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AVENGED SEVENFOLD Bassist: Being Compared To METALLICA Is ‘A Pretty Damn Good Compliment’

Manos Spanos
Germany's EMP Rock Invasion recently conducted an interview with AVENGED SEVENFOLD bassist Johnny Christ. You can now watch the chat below. Asked about recent comments from MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn, in which Flynn called AVENGED's new "Hail To The King" CD a "covers album" and specifically called AVENGED SEVENFOLD out for songs like "This Means War", which bears a strong resemblance to METALLICA's "Sad But True", Christ said: "I heard a little bit about that. "Everyone has their own opinions and they're entitled to them. "We've never been shy to admit that METALLICA is a huge influence in our lives and on our music. "We wrote some songs, like we always do, and we got in there… "If we're compared to METALLICA, the greatest metal band in the world, I think that's actually a pretty damn good compliment." He added: "I never really cared about [the negative things people have to say about our music]. Like I said, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. And it's fine. If I disagree, it's not gonna bum me out. I just don't have time to really sit there and worry about someone disliking what we put so much effort into." Christ also revealed that METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich got in contact with AVENGED SEVENFOLD shortly after the release of "Hail To The King" and was happy about the band's success. "Lars reached out to Matt [AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows] when the record first came out and debuted at No. 1 and had nothing but good things to say about it," the bassist said. "So, I mean, we've gotta be doing something right." AVENGED SEVENFOLD is getting ready to release both an animated series and a mobile game based around the band's recently issued sixth album, "Hail To The King". The series will consist of six episodes and will be available on Machimina's HappyHour channel on YouTube starting December 15. The series will serve as a prologue and back story for the group's mobile game, "Hail To The King: Deathbat", with M. Shadows saying, "We felt this was the best way to tell the story and give you all an idea about the type of game we are creating." The "Hail To The King" series was directed by Jon Schnepp, producer of the Adult Swim animated show "Metalocalypse". Both the series and game tell the story of AVENGED SEVENFOLD's fictional mascot, the Deathbat. The game will debut sometime in early 2014. Shadows said about it, "We wanted to bring the story of the Deathbat to life and allow you to control its destiny. While the game stands on its own in terms of the story and game play, we still wanted to add in some extras for our fans." The band recorded seven brand new songs for the game, which will also include 16 pieces of never-before-seen artwork from all the group's albums that players can unlock. "Hail To The King" sold 159,000 copies in its first week of release, giving the California band their second straight chart-topper after 2010's "Nightmare".
03 min read

METALLICA Sets World Record By Performing Concerts On All Seven Continents In Under A Year

Manos Spanos
METALLICA set a world record on December 8, 2013 by becoming the first and only band in history to perform concerts on all seven continents in under a year. METALLICA's 10-song show in Antarctica on Sunday "was the most unique show [the band] has ever done," the group said in a statement. "The band, contest winners, research station scientists (from Russia, South Korea, China, Poland, Chile, Brazil and Germany), and the ship crew, all crammed in this little dome out on the helipad of Carlini Station in Antarctica! The energy in the little dome was amazing! Words cannot describe how happy everyone was." The METALLICA concert was sponsored by Coca-Cola Zero and fans from several Latin and South American countries had a chance to enter a contest and win the opportunity to join the band on the expedition. The concert took place under a dome at the Carlini Argentine Base and was heard by the fans through headphones, with no other amplifiers or sound system. The gig was also live-streamed in the participating countries. METALLICA's setlist was as follows: 01. Creeping Death 02. For Whom The Bell Tolls 03. Sad But True 04. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) 05. Master Of Puppets 06. One 07. Blackened 08. Nothing Else Matters 09. Enter Sandman 10. Seek & Destroy An official Metallica TV video recap of the concert is available below. Speaking to Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone last month, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett said: "We are playing Antarctica; it's pretty wacky. It's crazy, because I don't deal with cold very well, so I have my reservations. But it should be pretty cool, because we've played the North Pole before — we've played Tuktoyaktuk [in 1995]— so we have to play the South Pole. Tuktoyaktuk was fine; it wasn't as cold as it sounded. But I have a feeling that the Antarctica is a lot colder than the North Pole. And it should be an interesting experience."
02 min read

METALLICA To Let Fans Pick Setlist For European Shows

Manos Spanos
METALLICA's official web site has been updated with the following message: "After spending the better part of the last couple of years making our film 'Through The Never', we are so ready to make another album... It's been far too long! And when we're locked away in the studio, history has dictated that we always need that inspirational break to soak up all the great live METALLI-energy that you guys bring to the gigs. So as we may have done once or twice before (!!), we will be hitting the road this summer, but not just for another 'European vacation'... we've added a twist — YOU PICK THE SET LIST!! "As we embark on two short treks through Europe, we're going to give you, the ticket holders, the chance to vote on what songs you would like to hear at the show(s) that you attend. It will be pretty simple... pick up your ticket(s) online and you'll receive an e-mail shortly after with a code and a link to a site on which you may cast your ballot. We normally play around 18 songs a night, and since we didn't want to be left out of the fun, the band also gets to vote . . . and we vote for a NEW SONG! That leaves the other 17 slots for you to choose, so vote for all your favorites from the close to 140 songs we've recorded in our career and to make it more fun along the way, you'll be able to follow what you and your fellow fans are selecting by watching the site for continuous results. "In true METALLICA fashion, we don't have all the shows ready for you just yet, but here are a few dates to get you started: June 04 - Imtech Arena, Sonisphere – Hamburg, Germany June 06 - Nurnburg Rock Im Park – Nuremberg, Germany June 08 - Nürburgring Rock Am Ring– Nürburgring, Germany
02 min read

METALLICA: ‘Through The Never’ Soundtrack Vinyl Coming To Official Store Next Week

Manos Spanos
"Metallica Through The Never (Music From The Motion Picture)", the soundtrack companion to the groundbreaking 3D feature film "Metallica Through The Never", arrives on vinyl in the the band's official store, Met Store at Metallica.com, on Monday, November 25 at 1 p.m. Pacific Time. Choose between the limited 4-LP 45 RPM set on black vinyl and the 3-LP 33 1/3 set including one disc each in red, white and black. As part of Record Store Day's "Black Friday" event on November 29, METALLICA will release a 4xLP 45rpm 180-gram numbered limited vinyl edition of "Metallica Through The Never (Music From The Motion Picture)". The release is limited to only 4000 copies. Founded in 2007 and officially kicked off in 2008 by METALLICA, Record Store Day normally takes place on the third Saturday of every April and brings together artists and independently owned record stores around the world to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and sold in independent stores. For a list of participating retail outlets, visit www.recordstoreday.com. Asked about the fact that METALLICA was the first big band to support Record Store Day, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Q magazine: "Speaking just for me, I've been collecting records since I was nine, and records have just been such a significant part of my life. It's the reason I wanted to be in a band, so stepping up and helping out Record Store Day is what METALLICA call a 'no-brainer.'" Added METALLICA frontman James Hetfield: "For me, it was when my daughter wanted a turntable. I was, like, [shouts] 'Yes!' I took her to Amoeba Records in San Francisco. She got home and played some vinyl albums on her new turntable. Then about two days later, she said, 'Dad, there's songs on the other side!' [laughs] Yeah, alright!" "Metallica Through The Never (Music From The Motion Picture)" sold around 25,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 9 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores on September 24 via the band's own record label Blackened Recordings. A two-disc CD set, "Metallica Through The Never (Music From The Motion Picture)" highlights last year's career-spanning concerts at Rexall Place in Edmonton and Rogers Arena in Vancouver, where the band filmed all performance footage featured in the film. "Metallica Through The Never" stars METALLICA, one of the most popular, influential rock bands in history. In this music-driven, 3D motion picture event, award-winning filmmaker Nimród Antal immerses audiences in a bracing, raw and visceral cinematic experience with spectacular live performance footage of METALLICA's most iconic songs — created exclusively for film — combined with a bold, narrative story featuring imagery drawn from the band's trailblazing iconography. Dane DeHaan portrays Trip, a young roadie sent on an urgent mission, during METALLICA's roaring live set in front of a sold-out arena. The film features dazzling pyrotechnics, the most elaborate live-performance stage ever built and state-of-the-art 3-D photography, captured using up to 24 cameras simultaneously. Picturehouse released "Metallica Through The Never" in North America on September 27 exclusively in over 300 IMAX 3D Theatres, and it expanded into additional theaters on October 4. "Metallica Through The Never (Music From The Motion Picture)" CD track listing: Disc 1 01. The Ecstasy Of Gold 02. Creeping Death
04 min read

LARS ULRICH Says METALLICA’s Career So Far Has Been A ‘Pure, Honest And Straight Ride’

Manos Spanos
The Talks recently conducted an interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. The Talks: Back in the '80s it seems like metal was also not as mainstream as it is today. Do you agree? Lars: I am not the person to ask that kind of question to, but certainly the world is a smaller place than it was 20 or 30 years ago. When you were going to different corners in the world the local aesthetics were much more prevalent at that time. We just did a run in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China and all these places and it is still Starbucks and Burger King and the same sort of thing that it is everywhere else in the world. The first time we were in Japan in 1986 it was like going to a different universe. The first time we went behind the Iron Curtain in 1988 we went to Hungary it was like going to the moon. Nowadays music penetrates on a global basis in a way it probably didn't do before. The Talks: How have you learned to deal with the enormous expectations from a band of METALLICA's stature? Lars: I think you just train yourself like anything. You train yourself to block it out and you got to have to train yourself hard because nowadays with the Internet and with everybody having an opinion it is harder, you have to be more careful as you navigate through a lot of that stuff as people say some very, very unpleasant things. 20 years ago you would make a record and somebody would critique the record. Like, "This is a good record, this is not a good record. This is why it is not a good record." Whatever. Now it is like, "Lars Ulrich must fucking die!" Do you know what I mean? It is like a different thing and it is much more a scathing and there is a whole kind of thing about expectations and people express their viewpoints, both good and bad and so on. If you pay attention to it, you have to learn how to not own it. You have to learn to not take it with you. And I am pretty thick-skinned, so I think we have a fairly good balance. The Talks: A lot of people argue that METALLICA made a string of shitty records from the mid-'90s until the 2000s and your last record in 2008 was your first return to form in around 20 years. How do you view that? Lars: The bad thing the Internet is that at some point everything becomes these super short sound bites. Everything is sort of getting shorter and shorter because people have a shorter and shorter attention span and there's a tendency to define everything. So define METALLICA: "METALLICA had a bunch of pioneering records in the '80s and then they had a slump in the '90s and then they figured it all out again in the 2000s." If our slump was the mid-'90s, I think that's pretty good. We pushed four records out in four years — '96, '97, '98, '99 — and if those four records are our not-great records, then I'm pretty happy with that because I think all four of those records are pretty fucking cool. The Talks: So how would you define METALLICA? Lars: Listen, each one of those records, each one of those time frames, was always the best it could be at the time, the most it could be, the best we had to offer. The one thing I'll always hold my head up high about is that 32 years later, it's been quite a ride — it's been a pretty pure ride, a pretty honest ride, a pretty straight ride — we haven't done things for ulterior motives or tried to do things for commercial gains or for this or for that, so I feel pretty proud of all of it. I think I can look myself in the mirror and go, "It's okay," because that was what I felt at the moment and I did my best. I'm pretty pleased with the first 32 years, so we'll see what the next 32 years bring. Read the entire interview at The Talks.
04 min read

Video: METALLICA’s JAMES HETFIELD Performs With Kids At ‘Rockin’ The Bay Benefit’ Event

Manos Spanos
Little Kids Rock, the nation's leading nonprofit provider of music instruction and instruments to public schools, honored METALLICA frontman James Hetfield at the charity's annual "Rockin' The Bay Benefit" on Saturday, November 9 at Facebook's Menlo Park, California headquarters. Hetfield was recognized for his ongoing support for and contributions to the organization and received the inaugural "Livin' The Dream Award," which was created in honor of Josef Desimone, the late executive chef of Facebook who spearheaded this benefit forLittle Kids Rock and who was a huge fan of METALLICA. Video footage of Hetfield performing with kids at the "Rockin' The Bay Benefit" can be seen below. More photos are available at the METALLICA Facebook page. "We're presenting James with this special award as a way to not only recognize his support ofLittle Kids Rock over the years, but also his role as an inspirational presence in a band that has revolutionized and defined a music genre," said David Wish, Little Kids Rock founder and executive director. "Josef was a passionate philanthropist who touched our lives with his generosity and we know he would've been proud to see James honored at the event held in his memory." The benefit assembled a star-studded lineup of musical luminaries to help raise awareness and funds for its mission of revitalizing music programs in school districts whose music programming has been impacted by budget cuts. This year, Jeff Campitelli, most famously known as the drummer on Joe Satriani's various albums, and Marcus Henderson, critically acclaimed heavy metal guitarist known for his role as the lead guitarist for the Guitar Hero series, joined Little Kids Rock in celebrating James Hetfield and eleven years of service to schoolchildren in the Bay Area. "I'm a firm believer in creative expression through music. It is important to have it available from a young age, which is why I support Little Kids Rock's mission to make music education accessible to children," said Hetfield. "I've seen how music changes people's lives for the better and I am honored to have a part in helping the organization enrich young lives through the lifelong gift of music education." Founded in a single classroom in East Palo Alto in 2002, Little Kids Rock currently funds modern music programming for more than 112,000 public school children in 12 states, including over 3,500 in the Bay Area. The "Rockin' The Bay Benefit" is held annually in the Bay Area to support schools in the region in which Little Kids Rock was founded. Each year, the benefit features a fun night of music and live auctions, as well as a number of musical performances from special guests. Last year's guests included Sammy Hagar, BLACK EYED PEAS' Taboo, and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame drummer Matt Sorum (GUNS N' ROSES,VELVET REVOLVER). The event raised enough money to put more than 5,000 rock instruments and educational programming into local public schools, providing free music lessons to tens of thousands of children in the Bay Area.
03 min read

METALLICA’s KIRK HAMMETT Says CARCASS Will Perform At His ‘Fear FestEviL’ Horror Convention

Manos Spanos
Lifelong horror enthusiast and METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammettrecently spoke to Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone about his first annual horror convention, dubbed Kirk Von Hammett's Fear FestEviL, which will take place February 6-8, 2014 at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California. You can now watch the chat below. Created to honor the weird, the wonderful, the eclectic, and the things that make your hair stand up on end, the heavy doors of collector/curator/historian/guardian Kirk Von Hammett's crypt will be opened to the public to display the finest acquisitions in his extensive collection of horror memorabilia which includes rare movie posters and props, costumes, models, masks, and toys from various eras. "I've always loved horror, I've always loved collecting, I've always loved weird and macabre things and I've always loved conventions," confessed Hammett. "So what could be better than having your own Fear FestEviL where ALL those great and crazy things can be enjoyed by like-minded people under one pretty cool roof?! Nothing!!! And because I've seen some conventions turn from back-room gatherings of like-minded dorks into mainstream hipster extravaganzas, rest assured that it's my intention to make this a great experience where all things horror, weird, and nerdy are celebrated! So come one and all!!!" Already confirmed to attend as panelists will be Slash, makeup FX legend Greg Nicotero ("The Walking Dead"), Tom Savini ("Dawn Of The Dead"), and John A. Russo ("Night Of The Living Dead"). Private "Crypt" tours, signing sessions, and musical performances by Nuclear Blast artistsCARCASS, DEATH ANGEL and ORCHID will also be included in the three-day event. Visit www.FEARFESTEviL.com for the latest information on horror's newest and coolest fan convention. In 2012, Hammett released "Too Much Horror Business - The Kirk Hammett Collection", an oversized 228-page hardback book documenting his love of all things related to the horror genre and features more than 300 photos of items from the collection of horror memorabilia he has accumulated over the years. The book also included three lengthy interviews withHammett, who also wrote the captions for many of the photos. Hammett told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I've been into [horror] stuff since I was five years old . . . My love for this stuff is insane and totally obsessive-compulsive. It's just one of those things. I'm still waiting to outgrow it or get tired of it or get bored with it. But it does not seem to happen." Hammett, who has been collecting items and watching horror movies since he was a child, told Loudwire why he thinks the genre is so popular. He explained, "They're just fun. They're a fun experience. It's not unlike a roller coaster ride, you know? A good horror movie should have peaks and valleys, a good horror movie should move you emotionally, a good horror movie should be exciting to watch and energizing in a weird kind of way . . . horror movies deliver that." Hammett added, "I've always been attracted to the darker things in life. I was never one to go for light, airy stuff, even as a child. My whole aesthetic has always been one of the darker side. That rings true also in my tastes in music."
04 min read

AVENGED SEVENFOLD Singer: ‘We Have So Many Eerie Similarities To METALLICA’

Manos Spanos
Radio.com recently conducted an interview with AVENGED SEVENFOLD vocalist M. Shadows and bassist Johnny Christ. You can now watch the chat below. Asked how it feels to be compared to METALLICA, M. Shadows said: "To me, we have so many eerie similarities to METALLICA, it's ridiculous. We lost a member during one of our most important times. We have an album now which is being compared to the 'black' album [byMETALLICA], which is very… For us, we kneel at the throne. We're very much big fans ofMETALLICA. At the same time, we're just doing our thing, we're trying to create our own legacy." AVENGED SEVENFOLD recently filmed a video for the song "Shepherd Of Fire" with directorWayne Isham, who has helmed clips for such artists as METALLICA, PANTERA, GODSMACK,DEF LEPPARD and BON JOVI. Isham previously worked with AVENGED SEVENFOLD on the "Seize The Day", "Afterlife","Nightmare" and "So Far Away" videos. AVENGED SEVENFOLD's sixth studio album, "Hail To The King", sold 159,000 copies in its first week of release, giving the California band their second straight chart-topper after 2010's"Nightmare". AVENGED SEVENFOLD kicked off its first major tour in support of the new CD on October 3 in Chicago.
01 min read

METALLICA’s LARS ULRICH Pays Tribute To LOU REED

Manos Spanos
METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich has paid his respects to Lou Reed, the singer, songwriter and former THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman who died on Sunday (October 27) at the age of 71 from complications due to liver disease. Although Reed got a liver transplant last spring, the affliction could not be beaten despite continued treatment and Reed returned to Long Island to spend his final days at home. METALLICA collaborated with Reed in 2011 on the album "Lulu", which was a commercial failure and widely panned by fans and critics. Nevertheless, the disc was the last recorded work released by Reed, and the members ofMETALLICA may have been the last musicians to work with him in the studio. Speaking to Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian, Ulrich said: "[Reed and METALLICA] had communicated about a month ago when we were going to come by New York to play the Apollo, and Lou was going to come to the show and hang out. He didn't make it because his health took a turn for the worse, so I knew things were not good, but I didn't know it was that serious. So I was half shocked and half crushed — shocked that he went so quickly and crushed over the loss. "We were both outsiders, we both never felt comfortable going down the same path that everyone else was doing. METALLICA's always been autonomous, and Lou Reed is the godfather of being an outsider, being autonomous, marching to his own drum, making every project different from the previous one and never feeling like he had a responsibility to anybody other than himself. We shared kinship over that. And we brought him something that he didn't have, or maybe hadn't experienced so much, which in his own words were 'energy' and 'weight' and 'size' and whatever it is that happens when we start playing. He was so into what we brought him. And, of course, he brought us this incredible piece of work that he had already written, 'Lulu', and about her escapades and sexual endeavours. We brought something to each other, and we shared a common lack of ability to fit in with our surroundings. "The hard rock community, they can be pretty harsh, so I'm pretty thick-skinned. And so when the hard rock community turned its back on the record, I wasn't surprised. A lot of people were saying, 'Oh, Lou Reed doesn't sing.' Yeah, no shit. What do you think he's been doing for the last 40 years? Did you expect him to sound like Robert Plant? That's not what he does. In the hard rock community I was not particularly surprised. But I was surprised that some more intellectual writers were pretty harsh to it. "I'll always remember his fragility. I felt in some way that I connected to his fragility, and identified with it. He was very open, he would say, 'Lars, I love you,' and text me a heart. It was so beautiful. The way he was so unfiltered is what I will remember most, and his fragility, and how I've never met anybody who, no matter what he was saying, he was always speaking his truth. It never felt cerebral, it always felt like it came from some other place somewhere. When people talk, it comes from their brain; I don't know where his words came from, but they came from somewhere else. Emotional, physical, everything — it really resonated with me. I wanted to give him strength, and I think METALLICA gave him strength. His being was so beautiful once that guard went away, and it was childlike."
03 min read