Month: March 2021

In a new interview with “The Jeremy White Podcast”, ex-VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony confirmed that there has been talk of putting together a career-spanning box set from his former band, including rare and previously unreleased bonus material. “I know Warner has brought up the question, would we like to do that, as far as like a box set,” he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “Obviously, it all happens after Eddie [Van Halen, VAN HALEN guitarist] passed, and it’s, like, ‘Hey, let’s cash in on this and that or whatever,’ which I don’t want any part of that… But I know there has been some talk about doing a box set and redoing some stuff, but I think it’s kind of in the early works, and nobody’s really talked that much about it yet. But I’m sure, and I also hope, that that will happen.”

Anthony also talked about the possibility of remixing and remastering some of the classic VAN HALEN albums in order to bring out the bass and make the mix sound more “modern.” “Of course, it’s tough with Ed not being here, to be able to go in, as far as doing anything with the guitar, which you really don’t need to, because his guitar sound is always incredible,” he said. “But I’m sure, at some point, we’ll get together possibly with Alex [Van Halen, drums] and maybe Ed’s son Wolfgang and do something like that. I think it’d be a great thing to do.”

VAN HALEN and Anthony had not been on good terms for more than a decade, with Anthony not invited to join the reunion with singer David Lee Roth that began in 2007. The subsequent two tours and studio album, “A Different Kind Of Truth”, featured Wolfgang Van Halen on bass.

Anthony took a pay cut and signed away all of his rights to the band name and logo in order to participate in VAN HALEN’s 2004 tour, which featured Sammy Hagar on vocals.

Last November, Wolfgang’ revealed that Eddie had contemplated a “kitchen-sink tour” that would have included Anthony, as well as vocal turns from both Sammy Hagar and Roth. There was even talk about bringing back Gary Cherone, who sang with VAN HALEN on one poorly received album, 1998’s “Van Halen III”.

Eddie died in October at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California. The iconic VAN HALEN axeman passed away from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

Hear Dutch goregrinders Last Days of Humanity “clean up” their sound on Horrific Compositions of Decomposition.
The post Blast Worship: Last Days of Humanity appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

A new signature guitar that features Alnico Classic Pro humbuckers and a LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge.

Decibel brings you this exclusive Coke Bottle Swamp Green vinyl color LP of Cannibal Corpse’s Violence Unimagined. Limited to 300 worldwide, so get yours pre-ordered now.  
The post Decibel Exclusive CANNIBAL CORPSE Color LP Available Now for Pre-Order! appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Matt Sorum and his wife, choreographer, singer-songwriter, visual artist and fashion designer Ace Harper, have announced that they are expecting their first child this summer.

Matt and Ace have been married since 2013 and are thrilled to welcome this new baby into their lives. “We are beyond elated with God’s gift of our baby girl,” they said in a statement. “Of all the beautiful adventures we’ve been fortunate enough to have in our lives, there is nothing that compares to the joy we feel of finally creating our own family. We’re excited to show our child all the wonderful experiences life has to offer.”

Prior to the new baby being born, ZZ TOP’s Billy F Gibbons will release a new album that Matt co-wrote and co-produced. In addition, Matt is set to release his new book, “Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘N’ Roll Stories”, via Rare Bird Books in the fall. “Double Talkin’ Jive” goes beyond the clichés of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, telling the very human story of what it takes to make it in music, and the toll stardom exacts from those who achieve success.

Sorum, who replaced Steven Adler in GUNS N’ ROSES, recorded the highly successful albums “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II” (both 1991) and “The Spaghetti Incident” (1994). He also supported the group on the “Use Your Illusion” tour and can be heard on GUNS N’ ROSES’ “Live Era: ’87-’93” (1999) and “Greatest Hits” (2004).

Sorum has said in the past that a GUNS reunion tour should have included both him and Adler, with each playing the songs they recorded with the group. Sorum was inducted as a member of the band into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April 2012.

Ace’s journey began studying ballet. She then spent years as a professional dancer working with a myriad of music legends — Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez, DURAN DURAN and famed director David LaChapelle, to name a few. In the midst of everything, she constantly wrote songs and collected ideas, quietly assembling a sound and vision of her own. After a storied dance career; Ace started creative directing her own stage shows with music, performance art, fashion, and visuals encapsulating her kaleidoscope of creativity. Ace is launching her namesake fashion line, Ace Harper, later this year. She is vehement about empowering all women. She believes in telling real women’s stories and plans on using fashion as a means to have women cultivate a deeper connection with themselves and the world around them.

Photo by Michael Segal Photography

Ted Nugent says that he recently lost a major sponsor of his award-winning “Spirit Of The Wild” television show over accusations of racism.

The outspoken conservative rocker, who has previously referred to then-U.S. president Barack Obama as a “subhuman mongrel,” discussed the alleged attempt at “canceling” his program during the latest episode of his “Spirit Campfire” Internet video show.

He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Just last week… I’m not gonna name names right now, because the people that supported me are a segment of a huge global corporation. And they were a sponsor on our ‘Spirit Of The Wild’ show, that helped finance ‘Spirit Of The Wild’ and put it on the Outdoor Channel and promote conservation. And the mothership called the sponsor company and said, ‘You can’t sponsor Nugent. He’s a racist.’ And my people who had the sponsorship, they go, ‘What are you talking about? He’s not a racist. He’s probably the biggest promoter of black artists in the history of the spoken word.’ [And the parent company said,] ‘He’s a racist. We’re canceling [our sponsorship].’ And I’ve gotta tell you, we’re talking many six figures. And I can’t get on the Outdoor Channel without sponsors.”

Ted continued: “But here’s the beauty: as soon as those lying, hateful, leftist, intolerant punks canceled me, a guy from Big Time, a company Big Time out of Illinois, provided the sponsorship for the product to feed my wildlife and to promote their supplemental nutritional business. And the people who sponsored me, they were heartbroke that the mother global corporate prick canceled it. But within 24 hours, I had a replacement sponsor. Because assholes will be assholes, but there’s still unbelievable good people out there — good people in the asset column, not the asshole column.”

In his 2016 memoir, “18 And Life On Skid Row”, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach wrote about how Nugent, whom he considered to be one of his musical idols, allegedly went on a racist tirade on the set of the VH1 reality show “SuperGroup”, causing Sebastian to step into the role of unlikely hero to the African-American crew by walking out and going to the producer, refusing to continue working with the Nuge.

The following year, Nugent slammed Bach for his comments, saying: “He falls in the ‘inconsequential’ column. It’s true — the guy smokes so much dope. People like Sebastian Bach will literally listen to me praise Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and Little Richard and James Brown and Wilson Pickett, they’ll listen to me praise these black artists and literally call it racist. I mean, how much dope do you have to smoke to be that stupid?”

He continued: “Literally, I’m the one during that TV show that pounded home that we cannot lose touch with our black founding fathers, that if you don’t have that groove of the black artists, if you don’t have the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and Little Richard and James Brown groove, your music is worthless. That’s what I drove home. And he would call that being a racist? This is funnier than Richard Pryor’s afro catching fire. I mean, how stupid can you get?”

“SuperGroup” followed five well-known hard rock and heavy metal musicians — Bach, Nugent, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian, ex-BIOHAZARD bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld and drummer Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN, BONHAM, UFO, FOREIGNER) — over a twelve-day period during which they lived together in a Las Vegas mansion in order to create, plan and perform a live show together.

In a 2012 interview with Metal-Rules.com, Bach stated about Nugent: “To be honest with you, I think that Ted’s political beliefs and social opinions overshadow how great a guitar player he is. More people know Ted for his outrageous views and political viewpoints. His music is so great, but a lot of people are disgusted by him. They don’t like guns. People don’t like racism, but he says some things that are from the ’50s. People don’t think like that anymore; it’s not acceptable. It’s a shame because I love his music and he is funny as hell. He is so abrasive with his beliefs, it takes the fun out of it.”

Nugent told Radio.com in 2014 that Bach was “incredibly gifted” and “a gentleman for the most part,” but he called the former SKID ROW singer “weak.” Nugent explained: “[Sebastian] doesn’t understand the concept of the [body as a] Sacred Temple. He doesn’t understand accountability. He doesn’t understand — clearly — how his indulgences and his poisons ruin his life. And his relationships, and his marriage. And his musical capabilities. I love the guy and if he’s watching this, I love you, but when you’re the drunk Sebastian Bach, you’re nowhere near the Sebastian Bach that you are when you’re clean and sober. Case closed. That isn’t a Ted Nugent opinion, that’s scientific truism.”

In 2019, Nugent defended Donald Trump after the then-U.S. president was accused of making racist remarks about Democratic congresswomen from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS vocalist Myles Kennedy will release his sophomore solo album, “The Ides Of March”, on May 14 via Napalm Records. You can now watch the official music video for the title track below.

“The Ides Of March” is the longest song on the LP, clocking in at 7:39, and showcases the musicianship of Kennedy and his cohorts — longtime friend and drummer Zia Uddin and bassist/manager Tim Tournier. The band stretches out musically as Kennedy sings an ominous warning: “beware the ides of March.”

Myles says about “The Ides Of March”: “Written quickly one night after having a few drinks, it was an attempt to sum up what so many of us felt during the beginning of the pandemic. We were bored, frustrated and self-medicating to avoid going stir crazy. What I like about the narrative, is it pushes the idea that if everything is going to hell, at least try and do it in a celebratory fashion.”

During his time at home due to all touring being canceled, Myles created the framework for the song ideas that would make up “The Ides Of March”. He then called up his cohorts from his “Year Of The Tiger” debut — Uddin and Tournier — and the three musicians drove to Florida to record the album with longtime producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette.

From the slide guitar riffs of the album opener “Get Along” to the pensive blues style of closer “Worried Mind”, it is clear that Myles has crafted a formidable follow up to his debut solo album. While “Year Of The Tiger” was more of an acoustic exploration through Myles’s mind, “The Ides Of March” finds him strapping on his electric guitar and pushing himself as a guitarist/songwriter. Tracks like “A Thousand Words”, “Wake Me When It’s Over” and “Moonshot” showcase the diverse musical arrangements that have garnered Myles fans globally across all of his projects. The epic “The Ides Of March” clocks in at over seven minutes, and Myles, Tim and Zia showcase their musical chops on the track.

“The Ides Of March” track listing:

01. Get Along
02. A Thousand Words
03. In Stride
04. The Ides Of March
05. Wake Me When It’s Over
06. Love Rain Down
07. Tell It Like It Is
08. Moonshot
09. Wanderlust Begins
10. Sifting Through The Fire
11. Worried Mind

In November, Myles told Kylie Olsson about how “The Ides Of March” compares to “Year Of The Tiger”: “It dawned on me last night as I was listening [to the new album], I was, like, ‘You basically made a rock record.’ [Laughs] I don’t know if I went into it with that intention initially. And I feel like it definitely is still a continuation of the overall style that was established for the solo project on ‘Year Of The Tiger’. There’s a fair amount of acoustic instrumentation; there’s a lot of lap steel [guitar]. I love the lap steel; I just love the way you can make it weep — it’s got a very vocal quality. But then I realized there’s just a lot of guitar and a lot more solos — you know, guitar geek stuff that I enjoy.”

A month earlier, Kennedy told Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA that it was a joy to reconnect with Uddin, Tournier and Baskette for the making of the new LP.

“Oh, yeah, it was great,” he said. “It was great, because we actually drove [to the studio in Florida]. So Zia, my drummer, who, we’ve played together for the last 30 years, off and on, since we were in high school. He’s, in my opinion, one of the greatest rock and roll drummers alive; he’s so good, it’s mind-boggling. So we started driving. We left Spokane, with the gear in tow. And then we met Tim about halfway. I think we met somewhere in Tennessee, maybe. Then we after driving to Orlando, we all quarantined. Zia did his drums and then he went home, and then Tim finished up. He hung around for a little while. And then I was there for, I think, seven weeks with Elvis.”

He continued: “It’s a fun environment. We all love each other dearly. I’m serious when I say this: we’re a bunch of middle-aged children. I mean, it’s as if we’ve taken a time machine and we’re in the seventh grade. And the humor is ridiculously silly. I don’t even know how to articulate how ridiculous it gets when you put all of us in a studio together. [Laughs]”

Myles’s tour in support of “Year Of The Tiger” featured music from the album as well as selections from Myles’s work with ALTER BRIDGE, THE MAYFIELD FOUR and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS.

Photo credit: Chuck Brueckmann

Richie Kotzen says that he will get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as he is allowed.

THE WINERY DOGS frontman, who is promoting the debut album from his collaborative project with IRON MAIDEN’s Adrian Smith, made the comment in a new interview with Canada’s The Metal Voice.

Asked if he has already been vaccinated and whether he is “ready to go” back on he road, Richie responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, I’m not ready yet. You’ve gotta let the people that really need it get it first. But as soon as I can get that, I’m gonna do it. I have a feeling that in order to do what we do, pretty soon they’re gonna make it that you have to have it. So I have no objection to getting it.”

Kotzen went on to say that he and his wife already battled COVID-19 last year and came out of it relatively unscathed. “My wife tested positive, and then I ran out five, six days later and got a test, and I was negative,” he said. “But then, no sooner than I get the test, I got sick with all the same symptoms. So I can only assume that I had it as well.

“I’ve been way sicker in my life, but it’s not like that for everybody,” he explained. “This thing affects everybody differently, and that’s why it’s so fucking dangerous. So I think people have gotta be responsible, and now that we know how serious it is — obviously — you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to stay safe.”

Richie, who spent most of last year at his Southern California home, also expressed his desire to return to performing live in front of an audience. “I just wanna get out there and play again,” he said. “I will say this: I found a way to enjoy the year off. I really did embrace it, and I liked being home and spending time at home. But now at this point, I’d like to get out there and play some shows.”

SMITH/KOTZEN, the collaboration between Smith and Kotzen, will release its self-titled debut album on March 26 via BMG. Recorded on the Turks & Caicos Islands in February 2020, produced by Richie and Adrian and mixed by Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, this nine-track opus is a consummate collaboration between these two highly respected musicians who co-wrote all the songs and also share lead vocals and trade off on guitar and bass duties throughout the record.

Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz of Florida death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE has declined to publicly address his current relationship with the band’s former guitarist Pat O’Brien.

O’Brien was arrested in Florida more than two years ago on charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and burglary of an occupied dwelling with assault. Deputies said he burglarized a house and charged at a deputy with a knife. He has since been replaced in CANNIBAL CORPSE by Erik Rutan, one of the death metal’s most acclaimed guitarists who is known for his time as part of MORBID ANGEL throughout the ’90s and early 2000s, as well as handling vocals/guitars for HATE ETERNAL.

Asked in a new interview with Pierre Gutierrez of Rock Talks what his relationship with Pat is like nowadays and whether the two still talk from time to time, Paul shook his head from side to side and replied simply: “No comment on that.”

O’Brien, who was born in Northern Kentucky, was arrested on December 10, 2018 for burglary and assaulting a police officer while his Florida home was in flames.

O’Brien allegedly broke into a Northdale, Florida home and shouted that “the rapture is coming” before pushing a woman to the ground. He ran toward a responding deputy with a knife and was subdued with a stun gun.

Less than half a mile from where O’Brien was arrested, a fire broke out at the house he was renting, sending flames billowing into the night sky from the roof.

The owner of the home where O’Brien was arrested wouldn’t go on camera but told ABC Action News he thought the guitarist was hallucinating when he spoke to him and claimed “someone was after him.” The homeowner added O’Brien seemed scared and at one point even hid in his closet.

Fire marshals found a large cache of weapon, locked safes and potential explosive devices inside O’Brien’s home, including 50 shotguns, 20 semiautomatic rifles, two Uzi-style firearms, 20 handguns and two flamethrowers. Authorities also discovered thousands of rounds as well as additional weapons.

O’Brien, who had been a member of CANNIBAL CORPSE for more than two decades, was released from Hillsborough County jail on December 14, 2018 after posting a $50,000 surety bond. Several days earlier, at a hearing, a judge told the now-55-year-old musician, clad in an anti-suicide vest with his hands and ankles chained together, that he would first have to pass a drug test before he would be allowed to post bail and leave jail.

During an appearance on a June 2019 episode of “The Jasta Show”, the podcast hosted by HATEBREED’s Jamey Jasta, CANNIBAL CORPSE frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher expressed his shock over O’Brien’s arrest, saying: “I don’t wanna speculate about what could have happened that night, but it could have been way worse — for him.

“When people were seeing [TV reports about] it — I think on the Tampa news, they were pretty good with him,” he continued. “They just said he was one of the best guitar players in death metal in America, and in the world, and he’s highly respected. And they didn’t really trash him at all. And they showed him on TV.”

According to Fisher, most of the CANNIBAL fans were very supportive of Pat while he was dealing with his ordeal. “In the metal world, I think in general, 95 percent [of the people], everyone was, like, ‘Get well soon,'” he told “The Jasta Show”. “I didn’t spend too much time reading stuff online, because that’s when you get people who just wanna say nasty stuff just to be nasty.”

Fisher went on to say that he and his bandmates were looking forward to O’Brien’s return to CANNIBAL CORPSE.

“We love him,” he told “The Jasta Show”. “We want him back. But when I saw him in the court with the vest, dude, I cried. Because we just got home from tour… We wish the best for him, and we’re just waiting to see [what happens]. He’s got a road ahead of him still with legal issues, and that’s out of our hands. We support him 100 percent; we’re behind him 100 percent.”

CANNIBAL CORPSE will release its 15th studio album, “Violence Unimagined”, on April 16 via Metal Blade Records. Rutan lent his guitar as well as production skills to the effort, which was recorded at his Mana Recording in St. Petersburg, Florida. Rutan previously produced four CANNIBAL CORPSE albums (in addition to “Violence Unimagined”), alongside the likes of GOATWHORE, SOILENT GREEN and BELPHEGOR. Filling in live on guitar since 2019, in 2020 he became a full member, contributing to the writing process.