RUSH drummer Neil Peart has commented on the cover art and title of the band's new album, "Snakes and Arrows", which comes out May 1 via Anthem/Atlantic.
Said Peart, "To my surprise, 'snakes and arrows' called up several links to something called 'Leela, The Game of Self Knowledge', or, incredibly, 'The Game of Snakes and Arrows'. Long story short, I followed that trail with growing enthusiasm, and learned that Leela (Hindi for 'the game') was at least 2,000 years old, and had been created by Buddhist saints and sages as a game of karma-like many games, a metaphor for life...The Leela player rolls a single die, said to be affected by his or her karma, and moves around the board. Each square on the grid represents a stage of consciousness or existence, and the player is raised to higher levels by arrows, and brought low by snakes. The children's game 'Snakes and Ladders' (sometimes called 'Chutes and Ladders') was adapted from Leela by the British during the 19th century Colonial period. After that, the original game almost disappeared-apparently only two gameboards existed in India when scholar Harish Johari revived the game and brought it to America in the 1970s...When I told Alex and Geddy about the Leela connection, and showed them the gameboard painted by Harish Johari, they were as excited by all that serendipity as I was, and we agreed to use his painting for the cover."
HEAVEN AND HELL will tour the U.K. in November 2007 with support from none other than LAMB OF GOD and ICED EARTH. Tickets for the dates are expected to go on sale at the end of this week. The dates are as follows:
Nov. 04 - UK - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Nov. 06 - UK - SECC, Glasgow
Nov. 07 - UK - Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield
Nov. 09 - UK - Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester
Nov. 10 - UK - Wembley Arena, London
Nov. 11 - UK - Centre, Brighton
Nov. 13 - UK - NEC, Birmingham
Nov. 14 - UK - International Arena, Cardiff
Nov. 15 - UK - Arena, Nottingham
Nov. 17 - UK - Pavilions, Plymouth
Nov. 18 - UK - BIC, Bournemouth
REKUIEM's "TIME WILL TELL" SPECIAL EDITION DUE IN APRIL
REKUIEM (formerly REQUIEM), the cult NWOBHM band that was at the very start of the British metal movement alongside such names as DIAMOND HEAD and WITCHFINDER GENERAL, has posted the following message on its official web site:
"A special edition release of REKUIEM's 'Time Will Tell' album with an extra bonus track, an on-stage two-song DVD disc and new 12-page full colour photo booklet is now rescheduled for release late April throughout the U.K. and Europe. The band are also currently planning to tour the U.K. from September onwards which will coincide with the worldwide release of their second album, to be entitled 'Raise the Dead'."
