In our never-ending quest to give you the best music available, we present the Revolver Bootleg series. Throughout each month, we’ll post cool, new, and often-exclusive tracks right here for you to hear before anyone else.

This installment is a special demo version of “Prey for Death” off Walking Into Nightmares (Century Media) by thrashers Warbringer, out now. They recorded this version in Germany last summer. It was originally written by the band's guitarist Adam Carroll and their former drummer Ryan Bates. The album version (which you can still listen to here) was recorded by Exodus guitarist Gary Holt in California. Frontman John Kevill fills us in on the song below.

REVOLVER What were the circumstances that you recorded the song in Germany? You ended up recording in California.
JOHN KEVILL We were recording a cover for a Century Media compilation, we did Unleashed's "Execute them All". We had to learn it in, like, two days time, and to convince some guys in the band who didn't really like the idea of learning and recording something so fast, we got the label to agree to allow us to also record a preproduction demo for the one new song we had at the time, so in that way we got everybody in the band to agree to do it.

How did the song change most from this preproduction demo to what made the CD?
We had been playing it for an extra six months, and we changed drummers, so Nic [Ritter, Warbringer's new drummer] added a lot of his own stuff, especially toward the end. I think an "Ugh" somewhere in there got taken out too.

Was this an easy song to write?
Yeah. This is one of the easiest songs we have all around. And when we did it for the album we had been playing it for almost a whole year so it was the most familiar to us.

At this point, what sort of feedback have you gotten on this song so far?
It's a good one live, some people think it's the catchiest song we have. And we often keep it in the set because the pace is much slower than most of our songs, so it helps break up the set some.

Warbringer: "Prey for Death (Preproduction Demo)"

Check out an interview with Landmine Marathon frontwoman Grace Perry, while she's on a break from the photo shoot that produced the cover of Revolver's "Hottest Chicks in Metal of All Time" issue, on stands now.

Classic-metal revivalists 3 Inches of Blood released their fourth album, Here Waits Thy Doom, in August on Century Media. Here, the band shaves to show off their tattoos for Tattoo magazine. To see frontman Cam Pipes and guitarist Shane Clark explain their new album track-by-track, click here then here. Look for an interview with Cam in Revolver's next issue, out December 22.


3 Inches of Blood show off their tats:

Classic-metal revivalists 3 Inches of Blood released their fourth album, Here Waits Thy Doom, in August on Century Media. Here, frontman Cam Pipes and guitarist Shane Clark pick up their track-by-track explanation of the album from yesterday. If you missed the first part, click here. Look for an interview with Cam in Revolver's next issue, out December 22.


3 Inches of Blood explain their new album, Here Waits Thy Doom, track-by-track:

Classic-metal revivalists 3 Inches of Blood released their fourth album, Here Waits Thy Doom, in August on Century Media. Here, frontman Cam Pipes and guitarist Shane Clark go track-by-track through the album explaining what each song means. Stay tuned for the second part tomorrow and an additional video of them showing off their tattoos for Tattoo magazine. Look for an interview with Cam in Revolver's next issue, out December 22.


3 Inches of Blood explain their new album, Here Waits Thy Doom, track-by-track:

Thrash icons Anthrax are reissuing their classic 1987 album, Among the Living, as a deluxe double CD on November 10, via Island/Megaforce/UMe. It contains bonus tracks like alternate versions of songs and B-sides and includes a DVD of the Oidivnikufesin: N.F.V. concert film. The album was produced by the band and legendary producer and engineer Eddie Kramer, who previously worked with Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, KISS, and others. The album would produce such classics as the title track, “Caught in a Mosh,” “I Am the Law,” “Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.),” and “Indians.” In anticipation of the release, Revolver caught up with Anthrax drummer and songwriter Charlie Benante to discuss the reissue and the band’s future.

REVOLVER Why did you choose Among the Living out of all the albums from your catalog to get the deluxe treatment?
CHARLIE BENANTE For a while now, I’ve been wanting to remaster our back catalog, and that was one of the records that really needed it. Let’s face it, it’s going back to 1987. It needed to have that low end the mids, the highs brought back into it to make it sound like it originally did. So we contacted Island/Universal, and then it got bumped up to a deluxe edition, which I was so happy about because I have some stuff in the archives that I would like to incorporate into this: some alternate versions and stuff like that. Just make it really, really you know cool.

What sorts of things did you find in your archives?
There was alternate leads, some alternate vocal takes, alternate takes of songs, and I was like, Wow, I don’t even remember doing this, but we did. And then I had some live stuff, too, that was kinda cool and some B-sides that never made it on to a full CD, so decided to make it as interesting as possible.

I have a lot of the old 12-inches, but even so it’s nice to hear the funny things like “Bud E. Luvbomb and Satan’s Lounge Band” on a CD.
You know what, it’s funny you mention that because I haven’t heard that, probably since maybe we recorded it and I put it on and I’m like, Oh, my God. It totally just brought back so many memories for me.
I was telling somebody just the other day, I’m such a fan of, like, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and I collect whatever, like, alternate versions of songs or mixes. To me that is so interesting to find, if you can find, just these types of tings. So when I stumbled on like a different version of “Indians” with a different lead, I was like, Wow, I totally forgot about this. The one that made the record was the one that we’re all used to, so of course that’s the one we like, but the other one is really interesting, as well.

What’s your fondest memory of recording that album?

Wow, there was many, many things about that record that was pleasant and unpleasant. I remember wanting Eddie Kramer to do that record because of, me personally, my love of the Led Zeppelin stuff and the KISS stuff that he did. He just created this sound, and it’s exactly what we wanted. But the record that we wanted to make and the record that he wanted to make were two different records.

How so?

Well, the first thing that Eddie did, we were just, “No, no, no. We don’t want it to sound like that.” He was trying to do a ’90s version of a record, where it had a lot of polish on it, you know. We wanted the opposite. We wanted it as dry a s possible. There was a vibe that we were trying to create, and, you know, I guess he had a different take on the whole thing where he was adding a lot of reverb to things. We didn’t want that; we wanted that totally pulled back. And then we settled on what we thought was the right mix… But there were moments where it just kind of got a little weird because for me especially I was like, Well, this is Eddie Kramer. How could I tell Eddie Kramer, “No,” because I have so much respect for him? He’s a legend. And at the end of the day, it came out good. I have nothing bad to say.

Some funny stories about making that record, that’s a whole other issue. We went down to Compass Point [Studios] in the Bahamas to mix it, and this is where U2 would go and Iron Maiden were there a few years back. We rented this town home and we all slept there and right next door to where that was, was this huge house, and [“Addicted to Love” singer] Robert Palmer lived there. And we would see Robert Palmer at last three times a week coming out on his boat and waving, “Hi. Hey guys, how you doing? Blah, blah, blah.” And one funny story about the studio is they have these interns—like, Island people who worked at the studio. And our manager at the time, he had a rental car and he loaned it to one of the workers there to go get some stuff…and he never came back. [Laughs] Never came back. Took the car, took the cash that he gave him to get the stuff. Never came back. They eventually found the car and they found him, too. But that was pretty funny, and I remember him giving him, like, the list of stuff that he had to get, and he’s probably thinking to himself, Yeah, yeah, just keep writing the bullshit down. I’m not coming back, so….

What a jerk.

Yeah, totally. But it was interesting. It was definitely an interesting time for us, you know, because we were on the verge kind of breaking out and we had no idea.

Going back to the Bahamas, is that when you started wearing shorts? You wore big colorful shorts in the ’80s.

The shorts were already implemented into the whole look. It started to blow up a little bigger after; the seed was planted. That was just because of our love of the whole skateboarding culture and stuff. That’s the weird thing about it, and I guess we just kind of took advantage of it a bit, and people would come to the show dressed up like that, too, so it had this total fan-band relationship.

Katatonia vocalist Jonas Renkse and guitarist Anders Nyström visit a record store and discuss the band's influences from their doom-metal roots to their current "suicide rock" sound. Their eighth album, Night Is the New Day (Peaceville), comes out in the U.S. on November 10.

As the video description says, Doris Yeh of Chthonic—one of Revolver's Hottest Chicks in Metal—loves to eat…a lot. Check out this bizarrely hypnotizing video of her masticating all sorts of delicious vittles.

Check out an interview with Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale, while she's on a break from the photo shoot that produced the cover of Revolver's "Hottest Chicks in Metal of All Time" issue, on stands now.

Following a successful second Crüe Fest tour this past summer, Vince Neil is taking a break from his Mötley cohorts to work on his first solo studio album in almost 15 years. After performing several one-off shows across the country this fall, one of which Revolver is giving away two tickets for, next year will see the release of a record, as well as a full-blown tour. Playing a career-spanning set, Neil’s band features Slaughter members Dana Strum and Jeff Bland, as well as drummer Zoltan Chaney. The legendary vocalist spoke to Revolver about what fans can expect from his solo shows and his future plans.

REVOLVER What stage are you at with the album?
VINCE NEIL Just working in the music right now, haven’t gotten in the studio yet, just working on songs we’ll probably get the music done next month. I’ll get into vocals in December, should have it finished up by January.

What material are you playing at your solo shows?
I mean it’s pretty loose I mean we do, of course we do the Mötley hits, that’s what people want to hear, and also do some more obscure songs that Mötley never plays. Do stuff from my solo records, do some cool cover songs, you know some AC/DC, Zeppelin, Ozzy. You know we have fun with it; it’s not real structured like Mötley Crüe is.

How is it different for you playing with you solo band, as opposed to with Mötley Crüe?
Well, Mötley Crüe is, you know, Mötley Crüe, a big production and everything. My thing is basically going out with my fiends and just having a good time and just playing straight ahead rock n roll. Right now it’s just one-offs, so it’s I’m home, then we got to fly to the gig, do the gig, then fly back home, where obviously with Mötley we don’t do that. Like I said in 2010 after the record comes out, we’ll go out and do a proper tour and get back on the bus.

How long have you been together with the guys in your solo band?
I’ve been with these guys maybe three or four years, I guess. Sometimes band members change in solo bands, some guys go out and do other stuff while I’m playing with Mötley, but these guys I’ve been together with these guys for a while.

How does the writing process work for your solo album, does everyone contribute?
Everybody comes in with ideas everybody. It’s a band, and we treat it as such. So everybody has ideas. Everybody comes in and we collaborate and put stuff together.

What can we expect from the album, any surprises?
No, it’s just straight ahead rock and roll, man. That’s what I do.

Mötley Crüe are releasing a greatest hits album next month. How involved were you in selecting the tracks?
Yeah, that’s what I hear. Well, I mean it’s not like a big thing to figure out what goes on a greatest hits album, you know. We know what songs are going on there and that’s it. It’s not like we have to have a big meeting about, “If this song is going on, this song is going on,” and “OK, OK. That’s about it.”

What do you have planned after you complete your solo album and tour?
Mötley will record another record next year; we’ll have it out some time in the fall and 2011 will be Crüe Fest 3 and also 2011 will be Mötley’s 30 year anniversary as a band.

Interview by Jason Le Miere