Parkway Drive: new album & NZ tour

UPDATED: Link to the transcript of the hardfastheavy interview with Parkway Drive vocalist, Winston: http://www.hardfastheavy.com/2010/12/parkway-drives-winston-hfh-interview.html



Resist, Anchor & Shogun Present


Parkway Drive "Deep Blue" New Zealand Tour 2010


New Zealand be warned; Australia's biggest hardcore band is set to embark on their first New Zealand dates in 2 years this September. Byron Bay's Parkway Drive are scheduled to storm their way through New Zealand's live music arenas, conquering venues in the name of the Deep Blue New Zealand Tour.


This tour arrives hot on the heels of the band's third album titled "Deep Blue". The much anticipated follow-up to 2007’s Horizons, Deep Blue raises the bar in every conceivable way. While maintaining the band’s uncompromising metallic-hardcore style at its core, it pushes into exciting new realms, drawing from a wider scope of influence, incorporating everything from anthemic punk to bloodcurdling death metal.


With improved musical abilities and a thoroughly inspired approach to songwriting, Parkway Drive have tied the music and lyrics together into one all-encompassing concept. “It’s basically about the search for truth in a world that seems to be devoid of that,” says vocalist and lyricist Winston McCall, explaining the narrative running through Deep Blue. “The story is told through the eyes of a man who wakes up and realises that his life is a lie and nothing he believes in is real. So he tries to find the truth within himself and his journey takes him to the bottom of the ocean and back again.”


Having recorded their first two albums with Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage, Deep Blue was tracked and mixed in Los Angeles, CA by Joe Barresi (Queens Of The Stone Age, Bad Religion, Tool), and mastered by legendary mastering engineer Brian Gardner.


Don't miss Parkway Drive and their special guests The Devil Wears Prada (USA) , The Ghost Inside (USA) and Antagonist, as their impressive wave of momentum hits your city.


Tickets on sale from June 11.



Parkway Drive "Deep Blue" New Zealand Tour 2010


w/ The Devil Wears Prada, The Ghost Inside & Antagonist


Sept 17 The Studio, Auckland Lic / AA


Sept 18 San Francisco Bathhouse, Wellington R 18


Sept 19 The Bedford, Christchurch Lic / AA



Tickets from Real Groovy & Under The Radar undertheradar.co.nz.

Fornax Chemica

On the next hfhshow (May 31st- Last day/hour of NZMM), we talk to Simon from Fornax Chemica regarding their upcoming album and subsequent tour etc etc.




Their album release tour & poster for is shown below, so head out to the Kings Arms June 4th.

Ex pats come home to roast (for a few shows)

New EMFH album (Te Pae Mahutonga) out today

The new album, "Te Pae Mahutonga" from South Aucklands Every Man for Himself lands in stores across New Zealand today.
Along with the new album is a swag of merch that looks so cool, makes me regret having no money... http://deadboyrecords.bigcartel.com/

We remember, someone summarizing the metal world remembering Dio

A non-blabbermouth metal music news website reports (or summarises) from blabbermouth.net's equivalent of a long facebook conversation as separate wall posts (rather than replying to orginial comment) i.e. a flood of individual news reports/ articles as heavy metal stars release media statements about how great a person Dio was.

And NZ's TV3 news (the one i happened to be watching at the time) spends the princely sum of 30seconds (if that) reporting it.

From: http://www.skullsnbones.com/profiles/blogs/the-metal-world-reacts-to-dios
Scrolling through Blabbermouth, I found some great reflections on DIO from numerous legends in the metal world. I still can't believe he is gone, but his legend will always live on. These quotes add to his story of being a great singer, performer, and a great human being. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Judas Priest: "We are filled with great sadness at the terrible news about our friend Ronnie James Dio. Our condolences and love go to Wendy [Dio, Ronnie's wife/manager] and Ronnie's family. Ronnie was a wonderful man and will be sorely missed."

Mike Portnoy: "Rest in peace, Ronnie James Dio... one of the greatest of all time. Looks like Dime, Randy, Cliff, and Bonzo just scored the ultimate singer. This is one of the saddest days in metal ever."

Scott Ian: "Rest in peace, Ronnie James Dio. Horns at half mast. Such a huge loss..."

Tony Iommi: "Ronnie was one of the nicest people you could ever meet, we had some fantastic times together. Ronnie loved what he did, making music and performing on stage. He loved his fans so much. He was a kind man and would put himself out to help others. I can honestly say it’s truly been an honor to play at his side for all these years, his music will live on forever. Our thoughts are with Wendy Dio who stood by Ronnie until the end, he loved her very much. The man with the magic voice is a star amongst stars, a true professional. I’ll miss you so much my dear friend."

IRON MAIDEN: "Ronnie was not only an incredibly gifted singer but also a wonderfully warm, intelligent and generous person and this shone through both on and off stage leaving a positive mark on everyone he came into contact with. A longstanding friend of MAIDEN, we played many shows together over the years and we will all miss him greatly. The world has lost an irreplaceable talent and, first and foremost, one of the finest human beings you could ever wish to meet."

"Lemmy" Kilmister: "I'm truly upset, especially since he seemed to be rallying at the Golden Gods show [on April 8, 2010 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California]. Bon Voyage, Ronnie. Rest in peace. I'm devastated."

Kerry King: I know I was lucky to have known Ronnie. One of the nicest guys in the business, without a doubt. He will be hugely missed."

Glenn Hughes: "Ronnie was a true leader of heavy metal... an icon and a visionary... There will never be another like him. Ronnie gave me wisdom, and showed me great compassion when he was in ELF, all those years ago, when we were on tour together in my time in DEEP PURPLE. He was a beautiful soul, kind, considerate and a wonderful teacher. "

Lars Ulrich: "“Ronnie, your voice impacted and empowered me, your music inspired and influenced me, and your kindness touched and moved me. Thank you."

KISS: "We mourn the tragic passing of the great Ronnie James Dio. In addition to his powerhouse vocal ability, Ronnie was a true gentleman who always emanated great warmth and friendship to us and everyone around him. We will miss him."

Robb Flynn/Machine Head: "Dio was a true gentleman. Would I have found metal without him? Maybe. But man, I feel so very fortunate to have had Ronnie James Dio as my first guide into the awesome world of metal. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything you've done for music, Ronnie."

Nikki Sixx: "Ronnie was one of the kindest souls I have ever met and his talent was beyond inspirational to so many of us. I still have this image of him standing on stage in front of 100,000 belting out 'Man on the Silver Mountain' and remember the shivers it sent up my spine. He will be missed by all of us."

Arch Enemy: "A master of his craft and a true gentleman. Funny, smart and witty. He will be much missed by the ARCH ENEMY camp. Dio's voice will echo in eternity!"

Shawn Drover/MEGADETH: "If you are lucky enough in your lifetime to actually meet one of your idols (let alone tour with them) and they turn out to be even nicer than you could have envisioned, that is something you would truly treasure. Lucky for me, I will cherish those memories forever."

QUEENSRŸCHE: "Ronnie James Dio was undoubtedly one of heavy metal's greatest performers and will continue to influence the world of heavy metal forever. He was certainly a very big influence on QUEENSRŸCHE and along the way became a cherished friend too. We will all miss him greatly, but Ronnie will live on every time we raise our metal horns high! The man on the silver mountain will always be our rainbow in the dark."

Mikael Åkerfeldt/Opeth: "There is a massive hole in my heart. I was fortunate enough to meet him and share a few drinks with him once, and it's a memory I will treasure to the end of my days. He blew my mind, quite honestly. Thank you, Ronnie James Dio, for everything!

Tim "Ripper" Owens: "We have lost a great human being and the best singer of rock in the world. Ronnie was my hero and my friend, I will miss him and his kind words. He taught me so much on stage and off stage."

Ozzy Osbourne: "I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Ronnie James Dio. Metal has truly lost one of its greatest voices. My heart goes out to his family and to his many fans. Love and respect."

RIP \m/

Frankenbok enters the studio

(If you can't make it out, it says:
Impact Touring presents: Frankenbok new Album 2010
The air is stale... the blood is angry
The Bok's sixth release is imminent!
Once again Reggie Bowman will be capturing the magic
for the next chapter of the Frankenbok chronicles
Studio sessions start June 11th!
Stay Tuned!)

Who needs guitars to play heavy metal?!

As ever, I tend to gravitate towards unusual things, generally it's humourous in nature.
Van Canto are an A Capello Heavy Metal group out of Germany, who's only instrument is a set of drum. 6 band members, 5 singers, 1 drummer. 2 singers (1 male, 1 female) sing the lyrics, the others use their voices to mimic the missing instruments.

They have released three albums, since late 2006-the latest just recently released via Napalm records. They have a few covers, as well as orginal material- it was through their cover of Metallica's master of puppets off their latest album "Tribe of Force" that i discovered them, and they are touring various metal festivals and in support of Blind Guardian in October.

When I played one of their songs to someone, they said it was just a gimic etc etc- interestingly the band is taking it seriously (and why not!), and these days- what isn't a gimic & to be fair the more i listen the more i want to start my own A-capella metal group- but I don't know how far it can be taken: would it be possible for a deathmetal, or some kinda 'core' A-capella band?

New Parkway Drive

I know there's plenty of hfhshow listeners that are parkway drive fans.
American metal news websites are telling me that they've set the release for June 29th (via Epitaph records)
- the metal underground dot com news piece in question

Mayhem tour NZ & Oz

We received the following press release





SOUNDWORKS TOURING & APPARELDIRECT.COM.AU presents



AUSTRALIAN TOUR SEPTEMBER 2010

When it comes to the definitive history of black metal, only one name has survived all the sensationalism. Through the church burnings, murder, imprisonments and myopic teenage nationalism, only MAYHEM has been able to channel the circus like atmosphere, which surrounded a core of fanatical bands, into a sustained musical career, in the studio and more importantly, on stage. Following an eight year absence from our end of the world and twenty six years of cold, harsh existence, MAYHEM reappear in Australia to regain the throne of darkness that is rightfully theirs. Featuring iconic members Atilla Csihar, Necrobutcher and Hellhammer, and with the reputation of being one of the most controversial live acts to ever disgrace this planet, do not miss out on this chance to witness and worship one of the true Norwegian black metal legends in the flesh.


MAYHEM performing at:

September 21st – The Kings Arms, Auckland
September 23rd – The Hifi, Melbourne
September 24th - The Factory, Sydney
September 25th - The Hifi, Brisbane
September 26th – Amplifier Bar, Perth

TICKETS ON SALE FROM THURSDAY MAY 13th!

Auckland – www.moshtix.co.nz, Real Groovy, www.undertheradar.co.nz
Melbourne – www.thehifi.com.au/melbourne , Polyester Records, Greville Records
Sydney – www.factorytheatre.com.au , Utopia Records
Brisbane – www.thehifi.com.au/brisbane , Rockinghorse Records, Moshpit Music
Perth – www.moshtix.com, 78 Records

www.myspace.com/officialmayhem
www.season-of-mist.com
www.riotact.com.au
www.appareldirect.com.au
www.soundworkstouring.com
www.myspace.com/soundworks_touring

Wicked gig poster of the Week.

Often requested on the show, Mothra are, as far as I can tell a multi-media extravaganza, and are capitalising on their recent bfm breakfast fancy new band appearence, recent Devin townsend project support slot & hfhshow air play to play a few gigs around town.

Other shows include: May 21st 'Side Effect' at 'Echo Bar' Browns Bay featuring Mothra, Sairalei, Emenda, lots of other bands, plus djs and giveaways etc...$10.

Also, their myspace page mentions a wellington gig at the SFBH mid june.

Soulfly vid spoiler alert- Greg from Dillinger Escape plan cameo via Skype.

From: http://www.skullsnbones.com/profiles/blogs/soulfly-unleashes-the-first

Follow the above link (make sure to click in "new tab" ;)) to check out Soulfly's first video from the as yet un released next album: Spoiler Alert- Greg from Dillinger Escape plan cameo via Skype.

this song was available for free (time limited) download a while back & we've since played it on the hfhshow a few times..


The new album "Omen" is due out May 25th (roadrunner)

$1000 lamb of god box set!

From: http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/lamb-of-god-hourglass-box-set-revealed/

If you have a spare $999 US lying around you can pick up:
The $999 ‘Hourglass’ box-set from Lamb Of God will include:

* The 3-CD Anthology
* The Vinyl Box Set
* The USB Box Set
* The Art of LAMB OF GOD Book
* Mark Morton Signature Series Jackson Dominion D2 Guitar
* 4×6 Pure American Metal Flag
* An Hourglass Sticker
* A signed 8×10 photo

While there are other, probably cheaper options than this $999 one, personally & for the shear coolness that smoking is, I'm more inclinded to go for:
“Hourglass: The USB Box Set”

All six LAMB OF GOD studio albums on individual USB drives in a cigarette-box-shaped collector’s package. Includes:

* Burn The Priest
* New American Gospel
* As The Palaces Burn
* Ashes of the Wake
* Sacrament
* Wrath

What is NZ music month?

The 10th anniversary of the month long promotion is currently upon us, and various T.V, radio and newspaper etc outlets eager to prove that they are down with the kids, by plugging tried and tested muso's (i.e. Opshop) who, for some unknown reason, haven't permanently fled overseas to larger markets.
But as NZMM ticks over double digits, I (as an enthusiast of a less than mainstream genre of music, i.e. metal) gotta wonder what NZMM actually is. Even as a host of radio show, it has had little impact on my month of May each year.

NZMM is run by the NZ Music Commission, the board of which includes: (From http://nzmusic.org.nz/about/)

Anthony Healey - Chairperson (Director of Operations for APRA. Board Member, SOUNZ)
Richard Thorne (Publisher of NZ Musician Magazine. Chair of MAINZ Advisory Board. Board Member METANZ - Music Education Trust of Aotearoa New Zealand)
Phil Howling (General Manager of Warner Music NZ. Board member of RIANZ.)
Darryl Parker (Director Finance & Operations. Sony Music NZ)
Chris Hocquard- Deputy Chairperson (Principal of Dominion Law. Chair of 95BFM. Owner of Amplifier.co.nz)
Teresa Patterson (Partner in CRS Music Management. Promoter of Big Day Out NZ & Executive Council member of the Music Managers Forum (MMF))
Mark Kneebone (Chairperson of IMNZ. Manager Isaac Promotions and Tardus Music)
Ngahiwi Apanui (Principal Te Aiorangi Communications. Composer/Singer, Puatatangi Committee. Member, Event Manager - National Maori Music Summit 2006)

Along with the commission- NZ on Air, RIANZ, APRA, Independant Music NZ and the Radio Broadcasters Association are also 'closely involved' (nzmusic.org.nz)


NZ on Air fund plenty of local televisual and music etc programs etc etc (like spending just over $6.7million on 13 new episodes of "Go Girls" season 3 i guess, a piece on information I now cannot erase from my mind, I avoid this program like the plague and it's mere existence infuriates and confuses me)

But musically, they fund musicians and bands which enables them to release music and videos, it seems you can get about $5,000 to put togeather a music video, and if you're supper lucky (or more to the point, super popular) $50,000 for a new album.

Looking on www.nzonair.govt.nz already established artists, like Nesian Mystik, Anika Moa, Opshop, pluto..(the list goes on) are, or seem to be receiving this $50,000 to release new albums. You gotta ask, if these well known groups need $50,000 to release new material, how the are 'average' bands meant to compete...

I don't know any specifics, no doubt that money is a loan & paid back via sales, but it looks like a resource that seems available only to a limited section of musicians, i.e. most probably tween media favs. Understandably, it mostly works fine- probably 90% of the population's music taste is based around what radio station they listen to- how often are questions like: "What music do you like?" answered with a radio frequency. But it's not called NZ "pop music" on air, or NZ pop-music month.

At the end of it, I'm stuck with the thought that NZMM is a vehicle to validate NZ on Air (music) funding choices.

New Heaven Shall Burn & Norther

Thanks to the various metal news websites i follow via RSS news feeds, & facebook this morning i've come across 2 free, and legal downloads.

Norther- Break Myself Away (check: http://www.facebook.com/centurymedia)
http://www.telija.net/norther/norther-break_myself_away.mp3

Heaven Shall Burn- Buried In Forgotten Grounds from the new, upcoming album "Invictus" [now, i'm certain Clint Eastwood and South African Rugby had nothing to do with this album, but i could be wrong..] (Check: http://www.metalsucks.net)

http://www.circuitbreakermedia.com/audio/Buried%20In%20Forgotten%20Grounds.mp3