Kevin Winter, Getty Images Here’s a look at the top stories of the day on Loudwire and around the Web: – Great news for Black Sabbath fans! The heavy metal icons have finished recording their new album, have started to plot their next world tour and as an added bonus, there is a positive update on guitarist Tony Iommi’s health. [ Loudwire ] – Exclusive: Bullet for My Valentine showcase the screams from their upcoming album ‘Temper Temper.’ [ Loudwire ] – Stone Sour reveal ‘House of Gold & Bones Part 2′ release date and offer details on the album’s first single. [ Loudwire ] – The championship round of the Loudwire Rock Bowl is here with Pantera taking on Metallica . Vote now! [ Loudwire ] – Soundgarden , Alice in Chains , Deftones and more to play 2013 Carolina Rebellion Festival. [ Loudwire ] – Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler dresses in drag for surprise return to ‘American Idol.’ [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose suffers setback in lawsuit against Activision. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Radiohead’s Thom Yorke DJs New York fashion event for Rag & Bone. [ Diffuser.fm ] – The Misfits share full album stream + announce in-store signings in New York City and New Jersey. [ Rock Music Report ]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images Former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano is facing a major career change and seems enthused about the future. Caggiano tells Pro Sound News that ultimately his desire to have more creative involvement in the music he was generating led to his exit. He explains, “If you were to ask me to give you the absolute main reason why I decided to leave Anthrax, I would tell you that I left because my heart simply wasn’t in it anymore. I had a blast playing with those guys and they will always be family to me, but outside of my guitar solos and production work, Anthrax was never a creative outlet for me [musically]. That wasn’t by any choice of my own but the way, it’s just the way it is.” The guitarist adds, “I guess it just got to the point where I started asking myself, ‘What the hell am I doing? I’m a musician. This is who I am. Being creative is simply soul food for my soul. Why am I devoting all of my time and energy into a band where being creative is impossible for me?’ It simply stopped making sense a while ago and I ended up feeling very unhappy and very unfulfilled. It started feeling like I was just going through the motions and that’s not what music is about to me at all.” In recent years, Caggiano has seen his production career expanding and he’s interested in exploring that to the fullest as well. The guitarist, who is currently producing Volbeat ‘s next album, says, “Making records is a lot of hard work and to be honest, I usually can’t even listen to an album I’ve worked on when I’m done with it. It’s the smiles and excitement people have when they listen to it that make it worthwhile for me.” As for working as a recording musician and touring artist, Caggiano says, “I’m absolutely not giving up my guitar! I’m not giving up touring anytime soon either. I love the stage and I love touring. It’s in my blood and it’s who I am. I just needed to step off the machine to reevaluate things. Sometimes it’s good to do that and with change comes growth. I have a lot to say musically and I’m ready to scream!” To read more of Caggiano’s thoughts on music production and his future, check out the full interview at Pro Sound News . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/anthrax-tap-shadows-fall-guitarist-jon-donais-to-fill-vacant-band-slot-on-upcoming-tour/” title=”Next: Anthrax Name Guitarist Rob Caggiano’s Touring Replacement” align=”center”]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images Former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano is facing a major career change and seems enthused about the future. Caggiano tells Pro Sound News that ultimately his desire to have more creative involvement in the music he was generating led to his exit. He explains, “If you were to ask me to give you the absolute main reason why I decided to leave Anthrax, I would tell you that I left because my heart simply wasn’t in it anymore. I had a blast playing with those guys and they will always be family to me, but outside of my guitar solos and production work, Anthrax was never a creative outlet for me [musically]. That wasn’t by any choice of my own but the way, it’s just the way it is.” The guitarist adds, “I guess it just got to the point where I started asking myself, ‘What the hell am I doing? I’m a musician. This is who I am. Being creative is simply soul food for my soul. Why am I devoting all of my time and energy into a band where being creative is impossible for me?’ It simply stopped making sense a while ago and I ended up feeling very unhappy and very unfulfilled. It started feeling like I was just going through the motions and that’s not what music is about to me at all.” In recent years, Caggiano has seen his production career expanding and he’s interested in exploring that to the fullest as well. The guitarist, who is currently producing Volbeat ‘s next album, says, “Making records is a lot of hard work and to be honest, I usually can’t even listen to an album I’ve worked on when I’m done with it. It’s the smiles and excitement people have when they listen to it that make it worthwhile for me.” As for working as a recording musician and touring artist, Caggiano says, “I’m absolutely not giving up my guitar! I’m not giving up touring anytime soon either. I love the stage and I love touring. It’s in my blood and it’s who I am. I just needed to step off the machine to reevaluate things. Sometimes it’s good to do that and with change comes growth. I have a lot to say musically and I’m ready to scream!” To read more of Caggiano’s thoughts on music production and his future, check out the full interview at Pro Sound News . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/anthrax-tap-shadows-fall-guitarist-jon-donais-to-fill-vacant-band-slot-on-upcoming-tour/” title=”Next: Anthrax Name Guitarist Rob Caggiano’s Touring Replacement” align=”center”]
Michael Buckner, Getty Images Here’s a look at the top stories of the day on Loudwire and around the Web: – In our exclusive interview with Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx , the icon tells us about the new creative direction he’s taking with his new Schecter Sixx signature bass. [ Loudwire ] – Tool guitarist Adam Jones proposed to his girlfriend live in front of the WWE ‘Royal Rumble’ audience. Watch the footage of Jones’ proposal here. [ Loudwire ] – Tour dates and cities for the 2013 Mayhem Festival have been announced. Check them out here. [ Loudwire ] – Jason Newsted on new band dynamics, besting Justin Bieber on iTunes + tour plans. [ Loudwire ] – Bryan Carlstrom, engineer for Alice in Chains , the Offspring and many more bands, has died at the age of 51. Rest in peace. [ Loudwire ] – Don’t forget to vote in the Loudwire Rock Bowl. Pick your favorite songs in the Quarterfinals here. [ Loudwire ] – Iron Maiden expose the hidden danger of onstage pie fights! [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Beatles icon Paul McCartney takes very good care of his sheep. Don’t believe us? See for yourself here. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Punk rock legends Black Flag announce new album and U.S. tour. [ Diffuser.fm ]
Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images / Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Who will be the next Ozzy Osbourne or Linkin Park ? That remains to be seen but it may actually be Osbourne or Linkin Park that helps them on the way. Both acts have agreed to be curators for the new Grammy Amplifier competition. Osbourne recently tweeted , “Are there any undiscovered musicians in the house?,” urging those interested to take part in the Grammy Amplifier program. There’s a three-step process to the competition, with the musicians first uploading a Soundcloud file to the website, then alerting their social networks to get fans voting for the music. The votes are known as “amplifies” and those with the most “amplifies” will have their music then passed on to the Grammy Amplifier curators — Ozzy Osbourne, Linkin Park, Rza and Kelly Clarkson . The four artists will then give the “most amplified” acts a greater platform by promoting the music they choose on their own social networking sites. The competition is limited to legal residents of the 50 United States who are at least 13 years of age. Musicians who currently or in the past have enjoyed a Billboard Hot 100 song or received Gold, Platinum or Multi-Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America are not eligible. All entries must be submitted by Feb. 1. To get started and check out all of the rules, visit the GrammyAmplifier.com website . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/ozzy-osbourne-suffers-injuries-house-fire/” title=”Next: Ozzy Osbourne Suffers Injuries in House Fire” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire / Ethan Miller, Getty Images There are a lot of happy people out there rejoicing that Korn ‘s former guitarist Brian “Head” Welch is playing some shows with the band again. But before all the festivals and summer touring kicks off, there was a Korn preview of sorts at the NAMM Convention in Anaheim. Korn’s drummer Ray Luzier was performing as part of a Sabian-backed jam session with bass and guitar greats Billy Sheehan and George Lynch. During a break in the action, Luzier grabbed the microphone to reveal the performance’s special guest. He told the audience, “I’m really, really extremely happy to announce that Brian ‘Head’ Welch, the original guitar player of Korn, will be touring in Korn this summer, for the tour, European, States and all.” And with that, he introduced Welch who was in attendance at the event. The guitarist took the stage for a brief performance of Korn’s breakthrough hit ‘Blind,’ while visibly enjoying his surroundings. During the lead-in on the song, Welch turned to George Lynch and told the crowd, “I wouldn’t even be playing guitar if it wasn’t for that dude,” which got a chuckle from the longtime Dokken and Lynch Mob axeman. Korn recently revealed that Welch would be joining them for their European trek and it was announced this week that he was also pulling double duty at this year’s Rock on the Range festival, playing with Korn as well as his current band Love and Death . The summer dates mark the first extended touring for Welch with Korn since 2004. Watch Brian ‘Head’ Welch With Ray Luzier, George Lynch and Billy Sheehan Performing Korn’s ‘Blind’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/brian-head-welch-really-excited-reuniting-korn-2013-gigs/” title=”Next: Brian ‘Head’ Welch Shares Excitement Over Korn Return” 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”]