Michael Sweet Gives Us The Rundown of The New Stryper Release on This Weeks Focus on Metal

  Episode 473 - Even The Devil Believes

So this week we start off with some chat about drive in concert events and the new Rust in Peace book but we managed to rein in our metal chatter long enough to have another chat with Michael Sweet. Yep, Michael makes yet another appearance the show this week as we talk with him about Stryper’s latest release “Even The Devil Believes”

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or subscribe on iTunes.

You can hear us every Tuesday night on Pure Rock Radio
and each Wednesday afternoon on Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always
Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Metal Mike Rijswijk Talks Aardschok on This Weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 467 - Aardschok

January 30th 1982, “Metal Mike” Rijswijk presented the first Aardschok festival. Like the launch of the long running magazine the festival was another major milestone in metal. The festival was last held in 1999 but the tradition in the Netherlands is carried on by Dynamo Open Air. Since none of us are going to enjoy any of the mighty festivals this year we figured we’d get “Metal Mike” on the show to talk about the history of the Aardschok Festival and it’s parent magazine.

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or subscribe on iTunes.

You can hear us every Tuesday night on Pure Rock Radio
and each Wednesday afternoon on Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always
Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Michael Alago Guests on This Weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 459 - Breathing Music

Honestly any one of the three phrases on the the cover of the new book “I Am Michael Alago” would have made a great episode title but Breathing Music seems to sum it up best. This week we talk with the A&R guy who most famously signed Metallica to Elektra records. But he has done, and has lived through so much more. So listen to our chat with Michael Alago and then do yourself a favor and get a copy of his book. It’s a worthy way to spend your quarantine time.

Here's quick interview clip from London Real TV

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or subscribe on iTunes.

You can hear us every Tuesday night on Pure Rock Radio
and each Wednesday afternoon on Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always
Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

We hear from Jonny Z and a throwback talk with Cliff and Kirk from 1985 on this weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 442 - Heavy Tales

What can I say about this weeks show? It’s definitely got a Metallica theme, that’s for sure. First up we talk with Jonny Z, the founder of Megaforce Records. And unless you’ve been under a rock you know this guy was pivotal in the evolution of metal. Jon just put out his autobiography “Heavy Tales” and we’ll hear all about it. We follow that up with an amazing bit of metal history as we air an interview done with Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett at the 1985 Metal Hammer Festival.This incredible interview was provided by listener Raf Ahrayeph who is also the guy who conducted the interview at the Sept 14th 1985 stop on the Ride The Lightning tour.

Here's "Ride The Lightning" from that festival

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or subscribe on iTunes.

You can hear us every Tuesday night on Pure Rock Radio
and each Wednesday afternoon on Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always
Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Metal Journo Howard Johnson guest on This Weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 330 - Kerrang! Episode 4

This week we continue our Kerrang! magazine project as we bring you a chat we just had with Howard Johnson. Howard had a wealth of great stories for us and we are sure you’re going to enjoy everything he has to say. These days Howard is involved with the great Rock Candy Mag. They just put out issue 1 and you can get yourself a copy by going to rockcandymag.com/

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, EarPeeler.com or subscribe on iTunes.

You can hear us every Tuesday night on Pure Rock Radio
and each Wednesday afternoon on Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always...

Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Kerrang! #3 with Steffan Chirazi on This weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 326 - Kerrang! Episode 3

This week we continue our Kerrang! magazine project as we bring you a talk we had with Steffan Chirazi. Stefan had lots of candid stories about his time working for Kerrang! and we think your gonna like them. These days Steffan is best known as the editor of “So What” and for his continued work in metal journalism.

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, EarPeeler.com or subscribe on iTunes.

You can hear us every Wednesday on these great stations:
Pure Rock Radio & Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always

Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Journalist and film maker Xavier Russell guests this week on part 2 of our Kerrang! project.

Episode 320 - Kerrang! Episode 2

This week we continue our Kerrang! magazine project as we bring you a chat we had with Xavier Russell. Xavier had lots of great stories about his time working for Kerrang! and we think you’ll enjoy our chat. When he’s not continuing to write about metal or doing liner notes Xavier has quite the career editing for film and television. You can find out more about him at http://www.xavierrussell.com/

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, EarPeeler.com or subscribe on iTunes.

You can hear us every Wednesday on these great stations:
Pure Rock Radio & Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always

Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Author Joel McIver is Our Guest Once Again on This Weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 316 - McIver Alive VI

Author Joel McIver makes has sixth appearance on Focus on Metal this week. We always like to have a year end wrap up discussion with Joel and we finally managed to schedule that this week. Who ever said the year end discussion had to take place right at the end of the year?

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, EarPeeler.com or subscribe on iTunes.

You can hear us On Demand everyday on Platinum Rock Radio by going to this link

You can hear us every Wednesday on these great stations:
Pure Rock Radio & Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always

Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Scott Leach of Crystal Ball Returns This Week to Focus on Metal

Episode 308 - Deja Voodoo

This week we welcome back Scott Leach of Crystal Ball to the show. Those guys recently released their ninth album “Deja Voodoo” and I caught up with Scott to get the full story on it. These guys are out on tour now in 

Europe with Shakra so be sure to check their site for dates near you. 

Also this week we have Steve Dadaian from New York Prog Metallers Pareidolia on to tell us all about what’s up in their world.

Crystal Ball can be found the web at crystal-ball.ch and Pareidolia parks their site at pareidoliaband.com/

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or on iTunes.

You can hear us On Demand everyday on Platinum Rock Radio by going to this link

You can hear us every Wednesday on these great stations:
Pure Rock Radio & Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Producer Bob Rock Guests on This Weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 303 - Little Mountain Sound Part 9

As we head into the home stretch with three parts to go on our Little Mountain Sound Studio project we bring you an interview we did With producer Bob Rock back in January of 2015. Bob is of course best known has the guy behind the boards for Motley Crue’s “Dr Feelgood” and Metallica’s hugely successful “Black Album” but Bob is also integral to the story of Little Mountain Sound. Big thanks go out to Mike Fraser for making this one happen.

Here's some more great stuff with Bob from thepunkmovie.com check out that site for more great insight into the Vancouver scene.

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or on iTunes.

You can hear us On Demand everyday on Platinum Rock Radio by going to this link

You can hear us every Wednesday on these great stations:
Pure Rock Radio & Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Former Death Angel drummer Andy V Galeon Guests on This Weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 301 - Master of Puppets 2

We continue our 300th episode celebration and the 30th anniversary celebration of Master of Puppets this week by welcoming former Death Angel drummer Andy V Galeon to the show. Being on the scene back in 86 gives Andy a unique perspective on MOP. 

Although no longer with Death Angel Andy is still hitting the skins. These days besides teaching drums he also plays with The Butlers and The Devil in California. 

Find him online at facebook.com/andyvgaleon

Here's Andy on some classic DA

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or on iTunes.

You can hear us On Demand everyday on Platinum Rock Radio by going to this link

You can hear us every Wednesday on these great stations:
Pure Rock Radio & Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Flemming Rasmussen & Joel McIver Celebrate Master of Puppets as Focus on Metal Hits Episode 300.

Episode 300 - Master of Puppets

Another milestone passes this week as we roll out episode 300. We taken this opportunity to use this episode to celebrate another metal milestone that turns 30 this year, namely Metallica’s landmark release “Master of Puppets”. Released on March 3rd 1986 MOP changed the thrash game forever.

The file icon came out so cool we had to share a larger version

This week we talk with author Joel McIver and MOP producer Flemming Rasmussen about the album and next week we’ll have original Death Angel drummer Andy Galeon continuing our MOP discussion. 

Stay tuned later in the year as we speak with MOP mixer Michael Wagener to wrap this one up.

Joel, as always can be found at joelmciver.co.uk/ or check out his other gig at bassguitarmagazine.com/

Flemming is online at facebook.com/flemming.rasmussen.35

Thanks for listening to FOM and here's to 300 more.

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or on iTunes.

You can hear us On Demand everyday on Platinum Rock Radio by going to this link

You can hear us every Wednesday on these great stations:
Pure Rock Radio & Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

NWOBHM Trail Blazers SAVAGE Release Double Studio/Live Album '7'

NWOBHM trailblazers SAVAGE have released a new studio album 7 on Minus 2 Zebra. Included with the double-album is a live performance disc titled Live N Lethal.  7 features 12 blistering new tracks, which mix old with new. Many of the tracks are fast paced and hark back to the early days whilst tracks such as "Superspy' and Empire Of Hate' sound akin to something off a modern OZZY album or even METALLICA at their best!

Live N Lethal features 13 live tracks. Included is the entirety of classic 1983 debut album Loose N Lethal, which is given a fresh treatment in the form of a recently recorded gig in the band's hometown of Mansfield (UK). The Loose n Lethal album is delivered at a furious pace, along with a few choice tracks from the band's back catalogue. 

SAVAGE, once credited for influencing METALLICA to play fast, the band has a strong history starting out in the 80s. Even though the band has often been linked to the NWOBHM movement, their roots are more in the vintage classic rock with a modern feel. Influences such as THIN LIZZY and DEEP PURPLE abound and yet with new material they sound incredibly contemporary and fresh. Their debut album, Loose n Lethal became a classic and was the biggest selling independent import in to USA in its day. The band have had a stop-start career but came back with a vengeance in 2012 with the epic Sons Of Malice. The band has been busy ever since on the live scene in the UK and Europe and most recently an Italian tour earlier this summer.

Fun Fact: The song "Let it Loose" was covered by METALLICA on their first demo Hit the Lights.

"Savage sound as vibrant as ever. Its 10 tracks hearken back to the band's early roots while also capturing a contemporary sound."

- Brave Words

"7/Live n Lethal is a fantastic combination of the band's classic era and its modern age sound in one signature set."

 - Metalholic

"Continuing a rennasiance that began about 20 years ago, England's Savage keep their New Wave of British Heavy Metal rumbling along."

 - Dangerdog Music Reviews

"Why Savage aren't big players on today's music scene is beyond me."

 - Get Your Rock Out

Disc 1: 7 

1. I Am The Law

2. Lock N Load

3. Empire Of Hate

4. Super Spy

5. Circus Of Fools

6. Crazy Horse

7. Speed Freak

8. The Road To Avalon (Sins Of The Fathers)

9. Children Of The Night

10. Payback's A Bitch

11. Shake The Tree

12. Heads Will Roll

Disc 2: Live N Lethal 

1. A Prelude To Rage

2. The Rage Within

3. Black 'n' Blue

4. White Hot

5. The China Run

6. On The Rocks

7. Aint No Fit Place

8. Dirt Money

9. Berlin

10. Cry Wolf

11. Let It Loose

12. Smilling Assassin

13. We Got The Edge

 http://www.savageband.com/

https://www.facebook.com/savageuk

Twitter.com/savagebanduk

www.youtube.com/user/savagemusicuk

IMMORTAL GUARDIAN Bringing Shred Sled to X GAMES

Texas shredders IMMORTAL GUARDIAN will be out on their infamous Shred Sled during the X Games this Friday, June 5, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. IMMORTAL GUARDIAN's Shred Sled comes one day ahead of METALLICA's June 6 X Games performance.

In case you're unfamiliar with the Shred Sled, it's a mobile heavy metal spectacle on wheels that has made appearances at festivals such as SXSW, Fun Fun Fun Fest, and River City Rockfest, receiving press from SPIN Magazine and multiple music publications.

"If you were one of the lucky hundreds who stumbled upon Immortal Guardian during one of their 'Shredding In the Streets' gigs, you won't soon forget... Immortal Guardian might have been SXSW's most sincerely earnest act." - SPIN MAGAZINE

The IMMORTAL GUARDIAN Shred Sled will be making three appearances throughout Friday's X Games at the following locations (site map available upon request):

12:30PM - NEXT X PARKS Area

2:30 PM - NEXT X PARKS Area

5:00 PM - MOTO X VENUE

See below for footage of the IMMORTAL GUARDIAN Shred Sled in action at Fun Fun Fun Fest 8, or visit this location. 

 "Immortal Guardian's Shred Sled - The most metal thing at this year's X Games next to Metallica"

Immortal Guardian has been making a name for themselves as an up and coming independent metal act with a Fender sponsorship, Brazilian Tour, and an album mixed by the producer of Judas Priest already under their belt. The band is highlighted by its members astounding virtuosity starting first with founding member Gabriel Guardian, sponsored by Fender Guitars at the young age of 22 and known for his insane ability to shred on guitar AND keyboard at the same time. Next is Brazilian born vocal siren Carlos Zema who has been named one of the top 10 metal vocalist in Brazil by several media outlets in 2007. The rhythm section is filled out by the dynamic duo of Cody Gilliland, one of the most technical speed/progressive drummers emerging onto the scene, and master of the five-string fretless bass, Thad Stevens.

Website: immortalguardian.net

Facebook: www.facebook.com/igmetal

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/immortalguardianband

Just Posted: Episode 224 of Focus on Metal - Part 1 of our ten part series on Little Mountain Sound

Episode 224 - Little Mountain Sound Episode 1

Finally, this week we begin airing the episodes for our big 2015 project on Little Mountain Sound Studios. Fittingly we kick it off with a talk with Miles Ramsay one of the founders of the studio. Miles is a fountain of knowledge on the history of the studio and he shared a lot of it with us on this episode. This is just the first of ten episodes we will run this year on Little Mountain so stay tuned for some great stories from both staff and artists who were there in the heyday of this classic recording facility.

Here's a great shot of the much talked about Studio B provided by the Ron Vrmulin who we'll hear from in another installment of this series.

Get the latest episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or on iTunes

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Just posted Focus on Metal # 212 featuring author Ian Winwood co-author of Into The Black

Episode 212 - Into The Black

Hot on the heels of "Birth, School, Metallica, Death" the first volume of their Metallica bio Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood have unleashed "Into The Black" the second volume of the Tallica story. Our guest this week is co author and former Kerrang! and NME writer Ian Winwood. Ian is considered one of the U.K.'s foremost music writers and he agreed to give us the scoop on the next chapter in the Metallica saga.

Connect with Ian on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ian.winwood.3

Grab it now from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or on iTunes

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Former MEGADETH Members NICK MENZA, JAMES LOMENZO offering Free MP3 Download

Famed MEGADETH alumni drummer Nick Menza and bassist James LoMenzo former MEGADETH, WHITE LION, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY is offering a free MP3 download of their version of the METALLICA classic Motorbreath with guitarist / vocalist Davor Garasic from Croatian thrash metal band Sufosia

(the download is available at link location below)

http://nickmenzamusic.bandcamp.com/releases

According to a press release, Menza and LoMenzo recnetley announced a working musical relationship that will lead into a full working, writing, recording and touring band at some point.

Their first encounter / jam session took place on June 25th at Menza's Disintegrator Studios in Studio City, CA where they cracked through some of the old Megadeth catalog along with some of their favorite Metallica and Zeppelin songs.

Nick Menza exclusively told BWBK: James is a top-notch player with a killer sound and I'm totally pumped and looking forward to creating some heavy original material with him once we officially solidified the rest of the line up. he ads, things are still in the developing stages soon as James fulfills his touring obligations with John Fogerty we will sink our teeth into this project. right now we are having some fun and collaborating with other players from around the world via the internet to see what's out there, nothing is set in stone...

James LoMenzo: I've been a fan of Nick's drumming for a long time. Nick is a great guy and he's one of Metal's stand out drummers. It's an honor and a privilege to be making music with him and I look forward to what we'll create.

Menza joined MEGADETH for the 1990 recording "Rust In Peace" and for the next ten years became associated with the band's "classic" and most profitable era.

Following the reissue of the entire MEGADETH catalog, Menza was invited to reunite with the band in 2004. Days after a reunion was announced, Menza was fired after rehearsals and replaced with Shawn Drover. Mustaine said that this was because Nick "just wasn't prepared.

LoMenzo joined MEGADETH in 2006, toured and performed on two of the groups studio albums, 2007 "United Abominations", 2009 "Endgame"  it was then announced in 2010 that original MEGADETH bassist Dave Ellefson would replace LoMenzo.

http://youtu.be/cYe3Fp6JJIs

Wikimetal has posted a new Metallica interview

Our metal brothers Rafael and Daniel over at Wikimetal have posted part one of an excellent interview they did with Metallica. They did a great job with this vid and it's well worth giving it a spin.




You can view a bigger version over at Focus on Metal

You can get more great Wikimetal content over at the Cast Iron Ring site

CAULDRON CONFIRMED FOR METALLICA'S ORION FESTIVAL

Canadian heavy metal trio CAULDRON are among the latest bands to be confirmed for this year's edition of METALLICA's "Orion Music + More" festival.

The second edition of METALLICA's own festival is set to take place on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan on June 8th and 9th.  CAULDRON join a line-up that also includes the likes of RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, RISE AGAINST, DEFTONES, TOMAHAWK, DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, FU MANCHU and more.

CAULDRON vocalist and bassist JASON DECAY comments:

"I am completely full-on excited about Orion festival; it is the biggest honour to be chosen to play Metallica's own.  This is payback for all the European festivals we haven't been able to do because of the logistics involved.  We finally got on a big, huge festival close to home and we probably couldn't ask for anything better."

For more information about the festival, go to http://www.orionmusicandmore.com

See CAULDRON live at the following shows:

Apr. 12 - New York, NY - Saint Vitus *
Apr. 13 - Boston, MA - Cambridge Elks Lodge
Apr. 14 - Seymour, CT - Dewey's *
Apr. 15 - Montreal, QC - Les Foufounes Électrique *
Apr. 16 - Quebec, QC - Coop l'Agitée *
Apr. 17 - Ottawa, ON - Mavericks
Apr. 18 - Kingston, ON - The Mansion
Apr. 19 - Toronto, ON - Hard Luck *
Apr. 20 - Lansing, MI - Uli's Haus of Rock *
Apr. 21 - Chicago, IL - Reggie's *
May 02 - Nelson, BC - Spiritbar, Hume Hotel
May 03 - Vancouver, BC - Astoria
May 04 - Portland, OR - Ash Street Saloon
May 05 - Medford, OR - MusicHead
May 07 - Los Angeles, CA - 5 Star Bar
Jun. 09 - Detroit, MI - Orion Music + More festival

* with DIAMOND HEAD

CAULDRON's new album, TOMORROW'S LOST, is out now in Europe on CD and vinyl from the Earache Records webstore at http://bit.ly/e1A5Fs and on iTunes at http://bit.ly/MFZT9G

The album is due to be released in the USA via Century Media/Earache on April 30th.

Watch CAULDRON's music video for the track "Nitebreaker" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZYrPR5cr5o

Get more CAULDRON news and info at:

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/cauldronmetal
Tumblr - http://cauldronmetal.tumblr.com
MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/cauldronmetal
Twitter - http://twitter.com/cauldronmetal

Jason Returns...Newsted that is.

Former Metallica Bassist Jason Newsted sent a handwritten note (below) to the media announcing a January 8th release date for his debut EP for his new project Newsted

Titled Metal, the four-song EP will be available only through iTunes. Pre-orders for the EP will start next Tuesday, December 18, and metalheads who order Metal early will also get a copy of Newsted's handwritten lyrics.

Newsted recently came back to the music scene, launching a Facebook page and website

"It's time for me to reconnect with all my fans and friends out there around the world with the launch of my official online presence," Newsted said in an official posting on his website.

You can watch an exclusive in-studio update from Jason here.