Well, this just got even more interesting. According to Vicious Volume, a metal radio show in Singapore, Mastodon’s Troy Sanders is joining his unnamed project, which also features The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato and The Mars Volta’s Dave Elitch. Here he tells Brader Bo (aka Bo Skullbanger) about the new
Troy [Sanders] from Mastodon just joined the band, too, so now we’ve got three singers for the project, which is also really killer. I’m really excited about that, too. I think it’s gonna be a very original project. I don’t know any other metal projects out there with three people singing like this. So it can be almost like a Transplants of metal.Transplants had three singers; this also has three singers, and it can be very, very great. I’m following, in a lot of ways, some of the same footsteps as Nailbomb [Max's mid-1990s project with Alex Newport of Fudge Tunnel in my approach to this project — a lot of do-it-yourself, punk-rock kind of feeling to the project. So the songs are written really quick — I don't think too much about it. I like it more like that, so they are very raw. We are working on the [music] in December and then we’re hoping to get in the studio in January. The main thing we don’t have is a name.
Well, it sounds like it’ll come together really quickly, and will be more hardcore/punk rock than even expected. And now a project that doesn’t even have a name yet just skyrocketed to our ‘releases we’re most looking forward to in 2013′ list.
[via Blabbermouth]
We’re less than two weeks away from the release of Soundgarden’s new album King Animal. And today, the reunited grunge pioneers are offering fans another taste of new music with “Non-State Actor.” The song will please those who felt “Been Away Too Long” was a little too AC/DC-influenced, though like “Live To Rise” has a slight resemblance to Audioslave. Either way, the song still rocks.
Listen to “Non-State Actor” for yourself in the video above, and watch guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd’s commentary on the song in the video after the jump.
As part of Metal Insider’s CMJ festivities, before performing a set at new NYC comedy club The Stand, Metal Blade recording artist and That Metal Show co-host Don Jamieson sat down for an interview with hardcore legends Vision of Disorder. Vocalist Tim Williams and guitarist Mike Kennedy engaged in an entertaining and informal 25-minute interview in front of college radio stations and music directors. music industry executives, and other metal VIPs.
The conversation touched on many topics, from the band’s beginnings as a Long Island band blurring the lines between hardcore and metal, to their hiatus and subsequent reformation, and what it was like to play with Pantera on what turned out to be their last show as a band. Some excerpts from the interview, which can be heard in its entirety below, follow:
On how the industry has changed since their last album, 2001′s From Bliss to Devastation:
Tim Williams: The way it’s set up now, music gets out there. You don’t need a big label. You don’t need giant tour support to go do something. You don’t need all these certain planets to align to get your product out. I think for a band our size, it’s only an advantage. We never made money on records anyway, so it doesn’t matter. As long as the product gets out there, kids come to the shows, your merch sells, boom, you’re on.
Mike Kennedy: Yeah, music is much more accessible these days, for better or for worse. When we were coming up, only the super bands were recognized – those bands that were so unbelievable that it was undeniable for them to be anything less than huge. And now you’re seeing this giant landscape of so many bands that are just good enough to be noticed. Which is good and bad, you know? You have a lot of different influences from different kinds of music, but you also have a lot of unnecessary things in the mix.
On playing the Beast Fest with Pantera, which turned out to be the band’s last show:
Tim We did Korea and flew to Japan, for what I think was called Beast Feast. We hung out with them, and I still remember getting onstage and watching them from the stage, and it was honestly the best I’d ever seen them play. It was a huge venue, and it was just jaw-dropping. I’ve seen them a million times, done Ozzfest with them, but they just completely blew me away that night, the power of that band. I think that was their last show as a complete unit.
M: And then we went out in Tokyo and got messy after. It was fun. All I remember was Dimebag running down the street smashing beers on cars!
T: You don’t do that kind of stuff in Japan.
M: Yeah, he was running down the street , hammered, just breaking things.
On the CBGB Festival, in which former bassist Harley Flanagan allegedly stabbed two people:
K: We ended up headlining, so it worked out for us!
On playing NYC as a Long Island hardcore band:
M: Yeah, we were fortunate enough to be able to play in the Long Island Hardcore scene, which was a little bit more indie-flavored, and also, blend into the New York hardcore scene, which was really more authentic hardcore. That’s where our fans started to become attached to both. No one was doing that at the time, you were either a Long Island hardcore band, or you were a New York Hardcore band.
T: They didn’t mix. It was always this big thing to come out of a club on Long Island and make a break into the city. I remember playing Bond Street the first couple of times, and I remember it being straight up intimidating.
M: It was a great scene back then. When you tapped into both the Long Island and the New York hardcore scenes, you found there was something amazing happening and you had to be a part of it. I don’t know what you college kids are doing today (laughter). I guess going back to what you were saying about the Internet, I think that has a positive effect in making you successful, but also depletes some of that underground qualities of the scene. It’s not like ‘this is mine and I have this’ or ‘this is ours and we have it.’
Listen to the entire interview below.
For upcoming comedy events at The Stand, go to thestandnyc.com
Yesterday, one of the best albums of the year came out. That’d be Neurosis’ Honor Found in Decay. While it’s dependent on what your opinion of Neurosis is on whether you’d agree with that first statement, it’s at times both slightly more mainstream and just as progressive and challenging as their earlier material. But don’t take our word for it – listen to the album above, and pick it up if you feel so inspired.
We thought it was pretty great when Kerry King earned a spot at the Jager table earlier this year. It turns out that they’re not the only commercial entity that digs Slayer. For a Halloween-themed commercial for their new Google Chromebook, Google uses Slayer’s “Raining Blood” as it’s soundtrack. It’s pretty amazing to see where Reign in Blood has come in 26 years. From one of the most extreme albums ever at the time to being used to hawk a $249 computer. In fact, if you were to tell a Slayer fan in 1986 that one day the last song on that album would be used to sell a $249 laptop, there’s at least two things in that sentence they wouldn’t believe.
This release week will be somewhat atypical for me, both because the list is coming out on a Wednesday and because I will NOT be giving mandatory imperatives of getting out to the store to buy albums. Why are things this way, you ask? It is because of this: yesterday, while most of you were finalizing your Halloween preparations and fretting over how to properly celebrate this holiday on a Wednesday, we at Metal Insider HQ and all of our Northeast readers were recovering from Hurricane Sandy and the beating that she inflicted on most of us. To those of you that have been here with me for this event, I ask that you please stay safe, and encourage you to, instead of buying new music, devote your resources to keeping yourselves and your loved ones safe. And if you are reading this, that means you have electrical power of some sort (or a smart phone), so please feel free to purchase an album online if you are able. At least then you’ll have something new to enjoy while the flood waters recede and the downed trees are cleaned up.
As far as the actual release calendar goes, I have to recognize and approve our lead group’s decision to release their new album today, as they had planned to do when they first started writing it. Given the band’s history of devotion to the macabre and the exotic, Halloween is the perfect time for them to release a new album. So, those of you that aren’t in the midst of a natural disaster, get out to the store and pick up this album today! It will be the perfect thing to play when you want to terrify trick-or-treaters coming to your door! (Just kidding…maybe…)
Cradle of Filth, The Manticore and Other Horrors (Nuclear Blast)
Is there any other group or arist (apart from the Misfits or Rob Zombie) for which a Halloween release would make more sense? And before you all say it, bands that wear masks don’t count in this equation! (Sorry Slipknot.) In all seriousness, though, Cradle of Filth has never hidden from their focus on the darker sides of life and humanity, while also delving into the supernatural and other-worldly with regularity. Just looking at the concepts of their previous two albums is all the evidence you need of that. Guitarist Paul Allender has made it clear, though, that this will be a different kind of album that its predecessors. Manticore purportedly contains more female vocals in the stronger melodies and harmonies, similar to Cradle’s older material, while also incorporating punk-style riffs that give all of the music a less polished sound. This is an album that will surely appeal to fans of older Cradle, possibly even allowing older and newer fans to bridge the divide that exists between them.
Kamelot, Silverthorn (SPV/Steamhammer)
When Roy Khan left Kamelot in April 2011, popular speculation said that the band was dead and any future releases would be subpar at best. I was unsure of the band’s situation, to be sure, but I did not rest on such judgments, only because I remembered that the band had another vocalist before Khan, and that they could find someone of his caliber if they searched long enough. As it turned out, though, the replacement they chose was already a familiar face. Tommy Karevik of Seventh Wonder had filled in for Khan previously on the 2011 Pandemonium World Tour, so his transition into being a full-time member of the band was rather seamless. And if anyone doubted that Karevik could fill Khan’s shoes, just give Silverthorn one listen and you’ll be satisfied with the job he’s doing. The album also features impressive guest vocal performances from Alissa White-Gluz of The Agonist and Elize Ryd of Amaranthe, both of whom are first-time collaborators with the band. This will help Silverthorn distinguish itself very nicely from its three immediate predecessors in Kamelot’s discography, all of which had repeat guests.
Parkway Drive, Atlas (Epitaph)
After the overwhelmingly positive responses that Parkway Drive received for Deep Blue, topped off by a debut at #39 on the Billboard 200, it’s perfectly clear that this band can do almost anything with their sound and make it work well. Despite the surface-level similarities in both sound and appearance to most deathcore bands, Parkway Drive has proven over time that they are so much more than that. I still maintain that they have nigh-unlimited potential here in the States, and I’m hoping that eventually they are as well-received here as they are in their native Australia. Atlas is already receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews, and if that momentum is sustained throughout this week, then we could see Parkway Drive debuting in Billboard’s top 20 next week.
Thrice, Anthology (Workhorse)
The breakup of Thrice was disappointing to many, mostly because they always seemed to be a band that rose above the drama and hardship of life on the road to create a positive outcome. In a rock and metal scene when too few bands are able to have that kind of attitude, and fewer still are able to sustain it over the course of a long-term career, Thrice was a beacon of accomplishment for all to see. Their farewell tour that took place recently was the last chance anyone had to see them live, but if you missed out, you can still vicariously live out that last show that you wanted through this release. Containing a full live set recorded during various stops of the farewell tour, many of the band’s seminal classics, as well as some forgotten gems, are included in this collection. Read more »
Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner was slated to perform at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) this week. Instead, he’ll be resting up after being diagnosed with acute pancreatitis.
“Due to my recent health issues, I am under doctors orders to cancel my trip to Austin TX this week to perform at PASIC 2012. For over a week, what I thought was a stomach bug (and i was still on tour when all of this started), I came home last week and went to the doctors, and it was written off as just that, a bug.
This past Saturday the pain came back and lingered into Sunday which forced me into the emergency room yesterday. After a day in the hospital I was poked, prodded, tested and it turns out I have acute Pancreatitis, which I’m told can be very serious if left untreated.
They’re not sure what brought it on (my Dr thinks it was viral), but I have been told by my doctors to not leave this week because I need to sent for more tests/mri, etc to make 100% sure I’ll be road ready for the second leg of the SF tour which starts Nov. 8th – I should be fine, but needless to say I’m very disappointed I will not be able to come perform in Austin this week! Maybe Pasic 2013??”
Acute pancreatitis is a pretty serious disease. If you’ll remember, it’s what sidelined Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher several years ago in London and Rochester. Drinking is one of the main ways to contact pancreatitis, but if Bittner says it was viral, we’re willing to believe him. It’s good that it was caught in the early stages, as there’s a high mortality rate if untreated. And if he’s still able to play those Shadows Fall dates, then it seems like he’s in good shape.
[via theprp]
Sharon Osbourne let it slip earlier this month that Black Sabbath would be touring Australia next year. And this morning, dates for a spring trek in Australia were officially announced.
The reunited Black Sabbath will be performing down under in April/May. Now this doesn’t really make much of a difference for most of our readers, that is unless you either live or plan on visiting Australia this spring. However, so far Sabbath has only played one U.S. festival and two U.K. shows since reuniting due to Tony Iommi’s battle with cancer. So the fact that they’ve announced this Australian trek is a good sign that more could follow. Plus, as our buds at Metal Injection revealed, Sabbath is making good headway with recording the new album.
We’ll have to wait and see, though, if this trek will coincide with Ozzfest Japan (we’d take a guess that it will). In case you plan on being down under this spring, dates for Black Sabbath’s Australian tour can be seen after the jump. Read more »
This past year marked a major change in lineup for Suffocation. That’s why fans were concerned when singer Frank Mullen revealed that he won’t be touring with the group on a full time basis. Could this mean Mullen was also permanently leaving Suffocation? Well fans have no need to worry because even though Mullen might not be touring as often, he is still in Suffocation.
Mullen released the following statement clarifying his status in Suffocation:
“I am not leaving Suffocation. Massive one month long touring on my side cannot be done anymore though. When the new album is released next year I will be touring as much as possible to support the album as well as the following year in 2014.
When I was asked that question in the interview I was taken off guard and didn’t really know what my schedule was going to look like next year and wanted to try and answer. I haven’t given much thought to what our touring schedule would look like since we’ve been in the studio recording the new release.
So I’m going to be getting out there as much as I can to support the album and get out there in front of the ones who have supported Suffocation over the years, the true fans. So we are going to be supporting this record as soon as it comes out.”
Mullen’s bandmates had the following to add in a joint statement:
“We have respected this decision that Frank has made, but by no means does this mean Suffocation will ‘replace’ him with new singer or stop touring. Death metal has been good to us, and we feel fortunate with the success we have achieved. For shows or tours he can’t be a part of there will be a well-respected, talented, fill in singer, so we as a band can continue to prosper and bring Suffocation to the fans.
Bill Robinson (Decrepit Birth) is a good friend of ours and came through during the European tours when Frank was unable to make the shows, but he was just filling in those two times. The fill-in singer will be announced soon, and we promise that our fans will not be let down. We have been fortunate to make a great living playing music, and are willing to continue to give our fans what they want.”
So on the downside, this does confirm that many fans might not get the chance to see Suffocation with Mullen live. On the plus side, Mullen will still be heard on Suffocation’s new album Pinnacle Of Bedlam (due out sometime next year), he’s still technically in the band, and many fans may get to see Suffocation live with some killer guest vocalists. We’ll just have to wait to find out who they’ll get to fill-in for Mullen onstage.
This past weekend, Metallica performed at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans in place of Green Day. We’d consider that a nice trade off, but Metallica thought some in attendance might have been disappointed that Billie Joe Armstrong was in rehab instead of onstage. That’s why they treated the crowd to a partial cover.
Before going into “Creeping Death,” Metallica ran through the beginning of Green Day’s big hit “American Idiot.” “That’s all we had time to learn,” James Hetfield joked as to why they didn’t perform the entire song. Gaging the crowd’s reaction, they weren’t too disappointed that it was only a partial cover. Watch for yourself, though, in the video above.
Posted by Bram Teitelman on Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 3:51 pm
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