DEAN GUITARS – To Air Live Webcast From Winter NAMM Show Starting January 16th
January 31, 2009
"Catch Dimebag Hardware and me on the E's True Hollywood Story- "Rock Wives". It airs this Friday, January 16th at 9 p.m. – 8 central."
OVERKILL – Mexico Dates Cancelled
January 30, 2009
The Agency Group will serve as the band's new booking agent for North America:
Enslaved is very excited and more than ready to get back on the road in this territory. News on the first dates to come out of the collaboration will follow shortly.
States Ivar Bjørnson, founding member/guitarist/songwriter for the band: “This marks a new dawn for ENSLAVED in North America. Strange and wonderful things are about to happen.”
According to Nielsen SoundScan, Vertebrae sold over 1,100 copies in the United States the first week of its release. The album debuted at #11 on the Billboard Hard Music chart and at #49 on the Heatseekers (Top New Artist) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
Amidst all these honors, ENSLAVED were also recently nominated for a Norwegian Grammy in the category of “Best Metal Album.” States ENSLAVED vocalist/bassist Grutle Kjellson:
“This is great! Although this is our 5th nomination, I will never get used to receiving honors such as this! Some people claim these awards do not mean anything – and they may be right, of course. Then again, they are lying idiots if they claim they wouldn’t appreciate a “Best Metal Album” award. It simply states that you are doing something right even if your life doesn’t depend on it. Congratulations to our buddies in Keep Of Kalessin for their nomination, too!”
The award ceremony will take place in Oslo on January 24th
PHIL ANSELMO – Writes The Retired Journeyman Poem For Boxinginsider.Com
January 30, 2009
Police on Monday evening were looking for two juveniles seen running from a truck in which a man was found shot in the head in north Fort Worth.
Abboud Greig, 74, died at John Peter Smith Hospital at 8:30 p.m., according to the Tarrant County medical examiner.
Lt. Paul Henderson, a police spokesman, said witnesses told police they saw Greig stop his truck about 4:40 p.m. in the 2800 block of Lorraine Street.
Two juveniles — a male and a female — were in the passenger seat. Witnesses heard "a loud pop" and then saw the juveniles run off, he said.
Source: Alex Branch of Star-Telegram
(An ad from when the club was open)
The legendary Texas groove metal band PANTERA got their first start playing the beloved Joe's Garage venue in Fort Worth, owned and run by "Ab".
TMD sends out our most heartfelt condolences to the family & friends of Abboud "Ab" Greig.
Listen to Pantera perform "Domination" live at Joe's Garage in '89 HERE.
"Abu or "Ab" (as we all knew him) used to own one of the hottest live music metal venues in Cowtown: Joe's Garage. Thanks to Joe's Garage, Ab became a huge part of the early metal scene here in D/FW. A young Pantera played at Joe's countless times… this club was part of their introduction to the world. We will always remember Ab and the bands he brought to the club and his influence on our youth. Ab, we will never forget you!!!"
"Ft. Worth lost one of it's original METAL club pioneers last night. He brought more cool shows to D/FW than most of the venues of the last ten years combined. We're saddened, angry and outraged all at once."
- ASKA
Hogleg would like to send our condolences to the Greig family…
"Ab" gave us our first club gig back in the early 90's and we really appreciate that and all the other great things he did for the DFW music scene. Joe's Garage was the staple of the metal music scene in its day… all the metal bands in DFW should raise their glasses to this man and salute… RIP!
- Hogleg
"Joe's Garage…well, it is sad that Ab "5 measly bucks" Greig has died and it seems he was taken by a couple of sorry ass punk kids!!! Myself… I grew up at Joe's watching Pantera, Gammacide, Hydra, Hammer Witch… countless death metal shows… and got my stage cherry broke playing with Blackhawk at Joe's… the first band I was ever in back in the late 80's and early 90's and can say that Joe's is where I saw my first local metal bands play that inspired me to do what I have done musically. And "Ab" was a big part of it!! He was one of the coolest bar owners you could have known… and if you were in a band all ya had to do is ask and ya got a show… even if ya sucked lol! I was a impressionistic wide eyed kid of 17 the first time I ever went to Joe's and met "Ab" and his wife "Ruth"… they were the coolest!! He knew us "kids" drank…but if ya didn't act stupid you were all good. And the parking lot parties were infamous!!"
- Phil Holland from ALCOHOLLICA
"For those of you who went to or played at Joe's Garage ,"Ab" was a fixture as the owner of Joe's Garage. He will be missed."
- Homer
"Just like many other bands such as Pantera, Solitude, Hammer Witch, Utopian, Diciple, Rotting Corpse, Cannibal Corpse, Godflesh, Grave, Deadhorse, Carcass, Sepultura, Foghat, Sacred Riech, Gorguts, Massacre, Nuclear Assalt,… Hell, this list could on and on, We all played at Joes Garage in Ft. Worth Tx, since Joe's closed, no other club has picked up the torch really, that place was more than a club to me. It was were I met many many friends that I still have to this day! With that being said Gruesome Fate is sad with the passing of "Ab", Joe's Owner. He used to let me take money at the door. After he would count the money, he would give us the gig that I had been begging for for weeks such as opening for Cannibal Corpse."
- Gruesome Fate
DOPE – Begin Production On Two New Videos
January 30, 2009
"May the New Year be filled with blessings for everybody! We are happy to announce two upcoming shows: January 21st with our friends from Snot at The Roxy and an Evil Threads show at The Key Club Thursday February 19th.
Suelta El Ankla!"
SEPULTURA – Issues Update
January 28, 2009
Check it out here:
The animated clip was directed and created by Spanish artist Jossie Malis.
STATIC X – Mainman Issues Statement On New Album
January 28, 2009
With Dean's multi-camera, real-time webcast, Dean Guitars is the first, and to date, only company to bring live NAMM Show action into the home's of music fans around the globe. Webcast hostesses Metal Sanaz (Official Host of 'Myspace: A Place For Metal' and DJ for 'Dave Navarro's Spread Radio'), Gen (legendary lead vocalist of Genitorturers) and Lacey Conner (VH1's 'Rock of Love' and 'Charm School') will be covering the action with exclusive artist interviews, Dean instrument spotlights and more.
Autograph signings by Dean Artists include Dave Mustaine, Leslie West, Michael Amott (Carcass, Arch Enemy) and Vinnie Moore(UFO), among many others.
Dean Guitars will debut over 25 new instruments including the highly anticipated Buddy Blaze ML, Dave Mustaine "Rust in Peace" VMNT, and Dime Dimebonics ML. In addition, one of the most famous guitars in existence, Dimebag Darrell's original DEAN FROM HELL ML, will be on display. This is a rare and must see opportunity! The Dean USA Woodshop facility, located at Dean Headquarters in Tampa Florida, will be showcasing dozens of new, hand-crafted, exotic wood "one of a kind" instruments. Pat Baker, Dean USA pick-ups Division Director, will be on hand to elaborate on the full line of Dean DMT pick-ups, which are also built in the USA at Dean Headquarters.
Dean Guitars invites dealers, artists and all guitar enthusiasts to visit the Dean Booth to check out the new gear, have their photo taken with the lovely 2009 Dean Guitar Girls (Angela Ryan, Trisha Lurie and Shannon Johnson) and to be a part of the party on the Dean Winter NAMM 2009 live Webcast. No one does NAMM, like Dean Guitars!
The Webcast can be viewed at www.deanguitars.com Jan 16-18, 10am to 6pm(pst).
KING DIAMOND – Issues Update
January 26, 2009
BY PHILIP H. ANSELMO
A trained; composed; skilled fist
can strike out at an opponent for only so long
before it connects directly into the hearts of loved ones closest.
A pugilistic dementia reaction of habit
with a system in slow motion.
Done by thirty-three
and bitter about it.
What could have been!
Not a single promise kept.
No limelight.
Golden gloves trophies, colorless ribbons
and lost timelines…
gather dust
next to a stack of unopened mail;
forgotten for months.
Or years.
Bloodstains on a battle tested brain.
A warrior
fed back to the cruel streets unwanted and
left to cope alone
with predictable failure lying await in ambush
ticking like a time bomb inside of himself.
Whether it be nerve-damaged ticks
violent, abrupt outbursts
fists through framed family photos
or bottom shelf tequila—
this man is but a trapped, wounded hero
with torn pride inside.
A sad baggage to heave around
with nowhere to put it,
nor knowledge of how to.
The Retired Journeyman will be remembered
as the portrayal of a man that left his mark
as the loser of boxing matches
by those of us who lived through his losses
and have scorned his name because of them.
But let us take a moment to allot compassion for him
because to remember his name
is to know the unparalleled and oft-misguided courage it takes
to climb through the ropes, and into the ring
with nothing left.
For every champion, they must first meet The Journeyman…
who’s scarred face serves its purpose
and with every punch it receives, it
only serves as a detriment to this man’s health
and further distances him, from him.
Woe to The Journeyman—
a hollow young man
with only directionless; puzzled memories of combat
left on his head.
Bereft of family or friends
sitting quietly in his lonely squat—
uninvited, yet familiar company is kept
and can always be found seated in an opposing corner of the house
in a dimly lit smoker
waiting for the bell to ring
in The retired Journeyman’s
aspiration-dead
imagination.
CHIMAIRA – Complete Mixing New Album
January 24, 2009
TMD’s Top 10 Heavy Metal Albums Of 2008!
January 24, 2009
Since 2005, Randy “Rocket” Cody’s The Metal Den has set a high standard for excellence in heavy music with its yearly “Top 10″ list , selecting metal bands based on their overall musical accomplishment in a studio recording. The criteria Rocket and TMD uses to make these selections is based on technical musicianship and the level of interpretive skills involved in singing or playing music on an album.
TMD searched far and wide listening to new releases throughout the entire global metal landscape during 2008, in all of the underground scenes, including: U.S.A., United Kingdom, Russia, Croatia, Italy, Egypt, Germany, Poland, Tokyo, and so many countless other great world cities/countries that celebrate a phenomenal love for heavy metal music.
Band’s did not have to be signed to a brick-and-mortar record label to make our list.
The ‘album theme’ and ‘song lyrics’ also get considered during the tough selection process, helping lend to a more fully rounded-out selection based on all these separately stated criteria.
We salute each and every musician that recorded on each of the following masterpieces in metal.
And the top ten best metal albums of 2008 are…
1. Biomechanical – Cannibalised (Earache Records)
2. Metallica – Death Magnetic (Warner Bros.)
3. Testament – The Formation of Damnation (Nuclear Blast)
4. Gojira – The Way Of All Flesh (Listenable/Prosthetic)
5. The Showdown – Back Breaker (Soild State Records)
6. Ninetail – Half Truths & Hand Grenades (Level Nine Entertainment)
7. Soulfly – Conquer (RoadRunner Records)
8. EkoTren – Light The Fire (Blind Prophecy)
9. Deliver Us From Evil – Behold A Pale Horse (Self-Released)
10.(tie) HateTimesNine – Shadows (Self-released)
Cavalera Conspiracy – Inflikted (Roadrunner)
TERROR – Shows In January And February
January 23, 2009
"Set list is set and you'll guys will have some surprises for the shows.
Tour starts in Europe by the end of the month. Later on North America in March, summer festivals and more (Asia, Oceania) shows till 2010. This will be one hell of a busy year for Sepultura and A-LEX!
And you can be part of it. Just keep checking! More soon!"
