Since there are nine guys in Slipknot, it would be unfair to let just one of them represent for Bang of the Week, so we asked percussionist Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) and bassist Paul Gray to deliver the goods. Their answers were so lengthy and profound that they took hours to type let alone understand them...
Just kidding. The guys were pithy and to the point. Clown's choice was something that's totally Slipknot. Actually, it was Slipknot, and his reasoning for picking "The Blister Exists" was, "You can't touch the 'Knot."
As for Gray, at least he picked another band, the raging San Francisco metal titans Machine Head. "Mr. Lucky rules," he wrote cryptically for his endorsement of the "Aesthetics of Hate" video.
Good thing we didn't ask these guys to contribute a guest blog. It would've only been three sentences long.
Clown's pick:
Gray's pick:
Movie director Zack Passero has recruited Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen to create the score and soundtrack for the upcoming Fever Dreams horror film “Wicked Lake,” which is tentatively scheduled for release next spring. Passero previously directed Ministry’s 2006 video for “Lies Lies Lies” and Revolting Cocks’ clip for “Fire Engine,” as well as the movies “The Big, Weird Normal” and “Motel: Glimpse.”
“Wicked Lake” starts shooting September 9 in Las Cruses, New Mexico and, while Passero will film on weekdays, he plans to work with Jourgensen on weekends. “This is perfect for me because Zach is one of my best friends and we are going to make this something really special musically,” Jourgensen says. “I’ve been getting offers to work on horror films for years, and I’ve always turned them down because I was too busy or things just weren’t right. Usually, you don’t even meet the director, you just mail in some songs. This is gonna be totally hands-on and totally cool.” Read more...
If the new television ads for "CSI: Miami" remind you a little bit of Creed that's because the background music was written by Alter Bridge, which features ex-Creed members Mark Tremonti (guitar), Scott Phillips (drums) and Brian Marshall (bass).
The promotional spot, unveiled August 27, features the new Alter Bridge song "Rise Today." The track will appear on the band's upcoming second album Blackbird, which comes out October 9. The Alter Bridge advertisements for "CSI: Miami" will air until the show's sixth season begins September 24 on CBS.
Blackbird will be the follow-up to Alter Bridge's 2004 debut One Day Remains.
Alex Varkatzas has always been a pretty nervous dude. Since he was young, Atreyu's lead singer has suffered from severe anxiety and depression. In the past, he's dealt with his condition alternately by drinking himself into oblivion and taking prescription anti-anxiety medication including Lexapro and Klonopin. These days, however, Varkatzas is attacking his demons with a clear mind.
While writing and recording Atreyu's new album, Lead Sails Paper Anchor, the singer stopped taking his meds and let his growing frustration and anxiety guide his creativity. As a result, the album features some of Atreyu's most powerful, impassioned vocal performances to date, but lacking a medicinal crutch certainly had its drawbacks.
"I lose my mind a couple times a day now," he told MTVnews.com's Metal File. "But I try to deal with my emotions instead of hiding behind them, and that's something that's new for me. I'm learning to cope with reality." Read more...
It took a few false starts for Rob Zombie to secure his footing in Hollywood. First, he endlessly revised a script he wrote for one of the installments of "The Crow" before he was unceremoniously removed from the project. Then, after contracts were signed for the funding and distribution for his film debut, "House of 1000 Corpses," Universal Pictures turned gunshy and refused to release the movie, forcing Zombie to find a new home for the project at horror haven Lionsgate.
But throughout all the adversity, Zombie refused to compromise, kiss ass or give up on his lifelong dream of becoming a serious movie director. Now, with two successful films under his belt -- "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects" -- and a reinterpretation of John Carpenter's horror film classic "Halloween" coming in the weeks ahead, Zombie has proven that he is as gifted behind a camera as he is behind the mike. And he shows no sign of slowing down. Since releasing "The Devil's Rejects,"he has recorded and put out a new studio album, Educated Horses, toured exhaustively, worked on "Halloween" and wrote and served as executive producer for "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto," which awaits a release date. Read more...
The answer to yesterday's indecipherable band logo is c) Banished.
This black metal band was formed in Oslo, Norway in 2005 by Lord Wrath and Avarice and has nothing to do with the Banished from Sweden or the one from Buffalo, New York.
IN 2006 Banished self-released its eponymous EP in Norway. The members are currently in Seattle working on their debut full-length The Wraithe. "We have drum and guitar tracks recorded, but vocals, bass and keys still need to be done," said the band on their MySpace page.
Additionally, Banished are seeking a touring bassist, guitarist and keyboardist for "a few Seattle shows" and their upcoming 2008 North American Tour for The Wraithe.
"Bassist/guitarist must be based in Seattle because that is where we are finishing up the album, starting the tour, and practicing now," notes the band. "Must have touring gear and absolutely sh-- to do for a month and a half."
Sounds enticing. Wish we had absolutely sh-- to do.
The unflinching autobiography by Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, "The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star," chronicles the rocker's rampant drug addiction with sobering candor. The book comes out September 18 and an accompanying soundtrack by Sixx's new band Sixx:A.M. was released on August 20. Here's the first of Sixx's four guest blogs.
This week has been filled with promo for the Sixx:A.M. record. On Monday [guitarist] James [Michael], DJ Ashba and I did the nationally syndicated radio program, "Rockline," and we found out midway through the show that the primary metabolite in heroin is called 6 acetylmorphine -- more commonly referred to as 6 a.m. We had no idea when we formed the band. I suppose these things just happen sometimes.
When people hear about and talk about the "Heroin Diaries" book and the accompanying soundtrack, they are not just interested in the the story of my addiction. To the contrary, I find that people are equally, if not more interested in my recovery. This is such a reassuring notion because our society is so much more interested in the story of personal demise than personal rehabilitation. The evening news and the tabloids always have their crosshairs on people as they slide down the hill. My story is about climbing back up and I’m flattered that people are taking notice of that climb and more importantly, the destination point -- the Covenant House Recovery Program.
The money and awareness we will raise through this project will change so many lives. Imagine what it's like to not have a home, a place to sleep or a way out of what surely will end in death, disease or jail. I am asking everyone to go to www.covenanthouse.org, click on ‘Running Wild in the Night” and donate to someone else’s future -- someone who might someday impact you or someone you know. If 80,000 people donate just a dollar a month, we would be hitting a million dollars a year to be spread across all the Covenant Houses.
Thank you Nikki and we'll hear from you again next week. In the meantime, here's Sixx:A.M.'s video for "Life is Beautiful":
For their first major non-album project, KTL -- an extreme electronic/black metal band that features Sunn O))) member Stephen O'Malley (guitar,effects) and Pita's Peter Rehberg (computer noise) -- have created a new soundtrack for the 1920 silent film "The Phantom Carriage." A DVD of the movie and new music will be released on Tartan Video throughout Europe on November 12. There are currently no plans to release the movie in North America. The DVD will be released in PAL format, though it may be encoded for Region 2 as well. Art work for the DVD was created by O'Malley and the package features liner notes by eccentric animators The Brothers Quay.
KTL formed in February 2006 after O'Malley and Rehberg worked together on the soundtrack of a bizarre theatrical production of Gisele Vienne and Dennis Cooper's "Kindertotenlieder." Later that year, they released their self titled debut. 2 Followed earlier this year.The duo are currently in Germany in the middle of a world tour that lasts through November 18 in Aalst, Belgium.
"The Phantom Carriage" was shot and directed by Swedish filmmaker victor Sjöström (who inspired Ingmar Bergman’s to become a director) and revolves around a legend about the last person to die each year. If he was a sinner, the story goes, he would have to spend the next year driving the Phantom Chariot and picks up the souls of the dead (which, to us, seems like an easier gig than driving Slipknot's tour bus). The original movie was based on a novel by Selma Lagerlö.
We're sorry to say this Olso band's logo is better than its first demo, which is poorly recorded, sloppy and rhythmically primitive. But hell, Mayhem's first offering wasn't exactly Wagner either. And the group gets bonus points for symmetrically balancing two inverted crosses and a pentagram. Bravo!
Here are your choices: a) Rantsneil b) Phantasm c) Banished d) Piledriver
If you've been wondering what ex-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman has been up to, look no further. He's taken his talents from the stage to Japanese television and has worked on as many as five TV shows at a time in that country. The wackiest, "Rock Fujiyama," is part gameshow, part video program and part acid trip.
Throughout the program, Friedman plays lead guitar on a variety of popular songs. The episode below features Blondie's "Call Me" and Judas Priest's "Raw Deal." Friedman also mutates classic Japanese tunes into metal monstrosities.
The wildest part of the program comes when a special guest steps in -- in this case Slayer guitarist Kerry King -- and he and Friedman listen to the house guitarist play a riff and see who can name it first. Then the two celebrity axeman turn on their own guitars and jam it out. Between segments are snippets of Slayer videos. And the show's hosts have to be seen to be believed. And you thought "The Andy Dick Show" was messed up.
