Monthly Archives: December 2010
Up the Swiss Irons
Iron Maiden will be headlining Sonisphere Switzerland next year. Also on the bill Slipknot and recent Hall of Fame inductee Alice Cooper. Some other bands too, but no point mentioning them.
It will happen on the 24th of June in Basel, St. Jakob (I think). Poster after the jump.
Jingle Balls to the wall, man
There’s a serious lack of metal christmas songs. Maybe because christian holidays aren’t really metal. The birth of Jesus Christ simply isn’t metal, his death on the other hand… but who wants a metal easter song? All with Varg Vikernes dressed up as an easter bunny.
The easter bunny brings eggs (why the fuck ever) and eggs, in German, is a synonym for balls and what’s the best metal song about balls? Accept’s ‘Balls to the Wall’. Great transition, Guido. Thank you.
So for this year’s christmas, Udo Dirkschneider teamed up with EMP, a German Hard Rock and Metal mailorder company, where I got my very first bandshirt from. You’re wondering what it was? A Slipknot shirt. Sadly, I can’t find a picture of it anywhere online. Am I embarassed it was a Slipknot shirt? No, because I don’t have it anymore.
Sorry, I got carried away there. So what did Udo and EMP team up for? You guessed it (you smart little fella), a christmas song, called ‘Jingle Balls,’ which also incorporates ‘Balls to the Wall’. Check it out after the jump.
This day in Metal… The UK Rage Against the X-Factor
One year ago, this Sunday, the UK silent majority did something phenomenal, something that had never been achieved ever before. Just two people, a couple living in the UK that had become sick of Simon Cowell’s and the X-Factor’s monopoly on the charts, deciding that enough was enough, created the first successful grass-roots campaign to stop the X-Factor from gaining their “inevitable” number one spot. No one thought it was possible and even the arrogant presenters of X Factor laughed it off as a “pathetic little campaign,” but they were wrong…
Read on after the jump to see my full article on these events and why the UK has failed to Rage against the X-Factor this year.
Portnoy “wasn’t” kicked out
No, we’re not talking about Dream Theater sorry, but instead the faces of ‘guyliner’ Avenged Sevenfold. As we previously reported, Mike Portnoy had left (or rather, had “nicely” been kicked out) the band, but now (in case Metal soap opera’s are your thing) the band’s manager has been nice enough to offer his two cents, even though no one asked for it and no one cares for it.
“The plan had always been for Mike Portnoy to play with the band through 2010. Nothing changed there.” said Avenged Sevnfold‘s janitor manager whilst counting his change. “it was confusing because Mike gave interviews suggesting he may be touring with the band beyond 2010. There will be another drummer behind the kit for the band’s ‘Nightmare After Christmas’ tour [in January/February] as well as for the many other dates around the world that are underway into 2011 and beyond.”
More information can be found at Blabbermouth.
Rammstein to release live DVD
Great news for fans of German porn and German Metal, because the two things will soon be combined, with Rammstein bassist, Oliver “Ollie” Riedel, announcing that the band will be releasing a concert DVD.
Hey, and if you’re a fan of cheap cash-ins, you have ever more reason to celebrate, as they will also be releasing a best-of album at some point. Expect the album to contain all 3 of Rammstein‘s hits.
I guess the recession has hit hard on the band…. More info here.
