HELLEN To Enter Studio In June Phoenix, Arizona two-piece female metal band HELLEN will enter Villain Recording studios in early June to begin recording its full-length debut. The follow-up to the "Confessions of a Four Track Mind" EP is expected before the end of the year.
HELLEN features in its ranks Mindy DuPonte, a 17-year-old who is both the lead vocalist and drummer, and Corrie Zazzera, a 27-year-old female guitarist who has a degree in guitar performance and is a guitar teacher. According to a press release, "together these two have been stunning audiences in the Phoenix Valley floor. People just cannot believe what comes out of them."Hellen "Confessions of a Four Track Mind"
DuPonte was recently featured in Drumhead magazine and has also been working to produce her own documentary on the history of HELLEN (see video below). Meanwhile, Zazzera is scheduled to appear shortly on the online edition of Premier Guitar. Hellen Slaughter House Desiree Benefit show
HELLEN recently inspired two anonymous donors to contribute significant financial backing for the band's latest studio effort.
For Today have announced the title and theme behind their new album. Portraits, set to be released on June 9th, is For Today's sophomore album on Facedown Records and centers around "the fathers of the faith." Vocalist Mattie Montgomery had this to say about the new album:
"We've been locked up for over 2 months now, pouring ourselves into our new album, Portraits. We are excited and proud to say that, finally, it's finished! All of our new material is technically creatively and spiritually far above anything we've put out in the past. You can expect Portraits to be heavier catchier and more technical than our previous album Ekklesia and for it to stand with more authority and conviction than ever before."
The band will enter the studio on March 2nd to begin tracking this amazing new material. The album will feature special guest vocal spots from Impending Doom & Advent.
You can catch For Today on tour now with My Children My Bride and again after they emerge from the recording studio on the King of the Spring Tour with Recon, A Plea For Purging and Broadcast the Nightmare.
THE RED BARON have an opportunity to win a spot on the New Band Showcase at Cornerstone 2009, but we need your help! If you would like to see them play, simply visit the Cornerstone website and vote... you can vote once per day! Don't forget, the new album from THE RED BARON My First Love is out now.
kitarrafury.com IMPENDING DOOM have premiered the video for 'More Than Conquerors' - check it out below. An intense live performance video directed by Robby Starbuck (A STATIC LULLABY, A SKYLIT DRIVE) the video shows the band shoulder to shoulder with an audience of kids headbanging and losing their mind. Bassist David Sittig explained the genesis of the video “We had a contest where the first 150 kids to respond to our post could be part of our video. We performed on the same level as the kids with no barriers as we wanted a real intense, in your face show. The band’s new album The Serpent Servant (Facedown Records) has reached scans of 9,000 in three weeks scanning over 4,200 copies in the first week. The band were supposed to do a headlining Mexican run this which has been cancelled due to the Swine Flu. Sittig commented “Apparently a bunch of the venues have been temporarily closed for quarantine. We intend to return to Mexico at some point in the summer and send our best wishes to our fans over there. Check it out here or at IMPENDING DOOM - More Than Conquerors
"Deathless and Rebirth"- A mere week into the recording of their latest effort, 'Deathless,' Orange County's Throwdown are light years ahead of their mental state on previous releases. "Our heads are in a different and better place than they have been before, for a lot of reasons" lead pipes Dave Peters "It feels like a rebirth for our band, which we deliberately allude to in the title of the album."
Peters elaborates on an other point and also said, "The songs we've written for 'Deathless' reflect that [rebirth] absolutely. The album is a really expected and evolution from 'Venom & Tears,' but has definitely come a long way from it, in our humble opinion, too." Evolution is necessary for a band to continue and grow and Throwdown have always demonstrated the ability, toughness and moxie necessary for survival in the eats-its-young music business! The band has also endured several line up changes, yet is never crippled by them!
For 'Deathless,' the band, known for making neck-stomping, moshpit anthems, parted ways with its longtime label and is now working with E1, formerly known as Koch. "Making a record with E1 is truly a breath of fresh air and has lent itself nicely to the whole process," the vocalist admitted. "We don't have to worry about the people who work hard on it not getting paid for months, for starters! We really couldn't be happier right now with everything. Wow, I can't remember the last time I could say that.... maybe in the 90's?!"
We, too, are happy for Throwdown and are looking forward to getting our asses handed to us with 'Deathless,' which may be out this year.
Finnish heavy metal band CHILDREN OF BODOM was forced to cancel its remaining live dates as part of the No Fear Energy Tour with LAMB OF GOD due to injuries sustained by guitarist and frontman Alexi Laiho. Laiho, 30, broke his shoulder two weeks ago when he was ejected from his tour bus bunk after the vehicle took a sharp turn. Laiho and the rest of CHILDREN OF BODOM were touring North America in support of the band's critically acclaimed album "Blooddrunk".
Against recommendation,Laiho had decided to "bite the bullet" and remain on tour, wearing the arm in a sling to restrict movement at all times when he was not on stage. But after performing ten live dates with both the broken shoulder and internal bleeding, the toll became too much for the guitar hero to endure and CHILDREN OF BODOM made the decision to cut its current tour short, placing Laiho's longterm health as its first priority.
"After the New York show (on May 8), I knew it was going to be over," Laiho said in a statement. "During the third song, I started feeling like someone was stabbing me in my lungs, my heart and my ribs. That was the kind of pain that neither stubbornness, painkillers, nor alcohol could alleviate. I wanted to try to keep going but after seeing a second doctor in Philadelphia, I was basically told that I could fuck myself up for life if I don't stop playing. Against all recommendation, I have played and sang for the last 10 days in violent pain which has only made my condition worsen. So I decided to listen to everyone around me, who were telling me the best thing to do would be to go home and get some proper rest and give my shoulder some time to heal.
"This was a hard decision for me and I feel bad about it," he continued. "But it is the right thing to do if I want to keep making music. I apologize to our great fans for not being there for the remaining shows and I want to thank all the guys from the other bands — LAMB OF GOD, AS I LAY DYING, GOD FORBID and MUNICIPAL WASTE — for backing me up on this. Most of all, I want to thank our fans for still being there, showing support, and continuing to rock out with me! I promise I will be back and I hope you all will too! Horns up!"
After a few weeks rest, CHILDREN OF BODOM will start their EUROPEAN summer festival run on May 30 from Rock Hard Festival in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. All summer festival dates will go down as planned and remain unaffected by Alexi's injury.
