Arizona thrash metal veterans SACRED REICH are planning to enter the studio in April 2024 to begin recording the follow-up to 2019's "Awakening".

The band's recording plans were revealed earlier today (Thursday, November 23) in a Thanksgiving Day social media post by SACRED REICH bassist/vocalist Phil Rind. He wrote: "Today in the US we celebrate Thanksgiving. It's an appropriate way to celebrate the end of the 'Awakening' touring cycle. Beginning in 2019 we've played 234 shows in 23 countries. It was an incredible journey that took us to new places and reunited us with many old faces. Through it all we've relied on the love and support of our families who carry on in our absence. We could never have done it without our crew @michael_audiotech, @skid_on_tour, @abou_raissa_mathieu_lesage, @crissta and @dirtysouthmoss along with @chrisgreentm, @ppshiver and @wvhardcore .

"Thanks to @metalbladerecords for their continued love and support. Thanks to our agents for all the great tours. A special thank you to all the killer bands we've shared the stage with @gwar, @toxicholocaust_official, @nightdemonmetal, @sepultura, @crowbarmusic, @artofshock, @carcass, @municipalwaste, @creepingdeathtx, @deathangelofficial and @angelusapatrida, @ironreaganofficial, @testamentofficial, @dustbolt_official, @megadeth and @kreatorofficial.

"Finally we would like to thank the fans for making it all possible. Each night on tour we take a moment to acknowledge that without the support of our fans we would not be able to continue as a band. You buy the records. You buy the tickets. You buy the merchandise. You are the reason we can continue to play music and tour. You have given us this incredible life in music and we are eternally grateful. Thank you.

"If you've made it this far we have a bit of news for you. We will be headed back into the studio in April to record our next record. We are super excited! Hopefully the record will be out by the end of 2024.

"Once again thank you for your love and support. On behalf of @wiley.arnett, @davemcclaindrums and @joeyradziwill I wish you peace, love and happiness. Always."

This past June, SACRED REICH guitarist Wiley Arnett spoke to The Meista - Brews & Tunes about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to "Awakening". He said: "It's been an amazing process. We didn't do a record for a long time for several reasons, but one of the biggest is the well had kind of run dry. We lean hard on Phil for a lot of the writing — a hundred percent of the lyrics and almost as much music. And if he's not feeling it or inspired, then there's really nothing for us to say. And after a long time sitting away and then coming back and starting to do the reunion shows, we got a taste of it again. And then a crazy world — our kids are getting older, moving out, graduating high school. It was easy to talk yourself out of getting busy in a band over the years. So between a lack of inspiration, no new ideas and a sense of, 'We should be at home doing important stuff,' we definitely did part for a while. But 2007, we got back out. We went nearly 10 years just banging out old songs — 'Surf [Nicaragua]', 'The American Way', 'Death Squad', 'Independent'; all the old stuff — having a blast. Every show felt like a high school reunion for us, seeing guys with the wizard stripes, just like us, and just reminiscing about all the great times or that time they saw us in New Jersey in 1989 or '91 or somewhere in France. And it's been so cool to go back and reignite those connections. And it was just inspiring. And then global events.

"We've always been a political band," he continued. "I think when you look at 'Awakening'… Some people were, like, 'Oh, Trump came around. All of a sudden they were inspired again.' If you look close at 'Awakening', there's a little splash of it, but it's really not the theme these days. We certainly reserve the right, 'cause we're so motivated that way to try to make people who might not hear those messages actually hear 'em through metal.

"But it feels good. It feels inspired. It doesn't feel pushed. It feels natural. It would have been ideal for us to record or release something by the end of this year, but we felt pressure for that, and we resisted it. We were, like, 'No.' It's not the best strategy on paper, but it's just gotta come when it feels right. We play the songs we love. We enjoy our most success when we're pleasing ourselves and then we find the people who agree with us. So we're kind of figuring out our stuff. 'Awakening' was a great start. We've got two more records on our current deal. And, obviously, we're not writing the third one just yet. But the second one, I think we've got six or seven songs that are all the way there. We'd like to see 10, 12 songs. Of course, we never get that high. But that's a goal. And we don't really write songs for throwaway. We're not one of those bands who do 20 [songs] and pick their favorite 10. We just write until we feel like we've got a record, and then we book studio time. So we're moving right along. We're feeling pretty inspired.

"We got pretty busy this year," Wiley added. "It's been crazy. We started off in March in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, which was quite the adventure. We'd never been to a couple of those spots, like Bangkok, Thailand; Singapore, Vietnam — we'd never been to any of those places. So it was pretty frickin' amazing. And then [we] came home and did the U.S. tour and now we're preparing to go [to] Europe. So that can stifle creativity. We're not one of those bands with the headphones in the backstage [or] in the basement in a club writing the new record. It seems to happen when there's time off. The smoke settles. We calm our thoughts and be creative. So we're just coming off about a month of that. It's been a crazy time. But we can feel the momentum picking back up. And I think we're on target — hopefully early 2024 in the studio, with a release by the end of the year."

"Awakening" was released in August 2019 via Metal Blade Records. The LP was produced by Arthur Rizk, who has previously worked with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, POWER TRIP and CODE ORANGE, among others. The album marked SACRED REICH's first release since the return of drummer Dave McClain.

"Awakening" was described in a press release as "a timeless collection comprised of blistering thrash, crushing grooves, killer solos and socially conscious lyrics that demonstrate a true understanding of everything that matters most in the world today."

"Awakening" was engineered by John Aquilino and was mastered by Maor Appelbaum.

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

Today in the US we celebrate Thanksgiving. It's an appropriate way to celebrate the end of the Awakening touring cycle....

Posted by Sacred Reich on Thursday, November 23, 2023

In a new interview with Alex Gallagher of Tucson Weekly, EXODUS frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza confirmed that he and his bandmates are planning to enter the studio on March 1, 2024 to begin work on the follow-up to 2021's "Persona Non Grata" album.

Regarding what keeps him motivated to continue making music, Souza said: "I'm just driven. It's what I've done since I was 21. I'm almost 60 now, and it's just what you do. I owe it to the fans who still want to see us.

"I love THE CARS, but you can't do THE CARS, because Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr have passed away," he explained. "You can't replace Lemmy; you can't see MOTÖRHEAD anymore. You can't see the RAMONES. There's still such a fan base for bands like that. I think that goes as well for us.

"So many bands of our genre — EXODUS, DEATH ANGEL, METALLICA, FORBIDDEN — owe it to the fans. If it's not hindering your life, why wouldn't you keep going? This is what you wanted when you were 14, playing air guitar to your bed. I don't take it for granted."

EXODUS's fall 2023 tour with FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, DARKEST HOUR and UNDEATH kicked off on November 15 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and will conclude on December 10 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania.

During a question-and-answer session on July 27 at Diablo Guitars in Renton, Washington, where he was holding a guitar clinic, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt was asked about the band's recent switch from Nuclear Blast Records to Napalm Records. He responded: "It's just one of those things. We were with Nuclear Blast for a long time — since 2003 — but sometimes, you know, change is good. There was a ton of change at Nuclear Blast and I kind of knew one person there anymore and I used to know everybody. And this might be my last record deal. I'm 59 years old, so I wanted to make sure it was right. I hope so. But I'm pretty confident. They're all 100 percent behind this band."

This past May, EXODUS canceled its previously announced summer 2023 European tour so that Holt could "tend to his family" after his brother was hospitalized in Italy.

Holt joined EXODUS in 1981, shortly after the band's formation, and has been the group's main songwriter ever since. Holt has performed on every EXODUS album, and is considered highly influential in the world of thrash metal.

Holt began filling in for SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman at live shows in 2011, and became the band's full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS. Holt played on SLAYER's final album, "Repentless", which came out in 2015.

"Persona Non Grata" came out in November 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap. For the third time in the band's history, they returned to Swedish artist Pär Olofsson to create the album artwork.

"Persona Non Grata" was the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' first release since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

Glenn Hughes is celebrating the 26th anniversary of his getting sober.

Earlier today (Thursday, November 23), the 72-year-old former DEEP PURPLE bassist and vocalist shared an image revealing he has been sober for 26 years, 312 months, 9,497 days or 227,910 hours.

He wrote: "Celebrating 26 years of continued sobriety today. I am one of the lucky ones in all aspects of life, and I'm sending all my love to those who still suffer. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone."

Two days ago, Hughes shared a short video celebrating the completion of " two sold-out tours in the U.K. and Latin America" during which he performed material from DEEP PURPLE with a backing band consisting of Søren Andersen on guitar, Ash Sheehan on drums and Bob Fridzema on keyboards.

Glenn wrote in an accompanying message: "Now home in LA, after two Sold Out Tours in the UK & Latin America.

"It's been a fantastic year for Myself, my Band and Crew. We started rehearsing in late April in Copenhagen, and have now completed a run of seven months of amazing shows. And … the best is yet to come #TBIY2C #musicisthehealer #loveistheanswer

"Sending loving Vibrations".

Hughes spent key years of his career as the beloved bassist and vocalist of DEEP PURPLE, appearing on the classic albums "Burn", "Stormbringer" and "Come Taste the Band".

A little over two years ago, Glenn was asked in an interview with "The Chuck Schute Podcast" if there was anything someone could have said to him to get him to quit drinking sooner. He responded: "Trust me, everybody that loved me or loves me told me on numerous occasions to get it together, to get it together, to get it together. I got it together when I was sick and tired of waking up sick and tired. So many times I tried to stop, and so many times I couldn't get it together. My suggestion for those out there that may have had one too many drinks, you've gotta realize that that high is never gonna last forever. You've gotta get a grip on it.

"A friend of mine right now is really struggling — really, really struggling. I pray for everyone that is having problems with any addiction, because it needs to be dealt with. You can't shove it away and brush it under the carpet. You have to deal with it, because it will take you out."

Asked if he went to rehab for alcohol abuse or if he just quit cold turkey, Hughes said: "I did [go to rehab]. Let's just say I had one too many cocktails on Christmas Day 1991, and I found myself in the ER room one more time. And I realized that I had a choice — to go back out and do it again or go into [rehab. And] I went to Betty Ford Center in 1992. I had a few relapses in the mid-1990s, and in 1997 I had my last cocktail — November 23rd, 1997. And that's when I started this full road of recovery. And it's been an incredible, incredible journey.

"Somebody said to me early on in sobriety, 'You're gonna on to make even greater songs, write better songs. You're gonna go out and sing better.' And I said, 'Well, I've already done it.' He said, 'No. You're gonna do even better.' And I think I've had a good, long run of a great lifetime of clean and sober living."

Hughes wrote about his path to sobriety in his autobiography, titled "Deep Purple And Beyond: Scenes From The Life Of A Rock Star", which came out in 2011. Glenn told FaceCulture about the book: "In the '70s and '80s, I was a very notorious drug addict, I was a very famous cocaine addict. I don't say that to be arrogant, but I was one of the first rock stars to become, 'Oh, Glenn Hughes, he's a cocaine addict.'"

"There are things that I never told anybody until the book," he explained. "Let's just say that I disappeared in the '90s for awhile and nobody knew where I was and I didn't tell anybody. People thought I was actually on a boat in the Mediterranean and I wasn't I was somewhere else. I was basically being another person under another name being completely isolated and it almost killed me.

"I wanted to experiment. I wanted to be alone and I wanted to live under a different name and I wanted to travel alone with no one [knowing] where I was. I only disappeared five or six times in three years Let's just say that I was on my journey.

"When I got sober a long time ago, and let's just say that I wanted to experiment with other drugs and other things and other people and I wanted to be anonymous," Hughes added. "I wanted to go under another name and I wanted to travel. I wanted to do it without [being] in the public eye in my hometown in the country where I live; I wanted to disappear and there is no greater city in the world to go dark than Amsterdam. If you want weird, it's here. And the fact of the matter is, it got so fucking weird that it scared the shit out of me. Let's just say that I went to the edge of the cliff of insanity. I had this clarity moment where I said, "Well, I can either jump over here and go insane' 'cause I was really, really going insane and I just turned back and became the man that I am now."

Photo credit: Oliver Halfin
Celebrating 26 years of continued sobriety today.
I am one of the lucky ones in all aspects of life, and I’m sending all my love to those who still suffer.
have a happy Thanksgiving everyone 💜 pic.twitter.com/zaOQWFCIKN

— Glenn Hughes (@glenn_hughes) November 23, 2023



View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Glenn Hughes (@glennhughesonline)

METALLICA's Kirk Hammett tripped and fell very awkwardly, partly on his purple ESP guitar, during the band's concert this past Sunday, November 12 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.

The incident happened during the intro tape to "Fight Fire With Fire", just as Hammett and his bandmates had finished playing "Moth Into Flame".

After falling on stage, Hammett laid there for a second, got up, and in frustration threw the guitar approximately 20 feet across the stage toward his guitar technician. He yelled profanities, but quickly got on another guitar and got to the other side of the stage in time for the start of "Fight Fire With Fire". A few songs later, the purple ESP was back in action.

Video of the incident from three different angles can be found below.

Sunday's concert closed out METALLICA's two-night stand at Ford Field. It was the final show of the band's current U.S. tour.

Prior to this past weekend's concerts, METALLICA last played in Detroit in 2017 at Comerica Park.

The "M72" tour features a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed METALLICA Snake Pit to center stage, allowing promoters to sell more tickets than usual. And since METALLICA's stage is hollow in the center, there is even more space available to accommodate fans.

According to Billboard, METALLICA's giant ring-shaped stage also includes eight towers of monitors and speakers, with each of the towers is anchored by a raised platform that doubles as VIP seating, with eight folding chairs decorated with the black-and-yellow color scheme of the band's new album, "72 Seasons".

The "M72" tour launched in late April in Amsterdam.

A portion of proceeds from the shows go to METALLICA's All Within My Hands foundation, which seeks to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band and combat food insecurity; provides disaster relief; and bestows scholarships.

METALLICA's production travels in 87 trucks — 45 for the band and its setup, plus two groups of 21 each for the steel stage and towers. There are 130 people in the band's crew, plus 40 steelworkers, local hires and truck drivers.



ESP builds a quality instrument! Kirk Hammett had a little mishap Sunday evening during night 2 in Detroit and took a tumble and the guitar likely took most of the blow. That toss at the end 😳😳 even the greatest performers have accidents. Nonetheless, the Mighty Metallica never disappoints and he went right back to shredding 🤘

Posted by Tyler Hassett on Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Founding members of In The Woods and Green Carnation return to their classic origins in Strange New Dawn. Heavy psychedelic and progressive doom, Strange New Dawn from Kristiansand, Norway unveils epic new album, New Nights Of Euphoria, set for release via Svart Records on November 24.


The group have released a video for the new single, "Sons Of Galaxy". Check it out below:







Strange New Dawn, born from the minds of visionary artists, from such legendary bands as Green Carnation and In The Woods takes you on a cosmic journey with their album, New Nights Of Euphoria. Strange New Dawn has redefined the sound of their past to create an ethereal, genre-blending experience that is bound to leave listeners in awe.


The band's inception traces back to the year 2000 when the idea took root in the mind of Xbotteri. However, it wasn't until 2012 that this idea blossomed into reality, with Xbotteri recruiting CM Botteri on bass (both founding members of Green Carnation and In The Woods), Sven Rothe on drums, and the powerhouse vocals of Geir Solli (formerly of Green Carnation). This star chamber of talents, culminated in the creation of New Nights Of Euphoria, that pushes the boundaries of heavy Prog Metal, creating something entirely new with fascinatingly familiar origins.


Through the twists and turns of the creative process, some original members embarked on personal journeys of their own, making room for fresh talent. An old friend, Ex-Royal, took the helm as the vocalist, and Sven's brother, Muld, joined on keys and samples, adding a layer of depth and creativity that reinvigorated the band and helped make New Nights Of Euphoria richer and more eclectic in form. The addition of Bjørn Harstad (known as lead guitarist from In The Woods and Green Carnation) as the lead guitarist in Strange New Dawn solidified the band's foundation.


With Xbotteri as the primary songwriter, Strange New Dawn's sound naturally carries the echoes of In The Woods, which will delight fans who have missed that definitive signature. However, New Nights Of Euphoria also ventures into a diverse array of genres, with an unwavering focus on creating atmospheres that captivate the heart and soul.


The album's recording journey, spanning just under a year, was marked by trial and error, but the end result is nothing short of mesmerizing. To craft their harmonious resonance, Strange New Dawn chose to work on drums, guitars, bass, keys, and sample at Burnhill Studios which provided the ideal setting for their deep expedition into unknown musical landscapes, while Ex-Royal and Bjørn Harstad sculpted vocal and guitar magic at Endre Kirkesola's Dub Studio.


"Fortune Bringer," a track inspired by the earlier works of In The Woods, was the final gem added to New Nights Of Euphoria. With lyrics penned nearly two decades ago by ex-Royal and Muld, the sprawling epic track delves into global issues that should resonate with everyone in the current age, giving Strange New Dawn an eager and fresh impetus.


Strange New Dawn's mission is clear: to provide listeners with an uplifting perspective on the world, coupled with a deeply euphoric journey through their musical landscape. The excitement felt by the bands emergence is shared equally between listener and creators: "We are thrilled with the album and believe we've created something truly special," says Xbotteri. "Our collaboration has been exceptional, and this journey has been a source of inspiration and fulfilment for all of us."


Drawing inspiration from luminaries like Pink Floyd, Candlemass, Arcturus, and Thule, as well as sci-fi films, esoteric documentaries, and cosmic literature, Strange New Dawn has harnessed their collective creativity to craft a sonic odyssey that defies boundaries.


New Nights Of Euphoria is a testament to the boundless creativity of Strange New Dawn, and as with their past work, it is destined to be a milestone in the world of heavy music. Look out for this Strange New Dawn rising!


Pre-order the new album here.





Tracklisting:


"Journey Within"
"Class Hero Idol"
"Defenders of Faith"
"The Wake Of Icons"
"Fortune Bringer"
"Finding The Pieces"
"Seek It"
"High Strangenes"
"Sons of Galaxy"
"The Passing"


"Journey Within" video:





"Fortune Bringer" video:





(Photo - Asgeir Mickelson)

In a new interview with U.K.'s Metro, Sharon Osbourne admitted that Ozzy's Parkinson's disease battle and spinal injury have changed their lives dramatically.

"It's been a very, very tough five years," she said. "The pain is getting better but it's devastating watching someone you love be sick for so long. And it changes the family's life radically. Yes, I get to spend more time with Ozzy, but I think he's fed up with me telling him what to do. Taking care of him has put my life on a different path to what it was."

Ozzy previously suffered a nasty fall and dislodged metal rods placed in his spine following a quad-bike accident in 2003.

In a recent interview with Daily Mail, Sharon spoke about her relationship with Ozzy and how it has evolved over the course of their 41-year marriage. She said: "Well, for nearly five years my husband's been really sick. Relationships change all the time, as we change."

Speaking about Ozzy's health nowadays, Sharon said: "He's had seven operations in five years. There's nothing more they can do. Now it's about recuperating. He was on huge amounts of blood thinners so you have to be careful, because if you fall again you could bleed out. It's like he's a piece of china and you've got to put cotton wool around him."

She added: "It's just been heartbreaking for me to see my husband in a position where he's not self-sufficient, he needs help. He was so vibrant, with such a zest for life. But you learn to adapt."

Sharon went on to say that she "will always be there for my husband. I adore him," she said. "I owe him so much. He gave me the best things in my life, my kids.'

Earlie this month, Ozzy and Sharon's son Jack told The Messenger that his father's days of hitting the road are likely behind him. "I don't think he'll tour again," Jack said. "But he's gunning to do one-off shows — like festivals, gigs, things like that."

"He's not done yet," he added.

This past September, Ozzy opened up about his series of operations in an interview with Metal Hammer as he shared his hopes of making "one more album" and a return to touring.

"I've had all the surgery now, thank God," the 74-year-old said. "I'm feeling okay. It was just dragging on. I thought I'd be back on my feet months ago. I just couldn't get used to this mode of living, constantly having something wrong. I can't walk properly yet, but I'm not in any pain anymore and the surgery on my spine went great."

Osbourne also discussed his plans for next year, saying: "I'm getting myself fit. I've done two albums fairly recently [2020's 'Ordinary Man' and 2022's 'Patient Number 9'], but I want to do one more album and then go back on the road."

This past July, the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer canceled his appearance at the Power Trip festival due to his ongoing physical ailments.

Ozzy's health issues, including catching COVID-19 a year and a half ago, forced him to cancel some of his previously announced tours.

While Osbourne's health issues forced him to scrap most of his live appearances, the musician said he would return if his condition improved.

Osbourne's previously announced European tour with guests JUDAS PRIEST, originally set for 2019 and then rescheduled three times, was officially canceled in early February.

Despite his health problems, Osbourne has performed a couple of times in the last year and a half, including at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August 2022 and at the NFL halftime show at the season opener Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills game in September 2022.

Rolling Stone is reporting that a former model has accused Axl Rose of sexually assaulting her in New York more than 30 years ago, according to a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court on Wednesday and obtained by Rolling Stone.


Sheila Kennedy, a former Penthouse model and Pet of the Year in 1983, claimed in the suit that she met the Guns N’ Roses frontman at a nightclub in New York in 1989 at around age 26. The night they met, Kennedy alleged, he violently sexually assaulted her in his hotel room.


Kennedy claimed in the suit that a friend invited Kennedy to a nightclub to try to meet the band. Kennedy spoke with Rose at the club, and he eventually invited her to come back to his hotel for a party, she alleged.




Kennedy’s friend wasn’t invited because Rose allegedly said she was “not hot enough,” per the suit, and Kennedy apologized to the friend and went back to Rose’s hotel with him alongside another model and future MTV host Riki Rachtman. (Rachtman did not immediately reply to a request for comment.)


At Rose’s hotel room, according to the suit, Rose plied the guests with cocaine, champagne, and other alcohol. After Kennedy went to the bathroom, Rose was allegedly waiting outside the door, and when she exited, Rose “pushed Kennedy against the wall and kissed her.”


Read the full report at RollingStone.com.

In a new interview with Australia's "Everblack" podcast, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser spoke about the band's upcoming live album to celebrate the Brazilian/American metal veterans' 40th anniversary. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We are recording everything. We started in Europe for the whole month; we recorded everything. We went to Indonesia and Singapore and recorded there, and now in Australia [at the upcoming Good Things festivals] as well. So we wanna put out 40 songs in 40 different cities around the world, covering everything that we did — of course the classics, but also the side Bs and Cs, and really do a very complete history and also to show where we can go. I mean, SEPULTURA played in 80 countries in 40 years and we have fans all around the world, and I think it's about time we have a live album like that to celebrate together with them 40 years and in our best momentum. We feel great on stage. We are playing better than ever. We are enjoying ourselves, so I think it's gonna be a very special live album with all the recordings that we are doing right now. It's gonna be amazing."

Asked if there are any plans for SEPULTURA to work on a follow-up to 2020's "Quadra" album, Andreas said: "No, not at all, man. No new album in a few years. We're very focused on the live album, the celebrations 40 years. We're gonna have a lot of stuff connected to that. We created a logo, so we wanna stretch, we wanna record the [live] album, celebrate and then see what happens. I don't wanna force ourselves to write just to write. It has to feel [like we have] something new to express. And I feel, and we feel, in SEPULTURA that the 'Quadra' album is still very powerful, very strong. A lot of people didn't see the album live, like Australia, for instance, so we wanna really go as much as we can. And it's such an amazing album to play live, so we wanna enjoy as much as we can the 'Quadra' situation, and then we can move on."

This past August, Kisser told Oran O'Beirne of Bloodstock TV about SEPULTURA's upcoming live album: "We're actually recording everything right now; we're recording every show. It's great that nowadays, because of technology, we have this possibility, so we don't have really to be attached or limited to one or two gigs to record a live set. So the idea is really to collect recordings from all over the world and prepare a really nice celebration release of our history, of our music. So, new songs or a new album, I don't even see happening in the [near future]."

Elaborating on how SEPULTURA is going about putting together the material for the upcoming live album, Andreas said: "I'm trying to be as much organized as I can. We have this Dropbox file with all the music. I have an Excel file with all the dates and all the songs. When you have the songs fresh in your mind, you make some notes — 'Oh, broken string here,' 'Shitty sound there,' or whatever. So at least we have a kind of a map where to start.

"It's exciting," he continued. "I mean, SEPULTURA doesn't have a proper live album per se. We have DVDs, we have the Barcelona stuff [1992's 'Under Siege (Live In Barcelona)'], which is very old. But I think it's a tradition of — when I grew up, my favorite albums were all live albums: 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith' [from MOTÖRHEAD], 'Alive I' and 'II' from KISS, THIN LIZZY — you name it. Many great albums. 'Made In Japan' [from DEEP PURPLE]."

When O'Beirne noted that not many bands release live albums nowadays, Kisser said: "You know why? Because the thing of the image of the YouTube, whatever, it kind of killed that. We are all from Brazil. We didn't see any of the shows [back in the 1980s], and to have a live album and to dream about to be there, to listen to the people screaming, it created this atmosphere for us. That's what we wanna try to do. Vinyl is back, [so we wanna] do a really nice package with a lot of photos and really show where we. I mean, we go everywhere in the world. We visited 80 countries so far [in] almost 40 years of a career. And now at the end of September, we go to Singapore for the first time. Still a first after so long. So it's exciting. It's great."

SEPULTURA comprises Kisser, singer Derrick Green, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and drummer Eloy Casagrande.

SEPULTURA was formed in 1984 in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of Minas Gerais. Guitarist Jairo Guedz joined the group the following year and played on the band's first two releases, 1985's "Bestial Devastation" EP and their 1986 full-length debut, "Morbid Visions". He also participated in the early songwriting sessions for 1987's "Schizophrenia".

In early 1987, Jairo quit SEPULTURA and was replaced by São Paulo-based guitarist Kisser.

In 1996, Max exited SEPULTURA after the rest of the band split with Max's wife Gloria as their manager.

Igor left SEPULTURA in June 2006 due to "artistic differences." His departure from the band came five months after he announced that he was taking a break from SEPULTURA's touring activities to spend time with his second wife and their new son (who was born in January 2006).

Metal Church have issued the following message, just in time for the holidays:


"Many of you have asked about getting this album on regular vinyl as it was previously only released on picture disc. So here is your chance! This is the first, last and only pressing of The Best Of Mike Howe (2016-2021) on black & white smoke mist vinyl. Only 300 copies are available, so once they are gone, they are gone!"


Reserve you’re your copy here.







NW Metalworx Books recently launched the pre-order for the new book, Beyond The Black: The Story Of Metal Church, by James R. Beach and Brian L. Naron. Estimated release/shipping date is this month.





Synopsis: In 1983, former Lewd guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof joined forces with vocalist David Wayne, guitarist Craig Wells, bassist Duke Erickson, and drummer Kirk Arrington, to form one of the heaviest bands to ever come out of the Pacific Northwest. Taking the name from his early attempts to assemble a band down in San Francisco that fused the aggression of punk rock, with the precision of heavy metal music, Vanderhoof assembled a powerhouse lineup back in Washington state. They quickly garnered attention for demos recorded that summer, live performances and a breakout indie album the following year, and landed a major label deal and went on to world-wide popularity.


40 years later, Metal Church lives on. Surviving various lineup changes, a short breakup, the ups and downs and changes of the music scene, and the tragic losses of two of their iconic lead singers, they continue to tour and make great albums under the guiding hand and direction of founding riff-master Vanderhoof. With a new singer and a new album in 2023, Metal Church is poised to continue their legacy as an influential and well-respected heavy metal band.


This is their story...


Beyond The Black: The Story Of Metal Church is a new book from NW Metalworx Books by author James R. Beach and co-author and archivist Brian L. Naron. Culled from extensive research, interviews with both past and current band members, crew members, producers, managers, friends, peers and others. Includes numerous rare images and photos, extensive concert listings, discography and a brand new forward by former Grim Reaper guitarist and friend Nick Bowcott.


Pre-order here.

Guitar legend Michael Angelo Batio, who is now working with Manowar, has shared  an acoustic rendition of his Nitro hit, "Freight Train". The clip also features Joe Fuoco on Cajon Drum and Nils Lawrence on the acoustic Rudy Sarzo signature bass guitar.


"Freight Train" is taken from Nitro's 1989 debut, O.F.R. The album featured Batio, voaclist Jim Gillette, bassist T. J. Racer, and drummer Bobby Rock.










Following guitarist E.V. Martel’s announcement that he will not be available to tour in 2023, Manowar invited Batio to perform with them.


Manowar bassist Joey DeMaio and Batio share their warm-up routine in the clip below.

In the new video below from Jackson Guitars, modern metal legend, Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy, ex-Nevermore), performs a guitar playthrough of the Conquering Dystopia track, "Ashes Of Lesser Men".


Conquering Dystopia is the American instrumental technical death metal supergroup featuring guitarist Jeff Loomis, bassist Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse), guitarist Keith Merrow (Demisery), and drummer Alex Rüdinger (The Faceless). "Ashes Of Lesser Men" was featured on the group's self-titled debut album, released in 2014.







Jackson recently partnered up with Loomis on another Signature Kelly. This aggressive axe features all the scorching specs as its predecessor, this time with a Hipshot hardtail bridge.


For a full rundown, watch the video below:

Finnish melodic metallers SONATA ARCTICA will release a new studio album, titled "Clear Cold Beyond", on March 8, 2024 through Atomic Fire. The LP contains 10 tracks reviving the band's penchant for power metal-esque tunes following their trip to acoustic landscapes during the pandemic.

"Clear Cold Beyond" is packed with strong songs and fuses the best of all periods of SONATA ARCTICA's multifaceted work: from high-speed anthems such as the recently released single "First In Line" and "California" to emotion-laden tracks such as "The Best Things" and the closing title track, this record offers something for each and every SONATA ARCTICA fan. The album's artwork, reminiscent of their early works, was created by Niko Anttila and the band returned to mixing engineer Mikko Karmila (Finnvox Studios). Final mastering was handled by Svante Forsbäck (Chartmakers West) who has also been part of other SONATA ARCTICA productions.

Singer Tony Kakko comments: "We've felt for a while now that we needed to get heavier after a couple of unintentionally softer albums. We still love those albums, but in terms of finding cornerstone songs for a feel-good melodic metal show, the previous album didn't have much to offer. We're getting back to metal after all that feels like a fresh start, and the new songs have been so much fun to write and record: More speed and songs that people can and want to sing along to. We can't wait to hit the road with this album and see how the crowds react to us being back at it."

"Clear Cold Beyond" track listing:

01. First In Line
02. California
03. Shah Mat
04. Dark Empath
05. Cure For Everything
06. A Monster Only You Can't See
07. Teardrops
08. Angel Defiled
09. The Best Things
10. Clear Cold Beyond

Bonus tracks (digipak + vinyl only):

11. A Ballad For The Broken
12. Toy Soldiers (MARTIKA cover)

Further details, including various pre-order options, will be announced very soon, and another new track will be launched simultaneously.

A bunch of festival appearances in support of "Clear Cold Beyond" have already been announced.

Born in 1996 at the edge of the world in the northern Finnish town of Kemi, these humble music makers of melodic metal never tire of the sweet taste of victory. Achieving gold status in their native Finland and securing their ninth career gold record with 2012's "Stones Grow Her Name" just seven days after release, SONATA ARCTICA also have a long-established history of global chart domination and sold-out shows around the world.

SONATA ARCTICA is:

Tony Kakko - vocals
Elias Viljanen - guitars
Pasi Kauppinen - bass
Henrik "Henkka" Klingenberg - keyboards
Tommy Portimo - drums

Photo by Jaakko Manninen

Listenable Records has announced Thron have resigned with the label for an additional multi album deal.


Thron comment "We are proud to announce that we have renewed our record deal with Listenable Records. Listenable Records have released three Thron albums and have proven to be exceptionally reliable and dependable partners. Thank you for all the support."


Formed in 2015 as a project of experienced, devoted musicians from German bands in the Black Forest region, Thron's initial goals were to play authentic black/death in the spirit of the early to mid '90s. Although born in Germany, Thron could originate from a Nordic country: heavily influenced by bands like Dissection, Unanimated, Possessed and Mercyful Fate among others, adding traditional heavy metal flavour a la Judas Priest, the band create a blazing symbiosis of icy melodies, harshness and a haunting atmosphere.




Thron released their self-titled debut album in 2017; The following year saw the release of the much critically acclaimed Abysmal, and the stunning third album Pilgrim, its roaring response vigorously spread the name across the globe thanks to their diabolical twin guitar black/death metal attacks . 


Thron delved further in the musical territory they 've been treading on and reinforced all foundations on their latest album Dust (2023), putting more emphasis on slashing wicked blackened death metal melodies solidified by catchy heavy metal original vibes with great balance to spellbinding result.





(Photo – Thomas Rossi)

Swedish symphonic metal legends, Therion, have released a new lyric video for "Ruler Of Tamag", featured on their upcoming album, Leviathan III, set for release on December 15.


Says mastermind Christofer Johnsson: "Today we present an updated version that the original video maker did. The AI got slapped for the fuck ups and had to go down to the binary mine again and dig out something better to set the records straight. The great Turkish artist Bartu Bölükbaşı also contacted us and generously offered some of his award winning illustrations of Erlik to be used in the clip."







Leviathan III sets off with the powerful “Ninkigal”, catapulting the listener directly into the dramatic universe of Therion with skillfully crafted compositions and operatic female vocals by Lori Lewis, alternating with grim growling and pleasing melodies. It’s followed by “Ruler of Tamag”, enchanting with a gentle acoustic guitar intro and lingering female vocals that open up to a fairytale-like scenario of old times. This then bursts into a heavy track with gloomy parts, building up to a fascinating score-like symphony. Therion once more draw charm from the courage to mix styles ranging from gothic parts to melodic death metal and neo-classical elements to power metal in a complex and versatile way, thus challenging their listeners. The songs are quickly engaging and skillfully employ catchy melodies, as witnessed on uplifting tracks like “An Unsung Lament” and “Baccanale”. Advancing melodies are combined with rock elements, captivating lyrics and choir parts, while lively “Maleficium” is structured around a duet between Thomas Vikström and Lori Lewis. Stomping “Ayahuasca” is a true musical journey featuring a male choir and psychedelic elements, while speedy “Nummo” offers splendid hard guitar explosions and the finest classic vocals and choirs.


Overall, the compositions lean towards the magnificent and theatrical, offering a high variety of musical styles while deftly blurring the boundaries of metal and classical music. With their newest opus, Leviathan III, mastermind Christofer Johnsson proves his incredible talent once more, and that Therion have perfected their very own combination of versatile styles - resulting in the creation of a symphonic league of their own.





Leviathan III will be available in the following formats:


- 6-Page Digipak CD
- 2LP Gatefold in Black
- 2LP Gatefold Silver LTD to 500 copies
- Die Hard Deluxe Edition Gold / Black Marbled Album Cover Slipmat, Covert Artprint & Alternative Album Cover Artprint LTD to 300copies
- Digipak Bundle Pendant, Cotton Bag, Patch
- Digipak & Shirt Bundle Shirt


Pre-order here.





Leviathan III tracklisting:    
 
"Ninkigal"
"Ruler Of Tamag"
"An Unsung Lament"
"Maleficium"
"Ayahuasca"
"Baccanale"
"Midsommarblot"
"What Was Lost Shall Be Lost No More"
"Duende"
"Nummo"
"Twilight Of The Gods"


"Ayahuasca" video:





"Twilight Of The Gods" video:





Therion are:


Christofer Johnsson - guitars and keyboards
Sami Karppinen - drums
Nalle “Grizzly” Påhlsson - bass
Thomas Vikström - lead vocals
Christian Vidal - guitar
Lori Lewis - vocals

VAN HALEN frontman David Lee Roth has released his solo song titled "Wash And Fold" via YouTube. The track, which can be streamed below, was reportedly recorded in 2007 with guitarist John 5 for an album that has yet to see the light of day. Other songs recorded during the same sessions include "Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar And Grill", "Low-Rez Sunset", "Giddy-Up!", "Alligator Pants", "Pointing At The Moon", "Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then", "Manda Bala", "The Shit That Killed Elvis" and "Hi-Fashion Girl".

During a recent appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", John 5 stated about his 2007 collaboration with Roth: "I think what's magical about those songs is it's just me and Dave — it's just me and Dave playing and recording live," John 5 continued. "And I think that's what you don't really hear a lot today.

"Whenever I hear this stuff, I can visualize it. And it's pretty magical that way, 'cause it's, like, 'Okay.' It reminds me of back in the day when they were recording and the records were spinning and they were making the record as it was recording because you can't mess up. And especially you don't wanna mess up around David Lee Roth. So it's really cool that way. I could just visualize just me and Dave going through these songs and recording 'em that way."

Asked if Dave notifies him every time he releases one of the songs from the 2007 album or if he just finds out about it once they have already been made available, John 5 said: "I just find out. And I'm, like, 'Oh, rad.' But I really think the greatest song that just broke my heart, too, was 'Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway'. And that is the one with the video, with the VAN HALEN video, and it's about Dave and the band and Eddie [Van Halen] and things like that. That one really is something special to me."

John 5 went on to say that he would like to rework some of the songs from the 2007 sessions "'Fair Warning' style — heavy, distorted guitars and riffs and solos and all that cool stuff. But I don't know. We'll see."

Roth mentioned "The Shit That Killed Elvis" when he discussed his unreleased John 5 album in a Rolling Stone interview back in 2013. Asked if he wanted to take those songs with John 5 to the stage, Roth said: "Absolutely. That's what it's aimed at. It's autobiographic. 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar And Grill' is the opening theme song, and it's about an Indiana kid who goes to sleep — think the Wizard Of Oz — and the characters in his life, the butcher, the baker and the newspaper guy, pop out of posters and sing him a song called 'Giddy-Up!' And he finds his way to all the good things in life, having discovered rock in the '60s, and there's a song titled 'Alligator Pants' — yes, I own a pair, I wore them for the last two tours. And things go horribly left-of-center wrong, of course, when you sell your soul to the devil, and one of the tunes is called 'The Shit That Killed Elvis'. So yeah, it's pretty stellar material."

In 2020, Roth included five previously unreleased songs in The Roth Project, an online comic narrated by the legendary VAN HALEN singer, with music from John 5 on guitar and bass, Gregg Bissonette on drums, Brett Tuggle on keyboards, and Luis Conte on percussion. "Manda Bala", "Giddy-Up!", "Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar And Grill", "Alligator Pants" and "Lo-Rez Sunset" — were recorded at Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood, California.

John 5 previously spoke about the recording sessions for the unreleased Roth record in an interview with the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz", saying: "We had a great time. We had a blast — a lot of laughs, a lot of fun. I'm just so happy that I had that cool working vibe with Dave that we can just jump into the studio anytime and knock out some songs. And I'm very lucky 'cause not a lot of people get a chance to do that with Dave.

He added: "We were all in there together — I remember we were just all in there together. And that's how it was. We were all just doing it together — kind of like the old days, and he wanted to do it like that. And it really was a lot of fun. We had so much fun doing it. And it's one of my fondest memories."

In August 2021, John 5 told AL.com that the rest of the unreleased Roth record is in the same vein as the songs that have come out, which have a singer/songwriter sound. "[Dave] wanted to do this kind of a more California sessions type of thing," the guitarist explained. "And he's such an artist, I was, like, 'Whatever you want to do, I'm there for you.' So it is that kind of vibe. But there's a lot of multi tracks and different acoustic parts that all work together. It's kind of orchestrated, if you will."

John 5 got his first big break playing on Roth's solo album, "DLR Band", before landing stints with Marilyn Manson and now Rob Zombie. His latest sessions with the iconic VAN HALEN frontman apparently took place a decade and a half ago, with John 5 unveiling a snippet of the album during an interview with Masters Of Shred back in May 2019.

Four years ago, Roth was asked by Meltdown of the Detroit radio station WRIF if his LP with John 5 will be made available at some point. He responded: "It will. There's been a revision of things, and I can start making real plans and start marching into the future. And, of course, you'll start hearing that material. This is material that we wrote variously for me solo and for VAN HALEN, and it's quite a bank of stuff."

Back in 2015, John 5 told Guitar Player magazine that the sessions for his unreleased Roth album were remarkably relaxed. "I would just go to his house and I'd write these songs with him, and he would say, 'Let's go into the studio,'" John 5 explained. "So he would go to Henson studio and record these songs. They came out… They're so good. They're so good. And we've got Gregg Bissonette playing drums on it, and I played the bass, and they're really great songs."

The guitarist said that Roth's vocals on the album sound "like nothing you've ever heard. It's old VAN HALEN — sounds like 'Could This Be Magic?' or anything like that. It's just that sound, that tone."

In a 2014 interview, John 5 described the LP as "11 of the greatest songs you'll ever hear, and it's just me and Dave, and we had Gregg Bissonette play drums on it. And it's unbelievable," he said. "You know, just great, great songs."

The reunited expanded classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN has announced plans to take the next few months off from the road to make another album to follow up 2021's acclaimed self-titled effort.

After playing 60 extremely emotional shows in support of their chart-topping album "Helloween", returning singer Michael Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen along with vocalist Andi Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble are now going directly into the songwriting process.

HELLOWEEN's recent "United Forces" world tour took the band to 26 countries on three continents, bringing together more than 800,000 fans. The trek included sold-out headline shows in Los Angeles, New York and São Paulo, as well as highlights like the show at the Prague O2 Arena, the Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, or in front of 14,000 metalheads in Santiago de Chile and HELLOWEEN's first-ever sold-out concert at the iconic Budokan in Tokyo, Japan — the Holy Grail and the ultimate accolade for every rock band. Without a doubt, there were tears in everyone's eyes at the bombastic Hell & Heaven festival in Mexico City, which closed the tour.

Deris, Kiske, Weikath, Hansen, Grosskopf, Gerstner and Löble send their thanks to all their fans in Europe, the United States, Canada, Central and South America and Asia and are incredibly grateful that everyone kept their tickets even with all the ongoing postponements and, that they stayed true fans, waiting patiently to see HELLOWEEN live. As well, the band would like to thank their friends in HAMMERFALL supporting the tour for most of the dates and spicing things up with their pure Swedish metal, ensuring a sweaty, energetic and bombastic package.

Andi says: "What a ride! This world tour was something special for all of us — to get together with all our fans after the long waiting, a feeling we all missed so much! We enjoyed all the shows: our fans were superb and gave us only strikingly happy moments that led to an even stronger cohesion of the band! Personally, I can't even imagine doing this without Michi and Kai anymore! And now we are looking very much forward to our next studio album with the crazy pumpgang we've got!"

Markus adds: "Hi HELLOWEEN folks all over the globe: you were the ones who welcomed us with open arms and hearts all over the world and you turned our world tour into an unique, euphoric party! We love you all and we are very much looking forward to continue this party with you, our HELLOWEEN family in 2024 — right after we are done with the new record."

Sascha states: "Wow, what an incredible tour once again! I've met so many wonderful people, and the atmosphere during our concerts has been filled with love and energy. Each tour gives me a steady growing and fulfilling experience! Much love to all the fans out there, our hard-working crew, dedicated management, and my talented bandmates!"

This past March, Kiske told Canada's The Metal Voice that Kai had already sent him a demo of a song that he was working on that "I was very happy about, because it's not what you would expect; the song was a bit outside of the box, which I am always grateful for," Michael said. "I always thought that was exciting about HELLOWEEN. When you check out the 'Keeper [Of The Seven Keys: Part] I' and 'Keeper [Of The Seven Keys: Part] II' records, now they're classics, but when they came out, it was very different to what the 'Walls Of Jericho' record sounded like. But we had the balls to do it. And I think that's why I'm still here, because those records had an impact because of being pretty fearless. And it is always the benefit of the youth; most of the time, the younger people are very fearless.

"What I like about WeikiandKai, they can't fool themselves. They just write songs. They don't function in any other way but just making the song, and whatever it is, that's what it is. And that song was a bit QUEEN-like. It had a lot of piano parts in it — very operatic, with big choirs. And then it gets rocking again and stuff like that. It's another Kai Hansen sort of symphony. But I really liked it. And I'm glad that he does something like that. I just hope the rest of the band has the balls to do it. I would do it."

Asked if he will be contributing any musical ideas to HELLOWEEN's next effort, since he didn't write anything on "Helloween", Kiske said: "I don't know. I'm not so much of a metal songwriter. I was when I was a teenager. But these days I just don't write metal songs; I just write songs on acoustic guitar somehow. And if I have something where I feel like the band could make a HELLOWEEN song out of it, of course I will present it to them, and then if they get a kick out of it, something's gonna happen. But we have so many songwriters in this band now. And they're all really capable of writing that sort of material that everybody loves, and that's mainly Andi, Sascha, Weiki and Hansen. And I think that's more than enough. If I have an idea, I sneak it in. But I don't really push myself."

As for whether the rest of HELLOWEEN has also begun composing music for the band's next LP, Kiske said: "I know that Andi has songs, and I know that Kai has a whole bunch of songs. He was a bit lazy last time; he only had that one great song, [the 12-minute] 'Skyfall', which was maybe good for three songs, and that's why it's justified, but I would have wished for even more from him. And I think this time he will be presenting a whole bunch of songs more. At least that's my impression, the feeling that I have — there might be more coming from him this time. Andi is always in the game. Andi has this gift; he can just sit down and write 10 songs. He can just do it. I don't know how he does it."

In August 2022, Kiske told Chile's Radio Futuro that the overwhelmingly positive response to "Helloween" "was pretty unexpected. I was expected it to do good, but it was, like, perfect.

"It is very difficult for you, when you're involved in an album, to have an objective view at what you're doing," he explained. "You just do what you do. You always try to make the best out of every song. And obviously the spirit within the band is very good, which helps, but you never know how people hear it. So the best thing you can do is fade it all out, not think about it, and just try to make every song exciting for yourself; that's the best thing you can do. The less you think about success or how critics might see it, the better for the album. It's not easy, but you've gotta have that discipline to kind of fade it out and not let it get to you.

"I was surprised how well it was received, but, of course, it was a very welcome motivation, especially [in 2021]," Kiske added. "We released it right in the middle of the whole pandemic crap, and that was a positive lift, doing the interviews and seeing how people reacted to it."

Regarding how HELLOWEEN had managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by splitting vocals on the album between returning singer Kiske and longtime frontman Deris, with added contributions from Hansen, Michael said: "It was actually great. It was very easy. I was kind of expecting it to be difficult, but it wasn't, because there was no ego fights going on between me and Andi. We were just there on Tenerife meeting up almost every day.

"Before we started recording, we had Dennis Ward making a rough draft of what he thinks could work in terms of splitting: 'This sounds like Andi. This sounds a bit like Michael.' And that was how we approached it. It was some kind of pre-draft of how we could do it, but was nothing written in stone.

"One day I came to the studio and the evening before Andi was recording something, or had recorded something, and he wasn't feeling so happy with it. He came and said, 'I was trying this and that. And maybe you should give it a try too.' And then we figured out what sounds the best for the song.

"There are a whole bunch of songs where you can hear right away, 'That's an Andi Deris song. He should sing that.' Or, 'That's a typical Kiske song. That sounds great [with Kiske vocals].' It's like 'Angels', for instance, it was very clear that that was mostly a Kiske song, and Sascha [Gerstner, guitar] had written it with my voice in his head. But there are other songs, especially when Andi writes his own songs, usually it sounds best when he does it unless he wrote it with my voice in his head, like he did with 'Fear Of The Fallen'. 'Fear Of The Fallen', he was writing it with both singers in his mind, and that works out.

"But it was very easy," Kiske repeated. "Because you just try it out, and you very quickly hear what works best. And I would say, like, 70 percent of the time we knew before that that would be sounding better with him or that would be sounding better with me. Or even with Kai — there were even spots where we thought he should do it."

Upon its release in June 2021, "Helloween" landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, the latest HELLOWEEN LP was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" was utilized to record the band's new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).

"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analog and Daniel Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings.

The "Pumpkins United" tour marked the first time Kiske had played live with HELLOWEEN since 1993. Hansen, who departed HELLOWEEN in 1988, had been joining the band onstage on various tours and festival appearances throughout the years. The set featured several duets with Kiske and his replacement, Deris, along with many rarely played songs, including "Kids Of The Century", "Rise And Fall" and "Livin' Ain't No Crime". Hansen — who fronted HELLOWEEN until late 1986 — sang a medley of several early HELLOWEEN classics, including "Ride The Sky", "Judas", "Starlight" and "Heavy Metal (Is The Law)".

In 2022, Deris told the "Metal Command" podcast that he "strongly" hoped the reunited expanded classic lineup of HELLOWEEN would eventually make another album to follow up "Helloween". "I mean, as long as the vibe is great, chemistry is great and everybody's having fun with each other, it would be a crime not to do so and not to plan for a future together," he said.

"'Pumpkins United' is not only the name for the last tour, I think that's something like a brand," he continued. "HELLOWEEN 'Pumpkins United', that's something like a band — a new or something like [that] growing from the old band."

On the topic of how HELLOWEEN has managed to maintain internal harmony with so many members involved, Andi said: "I just can tell you getting along with each other, I think it's rooted in the matter of fact that we're finally too old for the other shit. [Laughs] From a certain age on, you let other people live and you don't take everything personal. Talking for [myself], whenever somebody told me something that could be looked at in a negative way, I took it the negative way. Even though when you look at it from the positive side of you, you could say, 'Well, man, maybe it was even a compliment, because have you seen it from that side?' 'No.' That's what happens when you're getting older — you don't take everything on the negative side: 'Oh, he's attacking me' or 'he's meaning bad' or 'he's meaning to annihilate you or intimidate you' or whatever. Everybody in the band, even together now with seven people, I have to say everybody is old enough to not always look at it from the negative [point of view] but also try to realize who's talking. So I cannot imagine that the boys are meaning bad if they speak about me in a sense that I could take negatively, but because I like everybody, I personally think, 'Well, I don't think they're talking negatively.' So I try to find the sense in a positive way, and most of the time — 99.9 percent [of the time] — it's exactly that. It's nothing negative; it's positive. But back in the day, everything I took was negative — when I was in my 20s and 30s. Then when you get [to] 40, it's getting better. [Laughs] Or maybe it's just you don't give a shit anymore."

🎃 The world tour everyone longed-for since over two years took us to 26 countries on 3 continents. After several...

Posted by Helloween on Wednesday, November 22, 2023

In a new interview with USA Today, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was asked how he feels about looking into a sea of phones during the band's concerts. He responded: "I'm not a fan of cellphones. If I had my druthers, I'd take them all away.

"I risk my life every time I get on that stage," he continued. "There is no net. Paul [Stanley, KISS frontman] flies out all the way to the back of the arena and the entire band extends from the ceiling 80 feet high and there are no nets.

"During the show I see people texting, taking videos and we spend a lot of time, effort and money," Simmons added. "You're coming there for the show and we'd like you to watch it, but it's tough to turn back time. It's the new culture and there's an addiction part of that technology."

Back in May 2018, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna spoke out against cell-phone use at concerts, saying that there's "something really magical that happens when" you are not experiencing live performances through a "little four-inch screen."

A number of other musicians have come out in recent years to say that mobile technology is ruining the concert experience, including SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor. He told "Loudwire Nights" that "it's fine" if people want to take pictures of his bands' shows, but not so much if they are videotaping entire performances. "It's one thing to film it, it's another thing to just be staring at your screen while you're filming it," he said. "It's right there. Are you so terrified of real life that you can't do anything unless it's on that little four-by-four screen? Ugggh. It's very weird."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach in 2015 urged fans to keep their cell phones at the bottom of their pockets and just watch his performances. "Be in the moment," he said. "You're distracted and it's distracting to the performer as well. Like, put your fuckin' cell phone away, dammit! You're never even going to watch that footage."

The overuse of cellphones to capture grainy, blurry photos and videos at concerts has for years vexed and enraged artists like Bach, who lamented the fact that every one of his performances could be recorded and shared on YouTube almost immediately.

"If I go to a wedding and sing a song, it's on Blabbermouth the next day and everybody analyzes it," said Bach. "It's a really backwards way to watch a band. It's a drag sometimes when I go up there and the first thing I see is everybody getting their phones out and holding them toward my face. It makes you feel intimidated."

Back in 2012, Bruce Dickinson chastised a fan for texting during an IRON MAIDEN concert, calling him a "wanker."

When Axl Rose reunited with his former GUNS N' ROSES bandmates, Duff McKagan and Slash, for the first time in 23 years at the Troubadour in Los Angeles in April 2016, the concert was phone-free.

GHOST's two shows in September 2023 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles were device-free experiences. Use of phones and smart watches was not permitted in the performance space. Upon arrival at the venue, devices were secured in individual Yondr pouches that were opened at the end of the event.

Last month, IN FLAMES frontman Anders Fridén was asked by Jaimunji of Australia's Metal Roos for his opinion on concertgoers using cell phones to take photos and videos of performances and sometimes filming entire shows instead of enjoying the moment. He responded: "For me personally, being on stage, I'm not bothered anymore. It's up to you. Sorry to say, but if you're that stupid to go to a live show and then you watch your little screen instead of experience what's going on, I feel that's a missed opportunity. But who am I to judge? You do whatever you want. It's your money, it's your experience, and I can't change that. But I wish people put the phones in their pockets. 'Cause when they look back at this, it will be a shitty sound on your phone or you watch something on YouTube or you upload it — whatever you do. And then you were in that room and you could have had that experience, which is way greater than watch your little screen. But people can do whatever they want."

He continued: "I will never lock up their phones and say anything. Once in a while, I say stuff on stage where I go, 'Put that phone in your pocket and go into the circle pit.' But I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just a recommendation. It is what it is, and you can't change people. It's the way we live now. I mean, my kids are on the phone constantly watching — whatever they do, they are consuming, consuming, consuming. So I don't know."

During the question-and-answer portion of his November 15 "My Effin' Life In Conversation" appearance at Théâtre Maisonneuve in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, RUSH bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee was asked to name the RUSH song that was the hardest to play for him while singing. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The hardest song to play and sing that I've ever written was 'The Anarchist' from [2012's] 'Clockwork Angels' [album]. Because I wrote that song on bass first, obviously, and when we put the kind of bed track together in the demo stage, I wrote this melody without thinking about what the bass part was. And it wasn't till after we finished production of the record and I was in rehearsal where I realized they're so completely different rhythmically — there was no meeting in the middle. Usually my bass part would follow a pattern and the voice sort of slips into it, but that one was just impossible. So I spent weeks, literally, playing the one song, just on bass, didn't try singing it, until I didn't have to think about the bass part at all. And then I would have to really concentrate, and then I could do it. I figured out a way I could do it. So when I started playing it live, it's the one song I have to sort of split myself like a drummer does. Drummers have independence. Bass players not always have independence, so it was a real challenge."

See video of Lee's response below, courtesy of The Metal Voice.

Lee previously talked about "The Anarchist" in a 2012 interview with Premier Guitar. At the time, he said: "In some moments in the song 'The Anarchist', that bass melody holds that chorus together. So that was driving the chorus, and when I wrote the vocal melody it really had more to do with how those lyrics needed to be expressed, and I found to my dismay [laughs] when I came to rehearse them, that they were very difficult to do at the same time. I feared that bass line, and I made sure I went into rehearsal extra early. I'm a big believer in the 10,000-hour series — I put a lot of hours into that.

"In the past, I wrote bass patterns that were connected to the vocals in a way that allowed me to do it live without killing myself or tying my brain into a pretzel, but this time I kind of let that go because I just felt it was better for the music to go where it needed to, and worry about the best possible vocal melody for the song afterwards," he explained. "So that's how it came together — as two separate players: Me, as a bass player on this album, was a separate guy than me as a singer…. It's the syncopation [in 'The Anarchist'] — or the lack of syncopation. Rhythmically, the way the bass drives and the way the vocal sits on it are really quite different."

Released on November 14 through HarperCollins, Lee's memoir, "My Effin' Life", includes stories of Geddy's parents' traumatic experiences as teenagers in concentration camps in World War II as well as "intimate stories of his lifelong friendships with bandmates Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart — deeply mourning Peart's recent passing," according to the book's synopsis.

The idea for Lee's memoir came about after he wrote his previous book, 2018's "Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book Of Bass". He found the time to write "My Effin' Life" while locked down at home in Toronto during the pandemic.

The 70-year-old Lee is currently taking "My Effin' Life" on the road to venues all over North America up until December 7.

Geddy kicked off his "My Effin' Life In Conversation" tour on November 13 at The Beacon Theatre in New York. Produced by Live Nation, the 14-city tour is making additional stops across North America in Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and more before wrapping up in Toronto at Massey Hall.

Peart died in January 2020 after a three-year battle with glioblastoma.

RUSH waited three days to announce Peart's passing, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from fans and musicians all over the world.

RUSH's final tour concluded on August 1, 2015 at the Forum in Los Angeles. Peart indicated at the time that he wanted to retire while he was still able to play well, along with a desire to spend more time at home with his young daughter.

Peart joined RUSH in 1974. He was considered one of the best rock drummers of all time, alongside John Bonham of LED ZEPPELIN; Keith Moon of THE WHO; and Ginger Baker of CREAM. Peart was also RUSH's primary lyricist, drawing inspiration from everything from sci-fi to Ayn Rand.