Mårten Hagström, guitarist for Sweden’s revered and renowned technical extremists MESHUGGAH, checks in about the band’s first-ever DVD, Alive, produced and directed by Ian McFarland of Killswitch Productions:
“So we finally got around to making a live DVD. People have been asking us to make one for ages it seems, so we guess it was about time. It was quite a different experience to have all those cameras around for those shows but in the end, we feel it really came out great in a ‘not so flashy but more toward the gritty’ type of way. More true to what we are about. Capturing what a MESHUGGAH show is like. For real… without the trimmings, so to speak… just the way both us and Ian wanted it. Enjoy!”
Alive will be a 2-disc set with a DVD + an audio CD, scheduled for release in the U.S. and Canada on February 9th, 2010. The DVD is comprised of live concert footage of the band performing tracks off their Billboard Top 200-charting 2008 release, obZen, and their time-tested career staples shot during MESHUGGAH’s 2009 North American tour and 2008’s performance at the Loudpark Festival in Tokyo. The result is a visceral, visual abduction into the band’s metric insanity-in-action. Gracefully interlacing the live tracks are behind-the-scenes vignettes shot in black & white that give Alive a concert film feel that is unlike many of the live DVDs currently on the market.
Contents of the Alive concert film include:
DVD:
01. Begin
02. Perpetual Black Second (Tokyo)
03. Twenty Two Hours
04. Pravus (Tokyo)
05. Dissemination
06. Bleed (NYC)
07. Ritual
08. New Millenium Cyanide Christ (Montreal)
09. Cleanse
10. Stengah (Montreal)
11. The Mouth Licking What You’ve Bled (Montreal)
12. Machine
13. Electric Red (Tokyo)
14. Solidarius
15. Rational Gaze (Tokyo)
16. Moment
17. Lethargica (Toronto)
18. Communicate
19. Combustion (Toronto)
21. Straws Pulled At Random (Toronto)
20. Humiliative (Montreal)
22. Straws Pulled At Random (Toronto)
23. End
BONUS MATERIAL
01. “Bleed” Music Video
02. “The Making Of ‘Bleed’”
03. Micha’s Guitar Tour
04. Tomas Haake’s Drum Tour
LIVE AUDIO CD:
01. Perpetual Black Second
02. Electric Red
03. Rational Gaze
04. Pravus
05. Lethargica
06. Combustion
07. Straws Pulled At Random
08. New Millenium Cyanide Christ
09. Stengah
10. The Mouth Licking What You’ve Bled
11. Humiliative
12. Bleed
We’ve just gotten word that Century Media Records will release the debut from TRIPTYKON, the group formed by former HELLHAMMER/CELTIC FROST singer, guitarist, and main songwriter Tom Gabriel Warrior. The album, Eparistera Daimones” will be released in Europe and North America on March 22, 2010.
Eparistera Daimones was produced by Tom Gabriel Warrior and TRIPTYKON guitarist V. Santura and recorded in V. Santura’s own Woodshed Studio in southern Germany, in the course of the second half of 2009. Like CELTIC FROST’s highly praised Monotheist album, Eparistera Daimones was mastered by Walter Schmid at Oakland Recording in Winterthur, Switzerland.
Tom Gabriel Warrior comments: “I am very pleased about continuing my long-standing and very constructive affiliation with Century Media Records. After the demise of CELTIC FROST, I was looking for continuity in every other aspect of my life, and the cooperation between Prowling Death Records Ltd. and Century Media Records has in the past already provided an outstanding platform for releases by HELLHAMMER and CELTIC FROST.”
Eparistera Daimones will feature the following nine songs, at a playing time of around 70 minutes:
01. Goetia
02. Abyss Within My Soul
03. In Shrouds Decayed
04. Shrine
05. A Thousand Lies
06. Descendant
07. Myopic Empire
08. My Pain
09. The Prolonging
Oakland, CA, power trio HIGH ON FIRE have completed work on its long-awaited, fifth studio album and follow-up to 2007’s Death is This Communion. Titled Snakes for the Divine, the record will drop on February 23, 2010 via E1 Music.
Recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, Snakes for the Divine is HIGH ON FIRE’s magnum opus, capturing every nuance of the legendary band’s ongoing musical progression and evolution into one of heavy music’s all time greats. Sharper, faster and darker than anything the group has ever recorded, Snakes for the Divine is an unrelenting tour de force, showcasing cult guitar hero Matt Pike’s utterly unique and inventive musicianship and the band’s epic, thundering sound.
Premium production by Fidelman – the man who produced Slayer’s World Painted Blood and is mixing the upcoming Metallica live album – boosts HIGH ON FIRE’s strength and power while blackened lyrical tales of ancient wars, frozen planets and doomed societies emerge from Pike’s bellowing barks and throaty war cries. From the moment the leviathan-like title track explodes to kick off the album, it is immediately evident that HIGH ON FIRE is determined to push modern heavy metal into new and uncharted realms.
The track listing for HIGH ON FIRE’s Snakes for the Divine is as follows:
1. “Snakes for the Divine”
2. “Frost Hammer”
3. “Bastard Samurai”
4. “Ghost Neck”
5. “Fire, Flood & Plague”
6. “How Dark We Pray”
7. “Holy Flames of the Fire Spitter”
8. “Mystery of Helm”
Snakes for the Divine’s album artwork will be brought to life by longtime HIGH ON FIRE cover artist Arik Moonhawk Roper.
In addition to Pike, HIGH ON FIRE features drummer Des Kensel and bassist Jeff Matz.
IMMORTAL’s Abbath, Horgh, Apollyon, Demonaz have issued the following update on their website:
“North American hordes, we are coming your way! After the fantastic experiences we had in New York and Los Angeles in 2007, we are returning next year, and this time we will make sure we visit our Canadian hordes on the East coast as well! We will see you during Easter 2010, which will be a dark and cold one!”
Confirmed tour dates for “Blashyrkh in North America 2010″ are as follows:
Mar. 27 – Toronto, ON – Canada @ Opera House
Mar. 28 – Montreal, QC – Canada @ Metropolis
Mar. 30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Masonic Temple
Apr. 02 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Avalon
After the news broke that Anvil! The Story of Anvil would not be nominated for Best Documentary, the outrage from the press and fans was immediate. Vanity Fair’s report on this was headlined, “What’s Up Doc?” and they also pointed out that It Might Get Loud, also got the shaft. “Lesson to be learned: the documentary committee hates music,” VF wrote.
Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood-Elsewhere wrote that Anvil was “one of ‘09’s most offbeat and emotionally engaging (one could even apply the term ‘heart-warming’) docs,” and also felt it was “so earnest and touching in a shlumpy, blue-collar, middle-American hangdog way” that it could have won. There’s now gonna be ten flicks nominated for Best Picture, forget the fact there were probably less than five good movies out this year, but Anvil couldn’t get no love?
WATCH THE PREVIEW FOR ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVILBELOW:
One of the most articulate critiques of the decision came from Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman, who painted a portrait of a Motion Picture Academy even more sadly out of touch than usual.
Gleiberman started off by saying that this year’s list of Best Documentary “fundamentally off…it’s almost perverse…the list omits far too many of the documentaries – like, nearly all of them – that were sought out by audiences and acclaimed by critics. It ignores too many of the movies that were seen, praised, and loved.”
The first movie he mentions in this story? Anvil, which “unlike 90 percent of the [movies] on the list, struck at least something of a chord in the culture….A movie like Anvil, about the middle-aged persistence and comeback of the greatest heavy metal band you’ve never heard of, will never be embraced because of its ‘importance.’
Yet as Anthony Lane pointed out in The New Yorker, “the power of the movie is that it isn’t ultimately about rock & roll – it’s about time, and what time does to all of us.”
Case in point, Anvil front-man Lips then gave an interview for LiveDaily, where in response to the question what would he want people to take away from the movie, “That it’s never too late and dreams can still come true. The only time it’s too late is when you’re six feet under the ground. Where there’s life, there’s hope. Anything can change for anybody at any time. And you can die tomorrow. Anything is possible and that’s why you have to do whatever you can while you’re here.”—David Konow
David Konow is the author of Bang Your Head, and has also contributed to Guitar World, Geek Monthly, Fangoria, and many other publications and websites.
For all you core fans living in the tri-state area: go get your pre-New Year’s metal on at Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s Club Europa on December 30. Click here for tix.
Hydra Head Records has just announced that a re-mastered version of Xasthur’s two-song 2005 Demo will be released as CD and 12″ vinyl through the label on February 23.
Dave Mustaine, Testament’s Chuck Billy and all four members of Slayer talk about the upcoming “wet metal dream tour,” The American Carnage Tour. Co-headliners Slayer and Megadeth kick off this 26-date trek on January 18 in Seattle.
It’s been five years since the metal world lost a dear friend, Dimebag Darrell, and both Guitar World and Revolver have commemorative issues hitting the stands celebrating his life and music.
The Revolver issue focuses on the Vulgar Display of Power album, and has exclusive interviews with all the surviving members of Pantera, as well as talks with Dime’s girlfriend Rita Haney, producer Terry Date, Rob Halford, Scott Ian, and more.
In an official statement, Revolver’s editor-in-chief Brandon Geist said that instead of dwelling on “all the tragedy and negativity that eventually overtook Pantera,” Revolver wanted to capture the band “at their greatest moment, as they were coming into their own, making their masterpiece, and taking it around the world.”
Featured in the Guitar World special issue are interviews with Dimebag’s father, Jerry Abbott, his former managers Walter O’Brien and Kim Zide, as well as a lesson for how to play “A New Level.”
As GW’s Editor-in-Chief Brad Tolinski tell us, “This idea with this issue is we didn’t want to do another recycle job. We wanted to go somewhere new. This issue has the first lengthy interview I’ve read with his dad. People don’t realize what an important guy he was to Pantera. He taught Dime how to play, he produced their first albums
in his studio, he got the band going where they needed to get going.”
Looking back on Dime’s tragic passing, Tolinski says, “You gotta miss the guy because most rock stars are pretty dull these days. He was such a big personality. He was the real deal on so many different levels, I don’t think anybody’s been able to replace that.” —David Konow
David Konow is the author of Bang Your Head, and has also contributed to Guitar World, Geek Monthly, Fangoria, and many other publications and websites.
Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax will play together for the first time in history, at the June 2010 Sonisphere festivals in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Says Lars Ulrich of Metallica, “Who would have thought that more than 25 years after its inception, thrash metal’s big 4 would not only still be around and more popular than ever, but will now play together for the first time…what a mindfuck! Bring it on!”
“It’s about fucking time this happened,” says Slayer’s Kerry King, “and about time the fans finally get what they want. This is fucking awesome.”
Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian agrees, commenting on the enormity of the announcement.
“People have been talking about these four bands playing together since 1984. That’s twenty-six years of expectation!! And the thing is, I believe not only will we live up to the expectations, we will shatter them! No other four bands as influential as the four of us have ever done this. Imagine if the Beatles, Stones, the Who and Zeppelin had done shows? Or Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, Motorhead? Well, I may be getting into some rarified air here but as a fan, that’s how big I feel this is.”
These four legendary acts broke out of the underground thrash movement to dominate the metal world in the 1980s, selling millions of records and packing arenas across the globe. The metal giants have never before all shared the same stage, despite huge demand. But on June 16, 2010, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax will take to the Sonisphere stage at Bemowo Airport, Poland, to make the dreams of headbangers the world over become a reality. A second Big Four appearance is planned for Sonisphere Czech Republic three days later, with more Sonisphere shows featuring the awesome combo to be announced in the coming days and weeks.
“This is a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity for heavy metal fans to see the four greatest heavy metal bands in American history back together on one stage,” concludes Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine. “If there are any heads left at the end of this festival that haven’t banged, they don’t belong there.”
