A new version of "Billion Dollar Babies" is on the way as Alice Cooper's delightfully subversive sixth album returns in all its snakeskin glory for an extended 50th-anniversary celebration. After hitting No. 1 on the album charts in America and the U.K. in 1973, the record remains a highwater mark for the original lineup, featuring hits like "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "Elected".

"Billion Dollar Babies: Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition" will be available from Rhino on March 8 on 3-LP and 2-CD. Both feature a newly remastered version of the original album, along with bonus material, including studio outtakes, single mixes, and an electrifying 1973 concert recording. In the vinyl edition, the gatefold cover faithfully replicates the original's textured snakeskin wallet design and comes complete with a $1 billion dollar bill tucked inside.

The single version of "Elected" from the upcoming set is available today digitally.

An instant smash when it was released in March 1973, "Billion Dollar Babies" delivered a theatrical mix of hard rock and glam laced with macabre lyrics that explored wealth, decadence, and fame's darker side. Newly remastered, the platinum-certified album sounds better than ever. The set also features outtakes ("Coal Black Model T"),single mixes ("Mary Ann"),and "Slick Black Limousine", which originally came out on flexi-disc within an issue of the British rock paper New Musical Express.

The "Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition" also features a live show recorded in Texas in April of 1973, during the "Billion Dollar Babies" tour. The powerful performance includes live versions of many of the album's tracks, highlights including "Elected" and "Hello Hooray", along with several of the band's earlier hits, including "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out".

The LP and CD versions both come with an oral history of the album and the bonus tracks by the surviving band members — Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith — and Bob Ezrin, who produced the album. (Sadly, guitarist Glen Buxton died in 1997)

In the notes, Cooper recalls writing "I Love The Dead" and "Sick Things". He says: "We were writing those songs looking at each other, and every time we'd write a line I'd say, 'Oh, this is gonna kill them. Oh, they're gonna hate us on this one.' But at the same time, it was almost like an Edgar Allan Poe short story when you listen to 'I Love The Dead'. I tried to write that the way Vincent Price would sing it."

"Billion Dollar Babies: Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition" LP track listing:

LP One

Side One

01. Hello Hooray
02. Raped And Freezin'
03. Elected
04. Billion Dollar Babies
05. Unfinished Sweet

Side Two

01. No More Mr. Nice Guy
02. Generation Landslide
03. Sick Things
04. Mary Ann
05. I Love The Dead

LP Two

Side One

01. Hello Hooray - Live, 1973
02. Billion Dollar Babies - Live, 1973
03. Elected - Live, 1973
04. I'm Eighteen - Live, 1973
05. Raped And Freezin' - Live, 1973
06. No More Mr. Nice Guy - Live, 1973

Side Two

01. My Stars - Live, 1973
02. Unfinished Sweet - Live, 1973
03. Sick Things - Live, 1973
04. Dead Babies - Live, 1973
05. I Love The Dead - Live, 1973

LP Three

Side One

01. School's Out - Live, 1973
02. Under My Wheels - Live, 1973
03. Coal Black Model T - Outtake
04. Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide) - Outtake

Side Two

01. Hello Hooray - Single Version
02. Billion Dollar Babies - Single Version
03. Elected - Single Version
04. Mary Ann - Single Version
05. Slick Black Limousine

CD Track Listing

CD One

01. Hello Hooray
02. Raped And Freezin'
03. Elected
04. Billion Dollar Babies
05. Unfinished Sweet
06. No More Mr. Nice Guy
07. Generation Landslide
08. Sick Things
09. Mary Ann
10. I Love The Dead

CD Two

01. Hello Hooray - Live, 1973
02. Billion Dollar Babies - Live, 1973
03. Elected - Live, 1973
04. I'm Eighteen - Live, 1973
05. Raped And Freezin' - Live, 1973
06. No More Mr. Nice Guy - Live, 1973
07. My Stars - Live, 1973
08. Unfinished Sweet - Live, 1973
09. Sick Things - Live, 1973
10. Dead Babies - Live, 1973
11. I Love The Dead - Live, 1973
12. School's Out - Live, 1973
13. Under My Wheels - Live, 1973
14. Coal Black Model T - Outtake
15. Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide) - Outtake
16. Hello Hooray - Single Version
17. Billion Dollar Babies - Single Version
18. Elected - Single Version
19. Mary Ann - Single Version
20. Slick Black Limousine

Photo credit: Jenny Risher

Sharon Osbourne has revealed that she attempted suicide after she found out about one of her husband Ozzy Osbourne's previous affairs.

Speaking on stage at her show "Sharon Osbourne: Cut The Crap", in London on Sunday, the 71-year-old, who also manages Ozzy's career, said that she wanted to take her own life after learning of the singer's infidelity.

"He always, always had groupies and I was so used to that," Sharon said, according to U.K. newspaper Mirror. "But when he knows the name of the person, where they live and where they work… it is a whole different thing as you are emotionally invested. I took I don't know how many pills."

Sharon, who shares daughters Aimée, 40, and Kelly, 39, and son Jack, 38, with Ozzy, went on: "I just thought, 'My kids are older. They are fine and can take care of themselves.' So I took an overdose and locked myself in the bedroom. The maid tried to come in to clean the room and saw me."

In 2020, Ozzy said that he was "terrified" Sharon would leave him after she learned of his extramarital affairs eight years ago.

After Ozzy's affair with celebrity hairstylist Michelle Pugh was made public in May 2016, he underwent therapy for sex addiction. Sharon and Ozzy later reconciled and they even renewed their vows.

Asked in an interview with "Good Morning Britain" if he was amazed he and Sharon were still together, Ozzy replied: "I am. I've been a bad boy at times."

Sharon added: "It's like a Shakespearean play, our love story. Ozzy's has been a right old [expletive] with women."

Pressed about whether he feared Sharon would leave him the last time he was caught cheating, Ozzy said: "Oh, absolutely. I was terrified."

Asked if he is addicted to sex, Ozzy said: "I think it's another fix. If you're a junkie, like I was, anything that alters your mind, you've gotta find it. I didn't love any of these people. I've learned a lesson."

As for how close she came to kicking Ozzy out, Sharon said: "I was just really broken in every sense.

"I said to Ozzy, 'If you ever do this to me again, I'm gonna cut your hair off or I'm gonna cut all your clothes.'"

Ozzy chimed in: "I wish I hadn't done this stupid thing that I did, and that's the truth, because you never know what you had until you've lost it. And I thought I'd lost it, big time."

Back in 2017, Sharon told the British paper The Telegraph that Ozzy wasn't cheating with just one woman. "There were six of them," she said. "Some fucking Russian teenager... then a masseuse in England... our masseuse out here in Los Angeles... and then our cook. He had women in different countries. Basically, if you're a woman giving Ozzy either a back rub or a trolley of food, God help you."

Sharon talked about how she learned of his affairs. "We were sitting on the couch watching telly; Ozzy on one couch and me on the other," she said. "And suddenly, he sends me this e-mail. 'Why did you send me this stupid e-mail?' I asked, and when Ozzy told me that he hadn't sent me anything, I grabbed his phone and said, 'Look!' And, of course, it was a message meant for one of his bloody women."

In October 2021, Variety reported that Ozzy and Sharon had partnered with Sony Pictures and Polygram Entertainment for their upcoming biopic. The as-yet-untitled film, which will focus on the love story between the BLACK SABBATH frontman and his wife and manager, will be scripted by Lee Hall, who previously worked on Elton John's "Rocketman". The film is being produced by Sharon and her children Jack and Aimée Osbourne via their label Osbourne Media (which was also behind the Showtime documentary "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" and A&E's "Biography: The Nine Lives Of Ozzy Osbourne"),alongside Michele Anthony and David Blackman on behalf of Polygram Entertainment. Andrea Giannetti is overseeing development for Sony.

In 2020, Ozzy stated about the biopic: "From what I understand, it's about Sharon and I and our relationship. It's how we met, fell in love, and how we married. She's my other half. She grew up a lot with me, and I grew up a lot with her."

"I hope it will be a story that everybody can relate to," Sharon said. "You don't have to be a fan of the music, because it's a story about a survivor. No matter what life throws at you, you pick yourself up and you start again. It's just an amazing story of overcoming everything that's thrown at you in your life."

Sharon added that the film will be "a lot more real" than the QUEEN biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody". "We don't want it to be squeaky, shiny clean and all of that," she said. "We're not making it for kids. It's an adult movie for adults."

Sharon's father, former music mogul Don Arden, became known as the "Al Capone of pop" and the "English Godfather" for his tough-guy business practices while overseeing the careers of acts ranging from ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA to BLACK SABBATH. Arden and his daughter became estranged in 1982 after she took over the management of Ozzy's solo career, also marrying the singer. Father and daughter were not on good terms for nearly 20 years until reconciling in 2002.

Sharon had to pay her father $1 million in a court settlement after she gained control of Ozzy's affairs.

MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars is featured in an episode of AXS TV's original music series "Life In Six Strings With Kylie Olsson". In the episode, Mick shows award-winning music journalist, author, presenter and director Kylie Olsson around his house and she gets to play and look at his incredible collection.

The full episode is currently airing on AXS TV.

"Life In Six Strings With Kylie Olsson" is the brainchild of Olsson, an accomplished personality who has interviewed and worked with industry trailblazers such as KISS, THE ROLLING STONES, DEF LEPPARD, and more; and has notably served as host of the Download festival's virtual event during lockdown; produced celebrated rock docs for the BBC; and penned "The Art Of Metal" and "Rock, A Life Story". She is also on the voting committee for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Originally conceived during the lockdown, "Life In Six Strings" began as a popular YouTube series capturing Olsson's journey to make her lifelong dream of learning the guitar a reality. Talking to some of rock's top pickers, she gleaned invaluable tips and tricks while digging deep into the guitar's incredible influence and impact on their lives and careers. Now, on AXS TV, the series finds the aspiring guitarist continuing her journey to learn the instrument, as she travels across the United States to meet a slate of axe-wielding icons at their homes and haunting grounds — touring through childhood towns, beloved shops, and more; providing an intimate glimpse into each artists' origins, both sonically and geographically, and shedding a light on the people behind the larger-than-life rock personas.

"This series is deeply personal for me," Olsson said. "What started as a portrait of my own quest to learn the guitar has transformed into something far bigger. It's a celebration — not just of this incredible instrument, but also its unique impact on the lives of some of rock's most influential musicians. This is their story as much as it is mine, and I am so proud to be able to share it with AXS TV's audience of fellow music enthusiasts."

AXS TV is a leading multi-platform music and entertainment digital platform and television company owned and operated by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc.

Mick's debut solo album, "The Other Side Of Mars", will be released on February 23, 2024. The effort will be made available via Mick's own label 1313, LLC, in partnership with MRI.

Birmingham, Alabama rocker Jacob Bunton collaborated extensively with Mars on "The Other Side Of Mars".

Bunton had previously worked with former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler and CINDERELLA frontman Tom Keifer, and has songwriting credits with Mariah Carey, Steven Tyler and Smokey Robinson, among others.

Bunton sings lead on all but two of the 12 songs on "The Other Side Of Mars".

Other guests on the LP include WINGER/ALICE COOPER keyboardist Paul Taylor, KORN drummer Ray Luzier, and Brion Gamboa, who handled lead vocals on the songs "Undone" and "Killing Breed".

Bunton previously fronted the Alabama bands MARS ELECTRIC and LYNAM.

Mick Mars has released two songs from "The Other Side Of Mars" so far: "Loyal To The Lie" and "Right Side Of Wrong".

In a recent interview with Chris Akin Presents, Mars was asked if he intentionally tried to incorporate fresh elements into the sound of "The Other Side Of Mars" that he didn't pursue during his four-decade career with MÖTLEY CRÜE. He responded: "You're exactly right. You hit the nail on the head when you said it was way different from MÖTLEY, which is what I wanted to do. The part that was the scariest part about doing that stuff is because my guitar tone is associated with MÖTLEY's sound. I was kind of concerned about that, so I just played around a little more. I mean, it turned out well for me."

He continued: "I know that a lot of people were expecting probably more of a blues-oriented thing or kind of an extension of MÖTLEY or something like that. And I wanted to go a whole different route and leaning more towards the left instead of the beaten path, I guess. I wanted to go somewhere with it. I didn't know if it would work or not. I just did the stuff and got acquainted with different people, like [fellow musicians and collaborators] Paul Taylor and Jacob Bunton and Brion Gamboa and Ray Luzier, of course."

Discussing the title behind the upcoming album, the 72-year-old explained that it refers to the two different sides of his playing style: "the MÖTLEY side and the Mars side."

"I always have a very clear vision of what I want to do," he said, revealing that he plans to release more music beyond the debut album. "There's a lot of ideas that I have that. I don't want to call them 'left,' but they are, you know what I mean? My feeling has always been, I might gain some fans, I might lose some fans. But what they're hearing, it's all me."

Regarding his motivation to pursue a solo project, Mick said: "I'm trying to keep growing. Because if you stop learning new things, if you stop playing new things, if you close your mind, you're done. You have to keep moving and creating. Next!"

When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, he has since filed a lawsuit against MÖTLEY CRÜE in Los Angeles County's Superior Court, claiming that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting.

Mars — whose real name is Robert Alan Deal — served as MÖTLEY CRÜE's lead guitarist since the band's inception in 1981.

On December 2, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo made a special appearance at Costco in Livermore, California to autograph bottles of the band's whiskey brand, Blackened. Video and photos of their appearance can be found below (video uploaded to YouTube by Ed Collects).

Blackened Whiskey is born from METALLICA's spirit of innovation, steeped in science, and honed by seasoned experts. This award-winning whiskey is a blend of the finest straight bourbon and rye whiskeys and uniquely finished and sonically enhanced in brandy casks, using the Black Noise process to extract more flavor from the wood. The original recipe was envisioned by Blackened's founding master distiller Dave Pickerell. Blackened is now crafted and propelled onward by category disruptor and master distiller and blender Rob Dietrich. The result is a magnificently balanced whiskey ideal for sipping neat, on the rocks, or enjoyed in a classic signature cocktail.

Pickerell died suddenly in November 2018 in San Francisco where he was scheduled to take part in the annual WhiskyFest event.

Formed in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, METALLICA has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, selling nearly 120 million albums worldwide and generating more than 15 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on all seven continents. METALLICA's catalog of multi-platinum studio albums includes "Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning", "Master Of Puppets", "… And Justice For All", "Metallica" (commonly referred to as The Black Album),"Load", "Reload", "St. Anger", "Death Magnetic", "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" and the new "72 Seasons", released April 14, 2023, on the band's own Blackened Recordings label. METALLICA's awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, a 2009 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and Sweden's Polar Music Prize. In 2017, METALLICA established its charitable foundation, All Within My Hands, to give back to communities that have supported the band. To date, All Within My Hands and METALLICA have provided nearly $16 million in grants to career and technical education programs, organizations combating food insecurity, and critical local services and disaster relief efforts.

Went to check out Kirk Hammett and Rob Trujillo signing their Blackened Whiskey at Costco. Got a bottle but sadly even...

Posted by Steve Seitz on Saturday, December 2, 2023

Had the pleasure of meeting Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo of Metallica at the Costco in Livermore. Got their...

Posted by Mike Bottarini on Saturday, December 2, 2023

California fans - DON'T MISS OUT! Join us on Saturday, December 2 at Costco in Livermore, CA and Danville, CA to meet...

Posted by Republic National Distributing Company on Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Hulu has announced its acquisition of "Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story", the first-ever docuseries on the band's history with full cooperation from all past and present members of BON JOVI. The docuseries is a ROS production, the banner of filmmaker Gotham Chopra, and celebrates the band's 40th anniversary of its self-titled debut album which was released on January 21, 1984 via Polygram/Mercury Records, less than a year after forming in their home state of New Jersey.

The four-part, all-access series chronicling four decades of the iconic rock band BON JOVI premieres Friday, April 26 on Hulu in the U.S. and coming soon to Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ in all other territories. Following one of the world's most iconic bands and its frontman, Jon Bon Jovi, the documentary gives us a view behind the music and the man.

As thrilling as the story of a once-in-a-lifetime talent is, it is even more rare that a legend like Jon Bon Jovi lets the world into his most vulnerable moments while he's still living them. Forty years of personal videos, unreleased early demos, original lyrics and never-before-seen photos that chronicle the journey from Jersey Shore clubs to the biggest stages on the planet. The series relives the triumphs and setbacks, greatest hits, biggest disappointments and most public moments of friction.

"Thank you, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story" is directed and executive produced by multiple Emmy Award winner Gotham Chopra ("Kobe Bryant's Muse", "Man In The Arena", "Tom vs. Time"). The film is also executive produced by Giselle Parets and Ameeth Sankaran for ROS, and it is produced and edited by Alex Trudeau Viriato, who played a critical, creative role in shaping the series.

In a new interview with Raul Amador of Bass Musician Magazine, FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson spoke about the band's ongoing two-year farewell tour which will include a 2024 run with STYX as well as a two-part "Feels Like The Last Time Farewell Tour" residency at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. Jeff said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.BET): "There may be something going on in '25; we just haven't heard yet. But what I will tell you is at the end of '24 will be the end of our doing long tours. That's really what we mean by this farewell tour. We're not gonna do the long tours anymore. No more nine months of the year on the road. That will end at the show in Vegas. There may be some other things happening in '25. We'll see. It's all kind of to be determined, but the gist of it is that we don't want to do those long tours anymore, and that's what's going by the wayside."

Regarding why now is the right time for FOREIGNER to call it quits, Pilson said: "It's traveling. It's family. It's all that stuff combined. We're not that young So, there is all that. And basically we wanna have a life; it would be nice to have more of a life. I mean, my daughter is in college now. I've missed a lot of stuff with her, and so I wouldn't mind going home and spending a little more time in my studio 'cause, boy, do I love to record in my studio. [Laughs]"

Earlier in the month, FOREIGNER frontman Kelly Hansen spoke to Guy "Favazz" Favazza of the St. Louis, Missouri radio station KSHE 95 about the "Renegades & Juke Box Heroes" trek with STYX, which will visit venues across North America starting June 11, 2024 in Michigan. After Favazza suggested to Hansen that FOREIGNER extended its farewell tour in order to take in the STYX dates, Kelly insisted that this is not the case. "I've been saying constantly, in every interview, on stage during the show, at the meet-and-greets, everywhere I can, that this has always been a two-year farewell, because we couldn't get everywhere in one year," he explained. "I've been saying it all over the place. Listen, of course, I can't exactly repeat everything, every day, everywhere, all the time, but I've been saying it constantly. So if someone has not looked more than one inch in front of their face, then I can't help them. I've been saying it, so it's always been the plan to do this for 2023 and 2024. The days of touring nine months a year is over after 2024… And that is over, and I'm sure there's gonna be certain appearances or shows or something maybe along the way after that, but the days of doing this nine-months-a-year thing is over."

Kelly continued: "I am not one to go out there and say, 'It's just gonna be for two weeks,' and then 10 years later I'm saying the same thing. That's not who I am, that's never who I've been, and I've never portrayed myself like that. And so if you didn't hear it any other time during the year last year, I'm sorry, but I have been saying it constantly that it's gonna be a two-year thing."

Joining Hansen, Pilson and founding FOREIGNER guitarist Mick Jones in the band's current lineup are keyboardist Michael Bluestein, guitarist Bruce Watson, drummer Chris Frazier and guitarist Luis Maldonado.

In July, Hansen was asked by Mike Hsu of 100 FM The Pike if he and his FOREIGNER bandmates already know where and when the final show of the farewell tour will take place. Hansen said: "We're just starting to kind of wrap our brains around what that might be. And listen, there's a lot of pressure from a lot of different areas to get me to continue to do this. And I can't see that I'm gonna continue to do this. So we're now looking… 'Cause when you're a band like FOREIGNER, you're already booking a year in advance. So we're already deeply into 2024. But we haven't decided yet where the last show's gonna be."

The only remaining original member of FOREIGNER, Jones suffered from some health issues beginning in 2011, eventually resulting in heart surgery in 2012. Ever since, it is never announced whether he will be appearing with the band for specific shows — it just depends how he is feeling.

Hansen told 100 FM The Pike about Jones: "He's with us whenever he's able to be with us. And he is still the architect of this band. And he and I have worked closely for many years. And the great thing about it is that we've always been very simpatico about our ideas and about how we think things should be done. So, yeah, whenever he can be with us, he is."

After singer Lou Gramm left FOREIGNER in 2003, Jones took some time off before regrouping a couple years later with an entirely new lineup, featuring Hansen and Pilson, among others.

Gramm was the voice on FOREIGNER's biggest hits, including "Feels Like The First Time" and "Cold As Ice" from the band's eponymous debut in 1977, and later songs like "Hot Blooded" and "I Want To Know What Love Is".

RILEY'S L.A. GUNS played its first concert without founding drummer Steve Riley this past Saturday (January 20) at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Also appearing on the bill were Stephen Pearcy of RATT, QUIET RIOT and VIXEN. Fan-filmed video of RILEY'S L.A. GUNS's performance, which was booked prior to Steve's tragic death this past October, can be seen below (courtesy of Laughingmonkeymusic).

RILEY'S L.A. GUNS has just released its sophomore album, "The Dark Horse", via Golden Robot Records. The effort arrived more than two months after the death of Riley who would have celebrated his 68th birthday on January 22, the day of "The Dark Horse"'s release.

In addition to Riley, RILEY'S L.A. GUNS' most recent lineup featured Orlando, Florida-based guitarist/vocalist Kurt Frohlich, bassist Kelly Nickels (a member of L.A. GUNS' "classic" incarnation) and guitarist Scott Griffin, who played bass for L.A. GUNS from 2007 until 2009, and then again from 2011 to 2014.

In September 2023, RILEY'S L.A. GUNS released "The Dark Horse" title track via Golden Robot Records. The track came seven months after RILEY'S L.A. GUNS issued another new song, "Rewind", digitally via Golden Robot. In October 2022, RILEY'S L.A. GUNS released a single called "Overdrive".

"The Dark Horse" track listing:

01. Overdrive
02. Rewind
03. The Dark Horse
04. Somebody Save Me
05. Sweet Summer Girl (Florida)
06. The Truth
07. Changing Lights
08. It's The World
09. Downday Drag
10. While I'm Away

Riley died on October 24, 2023 at the age of 67. Prior to his passing, Steve had been battling a severe case of pneumonia for several weeks. His wife Mary Louise and son Cole were by his side in his final moments.

Riley was the drummer for W.A.S.P. on the band's second and third albums — 1985's "The Last Command" and 1986's "Inside The Electric Circus" — and world tours from 1984 to 1987. After leaving W.A.S.P., Riley joined L.A. GUNS and played on that group's most commercially successful LPs.

In 2016, singer Phil Lewis and guitarist Tracii Guns reunited in a new version of L.A. GUNS that didn't include Riley. Steve later launched his own version of L.A. GUNS, which played its debut concert at the M3 Rock Festival in Maryland in May 2019.

In April 2021, an out-of-court resolution was reached between Riley and Guns and Lewis over the rights to the band's name. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Tracii and Phil continued to operate under the L.A. GUNS trademark, while Riley and his bandmates from the other version of L.A. GUNS carried on under the new name RILEY'S L.A. GUNS.

In January 2020, Riley was sued by Lewis and Guns in California District Court. Joining Riley as defendants in the case were the three musicians who performed in his rival version of L.A. GUNS; that group's manager, booking agent and merchandiser; and Golden Robot Records. The complaint, which requested a trial by jury, alleged that Riley's version of L.A. GUNS (referred to in the case docket as "the infringing L.A. GUNS") was creating "unfair competition" through its unauthorized usage of the L.A. GUNS trademark. In addition, Guns and Lewis were seeking relief from and/or against false advertising, breach of contract and unauthorized usage of their likenesses.

Coming up this Saturday!

January 20th - 2024
80’s Rock Invasion Tour
Mohegan Sun Arena - Uncasville, CT
Stephen Pearcy...

Posted by Johnny Kelly on Tuesday, January 16, 2024

In a new interview with Gareth Williams of Australia's Wall Of Sound, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson revealed that the song "Shadow Of The Gods" from his upcoming solo album "The Mandrake Project" was originally composed specifically for the proposed THE THREE TREMORS project, also featuring JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford and QUEENSRŸCHE's Geoff Tate. Dickinson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "'Shadow Of The Gods' was written at the time of [the title track of my 2005 solo album] 'Tyranny of Souls' or shortly afterwards. Because Roy [Bruce's longtime collaborator Roy 'Z' Ramirez] and I were… There was an idea to do a project called THE THREE TREMORS, which was gonna be me, Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio doing an album together and then going out on tour. Well, that never happened 'cause Ronnie, unfortunately, passed away. The idea was maybe to get Geoff Tate involved and that kind of didn't work out. But in the meantime, we were busy trying to write songs that would feature three singers. When the project didn't happen, we'd done two of them. One of them was 'Tyranny Of Souls', which, if you notice, the opening lines to 'Tyranny Of Souls' is the 'three witches' speech from 'Macbeth'. And, of course, if there were three singers, you'd have them all on stage going, [singing] 'When shall we three meet again?' And, in fact, the first three lines would have been sung by me and then Rob and then Geoff Tate. So, on the demo version of it, you know, I was, like, 'When shall we three meet again?' And then I'll do the Rob voice, [singing more aggressively] 'In thunder, lightning, or in rain?' Then you get, [singing in clean, high-pitched voice] 'When the hurlyburly's done?' And then the chorus is all three of us, 'A tyranny of souls.' Anyway, that never happened. So I said, 'Well, screw it. I'll just do all the bits myself and make it more like my style of singing.'"

He continued: "'Shadow Of The Gods' was written for the same project. And, basically, the same thing happened with 'Shadow Of The Gods', So, when the heavy riff happens two thirds of the way through the tune, people go, 'Wow, that sounds like vintage PRIEST.' I went, 'Yeah, well, guess who was supposed to be singing [that bit].'"

Dickinson previously talked about the aborted THE THREE TREMORS project during the question-and-answer portion of his March 2022 spoken-word show at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California. At the time, he said: "We were gonna do this thing with three metal singers — myself, Ronnie James Dio and Rob Halford. However, for reasons that [didn't make much sense] — managerial bullshit or whatever — there was some opposition, not from me, to having Ronnie there, which I thought was crazy. So the suggestion was that we would have Geoff Tate instead. So Roy and I wrote a tune. We thought we'd have a go at writing an album that would be sung by three singers. We only got as far as one song, and that song was 'Tyranny Of Souls'. And the idea was that had we done the project, the chorus would have been all three singers [singing together], but the beginning of it would have been kind of one line me, one line Geoff, one line Rob, and so on, through the song. And each line would have been written so it would suit the delivery, it would suit the vocal characteristic of whoever was singing it. So it was quite a tall order. It [would have been] quite difficult to do. I thought, 'Shit, it's gonna be pretty difficult to do a whole album of this stuff.' And of course, we never did. But 'Tyranny Of Souls', the demo of it was designed to illustrate how that would have worked."

Seven years ago, Dickinson told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he was reluctant to pursue THE THREE TREMORS project if Dio wasn't involved. "I was, like, 'I am not gonna do this without Ronnie,'" he recalled. "And Rod [Smallwood, IRON MAIDEN's longtime manager] was, like, 'I don't wanna use Ronnie. He's too old.' I said, 'What do you mean too old? Are you kidding me?' I said, 'He's a legend.' He said, 'No. We should use Geoff Tate.' And then we had a meeting with Geoff Tate, and then I said, 'No. It's not gonna work.' And so that was that."

According to Dickinson, concert promoters showed great interest in booking THE THREE TREMORS before a single note had even been recorded. "I could see the money in their eyes, thinking, 'Oh, this would be great. We could sell this every which way all over the place as a package,'" Dickinson said. "And I went, 'Yeah, you could, but what are we actually gonna do? There's gonna be three of us on stage. What are we gonna do that's actually different that's really cool?'"

Before Dickinson's proposed collaboration with Halford and Tate was officially scrapped, the name THE THREE TREMORS was changed to TRINITY because "we figured they would sue our ass if we called it THE THREE TREMORS," Bruce explained in an interview several years ago.

Dickinson previously said that he and Roy wrote "about three songs" for THE THREE TREMORS during a session in Los Angeles before he "realized it was going to take us a lot longer than three weeks to write a project with three singers that would work."

He explained: "We wanted to make each song designed to be sung by three different characters as an integral part of the song, not something like, 'You sing the first verse, I'll sing the second verse, and he'll sing the chorus.' That would be a crap way to do it."

Dickinson added: "It's a bloody difficult thing to do, to try to make a song with three different voices to get the full benefit out of it. And it takes longer than three weeks, and we didn't have longer than that to do it, so I canned it in the end.

"It's a great idea; everybody loves the idea… We had marketing people salivating about the idea of a TRINITY project," he said. "But the bottom line is, the thing that is gonna sink it is if the music sucks. So I thought we should can the idea for now since we don't have time to do it. Rob was in the studio doing his album ['Crucible'] and Geoff was writing a new QUEENSRŸCHE album, so that was it. It is an interesting idea, and I'm sure the live show would be really interesting."

In 2000, Tate and Dickinson joined Halford onstage at the latter's concert in London for a rendition of "One You Love To Hate", a song written by Halford, Dickinson and Ramirez that was featured on Halford's "Resurrection" album.

"The Mandrake Project" will be released on March 1 via BMG. Bruce and Roy recorded the LP largely at Los Angeles's Doom Room, with Roy Z doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for "The Mandrake Project" was rounded out by keyboard maestro Mistheria and drummer Dave Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce's last solo studio album, "Tyranny Of Souls", in 2005.

Bruce Dickinson and his phenomenal band will bring the music of "The Mandrake Project" to life with a major headline tour next spring and summer.

Bruce's touring band features guitarist Roy Z, drummer Dave Moreno, bass player Tanya O'Callaghan and keyboard maestro Mistheria.

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

The AIE TUBE YouTube channel has uploaded video of MR. BIG's entire January 18 concert at Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. You can now watch the footage below.

Featured songs:

01. Addicted To That Rush 00:00
02. Take Cover 06:57
03. Undertow 12:11

*Lean Into It*

04. Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song) 17:11
05. Alive And Kickin' 21:08
06. Green-Tinted Sixties Mind 26:48
07. CDFF-Lucky This Time (Jeff Paris cover) 30:40
08. Voodoo Kiss 34:40
09. Never Say Never 39:08
10. Just Take My Heart 43:31
11. My Kinda Woman 48:10
12. A Little Too Loose 52:37
13. Road To Ruin 58:19
Band intros 01:02:45
14. To Be With You 01:05:16

****

15. Wild World (CAT STEVENS cover) 01:08:49
16. Guitar Solo 01:12:00
17. Colorado Bulldog 01:17:00
18. Bass Solo 01:21:32
19. Shy Boy (TALAS cover) 01:27:26
20. 30 Days In The Hole (HUMBLE PIE cover) 01:31:30
21. Good Lovin' (THE OLYMPICS cover) - Instrument switch: (Eric Martin/Bass, Billy Sheehan/Vocals, Paul Gilbert/Drums and N. D'Virgilio/Guitar 01:36:30
22. Baba O'Riley (THE WHO cover) 01:41:40

MR. BIG kicked off it U.S. tour on January 12 at Warehouse Live in Houston, Texas.

MR. BIG's ongoing last worldwide tour is aptly titled "The BIG Finish". Since the band's original drummer and co-founder Pat Torpey lost his battle with Parkinson's disease in 2018, the band now feels it's time to mark the end of this chapter of their legacy. The first leg kicked off in Japan and Southeast Asia in July and August 2023, where the band performed for hundreds of thousands of loyal fans at 11 sold-out shows including Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. Now MR. BIG is bringing "The BIG Finish" to the U.S. Joining MR. BIG on drums for this special final world tour is longtime friend of the band Nick D'Virgilio (SPOCK'S BEARD, BIG BIG TRAIN),stepping in for Torpey.

MR. BIG's final tour sees the band performing the entirety of its breakthrough platinum-selling 1991 album "Lean Into It" from start to finish as a featured highlight of the live setlist.

MR. BIG recently entered the studio to record a new studio album to coincide with the last shows of the band's farewell tour.

Last November, MR. BIG singer Eric Martin was asked by Troy Patrick Farrell of the weekly live "This That And The Other" radio show why he and his bandmates feel that now is the time to officially pull the plug on MR. BIG. He said: "Well, I really didn't wanna end it. I think we're gonna be done with it. I would just keep the door open forever. I didn't wanna ever end something. I hate the end of anything, but Pat Torpey is not there anymore. And that's kind of taking the wind out of the sails. He was the anchor of the band. And Nick D'Virgilio is a great replacement. He's phenomenal drummer. He sings just like Pat. Nick's great. But everybody has so many other projects. I don't. I really like the MR. BIG project… I have a couple of irons in the fire. But, yeah, it's over. To me, it's kind of a bummer. But it's time. It's been 35 fucking years, man."

Martin went on to say that it "feels great" to have a drummer in MR. BIG who can not only reproduce Torpey's parts on the band's classic songs but who also has the voice to harmonize with him during MR. BIG's live shows.

"No offense to Matt [Starr]," Eric said, referencing the drummer who played with MR. BIG for four years prior to Torpey's passing. "I thought Matt Starr was great. He was fine. The thing about Matt is that he came when Pat just couldn't do it anymore. He had this little cocktail kit on the side and he would play drums with us once in a while. Matt did it. It was just too soon for me. I wasn't ready to give up Pat Torpey. And when Matt did it, Matt has his own style. He's more like a John Bonham. He's not a Pat Torpey, and I was looking for somebody to play exactly like Pat, because I could. I wanted it, and I was really bummed that Pat couldn't do it anymore. And Matt did it, and he did a fine job for us. We sounded like a different MR. BIG. Pat Torpey has this finessey kind of things, and he's like Steve Gadd meets Vinnie Colaiuta meets maybe like a John Bonham. But Matt has got that form, heavy rock [approach], but there's a lot of finesse in the MR. BIG style — you know, 'Colorado Bulldog' and all that. And Matt did a great job; he really did. But then, after Matt, we didn't do anything. COVID thing, Pat passed away first, actually. And then nothing happened. And then when we were gonna get another drummer, we wanted to do a different style — not a different style, but we wanted to find somebody new that could play exactly like Pat. And that's what we found in Nick. He's got the same chops and the incredible voice. Matt can sing too. I mean, he was great. But I'm just letting the folks know out there, there's no bad blood between Matt Starr and MR. BIG or me or anything like that. He's killer."

Regarding the possibility of MR. BIG making a new album as the follow-up to 2017's "Defying Gravity", Eric said: "We're doing it now. We're working on it now. [MR. BIG guitarist] Paul Gilbert and I — I've been going back and forth to Portland, Oregon, where Paul lives, and we've been writing and recording everything. And so far, I wanna say, [we have] 10, 13 songs so far. And Billy's [Sheehan, MR. BIG bassist] got one that he just brought in. And Nick — we said, 'Hey, Nick, if you've got any tunes, man, throw it our way.' And he's got four songs that are pretty good."

In an April 2023 interview with Border City Rock Talk, D'Virgilio spoke about how he landed the gig as MR. BIG's new touring drummer, five years after the passing of the band's co-founder, Pat Torpey. The 55-year-old Nick, who has spent the last nine years working for the Indiana-based online retailer of music instruments and audio gear Sweetwater, said: "It stemmed through Sweetwater. I've known Paul [Gilbert]; Paul was the one guy I knew most. I met Pat, and I met Billy — Gosh — at a music trade show back in the day. And I was definitely a fan of the band. I listened to a lot of Pat's drumming way before I ever met him in person. But at Sweetwater, we do a lot of recording workshops and we get artists in to come and people pay to come to the studio and hang in the studio with the artists that come in. Paul does it quite a bit; he's been there a bunch. Billy was there a while back as well, but Paul's been there a number of times. And I've been able to play as his rhythm section for these recording workshops. And I also had Paul play on a song on my solo record called 'Invisible' that I put out in 2020. Through all of this stuff, we got to just jamming some more stuff. And I know Paul through Mike Portnoy and Neal Morse and a lot of circles of musicians. After the last thing we did at Sweetwater, Paul just sent me an e-mail and asked if I would be interested in going on tour with MR. BIG in Asia. Now, this was [in] July [2022], when he first sent me the e-mail, so nine, 10 months ago or so. And I immediately said 'yes'. I think I said 'fuck yes', all in bold letters… So then I went sort of hog wild here in my studio and I videotaped and multi-tracked my drums. I kind of just went hog wild, sending back these demos of me playing and then singing all the parts. So I sang the lead vocal, and then I sang Pat's parts too. Since [it was an] audition, I figured I'd put my best foot forward. Long story short, they said, 'Yeah, we'd love to do it. And you're in,' basically. So that's kind of how it all happened. It came out of the blue."

As a session musician and touring artist, Nick has worked with many different kinds of artists and bands, from TEARS FOR FEARS, Sheryl Crow and Kevin Gilbert to Peter Gabriel and Eric Burdon and the ANIMALS. In 1996, Nick took Phil Collins's place in GENESIS and played on their "Calling All Stations" album. He has also carved out a major presence in the progressive rock world with his bands, SPOCK'S BEARD and BIG BIG TRAIN.

Before joining the Sweetwater team, Nick spent almost five years touring with Cirque Du Soleil's "Totem" as drummer, vocalist, and assistant bandleader.

When D'Virgilio's addition to MR. BIG was first announced in March 2023, Sheehan said in a statement: "We found a wonderful drummer in Nick, and he's got a great voice too. Nick has a vocal range similar to Pat's, and he'll be able to do the parts Pat did with a similar finesse. It's a big relief because MR. BIG has always been heavy on the harmonies. When the band began, we really relied on each other. We knew each guy would do exactly what he needed to do vocally and to do it righteously, on key, and in time. It's difficult to find a drummer who sings in that range, but Nick has the voice we really need onstage."

Gilbert concurred, saying: "Nick gets close to the spirit of Pat Torpey. Billy, Eric [Martin, vocals] and I have been really happy with the music we've already shared back and forth. I'm impressed with Nick's level of musical adaptability and breadth of skill. He and I have done some recording together, and I was blown away with his groove, and how he just played what fit the song. If the song requires him to be more progressive and stand out, he will stand out. But if the song requires him to groove, he will groove. That's actually a rare thing, and it really fits in with what we do in MR. BIG."

Martin added: "I love the fact that Nick was a fan of Pat Torpey and wants to keep our BIG sound intact. When I first saw his audition demo video of the 'Lean Into It' song 'Lucky This Time', Nick was playing drums with those signature Pat snare hits and singing harmonies spot on to what Pat used to do. It gave me goosebumps!! I am so thrilled to have this man who will be filling some mighty BIG shoes join us on our last tour."

Zombi, the electro-prog duo featuring Steve Moore and AE Paterra, return with their new album, Direct Inject, out March 22 via Relapse Records. A preview of the nine-song collection is available now, with the track “The Post-Atomic Horror” streaming below.


“’The Post-Atomic Horror' is a very fun song for us to play,” says Paterra. “No trappings from our machines, just bass and drums, as stripped down as we can be. Definitely one for us to lean into on stage - a few minutes of riffs and wide open drums.”


Direct Inject, which was self-produced by Moore and Paterra, also features guest percussionist Jeff Gretz (Zao/From Autumn To Ashes), and guitar player Phil Manley (Trans Am).




“In 2022, after our tour with The Sword, we posted up in our friend’s studio in Clearfield, PA for a week of diner breakfasts and gas station BBQ,” shares Moore. “We would record every day and improvise until we found ideas we liked. We then took these ideas back home to Albany and Chicago to give them structure. A few months later, after our tour with Om, AEP went back to Clearfield to record final drum tracks. Everything else was recorded at my home studio. The only exceptions are ‘Sessuale I’ and “Sessuale II,” which were both written in the early ‘00s but never officially released.”


Album pre-orders are available now, with Direct Inject available on several limited-edition vinyl variants, CD, and digitally, here.





Direct Inject track list:


"Direct Inject"
"So Mote It Be"
"Bodies In The Flotsam"
"Kamichi & Sandy"
"Sessuale II"
"Improvise Adapt Overcome"
"The Post-Atomic Horror"
"Insurmountable Odds"
"Sessuale I"


"The Post-Atomic Horror"





Zombi has simultaneously announced their first tour dates in support of Direct Inject, with a US/Canadian trek coming this April. Tickets are on-sale this Friday at 10 AM, local time. Overcalc opens on all dates.





Zombi is Steve Moore (synth/bass/guitar) and AE Paterra (drums/percussion/electronics). Formed in 2001, the Pittsburgh-founded, instrumental duo have released seven full-length albums including their most recent offering, 2020’s 2020 and the 2022 covers collection, Zombi & Friends, Vol.1, which saw the pair cover songs from Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick and the Alan Parsons Project. Known for their distinctive style, which blends prog rock, electronics and an affinity for ‘70s and ‘80s era horror films, Zombi create music that’s both retrospective and futuristic, expansive, and intimate. Each release has seen the band refine and evolve its sound, exploring different textures and moods while staying true to their core aesthetic.


(Photo - Shawn Brackbill)

Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has shared  a guitar playthrough video for  "Emntrance Of The Conflagration", which can be viewed below. The song is taken from Trivium#s third album, The Crusade, released in 2006.





On January 12, Samurai metal band, Ryujin, finally reveal their self-titled album in full. The Japanese group deliver heavy metal and blazing guitar wizardry in spades.




On the cusp of the album's release via Napalm Records, today the band have shared one further single with fans - their very first ballad - titled "Saigo No Hoshi." The massive track features backing vocals by Matt Heafy and cello expressions by Mukai Wataru of the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, and excels with an emotive chorus, a rock-opera-worthy guitar solo, and traditional instrumentation.


"This is our first ballad, so it's very special for us," comments Ryujin frontman and mastermind Ryoji Shinomoto. "This song is about a samurai who was about to die after the war, thinking about his family and praying for peace. A lot of very sad wars are currently happening on the planet too, families are being separated, and so on. I put that feeling into it. Also, I am inviting everybody to enjoy Mr. Mukai's outstanding cello performance. The album also includes a version sung by Matthew in English, so I am curious which version people are gonna like more!"





Ryujin features production by Matthew Kiichi Heafy and mixing/mastering by Mark Lewis, with guest appearances by Heafy (vocals and conducting on various tracks) and Mukai Wataru of the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra (cello). Blending both Japanese and English lyricism, Ryujin’s tracks feature titles based on the words of the Ainu people of Hokkaido (Ryujin’s home region), as well as famous Japanese paintings and idioms.


Opening instrumental track “Hajimari” sets an ominous stage for blistering burner “Gekokujo” - a tastefully thrash-ified death metal riff-fest colliding with expressive folk-inspired passages and head-spinning technique. Ryoji’s blazing leads are met instantly with the peerless skills of drummer Shuji Shinomoto and bassist Aruta Watanabe. First single “Raijin & Fujin” is an epic power metal storm featuring guest vocal contributions from Matthew Kiichi Heafy, shifting into a swirling tornado of rattling double bass and catapulting solos, while “The Rainbow Song” also features soaring clean vocals by Heafy blended between modern melodic heavy metal and power metal innovation. Tracks like “Dragon, Fly Free” and “Kunnecup” invite the listener to sing-along with Ryujin as they paint musical canvases of adventure and positivity. “Scream of the Dragon” returns to extreme influences amid uplifting choruses and a story blending English and Japanese lyrics, before “Gekirin” ventures into darker death metal influences - cascading into nautically-inspired melodies (as “Ryujin” is a dragon god of the sea in Japanese mythology, these oceanic musical themes weave seamlessly throughout the album).


The album nears the end with three heart-gripping, primarily Japanese-language opuses - the rock-opera-like ballad “Saigo No Hoshi”, the powerfully victorious and traditionally-inspired “Ryujin” and a cover of Linked Horizon’s “Guren No Yumiya” - widely known as an opening theme of popular anime series Attack On Titan. The album finishes with a bonus English-language version of “Saigo No Hoshi”, with vocals once again performed by Matthew Kiichi Heafy.


Pre-order Ryujin here.





Ryujin tracklisting:


"Hajimari"
"Gekokujo"
"Dragon, Fly Free"
"Raijin & Fujin"
"The Rainbow Song"
"Kunnecup"
"Scream Of The Dragon"
"Gekirin"
"Saigo No Hoshi"
"Ryujin"
"Guren No Yumiya"
"Saigo No Hoshi" (feat. Matthew K. Heafy) (Single Edit)

TWISTED SISTER's Dee Snider joined members of Bret Michaels's solo band on stage this past Friday (January 19) at the RokIsland Fest 2024 in Key West, Florida to perform a few songs, including a cover of the AC/DC classic "Highway To Hell". Fan-filmed video of his appearance can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Greece's RockPages.gr, Dee was asked if he thinks he will ever release another solo album. The 68-year-old singer responded: "Don't hold your breath, because I'm feeling like I'm done. I'm feeling like I'm done. Now I said that after 'For The Love Of Metal' [2018], and then COVID hit and I called Jamey [Jasta, Dee's collaborator and producer] up and Jamey Jasta said, 'I wanna do another record.' But right now I'm feeling very comfortable in who I am, what I am, what I'm doing and how I'm spending my life. I'm not feeling this urge. And it helps that those last two albums, 'For The Love Of Metal' and 'Leave A Scar' [2021], and then the live record 'For The Love Of Metal Live!' [2020], really, I feel, put an exclamation point on the end of my career. I think, thanks to Jamey Jasta encouraging me to get back to true metal, real metal and what I'm really about. My last two records are very powerful, the performances are there, everything's there and as a legacy, I like seeing those albums at the end of my recording career."

Elaborating on his reasons for not wanting to make another solo album, Dee said: "I'm always very honest, even to the point where I get in trouble with other bands for being too honest, but I've also listened to people being honest about me.

"The end of TWISTED SISTER, as much fun as it was and whatever, but our last record is a Christmas record. And it was fun, and I'm not ashamed of it — I loved it. But then I went and left TWISTED and I did a solo album. Someone challenged me to do a mainstream rock record, 'We Are The Ones' [2016], and it's a good record, but it wasn't really Dee Snider. It was an attempt to do something more mainstream. So, it could have ended with those records and I would have felt that that was really not the way I'd like to go out. It's because of 'For The Love Of Metal' and 'Leave A Scar' that I feel good about walking away and saying, 'Yeah. Take that. That's Dee Snider. Remember that. I was 65 years old or whatever. That's Dee Snider. And good night.' So those records are very important to me."

A year and a half ago, Dee told a fan that his performing days are likely behind him and that he plans to concentrate on non-music-related projects. After the fan, who recently moved to Springfield, Illinois, asked the aging rocker whether he ever tours in the area, Snider said: "No, I don't tour anymore. I don't even think I'll do any more shows. I'm focusing on writing, directing, and producing. Sorry man."

In 2016, TWISTED SISTER embarked on one final trek, titled "Forty And Fuck It", in celebration of its 40th anniversary. These shows featured the band's "core lineup" of Snider, guitarist Jay Jay French, guitarist Eddie Ojeda and bassist Mark Mendoza, along with drummer Mike Portnoy. The band's last-ever concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of TWISTED's longtime drummer A.J. Pero.

During an August 2017 appearance on the "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" show on SiriusXM, Snider stated about TWISTED SISTER's decision to call it quits: "Basically, the level of intensity that I performed at with TWISTED SISTER, I had to stop while I could still deliver that before I could no longer deliver that. The headbanging, the thrashing, all that energy… Where Alice [Cooper] always seemed like a crotchety old dude, and he's crawling around the stage, that works great for a 72-year-old dude now. But what I did does not work for [someone in his 60s]. I mean, it's just too fucking hard to stay in the shape. Just to keep that going just got harder and harder. I said, 'I wanna stop while people are still smiling and not looking at me saying, 'Oh, remember when he was good?'"

TWISTED SISTER's original run ended in the late '80s. After more than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to top the bill of New York Steel, a hard-rock benefit concert to raise money for the New York Police And Fire Widows' And Children's Benefit Fund.

Snider's last two solo albums, 2018's "For The Love Of Metal" and 2021's "Leave A Scar", were both released via Napalm Records.

In 2021, Dee told Ultimate Classic Rock that producer Jamey Jasta helped him find his place in the modern heavy metal scene.

"As I said to Jamey, 'I love contemporary metal. I just don't know where I fit in,'" Snider recalled. "He said, 'Well, I know where you fit in.' He helped me find the sweet spot. Then I found the team, and then I found the band, and then I found my spot. We come to ['Leave A Scar'], and now I'm, like, 'Okay. Now, I know what we're doing and I can join this party and participate in it fully and not be along for the ride,' so to speak."

Snider published his first fictional novel, "Frats" last year. He has described the book as "a period piece/coming of age story set on Long Island, NY in 1972/73 inspired by true event." But he quickly clarified: "No it's not my story."

Kickin' off the our 25th Anniversary year in style THIS WEEKEND at RokIsland Fest in Key West!! No better way to get...

Posted by RokIsland Fest on Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Canada's Apogean has unveiled the third single, “Hueman (The Pleasure Of Burn)”, off their debut record, Cyberstrictive, slated for release on March 8th via The Artisan Era physically (vinyl, CD) and digitally. The track, along with its accompanying music video, contributes to the album’s core theme of exposing the dark side of technology and digital poisoning by painting a dystopian picture of Blue LED Light Fallout.


Apogean states: “‘Hueman (The Pleasure Of Burn)’ tackles the aftermath of a lifetime of exposure to blue LED light. Describing the physical ailments and the effects of poisonous photoradiation on the human populace, this song and video serve as a metaphoric representation of what awaits a generation plugged into cyberspace. Musically, this piece marks a turn towards adding more black metal elements to our music. This allows us to use more atmospheric choruses and expand the depth of feeling that we can provide artistically.”







Apogean is a five-piece band from Toronto, Ontario, seeking to transcend metal’s traditional realms with their musical machinations. Drawing inspiration from a broad spectrum of artistic influences, this Canadian ensemble is set to embark on an unending journey, exploring the intersections of progressive metal, technical death, deathcore, and blackened death, positioning themselves at the forefront of heavy music’s ever-evolving landscape. 


Despite their recent formation, Apogean features members bringing years of honed skills, diverse collaborations across genres, endorsements from leading musical instrument brands, and notable ventures into video game collaborations and licensing original compositions featured on ESPN. Their debut EP, Into Madness, was released in June 2021 through Blood Blast distribution, with mixing and mastering from renowned metal producer Zack Ohren (The Faceless, All Shall Perish, Immolation).


Cyberstrictive, the debut album, is Apogean’s first venture with the new vocalist Mac Smith, known for his involvement in various projects and recent stint as the live vocalist for Decrepit Birth. Beyond his vocal responsibilities, Mac, with a background in managing notable metal bands, also independently oversees the management of Apogean.


Across ten songs, Cyberstrictive discloses the dark aspects of technology, taking a broader look at its impact on our minds, bodies, and souls. Drawing significant inspiration from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and echoing the dystopian excerpts of George Orwell’s 1984, the album explores the hazards of modern technology, covering risks such as sensory damage, psychological trauma, desensitization, information paradoxes, predatory practices targeting children, addiction complexities, and the erosion of creativity. Ultimately, the album culminates in a reflection on overarching manipulation and concludes by addressing the burdensome aspects of technology, employing wordplay and metaphor to illustrate the overwhelming drawbacks outweighing the benefits in the modern digital world.





Tracklisting:


"Bluelight Sonata"
"Thousand-Yard Glare"
"Distance (Of Walls And Wails)"
"With Which Ear You’ll Listen"
"Imposter Reborn"
"Within The Bounds Of A Simile"
"Hueman (The Pleasure Of Burn)"
"Polybius"
"Spinthariscope"
"An(t)imus"


Pre-orders can be placed now at this location.








For further details, visit Apogean on Facebook.


 

The East--West Sounds (Memorial) YouTube Channel has shared fan-filmed video of Guns N' Roses entire 1991 Uniondale, NY show, which took place at the Nassau Coliseum  on June 17th. Check it out below.


Setlist:


"Perfect Crime"
"Mr. Brownstone"
"Bad Obsession"
"Dust n' Bones"
"Double Talkin' Jive"
"Civil War"
"Nightrain"
"Patience"
"Live And Let Die" (Wings cover)
"14 Years"
"November Rain"
"Welcome To The Jungle"
- drum solo - 
- guitar solo - (Slash)
"Love Theme From The Godfather"
"Rocket Queen"
"Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan)




Encore:
"Sweet Child O' Mine"
"Estranged"


Encore 2:
"Paradise City"

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach says that he has completed writing the lyrics for the band's upcoming follow-up to 2019's "Atonement". In a social media post on Monday (January 22),the 45-year-old musician, who lives in Woodstock, New York with his fiancée, Corinne Paris (a.k.a. Philia Porphyra),wrote in part: "Lyric writing for the past year and a half! As of the 20th all lyrics have been finalized and completed.

"I still have a few more things to take care of vocally in the coming weeks before I can say it's finalized.

"This was the single most difficult and rewarding process of my career," he continued. "I grew a lot as a writer and as a human during all of it.

"Everyone is different when it comes to their work or their art.
Sometimes it's seemingly effortless and other times it is stifling and frustrating.

"If I've learned anything it is that persistence, discipline and passion go hand in hand with humility and transition," Jesse added. "It's learning how to let go of an idea even after you've spent weeks on it. Working day after day hammering away, re-structuring, losing sleep having the melodies haunt your wakeful nights. Then finally accepting it isn't the correct fit. Then allowing it to be destroyed or set aside. That or… Hearing a song, having to pull over on the side of the road to write a line down and hum a melody into my phone. Turing around heading home to write and demo it, track it with in a 3 hour period.

"I feel a sense of accomplishment and relief. I feel exhausted and elated. I am eager to finish tracking after the @shiprocked cruise. Until then I will be working as much as possible of the remaining 'hand written lyric orders.'

"Thanks again for all of your patience everyone!"

Earlier in the month, Leach wrote in an Instagram post that the upcoming KILLSWITCH ENGAGE album had "taken its toll" on him. "It is by far the most difficult album I've ever worked on for various reasons," he said. "That being said as I see the distant light at the end of this long tunnel. I can truly say it has all been a much needed growing experience. When I say that I mean it personally, lyrically and vocally. I've been able to take any criticism from my dudes and separate it from my being to push through and rise to the occasion.

"This has been a work in progress as everything I write is always deeply personal and for the most part difficult to write," he continued. "It's always hard to let go of my work. I'm very pleased I've learned to separate my emotions from the work. It's been liberating! I've also been able to stretch the limits of my voice mixing techniques and hues of sound (still working on this as a full time student of the voice via @zenofscreaming).

"Lastly, lyrically I've crafted some songs to feel more like a story, which I believe makes the material more interesting," he added. "Adam [Dutkiewicz, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist and producer] has helped a great deal as usual being a great producer and a good friend throughout. Talking me off the cliff and making me laugh when need be. It can't be overstated how crucial he is (even when I can get thrown sideways at times). He always sees the bigger picture and pushes me to my limit for better or worse. The outcome however is always far better than I imagined."

Last summer, Adam told Rock Antenne about the progress of the songwriting sessions for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's next LP: "[It's going] very slow, but we're taking our time with the demoing process. We're gonna start recording right after this tour, actually. So, I would like it to be done by the end of the year, but it will most likely be completed early next year. And then we've gotta wait for the vinyl, and you know how that works. And so it'll probably be like mid-to-late next year. It takes that long."

Regarding what fans can expect from the next KILLSWITCH ENGAGE LP, Jesse said: "I think it sounds like KILLSWITCH, but we're really pushing to do different lyrics, different themes, different sounds. None of it's gonna be phoned in. And that's why it's taken so long — just rewriting stuff and really just doing quality control."

Added Adam: "We made an effort to have everyone spend more time together writing instead of separately. Because we live so far from each other, it's hard for us to get together and jam. And we made an effort to all meet up and write music together this time. So there's that too. So it's gonna feel a little different, for sure. [It will be] more collaborative."

Last September, Dutkiewicz told TotalRock's Neil Jones that KILLSWITCH ENGAGE was "still at demo stages" for the upcoming album, "but we have quite a bit of demos. And Jesse's been writing and rewriting and going back to the little chopping block. We decided to have everybody in the band become a part of the lyric writing too. So Jesse will bring ideas. We say, 'We like this. We don't like this. This is the idea. Carry on with that.'"

Asked how the process of making a KILLSWITCH ENGAGE has evolved over the years, Adam told TotalRock: "In the past, I took a lot of it on my shoulders, to handle a lot of the duties. But I think the last record, in particular, everyone was just — they felt like a bit detached almost, because I was doing almost everything on my own. And I think they're just, like, 'We don't even feel like we made a record.' So they wanna be more of a part of the production process and the writing process. So I've made sure to keep everybody looped in and in the same circle. Communication's key to anything."

He continued: "I do my best to try to make something that we're kind of proud of. So, at the end of the day, it's up to me to make sure that everybody in the band is happy and we're all going in the same direction."

As for the musical direction of the new KILLSWITCH ENGAGE material, Adam said: "We're still doing what we do. We're just trying to push the boundaries and shake it up a little bit and make it not the same thing we've been doing for 20-something years."

In a separate interview with Ore Bihovsky of TotalRock's "Louder" radio show, Adam said that he and his bandmates were still "demoing" and "writing" material for the next KILLSWITCH ENGAGE album. "We've been kind of busy with other side hustles and whatnot," he said. "But, yeah, [we've] just been taking our time and wanting to get Jesse in the right head space and get him comfortable. But we're pretty much ready to record now. We've just gotta wedge some time in between shows and tours and things going on within everybody's lives."

Asked if the challenges of staying productive during the coronavirus lockdown contributed to it taking this long for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE to come up with enough material for a new LP, Adam said: "Not necessarily. I've got a bunch of stuff going on. I've been writing a ton. But it was just more so pushing Jesse to get a little more, I guess just to vary it up a little bit more and maybe try to pull from other places for inspiration and just try to get some different lyrical content."

In August 2023, Leach told The Razor's Edge that KILLSWITCH ENGAGE had 14 or 15 demos ready for the next LP. But he added: "We're gonna be tossing out, like, four or five of them already to redo some stuff and to rethink some stuff just to make sure that everybody in the band feels like we're doing the best we can, and it does sound fresh yet familiar. So it's a challenge… You wanna please your fans, but you also wanna please yourself as an artist and as a band. So we're focusing on us first. And then my hope is that the fans will in turn be pleased with what we're doing because we are putting the effort in to ensure that it's something that isn't just a remake of something we've done before."

Asked if Dutkiewicz would once again be in charge of the production of the band's new LP, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE drummer Justin Foley told Forever Loud: "Yeah. We're pretty sure that we're gonna do it with Adam and Adam's gonna be the producer. I mean, it just makes sense. He knows what we're doing. We know how to work with him. We all know how to work with each other real well, and he obviously gets the band and what we're trying to go for. So it just makes too much sense not to do."

In July 2023, Leach told Oran O'Beirne of Bloodstock TV about the band's next album: "I think we made some headway. Definitely some good ideas, some good demos. I'm revisiting some ideas. We had a great little meeting where all of us got together and listened and talked, which, to me, has been a great process. And I think it's gonna make this album a lot different than what we've done in the past, 'cause everyone sort of has their voice. We're taking more time with it. So, yeah, it is taking a bit longer but it gives me hope that the end result will be that much better because it is taking a little bit more time to do it. But I'm stoked, for sure. There's some bangers on there already."

During the same chat, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D'Antonio revealed that he wasn't feeling very inspired in the early days of the coronavirus downtime. "During the pandemic, for me, I kind of wasn't able to do much at all," he said. "You'd think that that would be the best writing process, to be nervous about your future and not sure what's gonna happen next. But I was just locked in some sort of a mode where I couldn't even do graphic design; for about six to eight months, I didn't do anything. But I think after that, it definitely seemed to start flowing. Especially when we did the live gig at the Palladium [in Worcester, Massachusetts], the livestream that we did [in August 2021], that kind of helped make the juices work a little bit more. We learned a lot of songs from 'Atonement' that we actually never played live together before, so that was an experience. And I think that's what kind of jarred us into, 'Okay, let's get this thing moving again.'"

In June 2023, Leach told Pete Bailey of Primordial Radio that the new KILLSWITCH ENGAGE album was "taking a lot longer than, I think, any of us anticipated, because there's a lot of quality control going on. And making sure that it's fresh; we're not repeating ourselves," he explained. "So that process has been a little arduous but I think necessary because we don't wanna put out something that people are gonna go, 'Oh, yeah. Another KILLSWITCH record. Whatever.'"

Regarding where he and his KILLSWITCH ENGAGE were with respect to the writing process, Jesse said: "We're solidifying a lot, but there's still some back-and-forth and looking at parts and rewriting the music. And then I'm revisiting a lot of the lyrics. I've actually rewritten a bunch of stuff. 'Cause we all got together and had a meeting, and all of us just kind of gave our input on everything, and I took notes. It's the first time, really, I think we've done that. But, again, I do believe that it's necessary at our stage in our career to really just kind of get all of our heads together to make sure that this record is gonna be what we all feel is a good representation of who we are right now."

On the topic of the lyrical inspiration for the new KILLSWITCH ENGAGE material, Jesse said: "Initially, for me, I really wanted to put out something that was healing, something that could help people cope. But it's kind of turned into anger, it's kind of turned into frustration, it's kind of turned into seeing the greater deceptions of everything that's going on, the struggles of humanity. So I've kind of taken a turn for a little bit more of a darker topic than I initially had hoped for, but I think it's necessary. I think once I really sort of dug into myself, I realized that there was a lot that I was not tapping in to. And when I got honest with myself, I [said], 'You know what? There is a lot to be pissed off about.' And maybe that's the route; maybe that's the good therapeutic way to deal with it. You don't always have to sugarcoat things and let people know there's gonna be hope. Maybe it's just time to get your hands dirty and talk about some of the harder-to-deal-with topics, and that's kind of what I've been doing lately."

"Atonement" was released in August 2019 via Metal Blade Records in the U.S. and Sony Music Entertainment in the rest of the world. The disc featured guest appearances by former KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Howard Jones and TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy. It marked the band's third full-length release since the return of Leach, who rejoined the group in 2012.

In July 2021, Leach and Dutkiewicz released the second album from their TIMES OF GRACE project, "Songs Of Loss And Separation", via the band's own imprint label, Wicked Good Records, distributed by ADA Worldwide.

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DISTURBED singer David Draiman has once again praised Taylor Swift, saying the pop superstar "kicks ass" for actually performing her music live.

The 50-year-old Draiman, who has previously expressed an interest in collaborating with Swift, made his latest comments during DISTURBED's January 19 concert in Peoria, Illinois. After bringing two dads and their two 12-year-old daughters up on the stage, David said to the girls: "So I take it [the fact] that you came to the DISTURBED concert, as opposed to the Taylor Swift concert, means that your parents are raising you on rock and roll." But then he added: "Hey, don't forget: Taylor Swift still kicks ass." When some concertgoers started booing that remark, Draiman quickly fired back: "Don't you boo her. You know what? I will stand up and applaud any pop artist that gets up on stage and sings live and plays a guitar live in front of a whole group of fucking thousands of girls and guys, young fans. Don't talk shit about Taylor Swift. She is for real. And she's making sure that an entire generation of new music fans understand what it means to actually play music live."

Last August, Draiman told Sara Parker of Philadelphia's WMMR radio station that he "would love to cover a Taylor Swift song. I think that she is one of the most prolific songwriters of our generation," he explained. "I think she is insanely talented. I'd love to collaborate with Taylor if she ever wanted to, on any given day."

Draiman continued: "I've said it before, I'll say it again: I think she's a brilliant woman. I think she's, like I said, one of the great songwriters of our time. I love her gumption. I love the fact that she gets on stage in front of tens of thousands of screaming young female fans and plays a real instrument and sings live and is the real deal. I mean, there are a number of people within the pop genre that still do it the way that she does it — Pink is one of them; Lady Gaga is one of them. A lot of these people are just so gifted and so great at what they do, and she's certainly way, way, way up there. I have nothing but the utmost respect for her.

In May 2023, indie rock singer Phoebe Bridgers, who was the opening act for Swift on some of the shows on her "Eras" tour, caught Draiman's attention after she repeatedly walked out to DISTURBED's classic song "Down With The Sickness". When footage of her entrance went viral, Draiman shared the clip on his Twitter account and wrote: "Phoebe Bridgers this is absolutely amazing," with two hands raised emojis. He added: "Love it! You're welcome to come see our show whenever you want!" Draiman also tagged Swift's Twitter account and included the hashtag #TaylorSwiftErasTour.

DISTURBED's eighth studio album, 2022's "Divisive", includes the song "Don't Tell Me", which is an epic emotionally charged duet with HEART's Ann Wilson. The track marked the first time the band had included a guest feature on an LP.

DISTURBED kicked off the 2024 leg of its "Take Back Your Life" tour in Peoria. The band's 21-song setlist included the live debut of "Don't Tell Me", featuring a guest appearance by Moriah Formica of the opening band PLUSH.

Released in November 2022, "Divisive" was recorded earlier that year with producer Drew Fulk (MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, LIL PEEP, HIGHLY SUSPECT) in Nashville, Tennessee.

According to Billboard, "Divisive" sold 26,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release, with 22,000 units via album sales.

On the all-format Billboard 200 chart, "Divisive" debuted at No. 13.

DISTURBED has had five No. 1s on the all-genre chart, beginning with "Believe" in 2002.
@vsprice7

Disturbed’s David defends Taylor Swift to his fans at tonights concert in Peoria, Il after bringing two 12 year olds up on stage to rock with them.

Austin, TX prog-metal quartet Transit Method’s third full-length album Othervoid is out on February 2, 2024, via Brutal Panda Records. Today, the band shares the third single “Frostbite."


Matt LoCoco of Transit Method comments on the new single “Frostbite”.


“I wrote ‘Frostbite’ in one fell swoop during the infamous winter storm that devastated Texas in February 2021. I remember sitting in my room, looking out the window, thinking about the millions of people without electricity, water, or food — some literally freezing to death in single-digit temperatures — and how it all could have been easily avoided. 




“I felt frustrated and angry, but mostly helpless at the fact that there was nothing I could do to help anyone. I channeled those emotions into the music and lyrics. Once I presented it to the band, we all felt it was something special. We took care in fine-tuning the final arrangement together and consider it the centerpiece of Othervoid.”


Additionally, Transit Method have announced a Bandcamp Virtual Listening Party on January 31, 2024 at 7 PM EST / 6 PM CST where they will join fans to listen to Othervoid in its entirety before its release. RSVP here.


Othervoid marks the prog-metal quartet's most bludgeoning, infectious and ambitious album to date. Brothers Matt LoCoco (vocals/guitar) and Mike LoCoco (drums) are joined by new members Bryan Rolli (guitars/vocals) and live Panopticon violinist Charlie Anderson (bass) cementing the band's definitive lineup.


Othervoid's seven tracks show the breadth of the band's songwriting. The punk-metal riffs and dueling guitars of "Psychometry" evoke Mutoid Man and Iron Maiden, while the vocal harmonies and trad-metal gallop of "The Outside" recall Mastodon and Thin Lizzy. The album reaches its astonishing climax on "Frostbite," a shapeshifting, nine-minute epic inspired by the 2021 freeze that left millions of Texans stranded at home without power and claimed hundreds of lives.


Othervoid is the result of years of turmoil and triumph. With their future uncertain, Transit Method charged into the eye of the storm and emerged on the other side with the strongest album of their career. The path was challenging, unpredictable and exhilarating - just like Othervoid.


Album art by Marald Van Haasteren:





Tracklisting:


“Into Your Mind”
“Nightmare Machines”
“Psychometry”
“Another Wasted Life”
“The Outside”
“Savage Creatures”
“Frostbite”


"Frostbite" visualizer:





“Another Wasted Life” video:





To celebrate the release of their third full-length album, Othervoid, Transit Method will headline at Hotel Vegas in Austin, TX on February 2, 2024. They will be joined by local titans Scorpion Child & Megafauna.


(Photo – Ismael Quintanilla III)

Transatlantic progressive metal outfit, Monuments, have released the video below, featuring a performance of the In Stasis track, "Lavos", recorded at Circle Studios Berlin, filmed & edited by Brian Krahe:





Monuments' fourth album, In Stasis, was released in April 2022. Order here.







Tracklisting:


“No One Will Teach You” (feat. Neema Askari)
“Lavos”
“Cardinal Red”
“Opiate”
“Collapse”
“Arch Essence” (feat. Spencer Sotelo)
“Somnus”
“False Providence”
“Makeshift Harmony”
“The Cimmerian”


“Makeshift Harmony” video:





“False Providence” video:





"Cardinal Red" video:





“Lavos” feat. Mick Gordon:





In Stasis credits:


Produced, Recorded and Edited by John Browne, Andy Cizek and Mike Malyan
Co-Produced by Mick Gordon
Additional Engineering by Ross Halden, Justin Woodward and Adam Steel
Additional Editing by Charlie Abend and Evan Sammons
Mixing by George Lever at G1 Productions
Mastering by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street


(Photo by Martyna Wisniewska @gingerdope)

Super7 will release the third version of its ReAction figure of late METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton on or around March 1.

The new figure includes:

* Cliff Burton figure featuring Cliff torn jeans, black t-shirt and flannel
* Comes with a black bass guitar
* Injected plastic and paint
* 3¾ scale figure

You can preorder the figure at Metallica.com.

Cliff was asked to join METALLICA in 1982 after the band saw him perform with his group at the time, TRAUMA.

The bassist was not willing to move to Los Angeles, where METALLICA was based, so they decided to move to the San Francisco area so that he would join.

Burton played on METALLICA's first three studio albums — "Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning" and "Master Of Puppets" — and co-wrote classic songs like "Ride The Lightning", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Fade To Black", "Creeping Death" and "Master Of Puppets".

His life was tragically cut short at the age of 24 in a tour bus crash on September 27, 1986 in Sweden.

Burton's initial replacement in the group was Jason Newsted, who stayed in the lineup until 2001. Robert Trujillo joined in 2003 and remains in the band to this day.

February 10, 2018 was proclaimed "Cliff Burton Day" by Alameda County supervisors. The late METALLICA bassist would have turned 56 years old on that date had he lived.

Back in 2016, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich spoke to Seattle's KISW 99.9 radio station about Burton's tragic loss when METALLICA's tour bus skidded on ice while the group was on tour in Scandinavia and Cliff was thrown out the window and crushed. Lars said: "We were so shocked and stunned that we didn't know what hit us. And, like most, I guess, kids in their early 20s who get ambushed with that type of thing, we jumped into a bottle of, in this case, vodka, for me, and stayed in there for quite some time. We weren't mature enough or seasoned in life enough to know how to deal with this other than just to sort of, basically, almost hide behind the alcohol and compartmentalized it. So the next few months were very difficult, and it was crazy, but we just put the blinders on and started auditioning bass players. And we knew in our hearts that Cliff would be the first one to kick us in the ass and tell us to keep going, if he could see us mope. And so there was no moping; we just kept going the best we knew how to."

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was asked in an interview with TeamRock what he thinks Burton might have thought about the drastic changes in its look and sound that METALLICA made through the 1990s and early 2000s with albums like "Load", "Reload" and "St. Anger". Hetfield replied: "Well, I certainly would have thought there would have been some resistance, for sure. I think the 'Black Album' was a great album and I appreciate the fact that we did have the balls to do that… I would certainly think that the 'Load' and 'Reload' [era], I would have had an ally that was very against it all — the reinvention or the U2 version of METALLICA."

Asked if Hetfield was personally comfortable with the more "alternative" image and music METALLICA made on those albums, the singer/guitarist replied: "No, no, not at all. There’s some great, great songs on there but my opinion is that all of the imagery and stuff like that was not necessary. And the amount of songs that were written was… it diluted the potency of the poison of METALLICA. And I think Cliff would have agreed with that."

Burton's huge talent and achievements were chronicled in book form with the 2009 global publication of "To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton", written by U.K.-based author Joel McIver and published by Jawbone Press. The foreword was provided by METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett.

Before his untimely death in 1986, Cliff Burton lent the sound of his thunderous bass to Metallica’s seminal album...

Posted by Super7 on Monday, January 22, 2024

Swedish metallers AT THE GATES have scrapped their previously announced shows for the next few months.

Earlier today (Tuesday, January 23),the band released the following statement via social media: "We regret to inform you that AT THE GATES has been forced to cancel all upcoming shows in the spring and summer due to reasons beyond our control. Special info and refund options for ticket holders, please visit the festivals FB or web pages for more info. Thanks."

AT THE GATES played its first concert with returning guitarist Anders Björler in November 2022 at the Damnation festival in Manchester, United Kingdom.

When Anders's return to AT THE GATES was announced a month earlier, vocalist Tomas Lindberg said in a statement: "It is with great pleasure we welcome Anders Björler, one of the founding members, back into the band. We are excited to tell you that we are already starting the work on the follow up to 'The Nightmare Of Being', with the same lineup that wrote 'Terminal Spirit Disease', 'Slaughter Of The Soul' and 'At War with Reality'… Great times! It really feels like a second rebirth of the band, and we are looking forward to this new chapter!"

Anders added: "It feels like coming home for sure. I have been missing the guys, of course, but also playing the guitar, writing music and the artistic creativity in general. I've been watching from the sidelines for a number of years, and I've been very proud of what they have created in my absence. I am really looking forward to writing a new album and getting back to playing live shows again."

AT THE GATES recruited Daniel Martinez (ATHEIST) to play second guitar for the band on its 2022 North American tour.

AT THE GATES' special "Slaughter Of The Soul" North American tour was originally planned for the 25th anniversary of the album in 2020, the COVID-19 situation forced the band to postpone the trek until 2022.

AT THE GATES played the whole "Slaughter Of The Soul" LP from start to finish, and also a mix of other tracks from its 30-plus-year career.

In August 2022, AT THE GATES enlisted Patrik Jensen (THE HAUNTED) to play second guitar for the band at several shows, including at that year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.

The Wacken gig took place less than two weeks after AT THE GATES parted ways with its guitarist of five years, Jonas Stålhammar.

Stålhammar joined the band in September 2017 as the replacement for Anders Björler, who left AT THE GATES in March of that year.

In addition to AT THE GATES, Stålhammar had previously played with THE LURKING FEAR, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, BOMBS OF HADES, GOD MACABRE, ABHOTH, UTUMNO and MACABRE END.

AT THE GATES' latest studio album, "The Nightmare Of Being", came out in 2021.

While main parts for "The Nightmare Of Being" were recorded in several different Swedish studios — drums at Studio Gröndal with Jens Bogren, guitars and bass with Andy La Rocque at Sonic Train Studio and vocals at Welfare Sounds with Per Stålberg — the LP was mixed and mastered at Fascination Street Studios (AMON AMARTH, OPETH, KREATOR) by Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with AT THE GATES on the "At War With Reality" comeback album in 2014. The album's visual concept was developed by artist Eva Nahon.

2018's "To Drink From The Night Itself" was the first AT THE GATES album written and recorded without Anders Björler.

Photo credit: Ester Segarra

We regret to inform you that At the Gates has been forced to cancel all upcoming shows in the spring and summer due to...

Posted by At The Gates on Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Sharon Osbourne says that Ozzy is planning to "say goodbye" to his fans by playing two final shows in his original hometown of Birmingham.

According to Mirror, the legendary singer's wife and manager made the comment about Ozzy's comeback on stage in London as part of her new "Cut The Crap" tour which travels to Birmingham on Wednesday and then plays in London again next weekend.

Sharon said about the possibility of Ozzy returning to the live stage: "He won't tour again, but we are planning on doing two more shows to say goodbye as he feels like 'I have never said goodbye to my fans and I want to say goodbye properly'." Seeming to suggest the venue could be Aston Villa's stadium Villa Park, she added: "We will do it in Aston Villa where Ozzy is from.

"His voice is still absolutely perfect," she continued. "And all the time he has been off, he still does his singing lessons, so his voice is perfect. And he can joke, yeah. He has all these melodies in his head. Even if you don't like his music, you can't not like Ozzy; he just draws you in."

Four years ago, Osbourne revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that progresses slowly in most people, and has no cure. Ozzy also previously suffered a nasty fall and dislodged metal rods placed in his spine following a quad-bike accident in 2003.

Last November, Ozzy, who has struggled with a number of other health issues in recent years, spoke to Rolling Stone UK about the possibility of returning to the live stage. He said: "I'm taking it one day at a time, and if I can perform again, I will. But it's been like saying farewell to the best relationship of my life. At the start of my illness, when I stopped touring, I was really pissed off with myself, the doctors, and the world. But as time has gone on, I've just gone, 'Well, maybe I've just got to accept that fact.

"I'm not going to get up there and do a half-hearted Ozzy looking for sympathy. What's the fucking point in that? I'm not going up there in a fucking wheelchair. I've seen Phil Collins perform recently, and he's got virtually the same problems as me. He gets up there in a wheelchair. But I couldn't do that."

Ozzy went on to pay tribute to his fans who made it possible for him to have a five-plus-decade career, first with SABBATH and then as a solo artist.

"That's one of the things I've been the most fucking pissed off at: I never got the chance to say goodbye or thank you," he said. "Because my fans are what it's all about. If I can just do a few gigs… They've been loyal to me for fucking years. They write to me, they know all about my dogs. It's my extended family really, and they give us the lifestyle we have. For whatever reason, that's my goal to work to. To do those shows. If it's at Ozzfest or somewhere, or even a fucking gig at the Roundhouse [in London]

"If I can't continue doing shows on a regular basis, I just want to be well enough to do one show where I can say, 'Hi guys, thanks so much for my life.' That's what I'm working towards, and if I drop down dead at the end of it, I'll die a happy man."

Earlier in November, Ozzy and Sharon's son Jack told The Messenger that his father's days of hitting the road are likely behind him. "I don't think he'll tour again," Jack said. "But he's gunning to do one-off shows — like festivals, gigs, things like that."

"He's not done yet," he added.

Last September, Ozzy opened up about his series of operations in an interview with Metal Hammer as he shared his hopes of making "one more album" and a return to touring.

"I've had all the surgery now, thank God," the 75-year-old said. "I'm feeling okay. It was just dragging on. I thought I'd be back on my feet months ago. I just couldn't get used to this mode of living, constantly having something wrong. I can't walk properly yet, but I'm not in any pain anymore and the surgery on my spine went great."

Osbourne also discussed his plans for 2024, saying: "I'm getting myself fit. I've done two albums fairly recently [2020's 'Ordinary Man' and 2022's 'Patient Number 9'], but I want to do one more album and then go back on the road."

Last July, the BLACK SABBATH singer canceled his appearance at the Power Trip festival due to his ongoing physical ailments.

Ozzy's health issues, including catching COVID-19 two years ago, forced him to cancel some of his previously announced tours.

While Osbourne's health issues forced him to scrap most of his live appearances, the musician said he would return if his condition improved.

Osbourne's previously announced European tour with guests JUDAS PRIEST, originally set for 2019 and then rescheduled three times, was officially canceled in early February 2023.

Despite his health problems, Osbourne has performed a couple of times in the last couple of years, including at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August 2022 and at the NFL halftime show at the season opener Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills game in September 2022.

Photo credit: Schneider Rondan Organization / Epic Records

King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his wife, Toyah Willcox have served up another Sunday Lunch covering Michael Jackson’s Give In To Me, from his studio album, Dangerous (1991), featuring Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash as guest. Check it out below:





Robert Fripp and his wife, Toyah Willcox, have shared a clip of upbeat moments from 2023. Check it out below.







Toyah recently revealed in an interview with eonmusic that a movie of the Sunday Lunch series is in the planning. The weekly event, which sees Toyah and partner Robert Fripp cover songs from across the rock spectrum, started during the lockdown of 2020, and has grown into a "phenomenon," according to the singer.


Toyah made the revelation while speaking to eonmusic's Eamon O'Neill ahead of her performance at Rewind South in Henley-on-Thames in August.  


Speaking about how Sunday Lunch has taken off; Toyah said; "Well, the Sunday lunch phenomenon, which is a worldwide phenomenon, it's basically, we picked up on classic rock, and our treatment of rock is; if you can teach Mozart and Beethoven in schools, then why can't you teach classic rock? Because that's what it is now; rock from Led Zeppelin, rock from Black Sabbath; it's classic, it's never going to go away. And it's something that I think, kids would really love learning about. That's not that we're going on the road and being educational, but our show kind of goes on a journey with artists we know, artists who visit us in our homes."


Going on to reveal that a movie about Sunday Lunch is on the way, Toyah said; "We have a documentary crew following us, and we have quite a big production company scripting an idea at the moment. Obviously we won't be in it. It's for actors to play, but that's all in the back kind of pool of what do you call pre-production. All of that's going on."


Asked when the movie might see the light of day, she was however, less committal; "I mean, movies take years, you know, for the even scripts to be accepted, so who knows what will happen?"


Read the interview here.

The Metal Voice recently spoke to Lucifer frontwoman Johanna Sadonis about the bands up and coming studio album, Lucifer V that will be released January 26, 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records.


Sadonis also spoke about her early years relations with Rammstein and the band Ghost. Plus Sadonis reflects on the bands controversial name.







On the musical direction of Lucifer V:


"I would say it has all the ingredients that a Lucifer album has always had. Hard rock, a little bit of New Wave of British heavy Metal from the 70's-80's. You have doom in there, you have some sort of pop sensibility but more in an old school sense as in very subtle way. We do listen to a lot of soul music as well and all these things flow into us and get pushed out into a Lucifer album. I think on this album we took these typical Lucifer ingredients a little further and expended a little bit so you still have the doom and the heaviness and so on but you also have slow songs. We stay true to ourselves but the goal is always to not repeat a song that we've done already so hopefully we manage to keep the melodies interesting."


If they have had problems with promotors or church groups because of the “Lucifer” band name:


"It's funny that is a very American or North American, problem. In Sweden everything is very progressive in terms of what role the church plays versus the government and nobody raises an eyebrow at this name in Germany or Sweden at all. It's not associated with the plague as much as it is in the USA . Sometimes I see comments (online) and that's only always an Americans that says oh this band would be way more successful if their name wasn't Lucifer in America. Sometimes somebody posts a Lucifer song and then you have the ones from the Bible Belt that are like ‘oh my God I can't listen to that with that name’. So they don't even give the song the time of the day because of the name. But I have thought about it, am I willing to compromise and change that name because of that? No I'm just going to keep on going."


Heavy rock megalith Lucifer are kicking off the new year in style with a brand new single called “Maculate Heart”, which is yet another preview to be released before their magnificent new album, Lucifer V, drops on January 26, 2024.


Consisting of nine unholy hymns, Lucifer's fifth offering can easily be regarded as their magnum opus and sees the band channeling all their strengths known from previous records into one monumental mass of electrifying heavy rock and roll.


Infectious and hook-heavy stunner “Maculate Heart” might be the most accessible song Lucifer have ever recorded and it's being released today as a slightly trimmed radio edit for your listening pleasure.


Pre-order/pre-save Lucifer V here.





Lucifer V tracklisting:


"Fallen Angel"
"At The Mortuary"
"Riding Reaper"
"Slow Dance in A Crypt"
"A Coffin Has No Silver Lining"
"Maculate Heart"
"The Dead Don't Speak"
"Strange Sister"
"Nothing Left To Lose But My Life"


"Maculate Heart" video:





"Slow Dance In A Crypt":





"A Coffin Has No Silver Lining" (The Sistine Version) video:





"At The Mortuary" (Halloween Edit) video:





Lucifer is:


Johanna Platow Andersson (vocals)
Nicke Andersson Platow (drums)
Linus Björklund (guitar)
Martin Nordin (guitar)
Harald Göthblad (bass)

Gruesome Records has revealed the first taste of Homo Homini Lupus, the new album from Italian extreme metal band Keres, due out February 23rd. 


"Eradicate The Infected Seed" is the song chosen for their astonishing official video, and the visiting card of what's coming! Keres' music is heavily influenced by bands like Hate, Svart Crown, Behemoth, Vader, and Dark Funeral.







The album was recorded by the band themselves, and mixed and mastered by Stefano Morabito at 16th Cellar Studio (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour Of Penance, Decrepit Birth). Cover art by Cristian Giacomuzzi. 





Tracklisting:


"Exist For War"
"Immaculate Incarnation Of Darkness"
"Oblivion"
"Pale Horse Of Extinction"
"Until Everything's Burned"
"Leviathan"
"Eradicate The Infected Seed" 
"Void And Silence"


Pre-orders can be placed now at this location. For further details, visit Keres on Facebook.


(Band photo by Federica Vanzetta)


 

Fast-rising American doom outfit, Frayle, have officially joined forces with Napalm Records, signing a worldwide contract with the premier Austrian rock and metal empire.


Cleveland, Ohio's Frayle crept onto the scene after forming in 2018, helmed by original members Sean Bilovecky (guitars) and Gwyn Strang (vocals). Since then, the band has been lauded by fans and media critics alike, merging the heaviness of occult-driven doom and blackgaze with Strang's distinctively eerie vocal stylings.


Frayle has since expanded into a four piece, welcoming drummer Jon Vinson and bassist Jason Knotek to the fold, allowing the band to fully realize their "lullabies over chaos" musical vision. The band continues to invigorate their already buzzing sway on the scene. Following gloomy performances in Europe and the United States at festivals such as Damnation, Desertfest, Soul Crusher, Gloomnar, Post Fest and Inkcarceration, Frayle vows to enrapture audiences with new music in 2024.




Frayle says about the signing: “We are thrilled to be joining the incredible team at Napalm Records. Napalm has always been the label that artists strive to be a part of and we are honored to bring our unique blend of heavy witch gloom to their impressive roster. We'd also like to take this opportunity to say we are extremely fortunate to be part of the Oracle Management family, and are grateful for them helping us realize our goal of signing to Napalm Records. It was Oracle's existing relationship with Napalm that helped to seal the deal. We can’t wait to see what the future holds."


Sebastian Muench, Senior A&R at Napalm Records, adds: "Frayle have been enchanting their fans with their unique way of interpreting doom metal since 2017. Their artistic vision and past live performances have fascinated us and enticed us to work together as partners on the next step in the band's career. I can guarantee that the new studio album will be simply amazing!"


Stay tuned for more Frayle news coming soon.


Frayle is:


Gwyn Strang: Vocals
Sean Bilovecky: Guitar
Jason Knotek: Bass
Jon Vinson: Drums


(Photo - Damian Eduardos)

Richmond, Virginia metal-punk trio, Bat, has been delivering their own blood-spattered horror since ascending from the underground a decade ago on a dark, leather-winged trajectory. Today the band forged a new partnership and home at Nuclear Blast Records.


Bat's Ryan Waste states, "After working the last 14 years with Nuclear Blast we’ve become family at this point. There was no question in my mind to bring Bat under their wing when the time was right. We’re thrilled to join forces and plan to push it even harder with the support of the label. You can expect more touring worldwide, along with new music and visuals as early as this March. Until then, stay heavy and beware of the Bat!"


Nuclear Blast American Label Manager & A&R Tommy Jones comments, "Heavy metal and horror have been synonymous in our counter-culture since well before Alice Cooper sang about the 'Man Behind the Mask' and Dokken stated they 'Don’t wanna dream no more…' Through decades of this marriage, and with the influence of a snaggletoothed warpig, Bat was spawned. We have such a great relationship with Municipal Waste it made sense to check out Ryan and Nick’s other ripper of a band, Bat. I am excited to open the window at NB and let the Bat fly in! Beware the Bat y'all!"




This spring, Bat is joining forces with their friends in the legendary Exciter to play for all the heavy metal maniacs in Latin America for the first time.


Confirmed dates for the Latin American 2024 tour are:


March
29 - Mexico City, MX - Circo Volador
30 - San Jose, CR - Peppers Club
31 - Bogota, CO - Boro Room


April
1 - Buenos Aires, AR - Arena Sur
4 - Belo Horizonte, BR - Caverna Rock Pub
5 - Brasilia, DF - Toinha
6 - Sao Paolo, BR - Jau Club
8 - Santiago, CL - Teatro Coliseo


Stay tuned for updates on the upcoming music.

Sword-worshipping heavy metal traditionalists Writhen Hilt from Germany are due to deliver their debut EP, Ancient Sword Cult, via Sweden’s Jawbreaker Records on February 23rd.


Blending the rocking sensibilities of the NWOBHM with Sweden’s catchy hooks and the mystical element of bands such as Warlord, Writhen Hilt shall capture you with their entrancing brand of melodic, all-consuming craftsmanship. Sharp guitars gallop atop unbreakable waves of drumming with some truly unique, spellbinding vocals. Their medieval anthems of metallic fury have that USPM sense of triumph coating every moment. The emotive dynamics take some nuanced doomy touches and give a downtrodden sense of despair to the songs. Glory reigns eternal in the more ethereal passages of the opus. This contrasting and skilfully executed mixture will certainly enthral you.


Packed with grandeur, there is that primal fist-pounding drive, acting as a sonic backbone throughout this record; the wailing chants of a battle cry reverberate in the heavy metal splendour. The screaming lead guitars have a captivating quality, which adds some gorgeous soulfulness to the clashing of iron. Thundering bass glows like a fire in a hearth while the steel of mighty riffing and pounding drums keep the songs charging forward. Everything on this record simply screams “epic” from start to finish and it is an adventure you truly must embark upon for yourself.




Ancient Sword Cult artwork and tracklisting:





"Death Undone"
"Mountain View"
"Sorcerer’s Gate"
"To Rival The Sun"
"Aeolia (Unbreakable Bronze)"





Pre-order Ancient Sword Cult on Cassette or CD now at this location.


Writhen Hilt is:


David Kuri – vocals, guitar
Jendrik Seiler – guitar
Steffen Kurth – bass
Lauritz Jilge – drums, vocals


For further details, visit Writhen Hilt on Facebook.


 

Vixen bassist Julia Lage has released a new solo song, "The Ride". It features her husband Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs) on guitar, Dug Pinnick (King's X) on guest vocals, and Michael Odabashian on drums. The video, directed by Vicente Cordero, can be seen below.


Julia commented, "I am so happy to be able to share this song with you all. ‘The Ride’ is about how lonely someone’s journey can be, filled with people’s judgment and misconceptions. It also instigates you to follow your path and create your own reality. The lyrics on the bridge sum up that idea… ‘Write the pages you are looking for, Let the words get louder even more.’  I feel blessed to be able to have both Dug Pinnick and Richie Kotzen sharing their incredible talent with me."


"If you purchase the song here you will get the full Master quality, as I wanted to make sure that when you buy it from me you don't get the song all compressed like the other platforms do automatically. Much love to all of you and I hope you enjoy The Ride!"










For further details, visit Julia Lage on Facebook.


 

Former Rainbow / Alcatrazz vocalist Graham Bonnet, who is now working under the moniker Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz, has checked in with the following update:


"Hey all! Graham here. I have very exciting news that I’m delighted to share with you today. Behind the scenes, Graham Bonnet’s Alcatrazz has been diligently working on material for an upcoming album, and it is with tremendous pride and pleasure that we announce, Jeff Loomis'  Nevermore bandmate on drums, the one and only Van Williams! Van is spectacular; so powerful and dynamic, an absolute machine! Melding my legacy sound with a modern feel is exhilarating. I’m so inspired by this band’s creativity. We are so looking forward to Alcatrazz 2.0 and Jeff, Van and I plan to bring you the ultimate metal experience."


In recent posting on their official Facebook page, Alcatrazz/Jimmy Waldo responded to recent comments by Graham Bonnet and his girlfriend Beth-Ami Heavenstone, reports Marko Syrja for Metal-Rules.com.




In particular, a video in which Beth-Ami (seemingly doing all the talking) claims that Jimmy Waldo and the other members of the current band “never wrote anything” on any past Alcatrazz album and that any credit given was a mere gesture on Graham’s part. The video in question can be viewed below.


The band stated in various posts on their Facebook page (Note: they do not speak for current lead vocalist Doogie White)...


“How can this woman claim to be an expert on “who really wrote what” 40 years ago?


By her own admission in the full-length interview, “She knew nothing about Graham before meeting him” in 2013.”


One such example: “Remember a song called 'Island In The Sun'?”


The main theme of this signature Alcatrazz song (arguably the first successful single the band had via MTV) was written by Jimmy Waldo, the bridge part was written by Yngwie Malmsteen, and the lyric and vocal melody was written by Graham Bonnet, this is an example of how you fairly give credit amongst writers.


We will post (in the FB comments below) the song containing Jimmy’s parts (the entire main melody line) when it was called 'Take Another Ride' as a New England demo (Jimmy and Gary’s previous pre-Alcatrazz band.)


Clearly, 'Island In The Sun' became a better song due to the COLLABORATION of the writers in Alcatrazz (including Graham Bonnet and Yngwie Malmsteen), but excluding someone who wrote a main part of a signature song (by outright saying, “Those guys never wrote anything” based on an ongoing personal/trademark issue) shows the lack of class Graham Bonnet has.”


Read the full report at Metal-Rules.com.





Alcatrazz, as well as Lillian Axe, will be special guests on Girlschool's "Final North America Tour". Confirmed North American dates, with more to be announced, are listed below.





Dates:


March
21 - Houston, TX - Hell's Heroes Festival*
22 - New Orleans, LA - Southport Music Hall
24 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
25 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
27 - Bensalem, PA - Broken Goblet
28 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
29 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
30 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre


April
2 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
6 - Detroit, MI - Token Lounge


* Girlschool only


Tickets on sale here.