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By Andrew Bansal

Following the unanimously positive response to last year’s self-titled debut, The Winery Dogs recently released two more editions of the album, a 2-disc special edition comprising of the ‘Unleashed In Japan 2013’ CD which consists of live recordings from the band’s Japan tour along with a new track previously unreleased in the US, and a ‘Dog Treats: The Winery Dogs Deluxe Special Edition’, being sold in a box resembling a box of dog treats and including DVDs and other bonus items. Now, the band is getting ready to embark a short run of US West Coast dates and are all set to invade the Los Angeles are with two shows, on Friday June 27th at the Saban and Saturday June 28th at the Canyon. A couple of weeks ago, I spoke to bassist Billy Sheehan about the band’s journey so far, future plans and more. Enjoy the chat below. Continue reading “Interview With The Winery Dogs Bassist Billy Sheehan”

By Andrew Bansal

Los Angeles modern metal stalwarts DevilDriver are in the final week of their late spring/early summer North American touring run with co-headliners Whitechapel and support acts Revocation, Carnifex, Rivers Of Nihil and Fit For An Autopsy in an altogether crushing lineup that put on a killer show at the House Of Blues Sunset Strip on May 20th. The prolifically touring DevilDriver are out promoting their latest album ‘Winter Kills’ and based on that performance in front of their hometown crowd, the quintet appear to be at the peak of their powers as live musicians. A few hours before the House Of Blues gig, I sat down with gutiarist Jeff Kendrick to discuss the tour and to get his thoughts on a variety of topics such as DevilDriver’s AWOLNATION cover, the band’s major markets, festival shows in America, cannabis, All Axess, and more. Enjoy the conversation below. Continue reading “In-depth Interview With DevilDriver Guitarist Jeff Kendrick”

By Andrew Bansal

Knoxville TN’s six-piece extreme metal force Whitechapel released their fifth studio album ‘Our Endless War’ via Metal Blade Records earlier this year and embarked on a North American co-headline spring/early summer tour with DevilDriver, along with support from Revocation, Carnifex, Rivers Of Nihil and Fit For An Autopsy. The new album sees Whitechapel progress further into breaking out of sub-genre boxes and becoming more and more wholesome as a metal band, and it was even more evident upon experiencing the live renditions of these new tunes when put together with older material in the set. Whitechapel and the rest of the touring party visited the House Of Blues Sunset Strip two weeks ago, and before the show I sat down with guitarist Zach Householder for what turned out to be a pleasant conversation. Read it below. Continue reading “In Conversation With Whitechapel Guitarist Zach Householder”

By Andrew Bansal

Hailing from Boston MA, Revocation have been infiltrating minds, devastating stages and winning fans with their brand of technically skilled thrash metal, and have been highly regarded as one of the finest bands to have surfaced in recent years. Four albums deep into their career, they begin a new chapter with their signing to the prestigious Metal Blade label, under whom they’ll release a new album soon enough. Currently, they’re on a North American trek as support with DevilDriver, Whitechapel, Carnifex, Rivers Of Nihil and Fit For An Autopsy, and visited the House Of Blues Sunset Strip recently as part of the tour. A few hours before they put on yet another excellent performance, I caught up with guitarist/vocalist Dave Davidson and drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne for a chat. Read the conversation below. Continue reading “Interview With Revocation’s Dave Davidson & Phil Dubois”

By Andrew Bansal

In the year 2013, Eleanor Goldfield, singer of Los Angeles-based politically charged hard rock band Rooftop Revolutionaries, began an initiative called LA Unsigned along with Opus Dai bassist Michael John Adams to spotlight local hard rock bands through events and Spotify playlists, and their organization put together an excellent rock night at the House Of Blues Sunset Strip featuring their respective bands along with the ever-awesome Delta Rose, a show I thoroughly enjoyed, as you can tell from this review. The team puts together such events at various venues on a regular basis, and to give Metal Assault readers an introduction to LA Unsigned as well as to her band Rooftop Revolutionaries, I sat down with Eleanor yesterday for a detailed chat. Check it out below.  Continue reading “In Conversation With ‘LA Unsigned’ & Rooftop Revolutionaries Co-founder Eleanor Goldfield”

By Andrew Bansal

New Orleans sludge masters Crowbar have been spreading their riff-laden gospel for nearly 25 years now, and are all set to release their tenth studio album ‘Symmetry In Black’ via EOne Music in North America on May 27th, and a day earlier in Europe via Century Media Records. With this album, guitarist/vocalist Kirk Windstein and his band mates deliver yet another expectedly righteous slab of heavy sludge and are gearing up to present it on stages worldwide. They played a one-off show at Scion Rock Fest last Saturday, and a couple of hours before they obliterated the Fox Theater stage, I sat down with  Kirk Windstein for a brief chat about the new record, Scion Rock Fest, and touring plans. Read it below and get a taste of the new Crowbar. Continue reading “Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein Talks Scion Rock Fest, New Album & Future Plans”