ALICE COOPER guitarist Nita Strauss spoke to the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast about her recently released single "Winner Takes All", featuring a guest appearance by the legendary rocker. The track is taken from Nita's upcoming sophomore solo album, tentatively due later this year via Sumerian Records.

Regarding how her latest collaboration with Alice came about, Nita said: "I knew that I wanted to do something with Alice on this record. We sort of have this approach… We have a lot of guests on the upcoming record. There are some instrumental songs, like on the first record as well, but it's a lot of guests. And I thought, 'How cool would it be…?' — we all kind of put our heads together and thought, 'How cool would it be to showcase Alice's voice on very modern, heavy active rock kind of track?' 'Cause everything he does is sort of in that more classic rock kind of vein. Even the new music that he's come out with in the last few years has had that classic Alice sound. And I thought, 'Well, since we're not gonna get a song like this from Alice himself, let's bring a song to him. Let's make something for him.' So my first call was to Tommy Henriksen, who does a lot of the writing for the Alice project and the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES project, and I said, 'What key does he like to sing in? What's his vibe?' And Tommy gave me some options. And so we ended up dropping to a seven-string [guitar] and wrote this really mean heavy riff, like very driving, very get in your car and put the pedal all the way down and speed down the highway. And between Tommy and myself, we wrote the melody and the lyrics and sent it off to Alice. He loved it. And he loved it so much, and we sent it to him in Phoenix, and he was, like, 'Cool. I'm gonna go and record it.' I think he recorded it in his studio in Phoenix the next day, or within a day or two, was how fast it happened. And from there we were off to the races."

Nita continued: "The plan, actually, was not to release the song until the tour. We thought maybe we could just drop the song and show up on stage on the same day, kind of like old-school 'Wrestlemania'. But then, between his schedule and my release schedule and all the label politics and all that, [we decided to] put it out early, help promote the song, go out on tour and all that good stuff. So it all worked out for the best. The song had a super-strong first week, which is amazing. Alice sounds like a rock star, as always. And, yeah, I feel like it just went great."

"Winner Takes All" is the third song Nita has released featuring a star guest vocalist, the first being the enormously successful "Dead Inside" which featured guest vocals from DISTURBED's David Draiman and saw Nita become the first-ever solo female to have a No. 1 hit at Active Rock radio. She also returned to her instrumental roots last year with the release of single "Summer Storm", a fast-paced, emotive shred-fest. In October 2022, Nita dropped "The Wolf You Feed", an epic headbanger of a track featuring the insane vocal talent of Alissa White-Gluz of ARCH ENEMY.

Back in February 2022, Nita told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about her upcoming LP: "It's gonna be half and half — six tracks with vocalists and six tracks of instrumental [music]. We've been doing ['Dead Inside'] live on the solo tour and it's been getting a super-good reaction from our crowds."

In early December 2022, Nita told "The Mistress Carrie Podcast" about her decision to make the upcoming LP half vocal songs and half instrumental: "I did feel, and the label and everybody agreed, it's still important for me to keep my identity as a guitar player and not just branch off too much and go, 'Okay, well, now it's just guests.' Let me still have a little of what makes me me, which is the instrumental shred stuff. And the instrumental pieces that I've written on this record are, I think, better than anything I did on the first one — definitely more… I don't know if it could be more emotional but they're very emotional pieces of music and I think a little better crafted this time around. So I think all the songs in general are more well thought out, better put together this time around. And I do have some of my absolute favorite [singers guesting on it]. I have three amazing powerhouse female vocalists on this album so far."

Nita released 2018's "Controlled Chaos" to mass acclaim from fans and media alike, with Metal Injection calling it "a great debut that — as its creator intended — leaves no doubt", and Guitar World stating "'Controlled Chaos' is a panoramic view of Nita Strauss's many strengths".

Earlier this month, it was announced that Nita would return to Alice's band for his 2023 tour.

The Alice Cooper North American tour, with an all-new show dubbed "Too Close For Comfort", kicks off in late April in Michigan and continues through late September, including a handful of August stadium shows with DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE, followed by a co-headlining late summer "Freaks On Parade" tour with Rob Zombie.

Nita spent eight years playing with Alice before joining Demi Lovato's band last summer,

Strauss played her first full live show with Demi on August 13, 2022 at the Grandstand at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Illinois.

Nita made her live debut with Demi on July 14, 2022 with a performance of "Substance" on ABC's Emmy Award-winning late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".

Strauss had been playing with Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker's former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.

From headlining performances from their inception as well as supporting slots for some of the biggest bands in metal, Canada’s Sovereign Council have hit the ground running and haven’t stopped since they formed in 2012. They have released two full-length albums to date New Reign (2013) and Laniakea (2015) and now they have a fresh new EP World On Fire for listeners and ahead of its release, the band is offering up the title track as a single accompanied with a music video premiered by BraveWords! 


The majority of the EP comes from vocalist Lisa Thompson’s personal experiences and this five-song progressive, symphonic, and power metal-influenced EP will take listeners through a range of emotions and imagery ranging from inspiring, motivational lyrics to darker subject matter. 


The band shares their thoughts on the single:




“This song was chosen as a single because everyone in the band felt it to be one of the stronger songs on this release. It has an edge to it while still being very accessible to a wider audience compared to our previous releases. Each one of us takes a different meaning from the song itself and we hope that our listeners will enjoy it just as much as we do. We simply want people to enjoy the ride.”


Sovereign Council got together through a shared love of music and the emotional release that comes with writing, recording, and performing. As a band, they have evolved drastically since being first formed and continue to change each time they sit down to write music. They are proud of their new sound and look forward to their continued growth and change.





Dynamic solos and incredible vocal range come together in the impressive display of melodic metal that is World On Fire. It is recommended for fans of Delain, Within Temptation, and Lacuna Coil.


Preorder on Bandcamp.





Tracklisting:


“World On Fire”
“The Wait”
“Aberration”
“Breathe You In”
“Of The Ashes”


(Photo: Dark Moon Productions)

Andean folk/prog metal band Flor de Loto teams up with Italian vocalist Fabio Lione for a Peruvian rendition of "Oceano," accompanied by a live video of their mini-tour in Peru.


The renowned Peruvian Andean folk/prog metal band Flor de Loto has recently released a live video of their unique rendition of "Oceano," featuring the exceptional talents of Italian vocalist Fabio Lione (Rhapsody, Angra, Athena XIX). The video showcases performances from their mini tour across two cities in Peru in July 2022.


This distinct version of "Oceano," originally from the latest Turilli/Lione Rhapsody album, incorporates the quena, an ancient Andean wind instrument characteristic of Flor de Loto's sound. Remarkably, this song had never been performed live before, even by the Italian band, who later included it in their farewell tour this year.




Flor de Loto is currently working on a 25th-anniversary album, which will feature guest appearances from Fabio Lione and other musicians. The album will be produced by guitarist and producer Roy Z (Bruce Dickinson, Tribe of Gypsies).


The live video of "Oceano" can be viewed below.





Vocalist Alonso Herrera of Flor de Loto commented, "After five years, we got together again with Fabio Lione, and as always, it was a pleasure. This version of 'Oceano' was very well received by the public, and in our opinion, it is amazing. We took this track from Turilli/Lione Rhapsody and added our signature style, which is Andean folk metal. Stay tuned for what comes next with Fabio (and more guest musicians) on our album for the band's 25 years, which will be out this year."


Follow Flor de Loto via Facebook and Instagram.

Guitarist/vocalist John D. Cronise of Austin, Texas metal luminaries THE SWORD says that he was "shocked" when he found out that ROB ZOMBIE "ripped off" his band's song more than a decade ago.

Earlier today (Tuesday, March 28),Cronise tweeted out a link to Revolver's list of "20 Greatest Rob Zombie Songs", which includes "Virgin Witch" from Rob's 2010 effort "Hellbilly Deluxe 2", and he included the following message: "Not sure how to feel about this, but I also wasn't sure how to feel when he ripped off our song…"

When one fan asked Cronise to clarify if he actually co-wrote the song, he responded: "No but I'm credited as a co-writer because it sounds so much like [THE SWORD's 2006 track] 'Freya'. It's weird".

Cronise went on to say that "it was a shock to us when ['Virgin Witch'] came out. Our management at the time sucked and the best they could do was get me a co-writer credit."

John added that he has "never met Rob Zombie or John 5".

Back in 2010, shortly after "Hellbilly Deluxe 2" was released, Rob actually addressed the similarities between the two songs in an interview with Straight.com, explaining that his then-guitarist John 5 "accidentally" lifted the main guitar riff.

"If there's one thing I can guarantee, it's that John 5 is so phenomenally talented he's not out there stealing riffs from other bands," Zombie said. "But even he admits that you hear things that get locked in your head sometimes. He totally admitted, 'Ah, fuck. That sounds just like it. I don't know how that happened.'

"So we contacted that band [THE SWORD] immediately," Rob added. "We're not gonna bullshit people. You know, you write hundreds and hundreds of songs and you have so much music in your head that it happens all the time. It happened the other night, too. We were writing something and John was all excited about it and I was, like, 'John, I gotta tell you, that sounds exactly like this WHITE ZOMBIE song from 15 years ago.' So I played it for him and he's, like, 'Oh my God. It does.' You try your best not to copy things, but sometimes it happens. You can't get around it."

Back in 2009, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich performed "Freya" with THE SWORD at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany.

First conceived in 2003, THE SWORD hit its stride about a year later, when Cronise joined forces with guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Trivett Wingo for a much-raved-about appearance at Austin's famed SXSW festival. National touring stints with everyone from CLUTCH to indie rock darlings ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD followed, and by 2006, THE SWORD released its debut album, "Age Of Winters". From there, they went on to release five further studio albums; tour with the likes of METALLICA, LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM, KYUSS LIVES! and OPETH; and see their music reach millions through placements in the Guitar Hero video game series ("Freya") and the cult classic film "Jennifer's Body" ("Celestial Crown").
Not sure how to feel about this, but I also wasn't sure how to feel when he ripped off our song... https://t.co/pmq8WJlXVT

— John D. Cronise (@JDCronise) March 28, 2023


No but I'm credited as a co-writer because it sounds so much like "Freya". It's weird

— John D. Cronise (@JDCronise) March 28, 2023


It was a shock to us when it came out. Our management at the time sucked and the best they could do was get me a co-writer credit. I've never met rob zombie or John 5

— John D. Cronise (@JDCronise) March 28, 2023

HOW WE END, the new European crossover band established in 2022, featuring musicians from Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and Spain, has released its debut single, "My Fighting Heart". Check it out below. The song's accompanying music video will premiere on Thursday, March 30.

Joining vocalists Diva Satanica (ex-NERVOSA) and Jake E (CYHRA, ex-AMARANTHE) are guitarists Jen Majura (ex-EVANESCENCE) and Tom Naumann (PRIMAL FEAR),while Mitch Kunz (bass/synths) and Adde Larsson (drums) provide the "heavy groove."

According to a press release, HOW WE END delivers the perfect match of contrasting vocals that shape the band's style: melodic, heavy, no compromises. HOW WE END's music is a kickass blend of heavy guitar riffs and electronic programmed influences, growls and catchy singalong choruses.

HOW WE END will perform live for the first time at this year's 30th-anniversary edition of Rockharz festival.

The band is currently putting the finishing touches on its debut album and is planning on releasing two more singles.

Photo credit: Dirk Behlau

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A post shared by HOW WE END (@how_we_end)

New Wave Of British Heavy Metal stalwarts RAVEN will release their 15th studio album, "All Hell's Breaking Loose", on June 30 via Silver Lining Music.

The Newcastle pioneers, formed by the Gallagher brothers (bassist/vocalist John and guitarist Mark) and rounded out by drummer extraordinaire Mike Heller, have emerged from Heller's own Heaven And Heller Studios in Los Angeles with 10 crisp, visceral metal classics, each fused with riffs, twists, turns, chaos and more hooks than all the "Hellraiser" movies combined.

Among the standouts are lead single "Go For The Gold" with the redline pushed hard by a cavalcade of riffs and furious, percussive madness, yet behind it all a melodic journey that makes it multi-dimensional skull-crushing.

"'Go For The Gold' is our first single as it really represents the new album mission statement... 100% full-on RAVEN lunacy!!!!" enthuses John Gallagher. "If you've got an initial great riff, you just build from it. You try not to milk it to death. You want a good structure. You want a good verse with hooks, a good pre-chorus with hooks, a great chorus, and then you want little left turns here and there to spice it up. Otherwise it can sound boring. And if you have too many left turns then it turns into jazz fusion, so it's a funny line you gotta dance on to have structure but also the chaos part as well."

Title track "All Hell's Breaking Loose" twists and turns with accents and flavors buried inside the chaos. Meanwhile "Surf The Tsunami" sees Heller gatecrash your eardrums with a furious flurry of his own, before some supreme twister riffs bring on the full metal chaos; "Turn Of The Screw" bounces on the upbeats before smashing you with a thunderous chorus; "The Far Side" has as classic a metal riff as you'll hear in 2023; "Desperate Measures" is pure '81-saturated tales of hardship and despair, if you ever wondered what RAVEN at the Marquee were like on a sweaty metal night in '83; "Edge Of A Nightmare" is your portal to paradise, thundering as hard as the opener "Medieval".

What RAVEN have delivered with "All Hell's Breaking Loose" is permission for everyone to remember exactly what it's like to lose yourself in the healing aural waters of supreme heavy metal music, resplendent in sweat-soaked denim and leather.

"You got three guys with very strong, passionate, opinions," offers Mark, "and when those are brought together, it's a case of 'iron sharpens iron.'"

"We're very hard on ourselves," adds John, "it had to be 'all killer, no filler'. Absolutely every single part of every song had to make sense, had to mean something, and had to be there for a purpose."

"All Hell's Breaking Loose" will be available on 12-inch black vinyl, 12" limited edition green vinyl, CD digipak, tape cassette, digital formats and special D2C bundles.

Track listing:

01. Medieval
02. Surf The Tsunami
03. Turn Of The Screw
04. All Hell's Breaking Loose
05. The Far Side
06. Desperate Measures
07. Victory's Call
08. Edge Of A Nightmare
09. Invasion
10. Go For The Gold

RAVEN is:

John Gallagher: Lead Vocals, Bass, 12-String Bass
Mark Gallagher: Guitar, Vocals
Mike Heller: Drums

Dave Lombardo, one of the most influential, innovative and prolific drummers of modern music, has shared "Separation From The Sacred", the second single from his debut solo album, "Rites Of Percussion", which will arrive on May 5 via Ipecac Recordings.

The 13-track collection, previously previewed with the release of "Journey Of The Host", is the result of a 40-year career that saw Lombardo rise to prominence as a co-founder of SLAYER, earn two Grammy Awards, and expand his repertoire across genres. The Cuban-born Lombardo's resume includes outings with the acrobatic, Mike Patton-led FANTÔMAS, the critically revered John Zorn, experimental hip-hop artist DJ Spooky and the resurrected punk icons MISFITS.

"[Mike] Patton originally gave me the idea as far back as 1998," explains Lombardo. "He introduced me to Tito Puente's 'Top Percussion' album. I was already familiar with Tito and was a bit shocked that Patton was so musically diverse, and that he surrounded himself with musicians of the same mindset. That inspired me. I have had ideas that I've recorded on cassette over the years, but Patton kept insisting that I had to do a 'drum album.' So, the idea behind the album is years in the making. I just had to find the right time — for me — to do it."

"When the pandemic hit, I thought, 'Well, I can't tour now,'" he says. "I immediately started working on the record. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. I had my studio, all my drums. Nothing was in storage for once! My home became a place where I could be free and creative. On the one hand, the touring part of my livelihood had been taken away, but on the other, I finally had the time to educate myself on different software and recording techniques. It was a very educational and gratifying experience."

The recording process of the film score-like album had a simple mantra: drums had to be drums. Mixed in early 2022 by Lombardo's son, David A. Lombardo, the self-produced release features a large concert bass drum, a timpani, a grand piano, and a flock of shakers, maracas, Chinese and symphonic gongs, Native American drums, congas, timbales, bongos, batás, wood blocks, djembes, ibos, darbukas, octobans, cajóns, and cymbals.

"Rites Of Percussion" track listing:

01. Initiatory Madness
02. Separation From The Sacred
03. Inner Sanctum
04. Journey Of The Host
05. Maunder In Liminality
06. Despojo
07. Interfearium
08. Blood Let
09. Warpath
10. Guerrero
11. Vicissitude
12. Omiero
13. Animismo

Album pre-orders, which include CD, digital, and three vinyl variants: standard cigar smoke, indie retail exclusive blood sacrifice, and Ipecac-exclusive purple haze, are available now.

Dave Lombardo was born in Havana, Cuba, relocating to Los Angeles when he was a mere two years old. He began playing drums as a teenager, and co-founded SLAYER (and created the band's logo) in 1981. Rolling Stone, in their list of the "100 Greatest Drummers Of All Time," dubbed him the "Cuban speed demon, " Modern Drummer proclaimed him "The King," and Drummerworld gave him the title of "The Godfather of double bass." Lombardo's eye-popping resume includes over 100 studio albums/recordings and includes both recorded and live stints with GRIP INC., FANTÔMAS, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, DEAD CROSS, MR. BUNGLE, MISFITS, DJ Spooky, John Zorn, TESTAMENT, and most recently creating the soulful duo VENAMORIS, with his wife Paula.

Lombardo was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the group's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other bandmembers. He was later replaced by Paul Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001.

Shortly after his dismissal, Lombardo said that he discovered that 90 percent of SLAYER's tour income was being deducted as expenses, including fees to management, costing the band millions and leaving them with about 10 percent to split four ways. While he and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya hired auditors to figure out what had happened, Lombardo said he was never allowed to see any of the information obtained.

SLAYER played its last-ever show in November 2019 at The Forum in Los Angeles.

Lombardo rejoined TESTAMENT last year.

Photo credit: Ekaterina Gorbacheva

Jimmy Page has shared "The Seasons", a previously unreleased instrumental arrangement that eventually formed the basis for "The Rain Song" from LED ZEPPELIN's 1974 album "Houses Of The Holy".

In a message accompanying the YouTube release of the track, Page wrote: "My original idea for the opening tracks for 'Houses Of The Holy' was that a short overture would be a rousing instrumental introduction with layered electric guitars that would segue in to 'The Seasons', later to be titled 'The Rain Song'. Again there would be a contrasting acoustic guitar instrumental movement with melotron that could lead to the first vocal of the album and the first verse of the song.

"'The Seasons' was a memo to myself as a reminder of the sequence of the song and various ideas I'd had for it in its embryonic stage. I'd worked on it over one evening at home. During the routining of the overture now titled 'The Plumpton And Worcester Races', the half time section was born and the overture shaped in to the song, 'The Song Remains The Same'. These rehearsals were done in Puddle Town on the River Piddle in Dorset, UK.

"The first set of recordings were done at Olympic Studios with George Chkiantz. We then came to record at Stargroves, Sir Mick Jagger's country home, and, like Headley Grange, with THE ROLLING STONES recording truck.

"'The Song Remains The Same' was played on a Fender 12 string, the same one used on Becks Bolero, with my trusty Les Paul number 1 on overdubs in a standard turning. 'The Rain Song' was an unorthodox tuning on acoustic and electric guitars. On live shows, it became a work-out feature for the double neck."

Page had previously mentioned the demo of "The Rain Song" in a 2014 interview with Classic Rock, conducted around the release of the deluxe reissue of "Houses Of The Holy".

"I had a home demo of 'The Rain Song', but unfortunately the tapes have been lost. Which is a real bastard," he said at the time. "I literally had the full piece from beginning to end. I had the Mellotron idea and everything on it."

"Houses Of The Holy" features legendary tracks such as "The Song Remains The Same" and "No Quarter" while also showcasing the continuing evolution of LED ZEPPELIN's signature sound with the reggae-tinged "D'yer Mak'er" and the funk jam "The Crunge". The album has been certified diamond by the RIAA for sales of over 11 million copies.

Former IRON MAIDEN singer Blaze Bayley will undergo a triple, or possibly quadruple, bypass surgery following his recent heart attack.

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

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

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

Earlier today (Wednesday, March 29),Mark Appleton and Christopher Appleton, who handle the management and concert bookings, for Blaze's solo band, released the following statement via social media: We visited Blaze in hospital yesterday & first of all we're delighted to say we found him in excellent spirits, sitting up in bed. We of course had an update on his condition but also a really good chat & a laugh as normal. Blaze has certainly not lost his strength & sense of humour!

"Moving on from that he does require surgery & within the next few days (as soon as hospital capacity allows) he will be undergoing a triple (possibly quadruple) heart bypass. This is obviously not a small matter & we should expect that his recovery period will be many months. We will announce the impact on the tour diary once we've discussed with the relevant venues & promoters. Nevertheless, Blaze is looking ahead with optimism for a full recovery with good health & fitness, & the full benefit of the surgery & treatment.

"On behalf of Blaze & all of us in the team, we thank you so much for all the messages of love & support. It really has been incredible & Blaze is both energised & emotional in response.

"As most of you will understand Blaze is a completely independent artist & so the postponement of the current tour & future dates is a particularly big blow. For those of you that would like to help us get through this period we ask you to please buy merch from our webshop (probably items that you would have bought at one of the shows). Your support in that way would be very much appreciated by Blaze & ourselves as the management team. In the meantime, we have Blaze's blessing to work on ABSOLVA recordings & tour schedule as of course they are also hugely impacted by the current situation.

"We will keep you updated with developments as & when they happen."

The 59-year-old Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI", sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HEALTH UPDATE

We visited Blaze in hospital yesterday & first of all we're delighted to say we found him in excellent...

Posted by Official Blaze Bayley on Wednesday, March 29, 2023

In a new interview with Mexico's MB Live, ex-IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno, who underwent a long-awaited knee surgery in Croatia last September, was asked if it's true that his former bandmates covered the remaining costs of his operations and treatment. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The last part of it they did, 'cause I ran of money. [Laughs] It's been very expensive. 'Cause when I first got sick, I had to get medevaced from Argentina, which cost me a lot of money, 'cause I had to [be transported] in a private medical plane and all that stuff back. When I arrived in England, I only had 45 minutes to live, with sepsis and that. So they pumped me full of antibiotics. I spent eight months in hospital. So the last bit of the treatment, the band was really cool — they paid for the last couple of months' worth of treatments, which was good. I'll be forever grateful for that."

Asked if he still gets royalties for his recordings with MAIDEN and his other post-MAIDEN projects, Di'Anno said: "Yeah. I still get royalties. I've just signed a deal with Sony Publishing, so they're getting all my royalties back in to me now. I mean, I'm owed fucking millions. I won't have to worry about all that, 'cause people keep ripping me off. All these assholes coming out with different… There's been about four different BATTLEZONE CDs coming out in different formats and vinyl and stuff. I don't see any of that money. But now we will, 'cause we've got Sony Records and Warner Brothers behind us, which is great."

Last December, Di'Anno spent time in Split, Croatia recording an album with his new project called WARHORSE. The band was formed earlier last year by Di'Anno and two guitarists/authors, Hrvoje Madiraca and Ante "Pupi" Pupačić.

WARHORSE previously recorded three songs, two of which — "Stop The War" and "The Doubt Within" — were released in May 2022 as a special DVD single along with Paul's video message to all fans who bought the single and thus helped raise funds for his recent knee operation.

Di'Anno recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN — a self-titled effort in 1980 and "Killers" in 1981 — before being fired and replaced by Bruce Dickinson. He went on to front a number of other bands, including KILLERS and BATTLEZONE, and released several solo records.

The WARHORSE single marked Di'Anno's first music release after a seven-year hiatus due to severe health issues.

Di'Anno played the first show since his operation on October 1, 2022 at the Keep It True Rising II festival in Würzburg, Germany.

In December, Paul was joined by Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist and as leader of his own band FIREWIND, for three concerts in Greece, where they played songs from MAIDEN's first two albums, "Iron Maiden" and "Killers".

In May 2022, Di'Anno came face to face with MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris for the first time in three decades before the band's concert in Croatia.

Harris, whose group kicked off the 2022 leg of its "Legacy Of The Beast" world tour at the 22,000-capacity Arena Zagreb, came out before the show to greet a wheelchair-bound Di'Anno and chat with him for a few minutes.

After his friendly meeting with Harris, Di'Anno stuck around long enough to watch some of MAIDEN's performance before leaving near the end of the set to avoid a huge traffic jam after the show.

Also in May 2022, Paul played his first full solo concert in seven years at the Bikers Beer Factory in Zagreb. The show was filmed and parts of it will be included in a documentary about Di'Anno, to be directed by Wes Orshoski, co-director and producer of the acclaimed 2010 film "Lemmy" about the MOTÖRHEAD icon.

Helloween will return to the US and Canada this spring as part of their ongoing United Forces world tour alongside supporting special guests, HammerFall. In a new interview with Robert Cavuoto, guitarist Sascha Gerstner talks about the upcoming tour, the work and level of preparedness that goes into a world tour, what fans can expect in terms of visual enhancements at the shows, three songs he picked to define the Helloween live experience, and how technological advancements in sound have helped the band travel a little lighter. An excerpt from the chat follows...


Robert Cavuoto: So many bands use the three-guitar approach, Accept, Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper. What’s Helloween's approach to it?


Sascha Gerstner: "I think Maiden and Helloween have a lot of similarities because we both have had long, stable lineups. When Yannick Gers joined Maiden, it became a stable lineup. When Adrian Smith returned to the band, they wouldn’t fire Yannick because he was part of a stable lineup. That was the same idea for us. Before Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen returned, the five of us were a successful and stable lineup. We are family, so it made sense to stick together. We see Kai and Michael as great additions and welcome them back into the band. Other artists figured out three guitarists makes more sense. We have twin guitar melodies, and every time the two guitar players join in, we now have a rhythm guitar behind us. There is more energy in those parts live, just like on the albums. So it was for both the personal and musical side of things."




Robert Cavuoto: Sometimes, when several guitarists get on stage, it can be a wall of distortion and noise. What does Helloween do to make the guitars sound poignant and clear?


Sascha Gerstner: "It comes down to the style; each of us has our own sound and style of playing. Kai, Michael Weikath and I have the same roots in guitar players and influences. We have our own sound and sound different on stage. For instance, Weiki is more of a vintage guy. He grew up with the 60s and 70s music. He doesn’t play with much distortion and uses old Marshall Plexi sounds with only a little overdrive. Kai has a very tight and aggressive-sounding distortion. I’m somewhere in the middle. So these three sounds are a great combination. That’s why it sounds so well live as we are layering the harmonies. We took the time and figured that all out."


Read the full interview here.


Helloween's North American trek will commence on May 13 in Dallas, Texas and wind its way through a total of thirteen cities, the journey drawing to a close on June 3 in San Francisco, California.


Fans can expect an epic night of Helloween hits spanning the band’s legacy as well as tunes from their latest album, Helloween, marking the first time tracks from the album will be performed live for US and Canadian audiences.


Tickets are on sale now. Secure yours today, here. See all confirmed dates below.





Dates:


May
13 - Dallas, TX - The Factory
16 - St. Petersburg, FL - Jannus Live
18 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore
20 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
21 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
23 - Toronto, ON - History
24 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Hall
26 - Chicago, IL - The Riviera
27 - Minneapolis, MN - The Fillmore
30 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre


June
1 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl
2 - Los Angeles, CA - YouTube Theater
3 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield


(Photo - Martin Häusler)