To celebrate today’s release of Black Gives Way To Blue, Metal Martyr has teamed up with Alice in Chains and Total Assault to give one fan a chance to win a brand new guitar. Not just any guitar, of course, but a G&L Rampage Jerry Cantrell Signature model signed by the band!

Entering is simple, just click on the banner at the top of this post, enter your birthday in the form near the bottom of the page then enter your name and email address, and you’re in!

From Total Assault:

In late summer of 2008, at the suggestion of longtime friend/Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Alice In Chains met with producer Nick Raskulinecz to talk about the possibility of collaborating on a new album.

“I went to the studio where they’d been working on demos,” recalls the producer, whose credits include Foo Fighters, Rush, Deftones. “We stayed outside and just talked for a couple of hours. After the ice was broken, they brought me inside to hear some music. The first track started playing and I was immediately hooked—the riff was so killer, so catchy and so heavy, and when the vocals kicked in, I looked at Jerry (Cantrell, Alice In Chains’ guitarist/vocalist) and said, ‘I don’t need to hear anything else—I’m in.’ I was just blown away.”

By early fall, the band and producer had hunkered down at Grohl’s Studio 606 in Northridge, CA, and were hard at work on Alice In Chains’ first new studio release in more than 10 years.

Production eventually moved to the famed Henson Studios in Hollywood, and by spring of 2009 the band emerged with 11 electrifying songs about faith and perseverance. They titled the album Black Gives Way To Blue after the song of the same name, a heart-stirring tribute to Layne Staley, their brother and vocalist who passed away in 2002.

“I’m really proud of that song,” says Cantrell, who sings on the track (and shares lead vocal duties throughout the record). “It’s about facing up to the bad stuff and continuing to walk forward and live a life.”

The song features a special guest appearance by Elton John on piano.

“We were thinking about adding piano to the track and a friend suggested we call Elton,” recalls Cantrell. “I remember laughing and saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll get right on that.’ But I decided it was worth trying and wrote him an email explaining what that song means to us—that it’s a real, raw openhearted song for Layne. We sent him the track and got a call shortly after saying he thought it was beautiful and that he wanted to play on it. He was finishing his ‘Red Piano’ run in Vegas, so we flew there and hung out for a few hours. Walking into a studio and seeing the sheet music for that song on Elton’s piano made it meaningful on so many different levels. The whole experience was pretty magical.”

The album’s genesis can be traced back to January of 2005, when drummer Sean Kinney called Cantrell and bassist Mike Inez about getting together for a benefit show to raise money for tsunami relief. It was the first time in nine years that the three had performed together and following the loss of Staley, was the first in a series of little steps toward hope and healing.

“After that we started talking about how we could maybe do another show,” recalls Kinney. “Everyone was comfortable with the idea, so we decided to take another step.”

Enter William DuVall, a gifted singer and guitarist from Atlanta who had previously worked with Comes with the Fall and as part of Jerry Cantrell’s touring band for his solo work. As live audiences discovered, DuVall brings a sound and stage presence all his own, and when DuVall and Cantrell blend their voices—as Cantrell and Staley did so often—singing together over the rhythms of Kinney and Inez, there could be little doubt that the spirit of Alice In Chains was once again alive and well.

“To his credit, Will never tried to do a karaoke version of the past,” says Kinney. “It’s not easy to find your place in a pre-existing dynamic, but he did. He puts his all into it and it fits.”

“I’ve joined a group that has a strong identity and a strong legacy,” says DuVall. “Nobody wants to, in any way, disrespect or sully that legacy. You want to add to it.”

And it was while on the road that the quartet opened itself up to the idea of writing new material.

“On tour we jammed pretty much every day,” recalls Cantrell. “Cool riffs would come up and we’d record them backstage and in dressing rooms. By the time we got home from the tour, we had a disc full of ideas. Eventually we wound up with a body of work and started thinking about taking yet another step.”

“There was no master plan,” adds Inez. “Everything felt right, so we kept moving forward. The whole process was very organic.”

“If we had gone through all of it and felt that it didn’t live up musically to the legacy of the work we’d done before, then we would’ve shelved it,” says Cantrell. “We would’ve known for ourselves that this is the end, and that would’ve been cool. But that didn’t happen. You ask yourself questions like, is this record something positive to add to the catalog? Is it worthy? And the answer is yes, it is. But you don’t know that until you go through the process. We all busted our asses and have been rewarded with a record that exceeds our own expectations.

In the end, Cantrell explains, Black Gives Way To Blue is an album that reflects survival for Alice In Chains. “And,” he says, “I think survival is something to celebrate.”

Enter the contest!

[image: Total Assault]

Post from: Metal Martyr

Now I said before that the lyrics sounded young. They were written by a young kid so I should have expected that. Your not going to expect a 15 year old kid to write about deep politics or the struggles of life. Call them manufactured, whatever. Call them false metal, who cares. These guys put out a pretty good debut record and put on a great live show. I can only see them getting bigger and better in time. Their cover of Metallica’s Hit The Lights was an honorable cover as well. At least they didn’t cover Enter Sandman or Fuel.

Now some people on another news/message board said all sorts of defamatory stuff about these guys. One person said they were all assholes. When I met with them and did the interview they were all really cool, Gabriel seemed a bit shy but that’s not a bad trait. Even after the interview when I went back to get them to sign the Picture for the contest they were cool with me bothering them. As far as people saying “Touring with your dad is not very Metal”. All the other guys are 18 and 19 years old. Gabriel is 15. No parent in their right mind that loves their child would let them go touring the country with their friends and other people they don’t really know at 14 years old. It’s probably a legal thing with the record label. Besides, having that kind of support from you parents is something that a lot of kids wish they could have.

Yes interscope Records and Total Assault have made great efforts to publicize the shit out of this band. Do you expect them to sign a young band and not promote them? As far as Black Tide ditching their original manager, this “Chris” guy? I’m sure they probably had a reason or the record label was more comfortable going with someone they knew or more established. The band got a load of shit for not thanking some people in their liner notes. You can’t thank everyone and I’m sure the label did some editing.

Lastly, these guys are doing what most of us wish we were doing. Hate them for it if you want to but the fact is the Light From Above is a good fun debut album from a band that has promise. If you have heard the EP or the stream and you think you like it then spend a little bit of money on the CD. In the past week over 11000 other people have and that is pretty good for a debut record for a hard rock/metal band.

3 out 4

Post from: Metal Martyr

Black Tides

So how do you win this black tide contest? Real easy. All you have to do is leave a comment of relevance to the band and at the end of the month I will throw all the names in a hat or something and draw a winner. That easy. So who wants it?

Post from: Metal Martyr

Post from: Metal Martyr

Hard rockers Black Tide will embark on a U.S. tour with metalcore favorites All That Remains. The trek will kick off in late February in San Francisco and conclude in New Jersey at the famed Starland Ballroom.

Black Tide will release their debut album, Light From Above, March 18th on Interscope Records.

Thu/Feb-21 San Francisco CA Slims
Fri/Feb-22 San Diego CA SOMA
Sat/Feb-23 Las Vegas, NV Jillian’s
Mon/Feb-25 Los Angeles CA House of Blues
Tue/Feb-26 Phoenix, AZ Marquee
Thu/Feb-28 Dallas TX The Door
Fri/Feb-29 San Antonio TX White Rabbit
Sat/Mar-01 Houston TX Meridian
Mon/Mar-03 Orlando, FL House of Blues
Tue/Mar-04 Atlanta GA The Masquerade
Wed/Mar-05 Charlotte NC Amos Southend
Thu/Mar-06 Washington DC 9:30 Club
Fri/Mar-07 Sayreville NJ Starland Ballroom

Post from: Metal Martyr