Well, Lou Brutus and I got a nice surprise yesterday! We were both awarded with a gold album plaque from Five Finger Death Punch and Prospect Park Records for The Wrong Side of Heaven, The Righteous Side of Hell. Many thanks! . It’s very loverly and will hang proudly on our walls!
Meanwbile, frontman Ivan Moody spoke with Lou Brutus about their new album, Got Your Six, which has moved to a new Sep 04th release. Ivan said he considers the band’s upcoming album to be the band’s “best material yet.” Moody said when it comes to the group’s sixth studio album, he’s believing his own hype: “Everybody’s supposed to say this: we outdid ourselves on this one. I mean, this is just by far the most fantastic piece of music we’ve done since, in my opinion, (2009 second album) War Is The Answer. We went out of our way to make sure there were no additional vocalists or additives or anything like that. We just got back to our roots and made music as a band, and it was so refreshing. This was just going in, having fun and being kids again, so I was really, really proud of how it turned out.”
I think this subject needs addressing, so I am borrowing this story in full from my friend over at Blabbermouth.
LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe has slammed Kevin Lyman over comments the co-founder of the annual Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival made regarding the state of the heavy metal scene and the future of the traveling event.
In an article published on July 8 by Detroit Free Press, Lyman was quoted about the difficulties of booking headline-worthy acts for the festival: “The bands at the top all demand a certain level of fee to be on tour. Unlike punk rock, metal never knows how to take a step back to move the whole scene forward. That’s how punk rock was. That’s how we nurtured punk rock. BAD RELIGION would take a little less than they could on their own to bring the whole scene forward, so we could make sure we had a good [touring] package around them. Metal doesn’t seem to have that concern, never has, never has since I was working in the clubs in the ’80s. It’s always about a ‘me, me, me’ thing.”
In a posting on his Instagram account, Blythe addressed Lyman‘s comments, writing: “Y’all know I don’t talk about my band much here — it’s not my thing. This account is for my photography and other creative endeavors — but I must take a moment to speak about something that irked me recently, as I felt it was a bit insulting to our fans and the metal scene that supports my band (especially the females).
“‘What happened was metal chased girls away because what happened was metal aged. Metal got gray, bald and fat.’ “This generalization was recently made by Mayhem Fest co-founder Kevin Lyman about our metal scene. I call bullshit.
“I wanted to wait until we were on tour to address this, soooooooo…. looking at the huge crowds we have played to on this four-band bill [also featuring SLIPKNOT, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and MOTIONLESS IN WHITE] so far (all singing along to our metal songs and with plenty of girls in attendance), I gotta laugh. I ain’t the youngest dude in the world, but from my vantage point, the metal scene appears to be doing just fine.”
He continued: “I, a dude from the punk scene of the ’80s (ahem… punk rock existed long before Warped tour, [by the way]. I know, because I was there) who somehow became the singer of a metal band, just became a nationally best-selling author, I’ve met plenty of younger fans who have bought my book, and many were female. LAMB OF GOD, a metal band, has a new album out — at this very second, we are in a very tight race with Jill Scott (an awesome R&B singer I am a fan of who has a huge audience) for the very top slot of the Billboard charts, and if enough folks buy the album before Thursday, we will have our first #1 record. Jill Scott has a much larger fan base than us, but metal fans actually buy records. Even if we get a #2 or #3 (again, by the way — not our first Top 10 debut), it will still be huge. There’s tons of younger metal bands too. The metal scene is alive and healthy, and it will continue to grow and the younger bands will become headliners, if the fans support it. So far, that doesn’t seem to be a problem.”
Blythe added: “So, sorry, metal isn’t watered-down pop bullshit for the teenybopper masses, but it is healthy. So thanks for coming out, buying our records, and singing along, y’all! Thanks for forming new bands and keeping it alive! We appreciate and love you! We ain’t pretty, but we are definitely here, and I’m not bald or fat.”
LAMB OF GOD‘s new album, VII: Sturm Und Drang, was released on July 24 via Epic in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Entertainment in all territories outside of North America. The CD was once again produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur with engineering by Wilbur, Nick Rowe and Kyle McAulay, and was recorded at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, CA and Suburban Soul Studios in Torrance, CA.
Had an excellent time yesterday with Saint Asonia’s Adam Gontier and Mike Mushok! We had some good laughs, connected the boys with some radio stations like The Edge in Buffalo, Q102 in Springfield, MO and 96 Rock in Ft Myers. Good times for sure! Then I did a lengthy interview in before they entered the hardDriveRadio video studios to perform two acoustic version: “Better Place” and “Waste My Time” from the new album, due out tomorrow! Next week, we should have the songs ready to post on the hardDriveRadio YouTube Channel. Subscribe!
Adam did a killer App Chat on the hardDriveRadio APP on Tuesday night, and tonight at 8 PM Eastern, Mike Mushok will jump on! We had over 1000 fans on there, which is pretty awesome! So thank you for your participation. We’re in the process of booking more aritst chats on the app, so stay tuned!!!!!
And don’t forget, get your hardDrive Live Tour tickets NOW on the tour site. And check out the new Trivium song “Silence in the Snow” on their website!