01.21.05 (RockAndMetal.com) After weeks of speculation since the news first leaked out over the Internet just before Christmas, QUEEN guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and legendary vocalist Paul Rodgers have now unveiled their Spring 2005 tour plans in full. The much-talked about collaborative effort will kick off with their first show together as QUEEN & PAUL RODGERS at London's Brixton Academy on Monday, March 28th, which is being promoted as a special "preview" concert for registered fans only. The first of what will be a lengthy tour, it will be followed by 25 more dates in the UK and around Europe, and marks the first time QUEEN have toured since 1986. There will be seven UK dates in all, including a second London show at the culmination of the tour when they play Wembley Pavilion on May 11th. Says Brian May: "I never thought I would be doing this again. I was always against the idea of putting someone in there trying to impersonate Freddie (Mercury) in any way. Then suddenly I'm looking at this guy who doesn't in any sense try to take the place of Freddie. He's nothing like Freddie because he comes from his own place. Suddenly I thought, 'yes we can do this,' we could do one more tour and the songs would mean something new. This would not be like rehashing, trying to pretend Freddie's still here; suddenly we can reinterpret these songs with someone who understands what he's about, someone who relates to us. Suddenly it felt right. It's colossal, and I can't quite believe it." Said Roger Taylor: "Paul is not someone trying to be Freddie. He's someone trying to take this somewhere else, in his own direction. Freddie was a great fan of his - we saw Free loads of times at The Marquee. He (Rodgers) is one of the people who have influenced all of the singers who are out there at the moment, and I'm very excited about working it all out." QUEEN & PAUL RODGERS will be performing QUEEN songs, plus several familiar songs made famous by Rodgers with both FREE and BAD COMPANY... [full story]

01.21.05 (RockAndMetal.com) CATTLE DECAPITATION vocalist Travis Ryan did the following update from Colorado while with the band out on the road recently: "We're hanging out with our friends right now in Denver. Len from Cephalic Carnage is always the man when we're through town and let's us make a mess of his pad. Thanks cholo! Tonight is the first date of this tour in Colorado Springs. These shows will more than likely close out the touring cycle for HUMANURE so please come out... it will be the last times you'll probably see us abroad in the US for a while since we're going home to write and then record after this tour playing regional shows only. Maybe we'll hit Europe, who knows. Come check out the brutal tours with Suffocation and then Cryptopsy we're on and stop by and say hello to San Francisco's own The Metal Chef (www.metalchef.com) at our merchandise booth. He's come along with us to hawk our shit and make us insane vegetarian meals when there's nothing but crap everywhere. We have an awesome new shirt design with us for our song 'Bukkake Tsunami.' It's pretty brutal considering the recent tsunami disasters, but we'll have everyone know that the shirts were designed AND printed months before the tragedy in East Asia. We're not just being dicks. It's just, uh, bad timing? We'll have those Human Jerky picture discs sometime next month. Oh yeah, we also have the 10 Torments of The Damned 7". They were unearthed recently from a storage unit in perfect condition and now we have em. So, don't bother with that Ebay crap, come to the show and get it from us."
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01.20.05 (RockAndMetal.com) Sanctuary Records Group U.K. has announced the March 14th release of "John Entwistle: So Who's The Bass Player? - The Ox Anthology," the first-ever 2-disc career retrospective of JOHN ENTWISTLE, THE WHO'S much-missed bass guitarist. The deluxe package include sleeve notes by Record Collector magazine journalist Andy Neill, plus selected live tracks form the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio series, originally aired in 1975. On what would have been Entwistle's 60th birthday, this comprehensive anthology chronologically highlights the best-known recordings from his quietly productive solo career. The compilation includes material gathered from all of Entwhistle's solo albums, starting from his first, 1971's "Smash Your Head Against The Wall," right through to his final studio album, "Music From Van Pires" (2000). Before JOHN ENTWISTLE arrived on the British Rock scene in the early Sixties as a member of THE WHO, bass players seldom stood out. Few listeners cared what purpose the four-stringed instrument served, yet after Entwistle came along, everyone knew. John Alec Entwistle (born October 9th, 1944, died June 27th, 2002) is now considered by many to be the most influential bassist in Rock music. Born in Chiswick, West London, Entwistle was a member of THE CONFEDERATES with Pete Townshend while still in grammar school in 1959. Trained in both the piano and the French horn, he was one of the most musically accomplished teens ever to play in a skiffle band. Invited by vocalist Roger Daltrey to join his band, THE DETOURS, Entwistle accepted, and was joined soon after by Townshend. With the addition of drummer Keith Moon, the band -- later renamed "The High Numbers" and finally "The Who," became part of the second wave of successful "British Invasion"... [full story]
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01.20.05 (RockAndMetal.com) The February 8th North American release of MERCENARY's debut album for Century Media, "11 Dreams," will include two bonus tracks, one of which is a "3D" remix of the title track. MERCENARY vocalist/guitarist Kral talks about his introduction to 3D technology: "In 1998, our former guitarist Nikolai Brinkmann (RIP) got a mind blowing demo CD of Binaural sound (3D sound) from the university. The CD had on it an interrogation where this policeman is questioning you about a murder. I first listened to it over headphones with my eyes closed (this enhances the effect), and I felt like I was right there in the room myself. It gave me goose bumps. I immediately thought, 'What if this was used in music?' From that day this was my mission, and on/off for the next 3 years I spoke to different people from the university about using this technology to render a MERCENARY track. Currently, the effect cannot be reproduced normally (through speakers), and you have to listen with headphones. Additionally, remember that the 3D effect will be better with higher quality headphones. It gives you the feeling that you are surrounded by '11 Dreams,' like you are right there in the middle of the song, or in the middle of our rehearsal room. It's like Mike, the drummer, is right behind you drumming. When the vocals come in you feel like Mikkel is singing one meter to your left, and I am singing one meter to the right. You are also able to separate the vocals, which is nearly impossible in a normal stereo mix. When Martin cranks up the guitar solo, you'll really be in for 3D: it almost makes you dizzy. The guitar solo feels like it is going out of the headphones, similar to the movies where the images seem to go further out than the screen's borders. The solo circulates 360 degrees around your head. This is not the last time we will be doing this."
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01.19.05 (RockAndMetal.com) Modern Rock and Metal trio CHEVELLE will kick off the 2005 Winterfresh Sno-Core Tour this Saturday in Vail, Colorado. Other bands slated to perform on the six-week North American trek include HELMET, CROSSFADE, FUTURE LEADERS OF THE WORLD and STRATA. Tour Dates: 01/22 Vail, CO [8150] • 01/23 Salt Lake City, UT [In The Venue] • 01/24 Las Vegas, NV [The Joint] • 01/25 Phoenix, AZ [Marquee Theatre] • 01/27 San Diego, CA [Soma] • 01/28 Anaheim, CA [The Grove] • 01/29 Los Angeles, CA [House Of Blues] • 01/31 San Francisco, CA [Fillmore] • 02/01 Reno, NV [New Oasis] • 02/03 Seattle, WA [Moore Theatre] • 02/04 Spokane, WA [The Big Easy] • 02/05 Boise, ID [The Big Easy] • 02/07 Denver, CO [Ogden Theatre] • 02/08 Wichita, KS [Cotillion Ballroom] • 02/10 Minneapolis, MN [The Quest] • 02/11 Milwaukee, WI [The Rave] • 02/12 Chicago, IL [Congress Theatre] • 02/14 St. Louis, MO [The Pageant] • 02/15 Cincinnati, OH [Bogarts] • 02/16 Columbus, OH [Newport Music Hall] • 02/18 Detroit, MI [State Theatre] • 02/19 Toronto, ONT [Kool Haus] • 02/21 Cleveland, OH [House Of Blues] • 02/22 Albany, NY [Northern Lights] • 02/23 Burlington, VT [Higher Ground] • 02/25 New York, NY [Spirit Performance Center] • 02/26 Providence, RI [Lupos] • 02/27 Worcester, MA [Palladium] • 03/01 Hartford, CT [Webster Theatre] • 03/02 Philadelphia, PA [Trocadero] • 03/04 Sayerville, NJ [Starland Ballroom] • 03/05 Washington, DC [9:30 Club] • 03/06 Poughkeepsie, NY [Mid Hudson Civic] • 03/08 Baltimore, MD [Sonor] • 03/09 Norfolk, VA [Norva] • 03/10 Myrtle Beach, FL [House Of Blues] • 03/12 Ft. Lauderdale, FL [Revolution] • 03/13 Orlando, FL [House Of Blues]
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01.19.05 (RockAndMetal.com) Seattle-based Power Metallers NEVERMORE are currently wrapping up the songwriting process for their upcoming new album, set for a Summer release. In February, the group will head to Backstage Studios in England to begin recording with producer Andy Sneap (Arch Enemy, Killswitch Engage, Opeth), which will mark NEVERMORE's first recording with new guitarist Steve Smyth (ex-Testament). The band will also debut some new material on a short European tour in March. In other NEVERMORE news, the group's 2003 album, "Enemies Of Reality," is currently being remixed by Sneap, and will be repackaged with altered cover artwork, two promotional video clips (the title track and 'I, Voyager') and a live video of the title track performed at Germany's Wacken Open Air festival this past summer. The remixed "Enemies Of Reality" will replace the existing version of the album in stores beginning in March. NEVERMORE vocalist Warrel Dane further describes the band's excitement over the album being remastered: "We're glad that we can all finally hear 'Enemies of Reality' the way it should have sounded in the first place. Andy's mixes sound brutal, and the infamous blanket of mud is gone. We're hard at work getting ready for the studio. The new material is shaping up to be some of our best work yet. We're psyched to get in the studio with Andy and tear it up again." Fans who have already purchased the record and want to hear the new edition can special order it from the CenturyMedia.com web shop, where the CD itself will be sold individually (i.e., without jewel case and artwork) for $5, including shipping. The disc will be mailed in a CD sleeve, and a link to a special website containing the downloadable revised artwork will be included in order confirmation e-mails as well.
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01.18.05 (RockAndMetal.com) San Diego Modern Rock band LOUIS XIV will issue a new EP next week on January 25th entitled "Illegal Tender." The 5-song release will precede the band's major-label debut for Atlantic Records, which is currently scheduled for release in the Spring. LOUIS XIV was born out of lead singer/guitarist Jason Hill's fascination with a story about a man who thinks he is king. Along with guitarist Brian Karscig and drummer Mark Maigaad, Hill since turned that fabled story into a high-energy sound reminiscent of T. REX and THE ROLLING STONES, circa "Exile On Main Street." LOUIS XIV's self-released album and 2 EPs have already sold over 8,000 copies and the first single from "Illegal Tender," 'Finding Out True Love Is Blind,' has been getting an amazing amount of airplay as of late. The buzz started on hometown radio station 91X in San Diego, and now the band are in heavy rotation in California on Indie 103 in Los Angeles, KJEE in Santa Barbara, Live 105 in San Francisco, and KNRK in Portland, Oregon. Initially comprised of Hill (who also doubles as the band's producer), Karscig and Maigaard, LOUIS XIV first came together in April of 2003. In the interest of changing things up, and a mantra of "Let's not overthink it, let's just go record it," Hill and the band opted to head to Paris. The initial recording sessions by LOUIS XIV took place in a friend's flat, which housed a late 1960's model 16-track tape recorder, which was identical to the one the band had back in San Diego. Upon discovering that, the three musicians packed up some equipment -- a vintage Studer console, a few favorite microphones -- and headed to France. Once begun, the sessions were loose and spontaneous, with the band recording as few takes of each song as... [full story]
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01.18.05 (RockAndMetal.com) Swedish lunatics HEARSE recently finished the recording of their third album, entitled "The Last Ordeal," which is slated for release via Karmageddon Media this Summer. However, the new album will be preceded by a 9-song EP from HEARSE entitled "Cambodia." The EP will contain the band's sublime cover of Kim Wilde's 'Cambodia,' 2 brand new songs exclusively recorded for the release in 'The Accused' and 'Wheels Of Misfortune,' 2 songs taken from the long sold-out 7" "Torch" EP, plus 4 previously unreleased demo versions of the tracks 'Well Of Youth,' 'Raptured In Twilight,' Dominion Reptilian' and 'So Vague.' Meanwhile, in an official statement from the band, HEARSE drummer Max Thornell has the following to say about "The Last Ordeal": "So we finally stand here with the recording that'll be the third Hearse album. This time we really came out with a sound very close to what we wanted. It's natural and organic, heavy and rough, no bleep blop trigger drums or other polished sounds. Just pure and natural! As usual, there's a lot of groove, riffing, ripping solos and rough vocals, but this time I guess that mine and Johan's hardcore/punk background is a bit more obvious than before. There was a lot of reviewers that referred to Entombed and Motorhead when our last album was released. Those comments will most likely not be less numerous this time, so to speak. O.K., we're up for another rock 'n' roll adventure in death metal land." "The Last Ordeal" was recorded & mixed at White Chapel Studios in Stockholm by Jonas Edler, who is also responsible for the sound on the first two HEARSE albums, as well as having done several productions for ENTOMBED.

01.17.05 (RockAndMetal.com) Scottish Rockers DEAD FLY BUCHOWSKI have released their new single entitled 'Blackout' via Beggars Banquet Records today, which is from the band's forthcoming debut album, "The Land Of The Rough," which is slated for an early Spring release. The upcoming debut is also being supported by a current 2-week tour of the UK and their home country by the band, which began this past weekend. 'Blackout' is a ferocious force of frenzied and psych-edged Blues-influenced Rock 'N' Roll that is also uncompromising, powerful and raw, DEAD FLY BUCHOWSKI's vocalist sounding like a growling, possessed Eric Burdon baring the depths of his soul. B-sides for the new single also come in the exhilarating form of 'Hope Is Treasure,' a distorted riff-laden and relentless drum-fuelled piece of new Blues brilliance, and 'Been Down Before,' a chugging, unyielding bass-driven track that pounds through the floor boards and reverberates to the pit of your stomach. DEAD FLY BUCHOWSKI is a band that has emerged from the prolific and diverse underground of the Glasgow music scene and are here to -- according to Beggars Banquet -- "take over the world and save rock 'n' roll." Remaining Tour Dates: January 17th London, UK [Barfly] • January 18th Northampton, UK [Soundhaus] • January 20th Taunton, UK [Aura] • January 21st Cardiff, UK [Barfly] • January 22nd Preston, UK [The Mill] • January 23rd Liverpool, UK [Barfly] • January 24th Leeds, UK [Josephs Well] • January 25th Hull, UK [Adelphi] • January 26th Manchester, UK [Dry Bar] • January 27th Aberdeen, Scotland [Kef] • January 28th Perth, Scotland [Twa Tams] • January 29th Glasgow, Scotland [Funhouse At Barfly Club]

01.17.05 (RockAndMetal.com) After a lengthy bidding war, Canadian Metalcore sextet DESPISED ICON have signed a worldwide deal with Century Media. The group's brutal mixture of Death Metal and Hardcore should appeal to fans of such bands as DYING FETUS, NASUM and PREMONITIONS OF WAR. DESPISED ICON's highly anticipated sophomore release, "The Healing Process," produced by guitarist Yannick St-Amand (Ion Dissonance, Neuraxis), mixed by J.F. Dagenais (Misery Index, Kataklysm) and mastered by Alan Douches (Shadows Fall, Dillinger Escape Plan) is currently set for a March 21st release in Europe and an April 5th issuance in North America. DESPISED ICON's first album, "Consumed By Your Poison," was released in October of 2002 on Galy Records which quickly sent shockwaves throughout the Canadian underground Metal community. DESPISED ICON vocalist Alexandre Erian describes the group's excitement regarding the new recording deal: "We are all very excited to join Century Media and can't wait to release 'The Healing Process.' It's a privilege for a young band like us to be part of such a dedicated and hard-working label. The name Century Media is synonymous with metal, and we couldn't have found a better family. This means so much to us. We plan on touring as much as possible in 2005. Expect breakdowns as brutal as a kick-in-the-face." DESPISED ICON recently released a split EP on Relapse Records with Florida Grindcore kings BODIES IN THE GEARS OF THE APPARATUS, and are scheduled to perform at the Maryland Deathfest in May. Look for the band to embark on a U.S. tour shortly thereafter.
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[Music News: 01.10.05 - 01.16.05]
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