VLTIMAS, the extreme metal formation featuring David Vincent (ex-MORBID ANGEL), Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen (ex-MAYHEM, AURA NOIR) and Flo Monier (CRYPTOPSY), played a cover version of the BLACK SABBATH classic “Black Sabbath” during its June 21 concert at the Underworld in London, England. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen above.
VLTIMAS’s debut album, “Something Wicked Marches In”, was released on March 29 via Season Of Mist.
The cover for “Something Wicked Marches In” was created by renowned Polish artist Zbigniew M. Bielak (GHOST, PARADISE LOST, BÖLZER, ZHRINE).
The foundation for VLTIMAS was laid when Rune, after collecting a handful of riffs, presented Mounier with the idea of forming a band together. For the two musicians, having composed and recorded numerous songs together in the past, the musical chemistry was already tried and tested. However, one thing was still missing. This extraordinary musical project needed an extraordinary voice and Eriksen got in touch with Vincent, with whom he had been in contact for years, to finalize the lineup.
Vincent had just exited MORBID ANGEL and was ready for a new chapter in his long spanning career. Everything fell into place, and VLTIMAS came into being.
During The Noiz Faktory sessions (Georgetown, USA), the musicians started writing a substantial amount of music. The sessions proved to be a fruitful endeavor and the first ideas and song skeletons were later fleshed out by Rune at his home studio in Portugal, then finalized when Mounier and Eriksen returned to Texas, in order to put the final touches to the material at David’s home studio. In a more controlled surrounding the songs started to unveil themselves and the studio was booked.
The band entered Orgone Studios in Woburn, England in May 2018 with producer Jaime Gomez Arellano. While there, the three-piece recorded nine crushing tracks that will appear on the full-length debut album.
The new record offers a vast array of influences, but most notably the distinguished symbioses of these three respected and talented musicians. A dark and sinister ambiance meets a majestic and a commanding death metal energy.
Vincent is also involved with I AM MORBID alongside fellow former MORBID ANGEL member Tim Yeung (drums), plus guitarists Bill Hudson (CIRCLE II CIRCLE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA) and Kelly McLauchlin.
Formed in 2016, I AM MORBID plays material from MORBID ANGEL’s “Altars Of Madness” (1989), “Blessed Are The Sick” (1991), “Covenant” (1993) and “Domination” (1995) albums.
Vincent left MORBID ANGEL for the second time in 2015.
We are also giving away a pair of tickets to see PIGFACE when they go on tour for the first time in 14 years. They are easy to win all you have to do is subscribe to our YouTube PodCast page below and follow us at our PodCast link above.
Stunning musical and, in particular, six-string intricacy that mixes Ciravolo’s love of rock, pop, post-punk, goth, new wave and other styles and wraps it all in layers of lush, ringing, occasionally grimy and often heavily effected guitars” – Guitar World
“Guitarist Michael Ciravolo assembled an all-star cast for his moody hard-hitting album… Intense” – Rolling Stone
“Both records offer a rich sonic palette of unabashed gothic rock and post-punk romanticism, that reverberates through the varied inputs of a melange of musicians who are masters of their craft” – Post-Punk.com
“True evolution – just hits you like a sucker punch…. mesmerized and captivated” – Jammerzine
“A new gothic rock project… hauntingly heavy and beautiful” – LA Weekly
LA-based alt-rock group Beauty in Chaos present the new album ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’ at the same time as unveiling the new video for ‘Storm ft. Ashton Nyte (Acoustic Version)’. Their second long-play includes a wide array of remixes and alternate versions of tracks from their acclaimed debut album ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’.
Released via LA-based label 33.3 Music Collective, both albums were recorded at Ciravolo’s own SAINTinLA Studio and produced by Grammy-nominated producer Michael Rozon, best known for his work with Ministry.
Beauty in Chaos is the brainchild of guitarist Michael Ciravolo. Originally from New Orleans and now based in Los Angeles, he is perhaps best known as President of Schecter Guitar Research. Ciravolo has played guitar in Human Drama for the past 30 years, as well as playing live and recording with Michael Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel since 1998.
“On ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’, I basically handed the keys to the car over to an amazingly talented cast of producers, engineers, re-mixers, DJs and artists, including Tim Palmer, Kevin Haskins, John Fryer, Statik, Ummagma and Marilyn Manson’s Paul Wiley… giving them near total autonomy to throw the puzzle of ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’ on the floor and reassemble it as they hear it. Here we have some extremely diverse re-envisions that run the gamut sonically and stylistically, with a few surprises thrown in,” says Michael Ciravolo.
About the new acoustic version of ‘Storm’, he adds, “This version and the accompanying video are the perfect foil to the bombastic ‘Un-Natural Disaster’, the debut single off this album. It was important to me that not all of the re-mixes and alt-versions on this record where 4-on-the-floor aimed at dance clubs, which some remix records seem to target.”
Mixed and produced by Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), the video for ‘Storm (Acoustic Version)’ was filmed and directed by Vicente Cordero and produced by Industrialism Films.
“When Michael suggested I have a go at re-imagining something for the ‘Beauty Re-envisioned’ album, I knew it had to be ‘Storm’. As the first song we had written together for the first album, it seemed only fitting that it get a loving remake for the new release. As a big fan of acoustic music, I wanted to try a stripped down, more intimate approach to this version. This meant re-recording it from scratch, as I wanted to re-sing the vocals in a more introspective way, to match the arrangement I had in my head,” says Ashton Nyte.
The debut album ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’ features numerous music luminaries, including Wayne Hussey (The Mission), Simon Gallup (The Cure), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Pete Parada (The Offspring), dUg Pinnick (Kings X), ICE-T (Body Count), Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel), Michael Anthony (Van Halen), Dirk Doucette (Gene Loves Jezebel), Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Pando (A Flock of Seagulls), Evi Vine, Betsy Martin (Caterwaul/Purr Machine), Marc Danzeisen (The Riverdogs), Kevin Kipnis (Purr Machine/ Kommunity FK), Rudy Matchinga (Red Scare), Johnny Indovina (Human Drama), and Tish Ciravolo (StunGun/ Daisy Rock Guitars).
The new album involves many of these same players, with the addition of acclaimed producer Tim Palmer, guitar icon Zakk Wylde, Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets), Paul Wiley (Marilyn Manson), Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson), and Rolan Bolan, who joins Wayne Hussey for a rendition of T-Rex’s ’20th Century Boy’.
Earlier, Beauty in Chaos presented the first single ‘Un-Natural Disaster’ ft. dUg Pinnick, Zakk Wylde and Ice-T (Collide Mix), which premiered in Rolling Stone. The second single ‘Drifting Away’ ft. Robin Zander (Synthetic Capricorn Mix) also has Michael Anthony (Van Halen) on back vocals and was remixed by Paul Wiley (Marilyn Manson) and Steven Alexander Ryan (The Black Queen).
As of June 21, ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’ is available on deluxe CD and limited-edition heavy-weight colored vinyl. It is also being released digitally, with a Spotify version to appear later. CDs and vinyl can be ordered directly from Beauty in Chaos at www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/music-store. Apart from the 14 core tracks, album orders placed via the website also come with 11 bonus remixes.
CREDITS ‘Storm’ (acoustic version) written by Ashton Nyte and Michael Ciravolo Ashton Nyte: vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, keyboards and drum programming Michael Ciravolo: electric guitars Mixed and produced by Ashton Nyte Video filmed and directed by Vicente Cordero (Industrialism Films) Edited by Vicente Cordero and Ashton Nyte
TRACK LIST 1. 20th Century Boy ft. Al Jourgensen (MGT Rmx) 2. Man of Faith ft. Wayne Hussey and Simon Gallup (Preacher Man Mix) 3. Look Up ft. Tish Ciravolo (Ummagma Mix) 4. ‘Un-Natural Disaster’ ft. dUg Pinnick, Zakk Wylde and Ice-T (Collide Mix) 5. Storm ft. Ashton Nyte (Acoustic Version) 6. I Will Follow You ft. Evi Vine (Cotton Socks Mix) 7. Drifting Away ft. Robin Zander and Michael Anthony (High Water Mix) 8. Man of Faith ft. Wayne Hussey and Simon Gallup (Kitty Lectro Mix) 9. The Long Goodbye (Au Revoir) ft. Wayne Hussey 10. I Will Follow You ft. Evi Vine (IVaD Mix) 11. Storm ft. Ashton Nyte (Vampyre Mix) 12. 20th Century Boy ft. Rolan Bolan and Wayne Hussey 13. I Will Follow You ft. Evi Vine (Eclipse Mix) 14. Finding Beauty in Chaos ft. Ashton Nyte (Fall & Sway Mix)
Hailed as the bastard child of a illicit three-way between Skid Row, early-Guns N’ Roses & AC/DC, the Leicester, UK based quintet HELL’S ADDICTION are here to fuck your world up … and make you come crawling back for more.
Wandering into each others’ lives in July of 2010 when bassist Jason Green contacted guitarist Liam Sargent about putting a band together. In the blink of an eye, Sargent had pulled his brother and singer Ben and drummer Luke Morley onboard and the band was off and running Their first order of business was to release two successive singles, “Alcohol” and “Let the Good Times Roll” in 2012 before unleashing their debut album, ‘Raise Your Glass’ in February of 2013, which was mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Killers, Jack White)
Following extensive touring up and down the UK and abroad, in support of the debut album, the band released the well received single ‘What You Gonna Do?’ in April 2015.
This single formed the lead track from their second album, ‘Broken’ – released through TBFM Records in July 2016, which also received critical acclaim across the board. “Based on the success of the ‘Broken’ album, our show offers got better and our opportunities got better as well, “says frontman Ben Sargent. “Then, we were asked to open Download 2016. That’s every rock musician’s dream to play that festival!” Second guitarist Dan Weir joined the band two short weeks before Download. “I think I’d be on the band’s radar for a while as a potential guitarist,” mentions Weir. “After a few messages we met up for a chat and was offered a chance to play Download, which, of course, used to be the Monsters of Rock Festival. I got the gig two weeks before the fest but for one of those weeks was on holiday with my family! Basically, I had two days and two rehearsals to get everything down. I do recall Liam coming over to me at one point saying, ‘This is your solo coming up, mate.'”
Current Ep, V1.0 was tracked at Axis Studios in Doncaster, England and recorded by Matt Elliss. “”Writing V1.0 was different for the band as we knew when we were writing the songs that it was going to be a special Ep,” relates Sargent. “The music, lyrics and melodies just flowed. We had never really written a full ballad as they always felt like they weren’t ‘Hell’s Addiction.’” However, when we wrote and played “If Time Stood Still” we knew it was a ballad that we were happy to play live. That is part of the essence of the band, if a track doesn’t work on stage, it doesn’t get near the studio!”
“Running Away” was not initially a band favourite and nearly didn’t make the cut. “But after living with the song a while and after feedback from our nearest and dearest it made the Ep and is probably one our favourites now.” If put to a vote, “Masking the Pain” would probably wind up the band’s favourite track off of the Ep. “We all just really loved this track from the minute we wrote it and we all really enjoy playing it live and it’s a definite fan favourite, as well,” while “Free your Mind” is just a balls out Rock classic, with the pace and thunder that fans would expect from Hell’s Addiction.
Upon release, the Ep smashed it’s way into various UK charts including #7 on iTunes UK charts, #2 Amazon UK chart and the top of the heap, #1 at Hot New Release and Digital Download Amazon UK. The band had truly arrived.
In an incredibly short amount time HELL’S ADDICTION has risen up the ladder of the newly coined New Wave of Classic Rock (NWOCR) with their retro hard rock sound recalling 80s and early 90’s hard rock favourites while adding modern elements to the production value to keep things interesting.
Ben Sargent – Lead Vocals Liam Sargent – Lead/Rhythm guitar Dan Weir – Lead/Rhythm guitar and Backing Vocal Jason Green – Bass Luke Morley – Drums
photos by Cassandra D Balazic for mk ultramagazine
L.A. GUNS guitarist Tracii Guns spoke to Guitar World magazine about the challenges he and his bandmates face trying to make a living in the streaming age, especially as money musicians make from merch and touring has become more integral to their income.
“I think we’re probably doing as well financially as we were back in the early years of our success,” he said. “We’ve got a name and a great back catalog. We’re too big to support a certain level of band, but we’re not filling stadiums. We have the same amount of income, but we pay about 90 percent fewer people. Experience teaches you how to make it work; there’s no shortage of opportunities for the band. We try to take on as much as we can. [Singer Phil Lewis and I are] both committed to L.A. GUNS.”
After a nearly 15-year break, Guns and Lewis reunited in 2016 for another chapter in their partnership that began in 1986, four years after Tracii formed L.A. GUNS in 1982.
Guns and Lewis became estranged after Tracii left L.A. GUNS in 2002 to focus on BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION, thereby leaving Lewis to carry on with the name. Four years later, Guns re-teamed with former L.A. GUNS bandmates Paul Black and Nickey Alexander, first as THE TRACII GUNS BAND, then as L.A. GUNS, the name change influenced by the fact Guns and former drummer Steve Riley jointly own the L.A. GUNS moniker. For the next six years, the two versions of L.A. GUNS would compete for fans’ attention while Guns and Lewis traded perfunctory barbs through the press, a period Lewis now calls “embarrassing” and “the lowest point of L.A. GUNS’ history.”
Guns and Lewis reunited in 2014 at a benefit show in Las Vegas. Two years later, they announced plans to reactivate their version of L.A. GUNS, but without longtime drummer Riley, who, even with the lineup confusion, remained the longest-tenured member of the band.
The Guns-Lewis version of L.A. GUNS released a new album, “The Devil You Know”, in March.
