ROB ZOMBIE AND MEGADETH ANNOUNCE CO-HEADLINING TOUR

ROB ZOMBIE and MEGADETH have just announced a co-headlining tour guaranteed to raise the temperature on the planet. The trek, which marks the first time the two bands have toured together, kicks off Friday, May 11 in Holmdel, NJ and encompasses high-profile appearances at several rock festivals, including Rock On The Range and Rocklahoma. Rob Zombie will headline Rocklahoma, co-line (with Incubus) Rock On The Range, and will close all shows on the Megadeth dates. The tour wraps Saturday, March 26 at Rocklahoma – a list of confirmed dates is below. To purchase tickets, visit www.robzombie.com. Read more

ROCK ON THE RANGE 2012 REVEALS MASSIVE LINEUP FOR SIXTH ANNUAL PREMIER DESTINATION ROCK FESTIVAL

PERFORMERS INCLUDE INCUBUS, ROB ZOMBIE, SHINEDOWN, MARILYN MANSON, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, SLASH, MEGADETH, CHEVELLE, CYPRESS HILL, MASTODON AND MORE

ROCK ON THE RANGE returns for its sixth year boasting a massive lineup covering the rock spectrum. America’s premier destination rock festival will be held May 18-20 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH featuring performances from Incubus, Rob Zombie, Shinedown, Marilyn Manson, Five Finger Death Punch, Slash, Megadeth, Chevelle, Cypress Hill, Mastodon and many more. Read more

Alice Cooper | Welcome 2 My Nightmare

by Erik Tweedy
Staff Writer

The Grandfather of shock rock, Alice Cooper, is back with the highly anticipated sequel to his legendary debut solo release Welcome To My Nightmare. 35 years later, Welcome 2 My Nightmare finds Alice’s character, Steven, still trapped in his own mind of terror and imagery filled with ghouls, goblins, disco music and other nightmarish creatures. To man the controls, Alice has once again tabbed long-time producer and collaborator Bob Ezrin (KISS, Pink Floyd), who produced the original Nightmare release. Welcome 2 My Nightmare includes several special guests, most notably Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Neal Smith (drums), all members from the original Alice Cooper Band whom helped co-write three songs for the sequel and play on the track “When Hell Comes Home”. Welcome 2 My Nightmare is a fitting sequel to the original in that it combines all the elements that make Alice Cooper great, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, campy ‘70s music mixed with a modern feel and a Broadway setting all stuffed under the circus big top. It is a ghoulishly fun ride from start to finish that will have the crypt keeper rocking his bones off.

The piano intro to “I Am Made Of You” sets the tone early in a creepy Exorcist kind of way for what could be Alice’s best work in more than a decade. This opening track is such a great melancholy intro and will have you feeling like you are embarking on some big theatrical ride. And in this case, you are. So, buckle up tight, grab your helmet and get ready for some “Caffeine” with track number 2 as the show is about to begin. A straight ahead rocker about the desperation of not falling asleep because you never know what might be under your bed or in your closet waiting to eat you. Life doesn’t get much more fun than that.

There are elements of the original Nightmare release throughout the sequel and as you board the “Runaway Train”, you will begin to fully understand why Alice Cooper is just so darn creepy. If you are a fan of the original release, you will pick out these subtleties in both the lyrics and the music. “Runaway Train” is a high energy Bob Dylan sounding track with a blazing guitar solo, courtesy of country legend Vince Gill, and comes complete with Rob Zombie yelling “Last call for the Nightmare Express”.

The circus arrives in full fashion with “Last Man On Earth” and its tuba backed ‘Oompah’ that will have you looking around for a car full of little people. “The Congregation” has an overly Beatles-que feel to it and welcomes you to join Alice, the circus master, along for a ride through your last breath before you meet your maker. Isn’t it fun being in an Alice Cooper dream?

Some of the strangest songs on Welcome 2 My Nightmare are the first single “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” and “Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever.” While not being your average love song, “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” is trite with romantic overtones, even if they are about a hot zombie temptress wanting to bite your face off. “Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever” is some parts disco, some parts Rockwell, some parts rap and some parts rock all wrapped up into a Halloween dance party soundtrack with some ripping guitar at the end. This is classic Alice Cooper and 20 years from now, this song will still be selling as part of one of those novelty packages.

If some TV producer out there does not make a Saturday cartoon based off of “Ghouls Gone Wild”, they are missing out. This is the perfect cartoon soundtrack and will have you thinking back to a time when Scooby and Shaggy were the coolest cats on the block. This is another classic Cooper track about partying zombies.

One of the biggest surprises on this release is Alice’s duet with pop star Ke$ha that works surprisingly well. An electronic pop driven track that has Alice and Ke$ha trading vocal leads and includes the best guitar work on this release. Not sure this track fits in with the rest of the nightmarish theme, but it is a solid upbeat track that will appeal to a younger audience and will keep the older fans engaged.

Rounding out this solid effort is “I Gotta Get Outta Here” the all encompassing climax to the 35 year nightmare Alice and his character, Steven, have been living in. These last lyrics bring together all of the key elements of the first Nightmare release and the sequel into a final plea for help in getting out of the nightmare alive. As “The Underture” plays on to finish out the disc, it leaves you wondering if it is truly over.

In the end, this feels like a long theatrical production and it could easily be made into one. The lyrics on here are terrific and longtime Alice Cooper fans will relish in the fact that Alice has went back to his roots and moved away from the harder edged music of the past decade or two. The production by Ezrin is great and the musical style, while often times being different all work well together to tell the story. Welcome 2 My Nightmare is a great complement to the original while also maintaining its own identity. Drop on by iTunes and pick this up today; you will need it for your Halloween party.

Genre: Classic Hard Rock

Band:
Alice Cooper – Vocals
Steven Hunter – Guitar
Damon Johnson – Guitar
Tommy Henriksen – Guitar
Chuck Garric – Bass
Glen Sobel – Drums

Special Guests:
Michael Bruce – Guitar
Dennis Dunaway – Bass
Neal Smith – Drums
Vince Gill – Guitar
Ke$ha – Vocals
Rob Zombie – Narrator

Track Listing:
1. I Am Made Of You
2. Caffeine
3. The Nightmare Returns
4. A Runaway Train
5. Last Man On Earth
6. The Congregation
7. I’ll Bite Your Face Off
8. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
9. Ghouls Gone Wild
10. Something To Remember Me By
11. When Hell Comes Home
12. What Baby Wants
13. I Gotta Get Outta Here
14. The Underture

Label: Universal Music

Website: http://www.alicecooper.com

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.7/10

Sydney Soundwave Festival 2011

February 27, 2011 at Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia.

by Cameron Edney
Guest Staff Writer

For those of us who have already experienced the Soundwave Festival train this past week how fucking AMAZING was that!

So many amazing sets, I don’t even know where to begin, but give me time and there will be a full coverage review going around! No doubt highlights for me included Stone Sour, Nonpoint, Dimmu Borgir, Taking Dawn, Devildriver, Rob Zombie and Iron Maiden.

After covering 26 of the 60+ artists on the bill we’ve finally compiled a ton of great photographs for your viewing pleasure. Anyways enough from me, it’s time for the pictures to tell the story of what was one hell of a kick ass day for rock, punk and metal lovers in Sydney!

Featured bands include:
30Seconds to Mars
36 Crazyfists
Breath Carolina
Bullet for my Valentine
Devildriver
Dimmu Borgir
Every Avenue
High on Fire
Ill Nino
Kylesa
Murderdolls
MXPX All-Stars
Nonpoint
Primus
Rise to Remain
Rob Zombie
Sevendust
Slash
Stone Sour
Taking Dawn
The Sword
Trash Talk

Sydney Soundwave Festival Photo Gallery

Photos provided by Cameron and Aimee Edney

Mayhem Festival LIVE!

July 23, 2010 at Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ

by Steve Trager
Staff Writer

The recent third annual Mayhem Festival certainly outshined previous lineups with a much more diverse metal genre, even if most of these bands could easily headline on their own. It was the best day for a fist full of mayhem and metal hands down. Despite the extreme weather making the day seem to be a “sweat fest “nothing stops music other then some unforeseen disaster. Mayhem seems to become an annual event showcasing some of the best talent around, some garnering measureless popularity on their own as individuals, but for the most part, this festival gives the immediate fan the opportunity to be right up front in the “ pit “ as they say in music terms. The popularity of Mayhem Festival has become a staple in metal and could very well continue to become a new home in a traveling metal festival since Ozzfest is slowly diminishing.

With three stages filled with some of the best bands this year, Mayhem Festival Tour certainly captivates all the spectacles of greatness in music. However, short sets don’t really cut it when each band gets going but, one gets the ideal of such performance as the “meat and potatoes“ of certain key songs that have become a staple in bands like Hatebreed who closed out the ever popular sponsored Jagermeister music stage, cranking out songs like “To the Threshold,” “I Will be Heard” and “This is Now” have truly been the bullet in their sets over the years.

While we all enjoy our dose of metal at Mayhem this year it was nice to also see some bands that have graced headlining slots on other tours like Shadows Fall, Chimaira, and In this Moment rounding out sets on the two outside stages. Even if this seem to be the hottest day weather wise you could just look around and see endless fans with Atreyu shirts spanning generations of metal heads as they waited in the heat for them to finish out the silver star stage at Mayhem festival this year. One thing I would like to see is longer sets by some of these bands but I think it’s all about cramming in as much music in several hours as possible, and that makes it worthwhile no matter how sweaty one can get next to you. If you live for music like most of us, then nothing stops you from having the greatest day while watching your favorite bands tear it up on separate stages.

The Mayhem Festival main stage showcased four great bands this year, including Five Finger Death Punch who graduated from playing a side stage to opening the main stage to a packed house, performing songs from both efforts that included the Bad Company cover of “Bad Company,” a nice twist of a classic rock anthem turned pure metal. A quick set change that brings us to Lamb of God, a notable band with history of a fearless live performances that kill it time and time again. Lamb of God reminds me of a wrecking ball that swings to the hardest degree and can knock everything over in its path as a band.

Perhaps the nicer elements in the Mayhem Festival is that we get a double dose of headlining slots and this year is no exception with Rob Zombie as one and Korn as the second. Rob Zombie well known for his stage antics with pyrotechnics and flame bombs rounding out his stage production. Yet it is still all about the music covering his years with White Zombie and all his amazing solo work as a musician that including “More Human Than Human,“ “Thunderkiss ‘69,” “Living Dead Girl“ and “Dragula.“

Mayhem Festival wouldn’t be complete without a great set by Korn. Although it’s quite sad to see this band with just three original members as a whole, we come to expect greatness when it comes to music and that Korn still does as a live band. Seem to be more then ever out of the public eye for this band has they still can kill it with a sixty minute set covering all their hits that made them quite popular. Even if Korn hasn’t toured in some time, they still bring the energy and the passion as front man Jonathan Davis demonstrates his head banging force during songs like “Here to Stay,“ “Right Now,“ “Falling Away From Me,“ “Freak On a Leash“ and “Got the Life.“

If the last three years of this mayhem festival hasn’t shown that metal still reigns in the blood of fans everywhere, we all hope that this can be a sacred home summer after summer if Ozzfest can’t hold out any longer. Sure bands can headline on their own but what better way to cram more then a dozen bands on three different stages and call it Mayhem Festival, which is basically a nice term that centers around most heavy weighted bands these days. So we once again raise our fists and salute this entire day in metal with “Horns up“ as this years’ Mayhem Festival was the best ever for metal events of the summer. Mayhem has taken over the reigns as the new home of extreme metal.

Mayhem Festival Photo Gallery

Photos courtesy of Steve Trager

Tyler Bates

E-Interview

by Jay Villain
Staff Writer

HRH: Hello, Tyler it’s very nice to speak with you. Being that you also did the soundtrack for the first Halloween remake in 2007; can you tell us how the Halloween II soundtrack differs from the first?

Tyler Bates: In doing the first Halloween, we weren’t exactly sure how much Rob’s film should deviate from the storyline, characters, and musical themes of the John Carpenter film. With H2, Rob decided that we would not concern ourselves so much with the original film, and just do our thing in the Rob Zombie context. I think this approach freed us up a bit to experiment with alternative musical approaches for situations that are conventional in the realm of Halloween movies. Of course, we couldn’t go start to finish without quoting JC a time or two.

HRH: What are your thoughts regarding John Carpenter’s Halloween both musically and visually?

TB: I can’t imagine there being another film that has a similar impact on the horror genre as the original Halloween film. The silences in that film are great. The iconic themes have never been paralleled in my opinion. That original film really scared the hell out of me. I remember being 12 years old or so at the time, and living in a log cabin house in heavily forested area where we had dogs and horses and such. Anyway, my father used to make me take the trash out at night to this old storage shed at the edge of the property, which we kept pad-locked in order to keep the raccoons out. I’m sure my father enjoyed this. So, I would go out there in the blackness just waiting for Michael Myers to hack me to pieces while I fumbled for the key to that stupid lock. The funny thing is that our house was haunted (which is another story), and I would run fast as hell to the haunted house to seek refuge from the darkness and Michael Myers. I have never slept well since.

HRH: Where do you draw inspiration from?

TB: That’s a tricky question. I think first of all, you have to remain vital as a person. You have to maintain an influx of inspiring people, experiences, literature, music, etc., in your life, while being open and receptive to creative impulses. That said, it’s much easier said than done. There is no faucet of inspiration waiting to be turned on per se. Well, maybe inspiration comes from the stress of challenges and deadlines? Expectations … Probably all of these things when you’re talking about film music.

Rob’s material, in particular, dredges up the essence of unsavory characters I have encountered in my past, so I don’t necessarily need to imagine what these folks are like in real life. I already know them.

HRH: You’ve done so much in your career, what do you look for when choosing a film to score?

TB: I would like to think that I’m a chooser. I am probably as much a beggar still! LOL. We work in the service industry. Seriously, my first criteria are the people I work with. While I would love to live forever, you just never know how long you’re on this planet, and also, you never know how long the phone will ring, so I think that it’s really important to work with good people who are impassioned in the process of their work; driven by the desire to create something excellent. I don’t want to get stuck in a genre, but working with Zack Snyder, alone, is like writing for multiple genres on each film we do. A little less slashing would be good for a while.

HRH: What is your favorite genre of film to work on and why?

TB: I’m not sure. I am fortunate enough to work with filmmakers (directors and producers) that not only challenge me, but they expect me to explore new musical and textural concepts on each film, so I am far from being burned out. Ideally, I welcome strong characters and an exploration of their psychological state. That is always challenging and interesting.

HRH: Is there a specific director who you would like to work with?

TB: In terms of people I have not worked with yet? David Hayter and Guillermo Del Toro are very interesting artists. It’s difficult to say. There are so many fantastic directors whose work I love. I would be flattered to get the call.

HRH: From what’s being reported, Rob Zombie has no interest in directing Halloween III. If approached, is Halloween III something you’d like to pursue?

TB: Is Guillermo Del Toro doing H3? LOL The Halloween thing came by way of Rob Zombie. It wasn’t a gig as much as it was about us both seeing what we could do in the context of that world. I would be happy to do one with Rob, but otherwise, I am not sure.

HRH: What upcoming films are you working on?

TB: I have a few projects I am either currently involved with, or that will begin in the near future. I am not really at liberty to openly discuss them at this time.

HRH: How did you break into the industry scoring music for film?

TB: My brother was working on a very low-budget film in the early ‘90s, and they needed music but had no music budget, so they called me! LOL. I worked up a few pieces for them, and then the executive producer called me and asked me to score his next low-budget film. This led to work on friends’ films of similar ilk while I pursued business with my band, Pet. The band had some record label success but ultimately imploded in the late ‘90s. At that point, I reasserted my focus on doing films while painting houses to make my rent. Eventually, I didn’t have to paint houses.

HRH: Is there anything else you’d like everyone to know?

TB: The Halloween II score is out now on my new label imprint, Abattoir Recordings. The score is available digitally at this time. We will release a different album coinciding with the DVD release of the film. It will contain some of what is currently available, as well as previously unreleased material from both films. I wanted my own label so that I could develop cool packages for some of my scores, which will be very cool!

HRH: Tyler, thanks for taking time to answer my questions. I hope to talk with you again in the future.

TB: Thanks!

Tyler Bates Halloween II

by Jay Villain
Staff Writer

Tyler Bates, whose previous works include Dawn Of The Dead remake (2004), Doomsday (2008), the Rob Zombie films The Devil’s Rejects (2005) and Halloween remake (2007) just to name a few; returns with a new soundtrack for Halloween II, which is also a Rob Zombie film.

Maintaining the tradition created by John Carpenter, Tyler Bates expands on the original “Halloween” theme during the first track. He does so without ever deviating from the original mindset. It’s even darker and more malevolent than Tyler’s previous work in 2007. This song is one of the most memorable ever written for a horror film. In fact, it’s so identifiable that even people with absolutely no interest in horror know of its origin. For all fans of this franchise, the “Halloween” theme is a staple that simply cannot and will not be ignored.

The Halloween II soundtrack is hauntingly eerie from start to finish; a perfect accompaniment for this film. Even without the visuals from the film, this soundtrack is the epitome of horror. Tyler Bates brings to life the soulless being that is Michael Myers using ambient and atmospheric sound to create a chilling mood. The suspense throughout is relentless, it keeps the listener on the edge of their seat and allows the imagination to run wild.

This CD is a must-have for anyone throwing a seasonal Halloween party, setting up a haunted house and, of course, all Michael Myers enthusiasts. Full of trepidation, Tyler Bates’ soundtrack for Halloween II does not disappoint.

MySpace URL: www.myspace.com/tylerbatesla

H2 Score Album Sequence:
1. Halloween Theme 2009
2. I Killed A Man
3. White Horse
4. Stairs
5. Love Shack
6. I Won’t Let You Down
7. Killing Field
8. I Found Boo
9. Rabbit In Red
10. Can I See The Pig?
11. Van Kill
12. Surveillance
13. I’m Angel Myers
14. Brackett Finds Annie
15. We Are Family
16. H1 Killing Spree

Hardrock Haven rating: 10/10