SIXX: A.M. To Release ‘Modern Vintage’ Album In October

SIXX: A.M., the band featuring MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx alongside guitarist DJ Ashba and vocalist James Michael, will release its third album, “Modern Vintage”, on October 7. The CD’s first single, “Gotta Get It Right”, will hit iTunes and radio on August 5.

Says Sixx: “Like our favorite bands from the 1970s, SIXX: A.M. is rooted in songwriting, musicianship and lyrics — three core elements that helped to define that era. SIXX: A.M. has taken even more pages from this book on ‘Gotta Get It Right’ and the rest of ‘Modern Vintage’, having hopefully created a record that demands to be discovered again and again.”

The video for “Gotta Get It Right” was directed by Paul Brown in mid-June and will premiere on VEVO on August 6.

Says Michael, who also produced “Modern Vintage”: “On the first two albums, SIXX: A.M. established a musical freedom that few bands get to enjoy. ‘Gotta Get It Right’ is clearly a birth child of that creative freedom and an exciting next step for us as our goal was to create something which confounds both expectation and categorization.” Ashba adds: “‘Gotta Get it Right’ is a great example of how SIXX: A.M. has set out to celebrate the music that has influenced us over the years and we truly feel we’ve made a genre defying album with ‘Modern Vintage’.”

“Modern Vintage” track listing:

01. Stars
02. Gotta Get It Right
03. Relief
04. Get Ya Some
05. Let’s Go
06. Drive
07. Give Me A Love
08. Hyperventilate
09. High On The Music
10. Miracle
11. Before It’s Over

Sixx spoke to Revolver magazine last year about how the new SIXX: A.M. CD is different than its predecessors. “When we did [our 2007 debut] ‘The Heroin Diaries’, it was the soundtrack to a book,” he said. “And when we did ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’, there was a lot of inspiration that drew from the photography in my book ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ as well as the bandmembers’ personal experiences and how they related not only to the characters in the book, but what they’d gone through growing up. Without meaning to, it hinted at this whole concept of bullying. If you’re different than other people you’re made fun of and you’re made to believe you’ll never achieve your dreams. Loosely, that’s what ‘This is Gonna Hurt’ was about. We feel like between ‘The Heroin Diaries’ and ‘This is Gonna Hurt’, we’ve exposed a lot of wounds and we’ve talked about how to recover from them, but we haven’t had a chance to really celebrate. I think this album is a celebration.”

Asked if SIXX: A.M. took a different approach to writing the songs this time around, Sixx said: “We put a lot fewer restrictions on ourselves. We went into genres that you wouldn’t expect us to possibly be influenced by, but unless you know the bandmembers, you don’t know that there are all kinds of influences, especially from the ’70s and some of the great bands that came out of that era. So when we started writing, it was almost ridiculous. The songs were so left of center that you’re like, ‘These could never be on a record.’ We were creating something so different, and once we got the songs written, people said, ‘God, it reminds me of QUEEN‘s ‘Night At The Opera’ at times. It reminds me of EDGAR WINTER GROUP ‘Free Ride’ and these amazing things off of ‘They Only Come Out At Night’. There was still the drama and the texture that SIXX: A.M. brings, but there was this celebration happening. Then as we started layering in the guitars, bass, drums and vocals, you started to go, ‘Wow, this is a SIXX: A.M. album!’ But it started out as not.”

Sixx also spoke about whether he is concerned that the musical diversions won’t appeal to fans of the first two SIXX: A.M. albums.

“I think SIXX: A.M. fans are going to love this record and I think new people will come in and be really surprised by it and become fans as well,” he said. “I don’t think our first two records sound like the same type of record, but I do think there’s a sound with the band and I think we’re going to continue on that tradition.”

SIXX: A.M., made a rare appearance — its first in four years — on April 11, 2012 at Revolver Golden Gods Awards at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

As each band member has been kept busy with their other careers — Sixx is also a syndicated radio host; Ashba is a member of GUNS N’ ROSES; James Michael is a famed rock producer who has worked on records for PAPA ROACH, HALESTORM and others — this marked the band’s first chance to perform in support of their “This Is Gonna Hurt” album, which supplied the #1 rock anthem “Lies Of The Beautiful People”.

“7”, the latest EP from SIXX: A.M., came out in December 2011 and sold around 2,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The effort contained acoustic versions of songs from the group’s first two albums — 2007’s “The Heroin Diaries” soundtrack and 2011’s “This Is Gonna Hurt”.

Released on May 3, 2011, SIXX: A.M.‘s sophomore album, “This Is Gonna Hurt” is a companion piece to Sixx‘s “This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography And Life Through The Distorted Lens Of Nikki Sixx” book, a follow-up to his New York Times bestseller, “The Heroin Diaries”.

VIVIAN CAMPBELL Cancer Update

DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell, whose cancer is once again in “remission,” is currently undergoing a new round of chemotherapy before receiving a stem-cell transplant in September.

Campbell — who before joining DEF LEPPARD in 1992 was well known for his work with DIO and WHITESNAKE — went public with his Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis last summer, but announced in November that he was in remission.

The term “remission” means that the symptoms of the cancer have either been eliminated or reduced. When the tumor is completely gone, doctors call it “complete remission.”

However, Campbell revealed earlier in the year that the cancer had returned and he was battling the disease with a new high-tech chemo treatment.

In a posting on his Facebook page earlier today (Thursday, July 31), Campbell offered the following update on his cancer battle: “For those of you that give a toss, here’s the latest and greatest on my cancer situation.

“I’m currently in Boston and I did a scan on Tuesday morning. The scan shows that the cancer is in remission. Great news, but I’m trying not to get too excited about it as I heard that same phrase late last year only to be disappointed again a few months after when it returned.

“The plan is to do a stem cell transplant as soon as the [current DEF LEPPARD] tour [with KISS] is finished. However, to keep me in remission, my doctors have recommended that I do another, third round of the chemo (I.C.E.), so I’m back in hospital, all hooked up and doing my rock ‘n’ roll drugs. Keef would be most proud!”

This past June, Campbell spoke to Utah’s Daily Herald about how he found that his cancer had returned. “The remission was a little bit premature,” he said. “It came right back. I don’t know if the cancer came back or it never totally went away, you know, but the initial scan I did last fall after doing my chemo, the scan came back clean. But there was something about it the oncologist was unclear about and didn’t feel good about, so I was referred to another specialist.

“I suppose one of the advantages about being in this city [Los Angeles] that I dislike so much is that there’s a lot of great medical facilities here. There’s a place called City Of Hope just outside of L.A., and there’s a specific oncologist there who’s probably the leading oncologist with regards to Hodgkin’s in the U.S., and he sent me to him. He had a look at my scans and, you know, everyone was a little bit apprehensive, and he said, ‘Well, for now you appear to be in remission.’ I kind of took that ball and I ran with it, and, unfortunately, it turned out to be premature. So the follow-up scan that I did a couple months later showed that there was definitely some growth coming back. I ended up having a couple of biopsies — I did a needle biopsy in January and that showed that I was fine, but my oncologist said, and he was right, that needle biopsies are notoriously uncertain, and he suggested I do a surgical biopsy. So I went to Dublin and started to record with the band, we started work on a new record, and as soon as I got back from that, I did another surgical biopsy and that showed that the cancer had definitely come back.”

He continued: “I’m actually doing this new high-tech chemo treatment, I’m about halfway through it already, and it’s really kind of easy going. It’s the first new drug that’s been discovered for Hodgkin’s since 1977 and they made this discovery in 2011, and it’s actually being pioneered here at City Of Hope, so I’m part of this research clinical trial that’s going on. It’s very, very benign chemo, actually it just targets — I don’t know how it works, obviously I’m not a medical person, but somehow or other it just manages to target the cancer cells. It’s not like old-school, carpet-bomb chemo where it kills all the fast-growing cells, so I haven’t experienced any hair loss or any issues with my skin or nails or anything this time around, which is good. And assuming that works, I’m going to have to continue a couple of treatments, actually, over the course of the tour, so that’s awkward to work around, but not impossible. Assuming that it all works and I actually get to a perceived remission stage by August, then as soon as the tour is over in early September I’m going to get a stem-cell transplant, which I can’t say I’m looking forward to, but I’ve been told if I don’t do that, the cancer’s going to just keep coming back every couple years. And every time it’s a little bit more resistant. It is what it is. It could be worse — but at least I have health insurance. [laughs]”

Campbell, who joined his DEF LEPPARD bandmates on tour as they kicked off a 42-date trek with KISS on June 23 in Salt Lake City, Utah, believes that being on stage might be the best therapy for him. “It absolutely is,” he said. “And when I was going through the chemo last year and the band said to me, ‘We’ve been offered these shows. Can you do them? Do you want to do them? Or we can get someone to cover for you?’ I said, ‘(Bleep) that (bleep)! I’m not having someone else do my job. It actually was very, very therapeutic for me to go and get on stage and do that. And the same is true this year. There’s nothing worse than sitting around the house concentrating on the negative. I’ve always enjoyed my work, and I’ve always felt very fortunate to be able to do what I love. I am well up for the summer tour indeed.”

Campbell‘s health setback is not expected to affect the recording sessions for DEF LEPPARD‘s’ next album, the follow-up to 2008’s “Songs From The Sparkle Lounge”, which is being laid down in several sessions.

Campbell told a Florida radio station in April: “Our third and final instalment will be in November, to finish up the record. We’re hoping for a release for early spring, 2015.”

FOO FIGHTERS Complete Work On 8th Album

According to The Pulse Of Radio, FOO FIGHTERS have finished work on their eighth album, which the band recorded in eight different iconic studios in eight different cities over the past year. Producer Butch Vig tweeted the good news, saying, “We are officially done with the new FOO FIGHTERS album. 23 straight days mixing! IT’S EPIC!!!”

The band laid down the music for the album in cities that have a great musical history and invited local legends to contribute to the sessions as well.

The results have been chronicled in an eight-part documentary series, called “Sonic Highways”, that frontman Dave Grohl directed. The series will air on HBO this November.

Among the cities visited were Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

The FOOs have yet to unveil a title or release date for the new disc, but there is speculation that it will be called “Sonic Highways” as well.

In related news, former NIRVANA drummer Chad Channing said in a new interview that he would be open to playing some reunion shows with fellow surviving members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic “if they wanted me to.” Since both he and Grohl played drums in the band, Channing told NME, “It’d maybe be something like Dave playing guitar and singing and Krist doing bass. That’d be about the only arrangement I could think of that we could pull off.”

Channing played on NIRVANA‘s first full-length album, “Bleach”, and recorded drums for one track on the band’s breakthrough effort “Nevermind”.

Grohl, Novoselic and touring guitarist Pat Smear played NIRVANA songs together for the first time in more than 20 years when the band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this past spring.

Grohl saluted Channing, who was not inducted with the rest of the group, during his own induction acceptance speech.

GEOFF TATE’s QUEENSRŸCHE Will Be Known As OPERATION: MINDCRIME

On the very day his farewell tour as QUEENSRŸCHE begins, Geoff Tate — one of rock’s quintessential front men and the lead vocalist heard on all QUEENSRŸCHE hits since the inception of the band — has announced that his current version of QUEENSRŸCHE will forge ahead as OPERATION: MINDCRIME after the tour ends.

Named after QUEENSRŸCHE‘s epic concept album from 1988, “Operation: Mindcrime” — a band consisting of Geoff Tate, Rudy Sarzo (OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE), Simon Wright (AC/DC, DIO), Randy Gane (MYTH) and Kelly Gray (QUEENSRYCHE 1998 – 2001, 2012 – present) — will enter the studio in September to begin recording a trilogy project that Geoff‘s been working on for the past two years.

Tate, who has always enjoyed telling stories through music, considers the creation of the forthcoming trilogy one of his biggest and most ambitious works to date.

“I tried to reduce the story and eventually got it down to 37 ideas that needed representing to complete the story,” comments Geoff. “I knew that one record wouldn’t cover it and that it would have to be a trilogy. It’s an exciting project and one we’d like to release the first part of sometime next spring.”

With the evolution of his band, Geof would like to concentrate on concept and story albums in the years to come. Fans like to call it, “Thinking Man’s Metal” and Geoff plans to continue expanding the musical dimensions of your mind.

“It doesn’t seem that long ago when I first brought the ‘Mindcrime’ story to the band… they were, initially, against it. Chris DeGarmo was the first one to get on board and, once he did, we were able to move forward with what became one of our greatest achievements as a band.”

With the release “Operation: Mindcrime” — which won critical and popular acclaim and comparisons to THE WHO‘s “Tommy” and PINK FLOYD‘s “The Wall” — QUEENSRŸCHE went on to bring their progressive music to sold-out audiences the world over. With Geoff at the helm, QUEENSRŸCHE sold over 20 million albums worldwide and performed in over 46 countries.

That was then, this is now and Geoff Tate is looking forward to what lies ahead with his trilogy project. “It is so refreshing to be able to concentrate on the many stories and ideas that I have been working on with no boundaries or restrictions,” states Tate, further adding, “With the newly-named band, I think fans will continue to enjoy the music we create and perform together and hope they share this new musical journey with us.”

Beginning July 30, Geoff Tate and his band mates will be spanning the states for a 22-date trek of what will be Geoff‘s remaining performances as QUEENSRŸCHE Starring Geoff Tate – The Farewell Tour.

FOZZY’s ‘Do You Wanna Start A War’ Lands At No. 54 On BILLBOARD Chart

“Do You Wanna Start A War”, the new album from FOZZY — the band featuring WWE wrestling superstar Chris Jericho alongside members of STUCK MOJO — sold around 5,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.

FOZZY‘s previous CD, “Sin And Bones”, opened with around 3,400 units in August 2012 to land at No. 143.

The band’s 2010 effort, “Chasing The Grail”, registered a first-week tally of around 2,200 to enter the Heatseekers chart at No. 6.

“Do You Wanna Start A War” was released on July 22 via Century Media. Produced by FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward, the album features 12 tracks, including the debut single, “Lights Go Out”, the title track and the return of the Theremin in “Bad Tattoo”. SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor recently described the CD as “dark, dense and sharp. Sonically and lyrically, this feels like it’s going somewhere big. I love it!”

Asked about whether FOZZY‘s new album features any special guests, Jericho told the Boise, Idaho radio station 100.3 The X Rocks: “I mean, we always have a guest or two on every record, because… It’s interesting when you see… You listen to Top 40 radio — every radio when I drive my kids to school, we listen to it — and you’ll always hear Jay-Z plus Beyonce, or featuring Beyonce, or Rihanna featuring Lil Jon. And we thought, why don’t we do more of that in rock and roll? I man, that’s what we did. The last record, we had ‘Sandpaper’ with M. Shadows [AVENGED SEVENFOLD] and we had ‘She’s My Addiction’ with Phil Campbell of MOTÖRHEAD. So this record we have one collaboration — a song called ‘Tonight’ with Michael Starr from STEEL PANTHER, who we toured with in Australia; a great singer. And we like that vibe. Musicians like jamming with other musicians; it’s kind of what we do.”

Regarding FOZZY‘s musical uproach on “Do You Wanna Start A War”, Jericho said: “We wanted to do something a little different. We love, obviously, AVENGED SEVENFOLD or FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, we love IRON MAIDEN, we love OZZY [OSBOURNE]. But we also love PINK FLOYD and LED ZEPPELIN and QUEEN and U2 and THE BEATLES, bands that would always broaden their horizons, but still sound… the core of the band’s sound was still there, but they would different things. And when we were listening to a lot of songs on rock radio, we felt that they fit a certain pattern. We wanted to do something that was different from that, and that’s what ‘Lights Go Out’ kind of came from that mindset. So it is a different type of tune, but we wanted to do that and shake things up and take a chance. You know, when you do something like that, sometimes your hardcore fans will go, ‘Well, this isn’t what we’ve heard before,’ but they’ll eventually like it. And you do this to appeal to new fans, and that’s what we’re getting from ‘Lights Go Out’, who’d never heard FOZZY before, who’d never listened to FOZZY. ‘Man, you guys rock! This song is amazing!’ That’s what you want…. This is a song that you can hear in a strip club, you can hear it in a dance club, you can hear it in next to a SLAYER song. It’s kind of got all things to all people. ‘Cause all that matters with music and a good song is the melody and the hook. And this has a great hook; you could catch ‘Jaws’ with this hook, that’s how big it is. But it’s dark, it grooves, it’s sexy, it’s sleek, and the chicks dig it, which is the most important thing. ‘Cause when the chicks like something, that means the guys will follow.”

“Do You Wanna Start A War” track listing:

01. Do You Wanna Start A War
02. Bad Tattoo
03. Lights Go Out
04. Died With You
05. Tonite
06. Brides of Fire
07. One Crazed Anarchist
08. Unstoppable
09. Scarecrow
10. No Good Way
11. SOS
12. Witchery

FOZZY is Chris Jericho on vocals, Rich Ward on guitar and vocals, Frank Fontsere on drums, Billy Grey on guitar, and Paul Di Leo on bass.

OVERKILL’s ‘White Devil Armory’ Cracks U.S. Top 40

“White Devil Armory”, the new album from New Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL, sold around 8,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 31 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band’s previous CD, “The Electric Age”, opened with 6,500 units back in April 2012 to land at No. 77.

OVERKILL 2010 effort, “Ironbound”, registered a first-week tally of 4,100 to enter the chart at No. 192.

“White Devil Armory” first-week chart positions:

Germany: #20
Finland: #28
USA: #31
Switzerland: #31
Austria: #53
UK: #148

“White Devil Armory” was released on July 22 in North America via eOne Music and on July 18 in Europe through Nuclear Blast Records. The effort was tracked at Gear Recording and was mixed by Greg Reely, who also worked on 2012’s “The Electric Age”.

The limited-edition box-set version of “White Devil Armory” includes a digipack CD, a leather belt and buckle plus a certificate of authenticity.

OVERKILL recently filmed videos for the songs “Bitter Pill” and “Armorist” with veteran director Kevin J. Custer (HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, SUFFOCATION). Custer previously worked with OVERKILL on the “Electric Rattlesnake” and “Bring Me The Night” clips.

“White Devil Armory” track listing:

01. Freedom Rings
02. Where There’s Smoke…
03. Pig
04. Armorist
05. Down To The Bone
06. Bitter Pill
07. King Of The Rat Bastards
08. Another Day To Die
09. It’s All Yours
10. In The Name

Speaking about what OVERKILL was trying to accomplish with “White Devil Armory”, vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth told Artisan News: “My personal motivation, and I can probably speak for my partner D.D. [Verni, bass], is that you don’t want repetition. Obviously, we are what we are — a thrash metal band — [and] we fall into, let’s say, a subgenre of this metal community, but the idea is that you wanna stay interested with it, you want to try, to some degree, to reinvent yourself. And I think the thing I’m most proud of when it comes to a record like Number 17, being ‘White Devil Armory’, is that that’s the push for it. No repetition. Let’s get in there and let’s define that line between repetition and what style is. I write all these notes in my office where I have my little studio — ‘Don’t repeat yourself,’ ‘Don’t use this,’ ‘Don’t use that’ — and that becomes kind of the flavor of the writing: Stay relevant, great execution, modern presentation. Make Number 17 relevant in 2014.”

ZAKK WYLDE, JAMES LABRIE, GEOFF TATE, DAVID ELLEFSON To Take Part In ‘Metal All Stars’

There have been quite a few unmistakable characters that heavy metal has given us over the years. On Tuesday, December 16, an impressive amount of these renowned names will unite as the Metal All Stars for a special one-off concert at O2 Academy Brixton in Londonn England.

Tickets will go on general sale at 9 a.m. on Monday, August 4 from Ticketmaster.co.uk. All tickets are priced £27.50 plus booking fee. A special presale for O2 customers will start at 9 a.m. on Friday, August 1.

Metal All Stars will feature performances by the following musicians:

* Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY)
* James LaBrie (DREAM THEATER)
* Geoff Tate (QUEENSRΫCHE)
* David Ellefson (MEGADETH)
* Joey Belladonna (ANTHRAX)
* Ross “The Boss” Friedman (MANOWAR)
* Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT)
* Carmine Appice (ROD STEWART, VANILLA FUDGE)
* Conrad “Cronos” Lant (VENOM)
* Brittany “Kobra” Paige (KOBRA AND THE LOTUS)
* Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND)
* Vinny Appice (DIO, BLACK SABBATH)
* Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (OZZY OSBOURNE, ROB ZOMBIE)

Plus many more names to be confirmed.

This special one-off London concert will feature sets that include renditions of all the performing artists’ respective classics.

The Metal All Stars was put together by Gabe Reed Productions as a way to give the world’s metal fans an opportunity to see metal legends in one blockbuster show. “As a metal fan,” says Reed, “this is the show that I always wanted to see — two and a half hours of relentless, legendary metal!”

The artists are really looking forward to the Metal All Stars London concert as much as the fans are. As Zakk Wylde stated, “The Metal All Stars are back and we are going to kick some major ass!” LaBrie added: “I am psyched to be a part of the Metal All Stars tour with an incredible collection of singers and musicians. Come on out and let’s make it a memorable, kick-ass evening that is going to rock!”

 

Former UFO Bassist PETE WAY Given Cancer All-Clear

According to Classic Rock, former UFO and WAYSTED bassist Pete Way has been given the all-clear after a battle with prostate cancer with which he was diagnosed last year.

The 63-year-old rocker tells the magazine: “I met some amazing people during my treatment.

“I had radiotherapy and all that stuff, and I’ll never be able to listen to an addict again tell me how hard it is to stop using. I’d say, ‘You’re fucking mad — just come down to the cancer club to put it all into perspective.’

“I’m ashamed when I think of the things I did, testing every drug you can imagine.”

Way told the publication that he diagnosed last summer during a routine check on his liver, which has been damaged over the years through hepatitis. The abdominal scan picked up the tumor on his prostate.

“I thought the blood in my pee must have been linked to the drugs I had taken down the years,” he said. “When they said I had cancer, I thought I was going to die. Then when they told me it was gone, it was a strange anticlimax — now I can’t use the cancer as an excuse for having a sore head.”

“I’m sad to say that I’ve lost touch with some of the people I met during my treatment. I have no idea if some of them are alive or dead. My heart goes out to them and their families.

“I was so lucky that I had symptoms, because some people don’t, and then it can be too late to treat.

“All men over 50 should go and get tested — it’s a simple procedure and it could save your life.

“This is prostate cancer. It’s not lung cancer. It’s not pancreatic cancer. If you’re going to get cancer, this is the best one you can have — and they caught it early.”

Pete‘s new solo album, “Walking On The Edge”, is tentatively due later in the year. It is being mixed by producer/engineer Mike Clink, who has previously worked with GUNS N’ ROSES and METALLICA.

FLYING COLORS To Release ‘Second Nature’ In September

FLYING COLORS — the band featuring Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (vocals, guitars) and Steve Morse (guitar) — will release its second album, “Second Nature”, in Europe on September 29 via Mascot Label Group‘s Music Theories label.

The music press acknowledged the eponymously titled debut album from FLYING COLORS among the most compelling releases of 2012. Executive producer Bill Evans assembled a team of virtuoso players, a pop singer/songwriter, and the right producer to create sophisticated music that was accessible. Over 100 singer/songwriters were considered for the role. Portnoy pitched the idea of approaching McPherson, a member of the group ALPHA REV, whose 2010 album called “New Morning” dominated the Billboard Top Ten for 17 weeks.

After an hour-long phone call with Evans, the band found their man. As Mike had quite rightly hoped, McPherson went on to prove the “X Factor” that elevated FLYING COLORS above the norm. “The idea of having an actual singer as opposed to a musician that also sang, really opened up a whole other world,” Portnoy told Prog magazine.

Classic Rock magazine hailed the band’s debut as “fearless”, praising its “JOURNEY-sized choruses” and referencing artists as diverse as THE BEATLES, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, THE DOORS, MUSE, and even Frank Sinatra. In late 2012, the band toured America and Europe, dazzling fans with FLYING COLORS originals and selections from the catalogues of the five members.

Schedules allowing, the protagonists had always viewed FLYING COLORS as a genuine band as opposed to a side project, hence they began writing a second studio album. From the first writing session to final delivery of the masters in July 2014, the process took almost a year and half, in four distinct stages: writing sessions via Skype in January/February 2013, another burst of writing and recording at Neal Morse‘s house in Nashville, a trip to Portnoy‘s home that spawned five additional songs, and finally individual recording/arrangement over the Internet throughout the spring of 2014.

This time the band opted to self-produce, with Evans, the man responsible for the concept of FLYING COLORS, reprising his role as executive producer and co-engineer. Besides offering a finely tuned set of ears, Evans would remix a track each time an amendment was made, before sending it onto each band member, allowing closer collaboration by the band. “There was no repudiation of producer Peter Collins,” clarifies Evans, “but the guys had become a family and they wanted to try something different.”

Sporting stunning artwork from the legendary designer Hugh Syme (RUSH, AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, WHITESNAKE) and bookended by two tracks of truly epic stature — “Open Up Your Eyes” and the multiple-part “Cosmic Symphony” — the album is every bit as breathtaking as the debut. Portnoy stresses that the music’s proggier path was “not conscious at all.”

“Direction was never even discussed,” continues Portnoy. “We just did what we do. I think perhaps not having a producer to ‘trim the fat’ possibly led to the songs breathing and expanding a bit more.”

“This is an album full of many layers,” concludes guitarist Steve Morse. “The more you listen, the more you can hear. It’s an album to keep listening to.”

“Second Nature” showcases a compelling and thought-provoking collection of songs written and performed by musicians at the top of their game.

“Second Nature” track listing:

01. Open Up Your Eyes
02. Mask Machine
03. Bombs Away
04. The Fury Of My Love
05. A Place In Your World
06. Lost Without You
07. One Lost Forever
08. Peaceful Harbor
09. Cosmic Symphony
I. Still Life Of The World
II. Searching For The Air
III. Pound For Pound

OBITUARY’s Backdrop Stolen At Holland’s STONEHENGE Festival

Florida death metallers OBITUARY have posted the following message on their Facebook page:

“This is a post that we hoped would never have to happen but we need to let our fans know the situation and hope that one of you can help us.

“[On] Saturday [July 26], at Stonehenge festival in Steenwijk, Holand somebody stole our backdrop. It happened right after our performance while we were packing up our equipment. Here is a photo of it so if you know who has it or think you might know anything about this, please helps us get it back! Can’t describe how important it is to us and it really sucks for the band and the fans these remaining shows to see OBITUARY without it hanging! Real bummer!!

“We are offering a reward to the person who helps us get it back. Please, let us know if you have any information about this.

“Email us at: fans@obituary.cc”

As previously reported, OBITUARY has set “Inked In Blood” as the title of its ninth studio album, tentatively due at the end of October via the band’s new partnership with Relapse Records.

OBITUARY‘s first full-length CD in over five years was recorded by the band this past April at its own RedNeck Studio in Gibsonton, Florida. The album recording was funded by an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2013. Now the band has partnered with Relapse worldwide to maximize the release and impact of what is surely their heaviest and most cohesive record in 20 years.

OBITUARY is:

John Tardy – Vocals
Trevor Peres – Guitar
Donald Tardy – Drums
Terry Butler – Bass
Kenny Andrews – Guitar