On July 27, Zach Shaw of Metal Insider conducted an interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Rob Caggiano at the Camden, New Jersey stop of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Metal Insider: I know that you guys have been recording an EP of covers.
Caggiano: No, it’s not an EP. Basically, we have a bunch of different cover tunes that are all at different states of completion at this point. We did a BLACK SABBATH song, “Neon Knights”, for the [Ronnie James] Dio tribute album. That’s completely done and that’s coming out soon. The other tunes, actually Scott [Ian, guitar] and I were just talking about doing some recording on the bus before this tour is over.
Metal Insider: So it’s not even completed?
Caggiano: Well, the Dio song is, but the other songs aren’t. Joey [Belladonna, vocals] still hasn’t sang them, I have to do the leads and stuff, Scott has to play some guitar. We’re going to finish them some point very soon, but I think there’s going to be a re-release of the album [“Worship Music”], some bonus tracks. They’re going to be used for different things. But the whole EP rumor, I’m not really sure where that came from. [laughs]
Metal Insider: How did you guys come about choosing the songs to cover? Did have a say in what you guys recorded?
Caggiano: Yeah, it’s really just about having fun with the cover tunes. Basically, it’s tunes that we all love and connect with and stuff that inspired us over the years, and that’s pretty much the basis for it when we pick the tunes.
Metal Insider: Is there one song that you kind of wish the band covered but that maybe got outvoted on?
Caggiano: There’s a tune that we recorded that’s actually pretty much done, but it’s not going to get finished because I don’t think Joey [Belladonna, vocals] wants to sing it. [laughs]
Metal Insider: Which one was that?
Caggiano: It’s AC/DC, “Whole Lotta Rosie”. It’s one of my favorite tunes.
Metal Insider: Really? That would have been a lot of fun to hear!
Caggiano: Well, we ended up doing a lot of different ones. We ended up doing “TNT” as well. So, he did the vocals on that and came out awesome.
Canadian melodic death metallers KÄLTER have inked a deal with Maple Metal Records of Toronto, Canada, for the re-release of their 2010 album “Spiritual Angel”. Due in late August, the CD was recorded at Badass Studio (NEURAXIS, AUGURY, BLACKGUARD, UNEXPECT) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and was produced by Jeff Fortin and KÄLTER.
KÄLTER, a quintet hailing from Quebec City, Canada, initially released “Spiritual Angel” indepedently in 2010 to critical acclaim, but with very limited distribution.
KÄLTER has shared the stage with such bands as KATAKLYSM, NECRONOMICON, CATAMENIA, BLACKGUARD and NORTHER.
KÄLTER most recently performed at last year’s Trois-Rivières Metalfest alongside ANNIHILATOR, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, NAPALM DEATH, ATHEIST, CRYPTOPSY and CARNIFEX, among others.
“Spiritual Angel” track listing:
01. Darker By The Day
02. Time Out Of Mind (featuring Leïlindel From UNEXPECT)
03. Of Tears and Blood
04. Ashes
05. From Now To Eternity
06. Requiem
07. For The Last Time
08. Spiritual Angel
British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN this week landed at position No. 3 on Billboard.com‘s “Hot Tours” list of top-grossing tours this week with $4.8 million in ticket sales from seven performances on their 2012 tour through North America. The 34-date “Maiden England” trek is based on the band’s “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son Tour”, with a setlist almost exclusively from the 1980s featuring all the classic songs and hits. The same spectacular stage set as was used on the original 1988 tour has been recreated, complete with a magnificent light show, pyro and a newly reincarnated Eddie.
Asked by AZCentral.com what inspired the “history of MAIDEN” series of tours, MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain said, “The primary reason is there were these new generations of fans. We thought, ‘These kids weren’t even thought about when we went out with this particular tour and that particular tour.’ And that’s how it all started. So it works out well for us. When you’re doing a brand-new record, you’ve got to see how the sales go on that, you’ve got to go on tour and promote it, which we’ve always done a great job of in the past. But it’s nice to not have to take that side of the industry with you every time you go out on tour.”
Regarding whether re-creating what he did in 1988 stirred memories of that time in IRON MAIDEN‘s history for him, Nicko said, “I think if you ask everybody, we kind of just know we were there but we don’t remember a bloody thing about it. [laughs] But going to these places we played in that period of our lives, you sometimes get these memories jogged. It’s like when you sit around a table with your childhood mates, and somebody will say one little thing and it just conjures up this memory. For me, I find it more so when I’m actually playing a song at a particular venue. I might be halfway through a song, and I’ll go, ‘I remember what I did after the gig that night. This is where I took my wife out and whatever happened.’ Well, she wouldn’t have been my wife then. [laughs, and then in a much louder voice] It might have been someone else’s. [laughs]”
McBrain, who joined IRON MAIDEN in 1982 as the replacement for drummer Clive Burr, tells AZCentral.com that he still think very highly of the “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” album, especially now that he has had to re-learn all the material from it. “It’s a masterpiece,” he said. “What I tended to do was listen to the ‘Maiden England’ video. And I’d go, ‘Gosh, I can’t believe we played that song that fast.’ So what we’ve done is — we still have a lot of energy, but as a player, I’ve realized that we couldn’t play these songs at that speed today and make it work. We were younger, and it was a lot more crazy. We’re a bit more refined with where we go with the tempos now. There are still nights where I get a bit quick, and me and Steve [Harris, bass] get going together and the rest of the band moan and groan at us because we think we’re young kids again up there. [laughs] But it was really nice listening back to the old stuff because I rarely revisit the older MAIDEN material when I’m listening in my car to music.”
Peter Lizano of MusicTourReviews.com recently conducted an interview with drummer Jeremy Spencer of Las Vegas metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH. You can now watch the chat below.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitaristJason Hook told Loudwire in a new interview that FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH would ideally like to have a new album out every 18 months. To make that happen, they tentatively plan to get into the studio in January 2013. But will they have material ready? Hook told The Pulse Of Radio what they’ve done to make sure they keep coming up with new music. “Last year, we put together a portable studio set-up, if you will,” he explained. “The idea behind that is just to keep the creative muscle worked out. It’s kind of like going to the gym — if you stop for a year, you lose all your strength, and we just want to keep that muscle tight. We’re in the business of making music. Touring is great, but we should always be prepared and always be exercising the creative muscle.”
Hook says that the group has six to eight new songs in various stages of preparation.
The next record will follow up FIVE FINGER‘s third effort, “American Capitalist”, which only just came out last October.
The latest single from “American Capitalist” is called “Coming Down”.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is currently headlining the Trespass America tour, which also features KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, POP EVIL and others.
Peter Hodgson of SeymourDuncan.com recently conducted an interview with former DIO and current DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
SeymourDuncan.com: So DEF LEPPARD is re-recording more old material. Why?
Vivian: It’s a long and complicated story as to why we’ve decided to re-record, but basically it involves our not being able to come to a financial agreement with our former record company as regards digital releases. We are continuing to re-record the biggest hits of the band’s catalogue as, frankly, we see no signs that the label will come to an acceptable arrangement with us anytime soon and in the meantime we wish our music to be available to those who want to buy it in a digital format. Personally, I think they’re pretty impressive versions! As we now live in an à la carte world when it comes to music purchases, we’re concentrating on the most popular songs first. We have no plans to re-record entire albums at this stage.
SeymourDuncan.com: What’s it like for you to revisit the DIO material [with your new band featuring original DIO members Vinny Appice (drums), Jimmy Bain (bass) and Claude Schnell (keyboards) along with singer Andy Freeman]? The crowd seemed to go insane when you played “Rainbow In The Dark” with STEEL PANTHER recently!
Vivian: I’m very excited about revisiting the DIO songs again, as are the other guys from the original band. It’s been a long time since I was able to address that time in my life as there were a lot of bad memories that went along with all the great music. However, now I can focus on the positive again and I feel it’s time to revisit the songs I wrote and the way that I played guitar back then. They were great records and we were all very much a part of making them.
SeymourDuncan.com: What do you think of the [DEF LEPPARD] album “Slang” these days? It seems to have held up very well and not dated like a lot of other bands’ albums from that time have.
Vivian: I always had mixed feelings about “Slang”, even while we were recording it. I do very, very much like the sonics of it, as we used real drums for the first time in many years and the guitar sounds are also much less processed and more direct. However, the issue I always had with the record was that I personally don’t believe that we did ourselves justice in terms of the songwriting — I feel we could’ve fine-tuned them a lot more and that we were pandering too much to the then current trends in music. To me, DEF LEPPARD was always synonymous with well-crafted songs and big choruses and harmonies, and whilst there was an obvious shift in musical tastes going on at the time, I still felt that we could have remained more true to the principles that had shaped the band’s success.
WATT WHITE is a multi-talented Composer, Singer, Songwriter, Performer and Producer based in New York City. As leader of NYC Punk-Metal band The SmashUp, he toured the US, Canada and UK with Megadeth, Deftones, and the full Vans Warped Tour, logging 30,000 road miles and earning fans nationwide… While on the road Watt recorded a comedy EP featuring the internet hit “Take Off Your T-Shirt If You Can’t Name A Song By The Band That’s On It”, which has earned a combined 200,000 plays on YouTube and FunnyOrDie–and counting. …and if you want to know more about of this guy, please go on reading…
1. Hi Watt, i’m Tarja. Welcome to MSFinland. What was your first thought this morning?
Get a haircut! And also FREE RANDY BLYTHE! I achieved one of those.
2. Listen, before we go forward, i just have to ask you this: my sources tell that you’ve won a donut eating competition… so why won’t you share this experience with us? lol
It is true, albeit a very amateur one. I think 16 was the winning number. My advice: stay with glazed products—the cinnamon twist was hard to get through.
3. Before we’ll go to your other musical credits, lets talk about your videos… especially your Metal Puppet videos, they’re really awesome, and they get right into the point without asking permission… what was the moment in your life that you noticed this artistical talent in you?
I was on tour and getting antsy…I was learning ProTools and decided to do a comedy album. Not knowing how to edit video I figured a one-take would make post production easy. It however made pre-production a nightmare!
4. Your latest video, THE BATTLE AT IKEA, how did you get the idea for it? I mean was it your own experience getting lost at Ikea? lol
The sheer adultness of it all had to be hijacked. The epic scale, and most of all—the Scandinavian product line names. Those look so exotic and metal to an American.
5. The video has been re-posted on both hardcore metal sites and the official world IKEA fan site. So, in generally these your “victims” have reacted well? or have you ever get any negative feedback?
The IKEA fan site president loved it and wrote me about it right away, she was totally on board. And for the record I don’t really have anything against IKEA. I just envision it as a metal bloodbath.
6. Now more generally, how many working hours it takes before a video is ready for the release? Tell us about the process… and What comes first? the song or the idea for the video?
I start with concept—sometimes epic, often minute—then write a song. I record the song first, then begin collecting images to arrange and alter. I then block out the “scenes”, figuring how much I can cram on to the screen. Next is puppet and backdrop construction, followed by the actual shoot. The whole process takes exactly an ass-load of time.
7. You told me some time ago that in these coming months we can wait “more emotion, more murder, more fluids” than ever before seen in a One-Take Comedy Paper Doll Cut-Out Rock Music Video. Anything you’d like to reveal about what’s to come?
Sure… I’m shooting for the next batch to be about 6 new videos to hopefully be shot in September. Victims may include: Fashion blogging, One Direction, Flatulence…but don’t quote me on that please. Please erase that.
8. In 2006, when you were the vocalist and leader of NYC Punk-metal band The SmashUp, you toured alongside Megadeth and Lamb of God… what are your best memories of those years?
Getting out of NYC where we played for our friends night after night and meeting the kids—the 15 year olds who stand right in your face and absorb, doing whatever you command. They ruled. The van tours across the US and Canada were a slog, you really feel every mile when you do all the driving. Warped Tour was like going to war. Megadeth was great—Dave was a genuine sweetheart who really cares about his fans. Lamb Of God were excellent guys and I hope Randy gets out soon, what a nightmare.
9. While on the road you recorded a comedy EP featuring the internet hit “Take Off Your T-Shirt If You Can’t Name A Song By The Band That’s On It”, what do you have to tell about it?
That song has resonated with more people than anything else I’ve created so far—young people, older people, everyone feels a connection to the concept. I have revised my stance however—I’d rather see an ignorant teen wearing a Slayer shirt than a Ke$ha one. I plan to post a “re-mastered” version, as the original is grainy. Youtube technology has improved a lot in 6 years.
10. Do you see that through your videos you are able to influence better the common opinions, or what message you want to transfer to your listeners?
I want to inspire by imbuing stupid nonsense with artistic merit. Also by beheading dolls.
11. You’re also the award-winning songwriter and producer, you’ve written over 1,000 songs spanning genres from Metal to Country. How you switch the songwriting-mood between all these genres? and which is your favorite?
Country is great to write because you don’t have to be cool with lyrics—it’s very humble and honest. Metal is great because it’s a fantasy. Hate writing pop lyrics. I like diving into a genre I don’t know—like jazz—and discovering I know more than I thought. Gotta have big ears.
12. You as a composer… your works can be seen in numerous National and International television spots, network promos, short films and radio campaigns. Your music has been heard in campaigns for products including Subway, Ford, Dr. Pepper, McDonald’s, Jeep, just to mention a few of them… to work for a product-campaign, do you have the “artistic freedom” or do you have to follow the product-chain’s strict guidelines?And from where you take the inspirations?
We often write to very strict guidelines, but occasionally—like this Subway song I wrote—I had total freedom and wound up writing not only a song but a slogan as well. Not bad work if you can get it. I realized a long time ago that getting paid to be a musician is always killer—especially when you consider the alternatives.
13. As a vocalist you have appeared on stages from Dallas, PA to Kyoto, performing and recording in a dizzying array of styles from Death Metal to Barbershop… and you’ve lent your voice to countless national & international TV and radio campaigns… what can you tell us about this experience?
Keeping your voice in shape over the course of a tour is very hard—your instrument is part of your body. Much easier to, say play bass with a hangover, cold or both. Never telegraph to the crowd when you fuck up. Be confident, especially when you suck! They’ll never notice.
14. Do you still have dreams that you would like to come true? in other words, where would you like to see yourself in 7 years from now?
I want to be the World Metal Puppet Master
15. What else do you do? i mean, when you want to relax or just being out of the public scenes, what do you normally do?
I have run at least one mile every day since 2/21/94. I am obsessed with golf and pizza.
16. If you should choose, what is/are the absolute highlights in your carreer, so far? Maybe something i didn’t ask you yet…
Just making a good living as a musician 7 years and counting is an achievement. Telling 10,000 kids to “make some fucking noise” and having them comply was great. Having 80 kids turn up to see us in Calgary and watching them mouth words I wrote was amazing.
17. Thanks Watt for this interesting chat! And now the word is yours, how would you like to close this interview?
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
8. In 2006, when you were the vocalist and leader of NYC Punk-metal band The SmashUp, you toured alongside Megadeth and Lamb of God… what are your best memories of those years?
13. As a vocalist you have appeared on stages from Dallas, PA to Kyoto, performing and recording in a dizzying array of styles from Death Metal to Barbershop… and you’ve lent your voice to countless national & international TV and radio campaigns… what can you tell us about this experience?
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 