Nine Inch Nails Loses Bassist Eric Avery

Well that was fast. The reformed Nine Inch Nails haven’t even played a show yet, and they’ve already lost a band member. This time around, it’s former Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery.

Avery (who has also been touring with Garbage this past year) revealed via Facebook that he was stepping away from Nine Inch Nails, stating that he became “overwhelmed” as the tour started to grow (now including Lollapalooza and Budweiser Made In America festival appearances). Here’s exactly what he had to say about his sudden departure:

“It’s with very mixed emotions I tell you all that I’m pulling out of NIN. I know. It’s been a tough call and I don’t know if it’s the right one, but I really want to focus on my musical life here in la, on film work in particular. As the tour dates kept growing… I just got overwhelmed. I just got home from a year of heavy travel with Garbage, the idea of leaving town for another year and a half, and with all the intensity that nails demands… fortunately my friend Trent understands all this and appreciated my pulling the plug now instead of deep into 2013 and 14. Go get ‘em, gentlemen.”

While Nine Inch Nails has yet to officially address Avery’s split, Trent Reznor did retweet the bassist’s post about his decision via Twitter. No word on who will replace Avery on bass, though considering their first date isn’t till July Naeba, Japan, NIN certainly have time.

You Don’t Have Attack Attack! To Kick Around Any More

For better or for worse, Attack Attack! accomplished a ton in just six years, using the internet to become one of the most hated and/or loved bands around. But today they announced that they’ve cored their last crab, as they’ll be disbanding following the now-ironically-titled Back In Action tour that starts next Thursday (2). The band’s announcement and statement via Facebook is as follows:

Well everyone, it’s been a wild ride for Attack Attack, but I think it’s about time Whiting and I take some time to write this note.

We want to start by thanking every single one of you that has ever come out to a show, bought a shirt, gotten in a fight over crabcore, or spent the time to send us notes online. We have been insanely blessed to be able to do what we have done with AA and we think it’s time that we wrap up
this chapter in our lives.

Yes, this means exactly what you think it means. The Back in Action Tour will be Attack Attack’s final and most ironic tour.

After 6 long years of playing in garages, VFW halls, clubs, open air festivals, and everything in-between. We’ve decided it is time to lay AA down for good.

You are all beautiful, wonderful people, and we want you to know that we deeply appreciate everything you have done for us.

We are sad to lay Attack Attack to rest, but are very excited for what is next in this new chapter of our lives.

Stay Tuned!!!

Much love,

The Andrews

It’s not like the writing wasn’t on the wall, as the band have more former members than they do current ones, and have had a revolving door of vocalists. They’d also been without a label since last year, when they left Rise. And while there are still plenty of screamo bands that feature electronics in their music, it’s not like that’s a growth industry. Yet the band’s blend of screamo and electronica was undeniably popular, and the band embraced that many people made fun of them. In fact, the ridiculous crabcore .gif from the “Stick Stickly” video was a meme before there a year before memes were a thing. Check out the “Stick Stickly” video after the jump, as well as the band’s tour dates.  Read more »

Have Ozzy And Sharon Osbourne Split Up?

The release of his first album with Black Sabbath since 1978 might not be the only milestone that Ozzy Osbourne is going through right now. According to TMZ, the singer and his wife, manager Sharon Osbourne, have temporarily separated from each other. The article is short on details, but quotes sources connected with the couple stating that Sharon is staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel while Ozzy is living at a rented house several miles away. While initial reports said that the couple had moved out of the home while it was undergoing renovations, that’s apparently not the case. The couple have been married for 31 years, and according to the article, have no plans to divorce.

While this is a TMZ headline today, just yesterday, Jack Osbourne dismissed an article that ran in yesterday’s UK tabloid The Sun, saying via tweet: ”It’s all bullshit. Last time I check a lot of British newspapers weren’t amazing sources of accurate information. Moving on…” The Sun‘s article is much more detailed than TMZ’s, with pictures of movers, shots of the couple without rings on, and a quote from Sharon, who had a double mastectomy, saying “He is getting on my new tits.” Yet UK tabloids generally play fast and loose with the truth, and for the most part, when something appears on TMZ, it’s been thoroughly vetted. A spokesperson for the couple said that they’re “still together,” according to Blabbermouth. But it’s conceivable that as Ozzy’s manager, Sharon could continue to work with her husband even if she’s separated from him. We’ll continue to monitor this and give you updates.

[via Zena Metal]

Nachtmystium Are Nacht Together Right Now

While information has kind of been out there for a month, Chicago psych/black metal band Nachtmystium are on hiatus. Frontman and founder Blake Judd stated in an interview with Stereogum last month that he’s decided to concentrate on Hate Meditation. Back in March, Judd was interviewed for Stereogum about Hate Meditation, and stated that Nachtmystium was “on somewhat of a hiatus for the time being.” Since then, the band’s Facebook page has disappeared and a European tour scheduled has been cancelled, with the following explanation:

“We are sorry to inform you that Nachtmystium have decided to cancel all their live activities in the foreseeable future. The band has parted ways with their long time lead guitarist, Andrew Markuszewski, and their recording engineer/synth player, Sanford Parker. The remaining three band members of Nachtmystium as of today are going to bring the band to a state of hiatus.”

Metal Sucks brings up the fact that Judd is pretty much the only constant in the band anyway. Markuszewski only played on the band’s most recent album, Silencing Machine, and they’d toured without keyboard players before. But essentially, the band had been releasing an album every two years since 2002, so maybe they just got burned out on doing that. What we’re hearing so far from Hate Meditation sounds a lot more like traditional black metal than the experimental psychedelia of Nachtmystium’s two Black Meddle albums. You’ll get to hear the whole album, Scars, on May 24 when it’s released on Norway’s Indie Recordings.

Baroness Part Ways With Half Of Its Lineup

It’s taken a while for Baroness to recover following last year’s horrifying bus accident. However, frontman John Baizley and guitarist Peter Adams have slowly made their way back onstage with a handful of scattered acoustic sets. And with festival appearances like Bonnaroo confirmed, it seemed like Baroness were poised to come back strong. However, it appears that the group will do so without drummer Allen Blickle and bassist Matt Maggioni.

Baizley revealed in a lengthy statement that Blickle and Maggioni will no longer be touring with Baroness, saying:

“Nothing can truly prepare you for a brush with death. The event is unique one, singular to the observer. Trust me, you don’t want to invite the experience. Our bus accident left indelible marks, external and internal, physical and mental, you name it. Each of the nine of us went through and continues to go through an entirely different, yet common experience. We are tied to each other by a trauma, which, despite its damage, has been made individually easier through our shared ordeal. While I would never wish the incident on anyone, I cannot imagine going through that wreck alone.

Thankfully, injury was not dealt out evenly; unfortunately it was dealt in great supply. Each of the nine of us now finds our self in a drastically different circumstance, and we each move forward accordingly. There are two important things to note. First, we are all healthy. We are recovering at different rates, and we’ll all be fine in the end. Second, Baroness has made a commitment to pick up where we left off, and get back out on tour, where we belong. In fact, I am personally staking my recovery on this principle; it gives me direction and something to look forward to (finally).

However, for some of us, the accident necessitated a change that would prevent them from performing music or touring. It is with sadness that we must announce that Matt Maggioni and Allen Blickle will not continue touring with Baroness. The details of their departure are not sensational; they do not come with hard feelings. Nor are the details going to be public; suffice it to say we’d like to keep to ourselves the finer points of this situation, to respect the privacy of all involved. While the nine of us must respect the significance of the bus accident in Bath, we must also move away from it and get back to our lives. Simply put, some of the effects and injuries were severe enough to prohibit further activity in Baroness. While we would never have asked them to leave; we have the utmost sympathy for this situation, and in earnest, we wish Matt and Allen the best in the future. In their stead, we have found two musicians who can approach our music with passion and vitality and help get us back out on tour to finish what was seemingly cut short last August.”

Who exactly these two new fill-ins are has yet to be made publicly known. And while Baizley refrains from directly saying why Maggioni and Blickle have left Baroness, it safe to assume (and rightfully so) that the accident took its toll on both members. It’s a shame that this has had to happen, but at least it won’t slow down Baroness’ comeback.

Gaza Has Broken Up

Gaza, the grindcore quartet from Salt Lake City, UT, has officially disbanded. The band released the following statement:

“Gaza is no longer a band. A big thank you to anyone that has supported us. Some of us will continue to make music together.”

This announcement comes about seven months after the band released their third album No Absolutes In Human Suffering back in August 2012. It has also been about two months since frontman Jon Parkin was accused of raping a woman in Idaho only known by her Tumblr username “amindfullofoyu”, which ended with both parties coming to a resolution and the woman apologizing, though what actually transpired is still unknown.

We don’t want to make the accusations against Parkin the main focus here, but one can’t help but wonder if the incident was somehow linked to the break-up since it didn’t happen too long ago. It could also have had absolutely no bearing whatsoever and the members (especially Parkin) probably don’t want to bring the incident up again. We won’t know until we hear from individual members.

Scott Weiland Claims Firing From Stone Temple Pilots A Publicity Stunt (In Denial Much?)

Scott Weiland made it pretty clear that his “termination” from Stone Temple Pilots came as a surprise to him. Now the singer is claiming it’s all part of a publicity stunt to boost ticket sales for an upcoming tour.

TMZ caught Weiland at the Los Angeles airport prior to the launch of his solo tour. You can watch video of the interaction, but he straight out said “STP is not broken up. It’s a whole thing to try to boost ticket sales.” He further stated that even though they haven’t talked about said tour in a while, STP legally can’t fire him due to contract clauses. This comes shortly after Rolling Stone posted an interview with Weiland (originally conducted the day before the firing) where he further claims that STP have not broken up. “My personal feeling is that we just need some new blood in the band. It’ll give it new energy, so that we’re not just playing the same greatest hits set we’ve been playing ever since we got back together after I left Velvet Revolver. I’d like to make a new record so it breathes new life into it. Right now, I’m focused on building my solo career with this group of guys. That’s what feels right,” Weiland told Rolling Stone, also claiming that they’ve been talking about touring plans.

So we can take Weiland’s claims one of two ways: either his bandmates really do have a weird sense of how to do PR, or the singer is simply in denial that he’s been booted from the band. Either way, we doubt this will be the last we hear about the matter (let’s not forget, the remaining members of STP have yet to make a more detailed statement). We’re just hoping that this doesn’t lead to two versions of the group (Stone Temple Pilots and Queensryche co-headlining tour anyone?).

Scott Weiland Comments On Getting Fired From Stone Temple Pilots

Yesterday morning, Stone Temple Pilots revealed that they had “terminated” Scott Weiland from the band. And unsurprisingly, the singer isn’t too happy about it. In fact, Weiland even hints at legal action over his supposed firing.

Shortly after STP issued their strait-to-the-point announcement, Weiland released his own statement:

“I learned of my supposed ‘termination’ from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press. Not sure how I can be ‘terminated’ from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that’s something for the lawyers to figure out. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing all of my fans on my solo tour which starts this Friday.”

We definitely can’t fault the guy for being upset about getting the boot from his band (especially if he found out about it with the rest of us, as he claims). However, Weiland makes one thing pretty clear with his reaction: things are going to get pretty ugly. With that said, it’s not even clear as to what the remaining STP member’s intentions are with the moniker. For now, fans who want to hear the first two STP albums live will have to see Weiland during his upcoming solo tour (which he so subtly plugged in his statement).

Stone Temple Pilots Fire Scott Weiland

Looks like Scott Weiland is out of yet another job fronting a band. After reforming in 2008, Stone Temple Pilots confirmed this morning that they’ve given Weiland the boot, simply stating “Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland.”

Ironically, Weiland is about to embark on a U.S. solo tour where he’ll be playing STP’s Core and Purple albums in its entirety. More bizarre, though, is that the singer’s former Velvet Revolver bandmate Slash was technically the first to break this news back in December. No wonder why Weiland seemed eager to rejoin Velvet Revolver.

While Stone Temple Pilots remain vague on why Weiland got the axe, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. While the 2010 self-titled album did well (debuting at number 2 on the charts), Weiland’s behavior onstage changed with each show. Some nights he’d be on his A-game, while at others he reportedly showed up late and seemed out of it. And for the past year or so, Weiland seemed to be more focused on solo activities than STP. So the idea that tension behind the scenes was high wouldn’t be hard to believe. What this means for STP’s future, though, isn’t exactly clear.

Machine Head Part Ways With Bassist Adam Duce

In what will come as a surprise to many, Machine Head has just announced the departure of bassist Adam Duce. While exact details are still sparse, the band’s official statement claims the split was “amicable.”

Here is Machine Head’s official statement regarding their split with Duce:

“Machine Head and bassist Adam Duce have parted ways. The split is amicable, and Machine Head would like to wish Adam the best with his current and future endeavors. The band will continue on for the time being as a three-piece and have begun the writing process for their follow-up to 2011’s Unto The Locust. A late 2013 release is projected.”

Granted, prior to the release of 2003’s Through The Ashes Of Empires, Machine Head has had its fair share of lineup changes. However, Duce co-founded the band with frontman Robb Flynn and was one of the only original members till in Machine Head…that is, of course, until now. It’s great to hear, though, that Machine Head are still moving forward with the recording of album #8 and that it could be out as soon as late 2013. As to who will replace Duce on bass, at least onstage, is still unknown.