Epitaph Bring Me the Horizon have parted ways with guitarist Jona Weinhofen. The guitarist is also a founding member of Australian metalcore band I Killed the Prom Queen, and although the media has just noticed the news, a year-old Tumblr post from Weinhofen points to the possibility that the musician had left Bring Me the Horizon a while ago. Today, (Jan. 14) many metal news outlets have announced Weinhofen’s departure from the group, citing an official comment from Bring Me the Horizon just released. The British band reportedly broke the news very recently with a short post. Offering absolutely no explanation as to why Weinhofen was no longer a member of the band, Bring Me the Horizon writes: Bring Me The Horizon are Oliver Sykes, Lee Malia, Matthew Kean, Matthew Nicholls and Jordan Fish. Jona Weinhofen is no longer in the band. According to a Tweet by new BMTH member Jordan Fish, he has not replaced Weinhofen on guitar, taking the position of the band’s keyboardist. The missing pieces of Jona Weinhofen’s departure of the band may possibly be filled by a year-old post on the guitarist’s Tumblr page: After a lot of time and thought ive decided to leave my current position as guitarist with Bring Me The Horizon. things in the band have been very tense with a lot of disagreements between myself and certain members who i wont name. im thankful for my time with BMTH and i have met many good friends and been able to travel the world more. Im planning on moving back to Australia to pursue other musical ventures. thanks Jona No new rhythm guitarist has been announced by Bring Me the Horizon, but stay tuned for a potential update on the band’s lineup. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/bring-me-the-horizon-new-single-shadow-moses/” title=”Bring Me the Horizon Premiere New Track ‘Shadow Moses'” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying was the guest on Full Metal Jackie’s radio show this past weekend. Lambesis spoke about the band’s upcoming co-headlining tour with The Devil Wears Prada, as well as plans for the release of his own side project and much more. Read Full Metal Jackie’s interview with Tim Lambesis below: ‘Awakened’ came out back in September and it’s pretty much a two year period between As I Lay Dying albums but you’ve already come up with an idea or two for what comes next. When does it hit you that you’re consciously starting to think about the next album? Usually we tour the main touring places and when we start to overlap and play the same city twice on one album then we realize “Okay we should problem do a new album before we go back out on tour.” So believe it or not it’s the touring cycle that determines when we need a new album. Tim, you’re pretty well known for your humanitarianism. Does it provide you with a source of lyrical inspiration? Yes, it’s definitely a part of my life for me, my kids are adopted and I’ve visited their country – they’re from Ethiopia and that was eye opening to what the world is really like, at least a third of the world. I think that just influences my entire world view even if I’m not necessarily writing a song about humanitarian work, I’m writing a song about what truly makes us happy in life and those types of think that have been influenced by my experiences. You’re going to be co-headlining with The Devil Wears Prada through the beginning of April and touring is a unique means of seeing the world. Where is the place you always make a point of visiting if you’re in the area on tour? For me, I always try to find good food. One of the hardest tours to do is actually arena tours because it’s in the middle of nowhere since many arenas are outside the cities. For a band like us we usually play in clubs or theaters right in the middle of downtown for the most part. We typically just walk around – and I eat like six meals a day so I got to find a few good meals. You definitely must have some sort of workout regime as well, I got to imagine. You’re pretty buff. Yeah that’s why I eat six meals a day, I got to keep my body fueled. It’s pretty tough – I’m a naturally very thin person so I have the opposite problem of most people, I try to put on weight. I think it was like a progression, when we first met you were really skinny and as the years have gone on you’ve definitely had this huge build. Is it something like one day you were just like, “I want to start working out more.” How did that come about? Yeah it’s funny because I saw a lot of my peers past their prime, so to speak, where they were starting to get older and starting to show and they weren’t quite putting on the same stage show. One day I was like “Well all of our peers seem to be trailing off and I want to be the band that keeps getting better with age” of course as the frontman that means I need to be in the best shape of my life. It kind of went a little overboard but I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life. Tim, last month you performed with Suicide Silence at a show that was a tribute to Mitch [Lucker], their singer who died unexpectedly in November. Like Mitch, you’re a singer and a father, what went through your head when you played that show? It was definitely an emotional show, everybody was pretty choked up. We showed a video clip of Mitch growing up and his family was there. It was really tough, I think for me seeing his parents was probably the most emotional event of the night. Beyond the tour with The Devil Wears Prada, what can we expect from the band this year? Well after that tour, we’re going to hit a few places internationally that we skipped over. This isn’t necessarily from the band but I have a little side project in the works that I want to release sometime next there is a slight break in the As I Lay Dying schedule – something more on the death metal, extreme end of the spectrum. We recorded a few songs and hopefully that will be out by the summer time. Full Metal Jackie will welcome Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta 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 .
Tim Whitby, Getty Images Black Sabbath waited until it officially became Jan. 13 in their native England before revealing that their highly anticipated new studio album will be titled ’13.’ The heavy metal legends spent the past year working on the effort, which is being produced by Rick Rubin. The band also has announced that the album, which they initially targeted for April , is now expected to arrive at a still-to-be-determined date in June. And moreover, they’ve revealed that Rage Against the Machine ‘s Brad Wilk served as drummer during the recording sessions. Black Sabbath will issue the disc via their original label Vertigo worldwide, with Vertigo/Republic offering the record in the United States. ’13′ will be the band’s first original album with Ozzy Osbourne as vocalist since 1978′s ‘Never Say Die!’ Though meant to be a reunion of the original four members, a contract squabble has kept drummer Bill Ward out of the picture. Osbourne’s stickman from his solo band, Tommy Clufetos, filled in on tour during Ward’s absence last year, but the aforementioned Wilk handled the drumming for the group for the upcoming album. Black Sabbath have already announced a number of dates for 2013, beginning with a trek through Australia and also including a headlining spot on this year’s Ozzfest in Japan. More dates are expected and will be announced shortly. Black Sabbath’s 2013 Tour: 4/20 — Auckland, New Zealand — Vector Arena 4/22 — Auckland, New Zealand — Vector Arena 4/25 — Brisbane, Australia — Entertainment Centre 4/27 — Sydney, Australia — All Phones Arena 4/29 — Melbourne, Australia — Rod Laver Arena 5/1 — Melbourne, Australia — Rod Laver Arena 5/4 — Perth, Australia — Rod Laver Arena 5/12 — Tokyo, Japan — Ozzfest Makuhari Messe [button href=”http://loudwire.com/ozzy-osbourne-celebrates-64th-birthday-recording-vocals-for-new-black-sabbath-album/” title=”Next: Ozzy Osbourne Celebrates Birthday Recording Black Sabbath Vocals” align=”center”] ?
Fortodayband.com For Today guitarist Mike Reynolds stirred up quite a bit of controversy responding on Twitter about the decision of President Barack Obama choosing Rev. Louie Giglio to deliver the benediction at his inauguration. Giglio’s past anti-gay messages resulted in pressure from the LGBT community, and the Reverend has since bowed out of the opportunity. Reynolds’ commentary turned into his own views on homosexuality and religion and sparked quite a bit of outrage. After reading a Dallas Voice article on the situation, Reynolds offered a series of tweets that read, “Don’t be deceived, homosexuality is a sin. This sin with all other sins is what Jesus died for. He conquered so that we would be free. No such thing as a gay Christian, the same as there is no such thing as a Christian who loves his sin. Don’t be fooled by the formation of a state church as though the government is being converted, they only use the name Jesus for their progressive liberal agenda. If you are a Christian then separate yourself from this civil religion that advocates sin. Be true to God.” The comments sparked some outrage online, including a commentary from Enter Shikari vocalist Rou Reynolds (no relation). “The thought that we actually toured and shared the same stage as this musician in 2011 now makes me feel a bit nauseous,” said the outraged singer. “There is obviously no place in our modern metal, punk, hardcore, rock (whatever you want to call it) scene for homophobia. In fact, there should be no place for these views anywhere full stop, especially not in music.” The vocalist would add, “Music is a beautiful tool to educate ourselves with … so to anyone spouting these divisive and disgusting views, I say simply but vehemently, please educate yourself or put down your instrument.” To read Reynolds full commentary, click here . After quite a bit of backlash that resulted in a band statement and singer Mattie Montgomery’s own video apology to their fans (which can be viewed below), the For Today guitarist stepped down from the group. A statement from the band read: Mike Reynolds is no longer a part of For Today. He has decided that now is the time for he and his wife to put their plans in motion to enroll in Bible college, and to begin working toward full-time missions work in the Middle East. Mike will be replaced by longtime friend of the band, and former In the Midst of Lions guitar player, Sam Penner, who will be appearing with the band as they headline their upcoming Fight The Silence tour. Watch For Today Singer Mattie Montgomery’s Apology
Machinehead1.com Machine Head have built their fan base over a steadily strong career, but singer Robb Flynn still gets surprised by who some of his fans are. The rocker reveals in his latest journal that former baseball manager Tony LaRussa and his family have shown their fandom for his work in recent years, which is something that still blows him away. Flynn says, “Life has a funny way of playing out, how seemingly innocuous encounters can take you to place you never thought you’d go. Flash back to about a year and a half ago … I’m walking through Whole Foods in Walnut Creek, talking on the phone to my friend Tom when a lady and her daughter approach me wide-eyed. ‘Are you f—ing Robb Flynn?!’ … ‘I could be …’ They scream and make a big ‘ol to-do, ‘Oh my God, we’re huge fans, I love ‘The Blackening,’ I’m Tony LaRussa’s wife!’” Then, just last year when the band returned to play the Warfield in San Francisco, the LaRussa family came to the show. Flynn recalls, “My baseball fanatic dad FREAKS OUT, and Tony L blows my mind when he tells me that I ‘have so much charisma, he wishes he could bottle it and make his players drink it.’ Wow!!?? I’m not worthy!” After speaking some more, Flynn says they bonded over the fact that he got his dog from the Animal Rescue Foundation that LaRussa founded. The vocalist says he and LaRussa exchanged information and the manager reached out to him about attending his annual benefit. LaRussa also asked if he would perform as an anniversary gift for his metal-loving wife. The singer admits he was nervous, but says LaRussa’s intro was great. He recalls, “Tony LaRussa’s intro blew me up!! Dude rules. After that intro I could have farted for 10 minutes and people would have at least politely clapped. Did ‘Die Young’ first, went down good. I sang the end a lot better than at the Mitch [Lucker] benefit, and then came time for the debut of the acoustic version of ‘Darkness [Within],’ just me and an acoustic, no sing-alongs, no band to kick in the heavy — a new version I had never played live. It worked, it totally worked. I nailed most of it, was a little flat in some parts at the very end, but overall it felt good and I was proud of myself for taking up the challenge.” Flynn returned for the finale, joining all the evening’s performers and headliner Tony Orlando in taking on ‘Hey Jude’ with a little bit of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ thrown in to rock out. The evening also gave the singer a chance to meet some of his comedy heroes like Robin Williams and Dana Carvey. For more about Flynn’s night, check out his latest journal entry here . Watch Robb Flynn Perform ‘Darkness Within’ Acoustically Robb Flynn With Dana Carvey Machinehead1.com Robb Flynn With Robin Williams Machinehead1.com Robb Flynn With Tony Orlando Machinehead1.com [button href=”http://loudwire.com/machine-head-robb-flynn-moving-performance-mitch-lucker-memorial-concert/” title=”Next: Robb Flynn Performs at Mitch Lucker Memorial” align=”center”]
Frazer Harrison, Getty Images Rob Zombie has been releasing music since 1987, providing us with memorable tracks as a solo artist and as the frontman for White Zombie . Today’s Readers Poll asks you — Rob Zombie fans — what is the best album the singer has released? We’ll start with the early Rob Zombie years, when he was fronting White Zombie. The band’s 1987 debut, ‘Soul-Crusher,’ was described as noise rock by many critics. With tracks like ‘Drowning the Colossus,’ ‘Die Zombie Die’ and ‘Future Shock’ leading the way, admiration for the disc has only grown since its release. That was followed by their 1989 effort, ‘Make Them Die Slowly.’ Their sophomore set found them dipping more into thrash metal but admittedly the band was not completely happy with the outcome. The group’s frustration with their sophomore set primed them for a breakout with their third album. White Zombie’s ‘La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1′ arrived in 1992 and found some radio and video love with ‘Thunder Kiss ’65′ and ‘Black Sunshine.’ White Zombie’s tenure came to an end with 1995′s ‘Astro-Creep: 2000,’ but not before spawning another hit single in ‘More Human Than Human’ and fan favorite tracks ‘Real Solution #9′ and ‘Super-Charger Heaven.’ On the solo front, Rob Zombie has been responsible for four records. ‘Hellbilly Deluxe’ arrived in 1998, featuring the immediate hits ‘Dragula’ and ‘Living Dead Girl,’ as well as fan favorite, ‘Superbeast.’ 2001 brought ‘The Sinister Urge,’ which spawned ‘Feels So Numb,’ the groovy ‘Never Gonna Stop (Red Red Kroovy)’ and ‘Demon Speeding.’ Zombie slid a little commercially with 2006′s ‘Educated Horses.’ However, the album did feature the singles ‘Foxy Foxy,’ ‘American Witch’ and ‘Let It All Bleed.’ Zombie went back to the well and rediscovered his energy with ‘Hellbilly Deluxe 2.’ The 2010 album featured the songs ‘What?’ and ‘Sick Bubblegum.’ So there you have it — eight albums from Rob Zombie’s career. Let us know which album you think was the best in the Readers Poll listed below. Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-shinedown-album-readers-poll/” title=”Previous Readers Poll: Shinedown’s Best Album” align=”center”] ?
Ethan Miller, Getty Images With a 3D film and a new album in the works, Metallica may not be able to spend a huge amount of time on the road this year. Given that thought, the announcement that the band will headline Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival in August makes that ticket much more valuable. The group will headline at Tokyo’s QVC Marine Field on Aug. 10, then turn around and finish things out at Osaka’s Maishima Summer Sonic site the following night (Aug. 11). In addition to Metallica, top concert draw Muse and the reunited Stone Roses have also been confirmed for the event. Aside from Summer Sonic, Metallica will kick off 2013 with dates as part of Australia’s traveling Soundwave festival running Feb. 23 through March 4. They’ve also booked a pair of shows in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa in April. In addition, Metallica have announced plans to bring back their Orion Music + More Festival for a two-night stand in June, this time located in the Detroit area. Their current final headlining appearance of the year comes Sept. 19 at the Rock in Rio festival. Though Metallica are working on new music, there’s not a high probability of any new material appearing during the band’s shows this year. The group has already stated that a 2014 release is more likely for their next disc. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/metallica-red-hot-chili-peppers-highest-grossing-touring-acts-2012/” title=”Next: Metallica Amongst 2012’s Highest Grossing Touring Acts” align=”center”]