold less than 500,000 copies. The winner will be announced in the spring.

"Elect the Dead" came out in late October and landed at Number Four on the Billboard album chart.Type your summary here.

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