Away Team

“Worship Music“, (Megaforce) Anthrax‘s first studio album in eight years and its first with vocalist Joey Belladonna since 1990′s “Persistence of Time,” blasts onto next week’s Billboard Top 200 Albums chart at #12, the band’s highest chart debut in two decades, and second-highest in its career, selling 28,500 copies.

And if that’s not enough, “Worship Music” debuted at #4 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Chart, #3 on the Hard Music Core Chart, and #2 at both the Indie and Indie Core Stores charts.

“I am most proud of our fans who came out and gave us the amazing support they did,” said Anthrax‘s Charlie Benante. “To have our record debut at #12 is a great accomplishment.”

Added the band’s Scott Ian, “I’m absolutely thrilled with the fact that our Anthrax Army came out in force this week to show the world that good music matters. Thank you to all our friends, old and new! It’s a privilege to do this for you.”

While the recording of “Worship Music” was challenging and at some times difficult, it was at the core of an extraordinary experience for a band that had questioned its very future. Anthrax‘s turning point took place in 2009 at a Cleveland hotel bar with Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich when he first brought up the idea of The Big Four. That led to Anthrax‘s decision to get Belladonna back in the band on a permanent basis, and to the complete refashioning of the previously-recorded tracks for “Worship Music” with Belladonna‘s inimitable vocal stamp. Pre-release reviews of “Worship Music” hailed the album as not only a career-best for Anthrax, but “the metal album of the year,” and last week’s New York homecoming concert at Yankee Stadium as one of the original architects of speed and thrash metal with Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth - The Big Four – only added to Anthrax‘s remarkable renewal.

Anthrax hits the road beginning October 14 on a five-week, coast-to-coast tour with Testament and Death Angel.

Upcoming ANTHRAX dates:
10/14 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Orbit Room
10/15 Chicago, IL @ Congress Theater
10/16 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
10/18 Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion
10/19 Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
10/22 Los Angeles, CA @ Nokia Theater
10/23 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
10/24 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
10/26 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10/28 Dallas, TX @ South Side Music Hall
10/29 Austin, TX @ Emo’s East
10/30 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
11/1 Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
11/2 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
11/4 Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
11/5 Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
11/6 Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore
11/8 Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights
11/10 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
11/11 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
11/12 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom * NEW
11/13 Huntington, NY @ The Paramount * NEW
11/15 Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
11/17 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
11/18 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues * NEW
11/19 Milwaukee, WI @ Rave Ballroom









For more ANTHRAX click here.

Capitol/EMI have announced the details surrounding the 25th anniversary edition of Megadeth’s classic album, Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?, which is due out July 12. This marks the first time Megadeth’s landmark 1986 album has been completely remastered.

Fans will be able to choose from three versions of the album: a 2CD lift-top box, a digital album and a deluxe 5Disc+3LP box set. All versions of the Peace Sells reissue include a previously unreleased 1987 concert from the band’s first world tour, along with new liner notes by Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.









For more MEGADETH click here.

From the Marin Independent Journal:

A Sausalito man who worked as a personal assistant to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has filed a lawsuit claiming years of unpaid overtime.

Steven Wiig, 38, is seeking unspecified damages for alleged state and federal labor violations, breach of oral contract and continuing wages, according to the suit in Marin Superior Court. The lawsuit names Ulrich and Team Tours, a Burbank company that issued Wiig’s paychecks, as defendants.

A case management conference is set for June 24 before Judge Lynn Duryee.

Wiig said he was a “non-exempt” employee from 2001 to 2009, working at Ulrich‘s home and studio in Marin and going on Metallica‘s worldwide tours. Wiig says he worked as Ulrich‘s chauffeur, managed his art collection, arranged scheduling and performed numerous other tasks and errands on request.

Wiig claims he worked up to 70 hours a week while Ulrich was in Marin and up to 80 hours a week while Metallica was on tour.

“Wiig was essentially on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,” his Los Angeles-based lawyers, Alan Harris and David Zelenski, said in the complaint.

Wiig said he was paid $1,730.76 every two weeks, or $45,000 a year, and had an oral agreement for annual bonuses.

Wiig said he did not receive bonuses in 2006 and 2008, and when he left the job in February 2009, he was not paid for the accumulated overtime he was owed. Wiig says he received a “partial bonus” of $20,000 in December 2010.

Wiig‘s lawsuit does not specify how much money he is seeking. The suit also seeks legal costs.
Peter Paterno, an attorney for Ulrich in Los Angeles, said Wednesday that he has not seen the lawsuit, but he said Wiig is significantly understating his compensation. According to Paterno, Wiig‘s was paid $110,000 a year before bonuses, plus free rent and car.

Read the rest of the story here.

METALLICA‘s World Magnetic Tour, in support of the group’s ninth studio album, Death Magnetic, which was released in September 2008 – officially kicked off in October 2008 in Glendale, AZ. By September 2010, the tour had reached North America, Europe, South America, Asia and Oceania. The tour culminated with three dates in Melbourne, Australia in late November 2010.

Metallica have issued the following tour summary:
“The World Magnetic tour crossed 45 countries, 143 arena shows, 34 festival shows, 29 stadium shows, 4 club/theater shows, three tv/radio shows, two hall of fame shows, 3790 songs, and not a single setlist was the same.”

The band is taking some much needed time off before settling in to write their next album.

Lars Ulrich says Metallica is nearing the fulfillment of its current record deals all over the world, which means the band has some “interesting decisions to make” about how (and with whom) it will sell its music in the future. He’s not worried, though. “Given the slow pace at which we write albums,” he says with a laugh, “it’s not something we’ll have to deal with any time soon.”

Check out the new Billboard.com interview here.









For more METALLICA click here.

METALLICA‘s Lars Ulrich tells the UK’s Classic Rock Magazine that the Big Four could happen again in 2011 or 2012.

Excerpts from the interview follow:
“The vibe on this thing [the 'Big Four' tour] is so big, we’d be stupid to ignore it,” Ulrich said. “You know on your iPhone, you can move the weather maps up and down? Well, the ‘Big Four’ is quickly moving up to the top in terms of potential occurrences for the next couple of years.”
So I would champion trying to do this [the 'Big Four' tour] in 2011 or 2012, obviously in England and the United States. It’s just a matter of logistics. I don’t think there’s anybody involved who considers there’s a sell-by date on this.’

For more on the interview click here.