Month: March 2021

Reach Music Publishing has acquired a 50% interest, as well as worldwide administration rights, to the Glenn Tipton song catalog.

The acquisition covers Tipton’s songwriting catalog of almost 200 songs as a member of JUDAS PRIEST, including works dating back to 1979, beginning with the album “Sin After Sin” and continuing through to the band’s last studio album, “Firepower”, released in 2018.

Tipton’s solo albums, “Baptizm Of Fire” and “Edge Of The World”, are also included in the acquisition.

As a member of JUDAS PRIEST, Tipton has written or co-written iconic tracks and radio staples including “Breaking The Law”, “Heading Out To The Highway”, “Hell Bent For Leather”, “Living After Midnight” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”, all of which are included as part of the Reach agreement.

JUDAS PRIEST remains active today, with the band getting ready to go back on tour later this summer, continuing their 50-year anniversary celebration.

Also planned for the summer is a career-spanning 42 CD box set containing bonus tracks and a 132-page book with photos and memorabilia. This follows the recent release of a 648-page photo book of the band, covering the past 50 years.

Michael Closter, president and owner of Reach Music, said: “I’m ecstatic to be in business with Glenn Tipton — a metal legend, guitar icon and elite songwriter who has written works that will always be known, relevant and rediscovered.

“I particularly want to thank Jayne Andrews, the manager for JUDAS PRIEST. She gave me this opportunity, and the deal would not have happened without her support.”

Reach’s Scott Rubin added: “I first saw JUDAS PRIEST perform live when I was 15 years old, and I saw them on their last tour at age 50, watching Glenn Tipton get on stage during the encore. It’s a true honor to get to work on a catalog that you know intimately and have been a fan of from 15 to 50… and beyond!”

Jayne Andrews said: “When I first met Michael Closter around three years ago in Nashville, I really believed that he and his team at Reach Music would be the right fit for Glenn if he ever decided to sell any of his publishing. Glenn felt the same way when I introduced them last year and we look forward to a long and happy relationship with Reach Music.”

Glenn Tipton said: “I deliberated for a long time on whether to relinquish 50% of my publishing to another company and realized as soon as I had a conversation with Michael Closter and Scott Rubin from Reach Music just how knowledgeable they are of both mine and JUDAS PRIEST’s catalog and that they would be really pro-active with the songs. I believe I now have a team who understand and are geared up to deal with metal and look forward to working together in the future!”

Reach was represented in the transaction by attorney Jeff Sacharow, partner at Lapidus, Root & Sacharow, LLP with support from U.K. counsel Rupert Sprawson of James Ware Stephenson. Glenn Tipton was represented by Simon Esplen, managing partner at Russells.

Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson’s seven years ago — after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of “Firepower”. He was replaced by “Firepower” album producer Andy Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT. Tipton occasionally joins PRIEST onstage for its encores, performing “Metal Gods”, “Breaking The Law” and “Living After Midnight”.

In 2018, Tipton’s former PRIEST bandmate K.K. Downing sold his share of the royalty rights to 136 of PRIEST’s tracks, including classic songs “Breaking The Law”, “Living After Midnight” and “Painkiller”, to Round Hill Music. The rights consist of the guitarist’s publishing and writer’s share, and his artist royalties from the master recordings.

K.K., who is a founding member of the British heavy metal legends and was part of the group since 1969, announced his retirement from PRIEST in April 2011.

Geoff Tate says that “Frequency Unknown”, the sole album he released under the QUEENSRŸCHE banner during a period when the singer was battling his former bandmates over the rights to the group’s name, was not “a very satisfying project.”

“Frequency Unknown” arrived in April 2013 amidst a swarm of controversy. QUEENSRŸCHE had just split in two, with Tate leading an all-new group of musicians while the remaining members of QUEENSRŸCHE — guitarists Michael Wilton and Parker Lundgren, bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfield — carried on with a new vocalist, Todd La Torre.

Tate’s studio lineup for “Frequency Unknown” included bassist Rudy Sarzo, guitarist Robert Sarzo, drummer Simon Wright, guitarist Kelly Gray, and keyboardist Randy Gane, joined by bassist/producer Jason Slater and an array of guests that included KING’S X guitarist Ty Tabor, former MEGADETH guitarist Chris Poland, Y&T’s Dave Meniketti, Brad Gillis of NIGHT RANGER, ex-JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing, and Craig Locicero of FORBIDDEN.

Asked by 99.1 CJAM-FM’s melodic metal radio show “The Signals Of Intuition” what the experience was like making an album with so many guest musicians, Geoff said (hear audio below): “Gosh, I don’t know how it came together. It was just such a mess [laughs] — a mess of people working on it.

Tate also addressed the decision by his then-record label Deadline Music/Cleopatra Records to make available “new and improved” mixes of “Frequency Unknown” to any customers who purchased the original mix version and were dissatisfied with the audio.

“Who would think that the record company would have the album remixed without talking to me?” he said.

“I don’t remember it as being a very satisfying project — I’ll put it that way. [Laughs]

“It was an ambitious project involving a lot of different musicians,” he added. “And we had some really great performances on that record.

“It was just a lot of political scenarios going on with that record. Why was it remixed? I didn’t even know it was remixed until a year or so after it was remixed and put out. And why wouldn’t they ask me to remix it? Why wouldn’t they ask Jason to remix it? I don’t know. It was so messed up in the administration of the record.”

The “Frequency Unknown” artwork featured a fist brandishing three rings — one with an F, another with the QUEENSRŸCHE logo and one with a U, leading fans to surmise that it stood for something explicit and was taking a shot against Geoff’s former bandmates.

A few years ago, Tate told Oregon Music News about how Deadline Music/Cleopatra Records handled the release of “Frequency Unknown”: “I think what happened with ‘Frequency Unknown’; the people that own the record [Deadline Music] got cold feet. Someone said, ‘Oh, I don’t like the mix on this.’ By that, I mean people close to the record company — that person said, ‘I can do a better job mixing it if you give it to me to remix.’ So what it came down to is that they [Deadline Music] didn’t stand by me, they didn’t stand by the project; instead they passed the record along to people to remix. Well, by doing that, it reinforces the idea that it sounds bad! [Laughs] They couldn’t let it be for what it was — instead they opened a can of worms.”

In a 2017 interview with “The Classic Metal Show”, Tabor stated about his guest appearance on “Frequency Unknown”: “[It was] uncomfortable, because when I agreed to do it, I thought that I was agreeing to play a solo on one of Geoff’s solo albums. I didn’t realize it was that when I agreed to it. So I sort of stepped into the controversy accidentally. And I don’t know if you noticed — I didn’t say a word about it on any of it on my social networks, I didn’t promote it or anything, because I felt bad about it. I went ahead and did it ’cause I gave my word, but I didn’t realize that’s what it was when I said yes. I misunderstood.”

Funko, the world’s leading pop culture consumer products brand and creators of the wildly popular Pop! Vinyl collection, recently partnered with POISON frontman Bret Michaels to create his first-ever, limited edition Pop! Vinyl figure. The Bret Michaels collectible Pop! will reflect Michaels’s iconic likeness and style.

Speaking to Bionic Buzz, Bret stated about the figure (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Honestly, it was our good friends here that work with me at Michaels Entertainment Group, [along] with [the licensing agent] Epic Rights — just some really good people. It’s a great team effort. And their team approaching us about making the Bret Michaels, they call it the ‘iconic’ look. I feel like I’m a human Addams Family, a Munster. I’m, like, I look like that every day.

“You know the Munsters thought they were totally normal? The Addams Family? I’m like a Halloween costume that actually looks like this every day,” he said.

“Honest to God, it’s an honor. And the Funko fanatics, the family of people that I spoke to that collect, that do all this, it was a great experience. And it exploded. So people are excited about it. That’s a good thing. And it was awesome.”

With consumer demand for Michaels’s products always at a high, there will also be a coveted “Chase Pop!” figure, in addition to the planned primary Funko Pop! This unique collectible, sought after by both hardcore Funko collectors and pop culture fans alike, will see an adaptation and inclusion of Bret’s signature cowboy hat look.

As Michaels has done with previous brand partners, he remained hands-on throughout the creation and design process with Funko, who collaborated with Epic Rights, the licensing agent.

The public can expect to see Michaels’s Pop! Vinyl available at retail outlets beginning in mid-March 2021 to coincide with the singer’s birthday on March 15. The limited-edition figures, and the Chase Pops, will also be available directly on ShopBretMichaels.com. Michaels’s online store will also be the only place to find gift bundles, including Bret’s bestselling book “Auto-Scrap-Ography”, as well as personally signed figurines which are sure to create a collecting frenzy for an even more limited version of the highly desired Pop! Vinyl.

Headquartered in Everett, Washington, Funko is a leading pop culture consumer products company. Funko designs, sources and distributes licensed pop culture products across multiple categories, including vinyl figures, toys, plush, apparel, board games, housewares and accessories for consumers who seek tangible ways to connect with their favorite pop culture brands and characters.

Cliff Moore, the younger brother of legendary British rock and blues guitarist Gary Moore, will release a new rock album titled “2020 Vision” on March 25. The disc’s first single, “Welcome To The Madness”, is out now on Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon.

According to a press release, “2020 Vision” is “a collection of songs which have been inspired over the last year by social and personal experiences. It is primarily a rock album and features the guitar heavily (of course).”

Cliff was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the sixties. He was first introduced to music by his parents; his mother, who was a great singer and his father who was a local music promoter.

His earliest memories of music are of hearing THE BEATLES and FLEETWOOD MAC on the radio and also watching THE WHO on “Top Of The Pops”. Thus began a lifelong love of music and, in particular, the guitar.

Moving to England as a child, he was given a second-hand acoustic guitar by his father at the age of thirteen as a Christmas present. He would take this to school and play it at every opportunity although he had no real idea about theory or technique on the instrument and instead, would learn to play songs by ear.

The following year, his mother bought him his first electric guitar, which was an Aria Les Paul copy.

A chance conversation shortly after with two friends led to the formation of Cliff’s first band, STAGE FRIGHT, which went on to play at various local youth clubs and school parties. This band morphed into various other line-ups over the next few years where Cliff was able to develop both as a player and songwriter.

In the early eighties, the CLIFF MOORE BAND was formed and he was able to perform his music to a wider audience. This led to the involvement of a manager and publishing deal. The advance money from this deal financed Cliff’s first custom-built Stratocaster which led to a lifelong passion for this type of guitar.

Since the eighties, Cliff has been, for the most part, a professional musician and has taken part in countless gigs and recording sessions. These have taken place on five continents around the world and in the last decade, Cliff has built up a solid fan base around Europe and regularly visits there to play.

In recent years, Cliff has been fortunate to have shared the stage with some of the greatest contemporary blues/rock musicians around.

For more information, visit www.cliffmoore.com.

Photo by: Márta Császár

Progressive, technical death metal collective ALLUVIAL has sign with Nuclear Blast Records. The band’s sophomore album, “Sarcoma”, will be released on May 28. The official music video for the record’s first singe, “Ulysses”, can be seen below.

Commenting on ALLUVIAL’s signing to the label, guitarist Wes Hauch says: “Monte Conner (legendary A&R man at Nuclear Blast) is responsible for most of the metal that I was reared on, and I’m honored that ALLUVIAL has found a home with Nuclear Blast. Their tenure and pedigree is inimitable, their enthusiasm and belief in the band is inspiring to us.”

Vocalist Kevin Muller adds: “The diversity in the music, and the power in our message is what makes ALLUVIAL a perfect home for me. Nuclear Blast is known for its roster full of authentic bands that have power and conviction in their art. We are proud to be among them.”

Conner says: “Wes’s music has all the elements that I have always looked for in songs — killer arrangements, melody, hooks and powerful vocals. When you add in his guitar playing, it just takes it all to another level — not just his solos but his tasty rhythm guitar work as well. Top-notch stuff here! I am happy to have Wes, Kevin and ALLUVIAL as part of the Nuclear Blast family.”

What began as an instrumental collaboration has grown into a full-frontal aural assault with a lineup consisting of vocalist Kevin Muller (ex-SUFFOCATION, THE MERCILESS CONCEPT), guitarist Wes Hauch (ex-THE FACELESS, BLACK CROWN INITIATE), bassist Tim Walker (ENTHEOS) and drummer Matt Paulazzo (AEGAEON). On ALLUVIAL’s follow-up to 2017’s “The Deep Longing For Annihilation”, the band plunges into a whirlwind of neck-snapping polyrhythmic riffs, a barrage of double bass and a dynamic avalanche of screams.

“Sarcoma is a type of cancer that grows from connective tissue in the body,” says Hauch. “At the end of working on everything, Kevin pinpointed that each song on the record was about the different perils that happen at the hand of one man to another. These perils live in our connections to one another, so ‘Sarcoma’ became an apt title.”

As Hauch began writing the record, he took notice of Muller due to his time in SUFFOCATION. After hearing his vocals on a demo, everything simply clicked, and Kevin joined the band. Fast brothers, it fulfilled a long-term goal. “‘The Deep Longing For Annihilation’ was supposed to have vocals, but I couldn’t find the right guy,” he adds. “Some people possess a rare inability to doubt themselves. Kevin can marry that into performances. The day I heard his vocals over the ‘Sarcoma’ demos was a special one. We’ve become brothers.”

After writing and producing demos at home, ALLUVIAL cut guitars, bass, and vocals with engineer John Douglass (MR. BUNGLE, AMON AMARTH) in Atlanta. The opener “Ulysses” begins with warm guitar echoes before building towards an ominous crescendo. It quickly crumbles under the weight of a thrash riff and brain-rattling growl.

“I was always in trouble in my small hometown,” Hauch says. “After going to a county jail, I joined the military and took orders as an equipment operator bound for the U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalions. The enlisted side of the military are all misfits of one kind or another. Because of this, it’s really a continuation of high school. The military continued raising us, for better or worse. In 2005, I deployed to Iraq and convoyed throughout Baghdad for seven months. If you were in Iraq from 03 to 08, it was generally pretty bad. Because of that, I wouldn’t call my experience in Iraq ‘unique,’ it was just a hot time over there. If you convoyed, you were gonna get shot at, and you were gonna deal with IEDs. If you were in a camp, you were gonna get mortared. If you were infantry and you were kicking down doors, god bless you, you were gonna have it the worst out of anyone. ‘Ulysses’ is a glossary of my hindsight on that experience.”

“Sarcoma” track listing:

01. Ulysses
02. Thy Underling
03. Sarcoma
04. 40 Stories
05. Zero
06. Exponent
07. Sleepers Become Giants
08. The Putrid Sunrise
09. Sugar Paper
10. Anodyne

DIMMU BORGIR and INSIDIOUS DISEASE guitarist Sven Atle Kopperud (a.k.a. Silenoz) went on “Side Jams With Bryan Reesman” to talk about his love of motorcycles, Norwegian nature, and doing charity work.

At the beginning, there were audio problems that delayed the interview by at least 10 minutes. Silenoz said it was because of his “electrical curse”. “It’s been with me for as long as I can remember,” he explained. “In the beginning, people didn’t believe me when I said, ‘There’s got to be something with me and electricity.’ Because there’s tons and tons of episodes happening through the years. When we did the orchestra show at the Oslo Spectrum, we had to run through all the show before. And for some reason, out of nowhere, my wireless didn’t work so I had to play on cable. I was really mortified in the sense that [for] the biggest show in my whole life, maybe I have to play on cable on stage. We couldn’t figure out what was wrong. My guitar tech at the time said after the run through that, ‘I’ll fix it. Don’t worry about it. Just get ready, and I’ll fix it for you.’ I was, like, ‘How can you fix it when you when you don’t know what’s wrong?’ So I was freaking out a bit. An hour later or so when the intro goes for the actual show, there’s no turning back, and I don’t know yet if I’m going to get the guitar with the cable or the wireless. But then he comes with the guitar and the wireless is fixed. I asked him, ‘What was wrong with it? What happened?’ ‘I have no idea, but it’s working now.’ ‘But how do we know if it’s gonna work through the whole show?’ ‘We don’t know. But it’s working now.’ So that’s just one out of many, many examples.”

The guitarist also talked about being part of a biker club and how that compares with life in DIMMU. “It’s pretty much the same thing,” Silenoz said. “Obviously, I’ve been in the band longer than I’ve been in the club. But the foundation is the same in that you look out for one another, and you try to utilize every person’s strength instead of their weakness. That’s what we do in the band as well. We know our place in the band after so many years, and that’s what we have in the club. Everybody knows their place, and it feels safe in a way, you know, it feels good. Since we do a lot of charity work as well, then you have to have that initial trust toward one another.”

Silenoz was asked about stereotypes that people have of bikers and replied: “A lot of outsiders think that motorcycle people are thugs because that’s the stereotype for movies or whatnot. But there are thugs everywhere, in every part of society. We work against the injustice and unfairness from the outside when it comes to the biker world as well. I think it’s very important to show that we are pretty much normal human beings with more specific interest for bikes and brotherhood. That’s something a lot of people don’t understand because they don’t have that in them. When you go into a club or you prospect for a club or you prospect for a band, it’s pretty much the same thing. You cannot just walk in because you have to be trusted. That goes also for the band. Over the years we had so many lineup changes, and some of them we had to do on the spot, basically, to be able to do shows. Then after a while, you figure out the music similarities between people in the band works fine but maybe the personalities clash. And if you’re going to be on the tour for six weeks, then it’s important that you actually get along on a personal level, maybe more so than anything else. So I think it’s just like in any place in society, there should be a test period, a trial period, to show if you’re the right person. Everybody has talents, obviously, but maybe people don’t have the talent for being in a group or in a club.”

Silenoz also spoke about the charity work that his motorcycle club does, including helping people around the holidays who need food and shelter. They also offer support and aid to military veterans. “We feel that when veterans come home from service, in Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever it is, they come home to basically nothing,” Silenoz said. “They are f-ed up in the head from being in war and war zones and seeing all the bullshit. There’s basically no net for them when they come home. They get a pat on the shoulder and a medal but there’s still stuff stuck in the head. On the new INSIDIOUS [DISEASE] album, we wrote a song called ‘Soul Excavation’ [in] which we try to deal with the PTSD thing. So there’s intertwining of different stuff going on.”

DIMMU BORGIR’s latest album, “Eonian”, was released right in time for the band’s 25th anniversary in 2018, about eight years after its predecessor, “Abrahadabra”. Since then, the infernal core trio consisting of Silenoz, Shagrath and Galder has played various tours all around the world, including shows at leading metal festivals such as Wacken Open Air and Hellfest.

New York metal outfit SILVERTOMB has released the official music video for its latest single, titled “So True”. The track is the fourth single taken from the band’s debut album, “Edge Of Existence”, which came out in November 2019 via Long Branch Records/SPV.

SILVERTOMB is the latest musical endeavor of guitarist-vocalist Kenny Hickey (TYPE O NEGATIVE, SEVENTH VOID), drummer Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE, DANZIG), bassist Hank Hell (SEVENTH VOID, INHUMAN), New York City hardcore veteran Joseph James (AGNOSTIC FRONT, INHUMAN) on guitar and Aaron Joos (AWAKEN THE SHADOW, EMPYREON) on keyboards, guitar, and backing vocals.

SILVERTOMB combines the musical styles of bands such as PINK FLOYD and BLACK SABBATH with a bone-crushing, mind-blowing sonic experience.

Hickey comments on “So True”: “This song was written in desperation and from the gut at a time when I was at one of the lowest points in my alcohol abuse. It’s a basic purging of every trauma, insecurity, and anxiety that led up to that point in my life. So for the ‘So True’ video, we tried to capture how a negative self-image and a lust for power can be turned outward and onto society to become a destructive force.”

“Edge Of Existence” explores Hickey’s personal struggles with addiction, love, suicide, and the death of TYPE O NEGATIVE singer and frontman Peter Steele in 2010 and the band’s subsequent split.

Kelly told Antihero about SILVERTOMB’s sound: “There’s elements of what we were doing with SEVENTH VOID. It seems like it’s a continuation from that, but the songs and the song structures really took a life of its own. It’s more layered and textured — not to the extent that we would do in TYPE O NEGATIVE, but it has a little bit of that flavor to it. It doesn’t sound like TYPE O, but, obviously, you have two guys from TYPE O NEGATIVE in the band. It’s going to have resemblance. It’s still a more rock-oriented approach than the slow-paced, doomy aspect that TYPE O had. Now that we’ve added a keyboard player, there’s a lot more layers and textures to it than what SEVENTH VOID was.”

Unless you’re willing to wrestle with regret from your own life choices, Samichlaus Claus’s 14% ABV doppelbock is best left split amongst friends and sipped like a cordial.
The post No Corporate Beer Reviews: Samichlaus Classic appeared first on Decibel Magazine.