Happy Hump Day! We’re halfway through the week, so let’s start it right with some rock and roll news:
Korn has posted a cryptic message on its Instagram account, suggesting some sort of announcement is imminent. The post shows a black and white image of what appears to be a tangle of cables, with fans asked to visit the band’s website.
The site carries the simple message, “Watch It All Fall Down…” and urges people to sign up for further information.
Korn has been working on the follow-up to 2016’s The Serenity Of Suffering for some time, with frontman Jonathan Davis reporting back in January that he was working on his vocals for the new record.
Guitarist Brian “Head” Welch later told Consequence Of Sound, “We’ve got some amazing tricks up our sleeves that we haven’t done before, some fun things that the fans are going to be pleasantly surprised by. I know that for a fact.” Today’s also his birthday! Happy Birthday Head!
Davis told us not long ago that Korn is never afraid to take risks: “We’re one of those bands that take the chance and we really just want to put out music that we like making. We don’t care if the people hate or if the people love it — we just want people to have open minds. I think it takes balls as a band to do something like that and to throw something out different, ’cause most bands are scared and they end up sounding the same every record.”
Korn and Alice In Chains will head out on a co-headlining amphitheater tour across North America this summer, starting on July 18th in Del Valle, Texas and wrapping on September 4th in Mountain View, California.
Metallica isn’t the only band getting into the spirits business lately. Slipknot has shared details of its very own craft drink, dubbed No. 9 Iowa Whiskey, which will be available starting August 10th at select retailers in all 50 states and on the band’s “Knotfest Roadshow” North American tour. It can also be obtained at select markets on the trek ahead of the official August 10th launch.
A collaboration with the Iowa-based Cedar Ridge Distillery, the 90-proof No. 9 Iowa Whiskey will retail for $39.99, while the 99-proof No. 9 Reserve Iowa Whiskey will retail for $69.99. Both are made with corn from the award-winning distillery’s family farm in Winthrop, Iowa.
Percussionist M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan stated about the partnership, “Slipknot and Cedar Ridge Distillery — two groups of people born and raised in Iowa, and committed to quality and hard work. We collaborated on No. 9 Whiskey, which in addition to Iowa corn, gets some extra spice from its rye content. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Live life, and always be safe.”
Cedar Ridge head distiller Murphy Quint added, “Our challenge was to produce a whiskey that represents Slipknot’s style of music; something bold, something with distinguished character, something that you don’t exactly come across every day.”
Slipknot will be announcing special events surrounding the launch of No. 9 Iowa Whiskey, including bottle signings and bar takeovers in the coming weeks.
Me and my drummer Brandon Pertzborn pic.twitter.com/IDcLHeULkF
— Marilyn Manson (@marilynmanson) June 18, 2019
Marilyn Manson has confirmed that he has recruited Brandon Pertzborn to play drums for his band. The Texas-based Pertzborn, who is apparently only 24, has toured with a number of different artists over the years, including Black Flag and HO99O9, the latter of which opened for Manson last fall.
Manson tweeted out a photo on Tuesday (June 18th) of him with Pertzborn, along with the caption: “Me and my drummer Brandon Pertzborn.”
Drummer Gil Sharone announced his departure from the Marilyn Manson band in March, explaining in a statement that it was “time” for him “to pursue other current and future projects.” Sharone joined Manson’s band in 2013 and was featured on the shock rocker’s last two records, The Pale Emperor and Heaven Upside Down.
Pertzborn will presumably make his live debut with Manson this summer on the latter’s co-headlining tour with Rob Zombie. The 2019 leg of their notorious “Twins Of Evil” tour kicks off in Baltimore, Maryland on July 9th.
Motley Crue singer Vince Neil and bassist Nikki Sixx have both slammed the latest episode of the Reelz documentary series Breaking The Band, which focuses on the history of their band.
Neil complained on social media about the way his 1992 exit from the Crue was portrayed in the documentary, writing on Instagram, “Breaking the band, f**king memories from a manager Doug Thaler who can’t remember that he’s the one who actually broke up the band! The band didn’t break up because of me racing. It broke up because he was too much of a p**sy who didn’t just say, ‘Hey guys, let’s take a week off and come back with cooler heads.’”
Meanwhile, Sixx wrote, “Breaking The Band was not authorized by Motley Crue. Our lawyers sent them a cease-and-desist and further action will be taken.” He added later, “Should @ReelzChannel be liable for putting out shows without so many artist approval? I am very disappointed that they think they can tell our LIFE story just to sell advertising ( mostly incorrect ) and without any bodies permission.”
The decision to split with Neil was made on February 10th, 1992, after Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee and guitarist Mick Mars sat impatiently waiting for Neil to arrive for a rehearsal. Sixx said in the Crue’s biography, The Dirt, that Neil’s drinking was at least partly to blame for the singer’s exit. “Except for Mick, we were all slipping off the wagon, but Vince was the only one who was letting it affect his work.”
Neil rejoined the band in 1996. The Dirt was made into a successful Netflix movie earlier this year, with the full cooperation of the band.
Finally, we’d like to once again wish a Happy Birthday to our longtime friend Brian “Head” Welch of Korn! Have a great day everyone!
