Jo Hale, Getty Images / Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Slash has been making his way around the world in support of his ‘ Apocalyptic Love ‘ album, and during a recent visit to the Czech Republic he shared his thoughts on the Randy Blythe manslaughter trial and his perception of the legal system from the outside. The guitar great told the Czech Republic’s Be in TV, “I know as much as I’ve been told from everybody I know in that camp. It’s a strange unique situation. I think that when he first came over here and put up his bail and they never let him out and they kept paying and they kept paying and paying and paying and they never let him out, I said, ‘What the f— is going on there.’ I mean, that’s a whole different type of law to me, where it’s just different. And so finally they let him out and now it’s actually going to trial.” The guitarist added, “I really don’t think he, in any way, shape or form, is guilty. So they’re gonna let this thing run its course I suppose. And because the judicial system here is so different that he was able to stay in jail here so long, who knows what the verdict is gonna end up being?! It’s hard to say.” The Lamb of God frontman recently returned home after some of the witnesses in the case failed to appear, leading to a delay . Slash concludes, “It’s a very long and, unfortunately, it’s a very expensive process. It’s like f—, really?!” During his interview, Slash also addressed his progress toward a follow-up to the ‘Apocalyptic Love’ album and his work on the Slasher Films horror flick ‘Nothing Left to Fear.’ Take a listen to Be in TV’s entire interview with Slash, including the comments on Blythe (at 5:02 into the clip), below. Listen to Slash’s Interview With Be in TV [button href=”http://loudwire.com/slash-debuts-live-video-for-anastasia/” title=”Next: Watch Slash’s ‘Anastasia’ Video” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Testament and Overkill have been rocking stages hard over the past month, but being out on the road during cold and flu season is not always easy. Overkill frontman Bobby Blitz has been dealing with a cold over the course of the trek that recently turned into something more serious. Overkill bowed out of the tour’s show Friday night (Feb. 15) in Huntington, N.Y, which led the band to reveal Blitz’s worsening ailment as the reason for canceling the show and potentially other dates in the immediate future. Their statement on the matter reads as follows: We are terribly sorry that we had to cancel our performance last night [February 15], but let’s put the rumors to rest, before speculation runs rampant. Blitz [singer Bobby Ellsworth] was diagnosed with what is called ‘walking pneumonia,’ and was medically advised to not perform due to it potentially getting worse if he did. When the health risk is no longer an issue, he’ll be ready to kick ass once again. Overkill’s dates with Testament and support acts Flotsam and Jetsam and 4ARM are scheduled to run through the end of the month. To see the remaining stops, click here . The band has been out on the road promoting their ‘The Electric Age’ album. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/overkill-bobby-blitz-east-coast-thrash-metal-young-fans-more/” title=”Next: Bobby Blitz Talks East Coast Thrash Metal + More” align=”center”]
Century Media Records Voivod ‘s long road supporting their ‘Target Earth’ album was just getting underway, but at least several dates on their run will not happen as scheduled. The band has announced a series of postponed dates while their frontman, Denis ‘Snake’ Belanger, undergoes a procedure to deal with diverticulitis. For those unaware, diverticulitis is a common digestive disorder in which the formation of pouches within the large intestine just outside of the colon become inflamed, leading to discomfort and pain, as well as a number of other symptoms like fever and nausea. The band’s Facebook posting on the situation reads as follows: show cancellations!!! Voivod has had to postpone any shows for the immediate future as Snake needs 4-6 weeks rest due to a procedure for diverticulitis, a common digestive disease. This affects the MS Benefit in Ottawa and the SXSW shows, this should not affect the Santiago, Chile MetalFest appearance in April More tour news to be announced shortly. Stay tuned to see if and when Voivod reschedule the lost dates. In the interim, fans in Chile can begin to look forward to the band’s return to the stage. Loudwire sends our best wishes to Snake during his recovery period. The ‘Target Earth’ album is out now and available here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/decibel-magazine-tour-2013-must-see-metal-concerts/” title=”Next: Check Out Other 2013 Must-See Metal Concerts” align=”center”]
Facebook – Device In this day and age in the music industry, it’s hard for bands to keep songs under wraps before their official release. Disturbed singer David Draiman ‘s new band Device are no exception, with the first single ‘Vilify’ off their self-titled debut hitting YouTube today (Feb. 17). Listen below. Draiman himself acknowledged the leak via a Twitter post, even including the YouTube link for his fans to hear the song. “It’s out there, so I might as well share it,” tweeted the singer in his usual all caps. As for the song itself, ‘Vilify’ features the rapid-fire vocals Draiman has delivered with Disturbed for more than a decade. Musically, the aggressive tune boasts industrial rock and electronic elements, as Draiman has indicated when he began talking about the direction of Device’s music. Lyrically, Draiman sings of a relationship gone bad, with a chorus that declares, “When you vilify / You begin to nullify / Everything that we’ve ever done / You’re f—ing with my head.” All told, Disturbed fans will likely embrace ‘Vilify,’ as it incorporates Draiman’s trademark vocals while adding a fresh sound to his repertoire. The leak of the song should only increase anticipation for Device’s self-titled debut album. The disc drops April 9 and features such guest musicians as Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows and Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, among others. ‘Vilify’ officially hits radio on Tuesday, Feb. 19, but, with Draiman’s permission, you can listen to the song below and let us know what you think of the tune in our comments section. Device, ‘Vilify’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/david-draiman-device-fan-support-disturbed-future/” title=”Next: David Draiman Talks Device and Future of Disturbed” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire What better way to spend Valentine’s Day that with some thrash metal? Testament and Overkill rocked New York City’s Best Buy Theater on Thursday Feb. 14 along with support from Flotsam and Jetsam and 4arm for the ‘Dark Roots of Earth’ Tour. Testament got a warm welcome from their very energetic fans who crowd surfed nonstop and belted out songs with frontman Chuck Billy. They began their set with the new track ‘Rise Up’ from their latest record ‘Dark Roots of Earth,’ and also worked in a wealth of other songs from the disc such as ‘Native Blood,’ ‘True American Hate’ and the title track ‘Dark Roots of Earth.’ Guitarist Alex Skolnick shredded like none other as the crowd rocked out throughout the evening to such favorites as ‘Over the Wall,’ ‘Into the Pit’ and ‘New Order.’ Overkill gave an incredible performance ahead of Testament. Vocalist Bobby Blitz’s force onstage was completely infectious as the band kicked off their set with ‘Come and Get It’ and ‘Rotten to the Core.’ To see Blitz charge the microphone during songs from the side of the stage throughout their set just reinforced the power of their music. They East Coast natives ended their powerful performance with ‘Elimination’ and their rendition of the Subhumans favorite ‘F— You.’ Arizona rock vets Flotsam and Jetsam and Aussie metallers 4arm began the night with passionate performances as well. If you want to catch Testament and Overkill on tour with Flotsam and Jetsam and 4arm as part of the ‘Dark Roots of Earth’ tour, click here . Check Out Photos of Testament, Overkill, Flotsam and Jetsam + 4arm in NYC Testament: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Overkill: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Flotsam and Jetsam: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire 4arm: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire
Facebook: August Burns Red August Burns Red have enjoyed their break from the road, but now have enough material to begin recording their next studio album. The group confirmed their return to the studio via a series of Facebook posts this past week, with drummer Matt Greiner getting his tracking out of the way first. One of the first studio photos can be seen above. Even before a note was recorded, Greiner had been pounding away. In a photo posting , it was revealed that the drummer physically wore down his drumsticks during the writing process. Guitarist JB Brubacker told Alternative Press , “2012 turned out to be quite intense for us from a touring standpoint. We did more traveling than we had ever previously done in our career and after three straight months on the road to end the year, I think we were all ready to come home and shift into writing/recording mode. Now that the writing is complete, we are all itching to get started with the actual tracking.” Speaking about the sound, the guitarist added, “This new record will push the boundaries of our genre more than we ever have before. We set out to write a record where every song stands out from the last. There is a lot of ground covered here and a ton of meat to this album. It’s full of odd metered rhythms and breakdowns, unexpected twists and turns and some of our most technical riffing to date. Each of us have parts that make our heads spin and we have had to practice like crazy to get some of this stuff together.” Brubaker says that the album, which he calls their “most ambitious album yet,” is expected later this year via Solid State Records. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/august-burns-red-video-empire/” title=”Next: Watch August Burns Red’s ‘Empire’ Video” align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com (2) / Karl Walter, Getty Images The ever-evolving music industry endured another shift recently when Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group agreed to sell Sanctuary Records, the onetime label of metal giants Black Sabbath , Iron Maiden and Megadeth , to BMG Rights Management. The Los Angeles Times reports that the deal was part of divestitures required by European Commission regulators. Sanctuary Records was among the assets requested by European regulators and sources report the label was sold for $62 million. In addition to Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Megadeth, Sanctuary released albums from Motorhead , The Kinks and more. Sanctuary is the second label sold off by Universal Music this month, with Parlophone recently being sold to Warner Music Group. Parlophone had the rights to past releases from Coldplay , Pet Shop Boys and Tina Turner. Universal has yet to sell off two additional assets — Co-op, a British independent marketing and sales company and EMI’s European stake in the ‘NOW!’ musical venture. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-megadeth-songs/” title=”Next: 10 Best Megadeth Songs” align=”center”]