All That Remains Announce New Bassist

ALL THAT REMAINS, the Massachusetts-based act featuring former SHADOWS FALL vocalist Philip Labonte, have announced the addition of bassist Jeanne Fagan to the group's ranks. Fagan, who has been playing with the group for the past few weeks as a session bassist, has accepted the offer to join the band as a permanent member. "We welcome Jeanne to the team as she brings an invaluable amount of talent and charisma to the band," the group write on their web site.

ALL THAT REMAINS' sophomore album, "This Darkened Heart", is available now on Prosthetic Records. The follow-up to 2002's "Behind Silence and Solitude" was produced by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz.

0 Comments - Discuss

Voivod Guitarist Hospitalized With Cancer

Quebec City newspaper Le Soleil is reporting that VOIVOD guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour is suffering from advanced colon cancer — so advanced that the disease has spread to his liver — and is currently resting in the palliative care ward at a Montreal hospital, surrounded by family and friends.

D'Amour, who was reportedly diagnosed with colon cancer earlier in the summer, first entered the hospital for a routine operation, but several complications led his doctors to suspect more problems. Then the grim verdict was revealed: the cancer, already too advanced, would be inoperable.

Only two months ago, D'Amour was in the studio working on two albums — the 14th album from the Canadian thrash-metal pioneers VOIVOD, plus a reunion CD from the legendary AUT'CHOSE, a '70s band from Montreal.

"Our good friend and guitar hero Denis D'Amour is very ill," his bandmates Denis "Snake" Bélanger, Michel "Away" Langevin, and Jason "Jasonic" Newsted write on their web site. "We are helping Denis in every way that we can to feel comfortable while he fights to get healthy."

D'Amour's current condition casts doubt on the status of the projects he was working on before his hospitalization. AUT'CHOSE are still scheduled to appear at L'Imperial in Quebec City this Saturday (August 27). Martin Dupuis will once again replace the man he considers an idol. The group's new album, for which D'Amour had already completed his tracks, is slated for a summer 2006 release.

For VOIVOD, however, things are less certain. Work on a new album had begun, but according to a Le Soleil source, the CD had not reached an advanced stage of completion. The band was forced to put studio work on hold while bassist Jason Newsted was treated for tendonitis.

3 Comments - Discuss

Krokus To Tour the US For First Time Since 1988

Veteran Swiss hard rockers KROKUS will embark on their first U.S. tour since 1988 in early September.

Last year's U.S. releases of "Rock the Block", the band's newest studio album with Marc Storace's signature vocals, and "Fire and Gasoline", a two-disc live set that shows KROKUS at their best – onstage – lay the groundwork for this fall's U.S. run. It will start in New York and end on the West Coast, hitting as many major American markets in between as they can at this time. The tour, like the live album, will feature all the old KROKUS hits and fan favorites from "Heatstrokes" and "Longstick Goes Boom" to "Midnite Maniac", the power ballad "Screaming In The Night", "Night Wolf", "American Woman" and others off of their biggest albums like "Headhunter" and "The Blitz". They will follow this mini-tour with a bigger U.S. tour in early 2006 in support of a new album.

Here are the KROKUS U.S. tour dates: More...

Read more...  |  0 Comments - Discuss

New Ill Nino Ecard Online w/ New Songs

A brand-new ILL NINO e-card, containing streaming audio of two tracks — "What You Deserve" and "This Is War" (latter song also available for download) — from the group's upcoming "One Nation Underground" CD, can be accessed at this location.

ILL NINO recently enlisted Dale "Rage" Resteghini (MUDVAYNE, HATEBREED) to direct two videos from "One Nation Underground", due on September 27 via Roadrunner Records. The shoot for "This Is War" reportedly took place on July 23 in Long Island, while "What You Deserve" was filmed the following week in Brooklyn, New Jersey and Manhattan.

The follow-up to 2003's "Confessions", "One Nation Underground" was produced by Scrap 60 (ANTHRAX, CRADLE OF FILTH, BLEEDING THROUGH).

ILL NINO are currently supporting DISTURBED on a six-week North American tour.

1 Comment - Discuss

NEPGM Festival Promoters Forced to Fight City Hall

The first annual New England Punk, Goth, and Metal Festival is reportedly in danger of being relocated from its originally-contracted site, Lowell's LeLecheur Park, due to opposition from the City Manager's office.

In what was a sudden turn of events, the festival's promoters allegedly received a call on August 15 with information that the NEPGM Music Festival, slated for October 1-2, was suddenly at the risk of being displaced from its chosen venue.

This will in effect inconvenience the anticipated thousands of fans and the 70+ bands under contract with the promoters of the event. It has also impacted the local shops and vendors who were looking forward with anticipation to this festival because of the major financial impact this will have on the regional economy.

The city of Lowell is allegedly refusing to allow the fest to occur at The Ballpark, citing the possibility that it might attract “a different sort of demographic." Promoters Mar and Marchesi, who have contracted with 70+ local bands and four national headlining acts (including SARDONICA, DR. CHUD'S X-WARD, TRASH LIGHT VISION and BELLA MORTE), have vowed to continue to forge ahead with the plans concocted for this event that were formulated over eight months ago.

For more information, visit nepgmfest.com.

0 Comments - Discuss

Five Bolt Main Photo Gallery

You can check out newly posted pictures of Five Bolt Main with opening acts Sleep is Dead and Hillbilly Deathride from their performance in Huntington, WV in our photo gallery

1 Comment - Discuss

A Snapshot of US Summer Concert Attendance

The following are a few select recent heavy metal/hard rock concert attendance figures, as reported by Billboard magazine:

Artist/Event: Ozzfest: BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN, MUDVAYNE, SHADOWS FALL, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, IN FLAMES & others
Venue: Alpine Valley Music Theatre
City/State: East Troy, Wis.
Date: Aug. 6, 2005
Attendance: 20,575
Capacity: 35,072

Artist/Event: Ozzfest: BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN, MUDVAYNE, SHADOWS FALL, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, IN FLAMES & others
Venue: White River Amphitheatre
City/State: Auburn, Wash.
Date: Aug. 11, 2005
Attendance: 16,923
Capacity: 19,536

Artist/Event: Gigantour: MEGADETH, DREAM THEATER, FEAR FACTORY, NEVERMORE, LIFE OF AGONY, SYMPHONY X, DRY KILL LOGIC, BOBAFLEX
Venue: NOKIA Theatre
City/State: Grand Prairie, Texas
Date: Aug. 2, 2005
Attendance: 2,426
Capacity: 3,537 More...

Read more...  |  0 Comments - Discuss

Watch Trivium's New Video Online

Trivium has a brand new video for the track "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepedation". You can watch the video in RoadRunner's VIDEO section. In related news, the band also was just awarded the "Best International Newcomer Award" last night in the UK at the KERRANG! Awards.

0 Comments - Discuss