In a brand new interview with the QMI Agency, AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's long-awaited new album, which is tentatively due later this year.

When asked about the sound of AEROSMITH's new material, Perry said, "It definitely has a feel like some of the early stuff. We've tried to bring that back. People are always asking for something that sounds like the old stuff, but you can't rewrite 'Mama Kin' or 'Same Old Song And Dance'. All you can do is go in and start from the same place you started when you made those records. So we just went in with (producer) Jack Douglas and we all worked on the record. There's a song or two that the band helped write, and Tom (Hamilton, bass) wrote and Brad (Whitford, guitar) has a track on there. So from that point of view, it's a lot more like an early AEROSMITH record. We were all in the room when we were pulling these songs together and recording them. Every way that we used to make our records, that's what we did to get this to where it is. Right down to what we're doing now, which is going over the tracks and bringing them up to speed. Steven [Tyler] is finishing up the lyrics and we're just going to put the finishing touches on it."

During a recent interview, Tyler stated about the new AEROSMITH album, "All of it's been written, but I gotta lay lyrics on it and I haven't had a lot of time," he said. "But what I've listened to so far just knocked me out. I know a good song, I know what's gonna get played on the radio, I'm not that pretentious to say I think we've got hits, but I think we've got something, and that's all that matters."

AEROSMITH began work on its first all-new album since 2001 last year, with the rest of the band working on music while Tyler made his "American Idol" debut.

The band has been working with producer Jack Douglas, who collaborated with them on classic early albums like "Toys In The Attic" and "Rocks".

Perry recently wrote on Twitter, "People have said when we play the rough tracks it sounds like it's from the '70s but for me, it's too early to tell."

Meanwhile, Tyler also said at the TCA press conference that sales of AEROSMITH's back catalog were up 260 percent since he began appearing on "Idol".

The 11th season of the series began with its two-night premiere on January 18.

Jeremy Deacon, the former bassist of South Florida-based female-fronted extreme metallers WYKKED WYTCH, has died of lymphoma at age 33. The band's vocalist Ipek Warnock said, "[Jeremy] was a great friend and kind/gentle soul with great talent. I'm very saddened with heavy heart and shock!! This is the second member we lost from that era. Timur, [former] WYKKED WYTCH drummer, was the other member died from suicide few years back.

"[It's] very sad to lose a band members and friends who have made an impact in my life personally and for the band!

"Thanks for the great memories, Jeremy, hope you find Timur wherever you are and jam WYKKED WYTCH tunes! RIP, brother!!"

WYKKED WYTCH's fifth full-length album, "The Ultimate Deception", will be released on February 14 via Goomba Music. The follow-up to 2008's "Memories Of A Dying Whore" "continues where its predecessor left off and pushes the boundaries of extreme music as well as the legacy of WYKKED WYTCH," according to a press release.

Frankie DiVita, radio personality for 96.7 KCAL Rocks, conducted an interview with IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain at the 2012 NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show, a massive music-products convention which took place January 19-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. You can now watch the chat below.

When asked about what is going on with IRON MAIDEN at the moment, Nicko replied, "Well, we're taking some time off. And we're gonna go back out on tour sometime this year. We're not sure yet when. It's in the words of a very famous British singer from the Second World War called Vera Lynn. And she had a song and it went something like, 'We'll meet again. Don't know where. Don't know when.' So that's in the line of Vera Lynn. We're doing a Vera Lynn. We don't know where, we don't know when. . . [But] IRON MAIDEN is touring sometime this year, yeah. I don't think [it will be a world tour this time]. Next year, maybe. But this year, it's just gonna be a little tour — short run."

EMI has set a March 26 release date for "En Vivo!", the new concert Blu-Ray, two-DVD set and double soundtrack album from legendary British metallers IRON MAIDEN.

"En Vivo!" was filmed on April 10, 2011 in front of over 50,000 ecstatic fans at the Estadio Nacional, Santiago during the "Round The World In 66 Days" leg of "The Final Frontier World Tour", and captures a magnificent performance by the band, ardently embraced by the legendary Latino passion and energy of their Chilean fans. With spectacular stage backdrops, dynamic musicianship and a literally jaw-dropping appearance by Eddie, this live show encapsulates to perfection the heart and soul of IRON MAIDEN 2011.

In addition to the Blu-Ray, the two-DVD will initially be available as a limited-edition double DVD in collectors' steel book case and double vinyl picture disc. As well as a traditional two-CD soundtrack album, "En Vivo!" will be available as a digital download CD soundtrack album and digital download video.

Video footage of Zoe Thomson, the 8-year-old guitarist for the Thatcham, United Kingdom-based group THE MINI BAND, showing off her shredding skills during a play-along to a guitar track ("Stratosphere") from Finnish symphonic metallers STRATOVARIUS can be seen below. The clip has been watched more than 1.5 million times by guitar fans worldwide since it was posted on YouTube on January 16.

Zoe was recently signed by guitar company Daisy Rock. Her mother Collette told Newbury Today, "Zoe is really excited; she is overjoyed. For someone of her age to get an endorsement is a massive achievement. I think you have to have something special to be endorsed, and it's really nice that someone has recognized her talent."

THE MINI BAND's performance of METALLICA's "Enter Sandman" has racked up more than 3.5 million YouTube views in 15 weeks.

The METALLICA members were so impressed with the young musicians that they posted a one-minute YouTube video singing THE MINI BAND's praises.

Aaron Lewis has received two Academy Of Country Music nominations for his debut country single, "Country Boy", continuing his breakthrough year as a solo artist. The singer, songwriter and guitarist was nominated in the "Vocal Event of the Year" category for the song — which features George Jones and Charlie Daniels — as both the artist and co-producer, along with co-producer James Stroud. The song is from Lewis' acclaimed 2011 country debut EP, "Town Line" (R&J Records).

The Academy Of Country Music Awards will take place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 1.

The STAIND frontman is in Nashville with Grammy award-winning producer James Stroud recording the follow-up to "Town Line", which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and #7 on The Billboard 200 chart. The new album is planned for a spring 2012 release and its first single will be released in February or March (details to be announced).

Lewis told the Dallas Observer that he doesn't see himself giving up country music now that he's started, explaining, "It's the first music that I was ever exposed to . . . Country music is a part of me. It certainly reflects my lifestyle. I live out in the middle of nowhere in a town of 1,200 people. I've got chickens and a house pig. I deer hunt and I fish. I really don't do many things that require a city."

STAIND's self-titled seventh album arrived in September and debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard album chart.

Spanish female-fronted symphonic metallers DIABULUS IN MUSICA will release their sophomore album, "The Wanderer", in Europe on March 5 via Napalm Records.

According to a press release, "With their latest album, the Spanish quintet proves that impressive symphonic metal need not hail from Scandinavia. The musicians revolving around vocalist Zuberoa Aznárez have refined the trademark sound first heard on their debut album, 'Secrets', and brought their latest work, 'The Wanderer', to a whole new level. DIABULUS IN MUSICA unites heavy riffs with sensual melodies and appealing refrains. 'The Wanderer' is not a mere collection of songs, but rather a passionate and sweeping symphonic metal album that will mesmerize from beginning to end."

DIABULUS IN MUSICA previously described the material on "The Wanderer" as "full of passion, energetic, yet delicate, and also a big step forward in our music."

"The Wanderer" track listing:

01. A Journey's End (intro)
02. Ex Nihilio
03. Sceneries Of Hope
04. Blazing A Trail
05. Call From A Rising Memory (intro)
06. Hidden Reality
07. Shadow Of The Throne
08. Allegory Of Faith, Innocence And Future
09. Sentenced To Life
10. Ohiuka Bihotzetik
11. No Time For Repentance (Lamentatio)
12. The Wanderer

The "Sceneries Of Hope" video can be seen below.

Formed in 2006, DIABULUS IN MUSICA's debut album, "Secrets", came out in May 2010 via Metal Blade Records. The CD was engineered by Spanish producer Iñaki Llarena and was mixed by former EPICA guitarist Ad Sluijter. It was mastered by Sascha Paeth, Simon Oberender and Michael "Miro" Rodenberg at Gate studios in Wolfsburg, Germany.

DIABULUS IN MUSICA is:

Zuberoa Aznárez: Vocals
Gorka Elso: Keyboards
Adrián M. Vallejo: Guitars
Alex Sanz: Bass Guitar
Xabi Jareño: Drums

Video footage of members of CHILDREN OF BODOM, SUFFOCATION and CROWBAR performing karaoke-style cover versions of several popular standards on the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise — which set sail Monday, January 23 aboard the Royal Caribbean Majesty Of The Seas from Miami, Florida to George Town, Cayman Islands and returned four days later — can be viewed below.

The following bands performed on this year's cruise:

ALESTORM
AMORPHIS
ANNIHILATOR
ATHEIST
CANDLEMASS
CANNIBAL CORPSE
CHANNEL ZERO
CHILDREN OF BODOM
CORONER
DARK FUNERAL
DIAMOND PLATE
EDGUY
ELUVEITIE
EXCITER
GOD DETHRONED
GRAVE DIGGER
HAMMERFALL
IN EXTREMO
KAMELOT
KATAKLYSM
MASSACRE
MEGORA
MOONSORROW
MY DYING BRIDE
NIGHTWISH
OVERKILL
PENTAGRAM
PESTILENCE
PRETTY MAIDS
RIOT
SAMAEL
SAPIENCY
STRATOVARIUS
SUFFOCATION
TANKARD
THERION
TRISTANIA
VENOM
VICIOUS RUMORS
VIRGIN STEELE
WHIPLASH

For more information, visit www.70000tons.com.

LACUNA COIL singer Cristina Scabbia joined MEGADETH on stage earlier tonight (Saturday, January 28) at the third show of this year's Gigantour at the 5,600-seat Theater At Madison Square Garden to perform the MEGADETH song "A Tout Le Monde".

Multi-camera fan-filmed video footage of her appearance can be seen below.

MEGADETH's setlist for tonight's concert was as follows:

01. Trust
02. Wake Up Dead
03. Hangar 18
04. Sweating Bullets
05. Angry Again
06. Poison Was The Cure
07. Dawn Patrol
08. Public Enemy #1
09. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
10. Guns, Drugs & Money
11. A Tout Le Monde
12. Symphony Of Destruction
13. Holy Wars…Punishment Due

"A Tout Le Monde", which originally appeared on MEGADETH's 1994 CD "Youthanasia", created controversy in September 2006 because the song was cited in an online post by Dawson College killer Kimveer Gill as one of his favorites before his Montreal shooting spree. MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine contends that he wanted to give the song a second shot at success, as the original video for it had been banned by MTV, and most radio stations followed suit. The track ended up featuring Cristina Scabbia after "the first singer didn't work out," Mustaine told Straight.com. "The second one didn't work, and the third one was Lisa Marie Presley. She was on the way to the airport, and we had to call and say, 'Sorry, we changed our minds.' I would have loved to have heard what Lisa Marie Presley would have done, but because of the demographics of the LACUNA COIL fan base, and Cristina's reign in the heavy-metal business, it was the right thing to do."

In a 2008 interview Cristina stated about her collaboration with MEGADETH, "[Dave Mustaine] actually asked me to be part of this duet, and I was really surprised about it because 'A Tout Le Monde' is a song that I've always loved, even if it's not like the new [version] because [the original song] [was released on] the album 'Youthanasia'. It was a big surprise for me to get this invitation — I was really honored to be part of it. And seriously, when I heard the final result, I was awesomely surprised 'cause I think that the two voices are fitting incredibly [well together]. I think that the version of 'A Tout le Monde' 2007 has a stronger attitude. If the original version was for the mellow mood, this one is way more rock, way more powerful. I totally love it. I was surprised myself, and I think that a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised. It was recorded, like an hour from Birgmingham [England]. So I flew in and recorded my parts with Andy Sneap [producer]. He's [Andy] an amazing guy — super professional — and the atmosphere in the studio was so relaxed. It was like a family vibe, and I think that's the most amazing thing when you have to work. You can work and still smile, you know, and be relaxed. I tracked the entire song because we weren't really sure what we had to do, so we just wanted to be totally sure, so we recorded all the parts that Dave sung with some improvisation with it, double vocals. We basically made anything possible, so they could pick up whatever they wanted to."

"A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free)" appeared on MEGADETH's 2007 album "United Abominations", which was released via Roadrunner Records.

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper, along with members of his backing band — Chuck Garric, Steve Hunter, Tommy Henriksen, Keri Kelli (filling in for Orianthi) and Glen Sobel — took Montreal, Quebec, Canada by storm last night (Saturday, January 28) at the 2012 "Show Harley" event. The band played a blistering 60-minute set for a huge crowd of rowdy, Harley-Davidson-loving Alice Cooper fans. According to a post on Cooper's web site, "the setlist consisted of classics, a few covers, Alice gave away a brand new Harley, the stage lit up with fire, there were the infamously... ahem... attractive 'Show Harley' girls on stage for the biker classic 'Born To Be Wild'. It was a wild night."

Alice's setlist was as follows:

01. Black Widow
02. No More Mr. Nice Guy
03. Under My Wheels
04. I'm Eighteen
05. I'll Bite Your Face Off
06. Billion Dollar Babies
07. Muscle Love
08. Feed My Frankenstein
09. Poison
10. School's Out
11. Elected
12. Brown Sugar
13. Born To Be Wild

Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

Check out photos at AliceCooper.com.

Austrian symphonic extreme metal outfit HOLLENTHON is making professionally filmed video footage of its entire December 4, 2010 concert at Szene in Vienna available for streaming in five parts. The third and the fourh clips can be seen below, with the fifth and final part set to follow on February 5.

HOLLENTHON's latest EP, "Tyrants and Wraiths", came out in 2009.The CD featured four new tracks and two live videos from the 2008 Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium.

HOLLENTHON's most recent album, "Opus Magnum", was released in June 2008 via the Austrian record label Napalm Records. The CD featured eight songs and a cover version, plus a video.

HOLLENTHON issued two critically acclaimed albums a decade ago — "Domus Mundi" (1999) and "With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell" (2001).

Part 4:

Guitarist, composer and producer Steve Vai was the recipient of the prestigious Les Paul Award at the 27th annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards. The gala co-presented by the TEC Foundation For Excellence In Audio and NAMM, was held on January 20 at the Hilton in Anaheim, California as a special event of the 2012 NAMM show.

The TEC Awards recognizes outstanding achievement in professional audio production and product design.

Sponsored by the Les Paul Foundation, the Les Paul Award is given annually to a musician or recording professional whose work has epitomized the marriage of music and technology. The award was co-presented by Russ Paul and celebrated rock bassist Billy Sheehan.

Video footage of the Les Paul Award presentation can be seen below.

The show was hosted by "Late Show" veteran Will Lee, and featured musical performances by Lee, the 2 COLD CHILIBONE TEC BAND, Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan, Orianthi, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, CJ Vanston, scratcher DJ HAPA and other veteran vocalists and session musicians.

The complete list of the 27th annual TEC Awards winners is available at this location.

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach is playing three "special concerts" in New York City with BILLY IDOL guitarist Steve Stevens. The shows are taking place on January 27, January 28 and January 29 at The Iridium and feature Bach and Stevens "doing two sets a night," including "some special unexpected songs."

Video footage of Bach and Stevens performing cover versions of BILLY IDOL's "Rebel Yell" and VAN HALEN's "Hot For Teacher" can be seen below. They were accompanied at the show by Pete Thorn on second guitar, Neil Jason on bass and Anton Fig on drums.

In a recent interview with Rock Nothing But…, Bach stated about his collaboration with the BILLY IDOL guitarist, "I've always loved Steve Stevens. He's always been one of my heroes. He's a true rock star guitar player and a personality onstage. The way he plays, how he has those shotgun blasts on the guitar with the whammy bar and all that. It's just so distinctive. I've always wanted to jam with him, so yeah, we could work together in the future. I would really enjoy that. We do shows with CAMP FREDDY. Which is a band made up of Billy Morrison, Mark McGrath, Billy Idol plays quite a bit. That's where I met Steve Stevens. Dave Navarro plays a lot. Steve plays 'Youth Gone Wild' and 'I Remember You'. It's unbelievable. I never thought I'd hear Steve Stevens play SKID ROW songs."

Video footage of reactivated Arizona thrashers SACRED REICH performing on Friday, January 27 at Fat Cat in Modesto, California can be seen below. Photos of the concert are available at this location. (All pictures and video clips by Stephanie Cabral.)

SACRED REICH will embark on a 25th-anniversary European tour this summer. Confirmed dates are as follows:

Jun. 07 - GRE - Athens - Gagarin 205
Jun. 09 - SWE - Sölvesborg - Sweden Rock Festival
Jun. 10 - GER - Hamburg - Markthalle *
Jun. 12 - GER - Berlin - C-Club *
Jun. 13 - GER - Bochum - Zeche *
Jun. 14 - GER - Nürnberg - Hirsch *
Jun. 15 - SWI - Pratteln - Galery *
Jun. 17 - FRA - Clisson - Hellfest
Jun. 21 - GBR - London - Underworld
Jun. 22 - BEL - Dessel - Graspop
Jun. 23 - NED - Zwolle - Hedon
Aug. 03 - GER - Wacken - Wacken Open Air
Aug. 04 - FIN - Pori - Porispere

* With support from DEGRADEAD

The remastered edition of SACRED REICH's classic 1992 album "Independent" was released as a digipack and jewelbox on March 15, 2010 via Displeased Records. The first 2,500 copies contain a free SACRED REICH patch.

Bonus tracks:

* "A Question" (from "A Question" EP)
* "Let's Have A War" (FEAR cover from "A Question" EP)
* "Who's To Blame" (from "A Question" EP)
* "The Big Picture" (MDC cover from "Open Book" EP)
* "Crawling" [radio edit] (from "Crawling" EP)

Displeased Records' reissue of SACRED REICH's classic album "The American Way" came out in February 2009. With upgraded layout, to-the-point remastering plus unreleased pre-production demo bonus tracks and a video clip, this new and improved CD reissue is an essential addition to every thrash metal collection.

"The American Way" was made available in a limited digipak version and standard jewel case version. The first 2,500 copies came with a free logo patch.

All photos and video footage by Stephanie Cabral

QUEENSRŸCHE lead singer Geoff Tate kicked off his acoustic solo tour, billed as GEOFF TATE AND FRIENDS, this past Thursday, January 26 at Anthology in San Diego, California. According to Tate, he is "playing acoustic renditions of songs from my solo album as well as some of my favorite QUEENSRŸCHE songs."

Fan-filmed video footage of the the second concert of the tour — which took place last night (Friday, January 27) at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California — can be seen below.

In a recent interview with AnthologySD.com, Tate was asked if he is looking into any future solo projects. "I am!" he replied. "I'm actually working on one right now that I hope to have wrapped up pretty soon. This show that I'm doing [on the solo tour] is an acoustic show with some friends of mine who are fantastic acoustic players. We're doing kind of a blend of my last solo album, some QUEENSRŸCHE songs, and we'll toss in some new ones that haven't been released yet. It'll just be a really fun night. Very homey, intimate, we'll probably take requests, things like that."

He added, "For the last couple of years, I've been doing more stuff outside of QUEENSRŸCHE in order to just stretch out. But I'll tell you, even though I've sang shows in front of hundreds of thousands of people and also intimate shows of a few hundred, but whenever I go out to an event or something and someone asks me to sing a song with them, I'm petrified! (Laughs) I don't know much material outside of my own material that I've written, and so if someone asks me to sing 'Danny Boy', I couldn't sing it! Not even if someone offered me a million dollars could I sing that song. So I'm trying to be a bit more versatile and learn more stuff."

When asked about QUEENSRŸCHE's plans following the band's most recent concert, which took place on January 13 at the Peppermill Concert Hall in Wendover, Nevada, Tate told the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM last month, "Nothing. We're taking a year off and we'll be working on a new album. [We'll be going] back to the studio."

QUEENSRŸCHE is scheduled to perform in São Paulo, Brazil in April and at the Douglas County Fair in Rosenburg, Oregon in August.

TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON, the new project featuring Dani "Filth" Davey (vocals; CRADLE OF FILTH), Rob Caggiano (guitar; ANTHRAX, THE DAMNED THINGS), Tom Cato Visnes (bass; a.k.a. King ov Hell; OV HELL, GOD SEED, GORGOROTH), John Tempesta (drums; formerly of WHITE ZOMBIE and now drumming with THE CULT) and Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal (guitar; ENSLAVED) spent time in Bergen, Norway earlier this month fine-tuning the material that is set to appear on the band's forthcoming debut album.

Dani has released the following update via the official TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON Facebok page:

"Long time dead, my dear friends.

"Welcome to the TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON, wherein all your desires and deepest darkest fantasies become terrifying reality at the press of a stereo button.

"I'm writing to you now to let you in on exactly what is brewing with this band and the bunch of hellish reprobates contained therein.

"I, Dani Filth, third in line to the Baronet of Hades, have just returned from a week in Bergen, Norway, where TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON have been ensconced in a studio (which is simultaneously working on the new GOD SEED album, I hasten to add), putting the spit and polish to the album's worth of music we've written.

"Thus far we have the following titles to confirm, with a further couple of corkers steaming down the pipeline soon...

* Beautifully Perverse
* Into The Void
* Don't Call Up What You Can't Put Down
* Infernal Desire Machine
* Alchemy, Myself And I
* Dark Eyes For Trouble
* C.N.T (All That's Missing Is You)
* Persephone
* Last Of The Vampire Playboys
* Another Dead Thing Between Us
* Catch

"Everything is sounding great and we are hoping to secure management (we're in the midst of discussions) and then a record deal in the foreseeable future, though no names can be uttered yet… I'm an absolute bugger when it comes to jinxes!

"My time in Bergen was a riot. I was lodging at Tom's with Geir and Rob as well as Tom's American girlfriend Stefanie, which proved a bit of a pileup when it came to using the bathroom every morning! Actually, that's bearing in mind that we didn't actually see the morning all week, save for the very last day when we had to pack down the gear early before Rob's flight.

"After long stretches in the studio analysing music, playing music or reading old copies of European metal mags (plus the nights spent downstairs from the studio at The Garage rock bar, or at various people's apartments partying), the mornings became obsolete almost overnight! Still, we managed to squeeze in some national press, including radio and a double spread in a national daily newspaper, plus we also managed a studio report with Metal Hammer Germany, playing the journalist Gunnar six demo tracks to whet his salubrious appetite.

"Highlights of the trip had to be the Friday night bar crawl (Rob getting locked outside the flat and not waking anyone until 10 in the morning, so okay, he got to see the dreadful hours), hearing Tom's demons for real, the marathon wine drinking evening Saturday night, hanging out with a famous Norwegian actor called Helge Jordal and hooking up with friends from GOD SEED, DIMMU, ENSLAVED, SUSPERIA, TAAKE, BATTALION, IMMORTAL and SAHG, to name but a smattering. Oh, and watching the other guys (Geir, Rob, Tom and Ice Dale) handling backing vocal duties to proper comedic effect! They actually sound great, though….

"So that's it for the time being fellow night owls. As up to date as it can possibly be. And hopefully next time I put gob to paper I will hopefully have news of an impending studio date, sample lyrics and even perhaps some demo material to air.

"How incredibly exciting!"

"Pyro", the weekly hard rock/metal heavy metal show which airs on the national radio station NRK in Norway, recently conducted an interview with Filth, Caggiano and King. The five-minute chat, which includes audio snippets of songs that will appear on TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON's forthcoming debut album, can be streamed at this location.

When asked about how the idea for the project came about, Caggiano said, "Years ago, I was in the U.K. working with CRADLE OF FILTH on the 'Nymphetamine' record. And I think it was at the end of the session, I was just about to go back to New York, I decided to stay in London for a couple of days. And GORGOROTH was actually playing. So I went to the show, and that's when Tom and I met; it was back in 2005, I think. We got really drunk and we started talking about working on music together, doing something different. Prior to that, Dani and I were talking about possibly doing something. One thing led to another, Tom and I started working on music, and we realized that we worked really well together and it just came naturally. . . But the whole thing is, we're all super busy with our other projects, so just scheduling has been a nightmare for a long time."

Regarding the TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON sound, Dani said, "A lot of people have speculated, 'Wow, it's got a guy from CRADLE OF FILTH, ANTHRAX and [GORGOROTH].' It's got a real rock base to it; and I know it sounds strange [to say]. It's heavy, but it's not too extreme. It's not [all] blast beats or anything like that, although we do have a couple of songs a bit like that — really fast. But it's catchy. I don't like using the word 'commercial,' because will think it's watered down, sort of, power pop, or pop rock. I think it's gonna surprise a lot of people. It's really hard to put it into context and say, it's a bit of CRADLE OF FILTH, ANTHRAX, GORGOROTH and THE CULT [laughs] . . . which sounds ridiculous." Caggiano added, "I don't think it sounds like any of our other bands. If it did, what would be the point?"