Judas Priest: Completes Writing New Album; "It´s Heavy", Says Rob Halford

Rob Halford spoke to Billboard.com about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2008's "Nostradamus". 

"The writing process is complete," he said. "Now it's the painstaking work of making sure that you get every single note, every single nuance of the vocal, every tiny aspect...right. We're still tracking (instruments). It's just a very laborious but enjoyable part of making the record." 

Regarding the sound of the new Priest material, Halford said, "[It's] hard. It's heavy. It's something we think our Priest fans will be thrilled with. We know we have a reputation to maintain, and we know we have to deliver something really strong and solid. The album is going to be full of all the great things you love about Judas Priest - I don't think I can say anything more than that without being hung, drawn and quartered."

Priest plans to tour in support of the album, though not quite as extensively as it has in the past. Next year will also mark the 40th anniversary of the group's debut album, "Rocka Rolla," which Halford says will be commemorated in some way.

Deep Purple: "The Audio Fidelity Collection" Box Set Coming In December

Audio Fidelity will be re-releasing the four remastered Mark II studio albums as a box set this December. These are not the anniversary remasters, but the ones done by Steve Hoffman exclusively for the label. They contain no bonus tracks, just the same material as the original albums. The target audience are audiophiles not satisfied with the audio quality of the anniversary remasters, completis collectors, and the lovers of shiny things.

"The Audio Fidelity Collection" contains four classic Deep Purple 24K Gold CD titles from the Mark II line-up - the most celebrated line-up in the band's history recorded from 1970-1973:
"In Rock", "Machine Head", "Fireball" and "Who Do We Think We Are"

The four albums have already been previously released by Audio Fidelity separately as limited editions, and fetch a pretty penny at secondary markets. Priced at $130, this is a reasonable opportunity to pick up all four of their remasters for those who don’t have them.

Hell Bent For Vegas; Judas Priest On Rock ´N´ Roll Fantasy Camp 2014

Hold your horses, heavy rockers, here's the ultimate Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp specifically for you metalheads. Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Campis proud to present Judas Priest band members Rob Halford, Ian Hill, Scott Travis, and Richie Faulkner. (Glenn Tipton is unable to attend the camp.) More metal masters include Zakk Wylde and Geoff Tate. This camp will be hosted in Las Vegas at the Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp complex and MGM Grand Hotel & Casino from Thursday, February 27 through Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Over the course of four metal-filled days, campers will be placed into bands led by rock star counselors, including Rudy Sarzo,Vinny Appice,Phil Soussan, and Lita Ford. Musicians will hone their stage presence, learn to play some of metal music's greatest songs, get tips on playing as a band and hear stories of life on the road from their rock star counselors. Campers will also attend master classes with these renowned musicians prior to performing live with their band in front of an audience at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas!

For more information, visit RockCamp.com.

Bill Ward: "Accountable Beasts"; New Solo Album In The Works; "It's Very Fucking Heavy"

Groovey.TV recently conducted an interview with Bill Ward. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. 

Groovey.TV: What are your plans for the rest of the year? What else are you working on?

Bill Ward: Right now we are doing all the promo for this project. I'm also in the studio still trying to finish my album to be which is called "Accountable Beasts", and we are getting closer ever single week to having that getting complete. It's been a long time coming but we are in there bit by bit a little bit by bit.

Groovey.TV: Do you have a release date yet?

Bill Ward: I would like to think that it will be out very very soon. I need twenty more days to mix or thereabouts. I could maybe do it in fifteen. Everything is at mix level, so we got about 40 percent more mix on about eight tracks. Then that's all, we've done it, it's finished.

Groovey.TV: What's the vibe and feel of "Accountable Beasts"?

Bill Ward: It's very heavy. It's very fucking heavy. I play drums on 90% of the tracks. We've really gone balls out, you know. When I came off the last Black Sabbath tour, I was so ramped up, I could have gone round again one more time. I was full of energy and some of these tracks were laid down literally weeks after I came back. I was inspired to make it loud and make it hardcore, so there's some strong tracks on "Accountable Beasts". One of them, we got bass-drum tempos that nearly killed me. [laughs] They're pretty fast, man. When I see people like Dave Lombardo [Slayer], who is a buddy of mine, working around these guys, it's like, "Man, give me some of that." So I was very inspired after the last Black Sabbath tour. I thought the gigs were absolutely brilliant, I thought the band played fantastic, considering everything that was going on we played really well. It really is a stimulant from that, and that's how the album got started. As time has gone on, and we gradually got more finances into the production, we added more things and written more songs for it. So I'm hoping it will be out quite soon.

Read the entire interview at Groovey.TV.

Bob Daisley: Hour-Long Video Interview Posted Online; "For Facts Sake" Out Now

An hour-long interview with former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Bob Daisley in support of his newly published memoir, "For Facts Sake", can be seen below.

Daisley is selling signed copies of "For Facts Sake", via his official web site.

Says Bob: "At last, my autobiography 'For Facts Sake' is ready to roll. It covers my whole life and my fifty-year career in music, and features everyone that I've ever worked with - Chicken Shack, Mungo Jerry, Widowmaker, Rainbow, The Blizzard of Ozz, Uriah Heep, Ozzy (and Sharon) Osbourne,Gary Moore, Black Sabbath, the notorious Don Arden, and too many others to mention here. The stories reveal some interesting and, until now, unknown facts about many of these artists and characters, and with more than 460 photos throughout the text, it provides a pictorial view of my journey."

KISS: Alan Parker To Direct "You Wanted The Best… You Got The Best - The Official KISS Movie"

KISS has tapped Alan G. Parker to direct "You Wanted The Best… You Got The Best - The Official Kiss Movie".

When I asked director Alan G. Parker (via facebook) about the project, he answered: "Busy filming it at the moment... It's a documentary.... Watch this space....". 

He writes on his facebook page: "Tomorrow night we are interviewing Lydia Criss.... It's gonna be a thrill folks... Things are coming together very nicely on the KISS movie thus far... You Wanted The Best... We won't let you down...."

According to Classic Rock Magazine "You Wanted The Best… You Got The Best - The Official Kiss Movie" promises to offer the most in-depth look yet. KISS was formed in New York in the early '70s as Wicked Lester and went on to sell over 100 million albums world wide.

"We are thrilled to have Alan onboard to help tell the definitive KISS story, a story of insanity… dedication… and a take-no-prisoners attitude combining to create the most spectacular beast in rock 'n' roll history; KISS," says Paul Stanley.

Adds KISS manager Doc McGhee: "It's an epic undertaking and everyone’s committed 100 percent to bring this story to the big screen. We knew Alanwas the only man for the job and we can’t wait to get started."

"I'm incredibly proud to be on board for this film," says Parker, "telling the story of a band I love so much and that has such a rich history."

The movie will be the most intensive KISS documentary ever and will capture their career right from the start. Expect to see it on screens at some point next year.

Stay tuned for updates!

Motörhead Live At Wacken 2013: 30 Minutes of Rock n Roll; Pro-Shot Footage Posted Online

German ZDFkultur aired the Motörhead performance at this years Wacken Open Air Festival. You can watch the footage below.

The band left the stage after just six numbers and details of exactly what happened are not yet totally clear.

MetalTalk.net reports that Lemmy told the crowd: "I've been ill recently - I've come onstage to play some rock n' roll and fuck myself even more."

Apparently Phil Campbell was paying close attention to Lemmy during the whole of the set.

Motörhead played six songs and Lemmy looked "pale". The band apparently sounded good although they played slower than usual.

The band opened with "I Know How To Die", "Damage Case" and "Stay Clean" and after the fourth song, "Metropolis", Lemmy went for a "breather" and left Phil Campbell to solo away.

The band continued with "Over The Top" and "The Chase Is Better Than The Catch" then left the stage with no announcement or no warning. It is believed that Lemmy collapsed behind the speakers after the sixth song.






More photos here.