Shallow Life

The “HardDrive Live Tour” will also feature All That Remains, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, From Sword To Sunrise (1st leg) and Taking Dawn (2nd Leg). Vocalist Cristina Scabbia stated:

“The ‘HardDrive Live Tour’ is coming to your doors September through November and you guys already know there’s gonna be a lot going on, a lot of bands for you guys and gals, including of course us;  Lacuna Coil  We’ll be playing our new stuff from the album Shallow Life, so if you didn’t have the chance to check us out live yet, you should definitely come out and join our rockin’ family. We promise that you won’t regret it. Can’t wait to see you there!”

2009 Lacuna Coil Tour Dates:

Sep-22 Albany NY @ Northern Lights

Sep-23 New York NY @ Irving Plaza

Sep-25 Philadelphia PA @ The Trocadero

Sep-26 Syracuse NY @  The Lost Horizon

Sep-27 Pittsburgh PA @ Club Zoo

Sep-29 Cleveland OH @ House of Blues

Sep-30 Grand Rapids MI @ The Orbit Room

Oct-01 Ft. Wayne IN @ Piere’s

Oct-02 Pontiac MI @ Clutch Cargo’s

Oct-03 Madison WI @ The Barrymore

Oct-06 Columbus OH @ Newport Music Hall

Oct-07 Chicago IL @ House of Blues

Oct-09 Houston TX @ House of Blues

Oct-10 Dallas TX @ The Palladium Ballroom

Oct-12 Albuquerque NM @ Sunshine

Oct-13 Phoenix AZ @ Marquee Theatre

Oct-14 Las Vegas NV @ House of Blues

Oct-16 Los Angeles CA @ House of Blues

Oct-17 Fresno CA @ The Crest

Oct-18 San Francisco CA @ Grand Ballroom

Oct-20 Spokane WA @ The Knitting Factory

Oct-23 Denver CO @ The Fillmore

Oct-25 Fargo ND @ The Venue @ Playmakers

Oct-27 Edmonton AB @ Edmonton Events Centre

Oct-28 Calgary AB @ MacEwan Centre

Oct-31 Minneapolis MN @ Epic

Nov-05 Ft Lauderdale FL @ Culture Room

Nov-06 Gainesville FL @ The Venue

Nov-07 Atlanta GA @ The Masquerade

Nov-08 Orlando FL @ House Of Blues

Nov-11 Baltimore MD @ Rams Heads

Nov-12 Lancaster PA @ Chameleon Club

Nov-13 Sayreville NJ @ Starland Ballroom

Nov-14 Hartford CT @ Webster

Nov-17 Toronto ON @ Sound Academy

[via: about.com]
[image: Newscom]

Post from: Metal Martyr

CD/DVD Digipak Autographed Pre-Order: $12.99 ORDER HERE
**autographed copies only available while supplies last, North American pre-order only **

BEHEMOTH
ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK MAYHEM FESTIVAL
Tour w/ Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium, All That Remains, God Forbid, Cannibal Corpse, Job For A Cowboy, The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel

07/30 London, ON London Music Hall not part of tour w/ God Forbid
07/31 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
08/01 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
08/02 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
08/03 Rochester, NY Water Street Music Hall not part of tour w/ Cannibal Corpse, The Black Dahlia Murder, God Forbid
08/04 Boston, MA Comcast Center
08/06 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater
08/07 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
08/08 Hartford, CT Comcast Theatre
08/09 Washington, DC Nissan Pavilion
08/10 Spartanburg, SC Ground Zero not part of tour w/ Cannibal Corpse, The Black Dahlia Murder, God Forbid
08/11 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre
08/12 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheater
08/14 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
08/15 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center

[image: Metal Blade Records]

Post from: Metal Martyr

Rock House, sells a load of different instructional DVD with various artists. One of the new instructional sets is with Oli Herbert.

Metal Guitar Heavy Rhythms, Leads & Harmonies Levels 1 & 2 are jam-packed with the fundamental techniques that have propelled Oli into one of today’s most influential guitar players. In Level 1 Oli gives aspiring Metal guitarists insight into song writing and lead playing. He reveals the chords, inversions and voicing’s he uses to create rhythm progressions and write songs. Expanding on the techniques developed in Level 1, Level 2 explores Hungarian minor scales, scale runs and patterns, chromatic passing tone technique and many complete leads shown note by note. Oli shows students advanced lead guitar techniques and how to write a two-part harmony guitar section heard in many of his Metal compositions. Each level includes backing tracks from original All That Remains recordings to put users at the center of the band’s ground breaking sound.

The DVDs’s come iPod ready, with 32 page lesson booklet and backing tracks to play long to. You can pick up the DVD’s individually or together for a slight discount. There are other packs that includes the DVDs, the Overcome CD and some stickers. You can preorder it now but I don’t see a release date.

Visit Rockhouse.com for more information.

(Image: ©MetalMartyr.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

I got things done kind of early yesterday so there was a bunch of fairly relevant news items that I missed.

Dave Mustaine says that he and producer Andy Sneep have decided that they have what they need to start recording the new Megadeth album.

All That Remains front-man Phil Labonte will be on XM Radio’s Liquid Metal (channel 42) tonight between 9 and 10 pm EST. The segment will re-air on the 16th at 11pm and the 17 at 5pm. ATR are heading to the UK to tour with The Haunted on the 17th and then to Europe on the 26th.

Tommy Araya has a brother that plays bass too? Apparently so. Johnny Araya plays bass for Thine Eyes Bleed but will be filling in for Mindless Self Indulgence bassist “Lynz: for their Kerrang! tour in the UK.

Papa Roach are putting out a new album on March 24th called Metamorphosis. Maybe one day their music will metamorphosis in to something relatively listenable.

Poison and Def Leppard are going to tour together this year despite a pretty lame war of words last year between the two bands.

Does anyone really give a crap about this new Osbournes reality/variety show coming on fox?

Warrant and L.A. Guns members are forming a Led Zeppelin tribute band…as if there aren’t enough of those. I have a Led Zeppelin tribute album with both bands on it and it’s the worst tribute album I think I have ever heard. It pretty much just sounds like vocal-overs of the original music.

Chimaira resigned their worldwide deal with Nuclear Blast. Nuclear Blast handles the bands business everywhere else but North American, where Ferret Music handles it.

RATT is recording new music and Stephen Pearcy says it will surely kick ass. I honesty don’t think RATT could write an album that appeals to the current metal fans and I doubt if there will be a million 40+ year old hair metal fans camping out in front of the record stores awaiting this.

Lastly, Dean Guitars is unveiling a new ML Design that looks like just about any other ML with the exception of the pickups being close together. That company will never top the Razorback. Check out a picture of it at BW&BK. Click on the picture when you get there.

Post from: Metal Martyr

• Byzantine breaks up…3 days after they release Oblivion Beckons.
• Light This City break up before releasing the last record.
• Arsis changes members more than their underwear.
• The Black Dahlia Murder lose a guitarist…steals one from Arsis.
• Phil Demmel of Machine Head passes out twice on stage.
• DJ Sid from Slipknot breaks both of his feet…keeps on trucking.
• Joey Jordison breaks an ankle, cancels UK shows.
• Nachmystium gets booted from the Opeth tour for undisclosed shenanigans.
• Kristen Randal shows her boobs…and they’re only slightly better than Amy Winehouse’s.
• Winds Of Plague drummer Jeff Tenney abruptly leaves the band mid-tour. Says he’s tired of seeing Kristen Randall’s boobs.
• Gwen Stacey singer Bobby Oakley leaves the band…cites that he’s going to sing for Mary Jane Watson.

• All That Remains Cancels remaining US tour dates Thanksgiving week due to vocal issues with Phil Labonte.
• Gorgorath’s Gaahl almost, slightly, kind of admits that he is a homosexual.
• Axl Rose released Chinese Democracy.
• Scar Symmetry loses a singer…hires two more.
• Metallica released an album that wasn’t really all that bad.
• Divine Heresy fires Tommy Cummings and an alleged assault takes place later on.
• Tommy Cummings is hired by funk-metal band Snot to fill the shoes of the late, great Lynn Strait. (That was a totally unintentional rhyme)
• Limp Bizkit reunion rumors float around…for a day.
• Celtic Frost break up again.
• Gas prices rise to over $5.00 a gallon and bands start to drop off tours left and right.

The list goes on but these are just the ones I could think of right now. If you can think of some more, please feel free to fill it in the comments section. Other than that, it’s been a great year in metal. 2009 can only get better!

Post from: Metal Martyr

All That Remains – Overcome: This was one of my “Highly Anticipated” releases for 2008. After really enjoying The Fall Of Ideals and This Darkened Heart, I couldn’t wait to see what was next. When the first two singles dropped I really liked them. The sound was a bit different and I couldn’t wait for the album. When I got it I was pretty stoked. I wrote a great review for it and said it surpassed their previous releases. While the album is different from the previous two and is good in it’s own right, it lacks longevity. I wouldn’t call it “uninspired” as many others have, but it It doesn’t having the lasting effect that The Fall Of Ideals has.

The Acacia Strain – Continent: This is another one of those albums that doesn’t have the lasting effect. It’s heavy and brutal, but it lacks the hooks that I feel is necessary to make an album stand the test of time. The vocals and lyrics are great, but a good chorus or breakdown is needed for me to truly appreciate this album. Like The Dead Walk, I really dug it at first listen but it’s easily forgotten within a week or so.

Austrian Death Machine – Total Brutal: Tim Lambesis side project with Ahhnold was fun at first few listens. The music is cool and there are a lot of guest solos in the mix. Paul Raven (From The Critics Den) kind of opened my eyes up a bit more on this album. In his review he states that it is one of those albums that get’s passed around by teenage metalheads and that the novelty of it doesn’t last very long. He was exactly right. It’s a “Solid thrash album”, as he says in the comments of my review but it doesn’t last long and gets thrown in with the stack of things such as Beatallica, the Jerkie Boys and such. Funny, yes. Overwhelmingly wowing…’fraid not.

Soulfly – Conquer: I stated in my review that this is probably Soulfly’s best release ever…and I still feel that way. If you ever plan on getting a Soulfly album then start with this. If you want to reach in to their back catalog, then go for their self titled debut. Everything in between is garbage in my opinion. Conquer brings a thrashier feel to it as if Max and Igor Cavalera Conspiracy release resurrected something inside of him. Let’s not forget that Marc Rizzo is a complete bad-ass guitar player too.

Withered – Folie Circulaire: This one was really tough to get in to. The blackened death metal genre is something I’m fairly new to and if your not totally in to that music then it will either take some time to get used to or it will just not sink in at all. The Funeral Pyre is the same way. Their 2008 release Wounds has that strange effect where it takes some time. Prosthetic Records signs acts that stand out from the rest. That’s where bands like Lamb Of God and All That Remains got their big start. Other bands that made their Prosthetic label debut this year that deserve a listen are Book Of Black Earth with Horoskopus and The Antagonist with Exist.

Children Of Bodom – Blooddrunk: This album seemed to fall short of my expectation upon first listen. I honestly don’t know what I expected of this album considering that I only heard Hate Crew Deathroll and Are You Dead Yet? before I got BloodDrunk. I bought it and the same day immediately after first listen wrote a review saying that it was mediocre. A day or two later I wrote a quick re-review, something I don’t often do. The album grew on me and I was really getting in to it. While it’s still not my favorite COB release it’s a good release nonetheless. After I bought Blooddrunk I went on the search and bought the remaining C.O.B. re-releases of the albums I didn’t have.

Finally Slipknot and Metallica: I loved the old Metallica like a million others have. I’ve also been disappointed like a million others have since the release of Load, Reload and St. Anger. What I expected of Death Magnetic was another over-hyped piece of dog excrement. What we got was a not-so-bad album with a more thrash feel than the previous four Metallica studio album with it’s ups and downs. This album proved that Metallica haven’t totally lost touch with their past, but are still far from re-achieving the expectations of a lot of their hardcore following fans from the beginning. At some points is seems as they are trying too hard and some times it seems they aren’t trying hard enough. Better than expected but still no enough to quench the hunger of a dying Metallica fan. Progress has been made but they might never make another Master Of Puppets and that’s something we all need to live with. To name this as “Album Of The Year” is just plain idiotic.

Slipknot really disappointed me this year. All Hope Is Gone was hyped and hyped some more. The best songs were released as singles and most everything else on the album felt like a rushed filler. We’ve seen a different progression of the band since MFKR, but this one was a giant step sideways instead of forward. Iowa had me wanting more and Vol. 3 made me a happy fan. The Stone Sour releases in between sufficed but All Hope Is Gone made me second guess myself as a fan of this band. I don’t really know if I will anticipate the next one as much as I have in the past. Also I have found so many more bands and releases this year that it was almost easy to forget how much I disliked this record and that makes me feel as if perhaps I’m growing away from Slipknot, which ultimately is not necessarily a bad thing. All Hope Is not Gone, but on more release like this and it may be.

Writing reviews is not as an easy process as some might think. After you have written so quite a few it’s tough to come up with creative ways to say just how “Brutal” or shitty an album really is. For some it comes easy and for others like myself it’s not always a piece of cake. You also have to battle your own feelings sometimes and try not to second guess yourself in fear of drawing a negative response from someone that doesn’t feel the same way about an album. At times you read a comment from someone after you’ve posted a review and it’s get’s you thinking about that album. You go back and you think to yourself, “Damn, they’re right.”. You don’t want to change your mind but sometimes you have to bite the bullet and either say so or just ignore the fact. Some albums deserve a full track-by-track review and other just need a simple explanation that the album slays. With the Internet it’s fairly easy to find reviews before you buy a cd. Who’s advice you take is solely up to you and your liking. If ever you agree read a review in Rolling Stone Magazine and it says nothing but negative things about the album…chances is are that the album is great. If they say and album is innovative and spectacular…buyer beware.

All Images: Amazon.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

Metal Martyr Best Live Shows Of 2008

1. Carcass Reunion: This was like a dream come true. I didn’t think I would ever get to see Carcass play live after becoming a fan in 1993. Hopefully we will see more of this in the future in the U.S.
2. Hatebreed: One of the most energetic shows from a crowd I have seen down here. Beside being dry-humped by some over enthusiastic, sweaty dude behind me, I had a great time and it was a very memorable show.
3. Opeth: Sold out show, amazing show. I wish they had played some more acoustic stuff…or I wish I had stuck around for the second hour of their set to catch any acoustic stuff they may have played.
4. Firewind: Powerful live show. Guitars and vocals that just make the show. I wasn’t really a fan of this band before they went on stage but I was eager to see them live for some reason. When they took the stage I immediately though it was kind of cheesy…for about 20 seconds. After that it was total amazement.
5. The Sword: I think they sound just as good, if not better live. Guitar driven metal that is simplistic and catchy enough to keep everything interesting.
6. Early Man: A great, thrashy show.
7. Suffocation: Caught them on the Carcass reunion. The death metal and deathcore bands of today could learn a thing or two from these guys…like writing your song so you can play them live.
8. Machinehead: This is the second time I’ve seen Machinhead, but the first time in over 10 years. They still know how to rock the stage and were really cool during signings.
9. Slipknot: I’ve waited 8 years to see these guys live. A lot of people say they don’t put out the energy like they used to but I think they put on a better show than what they used to from the videos I’ve seen. Jumping around onstage is cool and everything…but I want to hear quality music too.
10. All That Remains: Twice this year I’ve seen ATR and neither time have I been disappointed. Phil knows how to work the stage and Oli’s nimble fingers make for some beautiful solos.

There is my top ten. Here are a few other mentions

Loudest Live Show

• Torche (opened for The Sword)

Strangest Live Act

• The Monotonix – Starts out kind of fun and wacky and then just goes overboard and stupid really quickly.

Pissed That I Missed Shows (Shows that came around and I wanted to see but missed for one reason or another)

• Kataklysm
• In Flames, Gojira

Image ©MetalMartyr.com 2008

Post from: Metal Martyr

The winner of the Opeth signer guitar pick is Alex Rochon and the winner of the All That Remains Overcome CD is Giles.

I’ll send them out this week.

Post from: Metal Martyr

All That Remains posted a bulletin yesterday on their Myspace announcing that they will have to cancel two of shows on their tour with In Flames, Gojira and 36 Crazyfists. One of those shows was last nights show in Tempe Arizona and the other date is tonight’s show in Albuquerque New Mexico. This is what was posted on myspace:

Hey guys, we unfortunately had to cancel off the Tempe and Albuquerque shows. Phil’s vocals are in rough shape to a point where singing will not be possible. Luckily the doctors say he’ll be better shortly and we’ll be back in gear for Denver. See you soon.

- All That Remains

Image ©MetalMartyr.com 2008

Post from: Metal Martyr

ALL THAT REMAINS on tour

(In Flames, All That Remains, Gojira, 36 Crazy Fists)

• 11/06 Montreal, QC – Metropolis
• 11/07 Toronto, ON – Sound Academy
• 11/08 Detroit, MI – Emerald Theater
• 11/09 Cleveland, OH – Agora
• 11/10 Chicago, IL – House Of Blues
• 11/12 Minneapolis, MN – Myth
• 11/14 Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall
• 11/15 Edmonton, AB – Events Center
• 11/17 Vancouver, BC – Commodore
• 11/18 Seattle, WA – Showbox Sodo
• 11/19 Portland, OR – Roseland
• 11/21 San Francisco, CA – Warfield
• 11/22 Los Angeles, CA – The Nokia Club
• 11/23 Las Vegas, NV – House Of Blues
• 11/24 Phoenix, AZ – Marquee Theatre
• 11/25 Albuquerque, NM – Midnight Rodeo
• 11/26 Denver, CO – Fillmore
• 11/28 Dallas, TX – Palladium
• 11/29 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
• 11/30 Houston, TX – House Of Blues
• 12/02 Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
• 12/03 Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
• 12/04 Norfolk, VA – The Norva
• 12/05 Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live
• 12/06 Worcester, MA – Palladium
• 12/07 New York, NY – Terminal 5
• 12/09 St. Louis, MO – Pageant
• 12/10 Milwaukee, WI – The Eagles Club

(with The Haunted, Johnny Truant)

• 1/17 Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
• 1/19 Birmingham, UK – Academy 2
• 1/20 Glasgow, UK – Garage
• 1/21 Manchester, UK – Academy 3
• 1/23 Brighton, UK – Concorde 2
• 1/24 London, UK – LA 2

(with The Haunted, Deadlock)

• 1/26 Stuttgart, GER – Landespavilloin
• 1/27 Bochum, GER – Matrix
• 1/29 Hamburg, GER – Knust
• 1/30 Göteborg, GER – Brewhouse
• 1/31 Stocholm, SWE – Kägelbanan
• 2/02 Helsini, SF – Nosturi
• 2/04 Copenhagen, DK – Pumpehuset
• 2/05 Berling, GER – Magnet
• 2/06 Leipzig, GER – Conne Island
• 2/07 Prague, CZ – Abaton
• 2/08 Wien, AT – Arena
• 2/10 Milan, IT – Zoe Club
• 2/11 Winterthur, CH – Salzhaus
• 2/12 Trier, GER – Exhaus
• 2/13 Amsterdam, NL – Melkweg
• 2/14 Paris, FR – Noveau Casino
• 2/15 Brussels, B – AP Box

Image ©MetalMartyr.Com2008

Post from: Metal Martyr