April 03, 2010
The following message was sent to us by Bill Peters of Auburn Records. As it’s a very sad situation, we figured we should share it with all of you reading this: "Hello! Jared Koston, the drummer in one of my Auburn bands VENOMIN JAMES, is in some serious medical trouble fighting cancer. His story has been receiving international attention in the music world (see links below). Jared has 4 children, no health care coverage and no income since both he and his wife had to leave their full-time employment to battle this illness. My WJCU "Metal On Metal" radio listeners from all around the world have already donated several thousands of dollars to the family in just a week’s time. You hear about these kinds of stories all the time in the news but it really hits home when it is someone you know. I am doing whatever I can to help the family during their time of need. We have already made a difference in this family’s life. If you are able to contribute and help a fallen Cleveland metal brother and his family out, the information on how to do donate is included in any of the news stories below. Thank you, Bill."
California’s GRAVEHILL recently took a break from working on their highly anticipated Ibex Moon Records debut to head down south to Texas for a string of shows with label mates, HOD. Safely home from the carnage and mayhem that ensued, vocalist Mike Abominator offered this summary of the mini-tour: "The Texas shows couldn’t have been better. HOD kicked total ass and made us stay on top of our game! One of the best live bands we have seen and some of the best guys around in metal…. period! It was an honor sharing the stage with them and playing our Death Metal for all those Texas maniacs! We met so many killer and diehard people in Texas. And I have fond memories of all three shows, but the San Antonio show was unforgettable due to the response of the crowd, the fights, equipment falling and going out, beer and blood flying, the fights, the mayhem, the fights, arghhhhhh! What a show! Thank you to John / Ibex Moon and Beer Reebs / Hod for setting it all up! TEXAS! We will be back!" GRAVEHILL will also be among the many Ibex Moon acts contributing a song to the soundtrack to the upcoming indie horror flick, "Afterparty Massacre". While said track might not be what GRAVEHILL fans might expect from the band, Abominator guarantees brutality: "We entered Trench Studios for a weekend to do the exclusive track for the "Afterparty Massacre" movie soundtrack which Ibex Moon is putting out. We recorded the AC/DC song ‘If You Want Blood (You Got It)’ for the release. It was GRAVEHILL-ized so to speak, ha ha, but it came out great. We even brought in our friends Shane from PHOBIA and Nick from CREPITUS to scream and growl along with me on the infamous chorus! In the end, the song title, attitude of AC/DC and Bon Scott and even the overall performance of the song fit GRAVEHILL perfectly! Since we are the AC/DC of Death Metal! hahahaha" In regards to the forthcoming album, the front man issued this update from the band’s own Hellheim Studios: "Now we enter our studio / dungeon Hellheim Studios to get the songs set for "Pravus Tyrannis" our 2nd album, and debut for Ibex Moon. Once we get the songs set, we will then enter Trench Studios with Engineer John Haddad (who has worked with Phobia, Hirax, Abysmal Dawn, Final Conflict, Deathevokation) to record the eight songs of devastating and relentless Death Metal that this album will unleash upon the earth!" More info and updates you may find on the band’s myspace site www.myspace.com/gravehill666