Niki N. Phaser

Grunge major players Alice In Chains have finally completed a reunion project, recording a new album with singer William DuVall, who is replacing Layne Staley, dead of an OD back in 2002. The album is called Black Gives Way to Blue and will come out in September. They also have several gigs lined up, including a slot at the Epicenter show alongside Linkin Park and Street Sweeper Social Club. A few dates in Germany will mark their return to Europe, where they played last in 2006. The first single and video, A Looking in View is available at their official website. Judging from this song, this is the real thing. These guys are not just surfing the 90’s nostalgia wave, they still have some heavy riffs left in them. On the other hand, they probably know they woun’t get the spotlights of their younger years that’s why they selected a seven minutes PG-18 video to announce the comeback. Both the song and the video worth your attention.

Even though they have recently released their second single from Sounds of the Universe, entitled Peace, things on the Depeche Mode front are not that peaceful. Their overanticipated Tour of the Universe, announced in the fall of 2008, has been so far… well, jinxed. First, they had to take a break, one gig in, because singer Dave Gahan fell ill with was prooved to be a tumor in his bladder. Because of this, they had to cancel a show in Greece, twenty minutes before coming on stage, which resulted in a mini riot. Then followed another seven shows in Eastern and Southern Europe and Turkey, that were finally cancelled, the band being able to save one in Croatia and several in Germany and England. Despite having two breaks in their tour agenda, one in July and one in September, the eight shows were not rescheduled, apparently because they were open air gigs. As if this wasn’t enough, recently there’s been some controversy related to tickets for their German dates. Scalpers seem to have hit gold, as tickets to their sold-out arena shows in Germany resurfaced, of course, overpriced. The phenomenon took such proportions that legendary concert promoter, Marek Lieberberg is urging fans to no longer buy secondary market tickets.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR DEPECHE MODE’S Peace

We had an article a few days ago about the battle (no pun intended) between Placebo’s latest indie efforts with their new album, Battle for the Sun and their ex-label’s (Virgin/EMI) attempt at banking on previous albums signed by the trio. Recent numbers, posted by Billboard, show that Molko and his Ste’s are winning this one. They’ve reached number one in the European Top 100 Albums, despite entering their native UK chart at 8. They’ve reached top spots in four other countries, including, of course, France, where they landed number one with each album since Black Market Music (2001). Top five spots have been assured in Holland, Finland, Switzerland, so the heavy touring really works. They are number one in Germany and Battle for the Sun was released there the day they headlined Rock am Ring. With this direction going so well and their agenda being full of summer festivals, followed by their own tour in the fall-winter season, we can’t help wondering what new heights are they going to reach.