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Metalocalypse Co-Creator Announces New Side Project: BRENDON SMALL’s GALAKTIKON

Posted in All Metal, Artist Watch, New Music, News, Releases with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 21, 2012 by Randy

BRENDON SMALL is the co-creator/ writer/ actor/ director/ producer/ of ADULT SWIM’S METALOCALYPSE television series. Brendon Small is also responsible for writing and performing all of the show’s music and DETHKLOK: THE DETHALBUM and DETHALBUM II, the latter now known as the fastest-selling death metal album to date.

Now, Brendon has written and produced BRENDON SMALL‘s GALAKTIKON: “A High Stakes Intergalactic Extreme Rock album”, his long-awaited side project set to release in April 2012. The album release will coincide with the Season 4 premiere of METALOCALYPSE.

Coming off of the second DETHKLOK album which was heavier and darker than the first, BRENDON SMALL’s  GALAKTIKON searches for melody (in the vocal) and finds inspirations in modern black metal, Queen, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. No influence is unwelcome on this project. Brendon Small paired with DETHKLOK drummer (legendary metal drummer) Gene Hoglan (Dethklok, Strapping Young Lad, Testament, Fear Factory) and DETHKLOK bassist Bryan Beller (Dethklok, Steve Vai, Mike Keneally band) and DETHKLOK engineer and mixer Ulrich Wild.

“This album should be thought of as an audio comic book, an over acted chamber drama, a ridiculous premise that takes itself way too seriously all the way to the end,” states Brendon Small.

BRENDON SMALL’s GALAKTIKON comes as a follow up to Brendon’s work on the chart-topping DETHKLOK albums based on METALOCALYPSE and released by Williams Street Records. DETHKLOK: THE DETHALBUM debuted at #21 on the Billboard Top 200 with over 30,000 copies sold in the first week and held the “fastest-selling death metal album to date” position originally until the follow-up, DETHALBUM II, surpassed it to break the aforementioned record with a #15 debut on the Billboard Top 200. DETHKLOK has performed on several US tours and headlined the Los Angeles kick-off date of the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.

For all up-to-date information and to purchase BRENDON SMALL’s GALAKTIKON, please visit www.brendonsmall.com: your one-stop-shop for everything involving this new project. You can also catch more intermittent updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/brendonsmallgalaktikon and follow Brendon Small on Twitter at www.twitter.com/_brendonsmall.

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HELLYEAH ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM BAND OF BROTHERS

Posted in All Metal, Artist Watch, New Music, News, Releases with tags , , , , , , , , on February 15, 2012 by Randy

New York, NY – February 2012 – Hard rock supergroup HELLYEAH is back with a their third album, entitled Band of Brothers. The album, the band’s first effort for their new label home, Eleven Seven Music, was recorded in Dallas at drummer Vinnie Paul’s home studio, VP’s Upstairs Studio, and was produced by the band and Jeremy Parker (Godsmack, Evanessence), who also served as engineer.

Having produced track after track of heavy-hitting, in-your-face, feel good rock and roll on their previous two albums (2010’s STAMPEDE and 2007’s self-titled debut), Band of Brothers sees HELLYEAH taking a slightly different musical direction. Drawing on their former bands’ collective metal roots for inspiration, the influences and style of Mudvayne, Pantera, Damageplan and Nothingface are immediately recognizable in tracks such as “Band of Brothers,” “War In Me” and “Rage Burn,” while the party anthem “Drink, Drank, Drunk” retains the essence of earlier HELLYEAH.

Frontman Chad Gray comments, “I’m really excited about what we’ve done on this new album. I’ve always separated Mudvayne and HELLYEAH as much as I could, even though it was my voice. Melodies, lyrics and just the overall style of writing were different. With Band of Brothers, I just quit being afraid of who I am in relation to this band. I think we’ve all really gotten back to the original roots of what we’ve done individually and brought it together on this album. As an artist, as long as you’re painting with your own brush, no one can compare or challenge you. I just painted with a bigger, heavier brush than I had with HELLYEAH in the past. I think this is what fans have always expected to hear from us, and now were giving it to them.”

Vinnie Paul echoed the sentiment in a recent interview: “On our first two records, we were a new band. We really wanted to branch out and expand and experiment with all different styles. We all come from traditional metal bands and backgrounds, so it was a great breath of fresh air to play in a band that was rock ‘n’ roll, blues and Southern rock. We got that out of our system and got really focused on going back to our metal roots. It’s heavy, focused, groove-oriented and I’m excited about it.”

Jeremy Parker said, “It’s impossible not to have a good time jamming this record.  It has the anger and violence of Pantera and Mudvayne, but a party vibe that can

only be HELLYEAH!”

Band of Brothers is set for worldwide release in early June. HELLYEAH will be announcing North American tour plans soon. They are confirmed to tour Australia and Japan in the coming months. Dates are as follows:

Feb 25             Brisbane, AUS          RNA Showgrounds

Feb 26             Sydney, AUS            Showground

Feb 28             Melbourne, AUS       The Forum

Mar 01            Sydney, AUS             The Metro Theater

Mar 02            Melbourne, AUS       Showgrounds

Mar 03            Adelaide, AUS           Bonython Park

Mar 05            Perth, AUS                Claremont Showgrounds

Mar 31            Jakarta, IND             Carnaval Beach Ancol

Apr 02             Nayoga, JAP              Diamond Hall

Apr 03             Osaka, JAP                Big Cat

Apr 05             Tokyo, JAP                O-East

Apr 06             Tokyo, JAP                O-East 

https://www.facebook.com/hellyeahband

http://hellyeahband.com/

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KILLSWITCH ENGAGE ANNOUNCE NEW SINGER: JESSE LEACH – HE SERVED AS BAND’S ORIGINAL SINGER ON LANDMARK ALBUM ALIVE OR JUST BREATHING

Posted in All Metal, Artist Watch, News, Releases with tags , , , , , , , on February 8, 2012 by Randy

(New York, NY): Killswitch Engage are pleased to announce that they have filled the singer vacancy in the band and they have done so with a familiar face: original vocalist Jesse Leach.

Leach sang on the band’s first self-titled album, which came out in 2000, and on their landmark 2002 Roadrunner debut Alive or Just Breathing. Leach left the band in 2002 and was replaced by Howard Jones, but his work on Alive or Just Breathing has always been revered by diehard, longtime KsE fans. Things have come full circle a decade later, and Leach and the band couldn’t be more pleased about this reunion.

The band revealed that Leach auditioned for the job he once held and pretty much blew everyone away and then some. The band stated, “After much deliberation and careful consideration, we are pleased to announce that Jesse Leach has rejoined Killswitch Engage. Our job was to find the best person to fill Howard’s shoes: a decision based on talent and not familiarity.”

The band further said, “Truth be told, Jesse blew us away in auditions. The room seemed charged with electricity. He commanded both new and old material, and proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he wanted to do this. The choice became very clear and apparent.”

The band also is psyched to share the news with fans, saying, “This change is very exciting. We know you’re going to love it. This is truly a new era in KsE history  and it is ready to shred your face off. So, please help us in welcoming Jesse back into the KsE family; he is a rare and great talent, a fact that older KsE fans have known for years. Here is to a killer new record and a bright future. The five of us cannot wait to write this record and play shows together and bring that feeling to our fans. It’s been far too long.”

The “new” guy himself also commented on his return to the band after a decade-long absence, saying, “It is a great honor to rejoin my brothers after all of these years. After some discussion and much reflection, it was obvious to me this was the path I was meant to take. We got together and jammed on the ‘Howard-era songs,’ as well as some Alive or Just Breathing-era songs and we all felt the synergy.”

He continued, “I look forward to writing the new record, since the demos sound absolutely amazing,  as well as breathing new life and getting comfortable with the soulful songs Howard has written. It is a new chapter of my life filled with new and exciting challenges. I will give all that I can to honor the position I have been given and take nothing for granted. I will sing every note with all of my soul. I am very blessed and very thankful to be back in the KsE family! All things happen in their due time and now is the time for this reunion and new direction.”

KsE remain hard at work on their latest album, which follows 2009’s second self-titled album.

The band will perform at the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest on April 22, 2012. Leach last performed with KsE in March 2010 in New York City, Clifford Park, NY, and Wallingford CT.

Tour dates are as follows:

4/22 Worcester, MA @ Palladium (New England Metal and Hardcore Festival)

6/1-6/3 Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park

6/8 Nickelsdorf, Austria @ Pannonia Fields II (Nova Rock)

6/15 Copenhagen, Denmark (Copenhell)

6/16 Gothenburg, Sweden (Metaltown)

6/22 Milan, Italy @ Arena Fiera Milano (Gods Of Metal)

6/24 Dessel, Belgium @ Festival Park ‘Stenehel’ (Grasspop)

 

More tour dates will be announced shortly.

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OPETH’S MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT + PORCUPINE TREE’S STEVEN WILSON TEAM UP FOR STORM CORROSION

Posted in All Metal, Artist Watch, New Music, News with tags , , , , , , on February 7, 2012 by Randy

(New York, NY): Roadrunner Records is pleased to announce the signing of Storm Corrosion.
 
Storm Corrosion is the long-discussed and highly anticipated collaboration between two of the modern progressive rock scene’s most innovative and multi-talented artists: Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth and Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson. The pair will release Storm Corrosion on April 24 via Roadrunner Records.
 
A little background information on the genesis of this project: Åkerfeldt and Wilson  have been friends since the late ’90s, when Wilson co-produced Opeth’s revered Blackwater Park album. Over the years, they’d often spoken of working on a project together, but it wasn’t until recently that they managed to make something happen, when Mikael flew over to visit Steven in the U.K. and they ended up in Wilson’s home studio throwing ideas around. That visit was the nascence of a whole self-titled album, written and produced by the pair, and mixed by Wilson.
 
The sound of Storm Corrosion can best be described as enchanting, orchestral, ambient, epic (half the album’s tracks clock in around the 10-minute mark) and nothing short of surprising to the new ear.  However, the musicians’ respective fanbases will be primed to appreciate the new output, with Wilson’s recent solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Opeth’s Heritage having brought them to a logical place to understand Storm Corrosion. This eponymous collection is almost viewed as one side of a musical triangle.
 
Says Wilson, “If you’d asked me three months ago about the music, I would have said, ‘Expect the last thing you would expect.’  But actually, now that Heritage and Grace for Drowning have come out, I don’t think it’s going to be that much of a shock to people, because it’s almost like a third part of the trilogy, in a way.  If anything, it’s even more orchestral, even more stripped down, even more dark, twisted and melancholic… but it certainly feels like it comes from the same place as Heritage and Grace for Drowning, which indeed it does because it was written during the same period.”
 
“Some of the music on this record I think is the most beautiful music I have participated on ever,” adds Åkerfeldt. “There’s some magical sections on there.  Musically I think we’ve created something earthy, a bit frightening, exhausting, profound and rather intense.  All at the same time.  I can safely say I don’t know any other band or artist that sounds anything like Storm Corrosion.  I guess that was also one of our goals, so to speak.”
 
Roadrunner Senior VP of A&R, Monte Conner welcomed Storm Corrosion to the Roadrunner family, commenting,  “I am honored to have the Roadrunner logo on the Storm Corrosion album.  Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt have demonstrated time and time again that they are two of the truest and most important artists working today, and it is not often that I get to work with musicians of this caliber.  This album is a beautiful piece of work that will appeal to fans of Steven and Mikael’s past records, while at the same time exploring new avenues for both artists.”

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