Torture Squad is a Braziliandeath/thrash metalband, founded in 1990 which has released six studio albums and one live album. The band released their newest album, Aequilibrium, in 2010
History
The paint Incendio, fuego de noche by Goya, was used as front cover of Torture Squad's second album Asylum of Shadows[1]
Three years after being founded in 1990, the band entered a more professional phase, in a line-up with founder Cristiano Fusco on guitar, Wagner "Castor" on bass, Amilcar Christofaro on drums, and Vitor Rodrigues as frontman and singer. They started touring in and around São Paulo and soon recorded a demo, released in 1993, A Soul in Hell. Their first CD was Shivering (1995); their break-through came with Asylum of Shadows (1999).[citation needed]
Their 2001 album, The Unholy Spell, came right after the band's first tour in Germany. In 2002, Cristiano Fusco left the band, and the band hired Mauricio Nogueira (a seasoned studio musician who played for Krisiun as well as other local bands like In Hell and Zoltar), and went on their first Brazilian tour.[citation needed]
Pandemonium produced by Marcello Pompeu and Heros Trench (Korzus) was released in 2003. The CD was supported by a TV video clip for "Pandemonium" and "Horror and Torture." Again, the band played all over Brazil. Then, in 2006 Torture Squad embarked on a European tour, headlining in 16 towns in Germany and 4 in Austria. Afterward they played in more cities in Brazil until they participated in the Brazilian pre-selection for the famed Wacken Open Air festival. They eventually won the final in São Paulo,[2] and they represented Brazil at Wacken Battle of the Bands 2007, which they won. This victory won them a contract with Armageddon Records (Germany); Mauricio Nogueira also won the "best guitar player" award, which earned him a brand new Dean guitar and a Marshall pre-amp.
Their most recent album, Hellbound, was released in May 2008 by Armageddon, not long after Mauricio Nogueira left the band for personal reasons and Augusto Lopes (Eternal Malediction) was announced as the new guitarist. In 2008, Torture Squad embarked on a 60-date European tour, which will include a show at Wacken Open Air.
The year of 2009 started pretty well for Torture Squad. After the release of Hellbound and its excellent repercussion in Brazil, Europe and the United States, the band will be in a European tour with two of the major thrash metal bands, Overkill and Exodus. The tour begins in mid February in London, where the Brazilian group performs for the first time, and includes 12 more shows in countries like Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
Their most recent studio album “AEquilibrium” will be released in Europe on August 2010 by Wacken Records / H'art / Zebralution / SAOL. They had recorded a new version for the title track of their third album “The Unholy Spell” which is included as bonus track with the title of “The Unholy Spell 2010”. The album was recorded in São Paulo/Brazil, at Norcal Studios with producers Brendan Duffey and Adriano Daga.
In January 2011, guitarrist Augusto Lopes left the band and André Evaristo replaces him.
Matanza was conceived in 1996 by Jimmy London and Donida, given the idea to explore the simple and straightforward melodies of the early career of the American singer Johnny Cash, adapted to the tempo of a drum was heard as that of Scottish band The Exploited. With drummer and bassist Nervous and Diba, they recorded a demo in 1998 called Terror em Dashville.
In 1999, a new recording would attract the attention of producer Rafael Ramos, and lead the Matanza to sign with the now defunct Music for the April release of their first CD. Already on the charts in China, Santa Madre Cassino was recorded in December 2000 and launched in March the following year, shortly before being the band was dropped by their record label for the lack of a radio hit.
Matanza then brought Rafael Ramos of Deckdisc to the studio and record their second album Drum, Música para Beber e Brigar, which is more similar to Faust. Album highlights are "Pé na Porta", "Soco na Cara" and "Bom é Quando Faz Mal" whose music videos were directed by Eduardo Kurt, also responsible for "Ela Roubou Meu Caminhão" from the first album, and all those who were said to be a tribute to Johnny Cash.
The project To Hell with Johnny Cash started out as a compact four songs the band would play at their shows but in a short time grew to 12 songs in all. In early 2005, with the emergence of new media, the result was a CD-DVD, recognized as the first DualDisc title of a Brazilian artist in the country.
Recorded in mid 2006 and launched in October of that year, A Arte do Insulto revealed a vastly more professional band, able to face the road in a way inconceivable in their early career.[citation needed] The seriousness with music would be expressed in the tone of the lyrics, the weight of the composition and intensity of the show, which would later become a DVD. The work to promote the album also featured the video for "Clube dos Canalhas" directed by Rudi Lagemann and photographed by Tuca Andrade, and with the Matanza Comix magazine with comics Alan Sieber, Arnold White, Daniel Ete, among others, Donida himself being the publisher.
The record MTV Apresenta Matanza recorded at Hangar 110 in December 2008 and directed by Romi Atarashi, has Jonas on drums and marks the transition to a new phase. Guitarist Donida left the stage to devote himself exclusively to the composition of the band. His place on the stage is occupied by Mauricio Nogueira (Ex-Torture Squad).
Five years after A Arte do Insulto the Matanza launches Odiosa Natureza Humana in March on Deckdisc. The 5th studio album (plus 4 unreleased) began to be made in 2010 and was recorded in three days, live to tape, (no digital recording) and had production by Rafael Ramos. After a 15-year career, six CDs and a DVD out and an annual average of 90 concerts, Odious Human Nature brings Matanza more Matanza than ever: heavy, fast, bad-humored, ironic and touching the country-hardcore that is their trademark.
Style and Influences
The band has a sarcastic and cynical lyrics that speak of hatred, violence, alcohol and women. They have an atmosphere of old American West. The media dubbed the style created by the band Countrycore. The band members are fans of Johnny Cash, and in 2005 they recorded an album of cover songs to songs of the early stage of his career, dubbed To Hell With Johnny Cash. In 2006 album, A Arte do Insulto Matanza explores various aspects of traditional Irish music.
Kittie is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in London, Ontario in 1996. A quartet of women, the group rose to success in 1999 when the track "Brackish" from their debut album Spit became a hit single. The band has toured with multiple famous acts, including Slipknot during the early 2000s on their UK tour.
1996–2004
Kittie was formed in 1996, when drummer Mercedes Lander and guitarist Fallon Bowman met in an extracurricular gymnastics class. Mercedes' sister Morgan Lander became lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. Their original bassist was Tanya Candler, who eventually left the band in the winter of 1999 to finish high school. Talena Atfield was selected as the new bassist. This lineup released the album Spit in 1999.
In 2001, Fallon Bowman left Kittie without citing her reasons and eventually started a new project called Amphibious Assault. The album Oracle was recorded with Morgan Lander as the sole guitarist. Fallon's position as guitarist was later filled by Jeff Phillips who worked as Kittie's guitar technician. In 2002, Talena Atfield left and was replaced on bass by Jennifer Arroyo. In 2004, the group added guitarist Lisa Marx, and Jeff Phillips went to work full-time on his side project, Thine Eyes Bleed. In 2004, Kittie released the album Until the End.
2005–2007
Until March 2005, Kittie were signed to Artemis Records but parted ways due to "a proposed amendment to the recording budget for the pending fourth Kittie album." Problems between the group and record label had been rumoured for a long time. In March 2004, Artemis and Kittie came to an out of court settlement over unpaid royalties and eleven breaches of contract by Artemis.
On March 23, 2005, Morgan Lander reported that both Lisa Marx and Jennifer Arroyo had left the band.[1] Jennifer Arroyo's split was amicable while Lisa Marx's came as a surprise. As with Talena Atfield's departure from the band, financial reasons were cited;[citation needed] and in the case of Jennifer Arroyo, the desire to work outside of Kittie full-time was an additional factor. Jennifer Arroyo would go on to join Billy Graziadei of Biohazard to form Suicide City.
In 2005 Kittie added two new members: Tara McLeod on guitar and Trish Doan on bass, who were described as the first "official" band members other than the Lander sisters and early members Atfield and Bowman. 2005 also brought the debut of Morgan and Mercedes Lander’s clothing line, Poisoned Black clothing. Morgan and Mercedes also appeared briefly in the documentaries Metal: A Headbanger's Journey and Heavy Metal - Louder than Life. On February 7, 2006, Kittie released the Never Again EP through Rock Ridge Music. Also in 2006, vocalist Morgan Lander provided vocals on the song "It Turns to Rust", from the album In the Arms of Devastation, by the Canadian death metal band Kataklysm.
In May 2006 Kittie announced a joint venture to create their own record label, Kiss of Infamy Records, which will include major label distribution by EMI. The label name was later changed to X of Infamy after a cease-and-desist letter from attorneys representing Kiss Catalog Ltd. (the owner of the intellectual property rights pertaining to the musical group Kiss) alleging that the Kiss of Infamy trademark was "confusingly similar" to their client's trademark. The band's fourth studio album Funeral for Yesterday was released on February 20, 2007 through their new label. Along with the release of Funeral for Yesterday, Morgan Lander announced that Kittie would release a 45 minute-DVD with the CD.[2]
Kittie kicked off 2007 with the Funeral for Yesterday Tour running from the beginning of February until the end of March. Other bands on the bill included Walls of Jericho, 36 Crazyfists, Dead To Fall, and In This Moment. The positive feedback and success of the tour encouraged Kittie to extend their tour into May 2007 with Walls of Jericho and In This Moment. In November 2007 Kittie headed south to play shows in Central and South America, including dates in Santiago, Chile and São Paulo, Brazil. For these shows in Central/South America, Ivy Vujic of the Canadian band In The Wake filled in for Trish Doan on bass.
2008-2010
On March 4, 2008 Kittie announced the departure of bassist Trish Doan due to the eating disorderanorexia, which she developed during the recording of Funeral for Yesterday.[3] Doan had battled the disorder for nearly two years. Soon after, Ivy Vujic officially became the new bass player.
On August 2, 2008 David Lander, father of band members Morgan and Mercedes and the band's manager, died of a heart attack.[4]
Between October 18, 2008 and November 8, 2008, Kittie completed their first European tour in six years. The Kittie Does Europe tour included dates in the Netherlands, England, Wales, Scotland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Russia.[5]
On 26 June 2009, Kittie announced that they had signed to the E1 Music label. A new album, entitled In the Black, was released on 15 September 2009. Videos were shot for two singles, "Cut Throat" and "Sorrow I Know". "Cut Throat" premiered on MTV 2's Headbangers Ball on 5 September 2009 and on the Canadian show Much Loud on 20 September 2009. "Cut Throat" was also featured on the Saw VI Soundtrack released on October 20, 2009.[6] On 16 September 2009, an announcement was made that German label Massacre Records would distribute In the Black in Europe.[7]
In January 2010, Kittie again toured Europe to promote the album In the Black. Supporting bands on the tour included It Dies Today and Malefice. This tour included dates in Scotland, England, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. In a January 27, 2010 interview, Morgan Lander revealed that the band was in talks to film a video for the track "Die My Darling". [8]
March 2010, Kittie embarked on another North American tour with God Forbid, Periphery and Gwen Stacy as support. In May/June 2010 Kittie will be taking part in the Happy Daze tour. Insane Clown Posse will be headlining the month-long tour, and other acts appearing on the bill are Coolio, Kottonmouth Kings and Necro.
On June 24, 2010 Blabbermouth.net announced that Kittie will be opening for Devildriver for a North American tour.[9]
2011
According to Kittie's Facebook fanpage and Twitter accounts the band is hard at work writing new material for their next CD. Pictures posted at both Kittie's Facebook and Twitter accounts show a song list with humorous temporary working titles and a clever hand drawn pentagram with a smiley face and cat whiskers. Songs on the list in order from top to bottom as of March 19th, 2011 include : Metal Song #1, Banana-nana, Stoner Jam, Finger Blastica, Dolly Dearest, Part 1 & Part 2, Radio Panty Remover, My Butt Hurts, Can Abyss.
On April 2nd 2011 Ivy Vujic married Geoffrey Jenkins, the former vocalist of Gwen Stacy .[10]
On April 11th, 2011 Kittie announced they were heading into the studio once again with Siegfried Meir who has engineered on Oracle and produced,engineered, mixed In The Black. Commented KITTIE guitarist/vocalist Morgan Lander: "We have been working exceptionally hard these cold winter months, crafting what is to be our six full-length release, and our second for eOne. In some cases these new songs are faster, darker and much more sinister than our previous release. It contains some of the most difficult and personal subject matter I have had the pleasure (or displeasure) of writing." Added Meier: "The girls have written some incredible and personal songs this time around. They're heavy as shit and relentless. It's a pleasure and an honor to be doing another record with one of the best metal bands of our time."[11]
When we were thinking of names to call the band before our first show, we had decided that we wanted something completely contradictory to what the band and the sound of the band was. I think we chose Kittie because we wanted something totally unexpected, something that sounded weak, so that when you heard the band for the first time, it would be a total shock. I think there were a few other pussy sounding names...Like Swan or Swansong (which is what I remember really wanting to call the band)...But Kittie was chosen, and the rest is history.
Testament is an American metal band from Berkeley, California,[1] formed in 1983. They are often credited as one of the most popular bands of the 1980s thrash metal scene.[2][3][4] In the 28 years since its inception, Testament has had numerous lineup changes, and guitarist Eric Peterson has been the only constant member, although the band currently features three original members.
To date, Testament has released nine studio albums, four live albums, six compilation albums, and six singles. They were one of the first thrash metal bands to sign to a major label (Atlantic Records, in 1986). The band released their debut album The Legacy in 1987 and achieved moderate success with its three follow-ups, The New Order (1988), Practice What You Preach (1989) and Souls of Black (1990). Testament achieved its biggest success with their 1992 follow-up The Ritual, which debuted at #55 on the Billboard 200 charts, the band's highest ever chart position in the United States.[5] The band also has two Top 40 albums and one Top 50 album to its credit in the UK. Their ninth studio album, The Formation of Damnation (2008) entered the Top 20 in Germany at #15, while its 1999 predecessor The Gathering entered the Top 50 in that country. Testament is currently recording a new album, which is said to be released in late 2011 or early 2012
History
Early career and The Legacy (1983–1987)
Testament was formed in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1983 by guitarist Eric Peterson and his cousin, vocalist Derrick Ramirez, also a guitarist, originally using the name Legacy. The band soon recruited bassist Greg Christian and drummer Mike Ronchette. Ramirez was subsequently replaced on lead guitar by Alex Skolnick, who had studied under SF Bay Area guitarist Joe Satriani. Ramirez eventually departed and was replaced on vocals by Steve Souza before the band released one self-titled 4 song demo in 1985. Ronchette left shortly after the recording and was replaced by Louie Clemente. Steve Souza subsequently left the band to join Exodus, and suggested that Chuck Billy should replace him on lead vocals. While recording their first album, the band was forced to change their name to Testament (which, according to Maria Ferrero in the May 2007 issue of Revolver, was suggested by Billy Milano of S.O.D.) because "The Legacy" was already trademarked by a jazz band.
Testament's first album, The Legacy, was released in 1987 on Megaforce Records. Testament received instant fame within thrash circles and were often compared with fellow Bay Area thrash pioneers Metallica. The band quickly managed to increase their exposure by heading out on a successful tour of America and Europe with Anthrax, who were then touring in support of their Among the Living album. On this tour the Live at Eindhoven EP was recorded.
Increasing popularity (1988–1992)
The next album, The New Order, was released in 1988, and found the band continuing in a similar vein. After another successful world tour the band headed back into the studio to record Practice What You Preach. Released in 1989, the album minimized the occult and gothic themes found in the lyrical content of their first two albums, instead focusing on real-life issues such as politics and corruption. The album was the band's most popular to date and even MTV took notice, giving the title track extensive airplay on Headbanger's Ball.[citation needed]
In 1990, Souls of Black was released to mixed reviews and slow album sales.[citation needed] Attempting to reconnect with an audience distracted by the growing grunge movement, Testament released The Ritual in 1992. The Ritual saw a stylistic move away from thrash to a slightly more traditional heavy metal sound.[6] Sales were poor and the band began to implode.[citation needed]
Changes in formation (1993–2003)
The next decade was marked by a series of changes in the formation of the band, followed by a change of pace in its musical style. Lead guitarist Alex Skolnick and drummer Louie Clemente left. Skolnick wanted to incorporate his more melodic style of playing, but this did not fare well with Peterson, Billy, and Christian's traditional "thrashy" preferences, who agreed Skolnicks playing had become "too melodic." As a result of this clash, Skolnick left soon after The Ritual's release. Skolnick would temporarily join Savatage, and later, would become involved with an acoustic jazz band. Drummer Louie Clemente, in the meantime, moved toward a more stable career outside of music, selling modern art and furniture.
In 1993, Skolnick and Clemente were temporarily replaced by Forbidden members Glen Alvelais and Paul Bostaph, respectively. This lineup released the 1993 live EP, Return to Apocalyptic City. Soon after, Alvelais quit the band and Paul Bostaph departed to join Slayer. 1994's Low, featured John Tempesta on drums and death metal guitarist James Murphy, formerly of Death, Cancer, and Obituary. Low was a diverse album, featuring various influences such as death metal, groove metal, and as well as a ballad: "Trail of Tears". The band's remaining fans reacted favorably to Low although it did little to expand Testament's fanbase. Some fans, however, viewed Testament's move away from the mainstream as a liberation that allowed them to expand artistically, not being pressured by sales and success as they once were. Tempesta left after the recording of the album, being replaced by Jon Dette for the following tour. In 1995, Jon Dette departed the band, during their 1994-1996 tour.
Dette departed temporarily to join Slayer to replace Bostaph, also a former member of Testament. Dette's temporary replacement was Chris Kontos, who had formerly been part of Machine Head. This lineup is featured on the Judas Priest cover Rapid Fire. After the 1996 club tour, Greg Christian, James Murphy and Chris Kontos departed the band. During the time Kontos was in Testament he suggested the band drop the name altogether and call the band "Dog Faced Gods". This idea was turned down by Billy and Peterson who wanted to continue with the Testament name. The two later temporarily disbanded Testament.
The band's follow-up album, Demonic, released in 1997, took a new approach, and found Testament experimenting with death metal more. The album featured Eric Peterson on both lead and rhythm guitar (although Glen Alvelais made a guest appearance, and played on the subsequent tour), early member Derrick Ramirez on bass guitar, and former Dark Angel drummer Gene Hoglan. Hoglan left before the Demonic tour to join Strapping Young Lad, with Steve Jacobs doing the South American leg of the tour and Jon Dette returning later. Hoglan's loyalty to Strapping Young Lad and his desire to not remain a member of Testament actually came to realization during a published interview the band conducted with Metal Maniacs Magazine.
By 1998, Ramirez, Alvelais and Dette had departed and James Murphy had returned for the release of The Gathering. The rhythm section on The Gathering was highly respected, consisting of metal fretless bass pioneer Steve DiGiorgio (formerly of Death and Sadus) and original Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. The sound of the album was largely a combination of death metal, thrash metal, and a minor black metal influence from Eric Peterson's side project, Dragonlord.
Soon after the release of The Gathering, lead guitarist James Murphy was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Through various fundraisers, Murphy was able to afford surgery and eventually made a full recovery. Nevertheless, he now cannot recall anything from the recording of The Gathering. In 2001, Chuck Billy was also diagnosed with a type of cancer called germ cell seminoma. This kind of cancer is a rare form of testicular cancer, but it only affected Billy's lungs and heart. His cancer was also treated successfully. In August 2001, friends of Billy organized the Thrash of the Titans benefit concert, featuring seminal Bay Area thrash bands Vio-Lence, Death Angel, Exodus, Heathen, and others. The show was headlined by a Legacy reunion, featuring Steve Souza on vocals, and former guitarist Alex Skolnick, who had not played with the band since 1992 and Greg Christian. Late in 2001, Testament released First Strike Still Deadly, a collection of re-recordings (with modern studio technology) of songs from their first two albums. The album featured the lineup of Billy, Peterson, DiGiorgio, the return of Alex Skolnick on guitar and John Tempesta on drums.
Recovery of Billy, reunion and The Formation of Damnation (2003–2008)
By 2003 Chuck Billy had completely recovered, and the band began performing live again with a new drummer, Jon Allen of Sadus. In 2004, the band changed their lineup once again for their summer festival live appearances, and Jon Allen was replaced by Paul Bostaph, returning to the band for a second stint after a decade's absence. Lead guitarist Steve Smyth also departed to join Nevermore, and was replaced by ex-Halford guitarist "Metal" Mike Chlasciak. Shortly after Steve Smyth's departure, Eric Peterson fell down a flight of stairs, breaking his leg, and was unavailable for some dates. He was temporarily replaced by Steve Smyth.
In May 2005, it was announced that Testament would be doing a brief Europe-only reunion tour - known as the "10 Days in May Tour" - featuring the original lineup of Billy, Peterson, Skolnick and Christian, with drum duties shared between John Tempesta and Louie Clemente. After the success of the initial tour dates, Testament announced more dates in the U.S., Europe and Japan with the classic lineup. Alex has also been touring the East Coast with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The band went on to release a live DVD and CD from the tour entitled "Live in London". In interviews on the DVD Eric Peterson expressed his desire to record the follow up to "The Gathering" with the classic Testament lineup. He also stated that Alex Skolnick had begun writing songs for the new album. Chuck Billy was very vocal about how happy he was to have Alex, Greg, Louie and John Tempesta in the band once again and hoped to maintain a stable lineup going forward.
Testament played for the first time in the Middle East at the Dubai Desert Rock festival in March 2006. Other notable bands that performed for the Desert Rock Festival were Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Razed Ritual and 3 Doors Down.
In July 2007, the band played a show at Jaxx Nightclub in Springfield, Virginia, with Paul Bostaph filling in on drum duties. It was later confirmed that Bostaph would be officially returning to the band to record the new album. The band debuted a new song at that show, currently entitled "The Afterlife",[7] which they also played again at Earthshaker Fest.
In February 2008, the band released the song "More Than Meets the Eye" from the new album on their MySpace page.
In April 2008, Testament was confirmed for Ozzy Osbourne'sMonsters of Rock festival to take place on July 26, 2008 in Calgary, Canada.[8]
Testament released its new album, titled The Formation of Damnation, on April 29, 2008 through Nuclear Blast Records. Their first studio album in nine years, it is the first Testament album to feature Alex Skolnick on guitar since 1992's The Ritual, also the first to feature bassist Greg Christian since 1994's Low.[9][10] Also, the band was confirmed to be the main event on the first day of the "Gillmanfest," a rock festival to be held on May 24, 2008, in Valencia, Venezuela. Testament will also be visiting Colombia for the second time in the band's extensive career. In June 2008 Testament headlined the 3rd stage at Download Festival, held at Donington Park, UK. Testament also toured the U.S., as a supporting act for Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell, and Motörhead on the "Metal Masters Tour". On the 22 Oct 2008 Testament announced that they have recruited guitarist Glen Drover ex Megadeth and King Diamond to fill in on their upcoming Mexican tour dates with Judas Priest, Due to Alex Skolnick's prior commitment to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.[11]
Recent activities and tenth album (2009–present)
In late September 2008, it was announced that Testament would embark on the "Priest Feast" European tour with headliners Judas Priest and Megadeth in February and March 2009.[12] On March 25, 2009, Testament played a special One Night Only show at the O2 Islington Academy in London, where they played the first two albums (The Legacy and The New Order) back to back with thrashcore band Sylosis in support. Also in 2009, Testament set out on a 6 week tour across the U.S. to promote The Formation of Damnation, touring with Unearth and Lazarus A.D.. In early 2010, Testament toured the United States with Megadeth and Exodus; Alex Skolnick did not participate in that tour, due to personal reasons (Glen Drover filled in for him). In August, Testament toured Australia.[13] Testament also headlined for the first time in the Philippines for the annual PULP Summer Slam on April 17, 2010 with heavy metal band Lamb of God.
In 2009, it was announced that Testament had begun writing material for their tenth album. In an interview with Metalheadz, guitarist Eric Peterson stated that there are about four songs written and that "there's other guys in the band who like to play the more rock melodic style but the next one is gonna be a bit heavier."[12] In a January 2011 interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, frontman Chuck Billy revealed that Testament has been working on six new songs and four or five "maybe left to write" and then begin recording their new album by the end of February or early March. He also revealed that the album will still be released in 2011.[14] On May 18, 2011, guitarist Alex Skolnick posted an update on his Twitter, saying "Another tune done! My riffs from last week [plus] some of [fellow Testament guitarist Eric Peterson's plus] new ones we wrote today. Planning one more, then we've got more than we need."[15]
Testament began recording their new album on June 20, 2011. Paul Bostaph is unable to take part in the recording due to a "serious injury"; however, he will rejoin when the band tours to support the album. Gene Hoglan, who played drums on the band's 1997 album Demonic, is filling in for Paul on the drum tracks. It was also reported that Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler will make a special guest appearance on a couple of bonus tracks.[16]
Testament is currently set to appear at the California dates of the summer 2011 Rockstar Energy DrinkMayhem Festival, replacing In Flames.[17]
Paul Bostaph – drums (1993, 2007–present) (currently on hiatus from Testament due to a "serious injury", but will rejoin when they tour in support of their new album)
Gene Hoglan – drums (1996–1997, 2011) (filling in for Paul on the recording of their new album)
Derrick Ramirez – bass/guitar/vocals (was also in the band when they went under the name Legacy. Did the guitar and vocal duties on their first demo) (1983–1984) Bass on the Demonic album and tour.(1997)
The Iron Maidens are an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001[1] as an all-femaletribute act to English heavy metal band Iron Maiden.[2] Hailed as "The World's Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden",[3] the band currently consists of vocalist Kirsten Rosenberg, guitarists Heather Baker and Courtney Cox, bassist Wanda Ortiz and drummer Linda McDonald, all of whom have adopted separate aliases to mirror their Iron Maiden counterparts – "Bruce Chickinson", "Dee Murray", "Adriana Smith", "Steph Harris" and "Nikki McBurrain", respectively.
History
The Iron Maidens were originally formed in June 2001 by vocalist Jenny Warren and bassist Melanie Sisneros, formerly of the Iron Maiden tribute band Wrathchild.[4]Linda McDonald (drums) and Josephine Draven (guitar), both formerly of Phantom Blue, and Sara Marsh (guitar), joined Warren and Sisneros shortly afterward to form the band's first lineup.[3][5]
In 2003, the band started work on their debut album; however, the project was delayed when Warren gave notice of her departure from the band to focus more on her personal and child's needs.[6] After Warren's departure, new vocalist Aja Kim made her debut in the band and helped complete the album (World's Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden), which was released in June 2005.[7] After the album's release, Draven left the band. In May 2007, the band released their second album Route 666, which features a guest appearance by Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell.[8]
In summer 2008, Heather Baker and Aja Kim left the band to pursue solo careers.[9] The two were replaced by guitar prodigy Courtney Cox and vocalist Kirsten Rosenberg (formerly of the Maryland-based cover band HighWire).[10] In January 2010, Marsh, who was ill, was taken off some of the Japanese tour shows and did not rejoin the band.[11] Baker rejoined the band to temporarily fill in Marsh's spot for a handful of shows.[11]
