Update from Lars - update

This week Metal Hammer says:

reports that the release of METALLICA's new album has been delayed again, according to the band's record label. The band's ninth studio CD is now expected to hit the stores in September. Originally METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich said it would be out in February, then the release was pushed back to April.

Good grief!

Update: Justpressplay has this update from the record label:

Update (1.23.08): In response to Stereo Warning's previous news bite, Metallica management told The Pulse of Radio that the disc has not been "delayed" since there "has never been an actual release date." As for when the record was likely to surface, the representative said, "It will be out when it's ready."

Many are saying that the last time the band spent this long in the studio, they released the Black album. I was hoping for something more like Master of Puppets myself.

Oh yes I did!

I went to see Stephen Fry's production of Cinderella at the Old Vic last night. It was very, very funny and had a large helping of double entendres and innuendo, some very camp moments, a couple of very ugly sisters and lots of singing and dancing. Just what panto is all about.

Take your seats for the perfect evening of family Christmas fun in this sparkling tale of magic, midnight and mischief: jam-packed with laughter, cross-dressing, singing, shoes, envy, dancing and cake. And of course love, the truest purest love you could ever wish for.

The only problem was, I had to leave early and miss the last twenty minutes, thanks to Southeastern trains. Network Rail were doing late night engineering work, which meant that if I had stayed until the end of the show, it would have taken me two hours to get home instead of the usual hour. The last hour of the journey would have been by replacement bus service, which didn't really appeal.

The Bolties are recording too!

Brit Death Metal outfit Bolt Thrower are currently writing material for a new album:

If you're wondering why there hasn't been a lot of BT news for a while, that's because we are still in writing mode for the new album, which we plan to record in the summer. And during the break between the recording and mixing of the album, we will play our only festival of the year.

Unfortunately, the festival happens to be Party.San Metal Open Air Festival in Bad Berka, Germany on 7-9th August. Hopefully, they'll a few UK dates to promote the album.

Metallica for Reading 08?

Metal Hammer reported that there are rumours that Metallica and Rage Against the Machine may be playing The Reading and Leeds Festival this year:

Here are some rumours we've heard with regards to who might be playing the Reading/Leeds festivals this year.

Reading Festival - Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th August 2008
Main Stage >> Friday 22 August >> Rage Against The Machine - strong rumour
Metallica - strong rumour >> unknown day
My Chemical Romance - rumour >> unknown stage >> unknown day
NoFX - strong rumour

New goodies from Apple

At the Macworld Expo in San Francisco today, CEO Steve Jobs unveiled some new goodies from Apple.

First up is MacBook Air, an ultra thin notebook, which has been rumoured for some time. It is an amazing piece of kit featuring 13.3 wide screen LED back lit display, multi touch track pad, 2GB RAM, 80GB and is just 1.94cm thin. There is no optical drive, but as it is a wireless device, you won't need one much of the time. If you do need one, you can buy an external SuperDrive or use a new feature called Remote Disc, which enables you to access a CD or DVD on a remote Mac or PC.

You'll need to fork out £1,199 for the 1.6GHz machine, or if you are feeling particularly frivolous, you can spend £2,028 the 1.8GHz version with a 64GB solid state drive.

Other new stuff announced included Time Capsule – automatic wireless backup for your Mac, software updates for the iPhone and iPod Touch, iTunes Movie Rental (available in US only at present) and an updated AppleTV.

Update from Lars

According to Metal Hammer, the February issue of Revolver Magazine has an interview with Lars Ulrich, who talks about the forthcoming new Metallica album:

There's a lot of light and shade in these songs. There's heavy, fast, nutty stuff, and then there's some slowdowns and musical interludes. It's pretty different from 'St. Anger', and it's pretty different from the 'Load' stuff. This stuff is not the one-dimensional punch in the face that 'St. Anger' was.

Okay, let's have less talking about it, and get the damn thing out!

Heaven and Hell to write new album

Metal Hammer reported that Artisan News Service has three video clips of an interview with Heaven and Hell's Drummer, Vinnie Appice. He confirms that Heaven and Hell are to record a new studio album in 2008. He also has this to say about the rest of the band:

Those guys are, like, I mean it doesn't get much heavier than playing with Tony and Geezer," he said. "Tony on this side and Geezer on this side, it's just a wall of sound. And then you got Dio, who manages to sing over all that, it's just totally incredible. I'm in heaven...and hell.

Metal at 40

Metal at 40 - Tells the story of the loudest and darkest form of rock.

BBC Radio 4 documentary broadcast this week, available on Listen Again.

The mob rules!

As mentioned a while back, I put the Heaven and Hell Live From Radio City Hall DVD/CD box set on my Amazon wish list for Christmas. I got it too!

It is really rather good. Mr Dio rambles on a bit in between songs and says 'bloody' in a faux brummy accent a couple times, but the music is first class. All the Dio era Sabbath classics are there - Neon Knights, Die Young and Falling Off the Edge of World. Sorry, but the live version of Heaven and Hell, although a great song, always goes on too long for my liking. The three new songs from the compilation that came out last year are also here - The Devil Cried, Shadow Of The Wind, Ear In The Wall.

The quality of concert footage on the DVD is great, but I haven't had a chance to check out the extras yet (Heaven and Hell Road Movie, Hail the Gods of Metal, Meet the Mob and Radio City). I'll let you know.

Included in the box are photos of the band, a poster and a replica back stage pass from the concert.

'But what do you eat for Christmas dinner?'

This is a question often asked of vegetarians at Christmas. Of course, you cannot beat a good nut roast, but I always try and find something different to serve for Christmas dinner.

This year, I found a great recipe on the Tesco Magazine website for Moroccan Vegetable Nut Roast. It was pretty easy to make, very tasty and went surprisingly well with my Dad's home grown Brussels sprouts!

Apologies for the quality of the photo, I'd had a bit to drink.