CATHEDRAL – The Guessing Game

British Doom metal act CATHEDRAL are set to release their ninth full-length album, The Guessing Game, on April 20. The Guessing Game will be released as a two-CD set. The album was produced by Warren Riker (Down, Crowbar).

http://www.myspace.com/cathedral

SPEED X – Debut Album Is Coming!

SPEED X , the band featuring Nick Catanese of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, Mike Stone from QUEENSRYCHE and Joshua Sattler and Mike Froedge of DOUBLEDRIVE, will release their debut album, Flatblack, on their own Evil Twin label on March 2. The band also features newcomer Jason Fowler on vocals and guitar. They are currently scheduled to open for Zakk Wylde’s BLS on a three-month tour in the fall.

http://www.myspace.com/speedxband

THE SECRET – Signs With SOUTHERN LORD

Southern Lord Records has signed Italy’s THE SECRET. Founded in 2003, the group released two albums with Goodfellow Records. In April the band will enter Godcity studio in Salem, MA with producer/engineer Kurt Ballou to record their Southern Lord debut, “Solve et Coagula.”

http://www.myspace.com/thesecret

PHILIP ANSELMO – Talks HOUSECORE Releases

Housecore Records is the definitive collection of Philip H. Anselmo’s side projects from past to present, and the advancement and release of projects he believes in creatively. The idea of Housecore Records was first concocted in the early to mid 90’s at Philip’s earliest address by the lake (AKA Colbert Street) after leaving Texas to return to his hometown of New Orleans, LA. Philip’s house was a primary catalyst for the entire project.

Housecore Records is most definitely an outlet for heavy music, but they a have a lot more to offer from their diverse roster of musicians. This is showcased on the second disc of their Housecore Records compilation which is available now.

2008 and 2009 saw the initial releases from Housecore Records including ARSON ANTHEM’s self-titled EP, CHRIST INVERSION’s self-titled LP, VALHALL’s Red Planet and the aforementioned 2-disc Housecore Records compilation, spotlighting some of the other artists on and/or enthused by Housecore Records.

Label head and founder Philip Anselmo commented on Housecore:

“Housecore Records (HCR) is something I’ve needed to do. In 1993, the day after the sound proofing was completed and the gear was loaded into the downstairs practice room on Colbert St, the “Housecore Sound” was birthed. It was an extremely important thing that DOWN, SUPERJOINT RITUAL, SOILENT GREEN, Christ Inversion, BODY AND BLOOD, THE DISEMBODIED, SPIRIT IN THE ROOM etc all jammed, practiced, wrote, and/or demoed there. Out of those bands came several spin-off groups, even more side bands and prospect projects to be.

The creativity in that house was amazing, and soon thereafter, when I’d head back out on tour with PANTERA throughout the rest of the ’90s, all that could be heard pouring out of my dressing room was HC music. Too many people liked the stuff. They’d beg for copies, but alas, if they hadn’t brought a cassette tape with ‘em, they were shit out of luck…

Fast forward to the present, well, the HCR idea has grown. The ’90s stuff I’d done still stands the test of time, so people deserve to hear it.”

As far as the new bands are concerned, the fact that I’m investing in them speaks the obvious. Do I think these bands are gonna be swimming in cash, or the next big thing? Not necessarily. But do I think they’re offering-up something fresh and different to the existing, vast music scene? Yep. That’s the important thing for me.”



April 27th will see the first two releases from Housecore Records for 2010. Texas thrashers WARBEAST will be releasing Krush The Enemy. When asked to describe Warbeast Philip said, “Warbeast is pure, relentlessly executed thrash at its best. Absolutely ripping! I know that sounds generic, but Warbeast isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, they’re influenced by great bands from years gone by, but what sets them apart is the execution and variety of styles explored. The end result is original sounding, and “Void Filling” to my ‘Thrash-keen’ ears! Plus, I’ve grown up with these cats, so I know they’re the real deal.”

“The other release will be from THE SURSIKS, entitled I Didn’t Know I Was Singing. Let’s get this straight, The Sursiks are NOT metal nor hardcore, but they’re undeniably just as extreme.

The Sursiks have been dubbed “The masters of musical reverse engineering”, and on this album they’ve taken 16 phone messages from the answering machines of family and friends and set them to music. The result is a truly brilliant, hilarious and mind-altering concept album that will change the way that you listen to the human voice out in the real world.”

Says Philip: “Each ‘song/message’ is it’s own musical adventure. From Detroit style rhythm and blues, to dramatic strings and timpani drum driven pieces, with hilarious and tragic topics abound, The Sursiks are the epitome of ‘different’, and a stark reminder to any band out there, that all the notes haven’t been played yet, so to speak. Totally original. Completely brilliant.”

Housecore has many more sonic, eclectic releases planned for 2010 including Arson Anthem’s first full length (17-songs of vicious hardcore!), a new full-length from HAARP (crushing, resolute and epic), The Manson Family Soundtrack (featuring tracks from BODY & BLOOD, THE DISEMBODIED, and the original version of ‘Creepy Crawl’ from the 1995 Superjoint Ritual demo), the debut release from the entrancing SKY HIGH, and an extremely heavy live album from CROWBAR.

Stay tuned for more upcoming releases from Housecore Records.

For all things Housecore visit: thehousecorerecords.com or myspace.com/housecorerecords.

MEGADETH – Preparing New Video!

Den Headz, MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine has revealed to the metal world that the band is putting together a video for their track “The Right To Go Insane“. The clip is due to be unleashed online in the coming weeks.

http://www.megadeth.com/home.php

KATATONIA – New EP Tracks

Swedish melodic death/doom act KATATONIA are planning to release a single version of ‘The Longest Year’, taken from their most recent album ‘Night Is The New Day’, new track ‘Sold Heart’, a remix of ‘Day & Then The Shade’ remix, plus videos, and an alternative version of ‘Idle Blood’, to appear on ‘The Longest Year’ EP which is out March 15 on Peaceville.

http://www.myspace.com/katatonia

PRIMAL FEAR – Issues Band Update!

German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR are getting busy again and here are some latest news what’s going on in the PF camp:

“We will play our first show in 2010 on Saturday March 6th in our hometown Esslingen / Komma and a new set list at this years Rock For One World benefit event. On March 26th we will play for the first time ever in Luxemburg – Moulfort / Kulturzentrum. In April we’re coming back to Sweden – April 7th in Gävle/Maxim with supports “Saint Demon” and ”The Murder Of My Sweet” and on April 8/9th we will join the Sweden Rock Cruise with “Death Angel”, “Heat” and more …… tickets for the Primal Fear North American tour “The Fear Is Here 2010″ in May/June are on sale and HAVOK are already confirmed as the first support band. Great news from Pamela Moore – she will be joining Primal Fear on stage on ALL dates of the North American tour!

The Rock Meets Classic tour 2010 was a nice success and featured Mat Sinner as musical director/bass, Henny Wolter on lead guitar, Jimmy Kresic (keyboards) and Martin Schmidt (drums). Backing Vocals by Amanda Somerville, Verena Schock & Tiffany Kirkland. You can watch a promo clip on You Tube – the tour agency is already working on a new RMC edition for January 2011 with a new line up of singers. iMusic One TV will broadcast a one hour special of the event on the Easter weekend!”

Studio & Production News:

“Primal Fear is busy at work on the new DVD “16.6 – All Over The World”. The DVD will feature mainly the 2009 concerts in Switzerland and Atlanta/USA, plus a lot of interesting shots from Japan, Colombia, Brazil, Germany, Sweden etc etc. – still a long way to go, but it will be a killer package incl. the first official Live CD of Primal Fear “Live In The USA” recorded in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York. Achim Koehler is already working on the mix of the audio stuff. We’re pleased to announce that Frontiers Records will be our partner again and will release the package worldwide in mid June 2010. Primal Fear will be on the road again in Europe after the festival season in Mid September, to present their new DVD & Live CD in Concert!

Voodoo Circle finished the drum recordings for their new album “Broken Heart Syndrome” with new drummer Markus Kullmann @ the U3 studios in Stuttgart and Alex Beyrodt will start recording his guitar parts during the next days. The release of the second Voodoo Circle album is set for September 2010 by AFM Records…..

The plans for the long awaited Ralf Scheepers Solo Album are shaping up. The song writing is in full swing and the recordings will start during the summer in Sweden, when Ralf will join forces again with his former “Gamma Ray” partner & drummer extraordinaire Uli Kusch. An impressive list of some very prominent guests is already confirmed for Ralf’s first solo album. Frontiers Records plans to release the yet untitled album in January 2011

Mat is still busy producing the highly acclaimed first album of Michael Kiske and Amanda Somerville – simply named Kiske/Somerville. Michael is already recording his final vocal parts and Mat is working simultaneous with Jimmy Kresic on some orchestra and keyboard arrangements. Two video clips will be shot for the album with director Martin Mueller @ the Opera House in Nuernberg in the last week of March.”

Short News Updates – “Mat will be in the studio with Elvenking and Dennis Ward, to produce their new album for AFM Records in April. SINNER will start the songwriting for the “Crash & Burn” follow-up and their new album “ONE BULLET LEFT” soon. Magnus Karlsson’s third album with Russell Allen and Jorn Lande titled “Allen/Lande III” is mixed at the moment by Achim Koehler with the supporting ears of Mat & Magnus. More updates soon! ”

http://www.primalfear.de/

The Original Lead Guitarist Of METALLICA

You might not have ever heard of this man.

His name is Lloyd Grant. He is perhaps the most unsung heavy metal hero
of them all.

Without him… Metallica’s introduction to the world could have gone quite differently.



He played lead guitar on the first recording of “Hit The Lights” for the infamous Metal Massacre 1 compilation by Brian Slagel, which soon launched Metal Blade Records. It also helped launch an underground swell of interest for the totally unknown musical act at the time.

Lars Ulrich had committed to submitting “Hit The Lights” before the band was even actually formed. Before the deadline to submit came, Ulrich was desperate and called on a friend for help.

He called Lloyd Grant.

On the first demo recording of “Hit The Lights” he played lead and then overdubbed the second solo in the second pressing version.

Lloyd didn’t play any shows with Metallica… only attended a string of live practices.

Shortly before the first time Metallica played a show on March 14, 1982, Lloyd was replaced by Dave Mustaine.





While he may be forgotten, TMD never forgets a legend. Horns up to you, brother!
Wherever you are, Lloyd, you are one of greatest unsung heroes in metal.

http://www.metallica.com/

UNEARTHLY TRANCE – To Begin Recording

American metal act UNEARTHLY TRANCE will begin work on their follow-up album to Electrocution this weekend in New York, New York. This will be the trio’s fifth studio album, aptly titled V.

Unearthly Trance will begin recording at SIR Studios with engineer Sanford Parker overseeing the skeletal creation of the recording. The band will then continue to self-record with additional help from trusted experts along the way. V will also mark another twist on Unearthly Trance’s sound, with slower paced riffs, raw sonics and even more progressed songwriting, the band is taking its sound towards creatively darker and strangely morbid realm. V will feature artwork by Glyn Scrawled and is expected to see a late spring release date via Relapse Records. Additional album details will be announced shortly.

http://www.myspace.com/utny

UFOMMAMUT – On The ‘Eve’ Of Destruction

Eve – the eagerly awaited new studio album from Italy’s most cerebral and mammoth doom act UFOMMAMUT – has been completed, and is eagerly awaiting release onto the masses. Appropriately titled, Eve is the fifth official album from the obliterating trio. The album – comprised of one 45-minute atmospheric track, divided into five distinct movements – acts as a living homage to the first woman on Earth, and the rebellion to her creator for bringing knowledge to Mankind.

Recorded at Locomotore Studio in Roma, Italy by Lorenzo Stecconi (who also acted as sound lord on the band’s 2007 epic Idolum), Eve is a new step in the sonic adventure of UFOMAMMUT; another level in the band’s research. Rounding out at an incredibly action-packed 44:44, the album passes through the same massive atmospheres as Idolum, layered with mastodonic riffage as heard on the band’s Snailking release, yet also bears some of the apparition-like passages the band displayed so well on their Lucifer Songs LP, while still formulating a forward-thinking approach to the release. Check out a video montage of the making of this monstrosity here: http://www.youtube.com/EarsplitPR#p/f/7/F3vvDBZDyOw

UFOMAMMUT’s status as one of the most potent, powerful and artistic contemporary doom artists in existence continues to captivate the masses, and the band’s worldwide grasp grows wider with each release. With continual appearances at Roadburn and other notable Euro fests under their belt, and intermittent regional European touring already something the band is used to, the band are set on more widespread actions in 2010. UFOMAMMUT made their American live debut in 2009, when they undertook a west coast mini-tour, coinciding with an art tour bearing works born of the trio’s own world famous Malleus Rock Art Lab. More live plans for both continents are imminent throughout the year.

To be released worldwide on May 5th via Malleus’ own Supernatural Cat Records, Eve is an undeniably infectious and utterly devastating piece of doom metal art that shall surely be a major player for the year. Watch for more announcements on the band throughout the year.

“You can expect to hear a lot of acts come down the pike in the next couple years who sound an awful lot like this, but however many imitators crop up here and there, I doubt very much if any of them will be able to match Ufomammut’s presence, creative drive, or tonal weight. Consider yourself lucky to be alive while something like this is being released.” – Stonerrock.com

“…this is the best album Ufomammut have ever done, and there’s a good chance doom might not be the same again.” – TheObelisk.net

http://www.ufomammut.com

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