AVENGED SEVENFOLD's M. SHADOWS Mourns Death Of Longtime Vocal Coach RON ANDERSON

AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows is mourning the passing of his longtime vocal coach Ron Anderson who died earlier today at the age of 75. No cause of death has been revealed.

M. Shadows shared the news of Anderson’s passing in a social media post on Sunday. He wrote: “This morning my dear friend and vocal coach, Ron Anderson, passed away.

“In 2004, after ‘Waking The Fallen’ I was having trouble with my vocal folds. I had a surgery to remove blood vessels that were bleeding into the folds and causing stiffness. I heard about Ron’s students (Axl [Rose], [Chris] Cornell, Janet Jackson) and decided to go meet with him about helping me get through the recovery. What ended up happening was a beautiful friendship with a man I deeply admired. He would do anything for his students. If we were in Europe or Asia and I needed him before a show he would get up at all hours, jump on FaceTime and warm me up. He did this for everyone.

“In 2018, while he was on tour with The Weeknd for Coachella, he came to my house for dinner with his life long business partner and friend Pipe. We had many friends there celebrating life and drinking wine. We got nice and drunk and expressed how much we loved and respected each other. We all hung out until the sun came up and it was a memory I will never forget. I’m glad I have that. He was easily one the most important people in my career and I spent more time in lessons with him then maybe even my own family. He was a master of his craft, and if there is an entity up there, he’s teaching them how to do rolled r’s and scales to improve their voice.

“Rest in power friend.

“Love, M”.

Prior to the making of AVENGED SEVENFOLD’s 2005 album “City Of Evil”, Shadows turned to Anderson when he was specifically looking to add a more gritty, raspy tone to his voice. Shadows worked with Anderson for several months on this before “City Of Evil” was recorded.

Anderson told Kerrang! magazine in a 2015 interview: “[M. Shadows] had a cyst, and when they removed the cyst, he had lost five notes from his voice. I helped him get those notes back, and we also worked on his technique. He started studying with me every day for five or six months, and the tone started changing as everything was coming back. He had a style in mind that he wanted to achieve for ‘City Of Evil’]. I helped him towards it, but he knew what he wanted, so I simply showed him how to do it. He was incredibly determined, and I’d say he’s one of the best singers in the world right now.”

Two and a half years ago, ALTER BRIDGE sunger Myles Kennedy praised Anderson to Music Radar for teaching him a 300-year-old operatic practice known as the Bel Canto technique, citing the experience as “the best money” he had ever spent.”

Other musicians Anderson has worked with include Kylie Minogue, Alicia Keys, Pink, Mary J. Blige, Adam Levine (MAROON 5), Brandon Boyd (INCUBUS), Richie Sambora (BON JOVI) and Bret Michaels (POISON).

According to Ron’s official web site, his method had “saved countless voices that have been damaged by incorrect approaches and from what doctors have told them to be irreparable damage.” It had “saved many from undergoing unnecessary vocal cord surgery after an injury from constant abuse.”

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Watch DREAM THEATER's JAMES LABRIE Sing A Cappella Version Of Christmas Classic 'Let It Snow!'

Video of DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie belting out an a cappella version of “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, the 1948 Christmas classic made famous by Frank Sinatra, can be seen below.

LaBrie sang a couple of lines from the track while filming a new video message on Cameo, which lets users hire celebrities to record brief, personalized video messages about virtually any topic.

Cameo reportedly features more than 20,000 celebrities — from musicians and actors to drag queens and from YouTubers to Olympic gold medallists — who, for fees from $1 to $2,500, will offer video messages that mention another person by name. Happy birthday messages are common, as are baby announcements, but some celebrities have also recorded messages for Cameo users looking to quit their jobs or ask a potential date to a prom. The price for a video is determined by the celebrity.

LaBrie charges $75 for each of his Cameo videos for personal use $300 for a video for business use.

LaBrie’s new solo album “Beautiful Shade Of Gray”, is due on May 20, 2022 via InsideOut Music. Unlike previous LPs “Elements Of Persuasion” (2005), “Static Impulse” (2010) and “Impermanent Resonance” (2013), which were written and recorded as a collaboration with LaBrie’s songwriting partner for over a dozen years, Matt Guillory, the new effort was tracked with Scottish musician Paul Logue, bassist and founding member of the multinational melodic metal band EDEN’S CURSE.

DREAM THEATER’s latest LP, “A View From The Top Of The World”, was released in October. It was produced by guitarist John Petrucci, with engineering and additional production by James “Jimmy T” Meslin and mixing and mastering by Andy Sneap. The artwork for “A View From The Top Of The World” was created by longtime DREAM THEATER collaborator Hugh Syme (RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, STONE SOUR).

DREAM THEATER — comprised of Petrucci, LaBrie, Jordan Rudess, John Myung and Mike Mangini — was in the middle of a sold-out world tour in support of its 2019 last release “Distance Over Time” and the 20th anniversary of “Scenes From A Memory” when a global pandemic brought the world to a stop. The musicians found themselves at home, with LaBrie in Canada and the rest of the group in the States. As fate would have it, they’d just finished construction on DTHQ (Dream Theater Headquarters) — a combination live recording studio, rehearsal space, control room, equipment storage, and creative hive. With LaBrie in Canada, he initially wrote with the band via Zoom on a monitor in DTHQ. In March 2021, he flew down to New York, quarantined, and recorded his vocals face to face with Petrucci.

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PRIMAL FEAR's MAT SINNER Has Spent Last Eight Months In Eight Different Hospitals

PRIMAL FEAR bassist and producer Mat Sinner says that he has spent the last eight months in eight different hospitals.

The German 57-year-old German musician, whose real name is Matthias Lasch, shared his health update four months after PRIMAL FEAR announced it was scrapping all of its previously announced shows for 2021 and 2022 “due to a serious illness issue.”

Earlier today (Sunday, December 19), Mat took to his personal Facebook page to write: “After 8 Months in 8 different hospitals, target – home Feb 12,2022.” He added: “Light a candle for me on Xmas, we have so many things to do”.

When PRIMAL FEAR first announced its concert cancelations, it said that it was “not able to foresee when the band will be able to continue what the love the most: playing shows.”

Last April, PRIMAL FEAR released a five-track single called “I Will Be Gone”. Also made available was the official music video for the title track, featuring a guest appearance by former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen.

PRIMAL FEAR’s 13th studio album, “Metal Commando”, was released in July 2020 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was produced by Sinner and mixed by Jacob Hansen.

Formed by Sinner in 1997 as an outlet for vocalist Ralf Scheepers (who had left GAMMA RAY and was a rumored candidate for the then-open JUDAS PRIEST vocal spot, but was considering early retirement from metal), PRIMAL FEAR has emerged as one of the most consistent European metal bands, rarely straying from its core PRIEST-styled power metal sound.

Sinner also leads his long-running namesake hard rock band SINNER, which released its latest album, “Santa Muerte”, in 2019 via AFM Records.

For more than a decade, Sinner has been the musical director and co-producer for the prestigious European arena tour “Rock Meets Classic”.

Status of my Odyssee
Xmas – After 8 Months in 8 different hospitals, target – home Feb 12,2022

Light a candle for me on Xmas, we have so many things to do ❤️

Posted by Mat Sinner on Sunday, December 19, 2021

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Watch THE AGONIST's First Live Performance In Nearly Two Years

Team Montreal Metal has uploaded video of THE AGONIST’s December 17 concert at Théâtre Corona in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event, which also included headliners CRYPTOPSY along with THE GREAT SABATINI, NECROTIC MUTATION and BURNING THE OPPRESSOR, marked THE AGONIST’s first live performance in nearly two years.

THE AGONIST released a new EP, “Days Before The World Wept”, in October via Napalm Records. The effort was produced by Christian Donaldson, who has previously worked with BEYOND CREATION, CRYPTOPSY and DESPISED ICON.

In an interview with Heavy Music HQ, singer Vicky Psarakis stated about the making of the EP: “I can’t say the process was any different than usual. The only thing that was difficult was crossing the border and having to quarantine to record my vocals. I’m the only person in the band that resides in the USA and there were serious travel restrictions at the time.”

Vicky went on to say that “Days Before The World Wept” is a conceptual tale inspired by real-life experiences. “It talks about a character’s journey through afterlife and the many stages until they’re brought back to this earth,” she said. “It’s a fictional story, filled with my own personal emotions and beliefs, and the lyrics are written in a way that are very relatable, even if you have no idea what the general concept is.”

THE AGONIST is:

Vicky Psarakis – Vocals / Piano
Danny Marino – Guitar
Pascal Jobin – Guitar
Chris Kells – Bass
Simon McKay – Drums

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Ex-MORBID ANGEL Guitarist ERIK RUTAN Says Something Got 'Lost In The Translation' On Controversial 'Illud Divinum Insanus' Album

During an appearance on “The Jasta Show”, the video podcast hosted by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta, guitarist Erik Rutan, who was in MORBID ANGEL from 1993 until 1996 and then again from 1998 until 2002, spoke about his engineering work on MORBID ANGEL’s controversial 2011 album “Illud Divinum Insanus”. The LP incorporated industrial and electronic elements into MORBID ANGEL traditional death metal sound and was so widely panned that it plagued the band’s momentum long after its release.

Rutan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “To me, communication is key, and I think with Trey [Azagthoth, guitar] and with the ‘Illud’ record, I think there was a lot of probably miscommunications and stuff on what he wanted or what David [Vincent, bass/vocals] wanted or maybe the engineer that mixed the record, what he thought. And sometimes things get lost in the translation.

“I don’t know if you knew this, but I actually recorded five songs of drums on the record and engineered it,” he continued. “I didn’t record the songs that were maybe deemed as — I don’t know what the word would be — off the beaten path. I recorded ‘Nevermore’ and some of the death metal songs. I only recorded five.

“How that ended up happening was Gunter [Ford, MORBID ANGEL’s manager] had contacted me about recording the drums. And if I’m not mistaken, I was, like, ‘Dude, I only have X amount of time because MADBALL’s coming in [to record in my studio] next week.’ … So I remember when I heard the five songs that I recorded, the raw drums with the guitars, I was, like, ‘Wow! This is fucking awesome.’ And then they recorded the other six songs with Mark Prator, drums, and then they did the guitars and everything else somewhere else. But I only tracked five songs of drums. But when I heard the final record, I didn’t even recognize ’em because there was all this extra stuff and the mix was a little bit different than I would envision. So I was, like, ‘Oh, shit. I think I recorded drums on that song.’

“So that’s a perfect example of lost in translation of Trey having a vision, maybe David having his own vision, just coming back into the fold, and then the engineer has his own vision,” Erik added. “And I don’t know because I’m not either of those guys but I assume that when I heard some of the raw stuff and what the final product was… Like I said, I only recorded five songs, but the raw drum tracks and the raw guitar on those five songs were killer. It was some of the other songs and maybe the mix of the songs and the added elements that threw it off to be, like, ‘Wow! This is really different for MORBID ANGEL.'”

In a 2019 interview with Jorge Botas of the “Metal Global” radio show, Vincent spoke about the mostly negative fan reaction to “Illud Divinum Insanus”, which marked MORBID ANGEL’s first CD to feature his vocals since “Domination”.

“Listen, I’ll be the first person to admit and agree with you that there is some very weird stuff on ‘Illud’,” he said. “But when you are in a band scenario and there’s things that are included, then you make the best of them, and that’s what I attempted to do. Now, I think there’s some fantastic material on that record, but some of the more… well, I guess, ‘techno’ stuff, that seems to be what some people were most annoyed about. And yeah, it’s weird. I agree it’s weird. But when a song is presented to me, it’s my job to do the best I can with it, and that’s what I did.

“I think there’s a lot of good stuff on that record, and then, yes, there is some weird stuff on that record, but, well, it is what it is. And on we march,” he continued.

“Everybody has the things that they like and don’t like, and I’m the same, and you’re the same, and everyone’s the same when it comes to preferences. We like who we like. Is everything gonna have the same reaction as the last thing? No. Of course not. But there you go.”

Vincent left MORBID ANGEL in 2015. He has since been replaced by a returning Steve Tucker, who previously handled bass and vocals on MORBID ANGEL’s “Formulas Fatal To The Flesh”, “Gateways To Annihilation” and “Heretic” LPs.

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Watch GEORGE LYNCH Rejoin DOKKEN On Stage At Legendary Whisky A Go Go

George Lynch rejoined DOKKEN on stage Friday (December 17) and Saturday night (December 18) at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California to perform three of the band’s classic songs: “Kiss Of Death”, “When Heaven Comes Down” and “Tooth And Nail”. Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

Lynch had previously played the same three songs with DOKKEN on several occasions this past summer and earlier this fall, including in Glenside, Pennsylvania; in Waukegan, Illinois; in Ashland, Virginia; in Moline, Illinois; and in Sunbury, Pennsylvania.

This past March, Lynch was asked in an interview with Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com if there has been any talk of more shows featuring the reunited classic lineup of DOKKEN. He responded: “I’ve actually been talking to Don [Dokken] a little bit, and we’re both in agreement that that should probably happen — meaning some kind of a meaningful reunion done in the right way, carefully and with proper preparation and time and rehearsals and not just throwing it out there like we did last time.” George went on to say that “the obvious choice” to replace DOKKEN’s recently retired drummer “Wild” Mick Brown would be Mick’s brother Steve, who can be heard playing alongside Lynch and ex-DOKKEN bassist Jeff Pilson on the latest THE END MACHINE album, “Phase2”.

In a separate interview with Alamo True Metal, Lynch reflected on the last time DOKKEN’s classic lineup — Dokken, Lynch, Pilson and Mick Brown — reunited for a short Japanese tour in the fall of 2016. The trek marked the first time in 21 years the four musicians had hit the road together.

“I think I was slightly disappointed in it — not overwhelmingly disappointed, but I have some regrets,” he said. “I wish we had prepared more. And I know we all feel that way. ‘Cause of the logistics, we all had things we had to do right after the time we had allotted and beforehand. So we just were barely able to even pull it off with everybody else’s pre-existing commitments. The fact that we got to do it at all was… you know, we were fortunate for even being able to pull it off. So we were a little underprepared, I feel. And yes, we were offered a good amount of money to go to Japan and do some other things, so it made it just kind of a no-brainer.”

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band’s reunion tour, “Return To The East Live (2016)”, was made available in 2018. In addition to the Japanese performance, the set included footage from the classic lineup’s only U.S. show in September 2016 at Badlands in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as newly recorded acoustic reworkings of “Heaven Sent” and “Will The Sun Rise”. Also featured on “Return To The East Live (2016)” was “It’s Just Another Day”, the first DOKKEN track featuring the group’s classic lineup since 1997’s “Shadowlife”.

Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group’s current lineup — including bassist Chris McCarvill, guitarist Jon Levin and drummer BJ Zampa (HOUSE OF LORDS).

DOKKEN recently finished recording a new studio album, tentatively due next year via Silver Lining Music, the label owned by Thomas Jensen, one of the founders of Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival. It will mark the group’s first disc since 2012’s “Broken Bones”.

Over the past four years, Lynch has appeared on recordings by THE END MACHINE, KXM, ULTRAPHONIX and SWEET & LYNCH. He released his first-ever full-length instrumental album, “Seamless”, in August via Rat Pak Records.

Last show of the year! Dokken live at the Whisky A Go-Go with George Lynch! ??

Posted by Dokken on Sunday, December 19, 2021

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Triple-Vaccinated QUEEN Guitarist BRIAN MAY On His COVID-19 Battle: 'It's Like The Worst Flu You Can Imagine'

QUEEN guitarist Brian May has opened up about his battle with COVID-19, saying his experience was akin to going through “the worst flu you can imagine.”

One day after going public with the fact that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Brian shared a video message on his social media in which he spoke in detail about how he believes he contracted the disease and describing all the symptoms he went through at various stages in his recovery.

Brian said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “[My wife Anita and I] been incredibly careful and really not going anywhere. We’ve been very hermit-like in a way for the past — what is it? — 20 months or so. And then last Saturday, we decided we would go to a birthday lunch. And we thought, ‘Ah, this is the last social function we will go to — not that we go to many anyway. We’ll chance it. Everybody’s triple-jabbed. Everybody’s gonna be with one of these things which says you’re negative on the morning — a lateral flow test. So it seemed to be set up very safely. But, of course, you kind of know you’re taking a risk… It seemed like a safe situation. You have your negative tests and you’re triple-jabbed. So what could possibly go wrong? We thought we were in a kind of safe bubble, so we didn’t wear masks. Not so. So it’s worth knowing that. Now, if it had been a board meeting where everybody’s sitting [a few feet] apart, maybe that wouldn’t have been the case, but the new strain, the new variant seems to be so incredibly transmissible, I’m not even sure that would be safe; this thing is spreading at such an alarming rate.”

He continued: “Saturday was when the party happened. Sunday, Anita felt a little bit of a cough. I felt kind of all right — maybe a little [sniffly]. Monday, we both started to have some kind of symptoms. And we thought maybe we got some flu or whatever. We were testing the whole time and we were testing negative. And Tuesday, I hear that I think eight people from the party had already tested positive and had the COVID in their systems. And I realized that they had been testing positive up to this point as well. So Tuesday night we tested ourselves once more and we were both positive. So it took that long — Saturday night to Tuesday — for the test to show anything. But I would guess we were infective all along that time. So, unfortunately, the test doesn’t give you immunity from spreading it. Luckily, we pretty much kept away from everybody ’cause we had a bit of a feeling. So hopefully we didn’t infect anybody else, although I’m not sure. We’re now quarantining.”

May went on to say that he “two horrendous days” after testing positive for COVID-19. “I have to say it’s like the worst flu you can imagine, really,” he said. “And I felt very despondent. But, yeah, we were both poorly. Me particularly, I was pathetic, I didn’t wanna talk to anyone, didn’t wanna see anyone, couldn’t get out of bed. I was just filled with a mess in my head and all the flu symptoms, a terrible cough. Now, Saturday — this is day seven — and I feel pretty good. I felt pretty good the last couple of days. So this thing does go away.”

Brian also urged everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19, including getting a booster dose as soon as they are eligible.

“There are so many people in hospitals right now who weren’t jabbed who are right on the line between life and death,” he said. “And I can’t emphasize to you enough — this is not the response that my body would have made on its own. It’s making this response because I’ve had three Pfizer jabs. And I beg you and implore you to go and get jabbed if you’re not already, ’cause you need the help. I lost one of my very best friends to COVID very early on; in six days, it killed him. It could have done me the last six days, but it didn’t because of the jabs.

“I despair seeing these people protesting against the vaccine, protesting against their rights being violated ’cause they might have to wear a mask,” he continued. “Jesus Christ, guys, our parents fought through wars and had their civil rights knocked away.

“All anyone is asking is for you to play your part to try and unite against this invader. And it’s a nasty thing, and it isn’t finished yet.”

The risk of infection, grave illness and death remains significantly lower among the fully vaccinated, health experts have repeatedly said.

In recent months, there has been an unprecedented number of hospitalizations all over the world, particularly among the unvaccinated, specifically because of COVID-19. Among these COVID-driven hospitalizations, many patients are being elevated to the intensive care unit, where they may require the support of a ventilator to assist with breathing difficulties.

May, who lives in London, had in the past attacked U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, telling The Independent: “I think it would have been impossible for anyone to make worse decisions than Boris. At every point he did too little too late. Hundreds, if not thousands, of our relatives died because of bad advice and because of the bad decisions that Boris made with [former health secretary Matt] Hancock and those other people.”

He continued: “If [Johnson] had taken the precautions of shutting down the borders a year earlier, we wouldn’t have been in the situation we were. And the fact that he’s willing to trade lives quite openly for economic gain, I find horrific… completely unacceptable.”

May compared it to “Winston Churchill going out in his garden and seeing the plans overhead and the bodies and going ‘the bombs are dropping! The bombs are dropping! Should we hide? No, actually let’s think of the economic consequences of hiding…'”

According to the BBC, the U.K.’s daily coronavirus cases record was broken for a third consecutive day on Friday, with another 93,000 reported.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said Friday’s 26,000 new cases were having an impact on staff absences in the city’s emergency services.

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DE LA TIERRA Feat. SEPULTURA's ANDREAS KISSER: Third Album Recording Sessions Underway

Latin American metal supergroup DE LA TIERRA has entered Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, Florida to record its third album for a tentative early 2022 release. Photos and video footage from the recording sessions can be found below.

DE LA TIERRA features Brazilian guitarist Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA), Argentine singer/guitarist Andres Gimenez (A.N.I.M.A.L.), Cuban/Mexican drummer Alex Gonzalez (MANÁ) and Puerto Rican bassist Harold Hopkins (PUYA).

DE LA TIERRA’s last release was a standalone song called “Distintos” which came out in October 2020. At the time, Gonzalez described the track to “In The Trenches With Ryan Roxie” as an “amazing song that, I think, fits perfectly with the times and what’s going on right now.”

Gonzalez also talked about the addition of Hopkins to DE LA TIERRA. Hopkins replaced Argentine bassist Sr. Flavio (LOS FABULOSOS CADILLACS), who left the band in 2017.

“Harold, he’s an amazing, amazing bass player, and he’s from a very, very awesome band from Puerto Rico called PUYA,” Alex said. “And the great thing about PUYA is that they do a fusion of metal but with salsa and with music from the island. And it’s awesome. And they sing in Spanish and they sing in English. So, talk about coming full circle — you [also] have [members from] Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.”

Alex added: “The new album, because Harold is also bringing a lot of also Latin influence, Caribbean influence… It’s so heavy but at the same time… You’ll see.”

DE LA TIERRA’s second studio album, “II”, came out in November 2016 via Sony Music Latin. It followed the band’s 2014 self-titled debut which received rave reviews and support from critics and fans.

DE LA TIERRA found massive success following the release of its first LP. The record allowed the band to tour and share the stage with bands like METALLICA and SLIPKNOT and perform at festivals such as Rock In Rio, Santiago Gets Louder and Vive Latino as well as gain a strong following of fans throughout North and South America.

For their follow-up record, DE LA TIERRA worked with renowned producer Ross Robinson (SLIPKNOT, KORN, DEFTONES, THE CURE, SEPULTURA) who helped the band craft a furious set of songs.

“II” was recorded in Los Angeles, where DE LA TIERRA laid down the music live to analog tape machines. Each of the band’s members has a unique, individual style that Robinson helped blend and balance with their influential roots for a rich music experience that transcends language barriers.

Día 2 de trabajo, @delatierraofficial
@haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @gimenezandres @andreaskisser @alexgonzalezelanimal @criteria_recording_studios @stanleysound @sonymusiclatin

Posted by De La Tierra on Friday, December 3, 2021

Dia 5 @delatierraofficial @alexgonzalezelanimal @haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @gimenezandres @andreaskisser @criteria_recording_studios @sonymusiclatin @stanleysound vídeo ? @mikefasano

Posted by De La Tierra on Monday, December 6, 2021

Día 6 @delatierraofficial @alexgonzalezelanimal @gimenezandres @andreaskisser @haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @stanleysound @mikefasano @sonymusiclatin @criteria_recording_studios #musica #union #pasión #latinos

Posted by De La Tierra on Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Día 12 final de las guitarras de base trabajo y sonido demoledor @andreaskisser @gimenezandres @stanleysound @…

Posted by De La Tierra on Monday, December 13, 2021

Dia 13 grabacion de bajos @stanleysound y el poder de Harold @haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @delatierraofficial @andreaskisser…

Posted by De La Tierra on Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Dia 16 comenzamos las voces de Andreas @stanleysound @andreaskisser @gimenezandres @alexgonzalezelanimal @…

Posted by De La Tierra on Friday, December 17, 2021

Día 17 Andres comenzó las voces @stanleysound @gimenezandres @delatierraofficial @andreaskisser @alexgonzalezelanimal @haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @sonymusiclatin

Posted by De La Tierra on Saturday, December 18, 2021

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MACHINE HEAD's MATT ALSTON Shares 'Imperium' Drum Playthrough Video

Drum-cam footage of MACHINE HEAD drummer Matt Alston playing the song “Imperium” at his studio can be seen below. He wrote in a message accompanying the YouTube release of the video: “After a long time coming…I’m finally able to start recording play-throughs in my studio!! Songs are played/recorded in ONE continuous take. That means there are: NO Cuts/Drop-ins; NO Replacements/Samples (all drum audio is LIVE from the Drum Mics); Only basic EQ/Compression/Reverbs used! If it’s not ‘perfect’….that’s just real life!”

The British-born Alston (DEVILMENT, EASTERN FRONT) and Polish guitarist Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka (DECAPITATED) joined MACHINE HEAD in time for the 25th-anniversary tour for the band’s classic debut, “Burn My Eyes”, which kicked off in Germany in October 2019.

MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn spoke to France’s HEAVY1 about how the new members landed the gig. “We were doing auditions for a while, and Vogg’s audition just fucking blew my mind — it was so fucking tight and fucking accurate,” he said. “He sent over [a recording of] ‘Imperium’ as his first song just as a test. We always had all the dudes do a sound test, just to make sure the levels are good and stuff. I was, like, ‘Oh my God! This dude is playing ‘Imperium’ better than I can right now.’ [Laughs] It was crazy. And we ended up talking. Super-nice guy. Matt, same thing. We flew him out, jammed with him, and he killed it.”

Each show on MACHINE HEAD’s last tour was described in a press release as “a three-hour musical extravaganza,” comprised of two parts: part one featured a battery of MACHINE HEAD’s modern classics, such as “Imperium”, “Halo” and “Now We Die”, featuring Flynn and bassist Jared MacEachern performing alongside Kiełtyka and Alston. Part two featured “Burn My Eyes” played in its entirety for the first time ever, with original drummer Chris Kontos and guitarist Logan Mader joining in.

Kontos left MACHINE HEAD before the release of the band’s second album, 1997’s “The More Things Change”, and was replaced by Dave McClain.

Mader contributed to two MACHINE HEAD albums, the aforementioned “Burn My Eyes” and “The More Things Change”, before exiting the group and being replaced by Ahrue Luster and, later on, Phil Demmel.

McClain and Demmel both left MACHINE HEAD in October 2018.

MACHINE HEAD is currently working on its new album at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California with producer Zack Ohren for a tentative summer 2022 release. At least several of the LP’s tracks — including “Become The Firestorm”, “Arrows In Words From The Sky” and “My Hands Are Empty” — were recorded with drummer Navene Koperweiss (ENTHEOS, WHITECHAPEL, ANIMALS AS LEADERS).

MACHINE HEAD will team up with Sweden’s Viking metal overlords AMON AMARTH for a co-headline “Vikings And Lionhearts” European arena tour in September and October 2022. Support on the trek will come from THE HALO EFFECT, the new band featuring five former members of IN FLAMES: Peter Iwers, Daniel Svensson, Jesper Strömblad, Niclas Engelin and Mikael Stanne.

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LZZY HALE Says Making New HALESTORM Album Was 'Most Difficult, Maddening And Rewarding Process Yet'

HALESTORM has finished mastering its new album for an early 2022 release. The follow-up to 2018’s “Vicious” was once again produced by Nick Raskulinecz who first helmed HALESTORM’s 2017 effort “ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs eP” and was previously described by singer Lzzy Hale as the group’s “fifth member.”

On Saturday (December 18), Lzzy shared a photo of her listening to the new HALESTORM album after it was mixed and mastered in its entirety the previous night. She added in an accompanying caption: “I’m so grateful to my entire team for their incredible hard work, passion and patience. I’m also grateful for my bandmates that stepped up to make this album magic. I can’t wait to unleash this beast into the world. Holy fuck.”

A day earlier, Lzzy posted a few pictures of her and guitarist Joe Hottinger “right after” they “got dropped off at home after living in a tour bus for weeks.” She wrote: “We are listening to final mixes of our new album today. We dove right into listening and creating song sequences to best tell our story. I’m so proud of this album. It was the most difficult, maddening, and rewarding process yet. Y’all ain’t ready for this beast.”

Earlier this month, Lzzy told Brandy Richey of Pittsburgh’s 105.9 The X radio station about HALESTORM’s upcoming LP: “During the time that we were writing it, I got a lot of inspiration by just the stories and just people living their lives and survival stories and literally just conversations that I’ve had with these people. So, in turn, I feel like even just as an artist, it was a really neat way for me to find myself again and see myself in them, but also in turn I feel like everyone’s going to see some of themselves on this album. So, yeah, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Last month, Lzzy told the 105.7 The Point radio station about the musical direction of the new HALESTORM material: “This album is absolutely a banger. It’s on eleven. We have really just kind of exceeded all of the energy that has come before on these albums, both technically, music-wise, vocally, drum, lyric-wise. I think because of the roller-coaster ride when we were making this record, and just through the pandemic and all the different phases of that, we just kind of looked at each other, like, if the future is unknown and we don’t know whether we’re actually going to be out and playing these things, everything has to be, like I said, at eleven. It’s HALESTORM elevated.

“It was kind of funny. My bass player, Josh [Smith], he was showing some new songs to his parents. And his dad is, like, ‘Wow. You really just grabbed on to your sound.’ And I’m, like, ‘We have a sound?’ [Laughs] I didn’t really think about it that way before. But, yeah, it’s very us.”

According to Lzzy, she and her bandmates recorded the new HALESTORM album in a different way. “This is the first time that we’ve ever had dual producers,” she explained. “We went back with Nick Raskulinecz [who helmed ‘Vicious’]. And then I ended up doing my vocals with Scott Stevens from THE EXIES. He’s like a brother from another mother with me. We’ve written together before, and we’ve known each other for probably just shy of a decade now. He and I, we produced and did all the vocals for [HALESTORM’s recently released single] ‘Back From The Dead’ with each other, because I went out to L.A. And then we ended up sending it to Nick, and Nick’s, like, ‘This is just absolutely amazing. We have to do every song this way.’ So we kind of did it differently. We ended up with the bare bones of a demo. I ended up finishing all of my vocals — like dunzo — before we ended up building the track musically. So it’s kind of like building a pyramid upside down. But it ended up really just having this different energy, because what we were able to do with the lyrics and melody and all the vocals being done would really accentuate all of that — matching the theme to whatever I was singing about, but also just kind of really supporting the vocals musically when we went in to do the guitars and drums and bass. It’s so crazy — it definitely has this very forward, very aggressive nature to it because of the way that we did that.”

“Back From The Dead” was released in August. The official music video for the track, directed by Dustin Haney (Noah Cyrus, Luke Combs) and produced by Revolution Pictures, features Lzzy and the rest of the band in a morgue and cemetery somewhere between life and death.

Lzzy and her brother Arejay formed the band in 1998 while in middle school. Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by Smith in 2004.

In December 2018, HALESTORM was nominated for a “Best Rock Performance” Grammy Award for its song “Uncomfortable”. Six years earlier, the band won its first Grammy in the category of “Best Hard Rock/ Metal Performance” for “Love Bites (So Do I)”.

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A post shared by LZZY HALE (@officiallzzyhale)

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A post shared by LZZY HALE (@officiallzzyhale)

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