Happy Friday Radicals! Here’s hoping you’ve got some great weekend plans in store, (including for Fathers Day this Sunday, if you’ve forgotten!) Here’s a look at what’s happening in the world of Rock and Roll:
Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Zoltan Bathory has admitted in the band’s latest video update from the recording studio that he never liked the group’s name.
Bathory said, “The name of the band has to have some kind of effect. It doesn’t have to be positive; it doesn’t have to be, like, ‘That’s the greatest name in the world!’ It can be, ‘Oh my god, that’s the dumbest f**king s**t I ever heard!’ — equally good, because it got a reaction.”
He continued, “I mean, I don’t think you can beat Five Finger Death Punch. That’s probably the worst f**king name. In fact, we almost changed it, but then Ivan (Moody, vocals) came in and said, ‘That’s the best name ever, they’re gonna f**king hate it! Keep it! That’s f**king ridiculous!’”
Bathory told us a while back that Five Finger Death Punch was always ready to take risks to push its career forward: “We are here to step forward and take as much development in anything we do as it is possible, and that’s the mentality and that’s gonna be in every aspect. We’re gonna kind of push the envelope, maybe go overboard here and there, but, you know, that’s the idea.”
Five Finger Death Punch is currently recording its eighth album with its regular producer, Kevin Churko, the Canadian record producer/engineer and songwriter who works out of his private Las Vegas facility, The Hideout Recording Studio.
Volbeat has released the official music video for its new song, “Last Day Under The Sun,” which is taken from the band’s upcoming seventh studio effort, Rewind, Replay, Rebound.
Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen has revealed that the lyrics for the song were inspired by a book about Johnny Cash, saying, “When I read his book, he went through tough times with alcohol and drugs. He walked into a cave to lay down to die. But he wakes up and feels like he has been given a second chance.”
Poulsen told us not long ago that the band, which originated in Denmark, has always been inspired by American artists: “I’m so inspired by American music, you know, you have so many legendary performers that still I can be inspired of, and that’s probably also the reason why we can write the way we do. So it’s a little bit funny that a band from a little country called Denmark now and then can tell the American people how to do their own thing (laughs).”
Rewind, Replay, Rebound is due out August 2nd and available for pre-order on all formats, including a two-CD deluxe edition, a special deluxe edition box set, and transparent and blue colored vinyl, numbered and limited to 1,000 copies each.
Wow. I’m humbled by that story, and so glad that it could explain something I was trying to describe. This album is indeed about rising above the pain and being reborn. And the mask is also a reflection of it all. https://t.co/wGjti5lStP
— confirm: 0-0-0… DESTRUCT… 0 (@CoreyTaylorRock) June 12, 2019
Although some Slipknot fans have objected to singer Corey Taylor‘s new mask, one fan has shared a powerful and emotional story explaining his attachment to the mask, as detailed in a post on the Slipknot reddit forum titled “Corey’s mask – not what you’re thinking.”
The person who wrote the post explained, “I personally love it for reasons I have not noticed pointed out by others yet. Corey’s mask is a REALLY close comparison to a mask I had to wear for almost two years called a TFO, a transparent facial orthosis.”
The fan then told a story about a house fire he was caught in when he was five years old. The individual suffered third-degree burns to his face and had to have several skin grafts to repair the skin. He needed to wear a transparent mask to assist in the healing by reducing swelling and preventing further injury to the scar tissue.
Taylor’s mask apparently looks similar to the mask this man had to wear after suffering the burns. He revealed that seeing the mask brought back a flood of emotions, saying, “All of it . . . The teasing, rock throwing, the exclusion. The Freddy Kruger references. The healing. The normalization. The self pity. The realization. The acceptance. The determination.”
Taylor later replied on Twitter, writing, “Wow. I’m humbled by that story, and so glad that it could explain something I was trying to describe. This album is indeed about rising above the pain and being reborn. And the mask is also a reflection of it all.”
Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge was asked in a new interview with All Things Loud how he felt about the band’s fourth album, Prequelle, exactly one year after it was released in June 2018.
Forge replied, “I don’t think that much of the record. To use a very business-oriented term, I think more of the entire album cycle and where that record has gotten us as a band, and what we’re doing tour-wise. From that aspect, it’s been phenomenal, really good.”
The singer continued, “The record was very honest and not a repetition of anything I’d done before, and that’s good. I like it. I don’t listen to the album, but that’s the same thing with all of my records. As soon as I’m done writing a record and we’ve started playing it live, I already stop listening to it. I honestly can’t, because it makes me slightly nauseous.”
Forge admitted that he’s a “control freak and a perfectionist” in the studio, explaining, “I really, really want to feel like I’ve done everything in my power to create as good a product as possible . . . That’s why I walk from a production telling myself that I want to do certain things differently next time round.”
Ghost is spending most of its summer on the road in Europe with Metallica, but will launch its North American “Ultimate Tour Called Death” headlining arena trek on September 13th in Bakersfield, California.
Finally, we’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to The Word Alive drummer Luke Holland! Have a great weekend!
