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.”
Nuclear Blast is very stoked to announce the signing of ASHES OF ARES – the new formation of Matt Barlow (ex-ICED EARTH), Van Williams (ex-NEVERMORE), Freddie Vidales (ex-ICED EARTH).
ASHES OF ARES is a band which represents the culmination of experiences, trials and tribulations of founding members Matt Barlow, Van Williams and Freddie Vidales. 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.
The band comments the unholy alliance like this: “We are proud to announce that we have signed with Nuclear Blast records! We’re really looking forward to working with them in bringing our music to the world. It’s great to be added to the ranks of the already impressive roster of bands that Nuclear Blast represents. We will be entering the studio at the beginning of April under the masterful watch of producer Jim Morris of “Morrisound Recording”. We and Nuclear Blast are aiming for a release date late in the summer of 2013. This will be followed by a European tour with POWERWOLF. It’s a new beginning for ASHES OF ARES, and we couldn’t ask for a better label than Nuclear Blast to go into battle with. Attack!”
Nuclear Blast A&R Jaap Wagemaker adds: “After we received their first demo we were totally blown away by the power of their music! We are all huge fans of classic NEVERMORE and classic ICED EARTH and we knew that just like us their fans are waiting eagerly to hear this! Their new band is named after the Greek god of war and together we will go forward into to battle conquering the hearts of metal fans worldwide! At the moment the band is hard at work forging their debut album which will see the light in the late summer this year. If you can’t wait that long, make sure not to miss them at the legendary “Rock Hard Festival” this year. ASHES OF ARES: welcome to the Nuclear family!”
ASHES OF ARES is:
Matthew Barlow – Vocals
Freddie Vidales – Guitar/Bass
Van Williams – Drums
ASHES OF ARES Live:
May 17, 2013 Gelsenkirchen (Germany) @ Rock Hard Festival
Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH entered Hertz studio in Bialystok, Poland at the end of February to begin recording their next album for a late 2013 release via Nuclear Blast in Europe and Metal Blade in North America.
A new video message from the studio can be seen below.
Speaking to Metal Storm last December, BEHEMOTH bassist Orion (real name: Tomasz Wróblewski) stated about the band’s plans for the new CD: “We have scheduled the studio for the end of February. If everything goes as planned, the album will be done in the summer and we plan on releasing it in the fall of 2013.”
He added: “The last recording session — I don’t even remember how many studios were involved… Like, six or seven, and lots of sound engineers as well; that’s just the way we work. This time we will probably do most of the work in Hertz Studio, but we might do some stuff in other places as well. Plus we are still talking about mixing of the album and that’s going to be probably somewhere else other than Poland.”
In an interview with Rock N Roll Industries conducted aboard Barge To Hell — the world’s most extreme metal cruise — which sailed on December 3, 2012 from Miami, Florida to Nassau, Bahamas and returned to the real world on December 7, 2012, BEHEMOTH guitarist/vocalist Adam “Nergal” Darski stated about the progress of the songwriting sessions for BEHEMOTH‘s next album: “I’m really thinking about my record. I’m dreaming my record, I’m eating my record, I’m shitting my record… I mean, everything just comes to the same thing: this artistic release that’s gonna take place in the fall next year. That’s the plan. We already made a rough plan. We should be entering the studio in late February. We’re demoing stuff now. It’s actually a rehearsal studio. So this is a thing we’ve never done before: we get into the studio, we set up the equipment, and we just play. And we record stuff. So it’s very creative. It’s new and it’s different energy, too. I mean, we still use our rehearsal room, but it’s good to change the environment. And then in January and February, we decided to move to Warsaw to work on the record. It should be very stimulating; this change of rooms and change of cities, it can be very stimulating. But we’ve got plenty of stuff written already; I’m guessing 30 or 40 minutes of music is done. But I keep on writing. I’m so hyped and I’m so into delivering new stuff. I have this thought: every time I come up with a new theme or a new song idea, I think it’s actually better than the one before. So I hope that this process stops at a certain point and I’m, like, ‘OK, over. This is it. We’re working on this bunch of songs and that’s it.’ Because this way I can go on forever.”
In an April 2012 interview with Metal Blast, Nergal offered more information about BEHEMOTH‘s mindset going into the next album. “We want to take our time and not rush ourselves in any way,” he said. “It looks like it might be the most important album in our career. I want to make the most honest record and I won’t be bending to anyone’s rules or expectations, including [BEHEMOTH's record labels] Metal Blade or Nuclear Blast. Every next BEHEMOTH album is a surprise and is never the same. . . We don’t want to stress ourselves because the music business and the direction it takes is not as I would like it to be. That means we will be going against the current again and just do as we will and please. Whatever we do is going to be BEHEMOTH, 100%. It is the state of our will and nobody can deny it. I can tell you that we aren’t going to come out with a reggae or country album; it’s going to be BEHEMOTH, it’s going to be extreme. But don’t be surprised if people listened to it and said, ‘Fuck, they did it. It’s so amazing.’ [laughs] That’s what I like to say when I listen to my own music. I love to surprise myself. I hate things that are predictable. I want to surprise myself and surprise other people, as well. . . Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge AC/DC fan and I expect AC/DC to be AC/DC, but don’t expect BEHEMOTH to put out another ‘The Apostasy’, ‘Demigod’ or ‘Evangelion’ album, because that will not happen.”
BEHEMOTH‘s ninth full-length studio album, “Evangelion”, sold 8,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 56 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released in the U.S. in August 2009 through Metal Blade, the CD was mixed at Miloco Studios in London, England by Colin Richardson, who has previously worked with MACHINE HEAD, SLIPKNOT, NAPALM DEATH and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, among many others.
BLACK STAR RIDERS — the new band formed by THIN LIZZY alumni Ricky Warwick (vocals), Scott Gorham (guitar), Damon Johnson (guitar), Marco Mendoza (bass) with new addition Jimmy DeGrasso (ALICE COOPER, MEGADETH, DAVID LEE ROTH, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES) on drums — will release its debut album, “All Hell Breaks Loose”, via Nuclear Blast Entertainment on the following dates:
* May 21 – Japan
* May 22 – Sweden
* May 24 – Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Norway
* May 27 – U.K., France, BeNeLux, Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Greece
* May 28 – U.S., Canada, Italy, South America
About the origin of the album title, Warwick states: “I was watching a documentary about World War II bombers and saw the name painted on the side of one of the aircraft. The name just resonated with me and it seem to encapsulate the turmoil that we, as a society, are currently experiencing. The past few years have been such a wild ride and now with the release of the album, it sounded like a bad-ass album title that summed up what BLACK STAR RIDERS is all about.”
“All Hell Breaks Loose” was recorded and mixed by producer Kevin Shirley (LED ZEPPELIN, IRON MAIDEN, AEROSMITH, RUSH) at his The Cave studios in Malibu, California. Mastering duties were handled by Bob Ludwig (JIMI HENDRIX, RUSH, KISS, LED ZEPPELIN) at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine.
“All Hell Breaks Loose” track listing:
01. All Hell Breaks Loose
02. Bound For Glory
03. Kingdom Of The Lost
04. Bloodshot
05. Kissin’ The Ground
06. Hey Judas
07. Hoodoo Voodoo
08. Valley Of The Stones
09. Someday Salvation
10. Before The War
11. Blues Ain’t So Bad
The album will be released as a standard CD and also as a special-edition digipak featuring a bonus track, “Right To Be Wrong”, and a “making-of” DVD.
A 24-minute collection of video reports featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the making of “All Hell Breaks Loose” can be seen below.
At the end of March, there will be the first single release that will have an exclusive airing via certain media outlets prior to public release. Around the same time, more tour dates for the fall will be announced.
In October 2012, THIN LIZZY announced that they would not be recording new material under the THIN LIZZY monicker. The last incarnation of the band — Gorham, Brian Downey, Wharton, Warwick, Johnson and Mendoza — would be looking to form a new project.
According to a press release, Brian Downey decided to not become involved with BLACK STAR RIDERS because he didn’t want to commit to the touring cycle a new album would entail and Darren Wharton wanted to concentrate on DARE and other music and film projects.
“Brian and Darren just don’t want to be on the road 150 days a year. anti that’s completely understandable,” Warwick tells Classic Rock magazine. “But we do. We work very well together, and there’s no better man than Jimmy to gel it together. This is a kick-ass band.”
The BLACK STAR RIDERS album will feature material the band wrote while touring as THIN LIZZY and the sound retains that classic feel but is very much its own as well. The BLACK STAR RIDERS record is the next step in the evolution of the THIN LIZZY story.
“There’s no way it could sound like THIN LIZZY with [late THIN LIZZY frontman] Phil [Lynott],” Gorham tells Classic Rock. But Johnson disagreees. “I think Scott is too dose to it,” he says. “Ricky or I would bring in a song idea, and as soon as Scott starts playing on it, it sounds like THIN LIZZY, whether Scott realizes it or not. Everybody who’s heard the new music says it has that dassic THIN LIZZY vibe. No, it can’t sound like the original band. But that classic LIZZY vibe is absolutely there.”
“I’m not gonna pull any punches here,” says Warwick. “It sounds like classic THIN LIZZY brought up to date. l’ve been singing Phil‘s songs every night for two years, and although it sounds a bit crass because the man’s not here, I feel like I’ve had these lessons from getting so deep into his work. Phil‘s songwriting, his lyrics, his phrasing, his pitching, his delivery — it’s genius. And that’s really helped me as a writer.”
It was Warwick who named the new band BLACK STAR RIDERS, after an outlaw gang in the 1993 western movie “Tombstone”. As Johnson tells Classic Rock: “Scott said from the very beginning that we did not want a name that was specifically related to THIN LIZZY, because this band has to stand on its own.”
TESTAMENT‘s February 15 concert at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, New York as part of “The Dark Roots Of Thrash” tour was professionally filmed for a 90-minute DVD, to be released later this year via Nuclear Blast.
Fan-filmed video footage of the show can be seen below.
“We haven’t shot a live DVD or CD since our ‘Live In London’ release and we’ve had two killer albums since then,” commented TESTAMENT vocalist Chuck Billy. “We thought it would be cool to put out a live DVD/CD focusing on the last three records (‘The Gathering’, ‘The Formation Of Damnation’ and ‘Dark Roots Of Earth’) mixed in with a good amount of classics, too. Last time we recorded anything live in America was for ‘Live At The Fillmore’ on the West Coast. This time we thought we’d give the East Coast a chance to show the world how crazy and loud they can be.”
The band’s setlist was as follows:
01. Rise Up
02. More Than Meets the Eye
03. Burnt Offerings
04. Native Blood
05. True American Hate
06. Dark Roots of Earth
07. Into the Pit
08. Practice What You Preach
09. Riding the Snake
10. Eyes of Wrath
11. Trial By Fire
12. The Haunting
13. The New Order
14. D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
15. 3 Days in Darkness
Encore 1:
16. The Formation of Damnation
Encore 2:
17. Over the Wall
18. Disciples of the Watch
TESTAMENT‘s new album, “Dark Roots Of Earth”, sold more than 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No, 12 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores on July 31, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records.
“Dark Roots Of Earth” was produced, mixed and mastered by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap (ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE, ACCEPT, EXODUS). Special bonus tracks were recorded, mixed and mastered by Juan Urteaga (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS, TED NUGENT, NIGHT RANGER) at his Trident Studios. The cover artwork for the effort (see below) was painted by Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with ATHEIST, SIGH, ANACRUSIS and GWAR, among others.
“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, will be released in North America on March 19 (MRI/Megaforce), and on March 22 in Europe (Nuclear Blast).
Said ANTHRAX vocalist Joey Belladonna, “These are all bands I grew up with and have listened to forever. It’s just great music. I had fun singing these songs and I was happy recording together with ANTHRAX, doing classic rock songs. Fun stuff!”
On BOSTON‘s “Smokin’”, ANTHRAX brought in a special guest to play keyboards — Fred Mandel, who has played with ALICE COOPER, QUEEN, ELTON JOHN, CHEAP TRICK, SUPERTRAMP and on PINK FLOYD‘s “The Wall”. About the track, drummer Charlie Benante said, “If ever there were a perfect first album, it’s BOSTON‘s first album. The harmony leads they did would later be heard by IRON MAIDEN, which, of course, would lead to thrash metal.”
“It was a lot of fun, especially because a lot of those [songs] aren’t, I guess, normal for us or like so much of our repertoire — although they are because they’re songs we all knew,” guitarist Scott Ian told Billboard.com. “Maybe on paper the idea of us doing something like that seems weird, until you hear them and then it makes sense. And Joey‘s performance on the JOURNEY song, specifically, really blows my mind. Someone mentioned that [JOURNEY guitarist] Neal Schon better not hear this or we might lose our singer.” ANTHRAX also also laid down a cover version of BLACK SABBATH‘s “Neon Knights” for the upcoming Ronnie James Dio tribute album which is being assembled by the singer’s widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio.
Asked how the band selected which songs to cover, Ian said, “Like everything else, it’s kind of like someone says a song and everyone else is like, ‘Yeah, that’s a good one.’ It’s really as simple as that. It’s songs that in some shape or form we’ve been playing or jamming on for our whole lives. Because you really don’t wanna have to work too hard on these things, although the RUSH song is a bit of a bitch; I can’t say that’s an easy one. But it’s a song we all know and we’re all familiar with, so then, of course, you take on the challenge of just really trying to nail it and do it justice.”
According to ANTHRAX, they paid particular attention to the cover of RUSH‘s “Anthem” in order to recreate the nuances of the original song.
“I have to get every little part of Geddy [Lee, RUSH bassist/vocalist] down, ’cause I’m a fanatic with that stuff, and I have to,” bassist Frank Bello said. “It’s great. I love it.”
Added Scott: “Charlie [Benante, ANTHRAX drummer] bumped into [RUSH drummer] Neil Peart at the [Revolver] Golden Gods Awards a few months ago, and Neil actually said to Charlie, ‘Yeah, we heard you guys are covering ‘Anthem’. That’s so cool. We put the clip of you playing drums [to the song] up on our web site.’ And Charlie, I swear to God, he was like, the light, the glow that was coming off him after that was… I’d never seen anything quite like it.”
The “Anthems” EP will be available on CD as well as digitally via iTunes and other online retailers. In addition to “Anthems”‘ cover art, Benante and artist Stephen Thompson have subtly redesigned each track’s original album cover art to “Anthrax” it. The “Anthems” EP will first be housed in one of the “re-imagined” digipak covers, and then inserted inside the main CD cover sleeve. The main cover sleeve has been designed in such a way so fans will be able to see which one of the six “re-imagined” covers is inside.
“Anthems” was produced by ANTHRAX, Jay Ruston and Rob Caggiano and recorded for the most part throughout 2012 literally all over the world: at Benante‘s home studio, in Ruston‘s New York studio, on the band’s tour bus while on last summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, in hotel rooms, and backstage at their Berlin show last December.
The Grammy-nominated ANTHRAX will hit the road in support “Anthems” on February 16 with dates in India and Australia, and then return to North America to headline the Metal Alliance Tour that kicks off March 22. For all of these dates, ANTHRAX will be joined by SHADOWS FALL guitarist Jon Donais.
BLACK STAR RIDERS, the new band formed by THIN LIZZY alumni Ricky Warwick (vocals), Scott Gorham (guitar), Damon Johnson (guitar), Marco Mendoza (bass) with new addition Jimmy DeGrasso (ALICE COOPER, MEGADETH, DAVID LEE ROTH, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES) on drums, will enter a Los Angeles studio tomorrow (Monday, January 7) with producer Kevin Shirley (LED ZEPPELIN, IRON MAIDEN, AEROSMITH, RUSH) to begin recording its debut album for a May release via Nuclear Blast.
Commented the band: “Two years ago today THIN LIZZY‘s reformed lineup played their first show in Aberdeen. Today BLACK STAR RIDERS loaded into the studio in preparation for tomorrow’s start to the recording sessions with Kevin Shirley. The rehearsals went very well and the songs are ready. Time to make it happen!”
In October 2012, THIN LIZZY announced that they would not be recording new material under the THIN LIZZY monicker. The last incarnation of the band — Gorham, Brian Downey, Wharton, Warwick, Johnson and Mendoza — would be looking to form a new project.
According to a press release, Brian Downey decided to not become involved with BLACK STAR RIDERS because he didn’t want to commit to the touring cycle a new album would entail and Darren Wharton wanted to concentrate on DARE and other music and film projects.
The BLACK STAR RIDERS album will feature material the band wrote while touring as THIN LIZZY and the sound retains that classic feel but is very much its own as well. The BLACK STAR RIDERS record is the next step in the evolution of the THIN LIZZY story.
“We are all very excited about the music that we have created for BLACK STAR RIDERS. The synergy between the five of us has been phenomenal and I can’t wait for the world to hear these songs,” says Warwick.
BLACK STAR RIDERS was signed to Nuclear Blast by Monte Conner — the former Roadrunner A&R guru who has worked with such acts as SLIPKNOT, MACHINE HEAD, SEPULTURA and RUSH. Conner recently joined Nuclear Blast as the president of Nuclear Blast Entertainment, a new U.S. partnership he co-founded with Nuclear Blast owner Markus Staiger.
It’s that time of year again when the industry and fans alike start putting together lists of their favourite albums that have been released since January and in keeping with this tradition, we decided to gather some Top 5 Albums of 2012 lists from the staff here at Nuclear Blast. There’s a wide variety of releases in the staff picks, including some choice picks from other labels / our favourite bands, as well as our favourite Nuclear Blast releases.
We also happened to stumble upon EQPTV on YouTube recently and in case you hadn’t heard of the channel, it’s run by 12-year-old Elliot Paisley. Elliot first caught our eye when we saw him reviewing the likes of ISIS and Neurosis – both bands posted his reviews on their Facebook pages they were that taken with the little guy’s well-informed views. We decided to get Elliot involved in the list making and filmed his Top 5 Nuclear Blast releases of 2012 recently, which you can check out below:
Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
Baroness – Yellow & Green
The Safety Fire – Grind The Ocean
Graveyard – Lights Out (http://bit.ly/graveyard-spotify)
Old Man Gloom – No
Lottie Hunt (UK):
Every Time I Die – Ex Lives
Deftones – Koi No Yokan
Baroness – Green And Yellow
Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
Witchcraft – Legend (http://bit.ly/witchcraft-spotify)
Architects – Daybreaker
Your Demise – The Golden Age
Caliban – I Am Nemesis
The Sorrow – Misery Escape
Mnemic – Mnemesis (http://bit.ly/mnemic-spotify)
Julien Clair (DE):
Brutality Will Prevail – The Path
Desolated – Verse Of Judas
Expire – Pendulum Swings
Municipal Waste – The Fatal Feast (http://bit.ly/municipalwaste-spotify)
Xibalba – Hasta La Muerte
Rush – Clockwork Angels
Testament – Dark Roots Of Earth (http://bit.ly/testament-spotify)
Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
Midnight – Satanic Royalty
Prong – Carved Into Stone
Darren Edwards (US):
Gojira-L’enfant Sauvage
Witchcraft – Legend (http://bit.ly/witchcraft-spotify)
Therapy?- A Brief Crack Of Light
Down- Down IV, Part I, The Purple EP
Stone Sour- House Of Gold and Bones, Part 1
Elliot Paisley – EQPTV:
EQPTV Top 5 Albums of 2012
If you fancy getting your hands on any of the Nuclear Blast releases mentioned above, you can find buy links for the releases below:
“Gates Of Dalhalla”, the new DVD from Swedish melodic metallers HAMMERFALL, has entered the Swedish “Music DVD” chart at position No. 4. As previously reported, the set also landed on the German “Music DVD” chart at No. 6.
“Gates Of Dalhalla” was released as a DVD+2CD and Blu-ray+2CD on November 30 via Nuclear Blast. The set will feature the band’s extraordinary 135-minute 15th-anniversary show that took place on July 28 on the historic open-air stage Dalhalla, built in an old quarry near the small Swedish village Rättvik. The footage was captured by Swedish director Patric Ullaeus of the Revolver Film Company AB, who has previously worked with IN FLAMES, DIMMU BORGIR, EUROPE and LACUNA COIL, among many others.
Commented HAMMERFALL guitarist Oscar Dronjak: “The set contained 26 tracks and lasted two hours and 15 minutes, by far the longest and most comprehensive gig of our entire career! We played songs from every album and then some. There were lots of guests and pyros, and we had 80 Marshall cabinets and the big shield with the HF logo carved out in the middle hanging brought out of storage, all set in an extremely unique venue. You really have to see it to understand. This concert really captured the essence of HAMMERFALL live in 2012 very well!”
Special guests during the concert included original HAMMERFALL members Jesper Strömblad (IN FLAMES) and Mikael Stanne (DARK TRANQUILLITY), as well as ex-HAMMERFALL guitarist Stefan Elmgren.
Added Oscar: “Everything concerning this release is special: the venue, the occasion, the setlist, the guests. If you are going to celebrate something, do it properly, and this is exactly what we have done. HAMMERFALL with extra everything, 100% live, 0% bullshit.”
The setlist for the concert was as follows:
01. Patient Zero
02. Heeding The Call
03. Any Means Necessary
04. B.Y.H.
05. Riders Of The Storm
06. Let’s Get It On
07. Crimson Thunder
08. Renegade
09. Blood Bound (special guest: Stefan Elmgren)
10. Last Man Standing (special guest: Stefan Elmgren)
11. Fury Of The Wild (special guest: Stefan Elmgren)
12. Drum Solo: Anders Johansson
13. Always Will Be
14. Dia De Los Muertos
15. Steel Meets Steel (special guest: Mikael Stanne)
16. Threshold
17. The Dragon Lies Bleeding (special guest: Jesper Strömblad)
18. Let The Hammer Fall
19. När Vindarna Viskar Mitt Namn (special guest: Roger Pontare)
20. Something For The Ages
21. The Templar Flame
22. Oh Fortuna (special guest: Team Cans)
23. Glory To The Brave (special guest: Team Cans)
24. One More Time (special guest: Team Cans)
25. Hammerfall
26. Hearts On Fire (featuring all special guests)
The “Hammerfall” performance clip from “Gates Of Dalhalla” can be seen below.
The members of HAMMERFALL announced in March that they were take an extended break immediately following their festival appearances this summer.
“It has been an unbelievable first 15 years, to say the least,” said guitarist Oscar Dronjak, “and now we are taking a pause to ensure that we have another 15 years ahead of us.”
There will be no HAMMERFALL activities in 2013, but the band promises to return strong the following year. “The plan is to use the year off to recharge our batteries and come back more vital than ever with a new album in 2014,” explained singer Joacim Cans.
HAMMERFALL‘s new album, “Infected”, sold around 1,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD debuted at No. 16 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.
Nuclear Blast issues that on November 20, 2012, the first „Icon Challenge“ tournament ever took place at the brand new Nuclear Blast Poker Room. In this tournament, both Scott Ian from Anthrax and Threshold front man Damian Wilson were challenged.
Out of the almost 100 participants, it was Scott Ian who could kick Damian Wilson out of the tournament and who eventually won the whole thing!
Two guys from the Nuclear Blast team took the chance, grabbed their camera and went to Ludwigsburg, where Anthrax played their gig the next day, to watch the master at work. In the meantime, Damian Wilson was filmed by his friend and Within Temptation guitar player Ruud Jolie at his house.
Here’s the result:
If you want to join in the Nuclear Blast Poker, surf to http://www.nuclearblastpoker.com or http://www.facebook.com/nuclearblastpoker and register – it’s free. Additionally, you will receive a 10,000 chips bonus and get the chance to win an exclusive signed Nightwish artwork canvas and a 50€ voucher for the Nuclear Blast Mailorder!
Before this year ends, the Nuclear Blast New Media Team will challenge you for another tournament! So keep your eyes open!
