W.A.S.P. - Unholy Terror!!!
W.A.S.P.'s forthcoming album, Unholy Terror is due out on Metal-Is, April 9th. The album was recorded
in L.A. with frontman Blackie Lawless handling production duties. The album has the following tracklisting: 'Let It Roar',
'Raven Heart', 'Loco Motive Man', 'Charisma', 'Who Slayed Baby Jane?', 'Euphoria', 'Hate To Love Me', 'Evermore' and 'Wasted
White Boys'.
AVANTASIA - A Super Group In The Making
A project put together by EDGUY singer Tobias Sammet called AVANTASIA has just hit shelves in Europe.
It is entitled Avantasia: A Metal Opera, and travels the same musical path as Edguy, HELLOWEEN, VIRGIN STEELE etc. Featured
vocalists on the album alongside Sammet are Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY), Dave DeFeis (Virgin Steele), Rob Rock (ex- IMPELLITTERI),
Andre Matos (ex-ANGRA) and Sharon Den Adel and Timo Tolkki (STRATOVARIUS). Each vocalist plays a character in the Lord Of The
Rings styled-tale, which was written by Sammet.
HALFORD Live Record Doubles
The HALFORD website, www.robhalford.com posted news that Metal-Is has decided to make the
forthcoming Live CD a double. Live Insurrection is out on March 26th. Songs confirmed at this point include:
'Resurrection', 'Made In Hell', 'Into The Pit', 'Nailed To The Gun', 'Light Comes Out Of Black', 'Stained Class',
'Jawbreaker', 'Running Wild', 'Slow Down', 'Life In Black', 'Hell's Last Survivor', 'Sad Wings', 'Beyond The Realms Of Death',
'Breaking The Law', 'Metal Gods', 'Silent Screams', 'Cyber World', 'Saviour', 'Hellion'/'Electric Eye', 'Riding On The Wind', 'Tyrant',
'Genocide' and some yet to be disclosed new songs and a few surprises.
GUNS N' ROSES - Appetite For Rio
On January 14th, GUNS N' ROSES performed before 200,000 fans at the Rock In Rio Festival. The band played for two hours and fifteen minutes,
opening with 'Welcome To The Jungle', and performing 22 songs altogether. Guns played five new songs in the set: 'Madagascar', 'Oh My God', 'Chinese Democracy',
'The Blues' and 'Silkworms'. Frontman Axl Rose enlisted the use of a translator for speeches during the evening in which he addressed his former bandmates, the
Internet, his new band, and his life in general for most of the '90s. The show closed with 'Paradise City', which began with onstage pyrotechnic explosions and
fireworks. According to Allstar, when it was over, Rose introduced his Brazilian assistant, who he credited with holding down the Axl Rose fort for the last seven
years. In tears as his assistant translated the speech into Portuguese, the moment was a truly genuine streak of humbleness for the singer, as the weight on his
shoulders throughout the '90s had surely, after his reception in Rio, been lifted. "Peace," said Rose in closing. "I love you. I will be back here next summer with
a whole bunch of new songs. Be good to each other and we'll see you later."
GN'R will play their first European show in eight years at the German Rock Am Ring Festival. The event takes place between June 1st and 3rd at the
Nurburgring Race Track. Meanwhile, management has announced that the long awaited Chinese Democracy album will hit stores in June, 2001. Corresponding with the release
will be a full fledged tour starting next summer with a lineup including guitarists Robin Finck and Buckethead, according to a statement issued by the band's management.
Ex-PRIMUS drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia has also come on board with GN'R, according to a source close to the band. Dizzy Reed will handle keyboards. Producer Bob Ezrin has
signed on to help finish work on the long delayed album.
TESTAMENT - A Brand New Gathering
TESTAMENT will be re-recording some of its earlier and heaviest material from their debut records,
The Legacy and The New Order. This is currently taking place at their own Driftwood recording studio. Mixing will be done
with Andy Sneap. Tracks include: 'First Strike Is Deadly', 'Into The Pit', 'C.O.T.L.O.D.', 'The Haunting' and 'Over The Wall'.
Guitarist Eric Peterson says the sessions are "gonna sound CRUSHING." That project is scheduled to be released in limited
edition before the new studio album. Alex Skolnick will be part of this recording as well, but only for the older recordings.
Helloween Tour Postponed
According to the official Helloween webpage at www.helloween.org, the tour for Europe has been postponed.
The band apologizes for any inconvenience. Uli Kusch was told by the doctor to take 3 or 4 weeks off from playing as he had
some trouble with his right elbow due to playing stress. However the Asian tourdates will be played as scheduled. The European
tour will be rescheduled and when the new dates are confirmed you will be able to read them at www.helloween.org.
QUIET RIOT Hit The Studio
According to http://www.quietriotonline.com, QUIET RIOT is recording a new album with John Rollo producing.
According to vocalist Kevin DuBrow "We will be recording six new songs, go back on tour for a month or so and then record the
rest of the album. As any of you who attended our end of the year shows knows, we are doing a lot of new material live. We work up
the new tunes at the sound checks and perform them that night. It's the best way for us to really get a feel for the songs. This was
how we did Metal Health and it turned out pretty good! This will be the first album of all new, self written songs for quite a while.
It should come out before summer starts to we can do a Summer tour to support the CD. See you all at the upcoming shows and on behalf of
Frankie, Rudy, Carlos and myself, thanks for your continued support. Keep on rockin!!"
SEBASTIAN BACH - Bach In The Studio
According to www.sebastianbach.com, Back says that we should "Fasten your seatbelts for 2001 because we will rock
together like never before. I have so much music set to unleash it really is quite sick. I have been busy recording in the studio for some
major projects that I will be able to tell you about very shortly! Also, I am working on a new CD that will be available ONLY here on sebastianbach.com,
exclusively, for your ears only! This CD will not be available in stores, only through the site! More details on the new CD soon!
GAMMA RAY - Album News
According to www.gamma-ray.com, Kai Hansen and Dirk Schlachter are mixing the new album from TARAXACUM, and once that's done
the band will reconvene for work on the next GAMMA RAY album. Hansen already has four new songs written and the record will be a concept album based on
a book penned by a Gamma Ray fan!!!
JUDAS PRIEST - Metal Reduced To Rock
According to U.S. showbiz program Entertainment Tonight, the upcoming movie loosely based on the life of JUDAS PRIEST vocalist Tim 'Ripper'
Owens will now be called Rock Star. Clips from the Mark Walberg/Jennifer Anniston film previewed on the show reflect an epic looking movie in the vein of Almost
Famous or Boogie Nights. The report failed to tell why the original title, Metal God, was dropped, nor did it mention any ties to the story of Owens or Priest
(the mainstream FEARS METAL!). The film hits theaters in April.
BLIND GUARDIAN - An Epic Release
BLIND GUARDIAN have started recording their new album, to be produced by the band and Charly Bauerfeind. Lyrically, there will be a topical
issue for each song. The music is reportedly a straight progression of Nightfall In Middle Earth and Imaginations From The Other Side, though the band assures
that there will be some surprises, of course. At least one song (the longest they have written so far: 12 minutes) will be dedicated to author J.R.R. Tolkien.
The album won't be finished before June 2001 so expect the effort around late-September. The band is planning to release a single in August, however.
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