Daray At DV8
Who went to the drum clinic by Dimmu Borgir drummer Daray on the weekend? I couldn’t make it to the clinic itself (I was busy getting the house ready for my kid’s Adventure Time-themed sixth birthday party, if you must know) but I rocked up to DV8 that evening to check out his DJ set, which was killer. Duray is a cool guy with great taste in metal, and it’s always good to hear tracks by the likes of Sepultura, Ministry and Strapping Young Lad blasted at ear-splitting volume. Upstairs at the VIP afterparty the very excellent Manatarms played – have you heard these guys yet? They’re from Chile and they’re spending a bit of time in Melbourne. They shot the video for Turn Into Smoke here, and you can check it out on YouTube. They’re a very impressive live band with creative arrangements, a killer rhythm section and a pair of awesome guitarists.
Gig Alert: Create|Destroy
Progressive death/thrash metallers Create|Destroy will launch their debut album Organic Perception at The Prague on Saturday October 6. The album was recorded and mixed by Roman Koester (The Red Shore, Psycroptic) and mastered by Goran Finnberg (Opeth, Arch Enemy).
Joe Stump Gets his Revenge
Fans of neoclassic rock should check out Revenge Of The Shredlord by Joe Stump (pictured). Stump has a reputation as speed demon (Guitar One magazine named him one of the ten fastest shredders of all time), and Revenge sees him kick his technique up a few extra notches, believe it or not. “I always try to step up my game in every way with each record,” Stump says. “I try to take every aspect of what I do to the next level and outdo what I’ve done on past releases,” he says. “This record’s more intense, much heavier and quite a bit darker…”
New Lord Video
The mighty Lord have just released a video for the track Betrayal Blind from their forthcoming album Digital Lies. Check it out on YouTube. Catch them at The Espy on Friday October 12 (or their all ages show at TLC Bayswater earlier that day), or at Karova Lounge in Ballarat on the Sunday October 14.
Aerosmith: You Want ‘Em, You Gotta Earn ‘Em
I spoke to Aerosmith bass player Tom Hamilton today about the band’s forthcoming album, Music From Another Dimension!, and I asked about the possibility of Australian dates. Aerosmith have only ever been here once before, in 1990 in support of the multi million-selling Pump album. And Tom says they’d love to include Australia in their world tour plans but it all depends on how the album fares on the charts. So if you want to see these rock legends in person (without having to buy a plane ticket to do so), buy the freaking album when it comes out in November! Don’t give me an excuse to go into another of my rants about how the brilliant new Rush album didn’t make a dent in the Oz charts, and the effect that piracy can have on your ability to experience the bands you like in person.
Gig Alert: Sabaton
Swedish symphonic power metallers Sabaton are headed to Australia for the very first time in January 2013 in support of Nightwish in Sydney and Melbourne only, and they’ll also be playing their own headliner with support from Eyefear and Black Majesty at The Prague on Saturday January 12.
Pearl To Return To The Studio
Pearl Aday is heading into the studio next month to record some new tunes. Her 2010 debut album Little Immaculate White Fox was a killer chunk of hard rock, and a rare opportunity to hear her husband Scott Ian playing outside of the metal genre he helped shape via Anthrax.
