New Ocean Media Evans Blue are enjoying a successful run with their ‘ Graveyard of Empires ‘ album, and are digging deeper into the disc with the latest single ‘Beyond the Stars.’ The song just hit the airwaves, and the band is teaming with Loudwire to bring you the exclusive preview of the lyric video for the track. The lyric video itself is set against the backdrop of the sun emerging from behind a planet while the lyrics to the track grace the screen. The song starts with some in-your-face guitar playing courtesy of Vlad Tanaskovic and Parker Lauzon, while singer Dan Chandler delivers the angst-ridden lyrics, “ Help me surrender my control / searching for the death of my own soul / I bleed but far beneath / my cover keeps the red from leaking .” The weighty lyrical opening leads up to the powerful chorus: “ Keep your silence or reach for life beyond the stars / save your mercy for someone who needs it more / I’m the guilty / All the feelings come crashing down on me / I’m taking you with me. ” The song follows ‘ This Time It’s Different ‘ and ‘ Halo ‘ as singles off the album. The group just completed the second leg of their ‘Graveyard of Empires’ 2012 tour, venturing up and down the East Coast, with a 2013 West Coast trek currently being mapped out. ‘Beyond the Stars’ is currently available on iTunes , as is the ‘Graveyard of Empires’ album . Watch Evans Blue’s ‘Beyond the Stars’ Lyric Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/evans-blue-bring-graveyard-of-empires-to-the-empire-state/” title=”Next: Check Out an Evans Blue Concert Review + Photo Gallery ” align=”center”]
Roadrunner Machine Head are currently on tour with Dethklok , All That Remains and the Black Dahlia Murder . With a lineup that is sure to both draw and excite metalheads, one unfortunate part of the United States is going to miss out on the full show, as Machine Head have been banned from ever performing on property owned by the Disney corporation. Thus, the Orlando, Fla. stop of the tour on Dec. 4 will be Machine Head-less. In 2007, Walt Disney Properties banned Machine Head from the ‘House of Blues’ venues in both Anaheim, Calif., and Orlando, the respective cities that are home to Disneyland and Disney World. Machine Head were banned by the company to due the band’s “violent imagery,” “inflammatory lyrics” and the group’s “undesirable fans.” These accusations come from the company that created ‘The Lion King,’ which features antagonist Scar plunging his claws into his brother Mufasa’s paws before allowing him to fall from a cliff only to be trampled to death by a heard of wildebeest. Disney also included the song ‘Savages’ in the film ‘Pocahontas,’ where the character Ratcliffe sings the lyrics, “They’re savages! / Barely even human … Dirty redskin devils,” about Native Americans. “Violent Imagery?” Check. “Inflammatory lyrics?” Massive check. Additionally, the entertainment company was happy to allow Motorhead to write the song ‘Dog-Face Boy’ for the animated film ‘Bolt,’ surely in an attempt to appeal to those same “undesirable fans” and lure them into movie theaters worldwide. The band released the following statement regarding the continuation of the Disney ban: For the third time in a row, the corporate powers behind Walt Disney Properties have once again pressured promoter Live Nation into canceling Machine Head’s performance at a House of Blues venue on Disney property, this time the December 4th show in Orlando, FL. While no one is willing to provide evidence that would prove unfavorable to Disney, sources close to events have suggested that Machine Head remains on a “banned list”, and while Dethklok, All That Remains and Black Dahlia Murder will still be allowed to play, the corporate powers at Disney have refused to allow Machine Head to perform. In 2007, Walt Disney Properties banned Machine Head from the House Of Blues venues in both Anaheim and Orlando, citing “violent imagery”, “inflammatory lyrics” and most appallingly “undesirable fans” as the reason. The diversity-impaired corporation began pressuring the promoter with vague threats of liability and reduced job security before placing Machine Head under an internal “review process”. Five days later, Walt Disney Properties would convey their alarming decision to the band, less than 48 hours before the first date of 2007′s anti-war, anti-religion, anti-conservative-themed “The Blackening” album headline run at the House Of Blues in Anaheim, CA. A stunned Machine Head announced the details and disgust regarding the situation and let fans know of the then-rescheduled show 70 miles away at The Glass House in Pomona. In retaliation for that public announcement, Disney cancelled the band’s then-upcoming performance at the House Of Blues in Orlando, citing the same absurd reasons, though they would only publicly state that they had “changed musical formats” at the venue. Machine Head wish to once again extend their gratitude to Live Nation and the House Of Blues for their poise and tolerance throughout these ridiculous developments, unbelievably transpiring here in these United States Of America in this year 2012. As they are not on Disney property and therefore not subject to the corporation’s alleged coercionary tactics, the current dates with Dethklok, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder at the Dallas and Houston House Of Blues will go on as scheduled. Unfortunately, Machine Head’s Florida performance will not be rescheduled in an effort to avoid creating any conflict with the existing dates on the tour. All refund requests will be honored. Machine Head assure fans that all refund requests for the Dec. 4 show will be honored. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/machine-head-to-unleash-machine-f-ing-head-live-double-album/” title=”Next: Machine Head to Unleash Live Double Album” align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has been one of the most discussed and controversial musicians of 2012. After a myriad of questionable quotes throughout the year, Mustaine admits that he’s “learned a valuable lesson from all this stuff,” concerning the negative attention he’s received from various claims. Throughout the year, we’ve reported on Mustaine’s support of former Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum; his opposition to gay marriage ; telling starving African women to “ put a plug in it ” in regards to the inability to properly support a child; insisting that the President was born in Kenya even after Obama had released his long-form birth certificate, while likening First Lady Michelle Obama to a “black widow”; and claiming that the President had staged various shooting massacres to increase support for gun control. The slew of comments has resulted in immense criticism from fellow musicians, with GWAR ‘s Oderus Urungus telling Mustaine to “ shut the f— up ,” Deicide ‘s Glen Benton calling Mustaine a “ prolapsed rectum ,” Metallica ‘s James Hetfield giving Mustaine the title of “ big mouth ,” and Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx labeling the Megadeth frontman as a “ f—ing a–hole .” It’s been quite a year for Mustaine, and in a recent interview with Rolling Stone , the legendary musician looked back at his many controversies. “You can’t joke around very much anymore without people misinterpreting what you’re saying,” begins Mustaine. “You know, I probably should’ve said things differently. I probably should’ve skipped that altogether,” Mustaine says about his comments on Obama staging shootings on U.S. soil. “I learned a valuable lesson from all of this stuff.” Mustaine was repeating a theory by pro-gun activist and head of Guns Owners of America, Larry Pratt, when the musician made his comments about the “false flag” shootings. “He [Pratt] said something about it and no one went after him. But everyone went crazy on me,” Mustaine says. “I’ve been talking about politics my whole career. The second album – my God, it shows the U.N. completely blown up and destroyed. So I don’t know why, all of a sudden, now’s the time for people to take exception with what I’m saying … I need to remember that being a public figure, I have a choice. I can be a really good example for people – which I really desire to do – or not.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/megadeth-dave-mustaine-discusses-being-hit-beer-rocks-croatian-festival/” title=”Dave Mustaine Discusses Being Hit With Beer + Rocks at Croatian Fest” align=”center”]
Jason Merritt, Getty Images / Facebook: I See Stars Falling in Reverse singer Ronnie Radke has courted his own amount of trouble over the years, but he’s doing his best to change that path and that means distancing himself from up-and-coming rockers I See Stars . Radke reveals that the young band has been kicked off ‘The Thug in Me Is You’ tour at his request. Radke, who previously dealt with substance abuse issues of his own, says that the time had come for I See Stars to go after failing to live up to the second chance they were given after their own arrest for drug possession earlier this year. The singer offered a full Facebook posting to explain his reasoning for the band’s exit from the tour. It reads as follows: I wanted to let everyone know I See Stars is no longer on the tour. We had offered them the tour several months back and then not long after we sent the offer, the entire band was arrested for drug possession. If you have been following my story, you know I am very serious about my sobriety and have been sober for 4+ years now. I decided to remove them from the tour at that time as I did not want drug users in my environment. After we informed them they would no longer be on the tour for that reason, their label approached us and asked us to give them a 2nd chance, they assured us the band would not use drugs and they would be professional on my tour. We came to an agreement and I gave them their 2nd chance. Throughout this entire tour, they have been unprofessional. They have rarely showed up on time and have caused undue difficulty on my crew plus employees of the various venues. It’s been next to impossible to keep the show running on time. I feel at this point we have no choice but to continue on without them. We’re simply trying to deliver the best possible show to all you guys and we don’t feel like we can do that with I See Stars. We’re stoked to continue on with Enter Shikari, Letlive and Matt Toka (on select dates). I’ll see you at the shows. Love and respect, Ronnie. Back in late August, multiple members of I See Stars were arrested in Kansas for alleged possession of hallucinogenic drugs. At the time, singer Devin Oliver tweeted about it, calling it “the worst 13 hours of my life” and vowed it would be his “first and last time in jail.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/falling-in-reverse-ronnie-radke-reportedly-arrested-throwing-mic-stands-into-crowd/” title=”Next: Falling in Reverse’s Ronnie Radke Arrested for Microphone Throwing” align=”center”]
Victory Records Ill Nino are back and rocking as loud as ever with their latest album ‘Epidemia,’ and we’re happy to team with the band to offer you the chance to win an Ill Nino prize package. It consists of an autographed ‘Epidemia’ CD, an Ill Nino t-shirt, a bandana and a poster featuring the band members. Singer Cristian Machado recently told Loudwire about the disc, “The recording of ‘Epidemia’ was definitely an amazing experience. We’ve set the bar higher than ever before. I truly believe this record is one of Ill Niño’s best efforts. I really can’t wait for our fans to hear the new record. I know it will connect with many of them on a new level. I can definitely say it’s going to be a crusher but will not lack any of the beauty and passion that appears on our early records.” Machado recently stated that this was the time for the band to redefine Latin metal, while the band’s drummer Dave Chavarri spoke about how they dove deeper into Latin and tribal rhythms on this release. The group is off to a solid start with the single ‘La Epidemia’ and the new video for the track. The ‘Epidemia’ album is out now and can be purchased through Victory Records or iTunes online. But you can also possibly win the Ill Nino ‘Epidemia’ prize pack. All you need to do is simply enter your details in the contest box below: Ill Nino ‘Epidemia’ Prize Pack Enter your e-mail address and t-shirt size for a chance to win an autographed ‘Epidemia’ CD, an Ill Nino t-shirt, a bandana and a poster featuring the band members. Contest ends Dec. 2, 2012. Click here for official rules . By entering this contest, you will receive email newsletters from Loudwire and be added to the Ill Nino mailing list. You may unsubscribe at any time. Email T-Shirt Size
Mary Oullette, SheWillShootYou.com / Kevin Winter, Getty Images Mark Tremonti raised a few eyebrows in the Van Halen camp when he recently commented that he’d like to make Wolfgang Van Halen ‘s addition to his self-titled band a permanent thing. But the guitarist says that VH fans shouldn’t worry about this signaling Wolfgang’s exit, as he plans to work around the Van Halen commitments. Tremonti tells Metal Express Radio (excerpted by Van Halen News Desk ), “We’re talking about doing this arrangement for good. Van Halen will always be his priority, whenever they are touring. When he’s not touring, he’ll be with us. He will write and play on the records and, if he is on tour with Van Halen, we will find somebody that he is comfortable with filling his shoes.” Tremonti recently revealed that the younger Van Halen was part of their initial thought process for their current release, but he was otherwise occupied at the time when they started recording their record. With Van Halen off the road and with Tremonti’s Creed and Alter Bridge bassist Brian Marshall bowing out just prior to their tour, Wolfgang became a last-minute addition to the band’s lineup. The group just finished their European tour , with no further dates on the itinerary at present. Meanwhile, Van Halen remain off the road as well while guitarist Eddie Van Halen recovers from the surgery he had to deal with diverticulitis earlier this year. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/mark-tremonti-video-new-single-so-youre-afraid/” title=”Next: Watch Tremonti’s ‘So You’re Afraid’ Video ” align=”center”]
Photo Credit: James Sharrock Speaking with musicians such as Cradle of Filth vocalist Dani Filth is one of the true pleasures of music journalism. Although kind and soft-spoken, Filth always has some brilliantly deranged stories up his sleeve. Earlier, we posted a story where the vocalist was stalked by a woman who claimed to be the reincarnation of serial killer Elizabeth Bathory, along with Dani being trapped in a car with her estranged boyfriend in an unbelievable case of coincidence. Now, we bring you the full interview with Dani Filth, which is filled with additional gems from the extreme metal mastermind. Along with talking about Cradle of Filth’s newest album, ‘The Manticore and Other Horrors,’ Dani Filth told us about his Halloween plans for this year, an upcoming 2013 North American tour, bizarre gifts from people including a leg bone from a fan’s dead grandmother + much more. Please enjoy our exclusive and in-depth interview with Dani Filth … if you dare. So last time we spoke, we talked a little about Bad Religion and how great that band is, and when I listened to your new record, ‘The Manticore and Other Horrors,’ I felt like it had a bit of a punk edge to it. Is that fair to say? Yeah, it’s certainly got this agro sort of hardcore element to some of the riffs, but I also think, aside from the traditional Cradle of Filth sound, I think there’s a little bit of new wave British heavy metal in there as well; a distinctive British vibe, and I wouldn’t say any of this is contrived. I think the punk element came from the fact that our guitarist Paul [Allender] wanted to revisit some of the ideas or the riffs that we had on stuff like ‘The Principle of Evil Made Flesh’ and more of our earlier works. When you compare the ‘Manticore’ record to your previous works, do you feel like this one is a little more accessible to people who might shy away from the more gothic elements of metal music? I suppose you could say that. The album itself is splattered with a selection of different ingredients, I suppose. They all add up to a slightly different bigger picture and I think the idea sort of moved away from the last record. It was very different, very capsulated, but there was a real emphasis on keeping the songs different from one another, but essentially listenable. It’s obviously a Cradle of Filth record, but I wanted people to hear why I’m singing more. I think we as a band got to that point where we wanted to do something that’s very memorable; heavy, because we are an extreme metal band after all and always have been, but we wanted people to go, “Wow that song’s killer. I can hear it. I can listen to the words, etc.” Was this your drummer Marthus’ first album that he solely did the orchestration on? Yes, yes it was. We kept everything very, very in-house. We recorded the album essentially as a three-piece and we drafted in a different bass player to play on the record because we parted company with our previous bass player, Dave. We used someone who worked at one of the studios; we used two studios simultaneously because we demoed everything. It cut the length of the actual recording down, essentially folding it in half. Recording-wise, there were four of us, but writing-wise, three. Carolyn (backing vocals), our new bass player Daniel, and our other guitarist, [James McIlroy] are involved in other bands and they all have other jobs, so for the band, it just felt it would be more completed, but the nucleus was writing and it was really relaxed because of that. That makes sense, because I was wondering why there was just the three of you in your latest photo shoot. It just made sense, you know? I think when you get to your tenth album, we suddenly realized we’ve been around long enough, we’ve got a big enough fan base to be able to do what we want to do and to other bands it might seem like a radical decision to show three as opposed to six, but it was one of those things where we just thought, “F— it.” I mean, at this point, we’re dragging in people who weren’t involved in the record. It also gave a new perspective on the imagery and what have you. Our new video we just shot for ‘Frost on Her Pillow’ is available on our website and has now gone to various outlets to be played, but that features six musicians on it, so we haven’t totally shied away from it. On the next one we’re about to shoot, which is just prior to going on our forthcoming European tour, I don’t even know if its even going to have the band in it at all. It’s just going to be a bit of a horror fest. It’s two sides of the coin, really. Speaking of the ‘Frost on Her Pillow’ video, it’s very quintessential Cradle of Filth and the imagery is fantastic. Can you tell us a little about the concept of that video? Well, it was just something that was reminiscent of what’s happening in the lyrics. It’s very dark in a sexual way, I suppose, and we couldn’t transcribe it exactly. It’s the director Stuart Birchall’s interpretation of the lyrics. Essentially, it’s about a bride that’s died and her lover, who is a cruel lover and ‘Dracula’-esque, condemns her for leaving him and he haunts her by using voodoo. She’s haunted in such a way that she’s stalked by a succubus. So you know, videos don’t really need to have a story. I think everybody looks at us lyrically-wise and thematic-wise, especially on the cinematic side of things; they always look and ask, “What’s the story this time? What’s happening?” Whereas a lot of bands don’t go so much into the story. Obviously we’ve done quite a few concept records in the past, and people to inspect everything we do, storyboard it, and have it from A to Z, whereas other bands may just say, “Well, that’s just random imagery, that’s a video, that’s what happens.” [Laughs] But we can get lambasted by some people saying, “What do you mean there’s no combination to this imagery?! Why is there not a story?!” I think it’s so with videos, since you have such a short window to project them, you can be a bit liberal and you can leave it to the listener’s discretion as to how they interpret the video. Leave something to the imagination, absolutely. You’re going on a European tour very shortly. Is there going to be a US or North American tour anytime soon? There is, and the dates are now being penciled in by our booking agent. It looks more than likely that we’ll be headlining with Decapitated , the Faceless , and the Agonist as support, which I think is a really strong lineup. We’re headlining a package tour here, which is not too much our tour; it’s something a promoter has put together and we’ve got some very strange dates. We’ve got one date in France, but five in Spain; Eastern countries like Belarus, and then in Finland and all around Scandinavia. It’s a very sort of meandering, topsy-turvy tour, but we have Godseed, which is former members of Gorgoroth and Rotting Christ, and then there’s a couple of bands that kind of flip-flop. They do some dates but not the others but it promises to be a very cool tour, and with the American tour, were penciled in to go down to Mexico first and it’s going to start mid-February around Valentine’s Day-ish. With your particular singing style, you have a tremendous range, and I think a lot of people have debated about how many octaves you can cover. How many octaves is your range? Oh, I’ve got no idea. High’s, low’s and in between; that’s how I see it. The thing is, and it happens a lot amongst our fans as well; especially with this record I think because it’s grounded, it’s heavy, and it’s screamy and rough and that, but it’s very singy as well and I think there’s a few people that say, “Oh, I want him to scream all the time, I want him to do this, I want him to do that,” and they immediately assume you’ve lost your voice when you don’t do it. They don’t seem to sit back and think, “Maybe he just doesn’t want to do it all the time. Perhaps the songs benefit from having this new style.” That’s how it was written, that’s how it was addressed, so you kind of dig your own grave. That terminology makes me think, because you’ve done the very high stuff and done the very low stuff, people start, “Well, I want more of this, I want more of that,” but no, I couldn’t tell you about the octave range. I just say high and low. Well, anyone who listens to the record will know that you’re still hitting those tea kettle-like high notes without any issue. Yeah, with this album, it’s an evidently Cradle of Filth affair. There’s no mistaking that, I just think the songwriting is just a bit stronger and a little bit different. Because we recorded in two studios, it gave us a little but longer. We weren’t curtailed by having a definitive, “You’ve only got two weeks left,” because it sort of folded in on itself, rather than me following the guitars and drums in that extended time period, I was doing it at the same time in a separate studio not very far away from Springvale Studios, the one where we rehearsed and demoed in, and Grindstone Studios, where we finished the mixing after the guitars and drums and everything was done. It just gave us that comfort zone where we knew that we weren’t under loads of pressure, so it made the mix a lot more relaxed and a lot more fun and let us experiment with a few things. We weren’t pressed to the nines. It was one of the first times where we haven’t been. I remember a pretty long time ago seeing a tour of your house on television. I remember very distinctly you having a skeleton in the floor of your kitchen, and I wanted to know if there are any new interesting additions you’ve added throughout the years. [Laughs] Well, we were actually moving at one point, and then the move kind of fell through because the old gentlemen that we were buying the house off of suddenly had second thoughts after about a year of us waiting. I can’t really think of what’s new. I’ve got a Dalek from ‘Doctor Who,’ which I bought from the BBC a few years ago. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched ‘Dr. Who,’ but it’s an enemy of the doctor, it’s like this robot thing, like six foot tall, black, with swiveling guns and everything. It’s pretty cool, and he speaks. He’s got an infrared thing, so you can do it anywhere in the house. It shouts out and screams, “Exterminate!” It’s no secret that you’re a big fan of Halloween. I read online that you were married on Halloween and of course ‘Manticore’ is coming out the day before Halloween. Do you have any special plans for this year? Yeah, me and my wife are staying up in London and we’re going to this thing called the ‘London Bridge Experience.’ It’s called ‘The Crypts’ and it’s like a live horror thing. You’re sort of stranded inside in the dark with lots of actors and things like that. Then we’re going on a London ghost bus. We go around to very famous sights and they tell you the history, and on the way back they have an impromptu seance with special effects and sounds. It’s going to be cool and we’ve got a cool hotel and that, but yeah, like you pointed out, there’s a lot happening around then. There’s a launch party and then we’re shooting a second video before we head out on tour, and that’s going to start late in the afternoon and film all through the night. The final sequence is going to be shot in the dawn; hopefully it doesn’t piss with rain, and then we have rehearsals up to the point when we go on tour. You do have to make an effort for Halloween. Being a father, how has it been being able to share Halloween with your daughter as she’s growing up? Of course it’s been important and she loves it as well. I mean, it’s like all holidays for kids, isn’t it? It’s great. It’s an exciting part of the year, because in England, literally a week afterwards, we have Guy Fawkes Night, so you have Halloween and then you have this week of everybody lighting fireworks off and burning effigies and stuff, and then you have the run-up to Christmas, so the winter is pretty magical period for children. Well, f— children, it’s a magical period for the whole lot of us. It’s been good to enjoy that. You obviously have very dedicated and loving fans. What has been the strangest fan interaction you’ve encountered throughout your career? I always get, which I really like, I always get odd presents. In Texas we got a rattlesnake and another time we got a necklace made out of chicken’s feet; very ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ I know. I’ve actually got them in my office, in front of me. And then a leg bone from someone’s grandma that they dug up. [Laughs] They dug it up and gave it to you? Yeah, it was pretty unique; I’ll put it that way. And then dolls and paintings and stuff like that which is all really cool, I love it. Is it difficult to get a human leg bone through customs? Well, obviously not. [Laughs] But they probably thought it was something else. I bought a bat; a vampire bat I bought in Philadelphia once at ‘Armed & Dangerous.’ It literally went through the [x-ray] scanner, and it was a bat, there was no mistaking it, and they still asked what it was. It was ridiculous; really ridiculous. It was like, “What else could it be?” Cradle of Filth’s newest album, ‘The Manticore and Other Horrors,’ is now available wherever music is sold. To buy a copy of the album, click here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/cradle-of-filth-frost-on-her-pillow-video/” title=”Next: Watch Cradle of Filth’s ‘Frost on Her Pillow’ Music Video” align=”center”]