In a new interview with Backstage Pass, original FOREIGNER singer Lou Gramm spoke about his decision to retire after his 2024 tour dates. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've put in a number of decades, and while it's been fun, you've gotta be smart enough to see when it's time to stop. For me, I think traveling is such a hassle these days. We don't do show after show. We do one or two shows a week. So we fly. And I don't have to tell you what flying these days is like — all the hangups at the airports, and you book a seat and you get on the plane and they've switched your seat. No accountability. They kind of just — when they say they rule the skies, they mean inside the plane and outside."

Regarding the setlist for his solo shows, Gramm said: "It's a good blend of songs from my two [solo] albums and the SHADOW KING album as well, and some of the big hits, some of the things I've been involved in writing with Mick [Jones, FOREIGNER founder and guitarist]. We do a bunch of FOREIGNER songs too. And I've gotta tell you that between the two musics, it brings the house down."

Asked if he has had to change the key for certain songs in his catalog in order to accommodate his aging voice, Lou said: "I brought the songs down a half a step about 15 years ago, and I have no problem hitting it… I'm in fantastic vocal shape, and my health is as good as it's been in a number of years."

Gramm also talked about the new studio album he is planning to release this year. He said: "Well, it's gonna be a number of new songs. Some of the songs were from — when you record an album, usually there's 10 songs on the album, but you usually record 13 or 14 and choose either the best 10 or the 10 that are finished. And so I'd been doing that for my two solo albums and the SHADOW KING album, but there are always two or three songs that were really good ideas just without the time to finish them. So I went back and I dug up those ideas, and there's about three or four of them that I finished that are gonna be on this album."

On the topic of the songwriting process for his new songs, Gramm said: "Well, I've been writing with a few other people, but I've been writing myself too. And there's a good selection of brand new, unheard-of-by-the-human-ear songs. And it's been a fun album to put together. I didn't do it with any time schedule in mind, so it's taken a little over two years. But I got it the way I want it, and I'm pleased with the material and the performances. So that's worth waiting for, I think."

According to Lou, the first single from the upcoming album will "possibly" arrive in July, with the full album set to follow "maybe by October".

As for the musicians who were involved in the recording process, Gramm said: "I've got my live band that's with me, the ALL STARS, who is Jeff Jacobs, who used to play with FOREIGNER, on keyboards, my brother Ben [Gramm] on drums, Scott Gilman on rhythm, guitar, and sax. He also played with FOREIGNER. [And we also have] Tony Franklin on bass and Alex Garcia on guitar."

Gramm previously addressed his retirement plans while speaking to Lee Richey. He said: "I've been doing it — Jeez — for almost 50 years, and I would like to turn my attention to my family and my muscle cars and just enjoy myself knowing that when I lay down at night, it'll be in my own bed."

He added: "This is gonna be it. I've been putting it off and putting it off. And I still enjoy performing, but when you've been doing it for as long as I have — the travel is the worst. It really takes its toll. And that's a sign that you're getting old."

Back in December 2018, Gramm announced that he was retiring from performing as a solo artist. But he later clarified that he wasn't completely walking away from performing live.

SHADOW KING was a collaboration between Gramm and current DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell. The group released a self-titled album in 1991 and performed live only once, at the Astoria Theatre in London, England on December 13, 1991.

By the time Gramm left FOREIGNER for the first time in 1990, he had already released two successful solo albums: the aforementioned "Ready Or Not" and "Long Hard Look". He went on to launch LOU GRAMM BAND, which released an all-Christian rock album in 2009. He followed it up with "My Baby" in 2015.

The now-73-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 to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary.

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".

FOREIGNER replaced Gramm with Kelly Hansen in 2005. Guitarist Mick Jones, the only remaining original member, suffered from some health issues beginning in 2011, eventually resulting in heart surgery in 2012. More recently, Jones revealed that he has been battling Parkinson's disease.

In a new interview with Monica Strut of Knotfest Australia, HALESTORM guitarist Joe Hottinger spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2022's "Back From The Dead" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Our goal as a band is may the best song win. So riffs are great and all, but at the day, it comes down to the song. Is it a good song or not? And not only is it, like, good, but it's gotta be great. We have, like, stupid standards. And so really anything goes. If it's a riff and it starts there, a riff and a melody, cool. Lzzy [Hale, HALESTORM frontwoman] writes constantly, so she's always got songs that we're putting together.

"We haven't been in a studio since — I mean, recording for a record — since September," he revealed. "We've been busy. We've been traveling a bit. But we've been writing since then. And while we were at the last one, we just kind of rolled in and wrote a song in the morning and recorded it that night, and it was kind of everything fresh. We started out a few riffs, but, really, the idea was more about being in that moment. I was talking with Lzzy about it while we were in there, and it was, like 'Yeah, it's kind of like we came into the studio with nothing but 20 years of being a band together.' [Laughs] So, we know how to play — we're all players, we can play, we can write. So, like, 'It's a good idea. Cool. Yeah, let's do that. All right, let's record it. Here we go.' And I don't even remember what I played. I haven't listened to those songs in a while. And I vaguely remember any of them because it gets so intense. I think we did, like, 13 of them. Day after day after day after day after day, to the point where you're just, like, 'I don't know anything anymore.'"

Joe also talked about HALESTORM's writing and recording approach with producer Dave Cobb after making three records with Nick Raskulinecz.

"We had a few ideas going in, but we told [Dave] we didn't really… We'd been touring constantly and we didn't get together and put together anything solid," Hottinger said. "And he was, like, 'Great. Even better.' And that was exciting, 'cause we've never really done that before for a record, like just sit in a room and knock out a song a day — just go, go, go. And it was really intense. And I think it's great. And that was just round one, the first volley of songs. We'll see if any of 'em even make it. But we've got just a boatload more songs now. We haven't even gotten together and riffed them all out yet or wrapped our heads around them. We just have these demos. We're, like, 'All right.' Lzzy's writing right now. We love doing that. She'll go and write with friends or other people that she respects, which I think is great, 'cause she gets to bounce ideas off of somebody else, somebody that… Every song is like a puzzle, and she gets to put it together with somebody else who's better at different parts of the puzzle than maybe one of us. And then we grab a hold of it and make it a HALESTORM song."

Earlier in the month, Joe told Niclas Müller-Hansen of RockSverige about HALESTORM's decision to work with Cobb this time around: "We've been a fan of Dave for a long time. He does like everything from country stuff like Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell to EUROPE and GRETA VAN FLEET, RIVAL SONS and AIRBOURNE. He's a rocker at heart and we needed to switch it up. It's our last record on Atlantic. Luckily, he wanted to work with us."

Lzzy added: "We were seeking him out for a while and the people at our label and everybody was, like, 'No. He's too busy. He's not gonna wanna work with you.' And we were, like, 'Well, just ask him. Just reach out to him. We can take the rejection because we've been doing it our entire life.' It's, like, why be all sensitive now? They went ahead, like, 'Hey, Cobb, there's this band HALESTORM…' and he went, 'Oh my God, I love HALESTORM! What are they doing?' and they told him, 'Well, they're thinking about doing a record…' and he said, 'I wanna do a record with HALESTORM.' He had a whole plan apparently."

Joe continued: "And it's not, like, 'Fuck Nick,' because he's one of our best friends. We talked to him and he went, 'Fuck, yeah. Switch it up.' We made a bunch of records. It's not like we'll never not record again."

Regarding HALESTORM's overall approach to writing and recording with Cobb, Joe said: "We dive in, but it's just like trial by fire and you see what works. 'Oh, somebody's getting a little pissed.' [Laughs] It's fun and spicy, but it's nothing bad. Everyone is good people and we all have the same goal to make some good music.

Lzzy added: "We definitely dive in, like, 'Okay, who's got a riff? Who's got a line? Let's go.'"

Joe continued: "And I love him because he doesn't make demos, so we just start recording. 'Let's put the drums down.' And we're flying by the seat of our pants."

Lzzy said: "He literally wanted us to come in without a plan, which we're not used to. Usually, with every single release, it's, like, 'So, what do you wanna do? What's the vision? What's the idea?' Usually you start out with a vision and then the music tells you what do to half way through.

Joe stated: I was, like, 'Well, let me just work out this guitar part before we get there.' And he was, like, 'Why worry about that? You'll get it.' And it was, like, 'Oh yeah, we've got a new thing now. Time to learn again.'"

This past December, Lzzy told Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global that she and her HALESTORM bandmates "went in with nothing" for their session with Cobb. "We had no songs, no ideas. We had some riffs and choruses, but it wasn't like we came in with these demos. And, to be honest, Dave Cobb didn't want that at all. We walked in and we were almost apologetic, like, 'I'm sorry, but we've been really busy, and I just have bits and pieces of things I think are special.' He was, like, 'Good. I don't want any demos. No plan, no nothing.' So were, like, 'What do you mean, no plan?' And it was amazing."

She continued: "We woke up every single day, we [worked] from 11 a.m. to 11 p. m. on average, every single day. [We'd] wake up, and I'm, like, at my desk and I'm figuring out lyrics from yesterday's demo, and then, 'Okay, but you know what? Scratch that. We're gonna work on a new song right now, and we'll go back to that.' So we were working on, like, four different things at once. We finished, what, like 12 songs in three weeks. So that's the magic of it all, was that we rediscovered how we as a band individually, uniquely operate and we thrive in that chaos."

Lzzy added: "As soon as you start thinking, like, 'Okay, this is the concept, these are the songs, this is what we go in, this is what we do,' it just becomes like an office job and there's no room to create, whereas this is totally not like that. You go in and you're, like, 'Wow. Anything is possible and anything could happen.' And then, as you are writing it and finishing it, you are recording it for real."

Added Joe: "It was cool. We didn't go in with anything but the shirt on our back, except that the shirt is, like, 20 years of being a band."

Continued Lzzy: "Obviously, you go in there with experience. We could have never done that 20 years ago."

Asked by Botas if the songs that were written in that chaotic environment ended up being heavier somehow because of the way they were put together, Joe said: "Yeah, a lot of them got like really weirdly heavy in a cool way. I don't know. It's not necessarily the record. That's what we did in those few weeks. And they're not all keepers, but they're great and they're good fun, and it's a reflection of where we were musically at that time."

Added Lzzy: "Yeah, and I think that comes from, even if it got darker or more intimate, especially I guess, on my end, and lyric-wise… It's a weird balancing act between, 'Okay, I'm comfortable with all of you guys enough to spill my guts because you've seen me at my worst, you've seen me at my best,' so having that experience with people that you trust, it bleeds itself into the music 'cause you're not holding anything back. But at the same time, I didn't have time to overthink either. It's, like, 'Okay, hey, by the way, we're getting a surprise visit from you're a&R guy, and we still have six songs to sing.' And I'm, like, 'Oh my god.' So I finished six songs within a weekend. And so there's a beauty in taking the too much thinking out of it too. So therefore, the song has no choice but to just be what it is, whatever it is at the moment."

In October, HALESTORM bassist Josh Smith revealed to Metal Global that the band was working with Cobb.

"We went down to [Dave's] place and all lived together for three weeks, which is — we live together on tour all the time, yeah, but to be in a creative space, it was incredible," Josh said. "And the music that came out is undeniably HALESTORM. There's going to be a lot of fan favorites."

Describing HALESTORM's recording process with Cobb, Josh said: "What we're doing and how he wants to work, how he's capturing us is what we do on stage. For instance, we're not using a click track; there's no time keep. It's us doing it, and so there's a lot of movement to the music… It's so human."

He continued: "I think naturally when you're even talking, just from building tension to releasing it and how that happens, and sometimes from a verse maybe is building and the tempo feels like it's building, and then the chorus — well, at least on stage — naturally probably bumps up a few BPM [beats per minute] or slows down, depending. And even our transitions or Arejay's [Hale, HALESTORM drummer] fills will push or pull. It's very human."

When Botas noted that it's "always fun to work with new people and create new ideas when someone has a different view from the one you normally have," Smith said: "Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's what you hope for in working [with] a producer. It's this person you really have to vibe with that fits into this, in this case our little world. And that chemistry between a band is so unique to every group. And so for someone to fit in, that's a special trait to have. [It's] essentially [bringing in] a fifth member of the band that can extract the uniqueness of that band. It's big shoes to fill for a producer. And thankfully we've been lucky with it, with [previous HALESTORM producers] Nick and Jay [Joyce], and Howard [Benson] was great. But, yeah, starting with someone new and also someone who has had a very different approach from the previous one, it's really exciting. And he really is bringing out the best of us. So, yeah, it's really exciting to find someone who is so good at their craft… And he just wants to catch what everyone is excited about — lightning in a bottle. And we've been doing that. And we've caught a lot. I can't wait to go back. It's really fun. I can't wait to get back to writing new music."

Cobb has shared in nine Grammy wins, including four for "Best Americana Album" and three for "Best Country Album". He's also been named "Producer Of The Year" by the Country Music Awards, the Americana Music Association (twice) and the Music Row Awards, and has been a Grammy nominee in the category.

Also in October, Hale told TotalRock's "Hobo On The Radio" show about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2022's "Back From The Dead" album: "We're always working on new music, but we've actually kind of started to buckle down and really kind of write with a purpose as to whatever we wanna kind of put out in the world next. It's kind of an exciting time because I feel like even since the last record, even beyond 'Back From The Dead', I feel like we're kind of shedding our skin in a way that's kind of beautiful where we all kind of feel like different people than who we were when we were writing the last record. So it's time for whatever that next chapter is. So it's very exciting."

She continued: "I've been writing in a lot of subjects that I haven't necessarily touched on before and been kind of exploring those things. And I've become even more of a serial eavesdropper. I will be sitting at a pub or something and I will kind of zone out, and it's amazing the conversations you hear other people talking about. And so sometimes those leech their way into the songs. But, yeah, we'll probably have something by next year."

Lzzy and her brother Arejay (drums) formed HALESTORM in 1998 while in middle school. Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by Smith in 2004.

Last May, HALESTORM teamed up with country singer Ashley McBryde for a reimagined version of the band's song "Terrible Things", which was originally featured on "Back From The Dead".

In December 2022, HALESTORM released a deluxe edition of "Back From The Dead". "Back From The Dead: Deluxe Edition" includes seven previously unreleased B-sides, including "Mine", a 1980s-inspired rocker. "Back From The Dead: Deluxe Edition" is available digitally, on CD, and cassette tape, marking the first time that the album has been offered in those physical formats.

The Eclipse YouTube channel has uploaded video of Uli Jon Roth's April 4 concert at Ramona Mainstage in Ramona, California. You can now watch all the clips in the playlist below.

In a recent interview with Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of Rock Interview Series, legendary guitarist Uli Jon Roth spoke about his North American tour, which kicked off on April 2 in Mesa, Arizona. He said: "Well, touring North America has been a thing that I've been doing for many years on a regular basis, because I love doing that and then we've got a lot of audience over there in that neck of the woods. But we haven't been since before COVID. And so we had a 70-date tour booked for North America, including Canada, when COVID hit. And so I did a few shows in Europe. It was also called 'Interstellar Sky Guitar'. It was a solo tour, just with a big screen, an orchestra behind me, and I wrote a lot of music for it, new music. And then, yeah, thanks to COVID, there was no tour. So, forward to 2024, I thought it would be good to pick up that thread. And a lot of people still have tickets from back then, and they're, of course, fully valid, but I thought it might be a nice idea to not only bring the solo show, because after so many years bring the band as well. So we're actually doing a dual kind of show — two shows in one evening. I'm kicking off with one and a half hours of solo, which is called 'An Evening with Uli John Roth', which includes a little TED talk about my new book, 'In Search Of The Alpha Law', which I'm gonna be presenting. And then there's a break and then we're playing a full-on rock show consisting of my earlier material — SCORPIONS, ELECTRIC SUN and then also a little bit of Jimi Hendrix."

Asked when "In Search Of The Alpha Law" will finally be released, Uli said: "The book will be released pretty much during the tour. So we're not gonna have it on the tour. We're a little late. Unfortunately, it was quite complicated to get everything under wraps, but we're gonna have it. So I think what they're gonna do, at the merch, they're gonna sell vouchers, so 10- or 20-dollar vouchers for the book, and then people will be sent the book. Which is a good idea anyways, because you don't want to carry that book around you in the evening… It's quite a tome. It's big and heavy — four kilos. It's got 600 pages with about a thousand pictures and illustrations. I did all the design myself, because I wanted it to also be artistic, and I wanted the text to be one with all the imagery.

"The way this came about was thanks to COVID, actually," he explained. "I'm one of the few people who, actually, I guess, can be thankful to COVID because it was a horrible thing for most people. I was able to spend two years in lockdown writing this book. And this book has quite a history, because I started many years ago writing it. I wrote several versions. I was never quite happy because I wasn't quite sure how to present the book.

"The subject matter is not an easy subject matter. It's quite philosophical. It's about my view of life, and music has a lot to do with it. And I wanted to have a book that also non-musicians can enjoy. And that's not so easy when you're sometimes talking about technical stuff like octaves and fourths, et cetera. How do you explain that to somebody who doesn't know what an octave is?

"So, to cut a long story short, when COVID came and I was at home with all this time, the book just started to pour out and it kind of wrote itself," Roth added. "And the subject matter really goes back 40 years, because I've been always fascinated by these ideas that are described in the book… It's difficult to explain the book in a few words. That's why it's a book and that's why it's big. It's got a lot of facets. And I scripted it a little bit like a movie, so there are many different facets and various storylines, which sometimes drift side by side and then they jell together."

Asked what the most challenging part of writing the book was, Uli said: "The bigness wasn't really the challenge. I could have written a much bigger book. My original intention, back many years when I first started to do 'Sky Academy' in Los Angeles, was to write seven books, because it was a complete kind of philosophical system in itself, kind of. But I went away from that and I thought I'd make it more user friendly. I didn't want a dry something. I wanted something that can touch people that's inspirational rather than academic. And once I figured that out, it kind of started writing itself. And there were really no obstacles. Well, I did have to learn about book design; that's something that I didn't know before, how to do that. I wouldn't say I mastered that craft, but I got by in order to do what I wanted to do. And now I'm very, very happy with it. And it's a good foundation for my 'Sky Academy' also. Whereas before, when we did these 'Sky Academy' seminars, I never really had anything in writing, and now I do. This ties in very much with my musical output, my musical philosophy. Having said that, this book comes with a couple of bonus CDs because I thought it might be nice to bundle it with actual music, not just the visuals. And of all my output, the stuff that I figured was best for this was my 'Metamorphosis' album, which is Vivaldi's Four Seasons with electric guitar and orchestra, and a concerto of my own, 'Metamorphosis Concerto'. So, that's gonna be in here as a newly remastered release. And also half an hour's piano music, which I wrote in the early '90s called 'Aquila Suite', which isn't so well known, but that will also go very well with this book. And they're just other creative angles."

In recent years, Roth has revisited the early music of his period with the SCORPIONS, which resulted in the "Scorpions Revisited" double CD and "Tokyo Tapes Revisited" DVD/Blu-ray releases.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar players ever, Uli pioneered a unique style of guitar playing which — for the first time — combined complete mastery of the instrument with an intensely melodic and emotional appeal.

From his earliest days onwards, Uli has always been a bold and uncompromising musical innovator of the first order. Being the first guitar player in rock to incorporate complex melodic arpeggio sequences, Uli Jon Roth — in the eyes of many of his peers — practically reinvented modern guitar technique almost singlehandedly during his SCORPIONS tenure, but even more so during his ELECTRIC SUN days.

In a new interview with Brazil's A Ilha Do Metal, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann reflected on the fact that he is the sole remaining member of the band's classic lineup, having led the legendary German heavy metal outfit for nearly five decades. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I am the last man standing from the original times. I've been in ACCEPT 48 years, if you can believe that. That's crazy. And when you would have asked me as a teenager, I would have thought you're crazy, because I would have never thought except would last this long or that I would one day be the only member. And it's only by default. It's only because all the other members have left. So I feel like I'm the captain of the ship and everybody else has left the ship and I have a new crew on board, if you know what I mean."

Regarding the possibility of ACCEPT celebrating five decades since the band's formation, Wolf said: "We do not have any specific plans for the 50th anniversary, but since many, many fans asked for the same question — they all ask, 'What are you gonna do? What are you going to do? So I think we should do something, maybe a special tour, maybe. I have no answer yet, but I know something will have to happen. But right now I'm focused on the new album, 'Humanoid', on the 'Humanoid' tour, and that's what we wanna promote, obviously. Because this is a great album. I think fans will really enjoy it, once they get to hear everything. Right now, we only have two singles out and the response is phenomenal. And we have two videos, and there's a third video coming."

Due on April 26 via Napalm Records, "Humanoid" was once again produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by critically acclaimed heavy metal producer Andy Sneap.

Fans can immerse themselves in the upcoming album on an interactive web site, where they can reprogram the robot that is featured on the album cover, and discover different parts of the album in the process. Pre-save "Humanoid" now to gain access to the web site here.

ACCEPT recently announced a massive European headline tour, with more than 20 shows across the continent for autumn 2024. This summer, ACCEPT will also return to some of the world’s most important rock and metal festivals, like Wacken Open Air, Hellfest and more, following their South American spring tour.

In February 2022, it was announced that ACCEPT had inked a worldwide deal with Napalm Records.

ACCEPT's latest album, "Too Mean To Die", came out in January 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the group's first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, the aforementioned Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

"Too Mean To Die" was recorded in Nashville with Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH),who has been responsible for the studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.

Mark Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last five studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017) and "Too Mean To Die".

JUDAS PRIEST was rejoined by guitarist Glenn Tipton on stage during the band's concert Saturday night (April 6) at Mediolanum Forum in Milan, Italy.

As he has done a number of other times over the course of the last six years, Tipton appeared with PRIEST for the encore, performing "Metal Gods" and "Living After Midnight".

Fan-filmed video of Tipton's appearance can be seen below.

JUDAS PRIEST's setlist for the Milan concert was as follows:

01. Panic Attack
02. You've Got Another Thing Comin'
03. Rapid Fire
04. Breaking The Law
05. Lightning Strike
06. Devil's Child (tour debut)
07. Saints In Hell
08. Crown Of Horns
09. Turbo Lover
10. Invincible Shield
11. Victim Of Changes
12. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) (FLEETWOOD MAC cover)
13. Painkiller

Encore:

14. The Hellion / Electric Eye
15. Hell Bent For Leather
16. Metal Gods (with Glenn Tipton)
17. Living After Midnight (with Glenn Tipton)

Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's 10 years ago — after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of JUDAS PRIEST's "Firepower" album. He was replaced by "Firepower" and "Invincible Shield" album producer Andy Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT.

In a recent interview with Bryan Reesman of The Aquarian, JUDAS PRIEST's Richie Faulkner spoke about Tipton's contributions to the band's new album "Invincible Shield". Asked how many ideas Glenn worked on and how Richie collaborated with him on all the guitar parts, Faulkner said: "We all go away separately after a tour and put down riff ideas and song ideas and melody ideas. He was the same, really, so when we get in a room together — me, Glenn and Rob [Halford, vocals] — we get those ideas out. We put those ideas on the table, we play them back for each other. Glenn did the same. He had a few more ideas that were more developed — 'Sons Of Thunder', 'Escape From Reality', 'Vicious Circle', stuff like that — so we worked on those. It was no different in that regard. He was able to sit in a studio [to] take time and play the ideas that he was putting forward. And when he had an idea and we were together, if he couldn't play it that day, then he would translate it through me and we'd hash it out.

"If Glenn can play it, then he'll play it, and if he can't play it, then I'll take on the workload," Richie explained. "I mean, what's wrong with that? I'm a guitar player and I'm a fan. I love the guys. That's your duty — if something needs to be done, guitar or otherwise, you do it. You step up, you know? That applied to the recording, as well. There are some things on there that he played, and he could write. It was important to us to involve him, and it probably was just as important for him to be involved as much as he could after doing it and being a genre-defining guitar player for the last 50 years."

Asked where Glenn's soloing pops up on "Invincible Shield", Richie said: "Glenn's influence is more than just the solos. There are solos on 'Sons Of Thunder' and 'Vicious Circle', and it goes beyond that. As we said before, the little twists and turns musically… and the vibe. When you play songs and solos by both K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton on an intimate level for 13 years, I don't think you can help but have that become part of your DNA, as well, so I think you can hear stuff from Glenn in my playing as well as what I've learned from him in the last 13 years. On something like 'Panic Attack', there are some sweep picking stuff that was never part of my repertoire. Playing songs like 'Painkiller' on an intimate level becomes part of your repertoire, so it shows up on the record. So apart from the songwriting ideas he had, the songs he had, some of the solos he had, it's in my playing as well. He's infiltrated my DNA in that sense — along with Ken [K.K.], of course, and along with Zakk [Wylde] and Michael Schenker and people like that. I think [Glenn's] influence can't be overstated either."

In his first interview since revealing his condition in early 2018, Glenn, who turned 76 last October, told Guitar World magazine about his diagnosis: "It was upsetting, but I wasn't really shocked because I sort of thought it was Parkinson's. I probably hoped it wasn't but the doctor said it was."

Regarding being told by the doctor that he had likely already had the disease for between 10 and 15 years, Glenn said: "Hearing that I already had Parkinson's for a long time made me even more determined to fight. I could still play, so I just continued recording and touring."

About a month before the opening date of PRIEST's "Firepower" tour, Tipton realized he could not guarantee that he would be able to execute an energetic, precision performance with the band night after night and "decided that it was really going to be too much for me," he told Guitar World. "With the medication and the time zone changes and everything else, I realized it was time to retire — from touring at least. I don't ever want to compromise JUDAS PRIEST. It's too big a part of my life.”

"Invincible Shield" arrived on March 8 via Sony Music.

SATURDAY 6th APRIL 2024

MEDIOLANUM FORUM - Milan, Italy

Photos: Michele Aldeghi
Stage Clothes: Ray Brown Fashion

Posted by Judas Priest on Monday, April 8, 2024

In a new interview with Audacy Check In, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory spoke about what it's been like for him and his bandmates to support METALLICA on a massive stadium tour in 2023 and 2024. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's great. Eighty, ninety thousand people in a stadium, that's massive. And it's one of those things where, obviously, we have a big fanbase that overlaps. So, METALLICA is such a huge band; they had four decades to gain that fanbase, so you're gonna have three generations of people in there. And it's such a big band now that — and in some ways they're growing, believe it or not, METALLICA, still; it's crazy. And so it's such a big band that even if you're not necessarily into metal, you've gotta come; you have to come and see. And so that means there are gonna be a lot of people in that arena that, hearing a band named FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, they're probably not gonna us a chance because they have no idea what that would be. So that means that we are playing to a substantial amount of people who never heard of [us] before. And I can tell that we're turning them, I can tell, especially after the show. You can definitely see it, because we have, obviously, statistics and online we can measure that. After every show, there's a jump in visitors and a jump in downloads and a jump in statistics, so I know that we're hitting a massive amount of people with that."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH played its first show as the support act for METALLICA on the "M72" tour last August at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH was originally supposed to support METALLICA on several European shows in the spring of 2023 but ended up canceling the dates in order to allow singer Ivan Moody to fully recover from his recent hernia surgery.

When FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH played a few shows in Europe as the support act for METALLICA in July 2022, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH shared a video report on the pairing in which Moody said of the experience: "Everyone sets goals, as you should. But you have to understand, for us, this is the apex, this is the climax, this is the top of the fucking hill. And it's amazing to me that we've been on tour for almost 15 years and never crossed paths with this band. And I've gotta tell you, they paved the road for any of us, and anyone that argues that fact is out of their fucking mind. The one and only METALLICA."

Back in 2016, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH bassist Chris Kael told Loudwire that METALLICA's classic third album, "Master Of Puppets", represented a turning point in his music tastes. He recalled: "I went to a place called Disc Jockey Records back in Lexington [Kentucky] and I had in my hand 'Master Of Puppets' and RUN-DMC 'Raising Hell' and I had to make that decision. Which one? I've heard about this band METALLICA through Circus magazine and whatnot, but I haven't heard the music, but I know RUN-DMC."

He continued: "I ended up picking up METALLICA and 'Master Of Puppets', and right from the first notes of 'Battery', hearing that beautiful guitar piece into crushing and everything that Cliff Burton did on that basically shaped me melodic-wise on bass right from the very beginning. So that album is probably one of the most influential in terms of making me want to play bass. I'll never be able to get to the same level talent-wise that Cliff Burton was, but it was a challenge."

In 2015, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's then-drummer Jeremy Spencer said that Lars Ulrich was a huge influence on him as a drummer and credited the METALLICA sticksman for inspiring him to play double bass.

"['Master Of Puppets' is] definitely my favorite, probably, metal album ever," Spencer said. "It's gotta be top two for sure. It's a toss-up between that and… I actually like 'South Of Heaven' by SLAYER too. But when I first heard 'Master Of Puppets', man, the drumming and the double bass, I never heard anything like that before as a young kid. It made such an impression on me that I just kind of wanted to do all things double bass. There's some really fast moments in 'Damage Inc.', and it just stuck with me and made such an impression on me as a drummer when I was younger; I instantly fell in love with it."

Asked what was so special about "Master Of Puppets" in particular, Spencer said: "I think they blended… They kind of had some European melody going on in the guitars, especially in the early records. That was different. But it was just… It was a different beast at that time; nothing sounded like it. There was an energy coming from that, and I think the riffs and the arrangements of the songs, it made such an impression on me and on so many other people."

Regarding how much of an impact Burton's contributions had on the way "Master Of Puppets" turned out, Spencer said: "I really don't know, but, obviously, he had some serious influence on them, 'cause their sound drastically changed [after his death]. But I love it. I think the first three records are incredible, to me."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is continuing to tour in support of its ninth album, "AfterLife" which was released in August 2022 via Better Noise.

This past Friday (April 5),FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH released the digital deluxe edition of "AfterLife", featuring the original 12 tracks recorded with the band's longtime producer Kevin Churko (OZZY OSBOURNE) in addition to four bonus tracks: three acoustic versions of the album's songs "The End", "Judgement Day" and "Thanks For Asking" plus a brand new song, "This Is The Way", featuring the late rapper DMX.

The Danish death-metal veterans, Illdisposed, are embarking on a European tour in September 2024, following the release of their 16th studio-album, In Chambers Of Sonic Disgust, which will be released through Massacre Records in the summer of 2024.
 
The band has gone through a serious amount of hardship, with, amongst others, changes in the line-up, due to disease within the ranks and they have spent the last couple of years, fine-tuning their approach and recording an album that will be sure to please all older fans, but also drag in an even larger, new, crowd with their soaring approach to the genre.
 
Guitarist Jakob Batten comments:
 
"It has been five years since Illdisposed released our last album, Reveal Your Soul For The Dead. This summer, we will be ready with our 16th studio album, In Chambers Of Sonic Disgust. It is the most ambitious and creative Illdisposed album to date, revealing a band that has been going through several crises the past five years. Beginning with the Covid-19 pandemic and all the impact it had on the music industry – leading up to illness of the worst possible character within the band. It is an honest album full of anger and frustration. Crisis and struggle transcribed to music. Come and listen to the new songs live, along with a bunch of classic Illdisposed hits, of course."
 
As special guests on the tour you will meet the rising, Danish black/death act Defacing God, who has recently been joined by Batten as their new lead guitarist.


Two more support acts will be added at a later stage. Tour dates are as follows:


September
12 - Train, Århus, Denmark
13 - tba
14 - tba
15 - Hellraiser - Leipzig, Germany
17 - Rock Café - Prague, Czech Republic
18 - Viper Club - Vienna, Ausria
19 - Backstage - Munich, Germany
20 - Café Central - Weinheim, Germany
21- tba
22 - DVG Club - Kortrijk, Belgium
24 - tba
25 - Podium Duycker - Hoofddorp, Netherlands
26 - tba
27 - Logo - Hamburg, Germany
28 - Tøjhuset, Denmark - Fredericia

Original SLIPKNOT singer Anders Colsefni has recorded an updated version of "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.", the album that set band on its trajectory from underground clubs in Iowa to the biggest stages on the planet.

In a statement released to BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Anders says: "This record is dedicated to [late SLIPKNOT members] Joey [Jordison] and Paul [Gray], my eternal brothers. This project completes their legacy for the original Crowz. This important part of their heritage can now be heard by the Maggot generation of the 'KNOT family. I miss them both deeply every day and I hope that this tribute to them honors their memory and our ever-lasting friendship. Long live the 'KNOT."

On Halloween 1996, 600 copies of "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." were released into the wild. The record has been a thing of myth for 25 years, with countless bootlegs surfacing but the album never officially appearing on streaming platforms.

Before there were Maggots, there were Crowz and the Crowz have been waiting patiently for half their lives for this record to be re-released and now that moment has arrived. This record is the holy grail for the original SLIPKNOT fans.

In October 2023, Colsefni partnered with New Zealand band KAOSIS to hit the road in Australia and New Zealand in a breakneck two-week tour dubbed "Numetal Mayhem". KAOSIS doubled as lead support and Anders's backing band, playing the "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." album in full. This record had not been played live since 1996. It was on this tour that it was decided that the world needed to hear this record on streaming platforms. The re-recording of "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." began immediately after the tour finished.

KAOSIS recorded, produced, and mixed the project in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Anders completed the vocals in Iowa with his son Junior. The recording remains faithful to the original but includes some new arrangements.

Colsefni left SLIPKNOT after the release of "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." to focus on his band PAINFACE. PAINFACE is reissuing its back catalog and releasing a new EP this year.

KAOSIS and Anders will tour Europe this summer.

Due on all the streaming platforms on Friday, March 15, "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." is distributed by Blood Blast Records and Rail Records.

In a 2023 podcast interview with KAOSIS frontman Xen, Colsefni was asked if he would be open to recording a new song with his former band if he was approached about it. He responded: "Yeah, absolutely. If they contacted me and wanted me to do something, yeah, why not?"

Asked to name his favorite SLIPKNOT song since he exited the group, Anders said: "To be honest with you, I'm gonna say 'Wait And Bleed', the very first one that hit right after I left. And it's the one that I would have thought that I would have hated the most, just because of my circumstances. But that song, when I heard it, I'm, like, 'That's it. I couldn't have done that like that. So kudos to you, guys.' So 'Wait And Bleed'."

A short time after the "Numetal Mayhem" tour announcement, SLIPKNOT's longtime singer Corey Taylor took to his Twitter to share a Kerrang! article about the trek, and he wrote in an accompanying message: "Really wish I could be there to see these shows, but I know @anderscolsefni is going to crush them."

Colsefni later released a statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET in which he vowed to perform the "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." material with the "same level of aggression and volatility" as he did when the songs were first written while acknowledging that he has grown as a singer and performer since his early days with SLIPKNOT.

Anders said: "As many of you are aware, I am not big on social media or talking in the press but with the growing amount of interest in my forthcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand, I feel it is time to issue a statement.

"My performances as part of this tour are dedicated to my fallen brothers, [late SLIPKNOT members] Joey [Jordison, drums] and Paul [Gray, bass]. I miss you both dearly. I will be drawing on you both to deliver these songs to our fans with the same level of aggression and volatility that we did together 27 years ago.

"I'd like to acknowledge the vast outpouring of support from my fans all over the world. It has been extremely touching to know how much faith you have had in me for all these years. I will do you all proud.

"I will endeavor to keep the set as authentic to the emotions and sentiments of which they are written but I will deliver them as I am now, not the kid I once was. Since these songs were written almost three decades ago, I have had many great opportunities in various bands to hone my vocal abilities, and stagecraft and to grow as a person.

"In response to Corey's well wishes I'd like to say 'Thank you'. It may come as a surprise to many maggots, but it is actually Corey who I have maintained an ongoing friendship since my departure from the band. There has only ever been a kinship between us. I consider Corey a true brother and he has always had my back, and I his.

"Thank you all again for your adoration and support and I look forward to delivering Australasia 'Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.' for the first time ever. Long live the KNOT."

Colsefni, Gray, Jordison and Shawn "Clown" Crahan first performed under the name SLIPKNOT in April 1996 at the Safari Club in Des Moines. Not long after, Mick Thomson and Craig Jones joined the band and the trajectory of modern metal was changed forever.

SLIPKNOT erupted on the local metal scene and by October 1996 they delivered "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.". This LP became the foundation of what is now SLIPKNOT's twenty-eight-year legacy.

Back in 2019, Colsefni said that he had no interest in rejoining SLIPKNOT.

The prospect of Anders returning to SLIPKNOT was broached by Taylor after a fan suggested on Twitter that SLIPKNOT bring back Anders as the replacement for the then-recently departed percussionist Chris Fehn. Corey replied: "Fuck I would LOVE that."

On March 23, 2019, Colsefni shot down the possibility of a renewed collaboration with his former bandmates, writing on his Facebook page: "I'm going to take away the uncomfortable conversations that SLIPKNOT might have regarding myself and reported band vacancy by saying: I will NOT be rejoining SLIPKNOT.

"It is certainly not for any animosity I have. I simply don't know those guys anymore. I generally give those I don't know the benefit of the doubt.

"I've spent the last 27 years (through each and every band) working concrete construction to support my family but still allow time for my 'real job.'

"After many years of failed bands, failed marriages, and plenty of others, I've settled into an occupation that I can retire from. I'm gonna need the bennies — my body is going to shit!

"As much as I had dreamed of rejoining my creation (shut up — I know it's a different band now!),it is not enough of a dream anymore to risk being homeless when the tour is over!"

Colsefni, one of the founding members of SLIPKNOT alongside percussionist Shawn "The Clown" Crahan, contributed lead vocals to "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.". A short time after leaving the band the following year, Anders went on to form PAINFACE, which later evolved into ON A PALE HORSE.

In a 2011 interview with Dose Of Metal, Colsefni was asked about the reasons for his departure from SLIPKNOT. He explained: "Corey was a much better singer than I, so they brought Corey in to 50/50 the vocals with me (with him being the actual frontman) while I also continued with the drums and percussion. Corey would do the clean singing and I was to add the screaming and yelling. I tried for two months, but after the shock of all this, I couldn't 'feel it' anymore. I just felt like an idiot flopping around onstage with a ridiculous outfit, acting like a caveman. Depression. So, I shaved my eyebrows off before my last show, and announced I was done after we played 'Heartache And A Pair of Scissors' for the closing tune."

Asked what he thinks about his former bandmates labeling "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." just a demo, he said "If the band did not get a record deal, 'Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.' would have been their first official release. Since they had progressed musically since 'Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.' (or steadied the craziness a bit) and got a nice contract advance, they chose the right thing and started fresh. Every album I've ever been on has technically been a 'demo,' so it doesn't bother me a bit. Even the full-length ones. 'Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.' has become somewhat legendary, even with its flaws, so it was one hell of a demo."

Jordinson died "peacefully in his sleep" in July 2021 of an unspecified cause. He was 46 years old.

SLIPKNOT announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group.

Gray was found dead in May 2010 after overdosing on drugs in a hotel room in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, where he and SLIPKNOT were based.

Firewind guitarist Gus G recently checked in with the following message:


"Here’s some news you might not know yet. I’ve had the honor to play some lead guitar on Bruce Dickinson’s new album that also just came out. Wanna thank my Vato Loco Roy Z for having me on this amazing track and for letting me play a few notes next to you. And many Thanks to mighty Bruce."


Now, Gus has shared a live playthrough of the solo he performed for "Eternity Has Failed"







Gus recently spoke to Jimmy Kay from The Metal Voice about his contribution to the new solo album from the singer of Iron Maiden. Check out their chat in the video below:





Bruce Dickinson has released The Mandrake Project worldwide on multiple formats. Across ten inventive, expansive and absorbing tracks, Dickinson and his long-term co-writer and producer Roy Z, have created one of 2024’s defining rock albums. Sonically heavy and rich in musical textures, The Mandrake Project sees Bruce bring to life a musical vision long-in-the-making, and features some of the finest vocal performances of his career.


Recorded largely at LA’s Doom Room with Roy Z doubling up as both guitarist and bassist, the lineup for The Mandrake Project was rounded out by keyboard maestro Mistheria and drummer Dave Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce’s last solo studio album, Tyranny Of Souls, in 2005.


The Mandrake Project is Dickinson’s seventh solo album. Order here.





The Mandrake Project tracklisting:


"Afterglow Of Ragnarok"
"Many Doors To Hell"
"Rain On The Graves"
"Resurrection Men"
"Fingers In The Wounds"
"Eternity Has Failed"
"Mistress Of Mercy"
"Face In The Mirror"
"Shadow Of The Gods"
"Sonata (Immortal Beloved)"


"Rain On The Graves" video:





"Afterglow Of Ragnarok" video:

Country music legend, Toby Keith, passed away on February 5 at 62 years of age following a battle with stomach cancer.


Sammy Hagar paid tribute to his "dear friend" at the 2024 CMT Music Awards, on Sunday, April 7. He issued the following statement:


"I'm honored to be part of this tribute to my dear friend Toby Keith. I'm thinking 'I Love This Bar' would be the appropriate song choice... don't ya think? Tune in to the #CMTAwards this Sunday, April 7th at 8/7c on CBS!"




Check out Hagar's peformance below.





Back in February, AXS TV shared the video below, in which Sammy joins Toby at his ranch and the two perform, "Rum Is The Reason". Then they talk music and check out the town where Toby lived in Oklahoma.

In an interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" conducted aboard this year's Monsters Of Rock cruise, Y&T frontman Dave Meniketti was asked if he would like to make a follow-up to 2010's "Facemelter" album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yes." But then he clarified: "It's not in production [yet]. You can slap my face, and I'm sorry, but, no, I have not written it yet, no. We will write together as a band, hopefully, because that's the way I like to write generally. I do like writing on my own as well, but I like getting the whole band involved because that creates a different sound than you coming up with everything and saying, 'Okay, now, you play this.'"

In February 2023, Meniketti, who went public with his prostate cancer battle a year earlier, said that he was in complete remission after receiving radiation.

In July 2022, Y&T was forced to cancel its previously announced European tour in order to allow Meniketti more time to recover from the radiation treatments.

Meniketti discussed his diagnosis and treatment during an appearance on an April 2022 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". Dave said that while prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men, with one in eight men getting it, it is also one of the most treatable, with a survival rate of over 90 percent after 10 years. "This is one of those cancers, if you catch 'em early, you can be one hundred percent fixed — it's over; it's done; you're sorted," he said. "I mean, sure, it could come back at some point, but even if it does, they can treat it again. You usually outlive this cancer, if you get it early enough. So, luckily, I have gotten it early enough."

Meniketti is the only surviving member of the Y&T lineup — then known as YESTERDAY AND TODAY — that recorded the band's self-titled debut album.

Original Y&T rhythm guitarist Joey Alves died in March 2017 at the age of 63. Two founding Y&T musicians — Haze, 61, and Kennemore, 57, who both had left the lineup — died from complications of lung cancer: Kennemore on January 7, 2011, and Haze on September 11, 2016.

Y&T's current lineup is rounded out by guitarist John Nymann, drummer Mike Vanderhule and bassist Aaron Leigh.

"Facemelter" came out in May 2010 via Frontiers.

Dive into the depths of Beyond God's latest album, The Great Divide, with an exclusive guitar playthrough of the track "Frostbite". Released via WormHoleDeath Records in December 2023, this song is a journey through blistering riffs and melodic landscapes that'll send shivers down your spine. Witness the magic as Mariusz takes you behind the scenes, unraveling the intricate layers of "Frostbite" in this special playthrough video.





Since the release of their debut album, A Moment Of Black, in 2016, Beyond God embarked on a triumphant international tour, amassing an ever-growing global fan base. Their evolution continued with the release of Dying To Feel Alive in 2017, featuring aggressive riffs and a dynamic rhythm section, all while retaining their signature dark orchestral atmosphere and melodic vocal lines. A special acoustic album in 2019 reflected on their musical journey thus far. Now, they stand on the precipice of their third full-length metal album, promising an even more profound symphonic metal experience.




The Great Divide is an odyssey through the human psyche, a musical voyage that delves into the intricacies of time, love, memory, and existence. Each track intertwines with the next, creating a tapestry of themes that range from the captivating tales of Greek mythology in "Cronos" to the heart-wrenching aftermath of lost love in "After Love Ends."


Musically, The Great Divide embraces the darker, weightier realms of metal with fierce guitar riffs, thundering drums, and ethereal orchestral arrangements. Yet, it's Meryl Foreman's entrancing vocals that breathe life into these songs, evoking profound emotions in every note.


From the thought-provoking "The Great Divide" and "Coronation" addressing contemporary sociopolitical issues, to the deeply personal "A Siren's Cry" and "Aphantasia", exploring the depths of love, loss, and the human psyche, this album is a symphonic masterpiece. Beyond God offers a fresh take on the genre, revealing their formidable musical prowess and their power to convey compelling narratives.





Tracklist:


"Cronos"
"Frostbite"
"Coronation"
"Heartbreaker"
"The Great Divide"
"A Siren's Cry"
"Pierced"
"The Elder Tree"
"Aphantasia"
"After Love Ends"


"Frostbite"





"Aphantasia"





"A Siren's Cry"





Beyond God is:


Meryl Foreman – Vocals
Ferry Guns – Drums & Orchestration
Dennis Winkel – Bass
Mariusz Krawitowski – Guitars

In a new interview with The Chill Dude On A Couch, ARMORED SAINT singer John Bush was asked about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2020's "Punching The Sky" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've been writing some songs. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna try to get back to that today a little bit. We've written about five or six that we've demoed. That's kind of our M.O., how we do it. We write something and then we'll try to make this really good-sounding demo. I'll go and sing. I actually try to sing it like I'm singing a record, and we've kept a lot of the original vocals. This goes back to the way we wrote songs back to [2000's] 'Revelation' even. 'Cause sometimes I think you sing something that maybe you'll never sing exactly the same, and so that nuance in your voice or who knows what, your inflection, you can try to mimic it, but maybe you never will mimic it exactly that way. Same with a guitar lead — a certain bend, it may not be exactly how you play it again. So I think those are key things that you try to keep when you're making demos, and that's what we do. So I've gotta get back to doing some work. And we've got more work to do, that's for sure. We certainly don't work at a fast pace; everyone knows that about SAINT. We could try to put a little urgency into this and try to kind of move on it a little quicker without sacrificing quality. I think that's a good idea."

ARMORED SAINT was inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame last July at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. The event was hosted by 95.5 KLOS DJ Marci Wiser, and featured performances by WEAPONS OF ANEW, Sergio Michel and DECONSTRUCT, surprise guest appearances and an all-star jam.

Ten months ago, ARMORED SAINT's long-awaited documentary, Armored Saint: Band Of Brothers", had its world premiere in the band's hometown at the Harmony Gold Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Armored Saint: Band Of Brothers" celebrates the 40-year career of ARMORED SAINT and the 50-year friendship the bandmembers have shared from school in El Sereno, a Los Angeles suburb.

Many friends of the band have given interviews, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich from METALLICA tell tales of their early days touring, Scott Ian of ANTHRAX talks about seeing ARMORED SAINT in 1985, QUEENSRŸCHE members Eddie Jackson and Todd La Torre talk about the shared history. Key music industry figures and producers, A&R men, roadies, record label executives and family share thoughts and stories about the band's 40-year history.

ARMORED SAINT's eighth full-length album, "Punching The Sky", came out in October 2020 via Metal Blade Records.

ARMORED SAINT released the "Symbol Of Salvation Live" CD/DVD in 2021 via Metal Blade Records. The release came in celebration of the seminal album's 30th anniversary. "Symbol Of Salvation Live" was a combination live album and video of the band playing the album in its entirety at New York City's famed Gramercy Theatre during its 2018 tour.

Previously unreleased footage of Led Zeppelin performing in Montreal, Quebec on February 6, 1975 is streaming on YouTube. According to Led Zeppelin News, the video below is the longest 8mm footage of a Led Zeppelin performance to surface. The newly emerged footage was shot by Jim Kelly, known as Speedy, a photographer who filmed many bands.


Speedy: "Experience a legendary night in rock history with Led Zeppelin's iconic performance at the Montreal Forum on February 6th, 1975. This exclusive footage captures the energy and brilliance of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, as they mesmerize the audience with their electrifying stage presence and timeless music. With a runtime of 51 minutes, this extended footage offers an immersive journey through Zeppelin's iconic tracks and captivating live performance."


Setlist: 




"Rock and Roll"
"Sick Again"
"Over the Hills and Far Away"
"In My Time of Dying" (Blind Willie Johnson cover)
"The Song Remains the Same"
"The Rain Song"
"Kashmir"
"No Quarter"
"Trampled Under Foot"
"Moby Dick"
"Dazed and Confused" (Jake Holmes cover)
"Stairway to Heaven"


Encore:
"Whole Lotta Love"
"Black Dog"
"Heartbreaker"

King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his wife, Toyah Willcox, have released their latest Sunday Lunch video, a raucous cover of the Led Zeppelin classic "Whole Lotta Love", with whips and all!



 


Check out more Sunday Lunch videos below:

Former Angra drummer Ricardo Confessori has launched his own band, Confessori, featuring Semblant vocalist Mizuho Lin. They have released a new single, "The Shredder", and the official video can be viewed below. 


"The Shredder" is now available via digital platforms found here.







Ricardo Confessori was a member of Angra from 1993–2000, the again from 2009–2014. He left Angra with singer Andre Matos and bassist Luis Mariutti in 2000 to form the band Shaman together with guitarist Hugo Mariutti. In 2009, Confessori returned to Angra, replacing drummer Aquiles Priester. 


Confessori line-up:


Mizuho Lin - vocals
Ricardo Confessori - drums
Thiago Larenttes - lead guitar, bass
Affonso Junior - guitar

In a new interview with Paul Stephenson of VRP Rocks, original FOREIGNER singer Lou Gramm was asked about his current relationship with the band's founder, guitarist Mick Jones. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was silence after I left the band, and then when we got into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame [in 2013], when I saw him and he saw me, we hugged each other and [we said], 'So good to see you. It's been a long time,' blah, blah, blah, blah. We had lunch, stuff like that. And then, at the performance, we congratulated each other and this and that, and we performed a couple of songs on stage with a backup group, and everything was nice. Then all the Atlantic people were there, and we went over and took pictures with everybody from the office and all that stuff. It was all smiles and hugs and everything. And after that night, never heard from him again. Never heard from him again."

When Stephenson noted that it will be "interesting" to see what happens if FOREIGNER is inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and both Gramm and Jones attend the ceremony, Lou said: "I'm not sure. I mean, I'll be friendly and cordial, but I'm not gonna be like I found my long-lost brother or anything."

Gramm went on to say that it's been disappointing to see his relationship with Jones deteriorate to such a point where they don't communicate with each other. "It's very difficult, because we worked our tails off together, writing most of those songs," he said. "And I think we were the focal part of the band too, so the live show was very important and stuff. And I thought we had a very good friendship during most of those years. But after that 'I Want To Know What Love Is' [disagreement over songwriting credits] happened, it was different. We barely spoke to each other on tour even. I knew that what he did to me, he was wrong and he was dishonest. And he made a fortune and I made nothing. And [I] got no credit from my peers or anybody. It's that Mick Jones magic touch. 'Look, he did it again. 'I Want To Know What Love Is'."

FOREIGNER is among the nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's Class Of 2024.

To be eligible for this year's ballot, each nominee's first single or album had to have been released in 1999 or earlier.

Eligible since 2002, FOREIGNER has had a huge number of rock hits, including "Cold As Ice", "Double Vision", "Hot Blooded", "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Juke Box Hero" and "Urgent", and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, with no wins.

According to the Hall Of Fame, the FOREIGNER members that would get inducted include only the classic-era musicians Mick Jones, Lou Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Ed Gagliardi, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald and Rick Wills.

Lou previously discussed FOREIGNER's nomination for the Rock Hall during an appearance on the February 13 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". Asked how he thinks it happened now that FOREIGNER finally got on a ballot, Gramm said: "Well, I think the person that had the vendetta is no longer associated with the Hall Of Fame. And there's some people with real rock sensibilities now running the show and they know very well that we belong there and they're doing the right thing… I think that when [Rolling Stone co-founder] Jann Wenner was finally removed from his position [last September at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's board after sexist and racist comments], the dark clouds started thinning out a little bit and somebody saw something in a different light and put us up for nomination this year."

Asked what his reaction was when he heard the news, Lou said: "I had very strange, mixed feelings about the fact that we were nominated. Well, I'm happy about it now, but all the stuff that went down for years while our rock compatriots from our era were getting in the Hall left, right and center, and I don't even know if we were even nominated once or maybe once, but decades went by and there was no word about us and it just seemed that obviously our credentials warrant the nomination and it just seemed something was strangely wrong and I got the sickening feeling that it was personal."

Gramm went on to say that he has not been in contact with his Jones about the Rock Hall nomination. "No. Not at all," the singer said. "The last time Mick and I talked was the night we were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. That was 2012, I think, or 2013. I felt that I was very friendly towards him and he was so-so towards me, and I wasn't surprised, after that evening was over, that I didn't hear from him. I didn't expect to."

When host Eddie Trunk pressed Gramm about the fact that he shared the stage with singer Kelly Hansen and other members of the current and original FOREIGNER lineup in 2017 and 2018 to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary, Lou seemingly had no recollection of the fact, saying: "All the other guys from the original band that are left have made numerous guest appearances, but I haven't made one. [FOREIGNER manager and former Atlantic Records executive vice president] Phil [Carson] asked me to come to the big outdoor venue in Buffalo, and I had heard that Dennis and Rick were performing with them on a semi regular basis, and I just couldn't see my way clear to make an appearance out there, and that's the last I heard from anybody."

Asked if he would be okay going up with Mick and the surviving members of FOREIGNER who are inducted into the Rock Hall and performing at the ceremony, Lou said: "Yes. I don't know what the vibe would be with Mick, 'cause the funny thing is when I left the band in 2003, we hadn't communicated at all until that Songwriters Hall Of Fame. And so that was almost 10 years. And then after the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, we haven't communicated until now, if we make it in, and I'll be anxious to see if he's willing to communicate then."

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 73-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. Jones, the only remaining original member of FOREIGNER, suffered from some health issues beginning in 2011, eventually resulting in heart surgery in 2012.

Gramm and Jones's June 2013 performance of "I Want To Know What Love Is" and "Juke Box Hero" at the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in New York City marked the first time the pair performed together in a decade after Gramm left FOREIGNER for a second time. Hansen has fronted the group for the past 19 years.

In July 2017, FOREIGNER reunited with Gramm, Greenwood and McDonald during a concert at Jones Beach, New York. Gramm sang lead with the band for the first time in 14 years, while multi-instrumentalist McDonald and keyboardist Greenwood, both founding members of FOREIGNER, had not performed with the group since 1980.

FOREIGNER's October 2017 reunion shows — featuring Jones, Gramm, McDonald, Elliott and Wills — performing all together for the first time since the early '80s, as part of the group's 40th-anniversary celebration were filmed and were released as the "Double Vision: Then And Now" CD and DVD in 2019.

Back in 2019, Gramm and Jones took part in a joint interview with Dan Rather's AXS show "The Big Interview", discussing everything from their multiplatinum-selling success to personal difficulties (including battling serious health issues) to lighthearted moments, like the time the band inadvertently left Jones behind at a 7-Eleven outside Kansas City while on tour.

Former SLIPKNOT drummer Jay Weinberg has shared drum-cam video of the "Fame" performance from his April 1 concert with INFECTIOUS GROOVES at Bluesfest in Byron Bay, Australia. You can check out the clip below. Also available is the "Monster Skank" video from the same show.

Weinberg made his live debut with INFECTIOUS GROOVES on March 23 at the Garden Grove Amphitheatre in Garden Grove, California.

INFECTIOUS GROOVES is the long-running outfit formed more than three decades ago by now-METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo alongside Robert's then-SUICIDAL TENDENCIES bandmate Mike Muir.

Weinberg was recruited by INFECTIOUS GROOVES for the band's first live appearances since a one-off show in 2019 due to longtime drummer Brooks Wackerman's commitment to AVENGED SEVENFOLD.

INFECTIOUS GROOVES recently entered the studio to record a new song. The track, which was co-written by former INFECTIOUS GROOVES guitarist Adam Siegel, will mark the band's first release with Weinberg, who joined INFECTIOUS GROOVES in January.

In a recent interview with Australia's Metal-Roos, Muir stated about how Weinberg came to join INFECTIOUS GROOVES: "We wanted to get somebody that you know could carry that torch and was there. It's funny 'cause we were kind of saying… well, I told Robert, 'You put a list [of drummers] together, I'll put a list together and then we'll kind of see who's touring and who's available and try to do it.' And my middle son, who's 14, was asking, he goes, 'If Brooks can't do it, who are you gonna get to play drums?' And I'm, like, 'We're not sure. We're putting a list together.' He goes, 'You're gonna ask Jay?' So my son, his two favorite drummers are Lars [Ulrich] and Jay Weinberg and stuff. And I was, like, I hadn't even thought of Jay. And I knew that he had surgery. And I looked [on his social media] and I go, 'It's January 1st.' And he goes [in a social media post], 'I'm walking for the first time [since surgery], and I'm like, 'Ooh.' And my son said, 'You should get Jay. I saw him. He's playing the drums again. You should get him. Talk to him.' And I go, 'I don't have his number.' He goes, 'You could get it. Robert's probably got it.'"

Muir continued: "The first tour that that Jay did in SLIPKNOT, SUICIDAL opened. I, obviously, have been around a lot of drummers, a lot of musicians, and I'd heard the drummer they got is really good. As I always say, I don't judge, I observe. And I was watching him play at soundcheck, going, 'Oh, dude, this guy's actually really good. He mixes it up really well. And he's really versatile.' And it always stuck out to me because, I go, 'He obviously kills it in SLIPKNOT,' but I go, 'He's actually a really versatile drummer and really good.' And it stuck out to me and stuff. So I knew that he could definitely do it, obviously. It's a matter of would he want to do it and then physically could. So I got his number and I texted him. And he goes, 'I'm at my physical therapist's right now. I'm not even supposed to be starting to play until the middle of April.' But he goes, 'I think I'm way ahead of my schedule.' And he goes, 'Let me get back to you. I'm gonna be there on Monday.' And it was the weekend… But he goes, 'Yeah, I think it's gonna be all right,' and this and that. So anyhow, we talked a lot and then were, like, 'Let's fly out and get together.' And when we practiced, I was going, 'You cannot tell that he's just had two major surgeries.' It's funny because my kids went to the practice and they were, like, 'Dude, Robert was smiling ear to ear the whole practice. He looked like a little kid just having a ball.' And it was just so much fun in a good way. Jay on drums, he's driving that sports car, and he's got a really good edge and he's able to actually showcase a lot more on the INFECTIOUS songs, which he was really appreciating. I think people, they're gonna trip. Because everybody knows Robert's great bass player; they know the bass lines in INFECTIOUS. Whether you know the music or not, you hear it, you're, like, 'Oh, dude, that bass player is insane,' especially for the time. But I think, when Jay's up there, they're gonna go, 'Wow, that's really powerful.' So we're super excited, as you can tell."

In addition to Weinberg, Muir and Trujillo, INFECTIOUS GROOVES' 2024 lineup includes guitarists Dean Pleasants (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES) and Dave Kushner (ex-VELVET REVOLVER).

INFECTIOUS GROOVES was formed soon after Trujillo joined SUICIDAL TENDENCIES in 1989. Muir and Trujillo got together with some friends to write song that centered more around the bass, but with the intent of giving everyone else a whole lot of freedom.

"SEX PISTOLS and PARLIAMENT were my two favorite bands when I was young," commented Muir. "People think they're completely different but I saw a lot of similarities, even if musically they were categorized as completely different styles. There's something beautiful about breaking rules that never should have been made."

POWERMAN 5000 will release a new studio album, "Abandon Ship", on May 10 via Cleopatra Records. The LP's first single, "1999", will arrive on April 11.

"Abandon Ship" track listing:

01. Invisible Man
02. 1999
03. Dancing Like We’re Dead
04. Wake Up Take Up Space
05. The Company Loves Misery
06. Bloodsuckers
07. This Is A Life
08. GTFO
09. Places For People That Scream
10. The Last Chapter
11. Bombshell (revamped version) (bonus track)

In a 2023 interview with The Underground Australia, POWERMAN 5000 frontman Spider One reflected on the release of the band's latest album, "The Noble Rot", which came out at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in August 2020 via Cleopatra Records. He said: "I think that we had finished [the LP] before then, and we made the first video before the pandemic. So we were just gearing up for a normal situation, that we were gonna hit the road. I think we had a couple of tours booked to promote the record. And then everything stopped, and we figured, 'Oh, well,' like everybody else, 'Oh, whatever. We'll just postpone the tour for a couple of weeks and then we'll be back at it.' And then a couple of weeks turned into a couple of years. It was a very weird way to release a record, 'cause the normal way is you get out there on the road and you get feedback from fans and you get to play the songs. And that never really happened. But the record, stream-wise, was more successful than the one before it. So I think [the pandemic] allowed people to stay at home and maybe listen to more music and discover more things. So I don't look at it as a loss or anything like that. It was just a different scenario. Fortunately now we get to play some of those songs. And people know them more, so it all worked out."

Spider One previously discussed how he spent the downtime during the pandemic in an interview in December 2022 with Australia's Metal-Roos. At the time, he said: "Like everybody else, we were stuck home and didn't get to play for almost two years, or about two years. So it was strange. But it's interesting. I don't know. There used to be a time when there were these things called album cycles — you put an album out; you tour on that album for a year or whatever; and you release the singles. And there was sort of this standard way you did business. I feel like those days, at least for us, are over. I'll find Spotify activity will go up when we're doing nothing sometimes, or it'll go down when a new record [has come out]. There seems to be no real logic to the way things function anymore. So the inactivity didn't really hurt us, I don't think, in any way. Maybe it even helped us a bit. There were a lot of bands that were trying to do stuff and maybe went out a bit too early and their tours didn't do well. We really waited it out until we felt like people were comfortable with going out again. And ever since, everything's been just super successful. So it worked out fine. But, yeah, the record was sort of… I think everybody kind of feels like they had a lot album in those couple of years."

In May 2020, POWERMAN 5000 released its reimagining of the classic '80s new wave smash "We Got The Beat". "We Got The Beat" was originally made available in 1981 as part of THE GO-GO'S' multi-platinum debut album "Beauty And The Beat".

"Tonight The Stars Revolt!", POWERMAN 5000's second album, was released on July 20, 1999 by DreamWorks Records. It has sold over one million copies and achieved platinum status on the back of such hits as "Nobody's Real" and "When Worlds Collide". With cyberpunk imagery, catchy riffs, funky beats and rap rock vocals, POWERMAN 5000 bridged the gap between nu metal and industrial metal and packaged it up in a retro-science fiction B-movie aesthetic that separated them visually and musically from their peers.

Image courtesy of DeadMike.com

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On Friday, April 5, the four members of MEGADETH took part in a press conference one day prior to the kick-off of their spring 2024 South American tour in Lima, Peru. One of the first questions was for MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine, who went to the White House in 1992 with the "Rock The Vote" campaign for the Democratic National Convention coverage. Asked what that experience was like and if he would do it again, the 62-year-old Mustaine said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "What was it like going up to the White House and doing the 'Rock The Vote' thing? Well, I think if you wanna say something, you need to know what you're saying. And I was asked to help get people in my country registered to vote — not to become a Democrat, not to become a Republican, but to vote. And I've always said, when I talk to people, I try and show them both sides and then let that person pick. I don't try and tell people in my songs what to do.

"Would I do it again? I guess I kind of do it still every day, just being an example in heavy metal music that not everyone in metal is uninterested in civil matters in their country, singing about things that matter," he added.

Two years ago, Mustaine claimed that he "peed on the floor" of the White House bathroom when he went there more than three decades ago. Dave made the outrageous claim while introducing the song "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" during MEGADETH's concert at the Tucson Arena in Tucson, Arizona. Mustaine said in part: "I want you guys to know that I've lived through a lot of different eras in the United States and seen different things, and one thing that makes me the most proud of everything here in our country is you guys, the way that you are handling yourselves and the way that… as the metal community. There's a lot of people that go out there and they say things and they totally embarrass themselves. And I want you guys to know how proud I am to represent you."

He continued: "When I went up to the White House, I was so proud to be able to go up there and say, 'Fuck you. You think we're stupid? We are not stupid, motherfuckers.'

"By the way, when I went into the White House, I went into the royal — whatever the fuck it's called — White House bathroom, and I peed on the floor. I had to. I had to."

Five years ago, Dave, who has attracted a fair amount of media attention over the years for his political thoughts, said that he and other public figures have fallen victim to so-called negative partisanship, in which people identify as being against the opposing political party, and vocalize their beliefs through anger or loathing.

"I've got this reputation that I'm a right-winger," Mustaine told Ron Keel of the "Streets Of Rock 'N' Roll" radio show. "Well, check my voting record to see that I've voted Democrat and Republican. And it's just a shame that people are trying to destroy people's careers because of a vote."

Mustaine has consistently denied that he is a Republican, telling Artisan News in a 2012 interview: "I'm an independent, not a Republican — I've never been a Republican. I've always said that. I don't belong to any party — I'm non-partisan. And for me, the sad thing is, instead of voting for the best man, I have to vote for the lesser of two evils."

Back in 2016, Mustaine refused to say if was going to vote for Donald Trump in that year's U.S. presidential election but called the billionaire real estate mogul "a very successful businessman." He also said that he wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton.

Four years earlier, Mustaine made headlines when he voiced his support for ultraconservative Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. He explained at the time that the Pennsylvania politician looked "like he could be a really cool president… kind of like a JFK kind of guy." That same year, he drew ire on social media when he suggested onstage at a concert in Singapore that President Obama was behind the mass shootings in Aurora and at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.

Mustaine later blamed media outlets for taking his statements out of context, explaining that he never said he officially "endorsed" Santorum. As for the Singapore concert, he claimed to have been repeating the theories of Larry Pratt, a pro-gun activist who runs the organization Gun Owners Of America.

Also in 2012, Mustaine revealed his "birther" opinions on a talk show, saying he doubted President Obama was born in the United States. He told radio host Alex Jones: "With all of the proof about his birth certificate being fake… And you see the signs in Kenya that say 'the birthplace of Barack Obama.' Hello?! C'mon, guys. How stupid are we right now?"

In October 2011, as Occupy Wall Street protests were raging across the country, Mustaine railed against what he saw as the president's inappropriate support for the populist movement, calling Obama the most divisive president we've ever had. "I've never, in my 50 years of being alive, listened to an American president try and turn one class of people against another class of people," he said. "I've never — never — heard a president say, 'Go down and join the protesters down at Wall Street,' knowing that there are Nazis down there, knowing that there are people down there who are trust-fund babies, that are super, super wealthy and they're going down there and pretending that they really care; they just wanna be part of the 'movement.'"

Singer Eddie Sutton of the legendary New York hardcore/metal act LEEWAY has entered hospice care, four years after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Earlier this week, Eddie shared the following update via his social media: "I've now been in hospice care for about 6 days and I'm still trying to prove the professionals wrong and try to keep hope alive. The problem is my appetite....as much as I want to eat and crave so many foods I just can't seem to swallow it or the smell becomes nauseating, to me. It's quite a torture....try to imagine wanting to eat but your taste buds make it taste different or there's something in the food that makes you feel sick. I have to rely on the same things; Ensure nutritional drinks and fruit cups to supplement whatever I can stomach and even that is minimal because my stomach muscle is so infantly small."

He added: "I'm still fighting folks I'm not stopping".

Back in October 2022, Sutton told Mark Kadzielawa of 69 Faces Of Rock stated about his efforts to keep LEEWAY alive: "Now that I'm battling cancer, to just play and perform is everything to me. And I think it's more special now simply because I know this is going to end at some point.

"I have a spreadable form of cancer called squama carcinoma," he explained. "It started in my right lung, and I have two masses in the back of my left kidney, the top part, called the adrenal gland. And to be removed 13 lesions from my brain.

"I'm winning the fight and battle after battle, but I don't think I'm gonna be able to win the war," Eddie admitted. "Very much like an underdog, like Ukraine up against Russia at this time. It's okay. I've taken responsibility for it with my lifestyle, smoking all my life. It is what it is. So I'm gonna have fun with it until it's time to call it a day."

A GoFundMe campaign was launched more than three years ago to help Eddie deal with the cost of his treatment.

Formed in 1984 by Sutton and guitarist A.J. Novello, LEEWAY has released four studio albums — "Born To Expire" (1989),"Desperate Measures" (1991),"Adult Crash" (1994) and "Open Mouth Kiss" (1995) — and broken up and reformed several times over the years. Despite never achieving notable commercial success, LEEWAY is considered to be an integral part of the 1980s New York hardcore and crossover thrash scenes.

LEEWAY launched its debut demo, "Enforcer", in 1984. The songs would later appear on the band's debut album, "Born To Expire", in 1989 on Profile Records, a record label known for rap and club music, with RUN-DMC as their labelmates. "Born To Expire" showcased stronger musicianship and greater production value than their counterparts in the NYHC scene and highlighted Eddie's melodic and harmonious approach in delivering his lyrics.

Eddie stated: "I grew up on R&B, so it's naturally in my style. I was also a big fan of singers like David Bowie, Ozzy [Osbourne], Phil Lynott, David Lee Roth and even Lemmy, as well as punk and hardcore punk singers like Pete Shelley and H.R. Each of these vocalists taught me to be an individual."

"Born To Expire" was well received among fans and critics, launching them into the national performing circuit, sharing the stages with LIVING COLOR, BAD BRAINS, CIRCLE JERKS, EXODUS and TESTAMENT, as well as many others. "Born To Expire" was also documented as the first NYHC band to be added to the Grammy Awards first-round ballot nomination vote list, where music insiders vote on each musical category; LEEWAY made the list in 1989 and it was unheralded.

LEEWAY's sophomore release, "Desperate Measures", continued to push the envelope and provided a new level of sound with classic songs like "Make Me an Offer", "All About Dope" and "Kingpin". In 1994, when LEEWAY's third album, "Adult Crash", was released, the band was at an influx, but they were still able to stay the course and prove that hardcore could be more than just a sound. As Eddie recalled: "To me, hardcore was about passion and heart. It wasn't simply about three chord thrash and mosh parts. To me, Billie Holiday was hardcore."

With catchy riffs and fan favorites, LEEWAY experimented with its sound with "Adult Crash", but it was their final release, "Open Mouth Kiss", where they really got things right.

"Despite the troubles with myself and the band," as Eddie stated, "we still wrote strong songs like 'Hornet's Nest' and 'Foot The Bill', but I never felt more like an accomplished recording artist until we wrote that album."

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HALL AFLAME, the rock band led by METAL CHURCH founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, will release its sophomore album, "Amplifire", on May 3 via Rat Pak Records.

Originally formed in 1989, HALL AFLAME garnered commercial success with its debut LP, "Guaranteed Forever", which was well received by fans and industry peers alike and quickly found themselves opening for ZZ TOP on their 1991 "Recycler" tour for a number of dates. As with many bands from that era, facing a decline in interest for AOR rock due to the onslaught of the "grunge" scene, the band went on a lengthy hiatus and reunited again in late 2023 to begin working on a handful of songs.

"Amplifier" offers 12 new studio tracks and reunites Kurdt with original bassist Brian Smith, along with drummer Bill Raymond and frontman Scott Nutter.

Vanderhoof comments: "This album came about as a project to document all the songs that we had written for the second album that never came to be. We revisited the songs and realized they had to be recorded properly. Then it blossomed into something much better than we had even hoped! So that led us into reforming the band instead of just having it be a project."

Smith adds: "I think anyone that is a fan of 'Guaranteed Forever' will see this record as a new and improved 'Part II' of HALL AFLAME. Great songs, great production and we had a ton of fun putting this together!"

Nutter says: "A good hard rock album should lift you, make you want to sing along and rock out! That's what this album does for me!"

From the driving album opener "Helltown" to the powerhouse outro track "Keeping Them All Away", HALL AFLAME shines with its signature brand of rock and roll. Tracks like "Ripcord", "In The Same Gutter", "It Ain't Enough" and "Gunnin'" are filled with memorable hooks and melodies, while songs like "Pullin Me Apart" and "1974" showcase their unique, classic rock songwriting abilities. With influences that range from BAD COMPANY to THIN LIZZY, "Amplifire" is best described as the perfect blend of classic rock with a modern-day edge.

Track listing:

01. Helltown
02. Ripcord
03. 1974
04. This Ain't Love
05. The Same Gutter
06. It Ain't Enough
07. Gunnin'
08. Pullin' Me Apart
09. Long Way Down
10. Keeping Them All Away
11. Cowboy (bonus track) (CD and digital)
12. Paradise On Ice (bonus track) (CD and digital)

VENOM INC. has recruited Marc "JXN" Jackson as the band's new drummer. Jackson was previously a member of M:PIRE OF EVIL, the group formed in 2010 by ex-VENOM and current VENOM INC. members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Tony "The Demolition Man" Dolan (bass, vocals).

In a new interview with Arrow Lords Of Metal, Tony stated about Marc's addition to VENOM INC.: "He was with us during the early days of M:PIRE OF EVIL. touring with us and recorded the 'Crucified' album, which was one of my fave albums I ever did."

Jackson joined VENOM INC. as the replacement for Jeramie Kling, who announced his departure from the band last November after a five-year run.

Kling, who is also a member of INHUMAN CONDITION, previously sat out VENOM INC.'s 2022 summer festival appearances at Alcatraz festival in Belgium and Bloodstock Open Air festival in the U.K. He was replaced at those shows by legendary British extreme metal drummer Nick Barker.

Back in 2018, VENOM INC. recruited Kling to fill in for Anthony "Abaddon" Bray on a European tour while Abaddon stayed home to spend time with his newborn daughter.

Dolan told Arrow Lords Of Metal about Abaddon's split from VENOM INC.: "I wanted him with us originally and Mantas was cautious, but I made a mistake assuming he'd grown and learned from his past. I also (mistakenly, as it seems) thought, at our age, the proficiency with playing and attitude to business would be simpler and easier as the mistakes and erroneous dealings that haunted his past would be gone, but I was very wrong. I still championed him, but in the end, I had to concede I'd failed in my faith in him. No one ever thought he was a great drummer, but a huge character. That was true and when starting and in your 20s that attitude of 'Who cares? Let's just make a noise' is great. But when you are closer to 60s and are still based in that skillset, with zero progression, it isn't workable for long. The demands of the music itself became obviously beyond his reach. Very disappointing, really, but it leaves it so that those shortcomings exposed didn't have fans screaming he should come back and especially following [Jeramie]."

Kling made his recording debut with VENOM INC. on the band's sophomore album, "There's Only Black", which was released in September 2022 via Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to 2017's "Avé" marked the second recording under the name VENOM INC., while Dunn and Dolan have a long history as recording artists together in VENOM, M:PIRE OF EVIL and Mantas solo projects.

VENOM INC. is not to be confused with the Conrad "Cronos" Lant-fronted version of VENOM, which is continuing to tour and make albums under the VENOM moniker. Joining Cronos in that group are Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums.

Mantas sat out VENOM INC.'s fall 2023 U.S. tour after revealing that his wife had been diagnosed with cancer. He was replaced on the trek by Mike Hickey, known for his work with VENOM, CARCASS, CATHEDRAL and CRONOS.

FIREHOUSE singer CJ Snare died Friday night (April 5) at age 64. Snare's daughter Heather tells TMZ his official cause of death is cardiac arrest.

Earlier today (Sunday, April 7),FIREHOUSE released the following statement via social media: "Today is a sad day for Rock N Roll.

"It is with great sorrow we are letting the world know we have lost our brother: CJ Snare, the rock and roll warrior, lead vocalist, and a founding member of FIREHOUSE.

"CJ Snare passed unexpectedly at home Friday night, April 5, 2024. He was a young 64 years old.

"As you are all aware, CJ was expected to be back on stage with the band this summer after recovering from surgery.

"We are all in complete shock with CJ's untimely passing.

"CJ was was arguably one of the best vocal talents of a generation, touring the world with FIREHOUSE non stop the past 34 years.

"Our heartfelt condolences go out to the entire Snare family, Katherine Little, friends, and all our beloved fans all over the world.

"'Reach for the Sky' CJ! You will be forever missed by family, friends, fans and your band mates. You're singing with the angels now."

Snare's partner Katherine Little wrote in a separate statement: "It is with a heavy heart that I write this and it's extremely difficult to find the right words. CJ left this world on Friday, April 5th. I've had 8-plus wonderful years with this man and I love him to his core.

"In September of 2020, CJ was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. His initial prognosis was grim, but that didn't stop him. We went for a second opinion and in September of 2021, he had a life-saving operation that gave us these last years with him. He was so incredibly positive during this whole disease.

"He was so strong. He never lost hope. All he wanted was to be the CJ that you all know and love. Last spring, he started having some more issues and he had another surgery in October 2023. This last surgery left him very weak and unable to live a full life. I've been by his side from day 1 and I would have never given up on him.

"CJ leaves behind three wonderful children that are all so very special to me. Life will never be the same. I'm not ready to face this. There is so much to say but words are incredibly difficult right now. Please respect our family during this time of grief and keep us in your thoughts."

NIGHT RANGER frontman Jack Blades also mourned Snare's death, writing on social media: "Just heartsick with the news of our rock n roll brother CJ Snare's passing. Many wonderful memories of NR and FIREHOUSE playing together. CJ's sweet soul & great smile always brightened up the day no matter what was happening."

FIREHOUSE hasn't released a studio album since 2011's "Full Circle", which featured re-recorded versions of some of the band's older songs. The group's last collection of new material, "Prime Time", came out in 2003.

FIREHOUSE reached stardom during the early '90s with hits like "Reach For The Sky", "Don't Treat Me Bad" and "All She Wrote", as well as its signature power ballads "I Live My Life For You", "Love Of A Lifetime" and "When I Look Into Your Eyes".

At the 1992 American Music Awards, FIREHOUSE won the award for "Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock New Artist". They were chosen over NIRVANA and ALICE IN CHAINS.

Formed nearly four decades ago, FIREHOUSE's classic lineup consisted of Snare, guitarist Bill Leverty, drummer Michael Foster and bassist Perry Richardson. Richardson left in 2000 and was replaced by Allen McKenzie in 2003.

Today is a sad day for Rock N Roll.

It is with great sorrow we are letting the world know we have lost our brother: CJ...

Posted by FireHouse on Sunday, April 7, 2024