NewstedHeavyMetal.com Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted is back rocking again and fans are getting the first taste of his new self-titled band with the just-released single ‘Soldierhead.’ The song comes from the four-track release, ‘ Metal ,’ due Jan. 8 via iTunes. Newsted shot a video for the song over the week that’s expected to debut shortly, but in the interim fans can check out ‘Soldierhead’ in the player below. The hard-driving track finds the bassist exploring his metal roots and delivering the type of head banging song that most fans would hope for. The bassist steps up to the mic on the ‘Metal’ EP and does an admirable job, but it’s the bass breakdown in ‘Soldierhead’ that stands out and makes it uniquely Newsted. In addition to ‘Soldierhead,’ fans can keep an ear out for ‘Godsnake,’ ‘King of the Underdogs’ and ‘Skyscraper,’ the three other songs that make up the ‘Metal’ EP. Though full versions of the tracks have yet to hit the Internet, song snippets can be heard at iTunes, where the disc is currently available for pre-order. ‘Godsnake’ is more a chugging track, while ‘King of the Underdogs’ finds the band rocking with reckless abandon and ‘Skyscraper’ is more of a straight-up, attitude-filled rocker. To hear the song snippets or to pre-order the ‘Metal’ EP, click here . Newsted has not announced any tour dates as of yet, but it is likely he’ll play some shows as some point. Listen to Newsted’s ‘Soliderhead’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/ex-metallica-bassist-jason-newsted-details-plans-for-musical-comeback/” title=”Next: Jason Newsted Details Musical Comeback Plans” align=”center”]
Charlemange Productions Love metal? Dig Christmas? Then let legendary actor Christopher Lee entertain you with heavy metal versions of classic Christmas songs. The 90-year-old Lee is famous for his roles in ’Dracula’ and ‘Lord of the Rings,’ among countless other films. He has been crafting his voice for many years, having famously lent his pipes to the soundtrack for horror flick ‘The Wicker Man,’ released in 1973. Although Lee is a classically trained singer, the ‘Dracula’ icon released his first metal album, ‘Charlemange: By the Sword and the Cross,’ in 2010, receiving Metal Hammer’s Spirit of Metal award at their 2010 Golden Gods ceremony. Lee’s ‘Charlemange’ sequel, ‘The Omens of Death,’ is expected to see a 2013 release. “I was first introduced to metal when I sang with a [band] called Rhapsody,” Lee tells BBC Radio. “But what I sang was not heavy metal; I sang with a tenor. Then I worked with Manowar as a narrator, I think it was in Germany, and again, that was not me singing metal. I became rather fascinated by this, ’cause in terms of history of music, it’s fairly recent, really. And if it’s properly done and you can understand the story and you can understand what the people are singing and you have the right bands and the right singers, I think it’s rather exciting.” Christopher Lee’s surprisingly crushing renditions of ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ and ‘Silent Night’ are now available to purchase via iTunes and Amazon . Check out a preview of both tracks in the player below. Christopher Lee, ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ + ‘Silent Night’ (Teaser) [button href=”http://loudwire.com/lord-of-the-rings-actor-christopher-lee-recording-metal-album-at-90-years-old/” title=”Next: More on Christopher Lee’s Upcoming Metal Album” align=”center”]
Facebook: Flyleaf / Facebook: Drowning Pool Two rock bands will put their newly chosen singers vocalists on display when they team up for a 2013 tour. Earlier this year, Flyleaf announced that Kristen May would front the band, taking over for Lacey Sturm who left after recording of the group’s ‘ New Horizons ‘ album. Meanwhile, Drowning Pool are touring in support of their first album with new frontman Jasen Moreno . The as-yet-untitled disc just yielded the single ‘ Saturday Night .’ The trek launches Feb. 21 in Philadelphia and runs for a full month through March 24. Flyleaf guitarist Sameer Bhattacharya says, “We’re excited for everyone to experience Kristen May’s powerful and inspiring voice as she joins us onstage.” Bassist Pat Seals adds, “I can’t wait for these new songs to happen live for both longtime and new fans.” Drowning Pool guitarist CJ Pierce adds about the tour, “We’re excited as hell to get back out on the road and hang with our fellow Texas rockers Flyleaf. We’ve done some radio shows together in the past but this will be our first real run together. I know Flyleaf has a great new lineup and some amazing new tunes. We’ll be playing a killer mix of songs from our catalogue and some new tunes as well. Looking forward to rocking out with everyone.” In addition to ‘Saturday Night,’ Drowning Pool also served up a preview track called ‘One Finger and a Fist’ during the WWE Slammy Awards earlier this week. The song is available as a free download for a limited time here . Get it now. Flyleaf / Drowning Pool 2013 North American Tour: 2/21 — Philadelphia, Pa. — TLA 2/22 — Pittsburgh, Pa. — Altar Bar 2/23 — Hartford, Ct. — Webster 2/24 — Allentown, Pa. — Crocodile Rock 2/27 — Huntington, N.Y. — Paramount 2/28 — New York, N.Y. — Irving 3/1 — Asbury Park, N.J. — Asbury Park 3/2 — Silver Spring, Md. — Fillmore 3/5 — Cincinnati, Ohio — Bogart’s 3/6 — Cleveland, Ohio — House of Blues 3/8 — Grand Rapids, Mich. — The Intersection 3/9 — Detroit, Mich. — St. Andrews Hall 3/10 — Chicago, Ill. — House of Blues 3/14 — Denver, Colo. — The Summit Music Hall 3/15 — Salt Lake City, Utah — ITV 3/16 — Boise, Idaho — Knitting Factory 3/17 — Spokane, Wash. — Knitting Factory 3/19 — Reno, Nev. — Knitting Factory 3/21 — Anaheim, Calif. — House of Blues 3/23 — Tempe, Ariz. — The Marquee 3/24 — Tucson, Ariz. — Rock [button href=”http://loudwire.com/flyleaf-animated-video-call-you-out/” title=”Next: Watch Flyleaf’s ‘Call You Out’ Video” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Motionless In White literally shook the foundation of New York City’s Irving Plaza on Sunday night (Dec. 15), along with Chelsea Grin , Stick to Your Guns, The Witch Was Right and Upon This Dawning. It was a big night for Motionless In White, who stopped in New York City for their first North American headlining tour. Not one person in the venue was standing still during their set as fans went crazy as the band performed ‘Creatures,’ ‘Abigail,’ and ‘Immaculate Conception,’ among other tunes. Irving Plaza felt as if were about to cave in as fans moved with force as Motionless in White played new tracks such as ‘If It’s Dead We’ll Kill It,’ off of their latest release ‘Infamous.’ Earlier in the evening, Chelsea Grin took the stage and gave an energetic performance which had the crowd bouncing to songs such as ‘The Second Coming,’ ‘The Foolish One,’ ‘Recreant’ and ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’ among others. Stick to Your Guns preached positive messages in between songs but during their performance fans voraciously crowd surfed so much that security guards could barely keep up with them. The Witch Was Right and Upon This Dawning also served as support for the night. The show as a whole gave off a Warped Tour like atmosphere inside the intimate space of Irving Plaza. Although Motionless In White’s 2012 headlining tour has wrapped up, the band is set to hit Europe with Asking Alexandria in 2013. Check out a full list of dates and countries here . Check Out Photos of Motionless In White and Chelsea Grin in New York: Motionless In White: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Chelsea Grin: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire In Flames frontman Anders Friden was the guest on Full Metal Jackie’s radio show this past weekend. Friden spoke about touring all over the world, plans to write for a new album and his overall fondness for golfing and beer. Read Full Metal Jackie’s full interview with Anders Friden below: How are you? It’s great to see you again. I’m excellent. I’m good, extremely jet-lagged. We came from Japan a few days ago but I’m waking up at like seven in the morning but I’m happy. It must be crazy, your body doesn’t know what time zone that you’re in or if you’re supposed to be sleeping or awake. The thing is, we were in Japan just recently and we were there for two nights and three days and came from Sweden – just as I got adjusted to Japanese time it was time to come over here. So I’m totally f—ed in my head, more than usual. What an amazing place to play though. Yeah, I love being in Japan. I love being here as well, we play pretty much anywhere and enjoy it. What makes In Flames such a good fit on a bill with Hatebreed and Lamb of God, in your opinion? We can play with anyone, we are a metal band and we fit in with everyone. We play anywhere, with everyone – I mean we’ve known those guys for a long time. We all have history together so I think it’s really cool and a very relaxed atmosphere. Last night was the first night and there was no tension, no nothing, it was awesome. In Flames have been on and off the road, you guys have only been to the States twice this year? Yeah, we’ve been pretty busy doing Europe. We’ve been in America twice but we’ve been pretty much touring constantly – we had a month of prior to this but it’s been a busy year. Offstage, what do you think the difference is with your comradery with U.S. bands compared to other European bands? We’ve been to America so many times and we have a lot of friends over here and we have a history with them, as I said and we feel a bond somewhere. I believe we are pretty easygoing as people and hopefully they see that. We don’t pretend like we’re someone else, we are who we are and we let the music talk. You guys are on the road now and everyone’s always wondering about a band’s activities when they travel and when they’re touring. What would you say the most essential non-musical item you must have to have with you while you’re on tour? Beer. [Laughs] Well, beer you got anywhere you go. Well it is music and beer, that’s what it is – that’s my life. When I’m on the road I try to get away and play golf once in a while. I love to play golf, I didn’t bring my clubs this time because I thought the weather would be not as good but I do miss them today. It would have been great to go to a course, a golf course – a part from that just walking around a little bit and looking at the city you’re in, shopping for some vinyls, that’s what me and Niclas [Engelin] did today. It was expensive but fun. [Laughs] It’s funny because for us, you’re buying what’s considered an import for you. Yeah, but in Sweden it’s so expensive. You mentioned you were a golfer, is golfing a big deal in Sweden? I think it is, we’re like 9 million and there are a half million people golfing so I consider that a pretty big thing. I’ve never been to Sweden, I just imagine that it’s cold. Right now it’s extremely cold – it’s below zero I think. It’s nice to be here. Rather than write on the road, In Flames seems to be more interested in enjoying the romance of being on tour, good food, good beer and good company. What about such experiences do you think will affect new music once you’re back home? I highly doubt it will affect music whatsoever – I mean I guess you work better if you’re in a good music, somehow. It’s really hard to say what affects our music because I can’t really say what we have as an influence these days, anymore. When we started out it was like “We want to be like our heroes” and a few albums in – I don’t know anymore. Obviously, you guys are still working off the last record ‘Sounds of a Playground Fading.’ What’s the plan in terms of new music? Do you guys have anything new written or a timeline for when you’re going to go back? I wish we can write on the road but we can’t. We have all the time in the world but I don’t know – too much beer to drink. We’re looking into writing and recording something at the end of the next year, I think. So we’re hoping to have a release 2014 – it seems so far away but it’s not. Full Metal Jackie will welcome the legendary Henry Rollins 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 .
EMI Alice in Chains have unleashed the first taste of their upcoming album in the form of the new single ‘Hollow.’ The track can be heard in the lyric video below. The band’s upcoming disc is the follow-up to 2009′s ‘Black Gives Way to Blue,’ which was AIC’s first album to feature current vocalist William DuVall, who replaced the late Layne Staley. The disc is set for release in the spring of 2013. The song ‘Hollow’ boasts a vintage Alice in Chains sound, with DuVall and guitarist-singer Jerry Cantrell trading harmonies over some crushing guitar riffs. Lyrically, the song offers a series of cryptic phrases, beginning with the lines, “Turning in circles / Slowing down / Pulling against a closing out / Easy to feed off a weaker thing / Harder to say what I really mean.” The tune is accompanied by a lyric video that features Instagram photos that were sent in by fans at the request of Alice in Chains. The band posted a series of lyrics to inspire the photo submissions. ‘Hollow’ will be available for purchase on iTunes beginning Jan. 8, with the official music video for the song set to follow. Alice in Chains, ‘Hollow’ – Fan Lyric Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-alice-in-chains-songs/” title=”Next: 10 Best Alice in Chains Songs” align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com As we recently reported, Motley Crue vocalist Vince Neil found himself in a Twitter battle after advocating gun control while reacting to the horrific shooting in Newtown, Conn. After withstanding a barrage of criticism and firing off additional tweets attacking those who challenged him, Neil has now posted that he was “misunderstood” and offered apologies to those he offended. The Twitter feud began when Neil tweeted the following message: “Sad day today. Prayers to all the families. Gun Control!!!” After some ill will was directed at Neil about his stance on guns, the singer responded with the following series of tweets: Why is everyone so concerned with guns? What about the CHILDREN that were MURDERED today! Get your priorities straight!! Come on people!! — Vince Neil (@TheVinceNeil) December 14, 2012 I did say gun control but I didn’t think 90% of you would care more about your gun than dead children!!! — Vince Neil (@TheVinceNeil) December 14, 2012 FUCK YOU to EVERYONE who puts guns in front of kids!! Do not come to ANY shows! You are sick!! — Vince Neil (@TheVinceNeil) December 15, 2012 Today (Dec. 18), however, Neil apologized for the previous tweets by explaining that he was misunderstood while reminding his Twitter followers that he tragically lost his 4-year-old daughter Skylar to cancer: I’ve been misunderstood on this subject. It was upsetting to me that the focus was not on the children and their families. I lost a child — Vince Neil (@TheVinceNeil) December 18, 2012 that age. I never said ban guns. I said gun control. Sorry if I offended anyone. — Vince Neil (@TheVinceNeil) December 18, 2012