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Radio City Freedom Awards, 2015

The history of music is peppered with incidents of artistes freeing themselves from the clutches of oblivion to break out into the mainstream. One can cite many artistes across genres that are examples of this. Every country that has had a major artiste that was responsible for the popularity of a particular genre or a style of music inadvertently owes it to its respective Indie scene. India, therefore, isn’t an exception.

For almost 5 decades, independent musicians from India have released music that transcended the boundaries of language and genre. Some of these artistes also went on to find worldwide fame as a result of sheer perseverance and honing their respective crafts. Names like Pentagram, Parikrama, Kryptos, Devoid, Demonic Resurrection, Indian Ocean etc. come to mind. While most genres languished in the shroud of restricted exposure, there was hardly anybody interested in anything that wasn’t being sold by a record label or was not being hammered into your brain by the gargantuan marketing machines of ruling media houses. The genre that suffered the most, and still does, was Metal.

Metal and India were barely synonymous in the 70s. Any trace of metal could only be found in Vinyls and cassette tapes, and for an Indian Metal artiste to exist was a laughable idea. However, over the last two decades, India has seen some noteworthy metal acts like Bhayanak Maut, Demonic Resurrection, Devoid, Zygnema, Providence, Undying Inc., Inner Sanctum, Kryptos, Wired Anxiety, Primitiv etc. While there have been commendable efforts to honour metal in India, there hasn’t been an awarding platform that keeps metal at the same pedestal as other genres. Enter Radio City Freedom Awards, 2015. With two successful editions successfully executed, Radio City Freedom Awards is an ideal platform to celebrate the essence of ‘Indie-pendent’ music.  Radio City Freedom Awards invites entries from Indian artists across the globe in 11 categories viz. Best Hip-Hop Rap Artist, Best Folk Fusion Artist, Best Pop Artist, Best Rock, Best Metal, Best Electronica Artist, Best Video, Best Album Art. ‘Best Young Indie Artist/Band’, ‘Best Indie Collaboration of the year’ and ‘Indie Genius- Person of the year’.

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We believe that this is a wonderful opportunity for all the metal bands out there (and also the non-metal artistes) to showcase their released work and be recognized for it! Last Year’s Winners of the ‘Best Metal Artist’ category were Mumbai based Progressive Metal / Experimental outfit ‘Symphony Novel’.

Entries are now open & Radio City invites all the independent artists to submit their compositions on www.planetradiocity.com/rcfa. Post a successful event in Delhi last year, the celebrations & award night would be concluded in the City of dreams, Mumbai in the end February 2016. This season RCFA rejoices music and art with ‘Music and Beyond’ by showcasing spoken word artists in a special segment in the grand finale.

For all Social Media Updates regarding the Radio City Freedom Awards, visit any of the links below:

RCFA:

  1. Twitter: Twitter – https://twitter.com/rc_freedom
  2. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radiocityfreedom/?fref=ts

Planet Radio City:

  1. Twitter: https://twitter.com/planetradiocity
  2. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/planetradiocity/?fref=ts

Dave Lombardo asked to leave Slayer?

Earlier today, this message was posted publicly by the official Facebook page of Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo:

Statement From Dave Lombardo Regarding Slayer Australian Tour 2013

I want to personally apologize to all of our fans in Australia who have bought tickets for the tour expecting to see me in my usual place on the drums.

So that you all know the truth, as of the end of the business day on February 14th, I was notified that I would not be drumming for the tour in Australia. I’m saddened, and to be honest I am shocked by the situation.

Last year, I discovered 90% of Slayer’s tour income was being deducted as expenses including the professional fees paid to management, costing the band millions of dollars and leaving 10% or less to split amongst the four of us. In my opinion, this is not the way a band’s business should operate. I tried rectifying it by letting my band mates know, and Tom and I hired auditors to figure out what happened, but I was denied access to detailed information and the necessary back up documents.

I spent the Christmas and New Year holidays realizing I had toured all over the world in 2012, but yet, had not been paid (except a small advance) or provided a proper accounting for a full year’s sweat and blood. On top of this, I was told that I would not be paid until I signed a long form contract which gave me no written assurance of how much or on what basis management would deduct commissions, nor did it provide me access to the financial budgets or records for review. It also forbade me to do interviews or make statements having to do with the band, in effect a gagging order.

Last Monday, I sat down with Kerry and Tom to rehearse for Australia and to propose a new business model that I felt was the best way forward for Slayer to confidently protect itself so we could do what we do best . . . play for the fans. Kerry made it clear he wasn’t interested in making changes and said if I wanted to argue the point, he would find another drummer. On Thursday, I arrived at rehearsals at 1 pm as scheduled, but Kerry did not show. Rather, at 6:24 pm I received an email from the lawyers saying I was being replaced for the Australian dates.

I remain hopeful that we can resolve our issues. But once again, I sincerely apologize to all of our fans in Australia who spent their money expecting to see the 3 of us original Slayer members.
I look forward to seeing you in the future.

Sincerely,
Dave Lombardo

 

Demonic Resurrection announced as part of line-up for Bloodstock Open Air 2012

Indian symphonic metal band Demonic Resurrection were today announced as part of the Sophie Lancaster stage for the line-up on the 12th of August at U.K.’s biggest metal festival, Bloodstock Open Air. They share the stage with black metal bands Anaal Nathrakh and Winterfylleth, both from the United Kingdom Another historic achievement for Sahil Makhija and the rest of his demonic horde! See the confirmation HERE.

Help save Shaun Lacanne’s fiancé from certain death

Shaun Lacanne, the man behind death metal solo project Putrid Pile, is in a dire situation. His fiancé Jeanne has been diagnosed with cancer in the uterus. She is terminally ill. The only way to save her is by donating money for her treatment. For those of you who went to Undergrind Fest last year and had an awesome time thanks to Mr. Lacanne, now is the time for you to show him how much you care about him and his music. Click HERE TO DONATE. Save the life of someone who does not deserve to die.

Candlemass plan farewell album

Swedish doom metal giants Candlemass are currently working on new material and will do one last recording in December, for a spring release. The famous Stockholm doom metalists plan to do numerous shows around the world on a farewell tour that hopefully will take them to uncharted C-mass territories such as Australia, Japan, China and Asia, as well as to the great European summer festivals, USA and South America.

Candlemass have had a long and very successful career. Inventors of Doom in 1986 with the colossal Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and worldwide breakthrough the year after with Nightfall. The band disbanded in 1993 after eight years and six albums that today have reached legendary status. In 2004 Candlemass reformed with their classic line-up featuring the fearsome monk Messiah Marcolin. Massive success again! The white reunion album (2005) took the band to new levels of sales and fame. With King Of The Grey Islands and Death Magic Doom, Candlemass cemented their reputation, owned the record of the month lists, played packed halls all over the world, and celebrated 25 years as a band more popular than ever.

Swedish death metal pioneers Dismember call it a day

Making it official to Blabbermouth.net, bass player Tobias Crtistiansson released an (extremely short) official statement on the band’s behalf:

 
“After 23 years, DISMEMBER have now decided to quit. We wish to thank all our fans for your support.”

The band are well known within the death metal faction as one of the finest and first offerings in the genre from Sweden, along with other pioneers Entombed and Unleashed.

Read more about it HERE.

Megadeth reveal album art and track list

Megadeth have revealed their new album Th1rt3en tracklist and artwork (refer to image on the left), which was once again created by artist John Lorenzi, who worked on the last two Megadeth studio albums, 2007’s United Abominations and 2009’s Endgame, as well as the band’s 2007 box set, Warchest. The track list is as follows-
01. Sudden Death
02. Public Enemy No. 1
03. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
04. We The People
05. Guns, Drugs & Money
06. Never Dead
07. New World Order
08. Fast Lane
09. Black Swan
10. Wrecker
11. Millennium Of The Blind
12. Deadly Nightshade
13. 13
Thirt3en is the album is called, is Megadeth’s 13th studio album. And also bars reference to frontman Dave Mustaine’s birthday,which is the 13th of September. Dave turned 50 just yesterday and looks better than ever to take on the world with this album, which also marks the return of Junior, bassist and co founder David Ellefson.

Animals As Leaders unveil ‘Weightless’ track listing

Animals As Leaders are all set to release a new offering titled “Weightless” this November, and have graced us with the track list. The album was produced by drummer, Navene Koperweis and Animals as Leaders, and mixed by guitarist Javier Reyes. The album marks the recording debut of Koperweis and Reyes with Animals as Leaders. The album contains the following twelve tracks:

1. An Infinite Regression
2. Odessa
3. Somnarium
4. Earth Departure
5. Isolated Incidents
6. Do Not Go Gently
7. New Eden
8. Cylindrical Sea
9. Espera
10. To Lead You To An Overwhelming Question
11. Weightless
12. David

“Weightless” is the act’s second release and will be released by Prosthetic Records in North America on Nov. 8, in mainland Europe on Nov. 4 and in the UK on Nov. 7. More information about “Weightless” will be available in the coming weeks.

Blut Aus Nord Reveals New Album “777 – The Desanctification” Details

Blut Aus Nord has announced the band’s new album will be titled “777 – The Desanctification.” The new album is set for release on November 11th in Europe and November 15th in North America. The track listing and a teaser trailer for the release are available for viewing below.

1. Epitome VII
2. Epitome VIII
3. Epitome IX
4. Epitome X
5. Epitome XI
6. Epitome XII
7. Epitome XIII

Album Teaser