Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 at 12:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
A reader calling himself “J.A.M.” forwarded us an e-mail he received yesterday, in which Judas Priest — or, probably more accurately, their marketing team — ask fans to take a survey. Here’s a photo of the e-mail, with the reader’s real name blocked out in the event he doesn’t want the world to know it:
Now, one of the phrases in that e-mail which might jump out at you is “your thoughts on new guitarist Richie Faulkner,” a.k.a. “The Due Who Replaced K.K. Downing.” Keep that in mind moving forward.
Devin Townsend has so much explaining to do. As a tireless songwriter and producer, he’s set to release two albums on June 21, Ghost and Deconstruction, to complete the Devin Townsend Project cycle that he started with 2009′s Ki and Addicted. That’s four full-length records, 43 songs, and 260 minutes of music unleashed over about two years. But for Townsend, discussion goes beyond song ideas and his exhaustive studio work required to bring them to life; he could talk all day and yet only touch on the subjects of touring, sales, and modern music industry calamity; and, shit, his back catalogue is too huge and varied to even approach in a Q&A of any reasonable length.
You see, being a modern musician and being Devin Townsend are not the same thing. Sure, he grinds out records and then tours like everybody. However, our latest MetalSucks interview with Townsend reveals an artist unbound by the limits of imagination, but pretty aware of averse reactions to his art; his self-expression is total and unapologetic — until fans and media misinterpret him or disapprove of his humor. He’s confident as a person, but shakeable as a virtuosic guitar player, a theater and puppet enthusiast, and a production wiz. He lets no truth about his world go unexpressed, beit via the hair-raising cacophony of Deconstruction (think Strapping Young Lad’s Alien: The Ride) or Ghost‘s murmuring calm. He puts himself out there all the way; now, let him explain why.
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 at 2:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
Judas Priest are probably one of the best metal bands in the history of the genre, and certainly one of the most important. And, sure, their post-reunion-with-Halford studio albums haven’t been so great, but they haven’t been unbearably terrible, either, and the band still puts on a really, really fun show live.
So why am I feeling so over it with them? Well, let’s begin by going over all the drama that has surrounded the group just in the past seven months.
Judas Priest are moving forward with their farewell tour (they’re calling it the “Epitaph Tour,” strongly suggesting they don’t know what an epitaph is) despite the fact that guitarist K.K. Downing is calling it quits. And now they’ve released a photo of the new line-up. By which I mean they got the new guy to pose for a photo and stuck it on the poster with a bunch of other photos of the rest of the band, because no one could even be bothered to get into one room together for two minutes to say “Cheese.”
See if you can spot the new guy:
If you guessed “It’s the dude who’s half the age of everyone else in the band and is dressed like a Beatle!”, you’re right!
One of you recently sent us the video for “No Salvation” by the band Hostile (and I lost your e-mail so I apologize for not properly crediting you by name), pointing out that the band was noteworthy because their bassist, Alex Hill, is the offspring of Ian Hill, who, in case you know nothing about anything, is the bass player for Judas Priest. In fact, it turns out that Hostile’s debut album, Eve of Destruction, was produced by K.K. Downing, who, of course, just recently left Judas Priest. And you’d hope that a) Ian Hill had transferred some of his talent via his sperm, and/or b) Downing was able to bring some of his Judas Priest magic to these Hostile proceedings.
Alas, your hope would all be for naught. Hostile is pretty terrible. I mean, I guess it starts off as passable enough Swedecore, but then the singer, who apparently has no higher aspiration than to be in Five Finger Death Punch, starts his bit, and the whole thing becomes more or less completely fucking awful.
And what’s kind of amazing about this is that Ian Hill is not the only child of a metal star who somehow totally failed to inherit any of his father’s talent.
No, seriously — COREY AND ANSO FUCKING KILLED IT THIS WEEK while we were at the Golden Gods, didn’t they? I’m still catching up, but I’ve been getting a serious boner from reading all the shit I didn’t write this week. Some of my favorite pieces that neither Vince nor myself had anything to do with:
Phil Anselmo’s thoughts on weed, and, oh yeah, Corey’s update on the progress of Mr. Anselmo’s book.
Yep, 4/20 gets a real downer with the rather unexpected news that Judas Priest founding member, guitarist K.K. Downing, has quit the band.
“It is with regret that Judas Priest announce that K.K. Downing has formally retired from the band and will therefore not be joining them on their forthcoming Epitath Tour.” – Official Judas Priest press release 4/20/11.
Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.
There weren’t any real hot button topics this week, so we decided to just play a fun game that used to keep Vince and Axl occupied for many a lunch period when they were kids:
IF YOU COULD FORM A HEAVY METAL SUPERGROUP WITH ANY 4 - 6 METAL MUSICIANS, ALIVE OR DEAD, WHO WOULD BE IN THE BAND AND WHY?
I will never forget the time Vince and I went to see Maiden and they played the entire A Matter of Life and Death album from front to back. Not in “I’ll never forget the first time I touched a girl’s titty” kinda way; more in a “I’ll never forget the time I went to Mexico, drank the water, and got Montezuma’s Revenge” kinda way. Literally the only good part of the entire night was when the band played “2 Minutes to Midnight” for the encore; for those six glorious minutes, we actually got our money’s worth.
So maybe Judas Priest had already announced plans to play their latest album, Nostradamus, from start to finish in a series of “special” shows, but I hadn’t heard of any such gigs until I saw this JAM! Music interview with Rob Halford posted on Blabbermouth:
