ICED EARTH were born in 1985, formed by Jon Schaffer – a determined, street-tough kid with the drive to create a band to make his heroes Judas Priest, KISS, and Iron Maiden proud. The band released its riff-heavy self-titled debut album in 1990 and never looked back. Nine studio albums – considered masterpieces of metal – cemented the band’s reputation for crafting exceptionally well-made music, the centerpiece of which being Schaffer’s trademark rhythm guitar style and powerful, in-your-face lyrics
that often combine themes of self reliance, a healthy distrust of authority, history, and science fiction.

He says:

“We are looking forward to returning to Bloodstock in 2012, our second time after 2008. The UK shows we played on our World Dystopia Tour last fall were some of the best on the tour and we cannot wait to bang our heads with the UK minions again!”

Over the years, Schaffer has surrounded himself with some of the finest musicians in the world – including famed vocalists Matt Barlow, Tim Owens, and now Stu Block – to help bring his musical visions to life. This summer Schaffer brings this vision to BLOODSTOCK once more, for their only UK show of 2012, and one of the highlights of the metal festival calendar.

SEPULTURA is one of the major names in metal history. From their humble beginnings 27 years ago, these Brazilians went on to create a legacy, influencing a whole generation of younger bands and becoming a true institution. Despite rough times due to significant line-up changes, nomadic relationships with record labels and various changes in the overall musical environment, SEPULTURA have never backed down, continuously following their path, always re-emerging stronger than ever before.

At their only UK show of 2012, SEPULTURA will remind the BLOODSTOCK crowd why they are South America’s biggest metal export, with a classic set featuring timeless anthems such as “Arise”, “Beneath The Remains”, “Troops Of Doom” “Refuse/Resist”, “Territory” and many many more.

With tickets selling faster than ever before, BLOODSTOCK 2012 is destined for a sell-out this year. Over 100 bands – the majority of which are exclusive appearances – and a ticket price of only £115 for four days of metal magic INCLUDING camping – BLOODSTOCK offers metalheads the most
attractive ticket in the UK. Get yours now from www.bloodstock.uk.com

This first leg of the 2012 tour dates begins the promotion for Fury UK’s DVD “Death By Lightning” which is released on 2nd April & named after the band’s epic fan-favourite set-closer.

There’s also a fan special pre-order package to be available direct from www.furyuk.com as a limited edition.

The tour dates confirmed are:
April
6th UK, Tamworth, Sports Bar
7th Belgium, Mons, PPM Fest
8th Belgium, Roeselare, De Verlichte Geest
21st UK, Manchester, Moho Live
* 25th Germany, Krefeld, Kulturfabrik
* 26th Germany, Hamburg, Markthalle
* 28th Germany, Erfurt, Gewerkschaftshaus
* 29th Germany, Augsburg, Spectrum
May
4th UK, Newcastle, Trillians
5th UK, Maidstone, Powermad Festival
*7th Switzerland, Zurich, Plaza
*8th Belgium, Antwerp, Biebob Club
*13th Holland, Tilburg, O13
*15th Germany, Hannover, Capitol
*16th Germany, Berlin, C-Club
* shows with Michael Schenker

This is the first time Fury UK have released a DVD. Not satisfied with just a few live clips & some backstage footage, with “Death By Lightning” there’s over 2 hours of material combining these elements:

• 3 part video diary covering the 2011 European Tour with Iced Earth including “official live bootlegs” of “Athena” from the Athens, Greece shows & “The Remainder” from Pratteln, Switzerland.
• Live footage from earlier UK & European shows.
• Behind-the-scenes / on-the-road footage.
• Brand new music videos for the songs “Alien Skies” & “Death By Lightning”.
• The original “A Way Of Life” album promo featuring “Nemesis”.
• Brand new acoustic recordings of 3 Fury UK songs.
• Interviews.

Says frontman Chris Appleton “We’re really happy to have finally got down to putting a DVD together, having looked at the possibility a few times in the past. It seems the right time to do this now & the amount of footage we have makes it possible for us to do something special which is why this DVD is packed full of material. The footage includes studio tracks, official bootleg tracks, sidestage close-ups, backstage & on the road antics…. the good, the bad & the ugly! This tour is just the beginning of our 2012 shows too. Through the year we’re expecting to return to many of the countries we visited in 2011 as part of the tour with Iced Earth so keep an eye open for more to come”.

Before the “Death By Lightning” tour begins Fury UK will be warming things up by playing Hammerfest at Prestatyn, North Wales on 16th March. This is the band’s 2nd appearance at Hammerfest, originally performing in 2010. The festival this year is headlined by Anthrax & Skindred.

Fury UK are also writing songs ready for their 4th album pencilled in for a September/October release.

Dates confirmed are:
Bristol Colston Hall on 13th March
Glasgow Clyde Auditorium on 14th March
Manchester 02 Apollo on 15th March
London HMV Apollo on 16th March

The group perform the whole of the seminal Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in its original format. During the show The Musical Box show over 1200 original slides from the Genesis stage Production as well as featuring original costumes, Genesis’s musical arrangements, stage sets and lighting.

Phil Collins (who says The Musical Box play and perform The Lamb better than Genesis ever did!) and Steve Hackett from Genesis have guested on Musical Box live shows.

Peter Gabriel takes his family to the shows and tells them – “this is what we used to do…“

Reviews of the show are stunning and attention to detail meticulous.

Find tickets:
http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Musical-Box-tickets/artist/838969

One band that has got their application in nice and early is Birmingham-based heavy rock band, Valous – who we will be seeing very soon at Twitrfest in Wakefield on 25th February 2012. We caught up with the guys recently to find out a bit more about them…

TBFM – Introduce yourselves! What are your names and what instruments do you play?

VALOUS – MAT – Vocals, RIG – Guitar, JD – Guitar, Andy – Bass, Big Bad Ron – Drums

TBFM – How did you get your current band name?

VALOUS – Our bassist Andy had an idea of being ‘Men of Valour’ and rather than taking the obvious route, we played around with the name and so ‘VALOUS’ was born!

TBFM – When did the band form?

VALOUS – Yesterday, just around teatime. We all had a pretty filling Happy Meal at McDonald’s and figured “What the f**k, let’s form a kick ass, feel good metal band to take over the world”.

But seriously….we got together back in 1993 as young, good looking bunch of metal worshipping boys, but ”musical differences” with too many songs about ships & war caused us to head our seperate ways in the summer of 1995.  Having met up again in December 2009 for a hazy all night drinking session, VALOUS was reformed for a new generation!..!

TBFM – How did you all meet?

VALOUS – Mat, Andy and Ron all used to play with each other in school, we found JD begging for beer in and around the metal pubs of Birmingham and Rig was made from the skin particles of several great musicians mixed with a tub of lard and a sprinkle of sexy b*****d. As you can tell, RIG answered this particular question.

TBFM – Who are your biggest musical influences?

VALOUS – We’re all huge metal fans but overall i guess we’ll go with ABBA / BONEY M! You may laugh but Rig actually loves both of these bands and even slipped a riff from Rasputin in one of Valous’ early tunes without us all knowing.

TBFM – How would you describe your music to people who have never heard your tracks or seen you perform live before?

VALOUS – As close to a religious movement as you could possibly get. Well… a movement of some sort. Maybe a bowel movement, I’m not too sure. Definitely melodic, definitely heavy-ish, catchy sing-a-long chorus’ and a bit of feel good thrown in. We are music to get pissed too and just enjoy seeing/hearing, it’s pick n mix metal delivered right in your face at our legendary Live Shows!..!

TBFM – What type of product could your band sell?

VALOUS – We’d be a fine advertisment for DUREX, as we’re currently going through boxes of their product at a quite alarming rate (love you ladies) and I think we’d look a damn site better than JLS on the box for sure!..!

TBFM – Which comes first, the music or the lyrics?

VALOUS – Over to you RIG: Is this one of them chicken and egg questions? Erm… I’d have to say that I can’t answer that with one of them answers. Sometimes the lyrics will influence the tune and sometime the tune will inspire the lyrics it really depends how things are rolling at the time!..!

TBFM – Who writes the songs?

VALOUS – RIG writes about 90% of the stuff but he’s been easing up on the grip a little lately and has allowed the rest of the lads some input and the odd tune. He’s a slave master that one. “We love you rig! – prick!!!”

TBFM – Have you ever made a video for any of your songs?

VALOUS – We have a storyboard idea that we’ll be putting into practice over the coming months…Watch This Space! Maybe involving some footage showing how we would be a better poster boy for DUREX than JLS.

TBFM – Are you writing / recording any new material at the moment?

VALOUS – We are always writing and recording in one form or another. Watch this space for the Valous Album. Or watch that space. Hell… you can even watch MySpace if indeed anybodys still signed up to it!

TBFM – How do you feel about people downloading music illegally?

VALOUS – It’s a shame that it has to be illegal but downloading is something good I think. If someone couldn’t afford a Valous album then I would rather they got it for free than didn’t have it at all. Sure there’s cost that needs to be met and artists can’t do everything for free but as long as we all break even and make enough for a pint and petrol, who gives a fuck man. I would rather someone who couldn’t afford a Valous album downloaded it for free and became a fan than passed us by because he couldn’t afford it in store. Downloading is cool by me but if you dig the artists then always buy I say. Showing artist support is always good.

TBFM – How much time a week do you spend in rehearsals?

VALOUS – We’ve recently got our own lock up at last, so we’re currently in twice a week for around 2 1/2 hours at a time! More Rehearsals make for a tighter show,  so we’re looking at Increasing that over the coming months!

TBFM – Do you play any covers at your shows or have you recorded any cover versions? Which is your favourite song to cover?

VALOUS – Our previous show closer was a heavier version of FREE’s Wishing Well, but we’re currently playing around with a version of EUROPE’S classic Rock The Night! We did once perform a cheeky cover of a Lady Gaga classic but that was at a private party and i cant see that seeing the light of the day anytime soon…hmmmm…or maybe ;o)

TBFM – Which of your songs do you enjoy performing the most?

VALOUS – Each band member has is own but The Prowling, Dreams and Why D’ya Hurt Me are always on the top of the list of faves.

TBFM – Do you have a favourite venue you like to play?

VALOUS – The bog at Wembley Stadium was pretty fucking happening. Five of us all rammed in a pissy cubicle jamming out an alt version of the CURE’S Close To You. Other than that, all the venues that support metal and live bands are wicked by us.

TBFM – What is the furthest show from home that you have done?

VALOUS – To date it’s LONDON, Fiddlers Elbow in Camden last November.  Played with a great bunch of bands and picked up some new fans along the way!

TBFM – What is the biggest band you have been support act for?

VALOUS – To date HOSTILE, but we’re looking forward to opening up for FURYON & TRUCKER DIABLO at Twitrfest & then later in the year we’ll be appearing at Basementfest 2012 alongside the likes of BLAZE BAYLEY & BEHOLDER

TBFM – What gigs do you have coming up in the next few months?

VALOUS – We’re majorly excited about this year it has to be said & we’re booking dates all the time so keep checking our sites for more details.  We’re lucky enough to be playing this year with some bands that we really love and respect, but we kick things off headlining THE ASYLUM in Birmingham on 3rd February before all these exciting dates:-

19/02/12 – ROSE & CROWN – Stourbridge (Twitrfest warm up)
25/02/12 – TWITRFEST – Snooty Fox Wakefield
31/03/12 – O2 ACADEMY 3 Birmingham (With MY GREAT AFFLICTION)
14/04/12 – SCRUFFY MURPHYS – Birmingham
27/04/12 – THE SLADE ROOMS – Wolverhampton (with HURT SEASON / IMPERIAL CIRCUS)
18/08/12 – BASEMENTFEST 2012

TBFM – Have you ever had to deal with negative publicity? If so, how did you handle it?

VALOUS – RIG’s fave method is scratching his ass and then blowing his fingers at the negative fuckers and saying “Well what do you think of that?”. The rest of us would have our own little method but thankfully we don’t get much; or maybe we just don’t hear about it, haha! Well generally the feedback is all very positive with fans coming back time and again for some Hot metal action!

TBFM – Has there been one particular moment in your musical career that you’re most proud of?

VALOUS – RIG: Standing next to Mat (Singer) at our Halloween gig dressed in stockings and all the trimmings. I’m twitching right now even thinking about it. SEXY!!!

TBFM – If you had the opportunity to change something about the music industry, what would it be?

VALOUS – There’s too much focus on what an artist looks like, what they will sell, how wide an audience of record sales they’ll get. If these things aren’t met then they don’t get signed etc. That’s bollocks! There’s some fucking awesome talent out there right now, in pubs, at small venues, on YouTube etc. It isn’t getting recognised AT ALL because it won’t sell. Well that’s cock hole in my opinion. Someone will always like and buy something so who gives a shit if it isn’t gonna reach last years or last band’s sales. It’s guys like you at Total Biker supporting the unsigned talent, that’s what it’s all about and we take our Limited edition Valous Beanie hat off to you for that guys!..!

TBFM – Where can people find out more about you?

VALOUS – All likes appreciated at www.facebook.com/valousbirmingham & www.myspace.com/valousband & follow us @valousband on twitter.  Official site is in progress and will be released on an unsuspecting public shortly!..!

TBFM – Where can people buy your music?

VALOUS – Currently our EP is for sale at all the VALOUS shows…but will be available to purchase on our website when launched!

TBFM – Thank you for taking time out to chat to Total Biker FM. We’ll see you very soon at TWITRFEST!!

Well, we’re now in the 6th Cycle and upped the next adventure to 4 days of pure Rock n Roll hell. You voted yet again and we twisted the theme into something that I’m sure we can all have some fun with. Sooo – HRH VI will be themed A “Fistful of Rock” and by god that’s what its all going to be. We’re going straight into spaghetti western mode, so expect anything from saloon styled debauchery to can can girls, on heat…of course there is the music too.

Being out in the Wild West, it would be crazy for us not to address The Southern brigade, so undoubtedly we’ll be engaging in all sort of influences from there and around the world. Hopefully we’ll manage to cram 70 bands in this year with lots of nice interactive surprises along the way. We have had such a wide spectrum bands voted for this year, that it going to be tight to programme the music into the styles of stages we want, but heh, that’s a challenge we will enjoy as well as throwing in some curve balls n new blood just for good measure.

Thursday night’s pre party just seems to get bigger every year, so much so, that were opening up the whole site for this years, as we want a full on fancy dress gunslingers ball coupled with a great selection of Classic Rock acts. Friday and Saturday will be round the clock with bands banging it hard over all three arenas. After last years Unplugged session, we will be repeating and adding to this part of the fun early doors, Friday, brunch n bands Rock !!! Sunday is the new day and you will see the whole inside area transform into Xmas overnight… getting ready for the first ever HRH Rockers Xmas Ball….Sunday day time will have music but there will also be another two rooms of entertainment that will be off at a tangent, but true to the HRH bible of fun. Once your recharged Sunday, the main stage will open for some full on Rock n Roll hedonistic mayhem…all with a crazy Xmas flair from Santa’s Sack of course…need I say more…you know what were like…here to shock, here to serve…..

So with a FKD up cauldron of Rock n Metal, covering, Glam, Sleaze, classic metal, Southern, Blues, NWOBHM, Thrash, Classic Rock and any other genre we dare to touch, more HRH nutters than you’ve had hot dinners, more Jack n devil juice on tap than the local reservoir….we can only expect the unexpected..but more so, we can totally expect to have a great FKN time… HRH style!

The original allocation only had 66 rooms left after the pre sale at HRH V, but we have managed to build another 123 apartments to take us to the next level. We’re all over this and cant wait to deliver the 6!!

So eyes peeled to the forum, start getting your clobber sorted for two fancy dress parties and get ready for probably the best rock experience this winter, with the nicest set of music lovers on the planet.

Get more information and to book tickets go to the Hard Rock Hell website or call the ticket hotline on 08700 110034

Entitled the “Johanne needs a new cymbal” tour – which having seen them live he probably does – sees them hitting to stage all over the UK in February and March including a showcase slot at Hammerfest on March 16th.

If you haven’t seen this band live then do yourself a favour and go see ‘em!  Details of venues and ticket prices can be found on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kyrbgrinder

Kyrbgrinder will also be one of the headline acts at Total Biker FM’s Birthday Bash on 3rd June 2012 in Birmingham. Tickets on sale at just £6 advance. All details can be found by clicking here.

Artist: Voodoo Six
Title: Falling Knives
Genre: Classic / Hard Rock

Voodoo Six might be a new name to some people, but they have a couple of albums out and “Falling Knives” is the band’s latest EP that was released in digital format on November 28th. This special limited edition release, containing 3 new songs & 3 re-recorded versions of tracks off earlier albums, comes following the success of a tour early 2011 with the Michael Monroe band and a headlining tour staring on 17th Nov.

The EP starts with the groovy rocking “Falling Knives“, an aggressive hard hitting track with powerful vocal lines and a solid guitar work. Next up is “Sharp Sand”, with a catchy riff it’s a fantastic rock tune to get people air guitaring, headbanging & singing along to.  The other new track “Stop“, is perhaps the best of the new ones, it has a blusier, old-fashioned dirty funky sound to it.

It’s easy to compare them to acts like The Answer or a British Black Stone Cherry.  Vocalist Luke Purdie‘s especially gives an impressive performances, this guy has an excellent vocal range and in some parts reminiscent of Chris Cornell.  The other three re-worked tracks are also very good, catchy songs, straight up balls to the wall rock, with some excellent guitar work especially on “Feed My Soul”.  All in all a cracking good heavy rock band.

www.voodoosix.com

Artist: The Amorettes
Title: Haulin’ Ass
Genre: Classic / Hard Rock

Girls in rock bands are always a welcome sight to see. The majority of rock fans may be male (although that may be debatable when you factor in the male/female breakdown at some of 2011’s more popular rock festivals) but that doesn’t mean the vast proportion of guys don’t want/wish to see a rock chick strutting herself on stage.

The Amorettes are a feisty all-female three-piece rock band based in Scotland and they certainly tick all of the boxes when it comes to not only their lives shows, but their recorded work. Debut album Haulin’ Ass is a nice ten track trip through the bands psyche (I.E. these are fun loving young ladies with rock in their hearts and it shows in their musical output). Since their formation in 2009 The Amorettes, Gillian, Hannah and Heather have gigged their way around the UK and played support spots for such luminaries as W.A.S.P. and LA Guns, their recent spots at Highway to Hell in Glasgow and Hard Rock Hell in Wales haven’t harmed their street cred either. 

So what can you expect from this lively band’s debut release? These songs are perfectly formed short bursts of enthusiastic rock, each one hitting the spot nicely. It of course also helps that the girls are a highly approachable trio, having seen them live twice so far I know they love meeting their fans, signing CDs (assuming they haven’t sold out, which also shows the popularity of this act) and they set the stage alight when they kick off their sets.

Haulin’ Ass is a perfect CD for classic rock fans old and new, it traipses the always tricky light to heavy border with ease. It should also be noted that the publication bearing that monicker (Classic Rock) has already given it an 8 out of 10 score. The songs presented are well-paced affairs, each one makes its mark and the recording quality doesn’t let them down at all.

Yes we at TBFM may be loyal fans, but we must admit it’s hard to fault this opening salvo from The Amorette’s.

www.theamorettes.co.uk

The band – completed by Matt Roberts (guitar/vocals), Todd Harrell (bass), Chris Henderson (guitar) & Greg Upchurch (drums/percussion) – first came together back in 1996, since which time they have enjoyed seven Number One chart hits in the US plus a dozen Top 10 chart positions, with Top 3 smash ‘Kryptonite’ (2000) effectively proving the breakout release. 

Newest album, ‘Time Of My Life’ was released in August on the Spinefarm label, along with a video for a special rock remix of the second single from their 5th studio effort, ‘Every Time You Go’.

The tour kicks off in Paris on March 6th before crossing shores and hitting the UK. Dates are as follows: -
March 09 – Edinburgh, Picturehouse
March 11 – Manchester, Academy *
March 12 – Birmingham, O2 Academy
March 14 – Bristol, O2 Academy *
March 15 – London, HMV Hammersmith Apollo

* VIP package at Manchester and Bristol dates, see www.3ddfanclub.net

GOLD-SELLING US heavyweights Five Finger Death Punch and flamboyant Finnish rockers Reckless Love will both play at this year’s Download Festival, set to run from June 8^th-10^th.

This will be the third time that Five Finger Death Punch have featured at the event, having made main-stage appearances in 2009 and 2010; For Reckless Love, meanwhile, this will be outing number two, following on from their Download debut in 2010.

5FDP NOW stand as one of America’s most high profile rock acts, with their first two albums now certified Gold in their home country, and latest release, ‘American Capitalist’, well on the way to following suit (300,000 units and rising fast!)

The band have a new single/video released through the Spinefarm label on February 20^th; titled ‘Remember Everything’ and drawn from the ‘American Capitalist’ album, the song is already a big hit at US radio, following on from the incredible out-of-the-box success of previous single, ‘Under And Over It’ – the video for which has now clocked up over 3 million hits on YouTube.

March 12th will also see the release of the new single/video from Reckless Love; titled ‘On The Radio’ and taken from the band’s second studio album, ‘Animal Attraction’, out now, the single features the previously unreleased bonus track, ‘Push’.

Reckless Love will headline The Garage in London on February 2^nd (an HMV ‘Next Big Thing’ Event in conjunction with Spinefarm Records), and the following month they head out on tour with much-touted US rockers Black Veil Brides, starting in Wolverhampton on March 24^th.