{"key":"1466","name":"Rammstein","bio":"Rammstein is a German metal band which was formed in 1994, in Berlin, and consists of Till Lindemann (lead vocals), Richard Kruspe (lead guitar and backing vocals), Paul Landers (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Oliver Riedel (bass guitar, \"Ollie\"), Christoph Schneider (drums and Electronic percussion, \"Doom\") and Christian Lorenz (keyboards, \"Flake\"). The band is widely accepted as part of the Neue Deutsche H\u00e4rte scene, alongside bands such as Oomph!, Laibach, and Die Krupps. Their songs are performed almost exclusively in German. They have sold over 22 million records worldwide. Rammstein's entire catalogue is published by Universal Music Group. Since its formation, Rammstein has had no changes in lineup.Although the majority of their songs are written in German, Rammstein has had success across the world. NameRammstein takes its name indirectly from the West German town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, the site of the flight show disaster on August 28, 1988. The band's signature song, the eponymous Rammstein, is a commemoration of the tragedy that took place at the Ramstein Air Base. The extra \"m\" in the band's name makes it translate literally as \"ramming stone\" to convey the Teutonic sound of their music. In a short period before the band became well known, they performed using the name \"Rammstein-Flugschau\" (literally meaning Rammstein-Airshow.)FormationRammstein was founded by guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe. In 1989, he escaped to West Berlin and started the band, Orgasm Death Gimmick. At that time, he was heavily influenced by American music, especially that of Kiss. After the Berlin Wall came down, he moved back home to Schwerin where Till Lindemann worked as a basket weaver and played drums in the band First Arsch (loosely translated as \"Apex Ass\"). At this time, Richard lived with Oliver Riedel, of the band The Inchtabokatables, and Christoph \"Doom\" Schneider (of Die Firma). Richard realized that the music he had previously created did not properly suit him. He envisioned something that would combine machines as well as the sound of hard guitars. The three started working together on a new project. Richard soon found it extremely difficult to write both music and lyrics at the same time, so he persuaded Lindemann to join Rammstein. Richard first discovered Till when he overheard him singing while he was working.Early Years (Pre-Herzeleid Era - 1994)A contest was held in Berlin for amateur bands in 1994, the winner of which would receive the opportunity to record a four track demo CD in a professional studio. Kruspe, Schneider, Riedel, and Lindemann entered and won the contest, which sparked the attention of Paul Landers, who wanted in on the project upon hearing their demo. To complete their sound, Rammstein then attempted to recruit Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz, who had played with Paul Landers previously in Feeling B. At first, Lorenz was hesitant, but eventually agreed to join the band.Herzeleid (1995 - 1997)Rammstein began to record their first studio album entitled Herzeleid in March 1995 with producer Jacob Hellner. They released their first single Du riechst so gut on August 17th and later released the album on September 24th 1995. Later that same year, they toured with Clawfinger in Warsaw and Prague. Rammstein headlined a tour of their own through Germany from December 2nd to December 22nd consisting of 17 shows which helped to boost the band's popularity. They then went on several tours throughout early 1996, releasing their second single entitled Seemann on January 8th 1996.On March 27, Rammstein performed on MTV's Hanging Out in London; their first performance in the UK. Rammstein's first major boost in popularity outside of Germany came when music director Trent Reznor chose two Rammstein songs, namely Heirate Mich and Rammstein, for David Lynch's new film, Lost Highway. The soundtrack for the movie was released in the US in the fall of 1996 and later in Europe April 1997.Rammstein then went on to tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland from September to October 1996, doing an anniversary concert on 27th September called '100 years of Rammstein'. Guests to the concert included Moby, Christiane Herbold (of Bobo) and The Berlin Session Orchestra, Berlin director Gert Hof was responsible for the light show.Sehnsucht\/Live aus Berlin (late 1996 - 2000)Rammstein started recording Sehnsucht in November 1996 at the Temple Studios in Malta. The album was again produced by Jacob Hellner. The first single off the album, entitled Engel was released on April 1 1997 and later reached gold on May 23. This prompted the release of a fan edition of the single, appropriately named Engel: Fan Edition. This contained two previously unreleased songs Feuerr\u00e4der and Wilder Wein. Release of the 2nd single off the album \"Sehnsucht\" was Du Hast which hit the German single charts August 1997 at number 5.Rammstein then continued touring in the summer whilst Sehnsucht was released on August 22nd 1997. The album reached number 1 after only two weeks in the charts. Simultaneously, Herzeleid and both the singles off Sehnsucht (Du Hast and Engel) were in the Top 20 of the German charts. Rammstein continued to headline sold out shows throughout Europe in September, October and November 1997 before releasing their cover of the Kraftwerk song, Das Modell. The single included another unreleased song entitled Kokain. On December 5th 1997, Rammstein embarked on their first tour of the United States, with support from KMFDM. On August 22nd and 23rd 1998, Rammstein played to over 17,000 fans at the Wuhlheide in Berlin; the biggest show the band have ever played there up to that date. Supporting acts were Danzig, Nina Hagen, Joachim Witt and Alaska. The show was professionally videotaped, intended to be released on their upcoming live DVD, Live aus Berlin. Rammstein embarked on a live tour with Korn, Ice Cube, Orgy and Limp Bizkit called the Family Values tour in September through to late October 1998. To further continue their success in the US, Sehnsucht received Gold record status on November 2nd. The Band was nominated at the MTV European Music Awards for Best Rock Act and performed Du Hast live on November 12th of that year.Rammstein had further success in 1999, starting off the year in February with a nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 42nd-annual Grammy Awards. A year after it was filmed, the Live aus Berlin concert was released on CD on 30th August 1999, with a limited edition double CD also available. Two weeks after it was released, Live aus Berlin went to number one in the German Album Charts. On September 13th and November 26th 1999 the video and DVD versions of the concert were released respectively.Mutter (2000 - 2002)Rammstein's album Mutter recording took place in the south of France between May 2000 and June 2000, and was later mixed in Stockholm in October of that year. During the Christmas holidays 2000, Rammstein released an MP3 of Links 2 3 4 as a taster for their new album. 2001 was a busy year for Rammstein, starting out in January and February with the band playing the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. January also heralded the shooting of the video for their upcoming single Sonne, recorded in Potsdam at Babelsberger Filmstudios from 13th to the 15th. The video was released on 29th January 2001. The single for Sonne was released on February 12th 2001 in Europe, featuring an Instrumental version of the song, two remixes by Clawfinger, and Adios off the upcoming album. Mutter was released on April 2nd 2001, sparking another Rammstein tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On May 14th, the second single off the album Links 2 3 4 was released, along with a video of the single on May 18th. After a tour throughout Europe in June, the band then toured USA, Canada and Mexico from June 2001 to August 2001. Ich Will, the third single from the album was released on September 10th 2001 and a Tour edition of the Mutter album was released, featuring alternative artwork and live versions of Ich Will, Links 2 3 4, Sonne, and Spieluhr. Between January 8th and January 12th 2002, Rammstein travelled to Prague to participate in a minor scene from the movie 'xXx'. The band is seen in the opening scene of the action movie performing a concert with their song Feuer frei!. Feuer frei! was released across Europe as first single from the xXx Soundtrack on 14th October 2002. Rammstein released two remixes of the song, Furthermore, the single's tracklisting included Du Hast and B\u00fcck Dich cover versions by Battery. The single cover was an artwork by New York artist Robert Longo. The video for the single was cut by Rob Cohen, which is partly the Rammstein performance at the beginning of the movie and partly snippets from the movie itself.Reise, Reise (2003 - 2005)Rammstein recorded Reise, Reise at the El Cortijo studio in southern Spain between November 2003 and December 2003, it was later mixed at Toytown studio in Stockholm, Sweden in April and May 2004. The first single off of the album was Mein Teil, released on 26th July 2004. The shooting for the video is shot in the Arena, in the Treptow district of Berlin. Outdoor shooting takes place at the Deutsche Oper (Opera House) U-Bahn station on Bismarckstrasse. The director is Zoran Bihac, who was also behind the Links 2 3 4 video. The Amerika video is filmed on the 6th and 7th of August 2004 in the ruins of the former chemical factory in R\u00fcdersdorf near Berlin, Germany under the direction of J\u00f6rn Heitmann (who also directed the Ich will video, among others). The spacesuits for the moon scenes were borrowed from Hollywood and 240 tons of ash was needed to create the moon landscape. The video premiered on 20th August 2004.The second single from Reise, Reise was Amerika, released on September 13th 2004. With the album released on September 27th, it went straight to top 10 charts throughout Europe. According to the Billboard charts, Rammstein were now the most successful German-language band of all time. Rammstein then toured Germany through November and some of December 2004, releasing the single Ohne Dich on 22nd November.In February 2005, Rammstein tour Europe again. Ending on February 28, 2005, Rammstein will have played 21 concerts in front of more than 200,000 spectators in 10 countries. Keine Lust was the fourth single released from Reise, Reise on 28th February 2005. From May 27th 2005 to July 30th 2005, Rammstein play festivals all around Europe and in Russia. Footage from these concerts eventually end up on Rammstein's live DVD V\u00f6lkerball, released later in November 2006.Rosenrot\/V\u00f6lkerball (2005 - 2006)In August 2005, Rammstein revealed the name of their latest studio album, Rosenrot. Their first single from the new album, Benzin, was released on October 5th 2005, with its video premiere on 16th September 2005. The album Rosenrot was released worldwide on October 28th 2005. Directly following the release, the album continues the success-story of forerunner Reise, Reise and takes the top 10 charts in 20 different countries. December 16th 2005 spelled the release of the title track on the album Rosenrot. The video for Mann Gegen Mann was released on 6th February 2006, with the single being released on March 3rd. On February 19th 2006, Rammstein had the honour of having an asteroid named after them, 110393 Rammstein. Some believe their name was chosen because of the music video for Amerika, which displayed the six members of the band floating above the moon sporting NASA's astronaut suits. On November 17th the first Rammstein Live DVD since Live aus Berlin from 1998 is released. V\u00f6lkerball shows concert-performances by the band in England, France, Japan and Russia. The Special Edition is extended by a second DVD, which contains the documentaries \u201cAnaconda in the net\u201d by Mathilde Bonnefoy and the \u201cMaking of the album Reise, Reise\u201d by Rammstein guitarist Paul Landers. The limited Edition is released as a large black\/white photo-book with photos by Frederic Batier, who had accompanied the band through their recent tours. The Photo-book edition contains 2 DVDs and 2 Live albums.Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da & Tour (2007\u20132011)The band took a time out in 2006, and began work again in 2007. The band didn't tour during 2007 due to album production. The recording process took reportedly two years.In July 2009, the title track \"Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da\" leaked onto the internet, along with promotional materials. This has led Universal Music to take action against certain fan sites.The single \"Pussy\" was released on September 16, 2009, especially for the adult website Visit-x. The video contains graphic scenes of male and female nudity as well as women engaging in sexual activity with the band members, although the actual sex scenes were performed by body doubles. The women featured in the video are German porn stars.The album Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da was released October 16. On November 8, 2009 Rammstein began the first leg of the Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da Tour In Lisbon, Portugal.The video to \"Ich tu dir weh\" was released on December 21, 2009 on the adult website Visit-x, just like the video to \"Pussy\", after advertisement on the band's official German website; it depicts the band on stage in a similar configuration as the one on their 2009\/10 tour. Any references to the video on the official website have since been deleted. The single has been released on January 15, 2010.On April 23, 2010, Rammstein released their video \"Haifisch\". Unlike the video to \"Ich tu dir weh\", it contains more of a storyline rather than a performance. The single was released during May and June 2010.As part of their European summer tour, Rammstein performed at the 2010 Rock AM Ring Festival on Friday 4th - Sunday 6 June 2010. They also headlined several shows across Europe on the Sonisphere Festival, including their first ever outdoor UK performance at Knebworth Park, performing the day before Iron Maiden. On Sunday July 18, 2010, Rammstein played in front of more than 130,000 people in Quebec City on the Plains of Abraham as the closing show for the Festival d'\u00e9t\u00e9 de Qu\u00e9bec. It was their first North American appearance in 9 years. The band have confirmed that their last tour dates of 2010 will be in the Americas. After several South American dates the band will perform a show at the famous Madison Square Garden in New York- their first US show in nine years, Tickets sold out within 30 minutes of being on sale. It is also confirmed that they will be playing at Big Day Out 2011 in Australia and New Zealand.Made In Germany 1995\u20132011 (2011\u2013present)On November 11, 2011 Rammstein released the single \"Mein Land\", on December 2 the album \"Made in Germany 1995\u20132011\".StyleAlthough Rammstein is often generalized as Neue Deutsche H\u00e4rte, its music spans a variety of related styles, including industrial hard rock, heavy metal and electronic music with influences of punk rock, pop music and gothic rock, due to their use of keyboards to emulate strings, choirs or pianos. The band was influenced by Laibach, a Slovenian neo-classical and industrial group. Other influences include, Oomph!, and Ministry, but the contrast between individual songs such as Du riechst so gut, Bestrafe mich, Ohne dich and Te quiero puta! makes the band difficult to classify, though most simply refer to them as industrial metal. The band's diverse range of influence has made them appealing to tastes of all kinds, but they are chiefly renowned in industrial, electronica, and heavy metal circles.The band has a flair for costumes of all sorts, both in live shows and in videos. In the Keine Lust video, all members of the band except Flake were dressed in fat suits. In the Amerika video, all members of the band wore space suits. Live, the band experiments even more with costumes. In the Volkerball concert, among others, Till would change constumes in between songs, dressed accordingly for each song. For example, in Mein Teil, he was dressed as a butcher, in Reise, Reise, a sailor. The rest of the band each wears their own preferred costume, but none as outlandish or themed as Till's.Rammstein's style has tended to divide critics, some of whom have responded with memorable comments. Jam Showbiz (April 2001) described Mutter as \"music to invade Poland to.\" New Zealand's Southland Times (Dec. 17, 1999) suggested that Till Lindemann's \"booming, sub-sonic voice\" would send \"the peasants fleeing into their barns and bolting their doors,\" while the New York Times (Jan. 9, 2005) commented that on the stage, \"Mr. Lindemann gave off an air of such brute masculinity and barely contained violence that it seemed that he could have reached into the crowd, snatched up a fan, and bitten off his head.\" Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic commented that \"their blend of industrial noise, grinding metal guitars, and operatic vocals is staggeringly powerful.\" \"We just push boundaries,\" said Till Lindemann in an interview with rock magazine Kerrang!. \"We can't help it if people don't like those boundaries being pushed.\"LyricsNearly all of Rammstein's songs are in German. However, the band did record Engel (English version) (Angel), Du hast (English version) (\"You have\", which is most commonly confused with \"You hate\", since 'hast' and 'hasst' sound phonetically identical. In the English version of the song, the lyric is translated to \"You hate\" for stylization purposes.), and Amerika (English version), as well as covers of the songs Stripped (Depeche Mode) and Pet Sematary (The Ramones). In addition, the songs Amerika, Stirb nicht vor mir (Don't Die Before I Do) and Moskau (\"Moscow\") contain not only German verses, but also English and Russian choruses, respectively; Te quiero puta! (\"I love you, whore!\") is entirely in Spanish. Oliver Riedel commented that, \"German language suits heavy metal music. French might be the language of love, but German is the language of anger\".The lyrics of Rammstein and above all their talk by singer Till Lindemann are an essential element of music and shape the perception by fans and a wider public. This is, among other things that are often very controversial, and taboo subjects such as sadomasochism (B\u00fcck Dich, Rein Raus and Bestrafe Mich), homosexuality (Mann gegen Mann), incest (Spiel mit mir and Tier), pedophilia (Tier and Halleluja) , Necrophilia (Heirate mich), Pyromania (Benzin and Hilf mir), cannibalism (Mein Teil), the game with religious images (Asche zu Asche, Engel) having sex and violence (Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen?).Wordplay is a fundamental component of Rammstein's lyrics. In many instances, the lyrics are phrased such that they can be interpreted in several ways. The song Du hast, for example, is a play on German marriage vows (Willst Du, bis der Tod euch scheidet, treu ihr sein f\u00fcr alle Tage? - \"Will you, until Death separates you, be faithful to her for the rest of your days?\"). In the song, the traditional affirmative response, Ja (\"Yes\"), is replaced by its negation Nein (\"No\"). The final repetition of this line further perverts the meaning of the original vows through a minor change in the wording Willst Du, bis zum Tod der Scheide \u2026 (Will you, until the Death of the vagina \u2026). The song starts, in fact, with a play on words: Du\u2026 Du hast\u2026 Du hast mich\u2026 meaning \"You have me\". This line is often mistaken for \"You hate me\", because in German, there is no clear distinction between the pronunciation of Du hasst which means \"you hate\" and Du hast which means \"you have\". The word game is later resolved as the line is completed; Du hast mich gefragt (\"You asked me\"). Confusingly, the band did also make an English version of the song named You hate which was not translated directly from Du hast. While many arguments about 'Du Hast' are around, it is known that Rammstein used this wording to mislead and create humour in the song. It was a play with the pronunciation of words, causing many non-native speakers of German to be confused.Live PerformancesRammstein has achieved particular fame (not to mention notoriety) for its hugely over-the-top stage show, using so many pyrotechnics that fans eventually coined the motto \"Other bands play, Rammstein burns!\" (a quip at Manowar's song \"Kings of Metal\", which states, \"other bands play, Manowar kill\"). After an accident in the Arena in Berlin where some burning decoration parts fell on the audience (September 27, 1996) the band took to employing professionals to handle the pyrotechnics; Lindemann himself is now a licensed pyrotechnician who spends entire songs engulfed head-to-toe in flames. He has suffered multiple burns on his ears, his hair and his arms.The heat is so intense that on occasion, people have been carried out of Rammstein concerts suffering from heat exhaustion, and lighting gantries have been seen glowing red-hot from repeated fireball hits. The variety of the pyrotechnics can be seen in a recent concert playlist, which includes such items as \"Lycopodium Masks\", \"Glitterburst Truss\", \"Pyrostrobes\", \"Comets\", \"Flash Trays\" and \"Mortar Hits\".The band's costumes are equally outlandish. During the Reise, Reise tour they were wearing Lederhosen, corsets and vague military uniforms with steel helmets, while during the Mutter tour the group kept to the themes of the album artwork and descended onto the stage from a giant uterus while wearing diapers.According to Kruspe, the on-stage wackiness is entirely deliberate (Rammstein's motto according to Schneider is: \"Do your own thing. And overdo it!\"). The aim is to get people's attention and have fun at the same time: \"You have to understand that 99 percent of the people don't understand the lyrics, so you have to come up with something to keep the drama in the show. We have to do something. We like to have a show; we like to play with fire. We do have a sense of humor. We do laugh about it; we have fun\u2026 but we're not Spinal Tap. We take the music and the lyrics seriously. It's a combination of humor, theater and our East German culture, you know?\"Their onstage antics have led them to trouble as well. During their stint on the American Family Values Tour 1998, alongside acts such as rapper Ice Cube, Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Orgy, the band was arrested for indecency. In one of the more infamous moments, Rammstein's vocalist, Till Lindemann engaged in simulated sodomy with the keyboardist, Christian Lorenz, during their performance of \"B\u00fcck dich\" in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were subsequently arrested and fined $25 and spent the night in jail. The band attempted to appeal the fine, but spent more in legal fees and court fees than the $25 fine.Covers and AdaptationsRammstein's songs have been covered by a number of other artists, These include: * Engel : The group Gregorian reworked Engel as a Gregorian chant for their album The Dark Side. The same song has been covered by Belgian girls choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers, resulting in a very quiet, brooding version; contrary to the original.The Chilean aggrotech\/industrial metal band Vigilante also covered this song on their 2008 remix album. * Mein Herz brennt : The German composer Torsten Rasch has produced a classical symphonic song-cycle entitled Mein Herz brennt (\"My heart burns\"), based on the music of Rammstein. * Seemann : by Nina Hagen and Apocalyptica. This cover impressed Rammstein so much that they took Apocalyptica as co-headliner on tour with them in Spring 2005, and invited the band on stage to perform \"Ohne dich\" (\"Without you\") and \"Mein Herz brennt\" (\"My Heart burns\") together. The \"Benzin\" single also featured a remix of the song, called Kerosiini by Apocalyptica. * Ohne dich : by Laibach. * Wei\u00dfes Fleisch : by the German death metal band Debauchery covered the song for their Back In Blood album. * \"Mein Teil\" : A bluegrass version appears as a bonus track on the band Hayseed Dixie's 2007 album Weapons of Grass Destruction.Rammstein has also done several covers themselves, including Das Modell (\"The model\") by Kraftwerk, \"Stripped\" by Depeche Mode and \"Pet Sematary\" by Ramones (sung by keyboardist Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz). A cover version of Schtiel (\"Calm\") by Aria (\u0410\u0440\u0438\u044f) was released by Till Lindemann & Richard Kruspe as a side project, due to disagreement with Universal records label.It was recently announced that the German pop singer Nena, author of 99 Luftballons (\"99 Air Balloons\"), will be doing an album of covers named Cover Me in which it will feature a Rammstein cover of the song Ein Lied. Till Lindemann appears as a guest singer along with Richard Kruspe on guitar on the Apocalyptica album Worlds Collide. They took on David Bowie's song Heroes, which was released in German as Helden. Lindemann sings the German version, making his song the only German-language song on Worlds Collide.Rammstein singles traditionally also have a great quantity of remixes, particularly often from Clawfinger and Meshuggah.ControversiesImageryDescribed by the New York Times as a \"powerful strain of brutally intense rock\" who \"bring gale-force music and spectacular theatrics together\", Rammstein has been a band with a highly controversy-prone nature. Rammstein have not been shy about courting this controversy and have periodically attracted condemnation from morality campaigners. Their stage act earned them a night in jail in June 1999 after a liquid-ejecting dildo was used in a concert in Worcester, Massachusetts. Back home in Germany, the band has faced repeated accusations of fascist sympathies due to the dark and sometimes militaristic imagery of their videos and concerts, including the use of excerpts from the film Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl in the video for Stripped. Their debut album Herzeleid, released in Germany in 1995, originally had a cover featuring the band members' upper bodies without clothing; critics accused the band of trying to sell themselves as \"poster boys for the Master Race\". Rammstein have vigorously denied this and said that they want nothing to do with politics or supremacy of any kind. Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz, annoyed by the claim, has remarked that it's just a photo, and should be understood as such. Herzeleid has since been given an alternate cover in the United States, depicting the band members' faces.The song Links 2 3 4 (Links being German for \"left\") was written as a riposte to these claims. According to Kruspe, it means, \"'My heart beats on the left, two, three, four'. It's simple. If you want to put us in a political category, we're on the left side, and that's the reason we made the song\". On the other hand, this is also an allusion to a military marching cadence since \"Links, 2, 3, 4\" is typically heard during marching practice in the German army with \"links\" referring to the left foot. The song is also a reference to the saying \"the heart beats left\", repeatedly used by Oskar Lafontaine, in 2001 a famous member of the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany), now leader of the Left Party (Die Linke), and almost the title of a book written by him (the title is Das Herz schl\u00e4gt links instead of Mein Herz schl\u00e4gt links \u2013 \"The heart beats left\" instead of \"My Heart beats left\")..According to the German online music magazine Rammstein, through this song, positioned themselves on the side of Oskar Lafontaine. They write: Rammstein binden den Lafontaine-Spruch \"Mein Herz schl\u00e4gt links\" in ihren Text ein und zitieren eine Zeile aus einem alten Hannes Wader-Arbeitersong (\"Links, zwo, drei, vier; links, zwo, drei, vier; wo dein Platz Genosse ist, reih Dich ein in die Arbeitereinheitsfront, wenn Du auch ein Arbeiter bist\"). (Rammstein embed the Lafontaine saying My heart beats left into their lyric and cite a line of an old Hannes Wader workers' song (\"Left, 2, 3, 4; left 2, 3, 4; where your place is comrade, line up into the Workers' United Front, if you are a worker\").)Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz recently stated on an on-line chat that the song was created in order to show that the band could write a harsh, \"evil\", military-sounding song that was not about Nazi ideals.Relation To Violent EventsRammstein were cited in relation to the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999, when photos of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold wearing Rammstein T-shirts were revealed. Though there was no evidence to correlate the two events, the band felt obliged to issue a statement: \"The members of Rammstein express their condolences and sympathy to all affected by the recent tragic events in Denver. They wish to make it clear that they have no lyrical content or political beliefs that could have possibly influenced such behaviour. Additionally, members of Rammstein have children of their own, in whom they continually strive to instill healthy and non-violent values\".Coincidentally, on September 10, 2001 the single and video clip of Ich will (\"I Want\") was released which portrays the band as terrorists who want to get a message across and receiving a kind of terrorist award for their \"actions\". In the United States the video clip was broadcast only late at night after the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City although many media officials and politicians requested the video to be pulled from broadcast completely.Following the tragic conclusion of the Beslan school hostage crisis in Russia in September 2004, the Russian authorities claimed that the terrorists had \"listened to German hard rock group Rammstein on personal stereos during the siege to keep themselves edgy and fired up\". The claim has not been independently confirmed.Band members said this about the issue: \"There's been a lot of talk about that, but if there are radical feelings in people anything can wake them \u2013 a painting, a picture, whatever. It's just a coincidence that it happened to be our music. It's important to think about what caused them to make their decisions, how they became animals, not their taste in music. Whenever something like this happens it's like 'Okay, let's blame the artist'. Such bullshit. (Till Lindemann). \"Our music is made to release aggression, and people listening to it are also needed to do that, but it's not our fault. Should we stop making hard music because bad people might like it?\" (Christoph \"Doom\" Schneider).Pekka-Erik Auvinen, the perpetrator of the Jokela school shooting in November 2007 also included Rammstein in one of his favourite bands. He noted though that, the music among other things was not to blame for his decisions.VideosIn October 2004, the video for Mein Teil (\"My part\") caused considerable controversy in Germany when it was released. It takes a darkly comic view of the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case, showing a cross dressed Schneider holding the other 5 band members on a leash and rolling around in mud. The controversy did nothing to stop (and may even have helped) the single rising to No. 2 in the German charts. Meiwes (who was convicted of manslaughter in 2004, then retried in 2006 and found guilty of murder) brought suit in January 2006 against the band for infringement of rights to the story. The outcome resulted in a loss for the band of $5.5 million.The band's own views of its image are sanguine: \"We like being on the fringes of bad taste\", according to Paul H. Landers, while Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz comments \"The controversy is fun, like stealing forbidden fruit. But it serves a purpose. We like audiences to grapple with our music, and people have become more receptive\".Not all of Rammstein's videos feature excess and pushing the limits of conventional taste. The video of Ohne Dich (\"Without You\") from Reise, Reise can only be described as lushly filmed and touchingly melancholy.The video for Mann gegen Mann (\"Man against man\") from their studio album Rosenrot may have caused some controversy, as most of the band members are naked in the video. The lead singer Till Lindemann is wearing what can best be described as a \"latex panties\" - most likely because he does not have an instrument with which to cover his genitalia. In addition, there are multiple naked men in the video, with clearly visible buttocks, though genitalia could be seen at 32 seconds into the video on Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz through the arm of the guitarist (Richard Z. Krupse) and below the keyboard. He is wearing a flesh-colored thong to prevent this. The video has been played uncensored on MTV. The video has been rated FSK 16 in Germany and therefore can be played on television only after 10pm. The first single from Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da, \"Pussy\", shows body doubles of the band members having sex in the uncensored version of the music video.Discography * 1995: Herzeleid * 1997: Sehnsucht * 2001: Mutter * 2004: Reise, Reise * 2005: Rosenrot * 2009: Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da * 2011: Made in Germany","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/1466_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"150,000 - 300,000"}

{"key":"1441","name":"In Flames","bio":"In Flames is a Swedish metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band\u2019s earlier work is considered to be a major influence on the melodic death metal music genre, although they have changed styles into a more alternative metal sound on more recent albums. Since the band\u2019s conception in 1990, they have received numerous awards and released ten studio albums and one live DVD. The band has enjoyed increased popularity in recent years, both in its native Sweden and internationally. As of 2008, In Flames has sold over two million records worldwide.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/1441_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"1431","name":"Slipknot","bio":"Slipknot is an American alternative\/nu metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray. After several lineup changes in their early days, the band consisted of nine members for the greater part of their tenure: Sid Wilson, Paul Gray, Joey Jordison, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Shawn Crahan, Mick Thomson, and Corey Taylor. However, the death of Paul Gray on May 24, 2010, left the band with only eight remaining members. Former guitarist Donnie Steele will be the band\"s touring bassist in 2011.Slipknot is well known by their attention-grabbing image, aggressive music style and chaotic live shows. The band had somewhat of a meteoric rise to success following the release of their self-titled debut album, Slipknot, in 1999. The 2001 follow-up album Iowa further increased the band\"s popularity. After breaking for their first hiatus, Slipknot returned in 2004 with Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) and once again in 2008 with their fourth album All Hope Is Gone, which debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200. The band has also released one live album, 9.0 Live, and four DVDs. Slipknot hosted their first annual music festival, called Knotfest, which was held on August 17, 2012, at Mid-America Motorplex near Pacific Junction, Iowa and August 18, 2012, in Somerset, Wisconsin. The long awaited fifth studio album is in the works and is expected to be released in 2014. Taylor has described the forthcoming album as \"very dark\" and a cross between Iowa and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). On February 27, 2014, all of Slipknot\"s social media outlets and official website content was blacked out. No reason for this has been said, however the band are still recording their next album.Slipknot has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, resulting in one win. Wait and Bleed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Best Metal Performance, 2001 (nomination) Left Behind \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Best Metal Performance, 2002 (nomination) My Plague \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Best Metal Performance, 2003 (nomination) Duality \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Best Hard Rock Performance, 2005 (nomination) Vermilion \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Best Metal Performance, 2005 (nomination) Before I Forget \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Best Metal Performance, 2006 (winner) Psychosocial \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Best Metal Performance, 2009 (nomination)","featuredImage":"https:\/\/yt3.ggpht.com\/-5Of3QLRqTIk\/AAAAAAAAAAI\/AAAAAAAAAAA\/Tmf4smULSck\/s900-c-k-no-mo-rj-c0xffffff\/photo.jpg","feeRange":"300,000 - 500,000"}

{"key":"271","name":"Disturbed","bio":"There are 2 acts by the name of Disturbed;1) Well-known American hard rock band with lead singer David Michael Draiman, formed in 1996, with several albums including The Sickness (Giant\/Reprise 2000), Believe (Giant\/Reprise 2002), Ten Thousand Fists (Reprise, 2005), Indestructible (Reprise, 2008) and Asylum (Reprise, 2010).2) Late 80's American Thrash band who released the album Disturbing the Peace in 1988; formed by Earl Root in 86\/87 and disbanded in 92\/93 before his death in 2008.1) Disturbed was formed in 1996 when musicians Dan Donegan, Steve Kmak, and Mike Wengren hired singer David Draiman in Chicago, Illinois. They have sold over 11 million albums worldwide, and released four consecutive #1 debuts a feat achieved by only two other rock bands in the history of the chart: Metallica and Dave Matthews Band. Originally classified as a nu metal band, Disturbed is now regarded by some music critics as hard rock or heavy metal, although others now regard them as nu metal. However, the band's genre is still being debated. When asked about die-hard metal fans not finding Disturbed heavy enough, frontman David Draiman stated:\"We probably have too much melody going on or we're not quite as turbulent or caustic. While I really love that type of music, it's not what we try to do. If we have to place things in context, we're more hard rock than heavy metal these days.\"Early Days, The SicknessIn their early years, Disturbed started recording several demos and played live shows. Not long after, in 2000, the band released their debut album, titled The Sickness, which launched the band into stardom. The song Down With the Sickness became extremely popular and was later used in many film soundtracks. Soon after the release of \"The Sickness\", Disturbed released a revamped cover version of \"Stone Cold\" Steve Austin's theme music for WWF called \"Glass Shatters\". Disturbed headlined the Ozzfest tour in 2001 alongside Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Black Label Society, and Crazy Town. Afterward, the band started their own tour, called Music as a Weapon. The bands Adema, Drowning Pool, Stereomud, and Systematic were featured on the tour alongside Disturbed.Before joining Marilyn Manson's 2001 European tour, Disturbed's bassist Steve \"Fuzz\" Kmak was unable to play with the band due to a shattered ankle. Fuzz injured his ankle by falling out of a fire escape outside Disturbed's rehearsal hall in Chicago a few days before Christmas. He took the fire escape to exit the building while the elevator was being used to move their equipment downstairs. After a successful operation, doctors highly recommended that he skip the tour to avoid more severe damage to his foot. Kmak did perform with the band on January 11th and 12th of 2001 in Chicago however. A bass player named Marty O'Brian was recruited and filled Fuzz's spot until Fuzz was able to play again. On June 4, 2002, Disturbed released a \"documentary\" about the band titled M.O.L., which showed some of the bands more personal moments in the studio and during tours.BelieveIn September 2002, Disturbed released their second studio album titled Believe, which debuted at #1. The songs Prayer, Liberate and Remember all became singles and many fans were impressed with the new album, despite it being less aggressive than their debut. The music video for \"Prayer\" was pulled from most TV stations due to the similarities it had with the September 11, 2001 attacks. Disturbed's front man, David Draiman, recorded the vocals for Forsaken, a track written and produced by Jonathan Davis of the band Korn for the Queen of the Damned soundtrack. In 2003, the band once again participated in the Ozzfest tour and started another one of their own tours named Music as a Weapon II. The bands Chevelle, Taproot, and Unloco toured with them.In early 2003, after Disturbed had finished the Music as a Weapon II tour, the band experienced the departure of bassist Fuzz, who was excused from the group due to \"personal differences.\" He was replaced with Matt Konopinski very briefly, and then John Moyer, who is now the current bass player.Ten Thousand FistsDisturbed toured with 10 Years and Ill Ni\u00f1o in support of their third album Ten Thousand Fists, released worldwide on September 20, 2005, which also debuted at #1 in North America. Ten Thousand Fists had five B-side tracks that were not released on the album, but rather on various singles and other albums. Currently the track \"Hell\" can be found on the \"Stricken\" single (a second version of this single has the studio version of the track \"Dehumanized\", which was originally featured as a live track on the Music as a Weapon II live album and DVD). The track can also be heard on the band's MySpace page. The track \"Monster\" was originally released as part of an iTunes pre-order package for the first people who pre-ordered Ten Thousand Fists. Afterwards, the track was very hard to find. But, it can now be found on the \"Tour Edition\" of Ten Thousand Fists (along with the track \"Two Worlds\"). The track \"Sickened\" can be found on the \"Land of Confusion\" single. The fifth and final track \"Criminal\" has been released on the band's newest album Indestructible. A month after the release of Ten Thousand Fists, Disturbed headlined the J\u00e4germeister tour along with the band Corrosion of Conformity.Disturbed supplied the song \"Stricken\" for WWE's New Year's Revolution 2006. In April 2006, the band completed an Australian tour supporting KoRn and sharing the tour with 10 Years and Hatebreed. In mid 2006, a European tour was scheduled but had been moved twice due to David Draiman having troubles with his voice.In late 2006, Draiman underwent surgery for a deviated septum which affected his voice. It was successful, and ever since then, Draiman has limited his drinking on the road. Disturbed headlined Ozzfest 2006 along with Ozzy Osbourne, System of a Down, Dragon Force, Avenged Sevenfold, Lacuna Coil, and Hatebreed. The band also went on the European tour that had been previously moved twice earlier in 2006. Disturbed headlined another one of their own tours named Music as a Weapon III; the bands Flyleaf, Stone Sour, and Nonpoint toured with them.Dave Draiman and RIAADraiman became involved in the music file sharing controversy by publicly speaking out against the RIAA's lawsuits against filesharing individuals, despite the fact his record label is a member of the RIAA.\"This is not rocket science. Instead of spending all this money litigating against kids who are the people they're trying to sell things to in the first place, they have to learn how to effectively use the Internet. For the artists, my ass\u2026I didn't ask them to protect me, and I don't want their protection.\" - Draiman.Draiman told NYRock:\"I'm Very positive about the internet, Napster. I think it's a tremendous tool for reaching many more people than we ever could without it. When you release music you want it to be heard by people. Artists really want to have their music heard. They want to have their creation heard by people. Nothing is going to do that better than Napster. I can't tell you how many kids have come up to me and said, 'I downloaded a couple of tunes off Napster and I went out and bought the album.' Or they say, 'I want to come see you play.' I don't really make money off of record sales anyway.\"Indestructible to Present (2007 - 2009)Indestructible was released in the United States on June 3, 2008 and in Australia on June 7, 2008 and became the band's third consecutive number-one debut on the Billboard 200. A special \"Internet Only\" limited edition of the album that includes the B-side track \"Run\", a making-of DVD with instructional videos, wrap-around poster, VIP laminate, access to special Disturbed events, and a special website with exclusive video, rare audio and more was also released. The band toured in support of the \"Mayhem Festival\" alongside Slipknot, DragonForce, and Mastodon during summer of 2008. Disturbed also completed a tour of Australia and New Zealand through August and September 2008.The band began their Music as a Weapon IV tour in March 2009 and it ended in late May. The tour, also dubbed a \"festival\", featured the bands Killswitch Engage, Lacuna Coil, and Chimaira on the main stage.Asylum (2010\u20132011)In an earlier interview, David Draiman briefly talked about the band's fifth studio album, stating that the album will be as dark as their previous album, Indestructible, if not darker. Song-writing for the fifth studio album began in late 2009. In an earlier interview with Mike Wengren and John Moyer, it was stated that, judging by Draiman's feelings on the last few years of his life, that Disturbed's new album will be aggressive, angry, and \"hard-hitting\", but will be similar musically to their album Believe. Wengren also said that the new album may be released in the spring or summer of 2010. Additionally, Draiman has confirmed that a DVD is in the works. A countdown clock appeared on the band's website, which ended on January 12, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. EST, and a trailer for the upcoming DVD, titled Decade of Disturbed, was revealed.In a July 2009 interview with FaceCulture, Draiman stated that the upcoming DVD will be \"chronicling the past decade of Disturbed's existence. It's meant to show our growth over the course of the decade.\" He also talked more about the upcoming fifth album: \"A couple of them that Danny has come up with are really amazing. But they're just little pieces\u2026it's not even in two-three part progression .\"A few months later on March 23, 2010, the band released a reissue of their debut album, The Sickness, with the B-side tracks God of the Mind and A Welcome Burden, as well as updated artwork. It will also be available for the first time in vinyl format.On February 8, 2010, it was announced that the band had entered the studio in Chicago, Illinois to begin recording their fifth album, tentatively set for a summer 2010 release. Guitarist Dan Donegan stated that the band has around 15 to 18 songs for the new album.On April 20, 2010, roughly two months after they entered the studio, Disturbed announced that they had finished recording the album, and were ready to begin mixing it in Los Angeles, California. As they did with their last album Indestructible, Disturbed stated that they self-produced Asylum. The band announced that Asylum would be released on August 31, 2010. On July 9, 2010, the track listing was revealed on the band's official website. Asylum debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200.The Lost Children and hiatus (2011\u2013present)In July 2011, the band confirmed it would go on hiatus after finishing their US tour that year, and in an interview that same month, Draiman dismissed concerns that the upcoming hiatus was a result of conflict between the band members, saying, \"This is really not due to any animosity. I want to make that very clear. In fact, we just had dinner together last night. Believe me, it's not like we can't work with each other any more or we don't get along. This isn't a bad blood thing, and I don't ever want people to get that impression of it.\" Disturbed went into hiatus in October 2011.Disturbed released a b-side compilation album, titled The Lost Children, on November 8, 2011. On February 8, 2012, it was announced that John Moyer is Heavy Metal supergroup Adrenaline Mob's new bass player. John made his onstage debut with the group on March 12, at New York City\u2019s Hiro Ballroom, a day before the release of the band's debut full-length album, Omert\u00e1. On April 21, 2012, to commemorate Record Store Day, Disturbed released \"The Collection\". It is a box set featuring the band's five full length studio albums in 140 gram vinyl LPs. In May 2012 Draiman announced his new project, an industrial metal band called Device. Draiman has released information regarding the future of Disturbed and his new project Device. He has stated that Device will release their self-titled debut album on April 9, 2013. The album will feature many guest musicians from various metal bands. Donegan, guitarist for Disturbed, also stated to a journalist for MTV that the future for Disturbed was unclear. \"I don't have a clear answer , because I'm not sure where everybody's head's at at the moment other than we're having a great time out on tour, we're going out big, we're carrying big production, we wanna end this on a big note,\" he said. \"I think we're not ready to sit down and have the discussions of when we wanna get back together or if we're gonna. So we're kind of winging it.\"On April 25, 2013, it was announced that guitarist Dan Donegan and drummer Mike Wengren had begun a new project with Evans Blue singer Dan Chandler, Fight or Flight. Their debut album, Life by Design? has been set for release on July 23.Official site: http:\/\/www.disturbed1.com2) Late 80's Thrash band who released the album Disturbing the Peace in 1988.\"Cool crossover\/thrash metal. The music takes off quite a few times, especially when it comes up with contrasting mixtures, like \"Comatose\", which blends heavy doomy riffage with brutal death-tinged outbursts; there are also some undeveloped, but intriguing attempts at more technical thrash (the instrumental \"Brain Deth\", the sophisticated technical \"Productive Intercourse Serial Killer\"), spiced with some jolly, rock'n roll hooks. The shorter numbers are pure unbridled hardcore (\"Kill 'Em\"), but here come the laid-back, soft moments (\"Bought & Sold\", \"Die Die Die\"), and things are well balanced. \"Evil Sensations\" is a pleasant surprise near the end, being energetic thrash\/crossover, with a nice technical twist, followed by the melodic, but interesting instrumental \"Astronomically\", leaving very good impression, partially ruined by the aggressive hardcore closer \"What The Fuck\". The band disliked the popularity that a novelty song like WTF produced, and it WAS a fan favorite but largely dropped from their live set in the 1990s. Due in part to the lyrics and how the band felt about the song. The band was formed in Minneapolis, MN but toured extensively all over, including the stomping grounds of the later Disturbed; Chicago! They played Jack Koshick's Milwaukee MetalFest in it's earliest days and supported Sepultura and Pestilence on tour, as well as Death and Sadus, and local legends IMPALER. Earl passed away in 2008, he is missed by all who knew him, and his MySpace page remains testament.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/271_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"100,000 - 200,000"}

{"key":"1442","name":"Avenged Sevenfold","bio":"Avenged Sevenfold (often abbreviated to A7X) are a hard rock band which formed in 1999 in Huntington Beach, California, United States. The band consists of M. Shadows (vocals), Synyster Gates (guitar), Zacky Vengeance (guitar) and Johnny Christ (bass). The band's drummer James \"The Rev\" Sullivan died in 2009, and the band has not named a permanent replacement. Currently, the band tours with former Confide drummer Arin Ilejay.The band has released five albums since their formation: \"Sounding the Seventh Trumpet\" (2001), \"Waking the Fallen\" (2003), \"City of Evil\" (2005), \"Avenged Sevenfold\" (2007) and \"Nightmare\" (2010).The band was formed in 1999. Avenged Sevenfold's first album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, was recorded when the band members were eighteen years old. It was originally released on their first label, Good life Recordings. After lead guitarist Synyster Gates (also known by Brian Haner Jr.) joined the band, the introductory track \"To End The Rapture\" was re-recorded with Gates playing, and the album was re-released on Hopeless Records. Their follow-up album, entitled Waking the Fallen, was also released on Hopeless Records and was awarded a positive rating in Rolling Stone magazine. Shortly after its release, Avenged Sevenfold were signed to Warner Bros. Records.City of Evil, the third album which was released on June 7 2005, strayed from metalcore, and instead headed more towards heavy metal and adds a harder rock sound with influences ranging from various bands. During the recording of City of Evil, M. Shadows' vocal styling changed to focus more on melodic singing rather than hardcore screaming. Some cite the change in vocal style as consequence of vocal chord damage (that resulted in subsequent surgery) during a tour supporting Waking the Fallen. Shadows denies the injury as being the reason. In the \"All Excess\" DVD, producer Mudrock clarifies this subject and affirms this is not the reason why the band changed style. He says \"One thing I see on the Internet, and that I just want to set the record straight on is, when I met the band, before they recorded Waking The Fallen, Matt handed me the CD and said \"this record is screaming, the record we wanna make is half screaming and half singing. I don't wanna scream anymore, but I'm going to make a record that's half singing and half screaming, and a record after that is going to be only singing\". The already knew they wanted to make a singing record right by the time City Of Evil came out, that was two years before it came out, that's what the band wanted to do as artists.\"The band's name is a reference to the book of Genesis in the Bible where Cain is sentenced to live in exile for the crime of murdering his brother. God marked him so that none would kill him on account of his sin; the man who dared to kill Cain would have \"vengeance taken upon him sevenfold.\" The title of Avenged Sevenfold's song \"Chapter Four\" references Genesis 4:15, the chapter of the Bible in which the story of Cain and Abel takes place. The song's subject also appears to be this story. \"Beast and the Harlot\", yet another song derived from the Bible, comes from the book of Revelation only it is written in the first person and refers to the punishment of Babylon the Great, world empire and seat of false religion. Another Bible reference occurs in the song \"The Wicked End\". In the song, several times it is said \"dust the apple off, savor each bite, and deep inside you know Adam was right.\" making reference to Eve eating the forbidden fruit. Although the band's title and members' stage names make references to religion, Shadows stated in an interview that they are \"not really religious at all.\" \"Anyone that read the lyrics and really knew anything about us, they would know we're not promoting either\", he said. \"That's one thing about this band that I love is that we never really shove any kind of, like, political or religious beliefs on people. We just, the music's there to entertain and maybe thought-provoking on both sides, but we don't try to, like, really shove anything down anyone's throat. There's too many bands that do that nowadays, I think.\" The song \"Bat Country\" is a reference to the book\/movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The song is dedicated to the Author of the book, the late Hunter S. Thompson. Their song \"Blinded In Chains\" was used in the soundtrack for the video games Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Arena Football. \"Bat Country\" was used in the soundtracks for SSX on Tour, NHL 06 and Madden 06, following in the footsteps of \"Chapter Four\" which had also been on the soundtrack for NHL 2004, Madden 2004 and NASCAR Thunder 2004. The song \"Beast and the Harlot\" was in the soundtrack for Burnout Revenge. All the above games, not coincidentally, are produced by various divisions of Electronic Arts. \"Beast and the Harlot\" also appears in RedOctane's Guitar Hero II, released in November 7, 2006. The song \"Burn it Down\" is featured on the October 24, 2006 release of the Saw III soundtrack.During recent tours (Spring 2006 and Ozzfest 2006 tours) Avenged Sevenfold have been performing the song \"Walk\", originally by Pantera, as part of a tribute to the late Dimebag Darrell Lance Abbott.At the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, Avenged Sevenfold received the award for best new artist. They took the award over several other artists like Angels & Airwaves and James Blunt. After canceling fall and winter 2006 tour dates, the band is planning their unnamed fourth studio album. M. Shadows has stated that it will not be a City of Evil Part 2 or Waking the Fallen Part 2, because they want to change their sound once more. They say it will be somewhat of a surprise to their fans. Some people are rejecting their new sounds, as some are embracing it.The band released their first DVD, Avenged Sevenfold : All Excess on July 17, 2007.Avenged Sevenfold, the band's fourth album, was released on October 30, 2007, debuting at No.4 on the Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold. Two singles, \"Critical Acclaim\" and \"Almost Easy\" were released prior to the album's debut. In December 2007, an animated video was made for \"A Little Piece of Heaven.\" Due to the song's controversial subject matter, however, Warner Brothers only released it to registered MVI users over the internet. The third single, \"Afterlife\" and its video was released in January 2008. Their fourth single, \"Dear God\", was released on June 15, 2008. Although critical reception was generally mixed the self-titled album went on to sell over 500,000 copies and was awarded \"Album of the Year\" at the Kerrang! Awards.Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot. They used the footage from their last show in Long Beach for Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD which was released on September 16, 2008. They also recorded numerous covers, including Pantera's \"Walk\", Iron Maiden's \"Flash of the Blade\" and Black Sabbath's \"Paranoid\".In January 2009, M. Shadows confirmed that the band was writing the follow-up to their self-titled fourth album within the upcoming months. They also announced that they will be playing at Rock on the Range, from May 16\u201317, 2009. On April 16, they performed a version of Guns N' Roses' \"It's So Easy\" onstage with Slash, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.On December 28, 2009, drummer James \"The Rev\" Sullivan was found dead at his home at the age of 28. Autopsy results were inconclusive, but on June 9, 2010, the cause of death was revealed to have been an \"acute polydrug intoxication due to combined effects of Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Diazepam\/Nordiazepam and ethanol\". In a statement by the band, they expressed their grief over the passing of The Rev and later posted a message from Sullivan's family which expressed their gratitude to his fans for their support.he band members admitted in a number of interviews that they considered disbanding at this point of time. However, on February 17, 2010, Avenged Sevenfold stated that they had entered the studio, along with now-former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, to drum for the record, in place of the Rev.The single \"Nightmare\" was digitally released on May 18, 2010. A preview for the song was released on May 6, 2010 on Amazon.com, but was removed soon after for unknown reasons. Mixing for the album had been completed in New York City, and Nightmare was finally released worldwide on July 27, 2010. It met with mixed to positive reviews from music critics but was well received by the fans. Nightmare beat sales projections easily, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 163,000 units in its first week. After finishing recording, in December, Portnoy and the band posted simultaneous statements on their websites stating that he will not be their replacement for The Rev. However, Portnoy did travel with the band overseas in December 2010 for three shows in Iraq and Kuwait sponsored by the USO. They played for US Soldiers at Camp Adder, Camp Beuhring, and Balad Air Base. On January 20, 2011, Avenged Sevenfold announced via Facebook that former Confide drummer Arin Ilejay will tour with them starting this year. Whether or not he will be joining the band on a permanent basis has not been decided yet.Avenged Sevenfold performed at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals on June 3\u20135, 2011 alongside other bands such as Alter Bridge, System of a Down, and In Flames. On April 2011, the band headlined the Golden God Awards held by Metal Hammer. The same night the band won three awards for \"Best Vocalist\" (M. Shadows), \"Epiphone Best Guitarist(s)\" (Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance) and \"Affliction\u2019s Album of The Year: \" for Nightmare, while Mike Portnoy won the award for \"Drum Workshop\u2019s Best Drummer\" for his work on the album.In May 2011, it was confirmed that the band had written a new song to be included in the Escalation DLC pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The song is the first time developers Treyarch have commissioned an outside band to contribute a song since the franchise began. The song, titled \"Not Ready to Die\", was released on iTunes on May 2, 2011.Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2011 Uproar Festival with supporting acts Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Escape The Fate, among others. In August 2011, vocalist M. Shadows stated the band would finish the Uproar Festival, then go home to take a break for six to seven months before starting a new record. He also roughly stated that Arin Ilejay and the band are getting along great, but that they have to make sure he's comfortable writing music with them, but also that he hopes everything works out.In November and December, 2011, the band went on their \"Buried Alive\" tour with supporting acts Hollywood Undead, Asking Alexandria, and Black Veil Brides.The band will be touring through Asia into April and early May, and are scheduled play the Orion Music + More Festival on June 23 and 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey alongside Metallica and Cage the Elephant among many others.Band Members :M. Shadows - VocalsSynyster Gates - Guitars, Back vocalsZacky Vengeance - Guitars, Back vocalsJohnny Christ - Bass, Back vocalsArin Ilejay - DrumsFormer Members:Matt Wendt - bass Justin Meacham - bass, pianoDameon Ash - bassThe Rev - Drums, Back vocals Mike Portnoy - drumsOther Members:Papa Gates - additional guitars, pedal steel","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/1442_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"300,000 - 500,000"}

{"key":"234","name":"Deftones","bio":"Deftones is an American Rock\/Alternative Metal band from Sacramento, California, formed in 1988, consisting of Chino Moreno (lead vocals and guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Sergio Vega (bass), Frank Delgado (keyboards and turntables), and Abe Cunningham (drums and percussion). Vega (formerly of Quicksand) took on bass duties in mid-2009 in substitution for Chi Cheng, who was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Santa Clara, California on November 4, 2008. Cheng remained in a coma until his death on April 13, 2013 due to cardiac arrest.While they were mostly an alternative metal band in their early years, their sound changed into something more complex and experimental in 2000, as a result they are often coined today as an alternative rock band. Critics have often praised them as one of the closest to unique rock bands of recent years for their innovative, atmospheric music; as Johnny Loftus writes, \"Rock critics usually reserve a special place for Deftones above or at least away from the rest of the turn-of-the-century metal movement Deftones have always seemed more curious, more willing to incorporate traditionally revered sounds like dream pop and DC hardcore into their Northern California alt-metal.\"Frontman Chino Moreno\u2019s poetic lyrics\u2014described by a Time magazine critic as \u201cfiercely intelligent\u201d\u2014are often evocative, yet are sparse enough to allow for multiple interpretations. Moreno has cited Morrissey, Weezer\u2019s Rivers Cuomo, The Cure\u2019s Robert Smith, and Depeche Mode\u2019s David Gahan among his favorite singers, and beyond an occasional similarity in vocal technique, these singers\u2019 sweeping sense of drama and delicate vulnerability is often evident in Moreno\u2019s vocals.Deftones members have worked on several side projects, including Moreno\u2019s Team Sleep and drummer Abe Cunningam\u2019s Phallucy. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter works with a group called Kush, featuring members of Fear Factory and Cypress Hill. Turntablist Frank Delgado has a DJ crew with DJ Crook of Team Sleep, DJ Julez and Matt D called Decibel Devils.* Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar)* Stephen Carpenter (guitar)* Abe Cunningham (drums)* Chi Cheng (bass, backing vocals)* Frank Delgado (turntablist\/keyboardist\/sampler)(Incidentally, Carpenter is generally credited with \u201cstrings\u201d, though if he actually plays anything other than electric guitar it\u2019s not immediately apparent. This most likely refers to his abuse of the guitar strings, making screeching noises inbetween playing riffs.)Releases:1992 - like linus (demo)1995 - Adrenaline1997 - Around the Fur2000 - White Pony2002 - Music in High Places: Deftones - Live In Hawaii (DVD)2002 - Back to School (Mini Maggit) (EP)2003 - Deftones2005 - B-Sides & Rarities (with accompanying DVD video library and live footage)2006 - Saturday Night Wrist2009 - Eros ( Shelved)2010 - Diamond Eyes 2011 - Covers2012 - Koi No Yokan2016 - GoreAlbum Around the Fur (1997) features Soulfly\u2019s Max Cavalera on PlayHeadup.Album White Pony (2000) features Tool\u2019s Maynard James Keenan on PlayPassenger.Also on Album White Pony (2000) features STP\u2019s Scott Weiland on PlayRX Queen.Album Saturday Night Wrist (2006) features System of a Down\u2019s Serj Tankian on Mein. Early years: 1989-1993When Carpenter was 15 years old he was hit by a car while skateboarding. This left him confined to a wheelchair for several months. It was at this point that he began teaching himself guitar by playing along with bands such as Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death and Metallica. It has been reported that the driver paid Carpenter a cash settlement that allowed the band to purchase equipment, but drummer Abe Cunningham commented in an interview that this was \"a myth about how our band was started.\"Carpenter, Moreno and Cunningham went to the same high school. They were childhood friends and remained friends through the skateboarding scene in Sacramento. When Moreno found out Carpenter played guitar, he set up a jam session with Cunningham and the three began playing regularly in Carpenter's garage circa 1988. After playing with several bassists, the band settled on Justin Jaramillo and recorded a four track demo soon after. Within two years the band began playing club shows and later expanded their playing territory to San Francisco and Los Angeles where they played shows alongside bands such as Korn. While closing for another band in L.A., after the majority of the audience had left, the band impressed a Maverick Records representative. They were soon after signed to the label after showcasing three of their songs for Freddy DeMann and Guy Oseary.The name \"Deftones\" was created by Carpenter who wanted to pick \"something that would just stand out but you know, not be all cheese-ball at the same time.\" Carpenter combined the hip hop slang term \"def\", which was used by artists he listened to such as LL Cool J and Public Enemy, with the suffix \"-tones\", which was a popular suffix among 50s bands whose music he also enjoyed (e.g. Dick Dale and the Deltones; The Quin-Tones, The Monotones, The Cleftones and The Harptones). Carpenter said the name is intentionally vague to reflect the band's tendency to not focus on just one style of music.Adrenaline: 1994-1996The band's debut album, Adrenaline, was recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington and released on October 3, 1995. It was produced by Deftones and Terry Date, who would go on to produce the band's next three albums. Initially unsuccessful, extensive touring, word-of-mouth and Internet promotion built the band a dedicated fanbase, as well as helping Adrenaline to sell over 220,000 copies without the singles \"7 Words\" and \"Bored\" (as well as their music videos) receiving any airplay. The band contributed the non-album track \"Teething\" to the soundtrack for the 1996 film The Crow: City of Angels and are also seen performing the song live during one of the film's scenes.The album spent 21 weeks on the Billboard Heatseekers chart reaching a peak position of 23. When asked what he attributed the album's success to, Cheng responded, \"One word: perseverance. We've been together for almost eight years, on the road for two and we do it with honesty and integrity - and the kids can tell.\" The album was RIAA certified gold on 7 July 1999 in recognition of 500,000 units sold.Regarding the recording of the album, Abe Cunningham said, \"At the time we did the first record - which I really like and think is good - you can tell the band was really young. We'd been playing most of those songs for quite a while, and we were just so happy to be making a record that we didn't really think a whole lot about making the songs better.\" Moreno felt that Adrenaline was recorded \"really fast\"[ and performed all his vocals live with the band in the room using a hand-held Shure 58 microphone. A review of Adrenaline praised the album's musical control, precision, overall groove and Cunningham's \"surprisingly sophisticated drumming\". It was also noted that \"there is a bit of sameness in Chino Moreno's whispered vocal melodies, which drags the record down a bit.\"Adrenaline was certified platinum on September 23, 2008 by the RIAAAround the Fur: 1997-1999Deftones' second album, Around the Fur, was recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle, Washington and produced by Terry Date. Released on October 26, 1997, the album included a collaboration with singer Max Cavalera (of Sepultura\/Soulfly\/Cavalera Conspiracy) on \"Headup\", a tribute to Cavalera's late stepson Dana Wells, to whom the album was also dedicated. Although not yet a member of the band, Delgado is credited as \"audio\" on five of the album's tracks and Cunningham's wife, Annalynn, provides guest vocals on \"MX\".\"When we went in to make this record, we really didn't have a set idea of what we wanted to come out with,\" said Moreno in a 1998 interview with Chart magazine. However, he felt that the album \"fell into place\" once the band had settled into the studio. The band expanded its sound, spending more time with Terry Date, and giving more thought to the album's production. Cunningham varied his drum sound and experimented by using different types of snare drum on almost every track. The album was praised for its loud-soft dynamics, the flow of the tracks, Moreno's unusual vocals and the strong rhythm-section grooves created by Cheng and Cunningham. Stephen Thomas Erlewine's review noted that \"while they don't have catchy riffs or a fully developed sound, Around the Fur suggests they're about to come into their own.\"The album was highly anticipated and propelled the band to fame in the alternative metal scene on the strength of radio and MTV airplay for the singles \"My Own Summer (Shove It)\" and \"Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)\". Around the Fur sold 43,000 copies in its first week of release, and entered the Billboard 200 at number 29 (its peak position), remaining on the charts for 17 weeks. The band went back to touring, making appearances at the Warped Tour (in the United States, New Zealand and Australia), Pinkpop Festival, Roskilde Festival and Ozzfest as well as releasing a live EP on June 22, 1999. Around the Fur went on to reach RIAA gold status on June 24, 1999.White Pony: 2000-2002On June 20, 2000, the band released their third album, White Pony, again produced by Terry Date and Deftones. It was recorded at The Plant Studios in Sausalito, California and at Larrabee Sound Studios, West Hollywood, California. The album debuted at number three in the US Billboard chart with sales of 178,000 copies. Delgado (DJ Speedboat) was now a full-time band member, adding new elements to the band's music. The melancholy \"Teenager\", for example, was a radical departure in style and mood, a \"love song,\" according to Moreno, which incorporated elements of glitch and trip hop, with programming duties carried out by Moreno's friend and side-project Team Sleep bandmate DJ Crook. A collaboration with singer Maynard James Keenan of Tool is present on \"Passenger\", and the refrain in \"Knife Party\" features vocals by Rodleen Getsic. Moreno had also started contributing additional guitar on several tracks.An interview with the band in Alternative Press explained the recording process of White Pony. After a break from touring, the band spent four months in the studio writing and recording White Pony, the longest amount of time they had dedicated to an album thus far. Moreno explained that the majority of this time was spent trying to write songs, and that the writing of \"Change (In the House of Flies)\" was the turning point where the band began working as a group. Despite being pressured to release the album sooner, the band decided to take their time making the album. Cheng explained that \"We didn\u2019t feel like we had anything to lose, so we made the record we wanted to make.\" Moreno did not have a common theme in mind lyrically, but made a conscious decision to bring an element of fantasy into his lyrics, explaining that \"I basically didn\u2019t sing about myself on this record. I made up a lot of story lines and some dialogue, even. I took myself completely out of it and wrote about other things.\"Reviews were generally positive, noting Moreno's increasing sophistication as a lyricist and the group's experimentalism. Of White Pony, one reviewer wrote that \"Deftones went soft, but in an impressive way, to twist around its signature punk sound.\"The album was originally released as an 11 track version beginning with \"Feiticeira\" and ending with \"Pink Maggit\" and featuring gray cover art. A limited edition print of 50,000 black and red jewel case versions of White Pony were also released at the same time with a bonus 12th track entitled \"The Boy's Republic\". Later, the band released \"Back to School (Mini Maggit)\", a rap-influenced interpretation of the album's closer, \"Pink Maggit\". \"Back to School (Mini Maggit)\" was track 11 on the leaked pre-release version of White Pony in April 2000, but not included on the original (official) issue of the album in June 2000. The leaked version of White Pony also included the slower version of \"Pink Maggit\" which appeared on the first official White Pony CDs. That song was listed as a bonus track (track 12) on the leaked pre-release version. The song was picked up as a single and placed as the new opening track (with \"Pink Maggit\" still the closer) of a re-released White Pony on October 3, 2000 featuring altered white cover art. Not entirely happy with re-releasing the album, the band negotiated to have \"Back to School\" made available as a free download for anyone who had already bought the original album. Chino noted that \"Everybody's already downloaded our record before it came out anyway, otherwise I'd be kind of feelin' like, 'Man, why we putting all these different versions of the record?' that's the best way we can actually get this song out to the people who already purchased this record, for free basically. And if they wanna buy the record again, it's cool.\"White Pony achieved platinum status, selling over 1.3 million copies in the US, and earning the band a 2001 Grammy award for Best Metal Performance for the song \"Elite\".Deftones: 2003-2005Deftones began work on their fourth album under the working title Lovers. Regarding the album's direction, Cheng commented that \"We've proven that we can musically go in any direction we want, and we want to get kind of heavy on this one.\" Moreno underwent vocal training as a precaution after severely damaging his vocal cords on the band's 2001 summer tour. The band converted their rehearsal space in Sacramento into a fully equipped studio and recorded most of the album there at negligible cost. The band brought in Terry Date to assist with production, and also received input on musical arrangement from Greg Wells on several of the album's tracks. The band later added more material at Studio X in Seattle, WA and at Larrabee Studios in West Hollywood, CA. Overall the album took twelve months and cost roughly $2.5 million to produce with the band being fined by Maverick for missing deadlines.In January 2003, Deftones left the studio to perform some \"one off\" shows in Australia and New Zealand as part of the annual Big Day Out Festival. Shortly after, the band returned to the studio to finish their fourth album. The self-titled Deftones was released on May 20, 2003. Deftones entered the Billboard 200 at number two and sold 167,000 copies in its first week. The album remained in the Billboard top 100 for nine weeks, supported by the first single, \"Minerva\". The band shot a video for their second single, \"Hexagram\", with fans watching the band play the song in an indoor skatepark in Simi Valley, California. The band made a video for the track \"Bloody Cape\", but it was never released for play on television. The video was only made available on the band's official website for one day. It was later released on their B-Sides and Rarities DVD.Reviews were mainly positive, praising the band for the heavy album's progression and originality in the midst of declining creativity in contemporary metal. Moreno was quoted as saying, \"It's all on record. We told motherfuckers not to lump us in with nu metal because when those bands go down we aren't going to be with them.\" In reviewing Deftones, Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes that \"Hexagram\", the album's opener, \"hits hard \u2014 harder than they ever have, revealing how mushy Staind is, or how toothless Linkin Park is,\" but also goes on to say that the album \"sticks a little too close to familiar territory.\" The Onion's A.V. Club similarly called the album \"less rewarding than its predecessor, though its peaks rival any in the genre.\"The band released a compilation album titled B-Sides & Rarities on October 4, 2005. The CD includes various b-sides and covers from throughout their career, while the DVD contains behind-the-scenes footage and the band's complete videography up to that point.Saturday Night Wrist: 2006-2007 Deftones performing live in Glasgow, June 2006.The band's latest album, titled Saturday Night Wrist, was released on October 31, 2006. It debuted at number ten in the US Billboard chart with sales of just over 76,000, a significant decrease on the first week sales of their two previous releases.Rather than work with longtime producer Terry Date, Deftones decided to record with Bob Ezrin. Cunningham says that while the group enjoyed working with Date, \"At this point, we just needed to change things up And this is definitely a different style. Working with him is just putting us fucking upside down. He's cracking the whip.\" After recording all the instrumentals for the record, Chino Moreno decided to record his vocals separately. Chino thus finished recording the album with former Far guitarist Shaun Lopez as producer. Collaborations on the record include Annie Hardy from Giant Drag on the song \"Pink Cellphone\" and Serj Tankian from System of a Down on the track \"Mein\".The album's first single was called \"Hole in the Earth\", hitting the radio on October 16, 2006. \"Hole in the Earth\" was also featured as a downloadable song for the PS3 & Xbox 360 versions of Guitar Hero 3. \"Mein\" was the album's second single, which aired in Spring of 2007.As of March 2007, Saturday Night Wrist has sold over 250,000 copies (US).Deftones spent the majority of 2006 and 2007 touring around the world in support of the album. The band played shows in places including North America, Canada, Europe, South America, Japan and Australia. The band also performed in such tours as Taste of Chaos, Family Values Tour and the Soundwave Festival in Australia.Eros: 2008-2009Deftones are currently in the studio writing and recording their next release, Eros, which will once again utilize the production services of Terry Date. Deftones have been writing the album since Fall 2007. As of December 7, 2007, six to eight songs were finished and the album is expected to be released in the winter of 2008. Chino Moreno has described the album as weird, unorthodox, featuring a lot of atmosphere and soundscaping, and having \"fuck you, I hope you die!\" style aggression. He has also stated that he won't be contributing on guitar, instead focusing on his vocals, and will leave guitar duties entirely to Stephen Carpenter. Carpenter will be utilizing his signature 8-String guitar, the ESP Stef B-8. They started recording the album on April 14th, 2008.Moreno stated that this album would be more up-tempo (as far as the drumming is concerned), going on to say that the past couple of albums have been more mid-tempo; that Abe Cunningham has been playing faster. He also referred to the album as being \"snappy\". Moreno stated in an interview that the process for this album would be more raw and simplified after dissatisfaction with the long and \"pieced-together\" experience of recording Saturday Night Wrist.On January 14th, Chino Moreno posted an instrumental electronic beat that sounds similar to Team Sleep called \"You've Seen The Butcher\", on the Deftones' MySpace page, and announced in a bulletin that the album would be called Eros, the Greek word for \"love.\" It was also announced that Eros would be released by Reprise Records, the first time Deftones have released an album not affiliated with Maverick Records.On September 18, Deftones played a secret show at the Spaceland Club in Los Angeles. The band played a new song entitled Melanie, which they also played at the previously announced headlining show at the Ventura Theater in Ventura, California on September 19 and also at the KUPD's End of Summer Scorcher on September 20 in Peoria, Arizona, where they co-headlined with Alice In Chains.Also, recently Deftones have been posting a number of videos on MySpace and their blog, documenting the recording process of Eros.On November 4, bassist Chi Cheng was seriously injured in a car accident in Santa Clara, California. Chino Moreno posted on the band's blog, saying, \"It deeply saddens me to inform you all that our brother Chi Cheng was involved in a terrible car accident last night. He is currently in a Northern California hospital in serious, but stable condition. I am on my way up north right now to be by his side, along with the rest of our bandmates and family. Chi is one of the strongest people I know, and I'm praying that his strength will get him through this. Please say a prayer for him as well.\" Following the accident, Cheng's bandmates and mother, Jeanne, began using the Deftones blog to post updates on Cheng's condition. In a post dated November 18, it was stated that \"Chi's condition remains the same - serious, but stable. He still lies in a coma, however his vitals (heart, lungs, and blood pressure) all exhibit very stable functions and doctors have begun removing much of the excess monitoring equipment.\" In a blog posted dated November 9, it was reported that Chi was attended by three off-duty EMTs who happened upon the accident scene. The post goes on to state that \"If not for them, the chances of Chi making to the hospital alive would have been poor.\" On December 9, it was announced that Chi had been moved into the care of an unnamed hospital that \"specializes in the care and management of traumatic and non-trauma related brain injuries\".Diamond Eyes: 2010-2011It was announced that the new album would be titled \"Diamond Eyes\", to be released May 18th, 2010. The first single from the album, \"Rocket Skates\", was released February 23rd; the second single is \"Diamond Eyes\". And The First Video Release Was \"Diamond Eyes\", \"Rocket Skates\", \"Sextape\", Finally \"You've Seen the Butcher\". All together Diamond Eyes Has sold 62,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 6 on The Billboard 200 chart. Koi No Yokan: 2012On March 29, 2012 an interview with Stephen Carpenter was posted on ESP Guitars's YouTube channel. In it, Carpenter talks about his switch to 7-string and 8-string guitars. At the end, he says, \"Musically, me and my band, Deftones, are working on a new record and we hope to have it finished and out by Summer of 2012, and when the new record's done we'll start another touring cycle and get out there and play our stuff for those who are interested.\"Chino Moreno has also stated that it has resemblance to their 2000 record, White Pony, when it's compared to their previous work. \u201cThe songs are very different from each other, not heavier or slower, but more dynamic, going towards several directions, it\u2019s heavy, but beautiful.\u201d In addition, it has been reported that Nick Raskulinecz will return to produce their seventh effort, which is, as of yet, unnamed.On April 3, 2012 after performing at the Quilmes Rock 2012 festival, Chino was interviewed about Crosses and the new Deftones record. He said that the writing process was completed last week and they start recording after he gets back from South America. \"We start recording next week. I love it, I'm so excited about it because Deftones, obviously, that's my life, I've made a career since I was fifteen years old and right before I came last week we finished all the writing so, next week, when I get back, we start recording. We should have a record that comes out in the early Fall, maybe October. Maybe September.\" The album was released through Reprise Records on November 12, 2012, in the UK and November 13, 2012, in the United States. Band frontman Chino Moreno characterized the album as \"dynamic\" with a full range of sound, noting that more contributions were made to the album from bassist Sergio Vega compared to their previous record, Diamond Eyes. On September 19, 2012, the band released the song \"Leathers\" as a promotional single via a free download on their website. On October 8, 2012, \"Leathers\" was released as the album's first single. \"Leathers\" was also released as a limited edition cas-single with \"Rosemary\" as its B-side. On October 3, 2012, the song, \"Tempest\", premiered on PureVolume for streaming. \"Tempest\" was released as a single on October 9, 2012.Koi No Yokan marks the second album not to feature long-time bass player Chi Cheng, The CD for this album was released on November 14, 2012 in Japan under the title \u604b\u306e\u4e88\u611f (Koi no Yokan), which means \"Premonition Of Love\".On April 23, 2012 it was announced that the band would be touring with System of a Down starting on August 2 in Philadelphia and ending on August 15 in Chicago.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/234_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"258","name":"Three Days Grace","bio":"Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed under the name Groundswell in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992. After a breakup in 1995, the band reformed in 1997 under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer and backing vocalist Neil Sanderson, and bassist Brad Walst. In 2003, Barry Stock was recruited as the band's lead guitarist.After signing to Jive Records, Three Days Grace released two studio albums, Three Days Grace in 2003 and One-X in 2006, both of which have been certified platinum and double platinum in the US and Canada, respectively. In 2007, the band was declared number one rock artist of the year by Billboard and was the number four artist in airplay in Canada that same year. The band's third album, Life Starts Now, was released on September 22, 2009.HistoryThree Days Grace formed in 1992 under the name Groundswell in Norwood, Ontario, Canada. Groundswell's line-up consisted of five members: Adam Gontier (vocals, guitar), Neil Sanderson (backing vocals, drums), Brad Walst (bass), Phil Crowe (guitar), and Joe Grant (guitar), all of whom were attending high school when the band formed.In 1997, after being disbanded for two years, the band regrouped in Toronto as a trio consisting of Gontier, Sanderson, and Walst. They also changed their name to \"Three Days Grace\". According to Gontier, the name stands for the question: If you had three days to change something in your life, could you do it? Once in Toronto, the band became acquainted with local producer Gavin Brown. The band gave him several years of material that they had created since forming, and he \"picked out what he called 'the golden nuggets'\", according to Gontier. Brown and the band polished the songs into a demo album which they gave to EMI Music Publishing Canada. The record label wanted to hear more material, and with Brown producing, the band created the song, \"I Hate Everything About You\", which attracted the interest of several record labels. The band was soon signed to Jive Records after being sought out by the company's president.Three Days Grace (2003 - 2005)After being signed to Jive, the band moved to Long View Farms, a studio in Boston, to record their debut album. The self-titled album was finished in Woodstock, New York and released on July 22, 2003. It was met with generally favorable reviews. Dave Doray of IGN said of the album, \"Mistakes? There's not many.\" Allmusic reviewer Heather Phares said that on Three Days Grace, \"the band's focus and adherence to alt-metal's formulas \u2014 coupled with tight songwriting and some unexpectedly pretty choruses \u2014 results in a strong tracks that are more memorable than the work of many of their peers\". She did criticize the album for its simplicity, concluding, \"Three Days Grace are definitely one of the most accessible alt-metal bands of the 2000s; they just need to add some more distinctiveness to their sound.\"After acquiring lead guitarist Barry Stock in late 2003, Three Days Grace toured continuously and extensively for almost two years in support of their major label debut. The album peaked at number nine on the Canadian Albums Chart and number 69 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum in the US by the RIAA in December 2004 and double platinum in Canada by the CRIA.One-X (2006 - 2008)While touring in support of Three Days Grace, Gontier became depressed and addicted to drugs and alcohol. He went into rehab after the band finished touring, and while there, began writing material for the band's second album. After leaving rehab, he rejoined the band in a cottage in Ontario to finish writing material for the album. In a 2006 interview, Gontier said that the album's material was more personal to him than the band's previous release, being based on the despondence, drug abuse, and rehab that constituted the past two years of his life. The album, titled One-X, was then released on June 13, 2006, and was guitarist Barry Stock's recorded debut.One-X was met with generally favorable reviews. The Toronto Star complimented the album with a review title of \"One CD worth buying\u2026\" and focused on its lyrics, saying, \"The lyrics really speak out to you, especially if you're going through a tough time in your life.\" Allmusic reviewer Corey Apar praised the music, saying it \"remains catchy despite its lyrical darkness\". The album did receive some negative criticism. Apar pointed out that Three Days Grace is \"hardly innovative\" in their approach to writing music and that \"further distinctive qualities\" would help the band separate itself \"from their alt-metal peers\".One-X peaked at number two on the Canadian album chart and at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 78,000 copies in the US in its first week of release. Its first single, \"Animal I Have Become\", was Three Days Grace's most successful, becoming 2006's most played rock song in Canada, and the album helped propel Three Days Grace to become the number one rock artist in airplay in the US and Canada in 2007, with Billboard ranking them as the number one rock artist of the year in 2007. One-X was certified platinum by the RIAA in the US on August 30, 2007, and double platinum by the CRIA in Canada in July 2007. Three Days Grace toured the US and Canada throughout the second half of 2006 and all of 2007 in support of One-X. In early 2008, they toured alongside Seether and Breaking Benjamin across the USLife Starts Now (2009 - 2011)From March to August 2008, to January to April 2009, Three Days Grace recorded their third album at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Los Angeles, with producer Howard Benson, who had worked with them on their previous releases. The album, entitled Life Starts Now, was released on September 22, 2009. Critics as well as band members have noted the album's departure from the angry tone of the band's previous releases into a lyrical style that comes off as more optimistic. According to guitarist Barry Stock, the album's theme centers around \"a new sense of freshness\" and the idea that \"you don't have to be stuck in whatever it is you're dealing with. Whether it's good or bad, it's your choice to make a change.\"Life Starts Now debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, Three Days Grace's highest chart position, and sold 79,000 copies in its first week. The album was met with mixed reviews. Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star gave the album a negative review, saying it possesses \"no sound of its own, just a shallow range between Linkin Park and Nickelback\". According to Allmusic reviewer James Christopher Monger, who gave the album three out of five stars, Life Starts Now continues the theme of One-X, Gontier's personal demons, but with a \"hint of sunlight\". He compliments the album, saying it \"treats the well-worn metal themes of anger, isolation, heartache, and redemption with the kind of begrudging respect they deserve, pumping out a competent flurry of fist-bump anthems and world-weary, midtempo rockers\". Harsher negative reviews came from Ben Czajkowski from 411mania.com as he described the album as \"Boring, bland, trite, tired, tried, and true\".The first single from the album, \"Break\", was released on September 1, 2009. Three Days Grace embarked on a 20-date Canadian tour lasting through November and December 2009. They co-headlined a January\u2013February 2010 tour of the US with Breaking Benjamin and Flyleaf.They embarked on a US headlining tour with support from Chevelle, and Adelitas Way starting on March 26, 2010 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and ending on April 16, 2010 in Springfield, Massachusetts.Three Days Grace went on tour with Nickelback and Buckcherry on the Dark Horse Fall 2010 Tour. They toured with My Darkest Days starting in March 2011 in Seattle, Washington. They also joined Avenged Sevenfold on their Spring \"Welcome to the Family\" tour in 2011. They toured with Avenged Sevenfold, Seether, Escape The Fate, and Bullet For My Valentine on the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar tour from August 2011 to October 2011. It was their last album under Jive Records and their first album under Sony Music Entertainment after the Sony BMG joint venture ended, moving all former BMG labels to the new Sony Music Entertainment.Transit of Venus and Gontier's departure (2012 - present) On October 7, 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, the band (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release their future material (including their upcoming fourth studio album) on the RCA Records brand.On June 5, 2012, at 9:00 A.M. PST, the same day as Venus' visible transit across the sun, the band announced that their fourth studio album will be called Transit of Venus and that it is set to be released October 2, 2012. They created an early promotional video that was released on their website, featuring clips of them in the studio as well as footage of the physical transit of Venus. Due to the rarity of this occurrence, they created the slogan, \"some things will never happen again in your lifetime\", reflecting both this uncommon occurrence as well as the mood that the lyrics and music will most likely take on. The first single on the album, \"Chalk Outline\", was released August 14.On January 9, 2013, Three Days Grace announced that Adam Gontier was resigning from the band. Brad's brother, Matt Walst of My Darkest Days, would be touring with the band as lead vocals. They cited Adam Gontier's sudden departure due to medical reasons.Three Days Grace kicked off their 2013 tour in Moline, IL with Matt Walst as touring lead singer; instead of Adam Gontier. He is not an official member of Three Days Grace.AwardsThree Days Grace has been recognized for their musical efforts through several awards and nominations. In 2007, the band was ranked by Mediabase as the top artist in airplay across all rock formats in the US and Canada, and Billboard named them Rock Artist of the Year. Three Days Grace has been nominated for four Juno Awards. In 2004, the band was nominated for New Group of the Year. \"I Hate Everything About You\" was nominated for Best Rock Video and People's Choice: Favourite Canadian Group at Much Music Awards. In 2007, they were nominated for Best Group of the Year, and their album One-X was nominated for Album of the Year. The band's first single from One-X, \"Animal I Have Become\", was Canada's most played rock song in 2006 and won that year's Mediabase award for the most played rock song on radio. \"Never Too Late\" was nominated for Best Video and Best Rock Video and \"Pain\" was nominated for Best International Video by a Canadian and People's Choice: Favorite Canadian Group at Much Music Awards.In 2010, Life Starts Now was nominated for best Rock Album at the Juno awards but lost to Billy Talent III. In 2010, \"Break\" was nominated for Best Post Production Video and Best Rock Video of the year at Much Music Awards.On Fuse.tv. \"Break\" was nominated for \"Best Single\" and \"Life Starts Now\" won for \"Best Album\" at the Casby Awards.Musical style and influencesThree Days Grace's musical style has generally been described by critics as alternative metal and hard rock throughout the band's career. Heather Phares of Allmusic, in a review of the band's debut album, compared them to rock bands Chevelle and Helmet. Dave Doray of IGN described Three Days Grace as \"heavy and catchy, with chewy chunks of assurance and fury thrown in for added measure.\" Allmusic's Corey Apar said One-X brings an \"accessible alt-metal attack of blunt lyrics and crunching rhythms\" that retains the melodic sound of its predecessor \"despite its lyrical darkness\".The band has listed numerous influences in their music. Gontier has mentioned such bands as Sunny Day Real Estate, Kyuss, Nine Inch Nails, and Tool as influences for the band's music. According to Gontier, the lyrics for Three Days Grace songs have mostly been influenced by the Seattle music scene. He summarized about the band's influences in an interview, \"Musically there's a lot of different influences, but lyrically it's hard to have different influences because you just write.\"Band members:Current Members * Brad Walst \u2013 bass guitar, backing vocals (1997 - present) * Neil Sanderson \u2013 drums, backing vocals (1997 - present) * Barry Stock \u2013 lead guitar (2003 - present)Former Members* Adam Gontier \u2013 lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1997\u20132013)Live Members* Matt Walst \u2013 lead vocals (2013-present)* Dani Rosenoer \u2013 piano, synthesizer, backing vocals (2012-present)Three Days Grace discography * Three Days Grace (2003) * One-X (2006) * Life Starts Now (2009) * Transit of Venus (2012)","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/258_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"1467","name":"Bullet for My Valentine","bio":"Bullet for My Valentine are a metalcore band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is composed of Matt Tuck (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Michael Paget (lead guitar), Jason James (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Michael Thomas (drums). They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana. Jeff Killed John recorded six songs which were not released; two of these tracks were reworked later in their career as Bullet for My Valentine. Financial difficulties dictated the name change, which was followed by a change in music direction. In 2002, the band secured a five-album deal with Sony BMG. The band has stated that their music is influenced by classic heavy metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Slayer. The band is part of the Cardiff music scene.Bullet for My Valentine's debut album, The Poison, was released on 3 October 2005 in the United Kingdom and on 14 February 2006 in the United States to coincide with Valentine's Day. The album entered the Billboard 200 in the US at number 128. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The band made appearances at the Download Festival and Kerrang! XXV, and undertook a US tour with Rob Zombie. Bullet for My Valentine's second studio album, Scream Aim Fire, was released on 29 January 2008 and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The band's third album, Fever, was released on 26 April 2010 and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. The band has sold over two million albums worldwide.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/1467_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"20,000 - 50,000"}

{"key":"1483","name":"Apocalyptica","bio":"Apocalyptica is a band from Helsinki, Finland consisting of three classically-trained cellists and a drummer. Their speciality is heavy metal music on cellos, though they also play classical music.They started in 1993 by playing covers of Metallica, but once the concept became popular they wrote their own original works, maintaining the thrash metal influences on their albums Inquisition Symphony (mainly covers as well) and Cult. Since Reflections they have added drums to their recordings and live performances.Members:Eicca Toppinen - CelloPerttu Kivilaakso - CelloPaavo L\u00f6tj\u00f6nen - CelloMikko Sir\u00e9n - DrumsFormer members:Sami Kuoppam\u00e4ki - Session DrumsPerttu Kivilaakso - Cello (1995)Antero Manninen \u2013 Cello (1996\u20131999, usually plays live)Max Lilja \u2013 Cello (1996\u20132002, when he joined Hevein)Dave Lombardo - Drums (2003-2004, from the band Slayer. Also contributed drums on the songs Betrayal\/Forgiveness, Last Hope and 2010 from 7th Symphony)","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/1483_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}