Frontiers Music Srl proudly announces the signing of renowned guitarist and songwriter Don Felder, best known for his role with the Eagles. This partnership marks the start of an exciting new chapter, with plans to release Felder’s highly anticipated solo album later this year.

Don Felder expressed his excitement by saying: “So thrilled to be joining the Frontiers family and to finally share this new record with the world! This music means everything to me, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear it”.

Charlie Brusco, Red Light Management, added: “Great to have our legendary client Don Felder partnering with Serafino, Tom and the entire Frontiers organization.”

Tom Lipsky, Head of A&R of North America for Frontiers Label Group, commented: “Brilliant songwriting, guitar mastery, and sweet vocals. Don Felder is truly rock royalty, and he has reached new heights on his new upcoming record. We are confident fans will love the music, especially as Don cranks it up coast to coast during the ‘Brotherhood Of Rock’ tour this year with Styx and Kevin Cronin.”

Don Felder is renowned as a former lead guitarist of The Eagles, one of the most popular and influential rock groups of our time.

Hailing from Gainesville, Florida, Felder developed an early passion for music after watching Elvis Presley perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. By the age of 13, he had formed his first band, the Continentals, which included future rock legend Stephen Stills. Felder refined his guitar skills through dedicated practice and even received slide guitar lessons from Duane Allman, laying the foundation for his signature style.

In 1974, Felder joined the Eagles, helping shift their sound from country-rock to a more guitar-driven rock style. He co-wrote and performed the legendary guitar solo for “Hotel California,” one of the most celebrated songs in rock history. His contributions extended to other notable tracks, including “Victim Of Love” and “Those Shoes.”

His dual guitar harmonies with Joe Walsh became a defining element of the band’s sound. In recognition of the Eagles’ massive influence on rock music, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, with Felder performing alongside his former bandmates at the induction ceremony.

Following his departure from the Eagles in 2001, Felder pursued a solo career, releasing albums such as Road To Forever (2012) and American Rock ‘N’ Roll (2019). Over the years, Felder has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including Stevie Nicks, Barbra Streisand, and Michael Jackson, further solidifying his legacy as a versatile and influential guitarist in rock music.

In a new interview with Scotty J of Rock Titan, former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER members Udo Dirkschneider (vocals) and Peter Baltes (bass) were asked if they have given any thought to possibly retiring in the not-too-distant future. The 72-year-old Udo responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Of course, a lot of people [were] already asking me, 'What is your plan when you wanna retire?' and all that stuff. I still have fun to do this. Okay, everything is working — my voice is working, I'm healthy and everything is okay so far. I don't know. Maybe I go over 80, hopefully, and then I'm still on stage.

"There will be definitely a point [where you have to arrive at that decision] by yourself, and then you have to say then, 'Okay, maybe that's it.' You never know," he added. "But at the moment, definitely not. And Peter's still [playing] with me. [Laughs]"

The 66-year-old Baltes chimed in: "I believe the point is always that you have to determine for yourself if you're still worth it, if you still can deliver the goods. And if that's diminishing, then that's time to go. There's a lot of guys out there that don't see that point and they keep pushing on and then it becomes real sad. But we have a lot of gas in the tank. There's a lot of music [that] still has to be written. We have to be there for [U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER drummer] Sven [Dirkschneider] and the other two [members of U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER], to guide them through the rest of this. So, no, it's just too much fun, to be quite honest. What else are we gonna do?"

Regarding the possibility of new U.D.O. music as a follow-up to 2023's "Touchdown" album, Udo said: "There are some ideas. That will be there already. So our plan is we wanna start working on the U.D.O. album, the next one, over the summer. And this [DIRKSCHNEIDER] 'Balls [To The Wall]' [40th-anniversary] tour goes until 2026 — we know that already — and so that means that's the only space we can work on a new U.D.O. album. And then after the 'Balls' tour, definitely we start again then with U.D.O. So that means we are busy."

DIRKSCHNEIDER has just reimagined ACCEPT's iconic album "Balls To The Wall" to celebrate the LP's 40th anniversary. The band's founding member and former frontman has reinterpreted this classic with a fresh and star-studded twist. Far from a simple remake, this project was born out of countless conversations with prominent artists across the global rock and metal scene, who frequently asked: "Are you planning anything special for the 40th anniversary of 'Balls To The Wall'?" These discussions sparked the idea to re-record the album's legendary tracks alongside a stellar lineup of guest musicians, transforming the project into a heartfelt tribute.

DIRKSCHNEIDER, the band featuring Udo and Peter (bass),along with Sven Dirkschneider and the talented guitar duo of Andrey Smirnov and Fabian "Dee" Dammers, celebrated the 40th anniversary of "Balls To The Wall", which was originally released in late 1983 and is the most commercially successful and best-known album by ACCEPT, by performing the LP in its entirety on a recent tour of South America. They will take the "Balls To The Wall" 40th-anniversary tour to the rest of the world during 2025.

Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann is the sole remaining original member of ACCEPT, which he formed in 1976 in the town of Solingen, Germany with Dirkschneider and Baltes.

Over the past five decades, ACCEPT has sold millions of albums and inspired countless musicians. Their energetic live performances and iconic albums such as "Balls To The Wall", "Restless And Wild" and "Metal Heart" have left a lasting mark on the heavy metal genre.

After a hiatus in the band's career, Wolf and Peter were introduced to New Jersey singer Mark Tornillo in 2009. The chemistry and fit between them was so remarkable, ACCEPT reformed and almost immediately rose to global success with chart-topping albums.

Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for Dirkschneider. Mark can be heard on ACCEPT's last six studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017),2021's "Too Mean To Die" and 2024's "Humanoid".

Last month, Norwegian black metal band, Djevel, announced the passing of founding guitarist and vocalist, Trånn Ciekals. The band have now shared the following update:

“As much as the last three weeks have set us back both emotionally and practically we have also come to the conclusion that we will perform the two Oslo gigs already planned at Parkteateret on the 21 and 22 of November.

“Not only for our own sake in order to process our loss but also to fulfill these two gigs as a tribute to the life and musical work of Trånn Ciekals. Jan Even Åsli will be filling in for Trånn and we are deeply grateful for the effort Jan Even will put into this with us. We will also team up with old members to make this work out as planned.

“We will inform you with more details when we know. But what we do know is that this will be the last chance to see Djevel ever and we hope that you all will celebrate the band and Trånn these two dark autumn evenings with us.”

Following their acclaimed single "Superman", CYHRA — the Swedish band featuring former IN FLAMES, AMARANTHE and current THE HALO EFFECT, KAMELOT and SUBURBAN TRIBE members — has released even more new music today. "Skin From Bones" is the second release by the internationally recognized melodic metal band through their new label home Reigning Phoenix Music. Mixed by guitarist Euge Valovirta, and once again mastered by sound expert Maor Appelbaum as well as graced by artwork by Gustavo Sazes, the single is a raw expression of breaking free from the lies we tell ourselves and the burdens we carry. It's about shedding layers of pain and deceit to uncover the strength within.

Being both a battle cry and a moment of liberation, diving deep into the struggles of confronting our inner demons and the falsehoods we hold onto, "Skin From Bones" is a powerful anthem of self-discovery, resilience, and the painful yet necessary process of healing. Sometimes, to truly heal, you have to strip everything down to the core.

Introduced by hard-hitting riffs and a catchy keyboard melody, the single seems to go the "usual" way, but CYHRA wouldn't be CYHRA without occasional musical surprises, that's why the band have interweaved a crossover-ish second verse into the track, guiding fans through the territory of rap and showcasing an atypical side of vocalist Jake E's voice. But that's not all as the bridge captures listeners with explosive breakdowns which additionally underline the thematic significance of "Skin From Bones".

Jake E says: "Our second [new] single, 'Skin From Bones', is a bold step into heavier territory for CYHRA, but we're not leaving behind the melodies and catchy choruses that define our sound. This track dives deep into themes of resilience and self-discovery, blending raw intensity with heartfelt emotion. We're constantly evolving as a band, and 'Skin From Bones' is the perfect example of how we're pushing our boundaries while staying true to who we are."

As they approach their 10th anniversary next year, CYHRA have carved out a notable place in the metal scene since their founding in 2016 by Jake and Jesper. They were soon joined by Alex and bassist Peter Iwers (THE HALO EFFECT, formerly IN FLAMES). Their debut album, "Letters To Myself", was released in 2017 to glowing reviews, catapulting the group to global stages, crowned with a massive North American tour supporting SABATON and KREATOR.

Following Iwers's departure, Euge Valovirta (guitars, bass) joined the CYHRA lineup, and the band released its second album, "No Halos In Hell", in 2019, which blended groovy metal with a poppy flair and featured the hit single "Out Of My Life", amassing about 11 million streams on Spotify. Their success continued with a European tour with BATTLE BEAST, U.K. dates alongside DELAIN, headline shows in select countries including Finland and Japan, and performances at major festivals like Masters Of Rock, Bloodstock Open Air, Sabaton Open Air and 70000 Tons of Metal.

In 2020, guitarist Marcus Sunesson (RONNIE ATKINS, THE CROWN) joined, expanding the lineup. The pandemic pause allowed the band to craft their third album "The Vertigo Trigger", released in 2023. The album's tour brought them back to Finland to open for SMASH INTO PIECES and to headline shows in early 2024. Quietly beginning their fourth album, CYHRA ended the cycle with a Scandinavian tour with EVERGREY, leading into 2025 with their previous standalone single "Superman".

Photo credit: Linda Florin

In a new interview with Nic and Big J of the Boise, Idaho radio station 100.3 The X Rocks, DISTURBED frontman David Draiman was asked about the "throwback" vibe of the band's new single, "I Will Not Break", which was released earlier this month. David said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It wasn't intentional, that much I'll tell you. It came at the end of our recording session. It's one of the last songs we did. We were really on a roll. And I remember I had said to Danny [Dan Donegan, DISTURBED guitarist] and Drew [Fulk] and Mike [Wengren, DISTURBED drummer] — Drew's our producer — 'give me a beat that's a good old-fashioned, old-school head bob, something I can really lock in my polysyncopation on. Give me something old school.' And they did, and, boom, this came out. And it immediately spoke to us. It was a hell of a lot of fun to write and record the songs. Very empowering, very healing for me. It's a contrast to some of the darkness I was going through last cycle, and being able to celebrate coming out the other end."

Draiman went on to say that there is plenty of new music on the way from DISTURBED. "We've got a lot of amazing new material we're gonna be releasing piece by piece over the course of the next year or two, culminating with the release of an actual record," he explained. "But we're gonna take our time with it.

"These songs are — the problem we had in studio is that so many of them were so strong and so compelling that we had no shortage of single contenders," he continued. "In fact, we had too many. So we wanna try and give every baby its necessary growth period to be able to grow into a nice big adult song.

"So it's nice, being able to feel that anticipation and the excitement of it. I can't wait," Draiman added. "There's definitely a lot of the meat-and-potatoes DISTURBED in the collection, but there's a couple surprises too, and I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised when they actually get to hear everything."

"I Will Not Break" came out last Friday (February 21) via DISTURBED's own label, Mother Culture Records. The track marks DISTURBED's first new music since its acclaimed 2022 album "Divisive".

"I Will Not Break" was helmed by producer Drew Fulk, also known as WZRD BLD (MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, LIL PEEP, HIGHLY SUSPECT),who previously worked with DISTURBED on "Divisive".

Last week, Donegan spoke to Ryan McCredden of the I-Rock 93.5 radio station about the musical inspiration for "I Will Not Break". He said: "[That song] came late in the recording process. We were out in L.A. this past September, October and November, just getting the ball rolling. There was no really gameplan of a timeframe or deadline in any way. We had some time off the road with only a handful of shows last fall, so we said, 'Let's get back in the room and get things going again and see how the creative process goes.' And everything was going great. We wrote a bunch of material, tracked it all, and then 'I Will Not Break' kind of came late in the session. I just felt like I still had a lot left in me. And I was supposed to be tracking guitars for something else that day, and I just told my producer I felt really creative. I wanted to kind of go with this kind of old-school — I wanted to give something to David that was gonna hopefully trigger kind of that old-school delivery out of David. So we just kind of worked on this heavy groove, this beat, and I just started improvising over it, and as soon as the riff came around, we kind of all just looked at each other, like, 'That's the one. That's the one.' And then I just continued down that road and put together a rough structure. David wasn't there at the moment, at the time, so we just kind of worked out the music and put together a rough structure. And when I'd seen him next, I kind of went over it with him and he connected with it. And he kind of gave us those elements that we were looking for — the still melodic, but still quick, rapid-fire syncopation at times and just that kind of delivery we were hoping to pull out of him. And we thought it would be a great lead-off track to share with the fans."

When McCredden noted that "I Will Not Break" sounds like something DISTURBED could have recorded 25 years ago, possibly inspired by the fact that the band is preparing to embark on a 34-date North American tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 2000 debut album "The Sickness", Donegan concurred. "I was going through the archives and going through a lot of stuff here, my memorabilia, gearing up for this 25th-anniversary tour, and I came across some old demo tapes," he said. "I had actually cassette tapes, if people don't remember what those are. Back in the day, in the late '90s, when we got David in the band, we would just set up a little cassette player in the back of the room and hit 'record' and record us — crappy version, but record our practices so we could hear us just improvising ideas. And so I was kind of in that headspace 'cause I was listening to these old riffs and these old deliveries of us just kind of improvising, like I said, and it just had me in that headspace. Actually, one of the song ideas was a riff I pulled from 1998 off the demo and I kind of slid it back into the mix. I have a history of doing that. I have a way of sneaking in old ideas and seeing if it triggers anybody, if they remember it and pick up on it, if it's been that long ago. But I try to get back into that headspace. And so, even though the riff for 'I Will Not Break' is brand new, I was kind of in the spirit of that old-school DISTURBED, and that's what we were hoping to do — trigger [David] in that that kind of way."

According to DISTURBED, "I Will Not Break" is "a necessary song, about becoming stronger than the forces that constantly try to tear you down." The track includes the stirring lyrics "I've had enough of feeling terrified, now I'm deciding that I won't be hiding from anyone," which encourages listeners to push back in the face of adversity.

"Divisive" was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.

According to Billboard, "Divisive" sold 26,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release, with 22,000 units via album sales.

On the all-format Billboard 200 chart, "Divisive" debuted at No. 13.

DISTURBED has had five No. 1s on the all-genre chart, beginning with "Believe" in 2002.

"The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" will kick off in Nampa, Idaho on February 25. Produced by Live Nation, each night will feature two sets of music, opening with DISTURBED playing the five times platinum "The Sickness" in full, followed by a full set of greatest hits. The first half of the tour will feature support from special guests THREE DAYS GRACE, featuring the return of original singer Adam Gontier, and opener SEVENDUST, and the second half will feature special guests DAUGHTRY with opener NOTHING MORE.

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

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

"The Sickness" 25th-anniversary edition is available to pre-order on all formats. The deluxe box set will be available via the band's web site and digitally on March 7, and via all retailers in North American on March 21.

Jay Jay Brown was interviewed by Metal Matt and the bassist spoke about his time with Fight. Fight was Rob Halford’s first post-Judas Priest band and they released two albums. The original lineup featured Priest drummer Scott Travis alongside guitarist Russ Parrish (aka Satchel from Steel Panther), and guitarist Brian Tilse.

On working alongside Satchel:

“It was funny because Russ always be like ‘Stay on your side of the stage’ because I’d run all over the place. He’s like, ‘Jesus Christ just stay on your side man.’ I’m like, ‘Sorry man.’

“You know back then I was young and I was a nut you know, I don’t know how Rob put up with me.”

Possibility of a Fight reunion:

“Russ said he would be down and Rob was talking about it when I saw him last year up in Detroit, so you know, he said that he would like to maybe do even at least a couple shows just to celebrate what we did, but I mean I told him, ‘you better hurry up while we’re still all here.’”

In a recent interview with Gym Rock Crew, which is hosted by Ramona, a certified fitness coach and metalhead, STEEL PANTHER guitarist Russ "Satchel" Parrish was asked to name his "favorite exercise". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "My biggest thing with exercising is I try to change it up because I don't wanna get bored. And if I get bored, I'll stop exercising and I'll be 300 pounds. And it's not good 'cause I love to eat food. So I try to offset it with exercise, which is not a good idea because one of the oldest things you always hear is, like, you can't out-train a bad diet. And I have a tendency to love to eat all kinds of crappy food.

"One of my favorite exercises is definitely pull-ups; I like doing pull-ups," he said.

"Being on the road and learning how to stay active on the road… We've been touring for a long time, and now you can go anywhere and there's gyms like everywhere you go, which is great. But there was a time years ago where it was, like, 'Oh, there's no gym close by.' I would just find places to work out on my own. I'd bring a jump rope with me, a weighted jump rope. That's a good exercise. A weighted jump rope, it only weighs a pound. I have a two-pound jump rope too. The whole rope itself is weighted; it's not just like the handles — it's the actual rope. And that is a great thing to do. A two-pound jump rope feels like you're swinging 30 pounds after five minutes. It's crazy. But jump rope was really good. And that you can do anywhere. Push-ups are great. I've been trying to do squats lately. That's not fun, 'cause, like everybody, I don't like to do my legs as much as other things, but it's important. And I do hanging leg lifts. That's not an easy one. That's a good one, though. I try to switch it up as much as I can, because if you do anything too much, I think your body just gets used to it and you end up not really feeling it as much. So I try to switch up my workouts a lot. That's the main thing."

Asked how long he has been training, Satchel said: "I've been exercising ever since I was a kid. And when I really started getting into guitar, I was pretty young. Well, not pretty young, but like a teenager — 13, 14. But I got really, really into it. Up until that point, when I started playing guitar, I was doing other things, like normal kid stuff, like wrestling and playing soccer and stuff like that. And then I started playing guitar and I was, like, 'This is all I'm gonna do. I'm just gonna get really good at guitar.' And I was playing guitar, like, 10 hours a day. And I realized that I was just doing nothing except sitting on my ass. So I made it a part of my day. I would make sure I went and worked out. Even as a teenager, like 13, 14 years old, I was, like 'I've gotta do something besides practice guitar. Otherwise, I'm just gonna be a big fat pig.' So I started doing that early. But then, as I got older, and once I got into my twenties, I realized that I had to really figure out how to push myself and work out harder in order to see the results. Like right now, especially it's a new year, and everybody gets a new membership and they go to the gym and get on the Stairmaster and after a week they go, 'I look the same. This is horrible.' And then they quit the gym and they wait till next year and then they join the gym again. So the biggest thing for most people is seeing some sort of results. I don't think you necessarily have to see it either. If you feel it —for me, the thing that keeps me motivated and keeps me working out is feeling better now. I don't feel as good if I don't work out. So if I go a couple of days without working out, I crave feeling better and I wanna be active and I wanna go to the gym."

This past December, STEEL PANTHER announced two more legs of its "Feel The Steel 15th Anniversary Tour". The first leg is scheduled for March throughout the United States and the second leg heads to Europe this summer. The U.S. leg of the tour kicks off on March 5 in Lincoln, Nebraska and wraps up on March 28 in Dubuque, Iowa. The tour will make stops in Boise, Idaho; San Francisco, California; Tempe, Arizona and Kansas City, Missouri, to name a few. The European headline leg kicks off on June 18 in Dublin, Ireland before concluding three weeks later on July 6 in Geiselwind, Germany.

Formed in 2000, STEEL PANTHER specializes in imitating and exaggerating the less flattering aspects of 1980s hair metal, with unrepentantly crude, non-PC sexual content as a favorite lyrical theme.

The group's music has been described as "VAN HALEN meets MÖTLEY CRÜE meets RATT meets 'Wayne's World', complete with operatic shrieks, misogyny, shredding guitar solos and libidinal overdrive."

Seventeen years ago, STEEL PANTHER changed its name from METAL SKOOL to its current moniker and shifted the focus of its act from '80s metal covers to originals.

STEEL PANTHER's sixth studio album, "On The Prowl", was released in February 2023.

In September 2022, STEEL PANTHER announced the addition of Spyder as the band's new bassist.

Four months ago, STEEL PANTHER's debut album, "Feel The Steel", was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales in excess of 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

"Feel The Steel - 15th Anniversary Edition" was released worldwide on November 15. The 15th-anniversary edition features two tracks that were only released on the original Japanese import: "You Don't Make Me Feel Dumb" and "I Want Your Tits". The album was produced by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, COREY TAYLOR).

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the album, STEEL PANTHER embarked on the first leg of the "Feel The Steel 15th Anniversary Tour". The trek kicked off in Huntington, New York on November 20, 2024 and ran through December 13, 2024 when it wrapped up in Orlando, Florida.

In a new interview with Keefy of Ghost Cult magazine, LACUNA COIL singer Andrea Ferro addressed the use of artificial intelligence (A.I.) in the creation of music and album art. A.I. art is generated by inputting data, such as text, images, or sounds, into an algorithm trained to produce new and original artwork. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think technology, as usual, is not good or bad. It depends the way you use it. If it's an extra tool to make your life easier and faster, that's okay. But if it has to substitute the creativity of a person, that I don't like personally. I prefer to use human creativity because humans are great because they make mistakes, and from a mistake, usually that's where great things happen. Whatever you do — you write a book, you write a song, you write a movie — when you fuck up or you make a mistake, and you can go there and see and realize what's special, how special it becomes with the mistakes, that's where you find a new way. You learn something new, you create something new and unique because you never would have thought about it in the correct way. So I think that can't be replaced by machine, at least not yet. And so I think human touch is very important. And there's no need to use A.I. [art for album covers]. If you find the right artist, it's not even that expensive. I think it's reasonably expensive and it's deserved and you can still make money on the merchandise and other things. So it's an excuse for laziness to don't use a real artist, I think, I think A.I. is cool and it can be helpful, but it has to be used with your brain."

LACUNA COIL's latest album, "Sleepless Empire", came out on February 14 via Century Media Records. Inspiration to create the LP came during the sessions for "Comalies XX" (2022),the acclaimed remake of LACUNA COIL's breakthrough third record "Comalies". Writing and recording took place in northern Italy between Milano (the band's hometown) and Como, where SPVN Studios are located. As with their previous albums, production was done in house with Marco "Maki" Coti Zelati at the helm, and artwork was hand curated by the talented Italian artist Roberto Toderico. Two other very special talents enrich the album, namely the guest vocalists: LAMB OF GOD's Randy Blythe on the song "Hosting The Shadow" and NEW YEARS DAY's Ash Costello on "In The Mean Time".

Last October, Italian guitarist/producer Daniele Salomone confirmed that he has joined LACUNA COIL as the replacement for the band's longtime guitarist Diego Cavallotti.

Salomone made his live debut with LACUNA COIL on August 4, 2024 at the Rockstadt Extreme Fest in Râșnov, Romania.

In June 2024, LACUNA COIL announced Cavallotti's departure. Diego, who joined LACUNA COIL in 2016, initially as a fill-in guitarist following the exit of Marco "Maus" Biazzi, later said in a social media post that "this decision is not the result of my dissatisfaction or desire to explore new opportunities."

Cavallotti and Salomone played together in the Italian metal band INVERNO, which released its debut album, "Stasis", in December 2023.

British heavyweights ARCHITECTS are back with a relentless new single, "Brain Dead", featuring boundary-pushing new duo HOUSE OF PROTECTION — the latest glimpse into ARCHITECTS' highly anticipated 11th studio album, "The Sky, The Earth & All Between", dropping this Friday, February 28 via Epitaph Records. Just days after surprising fans with "Everything Ends", which revealed a more vulnerable side to the band, "Brain Dead" flips the script with a volatile mix of punk attitude and crushing intensity. Produced by Jordan Fish, the track showcases Sam Carter's unmatched vocal range, seamlessly shifting from frenetic screams to guttural growls to soaring melodic cleans. ARCHITECTS are pulling no punches with this one-two combo of new music leading up to their album release.

With Aric Improta and Stephen Harrison of HOUSE OF PROTECTION adding an intriguing layer of musical complexity, "Brain Dead" surges forward with pummeling drums, razor-sharp riffs, and an unrelenting pace that doesn't let up until it crashes into a mercilessly crushing breakdown. Lyrically, the track delivers a scathing take on modern disillusionment, wrapped in a chaotic, high-energy delivery that embodies ARCHITECTS at their most explosive.

The single arrives alongside a fast-moving, visually striking music video, mirroring the song's high-adrenaline energy. Shot in true guerilla, L.A.-skate style, the video follows Carter, Improta and Harrison as they tear through the city — skating outside, roaming stadium stands, weaving through tunnels, and lounging on rooftops. Packed with collage-style overlays, glitchy effects, and rapid cuts, the video captures the raw, electrified spirit of the track while delivering a gritty, high-impact visual ride that feels like a skate edit on steroids.

"Brain Dead" pushes ARCHITECTS' next chapter into overdrive, following the high-octane run of "Blackhole", "Whiplash", "Curse" and "Seeing Red" — a streak that has racked up over 90 million streams and landed the band on Alternative Press, Kerrang!, Revolver and Idobi's "Most Anticipated Albums of 2025" lists. If the first four singles are any indication, "The Sky, The Earth & All Between" is shaping up to be their most impactful record yet.

With "The Sky, The Earth & All Between" dropping on February 28, ARCHITECTS are gearing up for a massive year on the road. The band will celebrate the album's release with a string of special U.K. shows, before heading out on a spring headline tour across Europe. They'll then link up with LINKIN PARK for select dates on their anticipated world tour and make a festival run through the U.S., hitting Rock Fest, Upheaval and Inkcarceration — with even more dates on the horizon.

"The Sky, The Earth & All Between" track listing:

01. Elegy
02. Whiplash
03. Blackhole
04. Everything Ends
05. Brain Dead (feat. House of Protection)
06. Evil Eyes
07. Landmines
08. Judgement Day (feat. Amira Elfeky)
09. Broken Mirror
10. Curse
11. Seeing Red
12. Chandelier

In a new interview with Sophie Dobschall of the Eyes Closed blog and Messed!Up Magazine, RISE AGAINST frontman Tim McIlrath spoke about how he injects political activism into his songwriting. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Very simply, I hope that people walk away feeling hope. The way I look at songs, as a songwriter, is that RISE AGAINST is a band that, like maybe many other bands, we are writing a song and we might take you to a dark place, we might bring you down into this dark cave and show you problems and conflict and sadness and that kind of thing, and then maybe where we're different, or I hope we are at least, is that before that song is over, I hope that there's a trail of breadcrumbs that will lead you out of it. We're not gonna leave you in the dark. We want you to see the underbelly, we want you to see the problems of the world and society and the human condition, but, at the same time, because I think, as a songwriter, I do feel real hope and a lot of our fans give me that hope, I wanna make sure the song is laced with that hope as well. And so by the end of it, it's, like, yes, these are problems, but they're not something we haven't seen before and not something that we can't tackle and not something that we can't get through."

He continued: "So living in a moment — right now we're watching this rise of a radical right wing sort of ideology sort of consuming the planet. That's something RISE AGAINST has spoken about since our inception. We're not a band that veered into politics late in our career; we're a band that came out of the gates with politics. And so I think we've been unapologetic about our position. And I think what I'm focused on now is sort of reminding people the punk and hardcore values that exist in a band like ours have always been anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic. Punk has been pro science, punk has been pro truth and pro facts. And there is some of that that that gets twisted in the world we live in nowadays with disinformation and lack of critical thinking, or just really misinformed critical thinking that turns into conspiracy theories. As a band now, I think our mission is to kind of remind people that there's a lot of different people out there trying to pull you into their revolution. But if that revolution, if there are elements of racism and sexism and homophobia in that revolution, that's something that punk and hardcore has always rejected. And that's a good way to find out if you are in some sort of bullshit revolution or going down the wrong path. And that's something that we'll just kind of continue to sing about."

When Dobschall noted that she "having a really hard time right now being hopeful," Tim said: "I think that's normal. I think that there's stress and anxiety in turning on the news these days, especially for somebody who cares about people and cares about the direction of the planet. And so, yeah, there are moments that I think that we are going to feel a lot of anxiety, and this is when we double down. This is when we put up a fight.

"I think I look at it as sometimes things have to get really bad for us to shake ourselves out of the sort of apathy, and I think there was a lot of apathy that allowed the White House to turn into what it has turned into," Tim explained. "I think the silver lining is that I think that we're going to expose what a radical right really looks like and what they really want, something that they've been good at kind of keeping secret, but now the secret's kind of out and we're seeing all these sort of racist and sexist underpinnings to the policies. And I think people are good and they're going to reject that, when they get a chance to reject that. And in the meantime, we get to see on full display how backwards, how anti-science and anti-fact like a lot of these ideologies are. And that's something that I hope is one of the silver linings in this."

RISE AGAINST recently released a new single, "Nod", via Loma Vista Recordings. The track, which marks RISE AGAINST's first new music in three years, will appear on the band's upcoming follow-up to 2021's "Nowhere Generation" album, tentatively due later in the year.

"Nod" was produced by Catherine Marks (BOYGENIUS, FOALS, MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA, ST. VINCENT) and mixed by Alan Moulder (NINE INCH NAILS, PARAMORE, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, THE KILLERS).

Last month, bandmembers McIlrath (lead vocals/guitar),Joe Principe (bass/vocals),Zach Blair (guitar/vocals) and Brandon Barnes (drums) hit the road for an extensive run of shows across Europe, before playing dozens of U.S. arenas, amphitheaters and pavilions with PAPA ROACH, as part of the co-headline "Rise Of The Roach" tour.

In a separate interview with Germany's Rock Antenne, McIlrath was asked if America's political turmoil has made the community at RISE AGAINST's concerts stronger. He responded: "I've noticed that. It sort of sharpens the blade a little bit. It sort of hones the mission. It reminds me why we started RISE AGAINST in the first place, in a post 9-11 America with the Bush administration. It reminds me of that era. It makes you hear the songs differently. It makes people come to the shows in a different way.

"I like to think that people come to our shows no matter what, but there's something about people coming to our shows now where they need it," he continued. "They need to be at the show, under the same roof with like-minded people who are concerned about the future of the world. And we're concerned about the future of America and the future of the world."

Tim, who has never been shy about expressing his social and political beliefs, added: "A Trump White House is a disaster. It's been a disaster every single day it's been there. Lots of sad things are happening, lots of things that make you really angry. And so this is the kind of era that our band was built for. This is what we were made for, this is why we're here. So we have these songs to play to kind of talk about the same things we've been talking about for 25 years."

Asked how the current political situation in America has changed his everyday life, Tim said: "I guess to answer your question, yeah, you walk out of your door into an ecosystem of a lot of anger. A lot of the things in the news are enraging you. People are divided. What's happening in America tends to be contagious and it spreads across other borders. And so that kind of stuff, it makes you concerned. People look at you differently as Americans, 'cause they're watching the news and they're angry about it, and they should be angry about it. So, yeah, it affects everybody. It's definitely — it's concerning."

Last October, McIlrath told RVA Magazine about RISE AGAINST's political activism: "Navigating this band politically in such a divisive era is a little trickier, but it is also more important than ever. We have a direct connection to our fan base, whatever size it is, and I want to be part of the solution and not the problem. I feel a responsibility to steer our fans in the right direction — at the very least, not steer them in the wrong direction."

Tim further explained that the band started out in punk rock which was "synonymous" with politics. "It was something that was very close to my heart as the lyricist," he said. "If you would accuse us of anything back then, it was preaching to the converted. It wasn't that radical to be the guy from RISE AGAINST saying, 'fuck the war in Iraq.'"

In a new interview with Ethan Dometrius, TESLA bassist Brian Wheat once again took issue with the label "hair metal," saying that the pejorative term was coined as a way to disparage acts thought to have been all flash and no substance. Regarding TESLA being unfairly lumped in with such acts as MÖTLEY CRÜE, RATT, SKID ROW and L.A. GUNS, Wheat said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think TESLA probably has more in common with THE BLACK CROWES than we would some of the other bands that they call 'hair' bands.

"It used to drive me nuts because I used to take it, when people were saying it in kind of a derogatory, condescending way, 'Oh, they're a hair band,' which we never were," he explained. "We were no more a hair band than THE BLACK CROWES are. THE BLACK CROWES and TESLA are both blues-based rock bands. We both are heavily rooted in blues-based English rock. I mean, TESLA was like HUMBLE PIE or BAD COMPANY or LED ZEPPELIN, with two guitar players. Or AC/DC or UFO. Those were the things we grew up on. We weren't of that thing, but they wanna put us in there. And I'm over it now. It doesn't bother me. It used to really piss me off, but these days, last 10 years, I've just kind of said, 'Okay, whatever you wanna call us. As long as you're calling us something and talking about us and coming and seeing us play, then I don't care. Call us whatever you wanna call us.'"

When Dometrius noted that TESLA is probably benefiting from the fact that "hair metal" is "having a bit of a resurgence" right now and is becoming more popular again, Wheat said: "I guess. I wasn't aware it's popular. I didn't know if there was a resurgence. I mean, TESLA have kind of been doing the same thing we've always been doing for the last 20 years — playing anywhere from 60 to a hundred shows a year, depending on how we feel and what the climate is.

"When you say 'hair' bands to me, when you say RATT, their [debut] record came out — what? — in '84? There was no 'hair band' term then," Brian continued. "I mean, the SCORPIONS were out in '84. They had a huge record. VAN HALEN came out — VAN HALEN's '1984' was a huge album. Was VAN HALEN a hair band? They had long hair.

"It's kind of a slight in a way, which is the thing that kind of annoys me about it," Wheat added. "It's, like, well, how about we're just all playing rock music."

Wheat previously discussed TESLA's supposed association with "hair metal" during a March 2021 interview with "The Cassius Morris Show". Wheat said at the time: "I find [the term 'hair metal'] condescending. What does fucking hair have to do with the music? Should we be called 'cock metal' because we all have big dicks? Seriously, it's, like, 'hair metal' — what does that have to do with [anything music-related]? It's condescending. It's a putdown. It's almost like saying, 'Well, the music's not valid. They just had good hair.' That's what it's like.

"You can take the greatest hair metal band, whoever it is. I don't even know — who's hair metal? Would MÖTLEY CRÜE be considered hair metal? I guess they would. Well, 'Home Sweet Home' was a great song. What did fucking hair have to fucking do with that song? 'Dr. Feelgood' was a great song. So it's condescending. It's a putdown. Should we say about NIRVANA 'uncleanly music,' 'cause they look like they didn't bathe?

"I don't like it," he reiterated. "Just talk about the music, because that's what what matters. Not about the hair. If you wanna call it anything, call it '80s metal — call it 1980s rock. 'Cause that's what it was — it was rock that came out of the '80s and early '90s. THE BLACK CROWES came out a year later than TESLA, and they're not called a hair metal band.

"Why call us a hair metal band when all we were doing was imitating AEROSMITH?" Wheat added. "I think we're very parallel to an AEROSMITH. I think, personally, if you can't go see AEROSMITH and you wanna see a good version of AEROSMITH, go see TESLA. They're very similar. I mean, Jeff Keith looks like Steven Tyler; he sings like Steven Tyler."

Earlier this month, TESLA released the official music video for the electric version of "All About Love", the title track of the band's latest six-song EP, "All About Love".

Released last November, "All About Love" includes four versions of "All About Love" (acoustic, electric, hybrid, live); a live version of "Walk Away", a concert favorite from "Reel To Real, Vol. 1"; and another new song, "From The Heart", an instrumental track by guitarist Frank Hannon.

Some fans criticized TESLA for adopting a 1980s-style polished production for the band's latest album, 2019's "Shock". The follow-up to June 2014's "Simplicity" was helmed by DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen, whose own group is no stranger to slicked-up, glossy-sounding recordings.

In September 2023, TESLA released the official music video for its cover of AEROSMITH's "S.O.S. (Too Bad)". The song is a bonus track on TESLA's live album, "Full Throttle Live!", which arrived in May 2023. The LP includes the band's "Time To Rock!" single, plus other songs, all recorded in August 2022 at Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis, South Dakota.

In September 2021, original TESLA drummer Troy Luccketta announced that he would "take a little time from the road" to spend with family and friends. He has since been replaced at TESLA's gigs and in the recording studio by Steve Brown, the younger brother of former DOKKEN drummer Mick Brown.

TESLA's debut album, 1986's "Mechanical Resonance", went platinum on the strength of the hits "Modern Day Cowboy" and "Little Suzi". The 1989 follow-up album, "The Great Radio Controversy", produced five hits, including "Heaven's Trail (No Way Out)" and "Love Song", which hit the pop Top Ten.

Dutch guitar legend Adrian Vandenberg is celebrating his iconic years with WHITESNAKE during a special, one-off tour called "My Whitesnake Years". In 2025, it has been 35 years since WHITESNAKE toured the world with the "Slip Of The Tongue" album, and Vandenberg looks back on highlights such as the legendary WHITESNAKE "Live At Donington" 1990 show.

Fan-filmed video of Vandenberg's February 27 concert at Infinity Music Hall in Hartford, Connecticut as part of the "My Whitesnake Years" tour can be seen in the YouTube playlist (containing 16 separate clips) below.

Vandenberg's touring band for "My Whitesnake Years" is as follows:

Adrian Vandenberg - Guitar
Mats Levén - Vocals
Sem Christoffel - Bass
Joey Marin De Boer - Drums
Len Van De Laak - Keyboards

Vandenberg joined WHITESNAKE in 1987 and played the famous guitar solo on worldwide hit "Here I Go Again". He also co-wrote the entire "Slip Of The Tongue" album and toured with guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. Before his WHITESNAKE years, Vandenberg made his international breakthrough with his own band VANDENBERG, known for the hit "Burning Heart", and shared the stage with rock greats such as OZZY OSBOURNE, KISS and SCORPIONS. After his WHITESNAKE period, he launched the successful VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS and made a successful comeback in 2020 with his renewed VANDENBERG band. Now he returns to his WHITESNAKE glory years one more time, enabling fans to relive old times.

In a November 2024 interview with Alma Hard, Vandenberg was asked why he took a decade-and-a-half break from recording music prior to the 2014 release of the debut album from his band VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS. He said: "Well, I stayed together with David [Coverdale, WHITESNAKE leader] up until 1998, because we did tour — we toured in 1994 and we toured in 1997, '98. So, the end of 1998, David wanted to stop with everything because he wasn't feeling well and he wanted to stop touring because he didn't seem to enjoy it anymore. So, in 1999, I was with a girlfriend at the time and she got a baby. Or actually we got a baby, and she got pregnant and I thought, 'That's great. I wanna be there for that.' Of course, I didn't wanna tour and then record records because that's a very important thing. But when the baby was three years old, the relationship fell apart, and we weren't married. And it appeared to be a very difficult period. And I thought, 'If I'm gonna record now and start a band and start touring, then I will be one of those fathers who sticks his head around the corner of the door and goes, 'I'm your father, but I have to go.'' So when that relationship went wrong, I wanted to be an important part in the life of my daughter. I thought, 'You know what? I'm gonna live off my paintings for about 10, 11 years,' which is what I did, 'until she's old enough that I can explain to her what I actually do and what I did before.' So, when my daughter was about 11 or 12, she was old enough to explain and she thought it was really cool because there were kids at her school who go, 'Oh, is that your dad? He's famous and he's got long hair' and all that stuff. So before, until she was 11 or 12, for her it was totally normal that I played some guitar and there was painting and all that stuff. So, that's when I started MOONKINGS. She must have been 12 or something. And I really missed playing and touring and doing shows and all that stuff, so I was happy to pick it up again. And I thought, 'Well, the world will have forgotten about me, of course.' That would have been totally normal, because that's how it goes. Pop music is called pop music because people, when it started, with bands like THE BEATLES and pop artists and stuff in the '60s, people thought, 'Oh, you know, that's the kind of music you throw away. It's pop music, popular music. That's music you forget after about a couple of months.' But it's never gone away, fortunately, because that's why I didn't go away either. I'm still here."

Vandenberg was a member of WHITESNAKE for 13 years at the height of the band's fame, contributing the solo on "Here I Go Again". He was also part of supergroup MANIC EDEN, and more recently released a number of albums with VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS.

Vandenberg's namesake band released its comeback album, titled "2020", in May 2020 via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group. A follow-up LP, "Sin", arrived in August 2023.

The group's fifth full-length offering, "Sin", was produced by Bob Marlette (OZZY OSBOURNE, ALICE COOPER, ROB ZOMBIE).

Recalling his refusal to return to WHITESNAKE when Coverdale resurrected the band in 2002, Vandenberg told "White Line Fever" that the singer "wanted to stop altogether because he was kind of worn out on the road. He didn't want to do it anymore… When he called me up and said he wanted to start it up again, I couldn't do it because I had all kinds of obligations for exhibitions for my paintings. And those are always planned a year ahead, because art galleries reserve the space a year ahead because exhibitions usually last three to six months or something. I couldn't do it but we did keep in touch always. We still do."

The guitarist added that he and Coverdale became "very good friends over the years, [so] you never know what might happen... We actually have pretty specific ideas about maybe doing a blues album or an acoustic thing or whatever… Sooner or later it might happen, but right now we're really involved in [other projects]. So this is probably not the time. But I wouldn't be surprised if, sooner or later, we end up doing something together in some kind of format. I was in WHITESNAKE for 13 years, which is quite a long time. I still hold the record, I think."



Here we come Ardmore, Hartford, Derry, Portland New York, Redbank, Homer, Patchogue, Warrendale, Leesburg and the @monstersofrockcruise to the Bahama’s. Got our toothbrushes polished!
Hope to se you guys there!
☠️🏴‍☠️🎸💥🥂

#vandenbergband #mywhitesnakeyears #whitesnake #monstersofrockcruise #larrymorand #relianttalent #matsleven #joeymarindeboer #semchristoffel #lenvandelaak #adrianvandenberg #ralphroelvink #raymondtabak #willemvanroekel

Posted by Adrian Vandenberg on Thursday, February 20, 2025

LAMB OF GOD frontman D. Randall "Randy" Blythe's second book, "Just Beyond The Light: Living With The War Inside My Head", has landed at position No. 15 in the "Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction" category on the Publishers Weekly bestsellers list.

Publishers Weekly, a cornerstone publication in the book industry, publishes multiple bestseller lists based on data from Circana BookScan. Circana BookScan is the gold standard in point-of-sale tracking for the publishing market, covering approximately 85% of trade print books sold in the U.S., through direct reporting from all major retailers, independent bookstores, and many others.

On Saturday (March 1),Blythe took to his social media to write: "I am very proud to announce that for the SECOND TIME, I am officially a bestselling author! My new book, 'Just Beyond The Light', made the Publishers Weekly nonfiction bestsellers list, debuting at #15 out of the top 25 nonfiction books for sale in the country. I cannot thank everybody that bought a copy of 'Just Beyond The Light' enough!

"Interestingly enough, once again, I was denied a spot on a certain other bestsellers list, even though just like with my first book, 'Dark Days', I outsold several books on their 'bestseller' list. According to BookScan, the gold-standard data service that tracks actual weekly retail sales of trade print books in the US, this time I outsold the ENTIRE BOTTOM HALF of their list, slots #8-15. That’s not one or two of the bottom of the list, that's HALF the list. That's ok though- I did not expect them to give it to me anyway. After all, I am a singer in a heavy metal band, and therefore am looked at as a caveman— I am used to condescending attitudes. This is slightly irritating, but I know the numbers…

"Regardless, I don't write books for 'prizes' or places on lists, just like I don't write music for trophies or chart placements. I do this because I am AN ARTIST, and I do this to hear stories like this one told to me by a man with tears in his eyes at a signing the other night:

"'I had tried to kill myself, and was in a mental hospital. I could not name you a single LAMB OF GOD song, but they had your book 'Dark Days' in there. I read it, and it helped me put my own struggles in perspective. I cannot thank you enough- it helped me get out of a very dark place. It still helps me today.'

"THAT is why I do that I do. To hear THAT, & to know that I have made a difference in someone's life. Right now is a very scary & fucked up time in the world. Let's stay present and hold each other up, ok? Because in the end, WE are all WE have."

During a recent appearance on B&H Event Space's "Leica Stories", Blythe stated about "Just Beyond The Light: Making Peace With The Wars Inside Our Head", which came out on February 18, 2025 via Grand Central Publishing (GCP): "My first book, the main theme was personal accountability, about some legal problems I had, that I went through, that some people are probably familiar with. But the second book is about perspective, as far as I can tell after writing it, because I didn't have a very clear plan when I started writing it. It's about looking for outside perspectives from people or experiences I've had in order to have me course correct and not to make so many of the stupid mistakes I've made over the years.

"For me, the only way I've ever been able to shift my perspective to a more balanced perspective is listening to people who have experienced things and come out on the other side of it a better person," he explained. "So that's what I was trying to do. And there is a lot of self-searching in it. I don't know if you would describe the book as a memoir, but it's a collection, maybe, of essays or something. And I'm writing about my experiences that I've had with other people or just in life. And so I'm questioning myself, and I was questioning myself as I was writing the book. I knew I wanted to write about a couple of things, but everything else was a mystery. So, it's a lot of self-questioning.

"Something I really want for the reader — hopefully that's the main point — is to think about their own perspective on life and to ask themselves about their own perspective and how they can change it for the better."

Blythe went on to say that learning from past experiences is a fundamental aspect of personal growth and development.

"Nobody, as far as I know, has ever lived a perfect life, at least no one that I've met," he said. "And God knows I haven't. But that doesn't mean I need to sit here and castigate myself and flagellate myself and crucify myself forever. I need to learn from these experiences and hopefully become a better person. If I just sit there and [say things to myself], 'Oh, you're horrible,' and beat the crap out of yourself, it's really just the other side of the egomaniacal narcissism coin, really. Because if I'm just sitting there thinking I'm just the worst person in the world because I did something wrong, then I'm still just thinking about one person — myself. And I think as I grow older, my life goes a lot smoother the less I think about me. [Laughs] When I try and reach out and think about other people, my life tends to go a lot smoother. If I'm stuck here up in my head, it's no good. My head's a bad neighborhood. I should never go up there without adult supervision."

"Just Beyond The Light" was previously described by Blythe as a "tight, concise roadmap of how I have attempted to maintain what I believe to be a proper perspective in life, even during difficult times."

In December, Blythe announced more spoken-word and question-and-answer events to promote "Just Beyond The Light". The special "evening with" event includes a spoken-word performance, an audience question-and-answer session, a copy of "Just Beyond The Light" and an opportunity to have the book signed.

In a separate interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", Blythe was asked if "Just Beyond The Light" picks up where his debut book, "Dark Days", which focused on his ordeal in a Czech Republic prison and his subsequent acquittal, left off or if it's a completely different book. Randy said: "It's a completely different book. It's a collection of — I wouldn't call 'em essays, but different chapters about, basically different people and experiences who have [changed] my perspective for the better.

"As I get older, I try not to make the same stupid mistakes again and again and again and again," he explained. "And surprise, surprise, if you look at people who — you look at them and you think, 'Man, this person has their life together,' or, 'They've acted in a manner that I find admirable,' if you pay attention to them and follow their example, you don't do stupid things yourself. I'm not saying that I don't still do stupid things, but I'm trying fully in my old age to learn from others more."

When Radioactive MikeZ noted that it's "interesting" that Randy actually interviewed his then-94-year-old grandmother for the book, Blythe said: "Yeah, she passed away. There's a chapter. Well, I didn't interview her for the book. I interviewed her because she was 94. She lived to be a hundred and a half. And there's a whole chapter about her. She raised me for part of my childhood and she was raised during the The [Great] Depression. She did not screw around. She was a very real person who lived through a whole lot. But I interviewed her when she was 94, just for the fact that I heard so many stories from her of growing up in a different time. And I was, like, 'She's not gonna be here forever. I might as well get all this stuff down,' just for my own purposes and for my family to have. She was the last of that generation in my family. So when I started to write this book on perspective and people I've learned things from, she was a natural choice. Luckily, I had that interview to draw on. So if you have old people in your life — this is what I'm gonna tell you — if you have old people in your life, interview them now… I'm gonna have to do that with my parents soon. I mean, they're not ancient or anything, but your memory starts failing as you get older. So it's time to get that stuff before it disappears."

Blythe told RVA Magazine about "Just Beyond The Light": "It is about trying to maintain a balanced perspective in the world right now, and in order for me to do that, I have to look to other people I admire. One of those people I write about is my grandmother, who was 94. I was beside her when she died, and I was grateful for that because it was post-COVID. I interviewed her over the course of two days and learned about her life. I asked her what the biggest difference is between [her generation] the modern age we're in right now — she didn't say computers or globalism; she said people are not as close as they used to be."

Asked if he feels like we've lost that sense of interpersonal connection between people," Randy said: "In many ways, but I don't think it's totally gone. I think it's dormant. I think it's buried under the iCloud of bullshit, and it's going to come back and bite us on the ass. In one way or another, you're going to need help. People don't know their neighbors; there's not the sense of community there used to be. In this hyper-connected world, people are lonelier than ever — particularly young people. They're interfacing with the world through this digital medium, and it's providing an illusion of connection, but real connection requires friction. There has to be a push and pull when you're in person, and that is absent via digital communications when there is a wall of anonymity."

In 2012, Blythe was arrested in the Czech Republic and charged with manslaughter for allegedly pushing a 19-year-old fan offstage at a show two year prior and causing injuries that led to the fan's death. Blythe spent 37 days in a Prague prison before ultimately being found not guilty in 2013.

Blythe's prison experience inspired two songs on LAMB OF GOD's 2015 album "VII: Sturm Und Drang": "512", one of his three prison cell numbers, and "Still Echoes", written while he was in Pankrac Prison, a dilapidated facility built in the 1880s that had been used for executions by the Nazis during World War II. It also led him to write the aforementioned "Dark Days", in which he shared his whole side of the story publicly for the first time.

I am very proud to announce that for the SECOND TIME, I am officially a bestselling author! My new book, Just Beyond the...

Posted by D. Randall Blythe on Saturday, March 1, 2025

Legendary rockers HEART kicked off the 2025 North American leg of the "Royal Flush" tour Friday night (February 28) at the BleauLive Theater in Las Vegas. The show marked HEART's first live performance since the band postponed the remaining dates of its 2024 North American tour in July in order for singer Ann Wilson to undergo cancer treatments.

HEART's 13-song set opened with the title track off HEART's fifth studio album, 1980's "Bébé Le Strange", and included such classics as "Crazy On You", "Magic Man", "Barracuda", "These Dreams", "Alone" and "What About Love". HEART also played a cover of LED ZEPPELIN's "Going To California", a rendition of HEART guitarist Nancy Wilson's Eddie Van Halen tribute song "4 Edward" and "Sand" from the Wilson sisters' late 1990s side project LOVEMONGERS.

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

The setlist was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. Bébé Le Strange
02. Never
03. Love Alive
04. Straight On / Let's Dance
05. These Dreams
06. Crazy On You
07. Dog & Butterfly
08. Going To California (LED ZEPPELIN cover)
09. 4 Edward (Nancy Wilson song)
10. Alone / What About Love
11. Magic Man

Encore:

12. Sand (LOVEMONGERS cover)
13. Barracuda

In a new interview with Orange County Register, Nancy Wilson stated about what it is like for HEART to tour in 2025: "Oh, god. [Laughs] Unless you're at the private jet level — we're on the bus level — the inconveniences almost outweigh the reward of getting up on a stage for two hours. It's like everything is aimed for those two hours. The bad pizza, the no sleep, the potholes, overnight in the bus, trying to sleep. You can't even watch TV half the time because it's bad reception. All the scheduling of it. Trying to see your family when you're home between their school breaks. It's just a lot of moving parts that you have to be good at. It's an obstacle course, basically, and you just have to run with your suitcase and get to the stage.

As for those two hours on stage, Nancy said: "It's everything my whole life is aimed to be able to do well, or at least as well as possible. People are there. They're loving you and they love those songs. And it's a moment that only happens that one time, so you can't just rewind it, rewatch it. It's beautiful, sort of like a mindfulness that happens on stage. You really have to be in the moment. You can't be thinking, 'Well, I think I'll do my laundry later in the sink on the bus or in the hotel room.' Because then you're like, 'Wait, what's the next chord? I was thinking about my laundry.' There's just certainly magic that is transferred in that setting."

The rescheduled "Royal Flush" will wrap up on April 16 in New York City.

The current members of HEART feature Nancy Wilson (rhythm, lead and acoustic guitar, backing and lead vocals),Ann Wilson (lead vocals and flute),Ryan Wariner (lead and rhythm guitar),Ryan Waters (guitars),Paul Moak (guitars, keyboards and backing vocals),Tony Lucido (bass and backing vocals) and Sean Lane (drums and bike).

In December 2023, HEART played its first three concerts in more than four years — in Highland, California, at Greater Palm Springs in Palm Desert, California, and in Seattle, Washington.

Prior to HEART's December 27, 2023 show in Highland, the band's last performance took place in October 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 2024 leg of "Royal Flush" featured CHEAP TRICK as support on most of the North American leg. HEART was also scheduled to join DEF LEPPARD and JOURNEY for summer stadium shows in Cleveland, Toronto and Boston.

HEART toured North America in the summer of 2019 after a nasty split that kept the Wilson sisters estranged for three years.

Ann and Nancy had a falling out during HEART's 2016 tour, when Ann's husband Dean Welter was arrested for assaulting Nancy's then-16-year-old twin sons in a backstage altercation at a gig near their hometown of Seattle. He pleaded guilty to two lesser assault charges to avoid jail time.

HEART's 2013 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame saw Ann and Nancy reunited with the four musicians who helped HEART achieve its initial success in the mid-1970s — guitarist Roger Fisher, bassist Steve Fossen, drummer Michael DeRosier and longtime guitarist-keyboardist Howard Leese.

The Wilson sisters' reunion with HEART's original lineup at the Rock Hall ceremony marked the first time the group played together in 34 years.

When Ann and Nancy formed HEART, the idea of two women leading a rock band was still groundbreaking. From the moment 1975's "Dreamboat Annie" was released, they became stars. With hits like "Magic Man", "Crazy On You", "Barracuda", "Alone", "What About Love" and "These Dreams", the band became one of the biggest hit-makers in the Seventies and Eighties, selling more than 35 million records. In 2012, their memoir "Kicking & Dreaming: A Story Of Heart, Soul And Rock & Roll" became a New York Times bestseller.

Get ready to see Heart take the stage at BleauLive on 2/28/25!

Expect iconic hits and electric energy from the beloved...

Posted by Fontainebleau Las Vegas on Monday, September 23, 2024

The Metal & Rock Concerts in 4K YouTube channel has uploaded video of DISTURBED's entire February 27 concert at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. You can check it out below.

Featured songs:

"The Sickness" album

00:00 Into
03:20 Voices
07:20 The Game
11:48 Stupify
16:36 Down With The Sickness
21:56 Violence Fetish
25:58 Fear
30:02 Numb
34:20 Want
38:05 Conflict
42:45 Shout (TEARS FOR FEARS cover)
48:05 Droppin' Plates
54:20 Meaning Of Life

Greatest hits

1:02:40 Ten Thousand Fists
1:06:17 I Will Not Break
1:11:09 Bad Man
1:15:09 Land Of Confusion (GENESIS cover)
1:20:35 Indestructible
1:26:15 The Sound Of Silence (SIMON & GARFUNKEL cover)
1:33:22 The Light
1:38:34 Inside The Fire

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

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

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

Last week, DISTURBED announced the European leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" with support from MEGADETH.

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

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

* A limited edition 1-LP (silver vinyl) and 3-CD box set. It includes the original album, B-sides, unreleased demos, and an unreleased 14-track concert from The Palladium in Los Angeles from April 2001 as well as songs recorded at Chicago's Metro in March 2000 and the London Astoria in February 2001. The box includes a poster, cloth patch, backstage pass, and a set of guitar picks. It also includes a book featuring rare photos and memorabilia, and an extensive essay with new interviews with the members of DISTURBED, and producer Johnny K. An exclusive lithograph signed by the band is included with the limited-edition D2C format.

* A 2-CD deluxe edition that includes the original album, plus a disc of B-sides, unreleased demos, and rarities. The booklet features an essay with new interviews with the members of DISTURBED and producer Johnny K.

* Vinyl editions, including variants in limited edition green vinyl, limited edition orange vinyl (Germany/Central Europe exclusive),and limited edition milky clear vinyl (Spotify Fans First).

* Digitally, which includes all 40 tracks included in the limited-edition box set.

"The Sickness" 25th-anniversary edition is available to pre-order on all formats. The deluxe box set will be available via the band's web site and digitally on March 7, and via all retailers in North American on March 21.

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

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

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

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

Repost from @disturbed
•
Epic night in Denver! Thank you, Disturbed Ones! 🤘

📸 @britt_bowman

#Disturbed #TheSickness25 #Denver #Colorado #USA

Posted by Mike Wengren on Friday, February 28, 2025

SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser is celebrating the fifth anniversary of his getting sober.

On Saturday (March 1),the 56-year-old Brazilian-born musician took to his Instagram to write: "March 1st, today I celebrate 5 years without alcohol in my life! The best feeling ever! Much love to you all!"

Less than four years ago, Kisser told A&P Reacts that he "quit alcohol right before the pandemic hit. It was one of the best decisions I made in my life," he said. "Not that I was a fucking out-of-control alcoholic, but alcohol was a part of my life, of everything I did. In certain degrees less and more, but it was there. It was taking control of my life, of my choices, of how I dealt with people or with a special occasion or something. Alcohol was involved in everything. And I don't need that. And I proved now that I don't, because I'm having a better life. I'm doing exercises. I have the routine I never had touring."

According to Kisser, "it was very easy" for him to give up the bottle. "Once you have a clear idea in your mind, there's no discussion," he explained. "I didn't put the responsibility on a saint or, let's say, in a church, or 'I will stop for a year' or 'I promise you, my wife, I don't drink anymore.' No. It's not for them. It's a very personal attitude. It's me with me — not more. I don't have to put the responsibility away from myself, in a time period or in a certain religious belief or my family. They don't deserve that. This is my problem, and I resolve it with myself. So I'm in peace with myself with that. It's not something that bothers me. I can be around alcohol, I can be around parties, I can be around backstage, as I did with my KISSER CLAN band here and stuff. People drink around [me], [and] I don't care. I don't even feel the wish to drink, which is great. So I don't have a battle, let's put it that way. I'm not running away from anything. I just decided to stop. That's it."

Kisser is not the only member of SEPULTURA's classic lineup to have gotten sober. Back in 2016, former SEPULTURA frontman Max Cavalera told Metal Insider that he had been "straight edge" at that point for a decade. "I was kind of a mess 10 years ago, drinking and doing a lot of drugs, and it was affecting some of my touring," he stated at the time. "I'm a very extreme guy, so when I do something, I do it all the way. I quit drinking and doing drugs entirely, and when I did it, I realized my passion for metal grew even more. I became more into metal, into new bands and stuff."

Cavalera reflected on his 16-year battle with drug and alcohol addiction in a 2016 interview with Metal Hammer. He told the magazine that he became hooked on prescription drugs not long after his father's death. "I was taking too many of them on a daily basis and then drinking on top of it," he said. "It's a lethal combination, and then I added sleep medicines on top of all that. It's a miracle I am still alive.

"There's a lot of pressure that comes with fame. Record label pressure, fans pressure, and we don’t have a manual or a guide to surviving this shit."

Max continued: "I think for some musicians the pressure of fame gets to them. For me, it started with the death of my father. I became very sad and drinking was one way to deal with my sadness. The drugs — I just liked them. I liked the buzz of a painkiller. The energy it gave me."

Andreas's wife Patricia Perissinoto Kisser passed away on July 3, 2022 after a battle with colon cancer. She had just turned 52 years old one day earlier.

Andreas and the couple's three children, Giulia, Yohan and Enzo, announced Patricia's death in a social media post. They wrote: "It is with deep sadness that we have to share that Patricia Perissinoto Kisser passed away this morning. She will remain in our memories forever."

Andreas and Patricia had been together for 32 years after first getting together in 1990. They married in 1994.

In June 2022, Andreas left SEPULTURA's European tour due to what was described at the time as a "family emergency." He was temporarily replaced on the road by Jean Patton of fellow São Paulo, Brazil-based heavy metal act PROJECT46.

SEPULTURA's current lineup comprises Kisser, vocalist Derrick Green, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and drummer Greyson Nekrutman.

SEPULTURA kicked off its farewell tour on March 1, 2024 at Arena Hall in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The sold-out show marked the band's debut performance with Nekrutman, who previously played with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.

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During an appearance on the latest episode of "Talk Is Jericho", the podcast hosted by wrestling superstar and FOZZY frontman Chris Jericho, KISS guitarist Paul Stanley was asked why there weren't any guest appearances by former KISS members at the band's final shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden in New York City in December 2023. Paul responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "To be somewhat diplomatic, there were people who made unrealistic demands of what they required. And it's not about that. It wasn't, for example, a celebration of the beginning of the band; it was a celebration of 50 years of a band, as opposed to a tribute to the start. So, as far as Ace [Frehley, original KISS guitarist] and Peter [Criss, original KISS drummer], they weren't there for many reasons. And I've said it a hundred times and I'll say it another hundred times. We couldn't be here today without what those guys did, and we couldn't be here today with them."

Asked by Jericho about the lack of any mention of other former KISS members, such as Eric Carr, Bruce Kulick and Mark St. John, Stanley said: "What are you gonna do? I think the best way to honor everyone is to be the best we can be. What are we gonna have — videos up on the screen or draped photos? The fact that we were there, we were there because of everybody who participated, some more than others, but the tribute to everyone is us existing."

Regarding how he feels about KISS's legacy, especially in light of the fact that bands like THE ROLLING STONES are still continuing to play and record music, Paul said: "I think the legacy is only gonna grow. I think it's only gonna get bigger. THE STONES are an interesting one. At some point, what's it gonna be? THE STONE? 'I'm gonna see THE ROLLING STONE.' They have survived more decades than us, certainly, and are an institution. People go to see them because it's THE STONES. So, I think that over time we'll only get bigger because you become more powerful the longer you exist."

Paul added: "When we were doing the 'End Of The Road' tour, I think we became almost superheroes because we were timeless and we didn't change that greatly. People would come to see us and go, 'Wow, they look like they did 40 years ago.' You didn't get that close to us. But, yeah, I think KISS is timeless and that KISS will just transcend everything it's been."

Last year, ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick told Finland's Chaoszine that Stanley and fellow KISS founder Gene Simmons "missed a really huge opportunity" when they failed to acknowledge any of the band's former members during the final concert. "It's not just about me," Bruce clarified. "[They also didn't mention late KISS drummer] Eric Carr, Ace and Peter, and [late KISS manager] Bill Aucoin. Come on. Terrible. They really missed making a better feel-good evening for everyone when it was much closer to every night before. And those who say, 'Well, I saw you up on the screen.' They'd been doing that for years where they'd have little things. So they didn't feel it was important. I feel they missed an opportunity."

In January 2024, Frehley explained to Rock Candy magazine why he never made it on stage with KISS for their final show at Madison Square Garden after last leaving the band back in 2002.

"Fans would constantly reach out to me and say, 'Ace, please come back to the band,'" Frehley explained. "So the fans were and are my primary motivators, and I want them to know that I did try, but I couldn't make it happen. They never asked me."

Frehley dismissed the idea that his well-documented troubles with drugs and alcohol could ever have been a reason for Simmons and Stanley not reaching out to him.

"I'm sober, and all my friends and associates will tell you as much," he stated categorically. "I got to the point in life where drugs and alcohol had taken me over, and I'm just so happy to be away from all that."

Despite the much-reported rifts with Simmons and Stanley over many years, nevertheless Frehley insisted that he still had affection for both of them.

"I want people to know that I do love Paul and Gene," he said. "I wish things would have been different, but it wasn't to be…" Nor does Frehley hold any animosity towards his replacement Tommy Thayer. "He's a good guy and deserves a break," Ace said. "He's not me, but he was never going to be me. In a lot of ways, his task was impossible."

In November 2023, prior to KISS's final concert, Frehley told Mark Strigl of SiriusXM's Ozzy's Boneyard that he didn't hold a grudge against KISS, despite all the badmouthing that had gone on between him and some of the other original KISS members in recent years.

"I wish KISS the best, all the best on their final shows for the 'End Of The Road' tour," he said. "There's really no hard feelings. We say things sometimes in the heat of passion or sometimes our memory isn't… [we don't] recall things. But I love those guys. We're all getting old, our memory isn't what it used to be, so I just let it roll off my back."

Also in November 2023, Simmons lamented the absence of Frehley and Criss at KISS's final shows, telling 519 Magazine: "I feel sad. I feel sad and angry that both Ace and Peter aren't here. I mean, they're alive, but they're not here to enjoy this unbelievable journey with us. They were there at the beginning and deserve all the credit. And when they look in the mirror, the only reason they're not here with us is themselves.

"Inviting them was as much for the fans as it was for us. KISS has always been about the whole, not the individual. It would've been fitting to have all of us there, one last time."

In June 2023, Gene was asked by Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock about the possibility of Ace and Peter making guest appearances at the band's last-ever concerts in December 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He responded: "For the fans — the older, older fans — the ones who've been around for 50 years, they're old, and some of them wanna see Ace and Peter. The newer fans never saw them and they don't know. But the older fans wonder about Ace and Peter. Well, I asked both Ace and Peter a few times: 'Do you wanna come out for the encores? Do you wanna do some shows?' And they both said 'no.' So, I don't know what to say about that… But it's always welcome. But there are many other big stars, superstars, who wanna jump up onstage and play a song. But we're not sure about that. Maybe the best thing to do is to end the way we started: four guys with guitars. No keyboards, no synthesizers — nothing. Just playing."

In April 2023, Frehley told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he was still open to playing with KISS at the band's final shows in New York City. "Money motivates me, just like it motivates them, but I don't put money before God," he explained. "If I got a quarter of a million dollars a night, and I can make half a million dollars for playing three or four songs, five songs, I'd take the money. [I'd] buy a Ferrari… buy a Maserati. [Laughs] I don't really wanna play with those guys ever again after what they've done, but money can change my mind."

Frehley continued: "Look, I'm a capitalist. I grew up in America. But I'd never put money before people's feelings. I like money as much as the next guy does, but money isn't my God, like it is theirs. They're all atheists. Whatever they can do or say, whether it's true or false, as long as it makes them the most amount of money, they're gonna do [it]."

Ace also addressed the issue of whether he would perform with KISS at the band's final concerts while wearing his trademark "Spaceman" makeup — the same makeup his replacement Tommy Thayer had been sporting for more than two decades. "Sure. For a quarter of a million dollars," he said, explaining that "I'm a good-looking guy. I don't need the makeup."

When Trunk pressed Ace about what he thought the odds were of him playing with KISS at the final concerts in New York, Frehley said: "It all depends on money. If I get a formal invitation with a check, I'll be there. But they've gotta have deep pockets… If they don't wanna pay me, I won't be there, ladies and gentleman."

Ace also once again confirmed that he had never received a formal invitation to join his former bandmates at their last-ever shows. "Absolutely not," he said. "From what I understand, the shows are sold out. The only reason they sold out is they made innuendos that me and Peter were gonna be there, [that] they invited us. I wasn't invited. They lie all the time. Haven't they said, 'We're inviting Ace and Peter to come up and play?' Or at least me? Multiple times. So, people bought the tickets. But I haven't been given a formal invitation or given an offer monetarily. And I'm probably not gonna get one now after this interview. And guess what: I don't give a shit."

Despite everything that has been said between all the parties, Ace claimed that he still looked back fondly on his time with KISS and he didn't hate his former bandmates.

"Look, the bottom line is this: deep down in my heart, I love those guys, because we created something so special that it will be remembered for years," he said. "When we're all dead and buried, there will still be people listening to KISS music. And I'm overjoyed. But I want my legacy to be cleared of any of this bullshit and lies."

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 was later 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 a June 2022 interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Simmons was asked if Frehley and Peter would have any involvement in KISS's final concerts. He responded: "We've tried. I keep trying. Paul and I met with Ace, trying to convince him to come back. He said, 'I want this. I want that.' Well, we can't do that. I asked Ace and Peter to be in the documentary ['Biography: KISStory', which premiered on A&E in June 2021]. They said no. They might do it if they have complete control of the edit. I said, 'We can't do that, because even we don't have that. But I won't control what you say; you can say whatever you want.' The answer is no — both of them. I asked Ace and Peter, 'Come out on tour. We'll get you your own room and everything. Come out on the encores.' Ace said, 'No. The only way I'll come out is if I'm the Spaceman and you ask Tommy [Thayer, KISS's current guitarist] to leave.' I go, 'Well, that's not gonna happen.' First of all, I care about Ace, but he's not in shape — he can't play that way and doesn't have the physical stamina to do that…

"Look, we care about them," Gene added. "We started this thing together and they were equally important to the beginning of the band with Paul and I — no question. But as time went on… Not everybody is designed to run a marathon. Some people are designed to be in a band for a year or two, or a few years, and then that's all they can do. And both of them have been in the band three different times. How many chances in life do you get? All I know is when I put my hand in fire the first time, I got burnt; I didn't get a second or third chance.

"So, the answer is the door's always open," Simmons said. "If they wanna jump on stage at any time and do the encores with us, terrific. But no, we're not gonna get rid of Tommy or Eric [Singer, current KISS drummer]. In fact, Tommy and Eric are the best things that happened to us. They gave us new life [and] new appreciation for what we do because they were fans first. And every once in a while, Eric or Tommy will turn around and say, 'Wow! Isn't this great?' And it makes us realize, 'Yeah! Wow! Isn't this great?'"

Gene was also asked if he saw any of the video footage from the May 2022 Creatures Fest in Nashville where Criss, Frehley and fellow former KISS members Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick all performed. He responded: "Somebody showed me about 30 seconds, yeah. It was very sad. I felt sad for Peter… When I called to invite Peter to be in the documentary, his health isn't what it should be. I don't wanna get too specific because it's part of his private life. But no, physically, he wouldn't be able to do it. Neither would Ace."