Facebook: Finch There were a lot of happy fans last fall when Finch decided to regroup to play some dates commemorating the tenth anniversary of their breakout album ‘What It Is to Burn.’ There are even more ecstatic people now that the group has decided to expand the trek outside of California to other North American and European stops this year. Adding to the excitement, the band has also revealed the support acts for a number of their upcoming dates. At present, the band will resume touring in support of their influential disc on Feb. 1 at the Glass House in Pomona, Calif. The group scheduled four dates over consecutive February weekends to give their West Coast fans every opportunity to catch their performance. Late Night Revival and Weatherbox will support on Feb. 1, with Hancox and Particles Like Planets opening on Feb. 2. Just Eleanor and XO will open the Feb. 8 date, with Reverend Crow and Fluf rounding out the support acts on Feb. 9. As the band expands to a wider audience in March, they’ve announced that The Almost have signed on to provide support throughout their remaining North American stops. That leg of the tour runs from March 7 in Chicago through March 16 in Boston. After that, Finch will pack up and head to Europe for the remainder of March. The title cut from Finch’s ‘What It Is to Burn’ album cracked Loudwire’s Top 50 21st Century Hard Rock Songs list. Finch ‘What It Is to Burn’ 2013 Tour Dates: 2/1 — Pomona, Calif. — Glass House 2/2 — Pomona, Calif. — Glass House 2/8 — Pomona, Calif. — Glass House 2/9 — Pomona, Calif. — Glass House 3/7 — Chicago, Ill. — Metro 3/8 — Detroit, Mich. — St. Andrews Hall 3/9 — Toronto, Ontario — Sound Academy 3/11 — Pittsburgh, Pa. — Mr. Small’s 3/12 — New York, N.Y. — Irving Plaza 3/14 — Silver Spring, Md. — The Fillmore 3/15 — Philadelphia, Pa. — Electric Factory 3/16 — Boston, Mass. — Royale 3/19 — Manchester, U.K. — HMV Ritz 3/20 — Glasgow, Scotland — O2 ABC 3/21 — Birmingham, U.K. — HMV Institute 3/22 — London, U.K. — O2 Brixton Academy 3/23 — Paris, France — Le Trabendo 3/25 — Koln, Germany — Luxor 3/27 — Amsterdam, Netherlands — Melkweg [button href=”http://loudwire.com/alice-in-chains-2013-must-see-rock-concerts/” title=”Check Out Other 2013 Must-See Rock Concerts” align=”center”]
Facebook: Testament We recently had a lovely chat with Testament vocalist Chuck Billy . With Testament going strong after releasing their latest album, ‘Dark Roots of Earth,’ the band is set to conquer North America very soon through a winter trek with fellow thrash legends Overkill . We spoke with Billy about ‘Dark Roots of Earth,’ how the album compares to their iconic discography, the setlist their fans can expect during the tour with Overkill, his all-time favorite metal musicians + much more. Check out our exclusive interview with Testament’s Chuck Billy: Congratulations on the success of ‘Dark Roots of Earth.’ Both fans and critics seem to love it and it reached No. 12 on the Billboard chart, which was your highest charting position ever. With the record industry in a weakened state across the board, what does that chart position mean to you personally? Well, it’s definitely a big accomplishment for us. You always put your heart and soul into every record you do and I think this record was definitely a special record. We really wrote these songs and chose what we were going to put on the record by what leads us not by what critics and fans were gonna think. When we came up with ‘Cold Embrace’ or even ‘Dark Roots of Earth,’ when we first heard it, it didn’t even cross our minds to think, ‘What is everybody going to think?’ The first thing we thought was, “This feels good, let’s go for it.” I think that’s what this record has above the other ones; the sense of confidence we came into while writing the songs. We took the risks and we’re just happy as a band and what we’ve accomplished. It hit No. 12, after all is said and done, after what we put into it … it was awesome. It’s almost like our gut feeling paid off. We believed in it so much that everybody else did as well. [Laughs] To be considered a ‘true’ thrash band you have to operate in some fairly narrow confines, but you guys have been able to put out albums again and again that sound very fresh and interesting. How do you keep your music sounding so fresh? From when we started to where we are today, there have been a lot of bands that have a little Testament influence and over those years we’ve looked to those newer bands and have really gotten re-influenced off of them with the style and where metal’s gone and without trying to copy. I really wanted to stick to my style of singing and not really jump on what other bands are doing, but musically and production wise it’s just gotten better and better over the years. There are a lot of great sounding records and great sounding bands. The hardest thing is to put out a great record and make it go off the same vibe live; that’s the toughest thing. When I see a band that’s just as good live as they are on the record, I really enjoy it. I think we took a full circle of people getting influenced off of us and we got influenced off them and I think the biggest thing is we still feel young at heart. We don’t feel like we’re a 30-year-old band; not feeling our age, put it that way. [Laughs] Of those newer thrash bands that have inspired you, are there any in particular that inspired you the most for ‘Dark Roots of Earth’? I don’t know about just one band, but there are a lot of bands we talk to all the way from Lamb of God to Shadows Fall . There are bands that I hear a little bit of that early thrash style and you see what they’re accomplishing, Lamb of God and bands like that. It’s all in the riffing and the style, you kind of go, ‘Okay I get it,’ and you apply it to what you’re doing in a small way. A long time has passed since ‘The Legacy’ came out. How would you compare the songwriting and recording process from ‘The Legacy’ to ‘Dark Roots of Earth’? What are the most notable differences? Well, we didn’t know anything about recording records when we did that record [‘The Legacy’], first of all. I mean, I listened to that record and I remember recording that record and the mic techniques we used and stuff … it was almost a joke actually. We were using condenser microphones on clothes hangers. I think back about it just going, “What the hell was that guy doing?” And when I listen to the record that’s why I hear the guitar sounding so small. Things have just changed, we went from two-inch tape down to digital recording. I think there was a point there with digital recording, bands had a problem at first because you couldn’t get that warm, fat sound. Everything on digital boards and digital processing just sounded thinner. I think it took some time for engineers and people to really know what they wanted in a sense and figure out how to make those digital recordings sound fat like they were two-inch tapes. We went through the whole process from when we started to where we are now, and it’s night and day. Now you can make big sounding records through digital processing. The songwriting … I think when Alex [Skolnick] , Greg [Christian] and Louie [Clemente] left the band, it was just me and Eric [Peterson.] We were writing songs that were more riff oriented. The writing technique changed from the way it was before. We were just focused on the songs and the riffs. I think once Alex came back and the reunion happened, it was a matter of getting used to each other and comfortable with each other again. We did the ‘Formation of Damnation’ record, it was the first step of bringing back that old style of writing together again and I think after that record and a bunch of years touring together, this new record was almost natural, just like the was it was [in the past]. We almost forgot about the way we wrote when me and Eric were the songwriters. It was a group effort to where we were thinking, “Okay, we’ve got to write a lead section here for Alex. Maybe we can do duel harmony guitars at the beginning.” The whole thought process was right there where it was at the beginning. I think that’s why a lot people say, “Yeah, I hear some of that early style in there.” Speaking of the members of Testament, I saw you guys last year on tour with Anthrax and you had Gene Hoglan on drums. On this upcoming tour with Overkill can fans expect Gene to grace us with his presence? Yeah, Gene pretty much signed on for the whole record cycle. I know he had Dethklok obligations so he had to miss one year of being on the road with us, but I don’t think Dethklok performs that often so I think he’s all ours right now for the rest of the record cycle. So yeah, he’ll be there. You played your first show in India recently and you’ve now been added to litany of huge, important bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden who’ve gone there. Can you talk a little bit about that experience, playing in India? I really enjoyed it, it was definitely an experience and kind of what I’ve learned by traveling the world is that a metal fan in the Bay Area has the same look and energy as a metal fan in the India: black shirts, long hair, banging their head. I think the experience was exciting for us because we had never been there after 25-30 years. There are a lot of people on the light crew, the sound crew, everybody who worked on the show seemed to be really excited because they’d been Testament fans for a long time and had never seen us. The excitement for them was pretty big, they were all very excited, which makes us even more pumped up like, “Man, we’ve really got to perform well because they’re expecting a lot.” It was pretty cool because we had such a big repertoire of songs to play for them and we played extra songs that we didn’t rehearse, that we just threw in there and pulled off on the fly. It was an awesome festival, I would definitely love to go back there again to experience the culture. We only had a day to really sightsee, so we went around and checked out the temples and microbreweries are a big thing there now so we went and tested the local micro beers. It was a really wild experience driving around the city because they seem to just drive wherever they want to drive … going the wrong way, there’s really no lines of traffic, it’s just kind of a free for all. The greatest thing was watching these families on Mopeds, they have the mother and the father and the kids and the little baby on handlebars, the grandmother sitting side-saddle in the back … they put like five or six people on a Moped in all this crazy traffic. Amongst all that crazy traffic was just people with their kids walking across the street. No one got hit, nobody got hurt, it was just the way it was. That blew me away. Traveling in traffic was just mind-blowing. [Laughs] This year, 2013, marks the 30th year of Testament. Do you have any plans coming up to celebrate this milestone? We keep talking about trying to do a special show or a special major city tour or maybe a different country tour where we play either ‘The Legacy’ front to back or maybe even ‘Dark Roots’ front to back, but it’s all just talk so we’ll see what happens. We have to get our agent on board and promoters on board with the idea, but we definitely want to do something special. I think when we did ‘The Legacy’ and ‘The New Order’ record back to back, we got a great response. The fans really wanted to see something special like that, so we’re definitely open to doing something cool like that. On this upcoming tour with Overkill, another thrash band that had a very strong 2012, what can we expect in terms of your set and how important is it for Testament to perform new songs as opposed to the classics? It’s very important, actually. When we re-formed with the original lineup, our set consisted mostly of the classic stuff because those were the songs that all of us wrote together. They weren’t really on the ‘Low’ record, ‘Demonic’ or ‘Formation’… any of those records. We tended to play more classics, but I think just talking to the band, there seems to be a consistency on what people tell us about how Testament’s sound doesn’t sound like a dated band and that we have a modern sound; that’s a great compliment to us. We don’t want to be a nostalgic band and just play the classics. We want to show who we are today and what we’ve evolved to. If people are saying that we sound more current, then let’s play some more current stuff in our show. On the Anthrax tour, we played a lot of classics. We tried to mix it up with both, but coming out on this Overkill tour we definitely have a new set. We’ve got six or seven new songs in the show, so we’re leaning toward playing the more modern stuff we’re doing. I think new fans to the band who hadn’t been around in the early years, I think they’re going to be happiest hearing the songs they recognize in the records they’ve bought over the last 10 years. When you think of each instrument in a band in the world of thrash, who do you think is the best at playing each instrument? I’d say Kerry King [ Slayer ] is a master rhythm player. If it was up to me, Michael Schenker [Scorpions, UFO] is one of the best lead guitar players. Man, it’s tough between Gene Hoglan and Dave Lombardo [Slayer]. They have to be two of the better drummers I’ve played with. Bass players: Steve DiGiorgio [ Death , Sadus] is probably one of the best bass players I’ve jammed with. Vocalists: I’ve got a top three … I love Ronnie James Dio , Rob Halford [ Judas Priest ] and Bruce Dickinson [ Iron Maiden ]. 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Jo Hale, Getty Images / Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com As announced last week, Bullet for My Valentine will be headlining the fifth annual ‘HardDrive Live’ tour this year, and now there are dates and a confirmation on all the support acts for the 2013 run. The trek launches April 12 in Denver at the Fillmore and continues through a May 22 finale at Milwaukee’s Eagles Ballroom. Bullet for My Valentine will be joined on the run by the previously revealed Halestorm and Young Guns , as well as newly announced upstarts Stars in Stereo. Tickets for the tour go on sale this Friday (Jan. 25). Bullet for My Valentine’s Matt Tuck says, “We’re super stoked to be touring America again. We’re going to be bringing the big hits and big guns. With the new album (‘ Temper Temper ‘), our fourth, we’ve got loads of songs to choose from. Thanks to HardDrive, sky’s the limit in the States!” Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale adds, “HardDrive has been such a huge part of us breaking in the last couple of years. The show has always supported us and what we do. We can’t wait to get back on the road in front of real rock fans with our friends in Bullet, Young Guns and Stars in Stereo. It’s going to be a great time.” Bullet for My Valentine are currently ramping up to the release of the ‘Temper Temper’ album on Feb. 12. Halestorm, meanwhile, are continuing promotion of the 2012 effort, ‘ The Strange Case Of… , ‘ while Young Guns are seeing their audience grow thanks to their 2012 disc, ‘Bones.’ Stars in Stereo are touring in support of their self-titled effort, which features their current single ‘The Broken.’ Bullet for My Valentine / Halestorm ‘HardDrive Live’ 2013 Tour Dates: 4/12 — Denver, Colo. — Fillmore 4/13 — Salt Lake City, Utah — Great Salt Air 4/14 — Boise, Idaho — Revolution Center 4/16 — Reno, Nev. — Grand Sierra Theater 4/17 — San Francisco, Calif. — Warfield 4/19 — Pomona, Calif. — The Fox 4/21 — Tempe, Ariz. — Marquee 4/23 — Dallas, Texas — House of Blues 4/24 — Houston, Texas — Warehouse Live 4/30 — New York, N.Y. – Roseland 5/1 — Worcester, Mass. — The Palladium 5/3 — Silver Spring, Md. — Fillmore 5/5 — Philadelphia, Pa. — Electric Factory Outdoors 5/7 — Toronto, Ontario — Sound Academy 5/8 — Fort Wayne, Ind. — Expo Center 5/10 — Buffalo, N.Y. — Town Ballroom 5/11 — Grand Rapids, Mich. — Orbit Room 5/15 — Minneapolis, Minn. – Myth 5/17 — Pittsburgh, Pa. — Stage AE 5/19 — Stroudsburg, Pa. — Sherman Theater 5/21 — Chicago, Ill. — Riviera 5/22 — Milwaukee, Wis. — Eagles Ballroom [button href=”http://loudwire.com/alice-in-chains-2013-must-see-rock-concerts/” title=”Check Out the Must-See Rock Concerts of 2013″ align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com After what could be described as a tumultuous split with his former band Three Days Grace , Adam Gontier made his first solo debut since leaving the band at the ‘Rock For Recovery’ benefit show at the Gramercy Theater in New York City on Jan. 17. When Artisan News asked the singer about his departure from Three Days Grace and how he felt, Gontier had nothing but positive things to say. “I feel great about it; this is a new chapter of my life,” he said in the video interview (watch below). “Three Days Grace for me ran its toll. We were a band for 20 years and things don’t last forever. You have to move on and do what’s right for you and for own well-being. For me it was just the end of the road.” He didn’t leave it at that though; he took some time to wish the band well without him. “I wish the guys all the best,” Gontier said. “I wish them all the best and no hard feelings but for me it was time to move on and into a new chapter of my life.” These statements come in contrast to recent remarks by Gontier, in which he criticized the creative direction of Three Days Grace. As we reported recently, Gontier said, “The music really wasn’t coming from the heart. I can say that on the record ‘Transit of Venus,’ there’s maybe one or two songs that actually do come from my heart … Quite a bit of it just adds up to the fakeness of the whole industry and how you’re writing hits for other people.” That new chapter of Gontier’s life includes an upcoming solo album that is already in the works. Gontier shared that he’s already written many new songs for the disc that should be out some time in 2013. “It’s a matter of basically tweaking songs that have already been written and recording them, getting them done,” Gontier explained. “I would think within a few months I should have something done.” As Gontier continues to pursue his solo career, Three Days Grace are gearing up for their co-headlining tour with Shinedown. With Gontier gone from the band, Three Days Grace have recruited singer Matt Walst to sing on the tour, who coincidentally just happens to be the brother of bassist Brad Walst. The tour kicks off in February. Watch Adam Gontier Talk About His Solo Career and Split From Three Days Grace [button href=”http://loudwire.com/adam-gontier-criticizes-direction-three-days-grace-promises-release-health-records/” title=”Next: Adam Gontier Criticizes Musical Direction of Three Days Grace + More” align=”center”]
Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com The temps may be chilly outside, but Down and Warbeast definitely brought the heat to West Hollywood’s Key Club Wednesday night (Jan. 16) for the Los Angeles stop of their winter tour. The two acts combined for a blistering night of rock and some rather emotional moments before all was said and done. As was announced right before the tour, both bands have dedicated the entire trek to the memory of late Rigor Mortis and Ministry guitarist Mike Scaccia and each of the acts made note of Scaccia’s legacy and friendship during their sets. During their performance, Warbeast dedicated tracks to the guitarist and urged fans to scream in his honor. It was obvious that frontman Bruce Corbitt was still feeling the loss of his onetime Rigor Mortis bandmate. Warbeast amped up the audience during their opening set. Guitarist Scott Shelby laid down some killer licks and Corbitt commanded the crowd throughout, with tracks like ‘Egotistical Bastard’ and ‘Krush the Enemy’ working the audience into a circle pit frenzy. The group ended their set on a high note with ‘It’ and ‘Birth of the Psycho,’ their two contributions to the newly released split EP with Phil Anselmo , ‘ War of the Gargantuas .’ Down were the night’s headliner and they did not disappoint with the audience passionately fist-pumping along to the band’s songs throughout the evening. Like Warbeast, Phil Anselmo offered his salute to Scaccia and also got a little teary-eyed mentioning the band’s home base of New Orleans before rocking out to ‘New Orleans Is a Dying Whore.’ But amidst the emotion, there was also some levity as Anselmo grabbed a bra that had been tossed onstage, gave it to drummer Jimmy Bower commenting that he thought it might not be big enough and then watched as Bower put on the undergarment to cover his shirtless body for the remainder of the show. Highlights of Down’s performance included a blistering version of ‘Witchtripper,’ fan favorites ‘Lifer’ and ‘Lysergic Funeral Procession,’ and the anthemic ‘Eyes of the South.’ The set also included an encore of ‘Stone the Crow’ and ‘Bury Me in Smoke,’ with members of Warbeast hopping up onstage for an extended jam on the final track. The Down / Warbeast ‘Weed and Speed’ tour rolls on into early February. To check out the remaining dates on the trek, click here . Take a look at our photo gallery from the Down / Warbeast show below. Down: Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Warbeast: Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com (2) Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com Kathy Flynn, WickedGoddessPhotography.com [button href=”http://loudwire.com/down-new-musical-directions-recording-while-still-alive-being-handsome/” title=”Next: Down Discuss New Music Directions + Being Handsome” align=”center”]
Wind-Up U.K. upstarts Young Guns recently crashed the rock radio charts with their single ‘Bones,’ and soon fans in North America will be able to catch the band playing that song and more. The group has announced that they’ll join rockers 10 Years for a string of dates that will find them traveling the county through February and March. The tour launches Feb. 18 at the Exit/In in Nashville, with dates booked through March 16 in Houston. Tickets for the tour are currently on sale. After building their following in the U.K. with their 2009 EP ‘Mirrors’ and the follow-up album ‘All Our Kings Are Dead,’ the band finally broke through to a larger audience with last year’s ‘Bones’ album. The title track helped the group become the highest charting new band at Active Rock radio in 2012, with the song currently hovering around the Top 10. The band’s video for ‘Bones’ has also been a hit, garnering over 1.3 million YouTube views. The disc is currently available here . While the band is anxious to hit the road, they did reveal in a recent Facebook posting that they’ve been busy with the writing process and are “working on something special.” 10 Years / Young Guns 2013 Tour: 2/18 — Nashville, Tenn. — Exit/In 2/19 — Columbia, Mo. — Blue Note 2/21 — Colorado Springs, Colo. — The Black Sheep 2/22 — Denver, Colo. — Marquis Theatre 2/23 — Salt Lake City, Utah — In the Venue 2/24 — Boise, Idaho — Knitting Factory 2/26 — Spokane, Wash. — Knitting Factory 2/27 — Seattle, Wash. — Studio Seven 3/1 — Chico, Calif. — Senator Theatre 3/2 — Reno, Nev. — Knitting Factory 3/3 — Sacramento, Calif. — Ace of Spades 3/4 — Los Angeles, Calif. — The Roxy 3/6 — Las Vegas, Nev. — Vinyl 3/8 — Tempe, Ariz. — The Marquee 3/9 — Flagstaff, Ariz — Orpheum 3/10 — Farmington, N.M. — Top Deck 3/12 –Tulsa, Okla. — The Vanguard 3/13 — Dallas, Texas — Trees 3/15 — San Antonio, Texas — Backstage Live 3/16 – Houston, Texas — Scout Bar Watch Young Guns’ ‘Bones’ Video
Dark Horse Comics So far, music fans have been indulging in ‘ House of Gold & Bones, Pt. 1 ,’ the first of a two-part musical installment from Stone Sour . But those who’ve been following Corey Taylor ‘s exploits know that the music is only a portion of the ambitious scope the singer has for his latest artistic output. Coinciding with the second album release this April, fans will get to check out a corresponding comic book series . Taylor told Comic Book Resources , “The last 10 years of my life have been the most formative. I realized I was on the threshold of the rest of my life — I had an idea of who I wanted to be as a man and I realized who I was at the time didn’t exactly jibe with what that idea was. So I started the process of changing for the better … ‘House of Gold & Bones’ is loaded with that journey, but it also has a lot of pieces from my friends’ lives — some are a lot more ahead of the curve than others, but we all are trying to do the same thing: trying to figure it all out. That’s why I wanted to tell the story in the first place — to put it all in perspective and find my place in it all.” The singer says the comic series story spills out like a contemporary fable, with the hero waking up in a world he doesn’t understand and learning more about himself than he could have ever imagined. While the two albums tell part of the story, Taylor says it’s been enjoyable to translate the tale and expand on some of the ideas with the comic series. He’s also found that his two artistic loves balance each other out. “Both genres are fathomless when it comes to possibilities,” says Taylor. “But in music, you only really get the emotion of the singer or the music, which makes it hard if you’re trying to convey the emotion of the scene. With comics, you get that snapshot of emotion: the looks on the faces, the color of the sky, the veins in people’s necks, but you don’t get the fluid feel of being in the moment, like film or music. I hope between the two, we’ll be able to put these pieces together perfectly.” The first issue of the “House of Gold & Bones’ comic series arrives April 17. Artist Richard P. Clark’s variant cover for issue No. 1 is shown above. For more on Taylor’s discussion about comic books and more exclusive images, check out Comic Book Resources’ full interview here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/corey-taylor-stone-sour-elaborate-touring-plans-latest-on-slipknots-next-album/” title=”Next: Corey Taylor on Stone Sour Tour + Film Plans” align=”center”]