Mike Portnoy attended his second DREAM THEATER concert as a spectator last night (Saturday, 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 is 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. He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI).

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.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn (courtesy of ABC PR)

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Blaze Bayley attended IRON MAIDEN's concert this past Friday (June 30) at AO Arena in Manchester, England.

Several fans who attended the show shared pictures of the ex-IRON MAIDEN singer watching the performance from the stands of the arena as well as posing for photos with MAIDEN fans who expressed their excitement at seeing a former member of the band in the audience.

The 60-year-old Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI", sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers".

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012's "Wolfsbane Saves The World", the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group's self-titled 1994 effort, and a follow-up LP, 2022's "Genius".

Blaze's latest studio album, "War Within Me", came out in April 2021. The LP was recorded during 2020 with work split between Blaze's studio at home in the West Midlands and Christopher Appleton's studio in Greater Manchester.

This past March, Blaze told Metal Planet Music 's Gary Spiller about some fans' initial reluctance to embrace his era of MAIDEN: "I think that the girlfriend or partner analogy is the best. It's when your girlfriend or boyfriend leaves you for someone, and they are perhaps slimmer with more hair, more interesting and better looking, it doesn't feel good. And you lose your favorite singer from your favorite band, and I think that's awkward as well.

"There's a certain percentage of fans from that era, I'm their first MAIDEN singer, and I always will be, and they'll always have that affection for me," he continued. "But there's another group of fans who go, 'My favorite singer left my favorite band. I don't want to look at the replacement.' … And what is good is that after so many years and the 'Senjutsu' album coming out, people have good back and they've looked at the Blaze Bayley era of [1996's 'best-of' album] 'Best Of The Beast' and 'Sign Of The Cross', 'The X Factor', they've done that, and they've come back with a different look. And then they check out what I'm doing now.

"Since [leaving] MAIDEN, I've made 11 studio albums of my own. It's over 25 years ago [that I joined MAIDEN]; it's nearly 30 years now. It's just five years [that I was with MAIDEN]. With WOLFSBANE, we're back together, and we're together longer than I was in IRON MAIDEN.

"It's nice that it's so well thought of and people are still interested," Blaze added. "I've learned a lot. The experiences that I had have affected me and I've learned. And if you listen to my 'War Within Me' album, my new album, you can tell the IRON MAIDEN influence on that; you can absolutely tell. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm, like, well, this is what I enjoyed and learned in MAIDEN, and you'll hear parts of that and hints of that in the 'War Within Me' album. You'll also hear the development of me as an artist, going beyond that.

"So it's nice that people are still interested in that brief part of the MAIDEN history that contains me. And a lot of people think very nicely of me. But there are still a lot of people that absolutely hate me."

Blaze went on to say that his era of MAIDEN still plays a big part in his live show, particularly as he nears the three-decade mark since he first joined the band.

"What's nice is that when I do my anniversary setlist, which a lot of festivals asked for, then I can play songs in my set from those two albums that MAIDEN have never played and will never play," he explained. "And they are my songs, personal to me. So that's really, really cool. So if you did get into those albums and you like those albums, then you'll come and see me and go, 'Oh, actually, I've never heard'Como Estais Amigos' live.' So it's a really cool thing.

"Last year, we got a lot of really wonderful German festivals, and we played the anniversary setlist. And then afterwards, on my own tour, people came that saw me on that anniversary setlist and the festivals, they came and saw me do my Blaze Bayley concerts and really enjoyed it. And they got into 'War Within Me' album and my trilogy and a lot of things. So it's good, really.

"I'm very lucky to have actually had the top job in my field, to have attained the absolute top," Bayley added. "For me, I wanted to be a heavy metal singer, and by some quirk of faith, a lot of luck and a lot of help, then I managed to become the lead singer of IRON MAIDEN, which, for me, is the top job in the world for a heavy metal singer. And I got that job. So that's fantastic that I was able to get that. And I played huge venues all over the world and stadiums and theaters and everything."

This past March, Blaze underwent a quadruple bypass surgery following a heart attack.

Last month, he released a new video message in which he thanked all the fans for their best wishes, support, concern and orders of his new live album and tour merchandise.

A heart bypass surgery, or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, is used to improve blood flow to the heart. A surgeon uses blood vessels taken from another area of the body to bypass the damaged arteries.

The term quadruple bypass refers to the number of coronary arteries bypassed in the procedure. In other words, a quadruple bypass means four coronary arteries are bypassed.

Blaze suffered a heart attack at his home on March 25 and was rushed to the hospital. As a result of the health setback, the singer's shows for March and April were postponed.

So, as expected, Iron Maiden were incendiary! There is no doubt about their status as the 🐐! And Official Blaze Bayley was in the row in front of me looking fighting fit! 🤘❤️🤘

Posted by Luke Nash on Friday, June 30, 2023

Yesterday in Manchester, AO Arena and a very special visit 🤘
Pics from Gavin Nelson and Matthew Slim.

Posted by Eddie The Head Fan Club on Saturday, July 1, 2023

Ingested has shared a video for “You’ll Never Learn” that was filmed at Bloodstock 2022 and Download Fest 2023 by Loki Films. 





The band comments; "‘You'll Never Learn’ is about the people you keep around in your life that continue to make the same mistakes without making a change. Chances and patience runs out, people will only stick by you for so long. Keep those true to you close, and drop that dead weight.




“We shot this video across our two performances at the UK festivals Bloodstock and Download, and Loki Films managed to capture the utter chaos that ensued. Crack open a tinnie, roll a joint, bang your head or do whatever you do and enjoy the carnage of YOU'LL NEVER LEARN.


“Along with our brand new video, we are supremely buzzing to announce that we will be washing Europe and the UK in oceans of blood with our dear friends Lorna Shore, Rivers Of Nihil and Distant this autumn! We can't wait to get back out on the road and do what we do best, laying waste to every city that we touch!


“The Pain Remains Tour last year in North America was one of the most exciting extreme metal tours of 2022, so trust us when we say this, you don't want to miss The Pain Remains Tour UK & Europe!"


Ingested released Ashes Lie Still last fall via Metal Blade.





Ingested has also announced that they will be hitting the road with Lorna Shore and labelmates Rivers of Nihil this November/December in Europe and the U.K.

Germany's Die Apokalyptischen Reiter have announced the departures of guitarist Ady and drummer Sir G. Vocalist  Fuchs and bassist Volk-Man have issued a statement regarding the changes in the band and reveal what the future holds. Read it in full below.


"Dear Maniacs, this should actually be a farewell letter, because for a few months it looked like we would have to bury our life project. Corona. Forced break. The end?


And now this: to our great surprise Ady (as of now) and Sir G. (from September) have decided to leave the band. As the last remaining founding members, we, Fuchs and Volk-Man, have thought long and hard about whether the band can continue.




We know that this comes as a shock to many of you because the Reiter, that was always a bit more than just a 'normal' band. When we founded the band in 1995, we never thought we would play together in this band for almost 30 years. But sometimes you have to accept life and its changes. Our eternal thanks at this point to Ady and Sir G. for the great time and unforgettable experiences. 


We don't feel like announcing the end of the riders yet. It feels too soon and at the same time we are not only thinking of us, but also of you Reiter maniacs. Who have supported and carried us to this day, your passion and dedication has always been like a great gift to us. We say this with humility and gratitude.


We are looking forward to this festival summer with you, and we don't want to disappoint you or ourselves and cancel these festival shows. We have met two music-crazy maniacs, Reiter fans of the first hour, with whom we are currently rehearsing intensively to make the summer fairytale come true. Be patient, we will introduce them to you here soon. 


The story of the riders is not over yet. We are looking forward to the summer, we are planning a tour in winter 2023 and we are just starting to write a new album. 


Up and down, again and again."


Fuchs & Volk-Man
June 2023


Go to this location for the band's complete tour itinerary


Photo: Christian Thiele

ELEGANT WEAPONS, the new project featuring guitarist Richie Faulkner (JUDAS PRIEST) and singer Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW, MSG),performed a cover of BLACK SABBATH's "War Pigs" during its June 29 concert at the Resurrection Fest in Viveiro, Spain. Fan-filmed video of the rendition can be seen below.

ELEGANT WEAPONS' debut album, "Horns For A Halo", was released on May 26 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was recorded with bassist Rex Brown (PANTERA, DOWN) and drummer Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST) and was helmed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with JUDAS PRIEST, ACCEPT, EXODUS and MEGADETH, among many others.

ELEGANT WEAPONS, which is rounded out by Dave Rimmer (URIAH HEEP) on bass and Christopher Williams (ACCEPT) on drums, will play shows in Europe through July. The trek will include additional performances with PANTERA, festival appearances and headlining shows.

In a recent interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, Faulkner spoke about a possible second album from ELEGANT WEAPONS. He said: "We've already started. We've recorded drums for the second record. We got together in March, I think, of this year; I think it was March — I'm not sure. We got together in the studio and played together to record the drums, get the drums recorded. So it's been started."

Asked if the second ELEGANT WEAPONS LP will arrive in 2024 or 2025, Richie said: "I don't know. Maybe next year. Back in the day, bands used to release a record every year, sometimes two in a year. I know we don't do things under the same cycle anymore. But the ideas are there for the songs. We all were together, and we thought why not get at least the drums going. We got the drums and we got the guitars, and stuff like that, so why not start the process?

"It was important for me, really, when I started the band… It was a band that it wasn't just a one-record type thing," Faulkner explained. "It was a band that plays live and records — hopefully — multiple records and grows and evolves together moving into the future. So the next record is just a part of that sort of process, really."

Richie went on to say that he plans on focusing on ELEGANT WEAPONS full-time once PRIEST has officially called it a day.

"PRIEST music is gonna be around a lot longer than we are," he said. "It's legendary music. They're genre-defining musicians and it's a genre-defining band. It will be around for a long time. But none of us gets out of this alive. That's just the reality of it. So if one day that call comes in and that's the last tour or the last album, whatever it is… I mean, I joined the band on what was the farewell tour. Luckily it wasn't, and we're still here 12 years later. [It's] fantastic. But at the time, I think I would have been silly not to consider what I was gonna do after the band, because of the circumstances of the tour. It was a farewell tour — it was [supposed to be] the last tour — so what am I gonna do after? So it's always been in the back of my mind. And this is a band that seems natural to me to continue with if that call ever came in."

ELEGANT WEAPONS made its first two festival appearances on June 16 at Hellfest in Clisson, France and on June 18 at Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium.

Four years after the release of their last full-length album and with several teases of new music unleashed the past few months, 3Teeth is now sharing all the details behind their much-anticipated LP EndEx coming this fall.


EndEx will be released by Century Media Records on September 22, showcasing the modern industrial act at their most raucous yet, unveiling bold revelations of humanity’s technosocial disintegration behind a brutal soundtrack that sounds all the alarms.


After giving the first glimpse at the new material with the early release of “Paralyze” (featuring Ho99o9), 3Teeth re-emerged in May with more previews, including their gripping sonic salvo, “Merchant Of The Void” that touches on the bleak landscape of modern society amid A.I. takeovers and economic collapse.




Next came “Slum Planet” taking aim at the ills of a sick planet obsessed with over-consumption at all costs. With today’s album announcement, 3Teeth shares the newest single for the moody missive “Scorpion,” a track in which the band’s instrumental arsenal is tempered by alluring female vocal chants that provide an ambient feel. It’s featured alongside a combustible video, with the band excavating deep desert secrets. It was helmed by director Vicente Cordero & 3Teeth frontman and creative lead Alexis Mincolla.


Says Mincolla, "The scorpion symbolizes the challenge to confront and integrate those parts of ourselves that we repress, ignore, or fear. It invites a descent into the depths of the personal and collective unconscious. Its venom is the entropic catalyst for the dissolution of old, rigid structures of the psyche, making room for rebirth. To acknowledge and embrace the scorpion is to accept the necessity of change."


Ahead of the release of EndEx in late September, 3Teeth will continue to release a new single every month. Other highlights on the album include a cover of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” continuing 3Teeth’s penchant for aggressive reworks of pop songs, previously seen on Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks,” Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz” and Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record).”


To lay the foundation for the new material, 3Teeth migrated to the deserted quiet of Joshua Tree, escaping from the palpable anxiety of their hometown of Los Angeles for fresh new perspective. The material is currently being wrapped up with a solid extended team including the accomplished sound designer Mick Gordon (best known for his work on the gaming phenomenon Doom) who produced several of the tracks along with producer Nick Rowe and mixer Sean Beavan (NIN), bringing in another dimension to the band’s unmistakable sound.


Says Gordon, “3Teeth are one of my favorite acts. They proudly fly their own unique flag. The new album charts course through the next stage of our vanity-led evolution as a species, and by that I mean the album is a world unto itself. I’m just stoked that these guys have allowed me along for the ride.”


EndEx will be available in CD, Gatefold LP, and digital album formats. Special formats include: 
Red LP (available at all EU outlets)
Red Smoke LP (available at all US outlets)
Utra-Clear / Red Splatter LP (available from 3TEETH)
Utra-Clear / Red Splatter LP (available from Revolver)


Preorder here.





Tracklisting:


“Xenogenesis”
“Acme Death Machine”
“Slum Planet”
“What’s Left”
“Merchant Of The Void”
“Higher Than Death”
“ALI3N”
“Plutonomicon”
“Paralyze” (feat. Ho99o9)
“Scorpion”
“Drift”
“Everybody Wants To Rule The World”


“Scorpion”:





"Slum Planet":





"Merchant Of The Void":

In a brand new interview with The Music Universe conducted this past Thursday (June 29),MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil spoke about the band's secret club show in London, England under the pseudonym DÖGS OF WAR. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, we went in the studio not too long ago — about six months ago — and recorded three new songs. And one of 'em is called 'Dogs Of War'. And we're doing a show tomorrow night at a club here in London [under the name] DÖGS OF WAR. And I guess word got out, 'cause it sold out in less than a minute. So it was pretty cool."

Circling back to the CRÜE recording sessions with longtime producer Bob Rock, Neil said: "It's neat. There's three brand new MÖTLEY CRÜE songs. And we're gonna film it tomorrow night. I hope people like it."

Asked what inspired him and his CRÜE bandmates to head back to the studio, Vince said: "Well, we've written the songs, and then we had Bob Rock, our producer, come in and take a listen to 'em too. We got some studio time and went in and recorded. I didn't record with the band, 'cause I'm in Nashville, and they're in L.A. They recorded the tracks in Nashville, and then I did like a Zoom call with the producer for three days. And I did all the songs. And they turned out really well. One of them is the BEASTIE BOYS song 'Fight For Your Right'… That turned out really cool."

Pressed about whether the three new songs might be a precursor to a new full-length album, Neil said: "I don't know if we're gonna do a whole album or not. We'll see how these songs go first."

Later in the chat, Vince talked about MÖTLEY CRÜE's plans for the coming months, saying" "We're gonna finish up. We have eight shows in the U.S. after [our current European tour with DEF LEPPARD]. Then we go to Australia and Japan. And then we do… I think we're gonna go back in the studio for a couple of more songs. And then we will announce a new stadium tour for next summer. And we're not sure who's gonna be on it, but there'll be another tour."

MÖTLEY CRÜE's concert at the Underworld saw Neil and his bandmates premiere their cover of BEASTIE BOYS' "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)".

CRÜE and LEPPARD kicked off the European leg of their "The World Tour" on May 22 in Sheffield. The European leg will conclude on July 6 in Glasgow.

LEPPARD and CRÜE will team up with Alice Cooper for a U.S. mini-tour this summer. The trek will kick off on August 5 in Syracuse, New York and include stops in the Midwest before concluding in El Paso, Texas on August 18. Shows in Japan and Australia will follow in the fall.

In April, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx said that he and his bandmates had completed recording several new songs with Rock.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's new guitarist John 5 told Sirius XM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about recording the group's new music with Rock: "Bob would come in and [say], 'Okay, let's try this here, and that here and this here. It was one of the most incredible experiences ever… I'm thinking, 'We've got so much great technology today'… but we got in that room and it was like being in a garage working on a song when you were in high school… It was incredible, and we documented a lot of it too."

Regarding the musical direction of the tracks he and the rest of MÖTLEY CRÜE have recorded so far, John 5 said: "The songs are fucking heavy. I sound like a little excited kid right now, but they're heavy and they're mean. I can't wait for them to come out. I'm just so excited."

When host Eddie Trunk asked John 5 whether the new MÖTLEY CRÜE music can be compared to the band's breakthrough second album, 1983's "Shout At The Devil", the guitarist said that some of the new riffs are "heavier than anything" on that LP. "All I can tell you is that it's heavy and it's aggressive, and I think people are going to dig it because, talking as a fan, it's fucking badass," he said.

John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE last fall as the replacement for the band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE last October as a result of worsening health issues.

Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS),a chronic and inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. After years of performing through the pain, he informed the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE last summer that he could no longer tour with them but would still be open to recording new music or performing at residencies that did not require much travel.

When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, in early April the 71-year-old musician filed a lawsuit against CRÜE in Los Angeles County's Superior Court claiming that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting.

In a new interview with "THAT Rocks!", the weekly YouTube series hosted by Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson, former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony confirmed that he does "very little" social media nowadays. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I do a little bit of Instagramming and whatever, but… [otherwise] no… I don't like to get involved in the drama. And that was really hard in certain times in VAN HALEN. Because, believe me… It's kind of funny, because I look at TV and I'm watching things like 'Behind The Music' [specials] with other bands, and I go, 'Oh my God. Look at all the shit they went through.' And then I sit back and I go, 'Oh my God. We've got probably the most drama out of anybody.'"

Speaking about VAN HALEN's touring days with the band's original singer David Lee Roth, Michael said: "There was always drama on the Roth tours… There were times… God, I forget which tour it was. I'll just give you a real quick story — not so much drama, but just how it was with Dave on tour. We were staying somewhere in the Midwest, and Dave… After this, we all kind of came to the conclusion that he was bipolar. 'Cause he would be great, and then all of a sudden he would just kind of freak out or whatever. And one night… We had a night off, and everybody was… whatever we were doing. It was, like, around midnight, one in the morning, and everyone was pretty much back at the hotel. And I hear all this commotion out in the hall and pounding and screaming, and I'm going, 'What the hell is going on?' So I put my shorts on and I go walking down the hall. And our security guys have got Roth in a strait jacket. Our security guys carried a strait jacket on tour; I won't get into that part of it. But they used to carry a strait jacket on tour, and Roth was just, like, screaming naked, sitting in one of our security guys' rooms, wearing this strait jacket."

Anthony added: "Dave, he liked to drink Jack Daniel's, but he couldn't handle it like I can handle it. Dave'd have a little bit of Jack Daniel's and he'd get a little crazy. And I guess they found him wandering around outside the hotel naked. And this was just one night out of seven nights a week being on tour."

Back in May 2022, former VAN HALEN bassist and current MAMMOTH WVH frontman Wolfgang Van Halen reflected on Roth's "lead singer disease" during an episode of "Wolfgang's Top of the Pack" on SiriusXM's Classic Rewind. He said: "I remember right before the first… In 2015, [Dave] fired the video director because he wouldn't film his feet well enough."

In December 2021, two months after Roth announced that he would end his career with a Las Vegas residency, Wolfgang, who joined his father Eddie Van Halen in VAN HALEN at the age of 16 for the band's 2007 reunion tour with Roth, replacing Anthony, was asked about David's retirement in an interview with Consequence. He said: "Dave is a… he's very much a one-of-a-kind [chuckles] sort of guy. We don't really talk, if ever. We were always cordial on tour together, but it's not like I've spoken to him at all in the last six years. But, I mean, he's fucking David Lee Roth. I'm so happy for him and for everything that he's accomplished. And he's just a phenomenal… He'll always be one of the best."

In November 2020, Wolfgang told Rolling Stone about his relationship with Roth: "We're cordial. But it was very business-related. You know, we were always cool, but we really only ever saw each other onstage."

In 2020, Wolfgang revealed a hilarious prank a tour manager played on Roth during VAN HALEN's final run of shows, which concluded in October 2015 at the the Hollywood Bowl. Speaking to SPIN, Wolfgang said: "Throughout the whole tour, Dave had an issue whenever someone in the audience had a beach ball. Outdoor theater, summer concert, Southern California party rock, VAN HALEN — it's not out of the ordinary. But every time he saw them, it would really upset him for some reason. And he would stop singing and then stand at the front of the stage and say, 'Throw the beach ball up here, throw the beach ball up here, throw the beach ball up here' eight times until it eventually got up, and he would stamp it out. Then he'd throw it off the stage. I guess he just really didn't want that out there.

"Before the very last show, the tour manager came up to my dad and me and whispered, 'Hey, you've got a funny little surprise for all of you guys at the end of the show,'" he continued. "We're, like, 'What?' And he goes, 'At the very end of 'Jump', when you're doing the ride out, we're going to release 50 beach balls from the top of the audience. And we'll just see what happens.' But even if he gets pissed off, what was he gonna do? It's the last fucking show. And sure enough, we get to 'Jump', and there was just a cavalcade, an avalanche of beach balls, and Dave was just, like, short-circuiting. He didn't understand how to handle it. But we all laughed it off. And it was just a really fun, almost like a fun practical joke. And yeah, that was a really fun memory of that show. As time went further and further by, the more I thought about it, like, 'Wow, if that is the last show, what an amazing way to cap it off.'"

During an appearance on today's (Friday, June 30) episode of the BBC television breakfast news program "BBC Breakfast", vocalist Joey Tempest of Swedish hard rock veterans EUROPE was asked how he feels about sometimes being considered a one-hit wonder for "The Final Countdown", which has proven to be a far more enduring song than any of the band's other tracks. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've gone through such a long journey together. Original bandmembers since the '80s, and we've done eleven albums. And we feel like we're doing better now on the circuit, on the rock circuit, and we're very accepted. So we don't really think about that. But that song did have a crossover thing; it came into the pop world, whereas [we were] a rock band. So, it's kind of… Yeah… We're okay with it."

A year ago, EUROPE's music video for "The Final Countdown" surpassed one billion views on YouTube. The Nick Morris-directed clip, which was uploaded to YouTube in October 2009, contains footage from two concerts EUROPE played at Solnahallen in Solna, Sweden on May 26 and May 27, 1986, as well as some extra footage filmed at the soundchecks for those gigs.

"The Final Countdown" was the first single released from EUROPE's third studio album, "The Final Countdown", in 1986. The band's most recognizable and popular song, it reached No. 1 in 25 countries, including the United Kingdom. In the United States the song peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 18 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The single was certified gold in the United Kingdom in 1986.

Five years ago, Tempest was asked by Australia's Wall Of Sound if he knew "The Final Countdown" would be a smash when he was writing it and recording it. He responded: "It is a good question. I did the demo at home with this song and we had the ideas for it for so long. It was a one-minute demo since high school for me. On the third album, we decided to record the song and we were talking about writing around this main keyboard riff. Initially, it was really a soundtrack-type song and not a hit single, and I guess this was good for it. I remember playing the demo for the guys and they really saw the song so strong and it built from there. [But] no, we never knew that this was going to be such a big hit. We opened the album and the tour with this song, but we really thought this was not the one to be the initial single."

According to Tempest, "The Final Countdown" still stands as "one of our strongest albums and it was one of the albums that stands out; it opened up a lot of doors for the band. You know, 'Wings Of Tomorrow' was a little more naïve and stronger in that regard. But personally, I think we have done better albums, especially in the last [few] years. The three last albums are our strongest, but obviously it was something that belonged in that era and something so important to our career and history."

EUROPE's latest album, "Walk The Earth", was released in October 2017 via the band's own Hell & Back label through Silver Lining Music.

In a new interview with Elena Rosberg of Bulgaria's Z-Rock radio station, legendary vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes spoke about a possible collaboration with his ex-DEEP PURPLE bandmate, fellow singer David Coverdale. The 71-year-old British-born musician said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We have spoken about it in the last 10 years a couple of times. But David — he's been very busy; I have been very busy. So, the window of opportunity is closing, because I'm not sure how long David wants to continue. And I am so damn busy that… If he said to me tomorrow, 'Let's get together and maybe do something,' I would find the time, but I don't wait for that opportunity, because we've had that time. We had a great legacy.

"A lot of people would love to see Glenn and David together on one more tour," Glenn continued. "But I'm not sure [it will happen]… I mean, I think fans would like that. You never know. But I'm not sure."

More than two years ago, Glenn was asked by "That Jamieson Show" if he would consider taking part in a DEEP PURPLE reunion tour featuring him, Coverdale and Ian Gillan all sharing the stage in celebration of the band's legacy. He responded: "I would not consider it, because I'm way past that now. It was such a long time ago. Let's just say that there are some unresolved problems from the past. And for me, the time I have left to do my work on this planet, I need to keep making new music and plowing on forward. Yes, I have done some shows in respect to DEEP PURPLE music, but as far as re-engaging with them chaps again in the live form, I can't see it happening."

Hughes went on to clarify that his issues with DEEP PURPLE have "nothing to do with David Coverdale. I love him," he explained. "I would work with David again if we get a chance, but anybody else, no."

Known as the "voice of rock," Hughes spent key years of his career as the beloved bassist and vocalist of DEEP PURPLE, appearing on the classic albums "Burn", "Stormbringer" and "Come Taste the Band". More recently, he played various hits and deep cuts from the DEEP PURPLE catalog, including "Burn", "Stormbringer", "Sail Away" and "Smoke On The Water", as part of his "Glenn Hughes Performs Classic Deep Purple Live" tour, which was launched in 2017, and "Glenn Hughes Performs Classic Deep Purple Live – Celebrating The 50th Anniversary Of The Album Burn", which is ongoing.

In 2020, Hughes told Eonmusic that DEEP PURPLE's 2016 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, where he was honored along with other former and current members of the band, "was a little difficult, because of, let's call it personality problems. It was David and I holding hands, and the other guys, unfortunately," he said. "We just don't get along with the other guys at all. So, we kept ourselves to ourselves — David and Glenn, with our wives — and it was great. David and I, what a great time. And we closed the show with CHEAP TRICK and Sheryl Crow, and our friends in CHICAGO.

"You know, it's a touchy subject," he continued. "It was not an easy night for us. If you look at the body language, it's pretty obvious. But again, David and I have been thick and thin for so long; I just dearly love him. Regarding DEEP PURPLE, I have no idea what they're doing, and I don't really care."

Hughes's comments came less than two months after David expressed his exasperation at PURPLE over how he and Glenn were treated by their former band ahead of the Rock Hall induction. The singer, who played with DEEP PURPLE along with Hughes from 1973 to 1976, said: "Glenn Hughes and I were told, 'Well, we don't want you singing with us.' Initially, I'd spoken to Ian [Gillan] about coming up and singing the backgrounds of 'Smoke On The Water', because originally they were going to close the show. So, that suddenly was pulled. They tried to stop us doing speeches, and my wife was fucking furious, apart from the fact she spent a fortune on posh dresses. [Laughs]"

DEEP PURPLE's first three lineups were inducted into the Rock Hall, including guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, drummer Ian Paice, keyboardist Jon Lord, and various singers and bassists — Rod Evans, Gillan, Roger Glover, Coverdale and Hughes.

DEEP PURPLE's acceptance speeches included turns from Gillan, Glover, Paice, Coverdale and Hughes before the current lineup of DEEP PURPLE — Gillan, Glover, Paice, guitarist Steve Morse and keyboardist Don Airey — took the stage and played a short set consisting of "Highway Star", "Green Onions" (with an image of Lord behind them),"Hush" and "Smoke On The Water".

In a new interview with Poland's Pełna Kulturka, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked how he listens to music nowadays. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I always listen to it on — quite honestly on this very iPhone I'm talking to you on. [Laughs] It has my entire music catalog on it. And it's because I fly and I travel. I buy most of it, so it's in the phone and my cloud, so I have it, because I'm not always on wifi, so when I wanna listen to music, I wanna have it. So I pay for it. I buy my own albums. When DIETH pre-order went up, I pre-ordered it. I buy my own albums. I buy my friends' albums. When IRON MAIDEN or JUDAS PRIEST or GHOST albums are coming out, I always buy it because I support them as my friends and I'm a fan of their music. And it's important to stay a fan, I think, too, to be excited about it: 'Oh, man, the new album is here. Let me listen to it.' I will say this: at home, I have a vinyl player. It's not a great one. It's just a small little thing that I have.

"I was glad to move away from vinyl because I learned how to play bass to vinyl," he continued. "The needle would be there, and you'd have to pick it up and move it back and listen to it and pick it up; that's how I learned how to play bass. So I was glad to move past it. And I love the convenience of digital.

"But I will say this: I love vinyl album covers. I bought so many albums — AC/DC, VAN HALEN, the SEX PISTOLS, JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN — so many records, I became a fan of these bands from their album covers. So I will buy it on iTunes. I'm an Apple guy, because, by the way, also pays us the best as royalties. So I'd rather give Apple my money. I love Steve Jobs. I think he settled the Napster dispute by creating the iTunes store, even if it was just so he can sell iPods. Whatever. He fixed it, so I hail him."

Ellefson added: "I bought BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE 'Not Fragile'. I have it in here [on my iPhone]. That's one of the first albums that got me into rock and roll. But then I went on Amazon and I bought the album cover. 'Cause I wanted to have the vinyl album cover. And I found it. It was, like, 10 dollars, and I had it shipped to my house. So now I have the album cover so I can look at the album and listen to it on my phone the same way I used to as a kid sitting in front of my stereo, looking at pictures, reading… 'Cause, to me, that's such a part of this.

"That's why, I think, as metal artists, we go to such great lengths to make these elaborate album covers with these gatefolds and these digipacks and all this stuff, because we put the lyrics, who played what solo, who wrote what song, because we know as fans ourselves that fans want to see this stuff. This isn't just a song that's passing us by. We are all into a culture. Our bands, our t-shirts — that's who we are. So we go to great lengths to do that. That's why, just even still as a fan, if I buy a KISS album… I bought a 38 SPECIAL album and I bought the album cover. I found it at a record store, just 'cause I wanted to take it home and remember the experience I had when I was a teenager listening to my favorite records on my stereo at home when I was growing up."

DIETH, which features Ellefson alongside Swedish guitarist/vocalist Guilherme Miranda (formerly of ENTOMBED A.D.) and drummer Michał Łysejko (ex-DECAPITATED), released its debut album, "To Hell And Back", on June 2 via Napalm Records. The LP includes the song "Walk With Me Forever", featuring the first-ever solo lead vocal performance of Ellefson's career. The track's haunting accompanying music video shows Ellefson narrating a story of love and loss, directed by Oskar Szramka and starring notable Polish actors Jan Napieralski and Agnieszka Goździewicz.

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH by Dave Mustaine in May 2021, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

During an appearance on yesterday's (Thursday, June 22) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Tony Iommi confirmed that BLACK SABBATH was originally approached to play the Power Trip festival this fall. The three-day event, which features a lineup of hard rock legends GUNS N' ROSES, IRON MAIDEN, AC/DC, OZZY OSBOURNE, METALLICA and TOOL, will be held October 6-8 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, home of the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival.

Asked if it's true that there was talk of SABBATH doing the show, Iommi said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yes, there was. But I didn't, at that point… It's hard, because Ozzy's [Osbourne, SABBATH singer] been going through a lot of stuff lately. He's in hospital and out of hospital, and he's really been fighting it; he really wants to get out there. But in my mind, it's very difficult to sort of say yes. I've gotta think of the people in the band as well. I've gotta think of Ozzy, if he's gonna be all right to do a show and whatever. So I wasn't that comfortable with it. But I didn't know Ozzy [chuckles] would be doing it on his own. But it's great. I hope he can do it and that it'll be really good. He really wants to do it. And he's really trying to pull to get himself back. He's had to go through such a lot of hard stuff lately. It's such a shame, really. But he's still fighting there."

Pressed to confirm that the original lineup of SABBATH was asked to play Power Trip but that he eventually decided against it, Tony said: "Yeah. Sort of, yeah. I mean, we hadn't approached the others as far as doing it. They might have said no. But it didn't get much further than me, really. But, yeah, that's the way it is.

"If you're gonna go out, I want to do a good show," he explained. "I want to go out on the top and do it. I don't wanna just go and slap something together. And I'm not saying it would have been, but it could have been difficult."

Iommi went on to say that he isn't necessarily opposed to staging a one-off reunion of BLACK SABBATH's original lineup under the right circumstances.

"I've certainly done the Commonwealth Games [in Birmingham last August] with Ozzy, and that sort of happened. But to do a full show, you've gotta make sure everybody's in good shape because people are gonna remember you by that show. And I don't want our reputation to go downhill all of a sudden. If something goes wrong or somebody can't make it and we have to cancel… 'Cause I don't know everybody's health; I don't know how Bill's [Ward, original SABBATH drummer] feeling these days. You just don't know. So I'd like to be sure. If you're gonna do anything, it's gotta be good or [you should] not bother."

Back in December 2021, Tony spoke to Liz Barnes of Planet Rock's "My Planet Rocks" about SABBATH's final tour, "The End", which concluded in February 2017 in Birmingham, closing out the quartet's groundbreaking 49-year career. "The End" was SABBATH's last tour because Iommi can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.

"It was emotional, the last year, because we'd done it so long together, and it just felt pretty weird, really," he said. It was basically my fault to end it because of the touring.

"The problem is in a band of this size, you can't just go and go a week of gigs; you've gotta do a world tour of 18 months," he explained. "And when you do that, you have to take that on. When you first mention it, about going out on tour, 'Yeah. Brilliant. 18-month tour. Fantastic.' But when you get into a year of it, you get tired. But you have to take it on that long 'cause you've got all the crew to keep alive. Everybody's got a job, so you can't do one week and then have a month off and do another week, 'cause you won't get the crew; they wanna have a job. So we've done it for that long — we've done a world tour and a world tour again. And then it was getting sort of tiring. Even though we had our own plane and we [stayed] in the best hotels — everything was perfect — but you still get tired. We'd have a base in New York when we play in that area, so we'd have the plane there fly in. So you get in at three o'clock in the morning and then try to get to bed and sleep. So it was a regular thing like this. We tried to make it as comfortable as possible. It couldn't get any easier or [more] comfortable, but it still was tiring. And the late nights and stuff. So, when I was talking to my doctors, they said, 'You shouldn't really be doing it to that extent, flying,' 'cause I've got blood cancer. It wasn't good for me to be doing that much flying. I talked to the guys and I said, 'It's probably the time to call it a day now, sort of thing, for now' of that extensive touring. So that's really what we did. But the stipulation was we had to end up in Birmingham 'cause that's where we started."

According to Iommi, SABBATH has never ruled out performing again. "We haven't stopped it," he said. "It's just the major touring that has come to a stop; I wouldn't wanna do 18-month tours again. But that doesn't say we wouldn't do any one-off stuff."

Iommi revealed his cancer diagnosis in early 2012, shortly after SABBATH announced a reunion tour and album. He underwent treatment throughout the recording of the disc, titled "13", and the subsequent tour to promote it.

Iommi said in 2016 interview that "the lowest moment" for him was being diagnosed. He explained: "You automatically wind yourself up saying, 'That's it then,' but that is not always the case. When they tell you, you think, 'Oh God.' That was a low time. I have had a few low times in my life like everybody has, but that was one that stuck in the head."

Osbourne told The Pulse Of Radio in 2014 that Iommi never let his condition slow him down. "My hat goes off to him 'cause he really is Iron Man," he said. "I mean, that chemotherapy knocks you sideways, you know. I mean, when my wife had cancer a few years back, she was having three chemo things a month and it would knock the life out of — literally every time she'd have a treatment, she'd have a seizure. It's scary stuff. But he came down, plugged in and carried on. He's my hero, I swear to God he is."

The BLACK SABBATH guitarist successfully underwent an operation in January 2017 to remove a noncancerous lump from his throat.

"13" was the first album in 35 years to feature Osbourne, Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler all playing together.

Ward was on board for the SABBATH reunion when it was first announced 12 years ago, but backed out soon after. The drummer later claimed that he sat out the recording and touring sessions because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn't physically up to the task.

Dutch blackened death metal veterans Onheil released their new album, In Black Ashes, on June 23rd via Black Lion Records. To celebrate in glorious style, the band has unleashed a new music video for the album's title track.





Onheil have been spreading their raging melodic blackened death metal since 1999 and with the band's first two albums Razor (2009) and Storm Is Coming (2014), the Dutch quintet have left an impressive mark in extreme music. Renowned for memorable hooks and harmonic melodies, the band now embarks on their next powerful chapter with In Black Ashes, delivering a well-played and well-written album that strives and succeeds to be both hard, heavy and aggressive, as well as melodic and enchanting.




Onheil’s third full-length album was mixed and mastered by legendary producer Dan Swanö (Dissection, Opeth, Dark Funeral, Bloodbath, Marduk, Insomnium) at Unisound Studios, who also had nothing but praise for the band: “Very awesome record! A quite unique blend of classic black/thrash/speed and even some New Wave of British Heavy metal in there, and tastefully topped off with some vibes of that blackened death metal that I did so much of in the mid '90s. Highly recommended!”


In Black Ashes artwork and tracklisting:





"Night Terror"
"In Black Ashes"
"Like Shadows In The Night" 
"Void"
"Beneath A Steel Sky" 
"Bloodthirst"
"Master Of Disease"











For further details, visit Onheil on Facebook.


 

“I was a little intimated about being invited to collaborate with a new young rock band – my first initial response, I was very curious to see what was going on. But then when I heard them, the presentation, the presence, the production, the performance… it was very mature… I wondered can I fit into this type of energy? And then I was inspired to deliver something a little more unique,” says Darryl “DMC” McDaniels.


Not since 1986's "Walk This Way" cameo with Aerosmith has Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels appeared on a rock track like this. But that all changes now as the hip-hop legend is featured on a brand-new version of Classless Act’s single “Storm Before The Calm”, including an original verse he wrote just for the track, alongside a new music video.  See it below, and listen to the song here.


“It was a beautiful collaboration that shows the powerful potential of music – like when Steven Tyler took the mic stand in ‘Walk This Way’ and knocked down the wall that separated us. Even to this day, people talk about it. I think this song too is going to be very motivating and inspiring to all generations,” says DMC about the collaboration, which is in celebration of the one-year anniversary of Classless Act’s debut album Welcome To The Show, released June 24, 2022 via Better Noise Music and kicked off a huge breakthrough year for the Los Angeles-based five-piece. 







Since the Spring of 2022, Classless Act racked up millions of streams and logged 100 live shows, including opening for Dorothy, playing the summer blockbuster Stadium Tour opening for Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard, as well as an appearance at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at L.A.’s Kia Forum on September 27 where Classless Act frontman Derek Day joined Dave Grohl and members of the Foo Fighters. 


It was on the road when the collaboration of DMC and Classless Act – frontman Derek Day, guitarists Dane Pieper and Griffin Tucker, bassist Franco Gravante and drummer Chuck McKissock – first went public. The rapper was a surprise guest during Classless Act’s Stadium Tour set at L.A.’s SOFI Stadium.


“The beauty of making this song with them was the whole intention of us doing it, which was performing together,” DMC adds, saying the track – combining one of the buzziest new rock bands with hip-hop’s godfathers – “breaks down generational walls.”


“That was really the intent behind the songwriting of ‘Storm Before The Calm,’” explains Classless Act frontman Derek Day. “We’re this new band, but we’ve been playing music our whole lives. We want to be this thunder when we make our presence. But we’ve been trying our whole lives to break through. We’ve gone, we suffered, ‘we’ve crawled into the void, laid down and tasted the noise.’ No matter what, we’re going to come in and punch through and be the thunder.”


As far as DMC sees it, that fire and spark is what is crucial in today’s rock scene. “That spirit is missing right now in music, that rebellion,” he says, adding that Classless Act is a great example of rock’s potential. “Punk had one finger up, hip-hop came along and had two fingers up and now Classless Act is going to make us put up four fingers.”


Stay tuned for more releases from this special cameo, including live footage released from the SOFI Stadium guest appearance. 


Classless Act is currently in the studio working on new material that will follow up Welcome To The Show, with more details to be announced soon.





(Photo credit: Ross Halfin)


 

Hellfest 2023 took place in Clisson, France from June 15th - 18th. Festival organizers have shared an official aftermovie from this year's run. Check it out below.





Video of some of the performances from this year can be viewed below.




Arch Enemy





The Hu





Halestorm





Iron Maiden

Following their recent, worldwide signing with powerhouse label AFM Records, French alternative rock force ONLAP has shared a lyric video for their new single "Crawling In The Dark"!

The Paris-based band was formed in 2006, driven by a full DIY-spirit. Since years, each song that got self-released by ONLAP has been ruling Social Meida platforms and playlists, with a fan base growing day by day (with 415k monthly Spotify listeners and 105k YouTube subscribers to name just a few numbers) and a cross-platform streaming performance of more than 150 million streams. "The Awakening", the band's top hit on Spotify, reckons with 23M streams only to this impressive hoard of facts.


"After 15 years of a full indie model, we're really glad to start this new journey with AFM Records," the band recently said. "We really love the whole team, they've been listening and understanding the personality and particularities of our musical project and we just can't wait to start releasing songs, and our new album in the end, with them.

While they have already started to share new songs such as the previously-released track "Nevermind", today, ONLAP are premiering a lyric video for their new single "Crawling In The Dark"! Watch the clip now streaming below.

ONLAP have never felt more vibrant and hungry than they are on their upcoming album, that is scheduled to be released the Spring of 2024 with AFM Records. After all those years self-releasing a giant number of tracks, some EP's, and 1 best-of album for the 15 years anniversary of the band, ONLAP is now taking the chance to write a full album containing 10 colossal tracks. It will be a collection of their musical history, roots and brand new influences, but most important: including a multiple degree of links inside the album, that will be revealed later. But without a doubt, the most ambitious project ONLAP has achieved in their career so far!

During an appearance on the latest episode of the "Let There Be Talk" podcast with with rock and roll comedian Dean Delray, AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows discussed the experimental nature of the band's latest album, "Life Is But A Dream…" Written and recorded over the span of four years, it was produced by Joe Barresi and AVENGED SEVENFOLD in Los Angeles and mixed by Andy Wallace in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. The album is a journey through an existential crisis; a very personal exploration into the meaning, purpose and value of human existence with the anxiety of death always looming.

"With our new record right now, all you see are 10-out-of-10 reviews and zero-out-of-10 reviews," M. Shadows said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "But it's the best way to be because the people that hate it absolutely hate it. It's one of those things where, in 2023, having a zero out of 10 is actually better than anything you could ask for, because people are talking, and it's a weird society we live in at this point."

"All artists can do is be a reflection of themselves at any point in time," he continued. "There's nothing worse than when people are trying to put you in a box and want you to write the same music you wrote when you were in high school or 20 years old. Those were reflections of who we were back then; we were aggressive, young kids that were just kind of all over the place making a certain type of music. And every record kind of changed. But this one in particular — much more musical in terms of not having to have one foot fully in metal. It's got so many different eclectic influences that we've had our whole life that we never really were able to kind of quantify. Like if you think about THE RESIDENTS or MR. BUNGLE, all these different things that we were growing up listening to. And I think is just where we're at right now. It's a different type of record. The philosophy, all of it, is different, and so it's not gonna appeal to people that want the same thing or more of the same or they're there in their life right now. It doesn't mean they're not gonna get here. Maybe they're just not here right now. Maybe it's our job to put our arm around them and say, 'Hey, we're up the street at this bar. And let's hang out here. This is what we're doing now.'

"There are so many psychological things that go into if people like records or not or if they don't or what they're listening to at the time. And it's not really our job to figure that out; it's just our job to put something out that we totally back and we appreciate. And we'll see where it goes. It's hard to really talk about it, 'cause there's really no right or wrong answer. It's okay to hate this record."

The 41-year-old Shadows, whose real name is Matt Sanders, went on to cite a few other examples where certain records represented a departure from the sound and direction that fans expected their favorite artists to go.

"There's a few records I think of, for my era and my age, when they came out. One is 'Pinkerton' by WEEZER," he said. "They blew up with the 'Blue' album, and then they put out 'Pinkerton', which is why one of my favorite records of all time — it's dirty, it's lyrically uncomfortable, it's all these things. That's one. And then 'Disco Volante' is one from MR. BUNGLE. MR. BUNGLE was already weird with the self-titled [album], but 'Disco Volante' was just, like… Mike Patton is not even singing; he's just making noises the whole time. It's like them messing around with keyboards. It blows my mind. 'Yeezus' is one for me with Kanye [West]. He put out pretty much a heavy metal record. Everyone in hip-hop hated it, and now it's one of his essential records. But there's always those things that kind of stand outside the box and outside the norm and they ruffle feathers and people have knee-jerk reactions. And I think this is definitely one of those. But you've gotta make sure that it's backed up with musicality. It's gotta be backed up with some depth. It can't just be weird for weird's sake. And I think that's a lot of people's go-to on this: 'I hate it because they're just trying to be weird.' It's, like, no, actually, we're not. 'They're trying to be prog.' It's, like, prog is the last thing on our minds. We don't care about that. All we care about it writing shit that feels cool.

"People overthink it and they try to even put these things in boxes," Shadows added. "And I think prog has even become its own box, which sucks, 'cause prog should be so many different directions. Why does prog have rules? The world is funny. People like to put things in a box so they can kind of discuss it better, I guess. But this record is kind of boxless, I guess."

M. Shadows previously discussed AVENGED SEVENFOLD's songwriting approach on "Life Is But A Dream…" earlier this month in an interview with Lou Brutus of HardDrive Radio. At the time, he said: "We were just looking for really bold moments — in life, in art, in film. Things that we could sort of wrap our minds around an audio representation of how we were feeling about certain things.

"At this point, playing around with melody, playing around with tones, playing around with left turns, curveballs was really appealing to us.

"I think we've proven to everyone, whether they like the band or not, that we kind of know the rules of music, and this record, we were able to just go break all the rules," he continued.

"Mike Shinoda [of LINKIN PARK] put it to me really perfectly — I love his insight on a lot of things — and he said, 'This record is like you guys throwing paint at the wall, but if a fourth-grader was doing it, you'd say that's just paint on the wall. But because of everything you've done before, we all know you know how to make a beautiful painting, so this record is actually really special because it's not just paint on the wall. You guys have broken all the rules and done things in an abstract way. But we wanna listen and pay attention because we know what you guys have done before.' And I thought it was an interesting way of putting it, 'cause those [LINKIN PARK] guys — Dave ['Phoenix' Farrell] and Mike — have been big fans of this record. And I think that was a cool way of putting it."

M. Shadows added: "We kind of just really wanted to push the boundaries — the musical boundaries, the lyrical boundaries, the themes — and we didn't want anything on the record to sound generic or phoned in or not exciting. We wanted to redo everything we've ever done, where even the song lengths and the way we kind of put these little pieces of ear candy, but we get away from it quick. Or staying away from three choruses, or if there is three choruses, they're all vastly different. And really thinking about turning the traditional landscape of how you would normally put a song together on its head, but do it in an interesting way — not just to do it, but just to do it in a way that we think people will enjoy and give them sort of a reason to get to the end of songs or get to the next song on the record. And I think that was just a mindset this time, was just a little different — really looking at those things."

"Life Is But A Dream…" reportedly sold 36,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart. AVENGED SEVENFOLD's previous LP, "The Stage", debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 album chart in November 2016. The surprise release of "The Stage" earned the lowest sales of an AVENGED SEVENFOLD album in eleven years. It sold 76,000 copies in its first week, less than half the tally of its previous two efforts.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD made its first festival appearance in five years on May 19 at Welcome To Rockville at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The band's setlist included three songs from "Life Is But A Dream…": "Game Over", "We Love You" and "Nobody".

AVENGED SEVENFOLD's first concert since June 2018 took place on May 12 at AREA15 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In April, AVENGED SEVENFOLD announced the second leg of its extensive "Life is But A Dream…" North American tour featuring support from FALLING IN REVERSE. Produced by Live Nation, leg two includes stops in Nashville, Denver, Austin, and more before concluding at Fort Worth's Dickies Arena on October 15. Fans will have the opportunity to hear the group's first single in seven years, "Nobody", and their new album "Life Is But A Dream…" for the first time live during the 30-show outing.

The first leg with support from ALEXISONFIRE includes thirteen cities across the U.S. and Canada, such as Mansfield, Québec City, Tinley Park, Calgary, and more.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD kicked off its 2023 touring run earlier this month with two unique one-night-only arena shows in New York and Los Angeles.

Hurricane is an American heavy metal band formed in 1983, originally featuring current Foreigner lead vocalist Kelly Hansen (vocals / rhythm guitar), Robert Sarzo (guitar), Tony Cavazo (bass), and Jay Schellen (drums) currently with Yes.


Cavazo and Sarzo are the brothers of Quiet Riot's Carlos Cavazo and Rudy Sarzo. Hurricane released four albums: Take What You Want (1985), Over The Edge (1988), Slave To The Thrill (1990), and Liquifury (2001). Over The Edge was their album featuring the charting song, "I'm On To You", which peaked at #33 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1988.







In 2010, Robert Sarzo and Tony Cavazo, founding members, reunited and recruited drummer Mike Hansen. In 2021, Dan Schumann an Australian-born singer best known as a member of the Las Vegas headliner vocal group, Tenors Of Rock joined Hurricane. They are now set to release their first new album in over 20 years, Reconnected, due this August via Deko Entertainment.


Reconnected artwork and tracklisting:





"Rock Star Cheater"
"You And I"
"Under Pressure"
"Behind Your Shadow"
"Innocent Girl"
"Don’t Change Your Love"
"I’m On To You"
"Hand Of Souls"
"Disconnected"
"Blind Love"
"Wishing Well"


Pre-order your copy of Reconnected now at this location.


Fan-filmed video of Hurricane performing "I’m On To You" live at Grand Casino in Hinkley, Minnesota in September 2021 can be enjoyed below.





 

Billy Gibbons has revealed that the next ZZ TOP album will feature tracks recorded with the band's late bassist Dusty Hill.

The follow-up to 2012's "La Futura", which could arrive later this year, will also include songs with and Dusty's replacement, Elwood Francis.

In a new interview with Classic Rock, Gibbons said about the status of the new ZZ TOP LP: "Are things coming to the boil yet? Yeah. In fact, we are currently reviewing the tracks that deserve completion. Dusty is on some of those, so is Elwood. What's fascinating is that we have three or four tracks with them both. They're trading off. The only tell-tale difference is that Dusty, playing with his fingers, sounds a little warmer."

Regarding how Francis, who was ZZ TOP's longtime guitar tech, came to join the band following Hill's passing, Gibbons said: "Dusty was a great guy, a swell singer. He provided a solid platform for me to solo without having to look back. He was always on it. Dusty used to say: 'If I'm late to the stage, be sure to give my guitar to Elwood.' Elwood is a family member; he's been with us for three decades. And sure enough, Elwood picked up the parts and pieces [to replace Hill in ZZ TOP]. But whereas Dusty played with his fingers, Elwood uses a pick. It's a little sharper. He brings a little more finesse. And at the first rehearsal he showed up with a full beard longer than mine."

Gibbons admitted "there was a lot of curiosity" surrounding ZZ TOP's return to the live stage without Hill. "'What's this going to be like?' 'Can this guy hold up the bottom of the TOP?' In a trio it's a big challenge," he said. "Everything has to be working at a hundred and ten per cent. But Elwood was ready, having been a part of it for so long… [Dusty] said: 'The show must go on.' That was his wish, and we granted it."

ZZ TOP and LYNYRD SKYNYRD will embark on their first co-headlining tour — "The Sharp Dressed Simple Man" tour — taking over 22 cities in North America this summer. Produced by Live Nation, the tour kicks off on Friday, July 21 at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Florida and continues with stops in Fort Worth, Phoenix, Chicago, and more before wrapping up in Camden, New Jersey at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion on Sunday, September 17.

The 72-year-old Hill died on July 28, 2021 in his sleep at his Houston, Texas home.

ZZ TOP played its first show following Hill's death on July 30, 2021 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Francis made his live debut with ZZ TOP on July 23, 2021 at the Village Commons in New Lenox, Illinois after Hill was forced to return to Texas to address a hip issue.

Hill joined ZZ TOP a year after its formation in 1969.

Shinedown is currently taking the month of June to tour a few of their favorite US cities and radio stations.


"Follow us along our journey as we take our time to connect with our supporters and bring awareness to our single 'A Symptom Of Being Human'," says vocalist Brent Smith. "We believe that rock ‘n roll is a spirit, it’s a way of life and for us it’s about being able to reach as many people as possible."


Earlier today, four new episodes of Shinedown "meeting people and spreading love and positivity" were posted online, bringing the grand total to six; all of which can be seen below (in chronological order). 






















Earlier this year, Shinedown released a music video for their single, "A Symptom Of Being Human", taken from the band's 2022 album, Planet Zero.


Says the group: "As human beings, we are all unique and that’s what makes us original. Embrace it, don’t run away from it. Live every moment to the fullest and don’t worry, it’s all just 'A Symptom Of Being Human'."





Shinedown have announced a string of US dates in September and October, with special guests Papa Roach and Spiritbox. Tickets are on sale now.





Tour dates:


September
3 - St Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
4 - Kansas City, MO - T-Mobile Center
6 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center
8 - Burgettstown, PA - The Pavilion at Star Lake
9 - Blue Ridge Rock Festival - The Virginia International Raceway
12 - Detroit, MI - Pine Knob Music Theatre
13 - Syracuse, NY - St. Joseph's Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
15 - Ocean City, MD - Ocean City Bike Fest
16 - Camden, NJ - Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
19 - Gilford, NH - Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
21 - Bangor, ME - Maine Savings Amphitheater
23 - Mansfield, MA - Xfinity Center
24 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
26 - Simpsonville, SC - CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park
27 - Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre
29 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater
30 - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Live


October
3 - Franklin, TN - FirstBank Amphitheater
5 - Rogers, AR - Walmart AMP
6 - Allen, TX - Credit Union of Texas Event Center
8 - Houston, TX - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
9 - San Antonio, TX - Freeman Coliseum
12 - Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
13 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
15 - Irvine, CA - FivePoint Amphitheatre
17 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheater
19 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
20 - Denver, CO - Ball Arena





 

In a new interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner spoke about a possible second album from his ELEGANT WEAPONS project, also featuring singer Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW, MSG). He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've already started. We've recorded drums for the second record. We got together in March, I think, of this year; I think it was March — I'm not sure. We got together in the studio and played together to record the drums, get the drums recorded. So it's been started.

Asked if the second ELEGANT WEAPONS LP will arrive in 2024 or 2025, Richie said: "I don't know. Maybe next year. Back in the day, bands used to release a record every year, sometimes two in a year. I know we don't do things under the same cycle anymore. But the ideas are there for the songs. We all were together, and we thought why not get at least the drums going. We got the drums and we got the guitars, and stuff like that, so why not start the process?

"It was important for me, really, when I started the band… It was a band that it wasn't just a one-record type thing," Faulkner explained. "It was a band that plays live and records — hopefully — multiple records and grows and evolves together moving into the future. So the next record is just a part of that sort of process, really."

Richie went on to say that he plans on focusing on ELEGANT WEAPONS full-time once PRIEST has officially called it a day.

"PRIEST music is gonna be around a lot longer than we are," he said. "It's legendary music. They're genre-defining musicians and it's a genre-defining band. It will be around for a long time. But none of us gets out of this alive. That's just the reality of it. So if one day that call comes in and that's the last tour or the last album, whatever it is… I mean, I joined the band on what was the farewell tour. Luckily it wasn't, and we're still here 12 years later. [It's] fantastic. But at the time, I think I would have been silly not to consider what I was gonna do after the band, because of the circumstances of the tour. It was a farewell tour — it was [supposed to be] the last tour — so what am I gonna do after? So it's always been in the back of my mind. And this is a band that seems natural to me to continue with if that call ever came in."

ELEGANT WEAPONS made its first two festival appearances on June 16 at Hellfest in Clisson, France and on June 18 at Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium.

ELEGANT WEAPONS' debut album, "Horns For A Halo", was released on May 26 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was recorded with bassist Rex Brown (PANTERA, DOWN) and drummer Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST) and was helmed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with JUDAS PRIEST, ACCEPT, EXODUS and MEGADETH, among many others.

ELEGANT WEAPONS, which is rounded out by Dave Rimmer (URIAH HEEP) on bass and Christopher Williams (ACCEPT) on drums, will play shows in Europe through July. The trek will include additional performances with PANTERA, festival appearances and headlining shows.

Chicago, Illinois ‘70 classic tinted heavy riff rock / metal band Spillage has released their brand new single and lyric video for the song "Nail Biter" from their upcoming new 4th studio album Phase Four.





The album is scheduled to be released worldwide on September 8, 2023 via Qumran Records (North America) and No Dust Records (Europe).







Spillage is the end result of taking the best qualities of early Judas Priest and Uriah Heep, and mixing it with Uli Jon Roth era Scorpions, and a good dose of Chicago doom. Spillage manages to create brilliant, original music that stands well on its own in today's heavy scene.


Spillage:
Tony Spillman – Guitar
Nick Bozidarevic – Guitar
Elvin Rodriguez – Vocals
Chris Martins – Drums
Billy McGuffey – Bass Guitar
Paul Rau – Keyboards

2023 JUNO Award-winners, Voivod, are celebrating 40 eventful years of existence this year and will issue a special anniversary studio album, Morgöth Tales, on July 21 via Century Media Records.


Jimmy Kay from Canada's The Metal Voice recently spoke to Voivod drummer Michel "Away" Langevin about Morgoth Tales, Voivod's upcoming album re-releases, and AI. He also gives an update on writing new music and the releaser date of the upcoming Voivod documentary. Watch below.


When asked about the Jason Newsted-era and how he joined the band, Langevin reveals: "Well what happened was a year after the band split (around 2000), Piggy and I got anxious and checked out with Snake if he wanted to join the band again. So we thought let's phone Jason (Newsted) because we had done so many records with him in the past and he immediately got excited and ended up joining the band. The funny thing is when I phoned him to ask him to be a guest bassist on the album (originally), he said how did you know I just left Metallica? But it was just a very strange coincidence. We are also looking into re-releasing the self-titled Voivod album with Jason Newsted (2003). We secured the rights but I think we will save this re-release of this self-titled album for next year."

Once again recorded and mixed by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio, mastered by Maor Appelbaum and produced by Voivod, Morgöth Tales includes fresh studio (re-)recordings by the band’s current lineup of nine especially selected, not-so-obvious picks from the band’s hyper-classy and extremely diverse back catalogue (between 1984 and 2003) as well as a brand-new song in the album’s title-track, “Morgöth Tales”.


Voivod drummer Michel “Away” Langevin commented about Morgöth Tales as follows: “Morgöth Tales covers 40 years of space exploration. It was really exciting for us to revisit a more obscure part of the Voïvod catalogue, from thrash-punk to prog-metal to…? The title track is a new song, which we started writing in the tour bus and hotels during the Opeth European tour in November/December 2022. It has the vibe of the experimental music we are doing nowadays, with a new twist I think. We also had the great thrill of getting E-Force (Eric Forrest) and Jasonic (Jason Newsted) involved on this album. I hope you’ll dig it, Chewy, Rocky, Snake and I certainly had a blast recording it. All aboard and ready for take off!“





Tracklisting:


"Condemned To The Gallows"
"Thrashing Rage "
"Killing Technology"
"Macrosolutions To Megaproblems"
"Pre-Ignition"
"Nuage Fractal"
"Fix My Heart"
"Rise" (feat. Eric Forrest)
"Rebel Robot" (feat. Jason Newsted)
"Morgöth Tales"


"Condemned To The Gallows" (2023 Version):





"Nuage Fractal" video:

Ahead of the release of their latest EP The Cold Black and their appearance at UK Tech-Fest, Derby based deathcore mob The Cartographer have unveiled a new video for their latest single “Red Tape”, premiering exclusively on BraveWords!





Speaking about the new video, the band stated:




“For those for have heard our last EP, Mind Atla", there was a song titled ‘Overcome’. This song is a continuation, but from another person’s standpoint. The crux of it is about leaving and moving past a toxic relationship in which you felt like your dreams and aspirations were being ripped from you.”


“Red Tape” is the follow on from their last single, “Misery Systems”, which came out on April 27, 2023. The Cold Black EP is set for release on June 30, 2023.





Speaking about the EP, the band stated "The Cold Black EP is a screenshot of modern-day problems within an almost dystopian world, grappling with a rise in mental health issues within society. The core themes are self-hate, depression, and the breakdown of trust, both on a national and personal scale, and the damage that can and has caused."


Formed in 2013, The Cartographer are dedicated to channelling their combined passion & love for music into a spine shattering embodiment of modern deathcore. The band represents various emotions that derive from personal life experiences, and the band have made it their mission to remind every listener that they’re not alone in their battles.


The band have graced many stages, from performing at the prestigious UK Tech-Fest & Macmillian Fest, to supporting bands like Loathe, Skies In Motion, & King 810. With a plethora of experience behind them and an array of spine shaking songs under their belt, the band are set to appear at the 2023 edition of UK Tech-Fest before embarking on a co-headline tour with Glass Grave in November 2023. The Cold Black EP is only a taste of what is yet to come from The Cartographer.

Whitesnake leader, David Coverdale, has released the video below, stating: "My songwriting companion throughout Deep Purple and Whitesnake, is being entered into the Heavy Metal Truants x Download Festival charity auction! Live June 29th, be generous!" XXX


For complete details on the auction, visit the homepage, here.







Whitesnake returned in 2008 with Good To Be Bad, the band’s 10th studio album and its first in over a decade. Fans embraced the comeback, pushing the album into the Top 10 in the UK and flocking to shows on the band’s massive world tour. Today, album tracks like “Best Years” and “Summer Rain” have taken their place in the band’s live repertoire alongside global hits like “Here I Go Again” and “Still Of The Night.”


Whitesnake explores the group’s 2008 return with the legacy retrospective, Still Good To Be Bad. The collection is now available in different configurations. The band has released the 4K remastered video for "All For Love". Watch below:





The first collection is a 4-CD/Blu-ray with two new versions of the original album (one remastered and the other newly remixed), a selection of rare and unreleased studio and live recordings from the period, and videos all the music videos, interviews, and electrifying live performances from the Good To Be Bad world tour.





Three other versions of Still Good To Be Bad are also available. The album’s 2023 Remix is released on vinyl as a double-LP and a single CD. Still Good To Be Bad also comes as a 2-CD set that includes the remixed and remastered versions of the album. The new alternate mixes also feature new background vocals from the “Hook City Harlots,” Cami Thompson, Misty Rae & Jackie Landrum, plus the “Hook City Horns” with Rick Metz on saxes and the trumpet of Joshua Reed.





Whitesnake founder and lead singer David Coverdale played an integral role in making the new collection, serving as its executive producer. In the set’s liner notes, Coverdale traces the creative spark for Good to Be Bad back to 2003 when he reconvened Whitesnake for a tour celebrating the band’s 25th anniversary.


“We went out for two months and came back nine months later, and I had a big smile on my face and felt really energized.... I thought—‘Wow! I’ve got thirty years of music here that I can go out and play, and I don’t have to promote a new record...I can just have fun out there.’”


The anniversary ended, but the tour buses kept rolling as Whitesnake remained in demand on the road. As a result, in 2006, the band released Live...In The Shadow Of The Blues, a concert album that also introduced four new studio recordings. Those songs raised fans’ hopes for a new Whitesnake studio album, the first since 1997’s Restless Heart.


Coverdale enjoyed a newly forged creative friendship with electrifying guitarist Doug Aldrich...After initially saying he wasn’t interested in new projects...after three years of touring, he felt the need for new music...not only for the fans, but also to reinvigorate himself.


He found the perfect writing partner with Doug Aldrich. Not only as a co-writer but, as a co-producer, too...


“Doug & I got on so well, I suggested we sit down with our acoustic guitars & see what unfolded...I was thrilled how effortless it was to create new Whitesnake music with him...”


So, it was that in 2007, Coverdale, guitarists Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach, keyboardist Timothy Drury, bassist Uriah Duffy, and drummer Chris Frazier began recording tracks for Whitesnake’s 10th studio album, Good to Be Bad. Celebrated by both fans and critics, the record was named “Album of the Year” at the 2008 Classic Rock Awards.


Still Good To Be Bad explores the creative process behind the record with 28 different mixes and alternate versions of album tracks, all but one of them previously unreleased. High points include “If You Want Me,” backed by the Hook City Harlots and Horns and a version of “All For Love” that features a different guitar solo by Aldrich. The collection also includes “Evolutions”, a disc of unreleased recordings that presents a guide through the genesis of each song, from initial ideas with rough vocal melodies, lyrics and riffs through to finished demos and full band production versions.


The Blu-ray delivers a variety of Whitesnake video footage, including live tracks from the band’s 2008 European tour, acoustic performances from the era, and an interview by Eddie Trunk. New songs like “Best Years,” “A Fool In Love,” and “Can You Hear The Wind Blow” come to life in these incredible live performances. The Blu-ray also features promo videos for “Ready To Rock” and “Lay Down Your Love.”


Order here.





Super Deluxe tracklisting:


CD 1: New Remix
"Best Years"
"Can You Hear The Wind Blow"
"Lay Down Your Love"
"If You Want Me"
"All I Want All I Need"
"Call On Me"
"Ready To Rock"
"Summer Rain"
"Good To Be Bad"
"All For Love"
"All I Want Is You"
"Got What You Need"
"A Fool In Love"
"Dog"
"‘Til The End Of Time"


CD 2: New Remaster  
"Best Years"
"Can You Hear The Wind Blow"
"Lay Down Your Love"
"If You Want Me"
"All I Want All I Need"
"Call On Me"
"Ready To Rock"
"Summer Rain"
"Good To Be Bad"
"All For Love"
"All I Want Is You"
"Got What You Need"
"A Fool In Love"
"Dog"
"‘Til The End Of Time"


CD 3: Alt Mixes and Various Versions
"Lay Down Your Love" w/ Hook City Harlots
"If You Want Me":w/ Hook City Harlots
"Call On Me" w/ Hook City Harlots
"Good To Be Bad" w/ Hook City Harlots
"All For Love" w/ Hook City Harlots
"Got What You Need" w/ Hook City Harlots
"A Fool In Love" w/ Hook City Harlots
"If You Want Me" Tommy Aldridge drums
"Ready To Rock" Tommy Aldridge drums
"All I Want Is You" Tommy Aldridge drums
"Dog" Tommy Aldridge drums
"All For Love" Doug Aldridge alternate solo
"Summer Rain" Unzipped


CD 4: Evolutions
"Best Years"
"Can You Hear The Wind Blow"
"Lay Down Your Love"
"If You Want Me"
"All I Want All I Need"
"Call On Me"
"Ready To Rock"
"Summer Rain"
"Good To Be Bad"
"All For Love"
"All I Want Is You"
"Got What You Need"
"A Fool In Love"
"Dog"
"‘Til The End Of Time"


Disc 5: Blu-ray / DVD
"Ready To Rock" (Promo Video)
"Lay Down Your Love" (Promo Video)
"Best Years" (Mini Concert From 2008)
"Can You Hear The Wind Blow" (Mini Concert From 2008)
"Lay Down Your Love" (Mini Concert From 2008)
"A Fool In Love" (Mini Concert From 2008)
"Got What You Need" (Purplesnake Video)
"Call On Me" (Purplesnake Video)
"Can You Hear The Wind Blow" (Purplesnake Video)
"All For Love" (Purplesnake Video)
"Best Years" (Purplesnake Video)
"Can You Hear The Wind Blow" (Cutting Room NY Live Acoustic)
"All I Want All I Need" (Cutting Room NY Live Acoustic)
"Lay Down Your Love" (Cutting Room NY Live Acoustic)

After successfully touring "Too Mean To Die" to ecstatic crowds in Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States, German/American heavy metal legends ACCEPT are back in the studio working on their next album.

ACCEPT bassist Martin Motnik states: "We're currently recording demo versions of the songs we have written so far, to help us decide — together with our amazing producer Andy Sneap (guitarist and producer for JUDAS PRIEST, and Grammy-winning producer with DREAM THEATER) — which songs we will be focusing on for the album. So far we have a solid dozen of songs, but we're still writing more. Stay excited! The songs are already amazing and promise to make for another killer album!

"Here's a picture of Wolf [Hoffmann, ACCEPT guitarist], Mark [Tornillo, ACCEPT singer], and myself during a vocals recording session! The metal is strong!"

Earlier this month, Cassius Morris, Hoffmann spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to 2021's "Too Mean To Die" album. He said: "Actually, I'm sitting here every day working on songs, believe it or not. And I just talked to Mark Tornillo, our singer. He's gonna come over to Nashville this month for some intense demoing of the new songs. So the stuff is in progress. And I think we're planning on having Andy Sneap, our producer, come over in August to actually lay down the tracks. And then, yeah, before you know it, there's gonna be a new album. I don't have a title yet. I have some songs — about a little more than half are written, I'd say."

Asked where ACCEPT is planning to record the next album, Wolf said: "Well, we have this place in Nashville that we have made the last five albums in. And we basically do drums at a place — it's not quite sure where we're gonna do it this time. And then guitars are usually happening here in Nashville and mixing happens in England. Nowadays, with technology, we don't really need to be together in the same place for four weeks at a time; we do it here and there and everywhere. But it's still important to know that we're doing it kind of together; we're not just sharing files over the Internet. 'Cause that has never worked for us. So, in other words, Andy has to be in the room, if possible, and then whoever gets to record their tracks, and then a bunch of others are usually around. So it's a group thing, for sure, but it's not [like] everybody's there the whole, all the time together."

Last fall, ACCEPT completed a North American tour with support from NARCOTIC WASTELAND. The band played a career-spanning set of new and classic tracks, including mega-hits "Balls To The Wall", "Princess Of The Dawn", "Fast As A Shark" and many more.

In February 2022, it was announced that ACCEPT had inked a worldwide deal with Napalm Records.

"Too Mean To Die" came out in January 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the group's first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

"Too Mean To Die" was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH),who has been responsible for the studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.

Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last five studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017) and "Too Mean To Die".

Photo courtesy of Martin Motnik