Facebook – Device As the anticipation builds for the April 9 release of their self-titled debut album, Device have released a short, 45 second black and white teaser video featuring a snippet of their music (watch below). The first single ‘Vilify’ hits radio on Feb. 19. The trio formed by David Draiman from Disturbed has recruited a star-studded lineup of guest musicians for ‘Device.’ Among those making appearances are Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler , Deep Purple singer-bassist Glenn Hughes , Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows , System of a Down singer Serj Tankian , Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and Halestorm ‘s Lzzy Hale . The band’s touring lineup consists of Draiman, Evanescence drummer Will Hunt and Dope / Eve to Adam guitarist Virus. Former Filter guitarist Geno Lenardo wrote and recorded the album with Draiman, but will not tour with the outfit. Draiman recently discussed how happy he was with Hale’s appearance. “For years I’d wanted to re-do ‘Close My Eyes Forever’ by Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne. I always thought it was a fantastic idea and needed the right combination of elements and events and needed to have the right woman to play the role of Lita in this song, and Lzzy Hale, in my opinion, is the strongest, most distinctive voice, female voice, in rock today. I think that she’s just as good as it gets.” Device have some concert dates scheduled in support of their debut album. They’ll play in Switzerland later this month, and then have several festival dates lined up for the spring and summer. You’ll be able to see them at Rock on the Range, Carolina Rebellion, Welcome To Rockville Festival, Lazerfest 2013 and elsewhere. Watch Device’s Teaser Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/tags/device/” title=”Get the Latest News on Device Here” align=”center”]
Theo Wargo, Getty Images / Facebook: Demon Hunter Metallica and Demon Hunter are featured in a fascinating new article about the successful assassination of Osama Bin Laden. Surprisingly, according to the Navy SEAL member who evidently shot Bin Laden, the music of Metallica was used to “soften people up” before prisoner interrogations were to take place. Having somehow discovered this, Metallica asked for their music to be removed from interrogation procedures, while Demon Hunter, on the other hand, volunteered their brand of metal to be used for that same purpose. In the Esquire magazine article, the anonymous Navy SEAL spoke in great detail about the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. With such a serious topic at hand, it’s one of the last places you’d expect to read about some of your favorite bands, but Esquire dug up some riveting details on the use of Metallica and Demon Hunter within the U.S. military. The Navy SEAL told Esquire: When we first started the war in Iraq, we were using Metallica music to soften people up before we interrogated them,” the Shooter says. “Metallica got wind of this and they said, ‘Hey, please don’t use our music because we don’t want to promote violence.’ I thought, Dude, you have an album called ‘Kill ‘Em All.’ But we stopped using their music, and then a band called Demon Hunter got in touch and said, ‘We’re all about promoting what you do.’ They sent us CDs and patches. I wore my Demon Hunter patch on every mission. I wore it when I blasted bin Laden. Wow … not to make a pun, but that’s pretty damn heavy. We suppose Demon Hunter, having volunteered their music to aid interrogations, would be honored to know their patch was on the man who killed Bin Laden, but what do you think of this whole situation? Let us know in the comments section below. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/casting-call-metallica/” title=”Casting Call: Who Should Play Metallica in a Movie?” align=”center”]
RCA Bullet for My Valentine are set to release their highly anticipated fourth album, ‘Temper Temper,’ their first full-length since the band’s 2010 album, ‘Fever.’ The band stopped by Loudwire’s offices for an exclusive interview about ‘Temper Temper.’ Among the topics they discussed were how the new record sounds compared to previous efforts, how the album’s title track reflects on the rest of the album and why Bullet chose Thailand as the ideal destination for the recording of ‘Temper Temper.’ ‘Temper Temper,’ featuring the title track and the first single ‘Riot,’ drops on Tuesday, Feb. 12. It is available at iTunes and Amazon . In addition, BFMV are set to headline the HardDrive Live tour with Halestorm, Young Guns and Stars in Stereo. Check out the full list of dates here . Look out for more from our interview with Bullet for My Valentine coming soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the exclusive clip below: Bullet for My Valentine Talk to Loudwire about ‘Temper Temper’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/bullet-for-my-valentine-choruses-temper-temper-album-exclusive-preview/” title=”Next: Check Out Exclusive Previews of ‘Temper Temper'” align=”center”]
Fearless Records Italian metal band Upon This Dawning dropped their latest album ‘To Keep Us Safe’ in October, and now they’re unleashing a lyric/music video for new single ‘The Sound of Your Breath’ exclusively on Loudwire. “‘The Sound of Your Breath’ is one of the last songs we wrote and it’s absolutely our favorite song to play live,” says frontman Matteo Botticini. ”We always have so much fun when we play that song.” The lyric/music video portrays the band’s intense performance onstage while showing black and white clips of the band loading up their gear and roaming around Los Angeles. As for the video itself, Botticini adds, “We shot the video in Hollywood during the Infamous tour with Motionless In White and it was definitely one of the funnest moment we had on that tour. I really hope our fans are gonna like this video.” ‘To Keep Us Safe’ debuted at No. 9 on Billboard’s Heatseeker’s Album Charts. The release is available on CD at the Fearless Records merch store or digitally at iTunes . Upon This Dawning have a handful of shows in February with bands I See Stars and For All Those Sleeping. For a full list of dates and cities, go here . Watch Upon This Dawning’s ‘The Sound of Your Breath’ Video [Exclusive]
Stephanie Cabral California rock trio Kyng are known as road warriors but they have been forced to drop off their most recent trek with Clutch due to an injury sustained by their bassist Tony Castaneda. Castaneda was involved in an unfortunate auto accident and this unexpected situation will also delay Kyng’s plans to record their sophomore follow up to their debut ‘Trampled Sun’ with producer Jim Rota (Fireball Ministry, Sound City), and Andrew Alekel in Los Angeles this spring. Although the injury has affected the band’s touring schedule and recording plans, Kyng will continue the process of working on their forthcoming record with a planned release for this Summer. Below are a list of Kyng’s canceled tour dates. Clutch will move forward on the road with supporting acts Orange Goblin and Lionize. Texas band Scorpion Kings are set to take the place of Kyng on the bill. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/kyng-eddie-veliz-life-on-the-road-writing-new-music/” title=”Next: Kyng’s Eddie Veliz Talks Life On The Road” align=”center”] Kyng’s Cancelled Tour Dates: March 08 – Cincinnati, Ohio – Bogart’s March 09 – Nashville, Tenn. – Marathon Music Works March 10 – Sauget, Ill. – Pop’s Concert Venue March 12 – Tulsa, Okla. – Cain’s Ballroom March 14 – Dallas, Texas – The Palladium March 21 – West Hollywood, Calif. – House of Blues Sunset Strip March 22 – Tempe, Ariz. – Marquee Theatre March 26 – San Francisco, Calif. – Regency Ballroom March 27 – Reno, Nev. – Knitting Factory Concert House March 31 – Boise, Idaho. – Knitting Factory April 01 – Missoula, Mo. – Wilma Theatre April 02 – Spokane, Wash. – Knitting Factory Concert House April 03 – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Commodore Ballroom April 11 – Des Moines, Iowa – Wooly’s April 12 – Chicago, Ill. – House of Blue’s April 13 – Grand Rapids, Mich. – Orbit Room April 18 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Sound Academy April 19 – Pittsburgh, Pa. – Stage AE April 20 – Baltimore, Md. – Ram’s Head Live
Ipecac Tomahawk are a unique band in more ways than one. Besides honing an incredibly eclectic and experimental style, Tomahawk happen to be comprised of modern rock heavy hitters from legendary bands such as Faith No More , Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, the Jesus Lizard and Helmet . The band recently released their fourth studio album, ‘Oddfellows,’ and we’re proud to debut Tomahawk’s new music video for the album’s title track exclusively here on Loudwire. Faith No More / Fantomas / ex-Mr. Bungle legend Mike Patton formed Tomahawk in 2000 shortly after Faith No More called it a day in 1998 (they’ve since reunited to tour). Housed within Patton’s record label, Ipecac Recordings, Tomahawk is comprised of former Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison, ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier and bassist Trevor Dunn, whose resume includes stints in Mr. Bungle, Fantomas and Melvins among others. The video for ‘Oddfellows’ complements Tomahawk’s intense and strange sound perfectly, splattered with captivating animation on top of performance footage from the musical collective. Directed by Vincent Forcier and shot in black and white, the video is filled with animation of ghosts, demented cartoon faces and the band dangling as hangmen, along with distortions of the Tomahawk members while they perform ‘Oddfellows.’ For fans of experimental rock and unique video accompaniments, take a few minutes to check out Tomahawk’s clip for ‘Oddfellows.’ To purchase a copy of Tomahawk’s ‘Oddfellows’ album, click here . In addition, Tomahawk are kicking off a tour in support of ‘Oddfellows’ tomorrow night (Feb. 12) in Seattle. See the dates below the video. Tomahawk, ‘Oddfellows’ Tomahawk 2013 Tour Dates: 2/12 – Seattle, Wash. @ The Showbox 2/13 – Portland, Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom 2/15 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Great American Music Hall 2/16 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Great American Music Hall 2/17 – Santa Ana, Calif. @ The Observatory 2/19 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Mayan Theater 2/23 – Brisbane, Australia @ RNA Showgrounds 2/24 – Sydney, Australia @ Olympic Park 2/26 – Sydney, Australia @ The Metro 2/27 – Melbourne, Australia @ Billboard 3/01 – Melbourne, Australia @ Flemington Racecourse 3/02 – Adelaide, Australia @ Bonython Park 3/04 – Perth, Australia @ Claremont Showground 3/30 – Sao Paulo, Brazil @ Lollapalooza Brazil 4/02 – Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Malvinas Argentinas Stadium (w/A Perfect Circle) 4/04 – Santiago, Chile @ Teatro La Cupula del Parque O’Higgins 4/06 – Santiago, Chile @ Lollapalooza Chile
Photo Credit: Marjorie Becker In June of last year, we wrote an article about an 8-bit re-imagining of the classic Nine Inch Nails album ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ created by an artist by the name of Inverse Phase. The post became a huge hit, and we were recently able to talk to Inverse Phase about the project. Inverse Phase actually began recording his ‘Pretty Eight Machine’ record with the help of donations via Kickstarter. He managed to raise enough money to bring the project to life, even receiving complimentary messages from Trent Reznor and Rob Sheridan. We wanted to know more about Inverse Phase and ‘Pretty Eight Machine,’ and he provided us with some intriguing answers. How did you come up with the idea of creating an 8-bit version of ‘Pretty Hate Machine’? The idea for Pretty Eight Machine came as a somewhat random idea … a few friends and I were at a convention, talking about how there had to be some Nine Inch Nails chiptunes out there. When I didn’t really find much of anything, I decided to write a few minutes of one and surprise them the next day. Upon playing it, they asked where I found it, told me it was really good, and … “coerced” me into doing more. Hahaha! So, I decided to arrange a few important chunks of the album to see if I could really pull it off, and when my friends and I listened to the results, we pretty much knew it had to happen. I didn’t have the money to do the licensing/etc on my own dime, so off to Kickstarter I went. How much money did you earn and how essential was this fundraising to the creation of ‘Pretty Eight Machine’? I raised about $3,600, and at this point ALL of it will have gone to licensing and materials…well, that and a laptop battery for my performance/composing laptop I use on the road. Kickstarter was really what encouraged me to finish the project. I actually got very little support from the NIN community (“You’re destroying my favorite music!” “Chiptunes suck!” “You mean you’re actually going to sell this?”). Surprisingly, I also got very little support from the general chiptune community, too (“Why NIN covers?” “Kickstarter? More like BEGSTARTER!” etc). The people that really ended up pushing the project to succeed on Kickstarter were, again, my friends, fans, and other acquaintances / supporters that didn’t hate my guts. If the Kickstarter hadn’t succeeded, even if I knew it would’ve gotten as much press as it did, I would’ve still done the album, but I probably would have had to back-burner the album a lot more than I already had. With my current ongoing contracts (I’m currently working on four game soundtracks) who knows when I would’ve gotten to it. How did you get Rob Sheridan’s permission to mimic his artwork? Getting a hold of Rob Sheridan … well, I got lucky. My art doesn’t actually use any NIN IP/trademarks/etc, but I just wanted to do the nice thing and get in touch. I’m a fan, not an a–hole. So I sent an email to him detailing what I wanted to do and a rough draft of the artwork, and then pinged him on Twitter once or twice to let him know. He just replied on twitter and said, “Yeah, absolutely.” Super nice guy. Married now, too! You mention on your Bandcamp page that you hope that Trent Reznor and Rob Sheridan would enjoy the project. Have you gotten any feedback from either of them? So, when I was making my initial contacts towards the beginning of the project, my contact at Rebel Waltz said he would love a few copies of the CD when it was finished, and he said he’d get a CD out to Rob, Trent, et al. Then the album came out. I actually didn’t know what Trent or Rob thought. Even when Rob very kindly tweeted out the album at first, it was very matter-of-fact, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I guess he wanted everyone to decide for themselves. But since then, I’ve heard from both of them! Again, Rob’s pretty active on Twitter, so I caught him at the right time, and he mentioned that he enjoyed it (I sent him a download code). Through crosstalk from The NIN Hotline we also found out he’d pick it up on vinyl if it ever became available. Chiptunes on vinyl is kind of an amusing thought though, since it’s digitally created. So, the same arguments made FOR vinyl actually work against me. I had pretty much given up hope hearing from Trent, but about a month after the album came out, he sent me this incredibly down-to-earth email. He had just gotten out of working on some stuff in the studio and had really nice things to say; my jaw is basically permanently ajar. Seriously brought some amazing closure to an already fantastic release. You also mentioned that ‘Pretty Eight Machine’ was produced during a turbulent time in your life. Would you mind telling us about what was going on at the time? Sure. Before the Kickstarter, I stepped back from a major part of my life: doing volunteer work for a large video game party/rock concert called MAGFest , and then shortly thereafter I lost my day job due to some major layoffs. Granted, this was the kick in the ass I needed to say, “Okay, maybe I can go full-time with music,” but then, after the Kickstarter succeeded and completely unrelated to all of that, I had some personal issues which led to a bit of an emotional breakdown. Oh, and there was that earthquake in Virginia while I was away from home, and my water heater at my house exploded. I just felt really trapped by a lot of situations that all hit me at once. So, I ended up moving myself to another state, it took like four months, and I left some close friends behind in the process. All of this was of course happening while working on ‘Pretty Eight Machine,’ which was already well-behind deadline, not to mention I had my other game music deadlines to meet. It was a rough patch for sure. Stream ‘Pretty Eight Machine’ in the player below and check out Inverse Phase on Facebook and Twitter . To buy a copy of the album, click here . Listen to ‘Pretty Eight Machine’ ?