We never took All That Remains for an especially political band, so we were a little surprised when singer Phil Labonte submitted a guest blog about staying free in an increasingly oppressive environment. Surely, ATR aren't about to turn into Rage Against the Machine or anything, Labonte's just finding it hard to stay silent amidst the freedom-eroding turmoil. And he wants you to hear his cries and join his struggle -- or at least speak your mind and adhere to your convictions. Anyway, here's Phil:
There’s really only a handful of things I care much about: my band, Halo, Marlboros, Jim Beam, Red Bull, and Liberty.
Lets talk about freedom. What is freedom and what does being free imply? Freedom isn't given. It doesn't come from being American, British, Canadian, or being from any other "free" country. It is the natural state that all creatures are born into. The only time freedom is taken away is when it benefits someone or something else to take it. Yet every day, people all over the world give up their freedom in small doses.
To arbitrarily give up your freedom, even in small amounts, invites despotism and tyranny. And it doesn't take long. Hitler took power in less than a generation, and were it not for the people from many other nations who took a stand, he may have taken over all of Europe. Thomas Jefferson said, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” Few statements have been truer.
Your government (any government) is the first establishment that will try to take your freedoms. Every piece of legislation that is passed takes a little bit of your freedom away. Thomas Paine, author of "Common Sense" said, "Society in any state is a blessing. Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” Freedom needs to be protected by all who have it and by any means necessary. Read more...
Here, the singer for System of a Down talks about the connection between antidepressants and political upheaval, as mentioned in "The Unthinking Majority" from his debut solo album Elect the Dead, which comes out tomorrow.
Now, check out the video for "The Unthinking Majority," which will air on the big screen on this week's edition of MTV2's Headbangers Ball. Also, see Serj Tankian discuss his favorite video picks on Saturday's "Rock the Deuce," which airs at 10 p.m. on MTV2.
If they're not busy chasing tail, drinking themselves into a stupor or both, many of today's top metal warriors immerse themselves in videogames. And few modern games captivate and consume like "World of Warcraft."
The fever even hit Cannibal Corpse frontman George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, who first heard about "World of Warcraft" through musicians in his side band Paths of Possession. At the time, Fisher dismissed his bandmates as geeks and the game as dorky, but eventually the "World" caught up with him, and now he's hooked.
Funny, gory and full of suspense, "Black Sheep" (Dimension Extreme) is a a rare find -- a horror film that's well-constructed, entertaining and tongue-in-cheek without being stupid. The New Zealand yarn about zombie sheep involves a farm owner who hires deranged scientists to create animal herds that will make his already booming business even more profitable. Genetic experiments ensue, and the ones that don't pan out are placed into jars and dumped into a pit. Enter two PETA-style animal rights activists, one of whom is caught trying to steal one of the jars containing a failed animal experiment. After being chased by farmhands, the activist trips and drops the bottle, which smashes on the ground. Seconds later, a mutated lamb crawls up and bites the dude, infecting him with the disease, which gradually turns him into a giant, carnivorous sheep. Then, the little mutant lamb spreads the contagion to other sheep, and before long a giant herd of flesh-eating sheep are descending on the town. Only a surviving hippie chick named Experience and the sheep-phobic brother of the unethical farm owner can possibly save the world from the invasion to come. While plot elements of "Black Sheep" come straight from "28 Days Later," "American Werewolf in London" and every major zombie flick since "Night of the Living Dead," director Jonathan King sews everything together in a thoroughly enjoyable, consistently self-deprecating manner that brings to mind early Peter Jackson films like "Bad Taste" and "Dead Alive." The acting in "Black Sheep" is excellent, the gore effects are even better and the humor as incisive and self-aware as "Slither" and "Shaun of the Dead." Even if you think you've herd it all, "Black Sheep" is a guaranteed barnload of sheep thrills. Read more...
Industrial metal veteran Paul Raven, who played bass with Ministry, Killing Joke, Prong and others, was found dead on October 20 in a private home in a small French village on the Swiss border. He was 46.
Raven, who co-wrote and played on the new Ministry album, The Last Sucker, is believed to have died of a heart attack. He had flown to Geneva to work with French band Treponem Pal on the group's first album since 1997's Higher. Drummer Ted Parsons (ex-Prong, Swans) and members of the Young Gods were also working on the project.
On his MySpace page, Parsons wrote that the day before Raven's body was discovered, the musicians had spent all day recording, then gone out for drinks to celebrate the bassist's arrival. "I found Raven asleep in a chair the next morning in the living room. I thought nothing of it, as Raven would sleep like this on the tour bus in the front lounge all the time," wrote Parsons. "Then I looked closer at him and he looked very gray. I checked his pulse and there was none. I yelled for the other guys in the band. We immediately did some CPR and called for an ambulance. Medics arrived quickly but after an hour of trying to get his heart beat back they could not save him. They said he died in his sleep probably around 6 a.m. It was then 9:30 a.m." Read more...
Droid, which released its self-titled debut album through Korn guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer's label Emotional Syphon Recordings, has shot a video for the track "Fueled by Hate" (see below).
But apparently everything's not sunshine and roses in the Droid's camp. There have been reports that the band has left the tour it was on with Korn following a drunken fistfight between one of the members of Droid and Shaffer. Blabbermouth.net wrote that Shaffer blames himself for the skirmish, which was described by a source close to the band as a "a dumb, drunken stupid moment."
The brilliant new video for the Serj Tankian song "Empty Walls," from his upcoming album Elect the Dead, depicts children in a playspace pretending to be soldiers. During the clip, they crawl like troops navigating a minefield, shoot each other with silly string and fire toy guns that spray soap bubbles and bazookas that launch balloons.
There are scenes of: green-tinted images from night goggles; a little girl knocking over a giant teddy bear (which immediately brings to mind news footage of Iraqi citizens pulling down a statue of Saddam Hussein); and, most disturbing of all, footage of a wind-up toy airplane crashing in slow motion into two tall block towers.
Watch the video below, then check out Tankian's comments to Headbangers Ball Blog. Then, leave us comments in the box below: Serj Tankian - Empty Walls
For Arch Enemy singer Angela Gossow, performing for her fans is priority one, far above humoring journalists, which is somewhere down the list around #200. That's why she spends so much time on the road and so little time giving interviews. Usually those honors go to guitarists Michael and Christopher Amott, who handle the task with predictable grace.
But Arch Enemy' have got a new record out, Rise of the Tyrant, which Gossow is super-proud of, so she agreed to grant an interview for our exclusive Headbangers Ball Blog Arch Enemy podcast.
Stream Podcast Here:
While Gossow may have been reluctant going into the interview, she quickly got comfortable, and wound up talking about some revealing stuff -- even for diehard Arch Enemy followers that have already read all the interviews with her bandmates.
In addition to discussing the creation of the band's new record, Gossow explains why Christopher Amott left the band and how he returned, why it's not a good idea to use samples of Hitler speeches on metal records, how her grandparents hid Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust, her romantic relationship with Michael Amott, her love for Carcass and how she helped persuade Cargass guitarist Bill Steer to embrace a Carcass reunion tour.
Since Unearth are currently on tour, it seems like a good time to debut the band's new performance video for "This Glorious Nightmare," which was filmed at this year's New England Metal & Hardcore Festival.
The clip will debut on-air on MTV2 on this week's Headbangers Ball.
On other Unearthly fronts, the band shot an October 9 concert at the Glass House in Pomona, California for its upcoming double DVD.
"The shoot was an amazing time thanks to Pomona and The Glass House," said singer Trevor Phipps. "You all sold out the venue early and a couple hundred people were left stranded outside. We could not have asked for more support from our Southern California fans. Thank you to everyone who made the night such an awesome time for all."
The recorded show will be the first disc of the set. The second DVD will include other live performances that span the band's nine year career along with interviews, behind the scenes footage and other surprises. The disc is tentatively scheduled for release by spring 2008.
No one blows s--t up onstage like German industrial metal pyros Rammstein. Sadly, the only actual explosions in the band's live video for "Ich Will" come at the very end, but the performance still rages like a windblown forest fire. The clip comes from the band's new DVD, "Volkerball," which came out September 18.
