Genre-bending metal powerhouse VEIL OF MAYA has announced its first new studio album in nearly six years. Titled "[m]other", it will be released on the band's longtime label Sumerian Records on May 12. Pre-orders, with a variety of merch and vinyl bundle options, are available now from veilofmayaband.com.

Heralding today's news is the release of brand new track "Red Fur" and its epic, futuristic music video.

Speaking on the announcement of the album and the release of the new track, VEIL OF MAYA frontman Lukas Magyar shares: "This record is a collection of personal experience, history and a touch of my own imagination. I enjoyed approaching each song in a different way this time around. It was certainly challenging at times to find the right mood but when the work was finally complete it seemed to come together very well. I'm thrilled to see how our fans respond!"

Regarding his inspiration for writing "Red Fur", VEIL OF MAYA guitarist and songwriter Marc Okubo adds: "I got convinced to go to a RUFUS DU SOL concert. I was immediately inspired though. The next day, I was like, 'Let's combine some of this with our style'. That explains the electronic opening."

"[m]other" track listing:

01. Tokyo Chainsaw
02. Artificial Dose
03. Godhead
04. [re]connect
05. Red Fur
06. Disco Kill Party
07. Mother Pt 4
08. Synthwave Vegan
09. Lost Creator
10. Death Runner

"Red Fur" follows the release of standalone singles "Godhead" (released last month) and "Synthwave Vegan" (released in May of last year). Both tracks feature on the new album and between them have clocked up 1.5 million Spotify streams and 478,000 YouTube views.

VEIL OF MAYA has a stacked touring schedule coming up. Starting this month, they will hit the road with AVATAR, firstly across Europe starting on March 10, followed by a 24-date run across the U.S. starting on April 28 in Omaha, Nebraska.

By channeling energy in one direction, force grows exponentially. VEIL OF MAYA harnesses the individual experiences and talents of four distinct musicians — Marc Okubo (guitar),Sam Applebaum (drums),Danny Hauser (bass) and Lukas Magyar (vocals) — into airtight groove-laden metal accented by fits of instrumental virtuosity and vocal catharsis. This approach has endeared them to a devout fan base with critical acclaim and over 100 million total streams and counting (unprecedented for an outfit this crushingly heavy).

The members of VEIL OF MAYA have consistently pushed the boundaries of heavy music by challenging themselves collectively. 2015's "Matriarch" made major waves, crashing the Billboard U.S. Hard Rock Albums chart at No. 2 powered by "Aeris", "LeeLoo" and "Mikasa". The latter has gathered over 25.4 million Spotify streams and counting. In 2017, "False Idol" saw the band return to the Top 3 of the Hard Rock Albums chart as "Overthrow" and "Doublespeak" each eclipsed eight million Spotify streams apiece. Simultaneously, they toured alongside ANIMALS AS LEADERS, UPON A BURNING BODY, CHELSEA GRIN, OCEANS ATE ALASKA, and more. In the midst of the pandemic, they dropped "Outsider", "Viscera" and "Outrun".

Photo credit: Paige Margulies

The Greek heavy metal veterans Marauder will release their new album Metal Constructions VII on March 10 via Pitch Black Records. The new record is a winning mix of muscular heavy and power metal. Preorder here.


With the lyric video for “Rock Fighters” fans have one more example of what to expect from Marauder‘s new album – wonderful melodies, warm vocals, and well-composed solos.


For any lover of traditional heavy metal guitar work, it is pure joy to behold the melodic and harmonic interplay that permeates the new Marauder material. Most easily notable this time around is of course the recruitment of Greek metal scene strongmen Tassos Krokodilos (vocals) and Nick “Yngve” Samios (drums). With his soaring voice having just recently graced the latest album by Hellenic old school act Spitfire, the securing of Tassos Krokodilos as the band’s new vocalist keeps Marauder’s tradition of fine, charismatic frontmen alive. Moreover, the act of pairing the ever-reliable (and seemingly indefatigable!) Nick Samios with long-standing bassist Thodoris Paralis have resulted in what is arguably the strongest rhythmic backbone for the band so far.




Metal Constructions VII was recorded at CND Studios in Athens, Greece. Mixing and mastering by David Prudent at Made In Hell Studios, always in Athens.





Tracklisting:


“Intro”
“Strike Back Again”
“Shout It Out”
“Under Her Spell”
“Nightfall”
“Erase”
“Rock Fighters”
“The Iron Mask”
“Holy Bible”
“Never Die”
“The Son Of God”
“Father”


"Rock Fighters" lyric video:





“Strike Back Again”:


Metal Constructions VII by MARAUDER

Horror Pain Gore Death recording artists SaviorSkin return with more rotting misery to unleash upon mankind. 2023 has been rife with talk of the murder of human creativity by AI-generated music, and for good reason - most of the music on your favorite streaming service is about as compelling as a songless bird. SaviorSkin's forthcoming full-length, Invicta Mori, demonstrates what is possible when human agony and ingenuity manipulate machinery in the darkness.


Invicta Mori dials up the oppressive atmosphere and harshness of SaviorSkin's first two LPs (Remnants Of Broken Idols and Omnipotence Of The Absolute), but for the first time features live (undead) drums on several songs, such as the instant earworm "Lost In Prayer."  SaviorSkin have always used machine elements to obscure the humanity of the musicians, but this time around it is easy to picture bloody phlegm on the pop filter while listening to brooding opener "Iconoclast" and even easier to imagine beckoning razor blades and shattered wine bottles during the meditative "Martyrdom." The creation of the ordeal that is "Burning Eden" required a level of suffering that no machine intelligence will ever experience. Invicta Mori is pitiless and unrelenting but utterly human at the same time, perhaps more than ever before.


Invicta Mori's lead single and closing track, "Sycophant," is easily the most hateful song in SaviorSkin's catalog, and that's saying a lot. The venom in Somnus Mortem's vocal performance is augmented by the presence of none other than Marc Grewe of the seminal death metal band Morgoth. "Sycophant" also brings SaviorSkin's story full-circle:




SaviorSkin was founded in 2018, but their history began in the Philippines, where Somnus Mortem founded the doom-death band Iconoclast in 1993.  Morgoth released the criminally underrated Odium the same year.  "A lot of people were confused by the industrial elements that Morgoth were experimenting with, but I loved them," says Somnus Mortem.  "When Iconoclast became more of a solo project after I moved to the States, I injected some of those cold, machine-like Odium elements into the final incarnation of that band before laying it to rest, and that obviously became a huge part of SaviorSkin's sound. It still blows my mind that Marc Grewe sings on 'Sycophant,' the most vicious song on Invicta Mori.  I devolve back into a death metal-obsessed teenager every time I hear it.  I asked Grewe what made him want to work with me, and he just said that he liked what he heard!  I can't possibly explain how much this collaboration means to me."


Invicta Mon is out on April 7 on CD and digital. Preorder on Bandcamp.





Tracklisting:


“Iconoclast”
“Judaswhore”
“Lost In Prayer”
“Martyrdom”
“King Misery”
“Away”
“Burning Eden”
“Nowhere”
“Sycophant”
“DoomFather”
“Born Of The Shallow”
“47 Nails”
“Orgasmatron” (live)


“Sycophant”:

Bringing a fresh and irreverent voice to the world of folk metal, California’s Valensorow have released a new music video for their single, “The Bird And The Bear". The new track comes off the band’s upcoming third full-length, Shorestank, which will see an April 7 release.


The quartet is known for telling epic tales of land and sea, monsters and men, the fight for survival, and the unending thirst for blood and ale! This time, however, Valensorow are introducing fans to their more wholesome side.


The new video brings the tale of “The Bird And The Bear” to life via a completely family friendly puppet show… I mean, it’s definitely not a chaotic and unhinged trip that you would expect from the 3am hour of Adult Swim. We promise.




Commenting on their new video, the band shares: "The making of the puppet video for 'The Bird and The Bear' was a huge undertaking for us. We wanted to capture the humor and ridiculousness that lies within the story of the song in a unique way that was within our realm of possibility as independent artists. The answer to that was obviously puppets. We quickly realized that high quality puppets can be quite expensive, and we needed our bear puppet to look a certain kind of crazy. So our guitarist enrolled in the University of YouTube and designed and built the bear puppet (AKA Beary) from scratch. The bird puppet (Larry) was found where everyone finds their oddly specific human-crafted masterpieces...Etsy.”


Watch the video below.


From the windy peaks of NorCal's Santa Cruz Mountains hails Valensorow. A dense concoction of whimsical orchestral composition and progressive metal, Valensorow create an immersive folk metal experience like no other on their upcoming album Shorestank.


The album pairs numerous color instruments including erhu, pipa, and glockenspiel with the weight of extended range guitars and bass. The result is a colorful musical landscape full of monsters and lore that moistens the palates of fans of Devin Townsend, Wintersun, Dream Theater, and Danny Elfman.


Pre-order Shorestank here.





Shorestank tracklisting:


"Life In A Cliffside Dwelling"
"The Bird And The Bear"
"Shorestank"
"The Market Of Korethi"
"Dr. Gorpletonka"
"Giant"
"Bangers And Smash"
"Meg ‘The Leg’"
"Another Big Monster"
"Into The Valley Of Mist"


"The Bird And The Bear" video:





Valensorow are:


Joey Menicucci – Vocals, Guitar
Conner Bruce – Drums, Vocals
Noah McLean – Bass
Joseph Scanlan – Vocals

Canton, Ohio-based Night Goat has released their new video for “Wendigo”. The song is found on the band’s second album, Totem, nearing release this month through Black Donut Records.


Not for the weak of heart, Night Goat delivers abrasive, slashing, dark noise rock/death rock, with elements of goth, post-punk, and doom, their barrage of sounds owing to an almost supernatural regard of classic bands of the genre like Samhain, Unsane, 45 Grave, Eyehategod, and even Sonic Youth. Their new album, Totem, is based on Native American lore, with ten new tracks that showcase the band at its deadliest yet. Totem was engineered by Jeremy James at Wreckroom Recording Studio, mastered by Sterling "Spidermonkey" Hankins, and completed with artwork by Chris Bentley and Gordiart. Totem also features guest saxophone from Matt Corey on “Death Crow Dance,” additional percussion from Tommy Dalo on “Child Of Owls” and “Death Crow Dance,” and guitar by Clinton Jacob (Mr. Phylzzz) on “Wendigo.”


The psychedelic “Wendigo” video was created by Rawketsock Design, merging footage from videographer Chrystal Shofroth with live footage shot by Mason Boano. Night Goat bassist/vocalist Dalin Jones writes, "For me, our song ‘Wendigo’ is about the fear of becoming the one thing you hate, only to gorge yourself on the very thing you despise. And even though you try and kill it, it ends up consuming you inside. As it takes over, you don't even care. You don't try to stop it. You welcome the becoming, in fact ... It's a delicious ravenous poison."







Black Donut Records will release Totem on LP – 300 copies on Ghostly Grape transparent purple vinyl – and digital platforms on March 17.


Night Goat is currently booking regional live performances in support of the record, kicking things off with two new Ohio shows in April, a newly booked show with Wailin’ Storms confirmed for May, and a more widespread US tour coming together for July.


Dates:


April
12 – Akron, OH – Buzzbin
22 – Sandusky, OH – Strum Around
22 – Akron, OH – Buzzbin


“Wendigo” video:





(Photo – Molly Crowe)

Montreal, Canada-based technical/progressive melodic death metal unit Pronostic has announced their upcoming sophomore album, Chaotic Upheaval. The album is set for release on Friday, May 12. Chaotic Upheaval sports cover art from Filip Ivanović who is known for his work with bands such as Origin, Beyond Creation, Cryptopsy, Augury, and many more. The album's superb production is courtesy of Cryptopsy guitarist Christopher Donaldson in Montreal. First single and music video for "L'impureté Globale” is streaming below.


Active since 2010, Pronostic made their mark live and in the studio early on with their well-received 2012 EP, Deviated Inner Spectrum. In 2015, the band released its debut album, An Atomic Decision, to critical acclaim worldwide. As is often the case when we grow older, there is less time for artistic pursuits and so Pronostic would continue on while in a hiatus of sorts for some time as its members remained busy with work and other obligations. Until the 2020 pandemic allowed the band to find the time to move forward with the creation of what would become Chaotic Upheaval.


Chaotic Upheaval is more than just the band's return, it is an evolution and expansion of their already established technical/progressive melodic death metal sound driven in part by the contributions of numerous new musicians. Joining the band's pre-existing members on Chaotic Upheaval is Killitorous, ex-Ignominy fretless bassist extraordinaire Xavier Sperdouklis. Francesco Ferrini from Fleshgod Apocalypse performs with the band for the first time as well and adds a new dimension to their sound with his beautiful piano playing and exquisite string arrangements. Session drums on the album were recorded by renowned drummer Samuel Santiago who is known for his drumming with Gorod, First Fragment, Black Crown Initiate, and many others. A litany of killer guest spots add even more to the effort but are so numerous that they are listed in full below in order to cover everyone involved.




At its core, Chaotic Upheaval musically splits the difference between Obscura at their most melodic and Death inspired, and Beyond Creation at their most progressive death metal driven, bombastic fretless bass-focused, and groove-inflected. The end result will appeal heavily to fans of both of those bands but will also be loved (and remind many a listener) of the multi-faceted approach to technical/progressive melodic death metal explored by Allegaeon and Augury. The album will also appeal to fans of other bands that Pronostic cites as having influenced Chaotic Upheaval which includes Cattle Decapitation, Lorna Shore, Ne Obliviscaris, Virvum, and Irreversible Mechanism.


Pronostic comments on the release of Chaotic Upheaval:


"Our new album is a representation of several problems that people are going through every day. We are evolving on many levels, but regressing in other ways. People are being divided and choose to believe in comforting lies than hurtful truths. Chaotic Upheaval was inspired by the last couple of years, which have been difficult times for most of us. The lyrics on the album discuss topics such as mental health struggles, sickness, pollution, regrets that consume us, difficult relationships, and modern political and technology-related ills that seem to ail us. 


“We hope that our new content will allow people to sit back and reflect on these sensitive subjects. We want them to know that they are not alone and hopefully are able to help individuals that are going through difficult moments in their lives to find a glimmer of hope and light at the end of the tunnel."





Tracklisting:


“Indefinite Continuity”
“Massive Disillusion”
“Conclusion Impromptue”
“Concealed Parasite”
“Waves”
“Bare And Wretched”
“L'impureté Globale”
“Drained By Remorse”
“The Pure Celestial Being”
“Abstract Entity”


“L'impureté Globale” video:





Pronostic - Chaotic Upheaval Line up:
Charles ''Butcher'' Pilotte - Low Vocals / Guitar
Alex Lauzon  - High Vocals / Guitar
Xavier Sperdouklis  - Fretless Bass (Killitorous, ex-Ignominy)
Samuel Santiago - Session Drummer (ex-First Fragment, ex-Gorod)
Francesco Ferrini - Keyboards & String arrangements (Fleshgod Apocalypse) on track 1, 4, 6, 7,10


Guest Musicians:
Christian Donaldson (Cryptopsy) - Guitar Solo on "Concealed Parasite"
Marc Roy - (Killitorous) Guitar Solo on "Concealed Parasite" (Killitorous)
Sam Hampell - Saxophone on "Massive Disillusion"
Morane Chabot - Guitar Solo on "Massive Disillusion" 
Alex Pelletier - Guest Vocals on "Massive Disillusion" & "Bare And Wretched"
Fannie Tassé Lessard - Guest Vocal on Massive Disillusion" & "Bare And Wretched"
Krissy O'Shaughnessy - Guest Vocal on "Massive Disillusion" & "Bare And Wretched"

"Journey Of The Host" is the first single from Dave Lombardo's first ever solo album, Rites Of Percussion. Pre-order the May 5 release on CD, Digital and three different vinyl variants here, and watch a visualizer for "Journey Of The Host", by Oleg Rooz, below.





The 13-track collection, Rites Of Percussion, is the result of a 40-year career that saw Lombardo rise to prominence as a co-founder of Slayer, earn two Grammy Awards, and expand his repertoire across genres. The Havana-born Lombardo’s resume includes outings with the acrobatic, Mike Patton-led Fantômas, the critically-revered John Zorn, experimental hip-hop artist DJ Spooky and the resurrected punk icons, The Misfits.




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


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


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





Rites Of Percussion tracklist:


"Initiatory Madness"
"Separation From The Sacred"
"Inner Sanctum"
"Journey Of The Host"
"Maunder In Liminality"
"Despojo"
"Interfearium"
"Blood Let"
"Warpath"
"Guerrero"
"Vicissitude"
"Omiero"
"Animismo"


"Journey Of The Host" visualizer:





Dave Lombardo was born in Havana, Cuba, relocating to Los Angeles when he was a mere two-years-old. He began playing drums as a teenager, and co-founded Slayer (and created the band’s logo) in 1981. Rolling Stone, in their list of the “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time,” dubbed him the “Cuban speed demon, “ Modern Drummer proclaimed him “The King,” and Drummerworld gave him the title of “The Godfather of double bass.” Lombardo’s eye-popping resume includes over 100 studio albums/recordings and includes both recorded and live stints with Grip Inc., Fantômas, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungle, The Misfits, DJ Spooky, John Zorn, Testament, and most recently creating the soulful duo Venamoris, with his wife Paula.


(Photo - Ekaterina Gorbacheva)


 

DEATH TO ALL (DTA) — which features former members of DEATH celebrating the life and music of Chuck Schuldiner — played the fifth show of its North American tour last night (Tuesday, March 7) at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California. Video of the concert — courtesy of the Iron SerbianYouTube channel — can be seen below.

The current lineup of DEATH TO ALL includes Gene Hoglan (TESTAMENT, DARK ANGEL, DETHKLOK, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD),Steve DiGiorgio (TESTAMENT, CONTROL DENIED, SADUS) on bass and Bobby Koelble on guitar. Max Phelps (CYNIC),who has been touring with DEATH TO ALL, is once again handling the vocal and second-guitar duties.

As part of Jonathan Montenegro's "My 3 Questions To" series, Hoglan discussed his time in DEATH, with whom he played from 1993 to 1995. Speaking about DEATH's mastermind Chuck Schuldiner, Gene said: "Chuck was, at heart, a very… He was a very peaceful person. He loved animals. He loved gardening. [He was] not a big fan of people or the music industry, but he liked his friends; he liked his animals. That was Chuck. As well as being one of the godfathers of death metal. He was a great chef as well. There you go. He was a great cook. Boy, he cooked us up a bunch of amazing stuff when we spent those few years together. So that was pretty cool. His legacy will always live on.

"Myself and [fellow former DEATH members] Bobby Koelble and Steve DiGiorgio, we have [the tribute band] DEATH TO ALL going, and we start a DEATH TO ALL run starting next week here in the States. So, there you go there. And it's always a super blast to play Chuck's material and make it sound cool."

Hoglan previously reflected on his time with DEATH in a 2019 interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the "Scars And Guitars" podcast. At the time, the drummer said: "Chuck was very open-minded, and he was into having his musicians that were playing with him just reach out for the best stuff that they had. Every time I'd come up with some crazy beat, he'd be like, ' I'm good. I can play my riffs over your beats, so if that's the one you want, go with it. Go sick; go nuts. I'm good over here, so you keep doing your thing.' In that regard, Chuck was always a real pleasure to work with in that way. You had no handcuffing whatsoever — and it was pretty apparent [that] nobody handcuffed me on the drums. I played everything on 'Symbolic'. There definitely is some overplaying, [but] he never said, 'Hey, don't play that,' or, 'That's not working.' The only time I remember anything like that happening was two different times. One was in the 'Individual Thought Patterns' sessions, and that's where [producer] Scott Burns, while I was tracking 'Jealousy', I remember Scott saying, 'Hey, man. I'm not feeling that beat. Maybe can you simplify it?' I was like, 'Yeah, no problem.' Then on 'Symbolic', [producer] Jim Morris had pretty much said the same thing — like, 'I'm not sure about that one.' What was funny was, on the beat that Jim Morris said 'That's not happening,' it was a beat I robbed from Sean Reinert. It was something off of 'Human'... as for Chuck, he was always real gracious, like, 'Yeah, man. Do your thing. It's going to be great.

"Chuck was a pretty complex guy," Hoglan continued. "Some days, certain things would affect him that might not affect you or I... Chuck did not have a lot of trust for the music industry. I understand that — I get that, totally... He was generally real cool to work with, and we had a good time up until he had to make the moves that he had to make in order to keep himself sane. When he had to put DEATH aside after the 'Symbolic' album, he broke DEATH up, and he had to move forward. The best way for Chuck to move forward was the statement that was CONTROL DENIED."

Hoglan also discussed how 1995's "Symbolic" was initially received. "The hardcore death metal fan, the attitude was very pervasive throughout the scene — 'What the fuck happened to DEATH?' Chuck did not care, and I appreciate that absolutely," Hoglan said. "That's the way I am. I play music for me. If you guys enjoy it, that's a bonus, but it's not going to make me stop playing music if nobody cares and I'm the only one who does. I'm still going to play music, and that's kind of the way Chuck was. He was a very brave person. He could have just gone the safe route and put out another 'Scream Bloody Gore' or 'Leprosy'. He had to go with how he was feeling. Any true musician can appreciate that, absolutely."

Hoglan joined DEATH in 1993. He replaced Sean Reinert, who — along with guitarist Paul Masvidal — quit the band to focus on CYNIC. He appears on the group's albums "Individual Thought Patterns" and "Symbolic".

In a 2014 interview with Metal Rules, DiGiorgio was asked what DEATH TO ALL means to him. He responded: "Our formulated answer is that it is a tribute memorializing the memory of Chuck. To me, it means getting back with buddies. And you've seen their lineup change a little bit here, we had Paul [Masvidal] and Sean [Reinert] from CYNIC. We had Shannon Hamm in for a while. And now Gene and Bobby. I've jammed with all these guys over the years. They're pretty much some of the best musicians in the world. At least in my opinion."

He continued: "We did those albums back in the day, and when our cycle was over, and when whoever lasted however long, we went our own ways. Now we're back together again and it's cool, from my point of view, to do music with some of the best, amazing musicians/guys in the world. It's awesome. And we have a lot of fun every night, man, because we all realize that not only did we make a statement 20-something years ago, but here we are 20-something years later in our mid-40s playing that stuff as we did as young men. It's kind of, like, yay us. Because we are only just a few years off of 50 and we're playing this music we did just turning the corner into 20 and we're doing it pretty good. And that's not a brag. The reason is we push each other. Somebody falls a little bit behind and this guy's right behind him. You don't want to let your guard down, because everybody's really good at what they do. And that's what it means to me, man. It means to carry on what we did back then with no idea where we'd be in the future, and here we are doing it with conviction."

Schuldiner died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

In recent years, DEATH's storied catalog has undergone a meticulous reissue campaign via Relapse Records.

Relapse released the first-ever fully authorized DEATH tab book, featuring 21 classic songs tabbed out for guitar from the band's entire discography. The book, which includes traditional notation as well as tablature, also comes with a digital download of all tracks.

In a 2011 interview with Bass Musician magazine, DiGiorgio stated about working with Schuldiner: "Sometimes people make good music together, and sometimes they vibe like yin and fucking yang. Chuck is credited with a lot of things in the music world (metal world, of course),but one thing a lot of people don't know much about is how aware he was. What I mean is that he was a good listener. If I thought of a wacky bassline to something he was writing, before I could even try to explain why it came to me, he was already ahead of it and looking for something on the next part. He had a good sense of when to hold me back and when to push me. It was great to have someone, especially the 'main man' of the band not only appreciate what I contributed but also help me find my inner demon to conjure even sicker and more abstract things to play. There really was some math going on in that roiling storm sometimes."

Women Rock - a project devised by journalist and YouTuber Belgian Jasper, returns to celebrate International Women's Day 2023. This year sees Alter Bridge's "Rise Today" performed by women artists from around the world.


"I'm so excited and proud to collaborate one more time with so many talented artists and spread to the world how much women can rock!" – Marianne “Ma Die” Dien (Faith In Agony, Avaland, ex-Nightmare)


The project celebrates women in metal and aims to inspire men and women of all ages and backgrounds by discussing issues, sharing advice, and celebrating experiences. This release follows the success of last year’s cover of Dio's "We Rock", which was viewed over 23,000 times!




Metal performers:


Marianne “Ma Die” Dien (Faith In Agony, Avaland, ex-Nightmare - France)
Lisa Mann (Splintered Throne, White Crone, Solo Artist - USA)
Yael Horwitz (Stormbound - Israel)
Julia “Vilivant” Gentile (Solo Artist - Canada)
Carlee Jackson (Crossed Hearts – USA)

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford joined country legend Dolly Parton on stage last November at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony to perform her classic song "Jolene". Also appearing with them as part of a "super jam" performance were some of the other Rock Hall inductees, including Pat Benatar, Annie Lennox and DURAN DURAN's Simon Le Bon.

Speaking to Dawn Osborne of TotalRock about what it was like to briefly share the microphone with Dolly, Rob said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "She was great. This thing about 'don't meet your heroes' — she is the epitome of just being so beautiful and pure. Everything you know about that woman, she's like that 24-7. I don't think she ever takes her wig off. She's incredible; she's absolutely incredible. And I had no idea. They said, 'Would you like to be on the stage with Simon Le Bon [DURAN DURAN] and Pat Benatar and Annie Lennox and Pink and Sheryl Crow and the ZAC BROWN BAND. And I go, 'Yeah, I wanna be on that.' When they go, 'Would you like to sing some of the song with Dolly?' I'm, like, 'Let me sit down for a minute.'

"So, we did that, and I was over the top, 'cause I was all over like a rash — I was like a total fanboy," Rob continued. "I thought, 'Oh, God. I've blown it here now.' After the show, her manager came up to me, Danny [Nozell], and he goes, 'She's doing a project, like a rock album. Would you be interested?' I said, 'Yeah. Here's my number.' And then, out of the blue, like four weeks later, and suddenly [there's] ideas for some more work.

"So, all these magical things happened. But she's Dolly. And she's so beautiful. She's this beacon of light. And when you think about all the thousands of songs that she's sung and the people that she's met and worked with. She's an absolute national treasure in the U.S.A., and around the world. I know Brits love her. [She played at] Glastonbury [festival]. She thought, 'Glastonbury. Nobody knows who I am.' Everybody was singing along with Dolly. Everybody knew every single word that she did, of the songs that she's made. So that was just a joy.

"You know, you go through life when you're doing all these things, and you're having a blast, and then out of the blue, here's me and there's Dolly. I look at it and I go, 'Was that real? Did it really happen?' It's a joy," Rob added. "It's the blessings that can happen to you with music. The doors are always opening — 'Try this. Try that.'

"Even though I'll always be a metalhead till the day I day, I've always felt that you should explore anything that comes your way. Don't just say 'no', 'cause you don't know what you've lost. So that was just a real thrill. And to see the picture — there's one very great picture of me and her that went viral, 'cause it just seemed so odd. Not odd in a funny way. What it did was it reinforced this thing about, it doesn't matter what kind of music you're into, what kind of style of music you play or you love or whatever, we're all connected. So you get Dolly and Simon and Pink and me, we're having a chinwag, and it's like we're best mates. We probably met each other for the first time in our lives, but the music is the common denominator.

"When you get a chance to meet all these incredible people and you're chit-chatting, like Simon Le Bon and Dolly and Pink and me and a bunch of other people, even though we're from different dimensions of music, there's a common denominator because that's what we live for; that's what we make," Halford said. "Music is music is music. So I've never lost that plot in the value of the friendship that music can build, no matter where you are from that world. It all connects."

Halford previously talked about his performance with Dolly in an interview withSiriusXM's Ozzy's Boneyard host Mark Strigl. He said: "I did the gay hustle and [thought], 'I've gotta get close to Dolly.' [Laughs] I may have overstepped my mark, but I was just gushing; I was a fanboy. I was kind of cringey at the end.

"I still haven't seen it — I still haven't seen it — but people say it was great, and that's all that matters.

"To be so close to her and to feel the love that this lady has — she's just this walking beacon of love and happiness and joy that she spreads," Halford continued. "And the talent that she has; when you think about the thousands and thousands of songs that she's written. And her story… There's a great Netflix documentary called 'Here I Am', and I watched that the other night. And where she came from and how she persevered, and she went through a moment where she really didn't know if things were gonna be able to continue, just through the way that rock and roll works, and she did. She's the epitome of staying the course and believing in yourself and believing the people around you and getting through these difficulties and challenges and rising above them and becoming a success all over again. She was always a success, but in the way that she can kind of fade in and out of things in rock and roll. She stuck to it. And wow. She's roaring right now. She's got this new rock album coming out, which we're all thrilled to know about.

"So, yeah, for me to have that opportunity just to sing a couple of those famous lines from 'Jolene'… It was a lot of stuff, you know," Rob added. "When you think about her and you think about me and where we are in our lives and the generations that we're from and the people that we kind of represent, if that's the right way to use it. It was just really very, very special. So, that moment, and all the other things that were flying around the room made for probably what they're saying is one of the most memorable and remarkable Rock And Roll Hall Of Fames that have happened thus far."

In an interview with San Antonio Current, Rob said about sharing the stage with Dolly: "I knew that there was going to be an opportunity a few weeks before the event. Again, it was just kind of floating around that she was going to do this song at the end of the show and bring all of her friends onstage with her. And I didn't realize that we were going to be so connected. I sang one chorus with Dolly Parton and the world's gone nuts. And I can appreciate that now. I didn't understand it at first. And now these days have gone by, and people are going, 'Where's the album with Dolly and The Metal God?'

"I'll tell you something about her: she's been here forever, a bit like Her Majesty the Queen, who left us recently. What I mean by that is when Dolly walks into the room, you feel this regal presence. She's just got this aura about her personality. She's a genuinely beautiful light of love and caring and philanthropy and humanity. It's all real, man. It's all very real. There are some people who are very different on and off stage. Well, no, not with Dolly. That's Dolly's thing. So, for me to have that opportunity, I was just blessed and honored and thrilled. I know her work because I've lived as long as Dolly, and I was aware of Dolly as a young person growing up and seeing her on British television. She'd come over and do these British variety shows. And here I am, this kid from a public housing estate in the West Midlands in England, and I'm standing next to Dolly fucking Parton, who is now a rock chick."

Back in February 2022, when PRIEST's third nomination for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was announced, Halford told Billboard that, "I must do a duet with Dolly Parton! … If Lionel [Richie] and PRIEST get in, I think we'll both be dancing on the ceiling together."

Halford had previously revealed he is a huge fan of Dolly, and had planned to take a photo with her at the ceremony.

"I'm going to force her to, even if she doesn't know who I am," he told Metal Crypt last June. "I'm going to see what table she is sitting at. I'm just going to run to the table and do the devil's horns thing. Tongue out, horns up, behind Dolly Parton's head. It's the only way to do it. I can't smile sweetly. I've got to stick my tongue out and my horns up."

Halford told Rolling Stone earlier last year that he had no issues with Dolly being inducted into the Rock Hall.

"If you look at everyone in the Hall, it makes perfect sense to have Dolly Parton in there," he said. "I think it's just this 'rock and roll' thing. Should it be called the Music Hall Of Fame? I don't know. It started out with rock and roll, and roll and roll is everything and anything. It's just a phraseology."

Rob also talked about the possibility of sharing the stage with Dolly at the end of the night, saying: "I was onstage last weekend with Larry The Cable Guy! [Laughs] It was at Alice Cooper's blast for his great institution the Solid Rock Foundation. If I could stand alongside my buddy Larry and sing 'roll, baby, roll' [from THE DOORS' 'Roadhouse Blues'], I can certainly stand next to Dolly Parton on my left and Lionel Richie on my right."

PRIEST received the Musical Excellence Award at the event, which honored Eminem, Parton, DURAN DURAN, Richie, Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

The JUDAS PRIEST members that got inducted include current members Halford, Ian Hill (bass),Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums),along with former members Downing, Binks and late drummer Dave Holland.

Earlier in the evening, Halford, Hill, Tipton and Travis were joined by Binks, Downing and current guitarist Richie Faulkner for three-song medley consisting of "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight".

“Orthodox Weapons” is the decimating new song from Portland, Oregon black metal duo Spirit Possession, the latest harbinger from their impending second album Of The Sign…, nearing release through Profound Lore Records.


Spirit Possession unites S. Peacock (Ulthar, Pandiscordian Necrogenesis, Mastery) on strings and vocals, and A. Spungin (Vouna, Ormus, Taurus) on drums and handmade synthesizers. Having spent three years sharpening orthodox weapons, the band now presents Of The Sign…, offering six schizophrenic, spiraling, deranged hymns of black heavy metal from a lost time. While the eponymous debut full-length was a raw and blistering torrent draped in first-wave blood, Of The Sign… seems to be thoroughly drenched in its epic, strange and primitive ways. A violent cacophony of insanity laden cavern vocals, labyrinthian guitar trilling, scalding drum brutality, and analog harsh-noise eruptions; these are sinister yet adventurous black/heavy/death abominations from a forgotten age. Erratic musical madness with improbable entrances, and impossible exits.


Recorded in the depths of the S•P Dungeon and mixed by Colin Marston at Menegroth, The Thousand Caves (Artificial Brain, Krallice, Imperial Triumphant), Of The Sign… is completed with cover art by Luciana Lupe Vasconcelos.




Profound Lore will release Of The Sign… on CD, CS, LP, and digital platforms on March 31. Preorder here.





Tracklisting:


“Orthodox Weapons”
“Second Possession”
“Of The Sign…”
“Inhale The Hovering Keys”
“The Hex”
“Practitioners Of Power”
“Hierarchical Skin”
“Enter The Golden Sign”
“The Altar”


“Orthodox Weapons”:





(Photo – Isaac Bushkin)

Back in 1986, Ozzy Osbourne embarked on "The Ultimate Sin" tour, with METALLICA in tow as the opening act. After supporting Ozzy for six months, METALLICA began a headlining tour in September of that year, but the trek was cut short due to the tragic death of METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton (the tour resumed in November 1986 after Jason Newsted joined the band).

During a new appearance on the "Scars And Guitars" podcast, bassist Phil Soussan, who was a member of Ozzy's band during "The Ultimate Sin" tour, reflected on the experience of sharing the stage with METALLICA. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I was familiar with [METALLICA], being a Brit, because they broke in Britain a long time before they broke in America, and so they were frequently in England. And at the time, I'll be honest with you, I was, like, 'Wow. This is kind of very out of left field'; it's very extreme compared to the sort of stuff that was mainstream. But it was cool. My friend, actually, a guy I grew up with in England, was Cliff's roadie; he was his tech. And we actually did a radio show together. Anyway, so later on there we are in the States.

"Ozzy had a reputation at the time that if you could open on an Ozzy tour, that was pretty much a guaranteed slam-dunk success move — whether it was going to be MÖTLEY CRÜE, whether it was going to be… And in this case, it was METALLICA," he continued. "And we just saw them explode. But we definitely had different audiences. If you went out there during the METALLICA show, then you'd see all these denim jackets in the front few rows. And then, all of a sudden, they stopped playing and the whole crew goes out on stage and they start changing all the gear around. And correspondingly, the audience, the entire first three rows would change to completely different-looking people. And it was, like, girls. I mean, it was undeniable what was going on."

METALLICA toured as an opening act for Ozzy while supporting its breakthrough album, "Master Of Puppets".

Back in 2008, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich stated about Osbourne: "In 1986, Ozzy gave us our first break by taking us out on tour here in America, so whenever we get the call to play or hang together, of course, our response is, 'Fuck yeah! Just tell us when and where, and we'll be there."

During a recent interview with Gibson's "Icons", METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett said that touring with Ozzy nearly four decades ago was "huge," especially for Burton, who was also a huge SABBATH fan. "It really, really meant a lot — I think more to [Cliff] than anyone else," Kirk said. "And all he could talk about the entire time was BLACK SABBATH. During soundcheck, he was always playing SABBATH riffs in the hopes that he'd get Ozzy's attention. And I remember one time — what were we playing? Maybe [BLACK SABBATH's] 'Hole In The Sky' or maybe 'Symptom Of The Universe' or something during soundcheck. And all of a sudden, out in front of the stage there's Ozzy with a big ole smile, going, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah!' And oh my god, it was amazing for us to be acknowledged by Ozzy during that soundcheck. And I remember looking over at Cliff, and Cliff just had the biggest smile. Whenever he's happy, he'd do the slow-motion walk. But whenever he could, he'd always mention BLACK SABBATH to Ozzy and he would always try to get Ozzy to talk about SABBATH. And Ozzy was always happy to talk about the SABBATH. And so Cliff and Ozzy, they had quite a few conversations."

Kirk also recalled how he and the rest of METALLICA were told by Ozzy's wife and manager, Sharon, that at no point were they to drink around him. "'Can't drink. If you're gonna drink, pour in a solo cup, but don't give them any booze, don't be seen drinking around him.' Just like none of that," Hammett said. "We're like, 'Fine, Sharon.' So both buses stopped at a truck stop, and everyone on our bus gets off except for Cliff, and everyone on Ozzy's bus gets off except for Ozzy. Ozzy gets off his bus, and walks over to our buss, and goes onto our bus, and sees Cliff, and the first thing he says to Cliff is, 'Got any beer?' And Cliff is like, 'Yes, right there, help yourself.' And so after about 20 minutes, all of us go on, and there's Ozzy on our bus, and he's drinking. Now we're like, 'Holy shit! What are we gonna do?' We did not know what to do. We were whispering: 'He's drinking! What are we gonna do?' And we had no idea what we were gonna do. I remember at one point, our tour manager went off the bus, went on to Ozzy's bus, grabbed their tour manager, and said, 'We're in a real situation here. Got to get Ozzy off our bus!' After about 10 minutes, their tour manager came on and said, 'Oz, we're about to leave!' And Oz was like, 'Oh... But I want to ride with them.' And the manager going, 'Ozzy, we need to ride, we need to be together.' And Ozzy left. And it was a bit of a situation because we thought that the whole thing that just went down might have gotten us kicked off the tour. And there are actually a couple of situations where we thought we were going to get kicked off the tour, but we weren't."

Trailight mastermind Omer Cordell has checked in with an update on his new album, Mirrors, and has shared an audio teaser.


Cordell: "Mirrors will see the light of day on March 23rd. To help with the costs associated with this kind of work I have launched a crowdfunding campaign. Any and all donations are appreciated (link in bio). It has been a long and laborious process and I am extremely proud of this album and all who have contributed to the making of this." 




 

 
 

 


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Cordell recently released his new single, "The One You Feed", featuring stunning performances by Daniel Cardoso, Cory McBain and Devin Townsend. It is now available on all streaming platforms. 





Daniel Cardoso - Drums 
Cory McBain - Guitars / keys 
Devin Townsend - Lead guitar 
Omer Cordell - Bass / vocals / keys 
Meris Williams - Backing vocals


"The One You Feed" is taken from the new Trailight album, Mirrors, due out later this year. Song titles on Mirrors include:


"The One You Feed" (featuring Devin Townsend)
"Mirrors"
"Lead A Horse to Water"
"Traveller"
"Elegy"
"Harbour"
"Victory"
"Harbour" (acoustic)

Canadian shredders Striker are excited to share the news that they have entered the studio to work on their seventh album with producer Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, Tallah, King 810).


The yet-to-be-titled album follows the band's singles "Strange Love" (2022) and "Death Wish" (2021), which will be featured on the record that follows their Juno Award-winning self-released full-length, Play To Win (2018). The forthcoming album will also feature the band's latest lineup addition of long-time friend and guitarist John Simon Fallon (The Order Of Chaos).


The band comments: "We have arrived at shred central in Midland, MI. We'll be spending the next five weeks with Josh Schroeder who will essentially be our sixth band member for the creative process. We are stoked to get into the studio with him. We are looking to do something different sonically with this album, more extreme, more over the top, and more punishing and we think he's the right man for the job. It's going to be a bit of an experiment for us but we are ready to push out of our comfort zone and lay down some caveman riffs and bigger hooks. Stay tuned for more updates and don't forget to check out our Patreon for exclusive content!"




In additional news, Striker is confirmed to perform this summer in Europe at Bloodstock Festival in the UK and Headbangers Open Air in Germany. Canadian fans can also check out Striker at this year's Hyperspace Metal Festival in Vancouver on April 14th at The Fox Cabaret.


"Strange Love":





"Deathwish":





(Photo credit: Dana Zuk)


 

Former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman says that he has no issue with singers who lip sync during their concerts.

In recent years, more and more artists have been given a pass for relying on pre-recorded tracks, drum triggers and other assorted technology that makes concerts more synthetic but also more consistent. For better or worse, pre-recorded tracks are becoming increasingly common for touring artists of all levels and genres and they're not just used in pop music — many rock artists utilize playback tracks to varying degrees.

Friedman addressed some rock acts' reliance on pre-recorded tracks in a Cameo video message requested by the Syncin' Stanley YouTube channel. Asked for his opinion on singers like KISS's Paul Stanley reportedly using backing tracks for their lead vocals, the guitarist said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Who cares? I don't really know anything about that side of it — I don't know if he does or if he doesn't — but if you're caring about lip syncing and things that are going on, you can't go to any gigs anymore because even gigs at the… indie bands are doing all kinds of stuff with tracks and click tracks and adding vocals and adding choruses and adding keyboards. So when you talk about bands that are playing arenas and stadiums, they are doing so much stuff that wasn't around in the original days of KISS. So if you get pissed off about something like lip syncing, then you can't go to anything anymore; you really can't. And it's singing. Singing in KISS, I mean, it's not like you're going to see Celine Dion or something where you really give a shit how many octaves someone can sing. KISS is so many more things than just singing.

"I think people who are bagging on anyone for lip syncing or running tracks or any of that stuff… What are you gonna do? It's 2023," Friedman continued. "Technology has allowed things to happen and things to evolve. And it's not 1976 anymore. Just be glad that a band that you like is still doing something that you can go see or not go see. So I would just say don't concentrate on those things. Concentrate on the joy that you originally got from the band, and whether you wanna go see them now or not see them now, that's cool. But you've just gotta give thanks, man. These guys [Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons] gave their lives — decades and decades. They could have been on the beach; they could have been hanging around. But what were they doing? They were doing in-stores and they were doing meet-and-greets and they were doing soundchecks and they were doing gigs and traveling — all that stuff… They're, like, in their 70s now, so you've gotta give it up to those guys. And they have my ultimate respect."

Stanley, who has been struggling to hit the high notes in many of KISS's classic songs for a number of years, has been accused of singing to a backing tape on KISS's ongoing "End Of The Road" tour.

Back in 2015, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons slammed bands who used backing tapes for not being honest enough to include that fact on their concert tickets.

"I have a problem when you charge $100 to see a live show and the artist uses backing tracks," Simmons said. "It's like the ingredients in food. If the first ingredient on the label is sugar, that's at least honest. It should be on every ticket — you're paying $100, 30 to 50 percent of the show is [on] backing tracks and they'll sing sometimes, sometimes they'll lip sync. At least be honest. It's not about backing tracks, it's about dishonesty.

"There's nobody with a synthesizer on our stage, there's no samples on the drums, there's nothing," Gene continued. "There's very few bands who do that now — AC/DC, METALLICA, us. I can't even say that about U2 or THE [ROLLING] STONES. There's very few bands who don't use [backing] tracks."

Last month, KISS's longtime manager Doc McGhee defended Stanley's vocal performance on "End Of The Road", explaining that the "Star Child" "fully sings to every song" at every concert. He explained: It's enhanced. It's just part of the process to make sure that everybody hears the songs the way they should be sang to begin with. Nobody wants to hear people do stuff that's not real, that's not what they came to hear."

When McGhee was asked to clarify if he was "actually saying there are backing tracks that [Paul is] singing to," Doc said: "He'll sing to tracks. It's all part of a process. Because everybody wants to hear everybody sing. But he fully sings to every song."

In March 2020, SHINEDOWN guitarist Zach Myers said that "90 percent" of rock artists use at least some pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. He told Rock Feed: "It bothers me that it bothers people. I'm, like, 'Why does this bother you?' It's the way it is. People have been doing this since the '80s. And we want the sound to be the best it can be. Could we go up there, just the four of us, and put on the best rock show ever? Of course. But that's not how we wanna do it."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has previously said that he is "one of the last people" who are still not using pre-recorded tracks at their live shows. "I don't know how much longer I can say to you that I don't use tapes onstage, because I don't, and I never have," he told Consequence Of Sound. "And I still don't. When I have opening bands, and they're using tapes, and then I come out and I don't use tapes… sometimes, it makes me feel stupid, because I'm like, 'What am I doing, when all these kids half my age can come onstage and do all of my moves, but they don't have to warm up for an hour before the show, or weeks, before the first show?' Sometimes, I'm like, 'Why do I even bother, if the public is so used to this other way?' It's becoming very rare to come see a good band that's actually a real band — that's not miming or doing silly moves while a tape is running. It just becomes more rare as the years go on."

In 2019, IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith said that he doesn't "agree" with certain rock artists relying on pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. "I tell you what, I see it with a lot of younger bands, and I don't think it's a good thing at all," he told the New York Post. "I mean, the music is getting too technical now. You have computerized recording systems, which we use, but I think we use them more for convenience than because we need to. We've toured with a couple bands that use tapes — it's not real. You're supposed to play live; it should be live. I don't agree with using tapes … I think it's a real shame."

One musician who has been open about his band's use of taped vocals during live performances is MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx, who said: "We've used technology since '87." He added the group employed "sequencers, sub tones, background vox tracks, plus background singers and us. [MÖTLEY CRÜE also taped] stuff we can't tour with, like cello parts in ballads, etc.... We love it and don't hide it. It's a great tool to fill out the sound."

In a 2014 interview, MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars admitted that he wasn't comfortable with the fact that his band used pre-recorded backing vocals in its live shows, claiming that he preferred to watch groups whose performances are delivered entirely live. "I don't like it," he said. "I think a band like ours… I have to say '60s bands were my favorite — '60s and '70s bands — because they were real, like, three-piece bands or four-piece bands, and they just got up there and kicked it up. Made a mistake? So what? Sounded a little bit empty here or there? So what? It's the bigness and the rawness and the people that developed and wrote the songs and made them and presented them. To me, that's what I really like. I mean, I could put on a MÖTLEY CD and play with it all day long. I don't wanna do that."

As part of Jonathan Montenegro's "My 3 Questions To" series, former CANNIBAL CORPSE and current SIX FEET UNDER frontman Chris Barnes was asked to name his "top three death metal albums of all time". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, on that I'm gonna have to say POSSESSED 'Seven Churches'. I'm gonna go with DEATH 'Leprosy'and'Spritual Healing'and'Scream Bloody Gore'; I'm gonna have to wrap those three up, 'cause Chuck [Schuldiner, DEATH mainman] was a good friend of mine and I was a huge fan of DEATH early on. So, rest in peace, Chuck. And also I'm gonna go with… The third one, I'm gonna have to say OBITUARY 'Slowly We Rot' — a huge album. All three of those bands are similar type of death metal. Of course POSSESSED is the kings of death metal; they pretty much started it all. Jeff Becerra, fucking awesome guy, man. So that's where I come from, man. I really loved all those albums. And if I have to throw a fourth one in there, I'm gonna have to say [CANNIBAL CORPSE's] 'Butchered At Birth' — kind of pat myself on the back. That was a huge album in death metal as far as kind of what our twist on the whole thing, and I think it influenced a lot of people, just as POSSESSED influenced a lot of bands to move in a certain direction."

Barnes fronted CANNIBAL CORPSE from its inception in 1988 until his exit in 1995, one year after the release of the band's "The Bleeding" album.

After Barnes left CANNIBAL CORPSE, he formed SIX FEET UNDER, whose current lineup also includes another former CANNIBAL CORPSE member, guitarist Jack Owen.

Six years ago, Barnes spoke about the possibility of SIX FEET UNDER and CANNIBAL CORPSE one day touring together, telling "The Chainsaw Symphony" radio program: "That would be a tough one to put together, my friend. [Laughs] You wouldn't have any problems from my side of things, but I don't think other people would be agreeable to that."

He continued: "I don't think there's animosity [between us]. I think there's just protecting other people's feelings. I think that everyone knows certain things about everything and they'd like to see things a certain way, and that wouldn't portray things a certain way that they would wanna portray them. So… I'm being very general and trying to be diplomatic about it."

Barnes also talked about the circumstances behind his departure from CANNIBAL CORPSE. He said: "I just didn't like being around them, because I was being ridiculed, and I just didn't feel comfortable being in the same room with people that weren't very nice to me personally. And I was part of that too, so we had all of our own type of differences, personally, and I don't think it was gonna be able to be worked out. You know, mutual respect goes a far way when it comes to being in close quarters with people."

He continued: "I'm sure we'd do things differently [today] — I mean, I know we would. It's just the way things worked out. And I don't have any animosity towards those guys at all, and I don't think they do towards me. It's just that… It would be too confusing for things [if we were to tour together], I think, from their perspective."

Barnes added: "I'd do anything. I just like to see a lot of people out there with smiles on their faces; that's the only thing that's important to me, man. Like, seriously, if I see a big crowd of people that everyone's smiling, like, 'Oh, yeah! This is what we've been waiting for,' I'm ready then, man. If I see a small room of people that are just fired up to go, man, it just gets me going on stage, you know. And that's all I'm there for — that feeling, that sharing of energy, man. And I'll go for it any which way to get that any way I can with any person I can get it with. And if it gets to that means to an end, that's all that's important, man — that transference. And some people just don't see it that way, man, and it's cool.

"I'm not gonna be mean to anybody, and I never wanted to be. I'm my own person, and sometimes I'm put at fault for that, and I think we all are in our own way. And that's just life; those are the things we deal with as people."

SIX FEET UNDER's latest album, "Nightmares Of The Decomposed", was released in October 2020 via Metal Blade Records.

A song about fast city nights and fast city love, "Walking On Nails" is a heavy rock tune that will leave you singing along time and time again. The track is the third and final single from Deadwolff's upcoming album Heavy Rock N' Roll and is officially out now via Golden Robot Records.





Stream / buy "Walking On Nails" here. 




Toronto's own Deadwolff hits hard and heavy with their first full length album, Heavy Rock N' Roll, set to release March 31. It’s straight to the point, raw, rough and ready. It encompasses subject matter that hits deep, but is all the while an excellent album to bang your head to, shake your fist, and crush some beers with your buddies.





Tracklisting:


"Heavy Rock N' Roll"
"Homeward Bound"
"Walking On Nails"
"Down To The Wire"
"Wanted Man"
"Close Call"
"Pedal To The Metal"
"Six To Midnight"
"Locked And Loaded"
"Gang Wracks"








Pre-order / add / save Heavy Rock N' Roll at this location.


To support the release of Heavy Rock N' Roll, Deadwolff have announced a fully loaded US / Canada tour, kicking off in May this year. Confimred dates are as listed:


May 
8 - Outer Limits Lounge - Hamtramck, MI
9 - Liars Club - Chicago, IL
11 - Whittier - Tulsa, OK
12 - Double Wide - Dallas, TX
13 - Black Magic Social Club - Houston, TX
14 - Valhalla Tavern - Austin. TX
15 - Faust Tavern - San Antonio, TX
17 - The Edge - Tuscon, AZ
18 - The Blooze Bar - Pheonix, AZ
19 - Tower Bar - San Diego, CA
20 - Red Dwarf - Las Vegas, NV
23 - Destructive Warehouse - Fresno, CA
24 - The Knockout - San Francisco, CA
25 - Ozzy's Backyard - Sacramento, CA
26 - Shea's Tavern - Reno, NV
27 - Knucklehead - Los Angeles, CA
30 - High Water Mark - Portland, OR
31 - The Cherry Pit - Seattle, WA


June 
1 - Sunny Chibas - Squamish, BC
2 - The Cambie - Vancouver, BC
3 - Kami Inn - Kamloops, BC
4 - Canmore Hotel - Canmore, AB
6 - The Palamind - Calgary, AB
7 - Starlite Room - Edmonton, AB
9 - Bulldog - Winnipeg, MB
10 - Atmos - Thunder Bay, ON





 

Conjuring up a psychedelic storm of heavy stoner rock, Swimming Witches is the debut headbanging, riff blazing record from HolyRoller. The quartet’s new offering delivers full-throttle groove rhythms, soaring vocals and a dynamic rock ‘n’ roll edge.


North Carolina's HolyRoller will release their new album, Swimming Witches, on vinyl, compact disc, and digital format via Black Doomba Records on March 10th, 2023. Today, the band has released a new video for "Atheist Prayer".







Swimming Witches sees HolyRoller’s sound evolving, infusing influences including the likes of Red Fang, Elder, and Mastodon with unrelenting energy. Explosive riffs see “Atheist Prayer” kick off the album with a fiery impact. It’s an edgy track unleashing a spellbinding spirit. The band showcase a darker side through shrieking vocals, marching drums and heavy tones in “Earthdweller”, along with powerful emotion and harmonies in “With Time”.


Pre-orders for Swimming Witches can be placed here. Artwork and tracklisting are as follows:





"Atheist Prayer"
"Stumbling Towards Death"
"Earthdweller"
"Last Embrace"
"The Deuce"
"With Time"
"Bloodhound"
"Swimming Witches" 


 

KITTIE frontwoman Morgan Lander has weighed in on the fact that PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) have united with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, are headlining a number of major festivals across South America, Asia, North America and Europe and staging some of their own headline concerts. They will also support METALLICA on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band's founders, drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott and guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who in 2021 said Wylde wouldn't tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

Lander discussed her views on the PANTERA comeback in an interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "To preface this, yes, I'm a big PANTERA fan. I've been a fan for a long time. We toured with them on Ozzfest in 2000, so I got to see PANTERA live quite a bit. I regret that I feel like I was too young for the early '90s PANTERA, but I did get to see them on the Ozzfest and at a number of shows for 'Reinventing The Steel'. And I actually got to see… I stood sidestage for their very last show ever in Japan, at the Beast Feast festival. So that's all my PANTERA back story."

Regarding the new PANTERA lineup, Morgan said: "When I heard about it, I wasn't… I don't know… I wasn't mad about it. I feel like it is weird, because I feel like the heart and soul of that band were the Abbott brothers. And everything about their playing… Not like I could ever compare myself to any of them, but I understand what it's like to have a sibling in a band, and you play together for so long that it's, like, you connect on a different level. When they played, they had a certain swagger and they connected on a certain level together. And that's just something that comes with time and practice and all of those things, but also that bond, of being a sibling. And I know they were very close, obviously.

"I was really excited to see it," Lander added. "We played the very first show that they were doing the reunion thing at the Hell & Heaven festival in Mexico [last December], but we weren't able to get to the venue in time to see the show, so I actually didn't get to see it myself, with my own eyes, but I was very excited to see it.

"It's weird. To me, it feels like the soul of the band is gone," Morgan admitted. "But there are a lot of people who never did get to see PANTERA, and I'm sure that the shows are great, and with time they'll get even better. They're doing a ton of stuff this year. I definitely want to see the set, to see them play, even if it's just to hear some of my favorite tunes. But I'm not Team Phil And Rex or Team Dime And Vinnie. From a fan perspective, it's cool to be able to see and hear those songs live again. And there's a lot of people that didn't get to see it, so if they're excited, then that's cool. But I definitely will be catching probably… I know they're playing around here [in Ontario, Canada] towards the end of the year. I definitely want to catch it when I can. It's funny, because they're doing so many festival shows, and there is another new festival, I think, that they're playing as well that we might be around for. So I guess we'll see.

"Before Vinnie had passed away, I had seen lots of people talk about, 'Oh, well, the only person that could fill Dime's shoes for that should be Zakk Wylde.' As somebody who was very close to him, who was his friend, also an incredible guitar player, he always made sense for that," Lander said. "And I'd seen people talking about it for years and years and years. And so I can see where people would be excited but also kind of 'hmmm', a little weird about it. But if people wanna see them, then more power to them. Myself included — I definitely want to check it out."

In December, PANTERA played seven shows in Mexico and South America. The band will next headline the 2023 "comeback" edition of Japan's Loud Park festival. The two-day "limited" event will take place on March 25 at Intex Osaka in Osaka and March 26 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City near Tokyo.

Brown was forced to leave PANTERA's Latin American tour after testing positive for COVID-19. Filling in for him at some of the shows was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

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

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

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

UK death metal trio, Ingested, will return to North America this spring on a month-long headlining tour. Ahead of the trek, the band have released drum-cam footage of Lyn Jeffs ripping through the track, "Shadows in Time", taken from their latest album, Ashes Lie Still.


The footage, shot by Eduardo Ruiz, was filmed live on November 18 at Roxian Theater in Mckees Rocks, PA during The Pain Remains Tour.







Dubbed Ingesting North America 2023 - The Slam Tour Of The Year, the journey will commence on May 4 in Brooklyn, New York and run through June 4 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Additional support will be provided by Devourment, Extermination Dismemberment, and Organectomy as well as special guests Implosive Disgorgence, PeelingFlesh, and I Declare War on select dates.


Comments vocalist Jason Evans, "Absolutely buzzing to announce our North American headlining tour this May! We return to the US and Canada for what is, hands down, The Slam Tour Of The Year, bringing with us Devourment, Extermination Dismemberment, Organectomy, and on select dates Implosive Disgorgence, PeelingFlesh, I Declare War, and yet another to be announced! There is no tour as brutal as this one. Tickets are on sale now! Get yours ASAP and don't miss out!"





Ingested dates with Devourment, Extermination Dismemberment, Organectomy:


May
4 - Brooklyn Monarch - Brooklyn, NY
5 - Lovedraft's - Mechanicsburg, PA
6 - Soundstage - Baltimore, MD
7 - Hangar 1819 - Greensboro, NC
9 - Gramps - Miami, FL w/ Implosive Disgorgence
10 - Conduit - Orlando, FL w/ Implosive Disgorgence
11 - Masquerade (Hell) - Atlanta, GA
12 - The End - Nashville, TN
13 - Rev Room - Little Rock, AR w/ PeelingFlesh
14 - Ridglea Room - Fort Worth, TX w/ PeelingFlesh
16 - Scout Bar - Houston, TX w/ PeelingFlesh
17 - Come And Take It Live - Austin, TX w/ PeelingFlesh
18 - Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
19 - Nile Underground - Mesa, AZ
20 - Chain Reaction - Anaheim, CA
21 - Neck Of The Woods - San Francisco, CA
23 - Bossanova Ballroom - Portland, OR w/ I Declare War
24 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA w/ I Declare War
25 - The Big Dipper - Spokane, WA
26 - The Shredder - Boise, ID
27 - Metro Music Hall - Salt Lake City, UT
28 - Roxy Theater - Denver, CO
30 - Cobra Lounge - Chicago, IL
31 - Sanctuary - Detroit, MI


June
1 - No Class - Cleveland, OH
2 - Velvet Underground - Toronto, ON
3 - Foufones Electriques - Montreal, QC
4 - Sonia - Cambridge, MA


Ingested recently released their new album, Ashes Lie Still, via Metal Blade. Order here.





Tracklisting:


"Ashes Lie Still" (Feat. Julia Frau)
"Shadows In Time"
"You'll Never Learn"
"Tides Of Glass"
"From Hollow Words" (Feat. Sven de Caluwé)
"Sea Of Stone"
"All I've Lost" (Feat. Matthew K. Heafy)
"With Broken Wings"
"Echoes Of Hate"
"Scratch The Vein"
"Rebirth" (Digital version only; new mix by Christian Donaldson)


"All I've Lost" video:





"From Hollow Words" video:





"Tides Of Glass" video:





"Ashes Lie Still" video:





"Shadows In Time" video:





Lineup:


Jason Evans - Vocals
Sean Hynes - Guitars + Backing Vocals
Lyn Jeffs - Drums

Richmond’s Windhand announce the deluxe reissue of their self-titled, debut album. Featuring five previously unreleased bonus tracks, including rare practice space demos and alternate mixes, the 2023 reissue of Windhand is remastered by Jack Endino, and features new artwork by Arik Roper.


Windhand (Deluxe Edition) is out April 21 on 2xLP/CD on Relapse Records. Pre-order here. Listen to the full, remastered audio here, and below.







Tracklisting:


"Black Candles" (2023 Remaster)
"Libusenv (2023 Remaster)
"Heap Wolves" (2023 Remaster)
"Summon The Moon" (2023 Remaster)
"Winter Sun" (2023 Remaster)
"Heap Wolves" (Practice Space Demo 2009) (Bonus Track)
"Black Candles" (Practice Space Demo 2009) (Bonus Track)
"Amaranth" (Original Version Remixed) (Bonus Track)
"Black Candles" (Practice Space Demo 2010) (Bonus Track)
"Winter Sun" (Practice Space Demo 2010) (Bonus Track)

Acid King, the pioneering, San Francisco-based heavy rock outfit, have debuted a second track from their forthcoming album, Beyond Vision, out March 24 via Blues Funeral Recordings, with today's release of "Mind's Eye". Watch a visualizer for the track below.


Lori Josephs said of the track: "The journey has begun but you don't know where it's going to lead," a nod to the otherworldly inspiration for the seven-song album.


"Beyond Vision is based on the journey of life,” Lori says. “Jason [Landrian] and I were having these heavy pandemic conversations at the practice space for two years, talking about all the stuff you go through being in bands, touring, your relationships in life, all that stuff. You think this trip is supposed to go one way, but it goes in very different ways that you can never imagine.”




It's not just life on Earth she’s talking about. Beyond Vision contemplates life on Mars, life on the moon, and death in the furthest reaches of space. Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was a key influence. Then there was the mesmerizing 2019 documentary Apollo 11. “I was hugely inspired by that documentary,” Lori enthuses. “I absolutely love the soundtrack Matt Morton did for that. I’ve probably listened to it a million times. I really loved the journey it took me on, even without the movie. It just made me ponder life.”


Beyond Vision was recorded to two-inch tape courtesy of Dead & Company at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, CA. Lori worked hand in hand with Black Cobra guitarist/vocalist Landrian on Beyond Vision, with the pair sharing writing and production credits. The band is rounded out by Bryce Shelton (bass/synthesizer) and Jason Willer (drums).


Album pre-orders are available now at bluesfuneral.com and Bandcamp, with Beyond Vision available on a variety of limited-edition formats including multiple vinyl and cassette variants along with CD and digital/streaming.





Beyond Vision tracklisting:


"One Light Second Away"
"Mind’s Eye"
"90 Seconds"
"Electro Magnetic"
"Destination Psych"
"Beyond Vision"
"Color Trails"


"Mind's Eye" visualizer:





"Destination Psych"/"Beyond Vision" video:





Adopting the nickname of notorious teenage slayer Ricky Kasso, Acid King came screaming out of San Francisco in 1993 with a sound that fused heavy ’70s proto-metal with the kind of bleary, slow-rolling dirge power being harnessed by their contemporaries in Sleep and Electric Wizard. The band’s 1993 debut 10” was followed two years later by their full-length debut Zoroaster. Acid King’s acclaimed 1999 album Busse Woods solidified their reputation amongst a generation of riff worshipers, and heavy rock enthusiasts. Acid King, founded by and helmed by vocalist/guitar player Lori S., have released four full-length studio albums: Zoroaster (1995), Busse Woods (1999), Acid King III (2005), and Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere (2015), as well as a collection of EPs and split releases.


(Photo - Kevork Demirjian)

As Los Angeles, CA-based active/hard rock group Budderside prepare to release their third album later this summer via oneRPM, the band have slowly been releasing multiple singles over the past months including hard-hitters such as “Never Worth It”, “Too Far”, “The Truth", “Ghostlighting", “Voices”, and the recent emotional ballad, “Joker”, written to eulogize founding member/vocalist Patrick Stone’s late father.


Several of the tracks have been highlighted on the rock entertainment/video countdown show “Power Hour” - hosted by VJ/music personality Matt Pinfield, SiriusXM VJ Caity Babs and music industry figure Josh Bernstein (Revolver Golden Gods, Loudwire) - who’ve also invited Stone to appear on the show several times and championed the band.







Budderside have released a new single, “Power Hour”, which was written as the official theme song for the show’s new weekly airing on AXS TV. Stream/download it now across all digital platforms here, and listen below. You can also hear it by tuning into the “Power Hour” show every Wednesday at 7 PM, PT/10 PM ET.  


“The song is so catchy,” says host Caity Babs. “And if you’re not singing it after 30 seconds, you’re no fun!”


Host Josh Bernstein adds: “Budderside have quickly become one of the brighter lights in the hard rock scene with their razor sharp riffs and ear-candy choruses. I expect only big things ahead for the boys.”


Furthering his support for the band, host Matt Pinfield - who previously appeared in Budderside’s “Amber Alert” music video and performed a cover of the classic Motörhead song “Ace Of Spades” with the band at the Whisky A-Go-Go in 2020 - states: “This is a powerful in-your face hard rock song with an undeniable hook-and Budderside have delivered a true anthem for 2023. I really believe this could be their year!”





Budderside was formed by Stone following his stint as vocalist of Adler’s Appetite, after receiving encouragement from the late Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead who he worked for as part of his infamous ‘road crew’ and was also a close friend. Lemmy signed them to his own label, Motörhead Music and they released their self-titled debut album in 2016. The band issued their sophomore album Spiritual Violence in March 2021 via Motörhead Music/ Silver Lining Music which was recorded by legendary producer Jay Baumgardner (Bush, Godsmack, Papa Roach) and mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer Howie Weinberg (Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage) with guest appearances from Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell and Butcher Babies vocalist Carla Harvey.


Budderside has toured extensively in the US supporting acts including Motörhead, Slayer, Anthrax and L.A. Guns as well as being featured on international festivals including Rocklahoma, Wacken Open Air, Motörboat, Malmö Festival and the Monsters Of Rock cruise. Catch them next at Welcome To Rockville on in Daytona, OH on May 18.




















(Photo - George Reed)

Frontiers Music Srl will release Archon Angel's second album, II, on April 14. It follows the band's 2020 debut, Fallen, which saw vocalist Zak Stevens (Circle II Circle, Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra) and producer/guitarist Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere, Edge Of Forever) delivering a fantastic slab of power/progressive metal.


Check out a lyric video for the new single, "Afterburn", below, and pre-order/save II here.


Fans of Archon Angel's debut will surely find no sophomore slump awaits them on II. In fact, Stevens and Lonobile have locked in on all the key parts that worked so well on their debut and amplified and perfected them for this glorious follow-up.




The seeds of Archon Angel were planted when producer/guitarist Lonobile and vocalist Stevens were collaborating on songs for Timo Tolkki's Avalon's Return To Eden album, which Aldo produced and played guitar on and Zak did some guest lead vocals for. After some discussions about what musical direction they wanted to take, Aldo sent Zak some demos that were reminiscent of classic Savatage records like Edge Of Thorns and Gutter Ballet. The two felt they were onto something and followed their musical muse, ultimately culminating in what would become Archon Angel's debut album, Fallen.





Zak Stevens first came to prominence in the metal scene when he was hand-picked by Savatage's Jon Olivia to take over as lead vocalist for the band. Starting with 1993's Edge Of Thorns, he would record four studio albums with the band, including the aforementioned album plus Handful Of Rain, Dead Winter Dead, and The Wake Of Magellan. He has also performed on multiple Trans-Siberian Orchestra releases, including Christmas Eve and Other Stories, Beethoven's Last Night, and more, while also being a member of the band's touring production.


Around 2001, Zak started a band, Circle II Circle, which has recorded seven studio albums, with the most recent being 2015's Reign Of Darkness. Additionally, he has appeared on albums by Timo Tolkki's Avalon, Machines Of Grace, Jon Olivia's Pain, and more.





II tracklisting:


"Wake Of Emptiness"
"Avenging The Dragon"
"Fortress"
"Quicksand"
"Away From The Sun"
"Afterburn"
"I Will Return"
"One Last Reflection"
"Bulletproof"
"Shattered"
"Lake Of Fire"


"Afterburn" lyric video:





"Fortress" video:





Lineup:


Vocals: Zak Stevens
Guitars: Aldo Lonobile
Bass: Nik Mazzucconi
Drums: Marco Lazzarini
Keyboards & Piano: Alessandro Del Vecchio
Synth & Orchestral Arrangements: Antonio Agate

In a recent interview with Pierre Robert of the 93.3 WMMR radio station, DEF LEPPARD drummer Rick Allen spoke about what it was like for him and his bandmates to return to the road last summer as part of the long-delayed "The Stadium Tour" with MÖTLEY CRÜE, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think everybody was just ready to let loose. I think it had been so long, people cooped up. Our industry, we got hit the hardest right from the word 'go', and [it was] probably the last business to really come back up. So I think people were just really hungry — you could feel that; it was really tangible. People were just kind of having their moment, that coming-of-age moment again. It was so cool. I loved it."

Allen also addressed the financial challenges faced by many of the road crew members who were hard hit by the cancelation of shows, tours and live events due to the pandemic and ongoing recovery. "[It was] super tough," he said. "The ripple effect that went into our industry was just devastating. Myself and my wife, earlier on in the pandemic, we heard about — not a great subject matter — but we heard about some suicides within our circle. We ended up actually putting a virtual concert together with a bunch of my friends. Matt Sorum helped me out. Just a bunch of people. STYX helped out, Billy Idol — you name it. And all these people came forward, and basically we put this virtual event together that was my wife's idea, and we ended up donating all the money, basically, to causes that helped our road crews. That was so important. And then we did a one-off t-shirt collection; all of that money went to our road crew. We were just trying to come up with ways to keep everybody afloat. It was tricky, but I know several bands, several organizations that stepped up and really helped out."

The 36-date "The Stadium Tour" was originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020 but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus crisis.

DEF LEPPARD's latest album, "Diamond Star Halos", sold 34,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release in May 2022 to land at position No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked the band's eighth top 10 LP.

Of "Diamond Star Halos"' 34,000 units earned for the week, album sales comprised 32,000, SEA units comprised 2,000 (equaling 2.7 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprised less than 500 units.

DEF LEPPARD's previous Top 10 albums included "Pyromania" (which peaked at No. 2 in 1983),"Hysteria" (No. 1 for six weeks in 1988),"Adrenalize" (No. 1 for five weeks in 1992),"Retro Active" (No. 9; 1983),"Rock Of Ages: The Definitive Collection" (No. 10; 2005),"Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" (No. 5; 2008) and "Def Leppard" (No. 10; 2015).

Photo credit: Anton Corbijn

Las Vegas melodic hard rockers Generation Landslide have released the video for “Love And Pain”, the third single from their debut album, Ruling The Street Scene.


The video, which can be viewed below, was produced by Anthony White and Jennifer Swanson, directed by Jennifer Swanson, and stars Stephanie Kappus. It was shot at the Tone Factory Recording Studio in Las Vegas and at the Backyard Bar in Henderson, NV.







The quartet's debut album, Ruling The Street Scene, was produced by the band's frontman, Anthony White and recorded at The Tone Factory in Las Vegas, NV. The album is a whirlwind of '80s and early '90s influenced melodic rock, complete with ocean wide hooks, sing-a-long choruses and a "feel good" vibe that continues throughout the entire album.


"I wanted to create an album that has a lot of up and down excitement that you can move your head to, and at the same time sing along to the choruses," says White.





Tracklisting:


"Little Miss Lonely"
"Feel The Sensation"
"Nite Time Magic"
"I’ll Keep Movin’ Along"
"Love And Pain"
"Are You Out There"
"Sweet Ellie May"
"The City On The Edge Of Forever"
"Me In You"
"Standing In The Rain"








In live news, catch Generation Landslide rockin' the following stages across the Lone Star State:


March
5 - Marfa, TX - The Lost Saloon
8 - San Angelo, TX - The Dead Horse Saloon
9 - Lewisville, TX - T's Bar and Grill
10 - The Colony, TX - Lava Cantina
11 - Abilene, TX - Homer's Bar and Music Venue


(Photo – Jennifer Swanson)


 

After releasing their sixteenth studio album, Digital Noise Alliance, last year, Queensrÿche have hit the road on a US headlining trek in support of the record, featuring special guests Marty Friedman and Trauma. Fan-filmed video from the March 3rd kick-off show in Orlando, Florida can be viewed below.


The setlist on the night was as follows:


"In Extremis"
"Lost In Sorrow" (live debut)
"Spreading the Disease" (first performance since 2012)
"Child Of Fire" (first performance since 2014)
"En Force"
"Don't Look Back" (live debut)
"Light Years"
"Sicdeth" (live debut)
"Forest" (live debut)
"Jet City Woman"
"Inner Unrest" (live debut)
"Empire"
"Behind The Walls"
"Queen Of The Reich"
"My Empty Room" (first performance since 2015)
"Eyes Of A Stranger"




Encore:
"Deliverance" (first performance since 1987)
"Roads To Madness" (first performance since 2013)











Tour dates:


March
5 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
7 - Destin, FL - Club LA
9 - San Antonio, TX - The Vibes Event Center
10 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
11 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
12 - Midland, TX - La Hacienda Event Center
14 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theatre
16 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
17 - Sycuan Casino Resort - El Cajon, CA          
18 - Cannery Casino Hotel - North Las Vegas, NV
19 - House Of Blues - Anaheim, CA
21 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
22 - Seattle, WA - The Neptune Theatre
24 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
25 - Kansas City, KS - Knuckleheads Saloon
26 - St. Louis, MO - Delmar Hall
28 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
29 - Ft. Wayne, IN - The Clyde Theatre
31 - Chicago, IL - Concord Music Hall


April
1 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection
2 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
4 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
5 - Pittsburgh, PA - Roxian Theater
7 - Boston, MA - The Palladium
8 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount
10 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
11 - Baltimore, MD - Soundstage
12 - Charlotte, NC - The Underground
14 - Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl
15 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Heaven)
16 - St. Petersberg, FL - Jannus Live


Lineup:


Eddie Jackson - bass
Michael Wilton - guitar
Todd La Torre - vocals
Casey Grillo - drums
Mike Stone - guitar