Scott Gries, Getty Images While the remaining members of Velvet Revolver have been rocking out with their latest solo efforts, former vocalist Scott Weiland seems hopeful about the revival of the band and his potential return as the frontman of the currently defunct supergroup. In fact, he even suggests they are set to start writing new material. In a new interview with Rolling Stone , Weiland expressed great enthusiasm for a possible Velvet Revolver reunion. ”I think it’s the perfect time for Velvet Revolver to get back together,” Weiland said. “Slash has done some great things, and I look forward to the opportunity to seeing him on my left and seeing Duff McKagan – who, in my opinion, is without a doubt one of the greatest rock’n’ roll and punk rock bass players of all time. And is still in amazing shape – is more ripped than just about any 25-year-old on the planet. And with Matt [Sorum] and Dave [Kushner] as well, who are just incredible musicians. I think that’s exciting to look forward to. It’s the old cliché, ‘If the gods of rock want it to happen, then it will.’” We’re not sure about the gods of rock but at last check, back in September, McKagan said that things with Velvet Revolver where at a bit of a stand still as they continued their search for the perfect replacement for Scott Weiland. “There’s nobody now,” McKagan reported. “I think the longer that Slash is out touring, and that I’m out touring, people will stop asking as much. Maybe once it’s settled down, we’ll find the guy.” Weiland seems very confident that he’ll once again be the band’s lead singer, and seemingly feels the rest of the band is open to his return as well. “I am completely open to it, and I know there are other guys in the band that are completely open to it. There have been some things that have stood in the way that aren’t anything that have to do with the band – just other players, whether it be agents. But now we’re sorting through things, and we want to start writing for some big film opportunities that have come our way, and try to set things up the way we set things up when we initially got together.” So for now the future of Velvet Revolver is still up in the air and, according to Weiland, his main gig, Stone Temple Pilots , are taking a break as well, freeing up a lot of his time. Weiland plans to stay busy with his solo band, Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts, with some upcoming live shows and a new studio album in the works for 2013. In other news, Weiland recently announced his engagement to girlfriend Jamie Wachtel. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/slash-talks-scott-weiland-diva-behavior-feud-axl-rose-kurt-cobain/” title=”Next: Slash Talks Scott Weiland’s ‘Diva Behavior’” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire They say music comes from the soul, but we’re not sure what part of Robb Flynn ‘s aching, recuperating body that his determination comes from. The Machine Head vocalist is making good on his promise to rejoin the band’s trek with Dethklok , All That Remains and Black Dahlia Murder before its conclusion, revealing they’ll be back on the bill as of this Saturday (Nov. 24) in Portland, Ore. Flynn recently had emergency surgery to deal with a hernia, and missing dates is not something that Machine Head are accustomed to. The group bowed out of the trek and missed a total of nine dates while the singer recovered. Since the need for the surgery happened while the band was on tour, Flynn initially spent part of the recovery process in a hotel room. He documented the aftermath of the surgery in a pair of video diaries that he shared with fans. The singer recently arrived back in the Bay Area where he was able to spend the last few days recuperating at home with his family. Flynn says the experience “totally sucked balls,” but that he is “feeling stronger now, especially after a heavy listening schedule of Accept’s ‘Balls to the Wall,’ AC/DC’s ‘Big Balls’.” He adds, “Hell, I even found time to record a cover of Soulfly’s ‘Eye for an Eye,’ with the lyrics changed to ‘Guts in the Nuts.’ Guts in da nuuuuuuts, guts in da nuts, in da nuts, in da nuts.’” For the remaining dates on the Dethklok-Machine Head-All That Remains-Black Dahlia Murder trek, be sure to click here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/machine-head-aesthetics-of-hate-top-21st-century-metal-songs/” title=”Next: Machine Head – Top 21st Century Metal Songs” align=”center”]
Puscifer Entertainment When listing the musical projects of Maynard James Keenan , the order almost universally is presented as: Tool , A Perfect Circle , Puscifer . Although sometimes seen as a side project to Keenan’s other two musical endeavors, Puscifer have slowly stolen the spotlight over the last six years. In a new interview with MoshCam.com , Keenan goes in-depth about Puscifer, offering insight into the band’s upcoming ‘Donkey Punch the Night’ EP, a cover of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and much more. Since 2007, every piece of music (not including guest appearances) released by Maynard Keenan has been with Puscifer. In 2007, the musical collective unveiled the full-length ‘”V” is for Vagina’ and their ‘Don’t Shoot the Messenger’ EP. Puscifer’s second album, ‘Conditions of My Parole,’ saw the light of day in 2011, and before cult Keenan fans will hear new material from Tool or A Perfect Circle, Puscifer will be releasing their ‘Donkey Punch the Night’ EP on Feb. 19, 2013. Although Keenan is the only official member of Puscifer, the some of the ultra-talented musicians featured on ‘Conditions of My Parole’ seem to be sticking around. “I think there’s definitely some solid cornerstones in place now with Josh and Matt and seemingly so with Carina,” reveals Keenan. “So as time goes forward, we’re pretty happy with this particular set of people although they all have their day jobs so if we have to call on others. It’s definitely a flexible project that can accommodate that.” Keenan also spoke about how the band chose to approach a cover of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ “We had a couple of bugs up our butt to mess around with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and I had fun with it,” says Keenan. “It’s one of my favorite songs so it’s almost like karaoke, but for real … We did a straight cover. There’s nothing broken about that song and we tried to respect the original format as closely as we could, but of course it’s going to have our signature on it.” Additionally, Keenan revealed that Puscifer, a 100% independent project, may even turn ‘Donkey Punch the Night’ into a full-length record. “We have a few things on the back burner but the project has always been of the mind to release a couple of tracks at a time. The last album [‘Conditions of My Parole’] was a bit of a departure from that, because we were on a roll and we were like ‘screw it, let’s finish an album’. We’ll probably just record a couple more songs and put them out at the end of the year or start of 2013. But if we end up on a roll and we get more songs in the pipe, we’ll definitely finish an album.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/maynard-james-keenan-explains-concept-of-puscifer-new-column/” title=”Next: Maynard James Keenan Explains the Concept of Puscifer” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire It’s been one hell of a year for Jesse Leach , who reunited with Killswitch Engage at the beginning of 2012. The band’s first performance back together occurred at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, and they were also part of this year’s Trespass America Festival over the summer with Five Finger Death Punch, Trivium and more. Leach, who was the band’s original singer, came back into the lineup after longtime vocalist Howard Jones left the band in late 2011. He and the rest of Killswitch have just finished up recording their first album together in 10 years. They are also celebrating the tenth anniversary of the band’s debut disc, ‘Alive or Just Breathing’ by performing it in its entirety during a headlining trek that features support from Shadows Fall and Acaro. When we recently spoke with Jesse Leach, he expressed his excitement about the upcoming album, the tour and more. I was at the first show at the New England Hardcore and Metal Festival earlier this year – how has your experience of rejoining the band been from that show to now? It’s been amazing and so much fun. It’s hard to put into words, my life’s just completely changed. I’ve had so much fun with these guys and we just finished recording our record that I’m super proud of. It’s been great. What has been the funniest thing a fan has said to you since coming back into the fold? You know probably some of the criticisms that people give me, I think it’s hilarious – to me – about how I don’t sing the same as Howard [Jones]. It’s not necessarily funny to most people but it is for me because we’re such different singers. I think it’s hilarious that people constantly want to compare us — it’s funny in a different kind of way. Fans have definitely been really sweet but occasionally you get the people that don’t care and they say what they want to say. As far as “Ha Ha” funny, [guitarist] Adam [Dutkiewicz] is the one that gets all the funny ones. To play ‘Alive or Just Breathing’ in full after 10 years, what does this mean to you? It’s surreal, it’s strange. I have a lot of love for that record but I had to do a lot of listening to it again – we’re playing it from start to finish. I look back on who I was 10 years ago as a singer and a person and I’ve changed so much. It’s just amazing for the fan to pay tribute to those fans who still care about that record, it’s just astonishing to me and it was definitely a career defining record. It’s and honor is basically how I feel, it’s an honor to perform this record. Again, I’m a different person but those lyrics still ring true for the most part for me. It just feels good to be able to do this for the fans and for us it’s just a fan thing to do in between since the [new] record isn’t out yet, so we wanted to hit the road and have some fun and give the fans something special because it’s been ten years. Looking back on it now, what did recording that album teach you that you took with you to record future albums in your career? [Laughs] Recording that record taught me that I had to use my voice properly and be more confident. I think that process, being under the microscope the way that I was for that record with Adam – we both learned a lot from that record. It made me really want to learn my instrument better and have control over it because what I hear in my head was difficult to produce. What I was hearing in my head and what was coming out wasn’t what I wanted it to be – it was just me being critical of myself but then again you should be. It kind of kickstarted me to be like, “alright I got to figure this thing out.” I wanted to become a better singer and become more confident. You guys killed on the Trespass American Festival – and you’re headed on tour with Shadows Fall later this month. No doubt this tour will be a memorable one what are you looking forward to most about this trek? Probably just hanging out, we got Shadows Fall and my buddies in a band called Acaro. It’s pretty much all of the Massachusetts boys getting together – I live in New York now but it’s going to be a reunion of sorts. I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of antics and stuff going on. That and obviously just playing, if all goes well we’ll slide in another new song. Yeah I can’t wait for this new record – I literally finished just two days ago so I’m still buzzed from it. For you guys going from Trespass America and doing the big festival shows to more intimate clubs, do you prefer the smaller venues versus the bigger ones? I like them both but they definitely offer different things. The one thing I’m looking forward to with smaller clubs, especially for this record, is the intimacy of the crowd. There’s not going to be a huge divide where the audience is ten feet away from the stage and we’re ten feet above them. The intimacy is great the emotion comes off better and for this record it’s important. There was a Facebook post on the vocals being done for the new Killswitch Engage album; how was the recording process like for you? For the new record it was great, I came off tour I was filled with energy, ready to go, we knocked out a bunch of stuff. I had joined the band, the record was there, we’re on tour so I really didn’t have time to write. I took the past two months not only recording but writing so I’m there with an idea, being in the other room writing and going to Adam saying, “Here’s my idea I just wrote, what do you think?” So there’s real spontaneity some of the songs that we just finished up. I had maybe five or six solid ideas when I came off tour and the rest had to be developed as we were recording it. It was exciting but at the same time tough because for me I’m digging deep down into my emotions and my psyche trying to come up with stuff that is honest and emotive and relevant, hopefully for the listener. It’s tiring but well worth, anything that’s worth achieving you got to suffer a little bit for it. I think mentally and spiritually and a little bit physically we were suffering but all of that made for an amazing record that I’m really proud of. How has the vibe of working on the new record been with the other members? These guys have welcomed me back with open arms and just very encouraging and digging the stuff that I’m doing and these guys were just like, “Wow we’re really excited, we feel like it’s been a long time since we’ve been this excited about music,” and that just makes me feel amazing. It makes me feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. What can you tell me about where you guys are at with the progression of the new album and maybe a possible timeline or when fans can get a single? Yeah it’s funny, I basically said to management and everybody, “I don’t want to know anything, don’t tell me anything” so I couldn’t even tell you when the record is coming out [Laughs] I don’t know if we’re doing a single before the record . As far as what the album is about and how it sounds and feels – it’s everything, it’s emotive, it’s personal, it’s spiritual, it’s political, it’s everything – my view of the world and some of the songs are written through the eyes of someone else like how I living vicariously through somebody trying to be almost like a storyteller. The music is definitely the fastest Killswitch record ever, it’s very heavy but still maintains the signature Killswitch hooky, melodic stuff their too. There’s definitely melody attached but I pulled out some new styles vocally, yelling and screaming and growling and layers and it sounds massive. The newest song ‘No End In Sight’ that you guys play live, how does this song represent what we can expect from the new album? That song is the weakest song on the whole record. [Laughs] That’s my opinion, I actually almost wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t even on the record because I think other stuff is much better but probably since we played it and fans know we’ll put it on but in my opinion that’s definitely the weakest songs. Now that the record is done in retrospect that would not be the song that we would be playing live. When will we see the return of your character Salty Rizz? [Laughs] I don’t know! I don’t think that’s going to be a repeat character, I’ve done other characters for videos for fun and I think that’s the one that got the least amount of attention. My approach to promos and stuff – when you’re on tour, it doesn’t matter who you’re working with, what company they want you to do these video update things and when it comes to music I’m a fairly serious guy when I’m onstage. We had to do these and I was just like, “I’ll do them I don’t care, I’ll do something stupid.” There’s more stupidity to come but I don’t know if it will be Salty Rizz or not. Killswitch Engage kick off their ‘Alive or Just Breathing’ tour with a headlining appearance at California MetalFest on Nov. 24. The trek wraps Dec. 29 in Clifton Park, N.Y. Click here for a full list of dates. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/killswitch-engage-members-discuss-new-song-jesse-leachs-return-more/” title=”Next: Watch Our Video Interview With Killswitch Engage” align=”center”]
Facebook: Hurt / Ethan Miller, Getty Images Rock bands covering songs by other acts is not really out of the ordinary, but something that doesn’t happen everyday is a pair of rock bands teaming up on a cover. That was the case recently for hard rocking outfits Hurt and Smile Empty Soul , who found themselves spending a November day in Michigan covering the Alice in Chains classic ‘No Excuses.’ Radio station Banana 101.5 reports that a day prior to their performance at The Machine Shop in Flint, Mich., the two acts made their way to Rochester Hills’ 37 Studios to lay down the track. The Matt Dalton-produced cut found the two acts keeping in the primarily acoustic roots of the original, though they did add a few unique touches to make the song their own. In particular, the percussion on the track has a more upbeat and funky feel to it throughout. Though official release plans have not been announced, Banana 101.5 reports that the song will be available for download at some point, with the proceeds likely tied to a charitable effort of some kind. [button href=”http://banana1015.com/hurt-smile-empty-soul-cover-alice-in-chains-no-excuses-exclusive-premiere/” title=”Listen to Hurt + Smile Empty Soul Covering Alice in Chains’ ‘No Excuses'” align=”center”]
YouTube All That Remains offer a militaristic theme in their video for new single ‘Stand Up’ from their latest album, ‘A War You Cannot Win.’ Clearly, a battle theme is woven through multiple elements of the release as whole, from the lyrics and the audio to the video and the visual. The video fuses performance footage of ATR playing their instruments in the middle of the woods – they shot the vid on location in New Hampshire — and they are somewhat obscured by plumes of smoke. The action and scenery switches to a battlefield, with soldiers and armed military men in combat brandishing weapons and engaging in ground missions. But is it really a battlefield or is it those same woods? Food for thought… You might get a little dizzy when watching the video, since it often switches to the perspective of one of the combat men. You’ll feel like you are behind the rifle scope, as he seeks out his prey or enemy. It might make you a little bit queasy, since you move when he moves for many of those scenes. But there really is nothing cooler than a metal band ripping through a galloping guitar solo in the middle of the woods, while images of gas mask-wearing armed forces are spliced throughout. It leaves you wondering if it’s the band being hunted and, if so, by whom? We won’t give it away. Watch All That Remains ‘Stand Up’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/all-that-remains-phil-labonte-talks-military-religion-a-war-you-cannot-win/” title=”Next: ATR’s Phil Labonte Talks Military, Religion + More” align=”center”]
Gareth Cattermole, Getty Images (2) The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund recently had a chance to honor Dio’s longtime friend and bandmate, Tony Iommi , who himself has been battling lymphoma over the past year. Dio’s widow, Wendy, tells Loudwire that Iommi’s early detection has been key in his recovery, and it may have even been her husband’s death that led to the Black Sabbath guitarist getting checked out. Wendy tells us, “Well you know Tony was struggling with his own cancer, and hopefully … it’s in remission, which [would be] fantastic. And that’s early detection again, that was early. Maybe if Ronnie hadn’t passed away, [Iommi] wouldn’t have gotten checked early. We don’t know, but that was early detection, and [the ceremony] was great because he’s been through so much this year and to honor him, that was great. And for Geezer [Butler] to give him the award was very, very special. All of honorees are special.” Wendy stressed the importance of cancer education, especially for men who tend not to visit the doctor as frequently. She added, “We mainly deal with men’s cancers and we find that men don’t get checked. Women are very good. Men have to be drug there, but we’re trying to make awareness that early detection saves lives and for your loved ones to save their lives by getting checked.” The Halloween ‘Spooktacular’ event featured awards named after Dio songs, with Iommi taking home the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ award. In addition, the evening provided plenty of music, with a large portion provided by the Dio Disciples lineup of Tim “Ripper” Owens and Oni Logan, guitarist Craig Goldy, bassist Bjorn Englen, keyboardist Scott Warren, and drummer Simon Wright, with members of Buckcherry , Anthrax , Whitesnake, and White Lion sitting in as well. With the annual awards event behind them, the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout cancer fund is currently focused on a massive guitar auction with items donated by Metallica , Iron Maiden , the Foo Fighters , Bon Jovi , Eddie Van Halen , and many more. The event takes place Dec. 1 through Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif. For more info, check here . Stay tuned for a full interview with Wendy Dio and Geezer Butler’s wife, Gloria, about the guitar auction. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/ronnie-james-dio-the-pick-of-destiny-cameo/” title=”Next: Ronnie James Dio – Musician Movie Cameos” align=”center”]