TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy spoke to the “Let There Be Talk” podcast with rock and roll comedian Dean Delray about his upcoming first-ever solo album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I started talking about it and recruiting guitar players to write songs for me, to put together a record. And the first thing I tell ’em is I don’t want it to be a TESTAMENT record; I don’t want it to be heavy and thrash. I wanna do something that has the vibe of the old vinyl records, when you’re doing it the one take, the big, clean, dry rock sound, where you can hear every instrument and not have sampled kicks and sampled everything under the sun and just have it real raw. I wanna do that. I wanna put it on and [have it] sound like an old UFO record or THIN LIZZY record or something.”

He continued: “I think I have about six guitar players I spoke to so far to [help me] write — anywhere from Gary Holt [EXODUS, SLAYER] to Mark Morton from LAMB OF GOD. I even chatted with Joe Bonamassa. Just all kinds of different guys. And it’s always just, ‘Just write something that’s not me.’ I wanna be challenged. I want it to rock. I want it just to have that old feel.”

Billy previously discussed his plans for a solo album during a summer 2021 appearance on the “Not These Two Fucking Guys” podcast. At the time, he said: “Well, it started [to be] in the works, but then things just kind of got held up. I was recruiting some guitar players over the last six months to write a record with me, and I was gonna use a different guitar player on every song to help me write songs. Mark Morton, I’ve talked to him; he wants to work [with me]. I also want Gary Holt to write some songs with me. Glen Drover [ex-MEGADETH] is gonna write some songs… I haven’t approached my cousin Stef [Stephen Carpenter] from the DEFTONES yet, but I’m gonna see if he’ll wanna write a song with me. I tried to reach out to Joe Bonamassa [to see if he wants to] write a song with me.”

As for the musical direction of his solo LP, Billy said: “I want it to be different. And what I’ve told all these guys [is] that I wanna do a solo record, but I don’t want it to resemble TESTAMENT; I wanna do something different. And the direction I wanna go is the old classic vinyl-sounding records — just real, clean and dry and big. Real tones — not compressed digital stuff. I want it to be classic sounding, but have it rock, have it bluesy. Have some metal, but just have it where [it doesn’t sound like what people are used to hearing from me].”

He continued: “I’ve done these compilation records for this Cleopatra label, and I’ve done anything from Michael Jackson to Christmas songs. And every time people hear it, they go, ‘Man, that’s kind of cool.’ And I was thinking about it — it’s fun to do, and it’s challenging and different. So when I think of a solo record, I want it to be different — I want every song to kind of have its own personality and stand on their own. So that was kind of my goal. If I do a solo record — maybe I’ll do a few, but if I do one solo record, I want it to really be something that [is] challenging to me, different for me and different from [people’s] expectations, when somebody puts it on, [but] that they’ll enjoy it still.

“So that’s what I wanted to do,” Chuck added. “So I’ve been telling [the various guitar players], ‘Just start writing. Put the song together for me. But don’t think metal. Don’t think TESTAMENT. Don’t think the bands you’re in. Just write something cool that’s got a vibe. And give it to me. Let me do my thing on it.'”

Earlier this month, TESTAMENT announced the return of drummer Dave Lombardo to the group’s ranks.

An original member of thrash metal legends SLAYER, Lombardo was the guest drummer on TESTAMENT’s 1999 studio album “The Gathering”, which also marked the first time the band worked with then-up-and-coming British producer/engineer Andy Sneap. “The Gathering” was widely considered to be an improvement over 1997’s “Demonic”, an album that saw Billy employ a more guttural style of vocals and was released at a time when thrash acts as TESTAMENT had fallen out of favor.

In January, TESTAMENT parted ways with its longtime drummer Gene Hoglan. Hoglan originally played drums on “Demonic”, but didn’t stick around long enough to do any touring with the band. He officially joined TESTAMENT in 2011 and played on the group’s last three albums: 2012’s “Dark Roots Of Earth”, 2016’s “Brotherhood Of The Snake” and 2020’s “Titans Of Creation”.

TESTAMENT, EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL played the sole 2021 date of “The Bay Strikes Back Tour” last November at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. The gig took place less than two months after the three bands shared the stage at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento.

“The Bay Strikes Back Tour” was originally scheduled to kick off on October 6 at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California and make stops in Austin, New York, and Detroit before concluding in Oakland. The tour has since been rescheduled to take place in April and May 2022.

Wolves in the Throne Room’s USBM pillar Two Hunters gets its Hall of Fame induction.
The post Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

The third guitar collaboration from Adam Jones and Gibson based on Adam’s prized original Silverburst 1979 Les Paul.The new Adam Jones Les Paul Standard from Gibson pays tribute to what Adam calls “one of my top favorite guitars of all time.” Fans can see Adam and his Les Paul Standard on stage during the world tour for Tool’s blockbuster Fear Inoculum album. Finished in Antique Silverburst, Adam’s new Les Paul Standard has an ebony fretboard with mother-of-pearl trapezoid inlays and Grover Rotomatic tuners with contemporary style buttons. It comes equipped with a chrome-covered Burstbucker one in the neck position and an uncovered DC High Gain Humbucker in the bridge position. The controls are hand-wired with Orange Drop capacitors. The Adam Jones Les Paul Standard features Adam’s signature on the truss rod cover and custom Adam Jones artwork on the back of the headstock and comes with a modern hardshell case.Adam Jones is renowned as the guitarist for the band Tool, as well as his work as a visual artist sculptor, videographer, producer, and special effects designer (Jurassic Park, Terminator 2, Edward Scissorhands, Ghostbusters 2, Batman 2, A Nightmare On Elm Street). Adam was heavily involved in re-creating the new guitar, working with Gibson’s luthiers in Nashville, TN. Utilizing his extensive experience in visual art, special effects and design, Adam Jones is both the director of the majority of Tool’s music videos and creates the visual experience on stage for the band. For the world premiere of the recent Gibson Custom Shop Adam Jones Les Paul Custom, Adam composed and scored a new song “The Witness” and created a special animated short film to the song. Adam Jones Les Paul Standard Antique Silverburst$2,999.00 USD. Learn more at Gibson.com/AdamJonesLesPaul.

FOO FIGHTERS have officially canceled all of their previously announced shows following the death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Earlier today, the band released the following statement: “It is with great sadness that FOO FIGHTERS confirm the cancellation of all upcoming tour dates in light of the staggering loss of our brother Taylor Hawkins.

“We’re sorry for and share in the disappointment that we won’t be seeing one another as planned. Instead, let’s take this time to grieve, to heal, to pull our loved ones close, and to appreciate all the music and memories we’ve made together.

“With Love, FOO FIGHTERS”.

Hawkins died at a hotel in Bogota, Colombia on Friday (March 25). Local officials said an ambulance was sent to the hotel after a man reported having chest pains. The 50-year-old FOO FIGHTERS drummer did not respond to resuscitation efforts and was declared dead, the city’s health department said.

On Saturday, the Colombian attorney general’s office announced that Hawkins had opioids, marijuana and other drugs in his system before he died. A toxicology report showed traces of 10 substances in his body, including anti-depressants, the office said. The statement added that the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences “will conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death” and that it “will continue the investigation and will report the results obtained within the framework thereof in a timely manner.”

FOO FIGHTERS announced Hawkins’s death on their Instagram account. “The FOO FIGHTERS family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the announcement read. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”

The FOO FIGHTERS were scheduled to perform Friday at the Picnic Stereo festival in Bogota but their performance was canceled.

The band played Lollapalooza Chile on March 18 and Lollapalooza Argentina on March 20. They were scheduled to headline Lollapalooza Brasil on Sunday (March 27).

Hawkins has been open about his history of drug use. He overdosed on heroin in 2001 and spent a week in a coma, just four years after joining the FOO FIGHTERS.

pic.twitter.com/RRuEDt67pz
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) March 29, 2022

“Pistol”, a six-episode limited series about the legendary SEX PISTOLS guitarist Steve Jones, will premiere May 31 exclusively on Hulu in the U.S. and on Disney+ in U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

Based on Jones’s 2018 memoir “Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol”, the series from Academy Award winner Danny Boyle, who also serves as executive producer and director, was created by Craig Pearce and written by Pearce and Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Jones, Boyle and Pearce serve as executive producers alongside Gail Lyon, Anita Camarata, Tracey Seaward, Paul Lee, Hope Hartman and Wiip. The series is produced by FX Productions.

“Imagine breaking into the world of ‘The Crown’ and ‘Downton Abbey’ with your mates and screaming your songs and your fury at all they represent,” said Boyle. “This is the moment that British society and culture changed forever. It is the detonation point for British street culture…where ordinary young people had the stage and vented their fury and their fashion…and everyone had to watch and listen…and everyone feared them or followed them. The SEX PISTOLS. At its center was a young charming illiterate kleptomaniac — a hero for the times — Steve Jones, who became in his own words, the 94th greatest guitarist of all time. This is how he got there.”

Anchored by Jones’s memoir, which offers a fascinating new perspective on one of rock’s greatest ever stories, “Pistol” moves from West London’s council estates, to Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s notorious Kings Road SEX shop, to the international controversy that came with the release of “Never Mind The Bollocks”, which is frequently listed as one of the most influential albums of all time. Their single “God Save The Queen” was banned by the BBC and reached No. 1 on the U.K.’s NME chart, but appeared at No. 2 on the official U.K. singles chart, leading to accusations that the song was purposely kept off the top spot. For the only time in chart history, the track was listed as a blank, to avoid offence to the monarchy.

“Pistol” stars Toby Wallace (“Babyteeth”, “Acute Misfortune”) as Steve Jones, Anson Boon (“Crawl”, “1917”, “Blackbird”) as John Lydon, Louis Partridge (“Enola Holmes”, “Medici”) as Sid Vicious, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook, Fabien Frankel (“The Serpent”, “NYPD Blue”) as Glen Matlock, Dylan Llewellyn (“Derry Girls”) as Wally Nightingale, Sydney Chandler (“Don’t Worry Darling”) as Chrissie Hynde, Emma Appleton (“The Witcher”, “Traitors”) as Nancy Spungen, and Maisie Williams (“Game Of Thrones”) as punk icon Jordan.

A year ago, Jones and Cook blasted Lydon for his disparaging comments after he lost a legal battle over the right to use the band’s songs in “Pistol.

Jones and Cook argued in court that an agreement they signed with Lydon meant decisions regarding licensing requests could be determined on a “majority rules basis.”

Lydon, for his part, claimed that the bandmember agreement had not been applied since it was signed more than 20 years ago and that “all decisions” about the use of SEX PISTOLS music and imagery had been made with “unanimous” agreement.

However, a judge ruled that the contract was valid and active, and that the majority of the band could overrule any individual member’s veto.

Photo credit: Miya Mizuno / FX

Crusty Belgian blasters Days of Desolation bring the riffs but no motherfucking Hootie & the Blowfish.
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