BraveWords Records is excited to release the new Jack Starr music video for the lead track “Rise Up”. The single is taken from his new solo album, Out Of The Darkness Part II, which will be released on April 25.

Jack Starr talking about the new single and video, “‘Rise Up’ is a song about the centuries old fight for freedom and liberty that has been going on since the dawn of time. There have always been injustice and leaders who rule by fear but at the same time there have been brave men who have stood up and asserted their right to live free. ‘Rise Up’ has a universal message of the importance of personal liberty that will appeal to all people of all political persuasions because even though it may be expressed differently at the end of the day people want to live their lives in peace even if it is sometimes requires a struggle to achieve that.”

Watch the new video below, and stream/download the single here.

Early reviews for Jack Starr’s Out Of The Darkness Part II.

“Part 2 will blow the world with those catchy rhythms, heavy vocals, and blasting solos.” – The Metal Mag

‘Prepare for total devastation and exploding your stereo, a must-have 100/100.” – The Metal Mag

“The new Jack Starr song is awesome, and Giles Lavery is a welcome addition to Jack’s songwriting.” – The Metal Command Podcast

Jack Starr talking about the new album, “This is the album I always hoped I would make, one that would be filled with power and glory but also melodic and passionate at the same time. This is the sequel to my 1984 album Out Of The Darkness, and it truly is a worthy successor that I believe will be embraced with the same affection that greeted the original. So yes, Out Of The Darkness Part II is here, and I urge everyone to listen to it. Keep the metal burning.”



Out Of The Darkness Part II tracklisting:

“Hand Of Doom”
“Endless Night”
“Into The Pit”
“Rise Up”
“Underneath The Velvet Sky”
“Tonight We Ride”
“The Night Has A Thousand Eyes”
“Sahara Winds”
“The Greater Good”
“Soulkeeper”
“Savage At The Gate” (Bonus Track)
“The Lesson” (Bonus Track)

Lineup:

Giles Lavery – Vocals (Warlord, Alcatrazz)
Jack Starr – Lead Guitar
Eric Juris – Lead Guitar (Warlord)
Gene Cooper – Bass
Rhino – Drums (ex-Manowar)

Guests:

Mark Zonder – Drums (Warlord, ex-Fates Warning)
Jimmy Waldo – Keyboards (Alcatrazz, Warlord, New England)

– Produced and mixed by Thomas Mergler
– Co-Produced by Giles Lavery & Jack Starr

Machine Head have launched their new Shotgun Blast Whiskey.

Batch #1 Limited Edition Collector’s Box, comes with 2 (two) Sawed-off Shotgun shaped bottles and 2 (two) Shotgun Shell shot glasses. An ultra-premium blend of 11 year aged and 4 year aged bourbon. 60% corn, 36% rye, 4% malted barley. This exceptional mash bill and aging process was handpicked by Robb Flynn himself, coming in at a powerful 94 proof, delivering a shot of rich bourbon flavor straight to your pallet.

Shop now, here.

Adds guitarist/vocalist/founder Robb Flynn, “We are beyond stoked to be doing this. As most of you know, Machine Head has always been a drinking band, from our first shows playing kegger parties, to sending out a hearty “cheers” to 70,000 of our friends while headlining Hellfest last year, both Machine Head and the Head Cases like a drink or 3. So last year when the opportunity presented itself to deliver a premium bourbon whiskey, it was a bit of a no-brainer.”

“Aged in first-use, charred American oak. The nose opens with layers of caramelized vanilla, toasted oak, and dark honey, complemented by notes of leather, baking spices, and a touch of dark cherry. On the pallet waves of rich toffee, brown sugar and toasted pecan, meet nutmeg and clove, balanced by the younger bourbon’s bright butterscotch and caramel corn. Hints of dark chocolate, black pepper, and dried orange peel add depth, while a velvety mouth feel leads to a long, warming finish of cinnamon spice, and smoky oak.

“To Machine Head fans everywhere may these bottles serve as a reminder to stand tall, speak loud and let freedom ring like never before. This is Shotgun Blast Whiskey, the first round is on us.

“Let freedom ring with a shotgun blast.”

US orders happening now, here. Find the EU pre-order page here.

Philip Anselmo's SCOUR and PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS bandmate Derek Engemann has defended the singer over the controversy surrounding his actions at a California concert more than nine years ago.

Anselmo performed the PANTERA classic "Walk" at the January 2016 "Dimebash" event at the Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood in honor of late PANTERA guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. As he left the stage, he made a Nazi-style salute. He appeared to say "white power" as he made the gesture, but later claimed he was joking about drinking white wine backstage and was reacting to the audience members up front who he says were taunting him.

In a new interview with the John The Ninja podcast, Engemann addressed the incident, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Yeah, that was an unfortunate event, to say the least. [SCOUR's] John Jarvis and I were actually there at the 'Dimebash' that night. We were backstage hanging out and drinking. There was a lot of drinking involved. It is what it was back then. But a lot of people don't really realize what happened.

"So, they jammed all night for Dime, bringing out supergroups of [different] people. Rex [Brown, PANTERA bassist] was there; all kinds of people were there. And Phil came out at the end for three songs. I think they did [a cover of a] MOTÖRHEAD [song], they did [PANTERA's] 'A New Level', I think, and something else. The second [Phil] came out on stage, there was a group of these three guys that were just — they were just heckling him from the second he walked out on stage, like, You racist. You fucking racist,' blah, blah, blah. And everyone's, like, 'Yo, shut the fuck up. We're trying to enjoy PANTERA. This is for Dime. This isn't about your bullshit.' And they just kept on heckling him the entire time he was out. And at the end, he just lost it. And he was a little drunk and he did the most offensive thing he could to those people. And they were there with their camera. It wasn't like he had pure hate in his heart, and he's, like, 'This is what I'm gonna say tonight. I'm gonna make a statement.' It was, like, these motherfuckers were heckling him all night long, and he just threw gas on the fire. And it was super unfortunate. I know he feels terrible about it. [It was] probably a little embarrassing, I'm sure."

Engemann went on to say that the negative publicity surrounding Anselmo's actions nearly derailed SCOUR's launch. "We weren't sure if SCOUR was gonna happen, 'cause we had the stuff ready to go, and we had every record label wanting to put it out at that time," he explained. "We almost had our pick. And then that happened, and we didn't have our pick anymore. So the album got delayed by, like, six, eight months. And then I wanna say it was the first thing that was released by Phil after that incident. So it was kind of, like, 'How much slack are we gonna be taking for this?' 'Cause black metal has a history of some not nice people involved, and it was kind of a toss-up. But we were, like, 'You know what? The music's good. We're just gonna go with it.' We put it out."

Circling back to Anselmo's controversial gesture, Derek added: "It's not the best part of history, but Phil's owned it. He's apologized. That's not who he is. I've toured with him around the world with THE ILLEGALS, SCOUR shows, PANTERA stuff. It's just not who is. Even our most recent videos were shot by Malcolm Pugh, who's half black. That's my dawg. We go back 20 years too. We used to live together and whatnot. But he said people kept asking him, like, 'Oh, I can't believe you're working with [Phil] after that.' And he's like, man, 'Phil's been nothing but gracious to me, backstage, at his home.' He's, like, 'I don't even know what you're talking about.'

"So, I don't know. I don't know how else to say it, but it's, like, that's not who [Phil] is," Engemann concluded. "It was a bad moment."

Back in May 2019, Anselmo was asked by U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine if he felt the "Dimebash" debate was something he had moved past. Anselmo responded: "I feel like it's ridiculous. I made an off-color joke and 'Boom!' — it's like I'm literally Hitler! I'm not. I take each individual one at a time, in the way that any logical individual will. I have love in my heart. Over the years, I've learned to take the first step with love and to put good faith first. I get along with everybody. If there's any doubt about my political leanings, people should get it out of their heads. I was raised amongst a dazzling [cast of characters] from the theater, from the mental hospital, from all walks of life — all colors, creeds and kinds. It's absurd to me that anyone in this day and age would judge anyone by the color of their skin, their heritage or their religion. I'm a harmless guy. I'm a reactionary, not a troublemaker."

In the days following the "Dimebash" incident, MACHINE HEAD's Robb Flynn — who played PANTERA songs with Anselmo at the event — released an eleven-minute response video in which he denounced Anselmo as a "big bully" and a racist. He concluded by saying that he would never play another PANTERA song again. ANTHRAX's Scott Ian, who is Jewish, released a statement on his official web site saying, "Philip's actions were vile" and invited Anselmo to make a donation to the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Former PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, who hadn't spoken to Anselmo since the band's split in 2003, was dismissive when asked for a comment on the singer's white-power salute. "I can't speak for him," Vinnie said in a 2016 interview. "He's done a lot of things that tarnish the image of what PANTERA was back then and what it stood for and what it was all about. And it's sad."

In 2017, Anselmo blasted "false journalism in the metal community" for suggesting he was racist because of his actions at "Dimebash".

In a November 2016 interview with Clrvynt, Anselmo denied being racist and explained that his actions at Dimebash were him "being crude and lewd and showing an extension of a joke from backstage."

"First and foremost, I'll take that one. I'll own it," he said. "I did something extremely stupid that I know was absolutely stupid. If anyone in this world believes that I go through life judging anyone — no matter what color, size, shape, sexual preference — they are sadly, sadly mistaken. I might have gone and been successful in my life at what I do, but I still to this day don't think that I could walk five minutes in someone else's shoes. Just like I don't think they could deal with the pressure I have on me as the person that I am and all the crap I deal with every day, so it goes both ways, man. I am no rustic fool, despite what I might get sometimes get into on a stage. That part of my personality is like pro wrestling or something. It's part of me — I don't know where that came from. But 'racist' is a very strong word. Truth be told, I have more love in me for everybody than I do [loathing]. If you don't [believe me], look at my track record and you'll see a lot of love there, I do believe. If you see the loathe part — well, maybe that's my expression as an angry vocalist. Still, that doesn't equate to someone that hates someone else for their fucking skin color. That is absurd.

"I was raised in the French Quarter," he continued. "My earliest memories are of living in the French Quarter, raised by women, with theater folk in and out of the house. If you've never been to the French Quarter, you would have to know that it is one of the most diverse, character-driven, all-walks-of-life type of place. If I really and truly upset people that I work with, or that really took offense to what I did that particular night, that hurts my heart. I wish everybody nothing but everything they could ever possibly dream of to come true in their damn lives.

"I want people to understand that I have nothing but love in my heart," Anselmo added. "The whole Dimebash thing was me being crude and lewd and showing an extension of a joke from backstage. I made myself out to be the ugly face of it all. I did that. I accomplished it, and now I'm, like, 'Fuck, why?' Really, I should have just walked away from the situation. It is what it is, but hopefully the truth comes out in the wash, and I love everybody. I do. The sad truth of it all [is] I love everybody, almost to a fault."

In a new interview with the 100.3 The X Rocks radio station, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach spoke about the band's latest album, "This Consequence", which came out on February 21 via Metal Blade. Regarding why it seemingly took so long to release the LP after it was recorded months earlier, Leach said: "Yeah, tweaks and final finishes, for sure. We wanted to make sure the mix was where we wanted it to be. Song selection, kind of deciding what songs made the record and what didn't. It was a very careful process. We really wanted this album to be everything that it should be — a nice, short and sweet punch in the face. So, yeah, it took a little time."

Regarding the songwriting approach on "This Consequence", Leach said: "I think we kind of all know how to do our thing, but on this record, the standard was set a lot higher. I think we all, especially me, I was getting a lot of feedback on how to do things, and I think it really helped me look outside the box, lyric-wise and vocal wise, and it pushed me to do something a little different. It's still a KILLSWITCH record — it's not a huge departure from our sound — but if you're really paying attention, there's nuances there, both lyrically and vocally, that I'm pushing to do something that's got a fresh feel to it. So as much as we have honed the KILLSWITCH sound, I think all of us are a little eager to push a little outside of that here and there — I think with this record of bringing in a little more extreme metal some hardcore into it and just a feeling of desperation and anger, which I think was necessary for this record."

On the topic of the increased aggression in KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's new material, both in terms of the music and the lyrics, Leach said: "Yeah, everyone can relate. Look at the world we're living in, man. Look at the division that's amongst us as people. And for me, I'm just trying to kick back, push back on all that with a righteous anger. It's not a hate-filled anger. It's an anger because I know we can do better as a human race, I know we can do better in our country. So to me, it's passion fueled, but there's definitely some anger behind that, for sure. Frustration."

"This Consequence" is KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's ninth LP overall, and sixth with Leach, who rejoined the band in 2012.

In a recent interview with United Rock Nations, Jesse was asked what the biggest challenge was in making the new record. He said: "I think for me wanting to be, and I use this word loosely, relevant, but relevant to me and my bandmembers. I wanted what I had to say to excite them, but I also needed it to be genuine. I needed it to be something that when I looked at those lyrics, I thought, 'Yes. That's exactly what I wanna say.'

"I went through — I don't know — seven, eight songs where I was kind of just throwing it out to see what would stick," he continued. "And those guys were, like, 'This doesn't feel like you're really giving us your best.' So having that sort of rejection from them initially was very hard. It sort of felt like I was becoming insecure. I was wondering if I had it in me. But that turned into a determination to rediscover myself as a writer, to go deeper, to tap into things that I never tapped in before, and to sort of look outside of myself. I mean, after everything we've been through, there's so much to draw from. There's so much to pull from. So I started pulling from things that I was seeing on mainstream media. I started pulling from stories that I heard from people that they've been through. I started pulling from extreme relationships of abuse and just kind of dialing them all into a story — obviously coming from me and the way that I saw and felt about those things, but it ended up becoming much more of a worldview as opposed to just me going, 'I, me, I.' It was more about us — 'This is about us.' Hence the title 'This Consequence'. It's about us — all of us. How do you respond to these situations? How do you modify your behavior? What lessons have you learned? And realizing that with everything that you do, there's going to be a reaction.

"So, the big picture to me is what I was focusing on and how to how to heal our PTSD from everything we've gone through and realizing that we're still all going through it," Leach added. "We may not realize it, but we are. And how do we allow the outside sources that are constantly manipulating us to control our minds and to continue to keep us divided? The challenge was how do I crack that code? How do I get that message through to people? And I did the best I could. And I think I did pretty damn well."

Asked if writing about all those topics was a form of therapy for him, Leach said: "Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, it is. And I think it's necessary. You can't avoid it. And I think I avoided it a lot during the pandemic. I wanted nothing to do with it, 'cause it was such a volatile time. I think we're all sort of coming down off that, and it's not so intense where people are actually open to discussions of, or maybe you weren't 100 percent accurate or correct in your belief. Maybe you have room to be wrong here, and if so, what did you learn from that? And how do you move forward without having that assumption being part of your vocabulary? I think all of that is very important. And as a writer, how do I write it in such a way where you as a listener can draw your own conclusion? So I'm not giving you the answer. I'm asking you to think about this thing. And then what do you think about that? You as the listener can sort of put the answer on that question. And that's really what I tried to do — writing with a broad enough brushstroke where the song can be yours. I penned the lyrics, but I very much want you to sort of take the torch and run with it."

In a separate interview with Joshua Toomey of the "Talk Toomey" podcast, Leach stated about the "dark", "angry" and "aggressive" nature of "This Consequence": "Yeah, I think angry, dark and aggressive, for better or for worse, is kind of what the world needs right now, I think, therapeutically speaking. I think a lot of us can relate to frustration, anger, betrayal, all those things, and that's kind of what I highlighted lyrically with this album; I was really focusing on that stuff. But I will say this: if you really read into the lyrics, there's a positivity through a righteous anger, anger that wants to sort of wake people up and have people choose their own path instead of just the blind leading the blind, which is what we see so much in society and our governments and organized religion and all these things that control us as people. It's very much about breaking out of the matrix, if you will, and carving your own path. And there's a righteous anger underneath all of it, and that's where the positivity lies. But I think with metal music, the great thing about it is you can talk about dark stuff and it is therapeutic. That's why a lot of us get into this kind of music."

Elsewhere in the chat, Leach touched upon his growth as a vocalist since the release of 2019's "Atonement" LP, saying: "Truth be told, ['This Consequence'] was very difficult for me to write and sort of find my inspiration again. And even vocally, learning new techniques, like the vocal fry, and trying to add that into my old technique and still sound like me, it was a long, hard process.

"Especially after my vocal surgery in 2018, I relearned how to speak differently — I speak differently than I did," he explained. "I'm more measured; I make sure my voice is placed in the right place. And through that, it went into my vocals, my singing, especially. I was really focusing on my singing first and foremost to stay in key and not go flat or sharp. Then it was, like, my screams were — I was so paranoid. I was really worried about… We do three shows in a row. That fourth show, I'm, like, 'It's getting difficult. I can feel the swelling happening.' So I was really studying vocal fry, 'cause you can do a lot of cool stuff with fry, but me with my voice, it has such a signature sound to it, I guess, according to Adam [Dutkiewicz, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist and producer], at least, that if I just went into that new technique completely, the lows were missing something, my yelling. It different. So I was going into these demos just doing fry, saving my voice, especially thinking that, once I get to the studio, it's going to be fatiguing; we're doing four- or five-hour sessions. But I kept falling flat and the voice just didn't sound right. For some of the high stuff, it works, but for the lower, mid stuff and for the death metal growls, that's all old school… It's the old-school way, the way we all started doing it in the late '80s and early '90s. So I've learned, thankfully, through a lot of trial and error, and this album had a lot to do with it, to blend the styles. So I can do my old-school stuff, and then I can sort of blend in some of the vocal fry to hit those crazy, maniacal-sounding highs without it destroying my voice."

Earlier this month, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE kicked off its first tour of North America since late 2022. The trek features support from KUBLAI KHAN TX, FIT FOR A KING and FROZEN SOUL.

SHADOWS FALL singer Brian Fair has praised the band's new material, saying it covers "a lot of ground sonically".

On Wednesday (March 12),Fair took to his account on Threads to write: "Getting more and more excited about the new @shadowsfallband music we are working on. We are covering A LOT of ground sonically, letting all of our influences and inspirations seep into things. Insane to feel like we are having a rebirth 30 years into our existence. So many ideas and riffs flowing. Sorry for the tease but you will just have to wait patiently until it's all ready to unleash."

Last December, SHADOWS FALL released a new single, "In The Grey". The track marked the band's first new piece of music in more than 12 years.

"In The Grey" was made available via SHADOWS FALL's new record label home, MNRK Heavy.

The song was described in a press release at the time as "classic SHADOWS FALL — galloping solos, riffs on top of riffs, three-tiered vocals, memorable, stadium-sized melodics, and introspective lyrics."

"We are incredibly excited to share our first new music in over a decade with our single 'In The Grey' and are proud to announce our partnership with MNRK Music Group," Fair said.

"When SHADOWS FALL first got back in the practice space to prepare for our reunion shows, we did not know if it would lead to new music, but the excitement of jamming together and all of the riffs that Jon [Donais, SHADOWS FALL guitarist] had floating around in his head led us in the direction almost immediately. The idea began flowing, the energy started building and new songs began taking form out of the chaos."

He continued: "'In The Grey' is a full-throttle thrasher that contains all of the elements that are the bedrock of the SHADOWS FALL sound, but also adds new elements and approaches that developed in the recent past while we all explorer other musical avenues. Lyrically, I was trying to put into words and describe the physical manifestation of the weight and crushing power that can come with depression, that feeling that the weight of gravity is crashing down on you or being trapped in the dark waters of our own mind, trying to rise to the surface and take a breath. It can be an overwhelming and lonely place but there is always a light at the end of that tunnel and we always need to keep striving for a brighter day and escaping the grey."

Fair finished: "We want to sincerely thank everyone for the decades of support that you have given SHADOWS FALL and we cannot be happier to be back and rocking once again. Crank up 'In The Grey', raise those horns to the sky, and bang your head as hard as you can. Stay tuned for more music and news soon..."

Last August, Fair told Sh!t Talk Reviews about SHADOWS FALL's new deal with MNRK: "We definitely have a great partner for the music. We have a very progressive kind of view. They're gonna let us kind of release it in a way that makes sense. So, yeah, we're very excited that we got kind of the infrastructure."

He continued: "It's very different now. The traditional sort of record deal, it doesn't have to be the way it used to be. There was such an industry standard of, like, record a full-length, tour for a year and a half, record a full-length, tour for a year and a half, that kind of cycle. And it's been totally decimated now, 'cause you don't need to do the… The first-week [sales] numbers don't mean what they used to, all that type of shit. So it's cool. But, yeah, we've got a good partnership."

Regarding the progress of the songwriting sessions for the fresh SHADOWS FALL material, Brian said: "I'm very excited to be making new SHADOWS FALL music, which we'd always thought would happen, but didn't know for sure. When we kind of stopped touring, it wasn't 'cause we didn't wanna make music together or didn't want to play. We were so burnt out. Life was taking different turns. People were having kids. Jon ended up in ANTHRAX, so he was in the 'Big Four' [of 1980s thrash metal] all of a sudden. So once we finally got together to start playing shows again a few years ago, the idea of new music came up almost right away. And Jon just had a stockpile of riffs.

"We're gonna take our time, 'cause there's really no deadline involved," he explained. "Also, I don't think we're gonna release it all at once. I think now, thankfully, modern ways of doing things, you don't have to just drop a 10-song album. You can do a few just like little chunks here and there… But, yeah, getting back with [producer] Zeuss [Chris Harris] is just awesome. We've been working with him, really, since the demos before [2000's] 'Of One Blood' [album]. And we're recording most of it at Matt's [Bachand, SHADOWS FALL guitarist] house as well. So when I get back to Massachusetts, it's super comfortable, just get in his basement and just work on tunes. And it's been a blast… So hopefully things keep moving the way they are."

Noting that SHADOWS FALL drummer Jason Bittner recently announced his departure from OVERKILL, one of the Sh!t Talk Reviews interviewers then asked if it is "safe to say" that SHADOWS FALL "is back" and is "not going to go anywhere anytime soon." Brian responded: "It's not going anywhere, but I don't think we'll ever be the full-time touring band we were. It's a lot of family stuff and people have just got different things going on. Jon, being in ANTHRAX, that's gonna be kind of his main gig most of the time. Jason, yeah, he left OVERKILL, but he's also got CATEGORY 7 with John Bush and Phil Demmel and all those guys, and that new record's killer. So they'll be busy with that. But we're definitely gonna keep playing shows. We're gonna keep doing festivals. We probably will hopefully do some short tours here and there, especially when new music comes out, but we're gonna kind of pick and choose our battles, which is, again, also a nice place to be in.

"When the band was our full-time job, you couldn't stay at home for too long or there wasn't gonna be a home to come home to," Fair explained. "You've gotta go out and grind. So it's nice to not have that pressure, but also to do it because it's fun again. Each show that we've done have all been blockbusters in our minds because there's just enough time between each one that you get that excited again. It ramps up and then it's just like an explosion.

"Me personally, I was so burnt out by the time we stopped touring in 2015. We'd been on a 15-year run where I hadn't been home for more than a few weeks through that whole thing. And physically, my neck was shot, my back was shot. I was burnt mentally as well, so it was time to come home for a while. But then, now I'm, like, 'Okay, cool. Let's go have some fun.'"

"The only way to survive in a band like us… We're not gonna sell 10 million records and have all that stuff," Brian added. "So you've gotta go out there and stay on the road to keep your name in front of people, keep everything exciting. You've gotta sell t-shirts — that's how you make your money, [by staying] out there on the road. And, yeah, if a label is gonna spend a bunch of money to drop a record and do videos, they're, like, 'You've gotta go promote it now. You've gotta get out there and hit it.'

"What's driving us to record now is that we love the songs we're writing. It's not 'cause there's a deadline. And the shows we're playing is because we're just, like, 'That sounds like a party, man. Let's do it.'"

Elaborating on how he and his SHADOWS FALL bandmates chose their new record-label partner, Brian said: "It's totally changed things where they've kind of realized their best role is as a promotional partner and a manufacturer, if you're doing vinyl or whatever. CDs, they still make 'em, I guess, but not in the numbers they used to. And a lot of them downsized, because they had to. So it's more about partnering with the band and label relationship and finding a way to make it make sense for everyone.

"The old model doesn't work," the 49-year-old singer, who now lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife and their two kids, added. "It's broken. You can't just throw money at things and think it's gonna hit. People have too many choices. You can put out music yourself, so there's definitely an oversaturation, unfortunately, as well because of that. So there's just so much content, you've gotta find new and innovative ways to share it and keep it special. And I think the labels that are surviving and thriving are the ones who are flexible, willing to evolve, willing to work with the artists' vision as opposed to just, 'Cool, man. Let's stick to the old method.'"

The long-running Massachusetts-based metallers, who were at the forefront of the New Wave Of American Metal scene that dominated the '00s, celebrated the 20th anniversary of their "The War Within" album by playing the LP in its entirety in March 2024 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, the site of the band's many classic shows.

In an interview with the WSOU 89.5 FM radio station, Fair stated about SHADOWS FALL's new music: "You can tell it's SHADOWS FALL, but, man, it's got new vibes, it's got new influences and it's just kind of a very fresh approach.

"When we first started working on it, we were worried," Brian admitted. "We were, like, 'Is this gonna sound like us?' We hadn't written songs together in five to six years, where it's gonna be. And, man, right out of the gate, we were, like, 'This is the SHADS. We're back.'"

Elaborating on the musical direction of the new SHADOWS FALL material, Fair said: "Honestly, it's gonna be everything that we've always done, plus more… I'm super excited about these songs. I've also been pushing myself as a singer to really expand my range to try new ideas, and having the time to work through that has been really helpful. 'Cause even when SHADOWS FALL was doing downtime, I was doing different projects and trying to really bring some new elements to what I do, and I'm putting all that into this record. So it'll sound like SHADOWS FALL, but there'll definitely be some some new interesting ideas and approaches and stuff. So it's really exciting."

He added: "For us, it's just been great to be back in the room jamming on new material, 'cause when we got together to do these [reunion] shows, when we're rehearsing, we were, like, 'If we're putting this work in, why not see what happens with new music?' And I couldn't be happier with how it's coming out. So, really exciting."

In December 2023, Fair told RichardMetalFan about SHADOWS FALL's decision to reunite: "We'd wanted to play shows again for a while and we just wanted the time to be right. And once the pandemic kind of hit, we sort of realized, like, 'Why are we waiting around? It's the time.' So we were lucky that we were able to kind of get everyone's schedules together. And it was incredible. As soon as we started jamming together again, it just felt fun, it felt right. So the shows were a blast. We really rehearsed like crazy for it. And we're probably better prepared for that than anything we'd ever been for before that. And we also realized, like, man, we should have been practicing more when we were together. We used to hate practicing. We always were, like, 'Ah, we tour enough. We don't need to.' And then after we practiced a bunch, we were, like, 'All right. Maybe we really should have.' [Laughs] But then also when we started practicing, we figured if we have ideas, why not write new music as well? If we're gonna get together, let's see what we've got. So that started leading to some new stuff. So [I'm] looking forward to seeing where it heads."

Asked if the next SHADOWS FALL release will be stylistically similar to the band's last album, 2012's "Fire From The Sky", or if it will be "a new beginning" for the band, Brian said: "If you heard these songs, you'd be, like, 'Oh, that's SHADOWS FALL.' But no, it doesn't sound like… It's different. It definitely sounds different."

Fair previously discussed SHADOWS FALL's plans for new music during an episode of "Drinks With Johnny", the Internet TV show hosted by AVENGED SEVENFOLD bassist Johnny Christ. At the time, he said: "We're pretty deep into the process. I'd say I'm kind of a slacker, but I'm really focusing on getting things as good as I can vocally because we have no agenda. We have no time frame. We have no record label pressure. We're just trying to write the best music we can. And it all kind of came about as we started jamming to do the reunion shows. And these guys have — Jon's been playing in ANTHRAX and Jason's been playing in OVERKILL, so their chops are still at top-notch level. But they had riffs, man. And I was, like, 'If we've got riffs and they sound like SHADOWS FALL, if we're gonna get together and jam, let's make some new music.'"

He continued: "It's been a blast, man. It's funny, 'cause the older we've gotten, it's gotten a little more brutal, which was not a surprise, 'cause I just figured that would happen. We're, like, 'If we're gonna do it, we're gonna drop the hammer.' So it's been fun, man. I forgot how much of a riff machine Jon was. And he's just like — ideas are just flying out of him. And also in ANTHRAX, he just gets to solo in the studio. So he's just, like, 'Finally I get to write some riffs.' [Laughs]"

In July 2023, Bittner told the "Nothing Shocking Podcast" about SHADOWS FALL's decision to work with Zeuss again: "[Zeuss] did all of our records except for… Well, he had a hand in all of them except for 'Fire From The Sky'… So he's always been involved with SHADOWS FALL in some way, shape or form. Once this whole reunion thing kind of morphed from being just a one-show thing, we started talking with him, 'cause he still lives two minutes away from Paul [Romanko, bass]. So, it's, like, 'All right. Well, if you guys are getting back together, what's the next step? Are we making another record?' We're, like, 'Well, we don't know.' And he was, like, 'Whatever we're doing, let's get on it.' So kind of, like, we just sort of figured, 'We don't have any money to pay you, because we don't have any money because we don't have a record label or anything.' But he was just, like, 'Well, let's just start doing this and let's do it together.'"

SHADOWS FALL released a statement in August 2014 in which the bandmembers explained that financial difficulties made it virtually impossible for the group to continue as a full-time concern.

In August 2015, SHADOWS FALL played a few reunion shows on the U.S. East Coast, one year after completing what was being billed at the time as the band's "final" European tour.

"Fire From The Sky" was released in May 2012 via Razor & Tie. The CD sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 38 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Photo credit: Jeremy Saffer

SLEEP TOKEN returns with "Even In Arcadia", the band's fourth offering and first under RCA Records, set for release on May 9. This new chapter follows "Take Me Back To Eden" and continues the unfolding journey, where SLEEP TOKEN further intertwines the boundaries of sound and emotion, dissolving into something otherworldly.

Preorders for "Even In Arcadia" can now be placed in addition to "Emergence" seven-inch vinyl single variant.

As this next chapter commences, SLEEP TOKEN has unveiled its return to the U.S. with the "Even In Arcadia" tour, with stops across 17 cities this fall. Promoted by AEG Presents, the "Even In Arcadia" tour will be SLEEP TOKEN's only 2025 headline tour and exclusive to the U.S. All dates are below. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 21 at 10 a.m. local time. SLEEP TOKEN will also appear at the Louder Than Life festival on Friday, September 19

SLEEP TOKEN wants to give fans, not scalpers, the best chance to buy tickets at face value. To make this possible, they have chosen to use Ticketmaster's Face Value Exchange. If fans purchase tickets for a show and can't attend, they'll have the option to resell them to other fans on Ticketmaster at the original price paid. To ensure Face Value Exchange works as intended, SLEEP TOKEN has requested all tickets be mobile only and restricted from transfer.

*New York, Illinois, Colorado, and Utah have passed state laws requiring unlimited ticket resale and limiting artists' ability to determine how their tickets are resold. To adhere to local law, tickets in this state will not be restricted from transfer but the artist encourages fans who cannot attend to sell their tickets at the original price paid on Ticketmaster.

"Even In Arcadia" tour dates:

September 16 - Duluth, GA - Gas South Arena
September 17 - Orlando, FL - Kia Center
September 19 - Louisville, KY - Louder Than Life*
September 20, 2025 – Greensboro, NC - First Horizon Coliseum
September 22 - Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
September 23 - Worcester, MA - DCU Center
September 24 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
September 26 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena
September 27 - Cleveland, OH - Rocket Arena
September 28 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena
September 30 - Lincoln, NE - Pinnacle Bank Arena
October 1 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
October 3 - Denver, CO - Ball Arena
October 5 - West Valley City, UT - Maverik Center
October 7 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
October 8 - Portland, OR - Moda Center
October 10 - Oakland, CA - Oakland Arena
October 11 - Los Angeles, CA - Crypto.com Arena

* Festival

Formed in London, United Kingdom in 2016, the SLEEP TOKEN members perform under cover of anonymity in cloaks and masks. Only two of the group's pseudonymous members — singer and multi-instrumentalist Vessel and drummer II — are credited as having played or written a note on any of SLEEP TOKEN's three albums so far.

Widely considered one of the biggest rock bands in Britain, SLEEP TOKEN wrapped up a massive U.K. arena tour last December that included two stops at London's O2 Arena.

The members of SLEEP TOKEN have never revealed their true identities and have only done a handful of interviews since forming in 2016.

Photo credit: Andy Ford

Rob Zombie has released a new spelling book titled "Z Is For Zombie: Learning To Spell With House Of 1000 Corpses Friends".

Published by Neck Bolt Publishing, the new 76-page hardcover book features artwork by Pete Bregman.

The official product description of the book reads: "It's always more fun to learn with friends, especially when they're 'House Of 1000 Corpses' friends! Rob Zombie presents 'Z Is For Zombie: Learning To Spell With House Of 1000 Corpses Friends', where aspiring spellers can learn the important words and phrases properly. With support from positive role models like Captain Spaulding, Baby Firefly, Otis Driftwood, Professors, Doctors, and Rob Zombie himself, learning is just so damn good!"

"Z Is For Zombie: Learning To Spell With House Of 1000 Corpses Friends" is available now for $39.99 from Amazon.

Released in 2003, "House of 1000 Corpses" was Zombie's debut as a feature film director.

Even though "House of 1000 Corpses" was not a box office smash, the relatively low-budget flick's (which cost a reported $7 million to produce) $12.5 million haul was enough to make Lions Gate Films happy.

2005's "The Devil's Rejects", widely considered Zombie's best film, picked up the story of the infamous Firefly family, a clan of psychopathic murderers first introduced in "House Of 1000 Corpses".

Zombie's first live appearance with bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson in 18 years took place last August at the opening show of the 2024 leg of Zombie and Alice Cooper's "Freaks On Parade" tour at the Isleta Amphitheater in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Blasko's return to Rob Zombie was announced in January 2024.

Nicholson rejoined the group just hours after the shock rocker's longtime bassist Matt "Piggy D." Montgomery revealed that he was exiting the band after 18 years.

Blasko was previously a member of Rob Zombie's band from 1997 through 2006, playing bass on the first three Zombie albums: "Hellbilly Deluxe", "The Sinister Urge" and "Educated Horses".

Nicholson left Zombie in May 2006 in order to join Ozzy Osbourne's recording/touring band.

Montgomery played bass on the Rob Zombie studio albums "Hellbilly Deluxe 2" (2010),"Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" (2013),"The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser" (2016) and "The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy" (2021).

In the fall of 2022, John 5 left Rob Zombie to join MÖTLEY CRÜE as the replacement for that band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. John 5 has since been replaced in Zombie's band by returning guitarist Mike Riggs.

Rob Zombie's current band consists of Zombie, Riggs, Blasko and drummer Ginger Fish, who has played with Rob since 2011.

Last November, Canadian rockers THREE DAYS GRACE released "Mayday", their first single since the return of original frontman Adam Gontier. The 46-year-old musician, who left THREE DAYS GRACE in 2013, is sharing lead vocals in the band's new lineup with singer Matt Walst, who has fronted THREE DAYS GRACE for more than a decade.

In a new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, THREE DAYS GRACE drummer Neil Sanderson stated about how the band's new two-singer arrangement came together (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "First and foremost, we're a family. We all grew up together in a small town, and so Matt, who came in 2013 to replace Adam, he's been in the band for, yeah, 12 years now. But he's Brad, our bass player's younger brother. So he was around as a kid when we were first just jamming in basements and trying to figure out our sound as we were teenagers, and he wasn't even a teenager. And so for him to come in was just a very natural fit. And then, as time progressed on, we just started having open conversations, which is the notion of, like, what would this be if we joined forces and we become a five-piece? And it creates a completely new dimension and facet for the sound of THREE DAYS GRACE and our ability to artistically branch off into just different things that we can do with having two voices that are uniquely different, but come together in such a powerful way. So it feels like we've kind of come full circle and we've closed this loop. And it's just fate, I guess, that we're all seeing eye to eye now and the band sounds bigger than ever. And, yeah, it's a great time to just see it all come into one full force moving forward."

Regarding the musical direction of the upcoming THREE DAYS GRACE album and how "Mayday" fits into that, Neil said: "It's definitely dynamic. 'Mayday' was a song that we — I guess we were pulling some inspiration from our [2006] record 'One-X' with songs like 'Animal I Have Become' and things like that, where it's a really driving-force song. The lyrics are really a social commentary about how sometimes you feel in life that you're like hurling at just warp speed through time and space and you don't quite know who's at the wheel… It feels like everything can be in fast forward and sensory overload, which isn't always healthy for the human brain. And basically just making the decision whether you're gonna swim against the current or whether you're gonna fall in line with other people, and making those choices on a daily basis. So that's what that song's about. The rest of the record, we have a lot of really heavy moments. We do love sort of down tempo heaviness. I mean, we listen to a lot of PANTERA and stuff like that, and that is contrasted with some songs that I think are really going to bring out the emotion, because they're emotional to us. And I think that's the strongest connection with THREE DAYS GRACE and our fans, is that we're writing from the heart and from the gut and deep down in the psyche and putting it out into song. And when people can relate to that and see their own lives in that music, then that's the most powerful thing you can have as an artist. So there's a lot of that where we stay true to ourselves and we're not afraid to write about the real deep down stuff. And that seems to always resonate with our fans because it's coming from a real place."

Asked when fans can expect to see the new THREE DAYS GRACE album, Neil said: "It's looking like we're gonna be releasing it in June. We're just putting the final touches on it… We're past the recording stage. We're doing some mixing right now and just doing some finessing, just kind of going over [everything]. Some of the times we'll go back to it and just see like what we can mute, what we can remove. Sometimes that's an exercise in making a record that's good because sometimes you just have too much stuff in there and more isn't always better. So we kind of go through, at this process, and just make sure that every part in there is deliberate and is there for a reason and is making the song better. If not, it's gone."

THREE DAYS GRACE played its first full show with Gontier in 12 years on February 25 as the support act for DISTURBED on the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho.

In a recent interview with Nik Nocturnal, Adam was asked how it feels to be back in THREE DAYS GRACE after such a long absence. He responded: "Well, I think more excitement than anything, man. 'Cause it's just been so long. And it just felt like the right time — it felt like the right time for everybody. So, yeah, just excitement and kind of ready to go."

He continued: "It took a little while to connect with the guys and do a couple shows together, a couple things, but, yeah — just more excitement than anything, and definitely some nostalgia, obviously. But, yeah, I think everybody's really, really excited about this next chapter. It's gonna be quite the year, I think."

Regarding the prospect of sharing lead vocals with Matt in THREE DAYS GRACE's new lineup, Adam said: "Yeah, I was just talking with somebody about that. We got sort of — not lucky, but our voices do blend really well together. And we've noticed it obviously way more now with making the record and recording and all this stuff that, yeah, our voices really blend well. Yeah, so we're fortunate for that, that it's working out the way we had hoped."

Gontier added: "It's been great, man. It's cool. Matt grew up with the band. He's Brad's little brother, and I knew Matt from when he was just a little guy. So I think for them it was a natural fit to get him to take my spot there. And, yeah, now [we're just, like] — let's do it together."

Asked how he and Matt delegate the vocal responsibilities on THREE DAYS GRACE's new material, including "Mayday", Adam said: "Yeah, that's what we've been doing. I mean, we're all sort of writing the new stuff together, so we've been sitting in a room together, coming up with all this material and stuff… We're in a room together and coming up with all that stuff… But yeah, I think the recording of vocals, who's gonna sing what and where, it's come pretty natural. There's certain parts that we both now know, like, 'It might make more sense for me to sing this part or you to sing this part.' And at the same time, working with a couple of different producers on stuff, we did get some guys that would have some good input and just a good idea of what to do with two singers, 'cause it hasn't really been done before — not in this world. So we wanna make sure we're doing it right. So getting an outside point of view from a producer or something to put his two cents on where the guys should go and that sort of thing, that's helped out a lot too. But, yeah, in general, it's been pretty seamless. The whole thing has been really easy to navigate through."

"Mayday" was produced by Zakk Cervini and Dan Lancaster with vocal production by Howard Benson. In addition, the band released an epic CiRCUS HEaD-directed visual to accompany the track which can be found below.

In a December 2024 interview with "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, Adam was asked if "Mayday" is a good representation of the material that will eventually appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's next studio album. He responded: "I think it's pretty close. I think it was pretty important for us to sort of get some elements in these songs that were super classic THREE DAYS GRACE with some newer elements as well. So I think 'Mayday' is a good representation of that. It's a pretty heavy song, but it's got everything else that we wanted to have in there. So, yeah, I think it's pretty close."

Asked if there was ever any doubt "Mayday" would be the first song to introduce this iteration of the band, Matt said: "We found with 'Mayday' — we listened to, obviously, our ideas and our songs a lot, and with 'Mayday', we kind of all found we never got sick of it. Personally, too, I listened to it over and over again, and I didn't get sick of it. And it takes you on this kind of journey throughout it, and it's not super predictable. And, yeah, [we] just found it was fresh."

Matt also talked about how the idea for having two singers in THREE DAYS GRACE came about. He said: "I think one day I just talked to my brother Brad about it and was, like, 'It'd be sick if Adam came back. And we could both sing, and I can sing the songs of the past 10 years and Adam can even sing a few of those too.' And yeah, it just seems like a new life to breathe into THREE DAYS GRACE and to make it exciting, like the early days or just to freshen it up and, yeah, make it exciting."

In a separate interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Neil stated about Adam's return to THREE DAYS GRACE: "We had been talking and we've kept in touch. And the band was just talking about, like, how great would this be for us and for the fans and for the nostalgia of THREE DAYS GRACE. And then he got up on stage with us [for a guest appearance], and then we just thought, 'Let's make something new. Let's sit down and write a song.' And once we kind of got into that songwriting process, it just felt really natural and it felt right. And I think for the fans, we're giving them something that we haven't done before and hasn't really been done much in the past."

On the topic of the "Mayday" video, Neil said: "It was a really fun video to make. It was kind of especially cool for me because very rarely as a drummer do you get to make a video where you don't have to fake playing drums all day. [Laughs] And so, yeah, complete melee goes on on the plane. And it's kind of an analogy to just feeling like we're hurling through life at warp speed, and sometimes it doesn't feel like there is a pilot that's in control of things. But it's also a bit of a celebration, like, 'Hey, if we're going down, we're all going down together.'"

In April 2023, Gontier reunited with THREE DAYS GRACE onstage during the band's concert in Huntsville, Alabama. Gontier rejoined his former bandmates when they opened for SHINEDOWN at the Probst Arena At The Von Braun Center to perform two classic songs from THREE DAYS GRACE's 2006 album "One-X": "Never Too Late" and "Riot".

THREE DAYS GRACE later shared a post-performance photo with Gontier on social media and wrote in an accompanying message: "Soooo we did a thing."

In 1992, Gontier, Brad Walst, Phil Crowe, Neil Sanderson and Joe Grant formed GROUNDSWELL while most of the members were still in high school. That band broke up in 1995, but two years later Gontier, Sanderson and Walst reformed as THREE DAYS GRACE. Gontier left the band in 2013 and was replaced by Matt, the vocalist from another Norwood band, MY DARKEST DAYS.

Gontier initially went into rehab in 2005 in Toronto after admitting an addiction to Oxycontin. The rehab stint influenced some material which would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's "One-X" album, including the songs "Pain" and "Over And Over".

Gontier left THREE DAYS GRACE in the spring of 2013. At the time, the Canadian rockers cited unspecified "health issues" when his departure was announced. Adam later released a statement explaining he exited THREE DAYS GRACE to pursue new projects, and not to deal with addiction.

Gontier is currently a member of SAINT ASONIA, which also features STAIND guitarist/founding member Mike Mushok. The quartet is rounded out by Cale Gontier (bass) and Cody Watkins (drums).

THREE DAYS GRACE's latest album, "Explosions", was released in May 2022 via RCA Records.

Bay Area underground metal heroes Slough Feg revive the classic Traveller storyline on the Traveller Supplement 1: The Ephemeral Glades EP—seven songs of pure weird metal glory. The EP is set for release April 11 via Cruz Del Sur.

Asteroids! Vegetable spores! Space pirates! Add ‘em up and what do you get? The Lord Weird Slough Feg’s sequel to their now-classic 2003 studio album, Traveller. Traveller Supplement 1: The Ephemeral Glades arrives in the format of a 20-minute EP that delivers lean and mean heavy metal without all of the fluff.

Just as important, it bears numerous similarities to its highly regarded predecessor, right down to being recorded at the same studio, with the same producer (Justin Weis), with the same microphones. The only difference is that 24 years have elapsed.

The Ephemeral Glades story picks up where the original Traveller left off: The exiled Professor Rickets, still transformed to a Vargr, living in exile on his secret asteroid ship, and Baltech Budapest hiding out on the icy planet Mithril.

According to the members of The Lord Weird Slough Feg—guitarist/vocalist Mike Scalzi, second guitarist Angelo Tringali, bassist Adrian Meastas and new drummer Austen Krater—the EP was born from the idea of choosing the best ideas and leaving the rest on the cutting room floor.

In true The Lord Weird Slough Feg form, The Ephemeral Glades, gallops and surges with the band’s trademark twin guitar action. A lot of the vim and vigor behind The Ephemeral Glades is attributed to Krater, who is a prolific writer and contributed to many of the EP’s songs.

“Knife World”
“The Black Circle”
“Mission On Mithril”
“The Ephemeral Glades”
“Magnetic Fluctuations”
“Ice Shelf Stomp”
“Vargr Reprise”

Listenable Records will release Cadaver’s Hymns Of Misanthropy album on April 25. Pre-order the physical edition of the album here, and the digital edition here.

Cadaver’s long-lost beast, “Maltreated Mind Makes Man Manic”, finally claws its way into the light – begun in 1993, finished in 2024, and seething with three decades of buried rage. Anders Odden (guitar/vocals) and Ole Bjerkebakke (drums/vocals), the original architects of sonic chaos, reunite to unleash this long-brewing storm together with Eilert Solstad (double bass). Raw, relentless, and disturbingly prophetic, this track proves that madness only festers stronger with time. Check out a lyric video below.



On Hymns Of Misanthropy, Norwegian legends Cadaver revisit unreleased material that offers a fascinating glimpse into the band’s formative years. This is a raw and powerful chapter of Cadaver’s history, demonstrating once again that they were never just a typical death metal band, but consistently pushing the envelope of what extreme music can achieve.



Hymns Of Misanthropy tracklisting:

“Maltreated Mind Makes Man Manic”
“Chained To His Fate”
“Nowhere To Hide”
“Sunset At Dawn”
“From The Past”
“Breaking Through”
“Misanthropic Anthem”
“Death Has To Wait”
“Through The Pain”
“Drowned In Dreams”

Metal Sludge is reporting that Ted Poley’s drummer, Paul “Paulie” del Boccio, collapsed on stage during the Danger Danger singer’s performance on board the Monsters Of Rock Cruise on March 12.

According to the report, a source from the show that was side-stage, said; “I saw Ted trashing the drums, then I saw his face, and he looked terrified”, then the source added; “I then realized his drummer was laying flat… and then paramedics were trying to resuscitate him.”

Another source says: “We just heard an alpha massage for medical“, and shortly thereafter paramedics quickly started on him; “He got compressions on stage.”

A fan named Richard posted on Facebook the following: “We are on board. They shut down that section of the ship to address his health issues.”

A fan named Mark who was at the show posted the following on Facebook: “We didn’t know exactly what was going on. Show ended, people were waiting for the group photo. Suddenly, parts of the drum kit were being thrown aside. Then everyone was “told” to get out. Looking back it looked like they were doing CPR, we thought he had fallen backwards. After getting out of the theater, and into another floor, we heard a ‘Alpha Emergency’ being broadcast, and crew running toward the stairs.”

Billy Corgan achieved stratospheric fame as the founder, frontman, and creative force behind the legendary SMASHING PUMPKINS. A Grammy winner whose powerful songwriting, commanding vocals, and inventive melodies were the foundation for the massive, decade-defining double album "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness", Corgan has now teamed up with Lyric Opera of Chicago, his hometown company, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this groundbreaking album with his signature boundary-pushing, innovation and imagination.

The result is "A Night Of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness", a new commission inspired by one of the greatest alternative albums of all time. You'll hear Corgan and special guest artists along with the epic sound of the Lyric Opera Of Chicago Orchestra And Chorus in a completely new, sonic and visual experience. Whether you love the PUMPKINS and are excited to hear their music in a sumptuous new dimension, or you simply crave the opportunity to hear a new work inspired by the unexpected, this promises to be one of the can't-miss cultural collaborations of the season.

"A Night Of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness" will be staged across seven nights only, November 21–30, 2025. Corgan reimagines his magnum opus by marshaling all of Lyric's technical and artistic forces for an immersively original sonic and visual experience that blurs the boundaries of opera, rock, and performance art. Featuring newly commissioned arrangements and orchestrations by Corgan and James Lowe, who also conducts, as well as costumes from House of Gilles by Gilles and Chloé Mendel Corgan, these historic performances promise to further magnify the legend of the original album and expand the definition and intention of opera.

"It is thrilling to collaborate with Lyric head John Mangum, my musical partner James Lowe, and all of the artists at Lyric in reimagining this very special and historic album, and to discover how Lyric's full operatic treatment is helping me experience my own compositions in powerful new ways," says Corgan. "Opera and rock both tell stories of heightened emotions, and I am excited for both fans of my music and traditional opera fans to hear some truly inspired work; for the balance here is to honor both traditions in a magisterial way."

Tickets for "A Night Of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness" go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 11 at 10:00 a.m. at lyricopera.org and are available to Lyric subscribers now, as part of a subscription package.

John Mangum, general director, president and CEO of Lyric Opera of Chicago, adds: "Next season is filled with a tremendous range of lavish and powerful opera productions that we are excited to share with our audiences. I'm just as excited about the special performances like 'A Night Of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness' that open the aperture and expand the definition of opera and what an American opera company can be. The season clearly illustrates how this company continues to push the art form forward and create new work that can only happen in Chicago."

"Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness" was SMASHING PUMPKINS' third studio album. It featured the singles "Tonight, Tonight", "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "1979".

Photo credit: Jason Renaud

On March 11, METALLICA's Lars Ulrich joined Apple Music's global creative director and Apple Music 1 lead anchor Zane Lowe at SXSW (South By Southwest) conference and festivals for a session at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas titled "Breaking The Fourth Wall". Lars and Zane explored how the band is continuing to use revolutionary technology to connect more deeply with fans, bringing them truly inside their dynamic live performance. In this candid chat, attendees heard from Lars how METALLICA has leaned into technology throughout their career to the present day, to reinvent storytelling and redefine the fan experience that ultimately breaks the fourth wall.

During the chat, Lars talked about METALLICA's 2004 documentary "Some Kind Of Monster", which ended up becoming an honest examination of one of the world's most successful heavy metal bands. Originally intended to be a promotional video paid for by Elektra Records to document the members of METALLICA going back into the studio for the first time in five years, "Some Kind Of Monster" ended up following METALLICA through the three most turbulent years of their long career, during which they battled through addiction, lineup changes, fan backlash, personal turmoil and the near-disintegration of the group during the making of their "St. Anger" album.

After Lowe noted that "Some Kind Of Monster" brought fans "closer" to METALLICA, Lars said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Some say too close [laughs] along the way. I remember when the movie came out [in] 2004, there was not a lot of reality TV at the time. There was not a lot of, of that economy and the creator economy and all these different things. It was like a different thing at the time.

"I don't know if you guys know this, but originally it started out as a… We were making a new record, and these wonderful filmmakers who had done a movie called 'Paradise Lost', which was absolutely groundbreaking and phenomenal about these hard rock kids that were in all sorts of trouble in Arkansas and getting mixed in and accused of murders and all this crazy stuff," he explained. "Anyway, we provided our music for the soundtracks and we got a relationship with these filmmakers. We asked 'em to come in and film us making the next METALLICA record, but our intent was to do something along the… Remember the Ginsu knives and all those like late-night infomercials: 'But you also get another one and then you get another one and then you get six more Ginsu knives. And if you order before midnight, then…', all that shit. So that was a thing at the time. 'So the new album, if you order the new album before midnight…' Anyway, so they came in to film the process of making the next record, and then all hell broke loose and meltdowns. And we kept filming, and then they filmed all the crazy shit that happened. And then the record company at the time who was financing the filming said, 'Wait a minute. What is this?' And so we had a conversation with the filmmakers and we said, 'We trust you guys. If there is the film in here that you still envision, why don't we buy the rights to the movie from the record company?' So, no disrespect to the record company, but we got them out. And then we controlled it. We gave it to the filmmakers, and then they turned that into 'Some Kind Of Monster'. And we were game for it. We didn't exactly know how it was gonna play out… It was all about trust, trusting the filmmakers. And then it became that movie, and we kind of had to sit there and go, like, 'Holy shit. That's a lot of access and a lot of transparency.' But we had sort of gone along for the dare, and so we figured that we should stick with it."

Regarding how "Some Kind Of Monster" was received at the time of its release, Lars said: "A lot of music fans and a lot of music critics felt that maybe it was too much of a peek behind the curtain and there were things in there that maybe fans shouldn't see. But in the film world, in the film community, it was received really, really well, really positively and got glowing reviews, because as a film, there was this natural dramatic arc to… I don't need to go into the details of it. Documentaries don't always have dramatic arcs to them, and this film kind of had this organic thing that played out… Subsequently it became a hit within the movie community. It kind of became a hit or go-to movie within the mental health community and for a lot of psychologists and psychiatric sort of approaches and in the spirit of team building and seeing how teams sort of work under pressures, under creative pressures and so on. And I think eventually it kind of came around to the music fans and the music community to appreciate that kind of unprecedented — at that time — access to the inner workings of a band and the creative processes and all the ups and downs that human beings who play music go through in a collective setting at that point in their career. And so thank God that we had, I guess, the belief in the material and the belief certainly in Joe [Berlinger] and Bruce [Sinofsky], our directors, to hand them the project and say, 'Do with this what you like. We trust you.'"

While initially helping METALLICA towards restoring band harmony, "Some Kind Of Monster" shows "performance coach" Phil Towle, a former psychotherapist who was brought into the picture in January 2001 to help James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Ulrich repair their relationship with then-METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted, attempting to increasingly insert himself into the band's creative process, submitting lyrics for the album and even attempting to join them on the road.

"The presence of the cameras helped keep the process on track," Ulrich told The Wrap in a 2014 interview. "There was another set of eyes and ears there. Sometimes when somebody else is in the room, you watch your p's and q's a little more. I think it kept the whole thing from derailing in some peculiar way.

"We were at a crossroads," Ulrich added. "We had been really good at being able to compartmentalize a lot of this stuff. Suppress it with drinking or other extravagances. This was the first time we had to talk to each other, get to know each other and work stuff out … The cameras were there catching all of it."

"Some Kind Of Monster" also documented Hetfield's spiral into alcoholism and decision to check himself into a rehab facility. Hetfield's re-emergence from rehab is when the film really gets into gear, with the chief worry in his mind whether or not he could do METALLICA sober.

"Hetfield went away, but we said, 'Why don't we keep filming? Because we think it's interesting,'" Ulrich said. "We said, 'We trust you guys.' And they ended up being another set of eyes and ears in those rooms for the next 18 months as we dealt with the aftermath of Hetfield going away and all of the subsequent domino issues that came in the wake of that."

According to Ulrich, METALLICA had no idea how fans would respond to seeing footage of the band's touchy-feeling therapy sessions that ultimately healed the group and kept METALLICA from splitting up.

"As much as you want to control how people react, there are always things that throw you for a loop," Ulrich explained. "The fact that the music world was a little bewildered by it and the fact that the movie world sort of embraced the film was not something we would've predicted."

METALLICA released a tenth-anniversary two-disc Blu-ray edition of "Some Kind Of Monster" in November 2014. The new edition of the film was made available digitally and via VOD for the first time. It also contained a new bonus feature, "Metallica: This Monster Lives", a 25-minute follow-up segment filmed at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival during the premiere of the band's second film, "Metallica Through The Never". The segment featured interview footage with the band and Berlinger and Sinofsky in which they all looked back at the decade since the release of the film.

In a new interview with Jack Bergin of Australia's Triple J, SLIPKNOT's British-born bassist Alessandro "VMan" Venturella spoke about last year's addition of drummer Eloy Casagrande to the group's ranks. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That guy, he's brought a whole new lease of life… It's to the point where sometimes you're, like, 'Man…' I start ad-libbing now 'cause he has started adding some stuff in, and then all of a sudden that will spawn Jim [Root, SLIPKNOT guitarist] to do a little thing like that. And that kind of thing is so refreshing to me. Even songs like 'Unsainted', we're bringing that back and he's adding his own flair to that, which then [is] just really making it fun to be on stage."

After parting ways with Jay Weinberg in November 2023, SLIPKNOT teased fans with a hint about a new drummer a year ago, posting a photo of a single broken drumstick online with the caption "Rehearsal."

The band explained in a statement that the split with Weinberg was a creative decision. Jay followed up with a statement of his own, saying that he was "heartbroken and blindsided" by his dismissal.

Weinberg has since joined SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and INFECTIOUS GROOVES.

Casagrande abruptly quit SEPULTURA in February 2024, shortly before he was supposed to begin rehearsals for the band's 40th-anniversary farewell tour.

Venturella began working with SLIPKNOT during the recording of 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter" album, contributing bass tracks along with guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson and former touring bassist Donnie Steele. He made his live debut with the band in 2014 at the first annual Knotfest.

In 2019, Alessandro told Bass Guitar Magazine that he landed in SLIPKNOT after getting a phone call from Root while working with MASTODON as guitarist Brent Hinds's tech.

"Me and Jim became friends while I was teching," Venturella said. "He was asking if I knew any bass players. When I found out what for, I put my hand up right away. He pointed out, 'But you don't play bass?' and I said something to the effect that I could do whatever he needed from me. Then I just had to make sure it was true."

According to Venturella, his role early on in SLIPKNOT was to "fill a great man's shoes and do him justice," referring to original bassist Paul Gray, who passed away in 2010. "My approach isn't the same as Paul's. I can't be him and never will be; every player is ultimately born different. That said, if you listen to Paul's note choices on 'Vermilion', he was all over the shop and it sounded great. I wanted to try things like that.

"After listening to his stems, I honestly looked at bass in a different light and understood how to support everything as the backbone," he continued. "Take the bass out of the mix and everything will fall flat on its arse — and equally, if you mix too bass-heavy, you're not going to get your point across either. Lead guitarists, on the other hand, always need to cut through because that's what the job entails. As the rhythm section, we're there to hold the fort."

Gray passed away from an accidental overdose of drugs.

In a new interview with Larry Mac of the 96.1 KLPX radio station, legendary rocker Alice Cooper was asked how he keeps his live performances fresh every time he embarks on a new tour. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "First of all, I surround myself with the best players. Everybody in my band are the best of the best. Our drummer won 'Best Drummer In Rock'. Nita Strauss was 'Guitarist Of The Decade'. These are the best players you could find. And they're all best friend, which is no egos. I said, 'I want the ego on stage.' I said, 'But offstage…' And they're just like that anyways. Most bands hate each other. This band hangs with each other every night. And that's what makes them so good. So if somebody comes up with an idea — somebody might say, 'You know it would be good here if we did 'Go To Hell',' that song. And I go, 'Yeah, we could have [my wife] Sheryl do the whip dance,' and this and this. 'Let's try it tomorrow.' And if it works, we keep it in the show. But I allow everybody to give their ideas about what should happen. In the end, I make the decision, but we try so many things. If it sounds right, then we'll try it. And same with the [Alice's side project] HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES. You've got Joe Perry and Johnny Depp and myself, and that band has been together eight years. There's never been one argument in that band."

Asked if there are any plans for the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES to tour again, Alice said: "We were supposed to last year, and Johnny got two movies that he had to do. And Joe's sort of in limbo not knowing what AEROSMITH's gonna do next. But Joe has his own band that he tours with.

"The problem with that band is my schedule has to open, [Joe's] schedule has to open, Johnny's… And so we have to do it a year in advance and just say, 'When are you open, Johnny, to be able to tour? Give us two months. Joe, give us two months. Alice, give us two months.' And then we can go out on tour," he explained.

"Everybody's got their own projects going. I mean, especially Johnny. He works like crazy. But [he's the] nicest guy and a great guitar player."

As previously reported, former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke made his live debut with Alice Cooper on January 31 at Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia. Clarke filled in for Strauss, who unfortunately had conflicting obligations of her own. Previously, guitarist Orianthi had been planning to fill in for Strauss, but due to a recent injury she sustained, Orianthi was unable to do the tour.

Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical brand of hard rock that was designed to shock. Drawing equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock, the group created a stage show that featured electric chairs, guillotines, fake blood and boa constrictors. He continues to tour regularly, performing shows worldwide with the dark and horror-themed theatrics that he's best known for.

In a previous interview with 96.1 KLPX, Cooper stated about how his stage show has evolved over the years: "It's so funny because it used to be easy to shock an audience in the '70s. Now nobody's really trying — we're not really trying to shock an audience. I don't think anybody is 'shock rock' anymore, but those elements still remain in the show because they're fun to watch. It's still fun to watch the guillotine and the fact that you really buy in to it because of what happens before that. You're really concerned about this character Alice up there, what happens. And that's what I like about it. I want the audience to get involved in the show. We don't do a lot of lasers. We don't do things like that, because I want the emphasis to be on the character Alice, what happens to him and what he what exactly he's doing. But all that happens during all these songs that everybody knows — 'Feed My Frankenstein' and 'Poison' and 'No More Mr. Nice Guy' and, of course, 'School's Out' at the end."

Fresh from the success of his latest album "Road", a concept album about the thrills and spills of touring, Alice is accompanied, as always, by his long-running live band of Ryan Roxie (guitar),Chuck Garric (bass),Tommy Henriksen (guitar),Glen Sobel (drums) and Nita Strauss (guitar).

With a schedule that has included six months year in and year out on the road, Cooper brings his own brand of rock psycho-drama to fans both old and new, enjoying it as much as the audience does. Known as the architect of shock-rock, Cooper (in both the original ALICE COOPER band and as a solo artist) has rattled the cages and undermined the authority of generations of guardians of the status quo, continuing to surprise fans and exude danger at every turn, like a great horror movie, even in an era where CNN can present real-life shocking images.

With his influence on rock and roll and popular culture long since acknowledged, there is little that Cooper hasn't achieved in his remarkable career, including platinum albums, sold-out tours and any number of honors and career achievement awards.

Since unleashing the single hot on the heels of the presidential inauguration, RISE AGAINST's "Nod" has become "the anthem we need right now" (Vice). As the band's first new song in three years, "Nod" arrived right in time, quickly uniting millions in its urgent call for community and compassion, encouraging listeners to not sit idly by as world events, societal changes and technology shape our ways of life. In recent weeks, RISE AGAINST debuted the rallying cry live on a rousing run of shows throughout Europe and South America. Now, they prepare to bring it to arenas and amphitheaters across the U.S., where the message of "Nod" is more imperative than ever.

Before kicking off the "Rise Of The Roach" tour — beginning at Houston's Toyota Center on March 20 and continuing on to Los Angeles's Kia Forum and dozens of other stops this spring, summer and fall — RISE AGAINST have released a new video that showcases "Nod" around the world, on-stage and in the pit.

Produced by Catherine Marks (BOYGENIUS, FOALS, MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA, ST. VINCENT) and mixed by Alan Moulder (NINE INCH NAILS, PARAMORE, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, THE KILLERS),"Nod" serves as a searing statement of intent, arriving at the outset of RISE AGAINST's next chapter. Just as the stakes could not be higher, the Chicago punk rock band is back bigger, louder and more progressive than ever, imploring listeners to replace reactions with action. "It's something a lot of people could stand to hear right now," says Consequence.

Like the body of multi-gold and platinum hits that have come before it, "Nod" further amplifies the type of invigorating music, outspoken messages and bulletproof melodies that have earned billions of streams, filled arenas, topped charts, broken records, and, above all, joined fans in an embrace of vital issues. "'Nod' is about the solace we find in community," says RISE AGAINST's lead vocalist and lyricist Tim McIlrath. "It's about the comfort in knowing that we are not alone. This comfort can temper our anger and our frustration, at least temporarily."

In a recent interview with Oran O'Beirne of Overdrive, McIlrath spoke about "Nod", which will appear on RISE AGAINST's upcoming follow-up to 2021's "Nowhere Generation" album, tentatively due later in the year. Regarding when the ideas for the new material came together, Tim said: "Let's see if I can remember. It came after the tour. We were really focused on 'Nowhere Generation' when we were touring. And then we wrapped that up. We took a break, which is pretty standard for us. The touring, it's intense and it takes a lot out of you. And that's kind of our moment where everyone can kind of go reconnect with home and then kind of recharge your batteries. And so we started writing probably a few months after we got off the road from 'Nowhere Gen'. We weren't really rushing or pressuring ourselves.

"This is our tenth record — we've been doing this for a long time — and so it's very organic in terms of timing," he explained. "We write when we feel that urgency to write. We record when we feel like it's ready. We don't do anything that's too rushed. And so that was this record, was when ideas started percolating and we started sharing them. We were, like, 'Okay, I think we have some songs here. Let's start putting them together.' And then we just took our time putting those songs together."

Asked if he and his bandmates still get nervous when they are about to release new music in terms of how it will be received by the RISE AGAINST fans, Tim said: "By the time we release it, by the time you hear it, it had to get through so many checks and balances just for the four of us — every single note, part, lyric, sound — and I'm really confident in the song at that point; we're all really confident. So it's, like, this is the best version of RISE AGAINST in 2025. And so, aside from that, there's nothing I can do about how people accept it. And that goes back to when you were first a band, and you took that leap of, like, 'I'm just gonna make music and put it out there.' And it was a surprise to see that anybody connected to it. And so, in that sense, I'm I'm always appreciative, because I don't expect people to love our band, I don't expect them to love our songs. I'm always consistently appreciative. There's a lot of gratitude when someone goes, 'Oh, I love this song.' Especially when you put out a song this late in our career, people are, like, 'Yo, this is a great song. That's awesome.' That's what you want. And if people don't like it, that's kind of okay too. We're not out here trying to shove anything down anybody's throat. But if you're hearing a new RISE AGAINST song, you're hearing what we think is the best version of ourselves right now."

As for whether "Nod" is a good representation of what fans can expect to hear on RISE AGAINST's upcoming album, Tim said: "Yeah, if I had to piece it in a group of songs that we've put together, 'Nod' is probably among the more traditional RISE AGAINST. I think that you hear it and you hear RISE AGAINST, you hear sort of what we've done and what we have been doing, but in a little bit of a new way. So I think it falls in the category of pretty like traditional RISE, which is a sound that we will always embrace. And there's stuff on the record, I think, that will be less traditional, for sure."

Front Row Bobby has uploaded video of DISTURBED's March 10 concert at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Check out the clips below.

DISTURBED's setlist was as follows:

The Sickness

01. Voices
02. The Game
03. Stupify
04. Down With The Sickness
05. Violence Fetish
06. Fear
07. Numb
08. Want
09. Conflict
10. Shout (TEARS FOR FEARS cover)
11. Droppin' Plates
12. Meaning Of Life

Greatest Hits

13. Ten Thousand Fists
14. I Will Not Break
15. Bad Man
16. Land Of Confusion (GENESIS cover)
17. Indestructible
18. The Sound Of Silence (SIMON & GARFUNKEL cover)
19. The Light
20. Inside The Fire

DISTURBED kicked off the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" on February 25 at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho. The trek celebrates 25 years of DISTURBED's seminal debut album which launched the band into public consciousness and is one of the most important and influential heavy metal albums of all time. Each night features two sets of music, opening with DISTURBED playing the five-times-platinum "The Sickness" in full, followed by a full set of greatest hits. Openers on the U.S. shows include THREE DAYS GRACE, SEVENDUST, DAUGHTRY and NOTHING MORE, depending on the date.

A few days prior to the launch of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour", DISTURBED singer David Draiman told the 100.3 The X Rocks radio station that getting ready for the trek was "a ton of work," requiring "a ton of preparation. Lots of little Easter eggs, so to speak, [are] part of the performance. Definitely dipping heavily into the nostalgia. So, getting into it, it's been a nice little trip down memory lane, it's been sort of a humbling experience kind of, 'cause we've never actually played the first record front to back before. This is gonna be our first time doing it. Some of these songs we haven't played in — I don't know — 15, 20 years. So it's been a while. It was nice running through everything with the guys last week. It's like revisiting old friends. It's really, really cool. I'm really looking forward to the whole entirety of it. There's definitely lots of production-element surprises that are complex and theatrical, definitely hearkening back to the whole 'Sickness' era, but done in a new and modern way. So it's definitely been a challenge, but one that we've been enjoying as we've been going along."

Asked how much fun he and his DISTURBED bandmates have in coming up with ideas and trying to push the limits of what they can make happen on the stage during a live show, Draiman said: "Well, that all depends. Unfortunately, things like that cost money [laughs], and a lot of it, and if we had an unlimited amount of money, it wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, we do have a limited amount of money. And if we were able to do everything we wanted to, we would be accomplishing all of my dear guitar player's wildest dreams and production fantasies coming to life. He's definitely the mad scientist when it comes to that kind of stuff. He's got a great vision for that sort of thing, and he's been working closely with our production staff, and I've been kind of hanging back, seeing what he's coming up with and what they're coming up with… But it's been challenging, because the environment is tough, and we wanna put on as big of a show as possible, but we don't wanna have to pay from out of our pockets to do it. We'd like to actually make some revenue on it. So it's been challenging, but I can pretty much guarantee everyone, from everything that I've seen over the course of the past couple of weeks, that it is going to be a huge-looking show. It's going to be impressive as hell. And I think that everyone's really going [to enjoy it]."

Earlier this month, DISTURBED announced the European leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" with support from MEGADETH.

Since "The Sickness" was released in 2000, the album was certified five times platinum by the RIAA, spent a total of 106 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart, and Revolver named it one of "Top 25 Debut Hard Rock Albums." Billboard said of the title track upon release: "'Down With The Sickness' is, of course, the quintessential DISTURBED song, harnessing all the band's seethe and its now-famous tribal beat and guitar chug into three and a half minutes of alt-metal mayhem. It's menacing, it's rhythmic, it's rebellious."

DISTURBED recently announced the 25th-anniversary edition release of "The Sickness". To commemorate the anniversary, the band reissued the five-times-platinum-certified LP on March 7, exactly 25 years to the date of their original release.

On February 21, DISTURBED released a new single, "I Will Not Break", via the band's own label, Mother Culture Records.

DISTURBED has become one of the most celebrated and commercially successful metal acts of all time. To date, DISTURBED has seen record-breaking success with sales of over 17 million units and 14 billion streams. It all began with "The Sickness", which includes their songs "Down With The Sickness" (recently certified eight times platinum),"Stupify" (two times platinum),"Voices" (gold),and "The Game" (gold). The album peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 chart and spent a total of 106 weeks on the chart. To date, "The Sickness" has been streamed 2.5 billion times worldwide. It was included as No. 24 on Loudwire's "Top 25 Debut Hard Rock Albums" list, one of Metal Hammer's "20 Best Albums Of 2000," and was highlighted in Revolver magazine's "20 Essential Nu Metal Albums" list. Billboard said of the title track upon release: "'Down With The Sickness' is, of course, the quintessential DISTURBED song, harnessing all the band's seethe and its now-famous tribal beat and guitar chug into three and a half minutes of alt-metal mayhem. It's menacing, it's rhythmic, it's rebellious."

Emerging out of Chicago at the turn of the century with an insidious, infectious, and inimitable vision without comparison, DISTURBED have quietly dominated hard rock on their own terms. They make the kind of music that pushes you to hold on tighter, fight harder, and persevere forever. It's why they've claimed a place at the forefront of 21st century rock with record-breaking success, sales of over 17 million-plus units, nearly eight billion streams, and sold out shows around the globe. The band have six RIAA album certifications, and singles from all eight albums have reached the top ten of the Mainstream Rock chart.

The two-time Grammy Award-nominated quartet have notched five consecutive No. 1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200 for "Believe", "Ten Thousand Fists", "Indestructible" and "Asylum", occupying rarified air alongside METALLICA — the only other hard rock group to accomplish this feat. Since their influential five-times-platinum debut "The Sickness" in 2000, they have built a bulletproof catalog highlighted by a procession of smashes, including the platinum "Stupify", "Inside The Fire" and "Land Of Confusion", two-times-platinum "Stricken", six-times-platinum "Down With The Sickness" and seven-times-platinum "The Sound Of Silence" to name a few. The latter notably received a Grammy Award nomination in the category of "Best Rock Performance" as the band earned "Best Rock Artist" at the 2017 iHeartRadioMusic Awards. Still, DISTURBED never stop, and their most recent 2022 album "Divisive" featured their 17th No. 1 at Rock Radio "Hey You", "Unstoppable" and more.

Swedish godfathers of epic doom CANDLEMASS will celebrate their 40th anniversary of pioneering the genre with a four-track EP, "Black Star". Packed with craterous riffs, this celebration of doom metal mastery is set for release on May 9 via Napalm Records.

With "Black Star", the genre-defying band unveils two brand-new songs alongside two cover versions of timeless classics. The EP will be available in various formats, including a strictly limited vinyl edition featuring a 12-page vinyl booklet, an A3 poster, and a tote bag.

CANDLEMASS mastermind Leif Edling comments: "Not all bands get to see their 40th birthday and it certainly hasn't been an easy ride. But many ups and downs later, we stand here as survivors, veterans even… a bit scarred perhaps? Still ready though to unleash another piece of doom-laden metal upon an unsuspecting world. You have to do something when you turn 40, right? Anyway, as always, it's been fun recording some new stuff as well as covering a couple of old favorites."

Title track "Black Star" blends haunting melodies with deeply introspective lyrics, brought to life by the dark, romantic voice of vocalist Johan Länquist. Songwriter Leif Edling's lyrics delve into themes of existential struggle, temptation, and the allure of darkness — creating an intense atmosphere imbued with CANDLEMASS's signature sound. The second new track, "Corridors Of Chaos", marks a true old-school instrumental containing both classic metal riffing and stunning guitar playing by Lars Johansson, showcasing the band's mastery of dynamics. Adding to this tribute, CANDLEMASS delivers a cover of BLACK SABBATH's iconic "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", taking listeners back to 1973. This is followed by their rendition of PENTAGRAM's classic "Forever My Queen", further cementing CANDLEMASS's remarkable contribution to shaping the genre into what it is today.

"Black Star" track listing:

01. Black Star (new song)
02. Corridors Of Chaos (new song)
03. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (BLACK SABBATH cover)
04. Forever My Queen (PENTAGRAM cover)

As previously reported, a one-off world-exclusive performance of CANDLEMASS featuring the band's former vocalist Messiah Marcolin will take place at this year's edition of the Rock Hard Festival Greece, slated for September 12-13, 2025 in Athens, Greece.

Back in October 2022, Messiah and longtime CANDLEMASS guitarist Mats "Mappe" Björkman joined Canadian metallers ANVIL on stage at the Slaktkyrkan venue in Stockholm, Sweden to perform the classic ANVIL song "Metal On Metal". The event marked the first time in 16 years that the two musicians performed together.

Marcolin exited CANDLEMASS for the presumably final time in 2006, one year after the release of the band's self-titled album. He was later replaced by Robert Lowe (SOLITUDE AETURNUS),who sang on the band's "King Of The Grey Islands" (2007),"Death Magic Doom" (2009) and "Psalms For The Dead" (2012) LPs. CANDLEMASS's frontman between 2012 and 2018 was Mats Levén, who previously recorded and toured with YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and THERION. Seven years ago, CANDLEMASS fired Levén and rehired Johan Längqvist. Längqvist sang on CANDLEMASS's debut album, 1986's "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus", before exiting the group and being replaced by Marcolin.

Photo credit: Linda Åkerberg

During an appearance on the latest episode of the Guitar Hang podcast, THE WINERY DOGS frontman and acclaimed solo artist Richie Kotzen spoke about his upcoming second collaborative album with IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, "Black Light / White Noise", due on April 4 via BMG. Regarding how he and Adrian go about writing music and lyrics together, Richie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There is a bit of a method to our madness. As far as how we record, we kind of adopted a little bit of the approach that I take with my solo albums, because the truth is that we kind of are writing as we go. And so the part that we adopted is this whole notion of everything is mic'd up and ready to go all the time. So the drums are downstairs in the drum room, mic'd up, there's a bass path for the signal to go, the guitar setup. And so what happens is as we're throwing it down, recording the ideas, we can, over the course of a week, two, three days, whatever, go back and change stuff until we get it how we like it. Even to the point that we can change the drum fill. It's, like, 'All right, well, yeah, I wanna rewrite this bridge, and it doesn't really work with the drum fill. If we change the drum fill somehow,' so I can go punch it in, and, bam, there it is."

Kotzen continued: "And then as far as the actual, where the stuff is coming from, the material, it comes from both of us. So, on one hand, Adrian will show up here in this room [at my house] with his laptop and start going through, 'All right. I got this idea. I got this,' and he'll play me five or six ideas. And so, for argument's sake, let's maybe say four of 'em I connect with: 'Oh, yeah, we can do something with that.' I'll put 'em in my computer, 'cause my computer has the software and it's connected to the outboard gear. So, then I'll say, 'Okay, well, I've got this,' and I'll play him six or seven [ideas].' And he'll say, 'All right, well, I like those three.' So we got seven things that are worth messing with. And this is where the process takes a lot of time, because we'll work on something and we'll build what we call a template. And so the template can be built on sometimes a simple drum beat that we play and program or the template can be me downstairs playing a form. And we've done both. And so what we'll do is build the track on that. And then from there we can decorate it however we wish."

Richie added: "The real fun is the lyrics and coming up with what do we wanna sing and talk about, which, depending on what day of the week it is, is sometimes obvious and then sometimes not so obvious. But something that happens is very interesting for us is that — and it happened on several songs. I know on the first record happened on 'Solar Fire' and on this record, it happened on 'Heavy Weather'. I would be singing something on my demo, and I would not be singing real words. It would be, like — I think the word's phonetic or something like [that]… And so it's, like, fake words, and I would do that. And I'd play it for him. And he'd say, 'Well, I like that chorus.' And he'd say, 'It sounds like you're saying 'heavy weather'.' I'm, like, 'Really?' I said, 'What do you mean? Like a bad storm?' He said, 'Yeah, exactly. Like a thunderstorm — heavy like a snowstorm, heavy weather.' I'm, like, 'Wow.' So, how would you write a song with the title 'Heavy Weather'? Well, it's something you have to face. You've never faced the heavy weather. And it's, like, 'Yeah, yeah, I like that. Let's write something off that.' And so now it turns into this conversation, and we're just talking. It's, like, well, imagine if you had a child and they grew up in a situation where everything was pretty much there for you. Everything is lined up for you to either take the ball and run with it or run it into the ground. And maybe they run it into the ground and then they kind of have an attitude or they wanna blame. It's, like, well, wait a minute. You've never faced the heavy weather the way I have — meaning being left alone to your own devices, go figure it out for yourself. And so now we've got something to write about. And so that's how this stuff happens. All of 'em, really. You come up with a situation that either you went through or you fabricate. That's the other thing. A lot of people have this misconception, like, everything that an artist writes about has to have happened to them. Not necessarily. It could have happened to somebody they know. It could be a fantasy or something imagined. Let's not close all the doors of creativity."

Recorded at The House, Los Angeles, California, produced by Richie and Adrian and mixed by Jay Ruston, "Black Light / White Noise" was previously described in a press release as a "ten-track … masterclass in modern rock, with Adrian and Richie's prodigious talents as songwriters, musicians and vocalists on full display."

The official music video for the LP's second single, "Black Light", can be seen below. The dynamic, multi-layered clip, again produced and directed by Kevin and Richard Ragsdale a.k.a. The Ragsdale Brothers (DAUGHTRY, Dorothy feat. Slash, THEORY OF A DEADMAN),features the duo performing with bassist Julia Lage and drummer Bruno Valverde, alongside acclaimed Russian acrobat, contortionist and former Cirque Du Soleil performer Gyulnara Karaeva.

"Black Light" was a song that very nearly didn't make it on to the album until a late-night session saw them strike studio gold. And it's lucky they did as not only is it a song about deceit and deception, where the black light is a metaphor that reveals the truth about a person lurking under the surface, but it's become a true album highlight, even lending its name to the album title. With help from U.K. photographer John McMurtrie, it also inspired the album cover with his UV lights picking up special paint on the black/rosewood custom Fender and Charvel guitars.

"It was a fun video to make," Richie previously said, "as they have all been when we play together. Adding the UV performance section was fantastic and took us back to the album shoot that we did in London last year."

"Our friend Gyula really added something to it," added Adrian, "it helped the song's narrative of all is not what you see!"

The track itself rides in on a thunderous drum beat and a seething riff before Adrian's raw bluesy vocal explodes from the speakers complemented by Richie's higher pitched rock tones. A dramatic bridge leads into a knockout chorus, demonstrating the quality and infectious hooks that are to be found throughout "Black Light / White Noise".

"We had a lot of fun making this," Adrian said. "We'd be writing and I'd want something inspired by some of my old hard rock or blues go-to bands then it'd go into a more progressive feel — and then Richie has these strong soul influences so there's a lot to dig into there too. Influences are what makes the musical world go round — they go through you and come out slightly differently."

"SMITH/KOTZEN is all about finding common ground," added Richie. "Maybe Adrian will tend to go heavy, and then I'll lean more in the fusion or funk or soul side of things, but somewhere in the middle is our sound: that heavy blues rock vibe that we really connect on."

"Black Light / White Noise" is a truly magnificent collection of songs that stands shoulder to shoulder with some of Smith and Kotzen's finest work to date. Atmospheric, ambitious, diverse and brilliant, the LP not only features stratospheric guitar solos and raw, bluesy vocals but soulful touches, intricate playing, beautiful songwriting and an assured poise and style that brings to mind a host of legendary musicians (THIN LIZZY, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, CREAM, FREE, DEEP PURPLE) but is undeniably the work of Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen in perfect harmony.

Kotzen commented: "We're so proud of this new album. It follows on from our debut and the EPs by focusing on collaborating on riffs, lyrics, harmonies and vocals. There's a SMITH/KOTZEN DNA now and it's definitely something we need to get out on the road with. I was pleased to work with my friend Jay Ruston on the mixing of the album, let alone my wife Julia (Lage) — who actually plays on 'White Noise' as well as four other tracks."

"We're like an extended family now," added Smith. "We have a sound and a vibe and I don't think many artists are doing what we do — sharing the vocals and the guitars. It takes me back to those classic bands like HUMBLE PIE and CREAM — which is not a bad place to start!"

The full track listing of "Black Light / White Noise" is:

01. Muddy Water
02. White Noise
03. Black Light
04. Darkside
05. Life Unchained
06. Blindsided
07. Wraith
08. Heavy Weather
09. Outlaw
10. Beyond The Pale

Last July, Smith joined Kotzen on stage at the Islington Assembly Hall in London, England to perform THE YARDBIRDS classic "Shapes Of Things".

SMITH/KOTZEN released the "Better Days …And Nights" EP in September 2022 via BMG. The effort comprised five previously unreleased live tracks, plus for the first time ever on CD, the four studio tracks featured on their sold-out, limited-edition 12-inch vinyl EP, "Better Days", released in conjunction with Record Store Day in November 2021.

The live songs were recorded during SMITH/KOTZEN's inaugural whistle-stop tour of the U.S. and U.K. at the start of 2022, which attracted unanimously rave reviews from fans and media alike, celebrating the duo's debut on stage together with stellar back-up from Richie's wife, internationally acclaimed bass player Julia Lage (VIXEN),and drummer Bruno Valverde of ANGRA.

Japan's metal bible Burrn! magazine reviewing the Whisky A Go Go show in Los Angeles pronounced it, "An amazing night….this rock n' roll band is very different from any other…totally unique …and bringing you great songs!". U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine said the show was a, "masterclass in guitar playing and performance".

The original EP tracks were produced by Kotzen and Smith and mixed by Kevin Shirley. The live tracks were produced and mixed by Kotzen and Smith.

SMITH/KOTZEN's eponymous debut album was released globally through BMG in March 2021 to media and fan acclaim, charting No. 10 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart in the U.S., Top 20 in the U.K. as well as in other major markets such as Germany, Japan and Canada.

Smith is best known as one of IRON MAIDEN's principal guitarists, having also enjoyed success as a solo artist. Kotzen is the frontman for THE WINERY DOGS as well as having been the guitarist for both MR. BIG and POISON during his long and acclaimed career, which has to date seen him release more than 20 solo albums. Both artists are also prolific songwriters.

Photo credit: Piper Ferguson

In a new interview with American Musical Supply, ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist and acclaimed solo artist Jerry Cantrell spoke about the evolution of his singing style. Asked how he first started contributing lead vocals to ALICE IN CHAINS after initially focusing mainly on songwriting and playing guitar, Jerry said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, that's how I started out. I mean, standing next to [late ALICE IN CHAINS singer] Layne Staley, [I thought] I don't really need to be singing too much. That guy's pretty badass. So I was very happy just to be a songwriter and pipe up on some backups once in a while. But he gave me some encouragement early on, like, 'You write a lot of this shit. And I love this stuff. Don't get me wrong, what I'm saying to you, 'cause I love it and I love singing it. But a lot of this stuff's really personal to you. So you should sing a few of these.' I'm, like, 'I don't wanna [do it]. Come on. You've got it.' And he was, like, 'No, no. Really, you should sing a few.' So I did. I started doing stuff on like the acoustic EP, on 'Sap' —I think it was the first time I took a lead. And then I just kind of built from there and kept doing more and more and more. And then, when Layne passed, of course, we welcomed William [DuVall, current ALICE IN CHAINS vocalist] in. And that blueprint needs to be maintained of a two-lead-vocal system that we had in ALICE — it's kind of identifiable — that Layne and I created with Sean [Kinney, drums] and Mike [Inez, bass]. But I had to step up a lot more.

"I'm like a lot of guys — like Layne, for example, or [SOUNDGARDEN's Chris] Cornell. There's a shit-ton of guys that didn't start off wanting to be singers. Both those guys were drummers. Nobody else could sing, [so they were], like, 'Okay, all right. I'll be the singer.' They didn't start off wanting to be a singer. I didn't start off wanting to be a singer either, but by necessity, that's just what happened. And I like to think that I've gotten better at it and I feel more confident in each [solo] record. This new one [2024's 'I Want Blood'] in particular, I think I've gotten into some territory that I never reached before — some more power, some more control, a little bit more range, a little more edge. 'I Want Blood' is a very demanding record vocally. And that's kind of satisfying, 'cause you're still pushing yourself, you're still putting yourself in an uncomfortable place that you don't know if you can pull it off. That's exactly where you wanna be when you're creating. 'I don't know if I can do this.' You're gonna make some good doing that."

"I Want Blood" was released in October 2024. The LP, co-produced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MELVINS),was recorded at Barresi's JHOC Studio in Pasadena, California. The album features contributions from bass heavyweights Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) and Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),drummers Gil Sharone (TEAM SLEEP, STOLEN BABIES) and Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE),and backing vocals from Lola Colette and Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).

Ahead of the album's release, Cantrell was featured on the cover of Revolver, participated in a career-spanning conversation with Rick Beato, and received widespread praise album for the collection's heavier sound. Metal Hammer described "I Want Blood" as having an "iconic sound, sludgy guitars and soulful vocals."

"I Want Blood" was recently reimagined as a spoken-word series, featuring video animations by Boy Tillekens. Additional collaborators on the project include Barresi, Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, THE BLACK QUEEN),Roy Mayorga (MINISTRY),Gil Sharone (STOLEN BABIES, TEAM SLEEP),Rani Sharone (STOLEN BABIES),George Adrian (THE MAYBIRDS),composer Vincent Jones, and producer Michael Rozon.

Cantrell's first headlining tour supporting "I Want Blood" kicked off on January 31 in Niagara Falls, with FILTER opening on all dates.

Cantrell's previous solo album, "Brighten", came out in October 2021. The LP was Jerry's first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years.

Jerry's career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two other solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell's first solo album, "Boggy Depot", was released in 1998, followed by his second album, "Degradation Trip". In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including "Spider-Man", "The Cable Guy", "John Wick 2", "Last Action Hero" and "The Punisher".

ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, "Rainier Fog", in August 2018.

Legendary hard rock guitarist Pat Travers's acclaimed series of archive live performances has already served up some exhilarating performances. But the latest, "Statesboro Blues (Live In Baltimore 1982)", is sure to be ranked among the greatest yet, and while we await its April 4 release, the title track peels off as a thrilling new single.

Of course Blind Willie McTell blues was long ago proclaimed a classic, with THE ALLMAN BROTHERS having already granted it an incendiary work-up at the dawn of the '70s. It was Travers, however, who made the song his own, and this version illustrates why.

Musically, Travers was truly in his prime. "I'd added some people to my live band and recording band," he explains. "I had a keyboard player and another guy who sang backing vocals so I had a five piece band behind me.

"I was trying to do something a little more sophisticated," he continues with a laugh, and his then-latest album, 'Black Pearl', bore that out. "For me, that was one of my best records with the playing and the production." Its opening number, "I La La La Love You" (included here, of course) was a smash even before it was included in the cult movie "Valley Girl".

By the time this show was recorded, in Baltimore just three weeks before Christmas, Travers and the band had been on the road for most of the year, a back-breaking outing that had long since been aptly nicknamed "The Steelworkers Ball".

Tonight, however, the lineup welcomed a very special guest as Buck Dharma, guitarist for the BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, took the stage first to introduce the band ("some good friends of mine and the BLUE ÖYSTER CULT's"),and then for the final song, an epic take on CREAM's "Sunshine Of Your Love". "It was a great version," muses Travers, but it was also no more than the natural culmination to a show that still blazes in the mind, from the moment the band strikes up the tempest that was their interpretation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

"Black Pearl" dominates the set, naturally, but there was plenty of room for the oldies, too — "Life In London", written and recorded while Travers was living in that city during 1976-1977, and capturing both the mood and the madness of the city as it braced itself for the incoming punk scene; "Snortin' Whiskey, Drinkin' Cocaine", another Travers great that would one day make the movies (Alexander Payne's 2004 classic "Sideways"); Little Walter's blues leviathan "Boom Boom, Out Goes The Lights"; and all leading up to that stunning multi-guitar layered climax.

Travers himself is thrilled that this show is finally seeing the light of day. "I had nothing to do with the recording, but I'm glad they did it, as it captures a very interesting time.

"It sounds live," he says. It may be a little rough compared to some of the over-produced and much over dubbed live albums that are out there, but "I've found that people often prefer a rougher sounding live mix, even if they don't know it. They're not conscious of it, 'this one's too high fidelity', but when it's a little trashy, it has more energy and sounds more urgent.

"Rock'n'roll is not supposed to be clean and slick live. It's got to have an edginess to it, and not be too predictable. There should always be surprises. Especially unintentional ones."