Artist Interview
Papa Roach have premiered a new song, "Broken As Me." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
The band's new album, 'F.E.A.R. (Face Everything and Rise),' will be out January 27 via Eleven Seven Music.
Portland sludge act Lord Dying will release their new album, 'Poisoned Altars,' on January 27 via Relapse Records. In anticipation, the band has teamed up with Revolver to premiere a new song, "An Open Sore," which features a guest appearance by Red Fang's Aaron Beam. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
The band says, "Today we're excited to premier 'An Open Sore.' This is a song more or less about lessons in humility and learning from your mistakes. Featuring a guest vocal spot by our pal Aaron Beam of Red Fang!"
To get 'Poisoned Altars,' visit Relapse's webstore. For more on Lord Dying, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Marilyn Manson has premiered a new song, "Deep Six." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
The track comes off 'The Pale Emperor,' which will be released on January 20—and it can be pre-ordered via iTunes.
Revolver's own Stephanie Cabral was on hand to catch all the action for Opeth, In Flames and Red Fang's stop on December 9 at the Palladium in Hollywood. Check out the photos she captured for us below–you can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Revolver's own Stephanie Cabral was on hand to catch all the action for Down and Orange Goblin's stop on December 6 at the Wiltern in Los Angeles. Check out the photos she captured for us below–you can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Los Angeles glam-metal act Steel Panther have released their original Christmas track, "The Stocking Song." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
You can get "The Stocking Song" on iTunes.
Today, December 8, marks the 10-year anniversary of the passing of Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who was murdered onstage while performing with his band Damageplan. Darrell was not only one of metal's greatest musicians, but he was also one of its biggest and biggest-hearted personalities. In remembrance, we present one of our favorite stories about him—as told by former Grim Reaper guitarist and Darrell's longtime friend Nick Bowcott.
"Dimebag Darrell always treated his fans well because, ultimately, he was a fan himself and he never forgot how it felt to be one. As his brother Vinnie put it, 'Dime had a heart as big as Texas.'
"One account of his generosity was told to me by a music store owner just after Far Beyond Driven had come out. Dime had done an in-store autograph session at the shop. One of the hundreds of attendees at Dime's signing appearance was a kid in his early teens, who was there with his dad. The kid told Darrell that Dime was the reason why he wanted to play guitar.
"'Cool—what sort of ax do you have?' Dime asked. The boy replied that he didn't have one yet, but his dad was saving up to buy him a guitar for Christmas. As it was the middle of summer, Dime joked with the father, 'C'mon dad! You can't leave your boy hangin'. How about an early Christmas this year?' The father then quietly explained that he recently lost his job and was putting away whatever he could for the gift.
"After posing for photos with the boy and his father, Dime casually beckoned over a store manager and whispered in his ear that he wanted the manager to tell the boy and his father to hang out until after the event because he had a special picture he wanted to sign for them. After the public had left, Dimebag asked the manager to pick out the best starter electric guitar in the store because he'd like to buy it. Dime took the boy and his father back to the manager's office and presented the guitar to the delighted boy saying, 'Merry Christmas! Start practicing now because next time I roll through town we're jamming!' Dime made this generous gesture in private without making an egotistical public display of it or calling attention to the father's potentially embarrassing plight.
"When I saw Dimebag a few weeks later, I asked him about the incident. 'The kid and his dad were way cool, so I just had to help 'em out,' he shrugged. 'Hell, who knows, he could wind up being the next Eddie Van Halen!' Typical Dime. God bless him."
SiriusXM's Jose Mangin recently chatted with Anthrax's Frank Bello on Liquid Metal's 666-LIVE call-in show. Read what the bassist has to say about Metal Allegiance, Megadeth, new Anthrax material, and more below (which was transcribed by Josh "Shitkill" Musto), and let us know what you think in the comments!
Jose Mangin:I want to talk about something really cool Frankie that you're doing January 21 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California. It's the Metal Allegiance show–we've done a bunch of these over the years, the Metal Masters, now it's called the Metal Allegiance. It's the biggest lineup that we've ever had together, a lot of your friends and peers from different awesome bands are coming together to jam each other's songs and do other famous cover songs. You're one of the captains of the Metal Allegiance tour, tell us about this one that's coming up January 21, which tickets are on sale now.
Frank Bello: Yeah dude, the 21st of January, we're just trying to let people know about it because it's around the NAMM time, so you get a bunch of things going on at that time out in California. It's at Anaheim House of Blues–a bunch of us get together and you guys have heard this before, what it's about, but there's some different people which I'm pretty excited about on this one. I won't tell you the special guest we have–we're gonna keep that quiet–but it's me, Charlie Benante, Chuck Billy, Chris Broderick, Dave Ellefson, Scott Ian, Andreas from Sepultura, which I'm really excited about, he's my brother–love him. Mark from Death Angel–ugh dude, that's gonna be a thrash night, we're gonna have some fun. Troy from Mastodon, Alex Skolnick, John Tempesta, I mean it's just gonna be a different night. So, I have to hype this up because I saw the setlist of what we're thinking of doing and there's a lot of these songs we've just never touched, which is gonna be a ball. So I have to hype it because I'm excited about it just to jam and just as a metal fan. And look, there's metal and rock, there's a little bit of a different thing to this. So come out and check it out January 21st at the House of Blues Anaheim, it's gonna be amazing.
Mangin: So do you get nervous, Frankie? I've seen you perform at these type of shows before, I think I know the answer, but is it a more relaxing event or a more nervous event for you?
Bello: Well you know what it is, Ellefson and I, we talk about this all the time, these are the songs–it's funny because this is how we grew up. We're playing the songs that we kinda grew up on and we've jammed on them a million times and so you kinda know them, but the setlist we're putting together for this is special because we went outside the box a little bit. And after this show people will see this is a different kind of vibe. Yes we'll do some of the same songs, but not a lot of them. Which I'm excited about and I think this thing that we do is really cool, it's a really cool vibe to see us all–just to have the vibe in the room, us and the audience, it's just a great jam.
Mangin: Are you and Dave gonna be jamming your project Altitudes & Attitude?
Bello: Thank you for mentioning that. You know what, we're recording as we speak, we did drum tracks and rhythm tracks, there's a lot going on. I'll also be working on the new Anthrax record, so I don't know if I'm gonna have time to rehearse that stuff, but dude Dave and I are having a ball with the A&A stuff, so eventually we're gonna put a new thing out next year–and thank you Jose for supporting the Altitudes & Attitude man, we really appreciate it.
Mangin: Frankie, you could shit in a fishbowl, bro, and throw pepperonis in there and I think that would be awesome. I'd be like, "He's doing his roots dude, pepperoni in a fishbowl." I think that would still sound cool, that swirly sound that you get when you get the fishbowl and you swirl it up with the caca. I'm down for that, dude. Can you describe, for those listening who might not know about it, the side-project between you and Dave Ellefson called Altitudes & Attitude? Can you briefly describe the sound and why you guys started this in the first place?
Bello: Sure, I mean Dave Ellefson and I–he plays bass for Megadeth, everybody knows him–we've done a lot of bass clinics together and we just started to jam and Dave said, "Why don't we just start writing songs?" I'm telling you as easy as that sounds, that's how it happened, then we had these songs and we were just gonna do them for clinics and all of a sudden it became this thing and people really took a liking to it, I'm proud to say. Our audience gave it a chance and really liked it do if people out there haven't heard it yet please give it a chance, it's Altitudes & Attitude, I hope you dig it. It's not metal, it's more rock, but it's the kind of stuff we grew up on. It's just an EP, but we have another thing coming out early next year. It's a different side of us, the stuff we wouldn't be able to use in Megadeth or Anthrax. It's just a cool thing, I'm singing on it, it gives me a chance to do that, which is a lot of fun. We're getting some great reviews thankfully, and we're humbled by the reaction, it's a really cool vibe.
Mangin: Are you gonna be singing at the Metal Allegiance like you always do? I know you've done it before, are you gonna be doing more vocals this time around January 21st at the House of Blues in Anaheim?
Bello: You know, I don't know if they want me because there are so many singers there, I don't want to get in anybody's way. You got Chuck Billy and Mark from Death Angel and Troy from Mastodon, so there are a lot of singers. Look, I'm one of the soldiers, I'll go out there–I'm one of the metal soldiers. You need me to sing something I'll do whatever they want me to do. I'm pretty easy with that stuff.
Mangin: Hey, and I have to mention since you are god friends with the guys in Megadeth, were you surprised by the news of Chris [Broderick] and Shawn [Drover] leaving Megadeth?
Bello: Well you know what dude, I don't know the inner workings of the band. I'm sad to see it, they're all good friends, Mustaine's a friend of mine and Ellefson obviously, and Shawn and Chris. I don't go into other people's backyards, you know what I mean? Whatever they had go on, I respect it, I'm sorry about, but you know Chris and Shawn are great musicians. I think they'll be fine wherever they end up. So it's just something else that happens in a long career like this, whatever the reason may be. And I know that's the politically "right" answer to give, but I don't know. I don't know the answer to that, I just hope everyone's happy where they are. I know how hard it is when you leave a band after so many years, it's tough.
Mangin: Yeah I mean you left Anthrax and you came back...
Bello: I did. And who knows about the future, quite honestly with that, you know, I needed a break for a while, and Anthrax needed a break from me and it was a good thing. I took a little break and I went to play with Helmet for a year and a half and it was a great thing. I don't know the future, but I'm sure both sides will be fine.
Mangin: Of course, man. Dave and Dave are gonna find some capable musicians to fill Chris and Shawn's place, and I know like you just said, Chris and Shawn are gonna find some quality homes wherever they land because they're excellent musicians.
Mangin: One more thing before we let you go–update with Anthrax. I talked to your peer, Scott Ian, I did a bunch of cool stuff for his book 'I'm The Man,' can you give us the update on Anthrax, Frank?
Bello: Dude, I can't say this enough it sounds like–you know, here's how I'm gonna put it to you, because you're real. You know Jose, you and I have always been real with each other. You know what quiet confidence is? I don't want people to think we're overhyping the record. I'm so psyched for where we are right now because from the success from 'Worship Music,' which I'm very humbled by–we didn't expect that reaction. I think, and this is as honest as I can be, we are in a really good place in our writing and I think we're tapping into something that we haven't tapped before, which is really cool. I think we know where we're at, we're all old enough to understand it and really respect it and appreciate it. Dude, I'm so psyched to get this going with this Anthrax thing, and I can't hype that enough, but I don't want to seem like the overhyping guy in the bane. I just want people to hear it and if they liked 'Worship Music' man, all I'm gonna say is I'm psyched–and probably more psyched now because I think we have the goods. And I'm really excited because I know how much fun at heart it is to play. I know I'm over-hyping it, I don't mean to, but I'm really excited about Anthrax, I really am.
Mangin: We are so excited as well dude, 'Worship Music' was one of my favorite metal albums of the last decade. You guys are on top of a cloud, you guys are at a real strong point in your career, and I think you guys have a lot of great music yet to come.
Bello: And you know what, I have to say this–the band is getting along really great. Everybody understands, we've been given this opportunity from the Big 4. That whole thing really kicked us in the ass and really gave us a second chance and it just went back to where there's a great buzz in the band. We know that and we're really excited and we appreciate it from the fans. God man, there's a whole new generation of fans along with our old fans there. I mean we have kids comin'–13, 14 year old kids, along with our fanbase mixing it up. I love this man, it's all good. It's a new day for metal. And we want to bring it man, we are so stoked right now.
Mangin: Well we are too, man. Frank Bello from Anthrax, taking part in the Metal Allegiance show at the House of Blues Anaheim, January 2t, that's a Wednesday, tickets are now available through Ticketmaster. I will see you at the show, and of course Frank is working on a new project with David Ellefson called Altitudes & Attitude. Much love to the family and we'll see you next month!
Bello: Yes, you will. And sincerely thank you everybody out there from all of us for the never dying support you give us, and I want you to know we really appreciate it.
Mangin: We got your back Frankie, we look forward to seeing you in the next movie with Keanu Reeves, alright?
Bello: Later brother!
The night before Carcass fly fro m their native U.K. to San Diego to begin a three-week U.S. tour that includes a high-profile slot at Knotfest, vocalist-bassist Jeff Walker is at home throwing T-shirts and pairs of jeans into a suitcase.
"I always seem to wait until the last minute to finish packing everything," he admits. "There's always so much to do, like find someone to watch my cats."
Carcass are still touring to support their acclaimed 2013 album, Surgical Steel—though they did recently release the EP Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel. "It's basically the B-sides and import bonus tracks that weren't available on the regular release," he explains. "It'll have to hold everyone over until the next record."
For his part, Walker will have to hold himself over until he returns from tour when it comes to enjoying the company of his two cats. "They're affectionate, but they can also be distant," he says. "It's like they're mad that I've been away."
Here, the extreme-metal pioneer growls the praises of his favorite animal friends, as well as his other creature comforts. By JON WIEDERHORN
FAVORITE ROAD
FOOD TACO BELL
"There are only about three Taco Bells left in the entire country. We took three hours out of our mixing time [for Surgical Steel] to drive over to Taco Bell. I know Americans think it's cheap and nasty, and I guess it is. It's part of the Pepsi Corporation garbage food. But when we first came to the States in 1990, nobody in the band ate meat, so Taco Bell was a lifesaver. We used to live off the bean burritos. So I've got a soft spot for the place. It's not genuine Mexican food, but for 99 cents you can get a decent burrito. And to be English and 21—it was a real alien menu when we first saw it. We'd never been exposed to Mexican food."
FAVORITE STAGE WEAR
COWBOY HAT
"It's the one that El Cynico [Walker's alter ego in death-metal supergroup Brujeria] wears. It's my lucky hat. It's kind of my tribute to Ian Astbury [of The Cult] with his death's head skull on the front. He used to wear a hat like that back in the '80s."
FAVORITE PETS
TWO STRAY CATS
"I'm a bit like that woman on The Simpsons. I took in these two cats that were sleeping by the side of my house. I'm not the sort of person who wants to have pets, but they kind adopted me. My ex named one of them Emily, which I thought was a bit girly. But it's got a piece missing from its ear, so I call it Nippy. In the end, we compromised and called it Nippy-Ems. And then my other cat only has half a tail. Both of these cats have been through the wringer a bit, but I've gotten quite fond of them."
FAVORITE PIECES OF ART
H.R. GIGER COLLECTIBLES
"When Giger did the album cover for [Carcass' 1993 full-length] Heartwork, we got to visit his house in Zurich and he gave me a signed copy of the Alien book, a copy of a sketch book, and some tarot cards."
FAVORITE SURGICAL TOOL
BONE SAW
"I really like the long one with a rounded edge. There's something about the shape, aesthetically, that looks really cool to me. But I'm not really into medical instruments except when I had to buy them to use on the front cover of the album. For Surgical Steel, I spent a lot of time on eBay trying to track all this stuff down. It was a nice little hobby for a year or so, and we wound up spending about $2,000 on tools—at least. Now they're all sitting in a wooden box."