Today's Day in Rock
Scott Stapp Denies Plotting To Assassinate The President
(Radio.com) The drama continues for Creed frontman Scott Stapp, whose public image took an unexpected turn when a phone call between his wife and the police leaked to TMZ, where she was heard saying that the singer has been plotting the assassination of Barack Obama.
The secret service is now reportedly aware of the incident and will "take appropriate action." This weekend Stapp defended his behavior and spoke out against the reports on Creed's Facebook page, rather than his own as he has more often been doing.
In the post, Stapp continued to maintain that he's sober and stable, railing against media reports and calling it a "smear campaign." He had this to say about the assassination plot:
"The recent report claiming I am delusional, and claiming I'm a CIA agent with evil intent towards our beloved President is a joke. I'm shocked the press even covered such a ridicules story. My history supporting our troops and this great country of ours should speak for itself."
His post that has since been deleted but you can read it in full, as captured by Consequence of Sound, here.
Duff McKagan and Chris Cornell Part Of Mad Season Reunion
(Radio.com) Though Seattle acts like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden are still thriving, grunge history is marked by a number of bands that have seen death strike and alter their future, including Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Mother Love Bone.
Less storied on this list is Mad Season, originally a side project of Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, who broke up in 1999 following the death of bassist John Baker Saunders , and later saw singer Layne Staley (of AiC) pass away.
The two surviving members of the group, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready and Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin, will reunite January 30 in Seattle with fill-in members Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses. Read more here.
System of a Down Announce First U.S. Tour Date of 2015
(Radio.com) Fear not, because System of a Down's weekend set at KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas won't be their only U.S. show in the near future. The band confirmed Saturday with KROQ that they will make a stop in Los Angeles once again on April 6 at the Forum for the kickoff of their Wake Up the Souls tour.
System of a Down had previously announced the tour last month, noting that it was designed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in Turkey.
"We said we should celebrate the fact that we're here on stage, on the radio telling you about [the genocide]," bassist Shavo Odadjian explained to KROQ. "We got to that level. Let's not mourn 100 years what has already happened. By educating, you raise awareness. By raising awareness, you grow peoples' minds."
"The way we do it, we have our show, and the people that want to take information away from that, and the people who want to just come and enjoy the show also have that freedom," drummer John Dolmayan added.
Read more here.
Evanescence and Tremoni Supergroup Premiere New Song
(TeamRock Radio) A supergroup featuring members of Tremonti and Evanescence have released their debut album and lyric video for their first single. God To Gravity's self-titled debut is out now, and a lyric video for the single Dying Light has been made available.
The group features Tremonti drummer Garrett Whitlock, Evanescence guitarist Troy McLawhorn and Ether Seeds singer Dustin Lowery. Dustin's brother Corey is on bass while guitarist Pat Deeb completes the lineup.
Corey Lowery says: "This is the first time I've been able to do a CD with my youngest brother. Pat Deeb and I started writing this music and we needed a voice that would match it.
"I sent it to Dustin and I think he took it to a new level. Troy McLawhorn and Garrett Whitlock came in and took it to a newer level. There are special guests on it, such as our brother Clint Lowery, Morgan Rose and Matt O'Rourke."
Check out the new song here.
Melechesh Recruit Cavalera, Caggiano and Tolis For New Album
(TeamRock Radio) Max Cavalera, Rob Caggiano and Sakis Tolis all say they're honoured to have recorded guest tracks for Melechesh's sixth album Enki. The follow-up to 2010's The Epigenesis will be launched on March 2 via Nuclear Blast - it's their first since drummer Xul was replaced with former member Lord Curse.
Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy and Killer Be Killed frontman Cavalera reports: "I'm a big fan and I think The Epigenesis is one of the greatest extreme metal records ever done. Our worlds finally collide; long live Melechesh!"
Caggiano, who joined Volbeat last year after leaving Anthrax, adds: "I've been a fan for a while now and it was an honour play a solo. These guys sound like nothing else out there." Read more here.
Napalm Death Mixing Styles On New Album
(TeamRock Radio) Napalm Death frontman Barney Greenway says upcoming album, Apex Predator - Easy Meat, embraces a mix of styles. Earlier this year he revealed the follow-up to 2012's Utilitatrian would be a "sonic assault." And he says the band's sound continues to evolve as they've drawn on two distinctive influences.
He tells Metal Wani: "It's not reinventing the wheel but it's a couple of steps forward. There's two quite distinctive styles. You've got the traditional, fast, chaotic and almost off-the-rails Napalm approach.
"And then you've got a queasy, ambient and quite depressive edge. We've been doing the two in tandem for many albums but as time goes on we're tending to mix the styles in more inventive ways." Read more here.
The Clash's Joe Strummer Has Species Named After Him
(Radio.com) No one could have guessed when they started naming living things in Latin that they would run out words and start choosing cute names based on pop stars. But, we have been going down that road for a while now, with Beyonce, Frank Zappa, and Bob Marley all having creatures adorning their names. Now, a punk legend joins the ranks.
Now the late, great Joe Strummer of The Clash has been selected to have a snail named after him. And this isn't just some random bit of fandom. The snail actually looks the part, with a spikey shape that resembles the look of many classic punks.
"Because they look like punk rockers in the '70s and '80s and they have purple blood and live in such an extreme environment, we decided to name one new species after a punk rock icon," said Shannon Johnson of the Monterey Bay Research Aquarium.
The resulting name: A. strummeri. Read more here.
Lynyrd Skynyrd and Fall Out Boy Set For The Voice Finale
(hennemusic) Lynyrd Skynyrd and Fall Out Boy are among the special music guests that are set to perform Tuesday night (December 16th) on the Season 7 finale of NBC's The Voice.
Skynyrd will team up with finalist Craig Wayne Boyd for a song; Fall Out Boy will join finalist Matt McAndrew; Jennifer Hudson will sing with finalist Damien; and, Jessie J will join finalist Chris Jamison for a performance.
Other guests for the season-ending broadcast include Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars, Hozier and Ed Sheeran. Fans will vote to select The Voice Season 7 winner. Read more here.
NHL's San Jose Sharks Plan Metallica Night
(hennemusic) NHL's San Jose Sharks will host Metallica Night on January 21. The NHL event is the second Bay-area sports event to feature a Metallica Night: Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants will host the 3rd annual Metallica Night at AT&T Park on Saturday, May 2.
"As some of you may know," says the band, "we have been long supporters of the Sharks going back to the mid-90's when the team moved permanently to San Jose... over the years we've made many treks down to the Shark Tank.
"So it's actually pretty fitting that we finally connect with the team for a night of metal and hockey and we want you to come along and partake of the festivities with us."
"We'll be on hand for the first strains of 'Seek & Destroy'," added Metallica, "kick off the game with the puck drop, and partake in some of the intermission fun and games that Sharks fans know and love." Read more here.
Brutality Plan Their First New Album In 18 Years
(TeamRock Radio) Florida death metal outfit Brutality have inked a new record deal and will begin work on their first studio album in 18 years, they've announced. They've signed with Danish label Mighty Music to launch the follow-up to 1997's In Mourning - and they say they're back for the "long haul."
Guitarist Don Gates tells Maximum Metal: "We are starting off slowly to get a good feel of how things will work. In the past we took a beating from our old label so we were a bit gun shy going into this. Once we had a face-to-face meeting with the US rep for Mighty Music Rich Lee, we knew that this was the right place to be.
"Our first release will be a re-release of the Ruins of Humans EP on 7-vinyl. We told Rich that if we were to ever sign another record deal then it was surely to be our last. That being said I guess we are all in this for the long haul." Read more here.
Frank Black And The Catholics Releasing Boxset
(TeamRock Radio) Frank Black And The Catholics have confirmed the upcoming release of a comprehensive boxset. Pixies frontman Black (aka Black Francis) recorded six albums with The Catholics between 1998 and 2003, and the boxset will include all of them, remastered from the original recordings.
The tracks will be presented in alphabetical order on 7CD set The Complete Recordings, which is out on March 23 via Cooking Vinyl. Black says: "It feels like an approximation of randomness and its a way to randomise something, especially if its titles. We get away from the preciousness of LPs we put out and its more about the body of work, the good times that we had.
"This is a boxset including all of the Frank Black And The Catholics material that was recorded, there's bonus material and technical demos and it's all recorded live to 2-track, as was our rule in the band."
More including a promo video for the boxset here.
Opeth's Martin Axenrot Named Best Prog Drummer Of 2014
(Prog) Opeth's Martin Axenrot has been named the best prog drummer of the year. Readers of Rhythm magazine voted the Swedish sticksman tops in 2014, ahead of multi-act player Mike Portnoy, Devin Townsend Project's Ryan Van Poederooyen and Neil Peart of Rush.
Axenrot has been acclaimed for his work on Opeth's eleventh album Pale Communion, launched this year. The band followed the released with an appearance at Download and a UK tour.
Rhythm say: "Swedish powerhouse Martin put in another outstanding performance on Pale Communion. His jazz touch within such heavy music help make him a master at his art." Read more here.
Immortal Frontman Says Other Members Walked Away From Band
(TeamRock Radio) Immortal frontman Olve 'Abbath' Eikemo says the other parties involved in a legal row over the band's name walked away from the group this year. Last week it was revealed Abbath was trying to legally secure exclusive rights to the Norwegian black metal band's name, but that his move had been blocked by guitarist Harald 'Demonaz' Navdal and drummer Reidar 'Horgh' Horghagen, who say the name should be shared between all three.
In his latest correspondence with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office, Abbath claims Horgh and Demonaz left him to pay the bills on a rehearsal space and that he has recorded a new album with other musicians.
Dagbladet reports Abbath's letter as saying: "This summer Olve received a message from Harald and Reidar indicating that they wanted to take a longer break after a conflict occurred between Olve and the other two band members.
"The band rents a rehearsal space where costs were being shared between the three band members. Harald and Reidar did not want to pay their share of the rent since the band, in their opinion, was not active. Olve, as songwriter, was dependent on the rehearsal space and was willing to cover the rental costs himself." Read more here.
HIM Plan New Music Next Year
(TeamRock Radio) HIM singer Ville Valo says the band plan to work on new music in 2015. Currently playing dates on a US tour, the veteran Finnish outfit will wrap up their 2014 schedule with a hometown show on New Year's Eve and enjoy some downtime before beginning work on the follow-up to their eighth album, 2013's Tears On Tape.
Valo tells KWSS-FM Scottsdale, Arizona: "We're playing one show on New Year's Eve in Helsinki and then that's gonna be it for touring for a while, because then we'll have been on the road more or less, on and off, for about a year and a half. So that's a long time for us."
"So it'd be nice to sit down for a wee bit and start working on some new stuff. So this is gonna be our not a 'farewell,' per se, but sort of like a 'bye bye for now' tour, so it'll be a fun one." Read more here.
The Almighty Reissuing Early Albums
(TeamRock Radio) The Almighty's first two albums are to be reissued early next year. Spinefarm Records will release 1989's Blood, Fire & Love and 1991's Soul Destruction on February 9 under the RE-F**KIN'-ISSUES banner. The label own the rights to the band's Polydor output and will also issue further releases from the group later in 2015.
The band's debut Blood, Fire & Love will be packaged as a three-disc set, including the Blood, Fire & Live album along with a disc of demos and rarities. Soul Destruction will be a two-disc release featuring B-sides, live material and acoustic tracks.
They've been inactive since 2008 but vocalist Ricky Warwick, who fronts Black Star Riders, says he and original drummer Stump Monroe were involved on the production of the reissues.
He tells MyGlobalMind: "We were approached by the record company that they were going to do it. They own everything so it was a case of, 'If you're involved then great. If not we will do it anyway.' Obviously we wanted to be involved so that it would be done as well as we could possibly do it." Read more including the track details here.
The Exploited Plan Strong Return On Album Following Heart Attack
(Classic Rock) The Exploited have vowed their upcoming album will prove they're better than ever now that frontman Wattie Buchan has recovered from his heart attack.
He fell ill on stage in February, soon after the veteran punks had confirmed signing to Nuclear Blast for what will be their first record in 12 years. It's set for release in the summer, following a run of European shows that includes appearances in Glasgow and Manchester.
They say: "It was very important for us that Wattie was cured completely. Now he's recovered we can go on working with new power. We're totally hooked to record new songs, and of course we're thrilled to play the upcoming live shows. Watch out; get ready - The Exploited are back, better than ever!"
Read more here.
Decapitated and The Contortionist Lead Tech-Fest Lineup
(TeamRock Radio) Tech-Fest will return for its fourth edition next year, organizer Simon Garrod has confirmed - featuring UK exclusive appearances from Decapitated and The Contortionist, plus Haken.
An additional 14 acts have been named for the Metal Hammer sponsored festival, which takes place at Newark Showground, Nottinghamshire, on July 9-12.
Garrod says: "Tech-Fest 2015 is looking to be our biggest event yet - we're excited to be working with all the great sponsors from last year and going back to the Newark Showground for our fourth edition. Many more bands, workshops and after-parties will be announced in due course."
Read more including the full lineup and ticket information here.
Palm Reader Announce Headlining Tour
(TeamRock Radio) Palm Reader have announced a UK headlining tour for February. The British hardcore outfit start the seven-date tour in Worthing on February 23. It comes ahead of the release of their second album Beside The Ones We Love in the spring.
Frontman Josh McKeown says: "We're pumped to have finished our tour with Protest The Hero and now go full throttle into 2015, with more dates to announce soon. We can't wait to hit up some smaller towns again like on this tour as these are some of places and venues that Palm Reader first began to makes our name."
Palm Reader last month released the first single from the upcoming album. A video for the track, I Watch The Fire Chase My Tongue, was also made available. Watch the video and check out the tour dates here.
Download Festival Announce More Bands
(TeamRock Radio) 19 names have been added to the bill for the 2015 Download festival, which takes place at Donington on June 12-15. Clutch, Lamb Of God, Black Veil Brides, Billy Idol and Rise Against are amongst the acts who'll join headliners Slipknot, Muse and Kiss.
Also newly listed are Eagles Of Death Metal, Dragonforce, Hollywood Undead, Body Count, Every Time I Die, Parkway Drive, Backyard Babies, H.E.A.T., Motionless In White, Crown The Empire, Northlane, Madball and Mallory Knox.
Idol says: "It was a fantastic experience playing at Download 2010 in the teeming rain, with the audience completely unfazed. If that was fun, this year should be dynamite." Read more here.
5 Seconds Of Summer Aim To Bridge Rock and Pop Worlds
(TeamRock Radio) 5 Seconds Of Summer say they're benefitting the world of rock music by bringing pop fans into the fold. They tell Rocksound: "We love rock music and playing rock shows. It's cool when people recognise that we are hopefully benefitting the world of rock by being in the pop world as a rock band. If we're leading a new audience to rock bands, that's awesome."
Michael Clifford, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin released their self-titled debut earlier this year - and it's an achievement they're proud of as they wanted people to hear material they had been working on for years.
They add: "Releasing the album was a massive milestone. We were all so excited for people to hear what it sounded like so they might understand us a little better. Some of those songs had been in our heads for years." Read more here.
Fall Out Boy Release Creepy American Beauty/American Psycho Video
(Radio.com) Hot on the heels of playing KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas, Fall Out Boy are back with a music video for the title track of their upcoming album, American Beauty/American Psycho (out January 20).
The clip, directed by Syndrome, seems to take the title pretty literally, juxtaposing a ballerina and a face-painted child stuck in a room. The look of the video has the damaged film quality, giving a sort of grittiness to images that wouldn't be troubling when presented in a different format, with different lighting.
As a group of men surround the dancer, no lighting or look is needed for things to get worrisome for the young girl. Then things take a turn for the Shyamalan as the young boy coughs up black liquid and the girl faces her aggressors.
Watch the clip to see what happens to the ballerina here.
Marilyn Manson Premieres New Song Deep Six
Marilyn Manson is giving fans a new taste of his forthcoming album, "The Pale Emperor" with the online streaming premiere of the new track "Deep Six".
Manson's new album is scheduled to be released on January 20th in North America and on January 19th in the UK. It will be available is a standard ten track version and a deluxe version with three bonus tracks. Listen to the new track here.
The shock rocker has previously announced that he will be launching The Hell Not Hallelujah Tour in support of the new album. The North American trek is set to kick off on January 21st in Washington, DC. Check out the tour dates here.
Judas Priest Rock Classic Song With Steel Panther
(hennemusic) Judas Priest were joined by openers Steel Panther for their 1980 classic, "Living After Midnight", in Tacoma, Washington during the encore of the final show of the group's fall North American tour.
The November 22 date at the Tacoma Dome wrapped up a 6-week run in support of the band's latest album, "Redeemer Of Souls", as part of the group's 40th anniversary tour.
"A big screaming thank you to our metal maniacs for a killer first leg of the Redeemer of Souls world tour 2014/15 - You all kept the Faith!," says the band. "We are looking forward to seeing the rest of our #priestfamily in 2015."
The project delivered the UK metal legends the first US Top 10 of their career. Check out video of the Steel Panther jam here.
Anthrax Release New Video From The Recording Studio
(Classic Rock) Anthrax have offered a brief hint of a track from their 11th album in a video clip from their studio. The thrash icons last week confirmed they'd started recording the follow-up to 2011's Worship Music. Now they've revealed they're working with producer Jay Ruston on the unnamed project, set for launch via Megaforce Records next year.
Drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello, singer Joey Belladonna guitarist Scott Ian and latest recruit, guitarist Jon Donais, have been writing material over the past few months. They plan to complete work by the end of January.
In the clip, Ian says: "We're going to start recording the new Anthrax record for you motherf***ers - right now!" before Benante counts in a song that fades out straight away.
Black Star Riders Streaming The Killer Instinct Title Song
(hennemusic) Thin Lizzy-offshoot Black Star Riders have released the online premiere of the lead single and title track to their forthcoming sophomore album, "The Killer Instinct."
Due February 23, the follow-up to the group's 2013 debut, "All Hell Breaks Loose" was recorded in Nashville with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, The Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, Mastodon).
"The Killer Instinct" will be available in multiple formats: CD, Limited 2 CDs Digibook with a bonus disc that features 2 extra songs and acoustic versions of 4 tracks from the album, Limited Gatefold Black Vinyl and Limited Gatefold Clear Vinyl (available for mail orders only).
Black Star Riders will launch the album with a co-headline UK and Eire tour with Europe throughout March. Check out the new song here.
Foreigner Premiere New Live Version Of 'I Want To Know What Love Is'
(hennemusic) Foreigner are premiering a new live version of their 1984 classic, "I Want To Know What Love Is", which comes from their forthcoming release "The Best Of Foreigner 4 & More."
Due for release in North America on December 16, the collection features most of "Foreigner 4" as well as some of the band's best-known hits recorded live the Borgata Hotel's Music Box theatre in Atlantic City in October.
"Foreigner 4" spent more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts than any artist in the history of Atlantic Records, including AC/DC, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, and went on to sell more than 9 million albums worldwide.
The lead single from "Agent Provocateur", "I Want To Know What Love Is" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in at least 6 other countries. Check out the new track here.
Rotting Christ Frontman On Headbanger's Kitchen
(TeamRock Radio) Demonstealer is back with another episode of the excellent Headbanger's Kitchen - with Sakis from Rotting Christ! As any well-nourished metalhead will tell you - cooking is awesome.
Sure, noshing into some greasy kebab on the Friday night bus home is worth its wait in gold at the time, but as Headbanger's Kitchen shows you - decent food is f***ing metal.
Cooking up the ever-so evil Grandis Pilaf Diavolos (aka Chorizo Pulao) this week is the Rotting Christ frontman Sakis Tolis who sits down for an interview in which we learn the meaning behind their deliciously brutal name and the evolution of their sound away from black metal.
Watch the episode here.
Dark Angel's Gene Hoglan Offers Advise To Young Players
(TeamRock Radio) Dark Angel drummer Gene Hoglan has offered some advice for sticksmen looking to make it to the big time. The veteran, who began his career as a roadie for Slayer, has played with Testament, Viking, Devin Townsend, Dethklok and Strapping Young Lad during his career to date.
He reunited with Dark Angel in 2013 and the group are writing music for their first studio release since 1991's Time Does Not Heal. He recorded for Pitch Black Forest's, As the World Burns, and found time to help out his former colleagues in Death by filling in for Sean Reinert on the road.
Hoglan tells BeatIt: "I've been preaching this for years: the most important thing for a young player to do is find guys that you like to hang out with - more so than the best musicians in town. You're going to grow and evolve as a musician and also as a friend."
"Bands do become families. They become teams, and if you've got some really good teammates, really cool family members, everybody's always going to improve as a musician, especially if you're a young dude. Everybody gets better."
He adds: "Say, your guitarist is not the best or your bassist isn't the best in town. But if he's a really cool guy and he's dedicated, that's another thing." Read more here.
Essence Release The Climb Video
(TeamRock Radio) Belgian noiseniks Essence are premiering their new video for The Climb exclusively with Metal Hammer. The song is taken from the metalcore mob's upcoming EP Smoke And Mirrors.
The Climb according to guitarist Maarten Houben is about "about getting over hard times, picking yourself back up again and making 'the climb' towards better things."
"The narrative of the video reflects this, showing the central character of the girl ascending to the top of a hill," he continues. "The song really embodies what Smoke And Mirrors is all about for us. It has a positive message and encourages people to be positive and strong, so we thought it's the perfect song to introduce people to the EP and to Essence."
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