Interview

Eric Greif Talks Death's "Leprosy" Reissue

In recent years, the glorious musical legacy of the late Chuck Schuldiner has been injected with a new burst of life. This has happened thanks to the the impressive Special Edition series that Relapse Records and Chuck's estate (Perseverance Holdings LTD) have been putting together. These albums (which include most of Death's, Control Denied's and Mantas' recordings) feature a plethora of new bonus tracks, remixes, remastering, and an outstanding overall packaging.

Death's iconic second opus, "Leprosy," is the latest entry in the series. Classics hymns like "Pull The Plug" and "Left To Die," among others, can now be enjoyed with a renewed, crystal clear quality thanks to remastering work courtesy of Alan Douches (Mastodon, Nile). Between that and Ed Repka's unforgettable cover artwork, the liner notes and extra photos, it's difficult not to feel that this is, indeed, a true labor of love.

We talked with Perseverance Holdings' master chief— and Schuldiner former manager—Eric Greif, about bringing this metallic gem back to life. He also made revelations about what's coming next for Death's recordings and the future of Control's Denied's unreleased opus, "When Man And Machine Collide". Greif's answers were, to say the least, extremely compelling. More...

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Ages Debuts First Single

New Montreal act Ages has issued the following press release:

"We are AGES, welcome.

"Created by Xavier St Laurent (ex-Ion Dissonance) and Alexander Hebert, with a lineup that now includes Andre Thibault, Paul “Ablaze” Zinay (Blackguard), and Francois Archambault.

"We are excited to present to everyone our first of two singles entitled 'Heinous Nemesis' featuring Mark Jansen of EPICA and MAYAN."

"Heinous Nemesis" can be downloaded for free here. Ages will be releasing songs continuously throughout the coming months, all of which will available for free download.

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Sibera Releases New Album

Barcelona's five-piece metal band Sibera has released a second album titled "A Calculated Life Cycle," which was recorded with Juan Pe and Carles Puntí in Wasabi Studios and mastered with Jens Bögren in Fascination Street Studios.

You can buy a copy at Bandcamp here, or preview all the songs in the player below. The track listing is as follows:

1. Fear of heights 01:32
2. My last breath 04:32
3. Two hours 03:35
4. 100% cotton 03:37
5. Black pillow 04:00
6. Burning me inside 04:48
7. The saddest winter 04:09
8. Thanatos 03:11
9. A new dawn 04:24
10. On thin ice 05:47 More...

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Strigaskór NR. 42 Signs Record Deal

Hellthrasher Productions has issued the following announcement about signing a record deal with Strigaskór NR. 42:

"We are very excited to announce a worldwide deal with Icelandic industrial metal/punk legends Strigaskór NR. 42 – a band with quite a long history, but sporatic activity through the years.Formed in the late eighties, Strigaskór NR. 42 came to be at the forefront of the vibrant Icelandic death-metal scene in the early nineties (3-way split with Sororicide and In Memoriam released back in 1992).

"The band’s only full album to date, ‘Blót’ (1994), veered away from traditional metal style into more avantgarde sound and received widespread critical acclaim and a cult status in Iceland’s music community, being considered by many as the best metal album ever released by an Icelandic band.Now, nearly twenty years later, the band is back with a new album, 'Armadillo,' self-released digitally in September 2013, with the CD version coming later this year through our label.

"The band’s current incarnation draws its influences from legendary acts such as Voivod, Primus, Madness and Wire, while remaining a unique and colorful fusion of various styles. Rolling Stone Magazine called them 'a metal animal with big-band weight' and that sums them up perfectly."

Further details on the Icelandic band can be found over at Facebook here.

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Paulie Pecker Posts "Last Goodbye"

Swedish metal outfit Paulie Pecker has a new track available online titled "Last Goodbye." The track was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Zeko Pelivani and can be heard below. Paulie Pecker consists of:

Drums - Dala Holmberg
Vox - Markus Nico Nikula
Bass - Simon Holmberg
Guitar lead - Zeko Pelivani
Guitar rhythm - Fredrik Trängbjörk

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Sakharov Streaming "I Spit Your Bullets Out"

Russian outfit Sakharov has a new track available for streaming titled "I Spit Your Bullets Out," which can be heard below.

The song features guest vocals from Martin Steene (Iron Fire, Bridgeville) and drums from Andrey Ishchenko (Arkona). "I Spit Your Bullets Out" is the first single to be released from an upcoming Sakharov album due out later this year, with further details forthcoming.

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Dark Symphonica Releases New Video

Up and coming Australian symphonic metal band Dark Symphonica has released an official music video for debut single "Scream and Bleed," which can be viewed below.

Soon after the digital release of "Scream and Bleed" two weeks ago, the track peaked at number 4 on the iTunes Australia Metal charts. The song was recorded with Adam Merker of Studio Anders Debeerz (Alpine Fault, Lagerstein), and mastered with the world renowned Jens Bogren of Fascination Street Studios (Opeth, Kreator, Paradise Lost).

Jarrad Rooke of Dropframe Creative, and director of the music video, remarked: "I was so drawn to this track. It's dynamically brilliant and I wanted to make a video that pulls out the character struggle from the lyrics. It's as beautiful and as challenging as art should be."

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Maze Of Terror Posts Full EP Online

Peruvian metal outfit Maze Of Terror has made the band's entire previous "Skullcrusher" EP available online for streaming. Give it a listen below, or at the group's Bandcamp page here. The "Skullcrusher" track listing is:

1. Hatred and Repression 04:47
2. Damned to Eternal Pyre 04:29
3. Lord of Destruction 05:41
4. Rivals 05:10
5. Run with Death 04:58

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Column

Sunday Old School: Marilyn Manson

After a whole month covering black metal bands such as Behemoth and Gorgoroth, you’d have thought that we’d be sick of writing about men in makeup causing outrage. However, this week’s article looks at one of the biggest rock acts of the nineties, fronted by the most controversial name in rock since Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson. Manson himself began life as Brian Warner, who was working as a music journalist when he met guitarist, Scott Putesky, with whom he soon formed a band, which they named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids. It was decided that the members would adopt stage names which married the names of female icons with serial killers. Warner became Marilyn Manson while Putesky rechristened himself, Daisy Berkowitz. They were joined by bass player, Brian Tutunick (Olivia Newton Bundy) and recorded their first, self-titled demo. After bringing in keyboard player Stephen Bier (Madonna Wayne Gacy) and drummer Fred Streithorst (Sara Lee Lucas,) as well as replacing Bundy with Brad Stewart (Gidget Gein,) the band increased their local profile and gained substantial airplay on WYNX-FM, thanks largely to DJ and fan, Scott David. The early shows were just as theatrical as the ones the band would become known for, featuring such provocative images as women on crosses, children in cages and, due to the lack of a professional pyrotechnician, setting their own props on fire. The group soon caught the attention of Nine Inch Nails frontman, Trent Reznor, who signed the band to his newly formed label, Nothing Records and brought the group on the road as a support act.

Marilyn Manson (as the band had by now shortened their name to) recorded their first album, "The Manson Family Album" in the summer of 1993 but was very unhappy with the result. After playing the record to Reznor, who agreed that the album didn’t sound very good and helped the band re-record and remix the album, which was released the next summer under the new name, "Portrait of an American Family." As soon as work on the record was complete, the band decided to let Gein go after he overdosed on heroin for the fourth time. He was replaced by Twiggy Ramirez who made his live debut with the band on a short headlining tour, during which Manson was arrested in Jacksonville, Florida after the local Christian Coalition accused him of indecency. On the same tour, Manson met Anton LaVey of the Church of Satan, who gave him the title, Reverend. The controversy stirred by Manson’s new title arguably helped earn the band its first headlining tour of North America, during which drummer Sara Lee Lucas would quit after Manson set his drum kit on fire while Lucas was still performing. He was replaced by Ginger Fish and the group hit the road again, this time partnering with Danzig and Korn. More...

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