On July 13, Interstate Live conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Doc Coyle of New Brunswick, New Jersey's melodic, thrash-metal warriors GOD FORBID at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado on the first day of the "Trespass America" tour with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and TRIVIUM, among others. You can watch the chat below.

GOD FORBID's new album, "Equilibrium", sold 3,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 156 on The Billboard 200 chart. The effort landed at No. 7 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Equilibrium" was released on March 27 via Victory Records. The bulk of the CD was recorded by Mark Lewis (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER, TRIVIUM), with Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, CHIMAIRA, DEVILDRIVER) stepping in during the the vocal-tracking stage. The effort was mixed by acclaimed Swedish producer Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with such acts as KATATONIA, OPETH, PARADISE LOST and AMON AMARTH.

DJ Erin of 89.5 FM WSOU conducted an interview with guitarist Jason Hook of Las Vegas metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH at this year's edition of the Heavy T.O. festival, which took place August 11-12 at Downsview Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You can now watch the chat below.

As previously reported, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has hit No. 1 at the Active Rock format with the band's current single "Coming Down". The track is the tenth consecutive Top 10 hit, cementing the act's position as one of the most relevant at the format.

Going back to "The Bleeding" in the spring of 2008, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is one of the most heavily played bands at rock radio, as "Never Enough", "Stranger Than Fiction", "Hard To See", "Walk Away", "Bad Company", "Far From Home", "Under And Over It", and most recently "Remember Everything", each has become an anthem in its own right. The band's current album, "American Capitalist", continues to sell extremely well, with 440,000 copies sold since its debut at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart last October. The imminent gold certification of the band's third record and cumulative track downloads exceeding one million sold proves that there are few acts more successful than FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is currently headlining the Trespass America tour, also featuring KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, TRIVIUM, POP EVIL and others.

Interview:



Performance:

Fan-filmed video footage of IRON MAIDEN's August 18 performance at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas as part of the "Maiden England" tour can be seen below.

The 34-date "Maiden England" tour is IRON MAIDEN's most extensive visit to North America for many years and includes a number of other cities the band have not played in a very long time such as Atlanta, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City and Sacramento, and places like Sarnia (Ontario, Canada) and Cadott, Wisconsin where they have never visited before. The tour is based on the band's "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son Tour", with a setlist almost exclusively from the 1980s featuring all the classic songs and hits. The same spectacular stage set as was used on the original 1988 tour has been recreated, complete with a magnificent light show, pyro and a newly reincarnated Eddie!

When asked by The Aquarian Weekly what the reason was behind choosing a setlist like that of the famous 1988 excursion, Seventh Tour Of A Seventh Tour, IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith said, "Well, we just thought it'd be fun to revisit that period in time — there were some good songs there. It's just great revisiting some of the songs we haven't played for a long while. It keeps us fresh and it's just, you know, we got a lot of new fans coming on board now, a lot of younger fans who probably never saw or were around when we did that tour. That's one factor of it for us revisiting that time and I think there's some good songs from that period, so it's fun to do."

On the topic of how this tour differs from those in the recent years, Adrian said, "Well, this is a new set; we haven't taken the stage set out, for example, so it's a new stage set. We got new effects. I think it's going to be actually more spectacular than the original tour and probably, technically, you got more stuff now to put into a live show in terms of lighting and that, which will make it quite spectacular, so I think this is going to be pretty special, this tour. What with the songs, we love playing these songs, and with the stage set and effects and of course we got Eddie, he's back, so it should be fun."

The extraordinary and legendary ALICE COOPER was IRON MAIDEN's very special guest on all shows up to July 21. After that date, special guest was COHEED AND CAMBRIA, the inspiring, cutting-edge band from New York.

For a complete list of "Maiden England" 2012 tour dates, visit IronMaiden.com.

GetYourRockOut conducted an interview with British thrashers EVILE at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. You can now watch the chat below.

EVILE's latest album, "Five Serpent's Teeth", was once again recorded with producer Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR) at Parlour Studios in Kettering, U.K. and was released in Europe on September 26, 2011 via Earache Records.

The band's "In Dreams Of Terror" video can be seen below. The clip was directed by Ash Pears of ASHTV, and is the third video to be released from "Five Serpent's Teeth", following "Cult" and "In Memoriam".

Commented EVILE lead guitarist Ol Drake: "We had loads of fun doing this with Ash Pears of ASHTV and we really think we've got a video that suits the song greatly."

Interview:



"In Dreams Of Terror" video:

CFRU-FM, airing at 93.3 on the FM dial, a campus radio station based at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, conducted an interview with bassist Nick Schendzielos of Arizona extreme metallers JOB FOR A COWBOY at this year's edition of the Heavy T.O. festival, which took place August 11-12 at Downsview Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You can now watch the chat below.

JOB FOR A COWBOY's new album, "Demonocracy", sold 4,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 87 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's sophomore full-length CD, "Ruination", opened with around 10,600 units back in July 2009 to land at No. 42.

Released on April 10 via Metal Blade Records, "Demonocracy" was produced by Jason Seucof (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, WHITECHAPEL, TRIVIUM) who recorded the band's blistering "Ruination" full-length, at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida, and features another strikingly detailed concept cover by artist Brent Elliott White.

JOB FOR A COWBOY's "Tarnished Gluttony" video can be seen below. The disturbing nine-and-a-half-minute clip was directed by Michael Panduro, who has previously worked with SAINT VITUS and CEPHALIC CARNAGE.

Comments Davy: "'Tarnished Gluttony' originally runs off the idea of blind faith into our government and monetary system. The director ran with the idea and spliced it with a H.P. Lovecraftian twist. The video streams the fascination of religion and the actions people justify in the name of religion, and this video is a spin on the old biblical tale of Abraham and Isaac, however, set in the world of Lovecraftian mythology. The point is, acting blindly in faith to a Christian deity is just as absurd as worshiping squid like monsters from space who live under the sea."

Adds Panduro: "As a commercial director, I'm a complete failure. The band asked for just one thing and I couldn't deliver. Indeed, this video has no boobs."

Interview:



"Tarnished Gluttony" video:

Vocalist/guitarist Rolf Kasparek of German metallers RUNNING WILD was recently interviewed by Jorge Fretes of Spain's GoetiaMedia.com. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

RUNNING WILD's latest album, "Shadowmaker", registered the following first-week chart positions:

Germany: #12
Sweden: #43
Austria: #61
Finland: #90

The CD was released in Germany on April 20, and was made available in the rest of Europe on April 23 and in the U.S./Canada on April 24 via SPV/Steamhammer. The effort was issued as a limited first edition in a black jewel case with silver printing and slipcase plus a 40-minute bonus DVD with a "making-of" documentary and a track-by-track commentary by RUNNING WILD mainman Rock 'N' Rolf. The double gatefold LP comes with printed innersleeves and clear vinyl. There is also a boxset limited to 1,000 copies worldwide. It contains 2 LPs, the black jewel case with the DVD, a poster, a sticker, a postcard and a 30-page book in LP size about the history of the band.

The cover of "Shadowmaker" is the most unusual in the history of the band, but when you listen to the title track and read the lyrics, you will understand the meaning of it. It was created by Rock 'N' Rolf and Jens Reinhold (EVERGREY, FREEDOM CALL, VIRGIN STEELE), who also handled artwork for all configurations.

Tap dancing cowgirls, Freddie Mercury, and fistfights. These are just three elements of the story you'll hear from Lzzy Hale as she shares her "Beacon Moment" with Beacon Audio. Watch the clip below as the HALESTORM frontwoman talks about where she came from, how it made her and the band what they are today, and what happened the last time they went home.

A "Beacon Moment" is a decision, experience or choice that shapes the outcome of the rest of your life.

Lzzy Hale recently told Black Velvet magazine that more and more women are turning up at rock shows. She explained, "These girls that we see need to be there and some of them cry and they're screaming every word and there's such passion that I see. They're definitely making a statement of independence as well by going to these shows, 'cause it's not something you just go to with your girlfriends, you know, have a few drinks, or not if you're underage, but it's definitely a different breed of girl."

Regarding the inspiration for the HALESTORM song "Rock Show", Lzzy said, "'Rock Show' was inspired by a little girl we know in the States. She's a 13-year-old little guitar player and she wrote me this letter. It's a beautiful letter about the first time she came to our show and it was her first show and then she got her a guitar and long story short, she's got a little band now and she can play Eddie Van Halen's 'Eruption'. It's amazing what she's been able to accomplish in the last couple of years, but she wrote me this letter about how much just going to that show changes the course of her life and inspired her to carve out her own path for herself and have the confidence to do so."

HALESTORM's sophomore album, "The Strange Case Of…", made a stunning No. 1 debut on Billboard's "Hard Rock Albums" chart, while also making a Top 15 entry onto The Billboard 200. In addition, "The Strange Case Of…" has proven a top 10 success on both the "Rock Albums" and "Alternative Albums" rankings.

Interview:



Performance:

Matt Hill from Metal Gods TV conducted an interview with guitarist Alex Skolnick of San Francisco Bay Area metallers TESTAMENT at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which was held August 9-12 at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. You can now watch the chat below.

TESTAMENT's new album, "Dark Roots Of Earth", sold more than 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No, 12 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores on July 31 via Nuclear Blast Records.

TESTAMENT's previous studio album, "The Formation of Damnation", opened with 11,400 units back in May 2008 to debut at position No. 59.

"Dark Roots Of Earth" was produced, mixed and mastered by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap (ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE, ACCEPT, EXODUS). Special bonus tracks were recorded, mixed and mastered by Juan Urteaga (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS, TED NUGENT, NIGHT RANGER) at his Trident Studios. The cover artwork for the effort (see below) was painted by Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with ATHEIST, SIGH, ANACRUSIS and GWAR, among others.

Interview:



Performance:

Terrorizer TV conducted an interview with Kirk Windstein (CROWBAR, DOWN, KINGDOM OF SORROW) at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, was held August 9-12 at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. You can now watch the chat below.

CROWBAR's latest album, "Sever The Wicked Hand", sold around 3,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 4 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

CROWBAR's previous album, "Lifesblood For The Downtrodden", premiered with 1,900 copies back in February 2005.

"Sever The Wicked Hand" was released in the U.S. on February 8, 2011 through E1 Music and in Europe on February 14, 2011 via Century Media Records.

CROWBAR's "The Cemetery Angels" video was filmed on December 5, 2010 in New York City with director Dale "Rage" Resteghini.

RoarRock.co.uk conducted an interview with bassist Doris Yeh of Taiwanese metallers CHTHONIC at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which was held August 9-12 at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. You can now watch the chat below.

CHTHONIC's sixth full-length effort, "Takasago Army", was released in North America last September via Spinefarm Records. Produced by Rickard Bengtsson (ARCH ENEMY, NEMESIS) at Sweet Spot Studios in Halmstad, Sweden, this 10-track outing completes a trilogy of CHTHONIC releases, telling a story that binds together the band's "Seediq Bale" and "Mirror Of Retribution" albums, released in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

Former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman joined CHTHONIC on stage at the Fuji Rock Festival on July 29 at Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa-machi, Niigata, Japan.

Virtual Festivals conducted an interview with drummer Dave McClain of San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which was held August 9-12 at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. You can now watch the chat below.

Fans were given the unprecedented opportunity to influence MACHINE HEAD's setlist at this year's Bloodstock Open Air. Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the band's first-ever live performance at their roadie Mike "Scum"'s getting-evicted-from-his-house party — for which they performed five songs — the band gave Bloodstock ticket holders the opportunity to vote for the five "Burn My Eyes" songs they most want to hear MACHINE HEAD play during their headline set earlier tonight, with the five that receive the most votes included in the setlist.

MACHINE HEAD recently filmed a video for the song "Darkness Within" in the Czech Republic. The track comes off the band's new album, "Unto The Locust", which sold more than 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart — putting MACHINE HEAD in the Top 25 for the first time in the band's 17-year history.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the first annual Mayhem Festival Cruise — which was scheduled to set sail on Friday, December 7, 2012 from the Port of Miami, Florida and travels to the Bahamas, returning to the mainland on Monday, December 10 — was canceled.

Last week, Jason Simms got a chance to interview Scott Ian for an upcoming feature on ANTHRAX in The Oregonian. While Jason had Scott on the phone, he asked the guitarist for his thoughts on the cancelation, since ANTHRAX was to be one of the voyage's headliners. Here's what he said in its entirety.

"I saw the press release [announcing the cancelation], and we were as surprised as everybody else. We were literally out on the [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem [Festival] tour when we heard that the cruise was canceled.

"It's a bummer. We were all really looking forward to it.

"It's funny because us MACHINE HEAD, LAMB OF GOD, we're all good friends, we've all known each other forever. None of us had ever been on a cruise before. We were all in Europe this summer playing festivals together and we were like, 'What do you think of this cruise thing? What's your take on it?' Everyone was kind of like, 'Alright, it's a little weird, we're going to be stuck on this boat for four days,' but everyone was excited that we were going to get to hang out and all get really shitty and have a lot of fun. I know all of us were bummed and I heard from the MACHINE HEAD guys that they were bummed.

"Yeah, I don't know why [it was canceled]. I can speculate and think that maybe in this economy, it's kind of tough to sell a ticket for that much money. You get all these bands and it's three days on a boat, if you break it down to what it's costing you per day, it doesn't seem like a lot of money. But I understand where we're at in this world in 2012. People just don't have that kind of money to shell out. I can only assume it comes down to that."

Mayhem Festival Cruise promised to offer fans a chance to experience a blistering 90-minute set from each one of six killer heavy metal bands — LAMB OF GOD, MACHINE HEAD, ANTHRAX, HATEBREED, SUICIDE SILENCE and KINGDOM OF SORROW — as well as additional showcase sets from Century Media, Metal Blade Records, Roadrunner Records and Sumerian Records artists, including GOJIRA, PERIPHERY, BORN OF OSIRIS, BATTLECROSS, OTHERWISE, GIRL ON FIRE, ANTI MORTEM, and GYSPYHAWK. Mayhem veterans JDevil (Jonathan Davis of KORN) and DJ Starscream (Sid of SLIPKNOT) were also slated to perform full DJ sets each night.

For more information, visit www.MayhemCruise.com.

Metal-Trails.com conducted an interview with vocalist Charlotte Wessels of Dutch symphonic metallers DELAIN at this year's Wacken Open Air festival, which took place August 2-4 in Wacken, Germany. You can now watch the chat below.

DELAIN's third full-length studio album, "We Are The Others", was released in North America via the New Jersey-based top-tier progressive metal label Sensory Records. CNR Entertainment is handling the release in The Netherlands and Roadrunner Records is issuing the CD in the rest of Europe.

"We Are The Others" track listing (North American version):

01. Mother Machine
02. Electricity
03. We Are The Others
04. Milk And Honey
05. Hit Me With Your Best Shot
06. I Want You
07. Where Is The Blood (feat. Burton C. Bell)
08. Generation Me
09. Babylon
10. Are You Done With Me
11. Get The Devil Out Of Me
12. Not Enough
13. The Gathering (live)
14. Control The Storm (live)
15. Shattered (live)
16. Sleepwalkers Dream (live)

The lead single, "Get The Devil Out Of Me", hit stores on April 13 (April 15 for U.K.) to coincide with the start of the band's European tour.

The "Get The Devil Out Of Me" video can be seen below. The clip features footage from the recording sessions for the new CD and live material, including footage from the Sonisphere festival in the U.K. (used with kind permission of BlinkTV).

Described as "the band's most powerful, most atmospheric and intoxicating album to date," "We Are The Others" was helmed by producer Jacob Hellner — renowned for his work with RAMMSTEIN, CLAWFINGER and APOCALYPTICA — while the vocals were tracked with the Epicentre team of Fredrik Thomander and Anders Wikström (SCORPIONS, BACKYARD BABIES).

At first glance, some songtitles on "We Are The Others" may sound mysterious and conspiratorial, but there is a very serious background: The lyrics to the title track were inspired by the hate crime against a British girl named Sophie Lancaster in 2007. She and her boyfriend were beaten comatose by a gang of youths, because of their goth looks, and Sophie later died from her injuries. This tragedy sent shockwaves throughout the world.

Commented singer Charlotte Wessels: "Sophie's story hit close to home for us, being part of a subculture ourselves but it's in no way an individual case; people are discriminated against — all the time, to the point of violence — based on their cultural or ethnic background everywhere.

"'We Are The Others' is our own 'outsiders anthem' for everybody who, deliberately or not, diverts from the norm. Whether it's by looking different, acting different, or choosing a different path in life then is expected from you."





"Get The Devil Out Of Me" video:

EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee joined HALESTORM on stage last night (Saturday, August 18) at the El Paso, Texas stop of the "Carnival Of Madness" tour to perform the HALESTORM song "Break In".

After the show, HALESTORM singer Lzzy Hale tweeted, "El Paso, tonight was the first night I've ever had a duet with a woman. Amy Lee rocked it with me on 'Break In'! Love her!"

In response, Lee wrote, "I loved singing with you. Your voice shreds and that is my SONG right now! Thanks for letting me 'Break In' on your set tonight ;)."

Lzzy then replied to Amy directly, writing, "The pleasure was all mine! It was so beautiful! You rule, babe! I'm so grateful for your friendship. You brought new life to 'Break In'."

Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below. Also available is a photo of Lee and Hale taken right after the "Break In' duet can be seen below (courtesy of the "Carnival Of Madness" Facebook page and the tour's official photographer, Rob Fenn).

In a recent interview with Fuse, Lee spoke about sharing the "Carnival Of Madness" stage with HALESTORM and Lzzy Hale. "We played with HALESTORM [at a previous festival]," she said. "I went on the side of the stage just to hear [Lzzy] sing and she sounded incredible, unreal, like one of those old classic rock voices, and I was like, 'Wow, she's great,'" She added, "It's cool to have another female on the road. Not just because it inspires me musically — because it does — it makes me feel this sort of pride and, 'Yeah, go get 'em' when I see a chick rocking. Also, [Lzzy's] really down to earth. I'm looking forward to hanging out and getting some girl time in."



Photo below courtesy of the "Carnival Of Madness" Facebook page and the tour's official photographer, Rob Fenn

Florida-based, female-fronted power metallers SEVEN KINGDOMS have completed work on their third album, "The Fire Is Mine", for an October 9 release via Nightmare Records. The CD was recorded in May at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida with legendary producer Jim Morris (ICED EARTH, OBITUARY, JON OLIVA'S PAIN, JAG PANZER).

According to a press release, "'The Fire Is Mine' shows a great solidification in [SEVEN KINGDOMS'] sound and direction; they've amped up every aspect from songwriting, vocals to production and live performance. This one goes to eleven on all counts — including the number of tracks! The vocals and beautiful crystalline melodies of Sabrina Valentine are uniquely set in a furious power/thrash metal attack, blended with epic choirs and the occasional beer-chanting of the men of SEVEN KINGDOMS."

SEVEN KINGDOMS's sophomore album was released in July 2010 via Nightmare Records.

Formed in Deland, Florida in 2007 by Camden Cruz and Bryan Edwards, SEVEN KINGDOMS entered Morrisound Recording in Tampa in August 2007 to record its debut self-financed independent release, "Brothers of the Night", which was lyrically inspired by the literary works of George R. Martin.

After playing shows throughout the Southeastern region of the United States with such bands as SONATA ARCTICA, THE AGONIST, STEPHEN PEARCY and CIRCLE II CIRCLE, SEVEN KINGDOMS returned to Morrisound in 2009 to begin work on its self-titled sophomore effort.

SEVEN KINGDOMS is:

Sabrina Valentine – Vocals
Camden Cruz – Guitar
Kevin Byrd – Guitar
Aaron Sluss – Bass
Keith Byrd - Drums

The Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival kicked this past Friday, August 17 off in Kansas City, Missouri. To celebrate the tour launch, Uproar's Rick Florino spoke with Brent Smith from SHINEDOWN, Sully Erna from GODSMACK and Rick DeJesus from ADELITAS WAY. Read the question-and-answer session here and listen to the exclusive conversation using the audio player below.

Brent, Sully and Rick discussed the camaraderie between Uproar bands, what to expect from their live performances, things they like to do when they're not on stage, and plans for a possible onstage collaboration at the end of the night on Uproar. The guys even talked about Adele, Lady Gaga and the general state of music.

Here are some excerpts from the diverse conversation:

Brent Smith: "We were doing a show in Boston at the House of Blues on our last record, and Sully was working on an album at that time. It was like two years ago. Sully came out to the show and brought some friends. He was like, 'Wait until he sings this cover of 'Simple Man'.' We didn't play it that night though. I saw him up in the VIP area, and he was like, 'Dude, I'm going to tell you this right now. I was so looking forward to that song, and you didn't play it.' I told Sully, 'There are some personal issues going on with that song right now. That's why we're not playing it.' Sully said something that changed my life actually on a professional level. He put his arm around me and said, 'Dude, it's not about you. It's about the audience. All of those people came here tonight. They wanted to hear your songs, but they wanted to hear that song and you didn't play it for them. You've got to remember something. It's an honor to do what you do for living, and need to give the people what they want.' From that night on, we put the song back in the set. He was right about that. It was something I had to open my eyes to. I never got a chance to thank him for that, but I want to thank him now."

Sully Erna: "I was trying to get the point across that it's about the hits. I came there as a fan. I didn't come there as a friend of Brent's. I wasn't coming there because we'd worked together for ten years. I came there because I was a fan of hearing some of the stuff they've written, along with that song. To me, that's one of their hits. Yeah, LYNYRD SKYNYRD wrote it, but so what? THE BEATLES wrote 'Come Together', and AEROSMITH did an amazing version of that. It's part of their thing. 'Train Kept A-Rollin'' isn't even an AEROSMITH song. I didn't find that out until years later. It's part of your thing now. People want to hear the hits. They want to hear the songs they love you singing. There's a reason why that song was huge on the radio. I try to tell young bands that all the time: 'Do not neglect the hits.' Do you think Steven Tyler wants to sing 'Dream On' every night thirty years later? Fuck no! He has no desire to sing that song, but he gets up there and does it. When he sees thirty-thousand people singing along with him, his whole train of thought changes at that point. It's about delivering to the audience and playing the songs. A lot of bands will go, 'We want to play the 'B' cuts because they're cooler. These are the ones that didn't make the radio.' They try to go for this underground vibe, and that's cool if you want to be in the clubs for the rest of your life. If you're going to play to 20,000 people and entertain at a level like we do, you've got to play the hits or you're going to be in trouble.

Brent Smith: "When we ended our last record cycle, I had interviews with quite a few journalists. They said, 'How does it make you feel the days of selling ten million records are over?' I said, 'That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life.' You have to connect with people. There's a young lady by the name of Adele. She personifies a vocal style and honest, musical sensibility played with real instruments. She's about a month and a half off from selling 10 million records in the United States. It's a different style of music, but at the same time, it's not. It's rhythm and blues. Music is a pendulum. It's constantly swinging. It will always come back around. You can have a gimmick and shticks that work every once in a while, but it will always come back to drums, bass, guitar, fantastic vocals, and a killer song."

Sully Erna: "I want to endorse something Brent just said. He hit on something very important I think people need to realize. I have a different opinion about a lot of stuff. With Adele, he hit it right on the head. She's probably one of my favorite artists right now. I listen to less rock music now than I ever have. I draw influences from so many different styles of music. That's why when I did my solo record, it sounded completely different than anything I've done with GODSMACK because I'd draw from world music, DEAD CAN DANCE, and MAZZY STAR. These world artists play their instruments like we do, but it's a different style. For me, the beauty lies in the work put into it. I've got to tell you. Even with the electronica and pop artists out there, at times there are people writing songs for them, but it's still an art. For what it's worth, it can be really powerful. Nobody wants to like Lady Gaga in rock 'n' roll because she's the pop diva selling out arenas everywhere. Good for her! She's writing huge, fat hits. She won me over at a certain point. I'm gonna tell you straight up. When I saw that HBO special and I was looking at the 'Monster Ball' concert, at first I was like, 'This is ridiculous. It's so cheesy.' When those credits rolled at the end, they showed her in the dressing room, warming up with her backup singers and singing from her heart. That made me realize this girl doesn't run tape, and she can sing her ass off. I don't care what anybody says. You may love her, hate her, or think she's a kook, but she's the modern-day Grace Slick from JEFFERSON STARSHIP. She's just a really bizarre artist. That girl can really sing her ass off, just like Adele. I love the diversity of music and think it's important people keep trying different things because otherwise we all sound the same. We have to have those kinds of influences. My hat's off to them. Raw talent draws people to her — like Brent was talking about. Adele has sold 10 million records off raw talent. Some songs are just her and a piano or her and a guitar. She doesn't even need an instrument. She can just sing, and it's overwhelming because it's so amazing. Besides the lyrical content and being able to touch every broken heart in the world, there's still a passion and sincerity to her voice that's so important for people to hear, recognize, and embrace. That form of artistry isn't as around as it was when people were cutting vinyl like Etta James and Aretha Franklin. I'm glad people acknowledge that and it's becoming admired again. To me, that's the heart of rock 'n' roll. To hear a singer reach for that note and crack a little bit is the most beautiful thing in the world. I don't want it to be perfect all the time. Like Rick was saying, it gets carried away with auto-tuning and pushing buttons to make a song happen. There's an art to rock 'n' roll and this music that needs to be nurtured and savored. I'm so grateful for artists like that."

Interview (audio):

Fan-filmed video footage of CRIMSON GLORY's August 17 concert at Turock in Essen, Germany can be seen below.

CRIMSON GLORY vocalist Todd La Torre recently joined QUEENSRŸCHE as the replacement for Geoff Tate.

La Torre, who says that QUEENSRŸCHE has been his favorite band since he was 15 years old, first met QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton at this year's NAMM convention in January in Anaheim, California.

Todd La Torre joined CRIMSON GLORY in April 2010 and has played a number of shows with the band during the past two years.

La Torre made his first public appearance with CRIMSON GLORY at ProgPower USA X as one of seventeen guest performers paying tribute to Midnight, the band's original singer.

Essentially unknown to the mainstream progressive metal scene, La Torre spent 22 years earning his stripes and solidifying himself as an unquestionable talent behind the drum kit of various hard rock and heavy metal projects in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. However, his vocal aspirations went largely unfulfilled until 2009 when Matt LaPorte (JON OLIVA'S PAIN), who had only heard La Torre sing on a few occasions, casually mentioned to CRIMSON GLORY guitarist Jon Drenning that he might make a nice addition to the already stellar lineup of performers the band had accumulated. It was only a short time later that La Torre found himself at the band's rehearsal studio, and the pieces began to fall into place.

Midnight passed away in 2009 due to long-term health complications.

Rock Scarz magazine's Matt Gacek recently conducted an interview with BUTCHER BABIES. You can watch the chat below.

Fronted by Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd — former Playboy TV and radio personalities that are rarely seen wearing more than strategically placed electrical tape and a gallon or so of blood — and backed by Henry Flury (AMEN) on lead guitar, Jason Klein (AZDACHAO) on bass, and Chris Warner (SCARS OF TOMORROW) on drums, the BUTCHER BABIES describe their sound as "heavy fucking metal co-fronted by two girls that don't give a shit, and backed by three guys with writing techniques so different that they complement each other. Between our combined influences of thrash, punk, experimental, death, and nu-metal, we've managed to create our own sound that, in a nutshell, is pure sex, blood, and rock and roll."

When asked by Revolver magazine why the BUTCHER BABIES refer to themselves as "slut metal" and what the hell "slut metal" exactly is, Shepherd said, "We can't go balls out — so we go tits out! When girls are perceived as sexual or outspoken, they get labeled sluts, but we embrace those qualities and bring them to our music as well. BUTCHER BABIES is true slut metal: We're doing what we want, how we want."

On the topic of BUTCHER BABIES' goals, Harvey told Revolver, "To bring slut metal to the masses — duh! In all seriousness, we feel like we are just touching on what we are capable of, and we want to continue to grow, get our music out there, and get on the road! There are so many repressed people out there that need to see a show like ours. Hopefully they will take home with them the message that they are able to do everything they want to do regardless of who they are told they are supposed to be."

BUTCHER BABIES recently released a video for the song "Mr. Slowdeath". The track, which was produced by Mudrock (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, GODSMACK), comes off the band's EP.

Interview:



"Mr. Slowdeath" video:

Famed book editor Jeremie Ruby-Strauss spoke with Thomas Scott McKenzie, author of the recent "Power Chord: One Man's Ear-Splitting Quest To Find His Guitar Heroes" about the history and future of the heavy metal memoir trend, about working with Ace Frehley (KISS), and details about the forthcoming memoir from Stephen Pearcy of RATT.

Ruby-Strauss, editor at Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, previously worked on Marilyn Manson's book and MÖTLEY CRÜE's legendary "The Dirt: Confessions Of The World's Most Notorious Rock Band". More recently, Ruby-Strauss worked on Frehley's "No Regrets: A Rock 'N' Roll Memoir" and he also acquired a future book from Pearcy.

On his experiences with Ace Frehley:

Ruby-Strauss: "I'll never forget our initial meeting. He told a story of wanting to meet Keith Richards, but neither of them could physically stand up — so they were both propped up by assistants so they could shake hands briefly, before each slumped over. It was also very memorable when he rejected our cover and proceeded to design it himself. But you know, why not? We loved it and went with it, and the book went on to be a huge best seller."

On what fans can expect from Stephen Pearcy's forthcoming book:

Ruby-Strauss: "There will be a ton of sex, mind-boggling amounts of drugs, and, of course, a whole lot of RATT and roll. Hence our current working title, 'Sex, Drugs, Ratt & Roll: My Life In Rock'. There's also stuff about him breaking both legs as a kid and whatnot, but are you seriously not more intrigued by the sex and drugs?"

For the complete interview, visit SlushPile.net.