ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz joined DRAGONFORCE on stage last night (Sunday, November 5) at MTelus in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to perform a cover of Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)". Fan-filmed video of her appearance can be seen below.

DRAGONFORCE's cover of "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" is featured as a bonus track on the band's upcoming album, "Warp Speed Warriors", which is due on March 15, 2024 via Napalm Records.

"Warp Speed Warriors" was produced, mixed and mastered by Damien Rainaud at Mix Unlimited in Los Angeles, California with DRAGONFORCE guitarists Sam Totman and Herman Li.

Guitarist, singer and content creator Billy Wilkins is performing with DRAGONFORCE on their entire North American headline tour. Wilkins previously joined the band on stage after they saw his cover of platinum single "Through The Fire And Flames" going viral on TikTok. The trek features a brand-new setlist and stage production, as well as special guests AMARANTHE, NANOWAR OF STEEL and EDGE OF PARADISE.

Last November, DRAGONFORCE released a music video for the song "The Last Dragonborn". The track is taken from DRAGONFORCE's latest studio album, "Extreme Power Metal", which came out in September 2019. Produced in Los Angeles, California by Rainaud at Mix Unlimited, the LP was also recorded, in part, on Li's livestream channel on Twitch with participation from the fans.

"The Last Dragonborn" was the first DRAGONFORCE music video to feature bassist Alicia Vigil, who first joined the band as a touring member in January 2020.

DRAGONFORCE's platinum-selling single "Through The Fire And Flames" brought the London-based Grammy-nominated extreme power metal group international acclaim and was featured as the most challenging song on "Guitar Hero III".

In March 2019, the "Through The Fire And Flames" music video reached a new milestone: it surpassed one hundred million views on YouTube — DRAGONFORCE's first music video to do so.

"Through The Fire And Flames" is the leadoff track from 2006's "Inhuman Rampage" album, which was officially certified gold in July 2017 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies.

In August 2019, DRAGONFORCE parted ways with longtime bassist Frédéric Leclercq. He has since joined German thrashers KREATOR.

DRAGONFORCE is:

Herman Li - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Sam Totman - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Marc Hudson - Vocals
Alicia Vigil - Bass, Backing Vocals
Gee Anzalone - Drums, Backing Vocals

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Herman Li (@hermanli)

In a new interview with Greg Prato of Ultimate Guitar, TRIUMPH frontman Rik Emmett was asked for his opinion on the comparisons between TRIUMPH and fellow legendary Canadian rockers RUSH back in the day. He responded: "It would be hard for people that were at a remove — which is to say, an American critic or people that were just taking the quick look at things — and go, 'Oh. Three-piece band from Toronto, Canada. RUSH is the one I'm familiar with. TRIUMPH is the one I'm not. TRIUMPH must be similar to the one I am familiar with.' That would have been an insubstantial kind of look at it — at any given point in time. Because the bands were not really that similar — except for the fact that there was a high male vocalist guy, they were both trios, and both from the same geographic location. Beyond that, the bands didn't really have a lot of similarities — in terms of the music that was being made and the albums and stylistically."

Emmett, who is promoting his just-released memoir, "Lay It On The Line - A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph", continued: "I've always said it and I'll say it again now — they had nice coattails. And there were nice things — TRIUMPH was able to get a second look by radio people because of the fact that RUSH had been there before, concert promoters, all the rest of that kind of stuff. So, they did make our life easier in some respects. And then on another level, they sort of entered into a stratosphere of your PINK FLOYDs and almost like a LED ZEPPELIN-ish kind of…they were huge. And they were international. And they would go on concert tours — even South America, they played soccer stadiums. And you'd go, 'Okay. They're on another level.' TRIUMPH was never a band on that level. It's not apples and oranges — this is kind of like a grape and a watermelon." [Laughs]"

More than three years ago, Emmett reflected on the passing of RUSH drummer Neil Peart and spoke about his personal relationship with his fellow legendary Canadian rockers in an interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station. He said: "I met Neil only on a couple of occasions. Neil was not the kind of man who liked to go to industry functions; he didn't do meet-and-greets; he didn't hang around after gigs. He was a very private kind of a guy, and I respected that — I admired that in him. Kinship-wise, Alex [Lifeson, RUSH guitarist] and I were always well suited to each other, I think. When TRIUMPH was just a bar band playing The Gasworks on Yonge Street in Toronto, Alex came down to the gig and had a couple of beers and introduced himself to me. We've done guitar workshops together. And, of course, he played on one of my records. I did a record for Mascot/Provogue a few years back — 2016, I think — and Alex played on a couple of tracks. He's a gentleman [and] he's a tremendous artist. If he had decided he wanted to be a painter, he would have been a great painter. If he'd have been a poet, he would have been a great poet. But he was a guy that picked up an electric guitar and eventually was in this band. And RUSH, we were always riding on their coattails. They were always a bigger thing than us, breaking other markets and playing all over the world. We owed a lot to them.

"I don't really know Geddy [Lee, RUSH bassist/vocalist] that well at all; I think I've only said hello to him once. He and I, we share something. He had a son that ended up playing baseball on a fairly high level, and my son also ended up playing NCAA Division I in the States on a scholarship. And I see Geddy at the ballgames — he's got great seats, so the centerfield camera shows him sitting in the second row. So we get to see Geddy, if you're in Canada, practically every night when they allow people into the stadiums. But I don't know him that well. Alex is kind of the guy who was my bud."

Emmett, who quit TRIUMPH — acrimoniously, in 1988 — over music and business disputes, went on to pursue a solo career, while TRIUMPH carried on with future BON JOVI guitarist Phil X for one more album, 1992's "Edge Of Excess", before calling it a day the following year.

Emmett was estranged, both personally and professionally, from the two other members of the legendary Canadian classic rock power trio for 18 years before they repaired their relationship.

"Lay It On The Line - A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph" came out on October 10 via ECW Press.

Moore, Levine, and Emmett formed TRIUMPH in 1975, and their blend of heavy riff-rockers with progressive odysseys, peppered with thoughtful, inspiring lyrics and virtuosic guitar playing quickly made them a household name in Canada. Anthems like "Lay It On The Line", "Magic Power" and "Fight The Good Fight" broke them in the USA, and they amassed a legion of fiercely passionate fans. But, as a band that suddenly split at the zenith of their popularity, TRIUMPH missed out on an opportunity to say thank you to those loyal and devoted fans, a base that is still active today, three decades later.

After 20 years apart, Emmett, Levine and Moore played at the 2008 editions of the Sweden Rock Festival and Rocklahoma. A DVD of the historic Sweden performance was made available four years later.

Back in 2016, Moore and Levine reunited with Rik as special guests on the "RES 9" album from Emmett's band RESOLUTION9.

In a new interview with Rockin' Metal Revival, DOKKEN leader Don Dokken spoke about the possibility of writing an autobiography. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've had offers for decades. A lot of bands write their — they call their autobiography, like [MÖTLEY CRÜE's] 'The Dirt' and all that stuff — and I've always said no. They offered me just a shitload of money to write the DOKKEN story because it's wonderful and it's tragic. And I said, well, I don't wanna write a book, because if I tell the truth about the nightmare of my eight-year run with those other three guys [in DOKKEN's classic lineup], it's not fun. I don't wanna throw anybody under the bus. I don't wanna talk about I had three bandmembers that were completely addicted cocaine and alcoholics. I'm not defending myself. I just never got into cocaine. I never got into having a drink and a fifth of Jack Daniel's before the show; it just wasn't my thing. And that kind of destroyed the band."

Last month, Don told the "Battleline" podcast that DOKKEN's participation in the 1988 "Monsters Of Rock" U.S. stadium tour, also featuring VAN HALEN, SCORPIONS, METALLICA and KINGDOM COME, led to the band's breakup. He said: "Yeah, that was a tough tour, because [METALLICA] hadn't done the 'Black Album' yet. I mean, METALLICA's now the biggest band in the world… And that was kind of maybe the reason we broke up, because of METALLICA. Because when we played the stadium tour, METALLICA came on stage every day with this attitude like, you know, do or die. I mean, they just gave it 100 percent, 110 percent. They were kicking ass. They were just coming out with '…And Justice For All', which was not my favorite METALLICA album. And they hadn't done the 'Black album' yet that's now took them into superstardom. And I would talk to the band. I'd say, 'Look at METALLICA.' And they're opening for us. And we had the same manager. And I used to say, 'Well, Cliff [Burnstein], I know they're opening up and they're only making half the money as us, but could you put them on after us?' Because when METALLICA went on and they closed the show with whatever it was, 'Kill 'Em All' or something like that, we're coming on stage doing 'In My Dreams', we look like THE MONKEES practically, 'cause we're just a straight-ahead rock and roll band. But I respected METALLICA so much because we'd be in Texas and it'd be, like, 105 degrees and they'd go on at, like, 3 o'clock, and it's just sweltering hot. But they went on every day. METALLICA had this mindset that, 'If this is our last show, we die. So be it.' They gave it 110 percent."

Don continued: "We'd been on the road for a year and a half. And I think we just kind of got full of ourselves. I mean, we had toured with AEROSMITH and all these other bands, and we weren't playing well, in my opinion, because the drugs. When you're on stage in front of a hundred thousand people, and I'm trying to front the band, and you've got all these cameras on you and big screens, and the camera would go to George [Lynch, DOKKEN guitarist] during a solo, and I'd look over and there's no George on stage. Where's George? I hear him playing, but he wasn't on stage, because he was standing behind his Marshall amplifiers doing coke. And I begged and pleaded and said, 'Is there any way you guys can't do drugs for 90 minutes?' And basically they said no. They were doing coke on stage and it was really, for me, depressing. I started the band, the band's called DOKKEN, and everybody was doing coke on stage. And I was, like, 'Jesus Christ.' And that's when the band unraveled."

Back in April 2021, Lynch told MetalTalk about DOKKEN's stadium tour with METALLICA: "That was pretty much the pinnacle of it, wasn't it? That was the last big tour of that style, I think, in that kind of giant rock arena tour, I think that was the last one. So it was kind of an end of an era. Nobody knew it at the time. And we were misplaced on that bill. It was kind of good for us, I guess, in a way, but we were billed over METALLICA; they hadn't quite gone over the edge yet. We had the same management company [Q Prime], so we were very fortunate to get that spot.

"The thing I will never understand about the management and that tour and the band was that in their insane thinking, the management called a meeting before the tour started and informed the band that Don was gonna be breaking the band up and trying to just hire us as musicians on the band," he continued. "Or else, if that didn't work, we didn't agree to that, he was just gonna leave, keep the name and kick us out. [And that was] before the tour started — literally days before it started.

"I operate — or at least then operated — out of a sense of commitment and on a mission. We built this thing as a family, as friends, as a band of brothers. And that was really the struggle between Don and I. Don was kind of out for himself and used people as best he could. I'm not saying this in a derogatory way. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because we succeeded because of him and that mentality — the way he views the world and the way he operates. He's able to do things that I personally couldn't do, or I wouldn't live with myself. For better or worse, I don't know if it's good or bad — I can't even say — but we benefited from it. But it also was a double-edged sword and it worked against us in a sense that we split everything up equal, we all worked hard and to the best of our abilities, and we all contributed what we have to contribute, and a rising tide floats all boats and we all win. And we have this sense of like we did it together, and there's enough to go around. Don saw the writing on the wall, and with the managers' help, decided that he wanted the whole thing for himself. Because we were up for renegotiation on our [record] contract. And that's where you wanna be in this career. When you build yourself up and you double your record sales every record for three consecutive [albums], and then your contract ends and you have to renegotiate that contract, that is exactly where you wanna be.

"When you renegotiate, you're negotiating from a position of strength. And now you're MÖTLEY CRÜE, now you're VAN HALEN, now you're set for life," George explained. "And we all were looking at that, and we all worked for that, and we all earned that, and we should have been patting each other on the back and in a really good place. Instead Don took that as, 'Well, I'm gonna take this all for myself, and fuck these guys.' I had to go on stage knowing that every night. And it depressed me, and I kind of just fell into drugs and alcohol and just went out and went through the motions. I was quite dispirited. I mean, I had some good shows, but I was maybe just faking it to a certain extent, 'cause I was definitely dispirited. All this for this, and now I have to go out and put on a face? I'm just sort of like a 'wear my heart on my sleeve' kind of guy, and it was [very hard] for me to do. It was very depressing. And the only way I'd deal with it was drugs and alcohol."

All the members of DOKKEN's classic 1980s lineup — Dokken, Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Mick Brown — reunited on stage for the first time in more than a decade in November 2009 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California.

Seven years ago, the four musicians rejoined forces for a short Japanese tour. The trek marked the first time in 21 years they had hit the road together.

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour, "Return To The East Live (2016)", was made available in 2018. In addition to the Japanese performance, the set included footage from the classic lineup's only U.S. show in September 2016 at Badlands in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as newly recorded acoustic reworkings of "Heaven Sent" and "Will The Sun Rise". Also featured on "Return To The East Live (2016)" was "It's Just Another Day", the first DOKKEN track featuring the group's classic lineup since 1997's "Shadowlife".

Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group's current lineup — including bassist Chris McCarvill, guitarist Jon Levin and drummer BJ Zampa (HOUSE OF LORDS).

DOKKEN released its 13th studio album, "Heaven Comes Down", on October 27 via Silver Lining Music. The LP was produced by Bill Palmer and Don Dokken and was mixed by Kevin Shirley (AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN).

Kings Of Thrash / former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has shared a KISS concert photo gallery via social meda following a recent KISS show on the band's End Of The Road farewell tour. He posted the following message along with the photos.


"I go to KISS concerts to remember why I give concerts myself. Let's face it, in life, we all have our inspirations, and they have certainly been mine. I've performed a fair amount of shows with KISS during my career, but there's always that fanboy inside me who remembers how they inspired me to go pick up the bass and pursue my own dreams so many years ago.


Having now lived a rockstar dream myself, watching KISS work behind the scenes, I can say they truly put in the time and make every fan feel special while tirelessly performing at the top of their game night after night. Now, that's inspiration!




They have been nothing but consummate professionals, true gentlemen, and kind friends to me along the way. I'm glad to see them finish strong, and just as glad I got to be entertained & inspired by them once again on the End Of The Road tour. Thank you to my friends who invited me out and everyone inside the KISS Kamp for their generous hospitality!" 


Check out Ellefson's Facebook photo gallery from the show here.


Find the band's remaining tour dates here.

W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless, who underwent two successful surgeries in August to treat two herniated discs and a broken vertebra, offered an update on his condition in a new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice. Asked how he is doing right now in his recovery, the 67-year-old said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Um, getting there. It's been a long, long road. When you start dealing with compound injuries, which I've had… Over the years doing what we do, it's fairly common. I've had the same orthopedic guy for over 30 years, and I'm not joking, at the end of every tour, I crawl up on his table and say, 'Fix me.' Because any band that does a lot on stage and runs around and is pretty active, any band, any athlete, any dancer, you're all gonna have injuries, and it happens, and this is just part of it. But it's the first time I've had a compound situation like this. And it's been an eye-opening experience. And it's been a struggle. There's no two ways about it. But I've got probably the best people in the country working on me. And I don't say that lightly. I mean, these guys, they're fantastic. And we're getting where we need to go. So, all things considered, we're doing good."

Detailing the steps of his recovery, Lawless, whose real name is Steven Duren, said: "I've had two surgeries, and the first one was in mid-August and then the second one was two weeks later. And so then you have a preliminary healing period you have to go through, which is about four weeks. And then you go into physical therapy, and then that's when the real fun begins. I don't know of any other way to put it, but anybody that's ever been through serious rehab before, it's challenging.

"I've been a gym rat my whole life; I've constantly lived in a gym," he explained. "But there's a difference between doing this and doing what you do in a gym, because when you're in a gym, you're usually concentrating on repetitions. This is not that. This is a combination of yoga, Pilates and what you would normally do in a gym. And the movements are considerably slower. And it's designed to target specific muscles. And you've heard the expression, 'You're using muscles you didn't even know you have.' That is really what this is. And especially for someone who's been in a gym so much in their life, to start using them in ways you've never used before, it's an eye-opening experience, to say the least. And it's frustrating in a lot of ways because you're trying to do things that, at one time, you didn't even think about, and then you're gonna try to do it now, and there's certain things that just won't work.

"One of the things they emphasized to me when we first started was this concept of turning the muscles on, because what happens when you've had injuries, the muscles literally wanna go to sleep," he continued. "And so the trick is to turn them on without them feeling like they're being assaulted. And, like I said, the guys I'm working with, they're the best in the country. As a matter of fact, it was interesting because I was watching 'Monday Night Football' about six weeks ago when Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles. 48 hours later, they had him in the same hospital down in Marina Del Rey where I was at, same doctors, working on him. And I saw about 10, 12 days ago, he's on TV, he's throwing a football already off of his back foot. So the science of sports medicine is so much more advanced than regular medicine. And it has to be, because you've got players or performers that, the whole object is because of the amount of income they generate, whatever, you've gotta get these guys back out on the field. And so the science of what sports medicine is — pardon the pun, but it is literally cutting edge. And anybody that's had injuries or anything like that, I highly recommend going that route as opposed to go through traditional medicine."

Lawless also reflected on the challenges he encountered during W.A.S.P.'s European leg of the 40th-anniversary world tour, which wrapped on May 18 in Sofia, Bulgaria at Universidada Sports Hall. He said: "The first thing that happened was I was seeing chiropractors and they were coming to the shows. To give you the full scope of it, 10 years ago, I broke my right femur and I broke it really bad. I got knocked out of the back of a truck and fell into a pile of bricks and I was falling into two jagged knives and the femur snapped on the right side about two inches below the hip and it split lengthwise all the way down to the knee. I mean, it was a nasty, nasty break. I've got an 18-inch titanium rod in there right now that's gonna be with me for the duration. But the problem that came after that — it took about a year for that to heal. I wore a quarter-of-an-inch lift in my right shoe for nine years after that. Well, we went and did a CT scan last summer, and the two legs were less than a millimeter difference from each other, so it was determined that I didn't need that lift anymore. So on a doctor's advice, I took that lift out, which was a major mistake, because what had happened in those nine years, the body will compensate for anything foreign that you try to use it to make adjustments with, and in this case, my pelvis rotated forward from wearing that lift. And then, when I took the lift out, the body doesn't know what to do and it's trying to readjust. And so what it did is my back kept going out, and I'm seeing chiropractors for it. We get to Madrid, in Spain, and I get a chiropractor that comes in and this kid was — I mean, he was unbelievably strong. I thought, honestly, I thought a gorilla had a hold of me. And he didn't speak any English. And I'm trying to get this kid to stop, and I'm literally — I had to start fighting him to get him to lay off. He ruptured one of the discs in my back. And I'd never had a ruptured disc before, and I didn't know what nerve pain was about. I'd heard about it, but until you've gone through it, you can't imagine what it's like. And the pain goes from your lower back all the way down your leg into your ankle. And imagine... I mean, the best way I could describe would be, imagine the worst toothache you've ever had. But it goes all the way from your lower back down your leg into your ankle, and you can't get it to stop. And it's excruciating beyond belief. So we found another sports medicine place in Berlin. And they started treating me, and they started giving me epidurals. Over the course of the tour, I had eight epidurals to get me through that tour. But they recommended that I stop the tour. And I really didn't wanna do that."

Lawless continued: "You have people that buy tickets. People wait a long time. A lot of them make travel plans — they fly, they do all kinds of things. You wanna do your best to not disrupt that, if you don't have to. Not to mention, it's 40th-anniversary tour. I'm only gonna get one time to do this in my life. And then, in the COVID situation, we all had three years where nothing happened. And quite honestly, I've got about 30 families that are dependent on me, between the band and the road crew and office workers and things like that. So how do you go to people and say, 'You know what? My back hurts. I don't feel like playing.' You can't really do that. So, they advised me in Berlin to stop the tour, and I said, 'Well, how bad can it be?' I said, 'You do your thing, and I'll do my thing. And I'll kind of cool it on the movement, and you just keep me going.' And they said, 'No, you don't understand. This is gonna get worse if you don't stop.' And I thought, 'Well, they're just being overly cautious.' Well, what happened, I ended up rupturing a second disc and I ended up breaking my back. And so we got through the tour except for the last five shows. And I literally had to sit in a chair the last five shows to get through it 'cause I couldn't stand up anymore. We get home from the tour, and immediately I go in with the orthopedic guys, and they told me, they said, 'You've gotta do this, and you've gotta do this now, because if you don't, you're gonna be in a wheelchair in a month.' And so, within the span of two weeks, I had had two major surgeries. And that brings us pretty much to the point where we are now. So, getting it all straightened out is a good thing.'

Blackie added: "Like I said, the doctors that have worked on me are the best in the country. So I'm really, really thankful for that. But I've been through physical therapy before. And it's, it's a tough road. 'Cause like I said, it's gonna hurt. There's no two ways about it. But you have to do it to get back to where you need to go to get your body right. Part of the problem that we had was when I took that lift out, I really needed to go back to physical therapy then. But no one told me that. So I let the body... It was literally shocked into adjustment at that point. And that's what the body does, and it rebels, because it's trying to protect itself. So that leads us to where we are right now. And ironically, none of this is age related. We did bone density studies on me, all kinds of stuff. Everything is where it should be. This was just a series of unfortunate events that just fell like dominoes."

Because of the extensive back injuries Blackie suffered during the European leg of W.A.S.P.'s 40th-anniversary tour, the band's previously announced 2023 U.S. tour was canceled and will be rescheduled for spring 2024.

When the U.S. tour cancelation was announced in July, Lawless said in a statement: "The extent of the trauma I endured on the 2023 European tour was far greater than originally diagnosed and surgery will now be needed to correct the problem. In addition to the original herniated disc, as that tour continued, a second disc became herniated. Upon returning home, a second MRI also revealed a broken vertebrae to my lower back.

"I've been fortunate to work with the best specialists in the U.S. and I've been in intensive rehab since we got home. It's going well but the damage was pretty extensive and all the doctors agree moving the tour a few months back will be the safest thing. It's all been as the result of an injury that happened several years ago. I'm working my butt off to get ready and I'll be up riding on [my mic stand nicknamed] Elvis... bigger and badder than ever. If the Torture Never Stops, then the 40th Never Stops!"

Produced by Live Nation, the North American leg of W.A.S.P.'s "The 40th Never Stops World Tour 2023" was scheduled to kick off on August 4 at the Fremont Theatre in San Luis Obispo, California, making stops across North America in Vancouver, British Columbia; Omaha, Nebraska; New York City; Memphis, Tennessee and more before wrapping up on September 16 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California. Special guest ARMORED SAINT was supposed join the band across all 33 dates of the tour.

W.A.S.P. wrapped up its first U.S. tour in 10 years with a sold-out show on December 11, 2022 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. This marked the 18th sold-out shows for the U.S. tour, which kicked off in late October 2022. W.A.S.P.'s performances included the return of the band's classic song "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", which hadn't been played live in over 15 years.

Lawless has led W.A.S.P. as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold-out shows across the globe for four decades. He is joined by bassist Mike Duda and guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band span 28 and 17 years respectively, along with drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester.

W.A.S.P.'s latest release was "ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol)", which came out in February 2018. It was a new version of the band's classic 1992 album "The Crimson Idol", which was re-recorded to accompany the movie of the same name to mark the 25th anniversary of the original LP's release. The re-recorded version also features four songs missing from the original album.

W.A.S.P.'s most recent studio album of all-new original material was 2015's "Golgotha".

W.A.S.P.'s first live performance since December 2019 took place on July 23, 2022 at Skansen in Stockholm, Sweden.

When, in July 1972, Melody Maker revealed that Bill Bruford & John Wetton were joining King Crimson - from Yes & Family respectively, it was front page news. Also joining were Jamie Muir - a key figure in London’s jazz scene & David Cross - from the band Waves. Fripp’s claims about the band’s ‘magic’ were to be put to the test that autumn when, following a three-night stint at the Zoom Club, Frankfurt & TV appearance on Bremen’s Beat Club, the band undertook an extensive UK tour, which ran from the end of October through to mid-December. With the exception of the encore “21st Century Schizoid Man”, the material was all new, with a heavier emphasis on improvisation than had ever been utilized by any major UK rock group on a headlining tour. The developing material for Larks’ Tongues In Aspic was premiered to a succession of audiences who, for the most part, had bought tickets expecting to hear something else entirely (encore notwithstanding) but who responded to the challenging set with enthusiasm.


Recorded from mid-January to the beginning of February & released in late March of 1973, Larks’ Tongues In Aspic became one of the most acclaimed of King Crimson’s albums as well as establishing its reputation as a key album from one of rock music’s most significant years. After a handful of further UK concerts, Jamie Muir left the band with the remaining quartet working with ever greater success until Summer 1974 when Fripp placed the band on indefinite hiatus.


Almost half a century after its release, Steven Wilson undertook the job of mixing the album for Dolby Atmos and, in the process, prepared new stereo & 5.1 mixes. The new stereo & 5.1 mixes - no doubt informed by the more adventurous mix techniques allowed by the Atmos process - are quite different in approach, more expansive than the earlier mixes as released in 2012, while still retaining and enhancing the core power of the original material.




The Atmos mixes allow a fresh glimpse of the vast scope of the individual material & performances as recorded for the album. The key to understanding this album, which Atmos illustrates most obviously, but is also present in all of Steven’s new mixes, David’s Elemental mixes & Alex & David’s mixes of the sessions material, is that this music was always this big, complex, interwoven series of soundscapes & while it was, in 1973, released in stereo on vinyl, CD & 8 Track cartridge, it’s only in recent years with, first the 2012 stereo & Surround mixes & now the Atmos/Elemental/Complete Sessions mixes that the available mix options & domestic consumption audio options have grown sufficiently to both contain & present the material to its fullest possible extent.


While Steven was working on this aspect of the material Alex R. Mundy and David Singleton at DGM were mixing every single take of the original studio sessions. These unreleased early takes are presented not as traditionally blended pieces, but with maximum separation, mimicking the experience of sitting in the studio with the individual elements being performed around you. The “Elemental mixes” apply this same approach to the main album takes. An excitingly fresh view on the familiar, with the focus often falling in unusual places, some originally hidden, some unused. Four of the album’s core tracks feature: extended mixes of “Larks’ 1” and “Talking Drum” along with “Easy Money” & “Larks’ 2”.


This material is all presented on Blu-Ray I of the set. Blu-Ray II presents every single session recording from the original studio dates, all newly mixed from the multitrack tapes and presented in date of recording order, in Hi-Res 24/96 stereo - a vast collection of previously unheard studio material from the seminal recording. Also included on this disc are the original album mix (30th anniversary master) & the audio documentary “Keep that one, Nick” - as compiled by David Singleton for the 2012 boxed set. These two inclusions are the only previously released titles on this set.


It’s no coincidence that many of the pieces from the album became staples of performance for the most recent King Crimson line-ups (2014 - 2021). The material first performed to unsuspecting concert attendees in 1972, first recorded & released in 1973 & beloved of King Crimson fans ever since, has aged remarkably well. That material is now presented in its most complete edition to date, with all of the material on the CDs & almost all of the material on the Blu-Rays (see track-listing below), previously unreleased. In 2023, it still has the capacity to astound the ears.


Order on Blu-Ray/2CD, Double Vinyl.

Famed and recognized Danish hard rock singer/songwriter, Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids), has released a lyric video for "Soul Divine", a track from his third studio album, Trinity, released last month. Order/save Trinity here, and watch the new clip below:





“I think the album might have turned out a bit heavier than the previous ones, since most of the songs were written on guitar this time around, but above all it’s still very melodic,” says Atkins about Trinity. “Lyrically it’s pretty much about what’s going on in the world today and that’s what inspires me. A lot of the songs are pretty personal too and I’m trying to squeeze in a bit of optimism into it as well.”




Since Ronnie Atkins was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2019, he has not lost a second of his precious time which was spent composing and recording two very successful releases - Make It Count and his debut album, One Shot - both very much acclaimed by critics and fans alike. He has also recently resumed live shows in Europe with his own band and with the Avantasia project all over the world.


“I guess I have a different perspective on life these days than I had 4 years ago, and I embrace everyday with all that goes with it,” says Ronnie, “Let me add to this that writing songs and performing on stage is what keeps me going, I guess. I like to focus on the positive aspects of life and indulge myself in things that I really wanna do by heart.”


A winning team should not be changed, so once again the album was produced by Chris Laney with Jacob Hansen taking care of the mix and the mastering.


“To me a good song is a good hook / topline and that’s pretty much what paves the way for the end result,” concludes Atkins, explaining “it’s a damn good solid melodic hard rock album. I’m very happy about the final result. I hope the fans will embrace the new album and that I’ll be able to take these songs on the road throughout 2024. That’s my plan!”


Since the start of his rock ‘n’ roll journey with Pretty Maids, Ronnie Atkins has consistently gifted fans with quality, melodic rock and Trinity delivers again, in spades.





Tracklisting:


“Trinity”
“Ode To A Madman”
“Paper Tiger”
“Soul Divine”
“Via Dolorosa”
“Godless”
“Shine”
“If You Can Dream It”
“Sister Sinister”
“Raining Fire”
“The Unwanted”
“What If”


“If You Can Dream It” video:





"Trinity" video:





Live dates:


November
9 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
10 - Hamburg, Germany - Fabrik


Lineup:


Ronnie Atkins - Lead and Backing vocals
Chris Laney - Guitars and Keyboards
Pontus Egberg - Bass
Allan Sörensen - Drums
Marcus Sunesson - Guitars
Linnéa Vikström Egg - Backing Vocals


(Photo - Tallee Savage)

Rock N' Roll Colouring recently announced the latest addition to their collection... the first ever Official Colouring Book from Cannibal Corpse, death metal’s most notorious, explicit and successful band.





Due for release on December 1, you can pre-order now via Eyesore Merch. Very limited signed copies are available.




An update from Eyesore Merch states: "This product is not available for sale in Germany. Any orders to German addresses will be cancelled and refunded. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, but this release is subject to German law and regulations."





Featuring iconic artwork and instantly recognizable images officially licensed and fully endorsed by both Cannibal Corpse and artist Vince Locke , these amazing designs have the potential for hours of satisfying colouring in.


The book demands you revel in every horrific detail of Locke’s unhinged imagery, letting your imagination run riot as you create your own personalized versions of your favourite nightmarish Cannibal Corpse designs.


Including artwork from genre classics such as Tomb Of The Mutilated, Butchered At Birth and Eaten Back To Life, right up to the band’s latest album Chaos Horrific, the book contains some of the nastiest, sickest, gore-filled & blood-drenched designs ever! Working closely with artist Vince Locke, who personally curated the book, these images are not for the faint hearted, but are perfect for fans of graphic horror fantasy art, coupled with devotees of the most deranged death metal in history!





Celebrating the release of his first colouring book, Vince enthuses; “Going over art for the book, it was surprising to see just how much 30 years of collaboration yielded. It’s rare that I see it all compiled together. There are a few pieces that had to be included, some that were favourites of myself or the band, and some that just lent themselves well to colouring. I’m always playing, trying different materials and techniques. Hope you do the same with these colouring pages. Try watercolour markers, crayons, and coloured pencils, adding your own details. You’ll probably go through a lot of red, but be creative, have fun, make it your own!”





Reflecting on his band’s unlikely entry into the world of colouring books, Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster says; “This book is a great new way for Cannibal Corpse fans to enjoy the incredible artwork of Vincent Locke.”





(Photo - Alex Morgan)

Four years after their last studio album No Halos in Hell, Cyhra have released their new album, The Vertigo Trigger. The Swedes' third full-length reflects exactly what the melodic metal band stands for: ear-splitting riffs, catchy choruses and plenty of melodies that make the band truly stand out.


They have released a guitar tutorial for the song "Too Old For Fairytales" courtesy of guitarists Euge Valovirta and  Marcus Sunesson. Check it out below.







Vocalist Jake E commented on the release of The Vertigo Trigger: 


“It feels amazing to FINALLY have new music to release again! We put a lot of effort into finding out what the future of Cyhra's music was to be and I must say I am overwhelmed with the result. Both with the album and also the songwriting!. I think that we have made a fantastic follow-up to both of our first two albums, but also at the same time we’ve managed to modernized the songwriting. I can assure you that no Cyhra fan will be disappointed!"


Drummer Alex Landenburg adds: 


“To me, this is a perfect successor to our first two records. It has all the Cyhra trademarks, but it’s a bit more Rock’n’Roll, more raw, in the way we recorded it. And on top of that, Euge’s great mix and Jacob Hansen’s mastering are a wicked combination!”


Guitarist Euge Valovirta about the new song: 


"This is the first album we produced by ourselves and it turned out to be just like I heard it in my head before we even started to record it. We still wanted to have (longtime producer) Jacob Hansen's input on it so he did the mastering and I did the mixing. I'm very proud of it. And us. Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue."


Marcus Sunesson adds:


“It’s the first of the three Cyhra albums that I played guitar on and also contributed to the songwriting. It was a fun and very creative process, but also challenging since we wanted to break new ground in order to make the best Cyhra album possible. I am so happy and proud of this beast of an album! This time we took a deep breath and dove down to explore a slightly darker, more progressive and modern side of ourselves. Yet still sounding like the Cyhra you all know and love. This album will definitely turn some heads. You will love it!”


Jesper Strömblad comments as well:


“It's so great to have a new album around the corner. We have kept the essential Cyhra sound, but at the same time upgraded and updated it a bit. I love what Euge has done to the mix and I know you are not gonna be disappointed!”


Recorded in the summer/autumn of 2022, The Vertigo Trigger is the band's darkest album to date. The album was entirely self-produced and mixed by guitarist Euge Valovirta, whilst the mastering was handled by long-term producer Jacob Hansen. This new album offers fans the classic Cyhra sound, full of the band's trademarks, but fresh and refined. The Swedes have modernised their song writing meaning that no Cyhra fan will be disappointed, making The Vertigo Trigger a more than worthy successor to their first two albums.


Order The Vertigo Trigger here.





The Vertigo Trigger tracklisting:


"Ready To Rumble"
"Let's Have My Story Told"
"Live A Little"
"1,000,000 Fahrenheit"
"Buried Alive"
"The Voice You Need To Hear"
"Life Is A Hurricane"
"If I"
"Fear Of Missing Out"
"Ashlight"
"Too Old For Fairy Tales"


"Ready To Rumble" video:





"Life Is A Hurricane" video:

On November 3, 2023, Exciter brought the 40th Anniversary Heavy Metal Maniacs tour to the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, California.


Forbidden guitarist Craig Locicero joined Dan Beehler (vocals / drums), Allan James Johnson (bass), and Daniel Dekay (guitar) on stage to perform "Violence & Force" from the Violence & Force album. Video footage can be enjoyed below.







The next day, November 4, Locicero posted the following message to social media:


"Woke up very happy today. Last night was an unexpected gift that started with Exciter asking me play a song with them. I think it was 'Come rage a song with us!' or something to that affect. Of course it HAD to be 'Violence and Force'. Forbidden Evil played that one at every backyard party and schoolyard at our formative genesis. It’s already embedded in my DNA (pun unintended).


We showed up early and headed backstage where I immediately grabbed Danny’s backup ESP and played it once acoustically. That was enough. 


What I took from last night was the kind of fuel that sticks. Dan & Alan are truly gracious for their part in metal history. It blows them away to see people like me that were so influenced by their music. The mark Exciter made on some of us cuts deep into our souls. It was straight ahead, true blue Canadian Metal! Speed, thrash, heavy. Whatever. It’s bad ass! 


These guys are grateful and have a deep reverence for their fans. I felt every bit of it before we played and 2 fold after we finished playing the song. 


They had a GREAT set! Everyone was as happy as I was. Danny brings so much energy and swagger. I dubbed him Canadian Bacon after the show because he’s a sizzling ham! Thank you, fellas. You’ve helped make this metalling kid’s dream come true. The influenced plays with the influencers."


 

The Dead Daisies recently had an epic whirlwind stop in Japan, playing Osaka on October 31, and Tokyo on November 1. They've since compiled a wrap-up video, which can be seen below. It includes some great live footage, and vocalist John Corabi’s guide to the futuristic functions of toilets in Japan, watch what button you press in the dark!


The band commented, "Japan, we had the best time returning to the land of the rising sun! You made us feel so welcome and we felt the love! Thank you for having us & we can’t wait to return!"







The Dead Daisies are currently on tour in Europe. Their next show is November 7 at La Rayonne in Lyon, France. Their complete live itinerary can be found here.





 

Having set the rock and metal world alight in September with the announcement of a forthcoming solo album and Latin American tour dates, further details of Bruce Dickinson's "The Mandrake Project" are revealed today.

The first single to be taken from it will be "Afterglow Of Ragnarok" (due on December 1),a dramatic and epic track that introduces the world not just to the music of the album but to the compelling narrative that forms the basis of "The Mandrake Project".

"It was important to set the tone of the project with this track," Dickinson explains. "As befitting its title, it's a heavy song and there's a great big riff driving it…but there's also a real melody in the chorus that displays the light and shade that the rest of the album brings… and just wait until you see the video!"

"The Mandrake Project" is a dark, adult story of power, abuse and a struggle for identity, set against the backdrop of scientific and occult genius. Created by Dickinson, scripted by Tony Lee and stunningly illustrated by Staz Johnson for Z2 Comics, the series features 12 episodes that collect into three graphic novels and will be launched in 2024.

An eight-page comic prequel to "The Mandrake Project", titled "Afterglow Of Ragnarok", is included within the vinyl seven-inch single booklet which accompanies the single of the same name and sets the scene for the story to come. The seven-inch single also features Dickinson's original solo demo version of the song "If Eternity Should Fail", which first appeared on IRON MAIDEN's album "The Book Of Souls" in 2015.

More details regarding "The Mandrake Project" will be revealed when Dickinson appears as the keynote speaker on the opening day of CCXP23, Brazil's huge Comic-Con event in Sao Paulo, on November 30.

Having already announced Brazilian and Mexican live dates for April and May next year, Dickinson and his phenomenal band — which features guitarist Roy "Z" Ramirez, drummer Dave Moreno, bass player Tanya O'Callaghan and keyboard maestro Mistheria — will continue their touring with a run of European shows, alongside a number of festival appearances in Europe. The currently confirmed dates are below.

"The Mandrake Project" European tour

May 18 - Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, UK
May 19 - O2 Academy, Manchester, UK
May 21 - Arena, Swansea, UK
May 23 - Rock City, Nottingham, UK
May 24 - O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
May 26 - L'Olympia, Paris, France
May 28 - 013, Tilburg, Holland
May 29 - De Oosterport, Groningen, Holland
June 1 - Barba Negra, Budapest, Hungary
June 3 - Arenale Romane, Bucharest, Romania
June 5-8 - Mystic Festival, Gdansk, Poland *
June 5-8 - Sweden Rock Festival, Sölvesborg, Sweden *
June 9 - Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway
June 16 - Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, Germany
June 17 - Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg, Germany
June 19-22 - Copenhell, Copenhagen, Denmark *
June 24 - Zeltfestival Rhein-Neckar, Mannheim, Germany *
June 25 - Circus Krone, Munich, Germany
June 27-30 - Hellfest, Clisson, France *
June 30 - Rockhal, Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
July 3-6 - Rockharz Open Air, Ballenstedt, Germany *
July 5 - Ippodrome Delle Capannelle, Rock In Rome, Rome, Italy *
July 6 - Bassano Del Grappa, Metal Park, Vincenza, Italy *
July 9 - E-Werk, Koln, Germany
July 13 - Hala, Zagreb, Croatia
July 16 - Kolodrum Arena, Sofia, Bulgaria
July 19 - Kucukciftlik Park, Istanbul, Turkey

* Festival performance

Dickinson previously stated about "The Mandrake Project": "This album has been a very personal journey for me and I am extremely proud of it. Roy Z and I have been planning, writing and recording it for years, and I am very excited for people to finally hear it. I'm even more excited at the prospect of getting out on the road with this amazing band that we have put together, to be able to bring it to life. As you can see, we're playing as many shows as we can, in as many places as possible, for as many people as we can!"

"The Mandrake Project" will be Dickinson's seventh solo album and his first since "Tyranny Of Souls" in 2005. It will be released via BMG worldwide on multiple formats.

Back in December 2017, Dickinson said that his next solo LP would likely include a reworked version of "If Eternity Should Fail", the opening track on IRON MAIDEN's 2015 disc "The Book Of Souls". At the time, he said that he had about "half" of his seventh record already written and he also confirmed that "If Eternity Should Fail" was originally penned as a Dickinson solo track.

He told Finland's Kaaos TV that the original plan was for his next solo record to be "a whole concept album, which was gonna be called 'If Eternity Should Fail'. And 'If Eternity Should Fail' was the title track to my new solo album," he said. "And a bit like [Dickinson's 1989 solo song] 'Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter' [laughs], it got commandeered for IRON MAIDEN. So if I did do another solo album, which I think I will, I might just stick to my original plan and have that as the title track. I mean, I did write it — it was the first track that I wrote for it. So, yeah, I'd probably still include that song. But it would be… the feel would be slightly different — not very much, though — from the MAIDEN version."

In 2015, Dickinson told France's Hard Force magazine that "If Eternity Should Fail" ended up being used by IRON MAIDEN after bassist Steve Harris heard the demos that Bruce was working on for what was supposed to be his next solo album. "And [Steve] went, 'That's a really cool song. Can we use that? That's gonna be the opening song on the album,'" he recalled. "And I went, 'Yeah, okay.' And he was already writing, I think… He was already thinking of 'The Book Of Souls' as being the title, so he told me about the Mayan thing. And I'm, like, 'Yeah, that's cool. Okay. Yeah, I see where you're going.' But in my case, that song was written as part of a story. So the spoken word at the end is the beginning of a story that goes through the whole album. And one of the characters is Dr. Necropolis; he's the bad guy. And the good guy is Professor Lazarus; he raises people from the dead. So that introduces Necropolis in the spoken-word thing. And I asked Steve… I said, 'Look. Okay. I get having the song…' 'Cause it opens up with, 'Here is the soul of a man.' 'Yup. Get that. But what about the end?' I said, 'Will people understand what this is about? Because this is nothing to do with the Mayans or anything. This is to do with… I'd come up with a concept album that doesn't happen.' [Laughs] And he [went], 'No, no, no. It's just talking about souls and everything, and it sounds great.' I went, 'Okay.' [Laughs]"

Dickinson made his recording debut with IRON MAIDEN on the "Number Of The Beast" album in 1982. He quit the band in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who had previously been the lead singer of the metal band WOLFSBANE. After releasing two traditional metal albums with former MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, Dickinson rejoined the band in 1999 along with Smith. Since then, Dickinson has only released one more solo album (the aforementioned "Tyranny Of Souls") but has previously said that his solo career is not over.

Photo credit: John McMurtrie

SLAYER guitarist Kerry King has hinted that his long-awaited new project will finally arrive in 2024.

Earlier today, SLAYER's longtime publicist Heidi Ellen Robinson-Fitzgerald, as well as the Kerry King Facebook page, shared a photo of the chain Kerry had worn on stage for years sitting on what appears to be the floor of a stage, along with the message: "Coming in 2024…"

At the conclusion of SLAYER's final concert on November 30, 2019, King removed his chain, lifted it to his side and let it fall as he turned and left the stage. He later told Dean Guitars about the symbolism of the move: "One of the reasons I did the chain drop at the last show was so everybody in the building could hear it. And it wasn't something I planned. We were doing the last run, and I said, 'I wanna do this on the last Forum show so people take it more seriously.' Like, 'King took off his chains. He left them on the stage. What the fuck, man?' So people hopefully got that. This isn't one of those, 'We're gonna be back next year and do it again.' The chains took me through SLAYER. I took them off, dropped them on stage, and I walked off, and that's the end of SLAYER for me."

Less than a year ago, Kerry said that he was angry over the prospect of SLAYER calling it quits when the subject was first broached. Asked in an interview with Metal Hammer magazine for his reaction when the conversation to end the band arose, the now-59-year-old guitarist said: "Anger… what else? It was premature. The reason I say 'premature' is because my heroes from my childhood are still playing! I can still play, I still want to play, but that livelihood got taken away from me.

"But, anyway, on to the next chapter, I guess," he continued. "We were on top of the world, and there's nothing wrong with going out on top of the world, it's a good way to go out. So, bravo for that. But do I miss playing? Yeah, absolutely."

In the same interview, King also hinted that SLAYER fans will be happy with the musical direction of his yet-to-be-announced new band. "If you know my work, you know what it’s going to sound like."

Back in October 2021, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt, who spent almost nine years touring with SLAYER, told Metal Hammer that he agreed SLAYER retired too soon. "We were still playing at the top of our game, we were totally killing it," he said. "The band had a lot of years left in it, but I guess when it's time, it's time. When you decide to walk away from something, walk away. I can't tell anybody they made the wrong decision. Better to go out on top than go out unable to play your own songs, and this shit isn't easy. Playing 'Angel Of Death' at 70 years old would be fucking hard. But it was time for me to come back, let's put it that way. I was really missing my first family."

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

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

Last July, Kerry told Metal Hammer that he "won't be dragging [his] feet much longer" when it comes to going back on the road with his post-SLAYER project.

Two years after he revealed that he had more than two records' worth of music written for his new band, King stated about the new material's direction: "You know me, so you know what it's going to sound like. I played this new song for a buddy, and I said to him, 'If there's anything I've written in the last few years that sounds like SLAYER, it's this.' And he said, 'That sounds like you could have pulled it off of any SLAYER record.' I actually made that riff up backstage at a SLAYER show. We were walking to the stage and I got my phone out and recorded it so I wouldn't forget it."

While King was reluctant to reveal the rest of the lineup of his new band, he confirmed the involvement of SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph.

King went on to say that he expects his new band to start out by playing "much smaller" venues than SLAYER did at the end of its four-decade run.

"Had it have been up to me then I'd have been out in 2020," he said. "But that thing called the pandemic fucked everything up for everyone. You know, I waited on that, because it had to run its course. I didn't want to be the guinea pig; I didn't want to learn how to tour again. I already did my dues; I don't want to have to prove myself again.

"Have I been dragging my feet? Yeah, because I wanted this [pandemic] shit to get sorted. I won't be dragging my feet much longer."

One day after SLAYER played the final show of its farewell tour, Kerry's wife Ayesha King said that there is "not a chance in hell" that the thrash metal icons will reunite for more live appearances. In August 2020, she once again shot down the possibility of her husband and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya sharing the stage ever again under the SLAYER banner.

After Ayesha shared three photos of Kerry holding their cat in slideshow-type Instagram post, a fan wrote: "No Tom, No SLAYER Kerry. Stop thinking SLAYER without @tomarayaofficial". Ayesha then replied: "don't worry, they'll never be SLAYER again! You can rest easy".

That same month, Bostaph confirmed that he is involved in a brand new project headed up by Kerry. Paul told Australia's Riff Crew that the new band will "sound like SLAYER without it being SLAYER — but not intentionally so. I mean, Kerry's been writing songs in SLAYER his entire career, and he has a style," he explained. "And that style, as a songwriter, you just don't change your style because your band is done… So, all I can say is if you like heavy music and you like SLAYER, you'll like this."

Just a few days earlier, Kerry told Dean Guitars that he had plenty of musical ideas for his upcoming project. "I've been very, very lucky with riffs in 2020," he said. "Maybe because I can't go anywhere — I don't know — but riffs have certainly not been a problem. And looking forward into the future, what that means for me is I'm gonna be able to cherrypick the best stuff. And it's good stuff. I've got more than two records' worth of music, but to be able to go through that and cherrypick the best 11 or 12 [songs]… That first record should be smoking."

When SLAYER first announced that it was embarking on its final tour back in January 2018, Ayesha assured fans that they would "always get music" from her husband.

King has said in previous interviews that his post-SLAYER musical efforts would not be much different from the sound fans have grown accustomed to hearing from him.

"If someone quit, I'm not going to go around with a made-up SLAYER," he told AZCentral.com back in 2010. "But my next band would sound like SLAYER, that's all I know."

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

Coming in 2024…
Photo Credit: Steve Appleford

Posted by Kerry King Music on Monday, November 6, 2023

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Paul Bostaph (@paulbostaphofficial)

In a new interview with DJ Ramo (a.k.a. Omar Rodriguez) of The Metal Mixtape, German metal queen Doro Pesch reflected on the first time she met the members of METALLICA, in particular the band's then-bassist Cliff Burton. The singer, who was fronting the band WARLOCK at the time of her METALLICA encounter, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[Cliff] was so relaxed. He was so relaxed, like really like cool and he played fantastic bass. And he was always smiling, always in a good mood. He was really, yeah, very cool. And he had more like a — can I say? — more like a hippie attitude, like totally relaxed and cool.

"The first time I met them, that was actually in '84, I think," she continued. "We got a phone call and it was a promoter in the Netherlands. And he said, 'Hey, you guys wanna play a show? I have a little club here.' And we said, 'That's cool.' And there was one band pulling out and, I just found out who it was; it was actually TWISTED SISTER. They were supposed to play, but they didn't play. I don't know. And they said, 'You guys wanna play?' And we said, 'Yes.' And the guy said, 'Wait, but there's another band from America. They're coming from far away, from San Francisco. You guys have to play before that band.' And we said, 'Yeah, no problem. Super.' So we went to the Netherlands. And we were playing a show. It was maybe 400 people there, all going crazy, headbanging, sweating. It was fantastic. And then we said, 'Hey, let's check out this band, the other band.' And it was METALLICA. And they walked onstage, and I thought, 'Wow.'

"Back in the day, it was very hard to even get information — no Internet, no cellphones," she explained. "You just had like these little fanzines, and usually it was like handwritten notes and then photocopies, maybe a black-and-white photo, but a photocopy, so we didn't know them so well before. And then they did a fantastic show. And you could tell they would be big; you could tell. And then I fell in love with their music and 'Kill 'Em All' and 'Ride The Lightning'. And then we did another big festival. Actually, VENOM was the headliner. It was the Metal Hammer festival in Germany. It was based on the Rhine River. It was really nice. It's called Loreley. And VENOM was headliner, and METALLICA and WARLOCK and all the other bands, we were kind of the support bands. And then it was a big deal. And then, soon after, METALLICA, they blew up and they were, like, 'Wow.'

"I always loved them. And I was a big fan. That's the reason why I wanted to [cover METALLICA's] 'The Four Horsemen' [for my new album, 'Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud'] because I love that song so much. And I love the early METALLICA. I love it all, but the early stuff, it was, yeah, it was so influential. And they were all so nice. They were so nice to us — James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich and Cliff Burton.

"And then we were actually supposed to play a big festival in Scandinavia. We were on tour with JUDAS PRIEST in 1986. It was my first big tour. I couldn't believe it. And we were supposed to play a big festival in Scandinavia — METALLICA, JUDAS PRIEST and WARLOCK. And we were in our tour bus, and I could feel there was something not right — really dark skies. It wasn't cold but it was bad weather. We were sitting in the tour bus and we had a strange feeling. And suddenly I had a really, really strange vibe. And I thought, 'Man, I hope everything is okay.' And then we went to the — it was a big festival setting. Then we came there, and nobody showed up. And we thought, 'Hmm, that's really strange.' And then later on, a couple of hours later, we found out that METALLICA had this bad accident and that Cliff lost his life. That was the first time that we felt, 'Oh, one of us is gone.' It was so unbelievable. And the show didn't take place then, and the whole tour was… Yeah, we were all, like, really, really shocked and sad. And at first, we couldn't believe it. We were just watching some rumors and stuff, but we thought, 'Everything is okay.' You know when you're a teenager, you think, 'Oh, fuck it, it will be okay.' But no, it wasn't.

"I saw [METALLICA] last time [in 2015]," Doro added. 'We played together. I was in Rock In Rio, in Brazil, and I played there with ANGRA, a Brazilian band, and Dee Snider was there, and METALLICA played there, and that's when I last saw them.

"Yeah, [METALLICA] was always one of my favorite bands."

"Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud" was released on October 27 via Nuclear Blast.

The 20-song "Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud" LP is described in a press release as "the result of intensive hard work that took the incomparable singer and songwriter back to studios in Miami, New York and Hamburg, amongst others. The album presents Doro at the height of her creative powers."

This past June, Doro released "Time For Justice", the first single from "Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud", along with a "Mad Max"-style video. The clip was filmed with director Mirko Witzki.

"Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud" arrived one day before Doro's 40th-anniversary concert at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Photo credit: Jochen Rolfes

Fan-filmed video of PANTERA's November 3 concert at Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri as the support act for METALLICA can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. A New Level
02. Mouth For War
03. Strength Beyond Strength
04. Becoming
05. I'm Broken
06. 5 Minutes Alone
07. This Love
08. Fucking Hostile
09. Walk
10. Domination / Hollow
11. Cowboys From Hell

The reformed PANTERA recently completed a U.S. headlining tour with support from LAMB OF GOD.

At some of its recent headlining shows, PANTERA performed two songs which hadn't been played live since the band's comeback last year: "Slaughtered", from PANTERA's 1994 album "Far Beyond Driven", widely considered the heaviest metal record to ever reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart; and "Revolution Is My Name" from PANTERA's final studio album, 2000's "Reinventing The Steel".

PANTERA's 2023 lineup includes two surviving members from the band's classic formation, Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass),along with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX).

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, are headlining a number of major festivals across South America, Asia, North America and Europe and staging some of their own headline concerts. They are also supporting METALLICA on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band's founders, drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott and guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who in 2021 said Wylde wouldn't tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

This past March, PANTERA headlined the 2023 "comeback" edition of Japan's Loud Park festival. The two-day "limited" event took place on March 25 at Intex Osaka in Osaka and March 26 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City near Tokyo.

In December, PANTERA played seven shows in Mexico and South America.

Brown was forced to leave PANTERA's Latin American tour after testing positive for COVID-19. Filling in for him at some of the shows was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

Up until his passing, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.

FLYLEAF vocalist Lacey Sturm will release her sophomore solo album, "Kenotic Metanoia", on November 17, 2023. Preorders are available at this location.

As the official follow-up to her Billboard chart-topping debut album, 2015's "Life Screams", Sturm's latest effort offers a deeply personal look into a matured season of the singer's storied career.

"All these songs have been for my own heart," Lacey, who has been very open about her Christian faith, offers. "When David sings the Psalms, a lot of the time he's telling his soul what to do. That's me too in this: telling my soul, singing what I know to be true."

"Kenotic Metanoia" is defined by Lacey Sturm's distinctive scorching vocal tones, married with husband Josh Sturm's broiling guitar riffs.

"Kenotic Metanoia" will be available on all major streaming platforms and in physical format.

"Kenotic Metanoia" track listing:

01. Intro (My Heartbeat) (2:17)
02. State Of Me (3:14)
03. Are You Listening (4:07)
04. The Decree (4:14)
05. Terrible Mistake (5:44)
06. Wonderful (4:42)
07. A Man Needs A Maid (4:12)
08. Thief (3:12)
09. Not Your Fight (3:39)
10. Awaken Love (4:27)
11. Reconcile (3:55)
12. (I Died) (3:56)
13. Breathe With Me (feat. Lindsey Stirling) (4:57)
14. End The Wars (3:36)
15. Outro (My Heartbeat) (1:11)

FLYLEAF played its first concert with Sturm in 11 years on April 27 at Schoepf's BBQ in Belton, Texas.

FLYLEAF, which hadn't performed live since 2016 prior to the Belton concert, made its final festival appearance of this year at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in September in Alton, Virginia.

Sturm left FLYLEAF in October 2012. She was replaced by Kristen May, who recorded one album with the group, 2014's "Between The Stars", before exiting.

In an interview with Ned of Iowa's Rock 108 radio station at this past July's Upheaval festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Lacey spoke about how she ended up reuniting with FLYLEAF for their first live shows together in more than a decade. She said: "Well, actually, my assistant that was on tour with us from the very beginning of FLYLEAF; we were called PASSERBY at that time. We were touring in an '88 Ford Club Wagon van, and we had a bunch of gear in the back with a mattress on top, and you could climb in there and sleep. She actually came on tour with us to be a stylist or a merch person — whatever we needed. She was with us from the beginning. So she got married. And we hadn't seen each other in, like, ten years, nine years, and so we all ended up at the wedding together. And that's how it started."

Sturm went on to say that her reunion with FLYLEAF came together in a "more organic" way than has been the case with some of the other high-profile band reunions in recent years. "I think it had to be that way," she said. "There were some offers for us to get back together, to do reunion shows, but we hadn't seen each other, and everybody has different lives, lots of children. So it didn't really make sense in those times, but because we were already connecting, we figured it out."

At several shows last year, Sturm joined SEETHER on stage to perform the FLYLEAF song "I'm So Sick".

Just added more physical copies of Kenotic Metanoia to the store. You all are amazing & we appreciate you! -Team Lacey

Posted by Lacey Sturm on Saturday, November 4, 2023

MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn played a solo set on October 10 at La Bestia Music Inc. in Mexico City, Mexico. Newly uploaded video from Headbangers Latino America and photos of his appearance can be found below.

Last month, MACHINE HEAD announced leg one of its "Slaughter The Martour North America 2024" tour. Forgoing their "An Evening With…" format for the first time in a decade, MACHINE HEAD will have Los Angeles's cyber-metal masters FEAR FACTORY, Sweden's ORBIT CULTURE and Louisville, Kentucky's GATES TO HELL in tow.

"Slaughter The Martour North America 2024" will kick off with a "hometown" show for MACHINE HEAD, their first since 2020, in San Francisco on January 19. Then the tour heads north with shows in the Pacific Northwest as well as eight shows in Canada. Other stops include: Chicago, Orlando, and Houston before concluding in Los Angeles on February 24 at The Bellwether.

This past April, MACHINE HEAD canceled its previously announced spring 2023 U.S. tour "due to work visa issues," explaining that "half the band, as well as a handful of key crew members, reside outside of the U.S."

The 18-date "The Electric Happy Hour (Live)" trek was scheduled to kick off on May 15 in Ventura, California and make its way to Des Moines, Fort Wayne, and Detroit before ending in Los Angeles on June 9.

MACHINE HEAD has been touring in support of its latest album, "Of Kingdom And Crown", which came out in August 2022. The follow-up to 2018's "Catharsis" includes the three songs that were featured on the 2021 "Arrows In Words From The Sky" single: "Become The Firestorm", "Rotten" and "Arrows In Words From The Sky". Much of the new MACHINE HEAD album was recorded at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California with engineer/producer Zack Ohren.

In November 2020, MACHINE HEAD released a single, "My Hands Are Empty", via Nuclear Blast. The song marked the first musical collaboration between Flynn and original "Burn My Eyes" guitarist Logan Mader in 24 years.

"My Hands Are Empty" was just one in a line of singles to be released by MACHINE HEAD, which issued "Do Or Die" in October 2019, "Circle The Drain" in February 2020, and the two-song digital single "Civil Unrest", consisting of "Stop The Bleeding" and "Bulletproof", in June 2020. "Stop The Bleeding" featured guest vocals from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Jesse Leach, and was written and recorded just days after the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.



Ya estamos en las fiestas previas al Hell and Heaven Open Air con Robb Flynn , vocalista de Machine Head en La Bestia Music Inc. 😎🔥

#RobbFlynn #MachineHead #HellAndHeavenOpenAir #HellAndHeaven2023

Posted by Black Dog Mx on Tuesday, October 10, 2023

ALTER EGO ENTERTAINMENT
Presenta :
Robb Flynn
Machine Head
🔥 ACOUSTIC & ELECTRIC SET 🔥
Road To Hell and Heaven Open...

Posted by Vynil on Wednesday, October 11, 2023

¡Una tarde épica de metal! 🎸🤘

Este día fue inolvidable para los que tuvieron la oportunidad de presenciar el concierto...

Posted by Black Dog Mx on Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Les compartimos algunas fotos de la convivencia con Robb Flynn Machine Head, acústico previo a sus presentaciones en territorio mexicano.

La Bestia Radio
Hell and Heaven Open Air

Posted by El Rock de todos los Días on Wednesday, October 11, 2023



Les compartimos algo de la sesión en La Bestia Music Inc. com #RobbFlynn de Machine Head .

Ellos tocan mañana en el Circo Volador, Centro de Arte y Cultura .

Hell and Heaven Open Air
#RoadToHellAndHeaven
ALTER EGO ENTERTAINMENT

Posted by Vórtice on Saturday, October 14, 2023

ROCK WARRIORS presente con
ALTER EGO ENTERTAINMENT
Y
EL FESTIVAL
#HellAndHeaven2023

En el concierto acústico...

Posted by Che Galindo on Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Les compartimos algunas fotos que le realizamos a Robb Flynn de Machine Head en el acústico previo a sus presentaciones...

Posted by Killers Rock news on Tuesday, October 10, 2023

In a new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless paid tribute to the band's former drummer Steve Riley, who died on October 24 after battling a severe case of pneumonia for several weeks. He was 67 years old. Blackie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I wrote a thing for him [on the W.A.S.P. web site] the day that it happened because it was a big shock to all of us, 'cause none of us saw that coming. And when something like that is so sudden, it catches your flat-footed; there's no other way to describe it.

"I lost my dad four years ago this month. And in an 18-month period, I lost 11 people and not one of them to COVID," Lawless revealed. "It was just one thing after another, and 11 people in that short a period of time, I start thinking to myself, 'What's going on here?' This is a wave that personally I'd never seen before. And to be honest, to write eulogies over and over and over, it's draining, because one of the conclusions I came to, and I don't mean for this to sound insensitive: death sucks. There's no other way to describe it. Because as a writer, I learned there's no words that we have that we can say that we can assemble together to make sense out of those losses. It's like love. They say love is the most beautiful of all frustrations because there's not words to describe what it really is. Death is the same way. There are no words that we can assemble or group together that really is going to change what it is. But what do you say to someone to comfort them? As a writer, I grasp for that. And like I said, there was a number of those that I wrote."

Blackie added: "I've got a friend of mine; he's pretty high up in the Pentagon. He's part of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff. He was a submarine commander for many years. And he had to write a number of letters to parents for soldiers that died. And I asked him, I said, 'How is it?' He goes, 'I've written more than I can remember,' he says, 'and I struggle with every one of them that I write.' There's no easy way to do it. And in Steve's case, that caught us all flat-footed. We did not see that coming… And I wrote that in that eulogy that I wrote for him, because one of the things that I said in there is that those songs that he played on — 'Wild Child', 'Blind In Texas', 'I Don't Need No Doctor' — those songs cemented our legacy. And he's a big part of that."

On the day that the news of Steve's death was shared online, Blackie released the following statement via the W.A.S.P. web site: "The entire W.A.S.P. family are saddened to hear of the passing of our friend and former bandmate Steve Riley. Steve was a native of Boston and came from a large family. He had several brothers, which from the beginning I dubbed, 'the Dalton Gang'. That came from an old Quick Draw McGraw cartoon and in a fun type of way they reminded me of some crazy kind of wannabe outlaws. They all loved the name so it stuck.

"It was Steve's drumming you hear providing the steady beat on songs such as 'Wild Child', 'Blind in Texas' and 'I Don't Need No Doctor'. Those songs helped cement our legacy and Steve was a big part of that.

"Most drummers have some the best humor in any band. It's just the way they are wired and he was no exception. Steve could make a dog laugh and that's no joke.

"For any band, being on the road can be a grind. If you have someone in the band that can come in and break the tension just by being themselves, then that's a gift that's sorely missed when that vacuum can no longer be filled.

"One of the 'Dalton Gang' has now slipped away and our hearts are truly saddened. He will be missed. But his individual legacy will indeed live on.

"God Speed Steve Riley".

Riley was the drummer for W.A.S.P. on the band's second and third albums — 1985's "The Last Command" and 1986's "Inside The Electric Circus" — and world tours from 1984 to 1987. After leaving W.A.S.P., Riley joined L.A. GUNS and played on that group's most commercially successful LPs.

In a 2021 interview with "The Bay Ragni Show", Steve stated about W.A.S.P.: "It was unfortunate what happened with W.A.S.P. I loved that band, I loved being in it, and I thought that the four members of W.A.S.P., we really had some great personalities, and we were making great music. And it's just unfortunate. It was one of those bands that splintered, and one guy left, one guy got fired, another guy got fired, and Blackie took it over on himself and he just went on with it on his own. But I thought we had a lot of legs, man; I thought we could have gone a lot longer with the four guys."

Riley added that he knew Lawless was calling all the shots when he joined W.A.S.P. "It pretty much is Blackie's band," he said. "I knew when I joined, I knew it was Blackie's band and he was writing the majority of the material and he was directing all the traffic."

According to Steve, Blackie made a mistake when he got rid of the musicians that composed W.A.S.P.'s classic lineup. "He fired Randy [Piper, guitar], then he fired me and then he ended up firing Chris [Holmes, guitar]. So he disbanded a great band.

"I've got nothing but admiration for Blackie, 'cause he gave me a shot with W.A.S.P. and I really took advantage of it and I loved being in the band. But I think that he disbanded a great band," Riley reiterated. "We were not only good theatrically, we were great sonically, musically. We were just blowing bands off the stage, man. That original four guys in W.A.S.P., we were great."

Steve added: "I've been in so many bands, and I know that that band, we were slaying. We were just really — every show, whether it was Europe, Asia, over here in North America and Canada, we were just killing it, bro. And I felt great about the band and I felt great about the first and second albums. I feel good about 'Inside The Electric Circus', but that was a noticeable change in the whole band, the sound of the band and everything, and how we looked — the whole thing. But those first two albums, man — we were really pushing it. It was great."

Steve Riley photo courtesy of Golden Robot Records

KISS performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California on Friday (November 3) as part of the final leg of the band's "End Of The Road" farewell tour. The concert mark the legendary rockers' first-ever appearance at one of the leading outdoor music venues in the world and the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

KISS's setlist was as follows:

01. Detroit Rock City
02. Shout It Out Loud
03. Deuce
04. War Machine
05. Heaven's On Fire
06. I Love It Loud
07. Say Yeah
08. Cold Gin
09. Guitar Solo
10. Lick It Up
11. Calling Dr. Love
12. Makin' Love
13. Psycho Circus
14. Drum Solo
15. 100,000 Years
16. Bass Solo
17. God Of Thunder
18. Love Gun
19. I Was Made For Lovin' You
20. Black Diamond

Encore:

21. Beth
22. Do You Love Me
23. Rock And Roll All Nite

Fan-filmed video of the show can be found below.

KISS's final runs of shows will wrap up in early December with a massive concert in the city where it all began for the legendary rock act. New York City has been a part of the band's ethos and storyline for more than four decades, so they felt it fitting to culminate an iconic Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame-worthy career on stage at New York's famed Madison Square Garden.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but has since been extended to late 2023. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band's classic song "Detroit Rock City" on "America's Got Talent".

In September, KISS frontman Paul Stanley told Australia's "The Project" about "End Of The Road": "Well, it's interesting because we can see the end now. When we started to plan this, it was probably about five years ago and the pandemic came into play and we lost a few years. We've done 250 shows on this 'End Of The Road' tour, because it's a long road, and they kept paving more road. But this is it for us. And intellectually, yeah, we go, we can't continue doing this. We're in our 70s; hard to believe. But for us, it's just reached a point where we realize we can't do this indefinitely. We're really at the top of our game still. And now's the time to do a victory lap and go out there with our heads held high and say thank you to everybody and do a show that really encapsulates and really pays tribute not only to us but to the fans."

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Stanley (guitar, vocals) and Gene Simmons (bass, vocals),alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, KISS staged its first "farewell" tour in 2000, the last to feature the group's original lineup.

In a separate interview with Gulf News, Stanley addressed the fact that he and his bandmates have never allowed their concert theatrics to overshadow the music.

"I always say this: a crappy band with a big show is a crappy band," he explained. "We didn't start as a band with everything. We started as a band making music we listened to. When I was young, I saw LED ZEPPELIN, I saw Jimi Hendrix twice and I saw all the greats. They inspired me. And it was never about being a part of a band with make-up and [fireworks] … Our music doesn't need intellectualizing or philosophizing."

Stanley added: "I know there are entertainers right now who can draw bigger crowds, but I don't know if they are going to in the next 50 years. We have done that. Our devoted fan base is almost like a tribe … We don't make art that is intellectual; we make art that's emotional … That's why people remember their first KISS concert, their first KISS song, and they remember when KISS first came on the radio. It's a powerful connection."

Two years ago, Stanley told Classic Rock magazine that "one of the best things about early KISS songs is that they really were uninhibited and very much from the gut: we had nothing to live up to, except doing what turned us on."

"Over time you can learn too much: you might become a better songwriter, but sometimes it's the freedom of naivety that makes for the best result," he concluded.

TONIGHT! Our first time ever at the Hollywood Bowl. This is going to be fun! See you there #KISSARMY. #EndOfTheRoadTour

Posted by KISS on Friday, November 3, 2023

Jimmy Page made a surprise appearance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony Friday night (November 3) to honor his "hero" Link Wray.

The 79-year-old LED ZEPPELIN legend initially appeared on screen with a pre-recorded message during a video chronicling Wray's pioneering career. In the message, Page recalled hearing Wray's classic instrumental "Rumble" for the first time when he was a teenager and thinking, "What is this? In those days, there were many guitar instrumentals, but as a 14-year-old kid who could barely play the guitar, it really had an effect on me," he said. "The vigor and the strength and the power in it. And you know something else — it was fearless. It was just phenomenal. The essence of cool."

Page then appeared on stage in person at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, along with his iconic Gibson double-neck guitar, and played "Rumble" as a tribute to the late American guitarist and songwriter, who was being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. This marked Page's first performance in eight years.

Prior to last night's Rock Hall appearance, Page's last public onstage performance took place in November 2015 when he joined an all-star lineup of musicians — including members of ALICE IN CHAINS, SOUNDGARDEN, CHEAP TRICK and GUNS N' ROSES —at a benefit show at Seattle's Experience Music Project Museum to perform the ZEPPELIN classic "Rock And Roll".

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame class of 2023 also includes RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, Kate Bush, Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, Sheryl Crow, George Michael, DJ Kool Herc and THE SPINNERS.

Back in 2014, Page said that he wanted to hit the road, but told England's The Week that he's still hadn't secured the band to take on tour. "I know people want to hear me play," he said. "I want to hear me play, too… I'm really starting to get myself enthused and limbered up for putting something together… That for me is exactly how things should be. I want to surprise people."

Page is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time, and one of the most important record producers and songwriters in rock history. Page first picked up a guitar aged 12 and performed with Neil Christian and THE CRUSADERS as soon as he left school. He honed his craft as a session musician in London and, by the mid-sixties, was one of the most sought-after guitarists in Britain. He was a member of THE YARDBIRDS from 1966 to 1968 and then, in late 1968, founded LED ZEPPELIN, one of rock's most successful and enduring bands, who have sold more than 300 million records to date.

Following LED ZEPPELIN, in the 1980s Page went on to produce a film soundtrack, "Death Wish II", toured with Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck on the fundraising "A.R.M.S." tour, formed bands THE FIRM and COVERDALE PAGE, and released a solo album, "Outrider". From 1994 until 1998, Page reunited with LED ZEPPELIN bandmate Robert Plant on two albums and two tours as PAGE AND PLANT. Since then, Page has collaborated on a wide range of projects, including performing with Sean Coombes, THE BLACK CROWES and at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics with Leona Lewis. Jimmy Page has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame twice, once as a member of THE YARDBIRDS (1992) and once as a member of LED ZEPPELIN (1995). In 2005, Page received an OBE from the Queen, then also received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Surrey (2008); in 2012 he received America's highest award for the arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, from President Barack Obama at the White House and an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College, Boston (2014). More recently, Page produced and remastered LED ZEPPELIN's nine studio albums with companion discs, rereleased in 2014 and 2015, and in 2019, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's remarkable "Play It Loud" exhibition featured some of his most iconic guitars.

In a new interview with Tulsa Music Stream, SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo was asked if he and his bandmates have begun work on material for the follow-up to last year's "The Gang's All Here" album. The LP marked SKID ROW's recording debut with Swedish singer Erik Grönwall, who joined the group in January 2022 as the replacement for ZP Theart.

"We've written a few things, getting Erik involved as well," Snake said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "We've toured quite a bit, so that takes up… We're not really adept at writing on the road; we're pretty crappy at it, actually. One thing that we do do is we come up with soundcheck riffs and we utilize those riffs. And when we have, when we go, 'Okay. Let's start writing for the next record,' we'll stop touring for a while and really get down to it and start getting in a room and shutting the door and shutting the phones off and cranking them out."

Sabo continued: "We're still old school, man. It's, like, we record these riffs on the dictaphone. And then I can remember we had built this studio at my house in New Jersey years ago, this big-ass studio. And Rachel [Bolan, SKID ROW bassist] and I would be in the live room and we'd come up with an idea. And instead of hitting the tape machine or something like that, we both just lie instinctively pulled out our dictaphones. And we looked at each other, like, 'What? We just spent this crazy amount of money building this studio, and we're still [using a] dictaphone.' The iPhone is our dictaphone now. So it's actually really cool to sit there and be able to get in a room after you're done touring and stuff like that, and go back and listen to these riffs. And you look at the date and you're, like, 'Oh my God. All right. That was soundcheck in Seattle,' or 'That was soundcheck in Boise.' There's something that attaches itself to that, and that helps to spur the creative process. It kind of reminds me, or it reminds you, as a writer, of where you were at that particular moment when this came to you, and then potentially what it could be. It's an exciting process."

Two months ago, SKID ROW postponed the third North American leg of "The Gang's All Here" tour with BUCKCHERRY until early next year. Erik later explained that he needed "more time to recover" from a recent illness due to the fact that he received a bone marrow transplant after being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia two and a half years ago.

SKID ROW's fourth leg of "The Gang's All Here" tour in December with BUCKCHERRY is still scheduled as planned.

"The Gang's All Here" arrived in October 2022 via earMUSIC. The group recorded most of the LP in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS, among many others.

Theart, who had been in the group for more than six years, played his final gig with SKID ROW in February 2022 before being officially given the boot.

Def Leppard performed at  K-Arena in Yokohama, Japan on Novembner 3rd on The World Tour with Mötley Crüe. Fan-filmed video of the entire show can be viewed below.


Setlist:


"Take What You Want"
"Let's Get Rocked"
"Animal"
"Foolin'"
"Armageddon It"
"Kick"
"Love Bites"
"Promises"
"This Guitar"
"When Love and Hate Collide" (short acoustic/electric version)
"Rocket"
"Bringin' On the Heartbreak"
"Switch 625" (with drum solo)
"Hysteria"
"Pour Some Sugar On Me"
"Rock of Ages"
"Photograph"







Produced by Live Nation and presented by Triple M, Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard will bring their electrifying stage shows to Australia, commencing with Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on November 8, Giants Stadium Sydney on November 11, and Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on November 14.


“After getting back on the road this past summer, we’re beyond thrilled to bring this massive tour to a global audience including some special dates in Australia!” said Joe Elliott of Def Leppard.


“We had an incredible time playing The Stadium Tour in North America and we truly can’t wait to continue taking the show around the globe with The WORLD Tour in 2023. Crüeheads get ready because we have a few amazing Australian dates set for you!” Mötley Crüe said in a joint statement.





Australian dates:


November
8 - Brisbane - Suncorp Stadium
11 - Sydney - Giants Stadium
14 - Melbourne - Marvel Stadium

Mötley Crüe performed at  K-Arena in Yokohama, Japan on Novembner 3rd on The World Tour with Def Leppard. Fan-filmed video of the entire show can be viewed below.


Setlist:


"Wild Side"
"Shout At The Devil"
"Too Fast For Love"
"Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)"
"Live Wire"
"Looks That Kill"
"The Dirt (Est. 1981)"
- guitar solo - 
"Rock And Roll, Part 2 / Smokin' In The Boys Room / Helter Skelter / Anarchy In The U.K. / Blitzkrieg Bop / Fight For Your Right"
"Home Sweet Home"
"Dr. Feelgood"
"Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)"
"Girls, Girls, Girls"
"Primal Scream"
"Kickstart My Heart"







Produced by Live Nation and presented by Triple M, Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard will bring their electrifying stage shows to Australia, commencing with Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on November 8, Giants Stadium Sydney on November 11, and Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on November 14.


“After getting back on the road this past summer, we’re beyond thrilled to bring this massive tour to a global audience including some special dates in Australia!” said Joe Elliott of Def Leppard.


“We had an incredible time playing The Stadium Tour in North America and we truly can’t wait to continue taking the show around the globe with The WORLD Tour in 2023. Crüeheads get ready because we have a few amazing Australian dates set for you!” Mötley Crüe said in a joint statement.





Australian dates:


November
8 - Brisbane - Suncorp Stadium
11 - Sydney - Giants Stadium
14 - Melbourne - Marvel Stadium

CREED frontman Scott Stapp was the featured guest on BBC's "The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker" during the "Rock God" segment. Scott picked U2 singer Bono and stated about his choice (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The reason I've chosen Bono is because the impact that his lyrics have had on my life, especially off [U2's] 'The Joshua Tree' album during a time in my life between the ages of 14 and 17, when I was going through a very difficult period.

"I believe I discovered [U2] through MTV. I asked my grandmother at the time to get me the album, and I could not take the cassette out of my stereo. For three years, over and over and over, and the lyrics just connected with me on such a personal level. I felt like the band and Bono was speaking directly to me, encouraging me, giving me hope, helping me get through a very difficult period in my life. And that's the beauty of music. And that's the gift that Bono has. Inspiration and love and hope. And I'll never forget that record and what Bono and his music has done for me.

"In my opinion, 'The Joshua Tree' is by far one of the greatest albums ever written, musically and lyrically," he continued. "Not only is the music inspiring and uplifting, but it's diverse and takes you through a gamut of emotions.

"I did get a chance to meet the band in 2001 at the Grammys, got to have a great conversation with The Edge and briefly met Bono, and it was a dream come true.

"There is no other, in my opinion, rock god greater than Bono," Scott added.

As previously reported, Stapp will release his fourth solo album, "Higher Power", on March 15, 2024 via Napalm Records. The LP will arrive just a month before the iconic frontman returns to the stage with CREED for the first time in ten years.

"Higher Power" follows 2019's "The Space Between The Shadows", which debuted at No. 3 on the U.S. Current Rock Albums chart, the U.S. Current Hard Music Albums chart, and the U.K. Rock and Metal chart, among countless other top chart positions.

"Higher Power" was produced by Marti Frederiksen and Scott Stevens, with co-production by Stapp.

One of the most iconic voices in rock, Stapp first emerged as the high-energy, post-grunge frontman of CREED. With anthems like "Higher", "My Own Prison", "My Sacrifice" and "With Arms Wide Open", the band sold over 50 million albums, including a diamond certification. Throughout the early 2000s, CREED broke airplay records, sold out arenas, earned countless Billboard Music Awards and American Music Awards, and a Grammy for "Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group". As a solo artist, Stapp has released the platinum-certified "The Great Divide" (2005),"Proof Of Life" (2013) which featured his first solo No. 1, "Slow Suicide", and 2019's "The Space Between The Shadows". In April 2024, Stapp will reunite with his CREED bandmates for the first time in a decade, as he returns in fighting form and stands as an inspiration to others who are struggling.

Stapp went through a highly publicized, drug-inflamed meltdown in 2014, after which he entered into an intensive rehab program. Stapp also lost custody of his three children during this period, while also missing a court hearing and allegedly threatening to kill then-president Obama.

After completing rehab, Scott spent the following year in intensive therapy. Although he was initially diagnosed with bipolar disorder, it was later determined that it was severe depression that led to addiction. Now nine years sober, Stapp spoke to Men's Health about health and fitness in 2019 when his comeback album was released, saying, "I hate to use the word, but I guess it has become my new addiction."

Scott Stapp photo credit: Sebastian Smith