Archive | April, 2012
If you’re an All Shall Perish fan that torrented the band’s 2011 album, This is Where it Ends, you may have found yourself on the receiving end of a lawsuit – one the band, their management, and presumably their label’s president knew nothing about. On April 20, a lawsuit was filed in a Miami courthouse by a Panamanian company called World Digital Rights that licenses the band’s songs. The suit asks for $150,000 in damages plus court costs for each of the anonymous 80-100 fans, and threatens to name them. TorrentFreak assumes that scared defendants will likely settle out of court with World Digital for several thousand dollars each.
Of course, suing your fans, regardless of whether they downloaded your music illegally or not, doesn’t go over very well – just ask Metallica. But before the backlash against All Shall Perish could coalesce into a full-blown movement, just about everyone involved – except for World Digital Rights – claimed that they had no knowledge that their fans were about to be sued. The California deathcore band’s manager, Ryan Downey, told TorrentFreak that the band wasn’t consulted, and that Nuclear Blast’s German label president and US label manager also claim ignorance. However, according to the lawsuit, Nuclear Blast signed over the rights to This is Where it Ends to World Digital Rights on March 12, 2012, making them the exclusive licensee of the album.
“The band, their lawyer and myself were totally shocked (and appalled) by this,” Downey tells Metal Insider. “When I called our US label manager on Friday, he was with the label president and they were both surprised and had no idea about this company. We’ll see what’s at the bottom of this soon hopefully.”
It’s a little odd that the first action against music fans since the RIAA abandoned their anti-filesharing campaign in 2008 should come against All Shall Perish. While This is Where it Ends sold pretty respectably when it came out last year (about 8,500 its first week), it’s not like the band are selling at Metallica levels. Perhaps the band might be a test case for further potential lawsuits against people that illegally torrent. Regardless, it comes down to accountability. If Nuclear Blast signed over the digital rights to the album, they should at least admit that they did it, whether they knew World Digital Rights would be going after those illegally downloading or not. And why would a label sign over digital rights to a third party less than a year after the album came out? At least the band beat everyone to the punch by getting out in front of the story. But this should be viewed as a cautionary tale that a new era of bands suing their fans could be starting up – even if the bands don’t know anything about it.
Marilyn Manson’s new album Born Villain (which comes out tomorrow, May 1) is currently streaming in its entirety over at AOL Music.
You most likely know Brian Slagel as the CEO and founder of Metal Blade Records. But what you might not know about him is that he’s a diehard hockey fan as well. Slagel has given Metal Insider his NHL Playoff hockey picks before, and also helped explain to us the NHL’s realignment plan. Now with the second round of playoffs under way, Slagel once again gave us his predictions for the remaining playoff rounds and for the Stanley Cup.
Well, round one of the NHL playoffs are over and my brackets are shot! I picked the Penguins and Sharks to go to the finals and clearly I was way off! Anyway, the wonderful people at Metal Insider are going to let me try and redeem myself by picking the rest of the playoffs. So here it goes, this is how I see it might happen:
In the East we have the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers. If you did not see the Flyers and Penguins series, you really missed out! That was one of the best I have ever seen, simply amazing hockey! Especially for the fans. If the Flyers can play close to that level and Bryzgalov stops some shots, I think the Flyers will take this one. The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals series should also be a good one. Both teams are playing well and coming off big Game 7 wins. The Rangers are the favorite and I think they will win, but if Ovechkin somehow finds himself this could be a long series. That would set up a Rangers/Flyers Eastern final and oh how great that would be! If you saw HBO’s 24/7 on these two teams, you know how amazing a playoff between them will be. If it gets that far, I am going with the Rangers to get out of the East. Read more »
Originally, Tony Iommi’s battle with lymphoma forced Black Sabbath to limit their reunion plans for 2012 to performances at this year’s Download Fest and Lollapalooza. Earlier this morning, though, the band announced plans to perform a warm up show prior to Download Festival in their hometown.
Black Sabbath will indeed perform at the O2 Academy in Birmingham on May 19. This “intimate” homecoming show will mark Black Sabbath’s first performance in roughly six years. However, it still remains unknown as to who will be performing behind the kit with Sabbath this Summer. While former Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice has denied that he’s been approached, it also doesn’t appear that the band has struck a new deal with Bill Ward yet. It also remains unclear as to whether more “intimate” shows will be added along the way, though we wouldn’t get our hopes up.
In case you just so happen to be in the UK next month, tickets for Black Sabbath’s warm up show go on sale this Friday (May 4). A donation to Help for Heroes will also be made from the proceeds of the show.
With the official announcement of the Trespass America Festival this past week, this Summer has gotten even more crowded with touring festivals. It’s a Summer that will find Mayhem Fest, Summer Slaughter, All Stars Tour and others duking it out for the consumers’ money. But which Summer touring festival is giving the most bang for your buck?
There’s so many ways to determine that question, and there may not be just one answer. But in this week’s Headbangers’ Brawl, Bram, Kodi and Zach try to determine which touring festival has the most interesting lineup this Summer. Read more »
We were all a little sad when the thirty second sample of new Gojira material got taken off the web last week. But today there’s reason to rejoice, for Pitchfork has just premiered the title track from the French metal group’s new album L’Enfant Sauvage.
Now, you’ve heard us rant numerous times about how excited we’ve been to hear new music from Gojira. So now that the first single is online, was it worth the wait and all the fuss? Well, does a bear shit in the woods? Rather than wasting time by listening to us on and on about “L’Enfant Sauvage,” though, head over to Pitchfork now and listen to the new song for yourself.
And starting on Tuesday, May 1, “L’Enfant Sauvage” will be available as a single via all digital outlets. As you likely already know by now, Gojira will release L’Enfant Sauvage on June 26 via Roadrunner Records.
In a recent interview with Mexico’s Search & Destroy, Lamb Of God’s Chris Adler mentioned that he’d love to record new music with guitarist Ron Jarzombek (WatchTower) and bassist Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse). For those unaware, Adler first attempted to collaborate with the two on an instrumental project called Machinations of Dementia back in 2005. When the drummer had to bow out because of Lamb Of God’s schedule, Jarzombek and Webster continued the project under the name Blotted Science.
So is there a chance that Adler could be working on with Webster and Jarzombek once again? After reaching out to him, Adler was kind enough to give us the following comment clarifying a few things:
“While there are no current recording plans, Ron and I are in touch and have repeatedly expressed interest in working together. We’ve written together before and the results are amazing. It would be a significant personal regret if we were unable to find more opportunities in the future.”
So there you have it: while both have expressed interest, there are no immediate plans to hit the studio. And that’s completely understandable, given that both Adler and Webster’s main bands are busier than ever. Plus, we’re still waiting to hear something from Adler’s other supergroup collaboration. Although it’s definitely safe to say that Adler is as hopeful as we are that he and at least Jarzombek will work together again soon.
Adler’s entire video interview with Search & Destroy can be seen above [note: comments about the Jarzombek and Webster collaboration made around the 11:40 mark]. You can also listen to “The Near Dominance Of 4 Against 5,” which Adler and Jarzombek recorded together in 2006 for Magna Carta Records’ Drum Nation Vol. 3 compilation, in the video after the jump. Read more »
Last month, Metal Insider was proud to be a part of the South by South Death 2012 showcase at SXSW along with our bros at Metal Sucks and Metal Injection. Unfortunately, though, I had to stay back on the East Coast while Bram got to go crazy in Austin while repping for the site. Thanks to Metal Injection, though, I can watch High On Fire perform two songs off their killer new album De Vermis Mysteriis during the showcase.
Video of the stoner metal group tearing through “Spiritual Rites” can be seen above, while footage of them performing “Serums Of Liao” can be seen after the jump. Am I still jealous of everyone who got to see the South by South Death 2012 showcase? Absolutely, though these videos help. Read more »
You’ve seen the lyric video for “Subject To A Beating” and have seen bootlegs of them performing “Invert The Idols” live. Now comes your chance to hear samples of Dying Fetus’ new album Reign Supreme.
That’s right, the death metal titans have just released the five minute clip above that includes samples of all nine tracks off of their new record. If you’re a die-hard Dying Fetus fan, then it’s the ultimate cock tease. However, it’s still worth checking out even just to hear a few seconds of each song. Plus, the preview’s graphic artwork in the background is pretty brutal.
So go ahead and listen to the album preview of Dying Fetus’ Reign Supreme, which comes out on June 19 via Relapse Records, in the video above. And as you likely already heard, Dying Fetus will soon be on the road with Six Feet Under and Revocation.
You’ve probably already know of Dio Disciples, the tribute band featuring Tim “Ripper” Owens and members Dio’s solo group. Now get ready for yet another touring group featuring former Dio collaborators forming to pay tribute to the late great singer: The Southern Cross.
This particular group was formed by former Dio guitarist Rowan Robertson (currently of DC4). The guitarist, who only appeared on 1990’s Lock Up The Wolves, apparently reached out to drummer Rick Hagan before Dio’s death about performing material from his time in the band. The group has actually toured Norway at least twice under the name Queenstreet. However, when long time Black Sabbath keyboardist Geoff Nicholls joined the fold, they changed their name to The Southern Cross and focused on performing all of Dio, Sabbath, and Rainbow’s staple hits.
As of now, the only dates The Southern Cross have planned are for November in Norway. You can check out more information regarding the lineup, as well as watch video of them performing “Hey Angel” and “Falling Off The Edge Of The World” last September in Norway (under the name Queenstreet and without Nicholls), after the jump. Read more »
If you’re an All Shall Perish fan that torrented the band’s 2011 album, This is Where it Ends, you may have found yourself on the receiving end of a lawsuit – one the band, their management, and presumably their label’s president knew nothing about. On April 20, a lawsuit was filed in a Miami courthouse by a Panamanian company called World Digital Rights that licenses the band’s songs. The suit asks for $150,000 in damages plus court costs for each of the anonymous 80-100 fans, and threatens to name them. TorrentFreak assumes that scared defendants will likely settle out of court with World Digital for several thousand dollars each.
Posted by Bram Teitelman on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 11:04 am
Digital Media, Legal Woes