Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images If they have it their way, Theory of a Deadman won’t leave their fans hanging without new music for too long. The group is getting a quick jump on their follow-up to ‘The Truth Is…’ album, confirming that they’ve already started on their next disc. In a new posting on Twitter , the guys revealed, “New album underway!!! New stuff by summer!! Thx Theory fans.” Should the band meet their proposed deadline, new music would arrive in approximately half a year from their last tour date supporting ‘The Truth Is’ album. The group fifth and final single from that record, ‘Gentleman,’ was issued last September, though the band continued with tour dates through December. Little is known about the new disc at this point, but it has lofty goals to reach if it is to surpass the band’s last record. ‘The Truth Is…’ debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart and peaked out at No. 1 on the Billboard Rock Albums, Alternative Albums and Hard Rock Albums charts. Even with the quick turnaround, the Theory of a Deadman members have enjoyed some fun off and on the road. Last year, singer Tyler Connolly played up the band’s anonymity with a series of man-on-the-street webisodes titled ‘ You Don’t Know Me .’ In addition, just last month Connolly and Dave Brenner likely loaded up on gear before hitting the studio by making appearances at Anaheim’s NAMM conference. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/theory-of-a-deadman-tyler-connolly-imparts-insight-into-his-pompadour-hairdo/” title=”Next: Tyler Connolly Shares Pompadour Insights” align=”center”]
IHeartRadio.com Slash is digging a little deeper into his ‘ Apocalyptic Love ‘ album with a new video for the track, ‘Anastasia.’ The clip is a live performance of the song, presented by I Heart Radio, that shows off the guitarist and his band’s live prowess. Slash, in particular, is featured within this clip as his dexterity on the guitar is on full display. The musician rocks some serious scales while Myles Kennedy delivers the powerhouse vocals on the track. ‘Anastasia’ follows ‘You’re a Lie,’ ‘Standing in the Sun’ and ‘Bad Rain’ as the fourth single from the ‘Apocalyptic Love’ disc. Slash is currently on tour in Europe with dates booked through March 4 in Dublin. The guitarist and his band will also perform at Ozzfest in Tokyo, Japan May 11. Slash’s promotion may take a bit of a back seat as the year rolls on as singer Myles Kennedy has been working toward Alter Bridge ‘s next album . Watch Slash’s ‘Anastasia’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/slash-guitarist-of-the-year-2012-loudwire-music-awards/” title=”Next: Slash Voted 2012 Loudwire Guitarist of the Year” align=”center”]
Ethan Miller, Getty Images / Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com (4) / Liz Ramanand, Loudwire The 55th Annual Grammy Awards will take place this Sunday (Feb. 10) in Los Angeles and we’ll soon have a new winner in the Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance category. It’s safe to say that over the years there have been a few head-scratchers when the nominees were announced, but since combining the two categories in 2012, the selection committee has done a pretty solid job in choosing the nominees. This year may just be the strongest group of competitors yet. So, before “music’s biggest night,” we ask you — the Loudwire readers — to tell us who you think should win the Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance category Sunday night. There are six nominees, beginning alphabetically with Anthrax and their single ‘I’m Alive.’ The band has three prior Best Metal Performance Grammy nominations — the last coming in 1995 for a live version of ‘Bring the Noise’ with special guests Public Enemy — but they’ve yet to win a Grammy. Next up is Halestorm , a first-time nominee that may have enjoyed the most commercial success of any of the nominated tracks with ‘Love Bites (So Do I).’ And there’s also Iron Maiden , the 2011 Best Metal Performance Grammy winner for ‘El Dorado’ and a three-time nominee. This year they’ve been nominated for the live version of ‘Blood Brothers.’ Lamb of God earned a nod for ‘Ghost Walking’ this year, which marks the fourth time they’ve been nominated. However, the band has yet to hear “And the Grammy goes to…” at any of the previous ceremonies. Marilyn Manson rebounded in 2012 and his ‘No Reflection’ singer earned a Grammy nomination, marking his third ever nod with no wins as of yet. And finally, there’s Megadeth , who might as well be the Susan Lucci of the Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance category. They earned their eleventh nod for the song ‘Whose Life (Is It Anyways?),’ but still have yet to win their first Grammy. So there you have it — six great Grammy nominees for Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance. While you may have an inkling which one will win, we’re asking you to vote for which of these six tracks should win the Grammy in our poll below: Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-korn-album-readers-poll/” title=”Previous Readers Poll: Best Korn Album” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Frontman Matt Pike of High On Fire was the guest on Full Metal Jackie’s radio show this past weekend. Pike spoke about the band’s upcoming massive trek with Anthrax , Exodus, Municipal Waste and Holy Grail, as well as his sobriety with being out on tour. He also explains why pajamas are very important to him while on the road. Read Full Metal Jackie’s interview with Matt Pike below: High On Fire just recorded two shows in New York for a live album. The last studio album ‘De Vermis Mysteriis’ was recorded in Massachusettes. What do a bunch of guys from Oakland like so much about working on the East Coast? Well I don’t know – I overdose myself with clam chowder [Laughs] I don’t know I really like the town itself, Salem is really cool. They have graveyards, I always go into the graveyard and write the lyrics, they just had all these cool graves. I’ve been to these weird archaic, antique-y kind of s—t and they got that whole witch burning vibe there. Overall just working with Kurt [Ballou of Converge] is really cool. In the past you’ve tended to tour more with sludge and doom bands and now you’ll be on the Metal Alliance tour with Anthrax, Exodus, Municipal Waste and Holy Grail. What elements of thrash and speed metal excite you most as a fan? I kind of grew up on all of it, I grew up on hardcore punk and we’re talking old school like Black Flag and Circle Jerks, Corrosion of Conformity. Punk and metal were crossing over and that’s kind of where we got thrash from – I just grew up on that whole scene, going to punk and thrash metal shows. Anthrax was actually one of the first metal shows I went to and I’ve always liked Exodus and Gary Holt’s a hero of mine – he’s such an awesome guitar player. I’m really excited to be going on this and hopefully picking up some shredding techniques off the other players and it’ll be good to be out with Municipal Waste, too. I don’t know much about the Grails yet but I’m curious – everybody talks good about them so I’m looking forward to it. Matt, High on Fire pulled out of last summer’s Mayhem tour so you could focus on getting healthy and you’ve been pretty candid since then about sobriety. What was your biggest misconception about sober touring musicians and what changed that perspective? Well what changed it was my liver submission – I got 40 good years of partying my ass off and I had a lot of fun doing it. You get used to doing certain things if you’ve been on the road for twenty something years and you get used to your comfortable buzz every night and then all of sudden you take that out of your repertoire, you become a little more anxiety ridden and anti-social. It’s hard to get back to that page without having the substance that helps you calm your brain and your nerves. It’s a different way of living – I believe everybody should enjoy life and everybody should be able to drink for a period of time and do drugs for a period of time and f—ing do whatever they want for a period of time. It’s all about learning how to live life and I believe everbody should exercise too and everything in moderation. I wasn’t a person that could really take a lot of things in moderation – I always had to outdo everybody, it’s just kind of my personality. [Laughs] I’m doing good now, I’m feeling healthy and I’m learning how to deal with it. I still love partying, I just watch everybody else get drunk and smoke a little bit of weed and I’ll be cool. Recently you talked at length about pajamas with ‘The Village Voice.’ Oh yeah, that’s my thing man. I run to the bus, take a shower, get in my pajamas with slippers and play Angry Birds. Occasionally I’ll go out and say “Hi” to people, sign a couple of things and go back into the bus and just chill. You just answered my question. My question was going to be, what’s the most non-metal thing you do? It’s so atypical of metal that by defying metal stereotypes in doing it, it actually becomes metal. [Laughs] Yeah, well I guess I answered your question then – being in pajamas and slippers and everyone looks at you all weird, it’s kind of funny. What else is going on with High On Fire this year? Well we’re going to Europe at the end of this month – I’ll be over in Europe in February and then after that it’s the Metal Alliance tour and I can’t wait to see all the fans and play some songs for you. Full Metal Jackie will welcome vocalists Chuck Billy of Testament and Bobby Blitz of Overkill to her program this coming weekend. She can be heard on radio stations around the country — for a full list of stations, go to fullmetaljackieradio.com .
Frazer Harrison, Getty Images The year 2012 was a great one for the Devil Wears Prada , as the band had a prime spot on the Mayhem Festival tour while promoting their ‘Dead and Alive’ concert album, in addition to their 2011 studio album, ‘Dead Throne.’ After some late year touring overseas, the Devil Wears Prada started getting back to work on their next album. Loudwire caught up with singer Mike Hranica during a break in writing sessions, and he told us about the progress for their forthcoming disc and he also spoke about the band’s upcoming co-headlining trek with As I Lay Dying , which kicks off Feb. 22. After taking a break for the holidays, do you build up any rust as you get ready to head back on tour? Right now, and I know the tour is sneaking up on us about a month away, but really we’re quite distracted. We’re working on really finishing the record as far as writing. We’ve been doing that for about two weeks. We’re all in Portland right now working, so right now the big thing on the table at the moment is getting everything figured out for our new record in terms of timing, producer, engineer, mixing all of that stuff, and even more immediate is making sure we have our songs good to go. So that’s weighing on us right now and keeping us real busy. But it was great to be home for the holidays. We had about five weeks in Europe into Thanksgiving and spending a lot of time overseas. It was particularly exhausting, so it was good to just wind down in December and then get back at it writing right now and we’ve got about another week of this. Then in the beginning of February we’ll relax again and get ready to tour. When we talked at the Mayhem Festival last summer , the ideas for the new disc were just starting to pop up at that point. What can you tell me about how this album is progressing? Since ‘Dead Throne’ came out, I knew what I wanted to do. This is not a conceptual record, but it’s kind of like what the underlying theme of the record would be. I’ve had that for a while, but after Mayhem we recorded four songs and actually tracked vocals and everything and now that we’re in Portland so far I have another four tracks and the rest of the guys have a number more on top of that. They’re really refining and fine tuning I suppose. Before we’re done here, I’ll try to track some more vocals so we’re definitely on the right page and being diligent about it. It’s exciting to be writing songs again. I know that ideas come from the other band members as well, but how difficult is it to gather all the ideas and make it into something your own. [Chuckle] It’s kind of forced. I mean the band lives all over. Chris is in Portland, Dave’s in San Diego and then the rest of us are in Chicago, so when it’s time to meet up, there’s no option. It’s time to go. I think for me at least, and for all of us, you know you have to do it. It’s just that time and I know for me personally it’s not a huge challenge to try to write better songs than what I was doing previously, but it’s never a challenge to write because I always have stuff on my mind. I’m always ready to come up with new things, at least for the most part. I was very excited with ‘Dead Throne’ and it still feels like a very relatable record to me and it’s still truthful. I guess I’m always good to write for the most part and now that it’s been a while since we worked on ‘Dead Throne’ and recorded ‘Dead Throne,’ there’s definitely more stuff on my mind. You mentioned ‘Dead Throne’ and you also had the concert disc, ‘Dead and Alive.’ Do either of the experiences from those albums carry over into the creative process for this disc or are you starting fresh? For me, I definitely feel a little bit of a carry-over from ‘Dead Throne,’ particularly because it was a very cool record for me learning, for me learning to write better and that was working with a new [producer] … working with Adam [Dutkiewicz] for the first time and having [ A Day to Remember ‘s] Jeremy McKinnon working on some of the songs with us, and I feel I took a lot from that. On ‘Dead Throne’ there were better vocal parts and everything was more cohesive and understandable and made for better song structure and everything and that had had a big impact on me creatively and so it’s definitely carried over into this. Conceptually, the concepts of ‘Dead Throne’ didn’t carry over. I feel like that would be repetitive and monotonous to keep going at the same subject matter, but obviously it all comes from the same place and I can say that nothing got more happy or uplifting really. So I think it’s very much the Devil Wears Prada but also it’s got a bit of freshness and originality to it and I think that even musically we started approaching the songs differently. Like this song could be more like this and working off of a base we never really worked off of before. You mentioned getting back together in Portland and I’m wondering does location ever factor into the mood or feeling of what you’re putting together? Does this new music have what you might call a Portland-feel? I don’t think it drastically changes what I’m writing about. For me the things going on in my personal life is more immediate and turns into songs and lyrics rather than where I’m writing it from … unless we’re in Europe and then I might write a song and work off of that. But the big thing for me is that this is the first time writing outside of Chicago for a while, because we usually write there … In Chicago, I go to practice and I go home and I’m right there to write and everything. Here I don’t have those comforts and pleasures of being at home. It’s different in Portland and I think it has a good effect on a few of us in terms of having a separation and letting us know it’s time to work and it’s time to create, so being in Portland has a little bit of a different effect, but I don’t think it’s anything too drastic. I think if I was somewhere sunny and warm, it would definitely have more of a firm hand on the songs. While sunny and warm may be a few months off, here in the heart of winter you’re heading back indoors for club and concert hall-type shows. Do those type of shows hold a special place for the band in terms of what you get out of intimate venues? I’ve always really liked everything as long as it works and nothing is breaking and there’s actually enough room onstage. But I’ve always really liked doing tiny club shows that we’ll throw in here and there. I’ve always liked the House of Blues routing, which we’ll be doing on this As I Lay Dying tour, and I love doing Warped Tour and Mayhem, as well. It’s just nice to have a good knack for it. The last tour we did was a European tour with August Burns Red and it was the same thing, small-to-midsize venues or whatever, and it is a bit of separation from what we were doing on Mayhem but I’m excited to get back into it. We haven’t done indoor in the States for about a year now, so I’m definitely enthused to get back into it and be playing a lot of the cities that we love to be in where we’re seeing such a rewarding and complimenting crowd. As I Lay Dying joined you last summer on the Mayhem Festival and I’m sure you’ve crossed paths before. Can you talk about the relationship there and why they’re the perfect compliment for you on this run? The first time we toured with them was 2008 on Warped Tour and I didn’t really get to know any of them back then, but there’s been a few run-ins since then and obviously Mayhem, we really got along with them well on Mayhem. Even prior to that we always got along and also before Mayhem, Tim [Lambesis] was on ‘Dead Throne’ and had a guest part and sincerely, I love that band. I’ve been listening to them since I was a sophomore in high school, and it’s awesome to be doing a proper venue tour with them because we’ve never done that. It’s always been the sort of festival thing. You mentioned Tim and his guest role on ‘Dead Throne.’ Any thoughts on him possibly guesting during your set? A few times on Mayhem, every couple of days or so, he’d come out and do his part on ‘Constance.’ We haven’t written a set list for the tour yet, so I don’t know if we’ll be playing ‘Constance,’ but I know a lot of people will want it and they’ll want to see Tim do the part. I’ve done parts on other band’s records and when your on tour you have your own set to play and then you have someone else’s set and have to do the song with them, it can be a little pain-in-the-butt hassle, so I hate to put that on Tim, but we’ll probably be playing ‘Constance’ and it’s just up to him if he’s busy or wants to do it. It’s not like he’s obligated to doing the song every night. You’ve got a couple of acts opening as well and one of them, For Today , just had a little pre-tour drama with their guitarist leaving after sparking some outrage with his online commentary. Your band has been around enough that this probably isn’t the first time you’ve toured with another act dealing with a change or some headline-making drama. Does that make it any weirder or more difficult to approach them when you know a band is dealing with something more than just playing shows? I don’t think things will be weird with our relationship with For Today. We’ve toured with them. They did our ‘Dead Throne’ tour, the first one we did in the States, a little over a year ago. I mean, we’ve always gotten along with the guys. I know [singer] Mattie [Montgomery] really well and I was talking to Mattie yesterday. I don’t think it’s going to burden them. They’re really strong men, really strong in their faith and I don’t know. I think if everything that happened with the comment had subsided while on tour, there would have been a noticeable amount of tension, but I’m not too concerned about it. It’s a very heavy issue to be speaking about and I don’t mean to underplay the comment, but we’ve always really got along with that band and we’re really happy we’re touring with them again whether they think those things or not. It’s nothing that we agree with, but we have the same faith and we enjoy touring with them. I’m not sure of the timeline, but do you plan on recording before hitting the road or after? We haven’t scheduled anything proper yet, but we’re trying to hop into the studio close to after the tour is finished. Right now, we did it with ‘Dead Throne’ and we’re doing the same thing this time around. We track everything and Chris [Rubey] demos everything out and I’ll do vocals over it and it really really enhances the pre-production process as far as getting into the studio. Last time, it was with Adam D. and really being able to cut the songs apart rather than standing in a room playing songs and saying, “I feel like you should change that,” and taking so much time to do that, you have it all right there in front of you. So we’ve realized how important that is in terms of being sustainable and sufficient and recording and coming up with the best songs that we can so, right now it’s just a matter of writing songs and working on the songs that Chris already has and then demoing it all out and throwing some sloppy vocals over it and having a couple of months to listen over it and then when you hit the studio you can say, “Oh the progression should have gone this way so the melody can go this way” … so really that’s the important thing to us. Everything is tracked out, but not really sounding very good. I thought this was kind of cool when I talked to you last, but you were walking around Mayhem with a Julian Penti record that a fan had given you. I just wanted to see what you’re listening to these days and see if any of your fans had turned you onto any other music. Lately, all I listen to is Nick Cave. Really, for most of the year. He’s got a lot of albums so there’s plenty of options, but I really love him. He’s the greatest so I’ve been listening to a lot of that. And [Julian Plenti], that EP, that vinyl turned out to be pretty good. The opening song, the bass is just fantastic. Overall though I was a little disappointed in what I heard this year. I did a couple of ‘Top 5′ records [posts] and I had a choice, but at the same time it was not like there were records that will always be an important part of my life. I really like mewithoutYou’s record, ‘Ten Stories,’ and because Underoath is breaking up and on their farewell tour, I’m actually flying back to Chicago for the show and I keep listening to them, reliving my high school life and experiencing nostalgia. So a little bit of Underoath, but really Nick Cave. And there’s this thing called Power Trip, that’s a thrashy metal band out of Texas. Obviously we’ve got the touring coming up and the record is primary in your mind, but any other things on the horizon we should be looking for? I’m close to finishing up a project I’ve been working on for about a year-and-a-half, but I haven’t told anyone about but I can almost start telling people about it pretty soon. Tentatively keep an eye out. I need to use this Twitter thing to let people know what I’m doing. Is it a solo thing or full band? No, it’s not musical. It involves music but it’s not a side project. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/the-devil-wears-prada-mammoth-exclusive-video-premiere/” title=”Watch The Devil Wears Prada’s ‘Mammoth’ Video” align=”center”]
Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images Fans who have been patiently waiting for Tool ‘s next album will unfortunately have to hang in there a bit longer according to vocalist Maynard James Keenan . In a recent interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro, Keenan apparently stated that Tool will not be releasing a new album in 2013. Tom Petty famously sang, “ The waiting is the hardest part ,” on his single ‘The Waiting’ in 1981, and Tool fans worldwide are currently blasting that classic track on repeat while cradling themselves in the fetal position. There are few groups that harness cult followings like Tool, which is why fans of the band have been rabid for new material since 2006; the year Tool released their most recent album, ’10,000 Days.’ With Tool’s album drought having lasted seven years, a new Tool disc was expected to drop in 2013, according to various sources. The other members of of the band have recently been working hard to write the album, although a reported Vespa accident recently brought the jam sessions to a brief halt. However, according to Maynard Keenan, there will be no new Tool album this year. When asked by Radio Futuro if a new Tool album will be released soon, Keenan simply replied, “No new disc. Not this year … I have not written any songs. So no, there is nothing.” Keenan has become infamous for screwing with the media. The singer played an April Fools prank in 2005, having revealed that he “found Jesus” and claiming that Tool were abandoning what would later become ’10,000 Days.’ Keenan has also peddled a book that doesn’t exist and once reported that the members of Tool were in critical condition after a bus accident, so whether or not you believe Keenan is up to your own judgement. In the same Chilean interview, Keenan also batted down the possibility of a new A Perfect Circle album, citing his focus on Puscifer and APC guitarist Billy Howerdel’s dedication to Ashes Divide as to why an album is currently off the table. Puscifer’s upcoming EP ‘Donkey Punch the Night’ is set for a Feb. 19 release. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/tool-guitarist-adam-jones-proposes-to-girlfriend-wwe-royal-rumble/” title=”Tool Guitarist Adam Jones Proposes to Girlfriend Live at WWE ‘Royal Rumble'” align=”center”]
Photos: Facebook: Love and Death / Killswitch Engage Love and Death have had quite the reign with their track ‘I W8 4 U’ but will they be able to enter the Loudwire Cage Match Hall of Fame by winning their fifth and final battle? Killswitch Engage take the matchup by storm with their brand new single ‘In Due Time’ off of their forthcoming album ‘Disarm the Descent,’ which arrives April 2. The new disc is the band’s first with original vocalist Jesse Leach in over a decade. Killswitch Engage are scheduled to play this year’s Soundwave Festival and other international dates in the spring. For a full list of shows, go here . So will Love and Death win this last round and head to Loudwire’s Cage Match Hall of Fame with ‘I W8 4 U’ or will Killswitch Engage gain a victory ‘In Due Time’? (This Cage Match will run until Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 8AM ET. Fans can vote once per hour! So come back and vote often to make sure your favorite song wins!) Love and Death, ‘I W8 4 U’ Killswitch Engage, ‘In Due Time’ 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!