Archive News Apr 07, 2001

More information has surfaced about METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich's unexpected appearance at the GODSMACK concert at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago on Wednesday night (April 4th). According to an eyewitness account posted on Encyclopedia Metallica, “At the end [of the regular set], when GODSMACK left, all the fans were still on their feet, requesting an encore. GODSMACK came out, played another song, and right after, [GODSMACK vocalist] Sully Erna began inviting fans to headbang on the stage! Well, Sully rolls out some guy in a wheelchair, and everybody was like: 'Hey, that's cool. Sully brought a wheel-bound stricken person to enjoy the on-stage performance.' Lo and behold, Lars Ulrich was the one sitting in the wheelchair. All the fans who had been invited on to the stage gathered around Lars to kiss his ass, to which Sully asked them to give Lars breathing space. Lars got to his feet, took a drink of beer, and squirted it water fountain-style into Sully's open mouth. Lars then acknowledged the crowd, hugged Sully, and walked off stage.”

The latest version of THE MISFITS, featuring bassist Jerry Only on lead vocals, are preparing for their 25th Anniversary show at the Roseland in New York City on April 18th and a subsequent tour, before beginning work on the group's upcoming studio album, which will likely surface through the band's own record company. 'We're going to try to start our own label,' Only recently stated. 'We're going to be leaving Roadrunner [Records, who issued the group's 1999 Famous Monsters CD]. It didn't work out for us. We're not satisfied with their response. THE MISFITS were better off as a garage band, we did our own stuff and kept things collectible and in small quantities. We're not a big label band and I realize that now. I'm not going to bang my head on the wall to sell a million records. I'm going to get out there, put out great stuff, and continue the legend.'

EYEHATEGOD's next release is a live album with plenty of other rare and unreleased material called 10 Years Of Abuse And Still Broke. According to guitarist Jimmy Bower (who is currently pounding the skins for C.O.C.),the release will contain 'this old demo from 1990 of us jamming In The Name Of Suffering songs with cut-ups in between it. There are six songs from that, then there is six songs from The Hour Of The Goat radio show that we did. And finally there's 30 to 45 minutes of live shit from Germany.' Look for 10 Years Of Abuse And Still Broke in stores on May 29th.

TOOL have announced the first three of their planned four US shows leading up to the group's European tour, which begins on May 25th at the Dynamo Open Air Festival in Holland:

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May 17 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera

May 18 – Detroit, MI @ State Theater

May 20 – New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom

AVANTASIA, the side project of EDGUY vocalist Tobias Sammet, has been a tremendous success in Sammet's native Germany, where the group's first release The Metal Opera had debuted at #35 and remained on the charts for 4 weeks, having sold over 30,000 copies in Germany alone. Plans exist for a follow-up effort, but not before summer 2002, as EDGUY are currently finishing up their brand new studio album, titled Mandrake, which is due out in September. Although the full list of guest performers scheduled to appear on the second installment of The Metal Opera saga is yet to be announced, MAGNUM vocalist Bob Catley is said to have been approached and has reportedly accepted the invitation to contribute to the forthcoming album.

The second single from PARADISE LOST's recently issued Believe In Nothing CD, “Fader”, is tentatively due to be released on May 14th.

Texas' PISSING RAZORS have signed with Spitfire Records for the release of their forthcoming studio album, the group's first with new vocalist Jason Bragg, who hails from Los Angeles, California. Plans are to enter the studio this month and release the album during the summer.

The recently completed collaboration between veteran producer Kevin Shirley (i.e. DREAM THEATER, IRON MAIDEN) and Finland's goth-rock gods H.I.M. is a song entitled “Pretending”. No further information is available at this time.

HALFORD / DIESEL MACHINE guitarist Patrick Lachman will be appearing on WASS, Kick-Ass 107 (Casper, WY) on Friday, April 13th 8 PM (central) with 'Rude Dog' on The Heavy Set metal show. For more information, go to: http://www.wyomingradio.com

A press release from Steamhammer / SPV Records:

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Steamhammer / SPV are proud to announce the addition of BLACKMORE'S NIGHT to their roster, which already features a number of international music legends. The band surrounding Ritchie Blackmore, one of the most important and influential guitarists in the history of rock music, and his companion, vocalist Candice Night, plan to release their third studio album Fires At Midnight end of June.

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For Blackmore, this sensational band is a dream of 25 years come true, after a career full of highlights as mastermind and main songwriter with the British hard rock pioneers, DEEP PURPLE and his subsequent successful venture with the international line up of RAINBOW. In January 1997, he announced the creation of BLACKMORE'S NIGHT and went on to devote himself exclusively to a fascinating and interesting blend of rock, folk and 16th century melodies as homage to the music of the Renaissance era.

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With acoustic and electric guitars, string sections, Renaissance instruments like the hurdy gurdy and the bagpipe, and the delightful voice of Candice Night, Blackmore translates the diverse music of the Middle Ages, which combines elements of romanticism, passion, mysticism and enthusiasm, into a sound all his own.

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Their third offering, Fires At Midnight, is another excursion into the mysterious world of the Renaissance. This new album features Blackmore's guitar work more prominently and is eagerly anticipated. The songs tell many poetic tales instantly transporting the listener into another time and place. A place of fantasy and chivalry. The arrival of Fires At Midnight will be followed by another string of atmospheric concerts in mythical surroundings. Welcome to the world of BLACKMORE'S NIGHT...

The rumored track listing for the upcoming THE CULT comeback album, tentatively titled Beyond Good And Evil, is as follows (in no particular order):

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01. Rise

02. Nico

03. Ashes And Ghosts

04. American Gothic

05. Black California

06. Save Me

07. Take The Power

08. True Believers

09. Shape The Sky

10. Libertine

11. Breathe

12. War and The Saint

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According to sources, four additional tracks were recorded for use as B-sides and bonus tracks. Beyond Good And Evil is scheduled for a June 5th release through Atlantic Records.

SEPULTURA drummer Igor Cavalera and vocalist Derrick Green make an appearance on one, as-yet-unspecified track on the forthcoming BIOHAZARD CD, titled Uncivilization and due&nbsp out June 25th through Steamhammer / SPV Records. Other guests on the album reportedly include PANTERA's Phil Anselmo, TYPE O NEGATIVE's Peter Steele, and CYPRESS HILL's Sen Dog.

Florida death metal meisters SIX FEET UNDER have completed tracking their forthcoming, as-yet-untitled studio album and will begin mixing the effort on Saturday, April 14th, with Dave Schiffman at the helm. According to vocalist Chris Barnes, “[Dave] has been Rick Rubin's engineer for the past 5 years, and we are extremely psyched to have him work on this one.” As for the direction of the new material, Barnes describes it as “f.cking brutal death metal [with] old-school vocals.” The album is tentatively due to be release on August 8th through Metal Blade Records.

GLASSJAW are scheduled to begin pre-production for the follow-up to the Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence CD on June 15th with producer Ross Robinson. The as-yet-untitled effort is due out at the end of the year.

Former DEEP PURPLE / BLACK SABBATH vocalist Glenn Hughes has completed work on his new solo CD, to be released by Steamhammer / SPV Records later this year. Unfortunately the singer's plans to make a concert video during the recent US dates had to be postponed, but it is something that is still very much on the agenda, according to Glenn's official web site.

Germany's GRAVE DIGGER have completed the songwriting process for their forthcoming studio album, entitled The Grave Digger. The following tracks are set to appear on the CD:

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01. Son Of Evil

02. The Grave Digger

03. Raven

04. Scythe Of Time

05. Spirits Of The Dead

06. The House

07. King Pest

08. Black Cat

09. Haunted Palace

10. Silence

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According to vocalist Chris Boltendahl, there will be two additional, as-yet-untitled songs on the CD, which the band will begin recording on May 4th, for a late 2001 release.

Contrary to previous reports, it now appears that MEDULLA NOCTE will not be supporting NAPALM DEATH on their upcoming UK tour.

The Smoking Gun web site (www.thesmokinggun.com) has posted a collection of contract riders from some of the biggest names in music, including ELTON JOHN, P. DIDDY, CHER, PEARL JAM, BUSH, MOBY and NINE INCH NAILS.

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The two-page excerpt from the NIN rider contains some interesting details, including the members' need for a 'VERY LARGE selection of WASHED, UNCUT vegetables...china plates [and] bowels' (by which, they presumably mean 'bowls') and, for some odd reason, '2 boxes of corn starch (VERY IMPORTANT!)”

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The NIN rider can be found at this location.

STEREOMUD, featuring former members of LIFE OF AGONY and STUCK MOJO, will be performing alongside LINKIN PARK at the 6th Annual Boarding for Breast Cancer Snowboard + Music Festival, to be held April 14th at Sierra-a-Tahoe Resort, California, and benefiting the Boarding for Breast Cancer (BBC). The BBC is a non-profit, youth-focused awareness and fund raising organization.

Toronto hard rock trio, SANTERS, is scheduled to launch its much anticipated reunion concert at the El Mocambo (Toronto) on Friday, April 20, 2001.

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SANTERS' original line-up. featuring Rick Santers (vocals and guitars),Mark Santers (drums) and Rick Lazaroff (bass) take the stage again following a hiatus from live performing as SANTERS. Known for their riveting, rock recordings and high energy concerts, SANTERS will be returning to the stage after exploring various musical projects.

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Overwhelming fan support and requests for SANTERS music prompted the release of the bands new “Best Of” CD entitled Cold Fusion. Cold Fusion captures 12 of the bands best recordings, including 'Mistreatin' Heart', 'Can't Shake You', the popular remake of FREE's 'All Right Now', plus 2 unreleased bonus tracks. Cold Fusion follows on the heals of the highly successful Santers IV - the Box Set CD release in Japan (1998),the release of Top Secrecy in Europe (1999) and Rick Santers' international solo release, ReViTaLiZe (1997).&nbsp

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'We are all looking forward to returning to the stage and playing in front of a live audience, especially to our fans who haven't forgotten us and have continued to write to us and support us. We were encouraged by the chemistry in the rehearsals we've done and want to give our fans a long overdue treat... ' says Rick.

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SANTERS will be performing select songs from their four albums — Top Secrecy, Guitar Alley, Racing Time and Shot Down in Flames — along with songs from ReViTaLiZe, plus new music.

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