During an appearance on the latest episode of Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast, former DREAM THEATER and current THE WINERY DOGS drummer Mike Portnoy spoke about how he gets in shape for his live performances and what his exercise regimen is while on the road. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm the worst, man. I'm so out of shape. I could play a three-hour show, no problem, 'cause it's just muscle memory for me. Those are the muscles that I've been using for 45 years or whatever. So I could play a three-hour show, no problem, but if I had to frickin' jog down the block, I would die. I can't do it. … My body is starting to feel it at this age. My back is always hurting.

"What do I do? I don't know," he continued. "I try to take care of myself the best I can, but it's hard on the road when you travel as much as I do.

"I don't have the answers. A lot of Advil."

Asked by Delray if he gets into yoga or stretching before live performances, Portnoy said: "I'm so bad, dude. I can't even touch my toes. … To be honest, I had issues… When I was in my 30s, I was having bad tendonitis in my elbow, so I had to start wearing a brace on stage when I was trying to recover from that. And at that point I started going for massages regularly — you know, legit massages. A real masseuse would come to the gigs each day and I would have to get a massage before going on stage each day. And that helped me a lot, actually. Getting massaged regularly and maybe going to the chiropractor as much as I can as well. That helps."

In addition to Portnoy, THE WINERY DOGS includes guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen and legendary bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, TALAS, DAVID LEE ROTH).

THE WINERY DOGS will release their third album, "III", on February 3 via the band's Three Dog Music label (via Burnside Distribution/The Orchard). Following in the footsteps of their first two albums, "III" was once again produced by THE WINERY DOGS and mixed by longtime band associate Jay Ruston.

"III" is the follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed and Billboard-charting album "Hot Streak", which was released October 2, 2015 on Loud & Proud Records via RED (a division of Sony Music Entertainment).

THE WINERY DOGS is hitting the worldwide concert trail starting February 15 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania at the Palace Theatre for their "202III World Tour". Ticket and VIP package info can be found on the band's official web site.

JOURNEY keyboardist Jonathan Cain has filed a lawsuit against Neal Schon, alleging that the guitarist caused over $1 million in personal expenses to be charged to the band's shared American Express card, including $400,000 in a single month last year.

Cain's allegations come more than two months after Schon filed a lawsuit against his longtime bandmate, contending that he was being denied access to the American Express card.

In a countersuit filed last week in California state court, Cain said that during the first one-month billing cycle, after Schon obtained the AMEX card, Schon charged more than $50,000 in personal expenses for the billing period ending September 15, 2021. For the one-month billing period ending January 15, 2022, Schon allegedly charged more than $100,000 of his personal expenses on the AMEX card. For the one-month billing period ending February 13, 2022, Schon allegedly charged approximately $30,000 of his personal expenses on the AMEX card. For the one-month billing period ending March 16, 2022, Schon allegedly charged more than $400,000 of his personal expenses on the AMEX card. The charges allegedly included $42,000 to various PayPal accounts, over $104,000 to Chrome Hearts (jewelry and apparel),more than $31,000 to the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City, and over $54,000 for his personal insurance premiums.

According to Cain's lawsuit, "Schon's charges placed considerable pressure on JOURNEY and its ability to cover normal tour expenses. Schon was spending JOURNEY's money, and Cain is the one who was and is ultimately liable for the AMEX Account and Schon's charges on the AMEX Card. Even with the $30,000 limit on Schon's card on the Nomota AMEX account," referring to the company Cain and Schon set up to operate the band, "Schon still managed to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional, excessive personal expenses through other tour personnel and travel agents. For example, the budget allocated a maximum of $1,500 per night for hotel rooms for Schon and Cain. However, Schon demanded to stay in hotel suites that cost in excess of $5,000 per night. After the recent tour ended in Honolulu, Hawaii, Schon stayed an extra week in a hotel suite that cost $6,000 a night and charged more than $100,000 in expenses to the AMEX Account."

In a statement to Billboard, Schon's attorney Skip Miller called allegations "ridiculous" and "as phony as a three dollar bill." He said the countersuit was merely "sour grapes" after a recent incident in which Schon demanded that Cain stop playing events for former U.S. president Donald Trump. "We want Cain to just focus on JOURNEY and its fans," Miller said.

Last month, Cain fired back at Schon when the JOURNEY guitarist called him a "hypocrite" for performing the band's 1981 hit song "Don't Stop Believin'" at Trump's Mar-a-Lago property. Cain, whose wife, Paula White-Cain, is the former president's self-styled spiritual adviser, played the track in November with a backup chorus of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Donald Trump Jr.'s fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

"Neal Schon should look in the mirror when he accuses me of causing harm to the JOURNEY brand," Cain said in a statement. "I have watched him damage our brand for years and am a victim of both his — and his wife's — bizarre behavior."

An attorney for Schon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Cain after he performed at Trump's Florida estate.

The latest legal move came a few weeks after Schon filed his lawsuit against Cain. Cain, for his part, accused Schon of misusing the card, citing his "excessive spending and extravagant lifestyle."

A month earlier, former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry took legal action against both Schon and Cain, asking them to stop registering federal trademarks on the names of many of the band's hits.

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

JOURNEY's tour with TOTO will kick off on February 4 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Presented by AEG Presents, the "Freedom Tour 2023" will make 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.

METALLICA and Trafalgar Releasing are excited to extend an open invitation to a worldwide listening party: the global premiere of the band's forthcoming 12th studio album, "72 Seasons". For one night only on Thursday, April 13, "72 Seasons" will be played in full in pummeling surround sound, exclusively for cinema audiences worldwide — with every one of the new songs featuring its own music video and exclusive commentary from the band. The result will offer fans an unforgettable night as they experience "72 Seasons" first and fully on the eve of its April 14 release date. View a "72 Seasons - Global Premiere" announcement video from METALLICA below.

Tickets for "72 Seasons – Global Premiere" will be available beginning Thursday, March 2 at metallica.film.

Preceded by the newly released album track "Screaming Suicide" and its brand-new lyric video, and first single "Lux Æterna" — hailed upon its November 28, 2022 release as "thundering, breakneck" (Billboard),"gut-punching" (Rolling Stone) and "blistering" (USA Today) — "72 Seasons" will be released April 14 via METALLICA's own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, and clocking in at over 77 minutes, the 12-track "72 Seasons" is METALLICA's first full length collection of new material since 2016's "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct". The album will be released in formats, including 2LP 140g black vinyl and limited-edition variants, CD and digital.

"This is a monumental opportunity for METALLICA fans to be the first to hear the new album. We are thrilled to be a part of this historical global moment — connecting METALLICA with their fans once again," said Kymberli Frueh, SVP programming and content acquisitions, Trafalgar Releasing.

The "72 Seasons" global premiere sees METALLICA and Trafalgar joining forces once more, having previously worked together on the October 2019 worldwide cinematic release of "S&M²", which documented METALLICA and San Francisco Symphony reuniting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their original "S&M" (Symphony & Metallica) concerts and releases.

In a recently released behind-the-scenes look at the making of "72 Seasons", Hetfield stated about the LP's first single, "Lux Æterna": "'Lux Æterna' is an upbeat, kind of fast and joyous song, I would say — really indicative of New Wave Of British [Heavy] Metal stuff, so kind of a harkening-back-to-'80s kind of riff. It's just fun and makes me move. It was fun making the video, fun recording a song that comes out really easy, that was a real easy song to write and to perform, like I said, very much like the early '80s for us."

As for the inspiration for the "72 Seasons" album title, Hetfield said: "'72 Seasons' came out of a book I was reading about childhood, basically, and sorting out childhood as an adult. And 72 seasons is basically the first 18 years of your life. How do you evolve and grow and mature and develop your own ideas and identity of self after those first 72 seasons? Some things are more difficult than others — you know, some things you can't unsee and they're with you for the rest of your life, and other things you're able to rewind the tape and make a new tape in your life. So that's the real interesting part for me, is how you're able to address those situations as an adult and mature."

He continued: "There's been a lot of darkness in my life and in our career and things that have happened with us, but always having a sense of hope, always having the light that is in that darkness… Without darkness, there is no light, and being able to focus a little more on the light in life instead of all of the… how it used to be and how horrible it is... There's a lot of good things going on in life — focusing on that instead, and it helps to balance out my life. And there's no one meaning to it — everyone has some sense of hope or light in their life, and, obviously, music is mine. And the song specifically talks about gathering of people at a concert and [being] able to see the joy and the life and the love that comes out of music and the family and the kinship in that, and just a sense of uplifting."

In November, METALLICA released the Tim Saccenti-directed music video for "Lux Æterna", along with details about the album's accompanying "M72" world tour featuring two-night stops in nearly two dozen cities. Presented worldwide by Liquid Death and Blackened American Whiskey (in North America only) and promoted by Live Nation, the 46-show trek will launch in Amsterdam on April 27 and will include shows all over Europe and North America through 2024. Each "No Repeat Weekend" on "M72" will feature two completely different setlists and support lineups. The "M72" tour will feature a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed METALLICA Snake Pit to center stage, as well as the "I Disappear" full-tour pass and the debut of discounted tickets for fans under 16 years of age. Opening acts for the tour include PANTERA, MAMMOTH WVH, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, ARCHITECTS, VOLBEAT and GRETA VAN FLEET.

In the six years since the arrival of "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", METALLICA has reissued some of its classic albums, released a second live album with the San Francisco Symphony, commissioned a covers album featuring the likes of GHOST, VOLBEAT, WEEZER, Corey Taylor and THE HU, and landed on the Billboard songs chart with "Master Of Puppets" after a prominent placement in the hit Netflix show "Stranger Things".

Photo credit: Tim Saccenti

SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor says that he is "stoked" about the material he is currently recording for his second solo album.

Taylor began tracking the follow-up to 2020's "CMFT" LP last week at an undisclosed studio with longtime producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with STEEL PANTHER and ANTHRAX, among others.

On Saturday (January 21),Corey shared a video of him driving to the studio to begin recording the new album, and he stated in the clip: "I'm really, really excited. I mean, everything's just bigger this time, man. Everything sounds better; everything's running better; everything's running hot. Instead of where I came from, this is where I'm going. Musically, it's harder, it's faster, but there's still tons of stuff from the first album. So, there's elements of SLIPKNOT, there's elements of STONE SOUR, there's elements of 'CMFT'; there's elements of the stuff that I've been doing for years — just, like, cover-wise or whatever, just all the stuff that I've always wanted to do, we're doing that. We're just cranking it up and it all sounds so fucking good that I can't even describe to you how stoked I am to be starting on this. And today's the day. Today's the day. Today's the fucking one. So, let's get going. Serious as a heart attack, nobody's ready for what they're about to hear. It's for real. But first, we've gotta record it."

Earlier in the week, Corey's bassist Eliot Lorango shared a few photos from the final pre-studio rehearsal and first day of recording for Taylor's new LP.

Last August, Corey discussed his plans for his second solo album during an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". At the time, he said: "We're gonna go in and bang it out and get it ready. And then once I'm done touring with SLIPKNOT, I'm gonna throw together a really rad, 'rock is back' kind of tour for the solo stuff and start bringing out some of the younger — maybe not even some of the younger rock bands, but just some of the bands that don't get the chance or just don't get the looks that are afforded to either pop bands and hip-hop bands or people like me who are kind of grandfathered in. So I'm gonna try and really kind of fly the rock flag and give some opportunities to some of the younger bands and maybe even just the mid-level bands that just haven't had a shot. 'Cause there's so many great bands out there."

Taylor went on to say that he had written about 15 songs for his follow-up to "CMFT". "It's one of those cool things where some of it's older stuff that I've written over the years," he revealed. "There's actually a couple of songs that some of the fans know because I debuted them live when I was doing the JBKB [COREY TAYOR & THE JUNK BEER KIDNAP BAND] thing. So there's a song like 'Beyond' and a song like 'Breath Of Fresh Smoke' — both of those songs are getting recorded and released finally after… God, how many goddamn years would it be? Probably about 14 years, 16 years. But then a bunch of newer stuff. And there's definitely a darker edge to it. It's still very melodic, but I'm definitely starting to kind of bring together the things that I'm known for. And it's less an homage of the stuff that I grew up on and more of what people are used to hearing from me — but still a solo album. So there's still great rock and roll on it. There's some heavier stuff, but there's some really great slower stuff. It's gonna be really rad."

In February 2022, Corey released a solo album of covers and acoustic recordings, titled "CMFB…Sides", via Roadrunner Records. The collection comprised nine previously unreleased B-sides, covers of tunes that inspired Taylor, acoustic renditions, and live versions.

"CMFT" made impressive debuts on charts around the world, entering at No. 1 on Billboard's Current Hard Rock Albums chart, while claiming No. 2 on Current Rock Albums, No. 6 on Vinyl Albums, and No. 9 on the Top Albums charts. Furthermore, "CMFT" landed Top 10 on the official album charts in Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with Top 20 debuts in the United Kingdom, Finland and Japan (international chart).

"CMFT" was recorded at The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas with Ruston and Christian Martucci (guitar),Zach Throne (guitar),Jason Christopher (bass),and Dustin Schoenhofer (drums).

"CMFT" had been a long time coming for Taylor, with newly written tracks alongside some dating back to his teens. The album was highlighted by the singles "Culture Head", "HWY 666", "CMFT Must Be Stopped" (featuring Tech N9ne and Kid Bookie),and the Active Rock radio hit "Black Eyes Blue". Taylor also hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hard Rock Songwriters chart following the unprecedented debut of "Black Eyes Blue" and "CMFT Must Be Stopped".

In 2021, Taylor made history as he reached No. 1 at Active Rock Radio with his powerful single "Black Eyes Blue". The achievement put Taylor in a class all his own, making him the first artist in the history of the format to reach No. 1 with three separate projects, following chart-topping efforts from SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR.

Featured in Rolling Stone's "Fall Album Preview 2020," "CMFT" garnered widespread critical applause, with Forbes affirming, "Corey Taylor's singing is undeniably the best it's ever been. From SLIPKNOT's last album to his new solo material, Taylor is easily among the best-sounding rock singers alive." Kerrang! raved, "Corey Taylor certainly couldn't have predicted how important a sense of uninhibited joy would be on his debut solo effort, it's just what 2020 needs — and, even more importantly, exactly what he delivers." The Daily Beast attested, "'CMFT' finds the singer broadening his horizons and showing off his considerable versatility," while Stereogum noted, "Corey Taylor's lived several lives in the span that it takes most of us to push through just one, and it's clear that he cherishes every experience he's had so far." New York magazine added that "CMFT" "bridges his vast tastes and influences, dabbling in punk rock, metal, reflective acoustic tunes, plaintive piano ballads, and hip-hop, with Taylor's power-house vocals and introspective lyrics acting as a guide."

Photo credit: Ashley Osborn
CMF2 | https://t.co/3ZFuXpRmynpic.twitter.com/rzu50DjY40

— PANDEMIC! AT THE DISCO (@CoreyTaylorRock) January 21, 2023

Dee Snider, the outspoken frontman for TWISTED SISTER, was asked in a new interview with the "Sally Steele Rocks!" show if he ever regrets some of the "spur-of-the-moment" comments he has made about various other celebrities and public figures on social media. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No, because [those comments are] usually pretty thought out in my head. I don't really sort of just blurt things out; I process 'em and I'm kind of deliberate. I say it and it comes out like it's blurted. But I've got strong opinions.

"People get very upset sometimes when me or a lot of celebrities express our feelings, like we're not allowed to have an opinion," he continued. "I always say 'in my humble opinion', but trust me, that's the first thing they cut off when they repost it. 'In my humble opinion' — that's gone."

Snider also touched upon the debate he ignited late last month on Twitter about what makes great "frontmen" in rock. The debate began after a fan's reply to a tweet that praised Ronnie James Dio as the second-greatest frontman in rock following Freddie Mercury.

"How do you differentiate a Dee Snider or an Alice Cooper or a Robert Plant or a Bon Scott… Or a Chris Cornell, who just stood there, but he sang perfectly every night," Snider explained to "Sally Steele Rocks!" "So I was just trying, in a social media Twitter discussion, to explain the differences. And people were up in arms: 'How can you possibly say that Robert Plant isn't a great frontman?' And I love Robert. And I was just trying to… You can't put me and Robert Plant in the same category. So how would you explain what Dee Snider does on stage and what Robert Plant does on stage. And I was trying to do that. But people got upset."

Asked if he ever feels uncomfortable when he eventually meets in person some of the people whom he criticizes in social media posts or in interviews, Dee said: "You know me, I'm kind of a formidable presence. And I'll give you a perfect example of someone confronting me. I have a radio show called 'House Of Hair'; [I've been doing it] 26 years; 250 stations [carry it] nationally. It's been on for a very long time. And I had said something about [WINGER frontman] Kip Winger — joking. I make fun of myself all the time; I'm very self-deprecating…

"So, we're at an event, and Kip was across the room," he continued. "And he sees me, and I can see his face. And he goes, 'Listen…' And he comes walking across the room. And as he gets closer, 'I wanna talk to you about something.' And when he got up to me, he realized his face was level with my chest. And he actually was poking me in my chest. And he actually went, 'You're in really good shape.' And I was, like, 'Yeah.' I said, 'What's going on, Kip?' He goes, 'Listen, man. You know, could you just go easier on me on the show?' So it went from being, 'I'm gonna give Dee a piece of my mind' to 'Would you mind going easier…?'"

In his Twitter discussion about what makes great "frontmen" in rock, Snider wrote in response to a fan: "You are confusing singing with performing. There is a huge difference between a great frontman & a great singer. Ronnie was one of the greatest singers of all time, but as a frontman, he pretty much just stood on stage & sang. Freddie was an amazing singer AND frontman."

Snider expressed similar sentiments about Plant, saying: "I'm a HUGE Plant fan vocally…but he showed me nothing as a performer. Looked amazing, great hair…stood on stage with one hand raised and sang his ass off. Not a frontman in my opinion. And FYI many great frontmen are not great singers."

Snider later doubled down on his opinion of Dio, referencing his first-hand experiences with the legendary heavy metal singer. He explained: "I toured with him. … He is one of my vocal heroes, but… My frontmen are all over the stage and interact with the crowd. Showmen. Think David Lee Roth, Paul Stanley, Mick Jagger, Freddy Mercury, Axl Rose…the list goes on."

Snider then supported his position by making the distinction between performance and "stage presence". He said: "I knew this would upset people. I am NOT saying that Dio, Plant etc, don't have stage presence. They have it in SPADES! But they are not performers."

Snider also mentioned other singers he calls great frontmen, including IRON MAIDEN's Bruce Dickinson, Bono, JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford and James Brown. He also included Kid Rock in his list, explaining: "Love him or hate him, @KidRock is one of the best I've ever seen. … Facts are facts. The guy is a killer in concert. Period. (and I am REALLY critical)."

The JD's Live MusicYouTube channel has uploaded video of JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE's January 21 performance at BMI Live Concert Venue in Versailles, Ohio. Check it out below.

In a recent interview with T Stone of the radio show "Sonic Boom"on Real Rock 100.3 The Fox in Rapid City, South Dakota, former GREAT WHITE and current JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell was asked how he feels about the fact that there are now effectively two versions of GREAT WHITE touring and making new music. He responded: "It's weird, man. I mean, it doesn't bother me — except when Mark [Kendall, GREAT WHITE guitarist] goes out there and starts talking shit about me. Every time he gives an interview, he goes out there and starts talking some kind of shit about me. It's, like, dude, it's been 12 years. Get over it.

"It is too bad," Russell added. "We were best friends, we were brothers for years. And now it's like the guy won't even pick up the phone and speak to me. It's horrible. It makes you feel really bad. And every time I pick up a paper or [I see] something on the Internet [where] Mark's [giving] an interview, he's always talking shit about me. It's, like, dude, talk about yourself. Talk about how great your album is or how great your band is. Leave me the fuck alone. I'm not bagging on you."

Asked by T Stone why he thinks it's that way for Kendall, Russell replied: "I don't know. Maybe he's just pissed off that I'm still doing it. I mean, the first article they did after I left the band was, 'Oh, he'll never pull it off.' And it's been, what? 12 years now?

"The way I look at it is you do what you do," he continued. "Have a good time. Be happy that you're able to do this. Be happy that you're lucky enough to be able to do this — especially when there's two versions of the band."

When T Stone noted that "it's gotta be especially tough" for GREAT WHITE "trying to do it without the actual voice of the band," Jack said: "That's the one thing, I think, that separates the cover bands from the original bands — is the voice. 'Cause that's the one thing that you need. You take Steven Tyler out of AEROSMITH, I don't care who you put in there, it ain't gonna be AEROSMITH… The only time I've ever seen it work was with Sammy Hagar — and just 'cause Sammy is a better singer [than David Lee Roth]. And they wrote some really great songs. But give me a fucking choice, I'd go see David Lee Roth [before] I would [see] Sammy. And I love Sammy; he's a great guy. Dave's a great guy too."

In June 2022, shortly after GREAT WHITE announced that it had parted ways with singer Mitch Malloy, Kendall dismissed the idea of reuniting with Russell, telling Dr. Music in an interview: "[People say,] 'Why don't you patch things up with Jack?' What people don't understand is we never even got in fights [with Jack]. In 25 years together, we might have gotten in two arguments. The thing that took him out is the horrible demons of addiction, and it's really affected his health. I just saw a video the other day where he's not even standing — he's using wheelchairs and he's sitting in a stool. So for us to go back to that, it just feels dark. I'd rather remember him… 'Cause I'm very proud of our career — I'm very proud of the past. I'm so lucky to be a part of it. And I wanna remember it like that, where he's flying around on stage and getting the crowds pumped and singing his heart out — not a sick person. So going to that…"

In November 2022, Russell ruled out the possibility of him reuniting with his former bandmates, telling All Access Live! With Kevin Rankin: "As far as the fans are concerned, for the most part they've been really cool about [there being two versions of the band]. It is what it is. Of course most of them would rather see us back together. There are a few people that, for whatever reason, like a new guy better, which I don't understand. That'd be like me saying I like somebody better than Steven Tyler in AEROSMITH. Or, 'Get rid of that Robert Plant schmuck [in LED ZEPPELIN]. Let me hear somebody else.' I don't know. To each his own. Some things just defy explanation or logic. But for the most part, I think, people would like things, to see them back to where they were, which will never happen. Those days are gone, and anybody out there that's hoping and wishing and praying, it's not gonna happen; I'll tell you right now. Both camps agree [on that]."

Russell went on to say that he chooses to stay away from speaking disparagingly about his former bandmates. "I don't jump on the drama train," he said. "Unfortunately, there are still people that do, in my other band, that still choose to pass along negativity. And I'm not gonna say anything bad about anybody. It's, like, why? We were all huge friends for years. We accomplished one of the hugest things you can ever accomplish together — something that's almost impossible we pulled off. We were on five major labels, so we did it five times. Usually you lose one and you're blackballed. And we were on five different major labels. So there's something to say for that. I never was gonna let up until I was done."

Malloy had been in GREAT WHITE for nearly four years, having joined the group in 2018 following the departure of Terry Ilous.

Ilous, frontman of '80s L.A. hard rockers XYZ, joined GREAT WHITE in 2010 after stepping in for touring vocalist Jani Lane (WARRANT).

The Ilous-led GREAT WHITE released two albums, 2012's "Elation" and 2017's "Full Circle", before Terry was dismissed from the group.

Russell sued his onetime bandmates in 2012 over their continued use of the GREAT WHITE name after Jack had taken a leave of absence from the band for medical reasons. A short time later, Russell was countersued by Kendall, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Lardie and drummer Audie Desbrow, claiming the vocalist's self-destructive behavior was damaging the GREAT WHITE name (they also alleged he was charging promoters less for his own touring version of GREAT WHITE). The parties settled in July 2013 without going to trial, with Russell now performing as JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE while the others are continuing as GREAT WHITE.

In 2018, Desbrow told ListenIowa that there was never any discussion about possibly bringing Jack back after Terry's exit from GREAT WHITE. "Not at all," he said. "We've already moved on from that. We've gone through a lot of stuff with that over the years, and the fact that he sued us in federal court for the name, and we spent a lot of time and money, you just don't return from that. People tell me that they've seen his latest shows, and it's just hard to look at because his health isn't as good as it could be. We've got a really grueling schedule, and it's hard enough for me, and I'm semi-healthy. [Laughs] I couldn't imagine someone in his condition doing what we're doing. We did shows with him toward the end, and he was in and out of a wheelchair and crutches, had to be carried up stairs, was falling asleep onstage. It just got old. It's a business, and we have families to support and mortgages to pay. You can't go to work messed up 24/7 and still be able to work there."

In October 2022, GREAT WHITE officially named Brett Carlisle as its new lead singer. Carlisle joins the band as the replacement for Andrew Freeman, who sang for GREAT WHITE for only five months.

Carlisle made his live debut with GREAT WHITE on September 24 at the Cannery Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Posted by Jack Russell's Great White on Monday, October 24, 2022

OPETH's Mikael Åkerfeldt has paid tribute to David Crosby, a founding member of THE BYRDS and CROSBY, STILLS & NASH (later CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG),who died earlier this week at the age of 81.

On Friday (January 20),Mikael took to OPETH's social media to write: "It must have been in 2010 or thereabouts when I first heard David Crosby's 'If I Could Only Remember My Name' LP. I was at Steve's (Wilson) house working on either 'Heritage' or perhaps the STORM CORROSION album as the idea for the project was hatched around the same time. It's a bit of a blur. Between work, myself and Steve went for walks, drank wine (or I did),shopped for records, watched movies and listened to vast amounts of music. One evening he brought out the above album. I was familiar with Crosby and THE BYRDS, whom I liked and owned a few records. And I had the 'Déjà Vu' LP by CSN&Y. But it hadn't had many hours of rotations on my deck. Yet. I suppose you're more receptive to music at certain times. You can dismiss a record as 'nothing special' one day and have it click with you completely the next. 'If I Could Only Remember My Name' clicked with me instantly and it has been a life-companion since.

"In my opinion David Crosby was somewhat of a genius. Together with Nash and Stills (and 'Mr. Young, ole Neil') he crafted so much fantastic music it's incredible. He was the master of the vocal harmony. And together with Nash (THE HOLLIES knew their shit too),he conjured up some of the most time-stopping vocals I have ever heard in my life.

"I'm regrettably speaking in past tense here, which indeed has me grieving. David Crosby is gone. In my mind he seemed to be a proper old-school Californian. A staple of the scene in Laurel Canyon and the 60's. It's safe to say he was, and is still, my idol. On top of everything, he discovered Joni Mitchell. Produced her first LP. So there. He's got a musical track record that puts most to shame.

"Our warmest condolences go out to his family, his friends, fans and colleagues over the years. Today is a sad day.

"Thank you, David, for all your music!

"If I may, I urge anyone reading this to listen to 'Orleans' and then 'Traction On The Rain' from his solo record ('If I Could Only Remember My Name') from 1971. It's a few minutes of your time. Perhaps it's 'too slow' for some of you in a time when 'speed-ed up' versions of popular songs are a preference to some (what the actual FUCK!). But take a breath and brace yourselves. After that I suggest a live version of 'Traction In The Rain'. Watching it now I realize he's been a subconscious fashion icon to me. I have a jacket just like that! And the moustache I've been sporting since forever as you know.

"David Crosby, R.I.P."

Crosby's death was announced by his wife, who released a statement, writing: "It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away. He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django. Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us. His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music. Peace, love, and harmony to all who knew David and those he touched. We will miss him dearly. At this time, we respectfully and kindly ask for privacy as we grieve and try to deal with our profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers."

In Crosby's unparalleled six-decade career, the native Californian has created songs that resonate as indelible cultural touchstones for more than three generations, not only as a solo artist, but as a founding member of THE BYRDS in the mid-1960s, CROSBY, STILLS & NASH (recipients of the Grammy for best new artist in 1969),and CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG. He's collaborated with dozens of artists, including Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, PINK FLOYD's David Gilmour, Phil Collins, Elton John and Carole King.

The folk rock pioneer, who was inducted into the prestigious Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2009, has also served as our social conscience, not only eloquently writing about societal issues on such songs as "Almost Cut My Hair" and "Wooden Ships", but continuously donating concert proceeds to likeminded causes. His towering influence and brilliant ability to capture the spirit of our times in his music remains undiminished.

Throughout Crosby's career — from its beginnings in the socially conscious burgeoning California folk scene in the early 1960s, his surprising views on gun control, his recovery from drug abuse and deteriorating health, and his influence on a whole new generation of folk-oriented singer/songwriters — he has remained an icon of counterculture, an advocate for social responsibility, and a thorn in the side of hypocrites of all stripes.

Crosby played at some of rock's most culturally significant concerts, including the Monterey Pop Festival, Woodstock and the Altamont Free Concert.

In 2019, filmmaker Cameron Crowe made a documentary of Crosby's life and music called "David Crosby: Remember My Name".

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Drummer Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, ANTHRAX) has uploaded the latest in his "Big Four" drum-cover series: SLAYER's "Postmortem". The clip, which can be seen below, follows his previously released videos for METALLICA's "Damage, Inc.", SLAYER's "Killing Fields", METALLICA's "Blackened", ANTHRAX's "A.I.R." and MEGADETH's "Wake Up Dead".

Says Jon: "As I said in the last video, the 80's produced some of the greatest Metal bands on the planet! And 1986 produced some of the greatest records on the planet!

"'Reign In Blood' dropped October 1986. Just like 'Master Of Puppets', it completely changed my life on the drums! And in my opinion, completely moved the needle for heavy metal music overall. Dave Lombardo took heavy metal drumming to a completely new level and quickly became my biggest influence through the rest of the 80's.

"Five years later in 1991, I was trying to land a gig with a band. So I decided to make a demo tape (Yes, we had actual cassette tapes back then) of myself playing drums. I went into a small recording studio in Montebello, CA and tracked the entire 'Reign In Blood' album, in one take from memory without any playback. I appropriately named my audition tape.... 'Lombardo's 5th Overture!' I had business cards printed as labels to go in the cassette cases which read: 'Lombardo's 5th Overture! The Entire Reign In Blood Album Performed In One Take On Drums From Memory! For Best Results, Hum Guitars & Vocals!' That tape circulated around the Los Angeles area, it even found it's way to the east coast and got into the hands of Johnny and Marsha Zazula! (RIP)

"4 years later in 1995, that tape somehow found it's way to Rick Sale's office and in the hands of the late great Nick John (RIP) The rest is history!

"'Post Mortem' was one of my favorite tracks on the record! 36 years later, I enjoy playing it as much now as I did in 1986.

"As you know, none of these songs were tracked with a click so there's also NO quantizing, putting tracks on a grid, etc. My take is the take. Flubs, clams and all! Playing along to these older tracks is all feel and at times, being like Luke Skywaker and, 'Using the force!' lol."

The 52-year-old Dette played as a full-time member of SLAYER from 1996 to 1997 and as a touring member in 2013.

In a 2013 interview with Metal Rules, Dette revealed that he collaborated with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King on some of the early ideas for what became the band's final studio album, 2015's "Repentless", before he was replaced by a returning Paul Bostaph. "I actually started working with SLAYER after we had gotten back from Australia [in early 2013]," he said. "We started working for demo and music for their new record. And then obviously what happened with Jeff [Hanneman, guitar] passing away, that changed some things. But it was definitely moving in that direction for me to be working with SLAYER [again]. But as I said there are just some things that changed with that once Jeff passed away, and I think, ultimately, they felt more comfortable with ‎Paul Bostaph, just because Paul had been in the band for longer. I think it was not going to be as much of a shock to their fans, because first Dave is gone, and now Jeff is gone, the band, it's now down to two original members. So if Paul makes them feel more comfortable and at home, then more respect to him and I wish them the best with that."

King confirmed that he worked with Dette early on in the songwriting process for "Repentless" before deciding to re-hire Bostaph instead. "We pursued it," Kerry said in a 2015 interview. "We got back from Australia. I did demos with Jon Dette, I did demos with Paul — the same two songs, under the same circumstances; they each had, like, 24 to 36 hours to learn 'em — and just see where it went. And Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] and Jeff [Hanneman, SLAYER guitarist] both decided Paul, and in hindsight, that was the right choice."

Dette originally joined SLAYER in 1996 when Paul Bostaph left to work on his side project THE TRUTH ABOUT SEAFOOD. Dette performed with SLAYER at the 1996 Ozzfest to promote the band's covers album, "Undisputed Attitude".

Prior to joining SLAYER, Dette appeared on TESTAMENT's "Live At The Fillmore" album, which came out in 1995.

In recent years, Dette had played sporadic shows with ANTHRAX as a temporary replacement for Charlie Benante, who had been undergoing physical therapy in his battle with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Pedro "Pete" Sandoval says that his long-running band TERRORIZER is officially "over".

The former MORBID ANGEL drummer, who rejoined forces with another ex-MORBID ANGEL member, bassist/vocalist David Vincent, in I AM MORBID last year, announced the end of all TERRORIZER-related activities in a social media post on Sunday (January 22).

He wrote: "Important announcement to those who are asking about any news from @terrorizerofficial. Guys, due to the lack of time , my busy schedule with my personal life and @iammorbidband, I have no time to work with TERRORIZER anymore which means there will be no TERRORIZER material, it's over. With that being said I can tell you that the new @iammorbidband I AM MORBID stuff will be AWSOME, WE'LL KILL ASSES.

"See you in the upcoming I AM MORBID festivals, shows, and such.

"Thank you so much for your long and endless support."

Before Sandoval recorded MORBID ANGEL's first album, 1989's "Altars Of Madness", he performed on two demos and a split album with his original band TERRORIZER. Today, the group's 1989 full-length debut "World Downfall" is still considered a pinnacle for death metal and grindcore, featuring impossibly fast blast-beats and double-bass drumming along with a blitzkrieg attack by late guitarist Jesse Pintado (NAPALM DEATH),and ex-vocalist Oscar Garcia (NAUSEA). The 1989 lineup was rounded out by Sandoval and then-fellow MORBID ANGEL bandmate David Vincent on bass.

Over the next twenty-three years, Sandoval took time between MORBID ANGEL albums to continue working with TERRORIZER, recording two more cataclysmic full-lengths, 2006's "Darker Days Ahead" and 2012's "Hordes Of Zombies". Six years down the burning highway, TERRORIZER released 2018's "Caustic Attack", described at the time as "their heaviest and most eclectic album to date."

Back in 2021, it was announced that TERRORIZER had signed a worldwide deal with Earache Records. At that time, the band's lineup had consisted of Sandoval, Lee Harrison on guitar, and Sam Molina on bass/vocals.

Last fall, I AM MORBID parted ways with guitarist Kelly McLauchlin (POSSESSED, DIABOLIC, UNHOLY GHOST) and replaced him with Richie Brown (EXMORTUS, THE ABSENCE, TRIVIUM). Brown made his live debut with I AM MORBID, which also includes guitarist Bill Hudson (NORTHTALE, DORO),on October 16, 2022 at the Grita Fest in Colombia.

I AM MORBID's spring 2022 European tour marked the first time Sandoval and Vincent played together in 12 years.

Sandoval, who now lives his life as a born-again Christian, was forced to leave MORBID ANGEL in 2010 after undergoing surgery for a prolapsed disc.

Vincent told Invisible Oranges in a December 2013 interview that Pete had "found Jesus," which meant that Sandoval and MORBID ANGEL were no longer "compatible."

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Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu's close friend has shot down rumors that the KORN bassist is battling a substance abuse problem.

Ever since Fieldy announced in June 2021 that he would sit out KORN's ongoing tour in order to "heal" after "falling back" on some of his "bad habits," some fans have speculated that that he had been receiving treatment after turning to hard drugs.

But in a new interview with The Nobodies, Fieldy's STILLWELL bandmate, vocalist/guitarist Anthony "Q-Unique" Quiles, dismissed the suggestion that the bassist had a drug habit, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I know a lot of KORN fans wanna know where [Fieldy is] at. I just wanna say this, for the record: he's okay. He's not on drugs. I'm saying this; he doesn't have to say shit."

Anthony went on to say that he wanted to "set the record straight" because The Nobodies gave him and Fieldy "a little bit of a platform" to respond to some of the Internet chatter.

"I don't read them all the time, but I see the comments," Quiles said. "And as best friends, you wanna defend your friend. And I don't do it — I don't go online and do it — but because we're talking, I just wanna say the conspiracy theories about Fieldy, about him being on drugs or this or that, it's, like… Look, man, the guy, since the pandemic and since we've been working, he jumped into yoga, he's been cleaning up his diet, he's been taking care of his kids, he's been writing songs with me and Wuv [P.O.D. drummer Noah Bernardo, who also plays in STILLWELL]. So all of these things that I see, and I know Wuv sees 'em… You don't wanna argue with these people, but to set the record straight, and because you guys are providing a platform, I just wanna say that he's okay."

Last October, Fieldy posted a video on his social media accounts offering clarity on the "bad habits" that led to him taking leave from his longtime band more than a year earlier. He explained: "When I made the statement about my 'bad habits,' they weren't drugs. It's just, at the end of the day — I don't condone this — but when I'm done with all my responsibilities, I have a Bud Light, or as many as I want, to tell you the truth. I'm a grown man. But I know that I have to get up at five in the morning, because I'm responsible, and I got a job to do. And I've got people that love me and people that depend on me, so I'm gonna be there for them no matter what."

He added: "To clarify the habits, I've never tried cocaine, I've never tried heroin. I drink Bud Light, man."

Fieldy also stressed that he remains on good terms with his KORN bandmates, saying: "I love the guys in KORN. I've known them since seventh grade. We have no beef. I've got no problem with those guys. You guys should support them. They're ripping right now. They're killing it.

"I'm always gonna be Fieldy from KORN for the rest of my life, because that's part of my legacy. Those are my homies, those are my brothers. We're just in different places right now. We're not even mad at each other. We're all cool."

The bassist also wanted fans to know that he was in a good place, saying: "Things are great. I'm having a blast. I'm the happiest I've ever been in my entire life."

For most of the last two years, Fieldy has been replaced on KORN's tours by SUICIDAL TENDENCIES bassist Roberto "Ra" Díaz. However, Fieldy did manage to lay down his bass tracks on the band's most recent album, "Requiem", which was released in February 2022.

Celebrating their 35th anniversary as a band, Brooklyn, New York hardcore metal legends BIOHAZARD recently announced their return, reuniting their original lineup of guitarist/vocalist Billy Gradziadei, guitarist Bobby Hambel, drummer Danny Schuler and bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld.

The first wave of confirmed dates for the seminal outfit includes multiple international festivals in the summer of 2023, as well as select appearances in America.

In a new interview with Dan Shinder of Drum Talk TV, Schuler stated about how BIOHAZARD came back together (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We haven't toured in about seven years, almost eight years. In about 2015, [that] was the last year of touring. We wrapped it up after that. We went in the studio to go do a record and things just kind of imploded; everybody's a bunch of crazy personalities. In the ensuing years, we didn't do anything as BIOHAZARD. And then about a year and a half ago, my brother, who lives in Torrance, California, was flying back home to New York to come see everybody. And he gets to the airport here, and he says to me, 'You won't believe who I saw at the airport.' And I said, 'Who was that?' And he goes, 'I saw Evan,' the bass player from BIOHAZARD, Evan Seinfeld, who I hadn't spoken to in 10 years. And they had a good conversation, and it was cordial. And he basically sent a message through my brother, 'Tell Danny I said hi.' So a week later, I'm going on vacation. I'm feeling good. I'm going down to the beach house here in [New] Jersey with my wife and my kids, and I said to my wife, 'Maybe I should call him' — you know, just bury the hatchet. Who cares anymore? Like everybody, COVID and all these people dying and all this stuff, it's, like, who the hell cares about all that old stuff that made you mad. So my wife was, like, 'Yeah, why don't you give him a call? Don't be an asshole. Call him.'

"Anyway, long story short, I did call him and we spoke," he continued. "And we just kind of buried the hatchet. And the other guys in the band, Bobby and Billy, had been speaking, and we've been speaking, and everybody just kind of started talking a little bit. And unfortunately, our former manager, Scott Koenig, who was out in Los Angeles, he passed away. And that was a real moment where it was, like, 'Wow.' Scott was with us from the beginning, and he was like a fifth member of the band. … That was in October of '21. … I got that call. And the same week, another friend of ours from a band called DOG EAT DOG, our friend Sean Kilkenny passed away the same day as Scott. So it was two phone calls, two brothers, two great, close friends, like family, both passed at the same time. And for me, that was kind of one of those things where it's just, like, who cares about all the negative bullshit in the past? Who cares? We're still here. We did great stuff together. We created something cool. We should all be friends. And that was my thinking. And everyone kind of felt the same way. And that kind of was the beginning of how it started, getting the band together."

Asked what it has been like rehearsing for the first time in many years with his BIOHAZARD bandmates, Danny said: "That hasn't happened yet. All four of us still haven't been in a room yet, so I don't know what's gonna happen. Everybody lives in different parts of the world, so it's not easy to get together. But we're starting rehearsals in a couple of weeks out in Los Angeles, so we'll be seeing each other. But I think it'll be fine, man.

"We've been through so much together over all the years of the band — ups and downs," he continued. "Like every band. We've been through so much together, we know how to deal with each other. And hopefully we've all grown up at this point. So I think we'll be okay."

Regarding BIOHAZARD's touring plans, Danny said: "Dates are coming. We've got a bunch of dates already, and more are coming every week. So, yeah, a tour is happening later in the year. I'm not exactly sure when the first date is gonna be yet, but I know we've got a bunch in August, festival stuff in Europe, and maybe some local stuff in the United States right before that. And then we're doing some festivals in the U.S. in September [and] October also. So, yeah, we're gonna be working a lot."

As for the possibility of a new BIOHAZARD album, Schuler said: "Making new music wasn't really something I was really thinking about too much, but it's come up so much in the last few months since we've been talking about all this stuff. So we'll see how it goes. There's definitely interest there for us to do it. I just hope we can do it. I wanna be able to do it at the level we always did it at.

"I write a lot of music on my own, of course, but I'm very much into collaboration," he explained. "I've always needed a partner, or partners, to really bring the best out of me, to challenge myself. And I always loved getting in a room with these guys. We've always come up with great stuff when we're in the right mindset to do it. So I'm excited to get in a room with them and just let shit fly. I have the energy for it, I'm ready and I'm excited to do it, and I think they are too. So I'm hopeful that we're gonna make something really cool and different and innovative."

In addition to touring, BIOHAZARD has a 35th-anniversary documentary in the works containing previously unreleased footage spanning four decades.

"BIOHAZARD is an iconic band that ripped it up on the streets of New York when I lived there in the late '80s and early '90s, so I'm excited to be working with them to bring their pioneering hardcore sound to a new generation," said Andy Gould (ROB ZOMBIE, PANTERA, TYPE O NEGATIVE). The band is managed by Gould and Paul Gargano and booked by Jim Morewood at the K2 Agency internationally, and Steve Sokol at Pinnacle in North America.

Stated Graziadei: "Over the years, we made some great music together and had so many incredible shows on some pretty amazing tours. After spending so much time and focus on POWERFLO and my solo project BILLYBIO, things just fell in place at the right time and I decided it was the time to recapture that energy and go kick ass again with the original lineup of BIOHAZARD with DannyBobby, and Evan!"

Added Hambel: "I'm honored to perform with the band again. I can't wait to get onstage with the guys and do what we do! I'm looking forward to traveling and playing live. See you out there!"

Stated Seinfeld: "It's been ten years since we all played together, and I'm in a huge place of gratitude for the opportunity to get back to the roots of BIOHAZARD and not only reconnect with the other guys, but also the fans. We've been through decades of madness, and it feels like the fantastic four are back together."

Last year, Graziadei said in an interview that there had been "talk" about putting BIOHAZARD back together.

The group, which is acknowledged as one of the earliest outfits to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal with elements of hip-hop, had been out of the public eye since Scott Roberts left the band seven years ago.

Roberts, who played guitar on BIOHAZARD's 2005 album "Means To An End", rejoined the group in June 2011 as the replacement for Seinfeld. Scott fronted BIOHAZARD for nearly five years before exiting the band in February 2016.

In an August 2020 interview with the "Aftershocks" podcast, Roberts said that he left BIOHAZARD because he "wasn't happy" anymore. "There was one guy that I wasn't getting along with very well, and it made touring not fun anymore for me," he said. "My reason to stick around was to make a new record that was great and I'd be proud of and all that stuff, and then it became kind of clear that wasn't gonna happen, so I was, like, 'What am I doing it for?' So I quit."

Seinfeld made his last recorded appearance with BIOHAZARD on 2012's "Reborn In Defiance" album, which marked the first LP featuring the band's original lineup in 18 years.

Graziadei is currently a member of POWERFLO, which also features former FEAR FACTORY bassist/guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers, Sen Dog from CYPRESS HILL, and Rogelio Lozano from DOWNSET.

Billy's solo project, BILLYBIO, released a new album, "Leaders And Liars", in March 2022 via AFM Records.

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

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

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

Hunolt discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback in an interview with "The Chuck Shute Podcast". After host Chuck Shute said that it will be "cool to hear those songs played live" again, Rick said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's exactly why they're doing it. You know, there's money involved — of course there is. But who cares? Honestly, if you talk to Zakk or you talk to Charlie, they're doing it because they wanna play the songs.

"Have you seen the crowds [from PANTERA's recent concert] in Chile, in South America?" he continued. "Oh, get on YouTube. [Laughs] Dude, they are insane crowds. I mean, as far as your eye can see, the people are just jumping up and down. It's ridiculous."

Hunolt also reflected on his first time sharing the stage with PANTERA, which happened in the summer of 1990 as part of a three-band package also featuring SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.

"They [PANTERA] were crazy, and then we [in EXODUS] were crazy, and then we got together and it was crazy — for real," Rick said.

"I'll tell you a little story about touring with PANTERA. So it was us and SUICIDAL and PANTERA. But PANTERA didn't join the tour until about two shows into the tour. So we had already done a couple of shows with SUICIDAL, and then they [PANTERA] were gonna join the tour. And then we were gonna flip-flop with PANTERA who supports SUICIDAL. And at this time none of us had ever even heard of PANTERA. They had [a few] albums out, but we had never heard of PANTERA. So PANTERA shows up. And I wanna say the show was in Minneapolis, at Prince's club. And PANTERA shows up, and they're setting up for soundcheck. And me and Gary [Holt, EXODUS guitarist] were in the back of the club, hanging out and just talking. And Dime plugs in his guitar and starts playing, and me and Gary looked at each other and said, 'Holy crap! This dude is insane.' And we were, like, 'Oh my God. Listen to this dude play.'

"We became really, really dear friends with all of PANTERA," Hunolt added. "And it was amazing to watch, from that to how they blew up. I don't know why, but PANTERA just blew up — they kind of left us in the dust, bro. But it was fun to watch. And Dime was just the most incredible guitar player. Unbelievable."

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

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

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

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

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

Flyer below courtesy of HardcoreShowFlyers.net

L.A. GUNS, featuring singer Phil Lewis and guitarist Tracii Guns, will release its new studio album, "Black Diamonds", on April 14. This will be the fourth studio album since the much-welcome reunion of the band's core foundation of Lewis and Guns. It will follow the well-received studio albums "The Missing Peace", "The Devil You Know" and "Checkered Past", plus the live release "Made In Milan", and a covers EP "Another Xmas In Hell".

The release date for "Black Diamonds" was revealed by Guns in a social media post on Saturday (January 21). He shared a new black-and-white photo of him and his bandmates, and he captioned it: "@laguns 2023 new album April 14 Black Diamonds and tour".

Last October, Lewis took to his personal Facebook page to share the "Black Diamonds" title and track listing, and he included the following message: "Incredibly happy to announce the completion of our forth record (post reunion). Great songs, fantastic playing and some of the best singing of my career. It's heavy and dark in places and bright n breezy in others. It's all over the place as per our usual style. I think it's the best thing we've ever done but yeah I know I say that about all of them but I truly love this record and had fun recording parts on the tour wagon and then five intense days doing vocals with Mitch [Davis] in NYC. Of course the wait for it to drop will be excruciating but I'll do my best to contain the excitement. Seriously it's fantastic and you're all gonna love it."

"Black Diamonds" track listing:

01. You Betray
02. Wrong About You
03. Diamonds
04. Babylon
05. Shame
06. Shattered Glass
07. Gonna Lose
08. Got It Wrong
09. Lowlife
10. Crying
11. Like A Drug

"Checkered Past" was released in November 2021 via Frontiers Music Srl.

In April 2021, a settlement was reached between drummer Steve Riley and Guns and Lewis over the rights to the L.A. GUNS name. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Guns and Lewis continue to operate under the L.A. GUNS trademark, while Riley and his bandmates from the other version of L.A. GUNS are now operating under the new name RILEY'S L.A. GUNS.

L.A. GUNS was formed in 1983 and have sold over six million records, including 1988's "L.A. Guns" and 1990's "Cocked And Loaded", both of which were certified gold. "Cocked And Loaded" contained the hit single "The Ballad Of Jayne" that went to No. 33 on Billboard's Hot 100 and No. 25 on the Mainstream Rock charts. From the mid-'90s to the mid 2000s, L.A. GUNS continued to tour and release new music. Following their successful performance at SiriusXM's Hair Nation festival in September 2016, L.A. GUNS went into the studio to record the critically acclaimed "The Missing Peace", which was the highest-selling release for Frontiers Music Srl in 2017. Their 12th album, "The Devil You Know", was released in 2019 to the same critical acclaim. Since reuniting, Tracii and Phil continue to tour around the world with L.A. GUNS, which currently includes Johnny Martin (bass) and Ace Von Johnson (guitar).

LYNCH MOB performed this past Thursday, January 19 at the RokIsland Fest in Key West, Florida. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of concertsrock YouTube channel).

Last October, legendary DOKKEN axeman George Lynch explained his decision to return to using the LYNCH MOB name for his solo project.

For much of 2021 and 2022, George had played dates around the U.S. under the name ELECTRIC FREEDOM, which he previously said was the new name of his "touring entity" after deciding to retire the LYNCH MOB band name in 2020. However, three months ago, it was reported that LYNCH MOB was once again playing shows, with George joined in the band's current lineup by his longtime drummer Jimmy D'Anda (BULLETBOYS) along with TANTRIC bassist Jaron Gulino, and singer Gabriel Colon. (Editor's note: D'Anda did not play with LYNCH MOB at the RokIsland Fest gig.)

Lynch discussed his change of heart in an interview with Full In Bloom. He said: "[LYNCH MOB is] just a brand I'd established for decades, obviously — over three decades. Nothing's perfect, and I've gotta just live with the fact that it has some negative connotations that I probably have to continue explaining for the rest of my life, and I don't mind doing that. But it is a brand that I built, and I'm just gonna stick with it. As far as a marketing thing and a brand thing and a business thing and a working thing, and it keeps my band guys working and it keeps the fans happy, it makes sense.

"I really felt, when I adopted ELECTRIC FREEDOM, that I was really going against the grain more than keeping the old name," he laughed. "I really felt a lot more resistance than I'd ever felt having LYNCH MOB; that was actually the reality of it. Nobody really liked it. And I didn't like living with that; it was just kind of uncomfortable. It's, like, 'Okay, well, we've just gotta put up with George's decision here to do this, but nobody agrees with it. We're not comfortable with it.' It has a sort of disingenuous ring to it. As much as my motives were pure — I felt honest — it just never caught on, on all kinds of levels."

Asked if he had gotten any negative comments from fans over the LYNCH MOB name, George said: "I may have had a few in the 35 years it's been around, but I'd say probably the most negative criticism I've had of it came from me. So I was my own worst critic with the name, especially in later years. I got a lot more criticism with ELECTRIC FREEDOM.

"It's a brand," George explained. "I mean, nobody wants Coke to change their recipe. Just stay the same, and that's what you built over the years. Why would you…? 'Why would you change it' is a rhetorical question. Why I'm probably not more successful in some ways in my career is because I followed my aspirations musically rather than sometimes be smart about just sticking to the plan. [Laughs]"

The news of LYNCH MOB's return was first reported by the Metal Sludge web site on October 1, 2022.

In August 2020, Lynch announced that he was ending LYNCH MOB due to the racial insensitivity of the moniker, saying he would no longer record or perform under that name.

A few months later, Lynch offered a lengthy explanation for why he was ending LYNCH MOB during an interview with George Dionne of Metal Express Radio. Addressing questions about why it took him three decades to call it quits with LYNCH MOB, George said: "When we first formed the band in '89, the name had sort of already been around. While I was in DOKKEN, it's what I called our little group of guitar fans — I had picks made; it was kind of a little subculture within DOKKEN. When we started working on developing and building the band after DOKKEN broke up, that was just the name that we always thought we'd use, 'cause it was a perfect fit — it's my name, and it describes it pretty well. And, of course, the negative connotations were always there, and I was aware of 'em, but not as aware as I probably should have been. [Laughs]

"I had made numerous attempts over the decades to kind of let that name go and had walked that back for multiple reasons — usually because of business considerations," he continued. "For instance, if you try to go out on a tour and not use the name, promoters aren't gonna be happy with you changing it. People aren't gonna know who you are. They're not gonna show up, because what's THE GEORGE LYNCH EXPERIENCE, or whatever you call it. Or record labels are not interested, because it's a brand that they can count on and sell a certain many albums or whatever.

"For instance, the LYNCH MOB record 'Smoke This' that came out, I think, in '99 or 2000, that was not supposed to be a LYNCH MOB record; that really wasn't anything to do with LYNCH MOB. At the end of the day, after the record was done and we were delivering it to the label, they insisted on using that name as insurance. And if I hadn't agreed to that, we wouldn't have had a record. That's the kind of pressure I'm talking about.

"But then, with the onset of everything that's happened in the last year, I didn't have that kind of pressure anymore," George added. "I could take it or leave it at this point. And I didn't really feel comfortable with it; I didn't feel comfortable with the name. 'Cause I'm a very progressive person politically, and it just so flies in the face of everything I believe in, and it makes it hard. It makes it hard to have relationships with people and explain yourself, and I got tired of rationalizing it. I think the music is bigger than that, and it's had a great run.

"Another reason, too, is the band fell apart again. The band has fallen apart so many times, I can't even count. And it was just, like, 'No more Oni [Logan, vocals], no more Brian Tichy [drums], no more this guy, no more that guy. Oh, great. Now what do I do?' It's, like, 'Okay, build another band from scratch, call it LYNCH MOB?' No. How about just build something new? It gives me a lot more freedom to basically play anything I want live… I can go out and play everything from my catalog — new, old, covers, jams, you name it, and go deep and have fun and change it up every night."

Oni first hooked up with LYNCH MOB in 1990, but exited the group after the release of its first album, only to rejoin the outfit in the late 2000s.

Logan is featured on five of LYNCH MOB's eight albums, including 1990's "Wicked Sensation", as well as 2009's "Smoke And Mirrors", 2014's "Sun Red Sun", 2015's "Rebel" and 2017's "The Brotherhood".

In August 2021, LYNCH MOB celebrated the 30th anniversary of "Wicked Sensation" with a special limited print/deluxe edition of the album. "Wicked Sensation Reimagined" features re-worked and re-recorded versions of the LP's classic songs, and was made available via Rat Pak Records.

ANTHRAX played its first concert with drummer Derek Roddy last night (Friday, January 20) at the PNE Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Roddy, who has previously played with HATE ETERNAL, NILE, MALEVOLENT CREATION and TODAY IS THE DAY, among others, was filling in for ANTHRAX's longtime drummer Charlie Benante, who is being forced to miss a "few shows" on the band's North American tour with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and EXODUS in order to undergo an undisclosed operation.

Fan-filmed video of the Vancouver gig can be seen below (courtesy of the C KrubsackYouTube channel).

When ANTHRAX first announced Benante's absence from the dates on Friday, the band said in a statement: "Our man who beats the beat - Charlie Benante - has stepped away from the tour for a few days to have a minor procedure done and will not be at the next few shows. Never fear, the formidable Derek Roddy is filling in while Charlie is away - and no worries, Charlie will be back soon. In the meantime, the metal is still heavy and the show must go on. We'll see you there!"

Less than two years ago, Benante spoke to the "Drum For The Song" podcast about how he was finally able to overcome his long-running battle with carpal tunnel syndrome, a repetitive stress condition that happens when a person does repeated movements with the hand and wrist. He said: "I was suffering so much from it because I would go out and start playing the show, and then, by the fifth song, my hand would just go numb; I couldn't feel the stick. I tried so many different things, from acupuncture to physical therapy. I even had a can of the spray air that when you turn it upside down, it gets really cold — I would do that to try to get the feeling back. I tried so many things, but I knew at the end of the day I was gonna have to have the surgery. And Paiste cymbals referred me to a doctor that one of their other drummers went to and was such a great doctor. [He] talked me through the whole thing, and my recovery was quick, and, to this day, it's awesome."

Benante urged fellow drummers suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome to find a surgeon with experience and expertise in the condition before undergoing the operation. "Make sure you find a good doctor, because I've seen drummers that have had [huge] scars," he said. "And [on my arm] you can't even see anything, where he went in. So you have to be careful."

Beginning around 2012, Benante was forced to miss certain shows on ANTHRAX's tours due to his battle with carpal tunnel syndrome. He was replaced at the gigs initially by Jason Bittner (OVERKILL, SHADOWS FALL) and then by Jon Dette (SLAYER, TESTAMENT).

A few years ago, Charlie told San Antonio Metal Music Examiner about his inability to make all the dates on ANTHRAX's tours: "Unfortunately, we're like athletes, and like athletes, they suffer from certain things. I suffer from carpal tunnel problems. But I try and do as much as I could when I can. So we still wanna keep the band… We don't wanna disappoint people. So that's why we do it that way."