MUDVAYNE and HELLYEAH frontman Chad Gray kicked off his "30 Years Of Madness" series of live appearances Friday night (April 24) at the Fremont Country Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. Backing Gray at the show were HELLYEAH guitarist Christian Brady and MUDVAYNE touring guitarist Marcus Raffety, along with drummer Devin Attard, among other musicians. Fan-filmed video of the gig can be seen below.

The "30 Years Of Madness" concerts mark Chad's first-ever solo performances and are taking place during a year when MUDVAYNE is not scheduled to do any touring. It is also an opportunity for Gray to play songs from HELLYEAH, which has been inactive since early 2020 when its U.S. tour was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, Gray had reunited with his previous band MUDVAYNE, which played its first two shows in 12 years in 2021 and has since completed several tours, in addition to releasing two new songs, "Hurt People Hurt People" and "Sticks And Stones".

In a recent interview with "The David Ellefson Show", Gray stated about what it has been like to revisit some of the HELLYEAH material after so long: "It's been really weird. I'm obviously rehearsing all that stuff now. And I haven't played, I haven't touched those songs in seven fucking years, or eight years, whatever it's been since Vinnie [Paul Abbott, HELLYEAH drummer] passed. And [HELLYEAH] did the 'Celebration Of Life' tours after he passed, which, honestly, we did those way too early. We were still fucking all mourning, and we did it 'cause we wanted to pay tribute to him. And those tours really kind of fucked us up as a band, 'cause we were all just still mourning and grieving. Needless to say, when we were on stage, they were fun. And we had Roy Mayorga fucking playing drums for us, which he absolutely crushed it and did just such a great job.

"But coming back, there's a little bit of that in revisiting these songs, there's a little bit of, like… There's some remembering penning them, there's some remembering recording them and stuff, but there's a lot of remembering playing them with Vince," Chad continued. "There's some memory of me playing without Vince. It's kind of a big fucking ball of emotions when I [revisit] those [songs]. And that's part of the reason I'm doing it, man. This is an exercise in autonomy. I'm taking ownership of my own independence, my own career, celebrating 30 fucking years… 1996 is when I started this shit, and celebrating 30 years of me doing this with 12 albums, six with each band. And it's been cool, but it's been difficult. But I'm excited about it, man. I wanna pay homage to Vin. I want to keep his legacy alive. You put those songs away and you put that part of his life away and you're putting him away. Bringing these songs back out and playing them and servicing such a large number of fans that have just been — HELLYEAH's been removed from their life — it's really cool too. But a big part of this is to celebrate my own independence and doing what I've done in 30 years. Part of it is paying it forward to Vinnie, paying homage to Vinnie, keeping his legacy alive. Part of it is servicing the HELLYEAH fans. I mean, we ground that motherfucker for 12 years. We built HELLYEAH from nothing. Just fucking five dudes that jumped in a garage — Dime's [late PANTERA guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott] garage, where they did '[The Great Southern] Trendkill', they did 'Reinventing The Steel' in that, they did the DAMAGEPLAN record in there. It was their own personal studio that was on Dime's property in his garage. So, that's what it was. It was just us showing up and walking in the room with no relationship. I didn't have any kind of relationship with Vinnie. I'd met him one time."

As for how the idea for his solo gigs came about, Chad said:  "Since we brought [MUDVAYNE] back in '21, we've done it once a year for the last four years. And it's just, like, management, everybody's just, like, 'We should probably give it a break. We should probably just take 2026 off.' And I'm just, like, I'm 54 fucking years old. I'm not taking a year off. That's like me putting my happiness in a cage for a year. That's where I shine. I love to service my fans. I love to fucking help however I can and give back. And just sitting around my fucking house with my thumb in my ass, doing fucking projects and shit, it's not the way I'm wired, man. I wanna work. I'm a worker bee."

Gray continued: "I was writing, recording or touring nonstop in one band or another for 20 fucking years. And Vinnie passed. It took a little bit [of time to get back into it]. I came back to the MUDVAYNE table, put that back together. And then we did it. And then we were off 46 weeks. And then we did it, and then we were off 46 weeks. And the old days of like writing, recording, touring, writing, recording, touring, which is what I loved, that was out the fucking window. So even though I'm going out once a year for six weeks or seven weeks or whatever, I'm just sitting around the fucking house all the time. So the whole idea of this, honestly, was when we said we were gonna take the year off, and it's just, like, I don't wanna do that."

Vinnie Paul recorded a total of six albums with HELLYEAH over a decade, including its latest, "Welcome Home", for which he laid down his drum tracks before his passing.

STONE SOUR drummer Roy Mayorga stepped in as Vinnie Paul's replacement for the touring activity in support of "Welcome Home", which came out in September 2019.Mayorga previously played with HELLYEAH bassist Kyle Sanders in MEDICATION, the early 2000s outfit which also featured guitarist Logan Mader (MACHINE HEAD) and singer Whitfield Crane (UGLY KID JOE).

MUDVAYNE guitarist Greg Tribbett sat out the band's summer/fall 2025 "L.D. 50 25th Anniversary" tour after his wife reportedly lost her year-and-a-half-long battle with cancer.The "L.D. 50 25th Anniversary" tour kicked off on September 11, 2025 in Dubuque, Iowa and concluded on October 26, 2025 in Uncasville, Connecticut.

In 2024, Greg sat out the remaining shows on MUDVAYNE's "Destroy All Enemies" tour with MEGADETH due to what at the time was described as a "family issue". Filling in for him was Rafferty, who has served as a guitar tech for several metal bands over the years, including LAMB OF GOD and HATEBREED. He also worked for HELLYEAH, which originally featured both Tribbett and Gray.

"Sticks And Stones" and "Hurt People Hurt People" were released through Alchemy Recordings, a record label created in partnership between Dino Paredes, former American Recordings vice president of A&R, and Danny Wimmer, the founder of Danny Wimmer Presents, the premier production company for rock music festivals in the United States. Other Alchemy artists include STAIND and CHEVELLE.

Prior to the arrival of "Hurt People Hurt People", the reunited metallers hadn't put out any new material since 2009, which means more than a decade and a half had gone by without a single fresh MUDVAYNE song.

MUDVAYNE formed in 1996 and has sold over six million records worldwide, earning gold certification for three albums ("L.D. 50", "The End Of All Things To Come", "Lost And Found"). The band is known for its sonic experimentation, innovative album art, face and body paint, masks and uniforms.

I'll be playing drums for Chad Gray 🥁
(Vocalist of Mudvayne & HELLYEAH)

I'm so thankful for this opportunity!...

Posted by Devin Attard on Thursday, April 23, 2026

In a new interview with Chris Akin of The Classic Metal Show, singer Marc Lopes once again opened up about his departure from METAL CHURCH after recording just one album with the veteran metal band, 2023's "Congregation Of Annihilation".

Lopes joined METAL CHURCH in the summer of 2022 as the replacement for Mike Howe, who tragically passed away in July of 2021. The band's lineup on "Congregation Of Annihilation" was rounded out by founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, longtime guitarist Rick Van Zandt, bassist Steve Unger and drummer Stet Howland.

Last November, it was announced that METAL CHURCH was returning with a "revitalized" lineup consisting of Vanderhoof alongside Van Zandt, bass icon David Ellefson (MEGADETH),powerhouse drummer Ken Mary (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, FIFTH ANGEL, ALICE COOPER, HOUSE OF LORDS, TKO, CHASTAIN) and new vocalist Brian Allen (VICIOUS RUMORS). The announcement came nearly two years after METAL CHURCH canceled its 2024 tour dates due to "an ongoing back issue" suffered by Vanderhoof.

Asked by Akin if Lopes took a "huge financial and working hit as a performer" when METAL CHURCH's last lineup fell apart, Marc said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, yes. [Laughs] I would have to say that my anger is really geared towards that aspect. Yeah, it really — I'm gonna use the word — it really fucked things up. I'm just gonna say it straight there. And in all honesty, it's so sad, 'cause it didn't have to be that way.

"I've always been the person to bring everybody into a room to have a conversation, no matter what the problem is," Lopes continued. "That's just how I am. Whether I'm right, wrong or whatever the case may be, a conversation is the adult thing to do and the right thing to do, no matter what the outcome. And that's all I wanted, to be honest — that's all I personally wanted.

"Everybody had their own point of view or grievances, which is fine. I think the three of us that aren't there now had some common grievances and questions. And that's really what we were trying to get to the bottom of, and we couldn't get a conversation out of that.

"Well, the tour getting canceled, in the beginning stages of the tour getting canceled and then the whole year getting scrapped, there was a lot of half truths, if barely truths, to that," Marc explained. "I went along with it on the idea that a conversation was coming down the road once everything simmered down and we could make some kind of decision, really. I never got that. Nobody got that. And that was wrong.

"My whole life was based on playing," Lopes added. "That's what we were doing, and that's what I was doing. For somebody to just come along and do what they want… Now mind you, this is funny, 'cause sometimes I catch comments from people, and everybody thinks they know better than the people that are there. So when they say, 'Oh, well, it's [Kurdt's] band. It's his band.' Yeah, well, yes, obviously, a major part of it, it's obviously his. But when I joined the band, I was 20% partner in the band, just like everybody else was. So as far as I'm concerned, as a business person on other things that I do, 20% is 20%. Now, obviously all final decisions come down to — it's him, and that's totally respectful and understandable. No one ever had a problem with that. But [there are] discussions to be made. Obviously, people have different opinions, and that's just how it is. There's no disrespect at all in that matter. So when someone makes one decision for everybody, without anybody having any kind of input or opinion about something, especially when it has to do with livelihoods, that's a major problem.

"I don't care [what anybody] says, because I can tell you right now, I don't B.S. … I have nothing to hide," Marc said. "That's the best thing about all of this, and I always try to tell everybody: I have nothing to hide. There's no skeletons in my closet. I have no weight on my shoulder. There's nothing you could come at me with. There's nothing. Good luck. You know what I mean? Good luck. So I have no reason to B.S. about anything.

"Speaking only for myself in this, my biggest gripe was that I was not allotted the respect to have a conversation. And none of my phone calls or none of my e-mails or nothing was ever answered. No matter what — are we doing this? Are we not doing this? Whatever. Just tell me. What's going on? I'm kind of, like, running around here."

Addressing the fact that Vanderhoof has stated in recent interviews that the guitarist "shut the band down" and had no intention of starting it up again when the current METAL CHURCH lineup "just happened" to come together, Marc said: "He's telling people the band was ended. No, it wasn't ended. At the moment, it was, like, 'Yeah, we're not gonna do anything for right now. We need to talk about a lot of stuff, 'cause things aren't cool, and they need to be talked about.' And that never happened."

Lopes also clarified his role in METAL CHURCH during his time with the band, saying: "I wasn't a hired gun. I was part of the band. Big difference. I wrote every song on ['Congregation Of Annihilation'] — every song. No singer in that band ever wrote every song with [Kurdt]. I spent a year of my life almost every day on the phone with him working on this album. Just me and him. I mean, I did so much work on that record that I got no credit for. But it was for the greater good. I was part of the team. So, yeah, it definitely hurts [for it to have ended the way it did].

"It's not about ego and it's not about pride," Lopes added. "It was about respect. And I never did anything to not get it. And I think that's been the underlying seething point for me, because I never grew up like that, I never do that to anybody else."

Earlier this month, Kurdt told Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice that "things got ugly" after METAL CHURCH "got back from [touring] Australia [in 2023]. Things fell apart, and a lot of nasty stuff was going on. And the record company [Rat Pak] got done. They said, 'No, we're not doing this.' And I'm, like, 'I'm not having any fun. I'm done.' So I shut the band down. I let everybody know, 'I'm done. I'm shutting this down. We're done.' And I also made it very clear that 'I'm not gonna say anything derogatory about anybody, and I hope you do the same,' because if there's one thing that I can't stand is, in the world of social media, the 'he said, she said' bitch fight between former bandmembers and blah, blah, blah. I'm not playing that. So, obviously some people decided to go a different route. That's on them. That's fine. But I shut the band down. It was done. So when it started back up again, it wasn't by me starting it up. I really had no intentions. I didn't wanna go run auditions and put out and start looking [for new musicians]. I was done. It was, like, 'Another lineup? Another singer? Really? Come on. This is stupid.' But it just happened."

Kurdt also denied that Lopes and Howland were blindsided by METAL CHURCH's split after the Australian tour and eventual reformation. "That's on them," Kurdt said. "I'm sure they think I could have done it differently. We had a big discussion about it, but there was no point. Enough was said. I'm, like, 'Okay.' I was clear. The label lost interest. They weren't interested in working with us anymore. So it was, like, 'Well, there's no point in going on. I'm done. I'm shutting this down. Best of luck to you.' There you go."

Reflecting on how he found out he was no longer a member of METAL CHURCH, Lopes told Scott Davidson of Chicago's Rebel Radio: "Yeah, we basically found out on the Internet, pretty much… When they announced that they had a new lineup and a new tune [was released], that was [when we first found out]."

Asked if he thought METAL CHURCH was broken up at that point, Marc said: "It's interesting. It depends on who you ask. My interpretation of it was there were definitely some issues going on business-wise that needed to be discussed. Certain people reacted in a certain way. At the time, it was just kind of, like, 'All right, let this thing simmer down and then have a conversation.' That was my take on it. And then when Kurdt canceled the tour, we went along with it, the reasonings that were said to the public, we went along with it in hopes of having conversations down the road — because [we] needed to. Anytime there's some kind of misunderstanding of something, you should have a conversation — whether things are gonna work or not, there needs to be some kind of finality to it. At the time, [Kurdt] was, like, I'm gonna put METAL CHURCH on [pause]… I'm just gonna stop doing this for right now,' or whatever the case may be. And believe me, when I was in the band, I heard threatening to fold the band about six times. Anytime there was a disagreement, it was, like, 'Let me take my ball and run.' It got a little annoying, so no one ever took it serious, because it never was. So when that was said, it was, like, 'All right, well, whatever. You guys can do whatever you need to do, and we'll talk.' But those talks never happened. And I constantly was always trying to reach out to find out — that was just from me. I mean, the other two guys, I don't speak to them, but I was just, like, 'What are we doing here? What's going on?' And no one would ever answer. And I was just, like, 'Well, that's kind of messed up. Why are we not having any kind of conversation?' So one year goes by and still nothing. And I'm, like, 'Wow, that's really weird.' I mean, I don't understand. At least go, 'Hey, you know what?! We're not doing this no more. We're gonna go in a different direction' or whatever. But not even that. So, I kept going on, and that was it. We just never had any kind of conversation. And about the two-year mark, when the album was at the two-year anniversary. I finally got a message back and it was, like, 'Yeah, you know…' I'm not gonna say what was said, but it was kind of, like, 'Good luck with everything,' or whatever. And I was, like, 'What?' There was no explanation for what was said. I was kind of, like, 'Well, what do you mean?' And I got no answer. [Laughs] So I was, like, 'Okay, this is kind of weird.' So I'm trying to get what's going on, and I was not getting any return calls, which — I'll be 100% honest — was super disrespectful, and that don't fly with me, man."

Lopes continued: "You know what?! If you don't wanna do it, that's cool. Whatever, man. You wanna be that way and take your ball and run into your little corner, that's cool, dude. But at least be man enough to say it. Let's have a man-to-man conversation. That's all I wanted. And I never got it. And I have every right to be annoyed by that. And that's what annoys me. And to have that all come out on the Internet, and then them B.S.ing in these interviews, it's just not cool, man. But it is what it is. It is what it is."

Marc went on to say that he doesn't "regret anything" about the time he spent as the frontman of METAL CHURCH. "It was awesome," he said. "We did a lot of cool stuff. We did more in seven months on the road than that band had done in years. And we were doing things different. Business was good. A lot of people didn't see the same way of things, and that's kind of where it fell apart.

"I think one of the things that really was most disrespectful was you have someone like Steve who was in the band for 22 years," Lopes added. "And he never got a phone call [letting him know he was no longer in the band]. That is not cool… Definitely some serious lack of communication, for sure. So that kind of thing, I just don't really think a lot about a person that does stuff like that. It's just not an honorable thing to do. And that's not how I function as a human. And I feel everyone deserves respect, whether you agree or not. So that's where any kind of animosity comes from, is that."

METAL CHURCH's new album, "Dead To Rights", was released on April 10 via Rat Pak Records. The LP was produced by Vanderhoof and mixed and mastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris at Planet Z.

METAL CHURCH made its live debut with Lopes on June 3, 2023 at the Legions Of Metal festival at Reggies in Chicago, Illinois.

This past January, Lopes described METAL CHURCH as "a shit show" and blasted Vanderhoof over the way the band's recent lineup changes were handled. He went on to say that Kurdt had "no integrity" and accused the guitarist of displaying "cowardice" by "not confronting any of the issues, whether good or bad." He added that he had "to find out everything on the Internet" about what was actually going on with METAL CHURCH. "That was the ultimate 'fuck you'. And that does not bide well with me personally, which will be addressed in another time," he added.

Stet, an in-demand metal drummer who has also pounded the skins for W.A.S.P., BLACKFOOT and Lita Ford, briefly addressed his eight-year stint with METAL CHURCH in a social media post. He wrote in part: "After seeing recent [METAL CHURCH] interviews, Marc's statement, and Kurdt's response. There's clearly MANY things that need to be said. But in short, Marc was 100% accurate. Tho[ugh] he barely shared the tip of the iceberg of the bullshit, and he was much more kind than I'm going to be. There's truths that need to be told and facts that need to be shared. I'll be as kind as I can, but I'll be dissecting and explaining a shitshow."

Stet later opened up about his departure from METAL CHURCH in more detail, writing in a social media post in part: "[Kurdt is a] great riff writer, good hearted guy, total business disaster… And honestly, as amazing as the music was, business wise the whole thing was kind of a clown show behind the scenes. Not an ounce of good sense in play when I joined. I had to literally rebuild the entire business model. And now, with nobody to handle things, I can't wait to watch all this unfold. On the upside, there's lots of amazing talent in the new lineup. New stuff sounds great to me. Ken and Brian did a fantastic job, always loved Ken's work.

"I've always been a fan of the music, I wholeheartedly support these guys perpetuating the brand. And as disgusted as I am with the way things were handled business-wise.

"I've said this before. METAL CHURCH is about the music, not the faces. The faces will continue to change, that I assure you.

"I'm sad to say that the honor and integrity of the band was buried with Mike Howe. What remains today, now matter how wonderful it looks from the outside, is a rudderless mess."

In a recent interview with Bass Magazine, former SUICIDAL TENDENCIES bassist Roberto "Ra" Díaz explained how he joined KORN five years ago as the replacement for the latter band's original bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu. Fieldy announced in June 2021 that he would sit out the band's tour dates in order to "heal" after "falling back" on some of his "bad habits." Díaz said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it all happened very quick and kind of out of nowhere. Long story short — this was mid-COVID era or whatever you wanna call it. So I was pretty much just sitting at home making videos and stuff, like a lot of other musicians were. And because of these videos, sometimes I would see, like, 'Oh, wow.' We were doing a lot of RUSH songs with Charlie [Benante] from ANTHRAX and Alex [Skolnick] from TESTAMENT and stuff like that. And some of those videos got a lot of like exposure, and I would notice, like, 'Oh, wow, this cool guy followed me on Instagram,' or, 'This person reposted it.' And I'm, like, 'Oh, wow. Cool.' And I remember at some point Ray [Luzier], KORN's drummer, followed me. And we never chatted or anything. He followed me. And then I ended up doing a video with this drummer, incredible drummer named Aric Improta. And he's a very creative guy. He's not just drumming — he makes sounds with breaking glass and a skateboard and this, very artsy, cool stuff. And he invited me to play bass on it. And some time went by and he hasn't posted it. And I asked him, 'Hey, are you gonna share that video?' And he said, 'I'm waiting because Munky [James Shaffer] from KORN might record guitar.' And I'm, like, 'Oh, that's awesome.' So that ended up happening. And this is all with us not meeting each other in person — it was all online. So he did that for Aric. And then when we posted the video, Munky started following me too. But again, we never talked or anything. And then, I don't know, fast forward — I'm not even joking, one day I just got like a DM on Instagram from Ray, the drummer. And he was, like, 'What's your number? Somebody's gonna call you tomorrow.' And I was, like, 'This is my number.' I didn't know what it was for. And just out of nowhere, next day I get a call and they said, 'Hey, we have this situation, and we need someone to jump in.' And they asked me, like, 'Are you interested?' And I'm, like, 'How can you say no to that?'"

Elaborating on how he felt when he was first offered the KORN gig, Díaz said: "I was born in '84, so when their first record came out, I was 10. So listening to that first record when you're 10, there's no other way to describe it than [it was] life changing. So it was just something I couldn't say no [to]. And at the beginning it was just gonna be [for] one tour, and I was still in SUICIDAL then, and nothing was gonna interfere with anything else, in theory. But then they needed me a little longer, and then things started to overlap. And at some point I just kind of asked them, 'Hey, am I gonna continue helping you guys out?' And they said that they were gonna need me, so I kind of had to make a choice and talk to my band at the time, SUICIDAL. And they were happy for me. Part of me was just sad because this happened during COVID and I never got to do a last show, knowing that it was a last show with SUICIDAL. But I'm very happy with everything that happened and I'm still, to this day, loving every second of it and hoping it keeps going. I'm enjoying it. And [KORN] brought also a lot of happiness into my personal life. I met my wife when I joined them, and now we have a kid and everything, so it's, like, I owe a lot to this band, and I'm very proud to be in it, helping them."

Asked if it's true that when he got the call to join KORN, he wasn't initially told that KORN was the band he was going to play with, Díaz said: "I think it's more the person that called me, I think she assumed I already knew [that she was calling about KORN], probably that Ray told me what it was for, but that wasn't the case. So at some point in the conversation, I'm asking her, 'Yeah, what are the dates?' And she's, like, 'This and that.' And I'm, like, 'Yeah, I think I can do it.' And I asked her, like, 'Where can I find your music?' Or maybe I got confused. Also, she called me in the middle of — I was like driving, and I was paying attention, but I was like not following every single detail. And at some point, I go, like, 'Do you need me to do something?' And she's, like, 'Oh, you can film yourself playing a couple of songs.' And I'm, like, 'How can I find your music?' And she goes, like, 'Oh, we have a YouTube channel.' I'm, like, 'Okay, how do I find it?' She's, like, 'KORN official.' I'm, like, 'Oh, okay.' And then that's when, like — it was shock and panic, and at the same time, like, 'Wow.' 'Cause, like I said, it was very unexpected, and it happened in the middle of COVID. I went from not knowing when I was gonna be able to play a show again to getting a phone call to, like, 'Can you come and rehearse with KORN?' It went from almost depression to the biggest happiness. And, obviously, I was, like, 'Yes, I'm very interested. And I'll give it a shot.' Yeah, like I said, I was driving, and when they said that in that phone call, I legit called my friend, canceled the plans, turned around, went back home, learned a bunch of songs, and I think in a few hours I'd sent them some videos. And everything went from there."

Asked if he had ever seen KORN play live before auditioning for the band, Díaz said: "Yeah. I saw them actually in Chile two or three times, and then once in the States. But I never got to meet them or anything. I met — at the NAMM show once I said 'hi' to Fieldy in — I don't know — 2010 or 2011, something like that. But, yeah, I basically met everybody when I first came to the first rehearsal."

In addition to playing with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, Díaz has been part of several recording projects, including a RUSH covers EP that he recorded during the pandemic with Charlie Benante, Brandon Yeagley and Alex Skolnick. Díaz was also involved in the making of Benante's covers album "Silver Linings" which was completed fully remotely during the pandemic in 2020.

Regarding how KORN ended up recruiting Díaz to fill in for Fieldy, KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch told 97.9 GRD five years ago: "Well, there's COVID and everything, so when we started talking about it, it was a thing where we wanted to be careful still and whatnot… So we just started brainstorming and hitting up friends and whatnot. We need the slap — we need the slap bass, we need the finger playing, we need someone, 'cause Fieldy is unique — very unique. So it just kind of happened that way, man, where Ra, he was open because SUICIDAL [was] not going out until [2022]. I think [SUICIDAL frontman] Mike Muir [had to undergo] a back surgery or something [in 2021]. So it just worked out, man. He came down, we jammed. He's a really humble guy, and just very talented. He can play anything — from jazz to slap to anything. He played all the songs with, like, three mistakes out of 10 songs or something — little mistakes. I mean, not even mistakes — it was just, like, 'I thought I heard it that way.' They weren't even mistakes. So we were, like, 'Okay. You got it down.'"

Earlier this week, KORN surprise released a new song, "Reward The Scars", as part of the soundtrack for the upcoming "Diablo IV: Lord Of Hatred" expansion pack. The "Diablo IV: Lord Of Hatred" expansion pack is expected to drop in full for various gaming platforms on April 28.

"Reward The Scars" marks the first new KORN music since the February 2022 release of the band's latest album, "Requiem". The LP, which was produced by Chris Collier and KORN, entered Billboard's Hard Rock Albums chart at No. 1. The band sold 23,000 equivalent album units in the February 4-10, 2022 tracking week, according to Billboard. Of that sum, 20,000 units were from album sales. "Requiem" also landed at No. 2 on the Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts. On the all-format Billboard 200, it arrived at No. 14.

In the video below, former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted unboxes the remastered limited-edition deluxe box set of the band's quadruple-platinum seventh studio album "ReLoad", which will be released June 26 via METALLICA's own Blackened Recordings.

Remastered by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering with Greg Fidelman overseeing, the "ReLoad" remastered limited-edition deluxe box set is available now for pre-order at this location, where full package details and track listings can be viewed. Pre-orders of the deluxe box will receive instant-grat versions of "The Memory Remains" including the remastered original recording, "Instrumental Mix, Take 18 Floor Take", and "Live In Brisbane".

"ReLoad (Remastered)" is available in formats including standard 180g 2LP, Wal-Mart exclusive color 140g 2LP, CD, 3CD expanded edition, cassette and digital (including a Spatial Audio mix using Atmos). Pre-orders and pre-saves of all configurations include "The Memory Remains (Remastered)" instant grat. Additionally, "The Memory Remains (Live in Philadelphia)" video is live now.

The "ReLoad" remastered limited-edition deluxe box set is a passionately and thoroughly curated document of 1997-1998 era METALLICA, bursting with exclusives including previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, live performances, on-air and television appearances, and much more. This one-time numbered pressing features the remastered "ReLoad" album on 180g double vinyl, "The Memory Remains" 7", and "Live At Ministry Of Sound '97", a 140g triple album recorded live. The set's 15 CDs range from the remastered "ReLoad" album to never-before-released collections of riffs, demos and rough mixes, B-Sides and rarities, and a wealth of live material, while its 4 DVDs offer a plethora of behind the scenes, in-studio and live footage, on-air and television appearances, the band's pop-up performance at the CoreStates Complex Parking Lot in Philadelphia, visits to Seoul, and more. Rounding out the box's content are memorabilia including a pack of 13 Rorschach Test cards, an 11x17 Gimme Fuel poster, a sticker, a Pushead print, a 10-pack of guitar/bass picks, lyric sheets, three laminated tour passes and a deluxe 128-page book with never-before-seen photos and stories from whose who were there.

The release of "ReLoad (Remastered)" also marks the opening of the #GetTheReLoadOut fan cover competition. Last year, thousands of METALLICA fans across social media submitted their interpretations of "Load" tracks for the #GetTheLoadOut Fan Cover Competition. The band is opening up round two — this time as #GetTheReLoadOut — to celebrate the "ReLoad" reissue with a new second category: In addition to the more traditional musical covers, performance and visual artists are also invited to participate. A different track off the album will be highlighted each week throughout the competition, culminating in two Grand Prize Winners each taking home a METALLICA-autographed "ReLoad" remastered limited-edition deluxe box set.

Originally released November 18, 1997, "ReLoad" was the third consecutive METALLICA album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, ultimately spending nearly 80 weeks on the chart and attaining No. 1 status in six countries, and top 10 in nearly a dozen more. The 1995-1997 sessions at The Plant in Sausalito, California that yielded both "ReLoad" and "Load" found James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted exploring expanded creative terrain and pushing the boundaries of METALLICA's sonic identity. On "ReLoad", this meant bold decisions ranging from the inclusion of hurdy-gurdy and violin on the somber "Low Man's Lyric" to Marianne Faithfull's haunting guest vocal on "The Memory Remains".

Released in 1996, "Load" marked a new direction for METALLICA, featuring what one critic has described as "a fresh take on LYNYRD SKYNYRD-tinged boogie rock for the 1990s."

Although "Load" and "ReLoad" were warmly received by critics at the time, they've since taken their place among the most reviled work of METALLICA's career.

In a 2013 interview with Revolver magazine, Ulrich said that "Load" and "ReLoad" are "great records" that "are creatively on par with every other record we've made. Obviously, they're bluesier records, and at that time, we were listening to a lot of LED ZEPPELIN, DEEP PURPLE and AC/DC, and we had a different kind of foundation than records before or after," he said. "And I understand that there are people who couldn't quite figure out what was going on with the haircuts and the rest of it, and that's fine. But musically, if you strip all that other stuff away, if you just listen to the 27 songs — 'Load' and 'ReLoad' were intended as one double-record — it's a great collection of songs that is on par with everything else that we've done creatively."

Hetfield has repeatedly expressed his dislike of the "Load" album cover and its inspiration, telling Classic Rock magazine in a 2009 interview: "Lars and Kirk were very into abstract art, pretending they were gay. I think they knew it bugged me. It was a statement around all that. I love art, but not for the sake of shocking others. I think the cover of 'Load' was just a piss-take around all that. I just went along with the make-up and all of this crazy, stupid shit that they felt they needed to do."

In a 2017 interview with Clash, Hetfield was asked if the band had to make certain compromises along the way in order to be accepted by the mainstream. He responded in part: "As far as doing something that doesn't feel right, I'm sure there's been a few times that it's happened — the 'Load' and 'ReLoad' era, for me, was one of those; the way that was looking, I wasn't 100 percent on with it, but I would say that that was a compromise. I said, 'I'm going with Lars's and Kirk's vision on this. You guys are extremely passionate about this, so I'll jump on board, because if the four of us are into it, it's going to be better.' So I did my best with it, and it didn't pan out as good as I was hoping, but, again, there's no regrets, because at the time it felt like the right thing to do."

Following the "Load"/"ReLoad" albums and tour, METALLICA went into a tailspin that resulted in Newsted's exit of, Hetfield spending the better part of a year in rehab and the band nearly splitting up.

In a 2016 interview with TeamRock, Hetfield was asked what he thought late METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton might have felt about the drastic changes in METALLICA's look and sound that the band made through the 1990s and early 2000s with albums like "Load", "ReLoad" and "St. Anger". Hetfield replied: "Well, I certainly would have thought there would have been some resistance, for sure. I think the 'Black Album' was a great album and I appreciate the fact that we did have the balls to do that… I would certainly think that the 'Load' and 'ReLoad' [era], I would have had an ally that was very against it all — the reinvention or the U2 version of METALLICA."

Platinum-selling, Scranton, Pennsylvania powerhouse MOTIONLESS IN WHITE will release a new album, "Decades", on July 17 via Roadrunner Records.

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE are at home in the dark. For over 20 years, the quintet — Chris Motionless (vocals),Ricky Olson (guitar),Ryan Sitkowski (guitar),Vinny Mauro (drums),and Justin Morrow (bass) — have resided in their own shadowy corner of alternative music and culture. The group's uncanny alchemy of metal, hardcore, goth, industrial, and electronic has magnetically attracted an ardent audience, fueling a quiet rise out of the Rust Belt and into arenas as a headlining force of nature. Their D.I.Y. work ethic drives the evolution of an immersive world where stunning visuals match the scope of the sound.

The collective come full circle on their seventh full-length offering "Decades". For as much as it conjures their signature style, the LP sees them continue to confidently cut a path through uncharted territory, spreading a little darkness in their wake.

Today, the band has also dropped the lyric video for the ferocious new single "Playing God", featuring a guest appearance by SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor. Watch the lyric video for the track below.

"I can't believe how aggressive Corey sounds," Chris Motionless declares. "It's an observational commentary on toxic Internet culture and the people who perpetuate it. The Internet has gotten worse and worse to the point where only negativity, hatred, and lies are at the forefront of everything you see. It's very frustrating because I thought social media was supposed to be a mechanism to connect, but all it does is divide."

"Decades" features several high-profile and eclectic guest appearances. In addition to Taylor, Sklyar Grey and DARK DIVINE's Anthony Martinez also feature on the album.

The band recorded "Decades" in upstate New York and Los Angeles with co-producers Drew Fulk and Justin "JD" deBlieck and ultimately incorporated their past, present, and future sounds into one cohesive sound. This is MOTIONLESS at their very best.

"We were never afraid to take risks," observes Chris. "This band has not only lasted two decades, but we've also outlasted all of the obstacles we've faced. We're still grinding. No matter how far we expand the universe that is MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, we're going to preserve the heart, soul, and roots of where we came from. We are never going to abandon heartfelt, emotional, and heavy songs. We are never going to abandon what mattered to us the most when we started. We're finding new ways to emphasize those stories with exciting sounds and looks, but the vision is the same. It's always been this grand, dramatic, and theatrical entity. I'm proud we haven't gotten comfortable."

He finishes: "'Decades' is definitely heavier than some of our past albums. Our current world bred more aggressive energy, anger, and resistance."

"Decades" track listing:

01. Decades
02. log_in//crash_out
03. R.I.P. (feat. Skylar Grey)
04. Fight Like Hell
05. Playing God (feat. Corey Taylor)
06. All That I've Ever Known
07. Blood Rave (feat. Anthony Martinez)
08. Love At First Bite
09. Count Back From Zero
10. Blood Pact
11. Afraid Of The Dark
12. Sunglasses At Night
13. Hollywood (bonus track)
14. Fight Like Hell (feat. Outlier) (bonus track)

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE are currently touring arenas with BRING ME THE HORIZON and just tore the roof off of New York City's Madison Square Garden. The band will next return to the road on the headline "The Sweat And Blood Tour" this July, with support from LORNA SHORE, FIT FOR A KING and STATIC DRESS.

The North American tour is the band's first American headlining tour in nearly three years and kicks off on July 14 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with stops in Charlotte, Houston, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, and more before wrapping up on August 15 in Sterling Heights, Michigan. It also includes a stop at Red Rocks, the band's first time headlining the venue.

In a new interview with SWOMP, P.O.D. frontman Sonny Sandoval, guitarist Marcos Curiel and bassist Mark "Traa" Daniels confirmed that they have completed work on a new studio album. The recording sessions for the follow-up to 2024's "Veritas" took place in the Whitman section of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Grammy-nominated music producer and engineer Will Yip at his new Memory Music Studios.

 Curiel told SWOMP about working with Yip (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Will is credited for pretty much working from everything from CIRCA SURVIVE, Anthony Green, QUICKSAND, CODE ORANGE, TITLE FIGHT, and most recent, his biggest accolades, Grammys for TURNSTILE. And now he's working with P.O.D.

"It wasn't, like, 'Oh, we're gonna get with Will 'cause he's a Grammy [nominee]...' It was because we've been fans of his work, but he was also a fan of our band," Marcos explained. "And when the opportunity arose, he took it, and was, like, 'Dude, I love your band. I wanna produce you guys.' And we were, like, 'Let's go.' And we're super excited about it."

Regarding the recording process for P.O.D.'s upcoming album, Marcos said: "I can say this proudly, we did a record — 13, 14 songs — all tracked, vocals, drums, and guitars, in 12 days. It kind of set the tone, like, it's good to be prepared. I kind of like it… And the songs came out so dope. We're extremely proud of it, dude."

On the topic of what it was like for P.O.D. to record outside of California for the first time, Marcos said: "[It was] awesome, actually."

Traa chimed in: "Sometimes it's good to get out of our element. It's easy in California, because everything's there. Our family's there, so it was good to get out of our element, be in a situation where we can pull 10-, 12-hour shifts and have nowhere to go."

Marcos added: "We had a 10-minute walk every morning from our Airbnb to the studio. And we got to soak in the community and the culture and the vibe of South Philly. I felt like Rocky sometimes, bro [a reference to the fictional movie character who has become the city's unofficial underdog mascot]… But the streets were just like that. We were, like, 'Look at these houses.' So much culture and vibe there, bro."

Asked what Yip brought out of P.O.D. throughout the recording process, Marcos said: "He's heavily invested. He understands our band. That was one of the key things that kind of enticed me as a writer, as a musician. He started way back with [1990s hip-hop label] Ruffhouse [Records, home to THE FUGEES, CYPRESS HILL and Lauryn Hill], so he has that whole hip-hop background and foundation. Lauryn Hill, FUGEES, all that stuff. But then he has this indie rock and punk rock, post-hardcore, hardcore vibe. We thought it would be a perfect thing for our band. And when we got with him, we weren't mistaken. It was a good vibe, just everything. Vibe, cultural, food-wise. He's a foodie. So there's things you're passionate in life. There's food, then there's music and your family. He's all of those things… He wasn't trying to change us. He was, like, 'This is what P.O.D. is. Let's try to enhance that and make it fresh.'"

Sonny added: "It was so good. And he's a fan of our band, which, it was inspiring. His energy was inspiring. A lot of producers, they're just jaded, and a lot of it is all, as Marcos says, transactional. They do a record because they get paid. It's money, and they're trying to build their catalog. But [Will is], like, 'I only wanna work with bands that I actually respect and like.'

Marcos continued: "It was a team effort. His positivity is very contagious in a great way, man."

P.O.D. released a studio version of its rendition of THE BEATLES classic "Don't Let Me Down" last September.

In May 2024, P.O.D. released its eleventh album, "Veritas", via Mascot Records. The album was a Top 10 hit across the U.S. Billboard Current Hard Rock, Current Rock, and Current Alternative album charts.

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

"Drop" featured a vocal feature from LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe, while "Afraid To Die" featured JINJER vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk.

Photo credit: Alicia Hauff

In a new interview with Metal Roos, ARMORED SAINT bassist and producer Joey Vera spoke about the band's upcoming full-length album, "Emotion Factory Reset", which is due on May 22 through Metal Blade Records. After the interviewer noted that ARMORED SAINT has only released nine albums since the band's 1982 inception, Vera said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We work a little bit slow — 45 years and only nine records, but 12 of those years we weren't even a band. So you take that out of the equation and it puts a hole in the timeline a little bit. But, yeah, we tend to make records these days, especially since reforming in 1999 — basically reforming then — we don't really have a normal time schedule, like a lot of bands do, with record labels. Record labels, when they sign newer bands, they want you to put a new record out every year and a half or two years or whatever — record, tour, write, record, tour, write. The cycle's a very real thing. And we did that for years when we were younger, but we have this great opportunity that we're on Metal Blade Records where they don't hold the gun to our head like that. And they pretty much let us do what we want, when we want. And there's no real pressure, to be honest with you. So, it takes us five years to make records. But to be fair, [ARMORED SAINT's previous LP, 2020's] 'Punching The Sky' came out during COVID, so that put a stall in our plans a little bit. But once the world started opening up again, we did a lot of touring. We actually did quite a bit of touring between '22 and '25. So for three years we did quite a lot of touring in the States and a little bit in Europe. And, yeah, fitting in writing a record in there also just is time consuming for us. So we kind of work on the snail pace."

Referencing the "Emotion Factory Reset" album title and how it relates to ARMORED SAINT's mindset while going into each new release, Joey said:  "We sort of view each record that we make as a sort of a reset. It's like starting from scratch. So when we sit down to do a new painting, let's say, if there's still paint on the canvas left over from the last painting I finished, I'm gonna scrape that fucker clean and I wanna start fresh. I wanna start with a clean canvas, clean slate. This is a brand new album, totally different than what I did before. I don't want expectations. I don't want any limitations. And so this is the reason for why we even consider this a reset, 'cause I've considered every single record a reset. It's just never crossed my mind that we should call it that."

"Emotion Factory Reset" is a resurrection of sorts for ARMORED SAINT, a tearing down and a rebuilding in eleven songs of diverse musicality and lyrical themes. Produced, as were the previous four albums, by Vera and mixed by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STONE SOUR),the record finds the quintet challenging themselves. Songs like "Close To The Bone", "Hit A Moonshot" and "Every Man-Any Man" have ARMORED SAINT honoring their past as one of the most respected and recognizable bands in heavy music while making forward-thinking music rooted in the present.

The collaborative nature of "Emotion Factory Reset" led to the album title, a phrase from guitarist Phil Sandoval.

"Emotion Factory Reset" was recorded across several studios, including 606 Studios, Secret Hand Studios, Skullseven Studios, Constantine Studios and Bridge Recording, engineered by Oliver Roman, Bill Metoyer, Joey Vera and Jason Constantine. It features cover art by DDKing.

A special European edition of the CD digipak includes the bonus track "One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)", only available digitally until now. The classic track was originally written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and was first released by PEOPLE in 1970. Additional covers include THE FOUR TOPS (1974),SANTANA (1978) and THE DOOBIE BROTHERS (1989).

ARMORED SAINT's current lineup of singer John Bush, guitarists Phil Sandoval and Jeff Duncan, drummer Gonzo Sandoval and Vera has been together since 1989 — not including a few hiatuses while Bush served as ANTHRAX's lead singer.

At various points in the 1980s, Bush and Vera each had offers to audition for spots with fellow heavy metal giants METALLICA but decided to stay with ARMORED SAINT.

In July 2023, ARMORED SAINT was inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

In May 2023, ARMORED SAINT's long-awaited documentary, "Armored Saint: Band Of Brothers", had its world premiere in the band's hometown at the Harmony Gold Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Photo by Travis Shinn

Today the world's fastest band speeds up and into its biggest, boldest and most electrifying era to date: DRAGONFORCE has announced Alissa White-Gluz as the group's newest member and first frontwoman. In a momentous union of two storied and unstoppable forces, the preeminent pioneers of extreme power metal will now be joined by one of metal's legendary vocalists, unleashing both an intrepid evolution of the genre and the start of a seismic year ahead.

Beginning this Saturday, May 9, at Welcome To Rockville, and Sunday, May 17 at Sonic Temple, DRAGONFORCE's debut live performances with White-Gluz will also kick off the twentieth anniversary of "Inhuman Rampage". As the 2006 album that birthed the platinum-selling global phenomenon of "Through The Fire And Flames", which spent 23 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold, "Inhuman Rampage" introduced the band and their music to tens of millions of new fans and counting. With extensive touring plans to be revealed, and a tenth studio album currently in the works, DRAGONFORCE are bringing more listeners than ever into this next chapter of their eternally joyous, adrenaline-filled journey.

See Alissa tease "Through The Fire And Flames" in the video below.

"Alissa joining the band is an expansion of everything we've done up to this point," says DRAGONFORCE co-founder and lead guitarist Herman Li. "Twenty years is a long time to do anything, let alone survive the music industry and still be so inspired to continue doing what we love. Together we will honor what made 'Inhuman Rampage' matter, while showing people exactly where we're going next. Having Alissa in the room changes everything. She doesn't just sing, she makes all aspects of our music better. And she sounds incredible live! I can't wait for the fans to see her and hear what we have been working on."

Through her work with everyone from THE AGONIST to KAMELOT, ARCH ENEMY and her newly launched BLUE MEDUSA, Alissa has become an icon synonymous with strength, independence, versatility and creative fearlessness, representing a new standard for women at the highest levels of heavy music. Over two decades spent on the stage, blending ferocious and melodic theatricality with lyrical themes of philosophy, psychology, ethics and the human experience, she has built a history spanning 15-plus hours of recorded music, 60-plus music videos, 40-plus collaborations and 2,000-plus concerts across a myriad of subgenres.

On her new partnership with DRAGONFORCE, and pairing her vocal prowess with the band's time-warping precision and live show spectacle, Alissa says, "I am beyond excited to be bringing such iconic music to life with these amazingly skilled musicians in such a fun and inspiring environment. It feels great to showcase all the colors of my voice and utilize all my singing styles in technically challenging, deeply energizing, highly addictive songs. I am so thankful for the amazing support I have been lucky enough to receive from the metal world over this wild career I've built; I want to keep pushing my boundaries and delivering exceptional music and live experiences to the fans that I cherish so much."

Founded in 1999 and based between Los Angeles and London, DRAGONFORCE have rewritten the rules of heavy metal, while redefining the possibilities of their respective instruments. Since the release of "Inhuman Rampage" and its signature anthem "Through The Fire And Flames" — the notoriously unbeatable final boss of "Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock" — the Grammy-nominated band have continued to blow the minds of musicians and gamers everywhere. They have been heard in "Despicable Me 4", "Fortnite Festival", "Brawl Stars", "Asphalt Legends" and beyond, and seen on the covers of dozens of magazines. They have played for millions of fans and shared stages with IRON MAIDEN, Ozzy Osbourne, SLIPKNOT, METALLICA and many more, but one thing has always been certain: the fastest band in the world will not slow down.

DRAGONFORCE is:

Herman Li - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Sam Totman - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Alissa White-Gluz - Lead Vocals
Marc Hudson - Lead Vocals
Alicia Vigil - Bass
Gee Anzalone - Drums

Photo by Travis Shinn

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U.K. thrash metal veterans ACID REIGN will release a new album, "Daze Of The Week", on May 15 via Back On Black. The LP will mark the band's first release since 2019's "The Age Of Entitlement".

The official music video for the second single from "Daze Of The Week", a song called "Sorrowsworn", can be seen below.

ACID REIGN vocalist and sole remaining original member Howard "H" Smith commented: "In all my 41 years in this band — yes 41! — I have never been more excited by the prospect of anything than releasing 'Daze Of The Week' on the unsuspecting thrash metal public. It's been two years in the making and at times I thought it might never even see the light of day. Every note of every performance in every song has been lovingly captured by our sixth member producer Jayce Lewis and we couldn't be happier with the results."

He added: "This one is for every single thrasher around the world who thought that albums like this couldn't be made anymore. They can, we have, you're welcome."

Formed in 1985, ACID REIGN is one of the "Big Four" of U.K. thrash metal, along with ONSLAUGHT, SABBAT and XENTRIX.

In 1991, ACID REIGN left an ailing U.K. thrash scene with a final show at the London Marquee. They toured with the likes of NUCLEAR ASSAULT, DARK ANGEL, EXODUS, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, DEATH ANGEL and CANDLEMASS. During this time, they put out two full-length albums, namely "The Fear" and "Obnoxious", following on from their mini album debut in 1988, "Moshkinstein". A final compilation, "The Worst Of Acid Reign", was released and their brief but highly productive career came to an end.

Since returning from a 24-year absence, the band has been busy. On the back of two new songs, "Plan Of The Damned" (2015) and "The Man Who Became Himself" (2017),they hit the road both at home and throughout Europe for numerous tours and festival appearances, including the now-legendary record-breaking headline slot of the Sophie Stage at Bloodstock 2016. During this time, they have earned themselves a fearsome live reputation famous for its high energy, mass stage diving and violent pits.

There has been a lot of change in the ACID REIGN camp since the release of "The Age Of Entitlement". Paul Chanter (guitar),Marc Jackson (drums) and Cooky (guitar) are all gone, and now we have ACID REIGN 3.0, the re-reboot. In their stead are lead guitarist Matt Smith, Johnny Grimley, former touring partner and ex-SHRAPNEL drummer, and last but by no means least on rhythm guitar Darren Mcgillivray, a huge ACID REIGN fan who had supported the band many times with his own group WRATH OF MAN.

Along with H on vocals and bass player Pete Dee, this is the lineup that brings us "Daze Of The Week", ACID REIGN's fourth full-length album. Once again longtime producer/collaborator Jayce Lewis was engaged, flying in from New York to make sure the band got what they were after and, in his own words, "a chance to work with a band that sounded reborn". And reborn they are, as H confirms: "There were times, specifically when Marc and Cooky left at the same time, I really did wonder if it was time to call it quits. That was quickly followed by, 'No way. No way am I letting circumstance dictate when this band's career ends. We will decide.'

"Being in a legacy band is a privilege," he continued. "If a 15-year-old me was told we'd still be putting albums out all these later it would have blown his tiny mind! Matt and Pete were desperate to get a new album written as was I and so we got down to it.

"Matt has been here for four years already. I can honestly say he is the best guitarist I have ever worked with. No offense intended to any I've played with in the past, but he is in a different league, as well as being a beautiful human being.

"Johnny messaged us one day asking if we were still looking for a drummer. He'd never crossed my mind, as I knew he quit drumming a few years ago for health reasons. However, his situation had changed and that was the best news we'd had in ages, as Pete and I had always rated him as a drummer and a bloke. As for Darren, where do I start?! I became friends with Darren via his lovey wife Victoria who proposed to him on the front row of an ACID REIGN show. I even MC'd their wedding! He's a top bloke and solid-as-steel rhythm guitarist. He contacted me when we were still looking for a drummer, offering his services, and then had to wait an age for his audition until we found Johnny. Even then, on the day Matt was taken ill and we had to do it as a four-piece, unflappable as ever he breezed through like I always thought he would.

"Honestly, we cannot wait to get out and play the new stuff, old stuff, any stuff — we just want to play!"

"Daze Of The Week" track listing:

01. The Who Of You
02. Daze Of The Weak
03. No Truth
04. Conniption King
05. Alonely
06. Blind Lies
07. Sorrowsworn
08. Old Young Man
09. Fantastic Passion
10. Centre Of Everything

Longtime NAPALM DEATH guitarist Mitch Harris has launched a crowdfunding campaign for TourFlip, a new marketplace he designed and built to help bands get booked worldwide, get paid and help sustain the rising cost of touring.

After over 25 years of live shows on the road, Harris built TourFlip to make the process more efficient and profitable for all players. Bands receive direct booking offers from global promoters. Fans pay face value for tickets with no service fees added on top when promoters and venues sell tickets directly through TourFlip. TourFlip also surfaces inventory from major ticketing partners, with the platform's fee-free promise applying to direct ticketing only. Promoters, venues, festivals and crews all work directly through the platform.

"Streaming killed album income. Bands take home maybe 20 percent of what they actually earn," Harris says. "Fans pay more than ever for less than ever. Promoters fail to reach bands through agents. Crews can't find steady work. So I built TourFlip."

The platform also includes a marketplace for bands to sell merch and services direct to their event-driven community, plus a native social feed where bands and fans can engage and earn from co-promoting shows, including $15 per hour for street team flyer posting.

Harris designed TourFlip to manage complex offers remotely. He says investors and labels never saw the problem the way the touring community does and that bands rarely get to see the amount of show offers outside standard tours with nightmare routing.

"Investors don't care. Labels don't care. They never have," Harris says. "But bands do. Crews do. Fans do. The community that built this culture. I'm asking for their support to get TourFlip across the finish line."

The crowdfunding campaign is live at tourflip.com. Contributors receive a permanent Founding Supporter badge when the platform launches this summer. Contributions of $100 or more unlock a Gold Badge plus six months of TourFlip Premium.

TourFlip is expected to launch summer 2026.

Harris took a leave of absence from NAPALM DEATH in late 2014 to focus on his family life. He has remained active in the music scene, including performing with the grindcore group EARTHBURNER.

Before joining NAPALM DEATH, Mitch Harris was a member of the grindcore band RIGHTEOUS PIGS. He left that group shortly after forming a side project called DEFECATION with Mick Harris (then of NAPALM DEATH).

Mitch joined NAPALM DEATH in 1989 and made his recording debut with the band on the album "Harmony Corruption".

DISTURBED bassist John Moyer is celebrating one year of sobriety.

Earlier today (Saturday, May 2),the 52-year-old musician took to his social media to shared a video message in which he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " Happy Saturday, May 2nd.

"So today is actually a really special day for me on a personal level that I wanna share with you guys. Today I am one year with no drinking, no alcohol. It's a big deal for me.

"I have been a lifelong drinker since I was a teenager," John admitted. "It seems like it was tied up with every part of my life, my social circles, my professional life.

"Rock and roll and metal music and being a musician has a very complicated relationship with drugs and alcohol. And I've had a very complicated relationship with drugs and alcohol. And a year ago, I reached a point where… I had been wanting to quit for a while, but I reached a point where I was in a situation, and it was in the middle of the 'The Sickness [25th Anniversary] Tour'. The first half of the tour I was drinking a lot, and my behavior was becoming erratic and I wasn't the person I wanted to be. And I was struggling. And we took a break in the middle of that tour — it was, like, a week- or week-and-a-half-long break between the first leg and the second leg — and it had become clear to me that my bandmembers were worried about me. And they basically said, 'Listen, for this second half of the tour, we need you to clean up and maybe get some help after the tour's over.' And that was a big wake-up call for me. I took it very seriously, and when I went back out on the road, my very first show was in Seattle, and that was the first show in as long as I can remember that I didn't drink after the show. I never really drank that much before the show — maybe a shot or two, which when you're drinking a lot of alcohol, that's not much. But after the show was when I would really let it go. And so that first show in Seattle was the first show I had done in a long, long time — I mean, maybe ever — that I didn't drink at all. Maybe there was a time period before, maybe a month that I had taken off, like in 2008, but to seriously not drink, it was a big deal. It was a little scary, and I was nervous on stage. I didn't have that alcohol crutch, I guess. I'm not sure what it was. I was very raw. I had been a week or 10 days clean or so, so it was tough, but it was good. And I remember the show very well, and I remembered every show since then very well. And it has been a journey and a process of self-reflection, of accountability, and of trying to be a better person. And I am so much happier with my life now.

"I didn't realize how much I was holding myself back," John continued. "I was drinking to escape the problems that were happening from me drinking. It's a weird, vicious, terrible cycle. And I was happy that I've been able to break it. And the bigger part is grow from it. And the reason I'm sharing this is not because I'm looking for congratulations or anything like that, but I feel like it's important that if anyone out there is struggling with alcohol and drug abuse, that if I can beat it, I truly believe anyone can beat it. And there is help out there for you. And if you are looking for what I have, you can message me, and maybe I can get you on the right path, maybe I can help you. Maybe you're curious as to how I was able to do it, because it's not easy for a lot of people. And I had to find a way, but I found it, and I'm a much happier person for it. And my family's happier for it, my friends are happier for it, my bandmembers are happier for it. And now I can engage with you guys as fans in a way that I was never able to do before, because I was just not happy with myself, with the way I looked. I wasn't confident. I'm not sure — there was a whole lot of things that go on with it, and that's a big reason why you're seeing me on social media so much more now, because I feel like I have something to offer. And I love it. And I have love in my heart and love for you guys, and it's a different world for me. And I'm very thankful to have this opportunity.

"If you are struggling, there is life on the other side," Moyer added. "There is a better world. There is a better place, and I'm proof of it.

"So, happy one-year sobriety to myself. I will take that. And I'm looking forward to this next chapter in my life of continued sobriety, and I am so thankful to share it all with you."

Three and a half years ago, Moyer married his longtime girlfriend Brandi Nicole Hester. The couple, who had been engaged since May 2021, tied the knot on November 5, 2022 in their hometown of Kyle, Texas. Prior to their engagement, they had been dating for six years. They share two boys, Donovan and Logan, from previous relationships.

Hester works as an interior designer and stylist serving the Austin, Texas metropolitan and surrounding area.

Prior to joining DISTURBED in 2004, Moyer played in rock bands THE UNION UNDERGROUND and SOAK, both major label acts hailing from Texas. He has also toured and/or recorded with ADRENALINE MOB, ART OF ANARCHY and ex-QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate.

While he is still capable of playing finger-style, Moyer prefers picking because it has a more aggressive feeling.

In 2011, John released a bass instructional video titled "Modern Metal Bass" for Rock House Publishing.

In a new interview with France's Loud TV, SEVENDUST singer Lajon Witherspoon spoke about the band's fifteenth studio album "One", which came out on May 1 via Napalm Records. SEVENDUST once again worked with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida. Baskette had previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and Slash, among others.

Lajon said about the follow-up to 2023's "Truth Killer" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We put a lot of work into it. I feel like all our albums are the best, but for whatever reason, I really feel like this one is one of our best — maybe due to maturity and the seasons and the things that we've gone through in life that we were able to… I like to say — an album, to me, is a collage and it tells a lot of different stories, and I really feel like this one does… I do feel like definitely a rollercoaster of trying to get to the bright side of things in life. I feel like there's always up and ups and downs, but at the end of the day, we always come out on top somehow."

After the interviewer noted that Lajon sings about emotional "scars" in some of the lyrics on "One", the vocalist concurred. "Absolutely," he said. "But those are what makes us stronger too, at times. And those scars, they always stay with you no matter what. It just only gets better, but that scar could still be there."

Asked what his "darkest" or "deepest scar" is, Lajon said: "Oh, man. No one's ever asked me that. Probably my deepest scar is the passing — my little brother was killed, and that would probably be the deepest scar for me, still to this day, was losing him in the way that we lost him. So, I feel like his energy's always with me though… I pray for him every day, and I feel like he's here, even though he's not here. But I feel his soul is here with me and he is very proud and I'm still proud of him too."

Witherspoon also talked about SEVENDUST's working relationship with Baskette, who previously helmed the band's "All I See Is War" (2018),"Blood & Stone" (2020) and "Truth Killer" albums. Lajon said:  "Elvis — the best in the world. He's a member of our band, pretty much. I'll tell you what — it's the most exciting producer I've ever worked with, because it's nothing about him telling us what to do. It's about him knowing what we have and just do it. And there's never not been a day when I go in to do vocals with him that I'm nervous or scared. We work really well together. It's butter. So, I look forward to working with Elvis again, him and [engineer] Jef [Moll] at the house, and we get to stay in this big, beautiful mansion that's now just the studio. And we go in there and we live, we cook, we have a pool right there, and you don't have to go anywhere. So it's all about music when you're there. And then when you walk in the house too, it's a tribute to all the artists that he is worked with. So you can only be inspired when you're looking at all these plaques and you're, like, 'Oh, man. That's platinum. That's platinum. That sold a zillion albums.' It's, like, 'Wow.' And Elvis is really cool. We hang out. On Sundays, we would take off and we would go to his main house and watch the football games and eat. It's just a good time. We're brothers.

Asked if Baskette "pushed" him to do more vocally on "One", Lajon said: "Absolutely. Oh, absolutely — but in a good way. I wanted to sing more on this album. I think I was able to accomplish that with this album. I'll kind of give you a rundown. Me and Elvis kind of work where I could do a verse and he'll be, like, 'We got it, but let's do it again. Just in case.' And I love doing it, 'cause I might change something up and then he goes back in. And when he gets his pencil out and Jef is right there doing stuff and you see him do that and you can tell that he's moving and he knows what word sounded better and you can tell he's just mapping it out, man. It's just like an art. It's really cool."

Asked if he was "surprised" by himself in terms of what he was able to accomplish vocally on "One", Lajon said: "Oh. Not surprised — very happy and proud. Just after you get the final copy. I don't like to listen to it until the people get to hear it too. I'll listen to it once, and be, like, 'Yeah, maybe you might change this,' but nothing was needed to be changed. So the first time I really listened to the album was, I think it was Portland, where we did a Live Nation listening party. And I was so excited. They were, like, 'Okay, you guys come out, and then you go backstage in this back room and they're gonna listen to a song and then you come out and they'll talk to you about it.' I couldn't stay back there. I had to listen. So I was like right here behind the curtains trying to see the reactions. And I'm just like a kid in the candy store with it, man. It's a good feeling to come back to the album and listen to it fresh like that."

When Loudwire asked Witherspoon three years ago to name the SEVENDUST song he was proudest of, he selected "Shine" from the 2001 album "Animosity", a track he wrote about his younger brother Reginald, who was shot to death nearly a quarter century ago.

"[I wrote it] about my little brother that passed… who was killed," Witherspoon said. The singer has since come to dedicate live performances of the song to his fallen sibling. "I wish he was able to be here, alive, to be with me and to see what we've done," Lajon added.

On November 9, 2002, Reginald Witherspoon was shot to death in the Parkway Terrace Homes area of East Nashville. Around 8:30 p.m. that night, Reginald drove up to a house on Smiley Street where there were three black males standing outside. One of the males got in the car with Reginald. After a couple minutes, Reginald drove his car down the street, made a U-turn and drove back down Smiley Street. When he approached the stop sign at Neill Avenue, the other two males approached the car and began shooting. The male in the passenger seat also shot Reginald. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds and succumbed to his injuries a short time later in the hospital. Reginald Witherspoon was 23 years old at the time of his death.

SEVENDUST's fourth studio album, "Seasons", was dedicated to the memory to both Reginald Witherspoon and Dave Williams, DROWNING POOL's original singer, who died of cardiomyopathy in August 2002.

Renowned as one of the most powerful live bands in modern metal, SEVENDUST kicked off a U.S. headline tour in support of "One" on April 16 in Carterville, Illinois. The trek, which will run through May 20, concluding in Knoxville, Tennessee, features support from ATREYU, FIRE FROM THE GODS and AMERICAN ADRENALINE. The band will also appear at major festivals including Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple.

In a new interview with SWOMP, SNOT guitarist Mikey Doling and bassist John "Tumor" Fahnestock spoke about the reactivated Santa Barbara-based metal/punk rock hybrid's long-awaited new studio album. The upcoming effort is being recorded with producer, engineer and mixer Chris Collier and will mark SNOT's first release with new singer Andy Knapp, who made his live debut with the band in January 2025 in Anaheim, California. Mikey said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We are working a brand new album right now. It's our first album since [1997's] 'Get Some'. It's literally gonna be 30 years later, and we're really pumped on it. We're working with Chris Collier. [He's] a great producer. He's done a couple of KORN records, some PRONG and a lot of bands we love."

He continued: "We're eight songs into the album right now, so we're real close to completing it. And it's gonna come out, and we're fucking stoked on it."

Fahnestock added: "I never thought it could be done until we met Andy, to be honest. We've tried for the last several decades to put something together. But it feels so real now. And with the new music being written and hearing what Andy's bringing to the table, we're definitely confident we're gonna come out swinging."

Asked at what point in the process they wanted to start working on new music, or if that was always the plan, Mikey said: "No, it wasn't always the plan. We started touring and we realized how great he is. So we tried a couple of songs and it went so well, we just kept writing."

Fahnestock added: "Mikey and I had been tracking music for eight years. And then we just had it in our back pocket. And we always knew if somebody could bring something to what we've written… Otherwise we're, like, 'Well, I guess we've got a bunch of instrumentals until we find somebody.'"

Mikey chimed in: "We knew once we did the first song with Andy, we could do a record. So we've been chipping away at it."

Last month Doling shared in a social media post that the writing process for a new SNOT album was "going exceptionally well or I should say fucking killer".

He continued: "Restarting the musical SNOT engine isn't as challenging as expected. The creativity is flowing effortlessly, like back in 1995! It's stankalicious funk, punk, and high-energy rock 'n' roll with sprinkles of what we used to call lounge jams. Andy Knapp's impact and talent, on this album has been hi level, he's crushing it!"

Mikey added: "Stepping into the great [late SNOT singer] Lynn Strait's role is virtually impossible, but Andy's done it head first, professionally and with class and my god he's owning it big time."

Last fall, Fahnestock told Australia's Heavy about SNOT's return to the live stage and the band's plans for the coming months: "Well, I think things are a lot different now. We're pretty much saying SNOT is back at this point. We finally found, in Andy, what we basically were dreaming of having. And I'm not saying anything negative on the past singers that we had. Before, when we put SNOT together, it wasn't, like, 'We're reforming. We're back,' anything like that. We were just more doing it for fun, for the love of music, love of Jamie [Miller, SNOT drummer] and Mikey and myself playing together. And we were, like, 'Let's go out and play the songs,' but it wasn't seriously saying, like, 'We're back and coming back to here to stay and swing,' like we are now. And, like I said, it's a blessing to have found Andy and what he's doing. And, obviously, the response from the fans has been nothing but positivity."

Asked what it was like returning to the live stage under the SNOT banner, Fahnestock said: "Yeah, coming off this last tour and seeing the response from the crowd, it brought tears to our eyes. And it brought tears to their eyes, to our fans. I'd look out and see people crying, and there are 16-year-olds and they're singing our songs and they knew all the lyrics and they're fucking losing their mind. And I wasn't expecting that at all. And it wasn't that way 10 years ago when we ran through those areas. Yeah, a lot has changed. I think there's a big resurgence now of bands from the '90s, the late '90s, getting a whole resurgence. And I see it a lot, and it's a good thing — it's a really good thing. I think that style and the ['90s] metal thing is actually coming back now and being embraced."

Reflecting on how the latest SNOT reunion came about, John said: "There was a festival in the U.S., and it's kind of where this all started, and it's called Sick New World. And I went there, and it was SYSTEM OF A DOWN and COAL CHAMBER and INCUBUS and all the bands that came up in that era. That's when Mikey and I again started getting a fire under our ass, thinking, 'Dude, if we could only find the right singer, we could do this again.' And we did. So we're back."

Asked if the new SNOT music follows the same "eclectic" direction as the band's 1990s output, John said: "Exactly. It's how we write. It's crazy. Mikey picks up a guitar and it smells like SNOT, bro. It's fucking eerie. And what's really eerie is I could hear Lynn. Like, 'What would Lynn do on this?' In my head I could hear him, 'cause it sounds like he should be there. So, yeah. It's crazy."

In September 2025, Doling told Ore Bihovsky of TotalRock's "Louder" radio show about SNOT's return to the live stage: "I'm really excited, first of all. Just having SNOT back — [I] never expected it. We found a new singer who's amazing, and he made it all possible. And we put some tickets on sale and they're all selling out, all the shows, and we're pretty blown away. We're very grateful to be doing it and super stoked."

Asked how it feels to have Knapp fronting SNOT, three decades after the band's formation and 27 years after the passing of Strait, Doling said: "Honestly, it feels kind of like it used to, with Andy. Andy brought energy to the band that we haven't seen or had since Lynn Strait… Having Andy in the band, he's brought that energy again to us. The shows are full of energy. It's wild, man."

After Ore noted that this is the first time that he has heard the members of SNOT say that the band is officially "back", Doling clarified: "Well, before, when we [played gigs with other vocalists], it was more like we wanted to fucking just get together and play. We weren't really focused on new music or promotion or selling shows. We didn't give a shit. We just wanted to go out and play. This time, we feel like we found the right singer. Also, that it's the right time to actually bring it back full blown. So we're getting in the studio, we're recording new music, we're booking tours. We've got the booking agent. And we're just going full-on, man, and it's great."

Asked about new SNOT music, Mikey said: "It's funky. It's punk. It's got attitude. It's cool. It sounds like old SNOT. And we're trying to keep it like that. We don't wanna change the sound. We wanna keep it like 1996, '97 — lots of wah pedal, lots of grooves, some heavy punk influences. It's cool."

In April 2025, SNOT recruited Doc Coyle (GOD FORBID, ex-BAD WOLVES) as the band's touring guitarist after the group's split with Sonny Mayo.

The news of Mayo's departure was broken by Doling, who stated in a video message at the time:  "Sonny Mayo has decided to quit SNOT. SNOT doesn't fit into his life right now, and he just wants to focus on himself and his life. And SNOT's just too busy for him to be able to continue.

"So I'd like to wish Sonny Mayo the best of luck in his future, and I wanna thank him for all he's contributed to SNOT over the years. We love you, brother," Mikey continued.

"That being said, our very, very good friend from GOD FORBID, formerly BAD WOLVES, Doc Coyle, is going to be filling in on guitar for the upcoming shows. And we're excited to have him on board. And thank you very much, Doc Coyle."

SNOT disbanded in 1998 following Strait's death, putting an end to a career that generated considerable promise but only one studio album, "Get Some". The band had been writing material for its sophomore CD and had completed 10 songs at the time of Strait's tragic passing. As a memorial to Strait, SNOT eventually decided to release those tracks, with lyrics and guest vocals provided by a host of stars from the alt-metal community. The resulting album, "Strait Up", was a fitting tribute from Strait's peers and friends, featuring members of LIMP BIZKIT, KORN, SLIPKNOT, SEVENDUST, (HED) P.E., COAL CHAMBER, SUGAR RAY, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, SOULFLY, and more.

SNOT in 2014 recruited Carl Bensley (VITIATE, CONSUME THE FIRE) to sing for the band following the departure of Tommy "Vext" Cummings (ex-DIVINE HERESY, BAD WOLVES).

According to the Los Angeles Times, Lynn died in died in a car accident in December 1998 as he attempted to drive across Highway 101 in Mussel Shoals, California. The 30-year-old singer died instantly after his 1992 Ford Tempo was broadsided by a southbound full-size pickup truck about noon. Also killed was Strait's small bulldog, SNOT's mascot Dobbs, who adorned the cover of the band's debut album, the 1997 Geffen Records release "Get Some". Strait, a Santa Barbara resident, was crossing the highway after visiting his girlfriend in the community. Lynn apparently pulled into the path of the truck, which was going about 65 mph. The impact sent Strait's car spinning into the center divider where it stopped, a California Highway Patrol officer told the Los Angeles Times at the time.

Cummings fronted SNOT in 2008-2009 before he and Mayo exited the group amid "strained relationships."

Press photo courtesy of SNOT

Hard rock legends DEEP PURPLE will release their new studio album, "Splat!" , on July 3 via earMUSIC.

With more than 120 million albums sold since forming in 1968, DEEP PURPLE have long secured their place in rock history. Rather than simply preserving their legacy, they continue to extend it, driven by the same spirit that defined their earliest work.

Says frontman Ian Gillan: "Where we are now with this incarnation of DEEP PURPLE feels very much like a very 'now' version of DEEP PURPLE as it was in the '70s."

Once again, the band has teamed up with renowned producer Bob Ezrin (KISS, PINK FLOYD, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper). Together, they have crafted an album that draws on the sound and attitude that has always set DEEP PURPLE apart from the rest.

"Splat!" is the heaviest DEEP PURPLE album in many years, with the band playing together in the studio — the way DEEP PURPLE have always recorded.

Gillan comments: "I have to say, now we are very much back in with material that is compatible with 'Highway Star', 'Smoke On The Water', 'Lazy' — the dynamics, the balance, and the fun of the music we made from '69 to '73."

At the heart of "Splat!" is an idea conceived by Gillan. Rather than treating the end as destruction, the album imagines it as transformation: "Splat!" explores the end of humanity not in any crude apocalyptic sense but as a metamorphosis beyond physical existence.

The album concept will be revealed further in the weeks leading up to its release on July 3.

To celebrate the release, DEEP PURPLE will continue their extensive 2026 touring schedule with no fewer than 86 shows across 28 countries on three continents.

New music from "Splat!" is already on the way. DEEP PURPLE invite fans to follow the journey in the weeks ahead.

Gillan sums it up: "DEEP PURPLE is in a great place right now."

"Splat!" formats:

* CD (Digisleeve)
* 2LP (black, 180g, Gtf.)
* Ltd. Purple 2LP (180g, Gtf.)
* Ltd. Transparent Yellow 2LP (180g, Gtf.)
* Ltd. Box Set
* Digital

Box Set Content

* 2LP Gatefold (180g)
* 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
* CD Digisleeve
* 3 exclusive 10-inch vinyl records featuring live recordings from the DEEP PURPLE tour 2024
* Exclusive 7-inch single featuring bonus track "Guinnesis" (not included on the studio album!)

Track listing (CD/2LP):

Side A

01. Arrogant Boy
02. Diablo
03. The Rider
04. The Lunatic

Side B

05. The Only Horse In Town
06. Sacred Land
07. The Beating Of Wings

Side C

08. Guilt Trippin'
09. Scriblin' Gib'rish
10. Jessica's Bra

Side D

11. Third Call
12. My New Movie
13. Splat!

"Splat!" will be available on July 3 in multiple formats:

Limited Box Set, containing:

- 2LP Gatefold (180g)
- 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
- CD Digisleeve
- 3 exclusive 10-inch vinyl records featuring live recordings from the DEEP PURPLE tour 2024
- Exclusive 7-inch single featuring the bonus track "Guinnesis" (not included on the studio album and available exclusively in the box set!)
* CD (Digisleeve)
* 2LP Gatefold (black, 180g) + 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
* Limited Purple 2LP Gatefold (180g) + 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
* Limited Transparent Yellow 2LP (180g) + 12-page vinyl-sized booklet

All LP editions include a rich 12-page LP-sized booklet with illustrations and all song lyrics – available exclusively with the first pressing.

Further exclusive items are available via the official artist store, including:

* Limited 2LP Picture Disc + 12-page vinyl-sized booklet
* Limited Cassette
* A strictly limited canvas signed by all band members and limited to just 199 copies worldwide

There simply aren't enough superlatives to properly acknowledge the contribution DEEP PURPLE has made to rock music. Having sold more than 120 million albums and filled global arenas for decades, there's little wonder that the respected British radio station Planet Rock named the group the "Fifth Most Influential Band Ever". The band were also presented the "Legend Award" at the 2008 World Music Awards and were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016. DEEP PURPLE truly are "rock royalty".

With a body of work spanning seven decades, DEEP PURPLE have helped pioneer and define the hard rock genre while progressively moving into new areas, both keeping their sound fresh and attracting new fans to the legions who have remained loyal since the band's inception. The celebrated MKII line-up of Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore was responsible for creating many of the defining rock albums of the early '70s, including "Made In Japan", universally accepted as one of the most important and influential live albums of all time.

Known as one of the hardest-working bands ever, DEEP PURPLE have continued to release No. 1 albums and tour globally since forming in 1968, with little rest.

DEEP PURPLE have stayed true to their musical roots, drawing from an eclectic mix of styles to create a distinctive sound that defines the band today and, in turn, has created a legacy that very few bands could ever hope to replicate. The band has written and produced so many "classic", well-known songs that its audience ranges widely in age and background — something the band has readily embraced.

DEEP PURPLE's recent studio album "=1" (2024) followed their worldwide chart-topping albums "Whoosh!" (2020),"inFinite" (2017) and "NOW What?!" (2013). 2026 sees the release of their brand-new album "Splat!". On these albums, DEEP PURPLE joined forces with producer Bob Ezrin, who has worked with the likes of KISS, PINK FLOYD, Lou Reed and Alice Cooper.

Furthering their collaboration with Ezrin, in 2021 and during the pandemic the band recorded a collection of cover songs from their own homes (normal for most bands nowadays, revolutionary for a band that records everything together in the studio),creating an eclectic and celebratory history of their roots in music, in the shape of "Turning To Crime".

Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Don Airey and Simon McBride continue with renewed vitality, pushing the boundaries of hard rock to audiences around the globe, proving that DEEP PURPLE are very much here to stay.

Photo credit: Olaf Heine (courtesy of The Outside Organisation)

In a new interview with the Inside Of You With Michael Rosenbaum podcast, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was asked if he had any "good conversations" with late KISS guitarist Ace Frehley before Ace died last October at the age of 74. Gene responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's been up and down for 50 years with Ace. And the fans often would hate me for telling the truth. When the kids are at home and there's mom and dad and all of a sudden dad gets thrown out of the house, the kids don't understand — they love mom and dad — why mom kicked dad out of the house. And she tries to explain to them: 'He was a drunk, he was a loser, he was late, didn't show up on time, didn't do what he was supposed to do, was barely around the kids, but he's your father.' And the fans are like kids. They don't know."

Gene continued: "If you would've met Ace at the beginning [of KISS] — God bless him — you would've fallen in love with the idea, who he is and all that. And then [as Niccolò] Machiavelli [said], [when you] have power, [you must sometimes] abuse it. It affects all of us in different ways. Me too. But Ace turned to beverages and chemicals. Early on, he wouldn't show up… I mean, he wouldn't show up to do his guitar parts on even 'Destroyer' early on. And the fans don't like to hear this because he's so talented and everybody, all the new guitar players, were influenced by him and all that. Yeah, but when you're together in a band, you're together more time than your family members or your wife or kids. So he'd be late and all this stuff. And Peter [Criss, original KISS drummer], we love him, and God bless, he's still around, but really from the early days, as soon as the money and the fame came in, it was like the dark cloud came over. And they were both in and out of the band three separate times. And the fans just couldn't understand it."

Offering an example of how unreliable Frehley was, Simmons said: "We were doing the Eurovision contest, and we were the headliners. People in America don't know what that is, but 600 million people at that time, now a billion people, tune in to the Eurovision where all the countries in the world basically send their representatives and it's music based. It's one of the few times such a large audience in the early days would tune in. Ace didn't show up. We had to do it as a trio. It just went on and on and on… And had we not been as popular, we would've asked Ace to leave. But strangely, the first time Ace left, he turned to us, and it's sad, and said — this is a quote; he said it to me two times, twice — 'I'm leaving the band. I'm gonna have a solo career.' And we tried to talk to him — I know I did — in front of the manager and everybody else: 'Stay in the band. Have your solo career. Have your cake and eat it too. We don't want anything from you. If you're not happy, do other stuff, but don't break up the band. That's lunacy.' And he just never made smart decisions. So, he said on the way out, 'You just watch. I'm gonna sell 10 million copies of my solo record.' That's a quote. And we said, 'No, don't do that. Just stay in the band.' And he said, more than once, 'If I don't leave the band and if I do another tour, I'm gonna kill myself.' So whatever was going on, it breaks your heart."

Gene went on to say that despite Ace's issues with substance abuse, he was one of the most influential guitarists of his era.

"You look at his body of work, and guitar players from Eddie Van Halen to — who's the kid from METALLICA? God, I just forgot it — they point to Ace, or Tom Morello and everything, 'I cut my teeth on guitar by listening to Ace.' Of course," Simmons noted. "And he was so proud and so happy to hear from the White House — not from the president — that KISS had won the Kennedy Center awards thing [last year]. And he so much looked forward to [being honored last December]. As a kind of a street kid joins a band and goes to the highest level of American — I don't know — awards. And he just didn't make it."

Asked what he would tell Frehley now if he had a chance to address him, Simmons said: "I should have, and could have, but I should have, a long time [ago], when you see the disease starting to get ahold of him, I should have, decades ago, took, took him aside — it's called an intervention — and forced him to understand he's not just hurting himself by his lifestyle choices, but his family, his child and the fans. It was a stupid and shameful decision on all our parts — I know mine too — is, 'No, you don't wanna get the fans upset. Let's make believe he's in the band and everything's okay at home.' And it it's tough. It's really tough."

Gene continued: "Right now the fans who are gonna listen to this are gonna [say], 'Prick Gene, he never says anything [positive].' … But the kids at home don't understand [what it was like when Ace was loaded on drugs and alcohol]. They never met and spent time with Ace. When he's straight — lovable, everything's great. Early on, and when the stuff started to take hold, it was Jekyll and Hyde. You just can't make smart decisions when you're drunk or high."

After podcast host Michael Rosenbaum noted that it's obvious how much Gene loved and cared about Ace, Simmons said: "Look, over the years, whether it was up or down, he'd call and ask for my favor: 'Can you come up and write some songs with me?' At the height of me telling him, 'You're a moron. You're making horrible life decisions' and stuff. But he calls: 'I'm doing a new record. You wanna write some [songs with me]?' 'Sure.' I got in my car, drove out to the desert where he was, and we wrote two new songs."

Asked if writing songs with Ace again was an enjoyable process, Gene said: "Sure. Because Ace was focused. He cared and was committed to him, which is understandable. We all love our stuff. But when it came to being around other guys… And when it came to guitar, nobody touched him. But when it came to songwriting, unfortunately, there were other guys — Paul [Stanley, KISS guitarist/vocalist] and myself — that wrote most of the stuff [in KISS]."

Last December, Gene apologized for suggesting Ace's death was the result of the guitarist's "bad decisions". Simmons took to his social media at the time to write: "On reflection, I was wrong for using the words I used. I humbly apologize. My hand to God I didn't intended to hurt Ace or his legacy but upon rereading my words, I see how it hurt everyone. Again, I apologize. I've always loved Ace. Always."

The founding KISS guitarist died of blunt-trauma injuries to his head due to a fall, the Morris County Medical Examiner confirmed in a report. The manner of death was ruled an accident.

According to the report, a CT scan of Frehley's head revealed multiple contusions, bone fractures to the back of his skull, hemorrhages, and a subdural hematoma (the type of bleeding that occurs in a person's brain after a head injury). Additional bruises were found on the musician's hip, thigh, and abdomen. The report also noted that Frehley had suffered a stroke.

A separate toxicology report on Frehley's blood at the time of his death has not yet been released.

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

Ace co-founded KISS with Paul, Gene and Peter in New York City in 1973. Frehley appeared on KISS's first nine albums, and returned for the band's 1998 reunion album, "Psycho Circus", only to leave again. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with the rest of KISS's original lineup in 2014.

Frehley first left KISS in 1982. He rejoined in 1996 and parted ways with the band once again in 2002 after the conclusion of KISS's first "farewell tour." Since his departure, guitarist Tommy Thayer had assumed the role of the Spaceman.

Frehley had a rocky relationship with Simmons and Stanley whom he blamed for exacerbating his abuse of drugs and alcohol because they allegedly minimized his contributions to KISS.

Peter Criss, rock and roll icon and founding drummer of KISS, took part in an exclusive meet-and-greet event on April 24-25, 2026 at Rock City Music Company in Livonia, Michigan. The appearance celebrated the release of Criss's latest solo album, "Peter Criss", his first solo record since 2007. Even more significant for fans in the Motor City, this appearance was Peter Criss's first visit to Detroit in more than 20 years — making it a rare and unforgettable opportunity to meet the legendary "Catman" up close and personal.

Speaking to Fox 2 Detroit, Criss stated about his return to the city: "It's almost like coming home. Detroit, they took us under their arms at such level when we first played here at the [Michigan] Palace, which is gone — Cobo [Arena] is gone; Tiger Stadium, all these great places are gone. But we wondered how Detroit Motor City was gonna handle us — the makeup and the whole shenanigans. And they just fell in love with us — from Cadillac to Flint, they banded [together in an attempt to get] the stations [to play] our music. And then we played Cadillac High School, in their auditorium on their prom, and it became like a home to us. Actually, we got a bigger response here when we did our reunion at Tiger Stadium, which it's sad that it's not there, than we did in New York. [New York] didn't give us such a welcoming. And I feel like … I'm back where I belong. I'm in Motor City, man. Motown Records. This is the place. So I'm excited. I feel like a kid in a candy store."

Best known as "The Catman" of KISS, Criss helped define the sound and attitude of one of the most influential bands in rock history. Now, he returns with new music and a chance for fans to connect with him in an intimate setting.

Released in December 2025, "Peter Criss" was co-produced by Criss alongside Barry Pointer, who has worked with Ozzy Osbourne, John 5, MÖTLEY CRÜE, Steve Stevens, Pearl Aday and Dolly Parton. Joining the legendary KISS musician on the LP are Billy Sheehan and Matthew Montgomery (a.k.a. Piggy D.) on bass, John 5 and Mike McLaughlin on guitar and Paul Shaffer on piano. The record also features the talents of backing vocalists Dennis and Sharon Collins, and Cat Manning of CAT 5.

The album is Criss's first solo release since 2007's "One For All", which arrived 13 years after his previous solo release.

Regarding the new LP's musical and lyrical direction, Criss told Billboard: "There's a little bit of everything in there. Now that I'm a senior citizen or whatever, I wanted to write a little about politics, a little good ol' rock 'n' roll. Music is so powerful, as you know. You can really pour your heart and soul into something…and I did. I hope my fans love it. I promised them I would do a rock album after 'One For All', and I kept my promise."

On the topic of the likelihood of Criss playing live shows in support of "Peter Criss", he told Billboard: "If the album really knocks the fans out, would I go out? Sure. I wouldn't mind getting back on stage, getting the guys together to do a couple shows. Why not? I'm in pretty good condition for an old guy; everything is working, maybe a little bit of arthritis here and there, but I still play the drums a few times a week. So, yeah, I hope it does get to that point. I'm just gonna let it flow and see how my fans accept it."

Criss first left KISS in 1980. Since then he's worked with other bands and released solo albums. He teamed up with KISS again for a reunion tour in the 1990s and most recently in 2004. He was replaced by Eric Singer.

In addition to playing drums in KISS, Peter also provided lead vocals for a number the band's most popular and memorable songs, including "Beth", "Black Diamond" and "Hard Luck Woman".

KISS LEGEND PETER CRISS RETURNS TO DETROIT FOR EXCLUSIVE ROCK CITY MUSIC COMPANY MEET & GREET APPEARANCE

LIVONIA, MI —...

Posted by Rock City Music Company on Friday, March 20, 2026

On April 18, KORN drummer and Musicians Institute (MI) graduate Ray Luzier joined Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California for "Pearl Day", sharing performance, insight, and real-world experience with the next generation of drummers.

Luzier, who was raised in West Newton, Pennsylvania, a small town an hour outside of Pittsburgh on a 118-acre farm, was asked how he went from a being a "farm boy" to a "major rock star". Ray responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm just a guy that hangs out with rock stars. I don't really consider myself the whole rock star… Trust me, I like reaping the benefits of [being a rock star]. Private jets don't suck, I gotta say."

He continued: "A big part of it is, like, stay humble. You never know what's gonna happen. When I got [the KORN] gig in '07, [then-KORN bassist] Fieldy told me, 'Yeah, we got another year or two.' So I'm, like, 'Okay. I'm here. Let's do this.' I'm used to being a chameleon. I'm used to going from one gig to another. And so every year would go by, I'm, like, 'Here's another set of tour dates.' 'Here's another album cycle.' 'Now we got new management.' 'Wow, we're doing this now.' Now we're doing stadiums again. We sold out South America in, like, 63 minutes two months ago. Yeah, it's insane. The popularity — you used to see fathers, sons, mothers and daughters. Now you see grandpas and dads. It's the coolest thing ever. They all have KORN shirts on… But it's a beautiful thing to watch the generations keep coming by. It's such an awesome thing to see."

Luzier added: "Stay away from drugs. Don't do drugs, kids. No drugs — ever. Seriously.

"When I moved out here [to Los Angeles] — I mean, come on. I played with David Lee Roth for eight years. Drugs were free. Dave's whole thing was, like, 'I used to have a drug problem. Now I can afford 'em.' So that was eight years of that bipolar maniac stuff. So I saw what it did [to other people].

"I wanted longevity. I wanted to do this till I can't pick a stick up anymore. Like, literally… I wanted longevity, no matter what. It's my whole thing of, like, hard work.

"When I was a student here [at MI], I never did anything but play drums," Ray revealed. "I would literally go to class, go home, get something to eat real quick, go to 7th Street downtown rehearsal, rehearse with my band from, like, five to nine or 10. I'd come back here, and I had two-hour slots carved out with other bands here. So I was out of my fricking tree. You would never catch me without [a drum stick] in my hand — for years, in my twenties. My whole thing was, like, 'I'm gonna get so good, no one's gonna deny me.' That's not the attitude to have, because you never know., I didn't get gigs 'cause I didn't have dreadlocks. I didn't get gigs 'cause I didn't work out enough. You'd be surprised, the reason you don't get gigs. I've lost gigs 'cause I didn't do drugs. That's a true story. I can't name the bands 'cause they're hugely famous. But I had two really big bands, and because I didn't party, I got let go, and it was straight up. And that was weird, because when I got the David Lee Roth gig, I was freaking out. I'm, like, 'I'm not losing this gig,' 'cause I grew up with VAN HALEN playing all this stuff. Big old Jack Daniel's bottle comes around, here comes the joints, here comes the blow. And I'm, like, 'Oh. Damn, I'm done.' And then it was, like. I'll never forget, Dave called me out. He's a smart guy. He may be kind of a clown, but he's a smart dude. A big old bottle of Jack Daniel's. It's coming around. I [pretend that I'm taking a swig], and it hits my lips, but I don't swallow it. And it had to go back in the bottle. Shit like that, 'cause I was, like, 'I'm not losing this gig. I'm one of you. Look at me. I can do this.' Whatever. So, two months goes by and then Dave goes, 'Luzier, you don't party at all, do you?' And I'm like, 'Oh, shit.' I go, 'Hey dude. Whatever you do, that's you. That's cool. I don't care. You could do [whatever you want].' He goes, 'No, that's great. I want somebody that can drive the ship back here. The drummer's gotta provide the time. I don't want you partying.'

"So that's one of the things," Ray said. "I wanted the longevity. Stay away from stuff that's gonna interfere with longevity. How many people you know in rehab? I filled in for STONE TEMPLE PILOTS on three gigs. [Late STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer] Scott Weiland, rest his soul, he was so gone when I filled in for them during those shows. It was so sad. He was on his, like, 30th rehab, and it just broke my heart 'cause he's so talented.

"So if you mix all that — longevity, hard work, persistence… You gotta get out there. In today's day and age, with the phones and everything, obviously you YouTubers out there and all the influencers, that's an instant way to get reach people. But you gotta put the work in.

"This whole A.I. crap is driving me nuttzo. Jesus. There's, like, A.I. songs charting. Do you guys know that? Country songs, and it's, like, 'What is going on, dude? Play your damn instrument. Dave Grohl said it best: 'Get in a garage and suck. Get in your lab and suck — until you don't suck anymore.' I can't even listen to [SiriusXM's] Octane right now, and I'm a huge fan of heavy music. All those bands sound the same. They fix 'em in the computer, they lock it up. Don't get me wrong — I've fixed drum parts in the past, on KORN records and stuff. But we've never locked it up to a grid and sucked the soul out of it. Today's music's missing so much soul. I sound like an old dude, but you know what I'm talking about, right? You wanna be able to play your instruments so when people go see you live, they're not going, 'They don't sound like that. The record sounded really great. That singer's in perfect pitch. How come they suck right now?' Duh. The new KORN record we're doing right now was [recorded] all to two-inch tape, and I'm so proud of that 'cause we just laid it down."

Luzier was raised just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before moving to Los Angeles in 1988 to pursue a career in music.

A little over a decade ago, Ray relocated his family — wife Aspen Brandy Lea and their two sons, Hudson Ray and Beck Jagger — to Franklin, Tennessee.

Ray lived in Los Angeles for 16 years before moving to Nashville.

Being an alumni & then teaching there for a decade, it’s rad to be going back & performing at the amazing Musicians Institute for Pearl Day in Hollywood!

Posted by Ray Luzier on Thursday, March 12, 2026

On the latest episode of Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast, former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted opened about up about his revelation that he has been undergoing medical treatment for throat cancer. Asked by Delray what symptoms he had that led to him being diagnosed with the type of cancer that affects one or more parts of the throat or voice box, the 63-year-old musician, who played with the heavy metal giants from 1986 to 2001, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I didn't feel any different [before being diagnosed]. I had a little bit of an earache and a jaw ache. And my singing was being affected a tad bit.

"In February of last year, I was [hosting] my brother and his wife [at my home] here in Florida," he continued. "They were visiting. And I felt [a lump on my neck], and then [my wife Nicole's] sitting next to me and she goes, 'What is that?' And I go, 'Um, hmm.' So I went in next week, got everything checked out. The doctor calls and says — instead of just telling you what's up, he says, 'You need to come in.' That's not good. And so I went in, and he dropped it. And I'm, like, 'Who are you talking to? What, what, what? [I'm] Superman. Fuck you. There's no way, man. Shit bounces off me. What are you talking about? That's not how it is.' I expected [something like that to happen] maybe 20 years from now or something. But then I started thinking about it. And our accelerated lifestyle [when I was still in METALLICA]. And what we were talking about before, with the big tours, you're doing a couple of hundred 20 shows a year for a few years in a row, these type of things. Those touring years are dog years. Those are four or five into one, really, if you put the math down and the taxing on your cells and three flights a day and 'expand, contract' however many times. That kind of shit, it'll get you. So I was trying to reason — of course you're always trying to fucking reason, like, 'What's that [about]?' And I go, 'Wait a minute. What about my boy, my boy, my boy, my boy, my boy, my boy?' — all across, all our comrades. No needs to name drop. All those [other musicians] that are [at the same level or higher], homie hit it way harder than I ever would've hit it. He's still fucking smoking. What? Me? Wait a second, man. What the fuck?' And then they told me what it was, and they're very easy to define. And that's my advantage in this."

Newsted added: "There's 550 cancers that we deal with — there's more than that, but it's about how many that we deal with and a couple hundred that are really prevalent and a few that we can identify immediately and there doesn't need to be any kind of biopsy, invasive anything. They can just tell from a blood test, this type of stuff. That's what happened for me, fortunately. So they were able to tell just from that without any more trouble. But there's no telling when it's going to come. And I wanna be an advocate, of course, for everyone in awareness and things like that. It can happen to anybody."

Jason added: "In our circles, from the '80s, '90s and up till now, the circles that you and I ran in and the circles that all our boys and our friends ran in, the human papillomavirus, HPV, has been in the humans for maybe a half a million years. And so we've been dealing with it at different levels at different times, but all of us, 100% of us, have been exposed to it, especially those of us that ran in rock circles and shit like that. You can get it from [metal exposure], you can get it off a glass. It's more unlikely, but it is possible. Usually your body just takes it in your immune system and you shit it out, and you're done. But it also can go dormant for a while, and then come back and it shows up. That's what happened to me. So it's from activity over years when you're doing those kind of things. And [IRON MAIDEN's] Bruce Dickinson, [MEGADETH's Dave] Mustaine, [SOCIAL DISTORTION's] Mike Ness, that whole goddamn bunch of us from that same bus have had it over the last 10 years. It's the most prevalent cancer now for males over 40. So 70% of the things that are being reported right now is this tonsil-and-throat thing, back-of-the-tongue type of thing from HPV. So, females have been able to identify it for many decades — in a Pap smear, they can identify it. For only the last couple of years have we been able to identify it in males. We wouldn't have known if we were passing it on to our partners, 'cause we certainly wouldn't have if we knew, but there was no way for us to ever fucking know. Now they have a vaccine. Now you could be 12 to 45 years old to get a vaccine to protect you from it. I suggest everybody that has any kids, especially girls, get that, because in the boys, it goes [to the throat area], and the girls, it's cervix. And so you just wanna make sure that if you can protect your kids, be aware of it. And that's all I'm gonna say about that right there."

As for why he decided to go public with his cancer battle now, Jason, who recently announced that he will embark on the first-ever North American headlining tour with his THE CHOPHOUSE BAND this summer, told Dean: "I decided that this week, as I'm beginning to roll out the promotion for the shows and stuff and let everybody know I'm gonna be back around, and you already know it — you're, probably, in the 24 people that I told."So, let's see — in one week, it's gonna be a year. So one week from today, it'll be a year. May 8th of 2025, I underwent a procedure for throat cancer. And so they took a bunch of shit outta here and then they went in with lasers this way and took a bunch of shit out. So the cavern inside my head is different than it was, but we got it early. And I got my 'free and clear' about three weeks ago. So I beat it."

Newsted added: "I promised myself I was going to rest, and that was the first time I've done that in my life. I'm usually just on or off. And so I promised myself I was gonna take the gravity off and lay down for the right amount of hours. And there's no way, with my arrogant, spoiled ass that I would've stopped smoking weed, that I would've stopped drinking, that I would've stopped doing all the things. But the great spirit got my attention and said, 'That's not good right now, man.' And so it pulled me off it. And so now I'm more clear-headed than I've been in my entire adult life. And so there's blessings within everything. The lemonade I'm making this summer, bro — mm. Sweet. Ooh."

JASON NEWSTED & THE CHOPHOUSE BAND will play eight headlining dates in cities including Northampton, Albany, Alexandria, Grand Rapids, Knoxville and more (full dates below). The group will also support iconic Atlanta country rock outfit BLACKBERRY SMOKE for 10 shows in July.

This 18-date run will kick off on July 1 at Northampton's Iron Horse Music Hall, and visit major markets across the South, Midwest, and East Coast, and conclude with a two-night stand at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on July 24-25.

Since 1992, JASON NEWSTED & THE CHOPHOUSE BAND have performed periodically at select benefit shows and charity gigs, supporting causes like veterans' relief and animal rehabilitation, as well as youth music and arts education programs.

Newsted leads the 2026 JASON NEWSTED & THE CHOPHOUSE BAND lineup, in which he is joined by Jesse Farnsworth (guitar, vocals),Jimbo Hart (bass, vocals),Humberto Perez (guitar) and Robert John-Tucker (drums, vocals).

JASON NEWSTED & THE CHOPHOUSE BAND play a gritty brand of outsider Americana, with roots outstretched into traditions of bluegrass, folk, soul, rock, and a bit of heavy metal. At the same time, Newsted's lyrics cut deep as he threads personal stories into the fabric of this music, presenting perhaps the most intimate and uncompromising portrait of who he is thus far.

When the tour was first announced in April, Jason said: "I've realized that this is where I can place my energy effectively now. THE CHOPHOUSE is the continuation of my ambassadorship of American music. THE CHOPHOUSE BAND plays everything from bluegrass to fucking slabs of metal. We're covering a lot of ground. There could be country flavor to a song, but it'll still have sharp teeth. We are looking forward to an exciting summer!"

Named after Jason's four recording studio facilities around the U.S. and featuring a fluid roster of players, THE CHOPHOUSE BAND began in 1992 when Newsted founded The Chophouse Records Studio in San Francisco.

Jason left METALLICA back in 2001, but was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, along with Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and the man who replaced him, bassist Robert Trujillo, in 2009.

Twelve years ago, Jason shelved NEWSTED, the heavy metal project he operated between 2012 and 2014, saying that it cost him "an awful lot of money — hundreds of thousands of dollars." He added: "I couldn't continue because the business is such a harsh thing now and so different than what I had known."