Good morning Radicals! Well, now that I’m back from vacation, let’s get back into the thick of it! News ahoy! First, some wisdom from Lou Brutus:
5 Reasons David Draiman Should Sing the Super Bowl National Anthem:
– He’d sound great.
– The game needs some Rock.
– As a patriotic citizen, David deserves the honor.
– @Disturbed pyro would rock the shit out of “the bomb’s bursting in air.”
– I could mooch a ticket from him.
Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor shared across all his social media accounts on Monday (October 7th) that he supports Disturbed singer David Draiman‘s desire to perform the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl LIV next year.
Taylor wrote, “It’s long overdue for rock and metal to be represented at the Super Bowl. Let’s make our voices heard in support of our brother David Draiman of @Disturbed and let the @nfl know we want him to sing the anthem.” He added, “This needs to happen!”
Draiman told Loudwire earlier this week that he “would be honored beyond words” if he could sing the U.S. national anthem at next year’s Super Bowl, saying, “It would be nice to have rock represented on SOME level at the Super Bowl.”
Gladys Knight sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at this year’s Super Bowl, which was held in her hometown of Atlanta. Panic! At The Disco’s Brendon Urie currently leads a Billboard poll asking who should sing the National Anthem before the 2020 game, which will take place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on February 2nd, 2020.
Alice In Chains has just announced a bourbon collaboration called “All Secrets Known,” and the main secret is that it’s finished in tequila barrels. The spirit is a collaboration between the band, Few Spirits and Warner Music Artist Services. It’s named after the opening song on Alice in Chains’ 2009 album Black Gives Way To Blue.
The 101 proof bourbon is finished for six months in tequila barrels to give it a spicy kick. Distiller Paul Hletko explained, “Nobody sounds like Alice in Chains. We were inspired by their courage to create a sound that flouted convention and thought, ‘There are lots of tequilas finished in bourbon barrels, but it’s rare to find a widely available bourbon finished in tequila barrels. Let’s do that instead.’”
A bottle of the bourbon runs for $75. The limited-edition spirit will be available in liquor stores in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington, and can also be purchased online through ReserveBar.com.
Alice In Chains has been winding down the touring cycle behind its latest album, Rainier Fog.
Hellyeah guitarist Tom Maxwell was asked in a new interview with Metal Nation about completing the band’s new Welcome Home album, following the death in June 2018 of band co-founder and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott.
Maxwell responded, “It was hard. There was so much uncertainty when we went back in . . . It was good for us to get together and finish this record. I think we accomplished it in a way that I know Vince would be really proud of us. He would be really proud of the songs.”
Speaking about the future of the group, Maxwell remarked, “We’ll see what we do in the future. Right now, it’s just kind of focusing in on honoring the record, honoring Vince and his memory, his brother Dime (the late “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott) as well, and carrying his torch and support this record as much as we can, and honestly. After that, we’re not really thinking too far ahead after that.”
Singer Chad Gray told us a while back how Hellyeah came together: “You know, we kind of went into it with the attitude with, ‘Let’s just see what happens.’ We never set our bar too high because we didn’t know what was gonna go down. So, you know, when I talked to Vinnie on the phone the first time, I was just like, ‘Hey, you know what man, at the end of the day we’re five guys that love to play music, and if it works out, it works out, and if it doesn’t, you know, whatever. We’re gonna make some good friends, we’re gonna have a good time one way or another. And here it is, you know, Hellyeah was born.”
Hellyeah released its sixth studio LP, Welcome Home, on September 27th. Vinnie Paul completed his drum tracks for the record before his death at age 54 from heart disease.
The identity of Static-X‘s mysterious touring vocalist, who has been performing under the name “Xer0” and wearing a mask in the likeness of late Static-X frontman Wayne Static, has apparently been revealed. The man performing alongside original bassist Tony Campos, drummer Ken Jay and guitarist Koichi Fukuda is said to be — as rumored for months — Dope frontman Edsel Dope.
On Tuesday (October 8th), Danish magazine Metal A Day posted side-by-side pictures of Dope and “Xer0” from the two bands’ joint October 7th concert in Hamburg, Germany. Photographer Anders Groos Mikkelsen pointed out a “specific similarity” between the neck tattoos sported by the frontmen of the two acts.
The other members of Static-X have not addressed the identity of “Xer0,” saying that they prefer to keep the focus of the band’s tour on paying tribute to Static, who died from a lethal mix of drugs and alcohol in November 2014 at the age of 48.
Static-X will release a new album titled Project Regeneration, featuring the last recordings of Wayne Static, on May 29th, 2020. The rest of the group’s original lineup will also be featured on the album and in the music videos, including the clip for the single “Hollow,” which was released earlier this week. Nearly every song will feature previously unreleased vocal tracks from Static.
That’s a wrap! Have a great day everyone!
