Away Team

The main stage for this summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival will feature Slipknot, Slayer, and a major special guest which will be announced on March 5th. The fourth slot on the main stage will feature a rotation of The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying and Asking Alexandria.

.In 2012 the tour has upgraded the production on the festival stage and this year the Jagermeister Stage will feature a special headline set by Anthrax supported by a rotation of The Devil Wears Prada, A I Lay Dying and Asking Alexandria, along with Whitechapel, High On Fire and the Jagermeister opener. Please note that bands may vary per market.

Mayhem will kick off the 26 date trek across the U.S. beginning on June 30th at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California and ticket sales kick off on April 6th with the GET OFF YOUR ASS pre-sale ticket promotion.

Tune in to the Mayhem site for up-to-date ticketing info, news and sign up HERE for the pre-sale ticket mailing list and the first crack at 2012 pre-sale ticket.

June
30 – San Bernardino, CA – San Manuel Amphitheater
July
1 – San Francisco, CA – Shoreline Amphitheater
3 – Seattle, WA – White River Amphitheater
4 – Boise, ID – Idaho Center Amphitheater
6 – Phoenix, AZ – Ashley Furniture Home Store Pavilion
7 – Albuquerque, NM – Hard Rock Casino Albuquerque Presents The Pavilion
8 – Denver, CO – Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
10 – Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavilion
11 – Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
13 – Tampa, FL – 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre
14 – Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
15 – Indianapolis, IN – Klipsch Music Center
18 – Oklahoma City, OK – Zoo Amphitheatre
20 – St. Louis, MO – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
21 – Chicago, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
22 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
24 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
25 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
27 – Philadelphia, PA – Susquehanna Bank Center
28 – Pittsburgh, PA – First Niagara Pavilion
29 – Washington, DC – Jiffy Lube Live
31 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
August
1 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake PAC
3 – Boston, MA – Comcast Center
4 – Scranton, PA – Toyota Pavilion
5 – Hartford, CT – The Comcast Theatre

For more on the ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK MAYHEM FESTIVAL click here

TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy has confirmed to Terrorizer that drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER, EXODUS, FORBIDDEN) has left the band.

Bostaph was absent from the recording sessions for TESTAMENT‘s new album, “The Dark Roots Of Earth“, which will be released on April 27, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records. The Dark Roots Of Earth features Gene Hoglan on drums because Paul has been out of action due to a “serious injury” and unable to record or tour.

Chuck explains that Paul has decided to step down permanently, leaving the band with the task of finding a new member.

“We just found out last week Paul Bostaph is not coming back to the band, he’s starting his own new project and doing some things on his own. So we’re actually going to be holding a couple of auditions with probably small group of drummers that we chose – we don’t want to have a revolving drum stool, we have a new record, we want a permanent drummer.”









For more TESTAMENT click here.

This month’s JAMMIT featured tracks come from guitar virtuoso, Steve Vai and legendary progressive masterminds, RUSH with their epic 2112 masterpiece in its entirety.

Jammit is the first music software solution that eliminates the annoying “stop, play, rewind” method of learning your favorite songs. Jammit® is more than just a cool app that separates the instruments that you want to hear from within the mix of your favorite songs, it’s also the source of the most accurate transcriptions in the world. Jammit® unlocks the secrets that are hidden in the mix so you can learn to play exactly what was recorded with unique offerings for guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and vocals.

Jammit’s patented variable timing technology provides easy, snap-to-grid looping for repeating and perfecting difficult sections. Meticulous note-for-note transcriptions in standard notation and tablature are derived from the isolated tracks providing a level of accuracy previously unavailable anywhere. The amazing variable speed feature allows users to slow down any part of a song without affecting the pitch, making the most complex musical performances easier to master.

Jammit® offers a diverse selection of the greatest artists including Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, Three Days Grace, Slayer, Rob Zombie, Nickelback, AFI, Yes, Mötley Crüe, Pantera, and many more. Visit http://jammit.com/ for a complete listing of current and upcoming artists. JAMMIT® is a must-have for every level of musician and singer from beginner to the accomplished professional.

Jammit® releases new tracks daily on Twitter and Facebook , follow us and find out what’s coming out tomorrow!

Jammit® is currently available for the iphone, ipod touch and ipad with Android and desktop versions coming soon.

Bay Area thrash kings TESTAMENT are pleased to announce that current Dark Roots Of Earth studio drummer and world-famous percussionist GENE HOGLAN will be joining them on the road for select dates on their upcoming co-headlining run with Anthrax. Gene will join TESTAMENT from October 28th through November 13th.

“As many of you know, I just played on the new TESTAMENT record, Dark Roots Of Earth, which went amazingly well,” states Gene Hoglan. “The dudes were kind enough ask me to join them for a couple weeks on this tour with Anthrax and Death Angel. I’m super stoked to do the shows. It’s going to be a great time. Just so everybody knows, I will be selling my Drum Instructional DVD, The Atomic Clock, at the shows (shameless plug). If you can’t make it out to one of the shows, buy it on line!”

TESTAMENT recently announced that they will again be offering special VIP/Meet & Greet Packs on their upcoming co-headlining tour with Anthrax with support from Death Angel. The band is pleased to announce that the cut off time to purchase VIP/Meet & Greet packs before each individual show has been extended to eight (8) days! The VIP/Meet & Greet packs are selling quickly, so make sure to purchase your pack soon! For more information on how to obtain your special VIP/Meet & Greet Pack, head over to www.slotix.com now.

Purchasing a VIP/Meet & Greet Pack allows you the opportunity to spend intimate, quality time with TESTAMENT. TESTAMENT offered these packs on last year’s monumental American Carnage Tour also featuring Megadeth and Slayer, which presented fans with a unique and exclusive chance to spend time with the band before doors opened, take photos and get autographs, throw up the horns, and chat. This year with the VIP/Meet & Greet Packs, fans will have another chance to hang out, sign autographs and take photos with the band, as well as have access to a ticket to their performance, special merchandise hand-picked by the band, and a collectible TESTAMENT laminate to commemorate this ultimate fan experience!

Testament Meet & Greet Package Includes (Full Details):
• One General Admission ticket
• Meet & Greet with select members of Testament
• Photo with select members of Testament
• Autograph opportunity with select members of Testament
• Testament merchandise items*
o T-shirt of your choice from the merch booth (before doors open)
o Opportunity to purchase a second item at half off from the merch booth (before doors open)
o Assorted guitar picks
o Wristband
o Rare, out of print “Live At The Filmore” cassette
o Original printing of “Demonic” CD
• Collectible Testament laminate

“We love connecting with our fans and showing them same the respect and admiration they show us year after year,” states vocalist Chuck Billy. “Hanging out and talking to the fans was a phenomenal experience for everyone last year. It was a first for us as well as the fans. It’s a great way to join us at the shows in celebration of all that is heavy metal and to make a personal connection with us, so come hang out and commemorate this great tour!”

TESTAMENT have been spending time in the studio recording Dark Roots Of Earth, the follow up to their 2008 Golden God ‘Album of the Year’ award winning album, The Formation of Damnation, released on Nuclear Blast Records to critical acclaim. The album was named SiriusXM Liquid Metal‘s ‘Album of the Year‘ in 2008, and debuted at #59 on the Billboard Top 200. The Formation of Damnation is TESTAMENT‘s highest charting release in their 24-year history.

The band has spent the last three years touring the world in support of The Formation of Damnation, and now brings its original, classic lineup back home to the United States with Anthrax and Death Angel. See below for all currently confirmed tour dates.

TESTAMENT w/ Anthrax & Death Angel:
10/18 Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion
10/19 Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
10/21 Las Vegas @ LVCS – No Anthrax
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 TESTAMENT click here.

“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.

Thrash titans ANTHRAX and TESTAMENT, who haven’t toured together in more than a decade, are set to co-headline a U.S. tour beginning Friday, October 14 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ANTHRAX will close all shows, and DEATH ANGEL will be main support for the entire tour. The coast-to-coast trek will figure to decimate more than two dozen cities over a five-week period, with both ANTHRAX and DEATH ANGEL debuting brand new material from their new albums. The ANTHRAX fan club presale begins today at www.anthraxarmy.com, and the public on-sale kicks off Friday, September 9 at 10 a.m. local time.

“We’ve been tight with the guys in TESTAMENT for a long, long time,” said ANTHRAX‘s Charlie Benante, “so we’re really looking forward to hanging out with them on the road. And all of us in ANTHRAX are big DEATH ANGEL fans, so this is going to be a monster of a good time — for all of us and for the fans. Plus, with the incredible success of The Big Four shows over the last year, we wanted to tour with some of the ‘second wave’ of thrash bands.”

The tour will follow ANTHRAX‘s Big Four “hometown” appearance at Yankee Stadium on September 14, with METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.

“We’re excited to do this tour because ANTHRAX was actually the first band we ever toured with,” adds TESTAMENT vocalist Chuck Billy. “It’s an accomplishment 20 odd years later that we’re going to do it again. The tour kick-off date is actually about five days difference from the kick off date of the first tour 20 years ago. The first time we performed with ANTHRAX, we only had a total of ten songs, so obviously now we have many songs to pick from so it will be very different. It’s good to see that a lot of the faces in the bands are the same as back when we first did this original tour 20 years ago.”

ANTHRAX / TESTAMENT / DEATH ANGEL fall 2011 tour dates:
Oct. 14 – Orbit Room, Grand Rapids, MI
Oct. 15 – Congress Theatre, Chicago, IL
Oct. 16 – First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
Oct. 18 – The Cotillion, Wichita, KS
Oct. 19 – Summit Music Hall, Denver, CO
Oct. 22 – Nokia LA Live, Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 23 – Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA
Oct. 24 – House of Blues, San Diego, CA
Oct. 26 – Sunshine Theatre, Albuquerque, NM
Oct. 28 – South Side Music Hall, Dallas, TX
Oct. 29 – Emo’s East, Austin, TX
Oct. 30 – Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
Nov. 01 – House of Blues, Orlando, FL
Nov. 02 – Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Nov. 04 – House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC
Nov. 05 – Fillmore Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Nov. 06 – The Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
Nov. 08 – Northern Lights, Clifton Park, NY
Nov. 10 – Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
Nov. 11 – Palladium, Worcester, MA
Nov. 15 – Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY
Nov. 17 – Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA
Nov. 19 – Rave, Milwaukee, WI

More shows will be announced.

For more ANTHRAX click here.
For more TESTAMENT click here.
For more DEATH ANGEL click here.

Away-Team: I’m here with Corey Beaulieu from TRIVIUM, thank you Corey for taking time to talk with us today! So you were born in Maine, and TRIVIUM hails from Florida, how did you end up hooking up with them?

Corey Beaulieu: After I graduated High School, I needed something to do. I always wanted to be in a band, but up there I didn’t have a band, there just wasn’t anything going on up there. I couldn’t find any musicians. Up there it isn’t really much of a metal scene…

Away-Team: You mean Maine isn’t the hot bed for metal in America?!?!?!

Corey Beaulieu: You’d think… but no! (laughs) it was very hard to find people that could actually play the kind of music I wanted to play. So after I graduated High School I needed to do something and I was always interested in recording so I moved to Orlando, Fl and went to Full Sail for recording. And before I even started classes, I heard about this club right around the corner from where I was living that had a metal show. I went there and TRIVIUM was one of the local bands, they were a three piece at the time. And when they played I was like, ‘Wow, these guys play the same kind of shit I am in to.’ I ended up meeting Matt’s Dad who was managing the band at the time. He gave me some info on the band and said they were playing this thing at Full Sail the next week so I went there. I got introduced to Matt, we became friends, emailed back and forth, I’d see him at other metal shows and whatever. Then a year later I saw on their website they were looking for a second guitar player so I hit them up and told them I was interested in trying out. He knew I played guitar, but he had never seen my play guitar he just knew we had some of the same influences. I went over to his house one day and we jammed, I had learned a few songs of theirs before I went there and we just jammed. After that he asked me to come jam with the band, so I jammed with the band and they were like, ‘you wanna be in the band?’ and that’s all I’ve been doing ever since.

Away-Team: Did you complete Full Sail or just blow it off for the riches and fame of TRIVIUM?

Corey Beaulieu: (laughs) I joined the band about a month before I graduated, so after I graduated I just went full on with the band. And eventually it all took off and did what it’s done and we are lucky enough to make a career out of it. Luckily I didn’t have to go schlep around for a job, because a job in that field that I went to school for is every difficult to find a job today. Since there’s no studios, the only people that have studios anymore are like in their own homes or whatever. Nobody goes to traditional studios anymore. Even people I went to school with at Full Sail seven years ago, nobody has a job in that field anymore. I was very fortunate that even going down there to do that, I was able to actually do what I wanted and that was be in a band. I always say I paid $35,000 to join a band (laughs).

Away-Team: (laughs) And Full Sail can use you for the job placement advertising… ‘Join Full Sail and you too can become a Rock Star!’

Corey Beaulieu: Yeah, well, no one’s ever hit me up from there. (laughs)

Away-Team: You and Matt share lead and rhythm guitar duties in the band. While not the first time for a band, it is definitely unique. How did you come up with this style for Trivium, and how does it benefit you and the band?

Corey Beaulieu: Well….

Away-Team: I mean, you normally have two guitarists, and your lead guy is the shredder, he’s the one that stands out and rips out a solo as guys throw horns into the air and girls throw their panties on stage… You have some great licks; you have a great talent on the guitar…

Corey Beaulieu: Wow, thank you…

Away-Team: Does sharing that with Matt take away from that ‘guitar god’ status a little bit? Do you lose a little individuality when you share lead guitar with another guitarist?

Corey Beaulieu: Not Really… We both have different styles of playing; we both like playing lead, so we chose to both do it. We just divvy it up evenly as much as possible. And it is cool because we have different takes on playing lead so there are different dynamics within the song and within the solos by trading off. Ever since I joined the band as he was the only guitar player, since I could do lead also, just right out of the box we said let’s both do it. It was a natural thing for us, so we just did it, and a lot of our favorite bands growing up except for Metallica had that, Megadeth was Mustaine and Friedman, Slayer both play lead, Iron Maiden had… well they have three lead players now. I just always liked the multiple lead guitar thing, especially when you have one guy with a monster solo and it just leads into another solo by the other guy… It’s just always been a natural part of our sound. I think now on the new album too it has really worked out because Matt just found the sound that thing he was going after on it, a certain style and feel, and what suited his playing the best. He’s doing more melodic old school, kinda simplistic solos, and I’m doing the melodic slash shreddy stuff. It is very easy to decipher who’s playing which solo because our styles on this album are so different and distinct. We’re not treading the same waters playing the same fast crazy shit all the time. Since we both like to play lead that has just always been our signature sound and part of our songwriting.

Away-Team: Your musical style has changed over the years, you are no longer thought of as metalcore, which I never pegged you as, but more straight forward thrash. Was that a conscious decision on your part, or was it just maturing and stretching as musicians?

Corey Beaulieu: We just play every record as we just play whatever we feel like playing. It’s all very natural for us, we don’t go, ‘oh let’s do this record this way, and then we’ll do the next record sounding like that.’ We just start writing the songs and in that moment and time it just takes its own shape and sound. The style just dictates itself we don’t consciously decide, ‘oh on Crusade we’re going to do this.’ Musically it just came out naturally. We always find new influences to incorporate into the new album; we don’t want to keep churning out the same shit every album, so we’re always pushing the boundaries of what we can do with our songwriting. This last album (In Waves out now!), we decided we needed to define our sound. Because the last couple of albums we were experimenting with different tunings, different sounds, and different styles of songs and just seeing what we could do. On this record we just knew what the record had to be and we just wanted to write a record that was a career defining moment. Just put our foot down, like we’re fucking serious here, this is a serious fucking metal album, and just solidify our sound. So you’re like, ‘oh, that’s TRIVIUM! That’s their sound, that’s what they are all about.’ The other thing we wanted was to make the album sound cohesive, we wanted the songs to flow, to have the same style and sound, so that none of the songs were like an odd man out and didn’t fit the record, they all have the same…. vibe or sound or feel to them, that they belonged on that record. We just wrote a lot of songs and made sure that the songs worked well and fit with the other songs on the record. And we also made the heaviest record we have ever done. The heavy stuff is heavier and more intense than anything else we’ve ever done.

Away-Team: The band came out after Shogun, and said that it was what it was, that you couldn’t describe what/or who it sounded like. It was Trivium and it stood on its own. Were you guys really that concerned about the comparisons to Metallica or other bands then? Isn’t there some sense of flattery of being compared to one of the biggest metal bands in the world?

Corey Beaulieu: When people listen to music, they are always gauging shit, always comparing them to someone else. If you read a review it is always, ‘for fans of this,’ or ‘if you like this band you’ll love this.’ I guess being compared to the biggest metal band of all time is not a bad thing I just felt it was kind of limiting as far as… Take The Crusade record, I listen to that and there are influences on there, riffs, songs, tones, styles, that are just in no way comparable to Metallica. And Matt’s vocals may style wise remind you of James, but he doesn’t sound like James. I just think a lot of the songs and riffs on that record are just very Un-Metallica. I think Shogun stepped away from that more and this record (In Waves out now!!!) that , ‘oh they sound like Metallica clones’ has been put to rest, at least by us. If people say that now, then they are fucking idiots. You’re obviously not listening to what we are playing. Don’t get me wrong, they are obviously a big metal influence, but so are Megadeth, Testament, Slayer, and Iron Maiden. There are a lot of stuff in there. Over the years we have found a way to take those influences, with other elements outside that style of music, and put our own twist on it, so that now what you hear is TRIVIUM only. I think In Waves sets us apart from other bands out there today, it ensures that we don’t sound too much like anyone else, it sounds like TRIVIUM in vocals, and in guitar riffs, so that if we are to be compared, it is them to us.

Away-Team: On a festival like this, the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, you play about 35 minutes, what do you do the other 23.5 hours of the day to keep from being bored out of your mind or trapped on the bus?

Corey Beaulieu: We try to catch a lot of the bands on the side stages, just hang out and watch them perform. We try and do a lot of press, and there are a lot of people on this tour, so it’s always a lot of just hanging out with other bands. There’s always something going on. After our set, we shower, dinner, and then go watch Megadeth. There’s always something going on, a party here and there, enough people to make something happen all the time.

Away-Team: In Waves comes out next week (at time of interview… In Waves came out last Tuesday! Go. Get. It.), Mayhem ends in a few weeks, what’s next on the horizon for TRIVIUM?

Corey Beaulieu: Yes, In Waves comes out, go pick it up! After Mayhem we have about a month long tour with Dream Theater from mid September to October. Then Europe from early November through almost Christmas. We haven’t properly toured over there in fucking ages so that should be a blast! We’re touring there with In Flames so that should be killer. Then next year is Australia, South America which hasn’t been announces yet.

Away-Team: Is that headlining?

Corey Beaulieu: No! We’ve never been there before so we are going with some other bands that have. We felt the safest route was to go with someone who has done it before, instead of going on our own and guessing and making huge mistakes. We’re going with two other bands that have been down there a few times before, and we have a lot of demands to play down there and a lot of fans down there so we are really looking forward to that. Hopefully in the spring we’ll be back in the US touring again. Yesterday our first active rock radio single went out to all the stations, so hopefully that takes off soon, some stations already have it in full rotation and hopefully more pick it up. And if it really takes off on the radio and gets us new fans it could really change the landscape of what we do tour wise in the spring. Call your local rock radio station and fucking request some TRIVIUM!!!

Away-Team: Yeah DAMNIT!

Corey Beaulieu: Yeah, we need that shit! (laughs)

Away-Team: Good luck with the single, new album, the tours, and continued success Corey, and thank you again for taking the time to sit in this wonderful 100 degree heat and talk with us!

Corey Beaulieu: Thank you, the album is out, you can check us out online, if you like what you hear buy it please! And support music!

Away-Team: And… Trivium sounds like… Trivium.

Corey Beaulieu: Yes… Heavy Metal Baby!!!! (laughs)

There is a long list of people to thank for making this and all of our Mayhem Fest interviews happen, so, forgive me if I forgot anyone, but thanks to Lilly at Roadrunner, Bill at eOne Music, Rikki, Natalie, and Jessica at Adrenaline, and Laura Jean with Mayhem.

For more TRIVIUM click here.

ENTER TO WIN TICKETS TO THE BIG 4 CONCERT
AT YANKEE STADIUM ON 9/14 FEATURING ANTHRAX, METALLICA, MEGADETH, AND SLAYER

Anthrax has launched a contest, presented by f.y.e., to see the band perform  live in New York  City with the original singer Joey Belladonna.  Starting  now, one very lucky winner will have the opportunity to win a trip to the Big 4 concert at Yankee Stadium on  September 14th. The winner and a guest will receive round  trip airfare tickets to New York  City, hotel, and tickets to one of the biggest metal  events this year!  In order to enter and for official contest rules, go to www.redmusic.com/anthrax/anthraxsweepstakes.html

Make sure to pick up  your copy of the new Anthrax “Worship Music” record on September 13th or preorder your copy of the record now on fye.com.

Technical death metal band DECAPITATED from Poland have released the album artwork to their fifth studio album and Nuclear Blast debut, Carnival Is Forever. The album will be released in North America on July 12th.

Guitarist & founding member Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka shares a few words about the cover art’s intent and photography by Lukasz Jaszak:

“Very intriguing and quite strange for a metal album but surely staying in memory. A vital thing is that it’s a photo. We did not want any computer graphics this time or anything artificial or plastic. The same regards the production of the album. We had actually been thinking about getting a painting for the cover but unfortunately we couldn’t do it. Maybe next time.”

About the album title, Vogg has previously stated:
“Carnival: war, rape, lies, pathology, evil displayed through certain events and situations of the latest years in the world. Is Forever – I guess it doesn’t need explaining. Both the text and the title are bitterly ironic.”

Carnival Is Forever is the follow-up to 2006’s Organic Hallucinosis and was produced by Wacek Kiełtyka and sound engineered by Malta Arkadiusz Malczewski. Drums & mixing duties were handled by Daniel Bergstrand (BEHEMOTH, MESHUGGAH, DIMMU BORGIR, KEEP OF KALESSIN, DEFLESHED). The author of the album’s lyrics is Jarek Szubrycht, music journalist, author of No Mercy – the world’s first biography of thrash metal legends SLAYER.

The band will be self-releasing the new album in their native Poland.









For more DECAPITATED click here.

From METALLICA.com:
“A huge thanks to everyone who came out to the desert this past weekend . . . we felt the enormous love and support, so we just had to find a way to make one more Big 4 show in the States happen. Enter New York . . . that’s right, the Big 4 of Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, and ‘Tallica will be in the new version of the famed Yankee Stadium on September 14, 2011! We can’t wait for a night in the Bronx as our second American show and for those of you who love fun facts, this will also be the second live music event hosted at the new ballpark.
ALL seats are reserved for this show and tickets go on sale Friday, May 6 at 10:00 AM via www.ticketmaster.com. Met Club members should log in for more information about a special pre-sale starting on Wednesday, May 4. Yankees season ticket holders will have their own pre-sale, also on May 4, starting at noon.
Check back here next week for more information about VIP packages and long distance shuttles.”

For more on the BIG 4 announcement click here.

So the greatest metal show of all time is set to take place this Saturday April 23rd in California. It is every metal heads dream gig. It is The BIG 4: METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH, & ANTHRAX all performing on the same stage. Yes, this IS a big deal. I will not be there, but it IS a big deal. It is a show that everyone thought would never happen.

Then something funny happened on the way to the polo club. Jeff Hanneman caught some kind of flesh eating virus, and Scott Ian knocked up Pearl Aday. And now Gary Holt (EXODUS) is taking Jeff‘s place and Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA) is taking Scott‘s place.

In Jeff‘s case we all wish him a speedy recovery and hope he returns to the SLAYER ranks soon and healed up 100%. Word is he is almost ready to return, and wanted to for this show, but he just isn’t quite there yet.

In Scott‘s case his fiancée Pearl Aday is pregnant, and due to spill any day. So, wanting to be the good first time father he is not attending any Anthrax dates currently until the birth of their child. No word on how long of a Paternity leave he will be taking once the baby is born.

Here’s where Scott‘s logic gets a little fuzzy for me. He can’t attend the BIG 4 concert to play in the US in front of possibly 200,000 people but he can attend the Golden Gods Awards yesterday WITH Pearl in tow? Really? No, he did. And here is a picture to prove it.

Who am I to jump on him for making the difficult decision of not playing the biggest US show of his career? Why not appear at some awards show in LA on a Wednesday and not appear two hours southeast of LA to perform for a quarter million people three days later? Makes perfect sense to me.

So I ask you this question, can the BIG 4 be the BIG 4 if they are missing 2 of the most well known metal guitar players in the world?

From Metallica.com:
We’re gearing up for our first Big 4 show in the States and our friends over at SiriusXM are too as they launch “Big 4 Radio” tomorrow, Tuesday, April 12 at 12:00 pm ET with 24/7 ‘Tallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax running through Sunday, May 8 at 3:00 am ET. The channel will feature highlights of interviews with members of all four bands as well as some of our live recordings, including performances from previous Big 4 shows. SiriusXM listeners can also tune in for on-site reports from the upcoming Big 4 show in Indio, CA on April 23, 2011.

You can check it all out by heading over to SiriusXM.com for Internet Radio or through the SiriusXM App for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch along with several BlackBerry and Android-powered smartphone devices. “Big 4 Radio” will also air on Sirius channel 27 and XM channel 42 Saturday April 16 starting at 12:00 pm ET through Saturday, April 30 at 3:00 am ET.

On Sunday, May 8, “Mandatory Metallica” returns! The 24/7 all ‘Tallica all the time channel, including music from the entire catalog, rare cuts and live songs, will be available on SiriusXM Internet Radio on Bootlegs, and through the app for all the electronic devices mentioned above for about four months.









For more information about SiriusXM and the channel, head on over to SiriusXM.com.

Get ready for hell on earth, because for the first time since they tour together on Ozzfest 1999, Rob Zombie and Slayer are teaming up to hit the road, bringing a glorious purgatory to fans in 12 North American cities. The co-headline trek kicks off Wednesday, July 20 at the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA. Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 1 at 10:00AM local time.

“We haven’t toured with Zombie since Ozzfest 1999, so you can expect no less than ‘hell on earth,’” said Slayer’s Kerry King. “Total sonic annihilation and a visual bludgeoning. Bring your own body bag…”

“Total destruction on stage and off is what this combination promises,” states Zombie, “Seriously, how much more Hell could you ask for? The answer is none more Hell.”

Both Zombie and Slayer will present their full headline sets at every show, and both bands will close shows over the course of the tour. San Francisco’s thrash-metal band Exodus has been confirmed to open all shows.

Slayer has been performing its classic 1990 Seasons In the Abyss album in its entirety over the past several months, but will instead draw from its entire 30-year catalogue for this tour’s setlist.

Never one to play it safe, Zombie will be bringing his legendary stage show out in full force. Audiences can expect an exploding non-stop barrage of sin, sex and Satan guaranteed to rip your face off. This a true rock and roll spectacle at its finest.

Dates for the Slayer and Rob Zombie tour are as follows:
JULY
20 Sovereign Center, Reading, PA
22 DTE Amphitheatre, Detroit, MI
23 Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA
24 Heavy T.O. at Downsview Park, Toronto, ON Canada
27 MTS Centre, Winnipeg, MB Canada
29 Credit Union Centre, Saskatoon, SK Canada
30 Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, AB Canada
31 Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB Canada
AUGUST
2 Save-On-Foods Memorial Center, Victoria, BC Canada
3 Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC Canada
5 Rose Quarter Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR
6 WaMu Theatre, Seattle, WA

For more ROB ZOMBIE click here.
For more SLAYER click here.

EXODUS are pleased to announce their confirmation to perform at Ieperfest in Belgium and Rock im Betonwerk in Germany. For their August 10th performance at the Metal Hammer Festival in Katowice, Poland, EXODUS will be opening for British metal legends Judas Priest.

Guitarist Gary Holt has the following to say about the upcoming opportunity:
“I can’t believe that after getting to play with Iron Maiden in Chile, now we can announce that we will be sharing the stage with Judas Priest in Poland! How much better can it get? Two shows with two of our biggest heroes! Now if only I can select the set for them… I can dream, can’t I?! It’s gonna be awesome; to say we’re excited is an understatement.”

View video footage of Gary Holt playing live with SLAYER at the Brisbane Soundwave Festival on February 26th in Australia below.














For more EXODUS click here.

As announced by SLAYER, Gary Holt of EXODUS will be temporarily filling in for guitarist Jeff Hanneman during SLAYER’s upcoming tour dates. He will immediately join Slayer members Kerry King, Tom Araya and Dave Lombardo on their five-date Australian Soundwave Festival that begins February 26.



Gary Holt offers the following comments about his upcoming stint as touring guitarist for one of metal’s most venerated bands:

“How can I put into words how excited I am to have been asked to play with SLAYER? Hard to describe for sure. Legendary band, check. Old friends since the birth of thrash metal. Check. Get to play ‘Angel Of Death’ live, priceless! I’ll do my best to live up to the standard they’ve set for so many years, while we all wish Jeff a speedy return to health and his rightful place in SLAYER.”

SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman is currently recuperating at home after emergency surgery on his right arm after contracting a serious infection, possibly caused by a spider bite. He is expected to make a full recovery and will return to the SLAYER line-up as soon as he has fully recovered.

For more SLAYER click here.