Thursday, February 16, 2012

Exhumed Cancel Brazil Dates with Aborted

Exhumed
Cover of Exhumed
Due to unforeseen visa issues, California ministers of gore Exhumed have been forced to cancel their previously scheduled dates in Brazil this week with Aborted.
Comments Exhumed vocalist/guitarist Matt Harvey:
“We are totally weakened to have to cancel our Brazilian dates. Due to our visa applications getting rejected, we cannot legally enter the country at this time — in fact, they threatened to ban us from being there for a decade. We are doing everything we can to reschedule these dates as soon as possible. Due to the bullshit policies of U.S. immigration/customs and Brazilian customs’ policy of reciprocity, our visas were refused by the Brazilian consulate before even being processed. We seriously and very sincerely apologize to all our friends in Brazil who wanted to see the band. We will do everything in our power to work with our agent, the promoter, and the immigration assholes in the U.S. and Brazil to get this squared away. This is a serious bummer. We will spend the extra week before heading to Europe looking at hot Brazilian chicks on the Internet instead of in real life and being really, really pissed off.”
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Posted by Leroi Lambourdes at 4:10 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A History of a Time to Come: The Story of U.K. Thrash

The documentary A History of a Time to Come, by director Joshua Callis-Smith, has added interviews with Venom and Raven to the line-up of over 20 bands which already includes Evile, Onslaught, Lawnmower Deth and Xentrix.
The film will be wrapping production this month and moving into the post-production phase with a likely release towards the end of 2012.
Director Joshua Callis-Smith commented:
“The production so far has been great, we’ve spoken to some amazing people and really uncovered a great story set within the scene. Interviewing Mantas from Venom has definitely been a highlight and a real eye opener to how the genre started. I’m now looking towards getting stuck into the edit and crafting the story we’ve captured.”
Venom – Witching Hour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Hj4N1R2l0

A History of a Time to Come covers the complete story of the U.K. thrash metal scene — its ups, its downs and its impact on the U.K. and global music industry. Until now there has been no complete documentation of the movement, with bands disappearing amongst the dark recesses of the Internet, shelved magazines or out-of-print CDs.
A History of a Time to Come plans to pull together and uncover the full story of the U.K. thrash scene, from its roots in the mid-’80s until the present day, telling the story of dreams fulfilled, hopes dashed and the enduring memories.
U.K. music journalist Greg Moffitt (Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Decibel) is currently writing a book entitled “One Foot in the Gravy” to accompany the film. Together, the documentary and the book will provide the definitive account of the U.K. thrash scene from its roots in the 1980s until the present day.
The following bands are involved in the project so far:
  • Acid Reign
  • Anihilated
  • Arbitrater
  • Atomkraft
  • D.A.M.
  • Deathwish
  • Evile
  • Hellbastard
  • Holosade
  • Hydra Vein
  • Lawnmower Deth
  • Metal Messiah
  • Mutant
  • Onslaught
  • Pendemia
  • Pitiful Reign
  • Raven
  • Re-animator
  • Sabbat
  • Savage Messiah
  • Seregon
  • Seventh Angel
  • Short Sharp Shock
  • Toranaga
  • Venom
  • Virus
  • Xentrix
Industry People:
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Posted by Leroi Lambourdes at 12:08 AM 0 comments

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Review: Paradigm – Mind Is Key

Paradigm - Mind Is Key
Paradigm are a Progressive Metal band from Sydney, Australia that I first heard about on the Suhr discussion forum when guitarist James Ivanyi posted the video at the bottom of this review which shows James tracking some of the guitar parts for their latest album ‘Mind Is Key‘ on a very nice Suhr Standard. As you will see from the video James is an incredibly talented guitar player who studied at the Australian Institute of Music and is certainly not afraid of complex rhythms and skates all over the fretboard with ease with his technically challenging riffs. He is also a great bass player (check out part 2 of the video below).
Once James and the rest of the band had finished tracking the album he sent it over to me to check out as he knows I’m a fan of Prog Metal. ‘Mind Is Key‘ consists of 6 tracks but the opening track is nearly 17 minutes long, 2 tracks are pushing 12 minutes and the remaining 2 tracks are 7 minutes so there is certainly no shortage of music. The album opens with ‘Android‘ which you can hear some of the riffs in the video below, it is filled with staccato stabbing and harmony guitar riffs and despite it’s epic length seamlessly moves between the fairly distinct sections, it could get very boring if it was just the same verse and chorus for that amount of time Paradigm do a great job of making you forget that this is a single track. ‘Mind Is Key‘ does a nice job of mixing tempos and styles in order to keep the album interesting throughout, the first three tracks are really heavy for instance whereas track 4, ‘Visions‘, is an acoustic track that kind of reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s acoustic tracks as it has folk influences with a modern twist.
There is some really great guitar playing on this album and one of my favourite moments is the last few minutes of the song ‘Written In Blood‘ where the song totally transforms from brutal heavy guitar riffs into a delicate ballad style section with Gilmour style tone (from the videos it looks like this was recorded with a Suhr Classic, it certainly has a classic Strat style tone). It then moves into a more overdriven section using the same progression and tempo and shows that James can really play melodically as well as technically. If I have one criticism of this album it is that the vocals seem a little quiet on the copy I was sent but that is only a minor detail on a great album.
Paradigm Line-up
Thomas Arcadi (vocals)
Dave Horgan (drums)
James Ivanyi (guitar)
Graham Daniels (guitar)
Ryan Wooden (bass)
You can buy Paradigm – Mind Is Key in the iTunes Store – http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/mind-is-key/id499779539
Paradigm on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/paradigm.australia

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Posted by Leroi Lambourdes at 9:45 PM 0 comments

Saturday, February 11, 2012

David Lee Roth Interviews Van Halen Brothers

Van Halen have just released a clip featuring David Lee Roth interviewing the Van Halen brothers, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen. They describe in detail the stories behind their musical upbringing in Holland and journey to Southern California.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb4jIyoOGtk

Earlier in the week the band released A Different Kind of Truth, which is their first original studio album with singer David Lee Roth since the band’s classic multi-platinum album 1984. The band have also released a video for lead single “Tattoo” which can be seen below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WfQ-hV3WtA

Catch limited streams of new Van Halen music below:
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Posted by Leroi Lambourdes at 12:17 AM 0 comments

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Napalm Death Offer 2nd ‘Utilitarian’ Track-by-Track

Napalm Death, the leaders of the extreme, just released the second part of their Utilitarian track-by-track series in anticipation of the album’s release on February 27th in Europe and February 28th in North America (the first Napalm Death track-by-track here ).
The band’s shouter, Mark “Barney” Greenway, guides you through the next four songs on the album:
  • “The Wolf I Feed”
  • “Quarantined”
  • “Fall On Their Swords”
  • “Collision Course”
In addition to featuring an explanation of the meaning behind each song, this track-by-track is also spiced-up with audio samples of all the new album songs that Barney refers to. Second installment of Utilitarian track-by-tracks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuvYtuzwcRM
Posted by Leroi Lambourdes at 2:58 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Jesse Leach Rejoins Killswitch Engage

Jesse Leach is back with Killswitch Engage! After Howard Jones was booted from Killswitch Engage, or in his word ‘parted ways with Killswitch Engage‘, the man who helped break the band out of the underground is set to reclaim the lead singer role for Killswitch Engage. Just look how happy Killswitch Engage look in the snow.

Jesse Leach Back in Killswitch Engage

So, what of all this Howard Jones drama? It had been brewing for some time after rumors of Killswitch Engage’s Howard Jones knocking up a pornstar came to light.
  • Allie Foster is “pregnant“
  • Howard Jones had to leave KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s tour due to “personal reasons”
  • Allie Foster has a baby bump that is alleged to be Howard Jones‘ of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s child (proof in the pudding…of the bump, that is)
  • Allie Foster does not like the attention: “No further posts, and all Allie Foster accounts WILL BE DELETED (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter) as I do not plan on ever going back.”
  • Allie Foster supposedly quit porn: “To clear up a few things, I quit porn awhile ago. I haven’t been posting on ANYTHING. I am pregnant, but I’ve been working a NORMAL job.”
  • Allie Foster claims her account was hacked: “I DID NOT POST ANY OF THAT MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED. THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER POSTS UNTIL I GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS.”
  • ThePRP has linked some rather intriguring pictures of pictures of Allie Foster and Howard Jones together here, here, and here.
  • Killswitch Engage Not Breaking Up or Ditching Howard Jones
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Posted by Leroi Lambourdes at 10:29 AM 0 comments

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Biohazard – Reborn In Defiance

In 2008, Biohazard celebrated their 20th anniversary by reuniting with the original members that wrote and recorded the first three albums (self-titled, Urban Discipline, and State of the World Address). They went on tour for a few years, and got together enough material to release a new album, Reborn in Defiance. Not only is it the first album with this line-up in almost 18 years, but it’s the first Biohazard album since 2005’s Means to an End. After languishing for years as a sub-par thrash band, the band revitalizes their career with a record that has everything people love, and loathe, about Biohazard.
Reborn in Defiance is not just some flashy title, but an apt view of where Biohazard is mentality. They sound energized, given new life by bringing guitarist Bobby Hambel back into the fray. The songs that are meant to thrash along wildly do just that, and it’s a thrill to hear the four members loose their minds on the stunning “Vengeance Is Mine.” If that song isn’t on every live set list from now until they retire, something is wrong. Same goes for the anthemic “Skullcrusher” and fist-pumper “Never Give In.”
The band experimented with rap along with the hardcore/thrash riffs for years, and this doesn’t subside on Reborn in Defiance. It does sound dated when used on “Waste Away” and Countdown Doom,” like the band can’t get over the fact that at one point, rap metal used to be huge. The album gets under control when the hardcore and thrash are the main proponents, and they mesh as well as they did two decades ago. “Reborn” is the main deterrent from that viewpoint, mainly because of a strange break near the end that sounds like a hackneyed cut-and-paste job in the studio.
Never afraid to break from tradition, Biohazard gets the best material out of themselves when in an atmospheric state of mind. The piano intro and outro to “Vows Of Redemption” ties the song together, and the calmer guitar work proves influential in the song’s success. “You Were Wrong” goes past six minutes to give the vocal harmonies of bassist Evan Seinfeld and guitarist Billy Graziadei a chance to explore clean tones, while having an effective build-up throughout. The biggest surprise is how well the band pulls off the closing instrumental “Season The Sky,” which is heavy on the keyboards and lead guitar.
With Seinfeld departing from Biohazard right after the album was recorded, that makes Reborn in Defiance even more significant. This album was made with the fans clearly in mind, as modern listeners will find the rap metal sections to be “so 1999.” Songs like “Season The Sky” make an admirable reach away from the conventional, though more often than not, the band is stuck in a time warp. However, Reborn in Defiance is the spiritual successor to State of the World Address, and fits right in as the obvious next chapter for Biohazard.
Rating: 6.5/10
Label: Nuclear Blast Records (UK)
Web site: www.facebook.com/BiohazardDFL
By Dan Marsicano


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS6gy2zfRsM

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Posted by Leroi Lambourdes at 10:37 PM 0 comments
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