Tool Dissectional An unidentified member of Tool recently suffered serious injuries after crashing his Vespa scooter along icy roads. The accident left the musician with several broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder, thus pushing back jamming and writing sessions meant for Tool’s massively anticipated fifth full-length album. Posted on the band’s website on Jan. 26 as a Tool newsletter, the Vespa accident was described in detail while keeping the identity of the member affected hidden. Strangely enough, yet another anonymous person involved with Tool also wound up in the hospital from a separate Vespa crash, suffering a head injury along with multiple cuts and bruises. Tool were hoping to begin 2013 with some good news that would energize fans long awaiting a new record, but unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case. However, in a turn for the better, the band is now back to work on the album. Here’s an excerpt from the latest newsletter detailing the situation: The New Year started off on a bad note as far as writing and arranging sessions for Tool’s next record. For the most part this was due to a ‘minor’ accident on a Vespa scooter (slick road conditions being the cause) by a certain band member that resulted in several broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Because of the physical nature of the musical instrument involved, 9 DAYS of jamming were lost, although I’m happy to report that the person involved is recovering nicely, so much so, in fact, that writing sessions resumed last Monday (January 21), despite it being a holiday for many. Coincidently (?), a few days prior to the mishap on the scooter, another person involved with Tool also wound up in the hospital after crashing his Vespa in Hollywood. Although he suffered a head injury (as well as multiple cuts and bruises to his body), I’m quite certain that if you were to order an “Entaphiosis” Hoddie, you would receive an “Entaphiosis” Hoodie. Several days ago members of the press (from different magazines) conducted interviews with band members about upcoming events, and I would imagine that these writers, etc. also inquired as to how things were progressing with regards to the band’s next record. So, there’s something to look forward to reading, and I will certainly try to give updates as to when these publications hit the newsstands. I was hoping to be able to throw some of you a bone the first week of the New Year, but for certain reasons this announcement has been pushed back a month. Therefore, look for a news post that will be exciting to some towards the end of the first week in February. Maynard James Keenan and his side project Puscifer are set to release their latest EP, ‘ Donkey Punch the Night ,’ on Feb. 19. As for news on Tool’s upcoming record, stay tuned as news continues to break. [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”]
NewstedHeavyMetal.com In the first part of our exclusive interview with Jason Newsted , he discussed his new EP ‘Metal,’ as well as the influence of his former Metallica bandmate James Hetfield, among other topics. In Part 2 of our interview, Newsted delves into the relationships he has with the members of his new band (which aptly goes by the name Newsted), the satisfaction of beating pop star Justin Bieber on an iTunes chart and plans for future releases from his new group. Read Part 2 of our Jason Newsted interview below: How much of the sound of this new material came down to the fact that you did this as a three-piece. There are certain points where I hear almost jazz-like drumming and then it just turns around and kills. And interaction and response like that sometimes seems to come more easily when you have three guys that are focused on each other and locked in. Right and these three people, you know, the one thing that’s the most valuable in any [grouping of] players is the years that they’ve spent together and how they’ve learned to become one and how they learned to become that gelling thing, like any great band that finds that place. So we’ve been together for long enough and we all have enough chops under our belts from previous [bands] and other things that we’re able to do that. Now that we have five years together as a trio, we know what’s going on and [guitarist] Jessie [Farnsworth] and Jesse [drummer Jesus Mendez] have 10 years together playing, so you can’t deny that stuff. And that’s why it does sound the way it does, the way it syncs up like that. You can’t replace that. It’s the very most invaluable thing to have in a band. I could have put together a supergroup — and I had it all drawn out and everything and I still might [do that] someday — but that’s not what’s going on here for these songs. These cats are hard workers — they’re disciplined and they’re not drugged and they’re ready to go at it with me. They’ve paid their dues and it’s time for some credit for them. Being able to live vicariously through them as they [experience things for the first time], like when we finished the video and they saw the first clip the other day, they were just freaking out. And I remember that feeling, you know? And I’m really happy for them in that way. If I got supergroup guys — people bring in their baggage and they also bring in the stuff that we were just talking about. How could we get in all of those years with the guys you want to put in the supergroup if you already spent all of your years with another group? You wouldn’t have that [same feeling]. There’d be great music and everybody’s like a virtuoso and great players and all of that kind of thing, but in order to get that real, real long sink your teeth into it kind of riffs, it takes a while to gel it. It seems like it’s very important for you to make music with friends these days. It’s definitely important to get along with everybody. That’s really the thing, now that so much time has passed and I’ve played with lots of people. If I’m going to get serious about something, it has to be people that I really dig that are strong in their own right — go-getters and all of that. Jessie Farnsworth — the guitar guy — he’s done his own records, writing all of the songs, lead guitar guy, frontman — all of that stuff on his own. [He’s] very accomplished. Jesus has been in all kinds of different bands, for a long, long time. They’re already accomplished in their own way, to step up and support me and believe in my vision and all of that kind of thing. It’s very helpful to have people that are that in tune with it and still are that hungry. I don’t really have to be hungry, but I am and that’s kind of cool. What were the lyrical drivers for these songs? Looking at the lyrics, there’s a lot of different things going on, topically. I’ve been writing lyrics for a long, long time. You look around you and see what you’re taking in from all of the data that’s in front of our faces all of the time. And that’s kind of from different stories and different things that mean something to me personally. ‘King of the Underdogs,’ there’s a little personal story vibe in there. ‘Skyscraper’ is about terrorists and you’ve gotta read in between the lines there. ‘Soldierhead’ is for all of our military service personnel guys and girls … you hear such crazy stories about all of that and I met so many thousands of soldiers in my life traveling around the world and they’ve always been so supportive of the metal, so that’s my tip of the hat to them. I’m glad that everybody loves the song for what it is, because it can represent something for all of us as they represent us. ‘Godsnake’ is a little bit deeper and it has to do with judging people. I’ve made the mistake in my travels of judging people and then getting really slapped in the face with it. I think [that’s a problem] in our society with modern day [society] anyway, at least in North America, with reality shows and all of these things where people are almost encouraged to judge others. You know, ‘The Biggest Loser’ and this guy and this addict and this person [let’s] judge these girls for being too skinny and these girls for being too beautiful and blah blah blah. We’re really more than ever, encouraged to judge and I think that this one is about: don’t judge – be careful. If God came down as a snake, how would you judge him? I have my notebooks and stuff and I’ve been writing poems for a long, long time. So I just pull stuff out that makes sense to me and adheres to the music. It has to tell the story. I don’t want to do any wasted words anymore. These aren’t Flotsam lyrics anymore, you know? [Laughs.] This is the first of a three-pronged release plan. How representative is the material on this EP in comparison to the next two EPs and ultimately, the full album that’s going to come out? That’s a good question — I can’t give up too much! [Laughs] I’ve got a little plan. It’s all heavy music – like we started our conversation – it’s all heavy music. The logo says “Newsted Heavy Metal Music” and that’s what all of the 11 songs are. Some are more musical than others — some are heavier than others, some are more metal than others, but they’re all three, every one of them, [made up of “heavy music”], so that’s all I can really say about that. The plan is to do three batches and depending on how the fans respond to it — how long the legs are on each one — I’ll release them accordingly. But we’ve got them already recorded. They’re already done. Anthony Focx came in and helped us record. We just went in for a couple of weeks and did 11 songs. He’s the guy that worked on Aerosmith and the Metallica stuff for ‘Guitar Hero,’ so that was a big deal that he came in and helped us out and captured our thing, because he pretty much put the mics on, turned the light on and we just went for it. We were able to capture the moment, so we were lucky in that way for sure. So, will the final album going to lay out in the sequence that we’re hearing it on the EPs? Yeah. The full plan is that like today, being the initial release day for the iTunes download….which is No. 1 today on iTunes by the way. I’m pretty psyched up about that. Actually right now, I have three albums that I played on in the Top 10 in iTunes. We’re No. 1 and ‘Justice’ is three and ‘Black Album’ is seven or something like that, so that’s kind of crazy. I did something right there along the way. So anyway, we do the iTunes release first and [now you can visit] NewstedHeavyMetal.com [to order] the actual CD package with lyrics, and that will happen each time. So it will be available to start shipping physical copies, two weeks after each iTunes release. And then at the end of that when the final one comes and it’s the culmination of all three EPs in one thing, it will be out on vinyl with some of my artwork and all of that stuff. So it’s kind of a grand plan and I want to have it out in all forms eventually, however each individual likes to take their music on. That’s my ultimate goal is to have it out on CD, vinyl and for iTunes. And it seems like all of this material is coming out conveniently with the last round arriving just in time for you to hit the road for summer touring. Yeah, that’s kind of the plan. I’m getting a lot of offers now and some pretty cool ones. People are coming with respect and that’s what has to happen. It doesn’t have to be big money, because that’s definitely not what it’s about this time. As long as we’ve got good gigs and we’re at a good place on the bill and my band is safe with decent accommodations and the venues are reputable, we’ll take it wherever we possibly can. With the current state of the industry, it seems like everytime you make music, you’re forced to adjust to all of the things that have changed since the last time you put something out. Putting this new material out in stages, was it difficult to break it up into pieces instead of just putting it out as a full traditional album? It was actually easier and better this way and seemingly more comfortable. I think there’s about 30 or 40 percent of the old avenues left that I knew when I stepped out on the top of the metal mountain. It was different then. Things had just started coming with piracy and all of that stuff and it was just a different world when we went out with ‘Black Album’ and ‘Load’ and all of those things, it was a very, very different world. So now there’s 30 or 40 percent of the same old ones, where you’ve got to take it to the people, no two ways about that and then the 60 or 70 percent that’s all new avenues that I need to maybe unlearn some of the old ones and relearn the new ones. And I’m trying to embrace it, like we were talking about with the social media stuff and all of that, getting it out to the people and reconnecting with the fans is the main thing first. As long as they know that it’s there and that I’m going to be playing somewhere, they’re going to show up – I’m confident of that. There’s a lot for me to learn … a lot of unknown territory for me as far as the marketing stuff and the live stuff, so I’ve got some good people in my corner. We have a team of four people right now, including myself, and we got the EP to number one [on iTunes] the first day with just the four of us coming out of the Chophouse. We just passed up [Justin] Bieber an hour ago and the freakin’ overall charts went up to 15, ahead of the Beatles and Bieber and all this other stuff and that’s pretty crazy considering our little metal show [that’s happening] out of my garage, you know? So we’ve been able to harness it pretty good. I’ve actually been quite enlightened by all of this. I repelled the technology for years and years. I will always keep one big black boot in the analog — you’re not going to get that out of there — but the other one, I am reaching it out and stepping on new ground and there’s a whole lotta new stuff going on for me with this thing, man. [There’s] new roles to be played. I’m going to be the frontman. Sometimes I’m going to be playing guitar and fronting — most of the time I will be playing bass and fronting — but we will switch instruments onstage and all of that crazy stuff to keep it interesting. So, playing guitar in front of people when I’ve just got a very much Roky Erickson approach to guitar — I know two chords and I rock it up and down the neck as hard as I can instead of [stressing about] placing it in the right places and the other guys put the color on it. I don’t pretend to be a great guitar player, I just know how I can do it and I just do it that way. The bass player [position] is a different thing because I feel very comfortable that way and when I get up to scream with it on, I’m feeling strong. But it’s some new roles that I’m assuming here, for sure. The ability for you to announce something like this and have music out only a couple of months later probably hearkens back a little bit to your DIY beginnings as an artist. The only difference is that you’ve got the social media to help spread it now instead of having to take a tape to everybody that you want to hear about your band. You are insightful. You think about this for a second, man, if we go for a 60 year ride back right now. ‘53, B.B. King [is] driving around the B.B. King Review in a nine door Checker cab station wagon thing, with “B.B. King Review” painted down the side. He drove that thing around with his people and they had their record [or] 45 selling out of the trunk or whatever [and they were getting] a nickel per song or a quarter per show and [building up fans] one person at a time [with] a juke joint here and this place there, back of somebody’s place … all of that — and you have to do that today again, except that you’ve got the Internet and social media to let people know that you’re going to be there. That’s the difference. It’s hard to sell any music or anything [like that], you get out and get as many copies sold as you can, but mostly, it’s going to be stolen and spread around the world and you just have to accept that. The new way and always way to do it, is to take it out to the people. You have to be determined to work hard, take it to the people and just let them know that you’re coming. That’s the only difference. But it’s gotta be your CD sold at your show, your t-shirt sold at your show, your trinket [with] your emblem, your Newsted Heavy Metal pendant [is] sold at the show and I know that. That’s just going to make sure that we cover the gas and stuff. Stay tuned for Part 3 of our exclusive Jason Newsted interview, in which he talks about his current relationship with the guys in Metallica and more. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/jason-newsted-talks-metal-ep-soldierhead-single-james-hetfields-influence-more/” title=”Read Part 1 of our Jason Newsted Interview Here” align=”center”] ?
2013 Loudwire Rock Bowl, Quarterfinals We’ve got two distinctively different sounding hard rock tracks advancing to the quarterfinals of the Loudwire Rock Bowl in Pantera ‘s thrashy favorite ‘F—ing Hostile’ entering the arena against Korn ‘s style-shifting rocker ‘Freak on a Leash.’ Pantera’s ‘F—ing Hostile’ barely made it out of the first round with 53 percent of the vote against stiff competition from Drowning Pool’s ‘Bodies.’ But make no mistake, Pantera are definitely ready to hype up their listeners with this classic. You can just envision an NFL defensive end unleashing untold destruction in the backfield thanks after getting amped to the pent-up energy of this track. Korn, meanwhile, had things a little easier with ‘Freak on a Leash’ outlasting System of a Down’s ‘Psycho.’ Earning just shy of 59 percent of the final tally, the band is ready to unleash their ‘Freak’ on Pantera, much like an onrushing cornerback blitz. So which track deserves to advance as the better football anthem? That’s for you to decide. Vote for either Pantera’s ‘F—ing Hostile’ or Korn’s ‘Freak on a Leash’ between now and this coming Wednesday (Jan. 30) morning at 10AM ET in the poll below. And make sure to vote in the next 2013 Loudwire Rock Bowl matchups by clicking the red button at the bottom of this post. Listen to Pantera’s ‘F—ing Hostile’ Listen to Korn’s ‘Freak on a Leash’ Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/slipknot-vs-rob-zombie-2013-loudwire-rock-bowl-quarterfinals/” title=”Next Rock Bowl Matchup: Slipknot vs. Rob Zombie” align=”center”]
Jo Hale, Getty Images The Darkness ‘ reunion will continue beyond their ‘Hot Cakes’ album and guitarist Dan Hawkins says that fans shouldn’t expect too long of a turnaround before a new record arrives. The guitarist tells Billboard , “I think it’s important the next album comes out quickly. ‘ Hot Cakes ‘ has been a great introduction to let people know we’re back. Now we need to keep the output up, really.” To that end, Hawkins says the band members have already started looking head to the next release. He explains, “Every day we set up our little [portable] studio and start jotting down ideas. It’ll be out in 2014. This year we’ll be touring and writing, then early 2014 we’ll hopefully be recording it or continuing to write it and get it out later that year.” As for what he’s expecting, Hawkins says, “I think we want to get even more old school. We want to make it even more of a performance record. We just want to be really brave and try to do something as live as humanly possible, warts and all. We’ve lost a bit of that in music today. It’s time to get a bit of character in there, so we’ll be going for something as f—ing Route 1 as possible.” Hawkins says he doesn’t envision any of their past problems resurfacing, adding that the band members are “settling into a nice groove.” He adds, “The music is on 11, the gigs are on 11, but the drug intake is on, like, zero to one. That’s how it should be.” The group is currently on tour and will remain on the road in the U.S. through early February. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/dan-hawkins-of-the-darkness-dishes-on-owning-a-custom-guitar-crafted-for-the-legendary-jimmy-page/” title=”Next: The Darkness’ Dan Hawkins on Owning a Custom Made Jimmy Page Guitar” align=”center”]
Robert Cianflone, Getty Images – Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler dishes on the band’s ’13′ album and their tour plans. [ Loudwire ] – Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted goes in depth about his current self-titled band’s ‘Metal’ EP and James Hetfield ‘s influence in our new interview. [ Loudwire ] – Alice in Chains and Limp Bizkit have signed on to headline the 2013 Welcome to Rockville festival. [ Loudwire ] – Headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers lead the rock representation at the 2013 Coachella festival. [ Loudwire ] – It’s time to turn up the heat with the 15 Sexiest Rock Music Videos. [ Loudwire ] – Geoff Tate has revealed a few changes in his Queensryche lineup. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Tom Petty has enjoyed an outstanding career. Check out some of his best work with Ultimate Classic Rock’s 10 Best Tom Petty Songs. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Iggy and the Stooges are set tot return with a new album ‘Ready to Die.’ [ Diffuser.fm ] – You know them! You love them! And you can likely pick them out the moment they open their mouth. Check out Diffuser.fm’s list of the 10 Most Distinctive Voices in Rock. [ Diffuser.fm ]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images The world of metal seems to constantly house some strange stories. Although the real stories are often more inconceivable than the fake ones, wrestler Hulk Hogan has finally given a statement about the rumor that he was once asked by drummer Lars Ulrich to become Metallica ‘s bassist. Early last year, Hogan claimed that he was at one point a serious candidate to play bass for the iconic band. “I used to be a session musician before I was a wrestler,” Hogan states. “I played bass guitar. I was big pals with Lars Ulrich and he asked me if I wanted to play bass with Metallica in their early days but it didn’t work out.” Soon after, during an appearance on the Howard Stern Show, Ulrich claimed to have no recollection of asking Hulk to join the band. “That one, when that showed up two or three months ago, I was scratching my head over that one,” states the drummer. “I don’t know Hulk Hogan, I don’t know enough about him… I’m not a huge wrestling [fan]… I certainly have no recollection of doing anything with quote Hulk Hogan endquote.” Almost a year after Hogan’s initial statement, the wrestling legend cleared the air during an interview with Kerrang! : That has rumor has been turned and twisted and thrown in so many different directions — that I auditioned and that I lied and that I never auditioned and they weren’t interested. The truth is I played music for many years before I ever got into wrestling, and when I heard Metallica was looking for a bass player, I would have quit wrestling like that [snaps fingers] to get into Metallica. When I heard they were looking for a bass player, I got my tapes together from the old band, got a couple of tapes together that Simon Cowell produced with me — Green Jelly, and I did an old Gary Glitter song, ‘Leader Of The Gang’, with Simon, back in the day, before he got his break with all the wrestling music and became a huge monster. But I got all that stuff together to send it to Metallica and never heard a word. So they never responded to me. They either thought I was a joke or they thought it was a joke, and it wasn’t me, or I was no good, but I never heard back from them … I tried — but I never did audition for Metallica. I wish I would have. But the bass player they got was so good. My God! Case closed? Check out video of Hulk Hogan talking about Metallica in the new interview with Kerrang! in the clip below: Hulk Hogan Talks to Kerrang! [button href=”http://loudwire.com/top-wrestling-entrance-themes/” title=”Top 10 Wrestling Entrance Themes” align=”center”]
Photos: Facebook: Love and Death / eOne With Black Veil Brides making their way to Loudwire’s Cage Match Hall of Fame, it’s time for two new bands and their latest tracks to duke it out! Brian ‘Head’ Welch , who many of us may know as Korn’s former guitarist, has a new band Love and Death and they have recently released their debut album ‘Between Here & Lost.’ They enter the Cage Match with their latest track ‘I W8 4 U’ featuring For Today’s Mattie Montgomery. Love and Death have U.S. dates lined up for February and March, while Head is also slated to play some reunion shows with Korn this year. Swedish rockers Avatar take the Cage Match by storm with their new track ‘Smells Like a Freakshow’ off the band’s fourth studio album and first proper American release titled ‘Black Waltz.’ Avatar have tour dates with Sevendust and Lacuna Coil in February and solo dates set for March. For a full list of dates and cities where you can catch Avatar, go here . So will Love and Death stay alive with their track ‘I W8 4 U’ or will Avatar sniff their way to a win with ‘Smells Like a Freakshow’? Listen to both tracks and vote for your favorite in the poll below! (This Cage Match will run until Monday, Jan. 28, 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’ Avatar, ‘Smells Like a Freakshow’ 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!