AC/DC, the legendary multi-million-selling band, played their very first show on December 31, 1973 at Chequers Nightclub in Sydney, Australia. Now, 50 years later, AC/DC has thrilled their millions of fans by announcing the "Power Up" European tour for summer 2024.

To honor AC/DC's 50-year reign as the world's greatest rock and roll band, Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings are proud to announce that the band's catalog will be available as gold-colored vinyl LPs. Each of these limited-edition LPs comes with an album-specific 12"x12" print featuring new AC/DC 50 artwork, suitable for framing. Available for pre-order now at this location.

The first wave of releases includes the following nine classic albums. Further drops will follow later in the year.

* "Back In Black" - Featuring "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Shoot To Thrill" and the title track, it is the best-selling studio album of all time by a band.

* "Highway To Hell" - Released in 1980, it was AC/DC's first hit album in the U.S.

* "The Razors Edge" - Features the classic single "Thunderstruck", the video for which has been viewed over a billion times on YouTube.

* "Powerage" – The classic 1976 album contains the single "Rock And Roll Damnation", the band's first European hit.

* "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" - The iconic cover features a Twelve-Pound Cannon from the 19th Century. The band still incorporate cannons into their live set to deafening effect.

* "High Voltage" - The band's international debut included tracks from their first two Australian albums.

* "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" - Initially unavailable in the U.S. for five years, the album eventually rose to No. 3 on the Billboard chart, selling over 6,000,000 copies.

* "Who Made Who" – AC/DC provided the songs for the soundtrack for Stephen King's movie "Maximum Overdrive", which included three brand new tracks including the hit title track.

* "Live" - 1991's double live album was recorded at Donington Park and Birmingham in the UK, Edmonton in Canada and Moscow.

AC/DC's lineup for the "Power Up" European tour, which will kick off in May and run through August, will consist of singer Brian Johnson, guitarists Angus and Stevie Young, drummer Matt Laug and the latest addition to the group's touring lineup, bassist Chris Chaney.

AC/DC's first show in seven years took place on October 7, 2023 at the Power Trip festival in Indio, California.

AC/DC recruited Laug to perform with the band at the three-day event.

The 55-year-old Laug is an American drummer who has played with many bands/artists such as Alanis Morissette, Alice Cooper, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT and Vasco Rossi. Matt moved to Los Angeles after graduating from South Florence High School in 1986 and after attending college in L.A., Matt became a sought-after studio drummer.

In 2001, Laug supported AC/DC as part of SLASH'S SNAKEPIT on the North American and European legs of the "Stiff Upper Lip" tour.

In its announcement about Laug's addition to the band's Power Trip lineup, AC/DC offered no explanation for the absence of the band's longtime drummer Phil Rudd, who rejoined AC/DC for the recording of the group's comeback album, "Power Up", which came out in November 2020.

AC/DC postponed the last 10 dates of its spring 2016 North American trek after Johnson was advised to stop playing live or "risk total hearing loss." The band went on to complete the European and North American legs of its "Rock Or Bust" tour with GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose as a "guest vocalist." At the time, Johnson had been AC/DC's singer for 36 years, ever since replacing the late Bon Scott in 1980 and making his debut on the classic "Back In Black" album.

To enable him to perform live with AC/DC again, the now-76-year-old Johnson worked with audio expert Stephen Ambrose, who said he could help resolve the singer's hearing problems.

Ambrose, who invented the wireless in-ear monitors that are widely used by touring artists today, claimed to have invented a new type of ear-bud that would allow Johnson to perform without causing further damage to his eardrums. After three years of experimenting and "miniaturizing" the equipment, Johnson previously said the technology could allow him to tour again.

Chaney is best known as the bassist of JANE'S ADDICTION and as a member of Alanis Morissette's touring and recording band. Chaney was also a member of TAYLOR HAWKINS AND THE COATTAIL RIDERS and CAMP FREDDY, as well as being a prolific and versatile session musician, having played with artists including Joe Cocker, Shakira, Slash and Avril Lavigne to Sara Bareilles, Gavin Degraw, Cher, SHINEDOWN and Celine Dion. Chaney is also a founding member and partner in the all-star supergroup ROYAL MACHINES along with Dave Navarro (JANE'S ADDICTION),Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY),Josh Freese (FOO FIGHTERS) and Billy Morrison (BILLY IDOL).

The follow-up to 2014's "Rock Or Bust", "Power Up" was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also worked 2008's "Black Ice" and "Rock Or Bust".

In a new interview with Chuck Armstrong of Loudwire Nights, Al Jourgensen once again confirmed that he is planning to put MINISTRY to bed, more than 40 years after he launched the band in his former hometown of Chicago.

"Film scores are really where I wanna be right now," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "After we take care of like the last couple albums, last couple tours coming up here, then, yeah, I'm pretty much into film scoring and activism. At that point, I honestly think that — because our lyrics are pretty sarcastic and politically charged, yet I really think I'd make more of a difference in the long run by being just strictly an activist without pay, very similar to what Tom Morello is doing. So more along those lines. Between that and film scores. I'm quite happy. It's not like I'm just gonna curl up into a ball and get a grandma blanket and watch TV all day or something and play golf.

"The creative process doesn't stop," he explained. "It's just that you refocus it as opposed to like just one band all the time and trying to top yourself and make sure that you don't suck less than the last one. That's not interesting to me at this point. Just keep moving forward."

Elaborating on his comment that he will pursue activism and film scoring as a career once MINISTRY is done, Al said: "Well, unless the world suddenly changes, which I doubt. MINISTRY seems to get better the shittier the world gets. So, maybe there's a case to be made that if it keeps getting shittier, maybe we should do more albums. But you know what? I really think the time the time is done. I have friends like Alice [Cooper] and Billy Gibbons of ZZ TOP and Rick Nielsen of CHEAP TRICK and they love playing live, they love getting back in front of an audience and getting that rush, that adulation. But when I'm on stage, I've never in my entire career gotten that rush from playing live. I'm too busy thinking about, like, 'Is the monitor frequency correct?' and this and that, and who's doing what and all that. I don't even hear the crowd. And especially since we keep playing bigger and bigger places, it's not like you can pick out individual faces or anything. It's just literally a blur of kind of a pastel color with like some annoying noise at the end of each song while I'm already thinking about the next song. So I won't miss that at all. I won't miss touring and I won't miss recording MINISTRY because of the pressure of kind of being constrained, either a) to make it better, or b) to make it worse instead of just letting it flow like you do on a film score. And not only that — I love collaboration, so working with the director is perfect for me. I love collaborating. That's why I had so many bands in the '80s and '90s. I love collaboration, but only now I'll be collaborating with directors as opposed to other musicians. So, I find that an interesting twist in my road and I'm looking forward to it."

Jourgensen went on to clarify that MINISTRY's 16th album, "Hopiumforthemasses", which is slated for release March 1 via Nuclear Blast Records, will not be the band's final record. "We have one more," he said. "When, when I [previously said we had one more album left to do], I just finished 'Hopium'. So we have one more new record coming out, which I'm re-recruiting an old mate from the early days. Paul Barker is gonna rejoin the band and we're gonna record that together and that will be our last one."

Al continued: "There comes a point in time where — there's only so many notes in a musical scale, there's only so many things you can do, I think we've kind of perfected our genre, whatever genre that is. People like to call it industrial or whatever; I just call it music. But it is certainly our genre. And there comes a point in time where you don't wanna start on the decline. And we're all at the right ages. We're peaking at the right time. And the next album and the final album should be fresh because bringing Paul Barker back into the fold for the last album, I think, is… We've all grown up in the last 40 years. And I do know I work well with him in the studio. as is obvious with the '90s albums that we did. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to the next one. But after that, what am I gonna do to top that? And the world's not gonna suddenly magically change by then. But there comes a point in time musically where anything from here is gonna be downhill. I see so many bands do that. And I don't need the money, I don't need the whatever. So I think it's a good time to stop. I just turned 65, which means that I'm getting like my mailbox stuffed with AARP shit. I took my piercings out. I took my dreads out. I decided at 65, I'm gonna become an adult. [Laughs] Good luck with that."

Al also revealed that one of MINISTRY's final recordings is remake of the band's first album, "With Sympathy", which he claims he had little control over, with the record company at the time dictating its direction.

"I'm not including that as the final album, because that one's actually done," he explained. "That's what I'm working on now. And we're gonna be done with that re-record as soon as we're done back with the Gary Numan tour that we're doing in March. Then I spend a month finishing this re-record with all new updated versions of that first record with this new band. So it's obviously different, new arrangements.

"I hated that record for 40 years, but with this band, the way that we're approaching it, it makes these songs almost relevant 40 years later, whereas I used to hate them," he continued. "The whole thing was I went and saw a MINISTRY cover band about two years ago here in L.A. And in in a sense, for the first time ever, I kind of got what some of the fans of that early stuff, what they got out of it. I started to understand. And then one night, when we were on tour with Numan last year, the band sneaks up on me. I mean, we play stuff after a show and listen to it while we're driving. And all of a sudden, they started playing this early stuff that they had done behind my back. They'd been working on it for four months. 'Cause they knew how to hate it. So they waited until I was completely 'shroomed out of my mind and wasted, and they started playing this stuff. And after seeing this cover band, I'm going, 'Okay. All right. Why not? Let's try it.' And so, yeah, I'm really happy with these new versions. So that that's actually gonna come out before the last album I do with Barker. So we'll have two albums out next year and a bunch of tours."

This is not the first time Jourgensen has vowed to make a "final" MINISTRY album. 2007's "The Last Sucker" was supposed to be the band's last-ever LP. Then, while working on other projects, inspiring riffs were born that would eventually become 2012's "Relapse". Later that year, Jourgensen began work on yet another MINISTRY album with longtime guitarist and collaborator Mike Scaccia. Three days after leaving the MINISTRY sessions in El Paso, in the early hours of December 23, 2012, Scaccia suffered heart failure onstage while performing with his other band, RIGOR MORTIS, and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Scaccia's death both devastated and motivated Jourgensen to return the studio to put the final touches on what they had started in memory of his best friend. The result was 2013's "From Beer To Eternity". Two more albums followed, 2018's "AmeriKKKant" and 2021's "Moral Hygiene".

Photo credit: Derick Smith / Nuclear Blast

In a new interview with "RRBG" podcast, LAMB OF GOD bassist John Campbell spoke about the band's plans for the follow-up to 2022's "Omens" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're gonna put out some records on the same rough schedule that we always do. We put out a record, tour the shit out of it, take a little time back, start working on another one, record it, tour the shit out of it. So, yeah, there's definitely — we are still alive and kicking, and there will be more records. In the next five years, there will definitely be a new LAMB OF GOD record. I don't think I'm giving away any secrets with that."

Referencing the fact that "Omens" was tracked with longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH) live in the room together at Henson Recording Studios (formerly A&M Studios) in Los Angeles, California, a location that birthed classics from THE DOORS, PINK FLOYD, RAMONES and SOUNDGARDEN, among others, John said: "I would love to [do it the same way again]. I'd love to go back to Henson Studios and do it too, 'cause that place was badass. But we'll see."

On the topic of sharing a room with the rest of his band during the recording process, John said: "Well, we do that in the writing and the pre-production already. And then we would go to the studio and go to our own corners and create. We'd take the demos, the tracks that we had recorded and then we would just make them right and make them perfect. But this time, instead of doing it that way, we went in to get — it's mostly the drum tracks that are live, to get the vibe of the drummer playing with us rather than him sitting there… Onstage, we don't use clicks. We did years ago, but there's no… 'Cause the music can breathe without clicks. You can feel the moment, and you're connected. And it's about that connection on stage, and then bringing that out, and emoting that direction and then getting it back. I thought it was a really good move, and I hope we do more stuff like that. But who's to say?"

"Omens" was the follow-up to LAMB OF GOD's self-titled album, which arrived in June 2020. That effort marked LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with drummer Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON will embark on the co-headlining "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour this summer. The trek will find the two bands join forces to celebrate the 20th anniversary of two seminal releases: LAMB OF GOD's biggest-selling album "Ashes Of The Wake" and MASTODON's acclaimed sophomore album "Leviathan", which were both released on August 31, 2004. Both bands will perform their respective albums in full. Special guests KERRY KING and MALEVOLENCE will support throughout the tour, with UNEARTH on select dates.

Kicking off on July 19 in Grand Prairie, Texas at the Texas Trust CU Theatre, the North American arena and amphitheater run will take them through the U.S. and Canada, culminating on the exact 20th anniversary of each album on August 31 in Omaha, Nebraska at the Astro Amphitheater. The tour will notably make stops at iconic venues such as Denver, Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Los Angeles, California's Kia Forum.

In addition, both bands will be supporting a charity of their choice throughout the tour, and fans will have the opportunity to opt-in to donate at check out when buying their tickets.

Mick Mars says that it would be "impossible" for him to get together with his MÖTLEY CRÜE bandmates and resolve their differences without getting attorneys involved.

When Mars, a co-founding member of MÖTLEY CRÜE, announced his retirement from touring with the group in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, he filed a lawsuit against the band in April 2023, saying that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting.

Specifically, Mars claimed he was asked to sign a severance agreement that would divest him of his 25 percent stake in the band's various business interests in return for a 5 percent stake in the band's 2023 tour. This stake, the lawsuit alleged, would be reduced to 0 percent for future tours. Mick claimed CRÜE's management later upped the offer from 5 percent to a 7.5 percent stake in the band's 2023 tour, which would remain contingent on Mars divesting himself from the band and their businesses. When Mars refused to sign the papers, the band took the dispute to arbitration "rather than a public lawsuit so that the public would not be aware of the deplorable manner in which they treated their 'brother' of 41 years," Mick claimed in the lawsuit.

Asked in a new interview with Guitar World whether it would be possible for him to sit down with his former bandmates and "hash things out", Mars responded: "I would say it's past… impossible".

Mars added that he had to be careful when discussing his dispute with CRÜE publicly due to the ongoing litigation.

"I don't have a gag order, but it's like anything you say can and will be used against you," Mick said. "I have to be pretty cautious about what I say because it could be relevant to what's going on."

Regarding whether his retirement was tantamount to a resignation, Mick said: "Two different words, two different meanings. It was just retiring from the touring part. I'd actively be involved in every entity of MÖTLEY CRÜE. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for them. I don't regret anything we've ever done — good, bad or ugly, whatever. My body just couldn't do it anymore."

Mars, who suffers from the degenerative disease ankylosing spondylitis (AS) — a type of arthritis that causes inflammation in the spine joints and ligaments and can lead to stiffness over time — said that he didn't have any second thoughts over filing his lawsuit. "I couldn't do it anymore — the traveling part," he said. "I mean, I'm 72 and I have this crap [ankylosing spondylitis]. It gets a little bit strenuous for me to travel around the world and keep doing that for months at a time with a two-week break. It's just gotten to be too much for me. So yeah, that's about it."

Last month, Mick's lawyer told Rolling Stone that the issue of whether the guitarist was illegally severed from MÖTLEY CRÜE is heading to private arbitration later this year.

Mick originally sued MÖTLEY CRÜE so he could go over all the financial books and determine if he was getting what he felt he deserves.

Mars — whose real name is Robert Alan Deal — served as MÖTLEY CRÜE's lead guitarist since the band's inception in 1981.

"When they wanted to get high and fuck everything up, I covered for them," Mars told Rolling Stone in an interview last year. "Now they're trying to take my legacy away, my part of MÖTLEY CRÜE, my ownership of the name, the brand. How can you fire Mr. Heinz from Heinz ketchup? He owns it. Frank Sinatra's or Jimi Hendrix's legacy goes on forever, and their heirs continue to profit from it. They're trying to take that away from me. I'm not going to let them."

Mars's lawyer, Ed McPherson, told Rolling Stone that the judge's ruling on January 16 that MÖTLEY CRÜE took too long to produce some of the documents he requested confirmed his client was mistreated by his bandmates. "Finally, somebody, somewhere told these guys they can't bully Mick anymore. We're in the middle of a huge arbitration that will ultimately decide if Mick has to give up his shares or not, if they did things properly or not. Obviously we claim they didn't do anything properly. But they feel that they're above the rules. And that's what this lawsuit was about," McPherson said.

"This was them feeling they were above the rules, and this judge saying, 'No, you're not. And you may have given all the documents now, so there's nothing left for me to do, but, you're going to pay for it," he added. "I think that's a pretty huge victory for Mick. If they want to claim a victory, that's fine. But this is someone finally telling Mick, 'No, you're not crazy. These guys are bullying you. And we're not going to let it happen.'"

Last year, a short time after Mick filed his lawsuit, MÖTLEY CRÜE's manager of 30 years, Allen Kovac, told Variety that Mars decided to publicly voice his allegations "to gain leverage in a smear campaign on MÖTLEY. He's attacked the band, and he's done it in a slanderous way, with false accusations and misrepresenting the facts to the fans. Mick is not the victim. The victims are MÖTLEY CRÜE and the brand, which Mick is so prideful of." But, he added, "What's upsetting to me is not Mick, but his representatives, who have guided Mick to say and do harmful things to the brand he cares about so much, MÖTLEY CRÜE. He has a degenerative disease and people are taking advantage of him. It's called elder abuse."

He continued: "Mick's representatives have no idea what they've created, but I've stopped the band from speaking about this, so they're not gonna turn the fans against Mick. But I am going to make sure that people understand that Mick hasn't been treated badly. In fact, he was treated better than anyone else in the band, and they carried him and they saved his life."

Regarding Mick's refusal to accept an offer from the band to give him 5% of the 2023 stadium tour that he did not participate in (the offer was later upped to 7.5% percent),Kovac told Variety: "He was offered a terrific opportunity. An offer was made to him at 5%, and then up to 7.5 percent, to avoid this. What Mick's asking for is an equal share, 25% — but there's a guy named John 5 in the band. Mick resigned from touring, and John 5's getting paid. So who's gonna pay John 5? None of this makes sense."

Allen went on to say that he couldn't understand why Mars didn't take the deal. "They've got [a 2023 tour] they're about halfway through, so let's [estimate] $150 million [in gross], and then you take off for production and commissions, and let's call it 100 or 110 million. What's seven and a half percent of that? He says it's an insult. And you've got me quoting that the other two guys got zero when they were out of the band" — meaning Vince Neil and Tommy Lee, during the periods they left the group. "So where's the insult? I think Mick is part of the 1%. Please put that on the record. … Let's say it was seven and a half percent of $110 million. Could you live on that, even if you have tens of millions already?"

Lisa Holt, the wife of SLAYER guitarist Gary Holt, has defended the band's decision to reunite this fall for a couple of headlining festival gigs, five years after SLAYER wrapped up its "farewell" tour.

Earlier today (Wednesday, February 21),it was announced that Holt, bassist/singer Tom Araya, guitarist Kerry King and drummer Paul Bostaph will perform at Chicago's Riot Fest on September 22 and Louisville's Louder Than Life on September 27, in what are being billed as the band's first gigs since November 2019.

A short time after the news of SLAYER's comeback hit the wire, Lisa took to her Facebook page to write in a public post: "Yes, it's true..and an exciting adventure for the band and fans !

"To all the people saying 'they are liars' 'they must have ran out of money' 'its not SLAYER without so and so' ..I have an idea for you all...DON'T GO.. and for all the people who did go to the final tour dates and enjoyed it...awesome!!

"This isn't a 'TOUR' it's some dates..and GREAT NEWS!!!" she added. "And everyone that thinks they know all the inside info..you can't possibly know. so just enjoy the fact that this amazing band will play some amazing shows this year...go or don't..nobody cares!!!!!"

In a statement confirming SLAYER's return, Araya said: "Nothing compares to the 90 minutes when we're on stage playing live, sharing that intense energy with our fans, and to be honest, we have missed that." King added: "Have I missed playing live? Absolutely. SLAYER means a lot to our fans; they mean a lot to us. It will be five years since we have seen them."

Just a couple of weeks ago, Kerry, who will release his debut solo album in May, told Rolling Stone that he didn't foresee SLAYER coming back together for the foreseeable future.

"Will SLAYER tour again? I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. Could SLAYER play a show again? I'm sure there's a scenario," King said, adding that he hasn't spoken to Araya since that final show. "Am I looking for it? No, I'm just getting ready to start my [solo] career. So if that happens, it happens. But I'm going to be doing this for the next 10 years at least."

SLAYER played the final show of its farewell tour in November 2019 at the Forum in Los Angeles. One day later, Kerry's wife Ayesha said that there is "not a chance in hell" that the thrash metal icons will reunite for more live appearances.

SLAYER's final world tour began on May 10, 2018 with the band's intention to play as many places as possible, to make it easy for the fans to see one last SLAYER show and say goodbye. By the time the 18-month trek wrapped at the Forum, the band had completed seven tour legs plus a series of one-off major summer festivals, performing more than 140 shows in 30 countries and 40 U.S. states.

Yes,it's true..and an exciting adventure for the band and fans ! To all the people saying "they are liars" "they must...

Posted by Lisa Holt on Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Canadian rockers HELIX have shared a nine-minute video tribute to their longtime drummer Greg "Fritz" Hinz, who died on February 16 after a nearly year-long battle with cancer. He was 68 years old.

Hinz joined HELIX in 1982 and stayed in the band until 1996, before returning to the group 13 years later.

The day of Hinz's passing, HELIX frontman Brian Vollmer posted the following message on social media: "Greg 'Fritz' Hinz: January 23rd/1956-February 16th/2024. R.I.P.

"It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the passing of Greg 'Fritz' Hinz, drummer for HELIX since 1983, after a 10 months fighting Cancer.

"At a future date there will be a Memorial Service. Traci (Fritz's common law wife) hasn't slept in six months, so I'm going to give her a couple of days. She's been an ANGEL throughout this whole ordeal. I don't know what Fritz would have done without her. Right now I'm respecting HER wishes. This is NOT up for debate. She's cared for Fritz since he found out he had Cancer last April. She has the right to do whatever-and whenever-she wants. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT TRACI-GIVE HER SPACE AND LET HER HEAL. When she wants to talk to everyone she will.

"Fritz was like a brother to myself, Brent, Kenny, and many other people who worked for the band.

"Traci has asked me to write something to post. I could go on for hours about the guy, but right now I'm devastated, as are the other guys in the band. We've known about this since last April, but were unable to tell anyone, at Fritz's request. He wanted his privacy through this. He was a proud guy and tough as f**k.

"When he fell off the ladder a couple of years ago and nearly died, I thought that was the end there. Fritz surprised everyone by coming back less than 8 months later for gigs in Vancouver & Calgary in one weekend. This meant lots of driving and flying-something that's extremely bad for someone who has suffered a major concussion. He played great that weekend and didn't complain. Many months later he told me that at the end of the Vancouver show at the Hard Rock, he nearly stood up and fell forward through his drums at the end of the show 'cos he had vertigo so bad. Like I said, 'One tough guy.'

"I met Fritz way back around the late 70's when he played for the Cambridge based hard rock band STARCHILD. We both used to laugh over the fact that's Fritz's big part on the STARCHILD record 'Children of the Stars' was in the song Johnny Groover. The line in the song went '...here comes Johnny Groover in his Vet-he's got to get it wet…' to which Fritz would then add a squirting sound: Pht-t-t–t–t-h!...'

"Fritz was the funniest guy you'd ever want to meet. We could be in the seriousest of situations and he could say something and everyone would burst out laughing. He had that kind of personality everyone wanted to be around. Add to that his ability to attract scores of women at our gigs. Fritz was HELIX's 'David Lee Roth.' The most frequent question asked by girls outside the buses on the QUIET RIOT/WHITESNAKE Tour in 1984 was, 'Do you know where your drummer is???' As a result, Fritz was frequently in 'movies' as he called them. This meant that one of his relationships had gone sideways and was becoming a soap opera. The funny thing was that no matter how much he would piss off the girl, they would always forgive him, come back, and shower him with gifts.

"Fritz was the consummate rock drummer: It was his craft. He prided himself in his playing, and well he should have. He had a style all his own. Check out the bridge to the chorus in Heavy Metal Love. Such a simple lick-playing on the off time, but Fritz learned that playing his first instrument-the accordion-in an 'oom-pah-pah' band.

"Over the next couple of days I'll be putting up pics (as I'm sure hundreds of other people will) some video, and even Super 8. Here's the first batch of stuff I've found. There's so much.

"Fritz joined the band in 1983. This means that he's been in the band for over 40 years, with the exception of when he moved to Florida for a couple of years.

"The world has lost one of it's GREAT rock drummers. As I was telling Jamie on the phone today: The public has no idea the sacrifices that musicians make for their craft. You think of the music business as be a fairly low-impact kind of job. In reality, you give up your personal life, your financial life, any type of regularity in your life, and…not to mention the physical scars. I've yet to meet a drummer who hasn't ripped his rotator cuff. Guys with guitars and basses-ditto. We've stayed in the coldest rooms, the hottest rooms, gone without sleep, and made shit money. All for this thing called 'making music.' Fritz definitely did that. He loved his drums and he loved drumming and performing. He took great pride in everything he did. I'm going to miss him so much.

"My heart is breaking now. Gotta go."

HELIX is one of the most successful Canadian rock bands, especially after the release of 1984's "Walkin' The Razor's Edge" album, which sold more than 100,000 copies in Canada, and more than 400,000 internationally.

HELIX has shared the stage with some of the world's best hard rock and heavy metal bands, including KISS, AEROSMITH, RUSH, MÖTLEY CRÜE, ALICE COOPER, WHITESNAKE, HEART, QUIET RIOT and MOTÖRHEAD.

HELIX has released 14 studio albums, including its latest, "Old School", which came out in 2019.

Posted by Helix The Band on Friday, February 16, 2024

FOREIGNER guitarist Mick Jones has revealed that he is battling Parkinson's disease.

The 79-year-old musician, who has not performed with FOREIGNER since 2022, opened up about his diagnosis in a social media post earlier today.

He wrote: "Fans will have become very aware that for some time now, I have not been performing onstage with the band. Several years ago, I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. I want everyone to know that I am doing alright. However, I've always liked to be at my best when performing onstage, and sadly, at present, I find that a bit difficult. I am still very much involved in the background with FOREIGNER and remain a presence.

"Parkinson's is a daily struggle; the important thing is to persevere and remind myself of the wonderful career I've had in music.

"I thank all the fans who have supported FOREIGNER throughout the years and continue to attend our concerts — I want you to know I appreciate your support; it always means so very much to me, but especially so at this point in my life."

Mick is a Songwriters Hall Of Fame inductee, and Grammy and Golden Globe-nominated rock legend. Jones, also a recipient of the prestigious British Ivor Novello Songwriter Award for "The Flame Still Burns", the soundtrack for the film "Still Crazy", is the founding member of the British-American rock band FOREIGNER.

Jones is the creative force behind iconic rock and roll hits such as "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Urgent", "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded" and "Waiting For A Girl Like You". Formed in 1976, FOREIGNER has become one of the world's best-selling groups, with global sales exceeding 80 million.

Michael Leslie Jones, known professionally as Mick Jones, was born and raised in England. He began playing the guitar as a teenager and formed his own blues/rock band. After opening for THE ROLLING STONES in South London pubs, Jones got his first significant break working for French hitmaker Sylvie Vartan, with whom he opened for THE BEATLES at the Olympia in Paris. He also accompanied Jimi Hendrix on tour in France.

Jones then became the musical director and songwriter for French rock icon Johnny Hallyday, contributing to some of Hallyday's biggest hits. Jones continued to work in France until 1971. George Harrison had encouraged him to move to New York, after which he reformed SPOOKY TOOTH with Gary Wright and played with THE LESLIE WEST BAND and George Harrison himself.

In 1976 Jones formed FOREIGNER. The group, comprised of two other Englishmen, Ian McDonald and Dennis Elliott, and three Americans, Lou Gramm, Al Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi, went on to release some of rock and roll's most enduring classics, including "Cold As Ice", "Feels Like The First Time", "Long, Long Way From Home", "Juke Box Hero", "Hot Blooded", "Waiting For A Girl Like You", "Head Games", "Say You Will" and the global No. 1 hit "I Want To Know What Love Is".

With more top 10 hits than JOURNEY and as many as FLEETWOOD MAC, and 10 multi-platinum albums, FOREIGNER continues to chart on radio airplay and the Billboard 200 almost five decades later.

Outside of his work with the band, Jones has maintained a solo career as a producer, working with BAD COMPANY and producing the best-selling albums of Billy Joel ("Storm Front") and VAN HALEN ("5150"). He co-wrote the Grammy Award-winning song "Bad Love" with Eric Clapton and "Dreamer" with Ozzy Osbourne.

In July 2023, FOREIGNER commenced its two-year farewell tour with a spectacularly successful headline run at Live Nation amphitheaters. The second part of the tour will begin in June 2024 with a 40-show adventure across America.

Photo credit: Karsten Staiger

Posted by Foreigner on Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Ukrainian-American maestro Vitalij Kuprij, a classically trained virtuoso who has played with progressive metal bands ARTENSION and RING OF FIRE and toured with TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, has died at the age of 49. No cause of death has yet been revealed.

Kuprij's passing was confirmed by his longtime friend, Finnish guitarist, songwriter, and producer Lars Eric Mattsson, who wrote on his Facebook page: "Woke up to really sad news this morning as my dear friend and keyboard maestro Vitalij Kuprij has passed away last night. The Ukranian born virtuoso was living in Philadelphia and recently came off another hugely successful tour with the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA.

"I have known and worked with Vitalij for over 20 years and he always talked about seeing me here in Finland to go fishing, which was his second love after music. We have recorded together several times, first time was for the debut album of BOOK OF REFLECTIONS 20 years ago and then later for my MATTSSON concept album War. My record label Lion Music Record Label has released a lot of his music including three solo albums, his band ARTENSION and more.

"You will be deeply missed my friend!"

Earlier today, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA released the following statement: "We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend and bandmate, Vitalij Kuprij. He was a world-renowned classical pianist and composer.

"In 2010, Vitalij joined TSO for the inaugural 'Beethoven's Last Night' tour and seamlessly became an integral part of the band. His flawless and energetic performances consistently captivated audiences, and many of you came to know and love him as much as we did. Beyond his musical prowess, Vitalij was an accomplished chess player, an avid fisherman, and simply a fun-loving soul. His absence will be profoundly felt by all.

"Rest in peace, Vitalij. You will be deeply missed."

Kuprij, born 1974 in Volodarka, Kiev, Ukraine, has international acclaim for his classical background and training while also transitioning seamlessly to neo-classical, progressive rock and metal.

A graduate of the Curtis School of Music in Philadelphia and a resident of Reading, Pennsylvania, Kuprij was an in-demand musician throughout the United States and abroad. He had performed in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. The recipient of many distinguished musical honors in several countries, he won the prestigious first prize as the youngest person to compete in the All-Union Chopin Competition held in the Soviet Union, the gold medal in the Kiev Conservatory Competition and the Mykola Lyssenko Competition in the Ukraine. He also received first prize in the Geneva Duo Competition for Violin and Piano as well as the gold medal in the Piano 80 and Swiss Youth Competition, the Chicago Piano Competition, the New York Piano Competition, and the Cleveland Piano Competition.

In 1999, he was selected as the soloist to perform composer Liszt's Piano Concerto #1 with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall. He later had his solo Carnegie Hall debut where he played two encores followed by performances at Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall.

Although well-known for his classical training and technique, Kuprij's crossover ability into neo-classical and rock made him a famous name amongst his peers. He had numerous albums under the Marquee Avalon and Yamaha labels, hits on the Japanese charts, and has given master classes and workshops at colleges and universities across the country. He began touring with the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA in 2009, after being discovered through Internet clips of his incredible keyboard work. The ORCHESTRA, although best known for its renditions of Christmas songs, is a touring progressive rock group which brought back the rock opera with its dazzling pyrotechnic light show.

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend and bandmate, Vitalij Kuprij.

He was a world-renowned...

Posted by Trans-Siberian Orchestra on Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Woke up to really sad news this morning as my dear friend and keyboard maestro Vitalij Kuprij has passed away last...

Posted by Lars Eric Mattsson on Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Completely devasted to learn of Vitalij Kuprij's passing today. He was not only an accomplished musician / keyboard...

Posted by Jason Buckley on Tuesday, February 20, 2024

SLAYER has officially reunited and will return to the live stage in September.

For the first time since the band wrapped the last concert of its world tour back in November 2019, SLAYER — Tom Araya (bass, vocals),Kerry King (guitar),Gary Holt (guitar) and Paul Bostaph (drums) — will return to the stage this fall, headlining two major festivals, Riot Fest and Louder Than Life.

"Nothing compares to the 90 minutes when we're on stage playing live, sharing that intense energy with our fans," Araya said, "and to be honest, we have missed that." King added: "Have I missed playing live? Absolutely. SLAYER means a lot to our fans; they mean a lot to us. It will be five years since we have seen them."

So far the following dates have been announced:

Sep. 22 - Riot Fest - Chicago, IL
Sep. 27 - Louder Than Life - Louisville, KY

"We're thrilled to announce that SLAYER will be reuniting for an earth-shattering performance at Louder Than Life," says Danny Wimmer of Danny Wimmer Presents. "I was at their last show at The Forum in 2019 and have been working since then to bring them back to the Louder stage! With over 140 bands on five stages, we're celebrating our 10th Louder Than Life with the biggest lineup yet!"

Earlier this month, Kerry said that he had not been in contact with Tom since SLAYER played its final show more than four years ago.

The 59-year-old guitarist discussed his band's decision to call it quits while speaking to Rolling Stone about his new solo project.

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

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

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

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

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

Asked if he has talked to Tom at all since the last SLAYER show," Kerry said: "Not even a text. Not even an e-mail. I've talked to everybody else from the band on the phone, text, or e-mail. If Tom hit me up, I'd probably respond. It probably depends on what he hit me up for, but I don't wish him dead at this moment."

Pressed about whether he and Tom could make another SLAYER album, Kerry said: "I can pretty much a hundred percent say no because I have a new outlet, and it's not SLAYER, but it sounds like SLAYER. I'm making the music I like to make still, so I don't need to do that. Records don't sell anymore anyway. It's just a means to have a product out so people know what I'm playing when I come to town."

As for the possibility of SLAYER touring again, Kerry said: "I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. Could SLAYER play a show again? I'm sure there's a scenario. Am I looking for it? No, I'm just getting ready to start my career. So if that happens, it happens. But I'm going to be doing this [solo band] for the next 10 years at least."

SLAYER played the final show of its farewell tour in November 2019 at the Forum in Los Angeles. One day later, Kerry's wife Ayesha said that there is "not a chance in hell" that the thrash metal icons will reunite for more live appearances.

SLAYER's final world tour began on May 10, 2018 with the band's intention to play as many places as possible, to make it easy for the fans to see one last SLAYER show and say goodbye. By the time the 18-month trek wrapped at the Forum, the band had completed seven tour legs plus a series of one-off major summer festivals, performing more than 140 shows in 30 countries and 40 U.S. states.

Araya talked about his possible retirement in a 2016 interview with Loudwire. He said: "At 35 years, it's time to collect my pension. [Laughs] This is a career move." He continued: "I'm grateful that we've been around for 35 years; that's a really long time. So, yeah, to me, it is. Because when we started off, everything was great, because you're young and invincible. And then there came a time where I became a family man, and I had a tough time flying back and forth. And now, at this stage, at the level we're at now, I can do that; I can fly home when I want to, on days off, and spend some time with my family, which is something I wasn't able to do when [my kids] were growing up. Now they're both older and mature. So now I take advantage of that." Araya added: "Yeah, it just gets harder and harder to come back out on the road. 35 years is a long time."

Tom also revealed another reason for his diminished enjoyment of the touring life. He said: "There's things that have gone on in my life that have made me change how I play as a bass player. I had neck surgery, so I can't headbang anymore. And that was a big part of what I enjoyed doing what I do — singing and headbanging. I liked knowing that I was one of the fucking badass headbangers. That played a big part. Now I just groove with the music, which is cool, because I'm grooving with the music and the feel of the songs, so that's changed a little for me."



It gets you when you least expect it.

9.22.24 - Riot Fest - Chicago, IL
9.27.24 - Louder Than Life - Louisville, KY

http://www.slayer.net

Posted by Slayer on Wednesday, February 21, 2024

In a new interview with Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford was asked how the feeling of getting back into the studio with his bandmates is different today from how it was in the past. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's the same as it ever was. It's a blessing. There's a feeling of being grateful. There's a feeling of, 'Oh my God. We're still here over 50 years later in part of the essence of PRIEST.' Because PRIEST is more than one bandmember; PRIEST is this entity. JUDAS PRIEST has been in the heavy metal world for over 50 years, so the fact that we're still able to resonate and show relevance, particularly with this new music from [PRIEST's upcoming album] 'Invincible Shield', is incredibly important to us. And it's just this combination of instinct as people when we're in each other's presence to write music."

Halford continued: "I think what is also important, that we don't use this word very much these days — trust. Trusting each other. Trust in the love that you have for each other in the band, because the value that trust carries is enormous. When you have trust and faith in whatever it is, great things can happen. So all of those parts of who we are in PRIEST, as we are in 2024 — it's 50 years after [PRIEST's debut album] 'Rocka Rolla' — that hasn't changed. So all of that's like a linear thread, and I just love that nothing's diminished."

"Invincible Shield" will arrive on March 8 via Sony Music.

Bassist Ian Hill is the sole remaining original member of PRIEST, which formed in 1969. Halford joined the group in 1973 and guitarist Glenn Tipton signed on in 1974. Rob left PRIEST in the early 1990s to form his own band, then came back to PRIEST in 2003. Original guitarist K.K. Downing parted ways with the band in 2011, and was replaced by Richie Faulkner.

Earlier this month, Halford told Alan Ovington about the songwriting and recording process for "Invincible Shield": "Well, the process of making 'Invincible Shield' was pretty much the same as most of the albums that PRIEST has made through the decades. It's this unique combination of having two guitar players and a singer together in the room starting the day off with no metal and at the end of it, having something that's gonna be around a lot longer than you are. But yeah, I get in the room with Glenn [Tipton, PRIEST guitarist] and with Richie [Faulkner, PRIEST guitarist] and the riffs start. It's a lot of jamming, it's a lot of riffing and just free creativity. It's just remarkable how this whole process, this chemistry between the three of us takes place and we love it. It's just very, very special to us."

As for how PRIEST utilizes modern technology during the recording process, Halford said: "The technology, of course, has changed dramatically. We go back all the way to three-inch reel tapes, and then to digital tapes, and now we're in the Pro Tools world. And you have to really be careful that technology doesn't take the lead in the whole of the writing and recording process, because it's very easy to get stuck into that AI world of making music — you know, cutting and pasting and all that kind of stuff. We've always kept it real in PRIEST, and we always will."

Asked if he found "any particular themes reoccurring" while he was writing the lyrics for the new album, Rob said: "Well, I'm the lyricist and I do my best to try and create messages and ideas that are new and fresh. Obviously, there are elements in PRIEST that we love to reinvestigate. Take 'The Serpent And The King', the classic good versus evil, which will always be part of humanity. The serpent's the devil and the king is God. So here's a new approach to that particular theme. 'Panic Attack' is quite cool, looking at the darker side of the implications of the worldwide web. 'Invincible Shield', the title track, man, that's just who we are and what we stand for. So, there we have it — a lot of PRIEST from different angles and different perspectives."

PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix is celebrating the twelfth anniversary of his quitting drinking.

Earlier today, Shaddix took to his social media to write: "Grateful.... Today Feb 19th marks 12 years free from alcohol. I am humbled and grateful. Thanks to all the people that have supported me on this journey."

Back in November 2020, Shaddix spoke to "Emo Nite Radio" about how he found himself taking to the rock and roll lifestyle a little too easily, which almost cost him his family.

"It wasn't till I went on tour for [PAPA ROACH's 2000 album] 'Infest' that I believe the alcoholism, the alcoholic lifestyle, it really took over," he said. "That's when it just [went] full-tilt boogie… We wanted to rage, man. We all just wanted to rage, and we had people that co-signed it. I thought I was in the '80s for a couple of years. I was, like, 'Let's go, dude.'"

Asked if he misses any aspect of his drinking days, Jacoby said: "I had a lot of great times then and a lot of not-so-great times. It was like the highest highs, the lowest matched. And I think that the volatility within that was what really fucked me up. I was not a good guy. I had a good reputation, and I was nice to people; that was true. I wasn't good to myself. I wasn't good to my wife. [I wasn't good to] the people that were closest to me. The strangers, I'm, like, 'What's up, bro? Good to see you.' And then I put my head through doors and destroyed hotels. I done destroyed a bunch of hotels on that cycle, man. Some of 'em were fine and then some of 'em was, like, just sad."

Pressed about whether it gets easier or harder for him to stay sober as time goes on, Jacoby said: "[It's] way easier. It's not an option for me anymore. Not to sound macabre or dark, but I'd rather put a gun in my mouth than put a drink in my mouth. 'Cause I know the drink is a slow way to a miserable, lonely, isolated death. It's not for me. I've got way too much great stuff in my life to live for. There's so much in this world that is inspiring, that is lovely, that just fills me. And, yeah, it's music; it's [staying] creative; it's friendships; it's my spirituality; it's my family; it's my children; it's my band; it's my connection with my band. And even at times I wanna just, 'Aaaargh, my band drive me crazy. Aaaargh.' When something's wrong with me, I've gotta figure that out."

Three years ago, Shaddix revealed during an appearance on an episode of the "Hardcore Humanism With Dr. Mike" podcast that he had a slip-up on his path to sobriety. "Just to be straight with you, during the pandemic, I fell off the wagon and I was smoking pot," the singer said. "And I just got caught up and depressed and just stuck in this space. And I wasn't working an active program of recovery, and I found myself with a joint in my mouth, you know? And yeah, it's legal in California, and yes, it is medicine to some people, but it's not to me. Anytime I put any kind of mind-altering substance in my body, there's this veil that gets dropped on me and just kind of isolates me from the world, isolates me from the potential of who I can become and puts me in a space of inaction. And that's not a good place for me to be.

"So I got honest with my brothers in recovery," he continued. "I was, like, 'Hey, man, this what I've been up to. I need help, dude. I need help getting myself back out of this.' Because I knew I was getting closer. I told my guys, 'Well, at least I didn't drink.' And they were, like, 'Well, yeah, that's good. That is good, Cobe. But you were headed straight towards it, homey. That's where you were going.' And that was a really hard realization but a good realization for me to have, is to really understand I was feeding the bad wolf. I was just doing the wrong things."

In a 2019 interview with Kerrang! magazine, Shaddix revealed that the struggle with alcohol had been in his family for generations, continually destroying lives and relationships.

"I remember my mom telling me when I was a kid that I had to be careful, as alcoholism runs deep in both sides of the family," he said. "I should have heeded the warnings, but when you're young and restless, you don't give a fuck, so I went for it. And lo and behold, it started damaging relationships, and my health and drive. I tried for a long time to put the bottle down. I got kicked out of the house and it looked like my wife and I were going to split up. There came a point when I realized enough was enough, and now I haven't picked up the bottle in seven years. It's dramatically affected my life in so many positive ways, giving me the opportunity to be a good husband and father, as well as a kickass frontman. I watch all the fucking VH1 documentaries about musicians dying, and having friends die from this shit, I'm lucky that I got out alive. I can't say I've been perfect — I've slipped up and smoked weed a few times, but haven't had any alcohol, cocaine, pills or anything else."

When asked if he ever feared that the need to stay sober might have meant he had to stop touring, Jacoby said: "I think that's why I kept falling off the wagon. Before we put out 'Getting Away With Murder' [2004], that was the first time I tried to put the bottle down. But on the road, I was apart from my sober friends, and I'd be on the bus with everyone drinking. So I'd end up in the back lounge, secretly chugging vodka. That was tough for years. Now I've been relieved of the obsession — I look back like, 'That's a young man's game.' Plus, I want to stay pretty."

PAPA ROACH's latest album, "Ego Trip", came out in April 2022 via New Noize Records in partnership with ADA Worldwide (WMG's independent label and artist services arm).

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Last Friday, Def Leppard brought their full 2022 Whisky A Go Go set exclusively to their YouTube channel for 24 hours only. Although the full clip has now been removed, the band are rolling out individual videos from the show.


You can now watch the band perform "Hysteria" in this just released video:







Footage of Def Leppard performing "Animal", "Take What You Want" and "Kick" at the concert can be viewed below:











Def Leppard and Journey are teaming up for the Summer Stadium Tour 2024 with Steve Miller Band, Heart, and Cheap Trick. The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame icons are once again coming together for a night of hits.


General tickets for all dates are on sale  here.





Tour dates:


July
6 - St. Louis, MO - Busch Stadium ^
10 - Orlando, FL - Camping World Stadium ^
13 - Atlanta, GA - Truist Park *
15 - Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field *
18 - Detroit, MI - Comerica Park *
20 - Nashville, TN - Nissan Stadium *
23 - Philadelphia, PA - Citizens Bank Park *
25 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium *
27 - Pittsburgh, PA - PNC Park *
30 - Cleveland, OH - Progressive Field +


August
2 - Toronto, ON - Rogers Centre +
5 - Boston, MA - Fenway Park +
7 - Flushing, NY - Citi Field *
12 - Arlington, TX - Globe Life Field *
14 - Houston, TX - Minute Maid Park *
16 - San Antonio, TX - Alamodome *
19 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Field *
23 - Phoenix, AZ - Chase Field *
25 - Los Angeles, CA - SoFi Stadium *
28 - San Francisco, CA - Oracle Park *
30 - San Diego, CA - Petco Park *


September
4 - Seattle, WA - T-Mobile Park ^
8 - Denver, CO - Coors Field ^


* with Steve Miller Band
^ with Cheap Trick
+ with Heart

Grymheart has released a lyric video for "Hellbent Horde", fourth single taken from the debut album Hellish Hunt released in September 2023 by Scarlet Records.





Engineered, produced and mastered by Gábor Kovács; recorded and mixed at Blacksmith Studio (Budapest); majestically illustrated by Gyula Havancsák (Accept, Stratovarius, Burning Witches); Hellish Hunt is available in the following formats:




- digipack CD
- digital


Order here.


Grymheart was founded in 2022 by Gabriel Blacksmith (Gábor Kovács), former leader and main songwriter of the acclaimed Hungarian power metal band, Wisdom.


Grymheart combines the energy of power metal, the harmonies of folk metal, the epicness of symphonic metal and the screaming vocals of death metal. The most important elements of their sound are the catchy melodies: every track contains memorable parts which get stuck in your head; the songs are mostly fast and uplifting with lots of double kick drums, but there are some slow parts with a darker mood too.


The overall concept and image of Grymheart come from iconic monsters & demons hunter characters like The Witcher, Solomon Kane, Van Helsing etc.; each song tells about mystical creatures such as ghosts, Succubus, the living dead, Ignis Fatuus, or harpies. The hunt is open!





"My Hellish Hunt" lyric video:





Grymheart lineup:


Gabriel Blacksmith - guitar, vocals
Dargor Rivgahr - guitar
V'arhel - bass
Sorin Nalaar - drums





(Photos- Krisztina Máté)

In a new interview with the "Arroe Collins View From The Writing Instrument" podcast, former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson spoke about the importance of streaming in supporting music industry revenues. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, streaming is a big part of our consideration right now because it's the primary source of where people listen to music, is through streaming services. And that's rough on the artist, because the royalty rate for streaming is ridiculously bad. So, for us, it really comes down to — you do your best. We still sell physical CDs, so that's a good thing. Our audience still does buy physical CDs, so they get to see that album cover and everything, but that's an increasingly rare thing. So, streaming becomes a consideration because the revenue stream is so much lower.

"I think what's gonna have to happen here one of these days is musicians are gonna need to do what the actors and writers just did in Hollywood and either come up with a strike or something to renegotiate what streaming revenue is, because it's really, really poor," he continued. "And it's unsustainable. You're not gonna get people being able to make a living making music pretty soon, and that's gonna be dangerous. Then the standards of music are gonna go way down — something we are dead set to avoid."

During the chat, Pilson also criticized the method of using artificial intelligence to write music, saying: "Unfortunately, computers can write music now, which is crazy — it's a crazy thought. But, yeah, that's another big reason why there needs to be renegotiating happening because there's probably gonna be a lot of people unemployed now that write elevator music and that kind of stuff, because a computer can do it. So why not? And that's dangerous."

For years, Spotify has been criticized for offering paltry payouts to musicians and songwriters, with some claiming that the service gives major-label artists an unfair advantage via playlist placement and other promotional avenues.

In recent years, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has been trying to defend Spotify's payouts, telling CBS News in early 2023: "We don't pay artists directly. [Artists] have their deals with their record companies and their deals with their publishers, et cetera. And what Spotify does is we pay out to those record companies and these publishers, and don't know what individual deals these artists may have."

Three years ago, Spotify created a web site called Loud&Clear to clarify exactly who receives payments.

According to Forbes, "Spotify has been paying back nearly 70% of every dollar generated from music as royalties to rights holders who represent artists and songwriters. These organizations, which include independent distributors, publishers, performance rights organizations, record labels, and collecting societies, then pay the artists and songwriters based on their agreed terms."

Spotify boasted 574 million monthly active users as of last September. The number of people paying for Spotify Premium stood at 226 million.

In the third quarter of 2023, Spotify posted a rare quarterly profit of $33.88 million, a stark contrast to the 2022 loss of $249.73 million.

Zombi, who recently announced the March 22 release of their new album, Direct Inject (Relapse Records), have shared a second song from the album: “Bodies In The Flotsam.”


“To me, this song feels like ‘classic Zombi,’ something we’d have written back in the early ‘00s,” Steve Moore says of the 3-minute track. “Lean and mean – just drums, eight-string bass and synth. Nothing programmed or sequenced.”


Direct Inject, which was self-produced by Moore and Paterra, also features guest percussionist Jeff Gretz (Zao/From Autumn To Ashes), and guitar player Phil Manley (Trans Am).




“In 2022, after our tour with The Sword, we posted up in our friend’s studio in Clearfield, PA for a week of diner breakfasts and gas station BBQ,” shares Moore. “We would record every day and improvise until we found ideas we liked. We then took these ideas back home to Albany and Chicago to give them structure. A few months later, after our tour with Om, AEP went back to Clearfield to record final drum tracks. Everything else was recorded at my home studio. The only exceptions are ‘Sessuale I’ and “Sessuale II,” which were both written in the early ‘00s but never officially released.”


Album pre-orders are available now, with Direct Inject available on several limited-edition vinyl variants, CD, and digitally, here.





Direct Inject track list:


"Direct Inject"
"So Mote It Be"
"Bodies In The Flotsam"
"Kamichi & Sandy"
"Sessuale II"
"Improvise Adapt Overcome"
"The Post-Atomic Horror"
"Insurmountable Odds"
"Sessuale I"


"Bodies In The Flotsam":





"The Post-Atomic Horror"





Zombi has simultaneously announced their first tour dates in support of Direct Inject, with a US/Canadian trek coming this April. Tickets are on-sale this Friday at 10 AM, local time. Overcalc opens on all dates.





Zombi is Steve Moore (synth/bass/guitar) and AE Paterra (drums/percussion/electronics). Formed in 2001, the Pittsburgh-founded, instrumental duo have released seven full-length albums including their most recent offering, 2020’s 2020 and the 2022 covers collection, Zombi & Friends, Vol.1, which saw the pair cover songs from Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick and the Alan Parsons Project. Known for their distinctive style, which blends prog rock, electronics and an affinity for ‘70s and ‘80s era horror films, Zombi create music that’s both retrospective and futuristic, expansive, and intimate. Each release has seen the band refine and evolve its sound, exploring different textures and moods while staying true to their core aesthetic.


(Photo - Shawn Brackbill)

Morta Skuld will release their new album, Creation Undone, on February 23 via Peaceville Records. The album will be released on LP, limited edition Green LP, CD and digital. Pre-order the album here. New single and video for "Perfect Prey" is streaming below.


"The song ‘Perfect Prey’ is about control and how the powers that be can really put a stronghold on us as humans, I felt it was like shooting fish in a barrel and that we as people were the perfect prey," Dave Gregor, Morta Skuld


Scribe Greg Pratt scored the album a 7.5 in his review – read here.




Scaling new heights of brutality for the longstanding US death metal veterans, Creation Undone is the latest work of inspired extremity from frontman and mastermind Dave Gregor and co. In a time when the band’s iconic and celebrated debut Dying Remains reaches its thirty year milestone, and with recent live activity on both sides of the Atlantic seeing the quartet performing to a ravenous fanbase of metalheads both old and new, Morta Skuld now returns with a ten track opus of pure death metal in their unrelenting and unwavering pursuit of heaviness, still going strong after three decades, as the band unleashes their successor to 2020’s Suffer For Nothing.


With themes exploring an increasingly savage, corrupt and destructive state of the world in present times, and executed with a razor-sharp precision, with ferocious and hook-laden compositions to match and even exceed any of their highly regarded early output, Creation Undone was recorded and mixed at Belle City Sound Studios by Chris Djuricic, with mastering work conducted at Flatline Audio with Dave Otero.


Morta Skuld formed in Milwaukee in 1990, quickly producing two demos before going on to release three albums on Peaceville Records (initially via legendary sub-label Deaf Records) in the early-mid 90's. Many years later, and with a new lineup, founder and main-man David Gregor then reunited with Peaceville for the opuses Wounds Deeper Than Time, and Suffer For Nothing, showing that none of the brutal & inspired magic of the band's former years had been lost.





Tracklisting:


"We Rise We Fall"
"The End Of Reason"
"Painful Conflict"
"Unforeseen Obstacles"
"Perfect Prey"
"Soul Piercing Sorrow"
"Into Temptation"
"Self Destructive Emotions"
"Oblivion"
"By Design"


"Perfect Prey" video:





"We Rise We Fall" video:

Arizona death metal specialists make their triumphant return with their first new track since 2021’s An Unexpected Reality. “Caught In The Treads” is heavily rooted in the high-powered energy that fuels the contagious atmosphere that they have encountered in their recent global live endeavors. The single, produced and mixed by Kurt Ballou of Converge fame, features infectious guitar melodies and drum passages that audiences will cling to with their refined attitude as the purveyors of the new wave of American death metal.


Chase H. Mason states, "Lyrically the song is about a supernaturally charged fleet of tanks that have been possessed by the souls of fallen soldiers. It's about revenge and crushing your enemies." Expanding on the music video he mentions, "As soon as we finished recording, we started sneaking this song into our live set. We brought along our own VHS camera and had our friends film the shows where they could."







Stream “Caught In The Treads” on all streaming platforms now.


Gatecreeper will tour the U.S. with headliners and label mates In Flames.





Dates:


May
1 - Portland, ME - State Theatre
2 - Hampton Beach, NH - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
3 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
4 - Wilmington, DE - The Queen
5 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva
7 - Charleston, SC - Charleston Music Hall
8 - Greensboro, NC - Piedmont Hall
9 - Atlanta, GA - Buckhead
10 - Daytona, FL - Rockville
12 - Huntsville, AL - Mars Music Hall
14 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works
16 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Small's Theatre
17 - Buffalo, NY - The Town Ballroom
18 - Columbus, OH - Sonic Temple
19 - Milwaukee, WI - Milwaukee Metal Fest
21 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews
22 - St. Louis, MO - The Hawthorn
23 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
24 - Austin, TX - Emo's
25 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
26 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues