Megaforce Breaking news from the legendary thrash metallers of Anthrax . Lead guitarist Rob Caggiano has left the band to focus on production work. Having joined Anthrax in 2001, Caggiano stuck with the New York thrash band until the group’s ‘Among the Living’ lineup reunited in 2005. However, Caggiano was brought back in 2007, remaining as Anthrax’s lead guitarist until now. The announcement comes as a big surprise, as Anthrax have been experiencing their greatest success in years on the heels of their critically acclaimed 2011 album, ‘Worship Music,’ which just yielded a Grammy nomination for the track ‘I’m Alive.’ Caggiano explains his departure in statement just released by the guitarist himself: I’m extremely proud of my time in Anthrax. Actually, that’s an understatement! We accomplished so many great things together over the years and I shared some of the best times of my life with these guys. As a band, we also weathered quite a few storms along the way. It’s been a wild ride (to say the least) from Day One and I wouldn’t change one single thing about the last 12 years. This is an extremely difficult and emotional decision for me to make but my heart is just steering me in a different direction right now. I’ve always been one to follow my heart in everything that I do and while this might be one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, it feels like the right one for me at this time. Scott, Charlie, Joey, Frankie (and John Bush) will always be part of my family and this decision doesn’t change the way I feel about that in the slightest. I would also like to say thanks to all the amazing fans I’ve met and hung out with worldwide over the years. You guys always were and always will be the reason why I make music! In this day and age, being a musician isn’t always easy -also an understatement- but the fans truly make it worthwhile for me. I hope to see each and every one of you again really soon. The fact that Anthrax is at the top of their game right now and totally ‘out for blood’ after all these years is a testament to this band’s longevity and conviction! I’m truly honored to have been a part of their brilliant legacy. As for this future, the former Anthrax shredder will continue his career as an in-studio producer: I can’t wait to get back in the recording studio again! Over the years, I’ve been blessed with the privilege of working with a wide range of great bands/artists from Anthrax and Cradle of Filth all the way to Bruce Springsteen, and I look forward to a hopeful continuation of that side of my career while I figure out my next move as an artist. BTW in case anyone was wondering after reading all of this, I do FULLY intend to get back out there on the road very soon in some way shape or form….it’s in my blood! Anthrax have also released their own statement, wishing their friend the best on his new path: Rob has been an integral part of Anthrax for so many years, as our lead guitarist, in a production capacity, but most of all, as our close friend. His contributions to the band have been enormous. While we are sad that he is leaving, we wish him nothing but great success going forward, and hope to share the stage with him again sometime down the road. With the Metal Alliance Tour on the horizon, we have been considering several lead guitarist options, and will be making an announcement on that shortly. Stay tuned for Anthrax’s decision on who will replace Caggiano on lead guitar for the 2013 Metal Alliance tour, along with Caggiano’s future plans as a producer. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/dates-revealed-2013-metal-alliance-tour-anthrax-exodus-municipal-waste/” title=”Anthrax – 2013 Metal Alliance Tour Dates” align=”center”]
Rise Records With 14 years together and seven studio albums under their belt, the California metal band Bleeding Through have announced that they will disband. The band first began as a side project for vocalist Brandan Schieppati’s in 1999, who was a member of Eighteen Visions at the time. Bleeding Through released their latest album, ‘The Great Fire,’ in 2012. Prior to disbanding, Bleeding Through will embark on a farewell tour. Schieppati released an official statement via Blabbermouth.net addressing the band’s decision to go their separate ways: “When you have some success doing something that you love, you never really think about writing a statement about that something coming to an end. Well, that dream that we have had as Bleeding Through has come to an end. I think I can speak for the rest of my bandmates in saying that we always hoped it would end on our terms, and it has. We have been fortunate to have a strong fan base worldwide and have brought joy to many and pissed off many more. As Bleeding Through was always a band that wore the emotion of the music on our sleeves. We cared about everyone like family that ever took the time to listen to our band, support our merchandise and go to our shows. Since 1999, we have been blessed to be able to tour the world, record seven records with some great musical minds, tour with amazing bands and people, work with people with character such as management, booking agents and road crew. Most importantly, we made lasting friends from this journey. We have been honored to be part of a expanding the musical movement of heavy music and hope to be remembered as a benchmark and pioneer of a specific style of music. We have been a band since 1999, and many of us just had life catch up with us in the way of marriages, kids, businesses and other endeavors. We can no longer dedicate what we need to to keep as Bleeding Through going. Personally, I feel doing this band in a part-time fashion is not what this band is about and feel like we have always been an all-or-nothing band. With that being said, and because we have established a worldwide following over the last 14 years, we want to give us and those people one more chance to share in this music together. We are setting up farewell tours. Dates will be up and promoted very soon. To those who supported this band: It has been an honor.” Stay tuned for information in regards to Bleeding Through’s Farewell tour dates. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/bleeding-through-dave-nassie-interview-new-album-the-great-fire-more/” title=”Next: Bleeding Through’s Dave Nassie Talks ‘The Great Fire'” align=”center”]
Christopher Polk / Michael N. Todaro / Mark Metcalfe / Kevin Winter / Jim Dyson, Getty Images While it may be hard to even envision sitting on the lawn of an amphitheater hill and catching one of your favorite rock bands under the sun and stars during these cold winter months, that doesn’t mean the touring season has stopped for most bands. In fact, most acts are continuing the promotion of their music in clubs and arenas across the country. As 2013 kicks off, we’re asking you which early year rock tour piques your interest the most. Green Day are making their return to the stage. Kid Rock and Buckcherry are teaming up for a run with newcomers Hellbound Glory. Marilyn Manson ‘s career revival continues with new dates featuring support band Butcher Babies. Sevendust are meeting up with Italian rockers Lacuna Coil for North American shows. And the reunited Soundgarden continue to be a hot ticket, especially with a new album to promote. There are solid package tours to consider. Would you rather spend your money on a Stone Sour / Papa Roach double bill or triple bill featuring Shinedown , Three Days Grace and P.O.D. ? There’s Flyleaf and Drowning Pool , both with new singers, teaming up for a trek. 3 Doors Down and Daughtry are holding over their successful 2012 tour for another leg. And rock vets Nonpoint have invited promising upstarts Candlelight Red and Digital Summer along for dates in the coming months. In addition, bands like Deftones , Black Veil Brides , Tremonti , A Day to Remember and Hollywood Undead are certain to be top draws once their 2013 ventures get under way. Those are just a few of the rock tours launching in the first few months of 2013. Here’s your chance to tell us which one excites you the most. Cast your vote in the poll below. Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/most-desired-2013-album-readers-poll/” title=”Previous Readers Poll: Most Desired 2013 Album” align=”center”]
Simone Joyner, Getty Images Bring Me the Horizon continue to evolve with each album and the band is ready to kick off 2013 by showing a bit of their musical growth with the new song ‘Shadow Moses.’ The group debuted the track Friday (Jan. 4) on BBC Radio 1, giving fans their first taste of the forthcoming album, ‘ Sempiternal .’ The song provides a haunting opening before kicking in with singer Oli Sykes delivering the key line, “ Can you tell from the look in our eyes / We’re going nowhere / We live our lives and we’re ready to die / We’re going nowhere .” The “ We’re going nowhere ” line has already worked masterfully as an audience call-and-response in the band’s recent live performances. In addition, the group has managed to work in the album title into the tune, with Sykes screaming on a couple of occasions, “ This is sempiternal .” For those wondering what the title means, it’s definition is “eternal and unchanging” or “everlasting,” thus making the concept of “going nowhere” in the track a rather dreary thought. Along with the brutal subject matter, the song comes with the requisite force, aggression and driving guitar work that one would expect from Bring Me the Horizon, along with a chorus that’s incredibly infectious. Sykes recently said of the band’s forthcoming disc, “I’ve never been so confident about an album. It makes our last record just sound s—. We’re doing stuff we could never dreamed of doing before.” A firm release date for the ‘Sempiternal’ album has not been revealed, but given the fact that the song has now debuted, an early 2013 street date is likely to follow. To listen to ‘Shadow Moses,’ click on the button below and drag the player to the 2:12:02 mark: [button href=”http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b01pfb5f” title=”Listen to Bring Me the Horizon’s ‘Shadow Moses’ (at 2:12:02 mark)” align=”center”] ?
Photos: Stevie D., Century Media / Epochal Artists, EMI Buckcherry won a major victory with ‘Gluttony’ against Alice In Chains in the last Cage Match, but will they be able to do it again versus today’s competitors? Trapt take the matchup by storm with their current single ‘Bring It’ off of their forthcoming fifth studio album ‘Reborn,’ due Jan. 22. The band will be trekking all over the U.S. in support of the new record and recently announced that bassist Travis Miguel of Atreyu will be rounding out their touring lineup. Check out a full list of dates and cities, go here . So will Trapt ‘Bring It’ for a massive win or will Buckcherry continue their reign with ‘Gluttony’? Get in on the action, listen to both tracks and vote for your favorite track in the poll below! (This Cage Match will run until Monday, Jan. 7, at 8AM ET. Fans can vote once per hour! So come back and vote often to make sure your favorite song wins!) Listen to Buckcherry, ‘Gluttony’ Listen to Trapt, ‘Bring It’ Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. Email Me When Cage Match Winners Are Announced Enter your email address below to receive the Loudwire newsletter, which will include notification of the daily winner of the Cage Match, as well as our top stories of the day. Email Rules of Cage Match: Fans can vote once per hour for their favorite song. If a song remains the reigning champ for five straight cage matches, it is retired to the Loudwire Cage Match Hall of Fame. With so many great songs out there, we have to give other bands a chance!
Kevin Winter, Getty Images In 2009, Virginia Tech college student Morgan Harrington was murdered shortly after disappearing from a Metallica concert in Charlottesville. Three-plus years later, the band is still involved with the search for the 20-year-old student’s killer and her parents are thankful for the continued support. Noisecreep reports that the band’s latest venture, allowing the title of ‘Enter Sandman’ to be used on a line of Virginia Tech t-shirts , has resulted in another $40,000 being raised this past fall for the Morgan Harrington medical scholarship fund. That comes after the band chipped in $50,000 of their own money when the fund was initially launched and they also donated $50,000 to the reward in seeking information that would lead to the capture of Harrington’s killer. Plus, just last year, the band filmed yet another PSA seeking information in the case. Morgan’s mother, Gil Harrington, said of the band’s involvement, “It has been very humbling from the very beginning. Two days after Morgan was abducted, they could have distanced themselves from an ugly occurrence. But James Hetfield called this house to speak to Dan [Harrington], as a father, and asked, ‘What can we do?’ Three years out, and they are still doing things.” Harrington says Hetfield spoke to the FBI and also generated the first “missing person” poster that went up on their website in hopes of locating her daughter. “It’s a visceral response as fathers. They were not liability driven or self-protecting,” she adds of their involvement. At present, between the Harrington family and Metallica, there is $150,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Morgan’s murderer. For more information on the case and reward, visit this location . To read more of Noisecreep’s interview with Gil Harrington’s exclusive interview, click here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/james-hetfield-films-new-psa-to-help-bring-justice-for-murdered-metallica-fan/” title=”Next: Watch James Hetfield’s PSA Seeking Morgan Harrington’s Killer” align=”center”]
Frank Micelotta, Getty Images A new Kurt Cobain documentary film is currently being planned for a 2014 release, and it aims to delve into the true spirit of the late Nirvana frontman. As popular as Cobain remains, the musician’s life continues to be somewhat of an enigma even among his most rabid fans. Now, the director of the recent Rolling Stones documentary ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ has accepted the challenge to reveal the true nature of Cobain. ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ was released in 2012, receiving an impressive amount of critical acclaim and securing a 92 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes . Director Brett Morgen now seeks to create another success with the yet-untitled Kurt Cobain project. “If you think about Kurt, he’s a contradiction,” Morgen tells NME . “He could be sincere and sentimental, and also ironic and sarcastic. He was sweet and sour. He was incredibly funny too, and the film has to reflect his sprit.” Morgen adds, “The thing about him people might not know too is that he was an incredible visual artist and left behind a treasure chest of comic books, paintings, Super8 films, all sorts. We’re hoping the Cobain film, that’ll hopefully be released in 2014, will be this generation’s ‘The Wall’ – a mix of animation and live action that’ll allow the audience to experience Kurt in a way they never have before. It’s very ambitious.” As word of the Cobain documentary first broke, it was reported that Hole frontwoman and Kurt Cobain’s widow Courtney Love would be a part of the film’s creation. Although Morgen stated that Love originally brought him into the project, it has been confirmed that Love will not be involved in the filmmaking process. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/kurt-cobain-guitar-hero-5/” title=”Kurt Cobain – Rock Star Cameos in Video Games” align=”center”]