Music
Members Of Dethklok, Black Label Society, And Dangerous Toys Remember Meldrum Guitarist Michelle Meldrum
Meldrum has released their latest album Lifer today, which you can pick up on iTunes. The album pays tribute to late guitarist Michelle Meldrum, who passed away at the age of 39 in 2008. Members of Dethklok, Black Label Society, and Dangerous Toys have each released statements remembering Michelle and commenting on Lifer.
Dethklok drummer Gene Hoglan (who recorded drums for Lifer) states, “Let me say this: Never have I obsessed over the recording of any album I’ve been involved in as I have with Meldrum’s latest. The tragic circumstances that took Michelle from us also provided us with a raser-sharp focus to record the most amazing album we could. Michele Madden, Laura Christine, and hell, even Rob Shallcross, our engineer, put forth performances of a lifetime, with each member’s full love and respect going into every nuance of every song. Not only to honor Michelle, but to also lay down some bad-ass music, which was ultimately what she stood for what MELDRUM stands for. I think the songs speak for themselves, and I, for one, have never been prouder to be a part of a family, let alone a project such as this. Metal with balls. Crank it up, indeed.”
Read more below.
Dethklok‘s Gene Hoglan states, “It was and still is an honor to know Michelle and it is indeed with great pride that we release Lifer. I know she’s watching over us and smiling along with us at this wonderful day. I know I’m a better person for knowing Michelle, and I know she feels all of our love for her, as we feel hers for us. Through tragedy may we find joy, and through Lifer and all her other works, may Michelle find immortality. She’ll always be immortal to us. Remember, this is meant to be cranked up.”
Black Label Society’s James LoMenzo adds, “Michelle had the amazing ability to conjure almost any guitar style, from her earlier “Steve Vai” styled dexterity to the out and out muscular style that she later carried through with her own band Meldrum. A fine guitarist in the 80’s/90’s virtuoso tradition and one of the finest people you could ever come to know.”
Black Label Society’s John Deservio states, “First off I want to say how much I miss Michelle. She was a beautiful person inside and out and I am blessed to have known her. I miss you and love you Mich, R.I.P. baby.”
Dangerous Toys/Watchtower/Broken Teeth’s Jason McMaster adds, “Proud to call her a friend. Michelle Meldrum was and will always be one of my favorite and most inspiring guitarists and real people I’ve ever known. The world misses her.”
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It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.
Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.
Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.
“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.
“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”
You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…
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