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All posts for the month November, 2011

MICHAEL ANTHONY Doesn’t Want The ‘Drama’ That Comes Along With Being In VAN HALEN

Posted by Stargazer on November 19, 2011
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , . Leave a comment
Joe Charupakorn of Premier Guitar recently conducted an interview with CHICKENFOOT/ex-VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Premier Guitar: Michael, there’s a rumor that you’re the richest among the original VAN HALEN members. Is that true?

Anthony: [Laughs.] Well, everybody used to joke that I saved the first dollar that I ever made in VAN HALEN. I probably did somewhere. You know what?! My wife Sue and I, we just celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary in February. That might have something to do with it, because every guy in VAN HALEN is divorced — a couple of them a couple of times. So, of course, that’s going to tax their account a little bit.

Premier Guitar: Some people out there say CHICKENFOOT is in it just for the money, but you guys don’t really need the money. Sammy [Hagar] made something like 80 million dollars selling a share of his tequila business.

Anthony: And that was just selling the first 80 percent. Once he sold the last 20 percent, I’m sure he made a good penny on that, too. The best part about CHICKENFOOT is that nobody needs the money. We’ve got nothing we need to prove to anybody. We wanted this to be a fun band and when we get in the studio it’s just so loose, relaxed, and open. It’s like the early days of VAN HALEN. Everybody’s just throwing in their input and having a great time making music. We don’t want any pressure and we said if any came up, we should just stop doing this.

Premier Guitar: Michael, if the situation presented itself, would you rejoin VAN HALEN?

Anthony: At this point in my life and career, I’m so happy with what I’m doing and I want to have fun making music. I don’t want any drama. That whole drama thing in VAN HALEN, the way it ended up, I was like, “I’d rather make no money having fun playing music than make a shitload of money tearing my hair out.” Maybe when I was 20, it would have been different, but not at this point. I want to keep my sanity.

Read the entire interview from Premier Guitar,.’

Photo below courtesy of Mad Anthony Cafe

 

Source: Blabbermouth

JUDAS PRIEST Guitarist Richie Faulkner – “I’m Not There To Replace A 40 Year Career”

Posted by Stargazer on November 19, 2011
Posted in: Int. News. Leave a comment

New JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner is featured in a new interview with Robert Gray at Ultimate-Guitar.com. An excerpt is available below.

Q: How do you feel about replacing K. K. Downing?

Faulkner. “First of all, as I said before it was a huge honour just to be even considered. I’ve been a fan of the band for years, and so it was a bit of a double-edged sword really; it was a great opportunity for me as a guitar player and as a fan, but at the same time he was one of my heroes and didn’t want to do it anymore. It was a double-edged sword really, but I’ve always said to people, as a fan myself I know what fans expect. Judas Priest weren’t to carry on and they were asking me to join to be able to carry on, so it was a no-brainer in my mind. One of the guys who was my idol had left, and you have to respect the guys’ decision. The band wanted to carry on, and again it was a great honour to do it and it was a great honour to be put forward. I’m not there to replace a forty-year career; Ken’s career was influential, and before those two guys came out and did that style of guitar there weren’t many people doing it. He was a guitar hero idol of mine, and I’m not there to replace any of that. I know as a fan what the fans expect, and I’m just there to do the best I can for the band and the fans.”

Q: How has fan reaction been then?

Faulkner: “Initially I think people were sceptical, which is natural really. I think I would’ve been sceptical because right up until Ken’s departure it was like that for forty years, and if something changes people’s first reactions tend to be an unsure one. When people are unsure they’re fearful of the outcome. We’re through the worst, and as I said people are sceptical but we knew that as soon as we got out and did the first couple of shows and went from there that the fans would see with their own eyes and their own ears that the band is fine and that it’s a good fit. Hats off to the fans really for giving it that chance; they still got their tickets and gave the band a chance, and hopefully they weren’t and won’t be disappointed. They’ve been fantastic, and with every show that we do the more of an amazing welcome reaction I get. A big thank you to them really for giving me the chance and the band a chance.”

Q: Have you been writing anything for a new Judas Priest album?

Faulkner: “The plan is we’re hopefully gonna get together, and throw down some ideas as soon as we get some time. I write quite a lot on the road; I bring out a recording rig, and I record little ideas, little riffs, little melodies and stuff like that as I go along. The plan is as soon as we get a bit of time, me and Glenn are gonna throw some ideas around. There are a few songs floating around at the moment. There’s a few songs that’ve been mixed, and there are another few songs that’ve been worked on not completely, but the ideas are there. It’s a work in progress at the moment; it’s just finding the time to get together to finish off some recordings and write together and finish it off. Hopefully we’ll have some time early next year to do that.”

Click here for the complete interview.

As previously reported, BraveWords.com and Sony Music have teamed up to offer fans a chance to pray at the altar of Judas Priest with The Chosen Few Contest! The band are on a string of Canadian live dates on their “final” Epitaph tour and we have tickets to giveaway for each show. As well, each winner will receive a copy of The Chosen Few.

But that’s not all! One grand prize winner – The Chosen One – will score a copy of Judas Priest’s Single Cuts CD Singles box set including their complete UK CBS/Columbia singles, which boasts a massive 52 tracks across 20 CDs!

To win a pair of tickets to one of the following shows send us an email to contests@bravewords.com with the subject line “Judas Priest For Life!” Please include the city you want to win tickets to. Contest closes November 21st. Transportation not provided to venue. Please bring photo ID.

Judas Priest Canadian Epitaph dates:

November
22 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
23 – Quebec City, QC – Colisee Pepsi Arena
24 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre

 

Source: Bravewords

OBITUARY Announce Free Live Webcast From New York Show Tomorrow

Posted by Stargazer on November 19, 2011
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: . Leave a comment

Currently in the midst of their East Coast Possession tour, legendary Florida death metal goliaths OBITUARY will have their New York City appearance streaming live via their website.

The show will take place tomorrow – Saturday, November 19th – at 8:45 PM (EST) at Santos Party House in Manhattan. Fans unable to make it to the show in person will get a chance to experience the mayhem in real time – for FREE – by going here. Fill out the registration form on the splash page and prepare for the pummel.

Commented guitarist Trevor Peres, “The shows so far have been going awesome. We’re set to tear up New York City!”

The band is currently composing the follow-up to their Darkest Day full-length, released in 2009 with plans to enter the studio early in the new year for a tentative late spring/early summer 2012 release.

East Coast Possession Tour 2011 dates:

November (with Denial Fiend)
18 – 42nd Street Rock House – Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA
19 – Santos Party House – New York, NY
20 – The Casbah/Tremont Music Hall – Charlotte, NC
21 – The Archive – Atlanta, GA

Source: Bravewords

ENGEL: The Recordings of New Album start next week

Posted by tarjavirmakari on November 19, 2011
Posted in: News. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Swedish melodic death metal band ENGEL has issued the following:

Hey there!
We would like to thank everyone for the year 2011. We had our last show at Trädgårn with Arch Enemy last Saturday and we enjoyed the gig VERY MUCH! We want to thank you guys for being so supportive and for being such an awesome fanbase. Without you, ENGEL would have been nothing!
We will allways remember PAIN and their crew. We had alot of fun and we want to thank you guys for wanting us on your tour. We had a BLAST.
Finally, we want to thank Arch Enemy + Crew for the awesome gigs we had here in Sweden. It was really fun sharing stage with you guys and we hope that we can do it again in the near future!

BUT THERE IS MORE! We are finally done writing all the songs for the upcoming album and not later than next week, we will start to record it! You guys will not be dissapointed. More info and the actual title of the album will be released next week. So stay tuned!!

Until then.
// ENGEL

Interview with FURY ‘N GRACE: “Let’s stop rationalizing the delirium that each of us embodies. Just embrace it.”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on November 18, 2011
Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: . 1 Comment

FURY ‘N GRACE are one of Italy’s most interesting metal realities of the last few years, although the band has been steadily going for about 17 years. Their new opus, “Diabolism of Conversation” is the masterpiece of eccentric genius, and with the addition of Deathmaster of DoomSword on vocals, Fury’n’Grace push themselves and the listener to new boundaries. Fury’n’Grace call their new album their “exorcism of reality”.

Last week I had a chance to interview Christian Grillo (bass) and Matteo Carnio (guitar), please join our conversation…

Hi Chris and Matteo, and welcome to Metal Shock Finland! How are you doing today?

Christian: Hello Tarja, We’re fine, thanks. I enjoy the arrival of winter in the middle of nowhere here in “Maremma”. (Editor’s note: one area in Tuscany)

Fury ‘n Grace are playing for 17 years … tell me a little bit of early years and who are you today? and why “Fury ‘n Grace”?

Christian: The Fury N Grace was born from an idea of Matteo Carnio and A.D. Vecchio exactly 17 years ago. Since then the band has undergone structural upheavals, meta pathophysiological traumas, clashed with the daily injustices of life… producers, labels, users, climate, economic and social changes, and all this leads us to today, after the turnover of some members and two unreleased albums, today the formation sees myself on bass, Matteo Carnio on guitar, Emiliano “Kiske” “Wrathlord” Bertossi on drums, and Deathmaster on vocals.
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KISS Return To The Studio; New Photos Posted

Posted by Stargazer on November 18, 2011
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
KISS spent all day (and late into the night) in the studio yesterday (November 17th) working on a new song for their upcoming Monster album. Check out photos from the studio below, from Eric Singer, exclusively for KISSOnline.

KISS have been working on the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Sonic Boom in Los Angeles for a 2012 release. For the Monster album, KISS is planning a massive 2012-2013 world tour which will take the band around the globe.

During an extensive three-hour chat with BraveWords.com recently, KISS drummer Eric Singer says that Monster “isn’t The Elder where we have a theme for the whole record. It’s a straight-ahead rock KISS record and I think this stuff so far is stronger better material (than Sonic Boom). It’s more riff-y which makes it more interesting. This album will have more production (than Sonic Boom), so in that sense it might be leaning more towards a Destroyer type approach. I’ve asked to have my drums put in a bigger room because I want to get a big sound… a more bombastic drum sound. We’ve taken more time to get better sounds on this recording.”

Read the entire interview here.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the release of Music From The Elder, the most bizarre and unsuccessful album ever released by KISS, comes the first chapter of an upcoming book exploring this strange, misguided and yet oddly lovable record.

Music From The Elder: The Unauthorized Story Of the Most Spectacular Failure In The History Of KISS will be released in the spring of 2012. The book will explore the odd circumstances that led the traditionally hard-rocking band to attempt a classical and Broadway-influenced concept record about a young boy’s medieval quest to become a warrior (or something), and the effect its commercial failure had on the band.

For further details and to sign up to receive Chapter One for free, visit this location.

Source: Bravewords