Archive | 2012
It’s been revealed that guitarist Mike Scaccia of Ministry and Rigor Mortis died last night (December 22) following a seizure onstage. The guitarist was performing with Rigor Mortis at singer Bruce Corbitt’s 50th birthday bash at the Rail Club in Fort Worth, Texas when he reportedly asked for the strobe lights to be off before collapsing onstage [UPDATE: it has since been revealed that Scaccia actually suffered a heart attack brought on by heart disease]. He was then rushed to a hospital, but was unable to be revived. Scaccia was 47 years old.
Corbitt confirmed the tragic news via the following post on his personal Facebook page:
“My brother is gone! The only reason I am who I am is because of this man. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t even be in a band. RIP Mike Scaccia! The greatest guitar player I ever knew!”
When we spoke to Corbitt a few weeks ago, he revealed that the reformed Rigor Mortis were about to start work on the final mixes of Slaves To The Grave, the band’s first full-length with the original lineup in over 25 years. What will become of the album (which was fully recorded back in February) in light of Scaccia’s passing is currently unknown. In addition to co-founding the veteran Texas thrash group, Scaccia played guitar in Ministry on and off since 1991 (having appeared on numerous albums by the industrial pioneers, including Psalm 69 and their most recent effort Relapse). He also collaborated on numerous side-projects with Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen (who produced the new Rigor Mortis album as well), including Buck Satan And the 666 Shooters and the Revolting Cocks as a live member. Our condolences go out to Scaccia’s family, friends, and bandmates.
Last night, the surviving members of Suicide Silence took to the Fox Theater’s stage in Pomona, CA to pay tribute to their fallen singer Mitch Lucker and to raise funds for his daughter Kenadee. And as promised, the group had some well-known friends fill-in on vocals.
While singers like Chad Gray of Hellyeah/Mudvayne, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Eddie Hermida of All Shall Perish and others were previously announced, the special night also included surprise appearances from Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe, Machine Head’s Robb Flynn and Soulfly’s Max Cavalera (though the first two singers had been rumored to appear). The night primarily featured Suicide Silence performing their own songs with the guest singers, as well as an acoustic Black Sabbath cover with Flynn and a Sepultura cover with Cavalera. In what might have been the most emotional moment of the night, though, the band performed a cover of Deftones’ “Engine No. 9” with Lucker’s voice played on the P.A. system.
The entire event was filmed for a future DVD release. However (and as expected), fan filmed footage of multiple performances have already made its way online. Watch Blythe performing “You Only Live Once” with Suicide Silence (and Flynn on guitar) above. More clips from the performance, as well as the entire set list, can be seen after the jump. Read more »
It’s been a little known fact that Megadeth has started work on a new album. And this evening, Dave Mustaine gave fans a sneak peak in the form of a video-update from the studio. Filmed at “Vic’s Garage,” the video features a brief intro from Mustaine and footage of him recording a riff from a new song. In other words, this is our first preview of new music from Megadeth!
The video featuring the audio snippet of a new song can be downloaded at Megadeth’s Cyber Army Fan Club (or via this link: www.megadeth.com/video/DSM122112.mov). Mustaine says the track has a “punk influence” to it and reminds him of “The Dead Kennedys and Ministry.” And though it’s hard to form an opinion on roughly ten seconds of a song, we certainly like what we’ve heard and look forward to hearing more.
According to a tweet posted earlier today, Mustaine started recording his parts for the first three songs today (hence the timing of the video). The new album is once again produced by Johnny K and is tentatively due out in early 2013, though it remains unclear as to which label it’ll be released through.
Music isn’t the only medium that’s been affected by the internet (for better or worse). With it becoming easier to consume news and editorial content on the web, more and more magazines are starting to limit or completely shut down their print publications. Now Spin Magazine has become the latest magazine to pull the plug on the print production.
After 27 years, Spin officially announced that Buzzmedia (who purchased the publication back in July) would stop printing the magazine. Spin issued the following statement on the matter:
“Following the September/October issue, SPIN has halted publication of our print edition to invest more deeply in our digital properties, including SPIN.com, SPIN Play for iPad, and SPIN mobile. SPIN has been a pioneer in music journalism since 1985 and we hope you’ll continue to enjoy our leading editorial, photographic, and multi-media content online. Special arrangements have been made with alternative publishers to fulfill your SPIN print subscription for the remaining term: you will automatically receive your new magazine in the mail, with the option to ask for a full refund. We appreciate your patience during the transition of your subscription.”
Shortly after purchasing the publication, Buzzmedia dropped plans to release issues of Spin in October and December and announced plans to shift the magazine to bimonthly. Now, though, Spin will only live on digitally.
Granted, Spin has mostly catered towards alternative and indie music, although their “top 20 metal albums of 2012” list was pretty good. However, Spin’s move towards digital-only further highlights the threat print publications currently face (and not just music journalism either).
[via Mashable]
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been celebrating the best albums that came out in 2012. However, while the past year was packed with great music, 2012 also had its fair share of unbelievable moments. Some were joyous surprises, while others were downright horrifying. All in all, though, each moment resonated throughout the metal community.
With that in mind, we decided to list the top 10 moments that presented the biggest surprises of 2012 (along with a few honorable mentions). Click on the page numbers below to see which shocking events made it onto this list, then let us know which moments startled you the most this year in the comment section below.
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re still alive. It’s not like it’s the end of the world or anything. Silly Mayans. Today, in addition to being the first day of winter, is also the 21st day of 2012. You know what that means, right? Yes, it’s time to revisit Rush’s 1976 album with its title track based on Ayn Rand. This is the band at their proggiest, with the title track running 20 minutes long, yet somehow it was the band’s commercial breakthrough.
Just in time for the holidays/apocalypse/their entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rush have reissued the album in a two-disc version that contains the album, with bonus live tracks, both in CD and DVD/Blu-Ray 5.1 surround sound. It’s a perfect gift for the prog geek or I Love You Man fan in your life. But check out the whole album after the jump. Read more »
This morning, Roadrunner Records released a video teasing some big plans for Opeth this coming spring. Using “The Devil’s Orchard” in the background, the video starts off with a rotating earth before landing on North America. Once the view stops on North America, the “O” in Opeth’s logo appears on top along with “Spring 2013.”
Watch the video teaser above, but it’s safe to say that it’s hinting at one thing: Opeth will be touring North America this coming spring. As you may recall, Opeth were originally planning to tour the States this past fall with Katatonia. However, Katatonia’s Anders Nystrom told us that Opeth mainman Mikael Akerfeldt pulled the plug on the tour at the last minute due to exhaustion.
No word on who might appear on the bill with Opeth or what cities will be included on this tour. Actually, it hasn’t even been confirmed that Opeth will be touring at all (even though the video above makes it seem rather obvious). Either way, fans can look forward to some big plans from Opeth in 2013.
Earlier this month, Metallica’s entire catalog was made available on Spotify. It was a major grab for the European streaming service, with Metallica being one of the biggest and best-selling groups in rock (not just metal). But would the move prove to be a good one for Metallica? Well, new reports suggest that the move to Spotify may have had an effect on Metallica’s album sales…but not in a good way.
According to Billboard.biz, Metallica’s studio albums have supposedly taken a dip in sales since being made available via Spotify. Taking a look at Nielsen SoundScan data for Metallica’s studio albums for four-week periods leading up to Christmas from 2008 to 2012, Billboard.biz found that album sales were 15% below expectations the week the titles were added to Spotify, and 35% below expectations the following week. Plus, during the four-week period leading up to Christmas, Metallica’s sales increased to 27.2%. That pales in comparison to the 60% to 61% increase they experienced during the same time range in 2010 and 2011.
With that said, Billboard.biz does acknowledge that Spotify may not be entirely to blame. They do note that the end of the SoundScan sales week this year occurred further away from Christmas, while sales weeks ending closer to Christmas tend to better reflect late holiday shopping. It also doesn’t help that the number of retail outlets to purchase music has decreased dramatically over the years. Plus, it wouldn’t be hard to believe that Metallica’s agreement with Spotify includes a higher percentage of revenue from streaming.
Still, many continue to question whether Spotify actually helps or hurts existing album sales, and Metallica’s decreases in sales aren’t helping the streaming service’s case. Furthermore, this isn’t exactly a great start for Metallica own label.
Yesterday (December 19), Sumerian Records founder Ash Avildsen revealed via tweet that he had signed “some of my best friends of 10+ years,” and promised to reveal the signing the following day. While some outlets easily guessed who the band was, it’s now been confirmed that Sumerian Records has signed Animals As Leaders.
An official statement is expected to come shortly. However, a certain picture posted on Sumerian’s Facebook page (featuring the group’s Tosin Abasi and Matt Garstka) is pretty telling. In case you still needed convincing, the picture included the caption “Looks like Christmas came early this year. This is much better than stuffed ANIMALS.” It’s unclear as to when we can expect Animals As Leaders’ first release via Sumerian.
All things considering, this signing shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. After all, the instrumental prog metal group is managed by Sumerian Entertainment, while Avildsen and The Pantheon Agency also handle their live booking. And let’s not forget that Abasi’s side project T.R.A.M. is already signed to Sumerian. However, this does mark another big loss for Animals As Leaders’ previous label home, Prosthetic Records (who lost both Gojira and The Acacia Strain over the past year). Now Sumerian’s roster boasts a major up and coming player in the prog metal world (along with the recently added The Dillinger Escape Plan AND Ice T).
This past weekend, Ghost treated fans to a new song off their long-awaited follow up to Opus Eponymous (as well as to a new Papa Emeritus). And today, we now know the new album’s title and track listing.
Titled Infestissumam, the new album is due out in Spring 2013. Though an exact date has yet to be locked in, we do know that Ghost will release the album via Loma Vista Recordings (Tom Whalley’s new label in connection with UMG). And if the rest of Infestissumam sounds like “Secular Haze,” then we’re in for a real treat.
Check out the track listing for Infestissumam after the jump. Read more »
It’s been revealed that guitarist Mike Scaccia of Ministry and Rigor Mortis died last night (December 22) following a seizure onstage. The guitarist was performing with Rigor Mortis at singer Bruce Corbitt’s 50th birthday bash at the Rail Club in Fort Worth, Texas when he reportedly asked for the strobe lights to be off before collapsing onstage [UPDATE: it has since been revealed that Scaccia actually suffered a heart attack brought on by heart disease]. He was then rushed to a hospital, but was unable to be revived. Scaccia was 47 years old.
Posted by Zach Shaw on Sun, Dec 23, 2012 at 10:05 am
In Memoriam