Frontiers Music Srl presents the fourth instalment of Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall, Hunt The Flame, on April 14.


Once again, the multi-talented Swedish guitarist/songwriter/producer has assembled a killer cast of incredible lead vocalists to lend their talents to his musical vision. See below for a full list of participating singers.


A new single and video for the track "Far From Home" featurning James Robledo is out today. Watch the clip below, and pre-order/save Hunt The Flame on CD/LP/Digital here. Please note, due to ongoing vinyl manufacturing wait times, the LP version will be released on August 4.




For Hunt The Flame, Magnus once again enlisted some of the strongest melodic singers in metal and hard rock. Stunning performances are provided, in order of appearance, courtesy of Alexander Strandell (Art Nation, Crowne), Jakob Samuel (The Poodles), James Durbin (Durbin, Cleanbreak), Kristian Fyhr (Seventh Crystal, Ginevra), James Robledo (Sinner's Blood), Michael Eriksen (Circus Maximus), Girish Pradhan (Girish And The Chronicles), Raphael Mendes (Icon Of Sin), Terje Haroy (Pryamaze, Mantric Momentum), Jake E (Cyhra), and Antti Railio (Celesty, Diecell, The Wildfire). Rounding out the lineup on the album is Anders Kollerfors on drums with Magnus Karlsson handling all other instrumentation on this stunning slab of melodic metal.


Magnus Karlsson is well known as the mastermind behind several productions associated with Frontiers Music Srl, including the successful initial Allen/Lande (Russell Allen and Jorn Lande) trilogy and the recent spin-off, Allen/Olzon (Russell Allen and Anette Olzon), which has released two albums thus far.


Additionally, releases by Starbreaker (with Tony Harnell), Bob Catley, and Kiske/Somerville have been guided by his talented hand. In 2008, he joined German heavy metal icons Primal Fear and with them has toured the world and recorded several successful albums which charted in multiple countries around the globe.


In 2013, he launched his solo project Free Fall, which was warmly received by the numerous fans of the Swedish mastermind and showcased Magnus’ songwriting and production skills with lead vocals provided by a varied cast of some of the finest singers of the genre on each release.





Hunt The Flame tracklisting:


"Hunt The Flame" ft. Alexander Strandell
"You Can't Hurt" Me Anymore ft. Jakob Samuel
"Thunder Calls" ft. James Durbin
"Break Of Dawn" ft. Kristian Fyhr
"Far From Home" ft. James Robledo
"Night Bird" ft. Michael Eriksen
"Holy Ground" ft. Girish Pradhan
"Following The Damned" ft. Raphael Mendes
"The Lucid Dreamer" ft. Terje Haroy
"Demons Of Our Time" ft. Jake E
"Summoning The Stars" ft. Antti Railio


"Far From Home" video:





"Hunt The Flame" video:





Lineup:


Magnus Karlsson - Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Anders Köllerfors - Drums
Kristian Fyhr - Backing Vocals on "Hunt The Flame" and "Demons Of Our Time"

On April 21, Finnish post-punk outfit Grave Pleasures will release their third full-length, Plagueboys, via Century Media Records. For a preview of Plagueboys, the video for the new single, "Heart Like A Slaughterhouse" (directed by David Fitt) is available below.


Guitarist and songwriter Aleksi Kiiskilä comments as follows: "'Heart Like a Slaughterhouse', the go-to midnight hour dance track for crooked minds. Hooks you dive into head-first psycho-hypnotic frenzy and Buffalo Bill - influenced disco moves.


"After playing at Wave Gotik Treffen a few years back, I was impressed by all those creative costumes and their uncanny, sinister details. It felt like being in some apocalyptic, gothic steampunk city where everything's messed up, with that being all normal. So, the morning after our show, basically out of nowhere popped up this riff and the driving beat for 'Heart Like a Slaughterhouse', where the confidence of Eliminator meets Virus-like psychotic hooks. Something that feels wrong and right at the same time, something addictive and macabre which makes you move around your room like some broken manikin."




Album formats (preorder here):


--CD Digipak
--Black LP (incl. LP-sized booklet & poster)      
--Transparent blue LP available from CM Distro Wholesale EU and CMdistro.de (limited to 300 copies; incl. LP-sized booklet & poster)
--Yellow LP available from UK outlets, Levykauppa Äx, Nuclear Blast (limited to 300 copies; incl. LP-sized booklet & poster)
--Lilac LP available from Grave Pleasures via Evil Greed (limited to 300 copies; incl. LP-sized booklet & poster)
--Digital album   


Formed in 2015, after the dissolution of singer Mat McNerney and bassist Valtteri Arino's short-lived sensation Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures have defiantly expanded on what has been described as their "war-cry for the eternally doomed," with each album seeing their song-craft reach new heights. Their raw atomic punk of their major label debut album Dreamcrash (2015) was revamped and contorted into the uplifting nihilism of distinctly more frenetic sophomore smash-hit album Motherblood (2017), ultimately amped up and finessed into the heady Plagueboys (2023), their most mature yet dangerous album to-date. With the electrifying contradiction of light and darkness, the duality of the funereal Grave and euphoric Pleasure in their moniker, Plagueboys is an exhilarating, tear-filled, grinning dance of death, undoubtedly their most pleasurable yet.


With music written by McNerney (Hexvessel, Carpenter Brut, Me & That Man) and guitarists Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu) and Aleksi Kiiskilä, and then arranged together with Arino and drummer Rainer Tuomikanto, Plagueboys sees the lineup, who frantically hacked out Motherblood together, come of age and find their superpowers. Recorded in Finland and produced by Vanhanen and his Oranssi Pazuzu comrade Niko Lehdontie at the controls, the sound on Plagueboys is a blistering wash of reverb and neon warehouse dancefloor; unabashed lone drum and bass carrion call give way to synth and guitar interplay that brings to mind British grandmasters Wire, The Sound and Echo & The Bunnymen through a contemporary lens.


Album artwork by Tekla Vály:





Tracklisting:


“Disintegration Girl”
“Heart Like A Slaughterhouse”
“When The Shooting’s Done”
“High On Annihilation”
“Lead Balloons”
“Imminent Collapse”
“Society Of Spectres”
“Conspiracy Of Love”
“Plagueboys”
“Tears On The Camera Lens”


“Heart Like A Slaughterhouse”:





“Society Of Spectres”:





On April 28, Grave Pleasures will host a special album release show for Plagueboys in Helsinki, FI.

Ahead of BABYMETAL's forthcoming concept album "The Other One", due March 24, the Japanese pop-metal group has released the LP's fourth single, "Light And Darkness". Along with the single comes a new video featuring live footage from their recent comeback performance called "Babymetal Returns - The Other One" on January 28-29 at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall in Chiba, Japan, their first performance in almost two years.

Last year BABYMETAL was "sealed" from the world after a successful 10-year journey. In April 2022, "The Other One" restoration project began to recover the BABYMETAL we never knew existed within a virtual world called the Metalverse. A total of 10 songs have been discovered within "The Other One" restoration project, with each song representing a unique theme based on 10 separate parallel worlds that they have discovered.

One of the discovered 10 parallel worlds is "Light And Darkness" and this fourth pre-release digital single centers around this theme. Because light exists, darkness also exists. And because darkness is present, there is also a world that shines. During the night when light and darkness intersect, what we seek after being poisoned with darkness awaits a world filled with strong love. As the door opens, is it hope or despair that awaits us? The song expresses the duality in everything, and the way things are perceived and interpreted differ depending on each person's point of view.

BABYMETAL is preparing for its next performance on April 1 and April 2 at Pia Arena MM. Their first day is named "Black Night" and their second day is named "Clear Night". At their previous show, they conveyed that together with the departure into a new world, a new metal will be born. We will continue to see what the future will unfold for BABYMETAL.

"Light And Darkness" follows previous singles "Metal Kingdom", "Divine Attack - Shingeki -" and "Monochrome".

BABYMETAL will make a return to the live scene alongside SABATON and LORDI on their European tour in April and May.

"The Other One" track listing:

01. Metal Kingdom
02. Divine Attack - Shingeki -
03. Mirror Mirror
04. Maya
05. Time Wave
06. Believing
07. Metalizm
08. Monochrome
09. Light And Darkness
10. The Legend

BABYMETAL was formed in 2010. Their mission was to unify the world through heavy metal by creating a fusion of heavy metal and the Japanese pop genre. Their music contains a stunning mix of electronic pop, a pinch of alternative and industrial rock, and is leveled up by fast-driven heavy metal. Their live shows are ground-breaking and epic visual as well as sound performances. BABYMETAL continued to travel the path of metal with the international release of their three albums, telling the story of the mighty Fox God and his brave metal warriors.

A book about the first ten years of BABYMETAL, "Bessatsu Kadokawa Souryoku Tokushuu", was released in Japan in October 2020. It contains a long interview with Su-metal and Moametal as well as never-before-heard stories from band producer Kobametal from BABYMETAL's decade-long history, photos taken from live shows, a discussion between Demon Kakka and Kobametal, and much more.

BABYMETAL's third studio album, "Metal Galaxy", came out in October 2019 via earMUSIC/Edel. The follow-up to 2016's "Metal Resistance" was based on the concept of "The Odyssey Of Metal Galaxy".

In 2018, BABYMETAL announced the departure of Yuimetal, who was formerly one of the members of the Japanese group's core trio. She exited the band, explaining in a statement that she would go on to pursue a solo career as Mizuno Yu.

VANDENBERG and Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group have premiered "House On Fire", the lead video from the band's upcoming studio album titled "Sin".

VANDENBERG guitarist and leader Adrian Vandenberg shares: "Like every other band or artist we were forced to 'hold our horses' when we found ourselves playing our part in one of those Hollywood 'Outbreak'-style movies these past Covid years. Without having auditioned for a role. You'll understand we were extremely eager to 'break out of the stables' with a loud bang, so we thought it'd be more than appropriate to 'set the world on fire' with this new track! House On Fire'!"

Every album paints a picture. Instead of utilizing a brush and canvas, VANDENBERG paints with towering vocals, earthquaking rhythms, and the iconic and instantly recognizable fretwork of guitarist and namesake Adrian Vandenberg. Joined by vocalist Mats Levén, drummer Koen Herfst and bassist Randy Van Der Elsen, the influential axe-slinger delivers a vibrant, visceral, and vital vision on the group's fifth full-length offering, "Sin", brought to life in broad strokes of anthemic hard rock and airtight metal and produced by Bob Marlette (OZZY OSBOURNE, ALICE COOPER, ROB ZOMBIE).

"For me, music is very much like a painting," affirms Adrian. "You have your ups, downs, lights, and shades. One song might make you want to jump on the table and party your brains out. Another song will inspire you to think. Either way, you're thrown into a landscape, which my favorite albums still do to me. You could be in your car or at home with your headphones plugged into a soundsystem, and you're in a different world."

Exploding out of The Netherlands and onto the global scene with 1982's self-titled "Vandenberg", the Dutch phenomenon notched an international hit in the form of "Burning Heart", paving the way for seminal releases such as "Heading For A Storm" (1983) and "Alibi" (1985). The band canvased the United States, Europe, and Japan alongside OZZY OSBOURNE, KISS, RUSH, SCORPIONS, MICHAEL SCHENKER, and many others. Sought out to join WHITESNAKE, Adrian famously ripped the legendary lead on the 1987 recording of the No. 1 smash "Here I Go Again", which adorned the eight-times-platinum "Whitesnake" and ended up touring the world's largest arenas for a year-and-a-half when the 1987 album went through the roof in terms of sales. He co-wrote the entirety of 1989's platinum "Slip Of The Tongue" and spent the ensuing tour sharing axe duties with none other than Steve Vai. In addition to playing guitar on and co-writing "Restless Heart" from DAVID COVERDALE & WHITESNAKE, he performed hundreds of shows as part of the band for some twelve years. Speaking to the breadth of his output, he notably penned and recorded "A Number One" as the theme for his hometown Dutch football team FC Twente. 2013 saw him launch the acclaimed VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS, releasing "MoonKings" (2014),"MK II" (2017) and "Rugged And Unplugged" (2018).

VANDENBERG as a band roared back to life with the comeback LP "2020". Among many highlights, "Freight Train" gathered 1.6 million Spotify streams, while the record attracted praise. Sonic Perspectives enthused, "The end result sounds like the missing link between WHITESNAKE and RAINBOW, and updates the group's sound to the new generation of hard rock fans."

In its wake, VANDENBERG welcomed Mats (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, CANDLEMASS) to the fold.

"He's an amazing singer," notes Adrian. "I'd heard him online, and we got in touch. It's funny because his mom brought the first two VANDENBERG records back to Scandinavia from England when he was in his early twenties — and he was a fan. He's a workaholic like me. We picked up after COVID and put the new album together. The spark is definitely there. On top of that, Koen and Randy lay down the most solid concrete, grooving foundation that I could ever wish for. I'd say it's one notch heavier than '2020'."

Recorded in Holland and Los Angeles with Marlette, "Sin" represents a natural evolution for VANDENBERG. Scorching pinch harmonics light up the first single "House On Fire" as the groove underlines a chantable chorus from Mats.

"In one way, it's a party song, because it keeps you tapping your foot," Adrian exclaims. "Mats added a different darker twist with his lyrics. It also envisions a person who's frustrated about the things other people have. This person can't control their anger and sets the place on fire."

Sweden’s Siena Root will release their eighth studio album, Revelation, on Friday, February 24, through Atomic Fire Records. Today, the band releases  a video for the song "Dusty Roads", which you can view below:





Fittingly titled Revelation, the new album serves as the group’s most versatile offering of their long-spanning career, guiding listeners through a true journey rather than simply stringing together song after song. The eleven-track offering was recorded analogously at Silence Studio in Koppom, Sweden and Root Rock Studios in Stockholm, Sweden where it was also mixed. Mastering was handled at Stockholm’s Cutting Room.




Founded in the late ’90s, Siena Root are constantly working on something new. They’ve continually changed their approach and experimented with their sound — not only to keep their music fresh but to challenge themselves, which is among the main reason why the group’s relevance remains after all these years. Besides touring with acts such as Deep Purple and Dewolff, the quartet — founding members drummer Love Forsberg and bassist Sam Riffer with guitarist Johan Borgström and vocalist/keyboardist Zubaida Solid — have always brought an infectious performance to stages globally and consistently gaining new fans with every show.


Pre-order Revelation on CD, LP, pre-save it on your favorite DSP or pre-order it digitally at this location.





Tracklisting:


"Coincidence & Fate"
"Professional Procrastinator"
"No Peace"
"Fighting Gravity"
"Dusty Roads"
"Winter Solstice"
"Dalecarlia Stroll"
"Leaving The City"
"Little Burden"
"Madukhauns"
"Keeper Of The Flame"


"Keeper Of The Flame" lyric video:





Lineup:


Zubaida Solid - vocals, keys
Johan Borgström - guitars
Sam Riffer - bass
Love Forsberg - drums


(Photo -  Petter Hilber)

On March 17, Ventura, California's heavy metal institution, Night Demon, return with their third full-length, Outsider, via Century Media Records. For a preview of Outsider, the video for the new single, "Escape From Beyond" (filmed by Julian Weigand and edited by Dave Minall), can be viewed below.


Jarvis Leatherby (vocals, bass) comments: "Our second single, 'Escape From Beyond', is a rip-roaring journey that continues the movement from the title track 'Outsider'. It's an ode to finding your place in the universe and trusting that your intuition will guide you. Like many of the songs on this forthcoming album, it has peaks and valleys and it represents major growth from the heavy metal standards. We want to take the listener on an unforgettable ride, while staying true to our signature Night Demon sound. This is a new chapter that we're beyond excited for."







For more than a decade, Night Demon have defiantly flown the flag of traditional heavy metal, unwavering in the face of shifting industry trends and unscarred by global calamities. With new album Outsider, the band have challenged themselves musically and lyrically, pushing creative boundaries and evolving their sound far beyond their NWOBHM-worshipping origins into something truly singular.


From a lyrical standpoint, Outsider marks Night Demon's first full-blown concept album. To be sure, the band have always experimented with embedding thematic linkages between songs on each release, dating back to their 2015 debut album, Curse Of The Damned. On Outsider, however, lyricist Jarvis Leatherby has dialed into a fully cohesive tale of alternate realities, mysterious portals, and the supernatural, intertwined with universal human feelings of alienation, loss, regret and revenge. Inspired by Leatherby's lifelong affinity for horror movies as well as his pandemic-induced exile in the countryside of Northern Ireland, Outsider weaves a compelling yarn from its pastoral beginnings to its heart-pounding finale.


Of course, this kind of epic storytelling demands an equally expansive musical backdrop that ebbs and flows to convey the full emotional range of Outsider. To achieve that result, Night Demon have reimagined the band's songwriting and arrangements by embracing progressive elements and a newfound sense of dynamics that lend the music a decidedly cinematic quality. Longtime fans should not be alarmed: Outsider sounds like Night Demon through and through, but the songwriting is perhaps the catchiest in the band's discography, boasting massive hooks such as those found on the earworm title track, which is also the lead single. Simply put, Night Demon take the listener on a journey with Outsider. It's a heavy and intense ride, so buckle up. You may never be the same again.


Outsider will be available in the following formats:


- CD Digipak
- Black LP       
- Transparent green LP  
- Coke bottle clear LP available from USA outlets (limited to 500 copies)
- Transparent magenta LP available from CM Distro Wholesale EU and CMdistro.de (limited to 500 copies)
- Transparent sun yellow LP available from EMP, High Roller, Nuclear Blast (limited to 400 copies)
- Digital album


Plus, the following - exclusively from Night Demon:


- Dark green neon-yellow haze LP (limited to 500 copies)
- Cassette w/ green glow (limited to 50 standalone copies)
- Cassette w/ black tint shell (limited to 50 standalone copies)
- Ultimate Bundle with:
* Dark green-neon yellow haze 12" LP
* Green cassette
* Digipak CD
* Outsider t-shirt
* Coffin shaped backpatch
* Party mirror
- CD + t-shirt bundle
- Black 12" LP + T-shirt bundle


Pre-order here.





Outsider tracklisting:


"Prelude"
"Outsider"
"Obsidian"
"Beyond The Grave"
"Rebirth"
"Escape From Beyond"
"A Wake"
"The Wrath"
"The Last Day"


"Outsider" video:





On release day (March 17), Night Demon will kick off the "Hell's Decibels Tour 2023", hitting cities across the US alongside Satan and Haunt - with the trek concluding in Philly as the official Decibel Metal & Beer Fest pre-party. See below for all dates; tickets are available at nightdemon.net/tour.


March
17 - West Hollywood, CA - Whisky A Go Go
18 - Oakland, CA - Eli's Mile High Club
19 - Las Vegas, NV - Dive Bar
21 - Salt Lake City, UT - Aces High Saloon
22 - Denver, CO - HQ
24 - Austin, TX - Come And Take It Live
25 - Houston, TX - White Oak (Hell's Heroes)
26 - Dallas, TX - Amplified Live
27 - Wichita, KS - - Barleycorns
29 - St Paul, MN - Turf Club
30 - Chicago, IL - Reggies
31 - Des Moines, IA - Lefty's Live Music


April
1 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom (2 Minutes To Tulsa)
4 - Grand Rapids, MI - Pyramid Scheme
5 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
6 - Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups
7 - Mechanicsburg, PA - Lovedraft's
8 - Cambridge, MA - Sonia
9 - Brooklyn, NY - Saint Vitus
11 - Clifton, NJ - Dingbatz
13 - Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry (Decibel Metal & Beer Fest pre-party)


Night Demon lineup:


Jarvis Leatherby - Vocals / Bass
Dusty Squires - Drums
Armand John Anthony - Guitars


(Photo - Nikolas Bremm)

This Friday, February 24, sees pagan folk metal masters Heidevolk release their new, seventh studio album Wederkeer via Napalm Records.


In a world of myths, nature and legends of the Veluwe region of the Netherlands, the band’s upcoming concept album - based on the interpretations of the runes - is a powerful odyssey, deeply rooted in metal and folklore. With dual clean vocals, irresistibly catchy songs, traditional instruments and fast metal riffing all fueled by their folkloric fire and pagan pride, Heidevolk delivers an uncompromising sound and musical adventure. Wederkeer (meaning to “return” or “revive”), makes no exception, and proves why the Arnhem-based six-piece is one of the best, unrivaled and most exciting bands of their genre and beyond.  


“De Strijd Duurt Voort” is the final single ahead of Heidevolk's upcoming record release, and merges folkloric soundscapes, fast-paced riffs and huge choirs. This is folk metal power at its best. Watch the new lyric video below.




“As the release day approaches, we release our fourth and final single from our new album Wederkeer“, the band comments. “'De Strijd Duurt Voort' is an epic narrative of a soldier's battle against himself in a war that is not his own. And as fitting today as it ever was and ever will be: The battle rages on and on. Let the fury of this song captivate you as we are gearing up for the release of Wederkeer!“





The new album was recorded at Sandlane Recording Facilities, mixed by Joost van den Broek and mastered by Darius van Helfteren. Wederkeer once again proves that Heidevolk knows how to perfectly release proud hymns and direct, in-your-face metal songs, and the addition of broad choirs, various folk musicians, on vocals, violins, cello, bukkehorns and more traditional medieval instruments make Wederkeer not only a bombastic folk and pagan metal record at its best, but a glorious album return of Heidevolk.





Wederkeer will be available in the following formats:


- 6 page CD Digipak
- 2 LP Gatefold Vinyl Dark Green
- Deluxe Wooden Box
- Digital album


Pre-order here.





Wederkeer tracklisting:


"Hagalaz"
"Drink met de Goden (Walhalla)"
"Klauwen Vooruit"
"Schildenmuur"
"De Strijd Duurt Voort"
"Oeros"
"Wederkeer"
"IJzige Nacht"
"Raidho"
"Ver Verlangen"
"Holda"
"Zomervuur"
"Drinking with the Gods (Valhalla)" *Included on physical versions only
"The Hunter's Claw" *Included on physical versions only


"Wederkeer" video:





"Drink met de Goden (Walhalla)":





"Klauwen Vooruit" video:





Lineup:


Bass guitars, backing vocals: Rowan Roodbaert
Guitars, backing vocals: Koen Vuurdichter
Vocals, accordion: Jacco Bühnebeest
Guitars: Mat Snaerenslijper
Vocals: Daniël Den Dorstighe
Drums: Kevin Houtsplijter


(Photo - Sietse Schoenmakers)

With their 2021 breakthrough debut album, Within Each Lies The Other, British metal act, As Everything Unfolds, garnered over 20 million streams, international media acclaim and legions of fans alike. Just two years later, the band marks their return as they officially announce the release of their upcoming sophomore full-length, entitled Ultraviolet, out April 21 via Long Branch Records.


Today, the band has released a new track, entitled "Flip Side". Singer Charlie Rolfe comments: "'Flip Side' is the song with the most frustration, the most surface level anger. But it’s actually a song of relief, a song of a new side of life. Lyrically the song focuses on the feeling about being an artist, being one with yourself, looking at people who put you down, and asking them, how is it living life on the other side?"







Pre-order the Ultraviolet  album here.





Ultraviolet tracklisting:


"Ultraviolet"
"Felt Like Home"
"Slow Down"
"Saint Or Rogue"
"Blossom"
"Infrared"
"Flip Side"
"Twilight"
"Rose Bouquets"
"Daylight"
"All I've Ever Known"


"Ultraviolet" video:





"Felt Like Home" video:





"Blossom" visualizer:





As Everything Unfolds is:


Charlie Rolfe - Vocals
Adam Kerr - Guitar
George Hunt - Bass
Jon Cassidy - Synth
Jamie Gowers - Drums

Midwest post-black metal operatives, Chrome Waves, have released the second single and music video from their forthcoming album. Check out “The Nail” now at all streaming/download platforms, and watch the video below.


“I feel like every one of our albums ends up having an oddball track. Not that the song is out of place from the others, but it tends to push the boundaries of what we're totally comfortable with at the time of recording,” explains guitarist and band founder Jeff Wilson. “That track this time around was, ‘The Nail.’ We wanted to try some new instrumentation for this record, but this almost has an Alice in Chains goes country vibe in the first half, before retreating into utter chaos when Mac Gollehon shows up with a trumpet solo... some definite firsts for the band."







“The Nail” follows “Under The Weight Of ABillion Souls", which was the first taste of new music, from the band's forthcoming album. Combining key elements of Chrome Waves’ sound, you’ll be entranced by the traditional and modern black metal aspects, while venturing into more ambient and alternative moments that pull you in balancing the light and darkness of their sound.


Chrome Waves will release their new album, Earth Will Shed Its Skin, on April 28 via M-Theory Audio. Engineered by Jeff Wilson and Tyler Watkins, with Tyler handling mixing and mastering. The artwork was created by Valnoir/Metastazis (Alcest, Amorphis, Behemoth, Ulver).


The album will be available on CD and two variant formats of limited vinyl, 250 copies on Blue Jay Splatter for the US, and 250 Clear & Silver color-in-color for UK/EU. Pre-order/pre-save here.





Tracklisting:


"Forward"
"Under The Weight"
"The Long Rope"
"What Desperate Looks Like"
"The Nail"
"Broken"


"Under The Weight Of A Billion Souls" video:

Kitchener metal band Invicta are premiering their new video for "The Morning's Light" through BraveWords! The track is taken from the forthcoming album, Triumph And Torment. 





The band comments on the track:




“Stoked to have BraveWords premiere our new single ‘The Morning’s Light’! This song was inspired by the legendary X-Men villain Apocalypse so we wanted to make the music feel as powerful and evil as him! We had a lot of fun working out the parts to this song and recording it and love how it came out in the end. Make sure you crank it!”


The brand new Invicta album Triumph And Torment includes ten tracks of vicious and melodic death/thrash fit for a battle in Hell. Featuring Heathen touring guitarist Kyle Edissi on guitar and vocals, Invicta is a force to be reckoned with, delivering the killer tracks "Forces Of Annihilation" and "Sinister Obsession" in their quest for total metal domination. If you're looking for a cross between Revocation, Kreator and Iron Maiden, look no further.


"Our goal while writing and recording this record was to make it sound Vicious and Triumphant. We wanted each song to channel the villainous vibes that inspired it. We really challenged ourselves and feel that this is a big step beyond our previous material, while staying true to the Invicta sound. I am really proud of this album, and I am really proud of the band and everyone involved in its creation.


“‘I was God... and yet, I was unchanged. I was not one with the universe. I was not content.’" -Kyle Edissi





Tracklist:


"The New Throne"
"Forces of Annihilation"
"Apprentice of Death"
"Battle the Beyond"
"Sinister Obsession"
"The Morning’s Light"
"Parasitic Reign"
"Preeminence"
"Embodiment of Infamy"
"Triumph and Torment"


"Sinister Obsession":





Invicta is:


Kyle Edissi - Vocals, Guitar
Jonah Kay - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Steven Rowlands - Bass, Backing Vocals
Reef Hassanien - Drums

German genre-fusing visionaries, Lord Of The Lost, have released a music video for "Absolute Attitude", a track from their new album, Blood & Glitter.


A message states: "As big advocates of the importance of self-irony and as fans of mockumentary or improv formats like The Office, it was time to produce a musical short film in this genre ourselves. Especially for a band like us, with a visually special album like Blood & Glitter, in an Instagram filter world, we feel it is important to consciously show courage for ugliness and to put humor above cramped realness. And Gas Lipstick in the role of a drug dealer should be nominated for an Oscar!"







When conjuring the concept of Blood & Glitter, the band was inspired by the eponymous work of legendary music photographer Mick Rock, known for taking a large majority of the most famous photos of musicians in the 70s glam rock era. Lord Of The Lost visually immerse themselves in the lifestyle of that era and combine it with the new wave and pop sound of the 80s, building on their own familiar dark metal foundation. The result: a glamorous party with critical and direct messages.


Order the Blood & Glitter album here.





Blood & Glitter tracklisting:


"Blood & Glitter"
"Leave Your Hate In The Comments"
"Absolute Attitude"
"The Future Of A Past Life"
"No Respect For Disrespect"
"Reset The Preset"
"Destruction Manual"
"Dead End"
"Leaving The Planet Earth"
"Forever Lost"
"Save Our Souls"
"One Last Song"
"The Look" (Roxette Cover)


“Leaving The Planet Earth” video:





"Blood & Glitter" video:





Lineup:


Chris Harms - Vocals, Guitar
Pi Stoffers - Guitar
Class Grenayde - Bass
Gared Dirge - Piano, Synths, Percussion, Guitar
Niklas Kahl - Drums

In a new episode of SiriusXM's "Reverse The Verse", POISON's Bret Michaels attempts to identify his music after hearing just ten seconds of each song played backwards. Check out the results below.

Last month, Bret released the official music video for his new solo single, "Back In The Day". At the time, he described the track as "truly a modern-day throwback to a feel-good road-trip anthem. The video reflects the feel of early MTV videos with green screen, pop-up captions and never-before-seen photos and original Hi-8 images of my youth. It is a song that truly reflects on great times and pays homage to the radio stations and DJs that cranked up the music while bringing us great songs that have withstood the test of time, songs that all my friends and I would sing along to then and now. Music is a universal language meant to unite us, not divide us, and that is exactly what this song is about. It's also a hell of a lot of fun to sing along to, as is the video to watch as it weaves a story of my life and the music that rocked it!"

Pete Evick, who is best known as Bret's music director and guitar player of the last 20 years, stated about "Back In The Day": "It's been a long time coming, I've had this track sitting in my hard drive for months just dying to let everyone hear it. I can't explain the amount of fun me and Bret had recording this song. As always Bret pushes the boundaries and really makes me get creative and innovative with production.

"Trying to encompass elements from the 70's, 80,s 90's, and also still feel current and modern was the goal with everything about this song," he explained. "I think we got it! Meri Schaefer sings those amazing harmonies in the chorus and Norman Voss kicks out some heavy guitar throughout the song."

In a recent interview with Guy "Favazz" Favazza of the St. Louis, Missouri radio station KSHE 95, Michaels spoke about how "Back In The Day" came together: "I was driving in the car, and I'm driving along the beach, and as I'm writing this down… I do this crazy TikTok thing, and I show people how I write music. I said, 'Don't fear it.' I'm laying a beat, I'm playing the guitar. And I'm, like, [sings] 'Back in the day, radio played our favorite songs the DJs'd say.' And crank it up. And it all hit me, and the song just fell together. It's just a good-vibe song."

Bret, who toured with POISON as part of "The Stadium Tour" last summer, will hit the road in July for a limited run of live dates for his 2023 "Parti-Gras" tour. Michaels has created this tour with a Mardi Gras feel in celebration of his great fans and hit music. The renowned rockstar will bring a few of his rocker friends along for a mashup of all-killer, no-filler hits featuring special guests NIGHT RANGER and JEFFERSON STARSHIP with special appearances from Steve Augeri (former lead singer of JOURNEY) and Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY), plus a nightly surprise guest.

Presented by Live Nation, the 12-city limited date run kicks off on Thursday, July 13 at the one and only Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan; known for its epic concerts and parties, going on to make stops across the U.S. including at The Pavilion at Star Lake, in his birthplace of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania),Holmdel (New Jersey),Tinley Park (Illinois),Tampa (Florida),and more before wrapping up in Charlotte (North Carolina) at PNC Music Pavilion on August 6.

Pushing progressive death metal in ever more imaginative directions, Entheos continue to stand apart from the pack. Incorporating elements drawn from myriad genres - including death metal, groove, grunge, electronica, slam, gothic rock, jazz, prog and more - they have evolved with every release, and now they return with the follow up to 2017's landmark Dark Future, the diverse and exhilarating Time Will Take Us All. It arrives March 3 via Metal Blade Records. Pre-order at metalblade.com.


Today, the band has shared the video for "Darkest Day". "We are excited to release a live video for our latest single 'Darkest Day,'" the band says. "The video was shot in Knoxville, Tennessee, in December. This was one of the most fun and energetic sets we’ve ever played and the crowd set the perfect tone for the fast-paced ripper that 'Darkest Day' is. Our friends Marshall Wieczorek and Michelle Nisbet were able to capture that energy perfectly and we're so proud of the video we were able to create together."







"We knew when we started writing that we really wanted to make something darker and heavier that was still uniquely Entheos, and we knew that we wanted to make a record that really came from our hearts and captured where we want to take this band," explains vocalist Chaney Crabb.


"The new album also has a strong 'trippy' vibe, not in a generic sense but meaning when you are done listening to it you feel like you've gone on a journey," adds multi-instrumentalist Navene Koperweis. "I've always loved albums that gave me that feeling. I can't say we set out to have the experience, it just sort of happened and that's something I'm proud of."


With Koperweis handling production duties and Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, The Black Dahlia Murder) mixing the record, all of the drums were tracked by Zack Ohren at Castle Ultimate, and Koperweis tracked guitars and vocals. They also recruited former member Evan Brewer to supply the bass. Though committed to their status as a two-piece, the band does have a live lineup with Brian James (ex-Fallujah) and Robert Brown (ex-Slaughter to Prevail) providing guitar, maintaining their reputation for being a killer live band. Having delivered the best record of their career they are also in a very good place mentally, but they do not get ahead of themselves.





The album will be available in the following formats:
-Digital / Streaming
-CD Jewelcase
-Vinyl - Dark Gray & White Marble (US exclusive)
-Vinyl - Clear with Gold Metallic & Black Marble (US exclusive)
-Vinyl - Red / Gold Melt (A Side B side) (EU exclusive)





Tracklisting:


“Absolute Zero”
“In Purgatory”
“The Interior Wilderness”
“Oblivion”
“I Am The Void”
“Darkest Day”
“Clarity In Waves”
“The Sinking Sun”
“Time Will Take Us All”


“I Am The Void” lyric video:

In Flames, the modern metal visionaries, can celebrate another major career milestone. The band's latest studio album, Foregone, has achieved phenomenal success on the international charts. The band scored a stunning No. 1 result in their home country Sweden, easily surpassing their competitors. The record also conquered the No. 1 spot in several other European countries, landing them the top position in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, proving their ongoing international success and the sheer devotion of their fans.


"We want to thank all the Jesterheads worldwide for the continued support especially on our new album Foregone!" states In Flames. "Can't wait to bring these songs live around the world! See you all very soon…"


Foregone is the band's 14th studio album and combines the greatest aggressive, metallic, and melodic strengths of In Flames' landmark catalog records with the seasoned song writing of their contemporary era.







Chart placement:


Germany #1
Switzerland #1
Austria #1 
Sweden #1 (Hard Rock #1, Vinyl #1, Physical #1)
USA Record Label Independent Current Album Charts #2
Finland #4
Norway #10
Scotland #15
Greece #20
Spain #20 (Vinyl #1)
Belgium (Vlaanderen) #20
Japan #21
Poland #24
Belgium (Wallonia) #29
Netherlands #60
Australia #63 (Digital #3, Physical #7)
France #63 (Physical #22, Vinyl #63)
United Kingdom #79 (Indie #6, Rock #3, Vinyl #23)
Italy #93


Foregone features artwork designed by Blake Armstrong. Order here.





Tracklisting:


"The Beginning Of All Things That Will End"
"State Of Slow Decay"
"Meet Your Maker"
"Bleeding Out"
"Foregone Pt. 1"
"Foregone Pt. 2"
"Pure Light Of Mind"
"The Great Deceiver"
"In The Dark"
"A Dialogue in b Flat Minor"
"Cynosure"
"End The Transmission"


"End The Transmission" lyric video:





"Meet Your Maker" video:





"Foregone Pt. 1" visualizer:





"State Of Slow Decay" video:





Lineup:


Anders Fridén - Vocals
Björn Gelotte - Guitar/Vocals
Chris Broderick - Guitar
Tanner Wayne - Drums
Bryce Paul - Bass

On March 10, Blackmore's Night will celebrate the band’s quarter century anniversary with a deluxe, remixed reissue of the band’s debut, Shadow Of The Moon, via EARMusic.


Today, the band premiers the official music video for the track, "Wish You Were Here". Check it out below:







The fully remixed 25th Anniversary Edition of Shadow Of The Moon will be available in a variety of physical Deluxe Editions, all carrying an exclusive Shadow Of The Moon documentary on DVD as bonus as well as two previously unreleased acoustic recordings.


Pre-order here.


Blackmore’s Night were founded in 1997 by legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and award-winning lyricist and singer Candice Night to stage and explore their love for traditional Medieval and folk-rock music. Together, they created a band that like very few others is a prime example of truthfulness and creative integrity.


The band’s debut album Shadow Of The Moon (1997) was not only Blackmore’s deliberate radical cut from his previous life as celebrated rockstar in Deep Purple and Rainbow; it was a ground-breaking statement of his artistic ideals: mainly acoustic music, influenced by the songs of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance with a touch of genius that made them sound contemporary. Shadow Of The Moon was a milestone album. It encompasses everything that Blackmore’s Night stand for to this day: beautiful melodies and warm atmospheres that are able to reach the soul as well as joyful songs to dance to and to celebrate.


The 25th Anniversary Edition of Shadow Of The Moon was converted in HD audio from the original recording, and it has been fully remixed, allowing the original performance to shine in its original glory. The original iconic artwork has been refreshed and reworked to celebrate the anniversary. Two previously unreleased acoustic recordings will be part of this reissue: “Spirit Of The Sea” and “Shadow Of The Moon”, both recorded in an intimate home session by Candice and Ritchie in 2022. All physical first print editions will also carry an exclusive “Shadow Of The Moon” documentary on DVD as bonus.


“It’s hard to believe that 25 years have gone by since the snowy nights spent by the fireplace writing these songs. Much has changed since those early days, but the magic of the music still shines as brightly as it did back then. We feel truly blessed to have been able to bring these songs to the world, and do so again, in this remixed reissue proving they truly do stand the test of time. For 25 years we have graced historical venues stages worldwide and now we are able to revisit again, with you, this beautiful version of “Shadow Of The Moon”. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed revisiting those early days. We find that the songs are still timeless...” - Candice Night & Ritchie Blackmore





CD tracklisting:


"Shadow Of The Moon" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"The Clock Ticks On" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Be Mine Tonight" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Play Minstrel Play" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Ocean Gypsy" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Minstrel Hall" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Magical World" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Writing On The Wall" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Renaissance Faire" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Memmingen" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"No Second Chance" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Mond Tanz" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Spirit Of The Sea" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Greensleeves" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Wish You Were Here" (25th Anniversary New Mix)
"Shadow Of The Moon" (Ritchie & Candice Anniversary Home Session)
"Spirit Of The Sea" (Ritchie & Candice Anniversary Home Session)


Bonus-DVD:


- Documentary: The story of “Shadow Of The Moon” (30 min)
- Music Video Clips “Shadow Of The Moon”, “No Second Chance” & “Renaissance Faire” (with optional audio commentary by Candice Night & Ritchie Blackmore)


"Play Minstrel Play" (25th Anniversary New Mix):





"Greensleeves" (25th Anniversary New Mix) lyric video:





"Shadow Of The Moon" (Ritchie & Candice Anniversary Home Session) lyric video:





"Shadow Of The Moon" (25th Anniversary New Mix) lyric video:





Trailer:

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and the band's former singer Howard Jones are apparently collaborating on a new project.

Earlier today (Tuesday, February 21),Jones shared a photo of him and Dutkiewicz at what appears to be a Corona, California strip mall, and he included the following message: "Sushi and going over new demos. It's happening. #HOJO #AdamD #NewProject".

Jones left KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in 2012 and battled manic depression and bipolar disorder before forming a new project, DEVIL YOU KNOW, with guitarist Francesco Artusato (ALL SHALL PERISH) and drummer John Sankey (DEVOLVED). Along with bassist Ryan Wombacher (BLEEDING THROUGH),they recorded and toured behind two well-received albums, 2014's "The Beauty Of Destruction" and 2015's "They Bleed Red". In 2017, the band changed its name to LIGHT THE TORCH following a bitter dispute with Sankey, a part owner of the name.

Jones makes an appearance on KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's latest album, 2019's "Atonement", contributing guest vocals to the song "The Signal Fire".

Asked what made him get back into music after leaving KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, Howard told Heavy New York: "Honestly, I think it was because I was just kind of tired of doing nothing and I don't do much else other than music. I felt like I needed to venture out because I was basically agoraphobic for three years. It's kind of well known. I went off the grid. I didn't have a cell phone for three years — I was gone. It felt, like, 'Okay, maybe I should dip my toe in. I don't have to do it full time. I don't have to do what I don't want to do.' That's all I was thinking. I started moving, I started doing things. It was definitely a struggle, especially for the first few years. I was, like, 'What am I doing?' There's been few things in my life that has been consistent other than music. I just did it. It just took some time, then all of the sudden, the spark showed up. I fell back in love with what I was doing. I really can't explain it. It just sort of happened."

Current KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach appeared on the band's self-titled debut and sophomore album, "Alive Or Just Breathing", before exiting the group. Jones took over on vocals for "The End Of Heartache", "As Daylight Dies" and the 2009 self-titled set before being dismissed from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE 11 years ago and being replaced by a returning Leach.

In 2012, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D'Antonio told Boston Globe that the band's split with Jones was necessitated by the singer's struggle with personal issues, including diabetes that had gone untreated for several years. "It became very apparent we had to move on without him," D'Antonio said. "Howard didn't quit."

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A post shared by Howard Jones (@howard_jones_music)

THE ROLLING STONES have confirmed that Paul McCartney makes a guest appearance on the band's upcoming album.

In an e-mail to CNN, a representative for THE ROLLING STONES revealed that McCartney plays bass "on just one RS track."

The representative also denied reports that THE BEATLES drummer Ringo Starr makes an appearance on the LP, saying the recording featured "no Ringo Starr at all."

THE ROLLING STONES' upcoming album will be the first since their drummer, Charlie Watts, died in 2021.

According to Variety, the 80-year-old McCartney recorded bass parts during recording sessions that took place in Los Angeles in recent weeks. The album, which is being helmed by 2021 Grammy "Producer Of The Year" Andrew Watt, is reportedly getting close to the mixing phase.

Last month, guitarist Keith Richards shared with fans in an Instagram video that "there's some new music on its way."

THE ROLLING STONES' new LP will likely include several songs Watts recorded prior to his death.

"Let me put it this way," Richards told the Los Angeles Times in 2021. "You haven't heard the last of Charlie Watts."

Over the years, McCartney and THE ROLLING STONES had engaged in a friendly war of words, with Paul stating about THE STONES in a 2021 interview: "I'm not sure I should say it, but they're a blues cover band, that's sort of what THE STONES are. I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs." Jagger later joked at a concert in which McCartney was in attendance that he would "join us in a blues cover."

THE ROLLING STONES' upcoming album will be the band's first collection of new material in nearly 20 years, following 2005's "A Bigger Bang". In 2016, the band released "Blue & Lonesome", a covers collection paying tribute to old-school blues.

KINGS OF THRASH, the new band featuring former MEGADETH members David Ellefson (bass) and Jeff Young (guitar),played a new original song called "Bridges Burn" last night (Wednesday, February 22) at The King Of Clubs in Columbus, Ohio during the "Thrashin' USA" tour. Video of the performance can be seen below.

According to Young, the seeds for the KINGS OF THRASH original music were planted more than a year ago when he and Ellefson took part in the filming of the upcoming documentary on late MEGADETH drummer Nick Menza. "We had dinner [at the Rainbow in West Hollywood] the night before the Menza documentary filming," Jeff recalled to "Brews & Tunes" podcast. "We were getting up to leave, and something hit me… It must have been '89. We were demoing a couple of tunes for what became 'Rust In Peace'. There was invitations to contribute to the writing, so David and I were demoing some stuff up on cassette. Unfortunately, I did not save those; I don't know what happened. But two of the riffs really stuck in my head. And I sang 'em in [Ellefson's] ear as we were paying the bill. He was, like, 'Dude, I totally remember those riffs. That's killer. We've gotta get in a room and work that stuff up.' So flash forward a couple of months later, he was back in L.A. I had another song idea that I actually started with a drum beat I had of Nick Menza's, and then I blew it out from there. He and I took those two riffs, demoed them. And a couple of more months went by, he was back out in L.A. again. We got together. And he had a couple of skeletons. And the cool thing about it is we never really had the opportunity to write together — it was so fast and furious back in the day — but now it was like we were finishing each other's sentences. We're more seasoned; we're better musicians; we're better songwriters. We're calmed and there's no ego in the room; there's no toxicity in the room — wink, wink… And we walked out of two writing sessions with four songs."

Earlier this month, KINGS OF THRASH shared a teaser demo of some of the new original material the group is working on.

In October, Young told Ghost Cult magazine that KINGS OF THRASH's first original song was being recorded at a North Hollywood studio previously used by legendary producer Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix). As for the musical direction of KINGS OF THRASH's original material, Jeff said: "It's got the vibe of MEGADETH — it's on that playing field, but it's got all of its own stuff and all of our influences and some SOUNDGARDEN/TOOL vibes in maybe the music and melodies."

As previously reported, KINGS OF THRASH will release a live CD/DVD package called "Best Of The West…Live At The Whisky A Go Go" on March 24 via Cleopatra Records. The 17-song set, featuring performances of MEGADETH's classic albums "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" and "So Far, So Good… So What!", was recorded and filmed live at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California on October 15, 2022 and includes an appearance by another former MEGADETH member, Chris Poland (guitar). The DVD was directed by Michael Sarna for Inmotion Entertainment.

Asked in a recent interview with Ultimate Guitar if he and Ellefson have received any feedback from MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine about their new band or their recent live shows, tour, Young said: "Nah, we couldn't care less… and it's a win-win for him. Because all the publishing, for example, on the 'Best Of The West', he's getting all that money. We're making him money and he doesn't have to do anything. So, we're performing the songs because they're part of our history and the fans want to hear them and we will benefit from that, and so will he, so it's a win-win. How much cooler can anything be than that? So, if he has something to say about it… I wouldn't imagine it would be very objective… not that anything he's ever said has been objective."

Jeff's latest comments echo those he made last year when he told Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of the Rock Interview Series, Young that he and Ellefson were "really not concerned" about Mustaine's reaction to KINGS OF THRASH. "I don't pay attention," he said. "I haven't really paid attention or followed MEGADETH since, I think, I heard the 'Rust In Peace' album a couple of times, and then what you might hear on the radio or in the press.

"For us, this isn't about any spite or retaliation; it's a celebration of the music that we were all a part of, that we helped create," he explained. "And it's fun for us to do this.

"People said, 'You should do this.' And we said, 'Hey, yeah, you're right. We should do this.' It's a win-win — it's a win for us, and it's a win for [Mustaine], because any performance royalties, anything… If we did include live tracks, he would make money off that. It's promoting albums that hopefully fans will go back and buy, which is putting money right in his pocket. Especially 'Killing Is My Business', I think a lot of people are gonna go back and wanna rediscover that album after this tour.

"For us, it's all about positivity," Young added. "We're all in this moment — we're living in the moment, and we're not looking beyond. We're not reading any of the comments on Blabbermouth or any of the stuff. Because we know what our intent is, and intent is everything. And our intent's positive. We like playing together. We know we're crafting original music. We're not relying on this; we don't need to ride the coattails of this. This is just something that the fans wanted, and you wanna give fans what they want."

Ellefson told Yes! You CAN Play Guitar! that the intention behind KINGS OF THRASH is not to stick it to his former bandmates. "This is a celebration, not a retaliation," he explained. "This is a good moment. This is a happy moment, to celebrate these songs and these tracks and these records. So we go at it with just fun… It's, like, 'Wow. Wouldn't it be fun if we went out and played these records?' And we're doing it. So it's meant to be this celebration and bringing people together. And honestly, that was kind of always my role in MEGADETH. Dave [Mustaine] always called me 'The Ambassador', and I was always that guy, and I am that guy. So it's, like, let me just continue that role in our community and have one of good will."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH nearly two years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

David was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Dave Mustaine, alleging the MEGADETH leader shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

Young's entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band's 1988 platinum-selling album "So Far, So Good...So What!"

Jeff made headlines in December 2009 for accusing Mustaine of, among other things, "dissing, exaggerating and just plain lying on some level about nearly every talented musician that has passed through his dysfunctional little ensemble." He also disputed Mustaine's claim in an interview that Young's drug problem led to MEGADETH's 1988 Australian tour being called off and the group being "banned" from performing in the country.

Poland was a member of MEGADETH from 1984 to 1987, during which time he performed on the band's classic albums "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" and "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" He is also a featured soloist on the group's 2004 album, "The System Has Failed".

Back in 2004, Poland and/or his management and attorney filed a lawsuit against Mustaine regarding the use of the three "Rust In Peace" demos on the album's reissue without Chris's permission. Chris eventually settled for $9,500 and thereby ended a professional relationship with Dave and MEGADETH.

For the past couple of decades, Poland's main musical focus has been the fusion band OHM:, which has released several full-length studio albums to date.

KINGS OF THRASH' "Thrashin' USA" will cross the Midwest, East Coast, and southeastern part of the USA through March 15. As with the band's 2022 warm-up shows, the group, which also includes drummer Fred Aching as well as guitarist/vocalist Chaz Leon, is performing "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" and "So Far, So Good… So What!" in their entirety. Support on all shows is coming from HATRIOT.

Jeff was full of praise for Aching and Leon, telling Ghost Cult: "We really feel in a way how Ozzy [Osbourne] must have felt introducing Randy Rhoads to the world with these young two guys we have, both half our age and both so composed and mature musically for their age. And we've just been having a blast. And it's great that they're fans of the music and they've really studied it. Chaz, the singer/guitar player, plays in a MEGADETH tribute and fronts a SOUNDGARDEN tribute. So he has some of that Chris Cornell huskiness… So it's really cool to hear him sing these songs with a bit more huskiness and that young exuberance that he has. I think the kids are gonna love him 'cause he has that Dimebag Darrell kind of likability."

ACCEPT singer Mark Tornillo joined the all-female IRON MAIDEN tribute band THE IRON MAIDENS at the final concert of the two bands' joint European tour Wednesday night (February 22) in Saarbrücken, Germany to perform the MAIDEN classic "Wrathchild". Video of his appearance can be seen below. THE IRON MAIDENS also came up during ACCEPT's set to sing backing vocals on "I'm A Rebel".

When THE IRON MAIDENS were first announced as the support act on ACCEPT's European tour, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann said: "We are super excited. It's going to be the first time for ACCEPT to have an awesome all-ladies metal band as support on a tour! They are great girls and rock like the best. I am convinced they will heat up the audience for us."

THE IRON MAIDENS singer Kirsten Rosenberg was equally enthusiastic about the tour, saying: "We can't believe we get to tour Europe with the legendary ACCEPT. We aim to melt faces at every single show to give fans an unforgettable evening! The epic ACCEPT combined with the music of IRON MAIDEN, we trust fans will be very Accept-ing!"

Last March, Tornillo spoke to the "Nothing Shocking" podcast about GOTHAM, his cover band with Scott Metaxas (PROPHET) on bass, Paul Crook (MEAT LOAF, ANTHRAX) on guitar, and Craig Scoppa on drums. Regarding how he got involved with the project, Mark said: "Well, GOTHAM was actually a band that they had in the '90s. I'm guessing it was Paul and Scott Metaxas from PROPHET. And I don't remember who the singer was at that point; I'm not sure of his name. Craig Scoppa was the drummer [and] still is. And it was just an industrial thing that they did; it was all [covers of MARILYN] MANSON and ROB ZOMBIE and KORN — you name it; really, really, really heavy stuff. And they hadn't played for years. And Scott and I were hanging out one day, and Paul came over. They were talking about putting GOTHAM back together, and I just said, 'Hell, I'll sing.' They were, like, 'What?' [And I said,] 'Yeah. Why not?' [I get to] step out of my comfort zone a little bit. Why not? But I've also injected a bunch of AC/DC into it, some AEROSMITH and stuff like that, but we heavy it up."

He continued: "We do mash-ups. So there's… we call it 'Led Zombie' — it's [LED ZEPPELIN's] 'Immigrant Song' to [WHITE] ZOMBIE's ['Thunder Kiss '65']. It works. But we do some other mash-ups like that. We do a cover version of 'Twilight Zone' that we mashed up. We do a lot of cool stuff. It's just a lot of fun. We go out and have fun, make a few dollars, have some drinks. And Paul Crook is just an amazing musician. You remember him from ANTHRAX and Meat Loaf. He's been Meat's music director for the last 15 years."

Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last five studio albums: "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017) and "Too Mean To Die" (2021).

In a 2018 interview with Metal Shock Finland, Tornillo stated about what it was like to first join ACCEPT: "It was frightening. When we first announced what was going to happen, there was really not many people on board with it. Online, there was a lot of naysayers, a lot of badmouthing. It was very disheartening. We all sat down and said, 'Look, we have to make an amazing record, or else we're gonna die here. This is going to be a swansong. We have to make an amazing record.' And that's what we did. We spent a lot of time writing 'Blood Of The Nations' and a lot of time recording it, and I think in retrospect, it paid off. If that album wasn't what it was, we wouldn't be here."

Asked about fans who have yet to "accept" him, Mark said: "Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I'm a purist too with certain things. I get it. But I think we've moved on. We're almost a different band at this point. We really are a different band at this point. We still pay tribute to the old ACCEPT by playing the old songs — I mean, we have the two people that wrote most of the songs, [so] we have to. That's always going to be part of ACCEPT's history. You can't change it. All we can change is the future. But everyone's entitled to their opinion, and I get it. I wish them all well, and I wish Udo well, and his band, you know. No hard feelings on my part, that's for sure."



Mark Tornillo steps in to sing The WrathChild for the last Iron Maidens show with Accept!

The Iron Maidens have been the opening act for Accept’s Too Mean to Die European Tour and to commemorate their last date with Accept, Mark jumped on stage as their guest..

Check it out!

Posted by ACCEPT on Wednesday, February 22, 2023

JOURNEY co-founder Gregg Rolie rejoined the band on stage last night (Wednesday, February 22) in Austin, Texas.

Rolie came up during JOURNEY's encore at Moody Center ATX to play several cuts from his time with the band: "Just the Same Way" from 1979's "Evolution" album, "Of A Lifetime" from 1975's "Journey" and "Feeling That Way" and "Anytime" from 1978's "Infinity". Rolie, who was also the original lead singer of SANTANA, and JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon, who also played with SANTANA during the latter band's early days, then covered SANTANA's "Black Magic Woman" with help from guitarist Steve Lukather of TOTO, which is the support act on JOURNEY's 50th-anniversary tour. The JOURNEY performance ended with a rendition of "Any Way You Want It".

During his time on stage, Rolie told the crowd: "I just wanna say: Fifty years? Fifty years of one band going through changes, but it's like a runaway freight train that just keeps going with no brakes."

Rolie was JOURNEY's first singer, though his role quickly diminished when Steve Perry arrived in 1977. Gregg left JOURNEY in 1980, just before the band achieved its commercial heights.

Back in 2019, Rolie told Rolling Stone magazine that he left JOURNEY "because I didn't like my life anymore. I've said this a million times and I know there's people that say, 'That's not the reason.' But I left because I was unhappy with what I was doing in my own life. I loved the management. I loved the music. I loved what we built. I just wasn't happy, so I had to blow the horn on it and just stop it.”"

He continued: "Everyone thinks it was because Perry came in and started singing all the leads. My God! Again, I was spread so thin with all these keyboards parts and singing leads, he was a welcome sight to me. And he could sing like a bird! It wasn't too hard to figure out. I was never against it."

Rolie went on to say that he was drinking too much and that he wanted to start a family. He also said that he was happy about the fact that JOURNEY became a household name after he moved on. "I felt very proud that I helped to build something that went to that extreme," he said. "I've always felt that way. Yeah, without me doing this, that might never have happened. But it's not about me. It's about all of it. It's a misconception in this business of, ‘Who does what?' We all did something."

JOURNEY's tour with TOTO officially kicked off on February 4 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Presented by AEG Presents, the "Freedom Tour 2023" is making stops in Austin, Montreal and Memphis before wrapping April 25 at the brand-new Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California.

The 2023 run includes rescheduled dates in Washington, D.C., plus Hartford, Toronto and Quebec, which were postponed last year due to the coronavirus.

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Former TYPE O NEGATIVE members Kenny Hickey (guitar/vocals) and Johnny Kelly (drums) have joined forces with Kirk Windstein (guitar, vocals; CROWBAR, DOWN, KINGDOM OF SORROW) and Todd Strange (CROWBAR, DOWN) in a new band called EYE AM.

EYE AM is currently in Gainesville, Florida preparing to enter the studio to begin recording its debut single. The recording sessions will be overseen by bassist Roger Lima of LESS THAN JAKE at his studio called The Moathouse.

Two days ago, Windstein shared on social media that he was flying from his home in New Orleans to Florida "to jam and write with 3 talented Guys!!!" He later posted pictures of the studio as well as of the four members of EYE AM in a room playing together.

In addition to their work with TYPE O NEGATIVE, Hickey and Kelly had previously collaborated in a band called SEVENTH VOID, which released one full-length album, "Heaven Is Gone", in 2009, and SILVERTOMB, which issued "Edge Of Existence" in 2019.

In a 2018 interview with Rock And Roll Fables, Hickey stated about his chemistry with Kelly: "I've been working with Johnny long before TYPE O. I met Johnny probably in 1986. TYPE O formed in 1989, so we were already in a thrash band together. Basically, we grew up and learned everything the wrong way together and had to work it out over the course of the years. [Laughs] For me, it's completely natural with him. We got better at it. Dude, you do something for 35 years, I hope you're getting better at it."

Original CROWBAR bassist Strange returned to the band in 2016 for the touring cycle in support of the band's "The Serpent Only Lies" album.

Strange, who originally left CROWBAR back in 1999, stuck around for two years before departing once again to focus on his family life.

CROWBAR frontman Windstein, who also plays in the New Orleans supergroup DOWN, released two albums with HATEBREED's Jamey Jasta under the KINGDOM OF SORROW banner. Kirk's debut solo album, "Dream In Motion", arrived in 2020.

Kenny and Johnny sent me a cool update. They are jamming in a new project called EYE AM. This includes Kenny and Johnny...

Posted by Type O Negative on Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Going on right now!!!

Posted by Kirk Windstein on Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Studio for today...In Gainesville, FL. Gonna be fun!!!💪🤘👍

Posted by Kirk Windstein on Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Metal Blade Records has announced the signing of Atlanta, Georgia's experimental, progressive death metal band DÅÅTH.

DÅÅTH's new single, "No Rest No End", can be streamed below. The track features guest solos by Rafael Trujillo (OBSIDIOUS, ex-OBSCURA) and Spiro Dussias and was mixed by Jens Bogren (SEPULTURA, AT THE GATES, KREATOR, DIMMU BORGIR),mastered by Tony Lindgren (ENSLAVED, KATATONIA, LEPROUS, WARDRUNA),with vocal production by Andrew Wade (A DAY TO REMEMBER, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, WAGE WAR) and engineering by John Douglass (MEGADETH, ALLUVIAL, THE CONTORTIONIST).

DÅÅTH said in a statement: "After 12 years on hiatus, we agreed that if we're bringing DÅÅTH back, we're doing it right. That's why we're so excited to announce that we've signed to our dream label, Metal Blade! From day one, they understood and backed our vision for the future, have an inextinguishable passion for the genre, an incredible staff, and are one of the reasons metal is on the map and thriving. We're excited to add to the growing metal history Slagel & Co have forged with unstoppable determination. DÅÅTH signing to Metal Blade couldn't be a better pairing — we're taking this to its full potential, letting nothing and nobody stand in our way. If you're not going all out, what's the point?"

DÅÅTH began its journey in 1999 and stayed busy for just over a decade before taking a hiatus in 2011. In that time, DÅÅTH released four studio albums ("Futility", independently released in 2004; "The Hinderers", released in 2007 via Roadrunner Records),"The Concealers" (released in 2009 via Century Media),"Dååth" (released in 2010 via Century Media) and toured throughout the world with bands like DARK FUNERAL, NAGLFAR, ZYKLON, DRAGONFORCE, GOATWHORE, CHIMAIRA, THROWDOWN, DYING FETUS and DEVILDRIVER, making a lasting impression with the metal community and its many subgenres. DÅÅTH also landed a coveted spot on Ozzfest, playing before tens of thousands of fans in outdoor amphitheaters across the U.S., in addition to the infamous and long-running metal tour Summer Slaughter.

In their time, DÅÅTH managed to create an extensive fanbase worldwide with their unique brand of experimental death metal, which makes it no surprise that the metal community lit up once rumors of the band's return began to surface online. The metal community only continued to buzz with support as members began making posts teasing new material. The metal world made it clear they were ready for the return of one of the strongest progressive death metal bands of the first part of the 2000s.

"'No Rest No End' is the reason DÅÅTH is back." comments guitarist Eyal Levi. "When the writing began, I was looking for proof that we still had it. The last thing I want to do is put out music that sounds like a bad cover of our back catalog. When this song came together, it was clear that we needed to see this through. 'No Rest No End' is the pinnacle of everything I've wanted to do with this band and features our full lineup firing on all cylinders: crushing riffs, orchestrated to the max, an infectious chorus, insane solos, my favorite metal drummer, baroque insanity, signature clean guitars, and an incredible mix. It's the most ambitious song we've ever written or recorded and we're just getting started. Enjoy!"

Vocalist Sean Z adds: "The first time I heard 'No Rest No End' in demo form, I was blown away! I immediately knew exactly what I wanted to do vocally. The words practically flew off the page. During every step of the creation process, the song was an obvious masterpiece. It's meant to be heard, and it's meant to be played loud!"

Jesse Zuretti who handles orchestration, synth, and guitar, says that "'No Rest No End' is what happens when everyone involved pushes themselves to their extremes. In metal, we often pride ourselves on how difficult something is to master — and this song is the pinnacle to that thought. We all showed up at our very best to make 'No Rest No End' our masterpiece. From the orchestration standpoint, we took this to cinematic & baroque levels in one song. The guitars were also deeply challenging and equally fulfilling to track. Not to mention the Michelin-rated guest solos."

New DÅÅTH drummer Krimh calls "No Rest No End" "a furious ride with the perfect title, 'No Rest No End'. At least that's how I feel while playing this song. From a drumming perspective — you better get your running shoes on because this track makes you work hard! It has fast double bass, blast beats and a ton of groovy parts. It is definitely one of our strongest songs and with its many layers you will find new things each time you listen to it."

DÅÅTH 2023 lineup:

Eyal Levi - Guitar
Sean Z - Vocals
Krimh - Drums
Jesse Zuretti - Orchestration, Synth, Guitar
Dave Marvuglio - Session Bass

Image concept by Alex Morgan Imaging

Swiss/Dutch all-female heavy metal outfit BURNING WITCHES will release its fifth studio album, "The Dark Tower", on May 5 via Napalm Records. The official music video for the LP's title track can be seen below.

BURNING WITCHES comments: "Wow, that was quick, right? Album No. 5 is already done and we are back with the brand-new single 'The Dark Tower'. The title track of the new record will fit perfectly into our set list with its relentless beat, the truly epic riffs and the striking but melodic vocals!

"The theme of Elizabeth Bathory and her infamous 'blood countess' reputation was a fantastic inspiration for a breathtaking video clip. We all could relate to the story and its creepy saga and knew from the beginning it would be a new highlight in the WITCHES history!

"Last but not least, we want to thank the fans that supported us here and played the extras, in this very emotional and creepy little ride! Enjoy the clip!"

"The Dark Tower" track listing:

01. Rise Of Darkness
02. Unleash The Beast
03. Renegade
04. Evil Witch
05. World On Fire
06. Tomorrow
07. House Of Blood
08. The Dark Tower
09. Heart Of Ice
10. Arrow Of Time
11. Doomed To Die
12. Into The Unknown
13. The Lost Souls

BURNING WITCHES are:

Laura Guldemond - Vocals
Romana Kalkuhl - Guitars
Larissa Ernst - Guitars
Jeanine Grob - Bass
Lala Frischknecht - Drums

BURNING WITCHES' first live performance with Guldemond took place in June 2019 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

The vocalist of the Dutch symphonic metal band SHADOWRISE, Guldemond was recruited by BURNING WITCHES following the departure of Seraina Telli.

In a 2021 interview with Femme Metal Webzine, Guldemond stated about how she joined BURNING WITCHES: "Since the previous guitarist of BURNING WITCHES was already an acquaintance of mine, when they were looking for a new singer, she proposed it to me because I know that I would fit the band. You know, I have the voice, I love the old-school metal and I was already having the same style. In the end, it felt like a natural match. Then I sent a couple of recordings and submitted them for my audition."

In a separate interview with Ireland's Overdrive, Laura spoke about her vocal inspirations. "It's difficult to choose one because I have so many vocalists that I really love," she said. "For example, when I started to really take my singing seriously, I would look at singing in a clean melodic voice and also in a distorted voice and I've got a lot of respect for singers that specialize in both of those styles. Like Lzzy Hale [HALESTORM], she has a very tough and strong vocal technique that I love, because of her husky, distorted delivery, but then there's Sia, who's a pop singer but has a voice that I really like. I really love many vocalists, and in some ways, I am inspired by a little bit of all the vocalists I admire and enjoy. That’s one of the very cool things about BURNING WITCHES — we have a lot happening in the music and are very versatile when it comes to melody and sound."

Photo credit: Martin Rahn, Damir Eskic

Multi-platinum, chart-topping band SHINEDOWN has released the music video for its new Hot AC single "A Symptom Of Being Human", a standout track from its critically acclaimed album "Planet Zero". Unfolding with gentle acoustic guitar, soaring strings, delicate piano, and a powerful vocal delivery from frontman Brent Smith, "A Symptom Of Being Human" celebrates the beauty of our individual differences and embraces the ups and downs of life, while showcasing SHINEDOWN's gift for making us feel connected through our common humanity. The cinematic video, directed by Lewis Cater, can be seen below.

Smith says: "'A Symptom Of Being Human' is a deep breath in the face of an ever-changing world. Everyone's story is different. As human beings, we are all unique, and that's what makes us individuals. We will all experience highs, and lows in our lifetime. We will all be put to the test, and the challenges of everyday life. So embrace it, don't run away from it. Live every moment to the fullest, and don't worry… It's all just a symptom of being human."

SHINEDOWN's 24-date "The Revolutions Live" U.S. tour will kick off April 3 with support from fellow chart-toppers THREE DAYS GRACE and FROM ASHES TO NEW. SHINEDOWN will also play the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia this September.

The "Planet Zero" album also features pop-rock anthem and No. 1 rock hit "Daylight", which People called one of "the most powerful of pop-rock songs created to remind us that we are truly all in this together." The band's video for "Daylight", set to the Amazon Original version of the song, is a love letter to their fans and shows the impact that the song's message — that you are never alone — had during SHINEDOWN's sold-out "Planet Zero" world tour.

SHINEDOWN also recently released a music video for current fast-rising rock single "Dead Don't Die", a rousing declaration of survival and an anthem about the resilience of the human spirit after trying times.

"Planet Zero" boldly confronts the societal forces that perpetuate divisiveness while offering a restorative path forward through empathy and open conversation - ultimately serving as a reminder that it is our human connections that matter the most. The album debuted in the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and the official U.K. albums chart, and at No. 1 on six other Billboard charts, including Top Album Sales, Rock, Hard Rock, and Alternative Albums. SHINEDOWN is nominated for two iHeartRadio Music Awards for "Rock Artist Of The Year" and "Rock Song Of The Year" for "Planet Zero".

Photo credit: Sanjay Parikh

Legendary rock band ANGEL will release a new studio album, "Once Upon A Time", on April 21 via Cleopatra Records. The LP features 11 brand new songs, plus three bonus tracks on the CD version, all written by Punky Meadows, Frank Dimino and Danny Farrow.

The album's first single, the energetic rocker "It's Alright", is available on all digital platforms today.

Meadows proclaims: "We are super excited by the release of the new album. We had a blast recording it, and the band is cookin'! It has everything ANGEL fans expect — epic songs, power pop, heavy rock 'n' roll, and it's also deep with lots of surprises! Can't wait for our fans to lay their ears on it!"

ANGEL has also announced a U.S. tour, with dates kicking off on March 3 at The Cutting Room in New York City.

Dimino says: "We can't wait to get back on the road and rock with all the fans. And I am really excited for the new album release; can't wait for you all to hear it!"

Farrow declares: "The new album kicks ass and I hope the fans love it. It is very diverse and has all the elements of the ANGEL sound and more. The band really worked hard to make it great and an album we can all be proud of!"

ANGEL is also working on a new documentary film with DEKO Entertainment.

"Once Upon A Time" track listing:

01. The Torch
02. Black Moon Rising
03. It's Alright
04. Once Upon A Time An Angel And A Devil Fell In Love (And It Did Not End Well)
05. Let It Rain
06. Psyclone
07. Blood Of My Blood, Bone Of My Bone
08. Turn The Record Over
09. Rock Star
10. Without You
11. Liar Liar

Bonus tracks (CD only)

12. Daddy's Girl
13. C'mon
14. Let The Kid Out

ANGEL tour dates:

March 03 - New York, NY - The Cutting Room
March 04 - Teaneck, NJ - Debonair Music Hall (with STARZ)
March 10 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater
March 11 - Akron, OH - The Empire
March 12 - Westland, MI - The Token Lounge
March 14 - Milwaukee, WI - Shank Hall
March 15 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
March 17 - Edwardsville, IL - The Wildey Theatre
March 19 - St. Charles, IL - Arcada Theatre
April 28 - Hollywood, CA - Whisky A Go Go
April 29 - Las Vegas, NV - Count's Vamp'd
August 25 - Louisville, KY - Habana Blues Night Life (with SWEET)
August 26 - Columbus, OH - King Of Clubs (with SWEET)

ANGEL was discovered in a nightclub by none other than Gene Simmons of KISS, a man who had (and still has) a knack for finding and nurturing talent. ANGEL was also known for their androgynous look and dressing all in white, a pure yin-yang contrast to KISS's own all-black clothing and elaborate stage outfits. In 1975, the glam-rockers were signed to the home label for KISS, Casablanca Records, ultimately releasing six albums (five studio, one live) uninterrupted between 1975-80 that mixed the best elements of glam, hard rock, and pure unadulterated fist-pumping melodic singalongs.

While ANGEL never quite achieved success as their labelmates KISS did, they left their mark on in-the-know rock fans of the era with tracks like the hard-driving "Rock & Rollers", "Tower", the perennial holiday favorite "The Winter Song", and their key contribution to the soundtrack of the Jodie Foster-starring 1980 teen drama "Foxes", "20th Century Foxes". The lineup for their self-titled 1975 debut, "Angel", consisted of guitarist Punky Meadows, bassist Mickie Jones, vocalist Frank DiMino, keyboardist Gregg Giuffria, and drummer Barry Brandt. This lineup recorded two more albums, 1976's "Helluva Band" and 1977's "On Earth As It Is In Heaven", after which Jones would be replaced on bass by Felix Robinson. Two more solid studio efforts, 1978's "White Hot" and 1979's "Sinful", ensued before the release of a stellar live set, 1980's "Live Without A Net".

ANGEL started to fall apart in the early 1980s after Casablanca pulled the plug on the group due in part to disappointing album sales. In 1981, Robinson and DiMino left to pursue other projects. Meadows and Giuffria tried to keep ANGEL going and came close to landing a record deal with CBS. But it didn't pan out, and ANGEL finally disbanded.

In 2018, Caroline/UMe saluted the core output of ANGEL with "Angel: The Casablanca Years". This ascendant, band-approved seven-CD box set featured the Washington, D.C.-bred glam/rock outfit's six albums that were released on Neil Bogart's legendary Casablanca Records label, in addition to a seventh disc that contains mono mixes, single edits, soundtrack contributions, and other rarities. ANGEL expert Dave Reynolds contributed insightful liner notes to the box set's included 28-page booklet, which also featured rare photos and other memorabilia.

JETHRO TULL will release its 23rd studio album, "RökFlöte", on April 21 via InsideOut Music. Following 2022's "The Zealot Gene", the group's first LP in two decades, Ian Anderson and his bandmates are returning with a 12-track record based on the characters and roles of some of the principle gods of the old Norse paganism, and at the same time exploring the "RökFlöte" — rock flute — which JETHRO TULL has made iconic.

Today the band is pleased to launch the second single from the album, "The Navigators". Appearing as a special single-edit version, mixed by Bruce Soord (THE PINEAPPLE THIEF),you can watch the video (created by Christian Rios) below.

"RökFlöte" will be available on several different formats, including two limited deluxe formats that include bonus demo material, extensive liner notes and a Blu-ray featuring Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround Sound, alternative stereo mixes by Soord, as well as a bonus track and in-depth interview with Anderson. The album will also be available digitally in the spatial audio formats Dolby Atmos & Sony 360 RA.

"RökFlöte" track listing:

01. Voluspo
02. Ginnungagap
03. Allfather
04. The Feathered Consort
05. Hammer On Hammer
06. Wolf Unchained
07. The Perfect One
08. Trickster (And The Mistletoe)
09. Cornucopia
10. The Navigators
11. Guardian's Watch
12. Ithavoll

Ian explains the album's title and theme in more detail: "The title of this offering went through a little change or two along the way. I started with the idea of a predominantly instrumental album for rock flute — as in rock music. When the subject material of the album presented itself, I was drawn to the term Ragnarök from Norse mythology — their version of apocalyptic end times or Biblical Armageddon. The 'final showdown' scenario is ubiquitous and inherent in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, for example. Ragnarök translates as 'destiny of the Gods', the rök part meaning destiny, course, direction. With umlaut firmly in place, courtesy of the Germanic origins of Old Norse, Flute became Flöte in keeping with the spelling. With me so far? I just can't miss the glorious opportunity for a good and legitimate umlaut."

JETHRO TULL continue live dates this year, with shows in mainland Europe.

"The Zealot Gene", released in January 2022, was JETHRO TULL's 22nd studio album and it garnered critical acclaim across the board. Reaching No. 9 in the U.K. album charts, a feat the band hadn't reached since 1972, it also debuted at No. 4 in Germany, No. 3 in Switzerland, No. 5 in Austria, No. 8 in Finland, as well as top 10 in the U.S. album charts, Current Album charts and Rock Album charts.

With more than 30 albums to their credit and sales totaling more than 50 million, JETHRO TULL are one of the most successful rock bands of all-time with a catalog that contains classics that still resonate today. Led by Anderson, TULL continue to tour throughout the world, entertaining audiences of all ages.

The band consists of:

Ian Anderson - Concert and Alto flutes, Flute d'Amour, Irish whistle and vocals
David Goodier - Bass
John O'Hara - Piano, keyboards and Hammond Organ
Scott Hammond - Drums
Joe Parrish-James - Electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin

In a new interview with Canada's iHeartRadio, GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin spoke about the band's recent announcement that GODSMACK's upcoming eight album, "Lighting Up The Sky", will likely be its final collection of new material. Asked how he and his bandmates made the decision to no longer release new music, Shannon said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "25 years of putting records out… And we've never had a flop. And I'm 55, dude.

"We were playing in the U.K. [last October], and the band THE RAVEN AGE [opened] — it's Steve Harris from IRON MAIDEN; his son plays guitar for this band. And maybe third, fourth show, whatever, I'm, like, 'Hey, dude. How old are you, by the way?' He was, like, 'I'm 23.' And I was, like, 'My daughter is 23.' And I was, like, 'Wow.'

"I'm not saying we're old — I'm not gonna be that guy — but I'm saying it's kind of like sports, man," he explained. "When Michael Jordan was, like, he was gonna retire, everybody's, like, 'Yeah, he's old.' That dude was, like, 45. And I'm, like, 'That's old?'

"And I'm not saying it's all because we're old. We also feel like we've had great success — we haven't had a flop — and we don't wanna keep on going until we get a flop and then have to go out like that. So our thinking was go out on top. We had an additional two years to write a record, with this pandemic, so we threw out more songs than what made the record. And we feel — like everybody band says — but we feel like it's our best record yet.

"We're not saying we're gonna break up; we're not breaking up," Larkin clarified. "There's a thing called cycle touring. So you put a record out. That's a product. And we sell it, and we make money. But it's still a product that we have to sell, and if your product doesn't sell, then you let down a lot of people. And so there's pressure to be in a band like [ours].

"We're not gonna do some kind of cash grab: 'Last time, last tour. Come pay five hundred dollars [per ticket]' and then two years later we'll be back to charge you six hundred. No. We're not gonna break up. We're gonna just have the last cycle tour, which means this is the last product that we have to sell.

"It makes sense to us, because we only play an hour and a half to two hours, in there. And after every show, when we talk to our fans, they're, like, 'Why didn't you play this song?' 'Why didn't you play this song?' And we're, like, 'We only have so much time.' So over 25 years, we have too many, like, hits that our fans wanna hear us play already. And hopefully we're gonna get another two off this record ['Lighting Up The Sky']; one of [the singles] is doing well right now.

"So, my point is, why keep making records when you're in your mid-50s and risk not only getting too old or not selling and letting people down?" Shannon added. "And so we felt that we wanna a) go out on top, and b) remain a band and continue to play and tour Canada, tour the Americas, but on our terms. Now, after this record, in our mid-to-late 50s, where we live right now, we can play when we feel strong and we know we can represent our music and our band and still look good. But we're not gonna break up or something. We've been successful and we don't need to make more music when we can barely play our fans what they wanna hear now."

In a recent interview with Pablo of the Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station 93X, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna spoke about the fact that "Lighting Up The Sky", which will arrive on February 24 via BMG, will likely be the band's final collection of original material. He explained: "It's the most important record, I think, we've ever written and recorded.

"I've never been that artist who says, 'Oh, this record is our newest record. It's our best work ever.' You can read any interview you want over my whole career, and you've never heard me say it," he continued. "I've always loved our records [and] I always knew there would be some good singles on it and hoped it did well, but I was never the guy that said, 'This is our best fucking work ever.' And I'm telling you right now this is our best fucking work ever. And it's because it's emotional, man. This is the last record we're ever gonna do. This is the last run around the mill for us. We put every single ounce of energy and emotion into this album. Especially for me, when I wrote a lot of these songs, it was about my life journey. That's really what the sequence of this album becomes about. Not that it was planned that way, but this really kind of mystical thing happened where I felt like the universe wrote this record.

"We went in there with no plan, no ideas — very minimal ideas, just jamming. And, 'what's gonna be the topic? What am I gonna talk about now? How many times can I talk about a broken relationship?' Blah blah blah. And then it just started happening where song after song that was written, as I'm sequencing it and putting it in the order that I would like people to hear it in… We're still old school and we like an album to have a flow from front to back. I love vinyl — I want people to listen to side A and side B. And this one really told a story. And when I started to realize that, I'm, like, Okay. Let me shuffle these around a little bit more.'"

Erna went on to clarify that GODSMACK does not intend to stop playing live shows anytime soon. "I wanna make sure people are clear about what we're saying here," he said. "I'm not saying that the band may be breaking up. What I'm saying is I think this may be the last body of work you get musically from the band. And it's because we're in this place in our lives right now where we've done a lot of work over the last three decades. Without sounding egotistical, which we're not trying to do, we're at 27 Top 10 singles, 11 Number Ones. We could literally do back-to-back nights in an arena and play 15 songs a night and never play the same single twice, let alone the 'B' cuts. And we started thinking, when we were in that thought process, why are we in here grinding all the time and doing this new music when we wanna just also know that we've never stopped in the 25 years we've been touring. We'd like to be able to enjoy our lives, our family, our houses, the things that we've earned over the years that we've sacrificed. So I think the balance for that, the happy medium, is to be able to just go out there now and continue to do live shows and put the greatest-hits show together.

"I don't know what we're gonna do after this record," he explained. "And it doesn't make sense to continue to do music. It really feels complete in a good way, in a positive way. We feel like we've honored our career, our relationships with our fans, and we're always gonna be there for them; we're gonna do shows. But as far as to continue this, after this [album], unless we just decide one day, 'Yeah, one more for the road,' I think this could be it for us with new music."

According to Erna, GODSMACK plans to hit the road after the release of "Lighting Up The Sky" and never stop. "That's forever now. It's forever now," he said. "From the point we start touring, we will always tour. We may take some breaks here and there, but we're now gonna start setting up the greatest-hits show, because we feel like we're able to do that. We can now play the best of the best that the fans have identified as what they've enjoyed the most over the years and why these songs became hit singles."

Sully said that the decision to stop releasing new albums was influenced by the fact that too many people these days don't care about new music from bands who have been around as long as GODSMACK.

"As a music lover and a fan of live shows and bands in general, that when you go see your favorite bands, there's a certain point in their career where you just go, 'I don't really give a shit about a new record anymore. I'm sorry, but I wanna hear 'Dream On' and 'Train Kept A Rollin'' and 'Same Old Song And Dance'. I don't wanna hear any of this new shit. I don't know it and I don't care. But these other songs have lived with me for two, three, four decades,'", he said. "And I just feel like we're getting to that place where… If we get out there and we don't play 'I Stand Alone' or 'Keep Away' or 'Voodoo' or whatever these songs have been for these people over the years, they ream us for it. So we know we're stuck with that. We're always gonna play the hits. But we have so many singles now that it's time, I think, to try to pull as many as we can off this record, add it to that list and then go out there and play the best of the best. And then maybe throw a few surprises every show, whether it's the drum battle or some fun cover."

Erna concluded by saying that "Lighting Up The Sky" does not represent "an ending" but is rather "a new beginning. This is a new beginning of an era — it's the beginning of our sunset years," he explained. "And in our sunset years we wanna create something really special for the fans live where we can take every cool moment that we've ever done in every album cycle — the 'Awake' album had certain things we featured in the live show; the 'Faceless' record had certain things we featured from the live show; and so on — now we can create a montage of all those special things in each tour and just do a 'holy crap' show. That's what I wanna create. We're gonna try to make it big and special and important, filled with all special moments that people have enjoyed over the years. And I think that's gonna be really satisfying to us as well, 'cause it takes a lot of pressure off of us to know now we can just go out and enjoy what we do. Playing music is what we love the most — live. And it gives us more time to connect with the fans, connect with the live show and just enjoy the best part of why we do this for a living."

Last September, GODSMACK released the first single from "Lighting Up The Sky", a song called "Surrender". The track marked the first release from the band in four years, following their globally acclaimed and gold-certified 2018 album "When Legends Rise", which earned the Erna-fronted outfit a No. 1 spot across U.S. Hard Rock, Rock, and Alternative album charts.

In a new interview with Belgian Jasper, STEEL PANTHER guitarist Russ "Satchel" Parrish spoke about the California glam metal jokesters' live performances, which see him and his bandmates imitating and exaggerating the less flattering aspects of 1980s hair metal, with unrepentantly crude, non-PC sexual content as a favorite lyrical theme. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "One thing about our band, I think, is even that when we aren't connecting, humor-wise… 'Cause we joke about everything; we fuck around all the time. That's what we do. And most of it is improv. And there's never a guarantee that you're gonna land a joke.

"When you're in front of an audience, you have to be fearless," Satchel explained. "If you talk to anybody who does stand-up comedy, I'm sure they'll tell you, you have to be unafraid. As soon as you become fearful of the crowd, they're gonna hate you. So when we're up there talking, there's all kinds of shit that we say that doesn't land with the crowd, but I think no matter who is in the audience and no matter where we are, when we are speaking freely and we're unafraid, the audience feels like, 'Oh, I'm connecting with these guys. They're talking directly to me. And they're talking about shit that I like too.' When you can connect with a crowd like that and bring them in and make them feel like, 'Hey, we're all in this together,' then they've got your back. And you literally can't fail at that point. You can say things that offend some people, but they're gonna give you a long leash, because they're, like, 'Well, that's my buddy. He says inappropriate things at times. It doesn't matter.' And they'll have your back till the end of the show. And for us, even though we might lose a small percentage of people, and they're gonna walk out and go, 'Ah, fuck that band. I'm never gonna see 'em again,' more often than not, we get people that go, 'I'm gonna come back for more. I'm gonna see 'em again.' And that's what it's all about — it's all about having a good time. That's why there's people that never thought that they would like us, that never listened to heavy metal, that become fans of the band. It's all about creating an atmosphere where everybody's having a good time and enjoying themselves."

STEEL PANTHER's sixth studio album, "On The Prowl", will be released on February 24.

The band's "On The Prowl" world tour 2023 will kick off later this month and will run throughout North America through April. CROBOT and TRAGEDY will be joining the band on the North American tour. The band will take a short break before bringing the party to the United Kingdom and Ireland in May.

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

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

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

DOPE leader Edsel Dope, who is widely believed to be Xer0, the masked frontman of STATIC-X, was asked in a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio about the decision to keep Xer0's identity "private" and not publicly name the person who has spent much of the last three years performing and touring alongside bassist Tony Campos, drummer Ken Jay and guitarist Koichi Fukuda. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Really and truthfully, it's not so much about it being private as it is about respecting the brand of STATIC-X and retaining the respect when writing or discussing it. And a good example I can use for that is GHOST. Everybody knows that there's a dude called Tobias that's behind the paint, but when people write about GHOST, they don't call him Tobias; they respect the entity and they call him Papa whatever the fuck he is. And that's because they respect the creative, they respect the artistic integrity of it enough to honor that.

"With STATIC-X, we knew very early on that we were not going to have the overwhelming support of the media and the community," Edsel continued. "And in the world that we live in, most people's goal is not to be supportive; it's to try and tear things down. It's to try and be the one to uncover and let you know that there is no Santa Claus or whatever it is. So, for me, it was more about making sure that STATIC-X was properly represented, because I would never be interested in looking at a photo of STATIC-X or reading a liner note that mentions me as being the singer of STATIC-X. Edsel Dope has no interest in being the singer of STATIC-X. There's one living, breathing singer of STATIC-X, and that's Wayne Static. And then there's a character, an entity, for lack of better words, that was created in order to allow STATIC-X to have a future and to continue and be the legacy act that they are and tour and perform, and we gave that character a name that is respective to STATIC-X and fits the branding of what STATIC-X is, and that's what the importance is. It's the importance of recognizing the character as opposed to recognizing the person behind the character."

Dope added: "You have to understand that if we didn't make that an absolute mission of ours that people would shit all over it and they would have done everything they could to discredit it. And if it wereEdsel Dope singing for STATIC-X, it would be, 'Oh, it's STATIC DOPE.' Or if it was Burton [C. Bell] from FEAR FACTORY, it would be, like, 'Oh, STATIC FACTORY.' It's, like, 'Go fuck yourself.' You can't give people the ability to control your narratives or else they're gonna control it in the worst fucking way possible, because, for whatever reason, that's the culture that we currently exist in. If it was 25 years ago, we wouldn't have any of this mess because we'd call the editor of fucking Rolling Stone magazine and go, 'Hey, dude, we're gonna let you in on what's happening,' and they would go, 'Oh, this is great,' and they would get behind it and they would properly help you tell your story to the world. But in the world that we currently live in, that's not the goal. The goal is, as I said, to be the naysayer and to be the one who lets you in on the fact that there is no Santa Claus and ruins the parade for everybody because they're just dicks."

When Erickson noted that social media has given everyone a voice, which in turn has turned out to be more of "negative than a positive", Dope concurred. "A hundred percent," he said. "And it's not just the people on the message boards. It's the people that deliver the news too. And it's really sad because heavy metal, whatever you wanna call it, we're absolutely the minority when it comes to the overarching pie of music listeners. There's no doubt that heavy metal music is a much smaller demographic than pop music or rap music or any of those things. So you would think that the news outlets that are popular for being the news-gathering outlets for this type of music, you would think that they would go more out of their way to paint artists in this genre in a more favorable light. But if you notice, half their goal is to rip everybody down, half their goal is to create drama for clicks or to put the worst picture that they can of Sebastian Bach up when they talk bad about him, or whatever it is; they just have these motives. Why would you do nothing but tear down the artists in the genre that's already struggling so hard to stay alive? Why wouldn't you paint those artists in a better light? Why wouldn't you be more supportive? Everything's a joke; everything's a dig. It doesn't mean that I have thin skin — I have thicker skin than fucking anybody — it just means that I don't understand the motive behind it except for that you're just a money-grubbing scumbag who wants clicks. Meanwhile you'll rip on everybody else's integrity, but what are you doing? You're not doing anything for the betterment of the cause. All you're doing is pitting people against each other and tearing a community down to a lower spot. It makes no sense to me."

Circling back to the original question, Edsel said: "So, unfortunately, we had to take this approach with STATIC-X and with the character of Xer0 to avoid people from spinning their own narratives and turning it into something that was different from what it actually was. I think we've accomplished that. And again, I say the same thing: Edsel Dope has absolutely no desire to be known as the singer of STATIC-X; it's not my gig. You wanna talk to me about the creative process? All day long I'll talk about producing the records, I'll talk about being their friend, I'll talk about managing the band and the strategy that goes into it and the infrastructure of starting their own label. Because STATIC-X is a band that up until 'Project Regeneration', every album that they ever released was on a major label — it was either on Warner Brothers or on Reprise. Whereas DOPE became an independent band very early in my career, so I was able to go and build an independent infrastructure and understand how all that works. But my friends in STATIC-X had no fucking clue; they don't know how to run a record label, [and] they don't know how to run their own business. So when I'm sitting in a room with them and going, 'Guys, if we're gonna do this, this is the most logical way to do it to remove the gatekeepers from in between you and your fans,' they had somebody to rely on that had that experience and had that infrastructure and wherewithal.

"So it's been super beneficial for all of us," Dope added. "And we were always friends, but now we're like the best of friends. And we owe each other a lot. I'm grateful for the opportunity because without those guys and the years of work they put into building STATIC-X, I wouldn't have a project to land all those efforts too. And for them, without my efforts to help them survive and exist in the modern day, they would have this band that is no longer around. For lack of a better word, we literally brought STATIC-X back from the dead. And it took all
of us to do it."

STATIC-X's eighth studio album, "Project Regeneration: Vol. 2", is scheduled for release on November 3. The LP is a collection of 13 brand-new songs that contain the final vocal performances and musical compositions of founding vocalist Wayne Static, along with the original "Wisconsin Death Trip" lineup featuring Campos, Fukuda and Jay. The new album was produced by Xer0 and mixed/mastered by longtime collaborator Ulrich Wild.

All of the music associated with "Project Regeneration: Vol. 2" is the result of collaborations between the four founding members along with their new vocalist/guitarist/producer Xer0. No additional guests appear on the album and there were no outside contributions to the songwriting, musical compositions, or the performances on "Project Regeneration: Vol. 2". Between the two releases, STATIC-X fans around the globe have been treated to over two dozen brand new songs — most of which feature Static on lead vocals — and all released after his untimely passing.

STATIC-X — featuring the lineup of Campos, Fukuda, Jay and Xer0 — will hit the road in 2023, headlining the "Rise Of The Machine" tour with FEAR FACTORY alongside DOPE, MUSHROOMHEAD and TWIZTID. The 42-date trek kicks off February 25 in San Francisco, California and wraps up April 15, in Los Angeles, California. Dates have been selling out across the country, with select markets upgrading to larger venues to meet the demand for the tour. STATIC-X also recently revealed plans for a tour of Australia and an appearance at the Blue Ridge Rock Fest this year.

Edsel is currently promoting DOPE's new album, "Blood Money Part Zer0", which will arrive on February 24.

With just over four weeks until the release of "Blood Money Part Zer0", New York City electro metalheads DOPE have shared another piece of new music from the upcoming seventh studio LP. "Dive" is the sixth track from the collection of twelve all-new songs scheduled for release on February 24. The track showcases the sound that catapulted DOPE to massive global appeal and garnered them a loyal legion of fans that continue to make DOPE one of the top streaming artists of the genre.

In a new interview with Tony Webster of Metal Command, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked about the fact that a lot of the classic thrash metal bands — particularly those from the San Francisco Bay Area — are putting out great new studio albums decades into their careers. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That is a really good point, and I've thought the same thing. Okay, so, like EXODUS 'Bonded By Blood', certainly that was their 'Kill 'Em All', it was their 'Killing Is My Business', it was them sort of grabbing the reins of that mountain. Because the truth of it is, look, METALLICA moving up to San Francisco to get Cliff Burton in the band. Obviously, once they put roots down there, that's when that thing really grew. But there first, before anybody, was EXODUS. They were really the kings of that. And as much as they were kind of in the background to the quick advancement of METALLICA, EXODUS is — I mean, that's the seed from which it all germinated in a lot of ways.

"I think EXODUS, TESTAMENT… TESTAMENT's made some of their better records in the last decade, I think. And I love 'Souls Of Black'. I love the early stuff; they're cool. I love listening to 'em. They're very ambient. Cool sounds. But, yeah, I think some of the more vicious and ferocious music from all those bands, I think they've all come recently… I saw, even in the 2000s… Look, LAMB OF GOD, for sure, was one of the big leaders. And look, part of it was because we no more had a PANTERA, and LAMB OF GOD kind of came in and took the throne. But they always pointed toward MEGADETH in particular, and, of course, METALLICA and the 'Big Four'.

"The '90s were not easy on thrash metal," Ellefson continued. "TESTAMENT [and some of the other bands], they didn't fall off the grid, but they went very underground as a way to survive. MEGADETH and METALLICA, because of our size, we were able to maintain a little bit better. But by the 2000s, man, it was the younger bands, like LAMB OF GOD in particular, those guys really helped reset thrash metal.

"Music is always driven by the younger generation; they are the ones who are always creating the new stuff. And in metal, what we always find is… Even the shredder generation, of which Mark Tremonti [CREED, ALTER BRIDGE] would be a good example. As famous as he is, and he was in a big kind of modern rock band, in his heart he's a frickin' shredder. 'So Far, So Good… So What!' is his favorite album. But these guys took what we were doing and then advanced it. So by the time their bands became popular, suddenly shredding was cool, because this new generation of guitar players loves these techniques that… They took the stuff from what we were doing and then they just advanced it and made it even more complex and jaw-dropping. And we need that, man — we need the next generation behind us to keep reinventing this stuff. 'Cause otherwise — we're not gonna go on forever; the train runs out of track and then it's over.

"I personally love when new people are coming up the ranks," David added. "We've got a great band out with us on this KINGS OF THRASH tour, HATRIOT, and they're the sons of Steve Souza, the singer of EXODUS. And they're a great band. And the first night I heard 'em, I went, 'Oh, shit, man. These kids are fucking bringing it, man.' 'Kids' — they're young men — but they're bringing the fury, man. And I love it, because it gets the fans excited for us, which forces us to keep our game up here, not get lazy and go, 'Well, we can just phone it in.' 'Cause you don't wanna do that. And the road takes its toll on you; the road is a challenge in itself. So I love that we've got a kick-ass package and a great band. That's one of the things we always did with MEGADETH — we always took out cool new opening bands. And sometimes they weren't metal — ALICE IN CHAINS, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, KORN. KORN was so bizarre that it's just, like, 'This is either gonna fall apart tomorrow or it's gonna change the world.' And it did the latter. And that's why great new music is usually very polarizing — people either love it or they hate it — and sometimes the stuff that's hated the most becomes some of the greatest stuff because the early adapters who go, 'Oh my God. I totally get this'… And it's usually a younger generation who understand it versus sometimes the old guard — yeah, we don't get it; we don't understand it. It's not the song of our generation, but we need people to continue to write the song for the next generation to keep it all going."

Ellefson is currently on the road with KINGS OF THRASH, which also features fellow former MEGADETH member, Jeff Young (guitar).

As previously reported, KINGS OF THRASH will release a live CD/DVD package called "Best Of The West…Live At The Whisky A Go Go" on March 24 via Cleopatra Records. The 17-song set, featuring performances of MEGADETH's classic albums "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" and "So Far, So Good… So What!", was recorded and filmed live at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California on October 15, 2022 and includes an appearance by another former MEGADETH member, Chris Poland (guitar). The DVD was directed by Michael Sarna for Inmotion Entertainment.

KINGS OF THRASH' "Thrashin' USA" will cross the Midwest, East Coast, and southeastern part of the USA through March 15. As with the band's 2022 warm-up shows, the group, which also includes drummer Fred Aching as well as guitarist/vocalist Chaz Leon, will be performing "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" and "So Far, So Good… So What!" in their entirety. Support on all shows will come from HATRIOT.

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH nearly two years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

David was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.