Steve Di Giorgio joins Mother Of All on anthemic single

Steve Di Giorgio came to my attention as I heard some Sadus songs sitting at a friend of mine in his flat talking about metal, life and other things. His bass playing technique sounded outstanding so I kept his name on my mind.

These days he has become well known as the bassist of choice for thrash metal icons Testament. At the moment Steve Di Giorgio uses the time 'til a new album and tour of the thrashers will come up to perform in other bands.

If you'd like to have Steve play on your upcoming release or as a touring session bassist please get in touch with Tarja of Split Screen Management.

 

These days the newest output of Mother Of All's upcoming album features Steves performances on it. I have to admit it quickly became one of the main soundspots I simply had to listen to over and over again.

 

The song itself is already a blast with it's anthemic refrain and pushing verses in between. It sticked in my mind and is hard to get out but the bass pushes it to the maximum with a little solo intermission towards the middle of the track. I'm looking forward to the full album release of "Age Of The Solipsist" on April 23rd 2021 via Black Lion Records.

David Ellefson to tell his Basstory on upcoming clinics

Do you remember the bass riff that opens the song "Peace sells but who's buying"? I've heard it many times and sure as that it is one of the many great one's that can beard in the music of Megadeth. Just think of "Architecture of Agression" of the Countdown to Extinction album.

So how are these riffs played and how did they came to life? David Ellefson himself is going to give some insight into his playing techniques as well as he will tell background stories that have not been shared before in the string of upcoming clinics.

The flyer for the Basstory clinic sessions, many more dates can be found below

Be sure to visit his bass clinics entitled "Basstory" already starting this week in the US and continuing over the next couple of weeks further to Europe.

There will be opening acts on many nights so be sure to show up early - you will not want to miss the opportunity to warm up with some music. Those special guests vary from date to date. So far Bumblefoot (ex-Guns N’ Roses, Sons of Apollo), Dead By Wednesday as well as Green Death and Wrath have been confirmed. Please check the list for all the details.

BASSTORY will also include special VIP meet and greets, exclusive merchandise, and more.

Tickets and limited VIPS are available for purchase at davidellefsonbasstory.com

BASSTORY US:
9/20 Portland, OR - Dante's
9/21 Spokane Valley, WA - The Roadhouse
9/22 Fife, WA - Louie G's
9/28 San Antonio, TX - Fitzgerald's
9/29 Houston, TX - BFE Rock Club
10/3 Bradley, IL – The Looney Bin (w/ Green Death)
10/4 Lombard, IL - Brauer House (w/ Green Death, WRATH)
10/5 Sturtevant, WI - Route 20 Outhouse(w/ Green Death, WRATH)
10/6 Ringle, WI - Q and Z Expo Center (w/ Green Death, WRATH)
10/7 Mankato, MN – What’s Up Lounge (w/ Green Death, WRATH, Kublai Khan)

NEWLY ADDED
11/16 Manchester, NH - Jewel Nightclub (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/18 Holyoke, MA - Waterfront Tavern (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/20 NYC - The Iridium (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/21 Albany, NY – Chrome (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/23 Niagara Falls, NY – Evening Star Concert Hall (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/25 Waterbury, CT - Shamrock Pub (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)

BASSTORY EUROPE:
(Presented by Metal Casino)
15 October: BIMM-Bristol/UK+
16 October: ACM-Guildford/UK+
17 October: Rockhal-Esch Sur Alzette/Luxemburg (https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/5750754/david-ellefson-basstory-eschalzette-rockhal-luxembourg)
18 October: 013-Tilburg/Netherlands (https://www.ticketmaster.nl/event/225801?CAMEFROM=013&brand=nl_013web)
21 October: Le Relais des artistes-Les Bioux/Switzerland (Reservations via email only valprod.management@gmail.com
22 October: Riff Megastore-Warsaw/Poland
23October: Private Club-Berlin/Germany+

+Private events. No public ticketing available.

For more information:

Davidellefson.com

Davidellefsonbasstory.com

Facebook.com/davidellefson

Facebook.com/ellefsontouringagency

Let's speak with...Malice (2016)

Malice came around to me as sort a positive sign of the truemetal side of the Heavy Metal genre. I can remember a couple of years ago when I used to listen to more bands of this sidearm of our beloved music but somehow things changed as they do ever so often in life and I began to listen more to other bands.

This band and their debut album "Triumph and Glory" brought back a lot of the good memories to me of the old days so I started to wonder who may be behind this band and what their intentions are to bring on music in such a subgenre of metal that is not heard too often these days when a lot of bands tend to go into the metalcore direction.

Gladly "THE METAL WARRIOR" Rayman James, Bassist and founder of Malice picked up my questions and gave a good insight into what keeps him motivated and how music influences the day to day life as well a a memory of his time on stage.

The cover of the Malice album "Triumph and Glory", (c) by Malice, used with kind permission

 Q. )How did the band come together?

A.) Like Magic it just happened.   I was trying to get it going for a while then the pieces all just fell into Place

Q.)Which sources do you use as inspiration for writing new songs?

A.) Inspiration is all around, in other music, or books and movies different stories will inspire things or certain moments in my life will inspire me to write something.  Its really in everything

Q.)Do you feel that writing and performing music helps you to push on further with your own personal lifes?

A.)  Well music kinda is my own personal life.  If anything writing and performing kinda hurts the social life and dating life I guess.  But i write or try to write more inspiring and empowering music so in that way It keeps me strong in my day to day life I would say cause I cant write about something I dont live or believe myself.   As far as the personal life and dating life goes it does hurt that. 

Q.)Social media surely plays a big role in the communication between a band and their fans. Do you feel that fans contact you more or less personally at gigs these days?

A.) well at gigs it just depends on if we are around before we play or how long we are able to hang out after we play.   We always have a few fans able to catch us and chat a bit, and we do enjoy talking to them as well and knowing they had a good time.   It just dont always work with our schedule to be able to stick around and chat.  Lot of times after we finish its very late and the venue is closing and we have to pack our stuff up and get going. 

Q.)Do you still prefer releasing music on traditional media like LPs, CDs and the like or do you feel the same satisfaction when putting out music digitally?

A.) I still prefer to have a hard copy of everything, if I buy music I buy a cd, I am an old timer I guess.

Malice live on stage, Photo credit: MtLProductions.com, used with kind permission

Q.) Have you ever experimented with other styles over the years and thought about changing?

A.) is there other styles?  I am who I am and write exactly what I think and believe.   I like this style and genre so this is what I play I couldnt have it any other way.

Q.) Did you come along points where you thought about leaving it all behind? If you reached that point: how did you keep the motivation up to move on?

A.) Never give up never surrender.  Music is my blood, my oxygen my life.

The Malice band logo, (c) by Malice, used with kind permission

Q.) What was the funniest story that came along your way when you performed live? Or did things happen that you would have never thought of to occur (not only at gigs but maybe anywhere else as well)?

A.) Oh well there are many things I guess for me the first thing that comes to mind is that I ran onto stage and busted the laces on my leather pants.   These were side lace pants and the spread started to go further down my leg and I started to fall our of my pants.  So I was attempting to still play the guitar while holding my pants from coming open and trying to signal my stage manager to come help me out.   Soon as the song ended I was able to fix the problem but that first song we play is MALICE and lasts a little more than 7 minutes so yeah it was a bit of a situation for me there.

Make sure you'll keep a eye upon Malice. Take a look from time to time on their homepage or give their Facebook page a thumbs up.

A Tribute to Lemmy (R.I.P.)

Rest in peace Lemmy Kilmister. Thanks for sharing so much truth and music with us.

Chasing Dragons looking for new bass guitar player

Leeds-based classic Heavy Metal formation Chasing Dragons have recently announced that their bass guitar player Ant will leave the band. At the same time the band has set up a search for a new bass guitar player.

Here is what the band wrote on Facebook:

"(...) As with all great journeys, sometimes there are unexpected forks in the road... We are very sad to announce that Ant will be leaving our band...(...)

(...) As such we are seeking a bassist and a brother/sister in arms. We're looking for someone who wants to be a musician for life, who is a bassist who not only plays but writes music, who can sing backing vocals, is local to Leeds and has 110% commitment to our band.

They must be able to learn quickly as we need someone who can keep up on the road, be able to fund their share of any band expenses (sadly bands are expensive!), tour extensively (UK & Europe) and commit to at least one rehearsal per week in Leeds.

Think you've got what we're looking for? Please email bookings@chasingdragons.co.uk

Serious applicants only please! If you don't tick the boxes, please don't apply as we need someone who wants this with all their heart. You must also be aged 18+ as a lot of our shows have age restrictions.(...)"

If you haven't heard and/or seen the band in action before I've put the current video for the single "Broken Jaws" up here for viewing. I also reviewed their EP "Checkmate" some time ago, so check it out if you want to know more about the musical style of the band.