Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Suicide Silence frontman Mitch Lucker passed away Thursday morning at the age of 28 following a Wednesday night motorcycle accident. [ Loudwire ] Black Sabbath , who will headline one of two nights at Ozzfest Japan , are still in the recording process of their new album, according to Tony Iommi . [ Loudwire ] Soundgarden will play three small gigs in big cities this month to promote the ‘King Animal’ album. [ Loudwire ] Guns N’ Roses kicked off their Las Vegas residency at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino with a well-received show. [ Loudwire ] Trent Reznor ‘s How to Destroy Angels project has unveiled a new video for the song ‘Keep It Together.’ [ Loudwire ] Starting to think about Christmas yet? The kings of music merchandising, Kiss , have a holiday gift guide. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill is among those who lost their homes in Hurricane Sandy. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] Battlecross are moving from the ‘Trespass America’ trek this past summer to experiencing the ‘Growing Pains’ tour with Abiotic. [ Rock Music Report ] Atoms for Peace , the band featuring Radiohead ‘s Thom Yorke and Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘ bassist Flea , have offered up the song ‘What the Eyeballs Did.’ [ Diffuser.fm ] From the office of “We didn’t know that was a job”: Professional mattress jumper. [ GuySpeed ]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images We now know that Black Sabbath ‘s as-yet-untitled new album is set to be released in April of 2013. Last night (Oct. 31), guitarist Tony Iommi was interviewed at the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund awards in Hollywood, and he gave an update on the album’s progress. Iommi told Eric Blair (watch below) that previous reports that he had finished the guitar parts for the album are not true. “That’s wrong. When Ozzy said it [in a recent interview], I think he meant what we’ve done. We’ve written 15 songs and we’ve played them all. But now, at the moment, we’re recording them. We recorded them at my house first, in England, just as demos, but now we’re doing them for real. So we’re about six tracks in now, at the moment.” Geezer Butler, Ozzy and Iommi are all part of Sabbath’s new album, but after a contract dispute, drummer Bill Ward is not. Iommi says although they might play together in the future, it won’t be on this album. “We’ll always have a heart for Bill, but I think it’s gone past that now, because it’s gone on so long that I don’t see that happening at the moment. Maybe at some point we might [play together again].” The purpose of last night’s event was to raise money and awareness for the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. Having battled cancer himself recently, Iommi was happy to receive the ‘King of Rock N’ Roll’ award. “Well, I’m a survivor up until now. I’m still very new to it. It’s great that there’s somebody doing something about it and trying to get rid of this awful disease. You can’t praise it enough. Things like this is what is needed to make people aware of what is going on.” Iommi shared a favorite memory of Dio. “Oh, I’ve got a lot of memories of Ronnie. We had some great times. Particularly when we’d done the last album with Ronnie [‘The Devil You Know’] and the last tours, it was a whole new world. We had such a great time and we were looking forward to doing another album. So there’s a lot of great memories of Ronnie.” In addition to the album release month, Sabbath also announced they will be doing an Australian tour in late April and early May of 2013. And if that weren’t enough Black Sabbath news for one day, they also confirmed that they will be headlining the second night of the inaugural Ozzfest Japan in May of 2013. Watch Eric Blair Interview Tony Iommi [button href=”http://loudwire.com/black-sabbath-new-album-april-2013-australian-tour-dates/” title=”Next: Black Sabbath Announce April 2013 Release for New Album” align=”center”]
Scott Gries / Lisa Maree Williams, Getty Images The news keeps coming out of the Black Sabbath camp. Not long after it was revealed that the band was planning an April 2013 release and Australian tour , the group was officially confirmed for Japan’s inaugural Ozzfest . They’ll headline night two on May 12 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City, Japan, while Slipknot have now been confirmed to finish out night one on May 11. Sharon Osbourne recently announced the return of Ozzfest, stating, “ Ozzy [Osbourne] and I want to tell you that [in] May 2013, we’ll be bringing Ozzfest to Japan for the first time ever. We are so excited. Please be there because we love you Japan.” Osbourne has spent a good portion of the last year with the reunited Black Sabbath working on their first studio album together since 1978. The group had plans to tour last year, but settled for a handful of one-off performances while guitarist Tony Iommi recovered from chemotherapy dealing with his cancer. By the time Black Sabbath reaches Ozzfest, they will be plenty warmed up as the group just announced four shows in Australia in late April and early May. Slipknot, meanwhile, are on what Corey Taylor calls a “ hiatus ,” but the singer admitted that the group would be playing sparingly next year. Ozzfest now joins an appearance at the Download Festival . Watch Ozzy Osbourne Announce Ozzfest Japan [button href=”http://loudwire.com/black-sabbath-horror-movies-that-inspired-band-names/” title=”Next: Black Sabbath – Horror Movies That Inspired Band Names” align=”center”]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images Here’s a look at the top stories of the day on Loudwire and around the Web: – Black Sabbath are progressing a new album, as Ozzy Osbourne & company are holed up in a Malibu recording studio. Find out the new details here: [ Loudwire ] – Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor has revealed his involvement as a consultant for the Beats by Dre headphone company and announced that it’s led to “a number of very interesting projects.” [ Loudwire ] – Former Pantera singer Philip Anselmo says that quotes he made about Zakk Wylde taking part in a reunion of the band have been taken out of context. [ Loudwire ] – Ever wonder where the dark and rather spooky lyrics for Metallica ‘s ‘Enter Sandman’ came from? Get the story here. [ Ultimate Metallica ] – Kiss open up about making the ‘Monster’ album, their current lineup, the Kiss Kruise, and their thoughts on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan reveals that he contemplated suicide on multiple occasions. [ Diffuser.fm ] – Jane’s Addiction , Slash , and goth godfather Peter Murphy are among the top acts for the inaugural UR1 festival. [ Rock Music Report ]
Dave Hogan, Getty Images It has been a while since we’ve heard anything about the progress of Black Sabbath ‘s upcoming album , but Metal Injection has uncovered some details about the recordings, including a song title. Sabbath are working on the album at Shangri La Studios in Malibu, Calif. As previously reported, 15 songs have been recorded, and now bassist Geezer Butler revealed to SiriusXM’s Jose Mangin that 12 will make the album, with the other three likely being used as bonus tracks for special editions. Ozzy Osbourne is currently recording vocals with Rick Rubin. Butler is writing all the lyrics, and the two are working to complete the songs in five track increments. They are reportedly working on the first five now. One song title has been confirmed – ‘God Is Dead.’ Guitarist Tony Iommi completed all 15 guitar tracks during the band’s sessions in England earlier this year. As for Iommi’s health, Ozzy told Mangin that he spoke to Iommi recently and he is in good spirits and recovery is coming along very well from his cancer treatments earlier this year. Drummer Bill Ward has not been part of the Sabbath reunion because of a contract dispute , and it looks like he won’t be. If the guitar tracks are done, most likely the drum tracks have been finished, as well, although the band has not confirmed that. Snippets of Mangin’s interview with Ozzy and Geezer will begin airing on Ozzy’s Boneyard (SiriusXM channel 38) starting next week. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/black-sabbath-release-pro-shot-2012-performance-of-paranoid-live-in-birmingham-england/” title=”Next: Black Sabbath Unleash Pro-Shot Performance of ‘Paranoid'” align=”center”]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images Heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, are set to appear on ‘CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood’ this weekend (Oct. 14). And don’t worry, you won’t have to miss any football to check it out. It seems as though Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne have been swarmed by cameras non-stop for the last decade. As stars of the iconic celeb-reality program ‘The Osbournes,’ Ozzy and Sharon have dealt with some of their most devastating moments on film. On the Sunday morning show, the Black Sabbath singer tells interviewer Lee Cowan, “I watched my wife battle cancer for nine months, having three chemotherapy treatments for nine months. And every time she’d have her chemotherapy she’d get really whacked out and she’d be throwing up and seizures and all this. I was like, ‘I’m watching my wife die in front of the cameras.’” Sharon has been a TV personality on ‘The Sharon Osbourne Show’ both in the US and the UK, ‘The X Factor,’ ‘America’s Got Talent,’ ‘Rock of Love: Charm School,’ ‘Osbournes: Reloaded’ and ‘The Talk.’ Meanwhile, Ozzy and Sharon’s son Jack Osbourne recently married Lisa Stelly in Hawaii last weekend, and a day later saved a drowning swimmer . Jack also recently welcome his first child into the world, but was soon after diagnosed with multiple sclerosis . With all of these topics in the public eye, the interview with surely be a revealing one. Be sure check out ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ on Sunday, Oct. 14 at 9am ET for the interview with metal’s Mr. and Mrs. ‘Prince of Darkness.’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/jack-osbourne-and-friend-rescue-drowning-woman-in-hawaii/” title=”Next: Jack Osbourne Saves Drowning Woman” align=”center”]
Relapse Hooded Menace are one of modern metal’s leading doom bands. Having just conjured up their third full-length album, ‘Effigies of Evil,’ the band have released a must-hear album for fans of all heavy music. Without losing their edge or sacrificing their creative vision, ‘Effigies of Evil’ is arguably the band’s most accessible creation to date, and we recently had the chance to ask Hooded Menace vocalist / guitarist Lasse Pyykkö a few questions. Pyykkö tells us about ‘Effigies,’ the incredible artwork the album showcases, the future of the doom genre and much more. Is there anything you tried to accomplish on ‘Effigies of Evil’ that you didn’t attempt previously on your past records? I know the album is a bit more melodic and there’s more mid-tempos to bang your head to, but it all came out so naturally that I can’t really say we “tried” to accomplish that. I guess we only set out to make a good successor to “Never Cross the Dead”. The album art for ‘Effigies of Evil’ is incredible. How does the art act as an extension of the record? It’s slightly more elegant than before and I guess you can say the same about our music. It all intertwines even better than I dared to hope. Our trademarks (The Blind Dead references) are there, but the approach is different. There’s some kind of mystic and epic vibe to it. I hope you can get lost in it just as well as in the music. Tell us about the concept of the ‘Crumbling Insanity’ video. To put it shortly, there’s a wanderer who finds an ancient mystical text with illustrations. The pages tell a story of hooded figures terrorizing humanity and crumbling civilization. Hooded Menace has been a part of many splits. Are there any future splits planned and if you could do a split with any band, who would it be? We’re currently working on our song for the vinyl split with the US doomgodz Loss. As usually it will be released by Doomentia Records. As for the ultimate split … man, there´re so many bands to choose from, but if I can pick ANY band I suppose I’m almost obligated to say Black Sabbath. We’ve shared a wax with bands such as Asphyx and Coffins, so I consider us very fortunate already. Who are your biggest influences inside and outside the doom metal genre? Inside doom and doomy death metal genre: 80s Candlemass, Cathedral, Autopsy, two first Paradise Lost albums and Asphyx. Outside: 80s Maiden, Metallica (3 first albums only), Goblin, Fabio Frizzi… Where do you see the future of doom and do you believe that it is becoming a more accessible genre? Well, doom is now more popular than ever. I feel like it’s peaking already. Maybe this trend will go on for some time but there must be a downhill sooner or later. A lot of people will be somewhere else. I wish I was wrong, but that’s how I see it really. Hopefully the better bands will be around and there’ll be an audience for them. Stream Hooded Menace’s ‘Effigies of Evil’ album in full here and check out the band’s Facebook page. Watch Hooded Menace’s ‘Crumbling Insanity’ Video