Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner reveals he has solo material recorded and ready to go

The guitarist used Covid downtime to put together some of his own material and is now looking for a label

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VIO-LENCE Releases Official Music Video For 'Let The World Burn'

San Francisco Bay Area thrashers VIO-LENCE have released the official music video for “Let The World Burn”, the title track of their upcoming EP. The five-song collection, their first original release since 1993’s “Nothing To Gain”, will be available worldwide on March 4 via Metal Blade Records.

“Let The World Burn” marks the third video in VIO-LENCE’s catalog, following “World In A World” (off 1990’s “Oppressing The Masses”) and the 2020 single “California Über Alles”, a cover version of the DEAD KENNEDYS classic. The new video was directed by Robert Graves of Defiant Digital Productions.

Frontman Sean Killian states: “The memory of you will be forever forgotten when the extinction event arrives and fire becomes God. When the world burns and all is destroyed, all you know, all you believe will be forgotten forever. Let the world burn!”

Guitarist Phil Demmel adds: “I hadn’t written a lot of thrash in the past 17 years or so, but being the main songwriter for the band over the years, I wanted that sound, I wanted that mid-’80s raw thing, but I also wanted to capture our signature notes and structures and stuff like that.”

Filling out the band’s ranks on “Let The World Burn” alongside Killian and Demmel are original drummer Perry Strickland, former OVERKILL guitarist Bobby Gustafson and former FEAR FACTORY bassist Christian Olde Wolbers.

“Let The World Burn” was recorded with Juan Urteaga at Trident Studios (TESTAMENT, MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS), with mixing handled by Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, MESHUGGAH) and Grammy Award-winning engineer Ted Jensen (ALICE IN CHAINS, DEFTONES, PANTERA).

Killian previously commented: “For 34 years, a creation called ‘Eternal Nightmare’ has been making memories for people around the world. Now, it is time to create some new memories in 2022. I am very proud of the new music we created, and we are fortunate to have worked with some very creative people. Nothing too polished here, unless fragments of glass and broken razor blades are what you consider polished. I love to create, and we hope your heads explode when you hear the new VIO-LENCE.”

“Let The World Burn” track listing

01. Flesh From Bone
02. Screaming Always
03. Upon Their Cross
04. Gato Negro
05. Let the World Burn

In a recent interview with Mark Kadzielawa of 69 Faces Of Rock, Demmel stated about “Let The World Burn”: “We had decided to write [some new material]. I didn’t wanna do a full-length record. Ten tunes is just… I’ve got a baby at home. I’ve got a five-year-old who’s just the highest of energies and exhausting. So my time is very valuable and I just don’t have the time to write a full-length record. I just felt, let’s take little baby steps with the band and see if we can write a couple of tunes — maybe do three or four. It ended up being a five-song EP.”

Regarding the songwriting process for “Let The World Burn”, Demmel said: “Man, in the 16 years that I was in [MACHINE HEAD], it had thrash moments, but towards the end, there wasn’t. And I had written thrash songs. I always have riffs, but it was exciting to… Fuck, [I’m writing an] all-out thrash song. I wanted to capture some moments of ‘Eternal Nightmare’ [VIO-LENCE’s 1988 debut album], and there are some signature VIO-LENCE sounds that I wanted to perpetuate and continue. But also, since I’ve been playing thrash for a bit too, my right hand has gotten a lot stronger. I’m playing the best that I’ve ever played. And so I’m pushing the riffs. These aren’t songs that you’re picking up at Guitar Center and just playing in Guitar Center; they’re pretty hard to play. I wanted to push everybody in that sense.”

He continued: “I needed [Perry] to be able to accept this material in a language that I could speak with him. And I had to teach him how to understand my language. And it was hard. And it was grueling. It was me and him in a room… Mostly, this record musically was written… I wrote the music but with Perry for… 99 percent of it was just me and him in a room fucking hammering it out. So I’m super proud of him for what he played on the record. It’s some of his best playing. It’s definitely my best playing that’s ever been recorded. Towards the end of my time in [MACHINE HEAD], I wasn’t tracking rhythms, so it’d been a long time since I really tracked a metal record. I did a BPMD record and tracked those, but fuck, this is a thrash record, so tracking the rhythms was something refreshing and super cool to me. We did it with Juan Urteaga in his spot, and he’s awesome to work with. I had a great time. It was just a great experience recording with Perry. And I kind of let Sean do his own thing ’cause he had his vocals down. Sean is just destroying it on these songs, man; his voice is so unique. And nobody sounds like him. It’s sinister, man. ‘Cause he had a real high register that he was singing in back in ’88, and there’s moments of that, really, now. But it’s dark, man — he’s singing dark. And I fucking love it. I love his lyrics. He’s the favorite lyricist that I’ve ever worked with. He’s smart and he’s witty and he’s colorful with what he does. I thoroughly enjoy his lyrics.”

VIO-LENCE released three studio albums between 1988 and 1993. The group reunited soon after Demmel left MACHINE HEAD in late 2018.

The band performed its first comeback concert in April 2019 at the Oakland Metro in Oakland, California and spent most of the ensuing months playing select shows in the U.S. and Europe.

Although MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn was part of VIO-LENCE’s classic incarnation and played on the band’s debut album, “Eternal Nightmare”, he wasn’t approached about taking part in any of the comeback shows.

Killian underwent a successful liver transplant surgery in March 2018. The year before, Killian was diagnosed with stage four liver cirrhosis, which was caused in part by a genetic condition called hemochromatosis.

VIO-LENCE’s last album, “Nothing To Gain”, was recorded in August 1990, but wasn’t released until 1993.

Photo credit: Gene Ambo

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Best modeling amps 2022: Recreate iconic guitar tones with these top amplifier picks

We take a look at the best modeling amps from Boss, Fender, Blackstar and more

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Track Premiere: Night Eyez “Sunset”

Jason Hartman (Vanishing Kids) trips into the digital fantastic on new song “Sunset”. New album out March 18 on Bright As Night Records.
The post Track Premiere: Night Eyez “Sunset” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE Announces Rescheduled Dates For First Leg Of 'Public Service Announcement' Tour

Last month, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE postponed the start date of its much-anticipated “Public Service Announcement” to this summer. The North American leg of the trek was originally slated to begin in March 2020 before it was rescheduled several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The trek will now kick off on July 9 in East Troy, Wisconsin.

The 19 RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE shows that were supposed to take place between March 31 and May 23 will now take place in early 2023. The new dates are as follows:

Feb. 22 – Las Cruces, NM – Pan American Center
Feb. 24 – El Paso, TX – Don Haskins Center
Feb. 26 – Glendale, AZ – Gila River Arena
Feb. 28 – Glendale, AZ – Gila River Arena
Mar. 03 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
Mar. 05 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
Mar. 07 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
Mar. 09 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
Mar. 11 – Vancouver, BC – Pacific Coliseum
Mar. 13 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
Mar. 15 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
Mar. 17 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre
Mar. 19 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
Mar. 20 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
Mar. 22 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford Premiere Center
Mar. 28 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
Mar. 30 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
Apr. 01 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Apr. 02 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena

Support on the trek will still come from RUN THE JEWELS

All tickets for the moved dates will be honored. Fans who would like a refund have until March 15 to do so and should contact their point of purchase.

The upcoming tour will mark the first time the reunited quartet — Zack De La Rocha, Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford — has hit the road together since 2011.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE last played together at L.A. Rising and has resisted calls for a reunion, with vocalist De La Rocha previously believed to be the lone holdout. Guitarist Morello and his fellow RAGE bandmates Commerford (bass) and Wilk (drums) have since teamed up with PUBLIC ENEMY’s Chuck D. and CYPRESS HILL’s B-Real in the similarly styled PROPHETS OF RAGE.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE recorded three original studio albums and one set of covers before breaking up in 2000. The group reformed in 2007 but only played sporadic gigs and never a full tour.

Posted by Rage Against The Machine on Monday, February 14, 2022

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ALBUM REVIEW: Stew – A Will Away

A stew is a hearty wintertime meal. It’s filled to the brim with warmth, conjuring up reminders of home when home seems far away. But to be in a stew…

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Why You Should Try Reamping

Welcome to another Dojo! This time I’m going to show you how to reamp your guitar and explore some creative ways you can re-amps other tracks as well (soft synths, vocals, drums, etc.). In my earlier column “Why Guitarists Shouldn’t Diss DIs,” I mentioned the benefits of using a DI for creative recording. If you have a DI box, dust it off! You’ll need it when I show you how to get more out of your DI-recorded guitar and bass tracks by reamping them into your pedals and amps to capture new perspectives and even add some new reverberant spaces. Tighten up your belts, the Dojo is now open.To begin, you’re going to need a reamp box such as the Radial JCR Studio Reamper ($229 Street) and most likely a TRS-to-male XLR cable (like the Hosa HSX-003, $11 Street). I like passive re-amp boxes because they don’t require external power and are easy to move around. Some would argue that passive models loose signal strength, which is true, but how many boost/overdrive pedals do we guitarists have? At least one, right? Put one after the reamp box and before your amp. Boom. Problem solved, and you can drive your amp even harder. Otherwise, you’re going to shell out more dinero for active reamp boxes, which isn’t really necessary, and I like the inherent lo-fi nature of this process.You can also route any track’s output in your DAW to your reamp box and really start going berserk.Reamping is a two-part endeavor. The first part involves using a DI box to record the guitar directly into your DAW. If you’re unsure how to do this, I recommend going online and reading my Dojo article mentioned above. It’s very easy and straightforward. The second part involves routing the DI-recorded guitar track out of your DAW and into your reamp pedal. Depending on your interface, you might need the TRS-to-male XLR cable previously mentioned.Look at Fig. 1 and do the following: Plug the XLR end of the cable from your audio interface’s out into the input of your reamp box. Now use your regular guitar cable and connect the output of your reamp box to the input of your amp. Place a microphone in front of your guitar amp, plug that into your interface, and record-enable that track. When you hit playback, the DI track will play back through your amp, and you will be recording the amp. You’re now re-amping! You can make new recordings each time you change amp settings or mic positions.For even more craziness, check out Fig. 2. You can add any (and all) pedals (even entire pedalboards) into the signal chain. Get creative. But wait, there’s more!You can also route any track’s output in your DAW to your reamp box and really start going berserk. Try your lead vocal, the background vocals, keys, and drums (especially drum machines) and listen to how it sounds. Reamping also gives you the ability to manually tweak pedal knobs and make dynamic parts that are really changing as the track plays. Try playing with the times and feedback amount of your delays. Fun!Finally, depending on how much you are driving your amp, you could keep it clean, move the mic further away from the speaker, and start capturing more of the sound of your room. I like to do this on drum machines. It puts them in a real space. Specifically, your space. No reverb plug-in can get that! As always, I invite you to come by my website to hear and see these concepts in action. Until next time, namaste.

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KELLY OSBOURNE Calls SLIPKNOT's SID WILSON Her 'Soulmate', Says She Is 'Deeply In Love'

Kelly Osbourne, the 37-year-old daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, says that she is “deeply in love” with her boyfriend, Sidney George Wilson, better known as the mask-wearing turntablist for heavy metal group SLIPKNOT.

Earlier today (Monday, February 14), Kelly shared several photos on Instagram of her and Wilson, and she captioned the post: “After 23 years of friendship I can’t believe where we have ended up! You are my best friend, my soulmate and I am so deeply in love with you Sidney George Wilson.”

Last month, a source told People that Osbourne and Wilson, who is eight years her senior, recently took their relationship to the next level after more than two decades of knowing each other.

“Kelly and Sid met when his band was touring with Ozzfest in 1999,” said the source, referring to the music festival founded by her parents. “They have remained friends since. They are very happy together.”

In late January, Osbourne revealed that she carries around a big pillow of Wilson when she travels. Kelly shared a photo on Instagram Story of herself posing with a large, screen-printed pillow of Wilson’s face, and she captioned it: “Everywhere I go I take my baby with me.” She also shared a quote on her Story, tagging Wilson on the slide.

“&& so there’s this boy, And the way he laughs makes me smile, And the way he talks gives me butterflies, And everything about him, makes me happy,” the quote read.

Kelly split from her cinematographer boyfriend Erik Bragg last October year after one year together.

In a 2018 interview with PureGrainAudio, Wilson spoke about his evolution into a turntablist. He said: “My grandma had a piano or keyboard in her house. She would play church songs and stuff like that. I would tinker around on that when I was younger, and she bought me a couple keyboards. One of them had lights on the keys that would light up when you were supposed to hit the keys. I had a bunch of cards that you would put in the keyboards that had all these classical songs, so I kind of learned to play those a little bit when I was a little kid. But there was just some other shit that I was fiddling with because I was interested in a lot of different noisemakers. My grandma used to have a lot of harmonicas around the house from her husband, my grandfather. I used to fuck around with those when I was a kid, too.

“I tried all different kinds of stuff,” he continued. “I messed around with drums. I tried the saxophone. Then I really liked bass guitar; I latched on to that big time. Then writing, doing poetry, and then around junior high, I started writing some raps. Then when I started DJing, I had a bass guitar that an ex-girlfriend had given me. When I was out of town DJing, she came and took the guitar back and told my mom she could have it back or something. [Laughs] So then I just had the turntables and focused all my energy into the turntables big time… I tried to be in the background more, making beats, producing, which is good for my skills… At some point, I started doing that again and I redeveloped back into hip-hop.”

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Watch SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS Perform Entire '4' Album Live At Studios 60

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS performed their new album, “4”, in its entirety for a concert, “Live At Studios 60”, which aired this past Friday, February 11 live and free on the Slash YouTube and Facebook. The performance was immediately followed by a live question-and-answer afterparty with Slash, exclusively on YouTube Premium.

“4” was released on February 11 via Gibson Records in partnership with BMG, “4” is Slash’s fifth solo album and fourth overall with his band featuring Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass, vocals) and Frank Sidoris (guitar, vocals).

In October, SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS released the official music video for the LP’s first single, “The River Is Rising”, shot on location in downtown Los Angeles with Gibson TV director Todd Harapiak.

For “4”, Slash and the band traveled across the country together to Nashville, Tennessee and recorded the new album at the historic RCA Studio A with producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, John Prine, Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile), revealing a stunning new sound and style all captured live in the studio. Cobb shared the band’s desire to lay down the tracks live, in the studio including guitar solos and vocals — a first for the group.

The band’s previous albums over the last decade — “Apocalyptic Love”, “World On Fire” and “Living The Dream” — have continued on an upward trajectory, all achieving Top 5 Billboard charting debuts in the U.S. and reaching the Top 10 on 12 major charts across the globe. To date, the three SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS albums have now garnered 10 consecutive Top 5 Radio singles, spawned sold-out world tours, and have earned Slash and the band the best critical acclaim of their career with their latest album “Living The Dream” (2018) singled out by the Los Angeles Times, Classic Rock, Guitar World, Loudwire, LA Weekly, and more, as their best songs to date.

The new album “4” has the added history-making distinction of being the first-ever album to be released on the new Gibson Records label, which is headquartered in the iconic American instrument brand Gibson’s hometown of Music City, Nashville. In light of the 30-year partnership between Gibson and the Grammy Award-winning Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Slash, it makes sense the new SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS’ album “4” was released via Gibson Records.

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS kicked off a North American headlining tour on February 8, in Portland, Oregon. The trek will hit 28 major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Dallas, Austin, Houston, and more, before wrapping up March 26 in Orlando, Florida.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Ascent From The Mundane – Near Death Condition

Following an eight-year hiatus, the self-described ‘bleak death metal’ band NEAR DEATH CONDITION have returned with their new collection of grating slabs of misanthropy, titled Ascent From The Mundane. It’s…

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