"Blessed Are The Sick", the seminal death metal classic by Floridian legends MORBID ANGEL, will be reissued by Earache Records as a special DualDisc format redux edition on July 27.
MORBID ANGEL's second album, "Blessed Are The Sick" was originally released in 1991 and is widely regarged as one of the most important death metal releases of all time. This essential album is now due to be re-released in a deluxe, multi-panel digipack with the album on one side of the disc and an exclusive bonus DVD on the other side. The DVD side contains a brand new, exclusive one-hour documentary featuring interviews with the band and crew discussing the recording and release of the album, and highlighting the band's rise from underground heroes to worldwide flag-bearers for the death metal scene.
Check out a teaser video ad for this special edition below.
To celebrate this important release, a special limited-edition picture disc LP will also be issued, marking the first time the album has been available on this format.
MORBID ANGEL guitarist Trey Azagthoth recently spoke to Revolver magazine about the band's upcoming album, which will mark the Florida-based group's first release to feature bassist/vocalist DAvid Vincent since 1995's "Domination".
"We played the new song 'Nevemore' on the last tour and that kind of shows where our heads are at," he said. "I'd say it's like an assemblage of all sorts of stuff from the catalog and some new influences. I listen to a lot of hardcore [techno] music now — the fuckin' serious, artistic stuff, not that crap you hear at the clubs. That stuff has impact and it's really extreme. Even if there's no guitar in it or no real drums, the energy coming out of the speakers is amazing."
When asked who's going to be producing the album and what label it will be on, Azagthoth replied, "All I can say is, when it's ready, it's going to be extreme and outside the box. And, hopefully, the songs will inspire people to look deeper inside themselves for 'the stuff' and to tap that potential that we as human beings have."
MORBID ANGEL played its first show with new touring guitarist, ZYKLON's longtime axemeister Destructhor (a.k.a. Thor Anders Myhren), on June 22, 2008 at the Hellfest in Clisson, France.
Although MORBID ANGEL's upcoming album does not currently have a name, its title will likely begin with the letter "I", in keeping with the band's tradition of titling their albums in alphabetical order beginning with 1989's "Altars of Madness", and continuing through "Heretic".
DEEP PURPLE are easily one of the most influential and dynamic British rock bands of the 20th century. On June 2, eager fans will have the opportunity to experience highlights from the early days of this legendary band, when Eagle Rock Entertainment releases "History, Hits, & Highlights", a special 2DVD set that hits stores June 2 (pre-book date May 13, MSRP $24.98).
A vivid compilation of rare and unreleased material, live performances, archival interviews and studio/television footage, "History, Hits & Highlights" chronicles the years 1968-1976 when the band survived four line-up changes and produced such classic albums as "In Rock", "Fireball", "Burn", and "Machine Head". It was at this time that essential tracks like "Hush", "Speed King", "Black Night", and, of course, "Smoke On The Water", were produced. These solid rock staples, plus many more, are prominently displayed on this set. As a bonus, a photo gallery is included on the second disc.
Hot on the heels of front man Ian Gillan's new CD, "One Eye To Morocco" (March 31, Eagle Rock), this 2DVD set is a revealing look at the band. It also follows a grand tradition of great DEEP PURPLE releases from Eagle Rock, such as "Around The World Live" 5DVD set (June 2008), and "They All Came Down To Montreux" DVD (June 2007).
Disc 1:
History - 20-minute history of DEEP PURPLE from 1968 to 1976
Hits - full performances:
Mark One Lineup (March 1968 - July 1969)
Ritchie Blackmore (guitar) Rod Evans (vocals) Jon Lord (keyboards) Ian Paice (drums) Nick Simper (bass)
01. Help
02. Hush
03. Wring That Neck
Mark Two Lineup (July 1969 - June 1973)
Ritchie Blackmore (guitar) Ian Gillan (vocals) Roger Glover (bass) Jon Lord (keyboards) Ian Paice (drums)
04. Hallelujah
05. Mandrake Root
06. Speed King
07. Black Night
08. Child In Time
09. Lazy
10. Strange Kind Of Woman
11. Fireball Writing Session
12. Fireball
13. Demon's Eyes
14. No No No
15. Into The Fire
16. Never Before
17. Highway Star
18. Smoke On The Water
Mark Three Lineup (July 1973-1975)
Ritchie Blackmore (guitar) David Coverdale (vocals) Glenn Hughes (bass/vocals) Jon Lord (keyboards) Ian Paice (drums)
19. Burn
20. Mistreated
Mark Four Lineup (June 1975-March 1976)
Tommy Bolin (guitar) David Coverdale (vocals) Glenn Hughes (bass/vocals) Jon Lord (keyboards) Ian Paice (drums)
21. Love Child
22. You Keep On Moving
Disc 2:
Highlights - bonus performances and interviews
Mark One Lineup
01. And The Address (Playboy TV)
Mark Two Lineup
02. Wring That Neck (Bilzen Jazz Festival 1969)
04. Wring That Neck ("Pop Deux" Paris Concert 1970)
03. Mandrake Root ("Pop Deux" Paris Concert 1970)
05. Black Night (Promo Clip)
06. No No No (Take 1 - Rockpalast Rehearsal Session)
07. No No No (Take 2 - Rockpalast Rehearsal Session)
Mark Three Lineup
08. Jt. Nuit (French TV 1974)
09. Leeds Polytechnic Student Project 1974 - featuring "Burn"/"Space Truckin'"
Mark Four Lineup
10. New Zealand TV Documentary (November 1975)
11. Smoke On The Water (New Zealand TV)
12. Tony Edwards (DEEP PURPLE's manager) - French TV Interview 1976
"The Fire Within" was released last month via Rat Pak Records.
The singer previously stated about the CD, "'The Fire Within' will undoubtedly be my best work to date and I look forward to sharing it with you all."
Ronny Munroe's solo band includes METAL CHURCH guitarist Rick Van Zandt on guitar.
METAL CHURCH guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof had encouraged Munroe for some time to do a solo project. With METAL CHURCH's plans to tour in support of their new album on hold, this offered an opportunity for Munroe to do so.
Munroe had 15 original songs to choose from for the CD, which was co-produced by the singer and Vanderhoof.
Ronny said these songs show a wider vocal range, bigger choruses and different melodies compared to his work in METAL CHURCH.
BRUTAL TRUTH: San Francisco Footage Available - May 28, 2009
Video footage of the the reunited seminal grindcore/extreme metal outfit BRUTAL TRUTH performing the song "Evolution Through Revolution" on April 8, 2009 at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, California can be viewed below (courtesy of "gwarcannibal666").
BRUTAL TRUTH will relase its first-ever DVD, "For the Ugly and Unwanted - This is Grindcore", in Europe on June 22 via Season of Mist (June 2 in the U.S.). The disc contains a full show shot with five cameras at the Obscene Extreme Festival 2007 in Czech Republic and four more full shows from the "Sounds of the Animal Kindgom" tour as extras.
"For the Ugly and Unwanted - This is Grindcore" track listing:
01. Dementia
02. K.A.P.
03. Vision
04. Blind Leading The Blind
05. Pass Some Down
06. Let's Go To War
07. Godplayer
08. Turnface
09. Choice Of A New Generation
10. Birth Of Ignorance
11. Stench Of Profit
12. Sisterfucker
13. Fucktoy
14. Sympathy Kiss
15. Pork Farm
16. Everflow
17. Kill Trend Suicide
18. Jiminez Cricket
19. Walking Corpse
20. Collateral Damage
21. Time
22. Fisting
23. Hypocrite
24. Invasion
25. Foolish Bastard
26. Displacement
Note that this is only the track listing to the main show of the DVD, since there are four other shows included.
"Evolution Through Revolution", the first full-length album in 10 years from BRUTAL TRUTH, sold around 1,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD debuted at No. 65 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
Bassist Dan Lilker commented: "BRUTAL TRUTH has worked our asses off to write and arrange some of the sickest, most inhuman grindcore ever created. With Jason PC from BLOOD DUSTER handling the mix, we're positive that the music and production on 'Evolution Through Revolution' will satisfy the cravings of the sickest bastards out there."
Drummer Richard Hoak added: "I think 'Evolution Through Revolution' is the best BRUTAL TRUTH record by far! We are all totally psyched about the songs and the production and can't wait to start bringing our grinding soundtrack to the end of history live and direct to the people! Hell yeah!"
Vocalist Rob Halford and guitarist Glenn Tipton, members of JUDAS PRIEST, recently talked to Rick Wakeman and provide a mesmerizing insight into the drive and determination that led the Metal Gods from the working-class steel town of Birmingham, England to becoming one of the biggest heavy metal bands in the world.
Halford and Tipton unwrap the concept behind their 2008 album "Nostradamus" and describe the friendship, "metal magic" and self belief that fuels the chemistry behind the band's writing process, while recollecting the first-ever PRIEST rehearsals and how the band, like many, were essentially born out the back of a Ford Transit van. They went on to tour all four corners of the globe yet, Wakeman probes the band to paint the picture of their rise from initial long club tours of the U.S to supporting the likes of LED ZEPPELIN on the West Coast, drawing crowds in excess of 160,000 across two dates. Find out how it felt for the band to record their classic "British Steel" album in the now infamous "Imagine" home that was previously owned by John Lennon and discover exactly why the band ended up staying in a religious convent occupied by a collection of Swedish nuns.
Metal Hammer Presents... Subterranea recently conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Adam "Nergal" Darski of Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH. You can listen to the chat in two parts below.
BEHEMOTH will release its ninth full-length studio album, "Evangelion", on August 7 in Europe via Nuclear Blast Records and August 11 in North America through Metal Blade. The CD was mixed at Miloco Studios in London, England by Colin Richardson, who has previously worked with MACHINE HEAD, SLIPKNOT, NAPALM DEATH and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, among many others.
Check out the cover artwork below.
Commented Nergal (guitar, vocals): "'Evangelion' combines a pure art form with a direct message. It was also important for us to ensure that the graphical presentation did justice to the record. Again, we have worked with Tomasz Danilowicz, who has created his best illustration yet for BEHEMOTH. The picture is of The Great Harlot of Babylon riding the seven-headed beast. Saints bow before her in worship whilst the tablets of the Ten Commandments lie broken at her feet. It represents our vision and the interpretation of the New Testament parable where the 'Whore of Babylon' is a symbol of rebellion and resistance against God. I am fascinated by stories whose source lies in the Bible and we have used biblical symbolism, coupled with my own experience and outlook, in our lyrics or on the covers of previous BEHEMOTH records. I love to juggle with meanings and play around with symbolism which is exactly what I have done in this case. The main character of our new cover is an archetype of disobedience, individualism, self-determination and a free, unfettered will — these are universal keywords which are typical and crucial in understanding the character of our works, life as a whole and the true nature of man."
Nergal previously stated about the new material, "I must confess that I'm way more excited about this record than I was for [2007's] 'The Apostasy'. It's probably the whole label situation that we had to deal back then, Inferno's injury that caused crazy deadlines that completely drained the energy out of my system… I even started treating that album as unwanted child. Weird, because from time perspective, it's a great one. This time though everything was planned much in advanced. I found time to live my life, get some energy back, get inspired and so on… When we met in October it was obvious that all of us were really hungry for making new music. It's definitely 100% BEHEMOTH. I would risk saying that we do have our own style but it's still improving, evolving in different directions every time we approach new project. Most of the songs are the really fast, technical and intense, at the same time there's a lot of diversity. There's even a very slow, massive song that's probably the most epic tracks in BEHEMOTH's history. Everything sounds more serious and…dangerous (I love that word, ha ha). There's probably more sinister vibe in our music this time too."
BEHEMOTH has been confirmed for the second annual Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, set to take place this summer. The band will perform on the Hot Topic stage alongside CANNIBAL CORPSE, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, JOB FOR A COWBOY and WHITECHAPEL on over 25 dates.
"The Asgard Saga", the world premiere of the fantasy collaboration between MANOWAR and Wolfgang Hohlbein, will begin at Magic Circle Festival III, scheduled to take place at the Loreley on the Rhine River in Germany on July 18, 2009. Headlining the festival, MANOWAR will perform material from the concept album currently in the works. It is based on Hohlbein's tales of one of the most iconic characters in Norse mythology, Thor, the God of Thunder. Hohlbein will debut the captivating fantasy adventure that is promised to be full of action, drama, romance, passion and conflict. It is a modern spin on the classic tale interpreted via the media of our time: the internet, interactive web communities, books, music, video games and beyond. The first phase of this concept launched worldwide last week at www.asgard-saga.com.
Regarding the new album's musical direction, bassist Joey DeMaio told MetalItalia.com, "We're thinking that this album will be more guitar-oriented. At first we thought about pursuing the symphonic approach, but then we said, 'No, let's never make the same album sound twice.' This one will be as heavy, but more guitar".
Video footage of MANOWAR in the studio at Magic Circle Music mixing new material from the album that will be performed exclusively at the Magic Circle Festival can be viewed below.
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BOSPOP 2009
