Vrijdag 25 januari 2002

Op 2 maart zal de Nederlandse platenmaatschappij Fear Dark hun vijfde verjaardag vieren met het Fear Dark Festival genaamd 5 Years Of Total Darkness. Vier bands zullen op het podium staan. Headliner Seventh Avenue is waarschijnlijk voor velen een nieuwe naam. Deze Duitse band speelt melodieuze power metal in het straatje van Helloween en Gamma Ray en zij brachten vier CD's uit terwijl de vijfde onderweg is. Hun volgende album genaamd Between The Worlds is momenteel in productie. De tweede band is de Nederlandse band Morphia. Dit is doom metal vergelijkbaar met My Dying Bride. Morphia zal hun nieuwe album op het festival presenteren. Noiz is de derde band. Deze Duitse death metal band heeft in het verleden al op Nederlandse podia gestaan. Natan is een band uit België. Deze black metal formatie zal het festival openen. 5 Years Of Total Darkness zal de deuren om 19:00 openen en de toegang bedraagt  € 7,00. Locatie is De Kei aan de Peppelensteeg in Ede, Nederland.

Het jaarlijkse Bob Fest zal dit jaar plaatsvinden van vrijdag 8 tot en met zondag 10 maart. Alleen op de eerste twee dagen zullen er concerten zijn. Op vrijdag zullen deze bands op het podium te zien zijn:  Veni Domine, Oblivion, Umbrella, Soniferous. Voor de zaterdag kun je de volgende bands verwachten: Extol, Seventh Avenue, Selfmindead, Immortal Souls, Sanctifica. Interessant is dat twee bands tijdens het Bobfest hun nieuwe CD zullen presenteren. Oblivion zal hun debuut CD Renewal aan het publiek introduceren. En Sanctifica komt met het nieuwe album Negative B op de proppen.

Mortification zal, ondanks alle geruchten, gewoon doorgaan. De band heeft een nieuwe gitarist. Ze hopen in april/mei een nieuw album op te gaan nemen. Meer nieuws zal volgen.

Solid State Records zal op 26 februari hun derde This Is Solid State verzamel CD uitbrengen. Deze verzamelaar zal zeventien nummers bevatten van albums die in het afgelopen jaar werden uitgebracht, waaronder Stretch Arm Strong, Norma Jean en andere bands. Interessant is dat het album ook vijf nieuwe en niet eerder uitgebrachte songs zal bevatten van Project 86, Demon Hunter, Zao, Still Breathing en Underoath.

Solid State Records heeft bovendien vier bands aan hun label toegevoegd. Het gaat om Underoath, Few Left Standing, Still Breathing en Demon Hunter.

Underoath zal op 26 februari hun debuut voor Solid State Records uitbrengen. Titel is The Changing Of Times. Underoath heeft al twee platen uit via Takehold Records. Muzikaal kun je hardcore met metal invloeden verwachten.

Er zijn altijd heel wat geruchten die de ronde doen over Zao. De band bestaat nog steeds. Sterker nog, ze schrijven momenteel hun nieuwe album waarbij Dan Weyandt de zang voor zijn rekening zal nemen. De band zal niet eerder dan tegen het eind van de lente weer op de planken staan. De bezetting van de live band bevat Dan op zang en Russ Cogdell op gitaar.

Op 21 januari heeft MTV een deal getekend met Gryp om de muziek van deze band in de programmering van enkele shows van MTV USA op te nemen. Het gaat om programma's als Road Rules, Extreme Challenge en Battle of the Seasons. Gryp staat deze maand ook in het Metal Edge Magazine. Gryp is door Metal Edge Magazine uitverkoren als "Eén van de bands om in 2002 in de gaten te houden". Het nummer ligt vanaf afgelopen woensdag in de winkels (in USA). Gryp staat op pagina 114.

Bride zal hun video Welcome To The Show uitbrengen. Deze videoband bevat alle professioneel opgenomen video's van de band waaronder The Worm, Under The Blood, Everybody Knows My Name, Trouble Times, Mamma, Tomorrow Makes No Sense, God Gave Rock n' Roll To You, The Psychedelic Super Jesus Remix en daarnaast ook live opnames van het concert dat de band gaf op het Vintage Rock Podium van het Cornerstone Festival. Andere nummers die de videoband bevat zijn War, Beginning Of The End, Too Tired en Soul Winner van het album Fist Full Of Bees. Als toevoeging bevat de videoband ook enkele verrassingen. De tape bevat de volledige video collectie van Bride. Het kost zestien dollar (mensen buiten de USA moeten drie dollar daar aan toevoegen voor verzendkosten).

Dead E-zine is een platenmaatschappij begonnen genaamd Sounds Of The Dead. De eerste uitgave is een split album van Life In Your Way, Tortured Conscience en mogelijk een derde band. Elke band zal tenminste drie nummers voor de split CD aanvoeren.

Als je in Nederland woont, kun je POD helpen om hun video Alive op TMF te krijgen. Zend een E-mail naar clipparade@tmf.nl!

Vrijdag 18 januari 2002

Inversion werkt aan nieuwe nummers. Vier zijn er al klaar en aan twee wordt nog gewerkt. Als alles goed gaat, hoopt de band aan het eind van de komende zomer een nieuw album op te nemen. Inversion heeft ook bezettingswisselingen ondergaan. Binnenkort hopen ze een bezetting te hebben waarmee ze in staat zullen zijn te touren.

Triest nieuws is er voor de wereldwijde fans van Stryper. Er zal dit jaar geen derde Stryper Expo komen. Vanwege overwegend logistieke redenen kunnen enkele bandleden dit jaar geen toezeggingen doen. Het team van de Stryper Expo zal dit format mogelijk in de toekomst opnieuw opzetten.

The Juliana Theory werkt hard aan nieuwe songs voor hun volgende album. Vijftien nummers zijn er al klaar. Ze zullen in februari de studio in gaan samen met Jerry Harrison (die eerder voor onder andere de Talking Heads, No Doubt & Live werkte) als producer. Bij de opnames wordt de band technisch bijgestaan door David Schiffman (die werkte met System Of A Down, Rage Against The Machine en andere). De release datum zal waarschijnlijk in juli of augustus vallen.

De Finse death metal band Tinnitus zal in de nabije toekomst promotioneel materiaal gaan opnemen. Janne Löf: "Ik ben blij dat ik kan zeggen dat ik zelf geloof dat we op het punt staan de sterkste Tinnitus nummers ooit uit te brengen zodra we een goede studio hebben geboekt om het werk af te ronden."

Het derde album van Eternal Decision is enorm vertraagd. De band werkt nog altijd aan de mix. Slechts één song is volledig afgerond en geruchten zeggen dat het echt goed klinkt.

Overige nieuws momenteel niet beschikbaar in het Nederlands door technische problemen. Alle nieuwtjes zijn overigens in het Engels hier:

Friday January 11th 2002

There are rumors saying that Troy Thompson has left Bride. These rumors originate from the fact that Troy wasn't with the band on their recent Brazilian tour. He was replaced by substitute player Martin Bowling. Dale Thompson: "I am not touring as Bride with hired musicians. Lawrence Bishop our bassist has been with us for almost four years now. Michael Loy our drummer has been with us for over two years. Troy has not left the band. Matter of fact I will see Him tonight to write on the new Bride project." Dale will begin working on his latest solo project tentatively titled Unbridled on February 6th.

It's possible to help Beam get on the Pinkpop Festival. You can E-mail your five favorite bands (including Beam!) to the organisation of this famous Dutch festival. Do it before January 15th!! Send your E-mail to: depinkpopgoudentip@wanadoo.nl . Other possible bands: POD, This Beautiful Mess.

Threshold are currently writing material for their forthcoming studio album. The band plan to record during March and April for a late Spring release, and should be back on the road playing a few European festivals over the summer. Six songs have already been written for the currently untitled album, which Karl and Richard have described as a natural step forward from the sound and style of Hypothetical.

The Belgian black metal band Natan has opened its website. There are also a few concerts coming up.

Friday January 4th 2002

Well, first of all I want to wish you all a very fine 2002. I hope 2002 will bring you what's beyond hope!

_______

Marcus Colon has completed the latest Betrayal project. Title for this album is In Remembrance Of Me. According to his website the music is heavy, dark and rocks in a vein of Gothic Metal. You can hear music driven by the classic Betrayal guitar tone.

Crimson Moonlight has one of its newly recorded songs on the Power From The Sky compilation that CL Music & Publishing released. The song is called The Touch Of Emptiness. Along with the compilation the band also shot a video for the song Blood Covered My Needs.

Jacks Of All Trades did their thirteen day studio session last fall. They hope to release their next full length album early this year.

Narnia has replaced Jakob Persson who left the band some months ago. The new bassplayer is Andreas Olsson.

On March 9th the new Sanctifica album will be released. Title is Negative B.

Jacobs Dream guitarist John Berry put his two guitars on ebay.com. First bid was $ 250.00 each and the auctions last 7 days. For one guitar go here, and for the other go here. If the buyer wants to, the guitar will be signed by the band.

Dead Poetic is currently in Little Rock, Arkansas recording their Tooth and Nail debut
album. Title is Four Wall Blackmail.

The debut from Perpetual Flame is currently in production. The cover art for Perpetual Flame's debut CD, Subculture Process is almost done. The artwork was done by none other than Travis Smith (who worked with Opeth, Iced Earth, Death and others).

Tourniquet is writing music for the next album. They hope to start recording in April 2002 with Bill Metoyer as producer. Look for release late 2002 through Metal Blade Records.

Beam will release the third single soon. Title of the song is Longer. It will be in stores in The Netherlands in the second half of January.

Friday December 28th 2001

A few weeks ago Art For The Ears started its German Forum. If you want to discuss the Christmas Rock Night, the upcoming tour with POD, or any other interesting stuff, go to the German Forum. You're more than welcome! Auf Deutsch gesagt! Willkommen!

After the recording of the new self-titled album of Slick Shoes, bassist Jeremiah Brown left the band. After many auditions he's finally replaced by Kevin Clark. He'll be in the new Slick Shoes video.

Living Sacrifice is currently writing songs for the follow-up to The Hammering Process. Reports from the band state that the new material is the band's heaviest yet.

The German band Crushead presented their new album Explicit Content. More than 450 people were witnesses to the CD presentation show in the German town Glems.

The Dutch rapcore formation Dr. Bigfoot put two of their songs as MP3's on their site. You can download Touch The Heart Of People and the new song Blasphemy.

Friday December 21st 2001

The organization of the Brainwave Festival in The Netherlands announced the cancellation of their fest in January 2002. After the break up of Silence The Foe they had one headliner less. But now the other headliner, NIV, cancelled their European tour. This led to a painful conclusion: "We can't get the festival financially together with the rest of the line-up as a majority of the public won't come. Considering that the bands don't fix the entrance price we can't lower the entrance fee to the festivals after the cancellation of NIV and Silence The Foe. This led us to the unpleasant, but inevitable decision that Brainwave 2002 can't go on. We understand that this is a disappointment for you as a music fan...If things change then we will bring you up to date."

Shiloh has completed its album King. The mix was done by Joe Sidoti (who worked for bands as POD and Alien Ant Farm). The official release date is set for February 4th.

A cocktail party is being held in honor of Ken Tamplin at The House Of Blues, Sunset Strip, on January 17^th, 2002, acknowledging Ken’s recent humanitarian efforts in providing aid for countries like Sudan & Afghanistan against extreme human rights violations from Islamic terrorism in these countries.

Ken has produced a music CD titled Make Me Your Voice which was released on Spring Hill/EMI and went to #6 on the Inspirational charts this past year. It featured artists like Mr. Tamplin as well as performers such as gospel legend Andrae Crouch, Charlie Peacock and a host of others whereby 100% of all artist's and producer's royalties were donated to various human rights organizations to provide aid  to these countries. This has generated a considerable amount of money and awareness regarding the terrorism that has been taking place in Sudan and Afghanistan. Over 2,000,000 people have been killed and another 5,000,000 have been displaced in Sudan alone.

Its relevance is even more significant since the aftermath of September 11th.

The cocktail party is being put on by Michael Levine of Levine Communications (who worked as PR person for Michael Jackson, Barbara Streisand and others) in conjunction with Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, Hugh Hewitt, MJM Entertainment, as well as gospel legend Andrae Crouch.

The event will be broadcast live on The Hugh Hewitt Show on KRLA in Los Angeles as well as the show’s national syndication. In addition, quite a cast of performers has been assembled and will be performing on the private Foundation Room stage. The artist line-up are as follows: Coolio, Tariqh Akoni (guitarist for the Backstreet Boys), Bernard Fowler (singer for the Rolling Stones), Edward Harris Roth (keyboardist with Maya), Daniel Pearson (formerly with Jennifer Lopez now bassist for Coolio), Rock Deadrick (drummer for Tracy Chapman also percussionist for Kenny Loggins), Ross Bolton (guitarist for Al Jarreau), Stu Goldberg, Philip and Habib Bardowell (former singers for the Beach Boys) as well as a host of others.

Jerusalem is doing concerts once again. In November the band played five concerts in Sweden. And in March/April the band hopes to tour Sweden and Norway.

Do you remember the Altar Boys? This Californian band started in the early eighties as a punk band but moved on into an alternative rock direction. They released six studio albums from 1984-1990. Well, the band is back in the studio.

The now defunct Bad Little Duck band from Switzerland is offering you a Christmas present. The band is giving you the ten songs of their unreleased album for free. The album is called Thanx and thus the band and their record company Ugly Records wants to thank you for ten years support!

It's almost Christmas, so here's a special Christmas wish from none other then Benny Majabacka, singer and guitarist for Dust Eater Dogs! "I wish everybody a peaceful mind during Christmas time. Take time to relax and think of the message of Christmas: Jesus coming to bring us hope. It's not a cliché but life changing truth... Be blessed and heavy..."

Friday December 14th 2001

From today, Friday December 14th through Wednesday December 19th, you can meet the Australian band Virgin Black on the Interview Message-Board. Feel free to ask the band some intelligent questions. Welcome!

There are rumors on the internet saying that Mortification is finished and that Rowe Productions has been put on a hold. An official statement from Steve Rowe is expected in HM Magazine early next year. However, Kathy Zappin from Rowe Productions USA indicates that Steve Rowe wanted to take the Rowe Productions name back to Australia to use it for his own band. How things will develop exactly, is still up in the air.

Kathy herself is in the process of setting up a new label, yet unnamed. More details will follow.

Former Crestfall guitarist Jan Wisselink has launched his new project entitled Verbum Mentis. While his old band played melodic metal, Verbum Mentis takes a completely different direction. Expect dark ambient/noise/industrial. Right now there are three songs to download from the Verbum Mentis MP3 site. This is the first MP3 demo from his current labors.

Squad Five-O will be shooting a video on January 12th 2002. This will happen at the 2428 Club at 2428 Bull Street in Savannah, Georgia. The show starts at 6:00 PM and costs $5. The song they will be shooting a video for is called I Don't Want To Change The World, I Just Want To Change Your Mind. This is one of the songs from the upcoming self-titled Squad Five-O album that's scheduled for release on March 12th. An MP3 is expected to be put on the band's website.

Tooth & Nail Records have signed a new band! The band Two Thirty Eight has joined the roster. They have already three albums out through Take Hold Records and Tooth & Nail Records will be re-releasing Regulate The Chemicals. Two Thirty Eight will also return to the studio to record with James Wisner (Further Seems Forever) their new album.

The sales for the latest POD album Satellite are going well. The album is expected to be certified Double Platinum in the USA before year's end. The album has gone Gold in Canada.

POD will be looking forward to support for their next video entitled Youth Of The Nation. They hope to get the video to #1 on Total Request Live on MTV USA. You can vote on the internet via MTV.

The South African hardcore band Neshamah has put two brand new songs from the upcoming EP on their MP3 site. It's not sure yet when the EP will be released.

The Deadlines have added a new guitarist to their line-up. His name is Gerrit Lovesick and he's been a friend of the band for a long time. Actually, the band practices at his house.

Friday December 7th 2001

Important for everyone who uses the German language! Art For The Ears has now a German Forum. If you want to discuss the Christmas Rock Night, the upcoming tour with POD, or any other interesting stuff, go to the German Forum. You're more than welcome!

The new CD from The Deal will be in stores on January 8th. This punk band will release their album entitled Who's Pulling Your Strings through Facedown Records.

Extol is currently finishing their European tour. Recently they brought out a new EP entitled Paralysis, but only in Scandinavia. However, there are plans for a possible release in America.

Guardian releases a new CD in the Spanish language this month. The album is called Dime. Interestingly, the CD also contains one English song called Angelena.

The OC Supertones will release a live album on March 26th.  Title? Supertones Live Volume 1!

Tooth & Nail Records signed two new bands to their roster. First of all Me Without You. This rock band is currently writing songs for a 2002 release in the vein of Fugazi, The Blamed and At The Drive-in.

The second band to sign with Tooth & Nail Records is Ded Poetic (formerly known as Mindset). This band will be recording an album in January with Barry Poynter in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.

Pop punk band Side Walk Slam will be returning to the Blasting Room Studio with Bill Stevenson. The band will record their follow up to Past Remains.

Here's a current list of upcoming releases on Tooth & Nail Records and Solid State Records:

Soul Embraced, This Is My Blood (December 26th); The Undecided, More To See (January 29th); Various Artists, Tooth & Nail Video Volume 7 (VHS & DVD; February 26th); Various Artists, This Is Solid State Volume 3 (February 26th); Few Left Standing, Wormwood (February 26th); Underoath, The Changing Of Times (February 26th); Squad Five-O, Squad Five-O (March 12th); Calibretto 13, Adventures In Tokyo (March 12th); Fine China, You Make Me Hate Music (March 26th); O.C. Supertones, Live Volume 1 (March 26th); Slick Shoes, Slick Shoes (April 9th); (Still Breathing, September (April 23rd); The Blamed, Give Us Barabbas (May 7th); Too Bad Eugene, Mulligan (May 21st).