Every Time I Die Announces Tour Dates

Every Time I Die has announced dates for their upcoming Spring tour with Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, and Trapped Under Ice.

Our National Nightmare Continues: No System Of A Down Reunion In The Works

In an era where band breakups and reunions are on six-month cycles, the last thing I need clogging my inbox is another lead that nothing’s changed for System of a Down. Frontman Serj Tankian addressed the rumors, claiming nothing has changed since their “indefinite hiatus” announcement:

“We always have offers to play, from festivals and stuff, but we have not decided to do anything as of yet. We’re in touch. We talk. We call it an indefinite hiatus, and that’s how we still look at it. Nothing’s really changed.”

The rumors started with bassist Shavo Odadjian’s misinterpreted tweets earlier this month.

Tankian will release a live CD/DVD set, Elect The Dead Symphony, on March 9 and is currently recording his next solo album, tentatively titled Music Without Borders.

Through The Eyes Of The Dead Streaming New Album Online

Through The Eyes Of The Dead is streaming their new album Skepsis in its entirety at AOL Music.

Dillinger Escape Plan, iwrestledabearonce Announce Tour

The Dillinger Escape Plan will be going out on tour with iwrestledabearonce and Animals As Leaders this Spring. More details here.

Fozzy Streaming New Album Online

Fozzy is streaming their new album Chasing The Grail in its entirety at AOL Music.

Pelican Coffee To Perk Up Stoners Nationwide

Pelican has entered the coffee-metal crossover market, a market one might call crowded considering we’ve seen it from KISS and Megadeth. The instrumental alt-metal (post-metal, whatever, shut up) act isn’t going the commercial route, though. The “Pelican Ephemeral Bean Blend” will only be available at a record release show in Chicago next month.

More on the collaboration with Chicago’s Intelligentsia Coffee:

This record release show will also be the sole location to purchase PELICAN’s Ephemeral Bean Blend; the band’s own limited edition collaboration with Intelligentsia Coffee of Chicago. The band states: “The richest, most complex flavors take patience and skill to craft and are over far too quickly. In that spirit we are proud to present this blend of coffee beans, who have known artisan care from their moment of inception at the farms at which they were grown to the roastery where their delicate nuances were honed to perfection by the skilled craftsmen at Intelligentsia. Enjoy the moment while it lasts.”

The show will take place March 12 in Chicago.

Another Reason To Go To ‘Rust In Peace’ Tour

As if Megadeth performing Rust In Peace in it’s entirety isn’t enough reason to get you to go to the Megadeth/Testament/Exodus tour, it completely slipped our minds that Testament was going to be playing their entire debut album, 1987′s The Legacy on the tour as well. Any self-respecting headbanger has both of those albums in their collection, so it’ll be awesome to hear both of them played live by two of the biggest metal bands of the ’80s. The only way this tour could be better was if Exodus decided to play Fabulous Disaster in its entirety. Fun fact: Testament actually used to be called The Legacy, but had to change their name for legal reasons.  Scroll down to the Megadeth post for the tour dates.

More On Ticketmaster-Live Nation Merger’s Pro-Competition, Pro-Consumer Conditions

The conditions imposed by the Justice Department for the proposed merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been announced, and they include some very good prospects for creating a competitive, consumer-friendly market.

According to Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, Ticketmaster would have to license its ticketing software to competing concert promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc. (a.k.a. AEG) and sell its subsidiary Paciolan to Comcast Corp. subsidiary Comcast-Spectacor. Paciolan sells tens of millions of tickets every year, she said.

From CNBC:

The conditions would result in two large, vertically integrated competitors — AEG and Comcast-Spectacor — that would vie for ticketing contracts with the merged entity of Live Nation Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc.

The merged entity would also be under a 10-year court order prohibiting it from retaliating against venues that choose to sign ticket-selling contracts with competitors.

Varney announced the merger conditions on Monday, saying the deal as proposed would have been “anticompetitive.”

“It’s going to benefit competition and benefit consumers,” Varney said. “Generally when you see robust competition, you would expect to see prices coming down.”

AEG CEO Tim Leiweke told Billboard.biz he was pleased with the concessions attached to the DOJ approval of the merger:

Anschutz Entertainment Group CEO Tim Leiweke said the concessions … will “enhance our ability to compete effectively in the ticketing, venue operation and live event promotion businesses,” in a prepared statement.

Leiweke said AEG has obtained “contractual commitments” which will allow AEG to operate a private label ticketing site using the Ticketmaster system on “favorable terms.” Ticketmaster will host the ticketing site, including for both AEG-affiliated properties and other clients.

While AEG will have the ability to operate under the private label site for up to five years, AEG has obtained complete flexibility to migrate some or all of its ticketing business to one or more alternative ticketing platforms at any time following the merger. AEG intends to “aggressively explore such alternatives, including ticketing companies both in the U.S. and in other markets with whom AEG is already engaged in on-going discussions.”

In an important detail, AEG also has an option to license and install the Ticketmaster software to power a competing ticketing system should AEG elect not to pursue an alternative technology. Also of importance is the fact that, according to Leiweke, AEG has received “definitive assurances” from Ticketmaster regarding its rights to own and use customer and other data for any tickets that it sells through Ticketmaster.

“Together with other provisions of the Department of Justice’s proposed final judgment, including required divestitures and significant behavioral remedies, we are confident that the arrangements we have reached with the parties will serve to increase competition and further the interests of consumers and other participants in the live entertainment industry, not only in the United States, but in a number of key international markets (including Canada and the United Kingdom, among others),” Leiweke said in the statement.

Both Ticketmaster and Live Nation agreed to the proposed conditions, but a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. still needs to approve the settlement.

Megadeth To Play ‘Rust In Peace’ On Current Tour

Megadeth’s 1990 album Rust In Peace was their crowning achievement. While they’ve been heavier (Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good) and more commercially successful (Countdown To Extinction), the shred-tastic duo of Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman joined by bassist David Ellefson and drummer Nick Menza was a powerful lineup, and one that would last for eight more years.  That’s why we’re really psyched to hear that to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the album,  Megadeth will be playing it in its entirety on their upcoming tour.

Mustaine has been extremely excited in discussing the guitar skills of new guitarist Chris Broderick, calling him “everything Marty Freidman wanted to be and then some.” during a radio interview. Now we’ll get to see him put his money where his mouth is. From all reports, Broderick is phenomenal, and Megadeth still put on a great live show. And it’s a win/win, because they’ll be joined by Testament and Exodus, which if not the Big Four is at least the Almost As Big Three. Let’s take a look at one of the best songs on the album after the jump, where you’ll also find the tour dates. Read more »

Breaking News: The Scorpions Still Exist

The Scorpions have announced that their forthcoming album, Sting in the Tail, will be their last, and they’ll be disbanding following an extensive tour in support of the album.

We are extremely grateful for the fact that we still have the same passion for music we’ve always had since the beginning. This is why, especially now, we agree we have reached the end of the road. We finish our career with an album we consider to be one of the best we have ever recorded and with a tour that will start in our home country Germany and take us to five different continents over the next few years.  We want you, our fans, to be the first to know about this.

It’s really cool that the Scorpions are  – wait a minute? They didn’t break up in 1990 after Crazy World came out? According to some crack research (aka, their Wikipedia page) they’ve released seven albums since then. Admittedly, some of them were only released overseas, but it’s still been at least a decade since they’ve been a household name.

Although they’d been around since the ’70s, the German quintet were one of the most popular bands of the ’80s hair metal explosion, unleashing songs like “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “No One Like You,” before their 1990 ballad “Wind of Change” became the unofficial anthem to the fall of the Berlin Wall, which had taken place the prior year. They were one of the first Western bands to play Russia, and are still a huge international band.

On the one hand, good for them for going out on a high note, releasing their final album and touring for a few years, then calling it a day. It seems like a little late to be doing it, but at least they aren’t just suddenly quitting before giving people one last chance to see them. But if they pull a KISS or Ozzy, announcing a farewell album/tour just to come back again after it’s popular, all good will towards them is taken back.

Sting in the Tail will be out in March.