The Metal Voice celebrates 10 years with friends of the show. Join Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon as they go down memory lane.
Starts Live at Friday Feb 19 2021
2:45 Pm Pacific
5:45pm EST
Watch live or later Here:
Guests
Stryper Michael Sweet
CEO Metal Hall Pat Gesualdo
Rock Author Martin Popoff
Steve Grimmett Grim Reaper
Ex Anthrax Neil Turbin
Maybe Paul Di’Anno?
Appice Bros Singer Jim Crean
Queenryche singer Todd LaTorre joins Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon Live on Youtube to talk Top 10 Metal Albums of 1986, watch below.
Also watch in case you missed
Iron Maiden Killers 40 year Anniversary Album Review: https://youtu.be/tAjo6f4v500
AC/DC Back in Black 40 year Anniversary Album Review: https://youtu.be/c2T5IzxNi4U
Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to QUEENSRYCHE Singer Todd LaTorre about the release of his first solo album ‘Rejoice In The Suffering’ that will be released on February 5 2021 via Rat Pak Records. Todd also gives a Queenrcyhe update in terms of new music.
When asked about the recording and writing process
“My friend Craig (Blackwell) and I wrote and recorded the album here in Florida between my studio and his in about a four month period. We wrote the music and recorded everything and then we gave the recordings to Zeuss (producer Chris “Zeuss” Harris) who you know from doing all the work with Queensryche and other artists and he did the mixing and mastering and that was when Covid started and the lockdown happened. We flew home from two cancelled shows and I called him and said hey this is the time as we have talked about the solo record for several years now (on The Metal Voice). It was really simple to be honest and it was a great opportunity to get it done. There was no touring for the foreseeable future and I remember saying we are going to be down for a long time. So I thought I am never home for any real length of time so I told Craig this is the time, right now and every single day I woke up and we just worked on the music and recorded and we got it done.I just considered it (Covid Lockdowns) as an opportunity that I am never going to get again with this kind of isolated downtime to just focus on this.”
When asked about the different tones and types of vocals used on the album
“This is how I have been singing for so long on my own in various ways and people will say you’re a chameleon, you can mimic and sound like so many different people but at the same time others say but what does he sound like? You know what I sound like? I sound like all this stuff cause I sing whatever the song makes me feel like it wants. Well when Michael Wilton writes a song and it sounds like Queensryche I’m gonna phrase the vocals that way. But I do have other textures to my voice that people don’t get to hear because again I am never going to use that in Queensrcyhe.”
When asked about the musical style of the album
“It’s heavy in a classic sense and in a thrash sense. The guitars are very biting and they are very present. Craig’s guitars needed to stand out but we didn’t want a bunch of layered guitars we wanted to keep it two rhythms and that’s it. The guitars are just simple classic metal right to the point. I just wanted to do music that I hear in my car that makes me want to headbag and groove to.”
When asked if Queensryche is working on new material for an upcoming studio album
“Yes, Michael (Wilton) flew down recently a week or two ago and Zeuss came down we recorded 14-15 new song ideas and Michael will be coming back in a month or so. So yes we are writing new Queensryche stuff and Zeuss is recording it in real time as we are in a room coming up with fresh ideas on the fly.”
When asked if Queensryche would consider doing a new live album
“We have tons of multi track recordings from two years of live shows and I told Eddie I think Michael has the hard drives why don’t we send hard drives to each of us and we can pick three songs. Each guy picks three songs and maybe we can assemble 15 songs for a live record. That is something we are talking about, we shall see.”
Todd teamed up with longtime friend and collaborator guitarist Craig Blackwell, alongside producer Chris “Zeuss” Harris, to create a diverse heavy metal album that draws influence from different styles. These styles will surprise fans who only know La Torre from his previous work with QUEENSRŸCHE or CRIMSON GLORY.
pre order here
“Rejoice In The Suffering” available on CD/Vinyl/Cassette at: https://smarturl.it/tltbundles – Also available on iTunes: https://smarturl.it/tltitunes and Amazon: https://smarturl.it/tltamazon
“Rejoice In The Suffering” track listing:
Bonus tracks (deluxe version only)
Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke Live to former Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley and his guitarist Chris Appleton (Absolva) about Blaze’s upcoming studio album “War Within Me’ which will be released April 9 2021. All songs written and produced by Blaze and Chris Appleton. Blaze and Chris also answered fan questions.
When asked about the writing of this new album
“We did the trilogy, it was a big undertaking. Three albums, three years. We spent so much energy making those three albums of great quality in the songs that we just ran out of energy creatively speaking. We were going to come back from South America and do a little bit of touring then do some writing then some festivals, Then what happened was we did one of the last gigs of any band I think in March 2020 at Burr Fest in London and it was fantastic and then gigs disappeared and never came back. We were already scheduled to start recording so in one way we were really sad that all these shows disappeared but each festival that disappeared gave us an extra three days to work on the album and what we did was use that as sort of cooking time which is very important for the process that we write. And it was great it gave us that little bit of extra time to really find the arrangements, we are always looking for the best journey. From the start to the end how do we connect the lyric, the music and the emotion.” Blaze
“There was a bit of tangling in writing songs, it does get challenging at times but that’s just one of the things we do when we are songwriting cause we are always trying to get the best results and if one of us is thinking one way and one is thinking the other. I think the good thing about me and Blaze is that we always want to try everything with a song before we actually go one particular way. ” Chris Appleton
“We had some ideas that were in the vault for a couple of years, a lot of brand new things and we knew at the beginning that it was a positive album and it was going to talk about heroes. The album was going to say when you feel
hopeless, when you feel like you can’t go on, get this album out and remind yourself that you can. ” Blaze
When asked if the musical direction of the new studio album is more like Iron Maiden or Blaze Bayley solo
“It’s a combination of both, everything that we do has that kind of Maiden influence. I wouldn’t say it’s an out and out Maiden copycat when you are listening to it. If you say harmony guitars and memorable riffs like Maiden then it’s definitely in there but if you listen to the album it goes towards the heavier side of metal and it does sound like a Blaze Bayley solo album. This is the fourth album I have worked with Blaze with and because we have written so many songs together now we just jell.” Chris
When asked about the production
” We went back and listened to all my solo albums and started to get a vibe, it was good because it gave us a common reference when we were writing the new album of the parts we liked from the past music. We took a decision that we would record this at home studio cause we had great success with my acoustic album” Blaze
When asked if Blaze would be open to supporting Iron maiden on tour
“It would be a lot of fun, certainly I would love to see the guys, I spoke to Steve Harris a couple of months ago about what he is doing and how we are coping with everything. So it really would be a fun thing to do.” Blaze
When asked what was it like performing with Paul D’ianno in the past
“So much fun, we had so many great times together, it’s been so much fun touring with him. What a great laugh, what a great personality.” Blaze
Would he consider Steve Harris as a guest on a future studio Blaze album
“Yes, definitely, the toughest thing about that is logistics, where is Steve at that time, has he got time to do it, is he on the road with Maiden or British Lion? But yes.” Blaze
War Within Me” was recorded during 2020 with work split between Blaze’s studio at home in the West Midlands and Christopher Appleton’s studio in Greater Manchester. The now very consistent lineup, chosen from British metal band ABSOLVA, played on the album — Christopher Appleton (guitar, backing vocals), Martin McNee (drums), Karl Schramm (bass). Blaze and Appleton shared the work mixing and producing, while Ade Emsley (IRON MAIDEN, TANK, BRITISH LION, VOODOO SIX) handled the mastering. The striking and detailed artwork is provided by Akirant Illustration (IRON MAIDEN, “Star Wars”).
Pre-order here http://www.blazebayley.co.uk
“War Within Me” track listing:
For The Metal Voice in New York Kenny Kessel recently interviewed guitarist Richie Scarlet (Frehley’s Comet, Mountain).
His thoughts on the passing of Leslie West from Mountain, Tim Bogert in Vanilla Fudge and New York Dolls’ Sylvain Sylvain
“Leslie was one hell of a guitar player and certainly an influence on me as well as thousands of other guitarists. He had that gorgeous vibrato, just played with two fingers and made every note count and certainly a big loss. One of America’s great great guitar player. I was in Mountain for 8 years and I also played in his solo band with a lot of great memories there. Of course we lost Tim Bogert, I got to know Tim Bogert through the years cause Mountain and Vanilla Fudge would do a lot of shows together, he was one of the great legends of Rock and Roll. As well Syvlain Sylvain has passed, the New York Dolls was the coolest band that came out of New York city. Life goes by fast so enjoy it will it is here.”
When asked about he got Ex-Kiss Peter Criss to play on his new single, ‘The Catman and The Emperor’
“I have know Peter Criss for many years and I played on a record of his quite a few years ago. I played bass on it and it hasn’t been released but it is pending at some point. Long story short I was in Hollywood back in August 2019 and Peter wife Gigi who handles all his affairs invited me to go see him at the Kiss convention. We got to talking and he was telling me about how his record might end up seeing the light of day one of these days, the record I played on. So then I told him I was doing a record and I asked him if he would be interested in playing on a track and he said he would be honoured. I originally had another song for him to play on and time was going by and then finally one day I came into the museum here and picked up the guitar and this song came out of me, the words just came out. This thing just kind of came together and I made a demo of it, sent Peter the demo, then went down to his mansion and Peter and I recorded it together in a room. Then I had John Regan on bass and he locked right in with Peter’s drumming and the song is called ‘The Catman and The Emperor’ and it’s doing really well and I am happy with it. I don’t even know if he has played drums on someone else’s record before. I do know it has been quite a few years since he actually played on any record. I went to see his last show at the Cutting Room in New York city a few years back and he retired. Fortunately I was able to pull him out of retirement “The vinyl will come out sometime in February 2021 and the flip B side is called God, The Devil and Me.”
When asked about a Return of the Comet Live Album (Frehley’s Comet band without Ace)
“I don’t know much about it but I do know we recorded a live show in Sellersville Pennsylvania at the Sellersville Theater a year ago or so. I am a little bit in the dark about this but there is word that it is coming out. I actually haven’t heard it yet but if John Regan thinks it’s good enough to put out that’s good enough for me. We were kind of hitting our stride when this Covid thing happened. We had some cruises lined up, so hopefully I will know more about this record in the near future. “
When asked if there were any hard feelings with Ace and Frehley’s Comet band
“I have been through three lines of duty with Ace Frehley we just had a lot of great times.”
When asked about the live stream show coming up
” ‘The Bowery Electric Presents: Live Premiere Series’, it’s a live stream show January 30 2021 8pm EST , it will be with a New York city band called Ten Ton Mojo
More info + tickets HERE.
Scarlet was in FREHLEY’S COMET from 1984 to 1985 and played in three of the band’s seven different lineups
In 2018, Scarlet, Regan and former FREHLEY’S COMET guitarist/vocalist Tod Howarth joined forces with former ACE FREHLEY drummer Steve Werner in a new band called RETURN OF THE COMET.
Richie Scarlet Known worldwide as “The Emperor Of Rock And Roll”, Scarlet has played guitar and toured with Criss and original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. He has also performed with Sebastian Bach and Alice Cooper, and played bass with MOUNTAIN.
Peter Criss, played his final show in June 2017 at the Cutting Room in New York City.
Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to CEO Pat Gesualdo of The Metal Hall of Fame on January 17 2021 and he confirmed to The Metal Voice (Facebook Live) that this year their 5th anniversary there will be a Hall live show and a gala in some capacity, Gesualdo said,” You have places like Florida that are completely open and then other places like New York that are closed, these are all issues and are things that play into everything. So we are going to do a combination of things that we are working on right now that we are going to be rolling out. New updates to the website, new major partnerships. We will probably do a combination of things, definitely a live event will happen and the Gala in certain ways as we have a partnership with Amazon as well as streaming in other areas.We are not going to let the virus beat us in any way shape or form.”
Gesualdo also announced the first inductee into The Metal Hall of Fame for 2021 he said, “legendary Rock Photographer Mark Weiss will be inducted into The Metal hall of Fame for 2021, Mark is a great guy, a great human being and has really captured the metal movement and has been there for so many iconic moments and times in our music history. Very well deserved for sure.”
Watch interview on The Metal Voice Facebook page, here:
Press Release from Facebook Metal Hall
The Metal Hall of Fame has been the go to event for years, thanks to you the fans who make this possible and absolutely incredible, year after year. The Metal Hall of Fame Gala has been responsible for many historic metal events, Including Don Airey’s surprise Induction for Black Sabbath co-founding member Bill Ward, (especially after not seeing each other since recording Black Sabbath’s 1978 “Never Say Die” album). Having Brian May take part in Joe Satriani’s Induction, having Metallica Induct Megaforce Records founders Jon and Marsha Zazula, Our idea to get Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne to have Lee Kerslake get his Platinum Record Awards for “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of A Madman,” albums after 36 years, Inducting Judas Priest at Wacken Open Air, Inducting Anthrax at Heavy Montreal, and Kerri King’s surprise Induction for Brian Slagel and Metal Blade Record’s 35TH Anniversary, among others. These are just some of the Iconic moments from the Metal Hall of Fame that we’ve shared together with fans for years, all over the world.
The Metal Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization that enshrines forever, those legendary musicians, artists and music industry executives who are responsible for making Heavy Metal music what it is today. Their contribution to the genre is invaluable, and they keep inspiring Heavy Metal fans throughout the world, from generation to generation.
The Metal Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization, and was developed by a team of Iconic music industry executives to enshrine forever, those Iconic musicians and music industry executives who are responsible for making Heavy Metal music what it is today. Their contribution to the genre is invaluable, and they keep inspiring Heavy Metal fans throughout the world, from generation to generation.
The Metal Hall of Fame does an Annual Celebrity Induction Gala every January in Anaheim CA, and also has an on-stage induction ceremony at Wacken Open Air, the world’s largest heavy metal festival In addition, the Hall is part of the D.A.D. Program, which helps children fight disabilities on a Global basis, and joins with the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund.
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 