Ascension Of The Watchers (ex Fear Factory) Week: Day 4

antiMusic reports: Fear Factory's Burton Bell makes his triumphant return to the metal spotlight with his new band Ascension Of The Watchers, who released their debut album, 'Numinosum,' this week. But don't expect a Fear Factory clone, it's a new musical avenue for Burton. He is ably aided by his friends John Bechdel (Ministry, Killing Joke) and Edu Mussi (Still Life Decay) for the creation of 'Numinosum'. Other contributors include the CD's producer Al Jourgensen (Ministry), as well as the late Paul Raven (Ministry, Prong, Killing Joke) and Ben Bell. To celebrate it's release we asked Burton to tell us about some of his favorite tracks from the CD. Here is Burton with today's song "Sounds Of Silence":

This has been one of my favorite songs of my life, mostly for the lyrics. I believe the lyrics are still pertinent today. I have had a 45 single of the song for quite some time. One night, for fun, I played the 45 single at 33. What I heard was AMAZING. It was the darkest song I have ever heard. I decided to do the 33 version of Sounds of Silence.

Burton is currently out on the road with Ministry on their farewell tour. You can preview some tracks and learn more about Ascension Of The Watchers on their - Myspace page

Korn Death Threats

Metal Underground reports: A Sacramento man has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to making threats over the Internet to kill members of the rock band KORN, according to federal prosecutors.

Adrian McCoy, 23, entered the guilty plea in United States District Court in Sacramento Friday to a single count of making interstate threats to injure another, U.S. Attorney Michelle Rodriguez said.

According to investigators, McCoy sent threatening communications to the FBI's Web site in September 2007. In the email, McCoy threatened to kill members of the band, the band's family and FBI agents who responded to his acts of violence, Rodriguez said.
- Read Metal Underground's follow up. It includes a link to the full original story excerpted above.

Foos Fighting the X Men

antiMusic reports: The X-men have finally found their match! It's the Foo Fighter's lawyers. E! has the story: The Dave Grohl-fronted foursome sued Marvel Studios for copyright infringement Wednesday, accusing the production arm of the famed comic book empire of using two of their songs for a TV trailer without the band's permission.

Per the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, "substantial excerpts" of the tunes "Best of You" and "Free Me," both off the 2005 album In Your Honor, were used in a teaser for the upcoming animated series Wolverine and the X-Men.

The song samples "were copied directly from the Foo Fighters' sound recordings of those two songs" and people can watch the trailer online, the suit alleges. - more on this story

Linkin Stalker Going To Prison

antiMusic reports: Chester Bennington, your stalker was just sentenced to two years in prison. What are you going to do now? What? You're skipping Disneyland to play a secret show at an Apple store instead? Ok.

According to AP: "A woman who stalked Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for using her work computer at Sandia National Laboratories to track and harass him and his wife."

Meanwhile, the band played a 30 minute secret show at the Soho Apple Store just after midnight on Thursday, a few hours before the played the famed Madison Square Garden. AP reports that a recording of the Apple store will be available on iTunes next month. - Read the AP story about the stalker.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Expand Tour Dates

antiMusic reports: Looks like that Led Zeppelin reunion tour will have to wait a bit longer as Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have expanded their tour with a string of additional dates.

Here is the tour 411 from the previous announcement followed by all the latest dates: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, whose 'Raising Sand' album has emerged as one of the past year's major critical and word-of-mouth sales success stories, will begin an extensive US and European tour April 20 with a brief run of dates in the mid-South.

The two lauded musicians will then embark on an tour of Europe in May before commencing more North American dates for June and July. With a band led by 'Raising Sand' producer T Bone Burnett, they will be performing songs together onstage from Raising Sand, as well as other songs from their careers. - the latest dates

RIAA Link Music Piracy to Terrorism?

antiMusic reports: Hey did you know that there are links between people who profit from pirated music and people who deal weapons, populate terror cells, and murder their fellow man for sport? You didn't? You must have missed the RIAA video.

Idolator Yesterday the RIAA-produced video In Trial, which covers the societal dangers of music piracy, made its way out to torrent sites, and among its contents are instructions on how to get RIAA investigators qualified as expert witnesses, a guide to identifying pirated CDs, and the bit [at the full story link], about the links between people who profit from pirated music and people who deal weapons, populate terror cells, and murder their fellow man for sport.

Surely I'm not the only person who thinks that this particular bit on the "kill 'em all" impulses of miscreants dealing in fifth-generation copies of Graduation would hit home a little more effectively if it were accompanied by a bangin' soundtrack? - Grab a laugh with the video here

Gene Simmons Owns Sex Tape

TMZ reports: Gene Simmons' legal team has taken an ingenious first step in shutting down a website featuring a video that shows Gene in a sex act with a woman who is not his longtime girlfriend, Shannon Tweed.

We're told Gene's lawyers contacted Webmastercentral.com, which is responsible for the content on the website promoting the video -- ordering them to cease and desist because of copyright infringement. How, you ask, is this copyright infringement? Gene's lawyers claim the site had no right to use face paint to promote the skin flick, because face paint is a KISS thing.

And now we're being told, the tape is old and the copyright owner is ... drum roll ... Gene Simmons! Apparently, Gene got wind of the tape a few years back and bought the rights. Who's the apprentice now? BTW, the tape was shot without Simmons' permission or knowledge -- and may well be illegal. That's why TMZ hasn't run it. - TMZ story

Trouble Within Paramore

antiMusic reports: There appears to be trouble in Paramore land. The rumors surfaced that guitarist Josh Farro and singer Hayley Williams are not seeing eye to eye. Fuel was added to the fire when the band pulled the plug on their UK tour. Now the group's lead singer took to the band's blog to confirm there is some "internal issues" within the band.

Here is part of Hayley's blog post: As most of you already know, we have cancelled the rest of our UK/Europe RIOT Tour. First of all, we want to say we are so sorry for letting all of you down. We feel terrible about it and really didn't expect for this to happen. It probably doesn't sound like much but we just hate that we won't get to play this show for those of you who had hoped to see it.

There are a lot of internal issues that have been going on in this band for quite a while now. A lot of it started right around the time we were gearing up for the RIOT Tour in the US. We were able to fight through all of it for this long but unfortunately we weren't able to keep it together long enough to make it through 'til the end of this tour. We really feel that taking this time is going to give us a chance to get away and work out our personal issues at home and on our own terms. We just aren't willing to risk the life of our band over one tour. That probably sounds terrible right now, to say that finishing a week of shows wasn't worth it… but if we can use this next month wisely then we will be a lot healthier for the tours ahead. We hope that - even though it might be hard to understand - that you guys can support us at this time.

Maybe one day we will tell the whole story but for now, just know that all five of us are going to work so hard to get it right. - read more

Coldplay Mixing New CD

Billboard reports: Coldplay is putting the finishing touches on its fourth studio album, an as-yet-untitled project set for an early summer release via Capitol. A summer tour of North America and Europe will follow.

"We're just about finished," band manager Dave Holmes tells Billboard.com. "They're in the final mixing. They'll start mastering, and away we go."

Typically light on hyperbole, Holmes is enthusiastic about the new project. "I think it's their best album," he says. "They've really delivered. It's a fantastic record. They've really put the work in." - more on this story

From Autumn To Ashes Cancel Brisbane Show

Blabbermouth reports: Vocalist Francis Mark of the Long Island post-hardcore act FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES has issued the following update:

"For anyone who will be attending the Soundwave festival in Brisbane [on February 23], I am sorry but I cannot be there. The band flew to Australia yesterday but I have to stay back in New York for a few days.

"This is due to a very sad event in my personal life. I am sorry and I thank you for your understanding. I'll be meeting the band in Sydney where we will start the tour. We are not cancelling any other shows, just Brisbane." - more on this story

Hit The Lights Find Their New Voice

PR reports: Hit The Lights have announced in a video update on their newly designed Myspace that guitarist Nick Thompson will be taking over lead vocal duties. The bands former lead singer, Colin Ross left the band last summer to peruse a quiet life. The band remains tight with Colin and wish him the best in whatever lies next for him.

The band have posted a new song with Thompson singing to give fans a taste of what's to come. Hit The Lights are currently in the studio with Rob Freeman at Pilot Studios in NJ recording their sophomore effort to be release on Triple Crown Records this summer.

Guitarist Omar Zehary had this to say about the last few months of searching for a new singer: "It's taken some time to get back on our feet. This has been a hard thing to go through, as well as something that has reinforced our dedication to this band even more. Thank you to everyone who has sent positive comments, had our backs, and never gave up on us...it got us through a lot more than you think. There will be haters, there will be lovers, either way; we're always going to be Hit The Lights."

Hit The Lights will go back on tour in March with The Audition and The Morning Light. Look for dates to be announced in the next couple weeks. - more on this story

Death Cab for Cutie Make It Official

PR reports: Atlantic recording group Death Cab for Cutie has unveiled initial details of their hugely anticipated new album. "NARROW STAIRS" will arrive in stores and at all online retailers on May 13th.

Produced by the band's own Chris Walla, "NARROW STAIRS" will be preceded by the single, "I Will Possess Your Heart." (See full track listing below). "I hope this album is a bit of a surprise for those out there that think they have us all figured out. We can't wait to share these songs with the world," states Death Cab bassist Nick Harmer.

Death Cab will herald the album's release with their first live shows in more than eighteen months. They'll kick things off April 18th in their home state of WA at the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton, followed by a series of festival appearances, including Coachella 2008 in Indio, California on Saturday, April 26th and the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 15th in Manchester, TN. - Tour dates and the tracklisting

Dancing With Def Leppard

antiMusic reports: Wanna see Joe Elliot dance? You may get your chance as Def Leppard announced they are going to be on Dancing with Stars. Of course they may performing on the show, not dancing. Here is the announcement from the band:

It's two months away, but we just want to give you an early heads up for this. In April, around the start of their 2008 World Tour, Def Leppard will be featured on two US TV shows.

Whereas one of them is a familiar setting, the other one might come as a bit of a surprise: the band will be making an appearance at ABC's smash hit show Dancing With The Stars on April 29! The day after, they will be performing a mini outdoor concert at ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!. - defleppard.com

All Points West Lineup

Filter reports: The Garden State's newest festival All Points West Music & Arts Festival has just confirmed its preliminary line-up.

As previously reported, Radiohead will be headlining two nights and they'll be joined by Jack Johnson, Underworld, Kings of Leon, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Cat Power, The Roots, The New Pornographers, Youssou N'Dour, Animal Collective, Andrew Bird, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Metric, CSS, Girl Talk, Chromeo, The Go! Team, Amadou & Mariam, The Black Angels, Sia, The Felice Brothers, K'Naan, Jason Isbell, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Alberta Cross, The Virgins, Black Kids, Mates of State, Duffy, Forro in the Dark, Nicole Atkins, Juana Molina, Little Brother, Rogue Wave, Neil Halstead and Your Vegas.

The festival takes place on August 8, 9 and 10 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey - more on this story

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