Joey Jordison Leaves Slipknot: Is Slipknot No More?

December 13th, 2013 by Luke

It’s been confirmed. Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison has left the band.

The band have taken down their websites front page and left a brief message to their fans about the drummers departure.

Slipknot’s Official Statement

The statement reads: “To our Maggots and fans around the world. It is with great pain but quiet respect, that for personal reasons Joey Jordison and Slipknot are parting ways. We all wish Joey the best in whatever his future holds. We understand that many of you will want to know how and why this has come to be, and we will do our best to respond to these questions in the near future. It is our love for all of you, as well as for the music we create, that spurs us to continue on and move forward with our plans for releasing new material in the next year. We hope that all of you will come to understand this, and we appreciate your continued support while we plan the next phase of the future of Slipknot. Thank you, The ‘Knot.”

The End Of Slipknot

Several other sites have posted the news about Joey Jordison leaving his long time position in Slipknot already. So we’ll try to add more to the conversation than just the statement. But at this stage of the game all we have is speculation and not very many answers. So what do you think guys? What do you believe the reasons for Joey leaving Slipknot are? Was he just fed up of making music? Did he get bored of Slipknot. Do you think there was a personal conflict between him and the rest of the band?

Now that this paradime shift has occurred, what do you think is left for Slipknot? With Grey’s Death and Joey’s Departure is there much of a future left for them? Do you think this might be the end of Slipknot? Or do you think they will carry on despite such iconic members of their band no longer being part of the fold? If you’re a Slipknot fan how do you feel about what has happened? If they do carry on who do you think they’ll choose to replace him? As I said a lot of questions and not many answers, maybe you can help fill in the blanks.

In honour of Slipknot and this yet again sad day in metal music we’ve added my first experience of slipknot from early 2000. Wait and bleed. Enjoy!

A Day To Remember Release New Album Common Courtesy (Official Stream)

October 9th, 2013 by Luke

A Day To Remember have released an official stream on YouTube of their new album Common Courtesy. On the back of their big court case with the record company Victory Records, A Day To Remember have released Common Courtesy off their own back as a self released album. Don’t let the fool you though, this album pulls no punch, the band have done it their own way exactly how they wanted to and the result is a fine piece of work. Although I haven’t listen to it enough to give it full disclosure yet, it is still on first listen, a great record from the Florida state boys.

Because Common Courtesy is being Self Released by A Day To Remember, it will only be available for purchase through digital platforms through the bands website ADTR.com from Tuesday 8th of October.

About the court case

Victory Records Lawyer Statement

While Victory is disappointed with the ruling, and disagrees with the court’s conclusions, it comes as no surprise. Courts rarely grant negative injunctions of this nature, but the circumstances of this case presented a unique opportunity for such a ruling. Having said that, in denying Victory’s motion, the court’s reasoning actually contained silver linings that significantly favored Victory.

First, the court held that it supports Victory’s argument about the construction of the recording contract – that ADTR is still obligated to deliver two more albums to Victory — “at last equally, if not more so, than that offered by ADTR.” That is the core issue in this case and the only one that really matters in the end, so Victory is heartened that the court agreed with Victory’s position on that core issue.

Also, the sole basis for the court’s denial of the injunction was that Victory would not suffer “irreparable harm” that could not be compensated by money damages if the album were to be self released, in that it has ample evidence to prove its damages against the band (in the form of lost profits if ADTR does proceed to self release Common Courtesy).

That is, even if the band self releases it, Victory is likely to be awarded any profits the band makes on that album, plus additional lost profits suffered by Victory based on the fact that Victory would undeniably do a far better job at marketing the album had Victory released it, which is what Victory is known for and is the reason why ADTR signed with Victory in the first place.

In sum, it is a “successful” defeat in a way, and one which Victory welcomed because of the manner in which the Court rendered its opinion.

This case will proceed to trial, and Victory is looking forward to the opportunity to vindicate the baseless claims filed by ADTR.

– Robert S. Meloni

 

Soundcloud Promotions: How To Get Noticed On Soundcloud

June 1st, 2013 by Luke

Soundcloud Promotions is a new way for those interested in increasing their presence on online to get ahead of the game. If you’re struggling to gain momentum in your online presence through social media, Soundcloud Promotions might be of interest to you.

What is SoundCloud?

If you’re not already familiar with what SoundCloud is, get over there right now and set yourself up an account. It’s an essential part of any current artists promotional kit. SoundCloud is the world’s leading social sound platform where anyone can create sounds and share them everywhere. Recording and uploading sounds to SoundCloud lets people easily share them privately with their friends or publicly to blogs, sites and social networks. Everybody is using it, and for good reason!

Why increase followers on SoundCloud?

On SoundCloud followers can see any song uploaded by the people they follow and listen to it immediately. They receive real time updates about their favourite artists activity and what they are doing on the site, plus receive lots of extra information about the artist and their music. This is important to help a bands music gain momentum on the site, the more activity people see, the more it will help gather traction among the fanbase and create a discussion about the music.

There is also many advantages to having a large fanbase, such as looking impressive to new potential fans. The bigger a bands fanbase the more likely someone might give them the time of day to hear what they’re about. It’s true, we’ve all fallen victim to that one, whether we like to admit it or not, or even noticed it for that matter.

Building an online musical presence by hand can take a lot of time and effort (I know I’ve done it) The complicated process required for successful online promotion can take up excessive amounts of valuable time, in my case more time per week than a full time job, for little payoff. It’s time that could be invested better. Musicians should be focusing creative energy on making more awesome music, not days, weeks and months endlessly spamming friends, family and random strangers added on Facebook, or other Social media platforms in a futile attempt to get them interested in what we’re already so passionate about. Inevitably this method will lose more friends than it will gain, and the fans that are gained, will likely be there begrudgingly, as soon as they think they can disappear without being noticed, they will.

What Is SoundCloud Promotions?

SoundCloud Promotions as the name suggests is a service to help promote music on SoundCloud. It gives artists a helping hand getting their feet off the ground on the social music platform and help them get noticed. They have a simple sign up process, simply choose the package you want and then they will email you with further details after the transaction has been processed. The site is user friendly and pretty to look at. The prices are very reasonable too. Visit soundcloudpromotions.com for more details.

Buying Fans?

I’ve heard many artists frown upon the idea of purchasing new listeners for their music, and feel it’s some sort of cheating. But all businesses advertise, if any artist wishes to make a career out of music, understanding that music is a business like any other is key to success. It’s the nature of the beast. If an artist doesn’t advertise in this day and age, their music is going to fail to reach out to the public eye. Whether the artist does it, or a record company does it on their behalf, advertising is almost always essential one way or another. Sometimes artists get lucky with a viral YouTube video, or a song that captures public imagination enough to be spread by word of mouth. But these events are rare in the grand scheme of things, and smart artists back up these events with regular forms of advertising to help perpetuate the spread anyway. All you have to remember is that spamming friends and random strangers with unsolicited messages is a much more frowned upon form of advertising than anything paid for and it’s far less effective.

About The Author

Jon Hutchinson is a music journalist from the UK, As a 10 year veteran of the music industry he is currently building several up and coming music media sites, and loves to help others find their way in the music industry.

As I Lay Dying: Frontman Tim Lambesis Arrested For Plot To Kill Wife

May 8th, 2013 by Luke

Tim Lambesis solicits a hitman to execute his wife

As I lay Dying singer and frontman Tim Lambesis has been arrested for soliciting a hitman to murder his estranged wife who is currently filing for divorce from the vocalist of the Christian heavy metal band.

WTF is going on?

I don’t know if it’s just me but the world truly seems to be turning to shit of late. I’ve lost count of how many public icons have died or been arrested on crazy charges like Murder or Child Abuse in the last few years. The number only seems to be multiplying on a daily basis. We had Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe arrested for Manslaughter a few months ago. Thankfully Acquitted. Lostprophets singer arrested for conspiracy to rape a baby. Jeff Hanneman died only a few days ago. Even the iconic entertainer Rolf Harris has been arrested for child abuse allegations. WTF is going on?

The investigation into the As I lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis began after Lambesis contacted an undercover detective posing as a hitman on the 2nd of May to execute his wife.

According to the report from San Diego Sheriff’s Department, FOX 5 news claim the 32 year old, Tim Lambesis, was arrested and taken into custody without incident on Tuesday (The 7th of May) around 2 p.m. at an Oceanside business in San Diego.

Lambesis was booked into the Vista Detention Facility. He is expected be arraigned sometime later this week.

Although Jan Caldwell, the spokesperson for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said she was unable to provide details of the case at hand, she did offer the following:

“The information came to us late last week, we acted quickly on it. I believe that we averted a great tragedy.”

Lambesis’ wife, Meggan, filed for divorce on the 20th of September, last year (2012).

As I Lay Dying interview with Tim Lambesis

During an interview with Loudwire in a January of 2013 Lambesis was asked if his humanitarianism provides him with a source of lyrical inspiration. “Yes, it’s definitely a part of my life for me,” he said. “My kids are adopted and I’ve visited their country; they’re from Ethiopia, and that was eye-opening to what the world is really like, at least a third of the world. I think that just influences my entire worldview. Even if I’m not necessarily writing a song about humanitarian work, I’m writing a song about what truly makes us happy in life, and those types of things that have been influenced by my experiences.”

Tim Lambesis Official Police Report

Image below: The official police report from San Diego Sheriff’s Department and press release regarding Lambesis’ arrest, the original copy can be found at sdsheriff.net/press/

What do you think about Lambesis and the increasing number of public icons like him being arrested for such heinous crime of late? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Led Zeppelin Reject Bill Clinton’s Reunion Proposal

May 7th, 2013 by Luke

Former president Bill Clinton has had his request for a Led Zeppelin reunion turned down by the band. it’s been revealed that Led Zeppelin turned down according to news from The Pulse Of Radio. Clinton’s request for the band to reunite was in aid of last year’s 12-12-12 Hurricane Sandy benefit concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The concert raised over $50 million for victims of the storm. Led Zeppelin’s turning down the offer was reported on a recent episode of CBS’ “60 Minutes“, The show reported on the Robin Hood Foundation which organised the all-star fundraising event.

“Harvey Weinstein had this great idea that we could enlist Bill Clinton who could convince Led Zeppelin to reunite to perform at the 12-12-12 concert,” Stated David Saltzman, the Robin Hood Foundation’s executive director claiming that Bill Clinton had personally asked the band in Washington, D.C. while they were being presented with the Kennedy Center honor. “Bill Clinton himself asked Led Zeppelin to reunite and they wouldn’t do it.”

If someone like Bill Clinton can’t convince you to reunite for a charity event, I doubt anyone could.

During a press conference to help the promotion of Led Zeppelin’s “Celebration Day” live collection in October, Jimmy Page tried to dispel rumors of a possible Led Zeppelin reunion anytime in the imminent and foreseeable future. Stating “Well, look; at this time four years ago, we’d have been rehearsing to get to the O2,” he said. “In December it’ll be five years since the O2. So, that’s a number of years that pass in between, so that seems unlikely, if there wasn’t a whisper, or a hint that we would get together to do something or other. I’d say even two years ago, or whatever. Seems pretty unlikely, that’s what I think.”

What do you think about Bill Clinton asking Led Zeppelin for a reunion? Do you think it’s a good idea, were they wrong to turn it down. Do you think it would have made any difference who asked them?

Slayer vs Westboro Baptist Church: ‘Crazy Train’ Parody At Jeff Hanneman’s Funeral

May 5th, 2013 by Luke

Westboro Baptist Church are at it again with the horrific announcement that the bastards plan to picket the funeral of late Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman. Claiming that they will sing their “parody” of Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Crazy Train” “at full voice” during the Slayer guitarist’s funeral.

Jeff Hanneman died at approximately 11:00am on Thursday the 2nd of May near his Southern California home. He was just 49. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. Due to a terminal illness called necrotising fasciitis which he is thought to have contracted from a spider bite, 2 years earlier.

Necrotising fasciitis is more commonly known as a flesh eating disease, which is caused by a bacterial infection of the deeper layers of skin and subcutaneous tissues.

“Necrotizing fasciitis is quickly progressing, having greater risk of developing in the immunocompromised due to conditions like diabetes, cancer, etc. It is a severe disease of sudden onset and is usually treated immediately with high doses of intravenous antibiotics.” – Wikipedia

Slayer fans have become outraged by the news, with social media sites like Facebook daring the church to even try to protest at the event, that they might meet their quick demise. The onslaught of Hate for the church has been universal by the metal community.

Westboro Baptist Church — is fringe group of fundamentalist Christians who continues to make headlines around the world for their extreme anti-gay views and outrageous protests at the funerals of U.S. soldiers, regardless of the soldiers actual sexuality. The so called “Church” first used lyrics from the Ozzy song “Crazy Train” at events surrounding a Supreme Court hearing in 2011. Two daughters of the church’s founder used the paraphrased lyrics from the song at the post-Supreme Court hearing press conference in Washington D.C.

Ozzy shows his disgust for the Westboro Bastard Church

Ozzy commented “I am sickened and disgusted by the use of ‘Crazy Train’ to promote messages of hate and evil by a ‘church,'” in response to the news of his song being used by Westboro Baptist Church.

In a June 2010 during an interview on “Rockline”, Ozzy Osbourne slated the Westboro Baptist Church’s protest of Ronnie James Dio’s funeral. “I thought it was in such bad taste that those people had those banners about Ronnie James Dio. That’s disgusting. They say that we’re the anti-christ. Well, what makes them any better?”

Crazy Train Parody on YouTube

The Westboro Baptist Church has even had the audacity to publicise their awful “parody” of “Crazy Train” on YouTube. I have included it for reference, but I really don’t enjoy sharing anything these worthless excuses for human beings have created.

Westboro Baptist Church’s “Crazy Train” “parody” lyrics:

Amazing, that’s how God rolls.
Millions of people, drowning in woe.
Crazy, it’s much too late.
To speak about love, when you brought on is hate.
Crying about your feelings, or your sin, no shame.

You’re going straight to hell, on a crazy train.
You’re going straight to hell, on a crazy train.

Let’s go!

You listen to preachers, your leaders are fools.
You’re raping false prophets, who make their own rules.
The base is ascending, to rule and control.
The media sells it, and you pay the toll.

The station goes deceiving, their torment you in flames.
You’re going straight to hell, on a crazy train.

We’ve told you your destruction is imminent.
You should have listen to our words.

Isn’t God’s fury?, That’s forced onto them,
The ruling rebellion, God is made to numb.
Crazy, the pride as you well.
Your birth will be brutal, he will say what is fair!

God is not been sleeping, he’s gonna bring the pain.
It’s time for your final ride on this crazy train.
Your final stop is hell on this crazy train.

Other disgusting stuff the Westboro Baptist Church has been up to

The Wall Street Journal describes the Westboro Baptist Church as a “tiny Kansas church who preaches that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for America’s tolerance of homosexuality and abortion.”

‘You’re Going to Hell,’ ‘Thank God for Dead Soldiers,’ and ‘God Hates You’ are some of Westboro’s favourite slogans to use at their gatherings.

Machine Head Guitarist Phil Demmel on Jackson Clinic Tour (Video)

April 26th, 2013 by Luke

Machine Head Guitarist Phil Demmel has just completed a European, Jackson-sponsored guitar clinic tour. A video of his appearance at the event at GAK (Guitar Amp & Keyboards) in Brighton, U.K. can be seen below. GAK is a shop which Machine Head celebrated Demmel’s tenth anniversary as an official member of the band earlier this month.

Phil Demmel joined Machine Head a decade after his previous band, Vio-Lence disbanded. Vio-Lence was originally formed by Robb Flynn, Machine Head’s vocalist and guitarist, and Phil Demmel when they were just teenagers. In 1992 Flynn went on to form Machine Head, then Demmel joined them in 2003.

In February Machine Head fired their bassist Adam Duce. The band’s front-man Robb Flynn explained in a post he made online: “We may have fired Adam on [February 11], but Adam quit Machine Head well over a decade ago. He just never bothered to tell anyone… but we all knew it.” Machine Head recently held auditions for a replacement bassist, but they have not yet made any official announcement as to who.

Aliases Showcase New Vocalist With “Exasperated” Video and Free Download on Bandcamp

April 25th, 2013 by Luke

Aliases (Formed by ex members of SikTh) are giving away a free download of their newly released single, “Exasperated” via Bandcamp. They have also released an awesome new video, with some very creepy twists which can be seen below. Exasperated features the band’s new vocalist Joe Rosser who I must say has an amazing set of lungs, which create some beautiful harmonies on this new 5 minute riffage fest. Speaking about Rosser as the new vocalist and addition to the bands line up guitarist Pin said:

“After things didn’t work out with our last vocalist Leigh [Dale], we put an extremely thorough process in place for selecting a new vocalist for Aliases. We had a massive number of applicants with some awesome talent come through. Joe Rosser stood out from the start returning amazing versions of tracks from our last EP, Safer Than Reality.”

Pin continued “When we met him we were all on the same wavelength as people, he seemed like he had been in the band for a long time. Next was to see how he wrote and so we gave him the track which has become Exasperated, he absolutely ripped it up. The guy is extremely versatile, has amazing pitching and rhythm and is going to bring so much to the band. This is the start of the next exciting phase of Aliases and it’s going to be hectic.”

The new video from Aliases has definitely put the band on the map for me the vocals really kill on every level.

Joe Rosser also commented about his joining the ranks of Aliases:

“It’s been great to bond with a group of musicians with the same sort of outlook on music as me. I think the moment we shared ideas we gelled together really well. Not only that but the fact that they are such great people to be around, we have become good friends. Working on the single has been so much fun.”

Rosser when on to say “From laying down ideas to progressing it to a full length song, it more or less took its course and the rest of the bend felt what I added gave it a better twist than they anticipated. Recording the video was insane. Lack of sleep, lots of energy drinks and a huge office block with a DIY bedroom set… It couldn’t have been more surreal!”

Rosser showed great admiration for the video director Ben Herbert by saying “Ben Herbert who directed it was so sound to work with and brought out the best in the ideas we had for the visual aspect of it all. I’ve admired the band for some time and never thought I could match the standard, but it seems this time I proved myself wrong and I am looking forward to a progressive future with Aliases. It’s gonna be a blast!”

Dillinger Escape Plan: When I Lost My Bet (New Music Video)

April 24th, 2013 by Luke

The Dillinger Escape Plan the insane mathcore outfit we all know and love/hate have just released their new video for “When I Lost My Bet“, which can be seen below. “When I Lost My Bet” is from Dillinger’s fifth full-length album, entitled “One Of Us Is The Killer“, due to be released on the 14th of May 2013 through Dillinger‘s own Party Smasher Inc., in partnership with the North American leg of Sumerian Records.

The album “One Of Us Is The Killer” was recorded in Southern California with longtime producer Steve Evetts (Glassjaw, Suicide Silence), with additional production being done at guitarist/co-founder Ben Weinman‘s studio. The albums Mastering will is to be taken care of by Tom Baker (Deftones, Nine Inch Nails).

The Dillinger Escape Plan frontman and vocalist Greg Puciato spoke to AOL’s Noisecreep about the bands time in the studio and the recording process for new album: “Dillinger [Escape Plan] is a different beast in tracking than most normal bands. Even Steve has told me that there’s no other band that he has recorded that requires this amount of attention to detail. We take a longer amount of time to do one thing than most bands take to do ten. At this point, talking to Ben about it, we only do this once every three years on average so ten years from now I don’t want to look back and think, ‘Fuck man, we should have finished that one three weeks earlier!’ Who cares? You want it to be right and you want it to be the thing that was the closest to what your vision actually was.”

Greg Puciato continued regarding the direction of the new Dillinger Escape Plan material: “I can hear [the influence of old punk and hardcore records] a lot. I can definitely hear that in some of the riffs, which are really aggressive. It’s not a blatant hardcore record or anything like that. I actually think this is the most all over the place and weirdest record we’ve ever written. It’s the first one since I joined the band where Ben has sent me songs and I’ve been like, ‘What the fuck is happening? This sounds like a beehive!'”

The new record from Dillinger Escape plan is bound to be insane no matter which way you look at it, good or bad. Whether you appreciate the complex musical structures and in your face carnage, or it just sounds like a wall of noise. “One Of Us Is The Killer” is bound to get some kind of reaction from the general music loving public at large. What are your thoughts on the new Dillinger Escape Plan album, are you excited, do you not even care? What do you think of their new video? Let us know in the comments section down below.

Fear Factory’s Frontman Burton C. Bell Sings Metallica’s Enter Sandman

April 20th, 2013 by Luke

Fear Factory frontman Burton C. Bell has been caught on video singing Metallica‘s classic hit “Enter Sandman“. Filmed at the “Rock-A-Holic” live rock and metal karaoke night on the 11th of April, at Skinny’s Lounge in North Hollywood, California. The video can be seen below.

Burton C. Bell has recorded a cover version “Enter Sandman” back in 2001 for “Metallic Assault – A Tribute To Metallica” a Metallica Tribute album released by the record label Big Eye Music. On stage with Bell were John Christ (Guitar), Robert Trujillo (Bass) and Tommy Aldridge (Drums).

As I’m sure all of you are fully aware “Enter Sandman” was the lead single from Metallica’s celebrated 1991 record; fan dubbed The Black Album.

Fear Factory are set to perform their 1995 sophomore album, “Demanufacture”, in its entirety aboard 70,000 Tons Of Metal 2014. The world’s biggest heavy metal cruise, due to set sail between the 27th and 31st of January.