In a new interview with Rock Hard With Phil And Tish, former FEAR FACTORY singer Burton C. Bell was asked if and his bandmates ever felt the pressure that they had to release a certain type of music. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I feel, as a band, we locked ourselves in a box. And the label was expecting a certain sound, certain members were expecting a certain sound and, to be honest, a lot of fans were expecting a certain sound. Releasing anything else would have been — what's the word? — would have just been heresy, like, 'What are doing? That doesn't sound like FEAR FACTORY.' 'Well…'"

Bell went on to say that FEAR FACTORY released one album that didn't fall in line with what the fans expected from him and his bandmates. "We did a record [in 2005] called 'Transgression'. And the title in itself was a transgression of the actual sound of what FEAR FACTORY was. Instead of being an industrial metal band, on that record we were like a hard rock band almost. And fans treated it as such. So we did it to ourselves. But now as a solo artist, I don't feel that [kind of pressure] at all. I feel the sky's wide open."

Bell issued two solo singles in 2024 — "Anti-Droid" and "Technical Exorcism" — and a cover of RAMMSTEIN's "Du Hast" in 2023.

A new single from Burton called "Savages" is expected to be released later this spring.

Bell played the first concert with his solo band on June 13, 2024 at 1720 in Los Angeles, California.

Backing Bell at his recent gigs have been guitarist Henrik Linde (THE VITALS, DREN),drummer Ryan "Junior" Kittlitz (ALL HAIL THE YETI, THE ACID HELPS),bassist Tony Baumeister (ÆGES) and multi-instrumentalist Stewart Cararas.

Bell's discography includes multiple live and recorded collaborations with BLACK SABBATH icon Geezer Butler and JOURNEY's Deen Castronovo (as G/Z/R); industrial maverick Al Jourgensen and MINISTRY; and guest vocal appearances with PITCHSHIFTER, CONFLICT, SOIL, STATIC-X, SOULFLY and DELAIN, among others. He's the vocalist of ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS and CITY OF FIRE and, of course, the co-creator of FEAR FACTORY and the only musician to appear on every FEAR FACTORY release from 1992 through 2024.

FEAR FACTORY created a sound that revolutionized extreme metal, defined in no small part by Bell's innovative scream/sing dichotomy and the influences he brought from post-punk and industrial. Songs like "Replica", "Linchpin", "Edgecrusher", "Fear Campaign", "Archetype", "Cyber Waste" and "Zero Signal" are modern metal anthems. "Demanufacture" (1995) and the RIAA gold-certified "Obsolete" (1998) are genre-redefining works heralded by fans and critics as essential albums. Orwell, Bradbury, "Blade Runner", and sophisticated sci-fi and fantasy works fed Bell's lyrics and concepts.

The band toured the world with METALLICA, SLIPKNOT, KORN, MEGADETH and OZZY OSBOURNE, taking bands like SYSTEM OF A DOWN and STATIC-X out as support acts in their early stages. After years of behind-the-scenes band member turmoil and legal issues, Bell left FEAR FACTORY in the fall of 2020.

The 56-year-old Bell had been largely inactive on the musical front since officially announcing his departure from FEAR FACTORY in September 2020. At the time he said that he could not "align" himself with someone whom he did not trust or respect, an apparent reference to FEAR FACTORY founding guitarist Dino Cazares. Bell has since been replaced in the band by the Italian-born singer Milo Silvestro.

SAVATAGE performed live for the first time in 10 years earlier today (Saturday, April 19) at the Monsters Of Rock festival at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil. The event also featured SCORPIONS, JUDAS PRIEST, EUROPE, OPETH, QUEENSRŸCHE and STRATOVARIUS.

SAVATAGE's lineup for the Monsters Of Rock festival and the upcoming shows this spring and summer consists of Johnny Lee Middleton on bass, Chris Caffery on guitar, Al Pitrelli on guitar, Jeff Plate on drums and Zak Stevens on lead vocals. Also appearing with the group are SAVATAGE's two new touring keyboardists, Paulo Cuevas and Shawn McNair.

One key member is missing from SAVATAGE's reunited lineup: Jon Oliva, the band's founding vocalist and keyboardist. In 2023, Oliva suffered a T7 vertebra fracture in three places, a severe injury that has left him relying on a wheelchair. Additionally, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Ménière's disease, conditions that have further complicated his health.

SAVATAGE's setlist for the Monsters Of Rock festival was as follows:

01. The Ocean (performed for first time since 1998)
02. Welcome (performed for first time since 1998)
03. Jesus Saves
04. The Wake Of Magellan (performed for first time since 2002)
05. Dead Winter Dead
06. Handful Of Rain (performed for first time since 2002)
07. Chance
08. Gutter Ballet
09. Edge Of Thorns
10. Believe (sung and played by Jon Oliva on piano, video on screen; band came in after first chorus)
11. Sirens (performed for first time since 2003)
12. Hall Of The Mountain King

In an interview with Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda, Oliva repeatedly emphasized that his injuries prevent him from taking part in the tour, explaining how his condition has affected even basic activities, let alone performing. "I can't even sing right now because of the pain," he admitted. "I can't stand for too long, and I need time for my vertebra to heal naturally." When asked about surgery as a possible solution, Oliva explained that he had considered it but ultimately decided against it after seeking advice from medical professionals and acquaintances. "They wanted to put metal in my body," he said. "But people I spoke to told me not to do it, that I would regret it. So, I chose to let it heal naturally."

This past January, Caffery and Plate spoke to The Metal Voice about SAVATAGE's 2025 live shows. Regarding how the SAVATAGE "reunion" came together, Plate said: "Well, I think the catalyst has just been the fanbase. The fanbase never gave up on us. They've been beating the drum for this reunion for years.

"The band never broke up," the drummer clarified. "We haven't done a proper tour in over 20 years, but we never officially broke up. Obviously, we all work together in TSO [TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA]. We've played a lot of this SAVATAGE music in the TSO shows. Throughout the years, we've done at least one SAVATAGE song per tour, I believe — at least one. So the music has been out there. And the fanbase has been clamoring for this for the longest time. And, man, I've gotta hand it to them.

"Jon Oliva, several years ago… Jon is always writing music, and the plan was to do some recording — he's got a bunch of new ideas — do some recording and get out there and let's do this again. Jon has obviously run into a number of health problems, which are serious, and I'm sure everybody's read about them. But in Jon's wisdom, he's, like, 'You know what?' The ball kind of started rolling again. He's not going to stop it this time. Jon's gonna be involved in everything that we're doing from here forward. He can't go out and do these tours right now, and he's gonna work himself back into it. We've got our fingers crossed. But I tell you, man, the music in general, the fanbase, there's just a strength behind all that that's really kept the name alive, kept the interest alive.

"We're all here," Plate continued. "We're all playing probably as well or better than we've ever played. It's not like we've been sitting around for 20 years doing nothing and decided to reunite. Chris and I, Johnny and Al, we've been doing these TSO tours every year, plus a number of things in the off season. So there's a lot of factors to this. But the excitement of seeing the reality of it, seeing the confirmed shows, seeing the posters…

"Chris and I have been basically joined at the hip since 1995," Jeff added. "We've done a lot of stuff together. We talk about this all the time, and it really is exciting just to be able to get back out there and do this and play this music."

Chris chimed in: "The plan was, after we did Wacken [Open Air festival in 2015], to start playing. But [TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA founder] Paul [O'Neill] passed, and then we had to get over that. Then COVID came. And then Jon wanted to get started, then his injuries came. Like Johnny Lee had said when I was just speaking with him, 10 years went by like that. And we need to do this now. It's, like, if you blink your eyes, 10 more years will go by. And I don't wanna get emotional on things, but every other day, somebody in my life passes, it seems nowadays, as you get older. So we wanna take the advantage now of getting us together and celebrating what Jon and Paul and Criss [Oliva, late SAVATAGE guitarist] and all of us have done with SAVATAGE's music and give the fans that had a chance to see it a chance to see us again and the ones that never saw us a chance to see it."

Jeff continued: "And I'll tell you something. Chris mentioned losing Paul, and that obviously threw a huge wrench into everything. But in the infinite wisdom of Jon and Paul, they never dissolved the band. We've had this discussion several times. 'Well, what is SAVATAGE? Are we still a thing?' Paul refused to ever say that we were done. 'We're still a band,' yada, yada. So here we are all these years later. It may have been frustrating for a lot of people that we haven't played, but we never broke up. So now we're back. And I think this is gonna be really interesting and it's gonna be awesome."

Chris said: "I used to tell the fans, 'My crystal ball isn't working. When it happens, I will be there.' And I wanted it probably as much [as], if not 10 times more than, the fans, because it was such an important part of my everyday life. The fans are fans of a band, and SAVATAGE was a lot of my life for decades. And then TSO came along, but that piece of SAVATAGE not being there… I'm the one who's not married and I don't have kids, so it's, like, that part of my life being gone was a big part of me. So it means a lot for me to be back in that family and that world. It really does."

Zak joined SAVATAGE in 1992 as the replacement for Jon Oliva. Zak sang on four albums with the band — "Edge Of Thorns" (1993),"Handful Of Rain" (1994),"Dead Winter Dead" (1995) and "The Wake Of Magellan" (1997) — before departing in 2000, allowing Jon to return. Both Jon and Zak took part in SAVATAGE's 2015 performance at Wacken Open Air, which marked the band's first, and only so far, appearance on stage since they went on hiatus back in 2002.

SAVATAGE's last album release, "Poets And Madmen", in 2001 was highlighted by Jon's return as lead vocalist, replacing Zak, who left the band citing family reasons, and the departure of guitarist Al Pitrelli, who accepted an offer to join MEGADETH in 2000. Pitrelli did record solos for some songs prior to his departure. Another very limited U.S. tour followed, supported by FATES WARNING in the early shows, and then NEVERMORE for the remainder. Around this time, Jon chose Zak's replacement in the form of Damond Jiniya (DIET OF WORMS). Damond performed Zak's parts on tour, with Jon having an increased vocal role in proceedings.

In September 2021, Jon Oliva was arrested on the west central coast of Florida for driving under the influence as well as possession of a controlled substance. Police charged Oliva with possession of cocaine, which is a felony, and DUI, which is a misdemeanor. Oliva was reportedly arrested again in July 2023 on another cocaine possession charge.

Back in 2016, Jon announced on social media that he suffered a stroke in April of that year. At the time, he said: "It was not as serious as it could have been, but it did leave me with some physical recovery challenges often associated with strokes."

Despite his health issues, Jon said that he didn't regret the way he had lived his life. He wrote: "I lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle since I was 18. It's all I knew and I enjoyed the ride very much. But there comes a time in everyone's life where you have to step back and make some life-changing decisions... which I have."

Shortly after SAVATAGE's reunion performance at the 2015 Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany, Oliva claimed that he felt better than he had in 20 years because he had "stopped drinking and eating" in preparation for the concert. He explained: "It's my voice that's freaking me out, because, even when I was in my late 20s, early 30s, doing songs like '24 Hours Ago' were always really hard to do. And, of course, I didn't realize that it was all the drugs and alcohol I was doing. But, after doing that, getting my act together and stuff, singing '24 Hours Ago', it's actually easy now. [Laughs]"

In addition to his work with SAVATAGE, Oliva is well known for co-creating the classical music-meets-prog rock and pyro act TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA alongside the project's founder Paul O'Neill. Oliva has reportedly remained involved in TSO's activities even after O'Neill's April 2017 death of an accidental drug overdose.

Jon's brother Criss, who was one of the founding members of SAVATAGE, was killed in October 1993 by a drunk driver when he and his wife Dawn were en route to the Livestock festival in Zephyrhills, Florida. The driver of the other car was found to have a drunk driving record of seven prior DUIs and having a blood alcohol content of .294 percent.

In a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge spoke about the band's new single "Satanized", which came out earlier this week. The track is taken from GHOST's upcoming album, "Skeletá", which will arrive on April 25 via Loma Vista Recordings. "Yeah, it's a fun video and it's a upbeat, fun track," Tobias said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). It's a song about being in love and how that can potentially be mistaken as demonic possession, but in reality this song has nothing to do with demonic possession."

Asked why he picked "Satanized" to be the first single from "Skeletá", Tobias said: "It's funny because as I was making the record, I didn't really put much like regard into trying to write… Of course, as a songwriter, you always try to write as good songs as possible, but there wasn't a whole lot of, like, 'Oh, I'm gonna write a hit song.' So I was more interested in sort of making a bunch of songs that I was gonna put cohesively into an understandable and entertaining album. And wise with experience over the years where I've delivered records to the people that work with me, and I'm, like, 'This is the song. This is the single. This is the hit.' And more than often, it ends up being, like, 'Oh, no. We believe in that song instead.' Okay. So finally I've sort of given up a little bit on that. So I just sort of gave the record and I'm, like, 'You guys choose what you wanna do.' And then I'm sort of holding my thumb a little, crossing my fingers, hoping that that maybe they they'll hear what I hear. And to my big surprise, they came back with 'Satanized'. And I was, like, 'I couldn't be happier. I have a really funny video idea for that one. I never thought that you would go for that one,' simply because it's like…"

He continued: "To me, I am a huge fan of '70s music. That's a very simplified way of saying that, but I'm a big fan of SCORPIONS from the '80s, but also the SCORPIONS from the '70s, which sometimes, I guess, a certain age group might not be aware that that SCORPIONS was a band in the '70s, and they released several records. Those records are a little bit different from the '80s records, when they sort of became a '80s hit rock band. And 'Satanized' definitely had more of a SCORPIONS '77 stomp that I really liked about the track. And somehow, therefore, I guess, I wasn't like putting that as a hit-single fan favorite, or a favorite that way. I thought I was gonna work my magic to make that song a big song, the same way that we did with 'Mary On A Cross' once upon a time, when that was regarded as this 'B' track that was just for fun. And I was, like, 'I think that that song is actually quite good. We're gonna play it every show we're playing.' And it took years before it became what that became."

Circling back to the fact that his record company seemingly had the same vision for "Satanized" as he did in terms of the song's potential, Forge said: "I was overwhelmed and overjoyed with the synchronicity, because I have done that mistake before where I have conceived a record, conceived a track, have an idea for a video for a track, and then the powers that be want another kickoff. And then that leads to a discussion, and then more than often, the reasoning as to why you go with another track might be perfectly understandable, but all of a sudden my idea is just not worth the piece of paper it's written on, because it simply doesn't work if it's not in a… Sometimes the crux of being conceptual, sometimes your ideas are simply too conceptual and too based on presentation and stars aligning. But in this case, we ended up with fluency, which was cool."

"Satanized" was described in a press release as "an avalanche of infectious hooks and harmonies is buoyed by a hypnotic shuffle, as the narrator succumbs to dark forces within and without, helplessly acknowledging their own blasphemy and heresy as it inexorably consumes them." By the time the song's opening lines "There is something inside me and they don't know if there is a cure" have moved from the inner monologue of the possessed to the ears of the hapless listener, it will already be too late: You will have been "Satanized".

The "Satanized" music video introduces the new character who will be fronting GHOST for its 2025 touring cycle: Papa V Perpetua.

GHOST's sixth psalm, "Skeletá", is its most unflinchingly introspective work to date. Where previous GHOST albums dealt largely with chronicling and/or observing outward facing subject matter — such as "Impera"'s meditations on the rise and fall of empires and its predecessor "Prequelle"'s evocations of the ravages of era-defining plagues — "Skeletá"'s lyrics render the distinct individual emotional vistas of each of its 10 songs in one-on-one fashion, at times as if in a dialogue with oneself in a mirror. The end result is a singular collection of timeless, universal sentiments, all filtered through a prism of a uniquely personal point of view.

GHOST has also launched an interactive element dubbed The Satanizer, a first-of-its-kind music video experience for fans who wish to be "Satanized." Developed in partnership with Jason Zada (Elf Yourself),The Satanizer will morph its users into characters featured in the song's melodramatic video. With a quick upload of your photo, The Satanizer will send out a personalized music video clip featuring the participant, who can in turn share via social media that they too have been "Satanized."

"Skeletá" track listing:

01. Peacefield
02. Lachryma
03. Satanized
04. Guiding Lights
05. De Profundis Borealis
06. Cenotaph
07. Missilia Amori
08. Marks Of The Evil One
09. Umbra
10. Excelsis

Forge performed as a "new" Papa Emeritus on each of the band's first three LPs, with each version of Papa replacing the one that came before it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia before the release of 2018's "Prequelle". In March 2020, at final show of GHOST's "Prequelle" tour in Mexico City, Mexico, the band officially introduced Papa Emeritus IV, the character who fronted the act for its "Impera" (2022) album phase.

As previously reported, GHOST will embark on a world tour in 2025. The European leg of the trek will kick off on April 15 in Manchester, United Kingdom and conclude on May 24 in Oslo, Norway. The North American leg of GHOST's 2025 tour will launch on July 9 in Baltimore, Maryland and wrap up on August 16 in Houston, Texas.

The physical home video of GHOST's worldwide Top 10 box office smash feature film debut "Rite Here Rite Now" was made available on December 6, 2024.

In a new interview with WNST and Baltimore Positive founder Nestor Aparicio, guitarist/vocalist Rik Emmett of legendary Canadian rockers TRIUMPH was asked when fans can expect to see him performing again at Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You know what?! I tell you this: of all the places that I would maybe go, that was always a great place to play. I loved that venue, loved just the feel of it. It was a nice place to play. And there's videos on YouTube you can find of moments at the Rams Head. I still have a t-shirt somewhere, a Rams Head t-shirt.

"But honestly, and not to end on a down note, but because of all of the B.S. that's going on now between America and Canada, and the guy that you guys decided to elect as president," referring to U.S. president Donald Trump.

Aparicio then flashed his "Canada" red visor hat and noted that he wasn't one of the 77 million people in the U.S. who voted for Trump (49.8% of the popular vote, compared to 75 million who voted for Kamala Harris, or 48.3% of the popular vote). He also expressed his concern that he may not be welcomed if he tries to cross the border and enter Canada, to which Emmett said: "Wear that hat, buddy — just make sure you're wearing that hat — because there are gonna be people that are walking around out… Like [comedian] Mike Myers on 'Saturday Night Live' was talking about 'elbows up' [as a rallying cry among Canadians in response to President Donald Trump's recent threats against the essential ally], like [Canadian hockey legend] Gordie Howe, we're gonna be defensive now."

Rik continued: "The Republicans in your country are offensive people, and they're being offensive to the rest of the world.

"I love the fact that there are Americans that don't agree with that, but we are gonna be defensive. And yes, your [Baltimore] Orioles [baseball team are gonna get a little bit of that [when they play the Toronto Blue Jays this week]. They might hear some booing of your national anthem and stuff.

"It's not that I don't love what America stands for," Rik clarified. "The greatest part of my career happened because of the support of Americans. They're still the largest amount of fans that I have. But whatever happened to the America of Lady Liberty? Whatever happened to the America that had an open mind and an open heart and open arms? Like, come on! That's a thing that's — it's gone now, and it's something to regret. So I'm just telling you, if somebody's got their elbows up, you just have to go, 'Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry.' Wear a little maple leaf over your heart. You'll be fine. [Laughs]"

On March 4 and on the eve of his joint address to Congress, President Trump started a trade war, hiking tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, the United States' three biggest trading partners. Trump's tariffs, along with fears of an economic downturn, drove a stock market sell-off that has wiped billions from Americans' retirement accounts.

Tariffs are not paid by countries, but importers — in this case, U.S. companies — that buy products from businesses in the targeted countries.

Trump's trade tariffs are set to make everyday goods that are imported from across the border more expensive for consumers.

A new CNN/SSRS poll Wednesday showed 56% of Americans now disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy — his worst rating on this issue of his entire White House career.

On Wednesday, Canada announced new retaliatory trade duties on some $21 billion worth of U.S. goods, a response to Trump implementing universal steel and aluminum tariffs.

In a news conference announcing the retaliatory duties, a Canadian government spokesman called Trump's tariffs "completely unjustified, unfair and unreasonable."

"The U.S. administration is once again inserting disruption and disorder into an incredibly successful trading partnership and raising the costs of everyday goods for Canadians and American households alike," said François-Philippe Champagne, Canada's minister of innovation, science and industry.

Last month, Reuters reported that Canadians have canceled trips south of the border, boycotted U.S. alcohol and other products and even booed at sporting events after Trump announced 25% tariffs on most of Canada's goods.

Trump has also repeatedly expressed his desire to annex Canada, saying that it only makes "sense" for Canada to become another American state to make tariffs disappear, to reduce taxes and secure its military defense.

In a new interview with Brazil's Monsters Of Rock TV, OPETH guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt spoke about the importance — or lack thereof — of staying true to the band's roots while taking OPETH's sound and songwriting to new heights with each successive album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "I don't really pay too much attention to our roots, to be honest. They are there regardless if I want it or not, so I don't really have to think about those kind of things. I think that some of our fans would probably disagree and say that we have abandoned our roots, and to some extent, I suppose that's true, but the kind of core of our sound from the beginning wasn't to attach ourselves to a specific sound or — how do you say? — a specific direction. It was always — the idea was always [to keep] evolving.

"I remember from early on that we talked amongst ourselves in the early incarnation of the band that it would be great if we could be one of those bands who could do anything we want," he explained. "Even when we did the first album, I was 19 years old, but I already started dabbling in death metal music. I was heavily into progressive rock. I was into singer-songwriter music. I had bought myself a couple of jazz records, a couple of fusion records, some classical music, all sorts of stuff. And I felt early on it would be impossible for me to carry on being in a band if I couldn't allow myself to write music without boundaries. And who's gonna set boundaries for us? I mean, nobody's in that position. And in the early days, we didn't even have fans. [From the very beginning, we were] thinking we can do whatever we want. There was no references. It was just us trying to put together music that we liked. And pretty early on we started shifting. I mean, the first album is similar to the second, but then we made a shift, and then after that we made another shift, and then later on we made another shift. And it always evolved. And I always liked that."

Mikael added: "For me, I don't believe in staying true to the roots, because those roots don't really exist in the same way in our band as they do in maybe some other bands. I don't know. Our roots has always been to evolve."

As previously reported, OPETH was honored in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal" category at this year's edition of the Swedish Grammis awards (Swedish Grammy equivalent),which was held on March 27 at Annexet in Stockholm.

"The Last Will And Testament", OPETH's fourteenth studio album, was released last November via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. The LP was written by OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt, with lyrics conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (THE HEARD, ex-CRUCIFIED BARBARA). "The Last Will And Testament" was co-produced by Åkerfeldt and Stefan Boman (GHOST, THE HELLACOPTERS),engineered by Boman, Joe Jones (KILLING JOKE, ROBERT PLANT) and OPETH, with Boman, Åkerfeldt and the rest of OPETH mixing at Atlantis and Hammerthorpe Studios in Stockholm. The strings on "The Last Will And Testament" were arranged by Åkerfeldt and returning prog friend Dave Stewart (EGG, KHAN) and conducted by Stewart at Angel Studios in London. Not one to miss a beat, visual artist Travis Smith returned to the fold, crafting his 11th cover, a haunting "photograph" reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's infamous "Overlook Hotel" photograph. Miles Showell (ABBA, QUEEN) also revisited mastering and vinyl lacquer cutting at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Åkerfeldt rolled out the red carpet for storied flautist and JETHRO TULL mainman Ian Anderson. Not only do Anderson's signature notes fly on "§4" and "§7", he narrates on "§1", "§2", "§4", and "§7". Joining Anderson, EUROPE's Joey Tempest lends a backing vocal hand on "§2", while Åkerfeldt's youngest daughter, Mirjam Åkerfeldt, is the disembodied voice in "§1".

Making his recorded debut alongside OPETH's long-established lineup of Mikael Åkerfeldt, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, bassist Martin Mendez and keyboard maestro Joakim Svalberg on "The Last Will And Testament" is new drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, who joined the band in 2022.

In a new interview with The Logan Show, L.A. GUNS guitarist Tracii Guns was asked what it was like to work with future STEEL PANTHER singer Michael Starr — real name Ralph Saenz — on L.A. GUNS' 1998 EP "Wasted". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That ability for Ralph to come in, or Michael Starr to come in, and still do almost the David Lee Roth shtick, but sing these 'less fun' songs, that's all I could say — L.A. GUNS with a little bit of dark shit around — it really made it fun for that year. 'Forgiving Eyes' on the EP — that whole EP's killer. That's the other singer that I had really great chemistry with."

When host Logan Crosland asked Tracii for his opinion of STEEL PANTHER, noting that some other 1980s rockers don't appreciate the "humor behind" the band, Guns said: "Any guy from my era that doesn't like STEEL PANTHER or doesn't get STEEL PANTHER is the reason why they're an asshole. STEEL PANTHER is the greatest tribute to '80s rock, hair metal. The lyrics are amazing. The musicianship is amazing. The stage show is exciting. It's, like, are you looking in the mirror and you don't like what you see? You know what I mean? 'Cause, to me, it's like looking in the mirror and I go, 'Man, that guy used to sing in L.A. GUNS.' It's so badass. And they're so badass. And they're so funny."

Tracii continued: "In reality, of all the hair metal bands, or whatever you wanna call it, '80s rock bands that are still out there, STEEL PANTHER's the most entertaining one. Period. There ain't nobody in no stadium doing what fucking STEEL PANTHER does."

Asked if L.A. GUNS and STEEL PANTHER have ever played together, Tracii said: "No, but Ralph and I talk about it all the time. It's always, like, every six months we have, like, a 10-minute conversation. It's, like, 'Yeah, we need to tour together.' And that's how every conversation ends. And we never do. But we love to fantasize about it."

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

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

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

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

L.A. GUNS' new album, "Leopard Skin", will be released on April 4 via Cleopatra Records.

In a new interview with El Salvador's Nación Metal, JUDAS PRIEST drummer Scott Travis was asked what, if any, challenges he and his bandmates encountered while making their latest album, 2024's "Invincible Shield". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Um, no real challenges. We took our time and we did it over the course of a year and a half. And we did it in all different places. We did some in Nashville, we did some in England. We did some even in hotel rooms when we were traveling on tour, because, with having [producer and touring guitarist] Andy Sneap in the band, who's obviously the producer, he has so many ways to record guitars, bass, drums, vocals. So, we recorded some in Phoenix, Arizona, I remember that also. But no real challenges other than taking our time, and it seemed to be the right decision. So we hope to do it again in 2026 and have another new release."

Earlier this month, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner was asked by Chile's PowerOfMetal.cl if he and his bandmates have already commenced work on material for the follow-up to "Invincible Shield", which came out a little over a year ago. He responded: "Yeah, we are always working on ideas and what we could do next. And if we did it, what would it sound like? What would we want to achieve creatively? So we always talk about that sort of stuff. We'll have to wait and see. I can't tell you too much at the moment. We'll have to wait and see. [Laughs]"

Regarding PRIEST's plans for the remainder of 2025 and beyond, Faulkner said: "So we come down to South America, as you know, in a couple of weeks. And then this summer in Europe, we are playing what we call the 'Shield Of Pain' tour. So it's the 35th anniversary of [JUDAS PRIEST's 1990 album] 'Painkiller' this year. So we are celebrating that record and we're also still celebrating the 'Invincible Shield' record. So that's the 'Shield Of Pain'. We're taking that through Europe. And then we're looking at some opportunities after that in 2025. And in '26 — who knows? We're always looking at opportunities, whether it's a new album or a new tour. But for now we're focused on South America."

"Invincible Shield" entered the U.K. chart at No. 2, just behind Ariana Grande's "Eternal Sunshine".

Prior to "Invincible Shield"'s arrival, PRIEST's highest U.K. chart achievement was with 1980's "British Steel", which reached No. 4.

PRIEST's 2018 album "Firepower" entered the chart at No. 5.

"Invincible Shield" was JUDAS PRIEST's fifth Top 10 album, after the aforementioned "British Steel" and "Firepower", as well as 2014's "Redeemer Of Souls" (No. 6) and the 1979 live album "Unleashed In The East" (No. 10).

"Invincible Shield" landed at No. 1 in Germany, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as No. 5 in France, No. 8 in Italy and No. 16 in Australia.

JUDAS PRIEST will celebrate the 35th anniversary of its classic album "Painkiller" extensively live with the "Shield Of Pain" tour. This "rare" and "unique set" will include "beloved classics" and "will be defending the metal faith in a truly memorable experience throughout Europe" this summer, according to a social media post from PRIEST.

During an appearance on Mike Rowe's podcast "The Way I Heard It With Mike Rowe", KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons reflected on his decision to call his 2004 sophomore solo album, "Asshole". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's supposed to be an insult and all that. I don't have a problem with it. I don't have a problem with anybody calling me anything. I really don't. I know that I do good. I know that my mom's okay with me, and that's all the validation I need.

"There was a song on [the album] called 'Asshole'," he explained. "It goes, 'You're an asshole. You're an asshole. Maybe I'm an asshole too,' is the punchline of the chorus. And I thought, 'Yeah!'"

Elaborating on what inspired him to call the LP "Asshole", Gene said: "When I walked into Interscope Records… I was co-managing a band with [KISS guitarist/vocalist] Paul [Stanley] called CROWN OF THORNS. I came up with that name and created the band. So we got them a deal. And [Interscope co-founder] Jimmy Iovine walks in and says, 'I want you to listen to a thing. It's by a new artist I just signed. His name is Tupac.' And I'm saying, 'Is he African or something?' 'No, no. He is from L.A. or New York.' 'Oh, great.' And it's just a black cover and it says, '4 My' N-word. ['Strictly 4 My N****Z'] And I thought it was a joke. 'Oh, what are you gonna call the album?' He goes, 'No, it's gonna be called that.' I'm saying, 'You're using the N-word?' He goes, 'Yeah.' And I'm going, 'Why are you doing that?' He says, 'Well, 'cause he's comfortable with that.' So the most vile thing you could call an African American is the N-word. They take possession of it and use it themselves. So what's one of the worst things you can say I am? Asshole. Great. Let's call the album 'Asshole'."

Asked how his "Asshole" album sold at the time of its release, Gene said: "It didn't do great, but it was a time when the entire record industry was changing."

Like Gene's 1978 self-titled solo album, "Asshole" featured a number of outside songwriting contributions and guest appearances. Bob Dylan and Gene co-wrote the album's "Waiting For The Morning Light". Frank Zappa and Gene shared co-writing credit on "Black Tongue" and the Zappa family — Dweezil, Ahmet, Moon, Gail and Frank Zappa himself — sang and played guitar on the song. Other guests featured on the album included JANE'S ADDICTION's Dave Navarro, KISS members Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer, Simmons Records/Sanctuary Music Group signing BAG, as well as Gene's now-wife Shannon Tweed and their two children, Sophie and Nicholas.

Last September, Gene was asked by Really Famous With Kara Mayer Robinson how he thinks he is perceived by most people. He said: "I would say there are some — could be a large number, could not — who think I'm an asshole. In fact, I named my second solo album 'Asshole', which, I thought, was akin to black people taking possession of the 'n' word. And fat people, overweight people, obese people, taking possession of that, so that you lessen the impact of that.

"I'm okay with being labeled or thought of as an asshole, because I know who I am," he continued. "And there are other people who think, 'You only do this for money.' And my response is — of course. Why am I not salt of the earth when almost all the jobs on the face of the planet are performed by people who don't like the job they have, and the only reason they're doing that is to be able to earn money to feed their families and put a roof over their head? Only for money. Nobody wants to dig ditches on a highway. The building we're in, somebody had to put up. They do that every day. They go to work, do the same thing every day, nine to five, five days a week. Join the union or not, and break their backs and never get rich, just to be able… 'That's the salt of the earth.' Why can't I be salt of the [earth]? The fact that I make more money? But I also give to philanthropy. And by the way, it's none of your fucking business who or what or where. I'm not trying to impress you or not. I know who I am. And maybe that's the best thing to do in life, is to just be comfortable in your own skin, 'cause not everybody likes Jesus either."

Asked who he is "for real", Simmons said: "I was born Chaim Witz, a name given to me, but I'm much bigger than that. I'm really something. And I would recommend everybody to be delusional that way about themselves, because whether you are that or not, your brain helps you get there by being delusional about it. Take [American professional boxer] Mike Tyson, who I know reasonably well, a fascinating human being — I mean, really exceptional. You have to consider that at some point early on in life, he had a bad childhood, bad family life and all that. If it wasn't for [American boxing manager and trainer] Cus D'Amato raising him and instilling in him and all that… He was shorter than heavyweights. His arms weren't as long as heavyweights. He talks with an interesting voice and has some problem pronouncing certain words, so he's the butt of jokes and everything. Except he decided at some point in his life, early on, before he turned 20 — 18, 19 — that he was gonna be the most dangerous man that ever stepped in the ring. Mindset is the most important thing. Regardless of the fact that there was no logic, almost delusional, in saying, 'Oh, yeah, I'm gonna be the most dangerous man. I'm gonna knock out people in five seconds.' That's exactly what he did. There's such a thing as will to live, will to win — it's the will. Mindset is everything. So I recommend to everybody, be more delusional. Every female that ever put on stiletto heels or anything, be hot. You are hot. You ever wonder how larger black girls have no problem shaking it, showing it off, whereas white girls are concerned if there's five more pounds of stuff. What do black girls have that white girls don't have? Strong sense of self. It's what it's all about. And the more they have of that feeling, the sexier they are. You make it real by your mindset."

Simmons added: "Never pick a fight with a short guy who is smaller than you and lighter than you who just has the 'Your ass is mine.' Don't pick a fight with that guy 'cause it doesn't matter if you're gonna win; you're gonna get hurt. So the will to win is everything. And that's what I have buckets full of… I'm more ravenous and hungry to do stuff and achieve more than I've ever been. And I've done pretty well so far."

Simmons was born Chaim Witz in August 1949, at Rambam Hospital in Haifa to Jewish immigrants from Hungary. He was the son of Holocaust survivor Flora Klein and a father, Feri Witz, who soon abandoned his family, leaving them penniless prior to emigrating to America in search of a better life.

Simmons is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, and media mogul. He has achieved success that reaches far beyond his music career, extending into television shows, films, publishing, merchandising, worldwide restaurants, consumer products, and more.

Gene was inspired to become a rock star when he first saw a televised performance by THE BEATLES. He formed several bands and then met fellow KISS co-founder Paul Stanley in 1970 and they formed the group WICKED LESTER. In the winter of 1972, with a desire to create the "ultimate" rock band, not just "another" rock band, Simmons and Stanley formed KISS with original band members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. Inspired by his love of comic books and horror films, Simmons conceived the concept of his face paint. The addition of elaborate costumes, frenetic stage performances and ostentatious concert effects, catapulted KISS to international stardom and a coveted position as one of the most recognized rock and roll bands in the world.

Since their inception, KISS has developed millions of fans around the world, also known as the KISS Army. With over 100 million CDs and DVDs sold worldwide, KISS sold out stadiums and arenas around the world for five decades, breaking box-office records set by Elvis Presley and THE BEATLES.

KISS was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2014 and in 1999 received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Merchandising giant Simmons's keen business acumen has expanded the KISS brand beyond the stage. With more than 5,000 licensed/merchandised items, KISS has generated more money from merchandising and trademark deals than any other band in music history.

Recently, Gene launched Gene Simmons MoneyBag soda — a new line of sodas made with all natural flavors, colors, and pure cane sugar, and packaged in painted bottles.

Simmons is renowned and sought after worldwide as a notable and opinionated media commentator on a diverse range of topics from politics to business.

In a new interview with the "Iron City Rocks" podcast, CANNIBAL CORPSE drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz spoke about his recent appearances at The Commodore, an improv and sketch comedy theater in the Tampa, Florida area. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, man, it's funny because I know it's gotten on Blabbermouth [that I was doing it], and it got on Blabbermouth the first time I did it. This is my third time doing this. But everybody thinks I'm doing standup comedy. I don't know why they list it as I'm doing standup comedy. I'm not. And if you read what it says, it's pretty self-explanatory what the situation is."

He continued: "What happened is — we were talking sports earlier — I'm from Buffalo. I still play ice hockey. That's what I've been doing my whole life, actually. I started skating when I was five, and I'm still playing. So, a guy that was on my team, I guess it was about a year ago, 'cause the first one I did was last March [of 2024], he was, like, 'Hey, I got a little kind of weird thing for you,' and asked me if I wanted to… He's involved with The Commodore, this place in Tampa that's kind of an improvy kind of a comedy shop, and they do different kinds of shows, but a lot of it, the thing is improv. And he said, 'Hey, man, that would be great. Maybe what you would do is go up and tell some stories, tell a story for five minutes.' So I'm just talking, kind of like I am now. I'm doing an interview and I'm talking about a story, whether it was [actor] Jim Carrey or anything that was, I felt, worthy of talking, that has happened to me in my life or in the band, but specifically me. And then they would do the troupe, which is like six or seven individuals, the guys and girls would do comedy skits, like improv skits. So I talk, I do my thing, I go sit down, they go up on stage for about 10 minutes and they just go off the cuff. And it's loosely based on what I'm talking about, I guess. So, I do maybe, I guess it's like four stories I end up talking, and then they do the comedy like that. So it's a maybe a little over an hour of a show. But that's it."

Paul added: "I don't know how it got twisted to where I was doing standup comedy, 'cause it's obviously completely different than that. But, yeah, it was all because of the guy. My friend asked me if I would like to do that and he knew I probably had some cool stories and help the comedy place out. And I was, like, 'It's something different. Why not?' And, yeah, here I am about to do it for the third time. So, yeah, it's fun stuff — little different, like I said, for me. I'm not used to doing that. But it was cool. So, I'm looking forward to doing it again."

Asked if his spoken-word show is something he would consider taking on the road, Paul said: "It's weird. At first I was, like, 'Man, I don't know. This isn't me.' I'm not that much of a guy that wants to be up there talking like that. I'll do interviews and I feel like I can talk, I suppose, but I'm not a lead singer. I'm playing the drums. I don't talk in front of people like that. It's actually a little nerve-racking. When I first did it last year, I was, like, 'Oh my God. I'm so nervous,' because I'm just telling stories. That's all I'm doing here. I'm by myself in front of people telling stories. So it's that whole speaking to a large group and they're listening to your every word here. And I'm on a stage, and I just don't do that. So I was a little concerned at first, am I gonna get up there and freeze up? Or am I gonna start fumbling my words and sound like a complete idiot? And I did all right. I guess I did fairly well, it seemed. They asked me to come back again, and I did the second one in November. And they wanted me to do it again. So it was, like, 'All right, cool.' I mean, I don't know if I'd wanna take it to that extreme of like — am I that guy that's gonna wanna go up and do it and [go], 'Oh, let's take it on the road.' It was done for my friend and their comedy club and all that. But hey, you never know. Like I said, I'm having fun doing it, so who knows what the future holds?"

When Paul's appearance at The Commodore was first announced, the event was described as "death metal meets alternative comedy in this one-of-a-kind show! Paul Mazurkiewicz, drummer and founding member of CANNIBAL CORPSE, shares stories from his incredible career that inspire comedy from Tampa's best improv comedians."

The Commodore is a 2,250 square-foot space which opened in 2023.

The owners of The Commodore include local performers Matt Walker, Kevin Michalski, John Lasavath, Justin Peters and Kelly Buttermore, who joined forces to build the "ideal space for independent comedy in Tampa Bay."

The Commodore features shows several nights per week from top local, regional, and national performers, with a programming focus on the sort of adventurous, alternative work that you might see on a nightly basis in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, according to the theater's page.

Mazurkiewicz is best known as the drummer of the death metal band CANNIBAL CORPSE. Mazurkiewicz was originally the drummer for the band TIRANT SIN, alongside two other future CANNIBAL CORPSE members Chris Barnes and Bob Rusay. The trio joined Alex Webster and Jack Owen in 1988, forming CANNIBAL CORPSE. He is also currently the drummer for assorted side projects including UMBILICUS and HEAVEN'S GATE. Besides drumming, he also plays the guitar, and is the group's primary lyricist and contributes heavily to composing songs; he penned the songs "Dead Human Collection", "Frantic Disembowelment", "Monolith", "Carrion Sculpted Entity" and "Worm Infested". Mazurkiewicz, along with Webster, is one of the sole remaining founding members of the band.

Commodore Corpse: The Paul Mazurkiewicz Stories

"Death metal meets alternative comedy in this one-of-a-kind show! Paul...

Posted by Michael A Murphy on Sunday, March 16, 2025

Commodore Corpse: The Paul Mazurkiewicz Stories

"Death metal meets alternative comedy in this one-of-a-kind show! Paul...

Posted by Michael A Murphy on Saturday, November 16, 2024

San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans VIO-LENCE recently kicked off their "Oppressing The Masses" European tour during which they are performing the entire "Oppressing The Masses" album, as well as songs from the band's back catalog. Joining singer Sean Killian in VIO-LENCE's current touring lineup are Nick Souza (HATRIOT) on drums, Jeff Salgado (PSYCHOSOMATIC) on bass, Ira Black (LIZZY BORDEN, METAL CHURCH) on guitar, and Claudeous Creamer (POSSESSED) on guitar.

Asked in an interview with Oran O'Beirne of Overdrive.ie if there are plans for VIO-LENCE to work on new music as a follow-up to 2022's "Let The World Burn" EP, Sean said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "So, we're just doing this tour this year, and then, once we get home — we'll be back here May 10th or 11th — we'll start working on new music. Ira's got some stuff written, and I've talked to a couple other musicians that I've worked with in the past, live on stage, that are interested in contributing."

Regarding the musical direction of the new VIO-LENCE material, Sean said: "I kind of wanna have something a little bit more broad than what VIO-LENCE has been in the past, where it's just straight thrash metal and it's constantly in your face. And I wanna have parts of that, but a lot of my influences back [in the day], and still today, were punk rock. I really don't listen to metal much. I do listen to a lot of dark wave music and post-punk and stuff like that."

Asked if the next VIO-LENCE release will be a full-length album or another EP, Sean said: "I wanna do a full-length album — at least eight songs. I know full-length albums these days are 15, 20 songs, but I'm not writing that many songs for one record. That's a lot. And plus I think too many songs — I'd rather release two records than one and have people just… That's a lot of music on one piece of vinyl."

Bassist Christian Olde Wolbers announced his departure from VIO-LENCE in February. He explained in a social media statement at the time that he wanted "to pursue my own new solo band and producing career."

VIO-LENCE released three studio albums between 1988 and 1993. The group reformed soon after founding VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel acrimoniously left MACHINE HEAD more than six years ago.

Formed in 1985, VIO-LENCE helped define and refine what came to be known as the Bay Area sound, dropping three seminal albums before splitting in 1993. Leaving behind a heady legacy, they reformed briefly a couple of times in the intervening years before becoming a full-time going concern once more in 2019. After playing a string of successful shows, the quintet started to think about new music and delivered "Let The World Burn", showcasing their first new material in 29 years.

Filling out the band's ranks on "Let The World Burn" alongside Killian and Demmel were drummer Perry Strickland, Olde Wolbers and former OVERKILL guitarist Bobby Gustafson.

Killian is the only VIO-LENCE member from the "Let The World Burn" recording lineup who is still touring with the band.

"Let The World Burn" was recorded with Juan Urteaga at Trident Studios (TESTAMENT, MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS),with mixing handled by Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, MESHUGGAH) and Grammy Award-winning engineer Ted Jensen (ALICE IN CHAINS, DEFTONES, PANTERA).

Demmel left MACHINE HEAD at the end of the band's fall 2018 North American tour. He was in MACHINE HEAD for nearly 16 years, during which time he played on five of the group's studio albums: "Through The Ashes Of Empires" (2003),"The Blackening" (2007),"Unto The Locust" (2011),"Bloodstone & Diamonds" (2014) and "Catharsis" (2018).

Demmel's final concert with VIO-LENCE took place on February 11, 2024 at Carioca Club in São Paulo, Brazil. The gig also marked the last show of VIO-LENCE's Latin American tour with EXHORDER.

VIO-LENCE played the São Paulo concert as a four-piece after an alleged altercation between Black and Olde Wolbers resulted in Ira being sent home from the tour a few days early.

Although MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn was part of VIO-LENCE's classic incarnation and played on the band's debut album, "Eternal Nightmare", he wasn't approached about taking part in the band's reunion.

In a new interview with Chaz & AJ in the Morning, a morning radio talk show program on 99.1 WPLR, a rock radio station broadcasting from New Haven, Connecticut, William DuVall was asked how he came to join ALICE IN CHAINS in 2006 as the replacement for vocalist Layne Staley, who died of a heroin overdose four years earlier. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It wasn't exactly like a formal boardroom proposal. It was more like — at that time, I came in, I did a rehearsal and, of course, I'd known [ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry] Cantrell for some years by then, and we had toured together. He knew what was up, and it was just a matter of getting to know [bassist Mike] Inez and [drummer Sean] Kinney a bit more. And so we all played together, and then afterwards it was kind of, like, 'Well, we've got these shows coming up. Would you do these shows?' And then I said 'yes' to that. And then more shows got booked, and then more shows got booked, and before you know it, we had gone around the world in 2006. So, that's kind of how it evolved. And here we are, 20 years later."

When one of the interviewers noted that the ALICE IN CHAINS guys were apparently very impressed with the fact that William didn't try to sound exactly like Layne, DuVall concurred. "Yeah, exactly," he said. "I wouldn't have done it any other way. And that's all one can do, really, I think, in the end, is just be yourself and do your thing. And so that's what happened."

DuVall appears on the last three ALICE IN CHAINS albums: 2009's "Black Gives Way To Blue", 2013's "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" and 2018's "Rainier Fog".

Prior to joining ALICE IN CHAINS in 2006, DuVall was a member of punk rock bands AWARENESS VOID OF CHAOS, NEON CHRIST, BL'AST! and FINAL OFFERING. DuVall's long musical history also includes COMES WITH THE FALL and Cantrell's solo work.

Cantrell befriended the members of COMES WITH THE FALL in the early 2000s, playing shows with the band on the West Coast, then enlisting the musicians to tour with him as both opening act and backing group in support of his album "Degradation Trip".

In May 2025, ALICE IN CHAINS will appear at a few festivals, including the MMRBQ in Camden, New Jersey (May 10),Sonic Temple in Columbus, Ohio (May 11) and Welcome To Rockville in Daytona Beach, Florida (May 16). They have also lined up several headlining shows, in Uncasville, Connecticut (May 8),Nashville, Tennessee (May 13) and Dothan, Alabama (May 15). ALICE IN CHAINS is also on the bill for the final BLACK SABBATH/Ozzy Osbourne show on July 5 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

ALICE IN CHAINS has only played one concert since 2023 — an appearance at last year's Sick New World festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the last four years, Cantrell has released two solo albums, 2021's "Brighten" and 2024's "I Want Blood", and has toured extensively in support of both efforts, performing material spanning his solo career and ALICE IN CHAINS.

In a new interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", EXODUS's Tom Hunting offered an update on his health, nearly four years after he underwent a successful total gastrectomy during his battle with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach. The drummer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "They take pictures quite often. I went from the four-month scan plan to the five-month scan plan, and then I've been locked in to a six-month scan plan. I'm getting scanned next Friday, so knock on this antique wooden table that everything's good."

He continued: "I feel good. I'm eating good. I just kind of take it day by day and try not to give cancer too much energy. And I think everything's okay, but we'll see what happens next Friday. [Laughs] If I start thinking about it, I get what I call scanxiety, which is a real thing."

Hunting went on to say that he recently had a "good conversation" with vocalist Lou Koller of New York hardcore legends SICK OF IT ALL, who recently underwent chemotherapy after being diagnosed with an esophageal tumor. "[Lou] just went through some surgery about it," Tom said. "And he's doing good. I hear he's got the all-clear pretty soon to sing again, which is fucking awesome. I'm happy for him.

"I think the science is pretty good on our afflictions these days," the drummer added. "I'm grateful for that science. I'm grateful just for the ability to keep on living, keep on trucking."

Back in February 2023, Hunting told Radioactive MikeZ about how he was first diagnosed with cancer: "The first thing that happened [is] I was losing weight and I didn't have hunger for food. It's hard to explain what that would feel like. In the past, I've had those kind of flareups and it was always due to anxiety or something. But this felt different. And it was lingering. I was going to see doctors. And they did a bunch of scans. They didn't see anything in the scans. All the blood work was good. And then they sent a camera inside there.

"I urge anybody who's having a gut problem, if [the problems] persist, they're gonna do a CT scan first. Tell them you want an endoscopy. That's the best test out there. It probably saved my ass, looking back."

Tom continued: "I was taking antacid stuff, like Pepcid and whatever. And I probably took that Zantac drug that they're talking about causing cancer. I brought that up to my doctors too. Zantac has a lot of the same stuff that your Pepcids and your other ones have in it too. And at the end of the day, you shouldn't have to take that shit for, like, a year. So, that was there. It was an esophageal type of cancer that showed up in what is called the cardinal region of my stomach; it was forming in there and causing me not to eat. I couldn't burp. That was another one. I had this tumor inside me, and I couldn't burp. And as soon as they gave me my first dose of chemo, before the surgery, something loosened up in there and I was able to burp. It felt so good. [Laughs]"

According to Hunting, he "ended up having two different kinds of cancer. They found a tumor inside my stomach," he said. "So then they do what they call a laparoscopic surgery, which they send two things inside of you. They make two cuts and they send a camera inside of you to physically explore the region and the outside region. And mine was in a weird spot; mine was in my stomach. So, okay, they wanted to check out the outside of the stomach lining — some crazy testing that they've gotta do. But it's all part of the process to make you a candidate for the surgery. When they did the laparoscopic [procedure] with me, it's two incisions, it's a camera that goes in and another tool that moves your organs out of the way for this camera to go do its job. So they found nodules of mesothelioma on my abdomen wall."

When asked if the doctors said there was anything in particular that caused his cancer, such as eating habits, lifestyle, living or working environments, genetics, or something else, Hunting replied: "I asked the specialist, I was, like, 'Did I do something to [cause] this? Did I do a brake job on my car and sniffed asbestos or some shit?' And he said it could have been anything. That cancer could have been just environmental, and it just happened.

"It's funny, 'cause had I not had the original cancer, I never would have needed a laparoscopic procedure to begin with, and they never would have found the mesothelioma," Tom explained. "But for a minute, when they were doing that test, what they thought they were looking at was the same type of cancer that they saw in my stomach. So there was a minute there where I was, like, stage four plus plus plus, like, 'Give him chemo. Keep him comfortable.' I wouldn't have been a candidate to even get any kind of surgery. So they found out it was a different type of cancer that was in my stomach. That makes you a candidate to get the surgery and the treatment after to try to knock out any nodules of mesothelioma that they would find in there."

Regarding his post-surgery recovery, Hunting said: "They took out 42 lymph nodes and my stomach and all this crazy surgery — like two surgeries in one surgery — and they didn't find one speck of cancer in one of the lymph nodes, which is, like, 'Holy shit.' If you're going through it, that's the fucking jackpot. The best three words you can hear are 'nothing to see'.

"Fortunately, it's been… After the surgery, I got six months, or five and a half months of immunotherapy, 'cause they found out that the chemo didn't affect the cancer like they wanted it to, so they did the surgery. It trains your immune system to go out and kill rogue cells that it finds. It's pretty high-tech shit. And I'm a beneficiary of that too."

Tom added: "Science is great. And I had a lot of good people to talk to along the way to help me out. And that's kind of where I'm at now. I wanna be that ear for somebody who's recently getting told that news.

"I'm thankful. And I'm definitely one of the lucky ones. Science is killer, and what they're able to do for people in my situation and others nowadays is leaps and bounds from what they could do even five years ago."

In December 2021, Hunting told the "Put Up Your Dukes" podcast that he wanted to use his experience as a cancer survivor to interact with others who may be going through a similar situation.

"I'm not qualified now, but I think in a couple of more months, they deem me qualified to talk to other people about this disease, and I'm gonna do it," he said. "'Cause I want people to know about it and I want people to get checked. Just going public with it — I don't do social media, but what I read on the EXODUS [sites] was, like, 'Hey, I'm having gut problems too,' and, 'I'm gonna go get checked out now.' I hope people get the answers they're looking for."

"I'm not saying those drugs that they give you for your gut are bad. They get you by. But if you're having what you think is a gut problem, tell 'em you wanna get scoped. 'Cause some of those scans and some of those tests, they won't pick up what's going on inside there.

"Since I'm on this journey, dude, they're fucking scanning me constantly," Tom added. "'Cause they wanna see how I'm reacting to what they're doing too. So it's all part of the science and the evolution of the science. If they can help me live — and I love my life — and I can help them develop the science to help the next batch of people who you know are gonna get this shit, that's a win-win."

Hunting rejoined his EXODUS bandmates on stage in October 2021 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.

A GoFundMe campaign to help Hunting with medical expenses had previously raised more than $114,000 — including $5,000 from Tom's former EXODUS bandmate, current METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, and $1,500 from FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho.

EXODUS released its latest album, "Persona Non Grata", in November 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. A follow-up effort is currently being recorded for a tentative early 2026 release via the band's new label, Napalm Records.

Former WHITESNAKE and DIO and current THE DEAD DAISIES guitarist Doug Aldrich was interviewed on a recent episode of the GUNS N' ROSES-centric Appetite For Distortion podcast. Asked if he was ever considered for a position in GUNS N' ROSES during the band's "Chinese Democracy" era, Doug responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Only by one guy, because he called me — Dizzy [Reed, longtime GUNS N' ROSES keyboardist] called me. I had known Dizzy 'cause Dizzy and I had a mutual friend, and Dizzy played on a solo record that I did way back in the '90s, and he played beautifully on it. It was so cool for him. But he called me and said, 'Hey, we're looking for a guy to play the Slash stuff.' And we've got Richard Fortus and Robin Finck.' And he goes, 'We're looking for someone to do the more rock stuff.' And I was literally sitting next to [WHITESNAKE leader] David Coverdale. We were just starting to work on the first WHITESNAKE record that we wrote together [2008's 'Good To Be Bad']. And I go, 'Dizzy, I really appreciate it and I'm grateful, but I'm right in the middle of doing an album with WHITESNAKE. I co-wrote it and I'm co-producing it.' And he goes, 'Okay, man. Are you sure?' And I think Coverdale heard it and was, like, 'Douglas, tell him you're busy' or whatever. But, yeah, that's as close as it came. Dizzy thought of me that I should come audition. And he said, 'I think Axl [Rose, GUNS N' ROSES singer] would like you' or whatever, and he's pretty picky about the people he is around. But I was super, super excited about what I was doing [with WHITESNAKE]. And you never know where it might've led to."

Aldrich was a member of WHITESNAKE from 2002 to 2014 before leaving to spend more time with his family. The guitarist played on two WHITESNAKE studio albums, the aforementioned "Good To Be Bad" and 2011's "Forevermore", and appeared on several live releases, including 2013's "Made In Japan" and "Made In Britain/The World Records".

Aldrich left WHITESNAKE 11 years ago, saying in a statement that he "had several recording and live commitments," so he "needed a more flexible schedule to conclude these before going full force as normal." He added: "Unfortunately, my schedule was not workable."

Having also played with LION, HOUSE OF LORDS, BAD MOON RISING, HURRICANE and Glenn Hughes, Aldrich joined THE DEAD DAISIES in 2016 and can be heard on that band's last five albums, 2016's "Make Some Noise", 2018's "Burn It Down", 2021's "Holy Ground", 2022's "Radiance" and 2024's "Light 'Em Up".

Seven months ago, Aldrich underwent a "very successful" surgery following a throat cancer diagnosis.

Aldrich played with DIO for a short period between 2002 and 2006.

In a new interview with Mexico's Rock111, original AC/DC frontman Dave Evans was asked why he thinks rock has taken a backseat to mainstream pop and rap music in recent years, especially in the U.S. He responded in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I could go into detail about it. But it's about the people who buy the records. And they're not playing it. The reason why it's not big is 'cause they're not playing it on the radio. The last rock band signed by a major label was about 20 years ago… I'm not talking about metal; I'm talking about rock and roll, rock music. There hasn't been a rock act signed for 25 years. So if people are not hearing it, how can they like it? You play it to them, they love it. But in Latin America, they're still playing rock on the radio. They're still playing rock on the radio in Latin America. So the people still love it."

Dave continued: "Rock and roll is an attitude — a real attitude, not a pretend one. Metal is a pretend attitude... They get up there with painted faces and go, 'Yeah, yeah.' And they go home to their mamas: 'Mama, what's for dinner?' But rock and roll is real."

Evans went on to say that much of the rock music recorded nowadays sounds soulless compared to the albums that were released in the 1970s and 1980s.

"A lot of music's pretty clinical — it's very clinical," he said. "You go back and listen now to bands like LED ZEPPELIN and FREE — that's when you're feeling it, man. Really feeling it. This music today, it's boring to me because there's no humanity. There's no humanity with that music… It might be clever and dexterous and [they might] play all the chords and all that sort of stuff, but there's no feel. That's the humanity, the humanity of music. And those guys that do all that [busy shredding] stuff, there's no humanity in that whatsoever. It's just a fact. Like [Carlos] Santana — he plays one note… That's the humanity in music. Not [playing a lot of notes at high speed]. That's what you're supposed to do at home so you can play melody. That's scales. That's not music. But people like watching it and think that's clever. After two or three songs, you're bored shitless. Then you wanna go home. So humanity in music is really important. The feeling, the soul, that's what music is about."

Dave recorded AC/DC's first two singles, "Can I Sit Next To You Girl" and "Baby, Please Don't Go". But in October 1974, less than a year after AC/DC's first gig, Evans was out of the band. He was replaced by Bon Scott, who sang on AC/DC's first six studio albums and became a legend himself after his death in 1980.

Following his departure from AC/DC, Evans formed the wild hedonistic rock band RABBIT, Melbourne '80s rock outfit DAVE EVANS AND THUNDER DOWN UNDER, and later DAVE EVANS AND HOT COCKEREL. For the past couple of decades, he has toured as a solo act.

In May 2021, Evans released a new compilation album called "BADASS Greatest Hits". The effort contained "20 massive hits on one album," including Dave's version of "Rockin' In The Parlour", the song that originally appeared as the B-side of the "Can I Sit Next to You Girl" single.

A typical Evans show includes AC/DC songs originally recorded by him and Scott, as well as other material spanning his entire career.

In a new interview with Finland's Chaoszine, CANDLEMASS singer Johan Längqvist (a.k.a. Johan Langquist) was asked if he will be a part of the band's upcoming one-off world-exclusive performance featuring CANDLEMASS's former vocalist Messiah Marcolin, which will take place at this year's edition of the Rock Hard Festival Greece, slated for September 12-13, 2025 in Athens, Greece. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No, I'm not a part of that performance, because the Greeks, they loved CANDLEMASS from the very beginning, and we are very popular in Greece. And I think the reason is because [Messiah] has a part of their history, the music listeners in Greece. So I do respect they wanted us to do a gig with Messiah."

Johan continued: "What can I say? I wish him the best. And he was a character in the band and we've actually met two nights together, partying together. And I wish him the best. I hope they're gonna make a great show down there. Yeah, that's it."

As the godfathers of epic doom metal, CANDLEMASS defined the genre with releases such as "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" (1986) and "Nightfall" (1987). Through their evil riffs, crushing rhythmic attack and dramatic vocals, they changed the landscape of metal worldwide. Led by bassist Leif Edling, CANDLEMASS reunited with Längqvist in 2018, 32 years after the singer performed on "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus".

Längqvist originally exited CANDLEMASS after "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" and was replaced by Marcolin.

Marcolin exited CANDLEMASS for the presumably final time in 2006, one year after the release of the band's self-titled album. He was later replaced by Robert Lowe (SOLITUDE AETURNUS),who sang on the band's "King Of The Grey Islands" (2007),"Death Magic Doom" (2009) and "Psalms For The Dead" (2012) LPs. CANDLEMASS's frontman between 2012 and 2018 was Mats Levén, who previously recorded and toured with YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and THERION. Seven years ago, CANDLEMASS fired Levén and rehired Längqvist.

Back in October 2022, Messiah and longtime CANDLEMASS guitarist Mats "Mappe" Björkman joined Canadian metallers ANVIL on stage at the Slaktkyrkan venue in Stockholm, Sweden to perform the classic ANVIL song "Metal On Metal". The event marked the first time in 16 years that the two musicians performed together.

Earlier this month, CANDLEMASS unveiled the title track of its upcoming EP, "Black Star", due out May 9 via Napalm Records. The EP impressively marks the 40th anniversary of the legendary band.

Johan's solo project JOHAN LANGQUIST THE CASTLE will release its self-titled debut album on CD and vinyl on June 27 via I Hate Records. The record was initially made available digitally without a label in 2024.

Image credit: El Expreso Del Rock

Fan-filmed video of AC/DC's April 18 concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. If You Want Blood (You've Got It)
02. Back In Black
03. Demon Fire
04. Shot Down In Flames
05. Thunderstruck
06. Have A Drink On Me
07. Hells Bells
08. Shot In The Dark
09. Stiff Upper Lip
10. Highway To Hell
11. Shoot To Thrill
12. Sin City
13. Rock 'N' Roll Train
14. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
15. High Voltage
16. Riff Raff
17. You Shook Me All Night Long
18. Whole Lotta Rosie
19. Let There Be Rock

Encore:

20. T.N.T.
21. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

AC/DC kicked off its North American tour on April 10 at the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

AC/DC — guitarist Angus Young, vocalist Brian Johnson, rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, drummer Matt Laug and bass player Chris Chaney — is performing in 13 stadiums coast to coast this spring. This run will conclude on May 28 in Cleveland, Ohio at Huntington Bank Field. Along the way, they will play some of the most iconic and historic stadiums in the world, including Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois on May 24. Support on the trek is coming from THE PRETTY RECKLESS.

AC/DC played the 24th and final concert of its "Power Up" European tour on August 17, 2024 at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland.

The "Power Up" European tour marked AC/DC's first with the band's new touring lineup consisting of Johnson, Angus and Stevie Young, Laug and the latest addition to the group's touring lineup, Chaney.

The European tour was the first run of gigs since AC/DC's return to the stage at last year's Power Trip festival in Indio, California.

AC/DC's last tour took place in 2015 and 2016 and had a $180 million gross, with 2,310,061 sold tickets reported to the Pollstar box office.

Laug is an American drummer who has played with many bands/artists such as Alanis Morissette, Alice Cooper, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT and Vasco Rossi. Matt moved to Los Angeles after graduating from South Florence High School in 1986 and after attending college in L.A., Matt became a sought-after studio drummer.

In 2001, Laug supported AC/DC as part of SLASH'S SNAKEPIT on the North American and European legs of the "Stiff Upper Lip" tour.

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

Rudd was ousted from AC/DC when he was sentenced to eight months of home detention by a New Zealand court in 2015 after pleading guilty to charges of threatening to kill and drug possession. He was replaced on the band's "Rock Or Bust" tour by Chris Slade, who had previously served as AC/DC's drummer between 1989 and 1994, playing on the album "The Razor's Edge".

Rudd, who appeared on all but three of AC/DC's 18 previous studio albums, toured in support of his 2014 solo debut, "Head Job". It was the release of that album that led indirectly to Rudd's arrest, with the drummer allegedly so angry at a personal assistant over the way the record was promoted that he threatened to have the man and his daughter killed.

AC/DC postponed the last 10 dates of its spring 2016 North American trek after Johnson was advised to stop playing live or "risk total hearing loss." The band went on to complete the European and North American legs of its "Rock Or Bust" tour with GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose as a "guest vocalist." At the time, Johnson had been AC/DC's singer for 36 years, ever since replacing the late Bon Scott in 1980 and making his debut on the classic "Back In Black" album.

To enable him to perform live with AC/DC again, the now-77-year-old Johnson worked with audio expert Stephen Ambrose, who said he could help resolve the singer's hearing problems.

Ambrose, who invented the wireless in-ear monitors that are widely used by touring artists today, claimed to have invented a new type of ear-bud that would allow Johnson to perform without causing further damage to his eardrums. After three years of experimenting and "miniaturizing" the equipment, Johnson previously said the technology could allow him to tour again.

Chaney is best known as the bassist of JANE'S ADDICTION and as a member of Alanis Morissette's touring and recording band. Chaney was also a member of TAYLOR HAWKINS AND THE COATTAIL RIDERS and CAMP FREDDY, as well as being a prolific and versatile session musician, having played with artists including Joe Cocker, Shakira, Slash and Avril Lavigne to Sara Bareilles, Gavin Degraw, Cher, SHINEDOWN and Celine Dion. Chaney is also a founding member and partner in the all-star supergroup ROYAL MACHINES along with Dave Navarro (JANE'S ADDICTION),Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY),Josh Freese (FOO FIGHTERS) and Billy Morrison (BILLY IDOL).

Bassist Cliff Williams announced his retirement at the end of AC/DC's 2015-2016 "Rock Or Bust" tour, which also saw Johnson leaving. However, Williams — and Johnson — took part in the recording sessions that resulted in "Power Up". Both of them were also part of the AC/DC lineup that performed at Power Trip.

During an October 2020 interview with Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast, Cliff was asked if Johnson's departure from the road was what led to his desire to stop touring. Cliff responded: "It was before then. I spoke to Angus about it initially. I was at a point — and this is at the beginning of the 'Rock Or Bust' tour — that I just felt, for me, it was time to hang it up. I knew that I didn't wanna keep doing these two-year tours, and I didn't wanna hold them back, so I made them aware of the fact that this was gonna be my last go-round. It was a tough tour to finish. God bless Axl for coming in and helping us out, finish it up. He did a great job. And at the end of that, I was definitely — that was it for me. Done — just done. That compounded the whole thing."

According to Williams, he wanted to take part in the recording sessions for "Power Up" as a tribute to Angus's late brother, founding AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, who died in 2017 from effects of dementia at age 64. Malcolm is credited as a writer on all 12 tracks on "Power Up".

"If 'Back In Black' has [late AC/DC singer] Bon Scott all over it, for me, 'Power Up' has got Malcolm Young," Cliff said. "This is for him. And it's the band that we played together with for 40-plus years. And I wanted to do that — I wanted to come back and do that.

"We did some rehearsals earlier [in 2020] before this darn COVID thing popped up, and we had great rehearsals," he continued. "The band was playing really well. So [they asked me], 'Do you wanna do a few shows? 'Sure'. A few shows. We were planning on doing that. Everyone goes home to their respective homes, and bang, we've been here ever since [because of the coronavirus-related shutdown]."

Cliff went on to confirm that his commitment to AC/DC was only for "a few" dates in support of "Power Up".

"For both [my mental and physical] health," he said. "I definitely have some physical issues, which I won't bore you with the details of. But, yeah, it's tough. I'm very grateful for everything. It's been fantastic. But I just don't wanna do that anymore."

Williams previously revealed that a "terrible" bout with vertigo contributed to his 2016 retirement. He also admitted the return of both Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd convinced him to rejoin the group. "It was like the old band back together," he told Rolling Stone. "It was not like starting over again, but as close to the band that's been together for 40-plus years as we can possibly make it. I didn't want to miss that."

The follow-up to 2014's "Rock Or Bust", "Power Up" was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also worked 2008's "Black Ice" and "Rock Or Bust".

At the April 10 Los Angeles premiere of the fully authorized Nick Menza documentary "This Was My Life: Nick Menza's Metal Memories With Megadeth And Beyond", former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson spoke to IndiePower TV about the highlights of his time playing with the late MEGADETH drummer. Ellefson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[There were] some personal ones, like when he first got in the band. I was getting sober. [He was] taking me out. We'd go mountain biking. We'd go to his house. He'd go to Gelson's and buy his orange roughy and make fish, and that kind of stuff. So those are some personal moments that were awesome, priceless. On stage? We had great creative moments. He was funny. We made, obviously, some great music together. And we were a team back then. That lineup was a team. We all had different roles, but we were a team, and we had each other's back. If there was a problem, we would fix it. And it was great. That was a great band to be in, during that period. And honestly, once Nick had left, the dynamic started to change quickly, and then it became not that anymore. And the audience knows it too, and I think that's why the audience loves that lineup and that's why Nick will always be one of the favorite sons of heavy metal."

Regarding why a reunion of MEGADETH's "Rust In Peace" lineup, also featuring guitarist Marty Friedman, failed to materialize more than a decade ago, Ellefson said: "Well, I told Nick. I saw him one day in the drum hall at NAMM. And we had connected, and it was very cool. And then I told him, I said, 'Hey, listen. I don't know this for sure. What I'm sensing' — 'cause I was in MEGADETH at the time — I said, 'Dude, you're gonna get a call. It might not be tomorrow, it might be a year from now, but you're gonna get a call. Something's gonna kind of turn here.' And sure enough, about a year later, I think I saw him again at NAMM at an autograph show and I said, 'Dude, your number's coming up.' So I gave him an advance warning. I said, 'Get ready.'

"Now, I think, honestly, with Nick, he was a different physicality," Ellefson explained. "Drummers take the hit first — age, joints, everything about it. Everything about it. And he was just in a different place. He wasn't the Nick Menza that we knew, the 25-year-old spry 'Rust In Peace' guy. And who would be? You're 50 now. But his heart was in it. I think it was a challenge to kind of come all the way back around. And again, we tried. There was an initiative from management, 'Hey, let's put this together.' And then I was the one who really put the logistical, pragmatic brakes on it. And I just said, 'Marty's off in a whole other world. He's been on his own. Does he even wanna come back and do this again? Nick — can he do this again because of just the years that had gone past?' And so, you look at that, and you go, look, if it can't be as good as what we did with [the] 'Rust in Peace: Live' [live Blu-ray, DVD and CD] from the [Hollywood] Palladium in 2010, when I went back in the band, if it can't be that good, then why ever revisit this again? Sometimes things are better left in infamy, and as we tried it, we remained friends from it, which is great. But it just wasn't meant to be as a business plan or even as a next musical chapter for any of us."

The opportunity for MEGADETH's most celebrated lineup to regroup arose following the departures of guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover in 2014.

Menza and Friedman had met with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine and Ellefson at the 2015 NAMM show in Anaheim, California to discuss a reunion of the "Rust In Peace" lineup.

Friedman, who moved from America to Japan in 2003, opened up about his reasons for turning down the MEGADETH reunion in his autobiography, "Dreaming Japanese", which was released last December via Permuted Press. Reflecting on the "salary offer" MEGADETH's then-manager Ron Lafitte made for him to rejoin the band, Friedman wrote: "Let's just say he wasn't even in the ballpark. Hell, he wasn't even in the parking lot for the ballpark. The amount they offered was right around the first salary I got when I joined MEGADETH in 1990. If I'd had any idea they would lowball me like this, I never would have met with them in Anaheim. Had I taken that offer, I would have been paid less in a week than I made in a normal day in Japan. I was stunned and angry and told them I couldn't even consider it. I made a counteroffer, which was the bare minimum I could accept, and far less than I have received from any of the artists I've toured with in Japan.'

Referencing the fact that Lafitte floated the possibility of a MEGADETH tour with IRON MAIDEN as the first order of business after the reunion of the "Rust In Peace" lineup, Marty continued: "I was willing to take the financial hit because a reunion tour with MEGADETH opening for IRON MAIDEN could open doors for me again in America. And what followed could be a bigger tour than anything we had previously done. Even if they met my rate, the tour would have been a huge windfall for them. They easily could have agreed to that, and the reunion would have been on, but they said I wanted too much money."

Friedman added: "I was happy with my career in Japan, doing what I loved, making real money without the kind of drama that comes with MEGADETH. They didn't even acknowledge they had just lost their guitarist and drummer and needed me more than I needed them. When I got over my initial anger, I was puzzled and sad."

Marty previously opened up about why the MEGADETH reunion failed to materialize in Mustaine's 2020 book, "Rust In Peace: The Inside Story Of The Megadeth Masterpiece", which details the making of the iconic record "Rust In Peace".

"My main thing was I'd be happy to do it, but I'm not going to take less money than I'm already making to do it," Marty said in part.

"I'd been in Japan for more than ten years cultivating a career with solid rewards. I was making money not only for myself but also for my management and staff. My manager has been with me fifteen years.

"Everything was sound and solid professionally, and when the offer came up to all of a sudden join MEGADETH again, as long as I would not be making less money, I was ready to go," he said. "But I was certainly not going to take a loss to join a band that, frankly, at that point, didn't seem like they had too much to offer musically. A couple of members of the band had recently quit, and musically I hadn't heard anything that they've done in a long time. I didn't know about how relevant they continued to be in the music business. It wasn't like MEGADETH was on the tip of people's tongues, at least not in Japan. I had reached the point where people stopped immediately connecting me to MEGADETH and were talking about the things that I had done in Japan."

According to Friedman, part of the reason he turned down the MEGADETH reunion is the fact that the group is largely seen as Mustaine's solo project, with members coming and going every couple of albums.

"Had it been more of a band situation and not such a one-man, Dave Mustaine-main-man party, I might have considered doing it for a little less," Marty said. "But, at the end of the day, MEGADETH is so much Mustaine because that's the way he engineered it. I didn't feel that kind of camaraderie, the four-man diamond, THE BEATLES, KISS, METALLICA. I felt like I would be going out there and tour and it was going to be Mustaine's big success. If I'm going to do that, I'm certainly not going to lose money to do that; I was doing great on my own in Japan."

Mustaine told Loudwire that he was put off by Friedman's financial demands when the topic of a "Rust In Peace" reunion was broached.

"Marty has a really successful career in Japan where he makes quite a lot of money," Dave said. "And this is the part where I thought it was a little weird, where he said he said that he has to pay all his team while he's gone instead of just himself. 'Cause I thought we'll pay you what you're making so that's switching horses in the middle of the river — it's no big deal unless you fall off. And then when we found out that he wanted to sell his merch, his this, his that, his this, his that, then he wanted this crazy amount of money and he wanted to fly first class everywhere. I said to our management, 'I can't deal with this.'"

In a 2016 interview with the "Eddie Trunk Podcast", Mustaine confirmed that MEGADETH didn't hold any rehearsals with Friedman while attempting a reunion of the "Rust In Peace" lineup.

"Marty had sent some e-mails saying, 'Oh, man, you know, the fans have this self-inflated importance of 'Rust In Peace' beyond what it really is. And I was, like, 'Huh?'" Dave said. 'So I didn't know if that was a backhand to the face of the fans or not, but he had basically said that if we were gonna do anything, it had to be better than 'Rust In Peace'. And he sent me over some links to some songs that he thought should be the direction that we were going in, and one of it was this J-Pop band with some Japanese girl singing, and I was, like, 'Uh-uh. This ain't gonna work.' More power to [Marty for being into that stuff]. Do what you want, Marty. He's a great guitar player. But I'm not gonna sing like a Japanese girl."

Menza was approached by Mustaine and Ellefson to replace Drover at the end of 2014, and he started working out new tracks with the band. But the plan collapsed after he was offered a contract he described as "very unfair." A year and a half later, in May 2016, Nick died after suffering a heart attack during a concert with OHM: at The Baked Potato in Studio City, California.

In a new interview with PowerOfMetal.cl, DIAMOND HEAD's Brian Tatler spoke about what it has been like to join SAXON in early 2023 as the replacement for the latter band's founding guitarist Paul Quinn. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[It's been] brilliant. I got the call in March 2023, and so it's been just over two years. And it's been fantastic. We've done a lot of gigs — we've been to South America, we've been to the U.S. and all across Europe — and we've done the album, 2024's 'Hell, Fire And Damnation', as well, and played some huge festivals, like [France's] Hellfest. And it's going great. So, I'm really enjoying myself. It's a lovely break to get at my age. [Laughs]"

Regarding how he feels about "Hell, Fire And Damnation" nearly a year and a half after the LP's release, Brian said: "I like it. It's a great album. I'm really proud to be part of the SAXON album and to get involved in the writing. And I think it sounds great. I'd never worked with [producer] Andy Sneap before, even though I knew of him and we've done gigs in the past with [his former band] SABBAT, and I know he was in HELL. And then, of course, when he joined JUDAS PRIEST, I contacted him and congratulated him. So I do know Andy, but I'd never actually recorded with him. And I was very impressed. I thought he did a fantastic job, and I think the album sounds amazing."

Tatler went on to confirm that he was involved in the songwriting process for "Hell, Fire And Damnation". "Well, as soon as I joined, I started learning [the SAXON material] — they sent me a setlist, which I started learning, but maybe after a month or so, Biff [Byford, SAXON singer] called and said, 'We are doing a new album, so if you've got any ideas, send them over,'" he said. "And so I did just that, and he picked some that he liked, and then we worked on them together, and then eventually rehearsed with the band and earmarked the ones for the album. So, yeah, it was really flattering to be included in the writing so quickly."

Asked what is next for SAXON and whether the band is writing new music or just focusing on touring at the moment, Brian said: "Both. I'm always trying to write new material, and I make demos when I'm at home. And even when I'm on tour, I practice and warm up before a show. And if I've got a riff, I'll record it on my phone, like probably a lot of people do. And there is talk of doing another SAXON album. I think Biff mentioned it'll be next year, of course — probably end of next year. But at some point, maybe in the gaps [of touring], we'll get together and try and come up with material for the next record."

"Hell, Fire And Damnation" was produced by Sneap and Byford, with Sneap mixing and mastering.

Earlier this month, Byford was asked by Gustavo Maiato if Quinn, who announced two years ago that he was stepping back from touring with the band, is still contributing to the songwriting process in SAXON or if Tatler is a "full-time" member of the band now. Biff responded: "Yeah, Brian's in the band full-time, but Paul's still sending ideas. He sent me an idea the other day for a song. It just depends how good it is, if we use it. I reject a lot of ideas until people come up with the one that I love.

"We always want to make better albums, so we're always looking for better songs, if you know what I mean," Biff explained.

As a result of Quinn's decision to step back from touring with SAXON, the band canceled its April 2023 South American tour as well as the appearance at the Monsters Of Rock cruise. Quinn has since been replaced on the road by Tatler.

Brian has been touring with fellow guitarist Doug Scarratt, drummer Nigel Glockler, bassist Tim "Nibbs" Carter and Byford since mid-2023, but continues to be a member of DIAMOND HEAD.

Byford and Quinn are the sole remaining original members in SAXON's current lineup.

Originally from South Yorkshire, England, SAXON has gone on to sell about 23 million albums and has produced such classic songs as "Denim And Leather", "Princess Of The Night", "Wheels Of Steel" and "Power And Glory".

Two months ago, Byford was asked by FaceCulture about a possible follow-up to "Hell, Fire And Damnation", which came out in January 2024 via Silver Lining Music. He said: "We're writing. I've started writing the new album, writing lyrics and titles. The boys have sent me loads of ideas already. So I'm just making a short list of what music we should use, what style we should play in, what songs are slow, fast, medium, good guitar riffs. So, yeah, we're pretty far on. We'll probably start rehearsing the new album maybe June, maybe recording in January, February. So we'll probably have a new album out in late 2026."

Reflecting on "Hell, Fire And Damnation", which marked SAXON's first release with Tatler, Biff said: "I think it's been a natural progression with our following and the fans with our music. Brian coming into the band added a little bit of a different dynamic to the music writing. So I think that was for a good thing. I think the new album, 'Hellfire', has been voted 'Album Of The Year' on quite a lot of sites and things, so obviously we struck a little bit of good scene with the album, a good flow. So hopefully the next one will be just as good, if not better… Well, it can't always be better, but let's hope. I mean, 'Hellfire' is gonna be hard to beat. That's a pretty perfect album, I think."

Avant-garde extreme metal act TRIPTYKON, the group fronted by singer/guitarist Thomas Gabriel Fischer, a.k.a. Tom Warrior (CELTIC FROST, HELLHAMMER, TRIUMPH OF DEATH),will host a series of events in London's, Camden Town to coincide with their headlining performance at the iconic Roundhouse as part of the annual Incineration Festival on Saturday, May 3. Upon request by the festival, the set will be a U.K. exclusive of CELTIC FROST's music, a gesture of reverence for what has shaped the path and a morbid recognition of the present.

Fischer comments: "CELTIC FROST's path would have been a very different — likely far more subdued — one if it hadn't been for the then largely London-based U.K. music press from the mid-1980s on. This, along with uncounted crucial musical influences in my youth, was the basis of a life-long bond between the U.K. and all of my musical endeavors. It is thus with utmost pleasure that we in TRIPTYKON will perform a very distinct CELTIC FROST-based concert at the iconic Roundhouse."

On Friday, May 2, long-overdue vinyl re-press versions of the first two TRIPTYKON albums, "Eparistera Daimones" (2010) and "Melana Chasmata" (2014),via Prowling Death Records / Century Media Records will be released. Proven to be genre-redefining, modern milestones and more than ever relevant for the extreme metal movement, the new TRIPTYKON vinyl versions will be available in their original packaging with cover art by H.R. Giger, as gatefold 2LP editions on exclusive colored 180g vinyl.

To celebrate TRIPTYKON's headlining performance at Incineration Festival and the reissue of these seminal albums, there will be a number of events taking place in Camden across the weekend to mark the occasion.

* Raven Records, London's premier heavy metal record store, will host a TRIPTYKON signing session with the band from 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 and is open to all. Advance preorders of the vinyl reissues at Raven are now live and come with an exclusive "Necromaniac Union" enamel badge, while stocks last. Preorders can be collected for the signing on the day.

* A pop-up exhibition of Tom G Warrior's death masks and related artworks will be hosted in the Lucifer Lounge at Raven Records across the weekend of the festival. This is a rare opportunity to view a selection of these unique artifacts in person. Entry is free and exclusive merchandise items will be available in store.

* The Black Heart will be hosting a special edition of their award-winning vegan menu in collaboration with TRIPTYKON over the festival weekend with a limited-edition new recipe of their renowned vegan wings. Saint Monday brewery will also provide "Triptykon – Aurorae" cold IPA on tap. A crisp and refreshing IPA that is fermented at cold temperature with Swiss lager yeast.

* Extremely limited-edition solid silver pendants of both the iconic CELTIC FROST heptagram and the TRIPTYKON inverted cross will be available to purchase during the festival from the Cult Never Dies stand inside the Electric Ballroom. This unique jewelry has been hand cast from the original molds produced by the H.R. Giger estate and are limited to five pieces of each. The respected black metal publishers will also have an exclusive CELTIC FROST t-shirt design for sale.

Photo by Roland Moeck / Arkana PhotoArt

In a new interview with Kevin McKay of Florida's 99Rock WKSM radio station, FILTER leader Richard Patrick was asked if he has commenced work on the follow-up to 2023's "The Algorithm" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, there's a brand new [FILTER] record [coming]. I was literally just singing on it when I realized my phone alarm didn't go off [to remind me about this interview]. [But] it's all good. I needed a break."

Asked if he knows what he is going to call the new FILTER album, Richard said: "Yeah, we're gonna call it 'The Antidote'."

As for a possible release date for "The Antidote", Patrick said: "I'm hoping this fall, but it might be spring next year. We're not sure."

Richard recently wrote a song called "The Gunslingers Of Redemption" and composed all the music for writer-director Brian Skiba's just-released western "Gunslingers".

Richard Patrick had previously composed soundtracks for several films, including "Dark Crimes" (2016) and "Last Rampage" (2017). He also contributed to the soundtrack for "The Last Rampage" with his brother, Robert Patrick. In addition, he has composed music for TV series like "Comedy Kitchen".

"The Algorithm" came out in August 2023 via Golden Robot Records. At the time, Richard told Detroit's WRIF radio station that FILTER fans would "like the heaviness" of the album. "I love music that makes me just wanna get up and run or drive a car really fast or something like that. But I think people, they're gonna feel like the way they did during 'The Amalgamut' or 'Title Of Record' or 'Short Bus'. It reminds me of the first three records that we did on Warner Brothers. And those are definitely some great years. So it kind of reminds me of that. 'Cause I took a real heavy hand in production — I really, really, really made sure that I was happy before anybody. For the past 10 years, I've really relied on producers and songwriters and stuff like that, which I love, I love working with them, but this year I bought a computer and I sat there and recorded everything on my own with the exception of two or maybe five songs where I asked for outside collaboration… I really did apply myself and I made sure that it sounded like old-school FILTER."

Asked if the throwback to old-school FILTER was intentional or if it just turned out that way, Richard said: "I think it just naturally kind of went that way. 'Cause I'm not a big planner of what I'm gonna do. I don't navigate through, like, 'Oh, it's getting too much like this' or 'It's getting too much like that. Stay on target, stay with the plan.' I try and go with the flow on the record and see what it wants to be. And then when I'm done, [I] come up with the title and the visuals and everything like that."

In June 2023, Patrick told Michael Presti of the 99WNRR radio station that "The Algorithm" reminded him of FILTER's third album, 2002's "The Amalgamut". "It's kind of a little bit of a return to 'The Amalgamut'," he said. "It's so bombastic. There's so many bangers on this record. And 'The Algorithm', it's a little bit more a part of the times."

Regarding the lyrical inspiration for "The Algorithm", which previously had the working title "They Got Us Right Where They Want Us, At Each Other's Throats", Richard said: "I'm still bitching, but I'm not as outwardly bitching; I'm not taking sides as much on this record. I'm bitching and I'm talking about liars and cheaters and thieves. It's just that I'm not literally calling everybody out, like I did on the other two songs that came out [in 2020]," referencing "Murica" and "Thoughts And Prayers".

Originally conceived in 2018 as a collaboration between Patrick and fellow FILTER founding member Brian Liesegang, "The Algorithm" was given a tentative title, "ReBus", as a nod to FILTER's 1995 debut, "Short Bus", before being changed to "They Got Us Right Where They Want Us, At Each Other's Throats" and later to "Murica" and then back to "They Got Us Right Where They Want Us, At Each Other's Throats" and eventually "The Algorithm".

Photo credit: Chapman Baehler

On March 28, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen made a trip to Mexico to visit Fender's factory in Ensenada, play some tunes with his guitar tech (and occasional DEF LEPPARD fill-in guitarist) John Zocco on bass/backing vocals and Forest Robinson on drums/backing vocals, and be presented with a new guitar.

Video of the private performance in front of around a hundred Fender employees can be seen below.

Collen left school at 16 to work in a factory and as a dispatch rider. Influenced by guitar players such as Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Ronson, he soon developed a flashy, aggressive style of playing rock guitar. Phil quit his day job and he went on tour as a guitarist with the London-based post-punk glam rock band GIRL. Collen joined DEF LEPPARD in 1982 during the "Pyromania" album recording sessions, playing guitar solos on the hits "Photograph", "Foolin'" and "Rock Of Ages", among others. "Pyromania" was DEF LEPPARD's breakthrough album and turned the band into rock superstars almost overnight. They spent the summer of 1983 at No. 2 on the Billboard chart, behind Michael Jackson's "Thriller", the biggest-selling album of all time. "Pyromania" sold in excess of 10 times platinum and received a diamond award in the U.S. and Canada.

Collen has been featured in outlets ranging from Rolling Stone, People, The New York Times to Guitar World, Inc. , Iron Man and beyond. Phil is an outspoken advocate for music, music education, animal rights, health and fitness and sobriety. In addition to his duties with DEF LEPPARD, Collen continues to write, perform and produce with MANRAZE, DELTA DEEP, TESLA and others. Collen released his memoir, "Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard, And Beyond", in fall 2015.

This past January, DEF LEPPARD released a cover of Ben E. King's 1961 classic "Stand By Me". All proceeds from the song went to FireAid, which raises money for those impacted by the fires that swept through Los Angeles in early 2025.

DEF LEPPARD's version of the song is featured in the Netflix film "Bank Of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger", which was released on January 10. The band can be seen performing the track before the credits.

DEF LEPPARD's first concert of 2025 took place on January 18 at Feria Estatal De León in León, Mexico. As was the case with the band's October 14, 2024 private show in Nashville (as part of the Daimler Truck Customer Appreciation Event),guitarist Vivian Campbell was unable to join his bandmates at the León gig due to his cancer treatment and was replaced by Zocco.

Campbell — who before joining DEF LEPPARD in 1992 was well known for his work with DIO and WHITESNAKE — went public with his Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis in June 2013.

Vivian underwent three separate spells of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, only for his Hodgkin's lymphoma to return.

Six years ago, Campbell underwent spine surgery.

Vivian and his DEF LEPPARD bandmates were finally inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2019 — 14 years after the British rockers first became eligible.

DEF LEPPARD's latest album, "Diamond Star Halos", arrived in May 2022 via UMe.

Darkthrone’s classic fifth album Panzerfaust will be reissued as a limited 30th anniversary vinyl edition including a newly restored audio master. The reissue is presented on splatter vinyl and is coming May 16.

Panzerfaust was originally released in 1995 on the Norwegian label, Moonfog (the label previously owned by Satyr of Satyricon). The album was recorded similarly to their previous release, Transilvanian Hunger, in that it was written and recorded solely by Fenriz at his home Necrohell studio, with Nocturno Culto later adding vocals.

The album was largely inspired by the works of Celtic Frost, a longtime favourite of the Darkthrone members, and also included songs in the Bathory style, a follow-on to the faster tempo of the tracks featured on Transilvanian Hunger.

Panzerfaust is also notable for including some of the most raw and primal vocals in black metal – completely well suited to the music on display and the misanthropic nature of the band at the time. With its feast of Frost-fuelled riffing, ‘Panzerfaust’ is rightly hailed one of THE classic Darkthrone black metal albums, whilst also featuring lyrics written by Varg Vikernes.

Side A
“En Vind Av Sorg”
“Triumphant Gleam”
“The Hordes Of Nebulah”

Side B
“Hans Siste Vinter”
“Beholding The Throne Of Might”
“Quintessence”
“Sno Og Granskog (Utferd)”

In a new interview with Chile's iRock.cl, QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre was asked how the band's sound has changed since he joined the group 13 years ago as the replacement for QUEENSRŸCHE's original vocalist Geoff Tate. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think that the band kind of got its sound back, more of the roots, the heavier kind of sound that QUEENSRYCHE was known for early on. There was a long period of time where the music got more adult contemporary and less hard rock and heavy metal and progressive and all of the different elements that QUEENSRŸCHE was kind of known for. So I think me being in the band — I mean, it could have been any other singer — has allowed these guys to completely write whatever they wanna write without it being turned down as being too heavy, for example, 'cause that had happened."

He continued: "I love the old classic stuff. We perform all the songs in the standard tunings like they were recorded, so there's nothing downtuned that changes the way they sound. I think that's helped contribute to kind of the resurgence of the band. But we just write songs, and sometimes I think, 'Oh, I wanna write a masterpiece of a song like 'Roads To Madness'' or a great song like 'Take Hold Of The Flame' or — I don't know — songs off of '[Operation:] Mindcrime', for example. But we all have a great time and the chemistry in the band is perfect. We all are super, super close. We all get along off the stage so well that it really kind of… I think that the contribution that I bring in is the jokes, the laughter, the creativity with music and art idea, artistic ideas with album covers and video concepts and that kind of thing. I don't know. That's the best way I could answer it, is I'm just one fifth of QUEENSRŸCHE. But the band is in a very healthy state."

Regarding how he sees the future of QUEENSRŸCHE, Todd said: "Oh, man. I kind of see the future as kind of what we're doing still. A lot of bands have retired, and we're still out there. There's nothing in the future that I see of the band retiring. I mean, we play about a hundred shows a year. So probably more of the same — just performing live shows, writing new songs and making new records and promoting our art that way. But, I mean, really it boils down to the live concert. That's really what we are now."

Earlier this month, Todd was asked by Brazil's Monsters Of Rock which "unexplored musical directions" he would like to see QUEENSRŸCHE go in on the band's upcoming follow-up to 2022's "Digital Noise Alliance" album. He said: "[We're] kind of [doing] the same thing as what we've been doing. I mean, we don't go in writing a record with a preconceived idea. We just get in a room and [go], 'Hey, show me your guitar parts. What do you have in your mind?' And we kind of all get together in a room and just see what happens in real time. So as far as unexplored musical directions… Personally, I'd love to hear more clean guitar on the next record, maybe some more spacious stuff, some more clean guitar. Orchestration is always fun to work with. It's very huge and cinematic sounding. So those are fun things to play with. Maybe some different percussion things would be interesting to play around with again.

"But, gosh, after 40-plus years, I think without completely changing the band, the band's style of music, I don't know that there's really any too much unexplored musical directions," he continued. "I mean, QUEENSRŸCHE's kind of done a lot within the large space that QUEENSRŸCHE has to run around in. I mean, if we were to do something — we wouldn't write a hip-hop song, we wouldn't write a death metal song. So within the confines of what QUEENSRŸCHE kind of is, as diverse as it as it is, I don't know what kind of unexplored musical directions there would be. On the next one, I mean, I would love to, like I say, play around with some other clean guitar sounds, maybe some more interesting percussion things — like the song 'I Am I' had some really neat percussion things going on."

Guitarist Mike Stone, who rejoined QUEENSRŸCHE in 2021, contributed guitar solos to the band's latest studio album.

Since late May 2021, Stone has been handling second-guitar duties in QUEENSRŸCHE, which announced in July 2021 that longtime guitarist Parker Lundgren was exiting the group to focus on "other business ventures."

Stone originally joined QUEENSRŸCHE for the 2003 album "Tribe" and stayed with the band for six years before leaving the group.

For the past eight years, drummer Casey Grillo has been filling in for original QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield, who stepped away from the band's touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son.

In October 2021, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against guitarist Michael Wilton and bassist Eddie Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. A few months later, Wilton and Jackson filed a countersuit against Rockenfield, accusing him of abandoning his position as a member of the band and misappropriating the group's assets to his own personal benefit. That dispute has since been settled out of court.