Los Angeles glam metal jokesters STEEL PANTHER have learned to celebrate the holidays in their own rockin’ style, which includes — what else? — call girls and golden showers. So, naturally, they’ve melded the two in an X-rated version of the yuletide classic “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, which the quartet sang a cappella before a recent gig in New Jersey. Check it out HERE, exclusive to Fuse.tv.
STEEL PANTHER‘s sophomore album, “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.
“Balls Out” was released on November 1 via Universal Republic Records. The follow-up to 2009’s “Feel The Steel” contains 14 soon-to-be classics such as “Just Like Tiger Woods”, “Gold Digging Whore” and “Weenie Ride”. The album also features cameos by Dane Cook on the album opener “In The Future” and NICKELBACK frontman Chad Kroeger and EXTREME axeman Nuno Bettencourt show up on an instant classic “It Won’t Suck Itself”. “Balls Out” was produced by Grammy-nominated producer/mixer Jay Ruston who produced the band’s “Feel The Steel” debut and is known for his work with ANTHRAX, MEAT LOAF, THE DONNAS and MORRISSEY, to name a few.
STEEL PANTHER is Michael Starr (vocals), Satchel (guitar), Lexxi Foxx (bass) and Stix Zadinia (drums).
METALLICA‘s official web site has been updated with the following message:
“Last week we celebrated our 30th anniversary together with fan-club members from around the world by playing four nights at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco . . . It was quite the bash each and every night!
“If you were able to join us at any or all of the parties, thanks for coming out to hang with us. And whether or not you were there, you may have heard that we added some unreleased tracks from the ‘Death Magnetic’ sessions to the set list — one ‘new’ song each night as part of the shenanigans on stage.
“This week, we’re releasing those four tracks through iTunes exclusively in North America and on iTunes and additional digital retailers in other parts of the world as the ‘Beyond Magnetic’ EP. All four studio versions of these songs were sent to Met Club members for free immediately following their live debut on stage at the Fillmore and tomorrow they will be available to everyone via the magic of digital downloading. They are the rough mixes, unfinished to their original degree of mixing from March of 2008, and those of you with very keen senses of sound might recognize bits and pieces from the ‘Mission Metallica’ videos posted in the summer of 2008.
“Thanks again to everyone who visited us in San Francisco. As Lars [Ulrich, drums] mentioned at the end of the last show, we’ll be back here in January with an announcement about a special interactive fan event in June of 2012 . . . we may ask you to do a little traveling again!” “Beyond Magnetic” track listing:
01. Hate Train
02. Just A Bullet Away
03. Hell And Back
04. Rebel Of Babylon
“Death Magnetic” was officially certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 28, 2010 for shipments in the United States in excess of two million copies.
METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told The Pulse of Radio in an October 2008 interview that he didn’t understand the controversy that had broken out over the audio quality of “Death Magnetic” shortly after the LP’s release. Some fans and publications had accused the group and producer Rick Rubin of mixing the album at such a loud volume that the music is distorted and difficult to listen to. But Ulrich said that he’s more than happy with the way it turned out. “I listen to this record, and I listen to it every couple of days,” he said. “And when I hear it, it puts a smile on my face and it blows me away, and I don’t understand what people are talking about. Somebody told me the other day that there were 12,000 people that had signed a petition to remix the record. We’ve sold two and a half million copies [worldwide] of ‘Death Magnetic’. You do the math yourself.”
A number of fans said online that they prefer the versions of the CD’s tracks prepared for the Guitar Hero video game, which are mixed differently.
Ted Jensen, the engineer who mastered the album at Sterling Sound in New York, responded to fan complaints that the CD is too loud and the audio is pushed to distortion levels by writing, “I’m certainly sympathetic to your reaction, I get to slam my head against that brick wall every day. In this case the mixes were already brick-walled before they arrived at my place. Suffice to say I would never be pushed to overdrive things as far as they are here. Believe me, I’m not proud to be associated with this one, and we can only hope that some good will come from this in some form of backlash against volume above all else.”
Mastering is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device, the “master,” from which all copies will be produced.
Blame for the sound quality has been laid at the feet of the band itself, producer Rick Rubin and his recording engineer, Greg Fidelman. Source: Blabbermouth.net
To honor Chuck Schuldiner‘s (DEATH, CONTROL DENIED) legacy as a death metal pioneer, an inimitable vocalist and one of the best guitarists to thoughtfully shred the six-string on the 10th anniversary of his death, Lars Gotrich of NPR‘s “All Songs Considered” blog asked eleven metal musicians to pick their favorite DEATH song, and write what it and Schuldiner has meant to them. For Paul Masvidal (CYNIC), Gene Hoglan (FEAR FACTORY) and Richard Christy (CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED) — all former members of DEATH (and there have been a lot) — it’s telling that all three chose songs from 1991’s watershed album, “Human”. In the modern metal scene, younger musicians like Arthur von Nagel (CORMORANT), Elizabeth Schall (DREAMING DEAD) and John Dyer Baizley (BARONESS) all grew up with the legend of DEATH and have taken its heavy lessons to heart.
The latest reissue from DEATH‘s legendary catalog, 1993’s “Individual Thought Patterns”, was made available on October 25 in North America; October 28 in Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany; and October 31 in the rest of Europe via Relapse Records. The effort was remixed by Alan Douches and has been re-packaged to include a second and third bonus disc worth of previously unreleased demos and a full live set recorded in Germany during a 1993 European tour. Also included on the third bonus disc exclusive to this reissue are rare riff tracks from the Chuck Schuldiner archives.
“Individual Thought Patterns” follows the recent reissues of “The Sound Of Perseverance” and “Human”. Like those reissues, “Individual Thought Patterns” is available as a deluxe three-disc set, a two-disc standard set, and deluxe digital.
Chuck died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor. Source: Blabbermouth.net
Chuck Schuldiner memorial video made by his mother (and which was shown at his funeral):
Swedish deathcrust ensemble BOMBS OF HADES has inked a deal with Pulverised Records.
Spawned in 2002 as a crustpunk act, BOMBS OF HADES quickly mutated into a gristly old-school Swedish death metal direction, while still retaining a strong d-beat/crust vibe. Fronted by Jonas Stålhammar (GOD MACABRE, UTUMNO) who recently served briefly with legendary Swedish thrashers THE CROWN, the band is now geared up for its second full-length, entitled “A Serpent’s Redemption”. The follow-up to 2010’s “Chambers Of Abominations”, which was released via Blood Harvest Records, is expected to drop sometime next year.
Commented Stålhammar: “BOMBS OF HADES are psyched to have the next album released through Pulverised.
“‘A Serpent’s Redemption’ will satisfy souls starved for some true old-school death metal and will be unleashed before the summer of 2012.”
Added Pulverised Records A&R manager Calvin Chiang: “BOMBS OF HADES are one band that have been on our radar for some time now. We finally thought it was time to seize the opportunity to grab them for a brand new record. To further confirm that our gut feeling was correct, our good old friend Ayong (founder of Pulverised Records) coincidentally recommended the band and strongly insisted we get BOMBS OF HADES on our roster by hook or by crook! Expect full-blown death metal abomination!”
MassConcerts has announced that the 14th annual New England Metal & Hardcore Festival will take place the weekend of April 20-22, 2012.
The New England Metal & Hardcore Festival, the largest and most successful metal festival in the United States, has presented some of the biggest and up-and-coming artists in the metal and hardcore music genres over the past 13 years.
The following artists will perform at next year’s event:
Friday, April 20
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
THE ACACIA STRAIN
OCEANO
ALL SHALL PERISH
NILE
SKELETONWITCH
LIONHEART
FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE
FIRST BLOOD
MOLOTOV SOLUTION
THE CONTORTIONIST
REIGN SUPREME
CONDUCTING FROM THE GRAVE
FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY
INCENDIARY
PALEHORSE
HOUR OF PENANCE
LEGION
RELENTLESS
Saturday, April 21
[Headliner to be announced January 2, 2012] OVERKILL
IWRESTLEDABEARONCE
PROTEST THE HERO
PERIPHERY
BANE
SHIPWRECK
CRUEL HAND
ABORTED
BLACKGUARD
THE MONGOLOIDS
BELGARDOR
SYSTEM DIVIDE
NAYSAYER
THE GREENERY
DIAMOND PLATE
ROTTING OUT
EXPIRE
ELITIST
TRUMPET THE HARLOT
MANNERS
MALEFICE
Sunday, April 22
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
EVERY TIME I DIE
VANNA
FOR TODAY
CHELSEA GRIN
SLEEPING GIANT
STICK TO YOUR GUNS
ATTILA
ON BROKEN WINGS
MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE
FOR THE FALLEN DREAMS
TEXAS IN JULY
UPON A BURNING BODY
VOLUMES
LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES
HUNDREDTH
NO BRAGGING RIGHTS
COUNTERPARTS
GIDEON
Commented KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Howard Jones, “Yup, trouble’s brewing.
“It’s been great to have time off, but now it’s back to business.
“All the guys in KILLSWITCH ENGAGE are truly excited to be playing New England Metal & Hardcore Festival again. It’s like old times: hanging out with your friends, but they have mustaches now.
“Come on out, bring a friend and let’s make some sweat!”
Tickets for the festival will go on sale Friday, December 16 at 10 a.m. Ticket prices are: $40 (Friday), $45 (Saturday), and $40 (Sunday) or $115 (three-day pass).
EVANESCENCE performed at this year’s Nobel Peace Prize concert this past Sunday, Decemebr 11 in Oslo, Norway at the Oslo Spektrum. The concert was held a day after the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, whose honorees include President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and women’s right activist Leymah Gbowee, both of whom are from Liberia, and democracy activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen. EVANESCENCE joined a number of other accomplished performing artists, including singer-songwriter David Gray, vocalist Jill Scott, country duo SUGARLAND and Matthew Morrison from “Glee”. The concert was broadcast globally in up to 130 countries, including those in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, South, Central and North America. The event was also streamed live on CNN International.
Video footage of EVANESCENCE‘s performance can be seen HERE.
Pictured with Nobel Peace Prize 2011 laureate Tawakkol Karman, EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee tweeted that “I am inspired and uplifted. I am humbled and honored. I will remember today for the rest of my life.”
Source: Blabbermouth.net
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
Los Angeles glam metal jokesters STEEL PANTHER have learned to celebrate the holidays in their own rockin’ style, which includes — what else? — call girls and golden showers. So, naturally, they’ve melded the two in an X-rated version of the yuletide classic “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, which the quartet sang a cappella before a recent gig in New Jersey. Check it out HERE, exclusive to Fuse.tv.
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 