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BLACK SABBATH

ANVIL: ‘Eat Your Words’ Video Premiere

Manos Spanos
"Eat Your Words", the new video from Canadian metal legends ANVIL, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's new album, "Hope In Hell", which sold a little under 800 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The disc follows up "Juggernaut Of Justice", which opened with around 1,600 units back in May 2011. The 2009 re-release of the band's 2007 CD, "This is Thirteen", registered a first-week tally of 1,400 to enter the Top New Artist Albums chart at No. 19. Released on May 27, 2013 in Europe and May 24, 2013 in Germany on SPV/Steamhammer, "Hope In Hell" is available in four different formats: as a limited-edition digipak including two bonus tracks, as a jewel case CD, double gatefold colored vinyl LP and as a digital download. These are the first cuts featuring ANVIL's new bassist Sal Italiano, who joined the band two years ago. "Hope In Hell" was written and recorded following an 18-month world tour which took ANVIL around the globe. Like "Juggernaut Of Justice", "Hope In Hell" was produced by Bob Marlette (BLACK SABBATH, AIRBOURNE, ALICE COOPER) at the NRG Recording studios in North Hollywood, California and mastered by Maor Appelbaum (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, SEPULTURA). "Hope In Hell" track listing: 01. Hope In Hell 02. Eat Your Words 03. Through With You 04. The Fight Is Never Won 05. Pay The Toll 06. Flying 07. Call Of Duty 08. Badass Rock N Roll 09. Time Shows No Mercy 10. Mankind Machine 11. Shut The Fuck Up 12. Hard Wired (bonus track) 13. Fire At Will (bonus track)
01 min read

VOLBEAT Honored In ‘Rock/Alternative International’ Category At Germany’s ECHO Awards

Manos Spanos
Danish/American rockers VOLBEAT were honored in the "Rock/Alternative International" category at this year's Echo music awards, Germany's equivalent of the Grammy awards, which was held March 27 in Berlin. Video footage of their acceptance speech can be seen below. Also nominated in the "Rock/Alternative International" category were 30 SECONDS TO MARS, PLACEBO, IMAGINE DRAGONS and BLACK SABBATH. VOLBEAT's latest album, "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies", was re-released in a special "tour edition" on November 4, 2013. The new version of the act's fifth studio album contains new bonus tracks and a live DVD. The latter features footage of the group performing at a number of major summer festivals in Europe, including the Download festival in the U.K., Rock Am Ring and Rock'n'Heim in Germany, Hellfest in France and Denmark's Roskilde Festival. "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies" debuted at No. 1 in several countries when it arrived in April 2012, with the disc entering the Billboard album chart at No. 9. "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies" has sold more than 185,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. VOLBEAT will return to North America on April 3 for a tour that brings the Danish/American quartet coast to coast. The run begins at The Fillmore in Denver, Colorado and will wrap the second week of May on the East Coast, with TRIVIUM and DIGITAL SUMMER supporting. The upcoming tour marks VOLBEAT's fourth visit to North American this album cycle, and follows an excursion as headliners of the Monster Energy Rock Allegiance Tour in August and September 2013. This past year, the band has been one of the largest touring draws on the European continent headlining both festivals and a arena tour, and they appeared at the major Japanese festival Summer Sonic 2013 in both Tokyo and Osaka. Cumulatively, VOLBEAT has performed for over a million fans since the current album was released.
02 min read

EYEHATEGOD: More New Album Details Revealed

Manos Spanos
New Orleans' disciples of hardcore, blues-based, post-amplified audio wreckage, EYEHATEGOD will unleash their long-anticipated new studio recording later this spring. Set for North American release via Housecore Records, the domestic version of the self-titled offering will come in a CD digipack while the LP will be a single slab of vinyl in a gatefold jacket. The first pressing will be limited to 1600 copies and made available in the following colors: * Black (600 copies) * Purple (300 copies) * Clear (400 copies) * Purple and Grey (300 copies) "Eyehategod" track listing: 01. Agitation! Propaganda! 02. Trying To Crack The Hard Dollar 03. Parish Motel Sickness 04. Quitter's Offensive 05. Nobody Told Me 06. Worthless Rescue 07. Framed To The Wall 08. Robitussin And Rejection 09. Flags And Cities Bound 10. Medicine Noose 11. The Age Of Bootcamp Preorder packages including various CD, LP and T-shirt bundles are currently available via Housecore Records at this location. "Eyehategod" will be released on May 27 by their partners at Housecore Records in North America, May 26 by Century Media in Europe, Australia and New Zealand and May 21 by Daymare in Japan. Comments EYEHATEGOD vocalist Mike IX Williams: "I have to say I don't believe we've lost nary a step in the creation of this album and we think these newer songs are a killer combination of classic EYEHATEGOD mixed along with our best production, mixing, engineering and songwriting in thirteen years. The main and total tragic break in the chain, was obviously last year's death of our great friend and drummer, Joey LaCaze. However, his original drum tracks made it onto the final master recordings and we're fucking psyched about that... As for working with Housecore, it was a no-brainer. We've always been a family, and will always remain a family." Adds Housecore founder Philip H. Anselmo (PANTERA, DOWN): "Being a part of the new EYEHATEGOD record is a dream come true. I've known, supported and loved the guys for almost as long as I've been playing music myself, and it is our pleasure here at the Housecore Records compound to have 'em aboard. And I gotta mention, having heard the new record, this is the EYEHATEGOD record every true fan has been waiting for.... Hail!" In related news, EYEHATEGOD will take to the streets again next month for a short string of live takeovers including a return trip to Japan with VENOM and MORBID ANGEL, a stint on Three Floyds Beer's annual Dark Lord Day Festival as well as various onstage abrasions through the West Coast and the previously announced Baltimore, Maryland gala with HIGH ON FIRE and CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, with additional dates to be announced in the coming weeks. As a band that helped create a genre as well as equate a city with a sound, EYEHATEGOD has always remained humble anytime words like "legend" were thrown around to describe them. The thing with legends is that they grow stronger in time and over the years, word of mouth has been kind to the band. EYEHATEGOD is bigger now than they ever have been in their twenty-five plus years as a band. Pretty impressive seeing as they haven't released a full-length album in almost fifteen years. Most people who know the band have a story to tell or they heard a story about the guys. Whether it was them playing nothing but feedback to a bewildered WHITE ZOMBIE crowd during their opening stint for the arena metal band in the mid-Nineties, being banned from a certain venue for attacking a promoter with a barstool or cleaning out entire small towns of their drug supply, these stories spread throughout the metal community over the years, usually through a game of one-up-manship, establishing them as one of the most notorious bands around. Certainly not the first band to be surrounded by myth and lore, EYEHATEGOD's staying and growing power ultimately comes from the music. No one riffs like Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton. Drummer Joey LaCaze grooved and held it together with numerous bass players throughout the years, doing so impeccably with Gary Mader over the past decade. Singer Mike IX Williams has always been able to encapsulate the ruins of life through his lyrics and vocal delivery. All combined, the music is the most genuine, distressing cacophony of sound around. "BLACK SABBATH mixed with BLACK FLAG with a little bit of SKYNYRD and the element of blues thrown in there," Bower once said of the band's sound. In 2014 that style might sound somewhat commonplace. In 1988 it most definitely was not. The band's second album, 1993's "Take As Needed For Pain", is the pinnacle album that other bands of this genre to this day try to reach. Today, EYEHATEGOD sounds as fresh and innovative as ever. When the band released its first new track in over a decade, "New Orleans Is The New Vietnam", it was clear that nothing about the band had changed. They were touring more than ever and used that time and energy to work on an album's worth of songs. At the end of 2012 they were ready. The recording process for "Eyehategod" started with producer Billy Anderson back in the fold (he recorded 1996's "Dopesick"). The session saw both producer and band not quite on the same page and at the end, the album was unfinished. A few months later, the band reconvened at longtime friend Phil Anselmo's home studio with producer Stephen Berrigan (DOWN). Both Anselmo and Berrigan helped draw out the missing pieces to one of underground metal's most anticipated albums in years. An unexpected tragedy occurred shortly upon returning home from a recent five-week European tour in the fall of 2013: Joey LaCaze passed away due to respiratory failure. An outpouring of condolences and tributes spread online. Enough can't be said of the loss felt by the band, family and friends. Fortunately, LaCaze's drum tracks were captured by Anderson and appear on the album, creating the definitive tribute for the member of the band who encapsulated best just what EYEHATEGOD was all about; seriously not taking yourself too seriously. New Orleans native, Aaron Hill (MOUNTAIN OF WIZARD, MISSING MONUMENTS), took over for LaCaze without missing a beat, both figuratively and literally. The band hit the road after wrapping up the record and plan to embark upon their most exhaustive touring schedule to date. EYEHATEGOD is: Mike IX Williams - Vocals Jimmy Bower - Guitar Brian Patton - Guitar Gary Mader - Bass Aaron Hill - Drums
06 min read

‘OZZY’ Beer Still On Shelves After Baltimore Brewer Receives Cease-And-Desist Letter

Manos Spanos
Lawyers for Ozzy Osbourne are trying to stop a brewer from making an unauthorized brand of "Ozzy" beer. Baltimore-based The Brewer's Art named one of its many house brews after Ozzy, with the cans featuring images of his knuckle tattoos as well as bats — including a headless one. According to The Pulse Of Radio, Ozzy's legal team issued a cease-and-desist order, after which brewery head Tom Creegan announced that the "Ozzy" beer would be pulled. However, according to The Baltimore Sun, liquor stores in Baltimore said they are still selling the beer, and six-packs were available Thursday afternoon at Brewer's Art. Cynthia Blake Sanders, an intellectual property lawyer who teaches entertainment and sports law at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, told The Baltimore Sun that celebrities have the right to decide how their names and images are used commercially. "You can't make the commercial use of a person's name on any product, but particularly not [with] people who have a value on their persona," said Sanders. "If they called it Ozzy and it wasn't so clearly a sort of heavy-metal styling, somebody might connect it with a different Ozzy," she said. "But when they've used both his tattoo, in addition to his hands" and the bat imagery, "that's really using a great deal of his persona." During its short time on the shelves, the "Ozzy" beer was acclaimed by brew enthusiasts, with the drink getting a 90 out of 100 rating on the Beer Advocate web site. Ozzy and BLACK SABBATH will hit the road this Monday (March 31) for a North American tour that begins in Brooklyn, New York and spends most of its time in Canada, before wrapping up in Los Angeles on April 26.
01 min read

COREY TAYLOR, DUFF MCKAGAN, TIM ‘RIPPER’ OWENS, LIZZY HALE Perform At RONNIE JAMES DIO Third Annual Awards Gala

Manos Spanos
An exclusive VIP listening party for the Ronnie James Dio tribute album "This Is Your Life" and awards gala was held last night (Monday, March 17) at the Avalon in Hollywood, California. Fans got to hear the entire album two weeks before they could buy it and there were very special live performances by HALESTORM, Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR), Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER, DUFF MCKAGAN'S LOADED, WALKING PAPERS), Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), Tim "Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ICED EARTH, DIO DISCIPLES), Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB, DIO DISCIPLES), Jimmy Bain (DIO, LAST IN LINE, RAINBOW), Rowan Robertson (DIO), Brian Tichy (OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE) and many other special surprise guests all performing their renditions of Ronnie's songs. There were also awards presented during the evening, including an award to "The Metal God" Rob Halford of JUDAS PRIEST. Fan-filmed video footage of last night's event can be seen below. Ronnie James Dio is one of the most beloved figures in rock history. His gifts, both as a singer and songwriter, are instantly recognizable, whether he was with RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL, or leading DIO. Sadly, Dio lost his battle with stomach cancer in 2010 but his towering voice and legacy live on. To celebrate one of rock's most powerful voices, an all-star group of his friends and fans recorded 13 of their favorite tracks for a tribute album, 100% of proceeds from which will go to the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund. Produced by his longtime manager and wife Wendy Dio, the album includes contributions by such metal heavyweights as METALLICA, MOTÖRHEAD, SCORPIONS, ANTHRAX, and Rob Halford, as well as appearances by many of the musicians who performed with Dio over the years. "This Is Your Life" will be available from Rhino on April 1. A digital version will also be available. Although the songs featured on the album touch on the different eras of Dio's career, several spotlight his time with RAINBOW, including METALLICA's epic, nine-minute "Ronnie Rising Medley", which combines the RAINBOW songs "A Light In The Black", "Tarot Woman", "Stargazer" and "Kill The King". SCORPIONS add a scorching take on "Temple Of The King" while MOTÖRHEAD is joined by Biff Byford from SAXON on "Starstruck". Rob Halford teams with frequent Dio collaborators Vinny Appice, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Pilson, and Scott Warren for "Man On The Silver Mountain". The final lineup of Dio's solo band — Simon Wright, Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo and Scott Warren — are joined by Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH) for "Catch The Rainbow", a track from RAINBOW's 1975 debut. ANTHRAX and ADRENALINE MOB honor Dio's memorable stint with BLACK SABBATH with their takes on "Neon Knights" and "The Mob Rules", respectively, as does a group, led by Oni Logan on vocals along with Jimmy Bain, Rowan Robertson, and Brian Tichy, which performs "I" from "Dehumanizer". "This Is Your Life" also includes songs from Dio's back-to-back platinum albums "Holy Diver" (1983) and "The Last In Line" (1984), with DORO's take on "Egypt (The Chains Are On)", HALESTORM tackling "Straight Through The Heart", Corey Taylor (STONE SOUR, SLIPKNOT) covering the classic "Rainbow In The Dark" and TENACIOUS D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass) putting their signature spin on "The Last In Line". KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's cover of "Holy Diver", a hit in its own right when released in 2006, is also included here. Fittingly, Ronnie James Dio provides the finale (and the album's title) with his moving performance of "This Is Your Life". Originally released on "Angry Machines" (1996), the song's lyrics explore mortality and are backed by a stark and beautiful arrangement that features Dio accompanied only by his longtime keyboardist Scott Warren on piano. The song serves as a poignant reminder that we will never hear a voice like Dio's again. "I'm letting them pick what songs they wanna do in the way they wanna do it," Wendy told Artisan News in 2011. "We reached out to Wendy Dio about wanting to be a part of the Dio tribute that's getting put together," METALLICA singer James Hetfield told U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine. "We're very honored to be a part of that, and to be a part of a celebration of Ronnie's life and his great contribution, man." In an interview with Guitar International, former ANTHRAX guitarist Rob Caggiano stated that the band's cover version of "Neon Knights" "came out pretty smoking." The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, co-founded by Wendy Dio, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable fund dedicated to supporting cancer-prevention research, raising awareness and educating the public about the vital importance of early detection and prevention when dealing with this deadly disease. "This Is Your Life" track listing: 01. "Neon Knights" - ANTHRAX * 02. "The Last In Line" - TENACIOUS D * 03. "The Mob Rules" - ADRENALINE MOB 04. "Rainbow In The Dark" - Corey Taylor, Roy Mayorga, Satchel, Christian Martucci, Jason Christopher * 05. "Straight Through The Heart" - HALESTORM * 06. "Starstruck" - MOTÖRHEAD with Biff Byford * 07. "Temple Of The King" - SCORPIONS * 08. "Egypt (The Chains Are On)" - DORO 09. "Holy Diver" - KILLSWITCH ENGAGE 10. "Catch The Rainbow" - Glenn Hughes, Simon Wright, Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo, Scott Warren * 11. "I" - Oni Logan, Jimmy Bain, Rowan Robertson, Brian Tichy * 12. "Man On The Silver Mountain" - Rob Halford, Vinny Appice, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Pilson, Scott Warren * 13. "Ronnie Rising Medley" (featuring "A Light In The Black", "Tarot Woman", "Stargazer", "Kill The King") - METALLICA * 14. "This Is Your Life" - DIO * Previously unreleased The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund is a privately funded 501(c)(3) charity organization which has already raised more than $600,000 in its short history. Monies raised to date have been committed to the cancer research work of the T.J. Martell Foundation for Cancer, AIDS and Leukemia Research and the gastric cancer research unit of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where Ronnie was treated for gastric cancer during the last six months of his life.
08 min read

VINNY APPICE: Why I Left KILL DEVIL HILL

Manos Spanos
On March 14, rock journalist Mitch Lafon conducted an interview with legendary drummer Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL, DIO, LAST IN LINE, KILL DEVIL HILL). You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). On writing new, original material with LAST IN LINE — the band featuring DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell alongside fellow founding DIO members Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell, plus singer Andrew Freeman, who has previously fronted HURRICANE and LYNCH MOB: Vinny: "Yeah, we started writing, and it's gone great. 'Cause that's the hard part. OK, it's easy to get together and play the old songs and have fun and go out and play. And then it comes down to, 'OK, we're gonna write next week.' Then you don't know how it's gonna go, because we haven't been in a room writing together for 30 years. And it went fantastic. We've got about five tunes written, and they're really cool, and they sound like us; they sound like DIO. And it's very interesting how quickly it came together. And we're happy about it, we're having fun down there exchanging ideas. It's really, really a good vibe. It's nothing where there's any attitudes or egos or anything like that; it's wonderful, actually. And this way, when it's in that environment, you can express your ideas without having to worry or think about some guy that's gonna go, 'Well, I don't think that's good,' or, 'No, we shouldn't do it that way.' All the ideas are put out there and we go, 'Yeah, that's cool. Let's try it.' There's no quarrels, there's no attitudes. It's really cool. So it's going great. In April, we're going into the studio to record a couple of [the songs], so we have some stuff down. And it looks like we have a pretty nice record deal sitting there. And Steve Strange from Europe — he's a very famous guy in Europe — he's handling the band, and he is in the driver's seat, and we've got a great driver." On his decision to leave KILL DEVIL HILL: Vinny: "It wasn't a musical breakup at all. It was more of… What you wanna do with… I mean, I started the band; it was my band and then Rex [Brown, former PANTERA and DOWN bassist] came into the band and he was a known dude and strong personality, and it became a great band. So it's not a musical problem at all; it's more a business thing where… scheduling and the idea of how to make this work, the time involved, and all the different things. Obviously, I had a lot of stuff on my plate, and it's hard to devote to one thing when these other really good things are happening too. So it was just a mutual thing where… 'Look, I think it's better if you guys continue and get somebody else,' and see what happens. "Actually, [KILL DEVIL HILL] was started at the end of 2009, when I started doing this. You devote four years, almost five years to this thing. And it's, like, 'Wow! What does it take to get this across?' Especially when Rex joined the band. It's, like, people know Rex, people know me. It's not like it's a bunch of new guys trying to make it. And it was, like, 'Wow! It's really, really hard to get this thing off the ground.' It seems to be doing better now. And it comes down to getting people around you that know what they're doing, like record companies, managers, agents and different things. That's a real important part of being in a band. Unless it's an all-star band; then it's easy to go out and do stuff. Like LAST IN LINE is a lot more sellable on this level than KILL DEVIL HILL when it comes to agents booking gigs. That's the way the business works; people wanna see, or hear music that they know. "It's a crazy business right now. Rex and I were shocked that… 'Wow! This is the third tour already, and we're still struggling to get this thing off the ground.'… You're going out and you're making merch money, but it's all going back into keeping this thing alive. There's no tour support, there's no advertising… Where do you advertise? You can only advertise on the Internet, really; there's no more [print] magazines. And even then, it's hard to get a budget for advertising. Videos… You do videos… Basically, it seems like you just need somebody that does social media that you just hire 24 hours a day, every day, 16 hours a day, get on the Internet and get it everywhere. That seems to be the way to do it."
04 min read

MACHINE HEAD’s ROBB FLYNN: ‘The Music Business Has Sucked The Life Out Of Creativity’

Manos Spanos
Robb Flynn of San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD has posted the latest installment of his online blog, "The General Journals: Diary Of A Frontman... And Other Ramblings". It follows below in its entirety. "I'm in a shitty mood. "Not for the story I'm about to tell, but because of my thoughts afterward. "I went out to San Francisco for my buddy Joe's birthday shenanigans. We went out for Moroccan food at a joint called El Mansour. The place had a great vibe, belly dancing, sword balancing, and amazing food! The lamb in particular was to-freakin'-die-for, slow roasted and covered in honey and cinnamon. "On the way out there, Joe's buddy Tony picked me up from JingleTown [studio], since I didn't want to drive as I knew I'd be drinking. On the hour-long trip out (Saturday traffic to San Francisco), he was telling me some pretty awesome stories about growing up in the ''70s. You see, Tony was a teenager in 1975, and used to go the famous San Francisco venue Winterland. Winterland was before my time, but being part of the scene you heard the legend, the stories and the history. "Tony is a big BLACK SABBATH fan, saw them back in '75 on the 'Sabotage' tour and said it was a life-changing experience. Him and his buddies used to go to Winterland, load up on LSD, cigarettes, and weed, and go watch pretty much the cream of the crop of classic rock bands. TED NUGENT, SABBATH, DEEP PURPLE, JOURNEY, MONTROSE, you name it, he went and saw it. The shows would start and if people loved the opening band (essentially cheering non-stop) they'd get to do encores. He was telling me about a show JOURNEY (the opener!), killed it, and they got 4 encores, the support band got 4 encores! Then the headliner, MONTROSE, got 5 ENCORES! MONTROSE didn't stop playing until 2:30 in the morning, everyone stayed, no one would even dare consider leaving and people experienced some of the best music of their lives. "An opener getting encores, crazy… "And the venue allowed things like this to happen. The venue just kept the bands rolling. "Not only that, but all of the shows at Winterland were $4.50. "4 dollars and 50 cents…..18 freakin' quarters! "Wow…?!? "All I could think of was 'what an amazing time for music.' "People wonder why the 'classic rock' bands were so good. They were playing by their own rules, and they had a culture of venues and people around that were as crazy and fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants as the bands themselves. The promoters around that time did anything to make the bands happy and if it meant playing all goddamn night? Let 'em! "I tell you right now, though, there isn't a band out there who would play til 2:30 a.m. nowadays, let alone find a major venue that would even ALLOW such a thing. "I remember when I first started going to /playing thrash shows, it was a very similar thing. It was no rules, no security, no safety, no curfews, and for the most part anything went! Venues these days are mostly run with union workers. In most major cities, you have to take breaks during the day, where a band can't even sound check for an hour because the union workers need a 'break.' Nowadays if you play 1 minute past 11 p.m. at any of the large union venues, it costs the band $1,000 dollars a minute. When we were out with METALLICA playing arenas they regularly play 20 minutes past 11:00 p.m., and they regularly paid $20,000 to do so. "I went and saw PEARL JAM about a month ago, and they played one of the best, most truly rock 'n' roll shows I've seen in eons. It was fucking magical, Eddie Vedder drank 3 bottles of wine, and about 2 hours into the set, he started getting a little sloppy, forgetting lyrics, missing cues, it looked like it was about to fall off the rails. The band then they took a quick break and he came back and played 'Black'. "Let me tell you, it was magic! I'm getting goose bumps writing this, just remembering it. It was such a turn-around; it totally took the night to an even higher level. At this point they were already 45 minutes past 11. They played several more songs and eventually the Oakland Arena (currently called the Oracle Arena, until some different stupid corporate sponsor buys it and changes it to something ridiculous like Florida's 1-800-Ask Gary Amphitheater) turned on the house lights, signaling them to stop. PEARL JAM said 'fuck you!' and played 2 more songs with the house lights on! Eddie Vedder then brought the band back out onstage to do an extra-long goodbye to the crowd. I love their fucking attitude. "In the end, they played 70 minutes over 'curfew' and I'd imagine left Oakland about $70,000 dollars lighter to do so. Of course PEARL JAM can afford it, and frankly it gave every single person there one of the best shows of their life. But this gesture to keep the 'room' in a good mood in conjunction with the Winterland conversation, it got me thinking. "Shit has changed. "On the one hand, I love PEARL JAM's 'fuck you, were doing it our way' attitude, and on the other hand, it angered and depressed me. "Only the METALLICAs and PEARL JAMs can pull things like this. Bands that have sold millions of records, and they can afford it. "If MACHINE HEAD tried playing an hour over curfew at say, the House Of Blues in Dallas, Texas, we'd be walking out of there with our entire guarantee eaten up. Even if the fans wanted it, some venue would do their best to shut it down, cut power, close curtain, whatever. "The music business has sucked the life out of creativity. No one is encouraged to take risks, no one is encouraged to push the envelope, because it's all about first-week sales! It's about pointless radio play and how good your last tour went. How venues and promoters are squeezing the last drop of spontaneity out of your soul by not 'allowing' you to playing past curfew and not drawing outside the line. "When we play that game, we essentially applaud mediocrity. "There's nothing dangerous about music these days, there's nothing surprising about it either. There can't be. Other than PEARL JAM, the only 'band' that doesn't seem to really give a flying fuck and plays by their own rules isn't really a band at all, are they? Axl and the ROSES are known for bending the rules and telling the powers that be to 'fuck off,' but because their band is so confusing they come across as a joke. But people don't see this. People don't see any of this! "And the reason you don't care is because it's too easy to get sucked into your phone, or your Facebook, or your Twitter, or your Tumblr, or your Instagram, or your games, or your TV shows. "Music isn't important anymore. Say it is all you want, but the fact is, the 2 biggest rock records of last year only sold 400,000 copies, neither even went gold. "Music is in the background of a game. Why go to a show when you can watch clips of it on YouTube and bitch about how it stinks live? "And you know what, I miss music being important! I miss live shows being important. I miss feeling a part of something that was so high on my list I'd crawl through broken glass to get it. "All this technology we have now that's supposed to make us 'connected?' It's making me feel more fucking disconnected than ever. I mean watching all the things that other people are doing that I'm not invited to or even a apart of? And yet at the same time completely disgusted by faux-self-importance it has given everyone, (here's my dog or cat for the millionth time, here's a selfie for the millionth time, here's my kids for the millionth time, here' the food I'm eating for the millionth time, here's what I'm doing and you're not). Don't you wish you were eating what I'm eating? "Fuck you! I've thought of tweeting or Facebooking something so many time and just went, 'who cares', why should anyone care about this, and you SHOULDN'T care. "You're all my 'friends,' you've all 'liked' me, but really, you're not my friends, because we don't know each other. You took a photo of me, or you interviewed me, or we talked after a show. And after you get past the initial coolness, of re-connecting with someone from high school on Facebook or Twitter, you realize you truly have drifted apart. "And fuckin' A, I'm glad we did. "I don't want to be 'friends' with everyone; I don't want to be 'liked' by everyone. I want to feel connected to something. And nothing I look at in the music business does that. I don't get radio bands; I don't get any of these fucking 'scene bands.' I don't get bands singing about how great being American is, as if the geographic location you were born, (and had zero control over in any way shape or form), somehow makes us better than any other geographical place of birth!? "I don't get why people don't want to see live music anymore, I don't get it. Did you see the clip of Hetfield talking about how America needs to start 'wanting' music again? This is James 'Fucking' Hetfield talking, people! Didn't those words do anything to anyone? Didn't what he said make you feel a bit disgusted? I'm a METALLICA fan and those words being spoken kind of stung a bit. "You can bitch all you want that MACHINE HEAD only does festival tours and only plays for 30 minutes, but all those bands (including us) that play festival tours, can't draw squat when were not on festival tours. And even the big metal festivals are having troubles. Maybe the days of bands touring is coming to an end? Bands didn't always tour, you know, Mozart didn't hit the road for a year or 2 back in the day. Touring is really a phenomenon of the last 60 years or so. People didn't always buy records, or CDs, or files, or streams, that's also a phenomenon of the last 60 or 70 years. "I don't get the political fucking correctness of music anymore. "I don't get the narrow-mindedness of the world anymore. "I do
011 min read

EYEHATEGOD: More New Album Details Revealed

Manos Spanos
Following countless years of personal hardships, studio disasters and times of music industry indecision, New Orleans' own EYEHATEGOD, with much relief and excitement, has announced the release of its brand new full-length. Entirely assembled and financed by the band, the self-titled, eleven-track longplayer will be released on May 27 by their partners at Housecore Records in North America, May 26 by Century Media in Europe, Australia and New Zealand and May 21 by Daymare in Japan. Comments EYEHATEGOD vocalist Mike IX Williams: "I have to say I don't believe we've lost nary a step in the creation of this album and we think these newer songs are a killer combination of classic EYEHATEGOD mixed along with our best production, mixing, engineering and songwriting in thirteen years. The main and total tragic break in the chain, was obviously last year's death of our great friend and drummer, Joey LaCaze. However, his original drum tracks made it onto the final master recordings and we're fucking psyched about that... As for working with Housecore, it was a no-brainer. We've always been a family, and will always remain a family." Adds Housecore founder Philip H. Anselmo (PANTERA, DOWN): "Being a part of the new EYEHATEGOD record is a dream come true. I've known, supported and loved the guys for almost as long as I've been playing music myself, and it is our pleasure here at the Housecore Records compound to have 'em aboard. And I gotta mention, having heard the new record, this is the EYEHATEGOD record every true fan has been waiting for.... Hail!" As a precursor to the release, EYEHATEGOD will play a special one-off show with HIGH ON FIRE, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, MAGRUDERGRIND, STRONG INTENTION and ILSA at the Ottobar in Baltimore, Maryland on April 27. As a band that helped create a genre as well as equate a city with a sound, EYEHATEGOD has always remained humble anytime words like "legend" were thrown around to describe them. The thing with legends is that they grow stronger in time and over the years, word of mouth has been kind to the band. EYEHATEGOD is bigger now than they ever have been in their twenty-five plus years as a band. Pretty impressive seeing as they haven't released a full-length album in almost fifteen years. Most people who know the band have a story to tell or they heard a story about the guys. Whether it was them playing nothing but feedback to a bewildered WHITE ZOMBIE crowd during their opening stint for the arena metal band in the mid-Nineties, being banned from a certain venue for attacking a promoter with a barstool or cleaning out entire small towns of their drug supply, these stories spread throughout the metal community over the years, usually through a game of one-up-manship, establishing them as one of the most notorious bands around. Certainly not the first band to be surrounded by myth and lore, EYEHATEGOD's staying and growing power ultimately comes from the music. No one riffs like Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton. Drummer Joey LaCaze grooved and held it together with numerous bass players throughout the years, doing so impeccably with Gary Mader over the past decade. Singer Mike IX Williams has always been able to encapsulate the ruins of life through his lyrics and vocal delivery. All combined, the music is the most genuine, distressing cacophony of sound around. "BLACK SABBATH mixed with BLACK FLAG with a little bit of SKYNYRD and the element of blues thrown in there," Bower once said of the band's sound. In 2014 that style might sound somewhat commonplace. In 1988 it most definitely was not. The band's second album, 1993's "Take As Needed For Pain", is the pinnacle album that other bands of this genre to this day try to reach. Today, EYEHATEGOD sounds as fresh and innovative as ever. When the band released its first new track in over a decade, "New Orleans Is The New Vietnam", it was clear that nothing about the band had changed. They were touring more than ever and used that time and energy to work on an album's worth of songs. At the end of 2012 they were ready. The recording process for "Eyehategod" started with producer Billy Anderson back in the fold (he recorded 1996's "Dopesick"). The session saw both producer and band not quite on the same page and at the end, the album was unfinished. A few months later, the band reconvened at longtime friend Phil Anselmo's home studio with producer Stephen Berrigan (DOWN). Both Anselmo and Berrigan helped draw out the missing pieces to one of underground metal's most anticipated albums in years. An unexpected tragedy occurred shortly upon returning home from a recent five-week European tour in the fall of 2013: Joey LaCaze passed away due to respiratory failure. An outpouring of condolences and tributes spread online. Enough can't be said of the loss felt by the band, family and friends. Fortunately, LaCaze's drum tracks were captured by Anderson and appear on the album, creating the definitive tribute for the member of the band who encapsulated best just what EYEHATEGOD was all about; seriously not taking yourself too seriously. New Orleans native, Aaron Hill (MOUNTAIN OF WIZARD, MISSING MONUMENTS), took over for LaCaze without missing a beat, both figuratively and literally. The band hit the road after wrapping up the record and plan to embark upon their most exhaustive touring schedule to date. EYEHATEGOD is: Mike IX Williams - Vocals Jimmy Bower - Guitar Brian Patton - Guitar Gary Mader - Bass Aaron Hill - Drums eyehategodselftitled2014cd_638 Read m
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KILL DEVIL HILL Parts Ways With Drummer VINNY APPICE, Recruits JOHNNY KELLY

Manos Spanos
KILL DEVIL HILL has parted ways with legendary drummer Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL, DIO, LAST IN LINE) and has replaced him with Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE, DANZIG, A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH). "I'm really excited about coming on board with KILL DEVIL HILL," says Kelly. "I've been a fan since their debut and have known the guys for a long time. It's also clear that I have some really big shoes to fill. I'm ready for that challenge as I prepare for KILL DEVIL HILL's next chapter. This is gonna be a blast!" KILL DEVIL HILL will play their first shows with Kelly behind the kit April 4-6, three warm-up shows before embarking on an Australian run with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. More expansive North American dates will be announced shortly. Adds KILL DEVIL HILL bassist Rex Brown: "We all have a lot of love and respect for Vinny and have been honored to have jammed with him over the last few years. We wish Vinny well with all his future endeavors, it has been a blast!" "It's been a great musical adventure from the beginning, but the time has now come to go our separate ways and continue to make music that we love," says Appice of his decision to leave the band. KILL DEVIL HILL's sophomore album, "Revolution Rise", sold around 2,150 copies in the United States in its first week of release. Released on October 29, 2013 via Century Media Records, the CD was produced by KILL DEVIL HILL and Jeff Pilson (DOKKEN, FOREIGNER, DIO) and was mixed by Jay Ruston (STONE SOUR, ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER). The cover artwork was created by Sam Shearon, who has previously worked with ROB ZOMBIE, IRON MAIDEN and FEAR FACTORY, to name just a few. Said Brown of the new album: "This new KILL DEVIL HILL record is definitely one of my favorite moments of my career — it's got balls, great melodies, awesome guitar riffing and a low end that'll set your ass on fire!" killdevilhillapril2014shows killdevilhill2014lineupmontage
02 min read

MARK TORNILLO Says Next ACCEPT Album Will Have ‘Even More Of A Classic Feel’ Than Last Two Did

Manos Spanos
On March 10, journalist Mitch Lafon conducted an interview with ACCEPT and TT QUICK singer Mark Tornillo. You can now watch the chat below. On the progress of the recording sessions for the new ACCEPT album: "I literally finished singing the vocal tracks a week ago Sunday." On whether fans of the first two ACCEPT albums with Tornillo on vocals — 2010's "Blood Of The Nations" and 2012's "Stalingrad" — will be happy with the musical direction of the new ACCEPT album: "Yeah, I would say. It's more of the same, but even more of a classic feel than the other ones, I think. There's some songs on this one, I think, that when you hear the opening riffs, you're gonna go, 'Wow! This could have been on 'Balls To The Wall'. This could have been on 'Metal Heart'.' It's just very classic-sounding stuff, classic-sounding ACCEPT stuff. But with a lot of very diverse things on this record as well. I mean, you've got the heavies and the double basses, but some things that, I think, are a little different." On whether the songwriting process for the new ACCEPT album was more comfortable for him, having done two albums already with the band prior to this one: "It is more comfiortable for me. I think it's a little more comfortable for everyone. 'Stalingrad' was the one, I think, that threw us all for a loop, more than anything, because we had set the bar so high with 'Blood Of The Nations'. And we were really searching for a niche with 'Blood Of The Nations' still, searching for an identity for the band. So 'Stalingrad' was actually more of a challenge, I think, than this one was. We really kind of settled in with this one and are not afraid to take a chance here and there now too. So we'll see what happens. I'm loving it. So I'm just hoping the fans will feel the same way." On the status of the the first official ACCEPT documentary, "Acceptology", featuring footage from ACCEPT's humble beginnings as a garage band in their German home town of Solingen in the late '70s, their '80s "Balls To The Wall" "glory days," and all the way up their most successful reincarnation with Tornillo: "'Acceptology' is still being recorded. Actually, Stefan Kaufmann [former ACCEPT drummer and U.D.O. guitarist] is spearheading that whole project. So I know that we did some extensive video during the recording of this album that's gonna be on some of that stuff. But there are two live DVDs now; there's one from South America, and there's one from Bang Your Head!!! festival last year in Germany. Now, the way I understand it, one of these is going to be released with the new album [as a bonus disc]. I'm not sure which one — I think possibly the German one; I don't know all the details — but the way I understand it, there will be a live DVD with the new album. 'Acceptology', I'm not sure when that's gonna be released and how it's gonna be released." On TT QUICK's future plans: "We've talked about [doing some recording and scheduling some more dates]. There's talk about us maybe doing a few shows, actually, this summer while I'm home. I'm gonna be here, now that we're done with recording the new ACCEPT album, I'm gonna be in the neighborhood now until probably the end of July when we're gonna start touring again [with ACCEPT]. So it gives us some time to do some TT QUICK stuff this summer. David [Dipietro, TT QUICK guitarist] and I have actually been throwing ideas back and forth, so there's a good possibility we may just do an EP, release it digitally and see what happens." Tornillo's pre-ACCEPT band TT QUICK will reunite once again for a performance at the "Rock N' Roll Heaven Presents" event on May 3 at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. Also appearing on the bill will be KING'S X, THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX and the BLACK SABBATH cover band BLACK REIGN. This time around, TT QUICK will play a full set after their "teaser" appearance at Rock N' Roll Heaven and the Old Bridge Metal Militia's reunion concert and fundraiser in May 2013 to benefit the victims of Superstorm Sandy. TT QUICK was a popular club band during the 1980s in the New York and New Jersey area and was known for the guitar work of David Dipietro and the powerful vocals of Mark Tornillo. Dipietro's skills were especially singled out as he had given lessons to both Zakk Wylde of the OZZY OSBOURNE band and SKID ROW's Dave Sabo. TT QUICK disbanded and later reunited sporadically and released a few more albums, including a live CD from one of their reunion gigs ("Thrown Together Live") and a studio effort, "Ink", which came out in 2000.
05 min read