Facebook: Saliva This year has seen some big changes for Saliva . Vocalist Josey Scott left the band for a solo Christian recording career and was replaced by Bobby Amaru. Now the band has announced they have signed with Rum Bum Records and are working on a new album. “We want to sell 10 million records,” said Amaru. “We are all looking forward to getting in the studio and recording an album that will do just that. In the end what’s most important is coming out with songs that we’re excited to play, that our fans are excited to hear and that the combination of the two results in a great tour. That’s what it’s all about.” The Saliva lineup of Amaru, Dave Novotny (bass), Paul Crosby (drums) and Wayne Swinny (guitar) plan on entering the studio in January 2013 with a projected album release set for late spring. Rum Bum is happy to add the platinum selling band to their roster. “The addition of Saliva further expands our reputation of cultivating artists that have a unique sound and style,” said Luis Bacardi, owner of Rum Bum Records. “We are thrilled to continue to expand our artist portfolio with quality musicians and look forward to playing a significant role in the band’s continued success.” Saliva’s last studio album was 2011′s ‘Under Your Skin,’ which featured the Top 5 rock single ‘Never Should’ve Let You Go.’ Their best-selling effort was 2001′s ‘Every Six Seconds.’ The band has had a string of hit singles including ‘Click Click Boom,’ ‘Your Disease,’ ‘Always,’ ‘Survival of the Sickest’ and ‘Broken Sunday.’
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com / Spencer Kaufman, Loudwire / Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Another year has brought us another barrage of songs to knock around your senses. After a great deal of thought, we've compiled our picks for the 10 Best Metal Songs of 2012. Along with tracks from bands such as Gojira , Testament and Between the Buried and Me , who released on some of 2012's best albums, we've also included songs by Anthrax and Machine Head , which were featured on 2011 albums, but officially released as singles this year. It's all about which bands truly shaped the musical landscape of 2012, along with who brought their songwriting skills to a whole new level with their latest offerings. With that in mind, we present our choices for the 10 Best Metal Songs of 2012: ? 10 'Darkness Within' Machine Head ? ? From: 'Unto the Locust' Although 'Darkness Within' is featured on Machine Head's 2011 album, 'Unto the Locust,' the song was officially released as a single in July of 2012. Accompanied by an incredible music video, 'Darkness Within' showcases the wide musical range of Machine Head, who parallel music and religion with the line, “ Music my savior, save me. “ Listen to 'Darkness Within' ? ? 9 'King of Days' High on Fire ? ? From: 'De Vermis Mysteriis' High on Fire 's 'De Vermis Mysteriis' album is packed with solid tracks like 'Serums of Liao' and 'Fertile Green,' we're going with disc's meatiest track, 'King of Days.' The band showcase their doom and sludge prestige in the seven-minute track, with Matt Pike staking his claim as one of metal's most powerful vocalists. With a bit of beauty as a kicker, 'King of Days' gives the listener guitar and bass solos, along with the 'time travel' drum theme repeated throughout the album. Listen to 'King of Days' ? ? 8 'Ghost Walking' Lamb of God ? ? From: 'Resolultion' Lamb of God took 2012 by the throat with the release of 'Resolution,' spearheaded by the first single 'Ghost Walking' a post-apocalyptic tale of no one left to save. The voice of Randy Blythe is in the spotlight as he tightens his serpentine twist with the words, “ Night blind on the shining path / Ghost walking in the aftermath / Hypnotized, 60 cycle hum / The broken cadence of a distant drum. “ Listen to 'Ghost Walking' ? ? 7 'The Wolf I Feed' Napalm Death ? ? From 'Utilitarian' British grindcore legends Napalm Death rejuvenated their creative prowess with their 2012 album, 'Utilitarian,' taking their songwriting craft to a more solid and progressive realm. Written about the 'rat race' of the business world, guitarist Mitch Harris shares vocal duties with the booming Barney Greenway, building up to an explosive chorus and supernatural bridge. Listen to 'The Wolf I Feed' ? ? 6 'I'm Alive' Anthrax ? ? From ' Worship Music' Anthrax's 'I'm Alive' was released on Jan. 4, 2012, just making the cut for this list and landing at No. 6. Housed inside the 2011 album 'Worship Music,' the song features singer Joey Belladonna opening with an infectious “ Whao-oah. ” 'I'm Alive' serves as proof that a veteran band like Anthrax can bust out new and fresh music three decades into their career. Listen to 'I'm Alive' ? ? 5 'The Bug' Pig Destroyer ? ? From 'Book Burner' “ I'm going to sing for you, a little off key perhaps, but I will sing. I will sing while you croak. I will dance over your dirty corpse. ” With this classic line from Henry Miller's 'Tropic of Cancer,' Pig Destroyer launch into 'The Bug,' one of the most powerful cuts from their 2012 full-length, 'Book Burner.' The band delivers unfiltered brutality with this track. Add in dueling vocals between J.R. Hayes and Kat Katz , and you've gone through a meat grinder of a sonic battering. Listen to 'The Bug' ? ? 4 'Piss' Pantera ? ? From: 'Vulgar Display of Power' Reissue A lost track from the landmark 'Vulgar Display of Power' album, Pantera 's 'Piss' is like a time capsule wrapped in solid gold. The overwhelming crunch of 'Piss' still feels unmatched by modern production techniques, reminding the world why Dimebag Darrell's guitar work remains so unmistakeable. Phil Anselmo delivers a crushing vocal performance, aggressively taking apart “ A self-centered procrastinator, attention seeker who's got nothing at all. ” Listen to 'Piss' ? ? 3 'True American Hate' Testament ? ? From ' Dark Roots of Earth' Testament are everything a thrash band strives to be. The 'Dark Roots of Earth' album was recorded by one of metal's most solid lineups: Chuck Billy, Alex Skolnick, Eric Peterson, Greg Christian and 'The Atomic Clock' Gene Hoglan. With that in mind, 'True American Hate' brings out the best in each performer, having crafted a classic thrash track that holds up in modern times against all possible competition. Listen to 'True American Hate' ? ? 2 'Telos' Between the Buried and Me ? ? From: 'The Parallax II: Future Sequence' Between the Buried and Me have stormed through 2012 with lots of touring along with a brilliant new album, 'The Parallax II: Future Sequence.' 'Telos' was the first track revealed by the band, and guitarist Paul Waggoner calls the track “the meat” of the record. BTBAM have continued into 2012 with their twisted concoctions, 'Telos' containing progressive and technical death metal with zone-out space blues and an epic crescendo containing but one word: “ Rebirth. “ Listen to 'Telos' ? ? 1 'L'Enfant Sauvage' Gojira ? ? From: 'L'Enfant Sauvage' French metal masters Gojira are the breakout metal act of the year for 2012, even with an incredible wealth of material released throughout the last decade. The title track of their 2012 album, 'L'Enfant Sauvage' hits the listener immediately, revealing its importance the second it hits your ears. Somehow Gojira have created a unique mix of progressive brutality and massive accessibility, and for this, they stand tall with the top metal song of 2012. Listen to 'L'Enfant Sauvage' ? ? What's Your Favorite Metal Song of 2012? Which one of our picks is your personal favorite? Is there a song that you feel we missed. Let the arguing commence in the comments section below: ?
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com We recently published Part 1 of our interview with Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler, in which he went in-depth about frontman Randy Blythe’s incarceration in the Czech Republic this past summer and legal issues related to the incident. Now, in Part 2 of our interview, Adler discusses Lamb of God’s most recent disc ‘Resolution,’ as well as plans for the band’s next album. Lamb of God are currently on tour with In Flames, Hatebreed and Sylosis. Check out our review and photo gallery of NYC show here . The trek continues through a Dec. 16 show in Seattle. For ticket info, click here . Without further ado, here’s Part 2 of our interview with Lamb of God’s Chris Adler: After all the band went through this past summer, it must be a good feeling to get out and promote your latest album ‘Resolution’ again. I know it came out back in January, but can you take us back to the recording process of the disc and how it differed from past albums? Well, you’re right, it is very exciting to get out and tour. This [is] actually our first [full] U.S. tour since the album came out. We were supposed to be doing something this summer but obviously that got derailed a bit, so yeah we still have some work to do on [promoting] the record and we’re pretty excited about it. But going into the process, the biggest difference was our willingness to try different things. I think on previous albums, we’ve always had a specific kind of direction that we wanted to go in, like on ‘Sacrament’ we really wanted to embrace the songwriting and we weren’t afraid of studio ideas that the producer had … But when we did ‘Wrath,’ it went back to being a raw, aggressive, 100-miles-per-hour band. Our challenge coming into [‘Resolution’] was to somehow outdo ourselves and find a way for the band to evolve and go in different directions that we haven’t done before. Meanwhile, [we were] keeping note of the things that had worked well for us as a band — not just trying to replicate the hits or whatever but finding those interesting moments on the B-sides of those records that we could kind of explore further now that we’ve had done what we wanted to do as a metal band. So now, what can we do as far as pushing ourselves as songwriters and as a band? So, coming into it, that meant that ideas weren’t immediately popping out like they did before — like the orchestra and the opera singer on ‘King Me’ or Randy’s vocal delivery on some of the songs, letting him kind of sing instead of just scream. [We were] trying to find a more dynamic approach … in these songs to make them have more impact and build a more dynamic picture. Are there any songs in particular on ‘Resolution’ that you most enjoy playing live? I think that ‘The Undertow’ is probably one of my favorite ones to play live … When we started in the band in the ’90s, we were really influenced by a lot of the crossover bands, like S.O.D. and stuff like that. I think ‘The Undertow,’ while it’s certainly a technically proficient song, it encompasses of that idea of real strong punk rock energy mixed with the kind of speed metal proficiency, and that’s always been one of our favorite things to mix those two things up. So that’s a lot of fun to play live. Of course, ‘Desolation,’ the second track on the album that starts with the little drum solos, I may be a little biased but that’s a lot of fun for me to rock out to every night. And ‘Ghost Walking’ … has got an interesting little acoustic intro that kind of sets it apart … and has a really good groove to it. So, those are probably my three favorites right now. Randy has mentioned that he was inspired to write lyrics while he was in the Czech prison, and I was wondering if that will serve as motivation to hit the studio sooner than planned for the next album? It’s really going to depend. It’s like you said, Randy let us all know as well that he did some writing while he was there, and both Mark [Morton] and Willie [Adler], the guitar players, have let me know at different times that they’ve been working on a couple of different things, too. So I think that together, the elements are there for us when we do decide to go back in, at least a good starting point for us. But, this is all contingent on what happens in getting there. Obviously, we feel like Randy is innocent and justice will prevail. But we really don’t know what’s going to happen and the worst-case scenario there is that he’s locked up for 10 years. So, that would certainly put a damper on any studio or touring plans. But right now I think the focus is … to support this record [‘Resolution’], which we’re all very proud of, to get out and to do as much work as we can. The plan was originally to tour until the end of 2013 and to begin the writing process for another record in 2014. Assuming things go well with Randy, hopefully that plan plays out by the time we get there in 2014. With this process behind closed doors already starting, we’re going to have some good ammunition to get it going. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/lamb-of-god-chris-adler-talks-u-s-tour-randy-blythe-incarceration-dimebag-darrell-more/” title=”Part 1: Chris Adler Talks Randy Blythe, U.S. Tour + MOre” align=”center”]
New Ocean Media Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler is branching out with his own band, appropriately named Adler , and the band’s debut full-length, ‘Back From the Dead,’ carries a straight-ahead rock sound that proves Mr. A means business. Now, Adler is opening up about the message behind the album, and he says he hopes it gives him a fresh start in the music business. “Every musician, their goal in life is to play music that people love and I’ve accomplished my goal,” he told goJimmygo . “I was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and left that chapter of my life and those people in the past. Good and bad, I’ve loved and am thankful for that chapter. I’m thankful that I survived that chapter and am able to have a second chapter. I want to start afresh and become relevant again.” Adler says recording the album was a blast, especially when it came to getting guitar great Slash involved. “It was wonderful,” Adler said. “Just to have him be proud enough and believe in me enough again after all of the things that have happened. “I have to prove myself every second of every day and it got to where I’ve proved myself enough for Slash to be happy and want to be a part of this record. It feels great that we have such a history together. I really care about what he thinks and feels about me.” Things are looking up for Steven Adler, as evidenced by Loudwire’s stellar review of his band’s ‘Back From the Dead’ album. Click below to check it out: [button href=”http://loudwire.com/adler-back-from-the-dead-album-review/” title=”Adler, ‘Back From the Dead’ – Album Review” align=”center”]
Metal Blade GWAR front-thing Oderus Urungus was the guest on Full Metal Jackie’s radio this past weekend. The menacing monster talked all about the 2012 presidential campaign, new guitarist Pustulus Maximus, Hurricane Sandy and more. Check out Full Metal Jackie’s full chat with GWAR’s Oderus Urungus below: It’s Full Metal Jackie bringing you two hours of metal each and every week. On the show with us again, our friend, Oderus of Gwar. How are you? [Sings] It’s been awhileeeeee since I could – Oh whatever, I hate that song. It’s great to see you. It’s obviously very entertaining to have the Mad Minute that you’ve been doing for the show. I hope that you’ve been enjoying it. Yeah haven’t I? I’ve been doing those. I don’t remember really much of it but it’s funny, I think. I listen to my voice and I’m like, “That guy he’s hilarious! Somebody should give him a comedy record deal.” They’re like, “That’s you Oderus” and I’m like “Really, that sucks!” Full Metal Jackie with Oderus of GWAR on the show. I gotta ask you, the 2012 presidential campaign was obviously heated. What aspect of the campaign trail was so absurd that some sort of GWAR lampooning needed to happen? Um, well basically, both of their existences — the fact that they settled their disputes with gladiatorial combat and they both have to die innocent, but we can’t come across as having any side. It’s all this pointy, spikey, bloody burning wheel of death. They both end up on it but we do kill Mitt first. I think that says something. It’s Full Metal Jackie. Oderus of GWAR on the show with us and we’ve got to talk about your newest member. How has Pustulous Maximus acclimated himself and settled into the band? Quite well, he moved right on in, as it were. Actually Santa Ana was the first anniversary of Flattus’ returning to the stars and it could of easily bid us a morbid, gloomy affair but instead it was a true celebration and we turned a corner on a year that was a journey through a dark valley but then again the female vagina is also a dark valley and there’s much pleasure to be had in that. So it’s a good thing, he’s doing the impossible now hasn’t he? He’s filled the shoes of one of the greatest rubber monster guitar players ever lived, damn it. Even the non-rubber monster guitar player, and there’s not a day that goes by where we don’t remember Flattus but Pustulous full of piss and vinegar and acne has truly carved out his swarth in GWAR and the fans seemed to have accepted it. It’s going very well. It’s been a couple of years since ‘Bloody Pit of Horror,’ so what are the plans for the next GWAR album? Well we’re already deep into it. That’s what she said. That’s what she said… That’s what she said to the bishop. But that is something we’ve been doing all year, of course we were searching for a new guitar player that took a lot of time. A lot of the Maximus clan, it took them many months to reach the planet in order to lay down tracks for the records and these guys with their gigantic space battle barges, these things, they are not death stars but they are big. You know you’d think in Antartica, all the ice planes everywhere, that you could park these things without running into each other. But we just had terrible parking problems and then we found out the penguins were getting high so we had to get, we migrated workers from South America to come down and then the penguins were like “labor strike!” and then there was just open warfare between the Mexicans and the penguins and I believe Mexico is actually at war with Antartica right now or at least the penguins of Antartica. But I digress, in fact, I can’t even remember what the question was. Oh the new album, yes, so we’ve been hard at work on it. We have about… pretty much the whole album is written. The only bad part about it is after this tour is over we have to go back and remember them all. We wrote them and we recorded them so we’re pretty sure if we play them we can figure out how to play them again. Of course, you can catch Oderus with the Mad Minute on the show as well as on the website at fullmetaljackieradio.com . I do have a question for you, non GWAR related. Hurricane Sandy obviously devastated the East Coast. Yes. Mother nature is no fan of the Jersey Shore. Being on tour while such a catastrophic event was happening back home, how tough was that? Oh it wasn’t tough at all. As a matter of fact, we think that a grave misjustice has been done. Everyone’s throwing these reliefs and benefits for the victims of Hurricane Sandy and what about poor Hurricane Sandy? I mean she came onto land and then she began to break up. She lost strength and soon she was no more. What about Sandy? Who is holding a benefit for her? GWAR is — that’s who! I mean, if you don’t want me to feel sorry for these things, don’t give them names! I hadn’t thought about that actually. Yes you hadn’t thought about that! Bruce Springsteen wrote very prophetically a song all about living on the Eastern Shore, all about the Jersey Shore and I think this was mother nature’s revenge for writing such an awful song. Thanks a lot, Bruce! Thanks Bruce. Thanks Snooki, you didn’t help any either. See GWAR out on the road for about another month or so and of course we’re looking forward to a new GWAR album. Thank you as always for the Mad Minute and for being you, sir. Keep em coming. We had plans for an Oderus ‘Spoken Turd’ album, but we decided to put that back until a new album had come out. I’ve definitely been honing my abilities through your show and it’ll come out. So I think the new album about halfway through next year and the ‘Spoken Turd’ album will be sometime after that. Just wrapped the second season of ‘Holliston.’ A lot of stuff going on, so it’s going to be a really big year for GWAR. By the way, really awesome to see you on the side of the bus. The billboards came out. I almost crashed trying to take a picture to text it to you because I was so excited. Yeah I’m used to being under them, not so much on the side. So it was a new experience for me. Thanks again for being on the show. Thank you Jackie and for your remorseless support. Full Metal Jackie will welcome drummer Chris Adler of Lamb of God on her next show. Full Metal Jackie can be heard on radio stations around the country — for a full list of stations, go to fullmetaljackieradio.com .
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire It took a little longer than initially expected, but Machine Head made it back to the stage Monday night in Oakland. The band was forced to temporarily drop off their tour when Robb Flynn required emergency surgery for a hernia, and they planned to be back for a show in Portland, Ore., on Saturday night. However, a bus breakdown thwarted those plans, but they eventually returned to the stage in Oakland. The timing was perfect for the band, as the Fox Theater’s hometown crowd provided just the boost the group was looking for upon their return. This marked the band’s first set in Oakland since their 1995 performance at Kaiser Arena supporting Slayer. Flynn, just 12 days removed from his surgery and still fighting a chest infection, gave the fans his all during the performance. The band had vowed prior to the surgery that they would return before the trek was finished and they’ll now complete the run with fellow rockers Dethklok , All That Remains , and the Black Dahlia Murder . Fan filmed footage of the group performing their song ‘Halo’ from Monday’s set can be seen below. For the remaining dates on Machine Head’s tour, check here . Watch Machine Head Perform ‘Halo’ in Oakland [button href=”http://loudwire.com/machine-head-robb-flynn-second-video-update-hernia-surgery/” title=”Next: Robb Flynn Details Hernia Surgery Recovery With Video Diary” align=”center”]
Facebook: How To Destroy Angels How to Destroy Angels are off and running with their new ‘ An Omen ‘ EP, and they’ve now unleashed a video for the standout track ‘Ice Age.’ The clip really is more of a short film, clocking in at just over seven minutes with the group isolated in a log cabin. John Hillcoat, director of such films as ‘The Road’ and ‘Lawless,’ shot the promo for the band, which finds the members primarily shot in dark profiles as singer Mariqueen Maandig sings longingly into the distance while looking outside of the cabin’s window. Meanwhile, Trent Reznor , Atticus Ross, and Rob Sheridan give the song a rustic feel with a beat up piano, lap steel guitar, and a board filled with distortion effects providing the background. As Maandig continues looking out the window we eventually see outside as the waves crash in from the ocean, but a series of visual effects begin to turn things dark, shadowy and blurry with the cold starting to set in. ‘An Omen’ has provided a re-introduction for the group, who added Sheridan to the lineup since their first EP back in 2010. The band’s first full-length record is expected next year. Watch How to Destroy Angels ‘Ice Age’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/trent-reznor-how-to-destroy-angels-new-single-keep-it-together/” title=”Next: Listen to How to Destroy Angels’ ‘Keep It Together'” align=”center”]