White Noise: News on Van Halen, Slipknot, Kiss, Fear Factory, Mars Volta, Susperia and More
Man, what a night. We spent a few hours inside New York's Avatar Studios with Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson, and got our first listen at the band's epic forthcoming LP, 'The Incident,' which will be released September 22 as a two-disc offering; we can't get the song "Time Flies" out of our heads. Wilson shot the breeze with Noisecreep for about an hour, and we'll be bringing you everything from that interview before the week's up. We will tell you this: He revealed that on the band's tour this fall, Kings X will be the openers, which is kind of rad. Anyways, let's get on with the morning news. It's White Noise; can you hear it?
+ Finally, a Kiss-related product we can support! Bassist Gene Simmons posted a picture on his Web site yesterday, of a promotional urinal cake featuring his face. Its an ad, essentially, for Gene's A&E program "Gene Simmons' Family Jewels," which means now, you can pee on Gene's face and not face criminal prosecution. "They're in most bathrooms," Simmons wrote on his site. "Now, for those of you who need detail: all you need to do is point your tool into the urinal, hit the 'cake' with your flow and don't be surprised if the urinal cake talks back to you. And please, leave the urinal cake for others to enjoy."
+ In legal news, Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen filed a lawsuit against Nike in Los Angeles on Friday, claiming the sneaker company used the trademarked striped design from his guitar on their new line of "Dunk Lows" tennis shoes. The sneaks feature red, white, and black streaks along the midsole, and Van Halen's suit claims it violates a 2001 copyright for the design on the body of his "Frankenstein" electric guitar. The suit seeks general and punitive damages, for "irreparable harm and damage," and seeks to prevent Nike from future sales of the kicks.
+ So, what's the deal with Fear Factory? In April, Burton C. Bell and ex-guitarist Dino Cazares revealed they'd reconciled their friendship, and would resurrect a true FF with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan. They added that Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera, who were members of the Cazares-less Fear Factory, would not be involved in the band. Now, Herrera and Wolbers are claiming they never left the band, and that they are still in FF. "[Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory," Herrera said, "and they never communicated with us about it." He added that the band's original four members (Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and himself) are legally regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and that "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate." He added that he and Wolbers have eight songs written for Fear Factory's next record, and that there's "a big legal battle going on right now. Moving forward, I don't know what's gonna happen with the trademark, so to speak. It's kind of a weird situation, but it's not a situation that we created that was weird."
+ Sepultura frontman Derrick Green is a new dad, following the recent birth of his son, Nolan Maddox. Congrats, dude.
+ What's going on with Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor? He shouldn't even know who Susan Boyle is, let alone be praising the Internet singing sensation. If you don't know who she is, ask you mom. Anyways, in an interview, Taylor called Boyle "incredible," and said he was mesmerized when he watched Boyle's first appearance on "Britain's Got Talent" earlier this year. "Somebody told me about the show and I said, 'I have got to see this. I put it on and she was fantastic. The people on that panel were in tears! When Susan leans into it, she's great."
+ Borknagar have wrapped production on their new album, 'Universal,' and are eyeing a late 2009 release for the disc.
+ Good news for Susperia frontman Athera (born: Pal Mathiesen). He'll be rejoining the band at the Steinkjer Festival in Norway on June 26, just months after suffering a heart attack, which resulted in major open heart surgery.
+ We don't know about you, but we love the Mars Volta. If you'd like to hear their new album, 'Octahedron,' they're streaming the entire disc. It will only be up for a limited time, so don't drag your feet. The album hits stores June 23.