Metal Shock Finland’s Mike Paradine has conducted an interview with ATTACKER ‘s original member and drummer Mike Sabatini at Sundance studios in Jersey City, New Jersey on, Tuesday, May 6th which can be heard on the Youtube player below:
ATTACKER is a Classic/True Heavy Metal band formed in 1983 in the lovely state of New Jersey, US of A. Attacker is working on their 5th album.
For more info on ATTACKER:
www.facebook.com/pages/Attacker
iGuitar magazine has uploaded a two-minute video overview of BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi‘s new signature amp — the amazing TI100 from Laney. Check it out below.
It’s been four decades since BLACK SABBATH unleashed heavy metal onto an unsuspecting world and became a truly global musical phenomenon.
Back in the day Tony Iommi‘s amp of choice was a Laney L100BL. Since this auspicious day, Laney‘s association with Tony Iommi has gone from strength to strength, resulting in the launch of his first signature model, the GH100TI, originally called the GH100S, almost 20 years ago.
Commented Laney: “We are extremely proud of our association with Tony Iommi and very happy to be able to announce the launch of a new Tony Iommi signature amp — the amazing TI100. The new Tony Iommi TI100 signature amp represents a dramatic leap forward in guitar tone.
“Born out of an exhaustive period of product development, carried out hand in hand with Tony, with Tony bringing unique insight, suggestions and innovations at every stage of the process, whilst continually assessing and refining the sonic character of guitar tone.The result — what we think will be the most significant amp launch of 2012.
“The TI100 features: 100 Watts RMS, 4 x 6L6 output section, twin channels, footswitchable variable pre boost on each channel, three-band EQ, volume, enhance, and presence. The amplifier is finished off with Tony‘s trademark livery and to top it all it even glows an ominous red.
“There are very few chances in life to claim a first. Many people can claim to be the biggest or the fastest but only one person can claim to be the first. In the case of heavy metal: The first heavy metal guitar tone was crafted by Tony Iommi and powered by Laney.”
Tony had this to say about his new amplifier: “Almost 40 years ago I embarked on my musical journey with Laney. My first signature Laney amp, the GH100TI came out almost 20 years ago and it served me faithfully on the biggest stages in the world with BLACK SABBATH as well as recently with HEAVEN & HELL.
“‘I’m always searching for more out of my tone, more flexibility, more dynamics and that’s where my ideas for the new TI100 came from. It took time and dedication to get it right and I’m happy to say I was involved in each step of the amps design, development and testing. The end result is a signature amp that I am extremely proud of and happy to stand in front of anywhere in the world. The TI100 represents everything I’ve ever wanted in an amp, it’s fabulous.”
For more information, visit Laney.co.uk.
Source: Blabbermouth.net
Hello Nick, How are you doing today?
Hi dear Mohsen, thanks
You’ve worked with so many musicians throughout your long and varied career, do you have a favourite time? And why was that time special to you?
Working with Johnny Kidd and the Pirates still remains my favourite memory, probably because he had always been my musical idol, and to join one of England most highly rated bands turned a dream into reality!
You played with Screaming Lord Sutch in the early 1970’s, how was that experience for you, as he was such a flamboyant character, do you have any particular memories? How do you feel the music business has changed over the years?
Working with Sutch was also a dream come true, because his band “The Savages” were for years one of the best. It gave me a chance to play with great musicians such as Freddy Fingers Lee and Carlo Little. David Sutch became a great friend who was always fun to work with, which I did at various times right up until his untimely death. My favourite memory is of seeing him perform for the very first time and marvelling at the power of his band, and the amazing showmanship, which drew capacity crowds for many years. I miss him a lot and he deserves his place in rock history as a pioneering legend who inspired dozens of musicians who went on to greater things!
The changes to the music business since those great days are huge! Today there are only a fraction of the amount of venues left, where bands could play and learn their craft. “The road” as we called it has almost disappeared, resulting in bands appearing either in pubs or stadiums, with nothing inbetween. Some aspects have changed for the better with bands keeping bigger percentages of their income than in the sixties, but in England it is difficult to attract audiences without a proven track record. The majority of bands prefer to work abroad, particularly in Europe where audiences are more enthusiastic for live music.
Even thought it was now so long ago, you incorporate Deep Purple tracks in your sets, do the songs hold a special place in your heart?
The main reason for playing the purple tracks was to present these tunes to new audiences. The majority of the MK1 songs had never been played live since 1969, and of course some of them, particularly the ones that I had a hand in composing, were special to me. It is amazing to see the reaction to these tunes by young and old who come to our shows. The fact that the mk1 albums still sell well proves that they have stood the test of time!
As one of Deep Purple’s founders, how do you feel about the fact that there is only one of the original members left in Deep Purple now? And who do you think was/were the most influential musicians in the whole of the Deep Purple History?
I do feel that the constant changes in the band have diluted not only the music, but the whole ethos of a band that held such promise, but all the musicians are good and still draw the crowds, which is what counts. I am sure that most Deep Purple members have inspired others, but Blackmore will always stand out as a unique talent who pushed guitar playing to greater heights.
Nick Simper, DEEP PURPLE, Santa Monica Beach, November ’68
(photo by Don Lewis Photography)
It is now a long time since the day that you formed Deep Purple, perhaps there are a lot of young rockers who don’t know about the Deep Purple beginning-era. What kind of feed back do you get from them after your shows?
It is very humbling to see so many young rock fans at our shows who probably do not know too much about my history, but seem to identify with the Nasty Habits who are much younger than I am. These fans have great enthusiasm for heavy rock music and show a lot of interest in its roots.
May 17th is Ronnie James Dio’s anniversary, have you met him? And I’d like to know your opinion about him.
I never met Dio, but he certainly was one of the best voices in rock. He had a reputation as a very genuine person who always had time for his fans, so I am sure that I would have liked him.
Let’s talk about the “Live at Szene, VIENNA” album which was released on April 14th, how is it going so far?
The reaction to our DVD has been very positive so far, and I am hoping that it will spread the reputation of Nasty Habits outside Austria into wider territories. Of course these are early days, but we have had some favourable reviews to date.
Nick Simper with Nasty Habits
St. Veit, Austria, September 10th 2011
How do you choose the songs, especially Deep Purple MK1 songs?
I initially picked the songs from the first three albums and included the single release Emmaretta. One or two songs which did not work so well have been rejected. We added “Roadhouse Blues” because I have always wanted to play it, and it has proved to be a real favourite with audiences everywhere.
How was the experience working with NASTY HABITS?
Working with Nasty Habits has been an absolute joy!! They supported my band “The good old boys” several times and we were all very impressed with them. it was drummer Peter Brkusic who first had the idea to put on a show with me, featuring some of my Deep Purple back catalogue. Singer Christian Schmid is also their bassist, so no-one was made redundant to make way for me. They are all extremely good musicians who interpret the songs in their own way, but play in a style which keeps the Purple fans happy. We have had a lot of fun over the last couple of years, they are great people and I am very proud to work with them!
I personally and our audience would like to know what are your next plans?
We will continue to do more gigs, hopefully breaking into new territories. We have slowly begun to introduce our own songs into the show using material already written. We are about to start recording the next album which will be all new songs.
As your final word please feel free to send a message to your fans and our audience.
I would like to send greetings to all the rock fans in Finland and beyond and say Thank you to all the Purple fans who have supported Nasty Habits and myself. The continued interest in MK1 music after so many years is very humbling!
Thank you all and best wishes.
For more info. on Nick Simper and his talent:
Interview by Mohsen Fayyazi
American metallers Lizzy Borden will appear at the following European summer festivals: ‘Gods Of Metal‘, on June 23 ,2012 in Rho, Italy, “Hellfest Summer Open Air“, on June 15, 2012 in Clisson, France (other acts announced for Gods of Metal/Hellfest are: Ozzy & Friends, Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue, Manowar, Slash, The Darkness and many more).
Lizzy Borden is confirmed as the co-headliner at the “Kavarna Rock Fest” at Kaliakra Stadium in Bulgaria on July 15, 2012 and “Headbangers Open Air Germany” (in the city of Brande-Hörnerkirchen, outside Hamburg) on July 26, 2012.
Over the past 4 years Lizzy Borden’s “Appointment with Death Show” produced spectacular performances in 20 countries (from North America, Japan to Europe) to rave reviews, magazines such as, Sweden Rock Magazine and Metal Hammer declared Lizzy Borden ‘the hit of the festivals’, ‘comparing their show to a Kiss concert’.
June 15: Clisson, France – Hellfest Open Air Festival
June 23: Rho (Milan), Italy – Gods of Metal Open Air Festival
July 15: Kavarna, Bulgaria – Kavarna Rock Festival
July 26 – Brande-Hörnerkirchen (outside Hamburg) Germany Headbangers Open Air
Hello how are you doing today? How is it going?
Hey Mohsen! I’m doing well. Hope you’re doing great!
To begin with, tell us about the Metal scene in the Middle East, especially about your country, what’s the situation for Metalheads there?
Some countries have pretty good scenes with many metal fans and others are totally the opposite. It really depends. Overall, most countries in the Middle East have die-hard metal fans regardless of how big or small their scenes are which is phenomenal in my opinion. Most metal scenes in this part of the world are still underground and less mainstream for reasons that are related to the rules of that specific country. Regardless this doesn’t stop the fans from listening to metal really!
Dubai is a touristic and commercial city that supports all forms of arts, music, and entertainment for years, therefore the metal scene is good compared to other places. Dubai creates a good environment for bands to play gigs freely regardless of genre. Most of the bands in Dubai are foreigners living in the city either studying or working. Bands fluctuate every year as not so many bands stay active for long periods of time. That’s due to the fact that some of the member(s) return to their home countries once they’re done studying or working. Another aspect that helped the scene grow bigger in the past few years is the Dubai Desert Rock Festival which started in 2004. This festival played a huge role in popularizing metal in Dubai and the Middle East as a whole, bringing international bands for the first time in the region such as Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Sepultura, Machine Head and many more. For the past 3 years, smaller promoters are holding metal events at bars and clubs around Dubai giving the chance for bands to perform easily and more often which definitely helps sustain the scene along with the active bands of course. Nervecell is one of the few metal bands, if not the only metal band that is still active for the past 12 years.
How do you see the future of Metal music in the Middle East and your country?
In the Middle East it’s definitely growing and it’s very positive. More and more people are listening to metal, newer bands are forming – some who are really good and very active as well. In Dubai, it’s been good lately but I feel there’s a lack of metal bands in general. The metal scene in specific is not as big as it used to be 4-5 years ago. Overall it’s stable and I hope it grows back to how it used to be before.
NERVECELL Opening for METALLICA at Yas Arena, Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates
Would you tell us more about Nervecell, what is the story of forming the band?
The band started in Dubai in early 2000. James and I met Barney in 2001 at the university where James and I studied. We became really good friends, sharing the same musical interests and influences. We started writing original material and recorded our first demo in 2003 entitled “Vastlands Of Abomination”. Throughout the years we became very active in the local music scene playing underground gigs at universities, colleges and other places around Dubai and the capital Abu Dhabi – at that time we couldn’t perform at clubs because we were young haha! We had a pretty good fanbase at that time with high demand to release more music we decided to record a 5-track EP in 2004 entitled “Human Chaos” which caught alot of attention from the international metal scene. The last 3-4 years we fully focused on touring, later on we got signed with Lifeforce & Spellbind Records releasing 2 albums – “Preaching Venom” in 2009 and “Psychogenocide” in 2011. We’ve been touring none stop ever since in Europe, India, Far East Asia with 4 European tours supporting Suffocation, Deicide, Morbid Angel as well 2 full festival tours appearing at major European festivals as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Rock im Park/ Rock am Ring, Summer Breeze, Brutal Assault and more! We got the chance to open for Metallica in the UAE last year as well!
Can you tell our audience about your influences and what genre of Metal you like to play more? Are there any Middle Eastern bands or musicians that impressed you?
I grew up listening to thrash metal, death metal and progressive metal. Mostly late 80’s early 90’s bands. All of us in Nervecell have the same “favorite bands” more or less sharing the same influences. To name some of our main influential bands; Slayer, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Pantera, Sepultura, Testament, Machine Head and many others. Nervecell’s sound is a mix of old school death metal and modern thrash metal. We have a Middle-Eastern touch in our music which is pretty natural really since we are Middle Easterners and it’s “in the blood” haha! In the past years some really good bands formed in different countries like Egypt, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia not necessarily signed to labels but some of them are making good music and working hard which is great.
Let’s talk about your newest album, “PSYCHOGENOCIDE”, what reaction did you get from so far from critics and your fans?
The fans loved it! As we always interact with our fans, we’ve been hearing nothing but great feedback! The media and press have been giving us positive reviews ever since the release and the album got picked up as “Death metal album of the year” in a bunch of publications which is awesome! It’s really good to know the fans and press ranked “Psychogenocide” along other great death metal bands’ records for 2011…that was astonishing!
Can you tell us more about this album such as what you wanted to say in this album and about the recording process?
The concept of the album comes from the ideology behind “mind control” and “propaganda” towards that the human race, which everyone has been living through for centuries. In our modern day lives we know that lots of the control comes from the media, mediums and other surroundings that are unfortunately leading to human enslavement from those who are more powerful and in control. “Psychogenocide” is formulated from the words “Psycho” and “Genocide” which technically means “the total destruction of the human mind” explaining all the mind control methods that have been used against humanity…the weapons of psychological warfare that we see every day and the fact that there is no way out from it really other than opening our minds onto what really goes on in the world and knowing the truth rather than following what has been fed to us. The recording process has been really smooth. We started tracking the drums which was done in Australia by David Haley (Psycroptic). We tracked the guitars, bass, vocals and everything else in Dubai and Qatar. I handled the engineering/recording process which was somehow a big responsibility yet a lot of fun! It wasn’t really my first time as I’ve co-produced our previous releases along other engineers. There was some pressure as you can image the writing process, recording and everything in between was basically less sleep for me haha! It was really an awesome experience nevertheless as I have learnt a lot in the process. Barney and I worked really hard on the writing process and arranged everything in a mannered schedule in order to move fast with the tracking and it really went well. Hertz Studios in Poland mixed and mastered the album. We worked together on our last album “Preaching Venom” and they did a great job.
Nervecell was awarded the “All Time Best Selling Metal Band” and “Top 3 Best Selling UAE Artist”awards, how do you feel about this?
It’s really great! Especially in the Middle East, playing metal and receiving such an acknowledgment is amazing. It’s very astonishing to be the most selling band in metal out of the international metal bands sold in the UAE, and this is shows the massive support we got from our fans. This proves that metal music is well and alive here in the Middle East!
What’s Nervecell’s plans for the near future, especially about this summer and how do you see your band in the next 10 years?
This summer we’re touring the Middle East. The tour is entitled “Psychogenocide Middle East Tour 2012”. We decided we wanna give our fans in our region a special treat putting a special tour together for them. Many fans don’t get the chance to see us live elsewhere so it’s time to come back to countries we’ve not played in a while and some new ones too! Can’t name any dates yet as we’re soon to confirm the full tour and we’ll have an official announcement. So no European festivals for us this summer and we’re spending it in the hot summer of the Middle East totally gonna be worth it haha!
In 10 years our goal is to continue putting out new music, new albums, tour countries and regions we’ve never been to yet. We’re very fortunate that we have travelled and toured Europe, Australia, Turkey, Middle East India, Sri Lanka, Philippines and many others, but we really want to tour North America, South America, Far East Asia, Japan and many other countries, hopefully in the next years to come.
You toured the UK and Europe with Morbid Angel, how was that experience and if you want to come back again to Europe for playing your gigs, which countries would you like to visit first?
Touring with Morbid Angel was a great honor. All of us in Nervecell are huge Morbid fans and they are one of our main influences musically. It was a real fun tour overall. We’ve toured Europe several times before and this is definitely a very special tour for us. All the shows have been really good. The fans were super supportive and it’s awesome to see our fans and friends coming back to the shows hang out, party and have a good time. Our friends from Benighted were on the same lineup. Kevin, their drummer was sessioning for us on this tour so he played for 2 bands everynight –BRUTAL! Haha! We shared the same tour bus with those dudes and it was endless fun! We’ve played some new cities which was cool! Playing Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland has been always a great time for Nervecell!
Playing as the opening act for Metallica, touring the UK and Europe with MORBID ANGEL and working with Karl Sanders from Nile on your newest video – all these mean that Nervecell is a successful band, so what do you feel is the main factor of your success as a Middle Eastern Metal band?
When we started we had a vision for what we wanted to do, but we had no expectations of how big it will all become. Since day one we simply wanted to write music, perform live and have a good time. Till this day we still have the same drive and dedication to our vision. Metal music needs passion and dedication to the music itself and with hard work combined things do start to grow gradually. It took us a good decade releasing EP’s, albums, touring and supporting ourselves with all DIY until we got signed, managed and with people coming in helping us with our business we still think the same way, because at the end of the day we want to enjoy what we do. So far getting the chance to tour many countries with our favorite bands as Morbid Angel, and previously with bands such as Suffocation, Deicide and work with Karl Sanders featuring him as a guest vocalist in our last album have been great! With our recent opening for Metallica – is as cliché as it may sound a dream come true! I think our experiences can only make us learn more and keep us building and shaping up our career.
How were those experiences, playing as the opening act for METALLICA in Dubai and working with Karl Sanders in your newest video?
I actually bought a ticket for the Metallica concert myself in order to go watch them in Abu Dhabi (capital of UAE) the same day they announced the concert. I had no idea or expected that we will be asked to open for Metallica. A few days later we got contacted by the concert organizers asking us to open! To get the opportunity to see Metallica live for the first time and open for them is just crazy! We played probably to the biggest crowd at that show for around 30,000 people. I gotta admit I was nervous minutes before we started when I sneaked out and saw the crowd! Our intro track kicked in and everybody went insane! I was blown away to see our home crowd having a great time. The show went perfect. We had a small chat with Metallica minutes before they went on stage as well which was cool. Really cool guys!
We’re all big fans of Nile in the band so we approached Karl Sanders to feature him in the song “Shunq” adding his vocals. The song has majority of its lyrics written in Arabic which James does and the English parts by Karl. Karl’s style and voice fits the song perfectly and it turned out brutal as hell! He tracked his vocals in the US and sent it to us. He came down for our album launch in Dubai, and we filmed the video for the same song with him, which was in the desert of a city called Al-Ain. Karl is such an awesome musician and a great guy to work with.
Apart from music, what do you do in your normal life?
We are all fully dedicated to the band. Therefore it’s our first priority and full time job. We also do some work on the side whenever we are off the road. I run a business (Shredder’s Planet Musical Instruments), Barney works in a record label and James does freelance jobs. We are all university graduates as well.
As your final words, feel free to send a message to your fans here on Metal Shock Finland.
Thank you very much for having me and for your great support Mohsen and Metal Shock Finland team! Thanks to all the readers who (hopefully) enjoyed this interview! Nervecell have not been to Finland yet, but we heard a lot of great things about your country and we will definitely come there for a show hopefully in the near future!
Keep it metal! Thanks for your support!
For more details on Nervecell:
Interview by Mohsen Fayyazi
Century Media Records has announced that metallers HEAVEN SHALL BURN have confirmed an impressive number of festivals this summer. This year they are playing several high profile festivals that are also embracing other and more commercial kinds of music, so our fellow metal machine will probably be the heaviest band on most of the underneath – and they are already looking forward to kicking some butts.
HEAVEN SHALL BURN
14.06.2012 (D) Karlsruhe – Substage
15.06.2012 (F) Clisson – Hellfest
16.06.2012 (CH) Interlaken – Greenfield Festival
29.06.2012 (RO) Bucharest – Greenfest
30.06.2012 (D) Roitzschjora – With Full Force Festival
04.07.2012 (TR) Istanbul – Rock The City Festival
07.07.2012 (BG) Sofia – Rock Festival
14.07.2012 (B) Dour – Dour Festival
20.07.2012 (D) Stuckenbrock – Serengeti Festival
21.07.2012 (D) Cuxhafen/Nordholz – Deichbrand Festival
03.08.2012 (AT) Lustenau – Szene Open Air
09.08.2012 (CZ) Josefov – Brutal Assault
10.08.2012 (D) Eschwege – Open Flair
11.08.2012 (D) Püttlingen – Rocco del Schlacco
12.08.2012 (D) Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Taubertal Festival
17.08.2012 (D) Borkenberge – Area 4 Festival
31.08.2012 (D) Augsburg – Kantine
01.09.2012 (AT) Wiesen – 2 Days A Week Festival
HEAVEN SHALL BURN online:
http://www.heavenshallburn.com
http://www.facebook.com/officialheavenshallburn
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 