New Staind track available (streaming only)

Alt-metal band Staind will be releasing their seventh studio album titled "Seven" in September 2011. (Is it me or is this September a popular month for album releases?). To promote their upcoming album, they have released a track "Eyes Wide Open" on streaming media courtesy of Metal Hammer UK.

Staind parted ways with long-time drummer Jon Wysocki after recording "Seven" - Staind will be joined by drummer Will Hunt (Evanescence, Black Label Society) for their upcoming tour. It is unclear if he will remain as a permanent member of the band or not.


Metal Hammer - Staind - 'Eyes Wide Open' Teaser on MUZU.TV

New Dream Theater track available for streaming...

Dream Theater is back with their first recording in 25 years without Mike Portnoy behind the drum set.  Mike Portnoy's spot is now occupied by Mike Mangini - who held five of the World's fastest drumming records form 2002-2005 including an amazing 1247 single strokes in 60 seconds using matched grip. Mike has also appeared on The Discovery Channel show "Time Warp" (season 1, episode 16) demonstrating extreme drumming for the show's time bending high speed cameras.

Dream Theatre has released a stream of their first post-Portnoy single, "On the Backs of Angels" from their upcoming album "A Dramatic Turn of Events" which is due to be released on September 13th, 2011.

Dave Grohl is my Personal Hero...

OK, so maybe that's stretching it a bit, but I've got a lot of respect for the guy, and every project he works on produces great music. In a way, I envy him- he's a guy about my age who stated out involved in one of the most important musical acts of the past 20 years, and has gone on to have a huge career, writing and performing music almost constantly, and gaining respect from musicians across many genres and styles. He clearly enjoys the crap out of every minute, and seems to look and act half my age- and seems to have more energy than I did half a lifetime ago.  Dave, and the Foo fighters, make music that's just good fun rock music, and let others worry about what genre it fits in. Watch below as the Foos prove at the Pinkpop festival in the Netherlands earlier this month why they have such a wide appeal- they're out there having fun, and they want the rest of us to have fun watching them - which is the whole reason most people get into music in the first place.

Adrenaline Mob New Album Teaser...

Former Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold drummer Mike Portnoy has a new project that is about to come to fruition. He's teamed up with singer Russell Allen (Symphony X), Guitarists Mike Orlando (Sonic Stomp) and Rich Ward (Fozzy), and bassist Paul DiLeo to form a new band called Adrenaline Mob, and have nearly completed their debut album.

On Friday, June 24, the Adrenaline Mob performed their first live gig in New York City, and gave the metal world a sneak peek of their new album, and did a few covers of old favorites. There does not appear to be a release date set, but it wold appear that the album will be arriving relatively soon.

Mike Portnoy stated to AOL Noisecreep "I've listened to these tunes so many times already and all I want to do is go out and play them live with this band. I've always had lots of side projects in my life, but what's exciting for me is knowing that Adrenaline Mob is bigger than that. This is a real band with a real future and 11 new songs that I think the fans are going to flip for. This last year for me has been such an emotional rollercoaster, with lots of dramatic highs and lows, so to be in this place right now with these guys and this music — let's just say it's a very happy place for me."

The band respectfully asked their fans to not post recordings of the new material online, but the band has released a teaser clip featuring short sound bytes from their upcoming album, check it out below:

20 Unexpected Cover Songs

Every band does cover songs from time to time. Probably every band that worked their way up from someone's garage and up through bigger and bigger venues probably paid their bills playing cover tunes at some point. Let's face it- most bands and professional recording artists started out just like you and me- as music fans.

Playing your version of someone else's song is a time-honored tradition. Sometimes it's just to fill out a set list, or because the guys in the band just ran out of material but still want to jam. Maybe it's because the band wanted to try out an idea without composing a whole new song in order to do it, or maybe it's just because it's fun to play songs you like to listen to. Maybe the band just wanted to do something so off the wall and different that it just might turn out cool...

So here are 20 unexpected cover songs- things you might not expect these bands to play. Some are more successful than others, and some are just off the wall crazy, enjoy...

Anthrax - Fight'em 'til You Can't Free Download

Thrash metal giants Anthrax have put up a free download of the track "Fight'em 'til You Can't" from their upcoming album "Worship Music" due out in September of 2011 - just in time for the "Big Four" tour's arrival in New York City - Anthrax's home town.

"Worship Music" marks the return of vocalist Joey Belladonna to the band, and so the album is reported to have a more "classic" Anthrax sound to it. Guitarist Scott Ian stated "This record is filled with not just four years of our lives, but with our lifetime in the band. It encompasses it all, and when I listen to the record, I can hear all the energy and love and hate and pain and laughter that went into this."

A widget on the official Anthrax website will allow free downloads of "Fight'em 'til You Can't" if you're willing to be on their online mailing list- you can get the track using the widget below:

Nirvana - Nevermind 20th Anniversary Edition coming in September 2011

Nirvana released the original Nevermind album in September of 1991, and turned the entire music industry on it's head. The album has become the iconic grunge album, and, in the minds of many, it gave a voice to an entire generation that, until then had almost no voice whatsoever. It's overnight rise also laid the groundwork for the band's equally rapid, and tragic demise. Kurt Cobain, the band's singer and primary songwriter, had a great deal of personal demons associated with the band's sudden fame, and those demons are believed to be one of the main motivations of his 1994 suicide.

Now, 20 years after Nevermind's landmark release, the album that heralded the downfall of the hair bands, and the rise of an underground scene, has clearly left an indelible mark on the music industry, and on our musical culture in general. To celebrate the incredible impact this album had, a 20th Anniversary edition will be released in September of 2011.

Into The Pandemonium - Celtic Frost (1987)

Some bands release a ground-breaking album that defines, or redefines an entire genre. Some bands release a ground breaking album that defies classification. In 1987, Celtic Frost somehow managed to do both at the same time with their third album "Into the Pandemonium."

By 1987, Celtic Frost had already established themselves as pioneers in extreme forms of heavy metal - mainly what would eventually evolve into black metal and death metal. The band, however, was far from done with experimenting with new and radical ideas- so instead of riding on the success of their previous album, "To Mega Therion," they produced what has stood the test of time as their most radical, and most ambitious effort ever- "Into the Pandemonium."

Crazy Train (Ozzy cover) Hello Kitty Style...

I hereby declare June to be "Shred on a Hello Kitty Guitar Month"

...and this guy just kills it on this cover of Ozzy's "Crazy Train"

The Heavy Metal Vegan Chef...

Finally, something I can post both here AND on my food blog at the same time...

Check below the break for a video of the Heavy Metal Chef whipping up vegan food. I'm no vegan, but when you cook to Dimmu Borgir, Six Feet Under, Iron Maiden, and Styper!?, you've got my attention...

Around the World - Queensrÿche (2011) - pre-release track

Queensrÿche has (pre) released a single from their upcoming album "Dedicated to Chaos" for download from their official facebook page.

The track is very telling- while it is a well crafted song in it's own right, it represents a very different musical direction than the sound from the band's heyday before the departure of guitarist Chris DeGarmo in 1997- which will no doubt disappoint many fans who have been hungry for another prog-metal magnum opus like their 1988 "Operation:Mindcrime" production.

I have to hesitate to label this track as "Progressive Metal" - it really is not. On the "progressive" side of the coin- I can see it as an experiment with different styles, but is it metal? Not really, in my book.

Neil Peart on Letterman - Drum Solo

So, as I mentioned in my last post - the great Neil Peart did indeed perform a drum solo on the Letterman show Thursday night. The performance was a shortened version of the 8+ minute solo he's been performing on Rush's Time Machine tour for the past year or so.

In order to avoid getting the stink-eye from the show's producers, the solo was shortened to a mere 4 minutes- meaning the changes were accelerated, and most of the improvisational section was dropped for brevity. See the video below...

Neil Peart to be featured on Letterman June 9th

David Letterman has declared the week of June 6th 2011 as "Drum Solo Week". Each night, his show is featuring a different drummer performing a solo. Guests include the Late Show's own Anton Fig, Sheila E, and Roy Haines.

The finale spot on the night of Thursday, June 9th goes to the one and only Neil Peart- who is considered by many (ok, most) people to be the greatest rock drummer of all time.

Walk (video) - Foo Fighters (2011)

The Foo Fighters have released the third video from their new album "Wasting Light" - "Walk" on their website and YouTube. In true Foo Fighter fashion, the video is jam packed with the band's trademark slapstick humor.

"Walk" is probably the most inspirational song on the album- but, of course, the video contains nothing relating to the subject of the sing (other than the fact that it shows Dave Grohl walking around).

The thing that really drives the humor home is the fact that the video closely follows the plot of the film "Falling Down" - which is anything but an inspirational story...

Even the Slept (Local band from Philadelphia)

Local bands are the heart and soul of any music scene. These are the people who are out making music because it's what they love to do, day in, day out- usually with only a small amount of recognition, and rarely for more than a pocketful of money. These are the bands that may very well become the next big thing, or may have a strong influence on whatever that next big thing is. As important as they are to the culture of the music we all love, it is very easy for a writer to overlook them in favor of more popular, more well documented bands.

I'm going to attempt to correct that oversight in my own writing by introducing to you an up and coming band based in the Philadelphia, PA area called Even the Slept. Over the past few years, they have played numerous shows throughout the greater Philadelphia area, and have even ranged out as far as New York and Delaware. They have also spent time in the studio recording songs for their 2 track demo in 2009, and their upcoming EP, "Sinks the Ocean" (check it out their website and facebook page.)