In a new interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", Scooter Ward of alt-rock trailblazers COLD — who are currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of their second album, "13 Ways To Bleed On Stage", and 25th anniversary of their fourth LP, "A Different Kind Of Pain", on a spring 2025 U.S. tour — was asked about the possibility of a new album from him and his bandmates. The singer responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yes. Well, that's another reason why I wanted to do 'A Different Kind Of Pain' and '13 Ways To Bleed On Stage'. We're a few months away from the actual 'A Different Kind Of Pain' anniversary. So, I go, 'I know this anniversary thing with 'Year Of The Spider' was successful, the '13 Ways' thing is successful.' But I go, 'Why don't we just throw 'A Different Kind Of Pain' on there as well?' Take of all that at one point, so I don't have to go do another anniversary tour, because if I don't, then everybody's gonna be yelling at me about it: 'You're not gonna do [an anniversary tour for] 'A Different Kind Of Pain'?' I'm, like, 'Yes, we already did it.' And it was important for me to do that. So I think doing both those albums now gives us the levity to have time and just work on new music and put that out and move forward from those types of things."

Asked if that means COLD fans can expect to hear new music in 2026, Scooter replied: "Yes, a hundred percent. I'm writing right now, so I'm gonna say by next summer there will be a COLD album out."

At the turn of the century, COLD unveiled the seminal "13 Ways To Bleed On Stage", which went gold and yielded hits such as "Just Got Wicked", "No One" and "End Of The World". Their 2003 follow-up, "Year Of The Spider", marked their highest chart position, bowing at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, receiving a gold certification, and spawning the smash "Stupid Girl", accompanied by Rivers Cuomo of WEEZER. 2005's "A Different Kind Of Pain" illuminated melodic strides to the tune of 37,000-plus copies sold first-week and a Top 30 debut. Meanwhile, 2011's "Superfiction" continued this streak, crashing the Top 10 of the Top Rock Albums chart upon arrival and extending a growing legacy.

The past few years have been transcendent for COLD — peaking with the successful 2019 release of "The Things We Can't Stop", subsequent singles "Shine", "Without You", "The Devil We Know", "Run" and "Quiet Now" and a North American comeback tour boasting several sold-out shows.

In a new interview with Metal Hammer Greece's TV show TV War, former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER frontman Udo Dirkschneider was asked what keeps him motivated to still record new albums and tour at the age of 73. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Let's say this: the most important thing is that I still have fun to do this. I mean, that's the most important thing. I also like to create a new album. Normally you can say, okay, I don't need to do a new album. I mean, we have so many stuff — you can change every year the setlist, if you want. No, it's still fun to do this.

"I always say, when people ask me, 'Oh, when do you wanna retire?' I say, 'I don't know. As long my voice is working, as long we can tour worldwide, why stop?'" he explained. "[So I can] sit home and drink coffee? No. For what? No. It makes no sense.

"I really like to do this," Udo added. "I have a really good band with me, especially now with [former ACCEPT bassist] Peter [Baltes]. And it's a lot of fun to do this. And as long everything works — I don't know — maybe [I can keep doing this for] another 10 years. I don't know. [Laughs]"

Udo, who recently released a reimagining of ACCEPT's iconic album "Balls To The Wall" to celebrate the LP's 40th anniversary, was also asked if he has had any thoughts of celebrating other ACCEPT albums, such as perhaps 1985's "Metal Heart". He responded: "Yeah. I know already that some people came up and said, 'Oh, maybe in five years [in 2030] you can do that with 45 years of 'Metal Heart'. I don't know. At the moment, we are so busy with DIRKSCHNEIDER 40-years-of-'Balls [To The Wall]' tour — it goes until the end of summer next year. And in between we have to work on the new U.D.O. album. And then after the summer next year, we wanna make a little break. And then I don't know when the U.D.O. album is coming out — maybe the end of '26 or maybe in the beginning of '27. And then touring again."

He continued:  "I don't know. Maybe [we can do something with] 'Metal Heart'. We will see. But I always say never say never. I mean, it was the same when I did [a] three-years-long [tour with DIRKSCHNEIDER]. We played only ACCEPT songs. I think I was a little bit too quick to say, 'No, I have enough of [playing] ACCEPT songs. I have enough of my own [U.D.O.] songs [to perform live].' But then it's a history, that people wanna hear that.

"I had, a long time ago, with Ronnie James Dio, a conversation, and he said to me, 'Udo, normally it makes no sense to make new albums. We always play the same stuff that they wanna hear. But we are entertaining people. And give the people what they want.' And that's also why we said, 'Okay, then we do DIRKSCHNEIDER again [playing only ACCEPT songs]."

DIRKSCHNEIDER, the band featuring former ACCEPT members Dirkschneider (vocals) and Baltes (bass),along with drummer Sven Dirkschneider and the talented guitar duo of Andrey Smirnov and Fabian "Dee" Dammers, celebrated the 40th anniversary of "Balls To The Wall", which was originally released in late 1983 and is the most commercially successful and best-known album by ACCEPT, by performing the LP in its entirety on recent tours of South America and Europe.

Ten years ago — in 2015 — Udo announced that he would embark on a special tour during which he would perform ACCEPT songs one last time under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner before closing that chapter for good. Since then, the former ACCEPT frontman has continued to play ACCEPT material at select shows, including at the September 18, 2020 U.D.O. concert in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which was released on DVD and Blu-ray.

When he first announced the original DIRKSCHNEIDER tour in 2015, Udo said that he had "to make a clear break for myself — close the book and this is it. And I have the problem that people come to me and ask me to play more ACCEPT songs," he explained. "Other people ask me why I play ACCEPT songs at all, because there are [more than] fifteen U.D.O. records. I want to avoid such things and avoid the repeating questions concerning ACCEPT. I just can't stand that anymore. There is nothing more to be said. U.D.O. exists longer than ACCEPT. We have more records than ACCEPT."

While acknowledging that some ACCEPT fans want to hear the band's classic songs performed by the group's original singer, Dirkschneider explained that "you always have these comparisons [between how these songs are played by ACCEPT and U.D.O.]. I don't want this anymore either. [The current lineup of ACCEPT] also play 'Metal Heart', they play 'Balls To The Wall' and 'Princess Of The Dawn'. And then some people tell me, 'Oh, [current ACCEPT singer Mark Tornillo] is doing it better than you.' And I go, 'That's fine. Enjoy yourself.' But I don't want this anymore. And to avoid all of this in the future, I said, 'We are doing this one more time.'"

Dirkschneider said that his vow to never play ACCEPT material again came with one caveat. "If the band ACCEPT dissolves one day in the near future and I am still around with U.D.O., then there is a chance that I put ACCEPT songs back in the setlist," he said. "But currently there is ACCEPT, so go see them [if you want to see those songs performed live]. They are playing these songs."

Udo previously said the original plan was for DIRKSCHNEIDER to only "a few shows," and "then [the tour] got bigger and bigger [due to demand]." But, he added, "I don't want to complain about that."

In a new interview with Colombia's Radioacktiva, SCORPIONS frontman Klaus Meine and guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs were asked if there are any plans for the band to work on the follow-up to 2022's "Rock Believer" album. Klaus responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're so busy with touring that you know you need a moment where it's time again for the band to join in the studio and we create some new music. But right now, this 60-years-of-SCORPIONS celebration will take us again one more time around the world so many places. So it's not the moment to create something new. But maybe a song or two, that might work, but not an album like 'Rock Believer'."

Added Rudolf: "Think about that we [would be] spending our time of 60 years of SCORPIONS in the studio. That would be terrible. We have to party like crazy. [Laughs] So that's the point. We want to enjoy, with all the people around the world, that rock is still living and we are still living and we are enjoying [performing] still, and we love you."

Two months ago, Meine told Scorpions Brazil that "there are many good reasons why we maybe should [create new music], because it's so much fun, and to write new songs and to give it a try. And we have such a great team working with us. And our co-producer, engineer, Hans-Martin Buff, just received a Grammy in L.A. last weekend for his working with Peter Gabriel on 3D sounds. He is very specialized on 3D productions now, and he is really, really good, and it's always fun to work with him in the studio, record vocals, record new songs. And we have such a great setup.

"So there are a million good reasons to go back into the studio sometime soon," he continued. "But, on the other side, these days, it's not the time anymore really to make albums. It might be good to record a few songs; that would be a good thing. But it's always a good option to go back and to wake up your creativity. That's always something great, and we enjoy this always. So I don't know. But let's see how it goes this year. And there's so many shows coming up, and, yeah, we've gotta bring it on first before we make plans for what might come up in '26."

"Rock Believer" was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.

SCORPIONS' latest album marked their first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of new and classic material.

SCORPIONS' previous full-length collection of new recordings was "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.

In January, SCORPIONS postponed their 2025 Las Vegas residency due to Dee's recovery from his recent hospitalization. Promoted by Live Nation and Caesars Entertainment, "Scorpions - Coming Home To Las Vegas 60th Anniversary Las Vegas Residency" was scheduled to kick off on February 27, 2025 at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. SCORPIONS.

The new dates are as follows: August 14, August 16, August 19, August 21 and August 23.

BUCKCHERRY will still provide support for the new SCORPIONS Las Vegas residency dates.

In celebration of SCORPIONS' 60th anniversary, the new show follows the band's two previous sold-out residencies at the venue — "Scorpions - Love at First Sting Las Vegas" in 2024 and "Sin City Nights" in 2022.

Earlier in January, Mikkey, who was previously a member of MOTÖRHEAD for 23 years, revealed that he was recovering after spending most of the holiday season battling a "very serious blood infection (Sepsis)."

FOREIGNER kicked off its spring 2025 Latin American tour Monday night (April 28) at Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City, Mexico. Handling lead vocals for most of the set was FOREIGNER guitarist Luis Maldonado, while original FOREIGNER vocalist Lou Gramm joined in for the last four songs.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Double Vision
02. Head Games
03. Cold As Ice
04. Waiting For A Girl Like You
05. That Was Yesterday
06. Dirty White Boy
07. Feels Like The First Time
08. Urgent
09. Keyboard Solo
10. Drum Solo
11. Juke Box Hero (with Lou Gramm)
12. Long, Long Way From Home (with Lou Gramm)
13. I Want To Know What Love Is (with Lou Gramm)
14. Hot Blooded (with Lou Gramm)

Last month, FOREIGNER singer Kelly Hansen released a statement regarding his absence from the band's Latin American and Canadian tours. The 63-year-old vocalist, who has fronted the legendary rockers for the past two decades, said: "We had a great start to our touring year with a sold-out run in Florida, and I am so looking forward to continuing my journey with this incredible band.

"However, some residency issues have forced me to limit appearances outside of the USA this year and this means that I will miss some international shows," he explained. "FOREIGNER's upcoming South American run will feature our incredible bandmate Luis Maldonado, who has been recording some of our hits in Spanish, and he will be handling most of the lead vocals along with Lou Gramm who will be guesting with FOREIGNER for those shows. I know they will smash it!

"FOREIGNER is touring Canada in the fall as a prelude to the launch of a production of 'Juke Box Hero', the musical featuring our songs, and I unfortunately will miss that one too. Luis Maldonado will handle the lead vocals but in order to focus attention on the musical, we have asked Canada's own Geordie Brown, who starred in the original workshop productions in Calgary and Edmonton and the sold-out run in Toronto at the Ed Mirvish Theater, to sing a few songs in our set. I know Luis and Geordie will do a great job on this leg, and I can't wait to hear how it goes!"

Prior to the Mexico City concert, Gramm most recently joined FOREIGNER's current lineup on stage at the end of the band's March 15 concert at the BayCare Sound in Clearwater, Florida to perform two of the legendary rock group's classic songs, "I Want To Know What Love Is" and "Hot Blooded".

Gramm previously said he planned to retire at the end of 2024, but later revealed that he was in talks to make appearances at "select" tour dates with FOREIGNER's current lineup in 2025. Bassist Rick Wills and drummer Dennis Elliott are also expected to appear at some shows, including FOREIGNER's upcoming Las Vegas residency.

Gramm was the voice on FOREIGNER's biggest hits, including "Feels Like The First Time" and "Cold As Ice" from the band's eponymous debut in 1977, and later songs like "Hot Blooded" and "I Want to Know What Love Is".

The 74-year-old Gramm left FOREIGNER for good in 2002 and has battled health issues in recent years, including the removal of a non-cancerous tumor. He told the Democrat & Chronicle in 2018 that he was planning to retire, but still reunited with FOREIGNER for several shows that year.

FOREIGNER replaced Gramm with Hansen in 2005. Guitarist Mick Jones, the only remaining original member of FOREIGNER, suffered from some health issues beginning in 2011, eventually resulting in heart surgery in 2012. In February 2024, Jones revealed on social media that he was battling Parkinson's disease, which explained his absence from FOREIGNER's live shows since 2022.

FOREIGNER's 13-city Canadian tour will begin on October 21 in St. John's, Newfoundland and conclude on November 7 in Kelowna, British Columbia. The tour includes a stop in Brown's hometown at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre on October 24. Canadian rockers 54-40 will provide support.

The last time Brown joined FOREIGNER on stage was for a surprise appearance on the final night of the band's "Cold As Ice" tour in Halifax in March 2019. Brown has stayed in touch with the band in recent years and was in Cleveland this past fall when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

In a new interview with Alejandrosis, guitarist Aaron Aedy of British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST spoke about the status of the follow-up to their latest album, "Obsidian", which was released in May 2020 via Nuclear Blast. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's not fully mixed yet, but it's recorded." Asked if he could give fans some details about the musical direction of the new PARADISE LOST material, Aaron said: "No. It's like opening your presents before Christmas. No, I don't wanna go into the new album too much just yet, 'cause I'll wait to see what it's like when it's mixed. It's almost finished, but not quite."

Last month, PARADISE LOST guitarist Greg Mackintosh told Chile's PowerOfMetal.cl that the band's new LP would likely be released "September time." He added: "It's been the longest time we've ever had between albums. But that's kind of because of the pandemic as well… So shit happens. And, yeah, hopefully it'll come out September, October time this year."

As previously reported, PARADISE LOST will embark on "The Devil Embraced" North American tour in May 2025. The trek will kick off on May 16 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest and conclude on May 24 at Maryland Deathfest.

In a November 2023 interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, PARADISE LOST singer Nick Holmes spoke about how the band's songwriting process has evolved over the decades, Nick said: "The writing process is 100 percent different to how we used to write when we were younger. I mean, it's completely different now. We never meet up. We don't discuss things necessarily. Everything's through file sharing, e-mail and we don't write that way. It's equally as productive, I think, but it's just — maybe you're kind of more fussy. You can listen to things more than maybe you would do in the old days. Like I said, again, it goes back to the spontaneity thing. There isn't an element of that as much now, I don't think, but then you get there in the end anyway. There's a lot of ping-ponging ideas backwards and forwards, and you have more time to dwell on things and think, 'Well, is this right? Is this wrong?' Blah, blah. Whereas years and years ago, you think, 'Well, it's kind of shit, but we'll see. It might be all right.' There's benefits of both ways of writing, I think. Like I said, you can have too long and you can have too short. And some songs come together in no time. And then other songs can take months. We're just not the kind of band who can just kind of throw out a song and it's just brilliant. Well, people say they do that. I don't necessarily believe that's true, but I guess you can pretend that you're spontaneous and you just can throw out a genius song in about 10 minutes. I don't think that really happens with many people. But yeah, like I said, the songwriting, how we do it, has changed dramatically to where it was when we started."

When Botas noted that the different songwriting approach is something that was developed through experience, Holmes said: "When you start writing something, and if you spend a lot of time on it, you can spend a full day thinking, 'This is fantastic,' and then you can wake up in the morning and you think it's rubbish. You can get too locked into something. And then sometimes you have to take a step backwards, which is always really important, having a step backwards and maybe let someone else have a listen. I mean, we always get there, and when it comes together, it's great. That's the nice part. That's the rewarding part, I guess. It's like any kind of art. Once you've gone to the top of the hill and you're coming down, that's a nice feeling. It's not always easy getting there, but it's always fun when you go there."

Asked if he can still trust his instincts when writing music, Holmes said: "Yeah, absolutely. Gut reaction's pretty much… I mean, you could hear something that's not necessarily you think, 'Oh, hang on, this is strange.' And then you've gotta listen to it and then get into the… I don't instantly dismiss something — I would never do that — but I've gotta give it a few [listens]. And if I still feel the same way after a few listens, then I would trust my instinct on it, yeah. But I don't instantly dismiss things 'cause I don't think that's really a positive thing to do. But, yeah, definitely, you've gotta go with a gut reaction."

Asked if he can write a whole set of lyrics without music or if he needs the music to get some like melodies in his head, Nick said: "I prefer the music as a springboard to write lyrics to. And I always like how lyrics, how words sound on certain parts of songs. And that's always something I've admired about certain bands over the years. I'm not particularly interested in hearing stories in songs, although sometimes it's nice to hear that, but it's more about how, particularly metal, for me, it's more about how the songs sound at a certain time, how the lyrics sound at a certain time and the words. I mean, I can write without music, but I prefer to have something to kind of bounce off, really."

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of their fourth album, "Icon", PARADISE LOST re-recorded the LP for a special new release. There was also "an extra special vinyl" version of the album, both of which were made available in December 2023.

"Icon 30" is a totally re-recorded version of "Icon", and PARADISE LOST once again worked with longtime collaborator and producer Jaime Gomez Arellano.

PARADISE LOST recorded the vocals and drums for "Icon 30" at Jaime's new studio Arda Recorders in Porto, Portugal. The rest of the album was completed at Mackintosh's Black Planet Studios. "Icon 30" also features brand new artwork created by Scott Robinson and new liner notes from Kerrang!'s Nick Ruskell.

"Icon" marked a departure from the death-doom sound of PARADISE LOST's early work and was the last album to feature Matthew Archer on drums.

In February 2018, "Icon" was inducted into the Decibel "Hall Of Fame", with the magazine naming it influential to the development of the gothic metal subgenre.

In March 2023, PARADISE LOST welcomed Guido Zima Montanarini as their official new drummer.

In September 2022, Finnish drummer Waltteri Väyrynen left PARADISE LOST to join OPETH. At the time, he issued a statement saying that his decision involved "absolutely no bad blood or drama whatsoever."

Formed in Halifax, West Yorkshire, in 1988, PARADISE LOST were unlikely candidates for metal glory when they slithered from the shadows and infiltrated the U.K. underground. But not content with spawning an entire subgenre with early death/doom masterpiece "Gothic" nor with conquering the metal mainstream with the balls-out power of 1995's "Draconian Times", they have subsequently traversed multiple genre boundaries with skill and grace, evolving through the pitch-black alt-rock mastery of 1990s classics "One Second" and "Host" to the muscular but ornate grandeur of 2009's "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" and "Tragic Idol" (2012),with the nonchalant finesse of grand masters. The band's "The Plague Within" (2015) and "Medusa" (2017) albums saw a much-celebrated return to brutal, old-school thinking, via two crushing monoliths to slow-motion death and spiritual defeat.

Christian rockers STRYPER are preparing to enter the studio to record their first-ever full-length Christmas album. The 10-song effort will include five original Christmas tracks and five traditional Christmas cuts, including remakes of "Reason For The Season" and "Winter Wonderland", both of which originally appeared on a 1985 single and were also made available on the 1986 re-release of STRYPER's debut EP, "The Yellow And Black Attack".

Earlier today (Tuesday, April 29),STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet took to his social media to write: "Hey everyone, I just wanted to give an update on everything that's going on.

"We are heading back to the studio tomorrow to record a full length Christmas album!

"We'll be turning it in by the beginning of July and finally, we’ll have a long overdue Christmas album!!

"There will be 5 original Christmas songs (including a remake of 'Reason For The Season') and 5 traditional Christmas songs (including a remake of 'Winter Wonderland').

"This Christmas will be a little more special for STRYPER fans, worldwide".

STRYPER's latest studio album, "When We Were Kings", came out in September 2024.

The band recently completed the U.S. leg of its 40th-anniversary tour, which was described as "a celebration of both classic hits and new-era fan favorites, including outfit changes and an exciting new show production."

In December 2023, Michael underwent partial thyroidectomy, the surgery to remove part of his thyroid gland. It is the most common surgery for thyroid cancer.

Formed 41 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

STRYPER's albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen", "God Damn Evil", "Even The Devil Believes" and "The Final Battle".

In a recent interview with The Front Row Report With Reggie Edwards, Michael Sweet spoke about how his songwriting process has evolved over the four decades of STRYPER's existence. He said: "I personally think that that's my greatest gift in terms of the abilities God's given me. I'm a guitar player, I'm a singer, but I feel like I shine more at songwriting, and I get more excited about it.

"When I sit down to write, it's always a few weeks before we start recording," he continued. "I don't have any songs, and I sit down in my studio and I write a song a day. Once I have one song finished, I go down the next day, I write another song until there's 11 songs or 12 songs. And then we go in a studio, I teach the songs to the guys and we record them. And it's been that way really from the beginning, starting with [the 1984 EP] 'The Yellow And Black Attack', but the difference between now and then is we spent more time working out songs [back then]. Now it's a lot faster process, and it's not because it's rushed [or] because we have to; it's just because that's the way it is. That's the way it works.

"But I love writing," Sweet added. "Everyone has this perception that we've always written songs as a band. That's just not true. It's never been that way. I've always been open and honest about that. And sometimes people think I'm a dictator and I hold a gun to the guys' heads and I don't let 'em write and whatnot, and it's just not true. I give music to my brother all the time and say, 'Hey, why don't you write the lyrics?' Because Robert's [Sweet, STRYPER drummer] a good lyricist. I say, 'Why don't you write the lyrics for the song?' And three months later, when it's time for me to sing the song, the lyrics aren't done. So I wind up doing it myself. And it's perceived often as I don't let the guys do anything, and it couldn't be further from the truth. And I'm letting you know that, I'm going off on that a bit of tangent, because I see this online every day. I just saw something at breakfast an hour ago, someone saying that very same thing."

Michael also addressed his reputation as one of the most outspoken musicians in metal when it comes to his beliefs and thoughts. He said: "The thing is, I'm a very open book. So when I do interviews, I speak my heart. The other guys don't. And what I mean by that is when my brother does interviews, he's much more reserved and cautious about what he says. Now, behind the scenes, he'll say what's on his heart, and I hear it all. I hear it all, 'cause I travel with him. Same with Oz [Fox, STRYPER guitarist]. Same with Perry [Richardson, STRYPER bassist]. I hear everything that you hear me saying in interviews and then some. But see, people's perception is they don't say anything bad, I say everything bad. I'm the dictator, I'm the tyrant, I'm this, I'm that. And then when I talk about it, like I'm doing now, I'm a crybaby. I'm going off and I'm getting upset about it. And I guess the point I'm trying to make — as much as I love these guys, the public perception of this band isn't at all true. It's always been that way. When I left the band, people hated me. I still have people come up to me to this day and say, 'I hated you. I was so mad at you because you left the band, you left the other three guys. You betrayed them. You abandoned them.' And I'm, like, wow. I left this band to save my marriage. I had to. I had to. And I wanted my marriage to survive. I wanted to be a father to my children. And the perception is I was an asshole."

Hey everyone, I just wanted to give an update on everything that’s going on.

We are heading back to the studio...

Posted by Michael Sweet on Tuesday, April 29, 2025

After DEADGUY pulled a Lazarus, the infamous metalcore pioneers reunited on stage to prove that a few decades of dust couldn't keep them from tearing into audiences like old times. But there's a big difference between playing the classics for nostalgic fans and risking your legacy with a new album. The band innately understood how heavy and deranged a follow-up would need to be, and that's exactly what they bring with their new LP — "Near-Death Travel Services" — due on June 27 via Relapse Records.

First, a brief history of DEADGUY: the New Jersey quartet of Crispy, Dave Rosenberg, Tim "Pops" Naumann and Tim Singer released an odd, sardonic, absolutely singular seven-inch called "White Meat" in 1994. That same year they enlisted guitar player Keith Huckins of groundbreaking New Jersey band RORSCHACH and unleashed a refined, even more vicious sound with their seven-inch "Work Ethic". With only these six songs the band was already understood to be a menacing force in the emerging metalcore scene, both live and recorded, but it couldn't have prepared anyone for what came next.

Their 1995 debut LP "Fixation On A Coworker" inspired a generation of bands and was inducted into Decibel's Hall Of Fame in 2006. Of course, something this destructive can't last long. After an ill-fated tour of the U.S., the band fractured in half with Singer and Huckins off to Seattle to form KISS IT GOODBYE while Dave, Pops and Crispy enlisted Jim Baglino and Tom Yak, released one more EP and called it a day, making their entire storied existence only three years long.

A 2021 documentary, "Killing Music", led to the reconciliation and live shows, but there was more that needed to be done. Geographical hurdles, families and adult life are enough to stifle anyone's creative output, but over the next few years the band was able to create something, according to drummer Dave Rosenberg, "out of sheer force of will."

Rosenberg led the charge, learning guitar and writing a mountain of riffs in that time. While he cites influences that range from KING CRIMSON to TESTAMENT, Rosenberg admits that there is something that happens when these riffs reach the rest of the band. "What Crispy (guitar) has always said is that this is just what it sounds like when we play together," he says.

Even though the band's high standards led to a culling that left them with only the best tracks, they decided to get the opinion of a former co-conspirator. Enter Steve Evetts, the man behind the board during "Fixation". Evetts knows what DEADGUY should sound like, and by asking him to produce this new one they felt confident he'd keep the band from softening up or veering too far from what makes them so distinct.

Recorded in fits and starts over a matter of months, 11 songs made the cut to be mixed, mastered and aimed indiscriminately at an unsuspecting public under the banner of "Near-Death Travel Services". Members, at once skeptical, were finally able to take in the whole thing and had the same opinion after digesting their creation: "We made a fucking DEADGUY record."

From the first enraged scream that ignites first single/album opener "Kill Fee", this is the kind of merciless chaos that's been gone far too long. The record is overflowing with angular riffs, clashing guitars, fractured rhythms and gutter bass that no one does better, but with even more red meat and gristle. Instead of moving away from their sound they've dug in deeper, expanding their songs and giving Tim Singer more room to again show why he's been one of the best vocalists in extreme music since the first Bush administration.

"Near-Death Travel Services" is an inside joke, the band reflecting on touring and playing this music when they're ostensibly past their prime. But there are no signs of this being a swansong; no winding down, no taking it easy or resting on their laurels. The band DEADGUY was 30 years ago went into hibernation and came back as if no time had passed. How did it happen? How were they able to pull it off? Maybe some egghead professor of musicology can figure that out, but for the rest of us it's best to just gratefully sit back and enjoy the massacre.

Upcoming DEADGUY live shows:

Jun. 14 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Monarch (Rich Hall Memorial Show)
Jul. 12 - Garwood, NJ - Crossroads (record-release show )

"Near-Death Travel Services" track listing:

01. Kill Fee
02. Barn Burner
03. New Best Friend
04. Cheap Trick
05. The Forever People
06. War With Strangers
07. Knife Sharpener
08. The Alarmist
09. The Long Search For Perfect Timing
10. All Stick & No Carrot
11. Wax Princess

Photo by Nathaniel Shannon

In a new interview with 95.9 The Rat's Carl Craft, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons discussed the "Personal Assistant And Band Roadie For The Day" experience he is offering to his fans during his upcoming tour with the GENE SIMMONS BAND. The experience in question, called "The Ultimate Gene Simmons Experience", offers fans the opportunity to not only meet Simmons and his band but to assist him with load-in at the venue and setting up the stage, attend soundcheck and spend time backstage. The roadie will also join Simmons for a meal, and the 75-year-old rock legend will introduce the fan during the gig. The experience costs $12,495 — plus the original ticket price and comes with a bass guitar Gene previously used — and is only available to one fan per venue.

Asked how he came up with the price tag of $12,495 for the experience, Simmons said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Here's the deal: when I was a kid and I went to see [Jimi] Hendrix or somebody, of course I enjoyed the show and really got off on it — we talked about it forever and stuff — but I didn't know what it was like. What's the beginning of the day like? What's it like to sit and have breakfast or lunch with my favorite rock stars, and then get in the limo, go to the gig, set up the drums, do soundcheck and then be on stage with your video, 'cause nowadays everything's on video. You can't take a poop without a camera coming in under the stall. And then you get pulled up on stage to sing along with them. Now, having said that, we only do one roadie for a day per show. And I'll tell you why — because nowadays everything is so litigious. That's a big word, like gymnasium. That means everybody sues everybody for no reason. So if you get a paper cut, somebody gets sued. And that's just the way life is here in America — much more in California, by the way. It's crazy out here. So, I can't even, if I wanted to, bring out do roadie for a day with 10, 20, 30, as many people [as we would like]. So we do one, because the insurance costs for that are astronomical. And so this ain't cheap. It's not for everybody. And for that one person, you do have to pay premium numbers. That's just life."

Gene went on to say that the $12,495 price tag doesn't "just" include "the classic stuff. It's also exposure, financial and legal exposure," he explained. "Somebody has a bad experience and they sue you and it costs you hundreds of thousands of dollars. You need insurance for everything. Do you have a car? You've got insurance. Everything in life, apparently… In fact, you buy anything — a tool — they give you insurance. Would you like the one-year or three-year? Everything's insured."

Simmons is offering another package called the "Gene Simmons Bass Experience", which gives one fan and three guests the chance to meet the KISS icon backstage. With this package, the fan will be able to take home one of Simmons's bass guitars, which can be signed and personalized for $6,500 for a "non-stage-played" instrument, and $12,500 for one that Simmons previously played at a show in addition to the ticket cost.

Simmons recently postponed nearly 20 dates on his forthcoming solo tour with the GENE SIMMONS BAND to 2026. Gene is now expected to launch the trek on May 2 in Peachtree City, Georgia, with dates scheduled through August 3 in Sturgis, South Dakota.

Simmons's $12,495 "Personal Assistant And Band Roadie For The Day" experience is limited to one per show and includes the following perks:

* You will meet up with Gene and GENE SIMMONS BAND members early in the day (either at his hotel or designated location) to go over the band's show day schedule.
* You will be on the GENE SIMMONS BAND team crew for the entire day!
* You will get a GENE SIMMONS BAND crew member shirt and hat
* You will get a GENE SIMMONS BAND crew member VIP laminate
* You will have a meal with Gene Simmons (at the hotel or backstage at the show)
* You will arrive and load in to the venue with the band
* You will help the band set up for the show
* You will hang out backstage
* You will sit in on soundcheck
* Gene Simmons will bring you on stage during the show and introduce you
* You will get a setlist signed by Gene Simmons
* You can take photos throughout your entire experience
* You may bring one guest
* You may bring four items for Gene to sign (no instruments, parts, etc.)
* And… you get a Gene Simmons (KISS-rehearsal-used) bass signed by Gene Simmons

For more information, visit GeneSimmonsAxe.com.

During an appearance on a December 2024 episode of Billboard's "Behind The Setlist" podcast, Gene spoke about how he now tours and performs with his solo band. He responded: "I thought I could stay away from the stage [after the completion of KISS's 'End Of The Road' farewell tour]. It bears noting that there's a magic that happens up there that words don't really sort of describe. It's a feeling, and it's tough to talk about feelings. It's probably closer to… There used to be a guy named Dr. [Arthur] Janov and he had a kind of a strange hippie point of view about people having their stuff pent up. So you put people in a padded room. And it was called scream therapy. You go in there and you just let loose and reportedly — I was never part of that, but reportedly — people would come out drenched in sweat and relieved and tired and you expel all this stuff. And going through life, there are rules. You can't compliment women too much. There's no more hugging. There's all these rules. You can't do trans jokes, gay jokes, Jew jokes, black — you can't do any of that stuff because we're very sort of… There are subtle rules that we all have to be aware of. Not on stage. You are free. You just expel all this energy, and it's this celebration of life with the fans and you, and you get to this kind of joyous place. So the GENE SIMMONS BAND is a chance for me, with some friends who are monsters on their instruments, to go out there and just have a great time. It bears noting we don't have managers, road crew, nothing. No trucks, nothing. The local promoters provide the backline, and we just get up there and play. And there are no set-in-stone setlists. Fans can yell, 'Hey, why don't you do 'Almost Human' from 1804?' You betcha. And you break into it. Or, 'Do you guys know 'Whole Lotta Love'?' 'Yeah, I think so.' And you break into it. Or you jam. And at every show we bring fans up on stage. 'Can you sing?' 'Can you play? Let's have a party.'"

When asked how the idea for touring without managers and a road crew came about, Simmons replied: "Actually, it was done by black musicians when they played the Chitlin' Circuit, what used to be the black clubs, 'cause they couldn't play white clubs. So Chuck Berry, as an example, famously would show up with his guitar, and there was a local band. Now, I don't do that — I take my band with me — but Berry would show up, and he'd tell the guys, 'Study the records, learn these songs, I'm gonna show up,' and no rehearsal, nothing. Just let it happen. And you can be as tight as THE [ROLLING] STONES. I don't know if you've ever seen THE STONES live. No matter how much they rehearse, there's this kind of sloppy, greasy way of doing it. And you never quite know where the end of the song is — it never quite ends — because there is no end; you just kind of feel it. So it's very easy. We have a lot of fun. The fans are, as they say on the street, digging it. And then you die. That's all there is."

Regarding what the difference is to him financially when he plays shows with his solo band compared to how it was with KISS, Gene said: "I make more [with my solo band]. Yeah, there's no managers, no private jets, no 20 tractor trailers, no 60-man crew, no huge shows. And the pyro alone for every [KISS] show was 10 grand, sometimes 50, depending if you go outdoors — enormous, enormous costs for doing that — but proud to have done that with [fellow KISS founder] Paul [Stanley] and the rest of the guys in the band. But this is a decidedly different thing. It's almost as if you decided to rent some amps in a garage and plug in and then everybody from the neighborhood comes in and you have a much different relationship. There's none of that sort of prepared thing. It's very informal and an awful lot of fun."

In addition to Simmons, the GENE SIMMONS BAND members include guitarists Brent Woods (WILDSIDE, SEBASTIAN BACH, VINCE NEIL) and Zach Throne (COREY TAYLOR) alongside drummer Brian Tichy (LYNCH MOB, THE DEAD DAISIES, WHITESNAKE, BILLY IDOL, FOREIGNER, PRIDE & GLORY, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT).

Back in 2017 and 2018, the GENE SIMMONS BAND played a number of shows with a lineup that consisted of Simmons alongside guitarist/bassist Jeremy Asbrock, guitarist Ryan Cook, guitarist Phil Shouse and drummer Brent Fitz.

Six years ago, Simmons stated about his solo shows: "Doing these smaller concert halls, which hold a thousand to three thousand people, means they get filled up by real diehard fans. They don't want to hear the 'same old, same old.' They want to hear nuggets, as they say. It's a hoot for me because I've never really had a chance to do this stuff live. It's been a lot of fun." Gene told the Chicago Sun-Times: "By the end, I get the chance to bring as many people from the audience as we can fit on the stage to sing with me."

Regarding how the idea for a solo tour came about, Simmons told Australia's Advertiser in a 2018 interview: "The GENE SIMMONS BAND was not a plan or anything. About a year ago, a corporate event asked me to be keynote speaker … then they said, 'Won't you get up and sing a few tunes?' I explained that you can't just do that, you've got to have a band and rehearse and all that. They said, 'Well, we'll pay you X dollars more,' and I said, 'I like you!' "So I put together a band from Nashville — these guys back up Kid Rock and lots of other people — and without a single rehearsal, I just told them which songs I wanted to do and they learned them. It just sounded natural — there is such a thing called chemistry. They don't teach that anywhere — I mean, they do teach 'chemistry' but not the kind I'm talking about. It felt right and as soon as the videos went on YouTube and such, people were calling. This little GENE SIMMONS BAND never tried to be KISS… It was just a little bit of fun and stuff. Now all of a sudden, we're headlining festivals in the Czech Republic, Canada, Germany… It's crazy."

San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans DEATH ANGEL will celebrate the 35th anniversary of their "Act III" album by performing it in its entirety at their tenth annual Christmas show on December 18 at The Fillmore in San Francisco.

DEATH ANGEL says: One night only and no livestream this year — grab your tickets early!"

The artist presale is going on now at Ticketmaster.com (Passcode: BRINGFIRE).

In a 2020 interview with Now Hear This, Inc., DEATH ANGEL vocalist Mark Osegueda and guitarist Rob Cavestany described the making of their third album, 1990's "Act III". The LP was the band's first on major label Geffen, and featured more melodic and straightforward compositions compared to DEATH ANGEL's debut, "The Ultraviolence", and follow-up effort, "Frolic Through The Park". This rapid development was particularly noteworthy considering the members of DEATH ANGEL were much younger than some of their thrash metal contemporaries. Their time on a major label was short-lived — the band dissolved after a horrific 1991 bus crash that left then-drummer Andy Galeon seriously injured with a head injury and other damages that would require reconstructive surgery.

"We've pretty much sampled every possibility of what you can do right and what you can do wrong, especially what you can do wrong, but, luckily, we had a few moments of what you can do right, hence why we are still here and nominated for a Grammy," Rob said. "What you can do right is to work extremely hard. Every step of the way, we put our whole life into everything we were doing, even making a flyer for a show, just everything done as best and as hard as you can because you're that into it and you're proud of what you're trying to do and what you're going to put out there to people. And, that was emphasized along the way as we started to work with more professional-caliber people, better producers, better engineers, just dealing with people that showed you that how hard you thought you were working, that was a joke compared to how hard you really need to be working. We learned a lot. For instance, during our first two records, we thought we were working hard. We were writing our asses off, touring and playing as many shows as we possibly could. Again, we were young. We're still teenagers; we're not even 18 at this point in time. We don't really have the drive and any kind of life experience to know what we were supposed to do. We were doing it because we were so into it."

He continued: "One thing is, when we did sign to the major label and we went in to write and record our record 'Act III', it was a major lesson. We worked with a producer named Max Norman, and we were extremely excited to work with him being that he had produced two of our favorite records, 'Blizzard Of Ozz' and 'Diary Of A Madman' by Ozzy Osbourne, Ozzy's first two solo records, and the two albums that feature Randy Rhoads on guitar, who is an absolute hero of mine and everyone. He is very well respected and a big influence on many people, including us. We knew we had a chance to work with Max Norman on our record. That alone freaked us out because we realized we were about to work with this legendary guy. He and the label, they basically made us write. We were writing, I don't know, for six months straight or eight months nonstop. Easily. Maybe up to a year. We were used to, at this point, 'Okay, so the album will have ten songs. Here's ten songs. Let's go!' So, we wrote ten songs, had our demos, sent them to the label, sent them to the powers-that-be, then all of a sudden, we were told, 'Okay. That sounds pretty good. Let's hear some more.' We were like, 'Is that not enough?' They were like 'You guys are getting started.' We were like, 'All right.' We went back and wrote four more and gave them another four-song demo. We're like, 'Here's four more songs.' They're like, 'Okay. Getting warmer.' 'Getting warmer? What's wrong? What do you mean? That's more than enough.' They're like, 'You guys are just getting started.' Basically, we ended up writing 30 songs for that album. But, at the time, we were hating it. By that point, we were just, like, 'Screw all of you!' We were so pissed. We couldn't understand why we were being made to keep going back to the drawing board, searching, searching for what? 'Keep going!' Sure enough, at the end of the day, some of the better songs, I think, on that album, came in the fourth quarter of the writing."

"I guess we realized that the people that were telling us to do this, they knew what they were talking about," he added. "They were the pros. They were the label management, they were the management, they were the older people that had experience and just like your teachers in school or parents or whatever, you reluctantly give in, and say, 'Okay. I'll do my homework.' We were taking the word of the authority and going with it, and probably some slight sense of understanding of what they were talking about. We just didn't have the experience to push through it ourselves. We learned from it. We ended up making a really killer album and going through the experience. From that point on, that was major to me because I never needed that kind of whip-cracking again. After that, I realized, we realized, that's what you need to be working as hard as that."

According to Mark, "Act III" was "technically" the first album DEATH ANGEL "ever did pre-production on." He explained: "We never even heard what pre-production is. Once the songs were sorted out, then Max Norman flew up to San Francisco and started going through the songs with us and started weeding them out. We got to the ones that were going to be on the record, and we got down to those, then we started dissecting those songs. Then it became a whole other thing, re-arranging and dissecting: 'Maybe try this for four measures. Try this.' We always did want to be good songwriters, even though it's writing thrash metal. We still wanted to have good song structures. Max is one of the first people that really kind of roped our excitement in from being musicians and roped it into being palatable. Sometimes, you're a young musician, you're learning your instrument better and better. You want to flaunt that you've improved and that doesn't necessarily make for a better song because you're just flaunting, 'We can do this now!' I think we were a victim of that on our second record. When Max got involved for 'Act III', all of a sudden, our songwriting got a lot more structure and a lot more viable. It also left an impression on us, to a certain degree, there is a science to this. Don't get me wrong, it's the most soulful science in the world, but there is some science to it."

DEATH ANGEL was nominated for a Grammy Award for the title track of its latest studio album, "Humanicide". Released in May 2019 via Nuclear Blast, the disc saw DEATH ANGEL returning to producer and friend Jason Suecof (DEICIDE, TRIVIUM) of Audiohammer studios for the recording and mixing, along with the mastering of the legendary Ted Jensen (SLIPKNOT, PANTERA) of Sterling Sound, who added the final touches and brought it all to life, with artist Brent Elliott White (LAMB OF GOD, MEGADETH) providing the ominous cover artwork.

The 10th Annual Another Death Angel Xmas Show - December 18th @ The Fillmore, San Francisco. Celebrating 10 years of our...

Posted by Death Angel on Monday, April 28, 2025

HALESTORM, the Grammy-winning band initially formed by siblings Lzzy and Arejay Hale with guitarist Joe Hottinger and bassist Josh Smith, has announced "Everest", its sixth studio album, due out August 8 on Atlantic Records. Today the band also announced "nEVEREST", a U.S .tour this fall with Lindsey Stirling and APOCALYPTICA. Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 2 at 10 a.m. local time.

Last week, the band offered a glimpse of "Everest" with "Darkness Always Wins", the first song to be revealed from the upcoming collection. The song teases an album, produced by Grammy winner Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell),that dives deeply, both lyrically and sonically, into the band's mountainous climb over the last couple decades.

"Our album 'Everest' is a story of our journey as a band, full of beautiful endings and new beginnings," says Lzzy. "We weave a tangled web of melancholy, frustration, anger and the vast purgatory of love and love lost. It is a rollercoaster of epic musical detours, great songwriting and completely unhinged twists and turns. 'Everest' is an auditory representation of the four pillars of HALESTORM. Let us reintroduce ourselves and invite you into our world…if you dare."

Rolling Stone said of "Darkness Always Wins", "What the song has going for is its catchy, brooding, and dramatic in all the ways we love HALESTORM songs to be," and Revolver noted "The arrangement remains lean even as the amps begin to crank into the red, though 'Darkness Always Wins' still sports some exquisite minor-key melodicism, a metal-chunked bridge, loud-as-hell requiem bells and a classically rippin' rock guitar solo."

"Darkness Always Wins" impacts at Active Rock radio this week, but already debuted as the "Greatest Gainer" at the format with early airplay last week.

"Everest" track listing:

01. Fallen Star
02. Everest
03. Shiver
04. Like A Woman Can
05. Rain Your Blood On Me
06. Darkness Always Wins
07. Gather The Lambs
08. WATCH OUT!
09. Broken Doll
10. K-I-L-L-I-N-G
11. I Gave You Everything
12. How Will You Remember Me?

The newly announced "nEVEREST" tour follows an epic run first supporting IRON MAIDEN in Europe and dates with VOLBEAT in the U.S. with a one night-only-performance at BLACK SABBATH's final show in Birmingham, England.

HALESTORM tour dates with Lindsey Stirling and APOCALYPTICA:

Sep. 11 - Salem, VA - Salem Civic Center
Sep. 12 - Cherokee, NC - Harrah's Cherokee
Sep. 14 - Bridgeport, CT - Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
Sep. 16 - Syracuse, NY - Upstate Medical University Arena at the Oncenter
Sep. 18 - Laval, QC - Place Bell
Sep. 19 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
Sep. 21 - Madison, WI - Breese Stevens Field
Sep. 23 - St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
Sep. 24 - Cedar Rapids, IA - Alliant Energy PowerHouse
Sep. 26 - Welch, MN - Treasure Island Amphitheater
Sep. 27 - Duluth, MN - AMSOIL Arena
Sep. 29 - Bonner Springs, KS - Azura Amphitheater
Oct. 01 - Sioux City, IA - Tyson Events Center
Oct. 02 - Grand Forks, ND - Alerus Center
Oct. 04 - Winnipeg, MB - Canada Life Centre
Oct. 05 - Saskatoon, SK - SaskTel Centre
Oct. 07 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome
Oct. 08 - Penticton, BC - South Okanagan Events Centre
Oct. 10 - Vancouver, BC - Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
Oct. 11 - Spokane, WA - Spokane Arena

HALESTORM tour dates with BLOODYWOOD:

Oct. 22 - Wiesbaden, DE - Schlachthof
Oct. 23 - Oberhausen, DE - Turbinehalle 2
Oct. 25 - Hamburg, DE - Inselpark Arena
Oct. 27 - Stockholm SE - Fållan
Oct. 28 - Copenhagen, DK - The Grey Hall
Oct. 30 - Warsaw, PL - COS Torwar
Nov. 01 - Berlin, DE - Columbiahalle
Nov. 03 - Prague, CZ - Lucerna Velkỳ Sàl
Nov. 05 - Vienna, AT - Gasometer
Nov. 06 - Budapest, HU - Barba Negra
Nov. 08 - Munich, DE - Zenith
Nov. 09 - Zurich, CH - Komplex457
Nov. 11 - Milan, IT - Alcatraz
Nov. 12 - Barcelona, ES - Razzmatazz 1
Nov. 14 - Pamplona, ES - Totem
Nov. 15 - Madrid, ES - La Riviera
Nov. 17 - Paris, FR - Olympia
Nov. 18 - Amsterdam, NL - AFAS Live

HALESTORM tour dates with BLOODYWOOD, KELSY KARTER & THE HEROINES:

Nov. 20 - Cardiff, UK - Utilita Arena
Nov. 21 - Glasgow, UK - OVO Hydro
Nov. 23 - Birmingham, UK - bp pulse LIVE
Nov. 24 - Manchester, UK - AO Arena
Nov. 26 - London, UK - O2 Arena

In a recent interview with Cutter's Rockcast, Lzzy spoke about HALESTORM's songwriting and recording sessions with Cobb, known for his previous collaborations with the likes of Sammy Hagar, Slash, GRETA VAN FLEET and RIVAL SONS. Regarding the musical direction of the band's follow-up to 2022's "Back From The Dead", Lzzy said: "It's really hard to describe this one. We did the record with Dave Cobb, which is a new producer for us. His ADHD mixed very well with our ADHD. But we didn't do it traditionally the way we always do these albums. First day, we walked in and I always have, like, whatever, a ton of half-written songs or full-written songs, or, 'Here's a riff or whatever' — you come in with your bag of tricks. And Dave Cobb says, 'Oh, we're not gonna do any of that.' And I'm, like, 'What do you mean?' He's, like, 'We're not doing demos. I hate demos. What we're gonna do is we're gonna start and we're gonna write, and as we're writing, we're recording at the same time.' So that's what we did. The first day we actually ended up writing our first single that'll be coming out soon. But, yeah, we started, like, 'Okay, who's got a line?' 'Oh, I have this that I thought of yesterday.' 'Cool. That'll work. Let's go.' Set up the drums, set up the guitar, here's the vocals. And so we would be recording while we were writing it, and then we would get done and we would move on to the next day. And so there are songs that don't even have a click track to them or a guide because we forgot."

Lzzy continued: "There's so many different elements of songs that we used to write when we were kids, but, obviously, as adults — a lot of that feeling. It was kind of an emotional rollercoaster. There's also, I think, some of the heaviest songs we've ever written on there, some really beautiful mid-tempos. A lot of personalities that I've always wanted to kind of put on a record, but I never really had the freedom or time to, because usually when we do a HALESTORM record, it's, like, 'Okay, we have to have all the songs picked. We have to have them rehearsed.' We go in and kind of do it like an assembly line. Like, 'Okay, you do the bass, do the drums, do the guitar, do the vocals, and we're good.' So there's no time to really like sit with things before they're, like, 'Okay, we've already decided we're gonna do that.' And so the freedom and kind of the nerve-racking kind of element of the fact that there wasn't really a plan ended up being the special sauce on this album, because we were just chasing everything that got us excited. And if it wasn't a 'hell yeah', it was a 'hell no'. So there's nothing on there on this album that we don't feel complete ownership over. There's nothing on this album that anybody forced us to do. There's nothing on this album that isn't part of our personalities."

Elaborating on why the new HALESTORM album feels like it is a return to the band's roots in a way, Lzzy said: "My bass player said it yesterday. He's, like, 'It's kind of like this long road to the beginning,' 'cause all of the guys at one point in time said this really feels like we're back in our parents' basement again and we're hustling and we're trying to figure out how to write songs on the radio. But we have all this knowledge now. So everything ended up coming together so incredibly well. But it was almost like the reverse, that the music was telling us what to do and not us trying to like shoehorn anything in.

"I'm telling you, man, — it is the most HALESTORM record we've ever done," Lzzy added. "It is the first time in the 20 years we've been on Atlantic Records that we have not felt lorded over in regarding to making records, because usually it's time crunch. Somebody's always there being, like, 'Oh, we can't do that.' 'Oh, you probably shouldn't say that.' 'What about this thing?' And that kind of thing. So it usually becomes like a project, like a group project.

"We didn't do it in Nashville — we did it in Savannah, Georgia, locked in a house in the middle of nowhere, next to a river," Hale revealed. "The guys and I would wake up like around 11:30 a.m., we would start recording and we wouldn't stop until 4:00 a.m. And then we would annoy the hell out of the engineer who was trying to sleep with playing on the proper keyboard and coming up with weird stuff. But we were unsupervised in the best way, and it was all about, who are we now? Who were we then? This is our story. For me, when I listen to this album, it's my personal opus — all the things that I've gone through in my life, both dark and not. There's more questions than answers. It's not just me giving myself a pep talk, like 'I'm the fire', 'I'm back from the dead.' It's like I'm dealing with a lot of my reality and a lot of the reality of the world in my own way. And then it's also our story as a band, and you can really hear it in the music and in the lyrics. So I'm so excited for people to hear it. And it's to the point where it's, like, I don't even really care if anybody likes it because all four of us are, like, 'This is our favorite album we've ever done.'"

Fronted by Lzzy with Arejay, Joe and Josh, HALESTORM's music has earned multiple platinum and gold certifications from the RIAA, and the band has earned a reputation as a powerful live music force, headlining sold-out shows and topping festival bills around the world, and sharing the stage with icons including HEAVEN & HELL, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett and JUDAS PRIEST. Additionally, Lzzy was named the first female brand ambassador for Gibson and served as host of AXS TV's "A Year In Music".

Photo: Jimmy Fontaine

Former NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon will celebrate the two albums she recorded with the band — "Dark Passion Play" (2007) and "Imaginaerum" (2011) — on a special tour of Brazil in September. The seven-date trek will mark the first time Anette will perform live, as a solo artist, the iconic songs from her era of NIGHTWISH.

Anette said: "Hello Brasil!! I've finally decided to tour Brasil and with NIGHTWISH songs so I hope I'll see you there in September".

The Swedish-born singer originally joined NIGHTWISH in 2007 and recorded two studio LPs with the band before being dismissed in 2012 in the middle of the group's North American tour. She was replaced by former AFTER FOREVER frontwoman Floor Jansen.

Olzon reflected on her time with NIGHTWISH in a 2021 interview with Finland's Chaoszine. Asked how she looks back on the entire five-year experience, she said: "Well, it's mixed emotions. It was a hell of a ride. You know how it was with the media in Finland. And for me, I didn't understand what was happening because I didn't know how big the band was, since I don't live in Finland. So it was really fun the first years with everything and also crazy. I wasn't home a lot. They did their heaviest touring when I joined. All of a sudden, they wanted to do so many long weeks [on the road]. I remember just that I had a five-year-old son [and] I came home after five weeks. I was home one week. I didn't almost have time to unpack my bags before I went off again for four weeks. So I don't remember everything, to be honest. There are so many things that I don't remember. And also, of course, the last years where it wasn't such a nice atmosphere between us. And I had my third child, and things happened.

"So I remember it both with really happy, happy feelings, but also with very, very negative and sad feelings," she explained. "But, of course, it was an amazing experience, and it was my dream that came true to be a full-time singer in an amazing big band. And they are a super-good band. So I bless the albums that we did and will always cherish that time, of course."

Not long after Olzon was fired from NIGHTWISH 13 years ago, she claimed that an argument arose between her and NIGHTWISH when she asked for an Australian tour to be postponed during her pregnancy. Keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen suggested that Jansen should front the band on a temporary basis, but Olzon said no.

Anette explained in a 2014 interview: "I would have been too pregnant to go to Australia, so I wanted to push the dates back, but Tuomas didn't want that. Discussions about a substitute came up, and at first, I was, like, 'Yeah, well, okay.' But when they mentioned Floor, it was an automatic 'no' from me. I didn't think it was a good idea, because I knew what would happen — I knew the fans would love Floor, because she's a metal singer and I'm a pop singer, and I wanted to keep my job."

A year after NIGHTWISH fired Olzon, the band released a statement denying that she was dismissed because of pregnancy or illness. "We discovered her personality didn't fit this work community, and was even detrimental to it," the group said. NIGHTWISH went on to say that Anette was initially receptive to the idea of hiring a temporary replacement if she couldn't "manage everything," but that she later "took back her decision, and the difficulties really started. Fear of losing money and position seemed obvious." The band also insisted that "Anette and her company" were "paid a fifth of everything that was done during her time" with NIGHTWISH.

Since the end of her stint with NIGHTWISH, Olzon also formed THE DARK ELEMENT with former SONATA ARCTICA guitarist Jani Liimatainen. The group's self-titled debut album was released in 2017; a follow-up, "Songs The Night Sings", came out in 2019.

Olzon and noted progressive metal vocalist Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X, ADRENALINE MOB) released a collaborative album titled "Worlds Apart" in March 2020 via Frontiers Music Srl. The project was issued under the moniker ALLEN/OLZON. A follow-up album, "Army Of Dreamers", arrived in 2022.

Anette's third solo album, "Rapture", came out last year.

Hello Brasil!! I’ve finally decided to tour Brasil and with Nightwish songs so I hope I’ll see you there in September❤️❤️

Posted by Anette Olzon on Monday, April 28, 2025

METALLICA has announced the definitive re-release of the band's five-times-platinum sixth studio album "Load", due out June 13 via the band's own Blackened Recordings.

Remastered by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering with Greg Fidelman overseeing, the "Load" remastered limited-edition deluxe box set is available now for pre-order at Metallica.com, where full package details and track listings can be viewed. Pre-orders of the deluxe box will receive instant grat tracks "Until It Sleeps (Remastered)", "Until It Sleeps (Herman Melville Mix)", "F.O.B.D. ('Until It Sleeps' Rough Chorus Vocal Idea Mix)" and "Until It Sleeps (Live at Slim's, San Francisco, CA - June 10th, 1996)".

"Load (Remastered)" will be released in formats, including standard 180g 2LP, CD, cassette and digital (including a Spatial Audio mix using Atmos). Standard pre-orders receive "Until It Sleeps (Remastered)" IG, expanded edition pre-orders receive "Until It Sleeps (Remastered)" and "F.O.B.D. ('Until It Sleeps' Rough Chorus Vocal Idea Mix)" IGs. The 2LP, 3CD expanded and deluxe digital versions for the first time ever feature the extended version of "The Outlaw Torn", originally edited for release due to time constraints of the CD format.

The "Load" remastered limited edition deluxe box set is an ambitious and comprehensive time capsule of 1995-97 era METALLICA, jam-packed with exclusives including previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, live performances, on-air and television appearances, and much more. The one-time pressing will include the remastered "Load" album on 180g double vinyl, a "Mama Said" picture disc, and "Loadapalooza '96", a 140g triple album recorded live during METALLICA's Lollapalooza headlining run at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on August 4, 1996. The set's 15 CDs range from the remastered "Load" album to never-before-released collected riffs, demos and rough mixes, B-Sides and rarities, and a wealth of live material, while its four DVDs offer a plethora of behind the scenes, in-studio and live footage, on-air and television appearances, the band's Polar Beach Party visit to Tuktoyaktuk, Canada, and more. Rounding out the box's content are memorabilia including a pack of 14 Rorschach Test cards, a Pushead patch, an 11x17 Lollapalooza poster, a Rolling Stone cover reproduction, a five-pack of guitar/bass picks, lyric sheets, two laminated tour passes and a deluxe 128-page book.

Originally released June 4, 1996, "Load" was the second METALLICA album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, where it would remain for four straight weeks. The 1995 sessions at The Plant in Sausalito, California that resulted in "Load" (as well as 1997's "Reload") would find guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Jason Newsted creating yet another landmark of the METALLICA catalog. Currently, two of "Load"'s four singles — "Until It Sleeps" and "King Nothing" — have been lighting up crowds the world over in regular rotation on the setlists of the band's "M72" world tour.

Released in 1996, "Load" marked a new direction for METALLICA, featuring what one critic has described as "a fresh take on LYNYRD SKYNYRD-tinged boogie rock for the 1990s."

Although "Load" and 1997's "Reload" were warmly received by critics at the time, they've since taken their place among the most reviled work of METALLICA's career.

In a 2013 interview with Revolver magazine, Ulrich said that "Load" and "Reload" are "great records" that "are creatively on par with every other record we've made. Obviously, they're bluesier records, and at that time, we were listening to a lot of LED ZEPPELIN, DEEP PURPLE and AC/DC, and we had a different kind of foundation than records before or after," he said. "And I understand that there are people who couldn't quite figure out what was going on with the haircuts and the rest of it, and that's fine. But musically, if you strip all that other stuff away, if you just listen to the 27 songs — 'Load' and 'Reload' were intended as one double-record — it's a great collection of songs that is on par with everything else that we've done creatively."

Hetfield has repeatedly expressed his dislike of the "Load" album cover and its inspiration, telling Classic Rock magazine in a 2009 interview: "Lars and Kirk [Hammett, guitar] were very into abstract art, pretending they were gay. I think they knew it bugged me. It was a statement around all that. I love art, but not for the sake of shocking others. I think the cover of 'Load' was just a piss-take around all that. I just went along with the make-up and all of this crazy, stupid shit that they felt they needed to do."

In a 2017 interview with Clash, Hetfield was asked if the band had to make certain compromises along the way in order to be accepted by the mainstream. He responded in part: "As far as doing something that doesn't feel right, I'm sure there's been a few times that it's happened — the 'Load' and 'Reload' era, for me, was one of those; the way that was looking, I wasn't 100 percent on with it, but I would say that that was a compromise. I said, 'I'm going with Lars's and Kirk's vision on this. You guys are extremely passionate about this, so I'll jump on board, because if the four of us are into it, it's going to be better.' So I did my best with it, and it didn't pan out as good as I was hoping, but, again, there's no regrets, because at the time it felt like the right thing to do."

Following the "Load"/"Reload" albums and tour, METALLICA went into a tailspin that resulted in Newsted's exit of, Hetfield spending the better part of a year in rehab and the band nearly splitting up.

In a 2016 interview with TeamRock, Hetfield was asked what he thought late METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton might have felt about the drastic changes in METALLICA's look and sound that the band made through the 1990s and early 2000s with albums like "Load", "Reload" and "St. Anger". Hetfield replied: "Well, I certainly would have thought there would have been some resistance, for sure. I think the 'Black Album' was a great album and I appreciate the fact that we did have the balls to do that… I would certainly think that the 'Load' and 'Reload' [era], I would have had an ally that was very against it all — the reinvention or the U2 version of METALLICA."

In a new interview with Fox San Antonio, RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson reflected on the making of "Moving Pictures", the band's eighth studio album, which was originally released on February 12, 1981. The LP was recorded in October and November 1980 at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada, which was ultimately nicknamed the trio's own personal Abbey Road recording studio. Lifeson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We did a lot of records at Le Studio. 'Moving Pictures' was the most fun record we ever made. It was such a great energy and a great vibe. It was winter — it was a very cold winter as well. When I say 'very cold', I mean minus 30, minus 40. You'd have a week of that kind of weather. But it was still a lot of fun to work there. We would snowshoe or cross country ski to the studio. I generally drove over [laughs], but it was part of that whole Canadian experience, the Great North.

"When we started working on 'Moving Pictures', everything came along just so effortlessly," he continued. "We were well prepared, we'd written all the material, we knew what we were doing. We went in, we got sounds. We did things a little differently. We actually mixed it down on digital, which was one of the first Sony digital machines. Compared to modern digital, that thing was a 'Model T'. But the record sounds great. So, so long as you get the results.

"Yeah, that was really, really a lot of fun to do," Alex added. "We made a couple of videos there that were fun. I remember when we did 'Witch Hunt', we were down in the parking area. They set up mics and we were the mob crowd in the background in 'Witch Hunt' in the opening. And if you listen carefully, you can hear us laughing because we'd had a few drinks and we were screaming and yelling about the most ridiculous things as a mob. But some of the things that we were saying are totally unrelated to anything. But it was such a feel-good record, making 'Moving Pictures'."

In April 2022, UMe/Mercury and Anthem Records label groups released an expanded 40th-anniversary edition of "Moving Pictures". "Moving Pictures - 40th Anniversary" was made available to fans in six distinct configurations, including the (1) Super Deluxe Edition, (2) three-CD Deluxe Edition, (3) five-LP Deluxe Edition, (4) one-LP Edition, (5),Digital Deluxe Edition, and (6) Dolby Atmos Digital Edition.

"Moving Pictures"' adventurous-yet-accessible music catapulted the forward-thinking Canadian band to even newer heights as it began navigating the demands of a new decade. The album's seven songs expertly blended RUSH's intrinsic prowess for channeling its progressive roots into radio-friendly arrangements, a template the band had mastered to a T all throughout its previous album, 1980's deservedly lauded "Permanent Waves".

The album's lead-off track, "Tom Sawyer", became one of RUSH's most cherished FM favorites in addition to taking its rightful place as a perpetual concert staple for decades to come. Next, the band shifts into the multi-generational dreamscape of "Red Barchetta", which chronicles the thrills and chills of a high-stakes backroads car race. The instrumental barnburner "YYZ", lovingly named after the airport identification code for Toronto's Pearson International Airport, runs the gamut of the band's forever impressive progressive chops in under four minutes flat. Side A closes out with the observational luminescence of "Limelight", a timeless, if not prescient look at how introverted artists grapple with public demands while trying to maintain a personal level of earned privacy.

Side B commences with the expansive palette of "The Camera Eye", a multi-layered, ten-minute-long travelogue that takes a bird's eye view of the inherent hustle and bustle of New York City counterbalanced with the intense energy and deep-rooted history of London. "Witch Hunt" (subtitled as being "Part III of Fear") offers a grim view of prejudice and mob mentality, while the album wraps up with the angular, cutting-edge "Vital Signs", a propulsive track that clearly foreshadows a number of the more adventurous musical directions RUSH would undertake as the ever-shifting 1980s continued to unfold.

RUSH — bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist/vocalist Alex Lifeson, and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart — maintains a large and uniquely passionate worldwide fanbase that acknowledges and respects the band's singular, bold, and perpetually exploratory songcraft that combines sterling musicianship, complex compositions, and distinctive lyrical flair.

RUSH has sold more than 25 million albums in the U.S. alone, with worldwide sales estimated at 45 million (and counting),and has been awarded 24 gold, 14 platinum, and three multi-platinum album distinctions.

RUSH has received seven Grammy nominations, and the band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame in 1994 and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013.

In a new interview with Luiz Cesar Pimentel of Brazil's Cucamonga, SLAYER's Kerry King was asked how the 2013 death of the band's founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman affected his relationship with SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Kerry responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think Jeff's passing weighed harder on Tom than it did me. And I don't mean that from any kind of friendship perspective. It's just my taking wasn't as bad as Tom took it. Of course it was horrible, and no one ever wanted that to happen, but it really weighed on Tom. I think that's what led to him wanting to retire earlier than me, because I think he felt the band was different. But then, out of nowhere, Tom decided he wanted to play some [SLAYER] shows last year, and I went, 'Well, I never wanted to stop playing shows. So, yeah, let's try it out.'"

King continued: "Just like it was in [the earlier years of] SLAYER, [Tom and I] don't talk on the phone. We rarely text each other. And that's just because when you're together for 40 years — he became a very different person. He's not the guy I started the band with. Not personally — just him; he's a different person. I basically stayed very similar to who I've been in my twenties. And I like Tom. We're cool. We got together [last year to rehearse for the SLAYER reunion concerts]. It wasn't weird. We did those two shows [at Riot Fest in Chicago and Aftershock festival in Sacramento]. He was super happy. We got together after the second one, had a shot after the show. He'll drink tequila and I love tequila, so that's what we had. And I think the first idea to play [with SLAYER again] this year was for the [Louder Than Life festival] show we missed last year 'cause of the hurricane. So we rebooked that and [I] said, 'If we never play another show, I wanna make that right with the promoter,' because it wasn't our fault. But he wanted us to play. So we're playing there this year. And this year we get to play that BLACK SABBATH show [in early July in Birmingham, United Kingdom]. I can't fucking wait."

In January 2011 Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, from a spider bite in his backyard. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman's arm, leading to numerous surgeries, skin grafts and intense periods of rehab that forced him into semi-retirement and left him near death at several points.

Hanneman eventually died in May 2013 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. He is credited for writing many of SLAYER's classic songs, including "Angel Of Death" and "South Of Heaven".

Back in February 2024, Kerry was asked by Rolling Stone how he found out Araya wanted to retire. King said at the time: "We were on tour and some kid was interviewing him, and he said something about, 'I've got to get together with Kerry and talk before we talk about the next record.' He should have just said, 'I'm probably not going to do another record,' or had that conversation with me before he mentioned anything like that. I was just assuming, 'Oh fuck, what's this going to be?' And it was, 'I'm done.' Not what I expected. But if you made that decision, I'm not going to try to talk you out of it because your heart's not going to be in it anyway."

Regarding why Araya had decided to retire, King said: "I think just the wear and tear of the road. I think he wanted to be home. None of us are real spotlight seekers, but he's certainly not. And when Jeff was around, he was like a hermit. He did not want fame. I tolerate fame. Somebody's got to be that guy."

Kerry also confirmed that personality differences contributed to SLAYER's eventual split.

"Me and Tom have never been on the same page," he said. "Like if I want a chocolate shake, he wants a vanilla shake. 'Kerry, what color is the sky?' Blue. 'Tom, what color is the sky?' White. We're just different people. The further on in years we got, it just became more.

"Am I going to hang out with Tom? He likes tequila a little bit and I'm a big tequila-head, so I'll have my shot with him, and we'll part ways," he continued. "We're not going to hang out or anything because we are very different people. And together, we made great music and a great live show."

Rolling Stone asked King if his and Araya's differing political ideologies played a part in SLAYER's split. In 2017, Araya used SLAYER's official Instagram account to make a post about then newly elected U.S. president Donald Trump, stirring up a huge backlash from the band's fanbase.

"I was super pissed off at that — but not enough to fucking quit my band," King said of the incident. "I was like, 'Dude, that's what your personal social media is for. You're the only one in this band that gives a shit about this idiot, and when you put it up there, we're all backing him.' And I am not [backing Trump], Gary's [Holt, SLAYER guitarist] not, Paul [Bostaph, SLAYER drummer] is not. That's your opinion, not ours. I would never do that to you."

Prior to SLAYER's 2024 reunion, King told Rolling Stone that he and Tom had not had any contact since the last show of SLAYER's farewell tour in 2019. "Not even a text. Not even an e-mail," he said. "I've talked to everybody else from the band on the phone, text, or e-mail. If Tom hit me up, I'd probably respond. It probably depends on what he hit me up for, but I don't wish him dead at this moment."

Photo credit: Ryan Segedi (courtesy of Cosa Nostra PR)

In a new interview with Mark Strigl, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann spoke about the band's touring plans beyond a couple of U.S. festival appearances this year, including one at the the M3 Rock Festival in early May at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're [planning] on another tour in the fall, which I cannot talk about quite yet, but there will be more shows in the U.S. later in the year. They haven't been announced yet, so I can't really say much… And other than that, we're going to Europe. We actually tried to lay low this year because we're gonna be very, very busy next year when we have the 50-year anniversary tour coming up and an album in the works for that. And so there's a lot of stuff happening next year, and we kind of wanted to lay low this year, but then we aren't. All these shows came in, so we're still quite busy."

Asked if longtime ACCEPT producer Andy Sneap will be involved with the band's upcoming 50th-anniversary album, Wolf said: "He will not be on this one, because he asked for a year off from us. I asked him, I begged him to produce his album, but then we found a good buddy of his. His name is Zeuss [Chris Harris]. He's producing it."

Hoffmann continued: "[Andy is] kind of part of the family now, but he's been touring so much with [JUDAS] PRIEST [as that band's touring guitarist], and he's been working so much in the studio last year. I think he did SAXON, he did PRIEST, he also did DREAM THEATER — he's done a bunch of stuff. So when I said, 'Hey, can we work this year again?' He said, 'Man, can I please have a year off?', which is understandable."

Regarding ACCEPT's upcoming 50th-anniversary tour, which is expected to launch at the of the year, Wolf said: "It's gonna be a retrospective of the whole 50-year career and, of course, it's gonna feature a lot of the important stuff from the '80s and some deeper cuts. And we're gonna perform with guest singers and guest players, and it's gonna be super exciting, like a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You only have one shot at a 50-year anniversary… I don't think we'll get a chance for another one."

Asked what continues to drive him creatively to keep making new music with ACCEPT, Wolf said: "Well, we're still hungry. I still have the energy and I still have the passion for it, so I don't ever feel like I'm at this point where I've kind of had enough or I wanna retire or anything like that. I'm still full force in it, man. And so is everybody in the band. And that is, I guess, what keeps us motivated and what keeps it going. And it's a lot of fun to create stuff that actually means something to the fans. It would be one thing if we were releasing albums and everybody said, 'You know what? Just play the old songs. We don't really need any new stuff.' But the opposite is true. People are really eating the stuff up, and they're really, really happy and they're respecting the fact that we are still working so hard. So the old songs and the new songs kind of live side by side when we perform live. I mean, at one point the classics are always gonna be the classics and they're gonna be featured on radio more and that sort of thing. But when it comes to live performances. I think the fans really appreciate the fact that we play new stuff."

Sneap produced ACCEPT's last six studio albums: "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017),"Too Mean To Die" (2021) and "Humanoid" (2024).

Zeuss has previously worked with ROB ZOMBIE, HATEBREED, QUEENSRŸCHE, SHADOWS FALL, DEMON HUNTER, OVERKILL and REVOCATION, among many others.

Two months ago, Hoffmann told Metal Talks about ACCEPT's 50th anniversary: "Yeah, it's a funny thing. I joined this band when I was 16 and just never left. And here I am all these all these years later, coming on a 50th anniversary, which is crazy. But yeah, it's definitely something that we're very proud of. And not every band is lucky enough to be around for this long and to still be in the business and to still be touring to still have fans.

"I think ACCEPT, we're very fortunate in the way that we achieved the impossible," he continued. "We had a change of lead singers 15 years ago with Mark Tornillo, and things are better than they've ever been for us. I mean, the last few albums have been phenomenal, the touring is going great, we have sold-out shows everywhere. So, I mean, we are really, really fortunate, and I'm fully aware of that. And yeah, to mark the occasion, we're gonna have a special tour. We're gonna release a new album with — we're gonna re-record some of the old classics and some of the deeper-cut songs from back then with guest people, guest singers, guest guitar players, and we're gonna bring this out on the road in '26. So we're working on that for the next year or so.

"This is a milestone that needs to be celebrated properly, and what better [way to do it]?" Hoffmann added. "I mean, we only have one chance for a 50th anniversary. I don't think I'll get another one. With all optimism, I don't think I'll be around 50 years from now, or the fans will be, so we might as well have this opportunity and make use of it. And it's gonna be fantastic. I know it. We're gonna play some songs we've never played before, and it's gonna be great."

Last November, Wolf told The Adamantium Podcast about ACCEPT's upcoming 50th-anniversary album and tour: "Well, I can't tell you too much yet, because it's too early and right now we're featuring this tour [promoting ACCEPT's latest album, 'Humanoid'], so let's focus on that. But I can tell you it's gonna be a huge thing because turning 50 is a big deal."

Wolf continued: "We have always shied away from all these, I would call them little anniversaries, because, really, we could have done a [celebration of] 20 years of this album, 20 years of that album, 30 years [of some other album]. Every year is something to celebrate. I mean, when you have 15 albums or 16 or 17, something always happened 20, 30, 40 years ago. It's always a round number of years. So we could have done that for a long time. There's people who do it all the time. We always said, 'Nah, we'd much rather feature the current album and then make a new one after that and stay current.' But, man, with 50, that's where I gotta say this is the one — this is the big one. There won't be another one… And also, quite honestly, we're getting up there in age a little bit, and I'm not quite ready to retire, but you never really know. Honestly, at some point, we could all say this might be our last tour. You never really know. Somebody might get sick.

"50 is a big deal, and we're gonna really celebrate it properly," Hoffmann added. "It's gonna be a completely different show with a lot of surprises. That's all I know. So we've got a year of planning to do and then executing and stuff."

Last summer, Wolf was asked by Metal Journal why he and his bandmates decided to announce that they will embark on a 50th-anniversary tour in late 2025 when they still had plenty of touring to do last year in support of their latest album, "Humanoid". He said: "Things like that take time. People have asked me for the last two years: 'Are you gonna do an anniversary thing?' Everybody wants to know. So I finally said, 'Okay, we're gonna do it.' And it's gonna be massive, man. It's gonna be a huge surprise with all the guests that we're gonna have. And I think it's gonna be completely different from anything we've ever done before. So I think it's gonna blow people away. But that doesn't take away from this tour that we have coming up, because, first of all, it's gonna be another year or more before we even go on this next tour. So if you like the new album, 'Humanoid', and if you love ACCEPT, you've gotta see this tour, no matter what. It's gonna be definitely a highlight anyhow."

On the topic of whether there was any talk about possibly announcing a farewell tour to coincide with ACCEPT's 50th anniversary, Wolf said: "We've been doing it for a long, long time. And I honestly don't know how long I can do this. I mean, nobody knows what the future will bring, and it has crossed our mind, absolutely. So, it might be that we go off with a highlight like this and then just really say, 'Okay, this was it.' I don't know yet, to be honest."

Regarding whether former ACCEPT members Udo Dirkschneider (vocals) and Peter Baltes (bass) will be invited to take part in the 50th-anniversary tour, perhaps just in the form of a guest appearance at select shows, Wolf said: "Yeah, of course, of course. That doesn't mean they're gonna [show up]. We have to wait and see. Of course, everybody [is invited]. The door is always open for anybody to join us on this, because it's gonna be a retrospective of all the 50 years of ACCEPT, and whoever wants to participate is more than welcome. Yes, sure."

Asked if he will call Udo and Peter directly to ask them to participate in the tour or if he will wait for their call, a visibly irritated Wolf said: "Can you shut up already? You're not gonna get me to talk about it. I'm sorry, man. I know it's a nice try. Everybody wants to know these things."

Wolf also talked about ACCEPT's plan to release a special album in early 2026 that will cover the band's entire musical history. The anniversary LP will contain a carefully curated selection of the best ACCEPT songs from the last five decades, re-recorded — partly with well-known surprise musical guests and colleagues — as well as with some rare tracks that have not been played so often before. He said: "I can't tell you anything yet, because it's way too early. I can just tell you it's gonna be a massive thing. And I don't really wanna get into it yet because I'm not really here to talk specifics about it. It's still in the planning stages. It's gonna be amazing. I think it's gonna be some really big names that are gonna be participating in that. And you'll have to wait. Sorry. It's just too early."

As for whether ACCEPT has already "selected" the guest musicians who will appear on the album, Wolf said: "Yes, we have selected a lot of it. Not all of it, but we have selected a lot."

Over the past five decades, ACCEPT has sold millions of albums and inspired countless musicians. Their energetic live performances and iconic albums such as "Balls To The Wall", "Restless And Wild" and "Metal Heart" have left a lasting mark on the heavy metal genre. Hoffmann's guitar style and musical vision have made the band one of the most respected on the heavy metal scene.

After a hiatus in the band's career, Wolf was introduced to New Jersey singer Mark Tornillo in 2009. The chemistry and fit between them was so remarkable, ACCEPT reformed and almost immediately rose to global success with chart-topping albums. ACCEPT continues to be celebrated for each of their new records with Mark, who is now the longest-reigning frontman of ACCEPT, placing the Hoffmann-Tornillo partnership firmly in the Metal Hall Of Fame.

For decades, ACCEPT has been recognized as a guarantee of high quality and each of their albums has reached the top of the charts, delivering energy, melodies, killer riffs and an impressively powerful stage presence for 50 years.

ACCEPT and KK'S PRIEST recently joined forces for a summer/fall 2024 North American tour. The run began on August 31, 2024 in Los Angeles, California, visiting a slew of major cities in the USA and Canada — such as Toronto, Montreal, New York and Nashville — before coming to an end in San Francisco, California on October 7, 2024.

Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for Dirkschneider, who was the band's original lead singer. Mark can be heard on ACCEPT's last six studio albums.

Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Kenneth "K.K." Downing has paid tribute to the band's ex-drummer Les Binks, who recently died at the age of 73. A cause was not revealed, though a funeral notice said Binks died "peacefully at hospital in London."

Earlier today (Monday, April 25),Downing released the following statement: "Sometime around 1977, we were getting ready to work on our 3rd album, 'Sin After Sin', and we found ourselves in the studio with top London session drummer Simon Phillips. We soon realised how special Simon was and quickly offered for him to be a part of the band. Disappointingly, Simon preferred to continue his work doing sessions. This became a problem, so we asked the question, who is the man that could possibly be able to compare to Simon? The response was: There is only one other man, and that man is Les Binks!

"We did not hesitate to track Les down and after we heard him play, we knew we had to secure him at all costs. Fortunately and with much relief, Les agreed to come on the road with us.

"The rest is in the history books. We had many great tours with Les and he recorded with us throughout a very critical part of the band's career

"I feel very fortunate now to have played with Les more recently. First, in 2019 at The Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, which was also my first live performance in some years. It was quickly referred to as the 'MegaPriest' gig, as it featured my good friend and great bass player David Ellefson, also Ripper Owens on vocals and AJ Mills from KK'S PRIEST on guitar. Les was his usual immaculate self on the drums, just as I had always remembered. I am so happy that the show was recorded and will live on forever.

"Then as luck would have it, JUDAS PRIEST were to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, so myself and Les flew out to Los Angeles and were able to spend quite a lot of time together talking about the old days over a few beers. We played the gig and it was pretty sensational, but I have to say that the time and days we spent together turning back the clock to when we were just young men aspiring and hoping to one day achieve success, was far more valuable to me than any award or prestigious accolade.

"RIP Les Binks".

JUDAS PRIEST confirmed Binks's death in a statement shared on social media. The band wrote: "We are deeply saddened about the passing of Les and send our love to his family, friends, and fans. The acclaimed drumming he provided was first class — demonstrating his unique techniques, flair, style and precision. Thank you Les — your acclaim will live on."

Binks played drums on PRIEST's "Stained Class", "Hell Bent For Leather" (released as "Killing Machine" in the United Kingdom) and "Unleashed In The East" albums.

After the release of "Unleashed In The East", Binks exited PRIEST and was replaced by ex-TRAPEZE member Dave Holland.

Les later told Downing's official web site that the making of the live album "caused a rift between me and [PRIEST's] manager and ultimately led to my decision to leave the band. I just didn't see the point in continuing to work with a band whose manager didn't want me to receive any payment for that live album. A completely ludicrous scenario. It's a classic heavy metal live album which I believe eventually went platinum and he didn't want me to receive a penny for it. Crazy fucker. But that's what happens if a band allows someone like that to manage them — they lose members. So exit drummer number four."

Binks was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in November 2022 along with some of the other former and current members of JUDAS PRIEST.

The PRIEST members that got inducted include current members Rob Halford (vocals),Ian Hill (bass),Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums),along with former members Binks, Downing and Holland.

In a December 2022 interview with The Metal Crypt, Binks stated about the experience of being inducted into the Rock Hall: "It was a bit surreal because this all came out of the blue. PRIEST had been put forward for this award — nominated, I think is the word — three times in total. The first two times, they didn't get through. Third time lucky. It's up to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame to decide who they're going to induct. They looked back on the band's career. It has to go back as far as 25 years. They say who's been influential on the creative side of things and the band's legacy has to form — what's the word? — the band's identity and led to the success that they achieved. They included me on that. They recognized me on that level, which is good. Of course, K.K., who was one of the finer members of the band, left in 2011. We were both included."

He continued: "I think there was some nervousness on the management side of things as to how the reunion with K.K. would go because there's been a lot of anguish between the two sides. I spoke to K.K. before. We flew together to Los Angeles and flew back together. We just decided, we are here at the invitation of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Let's just be professional about this, just bite your tongue and just get on with giving the audience the performance they came to see. That's what we did.

"I hadn't seen them for such a long time," Les added. "I gave them all a big hug because I never fell out with anyone in the band. I fell out with the band's management, but not with them. I never had any cross words or any problems with anyone in the band personality-wise or creatively. I know there were issues that K.K. had, especially with Glenn and the management as well, but I didn't have those issues. I was able to reunite with the guys in the band without any problems at all.

"Of course, I know [current PRIEST guitarist] Richie Faulkner from long before he joined JUDAS PRIEST. It was good to see him again because he lives in America now as well, so I don't get to see him very often. It was nice to get to meet up with everyone again and actually perform together."

Downing reconnected with Binks in 2017 for the first time in nearly four decades. Downing later described the experience of meeting his former bandmate as "great" and called Les "one of the greatest drummers in the world and a good friend and a great guy."

Photo courtesy of K.K. Downing / Art Bourasseau (Art Attack Management)

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Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Sammy Hagar has shared the official music video for his personal new single "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight.". The track, a melodic rock anthem written by Hagar and guitar legend Joe Satriani, was inspired by a dream and brought to reality by introspective lyrics, powerful chords and rhythmic guitar and drums. The single is now available globally across all platforms via Big Machine Rock.

Inspired by a vivid dream Hagar had about the late Eddie Van Halen, the song marks a full-circle moment in his storied career. "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight." features Hagar on vocals, Michael Anthony on bass, Joe Satriani on guitar and Kenny Aronoff on drums. The production — handled by Hagar, Satriani and Eric Caudieux — delivers a sound that is at once nostalgic and forward-looking. According to Hagar, the dream that sparked the song came about a year after Eddie's passing and left a lasting impact. Rather than being a somber farewell, the song is a celebration and expression of appreciation — for the fans, and for the unforgettable chapter they shared in VAN HALEN.

"This song is my final bow to that part of my life," says Hagar. "It's not meant to be anything more than a 'thank you' — with love, with respect, and with one hell of a guitar solo." Hagar also shared that Satriani's contribution to the track brought a unique emotional energy. "Joe was the perfect partner to help me shape the sound — he brought in that big, emotional, guitar-driven energy that feels like Eddie's spirit but is entirely of Joe's creation. With Michael Anthony's thundering bass and stellar VAN HALEN-esque background vocals and Kenny Aronoff's relentlessly powerful driving rhythms, the song really came together on all levels."

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Hagar said that he came up with "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight." through a dream he had in 2020, in which he was reunited with his late VAN HALEN bandmate Eddie Van Halen.

"He had a guitar around his neck," Hagar said, "and we were having a love fest since we hadn't seen each other in a long time. And he just started playing this riff, and I started singing."

Sammy said he was inspired to write the song after he woke from that dream with the music in his head.

"I just grabbed a pad and a pencil," he recalled. "And I got my iPhone. My wife's screaming, 'What are you doing?' I said, 'Writing a song!' It just kept coming and coming. When I got up the next day, I grabbed my guitar and started to figure out the chords."

Hagar added: "This was one hundred percent a communication from the beyond. There is no question about it."

On April 30, fans at the launch of Hagar and the band's Las Vegas residency will experience the song's first live performance at the kick-off show at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

"Encore, Thank You, Goodnight." was serviced to classic, active and mainstream rock radio on April 25. A full digital campaign launched across social platforms, showcasing behind-the-scenes footage, TikTok and Instagram reels, fan-generated content and more. A seven-inch collector's edition vinyl will be available for pre-order, along with bundles and exclusive merchandise drops.

For more than four decades, Hagar has been recognized as one of the best and most accomplished lead singers and songwriters in rock music. From breaking into the industry with the seminal hard rock band MONTROSE to his multi-platinum solo career to his ride as the frontman of VAN HALEN, CHICKENFOOT and his latest supergroup THE CIRCLE, Hagar has amassed 25 platinum albums on sales surpassing 50 million worldwide. Along his journey, he has set the tone for some of the greatest rock anthems ever written, with songs like "I Can't Drive 55", "Right Now" and "Why Can't This Be Love", and earned the highest respect of the music industry with a Grammy Award and induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Since opening his flagship Cabo Wabo Cantina in 1990, he's turned a lifelong passion for great food, music and spirits into a thriving and iconic lifestyle brand encompassing restaurants and spirits. A pioneer in the spirits industry, he launched Cabo Wabo Tequila in 1996 and catapulted it into the No. 2-selling premium tequila brand in the United States. In 2010, Hagar sold his interests in Cabo Wabo Tequila to Gruppo Campari in a nine-figure deal that's widely credited as the start of the celebrity-owned spirits trend. He now owns an award-winning portfolio of top-shelf spirits and beer which includes Sammy's Beach Bar Rum, a partnership with Rick Springfield, Santo Spirits, a partnership with Guy Fieri, and Red Rocker Brewing Co. Never one to hit the brakes, Sammy's also expanded his successes into publishing, TV, radio and beyond, including five seasons of his hit TV show "Rock & Roll Road Trip With Sammy Hagar" and as host of "Sammy Hagar's Top Rock Countdown", a weekly syndicated radio show on more than 90 U.S. stations. He's a No. 1 The New York Times bestselling author, a dedicated philanthropist, donating millions back to local communities through The Hagar Family Foundation, and as the first Honorary Ambassador to Los Cabos, an honor he was bestowed in 2022 in recognition of his longtime investment in the people and economy of Mexico.

Taiwanese metal band CHTHONIC has returned with a new single, "Endless Aeons".

The Taiwanese title of "Endless Aeons" is a Buddhist term describing the gathering of many people to chant Buddhist sutras. "Endless Aeons" also features bassist Doris Yeh singing in the traditional Taiwanese enka style.

CHTHONIC lead vocalist Freddy Lim states: "CHTHONIC's music is always about reincarnation and catastrophe — it's very religious."

He continues: "In the past, our works told Taiwan's ever-reincarnating catastrophes. When I discovered that actually someone close in my family is a victim of one of these catastrophes, it became personal, and started writing 'Endless Aeons' and other songs.

"When will these catastrophes be over? If we could start our lives all over again, would it be possible for us to be without remorse? This song is a question, and the answer."

CHTHONIC guitarist Jesse Liu, the song's co-writer, comments: "This is a song that sounds complicated, but actually simplistic. Answering a complicated question with simple words, this is how the song is supposed to be."

The video for "Endless Aeons" is a continuation of CHTHONIC's previous videos — including "Defenders Of Bu Tik Palace", "KAORU", "Millenia's Faith Undone" and "Pattonkan". Characters in the new song are victims of the 228 uprising and massacre in 1947 who fell into infernal reincarnation. Through the song "Endless Aeons", they are reborn again, but fall through the tunnel of time into a CHTHONIC concert, a development that signifies interruption of the reincarnation.

CHTHONIC has released several albums, including "Mirror Of Retribution" (2009),"Takasago Army" (2011) and "Butik" (2013) on Spinefarm/Universal Music. In their time they've performed at such fêted events as Ozzfest, Download, Wacken Open Air and have toured Europe and North America multiple times.

However, the band's activity halted in 2016 when lead vocalist Freddy Lim was elected to Taiwanese Parliament.

For almost a decade, Freddy has been occupied with parliamentary work, and other members have been working on their own projects — resulting in only occasional large Taiwan performances for the CHTHONIC. Occasional musical output followed (2018's "Battlefields Of Asura" album and 2023's "Pattonkan" single, which was selected to Grammy's Global Spin) but almost all overseas performances were halted.

Although CHTHONIC have stayed low-profiled in recent years, in 2019 they performed with an orchestra in front of Taiwan's Presidential Palace to an audience of 50,000.

People say rock can change the world, and Freddy Lim made that a reality during his two terms in parliament, advocating for reform. Freddy pushed for legislation to make Taiwan's first Asian country to have marriage equality, and for greater protection of indigenous rights. Additionally, he pushed for increased budgetary aid for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and advocated for "transitional justice", demanding that government declassify files from Taiwan's past authoritarian era.

This hit home unexpectedly in 2023. Declassified files revealed the sorrowful and previously unknown past of Freddy's family. Combining history and mythology, it is perhaps not coincidental that CHTHONIC's music told the sorrowful yet brave stories of Freddy's grandparents. Shocked at the news and overwhelmed by emotion, Freddy called time on his eight-year service in parliament, and announced that he would not seek re-election.

Now, CHTHONIC returns. The band is working on new songs and could possibly return to global stages once more again soon.

CHTHONIC is:

Freddy Lim (lead vocals)
Doris Yeh (bass, backing vocals)
Jesse Liu (guitars, backing vocals)
Dani Wang (drums)
CJ Kao (keyboards, synthesizer)

Reactivated Santa Barbara-based metal/punk rock hybrid SNOT played its first show with guitarist Doc Coyle (GOD FORBID, ex-BAD WOLVES) this past Friday night (April 25) at HQ in Denver, Colorado. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of DemonHead TV).

Coyle was recruited by SNOT after the band's recent split with guitarist Sonny Mayo.

The news of Mayo's departure was broken by SNOT guitarist Mikey Doling who stated in a video message:  "Sonny Mayo has decided to quit SNOT. SNOT doesn't fit into his life right now, and he just wants to focus on himself and his life. And SNOT's just too busy for him to be able to continue.

"So I'd like to wish Sonny Mayo the best of luck in his future, and I wanna thank him for all he's contributed to SNOT over the years. We love you, brother," Mikey continued.

"That being said, our very, very good friend from GOD FORBID, formerly BAD WOLVES, Doc Coyle, is going to be filling in on guitar for the upcoming shows. And we're excited to have him on board. And thank you very much, Doc Coyle."

Last month, SNOT announced a European tour for August 2025. The eight-date trek will mark the band's first shows on the continent with new singer Andy Knapp, who made his live debut with SNOT in January.

SNOT's first gig with Knapp took place on January 17 at the Parish room at the House Of Blues in Anaheim, California. The performance was also livestreamed via the band's Instagram. SNOT played a second show with Knapp, who also sings for fellow Southern California band STRONGER THAN MACHINES, on January 18 at Brick By Brick in San Diego, California.

In a recent interview with "The Garza Podcast", hosted by SUICIDE SILENCE guitarist Chris Garza, Doling and bassist John "Tumor" Fahnestock confirmed that there are plans for SNOT to write new music.

SNOT's current lineup also includes drummer Jamie Miller.

SNOT is scheduled to play two more club concerts this month, leading up to the band's appearance at the Welcome To Rockville festival in May in Daytona Beach, Florida. SNOT will also play at select European festivals, as well as at the Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival in Mansfield, Ohio, this summer.

SNOT disbanded in 1998 following original singer Lynn Strait's death, putting an end to a career that generated considerable promise but only one studio album, "Get Some". The band had been writing material for its sophomore CD and had completed 10 songs at the time of Strait's tragic passing. As a memorial to Strait, SNOT eventually decided to release those tracks, with lyrics and guest vocals provided by a host of stars from the alt-metal community. The resulting album, "Strait Up", was a fitting tribute from Strait's peers and friends, featuring members of LIMP BIZKIT, KORN, SLIPKNOT, SEVENDUST, (HED) P.E., COAL CHAMBER, SUGAR RAY, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, SOULFLY, and more.

SNOT in 2014 recruited Carl Bensley (VITIATE, CONSUME THE FIRE) to sing for the band following the departure of Tommy "Vext" Cummings (ex-DIVINE HERESY, BAD WOLVES).

According to the Los Angeles Times, Lynn died in died in a car accident in December 1998 as he attempted to drive across Highway 101 in Mussel Shoals, California. The 30-year-old singer died instantly after his 1992 Ford Tempo was broadsided by a southbound full-size pickup truck about noon. Also killed was Strait's small bulldog, SNOT's mascot Dobbs, who adorned the cover of the band's debut album, the 1997 Geffen Records release "Get Some". Strait, a Santa Barbara resident, was crossing the highway after visiting his girlfriend in the community. Lynn apparently pulled into the path of the truck, which was going about 65 mph. The impact sent Strait's car spinning into the center divider where it stopped, a California Highway Patrol officer told the Los Angeles Times at the time.

Cummings fronted SNOT in 2008-2009 before he and Mayo exited the group amid "strained relationships."

We are officially SOLD OUT for tonight’s show with SNOT. We can’t wait to see you… this one is gonna rip. 🤘

Posted by HQ on Friday, April 25, 2025

Canadian singer, songwriter and producer Devin Townsend has announced that his upcoming North American tour, which will launch May 2 in Nashville, Tennessee, will mark the "last time" fans will get a chance to see him perform "for quite some time".

In a message released earlier today (Monday, April 28),Devin said: "For nearly 35 years, I've followed a creative path guided by instinct — each album, each tour, each project a new chapter in a story I've felt compelled to tell. My mind latches on to concepts, and I love chasing them down. That chase has made this journey wild, unpredictable, and deeply fulfilling.

"Over the years, I've heard it countless times: 'Dev, take a break… please.' But the flood of ideas, the excitement, and the support of incredible musicians and listeners have kept me going, kept me touring, and kept me grateful for a life on the road. That said, things have changed — especially since the pandemic. Booking tours now means planning up to two years in advance. With fewer venues, fewer crews, and a saturated touring circuit, it's become more challenging than ever to line things up. And beyond the logistics, life has simply caught up with me: my parents need help, my dogs are on their last legs, the kids have moved out, 'The Moth' is nearly complete, and truthfully, I need some time to breathe and recalibrate.

"So I've made the decision to take a break from touring — an indefinite one. This upcoming North American run will be the last time you'll see me on stage for the foreseeable future.

"That doesn't mean I'm done playing live. Not by a long shot. I'll be performing until my final breath. But right now, I need to be present for the people who need me, and to give myself the space to reflect on everything I've been through.

"In the meantime, I'm launching a long-overdue project: 'The Ruby Quaker Show' — a YouTube series where I'll finally explore the dozens of creative ventures I've had on the back burner. Albums, worlds, inventions, and strange, wonderful ideas I've postponed for years — now I'm making the time to bring them to life, without that familiar pressure of knowing I'll be gone again in a month.

"I will return to the stage. But first, I need to reset. Touring has been a beautiful, exhausting constant in my life, and for once, I'm listening to the voice that says: slow down. I want to create from a place of calm inspiration rather than frantic obligation. And until I can truly be there for the people who rely on me, my creativity won't be at its best.

"So here's the deal: this final North American tour is going to be something special. We're digging deep into the catalog, pulling out some big ones, and making these shows a true celebration.
If you've ever wanted to step into this world I've built — maybe you caught 'The Moth', or a song found its way to you when you needed it — now's the time. I know things are tough economically, and I don't take that lightly, so I'm doing everything I can to make these shows as meaningful and unforgettable as possible. Let's make this one count."

Townsend added in a separate video message:  "In two weeks I start a tour in America. This video acts as me announcing that I'm going to stop touring for a while after this American tour coming up, starting next month.

"If you're in America and you wanna have the opportunity to see me or meet me or participate in the work that I do in a live front, this upcoming tour will be the last time you get a chance to see me for quite some time. I'm going on a vacation. That being said, that vacation will incorporate about a dozen things that I've been waiting to do for all these years that have to be pushed aside because of the constant touring.

"So I say this again, this American tour coming up starting next month, if you want to have the opportunity to see me, this is your opportunity, my friends.

"It's a pleasure to play for you. It's a pleasure to be in your life, and thank you for being in mine."

Devin Townsend performed his rock opera "The Moth" live on March 27 and March 28 together with the Noord Nederlands Orkest (North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra) symphony orchestra at De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Netherlands.

Townsend is renowned for his groundbreaking fusion of metal, progressive rock, and ambient music. With a career spanning more than 30 years, he has pushed the boundaries of musical genres and collaborated with world-famous orchestras, establishing an unparalleled artistic legacy.

For his latest project, he teamed up with the Noord Nederlands Orkest and composed "The Moth", a "rock opera" he had been working on for years, which represents his lifelong ambition. "The Moth" tells the story of the human experience from birth to death, comparable to the transformation of a caterpillar into a moth. It symbolizes the human quest for meaning and offers perspectives on the fear of death through analogy and narrative. Ever since Townsend witnessed large musicals such as "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Phantom Of The Opera" in the 1970s, he had seen this project as his calling.

"The Moth" had been in the making for over a decade, and Townsend had been building towards it for 30 years. A month ago, he shared the stage at De Oosterpoort in Groningen with no less than seventy musicians from the Noord Nederlands Orkest, a sixty-member choir, and his own band, which includes Mike Keneally, Joseph Stephenson, Darby Todd and James Leach.

Townsend's career is one of many distinct eras. He's been the leader of STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, the lynchpin of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and the co-architect of country duo CASUALTIES OF COOL, all while maintaining his prolific and lauded solo project. More recently he completed work on "PowerNerd", a succinct but still progressive record that pulls from its mastermind's childhood love of vintage rock.

Townsend has an amazing variety in his musical style. He works in ranges of hard rock, progressive metal, new age and ambient. As a solo artist he has had a lineup of various artist working on his albums sporting his infinite variety.

When he revisited his music career, it was with the founding of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT. The project began with a series of four albums each written in a different style and released between 2009-2011. Afterwards he kept to the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and keeps releasing under this name.

Across all Townsend's bands and projects, he has released more than two dozen studio albums and several live ones. Similar in all of these are his versatile vocal delivery that ranges from screaming to an opera-esque singing. The same diversity appears in his writing. Townsend's musical style has roots in metal but draws elements from other genres into the material. Each album is written to express different aspects of his personality.

METALLICA has donated $40,000 to Toronto, Ontario, Canada's Daily Bread Food Bank through the band's foundation All Within My Hands (AWMH). These much-needed funds will aid the organization's efforts to feed Canadians amid the city's worsening hunger crisis.

"We want to wholeheartedly thank the members of Metallica for this incredibly generous donation," says Neil Hetherington, CEO, Daily Bread Food Bank. "Right now, far too many are struggling, and these funds will help support food bank clients as the hunger crisis in our city reaches an all-time high. This gift means even more considering the band has a history of donating to the Daily Bread cause."

Toronto is seeing an unprecedented rise in food insecurity rates, so much so that in December the city declared the issue a state of emergency. According to the 2024 Who's Hungry report more than one in 10 people in Toronto are relying on food banks — twice as many as just two years prior. Most recently, Daily Bread member food banks saw a staggering 903,350 client visits from January to March 2025 — four times the number of visits in the same period in 2020 (215,748).

"Learning that there is widespread food insecurity in Toronto reminds us just how many people are faced with making tough decisions and need assistance," said Renée Richardson, director of philanthropy for AWMH. "We are thankful Daily Bread is there to bridge the gap for so many families."

METALLICA's $40,000 donation will enable Daily Bread Food Bank to provide about 40,000 meals to the community, one meal for every dollar donated. Daily Bread relies on donations to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, proteins and dairy for distribution to 205 food programs across the city.

Last week, METALLICA played two sold-out shows at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena as a part of its "M72" world tour. This is the second time Metallica has donated to Daily Bread Food Bank, the first time being in November 2016, when they donated all proceeds from a surprise show at The Opera House.

Daily Bread Food Bank works toward long-term solutions to end hunger and runs innovative programs to support individuals living on low income and experiencing food insecurity. Daily Bread distributes fresh and shelf-stable food, and fresh-cooked meals to 129 member agencies and 205 food programs across Toronto. In addition, Daily Bread publishes the influential Who's Hungry report — an annual survey measuring trends in food insecurity and poverty in Toronto to educate the public and spark policy change.

In 2017, METALLICA established All Within My Hands to give back to communities that have supported the band. Since its inception, All Within My Hands' collective efforts have raised more than $20 million. The foundation has provided $11.4 million in grants for workforce education, $7.4 million to fight hunger globally, and $5.2 million donated to critical local services worldwide. 100% of donations go directly to local organizations that the Foundation supports. As always, METALLICA covers all administrative costs. Please visit AllWithinMyHands.org for more information.

DEATH ANGEL's Mark Osegueda joined EXODUS on stage this past Saturday, April 26 at the House Of Blues in Anaheim, California to perform their recently released cover of the SCORPIONS deep cut "He's A Woman - She's A Man". Fan-filmed video of his appearance can be seen below.

When the studio version of EXODUS's "He's A Woman - She's A Man" collaboration with Osegueda was first released last week, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt said in a statement: "We decided to cover one of our favorite bands of all time a ways back and have been sitting on it until now, and even better, the one and only Mark Osegueda of DEATH ANGEL/KERRY KING collabed with us to sing it, and he crushes it! He is the only guy we knew who could do Klaus [Meine] justice. Hope you dig it!"

EXODUS played its first concert with singer Rob Dukes in nearly 11 years on April 5 at the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philly at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In January it was announced that EXODUS had parted ways with longtime singer Steve "Zetro" Souza and was being rejoined by Dukes.

Souza joined EXODUS in 1986 after previously fronting the band LEGACY (which later became TESTAMENT). He remained in the band until their hiatus in 1993, but rejoined them for two years from 2002 to 2004. Dukes had joined EXODUS in 2005 (following Souza's departure) and remained until 2014, when Souza rejoined.

Dukes previously appeared on four of EXODUS's studio albums — "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" (2005),"The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" (2007),"Let There Be Blood" (2008, a re-recording of EXODUS's classic 1985 LP, "Bonded By Blood") and "Exhibit B: The Human Condition" (2010).

Although EXODUS rarely gets mentioned alongside the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — the band's debut LP, "Bonded By Blood", inspired the likes of TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, VIO-LENCE and many others to launch their careers and is considered one of the most influential thrash metal albums of all time.

Osegueda is the featured singer on SLAYER guitarist Kerry King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", which arrived last May via Reigning Phoenix Music.

DEATH ANGEL released a live album titled "The Bastard Tracks" in November 2021 via Nuclear Blast. Recorded live at The Great American Music Hall in their hometown of San Francisco on May 22, 2021, and streamed live soon after, "The Bastard Tracks" was described in a press release as "a deep-cuts collection of rarely and never performed songs from the band's catalog" that was released digitally and on CD, vinyl and Blu-ray.

In October 2020, DEATH ANGEL released a four-song EP, "Under Pressure". The effort included a cover of QUEEN + David Bowie's "Under Pressure", followed by a new track titled "Faded Remains", plus acoustic versions of "Act III"'s classic "A Room With A View" and "Humanicide"'s "Revelation Song". The EP was mixed by Max Norman (OZZY OSBOURNE, MEGADETH, BAD COMPANY) and mastered by Ted Jensen (LAMB OF GOD, MACHINE HEAD, HALESTORM).

Released in May 2019 via Nuclear Blast, DEATH ANGEL's latest album, "Humanicide", saw the band returning to producer and friend Jason Suecof (DEICIDE, TRIVIUM) of Audiohammer studios for the recording and mixing, along with the mastering of the legendary Ted Jensen (SLIPKNOT, PANTERA) of Sterling Sound, who added the final touches and brought it all to life, with artist Brent Elliott White (LAMB OF GOD, MEGADETH) providing the ominous cover artwork.

DEATH ANGEL was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the "Humanicide" title track. It was the group's first Grammy nomination.