METALLICA closed out Power Trip Sunday night (October 8) at the Power Trip festival in Indio, California 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." (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 Friday (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.



Nothing Else Matters

Posted by Neal Hynes on Monday, October 9, 2023

In a new interview with Billy Sloan of BBC Radio Scotland, legendary vocalist Paul Rodgers reflected on his experience fronting QUEEN between 2004 and 2009. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Brian [May, QUEEN guitarist] said to me, 'Can we get together and just do a couple of shows for fun in Europe?' And I said, 'Well, it sounds good.' 'Cause we'd played 'All Right Now' together and we played 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are The Champions', and it sort of made sense at that point in time. They're very versatile; their music is, I mean, wow. There's so many great songs that they've actually — hits that they've got. I said, 'Sure, let's just do that. Let's do a couple of dates and see how we go.' Well, that couple of dates turned into four years. We toured the world twice, and we made a studio album, so it really got involved. At the end of the day, though, I did think that I was getting too far away from my own kind of music and I wanted to step away from it. But it was a wild and exciting run."

Regarding his approach to singing songs originally written and recorded by late QUEEN frontman Freddie Mercury, Paul said: "Well, I wondered, really, what people would make of it, but basically I always have followed the music wherever my whole life; I've just followed the music. And it seemed to me that when we played together — if we hadn't had played together, I might have had very much second thoughts. But we had done, and it was such a musical success playing 'All Right Now' with the guys — and we also, later on, we did 'Feel Like Making Love', we did 'Wishing Well', and every one of them, they performed fantastically. Brian's a great guitar player, so there's no problem there. And I said to myself, 'Now, how do I do this, because I don't really wanna be stepping into anybody's shoes. I wanna be myself.' And actually, Brian Johnson from AC/DC, I'd read an interview by him, and when he was gonna join that band, and the first night on stage, the guitar player said to him, and he looked very nervous, and he was very nervous, so he says in this interview, and he said that, 'Hey, don't worry about anything. Just go and be yourself.' And I'd read that interview, and I thought, 'Well, that's what I'll do. I'm not gonna try and replace anybody, I'm just gonna be myself.' So what I did was I set out, really, to basically interpret their songs in my way, and that's really how I handled it."

Asked what he thinks of Adam Lambert, the 2009 "American Idol" runner-up who is fronting the current incarnation of QUEEN, Paul said: "Well, you know, I think he's perfect for the band… I haven't really followed them since then, but from what I've seen, he's great."

Paul previously discussed his QUEEN stint last month in an interview with TalkShopLive's The Rock N Roll Channel. When interviewer Steve Harkins noted that Rodgers "energized" and "breathed life" into QUEEN, Paul said: "They hadn't toured. They'd done lots of one-off shows with various great people — Elton John and George Michael. They're some great singers, but they never toured with them. And I was able to get them out touring, because they knew that they had the songs, but they just didn't feel confident enough to get out there and actually, you know, do a tour. And that's what we did together. And the fans were lovely. They were beautiful."

Paul's latest comments are similar to those he made in a 2019 interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". At the time, he stated about the experience of fronting QUEEN: "Well, it was a wild ride, I'll tell you. And it came out of the blue. When Brian asked me if I wanted to do a couple of shows just for fun in Europe, I was pretty taken aback. And I must say my first reaction was, 'Well, I really don't see that.' But then I said to myself, 'Well, it's a challenge. Let me see if I can do it. Maybe I'm chickening out here.' So I did it. And it turned into four years, actually. We toured all over the place. We toured the world twice, and we finished off with a studio album of all-original material. So it was a wild and crazy ride, as they say. And we are still friends, and I love the guys."

With Rodgers at the mic, QUEEN embarked on two world tours and released an album, "The Cosmos Rocks", in 2008. They amicably parted ways a year later when Rodgers returned to BAD COMPANY.

"When I sort of joined forces with [QUEEN], they were not touring," Rodgers recalled to "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". "They were doing one-off gigs — they were big one-off gigs, but they weren't touring. And with me, what we did [is] we went out… They wanted to play 50 percent of their music and 50 percent of mine, and I said to them, 'People haven't seen QUEEN live for a long time. We should make it QUEEN heavy.' So we did four or five of my songs… But it was great. It was good."

Rodgers has said in previous interviews that he performed all of the QUEEN songs in Mercury's original keys. "A lot of people drop the keys," Paul said. "But, to me, the challenge was to do this material the way it was done, but in my interpretation of it."

The current incarnation of QUEEN, featuring Lambert, was created in 2011 and has gone on several tours, including worldwide runs in 2014-15 and 2017-18.

In a 2014 interview with the Toronto Sun, May and drummer Roger Taylor admitted that their collaboration with Lambert is a better fit than their previous involvement with Rodgers.

"Paul has one of the greatest rock voices but it's more blues- and soul-orientated, I would have thought," Taylor told the Toronto Sun. "I would say, with all due respect to Paul, that Adam is more suited to a lot of our material and whereas we had great tours with Paul, I think Adam is more naturally at home with us." May concurred and added that Lambert's remarkable range and flamboyant stage presence are much more in line with those of Mercury. "Yeah, I think the styles match more closely in a sense," May said. "But we had a great time with Paul, no doubt about it, and it kind of stretched it to a new place and, I think, a thoroughly good experience. But Adam is really… Like us, he has many, many colors, so we can explore some of those strange excursions that QUEEN likes to."

Rik Emmett, who was estranged, both personally and professionally, from the two other members of the legendary Canadian classic rock power trio TRIUMPH for 18 years, spoke to The Metal Voice about his rekindled friendship and working relationship with Gil Moore and Mike Levine. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "When I went back in for reunions and filming documentaries and stuff, I was not reentering the partnership. I was not getting a piece of TRIUMPH back. The other guys own it. I was just coming in as if I was a sideman, a friend, participating purely out of friendship and stuff. There were no deals being cut that I cared about. They were saying, 'Oh, if there's any merch, we'll give you [a piece of it].' I go, 'Yeah, whatever. I don't care. Let's just do this. I'll do this for friendship and I'll do this more for the sake of the legacy of the name of the brand,' which I don't even own anymore. I don't have a piece of that, but I don't care."

He continued: "I think everything that I do, in a good spirit, towards the whole TRIUMPH thing, it only benefits me in the life that I have, the books that I write. I mean, c'mon, 'triumph', the word, is on the front cover of my book, because it helps me in the marketing of my own stuff. There's no way around that."

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

Asked if there was anything that could have been done back in the 1980s to prevent him from leaving TRIUMPH, Rik said: "I think the thing that could have saved me is if the band had somehow, around 1984, '85-ish, maybe after the 'Thunder Seven' album had come down the pipe with MCA, when we'd started there, if we'd had a conversation about, 'Okay…' Remember how KISS, each guy did their own solo album? Like, if there'd had been something where it'd be, like, 'Hey, you know what? Let's allow the partnership, the TRIUMPH brand to allow guys to step out. You're not going to be quitting, you're not going to be leaving, but you're going to be given enough rope that you can go out and hang yourself. And then it will reel you back in when it's time for us to do the next thing.' But that was not the mindset at the time. And, of course, the mindset was — because it was the whole three-musketeers thing that it had been based on from the get-go, there was always the desire, the energy to try to save that, to try and hold on to that, as opposed to saying, 'Wait, let's kind of split it open and let air in.' It was, like, 'Oh, no. We're not letting any air in.' … Nobody was gonna go, 'Yeah, yeah, here's a budget so you can do your [solo thing].' They're going, 'No, no, no, no. Give us a hit record. We wanna get our money back.'"

Emmett will release his long-awaited memoir, "Lay It On The Line - A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph", on October 10 via ECW Press.

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

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

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

Legendary rockers KISS returned to Sydney for their last-ever show in Australia on Saturday, October 7 at Accor Stadium.

The farewell show was the result of a national petition which saw passionate KISS fans beg for the band to return to Australia one more time before they bring their lengthy touring career to an end at New York City's Madison Square Garden in December.

"You have made your voices loud enough that it was impossible for us not to hear you!" KISS frontman Paul Stanley said when the show was first announced in May. "We are overwhelmed by your petitions and calls for one last KISS so we are now announcing that the 'End Of The Road' will detour one last time to Sydney for a final bombastic farewell. As unexpected as this is for us, we will make it unforgettable for all who share the night with us."

Fan-filmed video of last night's entire concert can be viewed below (courtesy of the Vic's Music YouTube channel).

The setlist was as follows:

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

Encore:

20. Beth
21. Shandi
22. I Was Made For Lovin' You
23. Rock And Roll All Nite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STONE SOUR drummer Roy Mayorga joined Corey Taylor on stage this past Thursday (October 5) at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, California to perform two of the band's songs, "Absolute Zero" and "30/30-150". Fan-filmed video of his appearance can be seen below.

Last month, Corey told Saby Reyes-Kulkarni of Paste magazine about his decision to put STONE SOUR "on indefinite hiatus" and launch his solo career by releasing 2020's "CMFT" and 2023's "CMF2" albums: "When STONE SOUR first started, not only was I playing guitar constantly, but I was also the lead guitarist and main writer. Honestly, one of the reasons why I was very adamant about starting my solo thing is that there was a weird misconception around who was writing what for what band. Maybe this is where my ego comes into play, but I felt like I wasn't getting the credit for the things I was actually writing. With STONE SOUR, it was fairly obvious, but there were a lot of songs that I wrote that people thought [guitarists] Jim [Root] or Josh [Rand] wrote where that wasn't the case at all. And then, with SLIPKNOT, there was a lot of stuff that either wouldn't have been written without me, or that I wrote that other people gave [themselves] credit [for]. As someone who takes great pride in sitting down and creating something from nothing — just from my imagination — that stuck in my craw."

He continued: "I've never shied away from giving credit to the people who deserve it. I've never taken credit for anything that I didn't do, and I've always been the first to shine the spotlight on anybody else. I don't necessarily get that in return. So this, for me, is setting the record straight and changing the narrative. Showing people that, 'Oh yeah, he does write heavy shit. And country shit. And acoustic shit. And piano shit. And rock shit. Hardcore shit' — the gamut."

This past June, Taylor told Germany's Rock Antenne that it is easier for him to make solo records than it is to work with a band. But he clarified: "It's not that I don't miss some of the guys in STONE SOUR; I still talk to them. But at this stage, I refuse to compromise my vision and my art because of certain people's hindrances. And that's all I'll say."

In August 2022, Corey told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that "nothing" had changed with regard to STONE SOUR months after he said in a previous interview that the band was on hiatus. Pressed about whether STONE SOUR is something he still might revisit at some point in the future, Corey said: "I don't know. The solo thing's more where my heart is, to be honest."

Corey, who was actually in STONE SOUR before he joined SLIPKNOT, continued: "To me, I've done the time doing stuff in a — for lack of a better term — band situation. And the reason I stick with SLIPKNOT is because that, to me, is the one that kind of started everything. But STONE SOUR, there's still so much drama and issues [between the members]. To me, it's just not something I desire to do. And songs in STONE SOUR that I want to play are the ones that I wrote in the first place. So to me, I would rather go out with a group of dudes who I've known forever and have a great time playing these songs and have the audience enjoy it because they see a bunch of dudes up there enjoying it than try to force issues on an audience that nobody really wants to be a part of, let's put it that way."

Asked it has been difficult for him to shelf STONE SOUR considering the amount of work he put into the band, Corey said: "It's been a bitter pill to swallow, but I've also reached an age where I refuse to waste any time with people who I don't enjoy being with, let's put it that way. And that's saying more than I actually should be saying.

"When it comes to my bands, I know in the past I've been very open to talking about it," Taylor continued. "But I'm very reticent about talking about things that deal with people who I care about. And whether there are issues or not, I still care about them. So it's tough. I have to rein myself in 'cause I'm not gonna throw anybody under the bus because nine times out of 10 I could be the problem too.

"I just know that at this point in my life I have more reason to love the solo thing than I do to try and do something with STONE SOUR," Corey added. "Now, am I saying that it'll never happen? No, because you never know. Something might come up and we could get an opportunity, and we could get an opportunity to do something for charity, and we all get together and we do something really, really cool. But my immediate plans right now — there's no STONE SOUR in the future."

STONE SOUR has been off the road and out of sight since completing the touring cycle for its last studio album, 2017's "Hydrograd". Taylor has been working with SLIPKNOT since then, as well as making his debut solo album, "CMFT", and a follow-up effort, "CMF2", which arrived last month. A STONE SOUR live album, "Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno", came out in December 2019.

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson has released a new video message in which he offered a bit more information about his upcoming solo album, due in early 2024 on BMG. Titled "The Mandrake Project", it sees him reunited with long-time musical collaborator and producer Roy "Z" Ramirez.

"The Mandrake Project" will be Dickinson's seventh solo album and his first since "Tyranny Of Souls" in 2005.

Bruce said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "So, everybody, everybody on the planet who's been going, 'Oh my god. What's this solo thing gonna be all about when it finally happens?' Well, it's finally happening. It's called 'The Mandrake Project', and' of course, it's music. But, it's also much, much, more. More than that, I'm not gonna reveal for now, 'cause it will become self-explanatory and self-evident as we go through and reveal more layers of the onion for you all."

He continued: "But, yeah, 'The Mandrake Project'. We've been working on this since 2014, when it wasn't called 'The Mandrake Project'. And it's had time to grow and mature. And, oh my God, has it ever. I think you will be really, really excited. And, I hope you love everything that we've created for you."

When "The Mandrake Project" was first announced in September, Dickinson said in a statement: "This album has been a very personal journey for me and I am extremely proud of it. Roy Z and I have been planning, writing and recording it for years, and I am very excited for people to finally hear it. I'm even more excited at the prospect of getting out on the road with this amazing band that we have put together, to be able to bring it to life. We're planning to play as many shows as we can in as many places as possible, for as many people as we can! As for what 'The Mandrake Project' actually is… all will be revealed soon!”

The first live shows to be announced are in Mexico and Brazil in April and May 2024, with further touring plans to be revealed in due course.

"The Mandrake Project" tour dates:

April 18 - Diana Theater, Guadalajara, Mexico
April 20 - Pepsi Theatre, Mexico City, Mexico
April 24 - Live Curitiba, Curitiba, Brazil
April 25 - Pepsi On Stage, Porto Alegre, Brazil
April 27 - Opera Hall, Brasilia, Brazil
April 28 - Arena Hall, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
April 30 - Qualistage, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
May 02 - Quinta Linda, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil
May 04 - Vibra, Sao Paulo, Brazil

In March 2022, Bruce told Consequence about his next solo album: "I've been working on it, on and off, since 'Tyranny Of Souls'. But between lockdowns and albums and MAIDEN tours and everything else, I'm looking for a clear space to actually nail and say, 'Okay, this is what it's gonna be,' and get Roy to put some backing tracks down. And then we can do it. So we're at the point now where we've already got — I don't know — anywhere between 50 and 70 percent of the material for the album, depend[ing] on what we pick, from things we've already got. And I think we'd like to tweak it a little bit."

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

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

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

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

During a new appearance on Knotfest's Squared Circle Pit, FOZZY and STUCK MOJO guitarist Rich Ward reflected on FOZZY's September 2019 concert as the opening band for IRON MAIDEN at Banc Of California Stadium in Los Angeles, California. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That was another one of those things. As a 13-year-old kid, IRON MAIDEN was my favorite band. And I'm opening for IRON MAIDEN — main support. I'm standing on the floor that's got all of the — you know how everything there is all branded and they've got stage props and everything's behind me. But then I'm trying not to get in the moment too much, because I don't wanna go, 'Selfie. Look where I'm at.' I don't wanna be that guy because I wanna keep it in check."

Elaborating on why he makes a conscious effort to stay grounded more than three decades into his career, Ward said: "Let's think about all of the crazy people in the music industry that let that get to them. I've had lots of bad interactions with famous musicians over the years that I was a fan of, and I tried to meet them because I'm a fan. At my core, I'm still that 13-year-old kid standing in front of a mirror playing guitar. I'm still a fanboy. And I've had some bad interactions. And those are always because somebody forgot that they didn't cure cancer. They forgot that this is a privileged life that entertainers, people in our business have. It could all go away, and it has. You look at bands like QUIET RIOT who were the biggest band in the world, and two years later they were playing clubs again. It doesn't last forever. None of this stuff is guaranteed. And those bad experiences with people have taught me, when somebody comes up to me, as much as I may be embarrassed by the moment of someone's really wants to meet me and I wanna tell them, 'It's okay. just play guitar.' But I wanna honor that moment by listening to them and stopping what I'm doing to give them that moment, because for them it is important, because I made a song or I was part of something that they enjoyed. And I don't ever wanna take that away from them. And probably, over the 25 or 30 years, 32 years that I've been doing this, I'm sure that I've had a bad interaction. But I make it a point, when people try to talk to me, that I never blow it off as insignificant or make it trivial."

Rich also recalled one rock-star interaction that left a very positive impression on him. He said: "I opened for [IRON MAIDEN's] Bruce Dickinson solo a couple of times with STUCK MOJO. One time is the Milwaukee Metal Fest in 1997, I think, and we shared a dressing room with Bruce Dickinson, because it was like a festival common-area thing, and he had come up on stage and jammed with STUCK MOJO, like, eight months earlier. We played the Roseland Ballroom [in New York City]. It was us and FEAR FACTORY and BIOHAZARD. It was at CMJ. And Bruce was in town to promote his new album 'Accident Of Birth' that was coming out. And we approached him and said, 'Hey, I know it's not your song per se, but we do a cover of [IRON MAIDEN's] 'Wrathchild', if you'd like to come out and sing it with us.' And he was, like, 'Well, I've got some things going on. Maybe. Maybe.' This was sold-out Roseland Ballroom, 3,500 people or whatever. We weren't the headliner, but we were midway in the pack, probably on at, like, eight or nine o'clock at night. And we went onstage. We were all so nervous. 'Is he gonna show up?' We kept looking. It's the singer for IRON MAIDEN. It's my hero. Okay? I've seen him so many times from the front row. And after the third song, I looked over, and there he was standing on the side of the stage. And then we introduced him, and he came up and he sang 'Wrathchild' with us on stage. And it was the greatest moment of my life up until that moment. I was literally trying to stand next to him as close as I could to him the whole time, as much as he would let me. I was a stalker, grade-A stalker at that point. But when I saw him at the Milwaukee Metal Fest eight months later, and I was backstage, he was, like, 'Hey, Rich. How's it going?' He knew my name. And that meant so much to me that I will never not make those efforts, 'cause there are a lot of young bands that grew up that love STUCK MOJO and FOZZY. Some of 'em are in way bigger bands, but in our world, it doesn't matter."

Back in 2016, Ward told the "Behind The Barricade" podcast that the first time he met ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian, "he was a total dick to me. And the second time I met Scott Ian, he was a total dick to me. It was rough, 'cause I'm a big ANTHRAX and Scott Ian fan, so that was really tough," he said. "Because as a fanboy, even though I was making records and I already had success of my own, I was still a little kid in his presence, 'cause [ANTHRAX's classic album] 'Among The Living' was a big record for me."

He continued: "I just remember: don't be a dick to people, Rich. 'Cause you remember how it felt when he was to you. Now, I don't know what he was going through. Maybe he was having a rough day, or maybe he just hated my face — I don't know — but I'm just gonna try not to do that, 'cause I remember it just sucked the way it made me feel afterwards. And I walked away going, 'Damn, man. That was rough.'"

Ward added: "Do I think Scott Ian is a dick? I don't even know, and it's none of my business to say. I just know that, lesson learned: don't treat people shitty when they come up to you and say, 'Hey, I love [STUCK MOJO's] 'Pigwalk'. That was a cool record.' Make sure to shake their hand and say, 'Thank you.' Because if you're a dick to them, not only does that show little class and a lack of appreciation for a real fan, but, also, it just shows you have no class at all and it means you're just a shitty human. And so all of those kind of bad situations, I just turn them back around on myself as a lesson: don't do that. It looks shitty."

FOZZY singer Chris Jericho recently revealed that the band's new single, "Spotlight", which was originally scheduled to arrive on August 25, will now be made available "in the next month or so."

FOZZY's latest album, "Boombox", came out in May 2022 and featured the song "I Still Burn", which recently eclipsed two and a half million views on YouTube. It also included the Top 10 singles "Nowhere To Run" and "Sane".

This past spring, FOZZY spent time on the road with UGLY KID JOE as part of the latter band's first tour of the United States in 27 years.

In January 2022, FOZZY parted ways with longtime drummer Frank Fontsere and replaced him with Grant Brooks (THROUGH FIRE).

Fontsere was a founding member of FOZZY, having formed the group in 1999 with Jericho and Ward.

When FOZZY announced Fontsere's departure, the band said that he was "stepping down to focus on his family and other projects."

FOZZY is Jericho, Ward, Brooks, Billy Grey (guitars) and P.J. Farley (bass).

Tool performed at the Aftershock Festival Aftershock at Discovery Park in Sacramento, CA on October 6th. Fan-filmed video of the entire show can be viewed below.


The setlist was as follows:


"Jambi"
"The Pot"
"Fear Inoculum"
"Pushit"
"Rosetta Stoned"
"Forty Six & 2"
"Pneuma"
"The Grudge"
"Invincible"
"Stinkfist"
"Swamp Song"
"Ænema"







Tool's North American tour schedule is as follows:


October
10 - Salt Lake City, UT - Delta Center
12 - Idaho Falls, ID - Mountain America Center
14 - Nampa, ID - Ford Idaho Center
15 - Spokane, WA - Spokane Arena
17 - Eugene, OR - Matthew Knight Center
19 - Portland, OR - Moda Center
20 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
22 - Kelowna, BC - Prospera Place Arena
23 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
25 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
27 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome
29 - Winnipeg, MB - Canada Life Center
31 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center


November
1 - Milwaukee, WI - Fiserv Forum
3 - Knoxville, TN - Thompson-Boiling Arena
4 - Charleston, WV - Charleston Coliseum
6 - Rochester, NY - Blue Cross Arena
7 - Allentown, PA - PPL Center
10 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
13 - Manchester, NH - SNHU Arena
15 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
16 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
19 - Montreal, QC - Bell Center
20 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
21 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena

After their latest, chart-topping album, Invincible (available here), that entered a phenomenal #1 in the Swiss album charts, Shakra return with a thundering encore. The Swiss hard rockers are hitting the gas pedal with their new single, "What You See (And What You Don't)", blasting through with an attitude reminiscent of Mötley Crüe's glory days.


"We all know that phrase, ‘What you see is what you get.’ However, that's only half the truth because what you get also comes with what you don't see." The band comments. In a world where appearances often deceive, Shakra's new single offers a piercing look into the duality of reality.







Lyrics like "Every 'good' has its 'bad,' Even a joke can make you sad," serve as a haunting reminder that everything comes at a cost. With the powerful voice of frontman Mark Fox and the band's crisp riffs, the song will take you on a soul-searching journey to question what is genuine and what is illusory. "What you see and what you don’t is what you get," sings Fox, reminding us that life often comes with unwelcome surprises, and it's up to us to navigate through its complexities. So take a closer look, and then another, because all that glitters isn't always gold.





"You are invincible — You can achieve anything, not if you believe in it, but if you know it...and that makes you invincible!" That's the core message of the band's latest album offering, Invincible, that was lauded by both rock fans and critics alike. Released in June 2023 via AFM Records, Shakra have proved why they are not only invincible but belong to one of the most enthralling, powerful acts the hard and heavy rock scene has to offer.

Sabaton guitarist / Majestica frontman Tommy Johansson has shared a cover of fellow Swedes Europe's "Rock The Night", taken from the band's 1986 album, The Final Countdown. Check it out below.





Johansson has released A Tribute To The Moore, dedicated to music and guitar legend Gary Moore, via Spotify and Deezer. It is a compilation of covers Johansson has shared via YouTube over the past two years.




 Go to this location for the streaming links.





Tracklist:


"Over the Hills and Far Away"
"Wild Frontier"
"Nuclear Attack"
"The Loner"
"Out in the Fields"
"Murder in the Skies"
"Thunder Rising"
"Running from the Storm"
"After the War"
"Empty Rooms"
"Emerald"

Triptykon, founded by Tom G. Warrior (Celtic Frost, Hellhammer), performed on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at  Bloodstock Open Air 2023. Organizers have shared pro-shot video of the band performing the Celtic Frost classic, "Circle Of The Tyrants". Check it out below.





Triptykon also performed a full set of Celtic Frost classics at Rock Hard Festival 2023 on May 26. You can now watch pro-shot video of the full set below.




The setlist was as follows:


"Into The Crypts Of Rays"
"Visions Of Mortality"
"Dethroned Emperor"
"Morbid Tales"
"Procreation (Of The Wicked)"
"Return To The Eve"
"Nocturnal Fear"
"Circle Of The Tyrants"
"Visual Aggression"
"Suicidal Winds"
"The Usurper"
"Jewel Throne"
"Dawn Of Megiddo"
"(Beyond The) North Winds"
"Necromantical Screams"

Recorded in early 2023 at the band’s biggest Dutch headline show to date, Live At The AFAS Live captures the electrifying stage energy of symphonic metal titans Epica with some of their biggest hits.





Released today on all digital platforms, this will be the final sign of life before the band returns to the studio to write their new album. Stream the full EP on all platforms now, here.




You can watch the live video for "Code Of Life" (Live At The AFAS Live) below.


Guitarist Isaac Delahaye comments: “It’s always a pleasure to play this fan-favorite track, and to take the crowd with us while we build up to the massive groove and have a headbang party together. Enjoy listening & watching 'Code Of Life' as performed earlier this year in Amsterdam!”





Watch "Beyond The Matrix" from the same show, below:





Epic have announced the vinyl reissue of 2012’s Requiem For The Indifferent on transparent red 2LP via Nuclear Blast on October 13. A 4K HD remastered video of “Storm The Sorrow” is available below. Head to epicamerch.com to pre-order.


Mark Jansen on the album—from over a decade ago: "This title refers to the end of an era. Mankind can no longer stick their head in the sand for the things that are happening around us. We are facing many challenges. There is an enormous tension between different religions and cultures, wars, natural disasters and a huge financial crisis, which is getting out of control. More than ever we will need each other to overcome these problems. As we are all connected; the universe, earth, nature, animals and human beings, this period in time will be the prelude to the end for those who still don't want to, or simply won't see it. A Requiem For The Indifferent but also a possibility for a new beginning with great new chances!"





Tracklisting:


Side A
“Karma – Prelude”
“Monopoly On Truth”
“Storm The Sorrow”
“Delirium”


Side B
“Internal Warfare”
“Requiem For The Indifferent”
“Anima – Interlude”
“Guilty Demeanor”


Side C
“Deep Water Horizon”
“Stay The Course”
“Deter The Tyrant Side”


Side D
“Avalanche”
“Serenade Of Self-Destruction”
“Nostalgia”
“Twin Flame (Regular Version)”


“Storm The Sorrow”:

Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing's new band KK'S PRIEST kicked off its five-date U.K. headlining tour last night (Saturday, October 7) at O2 Institute in Birmingham. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Hellfire Thunderbolt
02. One More Shot At Glory
03. The Ripper (JUDAS PRIEST cover)
04. Reap The Whirlwind
05. Night Crawler (JUDAS PRIEST song)
06. Sermons Of The Sinner
07. Burn In Hell (JUDAS PRIEST song)
08. Beyond The Realms Of Death (JUDAS PRIEST cover)
09. Hell Patrol (JUDAS PRIEST song)
10. Brothers Of The Road
11. Metal Meltdown (JUDAS PRIEST song)
12. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) (FLEETWOOD MAC cover)
13. Breaking The Law (JUDAS PRIEST song)
14. Victim Of Changes (JUDAS PRIEST song)

Encore:

15. Raise Your Fists
16. Strike Of The Viper (live debut)

The "Priests, Killers & Witches" tour will also visit London, Glasgow, Manchester and Nottingham. Special guest on all dates is former IRON MAIDEN vocalist Paul Di'Anno who is performing a full set of classics straight from the first two MAIDEN records, and opening up the bill is BURNING WITCHES.

KK'S PRIEST released its sophomore album, "The Sinner Rides Again", in September via the Austrian rock and metal empire Napalm Records.

With "The Sinner Rides Again", the powerhouse heavy metal amalgamation of iconic JUDAS PRIEST alumni and Grammy Award-winning/nominated musicians Downing and Tim "Ripper" Owens (vocals),along with guitarist A.J. Mills (HOSTILE),bassist Tony Newton (VOODOO SIX) and drummer Sean Elg (DEATHRIDERS, CAGE),double down on the ripping melodic force of their debut, which Metal Hammer U.K. dubbed "hugely enjoyable" and Metal Injection cited as boasting "catchy hooks and plenty of guitar wizardry". "The Sinner Rides Again" wields nine tracks of pure hellfire, produced and written by Downing and mixed/mastered by Jacob Hansen.

A haunting introduction of dual guitars carries the listener into the thundering "Sons Of The Sentinel", winding across a wasteland of burning riffs and a deftly dynamic guitar solo to kick off the record with relentless energy. The undeniably catchy anthem "Strike Of The Viper" proves itself as one of the album's most unforgettable tracks, before "Reap The Whirlwind" crashes in with a classic heavy metal power thrust of soaring leads, hair-raising harmonics and earworm vocal hooks. First single "One More Shot At Glory" raises its sword high, instantaneously calling for battle with its opening riff and beckoning verses. Heroic chants and unrelenting double bass set the stage for a galloping midsection as a spine-tingling guitar solo commands the song. Striding "Hymn 66" commands with sultry, slow and low metallic punches and a bluesy gait, while massive title track "The Sinner Rides Again" straddles balladic passages and sinister, head-bobbing choruses. Beginning with ominous bells, "Keeper Of The Graves" rounds the final bend of the album with roaring cascades and a dynamic performance from Owens, before charging "Pledge Your Souls" and rollercoaster closer epic "Wash Away Your Sins" rise as the final embers of a certified burner — proving itself as a must-hear metal album of the year by the greatest to ever perform the genre.

The immense and intricate art for "The Sinner Rides Again" was created by talented artist Andy Pilkington.

"Sermons Of The Sinner" was released in October 2021 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.

Downing spent four months writing and recording "Sermons Of The Sinner" and, along with new ideas, he even resurrected a few archived riffs from the 1980s.

K.K. formed KK'S PRIEST after JUDAS PRIEST turned down his offer to rejoin the band for their 50th-anniversary tour. It followed a couple of celebrated stage appearances, first with former MANOWAR guitarist Ross The Boss in the summer of 2019, then with a one-off lineup that included former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and former PRIEST drummer Les Binks later that year.

In a recent interview with Ernest Skinner of Border City Rock Talk, Owens spoke about the sophomore album from KK'S PRIEST. He said: "It's really good too. I like it better [than the debut LP]. It's a little heavier, a little edgier on the vocals — and even music, I think."

Downing was reunited with JUDAS PRIEST for a performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony last November at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

PRIEST received the Musical Excellence Award at the event, which honored Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance. He was replaced by Richie Faulkner, nearly three decades his junior.

In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST after Glenn Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 and recorded two studio albums with the band — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003.

Two years ago, Downing said that he had no problems with fans making comparisons between PRIEST and KK'S PRIEST. "It's absolutely fine, because it's who I am and what I am and what I do and how I do it," he told Brazilian journalist Igor Miranda. "It's too late to change; I can't change. I can't go out and buy different guitars and different amplifiers and start to write differently and think differently. I have to do things the way that I like them to be done. And that's what I did in JUDAS PRIEST for all those years to the best of my ability. But even now that I don't have to consult with anyone else, really, then I feel a lot more freedom to be able to do this.

"I think I can do what I do better now than I did before, if that makes any sense," he continued. "Because I'm working and writing and putting things together for me — and, obviously, of course, the rest of the members in [KK'S PRIEST] as well. But I was on my own, for the most part, in the lockdown doing this. But there was a lot of things I wanted to say and get off my chest.

"The [KK'S PRIEST] album's full of emotions, sentiments and messages and also rejoicement. It's a lot of things, all in one package. And it was very important for me to be able to express myself through this album.

"I know that people will make comparisons, but that's fine. I either succeed or fail, like everyone else in life. But I'm a fan of this wonderful style of music, and if I like it, I'm hopefully sure that the fans will like it too. And I really hope they do. And I'm very much looking forward to the feedback from everybody all over the world.

"Towards the end for me in JUDAS PRIEST, it wasn't as energized as it was in former years, and I missed that. I remember the days when Rob [Halford, PRIEST singer] used to come offstage and he used to empty his boots out, and the water — which was sweat — used to just pour out of the boots. And it was the same for all of us. It was like we ran a marathon or something. So, hopefully we deliver that up. So I'm looking forward to doing that. I'm definitely gonna do my best, put it that way."

In September 2021, Owens said that there was no competition between JUDAS PRIEST and KK'S PRIEST. "I don't think we look at it [like that]," he told The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn in an interview. "There's one JUDAS PRIEST. They're JUDAS PRIEST. If [K.K. and I] wanted to take that angle, we would have called [our new band] KK'S JUDAS PRIEST. But I think fans are happy 'cause they know they do have two things that are the same vein, and they have K.K. back. I went nowhere — I've been putting music out like crazy — but they have Ken and I back together again. So there's no competition. I mean, how awesome would it be if we do shows with them? I don't care. I really don't. I love the guys in PRIEST. Rob's [Halford, PRIEST singer] my idol. And Richie [Faulkner, PRIEST guitarist] and I are friends. But this isn't a competition. We're not trying to make it a competition or another JUDAS PRIEST. That's why we put an album out first; that was the difference. If we were trying to make it that, we would start touring right away, doing the back catalog."

Asked if KK'S PRIEST is really open to touring with JUDAS PRIEST, Tim said: "I'm open to anything. I've never burned bridges. From the sounds of it, it's never gonna happen. 'Cause it never happened with me. I tried to get BEYOND FEAR to support JUDAS PRIEST on tour. Wendy Dio was my manager, and they were, like, 'Absolutely not. You're not gonna support us.' But we're all friends. I mean, I'm speaking for me — I'm not speaking for Ken. But, yeah, listen, I always look at it as how much fans would love stuff. How cool would it be if that happened?"

JUDAS PRIEST was rejoined by guitarist Glenn Tipton on stage during the band's concert Saturday night (October 7) at the Power Trip festival in Indio, California.

As he has done a number of other times over the course of the last five and a half years, Tipton appeared with PRIEST for the encore, performing "Metal Gods", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight".

After BLACK SABBATH's "War Pigs" played as the intro to PRIEST's set, a graphic was displayed on the video screens announcing the band's upcoming album, "Invincible Shield", which is due in March 2024.

JUDAS PRIEST's setlist was as follows:

01. The Hellion / Electric Eye
02. Riding On The Wind
03. Heading Out To The Highway
04. Lightning Strike
05. Diamonds & Rust (Joan Baez cover)
06. The Sentinel
07. A Touch Of Evil
08. Turbo Lover
09. Firepower
10. Desert Plains
11. Rapid Fire
12. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) (FLEETWOOD MAC cover)
13. You've Got Another Thing Comin'
14. Painkiller

Encore:

15. Hell Bent For Leather
16. Metal Gods (with Glenn Tipton)
17. Breaking The Law (with Glenn Tipton)
18. Living After Midnight (with Glenn Tipton)

Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's nine years ago — after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of JUDAS PRIEST's latest studio album, "Firepower". He was replaced by "Firepower" album producer Andy Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT.

Last year, PRIEST singer Rob Halford told Metal Pilgrim that Glenn is "still actively involved with JUDAS PRIEST, a hundred percent. Andy is still standing in that spot for Glenn with Glenn's blessing… And my gratitude to Andy. It couldn't have happened in a better way, if you wanna try and make something good out of it. It was a really important day when Glenn said, 'I think it's probably best if I step to the side and maybe we should let Andy come in.' That was just a really beautiful act of selflessness. That's Glenn treasuring PRIEST and PRIEST's reputation, particularly in live concert more than anything else. So bless Glenn for that. And as a result, Andy stepped in and did amazing work on the 'Firepower' tour. And don't discount the fact that Glenncan show up. He plays the guitar differently, but there's no reason why Glenn can't show up and do some work. I mean, I've said to Glenn, 'Just walk out on stage and do that to everybody [flashes devil horns], and the people will just go fucking crazy, 'cause you are loved so much.'"

Bassist Ian Hill is the sole remaining original member of PRIEST, which formed in 1969. Halford joined the group in 1973 and Tipton signed on in 1974. Rob left PRIEST in the early 1990s to form his own band, then came back to PRIEST in 2003. Original guitarist K.K. Downing parted ways with the band in 2011, and was replaced by Richie Faulkner.

Photo courtesy of Eddie Trunk

Corey Taylor, lead singer and lyricist for SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR, recently paid a visit to Seton Hall's Pirate Radio, 89.5 FM WSOU. He is currently on the road supporting his latest album "CMF2", which was made available on September 15. On the air, Taylor talked to music director Patrick Ritter about his entire career, spanning multiple projects, albums, and groups. In between talking segments, WSOU played a selection of solo material, SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR and other music that has inspired Taylor. The full interview with music will be available on Spotify under "WSOU Interviews".

Taylor looked back on SLIPKNOT's "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses" album, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. Produced by Rick Rubin, "Vol. 3" features classic SLIPKNOT anthems like "Duality", "Pulse Of The Maggots", "Vermilion" and "Before I Forget", with the latter song winning the band a Grammy for "Best Metal Performance." Asked to name something SLIPKNOT did on that album that you wouldn't hear on a previous SLIPKNOT LP, Corey said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, man. Well, I mean, obviously the acoustic stuff that we did with songs like 'Circle' [and] 'Vermilion Pt. 2'. I mean, really diving… It was where we really started wearing our artistic side on our sleeve, because it was something that we knew that we could do and that we had done in the past, but we had never really been afforded the opportunity to do it. And we also knew that if we stayed just trying to out-heavy ourselves, we were going to turn into somebody who didn't sound honest, who didn't sound legit. Which is one of the reasons why we stopped and we said, 'We need to spread our boundaries out and we need to take this risk.' And people don't realize this, doing 'Vol. 3' was just as big a risk as making 'Iowa'. So, lyrically, sonically, creatively, we were able to kind of pull together, even though we were pulling apart at the seams at the time, and we created something that to this day is probably — other than some of my approaches at singing some of the songs, it's probably one of the best things I've ever done."

Taylor also addressed his previous comment that he was so disappointed in his vocal takes in the first few months of the recording process for "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses" that he thought about quitting. He said: "Well, it was largely because my alcoholism was really in full effect. I mean, yeah, it was brutal. It is hard for me to listen. And, of course, as an addict, you're blaming everybody but yourself. And once I got clean, I realized, I was, like, 'Man, I have to start from scratch.' And I did. And I slowly but surely started building my vocal takes and vocal passes back. But it was hard going, man. 'Cause people don't realize the damage that alcohol does to your voice. Plus, I was smoking, so it was a gnarly, gnarly time in my life."

Upon its release, "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)" sold 243,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release to debut at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)" was the follow-up to "Iowa", which registered a first-week sales tally of more than 254,000 copies back in September 2001 to enter The Billboard 200 chart at No. 3.

Taylor's first album for BMG and the first on his own label imprint, Decibel Cooper Recordings, "CMF2" was produced by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, AMON AMARTH),who also helmed STONE SOUR's 2017 LP "Hydrograd" as well as 2020's "CMFT".

Taylor began tracking the follow-up to 2020's "CMFT" LP in early January at The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada with Ruston. Joining Corey in the studio was the rest of his solo band — bassist Eliot Lorango, drummer Dustin Robert, along with guitarists Christian Martucci and Zach Throne.

In support of his new album, Taylor recently embarked on his 2023 tour featuring special guests WARGASM, OXYMORRONS and LUNA AURA on select dates. Produced by Live Nation, the 28-city tour kicked off on August 25 at Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, making stops across the U.S in Detroit, Orlando, Dallas and more before the final headline show in Los Angeles at The Wiltern on October 5.

Atlanta, GA rock band, Blackberry Smoke, have debuted a new song, "Little Bit Crazy", in tandem with a UK & European tour announcement.


The new single was written by lead singer Charlie Starr and longtime collaborator Travis Meadows and the track comes with an official music video, which you can watch below.


Reflecting on the track, Starr shares: “It’s a rock and roll song about this fella and the girl who might be his undoing.”







"Little Bit Crazy" is the second song revealed from the band’s hotly anticipated new album, Be Right Here, which will is set for release on February 16 via 3 Legged Records/Thirty TigersPre-order/pre-save the album here.


The band have also announced the UK & EU leg of their international Be Right Here headline tour, set to hit these shores in September 2024. See below for full tour itinerary. Tickets for the new dates will be available on pre-sale starting Tuesday, October 10 at 10 AM, local time, with general on-sale following next Friday, October 13 at 10 AM, local time. Full details can be found at blackberrysmoke.com/tour.





UK/EU tour dates:


September
9 - Glasgow, U.K. - O2 Academy
10 - Edinburgh, U.K. - O2 Academy
12 - Manchester, U.K. - O2 Apollo
13 - Birmingham, U.K. - O2 Academy
14 - London, U.K. - Eventim Apollo
16 - Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
17 - Tilburg, Netherlands - O13
18 - Hannover, Germany - Capitol
20 - Copenhagen, Denmark - VEGA
21 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
22 - Stockholm, Sweden - Annexet
24 - Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
25 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
26 - Munich, Germany - Tonhalle
28 - Paris, France - L’Olympia
29 - Cologne, Germany - E-Werk
30 - Zurich, Switzerland - Kauflauten


October
2 - Milan, Italy - Alcatraz


Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell), Be Right Here is a timely reminder to be present and live authentically. Across these ten tracks - a collection of their signature rock and roll anthems, Americana-leaning ballads and country rock jams - the band celebrates the simple joys of life, the fleeting moments and the little bits of luck found along the way.  


Reflecting on the project, Starr shares, “We always track live together, but this time we had all our amps and drums and everything in the same room. It’s just as natural and as real as possible. The last album was very raw too, but with this one I remember different times I would say, ‘I think we should redo that,’ and Dave was like, ‘No, leave it that way. That way it’s magical.'"


Recorded at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A and Cobb’s Georgia Mae in Savannah, the album features the band - Charlie Starr (vocals, guitar), Richard Turner (bass, vocals), Brit Turner (drums), Paul Jackson (guitar, vocals) and Brandon Still (keyboards) - alongside Preston Holcomb (drums) and Benji Shanks (guitar), as well as special guest vocals from The Black Bettys.


Throughout their prolific career, Blackberry Smoke has released seven studio albums including 2021’s You Hear Georgia, which celebrated their 20th anniversary as a band.


In addition to their studio albums, they have released several other projects such as their EPs Stoned, The Southern Ground Sessions and Live From Capricorn Studios as well as Homecoming: Live In Atlanta, a live album and concert film, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk Album Sales chart.  


Since forming in 2001, Blackberry Smoke has continued to tour relentlessly, building a strong and loyal community of fans. In addition to their work as musicians, the band is deeply committed to charitable work and formed the Lana Turner Foundation, a non-profit supporting several national foundations committed to curing children’s cancer. With these efforts, the band has raised over $1,000,000 to date benefitting children’s cancer research.  





Be Right Here tracklisting;


"Dig A Hole"
"Hammer And The Nail"
"Like It Was Yesterday"
"Be So Lucky"
"Azalea"
"Don’t Mind If I Do"
"Whatcha Know Good"
"Other Side of the Light"
"Little Bit Crazy"
"Barefoot Angel"


"Dig A Hole" video:





Blackberry Smoke are:


Charlie Starr - Lead vocals/Guitar
Paul Jackson - Guitar/B.vox
Richard Turner - Bass/B.vox
Brandon Still - Keyboards
Brit Turner - Drums/Percussion
Benji Shanks - Guitar
Preston Holcomb - Percussion

FOO FIGHTERS were joined by Shania Twain for a performance of the song "Best Of You" during the band's set at Austin City Limits Saturday night (October 7).

Twain, who played earlier in the day at Austin City Limits, came up on stage during FOO FIGHTERS' headlining performance to duet with Dave Grohl on the track, which was originally released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, 2005's "In Your Honor".

Video of Shania's appearance can be seen below.

Last week, FOO FIGHTERS confirmed a massive run of summer 2024 U.S. stadium dates. The newly announced leg of the "Everything Or Nothing At All" tour will kick off with the band's return to New York's Citi Field for the first time since 2015 for a July 17 and 19 doubleheader and will see FOO FIGHTERS host 12 rock 'n' roll marathons at 10 stadiums, including a pair of shows August 9 and 11 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

FOO FIGHTERS' 2024 stadium dates will mark the band's biggest U.S. headline shows since the June 2 release of their universally acclaimed 11th album, "But Here We Are", which has landed on the mid-year best of lists of Alternative Press, Consequence, Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Loudwire and Uproxx, among others, while generating some of the most positive critical notes in FOO FIGHTERS history.

Support on the various dates will come from PRETENDERS, THE HIVES, MAMMOTH WVH, AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS, ALEX G and L7.

FOO FIGHTERS' brand new album, "But Here We Are", unanimously hailed as one of the band's strongest to date, has become its tenth album to break the Top 10 of the US Album chart. "But Here We Are" also marks FOO FIGHTERS' sixth U.K. No. 1, ninth Australian No. 1, with additional No. 1 spots in Switzerland and New Zealand, and Top 5 debuts in nearly a dozen more territories.

Released June 2 on Roswell Records/RCA Records, "But Here We Are" landed at No. 8 in its first week on the Billboard 200, while entering at No. 1 on the Alternative and Hard Rock album sales charts. The new album's Top 10 debut continues a trend that began with the back to back Top 10 positions achieved by "The Colour And The Shape" (1997) and "There Is Nothing Left To Lose" (1999),and has since included the No. 1-charting "Wasting Light" (2011) and "Concrete And Gold" (2017),as well as the Top 3 placings of "One By One" (2002),"In Your Honor" (2005),"Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" (2007),"Sonic Highways" (2014) and "Medicine At Midnight" (2021).

FOO FIGHTERS played their first official concert with new touring drummer Josh Freese on May 24 at Bank Of New Hampshire Pavilion At Meadowbrook in Gilford, New Hampshire.

Freese was most recently drumming for Danny Elfman but was recently replaced by Ilan Rubin. Freese was also touring with THE OFFSPRING up until last year, with former SUICIDAL TENDENCIES drummer Brandon Pertzborn stepping in to officially replace him.

Freese replaces longtime FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins, who tragically passed away in March 2022 at the age of 50.

Freese previously played with the FOO FIGHTERS at the tribute concerts to Hawkins in 2022.

Freese is a veteran session drummer who has performed with GUNS N' ROSES, A PERFECT CIRCLE, PUDDLE OF MUDD, NINE INCH NAILS, WEEZER, PARAMORE, THE REPLACEMENTS, Sting and THE VANDALS, among many others. He has also played more than 300 recordings ranging in genres from pop to rock to country.

After existing as a band for over 18 years, Carnifex continue to experiment with fresh song arrangements, and adding a unique sense of atmosphere to their inherently deathcore foundation. Nourished by nightmares and the throbbing pulse of pragmatic terror, Carnifex return with their ninth full-length studio album, Necromanteum, which is out today via Nuclear Blast Records. Accompanying the release, the band delivers the track video for the single, “Infinite Night Terror”.


Carnifex's Scott Ian Lewis comments, "This record is for the fans, I hope they enjoy it."







The recording process took place over the course of several weeks with producer Jason Suecof in Florida, and saw the return of live drums since COVID-19 restrictions made doing so on Graveside Confessions impossible. Mastered by Mark Lewis in Nashville, TN, the album was also co-produced by vocalist Scott Ian Lewis and drummer Shawn Cameron. The cover artwork glows with an emerald and lavender fog; a ghostly energy erupting from the depths of a cemetery. Designed by renowned comic book artist E.M. Gist, this gateway represents the questions we ask about what lies on the other side of reality.


Decades ago, wealthy intellectuals began installing psychomanteum in their homes; a secret room completely filled with mirrors, or a single mirror, and in complete darkness, in order to speak to the dead in other dimensions, and gain their knowledge. It was often used as a healing tool to help dissolve grief or considered a form of prophecy. Necromanteum presents the concept: what if you could use that kind of room to speak with death, itself? What secrets of the world could you uncover from a direct conversation with the grim reaper? Not a monster, but a fellow intellect.





Necromanteum is available digitally and in the following formats:


- CD Jewel
- Vinyl (Neon Green w/ Purple Splatter)


Order here.





Necromanteum tracklisting:


"Torn In Two"
"Death's Forgotten Children"
"Necromanteum"
"Crowned In Everblack"
"The Pathless Forest"
"How The Knife Gets Twisted"
"Architect Of Misanthropy"
"Infinite Night Terror"
"Bleed More"
"Heaven And Hell All At Once"


"Death's Forgotten Children" visualizer:





"Necromanteum" video: