Ebonmortis Signs with Rotting Corpse Records

Chicago-based Death/Black metallers EBONMORTIS have inked a deal with Rotting Corpse Records. The band has recently finished recording their upcoming release, "Reconstruction by Force" with producer Corey Smoot
(GWAR, MUNICIPAL WASTE) at Karma Studios and is currently in the finalization process. The album with feature art from Juan Ramirez, contributing artist for "Halo", "Halo 2" and "Myth" for the XBOX and PC. A late summer release is anticipated.

Ebonmortis' lineup is as follows:

Vocals: Cuntry
Guitar: Josh Dwiel
Guitar: Face
Bass: Eric Annable
Drums: Brian Scott

You can check out some of Ebonmortis' material on their MySpace page.

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Finnish Metal "Idol's" Album Goes Platinum

"Fuel for the Fire", the debut solo album from the winner of the Finnish national TV talent competition "Idols", 22-year-old heavy metal singer Ari Koivunen, has been certified platinum in Finland for sales in excess of 30,000 copies. Ari was presented with his gold and platinum plaques by Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH, TAROT) and Tommi "Tuple" Salmela during Koivunen's performance at Pielavesirock on Saturday, June 30.

Koivunen recently released the video for his first solo single, "Hear My Call". The song was written by Nino Laurenne (THUNDERSTONE) and Pasi Heikkilä (45 DEGREE WOMAN), who also produced "Fuel for the Fire" (Sony BMG). You can watch the clip at YouTube.

Among the other metal luminaries who have contributed material to "Fuel for the Fire" are Timo Tolkki (STRATOVARIUS), Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH, TAROT), Janne Joutsenniemi (SUBURBAN TRIBE), Tony Kakko (SONATA ARCTICA) and Jarkko Ahola (TERÄSBETONI).

The following musicians appear on the CD:

Tuomas Wäinölä (KOTIPELTO, NYLON BEAT) - Guitar
Mikko Kosonen (MAIJA VILKKUMAA) - Guitar
Nino Laurenne (THUNDERSTONE) - Guitar
Mirka Rantanen (THUNDERSTONE) - Drums
Mikko Kaakkuriniemi (KOTIPELTO) - Drums
Pasi Heikkilä (45 DEGREE WOMAN) - Bass
Janne Wirman (CHILDREN OF BODOM) - Keyboards

Ari Koivunen's touring band — which also appears in the "Hear My Call" clip — consists of the following musicians: More...

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Working Title For New Raven Album Revealed

Legendary British/American heavy metal trio RAVEN has set "Walk through Fire" as the tentative title of its new album. The band is scheduled to return to the studio on July 9 to resume recording the CD, which is expected in late 2007/early 2008.

RAVEN last year recorded four new tracks — "Against The Grain", "Running Around In Circles", "Breaking You Down" and "Necessary Evil" — at Assembly Line Studios with Kevin 131 (PROJECT: FAILING FLESH, DECEASED, DYSRYTHMIA, GARDEN OF SHADOWS) engineering and mixing.

When asked by a fan on the band's message board if the songs laid down during the Assembly Line session will be re-recorded for the upcoming CD, frontman John Gallagher said, "They are more than good enough to go on the album. We may tweak the mix a little but it's not really needed — they sound THAT good. Actually, I had half of 'Against the Grain' when we did the last album and finished it up a lot later. The production is clear — uncluttered and powerful. Very straightforward... kinda [like] 'Life's a Bitch' with better drum sounds maybe."

RAVEN's last studio album, "One for All", was released in 1999 via Massacre Records.

RAVEN has been confirmed for The Monsters Ball, set to take place Friday, October 12 at The Rock Room of the Sterling hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Saturday, October 13 at Dingbatz in Clifton, New Jersey. Also scheduled to appear are HALLOWS EVE, SEVENTH CALLING and fellow British metallers OVERDRIVE (performing their first U.S. shows ever). RAVEN will also perform at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio on September 15 as part of the "Metal On Metal 25th Anniversary Concert", also featuring ANVIL, PILEDRIVER and DESTRUCTOR.

RAVEN is one of the confirmed bands for the Hard Rock Hell festival, set to take place from November 9-11 at Butlins in Minehead, UK (Somerset).

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Onslaught Frontman Denies Reunion Is A Cash In

Dr. Abner Mality of the Wormwood Chronicles webzine recently talked to singer Sy Keeler of the reformed British thrash legends ONSLAUGHT. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Wormwood Chronicles: To play the devil's advocate, some folks say that many of the thrash band reunions of late are just to cash in. What would you say to somebody that claimed ONSLAUGHT's return was just for money?

Sy Keeler: Many have asked this question. We didn't make much money back in the '80s, and we have no idea how this album will sell, so our intentions were not to cash in. If we can earn some money that will be great...we reformed to have some fun, record the best album we could and play some gigs. We all have families, day jobs and all the responsibilities that go with life these days, so we'd have to sell a lot of CDs to enable us to concentrate on ONSLAUGHT full-time.

Wormwood Chronicles: When the band got back together, did things click right away or did it take a while for you to "connect" with each other again?

Sy Keeler: It took a little time to find our feet. None of us had picked up an instrument for years. We had to borrow at first... we weren't gonna go spend loads of money on gear before we knew it was gonna work. The first rehearsals were terrible. We reconnected well straight away, and within a couple of months we were writing new songs.

Wormwood Chronicles: You come from the "golden age" of thrash. Have you kept track of the scene throughout the years and what are your thoughts on more modern practitioners of the art like THE HAUNTED, LAMB OF GOD, ARCH ENEMY, etc?

Sy Keeler: Yes, I have kept track of what's been going on over the years; Steve and Nige had not, so I introduced them to the likes of ARCH ENEMY etc. I love music and bands such as THE HAUNTED have kept the spirit of thrash "alive." So many great bands these days.

Wormwood Chronicles: You left the band after the success of "The Force". What was the reason for your departure then and was it easy to get back into the band?

Sy Keeler: I was pushed! A combination of record company, producer and management saw to that. I wasn't right for the band. So they said... It was a dirty period which is now a very distant memory and the guys realized very quickly that the wrong decision had been made. They say that decision was the beginning of the end for ONSLAUGHT. The guys tell me now, if I had said no to the reformation it would not have happened. I jumped at the chance to rejoin ONSLAUGHT.

Read the entire interview at www.wormwoodchronicles.com.

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Max Cavalera Talks About Project With Igor

SOULFLY's official web site, Soulfly Web, has been updated with a new question-and-answer session with the group's leader, Max Cavalera. It follows here in its entirety:

Soulfly Web: Can you tell us what what you're going to be up to this month?

Max: Yeah, man, this week is actually really exciting. The date today is 7/7/7 and tomorrow we are starting to record on the new project that I'm doing with my brother Igor. I've talked about it a bit last year and throughout this year, and now finally we are pulling through with it and we're entering the studio tomorrow morning — and it's just going to be some brutal, aggressive, out-of-control shit.

Soulfly Web: Have you been jamming with him at all, or is the first time you guys are playing together going to be in the studio?

Max: Nah, we're going to do it all in the studio. I think it's sounding like a combination of things I've done with NAILBOMB and SEPULTURA, and even SOULFLY, of course, but these songs are coming to be more live on the spot. I recorded some simple four-tracks for a lot of them, similar to the ones that people may have heard through the SOULFLY MySpace, and I sent out a CD to everybody about a month ago with like 10 songs, but at that time I didn't even know exactly who else I'd be working with in the project. I knew that Igor would be doing drums and percussion, and I'd be doing vocals and guitar. Now Marc Rizzo is going to be playing lead guitar and and the bassist and vocalist from GOJIRA will help us out to give it a bit of a different vibe. I like GOJIRA a lot — they're a fucking kick-ass band. It's a special album for me because it's a very global group of musicians. One from France [from GOJIRA], one from the U.S., and two from Brasil. I think that's going to add something very cool, even trippy, and definitely my style.

Soulfly Web: Who are you going to be working with in the studio tomorrow?

Max: The album's being done Logan Mader and Dirty Icon in L.A., where I did the last two things that I've recorded in the studio. I just did the "Beautiful People" [MARILYN MANSON] cover for Kerrang! that came out a couple of weeks ago, and and I also did four lines for a rapper named ILL BILL from the East Coast. It was very cool — I'm not usually very big into rap, but he contacted me, he's a fan of mine from way back, and he actually met me and Igor way back on our first U.S. tour with SEPULTURA. So he sent me a copy of this song he did called "War Is My Destiny" — and it's fucking kick-ass. It's the most evil rap I've ever heard in my life — both the music and the lyrics. So when I was here last time, I recorded a couple lines and added some stuff on top of it. All of this shit was recorded with Logan — who has played with MACHINE HEAD and with me in SOULFLY right after the first record — out here in L.A., and it's really cool to work with Logan as a producer because he's an amazing engineer, we know him already, and it's fit perfect. I give my respect to Gloria [Cavalera, wife/manager] because it was all planned very well and she did a fucking kick-ass job finding the right people for the studio. All that's left for us to do now is to go into the studio tomorrow and jam out a sick-ass record, and that's what we're aiming for.

Soulfly Web: Do you think SOULFLY's going to be working on their new album with him this fall, as well?

Max: It's still too early to say. Right now this project is literally consuming all of my time. I'm still writing for the next SOULFLY, and Marc is, as well, and so are Bobby and Joe. We've all been in good contact over the break and we're all excited to be going into the new SOULFLY album, but that's going to be a chapter of its own that will have its own time. I like to keep touring, but I'm the kind of guy that likes to focus on one of my projects at a time to give it its own attention. I did NAILBOMB at nearly the same time that SEPULTURA was recording "Chaos A.D.", but they still had their own time for me. So yeah there's idea floating around, but as far as technical things like which producer, where to record, or even the general vibe of the CD — these are things that we haven't decided yet. I think it's going to be very cool, and in fact, this project will probably have a strong influence on what comes out of the next SOULFLY album. I know that NAILBOMB strongly had an influence for me in the "Chaos A.D." recordings, and even on into "Roots". I hope this project is going to do the same for SOULFLY, and it's going to provide some excellent inspiration.

Soulfly Web: Is this project going to be similar to NAILBOMB in the same way that you won't be performing live, or do you have plans for more shows than you played with NAILBOMB?

Max: We're going to try to play more shows than me and Alex [Newport] did with NAILBOMB. NAILBOMB was very unique the original idea between me and Alex was that we'd never play live and it's what we believed while we were making the songs in the studio. But we received a request for Dynamo Open Air that we just couldn't refuse. For them to put NAILBOMB in front of 120,000 people on the bill was incredible, and we were like, "We've got to do this one, man!" It's not everyday that you get to play in front of 120,00 people so we went ahead and did the show, but originally we never thought we play live. So this should be a bit different — I'm liking the material we've got so far quite a bit and it'd be very fun to do more live shows. My goal in the end would be to play a couple of shows in North America, a couple of shows in Europe, a couple of shows in Australia, a couple of shows in South America, so that all the fans of me and Igor's shit can get the opportunity to see what we're doing together live. It'd be fairer to my fans to play more than one show this time around, so we'll try to do a small number of shows, but play them all over the place.

Soulfly Web: You mentioned that you're going to be on ILL BILL's next album, "The Hour of Reprisal". Does Igor's collaboration with ILL BILL's little brother and fellow hip-hop artist NECRO have anything to do with your decision to record some lines for Bill, or is your only connection with him the chance meeting you guys had when you were in SEPULTURA?

Max: Igor working with Necro actually had nothing to do with it. Bill called me completely out of the blue. When he sent me the CD, I'm going to have to be honest, I didn't know much about what he did. The only thing that I did know for sure was that he had met me and Igor in New York on our first or second U.S. tour and we went to get some pizza with him. He grew up as a metalhead and a SEPULTURA fan I thought that was pretty respectable coming from someone from the rap world. He does something very different from a lot of the bullshit that's out there in rap. This is rap with a very different, almost "metal," attitude woven into it and it sounds very fucking cool. He told me it was an honor to have me on his record, but as far as I can tell, I don't think Necro working with Igor really had anything to do with it. I haven't met Ill Bill for quite a while though, and we're going to get to reunite at a festival that we're both playing at over in Europe this summer. The guest spot was his idea, he contacted me, and I put some vocals on top of it. Since he was a big SEPULTURA fan, I decided to do something I normally don't do, and I took a couple lines that fit his song from "Arise" and "Chaos A.D.", and I screamed those over the top of the rap that he's doing. It's going to sound fucking wild when it's done — lots of intensity and some very evil rap. Even if you don't like rap, I'd suggest giving Ill Bill a try, because it's a lot closer to some of the things that we do in metal than you might think.

Soulfly Web: Finally, do you have anything special in mind for SOULFLY's short European tour in August or for the 11th annual D-Low Memorial show that SOULFLY's scheduled on August 31st in Tempe, Arizona?

Max: Whoa, yeah, you know, we've got a lot that we're doing all at once right now, between the studio and touring in Europe, and of course, the Dana memorial show. The one thing that I think would be cool for this year's D-Low Memorial Show would be to have our new project play live at the show before SOULFLY. Every year the D-Low show is a very special one — at last year's show I talked to Igor for the first time in person in 10 years. My fans here in Arizona deserve that and I think SOULFLY fans are going to fucking love it if it happens — yeah, we'll get to SOULFLY the end, but before that we'd hopefully play through some songs from the project. The bill isn't completely confirmed yet, but we're working on it, and we hope to get some guests who have known Dana in the past to come out. 90% of the people I've worked with have had some type of connection with Dana — from the first D-Low show when the DEFTONES played with DUB WAR until now. Throughout the years most bands that have played have met Dana, or they know about it, and it's important to keep that involved. That awareness is what the show is really about — it's an opportunity for us to remember Dana as a friend. He was a very awesome metal fan, he was here for the music, and that music was his salvation from all the bullshit. He stayed away from shit like drugs, stealing, and all of that crap because he had music, you know? He loved music more than anyone I know and I hung out with him everyday playing music; he was one of the best friends that I've ever met. It fucking sucked to lose him, so I'm just trying to do my part to let people know about Dana. I don't want to let the world forget Dana ever — the impact he made and the memories we share — and that is the most important thing that this show will be about.

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Mouth Of The Architect Hit The Road

Mouth of the Architect are about to hit the road and blow through the Southern US after just returning home from a slew of dates and while still tackling their newest material towards building the next album. Here are the tour dates:

Jul 10 2007 8:00P Grog Shop: w/ Made Out of Babies, Red Giant Cleveland, Ohio
Jul 11 2007 8:00P Ravari Room:: w/ Made Out of Babies Columbus, Ohio
Jul 12 2007 8:00P Empty Bottle:: w/ Made Out of Babies, Raise the Red Lantern Chicago, Illinois
Jul 13 2007 8:00P Mojo's:: w/ Made Out of Babies Columbia, Missouri
Jul 14 2007 8:00P Downtown Music:: w/ Made Out of Babies, Rwake Little Rock, Arkansas
Jul 15 2007 8:00P Hailey's:: w/ Made Out of Babies Denton, Texas
Jul 16 2007 8:00P Emo's:: w/ Made Out of Babies Austin, Texas
Jul 18 2007 8:00P The Cellblock:: w/ Made Out of Babies Mobile, Alabama
Jul 19 2007 8:00P The Social:: w/ Made Out of Babies, Kylesa, Torche Orlando, Florida
Jul 20 2007 8:00P Transitions Art Gallery:: w/ Made Out of Babies, Kylesa, Torche Tampa, Florida
Jul 21 2007 8:00P Drunken Unicorn:: w/ Big Business, Zoroaster Atlanta, Georgia
Jul 22 2007 8:00P The Khyber:: w/ Skeletonwitch, Withered Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 24 2007 8:00P DC-9:: w/ Made Out of Babies, Tone Washington, Washington DC
Jul 25 2007 8:00P Ottobar:: w/ Made Out of Babies Baltimore, Maryland
Jul 26 2007 8:00P Baseball Tavern:: w/ Made Out of Babies Boston, Massachusetts
Jul 27 2007 8:00P AS220:: w/ Made Out of Babies, The Body Providence, Rhode Island
Jul 28 2007 8:00P Southpaw:: w/ Made Out of Babies Brooklyn, New York

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Katatonia add Swiss date to fall tour plans

According to a recent update on the official homepage, Katatonia will be heading to Switzerland after they return from their North American tour in September. Could this be a hint at a full European tour before they head into the studio? One can only hope.

October, 20 2007 at Burgdorfer Rocknight 07
Grossmatthalle Kirchberg BE, Kirchberg | SWI,
Cost : CHF 25 / approx. EUR 16

Burgdorfer Rocknight 07 20.10.2007 Grossmatthalle Kirchberg BE www.rocknight.org Doors: 20.00

Tickets: via Ticketcorner (direct link: http://www.ticketcorner.com/eventsto...card?id=753190)
For people outside Switzerland, write eMail to tickets@rocknight.org for purchase.

The tickets allow free entry to the Rocknight PreParty on Friday, 19.10.2007 with cheap drinks and great local bands!

Headliner: Katatonia Co-Headliner: Disillusion (D) Support: Spooky Evolution (CH), Trafficlights (CH)

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Pyrexia Update North American Tour Schedule

New York-based death metallers PYREXIA have added select dates in Canada with INHERIT DISEASE as part of their North American tour as well as additional dates to their US tour with CREMATORIUM throughout August and September.

Dates are as follows:

July
11 - London, ON - The Embassy
12 - Hamilton, ON - Absinthe
13 - Toronto, ON - Opera House
14 - Peterborough, ON - The Underdog
16 - Montreal, QC - Saphir
17 - Quebec City, QC - Velvet

August
17 - Chicago, IL - The Note
21 - Colarado Springsr, CO - Union Station
23 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
24 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
26 - Oakland, CA - Uptown Nightclub
28 - Hollywood, CA - Knitting Factory
30 - Corona, CA - Showcase Theatre
31 - San Marcos, CA - The Jumping Turtle

September
1 - Las Vegas, NV - The Cheyenne Saloon
2 - Albuquerque, NM - The Launchpad
3 - Juarez, MX - Centenario
4 - Clovis, NM - Absolute Zero
5 - Austin, TX at Red 7
6 - San Antonio, TX at Scooby?s
7 - Corpus Christi, TX - The Compound
8 - McAllen, TX - The Metro
9 - Tallahassee, FL - The Beta Bar
10 - Orlando, FL - Island Oasis
11 - Ft. Pierce, FL - Atomic Garage
12 - Tampa, FL - The Brass Mug
13 - Jacksonville, FL - Thee Imperial
15 - Raleigh, NC - Volume Eleven Tavern
20 - Springfield, VA - Jaxx
21 - Levittown, NY - Club Metasin
22 - Rochester, NY - Montage Music Hall

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Hallows Eve Post New Song Online

A brand new HALLOWS EVE track, entitled "Dominion Resurrected", has been posted on the band's MySpace page. The song — which features original HALLOWS EVE members Stacy Andersen (vocals) and Tommy Stewart (bass) alongside Doyle Bright (guitar), Dane Jensen (drums) and Chris Abbamonte (guitar) — is expected to appear on the group's forthcoming album, tentatively due later in the year.

Stacy Andersen and Tommy Stewart appeared on stage together for the first time since 1989 during the band's performance at the New England Metal And Hardcore Festival on April 28, 2007 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Metal Blade Records. They were joined by ex-RIGOR MORTIS lead vocalist and guitarist Doyle Bright (who is also Andersen's bandmate in TWO PRONGED CROWN and SOULZERO), and drummer Dane Jensen. Check out pictures of HALLOWS EVE's performance at ReturnToThePit.com. More...

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Porcupine Tree Frontman On Future Projects

Steven Wilson, frontman for esteemed band Porcupine Tree, recently gave an interview with Alternative-Zine - some excerpts follow:

A-Z: Fear of a Blank Planet is a definitive concept album, how would you summarise the concept/s of the album?
SW: Well, basically it reflects my concerns for the current younger generation; a generation born into an era of accessible information, living vicariously through gadgets where they can download everything via the internet – music, movies, information, and pornography. Everything is available through the internet. About how all this affects the human quality of curiosity, and I believe that curiosity is one of humanity's most important qualities. Without curiosity we will never find what's underneath the surface; the different meanings and interpretations and levels that there are to music as an example. How the overload of information affects their curiosity about the world outside their bedroom. My fear for this potentially blank generation. Or to use more a romantic expression, do the young people of today have the same sense of soul?

A-Z: Writing the album (FOABP) in Israel as well as on tour, probably made it hard for the album to be a group effort. How did the writing process go?
SW: I wrote the long piece around February while recording "Blackfield" at night. It was refreshing to write in a different country. In England Richard wrote the basic music of "My Ashes" and in July the band worked on four tracks together, of which only one got to be on the record. The other three tracks will come out on an EP coming out later this year.
The three tracks together last for about 25 minuets, and we will probably add some of the tracks recorded on the BBC sessions supporting the FOABP album, expending the EP to around 40 minutes of music.

A-Z: Porcupine tree issued their first DVD "Arriving Somewhere…", and a Blackfield DVD is planned to be released around next year. Do you enjoy watching live DVDs by other bands? And do you find it appealing to create tour documentary DVDs like so?
SW: ... I think people will enjoy a real Porcupine Tree show much more then they can enjoy a DVD. On the other hand, I know that it's not possible for everyone around the world to see Porcupine Tree perform, and it is nice to have it documented and to have the chance to experience the Porcupine Tree live show in this way. I think we will try to release a live DVD from every album cycle from now on. Making a DVD is a serious time consumer, it's very hard work. If you think recording an album is hard, here you have the visuals as well as the audio aspects to take care of...

A-Z: The second "Continuum" album will be release next month, what can you tell me about it?
SW: It's slow doom metal with continuum ambient textures on the top. It's very much Sunn O))) inspired, more pushing everything into the red and slowing things down.

A-Z: What other future projects are in plan?
SW: Hopefully the project with Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, which will probably have Mike Portnoy on drums. It will be heavier then Porcupine Tree but softer then Opeth. Also, I'm planning on releasing a first solo album under the Steven Wilson name. I've written songs that don't belong to any project. It will be more laid back, and will have some longer ambitious tracks along with shorter songs. Maybe I will remix some of the cover versions which I've released. I feel there are some really good ones, such as the Alanis track (i.e. "Thank U", originally by Alanis Morissette), that should be heard, but weren't released in a way that they will be approachable to many people, being only available from my mail order until now.

A-Z: What can interest you in music these days? And what albums do love these days?
SW: Something I've never heard before. Something unique. Something that when I first hear it intrigues me and it grasps me. Good production work is also very important to me because I see myself as more of a producer then a guitarist or a writer. Musicians like Trent Reznor, who is a genius. Of what I’ve heard recently I love the new albums by Nine Inch Nails, LCD Soundsystem, Neurosis, Stars of the Lid, and Gojira.

Read the full article at Alternative-Zine Porcupine Tree Interview.

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Trouble Guitarist Explains CD Delay

StonerRock.com recently conducted an interview with TROUBLE guitarist Bruce Franklin. An excerpt from the interview follows:

StonerRock.com: First up, why reunite and give it another go?

Bruce: "I think everyone had time to get away from TROUBLE and work on their own music — LID, SUPERSHINE, WET ANIMAL. Someone asked us to play a one-time show. We did and it felt good! So after a few years apart everyone kind of felt a passion to try and do TROUBLE again. Being a few years older and wiser didn't hurt either."

StonerRock.com: You just got done touring the U.S. and Europe. Overall, which treated you better?

Bruce: "Both were really good. It was a pleasant surprise to see so many longtime TROUBLE-heads turn out. Europe may have a slight edge, because the smallest shows were still bigger than the smallest American shows. The cool thing is that people seem to really respect the band at this point in time. Probably more because we're old than anything else."

StonerRock.com: [The new TROUBLE album] "Simple Mind Condition" has had its [North American] release date pushed back repeatedly. What's with the delays?

Bruce: "Contrary to some of the crazy rumors, it really comes down to record company red tape and financial crap. On the band's part, the record has been done for over a year."

StonerRock.com: Do you think the constant reshuffling will have a negative effect, in the sense that eventually people will ultimately just stop caring about a new TROUBLE album and just download it?

Bruce: "It seems so. As usual, TROUBLE has all the luck. Bad luck! On the positive side the new record is out in Europe and is supposed to be out in August in the States. Even better is that it's a good record. Of course every band will say their new record is good. I'm not a bullshitter though, and 'Simple Mind Condition' isn't the best record we have made, but it is a good record that should be heard by anyone that likes what TROUBLE does."

Read the entire interview at www.stonerrock.com.

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Slash On Libertad, Axl Rose And Rick Rubin

Ultimate-Guitar.com recently conducted an interview with VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Ultimate-Guitar: The new record really solidifies the sound of the band. It's a huge leap forward from "Contraband". What did you do different this time?

Slash: It's hard to explain. The first record is great and it was a cool opening statement and stuff, but it wasn't an example of what everybody in the band was really capable of. But we just sort of all got together and, based on the excitement of finding just that unity, we just went in and did it really quick. We didn't really sit down and explore. We were lucky to even make the first record because we did a show at the El Rey, and we had I think a 5 to 6-song set. We contemplated just going on the road and not even putting a record out. Then we thought, "No, let's slow down for a second. Let's put a record together." So we did. I think that over the course of the last couple of years, from touring and just being together and being through a lot together and this and that and the other, the band actually sort of got seasoned a little bit. We did 5 shows, I think it was somewhere in July. We did five shows in California, and even at that point, the band had actually set. It actually felt really, really comfortable. I could look back and think how hard we were really trying when it first started. There was a lot of getting to know each other. I've known a lot of these guys for fucking ever, as a band getting to know each other. So at this point, we went in and just started writing songs. It was a whole different kind of environment.

Ultimate-Guitar: So, during these last three years, was it finding that settling period in order that the band could move forward and say, "Okay, let's make a record now?"

Slash: All things considered, it wasn't really a conscious effort like that. It was more like, yeah, we wanted to make a second record. Getting it started took a long time, just getting everybody in the same room. There was a lot of other bullshit surrounding the band, coming from all different directions. It was sort of like a lot of little obstacles going on. Once we finally got in, we just started doing what it was that we did. So there wasn't a conscious effort to, "Okay, now that we've been playing together for so long…" It just sort of naturally happened that way.

Ultimate-Guitar: Rick Rubin was going to be the first producer and then that didn't happen. What was it that you thought Rick might have brought to "Libertad"?

Slash: In this particular climate, when it comes to sort of rock and roll and what that sort of means these days, it's hard to think who you want to make a record with because there's no records coming out that we actually like. Or I'll speak for myself, that I actually like, except for bands that have been around for a long time. NINE INCH NAILS or QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE or FOO FIGHTERS or something like that, those are bands that I like, but they've been around for a while. So in what's going on right now as we speak, we didn't know who to work with. So Rick came up. His name comes up and I thought, "You know, I've known Rick for a long time and I know he obviously makes some amazing records. So let's see." So we sat down and we met with him. It was like we were just getting into writing mode at that point. He says, "Just keep writing." So we did a lot of writing for a little bit. This was sort of like in March, April, and May. Then we stopped for about a month and we started up again in July. He started coming down to hear what we were doing. We didn't know what to expect, but I had heard that he's not a real sort of… He doesn't have a real presence in the rehearsal studio and in the recording studio. So it turned out that was exactly the case. He would show up for half an hour one day and then we would continue working. We were trying to adhere to some guidelines that he had set for us, how to go about doing it — which is sort of unheard of, for any of us to actually listen to anybody.

Ultimate-Guitar: In terms of schedules?

Slash: No, how to go about the actual writing process. So we said, "Well, that makes some sense. So we'll try a couple of these different things." Then we fall back into our own rut! Then he would show up 2 or 3 weeks later, again for a half an hour, and that started to become a little bit weird. Also, he was working on so many other records at the same time, that we didn't feel like we were obviously exclusive at all. That was all just adding up, but we were sort of being nice about it. Then finally it came to a point suddenly where we were starting to get frustrated, and we were also starting to get disillusioned. We started getting inhibited by our own material and going through this weird thing. We didn't know exactly how to put our finger on. At that point, we really wanted to get going. It didn't seem like with Rick we were going to be doing anything in the near future, as far as releasing a record or whatever. We didn't even know which songs were good or weren't good. We were sort of leaning on him to sort of give us an idea. So somehow we ended up calling up Brendan O'Brien, who Scott knew (O'Brien produced STONE TEMPLE PILOTS). I talked to him on the phone and he said all the right things. So he came down to the studio, he came down to rehearsal. And inside of 3 weeks, we put all the songs together, arrangements and everything. We just went straight into the studio. He just has a real hands-on kind of attitude. He's also a musician, which is great because we're showing him how to play the songs and he can pick up the guitar and play along with us. So we can go through some arrangement ideas or this or that or the other. He just has a really keen ear for everything that's going on. We didn't feel at all imposed on by him. We sort of did our thing and it just worked out.

Ultimate-Guitar: You can really hear his presence in terms of guitar tones and song structures. Is that the kind of input you would get from him?

Slash: I think the biggest thing that I noticed was he was great at simplifying the stuff that we made complicated, like certain song arrangements. Like, "You've already got the song right there." Because we kept digging up new parts and all this kind of shit. We also have this thing where we started jamming on something and we come up with so many different ideas inside the parameters of one tune. It's hard for us to give that up because it's all spontaneous stuff and it sounds cool and this and that. But as far as an arrangement to a song is concerned, he would be like, "You don't need to have all those different parts." So that was helpful. It made certain aspects of it a lot simpler. As far as guitar tones and drum tones and all that kind of shit, that was something where, when we actually went into the studio, I did have sort of these different ideas as to what I thought I was going to do. We just set up a Marshall and I go, "I need this sound," or "I need to get a Vox," or something like that. He'd dig up an old Vox Combo or something like that. So he had access to a lot of stuff. But it was really just sort of like not over thinking anything. So it was very raw and it was very live. One of the cool things about making this record was that, rather than going, "Okay, we're going to go through all the basic tracks and then we'll come back and do the vocals and the guitars and all that kind of shit," we did it song by song. Scott was there singing with us and it was real sort of camaraderie happening in the studio. That was unprecedented in my experience in the bands that I've been in.

Ultimate-Guitar: In your mind, was there ever a thought that, "We better not make a "Contraband Part II"?

Slash: I think there was one conversation that we had at one point, where we actually, as a band, just sat down at rehearsal one day. We took a break from what we were doing or something, and we were all just sitting around. We had this conversation that was like, "What ideally would we want to do?" I think Rick was there for this. "Ideally what would we want to do with this record?" The summation of the conversation that followed was to make something that was as good or better than any of the collective or individual recordings that we had done, or records that we had done in previous bands or what not. That was like the only time that we ever talked about it. I guess it was a subconscious bar. That was it. Then we just kept working! I think that the whole sophomore kind of thing is a little bit intimidating because when we were considering going into making the next record, we thought, "Oh, this will be great and a piece of cake." There were a lot of great ideas, but we couldn't get into a room to really all focus. The longer that took, the more intimidating the concept became. Finally once we got to work, it went away. But one of the things about the first record is, that having done it on the tour and then enough time after the tour, it actually seemed like such a long time ago. I think that obviously the band had blossomed since then that I don't think we had any intention of doing anything that sounded like the first record. There was no reason to go back and go, "We want to make a record." It didn't matter if it had sold 10 million records. We weren't going to go back and try and recreate that. We were going to expand on it.

Ultimate-Guitar: Do you talk to Axl [Rose] at all?

Slash: I know about what's going on with him, probably about as much as anybody else does because it pops up in conversation. Otherwise, I don't really spend too much time thinking about it. But I'm glad that he's out there and he's doing something. He's got a record, which I know is done. He just has to put it out. I really have no animosity toward him anymore. I have finally gotten over that. I don't have any of this sort of bitter resentment about the whole fucking upheaval that was 1996. So it's actually a nice, content feeling, and I'm glad that he's working and I'm glad that I'm working. I feel like I've achieved something by having gotten a little bit out from underneath the umbrella of the constant GUNS N' ROSES recognition, which is great to an extent. You want to be able to do some other stuff without having…it's like toilet paper on your heel. So now I feel content in doing what I'm doing and sort of letting bygones be bygones. Although I think he's probably still pissed at me for a lot of things. But I'm like, whatever. It probably is my fault. Whatever, I'll let it go.

Read the entire interview at Ultimate-Guitar.com.

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