The Guns n’ Roses guitarist confirms BerserkerGang’s first production to be coming out in the acclaimed film festival in Cannes this May time. It is no news that Slash enjoys delving into the film industry. About a decade ago he founded the production company Slasher Films dedicated to making films of the bloodbound genre.

Coming up in May, the company’s first film production will be announced. Alongside the Raven Banner and the Hangar-18 team, however, they collaboratively produced the film “The Breach”, which is what lead to the creation of BerserkerGang, after having been screened at the Fantasia Film Festival in Canada and at UK’S FrightFest.

It is an establishment focusing on good quality horror films, manufactured and tailored to resonate the companies desired relishing. “The aim of BerserkerGang will be quality over quantity,” explains Hunt “We will be selectively choosing projects that we collectively feel best represent the brand”. 

Their team have come together in a passion for fury. Clearly represented in their slogan “Films Forged In Fury”, we confirm the latter. Here we observe the joining of the film-genre’s enthusiasts and a very heavy guitar slasher who can’t get enough of the dark side of our entertainment industry. The indication of where the project will be heading, should be sitting quite clearly now.

Slash’s taste lays on old school horror films from the 1970’s. Poured over by a slow burn suspense which stretches out until the final blow – a terrifying jump scare. The psychology behind the terror is what captures the audience into this mind twisting, two hour torture. And this is reflected greatly in the heavy metal star’s film “The Breach”. “I’m an old-school sort of horror fan,” Slash says. “We’ve been using Lovecraftian kind of references on this, but it definitely has sort of a slow burn, sort of 70s aesthetic, and there was a suspense thing because you really don’t know what the fuck is going on until the last act. It’s the kind of thing where, for me, it’s more cerebral than it is just everything, you know, spilled out onto the screen. He knows my style, so he knew I would dig it.”

From the looks of things, the company will be an appreciated contribution to the horror film industry, and will be well received also.

One epic night deserves another! London, let’s go again pic.twitter.com/8FPHYq0ZOP

— Guns N’ Roses (@gunsnroses) July 2, 2022

Back in 2017, GnR made massive headlines when they did the last thing anyone thought they would… reform with a (mostly) original lineup. Axl Rose on lead vocals, Slash on lead guitar, and Duff McKagan on the Bass. The “classic” lineup still lacks Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler; which most fans would argue makes the lineup incomplete… but, come on guys, this is probably enough. The big problem with this tour, however, wasn’t who did or didn’t show up, but the severe lacking of UK dates. They did 2 nights at the London Stadium in 2017… and that’s it. Other than a brief appearance at Download festival the next year, many fans were left waiting. So, when the European tour of 2022 was announced, the band had something to prove.

Now, after 2 more years of delays, the shows have arrived (again, only 2 dates in London and a festival appearance, but at least it’s actually happening now). The band’s initial plan to open doors was set for 4:30pm, enough time to allow fans a bit of time to buy beers and merch and then amble over to, support act, Gary Clarke Jr. The doors didn’t actually open until 2 hours later, no longer allowing time for Gary Clarke Jr’s slot, and bringing rumours of Rose’s bout of anxiety causing him to pull out of the performance. The show did eventually go ahead, but many fans immediately noticed problems with the band’s sound. Claiming they could hardly hear Rose’s vocals. That night they only played 22 songs, significantly shorter than the usual 27, and ignored fan favourites: “You Could Be Mine” and “Coma”.

The band’s second night wasn’t much better. Rose told the crowd a number of times that he was “having issues” with his voice after the 7^th song of the show “Estranged”, this was probably a factor of the show’s, very brief, 19-song setlist. Fan classics “Rocket Queen” and “November Rain” were dropped from the setlist for the first time since 2014 and 2016 respectively. Watch footage from “Estranged” below.

Tomorrow, Guns n Roses are set to hit Glasgow Green and many fans are worried about the band showing up. While it’s still full steam ahead today, Scotrail issues have led to an urge to travel to the show early, and prepare for alternate means of escape. I’m not sure that they do it on purpose… but Guns n Roses really know how to make touring as hard as physically possible.

Slash’s new interview for @clevelanddotcom…

When do you think we’ll hear some of this music?

Slash: I would like to think that we’d have some new stuff out next year — from both camps, I guess. It’s hard to say, but I would like to think we’ll have stuff out next year, yeah.

— Appetite4Distortion (@TheAFDShow) December 23, 2020

In the interview, the London-born, Stoke-on-Trent and LA-raised guitarist said “[Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators] did a week of initial pre-production, and there’s 20 songs and we’re gonna start back up next year. I spent a lot of time writing and demoing that stuff. And prior to that, Duff (McKagan, GNR bassist) and I did some jamming and we also worked on the Guns record, and I’ve had a couple of ancillary recordings and jams on top of that, so there’s been a lot of stuff going on. I’m really not good at slowing down and just sitting around.”

McKagan and Slash (real name Saul Hudson) were absent from the last Guns N’ Roses record, 2008’s Chinese Democracy, which was dogged by delays, litigation and spiralling production costs. However, both have been complimentary about the controversial LP since re-joining the band in 2016. In an interview with Guitar World in 2018, Slash said of the album “You know, it’s very different… it’s really cool stuff, but it was played by guitar players that are very different from me style-wise. I’ve sort of adapted my own way of playing those songs to where I feel comfortable with them, but without losing the integrity of how the guitar parts go.”

He added “I also want to give credit where credit’s due — the guitar players that played on ‘Chinese Democracy’, Buckethead being one of the main ones — are fucking amazing guitar players. I have to give those guys a shout-out because that stuff was cool. Very different from what I normally do. So it’s been interesting learning some of the stuff that was on that record. I definitely had to figure out ways to adapt to it.”

2021 will mark the 30th anniversary of Guns N’ Roses’ epic third and fourth studio albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, and classic tracks from both LPs are sure to feature on the band’s 2021 world tour, which includes three dates in the UK. The hard rock veterans will play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Friday 18th June and Saturday 19th June next year, with a gig at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park also scheduled in for the following week (Thursday 24th June). Limited tickets are still available for the shows via the band’s website.

Slash’s last musical offering with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators was 2018’s Living The Dream, which reached number four in the UK Albums Chart. In a glowing review at the time Rolling Stone compared the record to both Chinese Democracy and early 90s GNR.  They described it as “a character study in Slash the guitarist” adding that “the music all bears his fingerprints – a biting blues filigree at the end of a riff, weeping solos full of long notes, boogie-woogie riffs.“

The ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ rockers will play a show at Tottenham’s football stadium as a part of their ‘Not In This Lifetime’ tour on May 29 and 30. Other shows will see them perform in Italy, Austria, Germany, and Poland. These two shows mark the only occasions that Guns N’ Roses will perform in the UK. Tickets are available from here.

Check out Guns N’ Roses full schedule below.

May

20/5/20 –  Lisbon Passeio Maritimo De Algés, Portugal.
23/5 – Seville Estadio Benito Villamarin, Spain.
26/5 – Munich Olympiastadion, Germany.
29/5 – London Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.
30/5 – London Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.

June

2/6 – Hamburg Volksparkstadion, Germany.
6/6 – Solvesborg Sweden Rock Festival, Sweden.
9/6 – Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Austria.
12/6 – Firenze Firenze Rocks Festival, Italy.
14/6 – Berne Stade de Suisse. Switzerland.
17/6 – Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland.
19/6 – Prague Letnany Airport, Czech Republic.
21/6 – Landgraaf Pinkpop Festival, Holland.
27/6 – Dublin Marlay Park Concert Series, Ireland.

In February 2019, bassist Duff McKagan seemed to confirm a new album was in development following the band’s 2016 reunion. According to McKagan, he has listened to demo recordings produced by Rose, and told Trunk Nation Radio:

“There’s never been a direct schedule on how we do things. I’ve heard some magnificent stuff that Axl has, really cool stuff he’s been working on. So I’m excited about the possibilities of that, of course.”

However, it appears there won’t be any new music anytime soon, as McKagan said: “I don’t mean to get anybody rabid. Our day will happen when it happens, that’s for sure.”

A week earlier, on the subject of a new album, Slash responded simply: “We’ll just see what happens when it happens.”

The popular music festival will bring a host of international headline acts to the heart of Belfast city centre across the month of June 2019. The seven-day festival will take place between Wednesday the 12th of June 2019 and Friday the 28th of June 2019.

The first headline act to be confirmed for Belsonic 2019 was George Ezra, who has already sold out his biggest Irish shows to date. Those lucky enough to get tickets to see George Ezra, will be in for a treat, on Saturday the 22nd of June 2019.

He will be joined by multi-platinum selling Irish singer, Hozier who has officially been confirmed for his largest Belfast headline show to date at Belsonic Festival. Hozier will be joined by special guest Maggie Rogers when he takes the stage at Ormeau Park on Thursday, June 27th, 2019.

Joining Hozier and George Ezra will be grime artist Stormzy. According to Belfast Live, promoters for the festival said: “Eighteen months since the release of his debut album, Stormzy can look back on a period in which his career and his life have been transformed.

Belsonic is an annual music concert series held in Belfast, throughout June. Established in 2008, the festival originally took place in Custom House Square in Belfast, before moving to Ormeau Park, Belfast, in 2017. Previous years have seen performances from the likes of The Flaming Lips, Dizzee Rascal, Florence and the Machine, David Guetta, Tinie Tempah, Rudimental, Paloma Faith, Bastille, The Chemical Brothers, Bring Me The Horizon, Ellie Goulding, Jess Glynne, The 1975, and The Chainsmokers.

Belsonic 2019 Line-Up:

12/06/2019 – Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, with support from Blackberry Smoke and The Screaming Eagles.
14/06 – Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike
20/06 – Stormzy
21/06 – Ben Nicky plus special guests
22/06 – George Ezra
27/06 – Hozier with support from Maggie Rogers
28/06 –  Tiësto