KINGDOM COME releaseD its new album, “Rendered Waters” on March 25 in Germany; March 28 in the rest of Europe
and will be out April 5 in the U.S. via SPV/Steamhammer.

It is not the success of the early days which Lenny Wolf associates KINGDOM COME with, nor earlier hits from his long-standing career. What he really cares about is the present. Is this a contradiction inview of his new album, “Rendered
Waters”, which features eight old and three newly recorded songs? Certainly not. All eleven tracks were cut at Lenny‘s Two Square Noise Factory studio in Hamburg, Germany.

In particular, the new recordings of old material show KINGDOM COME‘s vision of living in the here and now. “I purposely chose tracks from the very early days to show how we play, hear and feel the songs nowadays,” says Wolf. “Listening habits have changed dramatically, especially among the younger audience, which made it exciting for me to breathe new life into numbers which have not been heard for a while.”

For example, “Should I” is this time played more slowly, giving it a heavier appeal. The drums are more open and the guitars, according to Lenny, feature a more tube-oriented sound and warmer, more driving tone: “Just to give it an overall 2011 vibe,” he says.

“Of course, you can only change songs to a certain extent if you don’t want to lose the character and central theme of the original version.” The same goes for “I’ve Been Trying”, “Pushing Hard” and “Living Out Of Touch”. None of them has been reinvented, but all three certainly have a noticeably new approach to them. On the other hand, Lenny changed the verse of “I’ve Been Trying” completely, giving it a different arrangement, just like he transported the song “Seventeen” into the year 2011.

“‘Seventeen’ has always been kind of a key song for KINGDOM COME, yet it has never received much attention since it has a very non-commercial approach and is either loved or hated, but with the new version it will hopefully get the recognition it deserves,” he says.

Another argument against suggestions that Lenny just wanted to warm up old material is that he purposely didn’t choose to re-record former hits like “Get It On”, “What Love Can Be”, “Do You Like It” and “Twilight Cruiser” which put KINGDOM COME on the map on a global level. He even selected a song such as “Break Down The Wall” from his pre-KINGDOM COME days back in 1985 when he played with L.A.-based band STONE FURY, which just goes to show how timeless the material is.

“It was very interesting to add new styles and to carry them into the year 2011,” he says. “There are a number of songs
from the Seventies. Their charm lives off the old recording technology which can’t be beaten these days and therefore should remain untouched, but re-recording Eighties songs isn’t such a sacrilege.”

Let’s not forget the three brand new songs, which feature that typical KINGDOM COME structure of strong guitar hook lines and Wolf’s charismatic vocals. “Blue Trees”, “Is It Fair Enough” and “Don’t Remember” once again see Lenny prove his unwillingness to pander to expectations. Like it or not, he certainly follows his very own route. Although Lenny
again recorded most of the instruments himself, Eric Förster, who contributed those ruthlessly driven guitar solos, and American-born Berlin resident Hanan Rubinstein, who mastered the CD, both certainly need to be mentioned for their great contribution.

The song “Blue Trees” can now be streamed using the audio player below (courtesy of AOL‘s Noisecreep).”It’s a more lighthearted, straight-ahead love song with open chords hammering a simple theme, giving the bass and guitar players a good reason to stand spread-legged on stage rocking the house,” Wolf tells Noisecreep of the track.

“Blue Trees” audio stream:

Quality fan-filmed video footage of ACCEPT‘s March 22, 2011 performance at the Corporation in Sheffield, England
can be viewed below (courtesy of Gig Addiction).

ACCEPT performed its classic 1982 album “Restless And Wild” in its entirety —
including such trend-setting gems as “Fast As A Shark”, “Restless & Wild” and “Princess Of The Dawn” — on January 25 at Z7 in Pratteln, Switzerland.
These classic songs were supplemented with several new songs from their latest album, “Blood Of The Nations”.

ACCEPT kicked off its massive “Blood Of The Nations 2011 Tour” of Europe on January 14. The shows in Osnabrück, Bad Arolsen and Antwerp were packed with passionate metal-loving fans. The two-hour-plus performance pummeled the fans
with classics like “Balls To The Wall”, “Metal Heart” and the immortal “Princess Of the Dawn”, completed with the pedal-to-the-metal bombast of ACCEPT‘s new hits “Teutonic Terror” and “The Abyss”.

The entire “Blood Of the Nations 2011 Tour” will involve over 80 mind-blowing concerts around the globe.

A complete list of ACCEPT tour dates can be found at this location.

“Blood Of The Nations”, the new album from ACCEPT, sold around 2,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 187 on The Billboard 200 chart.

ACCEPT 2011 is:

Wolf Hoffmann: Guitar
Peter Baltes: Bass
Herman Frank: Guitar
Mark Tornillo: Vocals
Stefan Schwarzmann: Drums

Legendary actor, recording artist and author William Shatner will be presented with the Honorary Headbanger Award at the third annual Revolver Golden Gods award show presented by Epiphone on Wednesday, April 20, at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles. Revered for his role as Captain James T. Kirk on “Star Trek”, Shatner will be on hand to accept his award, an honor Revolver magazine bestows each year to someone who has made their name outside of the metal world but still embodies its spirit. Later this year, Shatner will officially prove the latter with his new album, “Seeking Major Tom” (Cleopatra), which features collaborations with hard-rock musicians, including Ritchie Blackmore and Ian
Paice of DEEP PURPLE, and, on a cover of BLACK SABBATH‘s “Iron Man”, Zakk Wylde of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and Mike Inez of ALICE IN CHAINS.

“Short of receiving an Emmy for my superb voice, the Honorary Headbanger Award is the next best thing.
Praise be you won’t hear me sing,” said William Shatner. In other exciting news, Cherie Currie of THE RUNAWAYS will make a special guest appearance, performing with the Presley/Cash-inspired metal group VOLBEAT, while Max Cavalera of SEPULTURA, SOULFLY, and CAVALERA CONSPIRACY will join HATEBREED‘s Jamey Jasta and DEVILDRIVER in their salute to the hardcore legends BLACK FLAG.

Meanwhile, on the “Black Carpet” —
Revolver‘s version of the traditional Red Carpet — Sebastian Bach will host the pre-awards-show festivities for Revolver TV‘s “Black Carpet Special”. Furthermore, Marcus Henderson — the man responsible for writing Guitar Hero‘s epic riffs — will be hosting Epiphone‘s Black Carpet coverage. In addition, Jamey Jasta will serve as celebrity DJ for evening.

Additional performances for the show include the ALICE COOPER group (in their first L.A. appearance in nearly 40 years),
LOADED (featuring Duff McKagan of GUNS N’ ROSES and VELVET REVOLVER fame), award-show host Chris Jericho‘s band FOZZY and fast-rising metalcore outfit ASKING ALEXANDRIA, who will be joined by Sebastian Bach on the SKID ROW favorite “Youth Gone Wild”. The night will close out with a blistering set by AVENGED SEVENFOLD. The event will be televised on VH1 Classic on Saturday, May 28, but for those who want to witness this epic show in person, tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster.

The 2011 Revolver Golden Gods Awards presented by Epiphone will include appearances from rock’s most iconic and influential artists, as well as rising stars, including host Chris Jericho, Rob Zombie, Dave Navarro, Vinnie Paul, Taylor Momsen, Wayne Static, Mike Portnoy, and members of ALICE IN CHAINS, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH,
DETHKLOK, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX, FEAR FACTORY, MACHINE HEAD and many more.

In addition to the Honorary Headbanger Award, other special honors for the night include the “Golden God Award”- —
given to one musician each year who personifies all that is hard rock and metal — which will go to shock-rock godfather Alice Cooper, who is celebrating the reunion of the original ALICE COOPER group and his recent induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Also, this year’s recipient of the first-ever “Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award” — renamed in honor of the late, great 2010 Best Vocalist Award winner — is none other than the Sunset Strip’s most iconic band, MÖTLEY CRÜE.

The winners in all the other award categories will be chosen by the people, but time is running out.
Fans can vote now through Friday, April 1, when voting ends, at www.revolvermag.com.

Photo credit: Eric Hendrikx