Woodstock, NY isn’t just the hometown of hippies, MetalGF, and 3; Sarah Fimm, who recently released her seventh album Near Infinite Possibility, hails from the Hudson Valley’s musical locus as well. I’d never heard of Fimm before I received an email touting her new video “Everything Becomes Whole” earlier this week, but I decided to give it a shot and found myself wanting more the second it ended. Sarah’s brand of hard rock would sound perfectly at home on modern rock radio but doesn’t come off as sounding trite or angsty like so many of today’s female-fronted rock acts. It just so happens that A Perfect Circle’s Josh Freese plays on the track too, and you can definitely hear the influence.

Near Infinite Possibility is out now, and I’m hooked. Order the CD here or download the MP3 version from Amazon.

Check out Sarah Fimm’s official website for more info.

-VN

Well hello again!

I hope you’ve been enjoying everything I’ve been posting here today on Metalsucks.net.  This next interview is really something I was beyond thrilled to be able to do!

A Perfect Circle is without a doubt one of my all-time favorite bands and are also a huge inspiration on myself as well as my own band, Vestascension. So, when Matt McJunkins agreed to do an interview with lil’ ol me, well, I basically soiled myself.  Matt is a really awesome dude and everyone out there should give this a good read even if you’re not into any of the bands he’s involved with.  He provides some very interesting insight into what it takes to land an audition and what to do and what not to do if you actually land one.  Of course he also talks about his work in A Perfect Circle, Ashes Divide, Puscifer, 30 Seconds To Mars, and even gives a few details about his new project with Jeff Friedl.

Check it out below and if you’d like to know more about Matt click here to visit his official website.

-Justin Gosnell

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So unless you live under Gene Hoglan’s ass cheek, by now you have surely heard the devastating news – Nevermore has left Nevermore. I mean, there are still technically some members of Nevermore left in Nevermore, and no (okay, minimal) disrespect to those dudes, but GIVE US A FUCKING BREAK it’s not Nevermore without Jeff Loomis and Van Williams. The fact that the band would even try to continue with a new line-up means the remaining members are either delusional and think they can do it without Loomis and Williams, or cynical and think people won’t notice as long as the Nevermore brand is still in place. Either way it will take some kind of fucking miracle for anyone to care about this band again, at least until the inevitable reunion X number of years from now.

So. As we were sitting in LAX yesterday waiting to board our flight, watching some dude casually eat his boogers as though a) that were an okay thing to do and b) he wasn’t in the middle of a fucking airport surrounded by strangers, we started to joke around about who Nevermore could possibly hire to replace Loomis and Williams. There’s a few guys on this list whose presence might even make us sit up and pay attention to Nu-Nevermore. We’re not saying it would be good, we’re just saying we’d pay attention.

But it’s not likely that any of these people will actually end up in Nevermore, and we need to emphasize for the cheap seats that this is just us having fun and is not based in any actual fact or even vague rumors that we have heard.

And so –

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Hard to believe, but Chinese Democracy officially came out two years ago today. (You can read my original review here. I still stand by every word, and I still prefer CD to Death Magnetic.) Promotion for the album has still been anemic. Yes, the band (such as it were) has finally toured certain territories, but it doesn’t amount to much when you consider how much time has passed. And there have still been no music videos, I still haven’t gotten my motherfucking Dr. Pepper, and Axl Rose has only communicated with the press sparsely and electronically.

But that doesn’t really matter, because I don’t even think that my namesake would have the most interesting story to tell regarding the creation of Chinese Democracy.

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Yesterday A Perfect Circle announced their reunion, and we wondered who, besides Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel, would be in the band; now we have our answer. Drummer Josh Freese, the band’s only constant besides Keenan and Howerdel, and guitarist James Iha, who joined the group for Thirteenth Step, are both returning to the fold, while bassist Matt McJunkins, who must have been teased mercilessly in grade school, will replace Jeordie White, who has since returned to being “Twiggy Ramirez” in Marilyn Manson.

McJunkinthetrunk, pictured above, was practically a shoe-in for the gig, since he’s played with both Keenan and Howerdel before, in Puscifer and Ashes Divide. Other than that, I don’t know squat about the dude. His Facebook page would suggest that he sometimes refers to himself as “Junk,” which somehow makes him a-okay in my book.

And that settles that. Matt McJunkins is now the Dave Kushner of A Perfect Circle.

-AR

Listen, I don’t think this is gonna come as a galloping shock to anyone given all the talk there’s already been about A Perfect Circle returning from their hiatus/break-up/whatever, but we just got a press release making it official. The band is apparently gonna get this party started with a five-city tour in the fall:

Shows in Phoenix (Marquee Theatre), Los Angeles (Avalon), Seattle (Showbox at The Market) and San Francisco (The Fillmore) will be three-night stops with each night featuring one of A Perfect Circle’s three albums in its entirety (Mer de Noms, Thirteenth Step and eMOTIVe).  Las Vegas (The Pearl) will be a two-night outing (Mer de Noms and Thirteenth Step).

The band will also play Jimmy Kimmel on October 27.

Two quick and random thoughts:

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So Maynard James Keenan has said that Tool are working on their next album, and that “If it comes together” they may even play some new shit live this summer. I’m always totally down for some new Tool, so I won’t even say what we’re all thinking, which is “It might be nice to a get a new Tool album in under five years for a change.” I mean, we’d heard that Tool were in writing mode back in 2008, but whatever. It’s Tool. If they need that time to make the best possible record that they can, I’ll go along with it.

But a new Tool album was always a foregone conclusion; the band may very well break our hearts and throw in the towel one day, but we are (very luckily) not there yet.

So more interesting, in a way, is the news that writing has begun on a new album for A Perfect Circle. Not “more interesting” in a APC > Tool way, ’cause, come ON, that would just be a ridiculous argument to try and make. Interesting in the “Oh, cool, A Perfect Circle really aren’t done” kinda way.

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• Slash has been unveiling a song a day from his new, self-titled solo album, so at this point, if you’ve wanted to hear the entire record, you pretty much have. But if you’re like me, and you were too lazy to keep checking back all the various websites where the shit has been streaming these past week, AOL now has the entire album in one place. I’ll try to write a full review in time for Slash‘s release on Tuesday, but the short version is: “Hey! It’s not the total face-raping I was expecting!” Which I guess would make it Slash’s Death Magnetic. So, April Fool’s on me, I guess.
• I don’t think it will come as a galloping shock to anyone to learn that the rumors are true: Duff McKagan is the new bass player for Jane’s Addiction. Slash basically spilled the beans in an interview a couple of weeks back, and then some photos of Duff working with the band popped up online, and now he’s actually gigged with the group – that grainy video up top is footage of Duff’s Addiction covering Led Zep’s “Whole Lotta Love.” I’m excited that Duff will now once again be in a band that plays for more than fifty people a night, although I’m sure the dudes in Loaded are pretty bummed. Of course, between this and Slash’s solo album, I’d wager we won’t get any new developments on the Velvet Revolver front until 2012, if ever.
• Finally: the drums on Slash’s solo album were recorded by Josh Freese, who also played drums on the nu-GN’R song “Oh My God,” which featured a guitar solo by… Dave Navarro. Small world. But I find it funny that Slash and Duff are now both working with dudes who have played with Axl Rose more recently than they have.

-AR

With Velvet Revolver on what is starting to look like a permanent hiatus, Slash has been off recording a Santana-style all-star solo album with lots and lots of famous collaborators. It’s actually kind of a brilliant idea, and you wonder why he didn’t do that instead of Slash’s Snakepit Mach 2, a fun band that was really never gonna pay off for him.

Now Slash has announced his first solo offering: a two-track Japanese (and thus “internet,” whether Saul Hudson likes it or not) single called Sahara, which will offer both that song, with some Japanese dude I’ve never heard of on vocals, and… a re-recording of “Paradise City” with vocals by Cypress Hill and Fergie.

Fergie.

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Last night a reader known simply as “Tim” e-mailed us to say that Glenn Danzig played drums on Hollywood Undead’s Swan Songs.

Needless to say, I was flabbergasted. Was this true? How come no one had said anything ’til now? So I investigated…

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Tonight, Gavin Rossdale will be playing New York’s Gramercy Theatre as part of a May/June U.S. tour supporting his 2008 solo effort Wanderlust. Those of you familiar with this record or its corresponding singles know that the former Bush frontman has departed significantly from the raucous yet melodic post-grunge of his old band, opting for a softer, essentially adult contemporary sound not entirely dissimilar to Chris Cornell’s post-Audioslave offering Carry On. While this description likely wont appeal to you metal maniacs (I sure as hell didn’t buy it), here are a few reasons why you should load up on alcohol and catch one of the upcoming dates.
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To quickly recap: back in February we heard about this insane offer Josh Freese was making with regards to his new solo album, Since 1972. Basically, for twenty grand you could hang out with Josh, Maynard James Keenan and Mark Mothersbaugh, plus have Josh write some songs about you with you singing/playing back-up, plus you got like a foot massage and to choose some clothes from Josh’s closet or some shit. It was an insane offer, and one that I assumed no one would ever actually take him up on.

But someone did take Josh up on that offer.

And that someone is nineteen fucking years old.

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Josh Freese e-mailed music biz guru Bob Lefsetz to give a somewhat more in-depth explanation of the awesome, hilarious package deals he’s offering for his new solo album, Since 1972. Once again, I’m just gonna go ahead and print this in its entirety, since Josh does just fine without me adding my two cents…

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Uberdrummer Josh Freese is getting ready to release a new solo album, Since 1972 (Freese’s YOB, natch), and is apparently determined to one-up his former boss Trent Reznor for the “Rockstar Adapting to a Changing Market in the Coolest Fucking Way Imaginable” award. Now, it’s entirely possible that Freese is just joshin’ around (sorry, couldn’t resist) – but even if he is, he’s funny as fuck. Here are the various price levels for purchasing Since 1972, and what Freese is (allegedly) offering for said price levels… I don’t even have to make any jokes here because Freese has done all the work for me:

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So remember last month when Axl posted a rant about Trent Reznor’s selection of Lostprophets’ drummer Ilan Rubin to fill the drummer’s throne left vacant by the recently-departed Josh Freese? Axl was understandably miffed that a member of the sucktastic Lostprophets would be replacing a legendary member of NIN, but it turns out (as many of you posted) that the kid is actually a phenomenal player.

Not only can the kid beat the shit out of the drums, but he’s got a solo project — dubbed The New Regime — in which he plays every instrument and sings. That’s fucking impressive. What’s more, it’s actually good, and can be summed up in one word thusly: Muse. And I mean that in the best way possible, because Muse is one non-metal band that all metalheads should learn to love.

-VN

[The New Regime on MySpace]

There’s a rumor going around that Billy Howerdel’s Ashes Divide have broken up. To which I say: HUH?

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Trent Reznor talks almost as much shit about other musicians as Kerry King does, but it’s usually excusable as a) he’s hilarious, b) he’s right and c) he’s so much cooler than most rock stars that even if he’s wrong, it’s still not very bothersome. For example, I once read an interview where Reznor said he remembers exactly where he was the first time he heard Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know,” and that remembering where you were when you first heard that terrible song was his generation’s equivalent of remembering exactly where you were when you found out JFK had been killed. Now, that’s obviously melodramatic (and ironic, considering that Reznor’s one-time collaborator Dave Navarro played guitars on that song), but it’s also totally hilarious.

So. Drummer extraordinaire is leaving Nine Inch Nails, and Reznor has hired twenty year old (!!!) Lostprophets drummer Ilan Rubin* (pictured above) to take Freese’s place.

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Crustcake has posted this hilarious new clip for the just-released NIN surprise single, “Discipline.” We’re assuming that the video is fan-made, although an awful lot of love went into it in a pretty short span of time – I mean, that’s about as good a cheap crappy animated Josh Freese as you’re gonna get. Given Trent Reznor’s enthusiasm for memorable music videos and viral marketing, could this be the real deal?

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/I1ZMKfFHU3U" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

-AR

I’ve made it clear before that I’m excited about Ashes Divide, the new Maynard-free project from A Perfect Circle mastermind Billy Howerdel; now that I’ve heard “The Stone,” the first single from their forthcoming debut Keep Telling Myself It’s All Right, my curiosity has peaked.

The song basically sounds like APC with Howerdel on vocals – which isn’t that much of a surprise, given that Howerdel wrote and recorded most of APC’s music, and that APC skinsman Josh Freese is handling drum duties (Maynard’s eleven year old offspring, Devo – I imagine he’s named after one of the approximately 2,436,758 bands with which Freese has played in the past – will play cello on the album).  And that’s just fine with me, ’cause, well, I really liked APC.

Keep will come out in March; in the meantime, if you’ve yet to hear “The Stone,” check it out on Ashes Divide’s MySpace page.

-AR

I don’t know what the consensus is on A Perfect Circle these days, now that they’ve been gone a few years; personally, I loved them (okay, maybe not eMotion, but definitely their first two albums). Were they as good as Tool? Of course not (who is, really?). But they were fuckin’ great, and the two times I got to catch them live, they killed.

So I’m glad to hear that APC mastermind Billy Howerdel has a new solo project, Ashes Divide, and that they’ve signed to Island Records, who will release their debut album sometime in March. Howerdel, you may recall, was once a guitar tech to the stars (he’d done work for Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, of course, and was working on GN’R's Chinese Democracy right before APC took off) who practically won the lottery when Maynard James Keenan heard some of his demos and decided to front his band.

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