Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com After revealing recently that Avenged Sevenfold were about six songs into a writing their upcoming album. M. Shadows has now given a big hint as to what direction the band will be taking on the disc. He also has laid out a timetable for the album’s release. He explains to Metal Hammer that the new disc will not sound very much like ‘Carry On,’ the band’s recent release for the video game ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops II.’ ”The new album has a lot more of a [Black] Sabbath / [Led] Zeppelin feel to it than ‘Carry On’,” says Shadows. “There’s definitely more Sabbath in what we’re writing, and we’re proud of ‘Carry On,’ but this album is going to be on a whole new level.” As to when the new album will be released, Shadows revealed, “We’re halfway through [writing the new album]. We’re shooting for late January-early February [to head into the studio] and to have the album out in the Summer. I’m pretty sure, with what I’ve been told already, we’re looking to go overseas first, so you guys will be seeing it before everyone else!” As for the band appearing as characters in the closing credits of the ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops II’ video game, Shadows remarks, “It’s a trip! It’s crazy! We had to do all this motion-capture and play a gig to nobody, but we didn’t get to see anything until the game came out. You saw it when I saw it!” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/avenged-sevenfold-perform-carry-on-as-characters-in-call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/” title=”Next: Watch Avenged Sevenfold in ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops II” align=”center”]
Mike Lawrie, Getty Images When it comes to love, Scott Weiland is counting on the old adage that the third time’s a charm. The Stone Temple Pilots singer recently announced that he’s now engaged to girlfriend Jamie Wachtel. The couple have been dating for about a year, and the upcoming nuptials will mark Weiland’s third marriage. Weiland gushed to Rolling Stone about his special lady, saying, “She’s the greatest thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time.” He continued to share his feelings about her, explaining, “She is incredibly beautiful in every aspect of the word. Lovely, smart, passionate.” The couple first met on a video shoot for Weiland’s Christmas album released last winter, ‘The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.’ Wachtel was working on set as a photographer and the two hit it off almost instantaneously as Wachtel helped calm Weiland’s nerves during the shoot with a little bit of humor. “I was leaning against this fireplace, and she’s like, ‘You might want to tuck in your belly a little bit,’” Weiland recalled. “It was around the holidays – it was after Thanksgiving, and you know how that tends to be. I was kind of caught off guard, and I started laughing and she started laughing. And I don’t know . . . something magical happened.” Weiland admits that he had pretty much given up on love before meeting Wachtel. “I had fallen in love a couple times in my life and then for a long time, I’ve been very disappointed and to the point where I’ve been resolved to the fact that possibly it would never happen again and almost accepted that it would be OK,” confessed Weiland. “And then I met her.” The two are planning a spring wedding, but before that Weiland has a handful of solo dates in late November, including stops in Pa., N.Y. and N.J. Tickets are available here . Congrats to the happy couple! [button href=”http://loudwire.com/scott-weiland-musician-mug-shots/” title=”Next: Scott Weiland – Musician Mug Shots” align=”center”]
Columbia After years and years of holding out on releasing their music digitally, legendary rockers AC/DC have now made their music available via iTunes. The band’s entire discography is now available, including every live album, contributions to soundtracks, box sets and a series of official AC/DC ringtones. The band’s holdout hadn’t seemingly affected their album sales in an extreme matter, as their 1980 ‘Back in Black’ album regularly sells more copies than many albums on the Billboard Top 200 at any time, while their 2008 album, ‘Black Ice,’ sold 784,000 copies in its first week. “From their 1976 debut ‘High Voltage,’” begins a press release issued by Apple, “to seminal classic ‘Back In Black’ and 2008 smash hit ‘Black Ice,’ every one of AC/DC’s 16 studio albums, along with four live albums and three compilation albums, are available for the first time ever on the iTunes Store. All tracks are mastered for iTunes, and fans have the ability to download full albums or simply purchase their favorite individual songs. Fans can also choose from two specially packaged digital compilations: The Complete Collection, the complete iTunes-exclusive AC/DC catalog; and The Collection, which includes all 16 studio albums.” For those about to rock digitally, we salute you! Check out the entire AC/DC catalog along with special deals on iTunes . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/woman-arrested-for-continually-blasting-acdc-anthem-highway-to-hell/” title=”Woman Arrested for Continually Blasting AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell'” align=”center”]
Ron Galella Archive, Wire Image, Getty Images Since the news broke of a new documentary chronicling the life of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain , there have been conflicting reports as to whether the legendary musician’s widow Courtney Love will be a part of its creation. Brett Morgen, directior of HBO’s new documentary on the Rolling Stones, ‘Crossfire Hurricane,’ was recruited by Love to oversee the Cobain project, but it seems as if that will be Love’s only contribution to the project. Morgen recently told the New York Post , “Courtney [Love] is the one that brought me into this… We’ve been trying to find the right time to put this film together and the time is now. We are going to do the movie sort of like a third-person autobiography — [as] if Kurt was around and making a film about his life.” This quote led to the assumption that Love would assert creative control over the documentary, but a representative for the Hole frontwoman has asserted otherwise. Morgen has now gone on-record to clear up any misunderstandings concerning Love’s role in the film. “Back in 2007, I had a meeting in L.A. with Courtney Love to discuss my possible involvement in a Kurt Cobain documentary,” he told EW in a statement. “She had seen my film ‘The Kid Stays in the Picture,’ and thought that I had the right vision and passion to bring Kurt’s story to life. Since that time, I have been speaking exclusively with Kurt Cobain’s estate, who have given me their full cooperation in order to make the film.” He continues, “Courtney isn’t currently involved with the project in any capacity. The estate and I will be releasing more information about our plans in the coming weeks. Production on the film will begin in the coming months and we are aiming for a 2014 release.” This news comes shortly after rumors that Courtney Love was planning to create a Nirvana-based musical to Broadway or the big-screen; a claim Love was quick to deny. Stay tuned for more news on the upcoming Kurt Cobain film as news continues to break. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-grunge-bands/” title=”Next: 10 Best Grunge Bands” align=”center”]
RCA Records Bullet for My Valentine are gearing up to release their fourth album, ‘Temper Temper,’ in February 2013, and Loudwire is proud to present a behind-the-scenes look at the Welsh rockers in the studio. The band recently released the title track as the first single and video off the album, and the tune can be heard throughout this behind-the-scenes clip, which features frontman Matt Tuck and producer Don Gilmore discussing the disc. In this exclusive video clip (watch below), Tuck says that BFMV’s recording process on this album was inspired in part by his work in his recent side project AxeWound. “We approached the record a lot differently this time around,” explains the frontman. “It was kind of more inspired by the way I did the AxeWound record. And that was basically: Get in the studio and write and record as you went along.” Tuck goes on to reveal that BFMV went to Thailand with no demos, and wrote and recorded the album on the spot. Bullet for My Valentine’s ‘Temper Temper’ drops Feb. 12, 2013. Fans who pre-order the album here will receive an instant download of the title track. Watch Bullet for My Valentine Discuss ‘Temper Temper’ [Exclusive Video] [button href=”http://loudwire.com/bullet-for-my-valentine-music-video-temper-temper/” title=”Next: Watch BFMV’s ‘Temper Temper’ Music Video” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Intensity is a total understatement when Lamb of God come to town, but when you add In Flames , Hatebreed and Sylosis to the mix, the energy is indescribable. New York’s Roseland Ballroom shook to its core these bands took the stage on Friday night (Nov. 16). UK metal band Sylosis kicked off the night with a great performance that got the blood of early concertgoers pumping. Hatebreed fans are ‘As Diehard as They Come’ and the band is one whose music can elicit a variety of emotions. Their live shows enforce these emotions and definitely tested the strength of Roseland Ballroom’s foundation. The pits were complete chaos and security guards could barely keep up with the amounts of bodies flying over the crowd. Frontman Jamey Jasta’s hardcore roots are evident onstage, not to mention his infectious and uncontrollable stage presence had everyone bouncing to the band’s anthems of strength and power such as ‘Perseverance,’ ‘In Ashes They Shall Reap,’ ‘Live For This,’ and ‘I Will Be Heard,’ among others. They ended their set with ‘Destroy Everything,’ and that they did. In Flames were the ideal bridge to go in between the very volatile Hatebreed set and headliners Lamb of God. They broke up the high intensity sets with a little bit of melody and humor. That doesn’t mean fans took a break – the crowd remained steady with massive amounts of crowd surfing, jumping, mosh pitting and singing. Frontman Anders Friden humorously said that any band who directly follows Hatebreed sounds like a fart, well In Flames set that night was far from the sound of flatulence. Friden sounded phenomenal as the group performed tracks from their most recent release ‘Sounds of a Playground Fading’ — such as ‘Where the Dead Ships Dwell,’ ‘Deliver Us’ and ‘Fear Is the Weakness.’ Of course the Swedes pulled out some fan favorites such as ‘Cloud Connected,’ ‘Take This Life’ and ‘My Sweet Shadow’ just to name a few. The booming sound of Lamb of God took control of Roseland Ballroom and everyone in it. Fans lost their minds as the rumbling riffs and galloping drums of ‘Desolation’ took hold. The band went on to perform their debut single ‘Ghost Walking’ off of ‘Resolution.’ As vocalist Randy Blythe spat out the lyrics with venom, the crowd screamed lyrics word for word back to him during tracks such as ‘No You’ve Got Something to Die For,’ ’11th Hour,’ ‘ Ruin,’ ‘Laid To Rest,’ ‘Redneck’ and ‘Black Label,’ among numerous others. With the year Randy Blythe has had to go with the few weeks New York City and the rest of the Tri-State area has had to deal with, this concert and these bands gave many metal fans a sense of normalcy and command that they might have thought they lost for a while. It’s no wonder why this show is one fans at Roseland Ballroom will be remembered for quite some time. Go here to see where you can catch the remaining dates of this phenomenal tour. Photos of Lamb of God, In Flames, Hatebreed + Sylosis in NYC Lamb of God: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire In Flames: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Hatebreed: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Sylosis: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-lamb-of-god-songs” title=”Next: 10 Best Lamb of God Songs” align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Halestorm are currently wowing audiences across the country on their headlining tour with In This Moment and Eve to Adam , but once the holidays arrive they have something special for their East Coast fans. The group has announced three “ An Evening With… ” performances that will showcase two distinctly different sides to the band. Singer Lzzy Hale reveals in a posting, “We want to invite you to spend your holidays with us! This mini tour is your opportunity to see a very unique Halestorm show! We are bringing ‘The Strange Case of …’ to life and splitting the night into two very equal, but opposite performances — light and dark, black and white … Jekyll and Mz. Hyde. Don’t miss this show, because this special presentation of Halestorm will only be happening for a few nights over the holidays.” The band has booked performances at Philadelphia’s Electric Factory Dec. 27, Montclair, N.J.’s Wellmont Theater Dec. 29, and a special New Year’s Eve show at Baltimore’s Soundstage. Tickets for all three dates are on sale now. Halestorm love the holidays, recently taking advantage of the Warner Sound studio on Halloween to provide a mini-set for fans . That six-song performance has been turned into a new EP called ‘In the Live Room,’ which can be purchased here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/halestorm-the-strange-case-of-top-2012-rock-albums/” title=”Next: Halestorm – Top 2012 Rock Albums” align=”center”]