2010 summary

2010

If you had said to me last year “In a years time you will have set up your own music blog written your own reviews of CD’s/DVD’s/Gigs and been featured on well known music sites” I would have simply laughed. When I thought of becoming a music journalist I had no idea where to start and how I would get there but, with the help of family, friends and musicians I started this blog.

So 2010 in music has had its ups and its downs. We started the year pretty badly after loosing Jimmy Sullivan in December 2009, many thought that that would be the end of one of the best hard rock bands but Avenged Sevenfold came back with Mike Portnoy and released the chart topping album Nightmare. We have seen Megadeth win back David Ellefson and toured their Rust In Peace album on its 20^th Anniversary. Whilst on the topic of Megadeth we have also seen the greatest musical achievement of the past 20 years with the Big Four going out and touring together for the first time. It is a pure miracle that Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax have settled their differences and let the music do the talking by bringing such a spectacle to the European stage. This is set to continue in 2011 with the Big four playing for the first time together in the UK at Sonisphere Knebworth.

At Sonisphere this year we saw the triumphant return of Iron Maiden with their first show on British soil in two years. After a spectacular show the band released their 15^th studio album The Final Frontier which debuted at number one in the UK and many other countries. However with all these great things that have happened sadly worse things have also happened. In May we lost two great musicians Ronnie James Dio and Paul Gray. Firstly Ronnie was seen by many as one of the fathers of heavy metal and his works have influenced many people to become musicians and whose life has touched many others. Secondly Paul who was a part of one of the largest nu-metal bands of the past decade (Slipknot). Both Ronnie and Paul will be sorely missed but their legacies will never be forgotten.

In 2010 we have also enjoyed new releases from Stone Sour, Daath, Murderdolls, Dimmu Borgir, Disturbed as well as the others mentioned above. Apart from the studio we have seen live releases from Slipknot, Megadeth, Heaven and Hell and the Big Four.

2010 has seen lineup changes for Megadeth (as previously mentioned), Avenged Sevenfold, Trivium and Dream Theater. At the end of 2009 we heard that Travis Smith drummer of Trivium would be sitting out their upcoming US tour. As we got into 2010 we began to wonder if Travis would be back in time for the band to go into the studio to record their song for the game God Of War III. A statement was issued saying that Trivium would no longer be performing with Travis and that Nick Augusto would be taking his place. Trivium then went into the studio to record Shattering the Skies above with Nick for the God of War game. The song shows how much energy Nick has brought to the band and how they have developed since 2008’s Shogun.

Dream Theater have also changed drummer with Mike Portnoy leaving the band. Mike asked the band if they could take some time off from touring/ recording and come back to the table fresh for the next album. The rest of the band were not willing to do so, and so Mike saw no other way than to leave. It was recently revealed by Mike that he tried to reconcile with the band after his time was up with Avenged Sevenfold but they would not have him back. This was a very sad end to the year but, we have lots to look forward to next year!

Things to look forward to in 2011:

The return of Slipknot

The Big Four coming to the UK

Iron Maiden’s Final Frontier world tour

New albums from Trivium, Children of Bodom, DevilDriver, Amon Amarth, Megadeth, Anthrax and many more!

Top 5 releases of 2010

1. Nightmare – Avenged Sevenfold CD
2. The Final Frontier – Iron Maiden CD
3. (sic)nesses – Slipknot DVD
4. Audio Secrecy – Stone Sour CD
5. Big Four Live from Sofia – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax DVD

Finally I would like to thank you all for your support, encouragement and help throughout 2010. All that is left to say is Happy Christmas and bring on 2011!

Charlie Day \m/(>_<)\m/

New DevilDriver single to be released 23rd Jan

DevilDriver are going to release the first single from their new album "Beast" on January 23rd 2011! The song "Dead To Rights" will be digitally available from all major online retailers, with the new album "Beast" due out on 21st February.

picture + source www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk

Megadeth + Slayer co headline "European Carnage" tour

It has just been announced that Megadeth and Slayer will bring their "carnage tour" to Europe. This tour has travelled across North America and now its time to bring the carnage to Europe. The tour goes through many countries ranging from Russia all the way across to Portugal. Full tour dates bellow!

Date		City	Venue	Ages	Tickets
March	13	Kiev, Russia	Expo	TBA	TBA
	15	Moscow, Russia	Olimpiski	TBA	TBA
	16	St Petersburg, Russia	Jubileeny	TBA	TBA
	17	Helsinki, Finland	Ice Hall	TBA	TBA
	19	Stockholm, Sweden	Arenan	TBA	TBA
	20	Oslo, Norway	Sentrum Scene	TBA	TBA
	21	Aarhus, Denmark	SCC	TBA	TBA
	23	Brussels, Belgium	Forest	TBA	TBA
	24	Bamberg, Germany	Stechert Arena	TBA	TBA
	26	Paris, France	Zenith	TBA	TBA
	28	Madrid, Spain	La Riviera	TBA	TBA
	29	La Coruna, Spain	Coliseum	TBA	TBA
	30	Lisbon, Portugal	Pavilhao Atlantico	TBA	TBA
April	1	Barcelona, Spain	St Jordi Club	TBA	TBA
	3	Rome, Italy	Atlantico	TBA	TBA
	4	Padova, Italy	Gran Teatro	TBA	TBA
	6	Zagreb, Croatia	Arena	TBA	TBA
	7	Vienna, Austria	Gasometer	TBA	TBA
	8	Budapest, Hungary	Arena	TBA	TBA
	10	Prague, Czech Republic	O2 Arena	TBA	TBA
	11	Lodz, Poland	Sportshall	TBA	TBA
	13	Basel, Switzerland	St Jakobshalle	TBA	TBA

Source: www.megadeth.com

Mike Portnoy has left Avenged Sevenfold!

Yesterday I bought you the news that Avenged Sevenfold were not performing at Soundwave Festival and that Mike Portnoy's position in the band was debatable. Late last night Mike announced that his time with Avenged Sevenfold had come to an end. He says that the band had decided to carry on into 2011 with out him and that he had had some great times with the band. Mike also looks forward to new musical opportunities that come his way for the future. As for Soundwave festival it appears that the band were unhappy with the time that they were scheduled to play, the festival organisers were unable to change the timings around and therefore the band went back on their contract and cancelled. The Nightmare after Christmas North American tour is still scheduled to go ahead, however no new drummer has yet been announced.

We wish Mike Portnoy the best for the future and hope that Avenged Sevenfold find a new drummer soon!

Avenged Sevenfold Will NOT perform at Soundwave

A shocking announcement has been made which is that Avenged Sevenfold will not be performing at Soundwave festival's in Australia in 2011. In a statement (below) it mentions that they will be performing because they would not deliver a performance which the fans would enjoy. This is strange indeed and comes days after strange tweets from drummer Mike Portnoy. This is purely speculation which leads me to the view that something between Sevenfold and Portnoy is going on. Of course we hope all is well between both parties and hope that they are both ok! Statement and Tweets mentioned follow!

"Avenged Sevenfold regretfully announce they will not be performing at the upcoming Soundwave in Australia. After much effort, the band decided that they could not offer fans the live experience they have come to expect and didn’t want to disappoint them. Avenged Sevenfold will return to Australia soon to headline their own tour."

"There's alot of things going on in my life I wish I could openly & honestly talk about at the moment, but cannot...but when I can, I will..." Mike Portnoy via Twitter

"is sad...... : ( It's been a long, exhausting year (both physically and mentally) with many unexpected ups and downs and I think the most valuable lesson for me has been that the only people you can TRULY count on is FAMILY...thank you Marlene, Melody and Max for ALWAYS being there for me...." Mike Portnoy via Facebook

Judas Priest announce FINAL World tour!

It is with great sadness that I write this post to you. Judas Priest have announced that they are to embark on their last world tour after brining metal to the masses for the past forty years. In a statement released by the band they promise to go out with a bang and to hit all major cities across the globe. The tour starts in Europe in June in Sweden and ending up in Germany in August for the end of the European leg (more dates will be announced soon!). Boys and Girls this is your last chance to see Judas Priest so be sure to get your tickets as you wont get another chance!

Tour dates so far:

9th June Sweden Rock Festival, Sweden
11th June Sauna Festival, Finland
17th June Copenhell Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark
19th June Hellfest, Nantes, France
22nd June Gods of Metal Festival, Milan, Italy
25th June Graspop Festival, Belgium
23rd July HIgh Voltage Festival, London, UK
5th August Wacken Festival, Germany

Sonisphere 2011 1st Head liner is...

Sonisphere festival have just announced that their first head liner of the 2011 festival will be SLIPKNOT! It will be an exclusive UK performance!

Another announcement will be made on Monday 6th December!

Slipknot will return

Joey Jordison drummer of Slipknot has said that the band will return after the loss of bassist Paul Gray. He also has said that they have started writing for their next studio album and plan to record some time next year. Jordison said they will not replace Gray but will have someone to play bass for them off-stage. This news comes from an interview with Joey by Bilboard.