June 08, 2004
Jeremy Turner (ex-ORIGIN) will be the replacement for Jack Owen in CANNIBAL CORPSE on the band’s upcoming tours. Jack quit earlier this month. It is not sure yet if Jeremy will be a permanent replacement, but according to the band "… so far he’s doing very well… learning 18 songs in less than 3 weeks is a tough job, and we want to thank Jeremy for working hard to get the job done."
CRIMINAL keyboardist Mark Royce has been fired from the band after failing to show up for the band’s recent tour of Chile. Royce joined the band in 2002 along with Robin Eaglestone (bass) and Zac O’Neil (drums). "He really didn’t leave us much of a choice", comments frontman Anton Reisenegger. "Two days before leaving for Chile, he just disappeared. He wasn’t answering our calls or text messages, nothing. Obviously, we went anyway, had a great fuckin’ tour, came back, and still no word from him. So basically I sent him an e-mail telling him he was out of the band. He responded to that, saying he understood. You go figure. That leaves Rod, Zac and me as CRIMINAL at the moment, but we hope to find a permanent bassist soon, and we shall carry on as a four piece, like it was meant to be. This doesn’t mean there won’t be any keyboards on the next album, but I’m really against getting a full-time keyboard player, because they’re always going to be like a ‘fringe member’, as Mark himself once put it. I’d rather use a session player." In other news, the whole sold-out Chilean tour was documented on video, with the footage currently being edited into a video clip for the song ‘Deconstruction’, which comes off the band’s latest album "No Gods No Masters". The clip, which is being directed by Roberto Fuentes, who had previously worked with the band on the video clip for ‘El Azote’ and CRIMINAL’s as-yet-unreleased home video entitled "Video Azote", should be finished in June.
On Monday, 10th of May VADER entered Radio Gdansk Studio to record their new full length album entitled "The Beast". The band only took a one day break to play a show along with METALLICA and SLIPKNOT in Chorzów. Peter and Doc’s replacement Daray spent the first two weeks working together in the studio, being joined later by Mauser and Novy to complete the recordings. The album is being produced by Piotr Lukaszewski ("Reign Forever World", "Revelations", "Blood"). A limited edition of "The Beast" will feature a bonus DVD with specials, like a studio report, two brand new video clips, an interview with Peter, a fragment of the band’s show at the Polish Woodstock Festival and other bonus stuff. More details will follow soon.
"Crowned Unholy" is a remake of the THE CROWN‘s fifth album "Crowned In Terror", which will be released on August 9, 2004 via Metal Blade Europe. It features re-recorded vocal tracks by Johan, re-recorded bass tracks by Magnus, a new version of the intro (originally written by Marko, now programmed by Janne), drum sound digitally enhanced by Janne, and cool synthesizer-spiced parts here and there, all programmed by Janne. The whole remake and remix / mastering was made / performed at Bohus Sound Recording with Dragan Tanaskovic. Janne Saarenpää (drums) comments the release: "Finally ‘Crowned in Terror = Crowned Unholy’ sounds just the way it’s supposed to! After a long, LONG journey through different studios and mastering facilities we once again achieved the unique CROWN sound, this time at Bohus Sound Recording and nowhere else. When you hear Johan’s voice in the BRUTAL new mix, you will once again realize that you’ve been struck by the magic of THE CROWN! A perfect ending for quite a ride that lasted for 14 years!" "Crowned Unholy" will be released with a free bonus DVD, the content is not confirmed yet, while the front cover is nearly done and will be released soon.