By Art Michalski, on July 31st, 2010
 Not quite "Waking The Fallen", but I'll take this over Nickelback any day of the week. Even though it’s happened in rock history before, it has been a while since a band in their prime of their commercial success has lost a member. Mourning the December 2009 death of drummer Jimmy ‘The Rev” Sullivan, the rest of Avenged Sevenfold decided to carry on and record their fifth album, “Nightmare”.
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Armed with one of Sullivan’s drumming idols, Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy, the Orange County band is ready to head to the top of the hard rock mountain, and “Nightmare” shows us that they might be ready for it.
The album starts off crunchy and heavy enough, with the 1-2 punch of the title track and “Welcome To the Family” (which really doesn’t kick into high gear until about halfway through). Throughout the album, the guitar combo of Synster Gates and Zacky Vengeance prove why their guitar work might be the most exciting riffage in hard rock music today, as the two play off each other well. Listening to a cut like “Natural Born Killer” or the powerful “God Hates Us” gives you a glimpse of the sonic fury the band is quite capable of.
Continue reading Album Review- Avenged Sevenfold’s “Nightmare”
By Art Michalski, on July 29th, 2010
 Chromeo keeps it "Casual" at the Majestic August 5th. The Montreal based dance duo Chromeo has already had quite the summer, as they got to perform with one of their heroes when they took the stage with Daryl Hall at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival back in June. With the duo of Patrick Gemayel and David Macklovitch enjoying some new found success, Chromeo is preparing for the August 17th release of their third album, “Business Casual”.
The album plans to be a major step forward in their quest for dance global domination. In a short phrase, David Macklovitch described the album’s vibe as simply “sex & the trials of love”- quite universal themes, no matter what era you’re in.
The duo are longtime friends and played in a few bands in Montreal prior to forming Chromeo. Before their U.S. tour began, I had a chance to speak with Chromeo guitarist/vocalist Macklovitch about performing with one of their idols and the aspirations for the new album.
Here’s my interview with David:
Continue reading Interview w/ David Macklovitch of Chromeo
By Art Michalski, on July 28th, 2010
 The mellow vibes of Slightly Stoopid invade Detroit August 4th. Throughout the past 15 years, the music of San Diego based band Slightly Stoopid has been custom built for summertime, beaches, and for things not-so-family friendly. The punk/reggae fusion band spends at least half their year on the road, spreading those vibes to fans across the States and Europe.
After two releases in as many years in 2007 and 2008, the band is already starting work on their upcoming album, which is due out sometime in 2011. Even though the band is recording, it hasn’t stopped them from getting out on the road for their summer tour. This year’s summer tour will also include dates with Cypress Hill and a spot at Lollapalooza in August, with the U.S. tour wrapping up with the Austin City Limits festival this fall.
Before the tour’s opening gig in Portland, I had a chance to talk with Slightly Stoopid drummer Ryan Moran, and discussed the success of the single “2 A.M.”, and the grind of the yearly summer tour.
Here’s my interview with Ryan:
Continue reading Interview w/ Ryan Moran of Slightly Stoopid
By Art Michalski, on July 27th, 2010
 Dysrthymia plays the Magic Stick this Sunday. Dysrhymthia has been one of the quite intriguing and diverse bands of the progressive metal genre since it’s debut early in the past decade. The Philadelphia based trio has four albums fused together by the band’s love of metal and jazz throughout their albums, with their latest album “Psychic Maps” released in the summer of 2009.
Since then, the band has been out on the road relentlessly behind the effort. Their current tour puts them on tour with like minded progressive metal band Cynic. Before a show in California, I had a chance to chat with guitarist Kevin Hufnagel about the band’s unfortunate case of lost gear a few nights before, as well as the types of music that helped inspired him to start doing music.
Here’s my interview with Kevin:
Continue reading Interview w/ Kevin Hufnagel of Dysrhythmia
By Art Michalski, on July 26th, 2010
 The Warped Tour takes over Comerica Park's parking lots this Friday. Forget OzzFest, forget any other major traveling festival- because the Vans Warped Tour is rolling into its 16th year and is now becoming a cross-generational event for rock fans young and old (but mostly young). The 2010 edition brings an entertaining mix of emo, old school punk and metal bands for what will most likely be a scorching day on the blacktop of the parking lots around Comerica Park.
But instead of discussing every band on the bill, here are a few intriguing prospects to check out this year at the Vans Warped Tour 2010:
Andrew W.K: If there’s one thing we can say about Andrew Wilkes-Krier- its that he likes to diversify. He finally released his long shelved album earlier this year, as well as a EP of new age piano numbers called “Cadillac 55” late last year. With hosting the Revolver Golden Gods Awards and running a nightclub- does Andrew have time to tour? I am sure he’ll be just fine.
Continue reading 2010 Vans Warped Tour Preview
By Art Michalski, on July 25th, 2010
 Lords of Acid hit Blondie's this Wednesday. Two of the biggest names of the techno/industrial world of the genre’s early 90’s heyday are heading out as Lords of Acid and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult are out on tour together as they co-headline the “Sextreme Ball” tour.
The bands toured together in 1995, under the “Sextasy Ball” moniker and the two groups are united and giving the fans a updated version of the group’s set that will be based heavily in, you guessed it, sex….
With songs titles like “I Must Increase My Bust” and “Rubber Doll” (believe me, these are two of the titles I can actually use on a PG-13 friendly website), you know that sex will be on the brain for the longtime German techno mavens Lords of Acid. The brainchild of Praga Khan (born Maurice Engelen), the band hasn’t released an album since their best-of compliation in 2002.
Out on the road with the band as a guest vocalist is Lacey Conner, who reality show fans might know as a “villain” on one of the seasons of VH1’s “Rock Of Love”. Somehow, I don’t see a battle between suitorettes of Bret Michaels ensuing at this show.
Continue reading Tour Spotlight- The Sextreme Ball
By Art Michalski, on July 19th, 2010
 Black Veil Brides play this Friday at the I-Rock. Being into bands like Kiss, the Misfits and so on generally aren’t the signs of being an outcast as much as they used to be- but there are certainly some areas of the States where it still could be. Growing up in Kentucky, lead singer of the LA based band Black Veil Brides, Andy Six, listening to those bands still faced a lot of that venom from fellow students when he was younger.
Those influences and others helped Andy head out to LA and start the Brides. After touring for a couple of years, the 19 year old Andy leads the Brides into their first major tour throughout the States in support of their upcoming release, “We Stitch Those Wounds” (due out July 20th).
Before a show in Houston, I had a chance to talk with Andy about what to expect from the upcoming album and how he found the bands that helped shape his music interests. Here’s my interview with Andy:
AM: With the album coming out soon, what is your mood going into the release?
AS: There is a lot of excitement, but also a sense of accomplishment. Ultimately, I set out to make an record that I wanted to make and sounds like something I would listen to. I hope lyrically and musically, it makes an impression on people. I’ve been doing this since I was 14, it’s the only band I’ve been in and I want to band this band like bands I want to go see.
Continue reading Interview w/ Andy Six of Black Veil Brides
By Art Michalski, on July 17th, 2010
 City of Fire's debut is out in late August- until then, Fear Factory hits Harpo's on July 21st. Burton Bell is having quite the 2010 so far. Not only has the reunion with Fear Factory founder Dino Cazares yielded a stellar return-to-form album (Mechanize), but Burton is gearing up to release another project called City of Fire. City of Fire was the brainchild of current Fear Factory member Bryon Stroud, who joined forces with Bell for this new project during a break in Vancouver a couple years ago.
City of Fire promises to be a bit different than Fear Factory, as well as the material Burton has done with his Ascension of the Watchers project. This in all makes Bell a very busy, sought after man these days.
I had a chance to catch up with Bell before a Fear Factory show while fighting crowd noise at a Detroit Tigers game (damn fans couldn’t shut up for 15 minutes), but everything went fine. We discussed how he manages to keep all the projects in order and how the City of Fire project varies from his other bands. Here’s my interview with Burton Bell:
Continue reading Interview w/ Burton Bell of City of Fire & Fear Factory
By Art Michalski, on July 16th, 2010
 Ratt n Roll is back with the release of Infestation. Anybody that knows me knows just how much of a hair metal dork I am. You can routinely find me listening to Hair Nation on Sirius most weekends, followed by healthy doses of “Metal Mania” on VH1 Classic. So, it was a no-brainer for me when I received the request to interview one of the titans of the 80s Sunset Strip scene, Ratt. Ratt is out with their first album since 1999, Infestation, and it doesn’t try and keep up with trends or anything- it is tried and true “Ratt ‘n Roll.”
Before their show at the unbelievably sweltering Harpo’s, in which the band played a awesome 75-minute hit filled set, I had a chance to interview guitarist Warren DiMartini. The inner 14-year-old inside of me was completely geeking out to songs like “Back For More” and “Lay It Down” and enjoyed every second of it. Warren and I discussed the mindset with the new album and the guitarists he looked to for inspiration. Here’s my interview with Warren:
Continue reading Interview w/ Warren DiMartini of Ratt
By Art Michalski, on July 13th, 2010
 Civil Twilight plays as part of the 89X Birthday Bash this Friday. In a lot of music industry circles, making it big in America is the ultimate goal for most people planning musical world domination. For the guys in the South African based band Civil Twilight, moving to the U.S. was an important piece for their quest for fame and notoriety.
Civil Twilight moved from Cape Town, South Africa to Los Angeles in 2005 and are now starting to see their fruits of their labor come to life. The trio released their self-titled debut album last year and have been on the road relentlessly since. The band is currently out on the road with Neon Trees through the end of July.
I had a chance to talk with Civil Twilight frontman Steve McKellar before the band played a date over on the East Coast. We discussed the transition from South Africa to America, and the band’s music used on numerous television shows. Here’s my interview with Steve:
Continue reading Interview w/ Steve McKellar of Civil Twilight
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