Hello from foggy Fulton County, NY! Taking in another day off, but working out on the back porch as the sun is trying to rise. Went to the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony yesterday in a packed field in Cooperstown, NY! It was fun, but hot as blazes!
Pulse Of Radio reports this morning the release date of Five Finger Death Punch’s sixth album, Got Your Six, has been pushed back to Sep 04 from the previously announced Aug 28.Prospect Park in North America and Eleven Seven Music outside of North America is releasing Got Your Six. Pre-orders and several exclusive pre-order merchandise packages are live and ready at www.fivefingerdeathpunch.com. Once the pre-order is placed, “Jekyll and Hyde” and the newly released second track “Hell To Pay” are instantly available via download.
Zoltan Bathory said: “I can’t wait to release this album. It’s jam-packed with some of our best work to date, and, lyrically, Ivan [Moody, vocals] dug deep and revealed a lot of his personal struggles. We live life in the fast lane as is, so if you chose to burn the candle on both ends … There will be hell to pay.”
I’m not sure any of this is true, but Pulse also posted a story citing after leaving Alice in Chains and struggling with drug addiction, frontman Layne Staley had an opportunity to become lead singer of Audioslave, according to Alternative Nation.
The discovery was made after the publication connected with Staley’s friend Morgen Gallagher, who also said this about Staley’s drug problems: ““I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years and wasn’t prepared for it. By this point he had quit [Alice In Chains], he had lost most of his teeth, and weighed barley 100 pounds. We talked for a little and when we parted ways, I cried.”
Soon afterwards, Staley was in better shape however, planning to try out for Audioslave, Alternative Nation reports: “That day we were talking and he said he had gotten a call from the old Rage Against the Machine members and they were putting together a new project, and they wanted him to audition. He said he was going back to treatment and then going to L.A. to do the audition in a couple of months. He never made it, so Chris Cornell went and got the job.” Audioslave wasn’t the only band Staley had is eyes on: in 2002, he was set to record vocals for Taproot, but passed away before being able to hit the studio.
Meanwhile, journalist David de Sola is releasing Alice in Chains: The Untold Story on August 4th. Billboard Magazine named the book in its summer “Must Reads” list, writing: “The early-90s Seattle grunge band, long overshadowed by its hometown peers, gets its due in this debut book from a Georgetown graduate student. Taking center stage is original frontman Layne Staley who, like Kurt Cobain, found celebrity and success difficult and drugs an easy out. But there’s also a deep dive into the band’s musical influences and its impact on the broader rock scene, explaining both its roots and reach.”
In other Alice in Chains news, Duff McKagan joined the band on the stage July 22 at the Knitting Factory in Spokane, WA, to perform “Nutshell” and “Man in the Box.” Duff and guitarist Jerry Cantrell are close friends.
Teenage Time Killers, the metal / punk supergroup led by Corrosion of Conformity’s Reed Mullin with Mick Murphy of Birds of Satan on guitar, and featuring contributions from Dave Grohl and Pat Smear of Foo Fighters, Corey Taylor of Slipknot, members of Lamb Of God, Matt Skiba of Alkaline / Blink-182 and other rock vets, is streaming its entire debut album via the New York Times.
The album, Greatest Hits Vol. 1., is comprised of 20 tracks, and is set to be formally released July 31 via Reprise Records. A handful of the songs are deep-cut covers; the instrumentals were laid down at Grohl’s 606 Studios in Northridge, CA. Grohl performs on 11 of the 20 tracks, and for all of the tracks he contributes to he plays bass.
Sevendust have a new song titled “Thank You” airing across various rock stations. An online debut of the song is planned for today, July 27th, and word of the bands’ forthcoming album is expected simultaneously. The album, recorded at Architekt Music in Butler, New Jersey, has been tentatively scheduled for a late summer release. In a recent interview with Loudwire, Sevendust guitarist John Connolly said about the new material: “It’s funny, you come out of acoustic world and immediately you’re, like, ‘All right, let’s get metal again. Let’s get heavy.’”And tonight, the new Sevendust tune will be in Smash or Crash on hardDrive XL with Lou Brutus. The voting ballot can be found on the homepage.
Meanwhile, Godsmack are hitting the road this fall for a North American headlining tour that will feature Sevendust on most of the dates and Breaking Benjamin for a few selected shows. Following a few gigs in July and August, Godsmack will kick off the tour on Sep 22nd in Cleveland, winding down in late October. Tickets at Godsmack.com.
Thanks to all the fans of Tremonti and Trivium! The hardDrive Live Tour tickets are off to a great start! Make sure to tell your friends and get more info here: www.harddrivelivetour.com.
Happy 42 today to Abe Cunningham, drummer for the Deftones!