Archive News Oct 31, 2001

POWERMAN 5000 frontman Spider One confirmed, in an online posting at the group's official web site at www.powerman5000.com, that the group have parted ways with bassist Dorian Heartsong and drummer Al Pahanish, a move that was first reported here on Monday, October 29th. Here is the vocalist's statement in its entirety:

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“I'm sorry to have to announce that the rumors are true, Al and Dorian have quit the band. This was 100% their decision, and in no way were asked to leave. I can't really say why they made the choice that they did, that is something only they can tell you. As you know I have been in this band for 10+ years with those guys and always thought they would be in it until the end, they will be greatly missed. That said, I can tell you that there is NO WAY PM5K is breaking up!!! [Guitarists] Mike and Adam are still here and work on the new album continues at a furious pace, the creativity is flowing like never before. I suspect that because of all this going down the new album will be even more different than I had planned. New art, new title and many, many new songs. I realize this is a bit of a surprise to all of you, the only thing I can say is POWERMAN 5000 will never be the same... it will be BETTER!!!! I guarantee it. As always thanx for being there, your fearless leader SPIDER P.S. I will do my best to keep you updated and to answer questions.”

A San Luis Obispo (California) Superior Court judge threw out on Monday a lawsuit accusing SLAYER, Columbia Records and other industry entities of marketing and distributing music that inspired three boys to murder 15-year-old Elyse Pahler in 1995. However, the precedent-setting case appears to be far from over, as the plaintiff's lawyer said he intends to file an appeal. According to an MTV News report, Judge E. Jeffrey Burke didn't consider SLAYER's music obscene, indecent or directly harmful to minors, so the marketing of such music to minors was therefore ruled to be legal.

According to Kerrang! magazine, SLIPKNOT received an anonymous phone call threatening to kill frontman Corey Taylor at the band's recent show at Los Angeles Grand Western Forum. The venue's switchboard operators received a message shortly before the band were due on stage stating: 'There's a hero at that show tonight. His name is Corey Taylor. He's a dead man.' However, despite concerns over the band's safety, Taylor insisted that the show should continue. 'F**k that!,' stated the singer defiantly. 'We're not going to stop the show. Ten times out of ten this sh.t never happens anyway. If I ruin the show for these kids I'll never forgive myself.'

Switzerland's SAMAEL were declared free agents by a Circuit Court of Bochum judge in Germany on August 23rd, thereby allowing the group to sign a new record deal following a year and a half of legal disputes with their former label Century Media Records. Not much is known about the group's future plans, but a new official site has been launched at www.samael.info that is sure to provide the answers as soon as they become available.

Britain's KILL II THIS have been confirmed as support on the GODFLESH/DEVIN TOWNSEND shows for the UK in December. The exact dates are as follows:

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Dec. 03 – Norwich, UK @ Waterfront

Dec. 05 – London, UK @ Mean Fiddler

Dec. 06 – Manchester, UK @ Hop+Grape

Dec. 07 – Sheffield, UK @ Leadmill

Dec. 08 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City

Dec. 09 – Glasgow, UK @ Cathouse

Due to the “current world situation”, MOTORHEAD's tour of South Africa has been postponed until further notice. MOTORHEAD are in the studio right now finishing up their latest album, which is tentatively due to be released early next year.

MUDVAYNE will appear on HBO's Reverb tonight, October 31st at 8PM, then again on Friday, November 2nd at 12:30AM, Saturday, November 3rd at 12:00 AM on HBO Plus, Sunday, November 4th at 12:55AM, and Monday, November 5th at 12:00AM on HBO Plus.

In addition to the 11 tracks listed here yesterday that are planned to appear on the forthcoming studio album from Norway's THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, entitled Assembly, the group have also recorded a cover version of Kim Wilde's 'Keep Me Hanging On' for a possible B-side single release.

TO/DIE/FOR drummer Tonmi Lillman (ex-SINERGY) will be entering the studio during December to record a five-song CD that will be based around the theme of “sorrow” and will be inspired by Tonmi's personal experiences that he went through during 2001. Described as “sad but also heavy”, the music on the CD was completely written by Tonmi, who also will play all the instruments during the recordings. Several vocalist guest appearances are planned, including those by Ville Laihiala (SENTENCED),Marco Hietala (TAROT/SINERGY),Kärtsy (WALTARI) and Tane (ENTWINE). The as-yet-untitled effort will be released through an as-yet-undisclosed label during 2002.

FULL STRIKE, the Swedish side project of HAMMERFALL guitarist Stefan Elmgren vocalist Niklas Jonsson, ex-CRAWLEY bassist Chris Savage Goldsmith and FREAK KITCHEN drummer Björn Fryklund, is scheduled to enter a Gothenburg studio during December to lay down their as-yet-untitled debut album, which is due to be released in early 2002. As previously reported, FULL STRIKE's music is being described as “leaning towards DOKKEN and early GARY MOORE, with splashes of ACCEPT and HELLOWEEN”.

MOONSPELL vocalist Fernando Ribeiro will participate in an autograph session to promote his book How To Dig An Abyss, published recently by Circulo do Abuso, on November 3rd at the Amadora Cartoon in Lisbon, starting at 4:00 PM.

Former BLUE MURDER bassist Tony Franklin will be traveling to the Lake Tahoe residence of former DEEP PURPLE/WHITESNAKE vocalist David Coverdale this Friday, November 2nd, to do another week of pre-production/demos for the singer's forthcoming solo album, which is due in mid-2002.

Germany's BEATSTEAKS will release their new album, entitled Living Targets, through Epitaph Records on January 28th. The album was produced by former FAITH NO MORE bassist Billy Gould.

Swedish sleaze rockers HARDCORE SUPERSTAR have announced the details for their upcoming European tour. The dates are as follows:

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Oct. 31 – Gävle, SWE @ Oleary´s, Gävle

Nov. 01 – Örebro, SWE @ Studentkåren

Nov. 02 – Sundsvall, SWE @ Aveny

Nov. 03 – Sävsjö, SWE @ Kulturhuset

Nov. 06 – Malmö, SWE @ Kulturbolaget

Nov. 07 – Halmstad, SWE @ Studentkåren

Nov. 08 – Stockholm, SWE @ Nalen

Nov. 09 – Karlstad, SWE @ Blixen Bar

Nov. 10 – Balders Hage, SWE @ Älmhult

Nov. 12 – Hamburg, GER @ Logo

Nov. 13 – Bremen, GER @ Tower

Nov. 14 – Cologne, GER @ Underground

Nov. 15 – Bielefeld, GER @ Kamp

Nov. 16 – Berlin, GER @ Knaak

Nov. 17 – Staffelstein, GER @ Zebra

Nov. 18 – Munich, GER @ Backstage

Nov. 20 – Vienna, AUS @ Chelsea

Nov. 23 – Bologna, ITA @ Estragon

Nov. 24 – Padova, ITA @ Pedro

Nov. 25 – Milano, ITA @ Indian Saloon

Nov. 27 – Barcelona, SPA @ El Garage

Nov. 28 – Madrid, SPA @ Moby Dick

Nov. 29 – Bilbao, SPA @ Azkena

Dec. 03 – Oxford, UK @ Zodiac

Dec. 04 – Glasgow, UK @ Cathouse

Dec. 05 – Southampton, UK @ Joiners

Dec. 06 – London, UK @ Mean Fiddler

Dec. 08 – Chelmsford, UK @ Army/Navy

Dec. 09 – Kontich, GER @ Lintfabriek

Dec. 14 – Töreboda, SWE @ Festivalen

Dec. 20 – Oslo, NOR @ John Dee

Dec. 21 – Sälen, SWE @ HC

ILLDISPOSED are in talks to embark on a European headlining tour with MURDER SQUAD (featuring ENTOMBED drummer Peter Stjärnvind, ENTOMBED guitarist Uffe Cederlund, DISMEMBER vocalist Matti Kärkki and DISMEMBER bassist Richard Cabeza) as support.

WESTWORLD vocalist Tony Harnell (i.e. TNT) and guitarist Mark Reale (i.e. RIOT) have begun writing together full-time for the next WESTWORLD album, which is tentatively due to be released in May 2002.

To anyone that cares: According to The New York Post, 25-year-old DEADSY frontman Elijah Blue Allman (son of actress Cher) is dating 35-year-old actress Heather Graham.

L.A. shred kings RACER X, featuring guitarist Paul Gilbert (ex-MR. BIG),vocalist Jeff Martin (ex-BADLANDS, BLACK SYMPHONY),drummer Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST) and bassist John Alderete (ex-THE SCREAM),have added a new date on their tour in Asia: They will now be playing in Taipei on January 6th, 2002. This latest development ends the speculation of a January 4th show at the Whiskey in West Hollywood, California.

STABBING WESTWARD will be supporting LIVE on their Australia/New Zealand tour, which is scheduled to begin on December 5th.

DEEP PURPLE have announced the following UK dates for February/March 2002:

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Feb. 03 - TBA - Belfast, IRE

Feb. 04 - TBA - Dublin, IRE

Feb. 06 - Auditorium – Grimsby, UK

Feb. 07 - Royal Concert Hall – Nottingham, UK

Feb. 08 - Apollo - Manchester, UK

Feb. 10 - Apollo - Oxford, UK

Feb. 11 - Cliffs Pavilion - Southend, UK

Feb. 12 - Regent - Ipswich, UK

Feb. 14 - City Hall - Sheffield, UK

Feb. 15 - Empire - Liverpool, UK

Feb. 16 - NEC - Birmingham, UK

Feb. 18 - International Centre - Bournemouth, UK

Feb. 19 - TBA - Brighton, UK

Feb. 20 - TBA - Cardiff, UK

Feb. 22 - Hammersmith Apollo - London, UK

Feb. 23 - Hammersmith Apollo - London, UK

Feb. 24 - Hammersmith Apollo - London, UK

Feb. 26 - St. Georges Hall - Bradford, UK

Feb. 27 - City Hall - Newcastle, UK

Feb. 28 - Clydebank Arena - Glasgow, UK

Mar. 02 - Leisure Centre - Hereford, UK

Mar. 03 - Colston Hall - Bristol, UK

Mar. 04 - Pavilions - Plymouth, UK

SNAPCASE will be performing at a benefit show for Toys For Tots at the Showplace Theater in Buffalo, NY on December 8th. Also performing will be HOLY ANGELS and MEXICAN SESSIONS. SNAPCASE is currently writing and rehearsing in preparation for the recording of their upcoming album, which will hit stores sometime in early 2002.

Despite earlier rumors to the contrary, it is now confirmed that CENTINEX will not tour in Europe with EXTREME NOISE TERROR and CADAVER INC. during November and December. As the new album won't be out until January all touring activities have been postponed to the winter/spring 2002.

ELECTRIC WIZARD will be taking part in the Metal Maniacs Xmass Ball Tour 2001 along with touring partners ENSLAVED, MACABRE, DIABOLIC and SCAR CULTURE. Confirmed dates so far are as follows:

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Dec. 05 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero Theater

Dec. 06 - TBA

Dec. 07 - Brooklyn, NY @ North Six

Dec. 08 - Attleboro, MA @ Jarrod's Place

Dec. 09 - Springfield, VA @ Jaxx Niteclub

Dec. 10 - Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's

Dec. 11 - Pittsburgh, PA @ The Strand Theater

Dec. 12 - St. Louis, MO @ Creepy Crawl

Dec. 13 - Chicago, Il @ Double Door

Dec. 14 - Aurora, IL @ Riley's Rockhouse

Dec. 15 - Detroit, MI @ The Shelter

Dec. 16 - Bowling Green, OH @ Howards Club H

Dec. 18 - Toronto, ON @ Reverb

Dec. 19 - Montreal, QB @ Foufounes Electroniques

Dec. 20 - TBA

Dec. 21 - New London, CT @ The El N Gee Club

More dates have been announced for the forthcoming CLUTCH headlining tour, also featuring BIOHAZARD and CANDIRIA. They are as follows:

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Nov. 15 - L'Amour - Brooklyn, NY

Nov. 16 - The Asylum - Portland, ME

Nov. 17 - Jarrod's Place - Allteboro, MA

Nov. 18 - Chantille's - Manchester, NH

Nov. 19 - Armory High - Syracuse, NY

Nov. 20 - Pierre's - Fort Wayne, IN

Nov. 21 - Harpo's - Detroit, MI

Nov. 23 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN

Nov. 24 - Hairy Mary's - Des Moines, IA

Nov. 25 - TBA TBA

Nov. 26 - TBA TBA

Nov. 27 - TBA TBA

Nov. 28 - Royal Albert - Winnipeg, MB

Nov. 29 - The State - Regina, SK

Nov. 30 - MacEwan Hall Ballroom - Calgary, AB

Dec. 01 - Dinwoodie Student Union - University of Alberta

Edmonton, AB

Dec. 03 - Commodore - Vancouver, BC

Dec. 04 - TBA - Spokane, WA

Dec. 05 - Graceland - Seattle, WA

Dec. 06 - TBA - Portland, OR

Dec. 07 - TBA - Santa Rosa, CA

Dec. 08 - TBA - San Francisco, CA

Dec. 09 - TBA - TBA

Dec. 11 - TBA - Las Vegas, NV

Dec. 12 - TBA - Salt Lake City, UT

Dec. 13 - TBA - Colorado Springs, CO

Dec. 14 - TBA - Tulsa, OK

SOUTHERN ROCK ALLSTARS is now in the studio doing the final mixes on their February 2002 release Danger Road. This will be the band's second album and the follow-up to the 2000 release Crazy Again. The band says that this album will be something really special and a long list of famous guests will appear on the CD. SRA contains ex-MOLLY HATCHET guitar guru Dave Hlubek, BLACKFOOT drummer Jakson Spires, ex-ROSSINGTON BAND guitarist Jay Johnson and bass virtuouso Charles Hart from RADIO TOKYO.

The following is a posting from former RAINBOW vocalist Doogie White about the recently-completed YNGWIE MALMSTEEN South American tour, for the duration of which he filled in as the group's vocalist:

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“Although it was a short tour with Yngwie, it was rather exhausting. I never realized that travelling takes its toll quite the way it does. For instance we left the Sao Paulo hotel on the Saturday at 2 PM for a flight at 10 PM that took 10 hours, then had perhaps a four-hour opportunity to catch some sleep before flying from Miami to London, another nine hours. Now, we did not know that Dubya had started bombing and that it would take four hours to check in, then another two to load the plane and then the flight home.

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'I don't know how long that is but it took me a couple of pints of London Pride to recover.

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'The Bogota gig was in a basketball hall and was up to that point the biggest gig we had played. The show was delayed as security was very tight. The crowd were fantastic and loud. The stage was big and we all showed off as best we could. The only drag was that we were in the hotel for four days. We were not allowed out. It all looked very pleasant from my hotel bedroom window over looking the mountains and town square and the lovely Independence Park. Every time I tried to escape a young soldier with a gun suggested that I would be safer staying put. So I never got to see much. We spent most of our time sitting in the hotel restaurant drinking coffee and eating dessert, while enjoying the Mexican dancers that accompanied every meal.

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'I always had a soft spot for Curitiba since the RAINBOW days, when I just wandered around the centre and soaked up the vibe of the place. This time we had a couple of days. The gig had an amazing sound system and the crowd were nuts. As the barrier at the front were starting to crumble during 'You Don't Remember', I signalled for the crowd to move back as the security and fans at the front were getting squashed. I remember this happening at a festival gig in Sweden with RAINBOW, and now as then the crowd all took a couple of paces back, the pressure was off and the people who needed to get out got out. A blinding gig. I lost my Scotland 78 Argentina world cup top that night, stupidly I threw it into the crowd thinking it was the signed Brazilian top bought especially for the occasion. Bollox.

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'Sao Paulo was a BIG GIG. Maybe 6,000 or so. We had flash bombs and fountains and all manner of explosions. I have never used pyros before and at the start of the gig before his cue the pyro guy fires them off and almost blows me and Yngwie to pieces. Later I changed into my kilt but as there were still some pyros to go off, and no one quite knew when the mad bombing pyro chap would decide to fire them, we all huddled in a bunch at the drum riser fearing for our manhoods. No foot on the monitors for me during the encores that's for sure.

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'Still he set them off, blew up a security guy, and that was that.”

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In related news, CORNERSTONE—the acclaimed project featuring Doogie White and ROYAL HUNT bassist Steen Mogensen—will be releasing its second album, entitled Human Stain, on January 25th, 2002.

The following article appeared in today's edition of The New York Post:

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“An out-of-control Courtney Love had to be hauled off the stage at the Hollywood Bowl last Saturday night. Love, the opening act for JANE'S ADDICTION, laced into ADDICTION frontman Perry Farrell after her set was cut short. The squabble started when a stagehand cautioned Courtney about the length of her set. She growled, 'Tell Perry three more or we're leaving,' according to nme.com. After one song, the crew turned off her sound and lights. As the band's equipment was being hauled off, Love stomped off stage and returned with a hand-lettered cardboard sign protesting the plug-pulling. She left and came back again with an acoustic guitar. The stand-off ended when one fed-up stagehand yanked the guitar, and a second man carried her off stage to audience cheers. A few nights before, when Love played L.A.'s Ventura Theater, she opened with a tirade against LIMP BIZKIT frontman Fred Durst, and later debuted a song about Julian Casablancas, the mop-topped singer for New York rockers THE STROKES.”

Holland's WITHIN TEMPTATION will play a special gig on November 29th at a newly renovated, gothic church, The Broerekerk, in the center of Zwolle. The band will be accompanied by a big choir and an opera singer. A very special lightshow has been designed for this unique event.

KAMELOT and AXXIS have announced the dates for their upcoming European tour. They are as follows:

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Jan. 16 - Planet B - Korbach, GER

Jan. 17 - Aladin - Bremen, GER

Jan. 18 - Alte Festhalle - Tuttlingen, GER

Jan. 19 - Zeppelinhalle - Kaufbeuren, GER

Jan. 20 - Universal DOG - Laar, GER

Jan. 21 - Take Off - Ulm, GER

Jan. 23 - Hirsch - Nürnberg, GER

Jan. 24 - Live Music Hall - Köln, GER

Jan. 25 - Quasimodo - Pirmasens, GER

Jan. 26 - Hafenbahn - Offenbach, GER

Jan. 27 - Zeche - Bochum, GER

Jan. 29 - Z 7 - Pratteln, SWI

Jan. 30 - Transilvania Live - Milano, ITA

Jan. 31 - Rockstore - Montpellier, FRA

Feb. 01 - Mephisto - Barcelona, SPA

Feb. 02 - Sala Jam - Bergara, SPA

Feb. 03 - Hard Club - Porto, POR

Feb. 04 - TBA

Feb. 05 - Koslow - Bordeaux, FRA

Feb. 06 - TBA - Paris, FRA

Feb. 07 - Underworld - London, UK

Feb. 08 - Biebob - Vosselaar, BEL

Feb. 09 - Struik - Lemelerveld, NETH

Feb. 10 - Boerderij - Zoetermeer, NETH

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