Fired Guns N Roses Manager Speaks Out

Former Guns N' Roses manager Merck Mercuriadis, in an open letter addressed to the band's fans, gave his version of the events that led to his ouster last week.

GN'R frontman Axl Rose announced Friday, December 15 that he had canceled the group's planned January concerts in order to complete the "Chinese Democracy" album, which has been in the works for more than a decade. Rose also announced that he had fired Mercuriadis, whom Rose said had assured him that "any and all things needed to release the album by Dec. 26 at the latest were in place."

Mercuriadis' letter essentially claimed that the reason the album won't be released this year is because it's not complete.

"The reality is all of this year's touring was planned and agreed between Axl and myself, with a view to the album being in the stores before the 31st of December '06," Mercuriadis' statement read in part. "This was confirmed by Axl in numerous interviews--most famously at the MTV Video Music Awards. We planned the tour in February [2006], just after Axl's birthday and we were supposed to finish the album in May, before it started."

According to Mercuriadis, several recording sessions were subsequently scheduled in 2006, but Rose wasn't able to complete "Chinese Democracy." After the tour's initial dates were postponed, Mercuriadis said Rose had an artistic breakthrough after performing at Southern California's Inland Invasion concert in September.

"At this point we were very excited as Axl's feeling was that we had two or three days of work left to tidy things up and we still had three weeks before the tour started, so we were in good shape," Mercuriadis wrote. "Unfortunately the muse disappeared just as fast as she came and the tour started with no single at radio to support it and the album still needing two or three days of work."

Mercuriadis said that he considered postponing GN'R's tour again, "but the reality was that our historic track record left us with very little good will with you, the fans, and we needed the money to be able to complete the album and keep the band alive. We scheduled sessions in New York and once again sent the engineers there for the first two weeks of November while the tour was based there--but the hectic touring schedule meant nothing got done. The record company refused to conclude the renegotiation until we were ready to hand over the finished album and refused to prepare a marketing campaign or commission video treatments until they had it in their hands. This is still their position as of this week."

Mercuriadis added: "I have no regrets. I believe 'Chinese Democracy' is one of the best albums ever made, Axl Rose is one of the greatest vocalists and front men and the new Guns N' Roses (which kicks the s--- out of the old) is one of the greatest bands. What we accomplished in 2006 only hints at what is to come."

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Converge Announce Japanese Tour Dates

In support of their second full-length album, No Heroes, Converge has just announced that they will head to Japan for a run of live performances. They will be supported by Planes Mistaken For Stars and local Japanese outfit, Envy.

Here are all of the confirmed tour dates so far:

March 10, 2007 Be-1 Fukuoka, Japan
March 11, 2007 Badlands Hiroshima, Japan
March 12, 2007 Club Quattro Shinsaibashi/Osaka, Japan
March 13, 2007 Club Quattro Nagoya, Japan
March 14, 2007 Club Quattro Shibuya/Tokyo, Japan
March 15, 2007 Macana Sendai, Japan
March 16, 2007 Club 251 Shimokitazawa/Tokyo, Japan

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Bolt Thrower Post New Live Video Online

UK death metal legends BOLT THROWER have posted a live video for the song 'The Killchain' (from 2005's Those Once Loyal) filmed at the 2006 edition of Germany's Rock Hard Festival (June 2nd - 4th in Gelsenkirchen) here. Says the band: "Yuletide greetings to all the fans, friends, followers and supporters of Bolt Thrower." More...

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Motorhead To Headline Germany's Earthshaker Fest

MOTÖRHEAD has been confirmed as the headliner next year's Earthshaker Fest, set to take place July 19-21, 2007 in Kreuth, Germany. More acts will be announced soon.

As previously reported, MOTÖRHEAD's new album, "Kiss of Death", entered the national album charts in the following countries: Germany: #4, Norway: #9, Sweden: #13, Austria: #20, Switzerland: #26, U.K.: #45, Denmark: #53. The CD was recorded at the Paramount studios in Los Angeles with Cameron Webb, who also worked with the group on 2004's "Inferno". The album includes guest appearances by POISON guitarist C.C. Deville and ALICE IN CHAINS bassist Mike Inez.

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Carnivore Schedules Headlining Show In Brooklyn

CARNIVORE has scheduled a headlining show at Northsix in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, January 13. Support at the gig will come from KRIEG, NACHTMYSTIUM, ANAL CUNT, EMBALMER, DIMENTIANON and ANNUNAKI.

Video footage of CARNIVORE performing at this year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany in August 2006 has been posted online at this location (CARNIVORE appears about 25 minutes into the video).

Check out pictures of CARNIVORE performing at the Wacken Open Air festival at this location.

Photographer Linda Aversa has uploaded a number of pictures of CARNIVORE's "secret" warm-up show on July 28, 2006 at Fontana's in New York City, where they appeared under the name THE BENSONHOIST LESBIAN CHOIR. Check out the photos at this location.

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Finntroll Confirmed For Summer Breeze Festival

FINNTROLL has been confirmed for the tenth-anniversary edition of Germany's Summer Breeze festival, set to take place August 16-18, 2007 in Dinkelsbühl. The festival billing is shaping up as follows (in alphabetical order):

AMON AMARTH
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
COMMUNIC
CREMATORY
DARK FUNERAL
DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER
DORNENREICH
DORO
EISBRECHER
FEAR MY THOUGHTS
FINNTROLL
HARDCORE SUPERSTAR
HELRUNAR
HEVEIN
ILLDISPOSED
IMMOLATION
IN EXTREMO
KEEP OF KALESSIN
KRYPTERIA
MOONSORROW
NECROPHOBIC
SAMSAS TRAUM
SECRETS OF THE MOON
SIRENIA
TANKARD
TANZWUT

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Interview

Interview With Liv and Alex From Leaves' Eyes

There is one thing you need to know about Leaves' Eyes- they are not just another ephemeral female fronted band on the horizon. Although this band is young in existence, its members have been prominent for more than a decade. For those unaware, Leaves' Eyes consists of the renowned Liv Kristine ( ex- Theatre Of Tragedy) and German machine Atrocity. Separately, they've left their marks in metal history. The quality of Liv Kristine is no secret to my European metal brethren. Atrocity have enjoyed a dedicated following throughout their career as frontrunners in the progressive death metal track. Mix these two together and you get a highly concentrated mixture of talent, experience and dedication.

On Dec 2, I traveled down to Philadelphia for my interview with the band. Vocalist Alex Krull answered the first half of my questions. More...

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Sahg In Writing Mode

Norwegian heavy rockers SAHG, featuring members of GORGOROTH, MANNGARD, and AUDREY HORNE, have issued the following update:

"SAHG is currently writing and rehearsing songs for the second album, which for the time being is due for release autumn 2007. The new material is quickly taking shape, and we plan to start recording already in January.

"We are most happy with the way the new material is turning out, and at the moment it looks like the album will contain an even wider variation than 'Sahg I', spanning from fast and propulsive, via slow and gloomy, to some experimental acoustic pieces. No songtitles or working title for the album yet, but this will be posted shortly."

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Scariot Post "Momentum Shift" Cover Art Online

The cover artwork for SCARIOT's new album, "Momentum Shift", has been posted online here. The band previously announced that if everything goes as planned, "Momentum Shift" will be released in February 2007 through Face Front Records.

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Leaves' Eyes Comment On Tour w/ Blind Guardian

LEAVES' EYES have returned home from a very successful USA/Canada/Mexico tour with German power metallers BLIND GUARDIAN.

Lead vocalist Liv Kristine comments: "The tour was amazing, especially the audience! We would like to thank the fans for their fantastic support. Moreover, it was a pleasure to tour with BLIND GUARDIAN and the entire crew. Thank you for making this tour such a special event!"

Vocalist Alex Krull adds: "The shows have been a blast! We really hope to come back again in the near future. It seems the American Metal scene is stronger than ever. Yes! We met so many wonderful people every night and it was just brilliant to play shows in front of such a great audience! Thanks again to everybody!"

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