Richard Wright, Member of Pink Floyd, Dies at 65

Richard Wright, the keyboardist whose somber, monumental sounds were at the core of Pink Floyd’s art-rock that has sold millions and millions of albums, died Monday in London, where he had lived. He was 65.
The cause was cancer, said his publicist, Claire Singers.
Mr. Wright was a founding member of Pink Floyd, and his spacious, somber, enveloping keyboards, backing vocals and eerie effects were an essential part of its musical identity.
Though Syd Barrett and then Roger Waters wrote most of Pink Floyd’s songs, Mr. Wright shares credit on the improvisatory psychedelic studio works the band composed collectively, and he sang a few lead vocals, including on “Astronomy Domine” from the band’s debut album, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.”

Mr. Wright was the sole songwriter on “The Great Gig in the Sky,” a hymnlike track with a soaring, wordless female vocal at the center of “The Dark Side of the Moon,” the blockbuster 1973 Pink Floyd album that has sold some 40 million copies.
David Gilmour, Pink Floyd’s guitarist and singer, said in a statement on Monday: “In the welter of arguments about who or what was Pink Floyd, Rick’s enormous input was frequently forgotten. He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound.”
Mr. Wright was born in London in 1943 and taught himself to play keyboards, developing an early interest in jazz. He attended a boys’ school founded by the haberdashers' guild, then studied architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic College.

With fellow students at Regent Street — Mr. Waters on guitar or bass and Nick Mason on drums — he started a group, at first playing American rhythm-and-blues songs. Mr. Barrett joined them in 1965, reshaping the music and naming the band The Pink Floyd Sound, after the American bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
Mr. Barrett’s whimsical, asymmetrical songs and the band’s fondness for experimental sounds placed it at the center of London’s underground psychedelic movement in the mid-1960s. “Music was our drug,” Mr. Wright once told an interviewer.
“The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” was released in 1967 and yielded pop hits in England, but LSD use and mental illness made Mr. Barrett so unstable that he left Pink Floyd in 1968. He recorded two solo albums; Mr. Wright and Mr. Gilmour produced the second one, “Barrett,” in 1970. Mr. Barrett died in 2006, at the age of 60.
Pink Floyd’s late-1960s and early-’70s albums mingled pop songs with extended pieces, like the 23-minute “Echoes,” which begins with single notes from Mr. Wright’s keyboard, on 1971’s “Meddle.”
On the 1969 album, “Ummagumma,” which includes solo studio recordings by each band member, Mr. Wright’s four-part “Sisyphus” encompasses a majestic dirge with tympani, a piano piece that moves from rippling impressionism to crashing free jazz, a clattery interlude for keyboards and percussion, and a mostly elegiac improvisation with organ, guitar, tape effects and birdcalls.
With “The Dark Side of the Moon,” Pink Floyd reined in its improvisation, came up with a concept album about workaday pressures and insanity and established itself as an arena-rock staple. The album stayed in the Billboard Top 200 album chart for 741 weeks. Pink Floyd continued to thrive through the 1970s, and Mr. Wright released his first solo project, “Wet Dream,” in 1978. Pink Floyd’s 1979 album, “The Wall,” eventually sold 23 million copies in the United States.
But there were conflicts within the band. Mr. Waters, who had increasingly taken control of Pink Floyd, reportedly threatened not to release “The Wall” unless Mr. Wright resigned his full membership in the band. Mr. Wright quit, only to tour with Pink Floyd in 1980-81 as a salaried sideman. He does not appear on the band’s 1983 album, “The Final Cut.”
After that album, Mr. Waters left Pink Floyd for a solo career, declaring the band a “spent force creatively.” Amid lawsuits, Mr. Gilmour and Mr. Mason regrouped under the Pink Floyd name; Mr. Wright rejoined them for the 1987 album “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” and “The Division Bell” in 1994.
He made another solo album, “Broken China,” in 1996, with Sinead O’Connor among the guest performers.
Mr. Wright, who was married three times, is survived by three children, Benjamin, Gala and Jamie; and one grandchild.
In interviews in 1996, Mr. Wright said he had not spoken to Mr. Waters for 14 years. Mr. Wright played keyboards on Mr. Gilmour’s 2006 album, “On an Island,” and went on tour with Mr. Gilmour’s band.
Pink Floyd’s 1970s lineup reunited briefly at the Live 8 London concert in Hyde Park on July 2, 2005, performing four songs before sharing a hug.
Correction: A previous version of this article referred incorrectly to Mr. Wright having attended a school for haberdashers.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: September 17, 2008 An obituary on Tuesday about Richard Wright, a founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, referred incorrectly to a school he attended. The school, the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, is an independent day school founded by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, a guild; it is not a school for haberdashers.


Richard Wright R.I.P. wish you were here

Smashing Pumpkins announce 20th anniversary tour

The Smashing Pumpkins (well, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin) have announced the details of their fall tour, which marks the 20th anniversary of the group’s formation. The five-week run will feature several two night runs in a handful of cities where the Pumpkins promise to play two unique sets with no songs overlapping either night (with night one called “Black Sunshine” and the second night called “White Crosses”). In the Pumpkins’ home town of Chicago, the band will play four shows at two different venues. The band has a new single called “G.L.O.W.” that will premiere on October 26 as part of Guitar Hero World Tour. The full set of tour dates for the Smashing Pumpkins anniversary tour is below.


Smashing Pumpkins 20th Anniversary Tour
November 1 - Cleveland, OH @ The Palace Theatre
November 3,4 - Toronto, ONT @ Massey Hall
November 6,7 - New York, NY @ United Palace Theatre
November 8 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata
November 11,12 - Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall
November 14,15 - Boston, MA @ The Wang Center
November 16 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
November 18, 19 - Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
November 21,22 - Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre
November 26 - St. Louis, MO @ Fox Theatre
November 30 - San Diego, CA @ RIMAC Arena
December 2,3 - Los Angeles, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre

Led Zeppelin Touring With or Without Robert Plant

According to multiple sources, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones and drummer Jason Bonham (son of original drummer John) have been practicing for an upcoming Led Zeppelin tour. Unfortunately, Robert Plant has refused to participate, so the band have been practicing with an American stand-in the band find so impressive they might just keep.

Robert Plant has said that he would be open to the reunion but is disgusted by the sheer amount of bureaucracy. “The endless paperwork was like nothing I’ve experienced before,” Plant told GQ. “I’ve kept every one of the emails that were exchanged before the concert and I’m thinking of compiling them for a book, which I feel sure would be hailed as a sort of literary version of Spinal Tap… Led Zeppelin’s never been about the fans. We’ve always been about four guys coming together to make thrilling, disturbing rock ‘n’ roll. On our own terms.”

Another possible reason for Plant’s disinterest is his enthusiasm over his recent stint as a duo with Alison Krauss. According to recent reports, his focus of late has been on supporting their album, last year’s critical and commercial hit, Raising Sand.

Metallica's Death Magnetic

Nobody puts Kirk Hammet’s guitar in the corner. Funny enough, while listening to Kirk Hammett regain his guitar hero status on “Death Magnetic,” I sat almost in the exact same spot Hammett sat in the “Some Kind Of Monster” documentary, which chronicled the chaos of Metallica making their last record “St. Anger.” It was in that spot that Hammett argued with drummer Lars Ulrich and producer Bob Rock that their then-new practice of writing songs without guitar solos was, um, not to Hammett’s liking. Arguing against the notion that guitar solos were “dated” Hammett ended up being dead-on when he said not having guitar solos dated Metallica’s music to that particular time. “St Anger” sounded like it was following the lead of early 2000s metal bands. Apparently Hammett and the rest of the band are tired of following bands who grew up worshipping them. They only gave me one listen, with an engineer and record company rep in the room, so a comprehensive review is fairly pointless. Coincidentally, the one CD review I wish I could re-write was my 2003 “St Anger” review. In a rush to get a story in the paper, I only listened to the album a couple times. Apparently I was so happy to hear Metallica revert to its heavy ways that I gave it an A-, neglecting to realize that it wasn’t a very good record. So no grade now. I will tell you that no one, but NO ONE leashes Kirk Hammett on “Death Magnetic,” and the result is some of the best playing of his career. You can hear lots of echoes of their first four albums (not to mention one echo from the kindler, gentler 90s on “The Unforgiven III”). One leftover from “St. Anger” is that “Death Magnetic” features few songs sounding like they were written around a vocal hook, which was how Metallica got their sneering faces on MTV so much in the 90s. The difference from “St. Anger,” is that the riffs, while still heavy, aren’t crashing about searching for a place to settle within the songs. The songs have better structure and just sound better. Metallica is back to powering fast, central riffs, occasionally breaking ranks and tempo for some Iron Maiden-ish breakouts, then building to … you guessed it, the muscley solo from Hammett. But don’t get too excited. While better than “St. Anger,:” the songs again seem so intent on proving Metallica still brings the thunder that something is occasionally out of place. There’s barely a vocal hook in sight - something the band could pull off more than capably on the early records, even if it was shouting a few words to pass for a chorus. Somehow it just doesn’t work so well anymore. But Hetfield and Ulrich may have been so pleased at how well the band sounds the first time in the studio with bassist Robert Trujillo, they just blew off the the choruses. The whole band sounds tight and absolutely stacked. Some of the songs sound like they came from jams, including the instrumental “Suicide & Redemption,” which built slowly into layers of blistering Hammett. And, I have to say, while it’s nice to hear Metallica get back (mostly … so far … I think … after one listen) to what they do best instead of experimenting, It’s also nice to hear Hetfield no longer struggling with his personal demons lyrically, getting back to yelling about mangled flesh and whatnot. I promised not to do a detailed review and think I did anyway. To be fair, i’ll get back to you after the record comes out. Better yet, we can talk amongst ourselves. between now and Sept. 12, the band will be streaming 1-2 songs at a time at metallica.com

All That Remains for Rock Band; and Metallica for Guitar Hero.

Greetings fellow metal heads and gamers. This week brings us more metal for our plastic music games. First off, Harmonix shows more love for All That Remains, after putting them in Guitar Hero 2. Straight from Harmonix themselves, this week, as DLC for Rock Band, we get a 3 pack from, as they call them, the metal band, All That Remains.

ALL THAT REMAINS 3 PACK - $2.99 (240 Microsoft Points)
THIS CALLING - $.99 (80 Microsoft Points)
CHIRON $.99 (80 Microsoft Points)
TWO WEEKS $.99 (80 Microsoft Points)

"Two Weeks" and "Chiron" are exclusive to Rock Band for one week before their new album Overcome is released on September 16th. Each track will be available for a one month special offer of $.99 (80 Microsoft Points) per track or $2.99 (240 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for the three-pack. These tracks will be up on the Xbox Live Marketplace on Tuesday, and the PlayStation Network Store on Thursday. All tracks are masters.

Regardless of what you think of the Metallica album, Death Magnetic, (here's what we think) it is still being released for Guitar Hero 3 this Friday, day and date of the new album release. This is the first time that a full album download will be available for a rhythm based music game, the same day the actual album is in stores. According to Joystiq, this download will also be forward compatible with Guitar Hero World Tour when it releases in October. But for now you will just have to settle with playing only the guitar portion of the songs, even though there are two exclusive versions of "Suicide & Redemption" with extended solos to make it that much more difficult. You can get this for free from Best Buy when you pre-order the album, or you can purchase it on Xbox Live for 1440 points, or in real world dollars, $18 or on the PSN for $17.99. Sell outs, indeed.

Trivium's Shogun drops Sept. 30th

Thousands of metalheads despise the Florida quartet Trivium without, it seems, even hearing their music.
For the last few years they’ve been the butt of much criticism for sounding too much like Metallica, or for including too many hair-metal-style singalong choruses in their songs, or for being too pretty, or just for not being ‘troo’ and ‘kult’ enough.
There are elements of truth here – frontman Matt Heafy’s vocals have been very similar to James Hetfield’s at times – but it’s high time for the haters to get over themselves, as Trivium’s new album sounds like Trivium and no-one else.

Even if you don’t like Shogun – and it’s not a perfect album by any means, so a lot of people won’t – you’ll have to admit that they’ve found an original sound, composed of melodic choruses and fat, downtuned riffs, which is uniquely theirs.
The first song released from Shogun was ‘Kirisute Gomen’, a song which acknowledges Heafy’s Japanese background in its lyrics but which is all-American in its music, like it or not.
It’s probably the best song on the album along with ‘Insurrection’, both of which switch smoothly from a knowingly cheesy singalong chorus – which could have been designed for rock radio – to a fast, sub-thrash metal riff.

Trivium never really enter extreme metal territory, with drummer Travis Smith sticking to on-beats rather than the full-throttle off-beat workout: in fact, it’s your duty to inform anybody foolish enough to think that Trivium play thrash to inform them of their mistake.
The usual dazzling solos, multilayered choruses and tempo changes are all over the remaining songs. Trivium obviously have tons of ideas: there are at least six different vocal styles, from death-grunt to midrange snarl to clean tenor, and the number of riffs per song is impressive.
The recipe gets a little old by the end of the album – pretentious songs like ‘Into The Mouth Of Hell We March’ (listen to that on their MySpace) and ‘Of Prometheus And The Crucifix’ could have been deleted and no-one would have complained – but if this is where Heafy et al are going, at least it’s a path that is theirs and no-one else’s.

Slipknot's All Hope Is Gone

Such is the secrecy surrounding Slipknot’s fourth full-length album, All Hope Is Gone, the review CDs went off to the pressing plant under the false name of Rusty Cage to avoid any early leaks onto the Internet. This is a top secret operation.
As with their regularly-changed masks and outfits, Slipknot clearly like a bit of ceremony about their work and so this all fits perfectly. Luckily, there is just about enough to celebrate on AHIG for all the cloak and dagger treatment to be appropriate.

There is no doubting that this album will be massive. Starting at the commotion about their new masks, the slow-burning marketing campaign has seen two great singles released already (‘All Hope Is Gone’ and ‘Psychosocial’) before the album lands, the day after their appearance at Reading & Leeds festivals, over two months later.
Their competition for the accolade of #1 UK album is The Verve. Both bands have pedigree with hitting the top spot after Iowa flew in there after Reading 2001. It’s going to be a close one.
The important thing when listening to All Hope Is Gone is to note how Slipknot have grown over the past decade.
‘.execute/Gematria’ is a classic opening track. It immediately makes you feel like you’re listening to Slipknot. There are sampled speeches and crazy bleeping bits building a massive sense of expectation before all the drama. And how much drama.

While their eponymous full debut is a relentless slab of brutal metal and Iowa showed a desire to be even more obnoxious, 2005’s Vol 3: (The Subliminal Verses) displayed their melodic tendencies alongside the unruly commotion, especially in Corey Taylor’s vocals.
This is much more evident in AHIG. There are a couple of actual ballads; love songs even. Neither the next single of ‘Dead Memories’ or the whole-heartedly soppy ‘Snuff’ quite fit in with the true Slipknot identity, to be honest. They’re good songs… if you’re listening to a Stone Sour album.
Thank the heavens then for songs like ‘Butcher’s Hook’ and ‘This Cold Black’. Acting as the gnarled, crusty bread which is sandwiching the soft, slow-cooked, honey-cured ham of ‘Gehenna’ those two tracks are quite simply put, fantastic.
While it’s unlikely that ‘Butcher’s Hook’ is harking back to some still-in-use Cockney rhyming slang, the Meshuggah-style polyrhythm madness adds a complexity and a willing to play unorthodox songs that Slipknot haven’t really shown before.

This Cold Black’ on the other hand, is equally brutal but goes back to their more nu-metal days with some squealing riffs which invoke memories of Korn. When they were really good. It’s a vicious, snarling track which will make you sit up.
The vocals are still very much in the teenage angst vein. Even when Corey’s almost certainly referring to issues in the wider world, he dresses them up in a way that everyone can relate to. More often than not, however, his lyrics are easily clever enough to make an impact.
The fact of the matter is that Slipknot are well and truly back. By and large, this is unquestionably a Slipknot album, in both style and delivery. Even whilst delving into unwelcome and unconvincing sappy territory.
The question you’ll be asking while you listen to All Hope Is Gone is which bit of Slipknot are you going to get next and will it be enough?

Weezer's The Red Album

It can be said that much of Weezer’s lyrical career is grounded on the basis of attacking something or someone else. From the band’s inception, lyricist and vocalist Rivers Cuomo has found escapism in dreary-yet-punchy alternative numbers that throw and pull punches at love and misery. That is up until Maladroit, when the band started branching into a sort of ‘reinvention’ age, and most of the criticism started with the epic sentence, “Well, it’s not Pinkerton.” There’s reason for this and while Maladroit is hardly as criticized as its latter brothers and sisters, it’s certainly part of what should be considered the “other trilogy.”
Most Weezer fans will agree that the trio of albums starting with 1994’s self titled debut (The Blue Album), continuing on with 1996’s Pinkerton, and sliding home with 2001’s self titled comeback (The Green Album) represent the band at true perfect form. It’s Maladroit onward where fans start digressing, Make Believe where fans start killing one another, and then of course, this year’s self titled bastard (The Red Album). Six albums that, if diagrammed on a flow chart, would represent the ride Splash Mountain.
There’s something awry about Weezer’s sixth album. While their sense of humor should never go unnoticed, one wonders how far we’re supposed to take it, especially with lyrics like, “I’m a troublemaker/never been a faker/ doing things my own way/ and never giving up.” On first listen, the opening track is a bit unsettling to the stomach with its simplicity, but it’s so tongue in cheek that you can’t help but bob your head to its poppy beat. In a sense, it’s the closest this band has ever sounded like Cake, which isn’t necessarily a good or a bad thing.
By the second track, any fears of Weezer losing it with age are thrown out the window. It took six albums to do it, but finally the band has written a larger-than-life, epic song. (Though some can argue the grandiosity of “Say It Ain’t So” or “Only in Dreams”, I guess) Comparisons to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” aside, “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations of a Shaker Hymn)” is the band’s crowning achievement, complete with an arching progression, a choir of harmonies, and a rollicking chorus that will stick in your head, having you sound like an ego maniac as you chant, “I am the greatest man that ever lived/ I was born to give and give and give.” It might sound preachy, but this song represents the lyrical mindset Weezer is at these days. No longer are they dorks in basements. They’re dorks in Hollywood.
“Pork & Beans” is Weezer paint by numbers, with the clunky distortion and Cuomo’s yelp of “I’m finally dandy with the me inside”. It’s catchy and loud enough to reach the fans that walked out after 2005’s disappointing Make Believe. “Heart Songs” is a staple ballad that brings to mind the late Red Hot Chili Peppers’ slow burners, only there’s awfully cheesy lines like “I gotta admit though/ sometimes I would listen to the radio” or “It takes two to make a thing go right/If the Fresh Prince starts the fight.” Then there’s the rock and pizza of “Everybody Get Dangerous”, a flashy, larger than life hit that’s catchy, if not forgettable by the end of the album. When Cuomo self-deprecatingly chants, “I’ve got a confession/That I will make if you will listen”, you wonder if you should start feeling bad for the guy.
One of the former demos, “Dreamin’”, is a definite keeper and eventual crowd pleaser. It’s warm fuzz, sentimental breakdown, and accessible lyrics like “These are days that will define my life” are familiar yet abrasive enough to consider new. It’s actually one of the best songs they’ve released in quite some time. Much like a horrible science experiment gone bad (think of those days in high school with exploding beakers), “Thought I Knew” is a bad, bad idea gone wrong… which makes it worse, right? Turning vocal duties to ‘other’ guitarist Brian Bell leaves a stale track that sounds right at parts, but altogether is a mess that should have been left with the demos or given out as an iTunes exclusive.
It’s not even a bad decision to switch off vocal duties, really. For the most part, it works like a charm. “Cold Dark World” is a sweeping collection of chin music that is both brooding and driving. It seems destined to close a film or be layered atop the corresponding closing credits. Bassist Scott Shriner sounds vindictive and determined while singing, though lyrically Cuomo comes off creepy or stalker-like, closing the song out with “Angel girl, I’m gonna be your man/ Angel girl, I’ll make you understand.” It’s a good climb that should have closed out the album. Shortly after, drummer Patrick Wilson offers some variation on “Automatic”, a declarative rocker that will bring fans to marching boots over the next few months.
Slow song “The Angel and the One” sounds like a polished Cuomo demo that could have slid on the Alone recordings last year. Self reflective (”I’ve got the magic in me”) and depressing (”There is another love that I would rather be obeying”), it is, after all, a perfect closer, reminding listeners why they’re still with the band a decade and some change later. Most of the fans need these songs (probably as much as Cuomo does), as they offer premeditated escapes that shattered hearts and bruised egos can mend and heal in.
Parts of this album work, but that’s the problem. As a whole, the sixth album seems cluttered and confused, especially with the inclusion of “Thought I Knew” and “Everybody Get Dangerous”. It also doesn’t help that the album’s epic track sticks out like a sore thumb towards the beginning, with the latter carrying quite the weight. Much like 2005’s Make Believe, there is enough here to salvage and move on, and fortunately, there’s more here than three years ago.
A piece of advice. Don’t go in expecting a Pinkerton. In fact, don’t ever listen to Weezer again if you’re expecting Pinkerton-like results. As aforementioned, this is a different band. Pinkerton represented years and years of repressed angst and trauma. How and why would they still be writing in that lyrical key? This is a band poking fun at their surroundings: the fucked up recklessness of modern America, represented by the closest thing this world has to hell, Los Angeles.
And for that, they do a pretty damn good job.

Soulfly's Conquer

Max Cavalera has taken quite a beaten over the past decade from metal fans. After leaving Sepultura in 1996, Cavalera formed Soulfly, a band that has been through its ups and down, including the low point of Max's career, which was having musicians Fred Durst and DJ Lethal guest on the band's self-titled debut album. Every album up to 2004’s Prophecy had a revolving door of musicians, but Cavalera had a change of heart when Prophecy was released and saw the immense talent in his ranks, especially in guitarist Marc Rizzo. Even since then, Cavalera has kept the same members, as the band’s popularity begins to soar and metal fans find themselves embracing the band more so than in the past. 2005’s Dark Ages and re-uniting with his brother Igor to form Cavalera Conspiracy was the first step towards redemption for Cavalera.

If there were any doubts about Soulfly’s future, Conquer strikes them down with one of the best all around albums the band has produced. Cavalera has been known to use guest musicians on Soulfly albums and Conquer is no different. Unlike past albums, Cavalera puts the songs with guest appearance in the beginning, getting them out of the way immediately. Morbid Angel frontman David Vincent tears the house down on “Blood Fire War Hate,” his growled vocals lending a harsher sound to the proceedings. Throwdown singer Dave Peters puts his Phil Anselmo-like vocals to good use on single “Unleash,” dueling with Cavalera on multiple verses, leading to a fantastic ending ala “Prophecy.” The rest of the album shows Soulfly tighter and better focused than any previous albums. “Paranoia” wouldn’t sound out of place on Chaos A.D, fast and furious, with an acoustic ending showing the experimental side of the band. “Warmageddon” is the “Dead Embryonic Cells” of Conquer. Starting with a bass introduction, the song slowly builds to one of the fastest sections on the whole album, with riffs flying out of nowhere and Rizzo pounding the hell out of the whammy bar. Soulfly isn’t known for epic tracks (with the exception of the 10 minute “Soulfly V”), but Conquer pulls out two of them in the one-two punch “For Those About To Rot” and “Touching The Void.” I preferred the latter track, which had a doom metal vibe to it. Mixing My Dying Bride, Black Sabbath, and Pink Floyd, the track is foreboding, soaked in darkness, and topped with an ending that would make Roger Waters cry for joy.

Continuing a tradition that started with Soulfly’s self-titled debut album, instrumental “Soulfly VI” closes the album out on a high note. Unlike “Soulfly V” off of Dark Ages, “Soulfly VI” is more structured and seems to have a purpose behind it, instead of random flamenco solos (not that there’s anything wrong with that…). Max Cavalera’s vocals are as good as they were ten years ago and his rhythm guitar playing is under-the-radar and steady, like past albums. Marc Rizzo has yet again topped himself, with his emotional and tasteful soloing providing the solid pillar that holds the music up. While he doesn’t get a chance to show off his flamenco skills, Rizzo proves that he is one of the best young guitarists in metal today. Bassist Bobby Burns and drummer Joe Nunez are the underrated musicians again, with both providing the best rhythm section that Cavalera has had since his Sepultura days.

Conquer is one of the best Soulfly albums released to this date, as Max Cavalera and company have crafted an album more focused and heavier than ever before. The Middle Eastern influences and experimentation are still there, with the tribal influences also. Conquer is an album that finally has Max Cavalera redeeming himself. Fans of Sepultura hesitant to jump on the Soulfly bandwagon may want to find themselves a seat after listening to Conquer, a great metal album that shows the band at a creative high.

Egypt Central

Memphis, Tennessee’s Egypt Central will be released their self-titled debut in January 2008 on Fat Lady Records in conjunction with Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group (ILG). Egypt Central, featuring John T. Falls (vocals), Joey Chicago (bass), Heath Hindman (guitar), Blake Allison (drums), and Jeff James (guitar), originally recorded the album in 2006, which was mixed by Josh Abraham (Velvet Revolver, Korn, Linkin Park). Once the band signed with Fat Lady Records/ILG in 2007, they went back into the studio to retool the album. With the help of mixer Paul David Hagar and mastered by legendary George Marino, the insanely catchy, hard-driven disc was re-mixed, re-mastered, and re-sequenced, taking it to another level!

The first single, “You Make Me Sick” debuted at #38. Egypt Central’s track, “Over and Under,” was featured in the major motion picture, “The Condemned.” That exposure led to appearances on both Ozzfest and the Family Values Tour.

Foster care, rehabs, homelessness, signed to a major label and dropped - the band's self titled debut CD tells the story of their lives - an ever changing collage of lost love, frustration, broken dreams, but with the determination to rise and succeed.“Life is what you make of it,” says Falls. “We're not vengeful people, and we would never let any negative energy ruin how great it feels to have an album out. After all the work we put in, it's the greatest feeling ever and I don't think it would be so gratifying had we not been through everything we've experienced.”

Taking their name from one the toughest roads that runs through their hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, Egypt Central was formed in 2001, by John T. Falls (vocals), Joey Chicago (bass), Heath Hindman (guitar), Blake Allison (drums), and Jeff James (guitar).The band was signed to LAVA Records by Music industry vet Jason Flom and instantly the band went into the studio to record their first self-titled disc in 2006. produced and mixed by Josh Abraham (Velvet Revolver, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Staind, Linkin Park, etc.). What came out of that 3-month process was an insanely catchy, hard-driven disc that has turned rock fans' expectations upside down. Their sound encompasses edgy rock, thunderous metal, and tumbles into the realm of funk and arena rock.As the wind of change took place in the music industry, corporate downsizing took hold and Jason had left the company as well as many of the bands that he had signed. Egypt Central had found themselves with out a label but knew they still had one damn good record!One of their tracks "Over and Under" caught the attention of the WWE and was featured in the movie, "The Condemned" staring Stone Cold Steve Austin. The band knew that if they could keep turning people on to their music, then opportunities would come. Pockets of radio play started to develop. Ft Wayne, Tallahassee, Biloxi, and obviously Memphis and reaction to “Over and Under” was instant. With that exposure, the band earned themselves slots on the Ozzfest and Family Values Tour. As momentum continued to build, so did record company interest and in the summer of 2007 Egypt Central signed a new record deal with Fat Lady Music/ILG. With a new record company behind them, the band went back in the studio to really put the polish on a record that was never fully finished. “We were happy to get another crack at it,” comments Falls. “I’m the type of person that will constantly tweak something until I feel it is the best I can give”.

So, with the help of mixer Paul David Hagar and mastered by legendary George Marino, they have Re-mixed/Re-mastered and Re-sequenced the CD taking it to another level! The release date for their newly tooled debut CD is January 2008. According to vocalist, Falls, "the lyrics have something to say." Bassist, Joey Chicago adds, "We realize just how important our role is as a musicians. We want people to feel good about listening to our music and overcoming obstacles in life that can really slow you down. "Foster care, rehabs, homelessness, signed to a major label and dropped - the band's self titled debut CD tells the story of their lives - an ever changing collage of lost love, frustration, broken dreams, but with the determination to rise and succeed. "Life is what you make of it," says, Falls. "We're not vengeful people, and we would never let any negative energy ruin how great it feels to have an album out. After all the work we put in, it's the greatest feeling ever and I don't think it would be so gratifying had we not been through everything we've experienced. It's just another defining moment of what Egypt Central is all about...facing obstacles and overcoming them."

Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival

Since the mid-1990s, Kevin Lyman's Warped Tour and Sharon Osbourne's Ozzfest have both managed to coexist amiably within a cutthroat summer touring market rife with competition. While Warped — which turns 14 this summer — has long catered to the needs of the punk and emo faithful, Ozzfest — now entering its 12th year of existence — has been there to keep the nation's hardcore metal fans in check.
But that's all about to change. In addition to this summer's Warped Tour, Lyman is also launching a metal festival in direct competition with Ozzfest. Rumors have already been spreading that this summer's Ozzfest will be heading out on a smaller run than in past years, following last summer's free, corporate-sponsored version.
Anchored by headliners Slipknot and Disturbed, both of whom plan on releasing new material this spring, Lyman's inaugural Rockstar Energy Mayhem festival will be the first serious competition Ozzfest has faced since its inception. On Thursday morning (January 31), Lyman confirmed the tour's lineup to MTV News.
The tour will also feature Mastodon and DragonForce on the main stage, and Sevendust, Airborne, Five Finger Death Punch, 36 Crazyfists, Machine Head, Black Tide, Suicide Silence, the Red Chord and Walls of Jericho on two separate side stages. Many of the bands comprising the energy-drink-supported festival's bill have appeared in prior Ozzfests.
"This summer, we are truly bringing mayhem," Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor said in a press release. "Slipknot is excited to be a part of it, and to be able to bring the new chapter of our history to the masses. We are already working, building and designing a new show. We cannot wait. We cannot lose. Get ready for Mayhem."
Disturbed's David Draiman said his band is looking forward to being on the tour's first bill. "It's a great lineup, which should set a new standard for rock tours, and we're excited to be a part of it," he said.
The tour will get under way July 9 in Seattle and runs through August 21 in Holmdel, New Jersey