Posted by Jon E. on Wednesday 8th September, 2010Dark Funeral continues to lose members as the group has now parted ways with drummer Nils Fjellstrom. Dark Funeral\'s Lord Ahriman has released the following statement:
"Recently, you could read about Nils \'Dominator\' Fjellstrom\'s departure from Aeon due to personal/private reasons. Today we can confirm that he\'ll no longer be part of Dark Funeral either. And just like Aeon, we won\'t comment on this subject any further.
"With that being said, I/we see no reason to waste any time here. Besides a new VOCALIST, we are currently looking for a new drummer too. If you do believe that you have what it takes for the job, please send us a brief introduction and some audio/video files/links of your performance to: vocalist@darkfuneral.se
"With the recent departures from the band I/we understand if this may cause some worries and/or confusion amongst you all, but you can be rest assured that everything is under total control! It\'s not like anyone have left the band on bad terms, but unfortunately, sometimes things like this is inventible, and needs to happen to secure the survival of a band. And there is absolutely no doubt in my/our mind that once the new line-up is complete. We will be a stronger and better band than ever.
"Musically we will continue in the same paths. I\'m still main responsible for all the song writings, incl. the drums. So you have nothing to worry about there. However, a new line-up will naturally color the sound in some ways, but I\'m totally confident that it will only be for the better.
"I\'ve recently started writing and demoing new stuff in my home studio. And just like I (and Chaq Mol) did when I/we worked on the pre-production for “Angelus Exuro pro Eternus”, I\'m not only nailing down the guitar parts, I\'m also programming the drums. So far it sounds totally fucking killer (of course!). However, at this point it\'s obviously still too early to say in what direction we\'ll be heading with the new material/album. We\'ll keep everything “wide open” until the new line-up is complete. And once complete, we\'ll continue to work on the new album as a full band. And this time I hope that everyone will be able to contribute with some killer material to make this to the best and strongest Dark Funeral album to date!"
Posted by Jon E. on Tuesday 7th September, 2010Swedish technical death metal band Aeon (Metal Blade Records) has announced the departure of drummer Nils Fjellstrom. The group has issued the following statement:
"Our drummer, Nils Fjellström has decided to leave the band on a very short notice. The reason for this is personal / private and Nils has chosen not to speak his mind out to the public about this. We will respect his wish not to do so, and therefore we will not reveal any details nor answering questions about this. As you may know, this is not the first time Nils is out of the band, but it\'s most certain the last. How strange this even may sound, i really think that we will be better off without him in the long run. We need a drummer who we can rely on at all times, someone who can be there for us when opportunities shows up etc. To take this band any further, we need a line-up where everyone has the same visions and goals.
"At least this time around, there where no big tours planned like the last time Nils bailed out on us. We only had one show planned ahead that was scheduled to take place october 16. We kindly asked Nils to do at least this show with us before he left, but he simply didn\'t agree to do so. This leaves us with no choice but to cancel our spot in this event. There is just to little time to rehearse a full headline set with a new session-drummer. Perhaps the promotor (Hårdrocksklubben) finds a new headliner for this evening or it will get canceled. Keep your eyes open on Hårdrocksklubben\'s (www.hardrocksklubben.se) website for further information about this event.
"We will now be focusing on finding a worthy replacement for Nils and until we do, we will try to fill the spot temporarily with session-drummers.
"If you are a drummer and thinks that you have what it takes to replace Nils in Aeon. Don\'t hesitate to send us an application with some audio / video of you playing drums to: aeon_666@hotmail.com mark the subject with "Drummer application". You don\'t really need to be able to play exactly every little detail Nils does on the albums. The most important is that you are able to play the basics in the songs and the rest can be worked out from there. Naturally, we would prefer a drummer who lives in Sweden, but we are also open for distant / foreigner drummers as far as Europe goes, at least."
Posted by Jon E. on Saturday 4th September, 2010Detroit, MI\'s We Are The Union hit a moose while driving through Saskatchewan early this morning, totaling their van. The band was en route to Regina as part of their current tour of Canada alongside Strung Out, Rufio and Larry and His Flask.
It\'s unclear when or if the band will rejoin the tour, but they\'re accepting donations via Paypal to watubooking@gmail.com to help them get back on their feet.
Posted by Jon E. on Thursday 2nd September, 2010
Posted by Jon E. on Tuesday 31st August, 2010Dark Funeral bass player B-Force has amicably left the Swedish black metal group.
Guitarist Lord Ahriman explained: "Since parting ways with [frontman] E.M. Caligula, it come as no surprise to the rest of us that B-Force would follow the same path and throw in his towel too. So I wish to thank him for the six fantastic years he\'d been with us on bass. It\'s been a pleasure indeed working together... We have already found a new and totally amazing bassist; a bassist who lives and breathes Dark Funeral in its purest form. And we couldn\'t be more honored to have him onboard. We will however wait until everything is settled before we present him to all of you, so please be patient."
B-Force commented on his decision: "After six awesome and crazy years with Dark Funeral, I have decided to leave the band. It\'s my own decision to leave one of the best bands/friends in the world, but I feel that I need to move forward in life and do something else music-wise. There are absolutely NO hard feelings between Dark Funeral and myself. We are and will continue to be good friends! I want to thank the band and all the fans all over the world. You kick ass everywhere I\'ve been playing with the band. I thank you all. May the dark forces be with you."
Posted by Jon E. on Tuesday 31st August, 2010The Pantera camp have cleared up the confusion surrounding their newly released track “The Will To Survive“. Speaking via the bands Facebook page, the following insight was offered:
“Lots of you seem to be confused about “The Will to Survive“. Just to clarify, this is a demo track from the Cowboys From Hell Demos. It was recorded in 1989 & was not included on the original release of Cowboys From Hell. It is going to be included on the 20th Anniversary 3cd deluxe set (instore 9/14) as well as the Ultimate box set (Instores 11/22). And yes, that is Philip singing.”
Posted by Jon E. on Tuesday 31st August, 2010Behemoth frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski has commented on the fan support he’s received since the acknowledgement of his Leukemia diagnosis, here’s what he had to say:
“I haven’t intended to manifest myself in any way and, especially at this stage, to share my feelings or any other news with the world for obvious reasons. It is simply too early for it. But it was YOU who provoked me to say a few words. Regarding my personal low opinion of humankind, I’m shocked by the reaction to my illness. I actually expected NOTHING yet received feedback which surpassed all expectations.
I want to ensure you I read EACH mail I receive, although I’m unable to reply to all of them. The power of your words is pure magic and I thank you all for it. You are a gigantic indestructible army that truly inspires me in this difficult time. The fact is that a fight with this illness is going to last for many months. Most of this time I will spend in hospital and I will go through various psychophysical states.
If you know the history of Behemoth you also know we achieved everything by hard work and a steely determination. The same goes for my private life. I happen to be a strong son of a bitch. I have no faith but rely on a 100% victory and I am sure I will get out of it stronger than ever. Sun Tzu in his ‘Art of War’ said that if you know your enemy and yourself the result of a thousand battles will not surprise you… I enter the ring with this Nietzschean attitude and I will leave it as a winner, as usual. Just watch and see!
So I want to emphasize that Behemoth will by no means goes through any hibernation state. Obviously all concert plans must be postponed until some unknown point in the future, but things are happening! Lately our newest video for ‘…Alas, Lord is Upon Me‘ has premiered and stirred up quite a storm in mass media, which fills us with utter pride. Plus we’ve just finished the project of our new DVD; Evangelia Heretika is a three disc release, a real encyclopedia of Behemoth with nearly 5 hours of material and a bonus audio CD that will be out in November (Metal Blade US – Nuclear Blast Europe).
Expect an experience of visual madness as we went to hell and back to make it! Our official Webstore has been functional for a couple of days and official merchandise and some very exclusive stuff can be bought there. At the beginning of 2011, Peaceville in Europe and Metal Blade in US will reissue the EPs with new artwork, bonuses, liner notes, and more. As you can see, despite a complicated situation and difficult circumstances we’re remaining active wherever we can.
Finally, I want to comment on some opinions which, provoked by religious circles, lead to far-fetched and inaccurate interpretations. I was surprised to hear my illness became a pretext for some people to embark on their own crusade. Opinions suggesting I might come closer to God or abandon my ideals and grovel to the only correct world view in this country not only surprised but also frightened me.
This is a typical example of supporting one’s own views by preying on someone’s misfortune. ‘He fell ill so he will convert to Christianity, he will discover the religion he fought against is actually close to him.’ Halt! Why should the illness change my point of view? It is true this is a difficult time for me and the thoughts of ultimate matters are hard to chase away. But the idea that I will change my opinions, priorities, and values as a consequence of my illness sounds as if someone regards my head, and not my body, ill.
Suggesting I might convert are ridiculous. To what would I convert? After all, I know Christian mythology pretty well, not only in its literary version, and I find nothing good, creative or beautiful in it. I read books better and wiser than the Bible. War, blood, blackmail, rapes, incest, pedophilia, zoophilia, collaboration and treachery – each page emanates with evil. Some may say I don’t understand the message of the Bible. I’d rather say the Christianity is nothing more than a rusty and archaic structure that is going to fall down any moment.
It lasts only because of the gullible that follow the shepherd blindly; without any questions, without any consideration, not to any promised land, but to an intellectual slaughter. So, I say to those, who see some chances to break my rules, and myself because of the illness: over my dead body!”
Those interested in potentially helping out Nergal and others suffering from similar afflictions, can find more info at www.marrow.org.
Posted by Jon E. on Sunday 29th August, 2010Zao recently updated their Myspace with the following posting regarding their new album and more:
“If you have noticed that hideous picture of us that dominated the site for the better part of two years (and the coding that made it next to impossible to update anything) is gone. Myspace is forcing a new format on music pages, and we couldn’t be happier. Simple and to the point. Now we just have to find the time to re-code some stuff. But we want it to be a place to check for news, etc. I mean, does anyone even USE myspace anymore?
If you DON’T come to myspace anymore, you have other options, we have links at the top to follow our twitter and to our OFFICIAL facebook page (not the fan ones or that damned facebook wiki page that somehow managed to get 11,000 people liking it, instead of OUR page, but whatever)
We are building a REAL website. We lost our URL in the Ferret/Warner Music fiasco. (short version of the story there is Ferret still exists, we are no longer on it. the previous owners of Ferret have a new label, we aren’t on it). Building a REAL site is tricky. We want it to be the MAIN source of info, and also an archival database of what the band has been and a place you want to go. All this other social stuff should be extra, not the main thing. Hence, why we aren’t too concerned about having all sorts of trinkets and bobbles on this thing anymore.
We want to thank you for your support on Awake? it did WAY better than we thought it would. Having not toured in 3 years started Awake? with the intention of releasing it ourselves, at the 11th hour we decided to do it with Ferret when they offered. It was a great testing ground for us. We pressed a small amount that we were pretty confident we could sell. If they sold, it told us that we were justified in doing another one. It did. We will treat this the same way. As long as there are enough people interested we will keep moving.
With that being said, we are doing another one, which as it stands now we will probably do ourselves, why not? The music industry has made enough money off of bands and wasted it, why not put it out ourselves, and sink the “profits” back into future releases. We are writing, we have been exchanging songs. We have tossed songs that are “too standard for Zao“, we are trying new things. It’s liberating. We are doing our best to get Russ on the album (as we tried with Awake?). Needless to say, we are taking our time because we can.
So as of right now, Zao is writing, self-managing and planning on self-releasing.
Back to work,
ZAO:
Dan
Scott
Russ
Marty
Jeff“
Posted by Jon E. on Friday 27th August, 2010Helms Alee is currently writing material for their next album. The group will enter the studio with producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Minus The Bear) this fall to track the yet-to-be titled effort, which is expected to surface this winter via Hydra Head Records.
Posted by Jon E. on Wednesday 25th August, 2010Exclaim is reporting that Further Seems Forever have reunited with original vocalist (and Dashboard Confessional leader) Chris Carrabba. Further Seems Forever posted a video on a newly launched website yesterday of the band rehearsing "The Moon Is Down" with Carrabba on vocals. The video concludes with word "Spring" hinting at a tour or album next year.
Posted by Jon E. on Wednesday 25th August, 2010The Funeral Pyre have commented on the van accident they were involved in earlier this month which claimed the life of Early Graves vocalist Makh Daniels with the following statement:
“Sometimes, you go through a life altering situation. That’s how these past two weeks have been for all involved in The Funeral Pyre. But through all of that, we have managed to talk about the current situation of the band. While nobody in our group was hurt seriously, there are still some injuries that did happen. Currently, we’re all trying to just regroup and stay positive about the band and our future.
Now while we all need time to just reflect on what has happened, we also had to come to a decision about what we will be doing. We will continue to tour and to write records. Although this has been a difficult time for all of us, we know that continuing to make music is something we have to do. We thank everyone who gave us their support during some of the most difficult times of our lives.
We will be out on tour at the end of this year and still working harder than ever. Thank you to all of our friends and family for supporting these decisions as well. We’ll see you all soon. We’ll be out on tour again in December with dates to be announced soon. We’ll be hitting some of the spots we missed at the end of the last tour as well. Thanks again.”
Posted by Jon E. on Wednesday 25th August, 2010Behemoth have confirmed that band frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski is currently suffering from Leukemia and issued the following statement on the matter:
“BEHEMOTH leader Nergal has just found out he needs a marrow transplant to fight the sickness he has recently been diagnosed with (leukemia). In light of this he wants to remind everyone about the need to be on the marrow registry. The more people get tested and donate, the more of a chance for life there is for him and people in the same situation.
BEHEMOTH and Metal Blade would like to thank everyone for their support and well wishes during this difficult time. The best thing we can all do right now is learn about the marrow donation process, not only help save one of metal’s leaders, but to also help save countless others out there struggling with the same disease.
To learn more about how you can register to donate marrow check out: http://www.marrow.org/
Fans wanting to help out, register for the marrow program, or have questions on running a marrow drive may contact the organization Music Saves Lives by email at iCare@musicsaveslives.com or visit Music Saves Lives at http://www.musicsaveslives.org/
Music Saves Lives is the bridge between music, entertainment and important life-saving causes. We bring a simple concept; connect the music and entertainment, we all love, to a life saving community action. MSL has focused efforts on blood donation and the marrow registry, reaching out by sharing facts, educating and empowering. We educate about the importance of simple life saving actions they can participate in. These simple actions, like donating blood, running a blood drive, and registering for the marrow program to save those with leukemia, all connect back to the community.”
Posted by Jon E. on Wednesday 25th August, 2010Doomriders have announced the departure of drummer JR Conners from their lineup, presumably for him to focus on Cave In and his family life. In his place for the time being will be Ben Koller of Converge, Acid Tiger, etc. fame. In addition, Doomriders have been added to Sleep’s upcoming September 06th at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in Brooklyn, NY.
The band offered the following statement:
“We are proud to announce that on September 6th Doomriders will be sharing the stage with the legendary Sleep at the Brooklyn Masonic Lodge with special guest Unearthly Trance. We are beyond excited for this and honored to be included!
On a different note, JR Conners will be surrendering drum duties in Doomriders. A family, a career, and two bands is alot to juggle so though we are sad to see him go, we also wish him all the best. We love you JR!
Ben Koller of Converge and Acid Tiger will be filling in for the time being and we are all very excited to have him. He will be on drums for the show on September 6th do don’t miss it!!!
Look out for a split with Sweet Cobra in the not too distant future and if you haven’t already then pick up a copy of “DARKNESS COME ALIVE” on Deathwish!!!
See you all on the 6th!!!”
Posted by Jon E. on Tuesday 24th August, 2010The Dillinger Escape Plan frontman Greg Puciato recently recapped his summer touring and the bands plans for the immediate future in a lengthy update. Among the various details was word that he recently worked on an upcoming KMFDM remix. Further info is expected in the coming weeks.
Posted by Jon E. on Tuesday 24th August, 2010On his website, punk legend Ted Leo has just posted an epic 3000-word screed about his career and the difficulty of making a living while remaining punk rock. It\'s well-trod ground for Leo, especially after false rumors about his retirement from music made the rounds earlier this year. The entry is fascinating and touching.
The whole story leads up to an announcement, which Leo keeps pretty cryptic. This is what we know, though: He\'s completed work on a musical theater project, which will go up online on Monday.
Leo worked on it with a mysterious figure named Reginald VanVoorst. The end product allegedly takes inspiration from Julie Taymor\'s Beatles musical Across the Universe and Green Day\'s American Idiot musical.
Leo also mentions that he\'d previously worked on another musical called Red Bananas, which ended up falling through "for a number of reasons".
Leo writes, "I am so proud of what we\'ve achieved here, and I can\'t wait for you to see it! It is, hopefully, the new direction I\'ve been seeking and a new path that I hope you\'ll walk with me." Intriguing!
Posted by Jon E. on Tuesday 17th August, 2010The thundering, adventurous math-rockers Battles are about to look a whole lot different. As Battles have just announced in a statement on the Warp Records website, Tyondai Braxton has left the band.
Braxton also works as a solo artist, and the band\'s statement claims that the amicable split came when his solo work clashed with the band\'s efforts to tour and to complete the follow-up to their 2007 album Mirrored. With Braxton\'s departure, the band has canceled planned October shows at the ATP Release the Bats event in London and at New York\'s Le Poisson Rouge.
Battles will continue on without Braxton, but they\'ll be a very different band. He was the closest thing the egalitarian unit had to a frontman.
Here\'s the complete text of the band\'s statement:
"Battles and Tyondai would like to let their fans know they have chosen to follow their own musical paths.
Due to Battles\' ambitions of finishing their second studio album followed by commitments to a full touring schedule in 2011, and Tyondai\'s own commitments as a solo artist and his desire not to tour, both Battles and Tyondai have decided to move on without each other.
It is a sad but amicable split.
Battles wishes Tyondai all the best"
Posted by Jon E. on Tuesday 17th August, 2010Official press release:
British death metal act Ignominious Incarceration have been forced to cancel their headlining European tour with Detroit deathcore destroyers And Hell Followed With after the bands\' tour van crashed.
After a strong start to the tour, a few of the shows in mainland Europe fell through with promoters, so the bands had decided to head back to the UK to continue with the tour there and add some more shows.
Whilst driving through France on their way back to Calais, the van carrying the members of both Ignominious Incarceration and And Hell Followed With was involved in a crash on the motorway. All members are thankfully alive and well, although some had to be taken to hospital for injuries such as broken bones.
Ignominious Incarceration bassist Chris Ball comments:
"Hey guys, sorry the tour got cut short but due to a major incident we are unable to do any shows for a while, we are all ok and still going strong. Up until the incident we had been enjoying the tour and have made some great friends in the process.
"We will be back as soon as we\'re all 100% fit enough to take to the stage again. In the mean time just keep your eyes and ears peeled for us hitting the studio at some point and new tour dates. Thanks."
And Hell Followed With guitarist Kyle McIlmurray describes the incident:
"Basically we were making a late night drive back to the UK when we nicked a semi truck and got sent like a pinball down the freeway. Most of us sustained minor injuries compared to the guys in Ignom... Thankfully we\'re all alive. We\'ll take back pain over death any day.
"The injuries and damage were so intense that we were forced to cancel the remainder of the tour and head back home. We are so thankful to have had such a great time with the guys in the other bands and play the shows that we did. Words cannot describe how bummed we are that we didn\'t get to finish it up. We\'ve never backed out on a tour like this.. But unfortunately it was out of our hands.
"Now that we\'re home with our families and safe we\'re going to get ready for the road in September with Suffokate and The Red Shore... It will most certainly be a banger!"
Posted by Jon E. on Monday 16th August, 2010Evergreen Terrace have posted their side of an altercation that took place recently in Pittsburgh, PA in which the band are alleged to have assaulted a female concertgoer. Their statement reads as follows:
“Because of the amount of attention that the “ET fight” rumor has caused, we want to answer your questions and clear up what happened at our show on 8/12 in Cheswick, PA. We attempted to let these ridiculous comments pass and not to take part in the absurdity, but because the rumors continue-even if by only a small group of people- we think our fans deserve the truth.
Craig and Jake, a crew member of the tour, (NOT Andrew) were sitting by a red car (not on it). A girl approached them and told them to get off her boyfriend’s car. They told the girl they weren’t on the car and to chill out. Craig asked where her boyfriend was. The boyfriend walked up and both parties began shit talking. The girl dumped a beer on Craig and Jake and threw the beer can at them. Craig stood up. He and the boyfriend lunged at each other. The boyfriend tackled Craig to the ground causing Craig to land on his back. The boyfriend hit Craig 3 times, and the girl jumped in swinging. Craig was on his back, his arms up to block. Jake and witnesses pulled the boyfriend and the girl off. There was a large crowd of people by this time. The boyfriend sustained his injuries from someone else (not in the band) after being pulled off Craig. When Craig got up, the girl ran toward him again. Craig shoved her away and walked off. She did not fall on the ground from this action. Later Craig went back to the area to get his phone. The boyfriend apologized to Craig, said the whole thing was stupid and that the girl was drunk.
Thirty minutes after the incident, Andrew (who was not at the fight by the car) approached the boyfriend, took his cigarette, and asked why he was starting shit. They exchanged words. Andrew blew smoke in the boyfriend’s face, handed back the cigarette, and the boyfriend punched Andrew in the face, causing a cigarette burn on Andrew’s cheek. Cops who were in plain view ran over and arrested the boyfriend for assault on Andrew. Ten minutes after the boyfriend’s arrest, Andrew told the cops that he wasn’t pressing charges on the boyfriend because he felt he had instigated the punch by blowing smoke in his face. The cops let the boyfriend go.
An hour later the cops gathered the band and said all members would be charged with assault, because the girl NOW said that several members of ET beat up her, her boyfriend AND another girl. (Since then the story changed AT LEAST 3 times.) Witnesses talked to the cops on ET’s behalf. The girl, her boyfriend and a couple of their friends told inconsistent stories, BUT none of them stepped forward when the cops were asking for witnesses about the fight. Not one member of ET was arrested.
The boyfriend was asked if 3 people assaulted him, and he shook his head “No.” Each member of the band was pointed to and the boyfriend was asked if that individual assaulted him. He shook his head “No” when Josh, Chris and Caleb were pointed to. When asked if Andrew assaulted him the boyfriend said to the cops, band and surrounding witnesses: “I’m just going to go ahead and say that he did. I thought he was cool but he’s not.” He was reminded that he was the one who assaulted Andrew, and was arrested for it, and that Andrew had him released. When asked why he made that statement, the boyfriend shrugged and did a little dance next to the cop car. The cops then asked the boyfriend if Craig assaulted him and he said “Yes.” No one was arrested. The police said they would mail assault charges to the boyfriend and the girl, Andrew and Craig.
A few people have posted that they’ve seen pictures of the girl’s “scars and bruises.” The picture on her Facebook shows an elbow, shoulder and chin scrape- probably caused from falling onto the concrete after jumping in a fight as she bragged to witnesses and on her Facebook account. The girl was on another band’s tour bus that night bragging she had jumped into her boyfriend’s fight against someone in Evergreen Terrace. This is not a girl who has been victimized. It is someone seeking attention. Her Facebook picture-caption brags that the scrapes are from “scrapping.”
Her friends are saying ET beats women. That is absurd and false. She was involved in a fight. No one in ET singled her out or attacked her. Andrew and Craig have the same amount of scrapes as the girl does. When someone is involved in a fight they usually get hurt.
Evergreen Terrace does not condone nor practice violence against women. If you look at the facts, like the pictures, the girl’s posts and bragging, it is easy to see what is false. We attempted to let this blow over. We deleted many comments in the last 48 hours because they were not only negative toward the band, but some were aimed at our fans. We do not want to censor any of our fans, but we will not tolerate abuse and slander. Again, we did not and have not beaten up any female. If you are gullible enough to fall for something like this, then we suggest staying off the Internet. We respect our fans and appreciate all of the support.
Because we do not want to give these people more attention than they have already received, we will not release their names. Because they have posted so much on our page, it is not hard to find this information as we see many of you have. Please do not interact with them. That is clearly what they want, as they have used our band’s page as a means of promoting themselves.
- Evergreen Terrace”
Posted by Jon E. on Monday 16th August, 2010Byzantine have offered the following regarding their on again, off again hiatus and the current status of their lineup:
“Hey guys,
OJ here. We have been receiving alot of emails and texts lately about a rumor regarding us losing a band member. Well, the rumors are TRUE. First, let me backtrack a little and give you the full story.
After the 3 Byzantine “reunion shows” we had back in March 2010. A couple of us kicked around the idea of not hanging it up. We thought it would be awesome to keep playing, albeit back in the local WV music scene, unsigned and happy as hell. We had 2 major stumbling blocks that we needed to cross first. Skip had moved back to Trafford, PA to pursue a career in the IT field and Tony moved to Charlotte, NC to try his hand at warmer weather.
Skip immediately was on board. We asked Tony and, after some thought, he decided to not return back to playing in Byzantine. We respect Tony’s decision to move on with other musical endeavors just as Tony respects our decision to continue under the name Byzantine. Skip, Wolfe and myself simply are having too much fun to quit for good.
Tony and I started Byzantine 10 years ago. Tonys’ writing style and lead guitar technique are an intergral part of the Byzantine sound. But, over the course of 3 studio albums, we had 3 different writing teams which produced 3 different sounding albums.
In no way are we going to try to bring in another Tony. With that being said, we would like to introduce our newest lead guitarist, Brian Henderson!!! Brian has been an easily recognizable figure in the WV music scene as he currently is the lead guitarist for the Ashland KY based rock band Split Nixon.
Brian will be handling both duties for Byzantine and Split Nixon. We are very honored and excited to be playing with such a great guitarist and an even greater friend! So if you attent a future Byzantine show, buy Brian a beer. He likes beer. Till then!!!”
Posted by Jon E. on Saturday 14th August, 2010Kingdom Of Sorrow will be short guitarist Kirk Windstein for their upcoming Ozzfest run as a result of Windstein (also of Down/Crowbar) entering Alcoholics Anonymous. He will be replaced by Kenny Hickey of Type O Negative fame at the shows.
Speaking on his decision to step down, Windstein offered the following:
“I have entered the AA program and am turning over a new leaf. 25 years of gigging and touring has taken its toll and my drinking is now preventing me from being the healthiest, best player that I can be. It’s been a fun ride, but I’m ready to tackle this sober and look forward to being at the top of my game with all of my projects! I am happy to say that Kenny Hickey will once again be filling my spot for these eight shows. Thanks, Kenny; I love you bro!!!
Thanks to everyone for their support.”
Meanwhile, Kingdom Of Sorrow bandmate Jamey Jasta (also of Hatebreed) offered the following on the situation:
“The road is no place for Kirk right now. He has begun to address his problems so he can lead a happy and healthy life and continue to rock with DOWN, CROWBAR and KINGDOM OF SORROW. I only want the best for him and I feel like sitting this tour out is a step in the right path.”
