Shortly before Serenity heads off on the biggest tour of their career with heavy metal giants PowerWolf, the Symphonic Metal legends have revealed the final single, “The End Of Babylon”, from their new studio album, Nemesis AD, out November 3 via Napalm Records.


Successor to The Last Knight (2020) - which entered the official German album charts at #25 - Nemesis AD is the first record featuring Marco Pastorino (Temperance) as additional guitarist and backing vocalist. “The End Of Babylon” represents one of the darker, heavier tracks on the new full-length.
 
Climactic arrangements carry the dramatic storyline of “The End Of Babylon”, as the theatrical instrumentation leads the listener to a faraway world while the vocal performance of skilled singer Georg Neuhauser ultimately unlocks the track’s hit potential. The accompanying official music video enchants by illustrating the music's bombast. Check the video out below.
 
Serenity on “The End Of Babylon”: 'With 'The End Of Babylon’, we created a darker song about transience and the end of an era – inspired by the famous work “The Whore Of Babylon” by Albrecht Dürer. It’s taken out of the “Apocalypse” series and sadly could fit the latest situation in middle east. It seems we don’t learn from history.







Known for their thematic albums inspired by historic characters and stories of the past, on Nemesis AD, Serenity draw inspiration from the life and highly influential art of painter Albrecht Dürer of the German renaissance.


Grandiose intro track “Memoriae Alberti Dureri” sets the scene for the album, before legendary singer Roy Khan (Conception, ex-Kamelot) lends his impressive vocals on the mighty “The Fall of Man”. "Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall)” (named after Dürer’s famous artwork) features lyrics sung partially in German, for the first time in the band’s history spanning over more than two decades. The powerful track showcases Serenity’s signature blend of orchestral arrangements, heavy guitar riffs, and soaring vocals. Heart-wrenchingly emotional yet empowering "Reflections (Of AD)" mesmerizes the listener with its awe-inspiring instrumentation, multifaceted vocals and brilliant changes throughout the gripping eight-minute track. Theatrical “Sun of Justice” leads the listener to a faraway fantasy world while the vocal performance of skilled singer Georg Neuhauser ultimately unlocks the track's hit potential. “The End of Babylon” represents one of the darker, heavier tracks on Nemesis AD - climactic arrangements carry the dramatic storyline. Monumental orchestral version of “The Fall of Man” closes the album on a thrilling note that is sure to send a chill up your spine.


With Nemesis AD, Serenity adds yet another bombastic symphonic metal masterpiece to their notable discography - there is no doubt that the talented unit’s standing in the scene is well deserved.


Serenity comment: “We are always focused on historical themes. Our latest album The Last Knight (2020) was about Maximilian I and his era. The narrative unfolds further as we structured our new album around his contemporary Albrecht Dürer, who is one of the most revolutionary and remarkable artists of all time for us, representing a pivotal juncture between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, bridging Gothic and modern eras."





Nemesis AD will be available in the following formats:


- Wooden Boxset: Digipak, Wax-Sealing Kit, Photobook, Autographed Card
- 1LP Gatefold Marbled Vinyl      
- 1LP Gatefold Black Vinyl            
- 1CD Digipak + Cover Artwork T-Shirt    
- 1CD Digipak     
- Digital album  


Pre-order here.





Nemesis AD tracklisting:


"Memoriae Alberti Dureri"
"The Fall Of Man" (feat. Roy Khan)
"Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall)"
"Soldiers Under The Cross"
"Reflections (Of AD)"
"Sun Of Justice"
"Nemesis"
"The End Of Babylon"
"Crowned By An Angel"
"Just the Sky Is The Limit"
"The Fall Of Man" (Orchestral Version feat. Roy Khan)


"Reflections (Of AD)" video:





"The Fall Of Man" lyric video:





"Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall)" video:





Serenity are:


Georg Neuhauser - Vocals
Christian Hermsdörfer - Guitars & Backing Vocals
Marco Pastorino - Guitars & Backing Vocals
Fabio D'Amore - Bass & Backing Vocals
Andreas Schipflinger - Drums & Backing Vocals


(Photo - Matthias Schwaighofer)

In the video below, Peter Tägtgren, Mikael Hedlund and Lars Szöke (Drums 1990-2004) look back and share memories of Hypocrisy's seventh album, Into The Abyss:





Hypocrisy Chapter 2 albums will finally be available again on vinyl and CD together with Classic Series Merch. Featuring original art with careful touchups to preserve these death metal classics. Order at hypocrisyband.com.




Hypocrisy and Nuclear Blast Records start chapter two of a massive catalogue campaign bringing back all their legendary past records, some of which are much sought-after rarities. “Chapter Two” covers the albums The Final Chapter (1997), Hypocrisy (1999), and Into The Abyss (2000). Considered milestones in Hypocrisy’s career, Peter Tägtgren, Mikael Hedlund, and Lars Szöke reached a new level of songwriting quality and emphasized dynamics during this period. They created additional layers of atmosphere and at times used clean vocals resulting in hauntingly beautiful yet heavy and aggressive melodic death metal hymns.





Now, these stunning albums return in classy vinyl and CD editions whereas Tägtgren’s remaster of Into The Abyss will also be released digitally. The 2023 reissues preserve true classics in an astonishing fashion that have been unavailable especially on LP for far too long or have never been released as standalone vinyl (Into The Abyss). Get ready to revisit one of the most consistent and fascinating discographies in extreme metal.


In the videos below, the band look back and share memories of their fifth album The Final Chapter, as well as their self-titled sixth album:

Grammy-winning progressive music titans DREAM THEATER have announced the return of drummer Mike Portnoy to the group. Portnoy will reunite with guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung — the trio formed the band at the Berklee College Of Music in 1985 — along with longtime members, vocalist James LaBrie and keyboardist Jordan Rudess. DREAM THEATER will be going into the studio to begin working on their 16th studio album and the first with Portnoy since 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".

"I understand DREAM THEATER's decision to get Mike Portnoy back at this time," states Mike Mangini, who joined the band in 2010. "As was said from Day 1, my place was not to fill all the roles that Mike held in the band. I was to play the drums in order to help the band carry on. My main role of keeping our live show working tightly on a nightly basis was an intense and rewarding experience. Thankfully, I got to experience playing music with these iconic musicians, as well as some fun times laced with humor. I also really enjoyed spending lots of time with the crew. And then there's the Grammy win, which was amazingly satisfying. To the fans: thank you so much for being amazing to me. I cherish the pictures I have of you all losing your minds and having fun. Finally, I really love the band, crew and management and wish them and the entire organization all the best."

Petrucci says: "Mike Mangini's drumming is otherworldly and I'm extremely grateful for the time he spent with us in DREAM THEATER. I'm very proud of all the amazing music we made together that culminated in our first Grammy win last year and the countless magical moments that we've shared on stage over the past 13 years. I wish him all the best of success in his future musical endeavors. I'm incredibly excited to welcome Mike Portnoy back into DREAM THEATER! As an original founding member, longtime friend and incredibly talented and creative drummer, I know that his return will bring a renewed spirit, passion and energy into DT that all of us, including our fans, will joyfully welcome. I can't wait to roll up our sleeves and get back into the studio together!"

Myung states: "It's great to be back true to form with our original drummer Mike Portnoy. We started playing together as MAJESTY almost 40 years ago and I am excited to see what this next phase of DREAM THEATER creates for the future. I wish nothing but the best for Mike Mangini for all the blood, sweat and tears he put into DT during his 13-year tenure with the band."

LaBrie says: "Having Mike Mangini with us all these years has been, quite simply, a terrific ride. He is one of the most amazing and naturally gifted drummers I have had the pleasure of working with. Thank you, Mike. Life is a very strange ride and I guess that's what makes it all the more interesting and forever engaging. Having Mike Portnoy back in the band is exactly where we and things should be. Things have a way of going full circle and in this case, it makes perfect sense. I am excited with the prospects of this classic DT lineup being reunited. I can say with absolute confidence this will be the final incarnation of DT with many chapters still to be written well into our future. Onward and upward guys!! Welcome back MP."

Rudess says: "Mike Mangini is one of the most exceptional drummers on earth and I feel privileged that we got to create a whole body of work with him. I will always be grateful for the time we shared in the DREAM THEATER Universe. We are so excited to reunite the core DREAM THEATER family. There is a resonance of spirit and vision that is unique and goes beyond words within our relationship with Mike Portnoy. On the stage and off there is no denying the magic that happens when we are together. I'm thankful we have the opportunity to work together again as DREAM THEATER and am looking forward to sharing our excitement and passion with our amazing fans for a long time to come."

Portnoy comments: "I am overwhelmed with joy to be returning home and reuniting with my brothers! There is so much shared history between us all…so many memories, so much music…to think we're coming up on 40 years since this journey began! The idea of creating new music together is so exciting and I absolutely cannot wait to hit the road and get to play live for a whole new generation of fans that weren't ever able to see this lineup before…There's no place like home!!"

Portnoy attended his second DREAM THEATER concert as a spectator on July 1 at The Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 56-year-old drummer, who left DREAM THEATER in 2010, took to his social media to share a selfie of him and his wife Marlene in the crowd at the Philadelphia show, which was part of the band's "Dreamsonic" tour with Devin Townsend and ANIMALS AS LEADERS, and he included the following message: "OK…this is slightly weird!!" He also added a laughing crying emoji.

Portnoy, who lives in Pennsylvania with his family, previously attended DREAM THEATER's concert in March 2022 at Beacon Theatre in New York City. It was the first time he witnessed his former bandmates perform live since his exit from the iconic progressive metal outfit 13 years ago.

According to DREAM THEATER fans who attended the Beacon Theatre show, DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie gave Portnoy a shoutout from the stage and Mike waved. Several fans also took pictures of Portnoy at the venue, with Mike and his wife reportedly watching the performance from near the Beacon Theatre soundboard.

The next day, Portnoy shared a few backstage photos from the Beacon Theatre concert and he included the following message: "After 36 years, I finally got to see my 1st DREAM THEATER show last night! It was a wonderful evening and it was such a pleasure to spend time with my old friends again".

During a May 2022 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Mike stated about the circumstances that led to him being present at the Beacon Theatre show: "We had been slowly rekindling the relationships over the years. Obviously, [DREAM THEATER guitarist] John Petrucci and I have made a few albums together at this point — I played on his last solo album, and then he and myself and Jordan [Rudess, DREAM THEATER keyboardist] and Tony Levin got back together to do a LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT album in 2020. So, yeah, John Petrucci and Jordan had been hanging with me a lot through the years, and our families as well. In fact, the first time I played together with Jordan again was on the last Cruise To The Edge in 2019; Jordan and I played together on that. So the relationships had been really, really good and comfortable with those guys. And John Myung [DREAM THEATER bassist] lives right down the street from me, so I would see him in town all the time. And his wife is very, very good friends with my wife. So there's three of the guys that I had been on very, very good terms with over the years. And my wife and John Myung's wife were going to see them at the New York show, and I was, like, 'You know what? What the hell.'"

Portnoy went on to say that he had previously "dreamt about going to see" DREAM THEATER play. "I'm not saying I dreamt like it was my goal; I'm saying I literally would have dreams at night sleeping, where in my dreams I'm going to see DREAM THEATER and it's just an awkward thing," he explained. "So for a long time I was very nervous about it, like how weird would it feel? Would it be uncomfortable? But I finally was at peace with it. I went to the show, and it was really a cool experience; it was not as awkward as I had anticipated or feared. And at the show, James [LaBrie, DREAM THEATER singer] welcomed me from the stage. And I hadn't spoken to James — as a lot of people know, I hadn't spoken to him since I left the band — so I got to see him that night after the show. And I went into his dressing room, and within literally 10 seconds, any of that drama or B.S. that had built up through the years, it melted away immediately. And it was all hugs and kisses and 'love you, bro' and 'miss you, bro.' And it was, like, all that bullshit from the last 11 years was just water under the bridge."

Mike continued: "You can't spend most of your life with a group of guys like that and not be family for life. I met John Petrucci and John Myung when we were teenagers; we met in college and our families have grown up together and our wives all played in a band together and our kids — my daughter and John Petrucci's daughter — live together in Brooklyn. So it's a family. Whether I'm currently in the band or not, that doesn't matter; you can't take away the friendship and the family and the history and the experiences we shared for so, so long."

Regarding what it was like to see another drummer play his parts live with DREAM THEATER, Portnoy said: "I've always been the type of drummer that just flies [by] the seat of my pants in the moment. Even with my own drum parts, I don't necessarily stick to them faithfully from show to show, whereas [current DREAM THEATER drummer Mike] Mangini obviously really studied the drum parts and they had everything programmed out. They're all about the precision, and that's surely their thing. And yeah, he killed it. There's no doubt he's an amazing drummer and he plays my parts incredibly faithfully. I feel bad for him. He and I joked about it. He's in a horrible situation where he's damned if he does and he's damned if he doesn't. He expressed that frustration to me, and I feel for him; it's definitely a weird position to be put into. I kind of had it a little bit when I played with AVENGED SEVENFOLD and TWISTED SISTER, coming into the throne of two drummers that have passed away, and I tried to learn those parts as faithfully as I could. When I had a hired-gun gig like that, I spent a lot of attention trying to honor the drummer that came before me — it's important. I don't wanna go into a gig like either of those and try to force my style onto it."

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER 38 years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD.

In a February 2023 interview with Ollie Winiberg of "The Heavy Hooks Show", Portnoy was asked if he would consider playing a one-off show as a 'hired gun" with his former bandmates to celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2025. He responded: "Well, I would surely welcome the idea — absolutely — and I've told the guys such, depending on the circumstances. Obviously, there's a lot of hypothetical circumstances."

He continued: "I don't know if I'd necessarily wanna be a 'hired gun' for a band that I formed; [that's] a little bit of a strange term in that respect. But if you're asking, would I ever play with the guys again? Sure. If the right hypothetical situation came about, yeah, of course. I'm always open to that."

Three years ago, Petrucci released his second solo album, "Terminal Velocity", via Sound Mind Music/The Orchard. The follow-up to 2005's "Suspended Animation" featured guest musicians Portnoy on drums and Dave LaRue (DIXIE DREGS) on bass. The effort marked the first time Petrucci and Portnoy recorded together in over a decade, as well as their first time playing together since Portnoy departed DREAM THEATER.

During an October 2022 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Petrucci stated about DREAM THEATER fans' response to his renewed collaboration with Portnoy: "You see that right away. It makes people so happy to see that reconnection. It's literally like… Any sort of post of a photo from that, every comment is just literally, like, 'I'm crying. This makes me so happy,' blah blah blah. More than any sort of controversial, stupid thing anyone could say, the overwhelming reaction is just a great, positive feeling in the DREAM THEATER-Mike Portnoy big community. And I love that. It's the way it should be."

When host Eddie Trunk pointed out to Petrucci that the guitarist's reunion with Portnoy, including their run of tour dates in support of "Terminal Velocity", had resulted in DREAM THEATER fans speculating about Portnoy's possible return to the band, John said: "I've been very vocal about this and outspoken and very careful about this to be clear with my intentions and Mike and I and our reuniting. The stuff that we are doing together with my solo stuff, with LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT, with Mike touring with me, this is its own thing, and DREAM THEATER is its own thing, and the history that we now have with Mike Mangini in the band for 12 years, it's important for me to make sure that people don't misunderstand this. Because it's not good for anybody; that kind of weirdness or controversy, as we all know, it's just toxic. So I've been saying… Maybe I'm selfish but I feel so lucky that I get to do this with Mike [Portnoy] and play live with him, play this instrumental music, record, and being in DREAM THEATER with Mangini, it's like I've kind of been spoiled. I get two of the greatest drummers in the world to be able to play with. And I think it's important for people to know that and to have that clarity — I really do."

In a 2017 interview with Rockhok, Portnoy insisted that had "no longing to reunite" with DREAM THEATER but said that he would return to his former band "for the fans." He explained: "The ball's in their court, to be honest. I have no longing to reunite with them; it's not something I necessarily am looking to do or want to do. I'm very content with all the eighty-seven bands I currently have going, so it's something I need. But I would do it for the fans, because I'm a very sentimental person and I have a lot of great, fond memories of those guys and the times. I'm a sentimental guy, so I would never close the door on it. So, really, the ball's in their court, honestly. [But] if you're asking me the odds [of a reunion happening], I would say, don't bet on it, because I know their personalities as well and I don't think they're the type that are looking backwards."

A few years ago, Portnoy told Loud that he left DREAM THEATER because he wanted to expand his musical horizons. "[I didn't] want to go to my grave and just be the drummer from DREAM THEATER," he said. "I knew there was way more to what I had to offer."

Global rock superstars GREEN DAY — Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool — have returned with a fiery call to action on "The American Dream Is Killing Me", the first single and opening track from the group's 14th studio album "Saviors", due on January 19, 2024 via Reprise/Warner.

The band debuted "The American Dream Is Killing Me" and "Look Ma, No Brains!" off the new album live last weekend during their triumphant and electrifying Las Vegas, Nevada takeover, consisting of a sold-out surprise show at the 800-capacity Fremont and back-to-back headlining performances at When We Were Young festival.

"The American Dream is Killing Me" music video, directed by Brendan Walter and Ryan Baxley, can be seen below.

There will also be several exclusive vinyl versions of "Saviors" available including neon pink with neon green splatter, and black ice with hot pink splatter, with most in very limited supply and pressed only once.

"The American Dream Is Killing Me" was one of the last tracks written and recorded by GREEN DAY for "Saviors". "As soon we cut it, we said, 'Okay, that's going first,'" says Billie Joe Armstrong who describes the new song as "a look at the way the traditional American Dream doesn't work for a lot of people — in fact, it's hurting a lot of people."

Recorded in London and Los Angeles, "Saviors" is the latest powerful collaboration between GREEN DAY and Grammy-winning producer Rob Cavallo, whose notable previous work with GREEN DAY includes two of the band's most iconic albums, 1994's "Dookie" and 2004's "American Idiot". The record comes just ahead of "Dookie"'s 30th anniversary. Celebrations have already begun with the release of a massive deluxe edition of the album and a surprise show in Las Vegas where the band performed "Dookie" from front to back to a sold-out crowd of superfans.

Alongside the track, GREEN DAY has unveiled a film noir inspired black-and-white music video featuring the band in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. The killer video was directed by Brendan Walter and Ryan Baxley and shot in Los Angeles.

GREEN DAY will perform this Thursday, October 26 as part of Amazon Music Live's concert series, and on November 19, the band is heading up north to headline the Twisted Tea Grey Cup Halftime Show for the 110th Grey Cup at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario.

Formed in 1986 in Berkeley, California, GREEN DAY is one of the world's best-selling bands of all time, with more than 75 million records sold worldwide and 10 billion cumulative audio/visual streams. The five-time Grammy Award-winning Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees released their breakout album "Dookie" in 1994, which sold over 10 million copies and achieved diamond status, is widely credited with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock, catapulting a career-long run of No. 1 hit singles. Entertainment Weekly calls GREEN DAY "the most influential band of their generation," while Rolling Stone attests "GREEN DAY have inspired more young bands to start than any act this side of KISS, and that doesn't seem to be changing." In 2004, GREEN DAY released the rock opera "American Idiot" which captured the nation's attention, selling more than eight million copies in the U.S. alone and taking home the Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album". Mojo declared "It's exhilarating stuff, the kind of record that sets new parameters as to what is possible from a punk rock'n'roll band in the 21st century." In 2010, a stage adaptation of "American Idiot" debuted on Broadway to critical and commercial acclaim. Released in 2020, GREEN DAY's thirteenth studio album "Father Of All Motherfuckers" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Album Sales chart and No. 1 in both the U.K. and Australia. Pitchfork declared, "GREEN DAY's most fetching and youthful songs in ages. The trio sounds reinvigorated, more like hungry newcomers staking their claim." In July 2021, GREEN DAY embarked on the "Hella Mega Tour" with FALL OUT BOY and WEEZER. The global tour included 29 sold-out stadium gigs, including renowned venues like London Stadium and Los Angeles's Dodger Stadium.

Photo credit: Emmie America

HEART will reunite for the band's first concert in four years this New Year's Eve.

On Sunday, December 31, Ann and Nancy Wilson will perform at the Climate Pledge Arena in their original hometown of Seattle, Washington. Support at the gig will come from JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EVENING.

The concert will followed by the Space Needle's firework spectacular.

Tickets go on sale beginning Friday, October 27 at 10:00 a.m. PDT via Ticketmaster.

Nancy made a surprise appearance during Ann's concert on October 10 in Santa Rosa, California.

Nancy joined her sister and her backing band TRIPSITTER on stage at the Luther Burbank Center For The Arts in Nancy's hometown to perform the HEART classic "Barracuda".

This past June, Nancy revealed in an interview with Joe Rock of Long Island, New York's rock station 102.3 WBAB that she was working on fresh music with her sister and fellow HEART member Ann. The 69-year-old musician, who has spent sone of the recent months on tour with her new band NANCY WILSON'S HEART, broke the news of her latest collaboration with Ann while discussing some of her current recording projects, including "Tomboy", which involves covering songs written by her male friends.

"I think right now I've been working on 'Tomboy' the most because I love the title, for one thing; it's almost like 'boy genius' or something," she explained. "But I've got a bunch of new ideas for songs. But I've also been writing new music with Ann too. So it's a real creative time. I think being on the tour right now, when I get home, I'm gonna really dig into the other projects, including finishing some new material with Ann. So it's really a good time to be creative. And I've got a new studio in my house, and so I can't wait to sort of run tape on stuff."

Asked if there is anything that she feels is really exciting because she feels it's something that's so different from what she's done before, Nancy said: "Yeah. Some of the stuff I've been working on with Ann is like that. I've also worked a bit with Sue Ennis, who used to work a lot with me and Ann for HEART music. And so I have some lyrics mainly that I worked on with Sue and took to Ann. And there's a couple of things that I'm really excited about. Very cool. Like stuff that you wouldn't have heard us do in the '80s. [It's] closer to what you would have heard us originally do in the '70s, late '70s. So it's really fun. It's just exciting and inspiring."

Nancy went on to say that she is really pleased to be collaborating on new material with her sister. "It's been a really nice kind of rediscovery of our relationship, working on music together again," she said. "So, yeah, I'm really happy about that."

In July 2022, Ann told Grammy.com that she and her sister had plans for the band to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2023. "Yes, we do," she said. "I'm not at liberty to say exactly what they are yet because it's such early days, but sure. It will be next year. And we're doing a thing. Definitely. We're still formulating it now."

Ann's comments came three months after she denied rumors of a rift with Nancy. In an interview in the 300th issue of Classic Rock, Ann said that she was "not" feuding with her younger sister. "It's a myth," she insisted. "Nancy and I are okay with each other. We just have different ideas for what HEART should be, and we haven’t figured out a compromise yet.

"Fifty years on, I still want it to break barriers and rules, and she's more satisfied to ride the L.A. imaging thing and just do legacy stuff," Ann explained. "So that's a real split between us. Things like this will happen, though, but then they'll get better, and we'll love each other more."

Relations between the two sisters were considered to be at an all-time low after a much-publicized incident when Ann's husband was arrested during a HEART tour in 2016. But in a recent interview with Rock Candy magazine to coincide with the release of her new solo album, "Fierce Bliss", Ann said: "Things happen in families. And that was a really good example of something that happened within a family, and we worked it out. But the part that made it hard was that it happened in the public eye. If it had happened privately, we'd have got the family in a room and sat down and worked it out between us. Instead, the police were called, and this myth was born that Nancy and I were feuding, and we were at each other's throats all the time. And it's really not like that at all."

A proposed HEART tour fell through last year after the two sisters failed to agree on which backing band to use. Ann wanted her guys, Nancy didn't. But Ann later said that another HEART album, which would be the band's first since 2016's "Beautiful Broken", was a definite possibility, especially considering the fact that 2023 marks HEART's 50th anniversary.

"It depends on the songs," she said in her Rock Candy interview. "The songs lead everything. And I'm writing songs again now. I don't know if they'll be for my solo thing or for HEART. But yes, I would like to make another HEART album."

Ann previously said that HEART would celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2023 "because next year's the 50-year [anniversary] of when we actually got together and got going," she told Liz Barnes of Planet Rock's "My Planet Rocks". "Nancy didn't join until '75, but the band got going in '73. So, yeah, we have a bunch of stuff planned for next year. So I can definitely see HEART doing something."

In February 2022, Nancy spoke to Joe Rock about why HEART had been inactive for most of the previous three years.

"HEART had a big offer on the table [in 2021] for a bigger tour, but Ann wasn't interested in going out with my lineup of guys that we were out with before," she said. "She has a new lineup of guys that she wanted me to join up with. And I sort of [thought] I don't really know them and don't have loyalty yet for anybody like that."

HEART toured North America in the summer of 2019 after the aforementioned 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.

After completing HEART's 2016 tour, Nancy formed a new band called ROADCASE ROYALE and released an album, "First Things First". ROADCASE ROYALE featured three members of HEART along with Liv Warfield from Prince's NEW POWER GENERATION band and her guitarist Ryan Wilson.

In Nancy's new band NANCY WILSON'S HEART, she is joined in the group by her longtime collaborators, guitarist Ryan Waters, drummer Ben Smith, bassist Andy Stoller and keyboardist Dan Walker, along with powerhouse singer Kimberly Nichole.

JUST ANNOUNCED: Seattle’s own Heart are going to ring in the New Year at Climate Pledge Arena on 12/31 with very special...

Posted by Heart on Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Arizona’s King Ov Wyrms once again send a cold blast of black metal across the desert with their next video “Desolation Fog” – premiered exclusively through BraveWords – off the recently unleashed album The Womb Ov Borealis. This track is a heavy trudge through grim dark waters with its dragging guitars and swinging drums taking you through a walk through an ever-looming fog of decay. 


Multi-instrumentalist Michael Oneirous Sanchez comments:


“‘Desolation Fog’ is a track we just knew we had to present off the album, it features some of my favourite lyrics and with the accompanied imagery presented in the lyric video, it was a perfect match. Sonically, this song is unrelenting and just so damn heavy, it catches you with the swinging groove and really locks you in before Ricky amps it up with savage blast beats and his intense footwork.”







King Ov Wyrms is a two-man project between Oneirous and drummer Ricky Williams with session guest spots from Derrek Page on bass. Typically, the music originates through Oneirous in a demo format from his personal studio, from there Williams comes in and adds to the source material which is usually just a guitar-based version of the song and maybe a drum machine. Once they have an agreed direction, they layer on all the additional studio pieces like bass and vocals along with the final renditions of the guitars and drums.


A cold breath of winter awaits you with this new offering, surely a welcome feeling in the dead summer heat.





Recommended for fans of Dark Funeral, Goatwhore and Belphegor, King Ov Wyrms' sophomore album The Womb Ov Borealis was released on October 6, 2023, and is available on Bandcamp. 

Sujin has signed a multi-album deal with Scarlet Records.


Sujin draws its inspiration from various metal scenes and other genres too, with a distinctive stylistic approach. Their music is a crossover between melo-death, deathcore, progressive and thrash metal, summarized by the band itself as modern metal.


Aggressive, melodic and always very intense, Sujin aims to break down the boundaries. Lyrically-wise, the band vehemently delivers its thoughts and feelings about the state of the world address – clinically depicting humanity's scars and failures.




Sujin is derived from the word "suijin" and has its origin in Japanese culture, translating as "the people of water". Water being an essential element to all forms of life, there are already wars being waged in its name... This is something quintessential for the members of the band because of their personal commitment to the preservation and defence of Nature.


Originally from France, and formally known as Whisper Night, Sujin has decided to revoke any borders to become one with the whole world.


Sujin debut album is expected to be released in February 2024.


(Photo - Sébastien Vau)

MIG Music has shared the UFO - Live At Rockpalast show from 1980 via YouTube. The video is taken from Rockpalast: Hardrock Legends, which can be heard digitally and purchased on CD and DVD here.


Check it out below.


Setlist:




"Lettin' Go"
"Long Gone"
"Cherry"
"Only You Can Rock Me"
"No Place To Run"
"Making Moves"
"Love To Love"
"Mystery Train"
"Too Hot To Handle"
"Lights Out"
"Rock Bottom"
"Doctor, Doctor"





A historic agreement between British hard rock icons UFO and Los Angeles-based indie giant Cleopatra Records has resulted in a bountiful harvest of incredible and highly sought after live recordings from the last three decades of the 20th century. 


The first of these arrived last month with the monumental Hollywood ’76, an explosive vintage performance drawn largely from the band’s momentous Force It album. That will be followed by Live In Vienna 1998, the first of several highly treasured reunion shows that saw guitar god Michael Schenker rejoin the UFO fold, and One Night Lights Out ’77, featuring vintage Schenker. 





And if you thought that was it, get ready for a whole lot more including Hot N’ Ready In Texas 1979, Lights Out In Babenhausen 1993, Makin’ Moves In Chicago 1981, Live At The Oxford Apollo 1985, Lights Out Chicago (1980), Too Hot In Tokyo 1994, California At The Edge 1995, and Landing In St. Louis - Live 1982.


Fans of UFO have long known that the stage is where vocalist Phil Mogg, bassist Pete Way, guitar giant Michael Schenker, and their heralded helpers truly shined the brightest. Classic rock radio staples like “Lights Out,” “Doctor Doctor,” and “Too Hot To Handle,” sound somehow even more transcendent than their studio counterparts while lesser known gems such as “Shoot Shoot,” “Love To Love,” and “This Kid’s” come roaring to life in ways never thought possible. Each of these magnificent concert recordings have been digitally remastered and packaged with vibrant artwork and rare photos for both CD and vinyl.


Order the albums at cleorecs.com.

Sorcerer will release their fourth album, Reign Of The Reaper, on October 27 via Metal Blade Records. Check out an unboxing video below:





Since their rebirth in 2010, through a string of amazing live performances, signing to Metal Blade Records and releasing three excellent metal albums, Sorcerer have been firing on all cylinders with no plans of stopping for anyone.




In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross (2015) put everything into motion; with its classic epic doom metal approach it solidified Sorcerer's triumphant return to the scene. The follow-up, 2017's The Crowning Of The Fire King, gave fans that extra dose of Epic they craved, while also allowing the band to begin to reform and reshape their sound and direction. It was here that Sorcerer really laid the foundation on which they are still building - making heavy, melodic metal with crushing riffs, soaring vocals and hook-laden choruses.


2020 saw the band release what would be their most elaborate album to date, the concept album Lamenting Of The Innocent. This record allowed the band to test new waters with more elaborate, intricate songwriting, longer song forms and it features vocalist Anders Engberg at his absolute finest. The album was highly praised, and very well received, and has allowed the band to grace the stages of some of the most prestigious metal festivals and venues around the world.


For Reign Of The Reaper the band holed up in their home studios and wrote music all through 2022 and then once again headed to SolnaSound Recording in Stockholm, the studio owned, run and operated by Simon Johansson (Wolf, Soilwork) with Mike Wead (King Diamond) assisting, to record the drums. Sorcerer likes to work with a small, tried and trusted team so therefore they once again employed the services of Ronnie Björnström (engineering/mixing/ mastering) and Jani Stefanovic (cover art for the singles & artwork booklet/packaging design); these guys have been working with the band since the first album and as per usual they delivered superbly. The striking album cover artwork was created by Swedish artist Joakim Ericsson. Conny Welén as usual handled co-production duties. Anders says: "He has been working with us since 2015 and the reunion album In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross. Connys contribution to our sound is heard in every song; he is involved in the arrangements and plays all keyboards". He also co-writes the vocal melodies and the foundations of some of the lyrics and on top of this he also recorded Anders' vocals in his studio. Photographer Marieke Verschuren provided the awesome band photos as she also did on the previous album.


For the opening track and first single, "Morning Star", based on the fall of Lucifer, the band showcases their proficiency in fusing classic metal with other heavy elements with quite a few twists and turns along the way. With a bombastic rhythm section spear-headed by Evensand and Biggs, to the melodic and brilliantly executed guitar work of Niemann and Hallgren, culminating with the ferocious Engberg, whose voice soars, "Morning Star" takes the listener on a relentless journey through the kingdom of Pandemonium and hell itself.


Kristian says: "I came up with the majestic opening guitar line while I was in the gym, I remember that distinctly. I grabbed my phone and sang the line into the voice recorder, as I always do when I get ideas. I didn't think much of it and promptly forgot all about it until it was time to write songs for the album. I had about 150 riffs and ideas that I went through and this one immediately grabbed my attention. I'm super-happy with this track and it sounds exactly how I envisioned it when I first started working on it. The guys in the band KILLED it, everybody played and sang their asses off".


Reign Of The Reaper will be released on October 27 via Metal Blade Records and features eight brand new tracks guaranteed to appease the appetites of metal heads from all sides of the heavy metal spectrum.





Reign Of The Reaper will be available in the following formats:


- Deluxe Digipak-CD incl. bonus-CD 'Reverence'
- Deluxe 2-LP incl. bonus-LP 'Reverence' (limited to 500 copies)
- 180g black vinyl
- dark violet marbled vinyl (limited to 1.000 copies)
- smoke vinyl (limited to 300 copies)
- silver blackdust vinyl (limited to 300 copies)


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Morning Star"
"Reign Of The Reaper"
"Thy Kingdom Will Come"
"Eternal Sleep"
"Curse Of Medusa"
"Unveiling Blasphemy"
"The Underworld"
"Break Of Dawn"


"Reign Of The Reaper" video:





"Morning Star" video:





Sorcerer lineup:


Anders Engberg - vocals
Kristian Niemann - guitars, backing vocals
Peter Hallgren - guitars, backing vocals
Justin Biggs - bass, growls
Richard Evensand - drums


Note: Since recording the album drummer Richard Evensand has left the band and been replaced by Stefan Norgren.


(Photo - Marieke Verschuren)

Billy Idol: State Line documents the rock legend’s April 2023 show at the famed Hoover Dam - the first ever concert performed at the location. The film is set to make its theatrical debut in the US on November 15 and in the UK on November 14. North American wide release cinematic dates on sale on Friday, October 27. Tickets and additional info on film screenings can be found here. Watch a video trailer below.





Billy Idol: State Line highlights the history and significance of Hoover Dam and includes performances from two unique sets of Billy Idol’s iconic hits: a full band concert at sunset with special guests that electrified and illuminated the surrounding Black Canyon and an acoustic duo set on the roof of the powerhouse at the foot of Hoover Dam straddling the Colorado River, directly on the Nevada/Arizona state line.

Danish hard rock veterans PRETTY MAIDS have announced their first three comeback concerts for next year: at the Copenhell festival, set to take place June 19-22, 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark; at the Time To Rock festival, which will be held July 5-8, 2024 in Knislinge, Sweden; and at the Jailbreak festival, which is slated for August 16-17, 2024 in Horsens, Denmark.

Last month, PRETTY MAIDS singer Ronnie Atkins, who is battling stage four cancer, was asked in an interview with Power Metal Point if there were any plans for him to do anything again with the long-running Danish hard rock outfit. He responded: "There's been issues between the band since 2019, particularly between me and Ken [Hammer, guitar]. But now we're actually talking again. We just met a little while ago, and we still have some business through 40 years we have to discuss sometimes on mails. I think it's gonna end up that we will bury the hatchet, if nothing else for the fans."

He continued: "It's always been a love-hate relationship, and I can't confirm anything, but I think we might do some selected gigs next year or something like that. Because the whole thing ended in a bad way and I got sick and we had a brand new album out in 2019 and we never hit the road with it, 'cause we had to cancel the tour. Then the lockdown came, the corona thing. So, yeah, let's see, let's see. We might do something next year."

Last December, Atkins painted a more bleak picture of PRETTY MAIDS' future, telling Dawn Osborne of TotalRock: "We haven't seen each other since 2019. And there are some issues within the band that haven't been [resolved]. So nothing is happening. Ken is doing some other projects. Everybody is doing their own things, kind of. I'm not saying we won't get back together one day. Maybe — I don't know. But time is not on our side. Let's see. It would need some talks — a band meeting and some talk — before we go on."

He added: "I'm a bit like 'I've been there, done that.' I mean, sometimes I miss it. On the other hand, I'm on with something else now, doing my own stuff."

Formed in early 1982 by Atkins and Hammer, PRETTY MAIDS' second album, 1987's "Future World", is still today regarded as a classic.

During the ensuing years, PRETTY MAIDS continued to release albums usually followed by European and Japanese tours.

PRETTY MAIDS' latest album, "Undress Your Madness", came out in November 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.

"Future World" was released by CBS in 1987. By 1990, the album had sold 300,000 copies worldwide. The album charted at No. 165 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.

"Future World" was produced by Eddie Kramer, who was reportedly fired during the recording sessions. The band then finished the LP with engineer Chris Isca, who was credited as co-producer on the album. Mixing duties were shared between METALLICA, RAINBOW and MORBID ANGEL producer Flemming Rasmussen, and Kevin Elson, known for producing multi-platinum albums by JOURNEY, MR. BIG and EUROPE.

After being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019, the now-58-year-old Atkins underwent at least 33 radiation and four chemotherapy treatments in the fall of that year before being declared cancer-free. In October 2020, he announced that his cancer had returned.

In a 2013 interview with Myglobalmind, Atkins joked that the secret to keeping his voice in shape was "twenty cigarettes a day and little drink now and then."

Ronnie's third solo album, "Trinity", was released on October 13 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Photo credit: Tallee Savage (courtesy of PRETTY MAIDS' booking agency Bottom Row GmbH & Co. KG)

PRETTY MAIDS – et af de mest elskede og respekterede rockbands i både Danmark og udlandet – er sammen igen efter fem års...

Posted by COPENHELL on Wednesday, October 25, 2023

PRETTY MAIDS GÖR COMEBACK - ENDA SPELNINGEN I SÖDRA SVERIGE HOS OSS PÅ Time To Rock Festival

Om man växte upp och var "...

Posted by Time To Rock Festival on Tuesday, October 24, 2023

BANDANNONCERING 🔥 Pretty Maids melder klar til at fængsle JAILBREAK-publikummet som det allerførste navn på...

Posted by Jailbreak on Wednesday, October 25, 2023

During an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation Power Trip Special", METALLICA's Lars Ulrich spoke about what it was like to see AC/DC play at this year's Power Trip festival in Indio, California. It was the first time lead vocalist Brian Johnson performed live with the group since early 2016 after he was forced to bow out with hearing loss issues and was temporarily replaced by GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose. "It was — the word 'triumph' is kind of the one that came to mind," Lars said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It was just a triumph.

"I saw 'em here [at Coachella in Indio]. I think they played here in '15, so eight years ago," he continued. "And I saw 'em in San Francisco later that year. And obviously, as a lifelong fan — I mean, I saw AC/DC back in Denmark opening for BLACK SABBATH in '76 or '77. And then they came back on 'Let There Be Rock' tour and played a 1,500-seat venue with no support act and basically played all of 'Let There Be Rock'. And it was literally fucking mind-blowing. And then I saw them along the way, when I came to America, obviously, on and off, and we played with them for a whole tour on the Black Album in '91."

Circling back to AC/DC's appearance at Power Trip, Lars said: "As a lifelong fan, I actually got a little misty-eyed a couple of times when Angus [Young, AC/DC guitarist] was kind of going out and you could hear the… When he walked out and played his solos on the ramp and stuff, it felt like people were sort of holding him up and really just loving him, appreciating him. And there was a unity. I'm actually getting misty eyed as we're talking about it. There was a unity and it's that unity that you and I have talked about and that thing about when this community comes together around what we all share, that it was just such a beautiful moment. It was just such a triumph. And Brian who looked like — I didn't feel like there was anybody anywhere in Southern California that was having a better time than Brian… That shit-eating grin he had on his face. It was so great. What a wonderful moment."

Earlier in the month, Lars lavished praise on METALLICA's fellow Power Trip headliners and credited three of them as being a pivotal influence on his legendary metal band.

"We love all five of the other bands," Lars enthused. "I saw AC/DC back in Copenhagen in 1977 for the first time; we did a whole tour with them in Europe in 1991. I fell in love with GUNS N' ROSES five seconds after I heard 'Mr. Brownstone' for the first time on KNAC before the 1987 debut album came out. We played shows with IRON MAIDEN in the '80s. We played shows with JUDAS PRIEST. We played shows with TOOL all over the place.'

He added: "Obviously, AC/DC, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST were huge influences. Those three bands are a significant part of the reason that we wanted to be in a band. So to get everybody together in the same space is a bit awe-inspiring."

Back in 2017, Ulrich named AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock" as one of his favorite metal and hard rock albums, telling Rolling Stone: "This is AC/DC's heaviest record, AC/DC's densest record, AC/DC's most energetic record. Four or five of the songs are just staple AC/DC live, between 'Let There Be Rock', 'Bad Boy Boogie', 'Whole Lotta Rosie' and 'Hell Ain't a Bad Place To Be'. I don't even want to try to comprehend how many times these songs have been played live.

"Obviously, this is before AC/DC hooked up with [producer] Mutt Lange on the 'Highway To Hell' album and started crafting to perfection the idea of the three-to-four-minute rock song as a radio hit. Here, it was the perfect balance of two guitars: just endless guitar solos and the riffs and Angus and Malcolm [Young] playing. A lot of the songs would start with one guy playing a riff, the other guy playing open chords. Then, after 16 bars or 32 bars or whatever, both guitars would lock in on the same riff. Then Bon [Scott] would come in with these cheeky, great, almost cartoon-like lyrics about women and bad behavior and illicit experiences. It's one of those albums where it sounds like you're sitting in the studio with them. At the beginning of the songs, you can hear the amplifiers buzzing, and there's, like, count-ins and you can hear the talking in the studio, and all that kind of stuff. This is raw, blues-based hard rock at its absolute peak.

"And there's one song on here which may potentially be my favorite AC/DC deep cut, which is 'Overdose'. On that song, when the two guitars lock in, it's just the fucking heaviest thing ever. To my knowledge, they have never performed it live. I think for a lot of AC/DC fanatics and purists like myself, it's at the very top of the left-out songs. I've never gotten far enough to ask Angus why they haven't played it. [Laughs]"

AC/DC's performance at Power Trip marked the first time the band opened its set with "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)". The concert also included live debuts for two tracks from 2020's "Power Up" album, "Demon Fire" and "Shot In The Dark".

AC/DC recruited drummer Matt Laug to perform with the band at Power Trip.

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

In a new interview with The Classic Rock Podcast, Chilean-born singer Ronnie Romero, who forged a formidable reputation over past few years with his work with Ritchie Blackmore's RAINBOW and Michael Schenker, among other projects, spoke about his desire to focus more on his solo career and establish his own name in the rock scene. Asked which of his projects in the last decade and a half has given him the most satisfaction, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, for me, obviously, because I grew up as a big fan, it was to meet Ritchie [Blackmore] and play with him in RAINBOW. It was probably something that I still — I still think about it, like, I would really love to have my father at that time because he died before [I started playing with Ritchie], and he was a huge fan of DEEP PURPLE also. So that's the thing that I [would] love for my father to watch me doing. Even we did not too many shows — at the end, there were, like — I don't know — 12, 15 shows."

Asked if he would do another run of shows with RAINBOW if 78-year-old Ritchie called him up again and wanted to do it one more time before he retires from the road, Ronnie said: "Um, I don't think so. But we've been talking before the COVID, we were supposed to do a tour in 2020. And then because of the COVID everything stops. And then I never talked to him again. But I was thinking about this recently. And since I quit from MICHAEL SCHENKER [GROUP], it's the same thing. And I was, like, I don't think that I wanna do it again. I mean, I really enjoyed it, as I told you, and it probably is the highlight of my professional life and Ritchie gave me the chance to be in the spot and to develop a career and I will be always grateful, but I don't think that I wanna be there. I don't think that's my place anymore — with all due respect, obviously. I think I really wanna face my career from now on in the way that I'm doing now, just putting my name on the front and try to do my own stuff."

Romero previously talked about his decision to focus on his solo career last month in an interview with Lana Teramae of Metal Express Radio. At the time, he said: "I'm not gonna say I got tired, but, yeah, there was a point where, for me, I wanted to get rid of this label of, 'Ronnie Romero, the singer of.' Obviously, I feel really blessed and grateful and to have the chance to work with all those great musicians, especially with Ritchie Blackmore because he gave me my chance on the music industry and he put me on the spotlight and all the stuff. And obviously, I will always be very grateful. But then there is a point, especially at the end of last year, I was doing a tour with Michael Schenker. And then I felt, like, 'Okay, I need to establish my name at some point.' Because those guys, they're gonna stop playing at some at some point. It's gonna be very soon, because Ritchie, I don't think we're gonna do more shows, but Michael Schenker is celebrating his 50 years career anniversary. So at some point, he's gonna stop, and I need to have something to show to the people. I really wanted to establish my name and get rid of this 'the singer of' [label]. So I can show what I can do in the songwriting side and all this stuff. I learned and I grew up with all those great guys and I played with them, but it was enough. And now I need to move on and look into the future with my own material."

When Teramae noted that Romero didn't want to "rely on the safety net" of singing for someone else's band anymore, Ronnie concurred, saying: "Yeah, absolutely. Actually, the feeling was I was in the safety side. It was not my name or reputation in the front of those shows. There was no my name on the tickets. I was playing big arenas, stadiums, long tours, a lot of things, but because it was somebody else there. So I really wanted to have the risk and see how it's going with my own name, and I think that's part of the excitement also."

Romero released his third solo album, "Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters", on September 15 via Frontiers Music Srl. Written by Romero with drummer Andy C. and guitarist Jose Rubio, "Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters" marks the first time that Romero has been involved with 100% of the songwriting on an album he sings on. Romero also co-produced the album with Andy C., marking another first for Romero.

In a new interview with "Metalshop", W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless spoke about how he was affected by his experience with the PMRC (Parents' Music Resource Center) more than three and a half decades ago.

Back in the mid-'80s, the PMRC published a list called "The Filthy Fifteen" which consisted of the top fifteen songs they wanted banned due to objectionable lyrics suggesting violence, sex, drugs, alcohol or the occult. They petitioned for lyrics to be printed on the album jackets and no one was safe — heavy metal acts were right there alongside the pop stars. AC/DC, Madonna, MÖTLEY CRÜE, JUDAS PRIEST, Prince, W.A.S.P., MERCYFUL FATE, Vanity, DEF LEPPARD, Cyndi Lauper and TWISTED SISTER all made "The Filthy Fifteen" list. In November 1985, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) agreed to put "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" labels on selected releases at their own discretion.

"We were too young to really understand what it was all about, but they quickly put us in the eye of the hurricane, and then all kinds of bad things started happening — death threats and getting shot at and all of that," Blackie told "Metalshop" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "We became educated very, very quickly.

"I think I was in Indiana — I think it was Indianapolis — this girl came in to interview me," he continued. "And this was, like, '87. And she had worked for the PMRC at one point. And she, at this time I was talking to her, was a journalist. And she goes, she brought in a cassette tape and she goes, 'I've got something I need you to hear.' And she played this cassette tape for me. And on it were Susan Baker [co-founder of the PMRC] and a few of the others talking about what their real motivation was. And their motivation was not to get stickers on records. Their motivation was to get Al Gore a platform to then run for president of the United States. So they were trying to create a political profile for him — because what better way to get attention, if you're a political candidate, a southern caricature, which is what he was, what better way to get attention than to go after an attention getter? I mean, this is McCarthyism [political repression and persecution] — you know, it's no different. Richard Nixon did it. All these witch hunts that went on in D.C. for years. But they come to a generation who's not heard it. So this thing comes around once every 15 years. The generation hasn't heard it. They haven't heard the same old lies that come out of it. So it sounds pretty good to them because it sounds sincere and genuine."

The 67-year-old Lawless, whose real name is Steven Duren, added: "Let me tell you something about free speech. I'm part Jewish, I'm part Native American Indian. You can stand on a soapbox and you can talk about how wonderful Nazism is and how you'd like to kill all the Indians out there. I don't care. Well, let me rephrase that. I do care, but I don't want to limit your ability to speak, because if I do that, then we start going down a dark road because you start playing umpire, and then who plays umpire tomorrow?

"This country was built as a republic and a republic, contrary to what a lot of people don't understand, is not a democracy. But what you have to do to create a republic, you have to have a certain amount of faith in the people. So, in other words, if you have a guy that's spewing a bunch of hatred on a street corner or in a soapbox, you have to have faith in your fellow Americans that this guy is a lunatic and the vast majority of people are gonna find him out and not follow him. But what happens is when you start limiting that speech, then, like I said, you take away the ability of the people to decide for themselves, number one, who's crazy and who isn't. But even more dangerous than that, you start appointing these umpires that tell you what you can and cannot say. And it's extremely dangerous. And you've heard it a million times but it bears repeating, our system is not set up for popular speech. It's set up for unpopular speech."

Lawless previously discussed his experience with the PMRC during a "VIP Experience" question-and-answer session last November before W.A.S.P.'s concert at The Paramount Theater in Huntington, New York. At the time, he said: "It changed my life, if that's what you mean. It made me more of a recluse. Yeah, a couple of thousand death threats and bomb scares and getting shot at a couple of times usually has a tendency to alter your outlook on life a little. But also, we were exposed to extreme fame very early, and fame is kind of like this — if this table is a smorgasbord, it's like an evil genie stands down at the end of the smorgasbord and [says], 'You can take anything you want, but if you take one thing, you take it all. You do not get to pick and choose. So all the good stuff that you like in the smorgasbord, that's wonderful, but you've gotta take the bad stuff too.' So it ends up being a life-altering experience, one I don't think you can ever really go back from — at least I haven't been able to."

In a 2004 interview with the Las Vegas Mercury, Lawless spoke about having his music slammed by the PMRC, saying: "As the story goes, [PMRC founding member] Tipper [Gore] was walking down the hall in her house and her 12-year-old son had [W.A.S.P.'s] 'Fuck Like A Beast' playing on his stereo, and she lost her mind," Lawless said. "I don't know if that's true, but that's the story I've been told.

"You wanna talk about sensationalism?" Blackie continued. "This was an organization that was seeking a platform that would help serve its own political interests. They didn't give a damn about censorship. I've spent the better part of my career trying to get people to understand that. This really is not what you think it is. They come to you like the wolf in sheep's clothing and then use you to create a frenzy — not unlike what McCarthy did with the communists and Bob Dole did with rap. This is nothing new.

"You don't have to be Nostradamus to see what's going on with young people these days," Lawless continued. "Parents just don't get involved with their kids as much as they used to. Are you going to tell me that these parents at Columbine didn't know that anything was going on with their kids? Hey, my mother knew what I was doing 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But parents now, they don't want to take any responsibility for their children. They bring something into this world, and then when something goes wrong, they want to blame everybody else for it."

This past July, W.A.S.P.'s previously announced 2023 U.S. tour was canceled because of the extensive back injuries suffered by Lawless during the European leg of W.A.S.P.'s 40th-anniversary tour.

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

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

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

The Rolling Stones frontman, Mick Jagger, used to get fed up with his bandmate, guitarist Keith Richards, playing The Beatles songs non-stop when they shared an apartment together. Jagger admits a lot of their songs were inspired by their former rivals' pop hits because guitarist Keith was obsessed with them.


Speaking to Mojo magazine, he said: "Originally, Keith was the pop person really. I mean, I used to just write lyrics to his pop tunes and he wrote all these pop tunes because he listened to The Beatles all the time. Drove me crazy listening to The Beatles when we shared a flat together. Keith sort of left that behind in a way, but he wrote 'Ruby Tuesday', 'Let’s Spend The Night Together' – these were all Keith’s songs. But yeah, people will say ‘Keith was the one that liked blues.' I really like pop music now, listen to it all the time – Keith doesn’t. I still like blues but I like dance music and Keith doesn’t really like it.”


The new issue of MOJO is out now. Order your copy, or subscribe to the magazine, here.







The Rolling Stones' new album, Hackney Diamonds - the band's first album of new material in eighteen years - is out now.


The 12-track album, was recorded in various locations around the world, including Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles; Metropolis Studios, London; Sanctuary Studios, Nassau, Bahamas; Electric Lady Studios, New York; and The Hit Factory/Germano Studios, also in New York. Late drummer Charlie Watts is featured on two tracks, "Mess It Up" and "Live By The Sword". "Live By The Sword" additionally features bass from former Stones bassist Bill Wyman. "Sweet Sounds Of Heaven" featuring vocals from Lady Gaga and keys & piano from Stevie Wonder, "Get Close" and "Live By The Sword" with piano from Elton John, and "Bite My Head Off" with bass from Paul McCartney.


Hackney Diamonds is their first studio set of new material since 2005's A Bigger Bang. Since then, the Stones have continued to smash box office records on a series of global sell-out tours and released 2016's Grammy Award winning Blue & Lonesome, which featured their brilliant versions of many of the blues tracks that helped shape their sound, and topped album charts around the world. Last year, they thrilled European audiences totalling nearly a quarter of a million on the anniversary Sixty tour. The Rolling Stones have sold over 250 million albums worldwide.


Hackney Diamonds marks The Stones' first album produced by producer and musician Andrew Watt.





Tracklisting:


"Angry"
"Get Close"
"Depending On You"
"Bite My Head Off"
"Whole Wide World"
"Dreamy Skies"
"Mess It Up"
"Live By The Sword"
"Driving Me Too Hard"
"Tell Me Straight"
"Sweet Sounds Of Heaven"
"Rolling Stone Blues"


 "Sweet Sounds of Heaven" lyric video:





"Angry" video:





(Photo - Mark Seliger)

In a new interview with The Bladtcast, TESLA singer Jeff Keith was asked about a possible follow-up to the band's 2019 album "Shock", which was produced by DEF LEPPARD's Phil Collen. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, we've released a couple of singles — 'Cold Blue Steel', 'Time To Rock!' — and we're gonna work on one that we're gonna release sometime next spring. But I guess once we get enough songs or the time… I think the hardest thing is having the time, because when you put a record together, it takes, like, a year and a half to put an entire record together. So I guess it would just be having the time to take the time off to make a record. So right now we're just content with putting out a single here and a single there and having fun going out there. The fans are still there — we just appreciate 'em so much — and we're still having fun with it. So once we get up enough songs and enough time to put together another record, that's when we'll do it."

Last month, TESLA bassist Brian Wheat told Raul Amador of Bass Musician Magazine that he and his bandmates would "go in the studio in February and record a couple of new TESLA songs and maybe a couple covers."

In August 2022, TESLA released a standalone single, "Time To Rock!" A year earlier, the band issued another new track called "Cold Blue Steel".

Last month, 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 this past May. 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, 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 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.

In a new interview with "The Logan Show", NONPOINT frontman Elias Soriano talked about how aspiring artists use the popular social media app TikTok to boost their careers in ways previous musicians never could, often landing hit songs without ever playing a single live gig. Elias said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's what artists missed these days, that they're not allowing themselves to have because they're trying to move at the same speed as consumption, and you can't — you can't push your brand… You can. Go right ahead. Go right ahead. I changed my words. Go for it. But be patient with yourself. It's not gonna happen overnight. What's gonna happen is you're going to get discovered, and then you're gonna have to build a fan base. And then that fan base will come out and see you. Just because you get a million fans on TikTok doesn't mean a million people are gonna come out to see. So you need what I call trust. You need trust. You need what the industry calls brand trust. So I need to trust that when I go see this person that they're gonna give me every bit of feeling and every bit of performance that I caught in that TikTok clip, or was it edited real well or was it — all these things that you have to eventually gain from a consumer. You can't assume just by the popularity of one little thing that then they're gonna pack houses.

"If you're a sitting talent that's written an amazing song and it goes viral on TikTok and you've already honed your craft to the point where you can jump on stage in front of 20 people and blow them away next time, by the time you get to show 10, after all the videos happening, you might be at a hundred people. And then next tour, it might be better. You have to grow the way humans grow. Just because the media and the tech moves that fast doesn't mean hearts and commitment moves that same speed."

He continued: "So I just say to those people that are using what is the best discovery to date — TikTok and getting placed in movies and Netflix and all of these platforms that are now turning new artists, independent artists, cover songs and people like Kate Bush turning a song from 1985 and putting a billion streams behind it because it's in 'Stranger Things' — the world of delivery and consumption is changing and it's changing exponentially. So if you want to compete with the feed and the traffic and the tech, you have to get mindful and educated on it and then start to take risks and chances with your brand and your model in ways that feel comfortable with you. And that's what we've done. That's where I can see where we've gained success where a lot of people are, like, 'Man, your guys' social media game is crazy. The show is stepped up. We love the outfits. We love the new production. What are you guys doing different?' You just said it — all that shit that you just listed is exactly what we're doing different. We put our efforts into places where before we didn't see the efforts there. So we decided to pull dollars away from things that were weighing us down and pumping it into areas that we felt were going to help cause a ruckus. And we're causing a ruckus."

This past July, NONPOINT released a new single, "A Million Watts", via the band's independent label 361 Degrees Records. The track, which was produced by Chris Collier, who has previously worked with KORN and WHITESNAKE, among other bands, is the third single from NONPOINT's upcoming "Heartless" EP, due out on November 17. The EP will be available digitally and as a limited-edition cassette along with a NONPOINT-branded cassette player.

More than two years ago, NONPOINT launched 361 Degrees Records and filmed the process, along with documenting the making of new music, in a docu-series titled "A Path To Independence" that can be seen on the band's YouTube and official web site.

In December 2021, NONPOINT released its latest EP, "Ruthless". This followed their independent label plan of delivering music to their fans through more frequent releases and videos from the band.

NONPOINT's songs "Bullet With A Name", "Alive And Kicking", "In The Air Tonight", "Circles", "Your Signs", "Everybody Down" and many others have been featured in trailers, hit movies, television, iconic video games, as well as broadcasts from NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WWF.

NONPOINT has toured with major acts like DISTURBED, PAPA ROACH, MUDVAYNE and SEVENDUST, to name a few. They have also been featured on the main stages and support stages of iconic festivals like Soundwave, Rock Am Park, Rock Am Ring, Ozzfest, Rock On The Range, Welcome To Rockville and many more.

Last month, NONPOINT announced "The Million Watts Tour 2023" with (HED) P.E., SUMO CYCO and VRSTY. The 11-date trek will kick off on December 1 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and conclude on December 15 in Flint, Michigan.

In a new interview with Belgian Jasper, German metal singer Doro Pesch, who formed her previous band WARLOCK four decades ago, was asked if she he has ever contemplated retirement. The 59-year-old musician responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm thinking 24 hours about new songs, about the record, about the tour, about festivals. There's no other life. I grew up with horses, and I miss having pets in my life… But to me, I made up my mind when I was 24. I was living for 20, 25 years in Manhattan. One day I woke up and I thought, 'Okay, today I wanna choose my priorities,' and then it was very clear. I wanna live for the music and then nothing else. And then it was okay."

She continued: "I'm so happy that I made that decision, because before I thought, 'Yeah, I wanna have this and I wanna have pets and horses and dogs and maybe I wanna have kids and maybe I wanna have a husband.' But you can't. You have to make a decision, in my case, and that's the reason why I never married. I don't have any kids, but I have all the fans, and I feel like we are a big family. And I always feel so good in each and every country, in each and every city. And that's definitely a dream. Like doing music for such a long time. Oh, I didn't think that we would do it more than five, six, seven years."

Back in 2009, Doro told Sleaze Roxx that she didn't "believe in retirement. I think I will be on stage until the very end," she said. "I think I will die on stage; it's what I love to do. As long as people come out to the shows I will continue to perform. It doesn't matter if it is five people or five thousand."

Doro's new studio album, "Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud", will be released on October 27 via Nuclear Blast.

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

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

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

Doro's last album, 2018's "Forever Warriors, Forever United" featured 19 regular tracks and six bonus songs.

In September 2022, Doro released a very unique single — a soulful adaptation of her classic metal anthem "Raise Your Fist In The Air". The track was made possible by the new ZDF (national German TV channel) music show "Music Impossible".

In celebration of 35 years of the "Triumph And Agony" album from her former band WARLOCK, Doro released "Triumph And Agony Live" in various formats, including CD, vinyl, cassette, DVD, Blu-ray, and a huge box set, in September 2021 through her own label, Rare Diamonds Productions. The "Triumph And Agony" artwork centered on Geoffrey Gillespie's famous original drawing of the "Warlock" embracing the blonde rock star.

UK bashers Skindred recently performed their song, "Gimme That Boom", on the iconic BBC TV show, Later… With Jools Holland. Check out the footage below, licensed from BBC Studios Distribution.





This year, Skindred celebrate their 25th anniversary with the release of their brand new album, Smile, their eighth long-player and their first for Earache Records.




From the hard-hitting "Gimme That Boom" to the pop-reggae triumph of "L.O.V.E. (Smile Please)", these two sides of the album, ranging from joy to rage and love to fury, suggest that Smile is going to be hailed as the band's masterpiece; an album that brings together all facets of Skindred's music - from reggae to metal, rock to pop, dub to electro - into the most mind-expanding and potent collection of songs, designed to melt stereos around the world when it's released summer 2023.


Order the album here. Check out a visualizer for the single "If I Could" below.





Tracklisting:


"Our Religion"
"Gimme That Boom"
"Set Fazers"
"Life That's Free"
"If I Could"
"L.O.V.E. (Smile Please)"
"This Appointed Love"
"Black Stars"
"State Of The Union"
"Addicted"
"Mama"
"Unstoppable"


"If I Could" visualizer:





"Set Fazers" video:





"Unstoppable"

KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque spoke to "The Metal Podcast" about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's long-awaited new album. Titled "The Institute", KING DIAMOND's first studio LP in 17 years is tentatively due in 2024 via Metal Blade. It will be made available as a two-LP horror concept story, with the second part arriving at a later date. Andy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The last tour we did was in the U.S. And we jumped off that tour in December 2019. And that was right before the pandemic broke out. So since then we haven't been on the road — I mean, not a single show. We've been composing some songs and I've been trying to survive with bands in the studio, because that's what I do. When I'm not out with KING DIAMOND, touring and writing music for KING DIAMOND, I'm a music producer — mostly metal, of course, as you can imagine… I'm constantly working with things, you know, I mean, I'm writing riffs for KING DIAMOND all the time, and what does not fit for a KING DIAMOND song, it ends up like something else in my library of songs."

He added: "We might be able to come out next year for something. I can't really tell you when or where, but we're checking the possibilities to really come out with something next year, definitely."

Asked if he means a new music release or a tour, Andy replied: "A tour. And with the songs. I mean, we're working on that. We have songs. I sent King [Diamond, KING DIAMOND frontman] a bunch of songs, like, a year and a half ago, and we started working on them, like arrangement-wise and all that. And then MERCYFUL FATE came in between kind of; they did their summer tour in Europe and also a U.S. tour. And then they're gonna record like a single or two, I believe. And as soon as they're done with that, we're gonna go back and pick up where we ended with KING DIAMOND, all the KING DIAMOND songs that we have. And then, of course, King's going to write his share of the songs too, and all the lyrics and stuff. So it's a long procedure. But we have started."

At last year's Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Park, Walton-on-Trent, United Kingdom, King spoke to Bloodstock TV's Oran O'Beirne about his plans for "The Institute". "Something with KING DIAMOND, we have a very special thing [planned] for that album," King said. "It's gonna be a two-album story. But KING DIAMOND, we are building something that you will never have seen on a stage before — not that way. And with the light guy, he's never done it that way either. … It's very different, very sick. You will not have seen musicians standing on stage in that type of light. It's gonna be very dark. They have to learn to play in dark areas. It's crazy. I know that our light guy, he can't wait for us to do it. I showed him some pictures that have the kind of feelings I want, the kind of backdrops I want, stuff like that. … This is gonna blow people's minds when they see it, I am a hundred percent sure."

Back in November 2019, KING DIAMOND released its first new song in 12 years, "Masquerade Of Madness". A month later, La Rocque told The Metal Voice that he came up with the music for the track first before passing it off to King, who "needed to arrange a few things and change just a small few things for making it work with his vocals. And then, of course, he wrote the lyrics for it," the guitarist revealed. "So we [went] a little back and forth until he felt like, 'Okay, this is cool, man. This is the right key to sing in,' and all that."

La Rocque, whose real name is Anders Allhage, discussed his vision for the new KING DIAMOND album with The Metal Voice, saying that it will be filled with great "melodies, of course. Super important. Without melodies, there is no music," he explained. "I'm also envisioning a more organic sound of the album. If you look back to the older albums, when Mikkey [Dee] played [drums for the band], for example, it's, like, a little bit up and down in tempo, and that makes it dynamic and also organic. So that's one thing that I would like to hear on the next album, for sure. But building up a dynamic, kind of organic feel, the drummer is a really important thing here, of course. And I know that Matt Thompson [current KING DIAMOND drummer] is the right guy to do this, for sure."

In March 2019, King told Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show that the next album from his namesake band will be "absolutely gruesome" with a story set in a 1920s mental institution. "I chose that because I think it's a very creepy scenario," he explained. "And some of the things that go on that we're gonna show onstage is also things that certainly was going on back then, when medicine was beginning to take a beneficial turn in history and actually being able to help human beings live longer. But there was some experimentation going on, too, that was absolutely gruesome. Some of that is involved in the story, but it's something totally different. Once you get to the second part of the story, you will begin to suddenly understand that, 'What the hell is going on here? What is this really about?' 'Cause there's a whole different story that will not come to you till second part. But in the first part, you're gonna get to know a lot people at a certain place… Some of it takes place here, this world, and some of it takes place in a parallel world. And there's a correlation between what happened to me and what happens to some people in this place and where they suddenly appear. And you will find out why they are there, how they appear there and the places down the road. I won't say too much right now, but it's gonna be very creepy."

KING DIAMOND received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill" off the band's last album, 2007's "Give Me Your Soul … Please".

"Give Me Your Soul ... Please" sold 4,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 174 on The Billboard 200 chart.

KING DIAMOND released a DVD/Blu-ray, "Songs For The Dead Live", in January 2019 via Metal Blade Records. The set captures 1987's seminal "Abigail" album in its entirety, twice, and in very different locales: Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting in June 2016 and Philadelphia's Fillmore in November 2015. The performances feature KING DIAMOND's current band, comprising of guitarists La Rocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg and Thompson.

California rockers PAPA ROACH announced today that they have made a $150,000 donation to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) "Talk Away The Dark" campaign, which was presented at the finale performance of "The Revolutions Live" tour alongside touring partners SHINEDOWN and SPIRITBOX and tour promoter Live Nation in Denver, Colorado. The tour, which performed to over 250,000 attendees at 30 shows, saw the debut live performance of the song "Leave A Light On", which was preceded by an emotional PSA delivered by frontman Jacoby Shaddix, who pledged a donation on behalf of each city's attendees, culminating in the $150,000 donation.

AFSP CEO Bob Gebbia said: "We all have a role in preventing suicide and supporting each another's mental health. Music has always been a powerful way to spread these messages. That's why we are so thankful to PAPA ROACH for making mental health messages a priority throughout their career and most recently with 'Leave A Light On" and renaming it after our campaign 'Talk Away The Dark'. And their generous donation will support AFSP's public education, programs for survivors of loss, research, and advocacy work, that is essential to saving lives."

The band were so moved by the emotive response each night of the tour and the work done by the AFSP, that they have officially re-named the song "Leave A Light On (Talk Away The Dark)" and pledged a perpetual royalty from the song's use, to be donated directly to the AFSP to continue their mission to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide long after the "Revolutions Live" tour. The re-named single will officially be released on October 31, 2023.

"This issue doesn't just affect one of us, or a few of us, it affects all of us," says Shaddix.

"We're proud to work alongside the AFSP to support their mission to bring hope to those affected by suicide, and proud that this song — which has been special to us since it was first written — can play a part in bringing a little more light to an incredibly important topic."

PAPA ROACH also released an official music video for "Leave A Light On (Talk Away The Dark)" today. The connection between the message of the song and the cause is undeniably evident. This impactful initiative teaches you the warning signs for suicide, and how to have a conversation that could save a life — whether it's someone else's or your own. Help is available — talking is the first step to preventing suicide.

PAPA ROACH are two-time Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling leaders in alternative hard rock music, who in 2020 celebrated the 20th anniversary of their iconic album "Infest". PAPA ROACH are not unfamiliar with calling attention to mental health, and have been doing so since day 1 with the iconic release of "Last Resort". Since then, the band has gone on to create 10 studio albums, along their most recent, "Ego Trip", on their own label New Noize Records. "Ego Trip" has garnered over 260 million global streams to date, and has produced three No. 1 singles, bringing the band's total to 26 career Top 10 hits, and 11 career No. 1s. 23 years into their career, the band continue to have global success.

EVERGREY, Gothenburg, Sweden's finest export of darkness, celebrates 30 years of metal mastery with a very special treat to be released via Napalm Records: an anniversary album, titled "From Dark Discoveries To Heartless Portraits", to be issued on December 15, 2023.

"From Dark Discoveries To Heartless Portraits" will be available in various formats, including an extremely limited 112-page hardcover book and 1CD digisleeve bundle (including rare photos and imagery, behind the scenes stories and exclusive liner notes from the members). It wraps up three decades of EVERGREY's journey, carries some very special treats along with it, and cements their position as one of the most genre-defining bands of our time. "From Dark Discoveries To Heartless Portraits" unites EVERGREY's past and present and paves the way for the band's next chapter.

EVERGREY states: "Make sure you get a hold off the limited-edition book as we have worked intensely for months to gather all the photos and write all the stories for each of the albums. It's an insanely cool product to have and to remember all of these years together with us! Here's to another 30!"

In addition to live versions of recent tracks like "Call Out The Dark" and "Where August Mourns", the record travels down memory lane with "My Allied Ocean", "A Touch Of Blessing", "Recreation Day" and "King Of Errors". The second half of the offering contains soulful piano vocal versions of four songs from the latest full-length ("Save Us", "Call Out The Dark", "Blindfolded" and "Midwinter Calls"),and demo versions of the same tracks, topped by a instrumental version of "A Silent Arc".

"From Dark Discoveries To Heartless Portraits" track listing:

01. Call Out The Dark (Live Version)
02. Where August Mourns (Live Version)
03. My Allied Ocean (Live Version)
04. A Touch Of Blessing (Live Version)
05. Recreation Day (Live Version)
06. King Of Errors (Live Version)
07. Save Us (Piano Vocal Version)
08. Call Out The Dark (Piano Vocal Version)
09. Blindfolded (Piano Vocal Version)
10. Midwinter Calls (Piano Vocal Version)
11. A Silent Arc (Demo Version - Instrumental)
12. Save Us (Demo Version - Rough Mix)
13. Midwinter Calls (Demo Version - Rough Mix)
14. Call Out The Dark (Demo Version - Rough Mix)
15. Blindfolded (Demo Version - Rough Mix)

Since their very first record, 1998's "The Dark Discovery", the Swedish entity led by founder, singer and guitarist Tom S. Englund — one of the most distinctive vocals in metal — has enthralled fans and critics alike with their matchless skill in merging progressive heaviness with intense melodic metal topped by gripping lyrics that run shivers down one's spine. To date, the band has gathered numerous worldwide chart positions with 13 studio albums in total, and in 2022, the five-piece proved again — even after 30 years of existence — that their creativity sees no bounds with the release of "A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)".

EVERGREY is:

Tom S. Englund - vocals, guitars
Henrik Danhage - guitars
Rikard Zander - keys
Jonas Ekdahl - drums
Johan Niemann - bass

Photo credit: Patric Ullaeus

Professionally filmed video of Marty Friedman's August 5 performance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany can be seen below.

Featured songs:

00:00 Devil Take Tomorrow
05:51 Dragon Mistress
17:27 Kaze Ga Fuiteiru

As previously reported, Friedman — who moved from America to Tokyo in 2003 — will return to the Japan Foundation in Los Angeles on Thursday, November 9 to participate in another public question-and-answer session, "Ask Marty Vol. 2: An Insider's View Of Japan Through The Eyes Of An American Rockstar".

You can reserve your spot now at the Japan Foundation Los Angeles web site.

Friedman played his first U.S. show in four years on March 3 at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida as support act for QUEENSRŸCHE. Marty performed on more than two dozen dates with QUEENSRŸCHE, running through April 16, where the tour wrapped up in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Marty's "Tokyo Jukebox 3" album received a North American release in April 2021 via The Players Club/Mascot Label Group. The record, which was made available in Japan in October 2020, was the third in a series that began with "Tokyo Jukebox" in 2009, and then "Tokyo Jukebox 2" following in 2011. The trilogy presents Friedman's inspired performances to Japanese repertoire he's chosen to cover.

Marty's presence in the world of music, the world of guitar and Japanese pop culture is mystifying, bizarre, and nothing short of inspiring. His first major impact in music was in the game-changing guitar duo CACOPHONY, which he founded with equally enigmatic and now-legendary guitarist Jason Becker. He then spent 10 years as lead guitarist in the genre-defining thrash metal act MEGADETH before moving to Tokyo due to his love for Japanese music, language, and culture.

Following his move, he landed a starring role for a new TV comedy "Hebimeta-san" ("Mr. Heavy Metal") and its spinoff, "Rock Fujiyama", which ran for six seasons and propelled him into the living rooms of Japan's mainstream. He has since appeared in over 800 TV shows, movies and commercials, including a two-year campaign with Coca-Cola for Fanta, authored two best-selling novels and was the first-ever foreigner to be appointed as an ambassador of Japan heritage and perform at the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Marathon in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022. At the same time, Marty has continued his career in music with several solo albums in addition to writing and performing with the top artists in Japanese music, racking up countless chart hits, including a No. 1 with SMAP, two No. 2 songs with MOMOIRO CLOVER, a No. 2 with SOUND HORIZON — just to name a few.

According to The Sun, THE WHO guitarist Pete Townshend is working on the musical score for his hit 2019 novel "The Age Of Anxiety".

"I am still developing the score and recording the music," Pete said. "I am also working on a documentary about the project, from its inception in 2007 until today. I'm probably two years off completing it, at which time I hope to perform it with a full opera and a cast of guest singers."

"The Age Of Anxiety" was released in November 2019. The book was published by Coronet/Hachette Books and is available in hardcover and audio read by British actor Michael Jayston.

In "The Age Of Anxiety", Pete explores the anxiety of modern life and madness in a story that stretches across two generations of a London family, their lovers, collaborators, and friends. The editor, Coronet publisher Mark Booth, said: "'The Age Of Anxiety' is a great rock novel, but that is one of the less important things about it. The narrator is a brilliant creation — cultured, witty, and unreliable. The novel captures the craziness of the music business and displays Pete Townshend's sly sense of humor and sharp ear for dialogue. First conceived as an opera, 'The Age Of Anxiety' deals with mythic and operatic themes including a maze, divine madness, and long-lost children. Hallucinations and soundscapes haunt this novel, which on one level is an extended meditation on manic genius and the dark art of creativity."

The narrator of the story is Louis Doxtader, a dealer of outsider art in Richmond. He is the art agent for Paul Jackson, a 1960s rock star and founder of the band HERO GROUND ZERO, who went mad and disappeared for years on the Cumberland moors, where he painted his apocalyptic visions of angels. The main protagonist of the story is Louis's godson Walter Watts, a young rock musician who connects psychically to his audience and begins to hear soundscapes of their anxieties, which he describes in essays that are presented throughout the book. There are strong female characters interwoven throughout the story, including a woman named Floss, which was Pete's early working title for the book. The story plot has many strands and a lot of twists and turns which all come together at a big concert performance of Walter's soundscapes.

When starting work on the story in 2008, Townshend drew inspiration from talking to people in his neighborhood around Richmond and found that there was a great deal of anxiety and fear on everyone's mind, something that is especially true in 2020. What could be a more apt description of the time we are currently living in than the Age Of Anxiety? Like so much of Pete's work over his career, he wanted to reflect his audience's thoughts and feelings. Many of the characters in the story are based on people he knows, and he sticks to subject matter he is very familiar with, such as the music business and art world. Readers familiar with Pete's work and life will recognize autobiographical elements throughout the book.

When the book was released, Pete went on a promotional tour for it, appearing at book events around London and Brighton, and giving dozens of interviews to media outlets around the world. His discussions about the book were insightful and fascinating.

Photo credit: Rick Guest (courtesy of Penny Guyon / Firefly Media and Live Nation)

Professionally filmed video of METALLICA performing the song "One" on October 8 at the Power Trip festival in Indio, California can be seen below.

METALLICA closed out the final night at the three-day event with a 16-song set that spanned the band's entire career.

METALLICA kicked off the show with "Whiplash" from the 1983 album "Kill 'Em All" and followed it up with two tracks from its sophomore album, "Ride The Lightning", "Creeping Death" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls".

Elsewhere, METALLICA surprisingly performed one of its biggest hits, "Enter Sandman", as the fourth song of the set, before launching into two tracks from the band's latest album, "72 Seasons", "Lux Æterna" and "Too Far Gone?" Other tracks aired included "Fuel" from 1997's "Reload" and "Orion" from the 1986 album "Master Of Puppets".

Guitarist Kirk Hammett flubbed the intro to "Nothing Else Matters", telling the audience, "Sorry, guys. I did it again. I screwed it up again. I'm gonna play it again for you." After taking a couple of steps back, he returned to the mic and told the crowd, "You know, it's really hot in this fucking desert," before adding a forced laugh. (Hammett previously botched the intro to "Nothing Else Matters" at METALLICA's sold-out show at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium in early August, and before that at the Boston Calling festival in May 2022.)Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo also performed a jam that Trujillo said the pair wrote specifically for Power Trip called "Funk In The Desert".

METALLICA's setlist was as follows:

01. Whiplash
02. Creeping Death
03. For Whom The Bell Tolls
04. Enter Sandman
05. Lux Æterna
06. Too Far Gone?
07. Fade To Black
08. Fuel
09. Orion
10. Nothing Else Matters
11. Sad But True
12. The Day That Never Comes
13. Hardwired
14. Seek & Destroy
15. One
16. Master Of Puppets

The inaugural three-day Power Trip rock and heavy metal event began October 6 with sets from IRON MAIDEN and GUNS N' ROSES. Next up over the weekend were JUDAS PRIEST and AC/DC on Saturday, October 7 and TOOL and METALLICA on October 8.

No single-day tickets were sold to the event, which drew tens of thousands of attendees. Three-day general admission was $599 and three-day reserved seats were $999-$3,250.

METALLICA previously performed at the Empire Polo Grounds in 2011 as part of the West Coast installment of the "Big Four" event, also featuring ANTHRAX, MEGADETH and SLAYER.

The similarly named Desert Trip festival was held in 2016 and featured performances by THE ROLLING STONES, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and THE WHO. That event was reportedly the single most lucrative music festival in American history, having grossed $160 million.

In a new interview with Knotfest's "She's With The Band" podcast, KITTIE drummer Mercedes Lander and guitarist/vocalist Morgan Lander spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the long-awaited follow-up to the band's 2011 album "I've Failed You". Mercedes said about the musical direction of the new KITTIE material: "I'm gonna say that we are just really stoked to write 1,200 percent bangers. I think that's just where we're at now. We want people to feel good. We want people to feel what we're feeling. I feel like bangers, that's what we're good at."

Asked by host Tori Kravitz about the possibility of KITTIE combining some of the old-school sound from the band's early days and mixing it up with a fresh approach, Morgan said: "I think marrying some of the ideas, 'cause I don't think we're ever going to put our JNCOs [jeans] on again. But, yeah, the idea of marrying some of those ideas — like who we are now with the ideas of who maybe we used to be and kind of being able to meet somewhere in the middle, but in a way that will just create something brand new again. I'm excited for it to be unleashed upon the world."

As for whether KITTIE is planning to release singles or a full-length album in the near future, Morgan said: "Things are happening, wheels are in motion, but we are just not able to announce anything yet. But I guess the blanket statement could be, like, people who are excited about KITTIE will continue to be excited for the next year. Things are happening. And I think it will be a really good year for us." Mercedes added: "I think people are gonna be really excited when they find out what we've been up to."

At some of its recent shows, KITTIE has been performing a brand new song called "Vultures".

KITTIE played its first concert in five years in September 2022 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Joining Morgan and Mercedes in KITTIE's current lineup guitarist Tara McLeod and bassist Ivana "Ivy" Vujic.

Prior to Blue Ridge, KITTIE had not performed since its reunion show at London Music Hall in the band's native London, Ontario in 2017, celebrating the group's documentary "Kittie: Origins/Evolutions".

Asked in an interview with the "Talk Toomey" podcast what led to Vujic returning to KITTIE for the most recent batch of dates, Lander said: "Ivy played on two of our albums, the last two albums that we did. She left the band right before the very last big tour that we ended up doing; she did the Soundwave Festival [in Australia] with us in 2012, and those were the last shows that we did with her. And she just kind of settled into her life, started a family, got married, and so that's sort of been what she's been up to. But Ivy's a metal girl at heart and she's always been super, super easygoing about stuff. I just sent her a message and I was, like, 'Hey, can we talk?' And we had a really, really great phone call and I just sort of explained the situation, explained what was going on. I asked her if she'd be into doing it, and she was, like, 'Yeah. Sounds great.' … It's very much one of those things where you don't talk that often anymore, you don't see each other that often, but then, when you all get together again, that chemistry and that vibe is always there."

Morgan continued: "I feel like that lineup of KITTIE in particular was always very super pro, super chill — no stress, no drama. Just, like, 'You know what? We're gonna go out there and we're gonna sound amazing.'

"She's an incredible bass player. I don't think that Ivy gets enough credit. She is absolutely incredible."

Vujic joined KITTIE in 2008 and appeared on the band's fifth studio CD, 2009's "In The Black". She also wrote and recorded bass for KITTIE's sixth album, 2011's "I've Failed You".

In January 2022, the original lineup of KITTIE — Morgan, Mercedes, Fallon Bowman (guitar) and Tanya Candler (bass) — reunited for an online chat to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of its gold-certified 2000 debut album, "Spit".

Candler left KITTIE after the release of "Spit" in order to finish high school and was replaced by Talena Atfield.

Bowman exited KITTIE in 2001 and started her own industrial/electronic project, AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT.

After KITTIE completed the touring cycle for 2011's "I've Failed You" album, the band entered a long period of inactivity during which Morgan focused on a marketing job for a chain of fitness clubs while Mercedes worked in real estate and more recently at a software company. The group also began work on a career-spanning documentary, "Origins/Evolutions", which finally saw the light of day in 2018 via Lightyear Entertainment in North America.

"I've Failed You" sold 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200 chart.