Oh Corey, it’s okay. Mr Taylor went on a little rant about people who filmed concerts. Hey, sometimes they are doing us a favor in case we aren’t there! Just look at it in a different way (no pun intended.) He told my friend Toni at Loudwire Nights, “My thing has always been, it’s fine. Bring your phone, take pictures, do whatever you want. But why? Like, you’re there. Take pictures, it’s fine, do but why are you filming it? It’s one thing to film it, it’s another thing to just be staring at your screen while you’re filming it. It’s right there. Are you so terrified of real life that you can’t do anything unless it’s on that little four-by-four screen? Ugggh. It’s very weird.”
Taylor was the center of controversy last year after he smacked a phone out of a fan’s hand at a Slipknot show. Taylor told us at the time he stood by his response to the fan texting in the front row: “Go to a show to see a show. You wanna text, stay home. You wanna find an excuse to text? Get out of the barricade! Let somebody else get up there! Don’t abuse it, because there are people who would push you down by your face to get there. Stop trying to find ways to get around it. Just shut up!”
He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal at the time, “You watch people walk down the street, and they can’t get their beaks out of their stupid phones to cross the street . . . you can hate me all you want. It’s not going to stop me from smacking those things out of people’s hands.”
Stone Sour’s new album, Hydrograd, recently debuted at Number Eight on the Billboard 200 album chart, while hitting the top of Billboard‘s Top Current Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums surveys. The band has announced a fall North American headlining tour that will begin on Sep 24th in Omaha, NE and wind down in late October at Sacramento, CA’s Aftershock Festival.
Meanwhile, Slipknot has released some previews of their upcoming documentary Day of the Gusano.
Blabbermouth reports a new SLIPKNOT documentary brought to you by MusicScreen will be premiered in more than a thousand screens across the world as a one-night-only cinematic spectacle on Sep 6th.
Directed by Slipknot‘s own M. Shawn Crahan, a.k.a. Clown, “Day Of The Gusano” documents the Iowa band’s first-ever visit to Mexico in Dec 2015 and features exclusive interviews with Slipknot‘s members talking about the importance of their fanbase and the band’s long-awaited first-ever show in Mexico City.
Talking about the movie, Clown says: “Slipknot still has dreams for itself. Finally playing Mexico was one of them. It’s been a surreal life of rock and roll for Slipknot and the fact that the dreams still go on for us is simply incredible. Thank you.” Guitarist Jim Root adds: “We had such a great time at Knotfest Mexico… Not only with all the friends and bands that were there, but with the fans and the crowd we had to document it with. Now we get to share it with the world.”
The 90-minute documentary also chronicles the rabid devotion of the Mexican maggots and sees the band hearing personal, emotive stories from some of their fans, all interspersed with footage from Slipknot‘s incendiary live show at the inaugural Knotfest México. The film features a full surround soundtrack, so you’ll not only hear the show, but you’ll ‘feel’ it as if you were actually there.
I’m glad he did this. Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch has apologized for implying that singer Chester Bennington was a “coward” just hours after the Linkin Park frontman was found dead in his Southern California home on Jul 20th. In a Facebook message posted shortly after the news of Bennington’s suicide broke, Welch wrote that “giving up on your kids, fans, and life is the cowardly way out.” Reactions were swift, with one commenter calling Welch’s remarks “incredibly tactless and distasteful” while another blasted them as “ignorant.”
In a new interview with Detroit radio station and hardDrive affiliate, WRIF, Welch claimed that he “meant no disrespect,” saying, “It was unfortunate. I spoke from a broken heart, a shattered heart, devastation and grief. And I would have worded it different . . . We wake up and we all see (the news) all over TMZ. I’m, like, ‘This has gotta be a hoax. It’s gotta be a hoax. It just can’t be real.’ Then I find out that it’s actually true. And we were all devastated; you should have seen our faces. Just like the whole world, I bet, that knew of this guy. We were in shock.”
Welch added that he was also hit hard by the death of Soundgarden‘s Chris Cornell two months earlier, saying, “When in the history of rock music, or even the music business, have we ever seen anything like that? (Both guys with) monster voices, such inspirations to so many. Chris Cornell ended his life (and I was) heartbroken.”
Welch said his comments about Bennington’s suicide being “cowardly” were the result of him processing his grief online, adding, “I was heartbroken and so sorry for my good friends that have been so close to him.”
In other news, more details have emerged about Bennington’s private funeral service, which took place on Saturday (Jul 29th) near his home in Palos Verdes at a botanical garden. It was attended by 500 guests, including members of all three bands Bennington sang in: Linkin Park, Stone Temple Pilots and Dead By Sunrise.
Eulogies were delivered by Mike Shinoda and Joseph Hahn of Linkin Park and Ryan Shuck from Dead By Sunrise. Stone Temple Pilots’ Robert and Dean DeLeo teamed with Kings Of Chaos drummer Matt Sorum, Damon Fox and Jimmy Gnecco to perform “Amazing Grace.” Keepsakes from the service included programs and lanyards similar to the VIP passes handed out at Linkin Park concerts.
Although Bennington’s family has not yet announced any official public memorials, fans have organized over 300 band-endorsed public tributes around the world. You can listen to hardDrive‘s weekend tribute to Chester including music from all three of his bands, this weekend on your local affiliate, so try on Monday tuning in via the hardDriveRadio APP. Also Chester will be the Featured Artist of the Week on hardDrive XL with Lou Brutus week of Aug 14-18.
Blabbermouth and The Pulse Of Radio report Rob Zombie has started working on the follow-up to last year’s studio album The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser. Zombie revealed he was back in the studio in a post on his Instagram account, uploading a photo of his dog along with the caption: “Day one of working on the new album. Godzilla is already bored.” There’s no word on an expected release date for Zombie’s seventh studio effort.
Zombie made his last LP in short stretches over a year and explained why he liked that process: “Usually, you go in to make a record and you book six weeks at a studio, eight weeks, whatever, and you just plow through it. And you know, by the time you’re getting to track eight, nine, 10, you know they’re not good songs anymore. You’re trying, but you’re just tapped out at that point. You’re like writing lyrics, everybody’s bored and antsy. But by always leaving, whenever we’d come back the ideas were always different and fresh.“
Zombie told Kerrang! Radio in June his band would continue to play scattered shows while making the new disc, explaining, “These days, as everybody knows, there’s not really like a proper album cycle where you make an album and you just tour it to death.”
The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser was released in April 2016 and debuted at Number Six on the Billboard album chart.
Zombie has just a few scattered shows on his calendar for the fall. He said he plans to focus on music for the rest of the year and won’t direct a new movie until 2018. Zombie’s most recent film, 31, opened in limited release and on VOD last this fall, arriving on home video last December. Zombie’s next announced movie project is a film about the last days of legendary comedian Groucho Marx.
Trivium and Arch Enemy are touring together this fall. See all the dates in Road Rage!
Trivium stated: “We’ve been joining forces with Arch Enemy for over a decade now. From Ozzfest 2005, through arenas across the U.K., Europe, and Australia on ‘The Black Crusade’. This next chapter is going to be one for the ages: Trivium, Arch Enemy, While She Sleeps and Fit For An Autopsy!! DO NOT MISS THIS!!”
Founding Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott exclaimed: “Very much looking forward to returning to North America with this tour! We are aware that it has been long overdue and we appreciate everyone’s patience while we’ve been creating our new ‘Will To Power’ album. This run will be like a family reunion with our old friends in Trivium; together we’ll be crushing city after city with the power of heavy metal! Good times ahead, don’t miss the fun!”
A special BLABBERMOUTH.NET presale will begin on Wednesday, August 2 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time and end on Thursday, August 3 at 10:00 p.m. local time. When prompted, type in the presale code “BBMTRIVAE” to access tickets before the general public. The general on-sale is Friday, August 4 at 10:00 a.m. local time.