Welsh ragga metal legends SKINDRED have released their brand-new single, "You Got This", accompanied by a brilliantly entertaining video.

The title track of their forthcoming ninth album, which has just been announced with a release date of April 17 via Earache Records, "You Got This" is an instant SKINDRED classic, with Mikey Demus's wrecking ball riffs bouncing through your head, as drummer Arya Goggin detonates a characteristically full-throttle rhythm. Meanwhile inimitable frontman Benji Webbe lurches between uncompromising toasting and delivering hooks like a heavyweight champion.

The inspiration for the track came when gym devotee Benji saw a man struggling to complete his exercises as he started his rehabilitation after a stroke. The personal trainer told him, "You got this," and the mood completely lifted.

"I was watching from a distance, and I could see the struggle and the pain, but in that moment, I knew he had got this," recalls Benji. "It's such an empowering statement and it applies to so many battles that everybody faces: it could be a recovery from a stroke, or it could be studying for your exams at school. For me, having songs that lift people who are going through tough times is the most important thing. I feel like that's what I'm put on this planet to do."

Benji is the ultimate frontman — a man whose wild enthusiasm is instantly contagious, an adrenaline shot of pure motivation. His phenomenally powerful vocals are balanced with lighter, melodic moments of emotion that champion self-belief, resilience, and finding joy in the small things that make life worth living — he's the loudest life coach you'll ever meet.

And on the album "You Got This" he leads the newly slimmed-down Newport trio on a thrilling journey to follow the mainstream breakthrough that came with 2023's critically-acclaimed album "Smile". That album shot straight into the U.K. official album chart at No. 2 and SKINDRED went on to receive the "Best Alternative Music Act" award at the MOBOs, also winning "Best UK Act" at the Heavy Music Awards.

Long revered as one of the best live bands on the planet, they played their largest headline show to date at Wembley Arena and toured the world, smashing every festival and headline performance and winning tens of thousands of new fans in the process. Those new fans will join SKINDRED's long-established rabid fanbase in lapping up every note and lyric of "You Got This". It's an all-killer-no-filler set which features everything that people love about the band — hard-hitting slammers, mega addictive hooks, earwormy soundclash elements, and dancehall vibes destined to ignite venues across the globe.

Production came from the Grammy-winning Jay Ruston, whom Arya admires for having the songwriting chops to work with '80s power ballad master Desmond Child, while also producing SLIPKNOT's Corey Taylor and Mike Patton's MR. BUNGLE. "It was working with someone who didn't just stay in one lane, which is exactly what SKINDRED has always been about," says the multi-talented drummer.

So now it's all about SKINDRED's future. There are big plans incoming, especially live, where Arya has seen the audience evolve into a mix of youngsters attending their first gig alongside the two generations above them. Benji is dreaming of Coachella or a prime Pyramid Stage slot at Glastonbury. But Mikey comes at the question from a different angle.

"When you start a band, you don't think for a second that you're going to headline Wembley," he says. "I don't feel like we made it happen; the audience made it happen by committing to be there and travelling so far to come. When you're in a band you're always looking at the next thing and it can be hard to be like, wow, what's happening right now is amazing. There are still so many people out there who should know us but have never heard of us. So, we've got this whole fight ahead of us still."

Earlier this week, SKINDRED's founding bassist Dan Pugsley announced his departure from the band, writing in a social media post: "I've been getting a lot of concerned messages, so I just wanted to let you all know that I'm okay but I am no longer a member of SKINDRED.

"I want to thank my family, my friends, and especially all the SKINDRED fans for the incredible love and support you've shown me over the years. I'll always be deeply grateful for it.

"This band has been such a huge part of my life, and now I'm taking some time to figure out what's next for me. I'm really looking forward to new creative opportunities ahead."

Photo credit: Dean Chalkley

In a new interview with Into The Necrosphere, AGNOSTIC FRONT vocalist Roger Miret, who was diagnosed with cancer more than four years ago, was asked for an update on his health. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm feeling great… I am grateful to be good, to be alive. And when I went through the cancer stuff, the outreach of people and support was just amazing. It felt good to read all the comments and read stuff. It felt rewarding in a way."

He added: "My health is great right now. I get checked every six months, so I feel good. So that's the most important thing."

After Miret was diagnosed with cancer in early 2021, a long road of tests and diagnoses led to a complex initial surgery and lengthy hospital stay. Even though the original surgery was complicated, the results were extremely positive. The cancer was successfully removed and Roger is now in complete remission and all signs of cancer have disappeared.

In October 2021, Roger said that he underwent another surgery after "running a fever for two weeks straight" and developing "an infection."

A GoFundMe page was launched where fans can still donate to help Roger pay medical care costs.

Roger previously discussed his cancer battle during a February 2022 appearance on the "Smokin Word" podcast. He said at the time: "I'm good now. But I was in a place [in early 2021] where I just needed to be in my own head — just wrap around everything. Between everything that's going on in life, and then throw this shit at it, I was not in a good place. But, man, I sit back and think about it now, I've been through a lot of shit — I've been through a lot of hard shit — and I'm, like, man, I keep going through all this fucking crazy hard shit, but my head's pretty together. Don't get me wrong — there's a lot of nights you stay up thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking. When you hear 'cancer,' the first thing you think is you're gonna die tomorrow. And you've got kids, and you start thinking and thinking, thinking about, 'Man, somehow, some way I'll pull through.' I figured I've gotta pull through. And that was the same situation back in the late '80s when I got incarcerated. I was, like, you pull through — you hold your head up high and pull through. Even back then, in the late '80s, when I had to go through incarceration, it was good for me to be by myself; I needed to… [This time] I didn't wanna see nobody, I didn't wanna talk to nobody. I did a lot of walks by myself. I did a lot of self-isolation. And when everything got finally put out there, I'm grateful that a lot of people gave me my space. 'Cause I know a lot of people worldwide, and everybody was concerned, everybody's, like, 'What's happening?' And I get it, but I really didn't wanna talk about anything; I just wanted to be in my space. The only person I talked to were doctors — so many fucking doctors; so many fucking injections, surgeries, scans. I've got more poison in my body… I'm actually surprised I'm walking."

Born in Cuba, Miret fled with his family to the U.S. to escape the Castro regime. He joined AGNOSTIC FRONT in 1983, and the seminal New York hardcore group released classics like "United Blood", "Victim In Pain" and "Cause For Alarm" over the next several years.

In 2017, Miret released a memoir, "My Riot: Agnostic Front, Grit, Guts, And Glory", which documented his struggles to adapt to life in the U.S. after his family fled the Castro regime. According to the Phoenix New Times, the book delved into many facets of Miret's life: the grinding poverty of his childhood; living as a teenager squatter; becoming deeply enmeshed in downtown New York’s hardcore scene; and later turning to drug-running to support his family.

In addition to fronting AGNOSTIC FRONT, Miret has also played with ROGER MIRET AND THE DISASTERS and is a member of THE ALLIGATORS.

For the past several years, Roger has resided in Scottsdale, Arizona.

AGNOSTIC FRONT will release a new album, "Echoes In Eternity", on November 7 via Reigning Phoenix Music.

According to SEVENDUST singer Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery, the band has completed tracking its new studio album, tentatively due in early 2026 via Napalm Records.

SEVENDUST once again worked with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida. Baskette had previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and Slash, among others.

Earlier today (Tuesday, November 4),Lowery shared an "end-of-studio picture" on Instagram and he thanked "the killer production team" consisting of Baskette and engineers Jef Moll and Josh Saldate "for taking things to the highest level demanding perfection or our closet effort. Four records in a row and all amazing experiences," he added. "Can't wait to hear [Baskette] mix this bad boy up."

The writing sessions for the follow-up to 2023's "Truth Killer" once again took place at the farmhouse of Lajon and his wife Ashley.

To celebrate the 21st anniversary of its beloved acoustic album "Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live", SEVENDUST will hit the road for an exclusive, intimate tour this fall. Fans can expect stripped-down versions of the band's hardest-hitting tracks, deep cuts and emotional favorites, including "Black", "Beautiful" and "Angel's Son".

The "Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live" tour will kick off on November 14 in Columbia, Missouri and make stops in Memphis, Tennessee (November 15),Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (November 24),Kansas City, Missouri (December 5),among others, before it wraps on December 12 in San Antonio, Texas. Special guest Cory Marks will be opening the tour.

With 2024/2025 continuing to be landmark years thanks in part to the release of SEVENDUST's 14th studio album, "Truth Killer", via Napalm Records and successful tours, the band is continuing to expand its audience 30 years into its career. SEVENDUST's "Everything" was the highest-charting single of the band's career, peaking at No. 6, as well as the highest-charting rock single from any artist in Napalm Records history. The video for "Everything" has received more than 2.4 million views.

SEVENDUST served as one of the support acts for DISTURBED on the latter act's "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour".

Last fall, SEVENDUST celebrated the 21st anniversary of its iconic album "Seasons" on a U.S. tour. "Seasons", the fourth album from the band's catalog, spawned a Top 10 Rock single with "Enemy", and the album closer "Face To Face" is a show staple and fan favorite of SEVENDUST to this day.

"Seasons" was, for a time, the band's last album with Lowery as he left in 2004. Lowery returned to SEVENDUST in March 2008 and has remained with the group ever since.

Photo credit: Chuck Brueckmann

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In a new interview with Emo of the KLOS radio station, Alice Cooper spoke about his HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES supergroup, which also features AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry and Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We put the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES together to be a bar band. I did the [2012 Tim Burton] movie 'Dark Shadows' with Johnny Depp. And Johnny's a really good guitar player — I mean, not just sort of a guitar player; he's a pretty good guitar player. And we had a big jam in London one night, and I said, 'Why don't you come over after the shoot tonight", after we shot the day, 'and sit in with us?' And he goes, 'Okay.' So he shows up, and he can really play. I was curious to hear him play. We did every cover you could imagine at the 100 Club on Oxford Street there. And that night I said, 'It would be fun to put a band together to just play covers.' And he says, 'Yeah, let's do that.' And Joe Perry goes, 'I'm in.' So Joe Perry [is in the band] now, and Johnny Depp. And [GUNS N' ROSES bassist] Duff McKagan [goes], 'I'm in.' Pretty soon we had this band that was ridiculous. So our first show was at the Roxy [in West Hollywood, California] — 300 people there, but everybody showed up, and everybody ended up on stage. Our second show pretty much was [Brazil's] Rock In Rio [festival] — 300,000 people. Now here's the funny part: Duff, Joe and I had been in front of that many people many times. Johnny hadn't. His band played clubs. So he's standing there, a little bit deer in the headlights. And I said, 'Johnny,' I said, 'You're a rock star.' I said, 'Just be a rock star. Just get out and do it.' And he was great. He kind of laid back. He wanted to be the laid-back guy, and I said, 'No, no, no, no.' I said, 'When you're playing the lead, you take the stage.' And he nailed it."

Alice added: "Really what [Johnny] loves to do is rock and roll."

This past June 27, Perry told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he and his HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES bandmates were working on a documentary. "It's got some great stuff on it," he said. "I just saw a rough cut. And it's pretty amazing.

"I'm still pinching myself this band actually got moving, 'cause everybody's got other things going on, especially Johnny," Perry continued. "[For Johnny], it's not, like, 'I can't do it this day'; it's, like, 'I can't do it this month.' When he's on a project, he's gotta carve out months. And even then, he has to be available for things. So, when I'm in L.A., I've seen him work, and it's, like, man, that's tough. I mean, talk about putting a band on the road. Doing a movie, the kind of movies he does, it's a lot. It's a real lot. It takes a lot out of you, and you've gotta give up your life 24-7 for anywhere from a month to a year, whatever. And Alice is always working. If you don't book something almost a year ahead, he's gonna be booked.

"I know that everybody would love to play some more with that band," Joe added. "And I think the last record we did was amazing. It was so much fun. But we get into that in the documentary. So I don't know. Right now everybody's tied up. But I know that in the back of everyone's mind, it'd be great to get back together again. So anyway, we'll see how that goes."

Perry went on to praise HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, saying: "That band is something else, man. Alice got to be the lead singer of a rock band and he didn't have to be Alice Cooper… He's Alice Cooper through and through. But when he was with the VAMPIRES, he got to talk to the audience in real time and he didn't have to take on a character. And I know he loved it. But listen, he still went out looking like Alice Cooper. And that part of him is through and through. And everybody had a great time."

A trailer for the upcoming HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES documentary "Unleashed Spirits - The Rise Of The Hollywood Vampires" can be seen below.

Directed by Daniel E. Catullo III, "Unleashed Spirits - The Rise Of The Hollywood Vampires" was previously described in a press release as "an exhilarating and heartfelt film that takes viewers on a captivating journey through the formation of HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES and the profound impact they've had on their devoted fan base."

Named for a pack of famous musicians that legendary rocker Alice Cooper used to drink with in the early 1970s, including John Lennon and Keith Moon, HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES also includes producer and songwriter Tommy Henriksen.

The three legends first came together to record in 2015, bonding over a shared love of their favorite songs and a desire to celebrate their "dead, drunk friends" by playing the songs of the fallen heroes. Riotous performances ensued around the world.

In 2019, HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES — which also includes Cooper's drummer Glen Sobel and bassist Chris Wyse — completed a triumphant seven-city North American tour which included a sell-out show at the famous Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and were voted the "best performance" of 2018 at London's Wembley Arena.

HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES' sophomore album "Rise", produced by Tommy Henriksen and the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, was hailed as one of the purest, most unapologetic and enjoyable rock and roll albums of 2019, made by masters of the craft and true fans of the form. Unlike their 2015 debut record, the latest album consisted mainly of original material, written by the band. There are however, in the spirit of the VAMPIRES' original mission, three covers of songs originally written and recorded by legendary rockers who died far too young.

Six years ago, Cooper told Billboard about his chemistry with Depp and Perry: "That's a very odd thing about this. You've got three alpha males who are used to running the show, and all of a sudden, three guys are sitting there with zero arguments. The whole thing is, 'Okay, let's try that.' Every time they would send me a track with scratch vocals on it, if I worked on it and chopped it up and did my thing, it would turn into an Alice song. I took my fingerprints off of it. I would hear the song and say, 'Let's do it as it was written.' My instinct might be to say that this part goes too long or the intro goes too long, but that's what makes it interesting."

Regarding HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES' decision to record a second album as a follow-up to 2015's "Hollywood Vampires", which debuted at No. 43 on the Billboard 200, Cooper said: "We looked at each other and went, 'Let's do another album, but let's make this one original.' And just like that, Johnny was writing, Joe was writing, Tommy was writing, I was writing … and we just all kind of put it together while I was on tour. Tommy produced it, and the next thing you know, we had an album. The cool thing about it is that it doesn’t sound like an Alice album, it doesn't sound like an AEROSMITH album: It sounds like a HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES album."

HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES released their first live album, "Live In Rio", in June 2023 via earMUSIC. The LP was recorded when the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES played their biggest and most legendary gig in front of more than 100,000 fans at the Rock In Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in September 2015

Photo credit: Ross Halfin (courtesy of The Outside Organisation)

Multi-platinum-selling rock band PUDDLE OF MUDD has released the official music video for its latest single, "Monsters".

"Monsters" was originally made available in October without prior announcement through Virgin Records.

In August 2025, PUDDLE OF MUDD signed a new management contract with NI Music Group. Shortly afterward, PUDDLE OF MUDD frontman Wes Scantlin entered Warner Chappell Studios in Los Angeles with NI Music Group CEO Eric T. Johnson, who co-wrote and produced the track alongside audio engineer Ethan Ray Shevin. Scantlin later confirmed that "Monsters" was written, recorded, and produced entirely during those sessions.

PUDDLE OF MUDD's latest album, "Kiss The Machine", was released in May via Pavement Entertainment.

PUDDLE OF MUDD was formed in 1991 in Kansas City by Scantlin, the only original member still with the band. The group into the mainstream with 2001's "Come Clean", which yielded three hits — "Control", "Blurry" and "She Hates Me".

PUDDLE OF MUDD's most recent touring lineup saw Scantlin joined by returning bassist Michael Anthony Grajewski and new members Miles Schon — son of legendary JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon — on lead guitar and Jon Smith on drums.

Photo courtesy of Pavement Music

Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD played their cover of BLACK SABBATH's "Children Of The Grave" during the 2025 Headbangers Boat cruise, which set sail aboard the Norwegian Jewel, departing Miami on October 31 and stopping in Cozumel, Mexico before returning to port on November 4. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

When LAMB OF GOD previously played "Children Of The Grave" during the band's July 24 hometown concert at Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront in Richmond, LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe told the crowd:  "Thank you so much for being our home, Richmond. Thank you so much for raising us up and carrying us through the years.

"Everywhere we go around the fucking world — we have played on every single continent except for Antarctica — the first thing I say when I address the audience is, 'We are LAMB OF GOD. We hail from Richmond, motherfucking Virginia.' I let them know. I let them know, motherfuckers. Very recently, I got to say those very words somewhere very fucking special.

"We've been around for 30 years now, playing parties here," he continued. "In 2004, we got invited on a festival called the Ozzfest. We played with HATEBREED on that one. We came back in 2007 and played it again. And most recently, the members of a band called BLACK SABBATH, the all four original members of the band BLACK SABBATH, got together to play one final show in Birmingham, England. And they hit us up and they asked little old LAMB OF GOD if we wanted to come to play. It was fucking a huge honor to be there. It was a huge honor to be there in Birmingham, England, playing with BLACK SABBATH, representing our city, this city in front of the four dudes who fucking created heavy metal. They were the first. And it was a magic, magic day, my friends. I don't know how to tell — I don't even know how to explain the feeling, but it was so intense. And then I stayed in England for a little while later, and then the next week I did this convention and I got to hang out with Ozzy Osbourne. And he was in the best fucking mood. He felt the love.

"Did any of you motherfuckers livestream that fucking thing?" Blythe asked the audience. "Thank you so much. From that concert, we raised $190 million for charity. A bunch of fucking heavy metal freak weirdos [were responsible for] the largest charity gig in the history of music, period. And Ozzy was so fucking excited about that. And then, as all of you know, a few days ago Mr. Osbourne has left. He has gone on on his next journey. And we're sad, but I know he went out with joy in his heart. I saw it. I saw it. And he felt it."

Randy added: "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for BLACK SABBATH. None of us would be here right now if it wasn't for BLACK SABBATH. So if it's okay with you guys, we're gonna play you a BLACK SABBATH song right now. We're gonna play it for those dudes in BLACK SABBATH, and we're gonna play it for Ozzy Osbourne. I wanna hear it: Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!" Responding to "Ozzy" chants from the crowd, Blythe said: "Louder. I want 'em to hear it in Birmingham, motherfuckers. Louder. Louder. That's right. This is for Ozzy Osbourne of BLACK SABBATH. This song is called 'Children Of The Grave'."

The day of Ozzy's death, Blythe shared a photo of him with the BLACK SABBATH singer, and he wrote: "Like most of you reading this, I am immensely sad right now.

"This picture was taken 10 days ago, at @comicconmidlands- I was with my pals @scottianthrax & @thefrankbello. Our friend @malfuncsean took us back into Ozzy's green room— we hung out for a good half hour & had some laughs with the Prince of Darkness.

"Know this: Ozzy was in a GREAT mood, & still buzzing over the 'Back To The Beginning' concert. I thanked him for having @lambofgod on the show, & told him 'We just went by 14 Lodge Road two days ago' (his childhood home in Birmingham.) Ozzy looked up & gave me an huge grin & said 'Boy, I'll bet that fucking guy who lives there now is sick of hearing about me!' & started laughing really hard. It was great to see!

"I do not claim to have been close to him, but I’ve had several interactions with Ozzy over the years. Yes, Ozzy was a TRUE ROCK N' ROLL MADMAN- they don't build 'em like him anymore. But I also knew him as a kind & gentle man who, alongside his family, did so much for my band, & more personally, spoke out publicly on my behalf when I was facing serious legal issues.

"When you are in a foreign prison & inmates you don't know come up to you suddenly acting impressed & saying 'Ozzy Osbourne says good things for you!' in broken English… trust me, it makes a difference.

"Thank you for that, mate.

"So yes, I'm very sad right now— but my heart is also full. Ozzy got to say goodbye, & he got to do it on HIS terms, with HIS band. One last time the mighty SABBATH roared… & we all watched in awe.

"While in the green room, I had Ozzy sign my shoes, the ones I am holding in this photo- there were only 121 pairs of these Adidas made, strictly as thank you gifts to performers at the 'Back To The Beginning' show. I told Ozzy I was going to auction them off to further benefit the charities that the concert raised money for, & he was well pleased by this.

"And so I shall.

"This is how I would like to thank & honor him for all he did for music, my band, & myself. The shoes will be part of a larger auction that is being organized right now. Details soon.

"Thank you Ozzy. We love you.

"'Show the world that love is still alive, you must be brave…'"

Ozzy died on July 22, his family announced in a statement.

The day after LAMB OF GOD took the stage at "Back To The Beginning" — where the Virginia metallers also covered "Children Of The Grave" — Blythe took to his social media to write: "I do not have the words to explain what merely being at, much less performing at, BLACK SABBATH's final show yesterday felt like. I'm still trying to process it- it's crazy.

"I have been in my band for 30 years now, and I have played many, many shows in that time. But the overwhelming energy at this show— in the audience, in the backstage area, and onstage (because I was in all 3 areas at different times)— was something I have never felt before, and I know I never will again. It was something DIFFERENT, something very, very special.

"If you play in a heavy metal band, or are a fan of any heavy metal music, then know that your roots lay in Birmingham, starting way back in 1968 with four working class Englishmen named Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, & Bill Ward. They created this. PERIOD. For those of us who make this music, there will never be another chance to play with the original creators again. That was IT… & it was amazing.

"If you were there in the audience, you should know that every single band member I talked to- from MASTODON who opened the show up all the way to METALLICA who played right before Ozzy- was nervous to go onstage… & I do mean EVERYONE (God knows I was.) It a sign of our respect for the dudes who created this music that we all felt this way. We all wanted to honor them, to show respect, to thank them for this wild-ass life that they have given us, and to do justice to their tunes— all of us get to travel the world & play this music because of what these four guys started. Then to see those four guys give it one last glorious whirl, four songs… it was earth shattering.

"So thank you BLACK SABBATH, thank you Birmingham, & thank you to all the fans who came out yesterday to help us give SABBATH a proper send off. We also raised A LOT of money yesterday for 3 different charities- Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital, & Acorn Children's Hospice. None of the bands took a single penny for this gig- hell, none of us even got a guestlist! I am so happy to have witnessed it & beyond grateful to have been asked to be a part of it. A simply unbelievable day…"

"Back To The Beginning" took place on July 5 in BLACK SABBATH's original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom. The nine-hour event, hosted by actor Jason Momoa at Villa Park, saw over a dozen bands play at least one BLACK SABBATH or Ozzy Osbourne cover as they paid homage to the SABBATH singer, who has Parkinson's disease.

Hours after LAMB OF GOD's performance at "Back To The Beginning", the band released a studio version of "Children Of The Grave" on streaming music services.

"LAMB OF GOD being invited to perform with BLACK SABBATH at their final show is one of the greatest honors of our career," LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton said in a statement. "As an offering to the celebration, we've recorded our take on their classic 'Children Of The Grave', a protest song with lyrics that are as relevant today as they were in 1971 when the original was released.”

"BLACK SABBATH invented heavy metal and in doing so, they changed the world," Morton continued. "This genre that they created brings immeasurable joy to fans all over the world. We are so grateful to have the heavy metal community to call our home, and so grateful to BLACK SABBATH for the gift of their music that they've given to all of us."

Curated by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello, "Back To The Beginning" featured arguably the greatest lineup of rock and metal bands ever assembled on one day.

The concert for Ozzy Osbourne, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease several years ago and billed the event as his final onstage performance, marked the first time original BLACK SABBATH bandmembers — Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — performed together in 20 years.

More than 40,000 fans attended "Back To The Beginning", which also saw performances from Ozzy's solo band, GUNS N' ROSES, METALLICA, SLAYER, PANTERA, GOJIRA and ANTHRAX, among others. Profits from the show are being shared equally between the charities Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice.

In episode 117 of "The Metallica Report", the podcast offering weekly insider updates on all things METALLICA, Kirk Hammett, best known as METALLICA's guitarist and a horror fanatic, with a huge collection of movies and memorabilia, was asked to name his three most cherished pieces of horror movie memorabilia and the stories behind the acquisitions. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I would say my three favorite horror movie props are — number one, the outfit that Boris Karloff wore in that movie 'The Black Cat' from 1933. That's one of my very favorite horror movies of all time. And when I found out that costume was available, I was shocked and amazed, because that movie came out in 1933. I mean, that costume was 80 years old, and it survived. And so I managed to get it very, very quietly. No one seemed to be very interested in it, and once I got it, I was just, like, 'Wow, I can't believe I got this.' And first thing I did was I put it on and I walked around the house pretending I was Boris Karloff in that movie. I know — I'm a goofball."

He continued: "I have a lot of props covering a large amount of time, from '30s to the present. I have a large amount of the original Frankenstein lab, and I'm very happy to be able to say that because the equipment got distributed all over the country, all over the world, and it's been kind of my thing to get all the parts back into one spot. And I've got a lot of the major parts back, especially the nebularium, which is the rounded mirror that you see in the first three Frankenstein movies. And so the lab, parts of the lab are very important to me as well. Another thing that I got that really means a lot to me is the ax from 'The Shining' that [actor Jack] Nicholson was carrying around. I was really happy to be able to get that. It's a very important piece from a very important film."

Hammett added: "And then my newest acquisition that, again, it's unbelievable that I was able to acquire this, but I got Bela Lugosi's Dracula cape from 'Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein'. The cape he wore in that film I managed to attain in the last year. And I've known where that cape has been for the last 30 years, and the guy who had it kind of was dangling in front of me for the longest time. And then last year he was at a point where he just needed a financial windfall. And so he put it in auction. And no one really knew about this auction, which worked in my favor. So I was, like, one of maybe three people bidding on it, one of three people who even knew it was at auction. And I was able to get it, and I was so happy, 'cause literally I'd been after that thing for 30 years and I finally got it. And I'm really, really stoked to have that thing. It means a lot to me."

Asked how he interacts with these pieces when he first gets them, if he touches them or smells them, Kirk said: "Oh, yeah. It's just everything. Everything. I end up staring at the pieces for a long time. And most importantly, it's inspiring for me. It inspires me musically. I sit there with my guitar. I'm, like, 'Oh my God.' And I just sit staring there, playing my guitar and then maybe something will come out of it. But most importantly, I have a love for these movies. I think these movies are historically relevant, culturally relevant, and I feel like a protector of this stuff. I feel like I'm a curator of this stuff and I feel that it's important that this stuff is together, 'cause together it works ergonomically. And it creates a synergy when you have all this stuff together in one room and you walk in and you look at it all and you really get the message and the importance of all this stuff. 'Cause it, to me, it's all important. It's the horror genre of the 20th century. And I've been able to just curate it and get it all together and get all the most important things together and then take a step back and go, 'Wow, this is the collection,' and it's relevant now, and it means something to me and it means something to other people. It means something to the world. It's a part of our world culture. And so because of that, I feel compelled to share it with people too. 'Cause, again, I feel that there's people out there who feel that this stuff is just as important as I do. And there are people out there who are curious about this stuff, and there's people out there who just wanna see this stuff. They wanna see something that was in a movie 80 years ago. I mean, that's a cool thing. And it's different from, like, going to the Louvre and seeing the Mona Lisa. After you see the Mona Lisa, you can't just go home and then watch a movie about the Mona Lisa. I don't know — maybe you can, but it's highly unlikely. But when you see this stuff and you see it in a museum setting, you go, 'Oh, wow. I'm gonna go back and watch 'The Wolf Man'.' And maybe that would be an enlightening thing for you and maybe you'd discover something about that movie or the genre. And then next thing you know, you're loving the stuff just as much as I am. And you're helping, keeping the spirit of it all alive."

Hammett released a coffee table book in 2012 called "Too Much Horror Business" that featured photos of his extensive collection of monster and horror memorabilia. He displayed a portion of his collection in the "Kirk's Crypt" exhibition during the 2012 and 2013 Orion Music + More festivals. The METALLICA guitarist is also known as the Fear FestEvil horror convention organizer.

Hammett previously stated about the parallels between horror movies and heavy metal: "Heavy metal and horror movies come from the same sources, they come from the same seeds, they have a lot of the same imagery and subject matter and whatnot. And for myself, part of the appeal of horror movies is coming in contact with my own mortality but not having to pay the price. Or, like, reliving a death or something without having to go through the actual experience. Bringing yourself to a point where you're maybe in a state of fear, but for your own pleasure."

He continued: "Watching a good horror movie makes my adrenaline go. And for me, it's great, it's the ultimate. I mean, some people like action films. Me, [I like] horror movies."

Image credit: Gibson TV

DOKKEN has released the digital single and video for the song "Hard Rock Woman". The track has previously only been available on a sold-out limited edition seven-inch vinyl released in 2020 to celebrate the release of DOKKEN's "The Lost Songs: 1978-1981".

"Hard Rock Woman" is a raw rock anthem taken from the vaults, clearly illustrating the talent and youthful energy which led to the birth of DOKKEN.

DOKKEN frontman Don Dokken commented: "In 1978 I was living in Manhattan Beach, California. A few blocks from my house there was a vintage music store called Drake's Music. It was owned by Drake Levin who was the original guitar player in PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS. We got to be good friends and after a while he asked me if I've ever recorded in a professional studio. When I told him no, he offered to put me into a professional recording studio and do some songs on down time, very late at night when the studio was empty. Drake hired Bill Lordon on drums and Rusty Allen on bass who were both playing with Robin Trower at the time. We recorded two songs: 'Hard Rock Woman' and 'Broken Heart'."

Released today, "Hard Rock Woman" is available as a standalone digital single.

Earlier this year, Don spoke to Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic about the possibility of a new DOKKEN album to follow up "Heaven Comes Down", which came out in October 2023. Regarding the positive reactions to the band's latest effort, he said: "Yeah. [There's been a] good response. I mean, that first video we put out, 'Fugitive', got a million views, and I went, 'Wow, a million.' These days people click on something for 10 seconds and they move on to the next video. We got a million on 'Fugitive' and I think that 'Saving Grace' is kicking ass too. And we did two other videos, 'Gypsy' and 'Over The Mountain', the animated ones. So it seems people [like the album], and record sales are up, and I'm, like, 'I guess we made a good record.' It took us two years."

Elaborating on why it took so long to complete "Heaven Comes Down", Don said: "It had to do with COVID. We had all that downtime to write 20 songs and narrow it down to the 10 best, so we didn't have to what I call — we didn't wanna put any 'B' songs on the record.

"I get disappointed sometimes when I hear some of my peers, and there's the one song they put out, and then I listen to the whole record and download it or buy it, and I think some of the stuff's not up to par," he continued. "That's just my opinion. It's, like, 'Well, that's a good song. That's a good song. And that's not a good song. That's not a good song.' So it just sounds like some people, they get their strongest tracks and then just throw the rest of it together 'cause of the timeline. But COVID, yeah, definitely put the kibosh on me and all of us."

On the topic of the likelihood of another DOKKEN studio album, Don said: "We probably won't make any more records, which is unfortunate, that I can't make any more records. 'Heaven Comes Down' is probably our last record. I wish I could keep making music, but I can't because of my right hand being paralyzed. So I can't play guitar anymore… Luckily a lot of the tracks we did on this album started two years ago. We just had a lot of time. And sometimes I'd go in the studio to sing or before play guitar before my arm got paralyzed, and I had good days and bad days. And my producer would come over and I'd say, 'I don't know if I can cut this tonight.' So we'd give it a shot. I'd warm up and looking out over the mountain range and the city lights below my house and say, 'Not tonight, man. I'm just not feeling it.' So we'd go to another track and I'd try to analyze it and say, 'Can I make this bridge better?' Or is the chorus, do I have something better in me? You Then I'd go to something else and sometimes I'd get something better. And I think that's what happened with this album. I just said, 'Let's just really push the envelope. We're not in any hurry.' I've done 13 records and I don't crank 'em out like cotton candy; I just don't."

Asked if there are any previously unreleased songs that could be grouped together and made available as a new record, Don said: "We have three songs that we wrote for 'Heaven Comes Down'. And I really liked them. And actually I was playing guitar on those, so that was kind of cool, before I lost my hand. But the record company thought they were too dark — I don't even what that means, dark — and they held them back. So we've got three songs in the vault there. Jon [Levin, DOKKEN guitarist] had a couple songs he held back. So, yeah, there's stuff, but not much."

After Ratches suggested the possibility of a new DOKKEN EP, Don said: "Funny you said that. I was talking to [former DOKKEN guitarist George] Lynch. He's been playing some shows with us as special guest, and he comes on stage and plays two or three, four songs at the end of the show. And he said, 'You sure you don't wanna do another record?' And I said, 'Well, I really can't. I'm limited.' And I said, 'But maybe if you came up with a couple of song ideas that I could write lyrics to. Yeah, I'd take a stab at it.' But it would probably be an EP."

The follow-up to 2012's "Broken Bones", "Heaven Comes Down" was produced by Bill Palmer and Don Dokken and was mixed by Kevin Shirley (AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN).

In August 2023, DOKKEN released the music video for the album's first single, "Fugitive". The clip was directed by Chris Eyre ("Dark Winds", "Smoke Signals") and was filmed at the popular immersive arts venture Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

DOKKEN released an album called "The Lost Songs: 1978-1981" in August 2020 via Silver Lining Music. Featuring sleeve art by renowned U.S. artist Tokyo Hiro (MOTÖRHEAD, MOTLEY CRÜE),the effort contains material written and recorded by a hungry young Don Dokken as he embarked upon a journey which started in Southern California and Northern Germany.

DOKKEN's classic lineup of Dokken, Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown completed a short Japanese tour in October 2016, marking the first time in 21 years the four performed together.

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour, "Return To The East Live (2016)", was made available in 2018.

At some of the recent DOKKEN shows, Lynch has been rejoining the band on stage to perform three of the classic DOKKEN songs: "Kiss Of Death", "When Heaven Comes Down" and "Tooth And Nail".

On Saturday, November 1, Ivan Moody and Zoltan Bathory of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH joined Japanese metal sensation BABYMETAL at their sold-out Intuit Dome show in Los Angeles, California to celebrate a major international milestone as their collaborative single "The End" reached No. 1 on the Japanese iTunes Metal chart and climbed to No. 18 on the Japanese All-Genres chart — a landmark achievement for an international rock release. In addition to its success in Japan, the track is making history in the United States as the first song featuring Japanese lyrics to chart at U.S. Rock radio, where it has already broken into the Top 5. The artists came together a special plaque presentation to honor this cross-cultural breakthrough and the worldwide momentum behind "The End" featuring BABYMETAL confirming that music truly is universal.

Bathory says: "This was such an amazing way to celebrate a collaboration that turned into a chart-topping moment for both of us. We're working on our tenth studio album right now, and with the 20th-anniversary world tour coming up, we were already planning to go back to Japan… a place that's always shown us so much love. But with how well this song connected there, let's just say the story might not be over yet. Who knows… maybe we'll even share a stage with BABYMETAL. Life's a wild chain of coincidences, and sometimes the next chapter just writes itself."

BABYMETAL vocalist Su-Metal shares: "We were invited to take part in a 20th-anniversary collaboration project featuring guest artists on past songs. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and BABYMETAL had performed at the same festival overseas back in 2015, so I was really happy thinking they might have remembered me from then. I sang Japanese lyrics inspired by the original lyrics of 'The End' and spent a lot of time experimenting to find the voice that best fit such a deep, cool track. My favorite moment is the flow from 'Negai o kakete' into the break, where my voice is gradually engulfed by Ivan's growl — it gave me chills. I hope listeners feel that too."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the release of two definitive greatest-hits collections: "Best Of - Volume 1" (released in July) and "Best Of - Volume 2" (out today). Both albums feature newly re-recorded versions of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's biggest anthems, created in response to the sale of the original song masters — made without the band's knowledge or opportunity to reclaim them.

Instead of remixing or remastering, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH turned the setback into a positive by fully re-recording fan favorites across two volumes — both as a tribute to the songs and the fans who've stood with them over two decades. While honoring the originals and those who helped create them, the band brings renewed intensity to tracks like "Sham Pain", "Blue On Black", "Trouble" and "Burn MF". Together, the two collections pay respect to the past while reintroducing the music for a new era. "Best Of - Volume 2" includes 16 re-recorded classics plus three previously unreleased live versions of "Wash It All Away", "Wrong Side Of Heaven" and "Jekyll and Hyde".

Earlier this year, "Best Of - Volume 1" led with the 2025 version of "I Refuse" featuring Maria Brink of IN THIS MOMENT, which hit No. 1 on the rock charts in July. With over 13 billion streams, countless No. 1 hits, and multiple gold and platinum awards, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH remains one of the 21st century’s most dominant rock acts.

"Best Of - Volume 1" and "Best Of - Volume 2" are available worldwide in multiple formats, including standard CD and vinyl, a limited-edition CD exclusive to Walmart, multiple collectible vinyl editions available at Best Buy, Walmart, the FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH webstore, indie retail and a Revolver magazine exclusive.

To commemorate FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's 20th anniversary, a special merchandise collection is also available now in the official webstore.

Photo credit: Sarai Kelley

Influential black metal band MAYHEM will release its seventh studio album, "Liturgy Of Death", on February 6, 2026 via Century Media. With this new opus, MAYHEM reaffirms its status as the most uncompromising force in extreme metal music. Four decades into their career, MAYHEM turns its focus toward the inescapable reality of death. "Liturgy Of Death" examines loss, fear of dying, powerlessness and the fragility of existence through a stark and unrelenting lens.

"Weep For Nothing", MAYHEM's new first single, turns the fear of mortality into revelation, a hymn to nothingness where grief becomes meaningless. With its cold and fast grandeur, razor-sharp riffs and a suffocating atmosphere, the band channels it channels the essence of mortality without offering solace or escape.

With Necrobutcher (bass),Hellhammer (drums),Attila Csihar (vocals),Teloch (guitars) and Ghul (guitars) locked into a unit tighter than ever, "Liturgy Of Death" celebrates MAYHEM's own legacy, a continuation of the raw and uncompromising sound that defined their beginnings. The result is a merciless record — dark, fast, and unrelenting — that captures the band in their most dangerous and vital form. Forty-one years since the band's formation in Langhus, MAYHEM remains a defining force in Norwegian black metal, continuing to shape the sound it helped create.

"Liturgy Of Death" is the follow-up to MAYHEM's sixth studio album, "Daemon", which came out in October 2019 via Century Media. A live album, "Daemonic Rites", arrived in September 2023.

"Liturgy Of Death" track listing:

01. Ephemeral Eternity
02. Despair
03. Weep For Nothing
04. Aeon's End
05. Funeral Of Existence
06. Realm Of Endless Misery
07. Propitious Death
08. The Sentence Of Absolution
09. Life Is A Corpse You Drag (bonus track)
10. Sancta Mendacia (bonus track)

MAYHEM will embark on the "Death Over Europe" European headlining tour in February 2026. Support on the trek will come from MARDUK and IMMOLATION. The dates are as follows:

Feb. 05 - NL - Groningen - Spot
Feb. 06 - NL - Utrecht - TivoliVredenburg
Feb. 07 - DE - Herford - KulturWerk Herford
Feb. 08 - BE - Liège - OM
Feb. 10 - UK - London - Electric Ballroom
Feb. 11 - FR - Paris - Elysée Montmartre
Feb. 12 - FR - Toulouse - Le Bikini
Feb. 14 - PT - Lisbon - LAV Lisboa Ao Vivo
Feb. 15 - ES - Madrid - La Riviera
Feb. 17 - IT - Milano - Alcatraz
Feb. 18 - CH - Solothurn - Kulturfabrik Kofmehl
Feb. 19 - AT - Vienna - Simm City
Feb. 20 - DE - Regensburg - Airport Eventhall
Feb. 21 - CZ - Prague - PAVILON C
Feb. 22 - DE - Berlin - Huxleys Neue Welt
Feb. 24 - PL - Gdansk - B90
Feb. 25 - LV - Riga - Spelet
Feb. 26 - FI - Helsinki - Kulttuuritalo
Feb. 28 - SE - Gothenburg - Eriksbergshallen

In the fall of 2024, MAYHEM canceled its previously announced North American 40th-anniversary tour "due to a member of the band having a medical emergency that requires immediate surgery."

The North American dates were scheduled to kick off on November 12, 2024 in Montreal, with stops in Toronto; Queens, New York; Chicago; and Los Angeles before and wrapping up November 23, 2024 in Denver.

MAYHEM launched a short European tour on December 4, 2024 in Paris, France. An Australian tour followed in January.

When MAYHEM's North American tour was first announced in August 2024, the band said that its 40th-anniversary show would be "a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans, featuring a setlist that spans their illustrious career, from their groundbreaking debut album, 'Deathcrush', to present day."

MAYHEM is:

Attila Csihar - Vocals
Ghul - Guitar
Hellhammer – Drums
Necrobutcher - Bass
Morten - Guitar

Photo by Agnes Köhler, Nima Taheri, Joyce Van Doorn. Editing by Daniele Valeriani

In 2026, "Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic)" — the seminal debut album by Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH — will rise again in a series of exclusive festival appearances across Europe, including Beyond The Gates in Bergen, Norway. Marking the 30th anniversary of its original release, BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski will revisit the dark origins of his musical legacy, performing "Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic)" in its entirety.

This extraordinary series will see Nergal joined by Icelandic black metal visionaries MISÞYRMING, whose raw energy and uncompromising intensity have reshaped the modern black metal landscape. Together, they will summon the primal spirit of the 1995 release — an album that laid the foundation for BEHEMOTH's evolution from underground obscurity to global extremity.

Performed live for the first time as a full conceptual work, "Sventevith" will return as both a tribute and a transformation: a rare convergence of heritage and renewal, honoring BEHEMOTH's roots while embracing the ferocity of a new generation.

On July 29 - August 1, 2026, Beyond The Gates will be held for the 14th time, showcasing why the festival has grown into the international metal gathering it has become. Attracting visitors from 50 different countries around the world, the extreme metal festival has become a global phenomenon. The festival takes place the city center of Bergen, using several venues spread across town, including the legendary Grieghallen and USF Verftet. Gold passes for the festival are running low.

BEHEMOTH's latest album, "The Shit Ov God", came out in May via Nuclear Blast Records.

BEHEMOTH have always been known for not shying away from controversy, and they most certainly remain true to this approach with their 13th full-length. Here's a band that, 34 years in, is releasing its most inflammatory and extreme record to date. Eight songs that go into the fathoms of humanity, divinity, and what defiance means in an age where individuality is prized but everyone is clinging to their saviors — musically, politically, or otherwise. The title of the album is in line with those sensibilities.

"It's like me at the age of 15, when I turned the cross upside-down," Nergal explained to Kerrang! magazine earlier this year. "It's the simplest, most fucking atavistic reaction of disagreement, of rebellion. It's primitive, it's primal, it's vulgar. You invert the cross, so I used the same semantic tool here. I took this acronym that is probably the most sacred for all the Christians, but I just turned it upside-down. And there's some existential philosophy there, too. If there is a God, then we are the excrement. But being the lesser being is not a reason to mourn or to be depressed. We're gonna wear it as a badge of honor."

Nergal added of the album title: "Some people said it's too simple. But then we did 'The Satanist', everyone said that was as well. They said it was not creative. Well, it came over 30 years into extreme metal history, and nobody had used it yet. I think that's pretty brilliant of me, actually."

BEHEMOTH meticulously chose the audiovisual artists involved on the album. Production on the album was helmed by the inimitable Jens Bogren of Fascination Street Studios (EMPEROR, ENSLAVED, KREATOR, ROTTING CHRIST et al.). Working closely with the band, Bogren's deft hand underscored the band's natural sound while sacrificing none of the mayhem and ferocity which permeates the band's essence. As is always the case with BEHEMOTH, the visuals were as carefully constructed as the sound. The band tapped long-time collaborator and partner in crime Bartek Rogalewicz (BLACK.LODGE.IS.NOW) as well as Dark Sigil Workshop to make the beautifully ominous and unique cover art.

In a new interview with Chaoszine, former SEPULTURA and current SOULFLY frontman Max Cavalera spoke about how diminishing music sales in the streaming age have affected new bands' chances of surviving and thriving. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's tough, man. It's tough. The record sales nowadays compared to what was 25 years ago. When SOULFLY came out, [the first] SOULFLY [album] was a gold record in America. [SEPULTURA's] 'Roots', [SOULFLY's] 'Primitive' [were both] gold records [which] sold many, many thousands of copies. That doesn't happen now. You have to do all the things now. You have to use social media. You have to go on tour. You have to sell shirts. You have to be creative. It's tough.

"I think for a young band starting out right now, it's very difficult," he continued. "Much harder [than it used to be]. But it is what it is. They created this monster and they don't know how to fix it. And it sucks that the musicians end up paying the price for it. I'm glad that at least we're still making albums. And there's fans that love vinyl — they love the physical copy. And there's still a passion for this music, and I love that. And that's why I will continue making records, because I believe in the album, I believe in the power of a record. I believe in the power of an album. It's a magical thing. It's a cool thing. It's an amazing thing. I listen to my old records, I listen to new records. I'm always inspired by albums. I think it's amazing."

SOULFLY's thirteenth album, "Chama", came out on October 24 via Nuclear Blast Records.

This past weekend, SOULFLY kicked off the "Favela Dystopia" 2025 West Coast tour with GO AHEAD AND DIE. The 17-date trek launched on November 1 in Roswell and will head to Denver, Spokane and Fresno, among other cities, before concluding in Flagstaff on November 23.

SOULFLY drummer — and Max's son — Zyon Cavalera co-produced "Chama", which was recorded at the Platinum Underground Studio in Mesa, Arizona by John Aquilino. John has worked with Max and company multiple times before and is not only a talented engineer but a family friend. The album was produced by Zyon and Arthur Rizk. The latter was also responsible for the mixing and mastering. Rizk has not only worked with the Cavalera family numerous times before, but has also helped to shape the world of heavy metal in the modern day. SOULFLY enlisted Carletta Parrish to create the album artwork. For the album, Igor Amadeus Cavalera (GO AHEAD & DIE, NAILBOMB, HEALING MAGIC) played bass and Mike De Leon played guitar.

SOULFLY's lineup on "Chama" is:

Max Cavalera - Vocals, Guitar
Igor Amadeus Cavalera - Bass
Zyon Cavalera - Drums
Mike De Leon – Guitar

This past May, SOULFLY recruited Chase Bryant (WARBRINGER) to play bass on the band's European tour, which kicked off on June 7 at the South Of Heaven festival in Maastricht, Netherlands.

A month earlier, SOULFLY parted ways with the band's longtime bassist Mike Leon.

Leon, formerly of HAVOK, joined SOULFLY in September 2015 as the replacement for STATIC-X bassist Tony Campos, who left SOULFLY in May of that year.

Guitarist Mike DeLeon has been touring with SOULFLY for more than two years. Prior to hooking up with SOULFLY, DeLeon had been a member of PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo's solo band PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, which he joined in 2015 as the replacement for Marzi Montazeri. More recently, Mike filled in for Zakk Wylde at the first rehearsal for the fall 2022 PANTERA shows.

Photo credit: Jim Louvau

In a new interview with Sakis Fragos of Rock Hard Greece, vocalist Nick Holmes of British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST spoke about the band's 17th album, "Ascension", which came out on September 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. PARADISE LOST's first album in five years, following 2020's critically acclaimed "Obsidian", was produced by guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory. Regarding PARADISE LOST's songwriting approach on "Ascension", Nick said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think when we re-recorded the 'Icon' album [to celebrate its 30th anniversary], actually just physically singing it and the guys physically playing it, it sort of brought us back to the time when we wrote that album and when we were young guys and how we used to write songs. And I think it was quite inspiring, to a degree, and it made us change our approach to the songwriting with this. Not that we wanted to kind of just copy anything from that album, but the approach that we had, it slightly changed and it kind of helped to shape many of the songs on this album. So, I think that, more than anything, not that it's like the 'Icon' album, but — we've obviously done a lot since then and learned a lot since then. But I do think that kind of put us on to a pathway where we thought, 'Oh, hang on a minute. Let's maybe some songs approach a similar vibe to those days.' But there's a song on there that it could be off the 'Shades Of God' album as well. That's another album which we always really liked that kind of went under the radar a little bit."

He continued: "Yeah, [after] 17 albums or something, there's a lot of stuff. I guess everything you do is like a chapter and it leads to the next one. But when we write albums, we don't sit down and think, 'Okay, what album are we gonna try and sound like?' Or, 'Which album was most successful?' We don't think like that. We like to keep moving forwards. And ultimately we are our own worst and heaviest critics. The band's biggest critics are ourselves. No one criticizes like we do. So, we are the first hurdle, and if it gets past us, then there is a chance or maybe a possibility that the general public will like it. But you never know."

Asked if PARADISE LOST consciously avoids any trends in heavy metal while writing new music or if the band kind of absorbs and reinterprets them, Nick said: "We just don't care. I think if you try and jump on any trend, it's, like the kiss of death. I think it's important to keep your ear to the ground and see what people like, and then if all of a sudden you become totally unfashionable and you don't understand why, you need to know what people are listening to. You need to know what the market is, the sales markets, what people are buying. I think that's important to know. But at the same time, when we write music, we don't really care what anyone else is doing. There has been, obviously, times in our career where we thought, 'Oh, this band, what are they doing? What are they doing?' But we there's just no point. I mean, we've been going for so long, and we're known for a certain way of writing, and that's what we do now.

"When you start a band, most interviews that you do usually mention other bands all the time, 'cause they say, 'Oh, you sound like this band. You sound like that band,' but I haven't actually heard one person mention another band in our interviews referring to the [new] album, apart from our own music, which is great," he said. "So it just means we are in our own kind of little ecosystem."

This past August, Gregor told Jerry Kurunen of Rauta about "Ascension": "Something that really changed the approach to this record was… It was 30 years since our 'Icon' album a year or two ago, and we had to do a re-recording. But having to do that, re-learn those songs in such depth and re-record it put me in the headspace of '92, '93, 'Shades Of God', 'Icon' era, and that kind of influenced the songwriting for this record a little bit. So probably over half the album is very much in that vein."

After Kurunen noted that PARADISE LOST has come "full circle" by returning to the band's "death/doom" roots on some of its recent albums, Mackintosh said: "Well, when you say full circle, the first time that was mentioned to me was when we did 'The Plague Within' [2015] album, which is — I don't know what year; it was 2014 or something — and I'd say that's true. That's pretty true. But since then we have been trying to maneuver around it, all our influences from all the past in different ways. Like 'Medusa' [2017] was far more of kind of sludgy record, and then the last one before this one, 'Obsidian' [2020], kind of has more gothy influences again, and this one, because of the 'Icon' re-recording, like I said, is kind of traveling somewhere between the 'Shades Of God', 'Icon' era-ish, but with a twist of now."

Asked what it felt for him and his PARADISE LOST bandmates to be inspired by their own music while making "Ascension", Gregor said: "It wasn't inspired by our own music. It was kind of — I said this before — it is kind of puts you in the headspace of where you were at that time, what your influences were at that time, how you felt. And at that time, around 'Shades Of God' and 'Icon', we were very much into the… Even the name 'Paradise Lost'. We even went back to that, It's from the book. What does the book mean? What's it about? What are the themes? This religious imagery, over-the-top religious imagery, even though we're all atheists. So we kind of went down that path. And with the music, it was just a case of… I never used to play the same thing as any of the other… It was, like, we were all playing our different bits and there wasn't too much riffage. It was there, but I was more of this harmony guy all the time. So we delved into that on this record. So it was more like the headspace. It wasn't really being influenced by our own stuff. It was just, like, 'Huh, this is interesting.' 'Cause over the years, incrementally, your style of playing changes, your style of songwriting changes, and you forget certain things. And then just revisiting it makes you think, 'Ah, okay.' … I mean, you try not to repeat yourself, obviously, but it gives you a warm feeling… So if you're getting that, it must be a good thing."

Mackintosh added: "I had half this album written three years ago. I had six or seven songs written, and I scrapped the whole lot because I wasn't happy with it. And then I just gave up for a year. And then we did the 'Icon' [re-recording] thing, and I was, like, 'Ah, okay. This is what it should be about. This is how it should go.' And so I've never used anything from those six or seven songs. If you're not feeling it, you're not feeling it. And we're in a lucky position that we haven't got a label saying, 'You've got to release this.' We do it in our own time. So if you're gonna live with something, it's better that you're comfortable with it."

"Ascension"'s album cover fittingly features the painting "The Court Of Death" (1870-1902) by renowned British artist George Frederic Watts, which hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. The painting depicts Death as an enthroned angel flanked by allegorical figures of Silence and Mystery guarding sunrise and the star of hope, while a warrior surrenders his sword and a duke his coronet, showing that worldly status offers no protection. The painting's bleak, prophetic vision embodies "Ascension"'s dark, tormented soundscapes as mournful verses collide with dire, foreboding riffs.

PARADISE LOST performed alongside KING DIAMOND and at festivals in Europe this summer before embarking on the first part its "Ascension Of Europe" tour this fall.

Photo credit: Ville Juurikkala

The FirstRowConcert channel on YouTube has uploaded video of San Diego hard-rock/nu metal veterans P.O.D. performing their cover of THE BEATLES classic "Don't Let Me Down" during their November 1 concert at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado as the support act for SEETHER and DAUGHTRY. You can now watch the clip below.

P.O.D. released a studio version of its rendition of "Don't Let Me Down" in late September. At the time, P.O.D. guitarist Marcos Curiel stated about the band's decision to cover the Fab Four: "As cliché as it may sound, we've always admired THE BEATLES from the very beginning of our songwriting journey. Their melodies, the hooks, and fearless experimentation inspired us to craft our own take on the classic 'Don't Let Me Down', with nothing but the utmost respect. Thank you for helping lay the foundation of what we all know today as rock 'n' roll, pop and metal."

Regarding P.O.D.'s fall 2025 North America tour with DAUGHTRY and SEETHER. Curiel said: "Touring is a gift, a blessing to share P.O.D.'s music live with the world. Absolutely nothing compares to the energy of a crowd feeling and vibing every note. We're ecstatic to join an amazing lineup that embodies the true essence of rock 'n' roll fusing the familiar with the new — a real evolution. We are proud to be part of it. Let's jam, let's sing, let's rock."

The trek kicked off October 1 in Virginia Beach and runs through mid-November, hitting major cities across the U.S.

P.O.D. joined U.S. hard rockers GODSMACK as special guests on their March/April 2025 European tour. The trek kicked off on March 22 with a sold-out show at the Sofia Arena in Bulgaria and then made stops in Romania (Bucharest),Hungary (Budapest),Poland (Gliwice),Austria (Vienna),Croatia (Zagreb),Czech Republic (Prague),Germany (Munich, Berlin, Offenbach),U.K. (London),Belgium (Brussels),before finishing with two shows in Germany, Hamburg, and finally April 12 at the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen.

In May last year, P.O.D. released its 11th album, "Veritas", via Mascot Records. The album was a Top 10 hit across the U.S. Billboard Current Hard Rock, Current Rock, and Current Alternative album charts, and has already surpassed 48 million streams.

P.O.D. has released several singles from the album including "Drop", "Afraid To Die", "I Got That" and "I Won't Bow Down".

"Drop" features a vicious vocal feature from LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe, while the equally eruptive single "Afraid To Die" features JINJER vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk.

As well as releasing "Veritas", P.O.D. has toured with SKINDRED, who between them brought the party in a major way to the U.K. They bulldozed through Europe with euphoric festival sets at Graspop Metal Meeting, Summerside and Rock For People. They supported MUDVAYNE, took on their blistering U.S. "I Got That" headline tour with special guests BAD WOLVES and NORMA JEAN, and festival stops at Louder Than Life, Aftershock, Sonic Temple, Welcome To Rockville and made waves on the ShipRocked cruise. They spent October 2024 touring Latin America, playing Knotfest and headline shows in Brazil as well as shows in Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

In a new interview with Austria's Stormbringer TV, guitarist Esa Holopainen of Finnish melancholic progressive metallers AMORPHIS spoke about the band's fifteenth studio album, "Borderland", which came out on September 26 via Reigning Phoenix Music. Asked what the reactions from the press and the fans have been like so far, Esa said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The reactions have been really good. I guess mostly all the reviews we've gotten and we read have been really positive and really good."

He continued: "I'm really happy how the 'Borderland' album turned out. It was great to work with [producer] Jacob Hansen — the first album with him, and, yeah, it was a really, really good experience. But it's always when you release the album, then you start the tour, you need little time when you can actually say where 'Borderland' is standing amongst the other AMORPHIS albums. But, yeah, we are really, really happy with the result and with the feedback."

Regarding why AMORPHIS chose to work with Hansen on "Borderland" after using Jens Bogren for so long, Esa explained: "We decided to change because we did three great albums with Jens Bogren. It was great to work with him, but AMORPHIS is a band that always tries to search at least something new. And we thought that, okay, now we've done three albums with Jens, so probably it would be a good time to start to search another producer or somebody who can find something else from us. And I actually spoke with Jens, 'cause we are good friends, like, 'How do you feel if we try another producer?' And he was very encouraging. He told us, 'Of course, if you guys feel like you have to try.' And, yeah, that's how it happened.

"I heard a lot of good things about Jacob from Michael Poulsen from VOLBEAT," Esa added. "And he really encouraged us to try Jacob, as he's a really nice person and a great producer. So I think that was one of the reasons why we ended up with Jacob. Plus I really do like, and we all do like the stuff, what he has done. It's not like every album is made with the same formula. He's been producing D-A-D, which is a Danish rock band, AMARANTHE, Swedish female-fronted metal band, VOLBEAT… There's a lot of variety in the albums that he has produced. And for us, it was really important, because our music is also a little bit like a soup, [with] every possible influence. And it was a good relationship, yeah. I think what he really nailed was everything in the mix. And he really made everything sound a little bit more fresh. And I guess 'Borderland' is a bit more straightforward and more melodic album than, for example, [2022's] 'Halo', what we did with Jens."

In a separate interview with Portugal's Look magazine, Holopainen and AMORPHIS keyboardist Santeri Kallio discussed "Borderland". Regarding how the process of making "Borderland" was different to the way AMORPHIS created some of its previous LPs, Esa said: "Yeah, it was the first album now that we did with a Danish producer, Jacob Hansen, and it was a very nice experience. We did three albums with Jens Bogren. He's a splendid producer as well, but we wanted to sort of find some new nuances and elements to our production. So we switched over to a Danish producer, and Jacob was a great guy, amazing guy, and it was really nice to work with him. [He's a] really easygoing guy, and he pretty much brought that extra little flavor, I guess, what we were looking for, to our sound. Creative-wise, I think we worked pretty much as we have before. Each guy works on their own with the songs and then we put all the songs to Google drive and the producer goes from there."

Asked how AMORPHIS chose the 12 tracks to record for "Borderland" after coming up with 24 songs during the pre-production process, Santeri said: "Well, that's one of the reasons why we use the producer… We self-produced 'Far From The Sun' and 'Eclipse' and 'Silent Waters' and 'Skyforger' and 'The Beginning Of Times', and actually making the albums was relatively easy, but we couldn't agree… We had a lot of fights and disagreements about the bonus tracks and which will end up to the album and which will be singles and which order we have. And then we started to use the external producer in the circle with Peter Tägtgren. And I think the main reason to start to use the producer was that he makes the big decisions because we can't really… There's six guys in the band. Everybody has a strong mind, and we listen to all kinds of different music and we don't agree about… and some songs are somebody's babies, some songs you like because they're heavy. And so the producer actually has to select the songs for the production from the 25-song pile, and then he has to select the songs for the album. And then he has to select a track list, like which order and the bonus tracks. So that's one of the producer's jobs in AMORPHIS, because we maybe could do it, but with endless fights."

The follow-up to 2022's "Halo" was recorded in late 2024 and early 2025 at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen. The cover artwork was designed by Dutch artist Marald Van Haasteren (METALLICA, BLACK SABBATH, KVELERTAK, ALCEST).

Photo credit: Sam Jamsen

Connecticut metalcore outfit CURRENTS has released a new EP, "All That Follows", via SharpTone Records. The band has also shared the video for "Rise & Fall", which features career archival footage.

CURRENTS singer Brian Wille comments: "'All That Follows' is the end of [the 2023 CURRENTS album] 'The Death We Seek'.

"These are some of our favorite songs thus far and the beginning of a new chapter for us.

"We kept this close to our hearts and trusted our guts on what we really wanted.

"These songs are an exercise of independence, experimentation and collaboration within the band to lengths we haven't gone before. Here we explore disillusionment, inequality, betrayal, and the ambiguity of life and its purpose.

"This world can be both a great and terrible place; and good or bad, we pour all of those experiences into our music. While the result is rarely a happy story, sharing it all with you is always such a positive and cathartic experience.

"We're proud to put this out into the world and to see you connect with it in your own way."

Long before tallying hundreds of millions of streams and playing to sold-out crowds, the spark behind CURRENTS began to flicker as early as 2011. Wille had joined the fold during 2015, and the band pushed forward with a series of critically acclaimed fan favorite releases such as "The Place I Feel Safest" (2017),"I Let The Devil In" EP (2018),"The Way It Ends" (2020) and "The Death We Seek" (2023). Following the latter's release, Everything Is Noise raved, "CURRENTS are one of the few that are capable of crafting a modern metalcore sound that is unrelenting in every which way whilst still being incredibly accessible." Beyond praise courtesy of MetalSucks and more, Distorted Sound rated it "9 out of 10," proceeding to profess, "It makes the future of this brilliant set of musicians one of the most exciting prospects in music to this day." Along the way, they shared stages with everyone from PARKWAY DRIVE and BEARTOOTH to ICE NINE KILLS, WE CAME AS ROMANS and MISS MAY I.

"All That Follows" EP track listing:

01. It Only Gets Darker
02. My Severance
03. Making Circles
04. Can't Turn Back
05. Rise & Fall

CURRENTS is:

Brian Wille - Vocals
Chris Wiseman - Guitar
Ryan Castaldi - Guitar
Christian Pulgarin - Bass
Matt Young - Drums

ALL THAT FOLLOWS is out now on all platforms.

https://bfan.link/all-that-follows

Music Written, Produced, &...

Posted by Currents on Friday, October 31, 2025

In a new interview with Troy Patrick Farrell of the "This That And The Other" radio show, TRIXTER guitarist Steve Brown, who collaborated with Ace Frehley on the KISS legend's latest solo album, "10,000 Volts", reflected on Frehley's recent passing. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Very, very sad times. It was a tragic ending for Ace. I didn't expect it. And we're all still grieving. I was just on the phone before with Jeremy [Asbrock], Ace's guitar player, and we were sort of commiserating. But it almost doesn't feel real. I'm looking around my studio. I have stuff around and stuff that we were working on. I've got guitars that he gave me and stuff. And we were set to start, in a couple months, working on the follow-up to '10,000 Volts'. I'd already sent him a couple of ideas. But that's not to be, sadly."

Steve continued: "I miss my buddy already. I miss the stupid texts back and forth. And again, it still almost doesn't feel real. But I was lucky enough to be able to go to the wake and pay my last respects to him. And I got to say some heartfelt things to him, because being my first guitar hero and the guy… I've always said that KISS and VAN HALEN were the two bands that changed my life forever, and becoming friends with Ed Van Halen and Ace Frehley, I feel so blessed. And they left us too early, I think, and Ace, again, it's just one of those things where… I think it's a lesson to all of us to cherish every day because you never know when your time is gonna come and your card… As my dad said, 'Sometimes that's when your card gets pulled, Stevie boy,' and sadly for Ace, that's the way it was. But it was a beautiful, beautiful wake. The priest said some wonderful things about Paul Daniel Frehley."

Brown added: "I've known Ace for a long time, but over the last couple years we've become so tight and telling each other things that most people don't know. And him just being here, I still feel his spirit all the time, because he was here. And he lived about 45 minutes away from me, so we would work at his place and then work at my place. And it really was fabulous. But I thanked him — more than anything, I thanked him for just being a great guy.

"Look, we all have our flaws, and his has been well documented, but deep down in his heart, he was a great guy. And some of the best moments I had were right here where I'd cook him dinner upstairs, and it would be just me and him, or he'd be doing down here doing card tricks for my daughters. He was a really, really special guy. And the music world lost a rock and roll superhero, that's for sure. But the music and his character will live on forever. So God bless Ace."

Asked by Farrell if there is anything unreleased from the "10,000 Volts" sessions that might eventually see the light of day, Steve said: "Yeah. There are a couple things that we didn't get to finish. That's not really up to me. I'm still very much in contact with the record label. And we'll see. I've gotta believe that in a couple of months, there has to be some sort of tributes to him, musically. And I know [SiriusXM radio personality] Eddie Trunk and I have already talked about, and Eddie's talked about it many times, about a memorial show. So that's definitely gonna happen at some point. But right now it's still too fresh and we're all still grieving and, of course, we all feel for [Ace's] daughter Monique and [ex-wife] Jeanette and [ex-fiancée] Lara, all of his family and close friends."

Back in March 2024, Ace shot down rumors that almost all of the songwriting on "10,000 Volts" was done by Brown. The original KISS guitarist told Canada's The Metal Voice: "I got aggravated the other day 'cause I heard that people were saying I didn't write any of the songs on the record. And [they were saying] it was all Steve Brown. And Steve, he was doing [the] 'Three Sides Of The Coin' [KISS-centric podcast], and he kind of confirmed that by saying, 'Yeah…' The [interviewer] said, 'Well, how much did Ace bring to the table?' And he goes, 'Well, I pretty much brought about 97 percent.' And I was really shocked when he said that, because that's not the case. And I called him up and he apologized to me."

Ace continued: "[Steve is] a wonderful guy. I love him. He was so excited about the record, and they were asking him questions that weren't rehearsed; he had no idea. Everybody sometimes toots their own horn a little more than they should sometimes without thinking. He was so excited about the record, he made that statement, but he admitted to me last night that that wasn't the case. And I brought up 'Up In The Sky' and several other things. What's that one song that everybody's jumpin' on bandwagon now? 'Fightin' For Life', saying it's one of the best songs on the record. I rewrote the whole chorus for that.

"I'm a very good lyricist," Frehley explained. "I always have been, but when it came to this album, if Steve brought a song to me with lyrics, ultimately I ended up rewriting at least 50 percent of the lyrics, just because I'm a better lyricist, and I think he'd be the first one to admit that. But he's definitely a much better engineer and producer than I am, and a great guitar player. And a good songwriter and very knowledgeable on Pro Tools — much more so than myself.

"I like to give credit where credit's due," Ace added.

Asked by interviewer Jimmy Kay if the songwriting split was more like 50-50 in terms of how much each person contributed to it, Ace said: "We just decided, no matter how much one of us brought to the table, we're gonna split everything in half — because it's a lot easier doing it that way than… Because I don't need the money that bad. And I know Steve worked really hard, because not only did he co-produce it, but he engineered the whole record himself. And I didn't have to pay for an engineer, so that saved me thousands of dollars. Whatever one guy brought to the table or the other guy, it really didn't matter. To me, the most important thing is the end result. I sang lead on all the songs. I played guitar solos on 80 percent of the songs, 75 percent. A couple of solos that he came up with, they were guide solos for me to copy. And I said, 'Steve, those solos are so good, let's just leave 'em.' He goes, 'Well, I don't want any credit.' [He's] humble. And I said, 'I'm gonna give you credit, because I like to give credit where credit is due. I don't wanna take credit for your solo if I didn't write it.' That's the kind of relationship we have. And it really doesn't matter who came up with what first. I always end up Ace-ifying it, putting my stamp on it. You can't get away from my voice; the minute you hear my voice, you know it's Ace Frehley."

Ace went on to bring up a few specific instances on the record where his contributions made a significant difference.

"We did a cover song, which was my idea, a song by [French actress] Nadia called 'Life Of A Stranger' [for the 2002 action film 'The Transporter'], which turned out great," he said. "And I wrote 'Back Into My Arms Again'. I wrote that 20, 35 years ago or something, with Arthur Stead.

"When [Steve] brought me 'Walkin' On The Moon', there was one line in the chorus called 'Walkin' on the moon,' but it wasn't the crux of the chorus. And I said, 'This song has to be called 'Walkin' On The Moon'.' He came over to my house and we worked it up and I rewrote most of the lyrics. And it turned out great.

"As far as I'm concerned, it really doesn't matter who does what, as long as the end result is what I want and what Steve wants," Frehley explained. "And we're always on the same page, for the most part. Of course, we'd have our differences from time to time. I mean, he wrote a song, and I can't remember which one it was, he brought a song to me, and it was kind of finished, but it was like a drum machine, and I wanted to bring in a different drummer and change a few things on it. And I said, 'This song needs a bridge.' And he said, 'Nah, it doesn't need a bridge.' I said, 'Trust me, it needs a bridge. I've been writing songs for 50 years.' I wrote a bridge in 10 minutes, and we inserted it after the second chorus, and he goes, 'Wow, that's really good.' So, that's the way we worked… We didn't use any Auto-Tuning, like some people are saying. I have perfect pitch, so I can tell if I'm singing flat. I just redo it."

Earlier in March 2024, Ace dismissed rumors that most of the guitar work on "10,000 Volts" was laid down by Steve, telling Ultimate Classic Rock: "Listen to previous albums by Steve Brown. Do they sound like this record? I don't think so. Number one, I'm doing all the vocals. Number two, I'm doing the majority of the solos. You know, Steve grew up idolizing me. And he's a wonderful human being and a great producer and a great engineer and a great guitar player and singer and songwriter. And working with him was such a pleasure. Sometimes he'd come up with his solo idea and I'd recreate it, because he's been studying my guitar style since he was a little kid, you know?"

Frehley did admit that Brown played "a couple of" guitar solos on "10,000 Volts", explaining: "A couple of times he laid down a solo, but he played it like me, in my style, because he studied my style his whole life. As far as I'm concerned, it really doesn't matter who plays what, you know ... as long as the cut sounds great. A couple of them, I thought Steve laid down so well that I said, 'Let's just keep it.' But that's as far as that goes. I played the majority the guitar solos on the record, absolutely."

A couple of weeks earlier, Brown told Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of Rock Interview Series about his collaboration with Frehley: "Yeah, it's been an incredible journey, the last year and a half with Ace. Ace and I have been friends for 30-plus years, but it's over the last year and a half of making this record, we've become best friends and brothers and an incredible songwriting and production team."

Steve went on to say that "the response to the record has been overwhelming. And what I love about it — and of course, I knew this was gonna happen — the love for it, and there's also a lot of hate for it," he explained. "I haven't seen this much sort of, let's say, controversy over a record in a long time, so I'm happy to be a part of it. 95 percent of it is all positive. But even the negative, you know what? All you haters out there, first thing, all the hate that you do, it just sells more records because people are curious now."

Regarding his mindset going into the project, Brown said: "I told Ace this the day we started working together, when we finished working on 'Walkin' On The Moon'. I said to him, I said, 'Listen, man. I'm one of your biggest fans. I'm a huge KISS fan. You and Ed Van Halen are the reasons that I started playing guitar, you two guys, and KISS and VAN HALEN were the two bands that got me going in 1978.' I said, 'If you trust me, I promise you, we will make the best record that we possibly can, and it will probably be the best thing that you've done since your '78 solo record.' So, I really, honestly, in my heart, I believe we accomplished that.

"Now, the KISS world and everything, all I've said all along is I made this record, I brought in most of the ideas for the songs and stuff like that, but it was — every idea that I brought in was as a KISS fan, and as an Ace fan, and my whole thing was, I've listened to everything Ace has done since he left KISS. And it's, again — I've said it before and I'll say it again, and I say it with love — there are moments of brilliance, one or two, maybe three great things on some of these records, surrounded by a ton of mediocrity. So my goal, and Ace said this to me the first day we were working, we got done. He said, 'I wanna make sure every song is great. And that was music to my ears, because, look. I told him, I said, 'Listen, brother, I can't do anything if the whole record is not awesome. We're doing 11 songs. They're all gonna be great. Even the cover song and even the instrumental.' And he was all about it."

Brown said that both he and Frehley are thrilled with the final result.

"From day one, we set out to make the record that we made, but in all honesty, in my heart, and I know Ace feels the same way, we exceeded all of our expectations, and the fan response all around the world has just been, it's been spectacular," he said. "So thank you to all the KISS fans out there, all the Ace fans. We love you. And again, like I said, I made this record — I helped, and Ace did too — when we made this record, we made this for all of us. And like I said, as a KISS fan and as an Ace fan, this is not just for me and Ace — this is for the world. This is for all of us fans who have kind of been, like, over the last 30 years, 'Man, yeah, there's some good things there, but kind of missed the mark,' you know what I mean? So, this is for you guys."

Ace reflected on the writing process for "10,000 Volts" in an interview with Guitar World magazine. He said: "It was mostly the combination of Steve and me who brought completely new elements. Most of the harmonies are Steve's, and his songwriting and lyrics, along with my guitar work and his combined, took '10,000 Volts' to another level."

Frehley added that "there was a trust factor" between him and Brown. "On the first day, [he] said, 'Dude, if you trust me, I fucking promise you we're gonna make the best record we can make,'" Ace told Guitar World. "And we did. It's possibly the best record of my career."

Ace's first album of original material since 2018's "Spaceman", "10,000 Volts" contained 11 tracks, including the aforementioned cover of "Life Of A Stranger". Frehley and Brown played most of the instruments on the LP, joined by a handful of drummers and other musicians.

"Steve and I clicked so magically that I really can;t put it into words," Frehley told Billboard. "He lives, like, 40 minutes from me [in New Jersey]. He has a studio in his basement; I have a studio in my basement. We bounce back and forth. He's a great engineer, a strong writer, singer, guitar player. Every song just came together really easily. If I couldn't come up with a great solo, he'd play something that was real similar to the way I would've played, and sometimes I'd double it or duplicate it. I think I left one or two of his solos on the record because they were so good."

Frehley, whose real name was Paul Daniel Frehley, passed away peacefully on October 16 surrounded by family in Morristown, New Jersey. He reportedly died nearly two weeks after a second fall at his home, which led to him being placed on life support after a brain bleed. The musician's family made the heartbreaking decision to take him off the ventilator.

Paul Rodgers has announced that he will skip BAD COMPANY's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Last week, the English rockers said that would be reuniting to play two songs at Saturday's event in Los Angeles, marking their first performance together since 2019. Drummer Simon Kirke told Gold Derby he and Rodgers would be appearing together at the ceremony, along with other, as-yet-undisclosed musicians. However, earlier today (Monday, November 3),the legendary vocalist released the following statement via his social media: "My hope was to be at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and to perform for the fans, but at this time I have to prioritize my health. I have no problem singing, it's the stress of everything else.

"Thank you for understanding.

"Simon along with some outstanding musicians will be stepping in for me - guaranteed to rock."

The now-75-year-old Rodgers suffered his first major stroke in 2016 and a second in October 2019, which required him to undergo a major surgery to recover from. At the time, Rodgers underwent a carotid endarterectomy, a procedure to remove plaque from the arteries running through your neck to your brain, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

This past August, Kirke told Defenders Of The Faith about finally being inducted into the Rock Hall: "We're very pleased. We're very honored. Quite honestly, I think it's about time [laughs], but I don't want to appear ungrateful.

"BAD COMPANY, as you know, have been around 50 years. We influenced a couple of generations of bands, so it's about time and we're very happy," he continued. "I'm also happy, because dear old Mick Ralphs, our guitarist who passed away a couple of months ago, learned that BAD COMPANY was going to be inducted just a couple of weeks before he finally passed away. That made us very, very happy indeed."

This past June, Ralphs died at the age of 81 due to complications from a stroke he suffered in 2016.

Other inductees in the Performer category are SOUNDGARDEN, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast and THE WHITE STRIPES.

BAD COMPANY has been eligible for induction since 1999 and received its first nomination this year.

The induction ceremony will once again stream live on Disney+, and an edited version will air on ABC at a later date.

Asked by U.K. radio veteran Paul Stephenson of VRP Rocks if he ever got a reason why BAD COMPANY hadn't been nominated earlier, Simon said: "No. Well… Hmm. There are several reasons. One of them being, I think because BAD COMPANY had three lineups, it kind of diluted our currency, if you will. If you can imagine a band like CREAM and they change Ginger Baker or they change Jack [Bruce] or Eric [Clapton], God forbid, a couple of times, it would kind of dilute and muddy the waters of the committee. So as I'm told by this insider, they wanted to do a FREE-BAD COMPANY doubleheader, as it were, like [when] THE FACES and THE SMALL FACES were inducted, but for some reason it didn't show up. There was also a political thing that I can't really go into without getting kind of into hot water, but it was a combination. I think the main thing was the triple lineup… It just wasn't a clear-cut 'Let's induct BAD COMPANY.' There were factors that now have dissipated."

Back in November 2023, Kirke was asked by "The Bob Lefsetz Podcast" how he felt about BAD COMPANY not having been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He responded: "I think it's such a travesty, quite honestly. And not just that, but FREE — FREE certainly should be [in the Hall], because FREE has been around since 1968, and the two bands have been responsible for influencing a lot of bands who are already in the Hall. So I feel pretty bad about it. But I'm not gonna go on too much about it. It's just I think we should be in. Certainly FREE. And I think Paul Rodgers should be in on his own merits, as one of the great rock vocalists of all time. If Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck can be inducted as solo artists, then certainly Paul Rodgers should be in there. That's my two cents."

Later in the chat, Kirke offered one possible explanation for why BAD COMPANY had been overlooked by the Rock Hall.

"I think because of BAD COMPANY's changing lineups over the 50 years that we'd been together, it kind of devalued our currency a little bit," he said. "You had the Brian Howe era, you had the Paul Rodgers era, one and two, when Paul rejoined the band, we had Robert Hart. So I honestly don't know why we have not been nominated — not even inducted; you have to be nominated first, as you know."

In September 2023, Rodgers told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he wasn't bothered by his absence from the Rock Hall. "Well, it doesn't affect my daily life. It doesn't affect what I do in any way at all," he said. "It's one of those things. But I remember years and years ago, Ahmet Ertegun, who was the head of Atlantic Records [and a co-founder of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame], said to me, 'Paul, we're making this museum of rock and roll. Do you guys wanna be part of it?' And I said, 'What, a museum of rock and roll? What's it called?' He said, 'Well, it's called the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.' I said, 'Well, I don't think rock and roll belongs in a museum.' So it's my bad, I guess. And he asked me a couple of times, and I kind of like refused, I guess, basically. So, you know, there you go. Onwards and upwards."

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In a recent interview with Reigning Phoenix Music's Reigning TV, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King spoke about his plans for a follow-up album to his solo debut, "From Hell I Rise", which came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Well, it's vague because there's planning, there's a record company's perspective, but we have enough material for the next one already. I just started writing lyrics on it. I sent 'em to [singer Mark Osegueda]. He got the first song the other day. So, as long as I can get off my ass and get some lyrics happening, I would love to record before New Year's and then just give it to the record company and say, 'Whenever you want, there it is.' If it becomes January, February, that's fine too, because I don't think we're gonna be doing any shows. But I wanna keep these guys working because you've gotta keep the train rolling… [Mark] likes the lyrics too." Osegueda concurred, saying: "I do. The lyrics to the new song are vicious."

Joining Kerry in his new band are Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL),guitarist Phil Demmel (MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH) and drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER).

All material for "From Hell I Rise" was written by the 61-year-old SLAYER guitarist. The LP was recorded in 2023 at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles.

This past April, King was asked by Igor Miranda of Rolling Stone Brasil if he would like to "maybe explore some different influences, like going a little more into punk rock" on the next album. Kerry said: "I don't know. I think punk was pretty well covered on ['From Hell I Rise'], from 'Everything I Hate About You' to 'Two Fists', two very different punk styles. So it wouldn't surprise me if that shows up 'cause it's part of my history. And I think, overall, my thought would be just make an extension from what 'From Hell I Rise' is, just keep doing [things the same way], see what the next 10 or 12 [songs] sound like."

King also talked about his working relationship with "From Hell I Rise" producer Josh Wilbur, who had previously worked with KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and BAD RELIGION, among others. He said: "A lot of musicians say he's like the extra person in the band; he was like member number six. And he really was. His skill at the Pro Tools rig — he's so fast. He would get on his computer, and I'm just sitting there with my guitar, trying to figure out how to play something better. And he's just doing [something on] his computer, and he's, like, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. 'How's this?' I'm, like, 'I don't even know where you are.' He's so fast and so good, I don't know what he did. He would have to show me, and I'm, like, 'Yeah, it sounds great.' But I could not follow what he was doing. His mind is going a million miles an hour, and he definitely became familiar with the songs before we recorded 'em. He came in with suggestions before the last week of rehearsals, and [I] shot most of them down, but we kept one or two. It's, like, I'm open to ideas — usually I've thought of 'em, but he had a couple that I didn't. I'm, like, 'I like that. I can't believe I didn't think of that.' So, yeah, he was very hands-on, very cool guy. I loved working with him and he loved working with us. So we're hoping the windows line up to where we're both free [to make the second album together]."

King kicked off his first-ever headlining tour on January 15, 2025 at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California. The trek, which featured MUNICIPAL WASTE as special guest and ALIEN WEAPONRY supporting, wrapped at House of Blues in Las Vegas on February 22, 2025.

King authored all the lyrics on "From Hell I Rise", mainly for logistical reasons. "I finished everything before Mark knew he had the gig," he explained. "But that's not to say he will or won't write on record two." Circumstances dictated that King sing on all "From Hell I Rise" demos. "I did scratch vocals on everything," King said, adding, "I'm not a singer. I'm a guitar player. I've got conviction when I sing, but I have no range, and I need some distortion to help me out a little bit. There was always, 'I got this if whatever we're looking for doesn't work.' Luckily, we didn't have to go that route."

Last year, Kerry said that he knew people would compare "From Hell I Rise" to SLAYER. "I'm not afraid of that because I think it stands up to anything we've done in our history, musically, performance-wise," he said. But he was quick to add: "There will be people complaining, 'Why does it sound like SLAYER?' And 'why doesn't it sound more like SLAYER? That's just what people do."

In early May 2024, the KERRY KING band performed its first live show at Reggies in Chicago. In the days following, the band went from playing an intimate venue to performing at the huge U.S. festivals Welcome To Rockville (Florida) and Sonic Temple (Ohio).

KERRY KING launched a European tour on June 3, 2024 — King's 60th birthday – in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The trek combined headline shows in the U.K., The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain but also festival appearances such as Rock Am Ring, Hellfest, Tuska, Download, Sweden Rock Festival and many more.

The SLAYER guitarist's solo band played its first concert as the support act for LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON on July 19, 2024 at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas. The six-week "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour wrapped on August 31, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.

The official DEATH ANGEL channel on YouTube has just uploaded exclusive content from the band's 2024 "Another Death Angel Xmas Show" livestream during which DEATH ANGEL frontman Mark Osegueda was asked by host Daniel Dekay to recount being invited to audition for ANTHRAX in 1992 after the first departure of Joey Belladonna. Mark said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, when they had their parting of ways the first time with Joey back when, I was living in New York and they called me. And I was no longer in DEATH ANGEL, and they called me and asked if I was interested in auditioning. I remember at one time they had a large cattle call for everyone, but there were certain people they flew in. I was one of 'em. I went down to Burbank, I believe, and auditioned. It was a great hang. It was a great jam. I know at one point, from what I heard from other people, they narrowed it down to me, John Bush [from ARMORED SAINT] and this guy, at the time, Spike [Xavier] from the band MIND OVER FOUR. That's what I heard. And then I also heard from people in the band that they narrowed it down to me and John Bush. Yeah, and to tell you the truth, I think they made the right decision. For the era and the time, they made the absolute right decision going with John Bush."

Mark added: "I'm friends with all the ANTHRAX guys, I'm friends with all the ARMORED SAINT guys and I love John. And that era was perfect. What they were looking for, that was the guy they were looking for."

Referencing the fact that ANTHRAX's Scott Ian wrote about Mark's ANTHRAX audition in his memoir where the guitarist explained that Mark "had a great voice but was strangely too metal for us", Osegueda added: "I've signed that page in Scott's book, and he even says, 'We got down to Mark, and he was too metal for us. He sounded too metal for us.' And I was, like, 'Well, there you go.' That's a compliment. I've signed that page at signing sessions, that I was too metal for 'em."

Mark previously discussed his ANTHRAX audition in an April 2024 interview with Argentina's Rocktambulos. He stated at the time:  "That was a long time ago. Gosh, that was maybe '92 or '93. I left San Francisco after I quit DEATH ANGEL. I moved to New York, and I was living in New York. And I think that was the first time that Joey and ANTHRAX had parted ways. And they did a big open call with people they were auditioning, I know that. But I was one of the few people they called to actually jam with them. And I flew out to L.A., like Burbank area, and met them at a studio out there. And we jammed for a couple of hours. They gave me some songs, some ANTHRAX songs to jam. What could I remember was there? Maybe 'Death From Above'. God, I'm trying to think. I know 'Indians' was one, 'Time' was one. Maybe 'Metal Thrashing Mad', maybe. Yeah. But we did that, and then we did a bunch of cover songs, just jamming — not ones that we rehearsed or anything. Like, 'Hey, try this one.' 'Cause we were all metal fans, so we grew up on the same stuff. So it ended up being a great afternoon and we jammed, had a blast."

Mark continued: "I'm friends with those guys, and much more so now. We were kind of friends then, acquaintances more, and since then we've become really, really, really good friends. And it's funny, but apparently I made it down to the top two. And eventually it got down to me and John Bush, and they picked John Bush, which I think was a great choice. I love John Bush. He's another friend of mine. Fantastic voice. And I think they made the right decision to go with Bush, for sure. But just knowing that they chose me to come fly there and sing with them and knowing that I made it to the top two, I think that's awesome. And it's funny 'cause now, in one of Scott Ian's books, it mentions my audition, and at the time they said, 'We auditioned Mark and we didn't go with Mark 'cause he was a bit too metal for us,' which I love. I had a fan at a signing session have me sign that page of Scott Ian's book. And I never knew that. I love that. I think that's pretty hilarious, because I'll take being too metal. [Laughs] Apparently I'm not too metal for Kerry King. [Laughs]"

Elaborating on why he might not have been the right choice for ANTHRAX in 1992, Osegueda added: "Time's interesting. Everything happens in due time. And when that was happening with ANTHRAX, it was an odd time for thrash metal in general, like early '90s. That was an odd time for all thrash bands. And I think they made the absolute right decision, for sure. And I love ANTHRAX and I love SLAYER, and I love the fact that I'm friends with all the guys. And I really look forward to my opportunities and all the adventures I'm gonna have with Kerry King. And I look forward to all the adventures and upcoming stuff I have with DEATH ANGEL, for sure."

ARMORED SAINT disbanded in 1992 after Bush left to join ANTHRAX. The team-up took place a decade after Bush turned down the offer to join METALLICA, with both ANTHRAX and METALLICA getting their big breaks from Megaforce Records founder Jon "Jonny Z" Zazula.

"I was the one to call John for ANTHRAX," Jonny later told Metal Hammer magazine. "Really, that was the great call. I called him and said, 'Lightning doesn't strike twice.' And that became a reality."

Bush himself left ANTHRAX in 2005, having rejoined the reunited ARMORED SAINT six years earlier.

ANTHRAX has had a number of vocalists — including Bush, Belladonna, Neil Turbin and Dan Nelson — over the last 44 years, with Ian and drummer Charlie Benante remaining the sole bandmembers who have appeared on every one of the group's studio albums.

Turbin sang on ANTHRAX's debut LP, 1984's "Fistful Of Metal", before getting booted and being replaced by Belladonna. Belladonna performed on four ANTHRAX albums, including the fan favorite "Among The Living" (1987) before he himself was fired over creative and stylistic differences. Bush fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005 but was sidelined when the band reunited with Belladonna for a 20th-anniversary tour. When that collapsed, and relationships disintegrated with next frontman Nelson, Bush returned for a time before Belladonna took the job back in 2010.

In addition to fronting DEATH ANGEL, Osegueda is the singer of SLAYER guitarist Kerry King's solo band.

King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. Joining King and Osegueda on the record are drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH) and guitarist Phil Demmel (formerly of MACHINE HEAD).

DEATH ANGEL's first new music in six years, a song called "Wrath (Bring Fire)", was made available in May.

As previously reported, DEATH ANGEL will celebrate the 35th anniversary of its "Act III" album by performing it in its entirety on a fall 2025 U.S. tour. The trek, which will feature support from VIO-LENCE (replacing originally announced support act TOXIC HOLOCAUST),LIONS AT THE GATE and MISFIRE, will kick off on November 26 at the Oriental Theater in Denver, Colorado and wrap with two Christmas shows on December 18-19 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California.

DEATH ANGEL's latest album, "Humanicide", was released in May 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The LP saw DEATH ANGEL returning to producer and friend Jason Suecof (DEICIDE, TRIVIUM) of Audiohammer studios for the recording and mixing, along with the mastering of the legendary Ted Jensen (SLIPKNOT, PANTERA) of Sterling Sound, who added the final touches and brought it all to life, with artist Brent Elliott White (LAMB OF GOD, MEGADETH) providing the cover art.

DEATH ANGEL was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the "Humanicide" title track. It was the group's first Grammy nomination.