NEW MUSIC TUESDAY - OCTOBER 12TH

Welcome to Tuesday, the wonderful time where new music meets new ears. Here are the three releases we picked for this week! Also be sure to check the new music from Brutal Truth/Bastard Noise (Split), Heart of a Coward, Exivious, Crosses (Deftones/Far), Weekend Nachos, Cronian, Demonical, live recordings from The Ocean and 3 Inches of Blood, and the re-releases of select Dark Funeral albums.

Now THIS is how you re-release an album! To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the classic record, "As The Palaces Burn", Lamb of God are going all out with a re-mixed / re-mastered re-release. Feeling a twinge of nostalgia yet? It hits stores today through Prosthetic Records! Watch the new music video for the classic track "Vigil" below and you might just see why this is worth picking up.

Links: Facebook // Official Website // Merch

There have been several developments in the Veil of Maya camp. First and foremost, they finished up recording their brand new EP, which is set to be released through Sumerian Records sometime soon. Next up, they have re-signed with Sumerian. Not too surprising given the info above. And last, but definitely not least, Veil of Maya dropped a brand new track recently which now available for purchase! Grab it here.

Links: Facebook // Twitter // iTunes

And now for something completely different.... I'm betting some of you have heard the name Daniel Tompkins before. Well... if it doesn't ring any bells he's the ex-Tesseract singer currently working with Skyharbor, Absent Hearts, and In Colour. On top of all those projects, he just released his solo effort this week! White Moth Black Butterfly is the kind of music you rarely get to experience. Pressing play on any of these songs will submerge you in a world of pure atmosphere, aurally pleasing and conceptually huge. The primary focus is in creating unique, flowing, multi-layered soundscapes for fresh ears to traverse. Give a listen on Bandcamp!

Links: Facebook // Youtube // Bandcamp

LAMB OF GOD "VIGIL" MUSIC VIDEO / "AS THE PALACES BURN" RE-RELEASE

Now THIS is how you re-release an album! To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the classic record, "As The Palaces Burn", Lamb of God are going all out with a re-mixed / re-mastered re-release. It's set to be publicly released November 11th through Prosthetic Records.

On top of this, they just released a NEW music video for the 10 year old track "Vigil". Not something you typically see with such an event. The video was directed by Don Argott, who's also responsible for the upcoming documentary based on "As The Palaces Burn". The documentary is due for screening next month with an impending theatrical release in February. You heard right! Lamb of God in theaters! (Most likely select theaters.)

Go ahead and watch the vid for "Vigil" along with music videos for the other hit songs off "As The Palaces Burn"!

Links: Facebook // Official Website // Merch

LAMB OF GOD SPEAKS OUT REGARDING THE MALAYSIAN SHOW SHUTDOWN

Due to a supposed infringement on religious sensitivities and cultural values of Malaysian society, Lamb Of God’s concert at the Rockaway Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia scheduled for September 28th has been cancelled. This action was put in action by the Malaysian government, who refused to even issue a permit for the show disregarding that the concert had sold over 1,500 tickets.

Lamb Of God’s guitarist Mark Morton has issued the following statement regarding this unfortunate scenario:

“It is very evident (and a bit frustrating) that the groups, parties and powers that have taken the most offense to our music and lyrics, have themselves only made a passing glance at the content and meanings of those songs. We would invite anyone offended by our music to engage in a discussion regarding the true motivations behind our work, especially before publicly slandering us based on assumptions and shallow misinterpretation.

We sincerely apologize to our amazing fans in Malaysia for the cancellation. Many thanks to all who have spoken out in support of us through this.”

Shows scheduled in New Zealand, Australia, and Thailand will still be performed by Lamb Of God.

For more details, take a look here.

-\m/eyer

Links: Facebook // Official Website // Merch

RANDY BLYTHE TO PUBLISH MEMOIR

I don’t think anyone in the world is unfamiliar with the recent story surrounding Randy Blythe. The incarceration in the Czech Republic on charges that obviously wouldn’t stick in any rational court was really only the beginning. Randy spent a significant time in jail and had to shell out a huge sum of money to make bail. This actually ended up bankrupting the band and it seems like the guys aren’t out of the water yet with this one. Check the interview with Chris Adler I linked to below if you want more details on that.  Now is the best time to pick up some merch and support the band.

What stuck out more than the accusations was the honorable way Blythe handled the adversity thrown at him. From the beginning it was obvious that though this tragic accident was an awful mishap, it could in no way be blamed on the actions of Randy Blythe. Rather than run from the obvious overzealous prosecution, Randy faced the justice system head on with the honor he often speaks of. In the end, Blythe was acquitted and proved himself to be a class act.

Often when musicians appear to be intelligent, either in their lyrics or in the press, further examination reveals this to be not true. A lot of musicians, even the ones who seem smart, really aren’t all that intelligent. Well now we have our chance with Randy Blythe. Next year an as of yet untitled memoir will be released. This book was entirely written by Blythe with no ghost or co writers, according to a press release revealing the book. The focus will be on the last year of his life, featuring a lot of his trial and prison experience. No surprise there. This is the best opportunity to get a really good look into Blythe’s mind. Look for the upcoming memoir in 2014.

-Trisolino

Links: Facebook // Official Website // Chris Adler Interview

BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR!

Oh, look, another festival that makes me want to move. Continuing a proud tradition of metal, 2013's Blookstock Open Air Festival will not disappoint. Running from August 8th - 11th in Catton Park, Derbyshire, UK, the festival will pack in well over a hundred bands for a solid three days of metal entertainment!

The three headliners are SLAYER, Lamb of God, and King Diamond! Supporting acts include Accept, Avantasia, Anthrax, Sabaton, Devil Driver, Municipal Waste, Gojira, Exodus, Amorphis, Kataklysm, Firewind, and many, many more! Check the flyer below for all the details and grab yer tickets here!

Links: Facebook // Official Website

PROTEST THE HERO PART WAYS WITH DRUMMER MOE CARLSON / JOIN FORCES WITH LAMB OF GOD'S CHRIS ADLER

Here's some sad, yet somewhat interesting news. Protest The Hero have unfortunately parted ways with long time drummer Moe Carlson. He left with the intention of furthering his eduction, so you don't have to worry about any drama. They've always been a rock solid musical unit, having played together since a considerably young age. The chemistry was always there in abundance. This is more than evident from their three albums thus far.

Recently, as many of you know, the band had a very successful crowd funding campaign with the intention of going independent for their fourth album. They raised an insane $341,146, well surpassing their original $125,000 goal. You can read more about that right here. Since then, fans have been expectantly waiting for more godly Prog Metal material from Protest The Hero.

And wham... Moe Carlson is gone... So where do they do from here? Turns out Lamb of God's Chris Adler will be filling the void left by Moe as a studio member. This is an interesting choice considering Moe and Chris are much different drummers technically speaking. One can only speculate how this will affect the records outcome.

While we're all waiting for that answer, you can check the official statements from Protest The Hero and Chris Adler down below. You can also read an interview with Moe Carlson here. There's also some classic PTH goods for you to blast under everything else. Stay tuned for more.
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“We know we have been silent for the past couple months while we record this beast, but we assure you it’s almost done and is turning out extremely well. We plan on releasing our beloved “pupdates” throughout the summer while we set up to release this new album so stay tuned for that.

With all this incredible progress, however, we have some sad news. Our brother and friend Moe has decided to leave the band to go back to school in pursuit of some of his other passions. When our gruelling studio schedule just wouldn’t work with his gruelling school schedule, we realized we would need to find a session player for the new album. With Moe‘s guidance and approval, we found us a nice match in Chris Adler! Having known Chris for a few years, and with he and Moe being drum-buddies, it seemed like a perfect fit. We are happy to say that Chris has already come and gone from canada and has left us with some beautiful drum tracks. Can’t wait for you all to hear it!” - Protest The Hero

“I was thrilled to get the call to join up and help out my friends in Protest, how could I turn down one of my favorite bands? I’ve done a bit of session work before with Testament and Ron Jarzombek but nothing this immersive. I lived and breathed this record for 8 weeks and even lived in Toronto for a month with the guys. The experience was intense tosay the least. Some of the most demanding and intricate drum work of my career. I’m very proud to have been a part of the Protest family and can’t wait to have you hear it.” - Chris Adler
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Links: Facebook // Twitter // iTunes

RANDY BLYTHE TELLS US TO “BE CAREFULLY”

Randy Blythe has further cemented himself as a class act and great guy with his latest blog post and comments regarding his accusation of manslaughter in the Czech Republic that resulted in Randy being acquitted. Everyone in the metal world knows the story of what happened so I won’t go into huge details. In a nutshell Randy was accused of being responsible for the death of a fan who was attending a Lamb of God show.

What stuck out more than the accusations was the honorable way Blythe handled the adversity thrown at him. From the beginning it was obvious that though this tragic accident was an awful mishap, it could in no way be blamed on the actions of Randy Blythe. Rather than run from the obvious overzealous prosecution, Randy faced the justice system head on with the honor he often speaks of. In the end, Blythe was acquitted and proved himself to be a class act.

Blythe’s blog post titled “Be Carefully” is just one more reason to respect the guy. The Lamb of God frontman is attempting to fulfill the family’s wishes and promote safety at shows and convey the pain they feel. It’s a powerful statement well worth reading in full. Click here to read it. I’m not much of a Lamb of God fan, but wow Randy is a great guy.

-Trisolino

Links: Facebook // Official Website // Be Carefully

MAYHEM FESTIVAL 2012 CRUISE SINKS

Not really, but it will never set sail. And it's not because of Randy Blythe, he is a free man if you haven't heard yet. In the tradition of the "70,000 Tons Of Metal" cruise, Mayhem Festival was supposed to launch a similar 3 day heavy voyage. It was going to feature Lamb of God, Machine Head, Anthrax, Hatebreed, Suicide Silence, and Kingdom of Sorrow. But due to circumstances beyond Rockstar's control, it has been canceled. But there is some good news to go with the bad. If you purchased tickets to the ruined metal vacation, you will receive a LIFETIME pass to Mayhem fest.

Rockstar released this statement: "Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we have been forced to cancel the Mayhem Festival Cruise," said the organizers. Anyone who purchased a tour package will be refunded. The powers-that-be are also offering anyone who bought a cruise ticket a lifetime complimentary pass to the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival summer tour, in addition to the refund. This pass will be valid on any tour date beginning in 2013. Details on the receipt of lifetime passes will be announced shortly."

 

Links: Official Site