Welcome back, bangers, to another killer edition of Shred Vicious!
We kick off this week’s onslaught with some sad news... Former Lacuna Coil guitarist Claudio Leo died January 17, after struggling with an undisclosed "serious disease." The exact cause of death has not yet been revealed. A message at Cayne's Facebook page simply states: "Goodbye Claudio; Rest in peace, brother."
Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia said in an online posting: "It's with deep sadness that I inform you all that our dear friend and ex-guitar player Claudio Leo left us. My deepest condolences to his family, close friends and the band Cayne. You will always be remembered for your strength and positivity. We love you, Claudio." Claudio had played with Lacuna Coil from 1994 to 1998 and appeared on the band's demo tape when they were still called Ethereal and the 1998 self-titled EP.
On a lighter note, Swedish black metallers Watain, who made their first trip to Australia last year for the Soundwave festivals, have begun working on their fifth album in Sweden. The album is due to be released around august via Century Media and hopefully another Australian tour will follow.
Also on the recording front, American rockers Soil will return to the studio in February to begin work on their to-be-titled new album. The band currently has thirteen songs written and is in pre-production as we speak with engineer Don Byczynski at BOTA Studio in Lake in the Hills, Illinois.
Soil frontman Ryan McCombs recently spoke about the new album saying: "This is the first time Adam, Tim and I have been writing together since Redefine, so you have the key component of what made those records. I was always the lyric writer of those albums, and if I stumbled somewhere, Adam was always there to give me a little boost, and give me a little direction here and there. You've got us back together as far as the lyrics that I write go. You've got Adam too; he was 98.9% of the music on those records, and if he ever had any struggle with whatever; if he ever had any questions, I was always there to help with the arrangement of the songs. We really got the key components of those albums back together again, and I feel like the material that we're coming up with is that perfect anchor to where you had Scars and Redefine. I think this album is the next stage, the next album in line for Soil."
Slipknot / Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor has performed with Foo Fighters main man Dave Grohl Foo Fighters main man Dave Grohl as part of a new band called the Sound City Players at a concert in Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival. There were also appearances from Queens Of The Stone Age multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes, fellow Foo Fighters members Taylor Hawkins, Rami Jaffe, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear, Grohl's onetime Nirvana partner Krist Novoselic, Chris Goss (Masters Of Reality), Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk, John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, Rick Springfield, Fear's Lee Ving and violinist Jessy Greene.
The show featured what a publicist described as "core musicians" as well as "special guests" who appear in Grohl's new documentary, Sound City: Real To Reel. The film, which marks Grohl's debut as a feature director, will premiere at the Sundance festival before becoming available in theatres, on DVD and on demand on February 1 in the US. The movie chronicles the history of Sound City, a legendary Los Angeles recording studio where acts ranging from Fleetwood Mac to Nirvana cut some of rock's most classic albums.
Stone Sour fans have a lot to get excited about right now. After releasing the first half of a double concept album late last year, the band will be back in Australia next month for the Soundwave festivals. Just before the band arrives fans will get a taste of what is to come from House of Gold and Bones Pt 2 when the first single, 'Do Me A Favour', is released on February 13. The second half of the concept album is due to be released in April, along with a four-issue comic book telling the album's storyline. Frontman Corey Taylor recently said the band are getting ready to tour the world again in 2014, during which they will spend two nights in every city on the tour playing both albums in their entirety.
Death metal veterans Deicide are about to embark on a new tour, nicely dubbed The End of the World 2013 tour, which also features Destinity, Karnak, and Sweetest Devilry. There is no word as yet if the band will make their way back to Australia but those of us into the heavier side of metal can keep our fingers crossed!
Some bands that will be back in Australia in coming months, though, are American hard rockers ZZ Top and Guns N' Roses. Touring together around Australia alongside our own Rose Tattoo, these will certainly be shows you won’t want to miss!
In other killer touring news, Opeth will return to Australia in March. Opeth’s transcendent live shows have gone down in music folklore. On their upcoming March tour fans can expect a career defining set featuring songs from across their expansive catalogue. No doubt these shows will sell out very fast so snap up your seats quick from the usual outlets.
Thrash metal fans will be happy to hear that ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted is back! No, not with Metallica — Jason has put together a killer power trio simply named Newsted who are about to burst onto the scene with plenty to prove. Response to their four track EP, simply titled Metal, has been positive and sales in the US for the first week saw the EP sell over six thousand copies, putting Metal at #62 on the Billboard 200 charts. Not only is Jason killing it on the bass on this EP, he is also taking on the role as band vocalist and doing a fantastic job. Expect some big things this year from Newsted!
Are you ready to watch the battle of the hair band vocalists? This March, Poison singer Bret Michaels and Twisted Sister main man Dee Snider will be going head to head in NBC’s first ever All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. One month after suffering a brain haemorrhage and just days after being re-admitted to the hospital for a warning stroke, Michaels won the title of The Celebrity Apprentice in May 2010, beating out actress Holly Robinson Peete.
Michaels recently told CBSNews.com that he was honoured to be a part of the NBC show. "It's such an amazing addition to my life and where it's gone," he said. "I think that winning Apprentice was such an amazing feeling. At the very end of ours, it came down to three people... Sharon Osbourne, myself and Holly Robinson Peete. And all three were fighting for three very personal causes. Holly's son with autism, Sharon fighting for colon cancer, which has affected her, and me with my diabetes... Passion supersedes everything. You can have as much arguing and fighting as you want but when people are actually fighting for a real cause close to their heart, then that makes it the best emotion to watch."
Snider was fired from The Celebrity Apprentice in April 2012, but only after raising $325,000 for the March of Dimes by winning a challenge. The Twisted Sister singer told Parade that he went out of his way to avoid arguing with the likes of Debbie Gibson and Arsenio Hall while vying for the Apprentice title. "I was terrible in Twisted Sister. I was the lead singer, so I was selfish and self-absorbed," Snider said. "I tried to learn from that and be a team player. I worked hard to play nice since I didn't in the past."
Whose side will you take — Michaels or Snider? I know who I want to take out the title!
