Posts Tagged ‘death-angel’

Testament Vocalist Chuck Billy Reveals ‘Dream’ to Finally Share the Stage With Metallica

Nuclear Blast California is the American Mecca for thrash metal. With top thrash innovators such as Metallica , Testament , Autopsy, Exodus , Death Angel and more having risen to fame together in the early ’80s, a very tight-knit brotherhood has been created between these musicians. Despite this bond, Metallica and Testament have never toured together, and during our recent chat with Testament singer  Chuck Billy , he told us it’s his “dream” for the two acts to share a bill. Between Metallica and Testament, there are 62 years of thrash history shared among the two acts, with Metallica forming on 1981 and Testament coming together in 1983. Both bands are constantly performing with the world’s biggest thrash acts, such as Metallica headlining numerous ‘Big 4′ shows with Slayer , Megadeth and Anthrax , while Testament toured extensively in 2012 with Anthrax and Death Angel. Testament are even scheduled to headline another iconic tour in 2013 when they hit the road with Overkill . With these simple facts presented, it’s almost unfathomable to believe that Metallica has “never toured or played” with Testament, but according to Billy, it’s 100 percent true. “The band that we’ve always looked up to is Metallica,” reveals Billy. “From day one the songwriting, the aggression of the music, the vibe and what they stood for has always been an iconic goal for us to try and reach. Unfortunately, we’ve never gotten to perform with Metallica. So hopefully one day they look down and say, ‘They’ve come to our shows in the Bay Area, but we’ve never toured with them or played with them before.’ Maybe one day we will get our dream met and we’ll be able to play some shows and share a stage with them. They’ve always been one of those bands we’ve looked up to. I’ve always looked up to James [Hetfield] as a songwriter and a performer.” We can declare with a deep sense of certainty that there is no thrash fanatic out there who would miss a Metallica / Testament tour, so we issue this challenge to Metallica; once you’re finished writing and recording the new album, we call upon you to draft Testament for your next world tour! Who agrees with us? Let your voices be heard in the comments section below. Stay tuned for our full interview with Testament’s Chuck Billy. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/testament-overkill-more-to-embark-on-2013-dark-roots-of-thrash-tour/” title=”Testament + Overkill 2013 Tour Dates” align=”center”]

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Jams With Death Angel at ‘Too Much Horror Business’ Book Launch

Kevin Winter, Getty Images / Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Metallica ‘s Kirk Hammett is making the rounds showing off his ‘Too Much Horror Business – The Kirk Hammett Collection’ book of horror memorabilia, but during a stop in San Francisco to promote his page-turner, he worked in some music for those in attendance as well. Hammett welcomed Death Angel as guest performers at the event and joined them for a set. The show took place at San Francisco’s Public Works Thursday night (Nov. 1), with Hammett hopping onstage to jam. The set included a performance of the Metallica classic ‘Trapped Under Ice.’ As for the new ‘Too Much Horror Business’ book, Hammett made sure to not only include the items he owns, but also a little conversational background on how the items came to be in possession. Speaking about the interview portion of the book, the guitarist explained , “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.” He added that while it’s hard to narrow down his favorite horror films to just a few, he rates the original ‘Mummy,’ the ’70s low-budget ‘Dracula Vs. Frankenstein,’ and the 1935 film ‘Mad Love’ among the best. As for Death Angel, they too have something to promote as their ‘ A Thrashumentary ‘ DVD is expected to arrive in early 2013. Watch Death Angel Play ‘Trapped Under Ice’ With Kirk Hammett Watch Death Angel and Kirk Hammett Jam at the ‘Too Much Horror Business’ Launch [button href=”http://loudwire.com/kirk-hammett-next-metallica-album-3d-film-2013-orion-music-festival/” title=”Next: Kirk Hammett Discusses Metallica’s 3D Film + Orion Festival Future” align=”center”]

Death Angel’s Mark Osegueda Talks Nonstop Touring, ‘A Thrashumentary’ DVD + More

Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Death Angel frontman Mark Osegueda was the guest on Full Metal Jackie’s radio show this past weekend. He spoke all about their continuous touring schedule and also revealed details of new Death Angel material. He also spoke about the band’s DVD titled ‘A Thrashumentary,’ which is scheduled for an early 2013 release and much more. If you missed Jackie’s show, read the full interview with Mark Osegueda below: What’s happening? Happy, happy, happy and touring because that’s all we do. [Laughs] Seriously, you guys have been on the road for two and a half years now. Yeah, actually I think a bit longer than two and a half years – I think it’s been two years and eight months, just shy of three years. What I’ve just discovered is that Mark has been without a phone for two weeks? Two weeks! I lost my phone at Atlantic City, the last night of the Anthrax tour and I’ve been surviving out here. It’s been enlightening, it’s been odd. It sounds funny to go crazy like “Oh my Gosh, two weeks without a phone” because at some point in time we were without cell phones but nowadays we look at our phones every two seconds. It’s insane, it’s absolutely insane. I was the last of my friends to get one but now it’s gone. I ordered a new one. I lose a phone once every couple years. Death Angel’s been on tour for a really long time and now that you’ve wrapped up a year of touring with Anthrax and Testament. What will you miss most about those guys musically and personally? Gosh, well I just saw Frankie Bello at sound check. [Laughs] He told me to ask you, you were supposed to bring the Fer… Fernet Bronca, yes I love it. An Italian digestive that’s just beautiful and ugly and viscious and me and Frankie and Scott [Ian] we imbibe in that quite often on tour. I love the Anthrax guys so much, known ‘em for years — Charlie [Benante] there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Charlie, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Charlie, Frankie, Scott – I love all the guys Rob [Caggiano], Joey [Belladonna] they’re just wonderful. I miss them already, I miss them. Seeing Frankie I felt a little teary eyed almost, it’s like “Yeah!” When they played I would sit behind Charlie every night and just watch them play. That’s probably what I’ll miss most, just watchin’ Charlie play – he’s a freak of nature. How does so much time with those bands plus the reaction you got while on tour with them inspire your creativity in terms of new music for the next album? Oh in a huge way, namely that tour was so good for us – breaking into a new audience completely. So many people out there may have seen the name Death Angel that are into thrash or what not but we were playing to so many people that had never ever seen us play live so we were winning people over every night. We’re hungry obviously touring for three years straight and I think it’s going to help for the next one. The next one is just going to be vicious. [Laughs] How much Death Angel do you hear in the current generation of younger thrash bands. What do you like most about how they’ve built upon your foundation? I definitely hear hints here and there. We’ve played with a lot of bands who are just flat out like “You guys inspired us” and I could tell with a lot of the younger thrash bands that they’re not lying. [Laughs] I love it, I love the new wave of thrash – I think it’s great. I have two favorites at the moment right now. My two favorite bands of the new wave thrash is Suicidal Angels from Greece, they take more from the book of Slayer and I love Havoc I think those guys are just great. They’re great live, they have great attitudes and they’re fun. I want to talk about the long awaited DVD which we’ve been hearing about for quite some time, ‘A Thrashumentary’ — it’s going to be released early 2013. Mark, in the moment living in the midst of everything, a band doesn’t necessarily see the whole big picture around them; in putting together ‘A Thrashumentary’ DVD what did you realize for the very first time about Death Angel? That’s a fine question there. [Laughs] What did I realize about us? I think the biggest thing was how surprised I was at how many people in bands that I respect truly had a mutual respect for us. When I was looking back at the edits and some of the interviews, the things people were saying about us – it made me take a step back and it just really humbled me but also at the same time it gave me new smile lines. [Laughs] What could you tell us about a timeline for the next Death Angel album? Right now, the plan is to hit the studio in April and so right now we’re about eight skeletons deep, musically. Lyrically I better start grabbing that pen because Rob [Cavestany] is winning. I got to catch up. You won’t be able to leave any voice memos for yourself, because you don’t have a phone anymore. Yeah, exactly. The thing is, once I start writing I get in a flow and it’s going to happen. For this next record we plan on writing a good twenty, twenty-five songs and picking out the best eight, ten. We’re on fire right now, we are. [Laughs] Full Metal Jackie will welcome Frank Bello of Anthrax 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 .

Scott Ian: ‘This Will Be the Only Version of Anthrax Until There Is No Anthrax’

Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Anthrax have been on a hot streak after reuniting with singer Joey Belladonna in 2010. The band has since toured around the world, with high-profile slots on the Big Four concerts and the 2012 Mayhem Festival, along with releasing the critically acclaimed 2011 album ‘Worship Music.’ With the current lineup remaining strong, guitarist Scott Ian has declared, “This will be the only version of Anthrax until there is no Anthrax.” Scott Ian recently spoke with the Georgia Straight about the return of Joey Belladonna and his strongest traits as a frontman. “There’s a certain maniacal energy that Joey has onstage,” says Ian, “and that’s his thing. I mean, if I just compare him to our contemporaries in the Big Four, between James [Hetfield] and Dave Mustaine and Tom Araya you’ve got three frontmen that are all attached to the microphone—but Joey’s all over the place onstage. He’s a maniac, and I always felt like that was one of the things that gave us the kick in the ass we needed way back when to be able to break through and make it, so to speak.” Ian also spoke about how if the current lineup ever changes, Anthrax will cease to exist. “I’ve gone on record saying this will be the only version of Anthrax until there is no Anthrax,” claims Ian. “That’s how I feel, absolutely, in my heart. I don’t see why we would do anything different. This band sounds so great; we made a great record. And I’m super-excited about the future of this band creatively.” Anthrax are currently on the latest leg of their  North American tour with fellow thrash legends Testament and Death Angel. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/anthrax-scott-ian-to-record-comedy-metal-album-with-funnyman-brian-posehn/” title=”Scott Ian to Record Comedy Album with Brian Posehn” align=”center”]