"Opal", the new video from SOEN, the progressive heavy rock group featuring world-renowned drummer Martin Lopez (formerly of AMON AMARTH and OPETH) and the dynamic voice of Joel Ekelöf (WILLOWTREE), can be seen below. The song is taken from SOEN's new full-length opus, "Lykaia", which was released on February 3 via UDR Music.

"Lykaia" is a journey into earthier places — SOEN's most cohesive, powerful and congruent creative quest yet. For those who have followed SOEN's career thus far, the new album's concepts of journey and exploration are not new. 2012's "Cognitive" beat a firmly heavy, progressive metal path. 2014's "Tellurian" — with its PINK FLOYD explorative spirit and OPETH-like forceful power — saw SOEN start to stride freely into their own control and unique visions. The new album sees SOEN remain fascinated with the shadows and the darker edges of our world, with a particular focus on the various thoughts and concepts behind religion and ritualistic, belief-based behaviour in society. Recorded at Ghost Ward, StudioGröndal and Deep Well in Stockholm, Sweden, with production duties handled by guitarist Marcus Jidell and the mix made by Stefan Boman, SOEN kept things as far away from the digital age as possible on "Lykaia", embracing warmth and organic recordings as the drive behind the technical working process. If the first two albums were harder, more technical, angular and perhaps cerebral pieces which demanded sharp focus, "Lykaia" presents a warmer, rounder, flesh and blood on the bones approach that allows listeners a dual entry to the eight tracks presented. The journey is no less dynamic, continuing the underscore of complex melodies with crushing power and no fear of walking proudly into more ambient spaces to explore the temperature. With "Lykaia", however, it is clear that SOEN have never felt more congruent or sure of themselves. "Lykaia" track listing:

01. Sectarian 02. Orison 03. Lucidity 04. Opal 05. Jinn 06. Sister 07. Stray 08. Paragon SOEN is:

Joel Ekelöf - VocalsMartin Lopez - Drums, PercussionStefan Stenberg - BassLars Åhlund - Organ, RhodesMarcus Jidell - Guitar

German guitar wizard Axel Rudi Pell will release his next offering, "The Ballads V", on April 21 via Steamhammer/SPV. In true Pell tradition, part five of his successful ballad compilation series features a smooth balance between the past six years and some brand-new songs.

For the first time ever in his almost thirty-year career as a solo artist, Axel Rudi Pell welcomes a special guest star on one of his albums: rock legend Bonnie Tyler has recorded a stunning duet with Axel's longtime singer Johnny Gioeli. Axel Rudi Pell is justly proud of his new single, "Love's Holding On" (street date: March 31), saying: "Bonnie Tyler only records songs she personally likes. So I wrote this tune just for her and she really loved it. She came to the studio and we recorded it within a couple of hours. The result is amazing — another soon-to-be Pell classic in the making. If I hadn't been a fan already, I would have turned into one instantly."

Apart from another brand-new track called "On The Edge Of Our Time", Pell has again risen to new challenges with his rocking version of the Ed Sheeran hit "I See Fire" (known from the motion picture blockbuster "The Hobbit"), which is an interesting take on one the best ballads in recent years. It shows that even hard rockers like Pell can have a sensitive side, and quite successfully at that.

The other seven tracks on "The Ballads V" (among them a new take on Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My", a live version of the DEEP PURPLE classic "Mistreated" and a previously unreleased live recording of his own fine ballad "The Line"), present Axel Rudi Pell at his best. Pell has established himself as an outstanding rock star, having sold up to 1.5 million records worldwide. Since leaving the influential German metal outfit STEELER in 1989, he's been out there on his own, recording and touring with some of the finest vocalists from the world of rock music: Charlie Huhn (TED NUGENT, GARY MOORE, VICTORY, HUMBLE PIE, FOGHAT), Rob Rock (IMPELLITERI, DRIVER, JOSHUA, AVANTASIA), Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, SOUL SIRKUS, TALISMAN, JOURNEY, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA) and last but not least the mighty Johnny Gioeli, who has been working with Axel since 1997 (having been in HARDLINE before that, a project started by JOURNEY guitar legend Neal Schon in 1991).

"The Ballads V" will be released as a CD digipack (including a poster), double gatefold purple vinyl, limited boxset (including a CD digipack, powerbank, CD slim case single, sticker, photocard — Europe only), download and stream.

"The Ballads V" track listing

01. Love's Holding On (5:06) (new song feat. Bonnie Tyler)02. I See Fire (6:02) (new cover version, Ed Sheeran song)03. On The Edge Of Our Time (7:42) (new song)04. Hey Hey My My (5:02)05. Lived Our Lives Before (6:31)06. When Truth Hurts (6:46)07. Forever Free (8:27)08. Lost In Love (6:05)09. The Line (live) (7:31) (previously unreleased)10. Mistreated (live) (14:12)

A PERFECT CIRCLE has released its first 2017 group photo, confirming that the band's lineup remains unchanged from the last time they toured four years ago. Joining vocalist Maynard James Keenan and guitarist Billy Howerdel once again are James Iha on rhythm guitar, Matt McJunkins on bass and Jeff Friedl on drums.

A PERFECT CIRCLE is starting work on its first new studio album since 2004's "eMOTIVe" and Howerdel recently said that the band has "every intention" of making new music available to fans in 2017 as it heads out on tour. Speaking with Billboard, Howerdel said: "We're not promising anything, but I have every intention of doing my best to have us playing some new tracks during this run — with the idea that new music is coming very soon after."

The band's tour — its first full-fledged trek since 2011 — kicks off in Las Vegas on April 7 and April 8. The schedule will include appearances at the Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock and Carolina Rebellion festivals in late April and early May, along with a closing night stop at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on May 7.

A PERFECT CIRCLE has been largely inactive on the recording front for the past 13 years, with only a new song titled "By And Down" surfacing on a hits collection in 2013.

The group was an instant success when it first came on the scene in 2000 with its debut album, "Mer De Noms", and Howerdel explained a while back how he felt about the band's early success. "I was appreciative then, I'm certainly appreciative now of how everything came together — how all the forces came together and made it happen, and all the timing worked out, with the NINE INCH NAILS tour, opening for them, and, you know, having key people at Virgin Records believe in us and ferociously campaign to market the band in the right way, and Maynard's reputation with TOOL in place... everything just came together."

During the time that the band has been mostly on hiatus, Howerdel launched an act called ASHES DIVIDE, while Maynard James Keenan toured and recorded with TOOL and PUSCIFER while also running a winery.

Howerdel said: "To be honest, I thought [a comeback] would be a few years earlier... It felt like a few years ago it was going to happen, but this is just the way the schedules lined up. But I'm always excited to get the machine back up and going."

Canadian thrash metal masters INFERNAL MAJESTY — who are celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2017 — will release their long-awaited new full-length album, "No God", on April 14 via High Roller Records.

Singer Chris Bailey is more than excited about the release. "We are seriously feeling awesome," he said. "When your hard work, thoughts and ideas finally come together into reality, it's a great feeling."

Once again, INFERNAL MAJESTY went through some lineup changes before the new album was recorded: Eric Dubreuil (bass) and Kris DeBoer (drums) left and were replaced with two new members. Some may know new drummer Kiel Wilson from his time with Canadian melodic death metal outfit SEVERED SERENITY, while new bassist Daniel Nargang is actually the singer of the classic heavy metal outfit KICK AXE. They are joined by Bailey and guitarists Steve Terror and Ken Hallman.

"This is without a doubt the strongest we have been," Chris said. "We have no missing pieces now. No weak links."

It took the band a year to capture the amazing, heavy and dark, crisp and powerful sound of "No God". "We really worked on it day and night," Bailey explained. "Tweaking and modifying and receiving 3 a.m. phone calls saying, 'You got to hear this!' Steve, Ken and I wrote and produced the album. We believe that it's the ultimate way to express the band."

The beautiful sombre cover artwork, originally titled "Death Angel" or "Fallen Angel", was contributed by the exquisite and incredibly gifted artists Safir & Rifas.

What development does Chris see when he looks at "No God", both compared to the last effort, "One Who Points To Death", and when looking at it as the last link in a chain that runs from INFERNAL MAJESTY's legendary debut, "None Shall Defy", to "No God"? "It feels like we have come full circle and are now about to break free into orbit," Chris said. "I personally believe 'No God' to be our greatest works since 'None Shall Defy' was created."

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was recently interviewed on "The Rubber Room" radio show, which airs on Australia's Triple M. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On METALLICA continuing to play with the same intensity as it did more than thirty years ago:

James: "This is what we do. This is what we're good at. There's no other way to do it. We're not interested in phoning anything in, and that's kind of obvious. We're explorers and we love being an artist and doing what we want. And we are writing music that we like to hear. That kind of simplifies it tight there."

On METALLICA's honesty:

James: "We're not afraid to show our dorky side, our funny sides, our non-serious… our mistakes sides. Everyone makes mistakes, and we fuck up — we make bad investments or we do the wrong thing, but it's all in the name of trying to do our best. So you can fault people for that all you want, but at the end of the day, hey, we're out here at least trying to do something. And I agree — this world is really polluted with a lot of B.S. and crap that people don't need to see or hear, 'cause it's fake. People just want your clicks and your hits, and it's all about the money. We're out here doing this, because if we don't — I don't know — we wither away. I mean, this is breathing for us. I think everyone thinks that they know the truth, and at the end of the day, my truth, what I believe in passionately, if I just imagine or even make up that you have the same view about what you believe in, then we can get along. I mean, yes, it's a difference of opinion — okay — but we're trying to do the next best right thing. Everyone's trying to tear each other down instead of join together and make some good decisions."

On not wanting to play more than fifty shows a year:

James: "I have plenty of friends that say, 'Fifty? Are you crazy?' It's, like, well, no. We were doing a lot more than that. But we love the touring, we just want to be able to survive it — mind, body and spirit. We're pretty wise guys; we know what our body can and can't do. Why punish ourselves out here? This should be fun. And if we're not playing a hundred ten percent for every show, then it's not fun."

On singer Amy Winehouse being the inspiration for the METALLICA song "Moth Into Flame" after he watched the 2015 documentary "Amy":

James: "The word 'sad' definitely comes to mind. Obviously, I can relate to a lot of that, where the fame portion of that is such a drug that draws you in, and then it's not what it seems to be, so you start maybe doing drugs or drink to make it what you want it to be. And then you're surrounded with people that are just saying 'yes' to everything and you lose touch with reality and all of a sudden you're gone — you're not you anymore. And I can relate to that. It was sad to see that in the movie, and, obviously, she's not the first or the last to have gone that pathway. In the heavy metal world, there has been people that have disappeared, so it doesn't have to be the pop world. Fame is something not to take lightly."

METALLICA's latest album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", came out in November. The effort consists of two discs, containing a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music.

METALLICA has shows booked in Denmark, Mexico and South America over the next three months, but has yet to unveil its full 2017 tour plans, including its first North American tour in eight years.

The band's sole North American date so far is May 21 at the Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio.

British metal band, Architects (UK), have released a video for “Gravity”, a track from the band’s latest album, All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us. The video comes in advance of the band’s headlining tour kicking off March 7th in Detroit throughout April 6th in Toronto. This will be the Architects’ first time playing the North America in over two years.

As Architects’ heaviest and darkest work to date, All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us examines a world increasingly consumed by fear, anger, and confusion - and ultimately emerges with a semblance of hope.

“If you let yourself go to the darkness, and discuss these things, you do realize how much light there is in life as well,” says Architects vocalist Sam Carter. “Life is a wonderful, incredible thing. And the most beautiful thing of all about life is the wonder and the questions and the discussions.”

Tickets for all Architects tour dates are on sale now.

March
7 - Detroit, MI - Shelter
8 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
9 - Minneapolis, MN - Cabooze
10 - Merriam, KS - Aftershock
11 - Denver, CO - Summit
13 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
14 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
16 - San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
17 - Pomona, CA - Glass House
18 - Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy
19 - Phoenix, AZ - Joe’s Grotto
21 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey
22 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger
23 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
25 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade (Hell)
27 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts
28 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
29 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr Smalls

April
1 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theater
2 - Worcester, MA - Palladium (Upstairs)
4 - Montreal, QC - Le National
5 - London, ON - London Music Hall
6 - Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall

Minneapolis, MN-based technical death metallists, Reaping Asmodeia, are streaming their new album,  Impuritize, ahead of the official release this Friday, February 24th via Prosthetic Records. Listen below.

The album tracks “Irreversible Evolution”, ”Defenestration" and "Of Talons And Teeth" can be instantly downloaded with any digital pre-order of Impuritize from Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon or Google Play. CD pre-orders can also be purchased at this location.

Mixed and mastered by Zach Ohren (Fallujah, First Fragment), Impuritize combines sheer brutality with meticulous technicality to craft one of the finest extreme death metal albums of the year.

The album's artwork was created by Eddie Danger of Unlimited Visual (Born Of Osiris) and can be viewed below.

Tracklisting:

“The Clemency Guise”
“Defenestration”
“Of Talons And Teeth”
“Hidebound”
“Carnal Declivity”
“Irreversible Evolution”
“Virulent Exposure”
“Collage Of Toxins”
“Ritual Of Ignorance”

Album stream:

“Defenestration” lyric video:

“Of Talons And Teeth” video:

Teaser:

R.A. Confidential Part 1:

R.A. Confidential Part 2:

R.A. Confidential Part 3:

Coinciding with the new album release on February 24th, the band will play a hometown record release show at Beaners in Duluth, Minn. before venturing across the US on a headlining jaunt throughout March. Full dates can be found in the below admat:

Reaping Asmodeia linup:

Steven Lane -Vocals
Alex Kelly - Guitar
Daniel Koppy - Drums
Roman Pinter - Bass

East coast shock rockers, American Grim, are streaming “Concrete Jungle”, the lead track from their first full length album, Freakshow, out this Friday, February 24th worldwide via Entertainment One (eOne Music) / Rocktagon Worldwide Music. Listen to the song below.

“I can't begin to express how excited we are to debut this project at eOne,” says vocalist Ryan Healy. “We've worked relentlessly among ourselves, as well as with our producer Zardonic, to build an album we're confident has a great shot at striking a nerve in rock.”

Healy continues, “There's an astounding problem in America with political correctness and all these taboo issues that are far more real than people think, all being swept under the rug.  We have an entire generation of kids overly medicated and under educated that no longer know the difference between their own opinions and the manipulation of mass media. Freakshow isn't just an album, it's the current state of America, and we're looking forward to taking it on across the country.”

For the album artwork, the band commissioned artist Tyler Reitan.

Tracklisting:

“Concrete Jungle”
“Freakshow”
“Only One”
“Burn Hollywood”
“Drugs Like Candy”
“The Guns”
“I Want Out”
“Fight Night”
“Doctor Doc”
“Idols”
“Get Loud”
“Bodies All Around”

“Concrete Jungle”:

“Idols”:

“Freakshow” video:

US progressive power metal band, MindMaze, will release their new album, Resolve, on April 28th in Europe and North America through Inner Wound Recordings.

Over the span of 68-minutes of melodic and powerful music ripe with recurring themes, the band takes the listener on a whirlwind journey through the scope of human emotion in hopes they will be able to project their own experiences into these intensely personal lyrics inspired by an amalgam of real-life events.

Resolve reprises the band's ever-present influences from bands like Queensrÿche, Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, Savatage, and a mixture of contemporary power metal and melodic rock hooks and songwriting while moving the band further into progressive and theatrical territory with more atypical song structures used to best serve the concept of the album.

The band continues to forge their footprint as one of the most promising and unique female-fronted bands to come along in recent times.

Resolve tracklisting:

“Reverie” (Instrumental)
“Fight The Future”
“In This Void” (Instrumental)
“Drown Me”
“Sign Of Life”
“Abandon”
“Sanity's Collapse” (Instrumental)
“One More Moment”
“Twisted Dream”
“True Reflection”
“Shattered Self”
“Release”
“The Path To Perseverance”

Upcoming MindMaze tour dates:

April
25 - Baltimore Soundstage - Baltimore, MD (Supporting Y&T)
27 - Ralph's - Worcester, MA
28 - Dingbatz - Clifton, NJ
29 - Funhouse - Bethlehem, PA

May (supporting Arkona and Sirenia)
13 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
14 - Firehouse 13 - Providence, RI
15 - L'Anti - Quebec City, QB
16 - L'Astral - Montreal, QB
17 - Mod Club - Toronto, ON
18 - Subterranean - Chicago, IL
19 - Cabooze - Minneapolis, MN
20 - Riot Room - Kansas City, KN
21 - Marquis Theater - Denver, CO
23 - Studio Seven - Seattle, WA
24 - Bossanova Ballroom - Portland, OR
25 - Metro Opera House - Oakland, CA
26 - Echoplex - Los Angeles, CA
27 - Pranksters - Scottsdale, AZ
28 - Rockhouse - El Paso, TX
29 - Curtain Club - Dallas, TX
30 - Grizzly Hall - Austin, TX

June
1 - TBA - Atlanta, GA
2 - The Milestone - Charlotte, NC

Through The Eyes Of The Dead have signed a worldwide record deal with Entertainment One Music (eOne) / Good Fight Music, with plans to release an all new record later this year.

“We are all really excited to be working with eOne / Good Fight and are ready to drop this record to the masses," says bassist Jake Ososkie. “We have put  a lot of time into this record and I think the songs are easily the best material we have ever written.”  

The new, yet to be titled LP will be the follow up to Skepsis that came out in 2010. Before Skepsis, the band has released two records with Prosthetic Records: Bloodlust in 2005, Malice in 2007. Fans can find song snippets of new music on the band’s Instagram account.

"Since forming this band fresh out of high school in 2003, I never would have imagined we would have taken it this far," says guitarist Justin Longshore. "We've just written the record I've always envisioned and I look forward to the next chapter with Good Fight and eOne."

Through The Eyes Of The Dead are revered as one of the groups that pioneered the aggressive and abrasive mixture of death metal and hardcore that permeates the modern heavy music landscape today.

Finnish theatrical metal newcomers, Lost In Grey, have released a lyric video for “New Horizon”, a track from their new album, The Grey Realms, due for release on March 3rd via NoiseArt Records. The new clip can be found below. Pre-order the album here.

Tracklisting:

“Waltz Of Lillian”
“Road To Styx”
“Dark Skies”
“Revelation”
“The Order”
“New Horizon”
“The Grey Realms”
“Silence Falls”

“New Horizon” lyric video:

“Dark Skies” video:

Interview Trailer #1:

Interview Trailer #2:

Interview Trailer #3:

Interview Trailer #4:

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

In the new video below, guitarist Thomas Zwijsen performs a cover of the Judas Priest classic, “A Touch Of Evil”, alongside vocalist Laura Guldemond. Laura is the singer of Shadowrise, but you may also know her from Idols, or from performing with Dutch metal opera Ayreon.

Zwijsen performs a fingerstyle acoustic classical guitar cover of Judas Priest’s “Living After Midnight” in the video below. Go to KingOfTheStrings.com for free tabs and a tutorial video lesson, showing you exactly how to play this arrangement.

ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti has told All That Shreds that he is preparing to begin work on the fourth album from his TREMONTI solo project. "After this [ALTER BRIDGE] tour is over, I'm going to have the [other] guys [from the solo band] come to town and start writing and just kind of pick our moments to keep writing and probably get a record out next year," he said.

Asked if he had any kind of sound or direction in mind for the next TREMONTI album, Mark said: "In a perfect world, I want to kind of split it up. You know, I don't want to get trapped into having to do heavy records all the time, because it's something I really wanted to get out with the solo project — the heavier side of my writing — but I don't want to completely abandon some of the melodic atmospheres of stuff, so I might want to do just like I did the last time, do two albums and have two different sounds. Have one be more atmospheric in music, acoustic, real melodic and have the other one be straight-up heavy."

Mark also said that it was unlikely VAN HALEN bassist Wolfgang Van Halen would return to TREMONTI for the new album sessions. "I don't believe so," Tremonti said. "He's doing his own project right now. It's either he's playing bass in somebody else's band or he's singing and playing bass and drums and everything in his own project right now, and I'm sure he's going to want to put all his efforts into promoting that."

TREMONTI's third album, "Dust", was released in April 2016 via Fret 12.

"Dust", which was recorded during same sessions as 2015's "Cauterize", features Tremonti on vocals/guitars, Eric Friedman on guitars, Wolfgang Van Halen on bass and Garrett Whitlock on drums. Longtime friend and collaborator Michael "Elvis" Baskette produced "Dust".

Although Wolfgang Van Halen was part of TREMONTI's touring band in 2013 and played on "Dust" and "Cauterize", he sat out TREMONTI's tour schedule because of commitments with VAN HALEN.

TREMONTI recruited Tanner Keegan to play bass on its most recent tour.

Metallica performed in Beijing, China on January 18th. The band have released this recap video, including footage with world-renowned Chinese concert pianist, Lang Lang:

Check out new footage of Metallica performing “Creeping Death” at LeSports Center in Beijing, China on January 18th:

Lang Lang, who performed “One” with Metallica at the Grammy Awards in 2014, once again joined the band for a performance of the song during their Beijing concert. Pro-shot video of the performance can be seen below:

Metallica perform next on March 1st at Foro Sol in Mexico City, Mexico. Find the band’s complete live itinerary at this location.

A video recap of the first day of Ozzfest Meets Knotfest, which was held on September 24-25, 2016 at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore, California, can be seen below.

About 37,000 people attended the first day of the event, with 3,400 campers on the festival grounds.

The Ozzfest lineup was headlined by BLACK SABBATH, while SLIPKNOT closed out the Knotfest bill.

Prior to the concert, SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler were asked what they thought such a massive show said about the state of rock music. "I don't know about the state of rock music, but I'm just gonna go up there and have some fun, you know," Ozzy said. "We're not trying to make a statement to the industry, we're just gonna have some fun." Geezer added: "It's good that we're still going and this kind of music's still going. To do something this big proves that it's still as popular as ever."

Also on the Ozzfest portion of the weekend were DISTURBED, OPETH, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and others, while the Knotfest lineup included SLAYER, TRIVIUM, ANTHRAX, SUICIDE SILENCE and many more.

Both days featured three stages, with one of them named after late MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister.

The San Manuel Amphitheater and Festival Grounds is where Ozzfest began in 1996 and where Knotfest was staged last year.

The Ozzfest show was the last ever for BLACK SABBATH in California. The band played three more U.S. shows in Texas last November before visiting South America and ending its run with a series of U.K. gigs in January and February.

Ozzfest started 20 years ago and was the first national music festival of its kind dedicated to hard rock music.

Ozzfest has not been a traveling festival in the U.S. since 2007's "free" edition. The show morphed into a one-off event in Dallas in 2008, took 2009 off and played just six cities in 2010.

VIP AFTERSHOW, an project founded by and featuring the powerhouse sister team Roxy Petrucci (drums) and Maxine Petrucci (guitar), has released a lyric video for its debut song, "Kilmister", a tribute to iconic MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister, who passed away on December 28, 2015 at the age of 70. The track, which was released through Afterlife Music Publishing, features a guest appearance by Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER) on vocals and Michael Pisculli on bass.

Afterlife Music Publishing was formed to release "one-off" music collaborations with various artists, solely dedicated to creating no-rules, bare-bones rock and roll.

Asked in a 2014 interview what the pros and cons of working with her sister were, Roxy said: "The pros of working with Maxine is obviously her talent, she's my sister, and we're Italian. The cons of working with her... she's my sister, and we're Italian."

In a separate interview, Roxy — who is a member of the all-female rock band VIXEN — was asked what it is like being a woman in a man's world. She responded: "Being a woman in the music industry can get you noticed (especially if you have big tom toms)… but once you get that attention, you better deliver the goods. As a musician, I never relied on the fact that I'm a woman, but I certainly wanted to look as good as possible. The most important [thing], to me, is to be as good a drummer as I can be. Like the military slogan, 'be the best you can be,' or suck, and if you're lucky, you might get your fifteen minutes. That goes for the guys too. Getting a record deal was a different story back in the day. As a female rock band, no matter how good we were, some execs had a hard time taking the band seriously. The band had to play, play and play some more in order to get the word out that VIXEN was a credible band. The fans loved us and we had a massive following. It didn't take long to attract management and eventually sign a record deal. There were record industry pussies who were afraid to take a chance and sign us, but EMI came through."

Fan-filmed video footage of Glenn Hughes's (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION) February 20 performance at Conrad Sohm in Dornbirn, Austria can be seen below.

Hughes's new solo album, "Resonate", was released in November via Frontiers Music Srl. It features his live solo band members, Søren Andersen (guitars and co-producer), Pontus Engborg (drums) and newcomer to his band, Lachy Doley (keyboards), in addition to longtime friend Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), who joined them in the studio for the opening and closing numbers.

"Resonate" was made available in two configurations: regular CD and deluxe edition including one bonus track, "Nothing's The Same", and a DVD featuring a "making-of" album documentary, "Heavy" (music video), and "Long Time Gone" (music video). Vinyl release was made available via Frontiers's label partners Soulfood Music.

Glenn told Billboard.com about "Resonate": "It's possibly the heaviest record I've ever made. I don't want to confuse it with horns-up heavy; it's not metal. But it's definitely fucking heavy. It's dense. It's dark. There's some aggression on this record. Every bloody track is begging to be played live."

While he was in the studio recording his new album, Hughes talked to Denmark's Metalized magazine about the musical diversity that has been his trademark throughout his four-decade-plus career.

"I never make the same album twice," he said. "Go back to the first TRAPEZE album. The second was different and the third one was different. And then you go to 'Burn', and 'Stormbringer' was different from that, and then 'Come Taste The Band'. You got HUGHES/THRALL and that was different from DEEP PURPLE. And then you go to 'Seventh Star' with Tony Iommi. That was different from HUGHES/THRALL. And then the blues album and then the Glenn solo albums."

He continued: "Although some of [my albums] have been very, very soulful and very, very funky, the key for me — as I am an Englishman that grew up in the West Midlands — is rock. But when I moved to America in the early seventies, I started to listen to what came out of Detroit. And I met Stevie Wonder. He became a very, very close friend and still is. He became my mentor.

"I need people to know that my success has come from the foundation of rock music. As much as I love THE BEATLES, Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder, when you think of Glenn Hughes, you think of the guy who plays bass and sings in any register."

Hughes added: "I am friends with a lot of famous rock stars and they are one genre. I wouldn't say who, but they have a one-genre-dimensional sound. You know it's them. And you know it's me because of my voice.

"I have been cursed and blessed with the ability to switch very quickly from rock to soul to funk to acoustic and almost into jazz — without scaring people. When you mix those ingredients, that's Glenn Hughes."

Iconic drummer and former member of DREAM THEATER, Mike Portnoy performed the band's "12 Step Suite" in its entirety for the first time ever on the Cruise To The Edge, which sailed out of Tampa, Florida on February 7. The music documents the musician's battle with alcoholism, and is an ensemble of five songs recorded by DREAM THEATER from 2002 to 2009, with titles that reflect his struggles: "The Glass Prison", "This Dying Soul", "The Root Of All Evil", "Repentance" and "The Shattered Fortress".

Video footage of the pre-show acoustic rehearsal can be seen below.

The February 10 concert, which was staged under the MIKE PORTNOY'S SHATTERED FORTRESS banner, featured the following setlist:

First set: LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT material

Drums: Mike PortnoyBass, chapman stick: Tony Levin Keyboards: Diego Tejeida Guitar: Eric Gillette

01.Paradigm Shift 02. Acid Rain 03. Universal Mind Second set: "12 Step Suite"

Drums: Mike Portnoy Bass: Conner Green Keys: Diego Tejeida Guitars: Richard Henshall, Charlie Griffiths, Eric Gillette Lead vocals on "The Glass Prison": Ross Jennings Lead vocals on "This Dying Soul": Daniel GildenlöwLead vocals on "The Root Of All Evil": Ted Leonard Lead vocals on "Repentence": Mike Portnoy Lead vocals on "The Shattered Fortress": Ross Jennings Backing vocals: all of the above vocalists, plus Eric Gillette and Charlie Griffiths

Portnoy, who also celebrated his 50th birthday on Cruise To The Edge, said that it was always part of his master plan to perform "12 Step Suite" in its entirety live on stage with DREAM THEATER. However, his 2010 exit from the band made that impossible, until now.

"I would love nothing more than to perform it with [DREAM THEATER]," he told The National Student. "But they've made it clear that they have no intention in reuniting at any point. So, life is short; this is going to be my 50th birthday and it just felt like the right time and place to finally play this music."

He continued: "I wrote all five of these songs with the intention of them being performed from start to finish, and I would have loved nothing more than to be doing it with DREAM THEATER. But it's obviously not on the cards for them. I can't sit around waiting for a reunion that may not happen."

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than thirty years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI). Portnoy later revealed that he tried to rejoin DREAM THEATER, only to be rebuffed.

**UPDATE**: AVENGED SEVENFOLD has released the following statement regarding last night's tragic accident:

"We have some very sad news to report. Last night after our show in Stuttgart, Germany, a 26-year-old stagehand fell from the rafters while breaking down our stage. He fell a very far distance onto a 19-year-old man on the local crew. Tragically, the 19-year-old died from his injuries. The other man is now in critical condition at the hospital.

"This is beyond heartbreaking to everyone in the band and on our crew.

"We all send our thoughts and prayers to the man in the hospital, both families involved, all of the local Live Nation crew and everyone else whose lives have been affected by this terrible accident.

"We love our crew so much as well as the many local staff who are essential to our show every night wherever we are around the world.

"This is such a stark reminder of how quickly an accident can happen and lives shattered in the process."

The original article follows below.

A roadie working at AVENGED SEVENFOLD's concert in Stuttgart, Germany Monday night (February 20) was killed when a colleague fell on him as they were dismantling the stage.

While the 26-year-old survived the 2:00 a.m. incident with serious injuries, the 19-year-old from Esslingen — identified by the German media only as Marvin P. — died at the scene.

Jörg Klopfer, a spokesperson for the Schleyer-Halle venue where the concert was held, told Bild: "We have never had a fatal accident since the opening of the Schleyer-Halle in 1983. It is a terrible tragic event. We mourn with the family and friends of the young man."

It is not clear why the 26-year-old fell from a height of about 20 meters onto his colleague. Police officer Stephan Widmann said: "An expert will try to reconstruct the accident."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD, DISTURBED and CHEVELLE were scheduled to perform in Milan, Italy on Tuesday (February 21), but that show has been called off. The band's Italian concert promoter, Live Nation Italy, released a statement blaming the cancelation on the illness of AVENGED singer M. Shadows.

Photo credit: Rafa Alcantara of TWENTYFOURCORE




Trauriges Ende eines Konzertabends: Nach dem Auftritt von Avenged Sevenfold ist es beim Abbau in der Nacht zum Dienstag...

Posted by Schleyer-Halle on Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Forbes.com is reporting that on February 18th in Portland, Oregon, KISS gave a surprise performance at the close of a gala fundraiser event, where legendary rockers such as Alice Cooper, Robby Krieger of the Doors, Danny Seraphine from the band, Chicago, and Will Lee from The Late Show with David Letterman, among others, also performed. The exclusive “All-Star Salute to the Oregon Military” event raised $1.4 million toward completing the construction of the $20 million Oregon Military Museum named after KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer's father, Brigadier General James B. Thayer. To help raise funds, Tommy Thayer joined forces with Zenith Swiss watch brand to create a special commemorative watch and a small, limited edition collection.

“Obviously, this is important to me on a personal level because my father is involved,” said Tommy Thayer in a private interview, “but it is important, too, for people to remember and commemorate the amazing people and their stories of heroism. The things they did for our country are inspirational and help us understand where we came from, what helped make us, as a country.”

Fan-filmed video from the surprise performance courtesy of Carmen Mesa is available below alomg with a message from Thayer.

Tommy: "Many, many thanks to Paul, Eric and Gene for being there when it really counts. To come to Portland to support my dad, Oregon's citizen soldiers, and the new museum shows the kind of people they really are." 

Read the complete Forbes.com article here.

The 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise set sail February 2nd - 6th on board Royal Caribbean’s luxurious Independence Of The Seas, which left from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to an all new Caribbean dream destination: Labadee, situated on the northern coast of Haiti, featuring pristine beaches, coral reefs and lagoon-like bays surrounded by forested mountains.

70000Tons.tv now presents exclusive recaps of Day 1 and 2 on board the world's biggest heavy metal cruise.

BraveWords was on board for this year’s cruise. Check out out ongoing coverage via the links below:

- Day 1
- Day 2
- Day 3
- Day 4

V1, featuring former Iron Maiden members Dennis Willcock (vocals, 1979 - 1978) and Terry Wapram (guitars, 1977 - 1978) will release their debut album sometime this year. The new song, “Don’t Cause A Scene”, is available for streaming below.

Says Dennis Willcock: “Well... just under two years ago I met up with Terry after 40 years... on both of us leaving Iron Maiden, yes leaving, we formed a band, V1 - he had some old recordings which I had never heard before, but so powerful were they that we took upon this mission to record a 2017 version plus some newbies.

“After 26 days of studio time we have finally reached completion - any hold ups but we made it - with Terry, Dwight (Wharton), Chas (Charlie Borg), Gareth (Dylan Smith) and myself... job done!

“The product is in pressing stage and in the week I will post info on purchasing... hope you do! In the meantime here is a freebie track from the album for your listening... POWER ROCK to be played loud!”

Listen to the track below, and stay tuned for updates.

Horror metallers, Cadaveria, celebrate today's release of the vinyl edition of the Mondoscuro EP (limited to 500 copies-black / 100 copies-white worldwide) by releasing the first of three singles extracted from this EP. “Christian Woman”, a cover of the Type O Negative track, is the first one, now available via all digital stores.

Cadaveria herself commented: “This is the very first vinyl release of our history and we are very pleased and excited. Usually we produce music videos along with our releases, but this time I thought to play with images in a different way. I will impersonate the titles of three songs from Mondoscuro, realizing three special shots, that will converge in the cover artwork for “Mater Tenebrarum”, “Dominion Of Pain” and “Christian Woman” singles. We will release them monthly through digital stores, starting today till April. Today is the day of “Christian Woman”, our homage to Peter Steele.”

Mondoscuro vinyl release comes via Sleaszy Rider Records, that in spring will also reprint Far Away From Conformity, the band’s second album, originally released in 2004. Mondoscuro is also available on CD via the Black Tears label.

(Photo - Fabry C. Photos / Stolen Instants)