In a new interview with RockSverige, guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen (THE WINERY DOGS, MR. BIG, POISON) spoke about what Eddie Van Halen meant to him. He said: “That would be the first and one of the few guitarists that I tried to emulate as a young student of the instrument. I will never forget the first time I heard him, and this is how out of touch I was. We were driving home, my parents had the radio on and I was in the back of the car and the guitar solo to ‘Beat It’ [from Michael Jackson] came on. That guitar started playing, and my dad was about to turn off the car, and I screamed and said ‘No!’, and I scared him. From there, I needed to find out who the hell was playing that. I had never heard a guitar sound like that. I had been around and I’d seen concerts and I was a [BLACK] SABBATH fan and a SCORPIONS fan, but I had never heard a guitar sound like that. That’s how I got turned on to VAN HALEN and from there I bought every record they made.”

Kotzen went on to confirm that he hadn’t come across the band VAN HALEN before hearing “Beat It” for the first time. “Isn’t that crazy?” he laughed. “I’ll never forget, one of my young friends and I were looking through a magazine and and we saw a picture of VAN HALEN and said, ‘Look at these guys. They ruined their guitars. Why would they paint their guitars like that?’ I didn’t say that. My friend pointed to the picture and said it, and we didn’t know who VAN HALEN was. We knew who BLACK SABBATH was, we knew the SCORPIONS, but we didn’t know about VAN HALEN.”

Kotzen is currently promoting SMITH/KOTZEN, his electrifying collaboration with IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith. The project’s self-titled debut album will be released on March 26 via BMG.

Recorded on the Turks & Caicos Islands in February 2020, produced by Richie and Adrian and mixed by Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, this nine-track opus is described in a press release as “a consummate collaboration between these two highly respected musicians who co-wrote all the songs and also share lead vocals and trade off on guitar and bass duties throughout the record.”

Eddie died last October at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

The iconic VAN HALEN axeman passed away from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Eddie Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

Aside from recluses, few would say they’ve enjoyed the forced seclusion related to the pandemic. It’s been a social-life crippling nuisance at best, and an anxiety and depression fueling catalyst that’s led to many suicides on the more extreme, opposite end of the spectrum. Live music fanatics have suffered, obviously, but the impact upon the hardcore community is significantly more pronounced compared to numerous other genres. That’s because live music is the absolute focus of hardcore music and culture. For the better part of 20 years, TERROR has been one of hardcore’s guiding lights, so a new album from the LA-based crew is reason for celebration amongst the hardcore community, especially considering how good the new effort is.

“Trapped In A World” isn’t necessarily “new,” though. The 12 songs on hand are rerecorded tracks from TERROR’s first two studio releases — “Lowest of the Low” (2003) and “One with the Underdogs” (2004) — material that stems from the era of former guitarist Todd Jones. Jones is primarily known as the ringleader of the caustic band NAILS that he formed following his departure from TERROR, but with NAILS seemingly being on a hiatus of sorts due to lineup upheaval, Jones has reconnected with his former TERROR colleagues. “Trapped In A World” is a precursor for the band’s upcoming studio album, which Jones will produce and which will include songs written drummer Nick Jett, singer Scott Vogel (BURIED ALIVE) and Jones.

Here TERROR breathes new life into their classic songs by the entire band recording the album in Nick Jett’s Los Angeles studio, playing together, with the intent of capturing a raw and organic rehearsal room quality. The hardcore heavyweights have successfully achieved that objective as the tracks entail the magical coarseness and grit we’d expect from old rehearsal tapes from days of yore. Vogel’s vocal contributions differ somewhat from the original versions in term of timbre, and the songs are more uptempo, as the case often is in the live setting. “Out Of My Face” and “Crushed By The Truth” are incredibly more venomous compared to the original recordings.

No one knows when “normalcy” will comfortably return. But in the meantime, for starving hardcore fans, TERROR has offered “Trapped In A World”, a nice slab of steak that should keep the dog at bay, for now, anyway. The release will certainly stir anticipation for the upcoming full-length of new songs, what will surely be one of 2021’s hardcore highlights. And with NAILS currently on ice, TERROR seems like the perfectly logical new focus of Todd Jones’s immediate attention musically.

THE OFFSPRING singer Bryan “Dexter” Holland and guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman spoke to Matt Pinfield of KLOS’s “New & Approved” series about the band’s upcoming tenth studio album, “Let The Bad Times Roll”, which will arrive on April 16 via Concord Records. The follow-up to 2012’s “Days Go By” was produced by Bob Rock, who also worked on the band’s last two LPs.

Asked what it’s like working with Rock again, Noodles said: “Bob’s the best. He’s like a member of the family now. This is studio where we recorded the record. Bob will fly out from wherever he’s at in the world and spend a few weeks with us here. We show up in the morning, have some coffee, talk about, ‘Hey, how’s your family? Can you believe what’s going on in the world?’ We do that for 15, 20 minutes, and then we get in here and we start tracking, start going over whatever we’re going over that day. It’s just a blast working with him. He pushes us, but he does it in a way that doesn’t feel like he’s mad at us or anything, or dissing us. He pushes us in ways that are just absolutely positive.”

According to Dexter, working with a producer who is also a musician and knows the craft is an invaluable asset when making an album. “For sure, because sometimes you have to get into the nuts and bolts of why doesn’t this work,” he explained. “Is it because the guitar sounds different? Or you need a different kind of strings on a guitar, or a different model of guitar — something like that. And [Bob] really speaks that language. He knows more about guitars and guitar sounds than anybody I know — way more than us. So it’s really great to be able to work with him as a musician. And also, you just feel a different kind of kinship like that, because you know that he’s been where you are — he’s been the guy in the band, and he wants it to succeed in the way that you do.”

Holland, Wasserman, drummer Pete Parada and new bassist Todd Morse wrote and recorded “Let The Bad Times Roll” in the last few years at various locations, including the band’s studio in Huntington Beach, California.

In December, THE OFFSPRING released the official music video for its Rock-produced cover version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”, a rock song originally sung by Darlene Love and included on the 1963 seasonal compilation album “A Christmas Gift For You” from Phil Spector.

Last April, THE OFFSPRING jumped on the “Tiger King” bandwagon by recording a cover version of THE CLINTON JOHNSON BAND’s “Here Kitty Kitty”, a song made popular by Joe Schreibvogel — better known as Joe Exotic, the “Tiger King” — through the Netflix docuseries.

Two years ago, bassist Gregory “Greg K.” Kriesel, who hasn’t performed with THE OFFSPRING since 2018, filed a federal lawsuit against Noodles and Dexter alleging trademark infringement and breach of partnership agreement over the rights to THE OFFSPRING name. In response, Holland and Wasserman filed a cross-complaint, denying basically everything Kriesel alleged and asking the court to appoint “three disinterested appraisers to appraise the fair value” of Kriesel’s shares of THE OFFSPRING.

THE OFFSPRING has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, won countless awards, and has toured consistently, playing more than 500 shows in the last decade alone. Their music has had a lasting impact across film, television, and video games.

Photo credit:: Daveed Benito

Nixil’s new album is “a poetic attempt to relate to the unrelatable, a documentation of personal processes of initiation …”
The post Full Album Stream: Nixil – “All Knots Untied” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson, who reunited in 2019 after six years apart, have once again admitted that they are in no rush to jump back into the studio to make a new BLACK CROWES album. The revamped band is currently scheduled to embark on a summer tour to mark the 30th anniversary of its 1990 debut album, “Shake Your Money Maker”, but there are no plans for THE BLACK CROWES to record new music.

“Rich and I, our focus, like anyone else, is to get through this pandemic and get back to where we can do the thing we love [to do],” Chris told AXS TV’s “At Home And Social” (see video below). “I miss going to see music as much as I miss playing. And I know all of our friends for many, many decades and in many different places around the world who are musicians, [and] none of us are working. But our main focus is to tour. We’ve been writing a bunch of new songs, and we’ll get around to making a record, but we’re in no hurry to do that. We wanna get on the road. We wanna do this tour. We put together an amazing band, and we wanna go out and do it.”

“Shake Your Money Maker” was re-released in multi-formats sets on February 26 through UMe/American Recordings. Chris and Rich Robinson, with original producer George Drakoulias, oversaw the creation of the re-release. The 4LP and 3CD Super Deluxe versions include the original album, remastered; three never-before-heard studio recordings; two previously unreleased demos from the band’s early incarnation as MR. CROWE’S GARDEN; B-sides; a spectacular, high-energy 14-song unreleased concert recorded in their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia in December 1990; reproductions of an early MR. CROWE’S GARDEN show flyer, setlist and tour laminate; a four-inch CROWES patch; and a 20-page book with liner notes by David Fricke.

The new lineup of THE BLACK CROWES played two concerts in November 2019 — in West Hollywood, California and in New York City.

Joining Chris and Rich Robinson in THE BLACK CROWES’s current incarnation are EARTHLESS guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, former TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND bassist Tim Lefebvre along with ONCE AND FUTURE BAND members Joel Robinow on keyboards and Raj Ojha on drums.

Icon of Sin don’t want you for dead. But they’re gonna get you check out their eponymous new single of classic heavy metal from their forthcoming debut LP.
The post Track Premiere: Icon of Sin – “Icon of Sin” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

METALLICA has teamed up with Burton, the world’s leading snowboard manufacturer, to create a capsule collection. The assortment includes t-shirts, jackets, snowboards, beanies, backpacks, a Wheelie Double Deck travel bag built to look like a road case and other accessories, all with a retail price of between $50 and $600.

In 1977, Jake Burton Carpenter founded Burton Snowboards out of his Vermont barn and dedicated the rest of his life to snowboarding. Since its founding, Burton has played a pivotal role in growing snowboarding from a backyard hobby to a world-class sport by creating groundbreaking products, supporting a team of top snowboarders and pushing resorts to allow snowboarding. Today, Burton designs and manufactures industry-leading products for snowboarding and the outdoors. As a sustainability leader within the outdoor and winter sports industries, Burton is the world’s first snowboard company to become a certified B Corporation. Privately held and owned by Donna Carpenter, Burton’s headquarters are in Burlington, Vermont, with offices in Austria, Japan, Australia, Canada and China.

The announcement of METALLICA’s collaboration with Burton comes just two days before the band is due to perform on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”.

This is not be the first time that METALLICA will have appeared on a talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert. In May 2017, METALLICA performed the song “Now That We’re Dead” on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”. Prior to that, the band sat down for an interview and performed on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” in September 2013. More recently, METALLICA performed “Enter Sandman” on “A Late Show: Super Bowl Edition”, a live special edition of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”, on February 7.

KISS frontman Paul Stanely has called for “kindness” and “justice” in the wake of an alleged attack on a Korean American man last month in the heart of Los Angeles’ Koreatown in an incident that police are investigating as a hate crime.

27-year-old Denny Kim told CNN he was waiting for a friend on February 16 when he was approached by two men who started yelling racial slurs and then struck him in the face.

“All of a sudden they just started saying very terrible things,” Kim said. He said he also heard the men say, “You have the Chinese Virus, go back to China,” before he was attacked.

On Saturday, Stanley took to his Twitter to share a CNN article about the incident, and he included the following message: “SO DEMORALIZING. We share so much in common and there is so little below the surface that differentiates us. NO ONE should fear violence or persecution for what they look like, where they were born or how they choose to live. KINDNESS…. AND JUSTICE.”

A spokesman with the LAPD confirmed to Fox News on Thursday that detectives are investigating the assault on Kim as a possible hate crime,

The two suspects, described by police as Hispanic males in their 30s, have not been found.

Two months ago, Stanley defended his right to speak out on political issues, saying that he voices his opinions as a “proud citizen” of a country he loves deeply. A few days earlier, he expounded on his reasons for being so vocal on social media, writing: “My profession should’t disallow that as we all have that right so many have fought & died protecting. I also understand that the people who would like me to stay quiet are those who don’t share my views. Sorry.”

SO DEMORALIZING. We share so much in common and there is so little below the surface that differentiates us. NO ONE should fear violence or persecution for what they look like, where they were born or how they choose to live. KINDNESS…. AND JUSTICE. https://t.co/ie4Aumup9T
— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) February 27, 2021