Thy Will Be Done shared a snippet of new music last week, and now they’ve announced a search for a new lead guitar player to help brings those riffs to the masses. Continue reading
Category Archives: Band Line-up Changes
Asking Alexandria Officially Reunites With Danny Worsnop, Denis Stoff Departs
Metalcore leaders Asking Alexandria have officially announced the return of former frontman Danny Worsnop to the group, and the departure of Denis Stoff. Details below: Continue reading
Randy Blythe: It Was An Honor To Perform With EYEHATEGOD
Randy Blythe just wrapped up his time on the road with EYEHATEGOD, and the Lamb Of God front man did an incredible job filling in for Mike IX Williams. Continue reading
Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe Will Front EYEHATEGOD On Upcoming Tour Dates
Due to Mike IX Williams being sidelined because of an undisclosed illness, we recently saw Phil Anselmo front EYEHATEGOD at their recent shows over the Summer. EYEHATEGOD will soon be heading out with Discharge and Toxic Holocaust, and since Williams is still unable to perform, they’ve enlisted Lamb Of God‘s Randy Blythe to front the band on the upcoming dates!Continue reading
Scorpions Welcome Mikkey Dee As Their Permanent Drummer
This is too cool. The legendary Scorpions have made former Motorhead drummer, Mikkey Dee, a permanent member of the band.Continue reading
Black Dahlia Murder announces Spring Tour, Departure of Guitarist Ryan Knight
The Black Dahlia Murder has confirmed the departure of guitar player Ryan Knight, who had been a member of the band since 2008. Brandon Ellis, best known for his work with Arsis, will serve as touring guitarist in the meantime. The band has also booked a spring tour where they will play their 2003 début album Unhallowed, every night. Direct support will come from Fallujah and Disentomb.
Frontman Trevor Strnad commented on the departure of Knight and the spring tour:
“When Ryan first joined the band, he drove from the hospital where his first child had just been born to begin practicing and writing with us, on the eve of the recording of our ‘Deflorate’ album. In his years with the band, he made a lot of sacrifices to be with us and uphold our insanely demanding touring and recording schedule…He always gave us 100 percent, and for that I thank him.
“He is an incredible musician and creative force…It was exciting to make new material with him, and his wealth of knowledge has left its stamp on the band’s music forever. I always knew that his time in the band would be limited, and it has now come time for him to go home and be with his family. Ryan, being the stand:up dude that he is, told us of his plans to leave the band more than a year ago, and with heavy hearts we began to plan for The Black Dahlia Murder’s future.
“We admire that Ryan went to such lengths to make his departure as easy on the band as possible, even going as far as to help us find a talented leadsman in Brandon Ellis – who has been lending us his tremendous guitar skills on the current TBDM tour…Knight is one of my best friends and I wish him the best in everything he does. He will always have a place here in the TBDM family. I look back at our time together with nothing but gratitude.”
“We are very excited to unleash this absolutely crushing line-up upon you all and to play the much requested ‘Unhallowed‘ album in its entirety. The songs are sounding better than ever before, and we can’t wait for you to feast your ears on our debut album as it was meant to be heard. We will also be playing some bangers from our new album, ‘Abysmal‘, and the rest of the catalog…Come out and bring your friends!”
Ryan Knight, ex Black Dahlia Murder, photo by Meg Loyal Photography
Ryan Knight commented as well:
“After nearly 7 years with The Black Dahlia Murder, I feel the time has come for me to step down and focus on other aspects of my life. The decision to leave was very difficult, yet necessary I feel for me to ultimately be happy and keep moving forward. I feel very lucky to have had the best band:mates/crew (past and present) to traverse the world, guzzle beers, and bring the rock with every night…Thank you guys <3, I’d like to give a HUGE thank you to all our fans for being so cool to me over the years, and all the hardworking people over at Metal Blade Records for their support, and general badassery. In the meantime, I’ll still be teaching guitar, working on new music, and just getting pretty domestic in general. Thanks again!”
Dave Lombardo Exits Philm, Focus On Dead Cross Band, New Album
Dave Lombardo has quit his affiliation with Los Angeles avant-garde trio Philm. According to rep Lombardo told Dean Delray on the Let There Be Talk podcast about his decision to quit:
“I’m not gonna talk about it. They didn’t want me to promote the band while I was with them, and I’m certainly not gonna do it when I’m without them. I don’t wanna talk about it anymore. Yeah, so I just said, ‘See ya!”
Instead Lombardo, best known for being a founding member of Slayer and work with Testament and Grip INC., will focus on his new band Dead Cross. Dead Cross features members of The Locust & Retox. Ross Robinson (Slipknot, Korn) recorded that band’s début, but no release information is available.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzfpwGvPX1I
Guns N Roses Closes In On Return, Tour Booking Underway
The return of Guns `N Roses is picking up steam in real tangible ways, not just the music industry rumor mill and the internet. Their website recently switched from the Chinese Democracy-style album cover to the more classic “GNR seal logo”. Also fans seeing Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in some cities were treated to a cryptic trailer with the bands music, crowd noise and other elements indicating concerts or a performance. Another more concrete clue may lay with Alex Martel, the booker of the annual Amnesia Rockfest in Canada. As reported by 99scennes.com, in a post to his personal Facebook account, Alex speculated that the band is seeking 3-4 times what the 2015 headliner, System of A Down was paid. SOAD was paid between 1-2 million USD for the gig, meaning that GNR maybe seeing 6-8 million dollars for their appearance. Typically headline bands for major festivals command 1-2 million dollars for the larger and more exclusive appearances. As previously reported by Ghost Cult, the band has been in talks with promoters and planning a comeback in 2016 in some way. This may or may not include all of the original members, but will at least count Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan in its ranks.
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CJ McMahon Quits Thy Art Is Murder
In a post to Facebook, CJ McMahon has quit his band Thy Art Is Murder. Citing too much time spent away from his fiancee and money woes as the main reasons, McMahon wrote that he “won’t live this way anymore.” The band has announced Nick Arthur of Molotov Solution as their fill in vocalist for their upcoming tour with Parkway Drive. As part of TAIM, McMahon released Holy War (Nuclear Blast) earlier in 2015, toured the world, including this past summer’s Mayhem Festival.
With a mix of both negative and positive emotions, I inform you all that I have parted ways with my band Thy Art Is Murder. It has been a wild ride I have travelled to over 40 countries around the world and played alongside some of the worlds biggest and best bands, it brings me great sadness knowing I will never perform again for my amazing and supportive fans, this will be the hardest thing for me to deal with. My reasons for leaving: I spend too much time away from my fiancé , family and friends, touring has taken a massive mental, emotional and physical toll on me. One of the biggest reasons is money, I / we have been broke for years and being 32 years old I can’t live like this anymore. I am getting married next year and plan on having a family, these things cost money, to put the finances into perspective for you I /we have earned between $16k-$18k each over 6-7 years, I feel there is something massively wrong with this, I will not live like this anymore. I’m sorry to my fans that I have to go, I have loved you all and I thank you for believing in me supporting me. The money made from my closing down sale of my clothing label will be going to my wedding, I will also be selling my Northface stage jacket I have worn the last two years on stage via eBay soon to try to pay for my wedding for the people interested, again thank you for the love and support, Your Prince Of Darkness Cj
The band offered their own take on CJ’s departure
After much conjecture and ambiguity on his behalf, it is with a heavy heart that we must announce today that CJ is no longer a part of Thy Art Is Murder. We have worked so hard from day one to make this band what it is now, and develop the reputation that we have and he had been there with us every step of the way. We like to think that even if someone doesn’t like our music that they can at least respect our work ethic. This band has taken us to places we never thought we would see and to share stages with many bands we never thought we would get to play with or meet, let alone call friends. It is unfortunate that with our best year to date and our biggest paved out before us that he has decided to leave.
All this being said, touring as hard as we do does take its toll on you physically, but more importantly mentally and emotionally. We are an underground metal band, and have been so fortunate over the last two years to carve out a small income thanks to so many dedicated and generous fans around the world. For some people, it comes to a turning point in their life where that income is no longer enough for their personal goals, and that point has come for CJ. We would like to wish him all our best as he leaves the band and moves onward to start a family and new life with his loving fiancée.
The four of us are continuing forward into 2016 for some of the biggest and best tours of our lives. We won’t be slowing down or missing any shows. We head back out next month with Parkway Drive and Architects throughout Europe and the UK and will be taking one of our favourite vocalists with us, Nick Arthur from Molotov Solution. Thy Art is what we have done with all of our adult lives and we have put absolutely everything we have into the band and the friendship between the four of us. That friendship and drive to create extreme music is what has kept us together through thick and thin. Unfortunately not everyone can share this fire.
Andy, Kevin, Lee and Sean – Thy Art Is Murder
After much conjecture and ambiguity on his behalf, it is with a heavy heart that we must announce today that CJ is no…
Posted by Thy Art Is Murder on Monday, December 21, 2015
With a mix of both negative and positive emotions, I inform you all that I have parted ways with my band Thy Art Is…
Posted by CJ McMahon on Monday, December 21, 2015
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News: Paramore Part Ways With Bassist Jeremy Davis
Photo Credit: Grizzlee Martin
Paramore has parted ways with longtime bassist Jeremy Davis and a statement on the matter was posted:
These last few years have held some of the most fulfilling moments we’ve had yet… as people, as friends, and as a…
Posted by Paramore on Monday, December 14, 2015