Metal News for July 23, 2006
Last updated on October 4, 2025 at 3:07 AM ET
We post metal news every day, throughout the day, covering thousands of metal bands including underground and unsigned bands. You are currently browsing the news archive, but you can also find news by band.
Hot Topics
- Trivium Parts Company With Drummer
- Kreator To Release New Album In January
- Enthroned To Release New Album In December
- Spite Premiere New Single & Music Video
- Carcosa (AngelMaker) Premiere New Single & Video
- Agnostic Front Premiere New Single & Lyric Video
- Potato Premiere New Single & Music Video "YUGE PP"
- Omnium Gatherum Drops "Walking Ghost Phase" Video
- Tailgunner Signs With Napalm Records
- Messa Shares New Music Video "Reveal"
30 news articles posted on this day.
View Clips Of Dry Kill Logic Recording The New CD
You can check out DKL in the studio putting down tracks for their latest effort "Of Vengeance and Virtue" here.
Open Grave To Release Mournblade's Debut EP
Mournblade was formed in the summer of 1987 as a trio. However a series of bad timing and events keep the band from playing live. Death, jailed band members, and military deployments took its toll in the early years, however Mournblade moved on with its surviving founding members as an on-and-off project for the next 15 years.
After the death of drummer Jake Blood from a car accident in 1989, and bassist Tom Rubian commiting suicide in 1993 in South Korea as a member of the 2nd Infantry Division, the band went underground as the founding member took a bass slot in LA's first deathcore band, Sacreligious Death (formed in 1983).
Mournblade was still a project band playing for only local house shows and friends parties. Jeff Blacky still pushed on with founding guitarist Rick Auschwitz. After almost 20 years the band finally moved into NightinGale Studios to record a 5 song CD which is scheduled for a early September 2006 release on Open Grave Records.
For more information on Mournblade and download the song, "Set" off of the upcoming EP visit opengraverecords.com.
The Esoteric Cancel Remainder of Tour
The Esoteric have dropped off the remainder of their current tour with At All Cost and Versus The Mirror as a result of vehicle issues. Vocalist Stevie Cruz comments:
"To the bands, promoters, venues, booking agents, and most importantly to anyone planning on attending these upcoming shows, we are very sorry and want nothing more than to rawk with you, sometimes things don't work out as planned. We tried everything possible to continue with the touring but sometimes when it rains, it pours. One after another, problems we did not foresee came to light with our van and trailer and the sad truth is we just could not make ends meet to make all the needed repairs to continue.
Instead of digging ourselves a bigger hole and creating more problems, we decided it was best to nip these problems in the bud so we can be 110% repaired and ready for our tour next month with Mouth Of The Architect. From the bottom of our black hearts, we are very sorry and will be coming back to your area very soon."
Xasthur Signs To Hydra Head, Sets Release Date
Hydra Head Industries and Battle Kommand Records will be releasing the latest from underground black metal band Xasthur, due out on September 12th. Xasthur (along with Leviathan, Krieg, and Nachtmystium) is an American black metal artist whose forays into lo-fi atmospherics, unique instrument and vocal textures, as well as exploratory song structures. Xasthur has previously recorder 5 full lengths and 5 split albums since their inception in 1995.
Misfits Force Negative Approach DVD To Be Pulled
Motor City Rock'n'Roll, the people behind the recently released DVD from the legendary Negative Approach have had to pull the DVD from retail due to problems with some footage of the Misfits on the disc.
They had this to say:
"Motor City Rock 'N' Roll Video would like to apologize to Glenn Danzig and The Misfits for the use of footage of them performing with John Brannon on the Fair Warning DVD without obtaining prior written consent before its release."
"Use of this footage on the DVD was done only out of the greatest respect for Glenn and The Misfits in capturing one of the great moments in Motor City punk rock history."
A new version of the Fair Warning DVD will be available soon with The Misfits performance replaced by additional early Negative Approach footage.
Torn Apart Signs To Open Grave Records
Open Grave Records has announced the signing of Torn Apart. A rare death metal band out of Umeå, Sweden, Torn Apart was founded in early 2005 by David Eliasson (Guitar) Mikael Sandström (Guitar) and Alexander Wegebro (Drums).
In June of 2006 Torn Apart entered Starfruit Studio and recording their first 4 song EP which will see it's release on Open Grave Records in September of 2006. That EP will be followed up with a full length album in 2007. For more information on Torn Apart, and to download the track, "The Impaler" off of their upcoming EP at opengraverecords.com.
Caliban and The Acacia Strain Fall Tour Dates
Caliban and The Acacia Strain will tour the U.S. together in September and early-October. Here's the latest schedule:
dates w/ The Burning Season, Across Five Aprils
9/8 Asbury Park, NJ @ Club Deep
9/9 Fredericksburg, VA @ KC's
9/10 Virginia Beach, VA @ Peppermint Beach Club
9/11 Wilmington, NC @ Marrz Theater
9/12 Augusta, GA @ Sector 7G
9/13 Nashville, TN @ The Muse w/ Too Pure To Die More...
God Dethroned Added To Vader Tour
GOD DETHRONED are the confirmed replacement for ILLDISPOSED on VADER's upcoming Blitzkrieg 4 Tour. The band announced last week that they were canceling all forthcoming tour dates due to "family and job related obligations." Upcoming Blitzkrieg 4 Tour dates that also feature SEVERE TORTURE are as follows
September
28 - Berlin, Germany at K17
29 - Jena, Germany at F-Haus
30 - Giebelstadt, Germany at Stadhalle-I Park Klingholz
October
1 - Hannover, Germany at MuzikZentrum
2 - Mons, Belgium at La Marginale
3 - France at venue tba
4 - France at venue tba
5 - Lausanne, Switzerland at Le Docks
6 - Rennes, France at Antipode
7 - Le Havre, France at Centre Culturel
8 - Limoges, France at John Lennon
9 - Irun, Spain at Tunk
10 - Vigo, Spain at La Iguana
11 - Gaia (Porto), Portugal at Hard Club
12 - Sevilla, Spain at Sala Q
13 - Murcia, Spain at Gamma
14 - Madrid, Spain at Ritmo & Compas
15 - Barcelona, Spain at Mephisto
16 - Toulouse, France at Havana
17 - Dijon, France at Vapeur
18 - Bolgna, Italy at Estragon
19 - Rome, Italy at Alpheus
20 - Milan, Italy at Transilvania Live
21 - Prato, Italy at Anomalia
22 - Althofen, Austria at Endorphin Club
23 - Salzburg, Austria at Rockhaus
24 - Vienna, Austria at Planet Music
25 - Augsburg, Germany at The Kantine
26 - Zurich, Switzerland at Abart Music
27 - Trier, Germany at Exhaus
28 - Sneek, Holland at Bolwerk
29 - Vosselaar, Belgium at Biebob
31 - Bradford, UK at Rio
November
1 - Dublin, Ireland at Temple Bar Music Centre
2 - Glasgow, UK at Temple Bar Music Centre
3 - London, UK at Camden Underworld
4 - Brighton, UK at Concorde 2
5 - Manchester, UK at Satan's Hollow
6 - Essen, Germany at Turock
7 - Haarlem, Holland at Patronaat
8 - Bremen, Germany at Slachthof
9 - Eindhoven, Holland at Effenaar
Slayer / Modern Drummer Interview
Modern Drummer: "Christ Illusion" is your first recording with SLAYER in fourteen years. Were you totally itching to get this album out?
Dave: "Yes. It was frustrating, because Kerry [King] and I were recording demos back in early 2003. So it's been three years of working on this stuff. We made two demos at my house and then we rehearsed the songs forever. The good part was, once we went into the studio, we were ready. I recorded the songs in, like, three and a half days — bam, slammed 'em out! I was almost disappointed, because I didn't get a chance to enjoy the studio."
Modern Drummer: From the tracks we've heard, there seems to be more of a thrash beat being worked back into the songs.
Dave: "Yeah, it's in there, but it's only at special times. We didn't want to overdo it. You want to add that sort of thing at the right time and in the right place. SLAYER was originally a metal band, but we were influenced by punk, too. And that fast beat is the punk influence coming back in."
Modern Drummer: You've now had a chance to reflect on all the albums you've done with the band. What went through your head this time before you started writing your parts?
Dave: "Actually, I wanted to be a little more creative than I was allowed to be. There were certain boundaries I had to stay within. I've learned so much while I was away from the band, and I wanted to apply some of those concepts. But the other guys didn't feel those ideas were really what SLAYER is all about. So, in a way, I revisited the approach I used with the band years ago."
Modern Drummer: When you started writing with the band again, was it pretty much the same as it was for previous SLAYER recordings?
Dave: "Their writing and approach is the same. I don't think they've changed one single but from back then. But my approach has changed — I'm thinking about things a bit differently."
Modern Drummer: In what way?
Dave: "A guitar riff can have many types of drum beats, and at this stage of my playing, I have a wide variety to choose from. It's cool, because I can give the guys different options.
Modern Drummer: Do you think your time away from SLAYER was god for you?
Dave: "It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I had been a part of the greatest metal band in the world, and then I was able to venture into other styles and work with very different musicians. Honestly, if I stayed in SLAYER, I would have never had those incredible musical experiences. All of that experience shaped me and kind of 're-formed me' into the drummer I am now. I now feel confident jumping from one thing to another."
Modern Drummer: You've had a solo percussion album in the works for a few years now.
Dave: "God, it's been forever. I don't know, one of these days I'll get it out. It's close to completion. I need to do a bongo overdub, a timbale overdub, and a drumset overdub. The recording is essentially me in my room with a keyboard, drums, and percussion, layering parts. I'll do one beat, layer something on top, layer something on top of that, and so on.
"I've been working on this record in my free time. The problem is, I don't have a lot of free time! When I'm on tour, I really can't work on it because I don't have everything on hand. I've been doing some editing of the parts, but not any recording. When I'm home, I'm occupied with a hundred and one other things. But the record is sitting there, waiting. When it's ready, it'll be out."
Modern Drummer: What's on it? Is it metal?
Dave: It's unclassifiable. Some people might describe it as world music. It could be a film soundtrack. It's definitely not metal."
Dark New Day Post New Song Online
A new DARK NEW DAY song, "Follow the Sun Down", taken from their upcoming digital-EP release, "Black Porch Acoustic Sessions", has been posted online at www.myspace.com/darknewday. The band shot a video for the song on June 13 in Burbank, California, which can currently be viewed at Rehearsals.com.
"Black Porch Acoustic Sessions" will be made available digitally on September 5, 2006. There are currently no plans for a CD release.
Ozzy Powered Football Club Looking For Players
"The Ozzy Powered Football Club", the Birmingham, England-based soccer team formed by a British BLACK SABBATH fan by the name of Garry Raybould, is looking for quality players to join the "rock mayhem" next season. "Wearing the new kit designed by Ozzy and Sharon we intend to bring back some silverware this season," says Raybould.
Raybould has been running a campaign to honor the four original members of SABBATH for quite some time now. He has collected thousands of signatures on a hand-written petiton to create a "Walk of Fame" in the heart of downtown Birmingham, England, which will honor "famous Brummies," starting off with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. Garry has spread the word through his soccer team, whose uniforms sport the words "Free Ozzy" on them. A web-based petition has also been set up online for other fans to sign.
Devil's Rejects Gets 5 Nominations With Spike TV
Rob Zombie's second feature film, "The Devil's Rejects" has received nominations in five categories ("The Ultimate Scream", "Best Horror Movie", "Most Vile Villain", "Best Director" and "Best Screamplay") at the upcoming Spike TV's Scream Awards 2006, the first annual televised event which celebrates horror, sci-fi, fantasy and comic books.
Spike TV's Scream Awards 2006 will tape at the historic Pantages Theater in Hollywood, CA on Saturday, October 7 and feature a wide-range of award categories. Show host, celebrities and musical acts to be announced shortly. The program will air on Tuesday, October 10 between 10:00 p.m. and midnight EST.
"We only need to look at the legacy and recent explosion of the horror, sci-fi, fantasy and comic book genres to know that the time has come to honor the extraordinary creative talent from these worlds in an explosive way," says Casey Patterson, Executive Producer and Senior Vice President Event Production for Spike TV.
Zombie has made a name for himself challenging audiences by stretching the boundaries of film, music and publishing. He recently took film to a new level with his critically acclaimed "House of 1000 Corpses" and its high-octane follow-up "The Devil's Rejects", and he is now working on his next film project, the animated horror film "The Haunted World of Superbeasto" starring Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti, slated for release later this year. Zombie also recently announced that he will direct a new version of the classic 1978 horror film, "Halloween", with an October 2007 release planned.
As the longest active artist on Geffen Records and the most prolific Geffen artist when it comes to gold and platinum discs, Zombie has sold in excess of fifteen million records worldwide. This past March, his new album "Educated Horses" entered The Billboard 200 chart at No. 5. Zombie is also a seasoned video director, with more than 25 videos to his credit. In 1995, he won an MTV Music Video Award for "More Human Than Human", becoming the first self-directed artist to win such an award.
Soulrelic To Release Another Single Next Month
Finnish metallers SOULRELIC have posted the following message on their official web site:
"The new single will be 'Dying Angels' from the [debut SOULRELIC] album 'Love Is a Lie We Both Believed'. However, the single WILL contain the song 'Coins' from the forthcoming album 'Anal Punk' and cover version of 'Cold Sweat' by THIN LIZZY. The release date of the single is still 23rd of August 2006.
"'Why there will be another single from the first album?' you might want to ask. Well, ask someone else. Also the title for the forthcoming album might change."
"Love is a Lie We Both Believed" was released in Japan in February via Marquee Inc. The Japanese version of the CD includes a bonus track — a previously unreleased song called "Tears Are Home". The album, which was released in Finland on the Spinefarm label, was mixed by Hiili Hiilesmaa, who has previously worked with such acts as H.I.M., SENTENCED, MOONSPELL and THE 69 EYES.
SOULRELIC's lineup on "Love is a Lie We Both Believed" included current TO/DIE/FOR guitarist Antza Talala. The axeman left SOULRELIC in January, citing "personal conflicts within the band" as the reason for the split.
Metallica Among Biggest Wusses Says Blender
METALLICA has made Blender magazine's list of the "The 25 Biggest Wusses … Ever!" The list, which was published in the magazine's July 200 issue, "salutes the most awesomely wimpy musicians of all time." In the short write-up explaining METALLICA's inclusion on the list, the Blender editors state, "The haircuts were lame and the anti-Napster crusade lamer, but neither prepared fans for the soppy bitchfest that was 'Some Kind of Monster': The once-throttling metalheads dropped $40K a month on a touchy-feely life coach in a Cosby sweater who played master to METALLICA's puppets. Lars and James bicker and weep throughout, but neither has the decency to just go ahead and slug the other. Wussiest moment: Lars's ego is crushed by his gnomish father who, upon hearing a new song, sagely advises, 'I would delete that.'"
More Info On The New 40 Below Summer Album
40 BELOW SUMMER will release a posthumous CD, entitled "The Last Dance", via Crash Music, on October 31. The album will also include a special bonus DVD that centers around the group's last show, which took place last September at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey. The DVD will feature the live concert, videos, plus various footage, including personal videos, backstage footage, and more. Meanwhile, the CD portion of the set is expected to feature 13 tracks of demos and never-before-released tracks.
To hear a brand new track from the album go to www.myspace.com/crashmusicinc.
Stream Terror's Always the Hard Way Online
Terror's entire new album "Always The Hard Way" can be streamed online over at www.lambgoat.com. The aforementioned opus will hit stores this Tuesday, July 25th.
Cover Art For The New Static Lullaby Album
The cover art for A Static Lullaby's upcoming new self-titled album has been made available online here. The effort is slated to be released on October 10th through Fearless.
The Black Maria Post Song And Tracklisting
The Black Maria's new track "Waking Up With Wolves" has been posted online here. The song will be included on the groups new album "A Shared History Of Tragedy", the track listing for which is as follows:
01 - "The Perilous Curse"
02 - "Waking Up With The Wolves"
03 - "Nothing Comes Easy But You"
04 - "Van Gogh"
05 - "A Call To Arms"
06 - "Lucid"
07 - "The Concubine"
08 - "Living Expenses"
09 - "Fool's Gold"
10 - "A Thief In The Ranks (Your Bike)"
11 - "11:11"
Soulfly Add More Fall Dates For The US
Soulfly have scheduled numerous dates for a fall U.S. tour, with many more to be announced to fill in the gaps. After Soulfly plays the 10th Annual D-Low Memorial Festival on August 17th with quite of few special guests. They'll be gearing up to destroy the ears of North American metal fans beginning in the middle of September. Full Blown Chaos and Incite will open the entire tour. Wicked Wisdom will provide support on the first portion of the tour and Scars of Tomorrow will take over their spot at the start of October. Ticket information will be out shortly, and so far confirmed dates are:
Sept. 18 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
Sept. 19 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
Sept. 20 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
Sept. 21 - Salt Lake City, UT - Club Vegas
Sept. 22 - Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep
Sept. 24 - St. Paul, MN - Station 4
Sept. 25 - Mokena, IL - The Pearl Room
Sept. 26 - Flint, MI - The Machine Shop
Oct. 01 - Winston-Salem, NC - Ziggy's
Oct. 02 - Charlotte, NC - Almo's South End
Nine Inch Nails Guitarist To Be Sued By Guard
A security guard who claims he was knocked unconscious by Nine Inch Nails guitarist Aaron North's microphone stand at a Madison, Wisconsin, concert last fall filed a lawsuit against the group.
The suit, which alleges negligence and assault and battery, was filed in Wisconsin's Circuit Court on June 28 and seeks a trial by jury as well as unspecified punitive and compensatory damages for the guard's "past and future pain and suffering." The guard, Mark LaVoie, claims in the filing that on October 13, he was standing in front of Alliant Energy Center's stage with his back turned to the band. The suit alleges that North, a former member of the Icarus Line, launched his mic stand through the air, coming down hard on LaVoie's head.
Nine Inch Nails' label, Interscope Records, could not be reached for comment.
According to the suit, which also specifically names North as a defendant, the blow knocked LaVoie unconscious. He fell to the floor, the suit read, "and was bleeding from a large laceration on the top of his head." LaVoie was treated at a nearby hospital.
Court papers suggest North "intentionally, violently and without just cause or provocation ... attacked and assaulted [LaVoie] when he threw the microphone stand into the audience, striking [him] on the head and causing him serious pain and permanent injury." North, the suit contends, should have realized tossing the stand into the crowd would wind up hurting someone.
New Slipknot DVD Pushed Back To 2007
Although Roadrunner Records set an October 31 release date for the new SLIPKNOT DVD, it has had to be delayed until 2007.
The follow-up to 2002's "Disasterpieces" is "going to be different than our last one," guitarist Mick Thomson told Billboard.com last month. "Our last one mostly focused on the concert, and this one is going to have a lot more personal stuff on it. You get to see more stupid sh*t [laughs]. There'll be some music and stuff, but you're getting to see what our days our like. It should be a lot more fun."
Speaking about his favorite scene in the upcoming DVD, Thomson said, "A fan, I think in Austria, was drunk and out of line. He kept trying to come up on the bus, kept bothering people and then started to get a little bit loud and threatening. He had to be set down on his ass by someone close to us. Sometimes you've got to be put in your place, and he was put in his place."
SLIPKNOT is expected to begin writing material for its fourth studio effort later this year.
"We're going to start getting back together and working on stuff," Thomson told Billboard.com. "The core that writes the songs tend to get together — it's not as easy to work out stuff when you've got nine people standing in the same room. I would say we'll start working within the next few months. I've talked to [SLIPKNOT bassist] Paul [Gray] a few times. Very slowly, no pressure."
New Chimaira Demos Posted Online
Chimaira have just recorded three new demos with producer Jason Souecof (Trivium). You'll find them posted here. Chimaira parted ways with Roadrunner Records earlier this year and have not yet announced a new record deal.
Road Report From Edguy
Edguy frontman Tobias Sammet has posted the following message on the group’s official web site:
"We’ve just come back from the Czech Republic and I am still speechless. It was unbelievable, well over 25,000 crazy people from Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Germany, Scotland and even Sweden made this a crazy night for us".
"So, you wanna know what’s up in Edguy land!? We are playing concerts and relaxing in between. Our agency is working on a tour of South America but don’t ask me where exactly and when it will happen. The answer to the question ’When will you play our country?’ is: If there is a possibility, we will come. And if it’s going to be confirmed you’ll read it here! Our management is working hard to make it happen".
"If you got anymore questions, our webmaster is going to relaunch my website and there is going to be a section where we can talk to each other. It’s going to be launched one of these days, we’ll let you know".
"See you all at the Earthshaker Fest".
Silent Civilian, Nonpoint, Seemless To Tour
Starting in August, Nonpoint will be hitting the road for a national headline tour, Nonpoint has chosen Silent Civilian, Seemless and label mates Ankla as the tours opening acts.
Aug 4 2006 the machine shop flint, MI
Aug 5 2006 the machine shop flint, MI
Aug 6 2006 aliant energy center madison, WI
Aug 8 2006 blue note columbia, MO
Aug 10 2006 club mate baltimore, MD
Aug 12 2006 woodshock music festival bellefontaine, OH
Aug 13 2006 intersection grand rapids, MI
Aug 15 2006 streeters traverse city, MI
Aug 16 2006 pieres fort wayne, IN
Aug 17 2006 the rock maplewood, MN
Aug 18 2006 elixur rockford, IL
Aug 19 2006 pearl room mokena, IL
Aug 23 2006 Chameleon lancaster, PA
Aug 24 2006 crocodile rock allentown, PA
Aug 26 2006 webster theater hartford, CT
Aug 27 2006 northern lights albany/cliffton park
Aug 30 2006 ushuaii orono, ME
Sep 2 2006 peabodys cleveland, OH
Sep 9 2006 alrosa villa columbus, OH
Insomnium Album Details Revealed
Candlelight Records today confirms October 17 as the American release date for Above The Weeping World, the new album from Finland's Insominium. Now available for viewing, the label has uploaded the band's new video for album track 'Mortal Share'; bring your browser to www.myspace.com/candlelightrecordsusa.
Recording at renowned Fantom and Finnvox Studios, Above The Weeping World contains Insomnium's skilled melodic death metal, stunningly heavier with even further dynamic and melodic variety than that of their previous efforts. "This is by far the best Insomnium album", says vocalist/bassist Niilo Sevänen. "It is the first time we feel we really succeeded in studio. We have nine great tracks on the album. As a band we are very happy with the end result."
Seemless Complete Work On New Album
Heralded Massachusetts hard rock quartet Seemless have completed work on their new album. The much-publicized band, known for their explosive songs, high energy live performances and unforgettable, timeless songcraft will issue What Have We Become on September 5th via Equal Vision Records.
Seemless (Pete Cortese - guitar, Jeff Fultz - bass, Derek Kerswill - drums and Jesse Leach - vocals) recorded What Have We Become at Massachusetts' legendary Longview Studios. The album was produced by Peter Rutcho and Seemless and has been described as "a blend of rock 'n roll soul and heavy metal blues". What Have We Become also features complex, visually striking artwork from Paul Romano (Mastodon, The Red Chord, Trivium).
The final track listing for What Have We Become is 'In My Blood', 'Cast No Shadow', 'Numb', 'Eyes of a Child', 'Seven', 'Deep Below', 'Jaded', 'Parody', 'Maintain' and 'Things Fall Apart'.
Seemless will launch a 30 city U.S. tour in support of What Have We Become beginning August 1 in Nashville, TN. The pre-release jaunt is expected to conclude on September 3 in Rochester, NY with additional dates pending. Seemless will preview brand new songs from the forthcoming release nightly over the course of the month-long tour.
Hear VoiVod's New Album Early
On Thursday, July 27, at 6 p.m. EDT, music lovers and VoiVod fans can catch the gala launch of the famous metal band's latest album, Katorz, live on www.bandeapart.fm and on SIRIUS satellite radio (channel 93). The two-hour audio/video special will also air again Canada-wide at midnight on Espace musique (100.7 FM in Montreal).
Headline News
Gigantour 2006 Lineup and Dates Revealed
The fast and furious traveling festival that was hailed last year by Revolver magazine as "the mother of all shred fests" will kick off its second year in early September.
Look for the tour--the brainchild of MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine --to launch in the Northeast and to work its way through 25 major markets before wrapping in mid-October, with Xbox's "Gears of War" sponsoring the trek. MEGADETH will return as the festival headliner on a bill that includes fellow heavy-hitters Lamb of God, plus OPETH, ARCH ENEMY, OVERKILL, INTO ETERNITY, SANCTITY, and THE SMASHUP all confirmed for these mostly outdoor shows. Other second stage artists will be announced soon.
Mustaine personally hand-picks all the Gigantour bands, with a sharp eye on true musicianship. He says Gigantour is a great place for like-minded music fans to see a full day of music on two stages without breaking the bank, and he's glad the tour is back in '06. " This is the concert that I, as a heavy metal music fan, would want to see," says Mustaine. "It is going to be something to look forward to each year, to see what kind of tremendous talent we can assemble, for Gigantour festivals in the years to come."
LAMB OF GOD's Mark Morton says, "MEGADETH is one of the main reasons I started playing metal guitar in the first place. To finally tour with them is really exciting and it's a great way to start off our world tour supporting Sacrament. We've been dying to get the new material up and running on the live stage. We've worked so hard on the new record--it's really a great sense of accomplishment to see the new tunes come to life in a live setting. We're really looking forward to this one." The group's Chris Adler says, "Teaming up with Megadeth on GIGANTOUR is a metal dream come true. The lineup represents some of the most proficient metal bands and players from across the world and we are looking forward to joining forces and kicking ass. We're planning on a nice long set, introducing a lot of new and very heavy material from Sacrament as well as keeping the brutal live tracks from our previous albums. We can't wait to take the stage and destroy it."
Last year's inaugural GIGANTOUR was a six-week trek that was hailed by the Miami Herald for featuring "only bands whose musicianship matches their ability to melt faces with sheer volume and power." The Orange County Register agreed, saying, "...it does a heart good to see Mustaine able to buck the chameleon trend of rock and stay firm to his ideals, keeping the music the priority and not the image."
As for joining forces with GIGANTOUR, Craig Davison, Director of Global Games Marketing for Xbox, says, "We're totally jazzed about the partnership between Gigantour 2006 and our forthcoming Xbox 360 blockbuster, Gears of War ! Partnering a music extravaganza like GIGANTOUR with the launch of a mega-hit game like Gears of War captures the excitement around two awesome happenings for fans of music and video games!" Gears of War is a blockbuster video game exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system that blends tactical action with survival horror. Gears of War thrusts gamers into a harrowing story of humankind's epic battle for survival and is available this holiday.
In other GIGANTOUR news, Image Entertainment will release two-DVD and two-CD sets of GIGANTOUR 2005, which included Megadeth, Dream Theatre, Fear Factory, Anthrax, Nevermore, Life of Agony, Symphony X, Dry Kill Logic and Bobaflex. The CD is out August 22, with the DVD hitting stores September 5--just in time for this year's tour.
Stay tuned for more details, or check out www.GIGANTOUR.com , www.megadeth.com , www.myspace.com/gigantour2006 , and www.myspace.com/megadeth .
The current itinerary is below (note: exact line-up for shows subject to change). More...
SOAD, Korn, Others Don't Mind Music In Viral Video
MTV.com has written an interesting piece on Viral Videos and talked to a number of band members about their music's use in these indie videos:
Just as Vietnam was called the first TV war, the current conflict in Iraq could be remembered as the first viral-video war.
Viral video, the buzz word of the last few months (especially with marketers), is the term used to describe Internet videos like the "Star Wars" kid, "Brokeback to the Future" and "MySpace: The Movie" that have become phenomena thanks to e-mail and Web sites like YouTube.com and iFilm. But while those were clearly created to get a good laugh, there's a far different viral-video campaign blossoming that centers on American soldiers in the Middle East.
Essentially, troops are using affordable cameras and laptops to shoot and edit videos that chronicle their experience in and out of combat. And since most are set to modern rock music and feature the sort of quick cuts and stylistic shots often associated with MTV, the effect is like watching a music video.
"Wow this is cool — it's better than the real video," Staind singer Aaron Lewis said as he screened a video of "So Far Away" that juxtaposes frightening explosions with scenes of soldiers jokingly Saran-wrapping another troop to his bunk. "It's just crazy to see the footage of them right there in the middle of it, doing it all."
"I have seen ones where you can see people blowing up and all that kind of stuff," said Korn singer Jonathan Davis, whose music has been used by the video-makers. "But even the tame ones serve a purpose. They put faces on the people out there doing it, they're in the barracks and stuff, which is good."
"It is truly an indie media, from soldiers who are the ones who really know what's going on," said Tom Morello after screening a video that uses Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name." "It's not being filtered through some corporate-owned news service or whatever. So I think that their insights to what's happening there are important ones, being set to music that they like."
And not just music they like, but aggressive, political music that reflects the subject matter.
"The intense nature of the song really adds more emotion to the video," said Chris Wentzel, a civilian who used soldiers' footage he found online to make a clip for Drowning Pool's "Bodies." "If music wasn't used in the videos it would kind of take away from the video as far as emotion."
After Davis screened a clip that uses Korn's "Dead Bodies Everywhere," he knew exactly what the filmmaker was going for.
"It's a video of them killing people, so there's going to be dead bodies everywhere, which totally gives it a new meaning," Davis said of the song, which he wrote about working at a coroner's office before Korn formed. "I remember working at the funeral home, and you had to [inject humor] or you would have gone crazy from all the death being around you. And I think this is a way for them to do that, where they get their laptops and get their camera, 'Oh, check out my video.' It's like a way for them to deal with what they're doing. 'Cause they're killing people, man — I don't care who you are or what it is, it's still killing people and it's still got to be taxing on your mind."
And for that reason, Davis is supportive of the viral videos, even though they are made without permission from the bands and are therefore technically illegal.
"I don't know what the record company is going to say about that, but what's it hurting?" Davis said. "It's reality. People hear stuff from me all the time, they don't get to see that; they just see the powder-coated stuff. But if you really saw what's going on over there, you could see something different."
Read the full article at MTV.com.
Anterrabae, Rosesdead, My Bitter End Booking Tour
Anterrabae, Rosesdead, and My Bitter End will tour the East Coast together in September. If you're interested in booking a date, send an email to Loveasarsonbooking@hotmail.com. The routing is as follows:
9/1 Long Island, NY
9/2 New Jersey
9/3 Philadelphia, PA
9/4 Baltimore, MD
9/5 Richmond, VA
9/6 North Carolina
9/7 Myrtle Beach, SC
9/9 Orlando, FL
9/10 Lakeland, FL
9/11 Pembroke Pines, FL
9/12 Daytona Beach, FL
9/13 Panama City, FL
9/14 Atlanta, GA
9/15 Nashville, TN
9/16 Cincinnati, OH
9/17 Pittsburgh, PA
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