Fresh off the email from Glynn Thomas comes this review of the Chimaira/Every Time I Die show in Birmingham! Thanks for emailing in! Keep ’em coming… “After having a shit week I would like to thank the Chimaira guys for making Saturday night fuckin awesome, the best I’ve had all year! I got to meet the guys before the gig and they all seemed to be looking forward to the night, despite only having a few hours sleep and a lot to drink. It’s cool when a band is this dedicated- touring so much, and after seeing them at Wolverhampton Wulfrun in November I wasn’t sure how they could match that, but they still played a million times better! I was fortunate to find some guys I knew on the bar so I got as close as I could, a couple of days of not being able to hear afterwards was totally worth it! First up were Every Time I Die, I thought these guys were ok! When their short set was over we were left with irritating songs being played through the speakers testing our patience. Eventually Stampin Ground came on, I had never seen these guys before but I was impressed, a good warm up band and they kept the crowd pleased, it was funny seeing the looks on the confused security guys faces when SG got the crowd to do Chimaira’s wall of death! After a long wait the lights dimmed and Implements Of Destruction kicked in. The crowd were all psyched and as soon all the guys made their way onto the stage, the harsher part of the instrumental kicked in, on came Mark Hunter and they kicked off in the Chimaira tradition with Power Trip, followed by Cleansation. Despite the lack of sleep these guys had had they were full of energy and after only two songs the crowd had gone from restless to unrestable (if there’s such a word), every one was going mad and the band failed to disappoint! They played some personal favourites such as Eyes Of A Criminal, and Severed from the Pass Out Of Existence album, half way through playing Severed Mark, Rob, Matt, Chris and Jim left the stage to leave new drummer Ricky to tear the crowd apart with his awesome drumming, with a solo which went on for a long while, and after showing off his talents the other members returned and broke back into Severed. A Chimaira gig wouldn’t be a Chimaira gig without Mark Hunter’s metal history lesson, so it was eventually time for the Wall Of Death, but to make it more interesting he threw in a copy of the special edition album into the ‘parted sea’ refusing to carry on playing if anyone touched it before he let them. The security guys piled in to help people out whilst the band carried on impressing. They ended with the awesome Pure Hatred, a great song to end with and everyone screamed along. Mark then went to greet the crowd, and whilst everyone was crushing forward to get to him he told my friends that he had seen him in a dream which was pretty cool, maybe Mark does have an odd religious connection other than Moses!?!, whatever it is they fuckin’ ruled, best night of the year and it’s a shame that I have to wait for their next tour! After the show they stayed to DJ at the club in the Academy, like I said before – it’s awesome that a band is that dedicated to their fans and I’ll never forget that night!” m/

We promised to bring you the new Killswitch Engage artwork very soon.. and that time is now. Designed by Mike D’Antonio, you can see the new cover HERE on the band’s artist page.

For those of you game afficionados out there, this update is for you – Where to hear Roadrunner Records music amongst your gaming travels. Some recent games holding Roadrunner music in its levels (i.e. when you play, you will hear): Electronic Arts- MVP Baseball 2004 To My Surprise – “Get It To Go” Sony Playstation-MLB Major League Baseball 2005 Nickelback – “Flat On The Floor” Rallysport Challenge 2002 Ill Nino – “Rhumba” and “If You Still Hate Me” Interplay – Brotherhood Of Steel Slipknot – “Heretic Anthem” and “People=Shit” Chimaira -“The Dehumanizing Process,” “Stigmurder,” and “Pure Hatred” Killswitch Engage – “My Last Serenade” and “Temple From The Within” _____________________________________________ And, if you care to dig further, one year ago at this time, new games out in Feb 2003 that contained RR music at that time, as follows: “PRIDE” (By THQ). “Pride” is an actual style of fighting done in Japan, kind of like Ultimate fighting. 36 Crazyfists – “Chalk White” Five Pointe 0 – “Breathe Machine” “SKATE”(By Konami). Skateboarding game. Ill Nino – “Unreal” “EVOLUTION SNOWBOARDING” (Konami). Slipknot – “Spit it Out” Murderdolls – “Dead in Hollywood” Chimaira – “Let Go” Stone Sour – “Get Inside” 36 Crazyfists – “One More Word” Five Pointe O – “Breathe Machine”

Hot off the press office…. Killswitch Engage, have announced the title and track listing to their highly anticipated follow up release to astounding debut ‘Alive or Just Breathing’. ‘The End of Heartache’. The album, a visceral metal experience, is set for release May 10, 2004. The album cover artwork ties in with the title and was designed by the band’s bass player, Mike D’Antonio. D’Antonio is no stranger to album cover design as he has taken on the task for the previous Killswitch Engage albums as well as for several other up and coming like-minded bands such as Shadows Fall and Unearth. The band’s multi-talented guitarist, Adam Dutkiewicz, produced The End of Heartache. Adam, now a well-known and respected producer in the genre, produced the band’s first release and is currently in the UK mixing the new album with Andy Sneap (Arch Enemy, Machine Head). The End of Heartache delivers more of the hyper-kinetic metal riffage found on Alive or Just Breathing, with even more feral drum beats and unbinding vocals. This is also the first full-length release from the band featuring Howard Jones on vocals and new drummer, Justin Foley. A few of the song titles expected to appear on the album are: “Bid Farewell”, “World Ablaze”, “When Darkness Falls”, “Rose of Sharyn”, “Declaration”, “Take This Oath”, “The End Of Heartache” and “Break the Bonds”. The End of Heartache is a grand statement of the level to which the band has risen this second album has everything that fans have enjoyed about the band in a more expanded sonic package that rises to even greater heights. Killswitch’s uncompromising approach to their music is sure to make new fans everywhere. Killswitch Engage – Mike D’Antonio (bass), Adam Dutkiewicz (guitar), Justin Foley (drums), Howard Jones (vocals), and Joel Stroetzel (guitar) – will hit the road as headliners in early May and can be expected to tour relentlessly behind The End Of Heartache in 2004.

Red Tape’s stunning debut album ‘Radioactivist’ was officially released today! Pick it up for around 퉌£11.99 from the following places: HMV, Virgin (save 퉌£2 off with voucher in last week’s Kerrang!), MVC, official Roadrage stores, or you can buy online HERE.

Feb 3rd: Cardiff I was woken up to do an instore signing in 20 min. Didn’t realize I have slept the day away. I rushed to get ready and we had to leave promptly. It was worth it once I saw the huge line down the street. My day got better once I discovered wireless internet upstairs in the production office. Soon after my discovery about 5 laptops appeared with others wanting to share the fun. Mark just butted in and asked me to type: SMOKE PUSSY. Soon after we had sound check, a photo shoot, and a meet and greet with the street teamers. About 10ish we hit the stage. It was unbelievably hot and humid. The crowd was way into our energy and we fed off it. After three or four songs my neck went numb and I was no longer able to feel pain from the night before. All in all it was a rocking show. The night was sober because the lack of Absinthe. Off to the truckstop! Feb 4th: Exeter Once again I woke up 20 minutes before our instore signing. I’m started to get used to this. The line was huge and everyone who came ruled. The oddest thing I signed today was a menu from some random restaurant. Today was basically a typical tour day. Nothing exciting happened. The crowd was amazing. The shows have been getting better by the day. As a band we are getting into a zone. Highlight of the day, we had nice showers! Other than that, boring day. Feb 5th: Portsmouth I have no clue what to write about. Today was another typical day. The signing and show both went great. We signed some odd stuff today: a vodka bottle, a powder puff girls backpack, a police evidence bag, and some crutches. Our shower was far from amazing. It flooded after one use. That’s always a blast. Absinthe made it onto our rider again tonight! Kebabs are yummy. Feb 6th: London I had about 15 minutes to get ready for this radio takeover thing. We had the bus parked in front of the club on a busy street. My jackass was attempting to get luggage out of the bus bay while cars are zipping by missing me by inches. To top it off rain was pouring down. What a wonderful start to my day. Without a doubt, tonight’s show in London was our best headlining gig ever. Everything went smooth and the crowd was absolutely incredible. We’ve never had a response that good. Our hometown gigs in Cleveland can’t even touch London. After the gig we went down to the Crowbar for drinks. As usual it was beyond packed and it took forever to get in. I got to meet a bunch of cool people and downed quite a few cocktails. We stayed till closing then headed back to catch some cabs. While grabbing a hot dog from a stand I look across the street to see a huge scuffle. Not exactly sure what was going on. Some of our guys ended up down the street with the action. Cops showed up and all hell broke loose. That’s about all I’m going to tell you. Good Night. Feb 7th: Birmingham I’m starting to get sick. This happens almost every tour. I’m getting use to it now. This show went by pretty fast because of an early curfew. After the gig the club turned into a big rock party. Andy from ETID kept us entertained by ripping his shirt off and putting on women’s underwear. He then attempted to start a circle pit with the crowd. The night was pretty long and I drank too many brown eyes. In case you don’t know. It’s a drink passed down from Mr. Robb Flynn himself: one part coke, one part vodka.

Our second review in of the London show, and we have to agree, a belter of a night it was. Even Chimaira said after the show, it was one of the best, if not the best, show they have ever played. And so here is George Thompson’s review… thanks for writing in George! “ETID – Fucking amazing! Played a great set and I really enjoyed them. It was a sort of Poison The Well… Stampin’ Ground were ok, got a bit bored as it all sounded the same. Chimaira – Any one who was there will agree that they tore the place down. People were jumping from the balconys and it was so fucking cool. Ricky’s drum solo kicked ASS. My fave songs of the night were Let Go, Cleansation, and Pure Hatred. Bit disapinted with the lack of Down Again but you can’t have everything! The highlights of my night were meeting the bands and getting a used Chimaira drumstick!!”

Thanks to Steve Dunne for sending his review of Exeter’s show in… and indeed his photo of the stolen signed menu for our instore competition! “This is my review of the Chimaira show in Exeter that I attended last Wednesday. Please find enclosed a photo the menu I stole to have signed by the band also – for your odd shit to get signed competition! m/ CHIMAIRA IN EXETER Ahhh, yes. The day of metal was upon us. We left Plymouth somewhat early, about 12:00 to make our way to Exeter for the Chimaira show. Trains are boring. Especially when you’re sat in the í¢ä‰åñquiet zoneí¢ä‰åŒ. I use inverted commas, because it wasn’t all that quiet when we were sat there. So we get to Exeter, where we do about an hour or two of window shopping, including going to a guitar shop so I can show off playing a Zakk Wylde guitar. After this, we make a stop at the Cavern Club, a very nice alternative pub/club/gig venue across the road from Solo Records, where the signing was taking place. Now, I’ll mention this now, but since we left Plymouth, we were looking for something slightly unusual to take with us. Wet floor signs, toilet seats, dogs, ANYTHING. At the same time, all three pairs of eyes at our table descend upon the menu. One menu later, we’re off to the signing. After standing in a queue for about 25 minutes, and contemplating OTHER unusual things to get signed, including a Spandau Ballet CD, we get a chance to meet the guys. A small conversation takes place between me and Jim LeMarca, which I will transcribe here: Me: I hear you’re having a contest for the weirdest thing signed. Jim: Yeah, that’s right. Me: Cool. Sign my menu, its good eating. Jim: Yeah (studies menu). This is what I want, (circles ‘All Day Breakfast’.) The All Day Breakfast, it never ends. Me: Yeah, it’s a nice place, and like I said, good eating. Jim: I’m looking forward to some good eating of my own, you know what I’m saying, bro? The filthy letch! Anyway, we get our CDs and posters and, ahem, menu signed by the rest of the guys and head to a local drinking establishment where we’re joined by two others from Plymouth. After drinking our bodyweight in various alcoholic substances, we’re off to the gig. As soon as we get in, Every Time I Die kicks off. I didn’t watch too much of their set, as I was busy drinking, meeting other people from Plymouth and going on the traditional merchandise scavenger hunt. One shirt and beanie later, we’re sat down by the bar, when Jim pops his head round the corner and sits with us for a while. He soon leaves, and Stampin’ Ground take the stage. Good lord, this band is impressive. I decided to stay out of the pit, as I like my nose the way it is, and don’t want it to look any different. They close up their set, and then I pounce, making my way to the front of the crowd, gazelle-style. After what seemed like an eternity, the lights went down, and Implements of Destruction started playing over the PA. Out of the darkness, the band (sans Mark) enters the arena. After two or three minutes of instrumental assault, Power Trip kicks in, Mark jumps on stage and proceeds to kick everyone’s ass. After this, things start to get a little hazy, memory wise. At one point, Mark threw out a copy of The Impossibility of Reason to the crowd, which REALLY reminded me of that scene in Metallica’s Cliff ‘Em All where James Hetfield threw out a vinyl of Kill ‘Em All and everyone went apeshit. The new drummer, Ricky, amazed everyone with an absolute KILLER drum solo, which went one-handed at one point. As The Dehumanizing Process kicks in, Mark proclaims himself to be the í¢ä‰åñMetal Mosesí¢ä‰åŒ. This can mean only one thing. WALL OF DEATH! These things are insane. After everything calms down (in a manner of speaking), we get treated to some Pure Hatred, which brings the set to a close. I caught Rob’s guitar pick, which makes it 2 Chimaira gigs, 2 plectrums for me. In closing, a word of advice for all you future gig-goers. If you travel to a concert and get back to where you started BEFORE kicking-out time in the clubs, do yourself a favour and go home. Nothing brings a night down like going to a crappy club two hours after seeing an amazing band.”

My name is Anant Bhadreshwara, I’m from Stanmore. I went to the gig Chimaira played on the 6th of Feb, and here’s my review of it: Chimaira/Stampin’ Ground/Every Time I Die- The Mean Fiddler- Feb 6th With the masses gathering into the Mean Fiddler it wasn’t long until ‘Every Time I Die’ hit the stage. They didn’t play a long set, but a memorable one with the vocalist doing acrobatic manoeuvres into the crowd. Next up it was Stampin’ Ground who managed to get the crowd going in circle pits and the crowd surfers gave the security guards a run for their money! With both supports over the crowed packed together with everyone anticipating the crushing riffs of Matt and Rob go through the amps…. Chimaira started off their set with ‘Implements of Destruction’ which had everyone in frenzy. Once they had run through a non-stop line of songs from ‘The Impossibility of Reason’ album, they took the crowds ‘old school’ (as Mark Hunter put it) with a line up from the ‘Pass Out Of Existence’ album. The break in the middle of ‘Severed’ was used to show to the restless audience the latest addition to the Metal Machine we like to call Chimaira! A brief introduction by Mark Hunter left the crowd in amazement when he announced that their new drummer had learnt the whole Chimaira set in 12 days. Mr Evensand took to the drums with a solo that had everyone clapping along to the beat, cheering and nodding their heads. As a UK exclusive Chimaira decided to play ‘Army of me’ and ‘Indifferent to Suffering’, these tracks truly brought the house down. The ‘Metal Moses’ aka Chimaira frontman lived up to his words and managed to divide a sea of people who were just waiting for Mark’s signal to go….as soon as he did all hell broke loose with fists flying, bodies dropping and devil horns rising! Just as the show was coming to a close Chimaira decided to play the track that everyone in the pits had been waiting for ‘Pure Hatred’….and in the pits it was just that as soon as the drum beat kicked in. With the crowd going ballistic a surprise was sprung onto the London crowd….. out of nowhere came Anders Frid퀌©n (aka In Flames vocalist)…..together on stage the Swedish metal man and Chimara’s very own ‘Metal Moses’ roared together at the top of their voice ‘I HATE EVERYONE’ and the crowd went berserk. ‘The Full Blown A$$ Ripping Metal’ machine (aka Chimaira) had managed to keep the crowd alive through the 1 and a half hour set of sheer brutality….they’ll be back!

We asked you to send in your reviews of the Chimaira/Every Time I Die UK tour, and promised all those posted up, and sent in with addresses would receive a little something in the mail… Conor McClarin’s review of the Portsmouth show is as follows… “To start off, me and a mate came out of college early to go to the Chimaira instore signing in Portsmouth, we had been waiting there for ages in the cold and the rain as the queue began to grow, eventually we got in and it was well worth the wait, the guys were unbelieveably friendly! and seemed to be looking forward to the nights show with quite a lot of anticipation. Eventually time came round for the gig to start and the doors opened – the Wedge was packed like never before, you couldn’t move inside. I hadn’t heard anything by ‘Every Time I Die’ or ‘Stampin’ Ground’ but I was definitely looking forward to seeing them. They kept everyone waiting for what seemed an eternity until eventually they came on. ‘Every Time I Die’ were fantastic even though the mosh pit was more of a boxing ring as people had their asses kicked. ‘Stampin’ Ground’ were up soon after and made one hell of an impression, splitting the crowd, starting circle pits, and proving they’re excellent live performers. Then came the big guns, the stage covered in smoke so thick you couldn’t see, the lights dimmed as the hundreds of people waited cheering and screaming until a nice acoustic piece of guitaring came out of the fog – before suddenly becoming ‘Power Trip’, Chimaira were back! with a vengance. Mark soon apologised for their short set at the excellent Roadrage 2003 and made up for it with an over hour long set! And not for a minute was it boring. The crowd went insane. It was one of the best gigs I’d ever been too, and I’ve been to a lot of gigs. Chimaira were outstanding. The new drummer has set in very well even doing an incredible solo which seemed to last forever. Circle pits once again started, and the crowd was split by Mark, leaving three huge guys in the middle waiting for the crowd to break at which point Mark screamed “Get these guys some body bags!”. The night ended with ‘Pure Hatred’ which the crowd went mad for and sung along to in unison. Overall it was a fantastic evening and I’m just hoping and praying Chimaira come back soon.” Conor