Canada’s The Metal Voicerecently spoke to Wendy Dio about the new Ronnie James Dio Book‘ ‘Rainbow in the Dark’, the upcoming Dio Documentary and refuted claims made by former Dio Guitarist Vivian Campbell in regards his financial compensation when in the band.
When asked about the writing of the Autobiography “Ronnie wrote up to about almost the end of Rainbow (the band). Then when he was sick he scribbled a lot of notes and then Mick Walls who was a journalist and good friend of ours and who knew Ronnie for a long time said, common Wendy let’s get the book out. And I said I would really like to continue it in Ronnie’s words. So what we did is we took all the scribbled notes that Ronnie had left and then we went back into the archives and found press clippings of what Ronnie said at that particular time and we kind of all put it together that way. Then I added a few things I remembered that were going on at that time as well.”
When asked what was the biggest misconception of Ronnie James Dio “I know Vivian Campbell said he was cheap. Ronnie was never cheap with anyone or anything, ever, ever, ever. So I don’t know how many people believe those things. I normally don’t do those things but I wanted to put in the book about how much was earned because of the fact that I am sick to death of hearing that Ronnie was cheap and paid him 100 dollars a week (Vivian). How did he buy a Ferrari at 100 dollars a week? How does Vinny Appice and Jimmy Bain buy a house at 100 dollars a week.? And (today) that is something Ronnie can’t defend himself with.”
When asked about Vivian Campbell’s Claim that he was paid less than the road crew at the time ” I will explain that, so they were on retainer (the band) so that means they got paid whether they worked or not. We may do a 6 week tour and the sound man probably got $2000 a week (only for 6 weeks) and he (Vivian Campbell) got $1700 (whether they worked or not). “
When asked about seeing the first cut on the upcoming Dio Documentary “I did, I did, it was amazing, they did a great job I cried my eyes out. We were all crying. It was very emotional. We moved a few things around, added a few things. It was done really well. Mick Walls is excellent in it, him and Eddie Trunk are excellent. They are both going back and forth. They did an excellent job. Lita Ford does a great job, Rob Halford does an amazing job, Glenn Hughes…It’s different from the book, totally different from the book. So interesting and so touching .”
Dio’s long-awaited autobiography, titled “Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography”, was released on July 27 via Permuted Press. It was written with longtime friend of 30 years and esteemed music writer Mick Wall, who took up the mantle after Ronnie’s passing.
Ronnie James Dio passed away of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 at the age of 67.
Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke with DORO PESCH of Warlock about her upcoming Live album Triumph And Agony Live which will be released on 24 September 2021 via Rare Diamonds
During the interview Doro Spoke about the new live album, showed the metal guys the Bullet she was given with Lemmy of Motorhead’s ashes, a three metal queen tour with Lee Aaron, Lita Ford and herself and talked about the upcoming studio album she is working on in the new year 2022.
In regards to the new alive album “We played Sweden Rock and it was the first time we performed the Triumph and Agony in it’s entirety and the first time was the most magical one. On the Live Cd it is a also mixture of Sweden and Spain. There is also a Blu Ray that comes with it of our performance at Sweden Rock and also a nice documentary which is about 90 minutes long. I think it’s very cool even especially for die hard fans. I even put some bootlegs in it like some snippets with our tour with Megadeth in 1988 as well as other videos too.”
When asked about the Lemmy ashes she was sent “There was a beautiful letter that was came with this package, I was so blown away. His ashes is in a bullet and it says Lemmy. I loved him so much.”
Touring with Lee Arron and Lita Ford as the Three Metal Queens tour “Yes I am interested in that it would be awesome. I recently did something nice with Lita Ford in the Studio and it will be on her upcoming record eventually
DORO Pesch of Warlock will celebrate the 35th anniversary of her hit album Triumph And Agony with the release of the spectacular live album Triumph And Agony Live.
Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to lead singer of Sabaton Joakim Brodén about the upcoming tour opening for Judas Priest and their new upcoming studio album plus a whole lot more.
When asked about their upcoming Tour with Judas Priest and how it came about “I don’t know exactly how but we played with Priest the first time in 2010 in Berlin. We have run into each other at festivals and it’s all about timing. When we were kids one of our first favorite band was Judas Priest. Obviously we wanted to tour with them even before they knew we existed. It was supposed to be last year but finally we managed to get the timing right with album releases and when we were able to tour. I am really really looking forward to it. Doubly so since we have not been touring much lately and also to be touring with one of our favorite bands of all time, can’t be better huh?”
When asked about the upcoming new Sabaton studio album “It’s a Sabaton Album, we have been an evolutionary band not a revolutionary band. There is always surprises on a Sabaton album but we are never going to flip the coin and do something totally different on every song on a new album. There is going to be surprises on every album. I am actually listening and approving the master for the new album right now. A new album is always subjective and I think it’s pathetic when an artist says, this is our best album we ever made and they keep promoting the same tired line. I say it’s up to the listen to decide. But I know for a fact that everybody in the band, without even sitting in the same room together cause I shipped out the pre mixes to everyone and this is the only time in our history that everybody came back with F*** that sounds great! Everybody is super happy with the production. We were always happy before but maybe this maybe that but now wow we are really happy with the sound. I can’t reveal the exact topic but we are doing modern warfare 20th century.”
Will the songs that you released during the pandemic be on the new album “No they are totally separate from the new album. Those are not on the album we have a complete album, plus those tracks plus a bit more.”
Aug 14 2021 post on Sabaton’s Social media Announcing new album: THE WAR TO END ALL WARS!
JUDAS PRIEST chose Sabaton as main support on their “50 Heavy Metal Years” tour of North America, scheduled for September and October 2021. The group will kick off 2022 with an unprecedented 29-city tour of their home country.
For The Metal Voice Kenny Kessel sat down and spoke to Former singer of METAL CHURCH Ronny Munroe about his new album/project that is coming out self titled ‘Between Worlds’ on Sept 10 2021 Via Frontiers Music Srl as well as his great memories of Metal Church’s late singer Mike Howe.
On the topic of the passing of Mike Howe he told The Metal Voice,” What a tragedy. Quick story: I met Mike and hung out with him one time, I think it was in 2006. He came out to Reno, Nevada and we shared the stage and we did the song ‘ Date with poverty’ together. After the gig ,we all went to a club, had some drinks, sat and talked shop. He was a sweetheart. I never heard anyone say anything bad about the guy. What a tragic loss. You never know what is going on with people, I feel really bad, I know he has a couple of sons and that is devastating. I wish family the best and I send my condolences out to all of Mike’s family, friends and fans.”
The band ‘Between Worlds’ is a vehicle for vocalist Ronny Munroe (ex-Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Metal Church) and highlights his incredible vocal talents. Written and produced in partnership with Alessandro Del Vecchio, this album is a must hear for fans of classic American heavy/power metal we all went to a club, had some drinks, sat and talked shop. He was a sweetheart. I never heard anyone say anything bad about the guy. What a tragic loss. You never know what is going on with people, I feel really bad. I know he has a couple of sons and that is devastating. I wish his family the best and I send my condolences out to all of Mike’s family, friends and fans.
Ronny and Alessandro wanted to involve people in the project that would resonate with Ronny’s history in music and put their mark on this incredible set of songs, so Johnny Lee Middleton (Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Chris Caffery (TSO, Savatage, Spirits Of Fire), Jack Frost (Seven Witches, Savatage), and Joel Hoekstra (also of Whitesnake) all contributed.
Ronny Munroe first came to prominence in the metal world when he stepped into the role of frontman for the legendary band Metal Church. During an audition for a project principal Metal Church member Kurdt Vanderhoof was working on, Ronny was first put on Kurdt’s radar. After watching Munroe’s performance, Vanderhoof decided to resurrect Metal Church with Ronnie on lead vocals. He would go on to sing four albums with the band, “The Weight Of The World” (2004), “A Light In The Dark” (2006), “This Present Wasteland” (2008), and “Generation Nothing” (2013). Ronnie would also wind up singing for Vanderhoof’s progressive rock project, Presto Ballet, further showcasing his vocal talents.
Album Tracklist: 1. Between Worlds 2. These Walls 3. Life Enough For Me 4. Times Of Change 5. No Escape 6. Soul Chaser 7. Scent Of An Angel 8. Beautiful Disaster 9. Flip The Script 10. Beneath The Surface 11. Calm Before The Storm
LINE-UP: Ronny Munroe – Vocals Alessandro Del Vecchio – Keyboards, Backing Vocals Pete Alpenborg – Rhythm Guitars Jack Frost – Lead Guitars Alex Jansen – Bass Michele Sanna – Drums John Lee Middleton – Bass On “No Escape” Joel Hoekstra – Lead Guitar On “Soul Chaser” Chris Caffery – Lead Guitars On “Angel” And “No Escape”
Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voicespoke to solo artist and lead singer of Twisted Sister Dee Snider who spoke about his new upcoming solo album Leave a scar, Twisted Sister Royalties and appearing on Family Feud.
When asked about the writing process of the new solo album “So you get the idea to do a record, you are feeling some inspiration and then you start working on the album. So you are writing and everyone goes this is awesome, this is coming out amazing, this is incredible. Then somewhere along the way it changes to a question. Is this awesome? Is this amazing? Is it incredible? All self doubt starts feeding and it’s the creative process and you can’t help it. When you are working in a studio especially now because of Covid you are not getting any outside input. So finally people are hearing it and the response has been really good so far. “
When asked about the upcoming live stream “There will be a live stream event on July 29 is going to be amazing. I haven’t done a show in almost two years and we are doing it. Everybody is tested or vaccinated. We are doing it full blown shoulder to shoulder, it’s a small venue with about 1000 people but it’s going to be amazing to let the animals out of the cages for one night. There will be a lot of new music from my new album, stuff from my solo career and there will be some Twister Sister songs there as well.”
When asked what was it like to appear on Family Feud with his family recently “We were dealing with the Covid protocols, even the audience was socially distanced. Steve Harvey (the host) you can see was missing that rapport you get from a packed house and people are less likely to laugh alone when socially distanced. The biggest thing for us when I looked up to see who else had been on the show, they never had a rock family, let alone a Heavy Metal family on the family feud. So I felt a sudden responsibility and my family and I spoke about it, so we said let’s not go out there and be clowns, even though it’s fun to goof around. They don’t expect you to come in there and kick ass on the game and win $25,000 for the coalition for the homeless. So we had a little talk backstage and said let’s represent our community, like I did when I went to Washington. They expect me to be an idiot and I am not going too, I am going to take this seriously I am not going to play into what they expect and with their definition of a Heavy Metal Rock Star.”
When asked if the song lyrics on ‘Crying for your life’ on the new solo album was Iced Earth Jon Schaffer inspired “Maybe? (smiles) I don’t mind going there. Certainly he was the cherry on top of the cake. A lot of the younger generation (not all of you) I am a boomer and I take credit for spoiling the kids. But a lot of the younger generation has a tendency to point and not want to take responsibility for your actions, especially when things go wildly wrong. When I screwed up Twisted Sister and I did, It was me. I didn’t point fingers at the other guys in the band. At the end of the day I was the problem and I am the reason we broke up (Twisted Sister). I take full credit and full responsibility. I also take credit for the good things. We sold 10 million records, you’re welcome (laughs).”
When asked if Twisted Sister was underpaid for all the albums sold over the years “Twisted Sister didn’t start receiving any album sales royalties until we recorded ‘Heroes are hard to find’, for the ‘Strangeland’ soundtrack. In order to get the band to reunite the record label wiped our debt out that was 1997. The band had been broken up for 10 years, we had sold tens of millions of records and we had not gotten one royalty check. Somebody brought it to Ahmet Ertegun (founder of Atlantic Records) attention that we were still in the red all these years later and they were trying to get us together and said Ahmet would you please just wipe these guys’ accounts clean, Ahmet we got enough from them. And Ahmet Ertegun probably didn’t even pay attention or know these things but he saw it and said they paid enough cleared the debt and so we have been getting royalty checks. The ones we should have gotten those big ones we never got. In 2001 Napster came out so a few years later people stopped buying records so our royalty checks are a joke. “
Legendary heavy metal vocalist and pop culture icon Dee Snider recently announced his triumphant fifth full-length album, Leave A Scar, out July 30, 2021 via Napalm Records. To commemorate the release of his new album, Dee Snider has announced a streaming event for his fans on Thursday, July 29. All ticket buyers will gain access to the concert stream on the 29th, as well as on-demand access to any and all content from the event for a 30-day period!
Like a scar itself, Leave A Scar is an illuminating plentitude of angst etched in time – serving as a musical refuge and expressive output for Dee. But in turn, this auditory time capsule written to express the anger, unease and pain he experienced during lockdown emerges as not only blisteringly heavy, but relentlessly powerful. Each of the 12 tracks on Leave A Scar not only further bolster DEE SNIDER’s position as one of the most celebrated frontmen of all time, showcasing that his vocal delivery and commanding swagger is as strong as ever, but that he is nowhere near stopping.
Once again produced by Jamey Jasta with co-production, mixing and mastering by drummer Nick Bellmore, “Leave A Scar” sees Snider & Co. continuing in the invigorated direction of 2018’s “For The Love Of Metal”.
Leave A Scar tracklisting: 1) I Gotta Rock (Again) 2) All Or Nothing More 3) Down But Never Out 4) Before I Go 5) Open Season 6) Silent Battles 7) Crying For Your Life 8) In For The Kill 9) Time To Choose 10) S.H.E. 11) The Reckoning 12) Stand
DEE SNIDER Band Line-up: Dee Snider – Vocals Charlie Bellmore – Guitar & Background Vocals Nick Bellmore – Drums Russell Pzütto – Bass & Background Vocals Nick Petrino – Guitar & Background Vocals
For The Metal Voice Jimmy Kay stopped by the grounds Le Studio in Morin Heights Quebec Canada and did a quick report and walk around on July 4 2021.
Also according to Rush is A Band Website the grounds of where Le Studio used to sit is now for sale
As mentioned on the website “The legendary Le Studio recording studio in Morin Heights, Quebec where Rush recorded several albums throughout the ’80s and ’90s has been demolished and cleared, and the property it sits on is now for sale for $850K CAD. The studio was built in 1972 by recording engineer and producer André Perry, Nick Blagona and Yaël Brandeis. In addition to Rush, Le Studio hosted such legendary acts as The Police, Bee Gees, Chicago, David Bowie, April Wine, Cat Stevens and many others over the years. Perry sold the studio in 1988 and by 2008 it had gone out of business. Since then the property has steadily deteriorated, culminating in August of 2017 when it was partially destroyed by fire. Despite some half-hearted efforts to rehab the building/property over the years, it was finally demolished and put up for sale earlier this summer as seen in this video from The Metal Voice. Thanks to Tomas D for the heads up.”
Wikipedia Le Studio (later renamed Studio Morin Heights) was a residential recording studio in the Laurentian Mountains near the town of Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada built in 1972 by recording engineer and producer André Perry, Nick Blagona and Yaël Brandeis. The studio, where artists recorded and stayed, was the venue for many notable Canadian and international artists, including Rush (it was nicknamed “Rush’s Abbey Road”, The Police, Bee Gees, Chicago, David Bowie, April Wine and Cat Stevens . Perry described the facility as “like the United Nations. I had people from London, New York, Quebec, all over the world.
Renowned for its retreat-like location as well as its state-of-the-art equipment, it was one of the earliest studios to install Solid State Logic mixing desk and RADAR digital-recording equipment. Perry sold the studio in 1988. In 2008 the studio had gone out of business, and as of 2015 the property was up for sale. On 11 August 2017, the building was partially destroyed by “a suspicious” fire.
The house and grounds are featured in the music videos of the recording sessions of the Rush songs “Tom Sawyer”,[21]”Limelight” and “Vital Signs”. The studio is also seen in April Wine’s music video for “I Like to Rock.”
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
