Guitarist Tony MacAlpine wants to share the following message:
“Another New Year is upon us, bringing along with it many great possibilities and opportunities for us all. We all should strive to achieve the greatest things that are within our reach, and sometimes beyond, because it is through these seemingly difficult efforts that we are rewarded with our best results that can last a lifetime.
This is also a wonderful time to reflect on the passing year and determine if we achieved what we set out to accomplish. Through this process, we should all feel grateful that we had this time regardless of whether or not we succeeded or failed, as this was a learning life experience that no one person can ever take away from us.
I am thrilled to announce that I will be releasing my newest musical odyssey Concrete Gardens in the first quarter of 2015. It is the culmination of a year of writing and performing some of this music in different line-ups, allowing me to bring to you what I feel is my most valuable and honest musical effort to date.
We also filmed a live performance of the album at EMGtv, check out the title track Concrete Gardens featuring Aquiles Priester on drums, Pete Griffin on bass, Nili Brosh on guitar and mixed by Adair Daufembach, below.
As always I want to thank you for following me on my past musical journeys and collaborations. I look forward to this New Year, and seeing you all out there on the road!!
Happy New Year!
Tony
P.S. In case you missed it, here’s Tears of Sahara performed live at EMGtv.”
The February 2015 issue of Guitar World, which will hit newsstands and readers’ mailboxes this week, has been dubbed our Ultimate Dimebag Darrell Tribute Issue. Among its exclusive Dime-themed offerings are:
• A private tour of the late guitarist’s estate in Arlington, Texas, featuring his most cherished guitars and memorabilia
• The Guitar World guide to the 25 Greatest Pantera Songs of All Time
• An interview with metal producer Terry Date, who reflects on his days in the studio with Pantera
• An interview with Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, who recalls how he nearly drank himself to death on the road with Pantera
• Plus a gallery of Dimebag Darrell art and tattoos from Guitar World readers, who continue to express their devotion to the late guitarist.
As part of our Dime tribute, we’re also premiering Whiskey Road, a never-before-heard song that features Dimebag Darrell on vocals and all the instruments. Listen to the song at Guitar World. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Whiskey Road was tracked in 2001, during the last outing of Pantera’s Reinventing the Steel tour in the U.S. For more information about the song.
Accept guitarist Herman Frank and drummer Stefan Schwarzmann have left the band amicably to concentrate on their own band, The German Panzer.
The pair have had three stints with the veteran outfit. Frank first joined the ranks for a year in 1982, while Schwarzmann debuted in 1992. Both came back in 2005 for a brief reunion with original frontman Udo Dirkschneider, then returned in 2009 when Mark Tornillo took the mic.
Accept say in a statement, “We’d like to thank Herman and Stefan for being with us these last four-plus years, making themselves available whenever needed and rocking their asses off.
We and the fans all knew they had their own careers, and that, eventually we [would] run into scheduling and other conflicts beyond our control.
Herman and Stefan are now ready to take on the world with Panzer. We’re parting as friends and wish them nothing but success.”
The German Panzer’s debut record Send Them All To Hell was launched last month via Nuclear Blast. The lineup is fronted by vocalist and bassist Marcel ‘Schmier’ Schirmer of Destruction fame. The band recently modified their name to The German Panzer as a result of a legal threat.
Greg Prato of Bravewords Cuban born drummer Dave Lomabardo (Philm, Slayer) about America’s new relationship with country. Highlights from the interview appear below.
BraveWords: What are your thoughts on the recent developments between Cuba and the US, and did it come as a surprise?
Dave Lombardo: It did come as a surprise. I’m very happy that at least some steps have been taken, to somewhat normalize relationships between Cuba and the States. It’s horrible, because I left Cuba when I was two years old, and I haven’t seen much change. So hearing this news and the way it came about, it was definitely exciting for me.
BraveWords: What made your parents decide to relocate to the US at the time?
Dave Lombardo: It was obviously communism. You see, the way things happened, in the sixties, through the Catholic Church, you were able to sign up and send your children to the United States. Now, this is during 1960, when the whole revolution went down. I have two older brothers and one older sister. My parents sent my brothers that were ten and thirteen years old to the United States, and they were supposed to see my brothers in five or six months. And what happened was the Cuban missile crisis hit its peak, and all flights and all communication with the United States stopped. So my brothers were basically stranded in the US, without knowing if they were ever going to see my mom and dad again. Four and a half years went by, and during that period is when my mom got pregnant with me. It took four and a half years until they got their visa to leave the country…or permission to leave the country. So that’s how we ended up in the States. My dad had three meat markets in Havana, and when the government found out that he had applied for a visa to come to the States and for my brothers to go to the States, they immediately took those markets away. So he had to work for the government – he no longer worked for himself. They were anxious, and that put a lot of strain on the family. It was pretty intense from what I hear. Those four and a half years were rough. But then my mom got pregnant, and here I am. It’s an interesting story. And then when we arrived here in the States, of course, we reunited with my two older brothers, and I got to meet their foster parents, who were living in Long Beach, California. That’s how I ended up California. I could have ended up in New York; I could have ended up in Detroit. From what I hear, a lot of these children…’Pedro Pan,’ they call them ‘the Peter Pan flights’ – a lot of children ended up in different states in the US It’s really interesting, because I recently found out that my brothers – within the past two or three years – were part of this historic migration to the United States. They sent the kids over first, and then the parents would follow. But it didn’t turn out like that for my mom and dad. The Cuban missile crisis really screwed things up. No complaints, because we’re all together and all is good now.
BraveWords: Are you now interested in returning to Cuba, to visit?
Dave Lombardo: I’ve been interested to return to Cuba forever. I’ve always wanted to return and see this island I was born on, and the beaches and the culture and everything. But I had a good taste of Cuban culture here in America, because my dad, as soon as he got in this country, he didn’t speak a word of English, and worked and retired. He bought his house and lived the American dream. He’s no longer with us, but he did pretty well, and my mom as well. Every weekend – and even during the week – there was always Cuban music, there was always Cuban food. So the culture, we had many friends that were Cuban, too, and we would all hang out together and do what Cubans do, which is listen to music, play music, dance, eat, drink, and enjoy life.
BraveWords: I wonder if more metal and rock bands will now play in Cuba.
Dave Lombardo: Yeah, I would hope. I would love to play Cuba. There are a lot of bands coming out of there. Actually, there’s a documentary that I’ve been a little bit of help on, and it’s called Hard Rock Havana. That movie documents the life of a metal band in Cuba during the late ’80s and the ’90s, when tension was still high. And they couldn’t perform, they couldn’t play western music. The singer was put in jail – for performing music that was other than Cuban music, which is all the government wanted to see come out of Cuba. So, it should be an interesting documentary – especially at this time, that this is going down.
BraveWords: I read on the internet a while back that someone asked you if you were interested in trying out for Megadeth. Are you interested in possibly trying out?
Dave Lombardo: You know what…I’m very busy at the moment. That question – whoever it was that came up to me at a drum clinic and he asked me very direct, really quick questions, that caught me off guard. I was signing autographs. ‘Hey, I heard Shawn Drover left Megadeth. Would you consider joining or trying out?’ or whatever he asked me. I just said, ‘Dude, (Dave) Mustaine has my number. If he wants to contact me, he can contact me.’ It’s like, geez, this is in passing – it’s not verbatim. I’m just talking off the top of my head, I’m not deciding. Obviously, there has to be some major issues that need to be discussed – schedule, there’s all kinds of things. But I don’t know. Right now, I’m not even thinking about that. Mustaine, his mother in law was found dead. Right now, you need to give him space, give him his time, for him and his wife to heal, with what’s going on. The last thing he’s probably thinking about right now is drummers. We have to give him his time and space, so he can resolve these other issues.
BraveWords: As far as the upcoming Slayer album, how much did you have a hand in co-writing or creating the music?
Producer Bob Rock has predicted that Metallica’s tenth album will be a “landmark” – but he doesn’t believe he’ll work with the band again.
He first worked with James Hetfield and co on their Black Album in 1991, and continued through the decade on Load, ReLoad, Garage Inc. and S&M. His final collaboration was 2003’s St. Anger, documented in controversial movie Some Kind Of Monster.
But he wasn’t on board for 2008’s Death Magnetic, and he thinks it’s unlikely he’ll return.
Rock tells the our Eddie Trunk on his podcast, “I don’t see it happening. I think they’ve got to keep moving forward. With Death Magnetic they went back to their roots, which was great. I get where they went and they had to go there. I think they’ve got a landmark record in them – and it’s probably brewing right now.”
Rock’s most recent collaborations include Black Veil Brides, The Offspring, The Cult and pop stars Michael Buble and Nelly Furtado. He reflects, “I didn’t do a lot of bands like Metallica after I did them. Why? This is as good as it gets; I’m with this. I’m not going to mention names, but when I don’t believe a guy, when I know it’s bulls–t, I have a tough time. I’ve done records like that and they don’t work for me.”
But he’ll always regard Metallica as close friends, “I see the guys and it’s like the day after,” he says. “When you spend 15 years with somebody and we’ve gone through the things they’ve gone though and I’ve gone through, they’re a big part of my life.”
Metallica, who headline the Reading and Leeds festivals in 2015, are continuing work on their next album although no completion date has been confirmed.
 about America's new relationship with country. Highlights from the interview appear below. BraveWords: What are your ... )
