Month: March 2021

Lita Ford recently completed recording her long-awaited new solo album. The follow-up to 2012’s “Living Like A Runaway” is once again being helmed by guitarist/producer Gary Hoey, who contributes some guitar playing to the disc, alongside the rest of Ford’s backing band, which continues to consist of guitarist Patrick Kennison, drummer Bobby Rock and bassist Marty O’Brien.

In a new interview with Full In Bloom, Rock stated about the recording process for Lita’s new LP: “She wound up kind of doing it backwards. Gary Hoey, the guitarist, is producing this record, like he did her last record. And what they would do is she would fly out to his studio in New England there, and they would build some tracks, work on some tracks. And they would put a drum machine track, but they would lay keeper guitar and bass and vocals and all that on top of these drum machine parts. And then, two or three months later, they may get together for another song, or who knows when, with their schedules. But long story short, they had a full album’s worth of material, everything finished, except that it had these programmed drums. And the drums sounded fine, but it wasn’t like real live drums. I said, ‘Listen, Lita, we’ve played together seven, eight years now. You’ve gotta let me come in there and put some real shit on here.’ And she agreed. It was challenging [last] year because she was ready to track drums in early 2020, and then studios were shut down and all that [due to the coronavirus pandemic]. So we would up finding a good room in Minneapolis where our booking agent has a really cool studio — private studio, but really high-tech and really cool. So we went there in September. So the drums were the last thing on it. And so the record’s done, and they’ve got Max Norman on board, and he’s starting to mix now. I haven’t heard the latest update, but it’s at the mixing stage now.”

Asked about the musical direction of the new Lita material, Rock said: “It’s arena rock. She’s got some ballad kind of things on there — different shit — but it’s big guitars and great melodies. It’s cool. I think people will dig it.”

This past January, Lita told SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that her new album contains “some of the best guitar playing” she has heard “in decades.” She added: “And I’m not blowing smoke up my own ass, but Gary and I just nailed it with the guitar playing on this record.

“I’m a huge fan of people like Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter from Alice Cooper’s ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’. I mean, there’s some really great duo guitar players — [JUDAS PRIEST’s] Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing… Those guitar players don’t exist anymore — they just don’t exist. If you wanna hear them, you have to go back in time a little bit and dig them up into your favorite library, favorite music catalog. But I think Gary and I really nailed it on this next record. It’s, like, oh my God. I’m crying — I’m just, like, crying listening to this stuff. It’s so badass.”

In 2019, Lita told The Metal Voice that her new album will include a song called “Monsters”, which was inspired by infamous cult leaders like Charles Manson and David Koresh. “It’s just really dark and nasty stuff — brainwashing people and all the stuff [Koresh] did, and got all those people to drink Kool-Aid,” she said. “But then again, it could be someone like your attorney, or it could be someone like your mom who is the monster in your life. It could be your manager. You never know who the monster in your life is gonna turn out to be.”

Ford’s last release was 2016’s “Time Capsule”, a collection of songs that were recorded by Lita in the past, but never before made available.

Five years ago, Lita released an autobiography, “Living Like A Runaway: A Memoir”, via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

An analog, tube-driven boost pedal centered around a 12AU7.

New Zealand tech death band Blindfolded and Led to the Woods keep their music dizzying, disorienting and ultimately, violent.
The post Track Premiere: Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – “The White of the Eyes” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Pop star Kesha has shared a video of her wearing a VOIVOD t-shirt.

The singer, who celebrated her 34th birthday on Monday (March 1), took to her Facebook page the following day to post a six-second clip of her sporting a shirt from the legendary Canadian metal innovators. She wrote in an accompanying message: “Animals I love u thank u so much for all the birthday messages!! I miss u”.

Back in 2011, Kesha said that she did not see herself as an average pop star because she loves the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle too much.

She said: “I’m not a submissive, perfect pop princess, that’s for damned sure. I do think I have a rebellious, metal-loving rock chick inside of me.

“I’ve always loved rock ‘n’ roll. It’s about subversion. I’m talking to millions of people around the world about having sex freely, getting drunk and partying. It’s fun for me to be riding that line of appropriateness.”

Shortly before the release of her last studio album, 2020’s “High Road”, Kesha told Billboard that BEASTIE BOYS’ “Licensed To Ill”, QUEEN’s “Jazz” and Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life” were among the albums that influenced her. “My brain is a wild place,” she said.

A little over four years ago, Kesha was photographed rocking a 1988 METALLICA “Damaged Justice” tour t-shirt while leaving a Miami hotel.

In 2011, Kesha made a guest appearance on Alice Cooper’s “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” on a song called “What Baby Wants”.

“I met [Kesha] at the Grammys,” Cooper told Billboard, “and I immediately looked at her and went, ‘This girl is not a pop diva. She’s a rock singer.’ She would much rather be the female Robert Plant than the next Britney Spears.”

Animals I love u thank u so much for all the birthday messages!! I miss u ☯️??

Posted by Kesha on Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Shortly after leaving BLACK SABBATH in late 1982, Ronnie James Dio formed his own solo project with former SABBATH drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Jimmy Bain and young guitarist Vivian Campbell, and recorded the debut DIO album, the now-classic “Holy Diver”. Asked in a new interview with Metal Express Radio if he and his bandmates felt any pressure making their first LP after he and Ronnie exited SABBATH, Appice said (see video below): “No. As a matter of fact, it was all fun. We were nuts. We did all this work at Sound City [studios], and they let us destroy the building. They had games — like pinball games — and we used to open ’em up and put things in there so you never lose the ball, and wrecked the soda machines and the candy machines. They let us do everything we wanted to do in there. It was kind of like every night at seven o’clock — that’s when we started — it was boys’ night at the boys’ club. We’d go over there and smoke pot, and they’d make drinks and we would write and create. There were never any songs written; we did everything in the studio. And it was just a great, great happy time. And we didn’t think twice about, ‘This has gotta be as good as SABBATH.’ We weren’t thinking like that. We were just going in, doing what we do. The band sounded great together. We got Vivian on guitar and Jimmy on bass, and we just let it flow. It was all natural, organic kind of thing. And there was never any pressure, ‘It’s gotta sound as good as SABBATH or better,’ or whatever we could do. And it just came together. And when people heard it, they flipped out — like ‘Holy Diver’ and ‘Stand Up And Shout’. The band was on fire — totally on fire.”

Originally issued on May 25, 1983, “Holy Diver” has been hailed by critics as DIO’s best work and a classic staple in the heavy metal genre. The LP was certified gold in the U.S. on September 12, 1984 and platinum on March 21, 1989.

“Holy Diver” re-entered The Billboard 200 chart in late May 2010 — shortly after Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer — at No. 149 and bowed at No. 11 on Pop Catalog.

Ronnie passed away of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 at the age of 67.

Dio was renowned throughout the world as one of the greatest and most influential vocalists in heavy metal history. The singer was diagnosed with cancer in late 2009. He underwent chemotherapy and made what is now his final public appearance in April 2010 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles.

Ronnie’s long-awaited autobiography, titled “Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography”, will be released on July 27 via Permuted Press.

Appice is currently promoting the upcoming deluxe editions of BLACK SABBATH’s “Heaven And Hell” and “Mob Rules” albums.

“This song is a vehicle for that feeling and relates it back to dissociation and being lost in strange dimensions and dreams.”
The post Track Premiere: Zao – “Croatoan” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

KISS frontman Paul Stanley has told AXS TV’s “At Home And Social” that he was “so excited and so thankful” to receive his second COVID-19 vaccine last month. “We have so much to be excited about with these vaccines, but people have to realize that the vaccine means nothing until you put it in your arm,” he said (see video below). “So people who are just waiting around for herd immunity, you’ve got a long way to wait. And you want me to take the shot, but you want the benefit. Go get your shot.

“I’d like [to see] everybody just get back to a normal life,” the 69-year-old continued. “A half a million people have died; it’s been devastating for so many people. For us who are inconvenienced, it’s minor compared to what some people have gone through.”

Stanley also once again criticized people who are defiantly skeptical of mask wearing, saying they are posing a risk to themselves and to all those around them.

“I’d love to get back out and play [shows with KISS], and I think everybody would love to get their masks off,” he said. “But let’s face it: part of the problem is that we haven’t adhered properly to what should be common sense restrictions. And as long as there are people who are negating what’s being told to them, this [coronavirus crisis] is gonna extend further.

“We’re supposed to be a community. And if there’s the slightest possibility that it would be the right thing to do, shouldn’t you do it?” he asked rhetorically.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll showed almost a third of U.S. adults are undecided on whether they’ll get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The poll, released last month, found that 31 percent of adults are going to “wait until it has been available for a while to see how it is working for other people” before receiving the coronavirus vaccine.

America’s two main vaccines have shown 95% efficacy against the coronavirus.

As of late January, the CDC discovered that only 11 per 1 million people experienced severe reactions from the Pfizer vaccine, and only 2.5 per 1 million people who received the Moderna dose.

In recent months, Stanley repeatedly slammed people who refuse to wear a mask in public spaces to protect others from possible coronavirus infection. In December, the KISS frontman took to his Twitter to write: “Frankly, I’ve had enough of the self-serving & politically motivated mask misinformation & BS about this pandemic. I don’t want to hear about ‘my freedom’ & ‘my rights’ that then infringe on so many other’s. Those ‘rights’ & choosing to gather at Thanksgiving got us here. Wake up”.

Three months earlier, he tweeted out a CNN article about an Idaho pastor who was hospitalized with COVID-19 after calling himself a “no-masker” during a service and repeatedly questioning the veracity of coronavirus case reporting. Stanley added in a message: “YOU figure this one out. I can’t. A hoax and non-existent virus has put this guy in the ICU. If you’re so concerned with a loss of your freedom , Why do you stop at red lights? Don’t let the government control you!! Drive right through!!! PUT YOUR MASK ON.”

In early July, Stanley shared a photo of him and his then-eight-year-old daughter Emily wearing masks, and he included the following message: “Sunset at the beach with Emily. WEAR YOUR MASK! Don’t listen to conspiracy theorists or graduates of The Internet University Of Medicine. While the credible authorities and experts continue to learn more about Covid 19 they remain in agreement about safety protocols. End of story”.

Three months ago, Stanley’s KISS bandmate Gene Simmons also criticized ongoing complaints about having to wear masks in the middle of a deadly pandemic, telling the “Jeremy White Podcast”: “Believe what you want, but don’t hang out around me. Okay? If you’re a denier, stay in the shadows. I don’t wanna be around you. ‘Cause I don’t wanna catch what you’ve got. It’s not about you. It’s not whether you believe it or not.”

John Cooper, the frontman and bassist for the Grammy-nominated Christian rock band SKILLET, says that he is “happy” to see New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo “get bitten by his own complete love of injustice.”

Cuomo, who is facing intense scrutiny after three different women came forward with sexual-harassment allegations, called for then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to submit to a lie-detector test amid allegations of sexual assault in 2018.

During Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation hearings in 2018, Cuomo issued an official statement that called the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford — who accused Kavanaugh of drunkenly attacking her when they were high-school students in 1982 — “very compelling.”

“Here is one basic fact that badly hurts Judge Kavanaugh: Why won’t he take a polygraph? Dr. Ford did,” Cuomo said at the time.

“If he does not take a polygraph test, it is the ultimate, ‘he said, she said.'”

Cuomo later called Kavanaugh’s confirmation “a sad day for this country.”

On Wednesday (March 3), Cooper posted the latest episode of his “Cooper Stuff” video podcast in which he addressed the fact that Cuomo is now himself facing sexual harassment allegations.

“A few years ago, his law with the Kavanaugh thing was different,” John said (see video below). “With Kavanaugh, he was, like, ‘Oh, believe women. All women should be believed. Kavanaugh shouldn’t be allowed to run. He should be kicked off of the Supreme Court nomination, whatever, because believe all women’ — that’s his standard. It’s an unjust standard.

“Now, listen, I’m agnostic when it comes to the Kavanaugh situation,” Cooper continued. “I don’t know if he did it or not — I can’t possibly know if Kavanaugh did it. That’s not even the point. The point is that having a standard of justice that says whatever a group of people say, whatever women say, or whatever — fill in the blank — whatever men say, whatever white people say, whatever brown people say, whatever black people… whatever your standard is, whatever they say is right. Believe all men, believe all women, believe all this — that is not justice. How do we know this? Because we have a Bible that tells us what just law would be.

“So a couple of years ago, Andrew Cuomo upheld unrightousness, upheld an unjust law — upheld an unjust standard that now is coming back around to bite him in the booty — in the heinie. That’s what I called it when I was a kid — the heinie.

“Am I happy about it? Yes,” Cooper admitted. “I actually don’t want to see us create a new law, but am I happy to see this guy get bitten by his own complete love of injustice?

“Christians, we can’t be afraid to be extreme when it comes to this. He believed in injustice. He upheld injustice. He said things that are unjust. How do I know they’re unjust? Because I just think it in my brain out of some neutral, natural law? No. I know it’s unjust because the Bible gave me what the law is, and the Bible tells me what wisdom is because of it.

“He held up unjustice [sic]. Why? Because he’s injuring himself. Because he doesn’t love wisdom, he doesn’t search after wisdom, so he’s injuring himself. And if he doesn’t love the law of God, then he loves death.

“Christians, we can’t be afraid to say things like this,” John added. “He loved injustice, and now he’s gonna get bit by that own standard. And I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty giddy about it. But I will also say this, because we have to be people of principle. Christians have to be people who love justice. So I will say this: I do not want to see the standard, I do not want to see him lose his job just because somebody said a thing. Again, I’m agnostic. I’m not saying I don’t belive the women. Actually, I do believe the women — just to be fair — but somebody saying a thing doesn’t mean that he should lose his job; it doesn’t mean he should go to jail. We have to uphold a righteous standard. Otherwise, what it means is that we love injustice.

“So I hope that encourages you Christians — love justice, love righteousness and love wisdom. But remember that you’re not going to love any of those things if you do not fear God and if you do not sit out at the gates, wanting to hear wisdom every single day.”

Cooper’s recently released debut book, “Awake & Alive To Truth (Finding Truth In The Chaos Of A Relativistic World)”, tackles the reigning philosophies of our day of post-modernism, relativism, and the popular view of the goodness of man-and combats these viewpoints by standing on the absolute truth of the Word of God. “Awake & Alive To Truth” answers some of the most asked questions in modern culture. Cooper takes readers on a journey through personal stories, the doctrine of original sin, the authority of scripture, the danger of trusting your emotions, and ends with the greatest news possible: God wants to rescue you from the chaos and the darkness and bring you into his glorious light.

Re-examining the 1974 self-titled debut from the curiously named Heavy Metal Kids to find out just how heavy metal they are.
The post Primitive Origins: Heavy Metal Kids’ ‘Heavy Metal Kids’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.