Archive | Meet The New Guy
photo: Stephanie Cabral
Until the death of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman shocked the metal community earlier this month, the biggest story with the band was who would fill their drum seat after Dave Lombardo’s departure. And as the band came to grips with the loss of a founding member, would they realize how important keeping surviving members of the band was? Actually, Slayer have gone back to the past to fill the throne, as they’ve announced that Paul Bostaph is back in the fold for their tour beginning Tuesday (4) in Warsaw, Poland.
“Paul’s a great drummer and a good friend, and we’re very happy that he’s decided to rejoin the band,” said Tom Araya. “We’re still pretty numb from the loss of Jeff, but we don’t want to disappoint our European and South American fans, and we need to begin moving forward… Having Paul back in the band makes that a whole lot easier.”
“I’m very excited to be rejoining Slayer,” added Bostaph. “We spent a very intense ten years of our lives together, had a lot of fun, made a lot of great music, so for me, this feels like coming home.”
Bostaph was in the band for nine years, from 1992-2001, playing on Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude, Diabolus In Musica and God Hates Us All. He also spent two years in Exodus, meaning that he’ll be playing with Gary Holt for the second time. Ironically, this is the second time Bostaph has replaced drummer Jon Dette. He’d been in the band in for a year in 1996, and had played some Austrian shows with the band earlier this year after Lombardo was let go from the band.
At least the band will be back with someone they’ve played with before. Slayer is a business, and while there are many that rightfully feel that Slayer isn’t Slayer without the drummer that played on their ‘holy trinity’ of albums, Bostaph has proven himself in the band twice before. Better him than an unproven entity.
There’s been plenty of drama surrounding Stone Temple Pilot’s firing of Scott Weiland. That’s why the biggest surprise at Saturday’s (May 18) KROQ Weenie Roast in Irvine, CA came when Stone Temple Pilots not only performed, but had Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington onstage with them.
Stone Temple Pilots made a surprise appearance at the radio station’s annual show, performing a handful of classics AND a brand spanking new song called “Out Of Time” with the Linkin Park singer. Shortly after the performance, STP’s website was updated with new photos of the band with Bennington, a teaser video for the new tune and a free download of said song. While it’s unclear as to how long this will last, it’s safe to say that Chester Bennington is now the new singer of Stone Temple Pilots for the time being.
With that said, both the band and Bennington have made it clear that the singer’s main focus is still Linkin Park. “Chester has a one-of-a-kind voice that we’ve admired for a long time,” said guitarist Dean DeLeo in an official statement. “We know Linkin Park will always be his priority, but we thought it would be cool to try something together. We managed to find the time to record a song and we’re all really happy with the result.” “I’ve loved STP since I was 13 years old and they’ve had a huge influence on me,” added Bennington. “When the opportunity came up to do something creative with them, I jumped at the chance. The guys in Linkin Park have been incredibly supportive of me undertaking this project while I’ve continued to work on new music with LP.”
Not only has Bennington been a longtime fan of STP, but he’s also been friends with the band members (especially Weiland) for a while as well. In fact, Bennington once declared in an interview that he was too close of friends with Weiland to replace him in his other estranged group, Velvet Revolver. So it’s a little surprising to see Bennington replacing Weiland in STP now, especially considering that this split makes the Velvet Revolver drama look like a walk through the park.
STP’s new song “Out Of Time” can be downloaded for free online. Meanwhile, footage of Bennington’s performance with STP at the Weenie Roast can be seen below. STP’s next performance with the singer is slater to take place at the annual MusiCares event (where Bennington is also being honored) in L.A. on May 30. Read more »
Darkest Hour has been working on a new album due out later this year. And earlier today, the DC metalcore group announced the addition of drummer Travis Orbin, formerly of Periphery and Sky Eats Airplane.
Guitarist Mike Schleibaum told Revolver the following about the addition of Orbin:
“The chemistry has developed into something special, unique, and new. It’s hard to deny this feeling when you’ve been releasing albums for as long as we have and we couldn’t be more ready to unleash this new sound of ours on your senses.”
Singer John Henry also added:
“This is a very exciting time in the history of the band. Travis is hands down one of the best drummers I have ever seen, and is bringing to the table an incredible and inspiring amount of talent and musical ability. This marks the beginning of a new era for Darkest Hour, one you will have to hear and see to believe!”
Orbin himself shared the following about joining Darkest Hour:
“I’ve been jamming and writing the new record with the guys for over a year. It’s been especially rewarding in that everything was composed in a room together, a wholly organic process that I haven’t experienced in a long while. I’m excited about the tunes, signing on as a full-time member, and can’t wait to hit the road!”
As you may recall, Darkest Hour had Timothy Java from Dead To Fall behind the kit after longtime drummer Ryan Parrish left in December 2011. The group also announced bassist Paul Burnette’s long rumored departure last summer, getting replaced by Aaron Deal. Meanwhile, Orbin joined Periphery in 2005 before getting replaced four years later by Matt Halpern. He then went on to join Sky Eats Airplane before the group went on hiatus. Whether Orbin’s new gig means he has left Sky Eats Airplaine for good, though, is unclear.
In case you’re not convinced Orbin has the chops, check out video of Travis recording drums during his recent Cartoon Theory sessions below. Read more »
Last week, The Faceless continued their reputation of multiple lineup changes with the departure of drummer Lyle Cooper. And today, the tech-death metal group has announced who their new drummer is…though the answer shouldn’t surprise you.
The Faceless has confirmed that Alex Rudinger is their new full-time drummer. Considering that Rudinger has been the one filling in for Cooper in Mexico, and the fact that now he’s out of The HAARP Machine, it seemed pretty obvious that Rudinger was the band’s new guy. In case you needed an official statement, though, here’s one the band released earlier today:
“To clear the air on a few details, The Faceless has decided to part ways with drummer Lyle Cooper due to a growing difference in the level of commitment to the project. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors and we’re sure he’ll continue to be successful with music. Having said that, we are very excited to announce that Alex Rudinger is our new full time drummer. We just played our first 3 shows with him in Mexico and what he brings to the band both musically and personally, is simply astounding. We are looking forward to a great future with Alex.”
In related news, The Faceless also revealed that they’ve forced to reschedule their UK run due to visa issues. The group is still set, though, to tour the States with Cradle Of Filth.
One of the most shocking moments of 2012 came when drummer Bill Ward publicly withdrew from Black Sabbath’s reunion plans, including both in the studio and on tour. It was assumed that Sabbath would be recording the new album with Tommy Clufetos, who filled in for Ward onstage last year. As it turns out, though, the reunited metal icons recruited someone else to record drums: Rage Against The Machine’s Brad Wilk.
It was officially announced today that Brad Wilk (also of Audioslave) recorded drums for Sabbath’s first studio album with Ozzy Osbourne in roughly 35 years. It’s also been confirmed that the album, produced by Rick Rubin, will be titled 13 and is due out this June (an exact date is still pending) via Vertigo/Universal. As we all know, Black Sabbath’s new album has had its setbacks, both with Ward’s departure and Tony Iommi’s battle with lymphoma. So it’s exciting to hear that we’ll finally get to hear new material from the metal icons soon, let alone that it’ll feature Wilk. Now if only the drummer could properly reunite and record a new album with his band.
It’s been one hell of a weekend for Ghost fans. Less than a few hours after premiering a new song online, Ghost took to the stage in their hometown of Linköping, Sweden. Not only did they perform the new song “Secular Haze” for the first time (as well as their cover of ABBA’s “I’m A Marionette”), but they also introduced vocalist Papa Emeritus’ replacement in the band… Papa Emeritus II.
After performing the song “Genesis,” Papa Emeritus I essentially “passed the throne” to Papa Emeritus II, who then performed “Secular Haze” with the group. In other words, there were actually TWO Papa Emeritus’ onstage (Papa I in a white robe, while Papa II was in a red and black robe). Professionally filmed footage of the switcheroo can be seen above.
According to Blabbermouth, both versions of Papa Emeritus are portrayed by real life frontman Tobias Forge (or at least that’s who we think has been playing the character). However, that doesn’t exactly explain how two versions of Papa Emeritus appeared onstage together. Sure, we can speculate numerous theories (quick backstage costume change?), but let’s be honest- the spooky mystery element is half the reason why we love Ghost.
Watch Ghost making the switcheroo and performing “Secular Haze” above, while fan filmed footage of Ghost covering ABBA’s “I’m A Marionette” can be seen after the jump. Read more »
Let’s be real: if you consider yourself a metalhead but have never listened or gotten into bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica, or Pantera, most people will say that something went seriously wrong with your upbringing and then proceed to throw albums at your face. With that in mind, Avenged Sevenfold’s new drummer, Arin Ilejay, apparently needed to be acquainted with such legends by his new bandmates. In a recent interview with Revolver, Frontman M. Shadows said of Ilejay:
“A lot of it’s been us refreshing him on what our influences are and where we’re coming from as a band. There’s a lot of things that he was never brought up on that we have to quickly get him acquired to such as Pantera and Metallica and Slayer and Megadeth and we’re introducing him to these records that were literally the biggest records when we were growing up. Just records that you have to know. He’s much younger and he grew up listening to Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet For My Valentine, ya know? So it’s a completely different generation and it makes me feel old to even talk about it.
Right now, we’re handing him [Pantera's] Far Beyond Driven and [Metallica's] Master of Puppets and saying, “Learn these albums. You need to learn these things” because when we’re talking about “groove metal,” we’re not talking about some Warped Tour band. We’re talking about fucking Pantera! We’re talking about Black Sabbath, ya know? So we’re getting him acquired to that and I think he’s learning really quickly what we’re looking for. We’re not looking for an overly technically proficient drummer. We’re looking for a guy that knows how to fit the song and be in the groove and play the right thing in the right moment. It’s been cool. It’s been good. He’s been doing really, really well. Read more »
As you may have heard, Dirge Within recently went through a rather public and less than friendly split with singer Jeremy “Jerms” Genske. And yesterday, the Chicago based metal group announced that Divine Heresy’s Travis Neal is their new singer.
Dirge Within revealed Genske’s replacement via the following statement, along with rehearsal video seen above:
“We are extremely proud and excited to announce Travis Neal as our new vocalist! The band has wasted no time and has begun writing new material as well as planning some new shows in feb. We have also put together a raw 100% LIVE rehearsal video of us jamming on some material off of both records so all of our amazing fans can get a nice taste of what’s to come. We are excited for all to join us In this new chapter. We will have some more cool stuff surfacing online very soon so keep on the look out!!”
This actually marks the second time Neal has come into a band that had a public fallout with its singer (you haven’t forgotten about Tommy Vext’s exit from Divine Heresy, have you?). Watch Dirge Within rehearsing with their new singer in the video above.
Stone Sour previously let it slip who would be replacing former bassist Shawn Economaki on the road. This past weekend, though, it was confirmed that Johny Chow of Cavalera Conspiracy and Fireball Ministry fame would indeed be taking on bass duties.
Guitarist Josh Rand confirmed the news via the following statement:
“Dear Friends,
I am pleased to announce that Johny Chow will be playing bass guitar with Stone Sour on the House of Gold and Bones Parts 1 & 2 tour cycle. Johny is a fantastic player and a long-time friend of the band. We are all excited to have him be part of what will be our most exciting and ambitious album cycle yet.
All the best,
Josh Rand”
It remains unclear whether Chow will become a permanent member following the end of touring. However, we already knew that Skid Row’s Rachel Bolan plays bass on Stone Sour’s new album House Of Gold And Bones, part one coming out on October 23.
GWAR covers Kansas
It seems like only yesterday that GWAR unveiled their latest guitarist, Pustulus Maximus. That’s probably because it was then that the scumdogs of the universe first showed the world the replacement for Flattus Maximus. Thanks to the awesome AV Club feature “Undercover,” we finally have a chance to see him in action. While we’ve already seen Reggie Watts’ bizarre cover of Van Halen’s “Panama,” GWAR was the last band to make it on to this season’s crop of songs, which means they were stuck with Kansas’ “Carry On Wayward Son.” The band actually sound great, and Oderus Urungus makes the cover funnier than it should be, talking about bands named after geographical locations and telling his “wayward son” to get off his ass and find a job.
Posted by Bram Teitelman on Thu, May 30, 2013 at 6:57 pm
Meet The New Guy