NEW ENGLAND METAL & HARDCORE FESTIVAL To Celebrate 15th Anniversary 2013 Installment Of Iconic Fest Confirmed

MassConcerts proudly presents the first details for NEW ENGLAND METAL & HARDCORE FESTIVAL 2013, today confirming the dates and preliminary list of bands for this year’s occurrence of the long-running annual event.

For the 2013 installment, the NEW ENGLAND METAL & HARDCORE FESTIVAL will once again overthrow the historic venue, The Palladium, in Worcester, Massachusetts, this year marking the 15th anniversary of the iconic weekend-long gathering! The festivities will commence with a pre-party on April 18th, 2013 and the three official days of the fest following on the 19th, 20th, and 21st.

Commented the festival’s founder Scott Lee of MassConcerts: “I am excited with how far we have come and am ecstatic for this to be on our 15th year! It has been a long, interesting journey. We always try to make it a memorable event and we really hope you all enjoy the festival this year.”

With more than forty acts from all realms of the extreme music world already set to storm the two stages of NEW ENGLAND METAL & HARDCORE FESTIVAL XV -- and with many more to be announced in the coming weeks -- the confirmed headliners for the event will include Hatebreed, Opeth and Suicidal Tendencies, as well as legendary thrash titans Anthrax performing their Among The Living album in its entirety, as part of their headlining spot on the Metal Alliance Tour.


View the full list of bands set to confirm this year below. Tickets for the event will go on sale next Wednesday, January 16th.


NEW ENGLAND METAL & HARDCORE FESTIVAL XV:

Anthrax

Hatebreed

Opeth

Suicidal Tendencies

After The Burial

Alpha & Omega

Antagonist AD

Ark Of The Covenant

Black Breath

Born Of Osiris

The Contortionist

Dead By Wednesday

Death Before Dishonor

Ensiferum

Erra

Exodus

Expire

Fit For An Autopsy

Heidevolk

Hellsot

Holy Grail

I Declare War

Incendiary

Katatonia

Legion

The Mongoloids

Mother Of Mercy

Municipal Waste

No Mercy

Power Trip

Rude Awakening

Saving Grace

Shadows Fall

Suburban Scum

Those Who Fear

Trap Them

Trollfest

Twitching Tongues

Tyr

Within The Ruins

Xibalba



Since 1999, the NEW ENGLAND METAL & HARDCORE FESTIVAL has showcased a vast array of metal and hardcore acts across two stages, while also providing merchandising and promotional areas for record labels and other vendors, at Worcester, Massachusetts’ massive venue The Palladium.

Stay tuned for a torrent of continuous updates and coverage opportunities for the NEW ENGLAND METAL & HARDCORE FESTIVAL are made available via Earsplit PR, an official sponsor of this year’s event.

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https://twitter.com/moshfest

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ANTHRAX ANNOUNCES SHADOWS FALL GUITARIST JON DONAIS TO FILL IN ON UPCOMING TOUR DATES

 

Grammy-nominated rockers Anthrax - Scott Ian, Charlie Benante, Frank Bello and Joey Belladonna - have announced that Shadows Fall guitarist Jon Donais will step in for the departing Rob Caggiano.  Donais will temporarily fill in for Anthrax's upcoming tour dates in India, the series of Soundwave Festival shows in Australia, and the North American Metal Alliance Tour (dates below).
Anthrax logo

"Jon is a bro and he's also a total f**king ripper," said Scott Ian.  "I've worked with him twice before on side projects and he tears it up.  I'm excited to have him on my right burning up the stage with Anthrax.  13's gonna be a good year."

"I grew up on Anthrax, they're the thrash scene, they're one of The Big Four, I'd be crazy to not want to play with them," said Donais.  "Initially, Rob called and told me he was leaving the band, and asked if I'd be interested in filling in.  Then Scott called me and everything fell into place.  Rob and I are using Skype to work on solos and other guitar parts, so he's being great.  I also have to give special thanks to my band - Brian, Matt, Jason and Ed - who have been incredibly supportive and encouraged me to do this."

Dates for Anthrax's upcoming concerts with Jon Donais on guitar are as follows:


(India)

FEBRUARY

16     Fly Festival, Delhi  (with Limp Bizkit, Mastodon)
17     Fly Festival, Bangalore  (with Limp Bizkit, Mastodon)


(Australia - all dates with Metallica, Slayer, Linkin Park, more)

FEBRUARY

23     Soundwave Festival 2013, Brisbane
24     Soundwave Festival 2013, Sydney



MARCH

 1     Soundwave Festival 2013, Melbourne
 2     Soundwave Festival 2013, Adelaide
 4     Soundwave Festival 2013, Perth



(Metal Alliance Tour/North America - all dates with Exodus, High on Fire, Municipal Waste, Holy Grail)

MARCH

22     House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
23     House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
24     Marquee, Tempe, AZ
25     House of Blues, San Diego, CA
27     House of Blues, Los Angeles, CA
28     Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
29     Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR
30     Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC  CANADA
31     Showbox SODO, Seattle, WA



APRIL

 2     Summit Music Hall, Denver, CO
 4     First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
 5     House of Blues, Chicago, IL
 6     The Fillmore, Detroit, MI
 7     Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH
 9     House of Blues, Dallas, TX
10    House of Blues, Houston, TX
12    House of Blues, Orlando, FL
13    Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte, NC
14    Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
16    House of Blues, Cleveland, OH
18    Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
20     Irving Plaza, New York, NY

Anthrax - Among the living

I first heard this cassette in Phoenix, AZ, after reading about them in RIP magazine (rest in peace, ha)--( "...just listening to this record will make you break out in a sweat"*) in the summer of 1987.

I didn't get the breakneck (i.e., fast as shit) tempo at all; it sounded like noise to me. I listened to it over and over and over and over again until it "clicked."

And-- it really did click.

I love this cassette (which still works in my 20-year-old-caddy and its cassette player);

A quarter century later, I hold that this is better than all the other "big four" and their commonly-held best (meaning Reign in Blood and Peace Sells...) except, (I hate to add) than Master of Puppets.

And I love those other albums. Their cassettes still work and I still play them when I'm MP3-less.

And I hate Megadeth and Mustaine-- but from someone who still begrudgingly loves Peace Sells...?

Among the Living is genuinely better.

Now don't get me wrong-- I'm a full-on genuine Anthrax fan (I fully believe they're the only member of the "Big 4" who continued to evolve over 20 years; I love Persistence of Time (as their #2 album) and Sound of White Noise (as #3)-- but Among the Living should be (and mostly is) legendary.

Megadeth disappeared behind Mustaine's junkie/Christian persona; Slayer couldn't give less of a shit about musical evolution; and Metallica... well... you know Metallica 2012.

But Anthrax, even when they fail, are still obviously trying to change and become something more. They're true artists, to me. They risk.

True story: "A Skeleton in the Closet" was the first riff I learned to play completely correctly.

This album is still just as fast and mean and stuff released decades (literally!) later... "I am the law," and "A.D.I./ Horror of it All" are still genuine metal monsters, and Scott Ian's tone and Charlie Benante's simple yet-metronome-like drum parts are their perfect foil.


--Horn


*I still remember the add copy, 25 years later!

Personal Message to all Waveriders from Anthrax's Scott Ian

Hello my friends, how are you all?  I hope you're all kicking ass.

I know there's been a lot of rhetoric out there regarding upcoming Anthrax shows, Big 4 and otherwise.

I've been debating on whether or not to make a public statement about this as it really pertains to my personal life and I generally like to keep that personal.  Because this is affecting my band life, I feel like you, my friends, deserve to hear from me personally.

I will be playing the Big 4 show April 23 in Indio, CA s well as the shows in Manila, Bangkok, and Japan that will follow the Indio show. 

I won't be playing the shows scheduled from July 2 - 16 in Europe and the UK.  My wife Pearl and I are expecting our first child and she is due literally the day of the Big 4 Sonisphere show in France.

This decision to miss these shows was a deeply personal one.  I co-founded this band July 18, 1981 and for almost thirty years, I have been there for everything we've ever done.  I have never been faced with anything that would make me even question being there for anything Anthrax related.  Becoming a father is the biggest, best thing that's ever happened to me and it made the decision relatively easy.  My priority is with my wife and the birth of our first child.

As soon as I was faced with this decision, I knew, as Freddie Mercury so eloquently said, "the show must go on."

I started thinking about guitar players I knew, guys that I am a fan of, guys that I respect, guys that headbang like Angus was watching them, guys that I listen to and who I thought had the spirit to enable the show to go on.

This wasn't a hard decision at all.  I asked the rest of the band what they thought, and we were on the same page.

We chose Andreas [Kisser from Sepultura] because we feel he can do the gig better than anyone.  He has the fire, the attitude, and the crushing right hand to do the gig. I've played with Andreas at the Roadrunner 25th anniversary show, and I've gotten up and played with Sepultura and we are kindred spirits.  We both play every show like we're going to jail the next day, like it's the last show we'll ever play.  He has what it takes and he has the experience and history to fucking bring it and make these Anthrax shows something special.  I can't wait to see and hear it for myself!!

This year will bring our tenth Anthrax studio record featuring the return of the one and only Joey Belladonna.  We're hard at work finishing it and I can say that from the tracks I have heard, it is going to tear your fucking heads off.  I'm looking forward to getting back on the road with the band that is now better than we've ever been, and seeing all your sick faces and banging heads.

Cheers,

Scott


(Scott will play the following dates)
APRIL
23    Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA (Big 4 show)
30    Pulp Summer Slam Festival, Manila, Philippines

MAY
 2    AP Parking, Esplanade, Ratchada, Bangkok, Thailand
 5    O-East, Tokyo, Japan
 6    O-East, Tokyo, Japan
 7    Diamond Hall, Nagoya, Japan
 9    Big Cat, Osaka, Japan

(Andreas Kisser will play the following dates)
JULY
 2    Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Big 4 show)
 3    Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  (Big 4 show)
 5    Komplex AG, Zurich, Switzerland
 6    Fiera Open Air Arena, Milan, Italy  (Big 4 show)
 8    Sonisphere Festival, Knebworth, UK 
 9    Sonisphere Festival, Amneville, France
11    Garage, Saarbrucken, Germany
12    Vega Musikkenshus, Copenhagen, Denmark
14    Slottsfjell Festival, Tonsberg, Norway
15    Dour Festival, Dour, Belgium
16    Zwarte Cross Festival, Lichtenvoorde, Netherlands