Archive: Headline News
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Disfear Bassist Passes Away
Henrik Frykman, the bass player of Disfear, who joined the band in 1990 when the group was still known as Anti-Bofors, has passed away as a result of a longtime battle with cancer. A message from his bandmates Björn Pettersson, Marcus Andersson, Ulf Cederlund and Tomas Lindberg, reads as follows:
"It is with heavy hearts we inform you that on Friday, the 25th of March, Henrik Frykman passed away in his home after a long battle with cancer. Henrik will be greatly missed by family and friends."
Frankie Sparcello Of Exhorder Deceased
Frankie Sparcello, the bassist of New Orleans band Exhorder, passed away today. There will be more information released as we receive it.
His bandmates, friends, and fans everywhere are grieving today as they await the information on his tragic death.
Kyle Thomas (Exhorder vocalist): "Don't know quite what to say, so I will say I love you and see you on the other side some day. For those that are unaware, Frankie Sparcello of Exhorder passed away yesterday. What was supposed to be a birthday gathering for me now will include toasting his life and friendship tonight at Pat's Pub."
Jimmy Bower (EyeHateGod guitarist and Down drummer): "Thoughts go out to Frankie's family and friends... Damn dude just saw ya last week.. RIP"
Flesh Parade: "Would like to send our deepest condolences to the friends and family of Frankie Sparcello of Exhorder. R.I.P."
Bruce Corbitt (Rigor Mortis vocalist): "RIP Frankie Sparcello of Exhorder! Man, I admit I am shocked about this tragic news. I just saw him at the Down show in Houston 2 weeks ago and he seemed fine. I was really looking forward to having fun with him in a few weeks at the Exhorder/Rigor Mortis shows. My thoughts and condolences go out to his family, friends and bandmates!"
Footage from the band's recent performance at the Hangar bar in New Orleans in December is available online: More...
Paul Di'anno Jailed For Benefit Crime
According to the Daily Mail, Paul Di'anno (former vocalist of such bands as Iron Maiden, Killers and Battlezone) has been jailed today after being found guilty of benefit fraud. Di'anno was sentenced to nine months for claiming over £45,000 in benefits. He was told he would serve at least four and a half months of the sentence behind bars before being released on conditional bail.
Di'anno claimed he suffered severe nerve damage to his back that prevented him from working, but he was caught when Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) investigators spotted a YouTube video of him jumping around on stage during a live show in 2006.
The footage, from his own website and video sharing site YouTube, showed the singer energetically moving across the stage, putting his claims in severe doubt.
He admitted the eight counts of benefit fraud at Salisbury Crown Court on February 11.
Alice In Chains' Mike Starr Reportedly Dead
TMZ.com is reporting that former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr has died in Utah. Starr was 44 years old. According to TMZ, police found his body in a Salt Lake City, Utah home earlier today. No information on the cause of death has yet been made available.
ABC News 4 in Salt Lake City is reporting that Starr's body was found at 1:42 p.m. in a residence at 1986 South Richards St. The station is also reporting that Starr was busted in February in Salt Lake City for illegal prescription drug possession.
Tributes to Starr have already been posted on his personal website - www.wix.com/mikestarr. The site also includes an undated posting from Starr which reads: "Wrote a killer song with my new band . . . We jammed last week at a small club. It was straight comedy."
Born in Hawaii, Starr played with AIC from the band's formation in Seattle in 1987 until he left in 1993. He also appeared on the 2010 reality TV show "Celebrity Rehab" with Dr. Drew Pinsky on VH1. Dr. Drew posted a message moments ago on his Twitter, which read: "Devastating to hear of Mike Starr succumbing to his illness. So very sad. Our prayers are with his family."
Additional information on this developing story will be updated as it is made available and as statements are made by family and friends.
Read the full article at TMZ.
Iced Earth Vocalist Quits The Band
After returning to the band in 2007 following high demand from fans, singer Matt Barlow has announced that he will be leaving Iced Earth after their summer tour, citing family committment and the toll of touring as a result. An emotional message from Barlow reads as follows:
"Let me begin by saying how much of an honor it has been to share my time in Iced Earth with Jon and the guys…and with all of you! Since my return to the band in 2007, it has truly been extraordinary. I have had the opportunity to travel the world and see old friends and meet new ones. Though we had originally thought that the Iced Earth touring schedule would be very limited, we were able to play our fair share of concerts.
"During that time we were also able to have a live DVD produced (the forthcoming Festivals of the Wicked). However, due to the rapidly changing music industry, it has become increasingly clear to recording artists that the only way to keep a band viable and to truly reach its potential is through live performances. That means that a band must reach out to new regions of the globe and become pioneers for their own livelihood. Since 2007, Jon and I have always had the best intentions for the future of Iced Earth, and we still do. However, given the band’s projected touring schedule, Iced Earth’s future and mine must now take separate paths.
"On my departure from Iced Earth in 2003, I made a commitment to my wife and to the idea that we would start, and raise, our family together. Two years later, my first child was born and two years after that, my second. My youngest son was born about a week before Jon asked me to return to Iced Earth. It was a very exciting and emotional time for all of us, but we were all clear on our intentions. It is apparent to us now that regardless of our belief at that time, time can change an intended outcome. In this instance, I hope that change will not be regarded as a bad thing, but rather as a necessary part of evolution. More...
Machine Men Calls It Quits
Finnish traditional heavy metallers Machine Men have posted the following statement online;
"Things have been quiet for the past two years. During this time we have gone through many changes and we have been thinking about the future of the band. Unfortunately, we feel that the challenges as a band would be too hard to overcome. After long conversations we have decided that the story of Machine Men ends here. It's better to end what we started together without bitterness than to make a new album we couldn't put our hearts and souls into. We wouldn't be the five guys that stuck together no matter what. We would be something else, not Machine Men.
"This band has been the centre of our lives for over a decade. During these years we have experienced great and unforgettable moments on the road (and off). The thanks goes to all the people who have supported us and have come to see our gigs. It hasn't been an easy ride but yet we have taken all the shit with our heads held high. After all, we are from Suolahti, for fuck's sake!
"Even though it's sad, we end this with smiles on our faces and with loads of good memories to share over a pint. The story of the band ends here but we'll continue to make music as individuals. We are grateful to so many people but most of all we would like to thank our fans - without you we would have been nothing!"
Oceansize Splits Up
U.K. progressive metal act Oceansize has posted the following statement online, through its official website, announcing its decision to disband.
"Dear Friends,
"We regret to inform you that Oceansize have split up.
"An explanation for this occurrence is neither forthcoming or indeed necessary. All that remains is to say THANK YOU for being there for us. It's been a very eventful and life-affirming 12 years. We'll miss you.
"There will be more music from each of us as soon as possible."
Extreme Noise Terror Frontman Found Dead
Phil Vane, one of the two vocalists of British crust punk/grindcore legends Extreme Noise Terror, has been found dead in his home. He was 46 years old. No cause of death has yet been revealed. A short statement from the band reads as follows:
"The rumors are true - we're sorry to announce that Phil (Vane) passed away recently. The band will make a full statement soon, but for now we need to take the time to come to terms with this terrible loss."
Phil Vane was one of the two vocalists of Extreme Noise Terror since the group's inception in 1985 along with singer Dean Jones and spent a brief period in the 1990's as the vocalist of fellow British grinders Napalm Death. For more information on Vane and Extreme Noise Terror, please check out last month's Sunday Old School article about the band.
Metalunderground.com's Best of 2010 Awards
The Grammys have been awarded, February is winding down, and we are officially late with our Best Of Year in Metal acknowledgments. So let's get to it. Like every year, I polled our diverse staff of metalheads to obtain their picks in several categories for 2010.
2010 was an interesting year in metal. Was it good? Yes. But not what one might expect at the outset. There were a lot of releases by big names, but most did not make the splash one would expect. Iron Maiden, Rob Zombie, Fear Factory, Dimmu Borgir, Dark Tranquility, and Living Sacrifice all put out decent albums, but nothing too bold or worth raving over. 2010 was one more year removed from the fading metalcore trend; a year in which we could savor thrash's second life, and melodic death metal is still living strong. When the trendiest things are a return to thrash and technical metal (despite losing much of its death metal influences), that's not too bad from a metal perspective.
It's hard to say 2010 was a year for the underground to shine. The true underground bands rarely get widely noticed. But there were quite a few lesser known bands making names for themselves and grabbing their fair share of attention last year. Why is this? Is it a sign of a changing of the guard in light of the aging greats, and perhaps despite the thrash revival? It's hard to say, but personally, I discovered a lot of new bands that I thoroughly enjoy, so I am all for continuing along this path.
Let's get down to the details and talk about those bands that made 2010 a solid year for heavy metal by announcing the Metalunderground.com staff picks for 2010. The staff picks include the following categories: Best Metal Album of 2010, Best Metal DVD of 2010, Best Metal Newcomer of 2010, Best Live Act of 2010, and Most Anticipated Release for 2011. More...
God Dethroned To Call It A Day
Dutch death metal outfit God Dethroned has announced that the band will be put to rest at the end of this year, mostly due to a lack of interest in touring. A message from singer/guitarist Henri Sattler reads as follows:
"2011 is God Dethroned's final year in existence.
"We could have spent another year in a tour bus because the amount of offers was endless, but I just don't feel like touring anymore. People told me to take a break for a year or maybe two, but as I'm an "all, or nothing at all" type of person, I decided to call it quits.
"Not immediately, but in December of this year we will definitely play our last show. That's gonna be at the Eindhoven Metal Meeting in Holland.
"I'm very proud of what we achieved with the band, but the time has come for new challenges.
"I would like to thank all of our fans for their support for all these years."
Iron Maiden Wins Grammy Award
British heavy metal legends Iron Maiden have picked up the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance this year with their song, "El Dorado," which comes from their latest studio album, "The Final Frontier." The band won the award despite competition from Slayer, Korn, Megadeth and Lamb Of God. Also bringing home an award was supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, who won the prize for Best Hard Rock Performance with their song, "New Fang," Canadian rock legend Neil Young won claimed the Best Rock Song title with, "Angry World" and Jeff Beck, who won the award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Hammerhead."
Guitar Hero Is Officially Dead
Video game publisher Activision has announced the discontinuation of the Guitar Hero series due to declining sales. The series started in 2005 and generated billions of dollars in sales, paving the way for other popular music franchises such as Rock Band and dozens of spin-offs for PCs and mobile devices.
According to MSNBC.com Activision made the decision, "due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing's 'Guitar Hero' business unit and discontinue development on its 'Guitar Hero' game for 2011... These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world's best interactive entertainment experiences."
Cathedral Announces Plans To Retire
British doom/stoner metal legends Cathedral has announced that they will be calling it a day after a twenty one year long career. The band will make their exit from the live arena at the end of this year and plan to record one final studio album to be released in 2012.
According to vocalist Lee Dorrian: "It's simply time for us to bow out. Twenty-one years is a very long time and it's almost a miracle that we managed to come this far! We've had a great time during Cathedral's existence and it has literally been our life. It's just time to move on and leave our recorded legacy to linger.
"Our latest album The Guessing Game is exactly where we wanted to be after all this time. Staying in one place, being repetitive and predictable is something we wanted to avoid right from the off. More...
Gary Moore Passes Away
Legendary Northern Irish blues rock guitarist Gary Moore has unfortunately passed away. The former Thin Lizzy guitarist reportedly died in his sleep while on holiday in Spain in the early hours of this morning. He was 58 years old. Moore made a name for himself in the rock world after performing in a band named Skid Row in the late 1960s and released his first solo album in 1973, before joining Thin Lizzy for periods of time and collaborating with such other legendary artists as Ozzy Osbourne, B.B. King and George Harrison. More...
Re-Vision To Disband
German progressive metal act Re-Vision has posted the following update online, announcing its decision to disband.
"With [a] sad heart but conscious of [our] decision Re-Vision have decided to quit after 17 years, four albums, countless shows and precious memories!
"Thanks to everyone who has supported us, we appreciate it still!
"Dominik Nowitzki [drums] is part of Capital Joke now, the new band of ex-Grave Digger/Rage guitar player Manni Schmidt, hitting the drums as hard as he can. Daniel Dürig [guitar] continues working with Perzonal War, Anke Willnat [vocals] stays active in her cover bands, which she has established over the years. Moreover Dom, Daniel and bass player Christoph Lücker (Gonzo) are still on the road together as the backing band of Paul Di'Anno."
Nergal Back In The Hospital
Adam Darski, best known to his fans as "Nergal," the frontman of Polish blackened death metal outfit Behemoth, has been forced to return to the hospital as a result of an infection.
"The patient was taken to hospital again because he did not take care of himself," Dr. Maria Bieniaszewska, assistant professor in the Department of Hematology at Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne (UCK) in Gdansk, told Polish site Fakt.pl.
It is not known whether the infection will affect the adoption of a bone marrow transplant. This procedure took place in late December and it's unclear how long Nergal will now have to stay in hospital. In his condition, when the immune system is weakened, such infections may even threaten life.
Bonded By Blood Involved In Vehicle Accident
Bonded By Blood bassist Jerry Garcia has posted the following update online about the band being involved in a van accident:
"Shit just hit the fan! We were on our way to Trenton, NJ and our trailer took us for a spin on the highway. We had a great gig last night and we were happy to finally get into the groove of things, unfortunately everything has come to a cold and dreadful stop. I was driving the van on our way to New Jersey when we suddenly skid across the road and nearly hit a wall. Unfortunately our fucking trailer flipped over and broke off the hinge!
"As I was driving down the road the weather kept getting worse and worse. It was very difficult to see outside of our windows and the road was becoming one big sheet of ice. I could see the light from my headlights reflect off the pavement. I slowed down because I was afraid we would hydroplane. I was going about 40- 45 mph about two hours from the venue, listening to the song 'Chase The Wind' by our friends band Holy Grail on my headphones, when suddenly I realized that our trailer was on a massive hydroplane completely adjacent to us. I kind of freaked out because I was afraid it would smash into the back of the van where Juan [Juarez, band guitarist] was sleeping. I laid off the gas and as soon as I did the trailer pulled the van and caused me to loose complete control. All I could say was 'OH FUUUUCK!' I managed to narrowly miss the center divider and a few cars before we skid completely across the highway and almost hit the wall on the other side. We came to a stop about 3 feet from the wall!
"It was a surreal experience to say the least. Something about listening to our buddy Luna (from Holy Grail) singing while we almost lost our lives just didn’t seem right. At least that is not how I would’ve expected to go. Everything happened so fast and my actions seemed automatic as if my instincts just kicked in and I did whatever it is I did behind the wheel without thinking about it. I'm not superstitious but its kind of ironic that Mauro was listening to 'Dying Season' by Heathen and the exit off the highway we took after all was said and done was named Moosic. Its like we exited music and in a way we did, for the night at least. More...
Former Sodom Guitarist Passes Away
Dirk Strahlimeier, the former guitarist of German thrash metal legends Sodom, has passed away. Sodom frontman Tom Angelripper has posted the following statement online regarding Strahlimeier's death:
"As I learned from a reliable source, our ex-guitarist Dirk 'Strahli' Strahlmeier died this month in a hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany. Currently we don't know the exact circumstances of his death. Strahli played on the album Masquerade In Blood which was released in 1995 on SPV. After that we had lost contact with him. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
"R.I.P. Brother!"
Call To Preserve Calling It Quits
American hardcore act Call To Preserve has announced through its record label that the band has decided to disband. A statement from the group can be read below:
"After eight years, three full-lengths and countless tours all over, Call to Preserve is calling it quits. For the past year or so we’ve done our best to keeping functioning as a band despite losing members and having remaining members cut back their involvement.
"Now all of us are being pulled in different directions and our aspirations for our future have expanded much further than being on tour all the time. With some of us moving away, going back to school or starting careers, we just can’t sacrifice our time to this band like we used to. It would be a disservice to ourselves to do CTP half heartedly, so instead we want to go out on a high note and enjoy our last few months as a band.
"We want to do our best to make sure those who want to can come see us for the last time. This April we’ll be playing our last west coast show at Facedown Fest 2011 and in the coming months we’ll be announcing our last tour dates, which will include a stop at Cornerstone Festival. Our last show will be near the end of July this summer in Melbourne, Florida. More details will be announced soon.
"In these final months we’ll also be working on a few new songs that will be on a 7” coming out this summer on Facedown Records. We’ve wanted to put out vinyl for years and felt we had a few more things to say before we go, so this seemed like the perfect time and place to put out a 7 inch.
"We never thought that this band would get as far as it did. We never thought we’d have the chance to travel so much and tour with some of our favorite bands and make such amazing friends from all over the world. We are eternally grateful for the chance we were given to play music and actually have people listen.
"We want to thank Jason Dunn and Facedown Records for standing behind us for the past five years, being some of the easiest people to work with and for just being great friends. We want to thank all the bands we’ve met and toured with who have become some of our best friends and we will miss the shows and the hangouts dearly. Finally we want to thank everyone who has supported us by coming to a show, buying a shirt, letting us sleep on your floor or feeding us. We are more thankful than you’ll ever know.
"Thanks for listening and see you soon."
The Autumn Offering Goes On Hiatus
Matt McChesney, vocalist of The Autumn Offering, has posted the following statement online through Myspace explaining the band's decision to go on hiatus.
"Now that the dust has settled a bit, here’s the story: We could no longer function as a band on Victory Records. They are criminals of the worst kind, and care nothing about the artists on their roster. Not going to get into a bunch of boring shit about record labels and money, but anyone with half a brain can see what was going on here. We were never dropped or anything like that, and as far as I can see they still have us listed on their artist roster. Whatever. Maybe one day when heavy music gets cool again, we’ll make some more records…but in this current climate of 'djent' shit and deathcore, no thanks.
"Most of those bands sound like furniture being moved around in an empty room. In the meantime, Jesse [Nunn, Autumn Offering guitarist] and myself have completed 14 songs with producer Logan Mader (Five Finger Death Punch, Divine Heresy, Cavelera Conspiracy) in Hollywood over the past 3 months. Its great stuff…kind of like Alice in Chains meets Faith No More, with a little bit of metal thrown in. We don’t have a name yet…just focusing on finishing the album first…I’ll keep you posted!!"
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