Singer Mark Tornillo's pre-ACCEPT band TT QUICK reunited for a performance at Rock N' Roll Heaven and the Old Bridge Metal Militia's reunion concert and fundraiser to benefit the victims of Superstorm Sandy. The event took place on May 11 at Encore Event Center in Freehold, New Jersey. Also appearing on the bill were TWISTED SISTER, ANVIL, RAVEN, THE RODS and LORDS OF MERCY.
Fan-filmed video footage of TT QUICK's performance can be seen below.
TT QUICK was a popular club band during the 1980s in the New York and New Jersey area and was known for the guitar work of David Dipietro and the powerful vocals of Mark Tornillo. Dipietro's skills were especially singled out as he had given lessons to both Zakk Wylde of the OZZY OSBOURNE band and SKID ROW's Dave Sabo.
TT QUICK disbanded and later reunited sporadically and released a few more albums, including a live CD from one of their reunion gigs ("Thrown Together Live") and a studio effort, "Ink", which came out in 2000.
Robert Plant and his SENSATIONAL SHAPE SHIFTERS recently added 16 new stops to their summer itinerary, which now makes 21 gigs spread over five weeks in late June and July. Plant and the band — who have recently been playing a LED ZEPPELIN-heavy setlist, kick things off on June 20 in Dallas, Texas and eventually wind the trek down in Brooklyn, New York on July 27.
On March 23 in Australia, Plant and the SHIFTERS' 14-song opening night setlist featured nine ZEPPELIN classics, with Plant tackling "Heartbreaker", "Friends", "Black Dog", "Going To California", "Four Sticks", "Ramble On", "Bron Y Aur Stomp", "Whole Lotta Love" and "Rock And Roll".
An exclusive clip that shows footage from Robert Plant and SENSATIONAL SHAPE SHIFTERS' Australian and South American shows, as well as audio of Plant and company performing the song "Tin Pan Valley" from Plant's 2005 solo album, "Mighty ReArranger", can be seen below.
Robert Plant told The Pulse Of Radio that in his solo career, the music he tends to cover traces a different historical path than ZEPPELIN's tried and true blues reinterpretations. "LED ZEPPELIN played quite a lot of tunes which we took from the Chicago genre, and this is me taking tunes from perhaps an area which I probably wasn't able to touch on quite so much, previously," he said. "In '68, '69, we were looking directly back into one particular, physical area of music, whereas this is a kind of a reflection — or I'm seeing the reflection — of so much, so many of my early inspirational sources."
Ryan McCombs and Tim King of Chicago heavy rockers SOIL stopped by the WJRR radio station in Orlando this week to talk to Pat Lynch and Taco Bob. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.
Video footage of SOIL performing a brand new song, "My Time", on May 2 at Offsides Sports Bar & Grill in Woodstock, Illinois can be seen below. The track will appear on the band's new album, "Whole", which is due in August. The CD was recorded with longtime producer Ulrich Wild. The band recently worked on 13 songs in pre-production with engineer Don Byczynski at BOTA Studio in Lake In The Hills, Illinois.
Ulrich previously produced SOIL's 2006 album "True Self" and co-produced the band's last effort, 2009's "Picture Perfect".
SOIL's forthcoming CD will mark the band's first release with singer Ryan McCombs since 2004's "Re.De.Fine".
"This new album has a very classic SOIL feel to it," bassist Tim King previously said.
"We [are] calling all the shots on this one," said King. "Every decision will be made by myself, Adam [Zadel, guitar], and Ryan."
Distribution in North America will be handled through Sony RED/MRI via Pavement Entertainment, in which SOIL has an interest. Europe/rest of world will go through SOIL's long time partner AFM Records. Pavement Entertainment president Mark Nawara, welcomes the experience. "I am happy to be a part of the new SOIL album," he says. "We have structured an innovative and unique business venture that lets the band stay 100 percent independent while giving them access to the many resources they require to release an album successfully."
In a recent interview with Metal Forces, McCombs stated about the band's next CD: "This is the first time Adam, Tim and I have been writing together since 'Re.De.Fine', so you have the key component of what made those records. I was always the lyric writer of those albums, and if I stumbled somewhere, Adam was always there to give me a little boost, and give me a little direction here and there. You've got us back together as far as the lyrics that I write go. You've got Adam too; he was 98.9% of the music on those records, and if he ever had any struggle with whatever — if he ever had any questions — I was always there to help with the arrangement of the songs. We really got the key components of those albums back together again, and I feel like the material that we're coming up with is that perfect anchor to where you had 'Scars' and 'Re.De.Fine'. I think this album is the next stage, the next album in line for SOIL."
102.9 The Buzz conducted an interview with Los Angeles glam-metal jokesters STEEL PANTHER at this year's Rock On The Range festival, which took place May 17-19 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. You can now watch the chat below.
STEEL PANTHER recently entered a studio in Sherman Oaks, California with producer Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STONE SOUR, MEATLOAF) to record their third full-length album for a fall release.
Speaking to the South Bend Tribune, STEEL PANTHER drummer Stix Zadinia (real name: Darren Leader) stated about the band's as-yet-untitled new CD: "If you liked [2009's] 'Feel The Steel' and [2011's] 'Balls Out', you will love this record. It is more heavy metal songs that are hooky and great and fun and make you want to rock and make you want to have a good time and party. Also, there is a lot of riffage on this album that I think anybody who has ever questioned this band — 'Oh, those guys wear spandex and it is 2000-whatever' — these songs are going to put all of that to rest."
Regarding naysayers that say STEEL PANTHER is a joke-metal band, Zadinia said: "Listen to our record and tell us that our songs aren't better than most of the bands out there. How funny is that? At the end of the day, it comes down to the songs. I think our songs — without sounding egotistical — I think our songs are great. When you hear the hooks in our songs, you hear the playing and you hear the vocals, you throw that up against any band in any era, and I think it stands up."
"Balls Out" sold nearly 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 40 on The Billboard 200 chart.
InfoMusic.ro conducted an interview with MEGADETH guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover prior to the band's May 22 concert at Arenele Romane in Bucharest, Romania. You can now watch the chat below.
01. Trust 02. Hangar 18 03. Public Enemy No. 1 04. She-Wolf 05. Skin O' My Teeth 06. Countdown to Extinction 07. Architecture of Aggression 08. Sweating Bullets 09. Ashes In Your Mouth 10. A Tout Le Monde 11. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?) 12. Dawn Patrol 13. Poison Was The Cure 14. Super Collider 15. Symphony Of Destruction 16. Peace Sells
Encore:
17. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
Fan-filmed video footage of the "Super Collider" performance can be seen below.
The track "Super Collider", which was premiered on Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio metal show on April 20, was released digitally on April 23 via iTunes.
"That song kind of came from that 'Symphony Of Destruction' corner of my mind," MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine told Guitar World magazine. "You can't always play aggressive, thrashy stuff. Sometimes those aren't even songs; they're like musical rams. But because I'm not a pop guy, I'm also not really comfortable playing sing-along songs. To me, 'Super Collider' made sense like a normal song — a verse-chorus-verse-chorus kind of thing. It's written the way a real songwriter would write the song, instead of just taking all these musical twists and turns."
The "Super Collider" album is scheduled for a June 4 release via Mustaine's new label, Tradecraft, which is distributed by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). Other tracks set to appear on the effort include "Forget To Remember", "Dance In The Rain", "The Blackest Crow", "Burn", "Kingmaker" and "Don't Turn Your Back", a snippet of which can be streamed at MegadethGame.com.
"Super Collider" is MEGADETH's first release since the band's recent split with Roadrunner Records.
MEGADETH filmed a video for the title track and first single from the band's new album, "Super Collider", on May 10 in the Los Angeles area. California-based model, actress, singer and songwriter Hunter Elizabeth was cast in the lead role in the clip, which she says is "about a high-school couple still loving each other after all the years after graduation, and at the 10-year reunion, both characters find themselves successful (a model and a mathematician) and still very in love."
As previously reported, MEGADETH will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Monday, June 17 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with MEGADETH by calling 1-800-344-ROCK (7625). The show will be streamed on the "Rockline" web site for two weeks beginning the afternoon after the live broadcast.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Zacky Vengeance was interviewed on the May 14 edition of "The BJ Shea Morning Experience" show on the Seattle radio station KISW 99.9 FM. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.
A teaser of new music from AVENGED SEVENFOLD has been posted online. The untitled piece of music is now available for streaming and is taken from the California act's sixth studio album, which is due out this summer. Also available is an audio clip of AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows talking about the songwriting process for the new CD.
The new disc will follow up 2010's "Nightmare", which earned the band its first No. 1 album on The Billboard 200 chart. But Vengeance told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago that AVENGED SEVENFOLD doesn't take its success for granted. "We're not the kind of people to just take a break and say everything's going good, you know, let's rest on our laurels, act like rock stars — we take it very seriously and we certainly aren't just celebrating and doing a victory lap," he said. "We're focused on making our fans happy, keeping each other happy, so we can do this forever."
M. Shadows recently told NME that the new album is "a little more groove-orientated . . . every song has gotta have a huge riff and every song has to have a groove to it."
The new CD is the first to be wholly written without drummer and key songwriter James "The Rev" Sullivan, who died in December 2009.
The band has lined up several festival appearances this summer, starting with Rock USA on July 17 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
ASHES OF ARES, the new band featuring Matt Barlow (ex-ICED EARTH), Van Williams (ex-NEVERMORE) and Freddie Vidales (ex-ICED EARTH), made its live debut this past Friday, May 17 at the Rock Hard Festival at Amphitheater in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.
ASHES OF ARES is:
Matthew Barlow - Vocals Freddie Vidales - Guitar/Bass Van Williams - Drums Gio Geraca - Guitar (session/touring member only) Dean Sternberg - Bass (session/touring member only)
ASHES OF ARES earlier in the year inked a deal with Nuclear Blast Records. The band's debut album is being recorded at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida with legendary producer Jim Morris (ICED EARTH, OBITUARY, JON OLIVA'S PAIN, JAG PANZER) for a late summer/early fall release.
ASHES OF ARES is a band which represents the culmination of experiences, trials and tribulations of its founding members. Within months of their departures from the iconic metal bands ICED EARTH and NEVERMORE, the trio came together with a renewed drive to create a sound which is a true collaboration of their personal influences, ideas and visions. Armed with the knowledge acquired through years of the writing, touring and recording cycle, and with the support of an army of loyal fans across the globe, ASHES OF ARES is poised to carve out a new legacy and stand alongside those who have helped pave the way.
In an October 2012 interview with Rocket Queen Promotion, Barlow stated about ASHES OF ARES' musical direction: "Well, most folks know what to expect from me, from my work with ICED EARTH and PYRAMAZE. So you take some of that and mix it with Van's brand of cadence and Freddie's riffage… blam-o….it's ASHES OF ARES!!! It's just straight-up heavy metal!"
Regarding the band's future plans, Barlow said: "The reason we are all doing this is for the love of music. We are metal guys and this is what we do. ASHES OF ARES live shows will be limited, but there will be live shows for fans, friends, and family to come to and enjoy with us. We really just want to create music that we enjoy and have that translate to our listeners."
Reactivated British extreme metal legends CARCASS have inked a deal with Nuclear Blast Records for the release of their comeback album, "Surgical Steel". Due in the fall, the CD was mixed by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, ACCEPT, EXODUS, ARCH ENEMY) after the project's producer, Colin Richardson (FEAR FACTORY, MACHINE HEAD, NAPALM DEATH, SLIPKNOT, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE), quit the project two weeks into the mixing process. During a March 2013 concert at the Underworld in London, CARCASS bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker claimed that Richardson walked away from the mix in order to work on the new TRIVIUM album.
The first official photo of the new lineup of CARCASS can be seen below (courtesy of Adrian Erlandsson of Murder Mile Studios). Joining guitarist Bill Steer and Walker in the band's current incarnation are new drummer Dan Wilding (ABORTED, TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED) and guitarist Ben Ash (PIG IRON, DESOLATION, LIQUEFIED SKELETON).
CARCASS' first studio LP since 1996's "Swansong" will feature guest vocals from original sticksman Ken Owen.
CARCASS has released the following statement regarding their new found partners in medical deviancy: "We are pleased to announce that we have found the perfect home for 'Surgical Steel', the first CARCASS album for, what, seventeen years?!
"We've inked a deal with Nuclear Blast for our new baby. We have to thank Markus Staiger for his enthusiasm and belief in what he heard, but mostly his ability to take advantage of Jeff with a bad hangover when he visited the office in Donzdorf to let him be the first to hear the rough mixes.
"Nuclear Blast has managed to secure this release despite interest from all the main players in what remains of the metal 'music industry.' We're also looking forward to working with our pals in the U.S. office, who have done favors for us behind the scenes over the last few years.
"On a personal note, Jeff looks forward to his and label manager Gerardo Martinez' friendship to come crashing down in flames and tears in a few months. As long as we don't mention 'The War,' we think we're going to do just fine with our new Teutonic home!"
Commented Nuclear Blast owner and founder Markus Staiger: "One of my all-time favorite U.K. metal bands signed recently to Nuclear Blast. It feels like a dream come true.
"When Jeff Walker let me listen to the new record, I knew immediately that CARCASS made one of their best albums ever! It is a perfect mixture of 'Heartwork' and 'Necroticism' with a massive production to boot. The album is without a doubt just as perfect and lethal as surgical steel itself, and exactly what both old and new fans have waited for eagerly all of these years!
"I am very proud to say, CARCASS — welcome to the Nuclear family. It is an honor to work with this legendary metal band."
Adds Nuclear Blast North American label manager Gerardo Martinez: "First of all, apologies to the many that were wondering where that signing statement was the other day. Well, we didn't anticipate the prenuptial agreement to take this long, but here we are, and about to release to the world what many people said would never happen: a new CARCASS record!
"All joking aside, this is a dream come true. All I can say is that even the biggest critic, Señor Walker himself included, will find this to be one of the best CARCASS albums. It already sounds like a classic and I can’t wait for people to hear it. 'Time to die, die in pain'!!!"
In a recent interview with Chile's Radio Futuro, Walker stated about the new CARCASS CD: "We think we've made a good album, so it's gonna be very interesting when people get to hear the record. We can't wait to see what people think."
He continued: "It sounds like CARCASS. Even the drumming sounds like CARCASS. Everything about it… I think it's gonna shock people, how good it is. I think it's got all the elements that people like, yet it still sounds fresh. So that's all I can say, really, 'cause we don't really sound like any other band, and the fact that after 17 years, we wrote music and it still sounds like CARCASS, I think it's good."
Guitarist Michael Amott and drummer Daniel Erlandsson, who had been touring with CARCASS since the band's reunion was announced in 2007, are no longer involved with the group due to scheduling conflicts with their main band, ARCH ENEMY.
Fan-filmed video footage of CARCASS performing on May 4 at Neurotic Deathfest at 013 in Tilburg, The Netherlands can be seen below.
ALICE IN CHAINS was interviewed on the May 17 edition of "The Men's Room", which airs on the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.
ALICE IN CHAINS' new album, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here", is due out May 28 and features the singles "Stone" and the chart-topping "Hollow". The group's fifth studio effort is its second with William DuVall on vocals and follows up 2009's "Black Gives Way To Blue", ALICE IN CHAINS' first all-new collection of material in 14 years and first since the 2002 death of original singer Layne Staley.
Guitarist Jerry Cantrell told Revolver about the new album, "I don't think you'll be surprised by anything you hear. It's us. But it's also really unique. It's got all the elements of any record we've put out, but it's unlike any record we've put out."
ALICE IN CHAINS began working on new material in 2011, but the sessions for the album were delayed when Cantrell had to undergo shoulder surgery.
ALICE IN CHAINS kicked off a tour to promote the new disc on April 25 in Miami Beach. The band will also headline the Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival later this summer.
Kevin and Ian of the "Metal Shop" radio show, which airs every Saturday night from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. on the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM, recently conducted an interview with drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz of Florida death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE. You can now listen to the chat at this location.
The June issue of Decibel magazine contains an exclusive live CANNIBAL CORPSE flexi disc, featuring a live version of "Make Them Suffer". Subscribers received their copy in the mail, but if you're not a subscriber, limited quantities of the issue can be purchased at store.decibelmagazine.com.
After a bloody successful maiden voyage in 2012, Decibel magazine is doubling down on veteran star power for their second annual national tour. This spring, the plague spreads as Decibel brings you three living legends of death metal and grindcore: the preeminent gore institution CANNIBAL CORPSE; rabble-rousing U.K. grind icons NAPALM DEATH, and New York death metal stalwarts IMMOLATION.
CANNIBAL CORPSE released a box set to commemorate their 25th anniversary: "Dead Human Collection: 25 Years Of Death Metal". The box contains: all 12 full-length studio albums in a 12-CD foldout case with new artwork, "Torturing And Eviscerating Live" on CD and LP picture disc recorded in Tampa, Florida in 2010 and Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2012, plus new exclusive images by Vince Locke, 12"x12" graphic prints of all 13 original album covers, and a 2013 CANNIBAL CORPSE calendar. Limited quantities of the box set are still available at indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords.
Kevin and Ian of the "Metal Shop" radio show, which airs every Saturday night from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. on the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM, recently conducted an interview with Mark Eglinton (pictured below), an author, journalist and film-producer currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.
Eglinton is the co-author of former PANTERA/DOWN and current KILL DEVIL HILL bassist Rex Brown's memoir, "Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera", which was released on March 12 via Da Capo Press. The 320-page book is described as a "starkly honest and revealing" book about Rex's time in one of the most influential and enduringly popular bands in heavy metal history, offering Brown's shocking personal insight into a band that had swapped the grimy clubs of Texas for arenas around the world but whose story would ultimately be touched by tragedy.
Interview (audio):
Eglinton's first book entitled "James Hetfield: The Wolf At Metallica's Door" was published in April 2010 to considerable critical acclaim, fueled by regular radio appearances across the U.S and Europe to promote it. He also writes regularly for Outburn magazine and various music web sites and has co-produced a series of rock interview documentaries entitled "The Greatest Music Ever Created, And How It Ruined Our Lives", which is co-hosted in conjunction with Metal Hammer magazine. Eglinton's role in Brown's life has become one of friend and confidant, mostly during time spent on the road with DOWN in Europe.
Kevin and Ian of the "Metal Shop" radio show, which airs every Saturday night from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. on the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM, recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.
ANTHRAX's May 10 concert at Teatro Caupolican in Santiago, Chile was professionally filmed for a live DVD. The show consisted of a special extended set featuring tracks from the band's whole catalog.
SHADOWS FALL guitarist Jon Donais, who has been touring with ANTHRAX since Rob Caggiano's departure in January, handled the lead-guitar parts at the Santiago show.
ANTHRAX has just completed the "Metal Alliance Tour", which also featured EXODUS, HIGH ON FIRE, MUNICIPAL WASTE and HOLY GRAIL.
"Anthems", ANTHRAX's long-awaited, eight-track EP that pays tribute to the classic songs by some of the band's favorite acts from the 1970s, sold around 8,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 52 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released in North America on March 19 (MRI/Megaforce), and on March 22 in Europe (Nuclear Blast).
ANTHRAX's latest full-length album, "Worship Music", sold 28,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at No. 12. The band's previous studio CD, 2003's "We've Come For You All", opened with just under 10,000 units to debut at No. 122.
CRADLE OF FILTH's new video for the song "For Your Vulgar Delectation", taken from the British extreme metal band's latest album, "The Manticore And Other Horrors", is now available exclusively on iTunes as part of "The Manticore & Other Horrors - Extended Claws". This new release also features 12 unreleased demos and another three videos.
"The Manticore & Other Horrors - Extended Claws" track listing:
01. The Unveiling Of O 02. The Abhorrent 03. For Your Vulgar Delectation 04. Illicitus 05. Manticore 06. Frost On Her Pillow 07. Huge Onyx Wings Behind Despair 08. Pallid Reflection 09. Siding With The Titans 10. Succumb To This 11. Nightmares Of An Ether Drinker 12. Death, The Great Adventure 13. Sinfonia 14. The Unveiling Of O (Demo) 15. Manticore (Demo) 16. Siding With The Titans (Demo) 17. Death, The Great Adventure (Demo) 18. Succumb To This (Demo) 19. Huge Onyx Wings Behind Despair (Demo) 20. Illicitus (Demo) 21. Pallid Reflection (Demo) 22. The Abhorrent (Demo) 23. For Your Vulgar Delectation (Demo) 24. Frost On Her Pillow (Demo) 25. Sinfonia (Demo)
A trailer for "The Manticore & Other Horrors - Extended Claws" can be seen below.
"For Your Vulgar Delectation" comes off CRADLE OF FILTH's tenth studio album, "The Manticore And Other Horrors", which sold 4,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 96 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous full-length effort, "Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa", opened with 5,800 units in November 2010 to land at No. 99.
CRADLE OF FILTH's 2008 CD, "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder", premiered with a little over 11,000 copies to enter the chart at No. 48. This was slightly less than the first-week tally registered by 2006's "Thornography", which shifted nearly 13,000 copies the first week out to enter The Billboard chart at No. 66, and "Nymphetamine", which premiered with almost 14,000 copies back in October 2004.
"The Manticore And Other Horrors" was released in North America on October 30, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records.
Recorded in eight weeks at both Springvale and Grindstone studios (where it was also mixed by Scott Atkins), Suffolk, "The Manticore And Other Horrors" is a testament to the longevity of the 'FILTH, as not only does it reek of CRADLE's (feared or revered) brand of delicious metal vamperotica, but this thoroughly modern album places the band firmly in fresh killing fields anew.
"The Manticore And Other Horrors" itself possesses an altogether new atmosphere for the band, incorporating a heavier, faster NWOBBM punk vibe that is both current and cruel, blended with ornate orchestration and the quirky immediateness of 2000's "Midian" opus.
The album's title can be likened to a bestiary, a collection of stories on monsters - personal demons, Chimeras, literary fiends and world-enslaving entities to blame but a few. "Manticore", the ravening title track, is a song about a beautiful mythological horror that comes to be feared as the disfigurehead of foreign occupation in the Indian provinces.
The songs "Illicitus" and "Pallid Reflection" bear the sweet ingredients of vampirism and lycanthropy; the wicked "For Your Vulgar Delectation" and "Frost On Her Pillow" are woven perversely into grim fairy tales, whilst classic, monumental tracks like "The Abhorrent And Siding With The Titans" both extol tentacular Lovecraftian values.
VISTA CHINO, the group, comprised of two founding members of the legendary rock band KYUSS — Brant Bjork and John Garcia — and guitarist Bruno Fevery, has inked a deal with Napalm Records. The band's debut is scheduled for an early fall release.
The final live appearances of KYUSS LIVES! — featuring the same lineup as VISTA CHINO — took place in early 2013 as part of Australia's Soundwave Festival.
KYUSS LIVES! decided to change its name after a lawsuit launched by former KYUSS members Josh Homme and Scott Reeder prevented KYUSS LIVES! from recording and releasing any new material.
Commented Garcia: "KYUSS LIVES! is now VISTA CHINO!...it feels great just to write that....and to say it out loud, feels even better. Now that our relationship with Napalm Records is official; it's time to forget about the past year, move forward, and execute our original plan, which was to make kick-ass music and tour the world!
Added Bjork: "We look forward to working with Napalm Records and we anticipate great support in rolling out the VISTA CHINO rock."
Thomas Caser, Head Of A&R at Napalm Records, commented on the signing: "It's with great pride we announce the signing of VISTA CHINO. After all the band has been through they are ready to rock! We at Napalm Records are thrilled to work with such talented artists and look forward to a long-lasting cooperation!"
"Dargona, Dragona", the first song from VISTA CHINO's highly anticipated first full-length album, is available for streaming at this location.
Speaking to Music Feeds, Brant was asked whether there was a slight sense of relief that the legal dispute over the KYUSS name is over. "Absolutely," he replied. "There's always relief when conflict is resolved and people can just let go and move forward. That's where we're at and we feel great. It's always unfortunate to experience differences with specific people, but we feel great as a band. We're really, really excited to move forward into the future and focus on what it is that we do, which is play music."
Regarding whether the change of band's name to VISTA CHINO would have happened had it not been for the lawsuit, Brant said: "That's a good question. The answer to that question is: I don't know. Possibly. We didn't really think about it. We were really just looking at what was in front of us and making our decisions based on what our present situation was. But now we just came to a point where we felt that changing the name was appropriate and was the fastest way for us to get back to playing music."
VISTA CHINO's first North American performance will take place at this year's Orion Music + More festival — curated by METALLICA — in Detroit, Michhigan. VISTA CHINO will play on Sunday, June 9 on the "Frantic Stage." A full North American tour will be announced shortly.
Danish/American metal rock 'n' rollers VOLBEAT paid tribute to late SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman by playing a snippet of a cover version of the SLAYER classic "Raining Blood" on May 14 in Springfield, Missouri. Check out fan-filmed video footage of the performance below.
Members of SLAYER released a statement on May 9 saying that Hanneman died of alcohol-related cirrhosis.
The guitarist had actually not been playing with SLAYER for more than two years since he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, from a spider bite in his backyard in January 2011. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman's arm, leading to numerous surgeries, skin grafts and intense periods of rehab that forced him into semi-retirement and left him near death at several points.
Hanneman's last appearance with SLAYER was in April 2011, when he played an encore with the band at the "Big Four" concert in Indio, California.
