Congratulations Dime, Shine on!

Cool, Dimebag Darrell to be posthumously Inducted Into Hollywood's Rockwalk. I just hoping it not because he was killed in a tragic way but because he was one hell of a guitar player and so damn nice to all his fans.

Video Premiere Party!

Alabama Thunderpussy is holding a video premiere party.
The down and dirty details:

Monday April 16th 10pm
Cous Cous Mediterranean & Moroccan resturant
900 West Franklin Street
Richmond, Va

2007 Sounds Of The Underground Dates Announced

It looks like the official line-up and tour dates have been announced for this years Sounds Of The Underground. Click on the link to learn more about the bands or to find a show near you! Hmmmm, it looks like my wife and I will be trekking down to Winston-Salem, NC unless a closer venue is announced soon. Too bad there are no Virginia stops, especially since Richmond's own G.W.A.R. is headlining the damn thing.

Release Date and Title For New Municipal Waste Album Revealed

Local Richmond thrashers Municipal Waste have completed work on their second album entitled The Art of Partying, due out June 11 via Earache Records. You can read about it more here. Hopefully this means a state-side tour when they return from their European stint in April, including a hometown show!

Pitts Vs. Preps Begin Recording Their Second Album

Pitts Vs Preps, the side project of former Exhorder/Floodgate and current Alabama Thunderpussy frontman Kyle Thomas has entered the studio to begin recording their new album. The band has been joined by none other than ATP drummer Bryan Cox. More information about the announcement can be read here or here.

New Orange Goblin Song Posted Online

Check out Orange Goblin's new song, Hound's Ditch, here from their upcoming new release Healing Through Fire. Damn good stuff.

GWAR Has Been Announced as The Sounds Of The Underground 2007 Headliners

According to the announcement from G.W.A.R. themselves they are the headliners finally for the third run of The Sounds Of The Underground this summer. So far the other bands that have been announced for this line-up are Shadows Fall, Chimaira and Every Time I Die. Cool, so far so good. I've been wanting to see Chimaira and Shadows Fall live for a while and hell, from what I've heard from Every Time I Die, they aren't that bad.

Photos From The RPG Show 4/7/07

I finally was able to upload the pictures I took from RPG's Saturday night's show at Gallery 5. You can enjoy them here. RPG as always put on a solid performance. Plus, one of their opening acts ended up gaining new fans from my myself and my wife. Detroit trio The Hard Lessons put on a great performance. We we're hesitant at first by the samples we heard from the band's myspace page but their sound live and their stage presence is what won us over in the end. The Hard Lessons are a band to watch on the indie rock scene.

Baroness Signed To Relapse Records

Nice! It looks like Savannah GA's Baroness has been signed to Relapse Records. They're a damn good company to be with too. They've handled bands such as Alabama Thunderpussy and Grammy nominated Mastodon, so they're in good hands. To read more on the deal click here.

GWAR's New Video For 'Eight Lock' Posted Online

Enjoy! Not only this but it is rumored that GWAR is playing the Sounds Of The Underground tour again this year for the third year in a row. Once the official band lineup has been announced, I'll have it posted here.

A Conversation With Peter Steele

Another great interview with Type O Negative front man Peter Steele. Obviously Peter loves fucking with these interviewers especially when they slide off topic from discussing the new album or when they bring up topics he's sick of talking about. Sorry, but don't be surprised if the person you're interviewing gives you smart assed remarks when he should be promoting his band's new album and you keep asking him questions about a photo shoot he kinda regrets doing almost 15 years ago. Read it here or listen to it here. Funny stuff.

Alabama Thunderpussy In The Latest Issue Of Rolling Stone

Wow. It looks like Kyle was dead on the money with his news he told Jenn and myself Saturday. A really good review of Alabama Thunderpussy's new album Open Fire is in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. Yes you read correctly, Rolling Stone. You can read the whole review here. Not bad at all. Grabbing 3 out of 5 stars on the first album Rolling Stone reviews. Like I've said before, things are really getting serious for ATP. It looks like they're getting ready to finally receive the recognition they deserve.

The Missing Link

Both my wife and I agree, Kyle Thomas was the missing piece of the puzzle for Alabama Thunderpussy. They have been one of the best damn live shows we have seen in a very long time. They did a nice mixed set of classic and new material for the packed house this past Saturday night. The set list included:

Greed
Wage Slave
Void Of Harmony
Words Of a Dying Man
None Shall Return
Brave The Rain
Dry Spell
Dreamers Fortune
Motor Ready
The Beggar
Falling Behind
Valor
The Cleansing
Saints In Hell (from the new Judas Priest Tribute Album On Your Knees Available now!!!!!)
Open Fire

Not to mention the guys as always were really grateful for the many local fans of the surrounding area, who like us, drove an hour or more to see them play. It was great catching up with the band as well. We got to the show so early, Jenn and I just shot the shit with Bryan, Erik and Kyle for a little while. The first thing Bryan did when he saw us was come up and asked us how we we're doing and said how good it was to see us. Talk about your fan appreciation. For those who missed the show or those who want to reminisce about the blast they had, here are some photos I took during the show:

Alabama Thunderpussy & RPG @ The Outback Lodge 3/24/07

Things are really getting serious for ATP. The title track from new album has been getting quite a bit of airplay on the sirius radio channel 27 - hard attack, they have the video for Words Of A Dying Man out, and Kyle was telling Jenn and I Saturday night that a review of Open Fire was going to be in an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone!

Municipal Waste Off To The Studio

Local Richmond thrashers Municipal Waste have headed up to Massachusetts to Planet Z studios to begin work on their as-yet-untitled new album, tentatively due in stores on June 11. You can read more about it on their website as well as here. Hopefully they'll have more info in the upcoming weeks!

Orange Goblin Completes Work on Healing Through Fire

The official release date for Orange Goblin's upcoming album, Healing Through Fire, has been revealed. It will officially hit the streets May 21. The other news is that the album will come with a bonus DVD featuring live footage and interviews with the band regarding the making of the album. Nice. Hopefully this mean a new US tour to support the new album.

Alabama Thunderpussy & RPG Live at The Outback Lodge 3/24/07

Nice, not only are Alabama Thunderpussy playing with RPG tomorrow night, but tickets are only 6 bucks!!!! Damn, so not only is it a good show but dirt cheap. So if you're in or near the Richmond/Charlottesville area tomorrow night and are looking for a good rip roaring metal show, come on down to the Outback Lodge. It won't break your bank. Plus you'll still have enough scratch to pick up some swag and have plenty of cash leftover for beers or whiskey! Need directions? No problem, click here.

Iced Earth Announces New Album Details

Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth just sent an update on some of the new releases heading out of Iced Earth's camp.

First is the single Overture of the Wicked, released in late May or early June. It will include these four songs:

01. Ten Thousand Strong
02. Prophecy
03. Birth of the Wicked
04. The Coming Curse

Next is their next studio album, Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1) and should be due out late August or September. The tracklisting as of this moment will be:

01. Overture
02. Something Wicked (Part 1)
03. Invasion
04. Man's Motivation
05. The Setian Massacre
06. A Charge to Keep
07. Reflections
08. Ten Thousand Strong
09. Execution
10. Order of the Rose
11. The Clouding
12. Infiltrate and Assimilate
13. Retribution Through the Ages
14. Something Wicked (Part 2)
15. The Domino Decree
16. Framing Armageddon
17. When Stars Collide (Born is He)
18. The Awakening

During their busy schedule, they also want to try and get the mixing finished on the follow-up album, which is tentatively titled Revelation Abomination Something Wicked (Part 2). If they are able to keep on schedule, they hope to release part 2 in February or March of 2008. The tracklisting is:

01. The Sacred Flames
02. Behold the Wicked Child
03. Minions of the Watch
04. A Gift or a Curse
05. I Walk Among You
06. Harbinger of Fate
07. Ancient Rage of the High Priest
08. A Gathering Threat / Time Marches On
09. Sacrificial Kingdoms
10. Something Wicked (Part 3)
11. Divide Devour
12. Conspiracy / Pilgrimage In Guile
13. Come What May

Apparently Mr. Donohue Forgot The Definition Of Free Speech Again

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is up in arms over an off Broadway show featuring Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero entitled "Stairway to Hell". The synopsis is a band called WARTHOG "is tragically killed during their botched attempt to break the world record for onstage pyrotechnics. Somehow on the journey to the afterlife, they accidentally end up in heaven. Faced with the horror of an eternity in Heaven, our band of hard rockers petition the Devil for one last concert here on earth to prove to him they belong in Hell. This final concert is STAIRWAY TO HELL.". You can take a peak of a promotional video for the show here. Wow, it looks like some of G.W.A.R.'s early stuff to me, nothing that hasn't been done before.

What gets me is good old Catholic League president Bill Donohue's comments about the show, especially THIS SENTENCE:"It is sickening to note that some young Americans think freedom means the right to insult, degrade and abuse the sensibilities of Christians."

OK, I think ol' Bill has every right to say what he thinks about the show. That's his right of free speech protected under the First Amendment. What Bill has forgotten is that the same Amendment that allows him to protest this show also allows the people behind this show to perform it for the public. The public also has the right to not to go and see it if they are offended. The best way to hurt a performer is in the pocket. If you don't like it don't go. The more they complain and protest, that's more free publicity for the show. Plus if they keep ranting about it, you're gonna have people going just to see what the fuss is about.

Dead Again Out in Stores Today

Today is the official release date of Type O Negative's new album Dead Again. If you decide to pick it up at Best Buy, you get and exclusive second live disc including the tracks:

Everything Dies/My Girlfriend's Girlfriend
Are You Afraid?/Gravitational Constant
Christian Women
Love You to Death
Black No. 1

Van Halen's Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame Induction

Congratulations to Eddie, Alex, Dave, Michael and Sammy for finally getting inducted to the Rock N' Roll Hall of fame. Click here to see their induction by Velvet Revolver, the acceptance speech by Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar, Velvet Revolver's cover of Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love/Best of Both Worlds' and Michael & Sammy's jam with the house band performing Why Can't This Be Love. Congrats again boys. Now let's hope now they can end this fighting and get back to touring.