Chris Hyde, Getty Images Craig Nicholls, frontman for the Vines, has been arrested in Australia after an apparent bizarre attack on his parents. The vocalist, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, reportedly punched his mother twice in the head and injured a police officer who attempted to detain him. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the rocker attempted to flee when police arrived on the scene and officers eventually used capsicum spray to subdue the singer. Inspector Robert Duncan told the paper, “He tried to evade police and [a] violent struggle ensued. A police officer suffered grazes, cuts and bruises to both elbows and knees and was treated at St. George Hospital.” Nicholls was charged with five offenses, including two counts of domestic assault, stalking or intimidation, resisting arrest and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. His parents took out an apprehended violence order against the singer, which is the Australian equivalent to a restraining order for those who feel they are in danger of bodily harm. The Vines were part of the garage rock explosion of the early 2000s that brought acts like the White Stripes, the Hives and the Strokes to prominence. However, Nicholls’ erratic behavior became an issue and eventually he was diagnosed with Asperger’s. The group’s ability to tour extensively has been hampered as a result, but they still managed to put out several records in the years that followed. Their fifth album, ‘Future Primitive,’ arrived last year. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/musician-mug-shots/” title=”Next: See Musician Mugshots” align=”center”]
Abrams Books On Sept. 25, 2012, iconic iconic Metallica axeman Kirk Hammett , released his first book, ‘Too Much Horror Business,’ which chronicles his massive horror movie memorabilia collection. In it, fans get a sneak peek at all of the goodies Hammett has been collecting since he was a child, laid out by decade beginning with the 1920s. The book not only allows readers to gawk at gorgeous photos of movie posters, costumes, toys, props and other collectibles, but it also offers an in-depth dialogue between Hammett and Steffan Chirazi, editor of ‘So What!,’ the official magazine of the Metallica Club. Just minutes after finding out Metallica will be headlining New Orleans’ Voodoo Music + Arts Experience on Oct. 27, we had the chance to sit down with Hammett and chat about all things horror. In promoting your book, you’ve often talked about how you saw your first horror movie, ‘The Day of the Triffids,’ when you were 5 years old. It seems like horror movies speak to something inside all of us, even to the 5-year-old Kirk. Why do you think horror movies appeal to nearly everyone? They’re just fun. They’re a fun experience. It’s not unlike a roller coaster ride, you know? A good horror movie should have peaks and valleys, a good horror movie should move you emotionally, a good horror movie should be exciting to watch and energizing in a weird kind of way. Those are all sensations that everyone loves, or I would think everyone loves. Horror movies deliver that. I’ve always been attracted to the darker things in life. I was never one to go for light, airy stuff, even as a child. My whole aesthetic has always been one of the darker side. That rings true also in my tastes in music. It’s just always something I’ve gravitated to naturally. You’ve also been sharing some insight on your favorite collectibles, including two outfits worn by Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Moving from your own collection and looking just at the genre of horror, what are some of your favorite movies? That’s a hard one for me and I always give a different answer every time. I have a lot of favorites. Right off the bat, I love the original ‘Mummy’ movie from 1932. I love this movie from 1935 called ‘Mad Love.’ Jumping up into the ’70s, there was this low-budget movie called ‘Dracula vs. Frankenstein’ that I just love to death. To me, it’s just endless. I think about certain movies and I think, “Oh, that’s my favorite.” Then I think about others and I say, “No, that’s my favorite.” It’s so difficult for me. When we heard your the title of your book, we immediately thought, “Too much horror business? That’s a lyric from the Misfits!” Before you made the book, did you reach out to any members of the band about the title? I told Glenn [Danzig] that I was making this book when I saw him last December. He seemed alright with it. I think by now if he wasn’t alright with it I would’ve heard something. When I first heard that title, ‘Too Much Horror Business,’ I thought, “Wow, what a great title. If I ever do a book, that’s going to be the title.” And then, well, here we are. You could have made this a standard photo book, but there is a lengthy conversation between you and Steffan Chirazi featured throughout. Why did you decide to include the dialogue between the two of you? It was important for me to be able to interject some of my own personality into the book, to bring it to a different place. I didn’t want it to be a stock coffee table art book, I didn’t want it to be a reference book, I didn’t want it to look like an auction catalog, which a lot of art books end up looking like, at least to me. It was important to me to interject some of my own personality and some of my own humor and my own opinion on this stuff. How and why I’m into all this stuff. It was a way for me to make it more my book than just another coffee table book. ‘Too Much Horror Business’ is available for order from Abrams Books. And don’t worry, metalheads, we also talked to Kirk Hammett about all things Metallica. Stay tuned for our exclusive news items in which the guitarist offers the latest on the band’s next album and more. [button href=”http://ultimatemetallica.com/kirk-hammett-talks-too-much-horror-business-at-book-signing-in-new-york-city/” target=”_blank” title=”Check Out The Full Recap From Hammett’s Book Signing in NYC” align=”center”] Photos from ‘Too Much Horror Business’ Pgs. 26-27, Abrams Books Pgs. 32-33, Abrams Books Pgs. 58-59, Abrams Books Pg. 105, Abrams Books
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Clutch have been quiet as of late, but the band is ready to emerge from the studio with their latest chugging opus, ‘Earth Rocker.’ The group just completed the effort, and they currently have circled March 2013 on their calendar to release the disc. Singer Neil Fallon tells Antiquiet , “Last minute overdubs are fun — Harmonicas, tambourines (yes, we use those), claps, the odd backing vocal. Recording can be monotonous, so those unintended moments can be a lot of fun. It’s kind of like kindergarten music class, but with beer. And sometimes the spontaneity of a last ditch idea breathes a lot of life back into a song that we’ve been beating up for weeks on end. A looming deadline can be a great muse!” As for the sound, the frontman adds, “It has a lot in common with ‘Blast Tyrant’ in that Machine’s production techniques are really unique. It differs from ‘Blast Tyrant’ and a lot of other Clutch records in that, overall, the songs are faster and concise.” With the record ready to go, Clutch will get their live chops in order. The band has booked a handful of late October/early November shows in the Midwest, and will also take part in a late year holiday tour in the period between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. After that, the group will head to Europe for January and February dates before ‘Earth Rocker’s’ March release. Clutch Tour With Lionize and Monstro 10/31 — Flint, Mich. — Machine Shop 11/1 — Flint, Mich. — Machine Shop 11/2 — Joliet, Ill. — Mojoes 11/3 — Detroit, Mich. — St. Andrews Hall 11/4 –Detroit, Mich. — St. Andrews Hall Holiday Tour With Mondo Generator, Saviors and Wino 12/26 — Washington, D.C. — 9:30 Club 12/27 — Asheville, N.C. — Orange Peel 12/28 — Lexington, Ky. — Buster’s Billiards & Backroom 12/29 — Columbus, Ohio — Newport Music Hall 12/30 — Sayreville, N.J. — Starland Ballroom 12/31 — Worcester, Mass. — The Palladium
Stuart Wilson, Getty Images It's been a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career for the Red Hot Chili Peppers , and we're attempting to count down the 10 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs. To help narrow things down, we're keeping it to original tracks, which knocks out their splendid covers of 'Higher Ground' and 'Love Rollercoaster,' but there's still so many other great songs to choose from. From their early days as a college rock/party band through their present day reign as chart-topping hitmakers, singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist extraordinaire Flea have kept the band's spirit lively and sound extra funky. They've been joined on their mission by guitarists Hillel Slovak, Jack Sherman, DeWayne McKnight, John Frusciante , Arik Marshall, Jesse Tobias, Dave Navarro , and Josh Klinghoffer and drummers Jack Irons, Cliff Martinez, D.H. Peligro, and Chad Smith , and have rarely missed a step. So let's take you to the songs you love, take you all the way, and count down the 10 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs: ? 10 'Suck My Kiss' From: 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' (1991) ? ? Red Hot Chili Peppers may have gotten more commercial around the 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' era, but 'Suck My Kiss' still had the energy and ferocity of some of their early albums. The track is driven by Flea's ferocious bass playing, while Anthony Kiedis delivers overly-amorous lyrics about his partner's obvious sexiness. Listen to 'Suck My Kiss' ? ? 9 'Brendan's Death Song' From: 'I'm With You' (2011) ? ? 'Brendan's Death Song' is a new tune, but it makes our 10 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs as an example of a band connecting as one, letting their emotions from a traumatic experience flow simultaneously in perfect harmony. The group penned the track for late Los Angeles club owner and close friend Brendan Mullen, who gave the band their first break. Anthony Kiedis said the song was instantaneous after he delivered the news to his bandmates, and his voice, in particular, reaches emotional levels not heard prior on the band's records. Listen to 'Brendan's Death Song' ? ? 8 'Californication' From: 'Californication' (1999) ? ? The title track from Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Californication' album definitely shows the band's dance-with-the-dark side of life in Hollywood. The group delves into the superficial nature of modern society, with references like “ Space may be the final frontier / But it's made in a Hollywood basement ” and “ Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging ” lamenting an increasingly plastic world. The song would reach No. 1 on both the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock Tracks charts. Listen to 'Californication' ? ? 7 'Knock Me Down' From: 'Mother's Milk' (1989) ? ? Still reeling from the death of guitarist Hillel Slovak, Red Hot Chili Peppers found themselves in the midst of a band shakeup, with Chad Smith and John Frusciante eventually coming on board. Anthony Kiedis was also coming out of rehab and wrote this song about his withdrawal and realizing that if Slovak could die, he too was invincible. Listen to 'Knock Me Down' ? ? 6 'Dani California' From: 'Stadium Arcadium' (2006) ? ? The character of Dani California was first conjured up by Anthony Kiedis in 1999's 'Californication' and continued her journey in the 2002 single 'By the Way,' but with 2006's 'Stadium Arcadium,' the singer used the character as a representation of many women he knew in his life and built a full song around her. The video featured the band representing the different eras and genres of music that influenced their style. The group would win Grammy awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal for the track. Listen to 'Dani California' ? ? 5 'Breaking the Girl' From: 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' (1991) ? ? 'Breaking the Girl' found singer Anthony Kiedis dipping into his personal life for material. The singer revealed in his 'Scar Tissue' autobiography that the song was about the turbulent relationship with his ex-girlfriend, and also his father's relationship with women. The track is driven by Chad Smith's percussive instrumentation, and Flea's initially hypnotic and later aggressive bass playing. Listen to 'Breaking the Girl' ? ? 4 'By the Way' From: 'By the Way' (2002) ? ? 'By the Way' earns its spot among the 10 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers tracks for its ability to show the band's strengths. The John Frusciante guitar line demonstrates a melody-driven style, while Chad Smith and Flea deliver a full-on audio assault on drums and bass. Singer Anthony Kiedis told Kerrang of the song, “I thought that single was an ?ber-bombastic assault of non-commercialism.” The track is No. 8 on Loudwire's Top 21st Century Hard Rock Songs list. Listen to 'By the Way' ? ? 3 'Give It Away' From: 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' (1991) ? ? If ever there were a guitar lick and drum beat that told you exactly what band it was, 'Give It Away' is that song for Red Hot Chili Peppers. While the lyrics may seem nonsensical, the group revealed on VH1's 'Behind the Music' that the track comes form the idea that the more that you give, the more you receive, so why not give it all away. Kiedis would later say that his girlfriend at the time, Nina Hagen, inspired the lyrics, after she gave him a jacket he liked from her closet. Listen to 'Give It Away' ? ? 2 'Scar Tissue' From: 'Californication' (1999) ? ? 'Scar Tissue' is a must for the 10 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs. The cut would serve as the band's first single marking the return of guitarist John Frusciante to the lineup after dealing with the substance abuse issues. The track itself featured themes of life and resurrection, which reflected not only Frusciante's return but other band members' abilities to emerge from their past demons as well. The moniker would also serve as the title for Anthony Kiedis' future biography. Listen to 'Scar Tissue' ? ? 1 'Under the Bridge' From: 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' (1991) ? ? The song that catapulted the band to superstardom was also one in which Anthony Kiedis laid his soul bare for all to see. The track was about the singer's heroin addiction and his own isolation the deeper he got into the drug. The lyrics initially were part of a poem, and producer Rick Rubin reportedly convinced the singer to explore them as a song. The track also featured a wide style shift, from the somber opening guitar chords through the mid-tempo drum beats up to the climactic finale. Listen to 'Under the Bridge' ? ? What Is Your Favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers Song? So there you have it, our 10 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs? Did we get it right, or with the birds are we sharing our lonely view? There's still plenty of great songs that just missed out on the list. What would you add and what would take away? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. ?
Season of Mist Records Morbid Angel frontman David Vincent was the guest on Full Metal Jackie’s radio show this past weekend. He spoke all about the band’s headlining North American tour with Dark Funeral and Grave. Vincent also spoke candidly about his troubles crossing the border into Canada as well as Morbid Angel’s latest disc ‘Illud Divinium Insanus.’ If you missed Jackie’s show, read the full interview with David Vincent below: Morbid Angel out with Grave and Dark Funeral through late October; tell us how the tour’s been going so far. This tour has been going really well, we’ve had some great shows – a lot of support, a lot of excitement. It’s been a long time since Morbid Angel’s toured the states so a lot of the hoopla that we’ve garnering in Europe and South America and elsewhere, we’re now able to bring it home and show everybody what we’ve been up to for the past so many years. A band can’t really say that they’ve made it without being denied entry into Canada. What are border crossings like for a metal band especially Morbid Angel? You know I got to say that we’ve been back and forth about this, we did have some challenges getting into Canada – this happens to bands throughout their career. I’ve personally never had a problem getting into the country and this particular agent, the agents up there – if they decide they want you in or they don’t want you in then that’s pretty much what’s going to happen, all reasons be damned. It is what it is, my main thing with it is I just don’t like disappointing fans, when we’re that people plan on going to – luckily they worked it out, both the promoters in Montreal and Toronto are standup people and they honored people’s ticket prices and be refunded and stuff. That’s all the business side of it, the real crime here is that the border agents they don’t care about their promoters, apparently they don’t care about their Canadian citizens who are fans and I would hope in the future that they wouldn’t be so benign to some of these concerns. You’ve been getting good reviews on this current tour, so, David, how will that most affect what you do going forward? Well I think the main thing is we enjoy touring … we enjoy playing and really getting down and showing people what we’re all about. It has been several years since the band has done a complete stateside tour. We’ve been out doing west coast stops, flying in special events, Maryland Deathfest, we did that this year – just sort of larger events but not really gearing up and getting everybody all suited up for battle and getting on the tour bus. It’s feeling fresh, the bands that we’re touring with are really good bands both of which we’ve been friends with for a number of years. Everything’s going well and like I said the response has been really good and we’re riding it all the way home to our final show which is in our area, in the Tampa Bay area on the 21st of October. The latest record ‘Illud Divinium Insanus’ was your first Morbid Angel album in 16 years, in what ways did you find your creative relationship with Trey [Azagthoth] had changed and what about that changed relationship would you like to explore next? One thing about Morbid Angel is that there’s never been any rules and it’s an interesting perspective, we just kind of go in and do what we do and sometimes it blossoms – every flower is a different color and a different smell and this album it surprises people, a couple of track on there and then there’s a couple of other tracks that are as Morbid Angel as you can get. People are coming around, it was slow going at first, people were going “What are these guys doing here?” and night after night I’m getting comments, people are like, “I finally really listened to it and I really like it, it just took me a while.” That’s no different than some of the other records we’ve done in the past so everything is going as planned, thanks for asking. You’re a guest on the new Chaostar album and rumor has it in a narrative sense? Yeah, you find out things – you’re the metal oracle these days. How’s voice over work satisfying compared to singing or playing? When there’s something creative that I can identify with, it’s easy when you have like minds sharing a creative outlet – it’s good stuff so I’m looking forward to seeing what the end result is going to be. What’s the best way for people to keep up with you on what’s happening, is it your personal Facebook or Twitter? Sure the easiest thing to do is official David Vincent on Facebook and you can keep up with me and all the day to day idiocies and stupid things that happen along with special messages to the fans. It’s a cool thing, I’ve realized that these things are important so that’s where people can go and I read it. I do have some people to help me from time to time. We do get busy overseas and sometimes and even in the best of third world countries, internet is something to be coveted. I’m just really excited about a lot of this stuff and we’re looking forward to pounding our way through the states. Full Metal Jackie will welcome Joe Duplantier of Gojira on her next show. Full Metal Jackie can be heard on radio stations around the country — for a full list of stations, go to fullmetaljackieradio.com .
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Five Finger Death Punch take pride in their live set, and they’re putting it on full display with their new video for ‘The Pride,’ the latest single from their 2011 ‘ American Capitalist ‘ album. The clip for their latest single features footage shot during the band’s touring and showcases not only their stellar live performances but the stage setup, which includes a visual assault of imagery behind the band. The song itself deals with a fair amount of commercialism, as singer Ivan Moody riffs on a number of brand names and celebrity endorsers, while the video board in the clip has plenty of brightly placed images flashing to the crowd. Five Finger Death Punch recently wrapped up their Trespass America tour, and they’ve discussed the idea of ramping up to a January start for recording their follow-up to the ‘American Capitalist’ disc. The disc has already spawned the singles ‘Under and Over It,’ ‘Back for More,’ ‘Remember Everything,’ and ‘Coming Down,’ with ‘The Pride’ surfacing as the fifth single this month. Watch Five Finger Death Punch’s ‘The Pride’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/five-finger-death-punch-jason-hook-discusses-next-album-coming-down-video-randy-blythe/” title=”Next: Jason Hook Discusses Next Five Finger Death Punch Album” align=”center”]
Victory Records Ill Niño ‘s new album, ‘Epidemia,’ hits stores on Oct. 22, but fans won’t have to wait until then to hear the disc. The band is teaming up with Loudwire to provide listeners with an exclusive stream of the album. The New Jersey-based rockers took a musical journey with their sixth release, recording in Hoboken, Austin and Denver before wrapping up the disc. Singer Cristian Machado tells Loudwire, “The recording of ‘Epidemia’ was definitely an amazing experience. We’ve set the bar higher than ever before. I truly believe this record is one of Ill Niño’s best efforts. I really can’t wait for our fans to hear the new record. I know it will connect with many of them on a new level. I can definitely say it’s going to be a crusher but will not lack any of the beauty and passion that appears on our early records.” Machado previously stated that this was the time for the band to redefine Latin metal, while drummer Dave Chavarri mentioned that they were delving more into Latin and tribal rhythms that will just expand their boundaries further than they’ve gone before. Ill Niño already gave fans a sample of the new music by recently unveiling a trailer that featured their song, ‘ The Depression .’ Fans also may have caught them building up to the new record over the past month while on tour with Static-X , who recently had to drop off the trek due to frontman Wayne Static’s medical condition. Ill Niño continue to remain on the road — check out their current tour itinerary here . So, listen to Ill Niño’s ‘Epidemia’ below. If you dig the tunes, you can pre-order the album here . Listen to Ill Niño’s ‘Epidemia’ Album