The Age Of Metal conducted an interview with Erik Danielsson of Swedish black metallers WATAIN on June 15 in Los Angele, California. You can now listen to the chat using the Mixcloud widget below.
WATAIN's new album, "The Wild Hunt", will be released on August 19 in Europe and August 20 in USA via Century Media Records. The CD was once again mixed at the Necromorbus Studio in Alvik, Sweden by Tore Stjerna.
Executed in oil and mixed materials, the cover of "The Wild Hunt" was created by Zbigniew M Bielak, the very same artist who was responsible for the "Lawless Darkness" artwork. The piece depicts one of the inmost shrines of WATAIN's temple. As on every classic still life, each object has a significant meaning, while each song of the album is also connected to an object.
"The Wild Hunt" track listing:
01. Night Vision 02. De Profundis 03. Black Flames March 04. All That May Bleed 05. The Child Must Die 06. They Rode On 07. Sleepless Evil 08. The Wild Hunt 09. Outlaw 10. Ignem Veni Mittere 11. Holocaust Dawn
The "All That May Bleed" CD will precede the full-length effort at the end of June.
Comments WATAIN: "'All That May Bleed' shows but one facet of a quite diverse album, but we chose this song as a first glimpse into 'The Wild Hunt' because of its bombastic lunacy and white-eyed malevolence which could be said to constitute a main foundation for the album. The lyric is an invitation to sacrificial blood letting, ecstatic zealotry and human sacrifice. The salt of Satan in the wounds of Christ!"
Side B will be a track called "Play With The Devil", originally recorded by the black/heavy metal band TAIWAZ in 1988 in WATAIN's hometown, Uppsala (Gottfrid Åhman from IN SOLITUDE participates on solo guitar on WATAIN's version).
The single will be released in the following formats:
* Black seven-inch vinyl (limited to 2,000 copies worldwide) * Red seven-inch vinyl with sticker (only available from Wolfwear.net; limited to 500 copies worldwide) * Seven-inch picture disc (available from CMdistro.com and Wolfwear.net; limited to 500 copies worldwide) * Digital download
"All That May Bleed" physical release dates:
* Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Norway and worldwide through CMdistro.com and Wolfwear.net: Friday, June 21 * UK, Benelux, France, Poland: Monday, June 24 * USA, Spain: Tuesday, June 25 * Sweden: Wednesday, June 26
"All That May Bleed" digital release dates:
* Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Italy, Australia, New Zealand: Friday, June 21 * UK: Sunday, June 23 * USA, Spain: Tuesday, June 25 * Sweden, Hungary: Wednesday, June 26 * Rest Of Europe: Monday, June 24
MOTÖRHEAD has set "Aftershock" as the title of its new album, tentatively due in September. The follow-up to 2010's "The Wörld Is Yours" was recorded at Maple Sound Studios in Santa Ana, California with longtime producer Cameron Webb and will feature 13 songs, including "Dust And Glass", "Knife", "Going To Mexico", "Lost Woman Blues", "Death Machine" and "Heartbreaker".
In other news, it was revealed in the latest issue of U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine that MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister recently had a defibrillator fitted — an operation to put a device in his chest to help his heart beat normally — after experiencing "heart problems."
MOTÖRHEAD released "The Wörld Is Ours – Vol 2: Anyplace Crazy As Anywhere Else" in Germany on September 21, 2012, three days later in the rest of Europe and October 9, 2012 in North America via UDR/EMI. The follow-up to 2011's "The Wörld Is Ours – Vol 1: Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else" features the band's 2011 Wacken Open Air headline appearance as well as highlights from Sonisphere (United Kingdom) and Rock In Rio (Brazil) shows.
MOTÖRHEAD's latest album, "The Wörld Is Yours", sold 7,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 94 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous effort, "Motörizer", premiered with 6,400 units back in 2008 to debut at No. 82, while 2006's "Kiss Of Death" registered a first-week tally of 3,500.
On June 30, South Carolina-based extreme metal band LECHEROUS NOCTURNE will begin shooting a video for the song "Creation Continuum" with longtime producer Garrett Williams. The track comes off the group's third album, "Behold Almighty Doctrine", which was released on March 19 via Unique Leader Records. The CD was recorded at SoundLab Studio in Lexington, South Carolina with longtime engineer Bob Moore.
"Behold Almighty Doctrine" track listing:
01. Intro 02. Ouroboros Chains 03. Bring The Void 04. Archeopteryx 05. Those Having Been Hidden Away 06. Prelude #2 07. Judgments And Curses 08. Lesions From Vicious Plague 09. Caustic Vertigo 10. Creation Continuum
The "Behold Almighty Doctrine" artwork can be seen below.
Vocalist Jason Hohenstein announced his departure from LECHEROUS NOCTURNE in July 2011, telling BLABBERMOUTH.NET in a statement, "I was writing/arranging in preparation of the new record when I was asked to leave." He added, "I did not quit! I want to make that perfectly clear."
LECHEROUS NOCTURNE's second album, "The Age of Miracles Has Passed", was released in October 2008 via Unique Leader Records.
Finland's RadioCity conducted an interview with bassist Rachel Bolan of American rockers SKID ROW when the band played in Helsinki on June 6. You can now watch the chat below.
SKID ROW's new EP, "United World Rebellion - Chapter One", was released in Europe on May 24 via Germany's UDR Music. The European version of the EP includes two bonus tracks, both of them cover tunes: "Fire Fire" (EZO) and "United" (JUDAS PRIEST).
"United World Rebellion - Chapter One" European version track listing:
01. Kings Of Demolition 02. Let's Go 03. This Is Killing Me 04. Get Up 05. Stitches 06. Fire Fire (EZO cover) 07. United (JUDAS PRIEST cover)
"United World Rebellion - Chapter One" sold around 1,500 copies in the Unted States in its first week of release. Released in North America on April 16 via MRI, the effort is the first in a series of EPs that the reincarnated band — Dave "Snake" Sabo (guitar), Rachel Bolan (bass), Scotti Hill (guitar), Johnny Solinger (vocals) and Rob Hammersmith (drums) — plans to release in the near future.
"United World Rebellion - Chapter One" reignites the youthful energy and blistering sound that SKID ROW is recognized for around the world. "That sound and energy is what resonates with people and knocks them on their ass," says Hammersmith. "We had a lot of great ideas to work with, so we're all really excited about this new music."
William Clark of Music Enthusiast Magazine recently conducted an interviewe with QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.
Music Enthusiast Magazine: There is a significant, classic QUEENSRŸCHE vibe throughout the entire new [self-titled] album. What was the chemistry like during those sessions?
Todd: The chemistry was wonderful. It was very easy to get along with everyone, and everyone had their own ideas and creative elements that went into making each song. It was really stress-free, and everyone was able to have ideas that went outside of their instrument. You know, I was able to contribute on a little bit on some drumming ideas for something, Parker [Lundgren, guitar] wrote lyrics to a song, Eddie [Jackson, bass] wrote lyrics to a song, I wrote a guitar part, Michael [Wilton, guitar] wrote melodies, we had ideas for all kinds of things. So, the chemistry was great, and it almost felt like I had been working with these guys for much longer than I have. So, we're really anxious to work on the next bunch of songs for the next album, which we are starting to do now.
Music Enthusiast Magazine: I think the fans have greatly appreciated how big of a role you've played in making QUEENSRŸCHE a class act again, taking cell phones from audience members and videotaping the rest of the band performing on multiple occasions.
Todd: Awesome. Yeah, that's great to hear. Those are actually things I did in CRIMSON GLORY. One of the first times I did that I was with CRIMSON GLORY, and I just thought, this person is only capable of taking pictures from this one spot, they can't move around the stage because they're upfront and can't move to the sides without losing their place of where they're standing. So, give me the camera, and I'll walk around the stage and I'll get pictures that I know you'd probably like to have. And I just did it that one time, and they were so appreciative of it. I thought, "How cool would that be, if someone did that for me?" I have fun doing that. It's kind of become something that I always do at a show now, and it's gotten positive attention. I never did it for any of that attention, I just did it! To do something cool for people, and it's getting noticed! [laughs]
Music Enthusiast Magazine: Whereas Geoff Tate, during a recent performance from his QUEENSRŸCHE, he took a cell phone from the hands of an audience member and pitched it out to the crowd. I sat down with Geoff and brought this occasion up, and he said that this was just "rock and roll." How do you respond to that?
Todd: [laughs] Aw, what do you even say to something like that? Rock and roll is stage diving. I guess if you wanted to throw something off the stage, you could throw yourself off and crowd surf! That might be rock and roll. I mean, I wasn't at the concert, so I don't know. I guess it would be kind of hard to justify that, but I wasn't there. Maybe the guy was provoking him. I have no idea why he did that. It's not something that I would ever do, but I'm not in his shoes. I wouldn't say that's rock and roll. I think there's other cool things you could do. I know one time in Greece, I crowd surfed, you know? And that was awesome! But people can be weird. I've had fans come onstage and want to stage dive! [laughs] People get so caught up in the moment and the energy that they'll do things spontaneous, and I guess maybe that incident is the reciprocal of that. Getting caught up in a moment, and reacting or doing something. I don't know. I'm not gonna put him down, I'm not going to say anything bad about Geoff Tate as a person because I don't know him personally. I just know what I do with fans' cameras, and I have been doing it for years. So, I don't really have anything negative to comment regarding that situation with him. It's just not something that I do.
Music Enthusiast Magazine: Moving back to the topic of your new album, are you happy with the reception you've been receiving from critics and the fans so far?
Todd: Yeah, really. Select people have been given a copy of it to listen to, and a lot of times… well, I don't want to say a lot of times, but sometimes a record will only have one or two good songs on it. I mean, we've all purchased an album because of a song we heard and we really liked, but the rest of it we didn't. The interesting thing with this album is so many different people have their own favorite, which is really cool. For example, you really liked the song "A World Without", another interview that I did the person's favorite song was "Open Road". Another person said their favorite song was "Spore". So, I think it's a really honest, fair assessment to say that there's something for everybody on this record. There's a lot of great moments, they're good songs, the only criticism is that it isn't a very long album. But that's OK; some of the greatest albums written are very short, even shorter than this album. We tend to focus on good content. We didn't want to have ten more minutes or fifteen more minutes of music just to say that we could. We had other songs that didn't go on this record but will go on the next one, because they weren't quite finished. They needed more time, we were touring and at some point you have to say, "This is good, we're done, let's get this record out and we'll work on the next one." And so we're glad that the material we wrote made it on this one, because it's better and we weren't forced to have more songs on that record. Let's just put out these songs, keep working and put out more material. You know, we're just going to continue writing songs and putting records out. And so I think overwhelmingly, there's a really positive response. It's a great time for the band, it's a great beginning and starting point for me, and compared to many of the past albums the band has done, the critics are saying that this is likely the best album QUEENSRŸCHE has put out since "Promised Land". Or even "Empire". So, that's a huge compliment, we're very flattered, and we hope that when it's in everybody's hands that it will be received well. Sometimes it takes a few spins; you've got to keep playing it, and you'll pick up elements of songs you didn't catch the first time around. I think from beginning to end, it's a good ride.
Swedish hard rockers EUROPE have released the following statement:
"So! A Swedish band called SABATON has gone platinum in Sweden, selling 40,000 units [of their latest album, 'Carolus Rex']. Nice one, lads! However, the media statement suggesting they are the first Swedish hard rock band ever to do so is a little ill-advised! Or, could it be we were 'punk'd' back in the '80s when presented with platinum discs for 'The Final Countdown'? No, wait! Ashton Kutcher wasn't even born back then!
"Ah, the 80's! The days when stonewashed denim was cool, and platinum meant 100,000...!"
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in Sweden has revised the sales requirements for albums to reach platinum status in the country three times in the last 17 years — from the pre-1996 level of 100,000 to the current 40,000.
EUROPE's ninth studio album, "Bag Of Bones", was certified gold in the group's home country for sales in excess of 20,000 copies. According to the band, the CD entered the official chart in Sweden at position No. 2 and "has since then continued to sell steadily." The group added, "'Bag Of Bones' is fast becoming the most successful record since the reunion."
Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster of Maryland rockers CLUTCH has uploaded a new video update from the band's current European tour. Check it out below.
Says Gaster: "The European tour is going great. Over here, I play my silver sparkle GMS drum kit. I purchased this kit just in time to take on tour to support SEPULTURA on the U.S. leg of their 'Chaos A.D.' tour. Since then, I've played about 1600 shows on these drums. They have also appear on our self-titled album, 'Elephant Riders', 'Pure Rock Fury' and 'Blast Tyrant'. The shells are 8 maple with 45 degree edges. The tone is boomy and has good deal of thuddy attack. The entire kit now resides in the U.K. Before these drums arrived in the U.K., I had to rely on rental gear. It's a great feeling to get to the first gig of a European tour and pull these trusty old drums out of their cases. They sound great even if they have been sitting for months untouched."
CLUTCH's new album, "Earth Rocker", sold 22,000 copies in its first week of release to debut at position No. 15 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Released via CLUTCH's own Weathermaker Music label, "Earth Rocker" entered the German Media Control chart at No. 71. In the U.K., the CD landed at No. 50 on the regular chart, No. 3 on the Rock/Metal Albums chart and No. 11 on the Independent Albums chart.
Produced by Machine (LAMB OF GOD, FOUR YEAR STRONG, FALL OUT BOY) at the Machine Shop studio in Belleville, New Jersey, "Earth Rocker" was described by CLUTCH vocalist Neil Fallon in a recent interview with DCHeavyMetal.com as "probably faster than most of our recent albums. Maybe compared to some other bands, it's not the fastest thing on planet Earth. For us it was definitely a step up in the tempo. And I think the other thing that kind of stands out about this one is the blues influences that we've been flirting with over the past couple records is more or less absent in this record, which didn't really happen intentionally until we looked back at it. As a whole, it's just much more of a straight-up rock and roll record."
The artwork for "Earth Rocker" was created by Nick Lakiotes, longtime CLUTCH art director, who has worked on previous efforts, including "Robot Hive/Exodus" and "Strange Cousins From The West".
Vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway of British grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH was interviewed on the latest edition of the "Maximum Threshold" radio show. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.
NAPALM DEATH recently took part in Decibel magazine's second annual national tour alongside the preeminent gore institution CANNIBAL CORPSE and New York death metal stalwarts IMMOLATION.
NAPALM DEATH's latest album, "Utilitarian", sold around 2,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD debuted at No. 14 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
NAPALM DEATH's previous album, 2009's "Time Waits For No Slave", opened with around 1,800 units to land at No. 19 on the Heatseekers chart.
"Utilitarian" was released on February 27, 2012 in Europe and February 28, 2012 in North America via the band's longtime partner, Century Media Records. The cover artwork perfectly fits the album's theme and was created by the Danish artist Frode Sylthe, who is also responsible for THE HAUNTED's "rEVOLVEr" artwork.
MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell was interviewed last night (Monday, June 17) prior to his band's performance at this year's Metal Hammer Golden Gods, which was held at London, England's Indigo2. Check out the chat below.
MOTÖRHEAD recently entered Maple Sound Studios in Santa Ana, California with producer Cameron Webb to begin recording its next album, scheduled for release later this year. Songtitles set to appear on the follow-up to 2010's "The Wörld Is Yours" include "Outsider" and "Silence When You Speak to Me".
MOTÖRHEAD released "The Wörld Is Ours – Vol 2: Anyplace Crazy As Anywhere Else" in Germany on September 21, 2012, three days later in the rest of Europe and October 9, 2012 in North America via UDR/EMI. The follow-up to 2011's "The Wörld Is Ours – Vol 1: Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else" features the band's 2011 Wacken Open Air headline appearance as well as highlights from Sonisphere (United Kingdom) and Rock In Rio (Brazil) shows.
MOTÖRHEAD's latest album, "The Wörld Is Yours", sold 7,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 94 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous effort, "Motörizer", premiered with 6,400 units back in 2008 to debut at No. 82, while 2006's "Kiss Of Death" registered a first-week tally of 3,500.
Metal Blade Records has announced the signing of Monte Pittman, the guitarist known for his work with metal legends PRONG and the illustrious pop star Madonna. A release date for his new solo album will be announced shortly.
Metal Blade Records founder and CEO Brian Slagel comments: "We are so happy to welcome Monte Pittman to the Metal Blade family. He is a tried and true metalhead and has recorded a crushing album! METALLICA producer Flemming Rasmussen produced a devastating metal record with Monte and we could not be happier that we are working together on this!"
Pittman adds; "I'm beyond excited to be working with Brian Slagel and all of the wonderful team at Metal Blade. I can't think of anyone I can put my faith and trust in more with my new album and where my career is headed.
"Metal Blade's track record has stood the test of time. Brian has been responsible for a majority of bands that have influenced me and gotten me to where I am now.
"It's been a dream come true making this album with Flemming Rasmussen. Flemming is a master at recording a band playing together and capturing the sound in the room of everything musically working together.
"After we finished tracking, the first person I wanted to play it for was Brian Slagel. Here we go!"
Fans in California will have the chance to catch Monte Pittman live as the he brings his acoustic show to Hotel Café in Hollywood and two stops on the Vans Warped Tour 2013, including Mountain View and Ventura (performing on the Acoustic Basement Stage).
A&M/Octone Records has announced the return of FLYLEAF with the band's new EP, "Who We Are", due on July 9. The extended-play recording features live songs from FLYLEAF's recent tour with new singer Kristen May and includes their new single, "Something Better", with a guest appearance by P.O.D. lead singer Sonny Sandoval. The track, which can be streamed using the SoundCloud widget below, was recorded with longtime producer Howard Benson during a break between a busy schedule of touring and writing new material.
According to a press release, "Who We Are" features FLYLEAF's signature and live sound, including hits like "Call You Out", "Fire Fire", "Broken Wings" and "Sorrow", plus the aforementioned "Something Better".
"The live tracks came from our 2013 winter tour with DROWNING POOL," says FLYLEAF in a statement.
"'Something Better' is one of the first songs we wrote with Kristen May. It was an awesome experience writing together! Plus, having Sonny from P.O.D. on this track was really special. We've been fans of theirs for years, and it was an honor to do this collaboration. We think y'all will love it!"
FLYLEAF hits the road on a co-headlining nationwide tour with P.O.D. beginning July 13 in Kenosha, Wisconsin and continues through August 10 in San Diego, California. The band will be offering the sale of limited edition silk-screen prints designed by bass player Pat Seals on the FLYLEAF web site and bundled with the "Who We Are" EP.
Kristen May replaced original vocalist Lacey Sturm after the latter abruptly departed the group in October 2012.
Sturm left the band on the eve of the release of its third album, "New Horizons", which came out on October 30, 2012 and sold 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 16 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Sturm issued a statement about her exit from the group she co-founded, saying, "I am very thankful to have recently become a mom to one of the greatest blessings of my life, my son Jack . . . I understand that, for me, living life to the fullest in this season means to step down as the lead singer for FLYLEAF."
The new album follows up 2009's "Memento Mori" and FLYLEAF's self-titled 2005 debut, which have combined to sell more than 1.6 million copies in the U.S.
FLYLEAF is Kristen May (vocals) Sameer Bhattacharya (lead guitar), Jared Hartmann (rhythm guitar), Pat Seals (bass) and James Culpepper (drums).
Former MISFITS guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankensteinrecently recorded his debut solo CD, "Abominator", which was available in limited digital release, and as special advance physical copies at DANZIG's recent shows. The effort, which has been called "perhaps the best MISFITS-related record in over a decade," also features Alex Story (CANCERSLUG) on vocals, "Left-Hand" Graham on bass and Dr. Chud (MISFITS) on drums.
Doyle recently partnered with Labeled Insane Management and BrainMuscleMedia to create his own label, Monsterman Records, which will "officially" release "Abominator" this summer via INgrooves / Fontana, the leading global independent music distributor. "Abominator" will be available worldwide on iTunes and all digital music services in mid-June, with a direct-to-consumer physical CD release planned for July, and a worldwide retail release to follow.
"Abominator" track listing:
01. Abominator 02. Learn To Bleed 03. Dreamingdeadgirls 04. Headhunter 05. Valley Of Shadows 06. Land Of The Dead 07. Cemeterysexxx 08. Love Like Murder 09. Mark Of The Beast 10. Bloodstains 11. Hope Hell Is Warm
Doyle has just hit the road again with Glenn Danzig to revisit the magic of their legendary early collaborations, this time taking the mayhem to European shores with DANZIG's 25th-anniversary tour. On each date, Doyle takes to the stage with Danzig to run through a set of MISFITS classics, paying homage to their legacy as, arguably, the most influential horror-punk band of all time.
The PlayStation Home video stream of of COAL CHAMBER's performance at this year's Metal Hammer Golden Gods, which was held last night (Monday, June 17) at London, England's Indigo2, can be seen below.
COAL CHAMBER and SEVENDUST earlier in the year took part in a U.S. co-headlining tour. Also appearing on the bill was LACUNA COIL.
In a recent interview with the WGRD 97.9 FM radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, COAL CHAMBER frontman Dez Fafara (also of DEVILDRIVER) stated about theband's current status: "COAL CHAMBER, for me right now, is like a really fine woman, man. I've gotta re-date her — she's back in my life, I've gotta see how she is, and we've gotta take our time with each other. And that's what we're doing. And I think that's the important thing — we're doing it for the love of the music as well. There's a lot of people that never got to either see COAL CHAMBER live or haven't seen us in a long time due to the breakup.
"It's good to see [the other guys in the band] off hard drugs, man, and you can see their guys are crystal clear, and it makes me wanna do music with them again.
"Right now, with COAL CHAMBER, that's what we're doing — we're taking it slow. [Last September], they sent me some new tunes and said, 'Hey, would you ever think about doing a new record? Here's some new tunes.' And they were absolutely killer. They were moving forward with their sound, but yet you could tell it was COAL CHAMBER, but it wasn't so linear. So who knows what's gonna happen in the future, man? We're just playing it by ear at this point. I've got a lot going on right now, so we just have to really see."
Regarding why neither of the two former COAL CHAMBER bassists — Nadja Peulen or Rayna Foss — is involved in the band's reunion, Dez told Full Metal Jackie in a separate interview, "Rayna was not [asked to be a part of it]. Rayna has been out of the band for a very long time. We did speak to Nadja. She has other things going and it wasn't really in the headspace where we were at as a band. We found Chela; she's Canadian and she's a bad-ass player. She's been playing for nearly [15] years. She plays five-string and it's good to have her on bass. She grew up with COAL CHAMBER. Where Meegs and Mikey and I am right now, we're really excited so we needed someone that filled that excitement drawer and she did for sure; she's stoked."
COAL CHAMBER rose to prominence with a gold-certified debut album in 1997 that established the group as one of the most promising bands on the then-emerging, so-called "nu metal" scene.
Nadja Peulen replaced COAL CHAMBER bassist Rayna Foss Rose in 1999 during Rose's pregnancy for almost 12 months while the band was on the road supporting its second album, "Chamber Music". Rayna came back to the band after her pregnancy leave and recorded COAL CHAMBER's third album, "Dark Days". Shortly after recording "Dark Days", Rayna quit the band and Nadja was recruited for the touring cycle that followed the CD's release. The band broke up during the "Dark Days" tour in 2002.
British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST celebrated their 25th anniversary with a very special show at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards, which was held last night (Monday, June 17) at London's esteemed Indigo2 venue (headlined by the other British legends MOTÖRHEAD).
PARADISE LOST invited their friends Cristina Scabbia (LACUNA COIL) — who sang "Say Just Words" in a duet with PARADISE LOST frontman Nick Holmes — and Gus G. (FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE) who joined PARADISE LOST to pay tribute to the godfathers of metal, BLACK SABBATH, for an "Into The Void" cover version.
Video footage of the "Say Just Words" performance featuring Cristina Scabbia can be seen below.
In a statement released last week, Holmes stated about the Metal Hammer Golden Gods show: "[I am] really looking forward to singing with Cristina. I think it will be a lot of fun. She has an amazing voice, and I'm looking forward to being completely overshadowed!"
Adds PARADISE LOST guitarist Greg Mackintosh: "It is the dream job of any guitarist to play for Ozzy, and Gus achieved that. I watched him at Graspop festival and he slayed the crowd. It will be awesome playing my favourite SABBATH song with Gus."
PARADISE LOST wil embark on a four-date U.K. tour in October/November to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Support on the trek will come from LACUNA COIL.
Amit Sharma of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine conducted an interview with guitarist Herman Li of British epic power metallers DRAGONFORCE at this year's Download festival, which took place June 14-16 at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. You can now watch the chat below.
DRAGONFORCE is recording the follow-up to last year's "The Power Within" album, which was the band's first with vocalist Marc Hudson. Since his live debut with the group in July 2011, Marc has gone on to front over 100 shows with DRAGONFORCE in 32 countries across the globe, including arenas with IRON MAIDEN as well as a mammoth headlining world tour to support the CD.
With a newfound wealth of experience for the new singer and two years of playing together, the DRAGONFORCE machine was at its most powerful when it entered Fascination Street studios in Örebro, Sweden in May with Jens Bogren to start laying down tracks. Known for his work with the likes of OPETH, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA, SOILWORK and SYMPHONY X, to name a few, Jens will undoubtedly help DRAGONFORCE make a killer-sounding album.
"The Power Within" sold 5,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 74 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Asked if it was difficult to integrate Hudson into the band, Li told Metal Traveller: "I don't know if it was easy or hard, but we definitely spent a lot of time to make sure he integrated well in the band. Before he joined the band, we jammed, we rehearsed, we went to the studio and recorded some demos together — just to see how it's like, to understand his personality. After he joined the band, we didn't want him to be like, 'Hi, Marc, welcome to the band, record the songs in studio and see you on tour.' You have to be a real family, so we jammed and rehearsed a lot, and that really helped him to integrate the band. The first show he had to play with the band was with IRON MAIDEN, in front of 20,000 people. I didn't tell Marc until the warmup gig two weeks before."
Regarding whether Marc was involved in composing the new songs, Li said: "Most of the music was already composed when we were auditioning him. After he joined the band, we had to change the voice a little bit to get the best out of his voice. We found out that he can sing very high, but also really low at the same time. So in certain songs, we explored his low range, like 'Seasons' or 'Give Me The Night', on which he goes from low to high. Then we tried to explore the high register, like in 'Holding On'."
