Thursday, September 09, 2010
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News

Dark Funeral Bassist Quits

Bassist B-Force has left Swedish black metallers DARK FUNERAL. The band's guitarist, Lord Ahriman, said in a statement, "I wish to thank [B-Force] for the six fantastic years he'd been with us on bass. It's been a pleasure indeed working together."

Commented B-Force: "After six awesome and crazy years with DARK FUNERAL, I have decided to leave the band. It's my own decision to leave one of the best band/friends in the world, but I feel that I need to move forward in life and do something else music-wise. There are absolutely NO hard feelings between me and DARK FUNERAL. We are and will continue to be good friends!

"I want to thank the band and all the fans all over the world. You kick ass everywhere I've been playing with the band. I thank you all. May the dark forces be with you."

DARK FUNERAL has already found "a new and totally amazing bassist; a bassist who lives and breathes DARK FUNERAL in its purest form," according to Lord Ahriman. "We will, however, wait until everything is settled before we present him to all of you, so please be patient."

DARK FUNERAL played its final show with vocalist Magnus "Masse" Broberg (a.k.a. Emperor Magus Caligula) on August 21, 2010 at the Summer Breeze festival in Dinkelsbühl, Germany. "Since this was a very special performance in many ways, we not only put on our biggest pyro show ever, we also captured this gig with 10 cameras (including one crane)," said Lord Ahriman. "So you can be sure to expect a DVD release from this killer show in the near future."

Broberg announced his departure from DARK FUNERAL last month, explaining that "my life has taken a new turn lately, and I am also getting married this year, whereof my priorities in life lie somewhere else." Guitarist and founding member Lord Ahriman added, "I understand when people change course and get new priorities in life. And I fully respect that. Life moves on, after all, and so will DARK FUNERAL.

"Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus", the latest album from DARK FUNERAL, was released in North America on January 26, 2010 via Regain Records. The CD, which was made available in most European countries between November 18, 2009 and November 27, 2009, was recorded at Abyss Studio in Grangärde, Sweden with famed engineer and legendary producer Peter Tägtgren (PAIN, HYPOCRISY). Nine songs are featured on the effort, which is being described in a press release as "the band's most technical and varied album to date. And while still being true to their roots, they have taken a great step forward in the evolution of their brand of fine Swedish black metal. 'Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus' is, from the very beginning to the end, a hell ride you simply don't want to miss!"

The "Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus" cover artwork was created by Morbid (Daniel Valeriani).

"Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus" was released in a couple of different formats, including a two-disc limited edition containing one CD and one live DVD. The bonus live DVD features approximately 55 minutes of previously unreleased material professionally filmed with six cameras during the band's 15th anniversary show at the Peace & Love festival on June 28, 2008 in Borlänge, Sweden. The album also includes two versions (soft and hardcore) of the band's brand new video, "My Funeral".

Angelus

Pantera's "The Will To Survive" Available For Streaming

A previously unreleased PANTERA track, "The Will to Survive", can now be streamed on the band's official Facebook page (at "music" tab). Also available is a custom "Cowboys From Hell" 20th-anniversary edition listening party featuring the following songs:

* Cowboys From Hell (Disc 1)
* Psycho Holiday (Disc 1)
* The Art Of Shredding (Disc 1)
* Cemetery Gates (Live) [Disc 2]
* Primal Concrete Sledge (Live) [Disc 2]
* Heresy (Live) [Disc 2]
* Shattered (Demo) [Disc 3]
* Message In Blood (Demo) [Disc 3]
* Domination (Demo) [Disc 3]

Check it out:

* Quicktime
* Windows Media Audio

To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of PANTERA's classic major-label debut, "Cowboys From Hell", the band's official webstore is offering a limited-edition exclusive box set. This box set contains merchandise only available in the band's official webstore.

Box set includes:

* "Cowboys From Hell" logo flask
* Belt-buckle bottle opener
* "Cowboys From Hell" exclusive T-shirt
* Four-piece guitar pick set
* "Cowboys From Hell" 20th-anniversary expanded CD

All items come in a Texas-shaped collector's box.

To pre-order this item, go to this location.

PANTERA found its growl and groove on "Cowboys From Hell", a landmark album whose bone-powdering intensity, razor-sharp riffing and pummeling rhythmic assault represented a turning point in modern metal when it was released in 1990. More than just PANTERA's major label debut, many consider this album to be the official debut of the PANTERA lineup with singer Philip Anselmo, guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul and bassist Rex Brown.

To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of "Cowboys From Hell", Rhino rounds up a three-disc "Ultimate Edition," a three-disc "Deluxe Edition," and a two-disc "Expanded Edition." All three editions include a newly remastered version of the original album along with unreleased and rare live performances from the "Cowboys From Hell" tour. The "Ultimate" and "Deluxe" editions will also feature a disc of unreleased demos for nearly every album track, plus, "The Will To Survive", a previously unreleased song recorded during the album's sessions.

"'The Will To Survive' is a great track. With so many killer songs, it was hard to pick and choose the ones that should make our major label debut," says Vinnie Paul. "After hearing it for the first time in about 20 years, it's a pretty stellar performance and I am definitely proud that it will see the light of day for all the die-hard PANTERA fans around the world! It shows the true musical diversity of the band at that time!"

The "Deluxe" and "Expanded" editions of "Cowboys From Hell" will be released September 14 at all retail outlets, including www.pantera.com and www.rhino.com . The "Deluxe Edition" will be available for a suggested list price of $29.98 (physical) and $17.99 (digital) and the "Expanded Edition" for $19.98 (physical) and $12.99 (digital).

The "Ultimate Edition" will feature all three discs included in the "Deluxe Edition" and will be housed in an intricate box including several replica memorabilia pieces from the "Cowboys" era. The "Ultimate Edition" will be available on November 23 and final pre-order details, as well as the contents, will be unveiled soon on PANTERA's Facebook page.

Along with the remastered version of "Cowboys From Hell", all three sets include a disc of live music recorded during the tour for the album. It begins with seven unreleased performances from PANTERA's September 15, 1990 appearance at the Foundations Forum metal convention in California, a show recorded for radio broadcast but never released commercially. The remainder of the disc contains the five-song EP "Alive And Hostile", a collection of performances recorded in 1991 at the Monsters of Rock festival in Moscow that was previously available only in Australia as part of a 1994 boxed set.

The "Ultimate" and "Deluxe" editions of "Cowboys From Hell" include a third disc that contains the previously unreleased "The Will To Survive", along with demos for 10 of the album's 12 songs, including early versions of the title track "Psycho Holiday", "The Art Of Shredding" and "Cemetery Gates".

After being turned down "twenty-eight times by every major label on the face of the earth," ATCO Records A&R rep Mark Ross saw the band when Hurricane Hugo stranded him in Texas. The rest, as they say, is history, including another seven years and over a million miles of touring for "Cowboys" to be certified platinum (one million album sales) by the RIAA.

The album's liner notes include essays by each of the band's surviving members, producer Terry Date, and the aforementioned Ross. Recalling the first time he saw PANTERA, Ross writes, "By the end of the first song, my jaw was on the floor. The sonic power of it all — the attitude and the musicianship — blew me away. Basically, you had to be an idiot to not think they're amazing. I mean, how could you see these guys and not think, Holy shit!?"

"Cowboys From Hell" 20th-anniversary reissue track listing:

Disc One - Ultimate, Deluxe, and Expanded Editions

01. Cowboys From Hell
02. Primal Concrete Sledge
03. Psycho Holiday
04. Heresy
05. Cemetery Gates
06. Domination
07. Shattered
08. Clash With Reality
09. Medicine Man
10. Message In Blood
11. The Sleep
12. The Art Of Shredding

Disc Two - Ultimate, Deluxe, and Expanded Editions

01. Domination (live) *
02. Psycho Holiday (live) *
03. The Art Of Shredding (live) *
04. Cowboys From Hell (live) *
05. Cemetery Gates (live) *
06. Primal Concrete Sledge (live) *
07. Heresy (live) *
08. Domination (live, "Alive And Hostile" EP) †
09. Primal Concrete Sledge (live, "Alive And Hostile" EP) †
10. Cowboys From Hell (live, "Alive And Hostile" EP) †
11. Heresy (live, "Alive And Hostile" EP) †
12. Psycho Holiday (live, "Alive And Hostile" EP) †

Disc Three - Ultimate and Deluxe Editions Only

01. The Will To Survive *
02. Shattered (demo) *
03. Cowboys From Hell (demo) *
04. Heresy (demo) *
05. Cemetery Gates (demo) *
06. Psycho Holiday (demo) *
07. Medicine Man (demo) *
08. Message In Blood (demo) *
09. Domination (demo) *
10. The Sleep (demo) *
11. The Art Of Shredding (demo) *

* Previously unreleased
† Unreleased in the U.S.

Envision Radio Networks, Rhino Records and Full Metal Jackie are celebrating the 20th anniversary of PANTERA's "Cowboys From Hell" with a FREE one-hour special featuring brand new interviews with PANTERA members — drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, bassist Rex Brown, and singer Philip Anselmo.

The "Full Metal Jackie Pantera Cowboys From Hell 20th Anniversary Special" offers an exclusive sneak peek into the album's 20th anniversary reissues (available in three different configurations), two of which are scheduled for release on September 14 via Rhino Records, with the third slated for release on November 23. Full Metal Jackie will preview the newly remastered album along with hard-to-find demo and live tracks that have been freshly collected as part of the "Cowboys From Hell" 20th-anniversary box set.

The "Full Metal Jackie Pantera Cowboys From Hell 20th Anniversary Special" will be available for broadcast September 3 through September 19, just in time for Labor Day weekend.




Cowboys


Ozzy's BLIZZARD OF OZZ and DIARY OF A MADMAN 30th Anniversary Issues Delayed

According to CDJapan.co.jp, 30th-anniversary editions of OZZY OSBOURNE's classic "Blizzard Of Ozz" and "Diary Of A Madman" albums — which were previously due Japan on October 13 — have been postponed until next year. The "30th Anniversary Legacy Edition" of "Blizzard Of Ozz" will include a bonus disc featuring more than 10 tracks. The three-album reissue series will also include "Blizzard Of Ozz" ("30th Anniversary Edition") and "Diary Of A Madman" ("30th Anniversary Edition").

To pre-order these two items, follow these links:

* "Blizzard Of Ozz" (pre-order)
* "Diary Of A Madman" (pre-order)

When asked about Ozzy's upcoming 30th-anniversary editions of his first two albums at a Toronto press conference in May, Osbourne's wife/manager Sharon said, "They are coming out for Thanksgiving and they will be on the market then. . . It's going back to the original recordings with [Bob] Daisley [bass] and [Lee] Kerslake [drums]. And there will be a lot of stuff that you haven't heard before in the packages. Like certain conversations that were going on in the studio with the guys just messing around while the tape was still rolling. All of that will be added into it."

Bob Daisley, who played bass on the first two solo albums by Ozzy Osbourne, said in a recent interview with his web site that he has not been contacted about the 30th-anniversary editions of those records being released later this year. The tracks played by Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake on both albums — 1980's "Blizzard Of Ozz" and 1981's "Diary Of A Madman" — were replaced on a previous reissue after Daisley and Kerslake sued Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne over royalties.

Daisley told the web site, "Neither Lee nor I have been contacted, considered or consulted in the decision to re-release the original recordings. I haven't a clue as to what the 'bonus material' might be. As for royalties, we have not been approached for a reconciliation and have been offered and promised nothing."

Ozzy told The Pulse of Radio he was against the idea of replacing the original tracks when he found out about it. "Believe me, it wasn't my doing," he said. "I mean, I didn't know that was being done, 'cause Sharon was fighting all the legal things that were going down at the time. I said, 'What did you do that for?' And she said, 'The only way I could stop everything was if it went to that level.' And I said, 'You know what, whatever the circumstances were, I want the original thing back.' I mean, I wouldn't have done that."

The replacement tracks were played by current METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo and FAITH NO MORE drummer Mike Bordin.

Daisley says that he and Kerslake were fired because of disagreements with Sharon over a number of things, including refusing to do two shows in one day out of worry that Ozzy would blow out his voice.

Ozzy's latest solo album, "Scream" came out at the end of June.

Diary

Slash Files For Divorce

According to TMZ.com, legendary guitarist Slash (real name: Saul Hudson) has filed for divorce from his wife of nine years, Perla Ferrar. Slash cites irreconcilable differences. Slash and Perla have two boys, aged 6 and 8.

Court documents, which can be viewed at this location (PDF file), indicate the former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist is asking for joint physical and legal custody and is willing to pay spousal support. There is no prenuptial agreement.

The couple was married in October 2001. Slash lists the date of separation as July 15, 2010.

Slash was previously married to actress Renee Suran. They ended their five-year union in 1997.

Slash

Jack Douglas To Produce Next Michael Monroe Release

Former HANOI ROCKS singer Michael Monroe has tapped legendary producer Jack Douglas (AEROSMITH, JOHN LENNON, CLUTCH, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT, NEW YORK DOLLS) to helm his new solo album, tentatively due in early 2011. Monroe and his band spent a week earlier this month writing and recording demos at the Seawolf Studios on the Suomenlinna Island, about a 15-minute ferry ride from the Helsinki, Finland harbor. Michael said, "We chose about 16 out of over 20 songs we had written for the record.

"The newest stuff sounds especially great, and we now have a pretty clear picture of what our new studio album will sound like.

"We sent the demos to our producer, who also loved the material and can't wait to start digging into it with us.

"Needless to say, we're all really excited about the recording sessions.

"We're flying to L.A. this Sunday to get started and will record through September."

In other news, Monroe revealed in a new online posting that he broke two ribs while making a guest appearance during Slash's performance at the Summer Sonic festival in Osaka, Japan in early August. Michael said, "I sang one song with him, 'We're All Gonna Die'. During the guitar solo, I ran along the aisle all the way to the mixing board, which I had already done a couple of times during my own show, but this time on my way back I slipped and fell, hitting my back on the metal barricade."

He added,"I've never had a broken a rib before, so I didn't know how it would feel. I just figured I had banged my back up real hard, so I just kept putting ice on it, but realized that I could only sleep laying on my back due to the pain."

Professionally filmed video footage of Michael Monroe's performance at this year's Summer Sonic festival — which was held August 7-8, 2010 in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan — can be viewed below.

As previously reported, Michael Monroe will release a new live album, "Another Night In The Sun", in Europe and Japan on September 22. The CD was recorded in early July during a private concert at the Tavastia club in Helsinki and will be mixed and mastered by Niko Bolas (NEIL YOUNG, FRANK SINATRA, KEITH RICHARDS, KISS, SPINAL TAP) in Los Angeles.

"Another Night In The Sun" features highlights from Monroe's solo career, a few HANOI ROCKS classics and two brand new songs: "You're Next" and "Motorheaded For A Fall".

Michael Monroe's solo band features bassist Sami Yaffa, who has played with a remarkable variety of bands including HANOI ROCKS, NEW YORK DOLLS and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, and guitarist Ginger, who has dazzled audiences over the world with his band THE WILDHEARTS. Also on guitar is Steve Conte, the NEW YORK DOLLS master fretman who has played with Willy DeVille and his own bands THE CRAZY TRUTH, CROWN JEWELS and COMPANY OF WOLVES. Rounding out the band is drummer Karl "Rockfist" Rosqvist, whose resume includes providing rhythm for the likes of CHELSEA SMILES and DANZIG.

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