Artist Interview
On August 24 at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, the 10th Annual Johnny Ramone Tribute took place.
Presented by Johnny's widow, Linda Ramone, the tribute featured live music—including an all-star jam featuring Rob Zombie, Sex Pistols' Steve Jones, ex Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan, Billy Idol, and more—exhibits, and an outdoor screening of Zombie's movie, 'The Devil's Rejects.'
The all-star band played Ramones classic like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "I Wanna Be Sedated," and more. Fan-filmed video can be seen below.
According to Rolling Stone, Zombie told the crowd, "We're here for one reason, and one reason only: To pay tribute to our good friend Johnny Ramone. I miss him every day. He was a wonderful kind guy. There was nobody like him. There was nothing like the Ramones, so we're here for Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy."
Proceeds from the event benefited the Johnny Ramone Foundation.
Johnny Ramone died in 2004 at age 55 after battling prostrate cancer.
The last living member of the original lineup of the legendary punk band, drummer Tommy Ramone, recently died at the age of 65 after a struggle with bile duct cancer.
Earlier this year, Dave Grohl called Baptists' skinsman Nick Yacyshyn his "favorite new drummer by far." Fresh off that endorsement, the hardcore band is set to release its sophomore album, 'Bloodmines'—which was recorded by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou—on October 14 via Southern Lord Records. In anticipation, the group has teamed with Revolver to premiere new song, "Harm Induction." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments.
For more on Baptists, follow them on Facebook.
Florida hard-rock act Fit for Rivals will release their new album, 'Freak Machine,' next year. In anticipation, the band has teamed up with Revolver to premiere their music video for the recently-released single, "Hit Me." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
"This video for 'Hit Me' was inspired from the original 'Godzilla' and 'Attack of the Forty Foot Woman' films," frontwoman Renee Phoenix comments. "I wanted to combine my love for vintage sci-fi movies and my passion to empower women. Being a girl in the music industry can be tough, and my message in this video is to show just because I am a woman doesn't mean I am anything less. I can rock just as hard, get back up just as many times as any dude—and still look good doing it."
To purchase "Hit Me," visit iTunes or Amazon. Fit for Rivals will be going on tour with Icon for Hire in October—for tour dates, visit their website. For more on the band, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, bringing with them tons of pyrotechnics and a massive skeleton king. Photographer Rob Fenn was there for the whole tour to capture all the action. Check out the live shots his photos of A7X below–you can follow Fenn on Twitter and Facebook.
Pantera will forever be identified with the stomping, middle-finger-flying, chant-along anthem "Walk." The Vulgar Display of Power single is a bona fide metal classic now, and it was a big song in its day, too — big enough to be released not only on the 1992 album but also across a series of 1993 EPs alongside live B-sides and industrial remixes.
One of those EPs, titled Walk Biomechanical, featured a pair of gnarly, grinding remixes of two Vulgar cuts, "Fucking Hostile" and "By Demons Be Driven," by Godflesh main man Justin K. Broadrick, then fresh off the release of his band's second album Pure. We recently caught with Broadrick and we had to ask him about his experience reimagining songs by the mighty Pantera.
WHO HOOKED YOU UP WITH PANTERA?
JUSTIN K. BROADRICK The guy who was representing Pantera at their label over in the U.K. Remixes were very "current" at the time, and I think the label were searching for "industrial/dance" remixes or whatever was popular at the time ...
WERE YOU EXCITED ABOUT WORKING ON PANTERA SONGS?
I'd barely heard the band at that point. I knew they were a pretty huge metal band, though. The label sent me their current CD, Vulgar Display of Power, with notes on the two songs they wished for me to remix. I thought I wouldn't like the music, but it transpired that I enjoyed it. I found the prospect of remixing them incredibly daunting — this was my first real remix! So I had very little confidence in my first remixes being such a big band, but just got in there, so to speak!
DO YOU HAVE ANY INTERESTING STORIES ABOUT THE SESSION OR INTERACTING WITH THE BAND?
I spoke and met the band after at a local show to Birmingham. I was invited by their record label, given VIP, etc. The session itself was in my studio, where I record all my projects, but this was still in a primitive stage then and I was still learning through mistakes every minute, and remixes were hard back then in the early Nineties — no luxury of cut and paste and dealing with files. This was real tape, reel to reels, hard to work with. I sampled nearly every part of each song I wanted to use and then used simplistic cut-up methods to achieve this. Hard work.
WERE YOU HAPPY WITH HOW THE REMIXES CAME OUT?
At the time, happy-ish, but the lack of confidence was an issue. I didn't hear them for almost 10 years [and then I] heard them again and thought they sounded incredibly thin, just due to the limitations of the studio equipment I has back then and my own skills as a producer. But the ideas were not too bad.
DID YOU EVER HEAR ANYTHING BACK FROM THE BAND ABOUT THE REMIXES?
Yes, when I met the entire band at the show I mentioned above. It was quite odd — the whole band were very complimentary and were very nice guys, [but] it appeared to me meeting them that Phil Anselmo was the only real Godflesh fan, but that the other guys appreciated what I did with their music. I recall Vinnie Paul saying, "It's like real metal what you've done. At least it's none of that dance crap!" [Laughs]
Slipknot have announced their new album title, artwork, and release date.
'.5: The Gray Chapter,' their fifth studio album, will be out October 21 via Roadrunner Records. It can be pre-ordered on iTunes now, with instant downloads of the released singles—"The Devil in I" and "The Negative One."
MORE SLIPKNOT: Listen to "The Devil in I."
After the previously announced Knotfest, Slipknot will head out on the "Prepare for Hell" tour with Korn and King 810. Dates are listed below.
Vocalist Corey Taylor said, "We've been waiting a long time for this. Not only do we get to tour with friends who we respect, we've also chosen a band that represents the fury of the future. Slipknot is coming to your town—and hell's coming with us."
Track listing:
01. XIX
02. Sarcastrophe
03. Aov
04. The Devil In I
05. Killpop
06. Skeptic
07. Lech
08. Goodbye
09. Nomadic
10. The One That Kills The Least
11. Custer
12. Be Prepared For Hell
13. The Negative One
14. If Rain Is What You Want
15. Override (bonus track)
16. The Burden (bonus track)
"Prepare for Hell" tour dates:
OCTOBER
25 San Bernardino, CA Knotfest
26 San Bernardino, CA Knotfest
29 El Paso, TX
31 Dallas, TX
NOVEMBER
1 Corpus Christi, TX American Bank Center
2 San Antonio, TX
4 Little Rock, AR
5 Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy Arena
6 Omaha, NE
8 Madison, WI
9 Sioux Falls, SD
11 Denver, CO
19 Baltimore, MD
21 Nashville, TN
22 Lexington, KY
23 Ft. Wayne, IN
25 Moline, IL
26 Kansas City, MO
28 Rosemont, IL
29 Detroit, MI
30 Toronto, ON
DECEMBER
2 Reading, PA
3 Camden, NJ
5 Uncasville, CT
6 East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center
7 Boston, MA
In celebration of their 30-year career, Sepultura—who stand among Brazil's most successful bands ever—will unleash a new live offering, entitled 'Sepultura and Les Tambours du Bronx: Metal Veins – Alive At Rock In Rio,' in North America via Eagle Rock Entertainment on September 16th, 2014.
The DVD, Blu-ray, CD, and digital audio release captures a spectacular performance in which Sepultura were accompanied throughout their set by the French industrial percussion group Les Tambours du Bronx, notorious for beating 225-liter barrels with beech wood bats or even axe handles. The show was recorded from the band's main stage appearance at the Rock in Rio gala in 2013.
For more information on Sepultura and Les Tambours du Bronx: Metal Veins – Alive At Rock In Rio,' visit Eagle-Rock.com and Facebook.com/EagleRockEnt.
Sleepwave, the new band of former Underoath vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, will release their new album, 'Broken Compass,' on September 16 via Epitaph Records. In anticipation, the band has teamed up with Revolver to premiere a new song and music video for "The Wolf." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
To pre-order 'Broken Compass,' visit iTunes or Epitaph's webstore. For more on Sleepwave, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Heartist recently released their full-length debut, 'Feeding Fiction,' via Roadrunner Records. Today, the band has teamed up with Revolver to premiere a new music video for the track, "Skeletons." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
'Feeding Fiction' is available now via iTunes. For more on Heartist, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Motörhead's Motörboat will hit the high seas on September 22-26. The rock-and-roll cruise—featuring performances by Motörhead, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, Down, and many more—will go from Miami, Florida, to Key West, Florida, to Cozumel, Mexico. For tickets and more information, visit MotorheadCruise.com.
In anticipation of this oceanic event, we're revisiting one of our favorite interviews with Motörhead commander in chief Lemmy Kilmister. Here, the vocalist-bassist answered your questions in the "Going Postal" feature of the December/January 2014 issue of Revolver.
by Jon Wiederhorn
For decades, Motörhead commanding general Lemmy Kilmister used to wake up some time after 1 p.m., pour himself his first Jack and Coke of the afternoon, and start the day. Regardless of whether he was recording, rehearsing with his band, playing a gig, doing press or doing nothing, there would be more drinks, maybe some speed, and about a carton of cigarettes. If he were home in L.A., he'd likely perch himself at the bar of the Rainbow Bar and Grill and talk with friends and fans or play the one-arm bandit for a few hours before hitting a strip club.
Lately, however, the 67-year-old legend has had to change his ways following multiple serious health scares. The setbacks started in 2011 when doctors diagnosed him with a life-threatening arrhythmia, an uneven heartbeat that can trigger cardiac arrest. Surgeons inserted a tiny cardioverter-defi brillator (ICD) in his chest, which delivers a jolt of electricity when it detects a dangerously irregular beat. "Me and Slash talk to each other internationally now through electrical signals," Kilmister jokes. Slash had a similar device implanted in his chest in 2001 because of damage caused by excessive drinking. "I can't say I was really that surprised when the doctor told me I needed it," the vocalist-bassist continues. "When you've lived the life that I have, you should always expect something like that to crop up. I was not a good boy. I've had too much fun."
The operation was supposed to be routine, but there were complications that caused the metal icon discomfort and required further procedures. When he recovered, Motörhead launched two American tours in 2012 and a European festival tour. Then in late December, Kilmister fell ill in Berlin. "I did a lot of touring for someone with a bad heart," he explains. "The doctor gave me all kinds of pills for a couple weeks and then I came back to L.A."
Even though he felt like staying in bed many days, Kilmister summoned the energy to write and record Motörhead's new album, the fiendishly titled 'Aftershock.' The follow-up to 2010's 'The Wörld Is Yours,' the record is ballsy, bluesy, and bombastic. It's also impressively diverse. The opening cut, "Heartbreaker," churns and burns, and "Death Machine" swings like a wrecking ball, but they're offset by more eclectic tracks like "Lost Woman Blues," a mellower moustache-in-beer lament with a boogie-blues ending, and "Dust and Glass," a hooky ballad with (gasp) melodic vocals. In other words, Aftershock is everything fans expect and don't expect from someone who seems to be in no condition to remain so defiant.
"I had more to defy this time, didn't I?" Kilmister says. "We started it before I got really sick so most of the bass parts were done and then I did the vocals afterwards, but that was easy for me. I felt so shitty I could hardly walk from the studio to the mic in the control room, but I could still do the vocals. That's second nature."
Kilmister has had some more bad health days since finishing 'Aftershock,' but he seems to be on the mend now and he's taking better care of himself. "I never thought anyone would be able to accuse me of this, but I have an exercise bike in my room now."
The only drugs he consumes currently are prescription medication, plus he's down to just two Jack and Cokes a day, and he's cut out smoking altogether.
"People say, 'Was it hard to quit smoking?'" Kilmister says. "It's real easy when you're coughing yourself to death everyday. I've done albums feeling shitty, but I've never done an album without artificial stimulants. That was the hardest part. But I got used to it after a while."
On one of his better days, Kilmister answered letters from the fans about his health, the new album, and his incredible history.
People always say that, like AC/DC and Slayer, you know what you're gonna get when you put on a Motörhead album. Do you agree, and would you have it any other way?
—Chris Spurlanca
LEMMY KILMISTER Yeah, I agree, and I'm afraid that's my fault. I consider Motörhead to be a benevolent dictatorship. If everybody feels strongly that we shouldn't do something, we won't do it. But I've probably only had to do that about three times in my whole career, which isn't bad.
Did you want 'Aftershock' to be anything like 'The Wörld Is Yours' or totally different?
—Deborah Silverstein
We don't have a plan like that ever. We just get in a room and start to play. We're not anyone who wants to be saying something special to their kids. We were never like that. We do what we like and we hope you like it as well. I've never given a fuck about how everybody else feels except me and my band. Everybody else can go fuck themselves.
You had to stop last year's Wacken Festival performance after playing only six songs. What happened?
—David Framingham
It was strange. The Wacken date was going really good and it sounded really good, too. And then I got this pain in my back that came out of nowhere and it was crippling. When you get to this age, stuff starts going on, ya' know? There's nothing you can do about it. At this stage, things would be going wrong anyway, even without my history.
What did you learn when you worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix?
—Erin Cardigan
He taught me how to find drugs in the most unlikely places because that was part of my job for him. But I also learned about theatrics and performing. He was so effortlessly cool and he would move like an elegant spider. He was always interested in the crowd. He made very bad jokes because he was so out of his mind. People couldn't figure out what he was talking about by the time he was finished. But he was certainly the best guitar player you'll ever see, probably ever.
You've said The Beatles are your greatest influence. Can you hear that in your music?
—Eddie Tantarelli
You might find it if you looked very deep, but I've never. Influences are only influences, they're not a blueprint. I was very influenced as a young teenager by the Everly Brothers as well, but you can't hear it in Motörhead. I was also influenced by Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard. I actually think everything's an influence, even if it's an influence not to do something.
At first, people didn't react all that favorably to Motörhead. How did you handle the negative response?
—Bob Strock
Well, in the 1976 'Sounds' magazine poll, we got our own category: "Best Worst Band in the World." I certainly wore that with pride. It was on the posters.
When "Ace of Spades" became a hit, did your record company try to convince you to make more commercial music
—Terry Vercluse
No, because they were quite happy with us in England the way we were and we couldn't get signed in America until well after 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith' came out, and that was a No. 1 record in Europe! 'Ace of Spades' was No. 4 and Bomber was No. 6. But in America, nobody wanted to know us. I don't think we looked cute enough. We sort of fit right in between the old surge of British heavy metal like Deep Purple and just before the new surge of heavy metal, which was Iron Maiden. So we were fucked for a while.
Everyone knows Metallica are big Motörhead fans, but it is true that Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was the president of the Motörhead fan club in Copenhagen?
—Perry Johnson
No. Him and Cliff [Burton, Metallica's late bassist] arrived when I was in L.A. and they said they were the president and vice president of our fan club on the West Coast. It turned out there's only two of them in it. And then poor old Lars tried to match me drink for drink. He didn't make it. They really were just kids then, but they were incredibly dedicated. I always thought that band was going to be OK as long as they had Lars in it.
Do you feel like you ignited the thrash movement?
—Alison Macalray
A lot of bands give us credit, but I didn't like all of them. Some of it was thrash and some of it was more like trash. There was a lot of both. It sorted itself out in the end because those bad bands are gone. But I didn't have anything against the Sunset Strip scene or anything. Some of the more melodic stuff was great music. I didn't give a fuck how they dressed it up, Mötley Crüe are a great band, and if it's good rock and roll, I like it. Like Skunk Anansie now—they're fantastic.
For a short while after Fast Eddie Clarke left, you had Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson in the band. Why didn't that work out?
—Phillip "The Nail" Johnson
We did 'Another Perfect Day' with Brian, which was a great album. But Brian just couldn't keep it together. He was quite out of it all the time, drunk. He's a bad drunk. He just didn't fit in with Motörhead in every way you could think of. It was [ex-drummer] Phil Taylor's idea to have him join because Phil was a big Thin Lizzy fan. But Brian dressed inappropriately onstage in green shorts and ballet pumps and he didn't want to play our old songs, which was what people wanted to hear.
What's your funniest groupie story?
—Joe Hardy
I once got a blowjob during a gig. It was in the '70s and this girl got onto the stage, pulled down my pants, and did her thing. I kept performing. I couldn't stop the show. It wouldn't have been professional. But then there's other stories I love that don't actually involve sex. One time, we had to smuggle [guitarist] Phil Campbell out of the hotel in Connecticut because he was drunk as a cunt as usual and he was making obscene suggestions to one of the receptionists and she called the cops on him. We had to get one of our roadies disguised as somebody else to get him out through the back fire escape and run for it.
When people talk about you, they often speak about drinking first thing in the morning and partying hard and getting laid. Is that all superficial or is it an important part of your legacy?
—Jeremy Cartwright
It's superficial, but it's very important. It's made everything more fun.
Even people outside the metal scene, like Dave Grohl, consider you a rock-and-roll icon. Do you consider that a major compliment?
—Kenneth Strait
It really is, you know. When somebody like Dave Grohl says, "Fuck all this. Lemmy is the king of rock and roll," that's pretty good, isn't it? You know, I don't really know how to deal with it because obviously you can't believe it. But he's saying it, so it's a very respectable thing that I'm very appreciative of. I love Dave.
Do you have any plans to retire?
—David Truman
No, I ain't done yet with the music. After I get better, we're gonna try to tour again, and if I can't do that full-on, I want to do another album with [the rockabilly band] Head Cat, and, of course, I want to do a couple more Motörhead records. But the next thing I've got coming out is my solo album, which is almost done. I still want to do a track with [Skunk Anansie vocalist] Skin before I put it out. There are two tracks with the Reverend Horton Heat, two with The Damned, a track with Dave Grohl, and a track with Joan Jett. Right now we're thinking of calling it False Teeth for the Deaf. It's all just great rock and roll, that's the only way to describe it. Some of it is bluesy and some isn't. It's not Motörhead, but obviously there are elements in common.
There has been an active online campaign launched to get you voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Is it important to you to be a part of that crowd with some of your idols like The Beatles and Chuck Berry?
—Karen Spearing
It doesn't matter to me. The biggest room in that place is the gift shop. I don't really care about being the best of anything. I just want to be good and I want to be recognized. We never set out to be the loudest band in the world. It just turned out that way. And in the end, I just want to be remembered for being an honest man. Really, I don't mind how I'm remembered as long as I'm not remembered as an asshole.