Offline For A Bit

Hey Everyone!

About a week ago a very close family member had a medical scare that sent him to hospital. He's doing better now however this required me to travel overseas to attend to him and my family. I have been unable to connect to the Internet on a regular basis to update the blog, however fear not! Updates will come back starting June 1st.

I'd like to thank you all for your readership and patience, please hang tight, I will be back soon with more Heavy Metal news and updates... there's a few things planned including a long talk with The Master of Metal!


\m/

-Felipe

We've Been Left On Our Own...

.. Like a rainbow in the dark.

When there's lightning - it always brings me down
Cause it's free and I see that it's me
Who's lost and never found
Feel the magic -feel it dancing in the air
But it's fear - and you'll hear
It calling you beware

The King is Dead…

The light of a legendary star of Heavy Metal and godfather of Power Metal has extinguished this morning. Ronnie James Dio lost an epic battle with stomach cancer this morning at 7:45, according to a statement made by his wife and manager Wendy Dio. Ronnie was 67.

Heaven and Hell had announced a series of appearances at European festivals over the summer to celebrate Dio’s progress, however the band was forced to cancel the entire tour earlier this month citing health concerns for Dio. The tour would have marked the comeback of the father of Power Metal, former frontman of Rainbow, Black Sabbath as well as his own band Dio, all influential and legendary acts in the world of Metal.

A false rumour surfaced online yesterday citing Dio’s death, which Wendy quickly rebutted and mentioned that though Dio’s condition was serious he was “still hanging in there” sadly this morning’s news are no rumour. The following is the complete statement made by Wendy:

"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. [on Sunday] 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.

Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all.

We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us.

Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss.

Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

This is a truly sad day for Metal fans everywhere. As musicians and fans we owe a lot to Dio and his legacy will forever live. A true wordsmith, visionary and innovator, Ronnie James Dio will forever be remembered and his memory and music will endure the test of time.

Ronnie James Dio - July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010

Debauchery, Rockers and War.

This week I had the chance to chat with DEBAUCHERY’s Thomas Gurrath. Recently Thomas skyrocketed to worldwide fame after being fired from his job as a schoolteacher due to his involvement with German death metallers Debauchery, a band which he fronts and leads.

A busy man, Thomas is also the force behind BIG BALL, a hard rock project that hails from Stuttgart and recently opened for SAXON during some of their European dates. “I had to ask for two days off [from school] so I could go with Big Ball on the Saxon tour” he explains, “The school [principal] put my name on Google and they found out about Debauchery,” setting off the now infamous chain of events. “I don’t care, it’s not as bad as it seems, my band thinks is very funny” he jovially adds, “I’ve been a professional musician longer than I have been a teacher (…) I decided to teach so I could help finance Debauchery and Big Ball.” Since going viral over a week ago, his story has readily provided free advertising for both his projects, no doubt giving the record company’s domestic ad campaign a boost as well as sales and exposure for both.

Debauchery, Thomas’ main project, has released a new album almost every year since 2003 via AFM in Europe. Their latest work, Rockers & War was released a little over a year ago. Thomas and the Kill Team are scheduled to play at Wacken Open Air this summer. “I’m really excited, it should be a lot of fun,” he adds about the W.O.A prospect, “this is the first time we play at Wacken so I’m very excited, this is also my first time going to the festival.”

With W.O.A in the horizon, what other plans are in the drawing board? Thomas is quick to respond: “the same as we had since [Debauchery] started, we’d like to bring our band to Canada and the U.S, do more festivals here and possibly record a new album in the fall (…) I hope it all turns out as planned.” And what about Canada? “We’d like to tour other countries (…) we’d like to visit Canada and the U.S but it is very difficult for us to get our gear across, the work visas and the paperwork.”

Thomas is the driving force behind Debauchery and Big Ball, handling most of the bookings and production duties himself, as well as recruiting some heavyweight help. “For the last Debauchery record Tom Naumann (formerly of Primal Fear) did the leads, and I had the help of a very good sound engineer.”

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• Would You Let This Dude Teach Your Kids? (metalsucks.net)

A Voice In The Dark... Blind Guardian is Back!

Germany's Blind Guardian have unveiled the artwork and a 30-second sneak-peek preview for the first single of their upcoming album "At The Edge Of Time", scheduled for release in late summer of this year. Even though the band has played some small tours around Europe, Blind Guardian has been notably absent from the studio since the release of "A Twist in the Myth" in 2006, which debuted at #3 in Greece and #4 in Germany; this side of the Atlantic the album ranked 21 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.

The guys have already planned and initial leg of their tour, taking them around Europe over the summer with tickets on sale soon. Frontman Hansi Kürsch says that "This will be our most bombastic and epic album so far. Whether there will be 8 or 9 songs on the album I do not know, by now. But each and every song has a completely different approach in comparison to each other and one complements the other in a perfect way."

The following two video updates have been released by the band in which they offer sneak previews of songs tentatively to be included on their upcoming album "At The Edge Of Time"

Blind Guardian is well known for their musical versatility, with songs like Trial by Fir and The Bard's Song (pt.I and II) the band has shown time and again they are a force to be reckoned with.

Too Cool For School

Image via Wikipedia

Alice Cooper didn't have this in mind when he penned down School's Out.

The Local is reporting today that a student teacher in Germany has been given an ultimatum: Quit the band or quit school. Thomas Gurrath is the frontman of German Death Metallers DEBAUCHERY by night and a philosophy teacher at the Hegel Gymnasium, a high school in Stuttgart by day. Most of us are familiar with the romanticized story of School of Rock, however this time is no easy riff-chop. Gurrath's band was discovered after his principal found the band's website and promptly reported him to the school's superintendent.

Gurrath is the brains behind the band, in charged of writing, recording and producing the band's material in studio. Debauchery is signed to AFM Records in Germany, releasing Kill, Maim, Burn, their first album in 2003, and following up with new studio work every year there after. Their latest work titled Rockers & War was released on April 3rd of last year.

According to school officials, Gurrath's band and performances are a form of mental instability, adding that "It was very worrying to listen to his music and then realize he was teaching our children."

As is sadly common, some of the press coverage the case has received thus far is not the most positive, which certainly doesn't help the cause at all.

METALLERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE! show your support by adding Debauchery on Facebook, and while you're at it, why not e-mail the principal nicely asking the school to open their mind a little bit? After all, Hegel might even side with Gurrath on this one.

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• Gory Death Metal Teacher Too Gruesome For School (bravewords.com)
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Miracle de Montréal

Oui! Les Canedienes ont encore gagné!

It seems we constantly have to be picking between the lesser of the two evils, so between the Canucks and the Habs, lets root for them Canedienes!

Let's hope they pull through and bring The Cup home this year...

MACHETE

Well, talk about timing! With all the Arizona flawed law business going on, Robert Rodriguez has released the trailer for his upcoming film, Machete. This sure promises to kick some ass!

Resistance, Live.

MUSE has posted a video of their Resistance tour today via Myspace. The video below was recorded during the band's stop in Seattle on April 2nd, that also featured Silversun Pickups as the openers. the tour is schedule to go through 2010 with rumoured stops in Australia at the end of the year.

Upcoming dates are as follow:

May 27 *10 Lisbon, POR @Bela Vista Park
Jun 05 * 10 Nuremberg, GER @Rock Am Ring Festival
Jun 06 * 10 Nuremburg, GER @Rock IM Park
Jun 08 * 10 Milan, ITA @San Siro
Jun 11 * 10 Paris, FRA @Stade de France
Jun 12 * 10 Paris, FRA @Stade de France
Jun 19 * 10 Nijmegen, NL @Goffert Park
Jul 01 * 10 Werchter, BEL @Rock Werchter Festival
Jul 03 * 10 Roskilde, GER @Roskilde Festival
Sep 04 * 10 Manchester, UK @Lancashire Cricket Club
Sep 10 * 10 London, UK @Wembley Stadium
Sep 11 * 10 London, UK @Wembley Stadium
September 22 *10 San Diego, CA@Viejas Arena
September 23 *10 Anaheim, CA@Honda Center
September 25 *10 Los Angeles, CA@Staples Center
October 1 *10 Rio Rancho, NM@Santa Ana Star Center
October 2 *10 Denver, CO@Pepsi Center
October 5 *10 Minneapolis, MN@Target Center
October 6 *10 Milwaukee, WI@Bradley Center
October 8 *10 Oklahoma City, OK@Ford Center
October 21 *10 Quebec City, QC@Quebec Colisee Pepsi
October 27 *10 Charlottesville, VA@John Paul Jones Arena
November 2 *10 Kansas City, MO@Sprint Center
November 3 *10 St. Louis, MO@Scottrade Center
November 5 *10 Columbus, OH@Schottenstein Center
November 6 *10 Cincinnati, OH@U.S. Bank Arena

Zombie Attack!

Rob Zombie has posted some backstage photos of their Vancouver date last night, part of the Gruesome Twosome Tour also featuring Alice Cooper. They will be taking the stage in Kennewick tonight for the fist date of the American leg for the tour.

There is an interview with Rob available HERE in which he discusses the Vancouver show.

We have been following the Gruesome Twosome's trek across Western Canada, for previous posts you can check HERE,HERE, and HERE.

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More Nazi-rizona

Moby played to a sold out crowd in Bogotá, Colombia last night [Pictures HERE] And this morning he posted the following statement in his blog:

"many people have asked me what i think about the anti-immigration law that recently passed in arizona. and, to be honest, i think it's a disgusting piece of legislation. it's american politics at its worst, as the arizona anti-immigrant law is both racist and fascist. i know that 'fascist' is an over-used term among progressives to describe legislation with which they disagree, but how else do you describe a law that compels the police to check the papers of people who look like they might be illegal?

it's a racist law, and it's an awful law, and it makes me ashamed of my country. america is a country of immigrants. almost every citizen of the united states either is an immigrant or is the offspring of immigrants. immigration is what has traditionally made america great, it's what enables america to change and remain dynamic, and it's what gives america it's eclecticism and diversity. but there are always old, white, right wing, republicans who want america to be white only.

that old, white, racist, republican part of america is the worst part of the united states, and the part of the united states of which i'm most ashamed. i'm ashamed of the wall being built between mexico and the united states. i'm ashamed of the anti-immigrant law that was passed in mexico. i'm ashamed of any americans who want to change or ignore history and pretend that america is not (and has not always been) a country of and for immigrants. for the american dream to exist at all it has to exist for all. the american dream is one of democracy, freedom of belief, and freedom of expression, and it's at it's best when it's applied without hesitation or restriction. when the american dream is applied selectively based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or belief is when the american dream is denigrated and compromised, sometimes beyond all recognition."

It will be interesting to see if more artists rise up to speak against the nonsense of Arizona SB1070, as well as the effect that this will have on the American people and the Obama administration.

This is not the first time Gov. Janice Kay Brewer signs a controversial bill into state law during her short term in office. She is also infamous for signing Bill SB 1113, which allows citizens 21 years of age and older to CARRY GUNS INTO BARS (!!) making Arizona the 41st state to allow guns in businesses that serve alcohol. She also signed Bill 1108, which allows citizens in the state of Arizona to carry a concealed weapon WITHOUT A PERMIT. Gov. Brewer has also considerably reduced the benefits available to state employees in a same-sex relationship, affecting about 750 state workers and their families.

Way to go Janice Kay, just when your country's worldwide perception was improving you come to ruin it.

MegadetH Thrashes Through Latin America

MegadetH has embarked on their 2010 Latin American tour. The band has already made their way through Argentina and Chile, and was forced to cancel their Ecuador date due to logistics.

As is sadly customary amongst Latin American promoters and fans, numerous rumours had been spread regarding the 'secret' cancellation of the Quito date. Said rumours eventually reached Mustaine prompting a statement in which he called the rumours "the biggest mountain of horse manure," assuring Ecuadorian fans that the band was still scheduled to play there and that there was no cancellation coming. Mustaine quickly pointed at "idiots who spread rumors about us cancelling shows," albeit no names were mentioned. However, much to the dismay of Ecuadorian fans, the band announced today that "due to logistical problems with getting Megadeth’s gear into Ecuador" the band was forced to 'postpone' the May 4th date in Quito, the future date thus-far is set to the band's "next trip to South America" which is not really postponing much but a cancellation instead.

This is not the first time that issues regarding rumours and unreliable 'logistics' arise during this tour. Sources close to DPR have indicated that a similar instance forced the cancellation of a scheduled Bogotá date originally set for May 8th.

Ok, so enough with the bad and in with the good! As mentioned above, the band has made their way through Argentina and Chile, and as fans around the world were able to see on the That One Night DVD, the Argentinian crowds are pretty intense -– Football and Metal are things you just don't mess around with over there, and this time around is no different. During the band's visit to Argentina they performed a short acoustic set during 95.9's 'Cual Es?' show. A complete video of the set is available HERE.

Thanks to South American fans and YouTube we've been able to get some fresh updates on what the shows have been like during this tour, and naturally here are some of the best highlights!

Argentina:

Chile

MegadetH is schedule to play in Lima tomorrow night, and continue to Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador. for official dates check The Killing Road.

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s THE ECONOMY!

Recently DPR was allowed an audience with The Master of Metal. A feature piece will come in due time, however given the recent involvement of many Metallers in Brian May’s Bollocks To The Economy campaign and his plight to Britons NOT to vote Conservative, a particular excerpt of the audience of this minion and The Master has skyrocketed in relevance.

Brian May has enlisted some Heavy Metal help to support his plight to the British electorate not to vote for Conservative candidates. According to the campaign’s website, the major candidates have shifted campaign talks from relevant issues such as the economy and the effect of the recent downturn to the reverse of the blood-sports ban in England, which would legally allow the hunt of foxes, hares and badgers for sport.

May’s campaign is urging voters to reconsider their choice based on what he believes is ‘Bollocks’, and though it is not uncommon to see artists endorsing one candidate or another, you don’t often see artists banding together (no pun intended) for apolitical cause for fear of how this move can affect their career. So, why is it important to vote? The Master argues, “Though it may seem hopeless, voting actually holds power. Power against Poopers! Power to change things from the stupefied reality we now soak in to a glorified future that until now has remained forbidden”

The call to disengaged voters is clear: YOUR VOTE COUNTS and apathy is keeping The Man in power.