Away Team

AVENGED SEVENFOLD have announced that they will perform a free show at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA, on December 16th.

The show is free to all fans, regardless if they were or weren’t at the Uproar Show. However, Uproar ticket holders will be guaranteed free entrance and first pick of seats. Anyone who purchased a ticket for the October 14th Uproar Festival date at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA, will receive an e-mail with redemption details. For those who purchased with cash, on site or at a venue, please visit www.rockstaruproar.com/mv and submit your e-mail address. These tickets will only be available one week ahead of the general public starting on November 17th at 10 AM, PT through November 23rd at Midnight, PT. The band launches the headlining Buried Alive Tour with HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, ASKING ALEXANDRIA and BLACK VEIL BRIDES on November 23rd.

“We appreciate our fans so much and felt terrible that we had to miss the Uproar show in October,” says M. Shadows. “We want to make it up to those in the Bay Area by adding this free show to our ‘Buried Alive‘ tour and making sure that anyone who was supposed to see us that night in Northern California will get the best seats in the house.”

Avenged Sevenfold’s Buried Alive tour dates are as follows:
November
23 – Ft. Meyers, FL – Germain Arena
25 – Jacksonville, FL – Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
26 – Augusta, GA – James Brown Arena
28 – Huntsville, AL – Von Braun Center
29 – Pikeville, KY – East Kentucky Expo Center
30 – Ft. Wayne, IN – Allen County War Memorial
December
2 – Madison, WI – Alliant Energy Center
3 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
6 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center
7 – Duluth, MN – Amsoil Arena
9 – Grand Forks, ND – Alerus Center
10 – Bismarck, ND – Bismarck Civic Center
12 – Billings, MT – Metra Park Arena
13 – Missoula, MT – Adams Center
14 – Yakima, WA – Sun Dome
16 – San Jose, CA – HP Pavilion (free)









For more AVENGED SEVENFOLD click here.

The inaugural 48 Hours Festival Powered by Rockstar Energy Drink, the ultimate rock and roll music event scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 15 and Sunday, Oct. 16, is offering fans the opportunity to win an exclusive weekend concert experience with the “Debauchery VIP Package.” To enter to win, visit http://48hoursfestival.com/48hrs-festival-flyaway/. The winner and a guest will be flown to Las Vegas and receive:

• Two-day Debauchery VIP ticket to 48 Hours Festival with exclusive VIP entrance
• Access to Debauchery VIP Party Tent with discounted beer and drink specials
• 48 Hours Festival Limited Edition T-Shirt and collectible souvenir ticket
• Official Debauchery VIP Laminate

Located on the Luxor Festival Fairgrounds across the street from Luxor Hotel and Casino, 48 Hours Festival will feature two stages of pure rock with a royal flush of festivities at various Las Vegas locations spanning the entire weekend. Along with scheduled performances by Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, Three Days Grace and many more, the festival also will feature multiple big air freestyle motocross jump shows by the Rockstar Metal Militia daily. In addition, the 48 Hours Festival is holding various contests to win “Survival Kits” from bands performing at the festival through its Facebook page.

The countdown to 48 Hours Festival begins Friday, Oct. 14 with a kick-off party at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino featuring Steel Panther. On Saturday, Oct. 15 and Sunday, Oct. 16, concertgoers can continue raging at the official after-party at the House of Blues. In addition, Korn’s Jonathan Davis will DJ a Sunday morning Hangover Brunch at Mandalay Bay.

Two-day weekend ticket packages start at $99 and can be purchased at www.48HoursFestival.com/tickets/. In addition, a limited number of once-in-a-lifetime exclusive VIP packages are available including the “All Excess – Cabanas” package featuring a full-service cabana with premium elevated sight lines. For additional information and discount hotel packages at Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur, visit www.48HoursFestival.com.

Bands confirmed for 48 HOURS FESTIVAL:
Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Hollywood Undead, Sick Puppies, Escape The Fate, Sevendust, Hatebreed, Adelitas Way, Rev Theory, 10 Years, Black Tide, Art of Dying, Eyes Set to Kill, Butcher Babies, Valora, Hell or Highwater, Orange Blossom Special

BURN HALO- Up From the Ashes

Rawkhead Rekords/ Warner Music

Rating: 7 out of 10

Reviewed by: Jay Rybak

Burn Halo first invaded our eardrums with their debut album Outburn back in 2009, and immediately took the radio waves by storm with their single “Dirty Little Girl”.  The aforementioned featured a guest appearance by Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates; something that, beginning June 28th will be hard to forget….

Up From the Ashes, the band’s sophomore effort, kicks things off with the first single “Tear It Down” before diving head first into the title track; all the while one can’t help but notice the eery compositional similarity to that of A7X.  Not that that’s a bad thing, but it does leave you hoping for a little variety.  Enter “Stranded”, where we are greeted with a welcome change in the form of an ever so slight 80′s sounding chorus.  The retro rewind doesn’t stop there, the next track “Threw It All Away” opens with some killer guitar work by Joey Roxx that had me checking to see if I was listening to a cassette on my Walkman. Even with the change in style on what is perhaps one of the better songs on the album, I still can’t help but think I’m listening to the new A7X.

The theme continues over the next couple of tracks, until suddenly I’m awakened to a Metallica-esque symphony of sorrowful guitar, followed by heavy riffs and double bass drum bringing us to “Dakota”; a track destined to become a fan favorite.  One of the more radio friendly songs on the album follows, “Rest My Soul” is a Nickelback style redemption anthem that is sure to see a few spins on your local radio dial.  The sounds of Gates and Co. fill out the final tracks on the album, ending with “Shine”, in which singer James Hart at times sounds like the love child of Josh Todd (Buckcherry) and David Lee Roth.

Musically, this album is heavier than Lady Gaga’s jockstrap, my only qualm is that Burn Halo seem to be turning influence into identity on this one.  While Up From the Ashes isn’t quite the phoenix that it’s monacre suggests, it still makes a decent addition to your playlist, and if you’re a fan of Avenged Sevenfold this album is a must have.

Up From the Ashes hits stores June 28th, for more info on Burn Halo visit here

The annual Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival returns August 26 through October 15 to conquer North America with a massive active rock lineup. Leading the charge is multi-platinum headliner Avenged Sevenfold, making their triumphant return after co-headlining the 2010 debut Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival.

Three Days Grace, Seether and Bullet For My Valentine, along with Escape The Fate will also be featured on this year’s main stage. The touring music and lifestyle festival–which Revolver called “one of the most electric tours of the year” in 2010–also includes the Best Buy Music Gear Stage headliners Sevendust, as well as Black Tide, Art Of Dying and The Black Cloud Collective.

“When we started hearing from our fans they wanted to see us back on UPROAR this year, we thought, last year was a blast so let’s do it again. The fans are crazy and the bands kick ass,” says Avenged Sevenfold‘s frontman M. Shadows. “We’re spending the first half of summer playing some big European festivals so we’re going to be ready to get back home and play America’s top rock festival.”

“We’re thrilled to have Avenged Sevenfold back as headliners,” adds tour producers John Reese and John Oakes. “Their epic stage show helped elevate UPROAR 2010 far beyond the standard outdoor festival. The fans wanted more, and we listened.”

For more Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival click here.

May 10, 2011 — “Sometimes you’ve got to burn the past to rise up from the ashes,” sings BURN HALO frontman James Hart.  What started out as Hart’s solo project has been laid to rest and reborn in BURN HALO’s sophomore album UP FROM THE ASHES. Due out June 28 on Rawkhead Records (through Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group) and produced by Colby Wedgeworth, this new collection confirms BURN HALO’s evolution from being essentially a solo project by former 18 Visions singer/songwriter James Hart to a full-blown, collaborative band.  The music has grown too, and now marries the anthemic, radio-ready hard rock of their 2009 self-titled debut to metalcore flourishes reminiscent of 18 Visions.

The band—James Hart (vocals), Joey Roxx (guitar), Brandon Lynn (guitar), Aaron Boehler (bass), Dillon Ray (drums)—is already receiving early radio support for the first single, “Tear It Down,” from stations such as SiriusXM’s “Octane,”  WIIL (Chicago), KHTQ (Spokane), WCCC (Hartford) and WJJO (Madison).  A video for the song will be hitting the TV and Internet airwaves before the end of the month.  A behind-the-scenes teaser clip was recently posted on the band’s YouTube page here:  http://bit.ly/iOriSG.

“We wanted our own identity,” says singer James Hart. To achieve that, BURN HALO would collaborate in the studio for the first time.  “This album is us.  This is BURN HALO,” states guitarist Brandon Lynn.  Bassist Aaron Boehler was the first to initiate the writing process with drummer Dillon Ray.  Brandon and lead guitarist Joey Roxx quickly followed suit and began compositions of their own.  It was Brandon who was the real architect in the musical direction of the new album.  “Most of the songs we were writing early on were very standard rock songs,” says James.  “I had written an old song called ‘Dakota’ that was much more aggressive and a lot heavier,” says Brandon.  “To me, ‘Dakota’ is the most important track on the album,” explains James. “Without that track, we don’t have the album we have.” The path was clear and what they would pave out from there would be 11 bone-crushing rock songs that touch on every edge of the rock/metal spectrum.

The future wasn’t always so clear for BURN HALO.  It took quite a while for their current lineup to come together.  “There were just a couple of things that never felt right,” said James of touring prior to the recent band additions.  It was bassist Aaron Boehler who brought friend and fellow Tulsa, OK resident Brandon Lynn to the band in 2009 when the band needed a fill-in on rhythm guitar.  “It just felt right after one rehearsal,” James said of Brandon joining BURN HALO.  In early 2010, it was Aaron again who had targeted his best friend and previous band mate Dillon Ray to take over on the drums.  “The three of us living in Tulsa just gave us a great opportunity to work on the songs for tour,” Aaron states.  “I had been lobbying for Dillon to join the band since day one.”

Songs from the band’s debut album, which went on to sell over 25,000 copies, were heard frequently on WWE and ESPN, as well as the season finale of “Friday Night Lights.” It also spawned the hit single, “Dirty Little Girl,” which features a guest appearance by Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates.  Alternative Press had described the album as “…a raucous collection of arena-ready rock songs…” While Outburn had praised:  “…this self-titled debut doesn’t just rock a little, this disc is loaded with sing-along anthems that will get stuck in your head for days…this is a must have record that will spend more time spinning in your player than sitting on the shelf.  9 out of 10.”

On the touring front, the band has already racked up a slew of dates with bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Buckcherry & Papa Roach.  They’ll be hitting the U.S. concert trail this summer, with dates currently being confirmed.

Here’s the complete track listing for UP FROM THE ASHES:

1. Tear It Down
2. Up From The Ashes
3. Stranded
4. Threw It All Away
5. Alone
6. Stuck In A Rut
7. Give Me A Sign
8. Dakota
9. Rest My Soul
10. I Won’t Back Down
11. Shine

www.myspace.com/burnhalo
www.facebook.com/burnhalo
www.twitter.com/burnhalomusic

iTunes Ping page – http://c.itunes.apple.com/us/profile/id-11804
“Tear It Down” iTunes link – http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tear-it-down-single/id430249113

AVENGED SEVENFOLD has released a new video for So Far Away off their album Nightmare.

For more AVENGED SEVENFOLD click here.

Band performance times have been announced for the first annual Carolina Rebellion at Metrolina Expo in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, May 7. 30,000 fans will converge at Carolina Rebellion for a full day of non-stop rock, featuring performances from hard hitting rock artists Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Three Days Grace, Stone Sour, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Theory of a Deadman, Alter Bridge, Hinder, Skillet, Saving Abel, Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry, My Darkest Days, Cavo, Rev Theory, Pop Evil, Art Of Dying and Drop D. The box office opens at 9:30 AM and doors open at 11:00 AM. Music begins at 11:30 AM and wraps at 11:50 PM.

Band performance times are as follows (set times subject to change):

Monster Energy Carolina Stage
12:20 PM Cavo
1:50 PM Halestorm
3:30 PM Skillet
5:20 PM Bullet For My Valentine
7:10 PM Seether
8:45 PM Three Days Grace
10:45 PM Avenged Sevenfold

Monster Energy Rebellion Stage
11:50 AM My Darkest Days
1:20 PM Saving Abel
2:50 PM Hinder
4:40 PM Alter Bridge
6:30 PM Theory of a Deadman
7:50 PM Stone Sour
9:40 PM Godsmack

JägermeisterStage
11:30 AM Drop D
12:50 PM Art Of Dying
2:20 PM Pop Evil
4:10 PM Black Stone Cherry
6:00 PM Rev Theory

Metrolina Expo is centrally located off of Interstate 77, between Interstates 85 and 485, just north of downtown Charlotte. For directions to the site, please visit www.carolinarebellion.com.

Carolina Rebellion is proud to be sponsored by Monster Energy, Jägermeister and f.y.e. – for your entertainment, and is produced by Right Arm Entertainment and AEG Live, the same team that produces the highly successful Rock On The Range in Columbus, OH.

For more CAROLINA REBELLION click here.

HALESTORM

Reanimate: The Covers EP

Atlantic Records

8 out of 10

Ok, so you put an even remotely attractive woman on a stage, and I’m pretty much hooked from the get go. Sexist? Probably… But I’ve got a thing for women on stage. Sue me.

But when a woman has talent on top and exceeding her looks? Well then you’ve got something for your ears and eyes. Heart, Pat Benetar, Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks, Tori Amos, Doro Pesch, the list goes on and on, all have amazing talent vocally as well as musically.

So there’s a new breed of women rockers out there doing their own thing… Maria Brink (In This Moment), Otep (Otep), Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), Alexis Brown (Straight Line Stitch), again the list goes on and on. And hot on their heels is the newest female fronted band… Halestorm.

Fronted by Lzzy Hale the band features her brother Arejay Hale, Joe Hottinger, and Josh Smith. They have released a solid self titled debut which charted well for them as well as got them enough notice to put them on the main stage of last year’s Uproar tour with Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour.

The Band has released a new EP of covers to tie their fans over until they can finish their follow up full length album.

An EP of covers from a band with only one album out seems to be a risky move to me. If you’re trying to keep your name in the forefront of your fan’s minds then maybe a live DVD (the label already put out a live album of theirs a year after their self titled album came out as their singles finally began to chart and hit with the public), or an EP of acoustic reworkings… something that is yours, not copies of other songs seems to be in the band’s best interest to me. But then I’m not some big label head honcho either. Whatever.

That being said, let’s look at the songs chosen for the EP:
All I Want to do (is make love to you) by Heart, Bad Romance by Lady Gaga, Hunger Strike by Temple Of The Dog, I Want You (she’s so heavy) by The Beatles, Out Ta Get Me by Guns & Roses, Slave To The Grind by Skid Row. So this young upstart band definitely has some balls to it. From pop dance to classic rock, and grunge to sleaze rock. The song selection alone intrigued me. How would they do actually covering the songs?

Well, the Heart cover was pretty much straight forward, and done very well. Bad Romance seems to be the hardest one to cover. How do you take a rock band and throw in a dance song and make it sound good? I don’t know. Really… this should be a recipe for certain disaster, but Lzzy and the boys actually pulled it off and very well. This may actually be the highlight of the EP. Being able to turn a Lady Gaga song into a rock n roll monster? Hats off to Halestorm for doing it, and doing it well.

Oddly the Lady Gaga cover has caused less controversy and dissent from the internet trolls than their decision to cover Temple Of The Dog. I’m sorry, but when did Grunge become gospel? And if a band can run the gamut between classic Beatles, to Modern day dance pop, and everywhere in between why can’t they take on grunge too? I mean who made TotD the sacred cow anyway?

It’d be one thing if the band didn’t pull off the song. Or heaven forbid took a dance song and made a rock song out of it, only to take a grunge song and make a dance hit out of it!!!! But Halestorm sticks to the basics and pulls off a decent remake of a very good song. I will say that it does lose a little passion when Lzzy sings it over Eddie Vedder, but it isn’t a bad version by any means.

The Beatles song may be the only song I take umbrage with and that is only because it runs on too long and gets a bit monotonous at the end. But the first 4 minutes of the song are… the ballsiest the band has every sounded to me.

Out Ta Get Me is sleazy and dirty, but a little unremarkable compared to the rest of the songs on the EP.

And I may have to go back and listen to their debut, but I think Slave To The Grind may well be the heaviest thing the band has done. And heavy they do well. Would love to see this one live. I can totally see Lzzy standing their snarling out the lyrics to this, and I’m sure this summer that’s exactly what we’ll see.

So other than the odd choice of putting out a covers EP, the project works. A solid 8 from me for this, and that is only because Hunger Strike and Out Ta Get Me left me a little flat.









You can pick up Reanimate The Covers EP here.
For more HALESTORM click here.

Although the first annual Carolina Rebellion is still over a month away, tickets have already sold out.

30,000 fans will converge at Carolina Rebellion at Metrolina Expo in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, May 7 for a full day of non-stop rock, featuring performances from hard hitting rock artists Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Three Days Grace, Stone Sour, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Theory of a Deadman, Alter Bridge, Hinder, Skillet, Saving Abel, Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry, My Darkest Days, Cavo, Rev Theory, Pop Evil, Art Of Dying and D2. The festival will feature some of today’s biggest rock acts on three stages, with the main stage presented by Monster Energy.

Metrolina Expo is centrally located off of Interstate 77, between Interstates 85 and 485, just north of downtown Charlotte. For directions to the site, please visit www.carolinarebellion.com.

Carolina Rebellion is proud to be sponsored by Monster Energy, Jägermeister and f.y.e. – for your entertainment, and is produced by Right Arm Entertainment and AEG Live, the same team that produces the highly successful Rock On The Range in Columbus, OH.

Carolina Rebellion would like to thank its media partners, sponsors and “Rebels” for already making the inaugural event a success.

For more CAROLINA REBELLION click here.

Welsh rock band Bullet For My Valentine will return to the U.S. in May. The foursome will hit the road with Avenged Sevenfold and label mates Three Days Grace on a 18-date trek that kicks off on May 3 in Springfield, MA at the Mass Mutual Center. Halestorm will also be supporting on a few select dates at the end of the tour.

Recently Bullet For My Valentine delivered a deluxe CD/DVD edition of their third full-length album Fever titled Fever Tour Edition, which was released February 15 on Jive Records.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE TOUR DATES:
May 3 Springfield, MA Mass Mutual Center
May 4 Rochester, NY Water Street Music Hall
May 6 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
May 7 Charlotte, NC Metrolina Trade Show Expo
May 9 Orlando, FL UCF Arena
May 10 Pensacola, FL Pensacola Civic Center
May 11 Lafayette, LA Cajundome
May 13 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre
May 14 Wichita, KS Intrust Bank Arena
May 15 Indianola, IA National Balloon Classic Field
May 17 Lubbock, TX LoneStar Amphitheatre
May 18 San Antonio, TX Alamodome
May 19 Grand Prairie, TX Verizon Theatre @ Grand Prairie
May 21 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE (Indoor Stage)*
May 22 Columbus, OH Columbus Crew Stadium* (Rock on the Range)
May 24 Washington, D.C. 9:30 Club *#
May 25 Providence, RI Lupo’s *#
May 26 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom *#

* Avenged Sevenfold and Three Days Grace not playing
# Halestorm supporting









For more BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE click here.

The daily performance lineups have been revealed for the Fifth Anniversary of ROCK ON THE RANGE–America’s premier destination rock festival–May 21-22 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

A limited number of ROCK ON THE RANGE Saturday and Sunday single day Stadium GA tickets will be available for only $59.50 beginning March 28 at 10:00 AM EST. In addition, as a way to honor those who serve their country, ROTR will again offer a $30 single day Stadium GA ticket to members of the military. To qualify for the $30 ticket, concertgoers must present a photo ID with military ID to the Columbus Crew box office Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm between May 1 and 21, 2011. Two-day weekend Stadium GA festival passes (which include entrance to the Friday pre-party) start at just $99.50 plus service and transaction fees.

The daily artist lineups for ROCK ON THE RANGE are as follows:

Friday, May 20 Pre-Party (doors open at 6pm):
Steel Panther, Danko Jones, Lez Zeppelin

Saturday, May 21 (doors open at 11am):
*Monster Energy Stage: Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Staind, Alter Bridge, Hinder, Sick Puppies, Rev Theory, Finger Eleven
*The f.y.e. Stage: Danzig, Escape The Fate, My Darkest Days, Crossfade, Asking Alexandria, Trust Company
*Jägermeister Stage: P.O.D., Black Veil Brides, 2 Cents, Egypt Central, Bad City, Downplay

Sunday, May 22 (doors open at 11am):
*Monster Energy Stage: A Perfect Circle, Disturbed, Stone Sour, Bullet For My Valentine, Black Label Society, All That Remains, Saving Abel, 10 Years
* The f.y.e. Stage: Hollywood Undead, A Day To Remember, Trapt, Cavo, PopEvil, Hail The Villain
*Jägermeister Stage: The Damned Things, Fu Manchu, Evans Blue, Art Of Dying, Red Fang









For more ROCK ON THE RANGE click here.

DEF LEPPARD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ROB ZOMBIE, TESLA, HEART, KID ROCK, and CINDERELLA are among the confirmed bands for the 18th annual Rock Fest, set to take place July 14-17, 2011 in Cadott, Wisconsin.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

Thursday, July 14:
05:00 p.m. SLAUGHTER
07:00 p.m. CINDERELLA
09:00 p.m. THREE DAYS GRACE
11:00 p.m. ROB ZOMBIE

Friday, July 15:
03:00 p.m. ROCK SUGAR
05:00 p.m. SALIVA
07:00 p.m. SKILLET
09:00 p.m. HINDER
11:00 p.m. KID ROCK

Saturday, July 16:
01:45 p.m. [to be announced]
03:00 p.m. MY DARKEST DAYS
05:00 p.m. SICK PUPPIES
07:00 p.m. CHEVELLE
09:00 p.m. SEETHER
11:00 p.m. AVENGED SEVENFOLD

Sunday, July 17:
01:45 p.m. [to be announced]
04:30 p.m. JACKYL
06:00 p.m. TESLA
08:30 p.m. HEART
10:30 p.m. DEF LEPPARD

For more ROCK FEST info click here.

Eagle Rock Entertainment will release The Taking, a brand new studio album from Duff McKagan’s Loaded on vinyl (April 12) and CD (April 19).
McKagan once again takes front and center on lead vocals and guitars. Long time Loaded members Jeff Rouse (bassist) and Mike Squires (guitar) return along with drummer Isaac Carpenter who joined in late 2009.

Recorded by Terry Date (Soundgarden, Avenged Sevenfold), the album follows the band’s 2009 debut Sick. A feature-length film, The Taking (in the style of A Hard Day’s Night crossed with The Song Remains The Same), is due this summer.

“This record really sort of took a life of its’ own, and the songs really revealed themselves to us as we went along,” says Duff. “Terry Date came into the picture at a time when his genius ear helped to capture a sonic theme for the record. You can’t underestimate what a guy like TD brings to the table. The Taking is the closest thing to a ‘concept’ record that I have ever been involved with. Pain, loss, triumph, and redemption. Life. Bring it.”



Duff McKagan’s Loaded – Dead Skin by Eagle Rock Entertainment



The Taking track listing:
01. “Lords of Abaddon”
02. “Executioner’s Song”
03. “Dead Skin”
04. “We Win”
05. “Easier Lying”
06. “She’s An Anchor”
07. “Indian Summer”
08. “Wrecking Ball”
09. “King Of The World”
10. “Cocaine”
11. “Your Name”
12. “Follow Me To Hell”










For more DUFF McKAGAN’S LOADED click here.

From Pollstar.com:

The CAROLINA REBELLION has been announced for May 7th at the Charlotte North Carolina Metrolina Expo, Carolina Rebellion will feature performances by Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Three Days Grace, Stone Sour, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Theory Of A Deadman, Alter Bridge, Hinder, Skillet, Saving Abel, Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry, My Darkest Days, Cavo, Rev Theory, Pop Evil and Art Of Dying with more acts to be announced.

All those bands will rock Charlotte from two main stages sponsored by Monster Energy, while the festival itself is sponsored by Jägermeister and the F.Y.E. chain of entertainment stores and is co-produced by Right Arm Entertainment and AEG Live.
Fans will have the chance to snatch up tickets for just under $50 dollars once the onsale begins. But that price will be available for only a limited time, so you need to move fast.

Tickets for the general admission festival go on sale Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. EST and start at $49.50 for a limited time. VIP packages, which include hotel rooms, are also available in three exciting flavors, Silver, Gold and Platinum. For more information, visit CarolinaRebellion.com.

Have you ever been entranced by a band at first listen?  Knowing that, even though you can’t pinpoint it, there’s something special about that band?  Revelation Theory, as they were known then, first took our ears by storm back in 2005 with the hit single “Slowburn”.  I remember being taken back by the soaring vocals of Rich Luzzi, backed by the harmonies of Matty McCloskey, and the heavy riffs of Julien Jorgensen, and having just that feeling.  Turns out I have good instincts.  Since then, they’ve added more fuel to that “Slowburn” with the addition of killer axe man Rikki Lixx, an abbreviated name, and a sophomore album that produced four hit singles.  Six years later, as Rev Theory prepares to release their third major label effort entitled “Justice”, I had a chance to chat with guitarist Julien Jorgensen about everything from producers to presidents.  Keep reading, but be careful… my theory is that this “Slowburn” is about to become an inferno!

AWAY-TEAM:  First off I wanna congratulate you on the upcoming tour, and the release of your new album “Justice”, which hits stores Feb. 15th.  It’s an amazing piece of work.

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Thanks bro!

AWAY-TEAM:  Your last album “Light It Up” was a tremendous success.  This time around you’ve enlisted the services of super-producer Terry Date.  Aside from his stellar resume, what made you pick a guy like Terry?

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Umm, I think it was just obviously, like you said, we’re such big fans of all the records he’s done, and the bands he’s worked with.  And ya know, I talked to my A & R guy in Kansas City, we were playing Rockfest in 2008 I think it was, we were in the middle of the cycle for “Light It Up”, and… I’m sorry 2009, and he had said to me “Man, to capture the sound and energy of you guys live…”, which is what we wanted to do, “I think Terry Date would be perfect”.  I looked at him and was like “Absolutely”.  So he reached out to Terry, and Terry was interested, and we felt like it was just the right fit.  Definitely the right guy for the music, and the record we were making.

AWAY-TEAM:  Was there a certain quality that you feel like Terry was able to bring out in you this time around? I mean, what was the recording process like?

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Terry is great at capturing the true essence of the band.  And ya know, he’s really great at capturing the character of a band.  I think that’s why his records stand the test of time.  Recording with him was awesome, he pushed us to… basically we recorded the bass and the drums live off the floor.  The record was really raw, and it was a really good experience.  We didn’t take any shortcuts, we really dug into the parts, and he was just a wealth of knowledge.  So the whole process was awesome, from stories from what he had done before, to all the little tricks he had up his sleeve, the whole thing was just a treat man.  It was a good time.

AWAY-TEAM:  On first listen, the title track “Justice” gives you the impression that the song was written for a certain someone in Washington, D.C.  The video for the song even further supports that belief.  Is that a correct assumption to make?

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Well, I think ya know, we had written the song a while back with some good friends of ours… our intention was kind of a bit political, we were a little bit upset about what was going on in the country at the time.  We’re really not a politically driven band, so we weren’t really going to use the song, and it sort of brought itself back into the fold when we were writing this record.  We just felt it was indicative of a lot of things we were going through.  Ya know, socially, stuff that we were pissed off about in our own industry.  Just a little frustration going on in the music industry in general.  So we felt like it was the perfect song, it says a lot about our fight, what we’ve been through the last eight years as a band. It also encompasses the full body of the record as a whole, so we felt like it was the right song to use as the title track.

AWAY-TEAM:  The song “Hollow Man” features your bassist, Matt McCloskey singing leads.  How did that come to be?

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  It was just… Matt had actually written that song when we were on tour, probably a year and a half ago.  It was just one of those that came out in the back of the bus, and literally made it all the way through.  And I think it made it because it was just a real honest song, and Matty had sung it originally and just kinda did it on the record as well.  It was from him, and from his soul it sounded great with him singing.

AWAY-TEAM:  So was this just a one shot deal? Or is this maybe the start of an Alice in Chains type thing where, as Jerry Cantrell would put it, you have two lead singers?

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Well, I mean we’ve sort of felt that way for a long time, we just never had the right opportunity to showcase it.  I think that this record we do alot of sort of, I mean obviously we’ve done alot of harmonies in the past, there’s alot of counter-melodies and counter-vocals in there.  We just try to feature Matty as much as possible, and we feel like this song is definitely the stepping stone…

AWAY-TEAM:  With the last album, the WWE took notice.  They actually made “Light It Up” the theme song for Wrestlemania 24.  Then you went on even further to work with them, giving them “Hell Yeah” and “Voices”, and you were even part of a WWE skit?

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Yeah, we did a couple of skits with them backstage.  It was actually pretty funny, we’re big fans of Festus and Biscuits and Gravy…Jesse & Festus, they’re funny, they’re characters.  So we actually got to do some skits with them backstage.  It was fun.

AWAY-TEAM:  Cool!  Now “Enemy Within” seems like a song that’s tailor made for the WWE.  What inspired that song? And are there any plans for the WWE to use any of the songs off of “Justice”?

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  That song was written as a full collaboration with the whole band.  I’m really proud of that song.  It’s just a sort of “Take the world over” song, and “take a look at yourself in the mirror”, and all that type of thing.  We felt like it was a bad-ass tune, I mean if you think it could be for the WWE that’s cool.  We wrote it kind of for ourselves, and it’s fun to play live so we’re excited to put that one in the set for sure.

AWAY-TEAM:  As we speak, you guys are on the road making the 20 hour drive up to Denver.  You guys have toured relentlessly, and with a new album to kick off 2011, there appears to be no end in sight.  When you’re out on the road like that, how do you escape and find solace, just to keep from going insane?

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Well this one’s a little.. we’re on a radio tour right now, we’re in a van and it’s really close quarters.  We’re actually having a bit of fun with it, because we haven’t done something like this in a while.  We’d been fortunate to have a bus during the last touring cycle; we’re all taking turns driving, and so we haven’t had much time away from each other in the last two weeks.  When we are on the road in the bus each of us have things we do during the day to kind of… we have our own tour regiments, ya know, some of us like to go to the gym and at least get a shower, and other guys just chill in the back, play video games, and watch movies.  Ya know, write songs, nap… some guys nap a lot, ya know what I mean? (laughs)

AWAY-TEAM: (laughs)

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Everyone’s got their own thing, and when it comes to like an hour and a half before gametime, before the show, we all start getting in the same mode.  We have a pre-game warmup that we all rock out to, and we put a playlist together, and the cameraderie kicks in, and we take the stage together.  So when it’s like an hour out, we’re ready to go.

AWAY-TEAM:  What do you do to get amped up for a show like that?  Is there a certain song or album you listen to?

JULIEN JORGNSEN:  Yeah.  We have a ton of go-to’s.  I mean, on the last record, the last cycle we had “Whiskey in the Morning” by Buckcherry, some newer stuff from Filter, we had some Avenged Sevenfold, some Pantera on there.  Followed by some Jäger and some Monster Energy Drinks. We have the Matty Mayhem special cocktail, which consists of Monster Energy Drink, and the Monster shots (The Hitmen), and Jäger.  So we usually pound a few of those before we go out there.

AWAY-TEAM:  (laughs) Sounds like you’d have to pound them! Holy Shit!

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  (laughing) It’s a good time brother, it’s a good time.  Well back in the day we used to drink Jäger and Monster out of a bowl. Cuz we didn’t have cups, ya know we drank them out of those cereal bowls.

AWAY-TEAM:  (laughing) Lap it up!

JULIEN JORGENSEN: (laughs) We’ve graduated to shot cups that Jäger gave us.

AWAY-TEAM:  (laughs)  Despite the tremendous success of “Light It Up”, ya know, aside from the wrestling fans and the true rock fans, to the casual fan Rev Theory is still a bit of an unknown for some reason which is a sin.  Is that a role you’re comfortable with? Or crave?  Ya know, cuz some bands don’t want the spotlight if it means sacrificing who they are.  Or is that something you’d like to change?

JULIEN JORGENSEN: I mean, we wanna get our music out there to as many people as we can.  Ya know I think that the last record was a great stepping stone for us.  I think it got our music out to alot of people, and I think that we’ll be able to kinda build on the success of that, and I think this record is that record to do it.  I think it’s a defining record for our band, and we’re really proud of the whole record.  We’re really excited to present this, I think that if we can get it to the people’s ears, they really gonna dig it.  It’s not that we love the spotlight, but we’d definitely love to grow the band, and grow the listenership because we feel like we have a really great record.

AWAY-TEAM:  I agree.  I think after this one you’ll be drinking outta pint glasses. (laughs)

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  (laughs) That is awesome. I hope so brother, I hope so.

AWAY-TEAM:  Well hey man, thanks for your time.  It’s been a great pleasure.  Best of luck with the new album and the tour, I know you’re gonna do great.  Look forward to seeing you when you make your way through Florida, and we’ll do this again.

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Yeah man.  Stay in touch. Come out to a show. 

AWAY-TEAM:  For sure.  Thanks again Julien, talk to you soon. 

JULIEN JORGENSEN:  Be good. Thanks Jason. Bye.

Rev Theory’s latest album “Justice” hits stores February 15th, and the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour featuring Rev Theory, Pop Evil, Hail the Villain, and The Black Cloud Collective kicks off February 16th in Phoenix.  For more info on Rev Theory including tour dates, and to find out where to purchase music and merchandise visit http://www.revtheory.com/

Special thanks to Julien Jorgensen for making the time to speak with me, and to Steve Karas at SKH Music for making it all happen.