RCA Records In astrological terms, the transit of Venus is when the planet passes between the Sun and the Earth, displaying as a black disc moving across the sun for a period of several hours to stargazers around the globe. The occurrence happens approximately every 240 years or so and is not entirely predictable making it a very rare phenomena. In musical lingo, ‘Transit of Venus’ marks the return of Canadian rockers Three Days Grace and the follow up to their 2009 disc ‘Life Starts Now.’ While the connection between the two transits may not be completely transparent, the anticipation and excitement surrounding both mixed with the unpredictable nature of the two seem to pull them together, or at least into the same galaxy. Three Days Grace went into the making of ‘Transit of Venus’ with a very focused goal of digging a little deeper, pushing a little further, and allowing themselves to experiment with new instrumentation and layers without completely diverting from the Three Days Grace brand that they have cultivated throughout their career. ‘Transit of Venus’ definitely marks a new direction for the band infusing electronic elements over textured sonic landscapes while maintaining their love for catchy hooks served up courtesy of guitarist Barry Stock and drummer Neil Sanderson, pounding bass lines provided by Brad Walst, and the signature raspy rock vocals of Adam Gontier. The celestial disc begins with ‘Sign of the Times,’ an out of this world, ethereal, slow-moving opus that starts things off with a moody, sullen vibe before it kicks into high gear, reminding music fans of why they fell in love with Three Days Grace in the first place. The rest of the disc tends to follow that same path, new progressive elements hitting the Three Days Grace of old head on, melding into well-rounded tunes that sound meticulously crafted and built from the ground up, layer by layer, brick by brick. The first single, ‘Chalk Outline’ is a chugging, dark, anti-love song of good times gone bad allowing guitarist Barry Stock to shine throughout. Most of the disc’s 13 songs cater to an angrier, darker place but then up from the ashes comes ‘Unbreakable Heart,’ one of the most ambitious songs on the album. The tune blends acoustic melodies with orchestral hues hugging the inspirational lyrics being sprung from Gontier’s soul, “ You want to fight back / It’s building inside you / Holding you up / Taking you hostage / It’s worth fighting for .” 3DG also give a nod to Michael Jackson on the disc with their version of the King of Pop’s ‘Give in to Me,’ speeding the song up a bit but staying pretty true to the overall vibe of the song. Overall, Three Days Grace accomplished what they set out to do with ‘Transit of Venus,’ they’ve stepped out of their comfort zone, ditched the formula, and went all in, holding nothing back in the true spirit of rock. The reward clearly outweighed the risk on this one and the additional elements enhance the songs without taking them hostage and the identity that Three Days Grace has forged for the past 20 years is clearly better for it. Here’s to 20 more.
The End Records In the metal world, AxeWound are a supergroup as violent and graphic as their name. Featuring Cancer Bats vocalist Liam Cormier and Bullet for My Valentine singer-guitarist Matt Tuck, along with drummer Jason Bowld of Pitchshifter, ex-Rise to Remain bassist Joe Coput and Glamour of the Kill guitarist Mike Kingswood, the band could have done or become one or a combination of many things. It could have been greater than the sum of the parts; a mish-mash that sounded like BFMV harvested with Cancer Bats’ DNA; or something totally unique in and of itself. We’re pleased to report that AxeWound are the latter and the former, but not the middle. ‘Vultures’ is 10 tracks of thrashy, razor-sharp riffery, with vocals that are screamy where they need to be and growly when they need to be. The overall mood is nastier than a hungry Rottweiler. It doesn’t straddle any lines or flounder in the middle of the road. These songs are so metal, they excrete liquid steel. There’s not much in the way of humor on the album, but that’s okay. What it lacks in lightheartedness it makes up for in sheer aggression. Besides, did we really need another album of snarkily titled songs which have nothing to do with the lyrical subject matter? No, we didn’t. AxeWound and ‘Vultures’ exist to push the metal mission forward with uncompromisingly heavy, neo-thrash tunes. ‘Post Apocalyptic Party’ feels like just that — it’s drenched in vinegar-soaked riffs, battering ram drumming, hardcore fury and thrash intensity. If the Mayan prophecies are indeed right and the end is indeed nigh, this is the song we’d want to be cranking as the world comes crashing down around us. The title track shreds, and features a guest spot from Avenged Sevenfold ‘s Synyster Gates. ‘Victim of the System’ launches with a squall of feedback and sing-talk vocals that are incredibly popular in the hardcore genre. Nevertheless, the song allows the band to smash away at the instruments while you mosh. ‘Cold’ is the most melodic jam of the bunch, vocally speaking, but the music is still fierce enough to make your blood boil. With the lyrical bark “You can’t kill me,” we’re apt to believe AxeWound are impenetrable. ‘Burn Alive’ has a doomy current running through its veins, while ‘Exorchrist’ is another example of the band’s melodic proficiency. But the rolling guitars keep the song anchored in metal. There are not a lot of breathing moments on the album, so ‘Vultures’ is the equivalent of a street fight in that it pummels over and over again, without much in the way of pauses to allow you to catch your breath. The songs are compact, usually clocking in at three minutes and under. So they don’t overstay their welcome or become too ambitious by trying to be experimental with all that extra time, nor do they drift into boring territory by being too samey. Ultimately, ‘Vultures’ is the work of seasoned musicians who are adept at their instruments and their roles. They don’t rely too much on their past (or most prolific) works, nor do they attempt to be something they are not. It’s a fresh metal album that’ll satisfy your thrash jones.
Monika Graff / Kevin Winter (2), Getty Images Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello , System of a Down singer Serj Tankian and Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath have joined forces to create an unofficial anthem for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Morello recently performed a free show to mark the one-year anniversary of Occupy and to help “re-energize” the political faction. Perhaps the most vocal celebrity supporter for Occupy after its members converged on New York City’s Zuccotti Park last year, Morello felt inspired to create an anthem for the movement, which has now taken form in the song ‘We Are the 99 Percent.’ Slightly similar to Ministry ‘s pro-Occupy song, ‘ 99 Percenters ,’ the song’s backbone is in its refrain, which also features field recordings of Occupy protesters from Zuccotti Park and Liberty Square. “It’s our gift to the movement,” Morello tells Rolling Stone about the new song. “I wanted to do a huge riff-rock anthem. It would feel like the excitement of the global Occupy Wall Street movement.” Morello goes on to speak about what he views as Occupy’s biggest strengths. He cites the movement’s ability to “inject into the global dialogue the horrific economic inequality that plagues the planet.” He also believes that Occupy has exposed the “grotesque global poverty and the growing inequality in our country.” Morello adds concerning Mitt Romney’s presidential run, “When is the last time when a Republican candidate for president has had hit feet held to the fire because he’s too rich?” Check out Tom Morello, Serj Tankian and Tim McIlrath on ‘We Are the 99 Percent,’ which officially premiered today on RollingStone.com: [button href=”http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/song-premiere-tom-morello-tim-mcilrath-serj-tankian-and-occupy-wall-street-we-are-the-99-percent-20120927″ title=”Click Here to Listen to ‘We Are the 99 Percent'” align=”center”]
Universal Republic What a fitting title for Soundgarden ‘s brand new single, since for all intents and purposes, they had ‘Been Away Too Long.’ Diehard fans of the Seattle band have missed them for the past several years, and while the reunion, live performances and ‘Avengers’ song ‘Live to Rise’ have been rad and appreciated, this is the beefy, puts-hair-on-your-chest Soundgarden rocker we’ve been waiting for. ‘Been Away Too Long’ is a frenetic, fast-paced song that calls to mind the band’s earlier catalog, thanks to raw, booming riffs, jackhammer percussion and Chris Cornell’s bluesy, soulful pipes. It’s got an anthemic and urgent quality, especially in the chunky verses. So if you’ve got long hair, this song is designed to get you to start whipping it around while rocking out with furious, reckless abandon. Overall, there’s not an overabundance of polish, and it’s not pretty, which is preferred. Instead, it’s potent, hell yeah, high-five hard rock. Just like we like it. The song will appear on the band’s upcoming album ‘King Animal,’ due out Nov. 13. After tearing through this song a few times, check out our 10 Best Soundgarden Songs list . Listen to Soundgarden, ‘Been Away Too Long’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/soundgarden-king-animal-album-cover-track-listing-trailer/” title=”Next: Soundgarden Unveil ‘King Animal’ Album Cover + Track List” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Charm City Devils have been flying high on the success of the first single from their latest studio album, ‘Sins.’ Their cover of ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ has received a lot of radio airplay and has turned into a fan favorite at the band’s live shows. Opening for Mark Tremonti ‘s solo-project in New York City, we were able to grab a few minutes with lead singer John Allen. Allen filled us in on everything from their new record label, the band’s latest single ‘Unstoppable’ and some new music that he’s been excited about. During tonight’s set, you mentioned this was your first show in New York City. Well, I guess we played a little showcase for a distribution company at a club years ago, but we really haven’t been back since. Ever since Crue Fest 2, we never got back, the closest we came was in Sayreville [New Jersey] at the Starland Ballroom, just an awesome place. But to be back in New York City, the crowd was so awesome, so warm. It was really nice. You’ve got a few shows with Mark Tremonti’s solo project, you’ve got the new album that’s been out for a few months now. How is everything going? Everything is great, it’s just tremendous. We released the record on a very small independent label and then [our new label] eOne Music picked it up and released it for real, like nationwide in late July. Things have gone great. We pick back up with Theory of a Deadman on Oct. 20 and that’ll carry on for a little while. We just did the Rock Allegiance Festival at Hershey Park with some legendary bands like Stone Temple Pilots , Fuel , Three Days Grace and Buckcherry . It was an honor for us to be on that show. It was incredible. The first single from ‘Sins’ is also the song you closed tonight’s set with, ‘Man of Constant Sorrow.’ I know you’ve talked about that song a lot in past interviews, choosing to cover it because you’re a blues fan and you loved the movie ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ When you were deciding which song to cover, what other songs were brought up in the conversation? I don’t want to give anybody ideas! What if we go back and want to pick it up? A lot of the songs were blues-based, but of course this song is more bluegrass and we completely mangled it and changed it. It’s tricky, we were trying to think outside of the box. But you know what? You can always whip out a Foghat song, man! On the next album and in future live sets, will you bust out any more covers? I’ve got no problem playing a cover song here or there. Early when we started we’d play ‘Highway to Hell’ in our set. We used to play a Black Keys song every now and again. When we play our stuff, I feel more of a responsibility to really honor the record and play it as close as possible to the original version. If you play a cover, it feels a lot more freeing and relaxed for me. We can have a lot of fun up there with it. ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ isn’t the case, though, because it took on a life of its own. We did change it, though, I mean, I did write a chorus for it that wasn’t there. Certainly there is still a responsibility there for that song. You could tell you were having a lot of fun when you guys busted into Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Child’ during tonight’s performance of ‘I Got Mine.’ There is so much pressure to be perfect, but then with a song like that you can just let your guard down and have a good time. Your second single is out now, ‘Unstoppable.’ You told the audience tonight that the theme of the song follows along the lines of, “Things will get better.” Certainly the title of it was something that I wind up talking about a lot. Never say die, you know, that kind of attitude. I’ve never given up, I’ve been doing this a long time. We’re lifers, man. I stopped playing music for a very brief time and I got pulled right back in. Earlier you mentioned eOne Music, your new label. They’ve got quite the roster including Saving Abel , Hatebreed , Smile Empty Soul and Black Label Society . How does it feel to be a part of that family? It’s crazy, they have such a wide array of bands, man. We’re very fortunate to be a part of that label. Hanging out with those guys, they’re good people. It’s really refreshing in our industry to be around those types of guys. It feels great. It is wonderful to be there. 2012 has brought with it a lot of new releases, some from familiar bands and others from brand new up-and-comers. Has there been anything out there that’s caught your ear? Outside of the genre, I’ve been listening to Alex Clare. Her song, ‘Too Close,’ is incredible. I know it’s not what the rockers want to hear, but it’s incredible. I still love AWOLNATION. Monster Truck, I dig them. I love the new Three Days Grace track. The Shinedown record is awesome and so is the Halestorm album. There’s just so much good stuff out there. It’s a great time to be out and playing. Since he covered ‘Man of Constant Sorrow,’ I have to ask if you’ve heard the new Bob Dylan album. I love Bob Dylan. I’ve got his first album and it’s just incredible. He’s just a great lyricist and poet. I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for him. I didn’t know he did a cover of the song when we decided to pick up that challenge. Had I known that Dylan did a cover of it, I don’t think we would’ve gone into it. But, I will say, a lot of people covered that song, and none of them are like ours. We wrote our own chorus, we got rid of all the music, we just kept the basic melody of the song. We’ve had tons of positive responses to it. We did have one lady, though, who was so emotionally connected to the original song that her response was just awesome. She Tweeted at us and called our version of the song an abortion and said we should all die in a fire! I figured we must have done something right, man! So what’s on the horizon for Charm City Devils? Now that I’ve been home for a couple of weeks, I have definitely started coming up with a ton of new ideas, but an album is a little ways away. I’ll get busy here in the next few weeks, but I think we’ll be working this latest album for awhile now. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/mark-tremonti-crushes-new-york-city-with-assist-from-wolfgang-van-halen/” title=”Read Our Review of Tremonti + Charm City Devils’ Show In NYC” align=”center”]
Twitter: Wye Oak Papa Roach have a lot of fans out there, and they may have taken the first step to winning over one more. In a special feature for a recent interview, Wye Oak’s Jenn Wanser chose Papa Roach’s ‘Scars’ as her most hated song, but did have a few reservations about doing so. Rather than a war of words erupting between the pair, Wasner was surprised to receive flowers from Jacoby Shaddix . As part of an ongoing piece for the AV Club , they’ve asked musicians for the most hated tracks and somewhat begrudgingly Wasner chose ‘Scars.’ She stated, “When I heard this song for the first time, it sounded like ‘Butt Rock Band Goes to Therapy and Picks Up a Few Therapy Buzz Phrases and Then Writes a Song.’ It was also like, ‘Singer of Said Butt Rock Band Discovers What a Metaphor Is.’” But having said that, Wasner explained, “I’m actually feeling really bad, picking this person’s song apart, because how could it not be completely genuine when you read these lyrics?” The singer says after breaking down the song a little bit, she realizes that despite her own opinions, it definitely connected with a lot of people. She added, “Who am I to say this is the worst song of all time? … And I guess that’s not what this feature is … the song is most hated song. It doesn’t mean that it is objectively bad or that I’m trying to say that it is objectively bad. Disclaimer, everybody!” It didn’t take long after the article was printed for it to reach Papa Roach, and Shaddix took the high road by sending flowers to Wasner at her New York show with a message that read: “Compassion’s in my nature. From Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach.” Initially thinking she was being set up for a joke, Wasner posted a photo of the flowers on Twitter with the message, “OK fess the F— up, WHO DID THIS?? Is this for real??” Papa Roach tweeted back, “Yes it’s for real. Those are some pretty flowers! Haha all good girl … Take care and good luck in this crazy biz we call show! Jacoby.” According to Brooklyn Vegan , after receiving the confirmation, Wasner shared with the audience at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, explaining, “Tonight is a very special night. Tonight is the night I got flowers from Papa Roach … The moral of the story is, if you talk s—, people will send you flowers.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/papa-roach-preview-new-song-before-i-die-in-behind-the-scenes-video/” title=”Next: Papa Roach Preview ‘Before I Die'” align=”center”]
New Ocean Media Bobaflex are sure to turn a few heads with their standout cover of Simon and Garfunkel ‘s ‘The Sound of Silence,’ and Loudwire is proud to present the exclusive premiere of the new video for the song. In the clip, the band members deal with an obsessed fan with murderous intent on her mind. Singer/guitarist Marty McCoy explains, “The idea for the video came from the song itself. ‘The Sound of Silence’ was written about the assassination of JFK, and how the nation felt as a whole during this tragic event. Today, we as nation experience the same feeling every time the news shows another unmeditated psycho, with a gun shooting innocent people, in places we thought were safe.” The video shows the fan’s growing obsession with the group through her shrine built at home featuring numerous pictures of the band. From there, she turns up at show after show before finally getting the nerve to hop in her car and speed off to find the group members to enact her plan. For Bobaflex, Simon and Garfunkel might not seem like an obvious choice. However, the hard rockers show they are more than capable with the vocal and musical skill to pull off the faithful and harmonic sounds that the original duo had for the first portion of the song before they finally rock-up the track, thus putting their own stamp on a classic. McCoy says, “Picking this song to cover was an easy choice. I had become a little disenfranchised with the way that music was being performed live. It seemed that everybody was using tracks with background vocals, guitars, and keyboards that weren’t really on stage. It had become so common that I wondered if we were missing the boat. Should Bobaflex be using tracks? The answer is … NO!!!! I was watching the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction one night and it all became clear. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel took to the stage with an acoustic guitar and one microphone. My mind was forever changed. Those two guys made music that was beautiful and real. The next day we were in the studio recording ‘The Sound of Silence’ and trying our best not to butcher it.” ‘The Sound of Silence’ is the third single from Bobaflex’s ‘Hell in My Heart’ album, which is out now. The group is currently touring , with dates lined up into late October. Watch Bobaflex’s Video for ‘The Sound of Silence’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/bobaflex-want-to-become-the-biggest-band-in-the-universe/” title=”Next: Bobaflex Share Their Ambitions” align=”center”]