A three-and-ahalf-minute video clip of KISS guitaristTommy Thayer demoing his new signature model Epiphone Les Paul guitar and Hughes & Kettner‘s TubeMeister 36 amp can be seen below.
Thayer has been working with Epiphone on his signature guitar, tweaking the silver-sparkle top and a few other things. He says, “The guitar looks and plays phenomenally.”
The Tommy Thayer signature model Les Paul will be available in about two months.
The TubeMeister 36 is the latest in Hughes & Kettner‘s successful TubeMeister series. It’s a great-sounding and affordable amp that Tommy‘s going to integrate into his live and studio set-ups along with the TT signature Duotone amps.
BATTLECROSS have just released a brand new, live music video for the track ‘Kaleb’, cut from the band’s latest Metal Blade Records release, Pursuit of Honor. Fans can check out the video now HERE.
The video happens to be directed and edited by Ryan Glisan of death metal band and label-mate Allegaeon. The live footage in the video was filmed at the July 13th kick off date of the TRESPASS AMERICA festival in Broomfield, CO.
“Kaleb is the one song on the album that I’m the most proud of because I wrote it about my son,” states vocalist Kyle “Gumby” Gunther. “To have this be the track that Ryan used is really special to me, because seeing the intensity of our first arena show with such a hard-hitting song really gives the world a good idea of how much I love my boy. As a band, we’ll never forget that show. We were nervous as all hell!”
The TRESPASS AMERICA festival is still at large, also featuring headliners Five Finger Death Punch, with support fromKillswitch Engage, Trivium, Emmure, Pop Evil, and God Forbid.
BATTLECROSS is:
Kyle “Gumby” Gunther/vocals
Tony Asta/guitar
Hiran Deraniyagala/guitar
Mike Kreger/drums
Don Slater/bass
The band’s debut album, Pursuit of Honor, is available on Metal Blade Records and can be found at this location:www.metalblade.com/battlecross
“Raise Your Fist In The Air”, the new video from German metal queen Doro Pesch can be seen below. The song comes off the singer’s new EP, “Raise Your Fist In The Air”, which was released on August 3. A full-length album, “Raise Your Fist”, will follow on October 19 via Nuclear Blast Records.
Pesch loves New York, which she considers her second home. However, when the rock lady from Düsseldorf, Germany recalls the “Raise Your First” video shoot, she still gets an uneasy feeling. That’s because the filming didn’t take place on Broadway or in Times Square, but far away from the American glitter world, in the dark corners of the Bronx.
Comments Doro: “For Manhattan we would have needed permissions to film for each and every street corner — in the Bronx, nobody cares.” At least no police officers, that is. The activities of Doro and her bandmates didn’t remain unobserved, of course. “We purposely trudged around the most rundown quarters in our video truck,” she says. “The gangs that hung around there were watching every step of ours very, very suspiciously. We felt anything but safe. At times we were downright besieged by dark shapes.”
She adds, “I explained to the guys who we were and that ‘Raise Your Fist…’ can be considered quite a critical song that names and shames the constantly growing injustice in the world.” And when the singer offered the gang members and homeless people an opportunity to appear in the video, the subliminal aggression quickly turned into sheer enthusiasm.
“That was the best we could have done,” Doro explains. “The video came out absolutely great. And the parts with the people from the Bronx are the ones I like most.” She jokingly adds, “And it was also way better for our health.”
“Raise Your Fist In The Air” EP track listing:
01. Raise Your Fist In The Air
02. Victory
03. Engel
04. Lève Ton Poing Vers Le Ciel (French version of “Raise Your Fist In The Air”)
Adds Doro: “Everyone who likes the EP will sure be delighted by the album with its 13 to 14 songs as well. I’ve put all my passion, blood, sweat and tears into my first record for Nuclear Blast.”
“Raise Your Fist” was recorded and written in the U.S., Germany, and Scandinavia. Doro says, “For the diehard fans of German songs like ‘Für Immer’ [‘Forever’], there are two songs in the same vein — sensitive and quite dark ‘Human Rights’ and the very emotional ‘Engel’ [‘Angel’]. There are also a lot of fast songs like ‘Little Headbanger’ and various fist-pumping ones featuring amazing guests like Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND) on ‘Last Man Standing’ which fans will for sure dig live. We also have a song that honors the late Ronnie James Dio called ‘Hero’ and another highlight named ‘It Still Hurts’ featuring MOTÖRHEAD‘s Lemmy Kilmister. The cover artwork has once again been created by British artist Geoffrey Gillespie who is a close friend and companion since he made it into the Guinness Book Of World Records for his ‘Triumph And Agony’ cover as the biggest album cover in the world. Since then, he’s done ten covers for us!”
In a 2011 interview with Canada’s XplosiveMetal.com, Pesch spoke about the song “Raise Your Fist In The Air” which she played for the first time at last year’s Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany. “It got great feedback [from the Wacken audience]. . . . It was originally written by a Wacken fan, a metalhead, and then I did my own thing to it. It was actually a diehard Wacken fan who did a demo and sent it to the promoter. He sent it to me and said, ‘Hey, how about we make a Wacken anthem and here’s an idea from a diehard Wacken fan.’ I listened to it and thought, ‘Hey, that’s great.’ Then we worked on it and continued working on it. Just to tell you how that song came about, it was a collaboration with a diehard fan and it was actually really good. Sometimes the fans have the best ideas. It was so dead-on.”
Former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate taped a guest appearance on VH1 Classic‘s “That Metal Show” this past weekend for an episode which is expected to premiere on August 25. “That Metal Show” co-host Eddie Trunk says, “We asked Geoff every tough question and he dodged nothing. He was honest in his assesment of what went down from his perspective [between him and his former bandmates].”
Sample quote from Geoff‘s “That Metal Show” segment: “I’d like to sit in a room with those gentlemen [referring to his former QUEENSRŸCHE bandmates] and have them tell me face to face what the situation is. Explain their actions. I’d like to know and actually understand their point of view. I’d like to see them talk to me face to face rather than through the Internet. Communication is a big part of any relationship, right? If nobody’s talking, then nothing’s getting settled. My door’s open!”
Season 11 of “That Metal Show” kicks off on Saturday, August 11 and other featured guests include AEROSMITH‘s Joey Kramer and Brad Whitford, IRON MAIDEN‘s Steve Harris, CHICKENFOOT‘s Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony and Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE).
QUEENSRŸCHE members Michael Wilton (guitar), Eddie Jackson (bass), Scott Rockenfield (drums) and Parker Lundgren (guitar) announced on June 20 that they were parting ways with Geoff Tate and recruiting La Torre of CRIMSON GLORY as his replacement.
Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield defeated Tate‘s motion for a preliminary injunction on July 13 that would have kept them from touring and operating under the band name,
Tate and his wife, Susan, QUEENSRŸCHE‘s former manager, filed a lawsuit against Geoff‘s ex-bandmates on June 22 in King County Superior Court over whether he should be awarded the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being dismissed from the group in June. Their complaint states Rockenfield, Wilton and Jackson wrongfully fired the singer and are tarnishing the group’s brand by attempting to move forward without him.
If the case goes to trial, the date is set for November 18, 2013.
In the meantime, Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield, along with Lundgren and La Torre have launched a new web site at QueensrycheOfficial.com.
The new QUEENSRŸCHE lineup made its official live debut as the headliner of the last day of this year’s Halfway Jam, which took place July 26-28 in Royalton, Minnesota.
Lundgren was briefly married to Geoff‘s stepdaughter Miranda; they have since divorced.
Swedish technical death metal band, AEON, is pleased to announce their January tour taking the band through the UK and Ireland. Dyscarnate and Ageless Oblivion will be supporting AEON on the tour that runs from January 16 through the 23, in conjunction with AEON’s upcoming new full-length album due to come out on Metal Blade Records this fall. More info coming soon!
AEON Tour w/ Dyscarnate, Ageless Oblivion
01/16/13 – London, The Garage
01/17/13 – Cardiff, Bogiez
01/18/13 – Limerick, Venue tbc
01/19/13 – Dublin, The Pint
01/20/13 – Belfast, Voodoo
01/21/13 – Liverpool, The Lomax
01/22/13 – Bristol The Croft
01/23/13 – Plymouth, White Rabbit
There continues to be more great news from the Behemoth camp. The band has announced that they will begin rehearsals for their next album in September, following their performances at several European festivals over the next two weeks. Additionally, the band will embark on a tour of Eastern Europe in the fall. More tour dates and news regarding brand new music from Behemoth will be released as it becomes available.
Nergal elaborates on the upcoming tour dates: “This is what I call the perfect ending of a touring cycle. Finally, we are arriving in Eastern European and South American shores this fall. I know it’s been ages…and I know there’ve been legions waiting for us…on behalf of the band I must say though: the wait is over; we are coming back rejuvenated and hungry! See you all very soon!”
BEHEMOTH
08/10 Derbyshire, UK Bloodstock
08/16 Dinkelsbuehl, Germany Summer Breeze
08/17 Slovakia Gothoom Fest
08/19 Theix, France Motocultor
09/23 Moscow, Russia Milk
09/24 St. Petersburg, Russia Kosmonavt
09/26 Ekaterinburg, Russia Tele-Club
09/28 Novosibirsk, Russia Rock City
09/29 Krasnojarsk Havana
09/30 Krasnodar, Russia Arena
10/01 Minsk, Belarus Re:Public
10/02 Kiev, Ukraine Green Theatre
10/12 Circo Volador, Mexico
10/13 Cifco Pabellon, El Salvador
10/14 Costa Rica, Costa Rica
10/16 Caracas, Venezuela
10/18 Santiago, Chile
10/19 Montevideo, Mexico
10/20 Buenos Aires, Argentina
10/21 Sao Paulo, Brazil
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