NEW ALBUM FROM THE ANSWER
Irish rockers The Answer will release their new album Raise A Little Hell on Monday March 9 via Napalm Records/Rocket. It’s the follow-up to their critically-acclaimed 2013 New Horizon album. The artwork is by Sebastian Jerke and the record was produced by Guillermo ‘Will’ Maya and mixed by Chris Sheldon. Frontman Cormac Neeson says: “This is a special record that reflects a return to the hard ass blues rock‘n’roll we hold so dear. Our good friends at Napalm have created some great formats for you guys to enjoy including coloured double vinyl, a special digi pack with a live recording of our recent Road Less Travelled tour, another digi pack with an extra bonus CD containing six exclusive bonus tracks plus all sorts of other great stuff.”
SYDONIA AT THE EVELYN
Sydonia, skinpin and Anna Salen areat The Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy this Friday January 9. Sydonia has a big year planned with recording, touring overseas and supports, and their latest album Reality Kicks is pretty damn killer if you haven’t heard it yet.
RIP JEFF GOLUB
Guitarist Jeff Golub died on January 1, just two months after he was diagnosed with Progressive supranuclear palsy. Golub had been through a rough few years; in 2011 he became blind due to a collapse of the optic nerve, and in September 2012 he was almost killed when he fell onto subway tracks. He’s perhaps best known for his work with Rod Stewart and Billy Squier, and was also a respected jazz fusion guitarist in his own right.
NEW PERIPHERY ON JANUARY 23
The mighty Periphery release their two new albums Juggernaut: Alpha and Juggernaut: Omega on Friday January 23 via Roadrunner Records Australia. The idea for Juggernaut has been kicking around for about seven years now, but in its final form it contains almost nothing from its original concept. The band wanted to start fresh and build upon the chemistry between the six members after the past few years of solid touring. “There are a bunch of themes and motifs that pop up over the albums,” guitarist Misha Mansoor told me a few weeks ago. “Some of them are overt; some of them are a bit more subtle. All it is, is just rewarding people for listening. That’s what I like.” And Mark Holcomb says: “This was the first album where we really collaborated this closely. There’s a lot of yellow tape and a lot of natural obstacles that face you when you talk about a collaborative environment. With this, where you have six very, very opinionated members, it’s a blessing but you have to also be willing to work through it and deal with the negatives as best you can to realize there’s a better final product waiting at the end.”
MYYTH SINGLE LAUNCH
Melbourne rockers Myyth blend hooks with raw and impulsive heavy music to violate the barriers of pop-convention. This year they took to the stage at the esteemed Progfest with local progressive superheroes Closure in Moscow and Mushroom Giant, and they also put in countless gigs honing their live set on stages around Melbourne and regional Victoria. Their debut single Relics is out now and they’ll be officially launching it at The Workers Club in Fitzroy on Thursday January 8 with The Underhanded, Doktor and A Basket of Mammoths.
DINO CAZARES GETS A SIGNATURE PICKUP
Here’s one for my fellow guitar geeks: Seymour Duncan has just released Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares’s signature pickup, the Retribution, designed to give Dino’s guitar sound more attack and clarity. They’re available in seven and eight-string versions. Seymour Duncan has also just released the Lemmy set of bass pickups for the Motörhead legend.
KILLER NEW SUPERGROUP
Teenage Time Killers is a new supergroup led by members of metal legends Corrosion of Conformity, and they’ve signed with Rise Records to release their debut LP Teenage Time Killers – Greatest Hits Vol. 1 in early 2015. The band is the brainchild of COC drummer Reed Mullin, guitarist Mick Murphy (My Ruin, Chevy Metal, Birds of Satan) and producer John ‘Lou’ Lousteau, and the album also features a lineup comprised of alternative/metal/punk titans such as Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour), Neil Fallon (Clutch), Jello Biafra (Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, Dead Kennedys), Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio), Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Bad Religion), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), Lee Ving (Fear), Pat Smear (Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Germs), Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Queens of The Stone Age) and many others. All of the LP’s instrumental parts were recorded at Grohl’s Studio 606 in Los Angeles, CA, using his famed Sound City mixing board.
