The metal and hard rock community received the news on Monday, February 17th, that Devo‘s Bob Casale died of heart failure at the age 61. He is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two daughters, Alex and Samantha.
Casale, who also went by the nickname “Bob 2,” was a founding member of the five-piece band, whose name was short for De-Evolution. Playing along side his brother, Gerald, the iconic group developed a following from songs like “Jocko Homo”, “Girl U Want”, and their 1980 mega-hit, “Whip It.”
Outside of Devo, Casale had many musical side projects. He’s responsible for contributing to the score to Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore, and provided the theme song to the 1990s cartoon, Rugrats. His field of work also included musical contributions to video games and television commercials.
The last Devo album that Casale released was 2010’s Something For Everybody.
Casale was a solid sound man, engineering the sound for each Devo album, in addition to guitar, keyboard and back-up vocals. His stage presence is often described as fun and wacky. Devo was a part of the playbill in Lollapalooza in 2010, performing on the main stage. Devo was so unique and visually entertaining and Casale played an intricate role in that.
Do yourself a favor and check out some of Devo’s discography and celebrate Casale’s work. Also some great metal Devo covers, check out Soundgarden’scover of “Girl U Want” and Love and Death’s cover of “Whip It.”
For more Metal News, Concerts, and more keep visiting Upstate Metal and be sure to follow me on twitter @SaintGOfficial and feel free to share your thoughts with me about Bob Casale.
Belgian death metal veterans ABORTED are hitting the bricks in support of their upcoming release, The Necrotic Manifesto, launching an international tour on February 22.
ABORTED named Rochester and Albany among the cities they will pass through during their upcoming international tour. (Photo Credit: Aborted/Century Media Records)
The tour takes them through upstate New York, with stops in Rochester on March 30th, at the Montage Music Hall, and a stop in Albany the following day at Bogie’s.
The Necrotic Manifesto will released on April 29th by Century Media Records, and will be the band’s eighth full-length studio album. It will feature Jacob Hansen as producer, who is also known for his work with Volbeat, HeavenShallBurn and Mercenary.
“I can’t believe we did it to be honest.”, stated front-man Sven de Caluwé, through his label’s press release. “We had a little over three months from start to master on this record– everyone really gave 300% on this record, and it was an absolute pleasure to work with Jacob once again, who really pulled the best out of all our asses.
“I can say in all honesty that ‘The Necrotic Manifesto’ is without a doubt the strongest record ABORTED has done thus far and could not be more proud of everyone involved in the project, stated de Caluwé. He continued to describe the CD as the band’s “most brutal,” and “technical” record from the band, in their nearly 20 years of recording.
Phlegethon, of Wormed, and Vincent Bennett, of TheAcaciaStrain, provide cameoi appearances on the CD with their vocals.
The album artwork was done by Par Olofsson (Pathology, Immolation, Immortal).”
Below is a track listing for the upcoming CD, along with announced tour dates.
The Necrotic Manifesto track-listing:
1. Six Feet Of Foreplay
2. The Extirpation Agenda
3. Necrotic Manifesto
4. An Enumeration Of Cadavers
5. Your Entitlement Means Nothing
6. The Davidian Deceit
7. Coffin Upon Coffin
8. Chronicles Of Detruncation
9. Sade & Libertine Lunacy
10. Die Verzweiflung
11. Excremental Veracity
12. Purity Of Perversion
13. Of Dead Skin & Decay
14. Cenobites
In support of The Necrotic Manifesto, ABORTED will tour North America together with Kataklysm in March/April 2014. The band will then return to Europe in May for a handful of release shows before heading into the festival season. See below for all upcoming tour dates.
ABORTED tour dates:
Feb. 22 – BlastFest – Bergen (Norway)
Mar. 27 – Empire – Springfield, VA (United States)
Mar. 28 – Sounds Asylum – Middletown, NY (United States)
Mar. 29 – The Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA (United States)
Mar. 30 – Montage Music Hall – Rochester, NY (United States)
Mar. 31 – Bogie’s – Albany, NY (United States)
Apr. 1 – Middle-East – Cambridge, MA (United States)
Ahoy there! Pirate metal band Alestorm returns to the studio for a much-awaited fourth album to be titled Sunset on the Golden Age.
“This is gonna blow all your expectations as to what an Alestorm album is all about,” said Christopher Bowes (vocals & keytar) through a Freeman Promotions press release.
Currently, there is no date for release but once it is out it will serve as the follow-up to the band’s 2011 Napalm Records release of Back Through Time.
Back Through Time was an 11-track album that any fan of this “True Scottish Pirate Metal” band would raise up a pint and sing along to rum influenced anthems. The album itself did not receive as much media coverage as it deserved. However fans of the band claim it is their favorite album. The song that caught the most attention from fans is “The Sunk’n Norwegian.”
One more drink at the Sunk’n Norwegian. One more drink before we have to die
The mighty chorus belts out battle cries and last drinks before sailors face their deaths.
Alestorm did not leave their fans marooned after the release of Back Through Time. In January 2013, the band sailed back to Australia and released their first concert DVD, Live At The End of the World. The DVD contains the full band playing a 16-song set list, including hits ‘Keelhauled’, ‘Shipwrecked’ and ‘Death Throes of the Terrorsquid’.
The band was formed in early 2004 but performed under the name Blackheart. Originally, Blackheart was a two-man band that consisted of Gavin Harper and Christopher Bowes. Shortly after being signed to Napalm Records in 2007, they changed their name to Alestorm, as the band agreed that the original name, Blackheart, did not fit their musical style.
In 2008, they released their first album, Captain Morgan’s Revenge. That same year, Gavin Harper (guitarist and founding member) left the band and was replaced with Dani Evans. Gareth Murdock later joined as the bassist. The band’s original drummer, Ian Wilson left the band in 2010 and was replaced with Peter Alcorn. Back Through Time was Alcon’s first record playing for Alestorm. In 2011, Elliot Vernon joined as the band’s keyboard player.
Alestorm is now starting a new journey and they are now recording their fourth album in Lasse Lammert’s LSD-Studio in Lübeck, Germany.
“Over the past couple of years we’ve been writing non-stop, and we’ve come up with a ton of badass material,” Bowes stated through a Freeman Promotions press release. “Some of this stuff is catchiest pirate party anthems you’ve ever heard, with choruses that’ll make you want to raise a pint of rum up high and sing your guts out. And for the fans of the epic stuff, we’ve got some songs that hit the 10-minute mark, with lyrical themes about historical events and crazy mythological madness. It’s gonna rule!”
Fans should expect more updates in the next couple of months. Alestorm plan to release Sunset of The Golden Age in the early summer.
LACUNA COIL are (L-R in picture above): Cristiano “Criz” Mozzati – drums, Marco “Maki” Coti-Zelati – bass, Andrea Ferro – vocals, Cristina Scabbia – vocals, Marco “Maus” Biazzi – guitar, Cristiano “Pizza” Migliore – guitar (Photo Credit: Century Media Records)
Just days before they set to tour, and a few weeks before the release of Broken Crown Halo, Lacuna Coil announced the retirement of both their drummer and guitarist, Cristiano Mozzati and Cristiano Migliore, collectively.
The announcement came late Valentine’s Day evening.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share this news with you today,” stated the band through a press release provided by their record label, Century Media Records. “Our two brothers Cris ‘Pizza’ Migliore and Cristiano ‘CriZ’ Mozzati have decided to retire from LACUNA COIL.” The announcement went on to state that personal reasons have led to both Mozzati’s and Migliore’s departure. ” We know how stressful and difficult it can be to balance both real life and the life of a professional touring musician, and we have nothing but total respect for their decisions to focus on their families and lives at home.”
For Mozzati, he likens his retirement as leaving family.
“After over 16 years spent with the LACUNA COIL family, I decided to move on and begin a new chapter in my life,” said Migliore. “This hasn’t been an easy decision, as you can imagine, but I felt like I needed to change some things around.”
Migliore shared his bandmate’s sentiments towards family in his statement as well.
“This hasn’t been an easy decision at all and I’ve come to it with pain in my heart,” he said. “Because together we laughed and cried; we fought and gave all our lives to this amazing band. Together we lived the dream for 16 wonderful, intense and unforgettable years. All you guys around the world gave me such positive and sincere vibes and emotions that will stay embedded in my heart for the rest of my life!”
Century Media Records thanked Migliore and Cristiano, and stated that the two will be missed. However, they also clarified to the band’s many fans that plans are still in high gear. “Broken Crown Halo marks a new chapter in the ever-evolving history of LACUNA COIL, but the band will not be slowing down. In fact, they are currently packing their bags and gear to begin touring.”
LACUNA COIL return to the road to introduce North America to ‘BROKEN CROWN HALO’ as part of the REVOLVER HOTTEST CHICKS IN HARD ROCK TOUR, which launches February 20 and features LACUNA COIL sharing a stage with SICK PUPPIES, Century Media Records labelmates EYES SET TO KILL, and CILVER. The tour launches in Wilmington, NC, and runs through March 20 in Anaheim, CA. See complete itinerary below, and visit www.hottestchickstour.com for additional details and VIP packages.
Joining LACUNA COIL on tour will be drummer Ryan Folden. Fans will already be familiar with Ryan, as he performed live with LACUNA COIL on the majority of the 2012 and 2013 ‘Dark Legacy’ and ‘Dark Adrenaline’ tours.
Broken Crown Halo is set for releases April 1, 2014 in North America (March 31 in Europe, Australia, New Zealand) on Century Media Records. The album is the band’s seventh studio effort, and the highly anticipated follow-up to Dark Adrenaline, which was released in January 2012 and saw the band tour with acts including Megadeth, Motorhead, Volbeat, Sevendust and Paradise Lost after debuting at No. 15 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.
Fans can get a taste of Broken Crown Halo in the form of the album track “Nothing Stands In Our Way,” recently released via the Century Media Records Soundcloud page:
The band will also be appearing on MONSTER ENERGY’S WELCOME TO ROCKVILLE festival, where they perform April 27 alongside ROB ZOMBIE, KORN, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and more. The two-day festival, held April 26-27 along the St. John’s River in Jacksonville, FL, will also feature headliners AVENGED SEVENFOLD and THE CULT. For more information, please visit www.welcometorockvillefestival.com.
LACUNA COIL were joined in their native Italy by producer Jay Baumgardner [P.O.D., Sevendust, Evanescence, Papa Roach] and engineer Kyle Hoffmann [P.O.D., Bush, Zebrahead]. Broken Crown Halo was mastered by Howie Weinberg, whose credits include Rammstein, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Deftones and Sheryl Crow.
Volbeat has just confirmed they are hitting the United States this spring on a 24-city, North American tour in support of their latest, and very successful, album “Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies.”
The tour starts in Denver, Colorado on April 3rd, and finishes off in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire on May 9th, the Danish Psychobilly, heavy metal hard rockers will bring a supporting cast of Trivium and Digital Summer along for the tour.
The tour runs through Upstate New York starting with a show at Niagara Falls on May 5th, and a show at Poughkeepsie the following night, on May 6th.
Volbeat has released five studio albums since their debut in 2001. TheStrength / The Sound / The Songs (2005), Rock the Rebel / Metal the Devil (2007), Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood (2008), Beyond Hell/Above Heaven (2010) and current album Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies (2013).
Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies was released in April of 2013. Singles “The Hangman’s Body Count,” “Lola Montez” and “Dead But Rising” are in heavy rotation on Sirius/XM Octane and all rock radio stations everywhere.
From Copenhagen, Denmark, the band consists of members Michael Poulsen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Anders Kjølholm (bass guitar, backing vocals), Jon Larsen (drums, percussion) and Rob Caggiano (lead guitar).
The tour promises a supporting cast of American muscule as well.
From Orlando, Florida, thrash/metalcore rockers Trivium will help support the tour. The band has released six studio albums including their current offering produced by Disturbed/Device front-man David Draiman titled “Vengence Falls”.
Trivium’s recording studio albums include Ember to Inferno (2003), Ascendancy (2005), The Crusade (2006), Shogun (2008), In Waves (2011) and Vengeance Falls (2013). The single “Strife” off the album is in constant rotation on many rock radio stations. Trivium has also released over 18 singles in their career including “Black,” “In Waves” and “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr” to name a few.
Trivium is Matt Heafy (guitars, lead vocals), Corey Beaulieu (guitars, backing vocals), Paolo Gregoletto (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Nick Augusto (drums, percussion).
Alternative/Nu Metal band Digital Summer will also make the trek. The Pheonix, Arizona based band have released four albums including their current offering After Hours: Unplugged & Rewired.
This marks the first acoustic album for the band. Released in October of 2013, the album is an unplugged rendition of their three studio offerings, the album, includes two new tracks titled “This City” and “Demons”.
Digital Summer’s albums include Cause and Effect (2007), Counting the Hours (2010), Breaking Point (2012) and current album After Hours: Unplugged & Rewired (2013). Their singles “Just Run”, “Dance Into The Fire” and “Forget You” are mainstays on rock radio stations.
Digital Summer is Kyle Winterstein (lead vocals), his brother Ian Winterstein (guitar) and Anthony Hernandez (bass).
Volbeat Tour Dates Poster Spring 2014
To stay up to date and connect with the bands click below:
Last December, Upstate Metal’s Steve Strader took the opportunity to speak with Jeremy Miller, lead vocalist of Syracuse’s One Last Shot. Last week, One Last Shot was named among two Syracuse metal bands that are up for a 2014 Sammy Award.
The Sammys are presented each year by The Syracuse Area Music Awards Executive Committee. The committee is a not-for-profit organization that supports Syracuse musicians.
The award ceremony is scheduled for March 7th, at the Palace Theatre.
Jeremy Miller is a natural wordsmith and his band depends upon him for his writing skills as much as his singing ability. Like many writers, he falls victim to inspiration and often finds himself writing down ideas as they come, or speaking into a digital recorder. Over time, those notes have turned into song lyrics or have collected inside numerous notebooks. Those notebooks are now being worked into a book, about which he spoke to Upstate Metal.
Strader: So first off what made you want to write a book?
Miller: A lot of reasons actually. First, I’ve always wanted to have my own book. A lot of my favorite artists have put out books similar to this like Danzig, and William Control of Aiden. Most importantly my fiancee saw all these lyrics I have laying around in notebooks and pushed me to do it. I finally took her push and am doing it now.
Strader: How long have you been working on this?
Miller: I guess realistically since I started writing lyrics. I’ve been writing lyrics and poetry since around 11 years old.
Strader: You mentioned there will be un-used lyrics in it, is there any other cool content you’ll be displaying to your fans?
Miller: Yeah, so far it’s split in 4 parts. First part is unused lyrics/ poetry, the 2nd part is random short ideas, the 3rd part is passages I’ve written about important band situations, and the last part is stories from shows. There’s also flyer art inside/ art I’ve made throughout the book.
Strader: Will there be any embarrassing moments?
Miller: Maybe for other people, everything I do in life can be looked at as embarrassing. I’m okay with that, it makes life fun.
Strader: What are you hoping readers will get out of this by the end?
Miller: Maybe it can give some insight to people trying to start a band, and hopefully people in underground DIY bands will be able to relate these situations. Also people can have a laugh or two at some of the stories.
Strader: Anything you can “leak” about this book and what we can expect?
Miller: There’s situations with drugs (not my band mates obviously), bum fights, and violence all inside. It comes out late December or early January. Most likely early January. I may leak something around mid December-ish. Oh, and its 50+ pages long. (So far…)
Strader: How will this book be made available?
Miller: It will be a real physical book. It will be printed professionally like if you got it at Barnes and Noble. You will be able to get one online or at shows. Just follow us at Facebook or Twitter and you’ll get all the updates.
Strader: Any last thoughts or words?
Miller: If this goes well, I have other books planned. This is also “Volume 1”, so as more events happen and if things stay interesting, I hope to make a “Volume 2”. Just stay tuned, and thank you for talking to me about this.
It would be easy to start (yet another) album review by saying how great The Satanist was, how influential Behemoth is in metal, and how the Satanist may easily be one of the best albums of 2014 — already; but in truth, these claims can be debated. But at the end of the day, this album will go down as one of Poland’s more experimental, and certainly bravest, efforts.
There is something interesting about a band who, time and time again, has taken every opportunity to blaspheme religious beliefs and shock every listener, new and old.
Likewise, the lyricist who surprises even the most hardened follower is one worth reading. It is obvious — or at least very convincing — that Nergal, who wrote most of the lyrics on this album — is trying to revoke the position of Jesus Christ as the go – to guy, but as violent as this poetry is, is as alluring as each tune.
Instrumentally, the album is certainly different from their last record, Evangelion. Its dynamics were established right off the bat as the trio, comprised of Nergal (Vocals and Guitar), Orion (Bass), and Inferno (Percussion) opened the album with “Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel,” which features the sounds of trumpets and horns along side the slow moving, but dramatic track. Although loud guitar play is absent on this track, and it possesses a minimalist approach on drums, the song showcases Orion’s ability to handle the bass, a job for which he is certainly qualified.
Inferno’s prowess behind the drum kit is not stifled either. He has not slowed down since Zos Kia Cultus, but he has only improved on his ability to make the songs more convincing. Even on “In the Absence ov Light,” which switches speeds multiple times, Inferno excels at his ability.
Nergal, too, has only played to his strengths, but even pulled a few old stops. Listeners will notice the use of acoustic guitar on certain tracks, a concept which was popularized upon the release of “Demigod”. He is a perfect team player, never interrupting the flow, and always being apparent enough for the audience to understand each note low and high — which can be a problem with “fast” metal bands.
If Nergal actually said that “most U.S. death metal bands are boring, generic, and uninspiring,” he didn’t let the absence of talent stop him from creating something spectacular, but he has had a way with words recently.
Between fans and angry religious pundits, Behemoth has been the center of legal and public attention. In their home country of Poland, the band experienced a part of the extent of the power of the Catholic Church therein, when lead vocalist Nergal, after tearing pages from a Bible, threw it into the crowd and instructed attendees to “burn it…piss on it.”
It is quite unclear, then, whether the lyrics were written from an honest perspective or for shock value or both. For example, “I believe in Satan, who rend both heavens and Earth; and in the Anti-Christ, His dearly misbegotten…” (Messe Noir) might cover Nergal’s actual religious convictions, as he has previously been outspoken about his Pagan leaning. On the other hand, some lyrics appear to try to be offensive to religious people: “Voice ov an aeon, Angelus Satani. Ora pro nobis Lucifer, You alone have suffered…for thine is the kingdom, and the power forever…” (Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer). However, some lyrics make the listener question “what could be?”
Specifically, the writer instructs Abraham to “…Raise the dagger…And slit the throat ov thy only son. Reverse the history ov man. Fuck and reset the world.” From here, the lyrics become only more violent, sexual, and even downright scary.
Otherwise, the lyrics flow in somewhat of a story, fulfilling the old joke about death metal being like an English class. Knowledgeable listeners will have to type in some references on a search engine.
From a vocal standpoint, this album maybe one of their best since Demigod, which called into question the standard practices of extreme vocal recording. Nergal uses a full range of “screamed” or “growled” vocals, layering one atop the other, singing, and even spoken word in, “In the Absence ov Light,” in English, Latin, and Polish. The day the album came out, many fans complained that the vocal style was a lot different than Nergal’s usual performance — hear Evangelion for the difference. The problem with this complaint is that Nergal’s style has always been experimental, even from the first album. Vocally and lyrically, one thing remains clear: the word Evangelion typically refers to a particular message of great importance. If their last few efforts were warm ups and teasers, this album is the word.
Due to its nature, this album will welcome listeners and freak them out at the same time, but that is not necessarily a negative thing. An open mind will certainly help with reception of the sounds, but there will be few albums like this in the near future.
Behemoth will be at the Irving Plaza in New York City on April 29th. Apparently, Lucifer just is not big right now in Albany. Maybe next time, guys?
Earlier this week, the announcement was made that This Is Your Life, a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio, is set for an April 1 release.
This Is Your Life will include heavy weights in today’s metal, lead by Metallica, Anthrax, Motorhead, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and more.
Born in Cortland, NY, Dio is famous for fronting various metal juggernauts such as Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell before making a major breakthrough with his own group Dio. Beloved and considered by many as possessing the most powerful voice in Heavy Metal, Dio left us all way too early as he sadly lost his battle with stomach cancer back in 2010.
To celebrate Dio’s achievements, This Is Your Life will raise funds for The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.
This Is Your Life is produced by Wendy Dio, his longtime manger and wife and will be released by Rhino Records.
The track listing and lineup:
01. “Neon Knights” – ANTHRAX
02. “The Last In Line” – TENACIOUS D
03. “The Mob Rules” – ADRENALINE MOB
04. “Rainbow In The Dark” – Corey Taylor, Roy Mayorga, Satchel, Christian Martucci, Jason Christopher *
05. “Straight Through The Heart” – HALESTORM
06. “Starstruck” – MOTÖRHEAD with Biff Byford
07. “Temple Of The King” – SCORPIONS
08. “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” – DORO
09. “Holy Diver” – KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
10. “Catch The Rainbow” – Glenn Hughes, Simon Wright, Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo, Scott Warren
11. “I” – Oni Logan, Jimmy Bain, Rowan Robertson, Brian Tichy
12. “Man On The Silver Mountain” – Rob Halford, Vinny Appice, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Pilson, Scott Warren
13. “Ronnie Rising Medley” (featuring “A Light In The Black”, “Tarot Woman”, “Stargazer”, “Kill The King”) – METALLICA
14. “This Is Your Life” – DIO (previously unreleased)
Next month, Dio is expected the posthumous honor of The Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s SAMMYS Award Show in Syracuse.
The SAMMYS will be held at The Palace Theater in Syracuse on Friday, March 7th and tickets can be purchased at www.syracuseareamusic.com.
For more Metal News, Concerts, and more keep visiting Upstate Metal and be sure to follow me on twitter @SaintGOfficial where you are free to share your thoughts with me.
One thing that makes this country so great is we get fantastic destination music festivals. Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Rock on the Range – all great festivals, don’t get me wrong, but what about a festival that caters to pure, unadulterated, metal? That’s where the 16th annual New England Metal and Hardcore Festival drops the mic.
Three days of nothing but metal at the great Palladium in Worcester, MA. The show starts slaying on Thursday, April 17 through Saturday, April 19. This year we’ll be served with All That Remains, Behemoth, and Iced Earth as the main headliners.
But there’s so much more for the headbanger.
The line-up for Day One is:
All That Remains-Headlining
Emmure
Bleeding Through
Broken Hope
Fallujah
Gideon
Obey The Brave
Rivers of Nihil
Kublai Khan
Years Since The Storm
Young and In The Way
Enabler
Cop Problem
Day One will serve as an unofficial homecoming for All That Remains, which on its on merit promises to be very exciting. But, there are two show stealers to catch here: Bleeding Through and Broken Hope.
It was last year that Bleeding Through announced their retirement, which makes this perhaps the sole reason to come to this festival. This will be, in fact, their very last show on the east coast. I personally haven’t seen Bleeding Through since 2006. So this will be it for sure. They recently came to Upstate Music Hall in Clifton Park, NY as part of the first leg of their retirement tour and I missed it. So those of you like me who missed that show should make plans to attend this one.
And the other show stopper of this line up is Broken Hope. This is truly an exciting time if you’re a huge death metal fan. Broken Hope (as far as I’m concerned) are one of the original top notch death metal bands along with Cannibal Corpse, Death, and Obituary. Broken Hope reunited last year after a decade-plus long hiatus and released the critically acclaimed album Omen of Disease.
Looking at Day Two we have:
Behemoth-Headlining
Whitechapel
The Acacia Strain
Slapshot
Goatwhore
1349
Cruel Hand
Carnifex
Colin of Arabia
Within The Ruins
Suburban Scum
Thy Art Is Murder
Fire and Ice
I Declare War
Naysayer
Fit For An Autopsy
Born Low
Erra
Inquistion
Black Crown Initiate
The Mongoloids
Bent Life
Warhound
Malfunction
This is a stellar line up. I would recommend bringing ear plugs because this will be loud, and relentless. I would expect to see a few casualties in the punch bowl to cause mayhem for venue security.
The show stoppers to catch on this day will be Behemoth – for sure – and White Chapel.
Behemoth, in recent years has been the poster boy for shock factor. It has been banned in certain parts of Europe for portraying a strong belief in the Anti-Christ. Also keep in mind frontman Nergal survived a cancer scare a few years ago, which postponed the band’s activities for a bit. Last year, metal fans were excited to see Behemoth’s scheduled participation in last year’s Rockstar Mayhemfest, only to have it lead to disappointment when, at the last minute, the band pulled out due to an injury to their drummer.
Behemoth has not toured North America in quite some time and now the east coast has been treated for a HEADLINGING appearance at New England Metal and Hardcore Fest.
White Chapel has been selling out clubs the past five years whenever they pass through.
They have sold out The Lost Horizon in Syracuse everytime. This is a high-in-demand band that does not come through often. They are pure evil, and simply phenomenal. Recently White Chapel succeeded in an indiegogo campaign. Fans donated more than $35,000 to aid in the funding for a new DVD release due out soon.
And finally closing the festival on Saturday is:
Iced Earth-Headlining
Nails
Nile
Sabaton
All Out War
Ramallah
Twitching Tongues
ReVamp
Scars of Tomorrow
Battlecross
Counterparts
Lionheart
Harms Way
Alpha & Omega
Those Who Fear
The Last Ten Seconds of Life
Sylar
Loyal To The Grave
Reign Supreme
King Nine
Discourse
Will To Die
Barrier
Indirections
Gift Giver
This day is definitely different than the other two days. Iced Earth is WORSHIPPED in Europe and rarely passes through upstate New York. They have rocked concert goers over three different decades and have preserved a sound that harkens back to the hay-day of heavy metal.
In stark contrast, ReVamp has only been around a couple years and they just released their new album Wild Card, but they excite me nonetheless.
Frontwoman Floor Jansen has an INTOXICATING voice, and is absolutely beautiful. It will be a real treat to see her perform. Jansen is also the singer of Nightwish, which should give you an idea how talented this woman is.
My recommendation for this three-day fest? Get your tickets now. Book your hotel now. Pack plenty of boos, food, and get a good workout in before you leave, because it’s going to be a loud and crazy ride worth remembering.
Walt Disney did it. William Shakespeare did too. It’s taking the metal of another one’s work, and spinning it into your own gold. It’s the alchemy of the creative mind. It’s declaring the statement, “I can take your idea, and make it better.” Cry to the Blind, a five-piece heavy rock band out of Rochester, NY, declared such a statement last month after walking into Oblivion Studios to record an already established hit. One month and more than 90,000 YouTube views later, the band has itself, what a growing contingent of fans and followers think, is gold.
“The past month or so has been pretty weird,” said Jon Lamanna, the band’s lead singer. Back in December, the band loaded up a studio video of their recording of Miley Cyrus’ mega-hit, Wrecking Ball. The reception to their hard rock version has been nothing short of exceptional, first leading to play time on local radio stations, and precipitating to national attention on Nikki Sixx’s syndicated show, and now satellite radio. It wasn’t long before they obtained mechanical rights from the copyright owner to allow them to perform and sell their version of the song.
“The energy and the excitement level at our shows, and online, are at a level I’ve never seen before. People just seem like they really believe in us now.”
It’s really inspiring to see.”
Rochester’s Cry to the Blind is basking in the glow of newly found attention. (Photo Credit: CTTB/Facebook)
The band has released three CDs independently since 2009. They are a heavy, modern rock band, who market themselves as a “therapeutic release” for their fans. They like to promote a “positive spin on the negative energy that surrounds us every day,” as stated on their Facebook page.
Jon explained that the inspiration to record the song came from a simple turn of his car’s radio dial, as he started his commute to work one November morning.
“The first time I heard the song, I thought it would make a great rock song. We’ve never done a cover. [This was] just a random idea. I texted Jesse (Maty), our guitar player, and said, ‘hey, have you heard that Miley Cyrus song “Wrecking Ball? I think it would be awesome as a rock song.’ He was like, ‘yeah, why not? Let’s give it a shot.’ He wasn’t into it as much as I was. But, when I polled the other guys in the band, they were really excited about it. .. As soon as we started rehearsing it, it sounded phenomenal.”
They changed up the second verse to make it rhythmic and heavy, which was (the band’s drummer), Jay Talarico’s idea. Together with Ryan Mcfaul on guitars and Kory Maclauchlan on bass, Jon said, “I think that’s what makes the song stand out.”
Since Cyrus released the song last August, Wrecking Ball has topped the pop charts in 13 different countries, including the United States. There have been a number of different cover versions released, including that from Rumer Willis, the 25-year-old daughter of actors Demi Moore and Bruce Willis.
Today, up to 40 radio stations, including Sirius Octane, is playing their song, and the positive feedback just keeps building. Jon said that the band has yet to be signed by a label; however, he says people who they’ve spoken to in the past, are coming back to talk.
“[We’re] pretty confident that things are going to continue to snowball in a good direction for us.”
Cry to the Blind play next at The Montage Music Hall in Rochester, NY on Saturday, February 15.
