Hey Rockheads before we get into the new blog I just wanted to apologize for taking so much time off. With Helluva Week, Mayhemfest plus traveling it's been tough to get any info worth a shit to put out there but I'm back now so let's get into some headlines:
Slipknot releases its fourth major label album, All Hope Is Gone today! The CD is the band's first new studio offering in more than four years, following 2004's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). Lead vocalist Corey Taylor has injected a lot of religious, Biblical and numerological references into his lyrics this time, and told us he's wanted to tackle these themes for nearly two years: "When it came time to write and put stuff together, I had stuff that I really wanted to say. Stuff that was just very blatant, but very powerful. And I was able to fit it together with the music, so that was, you know, kind of a lucky thing. It was just time for me to start talking about these concepts, you know. I'd kind of done the thing where I talked about myself, and there's always gonna be moments in songs where I do talk about myself, but it was time to branch out."
Slipknot was forced to cancel several U.K. and European festival appearances as well as performances for MTV Europe and Virgin TV after drummer Joey Jordison broke his ankle. Jordison has been advised to stay off the ankle for four to six weeks to prevent further injury. DJ Sid Wilson also broke both heels onstage last month but has been performing in a wheelchair.
The band's music was also accused last week of influencing a South African teenager who stabbed a classmate to death while wearing a Slipknot-style mask. Corey Taylor told Blender magazine, "I'm disturbed by the fact that people were hurt and someone died. As far as my responsibility for that goes, it stops there, because I know our message is actually very positive."
Slipknot recently completed the first Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour with co-headliners Disturbed and will return to North American stages in January so let's keep our fingers crossed for a Cincinnati date!
Avenged Sevenfold was forced to cancel its Sunday (August 24th) appearance at England's Reading Festival and scrap the rest of its U.K. dates because of singer M. Shadows's strained throat. An announcement posted by the band online stated, "(Shadows)' doctors in the United Kingdom and Los Angeles have both advised him that he must rest his voice and cannot perform. Thankfully there are no long-term problems and with proper rest, Matt will return to the road shortly." The statement added, "The band is still in England now and is extremely disappointed that they can't play a show they have been looking forward to for a long time."
Shadows, whose real name is Matt Sanders, was expected to post a personal message at some point. The group also had to cut its set short on Saturday (August 23rd) at the Leeds Festival due to Shadows' voice.
Avenged Sevenfold was joined onstage last Wednesday (August 20th) in London by Bullet For My Valentine frontman Matt Tuck to perform the classic Pantera song "Walk." Avenged Sevenfold's studio version of the track is also on iTunes and Shadows told us how it came about: "I think the way it started was, we were just rehearsing for (2007's) Ozzfest, and it was a pretty easy song to play. We already kind of knew it, and we were just jamming it and we were like, 'Hey, maybe we should play this during our set.' Pantera's not around anymore and we're friends with some of the guys and we know they'd give us their blessings, and we were just like, 'We'll play it.' And so we called up (producer) Terry Date, who did all the Pantera records, we just went in the studio one day and knocked it out in a day."
Avenged Sevenfold will release a live CD/DVD titled Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough on September 9th, one week before the band begins a co-headlining tour with Buckcherry. Once again I'll keep you updated on dates for this tour as well.
And finally Rage Against The Machine's headlining set at England's Leeds Festival on Saturday (August 23rd) was halted midway through the fourth song by festival organizers because of crowd issues, according to Gigwise.com. Concertgoers at the front were apparently being crushed against the barriers by fans pushing from behind, leading organizers to cut the band's sound and lights. After a brief meeting with security, singer Zack de la Rocha announced, "We don't want to have to stop the show. Help our brothers and sisters up front. Everyone take a couple of steps back."
The rest of the show, which had started half an hour late, proceeded without incident.
The previous night (Friday, August 22nd) at the Reading Festival, the band came onstage in prison outfits worn by Guantanamo inmates.
Rage's performance at Chicago's Lollapalooza festival earlier this month was also marked by tense crowd conditions.
The politically explosive quartet next plays on Wednesday (August 27th) in Denver during the Democratic National Convention, before heading to Minnesota next week to play in protest of the Republican Convention. I'm sure all sorts of crap will go down with the Republican show so I hope McCain and Co. are ready!
That's it for tonight leave any comments you want as always and don't forget to listen to win tickets to the NIN show in Lexington on Sunday! Peace