In this penultimate part of the GRAND MAGUS Track by Track of new album Hammer Of The North, vocalist JB fills us in about the track ‘At Midnight They’ll Get Wise’- a track he admits to not really feeling at the start of the recording process, but progressed to become a firm favourite- and ‘Bond Of Blood’, a track with “a very special chorus”…

Click on the player below to check out the clip and if you missed any of parts 1-3, then HEAD HERE to catch up. You can pick up Hammer Of The North online now HERE.

After losing his way on 3 and then finding his feet once more on Prophecy, Max Cavalera feels that SOULFLY returned to his thrash metal roots with their fifth studio album DARK AGES and followed it up with an album that “people thought was even better”- CONQUER.

In the fourth part of our Discography series with Soulfly’s Max Cavalera, Max walks us through these two albums before bringing us full circle tot he bands current release OMEN, tomorrow.

Dark Ages
‘Dark Ages’ was a complete departure from anything commercial. We went heavy all the way. It’s a black album cover, it’s a dark album with songs like ‘Frontlines’, ‘Carved Inside’, ‘Babylon’ and ‘I and I’.

It’s a return to the thrash metal feeling from the Sepultura days, I rewrote a lot of riffs that had been inside me for a long time.

It was a dark time too- we had the death of Dimebag in the same month we were in the studio, and my first grandson also died. That’s where the name ‘Dark Ages’ came from.

I think it was a very strong record all the way through. I got to know the guys better and Marc became more and more exciting with the guitar, doing more things. He wanted to play fast all the time – we were like “How much faster can you go?!” He had a good influence on the band – he was really into the whole thrash metal thing, and he loves bands like Slayer and ‘Arise’-era Sepultura. He reminded me that I had this fire inside, which I think I’d forgotten. He brought that out.

Conquer
Conquer’ was recorded in Orlando in a house. One of Bobby’s (Burns, bassist) friends, Tim, had a studio, he’s a metalhead with Slayer posters all over the wall. It was cool. It was like a friend that you had 20 years ago, and you go stay in his house. He was totally into the music, and he helped me produce and engineer the record.

The first thing we did on ‘Conquer’ was a collaboration with David Vincent from Morbid Angel on ‘Blood Fire War Hate’. That started the album off like… well… serious business! You had to wonder how we could get heavier after that kind of song. We also had ‘Unleash’, which was the single, with Dave from Throwdown. They’re one of the best hardcore bands around today. The rest was all our own material, ‘Enemy Ghost’, ‘Warmageddon’ – stuff that we still play today, really strong songs, but I think ‘Blood Fire War Hate’ is the strongest one.

‘Conquer’ got really amazing reviews. A lot of people really like it. It came out of ‘Dark Ages’ which people thought was our best album, but people thought this was even better.

If you missed the previous parts, click the links below to check them out:

PART 3– ‘3’ & ‘Prophecy’
PART 2‘Primitive’
PART 2– ‘Soulfly’

Pick up Omen online HERE.

It was something most thought would never happen- MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine on stage with Metallica- but on June 22nd in Sofia, Bulgaria, not only did the 2 bands play on the same bill, but they joined each other on stage (along with members of Anthrax and Slayer) to perform the Diamon Head track ‘I Am Evil’.

Megadeth bassist David Ellefson issued the following statement after the show, saying: “Just finished our set here in Sofia, Bulgaria. Was AWESOME!! I’ve never been to Bulgaria but the fans were thrilled and it seems everyone is having a fantastic set tonight. If you go see it in the cinema tonight I think you will enjoy. So, get a ticket, some popcorn and a soda and sit back and enjoy the rock concert…”

Meanwhile drummer Shawn Drover commented on the Big Four collaboration the following day, saying, “What happened last night on that stage in Sofia, Bulgaria is something that I will cherish forever. I gotta tell ya from where I was standing (between snare drum hits) I have never seen so many people onstage with a smile that big on all of our faces. Better yet for me was to have my kids go to the movie theater back home and watch it all a few hours later and tell me how much they loved it. That meant a lot to me. Damn, I would have liked to go watch this in a movie theater myself. Anyway, just checking in to let you know we are really having a great time out here. I hope all of you who saw the show live or in the movies did as well.”

Click on the player below to see the footage from the show, and head back here on Monday June 28th for our interview with Dave Ellefson where he talks candidly about working with Dave Mustaine once more.

Megadeth’s current album EDGAME is available now. To order online, point your mouse in THIS DIRESCTION.

ARTIST ARENA are offering VIP packages for the forthcoming AIRBOURNE headline tour, which hits the UK December.

The packages cost

At 11am on the Saturday of 2010’s Download Festival the early risers got a bit of a treat in the form of Las Vegas’ very own TAKING DAWN who provided the best hangover cure in the form of their electrifying set.

When GRAND MAGUS front-man JB was in London recently, Classic Rock sat down with ‘the somewhat intense’ frontman and asked him his top 10 riffs of all time. It was a mix that impressed the mag’s web ed. somewhat, including the likes of Judas Priest, Accept, Manowar, Bathory, Entombed and more.

Click here to check out the video clip, which also includes JB’s definition of a classic riff.

That same week, Total Rock also sat down with JB and in the player below, you can check out Sophie K’s chat about the new album Hammer Of The North which hit stores this week.

Pick up Hammer Of The North online HERE.

It’s been almost 2 weeks since we were all at Donington for the 2010 Download Festival and we have spent that time going through the hours of footage we gained when we were behind the scenes with our bands.

Today, we kick off our series of snippets from the weekend with 36 CRAZYFISTS. In the player below, you will be able to check out our interview with Guitarist Steve Holt, where we chat about their love for the festival, for labelmates Killswitch Engage and who they planned on sinking a beer with. You’ll also get to see what they got up during the day and if you were one of those folks singing along to ‘Slit Wrist Theory’, you’ll get to see and hear what that was like from the stage!

Head back tomorrow to check out our interview with Adam D from Killswitch Engage.

36 Crazyfists release new album Collisions And Castaways July 26th.

Matt and Corey from TRIVIUM recently sat down with www.playthisriff.com and ran through some riffs and exercises on guitar for their readers. Here, we present one of the lessons they gave on sweep picking. Guitarists, sit down and prepare to have a geek-out! Enjoy!

For more guitar wizzardry check out www.playthisriff.com

Trivium are currently working in their follow-up to current album Shogun. You can pick that up online HERE.

When RATT released their new album Infestation back in April, they celebrated with a gig at the infamous Key Club on West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. In the last of the webisodes shot that night, the band talk about simply doing what they love and nothing more, and how they owe their longevity to their fans.

Click on the player below for the interview and live footage.

Pick up Infestation online HERE.

If you head on over to the official MURDERDOLLS website NOW you will be able to check out a taster of the artwork for the band’s forthcoming album “Women And Children Last”, which sees a UK release on the 30th August.

Head back to the tomorrow for another ‘piece of the puzzle’…

CLICK HERE to head to the site NOW!

And don’t forget- you have until 4pm UK time tomorrow to get the forthcoming first single from the album- My Dark Place Alone’- for free! Click here to get your mitts on that.