PANTERA drummer Charlie Benante has shared front-drum-cam video of the "Suicide Note, Pt. 2" performance from the band's January 28, 2025 headlining concert at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Check it out below.

Joining the ANTHRAX drummer in PANTERA's reformed lineup are surviving members Rex Brown (bass) and Philip Anselmo (vocals),along with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY).

According to Billboard, the lineup was given a green light by Vinnie Paul and Dimebag's estates.

It was first reported in July 2022 that Anselmo and Brown would unite with Wylde and Benante for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Benante opened up about his participation in PANTERA's return during an interview with Australia's Heavy. He said: "We get people coming, we see them after the show, we see them during the VIP meet-and-greet things, and some of them are crying because it's a part of their youth. And they never thought they would hear these songs in this environment again. And it's the same thing for me. When I'm playing, I'm looking down at the setlist. I get excited about the next song coming up. It's good."

Charlie also addressed the negative comments he has received for his participation in PANTERA's comeback without Dimebag and Vinnie Paul. He said: "It's more important to — again, like I said a little while ago about hearing these songs again… Some of these people who were negative at the at the start of this whole thing, my whole thing was just, please shut up for a minute and just wait. If you don't wanna come, don't come. But if you do wanna come, and just come and then witness it, and then afterwards you can say, 'Fuck this. This was horrible.' But that hasn't happened. A lot of people are so positive about it and they enjoy it.

"There's no way I was gonna make this a bad, bad decision or a bad kind of vibe," Benante explained. "It had to be meeting my standards. It's gotta be killer. It's gotta sound like PANTERA. And that was it. There was a lot of homework that went into it. So for people to insult and say this, that, and the other thing, It's, like, well, that's not true. That's not true right there."

After one of the interviewers noted that most of the complaints center around the fact that the new PANTERA lineup is not "the real thing", Benante fired back: "What band is the real thing? What band is the real thing right now? Give me one band.

"Things happen. Life happens sometimes," he continued. "I went to see U2 about a month and a half, two months ago, and the drummer wasn't there. But I enjoyed the shit out of it anyway. It was just great.

"People online, they got those Internet balls and they have to talk shit. They can't exactly show any restraint. 'No, I have to push that 'enter' [key],' you know what I mean? It's, like, fuck you. Let me come to where you are. Let me just fuck with you all day."

During a February 2024 interview with "THAT Rocks!", the YouTube series hosted by Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson, Benante spoke about some of the criticism he has received for his involvement with PANTERA. He said: "People had their preconceived notions of what they were gonna think: 'Oh, I don't dig this without Vinnie and Dime.' And of course… What do you think? We don't know that Vinnie and Dime are not with us anymore? But when we start playing the songs and you just see the faces in the crowd, all that shit goes out the window, the negative stuff that has been said.

"Man, that's all I ever wanted to do, is just come and do this and make people hear these songs again," he explained. "And that's what it's all about, really. It's about the music."

Asked who was in charge of making the decision to use the name PANTERA for the new lineup instead of calling it a tribute or naming it something else, Charlie said: "It wasn't me. [Laughs] For us it was about the celebration of the music and Dime and Vinnie; that's what it was about since day one. No one called it a tribute; no one called it a reunion. It can't be a reunion. This is a celebration of the music of PANTERA. Come and enjoy It. And that's it. That's all could do."

Benante also talked about his personal connection to Dimebag and Vinnie, saying: "Yeah. I loved those two guys, man. You never think that certain things would ever, ever happen, and then when it does, you sit back and think, like, 'How did this happen so fast? How did this time just slip by?' And Darrell's been gone for a while now. But it doesn't change how we all miss him and feel him.

"Every show that we play… [Longtime PANTERA engineer, bass tech and friend] Sterling [Winfield], who used to work for PANTERA — still does, in a sense. The first show, he came to Mexico City and he brought me one of Darrell's wristbands and a pair of Vinnie's gloves that they used. And every show that I've played so far, I wear the wristband and Vinnie's glove is in my pocket because I feel like they're with me. And I do that for every show, and I'll continue to do that for every other show we play. It just has significance."

During an interview with Consequence, Benante addressed the negative comments he has received for his participation in PANTERA's comeback, saying: "I don't go [online] looking for [people's negative comments about it]. There's people that send me, 'Hey, did you see this?' And I'm, like, 'Why did you send me this? Why ruin my day?'

"I think the people who do these things, these comments, I don't even think they realize how much of an effect that they could have on people," he continued. "And whether or not you hate the situation, or whatever it is, why can't you find some sort of restraint? Why do you need to say this thought that you have? Can't you just hold it in and maybe be, like, 'I'll keep my thoughts to myself.' No, they've gotta tell you. I've never seen more of it in my life than I [did] in these past couple of months about just people judging."

Regarding his personal approach to playing the parts originally written and recorded by Vinnie Paul, Charlie said: "I just spent a lot of time on Vinnie's parts and more importantly the tone that Vinnie had because I wanted it to sound like PANTERA. That was my thing. And my drum configuration is different from the ANTHRAX one because I wanted to challenge myself to play those parts like he played them in that configuration, which, to me, was more important than anything. But yet people still have to find some problem in that."

According to Benante, the initial rehearsals for the PANTERA comeback tour were "an emotional thing" for Philip and Rex "too, because they hadn't played as a group, those two hadn't played together in a long time, playing PANTERA songs. Yeah, they played [together] in DOWN, but this was an emotional thing for them," Charlie said. "And I remember after the week of rehearsals that we did, saying goodbye was weird, because it was an emotional thing; we really kind of bonded, the three of us. Zakk wasn't there at the time. But for me, I knew I had done something right."

Up until his passing, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.

In a new interview with Musicfrenzy, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson spoke about the possibility of METAL ALLEGIANCE writing and recording a third album as the follow-up to 2018's "Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "METAL ALLEGIANCE, look, we're not only these all-star concerts that we give, but just as much, we've got two full-length records out. The guys also did a little 'Fallen Heroes' EP [without me] that I was on tour at the time [it was recorded]. But we've got some new material that we're working on now. We've already got our sights set on January 2026 for the next events and some new material coming along now. So that's exciting. So that band, it's not just an all-star band, it's also a recording group. We call it the 'core four' — me, [guitarist Alex] Skolnick [TESTAMENT], [bassist Mark] Menghi and [drummer Mike] Portnoy [DREAM THEATER] — we're the driving force of the creative, recording side of that."

Last month, Skolnick told RadioBypass about new METAL ALLEGIANCE music: "Yes. We've been talking about it for some time. It's always easier said than done, given everybody's schedules, but we're continuing to talk about it and I'm pretty sure that [2025] is the year we will get started on it. So I don't know what it's gonna look like, I don't know how it's going to compare to the past albums. Maybe we'll get our feet wet with an EP or a single — who knows? — but either way, we're gonna get started and see how it goes, probably later this [coming] year."

METAL ALLEGIANCE began as a celebration of heavy metal, powered by the almost tribal bond shared between the extreme music community's most revered trailblazers, armed with a list of contributors onstage (and off) that read like a Wikipedia entry on the genre itself.

Since METAL ALLEGIANCE's inception in 2014, the band is comprised of the core four members of: Mark Menghi on bass, Skolnick on guitar, David Ellefson (MEGADETH) on bass, and Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER) on drums.

Collaborative tribute experiences like HAIL! and METAL MASTERS eventually led to the founding of METAL ALLEGIANCE a decade ago.

The collective's raucous renditions of classic material from the likes of JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, OZZY OSBOURNE, THIN LIZZY, VAN HALEN and PANTERA in clubs, conventions and cruise ships inevitably led to the creation of an album of brand new material.

METAL ALLEGIANCE has issued two full-length albums so far, 2015's self-titled debut and "Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty", as well as an EP, 2016's "Fallen Heroes".

On January 23, 2025, METAL ALLEGIANCE performed at the House Of Blues in Anaheim, California. Joining the core four at the Anaheim gig were Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT),Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (OVERKILL),John Bush (ARMORED SAINT),Doc Coyle (BAD WOLVES, GOD FORBID),Brandon Ellis (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER),Marty Friedman (MEGADETH),Gary Holt (SLAYER, EXODUS),Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA),Jeff Loomis (ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE),Mark Tornillo (ACCEPT),Angel Vivaldi and more.

AEROSMITH singer Steven Tyler performed six songs at his sixth annual "Jam For Janie"Grammys viewing party on Sunday, February 2 at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California.

Tyler and EXTREME's Nuno Bettencourt opened with "More Than Words", joined by Mick Fleetwood, and went into "Dream On" with Lainey Wilson. AEROSMITH's Tom Hamilton and THE BLACK CROWES' Chris Robinson then joined Tyler and Bettencourt for "Sweet Emotion", "Walk This Way" with Jessie J, and "Heartbreaker". Tyler and Bettencourt also performed "Toys In The Attic".

Tyler's Grammys viewing party was sponsored by Janie's Fund, the initiative he created in order to bring hope and healing to girls and young women who have experienced trauma. More than 100 firefighters who battled the recent Los Angeles wildfires were also invited to the event through the Widows, Orphans And Disabled Firefighters Fund and Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.

Tyler said: "What the Los Angeles community has endured with these wildfires is unthinkable. Music has healing powers and we hope to bring a moment of joy and levity to our first-responder firefighters and those most affected by the fires. The trauma experienced by the girls we work with is also unthinkable and we will continue to shed light and support the amazing work of Janie's Fund."

The evening featured a red carpet, cocktail reception, dinner, live auction, and exclusive after-party benefitting Janie's Fund, as well as raise critical proceeds for the aforementioned fire organizations to acquire lifesaving equipment and resources.

Joining AEROSMITH as event chairs are Ace and Matt Sorum, Alice Cooper, Andrea Bocelli, Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross, Bill Maher, Bo Derek, Chris and Rich Robinson, Dolly Parton, Flavor Flav, Jane Lynch, Kayte and Kelsey Grammer, Lionel Richie, Melissa Joan Hart, Miley Cyrus, Nuno Bettencourt, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Sammy Hagar, Scarlett Johansson and Shep Gordon.

Last August, AEROSMITH announced that they were officially retiring from touring due to Tyler's vocal injury.

The legendary Massachusetts rockers made the announcement on August 2, 2024 — nearly one year after the now-76-year-old singer fractured his larynx during a September 2023 show.

Six months ago, Hamilton was asked by AARP how much hope AEROSMITH has of future activities on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "doubtful we'll do anything" and 10 being "Yes, we'll be doing something". The AEROSMITH bassist said: "On the hope scale, I'm somewhere between 7 and 9. We won't be doing any tours from now on, but I'll always have hope that other types of opportunities will come along. This isn't the first time black clouds have been on our horizon — and somehow the sun managed to come out. Time and hope are all we have at the moment."

But when asked about the possibility of AEROSMITH doing more Las Vegas residencies, Hamilton said that although he loved the band's time in Sin City, "I have doubts that there are any more in the future." He also seemingly poured cold water on the idea that AEROSMITH could record a new album, saying "so far there hasn't been any talk" about going back into the studio, 12 years after AEROSMITH released its last LP, "Music From Another Dimension!"

Despite the fact that AEROSMITH will never tour again, Hamilton said that he holds out hope he and his bandmates can keep AEROSMITH alive.

"Steven has a way of powering through challenges like this one," Tom said. "He's done it before. You never know. We won't be touring, but there are a lot of other ways to be and do AEROSMITH."

Earlier in August, Hamilton told Charlie Kendall's Metalshop about AEROSMITH's decision to retire from touring: "First let me start by clearing up some information on Steven's injury. We were playing the third show of our 'Peace Out' tour [in] September [2023]. During the third song of the set Steven had a fall that resulted in a fracture to his larynx. Somehow he finished the show. Don't ask me how. It's a testament to his strength and desire to give the people what they came for. It wasn't a case of him blowing his throat out by doing something wrong. He has been healing well and working his ass off to get ready to go back out on the road but it just wasn't possible. We don't know what the future holds but it won't include touring."

Asked how much of the decision to retire from touring was made by the management as opposed to the bandmembers themselves, Tom said: "The decision was made by the team which includes the band and our dedicated management."

Hamilton went on to say that AEROSMITH's "magnificent crew and everyone who works for the band were informed" of the band's decision "within a day or two."

Tom also shot down the possibility of AEROSMITH carrying on with another singer, as there had been talk about doing a decade and a half ago when AEROSMITH fell out with Tyler after a canceled tour and Steven's stated intention to work for two years on a solo project. Tyler subsequently entered rehab for an addiction to painkillers.

"There's been no talk at all about going on the road with another singer," Hamilton stated. "I can't imagine it."

In AEROSMITH's original retirement announcement, the band wrote: "As you know, Steven's voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury. We've seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side. Sadly, it is clear, that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible.

"We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision - as a band of brothers - to retire from the touring stage," the statement continued. "We are grateful beyond words for everyone who was pumped to get on the road with us one last time."

The band also thanked its fans for their constant support.

"Thanks to you, our Blue Army, that spark caught flame and has been burning for over five decades," the statement read. "Some of you have been with us since the beginning and all of you are the reason we made rock 'n' roll history."

"It has been the honor of our lives to have our music become part of yours. In every club, on every massive tour and at moments grand and private you have given us a place in the soundtrack of your lives," the statement continued.

The "Peace Out" tour came to a halt after what turned out to be a final gig in Elmont, New York on September 9, 2023. That show came just three dates into the trek, which was supposed to last through February 2024. Tyler said in a statement at the time that the injury caused bleeding but that he hoped he and his AEROSMITH bandmates would be back on the road after postponing a few shows.

The rescheduled "Peace Out" tour was due to begin September 20, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with special guests THE BLACK CROWES.

Tyler released a solo LP in 2016.

As previously reported, Hamilton's new band CLOSE ENEMIES has signed with TLG|ROCK for management and label services. CLOSE ENEMIES debut single, "Sound Of A Train", was released on January 17 and is being distributed through Virgin Music Group.

Joining the 72-year-old Hamilton in the new group his bass tech Trace Foster, who plays guitar in CLOSE ENEMIES alongside Peter Stroud, who has been playing with Sheryl Crow for 25 years. CLOSE ENEMIES' drummer is Tony Brock, who had a band called THE BABYS and then played with Rod Stewart for 12 years. Fronting CLOSE ENEMIES is Chasen Hampton, a performer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with a strong background in the country music scene. CLOSE ENEMIES is also working with "a great lyricist" named Gary Stier.

In an interview with Metal Magnitude at last month's Metal Hall Of Fame in Anaheim, California, ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz, who is vegan and straight edge, was asked if it's difficult for her to maintain her lifestyle while she is on tour. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've been touring for about 20 years and I've been vegan for 25 years and vegetarian before that, so I've definitely seen it become way easier. I've done it all across the world, with language barriers and cultural barriers and lack of time or money or transportation, and I'm still able to do it. So I have to say it is totally possible.

"Moby, obviously, is a well-spoken animal rights activist as well, and he's a friend of mine, and so he did this documentary ['Punk Rock Vegan Movie'] sort of diving into the connection between the punk mentality and, by extension, the metal mentality and veganism. And I think it's a really cool aspect and an interesting facet of the movement."

Apart from her musical acclaim, Alissa is a passionate advocate for animal rights. She has been vegetarian since birth, and vegan since the 1990s, and her dedication to animal rights is evident in her collaborations with various animal welfare organizations and her outspoken stance on issues related to animal exploitation, aligning her musical career with a fervent commitment to creating awareness and promoting compassion for all living beings.

Alissa's distinctive blend of artistry and activism has garnered widespread acclaim, earning her recognition as a trailblazer in the realm. As an influential figure in both the metal community and the animal rights movement, White-Gluz remains steadfast in her commitment to creating a more compassionate and just world for all beings.

During the 2023 edition of the Tuska festival in Helsinki, Finland, Alissa was asked by Kiki of the "Bleeding Metal" podcast if her activism is part of her identity. Alissa responded: "Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I am an activist before I'm a musician even. That's really what drives me forward every single day, is hoping that in some way my existence on this planet can make it a little bit better for everybody else who is currently existing on the planet and who will exist in the future. And that's first and foremost animal rights."

Asked if she would describe that as her purpose in life then even, Alissa said: "I don't know if people have, like, a purpose in life. I think it's nice to think that we do. I don't really know if we actually do. I think someone's purpose in life can just be whatever they attach themselves to — you know, whatever drives them forward. It doesn't have to be some big grandiose thing. But with that definition, then yes, I would say that it's my purpose. Yeah."

As for what her activism entails, Alissa said: "For me, I mean, I don't look at it as a job or something that I can really detail out because if I did, I would do that and not this. So it's really just… Deep down inside, I love animals. I think it's amazing that we share this planet with so many different, uncountable species in the sky, in the water, on land, these amazing creatures. They look different than us. They have different abilities than us. I mean, a fish can just live underwater; we would drown. You know what I mean? Like, just even simple things like this. A bird just flies. They just jump off a building and then fly. I still have this childlike awe over animals that can do this. And I think it's so sad that we have built an industry that doesn't care about that and actually only cares about profiting off of exploiting animals. And so as much as possible, I like to just show people that you don't have to take part in those industries. You can actually still have all the things that you wanna have in life — everything that you like; your food, your makeup, your whatever — you can still have all those things without involving animals at all. And now, actually, I've been more and more involved in the tech space when it comes to this. So there's some really cool innovations happening in the tech space when it comes to the future of food and also just reducing animal testing."

In 2022, during a question-and-answer session at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany, White-Gluz was also asked if it's difficult for her to maintain her lifestyle while she is on tour. She responded: "It super easy, actually, because I still party; I just don't intoxicate myself when I do it. But if other people wanna do that, that's their choice — it's up to them. Smoking, I'd like them to stay away 'cause I don't wanna breathe that in. But otherwise, it's really, really easy, actually. It's not even something that I think about. And actually, we have… In our tour bus, in our band and crew, I'm not the only sober one and I'm not the only vegan either, so I'm surrounded by a lot of different kinds of people and we all get along beautifully."

Two years earlier, White-Gluz explained why being vegan is definitely metal, telling the Mercy For Animals Facebook page: "So, I've been vegan for over 20 years now. I was vegan before I ever started in music. I've never eaten meat in my life. I grew up in a completely vegetarian household, so going vegan was just like the logical next step. And when I started doing music, there was nothing that I wanted to talk about more than animal rights. And so I was now using this heavy, passionate form of music to sort of convey a message that I wanted to. When I'm screaming in my band, I feel like I'm screaming for the voiceless. And I can't imagine being that loud if I had nothing to say.

"Being female, being vegan and also being straight edge in the metal world is just a combination of targets on my forehead that make it really easy for me to get singled out or pushed around," she continued. "But those are just things that are so much a part of who I am that I couldn't change them even if I wanted to. And I wouldn't — I wouldn't change for anyone.

"In my opinion, metal is all about rebellion — it's about carving your own path, thinking against what everyone's trying to make you think," Alissa added. "And veganism is the ultimate form of rebellion, because you are literally taking things that people have told you are normal that deep down inside you don't think are normal that you've been conditioned to accept about your day-to-day tasks, like eating or what you wear or what you choose to buy. Everyone says that that's normal, that you need to exploit other living beings for those things, but you don't. And so taking a stand against that is what veganism is. And that is really metal."

GOJIRA was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 67th annual Grammy Awards, which is being held tonight (Sunday, February 2) at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center) in Los Angeles, California. GOJIRA was nominated for "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!)" — a version of the French Revolution-era standard "Ah! Ça Ira!" — which the band performed at last year's Olympic Games opening ceremony.

Last July, GOJIRA performed a surprise rendition of "Ah! Ça Ira" alongside opera singer Marina Viotti as well as a number of beheaded figures representing the slain Queen Marie Antoinette. The performance took place outside the Conciergerie, a former prison and residence of French kings during the French Revolution where Antoinette was held before she was beheaded in 1793.

The nominees in the "Best Metal Performance" category were as follows:

* GOJIRA, MARINA VIOTTI, VICTOR LE MASNE - "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!)"
* JUDAS PRIEST – "Crown Of Horns"
* METALLICA - "Screaming Suicide"
* KNOCKED LOOSE (feat. Poppy) - "Suffocate"
* SPIRITBOX - "Cellar Door"

The 67th annual Grammy Awards are being broadcast live on the CBS television network and streamed live and on demand on Paramount+.

Before the awards, final round voting took place from December 12, 2024 to January 3, 2025. The Recording Academy's voting members, composed of music creators, including artists, producers, songwriters, and engineers determine the Grammy winners across all categories revealed on Grammy night. This thorough process underscores the integrity of the Grammy Awards as music's only industry-recognized, peer-voted honor.

This year, the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, introduced several key updates to the annual Grammy Awards process, including adjustments to eligibility criteria and category renaming, which will all go into effect immediately at the 2025 Grammys.

Fans can also look forward to the debut of the "Harry Belafonte Best Song For Social Change Award", which was recently renamed and recategorized in honor of the late entertainment industry icon and social justice champion Harry Belafonte.

All these changes are designed to enhance the integrity and inclusivity of the Grammy Awards and reflect the Recording Academy's commitment to supporting and progressing the evolving music industry.

The Academy's total membership is over 16,000 members, of which more than 13,000 are voting members.

The eligibility period for the 67th annual Grammy Awards is September 16, 2023 through August 30, 2024.

The Recording Academy reportedly received 20,000 entries across 94 categories.

The Grammys voting process begins with members and record companies submitting entries, which are then screened for eligibility and category placement.

In a new interview with V13 Media, PAPA ROACH guitarist Jerry Horton was asked what fans can expect from the band's upcoming twelfth studio album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Man, I feel like I've said this before, but because we worked with different producers — it was like a group of three to four different guys — and we did a few songs each, so it's very diverse. There are some things that are really experimental, and it's kind of all over the place, but there's so many great moments and riffs and hooks and beats and all of it. That's really as far as I can go to describe it. You're gonna have to hear it."

Last month, PAPA ROACH frontman Jacoby Shaddix spoke to Audacy Check In about the band's latest single, "Even If It Kills Me", which was made available on January 22 via the group's own label New Noize Records/ADA. He said: "It's just got such a cinematic feel to it and it's just got the big riffs that we are known for. And it's got a hooky chorus. I really love the chorus. And it's just one of those songs that when I heard the demo, when the band wrote the music, I just instantly picked up the phone, I called [PAPA ROACH bassist] Tobin [Esperance]. I'm, like, 'Dude, I don't even have to think twice on this one. It's go time on this track.'"

Jacoby continued: "When we land on those moments when we're making music, when I just know there's an inner knowing, there's something magic in that. And it sets a tone for then what's to come and what we're gonna write after that. And we kicked it off with this one and it just was so inspired. It was the first song that we wrote after we had been touring on our last album, [2022's] 'Ego Trip', and it was the first one that we went back into the studio and we were, like, 'All right, let's start writing music again.' And it seems like when we've kind of been out there working and playing songs live and been out on tour and hadn't been writing new music in a while, it's like when the levee breaks, and it's just this flood. And that's what happened when we wrote that song, and we're so proud of it. And I've gotta tell you, just wait till you see the music video for this one, 'cause it's leaps and bounds levels up of what we've done lately with our music videos. And I'm so excited about this one."

Asked if there is a new PAPA ROACH album on the way, Jacoby said: "So we've been in the studio throughout 2024 working on a bunch of music, and we have songs in a lot of different states. There's songs that are completely finished. We have other songs that are like verses and choruses, and we've gotta write maybe a bridge or get back there and kind of retweak 'em and work 'em. And so they're in all these different states. There's another couple of songs that are just acoustic guitar and vocal, and it's, like, 'All right, this one's gonna be a banger. We've just gotta go in there and, like, bandify the song.' And so we have a ton of material demoed out. And so throughout this year, we're just gonna keep jumping back into the studio and finishing up those pieces. Management's going, 'Let's try to hit it later this year.' And I'm, like, 'I wanna release music throughout the whole year.' And it's going to lead up to an album eventually. Whether it's the end of 2025 or early 2026, there will be a new PAPA ROACH album."

He continued: "The music we're making right now is very inspired and it's got us all pumped up. When you go back in the studio, you just don't know what's gonna come. And after we wrote 'Even If It Kills Me', I'm just, like, 'Oh. It's on. Let's go.'"

Shaddix also talked about PAPA ROACH's musical evolution, saying: "We have definitely come a long way since 1993. And over the last six months, I've kind of been diving back into the old early, early, early releases of PAPA ROACH 'cause I just was doing some purging of things from my home and just clearing stuff out. And I found all these old demo CDs of early iterations of 'Last Resort' and stuff well before that. And just kind of seeing where we started as a band and where we're at right now is definitely… We've grown so much, and to be as inspired as we are these days, it's exciting. Being this deep into our career and still making music that feels current — it feels like we're pushing the bar, honestly, and raising the bar, and to be doing that, I'm grateful for it. And it's a testament to our passion to this craft of what we do. And also, I think for us, our willingness to shake things up and try working with different producers and seeing how they reflect the mirror back at us and we break this thing down and we build it back up. And yeah, man, I'm fricking stoked where we're at right now, especially we're on the precipice of one of our biggest tours throughout Europe, and I'm just, like, 'We turned up over here.' It's gonna be good."

PAPA ROACH's just-launched "Rise Of The Roach" tour sees the band bringing its biggest-ever production and journey deep through their vast music catalogue, including a celebration of the 25th anniversary of their iconic breakthrough album "Infest". Special guests for the global tour include WAGE WAR in Europe and RISE AGAINST and UNDEROATH in the U.S.

PAPA ROACH has also charted Top 15 for the first time at U.S. Hot AC with "Leave A Light On (Talk Away The Dark)". Earlier this month, the track and campaign were recognized in the 2025 Clio Music Awards, where it received a Bronze award in the category of Social Good.

In a recent interview with Germany's Rock Antenne, Shaddix stated about PAPA ROACH's new material: "We're really proud of the stuff that we've done. And I think the fans will be surprised. As we evolve the music and push things forward, you never know what's gonna happen in the studio. And I've gotta tell you, what happened in the studio this time around has been just exciting.

"We've had a really good run with our [last] album, 'Ego Trip', and a lot of successes, especially here in America as well, as well as Germany, we've had some great successes on that record, and it's just been one of those records that our fanbase has been really excited about. And so we're taking that momentum and going back into the studio and creating again, it's been a really good feeling."

In November 2024, Horton was asked by The Mistress Carrie Podcast if the experience of making PAPA ROACH's upcoming album was different to the way he and his bandmates went about making "Ego Trip". He responded: "I would say that maybe the experience — well, definitely the experience was different, 'cause we kind of bounced around different producers, different studios, but I think the energy is the same. We're still fired up about it. And the first song coming is — it's a banger. It's heavy, catchy — it sticks in your head, for sure. And the record is diverse, just like the last one. It's experimental and it's emotional, it's dynamic. I think even though the experience was different, it has more in common with the last record than not."

In October, Shaddix told "The Jasta Show" about his band's plans for new music: "We've been getting in the studio for the last five months. I'd say probably about 10 days a month we're together. We'll go, write, create, step away, trip out on what we created and finetune it the next time. And now we've got seven or eight songs. And the first kind of go-around for us, we went in… 'Cause our current single, it's an acoustic song; it's very heartfelt. And we're, like, 'All right, let's flip the script. We need to go write the heaviest P-ROACH we possibly could ever write. Let's just go see what that sounds like. Let's go experiment in the studio.' And so we've done that a few times over, and some of the stuff that we're… We've drop tuned some of the stuff. We're messing with some of the tunings, which then adds even a heavier element to it. And you know I love heavy music. It's something that is in my blood as well. I'm a fan of many styles. And it just feels natural to wanna lean into that heavy sound for us right now. And I'm excited. I feel inspired about creating."

PAPA ROACH are two-time Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling leaders in alternative hard rock music, who in 2025 are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their iconic album "Infest". PAPA ROACH are not unfamiliar with calling attention to mental health and have been doing so since the seminal release of their first hit single "Last Resort". Since then, the band has gone on to create 10 studio albums, their most recent, "Ego Trip", on their own label New Noize Records.

Photo credit: Bryson Roatch

Prepare to descend into the abyss! At Bloodstock Open Air 2023, Triptykon unleashed a powerful and sinister performance of “Into Crypts Of Rays”, a track that pays homage to their Celtic Frost roots. Renowned for their signature fusion of doom, gothic, and black metal, the band crafted an otherworldly atmosphere that captivated metalheads and transported them into the darker, mythic realms of their sound.

Taking the Ronnie James Dio Stage on Saturday, August 12th, 2023, Triptykon performed as special guests in support of the evening’s headliners, the progressive metal giants Meshuggah. The band’s slow, crushing riffs, ominous melodies, and frontman Tom G. Warrior’s iconic growls created a stark contrast to the electrifying chaos of other festival acts. The audience was pulled into an oppressive soundscape, where the primal roots of extreme metal were both celebrated and reimagined.



After an extended period of frantic inactivity on the recording front, Swiss/German avant-garde extreme metal group Triptykon convened in the summer of 2024 to focus on the completion and recording of material for the band’s long-awaited fourth album.

The album is scheduled to be released by long-time music industry partners Century Media Records/Sony Music Entertainment in 2025. For this purpose, Triptykon (via the group’s own label Prowling Death Records) signed a new, vastly enhanced licensing agreement with CMR/SME on 1 June 2024. It is likely that an EP or onstage glimpses of Triptykon’s new music will precede the album. The album will again be produced by V. Santura and Tom Gabriel Warrior.

In light of the fact that Triptykon was established as the direct successor to Celtic Frost, there also exists an emblematic undertone to these sessions, as they are taking place exactly 40 years after Celtic Frost commenced work on that band’s debut album, Morbid Tales.

Laura Guldemond, vocalist for Swiss heavy metal force Burning Witches, has shared a cover of the Iron Maiden classic, “The Trooper”, featuring bandmate Courtney Cox.

For more videos and exclusive material go to Guldemond’s official Patreon page.



Burning Witches bring back the vibe of ’80s heavy metal and update their powerful force with renewed sonic clarity on their new maxi-single, The Spell Of The Skull, out via Napalm Records. With screaming guitars, the Swiss band is back for a heavy metal blast session in the snow.

With The Spell Of The Skull, they curse audiences with two new songs from their latest conjuring of witchcraft. Witchqueen Romana Kalkuhl hypnotizes your mind with her melodic riffs, while diabolic priestess Laura Guldemond conquers your soul with crowd pleasing shouts.

The stunning single “Mirror, Mirror” has been released alongside an official lyric video. The track opens with a virtuous intro that shows the band’s true witchcraft, especially when it comes to creating catchy and hypnotizing guitar riffs. Laura Guldemond, on the other hand, impresses with her incredible vocal range and distinctive style of singing. This new onslaught satisfies all supporters of the fast and unholy forces.

Only a few years after their foundation, these five witches had already performed at fully attended shows at the biggest and most important festivals of the entire metal universe, like Wacken, Summer Breeze and Rock Harz Open Air in Germany. After five attention-grabbing albums, Burning Witches prepare for another attack in 2025.

Watch the lyric video for “Mirror, Mirror” below.

At last month's NAMM's "Ultimate Jam Night", Lloyd Grant, the guitarist who played on the original recording of the METALLICA song "Hit The Lights" in early 1982, reflected on how he hooked up with the legendary heavy metal act more than four decades ago. He told Reality Check TV (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " Well, I don't think METALLICA wants to say I am an original member because the band weren't really formed then. It was, like, I was looking for people to play with and we had a magazine, or a weekly [publication] that comes out on every Thursday, and Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] put an ad in and I answered the ad. And we started jamming and so forth."

Back in 2015, Grant told the "Rockzone Legends" show about how he first got involved with METALLICA: "There's a lot of different versions of what happened. My version is, me and Lars were jamming down there in Orange County, California, and we jammed with a few people, and we were looking for other people to jam with. And we met through… they had a weekly newspaper down here called the Recycler, and we met through that. And that's how it started."

He continued: "We were playing for a long time, and he came down to my place, my apartment, once, and he kept asking me to come by and jam with the band, but I was really busy doing other stuff. And I went down and played with them… me and him and James [Hetfield, METALLICA guitarist/vocalist]; just the three of us. James was playing bass and I was playing guitar and Lars was playing drums. And we rehearsed that 'Hit The Lights' song. But way before that, Lars let me hear that song. We were hanging out watching soccer, and he says, 'Hey, I met this guy,' blah blah blah, 'and he's exactly what we wanna jam with.' And he played this one song, and it was great, and that's how I first was introduced to 'Hit The Lights'. And after that, I went over and jammed a few times. Then he called me and said they were gonna be on this compilation album ['Metal Massacre'] and he brought over a tape of 'Hit The Lights' recorded on a four-track and asked me to make some solos for that, and they were gonna bring the four-track down and they were just gonna put it out an dump it on the compilation album."

Grant also talked about what it was like joining METALLICA on stage at the Fillmore in San Francisco as part of the week-long celebration of the band's 30th anniversary in December 2011.

"Yeah, it was one of the greatest experiences of my lifetime, man," he said. "I went up there, and all these rock stars are showing up — Ozzy [Osbourne], Geezer Butler… Everyone was totally well known and rock stars on the same stage that I was gonna play on that night, so that was a pretty wonderful experience. And those guys worked really hard on that stuff. I mean, they'd get there in the morning and they'd play all the songs they were gonna play in the set and they'd go over them several times. They'd start rehearsing in the morning, and they'd stop just before the show start[ed], so they worked really hard. So more power to them. They worked pretty hard. And not only that And not only that — they were really hospitable, and it was a great experience, to be honest. A really good experience."

In his "Metallica Unbound" book, noted hard rock journalist K.J. Doughton wrote about Grant's brief time with METALLICA, "Lars and James decided, with only hours to go before the 'Hit The Lights' demo was due for submission [to be included on Metal Blade Records' 'Metal Massacre' compilation], that a second lead by a second guitarist would be essential! Lars knew a Jamaican guitarist named Lloyd Grant who was available. So, on the way to Hollywood's Bijou Studio where Brian Slagel [Metal Blade Records head honcho] was already finished mixing the other 'Metal Massacre' tracks, the band screeched into Grant's driveway, lugged the four-track into his front room, and watched him churn a second lead break. The 'Hit the Lights' recipe was now complete."

"I remember we had this four-track recorder," explained Hetfield, recalling the last-minute struggle. "It had tracks for drums, bass, guitar and vocals. Because there were no vocals in certain parts of the song, we could punch a lead in on the vocal track. I remember we wanted to get another solo on, so we stopped by Lloyd's house and hooked up some little fuckin' amp and just ripped through a solo. It was the first take. We went into the studio and that solo ended up on the record. It's a fuckin' great solo, man!"

Although many stories claim Grant was actually a member of METALLICA, James maintains that this single, slapdash encounter was the only time he was involved with the band. Other associates remember that Grant was a talented Delta blues player who had a knack for tasty leads. "He could play leads like a motherfucker," said James, "but his rhythm stuff was not very tight."

The second and third pressings of "Hit The Lights" for "Metal Massacre" included Dave Mustaine and not Grant.

Germany’s greatest export, Scorpions, have released a live performance of the Crazy World classic “Send Me An Angel” from France’s Hellfest 2022.



More footage from the band’s Hellfest 2022 appearance can be viewed below:











Scorpions recently announced “60th Anniversary – Coming Home” a unique concert experience in their hometown, Hannover, Germany, on July 5, 2025. The show will include special guests, including Judas Priest.

Niklas Kvarforth’s pioneering black metal institution Shining has announced two brand-new albums, Live In Transylvania and Beating Belgium Black And Blue. These official bootleg recordings will be out on March 17. Preorders are available at Shining Legions.



Live In Transylvania captures a ritual held in 2009 and boasts a perfectly curated tracklist:
“Intro I”
“Eradication Of The Condition”
“Yttligare Ett Steg Närmare Total Jävla Utfrysning,”
“Submit To Self-Destruction”
“Vilseledda Barnasjälars Hemvist”
“Intro II”
“Besvikelsens Dystra Monotoni”
“Neka Morgondagen”



Beating Belgium Black And Blue presents listeners with Shining’s phenomenal 2016 performance at Graspop Metal Meeting, where the powerhouse played the following classics:
“Vilja & Dröm”
“Framtidsutsikter”
“Människa O’Avskyvärda Människa”
“Submit To Self-Destruction”
“Låt Oss Ta Allt Från Varandra”
“For The God Below”

Music enthusiasts should also be aware that Shining, in conjunction with Kvarforth’s label The Sinister Initiative, recently released another pair of masterpieces: The Helsinki Tapes, consisting of the previously unheard Redefining Darkness demos, and Feberdrömmar (Del Ett), the expanded reissue of the celebrated 8 1/2. Feberdrömmar (Del Två), which showcases five new tracks by five surprising guest vocalists, will drop later this year, also on TSI.

Kvarforth has not only been serving up audial atrocities, but both the perfected 2024 and 2025 versions of his literary weapon, When Prozac No Longer Helps, have been printed and are currently in stock at Shining Legions. All copies of these limited offerings are signed and numbered in Kvarforth’s blood.

In a new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, LACUNA COIL singer Cristina Scabbia reflected on her guest appearance on MEGADETH's reworked version of the song "À Tout Le Monde", retitled "À Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free)", which was included on the latter band's 2007 album "United Abominations". She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I remember that, basically, we didn't meet before the recording. All I had was the original version that I already loved. So I had to create from scratch harmonizations and embellishments. I worked with [producer] Andy Sneap. I remember that I stayed [at his studio in the United Kingdom] for a couple of days. I arrived in the evening. I spent one day of recording. Everything that I had in mind, or Andy had in mind, which is, like, okay, 'Let's do this. Let's do that. Let's do this.' And so we gave all the recorded material to Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader] and MEGADETH, and then they did the mixing the way they wanted to. But I basically re-sung exactly what Dave was singing. I did all the harmonizations. I did some 'oohs' and 'ahhs' without really knowing what they wanted from it because the communication was made through mails. My management asked me to sing with them. I said immediately 'yes' because it was a such a cool experience and a privilege and I love that song. But then after a while I just went to Los Angeles and they were filming the video. and that's exactly when we met for the very first time. The video was filmed in two days. I did all my filming in the second day, and the first one was the band performance. So I went to the place where they were filming and I started to talk to Dave and he was super cool, super kind. And then we went on tour a couple of times together."

Regarding what he impressions of Dave were after meeting him for the first time and spending time with him, Cristina said: "It was so crazy, especially because I didn't know what to expect because many people left different ideas of Dave. So I was just, like, 'Oh my God.' I was almost afraid to meet him. And he was a sweetheart, super gentle. I remember the first day on tour with him, he left a bottle of champagne with a a note, 'Thank you for being on tour with us.' He was super, super nice. We asked him to take a picture with all the band and he was happy to do it.

"I remember that he only got pissed with me once because I remember that he threw a party after one of the gigs," she continued. "It was just, like, 'Okay, let's organize it.' I think it was a margarita party, something like this, for all the group, all the tour, all the bands. He just wanted to create an event that would bring us all together. And I remember that there was metal music blasting. But after a while, I got tired because I love metal music, but, to me, party music, it's other type of music sometimes. So I was just, like, 'Okay, let's change a little bit. Let's put' — I don't know — 'some music from the '70s and or some disco music,' and he just looked at me, like, 'I'm so pissed.'"

Cristina added: "But he gave me one of his guitars to thank me for singing a song with him. I remember that he came with two guitars. One was the Angel Of Death and the other one was a guitar with the old artwork of 'United Abominations'. And he asked me to choose. And I was just, like, 'I am in one album, but the other one is the Angel Of Death.' And I was looking so close. I was just, like, 'I will go for this.' And he was, like, 'Yeah, but it's not really working. You have to set it up' because there was something wrong with it. I was, like, 'I don't mind. I will never sell it. I will never touch it. It will be there in my house forever.'"

"À Tout Le Monde", which originally appeared on the 1994 CD "Youthanasia", has created controversy because the song was cited in an online post by Dawson College killer Kimveer Gill as one of his favorites before his Montreal shooting spree in September 2006. Mustaine contended that he wanted to give the song a second shot at success, as the original video for it had been banned by MTV, and most radio stations followed suit. The track ended up featuring Scabbia after "the first singer didn't work out," Mustaine told Straight.com, "the second one didn't work, and the third one was Lisa Marie Presley. She was on the way to the airport, and we had to call and say, 'Sorry, we changed our minds.' I would have loved to have heard what Lisa Marie Presley would have done, but because of the demographics of the LACUNA COIL fan base, and Cristina's reign in the heavy-metal business, it was the right thing to do."

Cristina commented at the time: "[Dave Mustaine] actually asked me to be part of this duet, and I was really surprised about it because 'À Tout Le Monde' is a song that I've always loved, even if it's not like the new [version] because [the original song] [was released on] the album 'Youthanasia'. It was a big surprise for me to get this invitation — I was really honored to be part of it. And seriously, when I heard the final result, I was awesomely surprised 'cause I think that the two voices are fitting incredibly [well together]. I think that the version of 'À Tout Le Monde' 2007 has a stronger attitude. If the original version was for the mellow mood, this one is way more rock, way more powerful. I totally love it. I was surprised myself, and I think that a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised.

"It was recorded, like an hour from Birmingham [England]. So I flew in and recorded my parts with Andy Sneap. He's [Andy] an amazing guy — super professional — and the atmosphere in the studio was so relaxed. It was like a family vibe, and I think that's the most amazing thing when you have to work. You can work and still smile, you know, and be relaxed.

"I tracked the entire song because we weren't really sure what we had to do, so we just wanted to be totally sure, so we recorded all the parts that Dave sung with some improvisation with it, double vocals. We basically made anything possible, so they could pick up whatever they wanted to."

"United Abominations" was released in May 2007 via Roadrunner Records.

Today, House Of Lords share a new single, “Cry Of The Wicked”, from their latest album Full Tilt Overdrive, the band’s twelfth studio album, available via Frontiers Music Srl. The album is produced by vocalist James Christian and keyboardist Mark Mangold and is an inspired collection that proudly stands among the best in the band’s repertoire. The new single, “Cry Of The Wicked”, is accompanied by a music video available to view below.

About the song, vocalist James Christian states: “Drowning in the tears of the innocent, you hear the ‘Cry Of The Wicked’—retribution unleashed for evil deeds.”

House Of Lords stands for superb hooks and majestic atmospheres that bring back the memories of their stellar debut album, monumental guitar riffs, and a production to die for. All of these ingredients you will find in abundance on Full Tilt Overdrive.

Watch the video for “Cry Of The Wicked” below:



House Of Lords is now formed by the legendary singer James Christian – the sole member who appeared on all the band’s albums – guitarist Jimi Bell, who has been with the band since their return with World Upside Down, the charismatic keyboardist and songwriter Mark Mangold (Touch, Michael Bolton, Drive, She Said) along with Swedish drummer Johan Koleberg (Lions Share, Ignition, Therion). This is the same lineup that appeared on the previous album Saints And Sinners. however they are now definitely more gelled and have produced a more focused and extremely ambitious new album with no weak points.

With plans to bring these new songs to stages across Europe and the States, House Of Lords continues to be a driving force in the hard rock scene.

Order Full Tilt Overdrive here.





Full Tilt Overdrive tracklisting:

“Crowded Room”
“Bad Karma”
“Cry Of The Wicked”
“Full Tilt Overdrive”
“Taking The Fall”
“You’re Cursed”
“Not The Enemy”
“I Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye”
“Still Believe”
“State Of Emergency”
“Castles High”
“I Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye” (Acoustic Version) Bonus Track Japan

“Castles High” lyric video:

Motörhead have released the video below, a performance of “Overkill” from BBC’s Top Of The Pops in 1979.

“Overkill” appears on Motörhead’s album Overkill. Originally released on Bronze Records on March 24, 1979, produced by Jimmy Miller. The lineup on this album was Lemmy, Fast Eddie Clarke and Philthy Animal Taylor. This was their first appearance on BBC’s Top Of The Pops from March 9, 1979.



Motörhead, the multi-generational soundtrack and lifestyle for millions worldwide, celebrate their 50th year in 2025, and in honour of this historic milestone, a series of releases and events will take place throughout the year.

Having played live to millions of fans, and sold over 25 million albums in their career, the Grammy-Award winning Motörhead are as popular as ever as their golden jubilee commences. In 2024, the band enjoyed a brand new UK top 10 single in October with “Lawman”, racked up over 320 million streams globally, numbered 20 million listeners on Spotify, and garnered over 112 million views on YouTube. And starting with a very special release to be announced in May, the year 2025 will be a celebration that confirms Motörhead is For Life and Lemmy is Forever.

“It’s incredible to know that our music, and all it stands for, continues to resonate with so many people,” says guitarist Phil Campbell, “of course we’re enormously grateful to still be appreciated like we are, and truthfully, the music remains as vital and important as ever because there’s a unique energy and honesty to it that we will all always need.”

“It’s a remarkable story, the connection we have with our fans can only be described as family and it’s so exciting to see the family still growing,” says Mikkey Dee, “But it also makes sense, because people know who we are and what the music is about. Motörhead has always stood for doing it OUR way, it’s timeless, and continues to inspire people to take that path.”

Kicking off the celebrations will be special 50th anniversary, limited vinyl editions of Motörhead’s breakthrough albums; Overkill, Bomber and Ace Of Spades. These are all cut as half speed masters, pressed as special colour configurations and all include an exclusive poster and released on February 28. Pre-order here.

Then on May 8, International Motörhead Day, a very special Lemmy Forever ashes event will take place – the unveiling of a Lemmy statue in his birthplace of Stoke-On-Trent. The sculptor of the piece is renowned British artist Andy Edwards (who has previously done statues of The Beatles, Bob Marley, and The Bee Gees among others), and Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell will place the ashes and lead the celebrations.

“This new statue of Lem is special, not just because I share the same birthplace as him or because of how much he personally means to me, but because it’s so important to have a permanent international landmark celebrating him where he was born,” says Edwards. “Lemmy gave me joy, confidence in myself, and energy, and he’s also an avatar of the original spirit and power of Rock n Roll. I really hope it will become a meeting place for people from all over the world to take the journey to.”

“To be able to see Lemmy further immortalized in his place of birth by Andy’s amazing statue is a huge deal,” says manager Todd Singerman. “This man left the building 10 years ago, yet he remains not only with us, but is even more popular than ever. It’s because Lemmy stood for honesty, integrity, inclusion, and making the greatest, loudest rock’n’roll possible. Let’s face it, there is only one Lemmy and the world continues to celebrate him and his music loudly and proudly.”

There will be plenty of other celebrations happening throughout the year, so keep your eyes and ears peeled… and remember… THE ONLY WAY TO FEEL THE NOISE IS WHEN IT’S GOOD AND LOUD! MOTÖRHEAD FOR LIFE – LEMMY FOREVER

For all things Motörhead, check out the band’s newsletter here.

In a recent interview with Australia's Wall Of Sound, TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy was asked when fans can expect to see the band's follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We don't have a date yet, but we're hoping the end of the first quarter, going into the second quarter. So definitely before we get to Australia [in June 2025], I would think. Definitely the single should be hitting. We start mixing it in January sometime. So, as soon as the label has an opening and things line up, we'll get it out there. But it's coming out really good. We worked on it for probably the last year or so with Chris [Dovas, TESTAMENT drummer], a lot with Chris. Eric [Peterson, TESTAMENT guitarist and main songwriter] and Chris got a lot done and came up with some killer stuff, man."

When the interviewer noted that Dovas came into TESTAMENT as the successor to some of the best drummers in heavy metal, including Dave Lombardo (SLAYER) and Gene Hoglan (DARK ANGEL, DEATH, DETHKLOK),Chuck said: "Well, I'll give him props. He's right up there with all those guys, man, because he's coming in young, new-influence chops, too, and adding a different dimension to TESTAMENT. That's why I'm excited about the writing, because he, I guess, inspired Eric enough to just write some pretty kick-ass, balls-out stuff, but a little bit around it of everything. So it was a really good writing session on this record… Eric had such a good writing session, he's already talking about after this [European] tour with ANTHRAX and KREATOR, starting [in] early [2025], they're gonna get together and just start writing more songs. Just keep chugging forward. And [2025] is gonna be a little slow. We're not going to Europe [this] year. We're gonna just probably have one headlining tour at the end of the year, and that's about it. Maybe a short run in America. We'll see. So we have a window to do a lot of jamming. So hopefully we can get some more songs written and get ahead of another record."

In November, Billy told Australia's The Rockpit, about TESTAMENT's upcoming LP: "Well, this [album is] gonna be very special. I think I'm more excited about this one, just because of the fact — the timing of everything. I'm a big person believer in things happen for reasons. And Chris Dovas jamming with us and having a lot of time to come up and spend with Eric at Eric's place, just jamming, coming up a lot of music and working on it hard and tracking it at home and doing demos. And I could tell, when I first started getting the songs and the riffs sent, that it was something different. It's still Eric and I recognize it, but he was being pushed and inspired 'cause Chris is a very fast, aggressive drummer, and I can tell that it just inspired Eric just to be Eric and play guitar instead of trying to think about building a song or making a song — 'Let's just jam.' And that's the kind of way they approached it. And next thing you know, they had 10, 11, 12 jams that were sounding pretty strong, but individually identified just different vibes. And I was, like, 'Okay, this is what it is.' And then, as it just built vocally and everything, that's when we were kind of, 'Wow. It just feels fresh and new and challenging again. Vocally, for me, I've got a wide range of tones on this one — I'm screaming again, which I haven't done that a lot on a lot of records in the past, but a lot on this one. And we are still writing for ourselves, but we're still excited that when we write a song, how it hits live, and that's always been the payoff, is do these songs we write in the studio hit live like we want 'em to? And that's the fun part."

Earlier in November, Billy was asked by Jaimunji if the new TESTAMENT LP will be a throwback to some of the band's early records or if it will once again be a step forward for the band. Chuck said: "I think we've always evolved. We never like to go backwards. These songs, definitely the old classic stuff, 'The Legacy' and 'The New Order', that's where we came from, those are the first songs we wrote, so definitely that's who we are, but we always wanna evolve. We don't wanna do something we've done. But I will say the new record, we're very excited for it 'cause Chris Dovas, the new drummer, it's probably the most a drummer has worked with Eric writing material, and it shows.'

He continued: "The songs are very strong, very heavy, very fast. We've got a little of everything. We've got some mid-tempo, but really crushing fast drums. I would even say that we went and put — I don't wanna say the word 'ballad', but it's a very slow, old classic TESTAMENT vibe, like 'Return To Serenity', that we had the confidence and the song is there that we wrote. This record, we're fired up 'cause, to me, it sounds modern. That's the one thing I've gotta say. It's TESTAMENT but modern-sounding, just because I think Chris, he shifts another gear on the songs. I mean, he just puts it to another level as far as the drum playing and inspiring Eric to what he's doing. And it actually opens up the doors for me, challenge-wise, to not just take it the easy way out. I've really had some challenges — a lot more screaming death metal, mid-tempo clean vocals. I'm doing a little bit of everything. So that's the fun part for me and the challenging part, is to make it all work."

Billy also confirmed that one of the new TESTAMENT songs will be a duet with Jansen. "Yeah, I reached out to her," he said. "Me and Floor became friends maybe under 10 years ago. Me and her, Joey Belladonna [ANTHRAX], Udo Dirkschneider [ex-ACCEPT], we all did this Christmas performance show through Europe. And we were singing our songs, but with a Christmas theme with an orchestra. And so we all traveled together and became friends. And she's a powerhouse of a vocalist. Great voice. And when we wrote the song and the lyrics, first thing I thought was, 'Okay, this song, it, it needs a strong girl's voice,' and, of course, Floor is the first one that came to mind. And this song, it's gonna be pretty epic. We're gonna put a string section on it, acoustic guitars. It's gonna have a lot going on, but it's a really, really beautiful song. It's really deep. And with Floor, it's kind of me and her kind of singing the lyrics kind of to each other, and the meaning of the song and what we're saying, it's kind of, like, I'll say my part and she's answering me through the vocal. So it's gonna be very strong, very cool. And I can't wait to hear what she's gonna do on it… We haven't sent it to her because we haven't laid down the acoustic guitars yet for it, but the song's done. I tracked it all. I tracked her parts. And I wanna wait till she hears it for the first time with the acoustics and get the vibe — I want her to be in the vibe once she gets it… And Alex has a connection to some guys that are gonna do the strings on it, who played on some huge records, so what we've heard so far, it's pretty cool."

Billy told Metal Express Radio's Bryce Van Patten about how TESTAMENT's songwriting process has changed since the band's early days in the late 1980s and 1990s: "Oh, it's night and day. Before, back then, we all lived the same place, we all had to go to the same studio, where now it's by e-mail, sharing the songs. Everybody has home studios to work out demos. Definitely a different writing process, but still Eric is one of the main writers. And ever since we brought in our new drummer, Chris Dovas, he's been here two years — he was 24 when he came into the band; he's 26 [now]. But he's a smart kid. [He] graduated [from] the Berklee [College] Of Music. [He] knows theory [and is] great in the studio with Pro Tools. He's really into modern bands and new and upcoming stuff, and he's got an old soul so he knows the history of the music. But I think him working hand in hand with Eric as long as they did, he really pushed Eric and drove Eric to get challenged. And I wouldn't say 'copy', but I think Chris and what he listens to and the style Eric likes, it brought an influence to the new songs."

Regarding the musical direction of the new TESTAMENT material, Chuck said: "To me, the new songs sound current, they sound fresh. They're touching what a lot of new upcoming bands are making good names for themselves are doing. So, again, it's raising the bar one more time. And I think when fans hear this record, especially new, younger fans are gonna go, 'Whoa. That's TESTAMENT. I know the TESTAMENT I know from 30-something years ago and grew up with, but what is this?' I'm excited for that because I wanna hear what people think. I'd love to see the expression of them hearing it for the first time. That would be great, because it does sound new and modern and fresh, even though we're still being challenged."

Asked if he and his TESTAMENT bandmates have more freedom to do whatever they want now than they did when you were on a major label like Atlantic, Chuck said: "Totally. When we were on Atlantic, that was a big machine. They had an A&R department, they had the radio department, they had tons of departments, tons of money, and they were always influenced by how well their big-selling artists were, which were radio bands and they were pushing radio. So that A&R guy would be whispering in our ears, 'What's the next radio song?' And we're thinking, "Well, we're not a radio band. That's not us.' And even to this day, when I hear some stuff like [on the SiriusXM channel] Ozzy's Boneyard or something, they play ballads by us, and it's, like, that doesn't represent us, but that represents that era in thinking maybe of what TESTAMENT did or what they chose to expose us to the public, which it's misrepresenting us. So, yeah, the freedom's huge now, especially being with Nuclear Blast as long as we have. There's no deadline. It's just, 'When you're ready, you have a record, give it to us.' And that's been really nice. And the beauty about this record is that usually we have Andy Sneap mix our record, so we usually write a record and give it to him and then it's done, written in stone, can't go back. But this record, we had to pick a somebody to mix it, which wasn't available till early next year, January. So we decided, 'Okay.' We tried to get all the tracking done before we went to Europe this June or July, and we got most of it done."

This past September, Peterson told Brutal Planet Magazine that TESTAMENT had tapped Swedish producer Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, KREATOR, PARADISE LOST, SOILWORK and AMON AMARTH, among others, to mix the band's upcoming studio album. Peterson said about the LP: "It's, like, 90 percent done. And it's gonna get mixed by Jens Bogren. He's a producer from Sweden, and he's done — God, he's done KREATOR, he's doing the new BEHEMOTH right now, he's done IN FLAMES, ARCH ENEMY. A lot of European bands. We usually work with Andy Sneap, but he's [the touring guitarist] in JUDAS PRIEST and he's just, like, 'Bro, I need some time off.' It's a good switch, though. I think Jens will do a good job. And yeah, there's a lot of crazy stuff on this record. I'm excited for everybody to hear it."

In August, Billy told Oran O'Beirne of Overdrive.ie about the musical direction of the new TESTAMENT material: "We always try to outdo ourselves or make a better record or write better songs. It's always a challenge for ourselves, and I think this time we really took a long time to create the record. We kind of got everybody in the same room to really go through the songs and kind of put their two cents in to the arrangements. I think by having Chris — he's a younger drummer, a really great drummer — but I think he brought you know a new fire to Eric in the writing process. And I believe because we're going on 37 years of making records, it's kind of full circle right now. We're kind of inspired by new generation, I guess, of music and metal. And Chris is a big part of that. He's a big fan of that. So I think he inspired Eric just to write some really aggressive, fast, creative riffs. And it really inspired me to really push myself to try to do a little more screaming, death vocals, melodic stuff. We even went as far as writing — I don't wanna say 'ballad', but it's something really catchy that's really slow that's something we haven't done in over 30 years. So I think just the overall songs and the confidence in the writing this time really is gonna stand out on this record."

In June 2024, Chuck told Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone about the lyrical themes covered in the new TESTAMENT songs: "[It's] not as focused [on], like, the aliens, creating mankind and that kind of stuff, but there is some of that. There's a lot. Each song definitely has its own identity lyrically. And again, we're writing stuff that is real, that happens with the environment; we're singing about that again. A.I., we're singing stuff about that. That's a big thing. So, there's always an inspiration for songs. I think it's a little easier. There's so much going on in our world to write about now. It's a crazy world today, so there's a lot of stuff to talk about. And I like singing about what's real and what's going on instead of some fantasy lyrics, because, for me, I think when I sing 'em, I have more conviction, I believe in 'em a little more. And maybe it's easier for me to remember the lyrics live. [Laughs]"

Naming specific tracks, Chuck said: "There's a song, 'Havana Syndrome', which is about the Havana Syndrome. People, look that up. There's 'Infanticide A.I.', which is another song going A.I. direction. And there's actually a slower song. We haven't done a slower song. I'm not gonna say 'ballad', but I'm gonna say a slower song that has a lot of groove and soul, called 'Meant To Be'. And it's like a classic TESTAMENT-type ballad, I guess, if you wanna use that word. But we've got a little bit of everything, but, again, I think it's really sticking to TESTAMENT, having to have some melodic stuff, even though there's some really brutal lyrics and real brutal, more of a death voice. I still put the hook in with more of a melodic hook or something. It's still classic TESTAMENT. If you listen to it, you'll go, 'That's TESTAMENT, but a little more octane to it.'"

Also in June, Chuck told Canada's The Metal Voice that he writes most of TESTAMENT's lyrics with Del James. "Del, he works with GUNS N' ROSES," Chuck said. "He's been working with them and wrote with them a long time ago. I think he had big hits like 'November Rain' with them. And we've been working [together] for over 20 years. So I always go down and work with him because I come up with a lot of the ideas and concepts, but he really interprets and gets the right words, how to say what I'm thinking. And we work fast. When we get together, we'll knock out like two songs in a day. So we don't mess around. We get there, say hello to each other, we sit down and we go right to work. It's about what we do."

Max Blok (Alkaloid, Dark Fortress) has joined dutch death metal legends, Pestilence, as their second, full-time lead guitarist after the departure of Rutger van Noordenburg. The band is currently working on its tenth studio album, Portals, expected to be released in June via Agonia Records.

Rutger van Noordenburg has been with Pestilence from 2019 to 2025. During that time, he recorded one full-length album with the band – 2021’s Exitivm – and the best-of album, 2024’s Levels Of Perception.

On his departure, Rutger van Noordenburg comments: “Dear all, my time with Pestilence has come to an end. It is time for new musical adventures. I would like to thank the guys in the band and the management, especially Patrick for his awesome high speed train I was able to board for the last 6 years. We played countless shows in many countries and I feel very fortunate for all the memories created, all the friends made and all the fans out there. It has simply been an amazing experience being welcomed by fans and friends around the globe and experiencing it all with a great bunch of guys.”

Rutger’s duties will be taken over by Max Blok of Alkaloid and Dark Fortress fame. “Stoked to share that I’m now part of Pestilence,” Max comments. “Big thanks to Patrick, Michiel and Roel for having me in the band. I’m eager to explore the new paths ahead and see what the future holds.” Patrick Mameli adds: “We are very exited to announce, that Max Blok is taking over the second (lead) guitar spot in Pestilence. Wow, that went fast and smooth. Now, back to business: Portals, our upcoming album, is targeted for June 2025.”

Pestilence was established in the Netherlands in 1986 and is considered to be a genre-defying, progressive death metal phenom, who paved the way alongside Death, Cynic and Atheist. The group is led by founder, guitarist and mastermind Patrick Mameli (pictured at top), who’s been the band’s binding factor through two breakups and reunions. Both a reinvention and a confirmation of everything the band has been standing for since 1986, Pestilence is more than ever breaking new grounds and exploring the further outposts of extreme metal on Exitivm (2021) – their last album, which landed on several Billboard charts, most notably including Billboard 200. In recent years, the band remastered & reissued its classic catalog (feat. Mallevs Maleficarvm, Consvming Impvlse, Testimony Of The Ancients and Spheres), released a re-recorded best-of album Levels Of Perception, and announced Portals to be the title of its next studio album, which is nearing its completion.

Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, bassist Krist Novoselic and guitarist Pat Smear reunited at last night’s (January 30) “FireAid” benefit concert, held at the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum venues in Inglewood, CA in support of victims of the California wildfires.

In place of their late singer, Kurt Cobain, the Nirvana members were joined by guest vocalists, including Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, St. Vincent, and Grohl‘s daughter, Violet.

Their performance, which took place at the Kia Forum, included the following songs:

“Breed” (with St. Vincent)
“School” (with Kim Gordon)
“Territorial Pissings” (with Joan Jett)
“All Apologies” (with Violet Grohl and Kim Gordon)

The event, which also featured Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, and others, was livestreamed across the internet, and you can watch below. Donations can still be made at fireaidla.org.

British Pioneers of down-tuned epic sludge rock, Raging Speedhorn, return with the brand new single, “Every Night’s Alright For Fighting”, taken from their new album, Night Wolf, set for release on March 6 via Spinefarm.

Speaking about the video, the band stated: “We all love the late 80’s/90’s wrestling era (the Golden age) and this is a video we have wanted to film for a long time. Finally, we wrote ‘Every Night’s Alright For Fighting’ and we knew this was the song straight away to pay homage to some of our childhood heroes of the squared circle. The song itself embraces the more classic Speedhorn sound, and we’re stoked to finally release our tongue in cheek tribute to the masses. We hope you all like it! Oooooh Yeahhhh!”

Watch the video below.

Night Wolf is an album that perfectly captures the magic Raging Speedhorn have been concocting over their 25-year plus career. Flitting between sludge, crushing doom and high-energy dirt-fuelled rock ‘n’ roll riffs, the sextet have matured like a fine wine and honed their craft to a new level.

Featuring ten tracks of ferocious, riff-centred metal that’s packed with strength, power, and, ultimately, song-driven groove, Raging Speedhorn are once again ready to provide an antidote to mediocrity and pedestrian radio-rock.

Recorded with Russ Russell (Napalm Death, At The Gates, Dimmu Borgir) at Parlour Studios in Kettering, UK, the relationship between RSH and Russell has been honed over many years – he has produced the Pledge Music-released “Lost Ritual” and “Hard To Kill”.

The band’s drummer, Gordon Morrison, comments: “Russ really captures what we want to achieve and understands the band. We always work well together and, frankly, I wouldn’t want to record with anyone else at this stage.”

Night Wolf is the first album to feature new guitarist Daf Williams who joins founding members Frank Regan (vocals), Gordon Morison (drums) and mainstays Jim Palmer (guitar), Andy Gilmour (bass – who also plays with UK post-hardcore legends Hundred Reasons) and second vocalist Dan Cook. This reinvigorated line-up sees Raging Speedhorn not only capture the spirit of the band’s DNA but push their own musical boundaries and swagger into new uncharted territories.

Night Wolf tracklisting:

“Blood Red Sky”
“Buzz Killa”
“The Blood Code”
“Can’t Stop”
“Every Night’s Alright For Fighting”
“Night Wolf”
“DOA”
“Comin’ In Hard”
“Dead Men Can’t Dance”
“Dead Reckoning”

In a new interview with This Day In Metal, DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie discussed the band's decision to reunite with Mike Portnoy in October 2023, 13 years after the drummer first left the progressive metal titans. Asked if it's fair to say that his face-to-face meeting with Portnoy in March 2022 "was maybe one of the last dominoes to fall before the classic DREAM THEATER lineup reunited", James said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, for sure. When Mike and I met — you're referring to our initial meeting at the Beacon Theatre [in New York City] when we were playing there and he came out to the show. But, yeah, that was somewhat the catalyst that really kind of busted the door wide open with the possibility that we could all start really thinking about. Is this something that we should be seriously considering, a reunion? And things inevitably did lead to that, but I think there were some precursors, like Mike had already done [DREAM THEATER guitarist] John Petrucci's solo album, then he did his solo tour, then he also worked with John and Jordan [Rudess, DREAM THEATER keyboardist] on the latest LIQUID TENSION [EXPERIMENT] album. So all these things were kind of just slowly but surely ensuring that he was walking through the door of being back in the fold."

James continued: "[Mike] coming back in, though, when it actually did happen, it was very natural. There was no — I don't know — feelings of whether or not, 'Hey, is this really gonna work? Is this gonna be what we remember the band as?' And if there were any apprehensive feelings, that just definitely was never a part of it. To be quite honest with you, I joke around, in some of the interviews I've said it felt like Mike went out for a coffee and he came back and we just started writing. But it was very smooth, seamless. And we were joking a few times, saying stuff like, 'Oh my God…' Because once you actually get into that environment and you start writing the album, you start remembering the chemistry that was almost palpable. And it was within the first day or two days of starting to write [the upcoming DREAM THEATER album] 'Parasomnia', we were joking around, we were laughing, it was, like, 'Oh my god. I remember that, that whole interaction, that whole analytical approach to the songs and how they slowly but surely evolve into a complete composition.' So it was all this familiarity going on, going, 'Oh my god. That's exactly the way it used to be. This is where we are today, but it doesn't seem that we've missed a step.' So it was extremely effortless, so to speak. It was just doing what we know how to do when the five of us get into the studio."

The progressive metal legends played their first concert with Portnoy in 14 years on October 20 at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom.

The drummer co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with Petrucci and Myung. Mike played on 10 DREAM THEATER albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010. Portnoy returned to DREAM THEATER in October 2023 after being replaced by Mike Mangini, who played with DREAM THEATER across five studio albums and accompanying world tours.

London marked the kick-off concert of DREAM THEATER's 2024-2025 40th-anniversary tour. The European leg of the trek — presented as "An Evening With Dream Theater" — ran through November 24 in Amsterdam, hitting cities in numerous countries along the way.

Portnoy told "Coffee With Ola" about how it feels to be back in DREAM THEATER after a 13-year absence: "It feels great. I mean, it's funny because for the whole world, they're just starting to see the reunion now, but we've been together for a year behind the scenes. So it's been over a year for us behind the scenes and making the new record, but it's only now in the past couple weeks since the [40th-anniversary European] tour began and since the first music video [from the upcoming DREAM THEATER album] came out that people are actually seeing us back together again. But for us, it's, like, it's old news… It is exciting, though. And you could feel the excitement and the love and the emotions at every show. And every night James welcomes me back on from stage. And it's been overwhelming, the amount of love and everybody being so welcoming back and everything."

DREAM THEATER's sixteenth studio album, "Parasomnia", is due on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP marks the band's first release with Portnoy since 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".

Regarding what it felt like to be writing and recording with DREAM THEATER again, Portnoy said: "To be back with these guys, it feels really special. It feels like family, really, honestly. John and me and DREAM THEATER bassist] John Myung have been playing together almost 40 years at this point. We formed the band when we were teenagers and met at college, the first month of college. So, for us, it's deeper than just being in a band together. We've been through life together. We met our wives together, our wives played in a band together, we ad our families at the same time, we've been to the funerals of each other's parents and siblings and things like that. So, we've been through all these life experiences together. It goes beyond just the music for us. All that being said, it also, at least to me, felt like no time had passed. It did not feel like 13 years. Once we started writing together, it felt so natural and so fresh. 'Night Terror' was the first thing we worked on, and it just came out so naturally. There wasn't much thought needed to go into it. It was, like, 'Okay, here we are where we just left off.'"

"Parasomnia" was produced by John Petrucci, engineered by James "Jimmy T" Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returns once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.

For the past 40 years, the Bay Area thrash pioneers, Heathen, have abided by their never-say-die attitude. The Heathen brand of intelligent yet aggressive thrash appealed not only to the genre’s core demographic but also to metal fans looking for brains behind the brawn. On March 14, the band will release their newest offering Bleed The World: Live via Nuclear Blast Records.

Bleed The World: Live features songs from each of the band’s albums, including recent tracks such as “Sun In My Hand” and “The Blight” as well as classics such as “Hypnotized” and “Goblin’s Blade”, mirroring the band’s crushing live setlist. Today, Heathen offers fans the first single with a live music video for the track “Sun In My Hand”.

Heathen comments, “We’re beyond stoked to announce the Bleed The World: Live album! We recorded both the band AND the audience at every show on our ‘Bleed The World’ tour to capture a true live experience in audio form. The most powerful performances of each song were mixed for the album and the results are incredible. Can’t wait to share this with everyone to enjoy while we get ready to head into the studio for another dose of Bay Area thrash!”

Stream “Sun In My Hand” here, and watch the video below.

Recorded in several cities across the United States during the 2023 ‘Bleed the World’ tour, Bleed the World: Live is the perfect audio representation of the Heathen live show. Produced by guitarist Kragen Lum and mixed by Zeuss, Bleed the World: Live transports the listener into the concert hall with a crystal-clear yet heavy production and captures the interaction between the band and the audience that makes every Heathen live show special.The cover artwork by Travis Smith depicts a steel Heathen logo piercing the bleeding Earth, held by a hand that encapsulates the world tour as a moment in time.

Pre-order / pre-save Bleed The World: Live here.



Bleed The Earth: Live tracklisting:

“This Rotting Sphere” (Live)
“The Blight” (Live)
“Empire Of The Blind” (Live)
“Dying Season” (Live)
“Set Me Free” (Live)
“Sun In My Hand” (Live)
“The Heathen Horde” (Live)
“Goblin’s Blade” (Live)
“Hypnotized” (Live)

“Sun In My Hand” (Live Video):

Emerging melodic death metal force Til The End has unleashed their latest music video for “Cemetery Trees”, the third single from their upcoming EP, Dark Kings, due out March 7.



Formed in 2023, Til The End brings together an impressive lineup of seasoned musicians: vocalist Antony Hämäläinen (Nightrage, Armageddon), guitar virtuoso Kostas Sotos (Mystic Prophecy, Crystal Tears), drummer Márton Veress (Orgy, Armageddon), and bassist/rhythm guitarist Nic Svensson (Slaves For Scores).

Recorded at Swede Studios by Svensson, Dark Kings captures the essence of Scandinavian melodeath with a modern edge. “Cemetery Trees” showcases the hallmarks of the genre, including galloping percussion, melodic riffs and an anthemic chorus. Earlier singles, “Dark Kings” and “Higher And Beyond,” highlight Sotos’ penchant for killer riffs and Hämäläinen’s energetic vocals.



Tracklisting:

“Higher And Beyond”
“Dark Kings”
“Cemetery Trees”
“Sip Of Sadness”
“Ur Ningirsu”
“The Sumerian”

In an interview with Metal Magnitude at last month's Metal Hall Of Fame in Anaheim, California, former FEAR FACTORY frontman Burton C. Bell spoke about his plans for the coming months. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've released three singles in the past year and a half. I'm doing one song at a time with videos, just pushing it that way. And I've got some new music. I'm mastering a new song right now and working on vocals, recording vocals for another song right now. I have some plans, but I've got some new music on the horizon very soon."

Asked if he has assembled a band for studio work and for touring purposes, Burton said: "I have a band put together — a great bunch of guys, all local to [Los Angeles]. They're in — I wouldn't say well-known bands, but they are in very well respected bands in L.A. And I love these guys. I curated these guys for the past two years.

"So I've got some new music, working on currently," he added. "And that's how it's working. I'm very happy. It's just moving forward."

In a separate interview with Reality Check TV conducted on January 24 at this year's NAMM convention in Anaheim, Bell stated about his future plans: "I've got new music coming on the horizon under my own name, Burton C. Bell. I've got a great band behind me. I've got a new master today that I approved of. So I've just been releasing singles instead of an album — so I'm just releasing singles. And the next song is a banger, dude. It's a banger. People are gonna be stoked."

Asked about possible live shows in support of his new music, Burton said: "I'm working on some tours. I do have a tour I'll be announcing in February — not in the States, unfortunately. But I'm gonna announce a tour in February."

Regarding why there hasn't been a U.S. tour announced yet, Burton said: "I've gotta do it right. It has to be the right package to present myself properly the way I wanna be presented. 'Cause now that I am in control, I'm gonna do it the way it should be done."

Video of Bell's December 13, 2024 concert at The Regent in Los Angeles, California as the support act for GOD FORBID can be seen below.

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

Backing Bell at the 1720 gig were guitarist Henrik Linde (THE VITALS, DREN),drummer Ryan "Junior" Kittlitz (ALL HAIL THE YETI, THE ACID HELPS),bassist Tony Baumeister (ÆGES) and multi-instrumentalist Stewart Cararas.

When the 1720 concert was first announced, Burton called the gig a "historic event" and vowed to perform "new songs and classics spanning my career."

In August 2024, Bell released a new solo single, "Technical Exorcism", along with the official Don Pancho Films-directed music video for the track.

In March 2024, Bell, who released his debut solo single that same month, "Anti-Droid", was asked by Knotfest's "Nu Pod" podcast if he has an entire album's worth of material ready to come out. He responded: "No. I'm working on individual singles at a time. I do have a record's worth of music. But I'm adopting the hip-hop strategy where instead of coming up, releasing a single and then the whole album comes out a couple of weeks later, and then a couple of weeks later, when that album is out, the momentum of the single and the whole record just kind of slows and becomes sluggish and just almost crashes. So I learned watching hip-hop artists and other artists as well, [where] they would just release a single at a time, keep that momentum, keep that spotlight on them and just release a single every few weeks and just keep that momentum going."

He continued: "In this day and age, the short attention span of the masses is very apparent. There's this old saying in economics, less is more — supply and demand, less is more. So if you just feed 'em just a little bit at a time, they wanna hear more. And that's where the interest stays. They're compelled to keep listening. 'Oh, he's got something else coming out. Oh, he's got something else coming out.'"

Bell went on to tease his next single, which he described as "heavy", "groovy" and "dark. It's more uptempo. It's got more guitar in it," he revealed. "And it's gonna be awesome. I've got a couple of guest artists on this next track that it's gonna be sick. I recruited Paul Ferguson again, and I've also recruited Norman Westberg, guitar player from SWANS. SWANS is one of my favorite bands of all time and it's a band that influenced not just me but NEUROSIS — a lot of bands — GODFLESH."

"My new music is an amalgamation of everything I've ever done, and I'm gonna basically put it all together into this package and just see what happens," he explained. "And the live show, it's gonna be heavy, it's gonna be groovy. And I wanna create a vibe. I really do."

When "Anti-Droid" was first released in March 2024, Bell said in a statement: "I'm starting my solo career. I'm working with different producers and co-songwriters, making music that I love, with full control of the music and creative direction."

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

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

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

Bell said "Anti-Droid" is "a statement about breaking free. Breaking the bonds of what I felt was a prison in many ways. Not just financially or contractually but creatively, as well. I felt constrained to this format we'd written ourselves into. The 'factory' doesn't have a capital F. It's the factory of the music industry, a certain form of business, and priorities. Being a slave to an established way of thinking is not really freedom. I am moving forward."

The 55-year-old Bell had been largely inactive on the musical front since officially announcing his departure from FEAR FACTORY in September 2020. At the time he said that he could not "align" himself with someone whom he did not trust or respect, an apparent reference to FEAR FACTORY founding guitarist Dino Cazares.

During an appearance on a May 2023 episode of the "Home Is Where The Dark Is" podcast, Bell reflected on his musical journey so far, saying: "I've had a lot of incredible ups in my career, a lot of incredible high points. I've had some devastatingly low points. But for me, this is all I wanna do.

"I consider myself an artist — multifaceted, but first and foremost I'm a musician; I'm a singer. So I wanna keep continuing that," he explained.

"I love performing on stage. I love being out in front of the crowd. I love the energy of the audience, and I miss it completely."

"I am making plans — I'm making steps to get back onstage."

In March 2023, Bell was asked by Joshua Toomey of the "Talk Toomey" podcast how it felt to see FEAR FACTORY going out on tour with someone else singing the parts he originally wrote and recorded with the band. He responded: "It doesn't affect me at all. To be honest, I haven't been this happy in a long time. More power to them, but I'm just moving forward in my own life, my own career, and I'm just trying to make a name for myself."

Asked if he has checked out any of the videos on YouTube of FEAR FACTORY performing with his replacement, the Italian-born singer Milo Silvestro, Bell said: "No, I don't. I don't care to."

Burton went on to say that he doesn't mind being asked about FEAR FACTORY despite the fact that he is no longer in the band. "FEAR FACTORY, it's what I'm known for," he explained. "And the 30 years I had with FEAR FACTORY were some of the proudest moments of my career. And everything I've ever done in FEAR FACTORY I'm very proud of. Even some of the questionable things I've done in FEAR FACTORY I'm still proud of. It was a great legacy."

During an April 2022 appearance on an episode of "The Ex-Man" podcast hosted by Doc Coyle (BAD WOLVES),Bell touched upon FEAR FACTORY's latest album, "Aggression Continuum", which was released in June 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP, which was recorded primarily in 2017, features Bell and fellow original FF member Dino Cazares (guitar) alongside drummer Mike Heller.

"I was just happy that record finally came out," Burton said. "We finished that record in 2017. By the time it came out, I'd forgotten all about it. 'Oh, yeah, I remember that song. Oh yeah.'

"There's some good songs on that record. The song 'Collapse' is a good song. The title track 'Monolith' is a good song," he added, referencing the LP's original working title, before it was changed by Cazares.

When Coyle noted that the mix on "Aggression Continuum" is "great," Bell hesitated for a couple of seconds before reluctantly agreeing. "I guess," he said. "When I finished the record [in 2017], the record was done and agreed upon and then further work was done without my say."

Elsewhere in the chat, Burton admitted that "it was difficult" for him to leave FEAR FACTORY. "Stepping away from FEAR FACTORY was not an easy decision by [any] means," he said. "But what I experienced for the 10 years before that, the lawsuits, the acrimony, that was the one that killed me. And I just had to step away to realize, you know, they can take all this stuff from me — they can take the money, they can take the royalties, they can take the trademark away from me — and I realized that didn't define me. They can take that, but I'm still Burton C. Bell, motherfucker, and whatever I have they can't take. So I'm just kind of moving forward and doing new things."

According to Bell, hardship is par for the course for most musicians, who often find themselves victims of bad contracts, unscrupulous management and, all too often, what appears to be a penchant for self-destruction.

"I knew a long time ago I wanted to be an artist — way before I was in FEAR FACTORY," he said. "When I was in high school, I was, like, 'I wanna be an artist.' To be an artist, you've gotta suffer. You've gotta understand that people wanna take from you the entire time — what you create they wanna make money off of and take it away from you and just give you a pittance. But being bitter is not my style — never has been.

"Whatever negativity has happened in the past with FEAR FACTORY doesn't even hold up to the amount of positivity that has happened," he continued. "If you think about the negative, it can weigh you down so much, but it's not really that much in comparison to what the band achieved, what we created, what we provided to the music world, and for that I'm proud and very happy.

"No one likes to talk to a bitter person at all," Burton added. "Me for one. It's, like, 'Man, just get over it and just move on.' 'Cause holding on to the past doesn't serve me anything, it doesn't serve anybody else anything. Move on and show 'em what you can do from that point forward."

Bell's exit from FEAR FACTORY came more than two weeks after Cazares launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist him with the production costs associated with the release of FEAR FACTORY's latest LP.

Bell later told Kerrang! magazine that his split with FEAR FACTORY was a long time coming. "It's been on my mind for a while," he said. "These lawsuits [over the rights to the FEAR FACTORY name] just drained me. The egos. The greed. Not just from bandmembers, but from the attorneys involved. I just lost my love for it.

"With FEAR FACTORY, it's just constantly been, like, 'What?!' You can only take so much. I felt like 30 years was a good run. Those albums I've done with FEAR FACTORY will always be out there. I'll always be part of that. I just felt like it was time to move forward."

In 2023, Bell unveiled "Paradise Found", his debut exhibition of photographic works, at the Vincent Castiglia Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The photographs Bell presented were representational of his industrial and science-fiction aesthetic.

"Paradise Found" consisted of 20 original full-color photographs of abandoned industrial buildings taken in darkness and fog from 2002 to 2003. Bell's images are printed on aluminum using the dye sublimation process — an approach Bell calls "celluloid impressionism."

Bell's ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS project released its second full-length album, "Apocrypha", in October 2020 via Dissonance Productions.

Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke made his live debut with Alice Cooper Friday night (January 31) at Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia. Clarke is filling in for Nita Strauss, who unfortunately has conflicting obligations of her own. Previously, guitarist Orianthi had been planning to fill in for Strauss, but due to unforeseen circumstances, Orianthi is unable to do the tour.

Fan-filmed video of the Augusta concert can be seen below.

Remaining Alice Cooper tour dates featuring Gilby Clarke on guitar:

Feb. 01 - Cherokee, NC - Harrah's Casino Resort Event Center
Feb. 02 - Greensboro, NC - Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts
Feb. 04 - Mobile, AL - Saenger Theatre
Feb. 06 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock
Feb. 07 - Ft Myers, FL - Barbara Mann Performing Arts Hall
Feb. 08 - Clearwater, FL - Coachmen Park
Feb. 11 - St. Augustine, FL - Amphitheatre
Feb. 13-17 - Miami, FL - Rock Legends Cruise

Alice will be announcing further 2025 tour dates, with Strauss back in the fold, including the already revealed shows on at the Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio on May 9, the Boardwalk Rock Festival in Ocean City, Maryland on May 18, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Lincoln Financial Field on August 15 with MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE.

The now-62-year-old Clarke replaced Izzy Stradlin in the GUNS lineup in 1991, during the "Use Your Illusion" tour, and stayed with the band for three years. After exiting GUNS N' ROSES, Clarke continued as a producer and solo artist, while also playing in SLASH'S SNAKEPIT, ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA, HEART and other acts.

Clarke, along with fellow GUNS N' ROSES members Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler and Matt Sorum, played three "Appetite For Destruction" songs with Myles Kennedy at the band's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in April 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio, although Gilby himself was not inducted as part of the group. Kennedy, who handles lead vocals in Slash's solo band and ALTER BRIDGE, sang "Mr. Brownstone", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City", with "Use Your Illusion"-era member Sorum sitting behind the drum kit on "Brownstone" and the man he replaced in GN'R, Adler, pounding the skins for the other two songs.

In 2021, Clarke addressed his non-participation in GUNS N' ROSES' reunion tour, which features three-fifths of the group's classic lineup — singer Axl Rose, Slash and McKagan — during an interview with "The SDR Show". He said: "They didn't ask me to join the band; they asked me to come out and do [a guest appearance] with the band. And it just happened to be the day that I was in Chicago with my daughter. Her band was playing Lollapalooza [in July 2016]. And I'm actually her roadie. I don't think anybody would know how to tune the guitar if I wasn't there. Just kidding. But, yeah, it was just bad timing. I just said, 'Look, I think it's a great idea. I'm up for it. I just can't do it today.' And they literally asked me that day. And I never heard back from them after I said that."

Gilby also confirmed that he only had a week to learn the entire GUNS catalog when he first joined the band three decades ago. "That's true," he said. "They told me on a Monday, that 'You have the gig,' and the next week we were flying to Boston for our first show. And I literally had a week. And remember, this is before YouTube. I was glued to their records with the headphones on, trying to learn the catalog. And the last song I learned was a song called 'Estranged', which was a really long ballad piece. And if you listen to it, it's kind of one-dimensional guitar-wise — it really just features Slash. So I was listening to it, and I really couldn't figure out what I should do in that song. So I went to Dizzy [Reed, GUNS keyboardist]. I go, 'Hey, man, can you sit down with me, and let's work on 'Estranged'.' I go, 'I just wanna kind of figure it out.' And he goes, 'Oh, well, here's the music book.' And he handed me the music book. And I went, 'There's a music book? I just spent a week learning every note by ear when I could have just grabbed the freakin' music book…' I mean, I read charts — it would have taken me an hour. I was a little pissed off that I didn't ask. They could have offered it to me."

Clarke's latest solo album, "The Gospel Truth", was released in April 2021 via Golden Robot Records.

Gilby released his solo debut, "Pawnshop Guitars", in 1994.

In November 2023, Clarke underwent surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, a repetitive stress condition that happens when a person does repeated movements with the hand and wrist.

The metal band Eternal Tears Of Sorrow, founded in Pudasjärvi, Northern Finland, in 1994, has officially announced its disbandment, according to the group’s founders, guitarist Jarmo Puolakanaho and bassist-vocalist Altti Veteläinen. The band has been on hiatus since 2023. The decision to disband was a mutual one, with no drama or disagreements involved.

As one of the pioneers of Finnish melodic death metal, the band released a total of seven albums between 1997 and 2013: Sinner’s Serenade (1997), Vilda Mánnu (1998), Chaotic Beauty (2000), A Virgin And A Whore (2001), Before The Bleeding Sun (2006), Children Of The Dark Waters (2009), and Saivon Lapsi (2013).

Over their career, Eternal Tears Of Sorrow performed in 13 different countries. The band has a dedicated fanbase worldwide, and their social media pages have been filled with nostalgic messages and heartfelt farewells from fans.

There will be no official farewell show or compilation release. Additionally, there are no unreleased songs waiting for a future release.

“Thirty years may feel like an eternity, but in hindsight, it was just a fleeting moment. We have countless unforgettable memories that we wouldn’t trade for anything. And while this band is coming to an end, the music will live on, as bands featuring members of EToS will continue releasing albums of both melodic death metal and gothic metal this year and next. We want to thank everyone who has played in the band, those who have supported us in any way, and, of course, our loyal fans for these incredible years,” says Jarmo Puolakanaho.

Eternal Tears Of Sorrow will also be featured in the Metallikausi exhibition at the North Ostrobothnia Museum in Oulu in 2026. The exhibition will highlight key Northern Finnish metal bands and the region’s metal scene from the 1970s to the 1990s.

A one-off world-exclusive performance of CANDLEMASS featuring the band's former vocalist Messiah Marcolin will take place at this year's edition of the Rock Hard Festival Greece, slated for September 12-13, 2025 in Athens, Greece.

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

Marcolin exited CANDLEMASS for the presumably final time in 2006, one year after the release of the band's self-titled album. He was later replaced by Robert Lowe (SOLITUDE AETURNUS),who sang on the band's "King Of The Grey Islands" (2007),"Death Magic Doom" (2009) and "Psalms For The Dead" (2012) LPs. CANDLEMASS's frontman between 2012 and 2018 was Mats Levén, who previously recorded and toured with YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and THERION. Seven years ago, CANDLEMASS fired Levén and rehired Johan Längqvist. Längqvist sang on CANDLEMASS's debut album, 1986's "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus", before exiting the group and being replaced by Marcolin.

Several years ago, Messiah told Metal Rules that he was "very honored" by new bands who cite CANDLEMASS as an influence on their music. "If anyone wants to be inspirited by CANDLEMASS, it is the most respectable thing what a band ever can get," he said. "I love WITCHFINDER GENERAL which are very BLACK SABBATH influenced and PENTAGRAM, which is fucking great. The first PENTAGRAM album is great, and, of course, TROUBLE is influenced by BLACK SABBATH, and CANDLEMASS is also influenced by BLACK SABBATH — the whole fucking world is influenced by BLACK SABBATH. But, I mean, CANDLEMASS made its own style — we don't sound exactly the same, but the heaviness is the same, but the music is different. We created our own style, doom metal stuff and all the other bands which have taken it after, it is a great honor."

ROCK HARD FESTIVAL GREECE

CANDLEMASS will perform with Messiah Marcolin as the frontman for an exclusive performance at...

Posted by Candlemass on Saturday, February 1, 2025

In a new interview with Reality Check TV conducted on January 24 at this year's NAMM convention in Anaheim, California, vocalist Michael Starr of California glam metal jokesters STEEL PANTHER spoke about the band's plans for the coming months. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're working on a new record right now. It should be out sometime next year. No nailed date, 'cause you can't really put a timeline on creativity, and if you do, it sounds like it. So, we'll wait until the songs are done and we'll put it out. But we're shooting hopefully for next year."

Last month, STEEL PANTHER drummer Stix Zadinia told the "Iron City Rocks" podcast about the band's upcoming seventh studio album:  "We're always writing. I mean, it's never a, 'Okay guys. Let's go write a record, let's go record a record, let's put it out.' It's a constant process. [STEEL PANTHER guitarist] Satchel does most of our writing, but we're always sending ideas back and forth — lyric ideas, song ideas. And if Michael comes up with a riff or I come up with a riff, we throw it in the pot and see what happens. So it's an evergreen process for us. And then when we feel like we have enough cool ideas, Satchel will demo some stuff up and then he'll send it over to me. I'll add my flavor. And then we send it to Michael and he adds his flavor. And then [STEEL PANTHER bassist] Spyder. And then we get to a point where the demos are really comprehensive. And then we go in, we track it, put a title on it and put it out. So I would say there are ideas floating around and we definitely would like to do another record at some point."

Asked if he thinks STEEL PANTHER would have had the  same staying power without songs that contain what some critics say are racist, misogynistic and lewd lyrics, Stix said: "No, there's no way. I think that had we come out with lyrics that were, like, typical of a band in 1983 or in 1987, I don't think it would have flown, because what we sing about, I think people latch on to the lyrics and I think lyrics matter.

"We're in a really weird time, and I think when we put our first record out, the really weird time — and I use air quotes with that — was starting around then," he explained. "But we had been grandfathered in because of what we had established since the '90s. And the '90s were not the really weird time as far as the political correctness. So we became this place for people to be able to come, have so much fun and not worry about offending people. And we just wrote songs that we wanted to write, and nothing was ever really intentional and it was all super from the heart. Now, I think an interesting question would be if we came out in 1985, how would we be viewed with the lyrics that we have? But I think it could have been insane 'cause I think our songs are just as good [as], if not better than, most of the bands back then. And I know that might sound blasphemous, but if you don't think that about your own band, then what are you doing in that band?"

Zadinia added: "I'm proud of that — I'm proud of not playing by the rules. And I'm proud of doing just what comes from the heart for us 'cause, ultimately, we get to keep playing these songs for people who wanna come see it, who listen to it, who may use it as a tool for that escapism. And I'm proud of that. I think it's more satisfying than if we were being told what to do, what can go on a record. We are our true own bosses, and it's awesome."

Earlier in December, STEEL PANTHER announced two more legs of its "Feel The Steel 15th Anniversary Tour". The first leg is scheduled for March throughout the United States and the second leg heads to Europe next summer. The U.S. leg of the tour kicks off on March 5 in Lincoln, Nebraska and wraps up on March 28 in Dubuque, Iowa. The tour will make stops in Boise, Idaho; San Francisco, California; Tempe, Arizona and Kansas City, Missouri, to name a few. The European headline leg kicks off on June 18 in Dublin, Ireland before concluding three weeks later on July 6 in Geiselwind, Germany. The band has already been announced as part of the following European festivals in 2025: Download (United Kingdon),Lisää Löylyä (Finland),Tons Of Rock (Norway) and Rockmaraton (Hungary).

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

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

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

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

In September 2022, STEEL PANTHER announced the addition of Spyder as the band's new bassist.

Three months ago, STEEL PANTHER's debut album, "Feel The Steel", was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales in excess of 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

"Feel The Steel - 15th Anniversary Edition" was released worldwide on November 15. The 15th-anniversary edition features two tracks that were only released on the original Japanese import: "You Don't Make Me Feel Dumb" and "I Want Your Tits". The album was produced by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, COREY TAYLOR).

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the album, STEEL PANTHER embarked on the first leg of the "Feel The Steel 15th Anniversary Tour". The trek kicked off in Huntington, New York on November 20, 2024 and ran through December 13, 2024 when it wrapped up in Orlando, Florida.