From Pop to Punk, Rock to Rage, Screamo to Soul…
Check here every month for interviews, info on upcoming tours, CD releases, collaborations, reviews, and more!

By Joseph Franklin

PSYCHOSTICK’S SANDWICH ~ EDITOR’S PICK!

This CD is a work of pure genius. Seriously. Who woulda thought that you could find Primus, Tool, Metallica, Barenaked Ladies (on crack, of course), and flat-out hilarious lyrics (mostly about food…but with some talk of the vah-jay-jay and selling out thrown in for flavor) all rolled into one killer, metal-as-it-gets sound that will have your banging your head and laughing your ass off at the same time? With track titles (there are a whopping 24 on the CD) like “Vah-jay-jay,” (told ya! “Die…A LOT,” “We Ran Out of CD Space,” “Do You Want a Taco,” “Don’t Eat My Food,” and “373 Thank Yous” (yes, they really thank 373 people), c’mon, you’ve got to check out this “Mmm, delicious metal.” Head to psychostick.com and thedumb.org. – or better yet, head to The Brickhouse in Dover, NH to see the men behind the madness on Aug. 3.

BURN HALO ~ EDITOR’S PICK!

These guys opened up for Static-X on the SnoCore Tour and the second they took the stage that delicious sleazy Sunset Strip vibe of the 80s was back, only this time a little more mature and with a lot more emphasis on the quality of the music and lyrics…but still with all the grit and grime. These are dirty boys (which may explain the title of their current hit single, “Dirty Little Girl,”) but not so dirty that you need to lock up your sisters and mothers ~ maybe just keep an eye on them. With James Hart as the perfect frontman, Joey Roxx on Lead Guitar, Timmy Russell on Drums, Allen Wheeler on Rhythm Guitar/Vocals, and Aaron Baylor on Bass/Vocals, and having just been named Xbox’s Emerging Artist of the Month, BH is about to break BIG…so to prepare, head to www.myspace.com/burnhalo to check out more about the band, and then pick up their self-titled album ASAP…it’s perfect for those hot summer nights when thoughts turn to…well, check ‘em out and see/hear for yourself!

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NINE INCH NAILS AND JANE’S ADDICTION ~ THE NIN/JA TOUR

Nine Inch Nails and the original Jane’s Addiction lineup will embark on a May/June co-headlining tour that will see these seminal artists sharing a stage for the first time since the historic debut of the Lollapalooza festival in 1991. The genesis of the upcoming tour came about in late 2008 after NIN’s Trent Reznor was tapped to produce Jane’s first recordings since reforming.

The NIN/JA tour will feature a streamlined NIN with Reznor on vocals, guitars, keys, Robin Finck on guitars and keys, Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass and keys, and newest NIN member IIan Rubin on drums and keys. NIN’s stripped down configuration for the upcoming dates was inspired by a pair of club shows toward the end of last year’s wildly ambitious Lights In The Sky tour; they inspired NIN to take a similarly unencumbered and unpredictable approach to the May/June dates, which include previously announced NIN appearances at the Sasquatch and Bonnaroo festivals.

For the first time in 17 years, the original lineup of Jane’s Addiction will tour ~ vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins. The possibility of reforming first took shape in April ‘08 when the musicians performed and accepted the Godlike Genius Award bestowed on them by N.M.E. Magazine at their US Awards ceremony. The band then tested the waters with small, secret shows around the LA area and the tremendous excitement from the shows lead to their decision to tour again.

The “full circle” nature of the co-headlining tour has not been lost on the artists, with Reznor recently blogging…

“Towards the beginning of my career in Nine Inch Nails, our biggest break came in the form of an invitation to perform a series of shows with Jane’s Addiction. These performances essentially created and defined the term “alternative” rock in the US, created an ongoing festival franchise that is still thriving (Lollapalooza), set the stage for Nirvana to shift popular taste a few months later, and were really fucking FUN to play and attend – truly the best times I’ve had. The shows were epic. So epic, they propelled NIN to the “next level” (whatever that means), but caused Jane’s to implode. The band broke up at the end of that tour.”

Jane’s guitarist Dave Navarro responded in kind, paying homage to the recent collaboration with the Nine Inch Nails frontman and revealing enthusiasm for the upcoming shows.

“Since our reformation, we have been spending a lot of time with Trent in the rehearsal studio and in the recording studio, working on new stuff, addressing some old stuff and more importantly, creating a friendship and working relationship,” Navarro explains. Regardless of the collaborative outcome, our time with Trent has brought forth a new focus and sense of purpose that we plan to share with you on a nightly basis.”

Support for all NIN/JA dates will be Street Sweeper, a collaboration between Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine/The Nightwatchman and Boots Riley of The Coup.

OPETH

After a stellar 2008 that found the band’s most recent release, Watershed, atop many critical “best of” lists, Swedish metal gods Opeth will return to the US for a third tour run. The tour ~ their third in support of the album, which earned the band the best reviews of its career ~ will hit House of Blues in Boston on May 2 and will be sponsored by Decibel Magazine. Enslaved have been confirmed as direct support. www.opeth.com

VH1 “YOU OUGHTA KNOW” ARTIST ERIC HUTCHINSON EXTENDS U.S. TOUR WITH HEADLINING OUTING

With “Rock & Roll,” the first single from his Warner Bros. Records debut album Sounds Like This, Eric Hutchinson was the only new artist to score a #1 single at U.S. AAA radio in 2008. Now “Rock & Roll” is a Top 10 hit on both Australia’s iTunes and national airplay charts and Hutchinson will be the opening act on Jason Mraz’s upcoming Australian tour. Upon his return to the States, Hutchinson will mix it up, playing a series of headlining and college shows.

Exuberant and uplifting, Sounds Like This has struck a chord in these uncertain times. Described as “infectious” (Philadelphia Daily News) and “soulful” (Boston Globe), Hutchinson, a Yahoo! “Who’s Next” artist, offers up humor and hope in the face of adversity. After all, he recorded and released Sounds Like This on his own, after his previous record deal disintegrated, and that presented a whole new set of challenges. But the work paid off and the album became the highest charting by an unsigned act in iTunes’ history. Right off that success, he signed with Warner Bros. Records, which gave Sounds a wide release last year.

Hutchinson hits the Roxy in Boston on 5/8.

DREAM THEATER

Progressive metal veterans Dream Theater have announced Black Clouds & Silver Linings as the title of their 10th studio album. The band began working on the album ~ their second for Roadrunner Records ~ following up 2007’s Systematic Chaos ~ in October of last year. Roadrunner will release the record on June 23. In addition to the standard version CD, the album will also be available on vinyl LP, as well as a three-disc Special Edition CD that will include the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs, which will be revealed at a later date. Six weeks prior to the June 23 street date, Roadrunner will release one cover song per week through digital retailers. The artwork was once again designed by Hugh Syme (Rush, Iron Maiden). Check it out at www.roadrunnerrecords.com and www.dreamtheater.net.

Drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci are once again at the helm as producers, while Paul Northfield is mixing the record. The band will embark on a world tour in support of the album beginning in Europe throughout June, which will be followed by the second edition of the band’s Progressive Nation tour featuring Zappa Plays Zappa, Pain Of Salvation and Beardfish throughout North America in July/August.

PEPPER

Known for their distinct style of surf/rock/reggae music and their hit single “Give It Up,” the Hawaiian trio that is Pepper has sold over 400,000 records independently, toured with 311, Snoop Dogg, and The Wailers, performed on 4 editions on the Vans Warped Tour, seen their music appear in many movie, TV, and video game soundtracks, and have had a number of album tracks appear on the Billboard “Hot Modern Rock Tracks” chart. Their song “Your Face” from their 2006 release No Shame is now available for Guitar Hero World Tour, after first being offered as part of a free trio of downloadable reggae songs from Controlled Substance Sound Labs during the 2008 holiday season.

Pepper just released their live CD Kona Gold on April 21; the album was recorded at the sold out Fox Theater in Boulder, CO in August ‘08 and features performances of the band’s career-pioneering 2002 full-length debut album Kona Town, as well as hits from their entire catalog. In addition, the band released their fifth studio album and first self-released title via their own Law Records label (in association with Controlled Substance Sound Labs/MRI distribution), Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations this past July. Produced by Sublime producer/Butthole Surfer member Paul Leary, the album features the songs “Freeze,” “Stand And Fall,” and “Black Out,” the later of which features Randy Bradbury from Pennywise.

In the past year, Pepper made the rounds through Europe twice ~ alongside Flogging Molly last spring and Less Than Jake in the fall, spent their summer on the Tailgate ’08 tour with longtime friends Slightly Stoopid (selling out amphitheatres across the US), and headlined the very first “Here Comes the LAW Tour,” which featured other Law Records artists The Supervillains and Passafire.

Pepper will be coming to the House of Blues on Sun., May 17, co-headlining this spring’s Jägermeister Music Tour with their friends in the legendary SoCal punk band Pennywise along with new hip hop/alternative artist Big B as the show’s MC. This is going to be one hell of a fun show, so try to catch it if you can. In the meantime, check out www.pepperlive.com, www.myspace.com/pepperlive, and www.jagermeistermusictour.com. And stay tuned for next month when we bring you live pix from the show!

SIRENIA

The brainchild of former Tristania vocalist/guitarist, Morten Veland, Nuclear Blast Records latest shining star is Sirenia, with a sound that’s an intensely elegant fusion of gothic rock, classical and black/death metal polished with vocals that range from growls and screams to clean female and harmonic choirs!

Fans of Lacuna Coil, Nightwish and Evanescence will appreciate Sirenia’s powerful rhythm guitars, dressed with atmospheric keyboards and spiced with melancholic violins and 12-string guitars as a more progressive and aggressive take on their normal fare. www.myspace.com/sirenia

CHARM CITY DEVILS

Charm City Devils, the band that were hand selected as Nikki Sixx’s first signing to his label, Eleven Seven Music (named the Rock Label of the Year by FMQB), have been dubbed the #1 Rock Band in Maryland for 2008 by SenBaltimore.com. The bands debut single “Let’s Rock-N-Roll,” has been burning up Baltimore’s local radio and is quickly garnering a national buzz. The album of the same name is expected to be released this month

DOMMIN

“Dommin is the sound of the brokenhearted,” explains Kristofer Dommin, frontman for the Los Angeles quartet that puts a very fresh spin on a very familiar pain. Dommin are inviting everyone to join them in the dark introspection that goes hand in hand with heartbreak. On their Roadrunner Records debut, Love Is Gone, due out in spring 2009, Dommin delves into complex relationships, damaged psyches and much more.

At the center of their haunting, gothic-tinged rock is the enigmatic Kristofer Dommin, who croons about poisonous love, exorcising agony through a wall of distortion and a jagged sonic sieve. Kristofer, also the band’s guitarist and principal songwriter, sums up the band’s message best, “It’s about finding love, losing love and personal reflection – universal themes that transcend genre distinctions. The emotional element is more defining than how much keyboards, guitars or drums we have in a song.” It is also Kristofer’s unique and compelling voice that drives the power and passion of every word he sings.

Bassist Billy James offers a direct take on the band’s uniquely layered sound, saying “It’s alternative, dark, romantic rock that has a lot of heavy guitars, keyboards and passion behind the lyrics and music. Kris is a very intense person and his lyrics reflect a lot of his personality. He’s using his experiences, his voice and our influences to make something really special.”

Kristofer continues, “The majority of the music concerns love and relationships. These things have been around as long as people have. We all roughly feel the same things and go through the same things. We all go through tough times. We all recover. We all move on. And then we all go through these things again. That cycle is a large part of the human condition. We learn about ourselves in the process and about others. We’re not all that different.

“It’s whatever really moves me,” Kristofer says about his lyrical approach. “A song for me is never complete until I’m able look back and make sense of things. So, in some ways, I feel like a storyteller. Everyone responds to life’s challenges differently. Some people go out and run a mile. Some people paint. I write music.”

The origins of Dommin can be traced back to 2000, when Kristofer formed the band in San Dimas, just outside of Los Angeles. He added Billy James to the fold as keyboardist two years later and the band’s line-up began to take shape as James eventually switched to bass when the pair found Konstantine in 2006. Dommin’s vision was becoming fully realized. By this time, Kristofer had already written many of the songs that would comprise Love Is Gone. The last ingredient in Dommin’s sonic stew came in the form of drummer Cameron Morris, who joined in 2007.

Dommin’s songs are like individual epics, each showing off the band’s broad range of emotional depth and ability to cycle through several moods, tempos and musical styles with considerable deftness. In the soaring opener and one of the album’s many highlights “My Heart, Your Hands,” the song’s epic keyboard embrace gives way to raw, powerful riffs which slash away at the listener and serve as the bed to an unforgettable chorus and a somber message. “I Still Lost” traverses even darker territory. Kristofer opens up about the song’s subject matter, saying “It’s a very defeated and humble song about feeling like no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, it just wasn’t going to work the way I wanted. Regardless of all my efforts, I lost. So that’s what I said to myself, I still lost. I tried this. I still lost. I did that. I still lost. It was a statement that defined that moment in my life.”

“Tonight” bleeds with sprawling, melodic touches and is driven by Kristofer’s intimate vocals. The intricate web and sonic soundscape Dommin designs on its songs is quite evident in the twisted Doors-like “Dark Holiday” while “‘Without End” is a “romantic song, but it’s about a very unhealthy, obsessive love.” Kristofer cites the title track “Love is Gone” as his favorite song on the record, since “it defines the basis of all the songs on the album. It’s a very tortured, painful album in the sense that even the songs that seem like a positive spin on love, at its source, involve a very noxious kind of love.”

Kristofer finds influence and inspiration outside of the norm and in an unexpected places – from crooners of the ‘40s and ‘50s to film scores. “I’m into everything from the Cinderella Man score to The Transformers soundtrack. Anything that sounds really moving and epic appeals to me. People fail to recognize how much the music in a movie is affecting their mood and experience. I’ve always paid close attention to it and having the keyboards in Dommin is virtually like having an orchestra at our fingertips.”

Ultimately, Dommin’s music is truly for everybody. Given the relatable lyrics, it’s easy to see why disaffected youth, the lovelorn or even the average Jane or Joe will be magnetically attracted to Love Is Gone. Dommin speaks on a topic that affects us all and the music acts as a unifying force for those who flock to music when life knocks them down. “We make music for anyone who is feeling what the average person feels in a day,” concludes Kristofer. “The words and music are there for those misunderstood people who need to know that there is someone out there who feels the same.”

Welcome to the end of love and the beginning of Dommin. www.myspace.com/dommin

Coming off an incredible showing at this year’s SXSW including a headlining performance at Stubb’s, an over-capacity crowd at DirecTV’s “SXSW Live,” and a legendary taping of Austin City Limits, BEN HARPER AND RELENTELSS7 proudly announce the release of their debut record, White Lies For Dark Times on May 5 on Virgin Records. The album will be available as CD, deluxe CD with bonus DVD, digital download and 180-gram 2xLP. Rolling Stone calls the new album “an 11-song set soaked with hard rock and Delta Blues.”

BHR7 will give week-of-release performances on The Late Show with David Letterman (5/6), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (5/7) and Jimmy Kimmel Live (5/21). You can catch them live at May 10 at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston.

STATIC-X UNLEASHES CULT OF STATIC ~ EDITOR’S PICK!!!

The New Album

The Industrial Metal Machine that is Static-X returns with their heaviest, most flammable work to date. Cult of Static, on Reprise Records, marries the band’s aggressive driving force with disarming experimentation.

The fiery raw quality of Cult of Static was in full effect when the first single, “Stingwray,” hit airwaves Feb. 14th. “Stingwray” was inspired by Wayne Static’s wife Tera Wray Static and the Corvette Stingray she drives. The song’s powerful beats and heavy guitar riffs make this song a commanding force on the record.

Static-X encompasses shredding guitars with solos that have made the band a musical force to be reckoned with. The cybernetic stomp of “Hypure” and “You Am I” bludgeon, bruise and break with precise grooves. Elsewhere, the staccato riffs on “Terminal” crush through an unmistakable guitar tone. Guitarist Koichi Fukuda blazes through incendiary solos, while Tony Campos bolts down demonic bass lines and Nick Oshiro pounds out deadly rhythms. Front-man Wayne Static riffs pure violence and screams out his soul. “Over the years my voice has been destroyed from excessive touring… and I love it,” exclaims Static. “The vocals on the new record are raw and brutal.”

You may already be familiar with “Lunatic,” as it was included on the Punisher: War Zone movie soundtrack. Although “Lunatic” is relentless and raw, brandishing a ripping groove and an impenetrable barrier of guitars the album cut was re-recorded to feature a solo by legendary Megadeth front-man Dave Mustaine. “I’ve been a huge Megadeth fan for years,” explains Static. “We’ve toured with them twice. Mustaine and I really hit it off on the road. His lead style is one of the most distinctive styles out there. There’s something amazing about it. When you hear him solo, you know it’s him.”

Since their breakthrough debut, Wisconsin Death Trip, Static-X has sold over three million records, and they’ve completed numerous successful world tours including three Ozzfests, The Family Values Tour and Gigantour. Cult of Static is the bastard child of a 10 year journey of metal annihilation, unleashing the beast to all in their path. “I can hardly believe it’s been a decade since the release of our first cd, “Wisconsin Death Trip,” and we’re still going strong thanks to all of our loyal fans,” explains Static. “The title Cult of Static is meant to be a big thank-you to everyone who has supported us through the years. I’m looking forward to seeing you all on the upcoming world tour.”

The Live Show

I was lucky enough to catch Static-X (along with Editor’s Pick Burn Halo) at the Hampton Beach Ballroom Casino on April 18. Let me just say that this show was one of the best I’ve seen not just this year, but in many years. The lights were great, the sound was top-notch (and of course the Ballroom is rated one of the best venues for rock shows in the country for a reason), and Static-X took the stage and blew the crowd away with such a kick-ass, we-love-our-fans-and-what-we-do set (and encore) that no-one wanted it to end. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd genuinely enjoy themselves so much ~ and the same could be said for the band, they were happy as pigs in shit to be giving the fans just what they wanted (which included trax from both their old and new albums). These guys are the perfect combination of heavy riffs, deadly rhythms, insane vocals, terrific stage presence, boundless energy and just plain fun. They’re what a heavy metal band should be, so all others, take note! Turns out, too, that they’re really nice (hope that doesn’t ruin the image, dudes!). It’s obvious that over the past ten years they’ve become just about as tight as a band can get, and they’ve learned to command the stage and draw the audience in. They’ve got their show down pat, sure, but there were those great moments of connection between band members (and between lead singer Wayne Static and the audience) those awesome interactions that can’t be planned, and some incredible stage gymnastics (these guys don’t keep still for a second!) that kept us all screaming for more. Never a dull moment with Static-X! On a scale of one to ten? 9.5 ~ and only because they didn’t play a SECOND encore!!!! So if these guys come around again, SEE THEM. And ‘til then, pick up Cult of Static, featuring Dave Mustaine and co-produced by Wayne and John Travis [Kid Rock, Buckcherry, Social Distortion].

For more information go to www.myspace.com/staticx or www.static-x.com

EXODUS

Destined to go down in recent history as the one of heavy metal’s most successful blood drives, San Francisco’s veteran thrashers Exodus have pledged to double the blood spilled in mosh pits throughout North America on the upcoming “Hordes Of Chaos” metal extravaganza. Warmed up after eight headlining shows beginning March 28th at the California Metalfest in Anaheim, California, Exodus make its way to The Palladium on April 10 ~ and it took until approximately half-way through their first chord on-stage for my ears to begin their happy bleeding.

With a line-up that features the raw, heart-racing guitar riffs of thrash guitar icon Gary Holt & veteran six-stringer Lee Altus (Heathen, ex-Die Krupps), the breakneck double-bass beats of Tom Hunting, the gravity of Jack Gibson’s thunderous bass work, and the cholera-infested vocals of Rob Dukes, Exodus’ attitude-driven sound is carried out with the brutality of military vengeance. “Standard metal sounds like love songs compared to the musical violence of Exodus,” stated DRUM! Magazine, and let me tell you ~ standard metal wouldn’t make it through 2 minutes in an xodus mosh pit.

The video for The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A’s “Riot Act” ~ directed by Metalocalypse’s Jon Schnepp ~ is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKt3Jz-jk1A. Check that out, it’ll whet your appetite for The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit Album with a release date to be announced later this year.

Visit Exodus online at www.exodusattack.com and www.myspace.com/exodus.

TIME TURNS ELASTIC, CO-WRITTEN BY PHISH’S TREY ANASTASIO AND COMPOSER DON HART, SCHEDULED FOR MAY 12th RELEASE

Time Turns Elastic, a ground-breaking work for vocals, guitar and orchestra composed by Trey Anastasio and Don Hart, will be released on May 12th by Rubber Jungle Records, Anastasio’s independent label. The piece – orchestrated by Hart and performed by Anastasio and The Northwest Sinfonia, conducted by David Sabee – blends the intrinsic elegance of classical music with searing blues-rock guitar, resulting in an exhilarating work that engages and challenges fans of both genres.

“Neither of us had ever heard anything that uses a guitar as a serious instrument intermingled with an orchestra in the same way one would write a concerto for a violin and orchestra,” says Anastasio, who first collaborated with Hart at the 2004 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival while staging a piece from one of his solo albums, Seis de Mayo. “I grew up loving Ravel and Eric Clapton equally,” he continues. “So I kept saying to Don, ‘why can’t we have a piece of music that’s half Ravel and half Cream’s Disraeli Gears?”

Both Anastasio, named one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone and a founding member of the genre-melding rock band Phish, and Hart, who’s worked with a diverse group of musicians that includes Martina McBride, Collective Soul and Randy Travis and is currently Composer-in-Residence for Orchestra Nashville, are musical chameleons whose tastes cross all boundaries. While the pair’s collaborations on Anastasio’s Shine (2005) and Bar 17 (2006), may prefigure Time Turns Elastic, the composition actually began as a Phish song.

“I was living in upstate New York when I started writing this little tune that just kept growing,” recalls Anastasio. “I initially thought it would be a Phish song, but after I sent a demo of it to Don, it just grew organically into an orchestral piece.” The 13-minute acoustic guitar demo – which is included on the album – evolved into “Movement 2” and “Movement 3” and provided Hart with the inspiration for “Movement 1.”

Anastasio and Orchestra Nashville (conducted by Paul Gambill) gave Time Turns Elastic its debut performance at the Orchestra’s season opener at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium in September 2008. “It was ambitious, strange and wholly entertaining,” said rollingstone.com. “There was no doubt that he had won over both his hardcore fan base and the Bach aficionados who were new to the party.”

Time Turns Elastic will receive its East Coast premiere on May 21st when Anastasio joins Music Director Marin Alsop (the first woman to head a major American orchestra) and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for a special evening – already sold out – that will also feature classic Phish songs and solo Anastasio compositions. And Time Turns Elastic will come full circle when Phish performs it on the band’s upcoming summer tour, interpreting the piece as an epic rock song. For details on the tour, the band’s first in five years, please visit www.phish.com/.

WAXPLOITATION/MTV/CAUSES 2

Waxploitation and MTV are partnering up to premiere Causes 2 a week before the album comes out via MTV’s The Leak. The album will debut April 28th to May 5th via The Leak, which gives music fans the chance to listen to new albums in their entirety, from start to finish, one week before their official release.

You can hear the album at www.mtv.com/music/the_leak. The album is available worldwide in both CD and digital formats. Pre-orders are available at www.waxploitation.com/buycauses

The album will be prominently featured on MTV, mtvU, MTV.com and Think.MTV.com, where people can learn more about the crisis in Darfur

Causes 2 is the second album from Waxploitation’s ongoing benefit series for Darfur. 100% of the profits from the album go to Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Oxfam America.

The album includes rare and exclusive songs from some of the most compelling artists in the indie and alternative worlds: Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Decemberists, Devendra Banhart, Diplo, Federico Aubele, Gnarls Barkley, LCD Soundsystem, Matthew Dear, Mum, My Morning Jacket, Neon Neon, Richard Swift, RJD2, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, as well as a contribution from Adult Swim’s Tim & Eric.

For more, head to www.waxploitation.com/causes,
www.doctorswithoutborders.org, www.hrw.org,http://www.oxfamamerica.org

TESTAMENT

The prophets that are Testament ~ Chuck Billy – vocals, Eric Peterson – guitars, Alex Skolnick – guitars, Greg Christian – bass, Paul Bostaph – drums, are taking over The Palladium on May 24. Testament have found themselves in the prophecy business throughout their 25 year career, and with “The Formation Of Damnation,” their newest work that this current tour supports, they have delivered their sharpest, leanest, heaviest and most prophetic set of songs for two decades. They are the quintessential modern heavy metal band, the undisputedly enormous influence over a whole nu generation of aural aggressors.

With “The Formation Of Damnation” Testament have deliciously served up “old school’” without the old, a crushingly heavy album without the weight of oppression, all crisp and lively like a ball-pin hammer-wielding maniac intent on bashing your brains to a pulp. It crackles with the type of vibrant energy that comes from an umbilically connected creative core writing together for the first time in over ten years, their reserves of residual anger, aggro and raw visceral riffery greater than ever. We’re going to be there, front and center, so we’ll have a show recap and pix from the pit for you next month…so stay tuned, o ye followers of the true societal prophets of rage! ‘Til then, check out www.testamentlegions.com ~ this site is one of the best around, it has links to everything and everyone even remotely Testament-related ~ their friends, tattoo artists, fave films, artists, band members, gear, and more ~ plus of course all the Testamerch you could ever dream of!

FALL FROM GRACE

Fall From Grace, who are Tryg Littlefield (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Brian Olson (lead guitar, vocals), Ken Olson (bass, vocals), and Kenny Bates (drums, vocals) ~ is touring in support of their latest record and debut on Bunk Rock Music/Fontana, Sifting Through the Wreckage (November 2008), produced by Terry Date (Pantera, Deftones) and Greg Nori (Sum 41, Ludacris) and featuring the singles “Burned” and “King of Lies.” They outperformed over 7,000 bands nationwide, including the 16 other bands they competed against on a weekly reality TV series on Fuse that featured celebrity judges Johnny Rotten, Bif Naked and Billy Duffy, to win the Fuse TV Music Battle of the Bands for a $1 million record contract.

For these 2008 Vans Warped Tour veterans (and fan favorites ~ these guys really appreciate their fans and try to get them as involved as possible ~ just check out their website and myspace, they’re always planning something special for fans, like inviting them to be extras on video shoots), their own personal life struggles and dark times have come together into messages of hope and happiness that they’ve incorporated into their music. It seems that which hasn’t killed them (including homelessness, epilepsy, mental and physical abuse, family struggles, and a near fatal car accident) has definitely made the music stronger. Each song they’ve written is a story of struggle and triumph filled with infectious melodies, brutal breakdowns, and crowd clap choruses.

For more information or to hear listen to Fall From Grace, head to www.myspace.com/fallfromgracemusic and www.fallfromgrace.us. And we’ll be at the May 10 show at The Palladium (right before the guys head overseas through June on tour with Alesana), so check back next month ‘cause we’ll be bringing you some great live shots of the band!

UNEARTH

And what do New England metal giants UNEARTH, currently touring to support their critically acclaimed album The March, their third studio album with Metal Blade Records, think about touring with Testament? Vocalist Trevor Phipps shared with us that, “I’ve been a fan of Testament since I was a kid, so it’ll be a great time each night for me. It’s always fun to play our set, and it’ll be awesome to catch Testament after we play. We’re gonna have six weeks of good times. It will also be cool to tour with our label mates, Lazarus A.D. They’re on their first record with Metal Blade. I heard their album last night, and it had some great shred parts. This whole tour is going to be a shred fest for sure!”