The Sludgelord News: Karnivool Set for UK Dates in March

K  A  R  N  I  V  O  O  L

Announce European And UK Tour Dates March 2015 
 

KARNIVOOL are set to return to Europe and the UK in 2015.

The band will embark on a full European and UK tour in March 2015, crossing Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic, France, Netherlands and the UK. The UK tour will see the band play their largest shows to date, starting in Glasgow and finishing in the legendary Camden Roundhouse. KARNIVOOL, renowned for their breathtaking live shows, will bring their full Australian set up for the first time to Europe for what will be a streak of more unforgettable performances.

2014 saw the Australian five piece promoting the critically lauded “Asymmetry” (4 years after the groundbreaking “Sound Awake”) and touring throughout Europe and Australia, playing some of the world’s largest festivals (including a sold out show at London’s Koko and Sonisphere UK). The album’s vast soundscapes, complex rhythms and emotive melodies are the latest chapter in the development of this extraordinary band.

To tie in to the European dates, KARNIVOOL are set to release their entire catalogue on vinyl, including their latest masterpiece ‘Asymmetry’, in addition to first two albums “Themata” and “Sound Awake”. This will be an unmissable milestone for all the KARNIVOOL fans and vinyl collectors alike.

Full UK dates are as follows.
Mon 23^rd March 2015                        Glasgow, ABC Ballroom
Tue 24^th March 2015             Manchester, Ritz Theathre
Wed 25^th March 2015                       Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
Thu 26^th March 2015             Bristol, Academy
Fri 27^th March 2015               Southampton, 1865
Sat 28^th March 2015              London, Roundhouse

Support comes from Monuments
Tickets will be priced £14 (£17.50 London) - subject to booking fee - and are available fromwww.karnivool.com www.ticketmaster.co.uk www.livenation.co.uk or local box offices
Tickets go onsale on 24^th October 2014

www.karnivool.com
www.facebook.com/karnivool
www.twitter.com/karnivool

Source: Duff PR

The Sludgelord News: IMMORTAL RANDY RHOADS – THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE to be released by UDR Records worldwide on March 9th 2015.

One of the most venerated guitarists ever to grace hard rock music, the late, great Randy Rhoads, will be celebrated in the truest of fashions with the release of IMMORTAL RANDY RHOADS – THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE on March 9th.

A collection of 11 classic Rhoads co-written songs, IMMORTAL RANDY RHOADS – THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE is performed by twenty top contemporary artists, including old friends and performing partners Rudy Sarzo and Frankie Banali, his Brother Kelle Rhoads and more designated musicians like Serj Tankian, Tom Morello, Vinny Appice, Tim (Ripper) Owens, Chuck Billy, Alexi Laiho, George Lynch, Gus G., Bruce Kulick, Doug Aldrich, Dweezil Zappa and others.

The album was produced & compiled by the Grammy-award winning guitarist and producer Bob Kulick at his own studio.

A lover of classical music, Rhoads had taken initial steps into rock’n’roll as a 16 year old when he formed a band, that soon became Quiet Riot. It was never named “Little Women”, who would quickly become Quiet Riot. Rhoads was vaulted to the limelight in 1979 when Ozzy Osbourne chose the relatively unknown guitarist to help shape a new future for him via his band, Blizzard of Oz. The result saw Rhoads co-script two of the most famous albums in hard rock history,Blizzard Of Oz and Diary of A Madman, and rapidly ascended the stairway of fame and recognition for his virtuoso playing and writing. Famed for the way he fused classical flavors with technically-excellent hard rock, Rhoads became one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock. When he tragically died on March 19^th 1982 in a plane accident, Rhoads was only 25 years old, but thankfully, the legend of his work, ethos and their continuing influence on a whole new generation of guitarists, has never dimmed.

Along with the CD, IMMORTAL RANDY RHOADS – THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE, will also contain a bonus DVD, including interesting interviews with some of the involved artists, hosted by Bob Kulick and a feature on the Musonia School of Music, a teaching school on North Hollywood, California, set up by Randy’s mother and run by his brother Kelle Rhoads.

Source: Duff Press

The Sludgelord News: MONOMYTH Announce UK Tour Dates February 2015 Album: ‘Further’ Out Now

Monomyth are excited to announce a full UK tour in February 2015. The band has just released their latest album ‘Further’ through Suburban Records.

The underlying theme of the album is movement and traveling. On “Further”, Monomyth introduces a vessel in which you can take place and travel through inner and outer space. You move through the orbits of heavenly bodies.

“Further” provides you with an aural map, which points you in the right direction. But what is the right direction? It might bring you closer to your destination, it might lead you astray, it may bring you to a head-on impact. The point is to keep moving, to break out of the known.

Monomyth is a journey in sound. It is the sound of five men exploring the outer reaches of their musicianship and traveling beyond them. The band is designed to transport their audience to another state of being, a place that is both new and familiar.

Hailing from the Hague in The Netherlands, each member has a varied musical background. Apart from playing in bands, their collective experience includes being a producer, a sound technician, a monitor mixer, a lighting engineer, a DJ and a student of sonology.

The band will be touring their UK debut in February 2015:

Thu 19^th               Cardiff                    The Moon Club
Fri 20^th                 Glasgow                 Audio
Sat 21^st                Bournemouth         The Anvil
Sun 22^nd              Milton Keynes        The Crauford Arms
Mon 23^rd              London                  The Macbeth
Tue 24^th              Chester                  The Compass
Wed 25^th             Birmingham            Alfie Birds
Thu 26^th               Edinburgh              Bannermans

Tickets are available through all usual outlets. 

Monomyth originated in The Hague in 2011. Right from the start Monomyth was intended to be an instrumental band. Through their collective experience, the members move with assurance and clarity towards their common musical goal: progressive transcendence.

Source: Duff PR

Rob Zombie - The Zombie Horror Picture Show (DVD/BluRay Review)

Rob Zombie ‘The Zombie Picture Show’ Blu Ray track listing:

1. Teenage Nosferatu Pussy

2. Superbeast

3. Super Charger Heaven

4. Living Dead Girl

5. We're an American Band

6. More Human Than Human

7. Sick Bubblegum

8. Never Gonna Stop

9. Ging Gang Gong de Do Gong de Laga Raga

10. Meet the Creeper

11. Angry Red Planet

12. Mars Needs Women

13. House of 1000 Corpses

14. Lords of Salem

15. Dead City Radio

16. Thunder Kiss '65

17. Dragula

The Band:

Rob Zombie | Vocals

John 5 | Guitars

Piggy D | Bass

Ginger Fish | Drums

Review:

Born one, Robert Bartleh Cummings January 12, 1965, the man better known as ‘Zombie’ to his legion of fans, has accomplished much.  Transforming White Zombie from an underground noise rock band, to a multimillion seller, it was perhaps all the more shocking when at the peak of their power, Zombie dissolved the band.  Not many artists experience success the second time around, and yet Rob Zombie has gone onto enjoy a rich and successful solo music career, as well directing videos for bands such as Prong and Zakk Wylde, not to mention his recent success as a screen writer and movie director. 

Coming full circle then, it is worth saying in reference to his music that Zombie is perhaps at the zenith of his career. Having released perhaps his strongest album since his debut, in Hellbilly Deluxe 2 and 2013’s top 10 album ‘Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor’, Zombie seems excited by music again and whilst I wasn’t particularly enamored by his latest record, what is irrefutable is John 5’s influence, having been the catalyst and motivation to reignite Zombie’s passion for being in a band and releasing music again in the form of ‘Educated Horses’ in 2006. 

Despite experiencing success, Zombie’s solo band has transitioned somewhat since it’s inception, original drummer John Tempesta, also of White Zombie and guitarist Riggs, now of ‘Scum of the Earth’ are gone, indeed their replacement members jumped ship some time later, most notably drummer Clufetos* and Blasko, who moved on to be part of the Ozzy Osborne band and one ‘Black Sabbath*’.  Despite these setbacks and with Zombie seemingly on indefinite hiatus, to concentrate on movies following ‘The Sinister Urge’ album, Zombie regrouped in 2006 and his band is perhaps the strongest it has been in years.  Joey Jordison (Ex- Slipknot) originally replaced Clufetos in 2010, who would in turn be replaced by Ginger Fish of Marilyn Manson fame, Piggy D replacing Blasko and in John 5; he has arguably the best stringer around as his right hand man. 

Rewinding a little to 2011 and following years of hardship, UK fans were finally treated to the Zombie live spectacular and my memories of his show at The Apollo in Manchester, UK are feelings of bewilderment and astonishment, given the overwhelmingly brilliant show I witnessed.  Despite the massive success in the States, it took around 16 years for Rob Zombie to play these shows in Europe and the UK, having originally played here with White Zombie in 1995 as support to Metallica.  Indeed a small UK tour that same year in support of Astrocreep 2000:, is all we had to show for years of dedication from his UK fans (I saw them twice that year, Donington and Leeds). 

The reason I mention this, is that having absorbed his show in the first person back in 2011 and having watched this Live DVD/Blu Ray, you can’t help feel that we have been missing out on so much.  Whatever the issue, if you have yet to experience Rob Zombie Live, this is DVD/BluRay is perhaps the closest representation of his live show without actually being there.  

Despite releasing the ‘Zombie Live’ album back in 2007, ‘The Zombie Horror Picture Show,’ is his first concert film and was filmed during the summer of 2013, featuring shows from the Houston and Dallas, Texas leg of the Mayhem Festival tour, deftly cut and edited together to be presented as this film.  In terms of the set list, there are few surprises, as much of the set is derived from the set I saw back in 2011, with at least 8 tracks being presented here too. 

Filmed in what seems like 9mm tape, the introduction leading up to the band hitting the stage, we are treated to snippets of backstage action of Zombie and his band mates, until the show kicks off with ‘Teenage Nosferatu Pussy’.  The band adorning face masks like some arcane band of outlaws, the film immediately resonated with me as a viewer.  What is striking about the film is that songs are intertwined with an arsenal of elaborate, special effects.  During the course of the next 80 mins, you get animatronic robots, pyrotechnics, LED screens, split screen visuals, a magnificent light show, but more importantly outstanding music and performances courtesy of John 5, Piggy D and Ginger Fish, with Rob Zombie the architect of this weird and wonderful spectacle.

Zombie and his fans are at one with each other, with the audience expressing their enthusiasm and adulation by means of singing, dancing, fighting and barely flesh.  With at least half of the songs taken from ‘Hellbilly Deluxe’ and its 2010 sequel ‘Hellbilly Deluxe 2.’ there are also nods to ‘The Sinister Urge’ with ‘Never Gonna Stop’ and also 2006‘s ‘Educated Horses’.  Often overlooked as the shabby horse in terms of his back catalogue, there are some superior songs on there.  ‘Lords of Salem’ is a fine example of that and is one of the highlights of the show.  As remarked upon earlier, the opener ‘Teenage Nosferatu Pussy’ from  ‘Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor’, is my least favourite record and yet it sounds massive and every bit a classic.  For me there is an absence of many of my favourite tracks, ‘Demonoid Phenomenon’, ‘Iron Head’, ‘Feel So Numb’, ‘Scum of the Earth’, ‘Jesus Frankenstein’, but a Zombie show wouldn’t be the same without a nod to his White Zombie days and ‘Super Charger Heaven,’ ‘More Human Than Human’ and ‘Thunder Kiss ‘65’, are all brilliant.

Visually the film is excellent, with numerous screens broadcasting horror clips, words from the songs for the crowd to sign a long too, indeed as a viewer you are just overwhelmed by this ocular smorgasbord. Try singing ‘Ging Gang Gong de Do Gong de Laga Raga’ three times really fast.  Not easy, huh!! 

The only gig I could compare Zombie too, is Metallica in 1996, which including the stage collapsing and stuntmen being set on fire, however on the whole Zombie trumps everyone, perhaps taking influence from Alice Cooper and making the gig an event, with giant devil man props during ‘Super Charger Heaven’ and Zombie dancing around on a power ranger esque mechanised dinosaur on ‘Meet the Creeper’.  It is safe to say there is never a dull moment

For me John 5 shines throughout, his technical ability on guitar is jaw dropping, ‘Star Spangled Banner’ played with his teeth, his trademark telecaster guitars with flashing LEDs and for me a real highlight is his blistering guitar solos during ‘Thunderkiss ‘65’. Finishing off the show as he did 3 years ago with, ‘Dragula,’ this song is a fitting conclusion to a remarkable show.   If you want to be entertained, you like Rob Zombie  and you’re yet to see him live, 'The Zombie Horror Picture Show' is effectively a must have purchase.  “They Live for Kicks, Love for Kicks, Kill for Kicks’.

Words by: Aaron Pickford

You can buy it everywhere now

For more information:

http://robzombie.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RobZombie

https://twitter.com/RobZombie