Semen Gulping Pop Star Covers Metallica

Byron Cooke of Australia's long-running rock station Triple M, asked "American Idol" finalist Adam Lambert about his decision to cover METALLICA's "Enter Sandman" at his concert in Auckland, New Zealand this past Sunday night (October 17) as a birthday surprise for his bass player, Tommy Joe Ratliff"Yeah, we do it our way… with a bit more glitter," Lambert laughed. "It's one of Tommy's favorite songs. We practiced it that afternoon for the first time so we just kind we kind of threw it up there. It was a lot of fun."


How do you respond to, say, a metalhead that that song is sacred in some way and shouldn't be covered, even for a birthday present?


Lambert: "I think any song could be covered if a musician wants to cover it. I don't think any song is sacred. There are great songs, there are beautiful songs and I think anybody has the right to sing them."

Not to mention that your guitarist, Monte Pittman, played on [several] albums with [industrial rockers] PRONG, so there's some rock cred.


Lambert: "Exactly! My band has a lot of cred. They're always coming to me going, 'Hey, man, can we try this please...?"

"Enter Sandman" was featured as the opening track and lead single from METALLICA's eponymous 1991 album. The song was produced by Bob Rock, and the music was written by Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, and James Hetfield. Vocalist and guitarist Hetfield wrote the lyrics, which deal with the simplest concept of a child's nightmares.


The "Enter Sandman" single was certified gold in the United States for sales in excess of 500,000 copies. Acclaimed by critics, the song is featured on all of METALLICA's live albums and DVDs released after 1991 and has been played live at award ceremonies and benefit concerts. It is considered to be METALLICA's signature song to the general public.

METALLICA's self-titled "black album" has sold more than 15 million copies in the U.S., according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Dipshit Pays $35,000 For Drum Lesson From Lars Ulrich

You read that right! In an effort to raise money for the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education, a not for profit that strives to create opportunities for children, someone dished out $35,000 during an auction which had listed the following description:



"Want to be a rock star for a day? This is the experience you never dreamed money could buy. You and your guest are headed to METALLICA's headquarters in San Francisco. Here, in this exclusive space, you will meet the co-founder of one of the greatest rock bands of all time; Lars Ulrich. Lars is the drummer and member of the transcendent, celebrated band known as METALLICA. METALLICA has received nine Grammy awards and had five consecutive albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The group is widely recognized as one of the most influential bands of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide.


"Lars will begin your unbelievable day with a tour of METALLICA headquarters, which includes METALLICA's recording studio, rehearsal space and home of their fan club, website and merchandise department. Once inside the studio, you will have the privilege of receiving a one-hour private drumming lesson from one of the greatest drummers of all time. After Lars shows you a thing or two, you and your guest will join him for a private lunch. Almost too extraordinary to believe!


"American Airlines will provide first-class airfare for you and one guest to complete this rare experience. You will also enjoy a two-night stay at Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco, a luxury hotel offering legendary service and stupendous views of the city's iconic sights.


Now I'm all for education and creating opportunities for children, whatever the fuck that means! I mean seriously, how vague can you get as far as mission statements go when tens of thousands of dollars are in question? However, lets review the matter at hand. Someone paid 35,000 big ones to fly America's worst commercial airline, sit around a hotel room for 2 days while waiting for Lars Ulrich to get his shit together, and visit Metallica's studio we've all seen before (I'm sure it's lovely this time of year), followed by a one hour drum lesson from one of today's most disappointing musicians. It actually IS too extraordinary to believe, the description did not lie.

 Does this person not realize that kind of money can buy you an entire home in some states? Has he been in a coma and not heard anything Lars recorded in the past 22 years? What can this man expect to learn about drumming other than incredible showman ship poses like this, this, and this?


In all fairness I really do respect Metallica, and Lars was an inspiration for me to pick up an instrument in the first place, but there is better things to do with money than waste it on an out of touch rock star. No one, and I mean no one is worth that amount of money to hang with for a couple of hours, even for the sake of a vague shitty charity. I can't wait to see a press release in my box that reads "Man demands $35,000 refund plus punitive damages from Metallica drummer"

U.K Doctor Uses Music Of Death Angel For Hypnosis

Nuclear Blast Thrash legends Death Angel may make music to drown out the voice of your nagging parent, but that's not all. Their music was recently used in a psychological study that shows that music both liked and disliked by subjects is equally disruptive to serial recall. One of the study's administrators, the U.K.-based Dr. Nick Perham, is a long time Death Angel fan and he used their song 'Thrashers' to test his hypothesis.

"We needed a track that most participants would say they did not like," Perham said. "Having been a fan of metal music since my teens, I was pretty confident that a thrash metal song would do the trick, as most people never seemed to like the music I liked. In choosing a thrash metal song, I needed a song that was heavy but also allowed the listener to hear many of the different components of the song. We chose 'Thrashers.'"

Participants were only allowed to participate in the study if they disliked thrash metal as a musical genre. Really? How do you not like thrash? This must have been an uncool sample of the population for Perham to study.

A summary of the research: Listening to music has proven to alleviate anxiety and depression, enhance mood and to increase cognitive functioning such as spatial awareness. However, until now, research has not addressed how we listen to music. For instance, is the cognitive benefit still the same if we listen to music whilst performing a task, rather than before it? Further, how does our preference for a particular type of music affect performance? A new study from Applied Cognitive Psychology shows that listening to music that one likes whilst performing a serial recall task does not help performance any more than listening to music one does not enjoy.

Liked music such as Rihanna and Lady Gaga, and disliked music, such as 'Thrashers' by Death Angel, was played to test recall ability, which was approximately the same.

Although music can have a very positive effect on our general mental health, music can, in the circumstances described, also have negative effects on cognitive performance. Perham remarked, "Most people listen to music at the same time as, rather than prior to, performing a task. But to reduce the negative effects of background music when recalling information in order, one should either perform the task in quiet or only listen to music prior to performing the task."

Death Angel's guitarist/vocalist Rob Castevany weighed in on the experiment, "The professor is a metal fan from his teens and is a Death Angel fan. The nature of the test was to see if people were distracted by music when trying to learn a series of eight consonants and numbers in an order. ... He picked 'Thrashers' off our debut album since it had acoustical variations within one song; a lot of parts. A lot of different breaks and time signature and parts changing, which is more distracting."

Castevany, the sole constant member of Death Angel, was not insulted in the slightest that his band's music was selected as being not easy to like. In fact, he was thrilled. He said, "I love it. It's cool. It's rebellious, extreme, attacking, aggressive. I love the fact that they did that. It was amazing to me. The results of the study overall proved it didn't make a difference if they liked the music or not; they were equally distracted by music."

Castevany continued, "It would be weird if it was used to relax people. Then I would be like, 'What the hell?' I am tickled pink about it. I do find the results interesting, as it makes you think. If you listen to music you like, you are focusing on it, so it takes your attention away from the task at hand. "

Death Angel's new album, 'Relentless Retribution",  is out now via Nuclear Blast.

Chuck Billy

  

Chuck Billy around here gets maximum respect. He has recorded classic thrash albums, toured the world and has paid his dues ten times over battling a sickness that nearly took his life. Since he has recovered, Chuck seems to be in perfect spirits. Perhaps it is because when he was sick he went to an indian shaman who basically cured him with his hands. You must believe.

How come you decided to put together a special tour edition of your Formation Of Damnation CD?
Chuck Billy: It was something we spoke about doing early on, when we were touring last year. It wasn't pulled together in time. Then when the American Carnage tour came up with Slayer and Megadeth, the record label decided it was time to put this out. It has some cool stuff on there, like when we performed live at Alcatraz in the mess hall at night. It was a pretty cool vibe.

How did the response to Formation Of Damnation compare to your expectations going in?

It was what we hoped for. We are very proud of the record. We've done almost 200 shows since the release of the record, so we've been out there trying to promote it everywhere.

What's the status of your next studio CD?

We've been working on it since October. We weren't really planning to tour this year. We passed on a summer tour, but then American Carnage came up and we took it. We decided to do the tour, then come home and finish the record. We had hoped to get the record out by the end of the year.

You're heading out on a tour with Megadeth and Exodus, then with Megadeth and Slayer later this summer. It's nice to see three classic bands together instead of having some unknown young bands as opening acts.

It's killer. Last year we toured with Megadeth and Judas Priest. We talked about a Testament/Megadeth/Exodus tour, and it's good to see a guy like Dave Mustaine stepping up and not having the record company telling him to put a band on the tour who will buy in for a certain amount of money. Then it's not as special of an event. We are three bands in a genre who are still putting music out today and kicking butt. It's great he went through with it.

Dave Ellefson just rejoined Megadeth after being out of the band for several years. You guys have had that same thing happen with an old member coming back. What's that dynamic like when they a member returns after a long absence?

For us it was amazing. At the first rehearsal together, we knew the material wasn't the tightest, but the second day it was like we never left. It was locked in. There's something to having the guys who wrote the songs perform them. We've been fortunate to have a lot of great musicians in the band, but it's not the same as the original members playing it.

On the Megadeth tour you'll be playing The Legacy in its entirety. How was it going back and relearning the older material?

It was good. We did The Legacy and The New Order in Holland, London and Japan last year. Those shows went over really well and we had a lot of fun. So when they talked about us doing The Legacy, we thought it would be killer. We did it before and had a great time. When we started rehearsing for these shows, we stepped right back into it again. We're definitely up to par on the old stuff. We're excited about it.


For the Megadeth tour you're offering VIP packages to fans where they can meet you, get some merchandise and a few other perks. Have you done this before?

It was new to us last year. We were approached, and I didn't really know what to think about it. The fan response and appreciation from it has been cool. The fans wanted it, and they got it.

Is there anywhere you haven't toured or played live that you'd still like to get to?
There was talk about getting to India. That would be pretty interesting. We've been everywhere else. The last couple of years we got new agents and management and told them to send us everywhere we've never been. That was the goal, and we've covered a lot of spots that we hadn't been.

Now that you're older, do you make more of an effort to see some of the sights when you're playing in different countries?
That's all I do now. Since 2001 and the cancer, I've been back touring and have been taking my family and friends. I have a lot of friends that I've known since high school and before that. A lot of them have never been to Europe. It's a great chance to show my friends what I've gotten to experience and take for granted over 20 years. You see it all over again through different eyes, as a tourist. We go out during the day and do our thing, then I go back and do the show. It's flipped around. It used to be party, tour bus, good times, party, and I missed a lot. Now it isn't about that. You might party a little after the show, but not like 20 years ago.

Will there be another Dublin Death Patrol CD?
There's almost a whole record of material written now. We're just trying to schedule it. Testament will be focused on getting our record done, and I'll also be trying to get Dublin Death Patrol done as well. Now even more of our friends from Dublin are coming out of the woodwork and are ready to play. It's growing. It's going to be interesting.

More than 25 years later, so many Bay Area thrash bands are still together and making music, which says a lot about that scene.
It's pretty incredible. Speaking for myself, it's not about the business. It's about making music, having a good time, enjoying that I'm still getting the opportunity to do it. It's a good time for Testament and for me.


Thanks for enriching my life with some of your tunes brother. cheers!

Angel Witch

Cult act AngelWitch were a top quality act destined for the big time back in the days of NWOBHM. However, like a lot of bands that signed to Bronze Records (inc Motorhead and Girlschool) their blossoming success was brought abruptly to a halt. However, in 2000 I got word that they were reforming and playing a secret warm up gig in London. People came from as far as Greece to fill the small club and hear classics such as Angel of Death, Baphomet and White Witch - all belted out at deafening volumes by a new 4 piece AngelWitch but still containing founder member Kevin Heybourne.


Kevin: I formed Angelwitch in 1977 because there was a lack of music going around at the time. The punk thing was going but really there was a stagnant period in rock. There was Deep Purple, ZZ Top and Sabbath, of whom I was a big big fan, but nothing new. It was really timing with the NWOBHM thing you mention. Samson happened to be there, English Rogues were there. Maiden were already on the circuit but had reformed with Dennis Stratton. The actual term 'NWOBHM' came from this one night at (the legendary) Neal Kay's Heavy Metal Bandwagon when Angelwitch and Samson played and some journalist wrote in Sounds that 'it was a new wave of British HM' hence NWOBHM.
I only remember it from the 1980 3 piece with yourself , 'Skids' Riddles and Dayvog (in joke).
Kevin: Its Dave Hogg, D-a-v-e H-o-g-g. ha ha......who was a DJ at the time. Kevin worked at a music shop where I used to go to. I liked his bass playing so he ended up in the band as well..

Who else has been in the band?
Kevin: Christ (laughing), do you really want me to name every single person thats been in Angelwitch?!! Well, the better known ones were Tom Hunting (Exodus), John Torres (Laaz Rockit)..

ok, if its easier why don't you run us thru the history of 'Witch?
Kevin: I wrote the song Angelwitch in 1976. At the time the band was called Lucifer but there was a namesake in Holland so I changed the name to Angelwitch, which was better cos it was a contradiction between angel and witch. The lyrics were more or less blasted out to fit the songs (laughing) and as for the keyboards you've mentioned, I went to take a piss and came back to find keyboards on the track. And I did my nut! (laughing). It works when you listen to it but at the time I thought it sounded like fuckin Uriah Heep!!! As for the image, it came from a Dennis Wheatley's The Devil and All His Works and so did the cover. I was into all that Hammer (60s/70s British Horror movie producers) stuff although I'm not a Satanist. The logo was the same and I think it was used in a Hammer film The Devil Rides Out.

Anyway, after doing the club circuit, we signed to Bronze and were actually one of the last NWOBHM bands to get signed, although we were one of the first on the scene. We played the Reading Festival in '81 and the (infamous) Heavy Metal Barndance at Bingley Hall in Stafford with Motorhead and Girlschool which was amazing cos Lemmy was so nervous that when I saw him it made me feel better (laughing)! After the first album, Bronze wanted a commercial single so I wrote Loser - in a couple hours. Then I split the band up (laughing)! 3 pieces are always a little funny cos theres always someone stuck in the middle and when it came to royalties time I'd been writing fuckin songs for years but the rest of the band wanted their cut and thats why you've got Suffer and Dr Phibes which are highly commercial. It wasn't so much a bust up but everyone was pissed off with what was going on so we played 2 gigs at the Marquee and that was it. I was also fed up with singing and I wanted to do my thing as a guitarist in a band, so I had a break....until '82, when I reformed 'Witch (laughter) with a couple of guys from Deep Machine, which lasted a year. Then I hooked up with Lou Taylor (ex- Satan vocalist) in 1983 and formed Blind Fury which was a soft rock band which I had wanted to do but even that wasn't satisfying enough for me. In '84 I refomed 'Witch yet again with a previous bassist, Pete, and got in touch with Dave Hogg, who had cleaned himself up by then, and we got a vocalist cos I started to lose my voice. We released 2 albums under Kilowatt, one of which was Screaming and Bleeding and then that line up fell apart as well. Its been hard finding the right sort of people - thats why there's been so many line ups, as you've noticed!! By 1985, things were getting a lot softer here and people, be it the press or labels, weren't listening to this kind of stuff so again the band got disbanded until 1989 which was when I moved to America and got John Torres and Tom Hunting, did a demo...and got deported (laughter) because I was supposed to marry this girl, who pulled out at the last minute, and I ended up overstaying. I phoned up my manager, who I didn't want to work with anymore, and he said "well, that's your reality" and that was my reality: deportation. Back here I just bummed around for a while, doing demos until now really. I worked as a tree surgeon for a while (laughter)...I phoned Scott (Higham - drummer) who had been drumming for Samson and he knew Keith (on guitars) and we jammed around cos we still had John Torres. He went back to the States recently and Scott and Keith both knew Richard so he was in and here we are. I've gotta say this is probably the tightest line up I've had as everbody's so keen and talented - Keith and Rich can both sing as well so potentially 'Witch has 3 vocalists!

Rich: Its been amazing cos the three of us (pointing to Scott and Rich) all have massive record collections and we are aware of 'Witch's history and to be able to fit this all into our lifestyles...

So what are your lifestyles?
Rich: well, tree surgeon, prositute (laughter), ex-banker for Deutschbank (more laughter) - and Scott designs ladies hosery ha ha!

Book Em All

Dave Mustaine has scheduled the following book-signing sessions to promote his new autobiography "Mustaine, A Heavy Metal Memoir" will be released in the U.S. on August 3 via HarperCollins's It Books imprint. The U.K. edition, "Mustaine: A Life In Metal", will hit bookstores in the U.K. on September 30.


August 9
Book Revue
313 New York Ave.
Huntington, NY 11743
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EDT

August 10
Barnes & Noble
555 Fifth Ave. @ 46th St.
New York, NY 10017
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

August 10
Bookends
232 E. Ridgewood Ave.
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EDT

August 12
Borders
Wall Street
100 Broadway
New York, NY 10005
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT

August 14
Barnes & Noble
800 Boylston St.
B&N # 2115
Boston, MA 02119
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

August 15
Barnes & Noble
Rittenhouse Square
1805 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

August 16
Borders
1201 Boston Post Rd.
Milford, CT 06460
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT

August 18
Joseph-Beth & Davis-Kidd Booksellers
24519 Cedar Road
Lyndhurst, OH, 44124
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

August 19
Borders
43075 Crescent Blvd
Novi, MI 48375
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT

August 20
Borders
150 N State St.
Chicago, IL 60601
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT

August 21
Borders
1540 Golf Road
Schaumburg, IL 60173
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT

August 23
Rainy Day Books
707 W 47th Street
Unity Temple on The Plaza
Kansas City, Missouri 64112
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT

August 25
Tattered Cover Book Store
9315 Dorchester St.
Highlands Ranch Town Center
Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. MDT

August 26
Borders
2240 Q St. NE STE 10-K
Albuquerque, NM 87110
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MDT

August 27
Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 S McClintock Drive
Tempe, AZ 85283
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. MST

August 29
Barnes & Nobles
Mira Mesa
10775 Westview Parkway
San Diego, CA 92126
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT

August 30
Borders
101 S Pine Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90802
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. PDT

August 31
Borders
233 Winston Drive
San Francisco, CA 94132
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. PDT

September 1
Borders
2339 Fair Oaks Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95825
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. PDT

September 3
University Bookstore
4326 University Way
Seattle, WA 98105
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT

September 4
Powell's Bookstore
2720 NW 29th Ave.
Portland, OR 97210
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT