Megaforce Breaking news from the legendary thrash metallers of Anthrax . Lead guitarist Rob Caggiano has left the band to focus on production work. Having joined Anthrax in 2001, Caggiano stuck with the New York thrash band until the group’s ‘Among the Living’ lineup reunited in 2005. However, Caggiano was brought back in 2007, remaining as Anthrax’s lead guitarist until now. The announcement comes as a big surprise, as Anthrax have been experiencing their greatest success in years on the heels of their critically acclaimed 2011 album, ‘Worship Music,’ which just yielded a Grammy nomination for the track ‘I’m Alive.’ Caggiano explains his departure in statement just released by the guitarist himself: I’m extremely proud of my time in Anthrax. Actually, that’s an understatement! We accomplished so many great things together over the years and I shared some of the best times of my life with these guys. As a band, we also weathered quite a few storms along the way. It’s been a wild ride (to say the least) from Day One and I wouldn’t change one single thing about the last 12 years. This is an extremely difficult and emotional decision for me to make but my heart is just steering me in a different direction right now. I’ve always been one to follow my heart in everything that I do and while this might be one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, it feels like the right one for me at this time. Scott, Charlie, Joey, Frankie (and John Bush) will always be part of my family and this decision doesn’t change the way I feel about that in the slightest. I would also like to say thanks to all the amazing fans I’ve met and hung out with worldwide over the years. You guys always were and always will be the reason why I make music! In this day and age, being a musician isn’t always easy -also an understatement- but the fans truly make it worthwhile for me. I hope to see each and every one of you again really soon. The fact that Anthrax is at the top of their game right now and totally ‘out for blood’ after all these years is a testament to this band’s longevity and conviction! I’m truly honored to have been a part of their brilliant legacy. As for this future, the former Anthrax shredder will continue his career as an in-studio producer: I can’t wait to get back in the recording studio again! Over the years, I’ve been blessed with the privilege of working with a wide range of great bands/artists from Anthrax and Cradle of Filth all the way to Bruce Springsteen, and I look forward to a hopeful continuation of that side of my career while I figure out my next move as an artist. BTW in case anyone was wondering after reading all of this, I do FULLY intend to get back out there on the road very soon in some way shape or form….it’s in my blood! Anthrax have also released their own statement, wishing their friend the best on his new path: Rob has been an integral part of Anthrax for so many years, as our lead guitarist, in a production capacity, but most of all, as our close friend. His contributions to the band have been enormous. While we are sad that he is leaving, we wish him nothing but great success going forward, and hope to share the stage with him again sometime down the road. With the Metal Alliance Tour on the horizon, we have been considering several lead guitarist options, and will be making an announcement on that shortly. Stay tuned for Anthrax’s decision on who will replace Caggiano on lead guitar for the 2013 Metal Alliance tour, along with Caggiano’s future plans as a producer. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/dates-revealed-2013-metal-alliance-tour-anthrax-exodus-municipal-waste/” title=”Anthrax – 2013 Metal Alliance Tour Dates” align=”center”]
Rise Records With 14 years together and seven studio albums under their belt, the California metal band Bleeding Through have announced that they will disband. The band first began as a side project for vocalist Brandan Schieppati’s in 1999, who was a member of Eighteen Visions at the time. Bleeding Through released their latest album, ‘The Great Fire,’ in 2012. Prior to disbanding, Bleeding Through will embark on a farewell tour. Schieppati released an official statement via Blabbermouth.net addressing the band’s decision to go their separate ways: “When you have some success doing something that you love, you never really think about writing a statement about that something coming to an end. Well, that dream that we have had as Bleeding Through has come to an end. I think I can speak for the rest of my bandmates in saying that we always hoped it would end on our terms, and it has. We have been fortunate to have a strong fan base worldwide and have brought joy to many and pissed off many more. As Bleeding Through was always a band that wore the emotion of the music on our sleeves. We cared about everyone like family that ever took the time to listen to our band, support our merchandise and go to our shows. Since 1999, we have been blessed to be able to tour the world, record seven records with some great musical minds, tour with amazing bands and people, work with people with character such as management, booking agents and road crew. Most importantly, we made lasting friends from this journey. We have been honored to be part of a expanding the musical movement of heavy music and hope to be remembered as a benchmark and pioneer of a specific style of music. We have been a band since 1999, and many of us just had life catch up with us in the way of marriages, kids, businesses and other endeavors. We can no longer dedicate what we need to to keep as Bleeding Through going. Personally, I feel doing this band in a part-time fashion is not what this band is about and feel like we have always been an all-or-nothing band. With that being said, and because we have established a worldwide following over the last 14 years, we want to give us and those people one more chance to share in this music together. We are setting up farewell tours. Dates will be up and promoted very soon. To those who supported this band: It has been an honor.” Stay tuned for information in regards to Bleeding Through’s Farewell tour dates. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/bleeding-through-dave-nassie-interview-new-album-the-great-fire-more/” title=”Next: Bleeding Through’s Dave Nassie Talks ‘The Great Fire'” align=”center”]
Simone Joyner, Getty Images Bring Me the Horizon continue to evolve with each album and the band is ready to kick off 2013 by showing a bit of their musical growth with the new song ‘Shadow Moses.’ The group debuted the track Friday (Jan. 4) on BBC Radio 1, giving fans their first taste of the forthcoming album, ‘ Sempiternal .’ The song provides a haunting opening before kicking in with singer Oli Sykes delivering the key line, “ Can you tell from the look in our eyes / We’re going nowhere / We live our lives and we’re ready to die / We’re going nowhere .” The “ We’re going nowhere ” line has already worked masterfully as an audience call-and-response in the band’s recent live performances. In addition, the group has managed to work in the album title into the tune, with Sykes screaming on a couple of occasions, “ This is sempiternal .” For those wondering what the title means, it’s definition is “eternal and unchanging” or “everlasting,” thus making the concept of “going nowhere” in the track a rather dreary thought. Along with the brutal subject matter, the song comes with the requisite force, aggression and driving guitar work that one would expect from Bring Me the Horizon, along with a chorus that’s incredibly infectious. Sykes recently said of the band’s forthcoming disc, “I’ve never been so confident about an album. It makes our last record just sound s—. We’re doing stuff we could never dreamed of doing before.” A firm release date for the ‘Sempiternal’ album has not been revealed, but given the fact that the song has now debuted, an early 2013 street date is likely to follow. To listen to ‘Shadow Moses,’ click on the button below and drag the player to the 2:12:02 mark: [button href=”http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b01pfb5f” title=”Listen to Bring Me the Horizon’s ‘Shadow Moses’ (at 2:12:02 mark)” align=”center”] ?
Karl Walter, Getty Images When he’s not on the road touring, Iron Maiden ‘s Bruce Dickinson is running his Wales-based business Cardiff Aviation, Ltd. , an aircraft maintenance company he launched last year. Now, Dickinson is starting the new year with a solid base for his new operation with hopes for a prosperous future. When he first announced the business, Dickinson had speculated that it could bring in hundreds of jobs to the local community. In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal , Dickinson reveals that his fledgling operation currently employs 40 people, but expects to expand to between 100-125 employees by next summer. “That’s not bad,” says the singer, who admits that even he deals with “the wonderful world of practicality.” However, even with the expected growth, there is an incredible amount of patience and the ability to temper expectations needed to run the business. The vocalist explains, “Clearly aviation is a highly regulated industry, and it does take time for the wheels to grind.” Dickinson says it is somewhat frustrating knowing that they have some resources to push forward, but must wait on the red tape before proceeding. He adds, “[We have] 5 million dollars worth of heavy engineering machinery … We have enough stuff in our hanger to build an airliner, let alone maintain it.” However, first there are a number of certifications that need to happen. However, Dickinson is confident in his future and says he feels he has the two key attributes needed to succeed. He explains, “You’ve got to have a vision, but you’ve also got to have common sense.” Years of trial and error have also helped. He recalls one of his first ever enterprises, dating back to his youth. “One of my earliest ventures was when I was 9 years old. I realized there was a shortage of pencils at school, so I started Rent-a-Pencil,” recalls Dickinson. “But I made a fundamental mistake. Everybody stole my pencils.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/iron-maidens-bruce-dickinson-offers-start-up-business-advice/” title=”Next: Bruce Dickinson Offers Start-Up Business Advice” align=”center”]
Studio Jonkillz An incredibly exciting new musical project is beginning to take shape. To create the soundtrack for an upcoming documentary film about Phil Anselmo ‘s ‘House of Shock’ haunted house attraction, members of Slayer , Exodus , Queens of the Stone Age and Amen have joined forces for a full-on sonic boom. There have been countless “supergroups” formed throughout the history of rock and metal, but this project is a new breed entirely. When Exodus guitarist Gary Holt filled in for Slayer then-ailing guitarist Jeff Hanneman , Holt formed a strong creative bond with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo . “Whenever Dave and I would get on deck for soundcheck, we’d go up there first and jam make up stuff everyday,” Holt tells Noisecreep . “It just comes easy for us. We’re both into being spontaneous and improvising. We probably have an album’s worth of material.” Legendary producer Ross Robinson ( Slipknot , Deftones ) was self-admittedly blown away by the “fire, energy and wisdom” created by Holt and Lombardo, so when the producer was approached to help provide music for the ‘House of Shock’ documentary, Robinson immediately knew who he wanted to work with. “The first thing I wanted to do was tap into this energy between Gary and Dave,” says Ross of the unnamed project. “And Casey [Chaos, Amen] has this amazing ability to do these amazing choruses and be so violent and ruthless at it.” Along with Casey Chaos coming in as another contibutor, former Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri became the fourth musician to join the collective. With such a unique lineup cemented together for the soundtrack, an obvious question presents itself: Will the diverse group form a new band and create their own album? Although both Holt and Lombardo are hard at work for new Exodus and Slayer albums, respectively, Lombardo keeps an open mind. “If we came in for two weeks of just riff-writing and another two weeks of putting it all together, we’d have an album that would throw people for a loop,” explains the drummer. “They wouldn’t know what hit them … I’m as proud of this stuff as anything I’ve ever done. It’s phenomenal.” Stay tuned for more news on this non-monikered project and the tunes they’re creating for the ‘House of Shock’ documentary.
Photo by Matthew Rodgers Anthrax have just released a triumphant and in-depth video about their road from nearly calling it quits to gaining a Grammy nomination for ‘I’m Alive.’ The New York thrash masters have completed an incredible journey in the past few years, and according to the video, we all owe Lars Ulrich of Metallica a great debt. The introspective video begins with the story of how the very first ‘Big 4′ show was finally concocted. The video begins: “April 3, 2009: Challenges have brought Anthrax to the brink of an uncertain future… Charlie Benante , Scott Ian and Lars Ulrich are having a drink at a Cleveland bar just prior to Metallica’s being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lars suggests the idea of The Big 4: Metallica, Slayer , Megadeth and Anthrax in concert. It’s just the kick in the ass that Charlie and Scott need…” From there onward, the video documents vocalist Joey Belladonna rejoining the band on May 10, 2010, the recording of ‘Worship Music,’ the various ‘Big 4′ shows that were performed, the declaration of ‘Anthrax Day’ in the Bronx and even the fact that Anthrax became the first metal band in history to have their music played on Mars. Anthrax are now enjoying one of the peaks of their career and are now awaiting the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, where they will face formidable competition in the Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance category . Check out the story of Anthrax’s resurgence in the video below. Anthrax ‘I’m Alive’ Grammy Nomination Video
Jo Hale, Getty Images / Men’s Warehouse Breaking news from Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine ! According to the legendary thrash musician, the Men’s Warehouse shop in Salt Lake City, Utah, has sub-par delivery service. That’s right: As of 11:11 PM PST on Dec. 28, 2012, Megadeth tour manager Jim Carroccio was yet to receive a gift certificate that Mustaine ordered from the outlet. Thankfully, Mustaine has documented the case and posted a lengthy description on Megadeth’s Facebook page. Megadeth’s 5 million Facebook followers were treated to the story right before the new year. In a note aptly titled, ‘ Men’s Warehouse ,’ Mustaine detailed his recent trouble with the chain, all stemming from a gift certificate the red-headed shredder gave to Jim Carroccio. Beginning with the perfect intro for a Mustaine rant, “You know me, I don’t complain much in writing,” the Megadeth frontman writes: Droogies, I know that not all of you have the kind of job that requires a suit, or wear a suit when you (if you) go to any kind of faith-based service, court date, wedding or funeral, but if you do…you are going to want to read this. You know me, I don’t complain much in writing, but I gotta get this off my chest. A few days before Christmas I purchased a gift certificate from the Men’s Warehouse in Salt Lake City, Utah as a gift for our awesome tour manager Jim Carroccio. You know the Men’s Warehouse…the old geezer with the voice that sound like he has chain-smoked since he was a fetus; the one that espouses, “I absolutely guarantee you’re gonna like the way you look,” or some manure like that, right? Well, I was talking to Jim today and wondering why he didn’t say anything (I think we all wonder sometimes when our loved ones or friends get gifts if they actually like them) and it turns out that they decided to hold my order, otherwise called by them as “pending,” and told no one. For almost 9 days now I have been waiting for delivery of this gift certificate, and I wouldn’t say anything because it IS the holidays, but these salesmen promised that they would GUARANTEE a two-day delivery of the certificate to Jim (it seems they throw this word GUARANTEE around quite a lot). So, we called and asked what happened and they have no explanation whatsoever, they didn’t care, and when we asked if they were going to do anything to remedy this, they made no effort whatsoever for this mix-up…although they did promise me the same GUARANTEE that they gave me when I bought it; that is that they will send it “two-day delivery,” but I already was promised this. Maybe they mean 12 day delivery. I really think that it sucks when people make false claims, that they don’t care to make good on a problem that is clearly their fault, and with all of the “ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEE IT” crap I just had to say something. We are all living in very tight financial times right now, and like I said, you may not wear a suit for your job or for an event or occasion, but if you do, I would strongly recommend you wear someone else’s suits. Go to Jos. A Bank instead. I for one, will never set foot in a Men’s Warehouse, even for shelter from a blizzard. I absolutely GUARANTEE it. Dave Mustaine We’ll be sure to update fans immediately as soon as we hear any word of the gift certificate safely arriving. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/dave-mustaine-inspiration-jesus-clint-eastwood-upcoming-megadeth-album/” title=”Dave Mustaine Influenced by Clint Eastwood and Jesus Christ” align=”center”]